#SHOGI GAMES ( ASK AND PROMPTS. )

[ciaossu-imagines]

I don’t know why but this idea made me laugh. Probably because he’d also give it his all. Can you do the ‘what's their favorite board game?’ prompt for Oikawa?

C

I’m so glad the idea of it amuses you and I do agree – Oikawa would definitely give it his all! Thanks so much for sending in the ask, and I hope you’ll enjoy the headcanons, my dear!

WHAT’S THEIR FAVOURITE BOARD GAME?

When it comes to any type of game, I do believe Oikawa is a competitive sort of person. Even while having fun with the game, he’s giving it his all and he’s going for the win. That being said, he’s a good sport – most of the time. There are times he can slip and get a little childish if he loses, but that’s normally only with very specific people.

He’s not huge on any board games that require social deduction and large cooperative gameplay.

He’s also not a fan of board games that can take hours or days to play. For example, while TTRPG’s are considered by some to be board games, those are the kinds of games he’d hate the most. Civilization and Risk are also games that drag on far too long for his liking, as is Go.

However, he really likes the strategy of some of those games. Board games requiring a lot of thought and strategy really appeal to him. They help him not only keep his brain sharp, but he thinks playing such games also helps him hone his mental strategy and timing on the court.

Shogi is, of course, a game he really enjoys, as is Mahjong. However, he has a parent who is very against gambling in any form, so he kind of has to sneak around to play Mahjong, which is kind of a gambling game.

He also really likes Nimuto and Blokus.

[whirling-fangs]

“that's not fair! you cheated!” (From Nezuko :>!!! Maybe for Kimetsu Gakuen verse?)

PROMPTS FOR PLAYFUL AFFECTION // accepting!!

"That wasn't cheating! You never said I couldn't eat the pieces when you're not looking! This game is too boring!"

She may have been a little too optimistic when she offered to teach him in the first place, although Inosuke had been the one to ask, anxious to find new ways he could bond with his grandma. He heard her mention that she played board games at the community center, and his goal was to learn the game himself, before he gifted her a board and new pieces for her next birthday.

He had completely failed to consider this very obvious outcome: he wasn't a good fit for shogi.

He cast the board a disgruntled look, brow twitching under the conscious effort he made to try and focus up again.

"... tell me their names again. The pieces' names."

He could only hope that she had replacement pieces for the ones he swallowed.

[psticide]

tag drop

[tickly-trashcan]

Kamisato Housekeeper {Thomato}

A/N: ahhh thank you so so much for the prompt!!!! I haven’t written for these two together yet (aside from that little ask a bit ago) AND IT WAS SO FUNNNN omg i think they’re a new otp for me bc honestly i loved writing this waaaaah! I hope you enjoy and have a lovely day and stay hydrated!! :DD

Summary: Ayato and Thoma are playing a game of shogi when Ayato decides to play something new.

Word Count: 2.1k (under the cut)

It was quiet in the Kamisato Estate. Ayaka had gone into town with the Traveler and Paimon to do some sightseeing, leaving Thoma behind. He didn’t mind, though, and used the time he had to work on some of his housekeeping chores.

He was helping prune some of the garden when he heard some footsteps on the gravel behind him. He turned, about to greet them when he realized it was none other than Ayato, who greeted him with a smile. Thoma fumbled slightly, making Ayato chuckle before he stood up straight.

“Good morning, my lord! How are you?”

“I’m rather well, thank you. The Yashiro Commission’s work has been rather lax as of late,” He said, looking behind Thoma at the bush he had been fixing up. He smiled, turning his gaze back to Thoma.

“I see your work has been keeping you busy enough. Would you care for a break? I’ve been wanting some tea.”

Thoma nodded, smiling brightly. “Of course! What kind of tea can I get you?”

Ayato hummed thoughtfully, hand on his chin. “The milk tea around Hanamizaka is rather good, but it’s quite a far walk just for tea… How about you brew some for us and I’ll set up a game?”

Ayato started to walk into the estate, Thoma following closely behind. “What kind of game?”

“Does shogi sound alright?”

“Of course! And I’ll get started on the tea,” Thoma chirped, brushing past Ayato to get himself into the kitchen where he would brew some tea. He fumbled with the different varieties they had, trying to decide on one that he thought that Ayato would enjoy. He finally picked one, setting a kettle on the stove as he poured it over the tea leaves, allowing them to brew. 

Ayato called for Thoma when he finished setting up the board, and Thoma carried in the tea as well as some cups for the two of them. He sat down across from Ayato, pouring a cup for him and himself. Thoma handed a cup to Ayato, who took it and sipped it. He smiled faintly, looking at Thoma appreciatively.

“How about you take the first move? This tea is wonderful, I’d like to savor it just a moment longer,” Ayato said, and Thoma nodded, taking a look at the board. He pondered for a few moments before making his move, confident that he would win. 

Thoma wasn’t terribly good at shogi, but that never stopped him from trying his best. He had won against Ayaka once or twice, but he wasn’t sure if she had just let him win out of pity. 

Ayato set down his teacup, scanning the board. He made his move and leaned back, watching Thoma as he made his next move. Ayato hummed, having predicted that move.

He moved one of his pieces and Thoma groaned before chuckling in mild defeat. “My lord, I think it will take me years before I’m finally able to beat you.”

Ayato only hummed, watching as Thoma made his next move, trying to recover. Ayato didn’t expect him to make the move he did, but he had a decent countermove that put Thoma in a pickle. Thoma put his hand on his chin, furrowing his brows as Ayato sipped his tea, completely nonchalant.

Thoma made a few more moves, all of which were easily outdone by Ayato’s moves. Thoma finally crumpled in defeat when Ayato made the winning move, making Thoma chuckle softly.

“Congratulations, my lord!” He said, still wearing a smile on his face. “Would you like to play again?”

Ayato thought for a moment, glancing at the board before looking up at Thoma, a small grin growing on his face. He set his teacup down, gesturing to the spot beside him as Thoma raised an eyebrow.

“I have a different game in mind, now. Here, sit.”

Thoma was a bit hesitant, but he figured that if Ayato was offering, Thoma wouldn’t be overstepping his bounds. He sat down next to Ayato, who then told him to turn around. 

“Erm… May I ask why, my lord?”

“It’s for the game. Ayaka and I used to play this game quite often when we were younger. I want to see if you’re better at it than her.”

Thoma chuckled awkwardly. “Well, I doubt I would be any better than her if I can’t beat either of you at shogi.”

Ayato clicked his tongue thoughtfully. “Ah, you will find this is quite a different game than shogi. It’s quite easy as well. All you have to do is keep your arms raised above your head for as long as you can.”

Thoma couldn’t help but turn his head at that, glancing back at Ayato. “It’s that easy?”

Ayato nodded and Thoma grew suspicious, figuring there must be some catch. “Do I have to hold something while I keep my arms up? And if I lose you’re not going to make me eat any weird food, are you?”

“My, Thoma, what do you take me for? No, you don’t need to hold anything. And I won’t make you eat any of my food, don’t worry. Now, raise your arms,” Ayato said, his tone lilting slightly as he put his hands around Thoma’s wrists. Thoma couldn’t help but feel himself flush.

“My lord-”

“Raise them, please.”

Thoma nodded his head, lifting his arms and holding them above his head. He waited a few moments, and nothing happened. He flexed his fingers awkwardly, craning his neck to look at Ayato. He was about to speak when he felt a sudden sensation running across his sides, making him gasp.

“Whahat!?” He laughed, his arms coming down as he squirmed in his seat. Ayato tutted, continuing to lightly tickle Thoma as he teased him.

“Seems your not as good as Ayaka at this game. I told you to keep your arms up!” Ayato drawled, Thoma giggling profusely under his hands as he shook his head.

“Buhuhut – But it tihihickles!” Thoma whined, and Ayato stopped his tickling for a moment, taking hold of Thoma’s wrists again and raising them. “Noho!”

“Do you admit defeat then?”

Thoma bit his lip, stifling his giggles as he shook his head, lifting his arms. “Never!”

Ayato chuckled in amusement. “Good.”

Thoma held his arms up, flinching a few times when he saw Ayato’s hands, but they didn’t touch him. They only ghosted around his torso, as if trying to find the perfect spot to strike, which only made Thoma giddy and nervous as he sat there, squirming.

“My lord, you’re taking an awfully long time,” Thoma said with a chuckle, squeaking when Ayato finally decided to pinch his hips.

“Am I now? Then perhaps I should get on with it~”

“Wait-!”

Thoma couldn’t take back his words, however, and soon Ayato was scribbling his fingers across Thoma’s stomach. He lurched forward and laughed, his arms coming down slightly but not too much. Ayato raised an eyebrow in amusement as he watched Thoma dance in his seat to try and get away from the tickly touches.

“Nohoho! Not thehere! My lohohord!”

Ayato chuckled. “You can drop the formalities while we’re playing this game, Thoma. Ayaka would sometimes curse at me while we played this.”

Thoma couldn’t even imagine Ayaka cursing, and he couldn’t imagine himself dropping the formalities. But when Ayato squeezed Thoma’s hip and made him jerk backwards, he found himself shrieking out Ayato’s name.

“Ayahahato! Plehehease! How muhuhuch longer??”

“Until what? Until you win? Well, I don’t know. Normally I just go until you bring your arms down, but that would mean you lose.”

Thoma could hear the grin in Ayato’s voice and he felt himself growing embarrassed and flustered under the touch of the Yashiro Commissioner. There was no way for him to win this game, but his pride was on the line as well. What would he say when Ayaka asked him what games they played? Would he just tell her that he lost to tickling?

Thoma kept his arms up, wheezing as Ayato crept up from his hips back to his stomach, pinching and prodding at it.

“Five minuhutes!” Thoma managed to get out through his laughter. Ayato raised an eyebrow, not slowing his tickling as he realized what Thoma meant. Ayato chuckled.

“Are you sure you can last that long? If you do, I’ll count it as a win on your end. Maybe there’ll even be a prize waiting for you~”

Thoma nodded, squirming as he raised his hands up higher than before clenching his hands together in one big fist to keep his hands from coming down. “Okahahay!”

Ayato hummed, deciding to raise the stakes. He crept his hands up to Thoma’s ribs, making him whine and arch his back in an attempt to wriggle away. Ayato followed easily, however, wiggling his fingers against Thoma’s ribs and tickling them expertly. 

“Keep your arms up~” Ayato teased, leaning forward to talk directly in Thoma’s ear. Thoma squealed, scrunching up his shoulders and shaking his head as Ayato snickered. 

Thoma’s arms were starting to falter the closer Ayato got to his underarms, and he was dreading when that was going to happen. Ayato sighed, continuing to tickle Thoma as he giggled profusely and squirmed.

“This must be a rather long five minutes, hmm, Thoma?”

“Yehehehes! How lohohong has it beeheen??”

Ayato looked at the clock on the wall. “Perhaps… I think maybe two minutes? Two and a half if we’re being generous.”

“Lehehet’s be generous thehehen!” Thoma laughed, shrieking when Ayato darted for his hips again, squeezing them. The sheer surprise of the new sensation nearly made Thoma bring his arms down, but he managed to somehow keep them up.

Ayato looked again to the clock. “Now I’d say it’s been two and a half. You’re nearly there, Thoma. Though, there’s one spot I haven’t tried yet,” Ayato drawled, his hands traveling up Thoma’s sides, up his ribs.

Thoma squealed nervously when they stopped at his upper ribs. He squirmed, laughing frantically as his cheeks grew warmer. “Dohohohon’t!”

“Don’t? Why not? Will it,” Ayato leaned forward, whispering in Thoma’s ear. “Tickle?”

Thoma felt a shiver run up his spine as Ayato spoke, his giggles becoming shaky from nervousness as Ayato hummed. 

“One minute.”

Thoma nodded, shrieking suddenly when Ayato dug his hands under his arms. Thoma brought his arms down slightly, not expecting the sensation. Ayato clicked his tongue and Thoma quickly raised his arms again, laughing and squirming as he shook his head.

“AYAhahato! Ahaharchons, plehehease! Stahahap!”

“Not yet, Thoma, just a little while longer.”

Thoma nodded, squeezing his eyes shut as he laughed helplessly. Ayato eventually began to count down from ten, only making it even worse for Thoma as he scribbled his fingers ruthlessly under Thoma’s arms, trying to make him take his arms down. 

Ayato finally pulled his hands away after he finished the countdown, chuckling when Thoma snapped his arms down and flopped back, exhausted. He didn’t even notice he was laying in Ayato’s lap until he opened his eyes. He flushed, scrambling to sit up as Ayato chuckled.

“Good job, Thoma. Now, for your prize,” Ayato hummed, making Thoma ponder. Thoma’s heart sank for a brief moment. Was Ayato’s prize going to be that awful sea ganoderma milk again?

Ayato took Thoma’s chin in his hand and pulled him forward, humming. “Perhaps this will suffice.”

Thoma felt his cheeks warm, warmer than they’d ever been as Ayato closed his eyes and placed a quick kiss against Thoma’s lips. Thoma didn’t pull away or push Ayato aside, though his eyes were wide in surprise. Ayato pulled away, a faint pink on his own cheeks as he smiled.

“M-My lord,” Thoma sputtered, touching a hand to his lips while Ayato watched him, snickering in amusement.

“Did you not like your prize? I’m afraid I can’t offer a refund. Unless you’d like to play again-”

“No! I liked the prize! It’s just-” Thoma paused, realizing what he said and immediately shutting his mouth. Ayato looked away, color dusting his cheeks as Thoma looked down. The two of them sat there for a few moments before Ayato looked at Thoma again, humming. 

“You liked it? I must say, I did as well.”

Thoma looked up at Ayato, his cheeks bright red as he nodded, making Ayato smile. “Well, I can always give you another one. If you can keep your arms up for another five minutes, that is.”

“W-Wait! My lord-!”

Thoma’s pleas were drowned out when Ayato’s hands were under Thoma’s arms again, drawing out his sweet laughter once more as Ayato didn’t even care about Thoma keeping his arms up. He’d tickle him just a while longer, then perhaps they’d share a kiss or two more.

[wildflowertips]

Hi! I was curious if you had anymore Kuroko fic recommendations? Thank you! 🥺💗

hey! 🥺 i do have more kuroko fanfic recs. i didnt know what type of kuroko ship you wanted, so here are a few from some kuroko ships <3:

Kagakuro Recommendations

the flower that blooms in adversity by aotetsu

When Kagami falls for Kuroko Tetsuya, a famous prostitute from the red light district, he manages to find a whole lot of trouble and a person worth it all.

this fic deserves more love and attention. kagami love for kuroko absolutely made me sob

Brothers in Woo by buttwade

in which Himuro jokingly offers to help Kagami win Kuroko over and the joke's on him

kagami is drunk & himuro cracks jokes. this fic is funny. jealous!kuroko

Beastly call by TCon

"You mean," Kuroko started. "You'd be my Heat Partner?" He didn't expect Kagami to explode into a myriad of different shades of red more impressive than his own hair. "Y — yeah tha's what I'm sayin'!" for some reasons he lapsed into english with an odd accent. KagaKuro Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics & Sex Pistols AU - Fusion

Lots of smut in the beginning. there’s crime, suspense, and i read this fic like 5 times.

Stamina Training by tnsxbunny

As the weakest member in the team, Kuroko stays back after basketball practice to train on his stamina. Kagami watches from afar and decides to show Kuroko what real stamina training is.

SMUT. SUCH GOOD SMUT. thank u

The advantage of being Kuroko by heartfilledteddybear

mayuzumi hits on Kuroko & Kagami gets jealous 🥵

Akakuro Recommendations

Forget me not flowers in our hair by miniaturepsycho

When Kagami is captured by a beast Kuroko doesn't think twice and bargains to take the red head's position instead but it seems that there is more to this castle than meets the eye, and what has it have to do with forget me not's?? Basically a beauty and the beast AU that I decided to do after seeing the live action (which I totally did not cry at, not at all!!) COMPLETE

Contains Aokaga. Akashi as beast & kuroko as belle. So good 🥺

All I ask by TsuruKuni

"It's none of your business." "Tell me, Aomine. How can it be none of my business when you're throwing away the only person I've ever wanted?"

THIS FIC MADE ME SOB AT 3 AM. I highly recommend listening to ‘All I ask’ by Adele. I promise you will cry. Aokuro & Akakuro.

Bridezilla by DancingMarshmallows

Weddings are stressful... try helping people plan them. With two months to get everything together, a bridezilla and her bitch of a maid of honor, and finding love at the worst time, Kuroko would be lucky if he makes it out alive.

CEO!Akashi & WEDDING PLANNER!kuroko. you will not regret reading this one.

That Ridiculously Long Dance by Harmonia_Silverberg

Aomine, Kise, and Kagami never learn, do they? But apparently their "joke" works in Akashi and Kuroko's favor this time.

literally one of my all time favorite akakuro fanfic

What Would Chihiro Do by anewtinystory

Akashi is dating Kuroko, whose two brothers are very protective of him.[Based on a Tumblr anon's prompt: Nijimura and Mayuzumi are Kuroko's brothers; while Nijimura approves of Akashi, Mayuzumi feels the opposite]

slight smut. protective bros. i love it sm.

Aokuro Recommendations

Traded Mistakes by Acetate, Chrystie, exuberant_imperfection, kate882, luckypen

For the prompt: Aomine having an accident and losing his memory so all he remembers is being best friends with Tetsu and he doesn’t understand how that could stop.

Angst, oh the angst 😫😭.

Third time’s a charm (or maybe fourth) by LajtHane

Aomine really didn't mean to crash into him at Quidditch practice.

HOGWARTS AU. if that doesn’t temp you, idk what will. My fav Aokuro fic.

Maybe a touch of your hand by skinandbones

[Written for AoKuroWeek 2015]: Aomine moves into a new apartment and befriends a ghost boy.

no bc this fic made me cry too. pls read it 🎶ifwehad5moreminutes🎶

The Boyfriend Jersey by exuberant_imperfection, kate882

Kuroko, in a half-asleep mistake, ends up wearing Aomine's jersey to school.

THIS FIC IS CUTE SUCH DORKS

Hey, Come Here Often? by imabignerd

In which Momoi holds his magazines hostage, Aomine hates everything and everyone, and Kuroko is politely bewildered.

Aomine crushes on the lifeguard!Kuroko & Momoi is a little shit about it 😌🤍

Midokuro Recommendations

It’s Always your Fault! by warsandwich

Kuroko and Midorima are secretly dating, but Takao finds out their secret. De-anon from the anon meme.

Short, sweet, & funny 😌.

Partnership by Fayah

Their partnership starts in English class, but like everything else in their lives, turns into a matter of basketball.

Midorima really cares for Kuroko 🥺

Midokuro Ficlet by pandacchii

based off of imagineyourotp blog post: "Imagine your otp confessing while they were half asleep" Pairing: Midorima/Kuroko

short story but it’s really cute ☺️

An Unexpected Alignment by cinnaelle

Midorima Shintarou does not expect such a reoccurring encounter. But the wheels of fate are turning and Akashi moves his shogi piece.

well-written i love it sm. deserves more praise

The Way You Come Undone by oshare_banchou

"Midorima Shintarou is completely silent during sex. And Kuroko, who is both fascinated and frustrated by this discovery, wonders just how much it would take to make him come undone." - Kuroko/Midorima, in that order

do i need to say more? 😫

Kikuro Recommendations

Careless Whisper by DarkWoods

When Kuroko is dared to come up with some dirty talk, no one expects him to be good at it. Certainly not Kise.

my favorite kikuro fanfic. flustered!kise & tease!kuroko

如果的事 (If) by stormterror

People fall in love in many different manners. Love feels like many different things to many people, but Kise Ryouta thinks there's nothing that quite beats the feeling of being in love with Kuroko Tetsuya. [kise/kuroko]

SO GOOD I CRIED I SMILED SO HARD. pls kikuro deserves the world

Wires, Connecting by Bakagami

It's like being blind but not, like touching air, grasping at straws, voices dissipating and reverberating.

This story is locked so you need to login into ao3 to read it. PHONE SEX & DIRTY TALK 🥵

He Promised by imabignerd

Kise promised he'd smile for Kuroko the whole way through, all the way to the end.

Zombie apocalypse AU. Death. sobbing violently.

It’s a Small World by SilentSilhouette

Kise tries to find his soulmate through social media. Soulmate AU where a picture of your soulmate is tweeted to you on your sixteenth birthday.

This one made me crackle & laugh😂😂

Murakuro Recommendations

No Such Thing as Too Much Vanilla by plumtrees

Kuroko and Murasakibara have baking days. What do you mean it isn't canon?

baking!boyfriends & fluff 😌😉

Vanilla Cream by yoimrei

Murasakibara eats Kurokos ass after something Ahomine says which sparks his jealousy.

here me out first, the ass eating in this is *chef’s kiss* 🤌🏽🤌🏽

Philia by DarkWoods

That time Murasakibara and Kuroko started kinda-sorta fake dating, and kinda-sorta never bothered to break up.

Still going & i love this writer sm. i read all their stories 😙✌🏽

Lavender Secrets by SailorHikarinoMu

Kuroko was the one to bring out his true love for basketball, which had been hidden from prying eyes since the beginning. It was one of those things he was unsure whether he should feel grateful for, but all the same, it did mean something. What this 'something' was, exactly? Murasakibara did not know. Not yet.

FLUFF AAA FLUFF

Rainy by overdose

Kuroko listened to the rain pouring, and more importantly, Murasakibara's steady breathing.

smut. couch sex. size difference. 🥴

BONUS

Hanamiya Makoto/Kuroko Tetsuya

Scotomas by Darkenedcrystal

After the game against Jabberwock, Kagami goes overseas and Kuroko finds himself without a light. A slightly angsty, rather light-hearted story about what happens to Kuroko after Kagami leaves. Features teens finding their way around life, Seirin without a light, the Generation of Miracles being a family, the teens finding love and appreciating the heartbreaks. Kuroko tries to find his own style without a light, and stumbles into the darkness that is Hanamiya Makoto instead. Extra chapter added!

love this fic so much. downside: akashi is kinda a dick

Of Unlikely Friendships, Sneaky Bets, Shogi and Sake by itsthechocopuff

Imayoshi had introduced his two favourite kouhai to each other as an experiment. He did not predict they'd get along so well, both being shadows, but they did, and they worked, oddly enough. Hanamiya brought out the worst in Kuroko, while Kuroko brought out the the best in the other; and they both caused heartattacks to unsuspecting teammates who could not believe their darling shadow was not as innocent as he seemed.

you wont regret reading this one omg

Haizaki Shougo/Kuroko Tetsuya

A Taste That Lingers by therealmoyashi

I couldn't say anything, and that was alright because he didn't want an answer. I'll never forget the way that tasted. Yeah, I thought, he ruined me.

i cried reading this for the first time. out of character kuroko

By the Tomatoes by Wayfarer_Rye

It starts with a blue-grey t-shirt that says "Nothing but Net".

Haizaki wants to try again.

[kikun]

@suiyuun asked ; ❝ well if i’m all yours then kiss me like it. ❞

It had all started with a little game of shogi.

The Yashiro commissioner had laid out the board, eyes aglow with fierce anticipation and the Wanderer had found himself neatly arranged on his end, faced with an assortment of awaiting pieces. Pieces that would soon be placed down to wreak havoc and drive strategic play to best usurp one another. Serving as a miniscule diorama of war that the two were familiar with.

Aside from the awaiting cry of battle, each note of enthusiasm was detected by amaranthine eyes, lit by a single assumption. The head of the Kamisato clan must have been itching for a battle with a new opponent. One that brought along unknown movements and foreign methods unlike his ever-present retainer.

Or perhaps it arose from the factor that truly ELEVATED this game of chess. That being the stakes that were posited before the match had even begun.

Laid out in fine proverbial lettering, it hangs above their heads, ringed like halos.

Your return to Inazuma to pay for your crimes . . . One unconditional service for an entire day.

(He was nice enough to not ask for MORE than a day.)

It may very well have been a choker instead.

"Lord Kamisato." Adhering to his title, the Wanderer enunciates with reverence, keeping his eyes to the playing field. Opting to pick up a piece to toy with as opposed to staring at roaming azures. It was highly UNLIKELY that the Wanderer would be perturbed by the sight of irises on him, even if it were from a figurehead such as Kamisato Ayato. Still, he has no intention on losing. "Have you ever lost a game before?" Eyes cast down and sweep across the possibilities awaiting his every turn. Easily mapping out each path he's certain the young leader will take.

He wonders if the authoritative male had deliberately thrown the round with how fast victory arrives. "Hm." Maybe Akihiko had expected too much from the younger. Maybe Ayato had a far great deal more to learn.

"It appears I have won." Victory should taste sweeter than this. Then again, the Wanderer had been victor of a few too many battles to ever experience the surge of adrenaline his first success had ever brought him. Although, the stakes raise even higher when ears perk at the string of words released from a refined tongue.

A kiss would qualify his choice in any activity the commissioner was to perform? Not a huge sacrifice, the Wanderer supposes. What could come from a mere kiss in the grand scheme of things?

He displays his internal thought process in the arch of his back, inclining towards the host before him. Letting lids flutter shut and allowing his head to tip skywards, driven to capture lips soft as the tsubaki his attire exhibits.

JEALOUS, FIERCLY PROTECTIVE & TERRITORIAL PROMPTS

[liam-cadmus]

Who?

Questions for Shika/Sasu/Neji: 

(Neji didn’t die, and Sasuke didn’t loose an arm.)

Who gets sleepy first?

Definitely Shikamaru, without a doubt. Sleeps anywhere he can, so Sasuke and Neji make sure to lend their shoulders as pillows. Sasuke sometimes throws his cloak over Shikamaru to not let him get cold.

Who wears the other’s clothes? 

All of them. They all have similar builds, and height, so it’s easy to wear each other’s clothes. And the fact their color schemes are fairly close. 

Who loves forehead kisses? 

Neji loves receiving them, especially on his mark. Sasuke, despite being the shortest of the three of them, loves giving forehead kisses.

Who gets easily/closes off the most?

Sasuke, he still thinks he doesn’t deserve forgiveness.

Who gets shy when they hold hands?

Surprisingly, it’s Shikamaru, he would try to put his hands in his pockets, but the other two just holds them tightly. 

Who gets injured the most?

It’s very unlikely, but whenever one of them gets injured in a mission, the other two make sure to protect the injured one, making sure not to injure themselves. Very worried boyfriends here, so Shikamaru makes time to learn basic medical ninjutsu in case of emergencies.

Who gets jealous easily?

Neji, he’s used to not having his own friends, especially having boyfriends, so he makes sure that no one takes them from him. 

Who does the chores? 

They all grew up with chores, so they just have a schedule for each of them.

Who steals the covers? 

Sasuke and Shikamaru, they get cold easily, Neji runs warm. 

Who likes to styles who’s hair the most? 

Sasuke, he’s the one who styles Neji and Shikamaru’s hair. Shikamaru and Neji can style their hair, but it’s mostly ponytails, half up, or a bun. They prefer Sasuke doing it for them, because his fingers can weave them more intricately. Shikamaru and Neji sometimes style his hair, but yeah, Sasuke styles their hair the most.

Who likes being cuddled or starts most cuddles?

Neji. He would always try to get the two cuddle him, not that any of them can deny his request.

Who’s the one stopping fights? 

If you ask their friends, you would think it’s Shikamaru, but it’s actually Sasuke. Not that they fight, it’s rare actually, but it’s Sasuke. They love banter, but whenever it gets too serious, Sasuke usually stops it from getting bigger. (He doesn’t like fighting, not anymore, especially after fighting with Naruto.) 

Who makes the bed? 

Shikamaru mostly wakes up far later than the two of them, so he’s usually the one responsible for doing it.

Who cooks breakfast? 

Mostly Sasuke, or Neji. Sasuke learned how to cook different dishes growing up alone, and his mom taught him various recipes when Itachi and Fugaku aren’t in the house. Neji can cook, they all can, but it’s mostly basic meals like omelet and rice, with some miso soup.

Who visits who during work?

Neji visits Shikamaru in the Hokage Tower, and would slip in between breaks to visit Sasuke in the Academy.

Who curses more? 

“The fuck you mean? I don’t curse that much.” - Sasuke

Nicknames? 

They stick to shortened versions of their names, ‘Ji, Sas’ and Shika’. Sometimes calls each other darling, love or dear. Or their ANBU names, Hawk, Eagle and Deer...

Who gets sick the most?

Sasuke, and is very very stubborn on telling them that he does not, indeed have a fever.

Who kissed first?

Shikamaru, he took one look at the two blushing and looking away, and deemed it ‘too troublesome’ to wait for them to make a move. 

Who confessed first?

Neji, he didn’t want to wait too long, just in case the other two get lovers, before him.

Who gets shy or flushes the most? 

I like to think Shikamaru would be the one mostly red in the face...he isn’t used to compliments that aren’t about his intelligence..and he’s not used to get affection much. They all blush pretty easily, especially when it’s a praise, because they know how much it really means for each other..

Where’s their favorite place?

Ah, a tree by the top of a hill, laying on the grass, asleep on each other, while clouds pass above.

Who stays up late? 

Sasuke stays up looking at the moon, humming then Shikamaru would look for him in the middle of the night, sit down beside him and talk about what’s bothering him before pulling him back to bed, Neji already waiting for them, half-asleep.

Who wakes up early? 

Neji, he would already be in the backyard whistling while nursing a cup of tea or coffee, then the other would follow suit. 

Who’s the big spoon and little spoon?

Shikamaru likes being little spoon, Neji likes being big spoon, but mostly one of them is in the middle, with the other two cuddling on either side, with their hands intertwined in the middle...

Who’s protective over who? 

Shikamaru is very protective over his boyfriends, especially to the ones whispering and insulting them whenever they walk the streets. You do not want to mess with an annoyed Nara.

Who’s soft over who?

They both have Sasuke wrapped in their finger. Shikamaru wants to sleep? He’ll sleep with him. Neji wants to get his hair brushed? Sasuke will spend time to softly brush the strands and untangle them.

Who stares?

Sasuke. Activates Sharingan to memorize them.

Who sings? 

Sasuke mostly hums, then Shikamaru or Neji would actually sing, maybe even sing a duet. Their voices mix in beautifully, so it doesn’t really matter. 

Hobbies?

Sasuke likes doing crochet, it’s repetitive and calming for him, so he would make blankets or jackets on his free time, using their favorite colors. He likes reading too, often sitting in their little library in their house.

Neji likes gardening, he planted them a whole herb rack and most of their vegetables are home grown. He likes baking too, making sweet batches for him and Shikamaru and less sweeter ones for Sasuke.

Shikamaru is known, for his past-time, cloud watching. It’s something so freeing and relaxing for him, just seeing white puffy clouds pass through the light blue sky. He, is a shogi player, he loves the game so much that the three of them are terrifying in matches, but he always wins.

Who initiates dates? 

Neji, very not well planned dates, but sometimes scheduled. If they have free time, Neji would barge in the office and throw Shikamaru on his shoulder, then walk away without explaining, and Sasuke would just look at him, and will put down his papers on his desk, and follow them. 

Who overworks? 

Shikamaru, is such a stubborn male that sometimes Neji or Sasuke would pull their hairs out in frustration. Sasuke, who is equally as stubborn, not that he would admit it, does not leave his desk, prompting Neji or Shikamaru to manhandle him away.

Help these two with their mountain of paperwork, please. (Though, they can do it fairly easily if they really need to.)

(Sasuke and Shikamaru with reading glasses, ugh.)

Who proposes first?

I’d like to think they planned it on the same time accidentally, like they planned a fancy date in a restaurant, and they would have two ring boxes on each of their pockets....

Who flinched, at first, (like before they were together) when someone gave physical contact? 

I think Sasuke would have flinched, since..it’s been years since he’s in the village, so he wouldn’t be comfortable with contact, but Shikamaru and Neji slowly eased him into it, so he doesn’t flinch when Kiba throws an arm over his shoulder or if Ino links their elbows.

Which team helped the three of them be together?

Team 8 thought of it first, before talking with their own groups to help the three of them be together.

[headcanontheshitoutofsoulsborne]

Sekiro Chain 1

Original prompt: Kuro teaches Wolf how to play Shogi. Mun's note: I love how this chain turned out. Everyone did such an amazing job. Please show your apprecation for the characters by checking out their work and consider giving this chain a reblog.

@ghoulsteak

In Kuro’s tower, the summer air is warm and still. The sliding doors stand open to let what breeze there is pass through unimpeded. Sun streams in through the western door, painting a bright square across the tatami. Motes of dust spiral in the light.

Kuro can see Wolf from where he sits reading, a dim figure with only a foot caught in the sun, seated with his back to the opposite wall. It’s easy to forget he’s there, both because Wolf has been present in the corner of Kuro’s eye for a long time now and because being forgettable is a trait the shinobi has carefully cultivated.

He stands now and pads silently across the floor. Time for another inspection, Kuro supposes; another circuit around the tower’s perimeter (cliff side included), another quiet pass among the sun-streaked piles of books in the upper room. Wolf is always conscientious in his checking and rechecking, but today he seems to be wound even tighter than usual. On a day as beautiful as this one, that strikes Kuro as something of a shame.

As Wolf steps back inside from his patrol, Kuro sets down his book. “Wolf,” he calls. The shinobi’s head turns. “Would you like to play shogi with me?”

“I do not know how, my lord.”

“That’s no matter. I can teach you,” Kuro says.

Kuro himself learned from Owl. The old man taught him the game years ago while he lingered at the castle. He kept to himself whether was simply resting between outings or sniffing around amongst the servants and courtiers. Kuro has beaten him only once, and he suspects that the old man threw that game. He is as difficult for Kuro to read as his son is easy.

But still, he offers Wolf the same reason for learning as the Owl gave him. “They say shogi is good for the mind. It helps one practice strategy.” He knows Wolf struggles to justify doing things that don’t reap tangible results. The shinobi’s chief leisure activity, insofar as he can be said to have one, is sleeping. Wolf inclines his head in agreement.

Wolf seats himself across the table, and Kuro begins setting up the board. He explains the rules of the game to him; they’re a lot to take in, but he knows Wolf prides himself on only having to be told something once, and thus does not repeat himself. He listens in silence, nodding from time to time or interjecting with a murmured question, and they begin to play.

A minute and a half passes. Wolf loses.

“Hrm,” he says, brow furrowed. Kuro hides a smile with his sleeve.

“I didn’t think you’d want me to take it easy on you, Wolf,” he says.

A slight shake of the head. “Of course.”

“Again?”

“As you wish, my lord.”

Kuro offers him no advice. He doesn’t want to teach Wolf to play like him; even after three years’ worth of rainy days spent at the board, he suspects his own style is still too much like the Owl’s. He wants to see how Wolf plays shogi.

As they begin again, he watches the shinobi’s expression. Between turns, his gaze darts about the room, quicksilver eyes beneath a stone brow. His attention is divided a dozen different ways. This, rather than his inexperience, is why Kuro beats him again.

“Again?”

“Certainly.”

Perhaps, Kuro thinks, he should ask him to play next in a room with shuttered windows and a single, easily barred door. He can see the roots of Wolf’s technique, the shape of his quick, guarded mind beginning to describe itself upon the board, but he won’t let himself become immersed in the game. Wolf can’t let go of his awareness of the tower’s points of entry and escape, of the distance between the palm of his hand and the hilt of his sword.

Kuro begins to push Wolf’s slow offense back, intending to corner him on his own side of the board. Confident in his advance, he overreaches. Wolf capitalises on the chink revealed in his armour and cuts behind Kuro’s lines. As he finishes his move, he glances up at Kuro.

“Hah!” Kuro sits back in surprise, eyes alight. A hint of a smile runs along the furrows of Wolf’s face, and is gone just as quickly.

“I apologise, Wolf,” he says. “I underestimated you.”

Wolf inclines his head. “It is no matter.”

As the game continues to its close and the game after it begins, Kuro watches Wolf’s hold on his vigilance relax a little more. Perhaps there’s something comforting to him after all about a battle with no stakes, an enemy who wants nothing more than to pass a summer afternoon.

@dragonbasket

@fateoftheundead

“Are you ready, Wolf?”

Sekiro nodded and knelt before the low table across from the young lord, who busied himself shuffling a stack of papers. Kuro’s movements were not that of a studious priest, or a graceful shinobi, but guileless and clumsy like the youth he was.

“Why is this necessary for my mission?”

“Your sentiments are pure and honorable, but the pursuit of knowledge and understanding is just as pure, just as honorable.”

“As you insist. I do not know exactly what it is I do not know.”

***

The Wolf turned his head back and forth, flustered as he had ever been and rarely showed. “As I told the Heir, I do not know what it is I do not know. I… have heard that that is a good place to start. To start knowing.” A snort emerged from the background, amidst the wooden idols.

Emma, the mild doctor, approached, frowning in the direction of the snort. “That is true. Do not be so hard on yourself.” She took a seat. “Please continue.”

Sekiro handed the stack of Kuro’s scrolls to the man seated on the ground, who blinked with wide open eyes at the documents. Fujioka gave the smile of a man retreating from a tiger. “So whaddya need me for, anyway?”

“My letters are insufficient. You are the right choice, despite your grumbling.”

“Fine, fine, some compliment.” Spreading the papers out, he bent his head to the scroll he had selected. “So… I have heard it said, oh monks, that… hmm, I dunno that’s the best way to begin. You’ve got far more wisdom than you know, Wolf, but these doctrineses may be too big a breakfast. Tell me- what scriptures did you learn as a child?”

Sekiro sighed. “I remember very little from before I was orphaned, and once the Owl had adopted me I had very little time for scriptures or doctrines.”

Another scoffing laugh came, and this time it’s owner came closer. The Sculptor rose creakily and made his way over as well, though much less gracefully than the doctor.

“Ahh, these old bones need a stretch anyway. The Owl? Ukonzaemon Usui? One slip of the pen and he would have been a cloud-and-water man. Bah, you’re more a cloud-and-water man than the old fool ever could have been.” He bowed deeply to Fujioka, his wooden left arm almost scraping the floor. “Forgive me, scroll jumbler. Forgive me, Wolf. Please continue.”

“I suppose that I know as much as anyone. Gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā?”

Seeing the lost look on his face, the others in the room repeated the simple sutra. “You all know it. I’m gald I knew it as well. Perhaps this is not the correct interpretation, but it has always struck me... gone, gone, everyone gone... What does it mean to be shinobi? If we become one with the shadows, then do we exist at all?”

Fujioka beamed. “Oh, that’s wisdom alright, Wolf! As direct as the 6th Patriarch’s famous verse, and maybe as good.” He looked around sheepishly. “What? I know stuff.”

“Do you know who else had something to say about the Heart of Wisdom?” The Sculptor’s grimace was unreadable. Emma turned to him, but cut him only with the gaze of her eyes. “Master Hakuin! Do you know what he said about our beautiful Heart? Scripture scrolls dug from piles of garbage!”

“Garbage?” Emma’s face at last betrayed a hint of anger.

“Easy, sweet doctor. I mean no offense. We may pare our nails at the foot of a burning lamp, we may polish a brick into a mirror, but these base things are not bad. Simply a glimpse of truth. These,” he said, flinging a gnarled finger past the Heir’s donated stack of scrolls. “are wonderful in their own way, but for a man of my inclinations, I prefer the schematics our Wolf brings back. To build wondrous things!”

“Not from piles of garbage.” Sekiro’s face grew dark as he thought back to where he had found many such scrolls and the like that he’d found, in pockets and pouches, in dark corners used as hiding places, and he thought of the secrets he’d found as well, the deep crimson secrets that lay at the heart of men. And monsters.

“Of course, Wolf. Now, of all the treasures you bring back to our little ryokan... I prefer the sake best.”

“Sake!” Fujioka theatrically covered his face, mimicking the voice of a mortified grandmother. “In the midst of our scripture study! Would that not violate the Fifth Precept?”

“Indeed, indeed, sir, but there is one sin that the Tathagatha held more grave than any violation of the precepts.”

“What is this sin, Sculptor?” Emma’s face had lost all anger and she seemed genuinely curious.

“The disruption of the Sangha! Chaos amongst friends and disciples! Vituperation!” He grinned. “I am an old man. I get cranky when I do not get my sake. And when I get cranky...”

“The next time I find any sake, I will bring it right back. For the Sangha, that is.”

“Make sure you do. My friends, is anyone else cold? Without a little something to warm my belly, I feel every draft.” Without waiting for a response he walked over to the hearth where a few embers struggled to produce rarefied strands of flame. “We’re out of firewood.”

The others ignored him and Fujioka produced another scroll from the pile. “The Hekiganroku... some of these things the Heir sent us are quite advanced. Don’t get me wrong, I find a quality koan to be pleasing on its own merits, but the solution of these... beyond me.” The information broker squinted down at another scroll. “Oooh, ooh. The Heir left a little note in the margin. ‘Master Dogen’s commentary is superb.’ Aha! Dogen.” Fujioka became suddenly excited and turned his squint towards Emma. “Waittaminute...”

“I was indeed apprenticed to Dogen.” A faint smile. “Not the original Dogen. He was centuries ago. How old do you think I am?”

Before the broker could reply, Sekiro piped up. “Doctor, you don’t look a day over 200.” She rewarded him with a widening smile at the quip. She rubbed her hands together.

“It is cold. My Master Dogen would sometimes pretend to be a Zen master and jump out of corners to frighten me. He made a crude kesa out of bandages and covered his hair with a sack to seem bald.” She paused in thought. “I am not sure why.”

“Students must sometimes go along with their master’s teaching, I am sure.” Sekiro nodded.

Fujioka continued. “No offense, Wolf, but I got something here from the Hekiganroku that reminded me of you, and our dear ol’ sculptor. Case 54...” He recited the koan and put the scroll down.

“Yunmen Extends His Hands. I see. But I have only one hand.”

“Between the two of us we have two, Wolf,” called the Sculptor from the background, still puttering noisily among the idols. “Yunmen would slap us well if that were the case.”

Sekiro stood momentarily from where he’d crouched across from Fujioka and stretched his back before sitting again. “I recall some dharma if you forgive my rough understanding.”

“Of course!” The broker smiled in anticipation despite himself.

“Yunmen’s koan reminded me of another great master fond of hitting his disciples. Rinzai! What a fearsome teacher. There are tales that I have heard of his striking pupils to teach a lesson, but his most impressive act was worthy of a shinobi. In the meditation hall, during the most serene meditation, he would appear out of nowhere beside any monks whose minds were wandering, and beat them with a stick!”

“That stick is called the kyosaku and the monks must raise their hands and ask to be struck. It is an efficacious remedy for a sluggish mind.” Emma nodded to Sekiro as she rose as well. “I think I prefer your version, though.” “Aha! A fine Buddha indeed.” The Sculptor appeared with one of his wooden idols, one of surpassing craftsmanship. Without any hesitation he flung the idol onto the fire. The others reacted with a combination of horror and disbelief that led into a general clamor. Sekiro himself adopted a blank expression, as there was certainly a finer point to this act that he did not understand. “Protest all you like, it’s only a statue.”

“Of the Tathagatha. Such shame you bring with your recklessness,” seethed Emma. The sculptor scoffed.

Having recovered from his initial shock, Fujioka looked into the Sculptor’s eyes. “This is something I heard about once. That old pervert Ikkyu once did the same. But...”

“A common error, sir. Not Ikkyu, but Tanka.” He turned to Emma. “Do you mean to say that I burned the Buddha himself? Some relic of the Shaka Nyorai?”

“No, it is simply a wooden statue, but-”

“Simply wood,” he interrupted. “Then you do not mind if I burn another as the night grows colder?”

No one spoke for a long moment.

Fujioka broke the silence. “Ya think maybe we studied enough for the young master? I’d like to know for next time... I mean, if there is a next time... who are the masters you’d wanna hear more from?”

“Let us decide which sage would win in a battle, then!” The Sculptor’s face creased with amusement. “Wolf, who do you think?”

“Rinzai, of course. His stealth and fearsome strikes would take the day.” He turned to Emma. “What would you say, doctor?”

“Eno, the patriarch. His touch could make even the most ephemeral things as immovable as mountains. They say in a distant temple he sits mummified, unmoving but still meditating. True strength.”

“I dunno if the Heir thinks this is appropriate. Says here the Buddha himself specified that this subject is not suitable for the path to enlightenment.” He leaned forward with a sly whisper. “I would be like Dorin. Simple, happy teachings, and could spring through the trees like a monkey. Or a shinobi.”

“My turn,” said the Sculptor. “I am sure of my preference for the toughest master. Eka, Damo’s disciple. A great general before that, a fearsome warrior. To prove his devotion to becoming a student of Damo, he cut off his own arm and presented it to the patriarch, and became a great teacher in his own right. Invincible.”

Sekiro’s intuition prickled at him. He tensed, sensing something akin to danger, but...

The sculptor removed his wooden arm and held it aloft. “Wolf, I’ve seen how well you adapted to my previous arm. Such clever uses of the humble mechanisms I installed. But this thing? What use is it? I carved one arm with the other arm. Eka did not even replace his. So perhaps...” He shivered. “Is it cold in here?”

The sculptor tossed his wooden arm onto the fire.

There was no outcry from the others. Only a shocked silence. The sculptor rubbed the bare spot where his shoulder terminated. “Now, Wolf, about that sake...”

A slight smile. “For the Sangha?”

“For the Sangha.” Another uncomfortable pause, then the Sculptor let loose with a cackle.

In the warmth and light of the fire, the others joined him in laughter as the arm lit the room with its flames. @thefatladysang

@poisonhemloc

The old route to Senpou Temple started in the silvergrass field. Genichiro had never been to the temple, but there was a first time for everything. He needed the Mortal Blade, now, that was held there. The crimson one. The black one was further but much easier to get to, and relatively unguarded- but he didn’t want to risk the black one, the one that would kill Grandfather if he used it too much. Grandfather staying alive was the only reason the Interior Ministry hadn’t fully attacked Ashina. And he didn’t dare hasten the illness’s work before he had the Dragon’s Heritage, true immortality, not the Sediment’s poor version. With the Dragon’s Heritage he could stand up to the Interior Ministry, and win.

Grandfather had obviously thought the Sediment was making him unstable, when he stopped to tell him where he was going. A little part of Genichiro still wondered why he had even taken the time to do that. And wondered why he had come out here, where he had lost against the shinobi for the first time by a hair’s breadth, when the more reliable route to Senpou now ran through the dungeons. He turned to leave-

-and a strange depression in the grass caught his eye.

There was an arm. There was the shinobi’s arm, laying here unrotting. It had been a month, something should have at least tried chewing on it, but it looked as though he had just cut it off.

Some part of him knew why. He waited for the knowledge to work its way to the front of his mind through hazes of red.

The Dragon’s Heritage. The same as Tomoe. And Genichiro remembered a spar between Grandfather and Tomoe, when he was younger, before Takeru had died and Kuro had been born.

Neither of them were trying to be careful, but Isshin was always better at swordplay than Tomoe; xe had shined with archery instead, and taught Genichiro. And Isshin had cut off Tomoe’s right arm, with the same lunge Genichiro had used for the shinobi. And had given Genichiro a look, as Tomoe collapsed, and held the arm next to the stump, and when Tomoe revived it had reattached. And it had been like Isshin had never cut it off.

It must have been due to the Dragon’s Heritage. And now…

The prosthetic Dogen had spent days, months, working on, had been given to the shinobi. Every shinobi trick conceivable could fit in it. It would be better, smarter, to leave this somewhere the man would find it, and have him reattach it and lose the prosthetic and the advantage it gave.

But the rational train of thought was being drowned out by the louder, much more insistent voice that had listened to Orangutan complain, sometimes loudly, every time he was at the castle, about the arm he had lost continuing to hurt. And several soldiers, and samurai, who had also lost limbs and complained about the same thing. He shouldn’t delay any longer though, he needed to be moving. Genichiro grabbed the arm and left for the dungeons.

There was a brazier not far from the entrance, next to the cave Doujun had been reduced to using. Genichiro knocked it over and dropped the arm on top of the coals, watched it smoulder, and then catch when he dumped fabric- Doujun probably brought it over to tend to the stab wounds but they were fine, the Sediment was healing everything- and watched as the arm caught and blazed. He had a lot of things he needed to do but… he could wait, for a few minutes, ignoring Doujun grumbling as he retreated to the little cave and watch the armor distort and melt and the arm reduce to blackened bones before he turned and left for Senpou.

Isshin watched the shinobi nod politely, and stand. He would be after the Crimson Mortal Blade, now, like Genichiro was. He half turned- and tensed up, and grimaced, just for a second, but Isshin saw it. The prosthetic definitely twitched, and his good arm looked like he was going to grab at it for a moment, before he went back to the blank face he always wore.

“Something wrong, Sekiro?” Another little hint of emotion, he did not like that Isshin had seen that and commented on it. Now, would he lie, or admit to it? And which would make that shadow in his eyes worse?

“...Just for a second, my… injury, hurt. More than it has. I… believe I need to talk to Lady Emma.”

“Go then! Emma knows what to do with severed limbs.” Isshin watched him leave, not using the prosthetic’s grappling hook like he had to get here. Not using the prosthetic at all, actually. He would have to ask Emma what had happened. He had not painstakingly arranged for this man to get to Kuro and helped him hone his talent for killing just for his arm to twinge a little and have him give everything up.

Wolf had opened the library window Kuro hadn’t been able to budge as soon as he was back, and talked to Kuro, and now was approaching Emma. He looked tenser than he had, had Isshin given him bad news? And he hesitated for a moment, before seemingly resigning himself.

“Something… happened, to the injury.” Emma fought to keep the shock off her face, Wolf was asking for medical help beyond the gourd? When she went to check in with Isshin would she find him cured, talking to a normal, sane Genichiro?

“Okay. We need to take the prosthetic off anyway, I need to check the bandages. What happened?” Wolf had been keeping his voice quiet; Kuro hopefully was too engrossed in reading to notice, and Emma stayed quiet as well.

“It felt like I touched metal held in a fire, with the cut part of my arm.” Emma frowned, helping him remove the prosthetic and the remainder of the kote, not touching the scarf he was overly protective of. Pain from the missing limb, that happened a lot, and he had said it felt like burning. And pain in the remaining limb, from being cut. Burning in the remaining limb was not normal.

Wolf tensed up when she started unwrapping bandages, too, but that was normal for him. There were clean bandages up here, at least, Emma didn’t want to reuse what she was unwrapping. She should have changed everything when he woke up, but there was no way he would have trusted her enough to let her. Nevermind that she had bandaged the arm in the first place and been changing it while he’d been unconscious, and worried that it never looked like it was healing, just not bleeding as much.

Now it did, it looked… like he had said, like someone had cauterized it. Which was normally what Emma would have done anyway, except the Dragon’s Heritage should have healed it completely.

“You were just talking with Isshin?”

“Yes.”

“...Well, it cauterized itself. I don’t know why. It’s still going to hurt- it might hurt more, for a while. I need you to stay here for a few hours, at least, in case something else happens.”

“I cannot. I have Lord Kuro’s orders to fulfil.” Like he hadn’t asked Emma to check his arm. “I will-”

“Not leave until tomorrow at earliest.” Loud enough Kuro heard, hopefully. “Give your arm some chance to heal, since it’s finally started to.” She ignored the dirty look that flashed across his face for a moment as she placed new bandages and helped replace the remains of the left kote that the prosthetic tied onto.

Kuro walked to the front of the library as Wolf pushed Emma’s hands away and finished tying on the prosthetic himself.

“Wolf, please, if you are in pain the ingredients can wait.” Kuro was frowning, one of his hands was fidgeting with the book he still held. “And you did just duel Genichiro. Everything can wait til tomorrow morning, Wolf.” Kuro was probably too far away to hear a bitten back sigh.

“Of course, my lord.”

Emma had her own quarters at night, and Kuro had blankets in this room and had insisted on giving Wolf one of them; he had insisted on giving Wolf several of them, actually, and it had taken a few minutes of careful discussion before Wolf convinced him not to, but he wouldn’t be budged on Wolf having at least one and continuing to refuse was inviting him to order Wolf to accept more. How much Kuro seemed to care for Wolf- Wolf, who had failed at Hirata, who had spent too long trying to find Kuro and get to Ashina, and then failed again immediately- was. Strange. It must have been because Wolf was the only person left from Hirata, this was not how masters treated their servants. At least Wolf would stay awake if he was here, stay on guard.

And he failed at that, too, jerking awake in the middle of the night, biting his tongue to stop a yell like he had with Isshin, feeling like his missing arm had been crushed. It was still gone. The pain persisted for a few minutes, before fading back to the burning pain he had been trying to tune out. Emma was not being told about this, if she came before he left in the morning; Wolf had a duty to his lord, and he did not want to be delayed again because she thought he couldn’t work through pain.

Genichiro, angrier already than he had been, stomped back down the passageway, snapping at the soldiers he had ordered to keep watch down here to pay attention. Senpou was a waste. The monks were easy enough to kill, not one of them could block a swing from him, but every bridge to the monastery was broken. What was he supposed to do, scale Mt Kongo itself just to get to the main hall?

So the black blade would have to do. Open Gate. The weaker of the blades, sure, but it was enough. It was closer too, easier to get to; why had he even bothered with Senpou Temple? He should have gone straight for it. Yes, Grandfather thought it was tied to his life, but no one really knew, just some shrine maiden twenty years ago wrote a lot of stuff on a scroll to justify keeping the sword. It was all speculation. And it was just in a shrine halfway to Hirata and north. And Dragon’s Heritage or not, it would kill the shinobi for good and Kuro wouldn’t have a choice, and with enough of the generals sharing immortality they would drive off the Interior Ministry.

...Here was the remains of the fire where he’d burned the arm. The bones looked blackened, but still recognizable. Genichiro stamped on them as he passed, splintering them into pieces, and continued out of the dungeons, back out of the castle, before it was light.

[shoichee]

Omgomg, congratsss on 200!!! You deserve all of ittt💕 could I have 15 for akashi pleasee? Thank youu!!

HI ANONIE, I’m flattered that you think that I have 200 REEEE but it’s actually just a 100 milestone hahahaha;; hope you’re lurking around on my blog rn and sorry it took a while, but without further ado.... i present to you

Akashi x Reader

15. “Stop pretending you’re okay, cause I know you’re not”

Word Count: 2696

prompt list here

Note: we need more boku-akashi, i repeat, we need more SCARY AKASHI (SHAMELESS plug of another boku-akashi fic i did here)

»»—————　☼　—————««

Everything changed after that violent rainstorm that day.

You did not know what happened in Teiko’s gymnasium that practice, but no matter how much you try to probe Momoi, Murasakibara, and even Kuroko about it on separate occasions, none of them seemed willing to divulge anything to you. It seems like everyone suddenly became a different person in just a single day, and you are left completely in the dark, grasping for nothing and having no clue what to do.

“H-haha…” Momoi nervously stammered. “Honestly, I think it was just a really bad day for everyone… I’m just concerned for Dai-chan…” And with that, you remember her dashing away to the stairs to cut the conversation short. You wonder what she meant about Aomine.

“Hnn,” Murasakibara hummed dismissively. “Practice is just getting annoying.” He never said anything more, and his silence spoke louder than words to you as he stared down at you with his peripheral vision: “leave now.” And so you reluctantly leave, your mind swirling with even more questions than you had prior.

“Ah…” Kuroko said. “Mm, well, I worry for our team… is all, but please don’t worry about us too much, (y/n)-san.”

“Kuroko?” you called out, deciding to drop the topic seeing his slight discomfort.

“Yes?”

“Do you know where Seijuro is?”

He flickered his gaze to the floor for a quick second before he returned his eyes to you.

“... I don’t know.”

“That can’t be helped,” you reassured him. “I’ll look for him myself. Thanks, Kuroko!” As you ran outside to head towards the gym, Kuroko stretched out his arm in a feeble attempt to stop you, but his fingers barely grazed your hair and ended up clasping air as he watched you with dread at the inevitable harsh truth you were about to encounter.

After all, who had the heart to tell you that Akashi Seijuro wasn’t as he seemed this entire time?

Gasping for air as you creak the bulky doors open, you immediately notice the lack of lights turned on, with only the evening sunlight filtering through the foggy windows from the 2nd floor giving the gym its light source. Amidst the stretched shadows on the court, only Midorima stands alone with his basketballs, shooting constant half-court shots in complete silence. Akashi was nowhere to be found.

Noticing your presence, Midorima turns around irritated, ready to berate the offender who interrupted his practice before he registers that it was just you. He sighs and puts the basketballs back into their storage basket before he gives you his full attention.

“I’m assuming you are here for Akashi,” he says, pushing up his glasses that had been slowly sliding down his nose from the sweat.

“Yeah—”

“He’s not here, nanodayo. He already left a while ago. I’ve been given charge of locking up the gym for the night.”

“Is… that so?” you said, scratching the back of your neck. “Well… I guess it can’t be helped, right? So, aha… I’ll see you tomorrow practice then?” Midorima only gives you a firm nod before he turns around to start mopping up the gym floors. Not wanting to partake in the awkward, distant silence between the two of you, you promptly left the gym, taking extra care to close the doors quietly to not disturb the greenhead inside.

That was… odd, to say the least. Akashi has always waited for you to walk you home together. It wasn’t that he had to, but he’s always insisted on walking you out of concern for your safety and gently teasing you that he wanted to spend a little more time with you. It was simply a small custom you two shared over the year you were together. Even if he couldn’t make it, he would always let you know beforehand either personally or through calls and texts.

Your heart feels unbelievably heavy and you’re not quite sure why.

———

During times like these were when you really hated the fact that Akashi was in a different class than you. Your mind constantly drifts back to last night when you dialed him a few times to have a casual talk with him but received nothing but empty buzzes on his end. Figuring he was very busy, you decided to just go about your own schedules and send him a small text to him before you went to bed.

Seiji, I hope you’re not over-exerting yourself. I have many things to talk to you about, and I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Goodnight!

But that morning, you checked your phone to find that there wasn’t a single notification from him. Opening the messages, you blankly stared at “Seen.” underneath your last text. And it hurt.

Even now, you still feel that you’re overreacting and jumping to conclusions way too fast over something so trivial. But he’s always made a point to communicate with each other, and if he was too tired or if he wanted to be left alone, he would’ve told you clearly. You have no one to confide in about your turmoil; you weren’t very close with the other “Generation of Miracles” and no one else knows Akashi better than them. It wasn’t a huge deal at all, yet why do you feel so afraid of what’s to come?

Your heart feels unbelievably heavy and you’re denying the possible reasons why.

“(y/n)-cchi?” Kise noticed you walking to no particular destination. “What are you doing here?” When you tell him that you’re looking for Akashi, Kise gives a strained smile as he pats your head in an almost consoling manner. “Haven’t seen the captain since practice two days ago.”

“Two days ago? Kise, did you forget there was practice yesterday?”

“Had a photoshoot, couldn’t make it,” he shrugs. “Besides, it’s not like I’m gonna be punished if I choose to ditch anyways.”

“Ditch?”

“Yep~ as long as we win our games, he doesn’t have a problem.”

“That… can’t be right.”

“Who knows what he’s thinking?” he sighs. “Geez, but he can really be scary, I don’t know how you’re dating him.” Kise turns to the vending machine behind him to slot in two coins for a soda. “Do you want one too?”

“Um, it’s okay,” you said, more fixated on his previous words. “Seijuro isn’t scary… he isn’t like that.” Kise turns around to face you again with a can in his hand, and he sighs before he tousles his own hair.

“I guess you know him better than I do, so maybe he was just having a bad day,” he says. “If you’re still looking for him try one of the empty classrooms, I’m sure he’s off playing some shogi by himself or with Midorimacchi.”

So here you are, scouring the hallways for all the empty rooms on all the floors, trying to find the redhead. When you find Midorima walking towards your direction in the hallway instead, you briskly walk to him to intercept his path.

“Sorry to bother you, Midorima-san,” you hurriedly say. “I know it’s been annoying to hear this but…” You pause, and Midorima instantly knew what you were going to inquire about.

“He’s down the hall to your left. Take the stairs and go straight ahead.” When you thank him profusely and start to head off, Midorima is still watching you from where he was standing.

“(y/n)-san.” At the call of your name, you stop to turn back to face Midorima from the end of the hallway. “Your sign is at the lowest of the luck rankings according to the Oha Asa today. Your lucky item is a dictionary, but I can only advise you to be careful.” You only answer him with an exasperated smile at his antics before you continue on your way.

As you rush to the room Midorima described about, you think of how you are going to confront Akashi. Were you going to chastise him for yesterday? Give him the biggest hug? Pout at him about how you miss him? Ask about his day? You shake your head and decide to just focus on looking for him first before anything else.

You wonder why he was here in the secluded part of the building. Did he often come here prior to today? You take a deep breath and sigh in relief in seeing your boyfriend through the door.

Smiling, you let yourself in before closing the door wordlessly.

“Seiji—”

“I’ve been expecting you, (y/n).” You freeze at the sheer coldness of his voice. There he was, back to you as he languidly sat on a chair with a knee propped up. He continues to clink his shogi pieces around the board as if your presence didn’t warrant his full attention. But there was no mistaking that it was, in fact, Akashi. Only he would have his uniform blazer so free of wrinkles and stains.

“Seiji… what’s wrong?” You approach him worryingly, extending your hand to him as you walk closer. But as you reach within hand’s grasp, your gut is screaming for you to stop and turn back, to run far, far away and never look back. You ignore your body. You know you’re just being overly antsy and jumpy from recent overthinking. “You were nowhere to be found at all yesterday, and I just… was so worried—and you didn’t even reply to me at all!”

“Those things are unnecessary. The only thing that matters is victory. Surely you know this, (y/n)?” Your hand freezes and drops to your side. He drops his propped leg from his chair before he turns his head to the side to eye your shocked expression. “Why do you look at me as such?”

“Seijuro,” you whisper. “What’s… what’s gotten into you? What happened at practice that day? Everyone’s been acting weird, and I don’t know why!...”

He moves his gaze back to his shogi pieces and starts toying with the wooden chips. “That day was when I realized that I was absolutely naive and foolish. Order and absoluteness cannot be contested and questioned. The winners can never be denied… That has always been the policy of Teiko’s basketball team. I have realized that in order to accommodate this, I must become absolute and ensure that this team will continue to contribute to its legacy. I am certain the others must have come to this conclusion as well.”

“Seriously, Seijuro,” you plead. “Talk to me, if there’s something troubling you, from basketball to your personal life, I’ll be there for you… so please… please don’t be so cold to me.”

“Me? Akashi Seijuro troubled by such trivial matters? Your assumptions are arrogant but amusing nonetheless.” Akashi stands up from his chair, leaving his shogi pieces unattended on the desk. He slowly strolls to you, his eyes boring holes through you from the unnerving intensity they exuded. You slowly back up instinctively, until your back hits the door. Akashi stops to stand a few feet in front of you, but his eye contact continues to be relentless in intensity. “Though, I must admit, there is one thing I’ve been pondering about, so you are correct that I do have something in mind.”

“W-what is it?...” You don’t know what else to say. What do you say to a stranger who has the physical appearance of your boyfriend? Can someone change that much in just a single day? This Akashi Seijuro… was now only the empty shell of the Seijuro you knew and loved for some time.

“It seems that in my naivete, I had decided to date someone like you, but I wondered what would happen if I told you about all these inevitable changes I will bring to ensure absoluteness. I wonder if you’re even essential in helping future victories come to fruition.”

“What are you trying to say?...” you say, your voice slightly peaking at the end. You wring your hands together in anxiousness as you try to hold back volatile emotions from becoming apparent on your face. Akashi continues to observe you with an impassive poker face. “I don’t… I don’t understand!... I’m the ‘trouble’ that’s on your mind?...”

Your heart feels unbelievably heavy and you’re afraid of the possible reasons why.

“Seijuro,” you start sniffling, cursing your emotional dams for cracking so easily. “You’re always like this, shouldering all the burdens of being president, captain, and top student… you always told me not to worry, yet you always insist on helping me out… could you just… stop pretending you’re okay, cause I know you’re not!?” You end your sentence in a frustrated shout, cheeks feeling hotter as you feel more tears sliding down.

Akashi flinches at your words and parts his mouth in mild surprise, but soon enough, he returns to his composed self, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

“It is clear that we are both at an impasse. You do not agree with me, and that is fine. However, you are not necessary in what I need to achieve anyways. Keeping you around will only hold me back.”

“N-no… are you saying that…”

“From now on, we are strangers, (y/n). This is a farewell.”

“S-Seijuro, wait! You can’t just decide for the both of us like that!” You step forward and try to reach for him in desperation, but before you can react, Akashi slaps your hand away and stares down at your pitiful state.

“Do not touch me so casually,” he coldly says. “And do not address me like that ever again. Know your place.” With that, he holds his head high as he promptly exits the room without sparing you a glance, leaving you and his shogi set behind.

“S-S-eiji…” you softly wail. You sink your body into a squat as you struggle to hold back unadulterated tears with your arms. “Wh-why? Why? Why, why, why?...” Every moment, every memory you shared with Akashi within the past year was nullified in just a span of a few minutes. Your life feels shattered right before your eyes as you can feel its fragments slipping through your fingers still, and it hurts. It hurts so badly, and you don’t know how you can face the Generation of Miracles from this point on without breaking into sobs. They all reminded you of him too much. But you knew that if you avoided them, they wouldn’t care too much; after all, you only knew them through Akashi. Now that your connection to him was severed, there was truly no reason to speak with them anymore.

You sniffle and stand up after several more minutes of quiet agony, and you look over to the desk where Akashi’s shogi pieces are. You bite your lip, trying to stop the fresh tears from coming. You give a shuddering exhale before you stretch out your hand, hesitating before you gingerly pluck a piece off the shogi board. If you couldn’t salvage the broken pieces from your relationship, perhaps this piece can be a substitute for all those fragments. Thumbing through the woodwork, you can still feel the remnants of his warmth moments before. At least this way, you still have a piece of him with you, even if you know you can no longer be by his side anymore, much less talk to him.

You debate with yourself to try to confide about this with someone from the Generation of Miracles, but as your eyes spot them, you can’t help but notice the cold and distant gazes they embody, and it only reminds you of what Akashi has become. For the rest of your Teiko years, you dutifully avoid having as many interactions as you can with them, especially when Kuroko inquires about your relationship with Akashi on a few occasions.

The next time you would see Akashi in close proximity is when you decide to come to watch the Winter Cup finals with a classmate friend, who insists you to come watch once they hear that you used to attend Teiko.

When you lay eyes on him again, your heart feels unbelievably heavy once again, even more so with Akashi’s shogi piece sitting in the pocket of your uniform button-up shirt.

[aloetech]

Cyboyfriends Week Day 6: Prompt- Repairs

Fic again for this one. Fair warning I went extremely heavy on my own headcannons for this one lmao. As usual I'm posting it on Ao3 too, link in the first reblog yada yada

"You both need to be more careful!" The old lady muttered with a shake of her head, despite the small smile on her face. "Honestly..."

"Sorry, ma'am..."

"It won't happen again, Doctor."

There was a small click noise- Genos looked over from the bench he was laid on to see the lady displeasedy bopping Drive Knight on the forehead with her pen.

"Oh, we both know that's not true, now." She shook her head again. "You'll certainly get yourself beat up again- just make sure you're in decent enough shape to get back here so I can fix you up."

She left for the moment, saying something about needing to get some tools together to fix him. The two looked at each other.

"Apologies..." Drive Knight said. "You ended up getting scolded as well."

To be fair, Genos was probably the one in more need of scolding- his hastiness to finish the fight had cost him most of his lowet body in the end, as opposed to Drive Knight who was only missing an arm at the moment. The lady, who he realised now he still didn't know the identity of, had stabilised him for the time being, until Saitama would be able to pick him up and take him to Dr Kuseno.

"It's fine. If I may ask, though- who is she? Your mechanic?"

Drive nodded. "Yes. Dr Hanako Kobayashi... She's not only my mechanic, but my creator as well."

Genos blinked. "She made you?"

"From the ground up. Well, in truth, it's a little more complicated than that." He glanced towards the door she had left through. "She was working on creating an artificial hero, one with the same capabilities as an S Class. She'd made the body, but had been struggling to make a good AI to implant inside of it."

He was interrupted by a shout of "I'll just a minute!" from the other room, and Genos heard him chuckle just oh so quietly.

"She'll be much longer than that." He stated. "In any case... In the end, she revamped an AI that she'd written years ago to play games against. Games like shogi, and chess. That was me, so to speak. I already had a degree of self awareness in order to strategize effectively, so it was just a matter of applying the same strategic thinking to battle instead."

"I see..." Genos mumbled, then smiled. "And even after that, you're still excellent at shogi."

"Well, games like that were my roots. She was originally going to repurpose me fully to focus on combat only, but-"

"But then I wouldn't have a game partner anymore!" Dr Kobayashi returned, carrying a box piled high with various parts and instruments. Genos would have offered to help with them if not for his current lack of legs. She placed them down on a table next to the bench Drive Knight was laying on before momentarily turning her attention to Genos. "Sorry I can't fix you as well, while I'm at it. I've never seen your model, y'see- I'd hate to go breaking something."

"That's alright, Ma'am. Thank you very much."

"My, so polite. Genos, was it?"

"Yes ma'am."

She turned back to Drive Knight, seemingly beginning to work on restoring his arm. Despite her age, from where Genos was standing- or rather laying- it looked like she was doing remarkably quick and efficient work, much like Dr Kuseno.

"Well, I do wish more heroes had your manners, boy. Drive quite often tells me about the clamour in some of your S Class meetings... He even showed me a recording from the last one."

"Please don't tell him that, technically nothing that happens in that room is supposed to leave..." Drive Knight interjected.

"Oh shush, he won't go snitching on you. Will you, Genos?"

"No, I won't."

"See? Anyway, that little lady with the green hair, the tornado of terror- quite scary, isn't she?"

Genos shuddered at the memory of that last meeting. He was fairly sure there was still a Metal Bat shaped dent in the wall. "...yes."

Dr Kobayashi laughed at that, though her hands didn't stop moving for a moment, efficiently sliding and screwing parts into place and slowly but surely rebuilding Drive Knight's arm. It was almost satisfying to watch. She had quiet kind of confidence about her, and there was a sureness in her every move- Genos had no doubt that she was extremely skilled. Of course she would have to be, to create someone as amazing as Drive Knight from the ground up.

She started talking again soon enough, turning her attention to Drive Knight now. "So, care to tell me what exactly beat you two up so badly?"

"Some kind of stone monster in City B. It claimed to be a derelict building come to life."

"Gosh, they just keep getting more ridiculous... Anyway, did you get a sample?"

"No... It crumbled to dust once it was defeated. And I was preoccupied with getting Genos here."

"My, it's rare for you to prioritize something, let alone someone, over your information gathering..."

"Doctor, please."

"Hm?"

"He's right there."

"Oh, yes, so he is. Did I embarrass you?"

Drive Knight remained silent. During that silence she seemed to finish her repairs. Genos looked at the clock and realised that it had barely taken her an hour. That really was impressive...

"Alright, now to see if your fine motor skills are still up to scratch!" She grinned, putting all the tools to the side and back into the box. "Be a dear and put this stuff away, and bring the chess board back with you."

Drive Knight sighed, but was already picking up the box. "Is it really necessary?"

"Yes! We haven't played in far too long, after all."

"You know you're going to win."

"We don't know that for certain unless we play! Go on, now."

Drive Knight left into the other room, box in his arms, leaving Genos alone with Dr Kobayashi. It felt a little awkward and he wasn't sure if he should say something or not, so was thankful for her speaking first.

"You know, Drive seems a little happier nowadays. He talks about you quite a bit, you know."

Genos raised his eyebrows. "He does?"

"Oh yes. From what I gather, you're his precious partner... And given the way your cheeks just lit up, I'd say thats in more ways than one."

"I- yes." Genos raised a hand to cover his face.

"Well, I'm glad. For him to have someone to care about besides me, that is- you'd best take care of each other. And make sure he doesn't get too caught up in his own head, now."

"I will, ma'am. Thank you."

Drive Knight came back, the box gone and the chess set in hand. Dr Kobayashi winked at Genos before taking it from him, laughing and telling him not to worry about it when he asked what they'd been talking about as they set up the board.

Hours and several checkmates later, Drive hadn't won a single game- but Saitama finally arrived to take Genos for his own repairs, and most likely his own round of scolding.

[raendown]

My final entry for @narutorarepairweek! Today’s prompt is free day and I took the opportunity to drag an old WIP out of the closet at last. 

Pairing: TobiramaKagami Rated: E Chapter: 1/4 Word count: 3181 Summary: It shouldn't be so surprising that it's Kagami who makes the opening move, asking for so little when he desires so much. From there their relationship unfolds in a tapestry of firsts they've both been waiting to experience.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Senpō

Kagami wasn’t sure how exactly he’d gotten the man to agree. Most likely he had worded it in such a way that Tobirama hadn’t really thought he was serious or maybe the older man was simply humoring him on the assumption that he would never actually win their little bet. Whatever it was, the fact remained Tobirama had agreed over a round of shogi that on the day Kagami beat him in a game he would accompany his one-time student on a date. Not just any old friends-hanging-out-together date either, a proper romantic date with romantic implications and possibly a few instances of actual romantic overtures. If he was lucky. 

There was something that Kagami had realized, however, that he didn’t think his friend had. While that in itself was a rare thing to say and should have filled him with triumph, he still found himself much more excited for the promised rewards than for the accomplishment of coming out on top of an agreement with one of the slipperiest people he had ever known. That more than anything would have made it obvious how important this was to him if he were bold enough to admit it to anyone. Just like any other Uchiha, he was quite fond of outsmarting someone notably smarter than him. 

Armed with this juicy little secret up his sleeve, Kagami made his way through the busy Hokage Tower with a smile on his lips and a bounce in his step. When he knocked on Tobirama's office door he knew very well that it was merely a formality. The man had definitely felt him coming before he’d even set foot inside the tower, had probably been tracking his staggered progress through the hallways and smirking in amusement each time he stopped to talk to someone. Still, Kagami didn’t presume to enter the other’s space until a deep voice which sent familiar shivers down his spine called out for him to do so. 

As offices go, Tobirama’s was fairly typical. It hadn’t changed much over the last few years while peace settled deeper and deeper in to the bones of the village. His bookshelves were perhaps a bit more full and the small couch against one wall was perhaps a bit more well used but he still sat behind the same old desk, pushed up close to the same old window where the man could stick his head outside and holler up at his brother one floor above. 

Hokage he might be but there was nothing which motivated Senju Hashirama more than fear of his younger sibling’s waspish temper. 

In keeping with a pattern they had been playing out since the first year they trained together, Tobirama pretended to ignore him at first, appearing as though he had lost himself in the papers strewn about his desk. He kept his head down while Kagami wandered the edges of the room fiddling with this or that until finally the older man deigned to look up at him with one brow raised. 

“Did you need something?” The twitch of his lips belied the irritation he pretended to affect. Kagami grinned brightly. 

“I came to challenge you to a game,” he said. 

“Hm. Again?” 

“As many times as it takes!” 

Kagami took it as encouragement when all Tobirama did was huff out what passed for a laugh when it came to him and shake his head, one arm gesturing for the board still neatly packed with all its pieces and set in the same spot as always. He didn’t need any further words to hurry across soft carpet and pull out the shogi board, hauling it over to the desk while his friend cleared some space for them to play. A grin sat wide and open on his face as he shook the wooden pieces out of their holding bag and began to set them up. 

“You’re looking particularly cheerful today. Feeling confident?” 

“I’ve got something up my sleeve that you won’t expect for sure!” Kagami chirped. Tobirama graced him with an indulgent nod. “Today’s the day! And I mean it this time! No backing out at the last minute either!”

“We made an agreement, did we not? I am a man of my word after all.” 

The younger only smirked as he spun the board to offer Tobirama the first move. Usually he was offered the advantage of moving first but today he was confident that no matter what happened, he was going to leave this office a winner. Today was the day he earned himself a bona fide date with Senju Tobirama. 

As they usually turned out, the match wasn’t a particularly long one. Kagami wasn’t a stupid person by any long stretch but there were few outside the Nara who could hope to match this man’s intellect and shogi had always been one of Tobirama’s favorite leisure activities. It came as no shock when Kagami was once again thoroughly trounced without any hope of winning only halfway through the game. Yet it appeared to shock Tobirama when he retained his cheerful smile without a single hint of faltering. Piece by piece his defeat grew closer and yet, even as he was finally declared the loser of this round, Kagami did nothing but sit quietly and do his best imitation of sunshine. 

Clearly confused, Tobirama sat back in his chair with a thoughtful expression. 

“Would you like a second game to try again?” he ventured, obviously trying to feel out what kind of situation was going on here. Kagami hummed, stroking dramatically at his chin. 

“I dunno. You’ll probably beat me again.”

“Yes, true.” Tobirama’s face scrunched together in irritation. “But if you leave then it’ll take me longer to figure out what you’re up to.” He didn’t look too impressed when his one-time student laughed at him. 

“Alright, how about this? Roshambo. If you win I’ll stay.”

“Odd choice but fair.” 

Leaning forward, he set one palm flat one the desk and raised the other in a fist, eyeing the younger man somewhat challengingly. Kagami happily took that challenge. He was barely holding in a snicker while he made his way back over to the desk to hold out his own fist, ready for battle, as it were. 

Together they counted to three and bobbed their hands three times – only to both choose rock. On the second try they both chose scissors. Kagami laughed and said they could try just one more time, biting his lip to keep the triumphant laughter at bay. He knew Tobirama better than anyone else and in all likeliness the man had never bothered to note his own habits during the rare game of roshambo someone might convince him to take part in. 

On the third round Tobirama chose paper, the only option he hadn’t chosen yet and thereby unconsciously completing the set in his mind. Knowing he would do so allowed Kagami to make the smart decision and choose scissors again to come out the winner. Upon presenting their choices he reached over and pretended to snip Tobirama’s fingers with his own, grinning so wide it made the muscles in his cheeks hurt.

“I win,” he breathed. “One date, please.” 

“What?” Tobirama blinked at him, nonplussed. Kagami cleared his throat.

“You agreed that if I won a game against you we could go on one date. But you never specified at the time that the game had to be shogi so by the wording of our original agreement…I win. And you owe me one date. Does tomorrow work for you?”

It took a moment for Tobirama to process that but when he did he look stunned as he realized that it was true. “Well I’ll be damned. You’re right; I never did specify that it had to be shogi. Well done Kagami. Excellently played.”

“So…?”

“Tomorrow does indeed work for me. Or if you prefer, I am also available tonight.” He smiled ever so gently, giving Kagami a very serious case of weak knees.

“Yeah! A-alright! Tonight is good too! Awesome!” Swallowing around the nervous lump which had just appeared in his throat, Kagami held fast to his suddenly wobbling smile. “I really thought I’d have more time to prepare myself but – okay! Yeah!”

“Prepare yourself? For what?”

“Nothing! See you tonight!” 

Whirling on his heel, Kagami dashed out of the room and made it halfway down the stairs before he had to turn around and creep back up, sheepishly peeking his head around the door to see Tobirama still standing there with an amused expression. 

“You may pick me up from my home at six o’clock.”

“Right!” 

And with that he took off down the hall once more.

The next several hours were a blur for the young man. If asked he would not have been able to say what he had done with his day, only that he’d had Tobirama on his mind the entire time and his stomach had been a constantly churning mess of nerves and excitement. It was finally happening. Tonight he would have his shot. He’d been waiting for this for so long that he could hardly believe it was actually happening. 

When he checked the clock and noticed that it was getting a bit late Kagami supposed he must have gotten at least most of his duties done that day considering Koharu hadn’t tracked him down for another lecture about responsibility. He wasn’t really irresponsible, only forgetful. Actually, he’d always thought that he and Tobirama would balance each other rather nicely in that respect; Tobirama would help him stay more focused when it was appropriate while he was one of the few people able to convince the older man to take a break every so often. 

In fact, there were a lot of ways Kagami thought they might complement each other and he had every intention of trying to work all of them in to their dinner conversation that evening.

At six o’clock sharp he was standing on Tobirama’s doorstep in a clean, wrinkle-free yukata which his poor exasperated aunt had assured him brought out the faint hints of blue in his typical blue-black hair. With a steadying breath in and out – then another because the first didn’t help – Kagami rapped three times on the door before him and did his best not to look like he was about to faint. He almost did anyway when Tobirama answered the door in a simple yukata of the softest gray edged with little silver rain droplets that gave his skin a luminescent glow. 

“Wow,” he breathed. “You – am I allowed to tell you that you look amazing?”

“Compliments are always appreciated,” Tobirama replied easily as he breezed down the front steps, leaving Kagami to scramble after him. 

“Good. Yeah. Cause you look amazing. Well, I mean, you always do but you’re usually not dressed like this and it’s nice to see you so casual every once in a while, you know? So I think you look extra good and now I’m going to stop talking.” His cheeks felt like he’d swallowed one of his own grand fireballs. He really thought he would make it longer than ten stupid seconds before embarrassing himself like this. 

Thankfully Tobirama was good enough to brush his nattering idiocy aside as easily as always. “I’m pleased you think so. And might I add that you look rather nice yourself in that color.”

Kagami very much hoped the helpless whine he made at that comment went unheard. 

Dinner was, in a word, amazing. He’d never had Tobirama’s attention to himself like this for so long. Usually one of their other former teammates accompanied them or they saw each other briefly at the tower before work sent them their separate ways. Playing shogi in the office had become the only time they shared alone but it was usually no more than an hour due to Tobirama’s busy schedule. Kagami was thrilled when they finally left the restaurant and his date suggested a walk through a nearby park, ensuring that he would have just a little more time to live in this transient dream-come-true. 

At the park they wandered around the edge of the large pond three times and weaved around each individual tree at least twice, their conversation ranging from Tobirama’s latest research to whether or not Kagami’s neighbor might be a retired assassin from Kiri in disguise. It was absolutely amazing, more than he could have ever dreamed of, and yet by the time he found himself escorting the other back through the wide avenues of the Senju district Kagami couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t enough. Nothing would ever be enough. He could spend weeks on end in this man’s presence and when the time came to part he would still beg for just five more minutes.

They paused at the bottom of the three stairs which would take Tobirama back to his home, facing each other in silence for a few heartbeats until the older man tilted his head to one side with a curious furrowing of his brow.

“I did have fun tonight, if that was your worry.”

“Oh! No, sorry. I don’t mean to spoil it all, I was just, um, a little sad that it’s over now.”

“What do you mean ‘over now’?” 

Kagami shifted his weight, dropping his eyes to watch his hands fiddle with each other. “Nothing. Doesn’t everyone wish every good date could last forever?”

“I’m flattered you consider me so.” There was humor in Tobirama’s voice but he couldn’t bring himself to look up to see it until the man continued. “Doesn’t a good date usually end with a kiss?”

“Please don’t make fun of me,” Kagami said, hoping his voice would behave and not wobble. 

His companion blinked, clearly startled.

“Make fun of you? What gave you the impression I was making fun of you in any way?”

“I know this was a pity date. You don’t actually think of me this way. And that’s okay! Really! I’m grateful that you humored me; but I know that you didn’t think I would ever actually win and you only came because you try to always keep your word. So please don’t make fun of me by pretending. I did have a good time tonight. Just…I’m just sad that it’s over and I have to go back to…you know. How things were before.” Kagami shrugged and caught his bottom lip between his teeth, worrying at it nervously. 

Obviously Tobirama had been aware of his feelings for a while now but it still went against his instincts to make himself so vulnerable, to open his heart and ask another man to smash it. Tomorrow and the weeks ahead of them promised to be quite awkward as he tried to fit himself back in to that space where he pretended that mere friendship was enough. He couldn’t bring himself to regret any of this, though. Pretending was something he could do on his own with a little imagination. Having the chance to actually glimpse what the reality might be like was an amazing experience, something he would hold on to for a very long time to come. 

Kagami was startled out of his maudlin thoughts by the hand that grasped his chin and wrenched his face up to see the displeased expression on Tobirama’s face. 

“Pity date,” the man snarled dismissively. 

Then suddenly they were kissing, lips hot against his own, devouring, destroying, demanding until it was all Kagami could do to remind his poor heart to continue beating. A whimper escaped him and Tobirama swallowed it, nipping at him to encourage his lips to part and then licking inside to draw out a helpless moan. 

He was gasping for air when they parted, only avoiding embarrassment because it was clear that Tobirama was having a little trouble catching his own breath as well. 

“You kissed me!”

“I did.”

“W-why did you kiss me?” Kagami heard his voice crack but he couldn’t be bothered to worry about it, not when the answer to his question was much more interesting. He dared not move lest the hands framing his face let go and leave him devoid of their warmth.

“Honestly,” Tobirama scoffed. “Why does one person usually kiss another?”

Squirming inside, Kagami said, “Usually because they like each other. But you–!”

“Do you really believe me so cruel as to allow such behavior and then to strip it all away as a joke?”

“Um…”

“Is it so hard to believe that I might actually return your interest?”

“Yes?”

“Ridiculous. And worrisome. I had not realized you believed all of this to be merely a humoring of your desires. Had I known I certainly would have explained myself a long time ago.”

Feeling a little off-balance and possibly also slightly nauseous with so many conflicting emotions, Kagami took a deep breath to ask, “Explain what?” 

Tobirama paused to look closely at him before speaking, the hands still framing his face sliding down the sides of his neck and across his shoulders to squeeze gently. It was a more affectionate gesture than he had ever seen the man grant to anyone besides the Hokage himself – and even then only on very rare occasions. His expression was so gentle it was nearly heartbreaking.

“When I accepted your wager it was not because I was hoping to put you off with an impossible task. In truth I was wary that your interest may not be…entirely genuine. Not to say that I doubted you but I worried that your feelings were the product of misplaced hero worship.” Tobirama pinched his face in to a well-worn look of self-deprecation. “I can admit now that it was not the best method of assuaging my fears but my intention was to gauge your perseverance, to see if you were serious enough to pursue this or if you would lose interest when attaining my affection came with road blocks. It is…within my nature to test things I don’t fully understand.”

“So you were making me work for it just to see if I would?” Kagami summarized. 

“I was trying not to put it in to such crass terms but yes.”

A part of him wanted to be a little offended but the rest of him was already reaching that floaty state of disbelief as he finally came to terms with the impossible: the man he was in love with actually liked him back. 

“Holy crap,” he mumbled. 

“Very eloquent,” Tobirama teased, tucking his head down until they were but a hairsbreadth apart and the proximity stole Kagami’s breath all over again. “Now, I should very much like to kiss you again. I think we’ve both been waiting long enough for this. A reward seems to be in order for such diligent patience.” 

“Gods yes.”

“Charming.” 

His date smirked at him and Kagami’s knees almost folded underneath him. He remained standing only through sheer force of will, eager to taste the older man once again. Tobirama didn’t keep him waiting long. 

[tastytatsu]

KnB Valentine’s Day Challenge 2020 Day 2

Day 1 was full of gems and it’s such a treasure trove after coming into this fandom so late *cries* 

Thanks for all the love on Day 1, friends! Happy Valentine’s! 

Note: this is the first one I wrote after looking at the prompts! Takao, my first love 😍

Day 2: Pillow/Are you wearing my shirt? (Takao x FemReader)

When you walk into your room with a towel wrapped around your wet hair, the sight waiting inside makes you freeze.

You can’t believe it’s almost your third Valentine’s with the idiot in front of you.

The idiot in question has a finger against his pouty lips, and he’s making a horrible rendition of popular modelling poses in magazines. But that’s not what’s stopped you at your door.

Opaque white lace strains against his arms, and the collar on his neckline is gaping wide. Whatever buttons that have managed to close only reach to his chest, and there’s so much skin exposed, you’re equal parts repulsed and fascinated.

“Don’t I look good, Shin-chan?” He’s asking someone. “I look cute.”

It’s not until he turns to face you, that you notice two things.

One: He’s on video-call.

And, two: “Kazu. Are you wearing my shirt?”

“What. The––Takao.”

For a moment, you can’t tell who’s speaking. You, or the green-haired boy on the phone?

You both speak at the same time, and Takao turns to you as if he’s finally noticed you enter your room.

“This is what happens when I leave you alone in my room for fifteen minutes?” You ask.

He’s grinning, no sign of shame on his face. He’s still pulling poses in front of his phone camera. You hear a sigh echo from the phone.

“Takao. You interrupted our game for this?”

The word our catches your attention and you move closer to Takao to peer at his phone screen.

Shin-chan’s not alone. Pink hair peeks from the corner of his screen and you hear the soft clacks of pieces on a shogi board. Akashi makes an amused sound somewhere in the background.

You glance at Kazu from the corner of your eyes and echo Midorima’s sigh earlier.

He pretends not to see your frown, and instead raises one arm to flex. The lace struggles against his biceps, and he sends another pout at the camera.

Midorima’s responding disgust is audible.

You’d have told Kazu off for ruining your shirt, but the pose looks so ridiculous in your flowy lace top that you can’t help the laugh that bursts from your lips.

“Kazu. Stop,” you put a hand on his arm to emphasise your words since your tone is far from it.

Your boyfriend turns to you, and this time the pout is not put on.

“Don’t I look good? I think I do, don’t I?”

You laugh again, and he actually looks upset now.

“Yes, yes. Sure, you do. Now, take my shirt off. You’re stretching it out.”

“Are you calling me fat?” He’s affronted, but the knot above his eyebrows has relaxed and he’s placed his phone down on your desk to take your shirt off.

You bite your lip to stop your smile from growing into more laughter, and even he can’t help cracking up.

“No, I am,” Shin answers from the phone, his tone dry and unamused. “And you’re also an idiot. I’m hanging up.”

“Wait,” Kazu’s voice is muffled and he struggles against the lace before you help him. When his arms and head finally clear from the top, he picks up his phone again.

Midorima’s face is waiting on the screen, and he looks unimpressed.

“Are you two free for dinner? We’re grabbing burgers at MJ’s. Join us!”

Takao has already asked you earlier if it was okay with you, and you can’t help but smile at the eagerness in his voice. He’d been feeling like he hadn’t spent as much time with Shin lately, and the last thing you want is to get in the way of the boys’ friendship.

Midorima sighs in reply, and although a year or two earlier, you’d have taken it for reluctance and an impending rejection, Kazu only trudges on.

“Okay, we’ll meet you at the station at seven, then! See you! See you too, Akashi!”

Akashi’s smooth reply is polite, and Takao grins. The call ends, and you watch as he stares at his phone before he turns to you.

“He sounded okay, right?” He asks.

You saw this coming ever since ‘our’, and you step forward to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “More than okay, I think he’s having fun with Akashi. You don’t need to worry so much, I don’t think.”

That only makes his frown curve deeper. And you realise there’s more to the ‘our’ than that.

“Kazu,” you call, and his gaze on the floor snaps upward to yours.

His smile lifts into a grin when he catches the concern in your eyes. “Yeah, he’s fine.”

You shake your head and lift your other hand to his other shoulder. “He is. But this is about you.”

His shoulders fall under your touch. “Is it that obvious?”

You laugh. “No. But I know you. And I think your jealousy is cute.”

He sighs, and black strands of hair fall onto his forehead.

“Hey,” you say, and he looks up at you again with a wry smile. “What you and Shin have was earned through mutual trust and respect. You guys are great friends. Him being friends with Akashi again doesn’t make that all disappear.

“That’s something I love about you–that you try your best to be whatever you can in everyone’s lives–but you can’t be everything to someone. Not even to Shin. But that doesn’t mean you mean any less to him now.”

It takes him a moment, but the downward pull of the corner of his lips slowly upturn and he removes your hands with a gentle smile.

“You’re right,” he grins once he’s done. “Except for one thing.”

You blink at him.

“You can be everything to someone,” his arm snakes around your waist and pulls you into his bare torso. “You are. To me.”

It’s so sweet, but also so sappy, and your nose crinkles. “Gross.”

“But I’m your Valentine anyway,” he says and you feel his smile on your lips.

Bonus line: When you both part, he reaches up a hand to the towel falling off your head. “Let’s get you dried up! I want burgers!”

I don’t know why that bonus line was just in my head. I just love the idea of any of the KnB characters helping any of their S/Os dry their hair, especially if their s/os are one another 😍And Takao would most definitely do it because he wants to hurry to meet up with Shin-chan and burgers!

Thank you @vanilla-daydreams​ and @theuglycrybaby​ for this challenge and the wonderful prompts again! 

[might-guys-acorn]

hi!! would you be able to do #15 from the lyrics prompt for a reader/shikamaru? :)

Hi!! Of course I can! Shika is the love of my life ngl, i adore that man and this is the perfect setup for fluFF IM SO HAPPY -🦎

=======================

Prompt #15- "We danced around the kitchen in the refrigerator light" (All Too Well by Taylor Swift)

Also s/o to this gif bc its freaking adorable

You ran up to the door and knocked aggressively.

"SHIKA! SHIKAMARU NARA OPEN UP!!" You yelled into the wooden door in front of you, the full moon casting a spotlight on your tattered figure. Everyone said Shika was sick, so you figured youd pay him a visit after your mission.

You heard some clamouring inside the apartment, and a very disheveled Shikamaru opened the door. You looked him up and down, taking in his sweats and bloodshot eyes.

"Y/N, its 10 pm, what are you doing here?" He yawned in the middle of his sentence.

"Well, everyone said you were sick, and it doesnt look like youve been sleeping." You pushed past him into the apartment and sat on a pile of tissues and blankets piled onto the couch.

"Well youre not wrong, but you couldve just stopped by tomorrow." He closed the front door,and in doing so depleted most of the light in the room. He had one table lamp on in the corner of the living space, but all other lights were off, most likely due to a headache.

"You know I worry about you Shika, and youre worse when youre sick. You dont eat, you dont sleep, and you certainly dont get up. Im doing you a favor." You smile at him and he replies with a small sigh, too lazy to argue. He flopped on the couch next to you and placed his head in your lap. You two had been like this since you met at the academy. Nearly inseperable, best friends from the start. All your friends seemed to think you were together, but all feelings were platonic as far as you could tell.

You ran your hands through his jet black hair, unrestricted because he always wore it down when he was sick. As he shut his eyes at your soothing motions, you tried to take in your surroundings. Plenty of tissues on the floor, a game of shogi midplay on the table, but you didnt notice any-

"Hey Shika, when was the last time you ate?" You looked down at him and watched his closed eyes scrunch up with his eyebrows. You took that as an answer, and chuckled at his groan as you moved his head and stood up.

"Where are you going?" He whined at you, sitting up on the couch.

"Making you food. And tea." You said, walking to the kitchen. You heard him mumble his usual, 'troublesome woman' and flop back down on the couch.

You begin moving around the kitchen, putting water in the kettle and setting it up on the stove. You hummed softly to yourself as you checked his cabinets for something to prepare. Nothing particularly great, what was it with men and stocking nothing in the kitchen. You moved to the fridge, and squinted when you opened it, the bright light stabbing its way through the darkness. You gazed inside and heard a small sniff from behind you.

"Having difficulties?" He asked from behind you, grabbing your waist and spinning you around to face him. You laughed and smirked at his reddened cheeks.

"Just trying to figure out what to feed you," you laughed and placed a hand to his hot forehead. "I also think you may have a fever."

"I feel fine", he says and uses his free hand, the other still rested on your waist, and grabbed your hand, swaying slightly in front of the open fridge. You giggled, fully aware that his fever was making him act essentially drunk. He hummed the same tune you were earlier as he spun you out, twirled you lightly, and tucked you into a dip. The spotlight shown from fridge made it seem like a dream, like watching two actors fall for eachother over a waltz on stage. He leaned in and closed his eyes, but just as his lips were about to brush yours, the tea kettle screamed from across the room. He seemed to snap out of his fever-trance at the noise, and returned you to a standing position with an obvious blush over his already heat stained cheeks.

"I should go finish the tea. Its the least I could do." He said with a cough, walking away from the stunned look on your face.

===============================

"So what happened?? Have you talked to him?" Ino stares at you across the table, deeply engrossed in your story. "Did you really...?"

"Yeah, we danced around the kitchen in the refrigerator light. He almost kissed me. And then, he just pretended nothing happened. We had tea, I made him eat some rice balls, sat for a bit in the living room, and he fell asleep in my lap." You hadnt talked to him in days, and you chose to believe it all happened because of the fever.

"Uh Y/N?" Ino looks at your face with a worried glint in her eyes, the dumplings in front of you nearly untouched. You reply back with a half hearted 'hm?' and she sighs. "I know you insisted that you guys were super platonic, but it doesnt seem like thats the case. Youve been so off since then. Have you even considered how you feel about this?"

You look up at her, mildly surprised at this question. "Well, no?"

She smirks at you, looks directly past your head and says "You might wanna do that." She gets up and as your gaze follows her out, your eye catches an uneasy Shikamaru outlined by the sunset streaming in behind the door. Ino places a hand on his shoulder before walking out, and he walks over and sits across from you.

"Shika, I-"

"Did I almost kiss you when I had a fever?" He asks, interrupting your sentence.

Stunned, you look at him and nod slowly. His cheeks turn as red as that night and you smirk slightly at the memory.

"Damn. I thought it might have been a dream. But that means I was an ass and tried to play it off as well." He looks down at your unscathed dumplings and his brow furrows.

"Thats true, as well, yes." You smile at him, and laugh a little, trying to ease the tension.

"Im a little late, but Im sorry." He mumbles under his breath, the blush slowly intensifying over his high cheekbones.

"Well, you could just make it up to me." The flirtatious statement left your mouth before you could stop it. He looks up at you in surprise and raises his eyebrows. You shrug, realizing slowly how disappointed you were the other night, and how your feelings towards him may have shifted.

"Are you serious, Y/N?" He asks, not sure if youre messing with him.

"Theres a way to find out, Shika." You literally could not filter your thoughts anymore and they continued to stream out of your mouth without any detours.

He stood up, grabbed your hand and pulled you up to face him.

"Remember, you asked for this." He pulls you closer, dips you like before and finally closed the small space between your lips. In the applause from the tea shop, not excluding a peeking Choji and Ino from the doorway, you could focus on nothing but the soft lips on your own, his fingers in your hair, hand on your waist. The blackness behind your eyes was illuminated by fireworks and the butterflies in your stomach could only be described as vicious. This made all those moments before feel like nothing. This was love, and while everyone else knew it before, you really never saw it coming.

[misssunflowersandsangria]

This is my Idea

Chapter 1: Trust 

Happy @shikatemaweek my deers!  OMG!  I’ve been so excited about this week and seeing all the amazing content from some incredible creators!  I got into the fandom so late so this is Baby’s First ShikaTema Week! 

This story is Canon Divergent.  Don’t worry too much about what’s going on in everyone else's storyline because it doesn't really affect ShikaTem.  Also just know that Temari’s parents are alive and Rasa is not a complete monster.  Okay, happy reading! 

Prompt: Trust

Ages: 

Shika: 13

Tem: 15

Summary:   At a young age, Shikamaru is tasked with guiding the Princess Temari around Konoha every Summer. It was an assignment neither one was happy with but over time those feelings changed.

*

**

“Lord Kazekage, it’s an honor to welcome you and your daughter to the village.”  The Hokage warmly greeted the duo.  

“We have assigned a Chunin level Shinobi to accompany your daughter around the village during our meetings.  He will remain her guard for all of Princess Temari’s trips in the future.  He is one of our best and they are close in age so I feel that they should get along quite well.”  The Kazekage had warned the Hokage in advance about his daughter’s temperament; he assured him that they’d have a capable Shinobi available.

“Shikamaru…”

The recently promoted Chunin moved forward bowing politely.  “It’s an honor Lord Kazekage and Princess Temari.  I will do my absolute best to ensure your comfort and safety while you are here in the village.”

The newly formed alliance with Suna was a huge step forward towards peace.  The Kazekage was there to work out the important details.  He brought along his daughter because the plan was for her to take on the role of ambassador.  To bring the countries together she would spend her Summers in Konoha for the foreseeable future.  This was to build unity and familiarity while she conducted important alliance work.  Shikamaru knew that it was an important mission some would even call it an honor. He saw it as a complete chore. He tried as hard as he could to avoid making it look like he’d rather be anywhere than there.   

She was taller than him with four bunches of blonde hair and teal eyes.  She might be considered cute if it wasn’t for the look of utter hatred and disdain on her face. Her expression matched how he was feeling.   

Temari glared at the Shinobi standing in front of her.  He was shorter than her despite the obnoxious pineapple hair.  He was probably younger than her too. How the hell was he supposed to protect her?

“Temari.”  The Kazekage pushed her forward towards the Shinobi.  Putting on her best smile and not wanting to incur any rage from her father she nodded.

“Thank you Shikamaru, I know that we will have a pleasant time together.”  She replied through clenched teeth. 

“Alright kids, we will see you back here at 5.  Shikamaru, please keep a close eye on Princess Temari.”  The Hokage directed as he and the Kazekage went towards his office. 

“Yes sir.”

The second they were outside of the Hokage’s office Temari leveled Shikamaru with a look pushing a finger against his chest.

“Listen here, I don’t need an escort.  I can take care of myself.”

He rolled his eyes and looked at her with a bored expression.  “And you listen, I didn’t want this damn assignment, babysitting a spoiled princess all Summer was not my idea.  But your dad and the Hokage expect us to play nice so stop being such a drag.”

Temari felt the rage starting to build.  At first, she was excited about the prospect of going to Konoha.  Any way that she could help her village she’d gladly take on.  This was not what she expected. 

“A drag?  You arrogant little!  Screw this!”  Faster than he could react she was gone in a flash forcing him to run after her.  He would rather she get lost but the Hokage would have his head if something happened to the Princess. 

“What is your problem?  Get back here!”  He yelled, chasing her across the rooftops.

“Do your job better!!!”  She teased him racing forward. As annoying as this whole situation was, it was kind of fun weaving through and trying to lose him.  Seeing him become increasingly frustrated.  

“Stop chasing me!”  She demanded once they hit the tree line.  She went into the treetops trying to stay hidden.

“Stop being troublesome and I won’t have to!”  Like that was going to happen.  She went to dart across to the next tree but found herself completely stuck.  

“What the hell?”

“Shadow possession jutsu complete.”  She felt her body turn to face an all too smug Shikamaru.

A shadow user, of course.  She should have asked him what his jutsu was in the beginning.

”Let go of me!  I’m a Princess.”  She demanded in disbelief that he caught her. 

“No, you’re being a brat!”  He yelled back. 

“The second your jutsu falls I’m running.”

She was strong and he could feel himself struggle to hold it.  He knew he had a time limit before it would break.  “Look, I don’t like this any more than you do but we need to make this work.  I won’t be any more annoying or invasive than I have to be but you’re going to have to give me something to work with here.  It’s pretty obvious that you don’t need me to protect you so I won’t even try to step into that kind of role.  Think of me as a guide while you’re here.”

Temari struggled before letting her body go lax. She knew that her father wouldn’t be too happy knowing that she acted this way.  This wasn’t the way a future ambassador should behave.  Perhaps she could just ignore him for the time that they were there.

“Fine.  I won’t run.  I get you’re stuck with me but you’re going to give me my freedom okay.”

“Fine.”  He dropped his shadows giving her back control over her body.  Before he could blink he was thrown back into a tree by a gust of wind. 

“Damn it….”.  He groaned, so much for trusting her.

“You deserve that for using your Jutsu on me.”  Temari grinned above him but held a hand out. With a sigh, he took it standing up. That was a dirty move but at least she was still there. 

“We’re even now.” 

“I’m hungry, take me somewhere to eat.” 

Shikamaru had to physically stop himself from rolling his eyes at the demand.  The alliance with Suna was important so he’d have to ensure the Princess didn’t say anything that would put it at risk. 

“Okay, come along.” 

He chose to avoid popular places in town not wanting to run into his friends who thought his assignment was hilarious. Instead, he took her out towards the Nara lands.  His clan members thought that the assignment was actually quite an accomplishment so he hoped that they wouldn’t give him too much grief. They didn’t bother him but he saw their smiles and knowing looks.  It would only be a matter of time before his mother tried to find him to ensure that he was treating the Princess with the respect she deserved. 

“So what’s there to do around here?”

“Well, there’s shopping and uh salons?”  He offered, those were things that Ino enjoyed. 

Her lips immediately curled into a frown.  “Does it look like I’m interested in things like that?”

“I assumed because you were a Princess and a girl, yes?”

Hopeless, this kid was completely hopeless.  “Figure out something that we can do or I’m running off again.”

“Fine, geez.  How about we go train, get some of that aggression out of you.” The suggestion was partly a joke but earlier when she’d run off there seemed to be a genuine smile on her face.  

Temari contemplated the thought but nodded.  She did enjoy practicing her jutsu and she relished an opportunity to put this kid in his place.  As annoyed as Temari was at Shikamaru using his shadows against her, there was a part of her that was impressed. It was very difficult to outwit her. Practicing her jutsu with him could be fun. 

“That will be fine.”

They spent the rest of the Summer training with one another. She was a very talented wind user and had a strategic mind. Developing counters for her moves was fun and challenging.  They kept score for all their Summers together.  

For as bad of a start that they had as the days passed the company became more pleasant. He was thankful to find out that despite being a little high maintenance and demanding at times she was actually quite interesting and engaging.   She appreciated that despite how young he was and prone to complaining he was a genius, quick-witted, and dependable. Every morning she looked forward to where the day would take them. 

He taught her to play Shogi and their games would sometimes go on for a few days because neither would admit defeat.  They explored all of Konoha and the  Nara lands.   He began to integrate her with his friends and they would all hang out together. They would look forward to her visits as much as he would.  Some of the best days they had were when they would do little to nothing at all besides watching the clouds float by.  

When the first leaf changed its color their first Summer together finally came to an end.  It took some time but by the end of it trust in one another had been built.   They had become close friends and confidants. 

“Thanks, Shikamaru.  It’s actually been pretty fun.”  Temari admitted with a smile.  

He shrugged trying to keep his expression neutral but the acknowledgment was astounding.  “Thanks for being a little less troublesome.” 

She shook her head with a grin, okay she was pretty cute.  “I’ll see you next year?”

“See you then.”   He watched her figure disappear into the horizon with a smile. So this would be his Summers for the foreseeable future.  Perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad.

*

**

So this is a different take on Shika being Tem’s guide in the village and also inspired by Swan Princess the movie :D

 I’m approaching this week differently.  Instead of doing small one-shots for each of the prompts I’m going to write one full story trying to use the prompts.  I had to get...let’s say ‘creative’ to make the prompts work but I think that I did okay with them.  This story is going to go fast.   Either way, I hope that you enjoyed it.  Thank you so much for stopping by to read! There is so much more incredible content, art, and stories out there, especially for this week!  Go forth, love you all, and love ShikaTema!

[winterune]

Bound by Will

Word count: 6715

Summary: Shortly after the start of Natsume's freshman year of college, he meets a youkai who seems to have some sort of connection to Reiko.

Was supposed to write this for natsumeweek, but alas, I did not have the time to write for all the prompts. However, I still plan on writing this as a series based on the event prompts. They will be interconnected stories, maybe not direct continuations, but each will still be connected in some way to the other. 

So, Day 2 Prompt: Past/Future.

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Previous entry: Tumblr / AO3 / My NatsuYuu fic masterlist

~*~*~*~*~

There was a club in their university that specialized in Occult Study and Natsume found himself being dragged into its premises.

It started fifteen minutes back, when Natsume came down from his lecture building to join Tanuma and Taki in the cafeteria. Someone stopped him in his tracks. Ebony eyes glinted behind a pair of black-rimmed glasses.

“Hey,” he said with a grin stretching from ear to ear. “Do you want to join our club?”

He then had explained in length that he was from an Occult Study club in need for new recruits because they had reached the bare minimum of members needed to form a club. A couple of their members would graduate next year, and if they hadn’t recruited any new members by then, their club would be forced to disband.

Natsume hadn’t heard of this Occult Study club. In fact, he didn’t remember seeing one when they were all showcasing their clubs and circles at the start of freshman year.

“What’s your name?” the man asked.

“Takashi Natsume,” Natsume replied on instinct, regretting almost immediately that he had just told his name to a stranger that he wasn’t even sure was a human. There was a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach as the man’s grin grew.

“I’m Akihiko Chiba. You can just call me Aki. Everyone does that.”

A nickname on the first minute of their first meeting?

“Want to take a peek of our club, Natsume-kun?” The level of familiarity this man projected. Aki…senpai pointed over to the general direction of the student union center where most of the clubrooms were located.

Natsume wasn’t sure. His mind told him that something was off, that he should refuse and told him his friends were waiting, but his heart seemed to say otherwise. So he found himself nodding and Aki-senpai’s grin widened.

***

A part of him said the club wasn’t real. That this was a scam, and if this Aki-senpai showed any signs of being or related to a youkai of any sort, Natsume would hit him in the head and run for his life.

But then they finally stopped and Natsume looked up to see a ramshackle shack that looked to be an old disused storage in the middle of a copse of trees.

“Here we are,” Aki-senpai said ahead of him, reaching toward the wooden door. It shook and grated against the floor. “Welcome, to our humble abode!”

Natsume braced himself. A face or teeth or limbs trying to take him in and he would run.

But only silence greeted him.

Aki-senpai invited him in with a nod of his head. Natsume gulped, gripping the sling of his messenger bag tighter as he stepped through the threshold.

The place smelled of dust and rust and the lingering scent of cup noodles. Sleek gray walls surrounded him with a single lamp hanging down the center of the room, swaying in the gentle breeze entering through the door. He spotted shelves stacked with thick books and a scatter of various objects and boxes on a nearby table. A used mattress on one side and at the center was a rickety table where two of the four people present played a game of shogi.

“All right, break it up, guys!” Aki-senpai said. He slapped the back of the guy playing the game. Big, muscled, with blonde hair and piercings on his ear.

“Go away,” the guy who looked like a delinquent said, waving his hand to ward Aki-senpai off. “We’re in the middle of the game!”

“We’re down to five people and all you do is play shogi.”

“What’s wrong with that?” the delinquent’s opponent, a girl with a red checkered shirt and glasses, said. Her hand moved and slammed a shogi piece on the board. “Ha!” The delinquent stared wide-eyed.

Aki-senpai sighed. “What’s wrong, Aoi, is that we’re gonna be shut down if we don’t get any new members.”

Stretching her names over her head, the girl called Aoi said, “No one wants to join us.”

“Well, I brought someone.”

Natsume started, his feet taking an involuntary step back, as four pairs of eyes suddenly looked up and found him by the threshold. Their surprise told him enough that they hadn’t seen any new members for years. What had started as simple curiosity was slowly turning into regret and Natsume hoped they wouldn’t force him to join. He didn’t even know what these people actually do. Exorcism? Or simply studying the unseen? But judging from the dust collecting on the shelves, he doubted any of them actually dealt in Occult Study.

The delinquent eyed him with scrutiny as he leaned back on his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. “You really wanna join?”

Natsume blinked. What should he say? No? That he was only looking around? For one, he hadn’t decided if he wanted to join a club or circle or any of the sort. Even if he had, would he really join an Occult Study when his life was already swarming with youkai—even if these people were only here to hang around with nothing else to do?

“Well he didn’t really say that.” Aki-senpai went to his defense. “I only offered to show him around.”

The delinquent stared at him before clicking his tongue in irritation. Leaning over the table once more, he picked up another shogi piece and moved it across the board. “Don’t go dragging people here, Chiba.”

Aki-senpai apologized, though still scolding them on the side that they should act more like club members. “This is why no one wants to join.”

“Pretty sure that’s not the reason why,” another girl said. She had been sitting on the mattress, scrolling through her phone lazily, and now she fell onto her back with not much care about the world.

Their interest in him dwindled once they knew that Natsume wasn’t here to join. Aoi and the delinquent were completely absorbed in their shogi game, forgetting about him entirely. The girl on the phone ignored Aki-senpai as he tried to explain their need for members. Only one paid attention—the final boy standing by the shogi players, who had been just as absorbed in the game as the players themselves when Natsume and Aki-senpai entered. A boy roughly around his senpai’s age, with jet-black hair falling over gray eyes.

Their eyes met.

A sickening feeling rose from the pit of his stomach as those eyes seemed to suck him in. Natsume.

Natsume looked with a start. Aki-senpai stood in front of him, still wearing that easy-going grin. He had called his name.

“So, what do you think, Natsume-kun?” he asked. Natsume blinked, feeling a lump rise at the back of his throat. His heart raced, his fingers felt clammy. A high-pitched ringing filled his ears. Aki-senpai seemed to notice the change, because he drew his brows in concern and asked, "Are you all right?" His voice sounded so far away. 

Natsume blinked again and the feeling slowly dissipated, as though it had never happened. The bitterness he had felt in his mouth faded away and his ears returned to normal. "I'm all right, Senpai,” he managed to say. But he still didn't feel well, so he excused himself for the day.  

***

“You’re late!”

Nyanko-sensei was sitting on Taki’s lap with a frown and a glare when Natsume finally reached the cafeteria. Tanuma and Taki looked up from one of the round tables.

“Nyanko-sensei? What are you doing here?” Natsume asked.

The cat looked away with an irritated huff.

“I found him coming out of the bushes near your building, Natsume-kun,” Taki said. “You didn’t come so we looked for you.”

“Did you go somewhere?” Tanuma asked.

“Sorry.” Natsume took a seat between them. “A senpai tried to recruit me for his club.”

Tanuma tilted his head to the side. “What club?”

“Occult Study?”

His friends stared at him in the same disbelief Natsume had felt the moment Aki-senpai told him the name of his club. Who could blame them? Neither of them had expected a club like that to exist. He wanted to laugh, but his body felt drained and heavy and all he wanted was to sleep.

“You look pale,” Tanuma remarked, concerned.

Natsume tried to wave him off, to smile and say that he was fine, but his shoulders slumped before he could manage. His chest felt heavy, his breathing labored. Tanuma and Taki jumped to their feet in alarm.

 “Did you meet an ayakashi, Natsume?” Nyanko-sensei had leaped onto the table between them, his gaze narrowed and hard.

Ayakashi?

He tried to remember, but he couldn’t. He didn’t know. Natsume shook his head, listless. Nyanko-sensei’s gaze could have drilled a hole in him if he had the power to.  

Taki looked at Nyanko-sensei, then Natsume, and pursed her lips. “Anyway, let’s get you home first," she said. She pushed away from her chair and pulled Natsume to his feet. Tanuma carried his bag and supported Natsume on his other side. Sensei trailed just a few feet behind them, his eyes never leaving Natsume.

***

The three of them lived in the same small apartment complex near campus, on the same floor, only several doors apart. Tanuma took the key from Natsume and opened the door to Natsume’s apartment, where they shuffled him inside and lay him on his bed.

Natsume’s head swam and pounded, sweat covering his brow and neck. He heard distinct voices, whispers—Tanuma and Taki discussing whether they should stay in Natsume’s apartment until he seemed better.

“Good thing tomorrow’s a weekend,” Tanuma said.

Natsume went in and out of stupor. At one moment he was walking in darkness, his body sluggish as he tried to find a way out. At another, he heard his friends’ voices drifting in and out. His nose picked up a scent of food—chicken or some sort. His friends talked about school works or interrogated Nyanko-sensei on what he meant by meeting an ayakashi.

“Why were you at school, Sensei?” Tanuma asked.

“I was checking it out,” Sensei replied through a mouthful of whatever dinner his friends had gotten him.

“Sensei!” Taki probed.

It was a while before Natsume heard him say, “I felt a presence, all right, and I followed it.”

“And it led you to the school?”

Natsume in vain fought to keep his consciousness. It went under again before he could hear what Nyanko-sensei had to say.

One time, he heard a voice, a child’s, crying in the distance. Another time, he felt a heavy lump on his stomach before someone took it off him with a reprimanding tone in her voice.

Her.

When Natsume opened his eyes, he was standing in a clearing. A small forest clearing where a patch of dappled sunlight pooled on the ground. The foliage around him was thick and green, the wind brushing his face cool to the touch.

A quiet sob drew his attention and Natsume found a small boy crouching against a tree, hugging his scraped and bleeding knees to his chest.

Natsume blinked and a woman materialized there. Her long brown hair fell to her waist. She wore a green floral dress that reached to her calf. Natsume recognized her, though he had never seen her outside of her school uniform.

“Are you all right?” Reiko asked the boy. She looked older, somewhat calmer.

The boy looked up. Dark hair fell over gray eyes. He looked familiar though Natsume couldn’t remember who or where he had seen him.

“Who’re you?” the boy asked.

Reiko crouched in front of him. “I’m Reiko. You are?”

The boy’s eyes widened at that. Natsume heard shuffles of tiny feet and rustles in the trees. Several pairs of eyes looked down at them from above—tiny youkai drawn by their curiosity.

“You’re Reiko?” the boy asked.

“I am.”

“You don’t look so bad.”

Reiko tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean by that?”

“They say a powerful human who’s been terrorizing the ayakashi on the other side of the mountain has been seen around here lately,” the boy said. “They say the human is called Reiko Natsume.”

Reiko stared at him for a silent moment, before she snorted and burst into laughter—the sort of laughter that shook her to her core. Natsume had never seen her laugh so freely like that. The boy could only stare, transfixed.

“What’s your name?”

The youkai shook his head. “I don’t have a name.”

Reiko let out a quiet breath as she stood up and brushed her hands on her skirt. “Those scraps look painful,” she said. “I know someone who can patch you up.” And then she looked at him with a thin smile and offered him her hand. “Let’s go.”

***

Natsume woke up to a different darkness. Not the pressing, suffocating darkness he had trodden in-between dream and reality, but warmer, and friendlier, where he could see his ceiling past the initial darkness his eyes perceived. His clothes felt damp, his body sticky. His eyes were still heavy but the pounding in his head was gone.

A dream. Of an older Reiko.

Natsume wouldn’t have had these dreams if he hadn’t encountered a youkai. But his mind was exhausted to retrace recent events where he could have met one, so he let the thought be. Instead, he looked to the side, where he heard a soft rhythmic breathing of someone asleep. Sensei was there, curled up beside him. He could just make out the outline of Taki sleeping on the couch and Tanuma on the table by the kitchen counter.

Natsume shifted on his bed, trying to sit up without waking anyone. His stomach grumbled. He needed to eat. Hopefully, there were leftovers from whatever dinner his friends had.

Just as he drew his feet off his blanket, he felt it, a stare from the corner of the room. He looked up to find a pair of gray eyes looking straight at him. Natsume jerked in surprise. The pair of eyes took a step forward and a head materialized, followed by a body and its limbs.

The boy with the dark hair from his dream. But older. His age.

Natsume caught himself. Could a youkai age?

“Natsume-sama,” the youkai began and Natsume was again struck with a familiarity that he had seen this boy somewhere.

Natsume’s head pounded once more, like a painful strike of a hammer to his temple. He grunted, his hand flying to the side of his head, and the youkai froze.

“Natsume-sama, I do not wish you harm.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Haru.”

“What do you want?”

The youkai—Haru—shook his head. “I have something to tell you—something to show—but I cannot state that here. The barrier your guardian has placed around you is strong. I cannot stay here long.”

“Then—”

“If you would, Natsume-sama, there is a place near here. A store. Old Roots. You can find me there.”

A shift on his bed. Nyanko-sensei blinked sleepy eyes at him. He mumbled his name, eyes narrowing.

The youkai stared at the cat for a good second. “I will wait for you there,” he said quickly right as Nyanko-sensei’s eyes flew open and he leaped onto his feet, bright white light bursting from the mark on his head.

Haru had vanished.

***

“You and your pests,” Nyanko-sensei grumbled later that night. His friends had woken up from the ruckus Sensei had created and now Taki was heating up the porridge she had made for Natsume, who was sitting on the table being scolded by a cat. “I can’t even get a wink of peaceful sleep around you.”

“He said he didn’t mean any harm,” Natsume tried, only to be treated by one of Sensei’s painful glares. He had explained the gist of what happened, and that the youkai called Haru wanted to meet with him.

“We can go with you,” Tanuma offered.

“No!” Natsume and Nyanko-sensei said simultaneously. Tanuma jerked.

Sensei clicked his tongue. “I don’t need another human to look after. One is already a handful.”

“What if something happened?” Tanuma said.

“Well you wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

“Should we call Natori-san?” Taki asked from the stove.

“Don’t,” Natsume said. He could already picture the actor’s face. That strained smile on his picture-perfect face. One lecture was enough. Natsume didn’t need another one.

“Well at least he could be more sensible than you sometimes.”

Natsume frowned, though there was nothing he could say to that.

Taki turned off the stove and brought Natsume his porridge. It warmed him up, driving away the last of his fever. None of them initiated another debate as they let him eat, knowing there was nothing they could say to change his mind.

When morning came, Natsume walked through town with Nyanko-sensei in search of a store called Old Roots. Tanuma and Taki had looked at him with concern and they made him promise not to do anything rash and to come back if he felt faint again. Natsume, in return, had promised to be careful.

But no matter how far they walked, and how many people he asked, no one had heard the name of that store before, to the point Nyanko-sensei started grumbling about not to trust what youkai said.

Natsume listened to him bicker for a while, but as they turned around a corner, a familiar face entered his line of sight. Aki-senpai was sweeping the pavement in front of a store, the words on the nameplate spelled Chiba’s Collectibles.

As though drawn by supernatural instinct, Aki-senpai looked up and their eyes met.

“Natsume-kun?!” He sounded surprised, though maybe not as surprised as Natsume felt over this weird coincidence. He nodded his greeting as he approached his senpai. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for a store.” He paused, glancing down at Nyanko-sensei, who seemed to silently tell him to do what he needed to do. “Something called Old Roots?”

Aki-senpai tilted his head to the side. “You mean our store?”

Natsume blinked, uncomprehending. He looked up at the storefront sign again, and indeed, it was called Chiba’s Collectibles.

“Ah,” Aki-senpai said, following his line of sight. “Yeah, that’s what we’ve been calling it since Grandma passed away. Old Roots was the name Grandma gave it.”

“I see.”

The store looked like an antique store. The wooden front door looked ancient. The name looked to be written in archaic, cursive calligraphy. On the window display were china plates and old fans, with pots and vases and a maneki neko doll at the center. 

Aki-senpai opened the front door with a rattle, inviting him in. Natsume stared at the open doorway for a while, then willed himself to enter the store, Sensei following behind.

The store smelled of old and aging wood. It reminded him of the mountains at the back of his hometown, where he would find his youkai friends gathered on daylights. Natsume could see various objects on the shelves lining the walls—from bowls and pots to dolls and paintings. Mannequins stood in a corner wearing ancient Japanese armors, their swords and spears and bows hanging on the wall. Glass cases dividing the room into aisles contained smaller trinkets like hairpins and scrolls and watches.

A small sitting area stood at the back of the store, at the corner across from the cash register counter, between a set of stairs leading to a second floor and a door leading to a backroom.

“What brings you here, Natsume-kun?” Aki-senpai asked after offering Natsume a seat.

“Um—” What should he say? He had thought the store belonged to Haru, or other youkai, or someone with the Sight like an exorcist or people who dealt with magical objects. He hadn’t expected it to belong to a normal human, much less someone he knew.

“Don’t tell me,” Aki-senpai said before Natsume had formulated his answer. He suddenly leaned closed, his eyes glinting in understanding as a grin stretched across his face. “Did you really want to join our club?”

Natsume stared, dumbstruck. For a moment, he wondered what his senpai meant, before the events of the day before returned to his mind. The club at the disused storage room in the middle of a copse of trees—the dusted books and shelves, and the people playing shogi. He had completely forgotten about it.  

“Then again,” Aki-senpai went on without waiting for his reply, “you wouldn’t have known I work here.” The thought made him pause, and he leaned against his broom. His eyes narrowed as he stared Natsume down. “How did you learn about Old Roots?”

I heard it from a youkai, Natsume wanted to say, but would his senpai even believe him?

But then Aki-senpai said something that froze him on the spot: “Did Haru tell you?”

Natsume whipped his head up and met Aki-senpai’s stern and unwavering gaze. He hadn’t heard wrong.

“Do you know Haru, Senpai?” he asked.

“Of course. He’s our shiki.”

Shiki.

The unexpected use of the word rendered Natsume speechless. Aki-senpai had a shiki. 

“How did you know Haru, Natsume-kun?” Aki-senpai went on.

Natsume shook his head. “I don’t know him.”

“Then why was he looking for you?”

“What?” That was news to him. He looked to the ground, but Nyanko-sensei was nowhere to be found. The cat probably knew about it. That was why he had been at school the other day.

Aki-senpai’s lips pressed to a thin line, but his eyes stayed on Natsume as he leaned his broom against the wall and took a seat across from him. “He came to me one day and asked me about a boy called Natsume. He told me, you go to our college. I said I don’t know him. He asked me to find out about you.”

Did that mean Aki-senpai approached him not because of the club but because a youkai asked him to?

The thought made him pause.

Had Haru been in that clubroom?

There were five people—six including him. Among them were Aki-senpai, Aoi and the delinquent playing shogi, the girl on the phone, and—

Just as the thought entered his mind, Natsume heard footsteps coming in from the backroom, and a familiar voice he had heard the night before reached his ears.

“Aki, don’t be like that.”

Natsume turned and found the boy with the black hair and gray eyes standing over the threshold—the person he had seen in the clubroom yesterday, who had been standing over the shogi players and watching them play. The person who had stared intently at him, causing the sickening feeling in his stomach.

The youkai, Haru, smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, Natsume-sama, for coming to you so intrusively.”

From across the table, Aki-senpai scoffed. “You call him with honorifics but not me?”

“You told me not to, Aki,” Haru said.

Aki-senpai frowned. They stared each other down, not entirely in animosity—Natsume couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Aki-senpai was the first to break eye contact and sighed. He stood up from his chair. “Take your time. The shop won’t be open for another couple hours.” And then he went over to the backroom with a promise to bring tea.

Natsume was halfway up his chair, halfway saying, “You don’t have to, Senpai—” but Aki-senpai had already disappeared.

“Don’t worry about him, Natsume-sama,” the youkai said, his eyes still trailing over his master’s back. “He’s only feeling somewhat rivaled.”

“Rivaled?!”

Haru chuckled. “He’ll be over it at the end of the day.”

That didn’t ease his anxiety though Natsume had no room to argue. Haru sat on the seat Aki-senpai had vacated and Natsume followed him, glancing sideways toward the backroom once. The youkai noticed this.

“It’s the first time Aki meets someone his age with spiritual power,” Haru explained. “All he’s known were his immediate family, and several patrons who come looking for magical objects—yes, the antique store is only a front for the magical objects they deal with,” he added when Natsume raised his brows. “The rivalry he feels may stem from what pride he has as a youkai specialist—though Aki isn’t a particularly prideful person. Or…” Haru paused, laughing quietly under his breath. “Well, he might be afraid of me leaving him to follow you.”

Natsume blinked, uncomprehending. “Why would he think that?”

Haru looked at him and Natsume noticed the faraway look in his eyes and the longing in his smile. “Because, Natsume-sama,” he finally said, “You are Reiko’s grandson.”

Haru confirmed that Reiko was his former master, though Reiko had claimed she had never bound him to her. “She named me, you see, saying the name was gift,” he said with a light-hearted chuckle. “I don’t think she knew very well the power of naming a youkai. Especially with a power like hers.”

“Hmph, sounds very much like the Reiko I know,” Nyanko-sensei said. The cat, who apparently had been exploring the store, had finally joined them. He had looked at Haru with narrowed eyes and Haru had nodded his head in meek greeting.

“I’m sorry for causing an alarm,” Haru had said.

Nyanko-sensei had only grunted, before taking his place on the chair by Natsume’s side.

Haru chuckled. “Yes, a peculiar human she was—Reiko.” His voice was so soft, so gentle, as though speaking of something precious. But then his eyes grew dark and drawn and his smile was tinged with sorrow.

“The moment Reiko died—I felt it—like a snap in the bond I had come to cherish over the years since our meeting.

“It was an order,” he went on. “The only thing stopping me from going after her was her order for me to stay behind and protect Aki’s family.”

Natsume let the thought sink in. “Then, does the contract still stand?”

Haru gauged his response, before saying, “I believe it does. I thought it was gone the moment Reiko died, but apparently, I was still connected by a sliver of a thread to her daughter. But her power was too weak, our bond too thin, that I never felt it. Until several years after Aki was born that the contract snapped into place again.”

“So,” Natsume said after a while, “if I were to order you—”

“Then I would be compelled to follow.”

The depth of the situation finally dawning on him, Natsume understood why Aki-senpai had acted the way he had. For the blood relative of a former master to appear, carrying a long-forgotten contract…

“Had none of Aki-senpai’s family ever renewed the bond?” he asked. Because Natori had told him once, that the contract could be inherited, or even made new, by someone with strong power.

Haru shook his head. “Chieko, Aki’s grandmother, never did, in respect to Reiko’s wishes. While in Aki’s parents’ case—I might have stayed long enough that both of them have forgotten I was not bound to them.”

“So you stayed here of your volition?” Nyanko-sensei asked. “Not bound to anyone but your own will?”

Haru nodded, prompting Nyanko-sensei to scoff. “Silly. You’ve attached yourself to humans who would be gone in a blink of an eye.”

“I could say the same thing to you,” Haru said evenly. “Isn’t that why you’re here? Putting such a strong barrier no other ayakashi could come and harm him.”

“I am the master in our relationship, not the other way around.”

“Semantics. Have you never gone to his aid then, without a thought of who’s the master and who’s the servant—with your heart roaring when you see him hurt?”

Nyanko-sensei’s eyes glinted under the light. His voice had dropped several octaves when he spoke next. “He is my prey and mine alone. I will not let other ayakashi eat him.”

They stared at each other, the air between them thick and charged with electricity. Natsume wasn’t sure what was happening. It was not the same sort of exchange he had seen between Nyanko-sensei and other shiki. A fight would break, and not just any skirmishes his guardian had had before.

Natsume touched his pelt. He felt Sensei start, so soft he could have missed it, but the bristle that had slowly begun along his spine died down. Nyanko-sensei was the first to break eye contact, looking away with an irritated huff.

“We’re not so different, you and I,” Haru went on, “when all we wish is to keep our humans safe.”

Nyanko-sensei didn’t say anything.

Natsume stared at him for a couple moments before looking up to meet Haru’s eyes. “What did you wish to show me, Haru?”

The youkai looked at him again, before shifting his gaze toward his laced fingers on the tabletop. “Reiko met Chieko shortly after she arrived in the city,” he began. “She already had a daughter by then. And her body had already begun to break.”

~~~

The moon was low. Reiko lay on her side. Blood trickled down the corner of her lips as her chest heaved with difficulty. Her child. Where was her child? She tried to look but her eyelids were heavy. How did she get here? All she remembered was traveling down the hill, her hand grasping the small hand of her daughter’s, before a coughing fit shook her, and she stumbled. Her sides ached, her head pounded.

Had it all been a dream? Had she dreamed of having a daughter and dreaming of a future in peace?

Or had her daughter abandoned her like everyone else in her life? A good-for-nothing mother like her. She couldn’t even raise her child. She couldn’t give her a proper house proper meal like everyone else.

A light shone above her. A hand, bony and wrinkled, grasped her face, cupping her chin. Tsk, tsk, it went. You have death on your door, child. You don’t have long.

Reiko fought to open her eyes.

A curse has bound itself to you. A forbidden magic you have done.

The wrinkled hand touched her forehead.

A cherished object.

Another tsk. The hand caressed her face, and when it spoke, its voice was soft.

Poor child. No amount of healing spells can save you—unless you return those which you have taken.

***

“A curse,” Natsume echoed, interrupting Haru’s story. The heart of his heart already knew the answer, even before Haru nodded and said,

“The Book of Friends.”

Forbidden magic.

Natsume’s mind brought him back to a dim room in Natori’s place. He had asked the exorcist’s help to reseal a youkai, and after it had been done, the conversation had taken a turn to the rules in place for exorcism.

When an exorcist makes a contract of mastery with an ayakashi, Natori had said, they should never bind their real name. Some of the most dangerous can even curse people who aren’t involved.

“That book bound their true names to her life force,” Haru went on. “Not only had it taken a toll to her body, it was something that should never have been done, and the act, by itself, cursed her.”

***

That night, her daughter, who had gone in search of help, brought Chieko to where her mother lay. Chieko was, in fact, skilled in the arts of healing, but even Chieko could only slow the curse’s progression.

Haru met Reiko not long afterwards and stayed with her long after she named him. It didn’t take long for him to find out about her illness.

She lived with Chieko’s family for a couple years—said the medicine worked well. Her body hadn’t hurt as much. But sometimes in the middle of the night, when she thought everyone was asleep, Haru would see her body bent, her hair matted with sweat, as cough after cough took over her body. And when she pulled her hand from her mouth, he’d seen them covered in blood.

Still, she stayed. Haru suspected the reason was because Chieko and her husband had been so welcoming that when it would have been time for her to leave, she’d find herself saying, ‘just one more day. Let me stay here just one more day.’ Then one day became one week, and one week became one month, one month became one year.

Until one day, the curse began to spread, and not just in her own body.

“I’m leaving, Haru,” Reiko said one night in their room. The light had gone out. Everyone was fast asleep. Rain poured outside, masking their conversation.

Haru shook his head. “Chieko said not to leave.”

Reiko laughed under her breath. “I don’t live by Chieko’s rules.”

Haru frowned. He’d heard them earlier, downstairs in the kitchen, talking in hushed voices. The curse was spreading, and not just in her own body. Chieko’s son had gotten sick with a high fever and coughing fit that had lasted for more than two weeks.

“You don’t know if it’s because of the curse,” Haru argued.

“You don’t know if it’s not,” Reiko said. “The doctors didn’t find anything wrong with him, yet he’s been bedridden for weeks. Don’t tell me it’s not because of me.”

“It’s not!”

Reiko put a finger to her lips. She didn’t want to wake the others, but Haru didn’t care. Let him wake the others. Let the others put some sense in this human’s head.

“Then let me come with you.”

“I can’t. I need you to stay.”

He had been ready for that. Please take care of Haru for me. That’s what Reiko had asked Chieko. She had meant to leave him.

“You need me to protect you, Reiko.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“How?” he countered. “You’re halfway to the underworld and now you’re leaving in the middle of the night with a child and nowhere to go. How can you take care of yourself?”

Reiko gave him one of her infuriating smiles that meant enough—that asked him not to ask questions and leave her be. But how could he? How could he when she was his master and him her servant—when ever since the day Reiko named him, his sole purpose had been to protect her?

“I need you to protect Chieko and her family.”

“They’re strong!”

“Not strong enough.” Reiko’s smile turned wistful; her eyes drawn. “Chieko saved me, Haru. She accepted me when no one ever had. She welcomed me to her home, and her family, and now look what I’ve brought her.” Her laugh was self-deprecating and it grated in his ears.

It’s not your fault, he wanted to say, but he knew it was a vain attempt when her heart was already set.

“Where are you going?” he asked instead, though his heart ached in his chest.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Find a peaceful place to settle down? Away from the eyes and ears of humans and youkai.” Not much of an answer, but that only told him the extent of her plan.

“Will you do it for me?” she asked him after a while. “Make sure Chieko’s child lives and none of my illnesses get to them? Make sure they’re happy, and healthy, and no harm comes to them? You’re the only one I can ask of this.”

He couldn’t say no, even if he wanted to. A final order. She had never claimed mastery of him, but Haru still found himself following her.

So he nodded, and she smiled, brighter this time. She pulled him to her and pressed her lips to his forehead.

“When you meet my grandson, please tell him I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Tell him I’m sorry I’ve left him with such a huge burden.”

~~~

Natsume opened his eyes to dim light. A quiet stillness enveloped his surroundings. He smelled the scent of incenses, like the ones he would find in temples or rituals. He was lying on his back on a soft mattress. His fingers tingled as they slowly regained their senses. His blurry eyes sharpened, and he noticed the wooden beams on the ceiling. His ears picked up a soft drizzle against the window outside.

“Natsume-sama?”

The familiar voice drew his attention and Haru entered his line of sight—the older version of the twelve-year-old boy he had only seen moments ago. He sat cross-legged beside him, gray eyes staring at him.

Natsume blinked back the tears he hadn’t realized he had shed, covering his eyes with the back of his hand as he took a deep, shaking breath. Haru’s emotions from the memory had been so raw. He wondered if the sadness he felt then was his own or the youkai’s. It truly felt as though he had been there, trying to stop Reiko from leaving.

“I didn’t know youkai could grow,” was the first thing Natsume said.

Silence, before Haru let out a soft laughter under his breath. “I started changing my appearance ever since Aki was born,” he said. “I wanted to grow with him.”

Natsume’s lips tugged into a smile as he took another shuddering breath. He could see her behind his eyelids, her face gaunt, her cheeks hollow. Reiko was thin. Too thin. And weak. And frail. He wondered where the bright spark that had lived in infamy in the memories of youkais had gone.

And the little girl sleeping beside her. His mother. Barely six or seven years old.

He could see Reiko in front of him then, staring at him with that same sad and resigned expression she had given Haru.

I’m sorry I left you with a huge burden.

“Do you know where she’d gone?” he asked the youkai.

“No,” Haru said quietly. “When I asked, all she said was a mountain she wanted to see one last time.”

A mountain. There were a lot of mountains in Japan.

A peaceful place to settle down. Away from the eyes and ears of humans and youkai.

A tree.

The door slid open.

Natsume uncovered his eyes, letting his arm fall onto his chest. Nyanko-sensei came, followed by Aki-senpai carrying a tray of steaming soup and a glass of hot green tea. He looked happy to see Natsume awake.

“Do you often faint, Natsume-kun?” he asked, helping Natsume sit up.

“Often?” Nyanko-sensei scoffed from beside the futon. “This guy faints every time an ayakashi does something to him.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” Aki-senpai looked at Natsume then, concerned. “I can look up some medicine if you want. We have lots of books dealing with these kinds of stuff.”

“You don’t have to, Senpai,” Natsume said with a small smile.

But Aki-senpai only laughed, waving his hand in dismiss. “Don’t be so stiff. It’s the least I can do.” His lips stretched thinly then, and he dipped his head in apology. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable before, Natsume-kun. It’s just…I’ve never met someone my age who can see youkai, and I figured you’re technically his master and all, and…” His voice trailed off, his ears reddening. “Anyway, I’ll find a book that can help you!”

He jumped to his feet and rushed out the door. Aki-senpai was gone before Natsume could even say a word. Haru chuckled beside him.

Natsume glanced at him, then at Sensei, who was pawing the lid off Natsume’s bowl of soup, saying something about eating his meal if Natsume didn’t want it. Natsume imagined what he would do if there ever came a time when Nyanko-sensei would have to leave him for good. Not to another master—as Natsume couldn’t imagine Nyanko-sensei actually having a master—but maybe something else that would draw the cat away from him, never to return.

He didn’t like that.

“Haru,” Natsume said. The youkai looked at him, questioningly. “Would you like me to release you?”

Haru stared, eyes blinking in surprise. He hadn’t expected that, it seemed, but Natsume wanted to do it. Reiko was gone. Haru didn’t have any ties with him. An age-old order that had slowly transformed into his own will.

Haru was Aki-senpai’s guardian. There was no denying that.

Natsume felt Nyanko-sensei stare.

“I’ve done the ritual before,” he added. “I know how to do it.”

Haru gazed at him for another silent moment, before his mouth finally spread into a small, genuine smile. He bowed.

“Please do, Natsume-sama.” 

~ END ~

[hashixmito]

Hi! My friend Tuli-chan loves this pairing and asked if I could send a prompt for her. So how about "All That I've Got"? Please and thanks! :D

Mito stared at the shogi board with deep concentration as she chews the inside of her mouth. ‘How did he corner me like this?’ Mito thought with a frown.

Hashirama leaned back with a proud smirk on his face. He had her trapped now, but it wasn’t easy, for the past three hours Mito proved to be a very formidable opponent. Playing against her kept him on his toes more than playing against the Nara clan’s leader, Shikai Nara. 

“If I win this game Uzumaki-san, you have to come as my partner to the autumn festival tonight.” It took him a lot of guts to say that, hence this game was part of his elaborate scheme to get closer to her.

“Very well then Senju-san, but if I win you have to tie your hair exactly like mine for one whole day.” She smirks at him when his face turned terrified, but later turns into a playful grin. “Is that all you got Mito-chan?” He teases her because he was confident that he was going to win, not that he would tell it to her face. 

“All that I’ve got?” She sasses back to him, and on impulse she makes her final move. By the time it was his turn, she stares at his joyful face with horror - ‘Fool! How did I make such a rookie mistake?’ Mito scolds herself with a dramatic face-palm, but a small part of her was looking forward to going as his partner to the autumn festival tonight, not that she’d tell him.

He picked up his shogi piece, and was declared the winner.

Tonight is the night he will definitely melt that icy persona of her’s. 

.

.

.

Later at night during the festival,Tobirama and Toka’s eyes were wide as saucers when they saw their brother and cousin give a handsome grin to the beautiful woman with red hair he was holding hands with. When they see him lean closer to give a chaste kiss on her lips, both of them turn around blushing madly.

‘Well how about that cousin.’

‘Drat! It’s going to take weeks to wipe that image off my head.’