#I guess a third option would be 'need more information' lol | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dejwritesarchived · 2 years ago

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♡ ˙ ˖ ✧ — the story of las vegas's biggest bootlegger & his favorite burlesque dancer.

♡ ˙ ˖ ✧ — she/her pronouns, i guess sugar daddy nanami but like reader and him around the same age sooooo, reader is black, nanami lowkey a simp in this tbh, set in the 20's, racism mentioned, slight voyeurism, creampie, usage of alcohol, usage of drugs (cigarettes), slight history inaccuracy, slight timeskip where reader + nanami are in their 30's, but in flashback they're in their 20's, yes i know i'd rather go blind didn't get released until the 60's but i kept listening to it during one scene i wrote in this lol, flashback is in italics, the story told in third pov, wc: 5.3k minors dni pls !!

♡ ˙ ˖ ✧ — @earlesskitten '555 collab event', congrats once again on your milestone.

THIRTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD [Y/N] [L/N] HAD SIPPED AT HER TEA STARING at the two young journalists Nobara Kugisaki and Yuji Itadori. Their curious eyes watched as she sipped at the hot liquid with ease before clearing her throat and leaning back into the seat of the cafe located in Malaysia.

"So where should we start? You two are doing research on bootleggers and came to me? I'm no bootlegger, nor was I ever one." The woman answered as she looked at them.

Nobara's eyebrows raised in curiosity as she twirled her fountain pen around her fingers with ease. The redhead was known to challenge every person she interviewed and she wasn't leaving here until she got the information she needed. Although, her coworker Yuji liked to take the stern way of interviewing and capturing the story. Nobara just loved the high of making people sweat and squirm in their seats when she interviewed them.

"Oh come on, it's no secret on who you are Ms. [L/N]." Nobara says. "You're literally the only person we could track down that's not in jail, dead, or disappeared that knows the infamous Nanami Kento." Nobara said as she looked at the older woman. "So, how about you start when the two of you met?"

"Jeez, you don't have to be so hard on her," Yuji sighed as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

"It's okay. You guys came a long way to get information about him for this research and I'm going to give it to you." [Y/N] answered.

The Roaring 20's was a time period filled with nothing but adrenaline, especially in Las Vegas. The women's dresses were getting shorter, teasing men with the sway of their hips with each step. The party scenes were even chaotic if you knew the right person. The illegal selling of alcohol right under police officers' noses by many bootleggers in Sin City. Twenty-four-year-old [Y/N] was just looking for an escape, she city hop every year due to her not knowing what was purpose in life. She couldn't bear to marry some man her mother set her up with at their church simply because she wanted to live her life a little more before settling down.

Of course, her parents didn't agree with that. They hated it. Cursing her that if she leaves, she's never to speak to them again. She would send postcards from every city she visited but never heard back from them. Settling down in Las Vegas, the woman was in need of a job. She tried waitresses, many restaurants were hesitant on hiring her due to the color of her skin. Others gave her the option to just work in the kitchen to avoid the weird stares. It was that one night when she met the charming duo of Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru, owners of one of the biggest burlesque clubs in the city. [Y/N] entered the club with her head held up with so much confidence, asking if they were hiring.

She still remembered the sly grin Gojo had on his face when his crystal blue eyes landed on her. Geto who was sipping at the brown liquid in his glass was sitting at one of the tables, his toned thighs spread apart as he eyed her like a predator looking at its prey. The guys shared a look before Gojo's long digits are twirling around motioning for the young woman to twirl. She did what she was told, twirling slowly showing off her figure that her momma surely gave her.

They both looked impressed.

"Can you sing?" Gojo questioned.

"I mean, I used to sing for my church's choir." [Y/N] replied.

Geto chuckled. "A church girl coming to our club wanting a job, interesting." He says. "Can you dance?"

"I mean, I guess. I'm a fast learner." She answered truthfully.

The two men shared a glance once again. "Great. You're hired, our lead burlesque girl got knocked up and ran away with her fuckin' boyfriend," Gojo's arms instantly go around [Y/N]'s shoulders as he led her away from Geto.

"How much are you guys paying?" [Y/N] questioned.

"Oui, a girl that's after her money. I like you already." Gojo answered. "We pay our angels perfect pay. Free food, drinks, get to keep any tips they make to themselves." Gojo explained as he led [Y/N] backstage. "We're the most popular speakeasy in Las Vegas."

"But, what about the cops? I'm sure they're always snooping around wondering if you guys are selling alcohol." [Y/N] responded.

"There are some cops that don't know when to mind their damn business, but there are others who love our angels a lil too much that it gave us plenty of evidence to blackmail them." Gojo bluntly admitted.

"Wait, we came here to hear about Kento, not how you met two of the greatest duos as club owners," Nobara interjected.

"Maybe, she was getting to that part before you interrupted her," Yuji added as he gave her a sarcastic look.

"I mean, did you two not hear me. I worked in a speakeasy burlesque type of established. You really think those two were handing out coffee, teas, and orange juice to men and women that were there to see pretty women dance and stuff?" [Y/N] questioned.

"I met Nanami Kento there. It was a bit cliche, but after that, he just kept appearing in my life." [Y/N] answered truthfully.

Twenty-four-year-old Nanami Kento's bottom of his shoes stopped out the cigarette he was previously smoking as he watched some of his men transport crates of liquor in Geto and Gojo's club. He walked into the back of the club, navigating his way to where the main stage was at. He knew the club from the back of his hand. After all, he's been doing business with the two since the lousy prohibition law was set up in the first place. When he saw the duo looking over paperwork as some of their dancers were practicing, Nanami's eyes landed on one particular woman. She stood out from them all when he saw her. His eyes lit up similar to how they lit up when business owners handed him the suitcase filled with cash after doing business.

"Kento, we may be ordered another batch from you sooner than you think," Geto said as he was flipping through the folder.

"What? You guys just increased how much I sell to you two months ago. Business is doing that good for you two? Even with the increase of cops snooping around?" Nanami asked as he looked at him.

"It's because of our new employee [Y/N]." Geto motioned to the woman Nanami was previously staring at before he approached the duo.

"When she told us she could sing, we didn't think she can sing sing." Gojo answered. "We never particularly had a black lead burlesque dancer before due to the racist cunts in the city, but they love her," Gojo added. "You should stay for the show tonight and hear her sing."

"Yeah, give you and your men a break for once and let our angels take care of you guys," Geto's arm clasped around Nanami's shoulder. "Think she sings this song and by the time the song is over she's holding this huge feather covering her bare body. She gives her underwear to some random drunken customer and the crowds lose it."

"Ah, last week, she gave it to some actor and he gave her a huge tip," Gojo answered.

Nanami listened to them gloat about their newer employee. Even mentioning that they had to ban some men due to their inappropriate behavior towards her. Geto even mentioned punching someone for her.

"Fine, I'll let my men know that we're staying here for an hour or two. I want the table front and center near the stage." Nanami told them as he went to go tell his men.

And Nanami Kento was front and center during the show. His eyes couldn't leave [Y/N] as she danced across the stage. Each step she took in her sparkly attire that only left just a tad bit of imagination what was underneath was filled with sex appeal. Her voice was like a beautiful hummingbird on a Saturday morning in Paris. Nanami now understood why the people showed up every night to watch her. She was breathtaking and her singing was angelic.

He could tell that she knew he was eyeing her each step she took and each sinful word escape her mouth. As she was singing the last words of the song, she gracefully waltz around the room holding up what seems to be the only thing that left mean wondering what was underneath.

By the time the end of the song, Nanami was grasping at the red lace fabric as he watched the cameras drop. His cheeks were stained with a crimson color as they radiated with so much heat. In the back of the club, Geto and Gojo were laughing up a storm watching their friend get flustered considering it was them who told [Y/N] to give her underwear to him.

When the club finally closed and Nanami was standing outside the entrance waiting for his driver to bring the car around, a cigarette in between in his lips as his eyes stared up at the moon that shined down his tall stature. He could feel the presence of someone standing next to him and when he saw [Y/N], he quickly looked ahead letting out a nervous cough.

"Did you enjoy the show?" She would ask as she looked over at him.

Nanami's blowing the intoxicating smoke in the air before looking at her and nodding. "Yes, you're an amazing entertainer." He complimented.

"Thank you," [Y/N] responded as she glanced around. The young woman was waiting for her co-worker to leave since a group of them usually left around the same time (if they haven't been snagged up by a charming person tonight).

When Nanami saw his driver pull up in front of the club. He placed the cigarette he was smoking out, tossing it carelessly before his hands are digging into his slacks pockets. He's tugging out her underwear to give back to her but she only chuckles pushing his hand away. "Keep em', as a souvenir from your favorite angel." Her lips curled into a smirk once she saw his face flush of its color.

"You used to give strangers your underwear?" Nobara questioned.

"I mean yeah, you'll be shocked to know what kinks men like. This one man who used to come to my shows would give me so much money just to get my underwear," [Y/N] joked. "I would always say he probably sniffs them when he left the club."

Yuji adjusted himself in his seat uncomfortably. His cheeks turned a red color from the sexual topic he was hearing. "Okay, but did you see him again?" He asked.

"Of course, I did. A lot of times actually. He showed up to countless of my shows when he was doing alcohol drops." [Y/N] answered.

"You must have been his favorite," Nobara pointed out as she looked at [Y/N].

[Y/N] carelessly shrugged her shoulders, "I mean obviously. He always stayed later than usual to talk to me, make sure I got home safely, and the list goes on." She explained. "And I can't forget the flowers that would always be near my vanity backstage when I came to work."

Nobara watched as a smile curled into the woman's face. She adjusted herself in her seat before speaking once again, "So, you would say he fell in love with you?" Nobara asked.

"Of course, he was the first to say that phrase in the first place." [Y/N] admitted as she sipped at her coffee.

Nobara's eyebrow raised in curiosity. The young journalist was eager to know more about that. How could one man say he was ever so in love and leave his love behind when he disappear?

[Y/N] remembered driving by this particular restaurant and dreaming of eating there. When she stepped into the restaurant looking beautiful as ever and wanting to treat herself, she should have known she was going to meet with hardships. Her head held high as she requested a table. She was met with 'we're booked for the evening' even though she was staring at a clear table right in the back. Her parents raised her to never pester to want to be in spaces that don't want her. She brushed the feeling off until she had a usual date night with Nanami.

Her eyes glistened with curiosity when she was standing in front of the restaurant. While she awkwardly shifted her weight from one foot to another, she glanced at Nanami, "Can we go someplace else? I don't really think I'm wanted here," She huffed.

She could feel the tip of Nanami's finger brush against her lower back as he brought her closer. The two of them have been seeing each other for quite some while, settling in for dates inside his fancy office or at her job, but never out like this. Which [Y/N] appreciated due to the fact that she was able to see Nanami period. With your schedule becoming quite hectic due to the popularity of the club and then on top of Nananmi doing a lot of traveling for alcohol shipments. He wanted tonight to be special.

"Your co-worker mentioned you wanting to go here and was turned away," Nanami said as he glanced over at [Y/N] just to meet with her questionable gaze. "So, I brought the place."

"What? You're lyin'. Please tell me you're lyin'. I told you about this Kento," [Y/N] felt her cheeks grow hot as her hands went up to feel at her cheeks. "Just because I make a comment about wanting something, you shouldn't just go and buy it. It'll make the cops even more suspicious of you."

Nanami grabbed a hold of the woman in front by the waist, tugging her closer to him. "It's no big deal. It'll actually cover my tracks because it's actually in your name. You're the owner."

[Y/N] eyes enlarged at his comment. "I don't know a damn thing about running a restaurant," She said.

"I know, that's why I already hired a whole different staff to handle it for you or help you. Just in case you want to walk away from the burlesque business." Nanami leans down to place a peck on the woman's gasped lips. "Now let's go, we have a very special table." He says as he grabbed a hold of her hand to pull her into the restaurant.

When the couple entered the restaurant, [Y/N] was astonished at how differently it look. It looked much brighter, like something you would see outside a fairytale book. Her eyes glanced at the glass chandelier that hung from the ceiling right in the middle of the restaurant and soon to the live band that was playing music. The restaurant was filled and everyone was having a good time. She was completely speechless as she clutched Nanami's arm. He did all of this for her and she could feel herself get emotional while he was tugging her towards the stairs of the second level of the restaurant. She remembered that before this portion of the restaurant was exclusive for important people like politicians and congressmen. However, when she looked around it was completely empty. With only one table in the center of the floor that was set up so romantically.

Nanami scrambled to tug [Y/N]'s seat out before she sat down and he quickly occupied the seat right across from the burlesque performer. The soothing sound of the band still could be heard clearly on the second floor of the glamorous restaurant. The staff was urgent, which [Y/N] assumed the sudden urgency was because Nanami wanted alone time with her. [Y/N] knew that at any given moment one of his men could usher in with a quickness stating that it's been a problem that needs to be handled.

The small talk about each other day was subtle, but [Y/N] could tell Nanami was paying attention to her. It was something he was good at. He paid attention to small details as if it was the most important thing ever. "You still didn't have to go out and do this. I'm being dead serious. The gesture was more than nice—"

Her words were interrupted by Nanami. His hand extended across the table to touch hers before he's speaking, "I told you it's okay. It's just an investment for our future, mainly yours though."

A low chuckle came out [Y/N]'s mouth before she's speaking, "You're really serious about this?" Her free hand that wasn't currently being fondled by Nanami motioned between the two of them.

"Please be realistic, this could get us both killed." [Y/N] answered as she looked at him.

Perhaps she was overthinking. Her heartbeat increased when those words left her mouth. Especially given that she hasn't mentioned this before. Maybe she was deflecting. Afraid that this fairytale wouldn't end the way she wanted to, so she had to end it herself. Even though those words left her mouth, Nanami's gaze didn't change. He still looked at her with that lovesick look before tugging her out of her seat to sit on his lap.

The young woman was forced to endure getting a whiff of the scent that she adored so much. Her skin felt like it became hotter as she waited for him to respond. "Please say something." [Y/N] said as her hand went to fix his tie.

"You're pushing me away," Nanami said firmly. She could the flat of his thumb on her thigh. "Why?"

"I'm just being realistic Kento," [Y/N] responded. "I don't want you to get hurt. This country is cruel."

"Everywhere is cruel darling, some just better at covering it," Nanami answered truthfully. "Stop trying to push me away, [Y/N]. I take the risk with what I do for a living and you think I'm worried about what bigot people in this country think?"

[Y/N] was silent as she realized he made a good point. "I'm just overthinking. I'm sorry, I'm just worried. With how the government is cracking down on these laws, just feel like you stick out the most as a criminal due to who you're dating." [Y/N] explained. "You kinda stick out."

Nanami chuckled at her statement. "And I'm okay with that. A lot of these cops aren't very smart and can be bribed. But tonight, we're not going to be worried about that right?"

Now it was [Y/N] turn to chuckle at her boyfriend's statement. "You're one interesting man Kento." She stated as she looked at him.

Nanami smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. The woman didn't do anything as she melted in his touch to feel her some more. Her hand grasped at the back of his neck to deepen the passionate kiss as he adjusted her in his lap. Now both of her legs were by his side in the chair he sat in. "Someone is going to see us." [Y/N] mumbled through the brief moment they split apart.

"Let them." He only said before his lips were back on hers, tasting her delicately as if it was the last time his lips were going to be upon hers.

He stands up with eagerness to place [Y/N] on the table, the sound of expensive chinaware crashing to the floor was ignored as the couple continued to make up. Indulging in the idea that it was just them in the restaurant instead of just the second level private floor. The taste of harsh liquor lingered off Nanami's tongue while [Y/N] was gracefully begging for more.

The two of them were so caught up in each other that before you knew it Nanami's pants were hanging loosely around his waist with [Y/N]'s panties dangling from her ankle. Her cunt throbbed with anticipation at the thought of someone catching them in the act. Even though they were pretty high up from others, any person curious to just look up could see them. The sound of the band helped with the moans that would ring in Nanami's ears with each jarring thrust.

When the bootlegger felt the way [Y/N] clutched around him, he was in love. Well, he was that way before this moment. But he wasn't sure why tonight made it so different. They've spent months together, and they've had sex countless times, but tonight just was different for Nanami.

His hand grasped at [Y/N]'s thighs not wanting to move until she was comfortable for him to do so. The flat of his thumb rubbed small circles until he heard gasp out his name like a sweet melody. Similar to when she performed in Gojo's and Geto's clubs. Like a madman losing his insanity, Nanami's continued to trash forward. For split moments the two shared breathless kisses while tugging each other closer at the moment. The table [Y/N] was placed upon as Nanami was in between her legs shook violently, but Nanami was sure to make sure his girl didn't fall. However, the silverware that was on the table was broken beyond repair.

"Fuck, you feel so good." He moaned out as propelled forward some more. The lewd wetness sound between [Y/N]'s thighs had Nanami seeing stars at this point. Completely pussy drunk past his limits as he looked at [Y/N]'s fucked out expression.

Her pretty mouth gasped open hiccuping moans of desperation and Nanami's name. Her lipstick smudged off her lips and Nanami was sure was practically all over his lips. Her eyes glistened with so much passion as she looked at him.

He was in love.

The couple was so close, grasping each other body parts as they both were pulling each other towards cloud nine. Muffled moans from sharing short kisses to not overpower the band's sound to interrupt the guests on the lower floor. The sensational pit at the bottom of [Y/N]'s abdomen finally explodes in time for Nanami to fill her up to the brim. The intense feeling of his thrusting towards her grows sloppy just like the mess in between her legs. His cock was coated with her sweet essence and his cum as he finally pulled out of her.

Nanami's blonde hair that once was combed back to perfection was disheveled on top of his head as his body seemed to slouch upon the table. His forehead falls gracefully upon [Y/N]'s shoulder. The both of them basked in the passionate moment as they were trying to catch their breath and composure. Nanami placed soft kisses on her shoulder before the next words that left his mouth shook [Y/N].

"I love you [Y/N]."

[Y/N had so many thoughts in her head as she found herself toying with the ends of Nanami's shirt as she still was sitting on the table. Her eyes met with Nanami's, "I love you too."

Nanami's cracked a grin on his face before he's leaning down to kiss [Y/N] once again until the both of you could hear some footsteps. However, despite Nanami's eagerness to continue the kiss, he ignored the incoming footsteps behind him.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! The staff stated that you guys were wrapping up!" Yu Haibara stated as his words just kept rambling on. He made his way up to the second level with urgent news for Nanami, but he felt bad interrupting such a romantic moment between the couple.

He instantly turned around away from the couple that was quickly tugging to fix their clothes. [Y/N] felt the burning wave of embarrassment wash over her body as she could feel Nanami zipping up the back of her dress. "I'm so sorry, the server said it was okay to come up." Yu apologized with his back still turned. "I can come back, but what I have to tell you is extremely urgent." He rambled on.

Nanami would glance over at [Y/N], who knew what was going to come out his mouth next. It wasn't anything new to her, but she didn't want the night to end. Especially after the obvious heated exchange the two just shared. "It's okay, this gives me time to meet my staff, huh?" You asked him.

"I promise to make it up to you," Nanami responded as he brought her knuckles up to his mouth.

[Y/N] felt the softness of his lips on her knuckles, "What more could you give?" She asked. Her head innocently tilted to the side waiting for a response.

"The world," Nanami answered bluntly before he placed a kiss upon [Y/N]'s temple, flashing a smile down at her, and disappearing with his friend.

"Awww, that's so uh—sweet," Yuji answered as he doodled in his notepad. His cheeks glowed a crimson color hearing the faint memory that [Y/N] told them about her and Nanami having sex.

Nobara rolled her eyes at her coworker's comment, "I'm guessing that this is where the story goes to shit."

[Y/N] let out a laugh, "Wouldn't say go to shit. More like the police got much stricter on prohibition laws. He was one the most known targets selling illegal goods all around America and the fact that he had an informant in his group didn't help either." [Y/N] explained.

She watched the two young journalists' mouths gap open in shock. Assuming that they didn't know this information from their previous research. "You two didn't know that?"

"No. We did as much research as possible and didn't know that he had a rat in the inside," Yuji was jolting down his notes.

"He told you this?" Nobara asked as she let the end of her pen brush against her lip as she was thinking.

"One of the last things he told me other than I would always love you," [Y/N] says.

[Y/N] remembered vividly her coworker told her Nanami wanted to speak with her in the back of the club. With quickness, the burlesque dancer was tugging on her robe to cover her attire to speak with him. She assumed he would have already taken his seat in the audience, that's when [Y/N] knew something was wrong. The show was about to start in fifteen minutes also. When she stepped outside and saw Nanami leaning against the brick wall. He didn't look like himself.

He looked stressed.

His hair that would be nicely combed back was out of place. He had a cigarette in between his lips and he was even missing his tie. Even he would get on some of his men in his crew for not having a tie on. "What's wrong?" You asked as she looked at him.

"I have to leave Vegas, [Y/N]. Like as soon as possible." Nanami admitted. He dropped the cigarette on the ground letting it burn out under his dress shoes.

"What? I'm not understanding. Where are you going? Let me go with you. I have been thinking about quitting here to—" [Y/N]'s words were interrupted by Nanami.

"No, it's too much of a risk for you to go and I don't need you getting hurt." He grabbed her hand letting the pad of his thumb rub comforting circles on her hand. "It's an informant in my crew. I think he's been there for a while and it wouldn't be safe for you to come with me." He explained.

For some reason, [Y/N] felt like she should have been the one comforting him. His whole empire was crumbling down because of a rat. [Y/N] stepped closer and just let her body fall into Nanami's, her arm wrapping around him to hug him. She could only take in his savory scent because she knew that this could be the last time it lingered up her nose.

"Hey! [Y/N]! Geto and Gojo want to start the show early since the crowd is getting a bit rowdy!" [Y/N] heard her co-worker yell out the crack backdoor of the club.

It was Nanami who was forcing her off his body. His hand soon cups Y/N's face innocently before he's placing a loving kiss on her lips. When the two of them pulled away, she felt him drop something in the palm of her hand. "Returning the keys to your place because I left something there for you."

[Y/N] stepped back as she watched him walk away before he's turning around once again. "I will always love you, remember that." He let go of her hand before eventually disappearing in the darkness of the night.

"Okay, so what was it that he left for you?" Yuji asked as he looked at [Y/N].

"Money, some stuff I left at his place. But mainly money." [Y/N] answered. "How else would I be able to be here other than my dancer savings?"

Nobara closed her notebook, she let out a sigh of frustration as she watched the older woman tug on her pastel pink colored pea coat. She had placed the ringgit bill on the table. "I just don't believe that after that night you didn't see him again. No one saw him again. It was as if he disappeared in the night." She challenged.

"Maybe he realized that the illegal selling life wasn't for him anymore, plus he was technically on the run also due to informant situation. Las Vegas district attorney wanted his head." Yuji pointed out as he had looked at the two women.

"But it just doesn't make sense to leave behind the woman you supposedly love." Nobara chewed at her lipstick-covered lips before throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "Thank you for your time, Ms. [L/N]."

[Y/N] could only give them a smile before wishing them well for the research they were conducting. When she exited the small cafe, she would make her way to her private driver. The driver glanced in the mirror giving her a kind smile, "Should I take you home Miss?" He asked and he watched as she nods.

The woman felt so hot practically lying to the two journalists. However, she had to do what she had to do to protect herself and her newest family. The ride to her home wasn't that long, considering that she did major research on the area before deciding to move there. Her driver would ask questions about how the interview went and she could only tell him that she answered their questions the best she could. After all, they traveled so far to get information on him. When she felt the car stop in front of her home, she would step out with such elegance. Her heels clicked the pavement with each step she took towards the front door. Unlocking the door, she stepped into the house undoing her jacket and glancing around her surroundings in the nicely decorated home.

"Hun?" She calls out loudly.

The sound of footsteps could be heard and she wasn't sure if that was her broadening husband or her five-year-old son. But seeing both of them walking into her eye view caused her face to light up.

Former bootlegger that was on America's Most Wanted Nanami Kento had fled town as soon as he heard the news that it was a rat within his own operation. Accumulating enough wealth for himself to move to the paradise that he's been dreaming about since he was younger. He just was missing his one true love in this paradise.

His once blonde-colored hair that he gelled back to perfection years ago was now dyed a dark brown color. He was aging gracefully now that the weight of an alcohol business was no longer on his shoulders. He had everything he wanted. A beautiful wife and a child.

"Did they really believe the leaving you all alone with all my money story?" Nanami questioned as his muscular arms snaked around [Y/N]'s waist tugging her closer.

A smirk appeared on the woman's face, "Well, one of them was very challenging. But, I think she brought it."

"Good because I don't want anything breaking up what we have here."

TAGS — @indiecursor @maydayaisha @gojosmari @fiona782 @thicksimpx @luffysthickwaifu @gabzlovesu @misss-chrisss @fairiechuu @yuujilove @itzgabz22 @etherealluvrr @caribbeanwifey19 @sindinminpin @bbgiirlll @gardenof-venus @littlemochi @queenmjp @po3ticb3auty @sunkissedebony97 @gaiasmight @rinhoes @caramelanins @maideneyes @thenerdyrebel @reiners-milkbiddies @woahhajime @sleepy3 @festive @rowsn @little-aruma @imperatorkhaleesi

#— [555 collab]#nanami kento x reader #jjk x reader #jjk x black reader #nanami kento x black reader #anime x reader #anime smut #anime x black reader #black reader #x black reader #fem reader #nanami x reader #kento x reader

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pascalpanic · 4 years ago

Text

Caffeine Rush: Chapter One / Americano

Javier Peña x f!Reader

Summary: Working a dull December morning shift, you meet a seemingly disgraced DEA agent by the name of Javier Peña.

Warnings: Language, talk of death and canon-typical Narcos violence

W/C: 2.3k

A/N: YOU GUYS i am so excited to share this story with you all!! i fuckin love Javi and coffee so this features my two favorite things! big thanks as always to my beta readers for helping me out- especially with chapter 2 (which i was stuck on for 3 weeks lol). I hope you guys enjoy! this story has some twists I don’t think y’all are gonna see coming ;) I’m planning to update this fic once a week! I just wanted to get chapter one out there :)

previous chapter || next chapter || masterlist

Americano: espresso and hot water; has a similar taste to a brewed coffee, but still darker and more caffeinated thanks to the espresso.

Work is blissfully slow on weekdays, allowing you to putz along at your own speed. Today, however, is boring as hell. You’d had approximately seven customers since the morning rush, meaning about seven drinks to make. There weren’t even tables to clean, no customers having sat in the cozy coffeeshop. You and your coworker had joked around, swept and mopped, and cleaned the espresso machines twice each.

At this point, with nothing else to do, you sipped your third peppermint mocha while perched atop two stacked milk crates, leafing through your worn copy of The Great Gatsby. It was a common occurrence when evening rolled around, but rarely so early in the day. Since you were the one on barista duty, Mandy kept watch for customers and allowed you to relax with your book. It was routine for the two of you. She mindlessly fusses with the product wall and the coffee grinder, cleaning everything for the third time.

The door opens and you pop up from your makeshift chair excitedly. The weather is blustery and cold, with heavy snowflakes starting to fall outside the large windows, and the man who enters is pulling his jacket tight around himself. He looks up and you quickly dodge behind the espresso machines before you can make eye contact. It’s instinctual, and you’re unsure why until your brain reminds you of the man’s face. He’s handsome, even though you got maybe a second’s look at him. Dark brown hair and a neatly trimmed mustache, eyes an even darker shade to complement his tanned skin.

You bite your lip and grab a large ceramic mug, bringing it to the espresso machine. No one would be crazy enough to order a cold drink in this weather. Mandy takes his order and a few seconds later, his receipt pops up through the printer at your end of the shop:

Ticket 114 - 12/3/93

Name: Javier

LG-Redeye

!memo: darkroast

Javier. The name suits the man, you think to yourself and smile as you begin prepping the espresso for his drink. As you walk to Mandy’s station to fill the mug with drip coffee, she smiles and nudges your side. “Isn’t he cute?” She murmurs. You look at the printed ticket then at the coffee warmers: there’s no dark roast.

“Very,” you giggle a little and fill the mug with light instead. He’s seated in the corner. “I call dibs,” you tease, and Mandy shakes his head. She’s married, but she knows your type, and it’s exactly the man sitting there, staring at a newspaper.

“Yeah, okay,” she shakes her head but smiles at you. “No wedding ring either. I think you should bring his drink to him instead of calling out the order.”

Staring down at the filling mug, you shake your head. “We’ll see,” you chuckle softly and return down to your end of the bar, pouring the two shots of espresso. “Javier?” You call in your barista voice, and the man lifts his head and walks to the bar.

“That’s me,” he says, a small begrudging smile on his face.

“Hi,” you chuckle and hold up the mug. “We’re out of dark roast right now, so I had to use light. Could I put some flavoring or cream or sugar in there for you?” You offer. “Otherwise, I can most definitely make you something else. An americano maybe?”

He pauses for a second. “Yeah, an americano would be great,” he nods. “What kind of flavors… are there?” he asks.

“Oh, we have a ton,” you say enthusiastically, grabbing the syrup rack and pulling it your way. “Any of these. Hazelnut, vanilla, raspberry,” you smile, rattling off the flavors, “otherwise we also have caramel and any flavor of chocolate.”

Javier raises an eyebrow as he looks at the small display. “Never been somewhere with so many options. Could I do dark chocolate and cream?” He asks, and you nod.

“Of course,” you tell him, dumping the previous mug and grabbing another. “I’ll have that right up for you. You can head back to where you were sitting,” you inform him.

He shakes his head. “I can wait here. Save us both a trip.”

You nod. “Sure,” you say with a smile, prepping more espresso. “The redeye and americano are pretty different in caffeine though, the americano is going to have more since there’s more espresso.”

“I just need as much caffeine as I can get. Tough day ahead,” he nods.

“I’ve been told bartenders and baristas are wonderful ears to listen,” you offer, a sweet smile on your face.

His guard has fallen like a wrecking ball through a house of cards at the way you smile. “Well, I’m with the DEA.” It feels strange, openly admitting that around here. Colombians weren’t exactly welcoming to American agents, but it felt like citizens around here saw them as some kind of superhero.

Your eyes light. “Shouldn’t it be a fantastic day for you then?” you ask. “I mean, it’s all over the news. Escobar. Do you know the guys in the photo?” You ask with excitement in your voice.

He nods. Escobar was killed yesterday, and it’s all over the news, including the paper back at his table. “Yeah. The blonde guy in the red shirt is actually my work partner. It’s a tough day because I didn’t get to be there when it happened. I’ve been down in Colombia for years now, and they catch Escobar two days after I leave.”

The smile on your face turns to a frown. “That’s… awful,” you nod, eyes full of sadness for him. “I’m so sorry. At least it must be nice to be home?” you ask, tilting your head slightly and pouring the espresso shots into the mug.

He shakes his head. “D.C. isn’t home. I’m from Texas,” he admits, and the way he speaks finally registers as a slightly slowed speech pattern from the area. “I’m happy for Steve though. The blonde one, my partner. He deserves it. We’ve been down there for… Jesus,” he sighs and looks at the ceiling as he counts the years, “well, a while now. Couple of years. I fucked up, bad. Honestly, I think I’m up here to get fired.”

You frown slightly as you pump the chocolate into the hot espresso and water, swirling it around with a spoon. “You worked on Escobar for years?” you ask, and Javier nods. “Well, then I personally doubt you’d be getting fired. You guys just caught him, everyone must be in a good mood. I guess it depends on how bad you fucked up,” you shrug as you tap the spoon into the sink and bend down to grab the cream.

“I… do you know who Los Pepes are?” he asks. You shake your head as you stand, pouring some cream into the steaming drink. “Well, they’re a radical group who did some crazy shit to try to weaken Escobar, and I got involved with them. I have a meeting today with the review board.”

You finally make eye contact with him, wincing for him. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound great,” you admit with a chuckle, putting the cream back in the little refrigerator beneath you.

“It’s not.”

“It’s not necessarily why you got called up here,” you shrug and grab a saucer, putting the mug on top of it and on the bar for him to take.

“Well, I don’t know, I suppose,” he agrees and takes the drink from you.

You shrug. “Best of luck, Javier,” you tell him with a genuine smile of encouragement.

He nods, looking at your name tag attached to your apron. He murmurs your name before looking back up at your face and into your eyes. “Thank you.” He takes his drink and returns to his table, and you sigh and return to your makeshift chair in the corner.

Mandy pulls up two crates next to you, sitting down across from you with gleaming eyes. “Did it go well? You two talked for a while,” she asks, raising her eyebrows and encouraging you to tell her more.

“A little, but just… how I would with anyone, I guess,” you shrug as you sip your mocha for a moment, drinking the last of the warm coffee. “Not like I got his number or anything.”

“He’s sitting down to drink his coffee. Go offer him a refill when he’s done.”

“That would require me to stare at him, Mandy, and I think he’d notice that,” you shake your head as you stand to make yourself a new drink.

She stands with you, pushing the crates out of the way. “I’ll keep an eye on him for you. I’ll signal to you when he’s done or getting low on coffee, and you can bring him a refill. How does that sound?” she asks you.

You nod with a sigh. “Since you’re apparently not going to let this go, fine. I will.”

Mandy claps her hands together excitedly. “Yay!” She sings. “Oh, will you make me a drink while you’re at it? I’ll have a-”

“Skim hazelnut latte with no foam and light whip,” you recite before she can finish her order.

“You’re a babe,” she sings and heads over to clean the tables that haven’t even been touched since she wiped them an hour ago.

You make her drink and set it aside, then work on your own, fourth coffee. The peppermint and the coffee swirl together deliciously in the air, fitting the weather and the time of year. It’s December, and the snow outside and the warm feeling from the man across the coffee shop contrast in your heart. You sneak glances at him a couple of times, biting your lip to hold back a smile as you admire the handsome face peeking above the newspaper he reads.

About ten minutes later, you look up from cleaning the machines to see Mandy tucked behind a wall where he can’t see her. She’s frantically waving at you, pointing towards Javier once she catches your attention. Go, she mouths excitedly, beaming at you.

You wipe your hands on your apron and walk to where she stands. “Fine, I will, but you’re making the drinks if anyone else comes in.”

“Oh no, how will I handle it?” She asks in a deadpan, eyeing the shop that’s empty except for the two of you and Javier. “Go,” she says, giving you a light shove and giggling.

You shake your head but walk over, placing a hand lightly on the table. “Coffee’s looking low. Could I get you a refill?” you offer.

Javier looks up at you, and you feel like turning to jelly as you look into his big brown eyes, filled with confusion but also admiration. He furrows his brow, creating small creases between his eyebrows. “Uh… sure. How much is it?” he asks, reaching for his wallet and setting down the newspaper.

You put a hand on his arm, giving a gentle smile. “You need it. It’s on the shop,” you tell him.

“No, seriously, what, like $5?” he asks, but you put a hand over his.

“No, Javier,” you chuckle lightly. “Don’t worry about it. Another americano with chocolate and cream?” you ask.

“Uh… make me whatever you like best. And bring one for yourself too.” He says, well, really asks, nodding to the empty chair across from him. “It’s not too busy to talk, is it?”

You swallow hard before you break into a grin. “No, not at all. Uh… do you like peppermint?” you ask.

“Peppermint is good,” he says, giving you a small smile.

“Perfect,” you smile softly at him, picking up his empty mug and saucer. “We have a peppermint mocha, it’s seasonal. It’s my favorite, I’ll be right back with them,” you say, giggling softly and biting your lip as you turn and walk back to the bar.

You’re hidden behind the espresso machines as you finally grin and giggle, and Mandy rushes to your side. “Oh my God,” she laughs happily. “He’s so hot. What were you guys talking about?”

“He asked me to sit with him,” you giggle excitedly, preparing four espresso shots.

She nearly squeals with excitement, grabbing your arm closest to her. You scoop some chocolate chips and pour milk into a pitcher, putting it under the steam wand. “Holy shit. What has he told you so far? What’s his story?”

“Well, he said he’s a DEA agent. He’s on leave from work right now, but the guy in the red shirt in that picture of Escobar after they killed him? That’s his partner,” you tell her, letting the excitement speed your words up. “He’s been in Colombia for a couple of years working on it. Isn’t that cool?” You laugh.

“So cool,” she nods in agreement. “And he’s so fucking cute. Girl, you need to get your ass back there before I steal him myself.”

You laugh as you pour the shots and then the steamed milk into the mugs. “I’m trying, but you holding onto one of my arms is holding me back, love,” you tease her and she breaks away. You top both mugs with a perfectly peaked whipped cream layer, then sprinkle candy cane pieces and chocolate chips on top. “Wish me luck,” you practically sing as you walk back with a mug for each of you.

Javier’s holding back a grin himself as you make the drinks. He can see your head bobbing along behind the bar, the other woman chatting with you. He’s more transfixed than you than he should allow himself to be, but all fears fade as he sees you approaching with a grin and two large, whipped cream-topped drinks.

You set the drink down in front of him and he smiles at you. “Wow. This…” he looks down at it and smiles a little. “Well, it looks sweet.”

“I have a sweet tooth,” you admit with a soft laugh and sit down, taking a sip and sighing softly. “It tastes like winter. I love it.” He nods and takes a sip too. It’s sweet, but not as bad as he expected. “I added extra espresso to yours,” you tell him, a shy smile on your face.

“A woman after my own heart,” he chuckles and sets it down, licking the foam off of his mustache.

You smile a little wider at that and hold back a laugh. “Did you want to talk about the meeting?” you ask him, tilting your head, your expression softening.

Javier’s already falling, and he curses himself as he looks at you. Not a thought except him. He’s already thinking of a sly way to get your number. “No, not really. I just spilled basically my entire life story to you.”

“Then you’ve had a very short and boring life. That was hardly anything. I’ve had customers come in and cry over divorces or lost family members; the whole job situation was mild,” you chuckle and admit, tracing the rim of the mug with your fingertips and staring down at the steaming drink.

“Really? You seem like a therapist and a barista in one,” he teases lightly.

“Well, I did just graduate with a Masters in psychology,” you shrug. “I just graduated with it from Georgetown. That’s why I’m here,” you tell him and look up. “Working here part-time while I decide what I want to do.”

“No shit. I did my undergrad in psych and sociology,” Javier says with a small smile, making your smile grow too. “Texas A&M though. Nothing as prestigious as Georgetown.”

“A&M isn’t anything to sneeze at,” you chuckle as you look over at him. His eyes are deep-set, deeper than they probably normally are. They’re bloodshot and hold bags beneath them. After a breath, you bite your lip and look him in the eye. “You look tired. I don’t know you normally, I understand. Maybe you shouldn’t finish this,” you tell him with a concerned smile, scooting his mug towards you. “Too much caffeine.”

“No, I need it, please,” he says, tugging it back and sipping at it again. “Just… until after this meeting. Then I’ll know what my future holds, then I can rest.”

“What time is it at?”

“5:00.”

There’s a beat of silence. “I don’t have any plans tonight,” you say gently, looking at him with a question in your eyes. “Would you like to get dinner? Talk things out, once you know what your future holds?” You offer, a soft smile and hopeful eyes. “I already know enough about you. This could be practice therapy for me,” you tease softly.

Javier thinks for a second, though he knows what the answer will be. At least pretends to think, surprised that you could hear all he had said about Los Pepes and working in Colombia and that you still offered. “I’d like that,” he nods, his voice soft when he looks at you. “I don’t know the area well. You’ll have to tell me where.”

“Do you have a car up here?” You ask him, and he shakes his head. “I can pick you up,” you offer. “Where are you staying?”

He grabs a napkin and pats his pockets for a pen. You hand him the paint pen tucked on your apron and he quickly thanks you before writing down the address to the hotel. You take the napkin and the pen and grab another napkin. “And this…” you say and write down your phone number, sliding it to him, “is where you’ll call me when you’re ready for me to come get you. Okay?” You ask.

Your voice is so soothing, Javier thinks. More than sleep or reassurance or even a hit of Escobar’s private stash or really anything could be to him right now, it’s a comfort. You must be a miracle, he thinks, some kind of blessing for something he isn’t quite sure of, but he must have done something right in the eyes of the Almighty to be here, right now, talking with you. “You know, I was raised Catholic,” he tells you and leans in a little. “I don’t know that I am anymore. But still… I think you might be an angel in disguise.”

Biting your lip, you giggle and look down. “I don’t know about that,” you chuckle as you look up at him again. “Just… right place, right time, maybe. I’ll see you tonight, okay?” you ask him, placing your hand over his and standing.

Javier nods as he looks up at you. “How should I dress?” he asks and tilts his head. His eyes are so expressive, you notice and smile a bit. They betray exactly what he’s thinking.

“Um… what you’re wearing now would be fine. A button down and jeans would work,” you tell him with a nod, patting his hand and picking up your mug. “I’ll see you then. Good luck,” you tell him with a sweet smile and retreat to the back. Javier can’t say anything in return, just sips his peppermint mocha.

Three minutes later, you return with a muffin. “Eat this. You can’t have all that caffeine and no food.”

“Thanks,” he chuckles and looks down at it. You’re gone when he looks back up, and he breaks off a piece. What a weird day. It’s only about to get weirder.

taglist:

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#javier peña x reader #javier peña #javi peña #javi peña x reader #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #jose pedro balmaceda pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal x you #javier peña x you #caffeine rush

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sirthisisa-wendys · 3 years ago

Text

Sweet Honey and Iced Tea (Part 2): Toji Fushiguro x Fem!Reader

wc: 1.3k

tw: none

masterlist

inspired by "coffee" by Miguel (OH GOD THIS TURNING INTO A SERIES PLEASE SOMEONE STOP ME)

"What would your father think about your behavior last night?"

You stare at your mother, headache mounting, and sigh.

"Dad's in a coma, so he can't think," you reply, rubbing your temples. "Besides, isn't it a good thing to be seen with rival clans?"

"No!" she yells, standing up from her seated position behind the mahogany desk.

"Don't get worked up," her adviser warns, and she sits down, running her tongue over her teeth.

"Your father would be mortified if he saw you fraternizing with a lesser clan, especially one that's tormented our family for generations with their... underground activities." Your phone buzzes in your lap, and you look down at it, seeing an unknown number scroll across the screen.

1 New Text Message

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah," you grumble. "I just don't see the issue. If we can absorb a lesser clan into ours, wouldn't we just become more powerful?"

"At the cost of a fruitful marriage to a more powerful clan?"

"I never said marriage," you retort, and your mother scoffs, waving her hand at you.

"I know how Toji Fushiguro looks at you. Every clan head meeting we've attended, he's been right there, trying his best to get your attention. We all see it." You frown, shaking your head slowly.

"Toji's just a friend."

"Sure," your mother replies. "And let's hope it stays that way."

He's just a friend... you think to yourself as you walk around in the backyard. We just got drunk and explored the dynamic, is all.

You open your messages and look at the newest one, reading the text once, twice, and then a third time.

It's Toji. Just wanted to make sure you got home okay; you left before I could give you a ride.

I'm good, you reply. Just got chewed out by my mother for even being near you lol

You send it and save his number under the name "T. Fushiguro" before your phone buzzes again.

Meet me at the school courtyard at 7. I really have to talk to you about everything.

You consider replying and telling him "no," but then you know you won't get some answers to questions you'd been thinking about. So you reply, "sounds good." and leave it at that.

_____________________________________________________________

The fountain provides a nice perch for you while waiting for Toji to appear with his brooding green eyes and dark hair. And he does, right at seven pm, wearing a black hoodie and holding his car keys in his right hand. When he sees you, his eyes turn from brooding to soft and he holds his empty hand out, looking you over from head to toe.

"Let's go for a drive."

He's silent as you ride in his Charger, navigating the streets with precision and speed while the radio plays grunge rock in the background. You can feel the night before between you, the passion and tenderness Toji willingly showed you blooming out of his coldness, like a Scorpionweed growing from clay soil.

"We need to talk," he finally mutters, parking in an empty field. You turn to him, examining his face for any sign of displeasure. When you see nothing but thoughtfulness, you relax. But only a little. "I don't know if you've taken time to really think about our little situation."

"I have," you assert, looking at your shoes. "It's not hard to imagine how both of our families feel about--"

"Forget family. I'm talking about how you feel." You look up at Toji, who arches a perfect brow at you. "What do you want out of life?"

You'd never really thought about this. What did you want out of life? Other than becoming the family head, what would you do? Live life in service to others? No.

"I want to be able to do what I want, regardless of how my family feels about it." Toji gives you a smile, nodding.

"And... last night? Did you do what you want?"

Yes.

You imagine the look on your face is enough of an answer, because then he smirks, reaching into his backseat for something. He hands you a rectangular black box, tied tightly with a black ribbon and the signature of a famous designer on the front.

"Toji..." you breathe, and he waves his hand dismissively.

"Consider it my graduation present to you."

"But I--"

"Your little rice cake was enough of a present. That was the first time anyone had been nice to me and expected nothing in return." You unlace the bow and slide the top off the box, revealing a gold chain and sphere pendant necklace. At a closer look, the pendant is made from malachite, which just so happens to be the same color as Toji's eyes.

"Just something for you to wear whenever." You loop it around your neck, but struggle with the clasp, and Toji motions for you to turn around so he can place it on you. When he finishes, he smooths his hands over your shoulders and presses a kiss to your neck before pulling back. "There's more." You shift the black cloth aside and a stack of folded-up notes are presented to you. They're wrapped together with a rubber band, and you frown, picking up the pile carefully.

"What're the--" You realize where these notes are from, and Toji shifts back against his car door, looking at you blankly with crossed arms. "It was you?"

"You would've known if you took the time to read them." You undo the rubber band around the stack and take the top one, unfolding it right then and there.

Y/n,

Saw you as I almost got my ass handed to me during my final initiation last week. I know you'll never read these, but seeing you there made me remember reminded me of the time you pushed me down on the ground and I scraped my knee. I could hear you in my head telling me to get up... so I did.

Thanks, I guess. This will be my last little note. I've kind of written these as journal entries to help me make sense of my feelings... but now that my dad's dead but now that we're going to be seniors, I can't pay Gojo to keep quiet and pass these to you. Hopefully, I'll get the guts up to come and talk to you someday.

T. Fushiguro

"How long?" you wonder, letting your hand fall to your lap.

"How long what? Have I been writing those?"

"No," you mumble as you fold the paper back up neatly. "How long have you liked me?"

"Since the day you pushed me. But it was innocent back then; not really comparable to how I feel now." You take this information in and then turn back to him, confused.

"What happened with your little groupies?"

"Nothing, they were just status symbols. Made me look less suspicious and gained points with my associates. You were right; we wouldn't have gained brownie points being friends with each other," he grumbles, placing his hands on the steering wheel. "But I have options now that I'm the head of my clan and calling the shots."

"Right," you state, putting the letters back into the box. "You have options."

"I didn't mean it like that," Toji sighs, rubbing his left brow. "I mean that many of my choices come without questioning now. And as far as I'm concerned, you're the only woman I can see myself being with for the long haul."

"Are you just saying all of this so you can add me to the notches on your belt? You know: virgin girl and an experienced boy makes for a fun tale with your buddies and--" Toji hums, raising his brow again, and you shut up, staring back at him.

"No. As a matter of fact..." he pulls out his phone, typing into it for a minute before putting it away. "I'm taking you out tomorrow. On a date."

"Um," you whisper. "But my parents---"

"Don't have to know it's me. Just get dressed up nice and come outside when I pull up." Toji starts the car and pulls out of the field. "And don't worry, I'm not going to take advantage of you. Everything you do will be your own choice."

#toji fushiguro x reader #toji x reader #toji fushiguro #jjk toji #jujutsu kaisen toji #jujutsu kaisen #jjk

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saezurufeels · 3 years ago

Note

I have read many of your analysis and they are super cool. I would like to know your opinion about Misumi. Few things have been sayed about him and the future of Yashiro in the Yakuza. Now that Doumeki and Yashiro are hanging around, what do you think he will do?. I would love to hear your toughts about him, and forgive me if you already have a post about it :P.

Thanks, that's nice of you to say so :)

That's a good question. I wonder, too. Misumi is difficult to understand; he's just as layered as Yashiro imo.

Misumi's nice enough, but usually he's motivated by selfishness. Sure, he saved Kageyama from Hirata's plan, but in return he got Yashiro into the yakuza, because he saw how he could benefit from it. For one, he realized that Yashiro's exterior attitude is a facade-- he's not a misanthropist, quite the opposite, actually. Yashiro begged on his hands an knees for Kageyama's life. Misumi can tell that Yashiro's defence mechanisms are a result of childhood trauma. Misumi put two and two together and came to the conclusion that he can trust Yashiro. And Misumi needs someone to trust. The other "hunch" he had about Yashiro was that he is good at making connections, getting information and making dirty money. So what I'm trying to say here, yes, Yashiro reminds Misumi of his dead wife and maybe even Kurobane, but I don't think that enough of a reason for a senior yakuza executive to favour someone as much as Misumi favours Yashiro. There are other examples I can think of, like Misumi's general disregard for Yashiro's safety, but I won't go there today.

In chapter 45 Yashiro said that Misumi "wouldn't do anything for" Doumeki. If Yashiro is saying it, then it must mean that Misumi has no love for D. But, if Doumeki's actual safety was at risk, I don't think Yashiro would be associating with him so easily. I don't think that Misumi will do anything to harm Doumeki. He's above that. He didn't even kill Hirata himself. I do think that Misumi has to eventually find out about Doumeki's involvement in Sanwakai (if he doesn't already know or suspect it), but that will have "consequences" for Amou, not Doumeki, I think.

So all that's left is the question of how Misumi would react if Yashiro decided to leave on his own, regardless of Doumeki's involvement (but let's hope it's for their love welp). And to that I don't have a clear answer, because I have no idea! That's one of the biggest question marks for me. I think the reason I have no clue is because we never really got to know what Yashiro's thoughts on Misumi are, other than his general annoyance with him lol. Why has Yashiro hesitated to leave for so long? It's been four years since his group got disbanded, and even before that we know that Yashiro was unhappy being in the yakuza. My guess is that either Yashiro is really that loyal to Misumi, or he's afraid of the consequences. There might be a secret third option that hasn't been uncovered yet, but I'm not a fan of plot twists, sooo I'm not going to address it lol. Maybe I missed something, so let me know if I did :)

So, to sum up: Misumi trusts Yashiro and wants to keep him; he also acknowledges that Yashiro is a skilled yakuza. Yashiro wants to leave, but has been hesitating to do so for a long time. The reason Yashiro is hesitating is unknown/unclear. When we find out, we'll know more about how Misumi might react. (Misumi doesn't like D, because he's jealous of all the love and attention D gets from Y).

#asks and replies #misumi #yashiro

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nottheweirdest · 3 years ago

Text

Sonadowtober Day 4: Magic

This idea came to me during the middle of answering an email for work (obviously completely unrelated) because... hedgies on the brain?? lol Anyway... hope you like it!

“This is important stuff, Shads! How could you not know?”

“How is that important?!”

Sonic narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “That’s exactly what someone might say if they were trying to hide the fact that they’re a Slytherin….”

Shadow didn’t bother turning around, opting instead to give their breakfast the majority of his attention. He turned their sausage links and slid a couple pieces of french toast off the griddle. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.” He paused, wiping his hands on the kitchen towel draped over his shoulder. “Powdered sugar?”

Sonic grabbed his phone and slid into a seat at Shadow’s breakfast bar. “What do you think?”

Crimson-stripped quills rustled slightly as their owner shook his head. “Fine, but I’m rationing your syrup.”

“What?! I knew it. You really are a Slytherin…..”

“You’re speaking nonsense, hedgehog.”

Sonic’s thumb danced across his phone screen, eyes narrowing as he scanned for what he was looking for. “Not for long. We are about to find out your Hogwarts House.”

Shadow dusted Sonic’s french toast with powdered sugar, fighting an inner dilemma before breaking and adding the extra sugar to his own serving. “Why exactly is this important?”

“It just is!” Sonic opened the first quiz that seemed legit and scanned its questions. “Ok, you ready?”

“Are we really doing this now?” Shadow asked, turning off the griddle and adding hash browns and sausages to their plates. “You know I have to leave for the office soon.”

Sonic ignored him. “First question. What would your wand core be made of? Phoenix feather--”

“Wand??”

“Yeah, you’re a wizard, Shadow.”

Shadow’s eyes half closed in irritation as he turned toward the cabinet containing his coffee mugs and grabbed the largest one. He had a feeling he was going to need it.

“So, phoenix feather, dragon heartstring, or unicorn hair?”

“None of those creatures are real--”

Sonic growled. “That’s the whole point! It’s about magic! Just pick one.”

Shadow shrugged. “Phoenix feather.” He slid Sonic his plate and a glass of orange juice before setting his own place.

“Thanks Shads! Oh, this looks so good.”

Maybe, Shadow thought, good enough to distract his blue boyfriend from asking more of these ridiculous questions….

Unfortunately, he forgot that Sonic had absolutely no qualms about speaking with his mouth full.

“Which skills are you most proud of? Your ability to absorb new information, make friends, get what you want, or keep secrets?”

Shadow looked up from cutting up his breakfast. “None of the above. I would--”

“It has to be one of the options, Shads. Don’t make me pick for you. I’ll pick making friends. I’ll do it.”

Shadow narrowed his eyes, and reached for their syrup only to find Sonic had already used half the bottle. Emerald eyes glinted at him, cheeky smirk plastered across his face as he stuffed another bite of french toast into his mouth. The agent shook his head. Trying to get Sonic to eat healthier was a battle he was likely to never win. “Fine. Get what I want.”

Sonic went through the list of questions as they ate, finally landing on the last one, a series of Dumbledore quotes. Sonic was surprised when Shadow stopped eating for a moment, actually seriously contemplating the words. “This is a movie?”

“Well, a series of movies, but books first.”

“The third one. It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow up to be.”

The blue hedgehog smiled softly, looking up from his phone into crimson eyes. He dropped his fork and reached for Shadow’s hand, squeezing it knowingly before he returned his eyes to the quiz. “You ready?”

“I suppose,” Shadow answered, mildly amused.

Sonic sat back, letting out a short laugh of surprise. “Guess I should have known.”

“What’s the verdict?”

“Gryffindor. Like me.”

“Is that good?”

Sonic nodded, turning off his phone’s screen and setting it down so he could focus on Shadow and their delicious breakfast. “Yeah, Shads, it’s good. Courage and determination are two of the biggest traits and yeah… I’d say you have those in spades.”

Shadow smiled and took a sip of his coffee, secretly happy that Sonic seemed pleased at the results.

“There was a decent percent of Slytherin though, so I’m gonna have to keep an eye on you... “

The dark hedgehog chuckled deeply, lowering his mug. “If you’re smart, you’ll keep both eyes on me.”

“What are you--”

In a flash, Shadow disappeared and reappeared immediately behind Sonic, grabbing him and dipping him down low from his seat as though in a dance. He winked at emerald eyes that had opened wide in surprise.

“I am a wizard after all.”

#sonadowtober #sonadow #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #my writing #sth #Shadow finds out his Hogwarts House #magic #you're a wizard Shadow #slice of life

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akitokihojo · 4 years ago

Text

Monster - Chapter 1

And, here we go. Chapter 1 of this monstrosity (no pun intended) is now up and running below, on AO3, and on FF.net.

I'm going to be completely and 100% honest with everyone before you start reading, so please heed this warning! This first chapter is rough in the sense where it contains a bit of brutality and the death of a child. So far, this is the only gruesome chapter, and while the gore is NOT detailed, I still want my more sensitive readers to be wary.

This is the most action-packed fic I've ever written, and also the most expansive world I've ever built (in my humble opinion). With that being said, while the setting is a bit more on the historical side, there are plenty of modern references. For instance, not in this chapter but in future ones, a bathroom is just a bathroom. I don't mention plumbing or the lack thereof. My attention and energy was on more important things and I just didn't care about those details, lol. Additionally, a lot of slang, jokes, and references are fairly modern. Don't @ me (but also do). All-in-all, what I'm trying to say is I built my own damn world where there is no historical accuracy, so don't go looking for it, lol.

Unless otherwise stated, I plan to post each new chapter every Friday. So, yeah... I think that's all I've got to say.... have fun! Enjoy! Thank you for reading! Ily! Bon Voyage! Don't hate me!

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The responsibility is ours.

Kagome gasped as her feet slid in the mud, the small decline of the path she and her younger brother hurried down gradually becoming more slippery as the rain began to pour harder. Through the noise of the droplets and the sloshing of their boots, she heard a slight commotion; horses’ huffs, heavy feet, and boisterous men barking orders. Initially, she’d figured it was the village men ushering their families indoors, their livestock into barns, their carts and tools under shelter, and their firewood into a dry place as the storm reared its ugly head. The sunset sky was shadowed in gloom, thunder making it’s entrance in the far distance as it was bound to be banging on their doors and windows in no time. But, at the tug of her arm by her sibling, her attention was shifted to the actual cause of it all: Naraku’s henchmen.

“Again?” She shuddered resentfully.

“Third time this month.” Sota confirmed, clenching his jaw as he slightly tugged his sister behind his smaller frame. He was perfectly aware that he was only twelve, well in the know that he stood no taller than her shoulders, but he’d be damned if he did nothing because of it.

This time, there wasn’t a hoard of them. No, there were merely four, all of which were already off of their horses on the main path through their little village, making demands and threatening anyone who got in the way of their objective.

Throughout the last four and a half years since Naraku rose as a fearsome demon that easily brought down peaceful powers and attempted to control the world Kagome knew, she’d become more than familiar with this procedure. It wasn’t until just recently that they’d started coming more often than a monthly visit, though. And, it was no secret what, or who, they were after.

Her.

Anyone of her kind, really.

She was different. She was hunted. Those like her were supposedly powerful, but matters being what they were had caused anyone who shared a similar fate to subdue their abilities to the point of total lack of recognition of their true potential. At least, that’s how it was in most cases. Because, if they were found out, they were killed on sight. The reason for it was entirely unknown. Naraku didn’t just target them, though; he made everyone’s lives hell, especially if they stood out in a supernatural manner. So, while she figured there had to be a yet-to-be-identified reason, she felt it was safe to assume it was also just because he could. Maybe he didn’t like the threat of other, similar forces that could collide against him. Maybe he was egotistical enough to think he was the only deserving being. Whatever the case, he was cruel.

Kagome’s kind had several names through the decades - so many, she hardly knew the correct term for herself. At one point, ages ago, they were called banshees. The title didn’t make sense whatsoever, given their powers and what a banshee actually was, and the story was so old that she didn’t know where the justification even stemmed from, but it caused them to be feared, and for that, she honestly wouldn’t have totally minded if the name stuck around. They were called priestesses, but then it sounded too peaceful, too practiced, and it painted them as “good.” They were called witches, mages, sorceresses, but they committed no typical magic of that sort. Kagome didn’t know a single spell, nor did she have nearly enough time in the day to pack an array of herbs, spices, and what have you into jars that were sealed with candle wax - though she had caught wind that there were some older women of her kind with the ability to curse. Now, they were called conjurers. Their abilities were that of the spirit, aiding with protection, purifying dark forces - passively or forcefully, bringing forth light, and more she was sure.

In Kagome’s unpopular opinion, given what they could do and what they supposedly stood for, priestess was more suitable a term, but she also understood that there was nothing holy about the world they lived in.

There was no birthmark of the conjurer. There was no dead giveaway of their kind. The powers were gifted at random, as far as she knew, not passed down through lineage. The only thing Naraku and his followers seemingly had to go off of was that conjurers were born female.

Sometimes, they’d conduct their mission by way of senseless inspections. They’d rip apart the insides of homes looking for all the wrong things in all the wrong places. Truthfully, with how absurd they carried themselves, it was obvious they didn’t know the telltale signs they were looking for and were wasting their time. Which was what made it clear that for them to be so clueless, even Naraku didn’t know all there was that made up a conjurer. They were ignorant and they were blind, but they were also relentless and ruthless.

The days where they singled women out were the worst. Kagome, so far, was spared that cruelty, but that didn’t make it any better. It was usually the more mature, the elderly, that received the short end of the stick.

More often than anything, they’d line up every woman and girl in town and go down the rows one-by-one, stimulating their nerves in one way or another to see if they could get a “conjurer’s reaction.” Kagome could only guess that meant a sudden surge of purification power. It was the main trait conjurers were known for; but they were going about it wrong. Screaming in their faces, threatening everyone, or jostling them around a bit wasn’t going to get the demons purified, no matter how much she wanted to toss something their way. Of course, she wasn’t going to be the one to tell them that.

Every so often, they’d come in a pack and create havoc with violence. They said it was their way to pressure people into giving up any information they might have, but in all honesty, the smiles some of the brute demons wore said they were bored and simply wanted a little entertainment. Apparently, screaming and pleading were equivalent to a musical number in their bloodlust eyes.

Their own little group of demon slayers that resided in the village helped prevent this from happening when they could, which was why the henchmen came in numbers. The demon slayers fought for a sense of control, not to kill. They would only allow so much, but belligerent violence was not an option. It was obvious that, as of late, their village was a targeted spot, one that got a little more attention than neighboring towns, and for what reason, no one knew. They didn’t have the fighting power to win that sort of fight, though, and the leader of the group of slayers was sensible enough to understand this and explain it to the masses that questioned them. They were made up of a handful of men with rigorous combat skills they didn’t learn from home, refused to take recruits below a certain age, and could only train so many at a time. As much as they’d all love to retaliate and end things for good, intuition was telling them not to in that manner. Even Kagome felt that. Deep in her gut, she knew that even if they could, killing them would only put the people of the village in a worse position. This wasn’t something that would stop by taking out the underlings. Not at all. Far from it. Anyone who was paying attention could see that they’d need to exterminate the head honcho in order for any positive difference to be made.

Unfortunately for them this time around, their little pack of demon slayers had left on a request to take care of a troublesome demon a little ways off just that morning. And, listening to the henchmen now, seeing them in their dark leather, their cloaks, feeling their dangerous energies wafting through the streets of their little town, Kagome could tell that they were going to do whatever they wanted tonight, despite the fact that it was just the four of them. It wouldn’t be horrible, and would most likely be a lineup, but they were definitely going to take their sweet time and see who they could break.

“There’s still time. They haven’t noticed you. We can hide you.” Her younger brother said, his tone more on the convicted side as opposed to suggestive. He should have known she wouldn’t have gone for it, though. So long as every other woman and girl had to stand in front of their villainous promises and vile breath, so long as her mother had to keep a straight face, Kagome would always stand there with them. She’d made a promise to her brother, her older cousin, and especially her mom that she’d never willingly out herself for no reason, but she just couldn’t bring herself to hide when everyone else had to stand through their harassment. She swore that if the demons were ever convinced an innocent was a conjurer, that was the reason to give herself over.

Never would Kagome allow another to mistakenly go down in her stead.

No one but her family knew of her powers, and until necessary, it would stay that way. According to her cousin, the more people that knew, the increased danger she was in.

“Let’s just get this over with.” She shook her head, minding her steps through the small slope of mud as she gently pulled her arm out of Sota’s grip.

“Miroku would say the same thing if he were with us.” He argued.

“Yeah, well he’s not. In fact, he’s probably getting himself into trouble by picking a fight with one of those goons.”

“Kagome, I have a bad feeling about this. Come on, just listen for once.”

“Okay,” She stopped, turning around to challenge his look. “Say something bad is going to happen. Knowing these assholes, you really think my absence will stop that?”

“No, but -“

“Right. They’re going to do something no matter what, correct?”

“Kagome -“

“And then what?”

“And then they’re wrong, but they didn’t get you.”

“How is that fair to the person they might hurt?”

“That person isn’t my sister.”

“What if it’s mom?”

Sota’s eyes slighted to the side, a heated huff leaving his lips just before he begrudgingly sealed them. His jaw clenched minutely as his head gave a little shake, brown eyes once more meeting his sibling’s. “Miroku and I will protect her.”

Kagome gave a fed up smile, sighing, rolling her eyes, and turning back on her heel to continue toward the main path. Families came out of their homes dressed in cloaks as they prepared to, once more, be harassed until Naraku’s men exhausted themselves, husbands and male relatives holding resentful expressions as they guarded their female family members until they couldn’t any longer.

“Kagome!”

“Sota, quit it. The louder you are, the more suspicious we become.” She quietly warned. Kagome heard her brother’s aggravated grumble before he jogged forward to catch up, his demeanor holding much like every other male in the village.

No one’s feet rushed toward the excitement. The tension of the town was up so dramatically that Kagome could physically feel the crushing weight of it all, the anxiety as they made their way closer to their disgusting visitors was causing her stomach to bubble and waver, and her throat constricted nervously as she and Sota finally met up with the crowd, her brown eyes scouring over shoulders to scout out her family. Sota’s hand encircled her wrist firmly, tugging her to the right as he found them and guided her over. Miroku stood tall in front of their mother, brows noticeably creased and indigo eyes straight ahead until he’d caught their movement in his peripheral vision. Immediately, his posture squared further, as if enlarging his shoulders so that he’d be able to successfully hide both Kagome and his aunt behind his frame. Her mother held out her hand for Kagome to take as soon as they were close enough, a peaceful smile unsurprisingly gracing her lips while she pulled her in, shoulder-to-shoulder. Somehow, no matter the circumstances, she always did her best to calm Kagome’s nerves with the simplest of sweet gestures. Sota took his spot before them, influenced by Miroku’s stature as he replicated it.

Allowing herself a brief moment, Kagome bowed her head further, bracing it on her older cousin’s shoulder. She shut her eyes, inhaling slowly, deeply, attempting to release her trepidation with a long and heated exhale before composing herself and straightening out.

“- But this is too much! Why the hell are you back again!? There’s no conjurer in our village! Don’t you fucking get that by now!?” A man shouted, livid, and it was evident she and her brother had missed the beginning of the argument playing out in the center of the uneven circle created by people.

“Get the fuck out of the way!” One of Naraku’s men yelled back.

“Not until you tell us why you’re back for the third time!”

“Would you rather we made ourselves at home!?” Silence from the opposing man answered his question clearly. “That’s what I fucking thought.” He spewed, and Kagome could hear the spittle fly out as he cursed. His attention returned to the general public, his tone shifting from vicious to gruff as he made his command. “Only girls ranging from ages five to twenty, line up! Now!”

Increased unsettlement coursed through the crowd, mothers and fathers clinging to their young daughters, little girls’ fearful whimpers polluting the air as they hid their faces in their parents’ legs, and even Kagome’s own mother’s hand tightened her grip as a breathy gasp left her lips - understanding that this meant her eighteen year old daughter was being sent into the fire without her. They were narrowing down, slimming the numbers, and the small smiles on the villains’ faces made Kagome assume that something last time may have tipped them off to lessen the demographic.

“What do I do?” Kagome whispered to her cousin, failing in her attempt to hide the sudden panic striking her.

“Nothing. You do nothing.” He urged quietly, shifting his head to look into his younger relative’s eyes. “Listen, Kagome, treat this like routine -“

“This isn’t routine.”

“Treat it like it is. Keep your head down.”

“If they -“

“No.”

“But, they’ll -“

“Kagome, no. You made us a promise.” Miroku reminded firmly, knowing exactly where her mind was traveling. In the case of an incident, which there seemed to be a higher chance of this time around, she may need to intercede.

She took a deep breath, straightening her face as much as possible so Naraku’s men wouldn’t grow suspicious as they impatiently yelled again for the girls to gather before them. “If this means they suspect something -“

“It may just be a tactic they’re using. For all we know, they have nothing and could leave here with the same. So, treat it like routine. Okay?”

“Promise.” Sota insisted during Kagome’s silence. The mens’ barking got louder, more demanding, as did the crying of little girls being pulled away from their parents. With the building weight in her chest, like a liquid filling her lungs quickly, the density making it almost impossible to take full breaths of air or move without falling forward, all she could muster was a meager nod before forcing herself to walk out. Miroku and Sota both leaned to opposite sides to part their shoulders for her to move through, her mother’s soft hand still lightly holding her own until she was far enough for their fingers to slide away from each other’s.

At most, there were about twenty girls in that age range to offer, and Kagome’s brown eyes drifted over the uneven row of heads as she approached, finding her friend in the mix trying to calm the little girl beside her. Sango glanced her way, as if feeling Kagome’s eyes on her, giving an apprehensive grin and waving her over.

“Ready?” Kagome asked, though it was completely rhetorical. It was just habit for these things. It was unavoidable, unexpected, and overall, impossible to be ready for. But, when they bounced the question off of each other, it was like one final reminder to stone.

Sango knew. Sango and her family were the one exception to the familial rule. She was Kagome’s closest friend and Miroku’s significant other. She was more than trustworthy. And, more importantly, had known since Kagome accidentally found out, herself, as a kid. Because, that’s how it was being a conjurer. You weren’t born knowing. You didn’t have an outward appearance that proclaimed your status much like demons did. It was always an accidental happenstance; in her case where she put a little too much oomph into her bow and arrow lessons and purified the evil - and life - right out of a passing crow demon after missing her target.

She remembered the feeling of total surprise, then tremendous fear because she thought she’d be in a lot of trouble. Kagome had literally thrown her bow to the ground like the thing, itself, was the culprit of the power. Miroku was gawking, Sango was covering her mouth with both hands, and their dad’s shared an identical, tight-lipped expression. Her papa was motionless for an overwhelmingly-tense sixty seconds before shifting his wide, curious eyes to her.

“Did you know you could do that?” He’d asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, daddy.” Kagome innocently answered, but she could feel the red, hot heat in her face from her lie. She was awful at those when it came to the people she was close to. Still was to this day. Give her a stranger and she could keep it straight, but in the face of friends and family, she cracked almost too easily. It was a guilt thing.

But then he’d laughed, ruffling his little girl’s hair before reassuring her that it was okay. He said they’d just have to go about her training a little differently from that point on to make sure accidents like that didn’t keep happening, and it was only because of him, his adventurism, his accessibility to knowledge from his travels, that she even discovered what she was in the first place.

Back then, though it wasn’t quite as dangerous to exist as a conjurer, her papa had still suggested they keep her abilities under wraps. She distinctly remembered binding that with a pinky promise after Sango’s dad had a private discussion with her own. Maybe it was because Sango’s dad was even more educated with the world, and knew the potential hardships that could come her way, being the leader of the demon slayers that he was - and still is. Honestly, the reasoning was hard to determine now because she didn’t put much thought into it when she could and should have. Being the young, spunky, loyal girl that she was, if her dad wanted her to keep a secret and held out his pinky to her, that was all the reason Kagome needed, and nothing pleased her more than making her papa proud. And, when he and her uncle were fatally wounded in a demon attack on their village, even though Naraku’s name had never once yet been muttered near her ears, he still made her do one final pinky promise to him saying, “Protect yourself for me, my little bird. Keep it in its cage. I love you so much, Kagome.”

She wasn’t even a teenager when that had happened. There was a part of her that wondered here and there if he was secretly clairvoyant, or if he merely studied the patterns throughout history of people of her kind and wanted nothing more than to keep her safe and make her life as easy as possible, given the reputation they had, their ever-changing titles, and the ignorance others had of their nature. If only he knew where she was now. Would he still ask his little bird to stay in the cage while the door was wide open?

“Ready. You?” Sango returned, standing straight and allowing the little girl to cling to her leg.

“Ready.” Kagome breathed.

Those not lined up hesitantly backed away, creating space and growing agonizingly silent as they seemingly held their breaths for those that were chosen. Kagome hated when they did that. It was like she could physically feel the onlookers’ anxiety, and it was the last thing she needed on top of that of those actually subjected and her own.

The four men walked back and forth, up and down the two rows of girls, criminal eyes taunting them with silent threats and menacing grins. It was creepy, but no longer was it fear-inducing. Kagome had a bad habit of not shying away anymore. Sure, she was nervous beyond belief, but the last thing she was afraid of were their snarls, scarred and dirty flesh, and crooked teeth. That, of all things, was the least intimidating factor for those who were calloused to the routine.

But, when an abrupt instruction was given by the leader, her already-loose expectations of “routine” fell apart completely.

“Hold out your left hands, palms up!”

Confusion soared through every individual, and Kagome met Sango’s brief side glance, minutely comforted by the fact that she wasn’t the only one without a clue as to what was going on. Questions weren’t allowed though, and even the little ones were well aware of that, so as the small group of men demanded everyone shut up and do it, all outward bafflement dissipated.

Slowly, Kagome raised her left palm, her arm outstretched, swallowing as she willed the slight trembling to cease. Brown eyes searched quickly as she waited for whatever to begin, weeding through the crowd and finding Miroku already pinning her with a stare. It was wary, but hard, his jaw visibly tense.

The sound of an unsheathing blade was unmistakable, and immediately Kagome’s attention bounced to her left where the leader danced the grip of a knife in his fingers, his lips curved downward into a permanent frown. The first girl in line couldn’t have been any older than fifteen, noticeably shaking as her anxious stare bounced from the man to the blade.

A man in the crowd began shouting, stirring, pushing forward through the heap of villagers to reach the forefront, “Hey! No! What are you going to do!? That’s my daughter; what are you going to do!? Don’t you dare touch -“ Abruptly silenced by a defensive elbow to the diaphragm, gifted by an all-too-fast demon.

The young teenager shuddered, not sure what to worry about first as the leader gave her no moment to react, grabbed her hand, extended it further, and gave a small slice with the tip of his knife to the center of her palm. She winced, a whimper easily escaping her mouth from the sharp pain, tears leaking from her eyes quicker than the blood that seeped from her laceration. And then he grabbed her hand in his, sealing their palms together as he stared her in the eyes for a moment. She was utterly terrified, wanting to pull away while knowing she shouldn’t, but as nothing else happened, the man released her, murmuring to stay in line as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his blade, his hand, then moved onto the next.

Kagome’s attention snapped back to Miroku as it dawned on her, his eyes holding the same idea as he gave a steady but stern shake of his head in retort. They were looking for the untrained conjurers. The conjurers who weren’t skilled in holding back. Everyone was already scared, and the wound inflicted a heightened sense of fight-or-flight. Then their hands gripping the victims’ - their demon hands against the victims’… they were working to spark a purification reaction, and they were going about it right this time. It wouldn’t be strong enough to kill them, nothing that small or unsuspecting would be, but it would hurt - much like the notorious fairytale of a vampire taking a quick step into the sunlight before swiftly turning around and heading back inside. And, that was all they needed.

Unbeknownst to everyone but Sango and Miroku, Kagome wasn’t completely helpless. Not only was she well-versed in subduing her powers, but alternatively speaking, she could knock a guy completely on his ass. She’d practiced. She’d practiced for hours at a time for several years now to see what she could do, what sort of strength she possessed, all on the far outskirts of the village, hiding near caves with only her friend and cousin who'd agreed, despite promises and secrets, that they all should try to be prepared for anything. By no means was she an expert, but she could handle her own for the most part and a situation like this was something she’d been well-conditioned for, for quite some time now.

Especially since she’d first received that message in a dream.

The responsibility is ours.

Whatever it meant, no matter how bleak it felt, it was a no-brainer that Kagome couldn’t go on without some sort of knowledge of her own potential.

She took a shallow breath, diverting her gaze to the goon before her as he happily took out his own blade, the other two following suit as they set out to narrow the time this was going to take. He stepped forward, grasping the wrist of the frightened and resistant girl beside Sango, who Sango had to hush into calming, telling her it would be done quickly. When nothing gratifying came from the occurrence, the man moved on to Sango, pinning her with a glare that she challenged right back. She hardly flinched at the slice of her skin, brown eyes never leaving the demonic ones of her assailant. When she shrugged a brow as he clasped their hands together, Kagome could practically see the heat rising in the man’s body language, quickly fuming from how audacious Sango was acting - which Kagome couldn’t help but respect, not knowing if the chuckle she forcefully swallowed was one of matched humor or nervousness.

The man threw Sango’s hand to the side, merely wiping her blood from his palm and blade on his pants before vehemently grabbing Kagome’s and extending her arm completely, bringing an inadvertent gasp to escape her throat. As the tip of his knife pierced her palm, dragging slowly to create a burning gash - one larger than Sango’s, so she suspected her nonchalant pass of amusement wasn’t as admissible as she’d thought - Kagome couldn’t stop the hiss that slid off her tongue, her brows creasing and jaw dropping as crimson dripped from her hand to the mud. With a clap, he pressed his palm to hers, fingers squeezing her small hand with unmitigated pressure. She felt a flurry in her abdomen, her diaphragm, her chest, warmth that drove her power, and that was her cue to hold her breath, to pretend everything was fine, to tell herself she was safe and trick her mind when she really wasn’t. She pretended she was holding Sota’s hand - the first person that came to mind, and the least intimidating one that she knew. Sota as an adult whose hand was finally bigger than hers. She couldn’t help but feel this was a huge insult to her younger brother, so she subconsciously apologized as she continued her visualization. It was like a lump built in her throat, the kind that grew too difficult to swallow, but she also felt completely in control, returning the man’s stare before he dropped her hand and moved onto the girl beside her.

“Shh,” Sango gently hushed the small child. “Everything’s fine now, but you have to stay quiet. Give me your hand.”

Kagome slowly let out her captive breath, the air she sucked in to replace it cold and not the least bit comforting despite the danger she’d evaded. She kept her palm face up but closer to her heart, cradling it for a moment as she tried to ignore the searing pain, diverting her attention to Sango and the kid. Her best friend was already looking up at her, using the long sleeve of her shirt to clean the blood from the girl’s hand and apply pressure so it’d stop bleeding, never minding the bleeding of her own palm. Thankfully, it only looked to be a little knick, and Kagome wondered if the creep of a demon that had handled them secretly had a soft spot for children.

“You okay?” Sango silently mouthed to Kagome. She nodded in reply, picking up the bottom hem of her own shirt and pressing it to her wound.

A sudden, deep, and broken yell punched through the air as one of the demons stumbled away, his hand yanked back, fingers furled in offense, and face twisted in rage. A little girl shrieked as he lunged forward, grabbing her by the collar of her cloak and pulling her out of the line, her feet stumbling to keep up as she cried apology after apology.

No. Conjurers weren’t common; now more than ever. How could there be two in one village? Especially one as small as theirs? How could there be more than one not even miles apart? How did Kagome not know? Didn’t conjurers have the ability to sense one another? She’d only assumed that was the case because of the seemingly-prophetic dreams she’d been having; because of the woman that had been coming to her in those very dreams. It was a weak hypothesis to go off of, but it was the only answer that made sense to Kagome. But, now there was a child being dragged into the center of where the town congregated, begging and pleading for her life while her mother screamed from the sidelines where she was being held at bay, and Kagome was none the wiser to her existence.

She wanted to yell that they were wrong, but how could they have been? It was a physical test. The accidental reaction of her powers was a dead giveaway. They couldn’t even lie their way out of this, or pretend the allegation was false. She was a conjurer. And they were about to kill her.

Kagome’s heart twisted and bunched painfully, that hard lump once more building in her throat, a murmured, “no,” barely leaving her parted lips, and her brown eyes caught a pleased grin on the approaching leader’s face that, just moments ago, seemed stuck in a scowl. He twirled his dagger in his fingers before kneeling down in front of the weeping girl.

“Found you.” He snickered, plunging the blade into her abdomen.

“No!” Kagome gasped, slapping her hands over her mouth in shock. The village was alight with terror, screams, cries, the rumble of defeat, the wailing of a grieving mother striking over all other sounds. Still, she was withheld from her little girl, reaching for her over the shoulder of the unforgiving demon who kept her away.

The knife was yanked free of the girl’s gut and she fell to her knees, her hands braced before her stomach as crimson crawled out, staining the front of her rain-soaked dress. Small hands weakly pressed into her abdomen, the wide look of horror, of pain, of fear etched into every inch of her expression as she gasped tremblingly. All too easily, the leader stood and walked away, not an ounce of remorse displayed.

“She was… she was just a kid.” A sympathetic village man stated morosely. “She wasn’t even ten yet.”

“She wasn’t dangerous!” Another testified.

“Would you like to be next?” A demon threatened, thinking his raised voice would retain order.

Kagome could hardly breathe, tears burning and brimming at her lower lid. All she could think to do was try to stop the bleeding, try to save the child, her feet moving on their own accord as she rushed out of line. Beyond the anger building in the crowd, the yelling growing louder, and the intense disturbance increasing rapidly and overwhelmingly, Kagome heard her name called multiple times. But, she couldn’t bring herself to listen, to stop, as she skidded to her knees in the mud, her arms catching the little girl as she fell forward. Her mother was finally freed, racing over and falling to the ground at her child’s side, helping through her weeping to lay her on her back.

“It’s okay, baby. Mommy’s here.” She soothed as best as she could, hovering over her daughter's face so the rain wouldn’t hit it, shaking fingers pushing sopping hair from her cheeks.

Kagome grabbed the length from the girl’s cloak that stuck out on her side, bunching it and pressing firmly into the wound. The choked gasp that came from the kid was agonizing, and Kagome apologized profusely, blinking away her own tears as she whipped her head around to take in the rousing group of people, fury evident in their tones, in their bodies, as they returned threats with the offending demons.

“Where’s the doctor!?” Kagome asked as loudly as she could, her soaked, dark hair whipping her in the face as she spun her head around to try and find their town's self-proclaimed physician. “Help! We need help!”

“He isn’t here; he left for herbs yesterday.” Sango informed as she dropped down beside Kagome.

“And he still isn’t back!?”

“The storm must have delayed him.” Sango shook her head in response, her brows creased together as she glanced over her shoulder to quickly mind the budding commotion before turning her worried expression back toward the crying child. “What can I do? How can I help?”

“I don’t - I don’t know.” Kagome stammered, her breathing growing heavier as she panicked, noticing the blood was barely halting, the stain in the girl’s dress expanding and absorbing through the cloth she pressed against the wound.

“Apply pressure!” Miroku instructed when he slid to his knees in the mud on their opposite side, careful of the girl’s mother.

“I am!” Kagome cried.

“Stay with me, baby! Stay with me! I’m right here, look at me!” The woman coo’d, sniffling and gasping with her tremors while the comforting smile never left her lips.

“Hey! Leave her! Let her die, or we’ll kill you too!” One of the vile men demanded, though his shouts went ignored, easily drowned out by the encroaching, enraged men who finally appeared fueled enough to physically challenge them. Kagome could only hope they’d hold the demons back so they’d have the chance to save her.

“Here, let me see!” Miroku pushed Kagome’s shaking hands away, pulling aside the cloth of the cloak to take a peek at the wound in her stomach. Kagome had to look away then, the sight of the thick blood seeping through too much to handle. Instead, she focused her attention on the little girl, crawling up to hold her cold, bleeding hand.

Scared, pained, blue eyes focused on Kagome as she took shuddering breaths, her chest convulsing slightly as her small voice broke with her cries. Little fingers softly gripped her hand in return, and the tiniest of smiles curved her lips upward, light beginning to dim from her irises.

“Miroku!” Kagome urged. She glanced back at him and noticed the hopeless expression on his face. One that claimed there was nothing anyone could do. Her heart dropped, a nauseating weight filling her stomach. Quickly, she turned back to the little girl, leaning an inch closer. “Kikyo and the other conjurers, they’re gonna win, okay? We’re gonna win. I promise.”

“Who’s…”

“You! What did you just say!?” Heavy steps sloshed in the mud toward them, his voice low, growling, dangerous.

Kagome had spoken up to be sure the girl had heard her over the yelling, but she hadn’t realized that it could have been heard by anyone else. She didn’t think about the ramifications. She didn’t think. She’d just wanted to fill the child with some form of final hope. What was wrong with that? Was it the fact that she’d said Naraku would fall?

She’d hardly had enough time to turn and react before she was grabbed by the hair and lifted to her feet, yelping as she was dragged back and away.

“You mentioned Kikyo!” He exclaimed, giving a forceful yank as Kagome loudly gasped from her constant stumbling, the pain on her scalp, the fear racing through her. In the thick of it, she’d forgotten Kikyo wasn’t a person who was widely known. She’d forgotten Kikyo was a secret beacon of hope to the surviving conjurers, who appeared in dreams and spoke in riddles.

“No!” Was all she could manage to reply, screamed brokenly, heard clearly throughout the number of villagers around as the action died down and all attention was on them.

“How do you know her!?”

She yelped again, forcefully pulled backward and released to only trip and fall over some tools.

“Tell me, wench!” He demanded, picking Kagome up by her throat and slamming her back against the wall of a home.

“I don’t!” She adamantly swore, still able to speak. His grip was there, but not choking.

“Liar!” He said, slapping her hard across the face. “How do you know Kikyo!?”

“I heard of her in passing!” Kagome cried, wincing from the sting before she was forced to look at him again.

“I find that hard to believe.” He growled, inching closer to her face. His hold on her throat tightened, cutting off air, thick fingers pinching painfully into the sides of her neck. “Where is she?”

“I - I don’t know.” She sputtered, wheezed, her tears hot as they glided down her face. The rain was nothing but a drizzle now, though the distant sound of thunder roared angrily. She was both cold and hot, her lungs begging for air as his hand pushed further against her windpipe.

“Stop it! Let her go!” Miroku barked, and his presence was just enough to distract Naraku’s henchman and cause him to release some tension from her throat. Kagome greedily sucked in as much air as she could, though he still constricted his fingers against her. It was like breathing through a straw.

Her cousin stood there, dark hair sticking to his temples, bloodied hands braced before him as if to reason. “She doesn’t know anything; she just told you!”

“Oh, another tough guy?” A demon behind him chuckled. “A little scrawny for that, don’t you think?”

“You have me wrong, I don’t want to fight. Release my cousin, and we’ll back away peacefully. She meant no harm.”

“The harm was done when she stepped out of place to save the girl!”

“She was a child!”

“She’s a conjurer! She has no place in this world!”

“She did! She did have a place in this world, and we all know it!”

“You best shut the fuck up, boy.” The leader said from the sidelines. “Word may carry that you’re on their side. Now, you wouldn’t want that. Would you?”

“Tell him to let go of her.” Miroku sternly ordered.

“Back off.”

“Let her go!”

“Suit yourself. Have some fun.” Their leader flicked a finger at the two other demons, allowing them to do as they pleased.

Miroku hissed a low, “Fuck,” before dodging a hit from one of the two demons enclosing in on him. He was able to throw one of his own, nailing an ugly bastard in the face before he was grabbed from behind, bulky arms wrapping under and over his shoulders to hold him in place. The other demon was eager while he arrogantly approached in front of him, smiling as he punched Miroku in the stomach.

“Stop! Miroku!” Kagome squirmed against her own offender’s grasp, her instincts beginning to kick in as she felt a wild sensation build in her veins. Something righteous whispered the power she held in her ear, told her to use her abilities to save her cousin, further fueling the heat that made her forget about the nip in the air.

“Kagome, don’t!” Miroku coughed, pinning her with his indigo gaze before his eyes pinched shut from a swift hit to his diaphragm, blood dribbling over his bottom lip and down his chin.

Control sucked Kagome back to the present, the earnest crackle of Miroku’s voice ringing in her ears and overpowering the one that told her to fight. The grip against her throat tightened again, closing off her air passage as red eyes turned back to her, the lines of his frown deep.

“Don’t, what?”

Kagome wasn’t sure if he actually expected an answer or not, but he’d made it physically impossible. She clawed her nails along the thick skin of his large hand, trying to pry him away so she could breathe. It was dire that she didn’t use her powers; she understood this. But, as the adrenaline raced violently through her body, it was growing increasingly harder to keep it subdued. She’d be killed in a heartbeat; she’d already witnessed their unforgiving lack of hesitation. Her mother and younger brother would have to watch. Her cousin, too. She’d promised everyone she would protect herself, and she'd promised herself that she would protect them. Above all that, a different, deeper, more rational voice spoke to her, drowning out the one that told her to take action just a moment ago, telling her that her fight was meant for somewhere else. Something bigger. She could practically feel the breath hitting her ear, urging her of the importance. It told her to swallow it, hold it at bay, keep it buried no matter how badly it burned for release at the underside of her flesh. Keep it in its cage.

Finally, the demon released his tight hold on her neck, opting to firmly grip the front of her shirt. His upper lip twitched in disdain while Kagome sputtered, and coughed, and gasped for air to fill her lungs.

“Don’t, what?” Naraku’s henchman repeated, this time a little lighter, and it was impossible to miss that he was visibly analyzing for any sort of body language that could tip him off.

“Fight.” Kagome attempted to say, though her voice came out incredibly raspy and broken.

“Like I’d be worried about what a girl as small as you could possibly do to me. Unless,” He cocked a brow. “I’d have a reason to worry. Unless, you’re a conjurer.”

She shook her head, scared to look away from him, hyperaware of any movement she made in that moment. She was absolutely terrified of letting him know she was lying, but what if her stiffness was what told him the truth? What if the vehemence behind her objection was exactly what he needed to convict her? Where was the happy medium? Was there one? Kagome’s bottom lip quivered, resisting the impulse to glance Miroku’s way when he continuously coughed, the sound slightly gurgled, scared the shift in her eyes would be mistaken for something else.

“How else would you know who Kikyo is?”

“I - I h-heard of her in p-passing.” Kagome said, still unable to use her voice, and she wondered if the strangulation was enough to damage her vocal cords or if her anxiety was the cause of it. “I-In a nearby town. By - by the r-river.”

The demon yanked her forward and slammed her back against the wall, the back of her head smacking the wood painfully. “Are you a fucking conjurer, wench!?”

“No!” Kagome wheezed, releasing her own hold on his fist to emphatically present the blunt cut on her palm to him before she repeatedly smacked it against his forearm, smearing hers and the little girl’s blood, showing him the exact reaction - or lack thereof - they were looking for in coming today in the first place.

“Let - let her go.” Miroku was on his knees, breathing impaired, holding his side with one hand while the other braced his weight in the mud. “She’s not a conjurer. She’s not. She can hardly even hunt. I have to take her everywhere. There’s no way anyone that knows her would believe she’s one of them.”

“Being a conjurer doesn’t have anything to do with hunting, boy!” One of them spit.

“Well, how the hell would anyone know!?” Sango shouted from the side, still seated on her knees beside the child. Her cheeks were flushed furiously, and her hands were held out inches from her chest, palms up, covered in blood that she was afraid would never wash off. Their attempts were in vain and the mother wept, clinging to her little girl, her face buried in her daughter’s still chest. “Conjurers are practically going extinct; you’re all winning! We don’t know what they can do! They probably don’t know what they can do! Conjurers either have to hide to save their lives, or they don’t even know they are one yet!”

For a brief second, Kagome allowed herself to glance beyond Sango’s head, finding her family. Her mother’s hands were cupped in front of her mouth, trembling as she never removed her eyes from her daughter. Her brow was creased deeply, concern etched so thick you’d think an artist may have been too heavy with their pen. Kagome couldn’t tell if her mom was breathing slowly, or if she was holding her breath. She couldn’t tell if her mom was saying a silent prayer, or if words could barely form in her mind as she had no choice but to watch the scene unfold. Her mother had to witness a daughter torn away from another; a daughter who held the same, supernatural fate as her own. Kagome could only imagine the stress that currently laced her mom’s system.

Before her stood both her brother and Sango’s, Sota bearing a wide expression, neck tense and lips parted uncertainly, and Kohaku wearing a more cautious grimace, watching apprehensively. Knowing her onlookers were nervous, worried, should have been the very thing to cause Kagome to proceed carefully, but instead it served as the switch that flicked on in her head. She was tired of living like this, done with the dreadful thought that this was their normal. This wasn’t going to continue.

She’d been waiting for a sign, waiting for her cue. Bags were packed and weapons were stored in a hiding place where they’d been training outside of the village. Miroku, Sango, and she had discussed a while ago that they were going to eventually leave together and find the called-upon conjurers, and join Kikyo to fight against Naraku. It was their - the conjurers’ - responsibility. As much as she wanted to know why, pleaded with the apparition of this seemingly all-powerful conjurer time and time again for an answer, at this point it was no longer deemed necessary. Not anymore. Kagome figured she’d hear this magical invitation telling her when and where - which was farfetched but a fair assumption given she barely had anything to go off of. She even thought she might have to wait a while longer until she was stronger, more trained in her capabilities, before Kikyo gave her some form of clear signal instead of these ominous, detail-lacking prophecies in her subconscience that she was currently getting every other night. But now a tick in her core, an itch in her chest, a steady deepening in her resolve told her the time was now. Screw waiting, screw messages, screw rolling over, screw self-pity, and screw Naraku. If he wanted a fight, if this was his initiation all along, his declaration of war, then he was finally going to get one.

“If that’s the case, bitch, then what were you telling the girl?” The demon holding her collar jerked her slightly to demand her attention, receiving it with vexation.

“I,” Kagome took as stable a breath as she could, her throat aching and voice pathetically weak, clearly evident now that it was due to the ruthless strangling she’d received. “I told her Kikyo would kill Naraku.”

“And, why the fuck would you say that?” He asked, almost surprised at her bold statement.

“I wanted her to go with hope, not fear.”

He guffawed, his chest pumping. “You don’t actually believe that!”

Without hesitation, as straight as she could manage while she halted his laughter, Kagome replied, “Yes. Yes, I do.”

His smile faded quickly, humor replaced with anger as his fists bunched tighter and he heatedly pulled Kagome away from the wall and threw her to the floor. Kagome landed on her front, quickly pressing herself to her hands and knees just before he pushed her belly down, her wrists sliding and giving out so the side of her face planted in the mud.

“Kagome -“ Her cousin called, stumblingly crawling her way before another demon kicked him in the side he’d been clutching, a tiny crunch being heard just as Miroku choked in pain.

“Miroku, stop! I’m fine!” She attempted to say clearly, a foot braced on her back.

“Enough.” The leader stated. “Everyone back in line. We haven’t finished yet.”

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” A man asked disbelievingly. “You don’t think you’ve done enough damage already!? Get the fuck out!”

“Yeah, get out of here!” Other villagers began to call out, joining in. “You aren’t welcome here! You’re only taking advantage because our demon slayers are gone!”

“You think that matters?” The leader chuckled. “Go ahead. Revolt. Fight back. Make us leave. See how quickly your entire village will be wasted the next time around. You see four of us and think you stand a chance. You see a large group of us and think you’re safe because you’ve got a little pack of demon slayers protecting you. Funny, that’s never stopped our inspections before, so I don’t see why you think that’d stop us now. Either way, not a single one of you would be left alive if we brought a fraction of the wild demons under Naraku’s control, and he wouldn’t bat an eye if we borrowed them to kill you all. In fact, that’s already in the plan if we don’t check in. You kill us all, congratulations, but you’ll be worse off. Compared to him, we’re the most compassionate monsters you’ll ever meet, and I suggest you learn to appreciate that. Now, get your girls back in line.”

“It’s okay, papa.” An older girl spoke. Kagome couldn’t see from where she lay, but she recognized the seventeen year-old’s voice. Ayumi. She was soft-spoken normally, but also fairly brave and kind. The only child of a widowed father, and a girl, like the rest of them, forced to grow up too soon.

Ayumi walked forward, having backed away from the rowdiness with the majority of the girls who hadn’t run back to the safety of their parents. Notching her chin upward, she raised her left palm, “Let them finish. They won’t seem so big forever.”

“Bold girl.” The demon complimented.

“Yeah. The more I find myself hoping the conjurers win, the bolder I feel.”

“Careful, now. You’ll wind up getting yourself killed.”

“Looks like being female might just get me killed, anyway. So, I might as well go down confident that Naraku is the true evil here, and evil never wins.”

“What a disgusting cliche.” He groaned. “Grow a brain and come up with something original before you spew that sort of shit. It’s embarrassing. Look, I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but as the chick over there stated, we already are. We’re winning. Now, I won’t argue that we’re the bad guys here, but at this point in time, that doesn’t really matter.”

Ayumi swallowed thickly, eyes faltering downward for the smallest moment before she rose them to meet the red eyes of Naraku’s henchman. As sickeningly as that notion sat in her esophagus, Ayumi felt it would be worse if she’d sunken her shoulders at the validity of their power. By no means was she strong, and by no means was she actually all that courageous. Ayumi, true to heart, was a daydreamer, was a fantasy-enthusiast, was a soft, sweet, and hopeful wisher, was tired, was passive. So, while she could admit her stare wasn’t striking, her irises would never be vivid with the passionate heroism she dreamed about, her lips would never curve with a compelling and threatening snarl, she could also admit that just the act of matching his gaze was all she needed to do to defy defeat. With chapped lips parting, not a waver traveling over her tongue, she spoke. “Yes, it does.”

“Yes, it does.” Another girl agreed, approaching to stand beside Ayumi.

“The world hasn’t always been this way. Naraku only grew large less than five years ago.” A woman said, a mother, holding her fearful daughter in her arms. Several more girls got back in line, their shoulders a little more broadened than before. “I find it appalling how arrogant you all have gotten in such a short time. I assure you, conjurer, demon, human, or anything in between, I’d give them my trust sooner than I’d yield to the idea of life staying like this. Good and evil, the difference will always matter. So, yes. Yes, it does.”

“Inspirational.” One of Naraku’s demons remarked sarcastically, cringing.

“Hey, whatever blows your skirt up, lady.” The leader shrugged. “You can believe whatever you want. No sweat off my back. Funny enough, I’d put down all the money in my pockets right now to bet not a single one of them would return that trust, nor would they risk their lives to save you. I mean, not to play devil’s advocate or anything, but look at the twisted circumstances. What the fuck have you done to help them? Human’s are selfish; only looking out for themselves. You hate us showing up because you don’t want us to hurt you. It doesn’t have a damn thing to do with us hunting down conjurers, and it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with that little girl on the ground over there. If it did, you would have never watched it happen. If it did and it was just the ‘shock factor’ holding you back, you still would have done a little more than yell at us about how unfair it was. Oh, cry me a fucking river.” He grinned, stepping over to the first girl in the newly-formed line. There were less than half left that hadn’t been tested, and he got straight to work, unforgivingly slashing at the pre-teen’s palm and slapping his own to hers as he continued his heartless speech. “Even better, there’s two of your own on the floor, both of them getting quite the beating, and not a single fucking one of you did a damn thing to help. I understand the lad; that’s his - er - sister? Cousin? And, I mean, at least the chick tried to help the conjurer survive. I’ll give them kudos, but I think I speak for all of us non-humans when I say fuck the rest of you egotistical pricks. Oh no, my child might have a scar on her hand. Oh no, more trauma.” The leader mocked, his tone high and whiney. “Yeah, well, at least they’re not dead in the mud like little Suzie over there.”

There was a collective gasp from the audience at the harsh and morbid insensitivity. Still, no one challenged him. Someone should have, and no one said a thing.

Kagome tasted bile on the back of her tongue from the disgusting sentiments plaguing the thick, electric air. How cruel. She wanted to open her mouth and beg him to stop and just finish his job already, force her broken voice out to demolish his train of thought and hope he doesn’t mention the death for the remainder of his stay. The only thing stopping her was Miroku’s steady stare on her. It held more power than an order from his mouth to stay quiet ever could. With a foot on her back as a warning for more damage, the impending threat that he would easily be hurt again, and the fact that she’d said enough as it was, no matter how bold she felt in the face of this evil, she knew she was meant to face the source. She could only do that alive. So, begrudgingly, she obliged to his logical demand.

If they wanted them to finish, they needed to stop fighting. They needed to shut up. A double-edged sword. Like bowing their heads to the abuse. Enabling it. Allowing it so it ends quicker.

Kagome could feel her palms burning in the mud, a sense of humiliating defeat flooding her chest, making her feel sick to her stomach. She kept her eyes on Miroku, he kept his eyes on her. She tried to raise the volume of her thoughts, no matter how negative they were, to tune out the gasps and muffled cries of the young girls as they received the cut to their palms for testing.

How could she hold any form of power, yet still feel so powerless? How could she have the privilege of a voice, but feel so irrevocably silenced? She wanted to believe she could save everyone there if she just untied the knots concealing her abilities, but it physically pained her to understand that it was the wrong thing to do. It would be counterintuitive. It would wind up getting them all killed later. She could fight, but she also couldn’t.

“And, there you have it.” The leader finished by wiping his knife clean and slipping it back into the little holster on his hip, the hint of pride and sarcasm on his tongue. “Thank you so much for your cooperation and understanding. We’ll be seeing you.”

The demon holding Kagome down applied a small kick of pressure as he lifted off of her, chuckling as his dirty boots stuck in the mud with each step away.

There was an eerie silence, one that grew more deafening as the henchmen took their horses and disappeared from the village. It was heavy, thick, like sludge. Weighted with failure and death. Even the cries from the mother were muted. For a moment, Kagome thought that instead of drowning out the pained noises with her own thoughts, her brain had responded late to her distress by completely disabling her sense of hearing instead. But, she could hear the stickiness of the mud as she peeled herself from the ground to sit on her knees. She could hear feet slowly walking - most likely children rejoining their families. She could hear the thunder threatening them of the next onslaught of rain to come. The silence that captivated them was one that couldn’t be lifted with a simple, “Thank god that’s over.” No one could make it dissipate by asking if everyone was okay. Because, it didn’t matter.

And, that was something everyone, even the young, could recognize.

The small talk that would eventually come when everyone was back in their homes, the whispers, the crying, and maybe even tiny chuckles from people trying to find the little joys to get them through this, they would all be irrelevant. Because, outside there would be a blanket of despair thicker than the friction-inducing clouds hanging over them at this very moment, and it promised them there that it would stick around as long as it needed to.

“Hey,” A soft voice spoke in Kagome’s ear, a gentle, cold hand brushing her arm, and it was only when she gasped and jerked upright that she realized she’d been hanging her head, sights stuck on her hands on her thighs. “Sh, sh. It’s just me.” Her mother reassured, kneeling beside her and using her sleeve to try and wipe her face clean of some clumpy mud. “Are you alright, honey?”

Out of sheer reaction, she gave a meager nod.

“Look at me, Kagome. Look at me. Tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m okay.” Kagome said as convincingly as possible. When Miroku groaned, catching her mother’s attention and even her own, she was happy to have the focus off of her. Kohaku and Sango were beside him, trying to sit him up, freezing as he struggled.

“Come on, boy. Let’s get you home.” A couple, larger village men came over, better suited to help. One of them firmly clasped his hand in Miroku’s, quickly pulling him up to his feet so the pain wouldn’t be dragged out. Her cousin hissed at the shock, clenching his throat to try and swallow his grumble, and the two men supported him by pulling his arms over their shoulders.

“Can you stand?” Kagome’s mother asked.

“Yeah.” She whispered, not wanting to irritate her throat further and finding no real need to speak up right now. “I’m fine, mama. Don’t worry about me. Miroku needs your attention more.”

“Even if that were true, he’s kind of surrounded. I don’t think I’m needed there, love.” She replied, grabbing her by her elbow to support her as they stood together. “Sota, take her other side, please. Just in case.”

“Wait.” A broken voice called to them, trembling but by no means weak.

They all stopped just two steps in, looking over to the mother on the ground. Her daughter’s body, from head to toe, was covered by a long cloak belonging to one of the villagers beside her now, attempting to give comfort.

“Kikyo? Is that what you’d said? Kikyo?” She asked Kagome.

As clearly as she could, with a little nod of her head as she processed the question, Kagome said, “Yes.”

“Who is that?”

Kagome could feel the tension in her brow falter as the sympathetic, concerned curve in them wilted away to change more into dubiousness. “You - you don’t…” She didn’t know who Kikyo was. Even her own mother knew who Kikyo was. Her mom was the first to hear about her dreams before she started discussing them with the rest of her family. Had her daughter not had the same messages coming to her? Or, was she so confused, so distraught from them all, that she chose secrecy over being seen as insane?

“She’s a conjurer.” Kagome answered.

“Is she - is she a strong conjurer?”

“I think so.”

“I’m sorry, did your daughter never mention anything about Kikyo?” Sango carefully asked.

“N-no. Why would she?”

“We were just under the impression that she may have been sending survivors telepathic signals of sorts.” She said.

“That’s preposterous.” A man scoffed.

“Maybe. We heard it in passing. From an old man, no less.” Miroku said, discomfort laced in his tone.

“What - what could she possibly have had to say to a little girl?” The mother asked, her bottom lip quivering while her hand rested on her daughter’s chest.

“I’m sorry. I wish I knew.” The words were painful to speak. Not from her throat, but from the fact that she had to lie to a woman who’d had her everything stolen from her. A woman who, more than anyone, deserved the truth.

When she’d said what she’d said about Kikyo before, the little girl had muttered something in return before the demon tore Kagome away. It seemed like she was about to ask who Kikyo was. Kagome was sure now that the kid didn’t know. She hadn’t had the dreams, the premonitions, the one-sided conversations, nothing. She hadn’t had any communication with Kikyo, whatsoever. Maybe Kikyo was kind to exclude the young, and only spoke to the older, potentially more conditioned conjurers.

Or, maybe there was a possibility that Kagome was the only one.

And, it terrified her.

“Will she win? Kikyo? Will she defeat Naraku?” The crying mother asked.

Kagome was finding it hard to reply, to communicate. Her throat was tightening up as she watched the woman’s body begin to crumble once more toward her little girl’s; like she needed to be connected with her to prevent her from going cold. She could feel her eyes stinging, tears brimming, her fingers quaking and legs growing weak. Her cheeks felt hot and her chest wouldn’t allow a full breath of air - only unsteady, unmatched, quick puffs that burned. A hot hand slid into her right, her brother’s fingers tightening their grip, but she couldn’t control her body enough to grab it back.

“I refuse to believe otherwise.” Sango answered confidently.

The mother now sobbed, nodding in acknowledgment as she weeped over the covered body of her daughter. “Thank you.”

Kagome wanted to apologize profusely. For failing to protect her. For failing to try to protect her. For her loss. For the chance she was never given to learn to defend herself. For the silence she had to keep. The guilt was so heavy on her shoulders, she was ready to give in in front of them all, but the hand in hers pulled her back, made her move.

More villagers were moving toward the mother and child to help comfort while they removed the body, and that was the prime opportunity to get Kagome out of there. Sota could tell from the moment it started that she was going to break down, maybe even panic. He knew his sister, he knew the signs, he understood the stress she was under, and he wanted nothing more than to get her away and help her as best as he could. So, he disregarded everyone else and began pulling Kagome ahead. Miroku would have to move at a slower pace, Sango and Kohaku would stick by him and the men that helped, and he figured their mom would respect that they needed a moment of peace where they weren’t under more eyes than necessary.

Sota ignored the broken utterances of his name that came from his sister, he ignored the threatening weather, and he ignored anything that could potentially get in his way. He directed Kagome around their house, to the back, and toward the tree line of the woods. Three trees in past the shrubbery bush, on the opposite side of the trunk, Sota found the rope ladder to the treehouse their dad had built them hanging. Holding it steady, he released Kagome’s hand.

“Come on. Climb.”

-> | next chapter |

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ballad-in-goblets · 3 years ago

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inazuma archon quest (rewrite ? critique ?)

OKay so i’m gonna preface this with i don’t hate the inazuma archon quests ! i quite enjoyed the storyline and everything about it, there are just things that ,,, i'm not so satisfied with. and so i'm gonna go over those here and rewrite it or like. idk offer critique lol something like that !

real quick, @like-that-one-weird-dog-thing here if u want this here's that ramble i was talking about lol (yeah i made a genshin tumblr kSDKGHDFFGD)

i feel like this is a given but;

spoilers for all acts of the inazuma archon quest under the cut

with that out of the way, onto the rewrite ! (quick side note: it kinda turns more into a creative writing piece more than a critique or full rewrite near the end which is not what i meant to do but it still gets my point across so !! it works)

so, like i said, i quite enjoyed the archon quest. the first two acts (autumn winds, scarlet leaves & the immovable god and the eternal euthymia) are perfect, i don't think i'd change anything in those two acts at all. the third act (stillness, the sublimation of shadow) is also wonderful, and i honestly think that's my favourite out of the archon quest acts so far ! it's mainly when act 3, omnipresence over mortals, hits that i think it fell a bit short

things kinda feel... a bit rushed when it comes to this quest ? compared to the slow, steady pace of the prologue and act 1, then the speeding up of act 2, it honestly seems too fast paced and yet too slow at the same time. some parts of act 3 were really fast, like the encounter with scaramouche and the duel with la signora, and then some were... really slow. like the entire bit with the reistance.

on top of that, a lot of characters really fell short for me. it felt like teppei, an unplayable npc, was way more important than gorou, sangonomiya kokomi, kujou sara, basically everyone except for yae miko and raiden shogun. which, don't get me wrong, teppei was important, but i feel like these other characters had a big introduction only to just... kinda exist with no real reason.

gorou and sangonomiya kokomi were played up as big characters due to their status in the resistance - kujou sara was played up as the raiden shogun's right hand woman, and they were advertised as the duo of inazuma - hell, it even felt like kamisato ayaka was going to play a larger role in the final act of the story. and then none of them really did.

gorou only shows up to inform us about the soldiers aging quickly (and a bit near the end, but kaedehara kazuha had more of a role there, with actually leaping towards the shogun). sangonomiya seems important, but her only real action is making us a force captain and then telling us where the delusion factory could be. kujou sara only showed up to talk to the head of the kujou clan then get fucking knocked out by la signora in front of the raiden shogun, who did nothing about a snezhnayan diplomat knocking out her LEAD GENERAL ! kamisato ayaka only appeared for a few moments.

so, now that i've explained some of why i felt the final act fell short, i'm going to offer up how i would've changed things.

first, gorou and sangonomiya should play a bigger role in the story. like, they're the leads of the resistance, and they get less screentime than unplayable npcs... that's kinda weird. kujou sara should also play a bigger role. kamisato ayaka, i think would be fine with not appearing, due to how much of a part she played in the first acts, but gorou, sangonomiya kokomi, and kujou sara should be a lot more present, just in general.

in the 2.1 trailer, there were lines of "peace talk", correct ? i feel like that should've been in the story. perhaps after the traveler meets with sangonomiya on watatsumi island, they hear word of kujou sara wishing to meet. they meet up with her, which is where the peace talk comes into play. the two sides start trying to come up with a compromise. while this is happening, gorou is keeping an eye on things back on watatsumi island... where things start getting strange.

the soldiers start showing signs of accelerated aging. it's concerning, and as far as they're aware, unstoppable. due to this, sangonomiya cuts the compromising short to return to her people and try to help them. perhaps kujou sara could make a jab at this, something like "how do you ever plan to defeat the shogun's army if you can't even keep your own soldiers alive outside of a fight?" which could lead to sangonomiya and the traveler believing that kujou knows something about what's going on (even though she doesn't).

upon getting back, the traveler recognises the delusions. honestly ? i really liked the delusion subplot. i really like the idea of the fatui trying to tear inazuma apart, kind of like they did mondstadt and liyue, so they could get their hands on baal's gnosis. perhaps they had it so that scaramouche was in charge of scattering the resistance forces, while la signora was working behind the scenes with the kanjou commission and the tenryou commission to manipulate the raiden shogun.

i love the part where teppei dies, simply due to how emotional it was. i genuinely cried at that part, lol... but i really enjoyed it. i would say, keep that in. after discovering the delusions, things stay relatively the same. the traveler goes to teppei and watches him die, and then goes to the factory to get revenge, where they meet scaramouche. yae miko still saves them, however...

instead of remaining at the shrine to talk to yae the entire time, i think the traveler would want to go back to the resistance. sure, yae could very much help them defeat the raiden shogun, but the traveler is working with the resistance, who, from what we've seen, can be quite strong... at times. however, as they're about to leave, yae leaves the traveler with these parting words: "be careful of who you trust, child. not everyone who seems like a friend is one"

why ? well, i love the idea of the resistance not entirely being in the right, either. y'know that giant serpent that baal struck down ? yeah, that was watatsumi's protector deity. simply put: watatsumi island doesn't really like the raiden shogun, and i doubt sangonomiya feels much differently. i would love if one of the subplots was about how the resistance wasn't firstly formed to fight the vision hunt decree, but just the shogun in general, and slowly morphed to fighting the vision hunt decree.

after returning to the resistance, the traveler tells sangonomiya what they found. after speaking for awhile, they figure out that the fatui is most likely not just making things miserable on the front of the resistance (via the delusions). how do they figure this out ? the traveler, of course. while wondering why the fatui are in inazuma, the traveler remembers how the harbingers are trying to collect all the gnosis. they make this known to sangonomiya, who guesses that the fatui could be trying to make inazuma a mess so they can get the shogun's gnosis. at this point, the traveler heads back to the grand narukami shrine to speak to yae miko, hoping she'll know more about this, with sangonomiya at their side.

upon arrival, yae miko is speaking to kujou sara. kujou and sangonomiya are immediately.. well, simply put, not happy to be in each other's presence. yae miko calms them down, and tells them all what she was telling kujou. sangonomiya and the traveler were right: the fatui were behind the vision hunt decree. sangonomiya tells kujou what had happened in the resistance, and the traveler tells her what happened in the other nations, with the fatui (specifically la signora) hunting the gnosis. kujou mentions seeing a harbinger, a tall woman with blonde hair, and the traveler connects the dots. it's la signora, and she's in inazuma. kujou still isn't convinced, so the traveler does need to get kamisato ayaka and sayu's help to get the documents.

while waiting for the documents to arrive, the traveler speaks more with sangonomiya, where they learn more about the past of watatsumi island and the serpent deity. perhaps, trusting the traveler, sangonomiya reveals to them why she started the resistance in the first place: to get revenge on the shogun for killing their deity. of course, as time went on, she is now fighting against the vision hunt decree and simply wants to see inazuma united again, though it shakes the travelers trust in the resistance. after all... teppei, their good friend, died for the reistiance, and here sangonomiya is telling them that she started it simply to get revenge on baal for a centuries old fight that was ended... well, centuries ago.

after getting the documents, the traveler meets with kujou sara at the grand narukami shrine. sangonomiya was planning to come, but gorou needed her help tending to more soldiers at the resistance, as some refused to hand over their delusions. things stay relatively the same from here. kujou confronts takayuki, and she goes to speak to the shogun about this. while that's going on, yae miko is speaking to the traveler, giving them a brief rundown on what is going on with the raiden shogun - the one that is actually given in the quest, where we learn more about her puppet and her name being ei and whatnot. afterwards, the traveler goes to face the raiden shogun. they find la signora and kujou sara in a standoff, with the raiden shogun taking kujou's side (they are a duo, after all). la signora moves to attack kujou, but...

before she can land a strike, our traveler runs in, stopping her blow. all three parties present are startled - a wanted criminal in inazuma just stopped inazuma's head general from being attacked. it's not something you see every day. after speaking a bit more, the traveler challenges la signora to a duel before the throne, remembering this as an option due to kaedehara kazuha telling them about his friend. the traveler wins, and as such, la signora is executed... or is she ? well, to the traveler it seems like she is, but some subtle hints clue us in to the fact that something seems off. maybe la signora isn't dead, after all.

however, before la signora is executed, kujou sara steps in. she can tell that the traveler needs to ask signora something, and as they have been helping her, she asks the raiden if they can ask their one question before she executes signora. raiden agrees. and so, the traveler asks... "why?"

"why what?" signora laughs, though it's a pained laugh. "i'm afraid you'll have to be a bit more specific."

"you didn't just take venti's gnosis."

"not like you did zhongli's."

"you were brutal. you knew him."

"what did he ever do to you?"

and then... a cutscene. a story cutscene, to be exact. telling us about la signora's backstory as the crimson witch of flames (after all, this is fully confirmed during the fight). it shows her meeting her lover, and her lover perishing in the war, and her turning into the crimson witch. it shows her blaming venti for her lover's death, and then being found by the fatui. given her cryo delusion so she could appear as a human in a world of humans, and vowing to work side by side with the tsaritsa... as long as she can get revenge on the god that caused her lover to die.

after that, the raiden shogun executes signora. the traveler leaves, and we get that terrifying cutscene of them walking (which, let me tell you, scared the hell out of me. it was wonderfully made, please keep that in). we see the resistance coming up, having decided now was the time to take back inazuma... and then, the raiden shogun appears. not fully attacking the traveler, but she appears, walking on the steps out of a portal, like she did when facing the traveler the first time. kaedehara kazuha, in a moment of anger, lunges forward, activating his friend's vision as he clashes his blade with the shogun. she knocks him back, raising her blade to end him and take his vision when the traveler jumps in again.

and this time, she takes them back to the plane of euthymia.

the fight happens again, and once more, the traveler is not strong enough to win. however, the voice of yae miko rings in their ears: "your ambition alone is not enough to stop ei". words that were said to them right as they left to go find kujou sara.

and in that moment, the visions reach out to them. the stolen ambitions of all these people, gifting their ambition to the traveler. and, in the end of that all, we see the face of teppei. we see his hope, his determination to help the resistance. except, it's not just an illusion, it's a spirit. "help the resistance for me, okay, my friend?"

and the traveler gets the strength. they fight back against the raiden shogun, and they defeat her. they win. they are thrown out of the plane of euthymia, and the raiden shogun is kneeling over, weak. she lost the fight. she lost the fight. she looks up at the traveler, her eyes glowing a bright purple as she takes them in.

"their ambitions are stored within you."

"you really are an exception."

she stands up, and the traveler readies their blade. is she going to attack them again? instead, her blade simply... vanishes in her hands. in a brilliant, electrifying light, what was once there is no longer there. she stands before the traveler, empty handed. just looking at them. the traveler lowers their weapons.

"you are no longer wanted in inazuma. even i can't beat you."

"that's not what i want."

"oh? then what is it?"

"end the vision hunt decree. now."

and the raiden shogun laughs. "you think you get to make that choice?"

"almighty shogun." kujou sara is there, too. had she always been there? the traveler isn't sure. "the vision hunt decree.. it's harming inazuma."

"not just vision bearers," gorou adds. "but the entirety of the inazuman people."

"vision bearers and non vision bearers alike." even sangonomiya kokomi is there. "we have been fighting to end this for two years. people have died on all ends. many lives have been lost. don't you think it's time to end this?"

"after all, it was the fatui's doing." and then, there's yae. and the shogun seems shocked, then angry, then hurt, then... sad. then happy.

"yae. my old friend..."

the shogun takes in the people all around her. she takes in friends and enemies, foes and allies, vision bearers and regular people... and yet, despite their differences, they're all inazuman. they're all her people. they looked to her for guidance, and it failed.

"very well."

the decree is over. visions are returned to the few still able to receive them. the raiden shogun, for the first time in what feels like an eternity, steps out of the plane of euthymia. for the first time in years, the shogun is not who walks the streets, no; it is ei who walks the streets alongside her people. she goes to the small villages, along with her good friends yae miko and kujou sara, and she sees the damage she caused on her people. sangonomiya kokomi and gorou show her the resistance troops, who, at first, almost try to attack, before ei steps down and bows to them, asking for their forgiveness. she sees the damage her idea of eternity inflicted upon inazuma, and she makes it her goal to do better.

after all. she was aware it was the fatui's doing. she knew what the fatui were doing. she knew that two of her three commissions were working behind her back. and she did nothing about it, as it fit well with her goals at the time. she turned her back on her people in a false pursuit of eternity that would only end in loss. she recognises that. she knows what she did was wrong, and she takes the steps towards making things right. she reopens inazuma's borders, and takes down the statue of the omnipresent god.

alongside yae miko, she offers advice to the traveler on where their sibling might be. she suggests they go to sumeru next; the city of scholars might know something. when asked about what they were told by yae, the ei tells the story herself. the story of two twins; baal and beelzebul, makoto and ei. how one lost the other, and took over her identity. much like venti and the unnamed bard.

in the final cutscene, we see how inazuma starts to heal. sangonomiya prays at the watatsumi island shrine, for all the souls lost in the resistance. gorou and kujou sara start working together to mend the relationships between the reistance and the shogun's army. yoimiya, thoma, and kamisato ayaka enjoy a game of hot pot together, with sayu sleeping nearby. kaedehara kazuha leaves his friend's vision at his grave, and he takes his friend's cat with him. behind him, beidou awaits for her friend to join her, and the two walk off together. yae miko looks up at the sacred sakura, it's petals blowing in the wind. we see the traveler walk up to her to thank her for her help, and she simply smiles at them. sakura petals cover the screen... and then we see ei.

we see her walking alone. it's sunset, just about to go dark, but not just yet. it's lightly raining... and we see her kneel down at what seems to be a shrine. she leaves an offering before she stands up and moves away. we see the names engraved on the shrine - makoto. chiyo. sasayuri. kitsune saiguu. her sister, and her old friends. eternally preserved in a shrine created by the one who still cares for them.

and end scene.

#genshin impact #inazuma #inazuma archon quest #raiden shogun #yae miko #kujou sara #sangonomiya kokomi #gorou #la signora #scaramouche #genshin spoilers #genshin impact spoilers

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fgodump · 4 years ago

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Connections to “The Poppy War”

The setting and characters to The Poppy War has derived a lot of inspiration from historical events and myths alike. This is meant to discuss which characters have a relation to those preexisting. Of course, you do not need to know this information to enjoy the books, but I think knowing them will elevate your reading experience. None of this information is official. This is just the conclusions I came to while reading. Feel free to make comments

MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ALL BOOKS

Locations

Nikara: Qing Dynasty.

Mugen: Japan (Meiji Period)

Hesperia: Britain

The Hinterlands: Mongolia (unsure)

Murui: Yellow River

Tianshan: Kunlun

The different provinces were based off the Chinese Zodiac

The Poppy Wars: the Opium wars, as they have the heavy involvement of foreign invaders

Fang Runin: Rin’s character does not seem to take from a specific person, however the wiki stats that she was inspired by multiple people, such as Azula from ATLA and Mao Zedong

Chen Kitay: It's pretty obvious his character is inspired by Zhuge Liang in Romance of the Three kingdoms. In actual history, he wasn't that much, but in the book, Zhuge was a monster at strategy.

In the first book, Irjah proposes a question, which Kitay replies “to bait the enemy into giving them arrows by rolling out a boat of strawmen”. This is something that Zhuge did as well.

Sring Venka: Honestly I'm blanking on Venka. I think perhaps Venka isnt supposed to represent a character at all, but instead all the comfort women and victims of the Rape of Nanking, based on what happened to her during Golyn niis.

Yang Souji: He and his group the “Iron Wolves” remind me so much of the Shinsengumi. He even shares a name with Okita Souji, the captain of the first unit.

The Shinsungumi were also nicknamed “The wolves of Mibu”

I know the glaring problem with this is that the Shisungumi are Japanese, and should have been Mugini in this book, but I think these parallels are pretty cool in any case.

Chiang Moag- Ching Shih. Woah, as soon as I heard Lady Pirate, it was undeniable who Moag is. Ching Shih, the most famous pirate in China perhaps, and she was a woman.

Their backstories share similarities too. Ching shih was a prostitute, just like rumors around Moag.

The Cike: During the Zhou Dynasty, Wu Zetian (China’s only female emperor) had a secret police force that assassinated everyone she needed. This sounds incredibly similar to the way Daji used the Cike.

Altan Trengsin: I believe that Altan is like Rin; either an amalgamation of many characters or simply someone Kuang made for the sake of the story.

Ramsa: I believe him to be Nikara’s representation of the creation of fireworks. Not based off a person, but instead one of the Four great inventions of China. Or maybe I’m looking too far into it lol, since he doesn't strike me as being inspired from a myth, since he is not a shaman

Baji: Zhu Bajie of Journey to the West. Based on his description and his name, I had him guessed before they even said anything about pig.

His weapon is even the same as Bajie’s, a nine-toothed rake.

He also shares his desires, both of them being lusty for beautiful women

Suni: Sun Wukong. I had him guessed by his name as well. Although I believe the connection to be true, I cannot help but feel disappointed that the avatar of Sun Wukong was killed off so easily

The traits that these two characters share are pretty different, much more different than Baji had Bajie.

For one, Suni is generally calm when he is not being taken over by his god, and is pretty gentle and nice actually. This is very unlike Sun Wukong, and also the reason why I think Suni was a bad body for Wukong to take over, since I think their desires do not match up like Rin and Phoenix

Aratasha: The last in the trio, Sha Wujing. I was confused at first, since Aratasha is no fighter, but I realized his name sounds incredibly similar to Sha Wujing. Wujing was a sand river demon in JTTW, so I don’t think it was a stretch to believe that Aratasha was based off of him (his god is a river god, after all)

Plus, Aratasha died before Baji and Suni did. Wujing in JTTW was weaker than both of his companions.

Chaghan and Qara Suren: This may be a stretch, but I think Chaghan was inspired from Genghis khan. Gengis Kahn united the Mongols, like Chaghan united the Ketreids and Naimads. Even though the time period would be centuries apart (Genghis 1206, Qing Dynasty 1644-1912), it is the most likely option. It is unrecorded whether Gengis had any sisters, so I believe that Qara was made for the sake of plot (anchor).

Yin Family: The entire Yin family was taken from the story of Nezha. You can read more about the original story by searching his name in Wikipedia. R F Kuang kept a lot of things from the original tale, and these notes are what I have noticed

Yin Vaisra- Li Jing. Li Jing was also a great general, and in other stories, he was the head general in the Jade Emperor's Heavenly Army. If you know about “Journey to the West”, it was him who attempted to subdue Sun Wukong.

Yin Saikhara- Lady Yin

*its interesting how Kuang decided to make the mother’s name the family name for the Yins. Originally, I would have thought it was Li instead.

Muzha and Jinzha’s name were lifted directly from the source material

Mingzha is a character Kuang added, for Li Jing only had three sons (or 2 sons and a daughter in this case). There is no source material for how Muzha and Jinzha’s characters are; even in adaptations we rarely get to see any exploration of them.

Yin Nezha- Nezha:

Yin Nezha, like his original counterpart, was the third child of his father. Since Muzha was changed to a female, he is actually the second son.

He has the powers of the Dragon of the Western river (TBG 392), likely referring to the White Dragon in myths, who is the dragon ruler of the western sea.

Like the Nezha in the myth, Yin Nezha had an occurrence with a dragon that changed his life.

At the first battle between Nezha and Rin in TBG, it is stated he wears golden rings around his wrists and ankles. Guanyin bodhisattva did this to Nezha in Journey to the West, in order to placate him.

The Trifecta: All of the figures in the Trifecta were based on the Fengshen Yanyi (AKA the Investire of the Gods).

Jiang Ziya: His name was directly taken from the novel.

Su Daji: Her name was directly taken from the novel, as well as some of her penchants for murder. Daji, in both history and the novel, was infamous for her torture methods.

Jingzha being delivered back to his father in a dumpling holder would qualify as a toruture method. I applaud Kaung for being creative.

Yin Riga: I do not know if Riga is meant to be King Zhou or Ji Fa (the man who overthrew Zhou). Perhaps he was inspired by both of them, or neither.

Since Kuang did not go into depth into which gods were in the pantheon, I will make a list to who I think is there

Gods mentioned in the books:

Erlang Shen

Sanshengmu

Sun Wukong *implied through Suni

Zhu Bajie *implied through Baji

Huxian *implied through Unegen, and also Daji

Phoenix

Nuwa

Fuxi

The Four Dragon Kings (Yin Riga was likely the Dragon of the East) *There is no confirmation that there are multiple dragons, but I believe it was strongly implied

Chang’e

Xi Wang Mu, Queen Mother of the West

Zhenniao *implied through Pipaji

The Four Guardians (Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise) *implied through Dulin, who summoned the Black Tortoise

Wong Tai sen *implied through Lianhua (Actually I am not sure, but I could not think of any other healer god in Chinese myths)

Gods not mentioned but I believe are in the Pantheon:

Yudi: Usually depicted as the husband of Xiwangmu

Hou Yi (Since Chang’e is there. However, there is a possibility that he is in Chuulu Korikh as punishment for killing the sons of Yudi)

Shennong: He exists between Nuwa and Fuxi as the “human”

The Eight Deities

Guanyin: (Since Wukong is implied to be a god) showed up in JTTW

Yanwang: (Since Wukong is implied to be a god) showed up in JTTW

Other tidbits:

Arlong’s name may have been the combination of “Azure” and the chinese word for dragon “Long”.

Aquebus are guns, but they shoot very slow. This aint a AK 47

The Red emperor could have been based off of Qin Shi Huang, or even the Jade Emperor himself.

Chuulu Korikh’s origin, although explained, has ties in Chinese myths. It was the mountain that encased Sun Wukong before he was broken out by Xuanzang. This means that the mountain was put there by the big B, Buddha. (Actually I can't remember if Kuang said who put the mountain down, but if she didnt specify this is what I think happened)

I am more familiar with Chinese history and myths, rather than Japanese ones, so if im missing something feel free to correct

#i finished all of them within 24 hours #im shaking #i wrote this right afater the last page of the burning god #holy shitttttttt #the poppy war #the dragon republic #the burning god #fang rin #nezha #fang runin #books #literature #yin nezha #chen kitay #tpw

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pyro-sea · 2 years ago

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Mahaad, Volo, faye valentine

This is going to get so long XD Here we goooooo!

My NOTP for them

Mahaad - I'm not big on Mahaad x Mana. They're more brotp to me. Or, they WOULD be bro if Mahaad would do a prank every once in a while puh-LEASE

Volo - There are actually very few people I ship Volo with. Probably why making an oc to pair with him was so easy lol. I guess probably stuff where it's him with an unaged-up MC/Akari/Rei, but if it's aged up I don't really care. I do have a mild vendetta against Ginter for his prices on items though, so I'm not keen on the idea of Volo and Ginter hooking up, but that's like, a me thing and not an "I don't think these characters work well together" thing. And I hate Kamado, but like, again, that's a me thing and has nothing to do with whether I think the characters work well or not.

Faye - Bebop doesn't have enough characters for this - oh wait, oh yeah, not a fan of Faye with Ed. If Ed was aged up, sure I don't care, but I haven't seen that yet, and thus my stance on it is no thank you.

My BROTP for them

Mahaad - With Manaaaaaa!!!!! They have such good sibling vibes and I think they'd be homies. I also think that Mahaad and Jounouchi would end up with a strong bro thing over protecting Yugi and Atem. But Mana and Mahaad have such Younger Sibling Older Sibling vibes that are a lot of fun to see and explore.

Volo - I think Volo and Tuli would be bros. Volo and Cogita could be bros, if Volo wasn't so sus in trying to get information from her. But yeah no I lowkey think Tuli and Volo are bros. I also think Tuli is the one who keeps Volo posted on stuff going on in Jubilife, since the only other guild member routinely in Jubilife is Ginter, and Ginter does not seem thrilled enough at Volo's antics to sneak him information.

Faye - Faye and Spike have a really strong siblings dynamic imo. They both annoy the shit out of each other, as siblings do, but they'd also take a bullet for each other, as siblings do. They're like that in the anime and in the live-action series. Actually, the live-action series makes them even more brotp than I expected. They bond over luxury shower practices lol

My OTP for them

Mahaad - Mahaad x Set is the most plausible for me canonwise, but I think they both bond over how much they care about Atem and that's what brings them closer together. Maybe in another life, they'd have more time to figure things out (Kaiba x Dark Magician, anyone?? Anyone????)

Volo - *points to my oc content* I did not put in this much work for Volo and my oc Niko to NOT be my Volo-involved otp. But uh yeah no Volo x Niko is my love, my life, my everything. I am vibrating while rotating them both in my brain. Volo has such simpish dialog in the game that spinning it to fit a shipping story was SO easy. He loves Niko. A bit too much. He's an obsessive bastard who needs to chill. But he won't, and Niko adores the attention. Drinks it like wine. Plus, Niko being from modern day knows Arceus as the pokemon god of creation, and just acknowledging Arceus as a deity would be SO validating for Volo, who is literally the only person in Hisui (except maybe, MAYBE Cogita) to know who Arcues is, let alone consider Arceus the "true"/"real" almighty Sinnoh. And at one point, Volo is the only person Niko trusts, because of shit that happens in canon. Niko has been ripped from their home and everyone they know TWICE and Volo has been there for them, even if he did, you know, kinda cause the first issue lol but GOD they're a bit dysfunctional sometimes, but they inspire each other to be better people and Niko fights god itself for Volo and just *bites fist* gaaaah I need to get the full story out someday

But if I have to pick a canon character, probably Ingo. I think Volo would keep tabs on him no matter what option you think he got to Hisui through (Volo's rift fuckery, ultra wormhole, some other third thing that even Arceus doesn't know of), one because Ingo is potentially from the rift, and two because he'd be waiting for Ingo to recover his memories and tell him of the future - and especially of the future's historical knowledge. Little does Volo know, Ingo's specialty is trains. But in that I like to think they'd grow closer and damn I just need to write a fic, don't i XD

Faye - Faye x Julia. Sorry Spike. There's a moment in the anime where Faye meets Julia and she seems so star-struck that i just thought "Oh. Oh this is it. Faye can have a wlw, as a treat" and i've never let that thought go. Ever.

My second choice pairing for them

Mahaad - I really like Mahaad x Ryou and Dark Magician x Ryou. I especially love stories where Mahaad somehow contacts Ryou through the Ring. Or where Ryou gets the Puzzle and Mahaad finds Ryou through that. Or sentient Duel Monsters cards. Or or or just making it happen. I think Ryou would dig Dark Magician's aesthetic, and I think Mahaad needs more positive enthusiasm in his life. Plus, then homoerotic magic training sessions could happen, and who doesn't want a good homoerotic magic training session??

Volo - Volo and Adaman! Why? Because Adaman deserves a little crazy bf, as a treat. For serious, I just like the idea of Volo detouring to visit the Diamond Clan just to see Adaman, him listing VERY intently while Adaman goes on and on and on about the clan's history, legends, etc etc, and Adaman metaphorically wagging his tail getting to tell someone so enthusiastic about how correct the Diamond Clan is. I think a similar series of events could happen between Irida and Volo, but I ship Irida with Mai I'm not sure Irida would see the interactions as romantic or potentially suggesting a romance being desired.

Faye - If Faye can't have Julia, then by god let her have Spike. Yes I know I just called them brotp, but they have the range to be both. Specifically, Faye has the range to put Spike in his place, and Spike has the respect for her enough to be put in his place. It'd work, eventually. When money wasn't tight. Listen they've been through too much together, it'd work.

My fluffy pairing for them

Mahaad - Mahaad x Atem! Or, more like Dark Magician x Atem, since anything involving the AE crew ends in, well, *gestures to canon*. But like, I think Mahaad and Atem would spend quiet mornings building deck strategies for Atem to run by Yugi. It'd be cute.

Volo - Nnnnnnnniko! Niko x Volo is everything to me. All of it. It has the range. It is the full package. The fluff, the angst, the hurt/comfort, the betrayal, the reconcile, the healing, the loss, the pining, the drastic times call for drastic measures. Everythiiiiiiing.

But, again, if it had to be a canon character, I think anything would work pre-postgame. Ingo, Adaman, Tuli, Cogita, Irida, the guild members, it's almost anything goes. However, in all the post-postgame stuff.... I think professor Laventon is the only one who'd give Volo a second chance, considering the stuff Laventon tells you after the Giratina mission. Plus like, they're both nerds lol fellas, is it gay to collaborate on research projects that further both y'all's research goals? (in this case, the answer is a resounding yes).

Faye - Faye x A fat paycheck and a long shower. That's the only fluff life gives the bebop crew. Although if I could au it a bit, Faye and Julia could have some pretty soft moments while on the run together.

My angsty pairing for them

Mahaad - Mahaad x TKB. The heartbreak at the end of the line. Mahaad having to choose between helping TKB and protecting Atem. TKB knowing that if he attacks the throne, he's going to have to face Mahaad as an enemy. It hurts. It hurts so good.

Volo - To literally no one's surprise: Niko x Volo. I'm telling ya, the pairing has the range.

Volo x Adaman also has the potential for some serious angst with the postgame. A whole big batch of "I trusted you" and "How could you do this" and "Did I really mean that little to you?". Delicious, delicious angst.

But you know what REALLY has the potential for some good angst? Volo x Emmet. Volo. x. Emmet. Just imagine. Emmet finds his way to Hisui. Encounters Volo. Volo offers to help him find his brother, but fears getting found out, so he derails their search. It takes a long time. Emmet loses hope, but Volo keeps encouraging him. Emmet starts to fall in love, only to have his heart absolutely decimated when he finds out Volo is the reason Ingo got yeeted in the first place. Ouchie :)

Faye - Considering the way the show ends, Faye x Spike would pretty much tear out your heart and rip it to itty bitty shreds. Both versions of the show, actually. Bebop canon said no one is allowed a positive ending except Ed and Ein (which is okay, because they do deserve it).

My favorite poly ship for them

Mahaad - Mahaad with Set and Atem! Or, Mahaad with Atem and TKB. Or or or actually Mahaad with Set and Atem AND with TKB. Chronic. Multi. Shipper.

Volo - Volo x Niko x Adaman. The whole dialog from the lake trio missions is a solid 70% Volo and Adaman talking about how cool and competent you are, so like, once again the in-game dialog lends itself so well to so many potentials. It also lends itself to Volo x Niko x Cogita a few times. So many pastabilities!

Faye - I really like Faye x Spike x Jet, but specifically in the format of Faye > Spike < Jet, with Faye and Jet being more metamores than romantic or sexual partners. They're both there for Spike, and Spike is absolutely high off the attention.

My weirdest pairing for them

Mahaad - Idk if it actually counts as weird, but I think Mahaad x Kaiba/Dark Magician x Kaiba is REALLY fun, especially when it's a rendition of Kaiba that is super magic-reluctant. Mahaad who loved Set is just "I have found you once more, my beloved" and Kaiba who refuses to believe he was Set in a past life is just "Yugi get your weird cosplay friend off my lawn". Or better, "Yugi tell your duel monster cards to stop fucking talking to me"

Volo - I kinda do ship him with Cyllene a bit. I think she puts a lot of faith in his abilities and expertise in canon, when she's super not the character to do that. Which suggests they have some sort of history/connection pre-canon. Possibly a flame on the downlow? Friendly exes? Mutual aces? Pick your favorite flavor, I just think they're fun!

Faye - If bebop had more characters *grumble grumble* Honestly I think the weirdest pairing i could do with Faye would be to make a bebop oc. Which, i'm not going to do, but that's kinda were I'm at. There's only a handful of characters. I guess Vicious??? Faye x Vicious???? That's the best I got. It'd be quite the middle finger to Spike lol

#This took so long to type up lmao but this was really fun to think about #loved being rubberbanded by the difference in shipping ability between ygo pkmn and cowboy bebop lmfao #it really is most shipping medium shipping mildest shipping ksjdksjsk #yuusaris #answered asks #asks #pyro speaks #ask game response #longpost

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silversimp · 3 years ago

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(Levi x Gender Neutral Reader) part 7

Fun Fact! I'm now also uploading on AO3! I'm planning on keeping this main story smut-free, but having separate one-shot type smutty bits that can be read along with the main story (once we get there lol slowburn lol kill me). All of that will be going on over there <3 @ Silver_Simp

Chapter Seven- Freedom at a Cost

Y/n shifted around in their chair waiting impatiently for the three new recruits, they had been hoping the government would decide against hiring literal criminals who had already stolen gear. Erwin, however, was good at getting what he wanted. Y/n looked over at their desk clock and aimlessly tapped on the top of their desk, annoyed with themself for getting all their work done early in case the three had been early themselves.

'Time really just keeps flying past me, still, no word from the warriors' they let their mind wander to their current worries. The more time y/n had spent on Paradis was not good for their head, 'devils, they are all devils' they lied to themself swallowing hard.

"Mx. L/n" there it was, that booming voice of captain Erwin that never seemed to accompany a knock anymore, he was already halfway through the door as he spoke.

"Did you hurt your knuckles on the way here captain" they shifted their body in their chair to face him.

"Of course not" he didn't get the joke he stepped into the room examining his hands to be sure, "Oh! And I've brought those three," he said as if he had forgotten for a moment. He gestured to them to come into the room shuffling out of their way.

Y/n eyed each one as they entered, two men they recognized and the third a young girl, "welcome" they smiled at them as they stood in a row in front of their desk.

"Now I need to meet with a few people so I'll leave them in your care for a while until I return" Erwin gave a soft expression for a moment.

"You're just dumping them in my office for an undisclosed amount of time" y/n scrunched up their face not letting themself break eye contact with Erwin.

"They have paperwork to fill out, I'm sure that will take some time" he started making his way to the door finding no issue in letting them leave his gaze.

"Of course, sir" they held back the urge to click their tongue as he closed the door behind himself. Their eyes darted back to the three in front of their desk, the three of them reminded them of Kinfe and themself when they first arrived. They moved a few papers around on their desk and gave them a smile, "I guess we can get started, the paperwork isn't too hard" they placed three papers along the edge of their desk and motioned to them to take the papers.

"What if I can't read too good?" the girl chirped, she didn't sound uncomfortable with the question.

"Then I can read them out to you, I can also write in the answers if you need me to" they handed the taller boy a pen as he grabbed his paper, he gave a nod as he took it and walked over to the sofa next to the door.

"Perfect!" she basically screamed far too close to y/n's ear for their comfort. She pulled up the chair across the desk and leaned half her body over it sliding the paper in front of them.

Y/n let their eyes wander to the last of the three, 'Levi' they traced his features with their eyes he hadn't moved from his spot since coming in, "Do you need me to read yours as well?" his eyes met theirs as they spoke to him.

"Do we have to fill it out?" he huffed, eyes stern and unmoving.

"You do" y/n smiled back at him, they figured it wouldn't be easy to get a bunch of thugs to give the military their information.

"If I don't?" still unmoved eyes narrowing.

"Then you can go back to the underground" y/n traced a circle into their desk with the back of their pen soft smile still placed on their lips.

Levi weighed his options and deiced to comply, "I don't need any help" he tugged the paper from under his friend's elbow.

"It's Isabel right?" y/n shifted their attention to the excitable girl in front of them.

"Isabel Magnolia," she said in a sing-song voice rocking in her seat, "you got a name?" she rested her chin on the desk eyes up on y/n.

"Y/n L/n" they hummed writing in Isabel's name on the top of the document.

"Must be nice livin' in the inner walls" she seemed to already be getting bored of the paperwork.

"It's not bad" they smiled, "do you know your date of birth?" tapping the pen on the question.

"Nah, so you got a house?" she rolled her head onto its side to look out the window.

"I live here actually, I have a room and bathroom to myself" they jotted some notes next to the question, "sure beats the underground" they answered a few questions on Isabel's behalf that they already knew.

"Hey!?" Isabel sat up, her face showing every emotion behind her eyes, "Just cause we're from the underground doesn't mean we live in some shit!" she hit her fist against the desk, the two boys eyeing the situation from the sofa.

"Well, I'm glad you weren't living in shit. Nights on those streets can be...hard" they didn't look up from the paper as they wrote in Isabel's eye color and hair color in their respective boxes.

"Wait" she took a moment to piece together the information, "you're not?" he aggressively studied y/n's face, "no. No Way!" Isabel shook her head left to right and crossed her arms kicking the chair back behind her, "No way in hell anyone from the underground got up here and worked at a desk" she continued to shake her head.

"Your height?" y/n looked up at the girl from her seat, determined to finish the document and not very interested in talking about the underground.

"Hmmmmmm" she finally stopped shaking her head and placed a finger on her chin, "I guess there are ways you could, but none of em I can think of are legal" her eyes darted back to y/n.

"Okay," they took their eyes off the paper and gave the girl in front of them a stern look, "Yes, I came from the underground and now I work here for the scouts. You're doing the exact same thing I did almost a year ago now" they put their pen down, the two boys still watching cautiously.

"So your tellin me we're gonna be working at desks? I thought the job was fighten titens" Isabel plopped back down into the chair a perplexed look painting over her features.

"We all do the jobs that are the best fir for our skills, I happen to be best fit for office work" they looked over the three in their office, "and you're all fit for flying around fighting monsters according to Erwin" y/n picked the pen back up, "now, height"

...

Y/n couldn't shake the idea the thought of the three undergrounders from their mind, aside from Isabel both Levi and Furlan had an interesting vibe to them, 'there's the chance they're up to something malicious. They don't exactly seem like the type to join the military, but I guess Knife doesn't seem like it either and he's doing well enough for himself' they traced over the paperwork regarding the next expedition, "he hasn't died yet, he won't die this time either" they softly told themself taking in a deep breath.

A knock struck the door, and y/n knew who it was in an instant a small smile hitting their face, "Legs?" The door cracked and he peaked into the office.

"Come in soldier" they pushed the worry down at the sight of him, "take a seat and I'll make some tea."

"Great!" He strode into the room in full uniform, something y/n didn't think they'd ever get used it. They set two cups down on the desk sitting on the edge eyeing their friend, "did you ever think we'd be sitting here like this?" He beamed up at them.

"Never in my wildest dreams, Jeffrey Carson" they couldn't help the laugh that followed his name.

"Still think Knife is lame?" A small blush fell onto his face, "but hey! My fellow scouts call Jey now instead shit pants" his hands reach for the tea in front of him, "I can't belive how long shit pants stuck honestly" he smiled at his cup.

"I think shit pants is a lovely name" y/n couldn't help but love these far and few moments with Knife. They couldn't admit they missed seeing him everyday, and they were worried that every meeting could be the last.

"I don't think I'm the only person who ever shit themself after seeing those things" he almost whispered into his cup.

"But didn't you do it twice?" y/n smirked getting off the desk to move to their chair and tea.

"The second was even scarier than the first" he looked up at them, he had already had this conversation with his squad a hundred times, "and hey maybe the shit smell would stop the titan from eating me! I haven't gotten eaten... yet" with that his smile faded.

"We don't have to talk about titans today" their eyes moved to the expedition plans on the desk between them.

"What have you been up to?" He pushed his now empty cup aside to lean on his elbows.

"Honestly not much, just paper work really" they gestured to the loose mess of papers on the table by their sofa, "before expeditions are always the busiest" they shrugged sipping their tea.

"Ugh, same here. The training lately has been rough, plus those new guys are way too good. We have to work so damn hard to keep up!" He leaded in toward his friend, "plus I can't even look em in the eye, I mean Levi is crazy intense"

"I bet, but hey you're all from the underground I'm sure you can be friends soon" y/n finished their drink and set it down lightly.

"Yeah not sure, I tried bringing it up to that tall guy cause I recognized him. He didn't seem too interested in me though" he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, "oh well, so sad" he grinned.

Y/n laughed, and the two sat quietly for a moment just enjoying the others presence. They looked him over, the underground gang member turned seasoned soldier. Their eyes hitting his chest, "your patch" they pointed to it.

"Oh yeah, my cape got torn to shreds the last time we went out. I couldn't get a new one so me and Alison fixed it. When I finally got the new one though" he trailed off in thought.

"So Alison fixed the patch I take it" they grinned, ever since joining one of Knifes main talking points was this girl. Y/n made sure to check out her file, a tough girl from Ragako.

"Yeah, it had been ripped in half. She manged to sew it back together" he smiled down at his chest lightly patting the patch with his finger.

"Well she's not much of a seamstress, but she got the job done" y/n teased expecting to get a rise out of him.

"I like it like this, I think if she sewed it perfect you wouldn't be able to tell that she had even touched it. We aren't going to be riding near each other this time, but with this i think it will feel like she's there next to me"

"Wow, when did you become like this huh? All grown up and in love" y/n felt like a proud older sibling.

"L-love! N-no you're mistaken, Alison is cool and beautiful and honestly the most amazing person I've ever met, but" his face bright red and hands firmly grasping the edge of the desk.

"No need, I understand" y/n smiled fondly at him, "you probably should get going though" they looked down at the clock a bit annoyed with the time.

"Yeah" he got up and gave a half hearted salute.

"When you get back introduce me to her already" y/n stood pushing his hand away from his heart and giving him a tight hug. They held back any thoughts about him not returning to the best of their ability.

"You can't say anything weird though" he mumbled bringing his arms up to return the gesture.

"I don't make promises I can't keep" they pulled away keeping their arms on his biceps, "don't be stupid out there" y/ns face turned serious.

"I'm stupid everywhere but there, really" he wiggled out of their grasp, "when I bring Alison here you getter tell her how cool I was in the underground" he smiled as he made his way to the door.

"I'm not a lier Jeffery" y/n smiled back returning to their chair, and with a groan he exited. At the sound of the door closing y/n dropped the smile and placed their head in their hands, 'stop caring about these devils. So what if he-' they couldn't finish the thought. They couldn't.

...

After the expedition y/n found themself hesitating to look over the documents Shadis had just handed them. The man stood speaking about something they weren't listening to as they pulled out the list of casualties. A list that always seemed far longer than anything else.

"Y/n" Shadis' voice boomed them back to their setting "I need you to get your review reports finished by tomorrow morning" his eyes seemingly unblinking pressed into them.

"Yes sir" they returned his gazed unbothered.

"I also" he cleared his throat and looked to the window, "I also thought I would warn you about something" he kept his feet planted firmly, back straight, arms behind his back.

"Oh" y/n tried not to seem nervous, he knew they were friends with Knife. 'If this is his way of telling me he died' they kept their panic inside.

"I'm not sure I'll be commander for much longer" his eyes hit the ground.

"..oh" their eyes narrowed.

"Not right now, but I've been thinking about it" he let his eyes wander back to the window stance unchanged.

"Why, if you don't mind me asking sir?" They put the papers down giving him their full attention.

"This is off the books by the way" his attention aggressively moving back to y/n who was sitting attentively at their desk.

"Of course" they nodded holding back a smile, 'to think I've gained your trust sir' they mocked internally.

"Right" back to the window, "I'm not sure I'm accomplishing much" he swallowed, "but I'm not giving up yet, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to do this though" his arms fell to his sides.

"I understand sir, I can't imagine the job is good for ones mental wellbeing" they followed his gaze to the window.

"Well, I suppose I'll leave you to your work" he shifted slightly and looked to the door.

"Thank you sir" they went back to their papers, again thinking of the list of casualties.

"I don't agree with Erwin on much, but he always seems to be right" he said in almost mumble as he started toward the door, "when he first said you'd be working here I called him crazy. Now I rely on you constantly" he paused, "even for just someone I know will listen to an old man grumble about his problems" he gave a wave and exited.

Y/n took a deep breath and started scanning the list, eventually getting to the C names "not there" they whispered, "he's not there" they placed the paper back down and sighed.

They scanned the C's again to be sure eyes catching a name they recognized, Church. Furlan Church. They quickly checked the M's and found her name there as well. Y/n furrowed their brows remembering Levi didn't know his last name, 'where would he be listed then? At the end maybe' they flipped to the last paper and he wasn't there. He wasn't listed under L either, neither was Alison Lester to y/n's relief.

The air in the office felt heavier, y/n rested their chin on the desk as Isabel did the time they had met, "at least she was free for a bit" they tried and failed to hold back their tears. Paradis was truly becoming a hell for them, and the longer they were there the more they hated the reason they had come in the first place.

Chapter Seven- End

So much Levi incoming omg so pumped lol

#aot #attack on titan #captain levi #fanfic #levi attack on titan #levi x gender neutral reader #aot fanfiction #fanfiction #levi x reader #levi ackerman

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