#I miss takoyaki and ramen from that REALLY cool place though

[cerastes]

I’ve expressed how much fun I had in Japan plenty of times now, but one of the things I actively missed while I was over there was cheap fruit, I’m going fucking tyrannosaurus sex on these oranges and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon.

[kareofbears]

margin of error

Sophia knows a lot, but that does not mean she understands much of anything at all.

Or, Sophia struggles to grasp why Akira and Ryuji don't follow her predictive algorithm.

read on ao3 or below the cut :)

Sophia knows a lot.

She can tell you almost anything in the known world in an instant. Calculate the radius of the sun. Who won Best Picture three years ago. The outfit to wear when you need to 'dress to impress.' Just yesterday, she was able to find them a bath, a takoyaki restaurant, and an overnight camping site within 0.3 milliseconds. That’s not very many seconds.

Sophia knows a lot, but that does not mean she understands much of anything at all.

She’s quiet while she’s propped on the phone stand, watching the rest of them lounge in the RV. There’s a shape to the interior that wasn’t there before—where it had been pristine when they had first gotten it, now it’s littered with crumbs and instant-food packaging despite Makoto’s half-hearted attempts at scolding them for it. Empty surfaces are filled with knick-knacks, stuffies and a plastic ramen bowl rattling gently along with the RV.

There’s a rare lull amongst them, a moment of quiet. Most of them were napping away the road, gently snoring and bodies jostling whenever a pothole hits, oblivious to the scenery that passes by. Only the soft tunes of pop music from the front and the hum of the engine broke the quiet.

Other than Makoto, there were only two people awake: Akira, scribbling in his journal, and Ryuji, watching him do it. They sat across from each other in the booth, with Ryuji’s chin propped against his hand.

Probability and pinpoint accuracy is what she excels at, and being able to apply them to her friends excites her. Not to mention, she hasn’t been wrong yet.

Idly, she runs the numbers—according to the data she’s collected from spending time with them, the silence will be broken by Ryuji within approximately two minutes. Pulling up a time from within Akira’s phone, she waits eagerly.

A minute passes, and then another. And another. Akira is still scribbling in his neat penmanship and Ryuji is still watching him doing it, unspeaking.

Frowning, she double-checks her calculations. No errors that she can see. It seems that he simply does not want to speak. This is surprising, and very unlike him. He is not usually this quiet. In the Metaverse, he is by far the loudest of them; calling on his Persona’s name can often leave her own ears ringing.

The real world does not stray from that data. His voice is clear in crowded areas, helpful in guiding their big group throughout bustling cities. He is often shushed by the girls when they are trying to sleep at night—Futaba even goes as far as to kick the ceiling from her bunk bed.

The data is strong and sure. There should not be a reason that she should be wrong in this assumption unless there’s a confounding variable that she had missed.

Akira looks up and catches his eye. “Am I boring you?” he asks quietly.

Ryuji shakes his head, grinning. “Couldn’t be happier,” he whispers back.

Sophia’s about to ask when Makoto cuts her off.

“Wake up everyone. We’re here.”

—

“Okay,” Akira calls. His voice isn’t raised, despite the crowded street of downtown Sendai, but they all straighten up. “We’re probably not going to spend too much time here, especially once we take over the Jail. Grab what you need now—snacks for the trip. Shopping. Souvenirs. Frozen pineapple. Any questions?” Yusuke raises his hand. “Yes, I’ll pay for you.” The hand falls back down, relieved.

“Cool. How about we meet back here…” he squints at the large clock hanging on the wall, hand blocking out the blaring sun. “In an hour?”

A chorus of agreements rolls through them as they rush out, excited to explore a new city. “Good speech,” Sophia pipes up from his hand. “Do you do them often?”

“I try not to,” he yawns. His thick black hair is even more unruly than usual, glasses barely hiding the light blue that’s beginning to form underneath his eyes. “Most of the time, they can handle themselves fine. All they need is a schedule and some rules to work with.”

When she doesn’t answer, Akira brings his phone up. “What? Did I say something?”

“It’s because she’s worried about you, you moron,” a disgruntled voice says.

Akira’s gaze flickers towards it. “You’re still here?”

“Of course I am,” Ryuji says. “You really think I’d leave without saying goodbye? Glad I didn’t either, cause you look like shit.”

“Thanks.”

“Still pretty, though. No worries about that part.” He shoves his hand deep in his pocket, stray yen clinking against each other as he rummages. After a moment, he throws something at Akira. “Catch.”

He plucks it out from the air with ease. “Car keys?” he asks, surprised.

“Grabbed them from Makoto before she ran off for stationery shopping.” Ryuji reaches forward, gently turning Akira’s head this way and that, frowning. “I told you to quit staying up so late. You’re exhausted.”

“I am not.”

“He is,” Sophia refutes. “Last night, he had approximately four hours of sleep, with only four minutes of that being REM sleep.”

“I told you. She’s even bringing up computer stuff now.”

“I think you are thinking about RAM, Ryuji.”

“Whatever,” he shakes his head. “Look, just head to the RV, get some shut-eye. You can finally sleep in a proper bed that isn’t an overheating tent with three sweaty dudes and a cat. Oh, and trade phones with me.”

He hands it over without hesitation, sliding Ryuji’s phone into his own pocket. “Why?”

“You have the grocery list in here, yeah? Not to mention, I don’t want Sophia getting bored while you nap it up.” He looks down at her. “Hi, by the way.”

“Hi!”

Akira still doesn’t seem convinced. “But I promised Yusuke—”

“Who’s with Ann now, shopping like they’d die if they didn’t get the perfect skirt to fit her next shoot,” he says, uncompromising. “Chill. It’s fine. We’ll survive an hour without Joker keeping an eye on us.”

They stare each other down for a long moment with Sophia watching. She does not need to run the numbers on this one; Akira will not allow himself to go back to the RV.

To her surprise, he relents. “Twenty minutes.”

Ryuji scoffs. “We’ll see about that. You suck at waking up.”

“Shut up.” And then, quieter, “Thank you.”

“You know I got your back.”

He yawns once more, slowly walking back to their car. “Sophia, please make sure that when he gets the Pocky to get the strawberry one. Futaba won’t eat anything else. And also that Haru wanted doilies to make the place look nicer. White, if you can find them.”

“Roger that,” she replies, distracted. How is she wrong again? This is troubling.

“My hoodie’s in my bag if you get cold!” Ryuji calls out. Akira throws him a thumbs up without looking back. “Jeez, that guy. He’s gonna run himself to the ground before he’s thirty, I swear. Like some geezer with a bad back but with really good hairline or something.”

An old man with a thick head of hair shoots him a glare as he passes by them. Ryuji laughs, high-pitched. “Yikes, that was awkward. Let’s get out of here, we need to hit up the grocery store before they run out of carrots.”

Sophia doesn’t answer, too deep in her thoughts and running endless calculations.

—

It’s impossible for her to get a headache, but her code is trying its best to give her one.

Two mistakes now. That isn’t allowed to happen. She’s lucky that they were both relatively small errors, but it can easily become a bigger problem. What can she do?

Luckily, that had a very simple answer.

“Ryuji?”

“Hmm?” He peels his eyes away from scrutinizing the oranges in his hands, the wires from his earphones swaying when he does. After one too many strange looks when he talks to nothing, it was just better to act like he was on a phone call. “Yeah?”

“I have a question.”

“What am I, a teacher?” he snorts. “If you got a question, go ahead. Friends can do that.”

That’s right. They’re friends, and friends have trust in one another. Sophia jotted that down as lesson number forty-eight, thirteen days ago.

“Okay,” she says. Questions float around her, and she picks the one that’s giving her the most stress. “If I was not as useful as you think I am, would we still remain friends?”

The orange tumbles out of his grip, and he rushes to catch it before it hits the ground. “Wha—!” he stutters out. “Duh! Obviously! What the—where the hell did that come from? Did we do something to think that we’d just ditch you like that?” he lifts the phone so that she was eye-level with him. “Be honest,” he says seriously, quickly. “Did I say something to hurt your feelings? I do that sometimes, and I’m working on it, and I know that’s no excuse—”

“You did not say anything to hurt my feelings,” she says before he spirals even further. “In fact, I do not have feelings for you to hurt.”

Relief blooms on his expression, and he sags his body against the fruit display. “Okay, good. Good. Thought I was gonna get a heart attack. I’d be pissed at myself if I did, and I just know Akira would give me so much shit.” He sighs, ridding himself of panic before giving him her full attention. “So what’s up?

“Sir…” an employee shuffles towards them, hands shaking knees knocking against each other. He is afraid, she notes, but of what? “I’m sorry, but it’s against store policy to lean on the product. Please try to understand.”

“Oh, shoot!” Ryuji exclaims, straightening up. “Sorry, man. I didn’t even realize. I think I squished an orange, but I’ll buy it so your boss doesn’t give you hell for that one.”

The employee blinks. “You would?” he says, shocked. “That would be great, actually. Thank you so much!”

“Don’t sweat it,” he waves it off. Tugging the shopping cart, he places Sophia where they’d normally put babies. “Hope he doesn’t get in trouble. I feel kinda bad.”

She thinks for a moment. “Ryuji, why was that man afraid?”

Swiftly, red rushes to his cheeks. “That obvious? Aw, man.”

“I don’t know if it was obvious, but all the signs were there,” she says, watching as he ducks his head, embarrassed. “What is happening? I do not understand.”

“It’s just—” his eyes shift sideways, meeting the eye of a young girl. Immediately, she directs her gaze downwards. “I look really scary to people.”

“You do?” It isn’t in her program to doubt, but she is rather skeptical. During the entire trip, he has been nothing but kind to her. Yes, there are times when he has arguments with others in the group, but more often than not it’s him that’s being teased rather than the other way around. “Why? You aren’t even that tall.”

“Ouch?”

“I’m just saying that you are not scary to me, so I don’t really understand why other people would be.”

He sighs, picking up a box of miso unseeingly. “It’s a combination of a lot of things. My hair’s bleached, and people usually see that as like, punk or whatever. My posture sucks and my voice is loud.” Shrugging, he throws it in the cart. “It doesn’t really bug me though. At least that means strangers usually don’t bother the group, cause they think I’ll kick their ass.”

“And would you?” Sophia crosses off miso. Only bandages are left on the list, but the cart is filled with snacks, sodas, and a small cactus. “‘Kick their ass?’”

“No way. If I did, my mom would kick my ass, and I can’t pull that shit twice in a lifetime.” Pushing the cart, they slowly meander through the aisles, occasionally looking at what’s on sale. Ryuji tosses in rainbow marshmallows, and after a moment, reluctantly puts it back.

“But you know,” he says eventually. “If someone was bothering the group, it’s not as if I’d just let it happen.”

She considers his answer. “You are tough,” she concludes. “But not scary.”

“Uh, yes,” he says, unsure. And then, with more conviction, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Got it. ‘Ryuji is tough, but other people are terrified of him.’ I will make a note of that.” He looks like he wants to say something, but she keeps going. “Synonyms for ‘tough’: robust, stalwart, and strong. Would you say that’s accurate?”

He laughs, disbelieving. “No idea what the first two meant, but the third one isn’t right.”

“Why not? You can fight Shadows. Your muscle ratio is high. One time, when Futaba couldn’t unscrew her water bottle, you did it with no problem.”

“Because, Sophia,” Ryuji picks up gummy worms, and turns to her with pleading eyes. When she shakes her head, he puts it back on the shelf with a grimace. “Strength isn’t always about muscles and who can kill what. It’s more than that.”

It seems as though he doesn’t want to speak about this anymore, but the topic is too interesting to stop here. “Explain, please.”

“It’s...it’s like mental strength,” he says begrudgingly. “Like if someone failed an exam they studied real hard for, mental strength would help them get through a tough situation like that. Like Akira.”

“Akira has high mental strength?”

“Oh, the highest out of all of us without a doubt. The world could explode and he’d be all—” Ryuji lowers his voice by an octave. “��Here’s what we can do,’ and then fix it somehow. That’s just the kind of guy he is. All plans and no fear.”

All plans and no fear is a good way of describing Joker. “And you aren’t like that?”

“No way. Have you ever seen me have a plan in my life? I’m more of an ‘act before I can talk myself out of it’ person. Usually works out fine in the end. Besides, he does it enough for the both of us.” His eyes light up. “Do you think if I get the panda bandages, it would work better in the Metaverse? Cause of the brain stuff?”

“I think so, as long as it makes people think it works better.”

“Great.” Ryuji tosses it in with the rest. “And I think we got everything! Let’s head out. If we’re lucky, we can grab some ice cream before we meet up with the rest of them.”

“Good job! But you may want to consider removing the orange soda. Makoto is already unhappy with how much junk food you are always eating.”

“Fine. I’m keeping the cactus though.”

It was only when they’re all sleeping back in the RV when she realizes that she never got to ask him her actual question. Actually, she ended up with even more questions than when she began.

Maybe she’ll have better luck asking Akira instead.

—

They, or rather Akira, have their knees buried in a patch of grass in the middle of Sapporo with a small pile of four-leaf clovers by his ankles when she decides it would be appropriate to ask him.

“Akira, can I ask—” she pauses, and tries again. “I have a question.”

His face is so close to the ground that even the dirt would realize that his glasses don’t have prescription, and people are shooting him worried looks that he completely ignores. “Shoot.”

“Actually, I have many questions, and I’m hoping you’ll answer all of them as honestly as you can in order to have the most accurate data possible.”

“Research?”

More often than not, Akira has been giving her information about the world that she does not have access to. Slang terms that Futaba yells out in frustration, Ann’s tendency to jump from one topic to the next with little regard to who she’s talking to. It’s all confusing to Sophia, so she makes sure to memorize all of these instances and bring it to him for clarification.

“Sort of,” she says. “Some of my predictions have been off lately, and I am trying to figure out why.”

“Sure. Oh, another one.” Gently, he plucks it from the soil and gently places it with the others. “For Haru. Apparently, she’s really struggling with economics, so hopefully this helps her out next semester.”

“How many more?”

“Four,” he replies. “Yusuke, Sojiro, Akane, and Ryuji.”

She frowns. “Ryuji already has one.”

“He’s going to need more than one.” Akira turns to her, distressed. “Entrance exams are coming up.”

“Oh.”

“Yup,” he turns back to his task. “Anyway, you had a question?”

“Right,” she says, clearing her throat: a sign of taking a more serious tone. “Why are you scared of Ryuji?”

Akira freezes. Sophia waits patiently. But after a moment, then two, then five, there is still no reaction from him. And then slowly, he faces her with a blank expression.

She has not known Kurusu Akira for very long—only a few weeks in fact. But in that time, she feels that she has come to learn a lot about him. For instance, he does not like pears. He also finds grocery shopping relaxing, and he would die for his friends. Another thing she has learned from him is that he is very quiet; even in the Metaverse, amidst the explosions and gunshots, he does not yell. It is not as if he has nothing to say, but rather he would rather express himself through gestures and the odd comment here and there. He is much happier to let the people around him carry the conversation for him.

Shock racks through her as he bursts out laughing. His shoulders move up and down as laughs pour out of him uncontrollably. “What—?” he tries, pushing his glasses atop his head. It’s almost hidden amongst his thick, black locks. “Did you seriously ask if I was afraid of Ryuji? Sakamoto Ryuji? Blond guy, helps out in the Metaverse? My best friend?”

“Um.” This was not what she was expecting, despite having no expectations to begin with. “Yes.”

He sighs, content. “I really have to thank you, Sophia.” Akira brings his glasses back to his nose, the corners of his mouth quirked up. “That was really good. Haven’t laughed that hard since Yusuke thought Italy was near Mexico.”

She tilts her head sideways. “I was not joking.”

“Yeah, I figured.” He sits up, crossing his legs over each other, giving her his full attention. “Tell me why you thought I was scared of him.” Even as he’s sobered up, he can’t quite finish the sentence without smiling.

“My predictions have been off lately,” she says, a wrinkle between her brows. “This is normal—predictions by their nature cannot always be right. However, I’ve noticed that they’re incorrect more often lately. I ran the data, and these errors are related to two things:” Sophia brings her hand to the screen so that he can see properly. “You and him, as a unit. Individually, there doesn’t seem to be any errors. It is specifically when you are being measured together that creates mistakes. My prognosis on everyone else in the group creates more stable and accurate results.”

Sophia twists her hair in her hands. “The only reason it would be wrong is because of a confounding variable. Maybe there’s something between the two of you that others do not have. So I thought that answer—”

“Was fear,” he finishes. There’s an odd tone in his voice that she doesn’t comprehend. His gray eyes, sharp but never unkind. “I see where you’re coming from. But, and I can swear on this fact—it isn’t fear. I am not, nor will I ever be, afraid of him.”

She deflates. Wrong again. “And he’s not afraid of you?” she asks, out of desperation than anything.

Akira thinks for a moment. “Do you remember when I was cooking, and Ryuji went in to smell the broth, and knocked the whole thing over and onto my suitcase?” She nods. She had taken many pictures of that moment. “He felt really guilty, but he wasn’t scared of my reaction. He was more scared that he had ruined my stuff. You know what I mean?”

“I think I do.”

He bops the top of his phone a few times, an odd resemblance of patting her head. “Cool.”

Sophia stares at the road past their garden of clovers. Cars speed forward, too quick for her to focus on what the driver looks like. It’s hot today, but she doesn’t feel it. She runs her data one more time. “Akira, do you love Ryuji?”

His hands do not pause. “I love all my friends,” he answers simply.

—

At the end of the day, it does not matter if her attempts at predicting the future are fruitless. If she is in fact humanity’s companion, her code makes sure of one thing above all else: to help humanity with any of their endeavors.

That’s a tall order, especially when there are 7,874,965,825 humans within that humanity at this moment. Sophia is only one being, and realism is etched into her. To make things simple, she gave herself a domain of discourse. A sample size. Narrowing what she can do, and who she can help. The entirety of humanity then, at least in Sophia’s mind, falls under the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

Sapporo is freezing. Frosty. Crisp. Chilly.

“Fucking cold!” Ryuji shivers, jogging around them in an effort to get warm. “I hate this, I hate this, I hate this.”

“Even with the space heaters on, it seems that the winter isn’t interested in going anywhere,” Makoto says. She’s standing uncomfortably close to Ann, trying to leech off of her inherent heat. Actually, she wasn’t the only one—Haru is also inching her way to her. “It should probably get better once we start moving. Good thing we won’t be here long.”

Yusuke nods, unperturbed. “Yes, this should be a quick run. We’re just here to collect a desire gone astray, yes?” It seems that the ice does little to bother him. “Oracle, can you find its location?” No response. “Oracle?”

He glances to the ground, sighing when he finds her on the ground, eyes closed and breathing deeply. “Wake up,” he says, nudging her with his boot. When she doesn’t move, Yusuke throws an exasperated look at Akira.

Reluctantly, he nods. “Yeah, yeah, I got her,” he says, summoning Queen Mab. Instantly, the temperature seems to rise, just a little bit. Scooping her up, Akira shakes her roughly like a particularly malicious sack of flour. “Wake up, your space heater’s here.”

“This may be a quick run,” Haru says. “But it doesn’t mean we should take this any less seriously. Someone’s desire got lost on its way back, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, that sounds—Mona, get off my leg—about right.” Ann squints her eyes along the horizon. “It’s far, right? If we start moving now, we can probably work off the frost on our skin.”

“Yeah, it’s about…” Futaba yawns as Akira sets her on her feet. “Twenty-minute walk? Ten-minute run, but unless you want me slipping and turning the ice red, we’re gonna want to slow down.”

Akira touches his mask. “Agi.” A wave of heat rushes over them, and she sighs, grateful for the respite. “Hopefully that helped a little. But it won’t last long, and we shouldn’t waste energy warming up. Quick recap—someone lost their desire, we’re here to make sure it gets back. Our top priority is getting that desire back as quick as possible. Questions?”

Sophia raises her hand.

“Yup?”

“Did you say top priority?”

“Yes, I did say top priority.”

“Understood!” she chirps, making a note in her head. It was hard to concentrate when she felt like her insides were freezing up.

Another hand shoots up.

“Noir?”

“I don’t have a question. I just think you’re doing a wonderful job.”

“Thank you, Noir. Always a pleasure.” He looks around, nodding. “Alright. If that’s it, then let’s do this thing.”

They all move ahead, wary of their footing. Sophia frowns as she scuttles forward, scared of being left behind. There is no room for error here. If she feels that she is not useful in the real world, then she can at least utilize her talents here. And the first step to doing that is to make sure she is doing two things:

1) Not slow

2) Won’t trip

After a while, she looks up and feels her eyes bulge. How did they get so far already? Sophia can hardly see them anymore, especially with the slight fog that’s beginning to emerge. She has to get there faster.

Failed step number one already. For once, she’s glad she wasn’t hardcoded with emotions, or else humiliation would be overwhelming. Quickening her pace, she’s determined to do this correctly. One foot, then the next. One foot, then the next. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left—

She slips.

With a gasp, she moves to twist her body so that it wasn’t her head that would take the impact, and closes her eyes shut.

Just before she slams into the ice, arms grab her torso, swinging her forward. “Whoa there, shorty!”

Ryuji uses the momentum to swing her onto his back, and she latches around her neck, bewildered. “You okay? Almost got knocked out before any Shadow got to us.”

“Yes,” she replies, breathless. “Thank you for saving me. That would have been bad.”

“No prob!” he marches onward as if he wasn’t carrying an entire human being on his back while treading through sleet.

“...You can settle me down if you’d like.”

“I would not like.” He grins, boots finding matte ice with ease. “I kinda love carrying you like this. Not like I can do this in the real world, can I? ‘Sides, Futaba would chew my head off if I tried it with her.”

“Have you?”

“Maybe.”

She laughs as they finally reconvene with the rest of them. When Akira turns to them, his expression softens with relief. “All good?”

“All good,” Ryuji says. “Nothing Sophie and I can’t handle.” He raises his fist at her, and she bumps it enthusiastically. Lesson twenty-three: never refuse a fist-bump. It’s one of her favorites.

“Stop, stop, stop, stop!” Futaba calls out from beside Ann, arms were linked as if they were strolling through a park, and not a Shadow-infested land. “I said stop!”

“We heard you the first time!” Morgana yowls. “Are we here?”

“We’re close. Kinda weird though.” She smacks the side of her goggles a few times impatiently. “Nothing’s showing up.”

“Lucky!” Ann whoops. “Let’s get this over with and get some gelato!”

Rounding the corner of an empty street, Yusuke points forward to a glowing heart, beating in time to its pulsing light. “That’s it, I take it?”

“I can get it.” Sophia pats Ryuji’s shoulder, and he lets her down. “That way, we can finish this as soon as possible.”

She runs forward, eager.

“Wait—!” Futaba cries out from behind her. “We’re getting ambushed!”

As she says it, footsteps surround them, the clanging of weapons and the grunts of Shadows appearing out of nowhere. She starts to run faster, terrified of slipping but pushes on anyway. She can do this.

“Shit,” Akira hisses. “Sophie, come back here!”

Sophia ignores him, the Desire almost in her reach when she feels it. A cold breeze, impossibly colder than the temperature before, almost seems to pierce through her skin. She did not need to turn around to know what it was—every cell in her body is screaming it for her.

A curse. A strong one that would have no problem wiping her out like fly on the RV’s windshield wiper.

Would she at least be able to save the Desire? Even if she ceases to exist? Would it be worth it then? It should be, since this is what she was made for.

Something solid shoves her from behind, and she gives out a yell before hitting the ground, hard.

“What…?” she mutters, disoriented. Somehow, she isn’t dead, or even near death. Shaking her head, she grasps for the Desire in front of her before turning around.

Instantly, her heart stops. The Desire in her hand continues to pulse steadily as she stares down at Ryuji, collapsed on the ground.

“Skull?” she whispers. Leaning down, she can still hear his breathing, though it’s faint. Her hand reaches out, before she remembers. Top priority. The Desire needs to get to Joker first.

The ground begins to rumble, and Sophia looks up in time to see an arch of glowing white explode. Every Shadow is eviscerated, their ashes scattering violently at the aftershock of wind that follows from the impact. Concrete cracks, snow blows away. Without a doubt, it’s an attack from a Persona user, but she has no idea who it came from.

As the dust settles, stray bits of ice falling from the sky like hail, Akira shoots out from the fog. He’s moving faster than she’s ever seen him, and there’s a desperation to his movements that throws her off-guard. Maybe he didn’t see yet? Sophia steps forward.

“Joker!” she calls out when he gets closer, thrusting her hand forward. “I got the Desire!”

He rushes past her without a blink.

Akira skids to his knees. “Ryuji!” When there’s no answer, he pulls Ryuji to his knees, resting his head on his lap. Akira presses his fingers against the pulse on his neck, concentrating intensely. Then he grits his teeth. “I can work with this.”

More footsteps. Familiar ones. “Dammit, Joker!” Morgana says. “You can’t just throw around attacks like that, especially with such weak enemies. You know how draining that spell is.”

He ignores him. Akira removes Ryuji’s mask with great care, setting it aside, before touching his own. “Aid me, Sarasvati.”

“Joker?” she tries.

A floating woman donned in green with a delicate instrument in her long fingertips appeared from the fibers of his mask, her expression kind and tender.

“Joker.”

Healing power flows through his hands, so potent that it glows green. Sweat pours from his brow, and his wrist begins to tremble with effort.

“Joker!”

“What, Sophie?” he rounds on her, gray eyes intense.

“I got the Desire!” she announces triumphantly.

A beat passes. And then another. It was as if there was never even a deafening battle not one minute prior.

When Akira finally speaks, his voice is low. “Panther, take Sophie away please.”

Her breathing stops. She could not inhale the air even if it was demanded of her. Akira turns back to Ryuji, but Sophia’s eyes stuck to him—like she was hypnotized, cemented to the back of his head, unable to look away. Every inch of her body is numb, but none of it has anything to do with the cold.

Ann gently takes her hand, hot as iron against hers, and takes the Desire in the other. “Come on, Soph. Let’s go for a walk, huh?”

She lets herself be led away, blank and unseeing, a part of her staying wishing to stay behind to...what? She didn’t know. There’s so much she doesn’t know.

They keep walking, rounding street corners, quietly passing underneath frozen lamp posts. Sophia wasn’t sure where they were going, but she didn’t bother to ask. Eventually, they duck underneath a railing, Ann covering her head to make sure she doesn’t accidentally bang her skull against the metal. When they straight up, she blinks.

“A heater?”

“Yeah,” Ann sighs, flopping down on a toppled column as if it were a sofa. “I figured if we were going to talk, you might as well stop shivering during that time.” At her words, Sophia realizes how hard she was shaking. Ann pats the spot beside her. “Sit. Nothing a little girl talk can’t fix.” She does.

At her silence, Ann hums. “Cold, isn’t it? You guys haven’t stopped complaining since we got here. I’m super lucky that Carmen’s here to help me. Warms me up even better than this heater, if you can imagine that. Completely different from the real world, where we feel like we’re going to burst into flames any second.” She yawns. “But god, there’s no one in all of Japan that can run his mouth about the weather like Ryuji.” Sophia clenches her fist, but she keeps going, speaking almost wistfully. “I mean, he’s just so loud, you know? Like, how many times have we driven by cows on this trip, and he’d literally wake us all up just to show us? Not to mention, he eats up all the food and snores like crazy. God, one time I invited everyone over at my place, and he just slept in my bed when he got tired! Who does that?”

Ann sighs. “But man, I’ve never met someone more devoted to his friends than him. Sometimes, he’d even give ‘Kira a run for his money, the way he’d just drop everything and run to where trouble is. Day or night, that idiot would show up on your doorstep the minute you shoot him a text, wearing the most ridiculous pajamas you’ve ever seen,” she scoffs. “He started the Thieves with Akira, you know? All gung ho about justice and stuff, you should’ve seen it. And he had the spine to back it up, too.” She smiles, just a little. “Don’t tell him, but I think he’s really, really cool.”

A drop of water hits Sophia’s wrist. And another. And another, until her vision blurs and her chest is heaving. “I just—” she sobs without restraint. “I was just trying to help. I just want to be useful and do what I was made to do, and Akira said from before that this—this was the top priority, and I even made sure, so I asked, but when I finally got the Desire and I was so sure that I’d finally done something right...” the image of Akira’s cold gaze makes her flinch, hard. “He’s just so mad at me, Ann. And Ryuji—” she chokes on his name like a curse, her tongue tumbling over it as if it were getting caught in a lie. “He protected me from before, but he said he was tough, so I thought it was okay since the Desire was the top priority but he got hurt because of me.”

“I don’t even know what I’m feeling, or why I’m crying, or why you’re being so nice to me even though I know I did something bad! I just—” Sophia buries her face in her hands, muffling her scream. “I just don’t understand anything!”

Warm hands rub her back. “I know,” Ann says quietly. “You’re trying your best. We all get that, and we all think you’re doing an A-plus job.” She pauses. “Sophia, Ryuji didn’t take the hit for you because he was thinking about the Desire. He did it because he didn’t want to see you hurt.”

That makes Sophia peek up. “But that was the top priority, wasn’t it?”

“Uh-huh, but that wasn’t his heart’s top priority.” Ann pokes her temple. “That whole logic and calculation thing you have going on is good and stuff, but the thing about the human heart is that you can’t always choose why you do things, or how you react in certain situations. I bet you anything that he totally forgot that we were even looking for this thing when he pushed you,” she waves the beating heart in her hand, still glowing. “And that’s also why Akira got a little mad at you from before.”

She deflates. “He hates me,” she mumbles, feeling her insides churn uncomfortably.

“That boy doesn’t have the time in his schedule to hate anyone,” Ann reassures her. “He’s just...really, really terrified.”

“But why?” Sophia’s starting to despise that word. “He already knew that he was okay. Why would he still be worried?”

Ann looks up, thinking. “You really love and care about Ryuji, right?”

Love was still a foreign concept to her, but for once the answer came forth with ease. “Yes.”

“Take that feeling, that dense, little ball of love and adoration in your tiny body, and multiply that by about eighteen million. That’s probably about the range of what Akira feels about him.”

She quickly runs the numbers. “Whoa.”

“Yeah. Kinda scary, huh?”

It is scary. With numbers this high, she can only begin to imagine what it felt like for Akira to think that he might be seriously hurt, or even worse, dead. All because of Sophia.

“Hey now, I know that look!” Ann flicks her forehead. “I don’t want you to get all mopey about this. You said it yourself—he’s a tough guy. The toughest there is, but don’t tell him that. It’ll go straight to his empty head.”

She stands with exuberance, stretching. “Alright, I think we’re about done here. How we feeling? You ready to go back?”

No. Her heart speeds up at the thought of going back, her shoulders tensing in on itself, but somehow it would be worse to stay here. “I’m ready.”

“That’s what we like to hear!” Ann cheers. “No chickening out now, okay? You can do this.”

“I can do this.” Sophia repeats, and then, louder: “I can do this!

“Yay! And Sophie?” she looks up in time to see Ann giving her a warm look. “Just because you don’t understand something, doesn’t mean we love you any less. You are allowed to be confused and make mistakes. Do you understand that?”

Sophia smiles wide. “I understand.”

—

They were a block away from the rest of the group when Akira emerged from the fog. With his black attire and dark hair, he could have looked like a picturesque horror movie figure, but somehow his expression ruined that facade the moment she saw it.

“I’m going on ahead,” Ann says when Sophia stops in front of him. “Someone has to make sure Futaba doesn’t sleep on us again.”

“Thanks,” he answers. Then, to Sophia, “Hi.”

“Hi, Joker.” She’s been practicing her speech the entire way back, her points all lined up in her mind, all leading up to the big apology. “I—”

“Pause,” he cuts in, and she shrinks. Is he still mad? She can’t read his expression. He kneels in front of her, squinting, and it suddenly shifts to horror. “Did...did you cry? Did I make you cry?”

“No,” she says quickly, but he doesn’t believe her for even a minute. “Yes. Sorry.”

“Oh god, no, please don’t apologize. Shit,” he rubs the back of his neck, sighing. It’s guilt, she realizes with a shock. “I’m such an asshole. I can’t believe I let myself lash out like that. A thousand apologies won’t even be enough. I was scared out of my mind, but that doesn’t mean I can just treat you like that. I even sent you away, like you’re some sort of kid,” he winces. “I’m really sorry. Can you forgive me?”

She stares at him. “I was supposed to say that stuff.”

He looks taken aback by her words. “No? How could you have known that we would have been ambushed? Ugh, I’m so dumb. I shouldn’t have reacted like that.” Akira sends her a pointed look. “Though, you really shouldn’t split off from the group next time. Top priority means important, but above all else is your safety. Put that in your code.”

“I will,” she promises.

“Good. And the second priority is—” he reaches forward and engulfs her in a tight hug. “Is that you won’t ever, ever think that I’d hate you.”

She frowns. “How did you know?”

“A hunch.” Beat. “Also, Ann gave me a look.” He pulls back. “Are we still friends?”

Relief washes into her, crashing like a wave. “Of course,” she says, before hesitating. “Is…?”

“Yeah, he is.” Akira rolls his eyes, but there is no hiding the grin that takes over him. “A little too good, actually. He hasn’t stopped running around since I poured some energy back into him. I kind of think I overdid it, actually. Oh, and he’s excited to see you again.”

“He is?” she asks, hopeful.

“Absolutely. Asked about you the minute he came to.” Akira gets to his feet. “Shall we say hi?”

“Please.”

As they walk back, an epiphany takes over her. “Oh!” she exclaims, making Akira jump. “I get it now.”

“What’s up?”

“You love Ryuji.”

“That’s right,” he raises a brow.

She shakes her head. “You love Ryuji,” she insists. Even accounting for a margin of error, there’s simply no mistaking her results.

Akira stares at her for a long moment, before huffing out a laugh.

“Yeah, that’s right,” he says softly.

The moment Ryuji sees her, she sprints, throwing caution to the wind as she leaps into his arms. He catches her without hesitation. “Glad to see you’re safe, shorty.”

Sophia knows a lot of things, but there’s also a lot she doesn’t understand. But that’s fine. She’ll get there, and her friends will be waiting for her when she does.

[dabisrightnipple]

LIMERANCE

SUNA RINTAROU X READER

!!PLEASE DO NOT REPOST AND/OR ADD ONTO!!

Word Count: 6.8k

links

Li·mer·ance /hee-mer-annce/ noun The state of being infatuated with another person

a/n: All characters are aged up, college AU

Six Months. It’s been six months since that god-awful day. The day where your heart broke into a million pieces almost as if it were a glass vase being dropped from several stories. You still remember the way he looked at you. The way his face went from a sadistic smirk to wide-eyed with disbelief before his eyes relaxed and mouth curved into a smirk once more, a look that burned your heart with even the smallest glance.

'Baby what are you talking about? You know you can’t live without me, why would you do this to yourself?’   You still remember how the vibrations of his voice rang into your ears, waves of guilt flowing through your veins as you meet his deep green eyes.

You knew   he was manipulative, toxic, and just all-around a difficult person even though his flaws outweigh the good you still found yourself falling deeper and deeper into his little trap. You constantly found yourself getting lost in his touch again and again as if he's never harmed you, it's almost as if your brain forgot about all the shit he's done. You always ran back to him, your friends knew, Sunas’ teammates knew, and most of all Suna knew and he always took advantage of that.

You twitched as you felt an eraser hit the side of your head. You slowly look to your left seeing Kita giving you a cold stare.

“Pay attention.” he plainly said. You replied by nodding your head in acknowledgment as your eyes flickered back to the professor as he gave his closing statement before dismissing the class. You huffed out a sigh of relief as you shuffled your way out of the lecture hall, trying your best to avoid people since you weren’t exactly in the best mood.

Once you were outside you mindlessly walked to the small coffee shop located next to the campus library. Zoning out once again as you mindlessly stared out into nothing. Music flowing through your eardrums from your headphones as you walked along with the beat and to your dismay you were interrupted from your thoughts by none other than your ex himself, Suna.

You looked over at him and his friends longingly, regret filling your senses as you thought about all the volleyball games and parties you used to attend with them. You actually became quite good friends with the Miya twins, Aran and Sakusa. You admittedly missed hanging out with them but due to the unforeseen circumstances, you knew if you went anywhere near them you’d somehow end up back in Sunas bed.

Sighing once again, you adjusted your hair before looking straight ahead once again, focusing on getting to your destination. Little did you know, small, fox-like eyes were staring directly at you, soaking up your figure. He wasn’t done with you yet and he knew you weren’t either.

He tried his best, relentlessly using all the chances he could get to have you once again. He knew he was toxic but he didn't mind it. He secretly loved how hung up you were on him, it was as if he was a drug. Although he un-admittedly also thought of you as a drug, your warm features and soft-touch drove him crazy, and unbeknownst to you, you ‘breaking up with him only made him more addicted. It was hella toxic, even a 2nd grader could tell, but he just didn’t care and Suna knew that drove you over the edge.

You made your way across campus as you walked into the bustling coffee shop, the atmosphere softening at the sweet aroma of coffee. You relaxed as you quietly waited in line glancing around at all the other students studying, meeting with friends, or… on a date. You swiftly averted your eyes from the happy couple that sat in you and Sunas’ old spot, nevertheless being reminded of Suna again. Slowly peering back at the happy couple only to regret your decision…

It was a cold Sunday morning, you slowly stretched out your arms as you let out a little grunt of relief extending your weakened muscles. Before throwing your arms back onto your white silky sheets. It was nice, peaceful, quiet…

‘Ding’

You let out an obnoxious dissatisfied grunt at your phone interrupting your little tranquil moment, quickly picking up the phone without checking the caller ID.

“What?” venom dripped from your tongue as your perfect morning was now ruined.

“Wow baby, someone didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

“Oh- sorry, I just woke up.”

“I can tell sweetie~” Suna’s voice crept through the cellular device, his muffled voice thick with a hyogo accent as you paled slightly. “I’m going to the coffee house later to study for the upcoming midterms. Wanna come with?”

“Ughhhh,” You let out yet another dissatisfying groan, “Don’t remind me, but yea I’ll come. What time?”

“Eh, I don’t know, maybe around 4.” You looked at the clock reading the time '10:23 a.m.'

“Okay, I’ll meet you there in a bit. Bye, I love you.” You cooed, your once frustrated attitude now softening up. Although the warmth his voice gave you was comforting, Suna was being nice. Almost too nice…

You laid back down for a bit, dismissing the nagging thought by scrolling through Twitter, mentally preparing yourself for a fight that will probably break out between the two of you later on. You two always fought, but you also had a small feeling of hope that maybe, just maybe today would be a good day.

You looked up from your computer staring at Suna. Your eyes scanned over his features as you appreciated each little detail about him. Taking a small sip from your drink, your face softening at the wonderful feeling of the liquid rushing down your throat.

“Stop starting y/n, you're gonna distract me,” Suna whined, accentuating the last syllables of your name to be more dramatic.

“Ah, sorry I was just spacing out-”

"Mhm and I'm pregnant.” Suna dead-panned, looking at you with an eyebrow raised. “Y’know I'm not stupid y/n I can tell when a cutie, such as yourself likes what they see.” You started as Suna again, mouth hanging agape a bit. Mind racing with thoughts as you tried to figure out a smart-ass reply to the bastard.

Suna leaned over, arm traveling across the table as his large lanky hands brushed against your chin, closing your mouth. The cool metal from his rings nipped at your warm skin, causing you to twitch your head back in response.

“Baby, stop acting like this, do you really want me to get turned on right now. When I'm stressed and angry?” As much as you wouldn’t mind getting railed by him, you also had a final you needed to study for. You shook your head, watching as Suna retracted his arm and going back to type in whatever he was studying for. You took another elongated sip from your drink, letting out a sigh in content as you got back to typing in your notes.

“Next?” You heard the barista call out as you shook your head. You became self-aware of your surroundings once again before apologizing and placing your order. You apologized once more as you scurried off into a corner and waited for your name to be called.

After waiting for a good 10 minutes you received your order and shuffled your way through the crowded coffee house, trying your best to not bump into anybody. After exiting from the big glass doors you took a small sip of your drink. Your eyes glowering in delight as you continued to walk through campus, dodging students left and right.

Sighing in success you finally made it off-campus as you walked in the direction of your apartment. The climate started to drop along with the sun, the neon lights advertising various fast food restaurants flickered on.

Along the way you noticed a little ramen shop you and Suna used to frequent, you leisurely inhaled the air around you. Your lungs filling with the spicy, yet sweet aroma of the curry and ramen. Your mouth watered as you found your feet moving towards the entrance, walking into the small establishment, relishing the homey atmosphere as you made your way to the cash register. You ordered a mall takoyaki dish, delightfully watching as the employee prepared the dish in front of you. You said your thanks as you paid and made your way out of the little complex.

Sitting down on the closest curb you closed your eyes, basking in the soft moonlight as you munched on your salty snack. Sighing in content as you savored the chewiness as your esophagus warmed from the contact of the warm treat.

You opened your eyes, pupils being met with the neon glow of the Tokyo night lights before seeing blinding headlights shining down the street. Ears being met with the sound of Doja Cats’ song ' streets'   blaring on the radio as the car purred slowly through the street. Slowly coming to a complete stop right in front of you. The door forcefully swung open to reveal a tall brown-haired male, and before you could comprehend who it was-

“Hey, baby, happy six-month anniversary of ghosting me,” Suna grunted, voice deeper and harsher than what you had remembered. As you were deciphering what he meant, it hit you.

‘ This bitch’

“What do you mean by ghosting? I clearly broke up with you.” Your voice came out thick and laced with venom as you obnoxiously rolled your eyes.

A new wave of confidence washed over you. After all, you have been anticipating this moment for too long. The day Suna Rintarou will finally come crawling back to you. Sunas deep laugh reverberated through your ears as you peered up at him with a confused look, confidence now vaporing away as Suna’s tall body loomed over you.

“What are you talking about? You didn’t break up with me.” Suna’s eyes narrowed as the smirk on his lips grew, “Baby…” He whispered in a soft voice, which made your emotions come back. ' Shit, no this is exactly what he wants.’  

“Did you really think we broke up?” As if Suna’s voice couldn’t get any softer than it was, it was pure and sounded like he genuinely cared for you.

“I- I-”

“Hey, sweetie it’s okay,” You were weak, you knew you lost as soon as you stuttered but damn, him pulling the ' sweetie'  card really messed you up. “You’re just confused, here c’mon we’ll go to my place and talk, it’s cold outside.”

“No.”

“What did you just say to me?” It wasn’t even a split second and his voice dropped to a sound so putrid, you flinched in fear.

“I-I said no, okay? Now I’m going home please leave me alone.” You're requesting, trying your best to stand your ground against the chilling persona he gave off.

You closed your to-go box as you stood up, speed-walking away from Suna. You felt his eyes linger on your figure until you made a left, turning out of the alleyway and leaving his eyesight. A loud sigh of relief fled past your lips as you continued to stride your way back to your apartment. You checked the time seeing the digits read 8:42.

‘Damn I need to get home before the creeps come out’

You heard the loud roar of an engine behind you, you could tell whose engine that was from anywhere as you noticed the newfound shadow brewing in front of you from the headlights of said car.

HONK-

You jumped in surprise turning to your right as Suna pulled up next to you.

“Wha-”

“Get in the car.” You looked at him in disbelief, “NOW Y/N.” His voice rang through your ears, causing you to flinch in fear.

The tone of his voice struck a nerve, a nerve only he could hit. You felt as if a bullet had gone through your chest, mouth becoming dry as you shakily obeyed and opened the passenger door.

“Good girl, now sit still and look pretty, we’re gonna go home.” You kept quiet as he commanded you to do, looking out the window as you noticed he passed your apartment.

‘ oh, he meant his ‘home'

You looked down at your lap, anxiously fidgeting with the various rings cushioned on your fingers. Letting out a little displeased sigh as you got closer to his apartment, anxiety nipping at your skin causing goosebumps to trail down your arms. He always does this even before the so-called 'break-up' happened. pretending to not have any feelings unless situations like these occurred only when you two were alone.

“What’s wrong baby?” You let out a tiny hum, peering over at him, you noticed how pale veiny his hands were. You examined them more as you took in the features of the little gold and silver bands. Watching how the little skulls and roses engraved in them worked around his fingers.

“Why did you sigh like that? Are you not comfortable with me, have I been a bad boyfriend?”

“O-oh no, I just thought you were going to drop me off at my apartment.” You answered honestly, fearful for what will come next if you were to tell a lie. Voice coming out a bit snappy due to the sudden displeasement of running into your 'ex'

“Why don't you want to go to my apartment?”

“I just don’t want to be with you right now Suna-” Your head jerked forward as the brake pedal was slammed into the floor.

“Rin.”

“What the fu-”

“Rin. Y/n, that's my name, I don’t ever wanna hear ‘Suna’ come from your mouth again, ya got it?”

“No Suna-”

" Y/n...” His voice rolled off his tongue icy cold, words brittle as you heard the anger arise in his throat. “Are you reeling gonna treat your boyfriend like this?”

‘  Alright, this is the last straw…’

“Suna, I’m not your-”

SLAP.

The sound echoed off your cheek, a burning sensation swept across your face as you looked over at his deep fox-green eyes. Fear ran through your veins as the ‘fight or flight’ anticipation swept through you, making your legs shake in anticipation.

Your mouth hung slightly agape and before your brain could decide what to do your hand found itself on his face as well, slapping it across his left cheek. Astonishment was written all over Sunas face as he cleared his throat and slammed on the gas, this time your head flying back into the headrest. You stayed in that position thinking about the hell you were about to receive as soon as you exited the car.

Suna sped through the parking garage, dodging the oncoming cars before effortlessly sliding into an unoccupied parking space. Grabbing his phone and wallet he got out of the car, slamming his door as loud as he could in the process as he made his way over to your side of the car. Your head rested on the car seat, not moving a muscle for you were too scared as to what's gonna happen as soon as Suna closes the door to his apartment.

The door swung open, revealing Sunas grey sweatpants as he bent down, leaning over you and unplugging the seat belt. Your eyes were met with his toned arms as his calloused hand grabbed your forearm and yanked you out of the car.

Falling sideways out of the car, Suna gripped onto your side as he dragged you through the parking garage and into the hallways of the apartment complex before coming to an abrupt stop in front of his door. You knew he was going to be ruthless tonight, which excited you, in a way, but for the most part, you were not prepared for the hell you were about to experience.

Still, not a single word was spoken between the two of you, for the tension was immensely intimidating. You tried your best to not make eye contact as Sunas’ eyes tried desperately just as he stares into yours. You felt the cold metal against the skin on your neck as it was being yanked to look in his direction.

“You ready?” Suna warned, voice still as brittle as glass, but sharp enough to kill. You didn't reply though, only giving him a needing look saying your body consented, but your head said no. Even if you were to say no Suna still would have drawn you in somehow, so what's the point in denying it.

You knew you wanted him to rail you, so why not take advantage of the moment, Suna always took advantage of you, when you guys were still together so why waste the free invite. The door swung open as you were pulled into the cold atmosphere of Suna's apartment, hairs rising on your limbs as a small shiver ran down your spine.

“Su-Rin, I-”

“Good girl, you finally learned how to say your own boyfriend's name.” Suna mused, half-lidded eyes annoyingly peering down at you.

His signature smirk was painted over his face as he pushed you against the wall placing a harsh kiss on your tender lips. You missed this, this feeling that made your head all warm and fuzzy as if you were drunk on lust. You loved it though, so you always came crawling back to him.

Although it was Suna who made the first move, you felt like the one who was pleading for the slightest touch. The kiss drew on, Suna feeling up your body as your shaky hands came to wrap around his neck and playing with the hairs on the back of his neck. You tilted your head, deepening the kiss as you tried to provide the same dominant lust as Suna granted you. However, to no avail, you didn't last as you soon became overpowered.

The kiss became sloppier and sloppier as you kept on falling deeper into lusts' hands. You Loved every second of the tension wafting through the air and Suna knew that... That's when it clicked in your head, he was taking advantage of the fact you were falling head-first into his drug-like trap. You silently cursed to yourself as you waited for the right opening before shoving the full-sized man off of you. Luckily he was also deep into the kiss, completely off-guard as he stumbled back a little.

“What the fuck was that for?" You jumped at the harsh words that spewed from his tongue, gravelly voice scratching at your heart.

“I have a boyfriend Rin! I can’t be doing this with you, I-I’m just gonna go home.” Obviously, that was a lie, Suna could tell even before it escaped your mouth. To your dismay though, Suna decided to play along with your little fib.

His rough hands traveled up your chest and latched onto your neck, letting out a deadly chuckle in the process he pressed the pads of his fingertips harder on the sides of your neck. You let out a gasp as your hands rose up and grabbed onto his lofty wrist out of instinct, slowly peering up at him with widened doe eyes.

“What are you talking about Y/n? I'm your boyfriend. Unless... Y/n are you cheating on me?”

“Yea, I guess I am cheating.” You snarkily replied, smirking back up at him. You could tell he was surprised a bit at your newfound confidence, after all the last time he saw you six months ago you submitted to everything he said without hesitation, but you’ve changed since then. “You just couldn’t really fit my needs Suna, what else was I supposed to do?” Your smirk extended across your cheeks as you slowly forgot about the cold hands tightening around your neck.

You were not going to let him win.

“What did you just call me-”

“I said ‘Suna’ and you’re gonna like it.” And there it was again, a slap echoed through the hollow apartment, the metal rings searing at your cheek. Your smile grew with anticipation as you returned the favor by slapping back once again but harder.

The sound that came from your hand colliding with his cheek was awfully louder, although due to your lack of jewelry the pain was less excruciating for him as his right cheek started to turn a light shade of red.

Now, that was the last straw for Suna. As much as he did enjoy seeing you try to be dominant for a minute, his mind was clouded over with the memories of you begging for him to fuck you. With the lust taking over all his senses he forcefully grabbed your hips, swinging you over his shoulder as he leisurely made his way across the kitchen into his room.

Suna, being the sadist he is, decided to slap your ass a few times, He enjoyed how they jiggled against his cheeks as he let out a little sigh of content, his face nuzzling into the side of your ass. Your face became boiling hot from embarrassment, the past confidence slowly slipping away as warmth pooled in your stomach, eagerly awaiting what Suna’s next moves would be.

You felt butterflies blossom in your stomach as you were tossed onto Sunas queen-sized bed. The force of your body hitting the mattress caused you to bounce a few times before looking up with hungry eyes only to be met with his clothed back as the sound of jewelry clashing together filled your eardrums.

Slowly, Suna pulled off his shirt discarding it onto the floor as he steadily turned around. You were now fully turned on as your lust-clouded eyes met with his toned torso, you were eyeing him up and down, soaking up the way his muscles tightened against each other as the memories from your previous sessions filled your head making your cunt boil with anguish.

“Whatcha thinkin' about sweet cheeks?” Ah, it's been too long since you’ve heard that nickname. Suna had given you that nickname due to the deep appreciation he had for your ass, he was always slapping or nuzzling against it. The gratitude he had for it evolved into the nickname 'sweet cheeks'. Although it wasn't meant in a sexual name, the way it fell from his tongue never failed to make you horny.

“You.”

“Mmmm, and what about that boyfriend of yours?” His voice dripped with sarcasm, a mischievous smile grazing over his features as his eyes narrowed down. You knew that face, You had seen it too many times to even count. He was enjoying your little lie too much and although you made it up to get away from him, as ironic as it is you feel as if that little lie just made everything even more fervent.

“I-its fine as long as he doesn’t find out.” your voice came out small and breathy as the bed dipped between your legs watching as Suna crawled up the bed inching closer to your core as if he were a fox hunting down its prey.

“Mmm I think we should record a little video for him, I’m sure he’d love it!”

“N-no it’s fine I don’t think he’s into that- that-” Before you could even finish Suna’s slender fingers made their way into your panties, swiping through your folds before dipping one singular finger into your wet aching hole.

“Hmm~ what was that sweet cheeks?”

“I- he-.” You tried to reiterate your sentence but failed miserably as he curled his finger upwards hitting just the right spot.

“That's what I thought.” His voice dropped from the sweet sarcastic tone of a fox to one of a wolf, deep-pitched and followed with a gravelly groan reverberating from the back of his throat. And just like that, you let out your first moan of the night as his index finger climbed up your slit and teasingly flicked your pearl causing your hips to buck.

“I know you want me instead of that   stupid   ‘boyfriend’ of yours.”

“N-no-ahh-” He inserted his middle finger along with his index and curled up, pushing against your cervix as you denied his statement.

“Wanna try that again?” He mused, glancing down at your pathetic state. His ego inflated tenfold knowing he could make you this messed up over a few strokes and teases. You stayed silent, words pacing through your head yet nothing could come out.

You wanted to say ‘no’ again, but that would only result in a punishment you were not ready for, you also had the option to just submit yourself to him, but both you and Suna know your bratty ego couldn't be tamed that easily.

“Ah, I see how it is.” Suna stopped the motions with his fingers as he slowly and sensually pulled his finger out of you.

He fixed your underwear and sat up on the bed and grabbing his phone before scrolling through social media. You just laid there in silence as you watched his petty behavior play out before you. ‘  This bitch’   You looked down at his raging boner.

'he has to take care of that so obviously, he’ll come back to play with you.'  

A few minutes passed as you both laid there in silence, Suna now scrolling through Twitter looking at the latest volleyball news. He seemed unbothered, but you on the other hand were the complete opposite. Your body was already too excited, constantly twitching and writhing while trying to get some sort of pleasure. You were so close to just masturbating right in front of him but your ego wouldn’t let you do that. ’  God, I hate myself’

“Hey, Rin.” Suna completely ignored you, eyes glued to his phone as he continued to scroll. “Fuck me please.” He still ignored you, acting as if you never even existed.

“Rin?” You waited a few more seconds, hoping some sound would come out of his mouth. “Fine, I guess I’ll just go have my boyfriend take care of this for me.” You rolled your eyes, shifting your weight, getting ready to jump off the bed.

Suna’s calloused hands grabbed your body and flipped you over onto your stomach. Your head digging into the pillows as Suna took in the view of your ass being on full display.

His hand swiftly rising above his head before slamming it down onto your ass, using the full force he would apply during a jump float serve. The clashing of his skin upon yours could be heard from miles away as the reverberation sang through your ears. The outer whites of your eyes tinted red as tears threatened to spew from your eyes as the nerve endings on your skin began to process the immense amount of pain the man has just bestowed upon you. The outer layer of your skin writhed with delight and irritation as it began to change reddened color, with a slight purple tint.

“Don’t you ever speak to me like that again, you got it?” Voice coming out deep and monotone, he didn’t even sound mad yet his recent actions opposed that, which made it all the more terrifying. You let out a small whimper in reply, still recovering from the excruciating pain he had just inflicted upon you.

“Do you understand Y/n?” Suna asked again, he wanted a clear yes or no answer.

“Y-yes.” You whispered out faintly. Voice coming out as brittle as glass, almost as if you were about to break. You became limp as the red handprint started to swell on your ass, Suna placed his hand over it and began kneading your cheeks between his fingers. Which only hurting you more in the process by pressing down on the newly formed bruise.

“Good girl. Now turn over and look at me.” You obeyed him not offering a word to oppose him, for you were too scared of what he was capable of. Leaning over, you sat up immediately wincing when your butt held the weight of your body as you looked up to meet Sunas face inches from yours.

“You understand the rules now baby? Every time you wanna act like that you're gonna get a nice hard slap to your ass and don’t make me have to pull out the belt. I wouldn’t want to break you this early into the night.” Suna cooed as his rough hands gently cradled your cheeks.

Gripping your jaw, he continued to pull your squished lips toward his. His tongue sticking out to meet yours as your tongues danced together. Sunas’ overpowering yours easily; it was quite pathetic really, how easily you gave into the man in front of you.

Sunas hands drifted down your body, feeling up every inch of your soft and subtle skin. Making sure to get a quick feel of your nipples before sliding his hands down to meet your ass as he slowly kneaded the soft mounds of flesh between his calloused fingers. The sound of small moans and whimpers could be heard throughout the apartment as Sunas mouth continued to attack yours.

His body became too much to handle as you slowly leaned back into the soft pillows. Suna pulled away to look at your messed-up state with his casual poker-face, making sure to not show any emotions of interest as to keep you on edge.

Although he failed to cover up the little twinkle in his eye. It lasted for not even a second, indicating that he had an idea. His hand slowly slid back up your body before meeting your jaw once again. Confused, you furrowed your eyebrows as his thumb and index finger squeezed your cheeks together once again. You gladly accepted his movements, hoping for another kiss, yet you were only met with a mouthful of saliva from your 'ex'.

You twitched at the now, nostalgic substance as your eyes fluttered open, making direct contact with Saunas fox-green eyes as you seductively swallowed his saliva. Sunas tongue ran up your throat before kissing you on your red puffed-out lips, hand coming up to wipe off the excess saliva gathering at the side of your mouth. Pulling off your shirt, Suna dragged his tongue down your body as his other hand caressed your back, unclasping your bra as it fell down your chest along with a small green malachite crystal.

“Why the fuck is there a rock in your bra?” Suna grabbed the malachite, examining it in between his fingers giving you a ‘what the fuck?’ look.

“I-I can explain-”

“Just shut the fuck up, your such a nerd.” Suna bit back, discarding the crystal by tossing it in a corner of the darkened room. Your stomach was filled with butterflies at the new nickname, your degradation kink kicking in as you whimpered for more.

Suna grunted in response as his lips placed soft kisses down your torso, littering little peppered kisses around before placing a long wet sloppy kiss in another. This little pattern continued as he slowly reached past your lacey panties, edging you by slowly nipping at your panties only for his mouth to make contact with your round thighs instead. A small whine escaped your throat as the rising anticipation of his mouth on your clit painstakingly went away.

Bucking your hips in response to his neglect, his teeth made contact with your skin. Taking a nip from the spongy flesh and placing his hand over your waist, keeping a firm hold so you know to not cross the boundaries. Whimpering once more as his soft kisses turned into little nips as punishment for your tiny outburst. Returning the slight abuse to the other thigh, he slowly rose up to your face again. He placed a few chaste kisses on your swollen lips, distracting you while he sneakily slipped off your panties.

Your body quaked in response to his cold fingers entering your clit, dipping into your core to catch your natural lube as he smeared it around your gaping lips. He slowly circled his fingers around your sensitive pearl; stirring you up as your eyes rolled to the back of your head from the pleasure of gaining the awaited contact.

Lowering himself down, Suna placed suggestive kisses down your chest, stomach, hips until he achingly stoped at your swollen folds. Placing his tongue onto your sopping wet core before sliding his tongue up your folds, taking in the intoxicating smell of your sex.

Steadily, he took one last erotic lick before wrapping his lips around your swollen pearl. Licking and sucking the steamy pink flesh as little mewls of affection escaped your throat, legs twitching as Sunas tongue swept across your bud in just the right area.

Suna took notice of your little convulse as he continued to swipe his tongue around in the same pattern; sucking even harder and taking in all your juices. Your twitching legs turned into violent shakes, hands gripping at the soft black cotton sheet below you as your moans grew louder and louder.

Your body had a mind of its own as your hips violently thrust towards Sunas mouth, earning you a loud slap to the thigh. You let out a small whine due to the sudden pain and the loss of contact as Suna slowly lifted his head. You looked down seeing his head still slightly in between your legs, chin dripping with your juices.

“Do that again and see what happens.” His voice was low and rough as a deep grunt reverberated off the back of his throat. You happened to be in a bratty mood, due to him giving you the lack of pleasure you desired.

“Sorry, Rin.” You mumbled, putting up a submissive front as you awaited him to dig his face back into your throbbing cunt.

“Good slut.” His head dives back into your folds. You know through the selfish and rough facade Suna puts up, he secretly loves giving you head but he would never admit that. As soon as you had Suna in your trap your bratty side took over as your thighs squeezed over Sunas head. You felt his brows furrowed as he continuously licked over your cunny in the pattern you liked, as his hands raked at the outer sides of your thighs.

Fingers digging into your sweet skin as he did his best to pry your considerably large thighs away in order to get a good breath of air. You bucked your hips up once again at the pleasing release as you were rising to your climax, Suna moving his tongue faster and faster in hopes to be able to breathe sooner. You let out a loud gasp as you squirted into Sunas mouth which he wishfully drank up.

You finally released the chokehold you had on Suna, his head rising up quickly in order to fill his lungs with fresh air. As you regained a bit of your composure you looked at Suna, noticing the layer of sweat that coated his perfect body. Watching as his muscles writhed against each other as his body glistened underneath the soft moonlight glow. While you were admiring his intoxicating physic you failed to notice the hands that slither up your body; tightening their hold on your neck as rough fingers dug into your swollen flesh.

“Turn around.” Suna slowly demanded his voice sending tingles up your back. Although you wanted to listen to him, the brat in you said otherwise.

“No-” Before you could finish sounding out the ‘o’; Suna slapped your cheeks once again.

Awaiting your new response after the harsh interaction. You didn’t let a squeak escape as you flipped yourself over, ass being fully exposed to Sunas’ watchful gaze. Your ass was met with a few small slaps before his dominant hand came raining down onto your right ass cheek. A loud sound erupted from the contact his hand made onto your burning ass. Your hand instinctively came up to shield yourself from more pain only to be grabbed by Sunas larger hand. He slowly guided your hands to meet on top of your head. He pinned them down onto the bed as he continued slapping your ass.

“Yea? You like being a little brat? You just wanna get slapped by me, you little masochist.” Suna taunted. You didn’t reply, as you were being suffocated by the sheets to even think of a sentence to reply with. You felt Sunas hand slowly let go of your hand, grabbing onto your hair instead and pulling your head up, causing you to hiss in pleasure and pain from the harsh touch.

“You’re not gonna answer me? Hah, where’d all that confidence go, sweet cheeks?” He taunted, slapping your ass once more. Although it wasn’t his hand that was slapping around your ass. This time it was his dick. You could feel the veins and ridges from each slap as you got more and more impatient by the minute.

Sticking your ass up even further, you brought your hands down once more to spread your ass open welcoming Sunas large cock inside of you.

“P-please-” That's all he needed. One small ‘yes’ as he rammed into you, touching your cervix as you instinctively arched your back for better access. You let out a loud mewl as your pussy clenched around his dick, trying to re-adjust for his size.

“Yea baby, remember this cock?” Suna groaned as he pulled out once again, slapping it around before thrusting back into you harder than before, causing your eyes to roll back, losing all senses as you relaxed your head as it dangled from the grip Suna had onto the crown of your head.

“Ye-yea I miss it.” You moaned out, voice coming out thick and hoarse. You felt as each and every ridge entered and exited, noting how he angled himself so he would hit your g-spot with every thrust. Filling you with pleasure despite the pain from his rock-hard dick ramming into your tight pussy. Luckily, you started to relax, your hole stretching as your natural lubricants made it easier for Suna to slide in and out of; causing him to move more rapidly and sloppily.

The vulgar sounds of squelching and skin slapping filled your ears, along with Sunas small grunts and groan. Both factors playing together as you hastily started to reach your climax once more. Your hole started to uncontrollably spaz around his large cock earning you a moan from the man railing you into oblivion.

Just as you were about to release your sweet juices, Suna quickly pulled out of you. Picking you up, he laid down and set you on his lap before re-adjusting his dick to your tight cunt as he easily rammed in once again. Your legs spazzed furiously as you tried your best to ride the man below you.

Placing your hands on his firm abdomen, as his hands wrapped around your waist to keep balance as you bounced on his cock. Every time you fell onto his cock, he rhythmically thrust up, pushing even deeper into you, eventually going balls-deep.

You bent down on top of him, meeting his lips once again as you sloppily made out with the God below you. Constantly grinding your hips down on him to keep the friction going. Sunas' hands slithered up from your hips to grab onto your soft mounds, slowly twisting each nipple between his thumb and index finger. He gave your left tit a nice slap before throwing his hands back on your ass, grabbing at your plump and swollen mounds.

"S-Suna! Ah! I- I-m, c-" You tried to cried out but failed as you pathetically started to overstim from the way he pounded into you.

"What was that- my little slut?" You whimpered in response, ass smacking against his balls as you finally found the bliss you've been searching for. Hole clenching as your legs and hips violently twitched, causing you to lose all sense of reality as you sprayed your juices onto Sunas slick cock. Your body stopped working as you were lifelessly being bounced up and down on Sunas cock. You cuddled into his neck as he rammed into one last time.

"Shit-" he breathed out, spraying into your sopping wet pussy. Cum mixing with your as he slowly rode out his orgasm and pulling out of you.

You were splayed across his chest letting out loud gasps and whimpers as your body tried to relax itself from the lustful high you were on. Suna having to do the same, slowly bringing his hand up to play with your hair. You nuzzled further into his neck, placing small kisses onto his nape, him returning the favor, leaving a few light hickies sprinkled across your neck.

"You still gonna call your boyfriend?" Suna lazily asked, already knowing the answer, he just wanted to play with you.

"Yea, actually I should probably go see what he's doing."

"Bitch." Suna whispered as you let out a small giggle.

"Kay, c'mon let's get you cleaned up," Suna suggested. He picked you up, giving you a few little ass slaps, contently sighing as he slowly made his way to the bathroom.

[bluespiderlilies]

Reincarnation | Hashibira Inosuke

chapter: one / “boar boy.”

chapter: two / “check.”

chapter: three / “in the shadows.”

chapter: four / “endure.”

chapter: five / “in the clouds.”

chapter: six / “senses.”

❝a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.❞ ── chinese proverb

You hummed in satisfaction, cupping porcelain cup filled with the warm green tea in your hands as you watch the sun slowly reveal itself to the world; spreading her golden rays of light. Everything around her was bathed in crimson and the color of a blush, the clouds above decorated with a hint of sky blue and wisps of silver.

You sipped on your tea, the bittersweet taste dancing on your tongue before you swallowed, warming you up from the inside to protect you from the chilly morning breeze—which was especially strong today.

“Thanks for the tea, Grandmother Shiori.” You told her, placing your hand over hers, as she was sitting beside you while sipping on her own tea.

She smiled gently at you, eyes twinkling. “You know you don’t need to thank me, (Name). I think of you as one my own.”

“I know. But it’s a habit, after everything you’ve done for me and for the sake of my grandmother, Yumi.” You smiled back, placing your empty cup of tea back into the tray.

You brushed off your new haori—it was plain black with silver trimmings along the hem of your sleeves, along with a full moon with two crescent moons parallel to each other on the back, colored silver as well—and your Demon Slayer Corps uniform from any dust, adjusting the sheath of your katana the rested on the side of your hip.

Shiori watched you as you strapped your quiver onto your back, slinging the bow across your body as she fed some nuts to your crow, Kemuri.

“Alright, I should get going now,” You sighed, patting yourself to make sure you had all of your things on you. “Come on, Kemuri. Lead the way.”

Kemuri cawed in response, fluttering her wings before she hovered above you, flying east of the village.

“Good luck. Make it back safely.” Shiori said, voice laced with a hint of worry as she waved her hand at you.

You turned your head as you walked, a small smile forming on your lips as you waved back. You turned your head back to your crow, entering the forest as she guided you to the village that needed help.

∞

It was around noon.

You have been walking for quite a while now, only stopping twice to eat or to use the restroom. Kemuri, a couple times, said that you were almost there—

You got a feeling that she was just lying to encourage you.

“Kemuri,” You called out to her, taking out a strawberry from one of your pouches that held food, “eat this.”

You threw it towards her, which she caught with ease. She happily ate away, her flying now slowed down a bit.

However, what caught your attention was the faint sound of chatter in the distance—and lots of it. That, to you, meant that you had finally arrived at the village.

You sprinted towards the noise, the sight of houses, shops, and crowds of people meeting your vision. You smiled to yourself, increasing your speed.

“I’m finally here. What a walk.” You mumbled to yourself, entering the village. Your eyes scanned the place, taking each and every detail of the village—in case you needed it in the future.

What caught your eye, though, was the all-too-familiar sight of a boar head, shirtless man, and hakama with animal hide on it. He was seated at a restaurant, his boar head beside him, scarfing down his food.

You smiled, remembering the times you ate with him during the Final Selection—no matter who he was with or where he was, he would eat his food like that. It was probably in his nature.

You shook your head, making your way to the restaurant before you sat on a seat next to him. He didn’t notice you, however, as he was too busy with his tempura, takoyaki, and yakitori.

“Hello, Inosuke. Long time no see.” You greeted him after you made an order, placing your head on the palm of your hand.

“Hah?” He paused his eating, turning his head to look at you. He squinted, tilting his head before you spotted a hint of recognition in his emerald eyes. “Ration woman.”

A drop a sweat trickled down the side of your forehead, pursing your lips in an exasperated expression. “Ration woman? You remember me for that?”

“So what?” He growled, shoving some takoyaki in his mouth.

You winced at his messy eating, glancing over at Kemuri, who was currently perched on the sign of the restaurant.

She, like the crow she was, gave you a blank look.

“Nothing. It just means you have a shitty memory.” You shrugged, taking a takoyaki ball, which only fueled his anger.

He was about to yell at you when you shoved the takoyaki ball into his mouth, seemingly making him shut up and get distracted, once again, by food.

You had done that multiple times already—whenever you said something that set him off, you'd shove food in his mouth or distract him

So far, it always worked.

A small smirk made its way to your lips as you thanked the old man with the bow of your head as he set a bowl fresh, steaming ramen in front of you and some chopsticks beside it.

“So,” You started once again, as you waited for your ramen to cool down a bit. “Are you here on a mission?”

Inosuke’s emerald eyes shifted over to yours, eyes narrowed. “Hah? How the hell did you know? I don’t need any help.”

You rolled your eyes. “Well, you don’t decide. ‘Cause I’m here for the mission too. It’s the disappearing village.” You told him, voice dropping to a whisper that only Inosuke could hear.

“I don’t care. I’m going to beat you!” He declared proudly, chest puffing up with pride as he swallowed some of his tempura.

“Mhm, you do that.” You hummed, mixing your ramen with your chopsticks before you raised it up to your mouth and ate it.

As you and Inosuke ate in silence, you heard someone take a seat beside you. Curious, you shifted your head towards his direction slightly, enough to observe his features.

He was quite tall, even while sitting down, by a head. He wore a navy blue kosode under his navy blue haori, decorated with a white dragon pattern to contrast the color.

Your eyes trailed up to his face; admittedly, he was quite handsome. He had a cute, round face—messy, reddish-chestnut brown hair framing his face. He had large, almond shaped lime green eyes with a small beauty mark underneath his left eye.

He seemed about your age, if not older by one or two years at least.

He caught your eye, making you divert your attention quickly to your ramen, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

You felt your cheeks heat up, feeling his piercing gaze as you raised the chopsticks to your mouth, slowly chewing your ramen.

“Hello, miss.” He greeted with a sly grin, voice deep and silvery.

You swallowed, licking your lips nervously before you answered. “Um, hello.”

“I couldn’t help but notice you on the way back to my home. You and your friend there are Demon Slayers, no?” He asked, tilting his head to the side, curiosity shining in his lime green eyes.

You narrowed your eyes. “Yes. It’s clear from the uniform and weapons. Why do you ask?”

He waved his hand dismissively. “No reason. It’s people like you that make our world a better place.”

You nodded slowly. Just what was he getting at, exactly?

“Yes. Thank you for the compliment, um…?”

“Shoji Akio. Please, call me Akio.” The said man, Akio, told you, his smile reaching his eyes.

“Thank you, Akio. I’m (L/N) (Name). The one beside me is Hashibira Inosuke.” You introduced, bowing your head slightly out of politeness. “It’s a pleasure.”

“Pleasure’s all mine. After all, you’re very pretty and it’s hard not to notice. S’why I came here.” He grinned, winking at you.

Your eyebrow twitched.

Man, you really hated guys like that. Frankly, this was the first time that it happened to you, but after witnessing it way too many times…

Men could be real shallow assholes.

You barely acknowledged what he said, instead slurping your ramen as a response to his irritating words.

He smirked. Were you getting shy?

“Would you…like to go on a date with me, maybe? You know, get to know each other.”

You slurped. After a moment of chewing your food and swallowing it, you looked at him.

Without any hesitation, you answered, “No.”

Akio blinked, almost falling out of his seat out of surprise. What? No girl has ever declined him—that wasn’t fair!

“Huh? Why not?” He asked, trying to keep his composure.

“I just don’t want to.”

“But, don’t you want information about the village?” Akio asked, pointing his chopsticks at you.

You narrowed your eyes at him suspiciously. “Yes, I do.”

“Then I can tell you during our date.” He told you, shrugging non-nonchalantly as he began mixing his bowl’s contents with his chopsticks.

You snorted. Who did he think he was?

“You are so disgusting and conceited that it’s very sad and concerning. You think you have the right to blackmail or bribe me on going on a date with you, in exchange for information?” You let out a chuckle. “I can simply ask anyone. It’s not just you in this damn village, bastard. Grow up.”

You slammed some of your money onto the counter, sliding off the chair easily. “Come on, Inosuke. Let’s go.”

“Hah?! I’m not finished yet—”

“I’ll treat you to a large meal after our mission. On me.”

His eyes seemed to sparkle at the thought, a smug grin making its way on his lips as he put on his boar head. He proceeded to roughly grab your hand, leading you in a direction you weren’t so sure of. You were just glad that you got away from Akio.

The said male watched you and Inosuke, wide lime green eyes following your figure. He was just so, so...surprised and baffled by your words.

The restaurant owner shook his head and looked at Akio with pity in his aged brown eyes. “The young woman is right. She doesn’t owe you anything. Besides, the villagers would be willing to give her any information about the demons in our village.”

Akio sighed, his gaze shifting to the bowl of udon in front of him, head low.

He really felt shameful for what he did. For the first time ever.

You certainly taught him a lesson he didn’t know he needed.

∞

It was the evening, now.

The sun was in the west, slowly beginning to make its descent below the sky, decorating the horizon with rich colors and shades of red and orange. The clouds blushed a warm hue of a deep pink and orange, as if they were shy from the warm rays of the sun.

You bowed your head respectfully at the older woman, thanking her for the extra bits of information about what happens to the village. Narrowing your eyes at Inosuke to do the same, he merely ignored you as he crossed his arms, watching the older woman like a hawk.

Why was he so wary of her? She was a kind old lady, who even offered you two dinner for the hard work the two of you were doing.

“Come, Inosuke. We have to get to the place where they supposedly come out.” You prodded, gesturing with your head to a small field located at the end of the village.

“Stop telling me what to do! You’re not my boss!” Inosuke growled, clenching his fists.

He still followed you, though.

You rolled your eyes, deciding to give in to his charade to pump him up a bit.

“Yes, you’re right. I’m not the boss; you are.”

Steam came out of the nose of his boar mask as he puffed his chest with pride, cackling loudly.

“Yeah, I am! I’m your boss!” The volume of his cackles increased as he said so.

You silently chuckled out of amusement. He got all giddy and happy when praised, huh? It was almost cute.

Almost.

You sat down onto the grass, watching Inosuke absent-mindedly as he charged at trees head first, yelling his signature ‘pig assault.’

Your eyebrows furrowed slightly in thought, mulling over the events so far today. You remembered that Grandma Shiori wanted to talk to you about your sword—and you weren’t so sure why. She has seen it before, right? You saw the way her eyes lit up in recognition…or did you read her wrong? Well, sometimes you did over analyze. Overthink. It was a bad habit.

What sort of pissed you off today, though, was the nerve of that boy—Shoji Akio, was it? Yeah, you didn’t like him.

Boys like him think they are all high and mighty just because they are good looking. Boys like him think they are a lady’s man, just because he could woo a couple girls. Because they thought he was handsome.  Boys like him were nothing but trashy womanizers. 

Looks didn’t matter, however. Inside, he was a large piece of shit.

You sighed.

Anyway, onto the information you had collected with Inosuke.

One: apparently, as soon as the sun would set, the entire perimeter of the village would shake before it descended into some sort of dark, misty place.

Two: When that would happen, multiple demons would come out, dragging unlucky victims out of their homes to eat them. So far, there has been seventeen victims. Seven women. Seven men. Three children.

Three: it started around two weeks ago. Nobody knew how the demons got to their village; since it was up high in a mountain, and there were some wisteria flowers on the path to the village. You deduced that the demons probably saw some alternative way to get to the village.

Four: finally, it was impossible to escape the village. As soon as you stepped in, you couldn’t get out; the moment your foot steps out of what they called the ‘village zone,’ you’d get sliced in half. You figured it was some sort of demon blood art.

You clicked your tongue in annoyance, taking in a deep breath before exhaling. You needed to clear your mind, or else you wouldn’t be able to fully focus on your task right now.

The sun had finally set.

The moon, now crescent shaped, revealed herself to the quiet world. She shone brightly amidst the blanket of darkness, her friends, the glimmering stars, decorating the night sky—as if they were specks of snow that clung onto one’s clothes.

The village was quiet, and there wasn’t a single person in sight. They were probably hiding, now, with firearms, swords, and other weapons prepared in case the demons were to invade their homes.

Inosuke had stopped ‘practicing,’ his pig assault a while ago, now waiting beside you for the demons to come out.

As if on cue, you could feel the ground beneath you tremble. You quickly got up and brushed off any grass and dirt from your hakama, hands tightly grasping the hilt of your katana that sat comfortably on your hip.

You could feel the village descend, watching as the trees seemed to stretch into the skies above, grass appearing as if they were as long as the susuki grass. Once it stopped, everything, indeed, was shrouded in some sort of…dark, murky mist. However, you could still see the faint illumination of the moon above.

“Hah, I can feel them.” Inosuke muttered.

You nodded in response, backing up. Your back touched his, stance ready just in case any demon was going to attack you from any direction.

All of a sudden, you and Inosuke could hear loud, chilling cackles of multiple demons. The sound sent a shiver down your spine, heart beat beginning to increase.

You drew out your katana, the loud shing! of metal echoing throughout the empty village. You grasped it tightly, brows furrowed in concentration as you saw figures beginning to emerge from the shadows.

“Hello, dinner!”

[chatchalita]

My (almost half) Kyushu Trip

This trip is the most unprepared trip and the trip that “unlike me”

I like to spend more than 1 day in certain place, just to see the city, relax, and sightseeing at my own pace rather than move around every day.

This probably text-heavy rather than pictures heavy due to my laptop not cooperate and the pictures from my phone didn’t import properly and you probably will see pictures I posted before because of the above reason.

I went to Kyushu via Peach Aviation on Jan 15-20, 2018. A first trip of the year, yay.  On the 15th, I flew from Bangkok to Okinawa. And wow, I shook a little from cold weather in Okinawa.  The plane was so warm.  The flight supposed to arrive at 8am, but my flight was 15 minutes delayed. I was in a rush because I have another flight to catch at 9:50am, but it not a connection flight, which mean I have to check-out and check-in again. The immigration person keep asking me what am I doing here this time, I would like to think that he just doing his job to make sure he gives the right amount of days allowed in Japan rather than thinking that he suspect that I would ran away and overstayed in Japan.  I was really worried that I might miss the flight since most of the time the international flight and domestic flight are in separate building. When I got out, the check-in counter is right in front of my eyes and the gate is close by. Because the airline is low-cost airline. They have their own separate building that every single one of their flight will be here (to be fair, they share with another airlines). So, I made it in time and once I arrived at to Fukuoka, I rushed to Fukuoka City Museum to find that it close on that day. See  So on the first day, I went to Kokura Castle and Moji Port in KitaKyushu and then stay in Kitahama, Beppu.  

*Note I bought JR North Kyushu pass, 8500 yen for 3 days, I think it worth the money since I don’t have to buy ticket every time and I can ride Shinkansen

Second day, Jan 16.

The original plan was to visit Kitsuki castle and walk around the castle town because I came to love Japanese castle and later visit Beppu Hells, but I’m me, I can’t force myself to wake up early for the sake of sightseeing and ended up sleep in.  And I think it was the right choice...if the guide said 2-3 hours in sightseeing, I will took 3-4 hours or even longer than that.  I took a bus to Kannawa to see “Jigoku” or hells, the name was taken from that fact that all the hot springs here are too hot for human to enter and probably hot like hell.

I think I visited the place in different order than most ppl do, it seem like they usually walk for 10 minutes to reach the farthest hell first then go back to the same route to visit the rest.  Let’s just say I do the opposite...

*all the descriptions taken from English sign*

The first hell I visited is called “Shiraike Jigoku or the white pond hell, whose boiling spouting up water turns blue-white colored when falling down upon surface of the water.  There is also a tropical aqurium where a ‘king fish’ of prarucu’ ‘man-eating fish’ of piranha and several other tropical fish have been raised.”

After I got out of this, I was hungry since I have not eat anything yet and it was 11am almost 12pm, and I just walk in the nearest store and order the first food I saw, which happen to be the food of that area

Dangojiru, a ramen made from dango I think and this food is put together with Kyoto’s black ramen in the list of food I will never eat again.  It’s very plain and too much vegetable I guess, I rather eat a weird hint of burnt bitter sweet and super salty black ramen more than this.  Maybe I dislike it due to its plain taste and the lack of meat...

Next stop, “Oniyama Jigoku (Oniyama Hell), the force of the steam is so strong here that about one and a half train cars can be pulled by its pressure, and it creates ideal conditions for breeding crocodiles.”  This place probably a place that I didn’t took a picture of onsen with its name because this place is known for crocodiles, the temperature of the onsen is 99.1 C

And the real hell start here, “Kamado Jigoku (Oven Hell)  This jigoku derives its name from the fact that it used to be used for cooking foods long long ago.  The great red demon standing on an enormous cooking pot is the symbol of this jigoku”  That picture probably more appropriate than this picture, but the tour groups were there, there are a lot of people and they loud.  They also have a shop there for souvenirs and I just wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible.  Hey, I’m an introvert and I like quiet place.

“Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) so called because this jigoku looks like the sea, which emerged after an explosion of a volcano 1,200 years ago and because the color of the boiling water of the pond is cobalt-blue.”  

Oniishi Bozu Jigoku, it seem like I forgot to take a picture of the sign, but the name came from the fact that the little bubble popping up looking like head of the monk.  This place was so relaxing and nobody there, there is a footbath in here, which they put some kind of citrus in it and it was really nice.  The previous two jigoku also have footbath but there are too many people around.  So these 5 jigoku are the one within walkable distance, the other two is 3km away and riding bus there is the best option

Tatsumaki Jigoku (Geyser), I don’t have a trivia for this because I don’t remember and the sign was cut off otl  

Chinoike Jigoku (Blodd Hell), it named after the redness.

Overall, I think the jigoku are pretty interesting, definitely a tourist trap, but it was fun to take pictures with all of them.  Not a place I would visit again unless I want more of their skin-care product :p

After I finish journey through hells, I decided to go for a sand bath, which I got covered in black sand.  The temperature is too warm, it not like hot like the sand bath in different prefecture that I saw in one of the youtube video, which is kind of disappointment since I expected sauna temperature in a cool weather.  Then I went back to my hotel to relax and go out again to find food; I ate seafood ochazuke and Tamayaki (like takoyaki, but use scallop instead), then I finally went to Family Mart to print out Ogo-tan’s conbeni print.

Asahi Tower Beppu Tower is located near my hotel, so I decide to go up there on my way back, I think I got sold because they said the tower was kind of old or something, but it was not worth it, there’s nothing up there, the night view can be seen anywhere, not unique to Beppu.

Third day,

It’s a day, I actually waking up early (to catch the train back to Hakata)  for the sake of everything yay.  The plan, was Nagasaki...and I was going to get through with this plan until I ride the train and changed my mind.  It was very last minute, I had no plan.  I thought that 3 hours in Nagasaki is not enough and not worth it to ride 4-6 hours of train (two-way) from Hakata.  I have to hurried back to Hakata before Fukuoka City Museum close.  So, I went to Kumamoto Castle, which happened to be under construction due to earthquake, like I said in one of my post before, I knew it was under construction, but I didn’t know it was all the area.  At that point, I was regretting the fact that Fukuoka City Museum closing on Monday ruined my plan, I could have ride a ferry from Kumamoto to Nagasaki and actually enjoy Nagasaki until night time, but I have my sword priority.  So, I went to Tamana to see Doudanuki since I already in Kumamoto.  The museum was really really nice, I enjoyed it a lot despite the fact that I couldn’t read Japanese.  The dedication that I rode taxi there because the bus do not reach that place.  And the station person in Tamana station was so helpful, what a good place.  And then, I rode shinkansen back to Hakata again and finally able to see Hasebe in Fukuoka City Musuem.  See I took better pictures of the swords, like zoom in and such, but I’m too lazy to post it so that post ended up with generic sword pictures.

My hotel is in Tenjin, which has Animate there, something I couldn’t find and ended up spent money in Book-off instead.  The food that day was Mos Burger during lunch (Idk why I craved for Japanese-western food, don’t judge me) and Oyster tempura-don plus karage.

Fourth day, another unplanned day

I flew back to Okinawa and sat at Naha airport for 2 or was it 3 hours because I don’t know what to do.  I was looking at the brochures and tried to come up with a plan for today.  My original plan was to go the south and go to Okinawa world and I just ended up too lazy to go.  In the end, I decided to go to my hotel and walk around that area.  My hotel happen to be within the walkable distance from Animate, I always picked the best location for my hotel eh?  The street that I was walking was Kokusaidori street, which is a shopping street for souvenirs.

Although, it’s unplanned it was great, I enjoyed looking in each shop and eat whatever food I found on my way Animate.

Fifth day, each day’s adventure is getting shorter and shorter

I bought a day tour to Okinawa’s aquarium because I’m too lazy to do my research for the bus.  This day tour is so rush, I didn’t spend enough time in the aquarium, two hours include lunch is not enough.  The taco rice in the aquarium was great though, I can see whale shark while I ate.  The other place include in the tours are Kadena, a place where you can see American’s air force plane, Cape Manza, a place that related to Urashima Taro (If my Japanese is corrected, I mostly sleep through the bus ride) and American Village, a shopping place that the tour let people be in for 50 minutes, I cannot do anything during that period of the time. Sadly, it was raining that day and I’m not feeling very happy about it.

Sixth day, visited 3 world heritage

The last day in Japan,  visited Shirikinaen Garden, Shuri Castle, Tamadun, and Naminoue Shrine - Beach.  Shirikinaen was beautiful, I loves Japanese garden.  Shuri Castle was too large and I was too tired to explore all the area, is I visit Shuri Castle on the first day of my trip, I probably able to finish the stamp rally.  Naminoue beach is the only beach I went although I went to Okinawa,

Overall, I did enjoyed this trip a lot.  There’s a point that I was worn out enough to just want to stay in the hotel and not going anywhere, but it was a fun alone time trip.  In all the prefectures I visited, I probably will visited them again some day because I feel like I didn’t see enough, but it probably won’t be my priority since I rather visit other prefectures and complete my bucket list (visit all prefectures in Japan)

Oita, definitely will visit again for onsen-escape, maybe not Beppu, maybe it would be Yufuin next time.

Kumamoto, in 2019 when Kumamoto Castle is complete, let’s do it since it one of Japanese’s greatest castle...and maybe Mt. Aso...

Fukuoka, if I have a chance, might have a proper sightseeing here in the future

Okinawa, if I go there again, I want to stay near Ocean Expo park or something, it seem there’s a lot of interesting place in there.  Might go there in Spring because Summer is too hot and probably too crowded.

4/8 Kyushu visited, need to clear the rest the next time.

When I read this in the future, I probably regretted this for writing too little haha.  But I’m kind of tired half way through and it ended up the way it is.

[cookinguptales]

Let's look at the positives what cool things did you experience while in Japan?

THANK YOU FOR ASKING ME THIS, ANON, I experienced many cool things in Japan!! So many, in fact, that I’ll be putting them under a cut!

I lived like a block and a half from Ginkakuji, a cool lil temple (lbr, summer house turned temple) with really pretty grounds!

I got to go visit a lot of local temples in autumn, which is when they open up their treasure houses!! I saw so many cool things in temples and museums! I wandered around so many temples and shrines! I accidentally climbed up a baby mountain to see Yoshida Jinja, then realized there was a back entrance that was accessible by bus! (…look things up before you decide to just have an adventure, I guess.)

If you are ever in Kyoto, I highly recommend going to Sanjūsangendō! It’s not in a lot of guides but I really liked it! They have 1000 gold statues of Kannon in there and they’re all different, plus smaller statues of a bunch of other deities! And a real big one!

My university was right near a big temple, and our program head got us in for a tour in the cool spots!! haha

I got to go to Nara and see all the cute deer!!! And their huge Buddha statue at Todaiji which is one of the only times in my life that I’ve just like STOPPED, frozen, and stared at something. It’s so big!!!! Plus I got to see another treasure exhibition. :|b

I went to Tokyo! And actually…ran into some problems there that were not Japan’s fault, haha. But I did get to go to Tokyo Disneyland and I really enjoyed it! I did not get to go to Meiji Jingu bc – of reasons!!! But I’m still mad about it!!! I did go to a shrine dedicated to tech, though, which I thought was super interesting. I got a charm to put on my phone to protect it from harm, lol.

I ate a lot of really good food! I splurged and went to a high-end sushi place in Tokyo and I tried all sorts of new foods and I grew way too addicted to takoyaki and curry! (I miss curry bread so damn much, wah.)

I took a class on Kyoto artisans, so I got to see some really cool parts of Kyoto through my professors’ contacts, haha. I got to go to a yuzen dyeing studio and see them prepare fabric for high-end kimono (and we got to dye some things ourselves), I got to meet a super famous potter when we went to Shigaraki pottery village for their festival, he helped me learn how to use a wheel (ha), I met an indigo dyer with art in all these museums, I got to go to a kettle workshop and learn all about traditional smelting methods, I got to go to a traditional bow maker (as in archery) and they showed us how they made them, which was SUPER interesting… like I just got to see a lot of really, really cool places!

I went to the manga museum with my language class! We watched a kamishibai performance with all the tiny children, hahaha.

I made a lot of friends and we…mostly ate together, I won’t lie to you. I had fun making takoyaki with friends and going out for parfaits and getting okonomiyaki and even just hanging out in the dining hall after sign languge club. It was a lot of fun!

I went to Toei Kyoto’s film park, which was fun and educational! XD It’s where they film a lot of period dramas in Japan, so we got to play around on a lot of sets.

I visited a Buddhist monastery and looked at their zen rock gardens and had an abbreviated tea ceremony (did this several times, actually – Japanese people love taking foreigners to abbreviated tea ceremonies, lol) and practiced my meditation! Thankfully I already had some meditation training so the scary monk with the big-ass stick did not use it on me like he did some of my classmates haha.

I visited with a really, REALLY nice family in Okayama and I loved them. I got to go to their tiny adorable children’s elementary level sports day and we had a birthday party for two of their children and they took me to a local cultural festival at the mother’s workplace, which involved traditional music and yet another abbreviated tea ceremony. XD

I met a lot of really nice neighbors! I was like. The only white person in the neighborhood. So they got to know me quickly, haha. My favorite experience was when I walked into an onigiri shop and he was like I’VE SEEN YOU EATING IN THE PARK and it’s like yeah haha I live in the neighborhood and I couldn’t figure out what to order bc like…I could read the menu but I just didn’t know what a lot of the fish and stuff were. So he actually pulled out all the fillings and showed them to me to help me choose. He was so nice!! And there was a nice guy who ran the neighborhood ramen joint, too, and he always wanted to chat with me at the bus stop in the mornings and it was like oh no sir no god I don’t have nearly enough caffeine in my body for this. AND TINY ADORABLE CHILDREN who’d yell HELLO!!! to the best of their ability when they’d drive past me on their bikes. It was a nice neighborhood.

Other stuff I can’t think of right now!!

Basically, I had a lot of really cool experiences in Japan and I had a lot of fun! I learned

so

 much. I petted

so

 many cats. (I even went to a cat cafe once and held a bunch of kittens while eating curry karaage, it was great.) And I met a lot of cool people. My study there didn’t end very well (I had to leave early due to an injury) but I had a great time.

[taesthetes]

Travel-anon-hi! Good luck with your midterms and projects! Know you'll do great on them :D You'll get to be a weekend potato again soon, and better, a summer (baked) potato! Oo, road trips aren't a thing I've done with my friends actually (or on my own), but maybe I should try it since you said it's fun~ True, it's a little worrying on safety if you're going alone (+ rooming fees are scary as 1 person). I tend to keep to messaging people back home when I go alone, just so they know I'm ok (1/?)

(2/?) Korean fried chicken is so good there, and the prices are so cheap! I had a giant table-sized platter at a place in Hongdae before, and it was less than $7 aslviaijds it fed 3 people in one go. Cafe culture game is strongest out of all the Asian countries I’ve been to though! A lot of them are cute/indie/niche, which is really cool compared to all the franchised ones we have, yeah :/ I stray towards chai lattes and sesame drinks a lot at cafes c: or hot ciders! I try a lot of things tho!

(3/?) asjkla don’t get me started on sweets, haha. I plow through those like nobody’s business! You mentioned you don’t like coffee and sweets, but would you try anything else besides the matcha? It was a dream! A very furry dream. I’m not joking, I came outta there covered in fur all over (rip my black clothes), but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Those dogs were so cute 💖 There’s a lot of dog and cat cafes in Japan too! Would you stop by one while you’re in Japan? I saw some in Harajuku~

(4/?) Euh, I normally wouldn’t mind sharing my galleries, but my artist handle is the same as my username on tumblr, haha. I’m a little intimidated since it’ll take me off anon status, sorry ^^; If I could include photos in asks, I’d just drop one here for you tho. Humidity is why I normally travel during fall/winter, haha! Humidity won’t kick my butt then, and leggings & sweater wear retains it’s place as my go to fashion too! Lowkey amused that we have that in common too~

(5/?) Wow! You visited a lot!! The Palace of Versailles was my favourite out of the ones you listed! Which one’s yours? All of it’s sooo pretty! Switzerland is super scenic and green, from what I remember - very different from most of the other European cities. Oo, Vietnam sounds so nice! I’m looking forward to hearing about your travels there! Haha, that sounds like my friends and I in Japan once. We kept getting plushies from a crane game, and trolled our bystanders into thinking it was easy!

(6/?) I always come back with a pile of plushies and snacks (little anything else); usually sneak the food through customs too ;u;~ Japanese snack-wise, I actually like kitkat, haha! They have so many different flavours there!! I prefer eating street food moreso there, there’s a lot of variety, but dango has my heart and soul. So sad I don’t have it here. Are there any foods you’re looking forward to from Japan that you’ve heard about and want to try :D? Festivals have a lot to offer!

(7/7) Yup! Japan Rail Pass is where I got it! You can pick it up in the airport, and return it using the mailbox there too c: Aw, would you go back to Japan sometime after this trip? A week isn’t really long, but you can definitely make the most of it with everything you’ll see and photo! Have lots of fun there 💖! Gonna try a new manufacturer~ I got spoiled on twt for the movie, cuz people didn’t tag cry D: you can still do those while studying too tho ;D good luck! Wow these are getting long

hello, m’love! and thank you!! i finished my econ project today and took my marketing midterm, so fingers crossed, everything goes well :D omg i can’t wait to be a weekend potato again and yess, only one more month to go before it’s summer :’) ahhh yes, they’re quite fun! it’s nice to blast music and sing along as you eat yummy snacks and drive to the beach. i hope you get to go on a road trip sometime! the fees are pretty daunting, and omg yes that’s a good idea to keep texting people. my roommate and i do that all the time whenever either of us are out late and we have to walk back to our dorm.

oh my gosh, $7 only?? why can’t food be this cheap and good here ): i have to definitely go to korea for all the food and cute cafes. ahhh omg they sound so lovely, like i would most definitely visit as many as possible. oooh, i’ve had a chai latte, but i’ve never had a sesame drink before! what is it like? and omg like apple cider? apple cider is always nice. i’d try all the drinks if possible ahah

honestly, i’ll try everything when i’m in a different country, like i had so much gelato in italy and crepes and macarons in paris. i really like red bean buns, too, so i want to try those fish pastries filled with red bean in korea? i don’t remember what they’re called, but to be honest, asian street food and asian pastries all looks so good i can’t help but try it all. oh my gosh, i feel like i’ll be the same way if i go to a dog cafe because all i wear is black and dark colored clothes too, but dogs are always worth it :’) and omg yes!!! i’ll have to visit at least one dog cafe in japan and i also want to try one of those japanese jiggly cheesecakes!! everything in japan is so aesthetically pleasing.

oooh okay, no worries!! but askdjlfasdf feeling intimidated– i hope i’m not being scary to you D: please let me know if you ever feel uncomfortable with our conversations! nevertheless, i’m 100% sure you’re a super talented artist 💓 i wish i could travel in the fall and winter, but sadly, university gets in the way and i can’t miss class. and omg leggings and sweaters are the best fashion!! it’s versatile like a potato, and it’s always comfy. i practically wear my leggings everyday of the week.

the palace of versailles was breath taking with the intricate designs and everything, but i’d have to say the art museums hold a special place in my heart. i could spend all day wandering through the museums and reading up on every art piece. i saw quite a few art students scattered around with their big pads of drawing paper and drawing some of the paintings, and wow, i wish i had the chance to do that, like imagine living so close to these museums that you can visit everyday and draw something new.

oooh, i think switzerland was also named the place with the happiest people, too? and me, too!! i’m so excited for vietnam, oh my goodness. ahhh omg teach me your ways with the crane machine :o i hope that i’ll be able to get one plushie from it without blowing all my money. hmmm, maybe i’ll just come to japan with an empty suitcase and fill it up with all the plushies and snacks there. omg yes, i’ve heard of all the variety of kitkat flavors they have there! i actually just got a bag of green tea kit kats from my friend, and i don’t even enjoy sweets too much, but they’re heavenly.

oooh yes, i’m looking forward to all the street food. i had dango before here, but it probably isn’t as good as the ones made in japan ashkdflas ahhh i want to try everything tbh! but i saw there was this restaurant where you can actually go fishing for your fish and then they’ll make sashimi out of it for you, and that sounds amazing. and i really want to have takoyaki and okonomiyaki and udon and ramen and soba and gosh, just everything. i really, really want to visit japan one day during its cherry blossom season with all the festivities. were you able to visit japan when it was cherry blossom season? :D

oh wow, that service is really handy and convenient! i’ll make sure to preorder one for sure. i do want to go back to japan again!! i want to explore more of its beautiful cities and experience the festivals. hopefully, i’ll be rich enough to do that in the future :’) but yes to tons of picture taking, and thank you!! 💞💞 i hope the new manufacturer works out! fingers crossed!! and oh noooo D: gosh that really sucks– i hope you still have a good time watching it with your friends though ): ahaha well yes, i can, but i probably shouldn’t if i want to effectively study, and thank you!! ahhh and thank you for taking the time to send me such lovely messages! you really make my day with them 💘 and how was your day?