#My boy Akira killing it on the dance floor

[luv-kakashi]

One of us is dead

chapter six - brotherhood

chapter five | chapter seven

Hues of red and gold danced over each other, as the evening sky dusked Konoha. A young boy ran through the streets, his hair glowing a golden wheat tone as he sought to find his best friend.

"Shisui! Wait up, Kami. You know me and my asthma can't keep up." Akira yelled, leaning on his knees to catch his breath after catching up with Shisui.

"What do you want?" Shisui snapped, his jaded eyes staring straight at Akira.

"Fight me and don't hold back this time." Akira pleaded as he dragged Shisui to the nearest training ground.

Both boys readied themselves: one eager to knock some sense into his disillusioned friend.

They started off sending and returning simple punches which soon unravelled into a series of kicks.

But by this point, it was obvious that Shisui had no intention of taking Akira seriously by receiving all the incoming blows, his face bruised and bloody. Akira was given no choice but to use the last weapon stored in his arsenal- The talk no jutsu.

"Why are you doing nothing, you coward?" Akira howled, becoming increasingly impatient with the deadened fight, "Cowards don't deserve to be called shinobi."

"You're right, I don't deserve to be called a shinobi." Shisui stated as he backed up onto a tree, falling to the floor. He untied his headband and held it in his hands for a brief second, before throwing it to the floor as if it were defiled, dirty and degraded. For a split second, you could see his eyes falter. They held regret, disappointment and shame. But the more he continued to open up, the harder the walls he so forcefully held up began to crumble.

"I'm a selfish coward who's cursed with this stupid Uchiha name!" Shisui screamed, "You don't understand what happened out there during the war. I killed. I killed the very comrades I swore to protect when I received that headband."

"What do you mean Shisui?"

Shisui raised his head to meet the gaze of his friend when he heard a small gasp escape his mouth.

A deep red shade danced over his pupils. But instead of the normal 3 tomoe pattern Akira was expecting, a new pattern branded his pupils: a pinwheel of 4 spiralling curves.

"Do you know why Itsuki never came back? During the war we were ambushed by kumo nin and cornered us. We were just chunin, and we didn't know how we were going to get out of there," Shisui screamed, pulling at his hair as tears streamed down his face, "Itsuki never made it. And it was all my fault! If I had only offered my hand, he didn't have to die. I could have saved him and I didn't!"

"Shisui, that wasn't your fault. You were left in an impossible position to get out of. Thank Kami someone found you, it isn't your fault."

"But it is! Our best friend is dead because of me! We promised we'd protect Konoha together, get put on the same team and now that will never happen."

"I still can't see how any of this is your fault."

"It is! He was blessed with everything, extraordinary skill far greater than the both of ours combined. He was always miles ahead of us, running in front of danger, never thinking twice to protect us. I couldn't get to him in time... I killed him. I killed our brother!" Shisui vented, "The overwhelming emotion caused my eyes to evolve into the Mangekyou Sharingan. It awakened from the regret of not being able to save Itsuki that day. Don't you see? I'm just a coward, a murderer! I don't deserve to be called a shinobi...

And look! Everyone praises me for this stupid eye! Shisui of the Sharingan! The boy who unlocked his mangekyo so soon! This cursed Uchiha name worships me for killing Itsuki!"

The red and gold hues darkened into a midnight blue as the night sky covered the corners of Konoha. The silence that followed Shisui's confession was thick enough to stifle any creature of the night.

Yet despite this suffocating feeling, it was nimbly sliced by the sound of a slap that hammered Shisui's cheek.

"You idiot! Don't you understand? There was nothing you could have done; you did everything that you could have" Akira yelled. "Are you really going to beat yourself up for what happened? We're shinobi Shisui. Do you remember what Itsuki told us when you two graduated?

'The life of a shinobi is only going to get harder from here on out. There may be a time where we are forced to make sacrifices for the greater good of the village so don't let those sacrifices be in vain. Honor the fallen shinobi!'. Don't forget the lessons he taught us Shisui!

He sacrificed himself for you to come back to the leaf, our home, and to protect it with the new visual powers you have been blessed with. You aren't a coward; you are a shinobi of the hidden leaf village." Akira said as he picked up Shisui's headband off the ground and passed it to him. He took a seat next to Shisui and stared up at the night sky adorned with glistening stars.

"It's our responsibility to protect the people and to bring peace to this world." Akira said, "The most honorable act you could do is to make sure Itsuki's name is not lost in vain. Honour him, remember him and continue to protect the Leaf."

"Thank you, Akira" Shisui muttered, tears streaming down his face.

"Well, we're brothers Shisui, never forget that." Akira said, "I don't like serious, bitch-face Shisui. I prefer the goofy version better."

"Heh, you're right. Being a bitch doesn't suit me at all." Shisui chuckled, wiping his tears.

"You managed to scare away the new girl Y/N. I think that's a first, no girl has ever been scared off by THE Shisui Uchiha."

"I was a bit rude to her. I'll apologise tomorrow." Shisui said, reaching his arm out to the night sky, "Thank you Akira. You're really smart when you actually use your head."

"Pfft, I'm always smart you cry-baby."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The Itachi Shinden novel states that Shisui unlocked his Mangekyo Sharingan after witnessing a close friend die on a mission and subsequently felt responsible for his death. I wanted to explore Shisui's feelings and how he processed his friends death, which is why he seems very out of character.

But fear not! I have been writing away and goofy, humble, cute, sexy Shisui Uchiha will return soon. (And turns out his flirt game is pretty strong too)

Loving you always,

Suri 🎀

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Distraction or...whatever...

[WARNING: Chapter contains very graphic depictions of murder and violence. You have been warned]

*Future Foundation Soldiers run down the ironclad hallways of the containment facility.

Soldier A: Where is the infiltrator!

Soldier B: The reports said he just entered this hallway! If we go down here, we’ll catch them! Huh?

*The soldier’s suddenly halt as someone appears from around the corner.

*whistling*

Soldier A: Who the hell are you!? Don’t move!!

Mm...me? Well...

I’m your infiltrator of course...

Soldier B: You? B-But you’re thin as a stick! How’d you take out so many people!?

Ah...well...I do get my exercise.

I Hula Hoop a lot...

*Almost as if to emphasize his point, Akira raises his hand and reveals what he’s holding, which is oddly enough...a metal Hula Hoop...

Soldier A: What the hell is that?

Hoho...You wanna see?

Soldier B: NO! GET BACK!

YAH!

*Akira suddenly tosses the hoop, which upon closer inspection, it has unbelievably sharp edges! It slices the soldier in twain!

Soldier B: NO! YOU BASTARD!

*He aims his gun at Akira and is about to pull the trigger, when suddenly-!

Soldier B: AAAHG!

*The hoop comes flying back and slices him apart too! Akira catches it as it returns to a gloved hand.

Oh yeah...forgot to mention that I can control this thing psychokinetically. Sorry about that but...

Wait...I’m talking to two dead bodies...What’s wrong with me...? I’m not Mikihiko...Or Narumi...Or anyone else that I work with...

*He disrespectfully steps over the two halved corpses and continues down the hallway.

ANNOUNCEMENT: [ATTENTION GUARDS. INFILTRATOR IS CURRENTLY IN HALLWAY 3-B. ENGAGE IF POSIBBLE]

Soldiers: THERE HE IS! GET ‘EM!

Future Foundation...always so efficient...But...meh...

*Akira twirls the hoop around his arm and then tosses it towards the group! Every single one of the soldiers are cut down in quick succession as the hoop dances through them, steered by Akira’s gauntlet finger. Akira himself does not bat an eye to the genocide.

Soldier: ACH!

Soldier: BLACH!

Soldier: AAAAAAH!!!

*In what one could believe was slow motion, the soldiers collapse to the floor. Like he did already, Akira steps over them.

Here boy...

*He whistles and the hoop soars through the air and back into his hand.

God damn I love this thing...

*He walks down the hallway of bodies and comes into an open cell block. As soon as he steps through the door, he looks around.

...

Soldier: DON’T MOVE! YOU’RE SURROUNDED!

*Future Foundation Soldiers all armed with rifles litter the large hallway. All of them have their weapons aimed on Akira. Some of which are at vantage points.

...Yeah? So? HAH!

*Akira throws the hoop again, and midair, it splits into several pieces! The individual pieces fly about at such a fast speed that the Foundation Soldiers cannot react in time! The pieces each pierce every soldiers heart and instantly kill all of them!

Hehehehe...Hehehehe!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! *SNRK!* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

*Akira waltzes down the room casually, laughing his insane head off, stretching his arms out like the messiah. Eventually, after a bit more trekking, he arrives at a control room.

Voice inside: Mayday! Mayday! Infiltrator has taken out almost all of the armed men! Requesting backup immediately! Please, for the love of god, save us!

Hmph...

*Akira gestures with his finger, and the individual pieces of his hoop fly over and carve the large steel door off it’s hinges and restraints.

Security Guard: AAAH!

‘Scuse me for a second...Mind if I borrow that?

Security Guard: AAAAHHHH!!

*The pieces of the hoop fly in and pierce through the guard’s shoulders. He’s yanked out of the room and is flung by the pieces from a high ledge, dying immediately upon impact.

Hm...?

*Akira, casually paying no mind to his death, peers through the camera. He sees an armored vehicle entering the facility.

Hmph! About time...do you know how many people I just had to kill for you guys?

...Speaking of which...

*He turns on all the monitors and looks into them. He sees several armed soldiers through them moving in on him.

*sigh* Alright...

*He takes the security guards swivel chair and leans back in it lazily. He snaps his fingers and the chunks of the hoop all assemble and swirl around him. With another snap, they split off and go straight through the walls of the security room.

Hehehe...

*Akira casually leans back in his seat as he watches each individual piece dart around the facility, slaughtering every soldier that they find.

What the fuck is this!?

*Hajime and the rest of the gang, not including Nagito and Seiko, arrive at the containment facility.

It’s...It’s a bloodbath...! Wh-What in the hell caused this!?

*All of a sudden, a frantic soldier appears around the corner.

Soldier: M-Mr Hinata! H-HELP! PLEAAASE! ACK!

*Two chunks of Akira’s hoop soar around the corner and decapitate him in front of the group!

OH FUCK!

...

*Hajime suddenly notices the security camera nearby looking at the group.

...

*He gets down in a ready position...

Meet me at the security room.

Huh? What do you-?

!!!!!

*Hajime suddenly breaks out into a blindingly fast sprint, darting through the halls towards the security room!

AH! HAH! RAGH!

*Along the way, he dodges the blindingly fast chunks of Akira’s hoop. He continues at high velocity until he arrives at the security room...

HYAH!

UGH!

*He rushes in and pins Akira to the wall by his throat.

A-Ahaha *COUGH!* Yo..

!!

*Hajime keeps Akira pinned on the wall, and gives him a threatening glare...

*sigh* Fine...I’ll recall the pieces.

*Hajime keeps him pinned for a bit, until Mahiru, Peko and Fuyuhiko arrive.

*pant!* *pant!* for fucks sake Hajime, warn us when you’re gonna do that!

I take it you’re Akira Tsuchiya?

That’d be me ma’am.

*He makes a motion of tipping his hat to her.

How...How could you do this!? Have you seen how many people here are dead because of you!?

I think I’d be aware if I’d committed mass murder on a facility of soldiers, thank you very much...I don’t consider myself to be THAT horrifically dumb...

Well, it doesn’t matter. You’re not going anywhere!

Of course not...I don’t need to...The very fact that you’re pinning me here means that I succeeded...

Succeeded? At...what?

Being a distraction or...whatever...

Distraction?

Are you deaf? Stop repeating me. The entire time I’ve been here committing manslaughter, Fujimori’s little clique’ve already long made their way out to reconvene with their leader...Though I assumed you’d be smart enough to realize that was-

ACK!

*Hajime pounds Akira against the wall.

Where are they going? Answer me!

...Ok, fine, fucking hell...Hm...

Actually, to be totally honest, I forgot...

Remind me what the address of that off-site lab that you left Kimura at was?

Wh-What?

You heard me. They’re going to the off-site lab that you just came from.

I honestly thought you were smarter than this. If I came exclusively to just break Fujimori’s guys out, then I wouldn’t’ve needed to kill all these guys. I did it so I could keep you here and get you away from that lab.

You BASTARD!

Bastard? Really? Is that the best insult you can come up with? Yeesh, what does Tsumugi see in you guys...?

They must be going after the last vial! We need to stop them!

What do we do about him though?

Don’t worry about me, Koizumi. I can take care of myself.

*He snaps his fingers with his gauntleted hand. The chunks suddenly fly in and assemble into curved shapes! They hook themselves under Akira’s arms and yank him free of Hajime’s grip!

Woah!

*The chunks lift Akira into the air and also slot themselves under his shoes.

I don’t like dying so...I think I’ll jet. Nice to see ya though.

*The chunks at blinding speed fly Akira out of the room.

You gotta be fucking kidding me! He can FLY with that thing!?

Get back here!

No...we don’t have time to pursue Tsuchiya! We need to get back to that lab and stop Fujimori! His friends should already be on their way there!

Dammit...! We don’t even have time to mourn all these guys?

I’ll...contact the Future Foundation...I’ll let them know the situation.

Thanks Chiaki...

But...we’ve got no time! Let’s go!

[crackimagines]

Take Over (FE: Three Houses Short Fic)

Persona 5 AU (Crimson Flower)

P5 AU Masterlist Here

—

With the Adrestian Empire declaring war on the church and moving to invade Garreg Mach, the Phantom Thieves move to steal the heart of Archbishop Rhea.

The clock is ticking for the Phantom Thieves, because if the invasion fails, then all their classmates are doomed to perish from the might of the Church.

—

Akira made sure that the Black Eagles and the Imperial forces were moving far ahead of them, as his team slowed down.

(Morgana) “I don’t think they’ll realize we’re gone in time.”

(Ryuji) “Alright, then let’s hurry this shit up! If we can take down Rhea and her lackies, then we can stop this war before it even begins!”

(Makoto) “As much as I would like for that to happen, we need to be extra careful. Something’s been acting up with the MetaNAV as of late!”

When Akira pulled out his phone, their Phantom Thief outfits began flashing onto them before fading away.

(Futaba) “This has happened everytime we’re preparing to enter it, what’s going on?”

(Yusuke) “I’m afraid we do not have the luxury of time to be asking that. We must hurry before the Imperials reach Garreg Mach!”

(Ann) “Yeah, and Rhea’s palace is on full alert. We gotta get going.”

(Haru) “Akira, if you would!”

Akira nodded and pressed the button.

(Phone) Transformation successful. Now merging Metaverse and the Real World.

(Everyone) ?!

The world around them began to distort as normal, but when it was finished, they noticed the world had not even changed in the slightest.

Even Garreg Mach in the distance had no visible effect. Edelgard and the others kept marching.

(Ryuji) “The shit is this?!”

(Makoto) “How is this even possible, we shouldn’t be able to access our Personas in the real world!”

(Haru) “This is bad! Everyone might be walking into a palace! They aren’t equipped to deal with shadows!”

(Futaba) “No, I’m not detecting anything different except...Holy crap, there’s one super strong reading in Garreg Mach!”

(Ann) “Rhea!”

(Yusuke) “They’re going to get massacred!”

(Morgana) “Joker, what’s our orders?!”

(Akira) “We need to get there before they do as fast as possible! Our identities might get compromised, but that doesn’t matter right now! Futaba, take Yusuke and Haru on your Persona and head over right now! Makoto, you break through that front gate and make a way for us! Morgana, Ryuji, Ann! With me! Our mission objective remains the same, STOP RHEA!”

[Life Will Change - Persona 5]

Wasting no time, Makoto rode Johanna straight down the road, pulling out her revolver.

Futaba’s Persona beamed the three of them up and flew around the sides.

Morgana transformed into his bus as Akira got on the wheel and stepped on the gas pedal.

...

(Edelgard) “THIS IS EMPEROR EDELGARD! BEGIN YOUR ASSAULT!”

All the soldiers charged the gates, ready to break it down until everyone heard a strange noise coming up behind them.

BANG BANG!

(???) “OUT OF THE WAY!”

Several squads’ advances were halted when a woman on a strange vehicle flew past them and crashed through the gate doors, making several of the church soldiers fly off from the impact.

(Soldier) “Who was that?!”

(Soldier 2) “Was that one of ours?!”

(Hubert) “Doesn’t matter. If they’re helping us then we cannot refuse their help! EVERYONE, CHARGE!”

The Black Eagles charged in with the rest of the soldiers, not noticing the flying saucer soaring above them.

Driving up the middle, Makoto used the front wheels to stop her, turning the back wheels up and hit away a squad of Church soldiers, sending them onto the concrete.

Getting off, Makoto quickly got her mask back on as Johanna disappeared, clenching her fists.

Another squad of soldiers rushed her, swiping their swords at her.

Swiftly dodging the first strike, she counterattacked with a fist going into his stomach, and a kick to the face hurling him back onto two other soldiers.

Grabbing her revolver, she quickly spun around and shot a soldier’s spear, making it fly out of his hand.

Elbowing his head, she ran to the sides of the nearby buildings and found a nearby ballista.

(Soldier) “Take out that thing that’s flying in the sky!”

(Makoto) “Oracle! Tch, NO YOU WON’T!”

...

Futaba beamed down Haru near the ballista Makoto was fighting at, and flew towards the other one.

(Futaba) “Fox and I will get the other ballista! Help Queen!”

Needing no further instruction, Haru held her axe firmly and hit a soldier in the back with the hilt.

(Soldier) “Huh?! BEHIND US-!”

Seizing the opportunity, Makoto used her legs and swept underneath several soldiers, tipping them all over.

(Haru) “MILADY!”

Summoning her Persona, it used a psychokinesis attack and distorted the soldiers, making them unable to get up.

(Makoto) “Thanks for that, Noir!”

(Haru) “No problem, now get back!”

Haru had a devilish smile as she pulled out her grenade launcher and pointed it at the ballista.

(Haru) “It’s going to go boom!”

Makoto smiled and saw other soldiers coming towards them.

After firing a single shot, it completely blew apart, scaring the others.

(Soldier) “W-What kinda weapon is that?!”

(Haru) “WHY DON’T YOU FIND OUT!?”

...

(Futaba) “BEHIND YOU, AIM DOWNWARDS!”

A soldier came for his back, and Yusuke aimed his rifle downwards and shot the sword, the reflection making the soldier recoil in surprise.

His Persona appeared behind him and froze the soldier solid.

(Yusuke) “And now!-”

Turning right around, he used his katana to break the wires and gears, and his Persona slammed its sword downwards, crushing it completely.

(Futaba) “Good job, Fox!”

(Yusuke) “Thank you. Come, we must infiltrate the main room without being seen!”

As they rushed off, the Death Knight and several other Imperial forces took notice of them.

(Death Knight) “The Phantom Thieves are here...? You, send a report to the Emperor!”

...

Once Edelgard and her company took out the squad in the middle, an Imperial soldier ran to her.

(Soldier) “Milady, the ballistae have already been completely wiped out, and enemy forces are dealing with a third group inside! Reports indicate its the Phantom Thieves!”

(Edelgard) “What?!”

Byleth came in from behind and shook his head.

(Byleth) “I couldn’t find Akira and the others, they just disappeared!”

(Edelgard) “Where-...wait a minute, could they?-”

Her thoughts were interrupted when a bus came barreling through.

(Familiar Girl’s Voice) “S-SORRY EVERYONE!”

(Familiar Punk’s Voice) “SHIT MAN!”

Spinning around, the bus exploded into a cloud of smoke, revealing 3 figures and a cat.

(Byleth) “Identify yourselves!”

Looking up, they all had masks that was hard to make out their faces, but their hair...

No one had time to get a good luck and recognize them when 2 golems headed their way.

(Soldier) “INCOMING!”

The 3 figures and cat turned around, reaching for their masks.

(Everyone) “PERSONA!”

4 shadows emerged from them and flew towards the golem, using a combination of slicing and spells to wipe them out, with a fireball and tornado wiping out one while a bolt of lightning wiped out the others.

The wings of the boy in black’s shadow blew an incoming squad away and straight into the walls.

The boy made sure not to say a word and moved through the main gate of the Monastery.

(Byleth) “I’m going after them!”

(Edelgard) “Professor, wait!”

Before she could follow, Edelgard heard someone’s voice scream out.

(Dimitri) “EDELGAAAAARD!”

Slamming his lance against her shield, she knew that he wasn’t going to stop until either of them were dead.

She quietly muttered to herself.

(Byleth) “...Akira, Byleth, please be careful...”

Finally making it to the final room, Catherine was blown back by an explosion while Cyril fell to the floor, covered in frost.

[Blood of Villain - Persona 5]

(Rhea) “They’re still alive...You play an interesting game, Phantom Thieves.”

Everyone noticed that her eyes were yellow instead of green.

(Futaba) “D-Did her shadow merge with her real self?!”

(Ryuji) “Tch, she was already powerful enough!”

Byleth ran in, and stood beside Akira, drawing his sword.

(Rhea) “YOU, I WILL MAKE SURE YOU DIE BY MY HANDS! I WILL RIP YOUR HEART OUT OF YOUR CHEST!”

(Byleth) “Heh, kinda upset I didn’t realize you all were the Phantom Thieves beforehand...”

(Akira) “Little slow there, teach! But hope that isn’t true when it comes to this fight! As for you, you have anything to say Rhea?! For all the lives you’ve taken?!”

(Rhea) “THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE CHURCH WILL BE CRUSHED WITHOUT MERCY. I CARE NOT FOR YOUR OPINIONS...No matter...Thanks to your appearances, I can now get rid of all my problems at once! Phantom Thieves, the Empire, Byleth...Your crimes will not go unpunished!”

(Ann) “That’s our line, you psychotic bitch! Enforcing your law on everyone and killing them as soon as they disagree?! You’re the one in the wrong!”

(Rhea) “You have NO idea what I’ve suffered! THE EMPIRE WORKS WITH THOSE WHO SLITHER IN THE DARK, AND I WILL NEVER FORGIVE ANY WHO WORK WITH THEM.”

(Yusuke) “So, it would seem that she refuses to admit the fault in her logic.”

(Haru) “I can’t say that I’m surprised!”

(Makoto) “Words are meaningless, we gotta let our fists do the talking!”

[Blooming Villain - Persona 5]

(Rhea) “THEN ALL OF YOU WILL DIE!”

(Akira) “EVERYONE, LET’S FINISH THIS!”

Byleth rushed first, slamming the Sword of the Creator against Rhea's dagger.

She kicked him away, her strike hurting far more than he anticipated and flew back near the stairs.

(Akira) "ARSENE, TAKE HER DOWN!"

(Ann) "DANCE, CARMEN!"

Both of them took off their masks and summoned their Personas, Carmen igniting the area around Rhea as Arsene used its foot blade to cut her.

Wounded from the cut and bits of cloth and skin on fire, she ran through it and fired a spell at Arsene, making it stagger back.

Akira clenched his teeth as he felt the pain Arsene did, the spell hitting the shoulder hard.

Ann used her whip and swung it at Rhean which wrapped around Rhea's dagger.

Yanking it back, the whip flew out of her hand and into the floor.

Before Rhea rushed forward, she noticed that the rest of the Phantom Thieves were nowhere to be seen.

She leaped onto the air as bullets flew and hit the wall where she was, everyone pointing their guns at her.

Yusuke kept the pressure on her with his assault rifle, the bullets coming too rapidly for her to try anything.

When Rhea landed, she used her dagger to deflect a bullet, seeing Makoto attempting to make precise shots.

Rhea dashed towards Makoto and threw a fist out, which was caught by Makoto's arm, and whiffed to the side of her head.

Makoto kept her in place as she took off her mask, and a blinding blue light was underneath them.

Headbutting Makoto away, Rhea dodged the explosion by rolling away as she was barely caught by it.

Looking upwards, Ryuji, Morgana, and Haru had their Personas out, and Rhea was blinded by a psychokinesis spell.

Morgana's persona thrusted its rapier at her, but managed to dodge every single strike.

(Ryuji) "CAPTAIN KIDD!"

A cannon shot out of its arm, and hit Rhea in the stomach, making her crash through a wall.

Quickly getting up, Rhea tried to anticipate the next attack and barely managed to catch Yusuke's katana with her hand.

Joker came from behind and had Arsene grab her by the neck and slam her against the floor, sliding her and tossing her up onto the ceiling, making it crack with the impact.

Byleth jumped in and used the whip function of his sword to strike her midair, leaving a nasty wound across her chest.

Despite such a harsh assault, she managed to land on both her feet, looking at the Phantom Thieves.

Seeing her hands covered in blood, she clenched her teeth and her eyes widened with rage.

(Akira) "Surrender Rhea, you have lost!"

(Rhea) "No...NO! I WILL NEVER SURRENDER!"

(Futaba) "She's weak guys, LET'S FINISH THIS!"

(Akira) "ON ME!”

All of them hopped back and prepared for a final assault.

Drawing their weapons they all rushed her at once, striking at her weak and wounded spots in the blink of an eye.

Joker landed in front of Byleth, adjusting his gloves as Rhea’s body started shaking.

[Song End]

Rhea collapsed to the ground, not being able to stand up after that onslaught. 

Byleth nodded in thanks, and moved towards Rhea, pointing his sword at her.

Edelgard and the other Black Eagles moved in, surrounding her with the Phantom Thieves.

(Edelgard) “So, it really is you guys.”

(Akira) “Surprised?”

(Edelgard) “Not particularly. But, that’s for another time. Rhea. By the order of the Adrestian Empire, you will be imprisoned. This fight is over, you have lost.”

(Rhea) “No...”

Her body shook violently again, with her looking straight at Edelgard.

(Rhea) “NO! YOU WILL DIE! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-”

The pressure she exerted pushed everyone back.

With her shape changing form, she towered over everyone.

(Edelgard) “Damn it! EVERYONE, RETREAT!”

Everyone started running out, with Byleth and the Phantom Thieves keeping her occupied.

(Edelgard) “EVERYONE, COME ON!”

(Akira) “Oracle, escape route for us? If she chases us, then everyone outside’s done for!”

(Futaba) “I can’t find any! Dang it, come on!”

(Ryuji) “Tch...I think there’s only one way out of here for them.”

Everyone turned to Ryuji, but realized what he meant.

There was no other way.

(Akira) “Professor, go. They need you!”

(Byleth) “What?! What about you all?!”

(Akira) “Don’t worry about that, you just gotta-”

Rhea began charging up a beam from her mouth, and Byleth spun around and activated the whip function, slicing at a massive pile of debris above them, cutting off the Black Eagles from them.

(Akira) “...I see.”

(Edelgard) “Everyone, what the hell are you doing?!”

(Byleth) “Hah...It’s all right. Now, get out of here!”

(Edelgard) “No, I won’t accept this! WE’RE NOT LEAVING YOU ALL BEHIND!”

(Akira) “Then we have to make you. ARSENE!”

Appearing outside the rubble, it closed its wings, using the pressure of the wind to send them flying away.

(Edelgard) “NO! LET ME STAY! BYLETH, AKIRA! NO!”

Byleth and Akira had a self-mocking smile, as they turned around.

(Akira) “Everyone, it’s been a good run.”

(Ryuji) “I don’t wanna die but...Hah, I’m glad I’m at least dying together with you all.”

(Ann) “You idiots were the best thing that happened to me, you know that?”

(Yusuke) “I concur...with you all, my life found its meaning.”

(Makoto) “I’m proud to have fought for justice with everyone.”

(Haru) “May we all meet again in a better life...”

(Morgana) “I guess this is goodbye then...Hey, Byleth...Thanks for everything too.”

(Byleth) “All of you...”

The Phantom Thieves turned around to Byleth.

(Byleth) “I’m proud to have been your teacher.”

Rhea fired the beam at them, everyone accepting their fate.

However, the beam reflected onto the ground from an unknown force, shattering the ground around them.

Rhea managed to fly away from it, albeit heavily injured but the rest of the Phantom Thieves and Byleth were surprised.

(Ryuji) “You gotta be effin’ kidding me! IS THIS FOR REAL?! AFTER ALL WE SAID, WE DIE TO SOME GOD DAMN RO-”

Before everyone could process that they were still alive, the ground beneath them collapsed, sending them into the bottomless canyon below.

(Everyone) “AAAAAAAH!” “SHIIIIIIT-” “WOAAAAH!? “GAAAAAAAAAH-”

...

...

...

[vigilantobserver]

Sooo... This is my first fanfiction. The characters might be a bit ooc :’). Also, just a reminder that english in not my first language. So if there are any mistakes, feel free to tell me so I can fix them. I hope that it’s still enjoyable.

Happy reading! (Yaoi warning! Don’t like? Don’t read.)

Just fine

Ryuji was angry.

Akira knew that he would be. After all, he just found out that his best friend was abused in the prison, he put himself into. The thing is... Akira had expected Ryuji to be angry at him for putting himself in that kind of danger. He wasn't. Instead Ryuji has been spending the last hour alternating between pacing the attic and ranting, no, basically screaming, about how he would fucking kill the bastards that hurt Akira and fussing over his leader. While said adolescence was touched by his friends passionate concern, he really didn't want his best friend, and secretly love of his life, to get arrested because of him.

„THESE MOTHERFUCKING BASTARDS! I SWEAR TO GOD IF I-NO WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THEM I'M GOING TO SEND THEM TO THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL! AND-“

„Ryuji...“

„THEY'LL WISH THAT THEY WERE NEVER BORN!“

„Ryuji.“

„I MEAN, HOW FUCKING DARE THEY?! HOW FUCKING DARE THEY?! THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO HURT YOU! NOT YOU! NEVER YOU!“

„Ryuji!“ „YOU DON'T DESERVE ANY OF THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT! YOU ARE PERFECT AND WONDERFUL AND-‘‘

„RYUJI!“

Akira had stood up from his bed and moved over to Ryuji. In an effort to calm his friend Akira grabbed Ryuji’s shoulders and forced his friend to look at him. „I know you are angry. I understand. Believe me I do, but I need you to calm down before Sojiro kills us for bothering the neighbors.“ Akira said with jest in his voice and we was delighted in the little chuckle he got from Ryuji. The weak smile fell from Ryuji’s face and glassy brown eyes met concerned gray ones. „How do you expect me to stay calm?“

„Look at you… Look at what they did to you.“ Ryuji said, tears in his eyes. He lifted his right hand to cup Akira’s bruised cheek, frown deepening. Akira couldn’t help but blush at the intimate touch and just this once, he decided to lay his feelings bare. Decided that Ryuji deserved at least that much.

„Ryuji…“ Akira said softly, laying his own hand over Ryuji’s and nuzzling into his palm.  Ryuji’s eyes went wide at the uncharacteristic display of affection. „I… You can’t imagine how happy I am that you care this much… And I won’t act like I’m okay, at least not in front of you, because honestly I’m not. And I don’t think I will be for a while. But that is exactly why I need you to be calm. Because I need you right now. More than ever. More than you know.” Akira’s voice cracked. "A-And instead of you getting revenge for me, I just-I need you here with me, by my side where you belong. Because I… I can’t do this a-alone. I just c-can-.“ Akira dissolved into sobs.

Ryuji’s eyes widened. Never had he seen his friend, his everything, cry before. Seeing the one he loves this broken shattered his heart. „Oh, Akira… I’m sorry. I’m here. Dude, come one please don’t cry. I won’t leave you. I’m so sorry.“

Ryuji took Akira into his arms, softly hushing him. „I missed you so much.“ Akira whispered, clinging to Ryuji like a lifeline as he, for the first time in his life, allowed himself to become completely undone in front of another person. Ryuji couldn’t help the tears running down his own face as he felt his friend shake in his arms and heard his sorrowful cries. He returned the quiet sentiment with a whisper of his own and tightened his grip on his friend, while still being mindful of his injuries. Rage rose in him when he felt just how thin Akira had become in such a short time. He pusched the feelings down for now. His friend needed him, and he’d never let his leader down.

Neither of the boys knew how long they stood there. At some point they had slid to the floor.

By the time they both calmed down the sun had already set. Ryuji began to untangle himself from his friend, sliding his hands into Akira’s. Said boy gripped Ryuji’s hands back, but kept his head down. „Akira?“

The blond tried to meet the others gray eyes, but the boy avoided his gaze shyly. „Come on, man. Look at me? Please?“

Akira shoke his head.

„Heh… I’m a real mess aren’t I?“, he chuckled miserably, wiping his eyes.

„Yeah, you really are.“

Akira’s head snapped up in surprise, hurt flashing in his eyes. But the gentle smile on the blonds face made the hurt turn into confusion.

„You are a mess.“ Ryuji repeated. His smile turned into a grin. „But you are my mess!“

Akira’s blushed, eyes wide and jaw dropped slightly. Ryuji cupped his best friends face and let their foreheads touch. When he next spoke, his voice was incredibly soft. „And you have no idea how glad I am to have you.”

Akira was stunned. His? He was Ryuji’s? Did that mean…? Was he really allowed to hope?

While Akira was lost in his mind, Ryuji was biting his lip. He was contemplating his next move. Should he really risk it? As he looked up into beautiful gray eyes, he made his decision.

Akira snapped out of his thoughts at the feeling of Ryuji’s warm breath brushing his face. Before he had time to react lips crashed into his, muffling his sound of surprise. In true Ryuji fashion, the blond had rushed into the action with too much force. Causing their teeth to collide painfully. Both boys pulled away with sounds of pain.

“Damn it! I just can’t do anything right can I?” Ryuji said sadly.

Akira looked up at his friend, at the boy who had just tried to kiss him and couldn’t help the fond smile from forming on his face. “Ryuji.”

Said boy looked up fearfully, not sure what his friend would do now. He didn’t expect the soft lips lightly brushing his own. For a few moments Ryuji was completely frozen. But when he realized that Akira wasn’t going to pull away, he melted into the tentative kiss. They pulled away after a few seconds. Only for their lips to find each other again. Over and over again their lips connected in chase kisses. Engaging in a soft dance of pure, honest love. Eventually they pulled away entirely, panting softly. Somehow Akira ended up on the blonds lap, his arms around the boys neck. Said boys arms were wrapped around the ravens waist. As they gazed into each others eyes, matching smiles formed on their faces.

“So… I guess this means you love me, too?” Ryuji said happily. Signature grin appearing on his face.

“Did you just admit you love me?” Akira retaliated smugly. His Joker personality was shining through.

Ryuji spluttered in embarrassment. Akira couldn’t help but notice how cute his love looked with his ears red.

“Come one, man! You don’t have to call me out on it like that! Of course I love you…”

The smile of the leader of the Phantom Thieves widened. “I love you, too.” He said warmly, running his fingers through his new boyfriend’s hair.

Ryuji immediately stopped pouting and looked at Akira with adoration, pulling him into a close embrace. The raven lets himself be lead, melting into the hug.

“Will you stay tonight? I don’t want to be alone right now.”

“Pfft! You couldn’t get rid of me rid now even if you wanted to!”

Sojiro smiled softly at the sound of laughter from upstairs. He had been too worried to go home, but now he was sure.

His charge was going to be just fine.

[lokiarsene]

Tarantism🎶

More than one person requested this, so I felt extra pressure to try. I’m sorry if it’s not good.

Best read while listening to this. Also on AO3 if you prefer.

“What’s the matter? You can’t dance?”

“I can dance just fine, actually,” Goro said, his words as stiff as his spine: iron-bound, rod-straight.

Akira couldn’t help but grin. He knew that tone, that look, that sound: Goro was offended. But it was a shallow wound, just a bruise on the ego, no greater than a scuff on the knee.

“So what’s the problem?” Akira pressed, persisting on the point because he knew there was more to share.

Goro folded his arms over his broad chest, tucked in his chin, and peered up at Akira with a look that had warning signs printed along every stretch. Akira’s smile did not falter. It didn’t even dip at the edges. He stood there, his hands in his pockets, peering down at Goro from where he sat on the stool in Leblanc.

“The problem,” Goro said, keeping his eyes locked onto Akira, “is that there’s no reason to dance right now. None that I can see, I mean.”

“Would you say that if a girl were here?” Akira asked. The words were out before he could stop them, and his breath caught on the sound of such a question, all sharp and eager.

“I don’t see how that would make a difference.” Goro shifted his eyes over to the television set, where a talk show was currently on mute. He carefully kept his eyes away from Akira as he added, “And if that were the case, I would be even less inclined to dance in the first place.”

Akira breathed easier after that little revelation. “Why not just do it for the hell of it? Because you want to–because you can?” He scratched the back of his neck. “If you wait for a reason to do something, you’ll end up barely doing anything. That’s how I see it, anyway.”

“Do you make most of your decisions based on that premise?” Goro asked. He planted an elbow on the counter, made a cushion of his palm for his chin to rest, and leaned forward. Akira knew the glint in his bright brown eyes. He knew that look for what it was: curiosity, almost in spite of himself. Goro’s moods had been somber at best, hollowed and hoarse at worst, and try though he did to alleviate the burden inside his friend’s head, there was only so much to be done for a person who kept the worst of his hurts to himself.

Thus, this conversation. A ridiculous one to be sure, brought on by the steady stream of pop music blaring from Akira’s phone, but his heart was in the right place. He could only hope that in the end, if he succeeded, then Goro’s would be, too.

Akira propped up his phone inside a glass to let the sound blare out louder, until it filled the cafe like a concert all of cheery noise and tinny beats. He gave his neck an experimental twist and shake, listening to the bones pop with satisfying little shifts of sound. When he looked at Goro again, who sat with his eyebrows raised, clearly impatient for an answer, all Akira could bring himself to do was smile wide, wicked and sincere, his teeth flashing white.

“Are you going to answer my question?” Goro asked, frowning.

“Which one?”

“You owe me for two now.”

Akira laughed and shook his head. He took his time walking out from behind the counter to the central floor of the shop. Goro’s eyes were on him all the while, his gaze narrow, his look shrewd. He held that look even as Akira came to a stop right next to his stool and held up his hand, one finger held up straight.

“One–yes, that’s how I make up my mind about… almost everything.” Akira lifted a second finger. “Two–can you do me a favor?”

“That depends,” Goro began, still frowning.

“It won’t kill you to do it, I promise.”

Goro’s lips pressed into a thin line. It destroyed the frown, but Akira didn’t like this new look–something flickered in his friend’s eyes, something like a shadowed wing passing over the sun. Goro’s face shuttered shut for just a second and no more, but it was a horrible, harrowing moment to endure.

“Go ahead. Ask.”

Akira held out his hand. “Stand up and dance along. With me.”

“This isn’t exactly the best song to dance to.”

“So what? Who cares–I’m the only one here. And if someone else walks in and sees us, then we’ll both feel foolish together. The point is we won’t be alone with it.”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“You’d be the one to know.”

“Meaning what?” Goro asked.

Akira took a long, steadying breath. “You’re too much in your head, Goro. Get out a little bit. Not all the time, not always–just here and there. And it’s easier if you do it with someone else around to help. Listen. I know how silly this sounds, ok? I know it. I can hear myself, and I said it just then to stop you from asking it, so you’re welcome for sparing you the trouble. But I’m also serious. Being locked up inside your head is the surest way to stay miserable longer than is ever useful, and I don’t think you need that. No one needs misery–except artists I guess, but my point still stands. You deserve better than that. Let yourself out for air. Otherwise you’ll just suffocate.”

Goro shook his head. For an awful string of seconds, Akira was sure he would be rejected, that he had hung out his heart too far, further than it was wanted. His fingers began to curl up back into his palm, his heart skittering across the sudden sheen of ice that slammed down through his chest–

And then, miracle of miracles, Goro placed his hand inside Akira’s offered palm. His touch was cool, slick, calm–just the opposite of how Goro looked and how Akira felt. Still, he could get through this. He had gone too far to turn back now.

“I suppose you’ll want to be the one who leads?” Goro asked.

Akira winked. He couldn’t help himself. Goro’s cheeks turned the barest, merest shade of salmon pink. Akira watched as the other boy licked his lips, took a quick breath, and squared his shoulders like a soldier ready to hurl himself once more into the breach. It was such a brave look, and so serious and sincere that Akira couldn’t help but feel his chest crack with a new, tender ache.

Maybe one day soon, Akira would know how to tell Goro how much time he spent poring over each little look, every shift of his eyes and the way his mouth would twist or tighten around a new set of words to share. Maybe one day soon, Akira would know what to make of these thoughts himself.

“Dance like you’re drowning,” Akira said, holding onto Goro’s hands as tight as he could, hard enough to feel the bones between them bend and groan. “Make a mess of it. Don’t let yourself go down without letting the world and the water know you did your best to reject it.”

“Now who’s thinking too much?” Goro said, his words slipping out in between a laugh. But he did as Akira said, and together, laughing all the while, laughing at their nerve, at their silliness, laughing even louder at their sadness melting way to the frantic thundering thrum of heavy hearts, the two boys danced like they were bound to die, and wouldn’t let the water win without a fight.

[faux-hero]

“I’ve come to hold you to your words! Tell me the truth, all you see is a monster, don’t you?!”

     *Drabble for an AU where Goro is a permanent member of the Phantom Thieves

Everything is the same up to the point where he ends up facing his cognitive self alone, the shoot out ended up with him the victor, the force of the bullet causing his cognitive selves shot to end up somewhere non fatal... Unfortunately he was still quite injured from the earlier fight and was losing a lot of blood.

Unable to deal with the other shadows there he managed to use a Goho-M, escaping the palace and passing out near by. Someone was quick to call the police, but by the time the Phantom Thieves left the Palace the scene had been cleaned and cleared, with Goro on his way to a hospital.

It wasn’t on the news because of Shido’s men, he was put into care under a false name. Thankfully, he wasn’t out for long and he was able to be discharged not to long after, simply told to change his bandages and to come back if it looks infected.

He spent a lot of time thinking about what he wanted to do. No doubt by this time the thieves had already taken care of Shido, and he knew his men would be looking for him. He knew that going into hiding until Shido confessed at least would be his best bet, but he had no where to go. His apartment defiantly wasn’t safe, and after heading there to quickly pack up his essentials and get changed into some much more casual clothes he left for the train station to figure out what to do next.

His thoughts trailed to the Phantom Thieves, about the things they said to him during their battle. He was defiantly in no shape to fight, physically or emotionally but he wasn’t sure he could trust their words. After all, it was akin to a hostage situation, where you tell them what they want to hear in order to stop them from doing anything drastic.

In the end he decided, what’s the worst that could happen? He could have a little bit of hope, just a little, that maybe they weren’t lying. He could have a chance to redeem himself and try to make things right- Or he’d be alone, like he always was.

Powerless and unwanted.

He spent a few days on the street, taking care of his wound and building up the courage to go to LeBlanc. He’d start with Akira, he was always honest, almost brutally so at times; if there was one person he could possibly trust, it would be him.

Just his luck that by the time he built up that courage to go, it was on a day that the whole group had met up, planning to do training in mementos. His stomach knotted, fear and anger coursing though his body as he stood there, all of them looking at him in surprise.

Of course the universe wasn’t going to let him do things his way, of course it had to throw him another curve ball. When Akira opened the door, nothing was said, Goro just staring at his chest as his hands balled into fists.

Not a word was said as Akira lead him inside, pulling out his usual seat and waiting; silence filled the room like a dangerous gas, choking at him. Eventually it was Haru who spoke up, her voice a soft whisper as she stated the obvious

“You’re alive”

It was at that moment a laugh spilled from his lips. Not a pleasant one, but one of mental anguish. Ryuji jolted up, worried he was about to go crazy again but it quickly died down, taking in a slow breath.

“Don’t fake worry, I should leave, I should be dead, right?” he had moved to leave, but Akira grabbed his arm, causing him to jerk away. Turning around to face them all, anger clear on his face as his voice rose.

He was done being the pleasant boy, it was clear no one actually cared. “Don’t lie to me! I’m not some idiot you can just look down on!” Futaba shrank away, fearing the anger, Ann huffing up as she shifted to block her from his view “What’s your problem?” she exclaimed, although realized a little to late they knew exactly what his problem was. Everyone was quiet, all eyes were on him, but not in the way he wanted. He looked at everyone last one of them, a mixture of fear and defiance on their faces... Fine.

“I’ve come to hold you to your words! Tell me the truth, all you see is a monster, don’t you?!” he cried, arms stretching out half way, like he was making a show of himself but unsure if he should. “I knew you were lying, you don’t care-” he was silenced as he felt hands on his wrists, being forced back in front of him as Akira stepped into view, eyes calm, sincere.

He felt the anger melt away, his vision tunneling as he felt his heart ache, desperately scratching for that bit of hope Akira had planted there.

“I’m sorry” was what came out of the leader’s mouth, grip tightening on Goro to stop him from running. Having recognized much sooner than he had that his muscles were tense, ready to make a break for it. His hands twitched, annoyed with the words but he continued before Goro could speak “I wish I had realized sooner what you were going through. A lot of this could have been avoided, but I wasn’t lying, it’s not to late for you yet”

His words were like nails in his chest, his heart and wound aching

“Thank you, for saving us in the end. I’m glad you’re here so I can say it to you.” Akira gave a small smile and that was that. It was like a mask physically shattered, and he realized the shards had come tears as the first one dripped down his face.

It wasn’t like him to cry, but he couldn’t stop. Akira ended up pulling him into a hug, the rest of the Phantom Thieves watching as Goro’s silent tears turned into sobbing- he wouldn’t allow himself to wail, but his body shook with the force of years and years of held back tears.

It was a long moment before he was finally able to stop, pulling away and keeping his face to the floor. He couldn’t look at them, being as much of a mess as he was. “I’m sorry” the words were a whisper on Goro’s lips, rubbing at his face. “Those words wont mean much to you, but I did come here to see if you were telling the truth... I don’t expect forgiveness, especially from Sakura-chan and Okumura-chan, but I’d like the opportunity to make things right” he licked his lips, his mouth felt dry and he held down more tears that threatened to rise.

He’s already cried more than he was allowed to. He has no right.

Akira moved around the counter to start making coffee, inviting Goro to come sit with them. After a bit of coaxing from Makoto he agreed, sitting down and keeping his gaze to the floor. They ended up not going to mementos that night, instead chatting awkwardly about what happened after he was separated from them, talking about the limits of his powers, and showing a curious Akira the patch over his bullet wound.

He ended up apologizing, mostly to himself, for not being able to be there to take on Shido’s shadow, but was just happy to look forward to him bowing down and apologizing for all that he did. 

The question come up on if he’d be turning himself in and he admitted he wasn’t sure. In all honestly it had crossed his mind, it would be his rightful punishment for all that he’s done to harm others, but he still wanted that chance to do good. Was it selfish of him?

By the time the sky started to get dark everyone else had to leave, Ryuji grumbling about leaving Akira alone with the guy who tried to kill him, and promptly getting smacked by Ann. He waved it off assuring the blond that he didn’t have his gun on him and he was in no shape to be having a fight, Akira chiming in with how easy it would be to take advantage of that bullet wound if it came down to it.

He wasn’t wrong, that was for sure, and there was a hint of humor in his words, which annoyed him but he kept quiet.

As the last person walked out Goro found himself staring at his empty cup, fiddling with the handle in silence. Akira was the one to fill the silence, moving to sit beside him. “Thank you for staying” he quietly stated, Goro shaking his head “If I’m going to be a puppet I want to choose my own song and dance. Maybe I can be useful to you guys” he replied, moving to run a hand through his brown hair. “Once Shido confesses your last string will be snipped, you’re free to do whatever you want then.... I don’t want you here just because you’re useful, I want you here because I consider you a friend”

“I don’t like pity either”

“It’s not pity, even when I was sitting in that interrogation room I felt a bond with you.”

“Maybe you’re just a masochist.”

“Maybe a little” he chuckled, and Goro found himself mirroring the sound. This boy was ridiculous, but he was true to himself... Something he wanted to be.

“Welcome back to the Phantom Thieves, Goro. It’ll take time for everyone to trust you completely again, but we really are happy to have you back”

He was quiet, looking over at Akira, searching his face for any signs of a lie. All he saw was those same sincere eyes, looking at him fondly. Swallowing down the fear, the anger, the distrust, he slowly nodded “Thank you” Goro choked out the words, covering his mouth at the pathetic sound.

He was a mess, but Akira didn’t seem to mind.

They sat in silence for a long moment before Goro moved to get up, grabbing his bag and bowing deeply to the other boy “I should get going, please don’t hesitate to message me if you require my assistance”

“We’re going to mementos tomorrow, why don’t you come?”

Goro’s lips twitched into a smile. He had a long road in front of him, but that seed of hope with sprouting, reaching through the darkness of his heart. “I’ll think about it, thank you, Akira-kun”

“No problem, Goro-kun”

His heart leaped, screwing tight and he wanted to laugh again. Why did his name feel so good? Shaking his head he gave another bow, a genuine smile on his face as he left LeBlanc with a little chime of the bell.

He had a new goal, and he would achieve it. No matter how much work it took.

[spectrumscribe]

Ordinary she is not.

For the April for April monthly prompt courtesy of @tmntflashfic, I present a collection of snippets and drabble prompts for everyone’s viewing; regarding canon events and how April coped and grew with each one. Because April’s character was just too multifaceted to restrict to a single story.

May the next incarnation of TMNT utilize this amazing girl better than 2012 did.

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

That’s no longer relevant.

April looks at books she hasn’t read in ages, clothes too flimsy and light for combat, and makeup and jewels she never has time to use. Most of these things she hasn’t spared a glance at in months.

Her sword and fan lay on her desk, along with her jumpsuit and armor. They’re waiting for her to finish up, and then for her to don them and escape into the night. Her friends wait for her there, and she just needs to finish cleaning out her room so she can join them.

April moves items that used to mean everything to her into a box for give-away, and closes the lid on what her younger self had imagined to be valuable.

 He can’t do that to us.

“He can’t do that to us, right?” April asks, shooting a look at the four brothers as master Splinter shuts the dojo doors. With him out of the room, her frustration is free to be expressed. “I mean. More specifically, can’t do that to me. He’s not my dad. He can’t ground me, right?”

“I think he just did,” Donnie says with an awkward, apologetic smile. Leo shrugs, and maintains a similar expression; while Raph just grumbles along with Mikey.

April throws her hands up in the air, and slumps onto the lair couch morosely. “I blame all of you. I wanted to see that movie.”

“Me too,” Mikey sighs in agreement, flopping dramatically onto the couch with her.

“And yet, you were the one who let slip we were going to it,” Leo points out, sitting down with less drama than Mikey, but with an air of disappointment regardless.

“I forgot, alright? Besides, can you blame me for getting excited? The original version of Akira, playing in a theater, like, not even twenty blocks from here!”

Raph whacks Mikey’s shoulder as he and Donnie join the pile of disappointed teenagers, and Mikey whines wordlessly about the punishment.

April just sighs, and tries to remember when she agreed to having a second parent in her life.

 Why did you shift the tone?

April just wanted to have a nice dinner out with an admittedly cute girl who’d helped her out with a vending machine. Not this. Because this is definitely not what she intended to happen, but someone is insisting on being what April can only describe as a flirt.

She feels her heart stutter every time Harmony looks over, or smiles, or tilts her head just right and her bangs fall out of place. And the way Harmony wears a too big jacket and makes it look as flattering as an evening gown, and the perfectly sharp eyeliner that should clash but doesn’t, is just driving April crazy.

April focuses very hard on keeping her words steady and her eyes from staring at Harmony’s lips. It’s a hard thing to do, especially once they leave the restaurant and Murakami’s slight barrier between them.

April O’Neil has a quiet sexuality crisis for about two hours, and doesn’t know what to do with it even afterwards. She never really thought about girls like that, but oh does she now. She definitely does now.

Even after Harmony turns out to be Karai, and tries to kill her, April very guiltily admits that yeah, she’s still cute. Foot clan ties and all.

 I ache all over.

“Ninjutsu sucks,” April proclaims, lying on the floor of the dojo and not even caring about appearances anymore. Everything hurts and she is never moving again.

“Welcome to the club,” Mikey says in an only half mocking tone, slumped against the random tree the family has growing in here. Seriously, April doesn’t understand why or how the tree is here. But it is.

“Diligence is rewarded with… something,” Leo says, clearly trying to start a leaderly speech, but also clearly too tired to do so. “Wait I know this one, hold on.”

“Everyone stop talking, I’m trying to die in peace,” Donnie mutters belligerently from his position splayed on the floor. Raph grunts an agreement, and makes no move otherwise from his spot beside Donnie.

“Sucks,” April says with more emphasis, because when she signed up for ninja training, she did not think it would include six hour plus sessions of pure and utter agony.

 Let’s wait for them.

“Can we just give up and leave them?” Mikey asks April, once the second hour rolls by.

April scans the alien market they were- not lost in, just momentarily confused by- checking again for any sight of Leo and Raph. “No, I’m pretty sure we still need them.”

Mikey makes a drawn out sound of annoyance, and flops his head backwards against the bench they’re on. “Oh my god, how hard is it to get one measly electro-converter-whatever?”

“Apparently hard enough it takes two plus hours,” April says dryly, shielding her eyes to the blinding three sun sky. Why was it always desert planets lately; she had sand in places she never wanted to.

Something catches her eye, and April turns her search towards it. Then she grimaces.

“Uh oh,” She says.

“Why the ‘uh oh’?” Mikey asks in a wary voice.

“Uh oh because it looks like the deal went bad,” April says, grimacing further as she watches the two brothers try to run through the thick crowd. Their pursuing enemies look really angry, and April isn’t eager to find out why.

Mikey doesn’t move from his slump, apparently unbothered by the turn of events. “Welp, can’t say I didn’t expect that one. Should we wait for them to escape, or help ‘em out?”

April watches the way Leo and Raph scurry through the throngs of people, Leo carrying the engine part they need for the ship. None of them aliens pursuing them have drawn weapons yet, but April doesn’t like the look of the swords on their backs.

“Let’s wait for them to escape,” April says, leaning back and pulling up her hood. They’re both tucked into their sand-resistance cloaks, and seem innocuous to the aliens passing by. Hopefully. “If they can’t shake them in five minutes, we’ll intervene.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mikey agrees, still not bothering to even lift his head.

 It wasn’t very convincing.

April grins for her aunt, and swears it’s just a self-defense club. That’s why she’s asking for money to buy new workout clothes, and why she’s been keeping such weird hours.

She conceals the guilt of having to lie about her friends, about her father, and about why she comes home with bruises and cuts not caused by training. She tells her aunt that the self-defense club is because she’s still shaken up about losing her dad, and can’t handle being unable to defend herself anymore.

It’s partially a lie, that explanation. April is past being shaken, and moved onto being angry. So very angry.

She conceals that anger too, and smiles for her aunt every time she asks about her martial arts.

April keeps things vague, and knows that it’s not as half convincing as she needs it to be.

 It went to dark places.

She listens to his half mumblings and shrieking shouts and shuddering, slow breaths as he calms down, and sometimes wonders if she really saved her dad at all.

Kirby O’Neil is not the man he was, and April O’Neil isn’t the girl she was either. Neither of them are the same anymore; and hearing the pained, distressed sounds her dad makes in the dead of night, trying so hard to cope with the things he endured for her, breaks April’s heart in ways she hadn’t thought it could still break.

The sound of her father breaking down takes April along with him, because she can’t stop the vague connection of empathy she has. Her powers are still something new, and she doesn’t have enough control yet to completely shut everything out. Including the strangling, terrifying fear and despair that sometimes grips her father.

Even if she knows that he’ll recover, stand back up and smile like none of this happened at all, and go to work the next day like any other normal dad- the anxiety attacks and night terrors still drag April down. Down into visions of metallic cells and cold restraints and dark things that make her fear spike without fail, and she struggles to pull herself free each time.

 We like the darkness.

April doesn’t know if she was ever afraid of the dark. Maybe as a small child she’d been, but now, she dances through it without fear.

After all, her closest friends dwell there, and she’s learned the shadows better than the light.

And as she does, she learns how to melt into it, to make it a part of her very being. Learns what shadows can hide her wholly, and how to make them cling to her like a second skin.

Her four friends, strange and otherworldly as they are, are much better at this than her. A lifetime of experience makes them masters at something April has just begun to take into herself.

It doesn’t bother her often, because she’s far too busy racing with the night wind and playing training games in the slanted dark of each street.

 I was ready to go.

April glances back at the farm house, thinking about the temporary peace it’s given them all the last few months. But also, about how the basement had held secrets she wasn’t ready to learn, and how those secrets weigh on her still.

It’d been a place to hide and heal their wounds, a beat of quiet in a time of raging wars and hard losses, but it had also slowly become a place where the walls felt too tight. So tight and cramped that April had wondered if they were getting smaller by the day. The six of them all but snarling at one another some days, when cabin fever became too much and there wasn’t enough room in the world for them to feel comfortable with their lives. A sanctuary that had slowly turned prison.

“Are you ready to go?” Donnie asks, calling over from the Party Wagon. They’re all piling in, food and weapon supplies already inside and locked down for the drive. Casey honks the horn once, and the other boys shout at her as well.

April smiles, shakes her head, and starts towards them. Turning her back on all the things she doesn’t want to linger on any more than she has. “Ready when you guys are.”

 We all talk about it.

Sometimes, when one or more of them hit a wall and just can’t anymore-

April, and her five closest, (only), friends will sit down in a great big pile, and just talk.

Especially after they lose the earth, and they drift through space and galaxies, someone will have a nightmare or an anxiety attack or just a bad day in general; and so they all react accordingly.

Sometimes it’s April’s turn for those. Bad moments where everything is just too much and too heavy, and she’ll just want to curl up and not be. Those moments are made so much easier, because she has five willing ears to listen to her, and she pays them the same affection.

Sometimes she talks about her dad, about the Kraang, about being something that’s neither human nor alien. And they listen, and she listens to them.

They talk about the Shredder, and what he’s done and taken. They talk about how they miss home, and how they miss things from before. Maybe they weren’t as close back then, because trauma and war ties people together tighter than anything, but they’d had less to worry about. To fear.

They talk about master Splinter, they talk about April’s father and aunt, they talk about Casey’s own father and sister, and they talk about the mutant allies they’ve made. They talk about who they count as their family.

They talk, and it makes things easier. And then they keep going, until the next time one of them needs this.

 Can we kiss you?

“Can… can we kiss you?” April asks tentatively, because this is really, really weird if she’s honest with herself. Even by their standards.

Donnie blinks, eyes darting between April and Casey on his other side, and the way they’re all a little too close to be platonic. No one else is in the room, Donnie’s brothers taking their turns for a sleep cycle while the three of them keep watch of the ship.

Or. They’re supposed to be. They’re doing this instead.

“Uh…” Donnie glances between them both again, looking confused and lost. “Both of you?”

“That is the plan,” Casey confirms, and April can sense the nervousness squirming in his aura. They’ve all been dancing around this for a long time, and now, with space from the earth, lost in literal space as they try to catch up with the timeline, they can’t dance any longer.

Donnie’s eyes widen, and his lips purse in the anxious way they always do. “I. I’m not really sure how to respond to that?” His words turn into a question, as he shifts uncomfortably on the sofa between them. “I mean, um, I wouldn’t be- be upset if you did, but are you sure-?”

“Yes,” April says, and cuts Donnie off by catching him in a messy kiss. She used to take her time deciding her actions, but these days you just did or didn’t, and chances passed by in blurs. They have this moment alone, finally, and she’s going to seize it before it’s gone.

It’s probably wrong, what she and Casey are trying to make happen. But monogamy is for ordinary people, and the three of them are anything but that.

April watched an entire world die, and then went back in time to save it. She can handle a little thing like having two boyfriends, who happen to be boyfriends with each other.

When April leans away from their kiss, Donnie’s staring at her with a sort of awe that makes her insides warm pleasantly. He’s been giving her that look for so long, and now she feels she’s returning it.

Of course, Casey breaks the moment they’re having, and April can only smile in amusement as he and Donnie start something that’s both a kiss and an argument at the same time.

She winds her hand into Donnie’s, as he and Casey break apart to stare at one another like the quarreling yet affectionate idiots they are. April gives Donnie a grin as she leans across his lap, and meets Casey at the halfway point for a kiss just between them.

The look on Donnie’s face is shy but attentive, and he watches them the whole time. It makes the exchange all the more exciting.

Things get a bit blurry from there, but April finds she doesn’t mind that at all.

 Can we shoot them?

“I’m just saying-”

“No, April.”

“-if we shot them, this would be over,” April says, pointing her laser gun at the captured aliens they have. “Seriously, we could just go ho- back to the ship if we shot them. Like, one blast for each of them, and I wouldn’t miss from a point blank range so it’d be a quick death-”

“April!” Leo scolds, giving her a wide eyed look. “We’re not shooting them! Jesus!”

“It’d destroy their connection with the machine!” April says, waving her gun and free hand at the giant whirling death machine they accidentally got tangled up with. How many plots for world destruction could one universe hold anyways? This was ridiculous.

“We’re waiting for Donnie and the professor, and we are not shooting people.”

April threw her hands up. “Oh my god, literally just one shot each, and then this’d all be over-”

“April!!”

“Fine! God!”

 These people are ridiculous.

April can’t help the laughter that comes out of her nose, and struggles to not swallow her now burning drink down the wrong hole. Her laughter is half snorted, and she coughs as she keeps going anyways.

Leo’s embarrassed shouting is barely heard over the howling laughter of everyone else; Mikey’s cheeky, completely unrepentant smile only egging both reactions on. April’s lost the thread of conversation between them now, but the growing noise serves to bolster her laughter anyways.

She’s returned to this, after weeks of fiercely refusing to see any of them, and it feels as though she never left. They’re all here, even with the new addition of Casey to their group, sitting around a kitchen table and eating a combination of pizza and Japanese takeout. Like nothing ever drove them apart; like there wasn’t a period of heavy, furious tension at all.

April has walked out of the lair so many times, away from it and the bizarre family living here, and once swore it would be the last time.

And yet.

Here she is, warm and welcome and laughing so hard her sides are aching. Accepted back even after the things she’d screamed at them, and finding herself having well and truly forgiven her friends.

The four brothers and their father, they always seem to accept her back, bring her home, no matter what happens. That sort of unfaltering loyalty astounds and warms April, and she can’t help but think how ridiculous it is that they would give so much of it to her.

April’s laughter, shared with four and now five people who seem to stand by her no matter what, makes her feel lighter than it has in weeks, and she hopes to never fall so low again.

 It’s not fair at all, is it?

April tries not to think about it too much. Dwelling on anything that makes her upset is dangerous these days, trapped in the farm house while Leo sleeps and New York burns. She knows her powers are growing, and the plate she accidentally threw across the room just yesterday - without even looking at it, let alone touching it- says all that needs to be said. If she lets her thoughts get too loud, too angry, she’s not sure what will happen.

But it’s not fair.

She’d just gotten her dad back, her life on track again, and now he’s gone and so is master Splinter. So are her aunt and every friend she has in school. All of them. Gone. Warped into mindless creatures or- or-

Or presumed dead.

April hunches her shoulders, and tries not to drown in anger and sorrow as she makes lunch. Because cracking the salad bowl in two won’t help anything, or alleviate the ever louder chant in her mind that it’s not fair, why me, why always me, it’s not fair.

But things haven’t been fair for her in a long, long time, and that knowledge gives her no comfort. Just a grim reminder of how things are, and will be for the foreseeable future.

 Are you crying?

April wakes up a day later, after That Night, and doesn’t want to.

She doesn’t go back to sleep though, because what’s waiting there could be even worse.

She doesn’t bother dressing, because she isn’t going out. She’s taking sick leave from school and training, and trying so hard not to feel the absent weight around her neck.

She makes herself breakfast, listless and not actually hungry, and finds herself reaching for a necklace she doesn’t have. To toy with it, like it really was a harmless pendant.

There’s nothing there, and she drops her hand. Ashamed.

She eats tasteless instant oatmeal, and barely finishes the meal. She doesn’t have any real appetite, not with the images and sensations still rising up her mind in unwanted, stinging flashes of memory.

It’s still raining. The windows of her apartment are streaked with it. The rain has just kept falling and falling, ever since…

Ever since the night she killed Donnie, and attempted to do the same to the rest of their family.

That thought remains lead like and suffocating on April’s consciousness, and it’s why she’s here at home. Because she doesn’t trust herself yet to look her friends in the eye, and not break.

But also because… she still wants the crystal back.

The sensation of Power, roiling and endless, still tingles at the tips of her fingers. The voice of Za’naron remains in her head, an echo of the alien’s soothing, sinking, strangling influence on her mind. The scene of her powers, her powers, tearing her best friend apart plays on repeat in her memories, and April feels heavy with exhaustion and guilt.

But outside of that guilt, that exhaustion, the feeling wanting remains. And April feels like the worst person in the world for that.

“April?”

April doesn’t have to turn around from the window to know it’s her dad. She’d felt him moving through her ambient senses long before he’d approached the living room.

“April, honey… are you crying?” Her dad asks, stepping further into the room.

April blinks, and hastily wipes away a few tears that escaped without her permission. “No,” She says, forcing her voice to remain steady. She can’t burden her dad with yet another one of her problems. “No, it’s just the rain. I’m fine, dad.”

Her dad seems pale, paler than he usually is these days, and a stricken emotion crosses his face. April can feel his concern, his worry, and she can’t bring herself to look at it too closely.

Her dad crosses the room, and with gentle care, pulls her into a hug. Its warmer than how April feels- which is cold, cold and hollow without the burning power she’d held just hours ago- and she lays her head against her dad’s shoulder.

She’s so tired of this. So tired of tragedies and fights and seeing her friends get hurt.

She’s so tired.

Her dad strokes a hand down her back, and April closes her eyes as he murmurs to her. “I know you don’t want to tell me what’s happening, but please know I’m here for you. Whenever you want to talk, I’ll listen, April.”

April tries to suppress the emotion welling up in her, and only barely does.

She wants to talk about it… but she also just wants it to disappear. She wants the nightmarish experience of killing her own friend to fade into nothingness, and for everyone to forget the time April lost herself in her own powers. She wants the memories, Za’naron, and the crystal gone forever.

April carefully bundles up her grief and tears, and pushes them far, far into the back of her mind.

“Thanks, dad,” April says quietly. “But I don’t have anything to talk about.”

Nothing at all.

Her father doesn’t have anything to say to that, and just holds her tighter.

It takes another few days, meditating on and off to fold the frayed edges of her powers and mind up and away…

…tucking the worst parts into themselves, hiding them so far inside her mind not even she can find them anymore…

…and then April can wake up again, and smile, and go on about her day like nothing ever happened.

She picks up her sword, her fan, and sweeps her hair back into a ponytail. She heads out into the night, and steps placidly over the still ongoing repairs to the lair.

She ignores the sideways glances she gets from her friends, and keeps complete and total iron control of her abilities.

She smiles.

And there’s not a tear in sight.

 It made no sense.

It made exactly zero sense to April, sometimes. How Leo will constantly say “Sorry April, ninjas only.”

Like she’s any less of a ninja. Like all her hours and hours of training mean nothing. Like she hasn’t spent the last year plus working her literal ass off to keep up with them, and damn near succeeding sometimes, despite their very large gap in years to learn ninjutsu. She’s done everything they’ve done, faced the same dangers and enemies as they have, with half the weapons and less than half the experience.

And yet.

“Sorry April, ninjas only,” Leo says, limping along like he didn’t still have a bum leg or needs help walking when he strains himself, like she hasn’t put her all into keeping their family afloat and together while he slept, like she doesn’t deserve to have a mystical ninjutsu camping trip too. And then they all just leave, and April has to stand by and watch their shells disappear and ends up going and breaking the skin on her knuckles pounding those stupid planks right after.

And she still fumes through the night, the next, and the next, until the day they walk back out of the woods.

April may have been imagining Leo’s face, the moment she finally broke the board right down the middle.

 I was in love with them all.

Originally, April had imagined herself to not fall for anyone easily, if at all. People and relationships were just such a hassle, and she had her schoolwork. She’d thought she didn’t need anyone.

But then there’d been Donnie, and then there’d been a certain kunoichi masquerading as a normal teen, and then there’d been Casey, and before she’d turned out to be a spying robot, there’d been Irma…

At some point or another, or even currently, April had felt something dangerously close to love for each of them. Or at least slightly off-kilter attraction, mostly inspired by the desire to simply beat a certain someone at their shared profession. (She hasn’t gotten her yet, but April would give Karai her just desserts one day. Some day. Maybe a kiss too-)

April’s brain fizzles, and she hunches a little more over the lair’s kitchen table.

Ooh boy.

She needs to slow down on the crush accumulation. Seriously. Two boys are enough; adding a highly trained and girl of dubious morales to the roster isn’t necessary. Even if said girl pulls off armor like high fashion and somehow never has her makeup out of place and god dammnit did Karai sometimes make April want to wipe that smirk off her face forcibly through a furious sort of kiss-

April makes something close to a whine, and covers her head with her arms; feeling quite sorry for herself and her late blooming bisexuality, with the addition of the inability to just choose someone.

“What’s botherin’ you tonight, April?” Mikey asks, flipping a few midnight pancakes on the stove. “You feelin’ sick?”

“I’m dying,” April mutters miserably.

“…huh. That’s a shame.”

April groans again at her friend’s lack of serious sympathy, and thunks her head against the table top.

God. Dammnit.

 Does anyone really want the ordinary?

April O'Neil isn't an ordinary girl in any sense. Hasn’t been for a long time.

Not since the night she fell into an alien conspiracy, and gained the strangest friends she could ever imagine. Not since she picked up a weapon, and decided she liked the sense of power and thrill that came with ninjutsu. Not since she spent the formative years of her teenagehood fighting one war after another, and somehow managing to still have teenage drama throughout it.

She isn't an ordinary girl at all, and she thinks that's fine by her.

 None of it mattered.

More often than not these days, April looks at her assigned schoolwork and just… can’t see the point of it.

College preparation used to be so important to her. Getting good grades and impressing her teachers used to rank close to the top of her priorities. She used to spend hours and hours studying, and love every second.

But now she’s seen and done so much more than those things. She’s fought crime lords and ninjas, aliens and mutants; defeated each one and come out of the fights even stronger. She’s learned how to manage finances and budgets and a household, lest she and her friends have starved while they were without parents those three months so long ago. She’s been to the edge of the universe and back again, and won’t ever be able to forget the other worlds out there, the other possibilities.

Looking at her math and history assignments, April can’t shake the feeling that it doesn’t really matter. Not in the grand scheme of things, and not to her.

Not for the first time, April wonders just how she’ll ever be able to live a normal life, now that she’s experienced the extraordinary.

 They know how to do this.

After master Splinter passes, after they made sure the Shredder would never hurt anyone ever again, and after they returned home to a home that felt empty…

April realizes with a heavy heart, that they know how to do this.

They know how to grieve, and they know how to move on. It’s happened to them before, the loss of the brothers’ father and April’s second parental figure. They’ve seen him die too many times, and now…

April hurts, bone deep and then to her very soul, and yet… feels almost numb.

There’s a gravestone this time, and that may be the only difference from all the others.

Splinter’s death flashes before her eyes often, the powerless moment she’d had watching the blades emerge from his torso. The world shattering second between feeling as though they might have finally won, and the moment she’d known they’d instead lost.

She feels grief, and sorrow, and regret for not being strong enough to save her second father figure. She wades through those emotions, and mires in nightmares and flashbacks that come to her in bad moments.

But more so than that, the feeling of vicious triumph of the Shredder’s death come to her, and April is far past being unsure if she likes it or not. She’s seen and done this more times than she ever should have, and she knows how to deal with it. Knows how to handle the balance of welling grief and whirling fury at losing someone so dear.

They all do, these days. The brothers and Casey and her. They’ve done the song and dance of losing someone so vital to their family twice before, and perhaps the greatest relief is that this will be the final time.

April hopes so. She’s not sure if she could do it a fourth time over.

 I have the sun.

A sun burns inside April. It grows brighter all the time, and sometimes she wondered if it would swallow her.

And then it did, for a single night, and she tore apart herself and someone she loved. It’d raged and roiled and burned her from the inside out. With the voice of a fallen angel ringing in her ears, screeching and singing and urging her on, April had lost herself in the torrent of white hot power.

And then she’d come back, the sun inside her not extinguished, but doused enough that she was herself again.

And just as that burning, ever growing sun had dimmed, she’d fanned its flames and torn apart reality one more time. To bring him back.

The power to change reality as she saw fit, it’s a dangerous, terrible power. Forged in her from the moment she’d been born, and designed to be used as a weapon by creatures that’ve done nothing but hurt her family since before she’d even existed. Yes she could use it to protect her family, her new one made of odd and wonderful people, but the things she’s been used to do already, the things she’s been forced to commit…

They weigh heavy on her, as heavy as the pool of energy inside her body. The one that feels like an ocean sometimes, and one she has yet to see the bottom of. An ocean of fire and white energy, bigger and brighter than April herself ever will be.

She’s scared of it. She worries about it. She loves the feeling of it. She can never let it tempt her again.

April has a sun inside her, one meant to break everything she sees and remake it in a twisted image, and she will never again let it burn her away.

 Celebrate them.

In between patrols and fights and tragedies-

-April learns to love the small things.

To celebrate them as they come and go, because everything is tenuous these days.

The days when her dad can walk out for work and come home with a smile, and then last the whole night without a panic attack; April celebrates them with extra-long hugs and truly bright smiles as they share dinner together.

The nights when she lands a jump just right, or executes a move perfectly, or earns an extra moment of praise from master Splinter; April beams and pushes herself harder, because she knows that now that she’s done this she can do better.

The moments that she gets to share with her friends, any and all of them, during patrols and training; when Donnie and Casey make the tips of her ears a little red, or Mikey and Leo make her laugh a bit too loud for ninja-ing, or Raph challenges her to a foolhardy bet neither she or anyone else in their group is going to really be able to win- April’s heart swells, and she lets herself experience the split seconds they’ve got with no other thoughts in her mind.

There are too many things that could interrupt those things, lately. Too many dangerous events and people that could take them away.

April’s learned, though. Learned that she has to celebrate them while they’re here and hope to god that there’ll be more in the future.

So as the moments come and go, the small interactions and smiles and hugs; she treasures and celebrates each and every one.

[uneminuteparseconde]

Des concerts à Paris et autour

Février 28. Blackmail + Team Ghost – Point FMR

Mars 01. Shannon Wright + Louise Roam – Café de la danse 01. Blonde Redhead + La terre tremble – Le Trianon 01. Totorro + It It Anita – La Maroquinerie 02. Le Ton mité – Chair de poule (gratuit) 02. Turzi + Encore ! + Saint Michel (fest. ON) – L'Onde (Vélizy-Villacoublay) 03. Vincent Epplay (fest. ON) – Atelier numérique (Versailles) (gratuit) 03. The KVB + Traams + Mountain Bike + Noir Boy George + Bryan's Magic Tears (Paris Psych Fest.) – Trabendo 03. Satan + Zad Kotar + Sissi Sussuce – Instants chavirés (Montreuil) 03. Society of Silence – Le Chinois (Montreuil) 04. Domotic – Médiathèque musicale de Paris (gratuit) 04. Gong + Fai Baba + Le Villejuif Underground + Faire + Biche (Paris Psych Fest.) – Trabendo 04. New Model Army + Alexx & Lio  –  Le Forum (Vauréal) 04. SHXCXCHCXSH + Binny + Koddi + Manka – Glazart 04. Schwefelgelb – La Java 05. Martin Rev + Richard Pinhas – MacVal (Vitry/Seine) (gratuit sur résa) ||COMPLET|| 05. Jacco Gardner : cinéconcert sur "Faust" de Murnau – Cinémathèque 05. Alice Lewis & Bertrand Cuiller (fest. L'éveil du printemps) – La Générale Nord-Est 05. The Dandy Warhol + Cannibale + You Said Strange (Paris Psych Fest.) – La Cigale 06. The Underground Youth + My Invisible Friend + Pardans – Petit Bain 07. Casio judiciaire + Romaind de Ferron + Tournicotape – La Pointe Lafayette 08. Bonobo – Olympia 09. Lionel Fernandez : conéconcert sur "film-Écran" de François Delagnes – Re:Voir (gratuit) 09. Benoit Pioulard + Bad News from Cosmos + Fragments – Supersonic (gratuit) 09. Lebanon Hanover + Der Himmel über Berlin – Bus Palladium 10. Tanz Mein Herz + Guilhem Lacroux – Olympic café 10. Re.kod (aka Electric Rescue) + Möd3rn (Electric Rescue, Maxime Dangles et Traumer ) + DNGLS + The Driver – La géode 10. Christoph Fringeli + Theoreme + Cocoboy + Petass – Le Sans-Plomb (Ivry/Seine) 11. Torb + Turzi + Krazy Baldhead (Salon de la production électronique) – La Machine (gratuit) 11. Thurston Moore + Le Volume courbe vs Grimm Grimm – La Maroquinerie 11. Infecticide (fest. L'éveil du printemps) – La Générale Nord-Est 11. Scenes from Salads + Aspec(t) + Graham Lambkin & Mark Harwood + Lico (fest. Sonic Protest) – Instants chavirés (Montreuil) 11. Legowelt + Gilb'r + Fareed + Fritz & Lang (Salon de la production électronique) – La Machine 11. Patricia + Not Waving + Jahiliyya Fields + Inhalants – Le Batofar 11. Murray CY + Iueke + Moyo + Jan Melnick – La Java 11. Sleeparchive + Gaja + Mayeul + Mekano – Glazart 12. Jean-Louis Costes : "Plastic & Magic" (fest. Sonic Protest) – Instants chavirés (Montreuil) 12. Rie Nakajima & Pierre Berthet + Watt (fest. Sonic Protest) – Halle Bouchoule (Montreuil) 12. Rashad Becker (fest. Sonic Protest) – Instants chavirés (Montreuil) 14. Phew + Johann Mazé + :such: (fest. Sonic Protest) – théâtre de Vanves 15. This is not this Heat + Heimat (fest. Sonic Protest) – Le 104 16. Quator Béla & Albert Marcoeur (Paris Music fest.) – Petit Palais 16. Maoupa Mazochetti + None (Paris Music fest.) – La Rotonde de Stalingrad 16. Charles de Goal + Dageist + Electric Press Kit – Supersonic (gratuit) 16. La Féline + Pierre-Jean Cormier (Paris Music fest.) – La Maroquinerie 16. Russian Circles + Dirge + Cloakroom – Trabendo 16. Eric Chenaux + Lucas Koenig + Ar Ker (Paris Music fest.) – Centre Barbara FGO 16. Vincent Ségal (Paris Music fest.) – Sunset Jazz Club 16. Damien Dubrovnik + Ghédalia Tazartès & Low Jack + Anne Gillis (fest. Sonic Protest) – Le Générateur (Gentilly) 16. Otto Van Schirach + Infecticide + Gwyn Wurst – Le Chinois (Montreuil) 16/17. Philippe Cohen Solal (Gotan Project) (Paris Music fest.) – Hôtel de Lauzun 17. Jean-Michel Blais (Paris Music fest.) – Petit Palais 17. Le Comte + Timsters (Paris Music fest.) – Crypte archéologique du parvis Notre-Dame 17. Harry Merry + Humming Dog + The Choolers Division (fest. Sonic Protest) – Centre Barbara FGO 17. EECEE – Les Voûtes 17. Ulrich Schnauss – Batofar 17. Franck Vigroux : Ruines (fest. Marto) – Théâtre Jean-Arp (Clamart) 17. Andrew Weatherall + Recondite + Mind Against – Nuits fauves 17. Xosar + I-F + Low Jack + Eastel – La Machine 17/18. Peter Rehberg : musique pour “Uccello, uccellacci, & the birds” de J.-L. Verna – La Ménagerie de verre 18. Seabuckthorn (Paris Music fest.) – Crypte archéologique du parvis Notre-Dame 18. Nosfell (Paris Music fest.) – cour khmère|Musée Guimet (gratuit) 18. Adrien Soleiman (Paris Music fest.) – Petit Palais 18. Taku Sugimoto & Junko – Le Bal 18. Anla Courtis vs Turbulences ! + André Robillard & Alexis Forestier + The Nihilist Spasm Band (fest. Sonic Protest) – Centre Barbara FGO 18. Fabrizio Rat/La Machina + Heptatonia + Ensemble Links joue "Drumming" de S. reich – La Ferme du Buisson (Noisiel) 18/19. Philippe Cohen Solal (Gotan Project) (Paris Music fest.) – Hôtel de Lauzun 19. Sarah Kenchington (fest. Sonic Protest) – La Générale 19. Anla Courtis (fest. Sonic Protest) – Petit Bain 20. Warpaint – Élysée-Montmartre 21. Nurse With Wound + Martial Bécheau + O. Augst, A. Bellanger & S-A. Johansson jouent "Chante France !" (fest. Sonic Protest) – église Saint-Merry 22. The Flying Luttenbachers + Zoo + Jean-Philippe Gross (fest. Sonic Protest) – église Saint-Merry 23. Art Kill Art (fest. Sonic Protest) – église Saint-Merry 23. Die Selektion + Crave + Cheyenne Schiavone – Point FMR 23. Vitalic – Olympia 23. Etienne Jaumet & Romain Turzi – Badaboum 24. Golden Oriole + La Tène + Orgue Agnès (fest. Sonic Protest) – église Saint-Merry 24. Nosfell – Maison populaire (Montreuil) 24. Society of Silence + Jerome Hill + Jaquarius – La Java 25. Buzzcocks – Elysées Montmartre 25. Wolf Eyes + Liberez + Cantenac Dagar (fest. Sonic Protest) – La Marbrerie (Montreuil) 25. Papier Tigre + Will Guthrie + Totorro – Centre culturel Paul B (Massy) 25. Kangding Ray (dj) + Felix K + Varsovie + DiMs – Trabendo 26. Sarah Kenchington (fest. Sonic Protest) – La Générale 29. Spectres – Supersonic (gratuit) 30. Jay-Jay Johanson joue "Whiskey" – Centre Pompidou 31. Austra (fest. Les femmes s'en mêlent) – Le Trianon 31. Monarch! + Birushanah + Chaos Echoes + Chaos ET Sexual (fest. Frisson acidulé) – Centre Barbara-FGO 31. John Zorn : The Hermetic Organ – Salle Boulez|Philharmonie

Avril 01. John Zorn : The Interpretation of Dreams – Cité de la musique|Philharmonie 01. John Zorn – musée du Louvre 01. Rubin Steiner + Night Riders + dDamage + B.I.M. + La Mverte – Centre Barbara-FGO 01. Terminal Cheesecake + Reproach + Paddy Steer + In Zaire + Rat's Blood + X-Or + Le Renard + Noyades + Syndrome 81 + Futuroscope + Mhonos + Cheap Wine + Bras mort + Danc Music Rhône Alpes (fest. Frisson acidulé) – Cirque électrique 02. Slowdive + Dead Sea – Trabendo ||COMPLET|| 02. John Zorn : Bagatelles Marathon – Salle Boulez|Philharmonie 02. Jessica93 + Ashtoreth + La Cabine + Orval Carlos Sibelius + Héron cendré + Dr Snuggle & MC Jacqueline + Arno de Cea & The Clockwork Wizards (fest. Frisson acidulé) – Cirque électrique 06. King Dude – Batofar 06. Tristesse contemporaine – Badaboum 06. Grandaddy + Jamie Lee + Mourn (Arte concerts fest.) – Gaîté lyrique 07. Jarvis Cocker & Chilly Gonzales + Peter Broderick + Sarah McCoy (Arte concerts fest.) – Gaîté lyrique 07. Function + Shifted + Lucy + SNTS + Anetha – Dock Eiffel 08. Miss Kittin + Clark + Danny Daze + Factory Floor + Noga Erez (Arte concerts fest.) – Gaîté lyrique 12. :Of the Wand and the Moon: + Jo Qail – Petit Bain 13. Vashti Bunyan + Steve Gunn – Le Carreau du Temple 14. David Behrman + Ivo Malec + Thomas Ankersmit + Kara-Lis Coverdale + Cannibal (Cameon Jamie, Cary Loren & Denis Tyfus) (Présences électronique) – Le 104 14. Trans Am – Point FMR 15. Thomas Tilly + Felicia Atkinson + L'Ocelle Mare + Jana Winderen + François Bayle + Stephan Mathieu joue "Earle Brown December 52" + Hild Sofie Tafjord + Demdike Stare (Présences électronique) – Le 104 15. Hologram_ + Chrysalide + Meta Meat + Näo + Horskh + Moaan Exis + DJ K.Oz + Nine Flesh (dj) – Petit Bain 16. Meryll Ampe & Leafcutter John + Mazen Kebra & Roland Kayn + James Tenney + Andrew Pekler + Deathprod + Akira Rabelais (Présences électronique) – Le 104 18. Bleib Modern – Espace B 20. Pharmakon + Descendeur – Instants chavirés (Montreuil) 21. Croatian Amor + Andrea Belfi – église Saint-Merri 21. Fils de Vénus + Balladur + Tommy Genesis – Badaboum 21. Grand Blanc + Marietta + Robbing Millions +  The Parrots + Johnny Mafia + Halo Maud (Mofo fest.) – Mains d'oeuvre (Saint-Ouen) 21. Dave Clark – Nuits fauves 22. Fujiya & Miyagi + Black Devil Disco Club + Buvette + Il esty vilaine + Faire + Oko Ebombo (Mofo fest.) – Mains d'oeuvre (Saint-Ouen) 22. Komplikations + Taulard + Pour X raisons – Cirque électrique 23. Arnaud Rebotini + Jacques & Gain + Aquaserge +  Rendez-Vous + Onze onze + The Luyas + Julien Barbagello (Mofo fest.) – Mains d'oeuvre (Saint-Ouen) 26. Rodolphe Burger – Le 104 26. True Widow + King Woman – Espace B 27. The Jesus & Mary Chain – Elysée Montmartre 28. Oxbow + Celeste + Sumac + Inter Arma (Old Town Bicycle fest.) – Le Gibus 29. Dälek + Ovtrenoir + Jaye Jayle + Emma Ruth Rundle (Old Town Bicycle fest.) – Le Gibus 29. Frustration + Cheveu + JC Satan + La Femme + Usé + Violence conujugale + Cannibale + Marietta (dj) + Topper Harley (dj) – La Machine 30. Nadja + Matt Jencik – Supersonic (gratuit) 30. Seefeel + BLN – Batofar

Mai 01. Black Marble – Batofar 04. Group A – Instants chavirés (Montreuil) 03. Meat Wave – La mécanique ondulatoire 04. Qual – Espace B 10. Zombie Zombie + Tomaga + None + Tristesse contemporaine (dj) (Zombie Jamboree fest./10 ans de Julie Tipex) – La Machine 11. Oiseaux-Tempête – Trabendo 12. Wire – La Maroquinerie 12. Etienne Jaumet + Gilb'r + Tolouse Low Trax (Zombie Jamboree fest./10 ans de Julie Tipex) – La Machine 13. Collection d'Arnell Andrea – Batofar 17. Xiu Xiu + Le Prince Harry – Petit Bain 24. Death in Vegas – Gaîté lyrique 29. Psychic TV 3 – Petit Bain 30. Broken Social Scene – L'Alhambra

Juin 30. Geneviève Pasquier + Position parallèle + Black Light Ascension – Le Zèbre de Belleville 30>10.07. Air + Metronomy + Jarvis Cocker & Chilly Gonzales + Savages + Devendra Banhart + Michael Kiwanuka + Tindesticks présentent "Minute Bodies" + James Vincent McMorrow + Lady Sir (Rachida Brakni & Gaëtan Roussel) + Kate Tempest + Calypso Valois + The Color Bars Experience joue Nick Drake (fest. Days Off) – Philharmonie

Juillet 01. Ke/Hil + Kommando + Tunnels of Āh + AntiVallium – Le Zèbre de Belleville 05. Group Doueh & Cheveu – Institut des Cultures d'Islam

Septembre 27. Sigur Ros – Grand Rex ||COMPLET|| 28/29. Sigur Ros – Grand Rex

Octobre 09. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Zénith

en gras : les derniers ajouts / in bold: the last news

[tsukishima-tadashi]

Instead of queueing I’m gonna work on the executions for my Dangan Ronpa ocs

Blackened students marked by +, victims by -, survivors by *,

79th Class, “Warm Smiles”:

+ SHSL Mortician, Narciso Otsuka Moreno: “Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust” - because hes cremated alive lol!! The scene starts out with Narciso chained to the floor a church by the neck, a pipe organ in front of him (the music for the execution reflects this by having a pipe organ motif). The walls of the church fall away, revealing fire, and a cage with thick bars that obscure the view of Narciso arises around our poor mortician. Fire travels in a spiral pattern to the cage, quickly engulfing the boy. The cage spins, and the fire grows bigger, hotter, until white. Suddenly, the cage and fire stops. The pipe organ shifts, it’s pipes dislodging before lowering into the cage. Noises imply the ashes are being sucked up. The camera follows the pipes up to an urn - which is promptly launched into the air, and smashed by Monokuma, wielding a bat whilst blindfolded.  

We see dust clouds floating down to the traumatized students for optimal morbidness.

-/+ (killed someone, was killed in turn before execution) SHSL Psychic,  Homare Hitarashi: “Self-fulfilling Prophecy: - Homare is sat before a crystal ball, depicting herself looking into a crystal ball. Suddenly, the vision within the crystal ball is engulfed by flame. Horrified, she leans closers, watching the ball for answers - oblivious to the time bomb taped to the other side of the crystal ball. 

Guess what happens next.

- SHSL Virologist,  Daishi Gushiken: “Lethal Injection” - All I know is it involves giant needles. 

+ SHSL Junior Justice, Masao Wakuri: I’m not sure yet. The first idea to come to mind involves giant gavels, but that doesn’t seem original enough for me. Then comes the idea of harpies tormenting him, using his whole “avenge my father” goal to reference Orestes, but... I wasn’t sure how to spin that. So I’m still at the drawing board for him.

- SHSL Actor,  Miwaku Murata: “Curtain Call” - Miwaku is caught in a sword fight on stage with Monokuma. As this happens, bags of sand drop to the stage around him, as a Monokuma wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask cuts their ropes. Soon, this evolves to lights and the catwalk itself. Despite this, Miwaku’s character prevails, and Monokuma’s character is slain! The scene over, Miwaku bows as the crowd boos him and throws rotten tomatoes. Miwaku lifts his head and sees the only character in the crowd not booing - what appears to be his mother, yet all grey. He rises from his bow, and as he does, his “mother” stands, a single rose in hand. She pulls the hand holding the rose back, and raises her free hand as if to aim - and then throws the rose forward, tip first. It pierces Miwaku’s heart, and he fails to act surprised. He falls to his knees, one hand cupping the rose - and then falls forward. 

The curtain closes, hiding his body, save the pool of blood seeping under it.

+ SHSL Carny, Akumako Kyabu: “Down with the Clown” - Mako sits atop a fusion of a dunk tank and drop tower. On a platform across him, Monokuma is dressed as a ringmaster. He whips at a line up of balls, aiming for the target next to Mako - all to make a “crack” at the trauma Mako experienced from his father. As Mako delves further and further into a flashback-induced panic attack, a roller coaster twines around the tower - eventually crashing into the target, sending Mako hurtling down to a tank of acid.

- SHSL Gardener, Mederu Narihana: “Painting the Roses Red” - Mederu runs through a field of white roses, away from a harvester (driven bya Monokuma, of course”. Her ankle is caught in the thorns, of a rose, sending her to the ground. She watches in horror as the blades of the harvester grow closer.

+(/? Undecided) SHSL Storyteller, Kaname Tatekawa: “Storybook Ending” - In front of a tower on a stage, a noose is lowered around Kaname’s neck - and in front of her, a cascade of long, blonde hair. As the noose begins to pull up, Kaname is left with no choice but to climb the hair. Along the way, she is assaulted by various challenges - first, birds, then poison clouds, and even dragons! Despite the challenges, she reaches a window, and within a dress, the source of the hair, a fair maiden - psyche! It’s Monokuma, obviously. With a pair of scissors!  Cutting the hair, he sends Kaname to her death.

-(/? Undecided) SHSL Mathematician, Kitae Chiura: undecided

+ SHSL Know-it-All Trivialist Human Encyclopedia, Senju Yoshinaga: “(Your Life is in) Jeopardy!” - On the colorful stage of a game show, Senju is chained to a podium, wearing a metal gauntlet poised above a button. As Monokuma asks questions, a magnet in the podium activates, forcing Senju to pressed the button - earning him a shock from the jumper cables hooked up to the button. As time goes on, the questions come faster (and harder, despite not giving him a chance to answer). Finally, the final question arrives - “Are you going to heaven, or to hell?”. This time, the magnet is not released, and Senju fries. 

- SHSL Contemporary Dancer, Saburo Morishita: “Dance Dance Despair” - Saburo stands upon a DDR platform in the middle of a circular stage - around him, blades. As the game starts, the blades move in junction, ready to impale him should he misstep. Soon, Monokuma is forced to change gears with a lever, as it becomes clear Saburo won’t mess up. The game bcomes faster in turn, the moves more complicated. Again, Monokuma makes the game harder, appearing to sweat. Finally, Monokuma pulls the lever to a setting marked “DANGER”. Still Saburo endures. The game does not fare as well, steam coming for the pistons piloting the blades, metal glowing with heat, the area becoming bathed by a red glow. Finally, the machines implodes, killing Saburo.

* SHSL Public Speaker, Akiye Taira: “Killer Spelling Bee” - deets later

*  SHSL Interrogator, Hisana Tsuge: shrug

* SHSL Winter Olympian, Himi/Hiei Tsujiyama: shrug

* SHSL “Blogger”/Information Broker, Karasu Yorukaba: shrug again

* SHSL “Acrobat”/Phantom Thief, Yuo Hayabusa: “Big House Balancing Act” - deets later

the other classes I still have to do:

76th Class (The Class Reunion of Mutual Killing)

+ Ultimate Debater - Konata Sueno (the protag!) “Bullet Rebuttal” - Ultimate Peer Counselor - Heiwa Maebara ? + Ultimate Modern Artist - Souma Takagi - Ultimate Pretty Boy- Akira Niitaka - Ultimate Tactician - Yamaga Takesuke - Ultimate Paparazzi - Devin Dittmar  + Ultimate Survivalist - Naji Basurto Nejem “Urban Jungle” + Ultimate Surgeon - Noburo Hashira “Under the Knife” * Ultimate Guitarist - Riku Himura - Ultimate Technician - Tsubaba Nakao - Ultimate Researcher - Fuyuki Okubo * Ultimate Opera Singer - Damiana Gatti “It Ain’t Over Til The Foreign Lady Screams”  + Ultimate Cosmotologist - Midori Kita - Ultimate Racer - Aina Hayashi + Ultimate Fisherwoman - Kagari Ikari - Ultimate Marine Biologist - Nariko Takahashi

79th Class (Wary Eyes):

* SHSL Contractor - Michio Tsuchiya + SHSL Businessman - Hiroya Kanejo “Profits are Soaring” - SHSL Poet - Jirouta Hagiwara - SHSL Cheerleader - Benito “Benny” Amari - SHSL Fashion Designer - Candice Amari  + SHSL Paranormal Investigator - Maemi Morine  * SHSL Miner  - Teruka Sone +/- SHSL “Psychologist”/Savant - Ameryuu Mikami * SHSL Powerlifter –  Kame Igarashi + SHSL Personal Trainer - Kano Niitaka “Feel the Burn” * SHSL Spa Attendant - Kaya Niitaka * SHSL Analyst - Ieyasu Tsuge (the protag!!!) + SHSL Hacker - Fahn Yorukaba ”Blue Screen of Despair” + SHSL Bookworm – Tomoki Tsuzuri - SHSL “Host” (Not That Kind of Host)/Secret Agent – Moritoki Jin “Shaken, Not Stirred” - SHSL Witch – Miyuki Isobe