#akira/fussa

[west-tokyo-incidents]

Akira stares at the ceiling of his bedroom.

It's his bedroom.

It's not a cell, it's his bedroom.

He tells himself that multiple times. He's laying on his bed. The wall is to his left, not his right. It's proper wall, not concrete, too. His bed is comfortable and warm.

His ears strain to hear anything in the silence. He sits up and tightens his fists in the blanket laid over his body, just to hear the fabric moving.

Cars distantly make noise on the road, but so very faintly.

He wants to call out to the cell next to his, but there is no cell, much less anyone in it. He leans against the wall and stares at nothing.

Maybe Pardonner healing them hadn't been such a good idea. Because now he's staring at his arms, totally bare of any proof of what had happened. Was it even real? He knows that it was real. It happened.

But there's nothing to show for it.

He could ask Sayama to wipe his memory, but she's just as messed up as he is.

He wants to call out. Get a response back from the other side of the hospital room. But the black of his bedroom curls in on him, the lights of the city outside barely piercing it.

And then his phone screen lights up. A silent notification from some app or another asking for an update.

He picks it up to dismiss it, not much paying attention to what he's doing. Detached.

And then he unlocks his phone. Stares at the picture of his latest trophy in his background. It's so far away.

He grips his phone tighter.

He just... He just wants...

Something clicks in his head before he can think and he's holding the phone to his ear and listening to it ring. And ring.

And ring.

His heart sinks as it goes to voicemail.

Right. It's the middle of the night.

He drops the phone away from his ear and stares at it before hanging up. Stupid. Acting instinctively, impulsively. He should have just thought it through, of course no one was going to answer at this hour--

He just about throws the phone as it suddenly starts ringing, scrambling to pick it up and answer with a very quiet;

"...hello?"

"Hey, 'kira. You alright?"

It's Fusataro. He almost doesn't answer.

"Akira?"

"I'm here, sorry, I... I'm so sorry I didn't mean to wake you up--"

"I wasn't sleeping, it's okay. Are you okay?"

Akira considers that, staring down at his blankets, "Better now. I just... I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep." It's more than that, but Akira doesn't have the words to keep talking.

"I gotchya. I haven't even tried laying down yet. Been wrapped up in work."

"...it's 2am, why are you working?"

"Got a lot to catch up on and I hate being alone right now."

"Me, too..." He pauses. Stares off as he considers something. Straightens his back, even if Fusataro isn't there to see it, "I could come keep you company." He slips on a facade like he's going to be the one comforting Fusataro. He already knows she'll say yes, they've been--

"No. But thank you. Your parents would skin us both alive if you were missing in the morning."

"My dad already thinks I'm a prude for not sneaking out--" Akira sputtered.

"Before you were kidnapped and missing for five days. If you go missing again even for a second I don't doubt they'll go insane." Fusataro sighed. Waited for him to say something. When he didn't she tried to keep talking, "As much as I'd love to have company, it's not worth the consequences... You're not thinking entirely straight. We can meet up tomorrow some time?" Still he didn't answer, staring at nothing. Slumped again.

"...Akira?"

Her voice cracked, almost fearful, and he swallowed, "I'm here. Sorry, I'm here."

The facade between them was almost completely gone again.

"No, it's okay, it's... It's okay." He can hear something move and can only imagine she's just sat down or stood up.

He tries to recover himself. His mind really is screwed on backwards. His god reading is all sorts of frazzled. He tries to recover it, the false sense of normalcy, "...I think I'd like that. Meeting up tomorrow. When are you free? I know you're really busy."

They make plans... And hesitate to hang up the phone.

"Hey... Akira."

"Hm?"

"I'll still be here in the morning..."

He swallows thickly and closes his eyes, "Promise?"

"Only if you will, too."

Akira cracks a small smile, "Yeah. I promise. I'll still be here."

"Good. Then I promise, too."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Get some sleep, Akira."

"I can't promise that."

"...yeah, me neither."

A pause.

"Goodnight, Fusataro."

"You, too."

That feels better. Akira takes the phone off his ear and hangs up.

The room is still dark. His mind is still spiraling. But it's a little less frantically now.

He has a tomorrow, at least.

[mizho-babe]

I’m looking through my drafts and I have a literal 1k word fanfic about Akira, Fussa, and Kaizo golfing together

[medi-melancholy]

hnnngghhh screaming about the finale of ultimo under the cut

EVERYONE’S ALIVE!!!! ALL THE DOJI ARE HUMAN NOW!!!!!! AAAAAA

HIBARI AND HER DAD MADE UP AND NOW GAUGE HELPS WITH THE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

AKIRA DOES LEGIT CHARITY WORK AND DONATES TOURNAMENT PRIZE MONEY AND ORGULLO STILL TAGS ALONG

ECO IS ALIVE!!! AND MURAYAMA GETS TO LIVE WITH HIM!!!!

PARDONNER WORKS IN A HOSPITAL AND TAKES CARE OF DR SHAKUJII!! WHO’S ALIVE!!!!!!!

SUMAKO IS HAPPY ASJGDHFFJKGSDFJKGHS AND DESIR HELPS OUT AT HER SCHOOL AAAAAAAAA

SOPHIA AND SERVICE AND JEALOUSY HANGING OUT AND GOING TO SCHOOL SAGDSAHJ ALSO TRANS GIRL SERVICE RIPS THIS FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS HOLY SHIT SHE LOOKS SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!

IRUMA IS BACK???? YO WHAT’S UP DUDE IT’S BEEN AGES!!!!

MIZHO AND PARESSE AND FUSSA AND RAGE ARE IN A BAND TOGETHER GHKSAAJKGFJK

K AND VICE STILL LIVE TOGETHER BUT IT’S GOOD THIS TIME AND ALSO VICE IS A FUCKIN NERD

jun.... i hope he can get better eventually and have a healthy life.

DUNSTAN

HE’S STILL ALIVE

AND HANGING AROUND LIKE NBD

STAN LEE I LOVE YOU

i’m not entirely satisfied with the story + ending but idc i love these characters so much and i’m just glad there was a happy ending, they deserved it

god i need an ultimo anime so bad

[west-tokyo-incidents]

*cracks knuckles*

Fussa x Sumako

Paresse x Mizho

Vise x Trickery

Paress x Fussa

Service x Vice

Vice x Rage (also Rage x Vice)

Vice x Service

Paresse x Orghullo

Kia x Akira (courtesy of prev tags)

Service x Vice

Paresse x Rage

Fussa x Paresse

Paresse x Vice

Vice x Service

kinda cute ship dynamics????

feel free to use! tag me if you do ^^

naturally bold flirt A x quiet B who flirts back (flusters A)

blunt, tired, deals w/ B’s bullshit x unhinged, chaotic, annoys A a lot

chaos magnet x chaos instigator

sarcastic loner (actually a menace) x confident asshole

loveable x hateable (LITERALLY INSEPARABLE)

“oh, i’ll fuck you up so bad” x “i’ll hold you to that”

scary look & would kill you x cute but would also kill you

A snarky jerk x B who knows how to deal w/ them

“i don’t matter” x “you matter to me”

affectionate x not used to it

“you wanna kiss me so bad” x angered but flustered

always talks x loves listening to them talk  

“aw your so cute and short” x “i’m literally older then you”

scary (will kill you) x cute (will also kill you)

[west-tokyo-incidents]

Listen I'm too braindead to write more, have incorrect quotes instead. Crackship edition.

---

Akira: I’ve been dropping them the most insanely obvious hints for like a year now. No response.

Fusataro: Wow. They sound stupid.

Akira: But they’re not. They’re really smart actually. Just dense.

Fusataro: Maybe you need to be more obvious? Like, I don’t know… “Hey! I love you!”

Akira: I guess you’re right. Hey Fusataro, I love you.

Fusataro: See! Just say that!

Akira: Holy fucking shit.

Fusataro: If that flies over their head then, sorry Akira, but they're too dumb for you.

Akira: Fusataro.

---

Akira: How do I tell Fusataro that I want them to yell at me like they're Gordon Ramsay and I'm a poor little chef who just ruined a crème brûlée?

---

Yamato: We have a problem.

Paresse: No, YOU have a problem. I have an idiot who keeps making them.

---

Paresse: Hey, random question, what are your favorite flowers?

Yamato: Peonies, why?

Paresse:

Yamato: Were you going to get me flowers?

Paresse:

Yamato:

Paresse: ᶦᵗ’ˢ ᵃ ᵖᵒˢˢᶦᵇᶦˡᶦᵗʸ

---

Quinn: Since we're in a relationship now, your clothes are my clothes too. Don't ask me why I have your shirt on, this is our shirt.

Echo: Fine, but when I come strutting in with your fuzzy socks I don't want to hear shit.

---

Echo: I don't know how to tell you this, but... I love you.

Quinn: That's great, Echo. Especially considering the fact we've been married for 6 fucking years.

---

Slow: Bro-

Vice: No, no, hold up, rewind.

Vice: My tongue was down in your throat just a second ago and now you're calling me bro??

---

Vice: BE A BETTER PERSON!

Slow: WHY?!

Vice: BECAUSE SOMEONE NEEDS TO HAVE MORALS IN THIS RELATIONSHIP, AND IT SURE AS FUCK AIN'T GONNA BE ME, SWEETHEART!

[west-tokyo-incidents]

...lbr, once established, Akira and Fusataro would be the most Obnoxious couple.

And they would do it On Purpose.

[west-tokyo-incidents]

Most everyone who wasn't tortured thinks Akira and Fusataro getting together is a little weird if not extremely questionable.

But those who were are infinitely supportive and happy for them.

Sumako teases Fusataro about wanting to marry rich, as if she wasn't already fairly well-off. Mizho and Kia absolutely Do Not let up on Akira once they find out. Don't get me started on Aki.

Rage and Orgullo are just glad their masters are coming back to some kind of normalcy.

Akira's parents would have been FAR less agreeable about it, if it wasn't for the fact that they saw how badly Akira was messed up and how Fusataro was one of the few people who could ground him. I'd go so far as to say Fusataro occasionally got a call in the first few years from his father asking him specifically to come over because how Akira was messed up.

His parents still properly gave him a talk when he told them he was planning to take Fusataro on a date, but still let him use the nice car. Fusataro still got the 'if you hurt my child I'll end your entire life' speech from dad.

(And no, there was no issue with her being trans, remember Akira's trans here, too; If anything the pestering about having grandkids started up again.)

Also their relationship forms over the course of their recovery which takes like. 3+ years. Akira is 21 by the time they're official.

[west-tokyo-incidents]

Okay. Went to bed thinking about Violence and now I awake and it's still on my mind.

The Akira/Fussa timeline is more than Kinda Fucked Up.

DEAD DOVE. READ THE TAGS.

Akira and Fusataro aren't the only ones who get taken. A lot of the masters do. But Akira, for some reason, is their captors' favorite plaything.

Their captor, who is a Torment who's yet to be taken by the Facility, came from another timeline and is honestly just fucking with the human body. There's no reprieve to the torture. No interrogation.

It traps them in an old abandoned prison and drags them out one at a time to play with them. Snarling insults through the doors and curling its voice like claws through their minds. Vivisecting them awake. Putting them back together. Plucking out teeth. Peeling back skin and watching them writhe and scream. Raping them while their guts are open and watching how they move and listening to how they scream. Akira tries so hard to be quiet.

It loves seeing Akira try and fail to predict it. Trying to escape. It loves hearing Fusataro try and convince him to stop from the next cell over.

It thinks it's funny how the wrath master thinks it doesn't know about the hole she's slowly picking through the wall. It acts so very surprised when it opens the cell and sees Fusataro standing over the young man with a makeshift weapon.

Akira won't forget that sight any time soon. Fusataro, angry and bleeding from the sharp edges of the twisted metal piece she wielded, standing between him and the creature that took up the whole doorway. And he won't forget the way that it laughed... And laughed.

It remarks how fun it'll be to torture them together. Let Fusataro watch the young man she tried to save thrash and scream.

Unfortunately for them, this timeline was considered low on the priority list for the Facility. And the Facility wanted to see what Torment was capable of.

It's cruel, really, the members of the Facility just watching on silently as it snatches them both, rips them out of their delusion of heroics and safety.

There's no risk of timeline collapse. No risk of damage to outside timelines. But they do need an interrogator and the way the fucked up fusion tortures without killing is just what they need. And now it's asking questions, stabbing holes in their psyches, bouncing between them. And still they both survive it.

Torment does put the two back in the cells with the hole in the wall, but they're hurt beyond hurt. Neither is crawling through that soon.

How long has it been?

Only a few days. Four at most.

The police are out in force. The masters all disappearing at once is not something missed by the public. A famous young golfer, the children of five rich families from the same school as him, the head music producer of Soney, the CEO of a major construction company... No, Torment doesn't care if the police and douji come looking.

The masters have called for their robots multiple times. Each time the douji are stopped by the electrical field that surrounds the place, scrambling their ability to pinpoint their masters. They know the general area, and Torment knows they'll be hunting through it manually soon. Likely the next day.

It considers jumping timelines again, get a fresh batch. Maybe catch a few douji to torture...

Sometime that night, Akira listened to Fusataro try and explain why she'd tried to help him. He wasn't sure if the way she was trying to talk was genuine or if she was just trying to boost his ego--and this his mood--to keep him from breaking. That he was too brilliant to be out through this. That he has such a life ahead of him. That he's the only one she can hear and the only one she has a chance to do anything about. If he can get free, he's smart, he'll find a way to get rid of that son of a bitch wearing Paresse's mask.

He just listens, feeling his guts still trying to rearrange themselves inside him. The echoing pain of the incisions haphazardly sewn up. For once, he's not talking himself up. He's attempting to hold himself as best he can without hurting his arms even more.

He wonders, out loud, if he'll still be able to play after this.

Fusataro admits she doesn't know, but that she can get him a job if they both survive.

They both go quiet as they hear footsteps in the hall. Multiple. They don't even try to guess with one another as to what it is. They both hold their breath and just. Wait.

There's distant chatter. Talking.

Just calm, almost even formal tones. Can't hear any words.

And then their ears pop and it's silent.

It's mere moments before they hear the voice of Pardonner screaming for Kiyose. The old building is nearly ripped apart by the douji trying to get to their masters.

The evil douji tear the fucking building apart looking for the thing that tortured them the moment they know their masters are alive.

Pardonner makes his rounds. Healing them where he can, yes, even the evil douji masters.

Akira will play again. Or at least... He would physically be able to. Mentally... Well, it doesn't matter right now.

The evil douji don't find anything. There's nothing to find, besides the blood stained rooms it had used to fuck them all over.

Akira is leaning heavily on Fusataro, who's keeping herself between Paresse, Rage, and the young man. Neither of them are talking. They get out of the others that their captor looked like a fusion of the two... And that for whatever reason they'd both been tortured together last, and it makes more sense.

Whatever happens from here on out... Who knows. They'll report it to the police, but they all know nothing will come of it. They lie, of course, and just say they were mentally tortured and not literally ripped apart.

But Pardonner wasn't going to leave them in that state just for a human law enforcement that would never find anything.

Most of them spend the night in hospitals anyways, just to watch their conditions.

Akira clings to Fusataro, who is barely allowing anyone close to them. It's been hours since they left that cell. But now, Akira sitting on the hospital bed and Fusataro pacing the length of the room, Akira finally opens his mouth again and speaks through a dry throat.

"What now?"

[mizho-babe]

Orgullo thoughts because…..he’s kind of the best? Who doesn’t love him

Orgullo and Akira are bros right from the start and had the most chill doji-master introduction. I’m imagining their first meeting went like Orgullo: hey, want to blow people up and have unlimited power? Akira: hell yea dude. They remain close for the rest of their lives after Orgullo becomes human (wait why am i tearing up already).......just…..guys being dudes. Hard ship, but at the very least they’re each other’s wingmen, and have totally tagteamed hookups

During the WWII three-year bad doji bonding arc, Akira and Orgullo still pursue Akira’s golfing career. The nation is shocked by Akira’s sophisticated, ahead-of-his-time golfing techniques, and the two literally receive national medals / ties to the imperial family for advancing the sport in Japan (idk why else does Akira wear that stupid top hat when we see him)

When Orgullo becomes human Akira promotes him to become his manager. Eventually Orgullo gets an MBA & becomes the head of his own management agency and one of the richest / most famous behind-the-scenes players in the world. Fussa has him on speed dial when WTI runs into any issues and Orgullo professionally (and sometimes cracks his knuckles and literally) fucks up anyone who tries to cross the band

He easily becomes the most well-adjusted doji-turned-human. I think all of the doji hang onto their quirks/emotional disorders for the rest of their lives but Orgullo integrates well into society

He’s spent most of his time as a doji in Brazil before he traveled to Japan & met Akira.

He absolutely hates snow & cold weather and whenever fall comes around in Japan he flees to Brazil for the cold seasons. Once he becomes established as a human he moves to Brazil full-time

He is closest with Desir out of all the doji because they both enjoy human culture. Desir introduces Orgullo to bespoke tailoring & gets him his first custom suits.

Orgullo is a heavy dom, obviously. He refuses to take a passive role during sex. Desir knows his type (power issues, superiority complex) and thinks Orgullo would love sub play. Orgullo gets angry and flustered whenever Desir broaches the idea

Overall he’s the Big Bro to all the evil doji but he has a low patience with them & is def that toxic family member that rags on others when they’re not ‘taking full advantage of their potential’. He yells at Eater, Avaro, and Hana when they get bad grades and though he still retains a small fear of Vice, he secretly judges him for living a chill vagrant life with K after he becomes human. He vents to Akira that he totally believes Vice could still take over the world if he wanted to, he has the intelligence & batshit savagery to do so

He doesn’t like Gauge. No reason - he just doesn’t like that there’s another guy as big as him. Slow thinks this hilarious and likes to egg Orgullo on and say he thinks Gauge is bigger/stronger whenever they have doji reunions

Orgullo hates golf but is cursed with knowing literally everything about it because of Akira. His favorite sport is soccer (bc of Brazil) and he’s also an avid UFC fan. Him and Desir become sports betting pros, and eventually Avaro joins in once he grows up but Orgullo always has to hold him back from making ridiculous parlays

The one thing he misses about being a doji is his speed - he forever hates cars and thinks most forms of transportation are dumb and too slow. He totally becomes one of those environmental menaces and takes 5-minute private jet rides just to avoid traffic

I now have an extreme desire for Orgullo / Akira content… hot bara assistant/manager that takes care of his top client….pl..s…

[west-tokyo-incidents]

Shame stuck to Aki's throat as she walked to her apartment. Somehow, she still felt worried that Paresse was going to come out from any corner, vivid red flashing out of his eyes along this less-travelled path that she took.

Even though she'd seen how weak he'd been today when he came in for the packet that Kei gave him. The worried look on the owner's face.

She shook her head. He was just an odd guy. And if he was a ghoul, he's in no shape to do anything...!

Her shoes gently splashed up water from rain puddles on the sidewalk. So deep in thought, she wasn't looking where she was going.

A shoulder collided with hers and she almost went tumbling. A hand grabbed her by her arm, though, and it was only the book in her hand that hit the ground. She caught her balance and the hand released her.

"I am so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going..."

"It's okay!" She looked up at the voice that spoke. A smooth, deep tone that immediately relaxed her heart from her throat.

The man standing there was eccentric, but had a gentleness to his face. He smiled at her from above a thick beard, "I'm glad you're alright, I don't know what I was thinking."

She waved her hand and giggled, turning to grab her book off the ground, "No, it's perfectly alright, I was lost in thought, too-- oh, no...!"

Her book had landed in a puddle and she pouted as she picked it up and water poured out from between the pages.

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry--" The man apologized again. This time, she sighed, feeling that it was actually warranted now. But still;

"It's okay. It's just a paperback version. It wasn't expensive." She tried to hide the wince in her voice. Expensive or not, she'd have to have it shipped and it would take forever to get to her...

"Here--" The man held out a card, "--my name is Fussa Fusataro. Just send me the name of the book and I'll replace it for you, hm?"

Fussa-- oh!

"Oh, you're the music producer!" Aki perked up, "You don't have to--"

"I insist."

Aki paused, looking at Fusataro. His sunglasses very nearly hid the man's eyes, but she could make them out. No kakugan. Why was she even looking? Fusataro is a well known person in the ward. Of course he's not a ghoul!

"Well, then, Fussa-san, I appreciate it." Aki bowed her head, "I hope I'm not keeping you from anything."

"Oh, no, I was on my way home, nothing important at all." A pause, "Actually, it's getting pretty late, will you be alright alone?"

"Hm?" She looked at her phone. Oh, no, he was right. Her panic must have crossed her face.

"Let me walk you at least somewhere with more people, hm?"

She looked up at him, shocked and concerned by his sudden offer... But he didn't offer to walk her home, just somewhere less... Empty.

"That... That would be nice, thank you. How did I lose track of time so badly...?" She shook her head, "There's a bus stop ahead, I usually don't take the bus, but..." She dug her nails into the paperback book as she looked down the road. There were others on the sidewalk.

Fussa made a face, "Ah, I actually just got off the bus from that stop. Another won't come by for an hour. There's a restaurant just a block down from it, though. Do you have any friends to call for a ride?" He started to walk and after a second of hesitation, she followed.

"Not ones that have cars... Well, there's Hidaka, I guess." She winced at the thought of calling him.

"Hidaka? The golfer?"

She heaved a sigh as she pulled out her phone to text said man, "Yeah, the same."

As they walked, she relaxed into the small talk. A bit easier than she should have, maybe. Fusataro was a good talker, she'd come to find out. Usually she wasn't a fan of talk to fill the space, but the unease of the situation melted off her nerves.

"Here we are, say, want to grab a bite to eat or something while we're here?" The producer winked at her.

She blushed and giggled behind her hand, "I think I'm a bit young for you, sir!"

---

"Ah, just got a text from Misaki." Akira huffed, "Apparently she needs a ride back home."

"Where from?" Orgullo popped his head up.

"Don't act too excited." Akira grumbled, "Apparently she's going to that abandoned little spot by the bus stop--" He froze as another message popped in, "Fuck, we've gotta go. Now."

"What?" Orgullo did a double take as Akira jumped up and all but ripped his coat off the back of a chair, "Why?"

"She's with Fusataro."

"Fuck...!"

---

"Oh, come on, now, I'm not that old!" The pout in the producer's voice was palpable, "I'm 39, that's not bad! I'm not even trying anything, I'm just offering a meal!"

"That's almost twice my age!" She was grinning now at the over exaggerated, comical huff made by the man.

"You wound me, Miss Matsue!"

She shakes her head, "I guess a little something wouldn't hurt." She steps closer, looking towards the restaurant, "And it doesn't look very busy in there." Really, it looked dead. Was the place even open? She takes another step.

A hand wraps around her arm and the next thing she knows is her back hitting the asphalt ground of the alley by the restaurant. Her phone shattered on impact and her wind knocked out of her.

Footsteps echo in the alleyway, barely audible over her wheezing and her heart pounding in her ears. She looks up, trying to focus on the figure stalking down the alley towards her.

"Sorry, doll. Really wish it didn't have to be this way."

She tried to get to her feet, but her legs were jelly under her.

"Really, I enjoyed talking to you. If it weren't for how fucking hungry I am, I might've actually taken you out to eat."

Red shined out from behind the man's shades. A low chirping sound ripped across brick as a pair of tails twisted out from behind the man. The ends flared out with spines and ended in a sharp, blade-like tip.

The worst part was... He really looked sorry. As she tried to wheeze out a plea for him to stop, he just made the same face as he did when he saw her book was ruined. As he stood over her, she saw a hint of red and black beginning to crawl in from the sides of her face.

"I'll make it quick."

Red flashed across her vision and she covered her face with her arms. Shards that glimmered like rubies slammed into the ground, each hissing and steaming in the late autumn chill. But she was unharmed.

She looked up and saw Fusataro glaring past her, shards like burning feathers littering the alley between them. Fusataro let out a low growl, his arms up in front of his face. His clothes had slashing holes torn in them and his sunglasses were in pieces on the ground. Through the holes in his clothing, Aki could see a shimmering black, like a black beetle's iridescent shell.

"What the fuck, Orgullo?" He snarled, "I'm on your fucking team!"

She scrambled up onto her elbows and looked behind her, seeing the large, gentle man she knew with the same piercing red eyes. The same piercing red eyes of the man who'd just attacked her. The same red she'd seen that day in the coffee shop.

And with two small wing-like organs settling in to rest around his neck and chin like a fiery lion's mane.

"Miss Matsue is off the playing field, Fusataro." He was so calm, putting his hands in his pockets and slowly approaching her, kneeling down to her, "Are you alright, Miss Matsue?"

She just stared in shock.

"The fuck do you mean off it? She's human. She's as much a part of this bullshit game we're all playing as you or me!"

Orgullo gave her an apologetic look, but then looked back up to Fusataro, "Sorry, boss's orders. She's a regular at Akumame, and a friend of the boss's niece."

Fusataro spat, "Yeah, the 'boss'. Another human that idiot put in charge."

"That idiot was your brother-in-law, wasn't he? And your sister agreed to it." Akira's voice piped up from somewhere. "If you're having trouble hunting, you know you're welcome to stop by Akumame any time."

Fusataro spat on the ground, "Fuck you. Fine. You deal with this fall out, then. If I hear so much as a peep of suspicion on me--"

"We'll deal with it."

Aki's eyes were still glued to Orgullo's face as anger started to draw deep lines across his brow, highlighted by the oranges of the setting sun and the red of his own kagune around his face.

"You're lucky I don't eat all three of you and have that coffee shop burnt to the ground."

She heard retreating footsteps. The black faded from Orgullo's sclera and the feathery mane began to decay away as he looked at her. The way it swirled made her feel sickly dizzy.

"Are you okay?"

She yelped and scrambled back as he tried to reach for her. Her whole body hurt as she did. He winced.

"We need to get her to Akumame." Akira's voice reminded her that he existed and she whipped her head around to look at him, the motion worsening her dizziness. He showed no signs of ghoulishness, but right now she didn't trust anyone, "She's lost a lot of blood."

What? Blood? Lost?

She looked down and saw the dark stain on the asphalt getting larger.

...from what wound?

Orgullo gingerly picked her up and she whimpered, trying to thrash in his arms, even as he apologized the whole way.

He stood up suddenly, and she lost consciousness.

[west-tokyo-incidents]

OKAY SO THERE ARE TWO MAJOR STIPULATIONS TO THIS AU;

Mizho is an orphan, and she lives at an orphanage.

Yamato's mother gives him up as a kid.

These are the two biggest changes. They still have the same past lives, but Yamato grows up with Mizho as his best friend. She teaches him self defense, helps him through the toughest times, they rarely actually stay in the orphanage and are on the streets a lot. They still go to the same school as the other girls and he still has a huge thing for Sayama, Rune still has a little crush on him.

The first thing that happens is Mizho gets Paresse, and Yamato is there. Paresse explains the funeral to both of them. Now Yamato is probably 14-15 at this point, he's been through the foster system and is a lot less naive. Plus, he's being fed Paresse's biased side of the story, so Yamato immediately knows this whole funeral thing is screwed up. And he says so!

He becomes resolved that he's gonna find the source of all this shit and stop it. There's no way his best friend should be sloth and honestly this robot guy who's supposed to be sloth is actually pretty cool, too! Paresse laughs and tells him the only way he could do that is if he got control of Vice.

So Yamato starts to plan and plot. In the mean time, Mizho meets the other evil douji masters. Fusataro gets flirty with Mizho and Yamato angrily gets between them, yelling at 'taro, who thinks the kid's spunk is certainly interesting, but brushes him off, since he's not a master.

A fight between Fusataro and Rage and one of the good douji, probably Slow, breaks out. Rage and Fussa have to retreat, and Yamato finds them, injured, on a side road and stubbornly insists on taking them back to treat their wounds. After all, what would they tell a hospital?? Mizho is rightfully mad at him about bringing the 'pervert' to their home, but ultimately, Paresse helps to patch their wounds with the dry snark every mean medic trope has.

Mizho and Rage actually get to meet and talk and hang out for a bit while he recovers, and Yamato ends up getting Fusataro to talk about why he's wrath. And Yamato gets even MORE upset and certain. It's not right! All of these 'evil' masters aren't actually all that bad, they're just people! Even worse when he hears that the gluttony master is practically a baby.

Paresse listens and kinda has this little smile on his face. Yamato is somehow both extremely naive, but also knows way more than a kid his age should.

Fusataro has some small faith in humanity restored and over time becomes a sort of father(cough cough mother) figure to Yamato, giving him advice and helping him learn stuff beyond scrappy street survival.

At 16, Yamato has managed to band most of the evil douji together not as associates, but as a band of companions.

Now, of course, Iruma is still corrupted and overly ambitious. Jealousy, on the other hand, is very curious and, obviously, jealous of Mizho and Paresse being so close. Akira doesn't believe this whole thing will last once Vice arrives, but is humoring it and Kaizo is very much the same (it's nice to see that Oume has such a good friend, tho). Hana believes whole heartedly in it and Sumako has been convinced by Fusataro into the whole thing. And it goes great.

For about a year.

-insert the battle at 'farmless city'(its just tokyo lbr) and Vice being thrown into a crater-

Yamato was on his own when the battle happened and had been watching from a distance. The moment Vice is thrown into the ground, he knows he has to get there first! And he does. He drags the unconscious Vice out of the crater and uses a tarp to hide him until he gets back to the little alley he and Mizho and Paresse have been using as a hideout and meeting place for the sins.

Cue the rightful freak out of both of the Sloth duo and Vice slowly waking up.

Yamato demands to become his master.

And Vice just laughs.

Obviously he refuses. Yamato calls for a meeting, and now a beaten and half dead Vice is surrounded by his own subordinates.

Yamato demands again.

Vice sees the bandit king in front of him again, except now the bandits are his own people, stolen from him. And now the others around have a new respect for him, seeing him stand, without flinching, in front of Vice. Vice lashes out, but Yamato is defended by Rage. He lashes out again, but this time it's Paresse. And so on. Until he's forced to realize that he is powerless here. He's forced to see there's no way out, not physically.

He taunts Yamato. 'Don't know know who you are? Look at you, mingling with evil!' And he starts trying to turn the others against him. But he doesn't know them well enough. Yamato has met them all. He knows them all. They're afraid of Vice, but they trust Yamato.

Vice is out of options. Without a master to heal him and empower him, without a fearful following, he has nothing.

And so he's forced to let Yamato become his master. A Yamato who knows Vice has to be controlled, not allowed to do as he pleases, and knows Vice HAS to listen to his master.

Meanwhile, Kei is still a member of the SWAT team, has a decent place still, and is supporting his elderly mother. And on the way back from a shopping trip, his mother urges him to stop in one more shop.

A little antique shop.

Yall. Yall I have a horrible good idea. K and Yamato role swap. But their personalities don't change all that much.

If you wanna hear lmk and I'll absolutely go off about it. Might do it anyways.

[west-tokyo-incidents]

Yknow the only problem I've noticed with being able to write Garion is that his only like romantic involvement is his shitty flirting with Paresse and I don't even ship them that much. And everyone else I ship more with someone else, like, yknow, Fussa. I need to find a ship for him to write........

Maybe Muryama....

[west-tokyo-incidents]

*cracks knuckles* I'm going to babble about Garion and Trickery now

Now while Garion and Trickery are... Something Else. They do have a history and discernable personalities to themselves separate from this. The best way to describe them is like cutting small pieces off of something larger and the small pieces becoming their own independent creatures. And the larger creature is using them to vicariously peek at some funny little mortal's dumb little experiment like little playdolls in a house.

Dunstan isn't sure when Trickery appeared in one of his test tubes. But they did. Alongside the other evils. He's not even sure he ever had a test tube there. But it intrigued him. It made him giddy. His experiment had either produced Something or his meddling had caught Something's attention. He's also not sure when their files appeared on his computers, alongside a file for one Garion Dubois.

Garion is from Dunstan's time, brought back by Dunstan at a different time than Musashi, but from the same era. Garion was very much a member of higher society and enjoyed all the perks of being the 1%. He's very eccentric and, upon first meeting the seven sins, very careful. Trickery's Light Manipulation was used often and liberally, hiding their real location while speaking to the sins and Vice. He's a very pathological liar and a flirtatious fuck. He bounces around between his 'backstories' and actually bounces between pronouns and presentation regularly. He's fluid in everything except his grating, annoying, inconsistant lies and blatant perversion.

Thus, he is the master of Trickery, the douji of Deceit. Trickery is a 'lesser' evil douji, supposedly a part of the remaining douji that make up the '100' of the funeral... who have all yet to show their faces. Trickery is very... feral. They don't talk much and when they do it's in either simple sentences or run-on, surrealist poetry nonsense that only Garion seems to understand. Their appearance is much more subtly fluid, and seems to change more unconsciously than Garion's serious efforts put into his appearance.

They always seem to be around when Shenanigans are abound, and don't often interfere with actual battles--'We're just a lowly lesser evil! There's nothing we could do to help!'--even though their noh would be seriously useful. They are a nuisence and insert themselves into every evil douji's life... except Jealousy.

They avoid Jealousy like the plague, keeping out at the very edge of his range at all costs. Jealousy managed to get them in range once.

Once.

It hurt. He tries not to think about... whatever it was he felt. He brushed shoulders with Something, and he isn't keen to do it again. He ignores the memories whenever they try to resurface, along with the inevitable migraine that follows.

The two do have a place of residence. It's the home of someone they murdered and assumed the identity of with Trickery's Noh. It's a lavish upper class mansion. Garion often invites other masters and douji over, gleefully delighting in lying to the good douji to get information and spilling his discovered information to the evil ones.

Akira doesn't know what to think of Garion nor Trickery. They explicitly and purposefully act contrarian. Orghullo is indifferent, if wary.

Fussa thinks they're annoying, but can manage a conversation with Garion and navigate most of his lies. Rage just thinks they're annoying and hates that he never knows where they really are.

Mizho fucking hates Garion, mostly for the fact that he makes it a point to proudly exclaim his relation to Michel. That said, this 'connection' has made other things convenient, such as Garion happily giving her and Paresse a place to say when Mizho's mom brings... friends... over and Trickery's willingness to make light illusions of proper moving targets for her to practice her Savate on.

Garion is an absolute monsterfucker and a fucking perv over Paresse who really just doesn't fucking know how to react; Mizho usually gets this kind of attention. But after a bit, he just tolerates it. In some timelines he ends up reciprocating, at least after some drinks.

Vice tries to kill them every single time they stick their nose in where it doesn't belong, especially meetings.

[west-tokyo-incidents]

Master and Douji are swapped AU

Only the WTI because that's all I feel like writing lmao

Fussa = Fury. Animal is a jaguar or black panther. Sunglasses visor because, uh, duh.

Mizho/Michel = Apathieux or Apathie. Androgynous fusion of the two. Animal is an owl or fox. Visor is one sided, covers the right eye.

Rage = Raiju. An idol who's sick of being mistreated and cut to fit the mold. Fury's cover is as his bodyguard, not dissimilar to Akira, but Raiju regularly has Fury kill specific people who would take advantage of him and is trying to get close to people Higher Up to kill them more personally.

Paresse = ??? Not sure on the name in either time period, but unlike Michel he wasn't isolated literally on the mountain, but more socially isolated among the soldiers. Apathie doesn't have much of a cover with the soldiers, who are--like the bandits were in Edo--all aware of what Apathie is. Eventually another soldier kills past-Paresse to try and take Apathie, who kills them all in retaliation. Modern day Paresse is a trans tattoo artist who's barely making it by day-to-day in a country that's got a massive stigma against tattoos and barely makes rent.

...

The more I write the more I realize this could work with that tattoo shop drabble I wrote last night HMMM....

[mandarake-en]

☆Coming to the Mandarake Zenbu 92 Auction☆ ★☆★DAIMANSAI SPECIAL EDITION★☆★ Ranko Egawa - Shinseinen Henshuubu Hakubunkan For your chance to buy this and over 2200 other amazing items, be sure to check out the link below to get your copy of the Mandarake Zenbu catalogue. As usual, the Mandarake Zenbu catalogue isn't a mere auction guide, but it also has lots of interesting features, articles and interviews! The live auction gets underway on April 30, so be sure to get your pre-bids in if you can't join us for the big event. Mandarake Zenbu 92: http://www.mandarake.co.jp/publish/zenbu/indexEn.html ● Tin Cars - Huge special feature of cars including unique designs from the 50s to 70s, vehicles from Japanese companies such as Toyota and Nissan as well as American and European car makers such as Ford and Mercedes-Benz. ● Vehicle Goods - We have a special feature with scale models, catalogs, cigarette cases! ● Discontinued Plastic Models - Sea View and Sting Ray, as well as a variety of other items in different sizes and boxes. ● Animation Cels and Anime Gengas - Kiki's Delivery Service ending cel, Space Battleship Yamato (Uchu Senkan Yamato) oversized cell, works from Ghibli, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Tezuka, Rumiko, Dragon Ball, Bem! as well as a big selection from Gainax, Daicon etc. This will be a huge number of top quality cels and anime gengas from an array of titles. ● Hand-Drawn Illustrations, Shikishi and Manuscripts - Since it's the Daimansai edition we've got some unique and top class items. Starting with popular creators such as Osamu Tezuka, Fujiko, Ishinomori, Akatsuka, Mizuki and Umezu, this catalogue is definitely worth seeing. ● Tankobon (Single Volume Books) - We've got all 10 of Yoshiharu Tsuge's early B6 works, including their debut tankobon, Hakumen Yasha. There's also a large number of kashi-hon manga from Masaharu Endo and Shinichi Endo. ● New Size Books - Circuit no Okami (The Circuit Wolf) set, early Sun Comics books with obis, Hibari Kurowaku (Black Frame) and many more. ● Vintage Comic Magazines and Supplements - Boken-Oh 1973 (Showa 48) and Movie TV Magazine Manga San Kyuu (39) Billy Pack (Puck) and Nakayoshi Book supplement special feature and a new miraculous Leiji Matsumoto discovery! ● Doujinshi - This issue has a range of attractive items from the male doujinshi, female doujinshi and reference doujinshi categories. ● Cards - Detective Conan (Case Closed) Book Token of other items. ● Voice Actor Goods - Signed goods from the casts of the Yowamushi Pedal movie, Date A Live and more. ● Dolls - Vintage Barbie. ● Kaiba and Other Books - As well as acclaimed authors such as Edogawa Ranpo, Kawabata Yasunari, Tadanori Yokoo, Akira Uno and Yoshitomo Nara, you'll also find art photograph collections, Yui Aragaki's signed book as well as photos signed by Satomi Ishihara, Masami Nagasawa and Kasumi Arimura. ● Scripts - Kamen Rider Stronger, Amazon, Tetsujin Tiger Seven. ● Posters - Showa Niji no Omoide Hyoryuuki more than 50 Kimagure Orange Road posters Godzilla, Gamera and tokusatsu posters. ● Records and Cassettes - Pachison cassette special feature. ● Railway Goods - Front name plates for Fussa/Haijima and Futamatao/Mitake, name plates for Unzen/Semi-Express side name plates for Yudanaka / Ueno - Express Shiga and more. https://www.facebook.com/mandarake/photos/a.621554837994524/1279139948902673/?type=3 Mandarake http://www.facebook.com/pages/p/621549997995008

[mandarake-en]

https://www.mandarake.co.jp/dir/daimansai2019/index-en.html The Mandarake Daimansai Festival is back! Three days of fun With over 3,000 rare items available for sale, a super real-time auction (available online and in the venue at the same time), and fabulous events within the event, this is looking to be the best Daimansai Festival ever! The Daimansai webpage is constantly being updated, but we hope to see you there! https://www.mandarake.co.jp/dir/daimansai2019/index-en.html Saturday, May 4, 2019 11:00 AM Shiyrosei Expo - Cosmo Room 11:30 AM Vintage Supplement Magazines - Sky Room 11:30 AM Baseball Goods - Signed items - Sky Room 12:00 PM Female Idols - Auctions - Sky Room 12:00 PM Tokushige Kawakatsu x Masahiko Takahashi x Yujiro Tsujinaka Talk Show - Event Stage 12:00 PM Seinen Manga Magazines 1980~90 - Sky Room 1:00 PM Shonen Comics - First Edition Comic Sale - Sky Room 1:00 PM Analog Games - Warhammer - Sky Room 1:00 PM Baseball Goods - Items actually used by players - Sky Room 1:00 PM Female Voice Actors - Auctions - Sky Room 1:00 PM Astroganger Lottery Sale - Event Stage 1:30 PM Gallery - Kanno Gekiga part 1 1:30 PM Shojo Comics - Ribon Nakayoshi and more - Sky Room 1:45 PM Mecha Shiko! Koakuma Uniform Photograph Event - Event Stage 2:00 PM Shonen Comics - Mahjong manga magazines - Sky Room 2:00 PM Analog Games - Warhammer (out of print class) - Sky Room 2:00 PM Kaiba - Celebrity autograph auction - Sky Room 3:00 PM Vintage - Tokusatsu script auction - Sky Room 3:00 PM Analog Games - Warhammer and Metal Figures (Junk) - Sky Room 3:00 PM Shojo Comics - Shojo manga supplements junk sale - Sky Room 3:00 PM Michiru Noroi - Previously published doujinshi sales - Sky Room 3:00 PM Gallery - Kanno Gekiga part 2 - Sky Room 4:00 PM Kaiba - Sky Room 4:00 PM Baseball Goods - Commemorative items - Sky Room 4:00 PM Shojo Comics - Appendices junk sale - Sky Room 4:00 PM Michiru Noroi - Sky Room 6:30 PM Idol Live Event - Cosmo Room Sunday, May 5, 2019 11:00 AM The 2nd Indy Sofubi Rally - Cosmo Room 12:00 PM Chogokin and Machinder Auction - Lobby 12:00 PM E-chan Sofubi & T-Shirt Sales (Advanced ticket distribution for buyers) - Counter B 1:00 PM Orochi MX - Sale by Lottery - Cosmo Room 2:00 PM Wonder Frog Collaboration Sales - Lobby 2:00 PM Astroganger Sales - Counter B 3:30 PM Wonder Sales - Sky Room 4:00 PM Takasugi - Plastic Model and Sofubi Auction - Sky Room 4:00 PM Masuko & Eita Event Sales and Sofubi Signing - Lobby 5:00 PM Masuko & Eita Talk Show - General Ticket Distribution - Lobby 6:00 PM Masuko & Eita Talk Show - Lobby Monday, May 6, 2019 11:00 AM Sanchi Matsuri Sticker Festival - Cosmo Room 11:30 AM PVC Enbi Summit - Event Space 12:00 PM Male Idol Mini Auction - Sky Room 1:00 PM Bunbuku Teapot+ - Ayami Morinaga Signing Event (Part 1) - Event Stage 1:00 PM Cosplay Mini Auction - Sky Room 2:00 PM Astroganger Sales - Counter B 2:30 PM Gomu no Hi - Sky Room 3:00 PM Bunbuku Teapot+ - Ayami Morinaga Signing Event (Part 2) - Event Stage 3:00 PM DEEP Mini Auction - Sky Room 4:00 PM LIVE Mini Auction - Sky Room 4:00 PM Railway Goods Auction - Sky Room 6:00 PM Takuya Eguchi Talk Show - Chokin Hajimemasu no Kai - Cosmo Room ---Big Web Auction --- Remember if you want to bid in the auction there is an participation fee, but it you purchase the Mandarake Zenbu Auction Catalogue you don't have to pay it! If you just want to watch the auction, admission is FREE! *** Mandarake Zenbu 92 - Daimansai Edition *** http://www.mandarake.co.jp/publish/zenbu/indexEn.html A large number of goods to be exhibited at the Daimansai Festival held at Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo, on May 4th, 5th and 6th, 2018. ● Tin Cars Huge special feature of cars including unique designs from the 50s to 70s, vehicles from Japanese companies such as Toyota and Nissan as well as American and European car makers such as Ford and Mercedes-Benz. ● Vehicle Goods We have a special feature with scale models, catalogs, cigarette cases! ● Discontinued Plastic Models Sea View and Sting Ray, as well as a variety of other items in different sizes and boxes. ● Animation Cels and Anime Gengas Kiki's Delivery Service ending cel, Space Battleship Yamato (Uchu Senkan Yamato) oversized cell, works from Ghibli, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Tezuka, Rumiko, Dragon Ball, Bem! as well as a big selection from Gainax, Daicon etc. This will be a huge number of top quality cels and anime gengas from an array of titles. ● Hand-Drawn Illustrations, Shikishi and Manuscripts Since it's the Daimansai edition we've got some unique and top class items. Starting with popular creators such as Osamu Tezuka, Fujiko, Ishinomori, Akatsuka, Mizuki and Umezu, this catalogue is definitely worth seeing. ● Tankobon (Single Volume Books) We've got all 10 of Yoshiharu Tsuge's early B6 works, including their debut tankobon, Hakumen Yasha. There's also a large number of kashi-hon manga from Masaharu Endo and Shinichi Endo. ● New Size Books Circuit no Okami (The Circuit Wolf) set, early Sun Comics books with obis, Hibari Kurowaku (Black Frame) and many more. ● Vintage Comic Magazines and Supplements Boken-Oh 1973 (Showa 48) and Movie TV Magazine Manga San Kyuu (39) Billy Pack (Puck) and Nakayoshi Book supplement special feature and a new miraculous Leiji Matsumoto discovery! ● Doujinshi This issue has a range of attractive items from the male doujinshi, female doujinshi and reference doujinshi categories. ● Cards Detective Conan (Case Closed) Book Token of other items. ● Voice Actor Goods Signed goods from the casts of the Yowamushi Pedal movie, Date A Live and more. ● Dolls Vintage Barbie. ● Kaiba and Other Books As well as acclaimed authors such as Edogawa Ranpo, Kawabata Yasunari, Tadanori Yokoo, Akira Uno and Yoshitomo Nara, you'll also find art photograph collections, Yui Aragaki's signed book as well as photos signed by Satomi Ishihara, Masami Nagasawa and Kasumi Arimura. ● Scripts Kamen Rider Stronger, Amazon, Tetsujin Tiger Seven. ● Posters Showa Niji no Omoide Hyoryuuki more than 50 Kimagure Orange Road posters Godzilla, Gamera and tokusatsu posters. ● Records and Cassettes Pachison cassette special feature. ● Railway Goods Front name plates for Fussa/Haijima and Futamatao/Mitake, name plates for Unzen/Semi-Express side name plates for Yudanaka / Ueno - Express Shiga and more. https://www.facebook.com/mandarake/photos/a.621553801327961/1295456653937669/?type=3 Mandarake http://www.facebook.com/pages/p/621549997995008