#I admitted i feel like a turtle who wants to hide back in her shell.

[estrellazzz]

i feel my disorganized attachment acting tf up

[ducknotinarow]

2012 Raph Arnold ;3; - [☕] our muses make hot chocolate together

| SEND AN EMOJI FOR A STARTER ! ↳ winter season & holiday based

When Raphael reached Casey's place first he didn't go for the fire escape that lead to his boyfriends bedroom window like he usual always would and did. Raph didn't go for any windows at all, he was told the front door every once in a while was okay. Well that wasn't the wording he was told in. Guess another thing all the Jones' shared in common? They just seemed a bit unphased by the existence of well Raphael. The barely over five feet tall mutant ninja turtle. It was kind of a little taste of what being normal might be he sometimes thought. Teaming up with his boyfriends little sister to annoy him, being just as weak to the little girls antics unable to ever tell her no. Sneaking into his boyfriends room late at night, and having to sneak out the next day. Meeting the 'parents' deal and feeling dread on the possibility they might not like you. Feeling unsure what to call his boyfriends, Dad and such.

Funny enough it seems like such a smaller deal compared to the other shit he dealt with daily. Between family drama, alien invasions, evil ninjas, and just another mutant running and causing havoc in the streets. And yet? it was just as important just as world ending least in Raphael's mind. Though it was hard to say what put him through more an emotional whiplash. Standing before the Shredder or being alone with Arnold.

Glancing around as he slowly crept out from the nearest alleyway that Casey's room face out towards. The street was empty, so Raphael moved his way out to the sidewalk and casually stroll his way to the front door. It's kind of unnatural he admits not hiding in the shadows. Just walking up to a door like this and not sneaking in? Was kind of unnatural almost. It sometimes made like alarm bells sound off in the back of his head. Like exposing himself or leaving himself with out his sai. He knew they were on his belt and that did give him some comfort. Raphael knew it was just habit, near a decade of his life was spent hidden after all. And maybe he liked the chance for normalcy now and again. When he saw the silhouette of someone moving around inside he right away assumed it to be Casey waiting for him. Damn guess they did beat him despite the challenge given in their texts. Raph tried the door knob and found it wasn't locked and just made his way inside quick to shut the door behind himself. Just in case someone came back and saw a turtles shell.

"Man Case you would fuckin' believe the shit I-" Raph had began to speak following his assumption that it was Casey inside waiting for him but all words died in the air when he was instead facing Arnold. Mouth left agape as he had to catch what he just did himself. Internally dropping a million fucks in his mind over his slip up here. "Oh uh sorry Mr- Arnold. Sorry Arnold" Raph found himself floundering that was just great. Unlike April's dad who liked to go by Mr. O'Neil by the turtles over Kirby. Out of respect Arnold seemed more offended if Raph called him Mr.Jone instead. "Case not here yet?" he asks looking around a little before he moved to peek down to his phone. Guess he beat them in the end.

"I uh can wait up in his room, sorry didn' mean to uh ya know?" Raphael said shrugging off how he entered not that Arnold seemed phased in the slightest just offering that same expression they always seemed to wear when Raphael came around. Pft unlike some adults he knew. The turtle feeling stupid at what happened at best. Gaze downcasted he knows what Casey told him before Arnold wasn't going to go grasping at his pearls because Raph dropped a few cuss words after all. Only made him quirk his beak a little the sour feeling before he left the lair returning. Raphael been stewing in it since earlier that day and just wanted to vent but it wasn't something he could really text about. Taking the offer to go to Casey's place meeting up after he got out of practice.

Instead of a simple okay though they offered him something to help warm him up. Raphael's gaze lifted up at that offer noticing he been rubbing at his arms to warm back up, sure he was used to the cool night air but that didn't mean he was immune to being cold and with winter settling in the night air was far more cold. Following behind Arnold as they lead the way to the kitchen. Raphael sort of felt more comfortable in the kitchen considering Arnold let him use it to cook before and even to teach him a little. Raph half expected to see a kettle getting ready to be filed with hot water. That was the last thing he wanted to see in truth. But instead? it was a pot with milk? set on to the stove. Which drew Raphael over to the stove curious in the moment noticing he was being stared at he slightly shirked back out of habit. "You uh don' use water?" he asked looking up at Arnold. "We only ever use my dad's tea kettle. Mostly for tea, not really a fan myself." He slightly explains though there's an underlying bitterness he didn't mean to voice at the time. Even if it was true he didn't like tea all that much but especially now since it made him think of Splinter. The reason he needed to vent a little.

Push it away, stone in a river or whatever that shit is. He tells himself before looking back to the stove top. "how do you make it that way?" there was general interest on Raph's part, sure him and his brothers were not really suited for the kitchen. Well outside Mikey that was. Seemed enough to invite Raphael to try as he took over on the spoon and slipped into the place Arnold had been standing in before. Raphael couldn't explain it but it did sort of give him. Confidence in the kitchen how quick Aronald was to just let Raph take over. Listening on what todo as he slowly stried the milk watching for it to start to bubble as he was told before he was handed what looked like a disk of chocolate. Questioning it but still taking it. He undid the wrapping and dropped the tablet into the pot and went back to it as the milk slowly changed into a slight brown color. Chunks of the chocolate still needed to be dissolved before it be considered done.

Raphael always kind of waited to be told of he was moving his wrist wrong. If his forearm was to lose or his elbow needed to set into a certain spot? But Arnold didn't say anything just stood off to the side and let Raphael have at it. Which made him anxious about fucking up but also? Like Arnold didn't really mind if he did? His stare wasn't like Splinters during training. Observing and fixed on the smaller little misstep. Ready to point out a toe misaligned on his from. Arnold's eyes were on him but it was different he can tell. Thats when they ask how he was. Not been. Checking in on him. He really didn't need to do that. that was the turtles thought. Always quick to assume it some obligated politeness.

"Yeah fine, sorry 'bout eailer though it was Casey inside." He again apologized out of habit mostly but he still didn't mean to come in how he had. If this was Splinter? He be told off about his word choice and of course he be reprimanded for his anger. The thing he just never could seem to control and get rid of. No matter how hard he tried. Not like Splinter ever praised him for any progress he made. Maybe he didn't make any? When Arnold speaks again he slightly looks up at them not fully catching the question or whatever he knows they said something. " 'm jus' mad" He shrugs his shoulder up to dismiss it that usual works Raphael was kind of always mad. He had a more grouchy personality so it was an easy line to give to get the matter dropped. But Arnold was very much like Casey and seem to see the bullshit that excuse umbrella really was. Raphael mulls it over a moment as he continued to stare at the pot, he didn't want to burn the milk somehow. He was waiting for Casey to vent to course chances were by now he just push it away and say it didn't matter anymore. Or? he thought side glancing over to Arnold, maybe?

"I jus' had a-" he wanted to say a fight with Splinter but can you really call it a fight when Splinter never let him speak? "Disagreement with my Dad." More fitting if anything really. Though his tone did slip not held evenly like he meant for it to come out and the faint huff he breathed from his nostrils wasn't hard to miss either. Splinter and Raphael never really spoke after all. Splinter always had the final say in the end. And because Raphael struggle to speak sometimes his tone always harsh and volume loud? he was always being accused of being angry from the start. Which apparently voided any point he had. Raph wish he knew why he did that but sometimes he just got so frustrated! He couldn't help it it just happens. He tries so hard to hold his tongue and watch his tone but the moment it slips? "It uh got kinda heated" He states though he kits up his brow in annoyance, sometimes he wished they did yell. Then at least it feel like he wasn't talking to some wall. But that was that and it was the end of the conversation. Raphael deflated a little.

"So needed to jus' get way from home was all." He admits slightly confessing that meant running away to here. "Not really the kind of I wanna hit somethin' to feel better days." He also admits and owns up to. "jus' I dunno needed a get away I guess?" he tries to explain, "I think this is done?" he changes subject and slightly moves to the side for them to check. He did kind of like that Arnold didn't once muse over him just being disrespectful to his dad when he vaguely explained what happened. Then again he caught Raph when he first entered his home so he had a taste of the truth. Still he let him speak and well if Casey was still gonna be a bit? Maybe it be fine to talk a bit more?

[beetlegoose01]

Frostbite (Casetello)

AN: do these two have a ship name? Caseytello? eh whatever it’s casey x donnie and they’re gay

special thanks to cal for reading this for me and saying i should post it <3

There were quite a lot of things Casey Jones loved. Hockey, pizza, riding his motorcycle, video games, beating the crap out of his opponents. Normal teenage stuff. Lately he had been doing the latter, ever since he and April officially joined the 'Unofficial Turtles Team' , helping alongside the teen mutants on patrol. Goofing off with Mikey and Raph were the highlights, but he couldn't deny spending extra time with April was also a benefit. Even if they barely got a single word out- too busy fighting off random mutants scattering the city, it was still nice.

But what wasn't nice, downright unpleasant about patrol...was Donatello. There was an unspoken, mutual loathing that the pair shared that even quick glances at each other led to glaring and arguing. Leaving them together in the same room was never a good idea. Casey hasn't understood why the purple genius was so hostile towards him at first. But the reasons became obvious the first time he caught him staring helplessly at April, fumbling his words and blushing profusely. Not that Casey didn't feel similarly, heck, that was the problem. Both were attracted to April. Obviously Casey had the upper hand, being human. A turtle and a human girl in a relationship was built for disaster.

But their hatred didn't stop there. It wasn't just about April.  Eventually, everything about Donatello annoyed him. His whiny voice, his love for using complicated words to sound superior, soon every little thing bugged him.

Things were easier if the two stayed as far apart as possible.

Of course, fate seemed to work in mysterious ways.

It was starting to get late, the moonlight illuminating the sky. The group stopped on a rooftop, perched by the edge. Leo halted them silently, then turned around.

"Why'd you stop, Fearless?" Raph asked.

"I think we should split up. We'll cover more ground. If you see any sign of trouble, use your T-Phones." said Leo.

"No way dudes!" Mikey squeaked. "I saw this scary movie last night where the team split up! And then..." He paused for dramatic effect. "They all got taken out one by one. Starting with the cute funny one!" He trembled, hiding behind Donnie, who rolled his eyes.

Raph smirked, always prepared for a sassy remark. "Which means, you'll be just fine since you're neither of those."

"Hey!"

"And you'll be in pairs." Leo crossed his arms. "I've got it all planned out. Raph and April. Mikey and me."

"Mikey and I." Donnie corrected under his breath. Casey fought the urge to whack the smart aleck turtle with his hockey stick.

Leo ignored him. "Donnie and Casey-"

Casey involuntary let out a loud groan. Just his luck.

Leo narrowed his blue eyes, unamused. "Something wrong, Jones?"

"Er..." His eyes darted to Donatello, who seemed stoic, but equally frustrated with this predicament. On one hand, he wanted to argue and beg to be with literally anyone else. On the other, he didn't want to deal with the leader in blue getting annoyed with him.  "Nah Leo, that's fine by me. Right, D?"

Donnie huffed. "Yeah, that's alright."

"I think this will be good for you both." April grinned.

"Of course, April." Donnie agreed.

"No problem at all." Casey smiled through gritted teeth. When she turned away, they both shared an equally menacing glare.

"I knew I could count on you two." April smiled softly, though even she didn't look entirely convinced.

This was going to be a long night.

~•~

Turns out, Casey had underestimated the scrawny (ugh, svelte) turtle. In what Donnie lacked in muscle, he gained with his speed, mobility and of course, his mind. It was practically impossible to keep up once Donatello had leaped from the first building, tumbling and landing with ease, while Casey was coughing his lungs out as he ran desperately after the brainy terrapin.

"Okay, now you're just showing off." He panted irritably, nearly collapsing once he finally caught up with him.

"Are you coming or not?" Donnie gave his trademark gap tooth grin as he turned, slowing down.

"I am! You're just moving too fast!" Casey complained. "I thought turtles were supposed to be slow! I didn't even have time to get my grappling hook."

Donnie shrugged, ending the conversation with one simple movement.

They walked side by side, neither wanting to say anything. They both knew it would only end in arguing.

"Can I just say-" Casey started.

"No, you can't."

"I didn't say anything!"

"Exactly."

"Listen, Gap Tooth, I don't like this either!" He flicked a stone off the roof with his shoe. "But we have to ..." He swallowed. "work together, right?"

Donnie said nothing. He looked deep in thought.

"Is it because of April? Because it's not my fault she...y'know likes me more."

At the mention of April, Donnie turned away, eyes flashed with hurt, which only filled Casey with that annoying feeling of guilt.

"It isn't about her."

"Alright." Silence. "Sorry, let's just-" He cleared his throat. "Let's just work together, we don't need to be friends. Just get through the mission. After that, we can go back to hating each other."

"That was...surprisingly mature, Jones. Glad we can agree on something." Donnie quipped. "And for once, you're right. This mission is more important than our petty squabbles. No matter how insufferable you may be."

"Now you're just making up words."

Donnie fought the urge to roll his eyes. "So, that's two more hours of this."

Casey scoffed, but couldn't help but chuckle. Quietly of course. Last thing he wanted was for Donnie to think he was actually amusing.

"So...deal?"

"Deal." Donnie said, then added: "Cave Mouth." Which made Casey shove him lightly.

For a brief moment, they seemed to share a mutual understanding. The silence that followed wasn't awkward or forced, it was comfortable. Well, as comfortable as they could possibly be.

Donnie paused, startled by something. Lifting his bō carefully, he tried to follow whatever the sound was.

"What the-" Casey raised an eyebrow.

"Shh!" He hissed. "Do you hear that?"

"No?" Casey scrunched his nose, listening closely. It sounded like a...buzzing noise? Like a fly or mosquito. Irritating, but not dangerous. "Chill Don, it's just a bug or something."

"No, listen!" The turtle looked frantic and alert.

The buzzing became louder. Then, it was followed by the sound of snapping wood. Deliberate and exact. Casey gulped, taking his own weapon.

A massive shadow flew over their heads and landed in front of them. Donnie yelped in surprise, stumbling forward.

"Ah, shell." He swore, lifting his head to face the hideous insectoid mutant with acid green eyes. Scumbug spread his deformed wings, antenayes raised, prepared to strike.

"Well, I was right. That definitely is a bug. Scumbug! Wicked! This'll be fun!" Casey sneered.

"Which makes no sense, considering stag beetles aren't even bugs! They're insects!" Donnie spun his staff like a propeller, hitting the mutant face on.

"Not the time!" Casey tackled Scumbug, who roared, jostling him aside like a ragdoll. He smacked the floor with a sickening thud, directly on his arm. He fought back a scream of agony.  "Do you- gah- seriously have to be such a know it all, all the time?" He looked at his arm, which currently looked seriously messed up.

Donnie looked affronted. "I am not a know it all!"

"Yes you are!" Another whack of his trusty hockey stick, followed by a knock to the ground, face first. He wiped his mouth from the metallic taste of blood.

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you- Donnie, look out!" Casey shrieked, sounding less manly than he intended.

Scumbug, now furious, had efficiently used his enemies' bickering to his advantage. Before he could turn around, a spider web twirled from its appendages binding Donatello to the ground, who kicked and struggled furiously.

The mutant now crouched over the captured turtle, prepared to strike with his signature acid spit.

"Hang on, D! Casey Jones is here to save the day! GOONGALA!" He bellowed, racing towards Scumbug and latching onto him like a demented parasite. It was hardly the most graceful of moves, but it distracted him briefly.

He raised his hockey stick, poking him hard in the eye in an attempt to gouge them. Eyes were sensitive- he remembered Splinter telling him that.

With the extra time, Donnie reached for his bō, ripping the web apart with the extended naginata blade.

Scumbug, now looking more disheveled and horrifically disfigured than normal, retreated blindly into the misty air.

"I didn't need your help." Donnie said bitterly.

"Aw, is that any way to say thank you?" Casey retorted. "I just saved your shell." He poked his plastron roughly. "I think I deserve a little appreciation for my heroism."

"I had it handled."

"Did you? Because you looked just about ready to be eaten by Scumbug."

Donatello scowled, moving closer. "And he got away. So your heroism didn't exactly work, did it?"

"Would you rather have acid stuck to your face?" Casey growled. "You'd look even freakier than you do now. Next time you're a little 'turtle in distress' don't expect me to come save your-"

"I didn't need saving." Their foreheads pressed together, any moment ready to face each other on.

Casey gritted his teeth. "Sure, whatever you say. I didn't help because I actually cared about you or anything."

"Then why did you?" Donnie snapped, pulling away. "You could have left me."

"Because I- you- argh!" Casey felt his temper rising. "Because I'm not a monster, alright? We're a team, and we help each other. That's the deal." He wiped his chapped lips again, the disgusting taste of blood still lingering. He winced, clutching his arm.

"I can patch you up at the lair." Donnie said softly. "It just looks sprained."

"Mm." Casey grumbled, still pissed. Stubbornness was taking over any injury he had. He'd rather have his arm stay at this awkward angle than admit he was hurt in front of his rival. "I'll just wrap it up at home. I'll be fine."

Donnie sighed, raising his palm to his face. "Don't be so stubborn, I can help you."

Casey didn't look convinced.

"To repay the favor?" His warm brown eyes looked surprisingly sincere. "You did help me, after all. I'd probably be toast if you didn't."

Casey snorted. "You got that right."

A beat. Donnie looked unsure, as if he wanted to say something else. But whatever it was, it was holding him back.

"So...we should go back to the lair then?" Casey suggested, easing the awkwardness.

"Huh? Yes, of course. Totally. " Donnie nodded. "Naturally."

"Alright then."

"Jones?"

Casey turned, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say...thanks."

"Hey, no problem. But don't tell anyone I saved your ass."

"Deal."

~•~

Casey never expected to be sitting in Donnie's lab table, in between Timothy the blob-organ filled mutant and several bunsen burners, but life tended to be weird that way. He also didn’t expect to be pouting on said table like he was at some freaky doctor’s office. The rest of the team returned shortly after them, and seemed surprised that Donnie was actually willing to fix Casey's arm- and not begrudgingly.

Donnie returned with a first aid kit, setting it on the table. He hummed a familiar tune to himself, as if to fill the empty air of any more awkwardness.

"I've seen these before." Casey said, poking the bunsen burner tap, immediately then swatted away by Donatello. "At my school's science lab."

Donnie nodded, rolling up Casey's sleeve to examine his bare arm. Casey flinched, not comfortable with the random act of touching. "Hey don't!"

"Do you want your arm fixed or not?"

"...yeah."

"Then let me work my magic."

Casey frowned, staring at the bottle the turtle was holding. "Your magic looks like antibiotics and advil."

Donnie's lip twitched.

After his arm was treated somewhat, Donnie wrapped him up gently with a clean bandage. The slow movement made his heart race increase every time Donnie's fingertips brushed his arm, but he ignored it.

Don't be weird, Jones.

"That should be good. Don't put any pressure on it." said Donnie, passing him the advil. "And take this, it'll soothe the pain."

Casey pretended to look offended. "Here I thought you were gonna kiss it better."

Donnie rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. "Don't push it, Jones. We aren't there yet."

Casey laughed. "Yet. Thanks for fixin' my arm, D. You...aren't so bad, I guess. But let's go back to hating each other, alright?"

Donnie smirked. "Whatever you say."

[mc-lukanette]

- Luka sees the bees coming and warns Marinette. Marinette pushes him, demanding that he get on his bike and go. Luka hesitates because she's basically asking him to leave her, but Marinette asks, "Do you trust me?" which Luka does and bikes away while she runs in the opposite direction.

- Meanwhile, Adrien and Kagami's kiss goes through. They both see the bees and, similar to Luka and Marinette, head off in different directions.

- Both Aqua Ladybug and Aqua Chat Noir re-find Luka and Kagami, then bring them into the water/have them jump in and give them the breathing apparatuses.

- They go to the battle taking place with Miracle Queen. The only difference in the Miracle Queen scene is that Luka and Kagami aren't there and Nino also looked up at Master Fu when he was told to get his miraculous, making his identity as Carapace obvious (that was always weird to me in the episode how Nino didn’t really do that).

- Ladybug still feels like this is all her fault. Luka and Kagami can't offer verbal help, but Chat helps and Luka+Kagami place reassuring hands on each of her shoulders.

- Ladybug devises a strategy. She pulls out the dragon, asking Kagami to help one more time because she has an idea.

- Cut to Miracle Queen. Out of nowhere, they hear, "WIND DRAGON!" and the bees are thrown a massive distance away. Miracle Queen clutches the Miracle Box for protection and we see the snake disappear from its slot. When everyone starts looking around, Miracle Queen notices that Max isn't Pegase anymore.

- Hawk Moth is shocked, then hears a sound coming from inside Fu's Shell-ter. Aqua Horse-Chat pokes his head through with a Cheshire grin. "Don't mind me. I'm just here to pick up my grandfather." Fu grabs Chat's hand and Chat pulls him inside.

- With everyone still in the water (Fu holding his breath), Ladybug gives Fu a hug and explains that they'll need Shell-ter since Ryu Kenshi (the new Ryuko, decked out in a new outfit to protect her identity: "kenshi" is the word for a practicer of kendo but it can also mean "swordsman"/”swordswoman”) can't use Wind Dragon again. However, Fu slips off the turtle bracelet and hands it over to Ladybug, metaphorically symbolizing the future transfer of guardianship.

- Everyone leaps out of the water, Chat carrying Fu. The aqua transformations drop. Luka transforms into Viperion. Ladybug feeds Wayzz with a macaron and has him unify with Tikki.

- They land on the battlefield. The bees charge forward and the butterfly sentimonster gets into the fray (due to no longer having Fu's shield to break into). Turtle Bug (that's apparently the naming theme so why should I bother? :P) smirks at Hawk Moth, then uses a combination of Shell-ter and ladybug to make a large pink shield that seems to have the spinning effect that the yoyo shield does, making it hard to peer inside.

- Hawk Moth shouts to get the guardian, Miracle Queen chiming in with, "YEAH, WHAT HE SAID."

- Fight ensues. It's Rena Rouge, Roi Singe, and the butterfly sentimonster (technically Nino and Max too but--well--you can imagine how useful that is) against Turtle Bug, Chat Noir, Viperion, and Ryu Kenshi. Fu is a distraction of sorts since the mind-controlled heroes want to get the guardian.

- It’s also the most even team Chat Noir will ever be on since he knows both Kagami and Luka’s hero identities, which is a nice bonus for him.

- Similar scenario happens to before (the set-up using Roi Singe), but there's more tension because one single part of the shield can't be opened like in the original. The shield is dropped, the bees charge forward, but Chat gets Roi Singe to throw the power-disruptor at Miracle Queen (who's been comically circling the shield this whole time, trying to figure out what's going on). The bees explode into confetti, Turtle Bug pulls Miracle Queen in, and Chat Cataclysms her object.

- (note that Miracle Queen could also have been participating in the fight provided that she can't summon her bee minions)

- Since she's already used Shell-ter and doesn't need it anymore, Turtle Bug dismisses Wayzz. Same happens as in the episode where Ladybug tries to convince Queen Bee not to be on Hawk Moth's side and Queen Bee, in response, starts throwing on miraculouses. Fu shouts at her not to do that, but she's not listening. The butterfly sentimonster (worn down from the fight but still able to move) tries to attack again, but Ladybug ties it up with her yoyo.

- Hawk Moth is confident with Queen Bee throwing on the miraculouses, but same thing happens where the kwami won't transform Chloe since she doesn't know their names. Fu makes a speech about how you can't get a miraculous you feel entitled to. Hawk Moth comments on how he's still going to win and force Fu to tell him the heroes' identities.

- Ladybug smiles, pointing up at him. "Really? Because Ryu Kenshi looks ready to fight you up there."

- Hawk Moth and Mayura turn around to see Ryu Kenshi (yeah, really should’ve thought about the whole “being on an unprotected roof when the superheroes can jump” thing), who's grinning at them. They pale and Ryu Kenshi uses Lightning Dragon to zap them, knocking them off the rooftop. The butterfly sentimonster reacts and frees itself from Ladybug's yoyo, catching the two and immediately flying off. Ryu Kenshi, angered by the retreat, starts to shout for Wind Dragon before remembering that she's already used it. She and Chat go off to see if they can catch the villains.

- Queen Bee tries to escape with the Miracle Box. Ladybug gets her with her yoyo and Queen Bee falls over, dropping the box. Master Fu walks over and picks it up gently, giving Queen Bee a critical look as Queen Bee rants about how the miraculouses are rightfully hers.

- "I'M Queen Bee, I'M the rightful owner of that box, and I--" Suddenly, the de-transformation light washes over her. She turns around, seeing Viperion holding the bee miraculous with a Did you seriously forget I was here? expression.

- Chloe is enraged, flipping out as she removes all the miraculouses and tosses them to the ground since she's surrounded now. Viperion and Fu are in the process of picking them up (absolutely ignoring her like this is just a typical Monday) while Chloe rants to Ladybug about how she betrayed her.

- Chloe leaves in a huff. Ryu Kenshi and Chat Noir return, disappointed that they couldn't catch Hawk Moth or Mayura. Ladybug uses Lucky Charm to prepare to use Miraculous Ladybug, summoning the key ring that she does in the original. Fu recognizes it and admits that, even though she may have made a mistake, she couldn’t have predicted Hawk Moth following her and he would've seen her identity had she gone to de-transform. He adds that this is also partly on him as well; he took far too long to start training "his protege" (being vague about who that is because the other heroes are here) and he clung to the Miracle Box because of it. Though, he adds solemnly that Hawk Moth has the tablet with the translated grimoire. Ladybug gasps, but Fu assures her that he still has his phone (the thing he used to take pictures of the grimoire pages in "The Collector"), and he can easily translate the pages over again since he's already done it once.

- Ladybug uses Miraculous Ladybug and everyone parts after Viperion and Ryu Kenshi give back the miraculouses. Fu stops Ladybug from leaving and simply states that it's time he pass on the guardianship to her. He hesitantly goes to recite the phrase, but Ladybug stops him and reminds him that he already changed the "dumb guardian rules" in order to teach her, so why can't they do that here? They then smile at each other and Fu hands over the box, promising to send Ladybug the translated grimoire over text.

- Fu still goes off with Marianne, the two promising to go back into hiding together just in case Hawk Moth thinks to go after them. Marinette is a little sad to see them go, but Fu assures her that she can call him if she needs anything. He also gives her the non-Lucky Charm version of the key, assuring her that everything she needs (like the thing he used to hide the Miracle Box in, though Marinette would repurpose/repaint it to fit her room and look stylish) is in the locker that the key fits into.

- Same scene with the ice cream happens, but while Luka still plays his song, Marinette is considering the stuff Fu wrote in the letter in the locker (it's still all philosophical and stuff even though no memory wipe ended up being needed) and Fu had noted that the burden Marinette carries is heavier than ever now and she shouldn't be afraid to rely on others should she need it (you know, like he should’ve).

- Finally, Marinette looks over to Luka and says, "Luka, do you remember what you said to me when you were--" She blushes lightly at the memory of them hugging. "--you know?" He nods, and she pauses before adding, "I do actually have something to tell you."

- The next scene is Marinette taking Luka into her room and revealing the location of the new Miracle Box, signifying that Luka is essentially Marinette's confidant now.

- Cut to Gabriel with the fixed peacock miraculous for tension and the episode ends.

[night-fallz]

It's getting better . . . right?

A small dive into how Damian’s life at school is.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ao3 // Wattpad

previous II next

I'm confused (Part 2)

As Damian stepped onto the school grounds, he couldn’t help but feel a small amount of relief.

It was like school was the only place where nothing changed. Everyone treated him the same way they’ve always treated him before.

Even though Damian chose to listen to his heart, he still struggled to accept the fact that people cared for him.

The school was the only place of normalcy he had left.

Suddenly, Damian felt someone push him against a brick wall, driving him down on his knees.

He embraced the pain that he was feeling.

You wanted this.

You deserve this.

His face was forced upwards, causing his eyes to meet his tormentors.

Damian immediately noticed the face of the guy who pushed him.

Max Thornwell.

The guy was Damian’s age, 15 years old, yet he towered over Damian with a few inches.

The guy was adequate-looking. There was nothing special about him, blonde hair, brown eyes, and lean-ish build. But, the guy walked with the confidence of Superman. Like he ruled the school and no one could take the throne away from him.

Damian hated him but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to make the situation worse.

If he did, he would get in trouble again. And his father would send him the disappointed look that made Damian feel worthless. Then someone would make a comment about how he isn’t fit to be Robin anymore.

Damian needed to be Robin.

The feeling of freedom he felt when he put on the costume made him smile with glee.

If Damian believed in Greek mythology, Robin would be the string of his life. Take Robin away from him and he would be gone. Like a turtle retreating in his shell.

Without Robin, Damian would be a nobody with a family of somebodies.

He would be the shadow that no one notices. The one that everyone forgets. They would only realize he was there when they needed something. Or when they had a comment to make that’ll chip away the small amount of confidence he had left.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you, Wayne.” Max’s voice snarled, “Don’t tell me that you’re a pussy as well.” A cruel smirk settled in the blonde’s face as he heard the laughter of his peers echoing around him.

He kicked Damian in the stomach, causing the boy to wheeze in pain in front of the unexpected attack.

The laughter only got louder.

Tears began to form in his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

He would not cry in front of them.

Max leaned in, whispering in Damian’s ear so only he could hear what the boy was saying. “Don’t you think it’s sad that no one is defending you? Never forget the fact that no one likes you. The fact that one loves you.” he roughly shoved Damian’s shoulder, “Remember your place.”

Damian gritted his teeth. His body ached all over and it was like the headache he got a week ago came back.

He forced himself to reach for his backpack, only for someone to grab it right before his hand could even touch it.

His green eyes met cold blue ones.

Michelle Chuxtre.

Damian didn’t know much about her. But he heard many people comment about how “hot” or how “fine” she is. He guessed that she was one of those popular kids, meaning that she was probably there to have her fun at tormenting Damian.

As Damian stared at her, he understood how people could call her pretty. Her features would fit the beauty standard— blue eyes, dirty blonde hair, and a slim figure- but the mocking smirk she wore on her face made Damian feel uneasy.

It didn’t help that her eyes seemed to glint maliciously as she studied him.

She quickly glanced at the dirty backpack she was holding and her smirk only grew wider. “What are you hiding here?” she sarcastically asked, unzipping his backpack.

Damian winced, seeing all of his supplies fall on the ground.

She looked pleased with his reaction, stepping towards him, her shoe landing on one of his notebooks. “You understand why I had to do that right?” her voice was sympathetic as if she was actually sorry for her actions. “I just had to make sure you weren’t going to bomb the school or anything.”

Damian understood the implications of her sentence. She made it obvious enough so that the people around him understood it too.

Once Michelle left, the people around him soon followed. Their entertainment was done for the morning.

Even though Damian admitted that he was relieved at the fact that everything at school stayed the same, he couldn’t help but want to let a few tears fall.

You wanted this, he reminded himself, this is your fault.

As Damian struggled to get up, he noticed someone holding their hand out to him. He studied that hand for a few seconds before realizing that she wanted to help him up.

It’s probably a trick, his head supplied, she’ll probably push you back down.

Damian assumed that his head was right, so he accepted her hand wanting to get everything over with so that he could get to his classes. The girl pulled him up, kneeling and picking up the dropped objects from the ground.

He looked at her with confusion, “What are you doing?”

“Helping you.”

His voice faltered, “But why?”

She froze and turned to him.

It was the first time that Damian saw her face properly. She was new. The girl was no doubt Filipino. She had the trademark dark brown hair that glowed in the sun. Though, he could see that she had blonde highlights as well. Her eyes were the same as her hair. At first glance, you would believe that they were black yet in the sun, they were a beautiful golden color. She also had the same tone of skin as him.

Judging by the uniform she was wearing, she was going to be attending school with him. Meaning that they would be the only two people that weren’t white in the building.

“Because you needed help.” the girl firmly said. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he winced in pain as he tried to walk, “I’m used to it.”

I asked for it.

“That’s not something you should get used to,” she firmly said, handing him the dirty backpack.

“Thank you.” He muttered softly.

“You’re welcome.” The dark-haired girl gave him a bright smile, “I’m Auda. Auda Arison.”

He returned it with a hesitant smile, “I’m Damian.” he repeated her gesture. “Damian Wayne.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Damian.” she looked around, realizing that there wasn’t another person in sight. “Since there’s no one else here, can you show me where the office is?”

Damian only nodded, walking forward as he gestured for the Filipino to follow him.

As they walked in, eyes seemed to follow them. Damian ignored them, used to people watching and silently critiquing his every move.

His eyes glanced at the girl walking beside him and she seemed deep in thought. She probably wasn’t aware of the eyes watching her.

They walked to the office in comfortable silence.

“Thank you”. she said when they arrived at the front.

“You’re welcome.” With those final words, he walked away, not bothering to give the girl a second glance.

—

Lunch was Damian’s least favorite part of the school day. He had no friends, so he had no one to sit with

And there was always a chance that someone would accidentally spill their food and beverage over him.

Damian wondered how his family would react if they found out what the kids in the school were doing.

Would they care?

Damian likes to think so.

But, his brain told him, they probably don’t.

Why can���t you just shut up for once? His heart complained.

Because you guys are acting stupid. It insisted. They don’t care. And they don’t!

Yes, they do!

No, they don’t.

Yes, they do!

No-

Yes!

His brain sighed, They only act as they care. It’s probably another scheme for them to humiliate and hurt you.

You’re wrong. His heart argued.

I hope so. His head resigned, I really do.

Damian’s back slumped against the wall, unable to focus on the book he was reading.

Did he make the wrong choice when he gave his brothers a chance?

Hopefully not.

He liked hanging out with them. He liked how they included him in things. And he liked how they don’t only talk to each other, so he could get insulted.

Damian felt someone grab the book from his hand.

What the-

Laughter echoed around the room as he felt water drip into his shirt. He shot up from his chair, trying to figure out what just happened.

His eyes analyzed the room. The librarian was gone and a crowd of 6 people was crowding him.

He notices that Max was holding his book, flipping through the pages before throwing it to one of his friends.

“Are you planning on bombing the school or something?” Max taunted him.

Damian rolled his eyes, “No. That book was just in Arabic” he couldn’t help but spit it out.

Max only smirked, “So the little terrorist finally started to talk.”

Damian tried not to flinch.

No fights. He reminded himself. Father will take Robin away.

Damian took a step back, hoping that Max would see it as him giving up.

It worked.

The boy’s face stretched into a victorious grin. “For a Wayne, you sure are pathetic.”

Someone held Damian’s arms so that he couldn’t run as Max walked slowly forward.

Like a predator stalking his prey.

Damian didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t just break away from his peer’s grip. But if he stayed, he would be left at Max’s mercy.

He scared Damian in a way that no villain ever could.

When Damian fought a criminal, he usually knew what the outcome would be. He would either live or he would die.

And he was fine with that.

But socializing?

It wasn’t his territory.

Damian was created to be a perfect clone of Batman. He was raised to be a warrior. He was raised to fight.

To kill.

Damian didn’t know how to interact with people properly. He only somewhat understands social cues when it comes to manipulation. But when he opens his mouth, he would have no filter.

And why should he?

That’s how he was raised.

And he was trying so hard to change.

In galas, he could put on the act that people wanted to see.

He would be Damian Wayne, the adorable, intelligent, charming, heartthrob son of Bruce Wayne.

He would play it nice, entertain the ones older than him with his vibrant eyes and appealing smiles. Ignoring how they seemed to eye his skin with distaste.

He would pretend that he didn’t hear whispers of how he would be the perfect Wayne if it wasn’t for his skin color.

He would pretend that it didn’t hurt because they didn’t say it right to his face.

But at school?

People didn’t try to hide what they thought of it.

They acted like everything they did to him was justified.

It didn’t help that Damian never tried to fit in with them. He distanced himself, speaking coldly to anyone that approached him.

The students began to dislike him pretty quickly. In their eyes, Damian should’ve felt lucky that they had even given him a chance.

In Damian’s eyes, they were racist. It wasn't that hard to tell. Everyone at the school was white— teachers, students, janitors— you name it. And from how they treated Damian on his first few days, they also had a white-savior mentality.

Growing up, Damian was taught the stereotypes people had regarding their race.

It wasn’t pretty.

Damian remembered staying up late in the small space he called home, wondering how people could assume such horrible things towards a group of people because of another man’s crime.

It wasn’t fair.

But even at his young age, Damian knew that nothing in life was fair.

And he accepted that.

So Damian stayed, pretending that he couldn’t break out of his peer’s grip. Max’s brown eyes met him maliciously.

He held his hand out and someone handed him Damian’s book.

“How much do you like this book?”

Damian refused to answer.

“Answer me, brat.”

“That book does not hold any value to me.” Damian spat out.

“I don’t believe you.”

Couldn’t he just get it over with?

Max glared at Damian, unsatisfied with his reaction. He threw the book on the ground as he stormed out, his goons quickly following.

Damian let out a sigh of relief as soon as they were out of sight. He picked up his book, inspecting it carefully.

He needed to make sure that the book was unharmed. It was the one thing that his mom had given him before she quickly tossed Damian away like trash.

Stupid. He scolded himself, you should’ve known better than to bring a prized possession to school.

The bell rang and he quickly hid the book in his backpack, not noticing how a girl pocketed her phone with narrowed eyes.

—

Damian would like to say that no one else bothered him for the rest of the day. But that would be a lie.

His lockers were filled with more sickening messages and everywhere he went, glares and whispers seemed to follow him.

He just wanted to go home.

He wanted to be Robin.

No, he needed to be Robin.

He just wanted to get away from the school.

He didn’t think that he bothered anyone today. All he did was defend himself against Max.

Was that so bad?

Everything we do seems to be bad. His heart couldn't help but whisper.

His brain didn’t argue.

[refinedbuffoonery]

Late Nights

This is 2.5k words of fluff and essentially no plot. Set a week after the events of ICLU. I wrote the first part back in May right after I got the idea for ICLU and have been sitting on this ever since. 

*****

When the letters and numbers on the screen finally blurred beyond recognition, Riley closed the program she’d been working on and put the lab computer to sleep. Her eyes burned. She was horribly behind on developing this program; it needed to start beta testing days ago, but the team’s back to back multi-day ops and her impromptu trip with the Coltons on her supposed day off consumed all of her time and energy this week. 

Posing as a think tank, the Phoenix did have to do think tank-y things on occasion, after all, and every agent was expected to contribute to the organization’s public projects. Including a certain physically and emotionally exhausted hacker. 

Mac sat across from her, fidgeting with spare robot parts. Riley checked the time. 10:58 pm. Everyone else had gone home hours ago. She vaguely recalled Bozer teasing her about not spending the night in his lab again. Pointing at Mac, he’d said, “Good thing he’s just as much of a workaholic as you are.” Riley knew Mac was just there to keep her company—and because they’d carpooled—not because he needed to keep working, but she hadn’t bothered to correct Bozer. 

Groaning, Riley let her head fall into her hands. It felt like some invisible force was squeezing her skull, slowly crushing it like a grape. She needed to go to bed. Possibly forever. 

“You okay?” She glimpsed Mac’s concerned frown between her fingers. 

“Yeah,” she replied, dragging her hands through her hair. “I have a headache, that’s all.” Understatement of the century. “How long until you’re done?” 

Mac looked unconvinced; when it came to her, he didn’t miss much. Mercifully, he didn’t push for a more elaborate answer. “Um, I need a few more minutes to finish this, plus maybe fifteen more to clean up. Bozer will kill me if I leave a giant mess in his lab.” Riley managed a small smirk. Indeed he would. 

Riley figured it would be at least a half hour before he was ready to leave. Just enough time for a nap. “Take your time, Mac.” She stood, hauling her backpack onto her shoulder. “I’m going to take a nap. Come find me when you’re ready to go.” He nodded. 

Sleep beckoning, Riley left the lab in search of a comfy chair. 

*****

Thirty minutes later, Mac found her curled up in her favorite chair in the war room. Knees tucked into her chest, head cradled in the crook of her elbow, she looked breathtakingly peaceful. 

He regretted waking her the moment he gently shook her shoulder. Riley grumbled something unintelligible that might have been his name. 

“Time to go home, Riles.” Mac shouldered her backpack and helped her out of the chair. 

Riley could barely open her eyes. She took one staggering step forward and nearly wiped out on the table she definitely didn’t realize was right in front of her. He knew she was exhausted—he was too—but this was alarming. She was burning herself out on the least important part of her job, and Mac didn’t understand why. A problem for tomorrow, he decided. 

Mac wrapped an arm around her waist, helping keep her upright. “Thank you,” she mumbled. He pressed a quick kiss to the side of her head. 

Mac’s truck sat alone in the underground lot. He was immensely grateful he and Riley had carpooled to work that day. Otherwise, if he hadn’t stayed to keep her company while she worked, she definitely would’ve spent the whole night in that war room chair. 

They drove home in silence. Riley quickly fell asleep in the passenger seat, head resting on the window. 

She was still out cold when he parked his truck in the driveway, and Mac couldn’t bring himself to wake her up twice in one night. He slid his arms around her back and under her knees and carried her inside, and Mac’s heart melted when she snuggled her face into his shoulder. He could hold her like this forever. “Let’s get you to bed,” he murmured. 

Mac laid her on the guest bed and rested her backpack against the nightstand. He quickly unlaced her boots and pulled them off, revealing bright yellow and orange striped socks. He chuckled, imagining her muttering at him to stop laughing at her socks. 

Grabbing a makeup wipe from the guest bathroom, it took him a few minutes to remove her stubborn eyeliner. No wonder, he’d seen it withstand blazing infernos, days in the woods, blood, sweat, tears, everything. 

He tucked her under the covers before retrieving her favorite pajama shirt—an old t-shirt of his—and shorts. Mac left them at the foot of Riley’s bed, so she could change into them whenever she woke up. 

Riley curled into a loose ball, snuggling her face deeper into her pillow, and Mac couldn’t help but worry as he closed the door halfway and retreated to his room. 

*****

Riley awoke in the middle of the night to her bra’s underwire stabbing her in the chest. She blinked a few times, trying to get her bearings. She definitely wasn’t in the war room anymore. 

It took longer than Riley cared to admit to realize she was back in Mac’s guest bedroom—her bedroom for the year she’d lived with him. Mac must’ve taken her home from the Phoenix. 

Riley rolled onto her back, and her underwire stabbed her again. Fuck this, she thought, yanking off her tank top, then her bra, and sighing in relief as the straps fell down her shoulders. Chucking them both on the floor, she noticed the stack of clothes at the foot of her bed, blending in so well with the dark sheets Riley almost missed them. She smiled, silently thanking the man sleeping across the hall, and changed into her pajamas. 

While debating whether to stay or join Mac, Riley stretched her back and hips, joints popping softly. She could be lazy and spend the rest of the night in her old room, or she could go cuddle with her boyfriend, but that would require getting up. But if she got up, she could also brush her teeth. 

Had she even had dinner? Riley couldn’t remember. Her brain was still foggy. 

Ultimately, her desire to sleep with Mac and brush her teeth won out, and Riley hauled herself out of bed and across the hall, feet barely lifting off the ground with each step. 

Mac was a pretty light sleeper, so Riley slipped into bed beside him as quietly as she could. He stirred, but didn’t wake. Sinking into the mattress, Riley knew switching beds was the right choice. Her body relaxed more in Mac’s presence. She’d never realized how lonely exhaustion was, not until she had someone she could freely share with and who could empathize with her. Even so, she’d still lied earlier about how she really felt, mostly for the sake of her dignity. Mac was her best friend, but Riley was loath to outright admit to weakness, even to him. 

She wanted to snuggle into his warmth and tuck her face between his shoulder blades, but that would surely wake him up. And waking Mac up would lead to questions she didn’t want to answer just yet. So, Riley stuck to her side of the mattress, tucked her legs into her chest, and went back to sleep. 

*****

When Mac’s alarm went off, he wasn’t alone. Riley had snuck into his bed at some point and now curled into a tiny ball, facing away from him. 

He wished they didn’t have to go to work today, wished they could sleep in and he could pry some answers from her. But the world wouldn’t save itself. 

He texted Matty. Please don’t send us on an op someone else could do. Riley’s burning herself out, and I can’t figure out why. 

I’ll keep an eye on her, Matty replied immediately. 

Thank you. 

Leaning over to kiss his girlfriend’s cheek, Mac got up and went for a run. 

He did an easy three miles around the neighborhood, letting the cool dawn air wake him up. Mac smiled every time he passed someone else out for a run or walking their dog before the July sun made leaving the house practically unbearable. 

When he returned, Mac found Riley awake and making coffee for them both. Her back was to him, so Mac scanned her body for signs of stress or injury, finding neither. “Good morning,” he said to break the silence. 

Riley turned to him, bleary-eyed and still half asleep, and held out a steaming mug of coffee. Mac accepted, kissing her cheek in gratitude. It shocked him how easy it all was. She croaked, “How was your run?” 

Mac couldn’t deny the way seeing Riley in his clothes affected him—the same way, he realized guiltily, the sight had always appeased some primal, possessive part of his brain, even when they were just friends—but damn it hit differently when she wore a sleepy, lovesick smile and had just crawled out of his bed. Riley had always been his girl, but now she was his girl. 

The whole scene was sweet and domestic and everything he’d ever wanted. 

“Good,” he finally answered. “I even stopped to say hi to our favorite dog.” An elderly couple who lived a few streets away had a mini Aussie, who was quite possibly the happiest being in the universe. She would trot alongside her humans without a leash, but when Mac or Riley appeared, she whined and whined until her owners said “Go ahead,” and she’d come barreling full-force into Mac or Riley’s chest and lavish them with endless kisses. Her name was Freya. 

Riley’s eyes lit up in excitement. “My dog!” Mac chuckled, sliding onto one of the bar seats tucked below the counter. 

Changing the subject, Mac tried to be nonchalant when he asked, “How do you feel this morning?” Worry crept into his voice anyway. 

“Better,” Riley said, the mug hiding her face as she sipped her coffee. “Thanks for taking me home.” 

Of course he took her home. Even if they weren’t dating, Mac still would’ve taken her home and given her his clothes. There was no universe in which he wouldn’t do that. 

“Like I was going to let you spend the night in that chair,” he replied. Riley toyed with the hem of her shirt, her usual lively presence vanishing like a turtle retreating into its shell. Mac probed, “What’s up?” She sighed, still looking down. “Riles?” 

When she finally looked up, Riley’s eyes were heavy with guilt. “Do you know how many times I almost got us killed this week?” Mac waited. “Twice. I led us—led you—right into traps I should’ve seen from a mile away. And before that, I gave you a fucking panic attack that sent you driving through the middle of nowhere to come find me!” Her voice crescendoed. “And now? Now I can’t even get that stupid program to work right! I just want to be able to do one thing right. One thing! Is that too much to ask?” Riley let out a loud, frustrated groan, shoulders caving inward. 

Mac stayed in his seat, letting Riley have her space. He knew she didn’t like being coddled when she was frustrated. “I almost get us killed constantly,” he reminded her. “It’s part of our job. No one is holding it against you, especially not me. And that panic attack was the best thing to happen to me, because without it we’d still be waiting for one of us to find the courage to confess. This is going to sound hypocritical coming from me, but you can’t beat yourself up about that stuff.” 

Riley snorted. “Very hypocritical.” 

“You have to take the small wins as they come, okay? We’re not dead! We had sex! The important stuff!” 

“I see you have your priorities together.” Her tone was snarky, but Mac caught her smile between sips of coffee. 

“If we didn’t have to go to work I’d bend you over the counter and tell you how hot you look in my shirt.” 

Mac impressed himself with how casually he managed to say that; he could only imagine Riley’s merciless teasing if his voice had cracked. 

Riley blushed, even as she cautiously said, “We could do that anyway.” 

The apprehension in her voice hit Mac like a bucket of cold water. He couldn’t just say things like that to his girlfriend of two days. Or maybe she was his best friend and he didn’t care. Mac couldn’t decide. This thing between them was so new, yet it felt like they’d been together forever. The butterflies lasted forty-eight hours, tops, before the calm sense of belonging, of home, washed over them. Mac had never had that happen so quickly in a relationship before. Usually it took weeks or even months, not two days. 

“It’s not like they’re going to know,” Riley added. 

That made the decision for him. “Are you kidding me? If we walk in late together, they’ll absolutely know why. They’re like professional mind readers! We’ll never hear the end of it.” 

“Correction,” Riley said. “You’ll never hear the end of it. Desi and Bozer will just high five me and say, ‘Nice.’” 

Mac frowned. She was right, unfortunately. He finished the rest of his coffee, grimacing at the bitter last sip. Placing his mug in the sink, Mac said, “Seriously though, I want you to feel safe sharing with me when you feel like this, Riles.” He leaned against the sink. “Let me help you.” 

Riley crossed to him, finally closing the gap between them, and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Okay,” she agreed, head resting on his shoulder. She sighed. “I really don’t want to go to work today, but if I get any more behind on that damn project I am going to pull my hair out.” 

Mac pressed a single kiss where her neck met her shoulder. “Your hair is beautiful. Please don’t pull it out.” Gently, he unwound Riley’s scrunchie, letting her hair tumble down her back so he could play with it. 

“Just for you.” 

They stood like that as long as they could, before they really did need to get ready for work. “I need to shower,” Mac finally said, ruining the quiet moment. “Care to join me?” 

Riley raised an eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t want to be late.” 

A very serious shower,” Mac amended. “No funny business.” 

“Right.” Riley kissed him until Mac couldn’t hold back his grin. “No funny business. Now where have I heard that before?” 

Laughing, Mac dragged his girlfriend toward the bathroom. 

[sometimesiwrite]

Essi Daven: Character Reference

Aside from my own Headcanons and Theories concerning Essi Daven, I wanted to compile a character reference sheet for those of you who may want to write her or think about her independently from my own creative perspectives. This is, of course, still subjective, but I’ve linked my conclusions directly back to the source text and kept strictly to canon information for this. There is still conjecture, but that is largely where the role of fanfiction steps in. I hope you enjoy. Physicality

Right away, we see Essi as a blonde-haired, fine-featured, petite young woman. Nothing remarkable or extraordinary about her appearance aside from her eyes. As we come to know her more and more, it’s her behaviour and physical mannerisms rather than her appearance that make her more alluring as a  side character. Throughout this story, we see her “smile oddly”, “snear”, and on more than one occasion, she’s seen “defiantly” tossing her head (usually accompanied by blowing her lock out of her face).

On more than one occasion, she’s seen drawing her head to her shoulders. To me, this is not shyness or desire to hide. It is a turtling at times if she’s feeling particularly vulnerable or overwhelmed, but it’s also a very casual pose. On the terrace during the banquet, Geralt finds her leaning on her elbows with her shoulders hunched up looking at the water. She’s capable of poise and all the social graces required of a banquet, but when she has time to herself, she slouches, reverts to what’s comfortable, is a dork when she’s in her own head. Yet she “daintily” steps onto the pier to join Geralt the following morning. Based on this information, I put to you that she is someone whose eccentricity cannot be fully tamed by “refinement”.

We see more evidence of this in her handling of her “birthday present”:

At first, her reaction to the stinky mollusk is, “Yuk!” and she responds in a “typically dainty” way, holding the shell at arm’s length. That is, until she's given permission to like the shell. No longer socially “required” to find the smelly slimy ocean thing disgusting, Essi lets her more relaxed side out, pulling a knife from her belt (!), and dumping the insides out the window with the practical announcement that “the cats can eat it.” Her ability to turn 180° from “Ewwww” to “Oh, here, let me just shuck this with my casual waist-knife and chuck it out the window” makes for a high likelihood that she wasn’t that grossed out to begin with, but was rather performing societal expectations. 

This brings us to: 

Personality 

We’ve already touched on this a little, but I want to focus now on Essi’s personality, which is rather complex. One of the most general details about her personality, however, is in her speaking: she’s direct. Oftentimes blunt. Even if she’s feeling unsure, she’s not unsure of her words. She often says or asks things seemingly out of the blue, and doesn’t shy away from Depth in her conversation. Rather, it seems to be her comfort-zone, since she defaults to asking Geralt what he associates with the sea rather than making smalltalk. 

That last statement, that she’s neither calm nor composed, to me says a lot. She speaks what she feels, often more easily than what she thinks. And I suspect that she often experiences her thoughts as feelings—something that comes from her gut rather than her head which is reserved for biting wit and incisive observation. 

Essi knows people. Knows them well enough to push their buttons, either jokingly or politically. She’s not afraid of authority, and even though her emotions fill her entirely—to the point her hands will shake—they do not render her helpless to them; rather, it seems, her emotions fuel her rhetorical capacity. Being a bard, this makes sense since the language of song and poetry are driven by the dialogue between emotion and intellect. 

Moreover, she speaks what she feels to be the truth of her experience, whether it’s her experience of someone else, or her experience of herself. What she believes to be true (however subjectively) she speaks. And if she doesn’t know something, she asks and bluntly: 

The fact that she “blanches” yet doesn’t stumble over her words here tells me she’s an excellent performer, and reinforces my previous comment that while her emotions fill her, they don’t rule over her. And yet, we also know she is impulsive and impetuous from her conversation with Geralt on the terrace: 

In this exchange, we see one of Essi’s most fascinating self-contradictions at play. She claims not to know how to control herself, says she is impetuous, reactive (the next morning she bluntly admits to being “nosey” and owns it). And yet her ability to recognize and acknowledge her lack of self-control indicates a depth and a level of self-awareness that reinforces my previous statement that she experiences life as a series of feelings—impulses, emotions, “vibes”—more than what we would categorize as “thoughts”. Essi doesn’t have an internal monologue; she has an external monologue of whatever internal experiences make their way into a verbal headspace. She’s not one to prattle on, talk for the sake of talking (like some Other Bards we know) because even though she has a lot going on internally, only some of it will ever make its way into words.  

As demure, dainty, and fragile as Essi seems to be, she also has, as Dandelion puts it, “a dark side”. 

Exactly what that is, we never really learn, but we get a glimpse of it from Geralt’s perspective at the banquet:

What did she say? While we may not be meant to ever know the answer, we know that a) Essi was smug about it; and b) whatever it was was cutting and more than likely sexually demoralizing in nature. 

Which brings us to…

Sexuality and Romance

There are several instances throughout A Little Sacrifice that indicate a level of sexual maturity and confidence in Essi that contrast interestingly with her emotional naivety (which I’ll get to in a moment). 

It’s possible, in this instance, that Essi simply doesn’t not abide by the same “rules” about physical boundaries and various social meanings behind physical touch. This moment is certainly not enough to draw any conclusions one way or another. However, the description of her kiss with Geralt on the terrace is less ambiguous in this way, more ambiguous in another.

I first want to fully acknowledge that this scene is a mess of different signals, and I believe the lack of further insight on the part of the author is not intriguing, but lazy. But I digress. She kisses him eagerly and expertly, which suggests that she, mechanically at least, knows what she’s doing with her face and someone else’s. The fact that she distances the rest of her body from Geralt suggests a few things: a) she wants to kiss Geralt but doesn’t know whether he feels the same way, so doesn’t want to commit fully; b) she knows that Geralt doesn’t know why he’s kissing her, and so is trying to distance herself from him so that neither of them makes a mistake; c) she’s caught off-guard and doesn’t mind having a good smooch but doesn’t want him to get the wrong idea about her wanting anything else; d) all of the above. 

I would include the possibility that she feels threatened by him and is merely going through the motions, but there’s enough evidence before and after to refute that as a forefront possibility. That’s not to say it isn’t in the background, but the use of “eagerly” would suggest that she’s enthusiastic about a little lip action. We do know that she’s not “looking for a man for the night” from the end of their conversation before going back inside. 

I have a few headcanons about Essi’s sexuality and I shuffle back and forth between them depending on the day. There’s enough evidence to support a halfhearted claim that Essi is a virgin (which doesn’t inherently negate the evidence for sexual confidence), but I lean more toward the notion that Essi is sexually experienced (thought likely far less than Dandelion), picky (hence the red-eared young man at the banquet), and romantically inexperienced. There is, I will say, a level of modesty, vulnerability, and hesitation in her interactions with Geralt that lead me to believe she has had minimal directly-sexual encounters. 

Is it projecting to say she reminds me a lot of myself in my early-20s? Yes. But to say this character resonates very strongly with my personal experiences, I think, gives some character insight where information and road signs are lacking from the author. And I will say, it is very in-keeping with Essi’s ongoing self-contradictions to be both bawdy and sexually inexperienced. Her canon story arc, unfortunately, doesn’t allow us to imagine her a few years older, but the idea of a more confident, self-assured Essi at 23/24 makes me very happy. 

Now, I’m not going to slog through the dialogue disaster that is Essi’s emotional outpouring to Geralt, but suffice it to say, it’s clear she’s never been infatuated/in love before, though she is clearly a romantic. She hates the feeling of being in love, hates that it turns her needy, hates the way it makes her skin crawl and her stomach churn. But there’s something appealing about it as well, and I think there’s a part of her that is desperate to make love. Regardless of whether or not she’s sexually active, to me it’s clear that she wants an emotional-physical connection of some kind; she seeks out comfort from Geralt, seeks out affection, tenderness, but she is also seeking an emotional return—the little sacrifice that Geralt cannot find within himself to give. If she’s had bedmates in the past, it would be remiss to call them lovers. 

That’s it, folks! That’s all I’ve got for the time being. As always, questions and observations are welcome (as well as disagreements as long as you’re willing to do it nice and polite like). 

[fantasticstoryteller]

New Amsterdam Chapter 97

Wade stared at the small townhouse with trepidation. He could still hear echoes of laughter from his last visit and vaguely remembered that the woman had said that she liked him better than Tony. Of course, she had broken Tony’s arm, and was disappointed that Tony had full use of said arm.

{She also likes us better than Norman!}

[I don’t think that’s hard. She probably likes the sewer rats better than Norman.]

Wade shuddered at the image.

Peter absently pat his arm, so as not to disturb the cake that Wade was holding. “It’ll be fine,” he said reassuringly. “Oh, the turtle’s in the window.” Wade’s eyes tracked to the window closest to the front door and saw that there was, indeed a stuffed turtle in it. The turtle was green with a yellow shell and looked fuzzy.

“What’s important about the turtle?” asked Wade as Peter put a gentle hand on his arm and guided him towards the back of the house.

“Means the front door’s blocked. She does metal art sculptures with recycled materials,” Peter explained as they walked through the tiny yard.

[Would have been good to know earlier.]

{Well, it’s not like we told him we were going to visit his aunt.}

[What?]

{He couldn't have told us about the turtle earlier, because we didn’t tell him we were going to see his aunt.}

[You are so strange.]

The back door opened to reveal the smiling face of the woman he’d seen earlier. “Peter!” she called holding open her arms. “It’s good to see you!” she said as she hugged her nephew.

“It’s good to see you too,” Peter said warmly. He pulled away and put his hand back on Wade’s arm. “Aunt May, this is my boyfriend, Wade.”

“It’s nice to see you again Wade,” the woman said, still holding the smile.

[I can’t tell if she’s lying, to spare Peter, or if she’s serious.]

“Nice to see you again,” Wade echoed. He held out the baked good in his hands. “We brought cake. Glazed lemon pound cake,” he added.

Her entire face twitched. “That is—so sweet,” she said in a strained voice.

{What did we do? Is she allergic to lemons? Oh, God, did we almost murder Peter’s mother?}

Peter sighed. “I didn’t have anything to do with cooking it, Aunt May,” he reassured the woman.

Who sagged with relief. “Thank God. I still remember the horror that was chicken noodle soup.”

“I was ten!”

“You put six heads of garlic in it!”

“Garlic is good for you!”

“The soup came from a can, Peter. A. Can. Trust me, it had all the garlic it needed.”

“You ate it,” said Peter petulantly as Aunt May reached for the cake. “And I never made that mistake again,” he added quickly.

[I wonder what other mistakes he’s made.]

{If he’s made that many mistakes, then his cooking should have improved, right? Why hasn’t it?}

[Do NOT ask him that!]

Wade surrendered it and then curled up around Peter. “Yes, and I was sick for an extra two weeks,” agreed the woman as she turned and entered the house.

Peter sighed and hung his head. “We can still go,” he said as he looked up at Wade.

Wade curled around him again. “But then I’ll miss on your embarrassing stories!” he whined.

Peter chuckled and the two of them followed Aunt May into the house. “Can’t have that,” he teased.

{I love him!}

[We all love him. You’re not special.]

Once inside Peter and Wade sat on the couch while Wade peered over at the front door to see the metal thing blocking the door. It looked like there were now colored bits of metal all over. Peter looked to see what he was looking at and grinned. “So, what pot did you ruin to make the bismuth crystals?” he called out to his aunt, who was in the kitchen cutting the cake so that they could all have some.

“Same one as last time,” Aunt May called back as she came into the living room with three plates. Each plate had a fork and, oddly, a strawberry.

“Thank you,” said Wade remembering manners he had learned somewhere. Peter gently nudged him with a shoulder and grinned. Wade grinned as he nudged back.

Aunt May looked on with a satisfied smile. She neatly cut a bite of the cake with her fork and ate it, not looking away from the two on her couch. “How’s work, Peter?” she asked.

Peter brightened and began chattering away about matrices and stability and a bunch of other things that flew right over Wade’s head.

[I wonder if she actually understands what he’s saying or if she’s just letting him ramble.]

{He’s so cute! Look at how enthusiastic he is!}

“How did you and Deadpool meet?” Aunt May asked.

Peter frowned. “Wade, Aunt May. His name is Wade. You literally just used his name!”

Aunt May smiled. “I didn’t ask how you met Wade,” she continued patiently. “I asked how you met Deadpool.” Peter glared at her as he pushed his glasses up with his wrist.

{What’s happening?}

[I’m as confused as you are.]

Aunt May turned to Wade, breaking the staring match. “I have some lemonade that will go well with the cake,” she said calmly, as though she hadn’t just been staring Peter down about—something. “Would you like a glass?”

Wade glanced at his untouched cake. It was untouched because he didn’t want to push the mask up. “I’m okay,” he told her firmly.

Peter, understanding the problem, leaned into Wade’s side. Aunt May simply nodded. “Peter, she said firmly, “come help me with dishes.” She picked up her plate and Peter grabbed his own before heading into the kitchen with her.

[She doesn’t want us to hear what she’s going to say to him.]

{We should eavesdrop! That way—what’s that?}

Wade went to the window and peered out at the neighborhood before giving a mental groan. There, on the house across the street, with a perfect visual scope of the one he was in, was a figure lying on the tiles of the roof.

[Can you still call it camouflage when it’s a different color than the roof it’s on?]

{Brown! Brown on black tiles! I swear, standards for snipers are so low.}

So, who was the sniper working for? They weren’t from HYDRA, because those fuckers knew how to camouflage themselves—otherwise they wouldn't have been able to hide within SHIELD for so long. Ah—must be SHIELD. Only SHIELD could be so bad at camouflage and still be in operation.

Wade pulled out his phone and made a call. When it was picked up he growled, “Pull your sniper out of the neighborhood.”

“There’s a sniper in the neighborhood?” Wade turned to see Peter.

Wade shifted. He didn’t want to get Peter involved in this, but he already was. It was his aunt’s house that was being targeted after all. He nodded.

Peter’s expression darkened. “What house?” he demanded. Wade pointed and then Peter gestured towards Wade’s phone. “May I?” he asked. Fascinated, Wade handed the phone over. “You have five minutes,” Peter said grimly, “to get your sniper out of my neighborhood or I’m calling Mrs. Salinzky and telling her I see her cat on the roof before going out to take pictures of the old woman yelling at your sniper for killing her cat. Then I will submit the encounter to every news, from paper to television to independent blogger, asking why you felt the need to harass an elderly woman with dementia.”

[Oh. My. God. Peter’s a force to be reckoned with!]

{That’s so hot! Think he’ll be up for some cuddling later?}

“Sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Parker,” the tinny voice came over the phone. The sniper across the street flung back his cover and began packing up. “May I come and make a formal apology?”

“Might be a good idea,” Peter admitted darkly. “Front door’s blocked.” He calmly hung up and handed the phone back to Wade. “What could they want?” he muttered as he leaned against Wade’s side.

Wade tucked his phone back into his pocket and hugged his boyfriend. “I don’t know,” he answered with complete honesty.

There was a knock at the back door and Aunt May allowed the individual there to come in. Wade stiffened as he glared at the balding man in his distinctive three-piece suit. “Coulson,” he spat darkly.

“Wilson,” said the man amiably. He looked at Peter. “Sorry to bother you Mr. Parker. We were—concerned about Deadpool’s activities.” The man smiled. “Just want to keep the neighborhood safe.”

“It’s always important to keep the neighborhood safe,” Aunt May agreed. “Please, take a seat.” Coulson sat and, not to be outdone, Wade did too, Peter following. “Would you like some lemonade?” asked the woman pleasantly.

“If you would be so kind,” Coulson said with a smile. Aunt May smiled and bustled off while Coulson turned his attention to Peter.

[I don’t like the way he’s looking at him.]

{Petey is ours.}

“Well, Peter,” Coulson said slowly as Deadpool tucked himself around his boyfriend, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Unfazed Peter used his wrist to shove the glasses back into place on his face. “Have you?” he asked. “Agent Coulson.”

“And how did you know that?” asked Coulson with an easy smile.

Peter did not smile back. In fact, he bristled and Deadpool could feel it. “Wade called you by name,” he said.

Wade. That was right; he was Wade. Peter’s boyfriend. He shook himself and Peter leaned back into his embrace.

Coulson, the bastard, watched the whole thing. “Wade,” he said emphasizing the name and not title, “didn’t call me ‘agent’.”

Peter sighed. “You are not wearing a uniform. I know all of the detectives in this section of the city, since one of them lives down the street and has been regularly throwing barbecues for his fellow officers and detectives since before I lived here. So you are not a detective, or I would already know you. That leaves ‘agent.’ I don’t yet have enough information to realize if you are FBI, CIA, or SHIELD, but you are definitely an agent.”

The man nodded. “That’s a good deduction,” he admitted.

Peter gave a low snort. “Trust me,” he said, “I only look stupid.”

“The spandex only makes me look stupid.”

Almost the exact same phrase. One was Peter. One was Spidey. Except—

{They’re the same! Oh, thank the good heavens, Petey-Pie and Spidey are the same!}

Wade’s mind quickly sifted through all of his interactions with Peter. The way, when they were first eating back to back, that he’d been reminded of Spiderman. The way that Spiderman and Peter were never in the same place at the same time. The way that if Spiderman left Wade in an uncomfortable situation Peter would show up to help (and maybe tease him about the insane number of masks in the drawer, but Wade still had issues about his skin). They were the same person.

[Do you even know what this means?]

{Of course I do! It means we can cuddle Spidey any time we want and not feel bad about it!}

[It means he’ll hate us.]

Both Wade and Yellow paused in their internal excitement as they felt the first tendrils of dread. What did White mean? Why would Peter hate them?

[He spent so much energy hiding his identity and then we, the most unstable person he knows, figures it out? He’ll never forgive us.]

{But—but what can we do?}

[Pretend we don’t know and wait. He’ll either tell us eventually, or not.]

Wade wasn’t sure he could do it.

[noaltbruh]

BRUNO SURVIVES AU

HUGE SPOILERS FROM PART 5, VENTO AUREO

Everything seemed to have come to an end, Giorno took one last look at the river where Diavolo had fallen down, then summoned Gold Experience Requiem.

For a reason not even the boy himself could understand...He was afraid of his stand. It kept on staring him right in the eyes, like a slave waiting for his master's commands.

He knew it couldn't hurt him, but it didn't matter, he couldn't bring himself to believe this was really an incarnation of his soul.

"At your service, how may I assist you?"

Upon hearing the stand talking like an independent identity, the fear inside Giorno's heart grew even bigger.

"I need to know...What have you done to Diavolo?"

He said, directing his sigh to the arrow stuck in its palm.

"I gave him the punishment a being like him deserves. He wished to be at the top, to overcome any...Error of his past, to become unkillable. And now... He will be experiencing death until everything ceases to exist. I'd dare to say, it's almost amusing, wouldn't you agree?"

The stand concluded, a little smirk formed on his face.

Giorno didn't have the courage to look at the...Creature he had just given life to, he instinctively turned around, facing away from it.

"Master? Aren't you satisfied with my work?"

The godly entity said, approaching his user, trying to get him to and face it.

But Giorno still resisted, instictly closing his eyes.

"Be more specific, what kind of punishment is he enduring?"

"He will be constantly sent to alternatives realities, and in each one of them he will experience a different form of death, like drowning, to make a simple example. Even right now, as we're talking, Diavolo has already been killed multiple times"

The young boy bit his lips, when he felt something touching him on the shoulder, it didn't take much to realize whose hand it was.

"What's the matter, Master? Your behavior is quite...Unusual"

"...Everything is fine"

"Allow me to remember you, that I'm nothing more than a manifestation of yourself, hiding your thoughts from me isn't going to be particularly useful"

"I'm not hiding anything"

He said, retracting his stand, a drop of blood fell on his chest

"Know your place"

He turned around and reopened his eyes; his attention was caught by Mista and Trish sharing a laugh together. Giorno wondered how they could be so carefree after everything they've been through.

Abbacchio... Narancia... Bucciarati...

He asked to himself how he could have ever explained to them that the man was gone, and that he had known it from the beginning.

"Come on Giorno, we gotta save Bucciarati!"

Mista said, interrupting his friend's thoughts.

The blonde, in return, did not say a word; trying to avoid anyone's gaze, he followed the older boy and Trish to the colosseum, bringing Polnareff along with them.

His steps were slow, reluctant, and heavy. He didn't have the courage to face what was going to happen next.

"Uh...This place didn't look so big earlier, we're gonna take hours to find him! Giorno, can you use Gold Experience to sense his life energy?"

"My stand has been quite active lately, I'd rather not overuse it, if you don't mind"

It was the best excuse he could make up on the moment, he has always had a talent to trick everyone around him as it pleased him, but this time...It was different. He wished he could have just run away, and convince himself that it was for the best.

Before Trish could answer, they heard a scream coming not very far away from them, it was Mista's.

The girl grabbed Giorno by the arm, and ran into the direction where the sound came from.

At last...There it was: Bucciarati's body. His eyes were open, but there was no flicker of light inside of them, just a plain, dull blue. A part of his clothes was torn, even though there wasn't a single drop of blood on him.

"It...It can't be...This is a joke, r-right? Bucciarati is going to wake up...He'll be fine...RIGHT?"

Trish fell to her knees, as the tears started flooding on her face.

Even if she had known the man in white for such a short time, he had been a better parental figure to her than her own father ever was.

Mista put an hand on her shoulder, trying to restrain from bursting in tears as well.

Giorno simply stood there, constantly switching his sigh from the two mourning teens to Bruno's corpse.

The shell of the turtle he was holding slipped away from his palms, and fell to the ground. Every inch of his body was shaking like the last leaf left on a tree in the middle of October, fighting back, to show that he was stronger than the ones around him.

Shaking...That's what he would always do whenever he felt fear invading him.

"There's no point in crying" is the phrase he'd constantly repeat to himself as a child, every time his mother would leave him in the middle of the night, or his father would brutally hit him with the closest object he could find.

When Narancia's soul left his body, for the first time in his life, Giorno felt his eyes getting wet, but he refused to let the tears flow, he couldn't show such sign of weakness in a situation where all of their lives were on the line.

But now... Staring at that body completely drained of any sign of energy, reminded him of the heart crushing sensation of seeing his closest friend vanishing in front of his eyes, and not being able to do anything to save him.

For a split second, he felt the urge to jump from the railing that ideally separated the two of them. He wanted to follow him, he didn't care where they would have gone, he could not bring himself to accept that Bruno was not there anymore.

Giorno was just a boy, and despite how much he didn't want to admit it, he was still immature, he refused to let go of the blue haired man.

He had already experienced it in Venezia; when he noticed that his attempts to keep in contact with Bucciarati inside the tower had failed, he panicked, and did something no member of an organization like Passione should do: disobey his Boss' orders.

And even then, his desire to keep him by his side...Was so strong that he said 'no' to death itself.

But in the end, it was useless, bringing him back was just a fake hope Giorno had decided to believe in.

Mista turned around to look at the boy, his expression was a mixture of anger and deep sadness. He was clutching his teeth, breathing heavily.

"What are you waiting for? Heal him! Bring him back before it's too late, or are you just going to stand there and let him suffer until he dies?"

"M-Mista...You know I can't do that, just like I couldn't bring Abbacchio or Narancia back, Bucciarati's soul has already left his body"

He reached out his arm into the gunman's direction, but Mista pulled away, pointing his stand right into the boy with green eyes' head.

"How are you so calm, uh? How aren't you shedding a single tear? Did you ever even care about him, about ANY of us?!"

"...I understand how you feel, but Bucciarati was perfectly aware of the risk he would have taken when we betrayed Diav-"

"YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING, GIOVANNA! STOP ACTING LIKE YOU'RE SUPERIOR TO ALL OF US"

He said, nervously tickling the trigger. He was expecting Giorno to get back, or to at least show any kind of concern. But the boy did not flinch, looking at him with eyes emptier than Bucciarati's.

It almost seemed like it was exactly what he wanted: he was waiting- no, he was hoping for Mista to shoot at him.

"W-WHAT THE HELL GIORNO? DO YOU WANT ME TO P-PUT A FREAKING BULLET I-IN YOUR HEAD SO MUCH?"

"Do as it pleases you, I am not going to fight back"

"...You knew a-about this, didn't you? What did you do to him inside the tower in Venezia?"

"..."

Mista put the gun down, and grabbed him by the shoulders, pushing him against the floor. Giorno's curls were reduced to a blonde mess.

The back of his clothes got torn as well, one of the lady bug ornaments fell to the ground, breaking in two.

"I told you, I'm not going to resist"

The calmness that came from his voice was unnatural, like a patient mother who had seen her child throwing a tantrum multiple times, and had become apathetic to it.

"I won't say it again, Giovanna. What did you do to Bucciarati in Venezia?"

Giorno sighed heavily, then took a deep breath. Despite how numb he may have looked from outside, he was just as much, if not, more hurt to see Bucciarati in that state than anyone else.

"Bucciarati was killed"

Those words resonated throughout the entire Colosseum. The two boys could hear Trish's sobs becoming even louder than before, but they brushed it off.

"...The hell are you talking about? Did you go insane? Are you seriously telling me your stand can bring people back from the dead? I want the truth, not some fairy ta-"

"You're not entirely wrong, but you are not right either"

"W-what did you just say?"

"I did bring him back to life, or so I thought...To the very least. But the energy that my Gold Experience was able to inject inside of him only lasted for a very short time. His soul was perfectly intact...But his body was simply too unstable"

Mista let go of the boy, gesturing for him to get up. The anger in his eyes seemed to have vanished, his tone was now resembling Giorno's.

"Alright, I believe you"

The latter picked up what was left of his left brooch, and tried to get some dust off his clothes.

"Very well, I'm glad we could-"

"Do it again"

Mista said, kneeling down to Bruno's level, to check the parts of his body that he had previously shot to.

"You said you brought him back, do it again"

Giorno got closer to his companion, putting an hand on his shoulder.

"Mista... I cannot do that, some stands are remarkably powerful, but they have limits too"

"Maybe before, but yours is not a normal stand anymore, if he managed to survive for a while using only its old powers, who says that it's not going to work permanently this time?"

"I'm-"

"Not leaving until you try"

He concluded, stepping back so that Giorno could have a full view of the body. Reluctantly, he summoned his stand, still avoiding doing eye contact as hard as he could.

"Master, if I may, I don't believe this is exactly a very smart idea"

"I know, and I agree, but we will never see the end of this if we don't at least give it a try"

"Don't...Please"

"What's the matter? In the worst case scenario, nothing will change, we'll just give Bucciarati the burial he deserves, and move on"

"This will be the biggest regret in your life, we don't have to do this, YOU are the Boss now, Mista has no authority over you"

"...You're right"

He gently put the man's head on his knees, placing an hand on his chest.

"And you don't either"

Before the stand could oppose any resistance, a blindly beam of light surrounded the three.

One, two, three minutes passed. Nonetheless, such a small period of time seemed to be never-ending.

Gold Experience Requiem vanished,  accompanied by the sound of Giorno's heavy breathing, he could barely keep his eyes open.

That's when he suddenly heard something resonating, even though he could not tell where it came from.

It was a calm, slow sound, that seemed to become slightly more intense with every moment that passed.

Instinctively, he looked down, and was met with a pair of bright, blue, lively eyes staring back at him.

That sound...Was Bucciarati's heartbeat.

His lips were contracted, forming an imperceptible smile. He put his hand on the boy's, it was warm, and delicate.

"G-Giorno? I...I don't understand... Why am I here? Y-you...Didn't die, r-right? We were so close to d-defeating Diavolo, don't tell m-me..."

"Everything is okay, Bucciarati. I'm alive...And so are you"

"What? But...My s-soul...How did this happen?"

"I'm...Not quite sure, to be honest. I suppose my stand has truly surpassed any other"

In a matter of few seconds, the man found himself surrounded by Mista and Trish, who hugged him tight with tears in their eyes.

"Bucciarati...You're alive! It worked, it actually worked!"

"We...We thought we had lost you forever...I'm NEVER letting you go again!"

The man chuckled softly, moved by their genuine concern for him.

He turned his attention to Giorno, who had immediately retracted himself in the moment the two had threw themself on him.

"Aren't you happy to see me? Don't you want to join us?"

"I...never really liked physical contact, I hope you understand"

"Is that so?"

Bruno summoned Sticky Fingers, giving the blonde boy a small push from behind, making him fall right on him.

"Forgive me, but I have no intention of letting you out of this group hug"

He smiled sweetly, hoping for a smile in return, but Giorno lowered his head, his hands still welded to his hips.

"If...You insist"

[spartanxhunterx]

Home Support (part 3)

Tags: @elmokingkong, @kuroko26, @votederpycausemufins, @redscarlet95, @amayakans, @yin-390, @susiej1118, @toodaloo-kangaroo

Her arms ached, her brow was dripping with sweat and the Akuma was hot on her heels. So much so that she could feel the heat they were emanating on her back, if it wasn't for Tikki's protection, she probably would have burned up by now.

She was trying to push the Akuma closer to the seine, closer to water, where she hoped to be able to dunk the Akuma into to combat the flames that engulfed them. Only then would she stand a chance. If only the Akuma didn't keep bringing up massive walls of flames to block her path.

At the very least, she had managed to scout out the Akuma's abilities. They could only being up one massive wall at a time, so as long as she didn't trap herself in (which is kinda hard when you can vault over every building around) then she could keep up with their game of cat and mouse.

Speaking of cats.

Chat Noir was following behind the Akuma, slightly off to the side. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but the damn cat was choosing to just watch from a safe distance, instead of trying to ambush Hawkmoths victim of the day.

She was so having choice words with him later.

She swerved to the side as a fireball flung past her head, she was certain that a few hair had to have been burnt from that. She had yet to see the extent of that move yet, but she would deal with it later.

The Akuma took priority, she swung around a corner, pulling herself up and over the building before her before touching down into a sprint that resulted in her jumping over gaps between buildings and streets. The Akuma left growing flames everywhere they went, leaving the fire department severely overworked and undermanned as they tried to fight the flames for the sake of the civilians.

She could see the seine just over the cusp of the buildings, feeling her determination grow she put all her effort into getting there as soon as possible.

It seems, however, her ladybug luck could only last so long.

As she flung her yo-yo onto a lamppost a blast of flame hit it, melting it instantly. She had already been lifted into the air slightly when it happened, expecting to simply vault to the closest building. Instead, she took a sudden dive towards the ground, hitting it full force as she skidded across the tarmac.

Thank Kwami for the magic that protected her.

as she turned to look up, she saw the Akuma hovering above her, the sharp symbol of Hawkmoth over their pure white glowing eyes. Without a word the Akuma raised their arm and pointed it at Ladybug, a large stream of fire escaped from their Palm and was heading her way.

She was frozen to the spot, unable to move, her yo-yo was too far away for her to use, having skidded away from her during her fall.

"LADYBUG!"

She was certain she was hearing Chat shouting her name but couldn't pinpoint its origins.

Just before the flames got to her she felt a massive hand grab her shoulder, pulling her backwards effortlessly as something big and round was planted in front of her.

The flames hit it, spreading around it as it was forced to come in contact with the... Thing... The tarmac around them began to bubble. After a few more seconds of the onslaught of flames, they stopped. The light of the flames had left her momentarily blinded, yet she felt... Safe.

She's stood as her eyes adjusted back to normal, before her stood a very large and very broad man. He was wearing large thick green boots, a thin dark green undersuit was covered with near black coloured sections around the thighs, shoulder and wrists. His stomach was more a yellow green giving off a pattern similar to... It clicked.

her eyes darted to large shield in His hand, to the turtle miraculous on his wrist then to the man's face where it was shrouded by the dark hood and goggle like mask.

There was fondness in those eyes that she couldn't immediately place. There was only two people who knew where to find the miraculous and only one of them were like the man before her.

"Papa?"

He, her father, smiled at her in that way that she knew meant that she was loved and cared for.

"Hello my little macaroon."

Marinette was about to open her mouth when another person, her Maman no doubt, landed next to them both. She would honestly admit to everyone around that she was jealous of her mother's attire.

Sabine's suit was designed like a hanfu dress, the deep red colour was accented by the shiny silver lines that made the entire suit look scaly. Sitting in the centre of her chest was a dragons head, wide open as if ready to bite, between the teeth was the three elemental symbols for water, air and lightning. The dragons neck when up and around her mother's neck where it went back down, seemingly under the head and towards her right hip.

The body of the Dragon circled around her waist until the tail hung loosely off her front. The large sleeves were designed to look like Dragon wings but clearly were unable to hold any real weight. Sabine's eyes had gone a golden yellow and sliced like a reptiles, the red mask that covered her eyes gave off the impression of an open maw, there were two horn like additions to each side of her head, almost looking like a crown.

She looked glorious and Marinette was jealous that her mother got to showcase her heritage better then she could.

"Perhaps it time we get a little... Lucky, ladybug."

Sabine jolted her head to behind them as she returned Ladybugs yo-yo to her, giving a quick look back she spotted Alya hiding behind a trashcan, phone trained on the three of them.

Great, Just.... Great.

"Protect me." She stepped back as her father pulled his shield up in front of them both and her mother drew the sword from her back, it look no different from the one Ryuoko used. "Lucky Charm!"

From the cloud of Ladybugs emerged a... "Fire blanket?"

" figure it out, " Her mother spoke fiercely. "I'll handle them for now." Like that she was off the ground, jumping from outcrop to outcrop while trying to get close to the Akuma.

Her sword would swing at them as she got close, forcing the Akuma to drop lower down or move back. Her mother was a little too fast for the Akuma to keep up with.

Ladybug scanned around her, her vision darkening as she tried to figure out a solution. There wasn't much to go off of right now just...

Her eyes darted to her father, then her mother, to the blanket and then the fire hydrant down the street, where to Akuma had been forced back towards.

"I got it." She quickly tied the blanket to her left arm, not wishing to lose it. "Help her push the Akuma back and down more, be ready to activate Shell-ter on my mark."

Her father gave her a nod before he ran down the street, not nearly as agile as the two of them. She was quick to fling her way to the hydrant, wrap the wire around the end and brace. Then she waited.

She watched her parents fight, her mother tried to stay as airborne as possible, bouncing back and forth between buildings and truly looking like a dragon.

Her father stayed down, drawing the heat - literally - to himself. Just a little closer.

"Hey bugaboo, look a little busy there, need a hand?"

She groaned internally, not letting the irresponsible hero get under her skin. "Not now Chat, talk later." She heard her earrings beep once and ignored the weight that was out on her shoulder.

A little more now.

"So, patrol tonight?"

" Can't... Family business. " Which for once would not be a lie.

"You can keep playing hard to get all you want MyL-"

"Now!" She pulled back on the hydrant , breaking it and allowing water to spray upwards. Directly into the Akuma.

they were put off by the force and their flames dulled due to the moisture but they didn't extinguish. They hit the ground close to her father, as he raised his shield up, her mother dropped next to him.

"Shell-ter!"

The large dome encompassed the three of them, leaving Ladybug and Chat Noir outside it. Despite this it still seemed impossible to retrieve the Akumatised object as it had to have been below the flames, they couldn't see it.

"Hold your breath." The two adults looked at each other in understanding. " Water dragon! "

As quickly as one could blink the dome filled up with water, it filled the flames until they extinguished and even then the water stayed a short moment after. As her earrings beeped a second time ladybug unwrapped the blanket from her arm, she knew what she had to do.

As quickly as it started, the shield dropped and the water flowed everywhere, leaving her parents both standing above the Akuma. Ladybug wasted no time in trying their hands together with one end of the blanket before she used the other end to pay down the Akuma still hot body.

there were cracks running up their body like magma was trying escape from underground. She quIckly found the object, a fancy looking lighter, before she smashed it on the ground under her foot.

She untied the blanket before repainting into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" Like that all the damage was reverted, fires where extinguished and the hard working rescue services could relax once more.

As the corrupted magic dissipated off the victims body ladybugs earrings beeped a third time, this time she brought a hand up to them before she turned to her parents.

"Go, we'll handle this." Her mother was already kneeling by the victim, trying to comfort them.

" purr-haps I should take you home Milady? We still need to have tha-" Chat Noirs words were interrupted by his yelp of pain, caused by her father dragging him backwards by his tail.

"Actually," the larger man spoke, putting an arm around the feline hero. "Why don't you help us speak to our... Dedicated reporter." He gestured to Alya as Ladybug Yo-Yo'd away, greatful for her parents.

After a few minutes of gushing and - with somewhat scornful looks sent the man's way - asking questions they ended off on the important one.

"So, what done a call you two?"

"Fēilóng." The Dragon weilder spoke, authority and power coursing in her voice.

"Tortue." The turtle weilder spoke with pride in his own voice, a sound that made others feel at ease and safe around him.

quickly the two of them jumped up to the closest roof, gave each other a sparing glance before parting ways, as if they didn't know each other. Leaving a grumbling cat and slightly disgruntled reporter behind.

-

Later the family was sat at their dinning room table enjoying their dinner, as they spoke about pleasant nothing's. As if the three of them had never gone out and fought a magic enhanced villain with the help of magical mini-gods.

said Mini-Gods were sat in the centre of the table enjoying their own food and even tea from their miniature cups. Marinette had been more then willing to allow her parents to keep the miraculous, both so she could have back up and so the Kwami themselves could enjoy the world more thoroughly.

She knew Wayzz needed more time before he got over the loss of master fu, what better way then to find with someone new?

She's knew he wouldn't be decent for a while and she didn't blame him for it at all.

"Tikki?" The tiny red God looked up to her chosen not noticing, or choosing not to acknowledge, the glint of mischief in her yes.

"Yes Marinette?"

" Could not be possible to... say... Pass a message onto Plagg for me? It's important. "

"I would have to visit him personally and inform think that's wise. "

"Well," the bi-racial girl started. "I don't think we'll get an Akuma tonight, so it should be safe. I just need you to ask Plagg How he feels about his holder and what he's doing to correct his behaviour, he was pretty game today after all."

" Very well, do you wish for me to depart immediately or later? "

"Soon. It would be best so we can get to sleep early tonight, I'm exhausted. "

"Very well." Despite her size , Tikki was quick to pick up a cookie and carry it with her. "I shall return as soon as possible."

She went through the open window , unable to phase through it while holding her sugary treat. Her parents looked at her oddly and she was quick to withdraw a box from her bag, pulling the miraculous out of it she didn't flinch at the bright golden light in front of her. She clipped the comb to one of her ponytails before facing her parents.

"Lets go get the ring back. "

[thelostandforgottenangel]

Zootopia Tarzan Moana Atlantis 101 Dalmatians Frozen Beauty and the Beast Hercules Aladdin

Zootopia – Would your muse enjoy living in utopia, or would they feel out of place?

Raven would completely and utterly probably hate it; sure maybe she would like a world where everyone got along and lived in peace and her family was safe from harm… but she lives in the sewers (Currently is up in the woods away from civilization with everyone) – she would feel way out of place

Tarzan – How did the place your muse grew up in affect them?

Strangely enough where as the turtles were eager to get to the surface she loves living underground and might prefer to stay there unless they are out in the open with nobody around for miles like up at the cabin, it gives her a sense of safety and security she only feels around her family if she is up top on patrol

Moana – Does your muse believe in fate or destiny? What is theirs?

Nope not really! Let’s put it this way she didn’t expect to see the late teenage years and truthfully she expects she will probably die so it’s a live by the moment kinda thing and accept there might be no chance of seeing next year much less 25.

If she does have a destiny it will probably be to kill her bastard of a sperm donor who has tried to kill her and her family one to many times

Atlantis – Is your muse adventurous or do they prefer to seclude themselves?

Both, but you gotta catch her on the right day! She loves exploring places she’s never seen wondering off too far from home sometimes getting herself into trouble other times finding somewhere for her and the turtles to hang out, other times she’s like a feral kitten with some violent tendencies meaning she hides either in her room or up in her crevasse within the pipes if there are people she don’t want to be around or trust in the lair *cough*Vern*cough*

101 Dalmatians – Does your muse have a large collection of any particular thing?

If you’re talking collections she has several but we’ll just do the bigger two; one is a box of the most random treasures she finds either in the sewers, through the grates, or up on the surface when she’s patrolling. Most she shares with the guys if they really like something but everything else is in this pretty box hidden under her bed

Pillows!!!

Her bed consists of a ‘nice’ queen size mattress they found on the streets then topped with about 50 *not exaggerating* of the plushiest pillows she could find while on junkyard supply runs crafted under her sheets into a nest, any stuffed animals she decided to keep from when she was a child sits along the back wall, and a giant knitted blanket Raph made her which she curls up in right in the middle of it all. Yes she has stolen all of her brother’s pillows before; Donnie’s not to many times because she wants him to sleep, and yes they had to physically go in her room at 6 a.m. when they had just got home from patrol and gotten cleaned up to drag them out from under her fake sleeping body or offer a new pillow so she will give it back… her bed is the softest so sometimes revenge is taken out on her for not giving them back in a timely manor by one of them climbing into her bed to just sleep there for the night being to tired to really work to get their stuff back

It’s a trap, this was her plan all along because she likes cuddles; Raph and Mikey give the best but good luck when she needs to get up, Leo is just fun to nestle up against cause he churrs softly in his sleep and it is soothing as fuck, if Donnie winds up in there it’s usually cause he missed his door or he couldn’t get comfortable

Or the lair is cold at that point they all nestle in the same room to keep from getting too cold

Frozen – What is your muse’s relationship with their siblings like?

It can be a rocky thing from time to time because they are still siblings and there will always be disagreements or rivalries… but no matter what she loves her brothers and their relationship is pretty good.

She is the baby of the family and no matter how mature she acts her brother’s spoil her rotten same as they did when she was tiny, she literally gets away with murder because of her big bright green eyes and innocent face (This is a lie don’t fall for it)

Leo although strict with her training because he would feel like a failure if she got hurt or died while in the middle of patrol or a battle pushes her harder then his younger brothers even gives her extra lessons if he feels she isn’t getting it but tends to let her goof off just a bit if she is doing great (Denies it to the highest power if called out by anyone)

Raph will act tough and argues with her either cause she’s bugging him or asking him to do shit (Will act like he hates her from time to time, they get into physical altercations, have at least one yelling match a day a real serious one every other week or so) but is the biggest teddy bear if close to the teen and thinks nobody is around, he still lets her ride around on his shell or his shoulder if it doesn’t hurt too bad because he does love her even if he will never admit it

Donnie no matter what always gives her his latest tech to try out since he believes she will tell him the truth if it needs work  and updates her laptop before Mikey’s game system because he can and she never asks him for much

Let’s face it; she is Mikey’s best friend, baby girl, and partner in crime! Both of these babies can always be found in the kitchen cooking almost every day and when they are not they are causing hell by pranking the other three, putting graffiti on the walls, playing their music too loud while having an epic dance party, fucking with Leo while he is attempting to train or meditate until he gets so frustrated they can pull him out of that serious ‘Leader Mode’ he runs on or as Raph calls it ‘Pulling the stick out of his ass’

Beauty and the Beast – How has your muse changed as a person over their life? Have they changed for the better or for the worse?

As a young child she was the same as she is now nothing seemed to bother her only she was a lot more fearful of humans believing they could get her through the TV and the scary metal monster that haunted her dreams until she was almost 13…so we did get a lot of personal growth

It’s could be worse – she could have been raised by Shredder but nobody wants that!

Hercules – Is your must more physically strong, or emotionally strong

She tries to be both but she is 5’4½, 170 pounds soaking wet with all her gear on, and even though Raph tries to put some more muscle on her she’s still tiny … they all remind her of this daily

I think she’s more emotionally strong; it takes a lot to break her unless it’s about the guys being hurt or almost killed then she shuts down, stays by their side, and cries like a baby until they are better

Aladdin – If your muse had 3 wishes, what would they be?

Her family’s safety will always be her first wish no matter what

For her brother’s to be accepted by the world above because seeing them upset by some unappreciative asshat of a person that ran screaming after they saved them from harm when they may have risked their own lives hurts her a lot. She will sit and comfort them if she is allowed and has held a sobbing Mikey a few too many times

Last but not least you would think she would want Shredder dead and his head on a pike but actually all she wants is one whole day of silence, everyone getting along, and for Donnie not to drink all of the damn coffee before 9 a.m.

@betelgeusessonajblog

[pilyarquitect]

77. “Isn’t that illegal?”

The next one will be in Spanish.

********************************

Leo was right now jumping from roof to roof. With Raph and Mikey following him closely. Donnie on the other side was left behind, back in the lair. The reason? The genius turtle had been injured during their last mission. He was facing Bebop and Rockstedy by his own, while the rest of them were facing literally the rest of Shredder’s army.

Truth be told, Donnie fought bravely and proving to be a worthy ninja warrior, but Bebop specially didn’t fight with honour, and Donnie ended up being seriously injured, and almost killed if April wouldn’t have saved him. For once, Donnie was the one who needed to be rescued by April – something Leo, Raph and Mikey used to make fun of him of course.

But after all the fun, and knowing Donnie would need help to move to the different parts of the lair, the three unharmed brothers decided to help their brother to have a little bit of independence on this issue. For that reason, they agreed on looking for a wheelchair to give it to their genius brother. If it had been any of the others who had been in Donnie’s situation, their genius brother would have built a wheelchair himself to solve this moving issue.

But in their case, they needed to get one…

Leo stopped suddenly. How to get a wheelchair? They couldn’t just go to a store where they sell this kind of things and buy one… they didn’t have money to buy it anyway, and obviously, they didn’t want to ask April or Casey to buy it for them. This would be an incredible abuse of their trust. And thinking about that… Leo didn’t dare to ask it to Karai. Surely his sister would find a way to get a wheelchair, but Leo was pretty sure she wouldn’t use a very legal way to get it. Maybe they should have thought on this better before going outside-

“Oh, look at that Karai, the turtles are patrolling.”

That voice… it was Shinigami, and she named Karai. Leo looked at the voice origin and soon he saw both kunoichis.

Before Leo could even say something, Raph’s voice sounded first.

“Seriously? We had to meet them today? From all the nights?!”

Karai instantly raised her hands to calm the irascible turtle.

“Calm down Raphael,” she said “you know I’m not your enemy anymore.”

Then the kunoichi turned to the older brother with a smile, the same smile she used to use with him, a smile that sometimes made him feel comfortable, others made him blush and others just confused him.

“What are you doing here anyway, Leo?” Karai looked around “And, where’s Donatello?”

“Oh, D got stuck at the lair.” Answered Mikey jovially.

Karai’s eyes opened wide

“What?”

Leo narrowed his eyes at his youngest brother and then, knowing he must provide an explanation, turned to Karai.

“During our last battle with Shredder’s army, he got injured and broke both of his legs.”

“Seriously?”

Karai’s voice was a mixture of worrying and fun, a lot more worrying than fun though.

“Yeah! April had to save him, and after seeing he wouldn’t be able to walk anywhere, we’ve decided to help him by-”

“Mikey!” screamed Leo to shut his brother. It was bad enough he had just admitted in from of Karai Donnie was saved by the girl his genius brother loved. Karai needn’t to know what were they trying to do for Donnie.

“By what? What don’t you want me to know Leo?” asked the kunoichi looking directly to Leo. The blue-clad turtle shrugged. Karai was looking at him with that look that made him feel extremely nervous.

“Whaaaat? Why do you think we’re hiding you something?”

Oh man… that sounded like the worst lie ever!

“Your nervous attitude, the nudge you gave to Mikey, the fact that you’re sweating… have I to continue?”

Oh shell, Leo couldn’t win, he knew that. There was only one way out.

“Arg! Fine,” he sighed “we plan to get a wheelchair to help Donnie move through the lair.”

Karai crossed her arms over her chest. Shinigami approached her and put an arm on the other Kunoichi’s shoulder.

“Oh, I see, and how do you plan to get this wheelchair?” Shini asked.

Leo paled. He didn’t know what answer. Of the corner of his eye, he raised one of his fingers with a big smile in his face.

Oh no…

“We- we… how do we plan do that Leo?”

Mikey looked at him and Leo could feel he was beginning to sweat.

“Well, I…” Leo gulped “I’ll tell you in a minute.”

Raph narrowed his eyes looking directly at him.

“Wait, don’t tell me you don’t know where to get a wheelchair.”

Leo looked back at Raph also narrowing his eyes.

“No, I know where to get a wheelchair,” he snaped “what I don’t know is how to get it.”

“What?! So, we’ve left the sewers without a plan?!” screamed the red-clad turtle looking at his brother with a furious expression.

“First of all, I thought you hated plans, and secondly, we haven’t left without a plan, we’ve left without a complete plan, it’s not the same.” Tried to argue Leo. Before the older brother could say anything else, Karai put herself in between of the two of them with a mischievous smile… the kind of smile that made Leo feel the kunoichi was about to say something they would regret later.

“Hey, no need to fight, I’ve the solution, you just go to the hospital and take one of those wheelchairs.”

“Isn’t that illegal? You know… stealing?” asked Mikey with confused voice. Karai turned to look at him still with her smile in her face.

“No, you’re not stealing it’ll be just a loan. You’ll return the wheelchair when Donatello doesn’t need it anymore.”

“You know? I like her idea.” Said Raph crossing his arms

“Really?” said Leo and Karai both at the same time, but for different reasons.

The red-clad turtle shrugged.

“Yeah, you know, Donnie needs one of those, and those chairs are there for those who need them, so why can’t we take one temporary and give it back once Donnie is fine again?”

Mikey looked between his two older brothers and after a deep breath, he put a hand on his oldest brother.

“Raph has a point Leo, even I know it’s difficult not to say impossible for us to get one of those things. Take one from a hospital and returning it once we’ve finished with it isn’t a bad idea.”

Leo looked at his baby brother, who was looking at him with puppy eyes. Raph still had a hard look in his face, and Karai looked at him with a funny expression, probably knowing what Leo was about to say.

“Okay, let’s do this.”

[salthaven]

Stupid and in Love, P5

Chapter Five: La Paonne, Master of Illusions (Or Better Yet, Lies)

   Nino is a chill guy. He’s always been known for keeping his calm, going with the flow. He’s not the kind of dude who gets upset over small things, or jealous when someone else has a crush on Marinette…

   Okay, Evillustrator was a completely different thing. That...that was him being a hero! Protecting her from evil.

   (It’s a story for another time, thank you!)

   But yeah. Nino is super chill. Like, ice cube chill.

   So why does the new girl get on his nerves so badly?

   She seems pleasant, too. A transfer, daughter of an Italian ambassador. The girl, Lila just wants to make friends. She’s nothing but sweet, with a cheerfulness to match Adrien’s and a kindness that parallels Marinette...so why does she rub Nino the wrong way?

   He asks Wayzz about his gut feeling, the Kwami shrugs.

   “Sometimes the human subconscious can pick up on danger that you may not otherwise perceive,” the small turtle says calmly as they hide in the empty bathroom. “Perhaps you should look into the matter.”

   So he does, because his little buddy is never wrong about this stuff. (Nino thinks it’s cause the Kwami is roughly a bajillion years old, but he won’t say that out loud. Respect your elder gods and all.)

   He follows her to the library, where she talks with Adrien. Adrien, his best bro, who is holding a book on...is that a hero? Are those...Miraculous wielders?

   Huh. Nino should probably tell Ladybug about that, huh?

   Nino hears shuffling, and glances around. And then he blinks, surprised, because he sees Marinette eyeing the new girl, Lila, with curiosity. She, too, seems distrustful of the girl. Nino wonders if she has the same weird feeling, or if there’s something else Marinette is thinking.

   Maybe Marinette is just feeling shy.

   The sound of books falling makes Nino look away, and he sees Lila and Adrien on the ground, picking up Adrien’s books as Lila apologizes for knocking them over, with Adrien waving off her apologies before walking off, books in hand.

   Nino hums lightly, wondering why the feeling isn’t gone, and then he looks to Marinette.

   And he sees the ways her eyes narrow, and she starts to follow Lila.

   He follows her.

   “What’s up, Nette?” He asks when he reaches her, making sure Lila doesn’t hear his voice.

   Marinette jumps, turning on him with wide eyes.

   “Not much, Nino! Were- were you looking for something?” She’s fidgeting, glancing around, trying to look natural.

   She’s an awful liar, but it just makes Nino smile. It just shows how amazing she is, that she’s always so honest.

   “I saw you following Lila,” he admits. “Why?”

   “I think she took his book,” she whispers the confession after a few seconds, and Nino scowls.

   “I knew something was up with her! Don’t worry Nette, I’ll handle this.” And then he’s storming off, trying to find her, missing the way Marinette blinks and looks to her own Kwami, trying to find answers that the little goddess doesn’t have.

   Nino finds Lila leading Adrien to the park, smiling and giggling. Adrien follows, responding with ease.

   They stop in a secluded area, and Nino hides among the trees, eyes trained on Lila.

   He won’t lose track of her, not this time…

   “So, what did you want to tell me?” Adrien asks, as happy as always.

   Lila giggles, leaning in. “Well, I noticed how much you love heroes, what with your book and all…”

   “Oh!” Adrien blushes, smiling. “Yeah, the heroes are really cool. Especially Ladybug. Did you see how she took down the latest Akuma? She’s so awesome.” Then Adrien pauses and laughs awkwardly. “Wait, you couldn’t have. You just moved here.”

   “Yes, the fight was so intense!” Lila gasps, it’s over exaggerated and makes Nino wary. He glances away for a second, locking eyes with Wayzz, who seems just as wary. “I mean, from what I’ve heard.”

   “Uh, okay?” Adrien tries to brush it off, willing to ignore the weird response, but Lila sighs.

   “I can’t hide this anymore. You seem really sweet, Adrien, and I’d hate to keep this a secret. You’re trustworthy, right?” Lila giggles when Adrien nods. “Of course you are. I’m going to tell you something, but you have to keep quiet about this, okay?”

   “Sure, what’s the matter?”

   “You see...I’m actually a hero, too,” Lila confides, and Nino feels his eyes widen. There’s no way she is, right? Unless...is she Rena Rouge?!

   “Really?” Adrien gasps out, and Lila nods.

   “Really!” And Nino watches her pull out a peacock themed broach. “I’m actually a secret hero named La Paonne. I work from the shadows to help Ladybug and her team.”

   Nino sees the way Adrien blinks, how he hesitates and his excitement dims. And he feels the way his blood boils.

   He’s normally calm. He’s normally chill, relaxed, laid back-

   But there is no Peacock hero. At least, there isn’t at the moment. And Nino knows Ladybug would have told them if they had a teammate, especially someone that worked from the shadows!

   He doesn’t know what upsets him more- that the new girl is trying to claim to be a savior of Paris to make herself look better, or that she’s lying to his best friend.

   The second, because Adrien finally blinks and smiles. “Wow, that’s amazing! I didn’t even know there was a secret hero!”

   “That’s the point, silly.” She giggles again, the sound making Nino scowl even more, and then taps his nose playfully. “Ladybug trusted me to guard her back, we are best friends after all.”

   Nino feels his hands curl into fists as Wayzz whispers, “The Peacock Miraculous was lost long ago, and it was broken. Whatever that girl has, that isn’t Dusuu’s Miraculous.” He adjusts his own Miraculous, the bracelet charm shining in the light.

   “I think it’s time she sees a real hero,” Nino decides. “Wayzz, shell-”

   “Just who do you think you are?” Rena Rouge’s voice cuts through the air as she leaps out from behind a bush, and Wayzz zips into Nino’s bag.

   (They’re lucky that Rena didn’t notice them.)

   “I- I’m-” Lila tries, but Rena is nothing but pure rage right now.

   “A liar, that’s what! Let me tell you, little miss, we don’t have a Peacock hero! And if we did, it wouldn’t be you. It’d be someone fighting by our side, because we don’t do shadow work. That’s Hawkmoth, because he’s a coward. If you were a hero, you’d know that we risk our lives to get up close and personal with Akumas to protect Paris. I don’t appreciate hearing some little teenager trying to take credit for the risks we take so she can impress some boy, thank you very much.” With one last huff, Rena Rouge turns around and jumps away, disappearing quickly.

   Nino looks back to the scene. Adrien looks taken aback, and Lila...Lila looks pissed. The Italian runs off before Adrien can even say a word.

   Nino takes that as his cue to leave. He doesn’t notice that Adrien’s book is in the trash can nearby, and neither does the blonde as he walks away.

   And nobody notices Marinette as she slips onto the scene afterward, urged on by Tikki.

~~~~~

   “What is it?” The bluenette asks, unheard as she races after her Kwami.

   “I think the book is nearby! It’s important!” Tikki says, darting around. “We need to find it!”

   “I just wanted to design,” Marinette moans out. “The sky looked so pretty.”

   “You’ll have time later, Marinette! This might be about the Miraculous!”

   “What?” Marinette yelps, and then she’s searching just as intently. Five minutes pass, then ten, then-

   “I found it, Tikki!” Marinette cheers, yanking the book out of the trash can.

   Tikki zips over, eyes scanning the book as Marinette flips through it. “We have to get this to the Guardian!” Tikki blurts out. “Come on, Marinette!”

   “Wait, who?” Marinette asks, but Tikki is zipping away. “Tikki!”

   “Come on! I’ll answer questions when we’re there!”

   Marinette sighs, letting her little friend lead the way. Maybe she’ll get to design later?

   She doubts it.

~~~~~

   Her doubt was right. She just got relaxed, she just finished all of her homework and was about to chill on her balcony, with nothing but her sketchbook and some pencils to pass the time…

   When some fudging Peacock snatched her and ran off.

   “You’re in danger, little lunare,” the bird cooes as she darts along the Parisian sky.

   “Huh?” Marinette responds, ever the eloquent gal.

   “A man was Akumatized, he’s stalking down beautiful girls. Apparently he was rejected by someone, and believes he’s owed love from everyone now. He was climbing up your house.” Her mysterious heroine glares behind her, huffing, then turns her gaze back to Marinette. “I knew I couldn’t let such a beauty be harmed, so I swooped in without a second thought.”

   Marinette blushes at the heroine’s words. “Ah..thank you, uh…”

   “Call me La Paonne.” La Paonne smiles. “Your personal guardian.”

   Marinette giggles. “Thank you, La Paonne, I-” She hesitates, the girl’s words striking a bell.

   Guardian?

   Marinette recalls the rest of her lunch period. How she ran after Tikki and learned of the existence of a Miraculous Guardian. How she met the man, and recognized him as the one she helped to cross the road on her first day of school. How they talked about the book and quickly made a copy, as she knew she’d have to return the original to Adrien soon.

   ...How she saw a Peacock hero...one who looks oddly similar to the one who holds her now, who claims that they saved her from an approaching Akuma that neither she nor Tikki noticed.

   And just as Marinette starts to doubt the mysterious girl that continues to dart across Paris, her judgement is confirmed.

   Because her actual hero leaps in front of them.

   And he looks pissed.

~~~~~

   Nino didn’t expect Lila to get Akumatized.

   Okay, no. He kind of did. Rena Rouge definitely didn’t hold back when yelling at the Italian.

   But why at night? Nino just wanted to patrol, to get some fresh air, maybe some inspiration for his music.

   Instead, Carapace finds himself face to face with ‘La Paonne’. And to make matters worse? His Nette is currently being carried in her arms.

   “Who are you?” Carapace growls out, on edge, and he sees the way Nette tenses in fear, eyes darting to her holder and back to him.

   “I’m La Paonne.” She smiles easily, but he sees how she shifts. He does, too, pressing a button on his shield, calling his team and sending his location. “Ladybug chose me to work in the background and help you. I’ve tried to stay out of sight, to be a hidden trick-”

   “Then why are you out now?” He growls out, but he knows. Nette seems to realize the problem, because her eyes are scanning the area, more frantic than before, and he can see the way she fidgets.

   “She was in danger,” La Paonne says calmly. “I saved her from an Akuma. He’s still on the loose, though, so it’s best to go after him.” She smiles, holding Marinette a little closer. “I’ll protect her, or-”

   “I will protect her,” Carapace bites out. “I don’t know who this Akuma is, or where he is, but if you do, I trust that you’ll deal with them. We don’t need any hidden partners, so you might as well show the world you exist.” He’s lying, he knows who the Akuma is, but La Paonne thinks he buys her act.

   “I suppose you’re right. Take care of her.” La Paonne hands her over, and Carapace smirks as he hears two sets of footsteps landing behind him.

   “Shellter,” Carapace says calmly, and a glowing green dome surrounds him and his Nette.

   “What? What’s that all about?” La Paonne asks, and Carapace barks out a laugh.

   “I know an Akuma when I see one, and I don’t appreciate one that tries to hurt others to further their goal,” he states.

   “Took you this long to get Akumatized?” Rena Rouge asks. “I suppose you’re good at lying to yourself, too, Lila.”

   La Paonne snarls, leaping at Rena Rouge and Chat Noir, and the battle begins.

~~~~~

   Marinette watches with wide eyes as two of her teammates fight La Paonne, unable to leave the protective dome that Carapace created around them.

   Speaking of, her hero kneels beside her. He gazes at her with concern, asking, “Are you alright? She didn’t hurt you, did she?”

   “No!” Marinette squeaks out, blushing. “I’m, uh, fit as a fiddle!” Who says that?

   Carapace seems relieved by her answer, though. “That’s good to hear, br- beautiful.” His dome flickers, and he winces. “My shellter will only last a bit longer, and then I’ll only have five minutes. The moment it wears out, I’m getting you out of here, okay?”

   He called her beautiful. Carapace called her beautiful. He thinks she’s pretty!

   Oh, oh he asked her a question didn’t he?

   “Okay!” She says, then winces as she hears Chat Noir knock into a chimney. Her teammates are getting hurt, and she’s here talking to Carapace...she’s not even suited up yet.

   So Marinette sighs and looks around. She spots a few things quickly. A doorway, letting her down into the apartments they landed on. A pipe, just laying on the ground. And Carapace’s shield, which he holds in one hand.

   “Hey, Carapace?” She starts, and all of his attention goes to her.

   “Yes, beautiful?”

   “Do you trust me?”

   “Yes.” His lack of hesitation surprises her, but then Marinette beams.

   “Follow my lead.” And then she takes his shield and hits the dome, shattering it.

   “Hey!” He screams, but she’s on the move. The crash startles La Paonne, distracting her long enough that Rena gets a good punch in. By the time the Akuma is back up, Marinette has the pipe in her hands.

   “Why you mangy fox, I’ll make you pa-”

   La Paonne is cut off when she gets hit in the head by a pipe. She turns to see the cause, but the door slams behind Marinette as she darts into the building.

   Seconds later, Ladybug swings around the building and kicks La Paonne in the face, knocking her down. She snatches the broach, breaks it, and purifies the Akuma.

   And then she looks to Lila.

   “What happened?” Lila asks, then sees the broach in Ladybug’s hand. “Was I...oh no.”

   “It happens to the best of us,” Ladybug tries to console the girl. “What happened?”

   “I..I was trying to befriend this one boy,” Lila says softly. “And...I saw that he liked heroes. I thought, I thought,” she starts to cry, “I thought if I was a hero, he’d like me more.”

   “But lying about being a heroine isn’t right,” Rena huffs out.

   “I’m sorry! I didn’t realize it would be so offensive,” Lila cries, and Rena’s gaze softens. Chat fidgets, unsure what to do as the girl cries. Even Carapace seems remorseful for his anger, although not as much.

   “It...it’s fine,” Rena says at last, then turns. “Just don’t do it again, got it?”

   “Of- of course!” Lila promises with a quick nod.

   “Great. Bye, guys.” Rena hops off.

   Chat Noir sighs. “I need to head home. See you guys next time.”

   Carapace opens his mouth to speak, but his Miraculous beeps, cutting him off. “Shoot,” he mutters. “Ladybug, can you check on Marinette?”

   “Marinette?” Lila asks, confused.

   “I will before I leave. Go on, Carapace.”

   Carapace leaps away with thanks on his lips, and Ladybug excuses herself. She darts into the apartment building and detransforms. Two minutes later, Marinette races to the roof, where Lila stares at the Parisian sky.

   “Lila?” Marinette asks, forcing herself to sound confused. “Were you La Paonne?”

   Lila nods, and Marinette can see the tears. “What did I do to you?”

   “Nothing bad!” Marinette promises. “You just...well, you kind of kidnapped me?”

   Lila stares at her with wide eyes. “I what?!”

   “It’s not the worst thing, honestly. I, uh, enjoyed the view?”

   Lila giggles, and Marinette starts laughing, too.

   “Well, can I...can I walk you home? It’s the least I can do,” Lila offers, and Marinette agrees.

   As they walk, Lila admits to Marinette the same thing she told Ladybug moments before.

   “I just… I just wanted to impress him. Is that so bad?” Lila asks, voice soft and quiet, but echoing in the streets.

   “No, it’s not. I’m not a fan of liars, but I can see the appeal. Honestly, Lila, I don’t think you need to lie to impress anyone. You seem amazing as you are.” Marinette smiles, missing the way Lila blushes.

   “You seem amazing, too,” Lila responds.

   The rest of the walk is peaceful, and Marinette finds design inspiration in the twinkling skies, and a new friend under the streetlights.

   Perhaps the day wasn’t a waste.

   (A few blocks away, Nino has the feeling that he has competition, but doesn’t know why.)

~~~~~ Wow, it’s been far too long since I last wrote for this! I had toyed with the idea of going in order, but I...well, I was in a Lilanette mood? So if you want to see Evillustrator and how that played out (or maybe see some other episode?), hit me up and send me a request, and I’ll see what I can do!! Tags: @northernbluetongue @indecisive-mess-named-me @magnitude101999 @crazylittlemunchkin @allolale @immatureidiot101 @bee-wrecker @demigodgirl20031 

[aurora-the-kunoichi]

For The Love of Shell - Chapter 37

Here we go, another chappie!

Here it is from the beginning

Minutes turned to hours, hours turned to days and days turned into weeks, but Leo tried not to notice how slow the days crawled by. He spent most of his time in the dojo meditating keeping away from his brothers and his father, avoiding their questioning stares. He had yet to tell them of his decision with Aurora and dreaded when it would finally be brought up. It was all going to come to a head soon, it had been two weeks since she had returned to the lair to see them and he could see they were getting antsy. He had stopped Donnie from calling her the other day by distracting him with a question about the cameras in the west tunnel. It was a close one, but he couldn’t hold them off much longer. His brothers were many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them, they knew something was wrong.

A curt call of his name from the main lair made his stomach roll, he had a feeling it was time to face the music whether he was ready to or not. Standing from his lotus position Leo gracefully made his way into the main part of the lair and hesitantly approached his three tense brothers.

They stood staring at Leo as he exited through the tunnel, their muscled arms folded over their wide chests. The looks on their faces held no secrets, they were ready for some answers and they wanted them now.

Donnie stepped forward first, his brown eyes narrowing in on his eldest brother, “What’s going on Leo? You’ve been rather distant lately spending most of your time in the dojo, more so without father. And we haven’t seen Aurora in two weeks, which is not like her. What’s going on? When is she coming back to the lair? Is she ok?”

“Yeah spill it.” Mikey laughed nervously coming up next to Donnie.

Leo looked at his two youngest brothers, his gaze guarded and then traveled back to the hothead who still hadn’t moved his green eyes suspicious. He could see the brute of a turtle work his muscles in his jaw as he clenched his teeth waiting for Leo to talk. It was now or never, taking a deep breath Leo copied his brothers and crossed his arms over his chest and let the hot hair press out through his nostrils. “She won’t be coming back.” He said sternly as if it meant nothing. His eyes remained on the red banded turtle eyes as they grew wide in shock.

“What do you mean not coming back?” Mikey growled low in his throat. Something he had never heard his younger brother do before. It sent a chill down his spine.

“I ended it with her over a week ago. It was time for her to move on with her life. She was free of the demon and with the Kingyo’s defeated she no longer needed to hide. I told her she was no longer welcome back to the lair and to live a normal life.” He could hear his own voice tremble trying to control the raging emotions he had been fighting for nearly two weeks. He was beginning to fail. He was miserable and it ate at him from the inside out.

Then he spoke, “You did what?!” Raphael hissed through clenched teeth dropping his hands to his sides resting on the hilts of his sai. Leo could see the fury swirling in his brother’s eyes; he sat waiting for the large brute to lunge forward, to attack him but the blow it never came. The red banded turtle stood frozen in place a deep angry vibration emanating from his lower plastron.

Donnie looked to the ground her name barely a whisper from his lips. The usually gentle genius clenched his fists in anger raising his gaze to Leonardo, the look on his face foreign. “Fuck you Leo.” The hurtful phrase dripped with vehemence, those crass of words he never would have thought would come from his genius brother hurt more then he would like to admit.

“My son, what have you done?” the calm voice of his master came from behind him, his soft paw resting on his forearm. His masters words stung the most cutting into his already broken soul even further. How could he make them understand he was doing this for her and them? He turned to look at his father, but the heavy foot falls of his retreating brothers brought him back around to see all three of them running from the lair no doubt to her apartment. He knew he couldn’t stop them even if he wanted them too.

“Leonardo?” Splinters voice was a bit stern now, he wanted answers.

Reluctantly Leo turned around to face his master, the large turtle falling to his knees before his rat father. His iron like composure threatening to break as his gaze meet with his sensei’s dark searching eyes. “Dad.” Leo started taking a deep breath trying to calm himself. “I had too, she’s never had a normal life. She was given to a monastery at age three and trained by men who gave her no kind of sense of family or comfort, always fighting, always on the run. Now with the demon and the Kingyo’s gone, she can have a normal life, she can get married, have babies. I can’t give her those things and if she continues to be part of our family she never will.”

Leo watched his father’s eyes fill with sorrow and both of his furry hands came to his son’s face, “My son, it saddens me thinking you don’t believe you deserve to be loved by Aurora. Human or not, that woman loved you, loved your brothers. She would do anything for any of you and you four would do the same. I believe she didn’t care about a normal life all she wanted was you and your brothers in her life.”

“But Sensei she knew nothing else. She doesn’t know what it’s like to go on a regular date to a restaurant with a regular human man who can take her on vacations and go to stores to buy her things. To walk down the aisle in a beautiful white wedding dress to her normal human fiancé waiting for her at the end with tears streaming down his face because of how beautiful she looks. He’ll be able to give her a child…. a family.”

“Leonardo, she is her own person and allowed to make that decision on her own. When she was give to the monastery did she have a choice?”

Leo shook his head ‘No’ as his eyes trained in on the open green palms that lay on his thighs.

“When she was thrust into the part of Guardian, did she have a choice?”

Again, Leo shook his head, beginning to see where his master was taking this line of questioning.

“Did Aurora have a choice to fight the demon and vanquish it using your souls as power watching you die in the process?”

“No Sensei.”

“Now when everything was over, did she have the choice to leave this path she was currently on or defer and start a new course which didn’t include mutant turtles and a large old rat?” Before Leo could respond Splinter held his hand up and answered for him. “No, she didn’t, someone again took that decision from her and made it his own. Again the choice was taken from her.”

Leo’s head spun fast and hard with his master’s words, he had taken the first decision she could make on her own, a decision that would affect her life. That didn’t revolve around that stupid urn and that damned demon within her. How could he have been to rash, so blind? How stupid could he be, ending the first thing that meant the world to him? Letting go of someone he loved just as much as his brothers and father, maybe even more? Maybe he wasn’t too late, maybe he could fix this? Maybe?

Heavy footfall sounded, alerting them to the other brothers’ return from the surface, which worried him. It was far too soon for them to return from her apartment. He had figured they would be there nearly all night talking to her, consoling her.  Leo turned to meet the angry and worried eyes of Donatello and Michelangelo.

“My sons, you have returned rather quickly from your trip to Aurora’s apartment.” Splinter asked, he too realized the shortness of their departure was not a good sign.

“She’s gone.” Mikey growled at his older brother as Donnie pushed past his younger brother to get to his desk.

Leo mulled over those words as he watched his genius brother hastily drop down on his chair and began feverishly typing away at his keyboard, his concentration solely on his search on the web.

“She’s not home? She’s probably out to dinner or something? Maybe a walk? She’ll be back.” Leo called anxiously playing with the band on his wrist, wondering what Donnie was looking for on the internet.

“No fearless, her fucking  apartment is empty.  She’s gone.” Leo heard Raphael growl as he jumped over the turnstile his green eyes focused on him. He could see the determination in his walk, heavy and fast never taking his eyes from his older brother.

“What?! That can’t be?” Leo wheezed unexpectedly getting to his feet stepping towards his hastily advancing brother.

“What did you think was gonna happen Leo? All she’s done for the past several years is move from town to town hiding living with the bare minimum just in case she needed to leave in a hurry. And then she’s told she can no longer see the people who matter most to her; of course she’s going to take off. She’s trained to leave at a moment’s notice. To leave to trace.” Mikey spat pacing the lair tears staining the green skin of his cheeks. His hand clenched and unclenched as he moved apprehensively trying not to look at Leo.

“What did I tell you fearless, she wasn’t just yours? We all loved her! I loved her! Now she’s gone, probably forever! How could you do this to us?!” Leo turned back to the advancing brute who was now screaming at him. He was practically onto of him now and the blow Leo waited for before finally came and it came hard. Raphael’s fist collided with Leonardo’s cheek sending the blue leader tumbling backwards just barely missing their stunned father.

“Raphael!” Master Splinter yelled in shock turning just lightly to avoid Leonardo’s flailing feet as he rolled past him.  

“No Sensei!” Raphael growled marching past his father to his fallen older brother who was trying to scramble to his feet holding his now throbbing face. “This time he gets what’s coming to him!” His large hands reached down to the stumbling leader and pulled him harshly back to his feet grasping painfully at the dense muscled of his shoulders. “You made this decision without us knowing very well how we would react!” Again his fist shot forth smashing mercilessly into Leo’s nose making him see stars and starting a cascade of blood from his nose.

Leo stumbled backwards, his carapace slamming into a support column of the lair; stars filled his field of vision and he tried blinking them away before another blow from his brother came. Donnie had abandoned his search on his computer and was now standing watching Raph attack him, Mikey as well watching from the distance not doing anything to stop their two older brother’s quarrel. He didn’t blame them; he would want to pummel his face as well. Not wanting to deny his brother’s his rage Leo let Raphael come at him again, his brother’s hands finding the well muscled column of his neck.

Raph looked so intimidating standing over him, fury racing through his veins, his hands closing firmly around his throat slowly cutting off his air supply. His eyes were wild with unbridled hatred for his own flesh and blood. Leo kept his hands at his sides refusing to fight his furious brother. Tears threatened to burst from his younger brothers eyes nearly sending his own that he hide carefully behind his stone like facade spilling down his own cheeks.

“I’m sorry Raph, I thought I was doing what was best for her. We have no choice to stay hidden in the shadows due to what we look like. She does Raph and she deserves to have a happy normal life. I thought she would eventually want to have a regular life and leave us, breaking not just my heart but all of ours. I wanted to protect all of us from that. Protect her from making that decision.” Leo wheezed past his collapsing windpipe.

“Yeah but you didn’t let her have that choice did ya Leo? You took that from her, took her from us! Maybe that’s what gets ya off, making decisions for everyone. You get off on the control!”

Leo’s eyes widened as his air supply was cut off completely, his mouth opening slightly to gasp for air.

“ENOUGH!”  Master Splinter yelled again slamming his cane roughly down on the concrete floor. He had, had just about enough of this foolish fight. “Raphael even though your brothers actions were rash and unwarranted he did so thinking it was in the best interest for everyone. He now has to live with the pain of those actions. He does not need further aggravation when he is already hurting.”  

Raphael sucked in a mouthful of air and screamed with all of his rage at the top of his lungs into his bothers face before releasing his throat. Spinning on his heals he fled the lair followed by Michelangelo who gave his brother one final sorrowful gaze as he disappeared down the tunnel after his brother.

Donnie let out a shaky sigh and returned to his work on the computer but Leo didn’t have the guts to ask him what he was working on so he turned back to the dojo. He would try and meditate again but he knew he would just sit and stare at the dancing flame of the candle. There would be no rest for him, not for quite a while.

Master Splinter came up quietly behind Donatello watching his green fingers fly over the keyboard with expert precision. He could see her name being typed into several search engines and many different websites. Donatello was trying to find her but was having no luck.

“She’s closed all of her accounts Sensei and has gone off the grid. The only way I’ll be able to track her is by the sales of her painting and that’s only if she continues to paint and sell them for money. She’s a master of disappearing when she wants too, I won’t be able to find her. We’ll never see her again dad.” Donnie’s head hung low his fingers finally stopping their search droplets of the genius’s tears splashing against his worn keyboard.

Master Splinter brought his hand up and rested it on his son’s shoulder, “Don’t worry my son, your fates are intertwined and I do not doubt your paths will cross again. We must have patience and give her time.” His dark eyes trained in on the dojo and the dark form of the lost leader mediating inside. “But I fear it’s not Aurora we need to worry about right now.”

It took nearly a month before his brothers began to talk to him again and another two months before they followed him out as leader for a much needed night of patrol. Raphael was still angry with him and Leo didn’t blame him, didn’t blame any of them, his confidence as leader had been shaken after his reprehensible mistake with Aurora.

Donnie never gave up trying to locate where she had disappeared too.  He had an alert on his computer each time one of her painting was sold. They seemed to pop up sporadically across Europe and too frequent in dispersion to sufficiently track her. The loss of her presence had hit them all more than they had initially thought, especially how short of time they had known her. She had wormed her way into their hearts fully taking a part of each of them when she left. Leo didn’t want to admit it but their family felt incomplete, missing an interact piece of their complicated puzzle. Even April had shunned him a bit making her loose one of closest friends. Casey didn’t seem to care either way; he had only spent a few days with her so it didn’t affect him enough to change his stance with Leo. But he did make a few observations of the loss of enthusiasm between the four brothers since her absence.

As the months crept by and winter began to settle over the city they noticed an increase in gang activity in the inner city, robberies and muggings and even a few rapes began to escalate gripping the city in fear. In turn making their patrols more frequent, filling their nights with action which kept their minds from wandering to sore subjects. Leo welcomed the distraction as well as his brothers. Busting low life’s skulls was good for relieving tension and helped with their confidence.

As they made their way over the snowy roof tops to a known hot spot for the gang activity Donnie turned to his older brother in blue.

“They finally gave themselves a name; they call themselves the Purple Dragons, and from what I’ve found in my searches they are led by a guy named Hun.”

“The Purple dragons?” Raph laughed curtly flipping over a large air condition unit to keep up with their stealthy leader. “What a lame name.”

Donnie followed suit avoiding the large unit landing next to Mikey with a heavy thud continuing his momentum forward after his two older brothers, “Lame or not they’re making a name for themselves on the streets. I talked to Chief Vincent last week and she said their fan base is growing like a weed getting a hand full of new recruits almost daily. She thanked us for helping them keep it under control.”

Leo halted just before the ledge of the current building they were advancing on, “Tell Chief Vincent we’ll do what we can.” Bringing his finger to his lips he quieted all further communication as they crept forward silently peering over the side of the building to the scene unfolding below.

A large box truck was backed up to the loading dock of the closed electronic store. Several young men wearing bandanas over their faces were loading stolen merchandise into the back of the truck with haste.

Raphael looked down at the thieves in enjoyment cracking his knuckles, “It’s time to smash some skulls.” With no words spoken the four swung over the ledge dropping down attacking with ferocity.  Pulling his katanas from his sheaths as he descended Leo attacked someone carrying a box full of iPhones.  The box dropped to the ground as the young man stumbled backwards stunned by the sudden assault.

“Gentlemen, do you mind if I see your receipts for these purchases?” Mikey smiled swinging his nunchaku against another’s man’s side sending him flying sideways making him drop his loot.

It didn’t take long for the four mutant turtles to take care of the inexperienced hoodlums. Tying them up and presenting them like a Christmas present to the police was just an added bonus. With a quick call to Chief Vincent they headed back to the lair. It was Christmas Eve after all and April and Casey were coming down to the lair for dinner. April said she had an unexpected surprise for them all but didn’t elaborate further.

Jumping over the turnstile they came into the wonderful smell of fresh baked ham and all the wonderful sides that came with Christmas eve dinner. Since they found April they had started the tradition of having Christmas Eve with her and once Casey came into the picture and their relationship blossomed it was only natural for him to become part of the tradition.

Coming up to the kitchen, the four turtles noticed the five large beautiful boxes wrapped specifically color coded to each turtle sitting on the kitchen counter, along with a fancy silver one no doubt for Splinter, who was sitting at the table sipping at his steaming cup of tea. As they reached the table their fingers ran over the delicate paper their eyes moving questioningly to April who was leaning up against the oven her hands placed precariously on her hips.

“Presents April? We’ve never gotten each other presents before? We didn’t get you anything?” Mikey asked timidly his fingers playing with the orange ribbon on his assumed present.

“They’re not from me.” The brunette said solemnly turning to the oven checking on the baked ham. “Casey and I both got one as well. It came to my apartment this morning by courier with no sender info. I’ll give you one guess who they came from.”

“Aurora.” Leo answered looking to his younger brothers with sad eyes.

Several uncomfortable moments slipped by as they all stared at the presents.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Open ‘em.” Casey ushered them waving his hands towards the mystery boxes.

Nervously they all went to their boxes but Leo held his hand up and motioned for Splinter, “Please Sensei, you first.”

Splinter nodded and set his tea cup down on the table palming the present on the table. Carefully he set the silver wrapped box in his lap and delicately removed the paper. With precision Splinter sliced open the tape on the cardboard box with his nails prying open the flaps. His hands reached into the box and pulled out an elaborately decorated Japanese wrapping box. Gently his palms moved attentively over the silk and lifted the top open revealing its contents to the old rat. With great care Splinter pulled out a brand new black woven kimono from Japan to replace the tattered old one he had been wearing for years. Silver scrolling wove around the back in intricate design passing over the sides to the breast of the garment. Four elaborate hand woven turtles lined the bottom of the garment finishing off the piece beautifully. The smile on his master’s face showed his delight to the thoughtful gift. The origin of the beautifully crafted garment showed she had returned to Japan in her travels.

Leo motioned for Mikey to go next and the youngest turtles ripped haphazardly at the orange paper, opening the box his eyes zeroed in on the item concealed inside. His head cocked and reached his hands into the box pulling out a set of white nunchakus. Turning them cautiously in his hands he looked to his brothers in confusion. He already had a set of nunchaku he got from his father. They were his babies, he didn’t need another pair? But as his hands turned the old weapons in his fingers he saw black writing on the handles. His baby blue eyes widened and mouth dropped open in shock he nearly shrieked in excitement clutching the weapons to his chest!

“What Mikey? What’s written on them?” Donnie asked with enthusiasm wanting to know what was so special about them.

“They’re signed by Bruce lee! They’re a pair of Bruce Lee’s nunchaku!”

Raphael came up next to his little brother looking over the items with excitement, it was very cool and something Mikey would cherish forever due to the fact Bruce Lee was his favorite actor. Mikey had spent hours when he was younger perfecting his moves to the T when he was finally given his weapons. There was many night Splinter had to carry the young terrapin to his bed as the credits rolled in the darkened lair.

Raphael was next, the large turtle opened his box with unusual hesitance as his oversized mitts pulled out a medium sized mechanical part from several layers of bubble wrap. His green fingers rolled the piece around in his palm eyeing it confused until something went off in his head and his mouth opened in a wide exuberant smile. “She found it……she fucking found it!”

“She found what my son?” Splinter asked softly taking another sip of his piping hot tea.

“A part from the bike I’m rebuilding! I have been trying to find this part for forever! No one has it because the bike is so rare.”

Donnie leaned forward over his box eyeing the part, “You mean that Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird you found at the dump last year? She found the cylinder head you’ve been looking for?”

“Yeah, now I can start working on the body.”

Next Donnie grabbed his purple present and sent it on his lap. Just like Splinter his three-digit fingered hands slide across the wrapping paper with such care as if he was reading brail. A puff of pent up air shot out his nostrils and his fingers finally peeled away the paper and opened the box. As his brown eyes looked in to the box they widened in surprise and then excitement. Unwrapping the small green chip thing from the many layers of bubble tape he began spouting something about being able to hack the government fast with it and wondering how she got her hands on such top-secret equipment.  The box tumbled from his lap as he leapt to his feet running to his main computer to install the device. Before he could even sit down Master Splinter called to the over eager genius making him return to his family at the kitchen table. Leo still had to open his.

All eyes were on Leonardo as he ran his fingers over the blue paper of his present, a present from Aurora. From the woman he missed more than anything in this world. He almost didn’t want to open it. Opening it would end the suspense which seemed like letting her go again. She had thought about them still, thought to buy specific presents for each of them, to wrap them with their colors in mind and have them delivered so they could open them on Christmas Eve. It would be rude not to open it to see what she had gotten him. Hesitantly his fingers ran under the edge of the paper and pulled ripping the pretty paper free from the box beneath. Grabbing a small knife from his belt he cut through the tape and opened the box. His eyes fell upon a see through bag and what looking like moister gathered on the inside. Pushing his fingers past the plastic on either side of inside the box he lifted the contents from the packaging and set it down on the kitchen table. With great care Leo opened the bag pushing the plastic down to reveal a beautiful bonsai tree in a handmade ceramic base painted blue. An envelope was tapped to the side with a hand written note inside, it read.

This bonsai tree was taken from the spot where I had fallen when I thought I would take my last breath.

Blood flowing from my body I lay clutching the urn to my body, I could feel my life leaving me as my breathing slowed. I lay alone dying shivering from the cold from the loss of blood and the chill from the mountain air. Coming to terms with my imminent death I closed my eyes and thought of you four, realizing I would never meet you if I gave up. If I let death win.

 My complicated life flashed before my very eyes. All the training, all the preparation for my destiny, and the loneliness I had endured. None of it hurt as much as not meeting you, not finding the missing pieces to my soul. It was then I decided I wasn’t going to die there on that forest floor alone. I was going to meet my warriors no matter what. The thought of you four gave me strength to move, to get up and live. The spot in that forest was a turning point in my life to keep going, to survive. You four gave me strength and you four continue to do so.

 My life hasn’t been perfect, it was hard and lonely, but I wouldn’t change any of it. I enjoy the chaos, I enjoy the fight, it gives me purpose to help those in need, it brought me to you. If I had to do it all over again I would take the same path over and over again if it meant I got to meet you and your brothers. To love you with everything that I am, to love a mutant turtle with such intensity that the thought of life without you was unbearable. After everything that has happened I don’t regret our meeting, I don’t regret giving myself to you.

 This bonsai tree represents my never ending love for you, for your brother, your family. For your presence in this world gives me purpose, to give me life and that I can never thank you enough for.

 ~Aurora

 @bluesakurablossom​ @alonia143​ @imthegreenfairy88​ 

[mari-onberry]

Almost Makes me Wish for Rain: Lukanette Exchange

AO3 Link

@lukanette-exchange

for @vipernette

Marinette got her soulmark when she was 15, and it was nothing like she expected. All her life, she imagined her soulmark being something romantic like flowers, stars, or moons. So when she woke up on a sunny spring day and found she had her soulmark in the shape of a plain raindrop, colored all in black, it was a bit of a disappointment. Although, maybe she shouldn’t have had such high hopes– her mom’s soulmark was a macaron. 

On particularly bad days, she wondered if it wasn’t a raindrop at all, and instead a teardrop. She didn’t want to believe her soulmate would ever make her cry, but some days the thought was hard to ignore. 

A week after she got her soulmark, Marinette was feeling particularly worried about her mark. She hadn’t told anyone that it had appeared, even Alya. So, finally, she decided to ask Alya what it could possibly mean. She managed to get through the school day without worrying too much, but once the final bell rang, she rushed over to her best friend. “Alya, can I talk to you?”

Alya smiled and answered, “Of course, girl.” It was one of the rare times when her soulmate, Nino, wasn’t at her side, so that made it an even better time to talk. Marinette liked Nino, but she preferred to talk one-on-one with Alya, since it was awkward to talk about this sort of thing with the happiest couple in class. 

Marinette rubbed her wrist nervously, right where her soulmark rested on her skin. “Well, it’s about my soulmark.” She held up her hand for Alya to see. 

Alya’s reaction was just as enthusiastic as Marinette expected, but she wasn’t feeling the same way. “You got your soulmark? That’s such great news!” She caught on quickly. “So why don’t you seem excited?”

“I was. At first.” Marinette blushed, too embarrassed to look Alya in the eyes, so she just stared down at her wrist, tracing the mark thoughtlessly with her thumb. “I thought it might mean that Adrien is my soulmate, since he gave me that umbrella the day we met.” She wished that was true– that was one of the few good memories she had that involved rain.

Alya placed a hand on her friend’s arm. “So what’s the matter? Don’t you have feelings for him?" 

"I’m not even sure anymore. He’s a great friend, but I just don’t think he’s my soulmate.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Alya showed her soulmark to Marinette– a turtle shell colored all in green. “You have to kiss him.” Alya had been just as confused about her soulmark when she first got it, but once she kissed Nino, both of their soulmarks became full of color and it all made complete sense. 

Marinette looked stunned at Alya’s idea. “What? I can’t just ask him to kiss me! What if he isn’t even my soulmate?”

Alya shrugged. “Then you’re one step closer to finding out who is.”

Marinette went with Alya’s advice. Somewhat. Being the slightly inept girl she was, especially around Adrien, she typed up a quick text to him asking to meet her outside the school in the morning. And Adrien, being just as socially inept, replied “yes” quickly without any thought to what this meeting could be about. 

—–

After one of the most stressful nights of Marinette’s life, she went to school early to try and clear her nerves before meeting with Adrien, and hopefully to go through what she planned to say. Unfortunately, once Adrien showed up, she forgot every word of her plan. 

“Marinette! Here already? I thought I was early.”

Her first thought was to run in the opposite direction; she was afraid she seemed way too desperate and pathetic in that moment. But against her instincts, she stayed put. She chose her words as carefully as she could before telling him, “Sorry to ask you here. I’m probably being stupid and paranoid, but I just need to know about your soulmark. I know it’s rude to ask, but I just want to make sure that … we aren’t soul mates.”

It was definitely a surprise to him, but he didn’t show it. He was convinced that she wasn’t his soulmate, as least romantically anyway, that it shouldn’t even be that hard of a question. He held his wrist out. A bee. 

That was what surprised Marinette. Not the fact that she wasn’t his soulmate – a bee obviously meant notorious queen bee Chloe – but she was more surprised to see how happy he looked. Chloe wasn’t the nicest person, but she knew Adrien and her had always had some kind of connection. 

“Does she know?” The tattoo wasn’t colored, so Marinette could tell they hadn’t kissed, but there were many reasons why they would have decided to wait. 

“Who?”

Or, Adrien could be as dense as always. “Your soulmate?” Marinette didn’t know what to do– she wondered if she should tell him that it was obviously Chloe, or should she just drop it and hope he figures it out on his own.

“No, I don’t know who my soulmate is.”

Marinette thought through her choices. She realized she could take this opportunity to kiss him– maybe there was some sliver of a chance that they were actually soulmates. “Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Repeating Alya’s words from before, she inched closer to Adrien. 

“You mean?” He asked, and then stopped himself, setting a hand on her arm. “Is it you?” He caught a glimpse of her mark and had the same revelation she had. He remembered that moment in the rain as clearly as she had, even if they remembered it in completely different contexts. But could they actually be soulmates? “Okay, let’s do this.” He resolved, quickly getting even closer to her. 

She was shocked. Could this have actually worked? Could she be ready to kiss Adrien? Then, she pulled away. She wasn’t ready. “I can’t. It isn’t me.” She laughed a little, breaking out of her usually awkward state with him. “Adrien, I love you, but you’re kind of an idiot sometimes.” And in that moment, she realized she did love him. And she wasn’t disappointed to admit that she loved him as only a friend. “A bee? Your soulmate is Chloe. Find her today and kiss her. You’ll be an amazing couple.” To finish her statement to the best of her ability, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then walked away. Later, she would have lots of fun talking to him about how it went with Chloe, but for now, she was determined to find her real soulmate.

“So? How’d it go?” Alya asked while they were supposed to be taking notes in first period. When Marinette didn’t answer, presumably trying to do her work, Alya nudged her again. “How’d it go with Adrien?”

Marinette gave in, knowing she would have to tell Alya at some point, and whispered back ��It went fine. But he isn’t my soulmate." 

Alya just nodded. "So does he have a mark?” She had always been curious– Adrien was always hesitant of his mark, always hiding his wrist with long sleeves. 

“I don’t really have the authority to tell you about his soulmark, you should just ask him yourself. Or maybe in a couple days, he’ll work up the courage and actually confess." 

"You know something, don’t you?” Alya grinned, already theorizing in her head about what could’ve happened between them. 

“So what are you gonna do about your own soulmate now?" 

Marinette was dreading this question more than the other one. Soulmates were supposed to make things easier, weren’t they? She sighed. "I’m not sure. I might just have to wait and see by trial and error.” That seemed to be the best method for now, since she knew her soulmate was someone she knew– or else it wouldn’t have shown up in the first place.

The only problem about soulmarks was that they aren’t as helpful as one would hope. They can show up years before or after one meets their soulmate for seemingly no reason. So that meant Marinette had a long, difficult journey of kissing potential suitors ahead of her. That was, unless her soulmate showed up on her doorstep in the next few days, but there was no way that was happening, right?

—-

A few days after her meeting with Adrien, Marinette was trying to look on the bright side of things. That usually didn’t come too hard for her, but it was proving a little more difficult in this particular instance. There was a pretty great perk to it, though– she was having lots of fun with Adrien now that the romantic tension side of their relationship was completely cut out. Plus, he and Chloe were getting along great.  Or a least as great as Marinette had seen Chloe.

She still liked to stare at her soulmark sometimes as a reminder that her soulmate was out there, and even if it took years, she could always count on someone being out there that would love her for who she was.

That very person then knocked on her door. “Luka?” she asked through the door, seeing his warped yet somehow still attractive figure through the keyhole. She opened the door for him and then asked again. “Luka? What are you doing here?” 

He shrugged. “I may have heard that you were looking for your soulmate, and I got curious. I think your friends are a little more talkative than you counted on." 

After cursing Alya under her breath, Marinette let Luka in, stopping for a second to look outside. She hadn’t realized it was raining. "It’s really pouring, huh?” She asked, partly out of real interest, but mostly just to avoid talking about the elephant in the room.

“Yeah, it’s nice, isn’t it? I love the rain, the sound always reminds me of a song.”

She wondered how he always found a way to be poetic. 

“So, your soulmark,” he started, finally deciding to just go for it, “can I take a look at it?" 

She wanted to show him, but she was suddenly embarrassed. She knew he wouldn’t judge her for it, especially since it wasn’t something she could control, but she had never been proud of her mark. She saw it as plain, not romantic at all. She tried to imagine what his looked like; she assumed it was probably just as beautiful as him. 

Nonetheless, she held out her arm for him to see and slowly pulled back her sleeve to reveal the teardrop-shaped mark. 

He studied it for a minute, thinking long and hard about its meaning. Wordlessly, he held up his own arm and did the same as she had, showing off his own mark. 

And there it was: a colorless outline of… a ladybug? Marinette couldn’t even begin to wonder what that could mean. 

"Confusing, right?” Luka chuckled and put his arm down. “Soulmarks never make sense at first, but one thing is always the same." 

Marinette knew what he meant, and she was glad to have someone who understood her struggles. She wasn’t calm in that moment, though, because she was thinking about what they had to do next. "There’s only one way to find out, right?" 

And although she was totally expecting it, it still startled her when he asked. "Can I kiss you Marinette?” When she nodded, he quickly and eagerly kissed her. It was short, but far from underwhelming. If it was simply a kiss, she would’ve wanted to savor the moment more, but she looked down at her wrist and caught a glimpse of color. 

It wasn’t a raindrop, or a tear, or anything even close. Her mark was now purple and embellished by a small music note in the center. It was a guitar pick. 

Luka looked over, stunned, both by the fact that they were soulmates, but also by what her mark had turned out to be. He quickly pulled his own guitar pick from his pocket and held it up next to her wrist. It was an exact match. “Marinette, I–”

Marinette interrupted his sentence by placing a finger on his wrist. It was beautiful now that it was full of bright reds and deep blacks. “We’re soulmates,” she stated the obvious simply, trying to process it. She reminded herself to thank Alya for being talkative, because she realized she would’ve been too afraid to try this without a little push. She felt like the luckiest girl; when Luka showed up at her door, she thought it was a long shot that someone like him would be her soulmate. In an instant, she imagined their future together, and was relieved that she finally figured out the mystery to her soulmark. It felt like a miracle. 

“I can’t believe it,” Luka said, agreeing with her own thoughts. “Marinette, I always hoped it would be you. If it wasn’t you, I don’t know what I would’ve done. I’ve been in love with you for a while now, Marinette.”

Well, that was another surprise. “Luka, I can’t believe it either. This feels like a dream.”

“That’s exactly it, Marinette. You’re perfect. You’re the melody in my head, but the music is never just music to me. It’s what got me through everything with my dad, it’s what keeps me positive. You have no idea what it means to me to have finally found someone who embodies all that safety to me. Who makes me feel the same way music does, who allows me to be truly free. Marinette, you are the best thing that ever happened to me.“

Marinette loved how poetic he was, and she loved just listening to him go on about how much he loved her. But it also saddened her. "How could I ever be good enough for you?” She turned over his hand and caught a glimpse of his soulmark. “I mean, a ladybug? What does that even mean?”

Luka shook his head. “It means I must be very lucky to have found you.”

She smiled and pulled him into a hug. “I’m sorry I’m not eloquent enough to tell you how much I love you.”

“It’s okay.” He pressed a kiss to her wrist. “This says it all.”

[gabriel-gabdiel]

【Draft】Rurouni Yahiko Chapter 51: A Casket of Secrets

Kinta Minakata has uncovered a casket of secrets from his family, much to his chagrin.

Rurouni Yahiko Chapter 51: A Casket of Secrets

Back in Shimabara, six years ago...

Kinta Minakata (the Shogo Amakusa doppelganger) had finished another sparring session with Kaede Morinaga (the Kenshin Himura doppelganger) with the fight ending with the Mimawarigumi Battousai narrowly winning.

This was so because "Shiro Amakusa the Second" was busy with morning mass and the healing of the sick Kakure Kirishitans (Hidden Christians) with western medicine, so he didn't have time to spar with the warrior woman.

"STOP RUNNING AWAY AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!" demanded the tempestuous Kaede. "COWARD!"

"....But you're a girl," said Kinta, which resulted in him backpedaling from a screaming Morinaga's Scorpion Nest (multiple sword swipes from two swords).

Ah, so he was right. This time around, Kaede was a girl. Because sometimes, she instead claimed she was a boy. Like a woman possessed by different spirits.

Morinaga was a curious lady. Sometimes she fought like a ferocious tigress. Other times, she was as frustrating to battle as a snapping turtle hiding inside a thick shell.

Once in a "blue moon", when she was consumed with bloodlust and bad memories, she became a mix of both.

He even heard that when she tied her hair like a topknot, she even looked like the Legendary Hitokiri Battousai himself, but he personally had no idea. He never met his Battousai namesake.

Blocking every strike and countering sharply. She was a yin and yang of patient defense and inimitable offense.

She didn't only fight with a different style every time but also with a different attitude. It was like fighting three different people altogether.

"DAMMIT!" she screamed and threw her shinai (bamboo blade) at Kinta, who parried it almost automatically with his own weapon. "I want a rematch! Round two! Next time, I'll break every bone in your body, you sullen Shogo-sama wannabe!"

"Go ahead," Minakata dared with a half-smile (or half-frown). "A broken bone becomes stronger once healed."

Morinaga harrumphed. "Admitting defeat already, Kagemusha?"

"...I believe in kintsukuroi (gold repair)," he stated matter-of-factly. "Whatever that's broken can be fixed. Made even better than before."

"How naive. Spoken like a privileged, spoiled samurai." Kaede laughed then grimaced. "There are some broken things that can never be fixed, no matter how hard you try."

Rurouni Yahiko

A Rurouni Kenshin Continuation Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Not-so-fabulous secrets are about to be revealed. A skeleton or two might even pop out.

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) are the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

Chapter 51: A Casket of Secrets

Somewhere in Yokohama, back at the Minakata safe house, Kinta Minakata reminisced about his time with Shogo and the Hidden Christians.

Kinta also wondered how a fight between Kaede and Soujiro would go.

He'd fought both, after all. Which one was better?

From his experience, unless something changed between the six years he last fought Morinaga, then Seta would probably win.

Especially the Soujiro whose feelings and bad intentions Minakata couldn't read at all: His "Heaven Sword" self.

So what made the Mimawarigumi Battousai think about Shogo's apprentice now of all times? Nostalgia, perhaps.

Or something to distract him from the depressing news he got about his dear ol' grandfather. Of happier times with Shogo, Sayo, Kaede, and the Hidden Christians that he called family once upon a time.

Before Kinta betrayed them to the Meiji Government.

Like grandfather like grandchild, apparently.

Although the fight with Tetsuo Akahori's latest pawn, Soujiro Seta, was one that Kinta Minakata almost lost, he was still able to retrieve documents of the utmost importance.

So in the end, he won. Kind of.

They were samples of the decoded papers that should help the Sanada Ninja Clan in unraveling the mysteries behind the Seiryu Clan's volume of the Black Book.

"...."

The decoders of the clan (since secret messages were among the specialties of these shadow warriors) came up first with the messages and correspondences from the bakufu to the Minakatas and back along with plans of wiping off the rebellious Ishin Shishi rebels.

The families involved in the creation of the Black Book, the Four Clans, were government spies that were tasked to preserve Japanese culture but ended up becoming embroiled in Bakumatsu politics themselves.

They covered all bases from both sides of the conflict... the Shogunate and the Patriots... while at the same time having no dog in the fight. They had loyalty to neither faction or to themselves but pretended that they did.

The Seiryu Clan represented the Bakufu or the Shogunate.

The Byakko Clan represented the Japanese Imperial Army and the Shinsengumi.

The Suzaku Clan represented the Ishin Shishi Patriots.

And the Genbu Clan represented the Rebel Samurai and the Hitokiri or Manslayers of the Ishin Shishi.

Whoever they represented, they had an extensive catalog of their info and members. The Four Clans were supposed to be objective observers outside the conflict looking in, gathering information out of all sides and exchanging them among each other for the sake of gaining favor of the government when the war was over, regardless of which side wins.

As typical of such setups, the Four Clans started to backstab each other, throwing objectivity under the horse carriage and vying for supremacy by taking a gamble and backing what they viewed were the ultimate victors of the war.

Because of this, some clans were wiped out completely. The Suzaku Clan, for example, was discovered by the Ishin Shishi as traitors and killed by their best hitokiri.

However, the Sanada Ninjas and the Mimawarigumi Battousai soon realized that relaying government secrets weren't the only things that the Black Book's secret codes were used for.

Back in the hideout of the kidnappers in the middle of the Hiroshima woods...

The rider from before arrived in time to attack Yahiko Myojin and Kaede Morinaga with his bullwhip, saying, "...I see you came too late ta save 'er, ya bitch! Da boss already got 'er, didn't he? Serves ya right!"

Yahiko Myojin, still miffed from before, grabbed hold of the whip before it cracked, let it loop around his wrist, then pulled the hooligan towards him in order to hogtie him with his own weapon.

"I got to your cowardly boss before he could touch her. We got here just in time," Myojin countered.

The bullwhip rider still wouldn't shut up, though. "Dun matter. I've seen the same look in her eyes from many a horse with a broken spirit! There's no fight in her left! She's dead inside! Soiled fer life! HAHAHAmmph!"

Yahiko had to tie a gag on the criminal just to keep him quiet.

Meanwhile, the one girl Kaede Morinaga wanted to save the most on that day... Mariko... broke down right before her eyes.

Her spirit was shattered into pieces like Kaede's. Realizing what had almost happened to her.

The pale Mariko looked back at the redhead with cloudy eyes, her quivering lips opening as though to say something.

Morinaga grabbed hold of the girl by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes to help her treat the wounds of her past.

Saying things that another special someone in her life had said to her before. Shogo Amakusa's words.

"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her," she quoted Shogo, who in turn quoted Jesus Christ from the Christian Bible's New Testament.

"Minoe-san..." Mariko trailed off, unaware of Kaede's multiple personalities, thus calling her by the name she knew her first.

"I'm not saying that because you've done anything wrong, Mariko. You're obviously not at fault here. These... criminals have no right to judge you. Listen to me. You are not soiled. You are not somehow 'less' of a person than any of us. Any of them, especially. They're scum. Don't let anyone ever say otherwise, y'hear?"

"...."

The clouds in Mariko's eyes lifted before, with a quibbling mouth and sobs that wracked her body, she hugged Morinaga tightly. She said, "...I was so scared!"

As for Yahiko, he grabbed hold of Takae's straw kabuto and placed it over his head to the point of covering his eyes, as though tipping it at the girls. He then walked away to let them have their moment.

"...Thank you for saving me. Good thing you got here on time," Mariko said after her sobs had finally subsided.

Kaede scratched her head. "N-No. The one who rescued you was my good friend, Yahiko."

Mariko smiled wanly. "Well, he saved me too. You both did."

"Oh." Morinaga looked away and smiled herself, nodding once and borrowing her other self's catchphrase. "Mochiron (But of course)."

As for Yahiko, he realized that he still had much to learn. He still needed more training if Kaede of all people had to stop him from murdering that bandit.

He merely wanted to be as strong as Soujiro and Kaede but not to the point of becoming as crazy as them.

Or was sanity the price of strength? To fight monsters, you had to become one?

No, you didn't have to. Kenshin proved that it wasn't the case.

A couple of hours later, the police arrived on the scene along with Chizuru Raikouji (who helped deliver the other kidnapped girls back to their homes in Hiroshima) in order to arrest the hooligans.

Kinta Minakata had heard all sorts of stories about his late grandfather from his mother's side: The Late Great Toshiro Minakata. The former head of the Minakata Clan and Seiryu Clan. A legendary samurai in his own right.

He was a swashbuckling, seafaring samurai... a Japanese buccaneer of the seas... who safeguarded trade and battled against Chinese smugglers and European invaders of the South China Sea during the period when Japan isolated itself from the rest of the world (also known as Sakoku), thus trade was restricted only in certain ports in the country.

Toshiro was among the samurais responsible for controlling Dejima and Nagasaki trade on behalf of the Bakufu while at the same time being part of the secret alliance of the Four Clans as the head of the Seiryu Clan.

It was under his watch that the Portuguese were expelled from the country while at the same time, the Shogunate engaged with discussions with Korean and Dutch representatives so that the overall volume of trade didn't suffer.

Kinta took a look at his inherited sword, the Akatsuki. Unlike ordinary samurai blades using "pig metal" or Japanese steel with low carbon content, it instead used steel melted straight from the swords of the fallen Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch smugglers. High-carbon European steel.

The katana, despite its popularity as a collector item among westerners or its beauty and style, was actually a comparatively fragile sword designed to be manufactured on a budget.

Japan didn't have very good access to good quality metals like European countries did. The majority of katanas were made out of low-class steel to save resources.

Furthermore, only the front part was made of good metal and even that was merely coated with a small, thin sheet of it (and sprinkled with carbon powder as they were forged). The back end or spine of the average Japanese sword was incredibly frail.

It also wasn't the defining weapon of the samurai. That would be the spear or the naginata that the Sakaguchi's adopted daughter "Satsuki" used. At certain time periods, the bow was instead the military's primary armament.

Additionally, according to some of the more disdainful European merchants and blacksmiths that his grandfather traded steel with, nothing about the "overrated" katana was completely unique to Japan.

Similarly shaped curves in blades existed in European and Indian sword creation in one form or another. The process of folding steel multiple times was also used by Vikings hundreds of years earlier.

The standards of the world was eye opening to any Japanese in Sakoku Era Japan who believed that Japan was number one at everything, especially in light of the superior military technology that the world's superpowers of the 18th Century possessed.

All the same, this knowledge Toshiro gained resulted in him getting a Japanese sword forged with European steel. The best of both worlds in design and toughness.

The former Minakata head's military exploits and iron fist when it came to upholding the Sakoku Edict of the Bakufu was legendary. Indeed, Kinta's proud Minakata and Akahori lineages were what allowed him into the Mimawarigumi Army in the first place.

It was also during this time that Toshiro made use of naval codes to better facilitate the exchange of secrets between the Four Clans before they ultimately split up and chose sides during the Bakumatsu Era.

On top of all that, Kinta's grandpa used his influence as the head of the Minakata Clan to form what was known in modern times as their zaibatsu (Financial Group)... the Minakata Zaibatsu... with its riches taken from the importation and development of new drugs using western medicine, leading to the development of their Minakata Pharmaceuticals subsidiary.

His grandfather was ahead of the curve and hedged his bets accordingly. He knew that the writing was on the wall when it came to samurai privileges due to changing times. In the Meiji Era, if you wanted to remain in power, then you should get it through money instead of blood and prestige.

However, there were also rumors of Toshiro taking advantage of his high government position back in the Sakoku Era to run his own opium cartel on the down low.

This was just a baseless accusation and pure speculation, of course. Rumors and conjectures that the envious enemies of the Minakatas would use to drag their good name to the mud.

These same critics went on a feeding frenzy like sharks against their family when Kinta's mother had an affair with a foreign dignitary, leading to the murder of the same gaijin in the hands of Kinta's livid father, who then committed seppukku (ritual suicide) afterwards to protect his honor.

The slander that resulted from the incident made Kinta quite skeptical in regards to the assumptions people made about his father selling out his dignity and samurai blood for illegal drug money.

These accusations were never proven, at least. They were just conspiracy theories from idle minds at best.

At least, that was what Kinta hoped they were.

Right?  

However, the recently discovered naval codes he got from the errand boy of his uncle from his father's side... Tetsuo Akahori... ultimately revealed the truth behind the elusive Seiryu Chapter of the Black Book. And his family.

An inconvenient truth.

By the time everything was sorted out at the police station and everybody from their group had a good night's sleep, the Sanbaka (Three Stooges) soon rejoined May Brooks/Satsuki Sakaguchi and her best friend, Chizuru Raikouji at a cafe near the Hiroshima train station.

The Great Gan, Yahiko Myojin, and Munenori Minoe arrived in time to bid their wistful goodbyes to the departing young teacher.

Reading the mood, Yahiko didn't mention anything about yesterday's storming at the camp of bandit kidnappers to Minoe. The Tokyo Samurai Descendant hoped that the eye-patched spy could figure out on his own the exploits of his female self, Kaede.

The three arrived just in time to overhear the conversation between the two best friends'... love life, of all things.

"...Oh my! You're such a damp squib, Chizuru-san! Especially with how you'd dare compare Kinta-sama to your crush, the vagabond. They are not alike at all!" said Satsuki.

They were apparently in the middle of some sort of conversation about Kenshin Kamiya (nee Himura) and Kinta Minakata (the man whom May had a crush on).

After Chizuru and May exchanged pleasantries, bows, and hellos with each other and the Sanbaka, the buxom blonde teacher then asked, "You're not making this vagabond guy up, are you? He's no make-believe boyfriend of yours, right?"

As Minoe mouthed, 'Damp squib? What's that?' the Raikouji heiress insisted, "HE EXISTS! But he's not my boyfriend, damn you! Anyway, Yahiko knows him! Tell her, Yahiko! Tell her about Homura Kenshi!"

'...Who the hell is that?' thought Myojin. 'Has she been infected by Gan's nicknaming sickness too? Get it together, Chizuru!'

Unwilling to bring up Kenshin Himura in Minoe's presence (lest his other personality, Kaede, was summoned by the name she hated the most), Yahiko decided to change the subject.

Ignoring Chizuru, the samurai boy told May, "I didn't know you practiced martial arts! You were amazing back at that kidnapper's hideout!"

He then remembered that, oh yeah, even Satsuki's stepsister Kyoko Sakaguchi from back in Shinshu practiced swordsmanship. Duh.

"HEY!" The Kaoru look-alike then stomped on Yahiko's foot with her booted foot, which he also didn't react to despite the pain. "I was talking to you, you rude boy!"

"...Do you pratice battoujutsu too?" Yahiko inquired further, recalling how close Kyoko was to fighting Soujiro and wondering how she would've fared. "Sorry, I meant iaijutsu," he corrected himself, remembering that battoujutsu was the old term for the Japanese sword-drawing style.

"Oh, good heavens no! I only use the naginata. I've never drawn a sword out of a sheathe in my entire life!" May tilted her head to the side. "Wait a tick, how did you know Musou Madden Ryu is an iaijutsu swordsmanship school, Joshua-kun?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Raikouji answered for Myojin. "I met Yahiko back when I was staying with the Sakaguchis in Shinshu. He knows Kyoko-chan! He even saw her wield her grandfather's sword that one time!"

"Oh, you've met my baby sister?" asked the adopted gaijin daughter of the Sakaguchis. "I haven't seen her in a while! Isn't she the cutest?"

Yahiko scratched the back of his head and admitted, "Y-Yeah, I guess she's kinda cute," while eyeing a smirking Chizuru from behind May. "...Don't start with me, Tanuki-chan (Miss Raccoon Dog)."

"I didn't say anything!" Chizuru feigned ignorance. "Also, that ain't my name, Yoshi-boy! Who are you calling a raccoon dog?"

All the same, Satsuki winked at Yahiko and invited, "If you want, spar with me sometime."

The grinning Chizuru then teased the adopted Sakaguchi child, asking, "What would Mister Frowny-Faced Samurai Guy say if he saw you flirting with another guy, Satsuki-chan?"

The Enlightened Gan then hit his palm in his fist, taking note to remember the "Frowny-Faced Samurai Guy" nickname that "Kaori-neechan"  came up with. Because he had his priorities straight.

With squinted eyes and a cherry pink blush, Satsuki grabbed Chizuru by the shoulders and shook her around.

"WAH! That's a load of cobblers and codswallop, Chizuru-san! And you know it! I'm not flirting with anyone! You Japanese are so shy that simply being friendly with someone seems like flirting to you people!"

Chizuru's sneering smile widened even while being shaken. Meanwhile, Yahiko looked away and Gan outright stared at the... jiggling girls. One of them jiggling more than the other.

"Oho, I thought you were Japanese too, Satsuki-chan," teased the Kaoru look-alike further, staring at Satsuki's not-so-Japanese chest. "Don't you mean 'us' Japanese instead of 'you' Japanese?"

"You're a meanie, y'know that?" said May with a pout and crossed arms. "I don't even think Kinta-sama and I ever shared a chin wag outside of 'Hi, how do you do!'"

"Well, Honey, it's because he's not the 'chin wag' kind of guy," Chizuru answered, primly straightening up her ruffled kimono and ribbon. "Don't take it personally."

In the background, Minoe himself reminisced about the silent Minakata, nodding in agreement with Chizuru.

Yes, the man certainly didn't wag his chin much indeed.

From there, the Morinaga within him awakened, seething in memory of how frustrating it was to spar with the high-ranking samurai turned Shogo Amakusa body double.

The Judas Iscariot of the Hidden Christians.

Satsuki's happy expression then changed altogether as she concluded with a lower lip quibble, "So I reckon this really is farewell, huh? Cheerio, I guess?"

Chizuru kicked the snow underneath her booted feet. "Aw. And we just got back together again after so long, Satsuki-chan." The rich girl sighed.

"Huh? But aren't you coming with me, Chizuru-san?" asked Miss Brooks.

"Eh? I was?" asked Miss Raikouji in turn. "B-But...!"

"Well, of course you are! I don't see why not! You're our family friend and this is a Sakaguchi Family Reunion!" May then put her hands on her waist. "You'll do great and Bob's your uncle!"

"Who the heck's Bob?" asked Chizuru, who bit her lip, her eyes wide and darting between Yahiko and Satsuki.

Myojin sighed, shoulders slumped, then shrugged and bowed at the Raikouji heiress. "I thought I'd still see your ugly face all the way to Kyoto, but if duty calls and family friends beckon, then I guess we'll just have to say our goodbyes here and now."

"N-Now hold on a minute...!" Chizuru stuttered some more.

"Aw, come on, Yoshi-boy! You still have me!" reassured the Gregarious Gan, who leaned on top of Yahiko's spiky hair like he were a countertop and picked his nose with his sausage-sized index finger.

"...Could you take Gan with you too? He's house trained, I swear," retorted the Tokyo Samurai Descendant while pointing at the thug with his thumb.

"I-I..." stuttered Chizuru, not knowing which path to choose. Should she go with Yahiko, who knew the vagabond, or her best friend, who was about to reunite with her childhood crush?

Yahiko, Gan, and Minoe looked at each other before bursting out laughing at Chizuru.

"Wait, what's going on?" asked Chizuru. "What am I missing here? Why are you laughing at me, you Three Stooges?!"

Myojin slung his arm over Raikouji's shoulders and said, "I was just kidding. We're all going. I've changed my mind. You don't have to go with me to Kyoto or Osaka because we're coming with you and Chizuru to Yokohama."

"W-What? Hey leggo, you perv," the heiress said before shrugging off the younger boy's arm over her shoulders. "But what about your Mushi-whatever? You were supposed to go on a pilgrimage for training, right?"

"Musha Shugyo (Warrior's Pilgrimage)," Yahiko corrected without a second thought before reassuring, "Don't worry about me. This is just a li'l detour before I head on out to Kyoto. Also, I want to spar with the students of Musou Madden Ryu for good measure. I want to see Kyoko and Satsuki in action, pitting their iaijutsu with my kendo."

'...Besides, the way I am right now, with both Minoe and Soujiro able to make short work of me at my current skill level, I don't think I'm quite prepared to face Kenshin's master of all people,' he told himself, remembering how much more mature Kaede was about the bandit situation than he was.

"ALL RIGHT! I mean, you know. Whatever. That's cool," came the petered-out exclamation of Chizuru, who brushed her silken "rich girl" hair back and squirmed in her boots after her best friend and the Three Stooges saw her sudden fist pump into the air.

"Oh my! That's indeed wonderful news! You're all coming with me?" asked Miss Brooks. "You've made so many new friends, Chizuru!" she added before whispering to her best friend, "Chizuru-san, why are they coming with us again? They're not staying over at the Minakatas' like freeloaders, are they? Kinta-sama's mother isn't going to like that!"

Raikouji herself shrugged. "But that's what they are. Freeloaders. Interlopers. People who don't know how and when to mind their own business. But seriously though, they'll be staying in their own tents and inns. I guarantee they won't be a bother."

Satsuki saw the glow in Chizuru's face and cheeks then relented, "Since you're all chuffed up about it, why not? The more the merrier, I say!"

To Yahiko, Chizuru said, "I guess it can't be helped. We'll still be seeing each other again real soon. You stupid dumbasses."

"Right back at you, Raccoon Face," mumbled Myojin to Raikouji.

The Son of Tokyo Samurai then offered his hand to Satsuki for a handshake. "This is how westerners greet each other, correcct? I look forward to challenging your Musou Madden School for a spar or two. Tell 'em Myojin Yahiko from Tokyo's Kamiya Kasshin School sends his regards."

May grabbed hold of Yahiko's hand but then curtsied with her dress and bowed in traditional Japanese fashion. "I'm kind of looking forward to it myself, Joshua-kun. I know my onions when it comes to wielding long poles."

Gan guffawed in the background at that suggestive comment, which prompted Myojin to kick his shin.

"OW! It's settled then! Yoshi-boy's Musashi Gundoh continues in Yokohama, training with Miss Melon, Soba Lady's daughter, and the Stone-Faced Samurai!" declared the Boisterous Gan with a wave of his giant metal bat.

"...Soba Lady's Daughter?" Satsuki asked Chizuru.

"He means Kyoko-chan. Soba Lady is his name for Nonoko-obaasan. Because, you know, he really likes soba," explained Chizuru. "The big oaf met the Sakaguchis back in Shinshu too, along with Yahiko and Minoe."

"Ah. How... quaint. What riveting wit he has."

"Hey, at least he doesn't call her Kaori. Or Miss Melons."

"That's Miss Melon, Kaori-neechan!" corrected the Clueless Gan, which earned him swift shin kicks on each leg care of both Kaori and Miss Melon.

"YEEEOOWCH!"

"BAKA!"

After recovering from the pain, the Gabby Gan added, "Of course, we'll keep tagging along with Yoshi-boy for shits and giggles. The Sanbaka rides again. Right, Patches?"

"Mochiron!" responded Munenori.

Yahiko spared Minoe a glance, which made the wigged and eye-patched "man" smile and give him a thumb's up (because a wink was out of the question).

How could he surpass Kenshin when he couldn't defeat his two Kagemusha, the Ten Ken and the Battousai of Speed?

Also, he was more than a little curious about this Shogo doppelganger who also took on Kenshin's name, the Mimawarigumi Battousai.

Yet another Fake Battousai for him to meet. 'The plot thickens.'

Back at the kidnappers' hideout, after the local police force finally arrived along with Chizuru...

As the coppers rounded up the bandit kidnappers in shackles and handcuffs, Morinaga told Myojin, "I've made my decision. I'm going to Yokohama. I need to face off with the man who betrayed Amakusa Shogo-sama. His Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior)."

"K-Kagemusha...?" trailed of Yahiko. "What do you...?"

"It's Minakata Kinta. He served as a body double for Amakusa-sama six years ago. The Mimawarigumi Battousai. The one who betrayed the Hidden Christians to the devil himself, Akahori Tetsuo."

She turned her back on him and walked away. "Someday, when we meet again, maybe you can tell me all about Himura Kenshin. The Hitokiri Battousai."

"W-Wait, M-Morinaga...!"

He grabbed hold of Kaede and turned her around, only to end up facing the winking, gentler face of Munenori Minoe.

"Oh. I mean, Minoe. Hi."

Dammit, the Battousai of Speed ran away from him again.

Even without the wig and the eye patch, Myojin could sense the change in Kaede's demeanor after traveling with the weirdo for so long.

"AH! Yahiko-chi! What is it...?"

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Yahiko told Minoe, "I'm coming with you and May Brooks to Yokohama. We all are."

"Ah. Okay. Mochiron, Yahiko-chi!" said Munenori without thinking before blinking and realizing what the Tokyoite just told him. "Um, come again? We're going where now?"

Chasing Minoe... Kaede... and the rest of the Battousai Group was the right decision. Maybe by taking them down, Myojin would find the strength to surpass the real Battousai and bear the full weight of his heavy sakabatou.

It was silly, but his actions were spurred from seeing another chance at getting extra training to make himself stronger.

He just wanted to be stronger. He had no complex motivations of conquering Japan or avenging the death of a loved one.

He simply wished to be worthy of carrying the Battousai's... no Kenshin's... sword.

His most important inheritance.

What an idiot he was, he realized. No wonder he and Sanosuke Sagara got along so famously.

Toshiro Minakata was crazy. Crazy as a fox.

That was why he went from nobleman to merchant in order to keep his wealth and privilege regardless of which side won the Bakumatsu. This was also why he had his daughter, Kinta's mother, marry into the similarly wealthy and influential Akahoris.

He was a samurai who was ahead of the curve in regards to changing times, even though not all of his schemes went according to plan.

Like his daughter's affair with a gaijin. Or his own untimely death.

A prolific gambler in the prime of his life (like his fat lawyer son Kaneda), he knew how to hedge his bets and take calculated risks every time. Even if he lost, he'd somehow find a way to win.

According to his critics and enemies, Toshiro Minakata (allegedly) got his extra funding for his pharmaceutical business from illicit drug running. They said he was in fact a corrupt government official to the core.

The legit business that imported and made western medicine for distribution into Japanese households was the perfect front and money laundering scheme for all his illegitimate smuggling, complete with labs he could use to make both legal and illegal drugs.

The Elder Minakata got filthy rich from being a drug kingpin that no policeman could pin down until his legitimate pharmaceutical business (that he initially used as a front while using its very labs for opium processing) eventually became financially solvent itself.

It was the same bait and switch scheme done by the wealthiest families of the United States of America. Drug barons who made so much money, it lasted their family for generations to come.

However, there was no proof of such wrongdoing except rumors.

As far as the Bakufu and later the Meiji Government was concerned, Toshiro Minakata was an honest, honorable samurai turned head of a major conglomerate.

However, the naval codes unlocked info that suggested otherwise.

The naval codes used to hide info that the Seiryu Clan gathered from and on behalf of the Shogunate revealed more than just top secret documents from the past government hidden within piles of redundant paperwork.

The more messages that the family ninja Kaita delivered to him (which Kaita's sister Misanagi compiled and summarized for Kinta's convenience), the more the uncomfortable truths about Toshiro Minakata and the Minakata Family was exposed.

Toshiro's critics and their speculations didn't even scratch the surface of how much of a wily fox the old man was. He pulled the wool over everyone's eyes.

According to the puzzle pieces of hidden correspondences dating back decades and records hidden in code within what appeared to be mundane receipts and past contracts, Toshiro had been quite the busy man.

Working on both Dutch and China trade in Nagasaki as a trade regulator and enforcer that was answerable only to the Shogunate, Toshiro was the watchman whom no one else watched over. Betrayed by the very guardian who was supposed to protect them.

He realized that the writing was on the wall in regards to Japan and samurai after seeing the growing sentiment of dissatisfaction over the Bakufu by many of its soldiers and warriors.

The entirety of Japan had lost face thanks to the disaster that was the arrival of the Black Ships of Commodore Matthew C. Perry back in 1853.

The Shogunate was seen as weak and it soon became desperate to save face and crush the growing Ishin Shishi mutiny against it. The chain of events led not only to Toshiro becoming a covert drug runner but also the formation of the Four Clans spy group under the behest of the Shogun himself.

A government intelligence group tasked to protect the Japanese way of life in light of changing times.

Conveniently, Toshiro also took advantage of the resulting reopening of trade to the West after the Black Ships Incident in his plan to safeguard his personal wealth, assets, and influence in the future along with the Four Clans.

Taking inspiration to how the Sassoon, Rothschild, Lincoln, and Forbes families built their own riches in the 1830s to 1840s (the deciphered documents outright referenced them), Toshiro covertly engaged in opium trafficking at night (just like Robert Bennet Forbes) while overseeing the changing trading policies of Post-Sakoku Japan during the day.

He then married into a merchant family who had a pharmaceutical business in order to further help process the opium he imported from Hong Kong then resold back to China using his secret yakuza connections.

Yes. Rather than damn the Japanese, Toshiro had enough national pride to instead damn the already damned by also indulging in opium trade on their behalf along with the rich elite like the Delanos and the Forbes.

He even personally oversaw the safe delivery of his goods under the noses of policemen and his own samurai underlings even as he got rid of his black market competition of Wokou Pirates and the Three Harmonies Society.

He laundered his ill-gotten wealth and opium fortune to fund his actual legitimate businesses like real estate and his existing pharmaceutical company in order to get away with being a criminal mastermind that destroyed the lives of countless addicts for a couple of decades.

By the time the smoke cleared and the Opium Wars had passed, he was already a multimillionaire with a business empire that could rival the Mitsubishis.

All this time. All that wealth. All that privilege. They were all from the money his grandfather made off of the degradation and suffering of the Chinese people.

A cold sweat ran through Kinta's spine as more and more information surfaced from the Seiryu Clan's declassified copy of the Black Book. Names of past and current ministers kept popping up.

Men complicit with his grandfather's crimes... and benefited from them, so they allowed him to remain a powerful man in politics who was effectively above the law.

Such info from the Black Book was probably present in Tetsuo Akahori's own volume. The volume of the Genbu Clan. And two other volumes covering the secrets and sins of the various warring factions and other information of national importance all compiled in one voluminous book.

Every name, crime, and sin was listed along with the crimes and sins of the (grand)father. The measures they took and the bets they made during such a chaotic, uncertain time.

It was as much a history book as it was a "black book" that contained the list of secret contacts and people liable for punishment. Or blackmail.

Like with the rich families of the U.S. and Britain, Japan's elites and multiple political dynasties had an awful lot of drug money in their hands, making the Meiji Government more of an oligarchy than anything else.

This sobering reminder showed the unsurprising truth that if one dug deep enough under the family trees of the one percent, skeletons would be unearthed down below.

Inside a train going in a five hour trip straight to Yokohama in the Kanagawa Prefecture...

"Throughout my travels as a food connoisseur..." began Gan.

"...You mean food bandit," drawled Yahiko.

The five companions of Yahiko Myojin, the Great Gan, Munenori Minoe, Chizuru Raikouji, and Satsuki "May Brooks" Sakaguchi had collectively bought tickets straight to Yokohama from Hiroshima.

They were currently seated on couches facing each other, with Chizuru and May sitting on one couch then Yahiko and Gan sitting on another couch. Just behind his fellow men was Minoe.

Yahiko originally wanted to travel there by foot and rough it out on the woods (mosquitoes be damned) like he did when he traveled from the Kamiya Dojo to Shinshu in Nagano.

Then he went straight to Shura's crew at the docks of Naoetsu. Then he pushed further from Hakata Bay to Fukuoka, where he fought ronin who were terrorizing the town. Then to Hiroshima where he met the English teacher known as May "Satsuki Sakaguchi" Brooks, who helped the Sanbaka bring down a den of creepy kidnappers.

He'd been all over the map, so to speak. His Musha Shugyo had been... fruitful. He'd been perfecting his Revisal Techniques he developed on his own to harness the hardness and heaviness of the sakabatou (reverse-edged sword).

"Quiet, Yoshi-boy. Anyway, I've eaten all sorts of ramen. Okinawa soba. Kumamoto ramen. Hakata ramen. Tokushima ramen. Wakayama ramen. Onomichi ramen. Tokyo ramen. Kitakata ramen. Sapporo ramen. Ashikawa ramen. I even tasted Sakaguchi soba at Shinshu, which was one of the best I've ever eaten! Wait, where am I going with this?" said the Gluttonous Gan.

"If I have to hazard a guess, you're going to Yokohama City to try out the cuisine there," deadpanned Chizuru, murmuring, "Better not stiff the bill on us again, you fat pig. No more freebies from me for sure."

"Damn straight, Kaori-neechan!" said the Scatterbrained Gan, who ignored Chizuru's side comment, too focused on the dishes he felt entitled to partake in. "Can't wait to get a hold of those Yokohama goodies! What are they, anyway? What do I have to look forward to?"

Miss Brooks unironically answered the Ghastly Gan's inquiry with, "Uh, well we have Sanma-Men ramen in Yokohama. Oh, aaand also Shoronpo dumplings, Gomadango sesame balls, and the Gyunabe beef hotpot. Most of those are specialties of the Yokohama Chinatown though, so I'm not sure they count."

"Actually, that's perfect! All ramen comes from China, right? Didn't they invent the wheat noodle? So it's both Chinese and Japanese!" reasoned the Starving Gan, licking and smacking his lips. "Sanma-Men ramen, huh? But what about Soba for the Soba King?"

"We're not going on a food trip! While we're at it, you should've stayed in Hiroshima, Shinshu, or wherever you came from!" said Chizuru. The rich girl then nudged Satsuki's side, saying, "Don't humor him! It's not as if he pays for his own meals!"

"Oh my, let him be, Chizuru-san! No need to be chuffed about him," said the beatific teacher as though Gan were one of her misunderstood "bad boy" students. "Just think of him as a hungry bodyguard! Or a big, cuddly doggy."

"Ah, Megami-sama! You are such an angel, Miss Melon! A goddess from heaven!" said the Grateful Gan. "And quite the looker too! Woof!"

"Aw, shucks," said May. "You're beautiful too, Galileo-san! Uh, in your own way. You're a knees up kind of bloke!"

"Huh? You do nicknames too? We're going to get along famously, Miss Melon!" said the Japanese Galileo. "Oh, and speaking of melons, do you have some special Yokohama fruit desserts or sweets over there? Like melon bread or taiyaki?"

"Fruits? Desserts? Melon?" repeated the adopted Sakaguchi with an innocent bounce. "Well, yeah, I guess we have melons in Yokohama too. But they're not exactly Yokohama specialty."

The Grinning Gan was about to quip about something crass when Yahiko raised his wrapped-up sakabatou and aimed it at the bandanna-wearing man's head. "...What? The melons are coming back to Yokohama."

And so Myojin conked the goon's thick head with his sword scabbard. The Unfeeling Gan barely even winced.

Located south of Tokyo in the Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama was Japan's second largest city. The Minakatas settled there (or so Satsuki informed them) because of their influence in trade back in the Sakoku Era.

Around 1859, the government opened up the Port of Yokohama. It was one of the first places in Japan that allowed open foreign trade from a multitude of nations, spelling the end of the closed-off and controlled Sakoku Era Trade.

Knowing this, one of the premier hatamoto officials of the previous era packed his bags and moved his family to Yokohama along with the samurai family serving under him (the Sakaguchis).

That was how eccentric "Grandpa" Toshiro was, claimed Satsuki. He was a game-changing, forward-thinking maniac cut from the same entrepreneurial cloth as the patriarchs of the Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Mitsui, and Yasuda Clans. But this time with samurai blood and influence involved.

At any rate, Yokohama soon became a progressive city right after the Black Ships of Commodore Perry forced Japan to open trade with the rest of the world, making it one of Japan's most internationally minded cities.

It served as a gateway to items like jazz music, baseball, beer, and beef; products that would eventually play a role in shaping modern Japan and, in turn, Yokohama cuisine.

In fact, Asia's biggest Chinatown area (outside of actual Chinese towns) was in Yokohama. It was filled with traditional landmarks, restaurants, and shops that occupied several city blocks.

Speaking of Yokohama, Kinta Minakata learned even more about his grandfather in the context of the city's transformation as an international merchant town.

Reams and reams more of hidden codes started getting deciphered by the Sanada Ninja Clan. Other names and families came up with their own questionable histories during the Bakumatsu and their connection with the dying Shogunate.

Some of whom were still in high positions in government. Many others had died in the war, leaving their families in poverty. Their children and grandchildren suffering from the sins or karma of their fathers and forefathers.

Some even had their family line wiped out entirely.

But none of those puzzle pieces fascinated the Mimawarigumi Battousai more than his hatamoto grandfather and his shenanigans for obvious reasons.

His case was personal, after all.

The Chinatown in Yokohama boasted countless stores, making it the largest Chinatown in the world by the time the 20th and 21st Centuries rolled along.

The Yokohama Chinatown was established in 1859 along with the opening of the ports of the city. The shores of Yokohama were where all the Chinese merchants went and gathered after being forced to do restricted trade in Nagasaki for centuries under the watchful eye of samurais like Toshiro.

Yokohama became the new center of trade with western countries, and Toshiro Minakata grabbed the opportunity to himself indulge in western medicine importation and, on the down low, making and distributing his own brand of opium to China to fund his burgeoning pharmaceutical empire.

Kinta expected to unlock the sins of the forefathers of the current Japanese administration by decoding the Seiryu Clan's volume of the Black Book, not uncover that his grandfather was among those criminals.

The shards from his shattered glass house cut deep.

The opium that brought China to its knees in order to give Britain a more favorable tea trade agreement also pushed his grandfather and their family up to hatamoto-class.

"So what? Queen Victoria herself is history's largest drug dealer," was one of the smug coded messages that Toshiro left to justify his own sins.

Even as Japan suffered from Unfair Treaties by countries that bullied it into submission so that it could open its shores for trade once again, the Minakatas were among the elites who plundered and took advantage of the suffering of their own nations and other nations that were also headed towards the same fate as China.

As food for the new superpowers of the world. Manifest Destiny.

The saddest part was none of this disturbing info really shocked Kinta in any way. He suspected it from the start. Or rather, he wouldn't put such actions past his family.

It almost seemed typical for a Minakata to act this way, especially the oh-so-great Toshiro. Every one of the children of Toshiro and Mieko (his grandmother) were groomed for success.

Tatsuya overcame his lack of talent in swordsmanship and physical strength to grow up into a banker that handled the entire family's significant fortune stemming from its multinational financial group named after it.

Kaneda overcame his own inferiority complex of living under his assertive elder brother's shadow (and his own body image issues) by completing his studies and becoming a lawyer himself.

Even Daddy's Millionaire Princess did her part for the family by having an arranged marriage with the Akahori Family's eldest son to strengthen political bonds and secret ties as well as merge their accumulated wealth.

Although according to Grandmother Mieko, Kinta's mother was spoiled rotten by his Grandfather Toshiro.

Even Kinta served as a pawn to the Minakatas. Or the Seiryu Clan itself.

He had to become another Battousai to counteract the Ishin Shishi Battousai that murdered many fellow Mimawarigumi samurai (even though their paths and blades never crossed through a twist of fate) and earn back his grandfather's trust that was lost from him when his mother had her affair.

As though he were the fruit of that union rather than the biological son of Azuma Akahori and Aoi Minakata.

Even Kinta had to curry favor of his own high-standard hatamoto-class samurai family (and relatives) in order to not be treated like their black sheep or a redheaded bastard.

This was all understandable... even characteristic... of the Minakata Bloodline.  

The Mimawarigumi Battousai had heard stories on the dinner table from his bragging grandpa about how their Sengoku ancestors were defeated and became Ochimusha (disgraced samurai who'd lost standing and became low-ranked citizens; could also mean the remnants or corpse of a defeated warrior).

Legend had it that instead of becoming Burakumin (outcasts) hiding in the boondocks, the surviving members of their family stole the land under the control of another family of samurais known as the Minakatas by killing them, taking their identities, and defending their uncaptured land before allying themselves with the Tokugawas.

Known for the shaved top of their heads and disheveled chonmage (topknot) after being disgraced by defeat, the new shogun allowed these ochimusha to grow their hair back along with their dignity and standing as reward for their help.

The False Minakatas became the True Minakatas.

They henceforth became known as the Minakatas (their original clan name had been lost in time), replacing the family they massacred. Through their cunning, they managed to save face and cease from being Ochimusha. Allegedly.

"What are you going to do now, Kinta-sama?" asked Misanagi in reference to these discoveries they'd unearthed regarding his grandfather.

"...." said Kinta.

Back in the train to Yokohama where the Sanbaka (and friends) were riding...

Unable to take more of the Gluttonous Gan's inane food talk, Yahiko switched seats (it was a half-empty train) to sit with Munenori Minoe (or Kaede Morinaga) from behind them.

The Son of Tokyo Samurai sat beside Shogo Amakusa's own prodigy, who had her Minoe "disguise" on and was snoring softly with her head nestled on the closed window.

Or his head. Whatever.

Munenori (or Kaede) was, after all, the reason why Yahiko decided to do his Musha Shugyo training pilgrimage in Yokohama along with him (or her).

The samurai kid couldn't risk Morinaga separating from him and doing any political assassinations and whatnot under his watch, specifically on this Minakata fellow whom she described as a traitor to Amakusa and the Kakure Kirishitans.

After all, Kinta was Satsuki's crush and all.

Regardless, Kaede was the person who almost defeated Soujiro Seta the Ten Ken (Heaven Sword), who in turn almost defeated Kenshin Himura.

According to the former Juppon Gatana member, his Shun Ten Satsu (Instant Heaven Kill) was as fast although not as strong as the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash).

Yahiko remembered how Enishi Yukishiro countered Kenshin's ultimate technique with his own ultimate technique, the Kofoku Zetsu Tou Sei (Absolute Trap Blade Wave) or Kofuku Zettousei.

He then learned the mechanics of Zettousei from when Shura, the Scourge of the Pacific, used the same technique to get her revenge against Captain Masakichi Hananuma Inoue for sinking her ship and killing her first mate.

As the Pirate Queen turned Privateer Queen slowly but surely found a way to counter Captain Inoue's Wanmei Fengbao (Eye of the Storm) with the Kofuku Zettousei, Yahiko also put two and two together and realized that the Hirameki was susceptible to attacks from below the vortex it created, allowing a chance to counterstrike between the gap of the initial strike and the second counterstrike.

Myojin even began getting faster and stronger from sparring with both the Great Gan and the Battousai of Speed. Gan helped him work on his stamina. Minoe helped him work on his reflexes and dexterity.

They were the best training partners a growing teenage boy could ask for.

If the Tokyo Samurai Descendant could get on the level of the Nisemono Battousai (Fake Battousai) and the also-similar-to-Kenshin Ten Ken, then perhaps he could someday finally wield the heavy sakabatou and the accompanying burden of responsibility that came with it.

So that the injured Kenshin who could barely practice the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu wouldn't have to bear that burden himself.

Unbidden, Minoe began to stir and moan.

"Minoe?" whispered Yahiko. "Are you awake?"

"Amakusa Shogo-sama... is amazing. I'm sure that even the Hitokiri Battousai would fall against him. They use the same sword style, am I correct?" Yahiko heard Minoe murmur in his sleep, his one exposed eye closed and his other eye covered by an eye patch.

Ah, so he was talking in his sleep.

Yahiko smirked and harrumphed. "I've seen Kenshin in action. He's amazing. He helped the Ishin Shishi win against the Bakufu. What feats has your Shogo-sama accomplished?"

He then bit his lip, remembering how much of a touchy subject the mass murder of the Hidden Christians rebels were to Amakusa and Morinaga.

Thankfully, the half-asleep Munenori didn't interpret his words in such a malicious manner.

With his eyes (or eye) still closed, he rebutted, "Amakusa-chi is a gifted swordsman from birth, taking out young men his age in kendo tournaments then taking on older, more experienced swordsmen as well when none of the kids could match his kenjutsu prowess."

Huh. The Tokyoite didn't know that. Of course, most any sword style should succumb to the superman's sword style known as Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. "So he learned Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu at a young age, huh?"

Munenori shook his head. "He used Nikaido Heiho when he was younger. That was his father's swordsmanship school. His Uncle Hyoue taught him Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu later on, after... escaping from Japan when the Bakufu first rounded off, tortured, and murdered the Kakure Kirishitan, including his parents."

"Oh. I... I see." Yahiko didn't know what else to say.

"...Besides, he's also a one-man army that took down whole squads of policemen and whole platoons of soldiers. Or have you already forgotten what happened in Shinshu? How you can barely keep up with Shogo-sama?"

Or maybe Minoe did find Yahiko's rebuttal earlier malicious after all. That was... harsh of him to point out, to say the least. Munenori just reminded Myojin of his failure to save the lives of many a copper.

On the other hand, if the Tokyo boy remembered correctly, weren't some of the policemen at Akahori's Mansion involved in an incident with Amakusa six years ago? From another government-sanctioned massacre of sorts?

Shogo, as Shiro Amakusa the Second, assassinated the murderers of his parents (some of whom were still in power), only for the current Meiji Administration to retaliate against his growing rebellion.

The two went silent as the sound of the rumbling train and the murmur of the passengers drowned out their thoughts.

The samurai kid turned his head, only to see someone else other than Minoe stare back at him. The person beside him removed his eye patch, revealing a new character.

Kaede Morinaga had just woken up. He'd been talking to her all this time, not the gentle Minoe.

Kaede rubbed her eyes and recounted to Yahiko the things Lady Magdalia told her about Shogo and his exploits.

Magdalia had specifically told her the story of how she and her brother escaped the Bakufu's clutches.

Even though Shogo himself didn't seem to remember how he manhandled the samurais who were after him, his sister, and his mother at the time, Lady Magdalia filled in the details.

Shogo took out the initial wave with only his shinai before that broke and he was forced to steal a katana that turned him into a bloodstained whirling dervish.

Amakusa might've remembered things differently due to the trauma of the situation. However, had his master Hyoue Nishida not intervened, Shogo might've outright murdered the samurais that stabbed his mother to death.

In fact, Kaede had compartmentalized her skill set into two categories... Cancer Stance for defensive moves and Scorpion Stance for offensive moves... based on the dual styles Shogo used (the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and the Nikaido Heiho).

"Oh yeah? Well, Kenshin himself trained hard with his master for years. And when he was 14 years old, he also took down grown swordsmen himself as a hitokiri assassin! Grown experienced noblemen samurai, even," boasted Yahiko.

The boy blinked. As much of a bad guy he painted Amakusa as in his mind, the Hidden Christian was similar to Kenshin in many ways.

Except for one important thing, but he held his tongue in regards to that in order to not incur the wrath of the emotionally unstable Nisemono Battousai.

"That's nothing! Shogo-sama defeated his master when he was the same age! Using a technique of his own making, the Rai Ryu Sen!" Kaede countered.

"Okay? Kenshin defeated his master to acquire the ougi (succession technique)."

"Ha! I knew it. Shogo-sama is better."

"What? No! Kenshin's master is a god who walks among men. A superman in his own right. Also, last I checked, he's the official bearer of the Hiko Seijuro name. Shogo's uncle isn't, so he must be the weaker of the two!"

"No, he's not! He was the swordsman Kirisaki, who protected the Hidden Christians for the longest time single-handedly until that fateful massacre. I heard he also spared his master, Hiko Seijuro, from death by countering the Kuzu Ryu Sen with something other than the ougi!"

"...A likely story!" said Yahiko with a shake of his head. "Kenshin has a better, stronger master who actually inherited the Hiko Seijuro mantle, so of course he'd whup Amakusa's ass real easy."

"HA! I bet Amakusa's twice as fast as the Hitokiri Battousai! He'd have Super Godspeed compared to the slower Battousai!"

"Yeah right! Kenshin defeated Psycho-Kid when he was still part of the Juppon Gatana... in his prime, mind you... and Amakusa can't! He got completely defeated by Psycho-Kid back in Shinshu!"

"T-That's... unfair! He fought multiple policemen at Akahori's Shinshu Mansion before facing the Ten Ken! He was already spent! Besides, he showed that emotionless bodyguard of Akahori who's boss when he used the Rai Ryu Sen on him!"

"More excuses, huh? Well Kenshin faced off against an Oniwabanshu Okashira (Garden Guard Boss) before facing Psycho-Kid back in Mount Hiei, and he defeated both of them while holding back on killing them, which made taking them down twice as difficult!"

"Shogo-sama's master Kirisaki avoided killing the people he fought all the time, including Kenshin Himura's master, whom he also faced off against. He was a pacifist, so he became skilled enough in swordsmanship to defeat everyone without killing them. That's the kind of master Shogo-sama had!"

"Yeah, well, Mr. One-Man Army didn't help win a civil war against the Bakufu to install the Ishin Shishi into power!" Yahiko blurted out even though he didn't mean to. He couldn't help himself. His emotions got the better of him.

He wasn't even particularly proud of Kenshin helping the Meiji Government rise to power, especially in light of his experience with its corrupt officials.

However, instead of threatening to cut his loose tongue or castrate him, the Fake Battousai pledged to him, "Shogo-sama's own revolution is near. Once he gets the Black Book from Akahori, he'll have all the ammunition he needs to topple this government."

Kaede herself then slapped her hand over her mouth, realizing that she had said too much as well.

Reading the mood, Myojin changed the subject. "In full health, who's faster? Psycho-Kid or Amakusa?"

Morinaga turned her head away, placing the eye patch back on her eye as though to "summon" back her alter ego Minoe before muttering, "The Ten Ken is a little faster than Shogo-sama. But Shogo-sama can still beat him. Stupid Urchin-Head."

The Son of Tokyo Samurai heaved a sigh and confessed, "It's fine. Kenshin told me that Psycho-Kid is faster than him too. Seta Soujiro might even be faster than the whole Hiten Mitsurugi School itself. Maybe."

"...But I bet the Hitokiri Battouai is waaaay slower than the Ten Ken compared to Shogo-sama, who's only a little slower."

"Hey! Don't get ahead of yourself!" said the inheritor of the sakabatou. "I give you an inch and you take a mile. Honestly."

Much later still...

"You wanted to speak to me?" Tatsuya Minakata said. The banker son of Toshiro Minakata. Kinta's uncle from his mother's side.

"Yes," said Kinta.

"What the hell do you want, you brat?"

...And Tatsuya was every bit as intimidating, menacing, and cunning as his uncle from his father's side, Tetsuo Akahori. The complete opposite of his other uncle and Tatsuya's younger brother, Kaneda.

But that was in the past. Kinta was no longer a small child or gangly teenager that the alcoholic could push around and abuse whenever he was drunk.

Uncle Tatsuya might've not inherited any of Grandpa Toshiro's immense talent in swordsmanship, but he certainly had his father's business acumen as the person in charge (by proxy and with Grandma Mieko's blessing) of the Minakata Family's vast wealth.

As expected of a ruthless banker who was as thin as Uncle Kaneda was fat.

From behind Tatsuya was their newly hired manservant bodyguard who towered over the two like an outright foreigner despite being Japanese. Meanwhile, Kinta's uncle sat on his chair behind his desk, his arms folded and his mouth a scowl.

His eyes staring straight into Kinta's eyes.

Toshiro's grandchild could hear the insistent taps from the shoes of Toshiro's eldest son.

Hiding behind Kinta's shadow though was Kaita of the Sanada Ninja Clan.

Not that the Mimawarigumi Battousai who faced off against Hitokiri Gensai Kawakami needed help defending himself or anything.

The ninja Kaita was also there to remind him of anything he missed regarding the intelligence they'd decoded in their search for the Seiryu Clan's Black Book.

Kinta didn't want to make a single mistake about the uncovered intel before asking about them straight from one of their primary sources.

Conversing with his grandfather's son about past crimes was the ex-Kagemusha's way of giving Toshiro the benefit of the doubt. Even though Tatsuya himself could very well be an accomplice to those crimes.

"...Well? What is it? I'm a busy man," said Tatsuya with a dismissive snort, breaking contact with Kinta's gaze. "I have no time to play with you. We have goddamn assassins after us, if you haven't noticed!"

Kinta went straight to the point. "What do you know about the Seiryu Clan's Volume of the Black Book?"

There was a pregnant pause.

"Seiryu Clan? I have no idea what you're talking about," denied Tatsuya. Like Jesus Christ's disciple Thomas, as Amakusa would say.

The younger Minakata then placed his copy of the decoded papers on the Elder Minakata's desk.

"What is this nonsense? I have no time..."

"There are declassified documents about Grandfather Toshiro's drug dealings in China using Minakata Pharmaceuticals as a front."

Tatsuya's scowl turned into a snarl. "Drug dealings? Are you saying your grandfather is a drug lord? Is that it? Those are some grave accusations you're hurling, kiddo. Be careful what you say."

However, Kinta always was careful. He spoke the way he fought. Methodically. With no wasted movement or words.

The nephew presented a different document from Kaita. This time full of names, addresses, and quantities of delivered goods. Contact persons, if you would. More like accessories to his grandfather's crimes.

The names listed meant nothing to the Mimawarigumi Battousai, but he summarized and said them aloud nonetheless. They were Toshiro's contacts from the warehouses he stored his opium. The names of his chemists who processed the drug.

The list of ports under his control that allowed him to ship to China his own brand of premium-grade, potent opium that was easier to access than the ones being sold by the Indians, the British, and the Americans in Hong Kong and the Pearl River outside Canton.

Although his uncle would not divulge one piece of information about the Black Book, the reactions he gave to the uncovered information spoke volumes.

Kinta had all the puzzle pieces of the Black Book right at the palm of his hand.

Through seemingly redundant and suspicious documents, bogus employee contracts in triplicate, and receipts for business expenditures that were nonexistent, his grandfather had weaved a web of lies he used to communicate with the underworld in order to go about his opium trade in ways that would've made the likes of Takeda Kanryu jealous.

The sheer amount of opium Toshiro sold and money he made was many magnitudes larger than Kanry's lifetime wealth. It involved millions of yen's worth of drugs sold by the ton. The same way the Rothschild and Forbes families built their fortunes.

Tatsuya stood up from his seat and slammed his hands on his desk, with both bodyguards... the tall nameless one beside the uncle and the ninja hidden in the darkness behind the grandchild... stirring in reaction.

For Kinta's part, he stood his ground. In his younger years, he would've flinched or cowered away from Tatsuya. Not anymore. Not after everything he'd been through.

Tatsuya got in Kinta's face before smirking and attempting to feint a punch, but the swordsman wouldn't buy it.

The ruthless businessman had half the mind to punch his nephew. Show him who was boss. His little sister's forgotten piece of excess baggage.

Like the good ol' days.

"As if Father would leave a paper trail behind," Tatsuya rebuked, calling his nephew's bluff. "What piece of fiction have you written up here? Decode? There's nothing to decode here! Spare me your conspiracy theories and nonsensical speculation!"

"If this is all false, then you won't mind the police investigating all this evidence, correct?"

Tatsuya grabbed Kinta by the collar. The younger Minakata still wouldn't flinch. Defiant to the end.

"Call the police? We own the police!"

"The Minakatas haven't been influential in politics since grandfather's death," Kinta called Tatsuya's own bluff.

"Ever since you became one of those Mimawarigumi goons from back in the day, you've been full of yourself. You've changed. But I know better. You're still the same scared little snot I've whipped with my belt time and time again. How many times do I have to teach you that lesson, boy?"

Tough talk from a drunkard who never held a sword or killed a man his entire life.

Kinta didn't say those words, but Tatsuya must've heard his unsaid sentiment through his eyes because the banker soon swung at his face immediately after.

A swing and a miss.

To Be Continued...

Miss me? It's been a while, huh?

Salamat, Abdiel