#Kou--Melto--Asuna--Touwa--Banba--Ui…

[firebirdsdaughter]

She’s right, Kou…

… I literally just experienced this while writing.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random joke idea...

... If they ever do do a LuPat and Ryusoulger crossover...

It could be funny if the trio somehow manage to get themselves arrested (mainly bc I feel like their reactions would be hilarious—Kou would be his cheerful self, Asuna could keep breaking the handcuffs, and Melto trying to be the sensible one), and if, for some reason, the brothers end up being the ones who get called to pick them up/identify them—only Banba just stares at them for a moment and is like ‘I’ve never seen them before in my life.’

Alternatively, it might be funny if he and Touwa did that while they were getting arrested in the first place. 😆

And then later Ui drags them to go bail the trio out anyway.

(The trio being the ones to get arrested is also funny bc Banba is the one who actually walks around carrying RyusoulKen most of the time)

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Ryusoulger idea…

… Zombie infection plot.

Like, a Minusaur, or something (they’re probably gonna upgrade the Minusaurs at some point, or acquire new monsters) that creates a zombie virus of some kind. Whether it just makes people like mindless zombies or… Controllable? I guess? Like they behave like zombies, it’s transmitted like zombies, but they can be directed? Both might be pretty scary.

And, obviously, some of the team would get infected.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing Preview…

… The parents are out! Write angst!

Ahem. I’m kidding.

But I did write angst.

So. That ep about a Minusaur attaching itself to Asuna’s heart reminded me of an idea I had. Long time ago.

So, anyone remember the scorpion arc from Hurricaneger? Something like that crossed w/ that ep of GoGoV where the team gets those flowers attached to them that will only come off if they die, but will release a deadly pollen if they bloom.

Basically, the premise of this idea is that Banba gets hits hit w/ something from a Minusaur that implants a weird parasite thing in his heart and respiratory system that attaches itself to him and is slowly and painfully killing him, and if it finishes growing it will release a lethal toxin that will kill everything within a certain radius. They try killing the Minusaur, but attacking it weirdly seems to make the thing grow faster.

The reason everyone is so at the end of their rope here is that they’ve literally been watching him suffer all day and maybe more, and the thing is getting close to releasing the toxin.

Also some other stuff happened, so there’s extra tension. But Tsk tsk, no spoilers now! XD

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Melto reentered the room completely silently, crossing the floor to touch Kou and Asuna’s elbows. Both wrenched their eyes away from where Banba had temporarily gone quiet on the sofa to look at Blue—and found his expression one of absolute misery. Taking a deep breath, he jerked his head toward the other room, then reached over to tap Kanaro’s shoulder to indicate the same before turning and trudging in that direction himself. The three of them hesitated for a moment, glancing anxiously down at Touwa, still kneeling and hunched over his brother’s side. Ui, beside him with a hand on his shoulder, glanced back up at them nodded slight. Finally, the other three turned and followed Melto, Kou hesitating for an extra moment before turning and trotting after.

Herding into the other room, they found Melto brooding in the corner, still looking like the world was ending. “… I have an idea.” He announced, in a dreadful tone.

“That… Feels like you should look happier about it.” Kanaro’s tone and expression were apprehensive, and he was carefully eyeing Blue like he could find some clue in the other Ryusoulger’s appearance.

It was hard not to agree. Melto’s expression and demeanour were not those of someone who had thought of a surefire way to save their teammate. Especially when his response to Gold’s observation was another dejected sigh. “… It’s not a good one.” He admitted.

“I can’t think of anything much worse than this.” Kou pointed out, glancing back over his shoulder at the others.

Asuna nodded, her expression equally somber. “Let’s hear it, Melto.”

Blue bit his lip, looking deliberately at the wall to their left rather than at them. “… The parasite is interwoven into his heart and respiratory system. It’s literally using his body to keep itself alive and growing, and it’s so fused at this point that trying to remove it would be fatal for him.” Another profoundly unhappy sigh. “But… That also means the reverse is true.”

Kou blinked at him. “What?” On Red’s other side, Kanaro was slowly going whiter than a sheet.

“It’s essentially become a part of him, now.” Melto said, more slowly, like he was trying to think out each word as he went. “So, that means…” He swallowed nervously, “… That means… If he dies… It dies.”

They stared at him. “… You want us to kill Banba?!” Asuna’s voice shot upward into a shriek, and the other three quickly shushed her, sending glances back to the other room, worried that Touwa might have heard.

“I don’t mean literally!” Melto hissed back quickly. “But the heart can be stopped for about six minutes before the brain starts to die.” He looked like he was ready to break down in tears, only just barely keeping his voice level. “If we stop his heart just long enough for the parasite to die, then restart it-”

“And what if it takes longer than six minutes to die?” Pink demanded, remembering to keep her voice hushed that time, though her hands were balled into fists at her sides. “What if we can’t restart it? There’s too many risks!”

“And what are our other options, then?” Melto snapped back, voice cracking. “Attacking the Minusaur makes it worse! And if that thing finishes growing, it won’t just kill him, but us and who knows how many other people when it releases that toxin!”

“So, what? You’d rather do the job ourselves? Are you really that heartless?!”

“Do not mistake my ability to reason for apathy!”

They were in each other’s faces at that point, and Kou rushed forward with the intention of parting them—until it was all interrupted by another horrible sound from the other room, making them all look. Banba was thrashing again, hands clawing at his chest like he was desperately trying to rip the thing out himself. Touwa threw himself over his brother’s torso to try and hold him still, grabbing Banba’s hands and pulling them away before he could hurt himself, as Black let out another choked half-scream—still trying to smother his suffering even in this state. It was like razors cutting through their chests as the fit continued, forcing Ui to grab his legs to help hold him still, and they could only watch in horror until Banba quieted again—though he continued twitching and whimpering faintly, and neither Ui nor Green risked letting go of him.

Melto stumbled a step toward the couch, reaching weakly for the door frame, clinging to it for support, like it alone was holding it up. He watched for another moment, tears finally brimming in his eyes, then turned quickly away. Swallowing again, he looked over at Asuna. “… It’s this, or just watch him suffer.” He whispered, the tears slowly spilling over. “I… I can’t take this anymore.” Asuna swallowed, looking down at her feet. Blue sagged against the door frame, taking deep, shuddering breaths. “At… At least, if we try this, we’ll know we did everything we could.” His hands curled into fists on the frame. “And… Even if it fails…” He looked back at their still-thrashing teammate. “… At least he won’t be in pain anymore.”

There was a long silence, save for Banba’s agony across the room, heightening the tension between them all. Neither Melto nor Asuna moved, and Kanaro was leaning heavily on the wall, white as a ghost and looking ready to vomit. Kou moved slowly to stand between Blue and Pink, looking sorrowfully at her, rubbing his arm nervously. “… Asuna…” He began softly, his voice shaking, “… I agree with Melto.” Asuna continued staring at her shoes for a bit, her hands still clutched into fists—until her breath hitched, and she sank to the floor, tears spilling down her face, as well. Kou fumbled for her shoulder, squeezing it as best he could, taking a deep, trembling breath. Swallowing, he made himself speak again. “But…” The other three raised their heads slightly to look at him. “… The final choice isn’t ours to make.”

Pulling his hand off Asuna’s shoulder, Red staggered sluggishly back to the door, grabbing one of the tables for support. “… Touwa?” His voice broke completely over the other Ryusoulger’s name. For a moment, he wasn’t sure Green had heard—but then Touwa stilled completely. Slowly, he released his brother’s hands—which thankfully did not start clawing at his chest again, and Black’s spasms had largely faded—getting to his feet, then turning to look at them. He looked like a small child trying to be strong, eyes full of tears, struggling to keep his composure. Sitting on the floor, Ui also moved back, looking between them all. Stabilising himself with the tables, Kou crossed the room to stand in front of Green. “… He’s your brother.” Behind him, Melto, Asuna, and Kanaro watched anxiously.

Touwa opened his mouth, then closed it. Swallowing, he glanced back at the anguished etched so deep into Banba’s features. Looking back up, he squared his little shoulders, meeting Kou’s gaze with all the conviction of a knight.

“… We do it.” He concluded hoarsely, lifting his chin, hands curling into fists around the hem of his over shirt. “But… I have to be the one who stops his heart.”

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I am also in the middle of writing Zero-One angst, but I took a break to give my mind a rest. I also fully intend to finish Fair Trade, aka my other ‘Banba literally dies’ fic before writing this.

And, believe it or not, I am still working on that fake Masters thing.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing Tidbit-Ish?…

… Alternatively titled ‘I’m getting too far ahead of myself again’ or ‘I should be in bed right now.’

Or both?

So… I couldn’t get the ‘Go-Onger idea’ out of my head… And… Here we go?

Hopefully this isn’t too messy and vague?

(Another moment of silence for the horizontal line)

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Coughing and sputtering for air, Kou struggled to drag himself back up. Everything hurt and his vision was blurry as he squinted around. The others seemed equally as stunned, scattered about—Melto and Asuna were each by his elbows, the brothers near them on either side. The Kishiryu had fallen around them as well, and he could hear their groans rumbling through the ground. A crackling sound like electricity brought his attention back to the one towering before them, staff in hand.

“This ends here.” The Druidon King declared, raising his hand—sizzling energy was collecting at his fingers, spiralling in a circle. “Become sacrifices.” Then energy shot out toward them, dark lightning reaching like talons, bearing down on them and even their Kishiryu.

Everything slowed down. In the haze around him, over the sounds of the electricity stretching toward them, he heard someone shouting. There was a heavy, booming sound behind them as Kishiryu moved. A hand connected with his shoulder, sending him careening back down, into Asuna, bowling her over as well. Black flashed across his vision at the same time green flickered in the corner of his eye. He heard TigerLance’s howl and MirNeedle’s roar.

The energy claws struck—and latched on.

“Touwa! Banba! No!” The cracking, panicked voice drawing out the last syllable was hardly recognisable as his own. If he screamed loud enough, long enough, then maybe… Somewhere beside him, he heard the others’ voices as well—Asuna shrieking, Melto shouting, even a high pitched squeak that might have been Ui.

Above them, he heard Tyramigo let out an equally terrified bellow, thundering across the sky. “TigerLance! MirNeedle!” The sound was closely followed distressed roars of Ankyrose and Triken, and a deep rumbling that shook the ground—the Black and Green Kishiryu’s cries of  pain.

Sounds that were echoed by their Ryusoulgers as the air around them crackled with dark energy, buzzing madly. It seemed like it was trying to drag something out of them, clawing at their bodies, while the King’s laughter at their agony rippled through the air. They both glowed faintly their respective colours, but the light was slowly seeping away from them, streaming back toward the Druidon’s extended arm. Neither of the brothers screamed, not even Touwa, but were clearly suffering as their legs and transformations gave out and both dropped to their knees.

Barely holding himself up, with tremendous effort, Touwa’s head turned toward his brother. “Ni… Nii-san…” Green’s voice was weak and breathless—like the light really was the life draining out of him. Slowly, shaking like a leaf, the boy hauled one arm up, reaching desperately for his older brother—whether for comfort or protection, Kou didn’t know.

Banba was in the same state, torn between alien exhaustion and the pain, but he snapped to attention at the sound of Touwa’s voice, even as damaged as it was. “… Touwa…” With equal difficulty, he raised his own hand, reaching back for Green’s just as urgently, both of them stretching their fingertips, grasping for each other right to the end.

They almost made it, fingertips a har’s breadth apart when their strengths gave out. Touwa went down first, collapsing the rest of the way to the ground, arm still extended, the green glow seeping away completely—Banba didn’t get time to react before he, too, slumped over, his hand only just barely out of reach of his brother’s, the black light around him gone.

The rumbling sound about them faded as the same fate befell TigerLance and MirNeedle.

Kou scrambled instinctively, mindlessly toward them, trying to push through the still-charged atmosphere to get nearer; his voice had mostly dried up after his initial scream, but he hoarsely mumbled the brothers’ names over and over, as if it were a spell that would wake them. Behind him, the others followed in the same automatic, panicked vein. He arrived at Banba’s side at the same time Melto made it to Touwa’s. Pulling Black into his arms, he desperately tried to shake him awake—but Banba’s head just bumped limply against his arm, features even stiller than regular unconsciousness. Blue did the same with Green, cradling the younger boy’s head in his hands like he was holding a kitten, trying to pull it back up in vain, despite Touwa laying just as still as his brother. Asuna and Ui joined them, Pink crawling forward to grab both the brothers’ shoulders, trying to shake them as well. Ui just dropped to her knees by Asuna’s shoulder, hands clamped to her mouth, trembling, tears welling in her eyes. Somewhere above them, they heard a series deep, resounding rumbles as their Kishiryu whined over the still forms of their brethren.

Neither Banba nor Touwa moved, both still as death.

Ice ran through Kou’s veins, and he would have sworn his own heart was stopping, too. “No…” The syllable died in his throat. He slumped forward, head dropping onto Black’s chest and found only deafening silence. He could barely find the will to breathe, too shattered even to cry.

Melto said nothing, just whimpered faintly and clutched the boy in his arms tighter to him. Touwa looked so uncharacteristically small, a painful reminder that he was even younger than them, barely older than a child. Blue buried his face in the boy’s hair, rocking back and forth slightly, his hands clenching to hold fistfuls of Green’s shirt.

Incoherent blubbering seemed to be the only sound Asuna could make, equally as incapable of any sort of speech. She gave up shaking them, too, her shoulders slumping—only her vice-like grip on the brothers’ shoulders kept her arms from dropping right to the ground. She looked like she might be about to throw up, just staring at the dirt, tears dribbling down her face spilling over as the welled in the corners of her eyes.

The one that was was standing was Ui, hands still clamped over her mouth, eyes wide as plates. She hadn’t made a sound since her original, horrified squeal, shocked into silence as well as motionlessness. The only thing differentiating her from a statue was the way she was shaking like a dry leaf in the wind, wavering back and forth like even the slightest breeze might carry her away.

Behind them, Tyramigo bent down to sadly nuzzle MirNeedle and TigerLance like he still thought he could wake them, while Triken and Ankyrose pawed anxiously at them.

Harsh laughter interrupted their grief, making their heads snap back up. The King was cackling madly, head thrown back toward the sky. He went on for a while before trailing off, rolling his shoulders and straightening, adjusting its crowned helm. As they watched in horror, two of the empty sockets flickered, glittering—and were filled with a green and black jewel respectively, both glimmering in the sunlight, even glowing faintly; and nestled beside each was a smaller gem, in the same colours, just as brilliant.

“Remarkable…” The Druidon mused. “Must be the Kishiryu…” Slowly, the monster surveyed them, taking in their expressions—so stunned and devastated they were almost blank. “Now do you understand?” He threw out his arms shouting to the sky. “Black and Green’s energy will be put to use for our conquest!” The glowing eyes narrowed, radiating twisted joy. “Your friends’ sacrifice has done nothing but ensure our victory—their deaths are just as pointless as your Master’s!”

Something fluttered in Kou’s chest, a burning spark against the numbness and cold. Pointless?

He let out another, barking laugh. “What a truly pitiful display! A perfect example of the failures of such sentimentality.”

The words fanned the spark smouldering in Red’s ribs, the flames rising. His hands tightened into fists on Banba’s arms, clutching bunches of Black’s sleeve until his knuckles turned white. Failure?

The King stepped toward them, relishing their distress. “But do not worry. I will send you to join your weakling comrades and Masters…”

Weak? The fire in Kou’s chest burned even hotter—and exploded.

He just remembered to pass Banba’s body to Asuna—who scrambled to catch him before he hit the ground, arms flying to wrap around Black’s shoulders—as he surged upward with a yell, RyusoulKen flashing into his hand, and charged the Druidon, swinging wildly. The King stepped easily out of the way with another chuckle—which served only to make Red angrier.

Spinning around, he attacked again, but this time the Druidon merely lazily raised his own weapon, blocking the blade easily, then leaning close to hiss tauntingly in the Ryusoulger’s face. “What’s this? Attacking in anger?” The words were dripping with disdain and cruel amusement. “How quaint.” A swift strike to the stomach sent Red reeling back, landing hard in the dirt.

“Kou! Stop!” Asuna’s voice hammered distantly against the roaring in his ears, breaking and full of grief and pleading. He ignored her, struggling back to his feet and rushed forward again—only to be knocked back once more, even further, rolling so far across the ground that his back bumped into Banba’s legs. When the King started laughing again, he let out another angry snarl and began trying to drag himself up once more.

Hands latched tightly around his arm. “Stop it!” It seemed Ui had found the strength to move. “Stop it, we need to run!”

Before he could either shake her off or speak, the King raised his hand again, the same light that had wrenched the life from Green and Black’s bodies collecting at his fingertips once more—and everything froze all over again as it bore down upon them, the lightning claws reaching out once more…

… To crash, sparking wildly, into a metal shield.

For a moment, none of them were sure what they were seeing. “… Gaisoulg…?” Asuna finally managed, clutching Banba closer, while Melto, still stunned mute, did the same with Touwa, in some instinctive attempt to try and protect the brothers from the darkness that had once been their Master.

Gaisoulg however, merely gave them a small glance over his shoulder before turning back toward the King. The Druidon lowered his arms, frowning angrily. “Gaisoulg… So you intend to betray us in the end, do you?”

“Betray you?” Gaisoulg’s warped voice sounded vaguely amused, but still not at all comforting. “Please, don’t delude yourself. I was never on anyone’s side to begin with.” The GaisoulKen spun around, swiping two shimmering purple arcs through the air, speeding towards the Druidon.

The King effortlessly batted the slices aside in a shower of sparks—but when his vision cleared, both Ryusoulgers and dark armour were gone.

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This got long. I intend to write a second part, but I wanted to post this anyway.

Cannoli is… Somewhere else while this is happening? I dunno, I don’t have a good explanation for why he’s not around.

Also, yes. Sad Tyramigo. I’m sorry.

I’m also sure I’ll realise later there were other notes I meant to add that I forgot about.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing Fragment…

… So, I realised I’d faltered in my Ryusoul writing since Zero-One started, partially bc ‘New Show Syndrome’ and partially bc writing is how I deal w/ stuff I’m not so thrilled about in canon (not gonna go into that, we already know what I disliked).

Anyway, it’s basically been hard to focus on writing for much else--however, I had a few scraps of an idea, and, to keep the Dino Knight spirits alive, I thought I might share a bit.

So this is a fragment from an idea I had back before the Gaisoulg reveal.

While it’s absolutely not gonna happen going by current evidence, I had this theory that Nada¡Gaisoulg wasn’t actually the Gaisoulg we saw at the start, if that makes sense? That, maybe there was someone else who was using the armour who had almost complete control/synchronisation w/ it, but that Nada had just recently started using it for… Reasons. XD (that I go into below)

Anyway, in this, said person who has (sort of) control over Gaisoulg is Master Black--who in this is also Touwa and Banba’s father, bc… I felt like it. So, I also went w/ the impression that Gaisoulg seemed to expect Banba to know something about them (along w/ Banba’s reaction to Touwa telling him about Gaisoulg name-dropping him; I even came up w/ an explanation as to why he might’ve reacted w/ ‘it can’t be’ that didn’t end up coming up here, but might on later edits), by interpreting it as implying Banba knew who had the armour (or who had it last).

So in prologue to this, Banba goes and confronts Master Dad w/ the intention of telling him to stay away from the kids--only to slowly realise that Master Dad doesn’t currently have Gaisoulg. Master Dad reveals that he has manipulated Nada into using the armour, and it is magnifying/feeding off his resentment for not getting to be Red, making him increasingly obsessed and dangerous. Banba realises Nada is w/ the kids, and proceeds to get so pissed off, he manages to force Master Dad to come along w/ him w/ the intention of having him take Gaisoulg back from Nada. Along the way, Master Dad decides to be very obnoxious.

And here we are.

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“You weren’t this demanding as a child. Clearly you somehow unlearned your manners after I left.” Master Black’s tone persisted in being overbearingly cheery, a smirk playing across his face, even as his elder son and chosen Squire dragged him along by the elbow. “And really,” He continued, when Banba pointedly ignored him, “You’re getting upset over nothing.” When he still got no response, the older knight frowned, and dug his heels into the ground, forcing them to a stop before jerking out of his son’s grip. “Gaisoulg works fast, even without me. It’s probably already-”

He cut off when Banba whirled around, expression a mask of icy fury, surging forward to grab his father by the collar. “If he’s hurt them…” Each word was pure wrath. “I am holding you responsible.”

His former Master rolled his eyes, waving one of his bound hands dismissively as best he could. “Yes, yes, very frightening.”

But Banba didn’t back down—with a wordless snarl, he dragged his father closer, the rage radiating off him like a dark cloud. “This. Is. Your. Fault.” He hissed. “If he’s hurt them, I hurt you. They bleed, you bleed. Understand?”

His father stared back into his glare for a moment. “… Well, well, well.” He whispered with malicious delight. “Look who grew up while I was away.” Banba made a disgusted sound, shoving Master Black away to turn back toward their path. “Hell of a way to treat family, though.”

Banba froze in his tracks. For moment, he stayed there, still as a statue—then turned back around mechanically, eyes narrowed, teeth gritted. “… Family?” He hissed, hands curling into fists, so tightly his knuckles turned white. Equally as slowly, he stepped back toward his former Master. “Touwa is my family.” Banba’s glare was black fire, and for once it seemed like he was towering above his father. “And not just him anymore; Kou, Melto, Asuna. Even Kanaro and Ui. They are my family.” He was back in Master Black’s face, and his voice dropped to a soft growl. “And you will not take them from me.”

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Very short and out of context. Additionally inspired by a different scene from Killjoys--good show from SyFy, just ended, five seasons, go watch if you like.

Anyway. I’ll maybe write more of this later--also got other Ryusoul ideas, and I deeply wanna work on Fair Trade. DX Wanna write me that Ui content. But I’ve had a bit of a stressful start to the week between Toku, Morris tours, head colds, and my sister’s corgi going in the kitchen, then getting into their bathroom, going on the rug, then chewing a damn razor and the soap. (PLEASE NOTE: Dog is FINE. She was taken to the vet and x-rayed soon after I discovered her crime. She didn’t swallow any metal--did swallow some plastic, but according to the vet, it should come out naturally (though they did give her some special food to hurry it along). She is merely in very big trouble, and is continuing to be her absolute gremlin self.)

So I’ll get back to work eventually. When my life isn’t so haphazardly cluttered. DX

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing Parts 2!…

… Anyone remember this post?

Well… I finally wrote a parts 2.

Melto and Touwa this time! Aka Mom and baby. XD

Also, can we please have another moment of silence for the horizontal line.

And also my sticky keyboard. I should clean this… DX

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After they got through this, Touwa was going to have to ask Melto to spar some time.

Assuming they got through this.

He ducked away from another swing of Blue’s, still doing his best to keep his distance. The trio had already proved themselves more capable than he’d originally assumed, but he was definitely coming to the conclusion that he really hadn’t been giving Melto enough credit. Blue was the quieter type, and often seemed like he was hiding behind Kou and Asuna—but his skills were nothing short of impressive in practice; Touwa suspected the only reasons he was able to keep up was his own speed and that he was used to training with his brother. Melto was good, but he had nothing on Banba. Not that Touwa was at all a match for his brother, either—it just meant he’d gotten pretty damn good at dodging. But Banba always got him eventually, and though it was taking Melto much longer… Under the effects of the Minusaur’s power, Blue didn’t appear to be feeling fatigue, and he was starting to run out of steam.

He was painfully reminded of the fact when the tip of Melto’s sword caught his side, cutting through his shirts and leaving a long, angry slash across his mid-torso and knocking him off balance. Stumbling back, he clutched at his side, finding it wet and sticky. The next time Blue swung at him, the sword grazed his cheek, leaving another stinging cut. Leaping back as far as he could, he struggled to recover his bearings. “You still can’t hear me?” He panted, trying to catch his breath, wavering on his feet again, hoping to maybe give the other Ryusoulger pause. Blue made no reply, merely staring at him—he could feel the blankness of the other Ryusoulger’s gaze through the helmet, remembered the unnatural, shimmering frost that was creeping over his teammate’s complexion. “… Right.”

Then Blue came at him again, and he was desperately evading once more—but try as he might, he couldn’t recover the rhythm. Melto’s blade caught him again in the shoulder, then scraped down his arm as he pulled back. His head started to swim a little; this wasn’t just tiring—though the wounds were not particularly deep, the constant movement was twisting and aggravating them. He was steadily losing blood with each motion he made. His breath was racing, it was getting harder to keep his balance, and he was losing strength. He was running out of time.

Finally, a dodge from a swing at his chest turned into a stumble and he crashed backwards, slamming into the ground, the point of Blue’s snagging his shirt and slicing through it, though not close enough to do much damage—yet. As he scrambled to right himself, Melto shambled closer, raising the blade again… A slight movement and a small sound caught his attention; something had dropped from the other Ryusoulger’s belt to the ground—a small beaded charm. One he’d caught Blue brooding over a few times when Melto had thought no one else was looking.

He barely recollected himself in time to roll away from the next swing of the sword, though the motion made him even more dizzy and he just barely made it. Struggling up, he crawled forward, grasping frantically for the charm—he didn’t know anything about it, really, but the fact that Melto carried it everywhere and clutched it so tightly had to mean it was important to him. HIs strength was spent and his mind fogging over—if he had a chance this was it.

His fingers closed around the talisman, and he rolled on to his back and holding it up as Blue came at him again, blade raised to strike once more. “Wait!” He ducked his head, squeezing his eyes shut, just in case.

But the blow never came. Slowly, he cracked his eye open, raising his head. Melto had frozen, the sword edge hovering hardly a hair’s breadth from the charm in Touwa’s raised palm, and the other Ryusoulger was staring down at it, transfixed.

Green struggled to steady his breath enough to speak. “… Remember this?” He was desperately trying to think of what to say—not knowing what the charm was made it harder, but could waste the chance. “It’s important to you, right? To the real you.”

For a long time, there was only silence—and then, “… Master…?”

Touwa blinked. He’d known that Kou’s Master had been killed by Tankjoh, and he supposed had presumed that something similar had befallen the other two, but it had never really felt right to ask. Now it seemed he was staking his life and so much else on how much Master Blue had meant to Melto. At the very least, it seemed to be working, as Blue faded back a step, sword lowering, his hand moving to clutch his head.

Gingerly, Touwa leveraged himself into a sitting position with his free hand, the other continuing to hold out the charm. “You guys want to save everyone, right?” He panted. “Shouldn’t…” It was getting hard to focus, but he pressed on, “… Shouldn’t that include you guys?” His arm drooped, trembling, as he lost more energy. But Melto dropped the RyusoulKen, shaking his head and clutching it more, this time with both hands, stumbling back again. With new hope, Green struggled to keep the talisman up, though his vision was starting to blur and words were hard to come by. “I…” Desperation gave way to a burst of adrenaline, and he shouted the first thing he felt, his voice cracking with emotion, “… The person I want to save right now is you!”

Melto went completely still, and for seconds upon seconds, even the air itself felt frozen. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, Blue lowered his hands. “… T… Touwa…?” With a shimmer, the other Ryusoulger’s transformation dropped. He blinked a few times, voice and expression groggy like he’d just woken from a deep sleep. The frost was gone from his skin, and his gaze was his own. “… Wh… What is…?”

Touwa’s arm dropped to the ground as he let out a relieved sigh, his shoulders sagging. “… It worked…” He managed. “You…” The fog caught him then, and he keeled over backwards towards the ground.

With a yelp, Melto dove forward, panic sharply clearing the clouds from his mind, and just barely managed to catch Green’s head before it hit the ground, cradling it in his hands until he  was able to get his arm around the boy’s shoulders, resting his head on it. “Touwa?!” He looked Touwa over frantically, and his heart sank at what he saw. None of the wounds were particularly deep, but they looked twisted and painful, and Green was frighteningly pale. “… Touwa?” His gaze drifted to the other Ryusoulger’s hand, still clutching something—and when he reached out to retrieve it, it was…

His blood ran cold. He looked over Green’s wounds once more—there was absolutely no doubt they had been made by a sword, and a slightly glance over his shoulder revealed his own RyusoulKen discarded on the ground. Little snatches and flashes flickered through his memory—none good, all painful. His breath caught, and his hands began to shake, his grip on Touwa’s shoulder tightening, tears welling in his eyes for the first time since he’d lost his Master. This… He had… He had done…

“… Melto.” A voice came from his Changer, quiet and uncharacteristically gentle in the way it said his name. He knew it, too. “Are you there?”

“… Kanaro?” The word was barely a croak, “… Touwa…” His throat went dry. He didn’t trust himself to say more yet.

Fortunately, it seemed Gold did not expect him too. “… I figured.” There was something clipped, restrained about the reply, but Kanaro didn’t wait for him to answer. “Asuna, too. Ui…” He trailed off. “… Just… Wait where you are. I’ll come find you.” There was a pause, an ominous one. “Kou…”

“I’ll call him.” Melto quickly interrupted, though his voice was still terribly hoarse, but his mind was already desperately seeking the comfort of logic and sense. If Asuna had suffered the same fate he had, then it stood to reason that Kou might have, as well—in all likelihood, it might be better for an old friend to contact him, a voice he’d known since childhood, just in case.

“Understood.”

“But, Kanaro?” There was a sound on the other end, like Gold had been about to hang up. Melto cast another look at the unnaturally pale boy in his arms, wounds still bleeding. “… Hurry.”

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

Melto would absolutely be one to dive forward and catch one of the others’ heads before they hit the ground. Banba too, I think. XD There will be a parts 3 to this coming at some point. And probably a parts 4. And maybe even a parts 0, bc I came up w/ the results before the set up. Whoops.

These aren’t on AO3 yet, I think I’m gonna finish ‘em all and post them all at once.

Another moment of silence for my sticky keyboard.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Hey…

… Hey, wireless?

F YOU.

Okay. Thank god for common sense. I accidentally lost my post bc my wireless conked out.

HOWEVER!

I was wise, and copied the contents. so we have lost nothing but the tags. Which weren’t that interesting any way.

So here we go!

In no order: (also, I apologise for any typos my fingers decided they wanted to type a mile a minute… DX)

Aw, Naohisa (still thinking I’m spelling his name wrong) is giving them science lessons…

That Melto loves and Asuna doesn’t get… XD It’s okay Asuna, I’m not sure I understand, either.

Melto’s so starry-eyed, gods love him. XD

ASUNA.

Aw, Tyramigo. It’s okay, Melto, he doesn’t mean it meanly. ^^

They’re really cute though. XD

I guess Kou got the idea to see the world in his head from watching tv…

But I feel like there are better places to get into the river than jumping over this railing…

THAT LITTLE BLINK BEFORE HE SAYS ‘209’ XD

He’s clearly got no idea why that’s shocking. ^^

UI DON’T JUST ACCEPT THIS! DX

I guess she decided that she couldn’t really tell a 209 year old what to do…

This episode officially made me conclude that Ui and Touwa are the smols. They’re the youngest of the siblings. Kou is next, then Melto and Asuna are like… Twins who are slightly older than him. No one can agree which one of them is older. Banba is obviously the eldest and stuck managing them. Maybe until Gold gets here. Unless he’ll have to manage Gold, too.

Touwa’s fast, but Banba outweighs him… A for effort, though, sweetie. <3

To continue reading foreshadowing in everything… I wonder if Touwa commenting he doesn’t think Banba can lose in one v one means we’re eventually going to see just that happen.

Or, potentially, maybe Banba did once lose to someone in one v one?

Or both?

Touwa, honey, I just want you to know I very much support the concept of you and the others just tackling your brother. Like Merry and Pippin w/ Boromir. Just jump him. He could use the hugs.

Banba gazes majestically off into the distance as he prepares to be angsty.

Banba: ‘People will always betray you.’

Me: ‘Who did this to you? SHOW ME SO I CAN STAB THEM W/ THIS FORK TEN MILLION TIMES???’

I so want whoever hurt him like this to be an absolute dickwad and I want to see them get their asses kicked, esp by some truly pissed off little sibs.

By Banba, too, absolutely. But I would kill for an ep where the kids find out what this person did and go on a roaring rampage of protectiveness for their big brother. TT^TT DX

Touwa definitely doesn’t know what happened… DX I think he knew Banba was distrusting towards others and very much a loner, but he looks so sad and confused that I don’t think he knew it went this deep…

I wanna hug my little green gremlin son, too! DX I WANNA HUG ALL OF THEM!

Eh. I’m sure she’s fine.

Mook suit actors, the unsung heroes of any and all Sentai. XD

Hey, Green final slash! And Black again. ^^

XD Touwa. Banba’s just like ‘irritated growl.’ ^^

I’m… Pretty sure Ui just insulted this guy…?

Okay, here’s the thing. I don’t see nobody glowing green and losing life force. So… Did they just decide not to put that effect in, or… Or did the Minusaur actually come from someone else?

Like… Tall Cheese?

Ahem. Sorry. I mean Fita.

Though she’s not glowing either… Augh. I dunno what I’m saying.

Why would they chain up Ui, but not Kou?

Well done, Kou. ^^ Boy’s clever is a fight. XD

… What the heck was that boise and dramatic shot of her face? Where they just trying to remind us she’s an idol? I think it happened when the brothers find her, too… Does it mean something? Hmm… I dunno.

Kou’s reaction is hilarious, though.

Ui’s neck is gonna hurt later… DX

Okay, but later the brothers wake her up just fine? I guess the effects were only temporary… That’s probably why they chained them up, so that they couldn’t escape even when they woke up.

And… Kou’s sense ends here. Why didn’t you call the others, you dork? XD

Hmm… I miss Tankjoh, but I kinda like the new guy’s music…

I think he’s meant to be a drastically different personality. Where Tankjoh was surly and serious, this guy is bombastic and childish.

These are the most badass children I have ever seen.

Actually, that’s not true, but, they’re up there.

I’m wonder if it’s an effect of the brainwashing.

I love that girl in the lavender sweatshirt who just goes for the spinning kick. XD

Touwa probably bothered Banba until he agreed to bring her here. XD Which may have been easier bc Banba probably didn’t want to have to deal w/ her…

Melto thinking ‘oh, crap, she’s pretentious, the only way we’re gonna get her to talk is… *sigh* okay, someone has to take this bullet, it might as well be me…’

Honestly, though, I think the only other person who would possibly be willing to do that is Touwa, and probably not. Asuna wasn’t taking well to getting ordered around, and Banba would never kneel to anyone (… Well… Actually, no comment). My interpretation is that Melto realises she’s rather high and mighty, and that she’ll respond to an act of 'reverence’ like that, and he knows no one else in the room is gonna be willing to do it w/out complaining. So he just steps in to save them all the trouble. Mom friend to the rescue.

Honestly, it’s very sensible of him. ^^

I need to write more w/ Melto… DX

Banba is the back modelling. Bc boy can’t be in a single scene where he isn’t posing in some way at every opportunity.

XD I WAS RIGHT. ^^

Sorry Short Cheese, Banba doesn’t care if you think he has manners (I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to ditch her in the forest earlier XD). Touwa looks slightly miffed, but I think he’s less effected by it coming from you. The only one you’re offending is Asuna. And, actually, I’d advise against that.

Hey, isn’t Asuna also technically a noble?

Asuna’s like ‘First off, how dare you? Second, how dare you? And third… How dare you?’

XD This is even funnier bc of one of my casual ships. ^^

Melto hates this so much, but he’s willing to do it to find out what’s happening. XD Poor baby.

Oh, okay. So the mind control is just his thing.

This is so vague I can’t trust it… I mean, I guess most of it could be on the level, but… Hm. I gotta wonder if they were allowed to escape… And what exactly he’s got on them to have them still be doing this? (Bc next ep pretty much reveals they’re trying to trick the team) Is Short Cheese mind controlled? Is Tall Cheese? They repeat her ‘I would risk my own life to save her’ twice this ep, so I’m guessing Tall Cheese/little sister’s life is still in danger somehow…? I dunno. I guess we’ll learn this weekend.

So… What, you can just teleport? Why didn’t you do that when you were running before? SUSPICIOUS?

Also, I’m not sure I trust these flashbacks either, bc they’re from Short Cheese’s point of view, and next ep indicates she wasn’t being on the level w/ the team. I mean, she’s holding that orange rock in a bottle… But… Did it come from her planet? Is it something they stole from the Druidons? Or is there a part of this story that was left out (actually, that much is obvious bc Short Cheese didn’t mention the rock at all), where the Druidon gave it to her? Too many variables, even if I didn’t know they were up to something.

I should note that it’s pretty obvious they’re not actually evil and are being forced into doing this. They’re only here as guest stars and they’re being promoted as being idols (exhibit A, the abrupt song sequence coming up), so I HIGHLY doubt they’re gonna pull out the rug and make them outright evil.

And, anyway, the next ep preview practically confirms that. XD

Girl in the lavender sweatshirt is ready to kill something, I swear.

I also like the boy in the burgundy and white sweatshirt. XD He’s paying such good attention. ^^

Asuna’s offended, Melto’s somewhere else thinking about Wyzul, Banba doesn’t care and Touwa’s in. XD

Touwa clearly here thinking ‘dear god, I know I never want to go through that… O_o’

Honey, I am so sorry, but I make no promises. DX

That’s a very direct question, but no less then I’d expect from Banba. Though also… Kinda odd? What are you trying to establish here, sweetie? Why are you asking this?

This line is very important, clearly. They repeat it twice. Pretty sure it’s to make us understand that whatever is going on next ep, it’s bc the sisters are trying to protect each other. Like I said, I’m presuming that Tall Cheese is actually still in danger somehow.

WHAT WAS HE TRYING TO ESTABLISH W/ THAT QUESTION? And then he just accepts her answer? I’m confused…

I really can’t tell if he’s finding something odd w/ this, or if he’s accepting it bc he’s sympathising w/ her… DX Tatsuya is being unreadable too well! DX

And then she… Just starts singing? Like, I love this show, but… There could’ve been a better lead up to that.

Though I do love Naohisa reacting to the lights. XD

So… Was this just a random musical interlude, or… Was she doing something? I guess it was so that Kou could hear it and make the connection, but the execution could have gone a little better.

Banba takes that extra moment to pose. XD

Untransformed fight! ^^

I love how Banba just delays transforming to take off. :D

I needed to use a new emoticon.

Kou’s little ‘Ah!’ and pointing when the kids show up! XD

Girl in the lavender sweatshirt is going to cut something.

See, this is an effective use of the singing.

Uh… What. Melto, what does that… Whatever. Sentai logic.

Now he says ‘Okay, Tyra!’ instead of just ‘Tyra!’

SOMEONE TEACH HIM TOUWA AND BANBA’S NAMES!

Banba would be SO AWKWARD. XD

Oh, NOW you transform. XD Well, we wouldn’t have had that beautiful weapon toss if you had before. ^^

See? We bring up the line again, and there’s a weird sound cue? Does it mean anything?

Touwa sees the other smollest sib and must immediately go help her. XD

I do like the improve mobility of this mech. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adored the clusterfuck of orbs that was the Kyuranger mecha, but… It’s nice to seem something more dynamic once in a while?

Kudos the new suit actor, too. Whose name still escapes me… DX

Convenient train tracks. XD Sentai logic.

Actually, just Toku logic.

I love MirNeedle and his honk and his spinning attack. XD

Could you be more tsundere in one sentence???

Touwa’s just like ‘stages of realising your brother is a tsundere, stage 3: acceptance’

Kou doesn’t mind, though. XD

I do think Banba is starting to kind of like the trio, but boy is very damaged and the concept scares him, so he’s trying to fight it as much as possible, even though it’s just kind of a slight, vague fondness at this point.

Like, eventually, he’s going to end up adopting them, it’s going to happen, he’s going to have at least four younger sibs, actually five. But we’re not there quite yet.

I would love a ‘we’re not each other’s only family anymore’ sort of thing from the brothers. Or maybe one of the trio telling them that. XD

One day, a Mosasaurus will be in that empty spot, I bet.

Melto and Banba on the same wavelength. ^^

So… The Minusaur host is dead now?

This is cute, but I already know there’s more to this.

XD Oh, Banba. You’re starting to like them, I know you are. You’re not getting out of this. Though I do get why you really don’t want that to happen.

Though I do think his getting emotional next week is a partially due to it. ^^ Like, yes, there’s the fact that he’s mad at Kou for being too trusting, and that it might be dangerous for all of them/earth, but… I dunno. Probably overthinking.

But I’m gonna wax on about that shot in the preview later, don’t worry. XD

Or worry, if you don’t want to hear my rambling. In… Which case why would you even be reading this.

Melto on point again. XD I really need to write more w/ you… DX

Though on the other hand, I guess there’s a possibility that she could have read it in Naohisa’s papers at the house, or he said it to her. But she didn’t seem interested in the research, and they could just ask Naohisa if he mentioned it.

Hm… Maybe they’re waiting to update the ED until Gold gets here.

Why does Kou have the inflation Soul activated?

… That sounds like he knows way  more about economics than he actually does. XD

As far as the preview, I like the drama that seems to be happening. ^^ Maybe they’ll finally give us some slightly more concrete info on what happened to Banba. Or just… Anything about the brothers’ past? And what about that hooded person? The sisters are up to something, but they’re obviously being forced into it somehow, Wyzul is definitely the sneaky type. We’re also heading into May, which means DimeVolcano and possibly Gaisorg/Gaisoulg? Though he wasn’t in any of the scans so even if his figurine is releasing, we likely won’t be seeing him until the very end/month after.

Pleasedon’tbeGoldpleasedon’tbeGoldpleasedon’tbeGold.

There are so many better possibilities. DX I know who I want it to be (even though I don’t strictly know ‘who’ that is XD), but there are other possibilities too.

And while I would like to see next ep, I am also curious about the arc coming after it. I really wanna know if my crazed visual analysis madness was right about it only being the kids who are trapped in Wonderland and Banba is trying to get them out. I wanna know.

Hm… Does anyone know where the ‘newspaper summaries’ come from? Like, we got the ones from 5 to 7… Are we gonna get ones for 8 to 11 at some point?

I am an impatient baby. DX ^^;

That’s all folks! Virtual chocolate eclairs for anyone who read all that. But, actually, that’s not all! I still wanna ramble about something—namely, and silly personal theory/hc of mine.

Bc of this face:

Okay, so. During that conversation where Banba did the whole ‘Kindness can make one weak’ thing, I mentioned that I found Kou’s reaction interesting? Bc it might’ve been in his characterisation to get mad and insist that kindness does not make people weak—esp since he clearly still doesn’t think that. But instead, he just looked a little hurt, and looked sad? Like… It seemed to me he was more saddened that Banba thought that way at all than being offended by the statement. Not ‘how could you think that?!’ but more… Like ‘that’s so sad that you’ve been made to believe that?’ If that makes sense? That somehow, Kou caught on that Banba has this view bc he was hurt terribly in the past? And then there’s this face here. Boy looks like a sad puppy. It’s totally my skewed interpretation bc I had that thought before, but to me it looks like he’s looking at Banba like… Empathetically? Like he pities him? So now I’m falling even deeper into the idea that Kou doesn’t find Banba’s distrust of others insulting of offensive in anyway, but is just sad for the fact that someone could come to think that way. Realises that Banba is like this bc he got hurt and is scared, and is just heartbroken by that? That someone could get hurt so badly that they lose faith in nearly all goodness in the world? I might like it if there’s a moment where Kou proves he’s more thoughtful than he seems (like, he can be thoughtful, he has his moments—though he is still an impulsive, goofy doofus) by, like, outright asking Banba what happened to him. That’d def throw Banba for a loop, I think. This is, of course, just my overthinking and incoherent rambling. But I do like the idea. ^^ Last note: my god Tatsuya has pretty eyelashes! DX

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random musing…

… Thoughts that popped into my head last night:

Banba is absolutely the ‘pull into the drive-through, buy one black coffee and leave’ type.

Melto is ‘we have food at home.’

Ui and/or her father would be also chanting ‘MCDONALDS MCDONALDS MCDONALDS’… (though I’m not convinced Ui wouldn’t be part of the kids…)

The kids would be Kou, Touwa, and Asuna (and maybe Ui, too).

Meanwhile, the Elder is off in the triangle’s fourth corner like ‘why go to McDonalds when you can come to me kebab truck!’ or something.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Ryusoulger Raw post #1…

… Will there be a #2? Who knows! Not me!

But I’m rather tired and I got really excited, so here ya go.

Spoilers abound.

In no order, and I apologise for any nonsense that may ensue:

We just go straight into the opening again. How they decide that? Flip a coin?

Recap the previous … Yay, Touwa’s not dead. I’m so shocked. XD

I’m kidding. But I don’t know why we needed Melto to tell us that.

Banba’s doing his arm folding thing again. Oh my god he’s pretty. DX

Kou smile!

Naohisa is back! And I still think I’m spelling that wrong…

Come to think of it… Who the hell did he take that stuff to? Where was he? Are he and the Elder in cahoots?

Actually, that’s… Not impossible.

Already know that it turns out they need a sample to make the antidote, so I presume that’s what he’s telling them.

Oh. Oh, yeah, pretty sure I was right. He looks gorgeous, but Banba is very much in pain right now. I mean, from his point of view, he just got told he destroyed the only way to save his brother. That’s gotta hurt. And he’s probably already blaming himself for letting this happen in the first place…

Ah! My little green gremlin son! DX

I already want to hug Banba, but now I really want to hug him. He looks so upset… All these kids have their own brand of puppy dog eyes, I think.

Poor Kou has spent roughly half of this two parter rushing after Banba whenever Black runs out the door abruptly. XD

Is… Is mushroom crayon man starting his own YouTube channel?

Gods, I really love mook suit actors in Sentai. Can always count on them for comic relief and just going all out in getting dramatically beat up.

Big Brother Mode –– ACTIVATED.

And now, in which, were it not for outside circumstance, Crayon would be dead.

The fact that Kou was like ‘likelihood I find Banba trying to kill something indicates I should transform even before I find him’ is hilarious to me.

I love the fact that Asuna and Ui spend the entire time sitting up and Banba spends it standing. Like, what, we couldn’t let these three lie down, too? I mean, I guess Touwa was the one who was bitten, but… Did no one really think to get Banba a chair?

Then again, would he have sat in it?

HOW DID KOU OPEN THE DOOR?

Banba is glaring like ‘if I wasn’t in literal agony right now and actually dying, I would so be killing all of you for this humiliation.’ Boy does not like having to be carried. XD

Shocked Kou is really cute and I want to pinch his cheeks. ^^

Banba might be dying of poison, but he still has to be grumpy. It’s his brand.

I hate the ‘poisoned’ Toku makeup, but even it cannot stop Tatsuya from being amazingly beautiful. XD

Hmm… Well, Melto just said something that made Banba think of something. Not sure what though.

Smiley Kou! ^^

Congrats, Melto! You have now been promoted to being directly addressed!

Banba, I’m sure you have something important to say, but… Do you have to almost threateningly lurch over here to say it?

Why are y’all goofing off like this all of a sudden?

Crayon, don’t break the fourth wall, you disturb me.

Okay, given context, what I think Melto says is that Banba told him where he found the Minusaur before.

Context bc the two of them immediately run there.

Crayon says something about ‘otoutou’ but I don’t know if that meant what I thought it meant?

Dude, I know you’re goo, but… Seriously? Don’t put your hand in an untrained animal’s mouth.

You go, boys! ^^

Aaaaand… Melto’s down!

Actually, though, out of all of them, Melto’s the one being most crazy whilst dying of poison… Like he got back up and was fighting untransformed. Yes, Kou let himself get bitten, but let’s give Melto some credit, too.

I really think Banba would have been more inclined to wait and give them more of a chance if it weren’t for Touwa. But Touwa is the most important person to him in the world, and, coupled w/ his other trust issues, he’s scared to rely on, essentially, strangers for this.

But, more importantly, where was he keeping the sword??? In his sleeve?

Same place Akashi kept Zuuban, I suppose.

Yeah, this is a perfect storm of Banba is afraid to trust or have faith in anyone else and the fact that the person he would absolutely sacrifice everything for is at risk.

I really want to know what Banba and Touwa say in this scene… Like, I think I get what Asuna says, she’s saying that she has faith in Kou and Melto, and they should, too, but… I dunno. Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s Maybel––wait, no.

But, like… Banba seems like he’s having some sort of dramatic reaction to what Touwa is saying? And whether that’s just floating drama bc they’re all dying of poison and he’s desperate to save his brother or whatnot, or if there’s something big here… I wanna know! DX

Pretty sure he’s saying if they all die there’d be no one to stop the Druidon. But I still think that he’d be more willing (even if only incremently so) to wait it out if it were just him and/or some combination of the others. Touwa being in danger (and him probably blaming himself for part of it) is likely throwing him even more off balance.

So, we all know from the magazine that Banba doesn’t trust anyone but Touwa bc he was betrayed before, and I definitely think this is setting up the path to that being revealed? If that makes sense? Hopefully they do it steadily/don’t wait too long.

Tatsuya still rocking the awful poison makeup like a boss. XD

I feel like you can see the switch flip when Asuna brings up believing/trusting the other two (at least, I presume that’s what she’s saying?). Like, by the end of her speech, Banba almost looks like he’s having war flashbacks or something? Esp when Touwa weighs in… I dunno how to describe it. Maybe after I’ve rested.

Oh, baby… He’s so upset and scared and in pain. Like, no, don’t stab the nice animal lady, but I do get you’re not rational rn…

That took tremendous effort. Like, he’s having to force himself to rely/something sort of like trust others. (I don’t think we can quite call it trust yet)

But he definitely looks like he’s having some sort of trauma reaction to the concept of ‘trust.’

Aaaaaand… Kou is down!

Aaaaaand… Kou has a dumb plan.

Throwing the sword was not necessary. You could have forced it to bite the sword.

WHY. WHY KEBABS. WHAT. WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING.

Also, nice save, Tyramigo!

Yes, yes, I see the Gold foreshadowing. But how deep does it go?

Melto’s like ‘I was afraid of you before, but not in that outfit, and not while I’m dying of poison.’

But also, WHY.

Banba can’t do anything w/out looking majestic. It’s in his contract. He’s the Knight of Majesty for a reason. XD

I feel like the other four are giving a speech, and then Banba’s just like ‘I’m only here bc I am thoroughly pissed off!’

I love MirNeedle and his honking noise.

He spin!

Double sword attack, while Banba and Asuna each get their own thing.

Also, only Touwa’s gets a cool name. XD

Touwa gets payback. ^^

Ui’s so perky. God love you, sweetie. Acting like you weren’t dying two minutes ago, too. <3

WHEN DID THEY GET IN THE AIR???

I feel like the sword is about to eat me…

For a balloon thing, that was pretty tame, actually.

Banba says something, and then Touwa, I think, something like, ‘don’t you mean ‘thank you’?’ and then Banba gets awkward and it’s SO CUTE! DX

Smiley Kou again!

Kou is like ‘we’re friends!’ and Banba is like ‘oh no, he’s adorable’ but then immediately switches back to ‘I’m sorry, you must be a level 4 friend to unlock my tragic backstory.’

Like, he literally stares at him for moment, like… I dunno. I’ll have to think more about what I think that moment means. He looks kinda… Shocked?

Then he, like, has to recollect himself to brush him off.

Did he just say that all in one breath?

Touwa’s shrug there tells me he either doesn’t know anything about the betrayal, or doesn’t know how badly it effected his brother. My guess is the former.

Love how the trio are already getting fond of Banba’s standoffishness.

They’re teasing her, but I can’t figure out about what…

Oh, I’m sorry, mr Elder whose wig doesn’t match? Are my sons not included in your cryptic prophesying? Well fine then. I’ll do it myself. XP

And believe me, they don’t want me doing that, so you’d better include my boys in whatever it is.

Well, the sisters are def suspicious, way frillier than I thought they’d be, and there seems to be a mind control plot? Wonder how the brothers are going to react to the apparent situation?

Sigh. Watching Sentai live is so painful. Now I have to wait until next week. DX

That’s all, folks! Digital chocolate torte for anyone who read all that.

Really tired, don’t have much else to say. Even more curious about Banba’s backstory. Pettily annoyed that whatever dramaticness the Elder was musing on at the end apparently doesn’t include my sons. (Petty, I know, but they’re Ryusoulgers, too, shouldn’t they be part of whatever yours prophesying? XP).

So, anyway. Curious about what these sisters are up to next week. Seems like their voices control people, or maybe I’m misinterpreting. Still loving this series.

Very tired.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing Demo 2 + Edit?…

… No videogame in the world ever released two demos in such quick succession. DX

There goes my metaphor.

The rest still holds, though! This is definitely rough around the edges, and I don’t know if it will be the same in the final version.

Long Post.

This is also known as the moment when trying to refer to everyone got really confusing… ^^;

This Demo occurs after the events of the previous one. But how did we get here?: Before they leave the house, the brothers make Ui promise not to say anything to the others. With their departure, Ui is left to try and get the trio back to their senses alone, as her father is on an extended field expedition. This proves difficult, as the three are quite devastated. As time wears on, she begins to make some progress, but becomes increasingly concerned when they continue not to hear anything from Touwa and Banba. But just when she’s about to forgo her promise and tell the trio everything—despite how painful it would be—there’s a pounding at the door. Ui goes to investigate, but finds nothing there—at least, until something on the ground catches her attention…

Ui stumbled back into the room, wavering on her feet, her face paler than a sheet, hands shaking. She seemed to be trying to say something—her lips were moving, but nothing came out, even as she repetitively pushed something, cupped tightly in her trembling hands, toward them.

Then she stumbled, and started a sharp plummet to the floor. That was enough rouse Asuna to movement, at least, flashing forward to catch the other girl in her arms. After some scrambling, they got themselves in a more comfortable position—Ui leaning frailly against Asuna’s side, still trembling like a leaf, while Pink had her arms wrapped around her shoulders.

“Ui!” Melto’s voice voice was blurry and slow, but it gained urgency as he sluggishly struggled to his feet and moved to her, taking her hands in his. “… You’re bleeding.” Kou shambled over to stand by Blue’s shoulder, peering at what he saw. There was, indeed, red smudged on Ui’s fingers and knuckles, in a familiar pattern they all recognised from scrapes they’d had in the past.

But Ui shook her head frantically, tears brimming in her eyes. Finally, a shred of her voice slipped through. “… Not… Not me…” She mumbled. Then her breathing hitch and she burst into a loud sob. Her hands began to shake so violently that what she was holding slipped from them, falling past Melto’s hands; two small, light objects. On some subconscious instinct, Kou dove forward to catch them—stepping back, he lifted them up to see what they were.

He froze. A necklace and bracelet, each with a pendant zigzagged like a lightning bolt, with a coloured stone set in the side of them, dangling from a braided black cord. The latch of the necklace was snapped and the bracelet cord was ripped—like they had been wrenched off their wearers. And he knew them. Had seen them hundreds of times before, including just that morning, before everything went to hell. He didn’t need the colour of the stones to know who they belonged to.

And as he turned them over in his hands, he realised what Ui meant.

There were dark blotches on the latch of the necklace and on both pendants, of a rusty brown colour; and when the cords brushed his skin, they left dark red smears like the ones on Ui’s hands.

Ui wasn’t bleeding at all. The blood wasn’t hers.

“Those are…” Melto whispered, slowly releasing Ui’s hands to step closer to Kou and peer at the pendants. “Then…” He glanced between the red on Ui’s hands and that on Kou’s. “Then… That’s…” He trailed off in horror.

There was a very long silence.

It was broken by a whimper. “They were… On the ground… On the door step…” Ui sobbed. “… Just… Left… On the ground…” Her breath hitched, and her lip was quivering. “… It’s my fault…” Her voice cracked, and tears began to pour in earnest down her cheeks. “It’s my fault… I should never have… I should never have let them go…” She put her head down on Asuna’s shoulder and began to cry into Pink’s shirt.

“Ui…” Asuna finally found her voice, shaky and weak, squeezing Ui’s shoulders—just a little too tightly, her knuckles paling, though Ui didn’t seem to notice. “… Let them go where?”

“The… The clones…” Ui stammered softly, unable to raise her head from Pink’s shoulder. “They went to fight the clones…”

Melto’s jaw dropped. “Wh… What? Alone?” Ui merely nodded.

Asuna looked between the other two. “… You… Don’t think…” She murmured faintly, “You don’t think they were… Trying to… Protect… Us?” Her teeth sank into her lip so hard it cracked a little, and she blinked furiously—fighting back her own tears in favour of rearranging her arms around Ui, shifting her hands so that they were clenching fistfuls of the other girl’s shirt rather than her arms so as not to accidentally hurt her.

Blue gazed dazedly back at her, realisation dawning on his face. His shoulders slumped, and he leaned heavily against the table. “So that… We didn’t have to…”

Kou just stared at the pendants in his hands in silent horror. Between Touwa’s speed and Banba’s skill, it would be nigh impossible for anyone to get close enough to remove the pendants from them at all. The damage could have meant they were removed in a struggle, but the blood… He couldn’t stop thinking about when the items had been whole, about the last time he’d seen them on their owners—clinging to Banba’s chest, Touwa’s hands on his and Melto’s shoulders. Green’s hand had been warm, and Black’s heartbeat had been strong and steady through his vest. Just a few hours ago, both had been very much alive. And now… Now they had nothing but blood on a broken necklace and bracelet.

Kindness costs.

Had the brothers paid for his, Melto’s, and Asuna’s hesitation with their lives?

Ui’s phone made a sound, and the screen lit up, making everyone else look at it. Ui tried to reach and pick it up from beneath Asuna’s arm, but her hands were shaking too badly and she only succeeded in dropping it immediately. Melto wobbled upright and retrieved it instead, unlocking the screen in the practiced way he’d achieved after watching Ui do it multiple times.

Looking at the notification, he frowned. “A news alert…?” He shot a glance at Ui, who merely shrugged weakly, going back to leaning on Asuna. Melto’s frown deepened, and he tapped the screen to open the link.

It looked like an ordinary news broadcast—except that the banner running across the bottom of the screen was addressing them directly, demanding their attention. Blue touched Red’s elbow to make him finally look up from staring at the Black and Green pendants. For a moment, the camera was pointed at nothing, and then a hand appeared from offscreen, spinning it around, to focus on…

Kou’s breath stopped.

The clone was still a perfect copy of Master Red in image, but the look in the eyes was completely wrong—void of the kindness and affection that belonged there. And even though he couldn’t stop the way his heart still swelled instinctively at even just seeing his mentor’s face again, there was now a cold prick of realisation; from what Ui had said, the brothers had gone to confront the cloned Masters, and never come back.

That meant that this person, with the face of someone he’d loved and respected, was responsible for the bloodied pendants in his hands.

“This is a message for the three pathetic excuses for knights who ran away.” The fake declared, staring out of the screen like he could somehow see them through it, “And you’d better watch, because this will be your only chance to hear it.” Utter silence filled the room, save for Ui’s muted sniffles. The clone heaved a deep sigh, pacing across the screen. “Your cowardice has forced us to resort to more… Extreme measures.” He came to a short stop, spinning on his heel to face the camera again. “Because you have been so… Unwilling to accept your fate, it has become necessary for us to seek out some more effective… Motivation.” He smiled, then—a frightening, sadistic smile that looked so wrong on that face that Kou almost threw up. “I trust that, by now, you’ve received our gifts.” Red’s hands subconsciously tightened on the pendants in his hands, squeezing so hard the metal bent slightly. “Then you’ll be relieved to learn…” The clone stepped toward the camera, and slowly turned it around, away from him, “… That your precious deserters are still alive.”

All of them let out a collective breath of relief. On the screen were, indeed, Banba and Touwa. They were both chained up to stone pillars in what appeared to be the ruins of another temple, and both looked distinctly worse for wear—but they were, without a doubt, alive. Touwa was fidgeting against the restraints, and though Banba was slumped against the pillar he was secured to, even on the tiny phone screen, they could see he was breathing.

“… They’re alive…” Melto managed, reaching blindly for the table to stable himself. “Thank goodness…” Ui blubbered for a moment, almost smiling—then began crying anew, diving back into Asuna’s shoulder while Pink patted her back—looking ready to faint, like a weight too heavy for even her had been lifted off her back. Kou collapsed into a chair, cradling both the necklace and bracelet to his chest, his grip easing slightly, fingers unlocking.

But the relief quickly became tinged with dread. The phone screen was small and a little hard to see, but there was a wound above Touwa’s elbow and one on his head, blood running down his arm and smeared across his forehead—and there were probably other, smaller injuries that they couldn’t see on the video. Banba, meanwhile, was even worse—it looked like the only thing keeping him upright was the pillar he was chained to; there was an ugly stab wound in his shoulder, another large gash across his chest, and they couldn’t attribute how pale he was to the video quality alone.

And the cruelty they could see in the fake Master’s eyes was the opposite of reassuring.

“Well…” The clone in question mused, stepping back onto the screen with his arms folded, casting a faux thoughtful glance at the two hostages, “… Just barely.” His gaze flicked back to the camera, “And whether they stay that way depends on you three.” A few steps brought him back to the centre, staring directly out of the video again. “Meet us at the entrance to the southernmost temple in four hours. If you don’t…” He sent a dark glance over his shoulder at the brothers, the twisted smile creeping onto his face again. “… The next delivery might be even more bloody.” With an equally terrifying chuckle, he sidled back a step “Don’t worry. Maybe we’ll only kill one of them and give you a second chance. Black doesn’t seem like he’ll last much longer, anyway.” For a moment, the clone pretended to consider again. “Though… Perhaps that gives the perfect opportunity to… Reenforce the message.” He gave some sort of hand sign over his shoulder.

Movement in the background made them suddenly realise that the fake Master Blue and Master Pink were in the scene too; they had been standing in the shadows, but at the clone Red’s signal, they both came forward. The fake Pink produced a RyusoulKen—one of the brothers’—and set it against Touwa’s chest as if to ensure he would stay still. Green was clearly as bewildered as they were—at least, until the fake Blue moved threateningly toward Banba.

Touwa went insane. They could hear him shouting for the clones to stay away, and he began kicking and struggling; but the chains and the sword edge against his chest kept him in place. The clone Blue ignored him completely, nudging Black in the arm with his foot once, like he was checking for a reaction—because when their other hostage shifted slightly and winced, he seemed satisfied. Moving closer, he proceeded to set his foot directly on Banba’s injured shoulder and stepped down on it sharply.

For a moment, nothing happened. The only sounds were Touwa’s protests—though Kou would swear he could see Black’s teeth gritting and his hands clenching as he held it in. But then the false Blue twisted his foot and stepped harder, and even the Majestic Knight’s will broke.

They’d seen Banba in emotional pain before, when Touwa had been hurt. But this was different. Equally awful to hear, but also somehow more horrible—an agonised, broken scream that sounded like it was being dragged from his lung by claws. A cry that all of them knew was going to be permanently burned into their memories as one of the single worst sounds they’d ever heard. The fake didn’t let up, either, and the sound continued, pausing only sporadically when Black tried to breathe.

Ui clamped her hands over her ears and tried to hide in Asuna’s mantle, while Pink closed her eyes and ducked her face into the other girl’s hair. All the colour drained from Melto’s face, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head in horror, but he didn’t look away, even though his hand was shaking almost too badly to hold the phone. Kou clutched the pendants in his hands so tightly, it felt like they were cutting into his palms. On the screen, Touwa had resorted to begging them to stop, his voice cracking.

Finally, the fake Red made another gesture, and the Blue clone moved back, taking his foot off Black’s wound. Banba slumped against the column even more than before, trying to catch his breath while his brother called his name. The fake Pink stepped away from Green as well, tucking the RyusoulKen she was holding back under her arm.

The clone of Master Red turned the camera around to focus on him again. “Four hours.” He reminded them impassively, “Or it’s going to get much worse.” The malicious smirk flashed once more. “Do try not to be late?”

Then the feed cut.

There’s more to this, but demos are supposed to cliffhang to keep people interested, right?

Am I cliffhanging right? I hope both the Demos did cliffhanging right… DX

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing Possibilities Can She Fit It In One Post?…

… I don’t actually know. Can I?

I decided fudge it, I’m gonna post this, I need something else to think about.

So this is a 'possibility’ bc I’m not sure I’m gonna expand it. The other one(s) I’m still working away on, but I dunno how, if, or when I’m gonna do more of this. Even more hazy than a demo.

Anyway, I got a random idea in my head. I was not expecting my head to run a bloody MARATHON w/ it.

(the joke of the title is that I’m still not sure if there are post length limits—bc this is LONG)

Short summary of what leads up to these events, notably, from the trio’s point of view:

They beat the Minusaur/whatever, and head back the Tatsui house, where usual goofing off ensues. Meanwhile, a giant thunderstorm raises outside, but they’re all safe in the house, being their absolutely goofy selves… Until there’s a knock on the door.

Banging on the door interrupted everything. They all froze, turning to look towards the front door, then the clock, then at each other, anxiously. After a few moments of silence, the pounding came again, more urgently.

Naohisa finally broke the silence. “Who could that be at this hour?” He mused, getting up from his chair to make his way to the door. “Good evening!” They all heard him begin brightly, opening it, “I’m afraid that we’re-” His voice stopped abruptly. There was a long silence.

“… Touwa?”

There was an edge of alarm and concern in his tone that had them all crowding forward even before he could step out of the way to allow the boy in—and when they saw Touwa, they immediately understood.

Green looked like a lost kitten who’d been left in a storm. He was soaked to the bone, clothes clinging to his body so tightly that it was frightfully apparent just how thin he was—it seemed a miracle he hadn’t been blown away by the wind. A blue tinge in his lips stood out against his deathly pale skin, and he was shivering so badly that his knees were knocking together almost cartoonishly, and Melto was already halfway through reaching for a blanket before he’d even stumbled through the doorframe.

But what was worse was that he’d been crying. It was hard to see through the wet and cold; but his eyes were red and puffy, and his lip was trembling. The distress in his expression wasn’t just that of discomfort or chill—he looked… Frightened. Desperate, broken. … Betrayed.

Ui had caught his arm and Melto was trying to get the blanket over his shoulders by the time he finally stilled his quivering lip enough to speak. “I… I…” He stammered breathlessly, huddling into himself, gripping the edges of the blanket to pull it close as it was wrapped around him. “I’m… I’m sorry…” The word trailed off into a whimper for a moment before he could continue. “I’m sorry… I couldn’t… Couldn’t…” They all stared at him. He took a few more deep gulps of air, as his voice began to waver again. “… This… This is…” His voice cracked. “I had nowhere else to go!”

Then his strength ran out, and he dropped like a stone.

“Touwa? Touwa, what happened?”

Working together, Melto and Ui had gotten Touwa to the couch. He’d regained consciousness on the way, which had given them the chance to get him into some dry clothes (old articles of Naohisa’s, patched and worn—but Green hadn’t even noticed, though they’d expected him to sneer), and wrap him in blankets before sitting him down. Now he was leaning on Ui’s side, clutching the mug of cocoa she’d pushed into his hands before sitting next to him.

Melto was crouched on his other side, hand on his shoulder beneath the blankets, brows drawn together worriedly. “Touwa?” He asked again, more urgently, though his voice stayed gentle. “Touwa, talk to us.”

“… We had a fight.” Green mumbled, eyes unfocused, looking at nothing.

Asuna was hovering by the end of the sofa anxiously. “A fight? About what?” Pink’s voice was several octaves higher than usual. Touwa just curled further into the blanket, holding his cocoa tighter and huddling closer against Ui.

Kou had been obsessively peeking out the windows and through the door, into the stormy night, but finally came over. “But what about…” He paused, searching for how to continue, before finally just asking, “… Where’s Banba?”

“Don’t know.” Touwa whispered hoarsely, still disappearing into the blankets—then, more quietly, “… Don’t care.”

Silence swept the room, and they all stared at him.

Kou opened and closed his mouth, falling back a step—then he whirled around and raced out the door, into the rain himself.

“Kou!” Asuna called, starting after him—but it didn’t take long to lose him in the storm, and she was soon forced back inside. When Melto and Ui gave her a questioning looks, she shook her head. “… He’s gone.”

It quickly occurred to Kou that he had no idea where the brothers had been staying—though even if he had, would Banba even still be there? He’d tried calling, multiple times, but had received no answer. The weather seemed to be getting even worse, too, making traversing the streets even harder. If he searched blindly, he might never find Black—and there was a dread, creeping feeling in his chest that leaving Banba alone for too long right now would be a bad idea.

So instead, he found out the highest building he could and activated MieSoul. He scanned the area, trying to focus on the more secluded, wooded places he could find, squinting through the downpour. The forecast had already made Ui ask the two if they’d wanted to stay over as early as that morning, and though they’d turned that down, Touwa’s disheveled state when he’d arrived indicated they might not have found good shelter of their own; even if Banba hadn’t wandered away from it, it was most likely in an isolated, hidden area. All he found, however, was nothing. His anxiety mounted, eating away at his stomach as he continued looking, rushing to each side of the roof, searching in all directions.

The brothers had been each other’s only family, been on their own for who knew how long… A fight fracturing them to the point of Touwa walking all the way to the Tatsui house and saying he didn’t care where Banba was on a night like this had to be serious. Touwa, the more open one, had sought out safety, but his more reclusive brother… More than likely, Banba was out in the storm, alone, and probably hurting.

Kou wasn’t about to leave him there.

Just when he was about to seek out a new vantage point, he saw him. Only for a second, a flash of black against the white face of a distant cliff before disappearing into the trees around it. Relief swept over Kou, but horror set back in when he noticed something more—Banba had been leaning heavily on the stone, and when he stumbled out of sight, the Soul’s enhancement of his vision revealed a thin trail of red smeared on the rocks even as the rain washed it away.

He was racing for the stairs before the Soul’s effects finished wearing off.

His limbs were numb from cold and his feet aching by the time he reached the spot, but he didn’t stop, following the way he had seen Black go. Ignoring the way his lungs were burning from practically inhaling water, pushing his hair out of his eyes when it slid down his forehead as he went, he followed the rock wall, trudging through the mud.

He heard Black, first—a distant explosion. Then, in an eruption of dark light, Banba crashed through the trees to the rocky ground just in front of him.

“Banba!” Rushing forward, Kou fell to his knees beside him, trying to help his teammate as he struggled to get back up.

Banba was drenched through and worryingly pale, as well; and when Kou laid a hand on his arm, he could feel the other Ryusoulger shivering, just slightly—probably restrained either by force of will or denial. But whatever he’d been doing that had sent him flying, he’d been doing it repeatedly; there were blistering, cracking burns on both his hands, and he had multiple nasty bruises and scratches on his face and body—including a particularly bad one on his upper arm that had gone right through the wet fabric of his shirt, staining it red all the way down his arm, and blood mixed with rainwater was running down his forehead from his hairline, implying there was another cut on his head. His breathing was ragged, and his movements were awkward and uncoordinated, lacking his usual, calculated grace. There was a redness in his eyes that Kou suspected weren’t merely because of fatigue, though that was practically radiating from Black, and even his breathing sounded like he was almost sobbing.

Instinctively, Kou’s hand tightened on his arm, carefully avoiding the wound as best he could. “Are… Are you alright?” It was a stupid question, really, but his voice was getting stuck in his throat, his brain shorting out from panic.

Banba just glared at him, though it was tempered by his exhaustion and an unconscious grimace of pain as he continued trying to get up, shoving Red away so hard he knocked him to the ground. “… Fine.” He snarled, casting around for his RyusoulKen, stabbing it into a nearby tree trunk to pull himself up, then tried to stumble away—limping slightly.

Kou scrambled back to his own feet, rushing after him. “Touwa came to the house.” He panted—Black froze, head turning slightly. “What-”

“He went there? Is… Is he…” Without anger in it, Banba’s voice was faint and breathless, barely audible in the rain, even though Kou had moved closer, but Red immediately fell silent at the sound of it. “… Is he… Alright?”

“… Well, he’s probably got a cold, but…” Something about the way Banba’s shoulders tensed made him stop. “… Yeah. He’s alright.”

Banba sighed deeply, like a weight was lifted from his back. “… That’s good…” An almost smile flickered across his face—before it, too, was swallowed by something darker. With a small grunt of pain, he started hobbling away again.

“What are you doing?”

“Not important.”

“Doesn’t seem that way.” Banba said nothing, and kept stumbling off. “… He said you guys had a fight.”

Black paused again, leaning heavily on a tree, almost looking over his shoulder again. “It’s nothing. Go home, Kou.”

“No.” Red hurried over as best he could to get in front of the other Ryusoulger again. “I’m not going anywhere.” Looking at how hurt and haggard Banba was made his chest clench, but he forced himself to do so. “I want to help. You’re our friend.”

Banba scoffed, shaking his head, sending water droplets flying—then he wobbled like the motion had made him dizzy. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.” He grumbled, then raised an arm, weakly trying to shove Kou out of the way. “Get out of here. Now. I’m busy.”

Instead, Kou grabbed his wrist and held on.  “I’m not leaving. I’m not… I’m not leaving you out here!” His voice finally cracked, a tremble sliding into it. “You’re hurting yourself!”

“Leave!” Jerking his arm free with unexpected force, Black took a swing at Red with his sword—but it was clumsy, and there was no intention behind it. Kou dodged easily, but the motion twisted the gash on Banba’s arm, and he staggered, wincing, his other hand moving to clutch the wound. When he raised his head to glare through the rain, it was at less than half its usual capacity. “I’m fine!” But his voice was thick with pain—and something else, as well.

He moved forward again, and when Banba tried to shove him back once more, he reacted by catching Black by the elbows, pinning his arms to his sides, then shoving him gently but firmly against the tree next to them when he kept struggling. Even with the tree at his back, Banba still continued fighting, but his attempts were weary and weakening, and he couldn’t find the leverage to throw Kou off. Red waited, putting as much strength as he dared into keeping the other Ryusoulger’s arms held fast against the tree trunk, trying to be at least a little careful with Black’s injuries and how fragile he looked under the irritated mask—but he was still close enough he could just feel the frantic pounding of Banba’s heart through his chest, and each time Black flinched in pain, he felt a pang of guilt, a jab far more icy than even the storm pelting down upon them.

“… Stop it.” He whispered, the cracks in his voice only widening. “Stop it! Please!” His fingers curled tighter around Banba’s elbows, and warm water, not rain, stung his eyes. “Look at me.” Emotion choked the words, but they were still fierce and urgent. “Banba, look at me!” Banba resisted for another moment, but his efforts were even more feeble than before; finally, however, though slowly and reluctantly, he raised his eyes to meet his teammate’s.

There was something in them—a desperate, vulnerable, scared look, that broke Kou’s heart.

Loosening his grip slightly, while making sure to still keep Banba trapped against the tree so that he didn’t attempt escape again, he worked to try and make sure his voice would be calmer before he spoke again. “… Tell me what happened.”

Banba took a deep, shaking breath, his eyes closing like he was in agony for a moment. He was silent for a long time.  “… I lied.” The words were hardly a breath, a murmur in the pouring rain, and sounded like they had been dragged from him, delicately, but unwillingly.

Kou blinked, staring at him. “… What?”

It was like something snapped. Black sagged, his shoulders slumping, and Kou almost feared he’d fall all the way to the ground. “… I… I lied.” He repeated, slightly louder, his voice breaking, too. “I…” He crumpled forward, almost falling into Red.

Kou’s hand flew up to brace him by his shoulder on the uninjured side. “Hey. Hey.” He got Banba supported by the tree again, then moved his hand to cup his teammate’s face, trying to keep his eyes up. “Hey, look at me. Stay with me.” He waited until Black’s gaze—uncertain, frightened, lonely—returned to his face. “Lied about what?”

“I… I told him they died nobly.” A faraway look came onto Banba’s face, one mixed with guilt. “I told him… I didn’t want him to… To have to know…” His eyes closed again, for an even longer time.

“… Banba.” Red prompted, when he didn’t continue.

“… If you can’t trust your own parents…” Banba whispered without opening his eyes “… Who can you trust?”

Kou couldn’t stop the shock from dawning on his face, followed by realisation. “You… You mean…?”

Black opened his eyes, but looked pointedly over Red’s shoulder rather than at him. “I couldn’t destroy his memories. If he knew what they’d done…” His voice caught—but it seemed once he’d started, he couldn’t stop, and he went on, louder and more hoarsely. “I wanted him to remember them as they used to be… How they should have… I didn’t want to admit what… What I did…” His hands tensed, one curling into a fist, the other clenching the hilt of his RyusoulKen—a wince flitted across his already agonised expression as his nails bit into the burns. “So I… I…” It sounded like he might be crying, but the rain made it impossible to tell if he was. “… So… I lied…”

Banba’s legs gave out, and he dropped toward the ground. Kou just barely managed to get his arms around him in time to keep him from falling completely over—he ended up sinking to  one knee, hugging Black tightly against his chest, his teammate’s heart pounding against his. Banba said nothing else as Red tried to rearrange them more comfortably, stabilising him against his shoulder, one of his hands moving to support Black’s head.

“… It’s okay.” He whispered softly, relying on the proximity of their heads for Banba to hear him over the rain. “It’ll be okay.” Remembering the fear and loneliness in Black’s eyes, Kou’s arms instinctively tightened around him, smoothing his hair in some vain effort to comfort him. “… We’re friends.” He repeated. “We’ll stand by you, no matter what. I promise.”

He heard the sword slip from Black’s hand, dropping onto the muddy ground. “I… I wish…” Banba’s voice was almost inaudible, but truly wistful. “… I wish I could believe that.” The words made Red’s stomach twist—they were resigned, defeated. And for the first time, arguing with them seemed like the wrong thing to do. Banba felt uncharacteristically delicate in his arms, like any forcefulness now would shatter him completely. It seemed all he could do was to hug Black closer, falling into silence, kneeling in the mire and the rain.

Eventually, he felt Banba’s pulse slow and his breathing start to calm, and he felt more sure that Banba could hold himself up, so he willingly let go when his teammate tried to pull free, though he kept his hands loosely on Black’s shoulders, giving them a small squeeze. “Come on,” He murmured gently. “… Let’s go home.” The words spilled out of him without thinking—but though Banba’s head jerked slightly upward, and the ghost of surprise flashed across his face, he looked almost… Hopeful. Grateful.

But then the expression clouded over. Snatching his RyusoulKen from the ground, he lurched upward, staggering to his feet and stumbling away without a word.

Kou shot to his feet. “Banba, wait!”

Black did stop, at least, leaning heavily against a tree once more. “… Just go.” He growled. “I…” He let out a soft, sorrowful sigh. “… I can’t go there.”

“What?”

“I can’t…” Banba was quiet for a moment, struggling with the words. “… Touwa said… He said he never wanted to see me again.”

The bare agony in his voice felt like a knife in Red’s ribs, and he could only stare pityingly at Black’s back. “Banba…” He shook his head, trying to collect himself. “That’s… That’s just something people say when they’re angry, they…” He hurried clumsily over to block his teammate’s way again. “… They don’t mean it. They don’t.”

Banba looked sideways at him, expression faintly thankful again—but this time, hopeless. “… He means it.”

Kou was already shaking his head. “No. That’s… It’s not-”

NemuSoul!

There was a flash of dark blue light, and Kou’s whole body suddenly felt heavy, and he wavered, then fell forward—right into Banba. Black caught him only slightly awkwardly, falling back against the tree to absorb the weight. “Don’t worry,” Banba assured him quietly, “I won’t leave you out here.”

Despite the unnatural exhaustion overtaking him, Kou struggled, clawing at the other Ryusoulger’s collar to drag himself upward. Through the clouds absorbing his mind, he desperately fought to make his voice work. “… You’re… Hurt… You… Can’t…” But he just sagged more, collapsing into Black’s arms as they circled around his shoulders, lowering him to the ground so he didn’t hit his head.

The last thing he heard before the fog claimed his mind was Banba’s voice—touched with an edge of a tenderness that he’d only ever directed at Touwa before—as a calloused and burned hand lightly brushed his hair, “I’m strong enough to carry you.”

And then he was out.

Kou woke up with a large ball of ginger fur on his chest.

Letting out a yelp, he scrambled to get it off—and rolled right off the bench he’d been lying on, while the fur bundle let out an offended meow and leapt clear just in time. The next thing he noticed was the ceiling, followed by the lights, then the warmth; sitting up and rubbing his head, he looked around even more. He was inside, sitting on the floor of what seemed to be a small café—the bench he’d dropped off of was part of a corner booth that the table had been pulled away from. Everything looked cozy and soft—especially the seat cushioning—and the air smelled like chocolate.

As he wobbled to his feet, frantically collecting the fallen blanket, a woman with short black hair, dressed in frilly red blouse under an apron, appeared from the back, carrying a coffee tray; the enormous, orange cat that had been curled up on top of him was trotting at her heels, peering suspiciously at him with large green eyes. “Oh, thank goodness, you’re awake.” She declared, beaming warmly and setting the tray down. “I was beginning to wonder.” Seeing him anxiously clutching the blanket, she bustled over and took it from his hands. “I’ll take that for you. I made some cocoa, if you’d like some. Seemed like the thing to do on a night like this.” She disappeared into the back again.

Her comment made him glance around for a window, and he found two large ones at the front of the café, on either side of a glass door—the storm was still going full force, and it didn’t seem like the rain had let up at all. He heard the woman returning, and turned back, trying to find his voice. “I… How did…” Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to make his mind focus, still shaking off the last strands of the Soul-induced sleep. “Where is he? … Where’s…?”

“You mean the young man who brought you here?” The woman asked, and he nodded vigorously. His heart sank when her face fell, however. “I’m afraid I don’t know. He hauled you in here, completely unconscious, looking half dead himself. Asked if you could stay here for a bit until you woke up, out of the rain. I was doing some housekeeping down here anyway—not many customers of any kind on a night like this—so I said yes.” She sighed deeply, frowning. “Then I noticed how banged up he was, so I told him to wait here while I went and got something to patch him up—but when I came back…” Gesturing at the emptiness of the café, she shook her head, “… He was gone. Just barely heard the door close.” Carefully selecting a mug, she picked up the pitcher from the tray and began pouring the cocoa into it. “He seemed very worried about you. Your older brother?” He didn’t answer, even as she finished pouring. Picking up the mug, she walked over, “Or… Maybe not, given how he left. Or maybe yes?” She stopped, peering at his face. “Are you alright? You’ve gone rather pale. Well, paler then you were before. Is there someone you want me to call?”

His hands were curling into fists at his sides. He’d been so close. For a moment, Banba’s walls had come down—but then shot right back up again, and he feared they might be higher than before.

The woman waited for a moment, then sighed softly. Moving closer, she took his elbows and pulled them up, pushing the mug into his hands. The heat through the ceramic spread from his palms down his arms, and he instinctively pulled it closer. She smiled at him again, rubbing his shoulder gently. “Maybe you should sit.” She told him softly, then gripped his shoulder, and steered him over to one of the counter seats, carefully pushing him into it. “There. Before you faint again. Just take some time and drink that, and you’ll feel better.” Once she was satisfied he wouldn’t topple out of the chair, she moved back around the counter and into the open kitchen, pulling on some gloves. The huge cat scrambled into his lap—less jumping, and more climbing because of its size—and somehow managed to curl comfortably into a ball there, a warm huddle of fur pressed against his abdomen. Hesitantly, he took a sip of the cocoa and found it quite good, so kept going, trying to stay focused on the mug.

“There’s a reason there are so many sayings about how it’s easier to destroy than to build.” The woman said, without looking up. It seemed she’d gone back to baking—though he couldn’t see exactly what her hands were doing, it looked like she was frosting something. “The worse a scar is, the longer it takes to heal.” The words were followed by a chuckle. “Goodness, I sound like a movie.”

He blinked vaguely at her. “What?”

“Just thinking.” She continued, still without looking at him. “People react to pain differently, especially when the stakes are high. Some seal themselves off, and they won’t come out all at once. If you to reach them, you just have to keep trying. Bit by bit.” Putting down the icing cone she was using, she selected another. “He was very worried about you. Seems to me you made progress. What do you think?”

Kou took another, longer sip of the hot chocolate, musing.

… I wish I could believe that.

At the very least, Banba wanted to trust them. Was that something? A door in Black’s heavily armoured heart, even more than the one reserved for his brother.

Abruptly, he realised she had set the second icing cone aside, and was finally looking up at him, still with a smile. Slowly, finally, he found his voice again. “… Maybe.”

Her smile brightened. “That’s good.” She turned her attention back to the counter. “It may not seem like it, and the job may be far from over, but I think you made a difference tonight just by reaching out at all. Even just a little.” There was a pause—then she scooped up the cookie she’d been painstakingly icing and held it out to him. “Cookie?” He looked down at her hand.

She was holding a cookie with a very familiar lightning bolt shape, with black frosting outlined with white.

He glanced between it and her face several times in bewilderment, but her expression showed nothing but an innocent, unwavering smile. Hesitantly, he took the cookie from her. “… Who are you?”

The woman laughed shortly. “Silly question. I’m the owner of this café.” The cat purred loudly against his stomach like it was trying to accent the words. Then she moved on to another cookie.

Uncertainly, he lifted the cookie and nibbled on the tip of the bolt—then, finding it delicious, he downed the rest of it in two bites, then gulped down the rest of the cocoa as well. Setting the mug down on the counter, he realised he was significantly dryer than he had expected to be from how much time had passed. Not wanting to be rude, however, he quickly inclined his head, “Thank you very much.”

“Not at all. It’s nice having a taste tester.” She did look up then, but more over his shoulder than at him. “Do you want to call someone, or find your way back on your own? It looks like we might be in the eye of the storm or something.” He looked over his shoulder to discover that the rain did, indeed, seem to have thinned. “No way to know how long that will last, though.”

“I’ll be fine.” He assured her—it wasn’t quite generally true, but in regards to finding his way back to the Tatsui house, he could use the Souls if he needed to. The huge cat stirred, and clambered down from his lap even before he started moving to get up. With a contented yawn, it stretched, pawing at the floor. Kou took care to avoid its tail as he finished getting up, making one last quick bow. “Thank you again, but I should really go.”

“Yes,” She agreed, putting the icing aside once more. “Should make the best of this chance.” Taking her gloves off, she came back around the counter, wiping her hands on her apron. “Here, I’ll get the door.” Bustling past him, she took the door handle and pushed it open, stepping aside so that he could get through. He scurried over, bowing again one more time before stepping through it, heading out into the temporarily lightened storm.

He was about to step out of the circle of light coming through the windows and door when the woman spoke again. “Kou.” He turned to look at her. She was standing in the open doorway, silhouetted by the light, the cat sitting by her feet, watching him as well, some trick of the light making it look like its eyes were glowing green. Without waiting for him to answer, she gave him one more bright smile. “I’m glad we got to meet. You’ve taken a real load off our mind, you know?” She clicked her heels, glancing down as she turned. “Come on, Tyrexus.” With a strangely affirmative meow, the cat heaved itself to its feet and trotted after her when she closed the door, locked it, and began pulling shades down over the windows.

Too late, just as the lights went out behind the blinds, he realised he’d never told her his name.

He managed to make it back to the house before the storm strengthened again—the raindrops were just getting larger as he ducked back through the door

“Kou!” He was immediately set upon by Melto and Asuna, closely followed by Ui and her father. “Where were you?” Blue demanded, grabbing his shoulder anxiously. “We were getting worried!”

“I’m fine.” He managed, then peered around them. “What about…”

“He’s asleep.” Ui said, shifting aside slightly to reveal Touwa curled up like a cat on the sofa, under a mound of blankets, the empty mug sitting on the floor next to it. “Finally. He was a mess.”

“We would have called,” Asuna put in, “But we were worried that if you’d actually found…” She glanced sideways at Touwa, lowering her voice. “… We didn’t want to accidentally scare Banba off or something.”

“We were only going to give you a little longer, though.” Melto insisted. “You were gone for hours.”

Kou stepped out from under his hand, moving away from the knot of people. “… Sorry.”

“Did you find him?” Ui wanted to know. “What happened?”

Red hesitated for a long time. “… Yeah. I found him.”

“Thank goodness.” Asuna let out a relieved sigh, plopping down on a nearby chair.

“What happened?” Melto asked, expression still concerned. “Touwa wouldn’t tell us anything, but this seems serious.”

“It doesn’t make any sense, though.” Asuna complained. “They seemed fine, earlier.”

“Clearly,” Melto shot back, “They weren’t.” He sighed, frown etching deeper into his face. “And we didn’t notice…” Blue turned his gaze back to Kou. “… Was Banba… Alright?”

Kou was quiet for a long time. “… I don’t really know.” He finally admitted. Then, “… I don’t think so.”

A dreary silence fell over the others as well. “… I wonder what they were fighting about?” Asuna wondered softly, sighing sadly herself..

Kou looked over at Touwa, who was shifting and whimpering slightly in his sleep, like he was having a bad dream. He remembered what Banba had managed to admit to him, and felt an icy chill worming its way into his chest again.

“… Family.” He said darkly. “It was about family.”

Somewhere outside, a flash of lightning struck a tree.

Yes, it seems she can. All five thousand words of it.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing Parts 1?…

… Well. I did it. DX

I love when I try to do stuff in parts and end up writing the later parts first…

But I finished part one! Well… At the moment it’s part one. There might be a prequel part later. But for now, onward!

So the gist of this idea is again mind control, bc I’m easily described, but this time it’s the trio who got mind controlled, and the others elected to try and talk them out of it (there may be more on that later). This may be familiar if anyone remembers that one post I made ages ago. XD In other news, meet my first attempt at Kanaro. He’s not trying to be obnoxious, there’s some reasons for his reactions here. Does annoy Asuna, though. ^^; May we please have another moment of silence for the horizontal line.

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 She knew Asuna was strong, had watched the other girl heft and toss whole bookshelves alone when she put her mind to it—but there was a distinct difference between watching that and being the thing that Pink was throwing, and the fact that she was transformed probably wasn’t helping. Ui scrambled to her feet, coughing and trying to wave it away from her eyes as best she could, limping a little. Her whole right side hurt, and she was pretty sure she’d cracked some ribs and maybe a few other bones—but then a figured stepped from the fog, stalking past her.

“Asuna!” She made a grab for Pink’s arm, but even though she held on tight, she merely found herself being dragged along, her sneakers skidding on the pavement. “Asuna, stop it!”  It felt like the Ryusoulger was radiating cold, the chill of the shimmering frost she knew was spreading over her friend’s skin like mould. “Please stop!” But Pink just shook her off, tossing her away like a leaf, and marched onward, sword in hand.

TsuyoSoul!

She covered her eyes against the flash of light, and looked up to find that Asuna had dashed ahead, and heard crashing, and even some screaming. Staggering back to her feet, she rushed after Pink again, screaming her name. As she feared, she found the Ryusoulger wreaking havoc again, smashing her way through walls while the civilians fled in front of her. A particularly young voice drew her attention, and she looked toward it to find a high schooler desperately trying to free a younger girl from where she was trapped by some rubble.

Unfortunately, Asuna heard it, too.

Pink’s head twisted unnaturally around, gaze latching onto the two girls who weren’t fleeing from her rampage—and she started toward them in the same, stumbling pace that made it so painfully clear she wasn’t herself. At the sound of footsteps, the high schooler looked up and saw the Ryusoulger approaching—with another small yelp, she dove forward and threw herself over the other girl as a shield. Asuna just tilted her head at them before taking another step forward and raising her RyusoulKen.

“No!” With a burst of strength she hadn’t know she had, Ui dashed around Pink, getting between Asuna and the girls and throwing out her arms like a wall. “Don’t!” The sword swung down regardless, and flinched, eyes snapping closed—

Nothing happened. Cracking her eyes back open, Ui discovered that the blade had frozen at the last moment, just a hand’s breadth from her face. She was shocked for a moment, but didn’t trust the brainwashed Pink not to start rampaging again. Taking the chance, she surged forward and threw her arms around Asuna, holding on as tightly as she could. “Please stop it, Asuna!” Her voice cracked and tears spilled over, but she just clutched closer. “This isn’t you! Remember what you told me?” She felt Pink’s head perk up, but the icy sensation was still there, so she kept going. “You promised you wouldn’t let anyone else get hurt like I did… Well… For me…” She took a deep breath. “That includes you!” Slowly, jerkily, Asuna’s sword arm lowered. Ui just pulled her closer, even though the motion and pressure made it feel like her damaged bones were about to snap completely. “You’re my friend, too! I’m not going to let them make you do awful stuff like this!” She buried her face in the Ryusoulger’s shoulder. “I’ll do whatever I can to stop you, no matter how long it takes! That’s my promise!”

There was a moment of silence.

“…Ui?” Asuna’s voice was tired and distant, like she was just waking up from a nap or something—but the cold aura had also begun to fade away, like Pink was thawing out. “… What is…?”

Ui fumbled back a step, beaming. “Asuna! You’re back to normal! Oh, thank goodness!” Her lip quivered, and she leaned forward to warp her arms around Pink’s shoulder’s again. “Thank goodness…” Then she dropped like a rock.

Asuna rushed to catch her, dropping her sword, cradling the other girl in her arms and dropping her transformation as she sank to the ground. “Ui?!” Her eyes widened as she noticed all the scratches and bruises the vlogger had sustained. “… Oh no, oh no…”

With the threat apparently passed, the high schooler returned to trying to free the other girl, and eventually succeeded, pulling the younger one onto her back and scampering away to safety. Asuna watched her go for a moment, too stunned to say anything. Looking around, Pink too in the chaos around her—then her gaze moved back to where she’d dropped her sword. Her memories were fuzzy, bits and pieces of what had brought her here—but none of it was good. The mouth of the RyusoulKen had popped open slightly, and she could see TsuyoSoul inserted inside—worse, there was no sign of Druidon around them, and the destruction looked similar to the mayhem she and the other two had caused when they were first getting used to the concept of the Souls. It was telling her something, about both the situation around her and Ui’s condition, that made her insides twist into painful knots.

Trying to steady her breathing, she tried to properly examine the other girl’s injuries. Aside from numerous large, dark bruises and ugly scrapes, she could feel what she suspected in horror were cracked bones, especially ribs. Tears welled in her eyes, and her hands started shaking; gingerly, she cradled the other girl closer, ducking her head to cry into Ui’s hair, whispering ‘sorry’ over and over.

Eventually, her breathing began to steady, and there was a lull in the tears. Raising her head, she fumbled awkwardly to hit the call button on her Changer. “Hello?” She croaked. “Guys?” There was no answer. “Kou? Melto?” When there was still only silence, she tried, after a little hesitation, “Touwa?” Still nothing—so, slightly more awkwardly, she called, “… Banba?” There was still no response, and her stomach churned even more. What she thought had happened to her was bad—if the others’ silence meant that the same had happened to them…

Her Changer made a sound. “… Asuna?”

“Ka… Kanaro?” She didn’t know who sounded more surprised, her or him.

He recovered, first, though. “… I see.” She didn’t like the way he said that, like he was remarking on something she knew nothing about. Then, “… Is Ui there?”

“… How did you…?”  Glancing down at Ui reminded her that that wasn’t this issue. She could force an explanation from Gold later. “Yes, but she’s hurt, I-”

“I know.” Asuna glared at the Changer. She was not finding his clipped dialogue at all endearing at the moment, but he continued before she could voice her displeasure. “It’s complicated. Look, just… Come back to the house. Her father’s here. I… I need to contact the others.” There was a pause. “I, uh… I’m…” She could feel the uncertainty radiating through the Changer. “… I’ll see you there.” He hung up.

She stared down at her Changer for a moment in bewilderment, but quickly concluded she could deal with it later. Very carefully, she gathered Ui up, trying not to jostle her too much. Once she had the other girl balanced on her back, she rose to her feet slowly—and, gritting her teeth, she steadily began trundling her way back towards the Tatsui house.

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I’m sorry if Kanaro turns out to be completely OOC. DX Wouldn’t be me if I didn’t try to write for a character in this show before he even debuts. I think he almost apologised/expressed sympathy to her at the end there, but then got all awkward. Also yes, I am persisting in calling him ‘Kanaro.’ I am completely unable to take the name ‘Canalo’ seriously, and his dance moves and apparent catchphrases are not helping.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Heh heh, whoops…

… Realised I forgot to do a Ryusoulger Raw post.

So… Y’all get to hear my initial reactions to the subbed version! Yay! XD

Let’s a-go!

In no particular order and w/ many typos:

Naohisa peeling the banana for Ui bc she’s so busy staring. XD Ui, I know Asuna is beautiful, and the boys, too, but please remember to eat?

Well, that’s either really convenient, or Naohisa knows more than he’s letting on. This is Sentai. It could be either.

Aw, poor Melto. Come here, I’ll give you a hug. ^^ Sometimes I’m a good mother.

I think I already waxed about why I love the way Banba immediately, like, flies to this guy’s side in the tags of Ryuu’s gifset, but it still holds. Believes he can’t trust people and that kindness is weakness, but still can’t stop himself. I am really hoping for an episode/something way down the line where he has a ‘I would have turned into a monster w/out Touwa and the rest of you’ moment. Might just write one myself, eventually. ^^

And the coincidence, one of the true heroes of Toku, saving the day is also still hilarious. Like, if Banba had been one block over.

Why was he even on this street to begin w/?

Why is Touwa here? I find it hard to believe Banba would at all be interested.

No, actually, I know why. Bc plot.

Aw, he came bc he loves you two and is constantly anxious. Melto is absolutely the type of person who is afraid to let the people he loves out of his sight bc what if they didn’t look both ways before crossing the street and got hit by a truck???? And I doubt Biker Dad’s death helped that at all. Kou and Asuna are all he’s got left of his ‘family’ and he’s secretly terrified of losing them, too. Hey, Melto, I think I just got an idea for an angst tidbit for you, and I’m really sorry.

Aaaaand the youngest brothers are at it again. XD Dorks.

My ‘age’ order for this family is Naohisa, Banba, Melto, Asuna, Kou, Touwa and Ui. Age in quotes bc obviously the canon ages are completely wild. But I think I’ve done the fam break down before, so I won’t go into it again. ^^

I mean, gotta hand it to Wyzul. It’s a situation where acting blatantly weird and out of place works. Like, it’s a legit acting job. People in special events/games. Ren fairs. Yes, he’s acting really evil and suspicious, but that’s easily explainable as that being the character. Another pretty good plan. Very Sentai, but actually a good plan.

OH GOD NO! IT’S A MIMIC! DX

I don’t actually play Dark Souls, but…

Okay, but I wouldn’t be getting too comfy, yet. You’re missing one, and he happens to be the most stab-happy out of all of them. Like, I’m sorry, but as a villain, I would be celebrating while Banba was unaccounted for. I’d be checking the back stairwell.

This confirms that the chibis are merely going in colour order and have no bearing on the focus character.

Mother¡Melto makes another appearance, in a small way. ^^

I don’t know, Asuna. Given that none of you remember how you got here, I think it’s very valid of Melto to fear this was a Druidon trap.

Kou takes a moment to look majestic. XD HAve you been taking lessons from Banba? ^^

This is so obviously suspicious. Like. It’s obviously magic. Touwa and Asuna win the doofus award this ep. At least Kou figured it out eventually.

Touwa is the super winner of the award, though. Asuna had the sense to snap to it when told there were Druidon. XD

Honestly, she probably needs the protein and calories. Her super strength might mean she burns through energy faster than other people.

Actually, I dunno if that makes sense.

Mother¡Melto again. XD ‘Don’t eat mystery meat!’ is kind of like he’s telling her not to take food from strangers…

Yup, Touwa’s a dumb. ^^ I love how in the character blog, Yuito was like ‘he would have gotten scolded if his brother was there.’ XD Probably one of the reasons they didn’t want Banba in Wonderland w/ them. A) he would have snapped Touwa out of it too soon, and B) given how the chests open in their own, they didn’t want to reveal too much about his past, I guess? Though I wish they would tell us at least a little more. Keep it slow, absolutely, but I’m hoping for some more concrete hints soon.

A for effort, Melto. You tried.

Also, oh, Kou. ^^ Cutie. So it is limited—bc they had to stay trapped in the ‘box,’ it couldn’t actually grant Kou’s wish. But it sure tried. Kinda like w/ that Yummy that was destroying people’s dreams when it tried to attack Eiji, and the world came out of his mind.

Aw, he’s fine. The boy is durable. ^^

Kou, now is the time when you assume this is not the real world, you dork. XD

Aw, did Banba help clean up? Actually, there’s no indication if he did or not, but it’s sweet to think he did. ^^

I mean, he’s got a point. It could have a backlash. My recommendation would be to poke it first. Though since Kou crashed into it before, it’d probably just be impervious…

Oh, don’t remind him of that, that was (obviously unintentionally) kinda insensitive of her… Well, it did say that she sometimes has a habit of saying the wrong thing/speaking so bluntly she has trouble communicating… We haven’t really seen that yet, but I think it’s kind of coming into play here, since Melto’s bio, and this ep, establish that Melto is self conscious and doubts himself in comparison to the others… So that probably hurt him a lot  more than she intended it too.

But bc he’s Melto, he didn’t communicate that, so she had no way of knowing and no chance to reassure him she didn’t mean it that way.

God, Banba’s got a compulsive apologising streak, Melto has an inferiority complex, neither likes admitting hurt/weakness, esp to people they care about… And then there’s Asuna being too blunt and saying thing w/out thinking, Kou and Touwa are probably in the ‘bottle things up’ boat, too, just of the Stepford Smiler/Snarker variety… Any more of my quirks you’d like to spread out amongst the team, Toei? Like, maybe Gold is constantly terrified he’s bothering everyone?

Sorry (exhibit A XD) that got a little nonsensical. Right now it’s mainly Banba, Melto, and Asuna who are exhibiting some of my habits (apologising [for ex. rather than thanking someone], a slight inferiority complex compared to more “successful” friends, an in ability to read social cues and saying things w/out thinking).

And I love them for it. DX Really gotta write more Melto now!

Aaaaaaaaand… Now I’m crying all over again. DX I mean, hi Biker Dad and all, but poor Melto… TT^TT

This poor baby… DX Like, you can tell that for a fraction of a second, he’s almost like ‘oh my god, you’re alive?!?!?’ And… Then the memory hits him. DX

And then he promptly logics himself out to ‘I’m hallucinating.’ Oh, baby… DX

I know it would’ve broken the illusion, but… I wish Melto could’ve hugged him. Let the boy hug his Biker Dad. DX

Or, if not, can someone please hug someone??? Please?!?!?

Aw, he’s scared, though. I mean, I totally think he was the anxious, ‘oh my god what if I turn around for a moment and they fall of a cliff?!?’ sort of person before, but losing their Masters magnified that. He loves them so much he was afraid of something happening to them before, but now that something terrible has happened to someone else he loves, it’s even worse.

Basically, he was already terrified of something bad happening to the people he loved, and then something did, validating that terror.

Inferiority complex probably didn’t help. It’s not exactly resentment toward people perceived as ‘better’ (though there is some in it), but feels like a failure on the part of the one w/ the complex for not being ‘good enough’ or able to ‘catch up.’ He knew they were good at fighting, but was terrified by their recklessness and feared he might not be strong enough to help them one day, or something. Not sure any of that made sense.

I do like the idea of Biker Dad inside the Blue RyuSoul just being like, ‘oh no, Melto is worrying himself into a corner, maybe it will help if I astral project and give him a pep talk.’ Might be cute if the Masters’ souls are still semi ‘present’ or ‘aware’ in the RyuSouls.

…

… Ooooooo. I just got an idea. Kinda like in that Magiranger episode. Like, the trio get trapped in some ‘magical dimension’ or something again, and, like, the Masters are somehow there, or their souls come out of the RyuSouls somehow… Anyway, could have something like when… Houka, I think it was, didn’t want to leave that place bc it seemed like their mother was there. Could also include friendship bc maybe the final straw for them finding the will to go isn’t just ‘we need to protect the world’ but also, on a more personal level, the Tatsuis and the brothers? Like, if they realise that the boys are getting overwhelmed in the real world, esp if the brothers are partially fighting to try and rescue them, and are about to get defeated, and meanwhile Ui’s in the line of fire bc she’s trying to help civilians and doing everything she can, too… Could be cute. And heartbreaking.

That was a bad explanation, I’ll try to be more concise later.

Why… Is he explaining this?

Again. I wouldn’t be celebrating while mister handsome murder boy the Majestic Knight is still at large.

I like how it’s still saying ‘here, here.’

Wow, Melto can jump!

Oooo. They came out of the fire! Cool effect.

I’d question how Biker Dad knows this, but he’s dead, so maybe he’s omniscient now. I dunno. I’m inclined to give more leeway to people knowing weird things if they’re dead. Bc they’re no longer tied to this plane, ya know?

Anyway.

…

……

……… Butt. DX

AAAAH! DX Poor baby. He’s all like ‘I did it, dad!’ and briefly forgets that it was an vision, and then of course Biker Dad is gone, and it… TT^TT

Ah, yes. The perfect way to get me to stop crying. Cut directly from sad, introspective Melto to Banba tenderly caressing the lid of some random box. XD

Now, I will not grow out of that joke. XP Ryusoulger here, making me jealous of inanimate objects like pros.

Must everything he does be so very attractive? And by that I mean sexy? But for some reason I am very self-conscious about that word???

Touwa still wins the super doof award.

And now, Melto does math. I think.

XD Kou’s crash into the dome was useful! Though I’m impressed Melto could have any estimation of what the height of that was. ^^

I really like the little collars of the suits. I really do.

AH. I FIGURED IT OUT. THE LITTLE ‘LIFE BLOBS’ ARE SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT THE MINUSAUR!

(pictures at the bottom)

CUTE.

XD Using the Minusaur’s power against it. ^^ Nice going Melto.

I guess it’s not technically him piloting alone—though he does seem to be the one in control…

XD Wyzul and Crayon’s reactions are so funny. ^^

Touwa just lying on the grou w/ his arms folded is still funny.

Banba just… Freaking teleports behind Kou. How did he even find them? Did he walk down the street carrying the box while fully transformed? XD

Banba interrogating the mooks is hilarious bc, esp in most recent years, they can’t actually talk. The most recent exception I can think of is Kyuranger’s mooks.

XD The absolutely unnecessarily fancy sword twirling he does just to point it in the other direction. <3

I mean, I guess it might seem a little silly, but… Isn’t there a belief in Shinto that all things have souls, even inanimate objects? So… Not so far afield, really. Though that does kinda make it sadder that Banba just smashed it. DX Requiescat in pace, antique miniature garden box. Thank you for your sacrifice.

Most easily defeated Mimic. Ever.

Asuna and Kou are either staring into my soul, or thinking about how cool Banba is, and I find both to be valid.

Touwa, don’t be mean. DX Ah, dorks.

This scene is really cute. Y’all here turning into a family w/out noticing, between the younger sibs teasing Melto and then goofing off among themselves, Banba just walking behind them like a tired babysitter and even shooting a look at Melto like he’s trying to make sure Blue’s still w/ them… Cuties.

Also, Touwa bouncing. ^^ <3

The soft piano version of the theme song definitely helps, too. ^^

That hug is still available if you want it, Melto.

And yes, I’d like to think it was. ^^

Still wondering what was up w/ that hooded person. They’re in the opening. They can’t just forget they exist! What happened in the rest of that secene w/ the brothers? Not even Touwa has mentioned it. Did they get their memories of the encounter wiped? Or is there something more?

Preview:

I like the opening shot of Asuna playing a carnival game while the boys watch. Like, it’s so cute and family-y. Melto’s so excited for her like a proud mom and Kou seems to trying to perfect his strategy. XD

Asuna once again finds herself talking people out of… That.

At this point, I don’t care how short that Banba sulking scene is or how little it relates to the plot. I just want to see it. ^^

That’s all, folks! Virtual mochi for anyone who read all that! I really liked this episode, and I’m glad for Melto getting a chance to be very heartbreaking, too. Next episode is an Asuna ep, and while I’m a little cagey about it bc of the short summary we saw at first, I’m willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt and not jump to conclusions about how they’re going to handle it. Hoping we’ll see Anky Mom, too, though there haven’t been any shots of her in the previews… Well, it wouldn’t make much sense if they didn’t eventually bring her back in some way. Still hoping for more concrete info about the brothers’, and specifically Banba’s past. Not all at once, but you could slowly start giving us more. Though it’s not that pressing, and is mainly bc I’m an impatient baby—they’ve got time to do it. And then there’s mysterious hooded person who is in the opening. Gaisoulg? Master Gold? Probably too old to be Gold, but who knows. It does seems strange that not even Touwa, the more friendly of the two, has brought it up to the trio. You’d assume he’d mention ‘oh, yeah, mysterious cloaked man came and sought us out and [something something]’ Makes me very suspicious of cloaked man. Did he wipe their memories? Threaten them? Just plan ask them to keep him a secret? Is he friend of foe? Is he Naohisa? Who knows. But I’d like some clues. At some point.

Lastly, the screenshots I promised, of the life blobs, and the thing everyone else probably already noticed:

[firebirdsdaughter]

Well…

… What better thing to do when you feel like absolute crap in the morning and it’s starting to get too hot again? DX

Watch Ryusoulger! ^^ Subbed! XD

In no order and w/ many typos bc I am a dumb who stayed up to late and I have a headache. Also it’s almost eighty degrees here and I hate everything:

Aw, Asuna is playing games for snacks. ^^ Definitely think she has a very high metabolism.

This super cute, too, the kids hanging out and playing carnival games. Asuna asking Melto for advice. XD Ah, my babies.

Aw, it’s sweet that everyone claps.

A year’s worth of snacks is that little? I think they might be underestimating Asuna’s eating speed. And mine.

Melto’s pouting bc he feels like his advice wasn’t needed. Aw, don’t feel bad, sweetie, she wouldn’t have asked if she didn’t want to hear it.

Okay, this is fine. Could have been… Hm, but Asuna clearly wasn’t afraid at all, and looked annoyed, which is in line w/ her character, and Mori jumped in very quickly—which is what I was hoping for, bc no way you can make me believe Asuna actually needed saving, but it makes sense that someone seeing the situation from the outside would want to assist someone they thought was in trouble. In fact, I’d say that Mori just saved those guys’ lives. Like, pretty sure she’d’ve cold cocked on herself if he had been a little slower. XD

And then he starts fighting them, and Asuna’s just like ‘oh, okay, I guess this is happening now. *shrug*’

Honestly, he didn’t seem to need help, so I don’t blame her.

She knows what boxing is? I mean, not the strangest thing.

Aaaaaand… Crayon the mushroom man makes another entrance.

Every time we watch the opening, I’m reminded that we still don’t know who hooded man is… I mean, they’ve got time, but I’d love some more hints. And while we’re at it… Actually, never mind. I think everyone knows where I was going there. XD

That scene where he approached the brothers is really getting at me, though… Like, not even Touwa has mentioned it? Which makes me very curious/suspicious.

Honestly, I like the troll Minusaur’s design…

Did you two try to call the others?

Kou, you doof! Though I guess he didn’t know Mori was there.

I really like that Crayon has trouble controlling the Minusaurs, it’s a nice touch and usually leads to funny hijinks.

I guess it was the force of the explosion that sent them rolling like that. That’s what I’m going w/. No way a Ryusoulger would get detransformed from rolling down a hill.

Aw, she’s so sweet. I’m love her.

I really like how she can be silly, but also a really cool, strong sort of ‘big sister’ at the same time. Anky Mom raised her well. ^^

Touwa, don’t be so defeatist!

Kou! DX Honestly though, that’s kind of in character for him to so… Hyper-focused, I guess?

Asuna’s face, though! Honey, just grab him by the ear and pull, okay? That’ll shut him up.

Not you, too, Melto! DX Asuna, grab both their ears! Just smack them!

I’m glad the point here is that they were wrong to ignore her.

I don’t so much blame Banba and Touwa there, bc they were just kinda… There? They could’ve called the other two on it and didn’t, though.

I am now going to hyper obsess about a single line in regards to my ‘Banba becomes everyone’s rock’ view. Bc he totally just kind of ‘reground’ the discussion there. XD

Touwa and Banba don’t even go here. XD It’s okay, I don’t think Banba plans on eating anything. He just got up bc everyone else did.

Aw, Tyramigo’s trying to comfort her! You’re right, sweetie. Good to try and be proactive. I say, like a bloody hypocrite.

It might have been wiser to go back in and smack them, but she’s justifiably annoyed at them so it makes sense she wouldn’t.

On the one hand, that drawing looks pretty good from where I’m sitting, on the other, I’m a perfectionist, too. And maybe the issue isn’t that it’s not ‘good,’ it’s that it’s not what he ‘wants’ it to be?

Asuna here w/ the very direct line of questioning.

Don’t tell him that! Though I do appreciate that the whole ‘she says the wrong thing/speaks too bluntly sometimes’ thing is more subtle. Like w/ what she said to Melto before and here. It’s not there all the time.

Other thing I like about this, is that it’s not ‘the girl can’t beat the Minusaur alone.’ It’s that ‘no one can beat the Minusaur.’ Yes, they fare a little better when there’s more of them, but it’s not bc Asuna is a ‘girl’ or at all ‘weaker.’ It’s that this Minusaur is quite strong. It wasted Kou and Melto before, too. Also the fact that it’s just reflecting their own power back at them (multiplied, too, I believe), means that it’s using their own strength against them. So the stronger the attack, the more damage the reflection does. After all, Asuna does absolutely fine on her own later, and even frightens the current General, and it takes three of them and the Kishiryu and some strategy to beat the Minusaur (and some of Asuna’s luck).

A plus mediation, Kou. You guys can discuss this later.

Crayon should really learn to watch his mouth w/ the Generals…

Wyzul’s incurable need for theatrics will become his undoing. By pissing off Asuna.

The fact that Banba does everything just slightly slower than the others, from drawing his sword to charging the Minusaur, just to be that much sexier is vexing and I love it.

Wonder what varsity jacket did to make Mori so pissed at him? Or… Is he a coach or something? If he’s a coach, he needs to be fired, though.

Wait, did art boy offer to punch a dude for Mori so that Mori could fight in an upcoming boxing match, but someone would still punch the dude? That’s so sweet, oh my god. DX

Nah, man, Asuna’s right. I think you’re overreacting a little. I say, like I don’t overreact every day of my life.

I’m sobbing. Anky Mom raised a good girl. Asuna is a princess and a damn wonderful big sis. She’s still dad friend of the trio, though.

Banba is dad friend of the whole team.

Melto is mom friend no matter where he is.

I feel like these three’s reactions are telling of their personalities. XD Kou just takes one to the face, Touwa dodges a bit the ducks for cover, and Banba blocks a little but stands his ground and somehow manages to avoid being hit by… I dunno, sheer power of sexiness?

I think I regret getting used to that word.

This is very much dramatic irony. It’s pretty obvious to the audience that it’s Wyzul—but Mori doesn’t know about Wyzul at all, or that he can shapeshift, Asuna knows about Wyzul and that he can shapeshift, but has no reason to think he’s here. I mean, sure, Minusaur, but Crayon has gotten left to his own devices before. And they haven’t seen him yet. Asuna isn’t the suspicious type, either.

Where they just letting Kou wail on it while they watched. I mean, I guess more eyes are likely to notice something, but it’s just funny.

Ah, it’s her injured wrist, that probably made things harder. It does seem like she makes conscious decisions when to put her whole strength into things, most of the time, w/ only the occasional slip ups.

Hey, not a bad plan, Kou. MistSoul is pretty noncombative.

Yeah, but not all the attacks went through his… You know what, I don’t care. In the positive way. I don’t care for positive reasons.

I love how they just let Kou wail on it again in Kishiryu Oh. Though I guess they couldn’t form anything w/out Asuna and Ankyrose.

Asuna here w/ the princess carry. True knight in shining armour. ^^

The new mecha suit actor is really good. The torch has been well passed. ^^

Also, pour one out for the miniature city set designers and builders! Technically physically possible, whatever! That was impressive! And how many times must they have had to build and test everything. And then there’s the effects. O_o I salute you, folks.

Oh, yeah, and… It’s HAMMER TIME!

Asuna for one of the best big sisters ever award. DX

I love Naohisa and his ‘ah! places!’ reaction to Asuna coming in. XD

They made a sign? And why is Ui wearing a helmet? I’m so confused. But this is so cute, gods love them.

Not all of them are smiling, dude. Banba has to keep glaring, it’s in his contract.

No it, it’s not. But he’s def not smiling yet. One day he is gonna smile, though, and I am going to implode.

 Okay, but has DimeVolcano just been wandering the forest giving deadly quiz shows? Is that what’s been happening?

Kinda like how the preview is like ‘yeah, new power next week!’ right off the bat instead of being all ‘mysterious’ about it or something. XD

Okay, who implemented a quiz into a Kishiryu? Why? Why does it rampage if you answer wrong? This seems like poor seal design, Ryusoul predecessors…

And apparently he can talk. They taught the Kishiryu to talk so that it could give quizzes. This seems like a lot of effort.

And the fact that the quiz thing is apparently such a thing that it’s featured in the historical writings that were found by palaeontologists.

Also they got my boys in the house again—I don’t know why I love that so much, but I do—and I just noticed Touwa is holding a mug. For some reason this is so important to mea, I will be including a picture at the bottom

Really curious as to how the quiz scene goes down, bc there’s shots of what seem to be Crayon and Myzul trying it, and shots of the trio trying it, but… What happened to the brothers? They’re there on approach, and there’s a shot in the online preview that seems to indicate they’re there in the scene where they’re talking to DimeVolcano, but they seem to disappear. Very curious what the actual scenario is.

That’s all, folks! Virtual fondu for anyone who read all that. I liked this episode very much, Asuna is wonderful and I love her to pieces. I was a little apprehensive when I first read the summary, but I think they handled it fine. Asuna did get to call the boys out for not listening to her/taking her seriously, which was nice. Sad we didn’t get Anky Mom, but there’s plenty of time for her to come back at some other point. Find it hilarious that Banba insists on sitting w/ his back to everyone during discussions. I am totally over obsessing over minor things, but I’m choosing to interpret that tiny moment (where he was like ‘but first, we need to figure out it’s weakness’) as something to indicate he’s becoming the ‘rock’ of the team. Kinda like Hikari? W/ the whole ‘anchor’ thing? He’s the most sort of… Like, ‘down to earth’? In a way? Like, they all absolutely can focus and be ‘serious’ and sensible about things, but they can also kinda ‘wander off’? Kou, Touwa, and Asuna will rush into things, each in their own way, Melto overthinks, so on and so on. Goodness knows what kind of nonsense Kanaro will get up to. And Banba can be the grumpy, stubborn, often taciturn rock that supports and anchors them. Did any of that make sense?

Bonus:

Touwa holding a mug. Bc it’s somehow funny and cute to me and almost implies the boys came over for lunch or breakfast or something.

Have also remembered my random thought about the possibility of Wyzul masquerading as one of the team this ep. I feel like the new info makes it a little unlikely, but not impossible. They’ve got a hostage, yes, but Wyzul does like to be tricky—case in point, last time they had a hostage. So it’s not impossible.

[firebirdsdaughter]

When you wish you were asleep…

… Watch raws! XD

Actually, I still kind of wish I was asleep. Maybe I’ll grab a nap after this. (-_-)

But on to my children!

In no order and w/ many typos:

Okay, look. Wyzul’s not ‘weak,’ he’s just meant to have essentially the opposite style of Tankjoh. He’s a ‘planner.’ The manipulative, cunning ‘evil genius type.’ Doesn’t mean anyone has to like him, or think he’s a good villain—hell, I promise you I already miss Tankjoh, too—but he’s not ‘weak.’ He just has a different style. His plan this week was actually rather clever.

Sorry. Wanted to get that off my chest. I miss Tankjoh, too, but I actually like that they followed him w/ a general w/ an opposite style, that the one time Tankjoh kind of tried it, it got him killed (the plan w/ the Cerberus Minusaur).

XD TOUWA. Oh, honey. Who put you in the back? ^^

Knowing the twist makes this whole thing all the more hilarious, somehow.

Though this plan was actually rather clever! If Cardena hadn’t had a few slips in her words… Though admittedly, she was so clearly anxious about it that Banba and/or Melto might have caught onto something anyway, but… It was close.

Banba’s become naturally suspicious, so he may have doubted them anyway, but… It could’ve worked.

Poor Touwa’s so short. And even Banba is kinda hiding in the back there! XD

Other facts about Banba: Google Earth, always taking pics.

Ah, yes, we’re sneaking in. Let us yell, loudly! XD Ah, Toku…

Odd place to keep things, honestly…

There’s something incredibly goofy about the fact that this confrontation is taking place in a cramped stairwell…

They forgot the little men for Banba and Touwa’s transformations. XD

Everyone else is in the middle of fighting a Drunn. Banba has alreday freaking killed his. ><

I think Touwa just asked Wyzul to repeat himself bc they didn’t catch it the first time. And Asuna just figured it out? Uncertain.

Wait. Waitwaitwaitwaitwait. I guess it’s Pink??? But she looks purple???

Curse my inability to put an image in the middle of a bulleted list! Curse my attachment to bullet points! DX

I’ll put it at the bottom?

Touwa here, stealing the monster’s lines. XD

Rip unnamed Drunn.

I’m confused as to whether Cardena was trying to tip them off, or just conflicted and getting anxious. Most likely the latter, as she didn’t seem to understand they’d figured it out later.

My watching experience is foiled once more by how INCURABLY BEAUTIFUL TATSUYA IS! DX

Now she’s getting the hairy eyeball from both big brother/dad and mom. XD Deception check failed.

Is that a thing?

They are dunking on this man so hard. I mean, he doesn’t seem to mind, but…

I really hope that smirk really was just Tatsuya and wasn’t planned. I like how they had trouble getting the ‘towel scene’ (a line ad libbed by Simon Pegg) bc Zachary Quinto kept laughing, so they just went w/ a scene where he jus barely smirks and they cut away real fast. This is smaller, scale, of course, it’s very low key and I only noticed it bc I am almost always watching Banba in any given scene, but it’s funny to think it was unscripted.

Aw, I thought Dad was an alright singer. Also, love Ui’s face here. ^^ And she tries to comfort him, such a sweetheart.

Aw, Touwa also looks like he’s finding it cute, too. ^^ I’m still thinking of Touwa and Ui as the ‘babies’ of the fam. Resident youngest sibs. :)

Nah, Banba doesn’t trust this situation enough to start stabbing people, don’t worry, Kou.

Pretty sure he’s just looking for an excuse to leave, actually.

Melto takes the opportunity to go full mom friend.

Banba’s like ‘so one of you was paying attention.’

There’s never any indication here if Touwa figured it out, too. I’m inclined to think he didn’t? But I don’t know.

Why must Tatsuya persist in being so attractive??? DX

Okay, guess it’s confirmed they can call Ui from the braces. … How. Did they program her number into them? Is there some frequency that they tapped her phone into?

Also, largely unrelated, but Ui is really pretty. She really is. She makes goofy faces sometimes, but this actress is really beautiful. I’m love her. ^^

She’s jack awful at lying, though.

Though it is justified that no one caught on, here. How would Wyzul know how modern human technology works? And Cardena’s an alien. And neither of them know Ui very well. She could be like this all the time for all they know.

But also… Did Melto text her? How did she know to leave her phone?

I say Cardena didn’t catch on bc she doesn’t seem to have realised that they knew later.

Tall Cheese seems to be having a good time hamming it up, and that is valid of her.

Really, though. There’s no way they would have actually released Tall Cheese, if this had worked. That’s not Short Cheese’s fault, she didn’t have many options, but I highly doubt Wyzul intended to honour any sort of deal.

I realise I shamefully remembered Short Cheese’s name in the rest of this post. Whoops. I’d go back and fix it, but now it’s funny… ^^;

Oh, yeah. And this explains why Tall Cheese was looking so evil in those photos.

So… Was Wyzul actually just sitting chained up in the park the whole time?

But also… Wyzul is a shapeshifter. Toei, would you mind…? >:)

Synchronised staring at Kou. XD

Oh, yeah. Moment of appreciation for Tatsuya sitting on the bloody playground equipment like a freaking model.

Banba going for a low blow, there. But he has a point.

And… Kou hits a button. We’ve only really seen Banba be this angry when yelling at Crayon the Mushroom Man about curing Touwa, I think… Makes me wonder if the betrayal he suffered happened in a situation like this? He took a risk for someone in a similar fashion, but it turned out they were lying and stabbed him in the back? Like, loosely similar, maybe. Like… Kou’s reaction clearly hits a nerve.

GAH! Toei, give me more to go on! DX

He backs down, though. Either bc he’s still soft for sibling relationships and can’t help it, or he’s getting soft about Kou—or both. This makes me think even more that he’s never killed anyone before. For all his apparent willingness to do so, in the end he can’t got through w/ sacrificing someone like that.

Esp not when considering it while staring into Kou’s sad puppy eyes.

As Touwa mysteriously vanishes from the shot, despite being exceedingly close by a moment ago.

Though… Banba seeing the fact that Kou et al. being willing to sacrifice what’s important to them for what’s important to others… And seeming kinda effected by that… Is kinda fuel for my ‘he ends up trying to protect their innocence/kindness’ idea? In, like… A ‘I’m the expendable one’ kinda way? Not exactly, but… Augh, explaining is hard. I’m sure I’ll think of one later. DX

Like… Could lead to a moment later where he tries to sacrifice himself/something so that they don’t have to? Or forcibly decides to be the sacrifice for something.

Oh, boy, that sounded weird.

Tyramigo is adorable, and will be the death of me.

Tyramigo be like ‘Is this the bomb I’m meant to eat?’ Then checks w/ Kou just to be sure. ‘Eat the bomb? Okay, eat the bomb!’

Him going ‘aaaaaaaah’ like a little baby, he’s so cute. DX

And how it awkwardly cuts out when she says ‘don’t.’ XD

HOW DID SHE NOT CATCH ON? Either her lysing skill improved significantly, or she completely misunderstood Kou’s nod here.

HOW DID HE SWALLOW HE HAS NO THROAT. O_o

They are dunking this poor man so hard… But, like, he’s listed as a special guest star, so I guess he doesn’t mind, and he seems happy, but… XD

Banba in the back: Google Earth, always taking pics.

Actually, that’s him at any given moment, really.

So… Were those copies of them, too?

Kou, you do not get to call people ‘baka.’ You are the baka!

I don’t actually know what he said. Could have been a different word.

Where were they hiding? Did they hang off the edge of the roof? Stairwell?

Banba not only refuses to smile, he sighs like he’s only there under duress.

He maintains his carefully practiced grumpy face for the whole scene, too. XD

Aw, I think Touwa just said ‘we barely did anything.’ Honey, I watched the flashback, you were the other person making copies.

Synchronised brother head tilt. Seriously, they’re at exactly the same angle. Ah, family. XD

Touwa loves it, Banba is required by contract to keep glaring.

His little awkward looking at the ground after, like ‘shit they’re cute’ what do I do??’… ^^ XD <3

They did do great, though. Plus he knew they’d never leave him alone if he didn’t do something there. XD But he is getting fond of them. Will probably be in denial until something happens and then have a freak out. Maybe it won’t even be that big, maybe it will just be Gold shows up and he finds himself getting protective. But I like big. ^^

Oh, please let Gaisoulg be who I hope it it… >.<

Aaaah! They’re so pretty! DX

So… Is it still a Minusaur if it didn’t come from a human?

What’s this? Minusaur is evolving!

Wait… So so they all turn into dragons when they complete????

I guess they didn’t tell her how Minusaurs actually work.

MAH BABIES!

How did we get down on the ground? Who knows. Toku.

The others go w/ proper combat Souls. Touwa and Kou use the balloon Soul and the shiny Soul. At least one of those kinda makes sense.

Aw, she’s self conscious. ^^

What I think I love most is that she’s clearly putting conscious effort into being out of tune. Which she can do bc the actress actually knows how to sing. XD

Asuna playing the drums is SO CUTE. I’M GONNA DIE.

I love how Melto explaining implied the brothers asked.

And the fact that you can just hear her in the background through the whole scene.

I realise it was Wyzul impersonating her, but it seems like something he might pick up from the real her to make it more believable. Plus Short Cheese had a a name for it, making it more likely.

Gods love her, she’s putting so much effort into it.

Banba briefly checking on Touwa when he rejoins them. ^^ I love this family.

Short Cheese thanks everyone, and the kids smile, but Banba gets embarrassed. XD

Oh dear. Wyzul knows we’re in a TV show…

Ui playing the demanding voice instructor is ADORABLE. XD

Kou and Melto in the corner imitating Banba. XD

Next week, looks like Melto is piloting Kishiryu Oh alone, Biker Dad returns (as an illusion), and the kids get stuck in Wonderland when Banba turns his back on them for five minutes.

I’m kidding, I don’t actually know if his subplot is at all related to Wonderland. All it says is that he’s dealing w/ an ‘antiques dealer.’ I have this wild theory that what the summary means is that ‘Wonderland’ is inside a box (the chest that’s referenced in the title and is the goal of the ‘attraction’), and then Banba also ends up chasing it around. Alternatively, he could just end up in a situation where he’s wandering around like ‘have you seen five brightly dressed dork children? I left them right here, but I looked away for one minute and they all disappeared.’ Or he doesn’t know at all. The magazine did say something about him doing things alone… Maybe he’ll get himself into trouble and they’ll have to come save him in episode 10. I mean, we know he’s gonna get a plot about not doing everything himself eventually.

I’ll leave everyone w/ this thought: the shapeshifting Druidon general now knows where the Tatsuis live.

That’s all, folks! Virtual rock candy for anyone who read all that. Excited for next week. I hope we get episode summaries for the next few eps, soon, as that might give me more of an idea as to whether I was actually right. I like the idea of Banba chasing a box that may or may not have his younger siblings in it around the city and drama that could ensue. But they could go other ways w/ this subplot. Like… Maybe the antiques dealer is the hooded person? Or Banba is trying to investigate the hooded person? Or it’s Gaisoulg (please be who I want you to be, Gaisoulg!)? Or an early cameo of Gold? Or a Druidon? Or a completely inconsequential side character. Who knows.

Oh, yeah! Purple chibi!

Though… I guess it’s Pink? It… It looks purple, though… Wait. Could it be… Magenta?