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everythingsinred · 2 years

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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Mikan (pt. 4)

Yesterday, we talked about Mikan getting settled into her new life at Alice Academy, how she's being singled out, and how she managed to find a place where she belongs. We also are starting to see parallels between her and Natsume (king of mysteries), who continues to intrigue her even though she doesn't like him.

Today we'll see Mikan face the fact that she's being treated differently. She will also slowly start to see Natsume in a new light. From now on things will start changing.

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Chapter Nine

Mikan is so happy to have met Tsubasa, her first and dearest senpai, that she has to introduce him to all her friends right away. They have a tea party where she complains about her classmates’ bad behavior and bullying. Tsubasa explains to her that her classmates are just high-strung because they’re unhappy with the academy. They know they’re just pawns but the only way they can vent their frustrations is through bullying. What they need is a new way to vent.

Tsubasa compares himself to Natsume, saying he was similar when he was younger, acting up because of his frustrations with the academy. He even has a punishment mark that reminds her of Natsume’s punishment mask. Tsubasa is a great addition to Mikan’s life for many reasons, but one important thing he brings to the table is that he helps her understand Natsume better. He can relate to Natsume, and that connection helps her get why he might act out the way he does. Ruka gave her the first inkling that there’s something deeper to Natsume, with his firm defense of him. But Tsubasa is somebody she trusts and looks up to, who doesn’t even really know Natsume. He still understands him and why he behaves the way he does, even seeing himself in the kid. It’s just another of the little insights into how Natsume thinks, particularly since they both have anger with the academy in common.

Jock Mikan! (Also I love using images that have Natsume in them too, to remind you that this is a ship essay even if it doesn't feel like it quite yet.)

Tsubasa tells her to find something fun to distract her classmates with, so she gets pumped and suggests dodgeball to Class B, because she’s athletic and likes playing sports.

Her enthusiasm switches tack when she’s met with boos and insults. Insulted, Mikan eggs them all on, calling them cowards. Mikan may have started with good intentions, but she’s easily distracted, especially with how quick a temper she has, so the game begins with anger and vitriol instead of the fun bonding activity it was supposed to be.

Mikan gets called a mary sue a lot and that bugs me. People are incapable of seeing a sunshine girl without assuming that she has no flaws. Mikan certainly has flaws. She has a short temper, for one. She is brash and hasty and acts thoughtlessly. She often ends up inconvenienced by her own actions, as evidenced here, or inconveniencing others. Additionally, Mikan isn’t acting alone to try and bring peace to her class: she is working with her two best friends who each bring a vital element to the endeavor. Mikan is loud and outgoing, impossible to ignore, so she’s the one advertising a dodgeball game. Yuu is patient and thoughtful, and he tries to keep Mikan grounded in their good intentions. And Hotaru is of course the cold logic of the trio, and is always there to provide a voice of reason (this time by trying to stay out of it).

So much for being blindly sunshiney all the time!!! Mikan quickly forgets about prioritizing fun and instead gets fired up.

The class makes a bet and Mikan has to win or else the bullying will continue and her team will become the other’s servants. Mikan doesn’t back down, even though her team is much smaller than the other one. This ends up being a blessing. They have more room to move around, and they’re all more motivated than the other team’s players. Additionally, she has great friends on her team, including poor Ruka, who just got lost looking for his rabbit (though he quickly gets swept away by Mikan). The only issue is Sumire and her buddies are dirty cheaters who know they won’t win if they play fair. Mikan might start with just a few friends, but their focus is on having fun. The rest of the kids joined the other team, mostly out of fear. Seeing how much fun Mikan’s side is having prompts the other team to drop the cheating and instead focus on having fun too.

There’s very little interaction between Natsume and Mikan in this chapter, beyond him hitting her in the head with the ball and then telling everyone about the time he stole her underwear. He’s obviously unchanged by all this exercise. Just like Natsume is different in the manga versus in the anime, so is Mikan. She doesn’t thank him for playing. Instead, she gets so pissed off at him that she ends up accidentally hitting Hotaru in the face with the ball.

I don't think Natsume cares enough about this game to be privy to the cheating going on here, but this is still his fault.

I described the differences between the episode and the chapter at length in my previous essays, but the differences in Mikan’s character are always shocking to me. Maybe Manga!Natsume would have reacted the same way as Anime!Natsume to the game if Manga!Mikan had thanked him for playing and told him she wanted him to smile and have fun. But she doesn’t. It’s hard to imagine Mikan doing that in the manga at all. (DON'T JUST START READING THE MANGA WHERE THE ANIME LEFT OFF! YOU'RE IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY! PLEASE READ THE MANGA FROM THE BEGINNING! I PROMISE IT'S WORTH IT!)

Anime!Mikan is not just more patient, she is more proactive and involved with Natsume from the beginning. Manga!Mikan can’t stand Natsume. He’s involved in the game only because he’s in Class B. She’s uninterested in making him smile or befriending him, especially since that’s clearly a lost cause anyway. This game is not about him, so when the chapter ends without his presence, it makes little difference to her. Like I said: they are real, genuine enemies to lovers, particularly on her end. Enemies, and how!

The chapter ends happily, even if it is nothing like the anime’s version. Mikan bonds with her teammates and has fun, and she even makes friends with the other team when they decide to start playing fair. They decide to settle for a tie and the biggest question is what they will play next. She might have started off with only a few friends on her team, but she’s closing the gap. She’s making friends with the rest of Class B, with only a few stragglers (namely Sumire and Natsume) left to befriend.

Even the Natsume fans are starting accept her (except for Sumire and the boy himself... all in due time).

Chapter Ten

Mikan misses her grandpa. She’s been writing letters but hasn’t gotten a single response. She’s sure her grandpa’s just holding a grudge, but she wants to know why he isn’t writing to her. She enlists Otonashi’s help and comes to find that her grandpa has been writing to her.

This isn't funny at all. Where's the school comedy?

He looks sick and is desperately begging the guard to let him see his granddaughter or pass on a letter or anything.

The anime makes this silly. He has some violent run-in with the mailman and then shivers during his water training regimen. But this is not the same scene. Jii-chan is unwell and desperate, willing to take any news of his granddaughter that he can. And Mikan can see it all--she knows he’s right outside the gates and that he wants to see her, but he’s not being let in and he hasn’t heard anything from her. She can’t see him, even though he’s right there, no matter how much she wants to. When Anime!Mikan shouts that she wants to see her grandpa, it’s just as unrealistic as ever, since he’s still back at home. But in the manga, he’s here, right here, waiting to see her. The fact that she can’t see him despite his proximity is cruel.

Mikan wonders what’s going on and Natsume-the-jerk cuts in to brusquely explain that Jii-chan will never get her letters because Narumi will never send them. He reiterates what Ruka already told her, that there’s not a single teacher worth trusting. He compares them, saying that they’re different from the rest of them. They’re being singled out for no reason and it’s naive to trust blindly in a situation like that. Further examples of them being narratively paired, to the point where their similarities are even obvious to Natsume.

Natsume may be a jerk, but he's frequently correct, especially about the school. Mikan will struggle for a while in being able to admit that sometimes he's on to something.

Yuu wonders why Natsume’s in a bad mood but Mikan doesn’t care at all, insisting that he’s wrong about Narumi. They might have some things in common, but not this. He’s just cynical, just a jaded little jerk. Two sides of the same coin, again. They are in similar situations but have very different perspectives on them: one pessimistic, the other staunchly optimistic.

But it turns out he isn’t wrong.

This is darker than the anime too: Narumi isn’t just tucking her letters away into a secret drawer, he’s burning them. They were never being sent and never will be, because they are in ashes in the teachers’ lounge. Mikan is shocked. She confronts Narumi and he punishes her, giving her detention without food. The anime has Jinno dole out the punishment instead, but the manga lets Narumi be the villain for a moment. It’s not just Jinno anymore; it’s the whole staff, even Narumi. He is a teacher with the academy, not a savior or an advocate for the student body, even if he smiles more than Jinno does. He is complicit with this system and has done very little so far to act outside of it.

Who exactly is "everyone"? It was mainly Natsume saying this! The quotes she's recalling are mostly Natsume's too! But Mikan doesn't like when Natsume is right (this and similar issues will come up later).

Mikan is determined to see her grandpa and enlists Ruka’s help (and he's so sweet to her, even this early on, wearing a girl's uniform just because he doesn't like to see her cry--he's a sweetie-pie). Her escape goes less than ideally when she is cornered by human traffickers but she is saved in the knick of time by Narumi and his trusty stolen bean-whip. An explosive is set off and Narumi protects Mikan from the blast, getting hit in her place. When she sees his bleeding face, she is instantly repentant. She feels responsible for his injury. This is one more trauma on a growing list. Getting nearly kidnapped and then watching somebody get hurt for her sake is not an easy sight for her.

Mikan is not the kind of person to hold a grudge. She is angry with Narumi because what he did was wrong, and he betrayed her trust. But he is showing her now that he cares about her and wants to protect her, and the issue now is that she doesn’t understand how those two things can both be true. She asks him why she’s singled out and he only asks her to trust him, that he will do everything he can to fix things. He is obviously beginning to genuinely care about her, because he means it. He does want the school to change, just like Yuka always wanted, and it took her daughter enrolling for him to be reminded of why she had requested he stay to begin with.

If he gets through to her, she'll be the only student at the school who trusts the teachers.

This is an example of the withholding of information that I’d mentioned. Mikan rarely gets to fully understand what’s going on. She is Alice in a strange world; as bizarre as this world is to us, it’s even more so to Mikan. She’s new and yet everything she learns is because someone chose to tell her, and they usually don’t.

Narumi pleads with her to not lose trust in people, to not become jaded and cynical like all her classmates. She’s only been a student for a little more than a week, and she’s already been betrayed. She’s already been thoroughly traumatized. That’s how quickly bad things happen at the academy, a vicious cycle of teachers acting violently out of duty and children being exploited. It’s made kids like Natsume weary and bitter. Narumi doesn’t want Mikan to end up like that. She sees the best in people, and he wants her to keep that innocence with her, because it’s only with that kind of innocence and optimism that real change can happen. Sometimes, seeing the best in people brings out the best in people. And, in Narumi’s case, trusting him gives him the chance to turn things around.

Reminder that Mikan is ten years old, separated from the only family she's ever known for the first time. She doesn't know how to be apart from him and Narumi is the only adult she's close to. It makes sense that she would look at him as a parental figure (a Jii-chan). None of the other kids would ever ask this question.

They have a sleepover (a dubious scene, but I won’t get into that here) where Mikan asks Narumi if she can call him Jii-chan. He suggests she call him “Dad” instead, and she gets flustered. Mikan has never had a father before. Her only family is her grandpa. She sees Narumi as a sort of father figure, but because she’s only ever had her grandpa, that’s what she wants to call him. Calling him dad instead is weird, a mixture of self-indulgence for them both, to get something they might have yearned for but never had. Narumi wanted to be what Izumi was to Yuka, and Mikan always wanted to meet her father. This only lasts for the one night, but it helps cement for Mikan all the things Narumi has told her. She wants to trust people, especially him, and trust that things will work out. She will be okay.

Chapter Eleven

It’s time for the school culture festival and Mikan is excited. She’s never been in such a huge event like this and she’s eager to be a part of it. Mikan is a hick and it’s amazing and endearing.

Narumi tells the class to try and make bonds with people they usually don’t spend time with. Mikan takes his advice seriously because their relationship got a refresh and she wants to heed his word. She deduces that Narumi wants his class to get along, and that’s especially true now, although he obviously still hasn’t let go of his desire to draw Yuka in. Regardless, he can see how successful Mikan is in bringing her class together, and there’s only a few stragglers left who haven’t yet allowed themselves to let her.

Those stragglers are Sumire and Natsume, her least favorite people.

Typical soulmates tropes require fate to be the main agent in undoing hatred and getting people closer. GA assures us that it's actually up to them to choose taking steps in that direction. (And by "them," I mean, it's just Mikan. Oops!)

So Natsume is the first person she approaches with the intention of taking Narumi’s advice. The fact that she would approach him in a friendly way in the first place is testament to how much her conversation with Narumi meant to her. She asks him about the festival, an easy conversation topic, especially for two people who are supposed to be partners, but he gets pissed anyway, setting her hair on fire. This enrages her, almost leading her to abandon Narumi’s friend-making mission entirely, but Yuu consoles her with answering her question in Natsume’s stead. She quickly forgets her frustrations with this new information, delighted to hear about the attractions most of the classes put on. (Yuu has caught on to what makes Mikan tick pretty fast and knows how to cheer her up because he is an amazing and caring friend.)

But when she asks about the SA class, Seaweed, one of the middle-school bullies and Sumire’s older brother, shows up to answer, insulting the class and saying they’re the lamest part of the event. He only stops ripping on the Specials when he spots Natsume. Then he starts a tirade about how the only class worse than the Specials is the DA class, who are so terrible they’re not even allowed to participate. According to Seaweed, Mikan and Natsume are so lame they make perfect partners (am I broken record yet? Narratively paired!).

Natsume shuts him up by burning his hair too. He uses Mikan’s nickname for him, temporarily aligning himself with her. Unlike last time, when they weren’t on the same side despite having the same enemies, now they are on the same team, even in just this small way. But he leaves quickly. He has Mochu by his side, cheering him on, but Mikan is watching him and she doesn’t look impressed, just concerned.

Something something blah blah Mikan having epiphanies about Natsume but only when he has his back to her blah blah. (What I mean is that he shuts her out, but she she makes the choice to figure him out anyway.) Natsume's back is thematically important LMAO.

Mikan gets insecure again, thinking about Seaweed’s words. If her class is the least popular, that must mean their alices are useless, which makes her alice useless, which is a nagging thought she can’t rid herself of. The thing is, she values the other SA students’ alices; it’s only her own that stands in her way. No matter what, she always comes back to this insecurity, that her alice isn’t good for anything, and there’s no clear reason it should be useful for something like the culture fest either, so she’s dismayed.

She finds Natsume again, this time as she’s walking through some trees. She’s so unhappy and surprised to see him that she drops all her papers--flyers for the festival. He helps her gather them up, probably the one and only nice thing he’s done for her in all this time. He asks why everyone’s making such a big deal about the festival. He calls it pathetic and dismisses the whole event as a dog and pony show--just another means for the school to exploit its student body.

But the thing is, Mikan heard what Seaweed said. Natsume isn’t allowed to participate in the festival. She connects the dots that he’s in a bad mood today because of that, because he’s constantly being reminded of something that has nothing to do with him. But even more than that: she can see him clearer than Mochu could. She can see that his anger is just a way to cover up an underlying sadness. When she watched him walk away earlier, she looked concerned because he seemed hurt, not just angry. This is the first time Mikan has gotten a puzzle piece that helped her better understand Natsume instead of just further confusing her.

This is maybe the first nice moment they share. I love this scene so much. Now that Mikan gets this part of him, she stops hating him as much. Mikan is just like that, always drawn to the depth and glimmers of people to the point where the bad parts of them are worth tolerating.

Just like her, his class is unpopular and disliked. They’re so disliked, they can’t even put on an event like the others can. They have something more in common, and it’s the first time she lets a similarity act as a connection.

She gets Natsume. She’s seeing him in a new light, and the picture of him she has in her head is shifting, if only slightly, helped by this one-sided conversation and the fact that he’s playing with a puppy, that he helped her pick up her papers. It all makes him seem less overtly evil.

It rejuvenates her spirit too. She goes to the SA class and demands they do something for the festival. Natsume isn’t even allowed to participate, and Mikan doesn’t want that same fate. She’s able to come up with an amazing idea on the spot, exciting all her classmates into getting started as soon as possible. She glances out the window and sees Natsume with Ruka, making her smile. Natsume may be an outcast, but at least he isn’t completely alone.

I love this chapter for letting Mikan get a little glimpse into what makes Natsume human, what makes him more than just a cruel and cold jerk. She starts to understand him here, and although they’re still enemies, her feelings are turning more positive.

Natsume definitely falls for her first, but Mikan starts understanding him first.

Here’s the perfect moment to ask a vital question: Why did they start off as enemies? NatsuMikan have a complicated relationship that encompasses many forms and tropes. They somehow manage to be enemies to lovers AND soulmates right from the beginning--hating each other but sharing more in common than they care to admit or can even see at this point. They’re constantly being paired up before they can tolerate each other and have a shared past that links them even if they’re not aware of it. They’re the fated pair! But they start off hating each other.

It is beginning... Slowly...

I’m always conflicted about the soulmates thing; but I always like it on the one basis that it means the narrative (the true meaning of fate in a story) intended for them to get together. In short, the story calling them soulmates means the author is purposefully putting them together, which means there's a confirmation that the relationship is thematically important. I think that’s why I like it; it’s reassuring. But I also dislike it. I don’t want Mikan to love Natsume because that’s what she was meant to do; I want her to love him because she chose to.

But the narrative covers that by introducing them as enemies. NatsuMikan hate each other from the beginning and have absolutely no interest in getting closer. Except that Mikan is choosing to look closer. A soulmate enemies to lovers storyline might throw these two fated but hateful people into situations where they’re forced to be around each other until they start seeing things they like, even if it’s against their will. They’d be entirely at the mercy of fate’s whims, would only fall in love because they were meant to.

And yet! Although they are put in many situations where they are forced together, it is ultimately choice (particularly Mikan’s choices) that lead to them falling in love. Mikan makes the choice from the beginning to look closer at him, to make connections and try to figure him out. She will continue to use those threads to make a fuller picture of him and will choose to get closer to him. Even Natsume falling in love with her only happens because Mikan chooses to go back for him during the Reo Arc. Mikan’s love story with Natsume is entirely centered around choice. They are fated only insofar as Mikan is the only person who would choose to look closer.

Chapter Twelve

It’s time for the monthly allowance to be given out, so some kids in Class B are going to Central Town to splurge. Mikan doesn’t have a big allowance as a result of being a no star, but she still wants to go, eager to have an experience shopping with her friends since she grew up in the country and never has before. She’s denied permission by Jinno until he’s persuaded to allow her to go with one caveat: she has to go with her partner.

Obviously, even though Mikan understands him better now, she’s still not a fan of his and, even worse, he still hates her.

But she is willing to beg. She pleads for Natsume to come along with her to Central Town, but is surprised to see that he’s sitting with a child in his lap: Youichi, a DA student who is attached to Natsume. Ruka explains that Natsume looks out for him in their class together.

You'd think his facial muscles would have atrophied by now and yet.

It’s only with Youichi that Mikan is able to catch a glimpse of Natsume’s first ever smile. She is taken aback by this, as if she didn’t think such a thing was even possible. It’s one more soft side that she’s seeing in him. It starts with one puzzle piece, and suddenly a couple more are appearing, like a snowball effect.

Natsume may still be a jerk, but he’s a jerk who occasionally plays with puppies, or smiles at toddlers.

He decides to go with her to Central Town, only because Youichi requested to go, but she has to be his mule. She forgets about that as soon as they get there, surrounded by endless shops and strange sights. The problem is that she can’t afford any of it and she’s quickly abandoned by her friends. She spends most of her money on a sweet potato and starts crying about being poor, a universal plight. She sees plenty of things she’d want to buy, including a hat that would look good on her grandpa, but that are too expensive (it’s so sweet that Mikan is preoccupied with buying things for others, even for Jii-chan, who won’t be able to receive it).

She spots Natsume eyeing the jewelry store, looking at some hairpins. We know from his POV that he’s reminded of Aoi, and that the reminder makes him sad. But all Mikan sees is Natsume checking out jewelry, which prompts her to imagine him dressing pretty and putting on makeup. Even other kids around suppose he wants to buy something for a girl, but Mikan just assumes it’s for him. Perhaps she can’t imagine that he might also think of somebody else when looking at something for sale.

I love how that's the only explanation she can think of.

She meets up with some friends and is introduced to howalon. She has never wanted anything as much as she wants howalon.

Again we can see that she values her grandpa’s wisdom: she can’t borrow money from Yuu. She must earn the money herself. She enlists her friends’ help and puts on a little play, garnering just enough attention to get her the money needed to buy the smallest box. Mikan is willing to put in work to get what she wants. She doesn’t give up just because something seems hopeless. She’s resourceful and creative, and these traits will continue to benefit her.

Mikan calls herself useless and thinks pretty lowly of herself, but the fact is that even if her alice was useless (and it isn’t) she has plenty of valuable traits that are simply different from the traits she sees and values in her friends. She may not be smart or witty, but she’s determined, passionate, and insightful, all traits that help her and her friends on numerous occasions.

Like now.

Mikan finally has howalon, but she insists on sharing it because she didn’t earn it all by herself. Her friends helped her get it, so they should have some too. And all the hype was deserved, because she loves howalon. It’s every bit as good as she thought it would be.

She ends the chapter giving the rest of her howalon to Narumi to send to her Jii-chan. In the anime, she gives one to Natsume, but here she doesn’t even think of him. Even though she was supposed to spend all her time in Central Town with him, she didn’t really spend any of her time with him.

Translation: "I am choosing to trust you again."

Instead, she wants to send it to her grandpa. She couldn’t get him the hat that would’ve looked nice on him, but this is a little taste of her time in the academy. She’s having fun with her friends, and this will help him from worrying so much. Additionally, she asks Narumi to send it for her. It’s exactly what he’d requested from her: trust. She believes that Narumi will pass the howalon on to her grandpa. She’s putting her faith in him again, a difficult decision to make after being betrayed so recently. But she wants to trust him, so she will.

Conclusion

Mikan has been betrayed, but chose to forgive and keep trusting Narumi anyway. She has also started to understand Natsume better, setting them on the course towards more pleasant feelings. It's very important that Mikan chooses to take a closer look at Natsume instead of only being told that he's better than he's let on. It's more than just fate.

In the next part, we'll see what happens when Natsume is kidnapped by a world-famous super-star. Those stragglers she hasn't yet turned will eventually come around.

Forgive me if there's lots of mistakes here. I'm deeply tired and my head hurts so I skimped a little on the "editing" phase of my posting process.

I just got a job. It's a day shift on the weekdays. So. I have to rework my posting schedule around it. I'll see if I'm able to post tomorrow. Depending on how tomorrow goes, I'll either keep my weekday schedule and just post in the evenings (my evenings) instead, or I'll try to work out how posting on weekends would go. Please be patient with me!

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transfemoid · 2 years

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there’s this one artist who is making games for the first time and the steam pages for their stuff show like their actual art but more than half the characters use ai generated art. Help

#it’s not even listed anywhere and i don’t think anyone’s talking about it #i tjink they said theyre a manga artist too.. so so much #to make it worse they take commissions in their server and like backgrounds are an addition to the price of the piece but like #the backgrounds look so fake and wrong #very fun rabbit hole the developers name is renka on steam btw

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tuliharja · 2 years

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I just remembered a few days ago that Yamamoto x kinda reader fic that I wrote last year or so, that I never published. Now I kinda want to post it, but I still remember how the person who betaed it to me, all but called it garbage, because reader-san wasn't at all likable in their mind, so ditto. I'm again unsure if I should grace the fanfiction world with my bad writing or not... (Or, should I just go full anon in AO3 and publish it.)

#tuliharja talks #tuliharja wonders #tuliharja's midday ramblings #about writing #fanfiction #fanfic #bleach #bleach fanfic #bleach fanfiction #genryusai shigekuni yamamoto #yamamoto x reader #it's kind of like reader as I use third pov of the s/o #to be honest I didn't really ask my beta for any feedback but they just gave me their crushing opinion #in that sense I suppose I should be thankful as I never posted it so no reader could call out to me about my unlikable reader #then again what do you expect when it's about rejection and feeling mad and yes I painted Yamamoto as an a-hole so what?#apparently only those who already are in the manga or anime a-hole can only be written as such everybody else have to stay nice #delete later

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waywardsalt · 2 years

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i’ll do this one now so i read the majora’s mask manga a few days ago in like 20 minutes for a discussion and i’ll say that the pacing absolutely murdered that one beyond repair. i don’t know if they were limited to one volume or anything but streamlining the plot of majora’s mask in such a way that you can’t even touch on most side quests was an awful idea lol

#salty talks #bitching about the loz manga #ill give this one props for having no plot holes #and also adjusting the plot changes to account for the lost side quests #(link getting the fierce deity mask without side quests because majora just gives it to him for the hell of it)#if theres a plot hole i missed it. this one is distressingly fast paced i dont want to read it again #this one is also a nitpick and applies more to oot than anything but uh #ok so in oot both ganondorf and nabooru's skin is grayed in a little bit to show that they have darker skin yknow?#the rest of the gerudo do not have that for some reaso #the pirates in mm dont have it either #idk it just feels really weird to me

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earmo-imni · 1 year

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Always disappointing to go into a subreddit for something you just got into only to see a bunch of people nitpicking and complaining about the thing…

#this is about the seven deadly sins subreddit #like i get the ending dragged a bit #and that the fact that most of the romances are…kinda sketchy looking #is kinda disturbing #(there’s certainly a pattern of one partner who looks like an adult and one partner who looks like a child…#usually it’s handwaved with ‘fantasy race; older than they look’ but uh. definitely can understand why people would be uncomfortable)#but i didnt think there were that many plot holes? at least not especially significant ones. at least in the manga. some of the changes in #the anime introduce some noticeable plot holes #but come on i thought it was really good #maybe i just have a higher tolerance for this stuff than others do…#marijn talks #personal

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kyaruun · 2 years

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praying mochijun comes back from her haitus either this month or next one because my sanity depends heavily on getting my montly dose of vnc 🙏 (last episode was in july. july. 2022)

#kuu.txt #maybe i simply need to rewatch the anime again #maybe that will fix the vani shaped hole in my heart #the manga is also due a nice re read #i'm sooo tempted to use one of the silly panels for pfp reasons #listen i love little leo but. but i am SO tempted #should i just go back to my jeanne pfp #should i use domi this time. did you know i love domi #i will physically fight anyone who talks badly about her #my levels of attachment towards the cast in the series are insane #literally me. my bfs. and my gfs. i will accept no criticism sorry #manifesting new chapter for march 🙏

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kotohq · 5 months

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##. BABY, THINGS I WANNA SAY TO YOU

♡ How you (accidentally) came to know his feelings for you

♡ Contents & warnings: secondhand embarrassment (major on hiiragi and umemiya's part), unestablished relationships but implied mutual feelings, humor (this was not written seriously), manga character spoilers, not proofread, reader is addressed as pretty (umemiya)

♡ Characters: sakura haruka, kaji ren, hiiragi touma, suou hayato, umemiya hajime (xgn! reader)

To be honest, Sakura Haruka is truly the king of not being subtle about his feelings. This boy will literally stare (he thinks it’s a stare, but he doesn’t know he’s furrowing his brows and squinting his eyes like he’s glaring at you) at you at every wake moment that you two are in each other’s presence but when you turn your head to acknowledge his presence, he flushes a deep shade of red and comically turns his head away to avert his gaze from yours.

And, of course, having someone bore holes into the side of your head isn’t a particularly nice feeling so one day you jokingly confront him by saying: “hey, Sakura-kun, why are you always staring at me? Are you in love with me or something?” and you swear you meant it as a joke, and you fully expected him to call you stupid and tell you to stop joking around. But!! When the only reaction you pulled out of him were flustered stammers and reddened ears, you knew you accidentally threw the dart right on the bullseye.

As if things weren’t awkward enough, he had to poorly defend himself (and confirm his infatuation further) by saying “and what of it?! What if it’s true that I like you, huh?!” congratulations on the first “oh.” moment of your life, you’ll have to pay for it by communicating with this boy. Good luck and don’t tease him too much because he might explode.

Ah, yes. Kaji Ren. The king of not confessing. He’s not someone who falls in love or falls out of love easily so he’s probably been pining over you since middle school, and everyone who went to the same middle school with him probably knows how dumb in love he is with you.

And that is why Ren’s good friend since middle school, Sako, broke into a sweat when he accidentally came across Ren, after accidentally meeting you. The thing is, Sako also considers you a good friend from middle school, so when he met you by accident while walking around to find the new trendy dessert, he didn’t deny your invitation to hang out. And that is because he didn’t take into account that this will happen, that his good friend would see him walking around with said good friend’s crush. It’s only when he meets eyes with Ren that he realizes how bad everything looks. You and Sako, hanging out. Just the two of you.

At the sight of Ren’s shock-widened eyes, Sako, feels his panic meter rising to 100 real quick. He’s not about to be dubbed as someone who steals his friends’ crush, not today.

“D-don’t get the wrong idea! I met them by accident while walking aroundー” he blurts out in a haze of alarm, briefly turning his head to you for confirmation. You give a nod, and he continues his panicked rambling, which is probably the worst single decision he’s ever going to make in his entire 15 years of living.

“ーand there’s no way I’ll go on a date with someone that you’ve liked for 3 years!”

Immediately after hearing Sako’s explanation, you and Ren chime a “what?” simultaneously. you in confusion, and Ren in disbelief because no way those years he spent pining over you was just outed like that. And then Sako makes some half baked excuse to leave you two alone to talk as if he wasn't the one who made this mess in the first place, like wtf bro clean it up. Good luck communicating with this one too, assuming he hasn’t run off in embarrassment, that is.

Hiiragi Touma the chad!! He actually has the balls to confess, I love this man. He planned it meticulously too, like what he’s gonna say, at what place, what his reply is gonna be depending on your answer, yada yada, you name it, he’s got it all prepared. And right now the timing is right, he’s got you in a secluded place so he can save both of you the embarrassment of having anyone hear an intimate moment, he’s even got his hand latched onto your wrist too. He gulps a bile in his throat so he doesn’t stutter when he tells you exactly what he’s been dying to tell you.

“Listen, I have something to tell you,” he sucks in a heavy breath, he feels like his lung is gonna run out of air soon from the nervousness. He’s prepared, he just needs to say it. say the three words.

“I like—” “oh, Hiiragi! You already confessed to them? Good for you.”

Hiiragi doesn’t think he’s ever felt his nervousness disappear so fast before, immediately being replaced by anger and pure exasperation. His brain stopped thinking about how your wrist fits nicely in his hand and has instead started repeating the phrase “fuck you, umemiya hajime”.

The glare he gives the Boufuurin leader is harder than any punch he’s thrown in his life and it effectively makes Umemiya disappear behind whatever wall he came from. Feeling awkward and bad for him, you initiate a conversation.

“Hiiragi-” “sorry,” he cuts you off, sinking down to the floor in a squat as absolute exhaustion takes over him, his free hand going up to cover his face. “Sorry. Just… give me a minute and I'll confess to you properly.”

Hiiragi is relieved though when he feels your wrist sliding up from his hand, moving to intertwine your fingers with his. Maybe everything will be okay, after all. Still, fuck umemiya hajime indeed. read the room, man.

Suou Hayato is the king of confessing. Or, he would be, if he didn’t treat it as a joke and asked you to date him everyday jokingly. Now he finds himself stuck in a complicated situation where you don’t ever take his confession(s) seriously and he’s quite in a pinch because he really likes you and wants to seriously date you. He can’t blame anyone but himself, though, because who the hell says “just kidding” after literally confessing that he likes you. Not only that, but he’s setting himself up by saying “let’s date” everyday in such a carefree way that you can’t take it seriously.

Truth to be told, Hayato keeps asking you out because he's still holding on to the hope that something miraculous might happen and you’ll take him seriously. So far, though, it isn’t looking any good. Woe is he. Sorry man, you set yourself up for this yearning.

His yearning gets so bad that one day when he finds you asleep on your desk after school with your head nestled between your arms on top of your desk, he sits on the chair in front of your desk. His hands found themselves mindlessly wandering to your hair, twirling a strand between his fingers and watching the sunset illuminating your hair. He observes your sleeping face for a while, before his hands reach out to give your cheek a gentle poke. He chuckles when you make a funny face and turn your sleeping face away from him. He doesn’t even know why he does what he does next, but he gets close to your head, stopping just beside whatever part of your ear is exposed. Then, he whispers, voice lacking the teasing lilt that it’s usually bathed in.

“You don’t know how much I actually want to date you.”

“Do you really mean that?” he realizes he kinda fucked up but it’s okay because at least you’re aware of his feelings now.

And then Hayato realizes how silly he’s acting so he grabs your shoulder to shake you awake. He gets surprised, though, when your hand suddenly grasps his, holding him in place before he could pull back (let's be real he doesn’t want to, though.).

Umemiya Hajime does have the courage to confess, though. But he’s also kind of afraid that you might not see him in the same way and it’s gonna change his friendship with you so he’d rather wait until he’s certain his feelings aren’t one sided.

But all that logical reasoning gets thrown out of the window when he catches sight of you playing with the orphanage kids. He’s a family man through and through so of course that kinda stops the gears in his head from turning. In any case, though, he’s happy to see you getting along with his younger siblings, though, ecstatic even. Like, it’s to the point that he doesn’t realize he’s staring at you with such a lovesick smile that he might as well make the “hearts in eyes” phrase a real phenomenon.

“I can’t wait to confess to you.” the words trickle from his mouth without consent from his, y’know, logical reasoning. Panic takes over momentarily before he realizes you didn’t hear what he just said because your ears are probably full of the children’s laughter.

You didn't hear. But some of his younger siblings did.

“Onii-chan, is that person the one you like?” as if it wasn’t bad enough that you heard the question, the little girl had to also point straight into your direction. Well, it wouldn’t have mattered if they did or not anyway because the only two teenagers in the room are you and hajime.

“Oh so they’re the one you talk about with heart eyes!” One pipes up. “right! The person whose eyes would sparkle when the sun hits them.” Another one follows. “and the person whose hair looks especially beautiful when it’s illuminated by the setting sun!” You get the gist.

Hajime would think about how cute his younger siblings look with their eyes sparkling with excitement if it weren’t for the fact that he can’t think of anything else because his mind is filled with the sound of his racing heart.

The fact that he talks about you to his younger siblings is exposed in bright daylight, and you’re looking at him with a surprised expression etched on your pretty face.

The discovery his younger siblings made did nothing but successfully make them gush over you even more. Well, who could blame them, their older brother’s crush is right in front of them. Deepest condolences, though, because children are always unnecessarily nosy and stubborn so they’re gonna end up matchmaking you and Hajime. You bet they’re not gonna let you go until you both confess to one another, right in front of them. What a nightmare.

#wind breaker (satoru nii) x reader #sakura haruka x reader #suou hayato x reader #umemiya hajime x reader #hiiragi touma x reader #wind breaker x reader #kaji ren x reader

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freshthoughts2020 · 7 months

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NARUTO series creator Masashi Kishimoto reacts to Toriyama's passing.

"I honestly don't know what to write about this sudden event.

But for now, I would like to share my thoughts and feelings that I had hoped for one day Mr. Toriyama would ask me about it.

I grew up with his manga, Dr. Slump in the lower grades of elementary school and Dragon Ball in the upper grades, and it was natural for me to have his manga as a part of my life.

Even when I was having a bad day, the weekly Dragon Ball made me forget about it. As a country boy with nothing, that was a relief to me.

I really enjoyed Dragon Ball too much!

I was a college student. Suddenly, Dragon Ball, which had been a part of my life for so many years, came to an end.

I felt a tremendous sense of loss and didn't know what to look forward to.

But at the same time, it was an opportunity for me to truly understand the greatness of the master who created Dragon Ball.

I wanted to create a work like his!

I wanted to be just like him!

And as I followed in his footsteps to become a manga artist, I began to feel less and less lost.

It was because I enjoyed making manga.

By following him, I was able to find new enjoyment.

Sensei was always my guide.

He was my admirer.

I may be annoying to him, but I am grateful to him.

For me, he was truly the God of salvation and the God of manga.

When I first met him, I was too nervous to say a single word.

But after meeting him many times at the Tezuka Award judging, I became able to talk.

I will never forget the slightly embarrassed smile on his face when he and Mr. Oda talked excitedly about how Dragon Ball was fun, as if they were children again and were engaged in a competition.

I just received the news of Sensei's passing.

I feel a tremendous sense of loss, more than when Dragon Ball ended...

I still don't know how to deal with this hole in my heart.

I can't even read Dragon Ball, which I love.

I don't even feel like I can write this message to Sensei properly.

Everyone in the world was still looking forward to your work.

If I could really have one Dragon Ball wish come true...I'm sorry...

That may be selfish of me, but I am sad, Sensei.

Akira Toriyama-sensei, thank you for 45 years of enjoyable works.

And thank you for your hard work.

I am sure that his family members are still deeply saddened by this loss.

Please take care of yourselves.

I pray that Akira Toriyama-sensei may rest in peace."

#toriyama #akira toriyama #kishimoto #masashi kishimoto

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pomefioredove · 12 days

Note

Hiii!! Could you possibly do headcanons of overblot boys + adeuce with a s/o who likes to collect figures or like manga or something along those lines? Also I love your writing you’re awesome sauce. feel free to delete or ignore if you don’t wanna do it!! I understand :3

<3<3 ofc

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ collector! reader

type of post: headcanons characters: riddle, ace, deuce, leona, azul, jamil, vil, idia, malleus additional info: romantic or platonic, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu

looking at... [vaguely gestures to Heartslabyul] all that, I can't imagine Riddle has any grounds to complain about knick-knacks or clutter. he literally lives in a minimalist's worst nightmare. he also gives the impression of a collector of odd trinkets. like stamps or antique tea cups. grandma vibes. probably gets you a nice display cabinet for your things

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Ace is a sixteen year old boy who balls and thinks of himself as a lady's man. and, I mean, he loves you, but you can tell what he's about to say before he even opens his mouth. weeeeeeb... then he saves up all year just to gift you that one ridiculously priced figure for your birthday. like I said, he loves you, he just has a very... defensive temperament

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

I feel like Deuce is a really good listener (or, at least, he knows how to be quiet when you're talking, unlike a certain other Heartslabyul first year), even if he doesn't quite get it. besides maybe Jack, he's the most willing to watch your favorite shows with you, read your mangas together, hear about each individual trinket you own... even if he still doesn't understand. it makes you happy <3

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Leona is more of a meh guy. "what do you want, a cookie?" is probably in his top ten favorite expressions. things to say when he doesn't care about something. and. listen. he cares about you, he does, but he's not really the type to pretend. he'll let you talk about your collection, though. as long as you're happy with him, you won't seek out Idia and become completely intolerable (his words, not mine!)

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Azul is having flashbacks to all the junk that Jade and Floyd hoard. but, hey: at least your collection isn't of broken toasters or wild mushrooms. he can respect the pride you take in your hobbies, and the care you... wait, how much does all this cost?

...yeah. okay, he understands. definitely not toasters or mushrooms. your room is practically a museum

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

[Jamil voice] "once you're done playing with your toys will you come help me clean up the lounge"

no, he doesn't get it. you haven't said how much all of this costs because you think he might have a heart attack if he saw the numbers, and you keep your belongings tidy enough for him not to stress. so he doesn't complain

(and also because he knows they mean a great deal to you)

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

[Vil voice] "once you're done playing with your toys will you clean up the lounge" lol

he's not exactly jumping for joy when you spend all your allowance on plastic merchandise and picture books. I mean, he's already had to lend you his winter coat, and there was that week you had to stay at Pomefiore because the water at Ramshackle was out... but making purchases seems to make you happy, so he begrudgingly accepts it

there are worse hobbies to have, after all. [side-eyeing Rook]

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

I don't even want to write Idia's part. I'm afraid he'll materialize in my room and start fangirling over this (rip idia shroud you would have loved x readers)

but seriously, he's been recommending you his favorite mangas and animes and games. he probably buys you authentic figures that are thousands of thaumarks on a whim 'cause you kinda like the character. very sweet. very thoughtful. when should I book your wedding. etc

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

you'd think that Malleus would be astonished? WRONG this guy lives with Lilia "hip with the kids" Vanrouge. who is not only a hoarder, but someone who most certainly has a shelf of manga and figures from his favorite games somewhere in the cavernous hole he calls a room. Malleus has probably gotten him one for his birthday (after the 5 hours it took for him to figure out how to buy things online). so like. it's no big deal to him. if you ever mention wanting new manga or figures or... anything... he will give you twice the amount of thaumarks necessary. he's like that

#twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #queued #riddle rosehearts x reader #ace trappola x reader #deuce spade x reader #leona kingscholar x reader #azul ashengrotto x reader #jamil viper x reader #vil schoenheit x reader #idia shroud x reader #malleus draconia x reader

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witchywcmans · 4 months

Text

AGAINST THE LAW. | KEN RYUGUJI

synopsis ━━ after one too many trips to the auto repair shop with your old car, you realize you can focus on your work tasks so much better in the waiting room. but when the head mechanic notices you've been loitering, you recognize him instantly: ken ryuguji. there’s zero chance you’re getting out of this one. (older!draken x f!reader.)

content warnings ━━ missionary position on a motorcycle (hey, this is fiction), cunnilingus + fingering, praise, semi-public sex, multiple orgasms, dirty talk, pet names (i.e. cherry), mentions loss of virginity in the past, mutual pining, au as helllll, draken is in his late 20s and a mechanic. nsfw (minors + ageless blogs dni).

word count ━━ 5.2k

song inspiration ━━ one for the road, arctic monkeys / one of the girls, the weeknd / fallen star, the neighbourhood

author's note ━━ ok off the bat, I just wanna say this fic was completely inspired by this movie called wait with me. my friends and I like to watch passionflix movies for the laughs, but this one wasn't. well horrible. if you watch it, don't expect oscar-worthy performances, but it was fun and stupid and yeah, it made me think about what if part of this concept was applied to draken when he was older, workin as a mechanic. idk. I'm not caught up on the manga whatsoever so take this as a major au lol

Your car was a piece of shit, but that wasn’t the only reason you ended up sitting in the waiting room at the mechanic’s more than usual. A police officer would call it loitering. You, on the other hand, called it a safe space. For the past couple of weeks, your car had been in and out of the shop due to a faulty ignition sensor that your mechanic couldn’t nail down until your car broke down on the side of the highway. For the third time. Needless to say, it had been a stressful past month. The car issues had been one thing, but then there was all the pressure at work. And for some reason, you began to find comfort in working at the mechanic’s waiting room.

Your work as a journalist was very important to you. A perfectionist at heart, you needed to be in the right zone, the right state of mind, to write. Unfortunately, you weren’t someone who could sit at your desk at home for hours, typing away at the speed of light, and you definitely couldn’t focus at a coffee shop. You tried a plethora of other places. The local park: your laptop died. The library: teenagers still whispered too loud even in the quietest of places. The McDonald's parking lot: you got distracted by your hunger. Nowhere was right … until you were forced to work from your mechanic’s waiting room while he worked on your car.

Even when your mechanic figured out the issue, you couldn’t help but sneak in through the entrance late mornings and work on your articles. The waiting room was just so … quiet, even more quiet than a library. There was hardly anyone in there besides the retired folk who could wait all day for their car to be fixed. You had a coffee machine at your disposable – not good coffee, but good enough – and a selection of snacks from the vending machine. It was pure bliss. You liked to hole yourself up in the corner, picking out different outfits that would conceal your face enough, and type away until the sun began to set. No one said a word to you. No one batted an eye.

So, as you can see, it was a surprise to you when someone eventually approached you two months into your loitering scheme.

It was just about closing time and you were shoving your laptop in your backpack after sending off another draft to your editor. A pair of feet appeared in front of your chair, and when you looked up at the young mechanic chewing on the end of a toothpick, you knew you were fucked.

“Toyota,” he said without missing a beat, knowing your car from the top of his head, “ignition sensor, right?”

You paused, sliding on your backpack. Could you make a break for it? “Um … correct.”

“That was fixed weeks ago,” he said, slapping a dirty rag on his shoulder, car keys dangling from the other hand.

Your mouth went completely dry. How the fuck could you explain this without coming off as a total weirdo? Your hands gripped the straps of your backpack for dear life. This was so embarrassing.

Before you could reply, the young mechanic gestured to the back door with his chin. “Follow me,” he said. “Boss wants to talk to ‘ya.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Still fiddling with your backpack straps, you knew there was no choice but to follow this guy. He led you through the back door and into the main workshop area of the shop. There were some cars left on a few lifts, ready to be inspected tomorrow, and the shelves packed with parts seemed to be in disarray. Besides that, there was no one in here but you, the young mechanic, and whoever this “boss” was still working in the back of the shop. You had never met the owner of the shop before; you typically worked with your mechanic and no one else.

You took down the hood that you’d been wearing today. There was no use in hiding your face now.

“Here she is, boss,” the man beside you said, still twirling those keys. “Can I go home now?”

“Yeah, yeah,” the boss replied, hidden behind the huge motorcycle he was working on. “Good work today.”

The younger man left, the bell above the office door jingling, and now it was just two: you and this so-called boss you’d never met. You stood there in silence, hands fidgeting with anxiety, as you waited for the boss to say something. From behind the motorcycle, all you could see was a flash of blonde hair and smoke puffing out into the dingy air. It smelled like motor oil and cigarettes back here.

You lifted your foot – maybe it was time to try and sprint out – but then a deep voice entered the work space.

“You know that loitering is against the law, right?”

That voice … it was familiar, but you couldn’t put a pin on it. And then, the boss was standing up, and you saw the tuft of blonde hair slicked back, the shaved sides on his head. That infamous dragon tattoo still on his left temple. The little hoop on his left ear was accompanied by a few other small piercings. He was still the same height – over six feet – but had grown some muscle. His hands were calloused from all those years of fighting, and now, from heavy labor. And those eyes … they were still as stormy and dark as the first day you saw him in school.

This wasn’t just embarrassing. This was mortifying.

“C’mon, Cherry,” Draken said, instantly recognizing you and your old nickname, “you know you can’t loiter in my shop.”

Cherry. You hadn’t been called that since … well, since high school. Your classmates hadn’t started calling you that because of a specific physical trait. To your face, you were told the nickname was for your quick skill of tying a cherry stem into a knot with your tongue. You had been the best, after all. But unbeknownst to you, the nickname came from when Mikey Sano, the infamous former leader of the Tokyo Manji Gang, popped your cherry.

You hadn’t even liked Mikey at the time. You were just sweet sixteen, and he was a year older, and you had assumed it would be better for your first to be someone with experience. Unfortunately, Mikey Sano had no experience. The sex had been awkward and terrible, as most first times between teenagers are, but at least you could say that you lost your virginity to the leader of Toman. Your eyes had always been on someone else, though. Someone who you had been too nervous to talk to, who you had only shared just a few interactions with. You never had a crush on Mikey as a teenager; you had always liked –

“Draken,” you said finally, shock lining your voice. Your eyes formed into wide saucers. It had been so long, and he was here. This whole time. Right under your nose. How surprised did you look right now?

He chuckled, wiping his hands off on a rag. The cigarette dangling from his lips was plucked out, and he stabbed it into an ashtray. “Don’t look so surprised.”

Oh, so you did look that shocked to see him.

He threw the tool he’d been using on a bench and stepped around the bike. “I really don’t go by Draken anymore,” he continued, sitting down on the rusted motorcycle, stretching his legs out. “Just call me, Ken.”

You were speechless. Were you breathing right now? You had to admit … you still found him to be handsome. He always had been. God, you were obsessed with him in high school, but always hid your crush in the shadows. Not even your friends knew about it, but you’d made it obvious, even if you didn’t know it. And now … he’d gotten better with age. The lines underneath his eyes told a story, as well as the scars etched into his veiny forearms. He could have more that you couldn’t see underneath the tattoos on his arms. Your mouth was so dry from staring at him that you had to lick the corners of your lips.

“Ken,” you said in a single breath, lacing your hands together in front of your body. You hadn’t moved from your spot, even when he was looking at you so casually. “I’m so sorry for loitering. Please, don’t call the cops on me. Or something. I have a reason –”

“Me? Call the police?” He laughed again, and it was just like how you remembered. “Do you know me at all, Cherry?”

Once you found the courage to breathe again, you stepped forward. Then another. And another. “I guess I don’t,” you shrugged, still playing with your hands. “I guess I just knew of you.”

“And I knew of you, all those years ago.” He smiled like you two were in on a secret. The rag that had been in his hands was tossed onto his left shoulder. He was wearing a pair of grey coveralls stained with oil, but the top half was unzipped and tied around his waist, leaving him in just a white tank top on his torso, which hugged his muscles so nicely. “So, tell me then. What’s the reason for your loitering?”

This had to be the most words shared between you two than all those years at school together. You thought about pinching yourself, just to check if this was all part of an elaborate dream. Or nightmare, depending on how it ended.

“Um …” You rubbed the back of your neck, blushing slightly. “Well, you see … the waiting room at your shop is very … quiet.”

His brow raised. “So I’ve been told.” He stared you down. “C’mon, out with it.”

“You’re going to make fun of me.”

“I will not.”

“Yes, you will.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because we went to school together!”

“Oh, you know that means noth –”

“I’m a journalist and I write my articles better in your waiting room,” you finally answered, crossing your arms over your chest. “There. I said it.”

Draken couldn’t stop himself from laughing. He knew he promised, but the giggles bubbled up inside him, forcing themselves to emerge. You looked at him incredulously, blinking too fast. All you wanted right now was to crawl into a hole and be left alone. You had to find a new mechanic after this.

“You said you wouldn’t make fun of me,” you sighed.

He waved his hand as his laughter died down. “I’m not. I promise.” Finally, his shoulders sagged again and he stood up. “I think it’s really cool that you … like my waiting room so much.”

You found your lips pulling into a smile at the same time as him. The tension broke and you felt your dimples crease. “I also like all the little snacks in the machine.”

“And the coffee?” He added.

You shrugged. “Could use some work.”

Draken laughed again, and just the sound of it made butterflies form in your stomach. You never had such a reaction to someone laughing before. What was wrong with you?

He stuck his hands in the front pockets of his coveralls. “It’s … really nice to see you again, Cherry.”

You mimicked his actions, instead sliding your hands into the back pockets of your jeans. “You too, Ken.”

“I won’t bust you for loitering, by the way. Even if it is against the law,” he chuckled under his breath, whipping the rag off his shoulder once again. “Come over here. Let me show you what I’m working on.”

His tone was so casual, as if years hadn’t passed between you two, as if this wasn’t the most you talked in years. You set your backpack down and approached him in front of the bike. Your fingers ran over the slope of the seat, all new despite the rusty exterior of the motorcycle. “That’s new leather,” he informed you. “Feel free to test it out. I need someone else’s butt on this thing so I know if I chose a good material.”

You giggled, all light and flirty. You simply couldn’t help it, especially when he looked at you with those dark eyes, the corners creasing when he smiled. Without missing a beat, you sat down on the side of the bike, like he had minutes ago, and looked up at him. He was tall, but from this seat, he was even taller.

He pointed to the wheel of the bike, and then the headlight. “I just started replacing the …” His voice drowned out as you simply focused on his lips. His mouth quirked as he explained what he fixed so far on the bike. You watched his finger dance around the bike, taking in the rough exterior of his hands up close. They were so much bigger now, amongst other things –

“So how’s that seat?”

You blinked, bringing yourself out of your horny stupor. “Oh, um – comfy. Very comfy.” You cleared your throat. “So … is this for a customer?”

“It’s mine. This is a personal project,” he explained, leaning slightly to the left, closer to you. “I wouldn’t be working on anything this late except if it was for me.”

His eyes were on you again, drinking you in as you sat on the bike. He placed his hand on the fuel tank, so close to yours. Your stomach was definitely doing flip-flops now, especially when you noticed the way his eyes raked down your figure. You wished you’d chosen something better to wear, something other than a pair of jeans and a cropped hoodie, but you’d only expected to be getting work done in the waiting room today. Not to be confronted by your old school crush. But it looked like it didn’t matter to him. The way he was looking at you … it felt like you were naked.

“It really is nice to see you again,” he said, voice just slightly above a whisper. His stance changed and he moved to stand between your legs.

You bit your lip for a moment. “You already said that.”

“You’re right. Uh … I …” He looked down at his hands, flexing them, breaking his nerves. “You just … look very pretty … sitting on my bike.”

You looked down at yourself. The way you sat with your legs spread wide was anything but attractive, and it wasn’t like you were wearing a cute, little dress. “I do?”

But when you lifted your stare again, his face was so much closer to yours. He was leaning down now, bracing two hands on the leather seat, and trying to pretend like he wasn’t inhaling your perfume. You just smelled … so good. Like strawberries and apples and … cherries. Red, ripened cherries. And the way you were sitting on that seat, eyes wide and cheeks blushing from being caught earlier. Fuck, it reminded him of the first time he saw you in high school. He had been a horny teenager, of course, but the way he saw you tie that cherry stem with your tongue … you were the first person he ever jerked off to the thought of. He had never made a move on you – ever – but at this moment, he was glad. Because things would’ve been different, and you never would’ve ended up loitering at his shop, and you never would’ve been sitting so pretty on his bike, all these years later.

“I just …” He trailed off, words failing him, as he lifted a hand to skim it over your jawline. “You can tell me to stop.”

But you didn’t. You wouldn’t. Your eyes simply batted up at him, leaning into his touch when his fingers caressed your cheek. Your skin immediately flushed. You were so soft, and warm, and god, did his skin prickle when he touched you.

“Can I tell you a secret?” He muttered, voice gravely. You nodded instantly, and his thumb went to trace the outline of your lips. “I had always been … jealous that Mikey got to you first.”

Had your feelings in high school been reciprocated and you didn’t even know it? You licked at the corners of your lips, your tongue quickly flicking his thumb in the process. “You were?” You asked, already feeling yourself getting wet from just him tracing your lips. “I … never really liked Mikey anyways.” You then shook your head. “It feels silly to talk about this so many years later –”

Draken turned your face back to his, looking into your eyes sternly. “You never liked Mikey,” he said, point blank, pressing his thumb onto your bottom lip.

Without hesitation, you wrapped your lips around his thumb, swirling your tongue around the fingertip. You shook your head at his question.

His breath hitched. Just the sight of your lips around his thumb had him adjusting himself in his pants. He could feel his cock start to swell with need, causing him to mumble a soft, “Fuck,” under his breath.

You weren’t just wet now. You were soaked.

You slipped your mouth off his thumb, leaving a tiny trail of spit. His face immediately got closer, his lips grazing yours. He could tell they were soft, and even your chapstick smelled like cherries. God, how could he be so hard already? “I liked you back when we were teenagers,” you confessed, reaching out to hook your thumbs in the belt loops on his coveralls. “I was too scared to say anything, and Mikey … he’d just been there. Right place at the right time. We really didn’t feel anything for each other.”

Your words stirred something within him, something more than jealousy. Was it regret? The fact that he could’ve had you, all those years ago, if he’d just manned up and asked. He could’ve fought people all day, but when it came to asking out the girl he liked, he’d sat back, let his best friend pop your cherry. It should’ve been him. Fuck, it could’ve been him.

His lips pressed to yours instantly, needing to taste the sweetness on your lips. His tongue darted out, swiping at that cherry flavor, and he moaned. Actually moaned. Draken wasn’t known to be weak for anyone, but you … you had always been a different story. You pulled him in closer by his belt loops, tipping your face up as he leaned over you. His mouth devoured yours, his tongue slipping past your lips once again to explore your mouth. He gripped the edge of the seat, his other hand cradling your jaw, and you wanted him so much closer. If he just put his knee between your legs, you could –

There it was. He did it, placing his knee right in the perfect spot. You bucked your hips up, setting a slow grind against his knee as he kissed you with feverish intent. Moans fell from your lips and into the kiss, making the tent in his pants grow bigger every passing second. He was so fucking hard now, and he needed more of you. He would have more of you.

“No, stop,” he muttered, breaking the kiss and moving his knee away. You huffed with disappointment, wanting that delicious friction once again, but when you opened your eyes, he was staring at you with purpose. “Please, let me taste you.”

You nodded dumbly, eyes blown out with lust. All you could say was, “Okay.”

In another life, you would’ve said something endearing, or maybe even hit him with a little dirty talk. But you absolutely couldn’t right now. Your head was swimming, the image of him unzipping your jeans and taking them off felt like it was out of a fever dream. Is this what it felt like to drown? No, you were breathing – just about – and Draken was throwing your pants off to the side, kneeling before you. Your legs spread wide as you sat on the bike. Surely, there could’ve been a better place to do this, but the way he was staring at your soaked panties, pushing them to the side to take in your pussy … you knew there was no stopping him. This was just his first course of the night.

His tongue dove between your wet folds, drinking you in like a glass of lemonade on a hot summer’s day. You knew you were done for when his arms wrapped around your legs, holding them apart, giving himself better access to one thing he’d craved for years. He rolled his tongue over your swollen clit, enjoying the sounds that slipped out of your mouth. You muttered obscenities, bucked your hips without thinking, pulled on his slicked-back hair. Anything to give you more friction on your precious, aching clit.

He dragged his tongue down, pushing it inside your warmth, collecting the arousal and groaning like a man starved. Fucking his tongue into you, he angled his nose to brush your clit, and you just about mewled. You had spent so many years either having mediocre sex or stressing over this stupid job, when this – this man you had been in love with in school – was here the whole time, just dreaming about the day he could eat your pussy. So much time wasted, so many fake orgasms, while Ken Ryuguji owned your favorite auto shop, so close to you and right under your nose.

You were pretty sure the seat on this bike had to have been ruined. Draken was turning you into a wet mess, making your hips buck against his face. His lips wrapped your beloved clit, sucking and pulling, needing more – so much more – of you. Slipping two fingers inside you, he pumped them fast. It didn’t take long for his fingers to curl and find that sweet spot that had your core trembling around him. He didn’t know what he’d do if you came on his face. Honestly, he’d probably cum in his pants on the spot.

“C’mon … c’mon … you can cum in my m–mouth –” He was practically begging, his voice muffled from deep within your thighs. “Tastes so, so good … fuck, Cherry, fuck –”

You couldn’t stop yourself, couldn’t even think about anything but the way his tongue lapped at your clit, before you were cumming on his tongue, your arousal smearing all over his lips. He moaned the second he got just a hint of your essence, burying his face more into your legs. You tasted better than candy, than cherries, than menthol cigarettes. He could spend forever between these thighs, drinking you in and listening to your desperate moans.

Once your body stopped shaking, he dragged his tongue one last time through your folds, making sure he didn’t miss a drop. You yelped from the overstimulation, and when you opened your eyes, he was rising from in between your legs. His licked at your slick still staining his lips, bringing your mouth to his again, letting you taste yourself. Your hands fisted into his shirt, downright desperate for more of him. As if reading your thoughts, he pulled back.

“I know it’s not ideal, given the place we’re in, but …” He cradled your face in both in his hands, as if you were just a baby bird. “Can I fuck you, Cherry?”

You nodded without hesitation, already drunk on his touch. You weren’t exactly sure how he planned on doing this. I mean … you two were in the dirty workshop area of an auto repair shop. This wasn’t exactly the best place to have sex. But then he was adjusting your position on the motorcycle, laying your head down by the handlebar and pulling your legs on both sides of the seat, your ass resting nicely in the curve. His hands were quick to roll off your panties.

“Ken,” you called out, sitting up a little and dragging your hand up. His white tank bunched up at the waist. “Wanna see more of you …”

Draken was so goddamn hard in his pants, his cock throbbing with the anticipation of being inside you, but you were just so pretty and he was putty in your hands. He let your palms explore him, lifting his tank top up so you could see what the fabric had been concealing. He’d really filled out since school – his arms were toned, his abdomen more defined. He looked like the statue of Apollo, all lean and muscled, but with just the right amount of grit. You liked that he never got his dragon tattoo removed (although, that would’ve been very painful), and that his piercings remained the same. Everything about him seemed untouched, but he’d just gotten better with age. Just the sight of him made your mouth water.

You leaned back down on the bike, bringing him down with you. Your lips pressed against his hungrily, and he was so, so tempted to slip his tongue into your mouth, when he felt his cock hard as a rock in his pants, aching and pulsating. His mouth broke away from yours, and he whispered, quite hopelessly, “I’m so sorry, but I really, really need to be inside you or my dick is going to explode.”

A chuckle escaped your lips, and just the sound of it made Draken smile. You nodded, urging him to continue, and he quickly unzipped the bottom half of his coveralls. He took his cock out: it was long, curved, pink at the tip, and leaking precum on the shop floor. All the more reason to be inside you; he couldn’t have his mechanics seeing that on the floor and wondering what he was doing after hours. He pulled a condom out from his wallet and slid the ribbed rubber on. Lifting both your legs onto his shoulders, your ass was almost rising off the seat and he positioned himself between your thighs, noticing the way your slick was smeared all over his seat. He grunted at the sight of it, slamming his cock into your without thinking.

You cried out, feeling him so deep so quickly. He held your legs up, leaning down as far as he could, and muttered, “Fuck, I’m sorry – so sorry – just … needed to be inside you. Needed to fuck you on my bike.”

You hand came up to cup his chin for a moment. “S’okay,” you promised, “just fuck me like you should’ve done years ago, Draken.”

He knew he told you to call him Ken, but just the nickname falling your lips in such a filthy manner had him groaning. Draken pulled out of you until only the tip remained, and then pounded his cock back inside you. You keened, trying to close your legs, but he held them up by his shoulders. He set a fast pace inside you, unable to keep his moans at bay, and slipped one hand off your leg to snake his fingers up your hoodie, pushing it up to your chin. Pulling your breasts out from your bra, his eyes clouded and played with your sensitive nipples. “So good,” he muttered, teeth sinking into his bottom lip for a moment. “Feels so, so good … needed you for so long, Cherry.”

“I know, I know, Draken,” you whimpered, locking your arms around his neck to bring his face closer to yours, your thighs now curling against your chest. Your back ached against the seat and your legs burned from the uncomfortable position, but you wouldn’t dare push him away, not when he was filling you like this.

With his lips just grazing yours, he tugged on your lip, making you moan, and he fucked into you harder. Your nails were now dragging down his shoulders, leaving marks that he’d think about forever. “Fuck, I’m s’deep … so deep inside you. You’re so warm, so wet – fuck, I’m so close already.”

“Wait for me,” you begged, sighing as his cock curved against your sweet spot. “Wanna cum with you, Draken.”

“I know, Cherry,” he grunted, his pace relentless. Fuck, this was all he ever needed, all he wanted to do, forever. It felt like you were made to take him. “Touch yourself f’me. Cum together … we’ll cum together.”

You nodded quickly, moving your hand in between your bodies, finding your puffy clit so easily. A whine escaped your lips as you fingers rubbed little circles, getting you so close already. You just needed a little push. Draken was slamming into you, his breaths fanning your cheeks, and when he felt your legs start to shake, your walls clenching just a little, he almost died. “Such a good girl …” He cooed, nose brushing yours. “Touching yourself f’me so nicely … fuck, you take me so well … yes, yes, you’re so close. Just like that.”

Your fingers rubbed a little faster, and you knew your orgasm was imminent. With him pushing into you, filling you completely, and the stimulation on your clit … you felt your lips purse into an O-shape. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, Draken. I’m gonna … fuck, I’m gonna cum.”

“I know, I know,” he groaned. “Fuck – gonna cum too. That’s a good girl … doing so good – fuck –”

His release came first. He had been close for so long, Draken was surprised he’d been able to hold back. He came with a loud groan, spilling himself into the condom, and it was only seconds later that your jaw went slack with pleasure. His name fell from your lips in a whimper, and you kept rubbing that aching clit through your orgasm, going tight around his cock. He wouldn’t stop fucking into you, even when your orgasm subsided, needing to feel you clench around him for just a moment longer. The way he filled you wasn’t like any other. You never wanted to feel empty again. You couldn’t, not when you knew how Ken Ryuguji felt inside you.

When you both eventually stopped trembling, he gently placed your legs back down on the sides of the bike. They felt sore and limp, but that was the last thing on your mind. You opened your eyes at the same time, and you both couldn’t help but laugh at the position you were in, the absurdity of it all. The workshop smelled like gas and oil, and you were surrounded by broken-down cars. But you two had fucked like you were in a bedroom, on a soft mattress, rather than a motorcycle. You hand went over your mouth to suppress your giggles.

Draken smiled with you, and then removed your hand, liking the way you laughed. “I know it’s been a long time coming, but … can I take you out some night?”

You couldn’t stop smiling even if you tried. “I’d like that, Ken.”

His cock had gone soft, but he was still nestled inside you, basking in your warmth. Draken wished he could be inside you forever, with your fingers playing with his hair. He would give anything for this moment to last, but he knew this position on the bike had to be the most uncomfortable for you, and he needed to take off this condom. He chuckled under his breath.

“Also, in case you were wondering,” he said, lips pulling into a smirk. “You can loiter around my waiting room anytime.”

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