#advice from Hatori

[otomiyaa]

Hatori Sohma x Ticklish Reader

Romantic + 01. “I promise I won’t tickle you.” + 18. “Wait… That tickled?” Requested by anon & @magicaltickles for my 1K Followers Event����

Stay calm. Act normal. Don't panic.

"May I take a look then?"

Fail. You were panicking. Ahh, but it was a natural response! You were barely dating yet. This should be inappropriate in every single context, except for one: he was a doctor.

"E-e-excuse me?" you squeaked. It was a polite coffee date at your place until you brought up the mysterious red marks on your skin that had been there for a few weeks now.

Since he was a doctor, you thought it'd be good to seek his advice, thinking he'd just explain some things. However...

"I apologize. If you don't want to, I understand. We can make a proper appointment later, if you prefer. Or you can call another doctor of course."

He was so kind. The beautiful, sweet, gentle and mysterious Hatori Sohma. It had been a while since you started seeing him. Of course you were intrigued from the first time you met him.

His past was somewhat a mystery. No one knew where he was working before he joined the clinic in your neighborhood. There were rumors he had been a family doctor for only one family (how lucky those people were?), and that he was a distant person who didn't really like socializing.

Despite his good looks, most people seemed uncomfortable around him for that reason too. He was too quiet, too mysterious. Not you. He seemed lonely, but also gentle and kind, and you had developed a serious crush on him.

Living close to the clinic, it didn't take long before you ran into him once or twice, then more often, and you got caught up in such pleasant conversations that you decided to schedule some coffee dates. They seemed friendly at first, like neighbors.

But lately, the glances... The swift and gentle touches... The depths of your conversations... Your heart was really giving in, and maybe, hopefully, he was starting to like you too?

"No! No, sorry. I was just surprised you would want to take a look. You're not working right now, after all," you said. Hatori shook his head.

"I don't mind. So, if you allow me..."

You swallowed nervously and lifted up your shirt, until right below your chest. It wasn't an intimate spot at all or anything weird, especially with a doctor like him. But it was still your bare skin, and right now it was more undeniable than ever that you were in love with this man.

Hatori sat closer to you, so close that you could take in his nice and charming scent...

"So, your side. And also your back, you said? Do you mind if I touch you?"

Such a polite doctor he was. You shook your head.

"Please, go ahead. It's my sides, yes, and just my lower back. It's fine if you want to touch it. Like I explained, I can hardly feel it. It doesn't hurt or itch, but it's been there for weeks and I just wonder what it might be. Maybe some kind of allergy?"

Hatori didn't respond but carefully brushed his thumb against the red spots on your lower side. You twitched and let out a little "Ohh!", not expecting it would tickle.

"Wait.. It doesn't hurt, you said?" he asked. Gulp. Of course he noticed you twitched. You suddenly panicked, not wanting to seem idiotic in front of him - twitching and making that weird noise after claiming it didn't hurt. In your panic, you started to ramble.

"Nonono it just tickled! S-sorry, I'm a little sensitive there! I swear it doesn't hurt at all. It's not even urgent so you don't need to bother, I'm just curious what it could be!"

"...." He was quiet for a moment while he scanned your bare skin with his eyes, as if he was slowly processing the information like the talented doctor he was. But then after the brief moment of silence, the words that came out of his mouth caught you off-guard.

“Wait… That tickled?”

Wah!! You blushed and nervously looked away from him. "I m-mean, yeah! But only a little! Your hand is cold, you surprised me! I swear I'm not super ticklish like a child or someth-HEH!" you squeaked when a very ticklish feeling startled you- starting at your lower side.

You looked at Hatori in horror. He had an amused smile on his face, a kind of expression you didn't see on him before. He tickled you on purpose!

"As a doctor, I can confirm that not only children are ticklish, don't worry. It's just, I did not expect you to have such a cute reaction."

CUTE?!

You were blushing like crazy now. Was he flirting? You hoped this was him teasing you in a romantic way, because if it happened to be just Hatori the playful doctor, treating you like a child patient, then you were going to be embarrassed for life.

"May I continue? I promise I won’t tickle you."

He even said that! Your hands that still held up your shirt were tempted to pull it back down, but you also didn't want to ruin this moment of what seemed like a little bit of intimacy... Even if it may be just a doctor and his patient, he had never been this close to you before.

"I d-don't mind..." you mumbled. Hatori smiled kindly.

"Which part?"

Hmm? You frowned. "Whether I continue checking, or whether I tickle you? Which won't you mind?"

PFfft! Since when was he like this? You gaped at him in surprise - so surprised that your reaction broke right through your wall of shyness: "Doctor Sohma, are you really teasing me right now?"

Hatori shook with gentle chuckles and he nodded. "I apologize for my lack of professionalism. Yes, I'm afraid I am teasing you," he admitted.

You nodded slowly and pulled your shirt back down. "Then, how about me teasing you back?"

It would and could have been a great move. You reached for his side and tried to tickle him, but within a swift movement he caught your hand, flipped you right over until you lay sprawled on his lap, and you stared up at him in surprise.

Oh god.... He stared down at you and the tiniest bit of a smirk could be seen as he studied your reaction.

"Nice try, but I'm not ticklish," he said. That may have been a very confident lie, but you wouldn't find out now, since the moment he started to tickle your sides for real, you lay in his lap and squirmed and giggled for your poor ticklish life.

"Ehehehe nohoho Hahaha-Hatohohori-sahahan!"

Well, you were honored that he felt so comfortable around you to tickle the shit out of you all of a sudden. But also, what the hell, Hatori?!

"Hmm, let's see," he said, turning you over a little and scribbling all over your bare tummy.

"It's not here. More over here, hmm?" he said, wiggling his fingers from the middle of your tummy to your sides, pretending to still be a doctor as he searched for the red marks that actually caused you to end up in this predicament.

"Hehehe waha-wahahait! Dohohon't!" you giggled hysterically and wiggled and danced on his lap, but although he appeared calm and collected, there was a certain firm strength in his grip and the way he made sure you weren't going to escape...

Well if anything, you were only falling in love more with him, and you had no idea if that was a good thing.

"Nohoho eeeheeeek! Plehee-wahaha!" you cried when you tried to wriggle free, causing you to fall a little off his lap. With your hands on the floor, you managed to make sure you weren't going to slip to the ground entirely, even though that might free you from his tickles.

"Oh you're trying to get away now?"

You squeaked when you could feel his fingers slip under your arms, tickling your armpits until you lost strength in your arms.

Finally dropping in a miserable heap on the floor, you tried to crawl away, still giggling and laughing hysterically, but Hatori came right after you. He turned you over on your back again and tickled your sides and ribs in the most playful and suprising way ever.

"Eeeheheeek I gihihive! Haha-Hatori-sahahan plehehease!" you howled, wishing your hysterical cackling wouldn't get worse than this.

"You do? You surrender?" Hatori smiled. Eeeep.... His fingers slowed down and finally rested against your heaving sides without tickling you any further.

He stared at you with a fond expression in his eyes. "I... think it may indeed be an allergic reaction, but I'll have to investigate further. So I'll need to check again and make some notes later. Would you let me?"

You breathed heavily and looked up at him. "Of course," you said with a blush. And suddenly he was very close.

"Good."

Well, you were kissing him now. Finally. Your arms moved up around his neck. Even sooner than in your wildest dreams, thanks to that crazy tickly experience just now - but you did it! You managed to lure out the romantic and playful side out of the mysterious Hatori Sohma all at once, and your love seemed mutual?

Well, onwards to more dates with him, more kisses, and you would definitely allow him: more tickles!

[cinderella-ish]

today's fruits basket hot take: these three are a younger version of the original mabudachi trio

yuki = hatori

constantly beset by the other two

doesn't try to hide his annoyance

still loves them dearly

knows they'd do anything for him and are largely responsible for him surviving and healing from severe trauma

probably bi but in deep, deep denial

at least one of the other two was definitely in love with him at one point

booksmart

has a bit of a complex about an aspect of his appearance and everyone knows it

needs to learn how to relax

most likely to call member 3 of the trio an idiot

fell for a woman who's both hyper competent and a complete disaster

falling in love marked a huge step in their healing

responsible and dependable

extremely low opinion of self

reserved and mysterious but really kind of a mess

haru = ayame

white hair

unique personal style

breaks school uniform code and looks great doing it

frequently declares his love for Yuki, much to Yuki's chagrin

makes wearable things

openly bi, fuck the haters

shows his love in unique ways

says ridiculous things with no clear indication of whether he's being serious or not

sees the best in his loved ones

loves hard

fell for a cool woman who also has a unique personal style

the curse was a barrier to his relationship

people wrongly think he's an idiot

way more observant and thoughtful than he's given credit for

kakeru = shigure

seems carefree, is actually incredibly calculated

will needle people in pursuit of information/own goals

booksmart but doesn't mind if people think he's an idiot, possibly encourages that perception so people will underestimate him

openly bi but always in a joking way so there's ✨plausible deniability✨

casual, easygoing style also probably a calculated choice

knows how to have fun

handsome devil

actually hangs out with people who aren't the other two or his romantic partner

reveals very little of himself to all but a select few

rejected the life that was laid out for him in childhood & broke free of assigned role

was already in love before the series started

definitely gives their romantic partner multiple headaches a day

good at giving advice in metaphor form

sees the big picture

manipulative and single-minded in pursuit of his goal, but more empathetic and caring than he'd ever admit

actually does help the first member of his trio, wouldn't believe you if you told him that

[shigayokagayama]

sakurai hato or minegishi :3? my faves

sakurai:

Sexuality Headcanon:

this man is gay

Gender Headcanon:

honestly nothing in specific. cis but in a "never really put much thought into it" kinda way. could he be inclined to question or transition? perhaps, but he is too busy cleaning up the giant comical jar of disgusting orange sauce that spilled all over the floor because a customer insisted they could fit a weeks worth of groceries into one cheap reusable grocery bag and it predictably split open and went everywhere and now the whole store smells like nondescript orange sauce and he has a headache from the smell but the manager will be pissed if he closes the register and moves to one further away so he just has to mop it between customers and the stain remains until they redo the nylon in 30 years.

A ship I have with said character:

koyama. made for each other.

A BROTP I have with said character:

i really like thinking abt post canon 7th division staying friends :] i think they hang out sometimes

A NOTP I have with said character:

none that come to mind? obvious stuff aside i suppose

A random headcanon:

a common theme between all three of these characters is that theyre young enough to fall in the age range where they could have been kidnapped by claw and i choose to believe that's what happened. especially sakurai. this kid screams kidnapped. no one would have looked for him....

General Opinion over said character:

i dont think about the 7th division members all that much just because they all get introduced in my least favorite arc so i dont really have a reason to reread/rewatch unless im doing a full series rewatch, but as a background character enjoyer seeing people have thoughts on them makes me very happy

hatori:

Sexuality Headcanon:

gay asexual seems right for him i think :]

Gender Headcanon:

definitely some flavor of transmasc

A ship I have with said character:

computers. other than that ive seen people ship him with joseph and i see the vision.

A BROTP I have with said character:

similar to above i think he and the rest of the super five are still buddies after everything.

A NOTP I have with said character:

this is a weird question to answer for the more minor/background characters so instead ill say "i used to sorta ship him and minegishi in like a qpp sorta way when i thought they were like the same age but learning minegishi was like 19 and punching the numbers meant that unless they didnt meet until less than a year precanon there's no way to make that not weird so i dropped it". so it goes.

A random headcanon:

ditto to above and also reddit moderator. i know he's a reddit moderator on some tech forum giving the world's most smarmy and least helpful advice

General Opinion over said character:

i like him! i dont think of him too often but im fond of all the super five.

minegishi:

Sexuality Headcanon:

ace aro :]

Gender Headcanon:

transfemme nonbinary <3

A ship I have with said character:

none really. they dont have time for that they have a thankless minimum wage job to work.

A BROTP I have with said character:

super five but also i realized hoshida from the reigen manga is in the age range to have gone to middle school with them before they became a terrorist and the idea of them having been childhood friends who fell out of touch and then him turning on the news to find out the kid who used to make him clover necklaces is wreaking havoc on downtown is REALLY funny

A NOTP I have with said character:

most things honestly at this point. i am so sorry shimamine shippers they took everything from you with the fanbook

A random headcanon:

i feel like post canon theyd become a bug person. like, getting big terrariums with self sustaining ecosystems of invertabrates :]

General Opinion over said character:

i actually like them a lot! i feel like its clear from the answers to these that theyre the one out of these i think about the most frequently lol. i just. how did you join the upper echelon of a terrorist organization at age 16. what happened.

[ouranbutworse]

Anime-Manga Comparisons, episode 26

This episode is especially hard, since it covers so many volumes, so let’s just get it over with before I cry any more.

It starts off with Kotoko’s shrine and Haruhi leaving to head to school without eating breakfast, pretty quiet start, so I thought I’d talk about Tamaki announcing he’s leaving the host club in the manga.

There's a lot of build up to it, like Honey and Mori graduating and the rest moving up a grade, then they fight and Mori wins, just to tell Honey he can’t bring the rabbit with him to college, Haruhi and Tamaki share an almost kiss, Haruhi goes to her dad for advice, and Shizue allows Tamaki to move into the main mansion, also laying off all the staff from mansion two. Pretty harsh! At least Kyoya runs to talk with Shima. The music room also gets closed for renovation, and Tamaki avoids Haruhi at every turn, until they finally all meet up to eat lunch together and Tamaki drops the ball and tells them all he’s leaving, putting Kyoya in charge, and that Haruhi can quit if she likes. They’re not at all happy about it.

Looking back at the anime, Eclair randomly points out that Kyoya is the third son in his family and will never be the heir, how fucking rude of her! She also knows of Haru’s debt, and demands an audience with our dear Natural Type. The way Haruhi questions if Eclair is jealous feels like a call back to the first episode with Ayanokoji, but Eclair doesn’t get angry. The rest of the club worry about Tamaki and Kyoya has to wrangle them up to do their jobs, then thanks Haruhi and tells her that her debt has been repaid and she’s free to leave, if she likes. Even he sounds a little sad about that. Yoshio returns to make a speech at his back, saying he’s wasting time, and Haruhi defends him, calling him amazing.

Eclair wears her opera glasses in the shower. That’s that about that. Also there’s a shower in the music club? We get another flashback to when she was talking to Haruhi, she asks if she’s his lover, and when Haruhi denies it Eclair says that means she must mean nothing to him. That implies all the hosts are either nothing to him, or all his lovers. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s kissed them all on the mouth. Eclair throws his phone in the fishtank because she’s so jealous of all his lovers. Yoshio appears to discuss his company being bought out by Tonnerre. He also mentions that he did consider giving Kyoya the company, but now he’ll never have it. The clock strikes forebodingly, and Eclair asks for a favour.

The rest of the club are all dressed in pretty silly, but nice outfits, though I will give one criticism that they should all be wearing their rose colours. Kyoya calls Shima, and she tells him that Tamaki is leaving for France. Hikaru cries and says “It can’t end so suddenly!” and I cry because it’s true.

I’m comparing the entire chase scene to volume 17 of the manga, chapters 76 to 79, but to be clear, these episodes came out in september 2010 and the anime finished in 2006 of the same month, so I think Hatori liked the chase so much she wrote it into the manga, which I can’t blame, it’s pretty awesome.

The build up to the car chase is that Shizue, having been usurped by Yuzuru for control of their company, is depressed, and Tamaki is trying to cheer her up while resenting his father, leading to Anne-Sophie visiting but Tamaki refusing to see her. It’s also revealed that everyone at school knew he was an illegitimate child and the club was hiding that for no reason, Kasugazaki reveals it to the class 1-A trio, and Ayame reveals it to Kyoya in their class, and then all their female guests band together to offer to help Tamaki. We also see concern from Shiro, Kasanoda comes up with Reiko, who offers a curse doll from Nekozawa that should bring Tamaki great fortune, and an appearance from two students who look vaguely familiar (they’re apparently other sports team captains from earlier) who ask Kyoya about Tamaki, and when he asks why they’re not at uni, one slaps him on the back. Haruhi tears up as she thinks of how Tamaki came alone to Japan, but has touched so many people since being there.

Skipping ahead a bit, Haruhi meets up with Yuzuru in his office and then runs down to meet the club and tell them that Anne-Sophie is returning to France the next day, since she’s still in the middle of her treatment. The hosts are not pleased that the chairman is causing so much trouble to the people around him, but still come up with a plan to get past the security in the Suoh mansion, rescue Tamaki, and get him to the airport to say goodbye to his mother.

In both, Honey and Mori are the ones who take the leads to the mission, kind of. They're the ones who fight off the Black Onion Squad in the anime, and in the manga they round up all the workers from mansion 2 who were let go, and then look over blueprints to figure out the best way into the mansion. In the anime Mori is the one who tells the twins how to get to the airport on the carriage. After a few different failed attempts at getting into the mansion, manga Mori decides to simply grab Haruhi and jump through a window, shielding her as they crash through it. I like his style. The twins come in with a helicopter, but then the heli has to land due to dense fog, so Renge gets them to land and offers her boat, and then Kuze offers his boat and they both argue, and then the sports team captains offer their car, and it turns into a big argument. There’s a worry that Tamaki won’t make it in time, but he decides to take Kuze’s boat, asks Ayame to update him on traffic, tells Kyoya to meet him with his car, and tells the other guests to cheer him on, which they do happily. Kyoya and Kasanoda team up to get the police and the syndicate to block off the road and get Tamaki to the airport in time. Haruhi thinks about how if she never met the host club she’d never know what it’s like to want something with all her heart,, as she runs with Tamaki hand in hand into the airport, and they finally catch up with Anne-Sophie. So really, the chases aren’t similar at all, since the manga was all about getting to the airport and the anime is about stopping him from getting there… Does that mean I don’t have to watch the rest of it? No? Damn.

Back in the anime, the carriage topples over and Hikaru ends up breaking his arm and crying about how the club has such a profound effect on him. We see a flashback of Haruhi leaving for school without breakfast, and Ranka stopping her from leaving, telling her some things can’t be changed, but that she has to be brave. I think that guitar riff has some kind of evil curse on me.

Tamaki jumping to rescue Haruhi is obviously a call back to the beach episode, where he does the same thing, but on a grander scale, as finales tend to do, he even carries her the same, and of course her line mirrors Tamaki’s from the first episode, in the fountain.

While the club dance with Haruhi, Yoshio and Yuzuru reveal Tonnerre dropped out of buying the company and Kyoya bought it and gave it right back to Yoshio, claiming he doesn’t want it anymore after all the years of it being dangled above him, this is interesting because in those peeks to the future we saw in the manga Hatori said she left his ending open ended on whether he did take over or not, in the animeverse it seems clear that he doesn’t want the company after all. This is also reminiscent of him telling Honey in the manga that he found something more precious, though that was about him letting his feelings for Haruhi go in favour of Tamaki being with her instead. Both of them playfully argue about each of their sons marrying Haruhi, Tamaki repeats the same line about Ouran Academy and the host club, and Haruhi thanks us and bids us goodbye. Now let's move onto season tw- oh.

Episode 26… and this whole series.. Is over!

[kym2020]

Depths＊The Beast Laying Hidden Beneath

Bloodthirsty Beast Chapter 5

《A few days after the start of filming》

Rei: "The third victim...!? Once again, is it the work of the 'Beast'? They're getting in the way of our work..."

Adonis: "I see. So the victim was once again someone we know. It seems that the 'Beast' is indeed targeting people related to the Sakurayama¹ Social Club. And persistently at that... Perhaps they have already infiltrated this group."

Koga: "For now, I have an alibi for the first incident. That means I can be ruled out as a suspect, right?"

Rei: "I was on duty that day too. My colleagues should be able to vouch for my alibi."

Adonis: "Sagurayama-san and Ohata-kun had alibis. That means, for now, it's only the two of us without alibis."

Rei: "What about you, Hatori-san?"

Kaoru: "Huh? Are you suspecting me? Just because I took the day off alone doesn't mean I would commit a crime. Isn't that host discrimination? Besides, I use a stage name for business, so please don't call me by my real name too often, okay?"

Koga: (...Adonis is still suspicious. His acting is still a bit awkward. From what I see, it seems he's still uncertain. He's a bit more restless compared to the three of us.)

Adonis: Excuse me, Director. It seems I still haven't fully grasped this role. Because of that, I've caused trouble for everyone. Am I the only one staying behind for the practice? Just me and the director? Understood. Thank you very much.

Koga: Oi, oi, is he okay? He finally got called in by the director.

Kaoru: More than......just a little, I'm quite worried about it.

Rei: Since it's Adonis-kun we're talking about, I believe he'll eventually make a course correction.

Koga: Yeah, that's right. I hope he can find some tips... Look at this. Adonis, that jerk, has written so much in the script. Even though he's not that good at writing Japanese. It's cruel if he doesn't see any results after this. Huh? This script has a page after the crumpled one that has been fixed. What is this...!?

Kaoru: Is this...!?

Rei: It says, "Please help me"... Should I call it a cry from Adonis-kun's heart? So that's why the script was unnaturally crumpled. It's more serious than I thought. He might be carrying a lot of stress due to his own immature acting skills.

Koga: I can't believe Adonis was feeling so cornered... Let's go ask him right away. Why was he carrying such a burden until it got to this point?

Kaoru: Yeah, I'd love to do that, but... considering Adonis-kun, maybe it's not a good idea to go and ask him right now.

Koga: Huh?

Kaoru: You see, Adonis-kun has been asking for our advice all along, right? But I feel like he's struggling with the fact that his acting hasn't improved. If we ask him right now, it might make things even more difficult for him... That's what I think. I agree. It's hard to imagine Adonis-kun treating his tools of the trade so carelessly.

Rei: Adonis-kun is doing his best. By misleading him with our advice, we might further corner him.

Koga: Hmph. You're just spouting pretty words. I get it. If Adonis is burdened with a problem he can't share with anyone, it's only natural for us, his comrades, to listen and help him figure it out. I'll accompany him during his extra practice. Adonis will appreciate not being alone with just the director, right?

Kaoru: You're full of youth, Koga-kun...

Rei: Indeed. When I see Adonis-kun and Koga like this, it makes me feel rejuvenated as well. However, I can't say for sure if it was a good decision to let Kouga go. There's also the possibility that Adonis-kun's extra practice serves as an excuse for filming the 'Beast' scenes. It's certainly a difficult situation to navigate. We must be careful not to inadvertently step on a tiger's tail.

Kouga: (Tch, causing me to worry...)

(But man, he's really unlucky. I never thought he would end up practicing one-on-one with the director. Their directorial plan must have clashed severely.)

(Though his acting is awkward, it's not so terrible that it had to come to this.)

Adonis: ........!

Koga: (Haha, he's putting all his passion into his acting. It looks like he's truly focused. Wasn't this my cue to enter?)

Adonis: please stop. Director you are going too far...

Koga: (Oh...? Why is the director bowing? And on top of that, Adonis is desperately trying to calm them down. What's going on...!)

(Damn it, I don't understand! Maybe because the director's voice is too soft, I can't hear from here!)

(No choice, I'll get a bit closer—)

Adonis: Director... I'm sorry, but if that's the case, I'd like to quit.

Koga: (...!?)

(Quit? Does that mean... Is he really going to abandon the job? Quitting, is that what he means?)

Hey, Adonis! What were you talking about with the director just now?

Adonis: Oh, Ogami... You were there.

Koga: What was that exchange about!? The director was bowing their head, and you said you want to quit—don't tell me you're quitting this drama?

Adonis: I'm sorry, but I can't say. The only thing I can tell you is that I made a rational decision. I don't want to trouble the rest of 'UNDEAD'... Please believe me.

Koga: tch....!

translator's notes:

[1] Sakurayama or Sagurayama Social Club, I'm getting confused with the raws.

[ayamisc]

….this week's manga updates ^^

(c) Bisco Hatori (Ouran High School Host Club)

This is the LONGEST manga rant i've ever written...

well... except for the Samurai Deeper Kyo one.. that melmel witnessed in person where I pretty much talked in a very rapid pace for 2 hours. yeah. go me. so. here it is….

this is just all about mangas. nothing else…. oh. and I have finals next week….

Naruto 385 ……uh… and the battle ensues. there 'ya go… ^^ oh. and a little history lesson about the sharingan..blah blah blah..

BLEACH 306 …..eh. nothing much happens. yeah.

….and the BEST update… [This is LONG. and MIGHT BE… or.. erm. IS confusing….so…. if u don't wanna read… that's fine. lol….so.. yeah]

Ouran High School Host Club 57 …the one and ONLY manga that makes me feel all romanc-y and girly…which is REALLY weird… coz I don't usually like this genre….. but.. anyway…..

Ouran. YAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AWEEEEEEESOOOOOOOOOOOOMEEEEEEEEEEE………. …..spoilers here on. i love this chapter so much. i'm not leaving anything out.

so. ok.

Life at the Music Room 3 continues like normal.. EXCEPT… 4 people are acting out of character. ^^

1 Hikaru has changed his color to something dark… because he and Kaoru have realized their individuality….On other issues…. AHEM. Hikaru………………….. seems to be CONSTANTLY NEEDING to follow his brother's advices and orders about uh… controlling himself. I dunno why. But he seems to want to get Tamaki off of Haruhi's back all the time. I WONDER WHY. hmmmm ^^ (For every 3 minutes he can wait and succesfully control himself… Kaoru puts 100Y in his piggy bank…lol) ..of course. once the 3 minutes is over. He runs after them REALLY fast. LOL…. (sound effects: SLAM! WAITING'S OVER!)

2 Kaoru… at this point… have given up on his pursuit for Haruhi because he realized who Haruhi really loves. HOWEVER. He makes it clear that he is on Hikaru's side. ..and constantly gives advices on how to deal with their present predicament (which will be presented on the next 2 characters). He also goes out of the way to make sure the next 2 characters figure out their feeling for each other ON THEIR OWN.. (poor Nekozawa…lol) because according to him. Helping the 2 is cheating… and would TOTALLY kill off the chances Hikaru MIGHT have… coughif there is actually anycough

..oh. here's a scene after the "SLAM. WAITING's OVER.. which is the scene after the dialogue I wrote under Honey's section down there…. so. here: Kyoya: Isn't 100Y each time too cheap? Kaoru: How naive, Kyoya-sempai! For Hikaru to make Haruhi turn around, it's no good if he doesn't at least do this much!!! Because at any rate, if he were to confess now, he would definitely be rejected!! Hikaru: KAORU!!! No matter how you look at it… You're saying too much!!! Kaoru: Here. hands over a book to him Since you got angry.. I'll add a book reading assignment in your training program--- Hikaru: stops ..and goes to read a book DAMNIT! Honey: You really are hard with him, Kao-chan. Kaoru: Kinda… It is the whip of love.. Leave him to me from now on

3 Tamaki. Hmmm….. He.. as usual. and like what you expected. is VERY THICK. (and yes. I'm using Ron Weasley vocabulary here). He doesn't realize WHY Haruhi is SICK… why SHE is obviously avoiding him… why she is red.. and why her body temperature goes up when he's with her. …"Your temperature has suddenly risen! We should call an ambulance!!" …He actually thinks of taking her to the hospital for check up the next day. Hmmm…. CHARACTER WISE. He has IMPROVED GREATLY. For the first time in the history of this manga… Kyoya isn't the only one managing the club. Tamaki too…. is now supervising Kyoya's work. KNOW WHY? Because he's using the club to practice his business skills… since if you remember in chapter 56… Haruhi told him there's nothing wrong for going for the whole Suoh heir business… so…. he's completely business-like now. EXCEPT WHEN IT COMES TO HARUHI.

4 OUR HEROIN. VERY. VERY. VEEEERRRYYY. confused about herself. Hmmm… >> WHY oh WHY is she ALWAYS having this cold-like sickness? coughlovesickcough …she SAID she went to the doctor. But they seem to tell her she's COMPLETELY healthy. Hmmm…. ^^ ..of course… DADDY is worried. So he checks up on her temperature by touching her cheeks. Our heroin blushes. And her heartbeat quickens… so.. she avoids him. Tamaki… thinking her daughter hates him… runs after her… and they practically play TAG inside Music Room 3. …GUESS WHAT's HIKARU doing? ^^

eh..here's a scene after the dialogue in the Kaoru section: Kaoru: More than that, the problem is Haruhi's attitude towards Tono (Tamaki). She is obviously conscious of him. Honey: Yes. She is.. Kyoya: She has said something like she has a "cold". Haruhi is unaware of it herself.

..and the other 3 characters. why not.

5 Honey. …aside from his usualy sweets addiction… well.. here's a conversation…

H: What do you think Takahashi (Mori)? M: ………… H: That's right… like I thought. Haru-chan has been acting weird ever since then. I don't know what happened between her and Tama-chan.. but it may be "THAT." Kyoya: It IS "THAT." If you want proof, LOOK: *Hikaru seething with a dark look in his eyes.. with a LOT of the word "anger" surrounding him… and Kaoru looking at his watch waiting for 3 minutes Kyoya: ….Hikaru is in a bad mood. *Mori and Honey sweatdrops*

…now isn't THAT the funniest scene EVER? ..oh. and this is happening while Tamaki and Haruhi are playing TAG. LOL

6 Mori : ah. ….need I say more? [He acually doesn't say anything…. as u might have read in that dialogue up there]

7 Kyoya…… "We give them because our happiness is for everybody to come everyday to the host club in good health" (thinking: and more importantly for merit points) …haha.. typical Kyoya ^^ …and of course. as expected. He just stands there to watch…. probably collecting DATA.. knowing HIM.

8 Mei. I honestly never liked Mei. I mean.. she's ok.. but yeah. Anyhow… she is AWESOME in this chapter. Know why? Because she gives Haruhi a MAGAZINE. A TEEN MAGAZINE.

So. the next day. Haruhi comes in school….. remembers what she read in the magazine. and realizes she's in love with Tamaki. THE END. ^_^ yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so. yeah. the end of my manga rant.

Naruto is by Masashi Kishimoto BLEACH is by Tite Kubo Ouran Koukou (High School) Host Club is by Bisco Hatori

…go read them!! lol… if u want. [And wow. when I started this… I was in a REALLY REALLY bad mood. I'm ok now! ..happy even!!!!!]

Oh. I also read Vampire Knight by Hino Matsuri………

anyhow. I KNOW you don't care about what I read… but mel told me to tell her what the mangas I read are so..here they are. ^^

PS. This blog was originally posted on DeviantArt.

[honey-badgers-library]

The Storm Brewing in the East

Yuichi Kimura sat in his dojo, hand on the hilt of his practice sword. His companion stood silently to the side before finally letting out a sigh. “We couldn’t find her, Mr. Kimura.”

The young-looking man quickly rose to his feet and attacked the practice dummy with a series of strikes and blows from the bamboo sword. The movements delivered with such precision and strength that, when the kendo sword came back to his hip, the dummy ended up six feet away from him. It laid there on the ground. Yuichi took a fortifying breath and gave a broken smile to his most faithful assistant. “Please excuse my outburst, Mr. Choi,” the head of the Kimura family began. “I’m still a bit rusty at controlling my anger. It’s been a while since something like this has—“

The friend of his father raised a hand to cut him off. “Yuichi, I would be disappointed if you turned to drink, but you haven’t as much as it tempted you on your patrols. I, and your father, are proud of you for that.”

Yuichi felt a true small smile from at the older man.

“That being said,” Mr. Choi began with a knowing look in his eye. “I noticed that the offerings on the altars have been replenished, including the sake.”

“I had Mami refill the sake for my father. But yes, I asked for their advice and I still have no idea what to do.”

Mr. Choi nodded once the silence settled between the two men. Yuichi crossed the dojo to place the practice sword back in its place on the rack. The only sound was the clapping of sandals on the wood floor. The smell of the ocean, salty and fresh, blew in with the wind. The last of the tension left Yuichi as he took a long look at his father’s best friend.

Mr. Choi was growing older, getting on in years. He refused to have his load lightened, but Yuichi feared that staying in his employ might actually kill the old man. The sixty-six-year-old looked at the almost-ninety-year-old assistant and shook his head. “Mr. Choi, I have one question to ask you if you don’t mind. It may break my father’s confidence in you and I would never ask under any other circumstance—“

“Yuichi, it would break your father’s confidence not to advise you. You may ask me anything.”

“It has been a month. In that time, we’ve gotten two phone calls from Hana and we haven’t been able to find her in Okinawa. Now, I am faced with a decision. Break the promise I made to my father, and be a terrible son, to keep a promise made to my brother after he and his wife passed on. Or break the promise to Hatori and Francine, and be a terrible brother, to keep the promise I made to my father.”

Mr. Choi made a noise and Yuichi took it as a sign to let the elder speak. “And you have made your decision it seems,” the old man said as Yuichi felt Mr. Choi observe the lock in his jaw and the steel behind his eyes. Granted, he needed to bend his knees to catch a glimpse at Yuichi’s eyes. “So what are you trying to ask me?”

Yuichi sighed. He gripped tightly on to his gi top and willed himself to meet the man face to face.

His body shook. And, not for the first time that month he felt the ocean beneath his skin pulling him under. He wanted to reach out, to grab the key that stood at his friend’s side and find the liquor cabinet. He wanted to drown himself in whiskey and sake and bourbon and whatever else was in the locked cabinet in the butler’s pantry. To give in and sink beneath his sins and failures before his own magic did him in.

But then what would happen to Hana? Mushi needed him, needed someone to help her because of her own coping mechanisms kept her from truly helping herself. She was taken from him and was no longer on the island. She was waiting for him to save her and take her home.

And what about Mr. Choi? Who just praised him not five minutes ago for not giving into temptation?

So Yuichi stood firm. The ocean roared within his blood, but he stilled its stormy rage. It would be free, and W.H.O. would drown—sink to the bottom of the blue abyss and torn asunder before its final resting place welcomed it with open arms. “Would my father hate me for resurrecting the Kimura Crime Family?”

The words hung between the two men.

The ocean waves crashed onto the shore, loud and calming to Yuichi as the silence dragged on. Finally, Mr. Choi patted the younger man on his shoulder. “Your father has been gone these twenty-two years. You are the head of the family now, even if there is only the three of us left. Send the letters if you must, but know that your father would want you to be your own man now.”

Yuichi nodded and gave Mr. Choi a bear hug. “We send the invitations to tea now.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Mr. Choi laughed in response.

Later that night, five families received hand written letters requesting to meet for tea this coming Friday. The note was signed by a name they hadn’t heard from in almost forty years.

Yuichi Kimura.

With that, The Storm brewed in the East.

[roscgcld]

DAYDREAMING!AU || a little petty

request: okay but can we perhaps see yuuta getting protective of DDR….. and maybe him saying something along the lines of ‘leave my girlfriend alone’…..

please? for a treat?

note: honestly, you know my weakness for my babies >< whenever i get to write for my husband Yuta, there is no way I can avoid that faith lmao. 

pronouns: she/her

daydreaming!reader masterlist

If there was one thing that Yuta prides himself of, it is his patience. 

From the moment he had entered the college, he had been taught that the patient person always gets the outcome that they want at the end. And from the most part, he likes to think that he does take that advice to heart and try to be the best version of himself that he possibly can be. However, everything has a limit. 

And the longer he stared from where he was seated, grip tight around his glass of iced juice, he was starting to think that he was going to find his limit today. 

It all started with a message - Yuta was quietly washing up from the lunch that Y/N had made them when he heard the sound of familiar footsteps running towards him; warm giggles filling the air of the communal kitchen. Just hearing those giggles had Yuta chuckling as he turns off the faucet, wiping his hands dry with a towel just as he turns to catch the giggling girl in his arms. “What got you all excited like this?”

Yuta’s amused question was answered with another fit of giggles before Y/N pulls her face away from his chest, holding her phone screen to the taller male before him. “Remember Hatori? Him, Riku and I are classmates when we were younger, and Riku keeps in contact with our middle school classmates,” Y/N explained whilst Yuta thought back to the couple he had met a few times - Hatori and his boyfriend, Riku had grilled him the moment they found out that he was dating Y/N. But it was all done out of love for her, and soon the three men became good friends; Yuta playing video games with Toge and Riku, and share a few texts with Hatori about new anime merch and where to get them. “What about it?”

“They are having a get together for everyone who is in middle school!,” Y/N replied excitedly as she shakes her phone before his face, to which Yuta just chuckles before he carefully catches her wrist with one hand to stop her shaking. Squinting at the screen a little, he read over the simple message that Riku had sent to a group chat that the three of them are in; humming quietly at the link to register for the event. “I guess you wanna go?”

An excited nod came from Y/N, to which Yuta chuckles before he handed her phone back to her. “Are you asking me for permission? You don’t need to, ya know?,” Yuta replied as he rests his now free hand on her head, smiling gently whilst Y/N felt her cheeks warm at how handsome he looks. And all he is doing was smiling down at her; usually tired eyes filled with warm and affection. “My answer will always be yes to you, and you should know that by now.”

“I-It’s not that..,” Y/N whines as she buries her face into his chest once more, hands gripping the back of his shirt loosely whilst Yuta gave her a curious look. He didn’t really connect the dots, to which Y/N huffs before she shyly looks away from his face. “Just wanna...ask if you’d wanna go...with me,” Y/N manages out after a few moments before she buried her face into Yuta’s chest once more, still finding it embarrassed to go around with Yuta as a couple. Yuta is her first boyfriend, so it was natural for her to be a little embarrassed. 

And it was the same with Yuta; whose cheeks flared up as well when he finally registered her request for him to join her. He immediately got the implications behind her words, which was why he awkwardly coughed as he buried his face into the top of her head. “Y-You don’t have to go around the topic, ya know,” Yuta mumbles back quietly as he rests his head on hers, gently swaying them whilst Y/N mumbles something into his chest. Yuta just chuckles quietly in response, finding her shyness absolutely adorable. 

Besides, what bad can come from this entire thing?

It was complicated to try and explain to Y/N that sometimes, not everyone is trying to be friendly with her. 

At the moment Yuta was seated at the bar of the restaurant, having grabbed some food from the buffet table that was prepared for the event. Him and Y/N had arrived earlier with Hatori and Riku, the three of them greeting their ex-classmates whilst introducing them to Yuta as well. It was interesting for Yuta, since most of them come from well-known and influential sorcerer families like Y/N and Hatori; so it was a good opportunity for him to increase his reach and build new connections. Even more so because he was Y/N’s boyfriend, who used to be the class’ favourite student.

Since it was an event held for students to meet up after so long, Yuta had decided to sit this one out at the bar after walking around for a bit. Y/N left after she was sure that he was alright, giggling as she presses a few pecks against his lips before she turned to skip away happily. Riku had stayed by Yuta’s side for a few moments to chat with the man beside him; both of them chuckling softly between one another as they admired their significant other doing the most random of things.

Soon though a few of Riku’s old friends called him over, leaving Yuta to be all alone once more. He honestly didn’t mind, since he didn’t know anyone in the room past their names (and even then he was struggling to remember every name), he preferred to sit this entire event out entirely. So that is how he found himself sitting alone at the bar of the restaurant, quietly sipping on a drink that he had ordered earlier whilst he scanned over the crowd. 

Yuta was not looking out for anything in particular; he was more so doing it so he didn’t have to stare at his phone for the entire event and look like an asshole. 

However his eyes will always end up on Y/N’s person, dark blue eyes watching with clear fondness in them as he watches her interact and socialise with her fellow classmates. It was clear from the moment that Y/N had arrived that she was clearly in a relationship; with how she had clung onto Yuta the entire time she had been here, to her excitedly introducing him to every person that came up to her. Plus, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell the air of love and affection that they have for one another.

Yet sometimes it does take a beating or two for everyone to get the message. 

Like mentioned before, Yuta is a patient man. Or so he likes to think that he is, after all of the training that he had been forced to go through in college.

When he waved off a waitress asking if he’d like some finger foods he had turned to look at Y/N once more, only to pause when he saw a man talking to her with a flirtatious smile. Yuta trusts Y/N with her when it came to talking and interacting with the people around her, because he was certain that she would never hurt him intentionally. However, what Yuta is always looking out for Y/N would be her inability to tell others’ intentions when it came to her. She is, after all, known for not being the brightest tool in the shack.

However, Yuta isn’t too sure if he should be trusting everyone around her to think the same way - especially the guy who was currently trying to flirt with her whilst she stood by the refreshments. “Do ya mind not squeezin’ that glass too tight? You’re gonna break the poor thing.”

Yuta’s gaze snapped away from Y/N to look over at the direction of the voice, only to find an older man who was giving him an amused glance. He was dressed in the hotel uniform, and from the way he was carefully wiping down the workspace before him, Yuta figured out that he was probably the bartender on duty. “S-Sorry...I didn’t notice,” Yuta mumbles before he unclenches his grip from around the glass he was holding, noticing that he was definitely gripping it a little too tighter than required. “It’s alrigh’. I’ve notice you’ve been staring at the two of them for awhile now. You’re stuck in a love triangle or somethin’?”

“No, she’s my girlfriend,” Yuta immediately explains, unsure as to why he was so ready to explain his relationship to a stranger he had just met. The older man just raises an eyebrow with an amused look shining in his eyes, chuckling with a soft nod. “Ah, young love. My wife and I were the same, can’t leave her alone for more than a second. Boys kept hovering around her like flies, I’ll tell ya,” The older man said with a kind laugh; that sound alone causing Yuta to relax a little as he lets out a soft chuckle of his own. “Yeah...I think I can relate to that. I don’t want to police her or anything. But it’s just, you know...”

“She’s a lil’ ditzy and you wanna watch out for danger?,” The older man offered a suggestion after Yuta trailed off awkwardly, to which the younger man nodded with a soft sigh. “Yeah,” Yuta hums, but his voice didn’t hold any annoyance of any sorts; it was filled with warmth and clear affection dripping in his tone. Even his eyes soften at the very memory of the girl, one that had the older man watching on in amusement as he prepares some drink orders that was handed to him by one of the bustling waitresses. “Well, I wish you and the missus the best of luck. Why don’t cha bring her over and I’ll make you two somethin’ special? A secret menu order of mine for such a sweet couple.”

Yuta looks back at the older man, ready to decline his offer; but the older man just chuckles and waves him off with nothing more but a smile. “Don’t worry about it. It’s gonna be my one good deed for the day,” The older man said with a simple chuckles as he prepares his shaker, giving Yuta another smile before he starts to mix his drink; the clanking of ice inside the metal shaker seeming to seal the deal and telling Yuta that there was no space for argument. Seeing that had Yuta pausing before he lets out a chuckle, and with another wave to the smiling man he downed the rest of his drink and got up. Dark blue eyes looking away from his glass to scan the room for a head of familiar hair.

However, the sight that he caught before him was not what he was expecting; and the sight alone had him scowling as he tensed up. 

The guy that he was worried about before was slowly caging a squirming Y/N against the pillar at the end of the snacks table; and he had chosen a spot where there was little to no one around to commit his act. Y/N’s eyes were clearly darting around, trying to find someone, anyone, to save her from a situation she clearly did not want to be in. But no one noticed but Yuta, who barely bit back his scowl as he steadily pushed past the crowd as fast as he can without outright shoving them. 

At the other end of the hall Y/N was awkwardly squirming as she tries to catch someone’s eye, all whilst trying to ignore Haku’s flirtatious comments as she tries to keep some distance between the both of them. Haku had came up to her first, both of them laughing and greeting one another whilst they caught up with everything that has happened since middle school. He used to be the male librarian when Y/N was in school, whilst she was his female counterpart; both of them spending lunches together in the library sorting through books, and become acquaintances along the way. They never really spoke outside of the library; but Y/N was happy that he recognised her, nonetheless. 

What she had not accounted for was the fact that, like most of the guys around her, he had unfortunately fell for her good looks and ‘good girl’ image. Whilst Haku had gone on and gotten a scholarship to the University of Tokyo as a history major, Y/N had stuck to her family roots and became a sorcerer; so their paths were never bound to meet ever again. But Haku had followed her online after she had followed him on Instagram, and had watched from afar as the clumsy and airheaded ‘goody-two-shoes’ grow into her features and flourished into quite the woman. 

Of course he was aware that she was currently dating someone, but he was not worried. Haku might not have gone into the jujutsu field, but he still has his title from his family; so his connections and knowledge of that world has made him quite the bachelor. Many families have tried to tie him down with one daughter after the next, but he never really been interested. 

His eyes had always been on Y/N. 

So he took the chance when it was presented to him; chatting up the easy-going girl until she was giggling and smiling at all of his jokes, getting a little flustered by his smooth comments as well. To hell with whoever it was that she were dating; if he had Y/N, there was no way he would have willingly left her alone with others around. He knows how guys are, and he was sure that there were others around him right now that do not have the best intensions in mind. In Haku’s eyes, her boyfriend had already failed the basic step; and he was more than ready to fill that role. 

“I-I am a little uncomfortable with how close you are, Haku-san,” Y/N commented with an awkward laugh, not wanting to come off as rude even through her own discomfort. “I am?,” Haku said in a somewhat mocking tone, his voice causing Y/N to shiver a little from how belittled she felt; like she was a child being reprimanded for doing something wrong. “Sorry about that, can’t help myself - you are like a magnet. Can’t help but want to get closer to you...”

“And I am pretty sure she told you to back off.”

A firm and serious voice caused the ‘couple’ to jump - Haku jumping away from Y/N and snapping his gaze back with a scowl whilst Y/N jumped and looked over at the person with wide and grateful eyes. Both eyes met a pair of unamused blue eyes; the owner of said eyes giving Haku a very unamused stare whilst he crossed his arms across his chest. Just seeing the fuming man had Haku straightening himself out as he tries to stare down the muscular man as well, trying to intimidate Yuta with a stare of his own.

Y/N, on the other hand, just happily skips over to Yuta’s side and wraps her arms around his middle; startling both men from their staring content. “Right, Haku-san! I should introduce you tow to one another - this is my boyfriend, Okkotsu Yuta. Babe, this is Noguchi Haku. Him and I used to be librarians together,” She said in excitement, her tone of voice causing Yuta to look down at her with the most affectionate smile on his face. Just seeing how soft Yuta got just because of Y/N had Haku making face, not believing that this man folded so easily all because Y/N batted her fluffy eyelashes at him. And to think that this was his competition He wasn’t so sure why he was so worried in the first place. “Okkotsu, was it? Never heard that family name before.”

“I’m the only one in my family. Something about it jumping generations,” Yuta explained simply as he wrapped his arm around Y/N, warm hand resting on the small of her back protectively. Just feeling the warmth and how Yuta had automatically wrapped his arms around her had her preening as she nuzzles into his side; causing the taller male to chuckle quietly. All whilst skilfully ignoring the jealous and annoyed glare that Haku tossed his way. “Well, aren’t you the lucky one. How did you get into Jujutsu High, then? Since you need a reference and all.”

“Gojo-sensei was the one who scouted me,” Yuta explained simply, trying to bite back a smirk at the brief look of shock that passed Haku’s face. Like any other child who had grown up in the jujutsu world, Haku has heard of the powerful Gojo Satoru; and was aware of the older man’s knack for not really caring for anything or anyone that isn’t him. So it was definitely a shock to Haku that the Gojo Satoru was the one who picked Yuta up from whatever sorry excuse of a school he was in and enrol him as a student. “Did he know? I must say, I am quite impressed by that.”

Yuta just hums, his dark eyes still staring over at the other man; who didn’t want to back down either. Y/N finally caught onto the staring contest the two men were having with one another; awkwardly squirming in between the both of them before she gently paws at Yuta’s chest. “I want more of those fruit tarts,” She mumbles softly to Yuta once the man turned his eyes towards him, jutting her bottom lip out briefly to add the affect to her puppy eyes. And just like that Yuta forgot about Haku as he gave her an adoring smile, nodding his head quietly to her request. “Alright babe, we can go and grab more fruit tarts.”

With that Yuta nodded at Haku and turned away with Y/N, humming quietly at whatever exciting tale Y/N was telling; arm still wrapped around her protectively as he turned them both around to walk towards the dessert table. Yet he didn’t forget about the man behind him, whose eyes he felt burning holes into his back the further they walked away from him. Wordlessly Yuta turned his head back a little so he can look over his shoulder, a smug smile tugging at the corner of his lips when he saw Haku’s face marred with a scowl of jealousy. 

Yuta moved his hand from where it was wrapped around her waist up her back slowly, his hand finding itself on the back of her neck where he gripped at it lightly. Y/N didn’t even mind his movements, only letting out a giggle when he dragged her towards him to press a loving kiss against her forehead. To her, Yuta was just being sweet; so she just happily rest her head on his shoulder to get more attention from her usually shy boyfriend. 

He in turn lets out a soft chuckle, yet his gaze was still firmly locked with Haku’s whilst they continued to walk further away from him; his eyes sending the message that Haku had long lost their little ‘game’ of tug of war. It wasn’t like Haku had a chance to begin with - but Yuta was still going to take the chance to rub the fact that Y/N was with him into Haku’s face. 

It was only fair he did so after everything the man put him through. 

“By the way, the bartender said that we should head over together. Free mixed drinks on him. Alcohol-free, of course,” Yuta said as he turned to face Y/N with an innocent smile on his face, to which Y/N just blinked her eyes at him before she pursed her lips together with a soft hum. “Hmm, sure. I would love to try those non-alcoholic cocktails all over the internet!,” Y/N commented with a smile on her face, to which Yuta chuckles before he leans down to press another kiss to her cheek; his affection causing Y/N to grow giddy as she cuddles into his side with a wide smile. 

The next time Yuta found himself at the bar, he was definitely more relaxed then he was before; instead of being alone, he had Y/N perched in his lap like a prised cat. One of her arms was resting on the arm he had around her waist, her nails tracing along his veins lightly whilst the other was resting on the bar so she can prop her chin up. At the moment she was chatting up the older bartender from before, who was enamoured by the adorable girl that Yuta has the pleasure to call his girlfriend. Riku and Hatori did join them after a little, so Yuta left the trio together so they can gossip about everything new they’ve heard about their ex-classmates. 

Fortunately for them, Haku and his friends had ‘conveniently’ decided to chill at the bar as well; and somehow they just had to take a few seats just opposite from where him and Y/N were seated at. Yet Yuta just gave Haku a casual smile as he raised an eyebrow; wordlessly greeting him as if he can’t feel the annoyance coming off of Haku. 

As if to rub salt into the wound, Yuta nuzzles his cheek into Y/N’s hair; his chin resting on her shoulder from where he was fed a bite from half of the tart she was nibbling on before she lost interest in. His eyes though were staring dead at Haku’s when an idea that came into mind, one that had him pulling away from Y/N’s shoulder so he can look at her properly. Riku and Hatori had briefly turned away to ask about what was in their drink, which was the perfect time for Yuta to put his plan in motion.

Instead of answering her questioning look he just rests his large hand at the side of her neck, using his thumb to gently tilt her chin towards him. Without saying another thing he leans forward to look his lips with hers, not stopping her when she leans forward to deepen the kiss. Although he was enjoying the kiss, he did peel one eye open lazily to look at Haku; enjoying how the man seem to be shaking with pure anger. A soft smirk tugged at the side of Yuta’s lips once more as he nips at Y/N’s bottom lip, chuckling softly at the quietly giggle that Y/N let out before she wrapped her arms around him happily. 

Okay, maybe he was being just a little petty.

wanna read more? >  daydreaming!reader masterlist

© roscgcld — all rights reserved to me, rose, the author and creator of these works. do not repost/translate/claim my work as yours on any platform.

[uknowyato]

Hatori Yoshiyuki no baai volume 1: chapter 3

Disclaimer:‌‌ ‌‌I‌ ‌do‌ ‌not‌ ‌own‌ ‌Sekaiichi‌ ‌Hatsukoi,‌ Hatori Yoshiyuki no baai ‌and the characters within the stories. Please support Shungiku Nakamura by purchasing the official emerald releases. Thank you!

Raw cre‌dits go to the lovely Vera and Froggy!

Proofreader: Akane

Masterlist: {01 | 02 | 03}

"…It’s getting cold.” Hatori tugged at the collar of his coat to protect himself from the blowing wind. It looked like it might actually start to snow.

His body, warmed by the alcohol, had already cooled down. Hatori hurried from the station to his apartment.

Today was the last day of work, and he had a year-end party with the editorial staff.

They thanked each other for their hard work over the past year and broke up after the first meeting. He had been drinking without much appetite, but now he felt a little hungry.

I should have eaten well.

Hatori took out his room key from his bag and opened the front door to find the light on. He was sure that he hadn't forgotten to turn it off when he left the house. So, there was only one conclusion.

“Welcome back.”

“Yoshino.”

Yoshino came out from the living room to greet him. As expected, Yoshino had used a duplicate key to get in. He had changed into more *comfortable clothing and seemed to be completely relaxed.

It had been a long time since Yoshino was in Hatori's room. He said that he felt more at home in his neat and tidy room than in Yoshino’s messy one.

Hatori somehow thought it would go away as he grew older, but the habit still persisted.

“What took you so long?”

“The editorial department had a year-end party. Did you say you were coming over today?”

He searched through his memory, wondering if he had forgotten his promise.

“You don't have to say anything, you can just show up. I'm here to discuss color composition.”

Yoshino’s shoulders slumped, he looked disappointed. 

“In other words, you've come to eat.” He guessed it was a pretext to ask for advice on the composition.

“That's why I'm asking about composition!”

“Okay, okay. So, how hungry are you?”

“Hmm, not really hungry.”

“I don't have many ingredients, so I can't make anything more than a simple meal.”

“I don't care what it is, anything Tori cooks is good.” The way Yoshino was waiting for his food, like a baby bird, was so funny that Hatori’s mouth slackened.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing. I just thought that nothing has changed since the old days.”

He took off his coat and jacket, washed his hands, and scavenged for food. Hatori looked into the refrigerator and saw that it did not contain any good food.

There’s really nothing here… 

Hatori was always careful not to run out of food in Yoshino's kitchen, where he kept his purse for food, but he tends to neglect his kitchen at home.

Even at home, he replenished stock when he had time, but he tended to neglect it before finishing proofreading.

It wasn’t a hassle to cook a meal for Yoshino, but at home he always ended up with something simple. Hatori liked to cook, but it was only because he had someone who would eat it and say it was delicious.

The only things Hatori had in the fridge were eggs and some fried tofu that he was going to use for miso soup. The rest was just milk. Lately, he had been having breakfast at the café in front of his apartment.

Do I have any dried food left?

When he peeked into the shelf, he found some dried udon noodles that his mother had sent from her travels. If Hatori boiled it, it would be enough for two people.

“Yoshino, is udon okay?”

“Yeah. I like udon.”

"You tell me to eat better, but you really don't care about yourself, do you?"

"……"

He didn't expect Yoshino to tell him the truth. Hatori couldn't argue and fell silent.

“I'm not sure what to say. It's a good thing that you eat at home more often."

“That might be possible if you're always on top of things."

He said to Yoshino, who seemed to have gotten it.

“Ugh.”

Satisfied that he had gotten one back, he prepared to boil some udon. Hatori rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and put a large pot of water on the flame.

On the other stove, he made tsuyu dashi. Yoshino prefered the sweet *Kanto style. He stewed fried *aburaage together with the soup to soak up the flavor. Add an egg, and you have *Kitsune Tsukimi Udon.

“It's dried noodles, so it will take some time.”

“I don't mind. I'm staying over anyway.”

“You’re staying over?”

“It's late and I don't want to go home. You got the day off tomorrow, so why not?”

“What are you going to do about work?” He could do the plotting and writing at Hatori's house, but he didn’t have the right environment for drawing.

“The rough sketches are almost done, and I'm supposed to finish the inking by the end of the year and have my assistants come back after the new year.”

"…What's with you now? Are you really Yoshino?" Yoshino’s progress was going so well that it made him uneasy.

“That's rude, some people are working so hard!"

“No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I was so surprised.” He didn’t know what happened to Yoshino, but it was good that he was motivated.

“Wow, I can't believe I'm doing so well. Can I help you with something?”

“Well, get me a bowl.” If he let Yoshino stand in the kitchen, it might become a problem. It was fine if he could do it, but it was better to prepare by himself.

“Roger.” Yoshino fetched a bowl from the cupboard and brought it to the kitchen.

“Oh, I want the soup stock to be sweet.”

“I know.”

“Hey, it needs time to boil, right? Let’s look at the color composition.”

Yoshino went back to the sofa, took something out of his bag and came back to Hatori's side. He thought it was just an excuse so he could beg for a meal, but it seemed he was really going to ask for advice.

“I think I should trim the size, which one do you like, Tori? I don't know, it doesn't feel right because it's a different size than usual.”

What was presented was a rough color manuscript. There were three composition patterns, and it seemed to have gone a bit astray.

“None of them are bad, but wouldn’t this one be good, since it most reflects the content of the story? I think it makes it easy to tell what kind of story it is. Only it might be difficult to put the logo in, I suppose.”

“Couldn’t you put it there?”

“If you did that, the character’s hand would be completely obscured. Keeping the overall composition like this, what if we move the hand over here?”

“Ah, that would probably work.” Yoshino’s expression brightened at Hatori’s advice.

“If you just wanted to consult about the composition, you could have sent it by email without having to bring it over, you know.”

Hatori would sometimes come to Yoshino’s place to confirm things directly when the timing allowed, but normally, issues like this could be settled by email or fax. 

“W–well it’s just…once in a while, it’s okay for you to come over, isn’t it?”

“But it’s not just once in a while.”

“Don’t be such a nag! Ah—the water is boiling! Here, quick, you have to put the noodles in.” Yoshino deliberately changed the subject. Since he couldn’t leave the pot unattended, Hatori broke off the conversation for a moment. He turned abruptly away from Yoshino and flung the dry noodles into the steadily boiling water, then stirred the pot with chopsticks while he set a timer.

Hatori glanced over at Yoshino, who was standing next to him, gazing at the pot with an air of awkwardness. They had some time before the noodles were boiled. Hatori began speaking again.

".....Yoshino. Is anything wrong?”

“Huh?”

“Lately, you’ve seemed off. It’s not just today either.” 

The tension in the room became strangely heightened, and suddenly Hatori was in a very bad mood—partly because Yoshino was trying so hard to stay close to him today. But he was also worried about the meaningful glances that Yoshino kept sending his way.

“N–not really, I wouldn’t say that anything’s wrong…”

“Really?”

“Yes, really!”

“You have a habit of hiding things.” 

When Hatori said this, Yoshino gulped and made a face. He was clearly trying to feign innocence, but really, even if he were not a well-known lifelong friend, Hatori would have been able to see right through him. Yoshino’s “habit” was hardly a special skill. His face showed everything, his eyes watered, and his movements became obviously uneasy. He would cross his arms and then uncross them again as soon as he thought about it, and his hands would fidget pointlessly.

“Habit—what habit?! I wasn’t doing anything just now, was I??”

“Wouldn’t it be better to tell me yourself? I wouldn’t be able to tell whether you’re hiding something or not.”

“Well, that’s true I guess, but…”

Seeing Yoshino’s desperate demeanor, Hatori supposed that he hadn’t intended to reveal any of the lies he was currently spewing. He was amazed that Yoshino thought he could hide anything, given the way his facial expression kept changing and changing back.

For one thing, the lies he was always babbling weren’t even good. If he got stuck in his work, he would suddenly say that he had a fever or that his PC broke or something like that, and then try to cut off all contact with Hatori.

Yoshino could never run away, though, even if he wanted to. That stuff was just how his psychology manifested itself.

“If you’re not worried about anything, then what’s going on? There’s something you want to tell me, isn’t there?” Hatori asked as gently as he could, and Yoshino’s stubbornly closed mouth relaxed a little.

“Well I…”

While Hatori was awaiting Yoshino’s halting words, a cell phone rang. He tried not to click his tongue in annoyance at the terrible timing.

I guess Yoshino’s not the only one struggling to keep his composure… He sighed at his own immaturity.

“Tori, your phone is ringing.”

Hatori looked at Yoshino’s relieved expression with a slight twinge of disappointment. It would probably be better to wait until Yoshino himself wanted to talk, instead of forcefully pursuing the matter. He took his cell phone out of the pocket of his trousers.

“...”

When Hatori unthinkingly frowned at the sender’s name, Yoshino immediately asked about the person who had texted.

“Who is it? Someone from the editorial department?”

“It’s an author.”

The email was from Nakahara. During their phone call the day before yesterday, they had arranged to talk again after everything was finished, but she had sent emails both yesterday and today.

It probably would have been better not to give her his personal contact information, since she was always the type to send frequent communications.

“Perhaps, is it that new girl again?”

“Uh…”

He must have guessed the sender from the face that Hatori made. Although Hatori’s expression never changed very much, Yoshino was very sensitive to the fluctuations of his mood. It was probably another result of their long acquaintance.

“Didn’t you say that your work was finished for the day? Why are you getting messages on your cell phone? Especially at this time of night…”

Hatori was surprised at Yoshino’s murmured rebuke. 

“I didn’t think you of all people would care about what time it is.”

“Well yeah, that makes sense, but…”

“For one thing, you get that me consulting with you about the composition just now was also work, right?”

“I can’t disagree with that…”

When he pointed out the contradiction, Yoshino’s face fell into a pained expression. Most of Hatori’s overtime work involved Yoshino. Of course, he tried to be careful at least to avoid the hours when Hatori was sleeping. But if an idea came to him, he would text immediately, or if he was hungry after finishing a fight scene, he would call.

Yoshino was always hounded by deadlines. In addition to the monthly serialization, a mountain of fine-detail work accompanied the mixed media. If he could consistently work at the same pace, he would be able to adjust to the amount of work without problems. But for that aspect of Yoshino’s condition, he had Hatori.

Besides that, Yoshino couldn’t even manage a basic schedule. He would get absorbed in one thing, and wouldn’t be able to see the big picture. Keeping up with those features was the job of the managing editor, but Yoshino’s tendencies were out of the ordinary.

It had to be said that there was perhaps an expectation of indulgence because they were childhood friends, but it certainly wasn’t that Yoshino was lazy or that he ignored his work. Because he understood that, Hatori was entirely complicit. And since good work was produced as a result, he figured it was all for the best.

Yoshino’s position was different from other authors, of course. Hatori’s indulgence toward Yoshino was due to the length of their relationship. As childhood friends, they had always been as close as if they were family by blood. 

It was actually only since they had begun dating that Hatori had begun to feel the need to restrain himself. After being so closely connected all this time, now he carefully measured the distance between them, and took extra care to maintain a polite demeanor. Maybe, Yoshino was also trying to figure out how they should comport themselves as lovers in his own way.

“But really, aren’t you getting too many messages from that girl lately? The emails are coming more frequently these days, right? Surely other authors don’t send that many emails to your cell phone.”

Hatori couldn’t deny that this was a little too much, just as Yoshino said. It wasn’t his first time being responsible for a rookie author, but the intervals between communications were getting shorter and shorter day by day. And to make matters worse, he was receiving more and more of these messages during the time he spent with Yoshino. Hatori never said who the sender was when Yoshino asked, but Yoshino could at least partly guess it from his reaction.

“She’s worried about the name, apparently. Since she debuted, this is essentially her first work as a pro, so you know how it is. She’s probably just a little nervous, is all.”

"Worrying about the storyboard is the manga artist’s job though, not the editor’s.”

“Yes, but she’s a rookie. She doesn’t know the ropes yet.”

“....well, that’s a bit…”

Normally, Yoshino wouldn’t stick his nose into Hatori’s job like this. They both had a mutual respect and understanding for each other’s work. Hatori was surprised by the sullen grumbling.

Does he just have a burr under his saddle because he’s hungry?

When Yoshino was hungry, nobody could be in a good mood. Maybe if he ate the udon, he’d calm down about whatever hangnail was bothering him.

“I need to reply, please wait a minute.”

When Hatori went to write a reply to the email, Yoshino’s face suddenly became deeply sullen.

“...right now you’re with me though, so can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

“Did you say something?” Hatori hadn’t heard it clearly, since Yoshino had mumbled at a near-whisper.

“.....Nothing.”

Hatori asked again, but couldn’t get a straight answer from Yoshino.

“If there’s something you want to say, please say it clearly.”

If frustration is bottled up, eventually it will make a mess. Even if it hits where it hurts the most, it’s better to get things spoken out loud when you’re thinking of them.

"I told you, it's nothing! That’s it, I'm leaving now."

Yoshino suddenly started preparing to leave. He was busily putting away his files in his bag and putting on his duffle coat.

“Hey, Why don't you at least eat before you leave.” The udon would be ready soon. If Yoshino went home, his meal would be wasted.

“I'm not hungry.”

“You said you were hungry-”

“I’m not hungry!”

The moment he said that, Yoshino's stomach rumbled briefly. Yoshino's face instantly turned bright red at the sound.

“I'm sure you're hungry. It will be ready soon.”

“I'm leaving!”

“Hey, Yoshino?”

“I don't want you to see me off!” Yoshino said stubbornly, and hurriedly left.

On the way, Hatori heard a rattling noise coming from the front door, as if Yoshino had bumped into something. It was late at night, so he hoped he would be careful about the noise.

“…What the hell is going on?"

Hatori twisted his head around at Yoshino's inexplicable behavior. Telling him that he was hungry, and his stomach rumbled while Yoshino told him he wasn't hungry.

Hatori wondered what he had said that had offended him.

In retrospect, he couldn't think of anything, but Hatori was aware that he was not very sensitive to the subtleties of the heart. He must have unconsciously said something insensitive.

"Oops."

He watched him leave for a moment, but then he came back to reality.

Hatori hurriedly turned off the heat, but he had overcooked the noodles. It wasn’t inedible, but he didn’t think he could expect it to be firm.

I wonder if I should have chased after Yoshino… 

"Let’s eat.” In the empty room, his whisper echoed in the air.

Hatori prepared a bowl of udon for himself and brought it to the table. He had been feeling reasonably hungry a while ago, but he had lost his appetite.

He took a bite and put the chopsticks down. There was no need to hurry, since they were already separated.

Hatori opened Nakahara's email again, trying to finish up what he could.

From the impression he had gotten so far, Nakahara was the type of person who would raise suspicion when left alone. The longer she waited for a response, the more anxious she became.

He had told her many times that basically the only time he was working was when he was at the office. But she seemed to be too occupied with her own affairs to think about their situation.

She’s still a student…

When she got carried away, she lost all sense of time, just like Yoshino. She became immersed in the story she was creating.

Less than a minute after Hatori sent the email to Nakahara, his cell phone vibrated.

Hatori had hoped that it might have been from Yoshino, but it was a reply from Nakahara. He was dismayed at himself for being so obviously disappointed.

If he was going to be disappointed, Hatori might as well have chased after him. He regretted that he couldn’t act on his thoughts.

There was one time when he acted out of intense emotion.

...I regretted that time too.

No matter what choices one made, one may regret them to a greater or lesser extent. Hatori wondered how many people in this world are living a life without regrets.

Hatori tried to send an email to Yoshino, but he couldn't figure out what he should write.

As long as he didn’t know the reason for Yoshino's frustration, a face-to-face phone call or email may cause even more problems.

If he were to apologize without understanding the reason, there was no way his sincerity would be understood.

Changing his mind, Hatori looked down at his cell phone again. In the email from Nakahara, she said she wanted to talk to him directly. He supposed she just couldn’t shake her anxiety

“I’ll see you at…” 

Although he was on vacation, he had plenty of time to spare. Hatori sent a text message saying that he could spare some time tomorrow.

Footnotes

Comfortable clothing: The literal translation is "loungewear" so I decided to use comfortable clothing for the sake of wording. Basically casual clothing one wears when they're at home.

Kanto style: Kanto cuisine is known for being more strongly flavored than food from the Kansai region of western Japan. (taken from here)

Aburaage: Japanese deep-fried tofu pouches made from firm tofu (taken from wikipeidia)

Kitsune Tsukimi udon: Kitsune Udon is a Japanese noodle soup in dashi broth, topped with seasoned fried tofu, pink-swirl narutomaki fish cake, and scallions. Tsukimi udon, which is named for the poached egg that symbolizes the harvest moon (taken from here and here). In simple terms, the main part of the udon is Kitsune and the Dashi and the poached egg also makes it Tsukimi, hence Hatori naming it Kitsune Tsukimi udon.

Never thought I'd have to research so much about food for this chapter. But it was intereting I must admit!

Edit- 05/08/2024: Added the masterlist to the chapter

Edit- 05/14/2024: Added the illustration

[tsukiyadori]

When rare meets rare meets even more rare... ✨

I couldn't possibly say it now... that I, who gave out all that [love] advice, «can't» fall in love even if I wanted.... Yoimachi Hatori, Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata chapter 55

Me: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhh

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhh

I had some real strong hunches about her, but--------------------

oohhhhhhooooooooooooohohhhhhhhhhhhhhhdjsfhdfkjgkjdfgkfdjhg

It's actually official now!!!

So what do we have here?

Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata ("How to make a (Maiden) in Love" also known as I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl in Seven Sea's English localization) or OtoTsuku in short, is a tale about Hiura Mihate who is, in modern Western queer parlance, a gender non-conforming femme boy (even if the first take on the English translation botched it hard by disagreeing) in love with his male childhood friend Midou Kensuke who's loves fashion and cosmetics and is very much female attracted, but slowly discovering that his feminine type isn't exactly limited by sex and gender.

GNC (not used as a trap or mere cosplay joke) is super rare already. This series also goes out of its way to make it abundantly clear that this is no trans woman character plot (given the timing in which chapter 46 hits down the nails on it in more than clear words and chapter 45 was still right in the middle of another plotline, makes you almost suspect if the whole translation drama, which was also brought to attention to the author, caused that coming out prematurely into existence...)

It's also rare for being a series that doesn't go the queer is a suffering tragedy sob story-route, nor does it reside in an alternate universe bubble of homophobia simply doesn't exist. Internalized stereotypes of masculinity and later internalized homophobia is something Midou wrestles with from the get go and needs his time to fight against emotionally. Overall the series is still super compf by setting it into a safe place of local acceptance inside their school, friends and Midou's sisters. There is no origin source of an active oppressive force of discrimination. There is just the force of the implications of normalized expectations wreck. OtoTsuku deals with it by featuring a plethora of great little examples of how to weed out a lot of the worries you can have right off the bud. (The swimsuit discussion is quite great and elevates the obligatory beach episode trope of anime/manga into something super wholesome.)

The series even features a bi/pan-character Hayakawa Ayato who confesses to Hiura clearly stating that he knows about Hiura and that man or woman doesn't matter to him. Who recently (ch 54) even got a little comeback to the stage and is reintroduced as a subject of envy for Midou for all the things he can already do with such ease, where he himself is still all silently struggling with them, which also established Hayakawa as more than just a throwaway character to jumpstart Midou's self-realization.

There are also plenty of straight love woes surrounding them to avoid the "somehow everyone's queer in this world" trope that especially BL (which this technically counts to, although not quite in terms of your usual genre dynamics) so often suffers from. Classmates get to guest co-star their own chapters for romances and there's kouhai Ginjou Akechi established as a member of the regular cast who constantly confesses and gets dumped by his crush Yoimachi who's a classmate of Hiura's and Midou's.

And there is Yoimachi herself.

Who is all supportive and downright a fangirl of other people's romance. Who will dodge every discussion about her own type and romance ambitions with leading them on by ambiguously fawning over arts, sculptures, busts and mannequins. Who would dump Ginjou persistently and mercilessly. (But still not cut entirely clean by simply avoiding him or cutting down on interactions with him either.) Who is always open, upbeat and reliable.

Yoimachi who would also make a face like this:

Ch14: Isn't it just fine, to feel pathethic and terrible. Why don't you just do what gives you some peace of mind?

This is totally the expression of somebody who has been in the slumps herself. You know that sort of slump where you can't really talk to anyone. And in her case, she compensates by being a good listener to other people's worries.

This is also Yoimachi who would also try to come clean after all with Ginjou:

ch35: "No matter how much more you confess, I will absolutely not be able to answer it. So I recommend you stop it already."

This is such a roundabout phrasing. There is no mention of want or your usual "This is absolutely not going to happen with you". It's an "can't happen". With such a self-deprecating smile at that, she also just recommends him to stop. Not asking or demanding him to stop being a nuisance. His advances put her into discomfort, yet she doesn't blame him at all for it.

If that hint wasn't strong yet at the end of the same chapter

Yoimachi stares at her horoscope. "Only luck in love is a [full score] five stars, huh. ... even though... I don't need it..."

«I don't need it.»

Hits home? Hits super home. Also, that downright cocky "Can you see" poster quite gets me. Can you see? Can you?

The rest of the cast clearly can't:

ch55, Ginjou: "You know I've been wondering recently. Senpai isn't interested in humans and doesn't want to raise any hopes from me. Isn't that maybe because she had a drunken love in the past...?"

To ramble on with an absurd cheap ass romance plot line anyone thinks is idiocy, but then everyone also just goes

"But no wait. We can't rule it out either, can we..." along with a "mysterious aura" as an sfx.

OF COURSE, you're going to be an enigma. And the next best idea is to have something trauma-based if you're dodging this territory altogether.

Or Ginjou mulling over her fame of giving out love advice:

"But well, Yoimachi seems to be blessed with a lot of life experience. She looks so far ahead, you wouldn't think of her as a same fellow high school student."

No, no, no, no, all you do it look at things more sensibly or rationally and not be completely blinded by this dumpster emotion that makes no sense, that blinds your eyes, disables any unbiased observation skills or general brain circuits.

Or

Girl: "Your advice from the other day was really helpful. When I told that my boyfriend he was like 'She's so experienced with love, it's downright scary'!"

You see that and feel like wanting to smash something? Of course you can only have a valid, helpful opinion on the love topic if you have experienced it yourself. And vice versa, if you do have something worthwhile to say about it, you naturally must have had that experience yourself first hand. Because of course anything about love is not something you could actually study, by, let's say, listening to other people's love tales?

Which this Yoimachi certainly loves to do:

ch30: "Hey, hey, I want to hear about everyone's love stories! I loooove the love tales of other people!"

Yoimachi herself eventually has to vent her frustrations in a monologue tirade, while thinking she's on her own:

"Hum... Betrayed by a friend, two timing, three timing, associating with a man twice your age, a long distance relationship with somebody you know from the internet.... huh?

Isn't there way too much action in high school recently???

I somehow resolved all of them, so it went well, but...

Everyone, you're the way more love experienced ones, you know...

... I couldn't possibly say it now… that I, who gave out all that advice, «can't» fall in love even if I wanted…."

Oh I know those rants. When everyone else around is going absolutely nuts. And you can't find a good place to say a single thing, because that's just going to destroy somebody else's entire world view.

I absolutely adore that Yoimachi is such a fan of everything romance, as well as savy about it, despite knowing what the deal with herself is. End the conflation of aro/ace with prude and general repulsion already. Being interested in a sujet doesn't mean you have to had that experience or be interested in experiencing it yourself. You can like reading mystery and thriller fiction that wouldn't mean you'd want to be in the middle of a series murder case yourself, would you? (Though IRL I recently did get an answer of maybe you would actually. Facepalm.)

In any case

I'M THRILLED.

POSITIVELY TRILLED.

I was really liking the series already for dealing with a character born with stats or interests not quite in alignment of sex/gender expectations in such a nice way. About wanting to go against it not having to mean you're having to be the opposite gender (but still allowed to go through all the questioning of it) nor it being a feminist battle plotline. A series just being continuously fluff, cute and compfy while being fairly grounded at the same time. Adding this bit next to all the other themes - on an established secondary main cast character - is just such a nice addition in an assembly of rarely seen stuff. And getting it so quickly after I stumbled over Fudanshi Kazoku which came along with quite the great super surprise reveal - I'm almost feeling like I'm getting a bit too spoiled.

(And unlike Fudanshi Kazoku this series will probably hold out for a bit longer. I'm still half in denial that it just went and wrapped it all up right after that. q_q)

[mrsmarymorstan]

I am realising now that the entire Hajime/Mutsuki concept would just make for a ... I mean not a GREAT BL series but it certainly would be one that would exist.

Firstly they're a sunshine one and a grumpy one. The grumpy one is also the Mum Friend and the Sunshine one will absolutely not hesitate to cut a bitch.

You have childhood friends to lovers who only get together once they've moved in together where the only "Adult" supervision they have is their older cousin, the University Student who keeps weird hours and offers sage advice to those who come knocking on her door with gifts of food.

Then they also have the backstory of their fathers rival and trepidatious relationship. They lived in the same house all those years ago, the battles they fought, the rivalry that went on through their dark mysterious past. They probably find some sort of scar on the house from a past battle that holds special meaning.

Their fathers could have been an item, they could have been in love but destiny and fate tore them apart and now the boys are here to fall in love instead and complete the circle.

They go to the same beach their parents visited and this time it is Mutsuki who confesses his love to Hajime as the shooting stars pass by above!

And all this to say that I am going to add this to my "Kinu is a writer just like Shigure but 10x worse" headcanon and say that she would write this novel. It would become a best seller! Her cousins want her dead. Her fans want a prequel about the parents. She delivers.

Ayame and Shigure are so god damn proud of her. Hatori and Mayuko do not know how they will ever save face from the rest of the Family. Tohru thinks it's delightful and wonderful and when will the next one be out Kinu-chan?

[tohruhondaismydaughter]

Just had some headcanons about Machi pop into my head that I wanted to share with yall. So we know this poor girl struggles with "perfect"/neat things right? Well I was thinking about some healthy coping mechanisms she could develop to replace the whole 'breaking property/living in a dump' thing & here's what I got so far -

1. She always tries to wear odd socks (unless she's invited somewhere nice)

2. Ayame & Mine help her find cool asymmetrical stuff to wear, how to make clashing colours/patterns work for her & teach her how to sew up her old clothes in a more "punk rock" way (after Yuki & Kakeru explain some of her issues with perfection)

3. Tohru gently points out that she dosn't have to tie her laces the same way on both shoes if she dosn't want to

4. Haru & Rin (awkwardly on her part) teach her the power of acessorising (ie. wearing only one earing, putting on an uneven amount of bracelets/rings/necklaces, adding paper clips of different sizes & colours to your clothing & Machi later ends up adding stuff like buttons to her outfits/belongings as well which Haru & Rin are tottally surppotive of despite thier difference in style) & hair/makeup which (thanks to Yuki's advice) they make sure to keep slightly messy (Kimi laughed at it at first until Momiji made her feel bad after he told her that Machi had gone to the bathroon & wiped off all the make up & undid the hair style so Kimi bought her some limited edition Mogeta merch, after asking for Yuki's advice, in apolgey & started referring to Machi's new hair/makeup style as "punk chic" whenever anyone tried to mock Machi about her new look)

5. her & Momiji go on a crazy tie dying adventure (much to Hatori's grumbling & Mayu's amusement)

6. Kormaki gets her into collecting second hand fridge magnets which she then later uses in her work (my version of post-serise Machi is an artist) once the magnetism finally wears off

7. Kagura teaches her how to fix up old plushies (Machi likes creating Mogeta inspired characters) & gives Machi all her old cat ones to work on (Machi descides not to ask why Yuki's cousin was seemingly once obssesd with orange cats because she looks rather embrassed & a little sad when she hands over her collection)

8. Kyo reluctantly teaches her how to cook a few simple dishes (Tohru comes over as well & Yuki insists her food is better but Machi prefers Kyo's simple style of presentation so it's eventually descided that Kyo & her will do the cooking & Tohru & Yuki will deal with the cleaning which Yuki agrees to becuse cleaning is still difficult for Machi but Kyo says it's actually because no matter how much Tohru tried to train him rat boy knows he would never be able to do anything in the kitchen but burn water)

9. Kakeru teaches her the skills of 'excessive badge & sticker decorating' as well as giving eachother fake tattoos (Kisa congratulates Hiro on not saying anything rude to Yuki's girlfriend about her appreance after they first meet her)

10. Cuts her hair short (she delibretly makes it very choppy) once she enters university, where the rules are less strict about your apprence (at least it is if your at art college), & she also regulary wears diffrent coloured wigs (her favourites being a dark red one & a rainbow one) whenever she wants to temporarily change her appearance (beacuse she didn't want to commit to just one look, still wanted to have the ability to quickly "become invisable" again & she heard from Kimi that exsseive hair die-ing could permantly destroy her hair & scalp) it takes her until she's 30 to try out shaving all her hair off (she worried she'd look sick/crazy or not feminine enough) & everyone's really surppotive (though Kimi dose cry a bit, Rin & Haru aren't there when her hair is being shaved & Kyo is a slightly confused as he'd always thought women liked having longer hair then guys) especially Ritsu (who's growing out thier hair again) & they all throw her a big party (Haru & Rin are there for the party bit just not the hair removal bit because it brought up some bad memories) where Kakeru films it & posts it (with Machi's permission) & they give her cut off hair to a charity chosen by all thier followers (despite her disbelief Machi has manged to gain a small group of loyal fans from all her art stuff & her apprences on her loved ones social media), Kakeru also later uploads a video where they help Machi rainbow dye her buzz cut, (she later explores many diffrent types of buzz cut patterns such as flowers & geometric shapes but, at Kimi's insistence, gets them done by a professional)

11. She recycles & D.Y.I's like crazy (Momiji started singing Do Re Mi from The Sound Of Music after she told him that her new dress was actually made from curtains & Yuki cried when she gave him a little rat plushie made from felt, after he came clean to her about the curse)

12. She almost never wears an apron while working on her art because she likes getting messy

13. When her & Yuki go out to eat she loves things like fondoe (both the chocolate & cheese kind), eat N mess & is genreually just a fan of finger food & it becomes a tradition between her & Yuki (& later Mutsuki) to go on a stroll through the park after thier meal & (if it's autumn) look for piles of leaves to jump in (Machi & Yuki also like playing a game where they try to look for the weirdest looking leaf to give eachother & whoever wins gets to pick what they'll eat for dinner that evening & the looser has to cook it, Mutsuki is the "impartial" judge)

14. Machi is amazing at scrapbooking & collarge making (Tohru is more of a dream journal kind of girl)

15. When it's Summer her, Yuki & Mutsuki go down to the beach to see who can find the weirdest looking rocks (the less impressive ones often get used in Machi's art work, the coolest ones Mutsuki gets to keep & any that are too perfect get tossed back in the ocean & Mutsuki likes to score the splashes they make on how big/loud they are)

16. She loves helping Yuki out with gardening for lots of reasons (it's therapeutic & she loves seeing Yuki happy) but she can't deny it's also just fun getting muddy

17. Machi, thanks to Kakeru, devolpes a love of paint ball (but instead of using guns they just throw the paint at eachother like in 10 Things I Hate About You because apparently the gun pellets actually hurt) & will bring it up as an activity idea to her loved ones any chanse she gets

18. Decorates as much of her flat (& later her home with Yuki & Mutsuki) with Mogeta merchandise, random things she collects & her own art work as a big fuck you to her bitch "you have 0 personality/hobbies or talents" of a mother

19. Kisa (happily) & Hiro (reluctantly) introduce Machi to the magic of glitter

20. Machi & Rin eventually become proper friends due to bonding over being abounded by their asshole parents & one of the things they like to do together is work on thier seprete art peices while listening to music (Machi dosn't do any of her "aggressive" art, like plate smashing, around Rin though thanks to Yuki & Haru warnings)

21. When stuff gets to be too much & none of thier other coping strategies are working (like watching Mogeta stoned- which Kisa, Tohru & Momiji do not partake in) Machi & Haru bond by going to rage rooms together to destroy shit & scream (Haru obviously dosn't want Rin around for any of that though so Momiji, Tohru, Kagura or Hana will often take the opportunity to hang out with her, one time Yuki offered & it wasn't bad but it was definitely awkward as they had never really hung out without Haru before & Haru teases her for ages afterwards about her ending up liking Yuki once she actually spent some time with him which, like the precious tsundere she is, Rin will forever deny)

22. (I actually made a whole seprete post about this ages ago but now it seems to have vanished so in case other Machi fans are unable to find it l'll add it here) on the days that it's supposed to snow but dosn't Yuki takes her (& later Mutsuki) skating so she can enjoy scratching up the perfectly smooth ice (they would have gone on double dates with Tohru & Kyo if Tohru wasn't freaked out at the idea of having blades on her shoes & Kyo hadn't claimed to "not trust" ice, he's dislike comes from all the times Kagura had forced him to ice skate with her on the lake near Kazuma's place in the winter when they were kids, so they would instead go with Haru & Momiji - they had thought about going with Haru x Rin & Kakeru x Kormaki once but he proudly revealed that he'd been banned from thier local ice rink years ago for trying "perfectly safe" Olympic level stunts in he's attempt to recreate one of he's favriote episodes of Power Rangers, much to he's fiancee's anger, & Machi reminded Yuki that though Haru & Kakeru were fine with eachother Rin isn't reall able to stand Kakeru for longer than 5 minuites)

[steveharrington]

ok so i never finished the manga or anime except for the older one but shigure is a villain? i never picked up on that really lol can you explain a bit more

yeah!! i know villain kinda seems like a harsh word esp because the 2001 anime only covers roughly the first 5 volumes of the manga, where shigure is mostly comedic relief. he's on villains wiki where they call him an "anti villain" because ultimately he is striving towards a greater good. he wants to break the curse, is willing to do pretty much anything to make that happen, even manipulating innocent people like tohru. the entire reason shigure even invites tohru to stay with them is because he's interested in seeing how it will affect kyo (and yuki, although it was pretty much based on her comment that she loves the cat) and not really because she genuinely needed a place to stay. that's not to say shigure doesn't care about tohru at all! he takes care of her when she's sick and provides her with advice when she's anxious and is never maliciously trying to hurt her. but..........also he puts her in situations where she could easily get hurt based largely on his own self interest!

one scene that i think really depicts who shigure is as a person is when akito arrives at the beach. she only arrives because shigure invites her there, and from then on she basically torments each of the zodiac one by one, specifically yuki and kyo. fully knowing that akito feels threatened by tohru, shigure orchestrates their meeting anyways and is even called out by hatori who accuses him of "enjoying it" which he doesn't deny. ultimately tohru and momiji both get hurt in this scene but it works out for shigure because it pushes the zodiac further away from akito and further towards tohru.

there's also just a million little things that illuminate how selfish he is. the backstory about his relationship (if u can even call it that lmao) with mayu shows how emotionally cold he can be to people and the fact that he later goes to tohru's parent teacher conference out of an act that Seems like kindness but is Actually just to aggravate mayu furthers that. he routinely says shit to kyo and yuki that he knows will upset them in an effort to make them question and rethink their relationships and sense of self. he fucks akito's mom. etc.

i think shigure is honestly a brilliant character. when i first read the manga at like, age 9, i didn't really grasp shigure's ulterior motives and instead saw him taking in tohru, kyo, and yuki as like an "aw he's so nice and generous <3" type thing. nearly all of shigure's actions can be viewed that way. he does things that are seemingly kind or seemingly harmless with an ulterior motive that reveals he isn't really concerned with who he hurts in the process of breaking the curse. and it adds another level to his complexity that really, an argument can be made that shigure is doing it for them. even if tohru ultimately suffered at the hands of akito, would it be worth it if it saved the rest of the zodiac? if it saved kyo?? all of this complexity is wrapped up under a character that seems to function entirely as comedic relief who jokes about food and sleeping in late and not wanting to work. which is............genius <3

[yukisohmasmokesweed]

I recently watched 1x10 for the pod and realized just how much of a peek-behind-the-curtain episode this is for Shigure. The episode does a great job breaking down Shigure’s motivations, agenda, and objective as well as exploring some of his morality and self-perception in a really subtle and nuanced way. I wanted to break down what exactly was said in the episode and what the subtext is showing us about who Shigure is and what he wants: an obsessive man who puts his selfish desires first, always, all while trapping himself deeply within the very curse that he is trying to break.

Motivation: The Dream

Each zodiac’s curse manifests in different ways. For example, Yuki experiences the curse through the lens of social isolation and self-blame, Kyo through familial rejection and projected blame, Hatori through resignation and grief, Ritsu through extreme guilt, etc. Shigure’s manifests as obsession.

This dream was something special to all of them, but it soured over time. The anime implies for Hatori that it was because of Kana,

but I believe that was the last straw in a haystack of crushing oppression for Hatori (see: having the ability to erase memories and being expected to carry out the task no matter who it hurts by the family as a whole, Akito, and his father, who also had this power). As for Ayame, he does not fit in with the Sohma’s traditionalism and conservatism and he never attempted to do so, and as an adult he has done everything he can to divorce himself from the Sohma image—going into a non-traditional and arguably taboo field of work, moving away from the estate, and keeping secrets from the family, even his own brother. Kureno is a special case and Ritsu was too young to remember this. For Shigure though, he became obsessed with this feeling, and because he didn’t have the bad experiences Hatori had growing up or chafe too hard against the family culture like Ayame, it became a life-long obsession that, over time, shifted from chasing that “feeling” to chasing Akito as an individual.

A note about the Dog: The Year of the Dog’s defining trait is loyalty, but they are also notably stubborn. This doesn’t speak to the authorial intent (Takaya added the zodiac aspect to the story late in the game, after their characters was set), but I also think that Shigure being the Dog is a great indicator as to why, out of everyone, Shigure’s curse manifests as obsession, and why he’s in love with Akito despite Akito’s treatment of him, the other zodiacs, and other people as a whole.

Agenda: Emotional manipulation

Shigure believes that the curse has weakened over time. The dragon was apparently not always a seahorse, which implies that the magic is weakening, and this is the first time in a long time where all of the zodiacs have been alive at the same time. Due to this as well as their closeness in age and the agitation present between Akito and the zodiacs, Shigure thinks that this is the curse’s last hurrah before breaking.

Shigure wants to speed up the process by exacerbating what he believes to be an already unraveling curse by turning the zodiacs against Akito, showing them that their lives have meaning and potential outside of the curse, and influencing them to start questioning the narrative around the curse as a whole as well as the ones around each of their individual zodiacs.

The curse’s most obvious effect is the physical one, but the emotional component is arguably much more significant. This is why Shigure is agitating the zodiac’s emotions. He often says things he knows will hurt them, but instead of hurling insults like Akito, what he says challenges the zodiac’s beliefs about themselves, one another, the curse, and Sohma family as a whole. He is aiming for their internal lives and beliefs in a way that makes his meddling seem almost invisible; he manipulates through influence instead of force, orchestrating it so that the zodiacs feel as if they have come to a new conclusion on their own. Here is how 1x10 shows us that tactic:

Shigure is trying to push Kyo into realizing that his feelings for Yuki are more influenced by the Sohmas than he thinks they are (implication of the word “duty,” that it’s not something Kyo chose for himself), and that if he takes a step back from the situation that he might see that him and Yuki have more in common than he thinks (”afraid of getting to know him”).

However, this doesn’t work, and it’s directly because Shigure has known who he is and what he wants since childhood. He has never had to struggle with his own personhood, identity, isolation, and blame the way that Kyo has—not to say that he hasn’t at all, but not to the extent of the Cat. Shigure logically knows why Kyo hates Yuki, but he can’t put himself in Kyo’s shoes because their experience with the curse are too different; Shigure fully embraced the curse, falling into obsession over it and making the choice to permanently attach himself to Akito, and that decision is rewarded for the most part. Kyo, on the other hand, has spent his entire life being rejected and ostracized by his family as well as being scapegoated for things he had no control over. Kyo’s issues with blame and isolation are not something that Shigure can empathize with, leading him to get frustrated with Kyo’s stubbornness and pushing Kyo too hard before he’s ready. All in all it’s not bad advice, but Kyo’s issues run extremely deep, and Shigure got impatient. This scene is Shigure messing up, indelicately going to the heart of the matter because his timeline of events is moving slower than he bargained for, and he accidentally shows his hand because of it.

Objective: Akito

Shigure’s objective is to be on equal terms with Akito and pursue a real relationship with them. The only way to do this is to break the curse, freeing Shigure from Akito’s power and taking Akito’s command over him away, as well as undermining the importance of the other zodiacs in Akito’s life. 

The anime does a nice job portraying this to us subtextually by visually juxtaposing the relationships that are the main focus of this episode:

Tohru lowers herself to meet Kyo where he is, whereas Shigure positions himself physically above Akito. The former is a relationship built on equality and mutual trust, the latter one on an inherent and unavoidable power imbalance, resulting in jealousy, toxicity, and a constant struggle for power.

At first glance the shot of Shigure and Akito would imply that Shigure is the one with the power due to their positioning, but it is Akito who has the power. Akito doesn’t stand up to greet him, simply expecting Shigure to come to them and bend at the waist to accommodate their position. Shigure tries to assert his power here by being physically larger and looming, but Akito is so confident in theirs that they wordlessly watch as Shigure does the exact thing Akito wanted.

Morality: Always looking out for #1

Shigure’s goal is a selfish one, and he has leaned into that completely. He is gloatingly self-aware, which allows him to further his plans without any moral qualms in the way.

The inner circle of the Sohma family has a strong culture of pervasive cruelty. We see it over and over again—Kyo’s treatment by the people around him, Haru’s, Yuki’s, Hatori’s, Rin’s, etc etc. Cruelty is extremely normalized within the family, and you can see even in this fairly casual conversation that Shigure and Hatori take shots at one another (other scenes where this happens between them include 2x7, 2x25, off the top of my head). The line of what is deemed “acceptable” in a larger societal sense is much farther for the Sohma family, and this greatly influenced Shigure’s sense of morality and decency. He is intelligent enough to know that hurting others is wrong, but it’s what has been modeled for him his entire life and something he’s participated in before for various reasons. Hurting others is normal for him and of a small blip in his radar in the grand scheme of things.

Shigure’s morals are warped, but he is also extremely intelligent as well as in touch with his emotions. He is aware that if Tohru gets hurt that it will hurt him in turn, both because she is an outsider whose life he is playing with and because he can’t help but care about her (which is what makes her so good for his plans), but his end goal is overall more important to him than his or anyone else’s emotions in the moment.

Self-perception:

All the other zodiacs hold some level of resentment towards Akito and the curse, but Shigure doesn’t resent Akito. He resents the curse because it’s standing between him and a real relationship with Akito, but not Akito themselves. Since childhood, Shigure has been unapologetically obsessed with Akito, and the power of that obsession and the intensity of the bond has led Shigure to live a one-track life, disregarding the pain of people close to him to feed his own selfish desires, going so far as to willingly dirty Tohru, an outsider and a child, to enable his plans. The others live in misery that has been forced onto them; Shigure picked his poison and never plans on letting it go.

Conclusion: Shigure is a nasty little man

1x10 is an excellent look into Shigure’s inner life and ultimate goals. It very clearly shows us that he is motivated by a love that was initially the pure love of a child-turned-dark and desperate. His motivations are selfish, his actions hurtful and oftentimes callous, and his morality twisted by both the family culture and his own doing. This episode does an amazing job juxtaposing Shigure’s unique relationship with the curse against Kyo’s as two ends of the extreme: the former is trying to break the curse so he can have an individual, the latter desperate to be included in the curse so he can find acceptance from the group. Shigure is an underhanded character who very rarely says what he wants outright, but the subtext of this episode is full of great little moments to spell out what Shigure’s game is and how he plans on winning it.

[kameliakiko]

Do not read if you plan to read Another Encore or if you haven’t read the last chapter :

Shigure wants Akito to work as his secretary, she refuses every time he asks her

Akito actually knows how to cook, she’s just to lazy

Akito doesn’t work out at all, she just walks around the hood and eat pastries

Hiro and Shiki work together in the estate again and they are feared and respected by everyone

Hinata got another boyfriend

Sawa often cries because she misses her mother

Sawa’s father tried to get money from her and Shigure scared him off

Sawa’s brother finally met her, he didn’t try to take advantage of her and they are in good terms. Shiki is jealous.

Yes, Kinu and Hibika are back together

Hatori gives Shiki driving lessons during his free time

Mayuko always helps Sawa with her homework

Shiki and Sawa don’t have self control, they are always on each other when ‘their kids’ aren’t around

Hibika takes over Ayame, leaving Chizuru living his life

Akito and Sawa cried when Saki left

Saki will never get married to Kazuma

Tohru cried when Hajime told her about him and Mutsuki

Chizuru and Mariko are the first ones to get married

Kinu gives sex advice to Sawa as her cool Onee-chan

Chika, Jasmine and Haruna are besties

Chika and Haruna are love rivals, they always fight for Sawa’s attention

Chika wants to become a doctor like Hatori,

Kunimitsu takes over Kazuma since Kyo and Tohru love their life in the countryside

Kyoko wants to take over the dojo

Rin, Haru, Kazuma, Saki and their kids move back in the estate after 10 years and they are grandparents

Yuki and Machi are vibing because they know they probably won’t be grandparents, until Mutsuki admits he thinks about becoming a father.

[lesbiheon]

Monsta X as Fruits Basket Characters

Shownu: Hatsuharu (frequently gets lost and can switch from being quiet and calm to intense if provoked, v protective of those he cares for, constantly mislabeled a himbo but in fact is incredibly bright)

Wonho: Momiji (literally sacrificed himself for his family’s happiness, always puts others before himself, talented, breaks gender norms on the reg)

Minhyuk: Shigure (playful but also child-like, always in the know, crafty and naturally talented, has many plans and goals for himself, insanely self-aware)

Kihyun: Tohru (selfless as hell, loves to cook for himself and others and cleans excessively, is a great listener and gives honest and thought inducing advice in a positive and kind way)

Hyungwon: Shishou (wise, polite, level-headed, fights for the greater good, bad at cooking, v clumsy)

Jooheon: Kyo (wears his heart on his sleeve, fiery, sensitive, passionate and puts his all into his hobbies and jobs, easily attracts other w his charisma)

Changkyun: Hatori (genuinely cares for and helps others in an unselfish way, brooding and mysterious, a v serious person)