#TAKUMI

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 - Badge Art by Takumi

[geekynerfherder]

'Rey & Kylo Ren' by Takumi.

Badge art for 'Star Wars Celebration: Japan 2025'.

[textsfromtheemblem]

[isledolon]

written in reverse | takumi | trial 3.6 | attn: lisa

“You’re such a mysterious person, Lisa. I’m sure you can see and hear it all, too, but you look so… unaffected. I’m kind of jealous.”

Takumi had been unfair to her, he thinks, as the vision of Maria’s murder plays in his head. Because when he’d admitted his jealousy to Lisa, he realizes now that he’d forgotten something crucial. He’d forgotten that like him, or anyone else in this room, Lisa Aikou was first and foremost a human being. Not some out of this world celebrity or a venomous snake. She was a human being, made of flesh and blood, with feelings and emotions and— what had she called them— all kinds of unnecessaries. He sees the vision and understands— understands that she'd never gotten rid of them, like she said she had. She wasn't holding herself together, like he thought she was. She wasn’t 100% ruthless, like he said she was.

They’d given her so many labels and had been so, so unfair, and yet… somehow, seeing this, they realize they don't regret a thing. Not idolizing her, not voting for her, and certainly not being Lisa's friend. After all, hadn't she told him not to live in the past so much?

“...You can have few regrets, but what’s the point if they’re letting them hover over you like a shadow anyway.”

(...)

It’s not until the vision ends that Takumi suddenly realizes those glistening things that had been forming in the corners of his eyes had begun to fall. He touches his face, almost looking shocked at the warm and wet feeling. Because… it’s weird. He can’t remember the last time he’d cried.

But through his tears, he doesn’t sob. He doesn’t frown. He just sniffles and smiles, and approaches Lisa for one last time.

“I hope Mary doesn’t mind, but I’m retroactively adding you to our little pact. So, Lisa– when you see her again, can you promise her this? That the two of you will keep doing your best, even when it gets harder and harder?”

And with that, Takumi extends a hand, clears his throat, and in his best impression of Maria adds:

“And I’ll get mad at you if you break it!”

[isledolon]

they want my soul | takumi | trial 3.5

"Lisa, I don't believe that you're 100% ruthless. No one is."

"Oh, but I can be."

Far be it from Takumi to judge someone's lifestyle, but ever since he'd taken a picture of someone's pet rattlesnake a few years back, he'd always wondered to himself why on earth someone would choose to keep a venomous snake as their pet. It just made no sense. Why keep something so close to your heart that cannot comprehend your love for it--why work so hard towards a creature that could easily kill you, if given the chance? Just one careless move--one tiny mistake--could mean your early demise. Perhaps it's the thrill, knowing full-well that you could get hurt at any moment. Maybe it's fulfilling to love and nurture a creature that sees you as nothing more than an enemy. Maybe some people are just sick. He's not sure. But as he looks at Lisa from across the circle, he wonders something similar: Why had he ever trusted her?

No, that's not quite it. Their trust in Lisa has never been a regret, even now. Even when she condemned Rudy during their first go-around in this circle, he still wanted to reach out to her. Even when she told them she saw no use in moral debates, he still wanted to take her side. They had even trusted her with the truth about their stepsister, of whom they hadn't talked about to anyone for years. 

"Would you be ready for the possibility that I don't regret what I did?"

Even as she stands there, admitting her guilt, admitting to killing Mary without remorse, they... trust her. And maybe they're a fool for that. Maybe they're one venomous snake bite away from the grave.

"The person Ms. Lisa Aikou previously was...was a very pitiful woman who only knew how to cry. And so, to get rid of her...she became someone who only knew how to smile, someone who no one would ever dare lay a finger on."

But Lisa Aikou wasn't born with venom, and Takumi Minatoya wasn't born to run forever.

"Do you ever miss her? Or have you made your choice?"

Lisa pauses, and the smile slowly falls from her face.

She could have killed him at any time, she says. But he's seen her frown--and when you've been smiling all of your life, a frown is much harder to give to someone than a smile ever could be.

Takumi holds his hand to his chest, gently curling in the pinky finger he'd intertwined with Maria's. And with a sigh, he smiles, as if his mind has been made up. After all, he's supposed to always be doing his best, even when things get hard.

Sorry, Hiiro. Sorry, Mugen. Sorry, Lye.

Sorry, Lisa.

"If this is what you want... for everyone to hate you, for everyone to vote for you... I won't stop you. You've always been so good to me. This is the least I can do."

And in the corner of his pale green eyes, you swear you can see something glistening--

"I've never stopped being jealous of you, Lisa Aikou, even now."

[isledolon]

do i have to talk you into it | takumi | trial 3.4 | re: lisa

Takumi Minatoya is three-years-old when he loses his mother. However, at three-years-old, he has no concept of loss. He doesn’t remember her face well. He doesn’t remember what she sounded like. All that he has left of her are the stories his father tells and the pictures that hang on their walls. When her funeral ends, three-year-old Takumi looks up at his father with wide and curious eyes. He looks at his father like a child who hasn’t developed object permanence quite yet—that’s what he is, after all. And Takumi asks: “When’s Mama coming home?”

(They’d always been a little oblivious like that.)

Because in their mind, of course it’s not Lisa. That’s why they never asked, as selfish as it is. Because in their mind, of course fate isn’t that cruel. Why would he ever entertain the idea of losing Lisa right now, when he’s still trying to mourn Mary.

(Is this obliviousness, though? Or just willful ignorance?)

“I could only hope that she was young enough not to remember me.”

Yuriko is two-years-old when Lisa leaves. She’s younger than Takumi was when he lost his mother. It’s only a year difference, but time is precious—especially when it’s spent with loved ones. As evidenced by his friendship with Mary, those months spent together are all the difference. Even if Takumi was too young to remember. Even if Yuriko is too young to remember.

At eighteen-years-old, Takumi Minatoya runs away from home, and starts a new life in Tokyo. He leaves behind his stepsister and his father, and though there is guilt, he’s always been a little selfish like that, you know? Time passes on, the years go by, and that guilt fades into the background. It’s still there, of course, but he’s gotten better at hiding it behind a smile.

“You’re such a mysterious person, Lisa. I’m sure you can see and hear it all, too, but you look so… unaffected. I’m kind of jealous.”

(Maybe that’s unfair, though. She’d certainly had far more years of practice than he did.)

They’re twenty-six-years-old when they arrive on Taig Island, with the promise of an island vacation that never comes. That doesn’t matter, though. There, on Taig Island, is where they meet Maria Grey and Lisa Aikou. Two people who Takumi would never have met otherwise. But where he finds companionship with Maria, he finds himself in Lisa. He sees himself in her, in all the worst ways, and somehow—somehow she’s better at being him than he ever will be.

Maybe that’s why he’s so comfortable telling her about his struggles, even when he’d prefer to talk about silly things, like the secret lives of ducks, or how they’d hike Kilimanjaro together. Maybe that’s why he wants to believe that her greatest wish is to go on a vacation to Nagano with him. Maybe that’s why it’s so easy for him to look the other way when Lisa doesn’t show her hands.

But she finally does, and therein lies the answer he’d so desperately sought out to find when he sat down in this circle. The pinky promise had been fulfilled. He’d done his best, no matter how hard things were. So, why does it feel so bad? Because he should be happy, right? He should be mad, right? He should be relieved, right? He should feel something, at least, right?

Lisa killed Maria, Lisa killed Maria, Lisa killed—?

They look at the cut on Lisa’s finger and can’t help but think: “But we’re still going on that vacation, right?”

(They’ve always been a little oblivious like that.)

But Takumi doesn’t say that. Instead, with wide and curious eyes, they look to Lisa and ask:

“What… what did you do?”

[auntienene]

I love Takumi's artwork sooo much 🥰 truly beautiful.

[isledolon]

the way we get by | takumi | trial 3.3 | attn: glove-havers & lye

There's no point for Takumi to show their hands, but they do so anyway. And sure enough, there's no blood.

"Regardless of how their hand got hurt, all we can deduce is that someone out there has literal blood on their hands. Hows and whys aren't important. Especially when it's the best lead we have... yeah..."

A deep inhale and exhale. He seems... hesitant. A rare moment for someone who always speaks so freely.

"Okay, I'm gonna feel like a huge asshole later if this is just flat out wrong, but if you're wearing gloves--"

He glances around the circle. To Hiiro, Noda, and Gaku.

"Can we see your hands, too? Along with yours, Lye? I wanna believe you're an innocent man, but we're running out of hands to look at here."

[isledolon]

the hardest cut | takumi | trial 3.2 | re: amane, lisa, hiiro

Takumi gives Lisa a sympathetic look when she puts her foot down on the question of morality. They'd talked about this before, and though it may be annoying to go back and forth on such matters each and every time, part of him wants to remind her that this discussion is inevitable among a jury of bleeding hearts.

"I agree and disagree with Lisa. Look, I like everyone here a whole lot, but the fact of the matter is that Mary was killed. Someone here did that to her, and whether they were thinking clearly or not when they chose to activate their Curse Stone isn't important right now."

They look to Hiiro.

"I'd like to put myself in this person's shoes, but it's kind of hard to. I only know my own brain and what my own inner critic was saying to me... and you all feel the same way, too, right? What would be the best way to figure out how the motive played a part in this? Has anyone here been acting particularly erratic lately?"

If only he could read minds, he thinks. Though, if he could, things would probably be much, much different.

"You know, it kind of looked like they set it up so that gnomes were having a tea party of their own..."

[saiyan-of-fairy-tail]

This has to be one of the funniest summon quotes I've ever seen from a summer Takumi.😂 Way to make an entrance!

[feshippingpolls]

Takumi x Mozu? I’m playing through fates for the first time and they’re my favorite.

FE: Should they kiss?

Takumi x Mozu

[isledolon]

ahh mr. sneky i see you are drnking your fance tea | takumi | trial 3.1 | re: lisa

Maria Grey died with a smile, and Takumi chooses to hold onto that thought -- that her last moments on this earth weren't in agony, but in happiness. It's true that it's hard to imagine someone who suffered a heart attack smiling, of course, but he knows Mary. She would be just the kind of person to smile until the bitter end, wouldn't she?

“I guess I mostly just want to be that person. I want to be someone that can be leaned on.”

“Like maybe if they can lean on me, it’ll be easier for them.”

But the more that he tries to tell himself that Maria died happy, the more that he wonders if that, too, was just obligation. (And in their mind, they say to Maria: 'Damn it, Mary. You're allowed to be upset at your own death.')

Right now, however, that's neither here nor there. They need to root out Maria's killer before they can even think about chiding her. Takumi sits and looks down at their hands with grave seriousness. After all, a pinky promise is a very important promise; a promise that should never be broken.

"If they were gardening together, maybe the killer has dirt underneath their nails as well? I'll admit that that idea might be a little more unlikely, since they had about two hours between her death and when we found her, but if we're looking for hand injuries, maybe that's also something to keep an eye out for? Eh?"

Grave seriousness soon melts into Takumi’s casual demeanor as they speak, and if you didn't know any better, they seem unaffected by the matter.

They cross their legs and fold their hands in their lap as they take a look around the noticeably smaller circle of people.

"There was also that really expensive tea tree in the garden there. When we were looking at it, Hiiro said it was the same stuff we found in Mary's teacup, so... if she really was gardening with her killer, it stands to reason that the two of them probably decided to have tea together at some point, yeah?"

[disassembledboy]

rentrer en soi <3

[s0colas]

fe fates thingamajig

[auntienene]

Some more of those gorgeous works of art by Takumi for Star Wars Celebration Japan. I hope they will be made into posters also 🙏🤞

[isledolon]

stay don't go | takumi | ch3 body react

[♫♫♫]

It’s true when they say that you never miss things the things you love until they’re gone. That’s all Takumi can think about right now, as he looks down at Maria’s lifeless body. Just a few days ago, she and him sat down together in this very same place, laughing and chatting like nothing was wrong. Like they were just two old friends, enjoying a hot drink together at a cafe while they caught up on life. Of course, that wasn’t to say like nothing was wrong at the time. There things happening around them at the time, shadowy figures and doubtful voices filled their minds, but Takumi had always liked that about talking to Maria—that not every minute spent with her had to feel like running a mile. That when they talked, they could just forget about all of the nonsense around them, if only for a moment.

Just a few days ago, he had made her laugh that quiet little laugh that you really only shared with a close friend, and she had made him smile so genuinely—in a way that no one else on this island could. And as he stands there, recalling the memory, he feels... bad. Because all Takumi can do right now, faced with such a horrific sight, is give a pitiful little laugh. He laughs because he knows that things aren’t going to be the same for either of them after this. He laughs because it fucking sucks. He laughs because this is unfair. He laughs because maybe he'll never convince her to relax, for once in her life. But most of all, he laughs because he’ll miss her own smile and laugh. He never thought he would, until now. She may come back, but all the same, he’ll miss the Maria he once knew. He never thought he would, until now.

It had, of course, only been a few months of knowing each other, but in Takumi's eyes, that hardly mattered. Maybe it never did. The length of their friendship was inconsequential when you considered the facts—that Maria and Takumi, two people who lived on different sides of the world, from two completely different walks of life, met each other here, on Taig Island. And in adversity, they found friendship.

“...there's, what, billions of people in the world? It's kind of a rare coincidence we met.”

“Yes, it’s a little miracle of its own that we met.”

What was just a few months was only strengthened by their dire situation, and Maria– Mary– had become the dear friend Takumi had always wanted, but never knew he needed. From gushing about their pets together to playing Pokémon together, all of those fond memories came together when they made a promise to each other, sealed with their pinky fingers:

“...let’s promise between the two of us to keep doing our best, even though it’s harder and harder.”

And Takumi hasn't forgotten that. He won’t take any of it for granted anymore. He'll help his dear friend, and all of his other friends when they need it most. Even if it gets harder and harder. Even if people die... even if...

With a shaky hand, his hand moves to brush her bangs out of her eyes. Their other hand grabs one of Maria’s now-cold hands and gives it a gentle squeeze. And then, he lets go.

“Don’t worry, Mary. I’ll-- Takkun's going to find a way to make things right.”