#also i started this a while ago so you might recognize an earlier version from the reddit

[damaged-morale]

Going back to the basics in light of the collage mode update... my pencil portrait of our favorite lieutenant.

As a fellow wasian gaysian I have many thoughts about him that I might write out at a later time but for now, take this

[viennen]

Catching Up

This was initially written on Discord with @tiredassmage, whom the lovable idiot Leo belongs to. This is the final edited version. Happy Reading!

Liv and Leo haven't seen each other since before Leo got sent to Bergeren as a punishment by Vorza for embarrassing him on an earlier mission. This was about 5-6 years ago, shortly before Liv entered the Imperial Academy. They also haven't talked to each other in that long, save for the occasional letter, while Leo was on Begeren.

Now, she is working for Intelligence and has just received her own ship. She decides to take a risk and contacts her brother via Holo.

*******************

Olivia Ashold, newly designated Cipher Nine, made her way to the Holo terminal on the bridge of her new X-70B Phantom. She quickly made sure that any recording devices active on the ship, if there were any, were momentarily deactivated, and would not trace or record her next holo call. She then entered the encryption code before entering the designation of the ship she wanted to contact. She was alone on the bridge, hoping that her new 'friend' Kaliyo and her new protocol droid didn't come snooping too much at the moment. The last thing she needed right now was for either of them to know she was contacting a Republic ship. She waits patiently for the call to go through. 

Meanwhile, on The Daredevil, Leo and Risha were on the bridge, and Risha saw that there was a holo call coming through.

“My, my, seems I've made a popular friend in you, Captain,” Risha stated. Leo frowned and raised a brow at Risha as she eyed the holo. “You've got a call coming in. Seems it's... encrypted. Can't say I recognize the pattern, either.” she stated. 

“Encrypted?” Leo's frown set a bit further as he hauled himself out of his seat. “Let me take a look.” Getting hailed wasn't what drew his attention so much as the encryption. Very few people generally bothered with such security measures, at least with him, so that narrowed down the potential suspects rather dramatically. Leo typed some buttons on the console to bring up the encryption, and almost immediately realized why Risha didn’t recognize it. She wouldn’t, or rather, couldn’t, be able to break it, at least not without some serious help. He had created it with someone from his past, specially designed to be unbreakable, as much as one could be, at least. It was one of the only things he had ever been grateful about his family’s wealth for: giving them enough free time to work on the encryption code.

“I'll handle this one,” he says, hoping she doesn’t try to decrypt it.

“Oh?” Risha asks, raising an inquiring brow at him. He gruffly waved a hand at her. 

“It's just an old business partner, don't get your pants twisted,” he muttered, not wanting anyone to know about this just yet. They may be his crew, but he didn’t trust them enough yet. Risha rolled her eyes. 

“You're the one barking about trust, Captain,” she stated, referencing their earlier conversations.

“Some of us prefer to keep our client's wishes,” Leo counters with a slight bow. “So, please? If you don’t mind? I’d like some privacy for this one.” he asked.

“I’m not babysitting,” she said with a dismissive shrug of one shoulder as she turned to clear from the bridge.

“Captain?” He heard Corso inquire from the hall.

“Busy, kid!” Leo called back. “Go uh…” He shook his head. What would keep the kid busy long enough? “Recheck the cargo for me, would you? I need a while for a call,” he asked, unsure what else might occupy the kid long enough for the call.

“Thought you already did?” Corso called back, unsure why Leo was asking him to check it again.

“Corso,” Leo groaned and levelled a pointed stare at him. “Please? Pick something and entertain yourself, alright? I’ll come find you when I’m done and make sure you’re all acquainted, yea?” he asked, hoping Corso would take the hint.

“Alright,” Corso said, holding up placating hands. “Whatever, just holler if you need me,” he said, then started walking away.

“Mmmhmm,” Leo hummed. He waited until Corso was down the hall before he finally turned back to answer the call. There was only one person this encryption could be coming from. 

And for everything that had just gone sideways on Ord Mantell, it put a lopsided smile on his face. “Long time, no holo, stranger,” he teased as his sister appeared. “I’d almost thought you’d forgotten about me.”

“It’s good to see you too, Leo,” Liv stated. “I see you’ve dropped your accent,” she commented. “Or at least changed it.” It was a piece of advice she had given him when they were first talking about and planning his eventual defection. If anyone else was listening, hers was obvious. She was happy to see he had followed at least some of her advice. “And how could I possibly forget about you? I’m the only one in the family you still talk to.” Liv playfully asked her brother. 

“Hey, I don't ignore all advice by default,” Leo fired back about the accent as he leaned back in his seat. He flashed an amused smile. “There are benefits to being half a galaxy away,” he said. “Though I'm sure Father could still raise his voice enough to be heard,” he huffed. But that wasn't of interest. The rest of the lot could stuff their annoyance.

“Well, it's not like it's easy to make an encrypted holo call during Intelligence training. Everything you do is watched. Granted, doing that is part of training, but I'm not gonna risk calling you for that. I don't need to get you arrested again.” Liv stated, referencing some of the trouble the two of them had gotten into when they were teens.

“Oi,” Leo mocked offence, laying a hand over his chest. “I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!” he protested. They. . . didn't need to go over that 'taking care of himself' had involved... going into debt with the Black Sun and getting roped into their smuggling operations. And 'I'm perfectly capable of getting myself arrested' had flown way better in his head. Even if it was true.

“Well, then, since you're callin' me, I take it everything worked out,” he said instead. He was glad she'd found something, at least, even if it was Intelligence and... the ever-present risk he'd never hear from her again. “Guess all that sneakin' out when we were kids paid off for something, huh?” he teased, recalling some of their adventures.

“It would seem so,” Liv replied. “And you're definitely right about Father,” Liv replied. Their father, Vorza Ashold, could make himself heard whenever and wherever he wanted to be. The only time he didn't try it was when someone with a higher rank or status than him was present. “And I know you can take care of yourself, Leo, but I'd rather not accidentally give the Imperial Death Squads your location, regardless of how good you are,” she explained. “I need someone to complain to about Father.” she said amusingly. Leo's expression softened briefly as Liv explained. She... gave him too much credit. Even now.

“Technically, you're already complaining to a dead man,” he said. Dash's story had held up with the Republic brass, and his SIS contacts had come through, in addition to Liv's vigilance... if the lack of Imperial Death Squads were anything to go by. “Still, I appreciate the thought.”

“You're welcome,” Liv said. “And anyway,” she began, “complaining about Father wasn't the only reason I called,��� she stated, changing the subject. Leo smiled lightly when she opted to change the subject. A change of subject away from family matters was always a good move in his books. 

“I'd sure hope not. What if I'd been having a perfectly good day?” he teased. Their father had always been particularly talented at ruining those. Generally, with his mere presence in a room. He couldn't quite say he remembered the last time he remembered that bastard genuinely smiling at any of them. Or maybe he was just bitter. Leo paused for a moment to think about it. 

Their Father was definitely bitter. But it probably wasn't just that. Asshole.

“I've got my own ship now,” Liv said, pulling Leo out of his trance about why he hated their Father, and pressed some keys, so the holo changed from her, to showing Leo the Phantom.

“Well, look at that neat little thing.” He eyed the overview of the Phantom on her holo. “Slick ride. Guess you Intel types get all the fancy toys, don’t ya?” The beast looked more like it’d be at home among some noble elite than in a firefight, but appearances were deceptive - particularly with spies. Fitting, he supposed. “Unless you’re plannin’ on starting your own ‘shipping’ business. Didn’t happen to call me fishin’ for tips, did you?” he teased.

“Unfortunately not.” Liv teased back. She changed the holo back to her from the Phantom. “And, thank you,” she said a moment later about his comment on her ship. “It kind of reminds me of the shuttles we used to take between Ziost and Dromund Kaas,” she commented, remembering the times they would travel for some family function with their aunts, uncles, and cousins, or some corporate thing that their parents had to go to, and for whatever reason had decided to bring the kids. “Just with better firepower,” she stated.

“Well, you know who to call if you ever change your mind about the biz’,” Leo jested with a playful smirk and a light toss of his head. He puffed out a breath briefly as his bangs fell across his eyes. If he’d pull it back better, it probably wouldn’t nearly be as much of a pain, but nah. He shoved the errant lock back behind his ear. 

Liv smiled in reply to his comment, then paused a moment, deciding how to answer his other remark. “I’m well aware that technically, you’re dead, Leo,” she began, “It’s the first thing Father says if and when anyone asks about you,” she explained. As far as Liv knew, she was the only family member who knew that Leo was still alive. “But if you’re caught in Imperial Space, I’m fairly certain they’ll shoot you on sight as soon as anyone recognizes you,” she stated. “Or arrest you, then shoot you.” she added, “Then I’ll have no one to talk to,” Liv said, a hint of sadness in her tone, but it quickly faded. “Well, I guess I could talk to Kaliyo,” she stated, more to herself than Leo, “But she doesn’t know about you or Father, so that would be an interesting conversation to start with.” she finished. “Not sure what she’d think of it, though.” she added. She was quiet for a few moments as she thought about how that conversation might go.  She paused over how to continue the covnersation.

“Intelligence has been . . . interesting, to say the least,” she stated. There was a few moments of silence, as neither of them said anything. Leo’s features twisted briefly in mild annoyance again. Of course, Father would've been all too pleased he was dead. He'd told Dash not to worry about that part. He'd already been a nuisance in the old bastard's backside for some twenty-odd years. It was easier for him to be dead than to have to deal with the disappointment of a son who was insubordinate to him and his military superiors.

And Liv didn't need to know how many close calls there'd been on his jobs with the Black Sun. Nor that he'd. . . incidentally pissed off Rogun the Butcher, it seemed. Not yet, anyway. The frown that'd started on his lips because of their father lingered for a moment longer as he considered his sister was a spy now. Call it protective older brother instincts. Or just. . . She didn't need to worry about his problems. 

“Kaliyo?” he asked, curiously tilting his head. That’d be easier to talk about than any of his worries, though it did little to soothe the pang of anxiety that twisted through his stomach when she called it interesting. He supposed that was about all it could be called, all. . . secretive and that, but. “Liv,” he said quietly. She didn't need him to protect her. She was probably way better at that herself than he'd be now, anyway. But he was her brother. “Just uh... You're takin' care of yourself, right? It's... a lot. I... wouldn't know, of course, but…” I worry about you. He hoped that much went unsaid.

Liv laughed lightly as Leo’s hair fell across his face, before he fixed it. “Need some styling tips?” she teased, before answering his question. Leo snorted in reply. “Kaliyo’s. . .” she paused for a moment, deciding how to describe her new shipmate, “a friend, that I made, on a mission on Hutta.” She stated. She'd heard what Leo hadn’t actually said, and was grateful for it. He was her big brother, after all; he would always be that, and the only one of her siblings she had ever really gotten along with. “Yes, I’m taking care of myself. As best I can anyway. . .” Liv trailed off momentarily, “And I know you do; I’d be surprised if you didn’t.” she said, answering his unsaid statement. I worry about me too sometimes, she thought to herself, as she thought about what to tell him, and what she could say to him about what had all happened to her in recent weeks. She knew the channel was secure, but others could still be listening. 

“Cute,” he said, briefly sticking out his tongue. This was one of the few things that could make his chest ache with a mostly unfamiliar feeling - something like nostalgia. The life he'd made in Republic space wasn't exactly classy, and it was far from easy more often than not, but it was free. Freer than he'd ever been on Ziost or in Imperial uniform, at any rate. It just did little to lessen the blow that he'd left the one person that'd ever bothered to understand him, behind. He tried not to linger too often on if he should've tried harder or done more - snuck her out with him somehow like they had when they were kids, but... Maybe it wasn't his place, anyway. Liv was a big girl now. She made her own life. At least he could be thankful for that much. 

Hutta, though? Leo made a noise of distaste. 

“There are far better cantinas, I promise.” But of course, a fair drink would be the smallest problem of an agent of the Empire. Or Hutts. At least you could swindle an average Hutt for some credits. Liv stuck her tongue out back at him. It may be childish, but it was fun. And she missed her brother, so she would take whatever she could.

“The last few weeks, have certainly been . . . eventful, just months out of training,” Liv stated. “I’ve somewhat convinced a Hutt to side with the Empire, got praised by a Sith Lord for what happened with that, and had to deal with some terrorists.” she explained, not sure if Leo knew anything about Darth Jadus or not. “It’s certainly better than whatever Father would have had me doing.” she added, not really knowing what he would have her doing as a job, if anything.

This time, Leo couldn’t mask the concerned frown. “Emperor’s tits, Liv…” He could reconsider if the man had those at some other time. Terrorists? He ran a hand along his jaw contemplatively. “I’d heard some chatter about travel restrictions gettin’ tight further in, but hell...” Sith spats were nothing new, sure, but that?

“ ‘Interesting’s’... one helluva word for it,” he said. Perhaps there was one thing him and the old man might've agreed on: Intelligence was dangerous. A bunch of spooks. Probably half of 'em had heard ghost stories in the military about their recruitment, but... it was. Different. To hear it first-hand. He shook his head. “The Empire in business with the Hutt Cartel though... Can't say I'm entirely surprised. Gotta get all those credits from somewhere, I suppose.”

“It's only one Hutt for now, but you're not wrong.” Liv replied, knowing that dealing with Hutts wasn't always the best idea. But she also knew that if they hadn't gotten Nem'ro's help via stealth and espionage, they wouldn't have gotten the Hutts help at all, because she also knew that the Hutts could withstand an Imperial planetary assault for quite some time, if the Empire actually decided to attack them. 

Leo hummed in acknowledgement. Even dealing with the Cartel as a whole “officially” was a bit of a dice-throw when it came to honouring agreements. They weren't particularly cohesive at times, either, though their power plays tended to involve less Force Lightning. Generally, at any rate. 

“One small step or all that,”  he muttered. Besides, if it was resources they were after, he doubted the Empire would want to 'sully their hands' in something as base as a war with the Cartel. He doubted it'd be so ‘civilized’ enough for their tastes.

They both paused for a moment; then Liv smiled at his jest about Hutta’s cantina. 

“Perhaps you can take me to some of them in future.” she said, momentarily changing the subject and teasing at his 'better cantinas' comment. 

“Perhaps,” he mused elusively with a light smirk. Of course, he would in a heartbeat, given the opportunity. “Maybe something out in the Rim territories…” It was an almost wishful musing that drifted through his eyes for a moment. It'd be nice to see her again - and not just through the holo-processors. It'd... been years, at this point, hadn't it? “So long as ya don't mind some bolt holes in the walls. A good cantina brawl's good for the soul sometimes.” Or at least maybe some free drinks. If you could keep your fingers in the process.

They were both silent for a few moments, before Liv spoke, changing the subject back to what it had been before.

“Well, you can thank the terrorists for the restrictions.” among other things, she thought as she looked over at her navicomputer, with the coordinates set for Korriban, so she could go see Jadus' daughter. She thought about Leo’s comment, calling Intelligence 'interesting.’ 

“And do you have a better word for it?” she asked, then realized there had been a touch of bite in that comment. “Sorry,” she said quickly, before Leo could reply. “I didn't mean for that to sound so . . cross.” Leo didn't flinch from the sharpness in her response, though his eyes dropped briefly. 

“No, I suppose I don't,” he agreed. But he shook his head at her apology. “Don't worry about it. It's nothin'.” Except... his sister fighting terrorists of the Empire was... a lot. He almost didn't want to think about it, and he almost didn't want to know. At least then, he couldn't be too much more of an added risk for her. “C'mon, kid, you know it takes more than a few sharp words to take me on by now, don't ya?” A bit of bluster to try to keep the mood lighter - and keep himself from worrying too much about her, far out of his control and any meaningful ways to support or protect her anymore.

Liv smiled lightly at his jest to lighten the mood. “I’m well aware of what taking you on requires, Leo.” she said playfully, “Or at least I used to.” She said, then paused for a moment, musing over his cantina offer. She really did miss him, and she had lost count of how long it had actually been since she had seen her brother in person. “I don’t mind a bar brawl every now and then; I’m sure Kaliyo would have some fun, too.” she teased at his suggestion. “Have anywhere particular in mind?” she asked, wondering what his answer would be. “Not many places neutral enough that they don’t really care if Republic and Imperial are seen talking to each other,” she added. She thought about his comment for a moment. “You’re right, though; Rim’s probably a better place for us to meet right now. Most of it is Hutt controlled, and as far as I know, most Hutts won’t do anything about being told by either side that there’s a possible traitor on their planet without some sort of incentive.” she stated, trying to make sure that wherever they met wouldn’t get him accidentally recognized and killed on sight. 

Leo mulled over the question for a moment, twisting a stray loose lock of hair around his fingers. “Rishi’s a bit out of the way,” he said, “Ain’t nothin’ there but a bunch of pirates and smugglin’ types.” A wry smile briefly drifts across his lips. “I could probably even make some money off the trip.”

Aside from that? He frowned thoughtfully as he leaned back in his seat. He'd consider Nar Shadaa, given its distinct lack of direct alliance with either side, but even he already knew both galactic powers had interests moving around on there. It was a haven for the kind he associated with these days - gunslingers, mercenaries, thieves, gangs, and smugglers, but the lack of official rules aside from no disrupting the Cartel's business was as much a boon as it was a potential loophole for their enemies. “I'd consider Nar Shadaa. I've got a few uh... deliveries I need to make there soon, anyway,” he offered the thought anyway. “Cartel doesn't like fights on its turf, and there's a few boltholes there off the more beaten path.” he stated. Liv mentally debated with herself for a moment about what to say first. She’d answer his question, but she decided she needed to say something else first. 

“I . .” she hesitated, “I miss you, Leo,” she said, the sincerity obvious and clear. “But I'm doing what I said I would when you left,” she stated. “Trying to 'break' some things from inside, before I come join you. And Intelligence seemed the best place to do that.” she explained. Her only other options for a job, or life, were joining the military, or going home to their Father and waiting for him to marry her off to some other aristocratic ass. Their elder sister Vivian might be fine with that and adore all the extra status and praise that went with it, but Liv didn't. She hated the idea of someone else almost completely dictating her life. That was part of why she had wanted to go with Leo when they were talking about him leaving the Empire, but they knew how much trouble it would cause if just one of them left; it would have been much worse if they both had.

The smile Leo offered next was tinged with more regret than he'd probably like to admit. “I miss you, too, kid.” They weren't more than a couple of years apart, but... It was hard not to feel responsible for her, given everything they'd gotten into together. He nodded along to what she said - still planning to run off with him one last time. “I'm…” He cleared his throat as his gaze dropped for a moment, unsure how to say... Maybe even if he should. “I'm proud of you, Liv. I... know what it means to you.” And I'm sorry I didn't take you with me. Not that he could've... Not without a helluva lot more planning. Hell, he'd barely intended to leave when he did, or exactly in that way. 

Dash had just been... too good an opportunity at the right time. And he barely deserved that, either. “I'd like to think I know a thing or two 'bout disappearing these days... Maybe still not as good as you, though."

Liv smiled lightly when Leo said that he missed her too. She knew it wasn't something that was easy for him to admit. It brightened a little more when he said he was proud of her. “Thanks, Leo,” she stated. “Not sure I'd get that from anyone else,” she added, knowing she was probably right. Leo was the only one of her siblings that she had ever really felt close to. When they were kids, there had been times when he had told her to stay home, even though there wasn't much of an age difference between them. He knew she didn't always listen, but he never complained when she suddenly decided to join him during many of his 'expeditions' that Father still didn't know about. There had even been times when Leo had asked her to tag along. 

Her relationships with her other siblings, . . . weren't the best. Vivian was always trying to keep Liv away from Leo and his 'bad influences,' trying to turn her into some form of acceptable 'Lady,' but Liv usually managed to sneak away and get out of her 'etiquette' lessons. Lysander was always asking Leo if he could help him with whatever job their father had given him, and even when Leo didn't want to, their mother was usually able to convince him to do it, because Xander was the baby, and mom gave him everything he wanted. Being the only other girl, Liv had been able to convince her father to let her have a lot of things that she had wanted, at least when she was younger. When it had started to become more obvious that she wanted to do something else, Father had started paying closer attention to her activities, and it became harder for her to sneak away.

If Leo had one regret, it was that he hadn't ever quite been wild enough to deck their father on the jaw. Oh, he'd thought about it plenty - and certainly still did. But for all that talk of family, the man had always been shit about seeing the real one right in front of him. There was... a reason Leo had tuned out most of his droning history lessons - at home and in school. What good was a legacy if you never lived in the moment of it? 

“Their loss,” he said mildly. There was a time when he would've given everything to have their father's eye - much as Xander had. But it'd never been good enough, and Leo had grown tired of the charades of being something he wasn't. 

She thought about his comment about her being better at knowing how to disappear. She laughed. “Well, maybe I can give you some tips when I see you.” she teased. “So long as you tell me how you've managed to stay out of trouble,” she added. “Even I know smuggling isn't always a one-sided faction," she stated. 

“As for which planet . . .” she trailed for a moment, thinking. “I'm good either way,” she stated. “Haven't been to Nar Shadaa in a while, and I've never actually been to Rishi, just heard stories. . .” she explained. “If it's just pirates and smugglers, I'm sure I can find a way to blend in if I need to,” she stated, smiling at the idea of seeing Leo in person.

She paused for a moment, thinking of anything else she needed or wanted to say. "Since it's been so long since I've seen you, is there anyone, or anything else I should know about?" She asked. She hadn't seen him since before he defected, so she knew that she didn't know as much about her brother as she used to.

Leo shrugged a shoulder. “You tell me where.” And he'd make it happen, even if he had to remap hyperlanes to pull it off. Anything for her. “I suppose I... might have better luck offloading the crew on Nar Shadaa,” he mused with a glance over his shoulder. The hall was still blessedly silent. “I... picked up some... kid on Ord Mantell. He seems... alright.” A little too naive for Leo's taste and a little more friendly than Leo was yet willing to be. “And I've got some... business partner that's arranged a few jobs - that's the cargo I'm haulin' for now. She mentioned Nar Shadaa's already on our stops. I won't have to come up with too big a reason to slip off there for a while, I suppose.” Even if he had trusted more easily, he hadn't seen Liv in years, and he wasn't ready to rehash the whole story for people he'd all but just met. 

As for how he'd stayed out of trouble? A lot of dumb luck, he reckoned. "C'mon, Liv, you know 'trouble's my middle name," he said instead. "If you can't beat 'em, be faster than 'em." Or... something like that. 

His gaze dropped rather than admit it: he was in... a lot of trouble, actually. Nothing... exactly new, but. Rogun was... a bit bigger than his usual 'smart-mouthed the wrong person' deal. And less likely to conveniently forget his dues.

“I am well aware of your relationship with trouble, Leo. There’s at least half a dozen things we did that I'm pretty sure Father still doesn't know about,” she stated knowingly. She paused a moment. “ But I agree with you there,” Liv replied. Like Leo, there used to be times when she got along with her other siblings, but that had changed as she had gotten older. “I still get holo calls from Viv sometimes, almost begging me to leave where I am and come home. That if I did, I'd have a better life. . .” Liv trailed off. “Only Vivian would think that kind of life is better,” she stated. She didn't need to elaborate; she knew Leo would understand what she meant. 

Leo snorted, leaning against an elbow as he idly toyed with the fit of his gloves. “Viv's never wanted for a damn thing,” he muttered. Daddy's perfect little princess, that one, and their mother's utter pride and joy. She'd always been 'too good' for him, and she had been one of the many standards against which Leo had been judged for obedience and performance. Viv was polite and knew her place and had listened to their tutors and- He rolled his eyes. “She'd break a precious nail if she ever left that lap of luxury.”

Liv laughed, agreeing with Leo's statements. “I agree with you there. Viv wouldn't last a day out here, not without some sort of help,” she stated. She smiled as she listened to Leo's explanation about his new crew. “Look at you making friends,” Liv stated, almost sounding sarcastic, but, really, she was happy Leo at least had someone to look out for him. “And, I'm good with either one. I'm sure Kaliyo will be able to find something to occupy herself,” she replied. “If you want to do Nar Shadaa, I can meet you there; just give me a location. Rishi, I may need some more instructions, having never been there.” she explained. 

She knew Kaliyo would want to come with her, to make sure who she was going to talk to didn't pull anything on her, but she also hadn't told her anything about her family before Intelligence. Until she did or needed to, she wasn't sure how Kaliyo would react to Leo. And if, on the off chance, they did get caught, Leo would be in more trouble than she would. If whoever caught them, didn't know who they were, she could claim undercover. She didn't know what Leo could do to get out, depending on which side caught them. 

Leo squinted at Liv with a mild frown at her comment. “Yea, yea, laugh it up,” he muttered with a shake of his head. 'Friends' weren't exactly easy for him to make these days. It'd been a lot simpler sneaking around with the other cadets from Basics, getting into tussles and snowball fights and daring each other to spraypaint the CO's speeder. But they'd been younger and... 'freer' wasn't exactly it, but... They hadn't had to have it all figured out yet. They hadn't been on the front lines. 

They hadn't lost anyone yet. 

“I'm only teasing,” Liv stated. “Aren't I allowed to tease you about your friends?” She asked, sounding a little sarcastic. She paused a moment. “Honestly, Leo, I'm just glad you've made friends. I wasn't sure if you'd find any, after . . . everything that happened, that last mission, before Bergeren.” She explained, knowing Leo would understand what she meant. She had still been at home when they had gotten the news of Leo's ‘death’ during a prisoner riot on Bergeren. Liv learned later that he wasn’t dead, as he’d found a way to contact her. She’s been able to hide it from the rest of her family. She listened to Leo talk some more about his new crew to get her mind off those memories. 

“The kid's... alright, I guess. Name's Corso,” he relented. “I... might have given him a bit of a hard time.” Leo rubbed at the back of his neck. “My associate's got some deal with one of the Hutts, I think. She can finalize that and... let's say the Promenade?” Easy enough to get lost in the crowds there. “Slippery Slopes cantina's a popular little bolthole there.” 

“You giving people and friends a hard time is nothing new,” Liv replied. “Just don't be so hard that you drive them away.” She added. She thought about what she remembered about Nar Shadaa. “Think I remember where the place is.” She stated when he mentioned the cantina. 

Leo tried to smile, but it ended up more strained than he'd like. He'd always been a shit liar to people he actually cared about, and if Risha could hear about what went down on Ord, it'd be no problem for an Intelligence agent. 

Liv looked concerned when she saw his strained smile. “Leo, what is it?” she asked, then listened to what he said. 

“Look, Liv, I... don't want you to worry.” Always a great start. “But I'm uh... My last job didn't go so well. I'm workin' on clearin' it, but... it might come up, if we're out. I play out these next deals right though; everything should work out. Just... thought you should know before... in case, y'know…” Right. That was convincing.

“You always did know how to get into the worst situations,” she stated. “But I'm glad you told me beforehand,” she added. “Want me to look anything up?” she offered.

Leo shook his head and puffed out a chuckle. “What else are siblings for?” he jested. To love despite your flaws, even if you still gave them shit about it. That's what Liv had always been good at. 

Liv smiled at his comment. “Who else is going to call you out on stupid things? And complain about other family members?” she added. 

Leo rolled his eyes. “That's my job, y'know?” To complain. To be a nuisance. To just as likely be the reason the rest of the family was complaining. Perhaps not as much now, if they'd taken the story that he'd probably been killed, but still.

“I know it's your job, Leo.” Liv began, “But who's gonna call you out on that stuff? You gonna do it yourself?” she teased. She knew Leo had always been the troublemaker in the family; gods knew Father scolded him for it enough when they were younger. She knew he still complained about him, or at least when she had last seen him, he had been. She hadn't seen or talked to their father in some time. But that was a matter for another day.

“Nonsense,” Leo muttered, nose screwing up briefly. He narrowly resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at her again. They both knew if Leo was better at calling himself out... Well, no. He might be just as prone to trouble. Or maybe he'd avoid some of it. Neither here nor there, though.

“Nonsense, really?” Liv replied, sarcastically, her tone playful. She missed the banter with Leo. Sometimes it was the only fun thing she did when they were both still at home. 

But any facade of Leo smiling cracked at Liv's concern. She'd been one of the few who'd ever cared enough to come close to cutting down to his core like that. “Half of this one, at least, wasn't my fault. At least half,” he said half-heartedly. “Some... bastard at pickup double-crossed me.” And stole his ship for a while. But, Details. 

Tempting to have her aide, though... Skavak couldn't outrun him and Intelligence forever, right? “The snake's name is Skavak,” he offered. “Mind he doesn't steal whatever ain't bolted down, if you ever run into him.” He shook his head. “I uh... owe a bit of a big timer based on what he stole, so... if I can find him, I can probably work the rest of this out.” 

She saw his smile falter and gave a lightly concerned look while she waited for his reply. “Can't say I recognize the name,” she began, when he explained about Skavak. “But I'll let you know if I find anything in the database,” she promised. “And thanks for the warning,” she added.

He grunted. “Lucky you,” he commented. “Hopefully, it'll stay that way. Spare yourself some trouble.” Skavak was just a nuisance; he'd seen plenty of his big-mouthed type even in his relatively short stint as a smuggler so far. It was Rogun he'd be concerned about, but he was... hoping that issue wouldn't be quite as big. Yet. At least. Leo scratched at the back of his neck. “It's... the boss of the job he stole cargo from that I'm... more worried about. Some big-shot 'Rogun the Butcher' or some such.” He shrugged a shoulder, trying to play that off lighter than it... probably was.

“Is he that bad?” Liv asked, at his comment about her being lucky that she didn’t know this person. She listened as he talked about the other name. “I'll see if I can find anything on either one. If I do, I'll let you know.”

“Trust me,” he puffed out a breath, “I've yet to find anyone who was really happy dealin' with the bastard.” Corso didn't really count. In hindsight, the kid had ceded that he wasn't the most trustworthy snake in the grass, and he was... a little naive if Leo was gonna be honest. “'Preciate it, though.”

“Interesting,” she stated about his comment about people working for Skavak. “Not a problem,” she replied.

As for the matter of 'friends'... His teeth sank into the inside of his lip and fought the urge - unsuccessfully - to let his gaze drop again, left hand rubbing up his right arm. “Yeah, uh. . . Begeren . . .That was. . . something.” he sighed. The turnaround between those last two deployments had been tight, and kolto could only do so much to ease the scarring. He'd... tried to settle back in when they'd shipped him out to Begeren, but losing almost an entire unit... That changed you. 

Just don't be so hard that you drive them away. Advice he was still having a hard time taking. “Well.” He cleared his throat a bit roughly. "There is this one I just can't seem to get rid of." A smile finally appeared back on his lips. “Dash, uh... took me in, I guess. Been helping me out since the move. He's a soldier, too.” He hesitated to get into too much detail. Dash had made Havoc Squad now, and that'd make him a high target for Imperials. He trusted Liv, but... that wasn't a gamble he was willing to take. 

“Maybe I'll have the chance to introduce you two sometime.” Leo stated. 

“Dash?” she asked at the name. “Interesting name. How'd you meet?” she asked. “And if he's up for a meet, let me know when and where, I'll see what I can do,” she stated. “I'm just glad someone was able to help you,” she added, lightly smiling. She hesitated a moment before continuing. 

Leo stalled over Dash for a moment. His fingers twisted idly into loose strands of hair at the nape of his neck as he weighed... just how much he was willing to give. If anyone put the story together... It could get them all in a lot of trouble. Lying was safer. “He's a... neighbour.” A man that'd saved his life, more like. Funny how they'd nearly died for each other while barely knowing each other's names. And, hey, it wasn't a... complete lie. They lived together, when they were both on Coruscant. That counted, right?

She could tell he had hesitated before he said Dash was his neighbour. Liv guessed there was more she wasn't telling him, which was fine, as long as Leo trusted them, and she didn't hear anything about him getting caught and killed. “Must be a really nice neighbour,” she stated, not sure what else to say about it.

He released a quiet breath he hadn't quite realized he'd held when Liv didn't press further about Dash. “Yea... He's uh... somthin' else.” Way too good for him, for one. Dash had put up with... a lot since picking him up. “I owe him a lot. He's been... real great.”

“At least you have someone to help look out for you.” She stated, after Leo commented more on Dash. “Maybe they can help you stay out of trouble.” Liv teased. She knew anyone who tried to keep Leo out of trouble, usually ended up following him into it for a while. 

“Leo, speaking of names, I'm guessing you changed yours, yes? So no one can guess your ties from that, as I'm sure there are at least some Republic officials who know of Father,” she asked. “And I can try and make sure no one connects things if anything with your 'new' identity comes up on this end,” she stated. She knew of a lot of people who would sell information if it could help them in any way, so the less chance there was of Leo's name coming up in any intelligence files, the better. “But only if you want me to.” 

Leo sucked in a breath at her next question. “Yea, somehow doubt tryna get through Customs woulda been fun otherwise,” he mused. “Relos.” Something one of Dash's contacts had put down on his forged papers when she'd smuggled him into Coruscant. Something he probably still owed her for, knowing her... Ideally, there'd maybe be a few brushes with Coruscant Security on that record - but nothing major. Nothing proven, anyway.

“That is at least part of the point of a new identity,” she replied, a hint or sarcasm in her voice. “Just don't get into too much trouble.” When they were younger, Leo and Viv had always been the ones to go with Father on some of his business trips. Leo had stopped going when he had gotten scolded for fooling around too much, either in the Spaceport, or while Father was in a meeting. “I'll see what I can do on my end to try to keep it low profile. So long as you don't do anything too major. That, I may not be able to stop.” she said.

“Thanks, kid. I owe you one.” He glanced over his shoulder. One of the crew was... liable to get antsy.

“You're welcome, Leo,” she replied and watched him glance behind him. She did the same, wondering if Kaliyo was still at the other end of the ship, or if she had wandered up and was listening in.

“I'll send you anything I can find on either name, and see if I can lock your file. Then no one should be able to find it without a bit of digging,” she explained. “Provided you don't do anything too drastic,” she added. “I'd hate for you to get killed for real.”

 “Hey, uh... I should probably... wrap up. Long flight and all. But... it was good to see you.” he said, not wanting to admit how much he actually missed her. 

'Don't get into too much trouble.' Leo rolled his eyes and hummed half-hearted acknowledgement. That was like tellin' a rancor to behave in a pottery shop, and they both knew it. Especially since it seemed Skavak was keen to keep 'friends' of all stripes. Least he could promise he wasn't daft enough to try to rob the Dark Council or somethin' insanely stupid.

Just... a little stupid. Maybe. Depended on the mood. And the pay.

“Of course,” she replied, when he suggested they wrap things up. “It was good to see you, too,” she added. She looked over at the computer, again, the coordinates still set for Korriban. It wasn't that she hadn't dealt with Sith before but, . . . Korriban was something else. “I've got some things to do, but let me know when you want to meet on Nar Shadaa.” she stated.

A smile eased back across his lips as they started to wrap up. “You know I will, kid,” he said fondly. “Take care of yourself, alright? I'll be seein' you again soon enough.”

“I know,” she replied. “I will,” she added. She could take care of herself alright, but she wasn’t sure what else was going to happen with Intelligence. She knew the stories that they had heard when they were younger about people who went into Intelligence. She didn’t want Leo to worry more than she already knew he was. “See you soon, Leo.” Liv said, then ended the call. She re-enabled anything she had disabled, then set the ship to head for Korriban.

Back on Daredevil, Leo sat there for a moment, lost in his own thoughts. It had been good to see Liv again, even if it was only through a holo. It would be better when he could see her in person, risk or not. He got up from his chair, and left the bridge, deciding to check on Corso first; Risha wasn’t as naive as the kid.

[todomitoukei]

Japanese vs. English Dabi - A 292 Comparison

As other people have already pointed it, the official translation is sometimes a little biased to the point of adding things into the text that aren’t in the original Japanese version or changing phrases to the point where the villains come off colder than they actually are.

The current chapters are highly important to Dabi’s and Shouto’s characters and so the official translation, unfortunately, can lead to people getting the wrong image of Dabi. This is not to say that Dabi is actually a super friendly guy - however, I don’t think you can get a full picture of all the layers to his character without taking the original text in mind.

Since there are a few panels I’m going to talk about from this chapter - comparing the Japanese version with the official translation and also dissecting and explaining the original Japanese phrases - I’m going to put the rest of this post under the cut because it’s a bit lengthy otherwise.

Let’s start with these panels. Though these aren’t mistranslated per se, just like with the “dance with your son in hell” line from the previous chapter, the furigana next to the kanji have a different meaning here. As discussed before, whenever this is the case, the furigana are what the character says, and the kanji represent what the character actually means.

The line in the second panel is: 「轟家の過去が消えるわけじゃねえだろ。」

轟家 「とどろきいえ ; todoroki ie 」-> the Todoroki household

の　「 no 」-> particle to indicate possession, works like an apostrophe

過去 「かこ  ; kako  」 ->  the past; a past (i.e. a personal history one would prefer remained secret); one’s past

が 「 ga  」 -> particle to mark the subject of the sentence

消える 「きえる  ; kieru  」 -> to vanish; to disappear

わけじゃねえ 「 wakejanee  」 -> It doesn’t mean that

だろ 「 daro  」 ->  right ? (used to ask the person you’re talking to for confirmation)

The two words that have a different furigana reading than they should have, are Todoroki household and past. According to the furigana, Dabi says:

「 うち 」-> house; one’s own home

「 じじつ 」-> truth; reality

So going by the kanji reading you get:

“This doesn’t mean that the past of the Todoroki household just disappears, right?”

Whereas what he actually says is:

“This doesn’t mean the truth of our home just disappears, right?”

In comparison to the “dance with your son in hell” line, these two versions don’t differ as much from another. Caleb actually addresses this in his twitter threat and sort of mixed the two versions into one: “This doesn’t change the hard truths about my family’s past!”

Personally, considering he is directly talking to Shouto here, I find the choice of translating the Todoroki household/home part into “my family” a bit weird. Since he seeks Shouto’s confirmation here, it would make more sense to translate it as “our family” in my opinion. The “my” makes it feel a lot more self-centered, even though there is no indication for him to only be referring to himself here.

Switching the word to vanish with “change” also slightly changes the meaning here. Though both are accurate, I feel like their past disappearing holds more weight. The line is, after all, referring to the fact that Best Jeanist has appeared, despite Dabi earlier announcing that the hero had been killed. So even though Dabi was wrong about that part, it doesn’t make his other facts go away. It’s not just about changing his words, but making it like they were never spoken in the first place. It’s a small difference, but a difference nonetheless.

Finally, the “hard truths” part instead of reality/past. It’s interesting to think about why Dabi says “truth” when he means “past”. But I think one way to look at it is that to Dabi, he has accepted the past. He has lived with it and carried it with him in silence for so long, but was always aware of it. Despite him not having told anyone else about it, he didn’t deny that past to himself. He shows his scars and he fights back. That is who Dabi is as the person that rose from Touya’s ashes. Meanwhile, he says “truth” while talking to Shouto. While we, the readers, and those around Shouto know of his hatred towards Endeavor, Dabi doesn’t know about this. To him, Shouto really is just Endeavor’s little doll. And so in Dabi’s eyes, Shouto has yet to see the truth. To acknowledge their past and the pain they all went through. And though Dabi might not be completely right about Shouto, he isn’t entirely wrong, either. Because even when Shouto hates Endeavor, even when he says he is just going to use him for his own gain, at the end of the day, regardless of his reasons, his actions are still what Endeavor wants him to do - to train hard and want to become the Number One Hero.

I included one the alternative meanings “a personal past one might prefer remained secret” because it also fits well with that interpretation. That the true meaning behind him saying “truth” is not just the mere past, but the part of the past they don’t want to share. Whether that’s because it’s an ugly one that could haunt them for the rest of their lives, or because it’s just difficult to talk about. Either way, it’s more than just memories from when their family was still young. In that, I think “hard truth” is actually a fitting translation, even when it doesn’t have the exact same nuance as the Japanese version.

While Shouto and Dabi are in many ways similar to another, they have slightly different goals: While Dabi wants to kill Endeavor, Shouto wants to save his mom. To both of them that is liberty, just with a different approach.

And the ending of the sentence, where he seeks confirmation from Shouto, sort of indicates just that. He wants Shouto to admit it. Pushing him into a corner and asking a question that only has one right answer. This is also similar to a few chapters ago when Toga confronted Uraraka with the question “Was Jin not a person?” It’s asking something with an obvious answer, yet the people being asked seem to not yet be able to give the right answer, even when they might already know it.

Next of, Shouto confronts Dabi about the villain he sent to their house, who could have killed Natsuo. As you can see in the panel above, the English translation has Dabi say: “Almost killed? What a shame. That would’ve really hurt Endeavor.”

Meanwhile, the Japanese version says: 「それならそれで。エンデヴァーが苦しむ。」

「それならそれで ; sorenara sorede 」 -> even so (expression frustration); still

「 エンデヴァー ; Endebā 」 -> Endeavor

「 が ; ga 」 -> particle to mark the subject of the sentence

「 苦しむ ; kurushimu  」 -> to suffer

As you can see, “Almost killed? What a shame” is kind of very far off from the actual meaning. While the official translation makes it almost sound like Dabi is disappointed and wants Natsuo to be killed, the fan translation has him say: “Then that would mean Endeavor would suffer.” This is a lot closer to the Japanese version and focuses on the more important part: the goal is for Endeavor to suffer. Dabi’s intention isn’t to get anyone else in the family hurt/killed in the process, however, he does have this tunnel vision where everything is about Endeavor and doing whatever to hurt him.

“What a shame” sounds like he is upset Natsuo didn’t actually die. While, as stated above, the first part can show frustration, that frustration more likely refers to the disappointment that Endeavor doesn’t suffer as much as he could.

While both versions translate the second part as Endeavor “would” suffer/be hurt by this, the Japanese uses the present tense for suffering. In a way, Dabi is saying “Well, though he could’ve been more hurt, he suffers.” Maybe he hasn’t been as damaged as could be, but it doesn’t matter, because the fact remains that he does suffer from this, present tense. So Dabi doesn’t recognize this as a loss or “a shame” that Natsuo didn’t die. Instead, he recognizes that Endeavor suffers, even when he isn’t met with the worst-case scenario.

In response to the last panel, Shouto asks whether Dabi is insane (please don’t ask people that) and Dabi’s response in the original translation is “Sure am, Shouto. See, your brother’s not so big on “feelings” anymore.”

A couple of thoughts on this. First, this is a downgrade in comparison to the fan translation of “You got it, Shouto! Your big brother has completely lost any feeling for anything!”

Something the phrasing coupled with Dabi’s wide eyes and big smile make me laugh and this panel now lives rent free in my head. 

Anyway, the Japanese line goes: 「そうだよ焦凍兄ちゃん何も感じなくなっちまった。」

「そうだよ ; soudayo 」 -> that is right

「 焦凍  ; Shouto 」 -> Shouto

「 兄ちゃん ; Nii-Chan 」 -> big bro (in a very endearing way, but can also be used to be demeaning)

「 何も  ; nanimo 」 -> nothing

「 感じ ; kanji 」 -> feeling

「 なく ; naku 」 -> adverbial form of nai; attaches to a verb to mean “without”

「 なっちまった ; nacchimatta 」 -> to have become (unintentionally; regretfully)

The fan translation, in my opinion, is far more accurate, but there is still something missing. 

First of all, I don’t know why the official translation put feelings in quotes as if Dabi didn’t actually say it? mean it? It just feels like an odd choice that I can’t find a good enough justification for.

Second of all, “not so big on ‘feelings’ anymore” and “has completely lost any feeling for anything” is a big difference, and would make sense if the fan translation was inaccurate. But it isn’t. The official translation makes it sound like Dabi more or less chose not to feel anymore or pay attention to his feelings. He could, but he doesn’t want to. You could argue that both sentences still carry the same meaning: Dabi doesn’t feel anymore. "To be big on something” usually refers to having a strong interest in something and prioritizing said interest, which implies that one chooses to prioritize it. While I’m not arguing that some people do choose to ignore their feelings instead of confronting them, in this case, it’s actually the opposite of what he says.

Looking at the actual Japanese sentence, it begins with Dabi confirming Shouto’s words. Yes, I am crazy. There is no denying, nor shame in this. There is almost a bit of pride in that - so little bro actually recognizes that I have gone crazy from this.

Nii-Chan is an interesting choice of words here. The Japanese language is very much based on hierarchy. There are different levels of formality (shown through words, expressions, and verb forms) depending on whom you are speaking to. To summarize: When you are talking to someone who is of higher status (based on job position, age, experience). This also applies to siblings. Since those of higher status can be more direct/less formal with those of lower status, older siblings can address their younger siblings by their given name alone. 

Meanwhile, the younger siblings would use some kind of honorific/suffix. In this case, the “Nii” means older brother. “San” is the standard suffix you would use to address your older siblings (and other people in general). “Chan” is a suffix that you usually use for kids/girls, - where it has a cute, endearing connotation - wherefore it becomes kind of rude when used for older people (as in people who aren’t children anymore). But it can also show endearment - a close bond between the siblings.

So why does Dabi call himself “Nii-Chan”? While you can interpret this as a sarcastic remark to mock their non-existent relationship, I think here Dabi uses it here to humanize himself to Shouto. Kind of like an “I know you see me as a villain right now, but I also am your bro, remember?” He isn’t just this “evil criminal” - rather cute lil Touya is still inside of him. Dabi isn’t just Dabi. He still is Touya, too. So if you fight Dabi and if you call Dabi insane, you also do those things to Touya. Dabi might be the stage of “having completely lost it” but that doesn’t just suddenly happen. It’s a process. While we can say Dabi became Touya on the day Touya “died” yet it’s important to recognize that there was a gradual transition where both Touya and Dabi existed.

Now that we have that part aside, let’s focus on the actual point of that phrase. The part about his feelings.

何も感じなくなっちまった。 Nanimo kanjinaku nacchimatta.

“Nanimo” means nothing and comes with negative verbs that it refers to.

As mentioned before, “kanji” means feeling and is paired with the adverbial form of “nai” - “naku” which negates “kanji” to turn it into not feeling. Pair that with “nanimo” and you get a meaning of “feeling nothing”

Now for the actually interesting part of this phrase (apologies that it took so long) - “nacchimatta”. This word consists of two seperate words: “naru” and “chimatta”. “Naru” means to become and is here merged with “chimatta” which is the colloquial past tense version of “teshimau”. The verb “shimau” expresses that an action (the verb it attaches to) has happened either unintentionally or has yielded regrettable results. So in this case, it is unintentional/regrettable that he has become something.

Putting this together, Dabi says that he has turned into someone who doesn’t feel anything anymore and this was not his intention, nor is it a good thing. To be fair, “shimau” can also mean something happens completely, however this meaning is rarer and while we can say that this is the meaning here, it’s more likely and more interesting to consider the more common meaning.

With that in mind, I want to quickly address the panel next to it, where Shouto asks him whether he has gone insane

In Japanese Shouto says:「イカれてんのかてめェ！」

「イカれて ; ikarete  」 -> (*ika is written in katakana here to emphasize the word since you can’t use italics in Japanese) to be beaten; to be crazy

「 ん  ; n 」 -> ender is used when explaining something; often with emotion*

「 の ; no 」 -> explanatory particle; used at the end of a sentence like a question marker, but you want the listener to answer and give you the reasons why

「 か ; ka 」 -> ender indicating doubt or uncertainty

「 てめェ！; temee! 」 -> you (derogatory) *meme not intended

The reason why these nuances are important to take into account is that when Dabi, in his reply confirms that “Yes, you’re right, unfortunately, I have become unable to feel anything” he is not just confirming the statement, but emphasizing just how tragic this all is.

*[edit because someone pointed this out to me: the ん here is actually more likely to be the casual form of いる (iru) that attaches to the て (te) form of a verb to turn it into the current/ongoing state (= In this case "are you being crazy).]

The official translation simply made Shouto say: “Are you freaking insane?!” which isn’t exactly wrong but misses the nuance of the “nnoka” in the middle of the sentence. While the official translation sounds rather cold and dismissive, the original shows that Shouto cares. There is emotion, and more importantly: there is a desire to hear his reasons. “Why do you think it was okay to put Natsuo in danger?” By the way, the “n” ender that shows emotion when explaining something is also used by Shouto earlier when he says “Remember him? The brother you cried to every day?!” - It’s no surprise that he is emotional right now, still, it’s important to note that he isn’t just showing his emotions through his tone or his expression, but also through his words in order to make it as clear as possible to Dabi how much Dabi’s actions affect the rest of them and hopefully be able to get through to it.

It’s an emotional and tragic conversation that takes place between them, yet the official translation turned it into a much colder, less-caring one.

I know this was a lengthy post with a lot of information, so congrats and thank you if you’ve made it this far. The reason why I decided to make this post was that initially, the “Nii-Chan can’t feel anything anymore” part stuck with me so much and even more so when I dissected it.

Again, other people have pointed out that the official translation is very biased at times, which is not just sad for those of us who care about the villains, but it’s also just not professional. A lot of the panels I talked about in this post aren’t inherently incorrect, they are simply missing nuances that the English language doesn’t provide. Still, I wished that a professional translator would figure out a way to at least slightly incorporate these anyhow (which btw is literally part of the job). Aside from those, it’s just frustrating when the emotions get almost entirely removed from phrases. I get it - Dabi is apathetic, as he says himself. And yet, Dabi is also constantly shown to put extreme care into which words he chooses; this chapter being no exception. So why does such an important conversation between two brothers get changed in ways that make people who don’t bother checking other translations/the Japanese version unable to get the right image of them?

I understand that it’s important to support the official translation and I do. But it’s also very much important to read other versions, too. While the fan translation might have errors and mistranslations in it here and there, it tends to be a bit more literal and thus includes the nuances more than the official translation does. So please don’t just read the official translation and treat it like the only valid one, when it also comes with its flaws and just isn’t a good sole source for when you want to understand the characters.

[shihalyfie]

@sage-striaton replied to your post:

Idk how people can say Frontier has characters that lack depth. Imo it’s a very psychological season. The whole adventure thing is aimed to making them grown in their behaviours and feelings, it’s a big metaphor of their development

I’m sorry for hijacking your response to my post to segue this into another rant of mine, but I want to emphasize that one of my goals with this blog (if I can be said to have any) is that I really, really, really want people to re-examine whether they actually believe in the rhetoric that’s been dominating this fanbase for two decades, or whether there’s more to it. This is especially in regards to the fact that we’re talking a series deliberately written in such a way that it’ll change meaning and nuance as you get older, so it can “grow up” with you in a sense, and yet it seems like -- especially in regards to Adventure through Frontier, due to their position as the oldest series that the majority of the fanbase was elementary or preteen age during -- people are still regurgitating the same rehashed twenty-year-old ideas like they’re undeniable law. It’s one thing if they’re saying it because the series didn’t sit well with them the first time and they don’t want to watch it again, but we’re reaching a recurring problem where it’s sort of “brainwashing” even people who don’t actually believe it but feel compelled to go along with it, or wouldn’t feel that way if it weren’t for peer pressure. Obviously, there are dissenting opinions, and ones that are even very loud about that, but that pressure remains.

The mainstream opinion in the fanbase is that Adventure is untouchable and impervious to any criticism, 02 is its inferior sequel with half-baked characters, Tamers is an auteur work that’s the “deepest” of the original tetralogy due to being dark, and Frontier is devoid of much substance at all. Even those who don’t really believe in this will still be pressured to go alongside it, those who like 02 or Frontier will be pressured to consider it a “guilty pleasure”, and it’s only very recently when certain events revealed that the idea of 02 actually having quite its own fervent and passionate fanbase that likes it on its own merits became properly recognized. (I have actually noticed a huge uptick in 02 fans, especially casual ones, being more shameless in talking about liking it in the last two years; you’re still going to get the obnoxious person “reminding” you how bad it apparently is if you bring it up, but it’s not nearly as prevalent as it used to be.) I’m not talking about whether something is a “good” or “bad” series -- that concept doesn’t really exist to me as much as whether it’s “to one’s tastes” or not, and I think one of the joys of this franchise is that it has things that cater to people with vastly different preferences -- as much as a lot of potential for analysis and intimate thought about these very fascinating series. Even if 02 and Frontier were as shallow or half-baked as they were accused of, I wouldn’t think it’d be shameful to like them for one’s own reasons anyway, but what frustrates me is that I just don’t think that’s true in the first place!!

Not helping is that there’s still a refusal among the fanbase to admit that there were substantial differences in American English dubbing (especially in regards to Adventure and 02), which I don’t mean as a bad thing in the sense that some people prefer to stick only with that dub and consider that version what they want to work with, but in the sense that the treatment of them as “the same thing” has been horribly detrimental when two people, one coming from that dub and one coming from the Japanese version (or a dub more closely based on it), will end up often having an argument doomed to go nowhere because they were never talking about the same thing to begin with. Recently, a friend admitted to me that although they’d switched to the Japanese version a long time ago, they still couldn’t get the image of Daisuke and Takeru having an inherently hostile relationship (they don’t) out of their head due to the influence of that dub, and although they consciously knew better -- at least enough to admit this to me -- it wasn’t helped by the fact that the fanbase itself continues to reinforce this image because of how normalized it is to treat the dub version and the Japanese version as “virtually the same” and for Western fanbase discourse to assume you should be projecting those takes into the Japanese version. If you’re hanging out in English-speaking circles but are working from the Japanese version or a dub directly based off of it, you do actually have to filter out a lot of takes you’re hearing because they won’t actually apply to the version you’re watching, but not a lot of people realize this.

All four of Adventure through Frontier share tons of key staff, especially Seki, known for her focus on wanting the kids in the audience to be able to empathize with and relate to the characters on screen. All four share some of the best character work I’ve seen not only in this franchise, but also in kids’ media in general, and I also stress that a lot of this has a ton of nuance that isn’t always apparent unless you read between the lines. I do understand that a lot of this probably went over our heads as kids, and I won’t say that the choice to execute it this way should be impervious to criticism, but nevertheless, I think it’s important to call attention to the fact it is there, and much of it becomes recognizable once you see it that way; for instance, so much of "it's contradictory character writing!" comes from the fact that the series tries to represent humans in their inconsistent, messy ways, and while it'll feel "messy" from a writing trope perspective, when you think about it as "since this person has this mentality, does it make sense to approach this with this mindset?", suddenly it becomes very consistent. The supposedly “shallow” 02 and Frontier characters will act in ways that match existing psychological profiles meant for actual humans to terrifying degrees, in ways that you might actually recognize even better once you’ve hit adulthood and start intimately understanding things like depression or anxiety in ways you might not have before. Shockingly, “having heart, important themes, and kindness towards the human condition” are completely valid reasons to uplift a creative work in ways distinct from technical writing or cerebrality or how many tropes they subvert or whatever.

On the flip side, people praise Adventure and Tamers for being the naturally “superior” works with better writing, but when it comes to talking about why the writing is supposedly better, a good chunk of the reasons stated don’t actually explain anything substantial, or go back to actually being passive-aggressive dunks on the other series in some form -- it’s because 02 and Frontier’s character writing sucks that badly, or because Adventure had the “best plot” (which may be true if by “best” you mean “easiest to understand”, but that doesn’t mean much to someone who might not be very happy about how its story progression is just a boss rush), or because Tamers is the “deepest” when by “deep” they actually mean “cerebral, dark, and unsubtle about it” without any further meaning (as if Adventure and 02 were idealistic series that never went into anything nuanced and not, say, the fact they went very viciously deep into societal issues between parents and children, psychological horror, and intimate takes on the human condition). I’m personally saying this as someone who does think Adventure and Tamers have a lot to praise in terms of their approaches to realism and the unique aspects each bring to the table, and I feel that people like this are doing them more of a disservice by not bothering to uplift them for any reason that isn’t actually just inherently condescending. I mean, even taking this outside of the original tetralogy for a bit, when I was plugging Appmon earlier, there’s a reason I focused more on its theme and character writing and the use of “dark” writing to convey its sheer range, rather than trying to boil it down to a shallow “it looks cheery but gets really messed up later!”, which is unfortunately an argument I’ve been seeing about it lately.

In the end, when I write my meta, I write it "making a case" for my point of view, and I welcome others to disagree, but if you disagree, I really hope it'll be because you personally disagree, and not because the entire fanbase has been saying otherwise for twenty years and I sound like a radical. I’m not saying that everyone’s consensus takes are completely unfounded, but frankly speaking, this fanbase has some really bad takes, and in the past few years I’ve found it freeing to not only “say what you feel without worrying what others think”, but actually go out of my way to outright try and purge all the preconceived notions and pick only the ones I agree with because I actually agree with them. I encourage you to do it too! And if you do, you might find things about something you like that you didn’t realize before.

[holycatsandrabbits]

Tollense, an original serial romance by Dannye Chase, Chapter 5

A history professor falls in love with his best friend, a 3000-year-old vampire.

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Chapter 5

CW: blood

This chapter has 2 versions: a T-rated one here on Tumblr and an E-rated one on Ao3. The plot is the same, but there’s smut on the Ao3 version.

1999 (Two years later)

The second inhuman creature Liam met was named Bennett, and Liam liked him about as much as he liked sand in his socks. Bennett was tall and thin, with a pretty face and a predatory look in his eyes that completely spoiled it.

Liam was walking across campus on an unseasonably cold night (for Florida) and now that he’d come upon a vampire, he was glad for the light scarf he’d wound around his neck. Bennett fell into step with Liam as if they were old friends. “Looking for Kurt,” he said. “Heard around town that you know him.”

“Sorry, I can’t help you.”

Bennett peered at him more intensely, and when Liam recoiled a little, Bennett grinned. “Guess you’ve spent enough time with him to know what I am. So, uh— how good of friends are you? Cause I should tell you I really picked you out by the fact that I can smell him on you.”

Liam decided he was not going to think too hard about that one. “Was there something you needed?”

“Just want to catch up with him. Been a while.”

“Well, I’m sure he knows you’re here.”

Bennett looked confused. “How would he know that?”

“I have no idea how he does it. In any case, if he wants to see you—”

Kurt’s voice cut in, startling Bennett. “I don’t, particularly. But neither do I wish Liam to have to deal with this.”

Kurt was ahead of them on the sidewalk, a shadowed shape sitting on a half-wall by the library. Liam recognized him easily by the fact that it was difficult to decide exactly how large of a person was sitting there in the dark, as the outline of him seemed to shift restlessly. Kurt’s voice fell low, and almost seemed to ripple the air around them. “Get away from him.”

Bennett took several steps back, and Liam wasn’t sure whether Kurt had used his mental powers to compel him into moving, or if he’d just scared the man badly enough. Kurt stood up off of the wall and stepped in between Liam and Bennett. “What do you want?” he asked.

Bennett was cringing. “Look, man— if you can just give me a drop. I’m in trouble, pissed off some guys. I’ll pay you. Anything. I can get you whatever you—” Bennett’s voice trailed off and his eyes grew wide, terror growing on his face. Abruptly he turned and ran, disappearing into the dark.

When Kurt turned back to Liam, he looked completely normal. For Kurt, anyway. So only a tiny bit terrifying, if you looked closely enough around the eyes.

“A drop of what?” Liam asked. He started heading for home again, and Kurt joined him, watching Liam intently, assessing him. Liam didn’t comment on it. He’d learned that protests of his well-being were useless when Kurt was worried about him, that Kurt would perform his own examination and be satisfied only with that.

“My blood,” Kurt said finally, when his analysis had apparently ended. “A drop of it can heal humans’ wounds, and although I’ve never tried it on a vampire, I imagine it would make them stronger. They sometimes come asking for it. I’ve just never found one who wanted it for a good reason.”

Liam was not in the habit of asking Kurt a lot of questions, largely because it was more comfortable sometimes not to know an answer, and Kurt seemed to make a practice of telling Liam the truth. Liam decided to ask anyway. “So, how did you know I’d met your, ah, friend there?”

“I know what happens to you,” Kurt said.

Liam watched him for a second, doing his own assessment. “You know I’m going to accuse you of mind reading.”

Kurt turned and met his eyes, an odd expression on his face that looked a little like bewilderment and a little like a reluctant confession. “I don’t need to. I just know. Listen, Liam, are you busy tonight?”

“You don’t have plans with Jonah?”

“No, he’s out with friends.”

“Ah. Did you get a chance to—”

“I’ll eat when he gets home, if he’s up for it.” Kurt was looking at him curiously, probably because Liam didn’t usually call attention to the fact that Kurt’s lovers provided him with blood. “Do you want to head to Tollense?” Kurt asked. “It’s midnight in Germany. Site should be deserted.”

“Are you remembering something about your origins?” Liam asked.

“I’m not sure.”

Liam nodded and Kurt slipped a hand under his elbow. Their next step brought them down into a darkened river valley. The grass would be green in the sunlight, but under the stars it ran gray and then faded to black in the distance. The Tollense River was more of a sound than a sight right now, the pleasant noises of gently moving water emerging from a dark void.

It was actually warmer in Germany that night than Florida, and Liam unwound his scarf. He sat on the grass and looked up at the clear night sky.

“I think there was a bridge,” Kurt said.

“Makes sense,” Liam told him. “A bridge is a natural place for a battle. People would want to be in control of movement through a strategic point.” Liam tried to imagine the valley as it had looked three thousand years earlier, during a large-scale Bronze Age battle that historians had once thought impossible in this sparsely populated area. Kurt had been here then, young and vulnerable and a great many other things that he would never again be.

“I’m pretty sure I was on a boat under the bridge,” Kurt said. “I remember people falling, and some of them landed in it.” Kurt dropped onto the grass beside Liam. “And I was still looking for that same person that I can’t remember.”

“That’s not bad for three thousand years ago,” Liam said.

“I don’t remember dying,” Kurt said. “You’d think that would be a memorable event.”

“Are you sure you did?” Liam asked.

Kurt looked pensive, and Liam wanted to tell him that he could let go of all of it, the human mask that he tried so hard to keep on, that it wouldn’t frighten Liam to see him as he really was. But Liam wasn’t entirely sure that was true, and he was certain that it would break Kurt’s heart to think Liam was afraid of him.

“You still think I’m not a vampire,” Kurt said.

“Maybe. I mean, yes, you drink blood, but your powers are different, your blood is different, and if you never died—”

“I have the scars from the arrows in my chest. At some point, I must have been vulnerable to weapons.”

“Well, you were human. And now you’ve— changed.”

“There’s something else,” Kurt said. “It’s happened on our last three trips here.” He pointed, and Liam looked, but all he could see was the occasional glint of starlight reflected in the river. “There’s a dog,” Kurt said.

That was not what Liam had been expecting. “A dog.”

“Yeah. A large white dog. I thought he was real until I realized you don’t see him. And also, he’s got six eyes. I couldn’t see him well enough at first to notice that, but he comes closer now.”

Liam fought a little shiver. Surely with Kurt by his side he was in no danger from a spectral dog. And anyway, if Kurt thought there was danger, he’d have Liam nowhere near it.

“Six eyes,” Liam mused. “You know, in Proto-Indo-European mythology, there was sometimes said to be a three-headed dog guarding the underworld.”

“He’s just got the one head.”

“Yes, but he’s got enough eyes for three.”

“I suppose so.” Kurt sounded amused. “But why would a dog from the Underworld be appearing to me?”

“I’ll do some research.” Liam lay back on the grass, alone in a field at night with the first inhuman creature he’d met, and this one was not pathetic and frightened but incredibly dangerous and also quite sweet. Liam decided he’d like to ask another question. “Does it hurt? When you drink blood from someone?”

“No. Well, yes, but I convince them it doesn’t.” Kurt lay down too, but on his side, looking at Liam. “Actually�� I usually make it feel nice.”

“Nice.”

“Very nice.”

Liam turned to look at him. Kurt’s eyes were glowing faintly in the dark. “Oh. You mean— nice.”

“Listen, Liam— you and I—” Kurt frowned, almost seeming nervous, which was not a common look for him. “When I drink blood from someone, we form a connection. Something that ties them to me, lets me know if they’re all right or in trouble. I’ve wanted that with you, for a long time. Because we’re— we’re close. But the thing is, it’s been happening anyway.”

Kurt was losing his human disguise a bit. His shape in the darkness was shifting about again. “I know where you are, and what’s happening to you. I know if you’re sick, if you’re hungry. I know when you get those damned threatening letters because they scare you.”

“Why?” Liam whispered.

“I don’t know.” Kurt looked honestly confused. “But you and I already share a greater intimacy than I’ve shared with anyone in a very long time. If I drank from you— we’d be even closer. Is that something that you would want?”

“Yes.”

Kurt was assessing him again. “You’re scared.”

“Not of you.”

“If we do this— whatever you’re scared of might not remain your secret.”

Liam felt a little wetness in his eyes. “I don’t think it’s a secret now.”

Kurt lay there looking at him for another moment, and then he sat up. Liam started to sit up as well, but Kurt put a gentle hand on his shoulder and Liam lay back down. Kurt’s hand trailed down his arm to grasp his wrist, holding him loosely, as if Kurt wanted him to have a last chance to pull away.

Liam did not pull away, and Kurt raised Liam’s wrist to his mouth. The bite was painless. To Liam it felt like a kiss, the soft, warm press of Kurt’s lips against his skin, and there was only a sort of odd lightheadedness that made him realize he was losing blood.

After a moment, Kurt raised his head, and there was a touch of color to his lips, a sort of stain in the darkness. “Do you want the full show?” he asked.

“Seems a shame to miss out,” Liam answered.

*********

Read the E-rated ending on Ao3 or continue for the T-rated ending. The plot is the same, but there’s smut on the Ao3 version.

**********

Kurt lowered his head again, but this time instead of biting, he licked at what blood had welled up on Liam’s wrist. Liam found himself floating in a daze, where every movement of Kurt’s lips or tongue brought him further into bliss. He felt the bite this time, and it was the perfect sting of pain to make the pleasure seem even sweeter. Liam moaned, and he heard Kurt make some sort of light growling noise in return.

The night and the stars seemed to fade away and there was only Kurt. Liam felt dizzy and entranced, his body and mind not his own, as Kurt drank his blood and gave him this pleasure as reward.

While Kurt sat unaffected above him.

It ended before Liam could really understand what a bleak thought that was, that he was alone in this ecstasy, not wrapped in his lover’s arms. He felt Kurt’s mouth move away from his wrist. The bliss gently ebbed away, letting Liam settle back into himself as he lay there on the grass. And yet Kurt was not gone. Liam could feel him inside, close and warm. Not in a sexual way, not anymore. But there was the realization that Kurt had felt Liam’s moment of reluctance and responded to it, maybe not understanding why it was there, but accepting it nonetheless.

Kurt lay down again, so that he could look into Liam’s eyes. He still had hold of Liam’s hand, and he’d laced their fingers together.

“Wow,” Liam said.

Kurt smiled, looking both pleased and sad. Or maybe Liam could tell that Kurt was feeling both pleased and sad. Liam, for his part, felt dizzy and a little cold, and Kurt pulled him close, resting Liam’s head against his shoulder. Liam fell asleep that way, on a battlefield three thousand years old, in the arms of a man who might have died there or perhaps could never die at all.

*******************

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Updates Fridays on Ao3 and DannyeChase.com (rated E), and Tumblr (rated T)

Want to create fic, art, or other works based on this series? Please do! Just dm or tag me.

My previous serials are for Good Omens: Mr. Fell's Bookshop and Love's Endless Light

My Carrd

[ichika27]

OnS Chapter 106

Well... this chapter is making me ask questions lol. At last though, we’re back to seeing what Mika is doing but is also continuing from where the previous chapter left off. So many things happening at once.

The 2nd Progenitor Rigr Stafford vs. 3rd Progenitor Lest Karr and 5th Progenitor Ky Luc. Lest is having trouble and is worried due to facing a 2nd progenitor while his companion Ky is enjoying himself and feels confident he could win against a their enemy. Rigr realizes in the middle of battle that Ky is probably Urd's right hand man since Ky's ability surpasses that of a regular 5th progenitor.

Rigr aims at Ky's eye. Ky realizes he can't dodge it anyways so he just went straight ahead to land an attack himself. Now the two of them are too connected to each other which worried Lest since he's about to use a lightning attack. Ky just tells him to go for it.

Ky gives his sword as much blood as he could give to make sure Rigr couldn't get away when Lest uses Heaven's Fan. When the attack is done, Ky sustained a lot of injuries.

It seems the attack had worked and had injured the 2nd progenitor as well. I felt pretty suspicious at this moment cause there’s no way these two could easily beat a 2nd progenitor. Plus Rigr wasn’t really that worried despite saying so cause he doesn’t always mean what he tells them. I thought there must be a trick.

2nd Progenitor Urd Geales finally makes an appearance! Lest tells him of what had transpired and Urd isn't amused and tells him that it's impossible for a vampire to escape the cell (he made it so himself). He then tells Rigr to stop messing with his subordinates.

With a clap of the hands, Rigr is back in the cell. Rigr reveals that the entire fight was nothing but an illusion that he learned from humans. lol I knew there was a trick but I didn’t think it was all an illusion. I thought he’d easily regenerate or something.

You know what, Rigr’s teasing nature and laid-back attitude in the middle of battle reminds me of Ferid. They might not be blood-related but he is the one who turned Ferid into a vampire so it’s close.

The two former friends have a little reunion. Ky apologizes for the trouble but Urd tells him it wasn't his fault as Rigr is of a higher rank and can't be helped.

It seems he still cares...

Rigr asks Urd what the latter has in store for him and Urd says that if Rigr doesn't answer his questions, he might just kill him. Urd asks what Rigr’s plan is and Rigr tells him that his revenge plan against the 1st Progenitor hasn't changed yet after all these years so there’s nothing to say.

Urd says that in betraying the 1st, Rigr had also betrayed him and Rigr offered to be killed. He mentions he hasn't forgotten about Urd and has thought about him everyday when they were separated.

I’m sorry... these lines are getting to me. They must’ve been really close friends for them to be this way with each other. They kinda remind me of Mika and Yuu in a way except these two sort of became rivals or something.

Urd then asked Rigr about this revenge plan and how it's going.

I’m guessing the original question is asking about what the plan is specifically but it’s changed to asking if it’s going well. I wonder if Urd had realized what it might be before asking?

Meanwhile, Mika is still inside Yuu's heart. In front of him is a strange eye and he's trying to figure out what this one is exactly.

Mika touches the eye to peek into what's in it. He's then transported to this strange place and in each of the containers inside is an eyeball each. Mika finds himself possessing one of these eyeballs.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who recognized this from the Ancient Greece flashbacks several chapters ago.

It’s tiny Yuu-chan! It confirmed that this is Mikaela's room from back in Greece thousands of years ago from the flashbacks. Yuu visits here many times to try and wake up the "sleeping" Mika inside the glass. This is probably a later scenario from Ashera’s flashbacks cause this Yuu isn’t borderline emotionless and acts like an excitable child unlike the Yuu that Ashera first met.

Noya tells him it's pointless as Mika is dead but Yuu tells him that Mika will certainly wake up. It's Yuu's job to wake him after all. Noya comments that Yuu's exact duty is to be the sacrifice to awaken Mika. Yuu didn't hear this and continues to call Mika which annoyed Noya enough and in the end, Yuu was killed.

Okay, so I don’t remember if Yuu had been calling Sika Madu “Father” from before or if this is some new development because I think he just called him “Master” back then? Also, I guess this means Yuu and Mika are connected more deeply than we thought. I wonder how Yuu would be sacrificed.

Noya then uses one of the eyeballs and turned it into another Yuu. The new Yuu could talk but knows nothing. He kept asking so many questions that Noya got annoyed again and killed this one, too. Ashera tells him that it's not right and Noya just says that he just has to get used to it. Plus no one would notice how many had been killed if they made another Yuu.

We’re finally shown how they make Yuu-chan clones. I wonder what changed or how this is done as the new Yuu clone acts like the previous one: loud and excited. He’s totally not like the Yuu that Ashera met who is quiet and sort of emotionless. I thought they would start out like that quiet Yuu first and then learn to be normal but it seems the clones are more like the new version of Yuu.

The next Yuu Noya had created is the one Mika is currently possessing. Of course, this “Yuu” wouldn’t act the same as the others since Mika is possessing it. Noya didn’t question this or at least, he seems to not and just leaves this Yuu be.

So either he’s just faking and realized that there’s something really different (as that look is suggesting) or the personality of the Yuu-chan clones differ from one another that this is a possibility. Also, since Yuu-chan is a clone, who was he cloned from? Was there an original Yuu-chan? What was he then? So many questions...

The 1st Progenitor and the others have arrived. Raimei scolds the kids for entering the room without permission but Byakko just tells her to go easy on them as they're just kids.

The group (minus the 1st Progenitor) looks like their demon selves: from the outfits to the horns). Does this mean they’ve been turned to demons at this point? Also, Byakko’s personality doesn’t look as serious as he seems as he currently is as Byakkomaru. By the way, I don’t think I’ve ever heard their original names being used so not sure if these are right. I got them from the wiki when I was looking at the correct name spellings for the other characters.

Back to the present, Rigr offers Urd the choice to join him in revenge. Rigr tells them that his preparations are ready and apologizes for taking too long with it. He asks Urd if the latter has any hostages and it's revealed that the people Urd was carrying earlier are Shinya and Kureto and so Rigr asked about their demons (which are their former vampire companions).

This is making me wonder what Urd’s plan is. At first of course I thought he’s asking Rigr about this revenge thing cause he wants to know if he could stop it or change Rigr’s mind. But now I’m confused cause the way he’s asking seems like he’s... interested? And Rigr asked about hostages which Urd already has and coincidentally (or not...?) they are Shinya and Kureto who are the contractors of Byakkomaru and Raimeiki. Rigr even asked about the demons.

Like if Urd turned out to switch sides and becomes Rigr’s ally, I don’t think I’d be surprised. The current arc is just everybody switching sides and backstabbing everyone else or having ulterior motives in the stuff they do. How many opposing groups do we even have now lol.

Switching back to the past, Mika continues to observe the others through the clone Yuu. Sika Madu seem to have realized what he really is though and addresses him directly.

I’m betting this is the real Sika Madu cause he’s already left Shinoa. Plus if his other demon companions could go to another demon’s world, there’s no doubt he could do it, too since he’s the most powerful of them all.

Sika Madu tries to put Mika to sleep. A struggling Mika hears Yuu's voice telling him that in order to escape they must work together. If they devour one another, Mika would become Yuu's demon. As Sika Madu continues to use his powers on Mika, Mika finally accepts and lets himself become Yuu's demon.

--

Finally! I guess if this goes well (which there’s a high chance this would go well unless the author decides to prolong the drama), Mika would finally become a demon weapon. it’s also another sword if I remember correctly. I wonder if Yuu will use it now that Asuramaru can’t be trusted? Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered the cover art for one of Owari no Seraph’s artbooks wherein Yuu is shown with his sword and the reflection in it is Mika. Foreshadowing or coincidence? Probably coincidence since it’s the reverse in another artbook. Still it’s cool.

The Vampire side of the story is slowly connecting to the protagonists’ side of the story. It looks like whatever it is that Rigr is planning, it’ll involve the demons residing in a majority of the main casts’ weapons. They’d cross paths sooner or later.

Shinya and Kureto got caught but where are the others? Where are the rest of Guren’s squad? I wonder who the demons are that’s inside of the weapons of the others...

I’m still sad they chose not to use the nickname Mika had for Yuu. “Yuu-chan” is distinctly Mika’s nickname for him (it’s even Mika’s favorite phrase according to one of the fanbooks haha). Plus since they never use any honorifics for the way everyone else calls Yuu (Yoichi’s “Yuu-kun” and Shinoa’s “Yuu-san” are just “Yuu/Yu” now), there’s no difference. Mika calling Yuu by a specific nickname even became a plot point when one of the human soldiers trusted Mika because of how he calls Yuu. Like, I get why they’re not using honorifics in the official translation but it’s still a shame. Now everytime I see Mika call Yuu or refer to Yuu, my mind fills in the missing honorific. It will always be “Yuu-chan” to me.

Anyways, the last page of this chapter never said when the next one would come out. I wonder why? I’m hoping it’s not a hiatus but it can’t be helped if it is. I’m kinda excited for what’s to come next. I wonder what happened to everyone else? Are we ever gonna get POVs from them or are they also just left to the side since they’re not part of the main conflict? I mean they seemed to have completely dropped Narumi since I haven’t seen him in a while.

Thanks for reading this if you did!

[littlepikmins]

Character Development in the Kirby Series

I wanted to share some headcanons/speculative ideas about Meta Knight, King Dedede and Bandana Dee’s character progression throughout the Kirby series.

Disclaimer: Some speculation in this post relies on Super Star and Super Star Ultra taking place at the same time in the timeline, and Ultra only adding more details about events. So chronologically this post assumes Ultra takes place between Kirby Dreamland 2 and 3 like the original Super Star. Also I haven’t played all the games referenced in this post recently so if I remember something wrong or forgot something I apologize in advance.

Kirby’s Adventure I’ll be starting with Kirby’s Adventure. In Adventure King Dedede breaks the Star Rod into multiple pieces to stop Nightmare and gives those pieces to denizens of Dream Land he deems his friends. These friends include the following characters: Whispy Woods Paint Roller Mr. Bright and Mr. Shine Kracko Heavy Mole Meta Knight This is the first game that Meta Knight appears in and already we learn King Dedede considers him a trust worthy friend. My headcanon on this is that Meta Knight works under King Dedede as his knight and Dedede is fond of him for reasons discussed below. Dedede has been stated to be a self-proclaimed king. Based on this he probably just showed up one day and declared himself king and Dream Land’s citizens went with it. I like to think his reasoning for this is because Dedede had an idea in his head about what kings are like and wanted to be one. It supports a lot of his early greedy tendencies if he had a glorified idea in his head about powerful worshiped kings based on their portrayal in storybooks.

Usually storybook kings have knights. Meta Knight’s past is really too mysterious for me to get into (and I’m okay with that, it’s part of his charm) so for now we’ll just assume one day he showed up at Dedede’s castle. Dedede, having this vision of what it meant to be a king, decides to ask this cool mysterious swordsman to be his knight. Meta Knight was probably like: “Sure, why not?” Assuming he had some reason to stick around Dream Land and staying in the Castle of Dream Land’s supposed King was convenient for him.

In Adventure even though Dedede obviously trusts Meta Knight enough to give him a piece of the Star Rod, Meta Knight assists Kirby throughout his journey to collect them all. Technically Dream Land was unable to sleep with the Star Rod broken, so Meta Knight most likely wanted to assist the person who was actually going to get rid of the problem. I think it’s safe to assume that Meta Knight doesn’t respect Dedede as much as Dedede respects him at this point in time. Dedede is a self-proclaimed King after all and Meta Knight may be skeptical of his rule, especially since while Dedede did stop Nightmare temporarily, he didn’t actually try to completely get rid of him.

Super Star Ultra

I think Meta Knight being skeptical of Dedede’s rule becomes clear in Super Star/Ultra especially. In Revenge of Meta Knight he states he wants to end Dream Land’s “lazy lifestyle.” My personal headcanon for why he does this is because he wants Dream Land to be less disorderly and believes this would be possible if Dream Land had a more capable ruler. Kirby shows up and makes quick work of Meta Knight’s plans though. Revenge of the King presumably happens around the same time and it should be noted in this instance of a fight with Dedede he copies Meta Knight’s fair fighting style by offering Kirby a hammer before their fight begins. He also dons a mask and fights with a more advanced hammer. My idea on this is that Meta Knight explicitly said to Dedede before Revenge of Meta Knight that he was unfit to rule and explained why. King Dedede was upset by this and in order to prove himself fit to be Dream Land’s King he believes he needs to defeat Kirby, which leads to the events of Revenge of the King. He also emulates Meta Knight’s act of giving Kirby a weapon at the beginning of the fight to make it even, wanting to show he is playing fair. In the end Kirby beats him.

Bandana Dee and 64 Waddle Dee

Since I’m discussing Super Star Ultra I wanna talk about Bandana Dee here. I know there’s the headcanon that Bandana Dee and 64 Waddle Dee are the same Waddle Dee. I do like this idea but Kirby’s timeline makes that confusing if the games are meant to be chronological.

Either way I do think a certain Waddle Dee stood out to King Dedede, possibly for his courage, which eventually lead him to giving him a bandana to distinguish him from the other Waddle Dees. After Bandana Dee’s fight with Kirby in Revenge of the King he then begins training to become stronger.

Post Super Star Ultra

Dreamland 3, 64, and Amazing Mirror, happen after this point. Meta Knight and Bandana Dee aren’t around in Dreamland 3 and Dedede gets possessed by Zero. In 64 King Dedede works with Kirby for the first time to collect the Crystal Shards. In Amazing Mirror, Meta Knight fails to save the Mirror World so it’s up to Kirby to find the pieces of the mirror and save him. I want to point out two things here: First, Meta Knight already knows about the Dimension Mirror which implies he could have knowledge on some artifacts presumably created by the ancients. Second, Kirby stopped Meta Knight’s ambitions in Super Star not too long ago and now Meta Knight fails to defeat the Dark version of himself and needs Kirby’s help. This makes Meta Knight begin to realize he may not be as capable as he initially thought.

Squeak Squad

This is where I get more into headcanons I have that might not have too much evidence behind them, but they’re still fun to think about.

In Squeak Squad someone steals a slice of cake from Kirby. Kirby thinks Dedede has to be the culprit and goes to his castle to fight him. After Kirby fights him the Squeaks appear and steal a chest from Dedede’s castle. Dedede throws Kirby at them and they all fall into a chasm. Later when Kirby manages to get the chest back from the Squeaks again, assuming his cake is in it, Meta Knight suddenly appears and takes it before he can open it. It is later revealed the chest contains Dark Nebula. So this raises a few questions: Why was the chest originally in Dedede’s castle? How did Meta Knight know it contained Dark Nebula? The first question could be answered by simply assuming Dedede being a king gathered treasures from across Dream Land and one happened to have Dark Nebula in it. However, this doesn’t explain how Meta Knight knew about a specific chest in Dedede’s castle housing an evil power in the first place.

What I like to think is this: Meta Knight finds this chest somewhere and learns of it’s dark power (like I said he seems to have knowledge on some ancient artifacts). Wanting to keep it safe so it’s power is not accidentally unleashed, he takes it to King Dedede’s castle and entrusts the King to protect it. This is his way of somewhat apologizing for the falling out they had in Ultra, by showing he trusts Dedede with this task. I’m not sure how long the chest remained there but eventually the Squeaks come along and take it, so Dedede informs Meta Knight about Kirby and the Squeaks falling into the chasm with the treasure. And this is why Meta Knight later appears in their location and takes the chest before Nebula is released.

Personally I like to think of Squeak Squad as a turning point for Kirby. Any way you look at it, Meta Knight and Dedede were not in the wrong in this game, but Kirby mistakenly assumed they were. Kirby’s always been very kind hearted, but recognizing that he may have made a mistake after the events of Squeak Squad could be another reason why in future games he is so willing to forgive.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Onward Since Bandana Dee has been absent for some time we can assume he has been training. He rejoins King Dedede as the spear wielding Bandana Dee we know and love just in time for RTDL, and Kirby, Meta Knight, Bandana Dee and King Dedede work together to help Magolor retrieve his ship pieces, but are then deceived and forced to fight him. After that Triple Deluxe happens. In terms of character development this game and Planet Robobot are very important. Based on what was discussed earlier, Dedede may still be figuring out what it really means to be a king rather than just having a glorified version of it in his head. In this game, Dedede gets to see the consequences a power hungry corrupted ruler has on her people first hand. And I believe due to seeing these consequences Dedede is even more motivated to become a true and good King for Dream Land. Similar to Triple Deluxe, Planet Robobot exposes the consequences individuals who believe they are bringing order to the planet has on Dream Land. This relates to Meta Knight’s earlier desire to end Dream Land’s lazy lifestyle. While I don’t think Meta Knight meant order in the way Susie and Haltmann regard it, it still shows how a group of people that view themselves as more civilized and advanced can harm the denizens of Popstar. Bandana Dee also appears in these games to assist Kirby. It is important to note that other than King Dedede and Meta Knight, he is one of the only other characters brave enough to actively work against the tyranny of these disruptive forces. Rainbow Curse also displays his courage as he teams up with Kirby to help restore color to Dream Land while Meta Knight and Dedede are unable, having been turned into statues. I believe thanks to these adventures, Bandana Dee further understands Kirby’s motives and sees him as a true hero. That is why he is willing to help Kirby best any foe, because he knows Kirby’s intentions are pure and that he only wishes to keep the peace and protect the denizens of Dream Land from corruption.

Kirby Fighters 2 Skipping to Kirby Fighters 2, King Dedede and Meta Knight working together makes a lot of sense. They both have a strong drive to prove themselves, similar to Bandana Dee. However, they also want to prove they can best Kirby (especially after both of their loses to the pink hero in the past). Kirby Fighters 2 from my perspective shows that Meta Knight now respects Dedede as the ruler of Dream Land. He has fought alongside Dedede in RTDL and Star Allies, and has seen that Dedede is no longer as selfish and greedy as he used to be and truly wants to be a fit ruler for his kingdom. They’ve also both been victim to a lot, in particular in Robobot they are both captured and used by Haltmann and Susie (Dedede is cloned, and Meta Knight is turned into Mecha Knight), and in Star Allies they are both corrupted by a Dark Jamba heart. By now it’s really more beneficial in the long run if they set their differences aside, to best face whatever may happen in the future. Dedede on the other hand I believe always had a great deal of respect for Meta Knight, but he’s still probably happy Meta Knight is willing to team up with him. By the end of the game I’m sure Meta Knight also grows to appreciate Dedede’s drive to not give up, and I believe this is why he is even willing to comfort him after their defeat. Bandana Dee is intended to be the buddy character for Kirby canonly in Fighters 2 based on the artwork in the game. While this could be seen as upsetting for Dedede, it could very well be the opposite. In one of Dedede’s Directory posts on Twitter, he mentions feeling proud of Como (little spider enemy) because he’s now able to fight as an ally and enemy in Star Allies. I’m sure his feelings on Bandana Dee growing into his own person have to be similar, even if he’s on the receiving end of his attacks. Okay… I think that’s everything! If you read this all the way through I want to thank you for taking the time out of your day to do so! Again, I might’ve forgotten a few things or misinterpreted something but I hope this made some sense heh.

[clara-licht]

You’ve Gotta Be Kidding Me

You woke up in a familiar place with Marvel actors staying there. Or at least, you thought they were actors...

Pairing: The Avengers & Reader Genre: Platonic, general Word Count: 1.9k Note: This is an edited version from my old work in deviantart where the idea is you somehow met the Avengers, but you thought they were the actors instead. It’s been a while since I last wrote something so this was a nice refresher! I got a Peter Parker imagine in works right now, though.

When you opened your eyes, you instantly regretted it.

"Ugh!"

You shielded your eyes from the burning light. When your eyes finally adapted to the lightings, you took in your surroundings. You were in a familiar room. But you didn't think you've been there before. It just that you thought you knew this room. It was quiet, but not dead quiet. You kept looking around you in silence, until a voice startled you.

"Good morning, miss."

"Who's there?!" You immediately jumped out of the bed you'd been on.

"Please do not be alarmed. My name is FRIDAY, an Artificial Intelligence created by my boss, Anthony Stark."

Hearing this, you scoffed. FRIDAY? Anthony Stark? Okay, this was either a dream or someone was pulling prank on you. "Yeah, right. And I fell from the sky to SHIELD's Helicarrier, saved by Captain America, and was treated by Dr. Bruce Banner in Stark Tower. Or is it Avengers Tower?" You said sarcastically.

You got to admit; you loved Marvel. Even if you were pretty sure Endgame also ended your life as you knew it and you couldn't accept a lot of things that happened in that movie. Like Steve leaving Bucky for Peggy, who he knew already had a fulfilling life and children? Nonsense. Far From Home was also quite heartbreaking, seeing your favorite character, Peter Parker, going through a lot like that. You just re-watched it a few days ago and had a good cry about it. Or was it weeks ago? Or hours ago? Wait, why were your memories foggy? You couldn't remember what happened before you woke up in the room.

"Are you okay?"

It took a moment for you to regain your composure. "Yeah, I'm fine. So, care to explain what happened? You can't be the real FRIDAY. As much as how I wanted you to be, FRIDAY only exist in Marvel Universe. Where is this? How did I end up here? What happened? Who are you and what do you want?"

"One moment."

You raised an eyebrow. Now she intended to make you wait? Whoever that guy who pretended to be FRIDAY was, her voice could seriously pass as Kerry Condon's.

A sound of door sliding open made you turned around. And God did you not regret doing it.

"OH MY GOD. ROBERT DOWNEY JR?!"

"Who?" The vertically challenged man, who clearly was Robert Downey Jr. a.k.a Iron Man actor, frowned. Now you didn't care if it was a prank pulled by your friends. You got to meet Downey after all!

"Oh God, are you really?! What did I do to deserve meeting you?!" You started squealing.

"Hey, FRIDAY? Are you sure she's not mentally broken? She hit her head quite hard, didn't she?"

"Yes, boss. I ran full scan of her and right now the amount of dopamine in her brain is increasing- indicating that she's happy. Aside from that, I am 100% sure she is fine."

It was your turn to frown. "What? What scan?"

Downey chuckled and looked at you. "Follow me."

Slightly confused, you followed him.

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"So… Mr. Downey?" You called.

"Who is this Downey that you keep speaking of?"

"You, of course!"

"Well," He lifted an eyebrow as he inched closer to you, "my name is Tony Stark. Feel free to call me Tony, not that name of someone I don't even know about. I've never met someone who don't know about me before."

You had to fight the urge to roll your eyes. "Well, Tony," You emphasized his name, "if you keep insisting on playing the whole Iron Man act, then I will play along."

"Play?" He mumbled, face now confused. But he decided to say nothing as the elevator dinged and you two exited the cramped lift. He led you to a spacious room. On your way, you looked around. Now you knew why it felt familiar. That place was designed close to the Avengers Compound in the movie. Whoever did this prank, they really outdid themselves.

"And here we are!"

"What took you so long, Tony?"

"Brother Anthony! I see that the lady has woken up!"

"Oh, she's awake."

"Hey, Cap! That girl you saved is awake!"

"She is?"

You gaped.

No.

Freaking.

Way.

"Now I'm sure I must be dreaming." You muttered.

"What was it, sunshine?" Downey, you mean Tony, asked with that annoying smile. "So! Let me introduce you to-"

"Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Ty Simpkins and oh my god it's Tom Holland and Tom Hiddleston. Yes, I know their names, thank you very much." You mumbled under your breath. "

"Okay, dear lady who seems to know whoever name that you've mistaken us for, I will correct those names for you." Tony sighed. "Meet Thor and his brother Loki who finally decided to stop being a menace after almost dying in the hand of evil purple ball sack," he gestured to Hemsworth and Hiddleston.

"Those two scary assassins over there are Clint Barton, known as Hawkeye, and Natasha Romanoff, or Black Widow," then he pointed at Renner and Johansson.

"Wanda Maximoff, also known as Scarlett Witch." Olsen hesitantly waved at you.

"Capsicle, Steve Rogers, and practically-his-boyfriend, Bucky Barnes." Evans looked at Tony disapprovingly while Stan nodded politely at you. "Usually they got a third guy, Sam Wilson, with them, but he's currently visiting his family."

"And lastly, my interns, Peter Parker and Harley Keener. Vision and Banner are somewhere in this Compound."

You scoffed again. "This might be the best time to wake up. Okay, wake up!" You close your eyes and started shaking your head. "Wake up!"

"What are you doing?" Renner, or Clint, asked.

"Why can't I wake up?" You mumbled. You slapped yourself, hard. "OW! DAMN, THAT HURTS!" Your eyes widened.

"It… hurts? So this is not a dream?" Blinking a few times, realization dawned on you. "Oh, this must be a prank. Alright, you got me. What the hell happened to me earlier and who organized this prank?"

Tom Holland looked up and raised a hand, "I can answer that!"

"Nope, you just stay there quietly, Underoos. Take it away, Cap." Tony said, followed by Holland pouting.

What a cute guy. Wait, no, focus!

Evans stepped forward, "I believe I can answer that."

He started explaining that when Peter (nope, it's Tom Holland, it's got to be Holland) was running on the tracks outside, he saw something falling out from the sky at a rapid pace. That something turned out to be you, who were unconscious at the time. Alarmed, he caught you (no, that doesn't make sense, IF I was really falling that fast, he shouldn't be able to catch me that easily without any of us injured) and called for help. They brought you inside and got Doctor Helen Cho (again, that must be Claudia Kim or something) to check you and she cleared you out. Apparently Doctor Stephen Strange (seriously, they got Benedict Cumberbatch here too?!) came by earlier to check you as well and deemed you non-dangerous, so they let you stay in one of the rooms in the Compound until you wake up.

"Ha, nice story, Captain. Come on, be serious here for a second!" You shook your head, "The Avengers isn't real, okay? They're just fiction! A made-up story! As much as I would love for them to be real, they only exist in Marvel Universe and thank goodness Sony and Disney kinda made up and let Spider-Man stays in MCU because otherwise I won't know what to do! Besides, there's just no way someone could have super powers like-"

"You're scared," Olsen stated softly, "I understand. But I know you somehow feel comfortable standing here with us. You recognized us as someone that you knew, someone you actually trust. You… You somehow feel at ease and want to believe us, although your mind keeps telling you that you're dreaming and this is a prank by your best friend (f/n). You're not, this is not."

You took a step back. It suddenly seemed dangerous to be in that room and whatever ease you felt (yes, she was right, you did feel comfortable for some reason) left you immediately. "Okay… I don't know how know that, but clearly there must be something wrong here…"

"Something wrong indeed." Hiddleston sighed in his attractive British accent as he, who was supposed to be sitting on the couch beside Hemsworth, walked pass from behind you with a bottle of coke in his hand.

"I-I thought you were there!" You pointed at the couch.

"I was."

"Then how-"

"It's not hard to teleport, mortal."

"What-"

"Are you okay? You look pale." Renner, who you started to believe was the real Clint Barton, walked towards you.

"No! Stay where you are!"

"Miss-"

You slid down and sat on the floor, pounding head in your hands. "This is not real. It can't be. It can't be. It can't be…" You whispered over and over again in between your short breath. Your heart was racing and your whole body started shaking.

"Miss, take a deep breath-"

"SHUT IT!"                                                    

"Boss, the lady seems to be in distress and starting to show symptoms of panic attack."

"Shit. Hey, hey, come on, breathe slowly-"

"I'm sorry, is this the wrong time to come?"

A new voice made you turn around, only to see a weird person with red and green skin wearing a shiny cape coming in, followed by a big green figure.

"V-Vision?" You croaked out.

"Uh, yes. Do I know you?"

And that was the cue for you to pass out.

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"You've gotta be kidding me."

"We're not."

"But there's just no way-"

"And there's just no way for you to come from a dimension where it seems so peaceful."

"It's not peaceful! War still happens!"

"Yes, but no outer space threat? Really?"

"It's just a fiction!"

"Well it's not. Look at Loki."

When you regained your consciousness, you were still surrounded by some the Avengers. The real Avengers. It made you accept the fact that it was not, indeed, a dream.

"So, I fell out from the sky," Peter nodded. "and this is the Avengers Compound." He nodded again. "You all have no idea what happened to me since Dr. Strange, Maximoff, Stark, Thor, and even Loki knows nothing." They nodded. "And I can't even remember what happened before it!"

"Hey, we'll found out about it." Vision said reassuringly.

"How do you know that I'm not evil?" You asked.

"He's worthy of Mjölnir, and he can see pass you. He knows." Thor said with a smile.

"Besides Strange said you're fine. Maximoff also doesn't feel any threat coming off from you, and Peter's tingle-" Tony stopped himself, "Uh, I mean, Peter is good at sensing bad people and he's fine."

"Are you sure you can help me regain my memory?" You asked, ignoring the little blunder. You must tell them what you knew later and asked about the timeline. Tony mentioned 'evil grape ball sack' which definitely meant Thanos, but he was alive, along with Natasha and Vision, so there must be something different.

"With all our might."

"How?"

"Well, let's start with you telling us your name."

"It's (y/n), (y/n) (l/n)."

[falseroar]

Dog Days Part 11: First Moon

((While the others settle in for a stormy night at the clinic, Jackie and Marvin deal with Y/N’s first full moon since leaving the mirror.

Link to Part 10 here if you missed it, and to the whole series.))

After the dash to get into the clinic, the three men took their time at the entrance, peeling off jackets and wiping their feet off on the mat. Dr. Schneeplestein peered at his glasses before making a second attempt to dry them off on his shirt while Jameson took off his bowler hat and shook the droplets of rain off before putting it back on.

Behind them, Chase looked out on the rain pouring down and, after a pause, said, “It’s really coming down out there. You think anyone will actually come in tonight?”

“Only zhose who cannot wait for better weather,” the doctor answered. “Perhaps some extra mats or towels in front of zhe doors would be a good idea, to keep it dry in here. Don’t want anyone slipping.”

“Supply closet, right?” Chase asked. “JJ, you wanna help me get those?”

Jameson was not looking at either of them, his brow furrowed with his own thoughts even when Chase repeated his question.

“Jameson,” Henrik said sharply, and the gentleman jumped. “Are you vith us?”

“Yes?” Jameson sighed and then signed, “I’m just worried about them.”

“Jackie said he would text if anything happened,” Chase reminded him, but Jameson’s frown suggested how likely he thought that would be. It wasn’t like either Jackie or Marvin would stop whatever they were doing just to send them a text if something bad was going down. If anything happened tonight, all three of them were aware that they would be the last to know about it even if they didn’t say it out loud.

Noticing Jameson’s reluctance, Henrik added, “You trust Marvin’s magic, yes?”

“Of course!” Jameson answered, borderline indignant at the suggestion that he didn’t. “There’s no one better than Marvin.”

“Zhen you can trust him when he says zhe spell is good, yes?” the doctor suggested. “As Jackie and Marvin says, zhis is just a precaution. Y/N vill be fine with zhem.”

Jameson rubbed his arms before signing, “I know. I just…”

He paused, hands frozen as he tried to think of the right words before finishing, “Full moons were never easy for them, even before…”

Even before they wouldn’t change back to human, even before whatever happened while he and Marvin were gone left them like a shell of their former self.

“Maybe keeping busy will help,” Jameson admitted after another pause. “What was it you said you needed?”

“Somezhing to dry zhis floor would be a good start,” Henrik said. “Lucky for you, zhere is always much to do here even on a rainy night.”

Jameson nodded and headed for the back while Henrik muttered about checking some paperwork in his office, but Chase hesitated and looked through the glass of the front door again. The street was a blur through the pelting rain, but he could see enough to confirm his suspicions.

“Schneep, you got a minute?” Chase asked quietly a few seconds later, as though afraid Jameson might hear him from all the way down the hall.

Henrik was sitting in his chair, frowning down at his desk as though looking for something out of place amid all the mess. “Mm, yes, what is it?”

Chase looked toward the open door of the supply closet before he said, “There was someone in a car parked across the street when we came in. I can’t be sure, but I think it might have been that hunter I ran into at the hospital yesterday morning, the one Dr. Iplier said was asking all those questions.”

“About vampires, yes,” Henrik said, sounding unreasonably calm to Chase. “Is he still there?”

“No, the car was gone when I looked just a second ago,” Chase answered. He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against the office’s door frame, the gesture somehow managing to make him look even more uncomfortable. “So probably not just waiting in his car for the storm to slack off.”

“So he sees enough to leave,” Henrik added. “And it does not smell as if he has been in zhe building again.”

“Maybe he saw you weren’t alone and didn’t want to risk doing anything tonight,” Chase muttered.

“Or it is not me he has interest in, not really. I have given no reason for anyone to take an interest in me as far as I know, and my registration is still good,” the doctor said. “You’re sure zhis is not a hunter you know?”

“No, never seen the guy before yesterday.” Chase shrugged. “Not like I know all of them, but Dr. Iplier said he claimed he wasn’t with the Institute. Still not sure if he recognized me or not, though, and Jackie’s been careful not to do anything in public to connect him to any of us. Who else would he be—”

Chase stopped, both because he realized the answer to his own question when the doctor took out the small container holding the used silver bullet he pulled out of the former district attorney, and because Jameson was leaving the supply closet with a mop and a bundle of towels tucked under one arm.

“Uh, I’ll grab the wet floor sign and then I can help you with that, JJ,” Chase said, getting a nod from the other man as he passed by on his way to the door. He watched Jameson toss the towels on a chair before starting in with the mop and then looked back at the doctor, who tapped the top of the container before speaking quietly.

“Jackie said there was another asking about silver bullets, when he went to more shops today. A hunter, zhey said. We are already working on some ideas, for once zhis full moon is over, but until ve are sure, it is best to not give more worry to zhe others.”

Chase started to protest, but at the tilt of the doctor’s head he looked at Jameson, whose face was clouded over as he mopped the same small section of floor over and over again. Meanwhile, Marvin was back home, worried enough about his friend and spending every waking moment going through his spells, second and triple guessing his work out of fear he had missed something.

“…Fine. Just let me know how I can help,” Chase said.

The doctor gave him a grim smile. “You can start with taking JJ’s mind off of zhings for now, and we’ll go from zhere. Also, cleaning out zhe supply closet is good, too.”

“By the way, are we getting paid for any of this?”

“Not even a little bit.”

“Pft. Figures.”

---

“It’s just for one night, okay? And Jackie and I will be here if you—if you need anything.”

Jackie was already waiting in the hallway behind him, watching as the magician gave one last reassurance to the wolf sitting in the middle of the bedroom floor before he backed out and shut the door. In the split second before the door closed, Jackie thought the silver eyes of the werewolf met his own, as though it could see him standing there. Dr. Schneeplestein claimed the blindness might only be temporary, but sometimes Jackie couldn’t shake the feeling that they could already see him.

Like yesterday, when he was brought in against his will to help get the reluctant wolf into the bath. The second he stepped into the room, the wolf turned and looked right at him. Maybe they could just hear him or smell that he was there, but Jackie couldn’t shake the suspicion that it was another sense entirely that warned the wolf of his presence. The same recognition that ran down his spine every time he was in the same room as the werewolf, that nearly made him want to leave them there at that house no matter how much Jameson and Marvin claimed to know their friend.

With a heavy sigh, Marvin traced a finger over the magic circle he had drawn earlier, which glowed faintly at his touch before fading.

Jackie opened his mouth to ask, but Marvin motioned for him to follow to the living room, where they both still had a clear line of sight to the door.

“They can still hear us from here,” Jackie pointed out.

“I know, but I’d still rather not talk about it right outside of their bedroom,” Marvin said. His hand slipped up under his mask to rub at his eyes as he sighed again. He still hadn’t been getting enough sleep, despite the doctor’s insistence that he try. “I really don’t like doing this.”

“I know,” Jackie said. “But it’s like we told Jameson, we have to be careful.”

Marvin nodded, but his eyes were still downcast as he sank into a chair. “Is it raining outside?”

Jackie walked over to the backdoor and pulled back the blinds on the sliding glass door to reveal the rain pelting the backyard. “Yeah, looks like it’s really coming down.”

As if to punctuate his words, a streak of lightning arced across the sky, illuminating the darkness for a brief second before Jackie let the blinds drop back into place. The ding of a text message behind him came just before the rumble of thunder.

“Looks like the others made it to the clinic okay,” Marvin said, looking at the text message on the phone before turning it around and showing Jackie. “Now we just get to wait out the night.”

“…Yeah,” Jackie said, but he didn’t sit down and instead began to pace around the room. Even though Marvin was looking at the muted TV screen, he also didn’t seem to actually be taking in anything from the news anchor talking in front of a shot of downtown earlier today and a building that had caught fire.

The segment was almost over before Marvin blinked and thought to ask, “Did you see this? Three people almost died.”

“I was there,” Jackie muttered, and cut Marvin off before he could ask with his own question. “That spell you put on the door, can it really hold them?”

Marvin frowned. “If it came to that, I think we’re good. It’s a variant of the ward you had me put around the house when we moved in. It’s a more blunt and stricter version, actually, since it doesn’t take into account intent or level of control or anything like that. If you were to go into that room right now, you’d need my help to be able to get back out.”

Jackie nodded, and tried to let that make him feel a little more confident about tonight. He guessed that it didn’t work, when he found the magician watching him continue to pace around the room, eyes flickering from the storm outside to the bedroom door.

“Jackie, if you ever want to talk about it—” Marvin started, his voice so low that it would have been easy to miss over the pounding rain, but Jackie shook his head.

“I’m fine,” Jackie said, too quickly. After a pause, he added, “But thanks. For everything, since you and the others moved in with us.”

Marvin looked like he wanted to say more, but he just nodded and let the silence continue. Which was fine with Jackie; the less he talked about his time before Chase found him, the less he thought about it and the things he had done, the better.

Too bad then, that every time he looked at that wolf, he could sense the same kind of shadow hanging over them, and wondered if they could sense it on him. The scars left behind by an entity who wanted nothing more than complete and total control, by whatever means it could get it.

The memory of which even now haunted the wolf’s mind.

“Do you hear that?” Jackie asked, and Marvin looked up to find him stopped and staring at the warded door.

“I don’t hear anything,” Marvin said. Nothing except for the rain and the occasional rumble of thunder.

But his answer didn’t satisfy Jackie, who after a couple more seconds of straining his ears suddenly lunged toward the door.

“Jackie, wait!” Marvin cried, springing up to follow after him, but Jackie was already wrenching open the door and staring around the seemingly empty room in search of the source of the noise.

Not that you heard any of this.

Your mind was miles away, back at the house, back at the party. Back in halls you knew far too well, even if you couldn’t seem to find your way out. Cold fear ran down your spine, and you were shuddering so hard that you could barely speak. But you kept trying, desperately calling out for someone, anyone, but each flash of lightning and burst of thunder seemed louder and more overwhelming than the last, drowning out your voice as you moved from empty room to empty room. Each room a new mix of hope and terror that this might finally be a way out, that you would find someone, anyone else here, or just another body on the floor.

And every second you could feel it, that sick, clinging air of the house, the presence of something watching and bearing on you no matter where you went, mocking you for thinking you could possibly escape.

Jackie picked up the bed frame and heaved the entire thing, mattress and all, up to reveal the huddled form underneath it. He stared at the trembling mound of fur curled in on itself for a second before pushing the bed entirely out of the way.

You flinched at his touch, the whimpering that had attracted his attention only growing stronger, more insistent. Like you were calling out for help. Lightning flashed outside, and you flinched again as though the light stung, shaking as if the thunder physically hurt when it followed.

Without looking at Marvin, Jackie picked you up, struggling only momentarily with the size of the wolf before finding a position that didn’t feel awkward.

You tensed, sensing a presence so much like the house that you had been trapped with for too long, but the hand on your back, the comforting voice that you felt more than heard as you pressed your face into curve of his shoulder slowly made it fade away. Slowly, you began to recognize the smells and sounds of the bedroom, of Marvin nearby, of the house that was nothing at all like that place. And slowly, slowly, you relaxed into Jackie’s arms as the nightmare faded into dreamless sleep.

Jackie sat down on the bed, keeping his hold on you and watching as Marvin’s magic spread to fill the room, drowning out the thunder and rain and creating a darkness that the lightning couldn’t break. Once he was done, the magician sat down next to Jackie and placed a hand on your back, feeling for himself that your breathing and heart rate had slowed from your earlier panic.

“Thank you,” Marvin said, softly, but your ears didn’t even twitch at the sound of his voice.

“It’s okay,” Jackie said again, only this time it wasn’t directed at you. “It was just a nightmare.”

Something he had enough experience with himself.

The paws hanging over his shoulder were bigger than his face, the eyes pressed against his throat were above a muzzle full of teeth that could just as easily rip it out, but he knew what fear and pain and regret looked like, sounded like.

“We’re here. We’ve got you. You’re not alone, you don’t have to deal with this by yourself.”

Those were just a few of the things Jackie had murmured, even though he knew how hard it was to believe those words, to let your guard down and trust someone else.

And yet you were clinging to him, leaning into Marvin’s touch every time he ran a hand through your fur despite your still healing burns. Like being alone was so much harder.

He glanced at Marvin, but neither felt the need to discuss the fact they both knew they would be spending the rest of the night here. The closest they came was a little later, when the magician’s question about the possibility of going to get snacks got a single approving thump from the tail of the supposedly sleeping wolf between them.

((End of Part 11. Thanks for reading! There’ll be a lot more second-person pov from here on out now.

Link to Part 12: On His Tail.

Tagging: @silver-owl413 @skyewardlight @withjust-a-bite @blackaquokat @catgirlwarrior @neverisadork @luna1350 @oh-so-creepy @weirdfoxalley @95fangirl @lilalovesinternet-l @thepoolofthedead @a-bit-dapper @randomartdudette @geekymushroom @cactipresident @hotcocoachia @purple-anxiety-blog @shyinspiredartist @avispate @missksketch @autumnrambles @authorracheljoy @liafoxyfox ))

[dokidokivisual]

Gochiusa BLOOM episode 7 impressions

Previously: 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1

In real world Halloween might have been a month ago, but in the world of Is The Order a Rabbit it’s exactly the season for all things spooky. And maybe things become a little too supernatural for a slice of life show. In the last episode we’ve seen how BLOOM symbolizes the growth of the characters. And as we enter the second half of the season, another meaning is revealed...

But first let’s visit Ama Usa An, where horror-loving Chiya is decorating the traditional Japanese teahouse for Halloween. Since Halloween is decidedly not a traditional Japanese holiday, it looks kinda surreal, but Chiya’s grandmother is more worried about souls of the dead coming back to life, especially that of Chino’s grandfather (see season 2 episode 9 for more of their backstory). Of course the soul of Chino’s grandfather isn’t actually dead, but is inhabiting the body of a rabbit. It’s not clear how exactly this happened and Cocoa might have been involved.

Speaking of Cocoa, we see her practicing with the magic set she bought in the first episode of the season. She tries to make something appear in her hand, but nothing happens. Clearly you can’t just learn to summon matter into existence in Gochiusa world, or can you? Anyway the shot focuses on a candy laying on a table before the opening sequence cuts in. This must be the object Cocoa has tried to summon and it’s also clearly a foreshadowing for something.

Meanwhile, Maya and Megu are trick-or-treating in matching werewolf(?) outfits hoping to score some free candy. Interestingly the tradition of giving out candy on Halloween has descended from a medieval practice of sharing so-called “soul cakes” which represented the souls of the dead.

Meanwhile the staff of Rabbit House are dressed as vampires. The theme of vampires fighting werewolves brings up to mind the Twilight series although I’m sure the idea came up many times throughout history. If you look closer, you’ll notice that Cocoa, Rize and Megu have fake fangs (I think Maya’s is natural), although they’re not consistently drawn between scenes, even though in the manga they’re drawn correctly. Maybe they’ll fix this in BD. The only one whose fang is not shown is Chino, and ironically she is the one who actually bites somebody.

Also the flashback of Chino “roaring” at the mirror reminded me of the scene from Celestial Method where Noel (also voiced by Minase Inori) roars at a dinosaur standee. To be fair it sounds completely different but I just can’t help but compare them.

Also while I was browsing through my copy of volume 6 I found a cute illustration card that seems to be relevant to this episode, but includes Mocha and Cocoa as the wolves and Chino as the vampire (here’s a highres version).

I think I bought this particular volume in Japan on the day it was released. Good times...

Next MaMe go to Fleur de Lapin and are greeted by Sharo dressed as Little Red Riding Hood (bunny version). This costume appeared earlier in an illustration for the rabbit chapter from the previous episode.

This is also a rare scene where other employees of Fleur de Lapin can be seen, as usually Sharo is shown working there alone. Even in the manga, Sharo is the only employee shown in this scene. In the end it turns out that Sharo is a wolf in disguise and craving for some meat. Which is weird because Sharo hasn’t been shown eating or cooking any meat before.

Anyway, next stop is Ama Usa An, which is called the Witch’s Mansion now. Chiya mentions the beginning of the Sabbath, and the manga chapter’s title 今宵は甘兎サバト also mentions the Sabbath. This might be confusing because in Judaism and Christianity the Sabbath is the day of rest and happens weekly (on Saturday or Sunday). However since we’re talking about witches, this actually references the Wiccan concept of sabbat, or one of eight festivals in the Wiccan calendar. In particular, Samhain, one of the four Greater Sabbats pretty much coincides with Halloween and celebrates the beginning of winter.

Chiya does this thing where the protagonist’s hand hurts only to awaken their dark powers, I’m not really sure where this trope comes from but I’ve seen it referenced in anime before and it’s a common chuunibyo stereotype. In this case, Chiya did really just hurt her hand. There’s also some sort of runic circle drawn on her bandages, but if you look closer it says shiratama anmitsu matcha parfait in hiragana.

Maya and Megu agree to help Chiya, and become her “familiars”. Even though familiars are better known as a video game mechanic today (which is what the “level up” scene references), witches were associated with familiar spirits since medieval times. A familiar often took form of a small animal, such as a cat. Unfortunately MaMe don’t even know which animal they are, so clearly they didn’t take their backstory as seriously as Chiya did. Their ears and tails look canine to me, so I can see Megu being a fox spirit, but Maya being a cat is less believable. Also during their confrontation Megu confirms that Maya’s fang is her yaeba (snaggle tooth).

As a revenge for the trick MaMe pulled on her, Chiya gives them a selection of pumpkin tarts, one of which is laced with wasabi (which she calls ”Russian roulette”). This seems like a common thing for her, since she did the same with botamochi in season 2 episode 6, and with green tea in season 2 episode 7 (except she used aojiru instead of wasabi). However this time, it was Chiya’s grandmother who put wasabi in two of the tarts, unbeknownst to Chiya. By the way in the manga it wasn’t shown that Chiya got one of the wasabi tarts.

Chiya goes shopping for some pumpkins, but is helped by Rize, and later Sharo gives her anti-pain medications, reminding her of how Chiya tended for her when she was sick in season 1 episode 12. It’s not mentioned in the anime, but Rize also had a “motivation” for helping Chiya, as she hurt her leg before (see season 2 episode 2). Chiya invites Rize and Sharo to dinner and brings up the wasabi-laced pumpkin tarts. According to Chiya the probability of getting wasabi is 1/3. Initially there were 7 tarts, of which 2 had wasabi. Megu, Maya and Chiya eat one each, with Chiya’s having wasabi in it. That leaves 4 tarts with 1 wasabi, so either Chiya’s calculation is incorrect, or somebody ate one more tart.

Apparently last day was just a warm up to Halloween (All Hallow’s Eve’s Eve?), so next day Megu and Maya come to Chiya again and try to summon something. A larger and slightly different version of the runic circle previously seen on Chiya’s hand starts glowing and we see that the 3 white rabbits correspond to three people holding hands. There’s also Anko corresponding to the black rabbit in the middle. By the way, in the manga the sign on Chiya’s hand was just a hexagram, and the summoning ritual didn’t have any visible symbols.

Anyway, they want to summon a messenger from demon world/hell, and coincidentally Cocoa and Chino come in (dressed as vampires) and try to attack (cuddle) them. Chiya, Maya and Megu form New Chimame-tai which works because Chiya and Chino have the same first syllable. However Chi is written with kanji instead of katakana in this version (because Chiya’s name 千夜  is one of the few given names among Gochiusa characters that’s always written with kanji). This defeats Chino, and Chiya consoling Chino like a big sister defeats Cocoa as well.

Ok let’s move on to part B, which is the really important part of the episode. The streets of the town are filled with people dressed in various costumes. Cocoa’s classmates can be seen among the crowd, and Aoyama and Rin are enjoying a boat ride on River Sanzu.

Our main character have also prepared some new costumes for the occasion. First we see Chino, dressing up as Phantom Thief Lapin, while Rize is going as a police officer. Soon Chiya and Sharo join them, who somehow independently of each other also went with a Lapin costume. At least Sharo had a good excuse. For Chiya, Lapin’s gloves obscure the bandage on her hand, so maybe that’s why she chose this costume. But what about Cocoa?

Well, she kinda got lost and we find her at the location that you will recognize if you read my episode 5 review. Cocoa says it looks a little different than usual, almost like a different world (isekai). Well, there’s a lot of evidence to support this hypothesis. First, in a scene that parallels episode 1, Cocoa finds a lost child and tries to calm her down with a magic trick. However you might notice that the child’s head is literally a pumpkin with a moving mouth.

And her mother is also a pumpkinhead. Cocoa doesn’t encounter any other people during this segment, even though you’d think a spot that overlooks the town like this would be quite popular. Well, she does encounter one more person, a mysterious masked magician with an angora rabbit on her head. She also wears a G-clef pendant indicating some sort of music connection.

Now, since y’all had already watched the episode, it wouldn’t be a spoiler to say that this is the ghost of Chino’s mother, Saki. The rabbit on her head is the ghost of the original Tippy before its body was taken over by Chino’s grandfather. The original Tippy was a female rabbit, by the way, a fact established early on in the series. In Sing for You OVA (for which I wrote a not-very-detailed review by the way) it’s established that Saki was a singer and even had a record released.

Anyway, as a ghost, Saki doesn’t speak (although she still can giggle and such) and doesn’t physically interact with Cocoa (only indirectly, by casting candies at Cocoa). Nevertheless she does teach Cocoa how to do the candy trick correctly.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group tries to call Cocoa’s phone but she doesn’t answer. This is another evidence for isekai theory. Cocoa is just out of range, you see. Rize and Sharo swap their costumes (the most unrealistic part of the episode) and Sharo starts “policing” the Lapins on how the real Lapin would talk. Chiya has a bright idea to shout out for Cocoa and call her big sister. However Cocoa would obviously only react if Chino calls her that, so Rize encourages Chino to say it louder (referencing her training for the choir in Sing for You).

Cocoa and Saki hear Chino, and Saki looks at her daughter from the terrace. Chino also looks up... but doesn’t see anything. She does get a hunch that there’s something up there though, so the group finds Cocoa eventually. Meanwhile Saki feels like her time is up and makes for a quick exit, literally disappearing.

This is where Cocoa returns to the “real world”, as the current Tippy calls out for her. Why was Tippy with Cocoa anyway in the first place? Cocoa looks around and there are in fact lots of people there as expected.

Cocoa thinks that Tippy speaking is an evidence of a ghost, despite her interacting with a real ghost just a few moments before. The 3 Lapins arrive and start arguing who is the real Lapin. Chino says that it’s the one who gets away with everything in the end, implying she will take the whole Cocoa for herself. However Sharo arrests Cocoa for making everyone worry.

On the way back, Chiya recalls the legend which was also mentioned by her grandmother at the beginning of the episode about the spirits of the ancestors coming back for this one day and then returning to heavens. Chino looks up to the sky, while Tippy gives her a solace in the fact that he was once again turned away, implying that he expected to return to heaven with the other spirits.

Tippy also seemed to know what Cocoa was talking about in an earlier scene where Cocoa said she forgot to give thanks to somebody. Just what’s up with Tippy and why is he not allowed to enter Heaven is a big mystery here.

Cocoa also notices Chino being distressed and shows her the magic trick with the candy. It turns out Chino remembers this trick from her childhood, and we get to see a full flashback with Chino’s mother even getting a few speaking lines (delivered by none other but Nana Mizuki). Since the candy was probably a part of the magic set, it’s no coincidence that it has the exact same wrapper in the flashback. The color of the candy matches with Chino’s clothes at the time but you can also think of it as a combination of Saki’s white and Chino’s blue.

By the way, in the manga Cocoa conjures up two candies, and they have a plain wrapping so there wasn’t One Specific Candy like in the anime. Also in the flashback, Chino is carried by her grandfather. His face is not shown, but Takahiro is seen in the background (with Rize’s dad) so by exclusion it had to be him. And in the current scene Chino is the one carrying Tippy like this.

The episode ends with Cocoa asking Chino to tell her more about her mother, while a star is seen rising in the sky, presumably symbolizing Saki’s spirit.

Let’s go back to Cocoa meeting Saki scene one more time. Like I explained, it’s heavily implied that Cocoa isn’t really in the same world as the other characters when she meets Saki’s ghost. Of course Gochiusa had supernatural elements from the start, such as a certain talking rabbit who happens to be Chino’s grandfather. But now we have a ghost of Chino’s mother and Cocoa is the only one who can see her, but Chino can’t? Just what the heck is going on here?

But wait, there is a rational explanation for all of this! Cocoa had a hallucination triggered by all the Halloween celebrations. She imagines helping a lost child just like Chino did before (and told Cocoa about it later) and then imagines the ghost of Saki teaching her magic, because subconsciously she wants to be like Saki. She had seen Saki before on a photograph, but haven’t heard her speak, which is why the ghost can’t talk to her. Hearing Chino call her onee-chan brings Cocoa back to her senses. But how did Cocoa learn the trick if it was just her imagination? Well, consider the fact that she was practicing this exact trick at the beginning of the episode. By the time she shows it to Chino, she has already practiced it a lot of times, but maybe she only realized the crucial part (feint) during the hallucination. Either way, the blue striped candy wasn’t given to Cocoa by Saki, she had it from the start, as part of the magic set! The candies that Saki uses to show the trick to Cocoa all disappear when Cocoa returns to reality.

Saki appears one more time in the bar time scene with Takahiro, who is listening to her record Silver Spoon from Sing for You OVA and then calls her by name. I think this is the only time the name “Saki” is mentioned in the show itself, and it’s not mentioned in the manga at all (unless maybe in some recent chapters which I haven’t read yet). The first time it was revealed was during April Fool’s day Clockwork Rabbit event, as a solution to a “puzzle”. Her name is written in katakana as サキ, however one of possible readings of the word “saki” is 咲き which means “bloom”. Now consider how the last few seconds of the opening animation it cuts from a blooming field of dandelions to Saki:

The dandelions connection to Saki was previously seen in season 2 episode 1 and Sing for You. Saki’s character design doesn’t really say “blooming of dandelions” to me, but consider that a dandelion turns into this:

Now that’s more like it! Although it reminds me of Tippy as well. Anyway, that was a very mysterious episode of Gochiusa BLOOM and let’s see what happens next! Only 5 episodes remain...

[rin-the-shadow]

Rin’s Love Never Dies Scriptdoctor Thing:

Act I:

Open with “Till I Hear You Sing”

Emcee enters to let him know they have acquired Miss Fleck’s contract, and that she will be joining them shortly.

He notices something is off and appears as if he is piecing together what, but the Phantom deflects to the matter of Miss Fleck’s arrival.

Fleck, Squelch, and Gangle (Emcee) reunite, and they show Fleck around Coney Island and the prototype automatons.

“The Coney Island Waltz”

After perhaps a verse or two, shift focus to Meg, who has written a letter enticing Christine to come and visit her.

Christine initially refuses because of the family’s tight finances of late, but Meg encourages her to cut a deal with Mr. Y—he could pay her good money in exchange for the publicity it would bring to Phantasma.

Fleck sees the in-development “freak” show and hears of the Phantom’s intentions for it, but is skeptical that it could be received the way he wants it to be.

Christine, Raoul, and their son, Gustave, arrive in New York, where they are badgered by journalists and photographers.

Raoul is frustrated to no end by this, less so by the rumors about himself than by their pestering of his son and determination to get interviews with Christine.

They narrowly escape to the hotel. Raoul does a revised version of “Dreadful Town,” angry about the prying journalists and fearful that the job Meg wrote Christine about will be a scam—that she’ll have been tricked due to her starry-eyedness over New York. As a backup, he reveals, he has secured a deal with Oscar Hammerstein.

Raoul leaves to finalize that deal, and once he has left, Gustave frets that somehow this is his own fault. Christine tries to reassure him, but is unable to tell him about the past Phantom incident. She does the best she can while still circling around it. (“Look with Your Heart”)

She attempts to distract Gustave with the promise of seeing Coney Island and meeting Meg. Her distraction fails as time rolls on and she becomes concerned about Raoul. She takes Gustave and decides they have to go and retrieve him.

On the way back, the trio passes by the Phantom and Gangle (themselves returning from obtaining supplies or something of that nature). They don’t fully 100% recognize each other, but they see enough to suspect.

Raoul and Phantom are immediately on alert and trying to verify what they saw, while Christine and Gangle are trying to steer them away.

Maybe use the first verse of “Devil Take the Hindmost” as each tries to scope without in turn being scoped. (I kind of like the passive aggressive “you bitch” quality, and especially if they don’t know 100% that it’s each other.)

Christine assures Raoul it couldn’t have been what they thought, that it must be a coincidence. Meg said Phantasma was an experimental type of place, and it’s close by, it must have been one of the workers.

But that night, in private, she fears that it was in fact the Phantom, and dreams of another version of events wherein she had made the opposite choice (“Beneath a Moonless Sky”) until she is awakened by Gustave, who has had a nightmare.

She reassures him, saying it will be all right because of Meg and the deal with Mr. Y.

The following morning, Christine takes Gustave and they head to the Phantasma. Christine and Meg run into each other, and they catch up. Meg mentions her newest act, and how much creative liberty she gets here, and the kinds of acts she’s been experimenting with.

She expresses excitement that Christine has decided to follow through with her suggestion, that in a way, they’ll be performing together again. But when she asks how Christine has been since she’s arrived in New York, Christine evades the question.

Somewhere in there, they realize to their horror that Gustave has wandered off.

Gustave is found by Fleck and Squelch, who take him to Gangle and Mr. Y. Gangle, not having failed the spot-check yesterday, has them stay with the kid while he goes to find the parents.

Phantom is of course internally flipping out, but when Gustave shows interest in the piano and the in-development stuff, the Phantom shows off the in-development “freak” show and automatons, resulting in their finding some common ground (“The Beauty Underneath”). 

Might be a good idea to have Fleck and Squelch still part of this scene, given their earlier skepticism about the act.

This is interrupted when Gangle returns, announcing that he found the kid’s mom and will take him to her. Christine hears her son’s voice and comes to retrieve him, resulting in her and the Phantom recognizing each other.

“I didn’t know you had a son.”

“I didn’t know you were still alive.”

It comes out that Christine was advised to contract herself to sing for the Phantasma by someone who worked there, and asks if he works for Mr. Y as well. Which is somewhat awkward, because of course, the Phantom is Mr. Y.

There is some question of that other way things could have been, how they can’t go back to that way things were or know how that other way would have gone even if they wanted to, so it’s best to move on and do what you can to make the best of it (“Once Upon Another Time”). With that, he agrees to contract her to sing.

End of Act 1.

 Act II:

Raoul is still frustrated and bewildered about the Hammerstein deal falling through (probably dropping some hints as to the implied reason why), but Christine informs him that it will be all right, that the deal with Mr. Y was a real thing. 

While she is careful to skirt around his identity, Gustave, not knowing any better, chimes in with enough details about Phantasma and his ideas that Raoul is able to put two and two together.

Raoul massively stresses about the implication that he has driven Christine back into that situation from ten years ago. Christine insists that isn’t the case, but at this point Raoul is wound too tight to hear her. He storms off, intending to confront the Phantom and settle this on his own.

Naturally, this doesn’t go well for any of them, and they end up having a rather aggressive and probably somewhat suggestive dispute involving harsh words, with the implication that it may get physical (“Devil Take the Hindmost (Reprise)”). There are definitely more than a few threats, and although it doesn’t quite come to blows, it definitely gets close.

Raoul, understandably frazzled from this confrontation, goes to get a drink.

At the bar, Raoul laments that he has probably ruined stuff for Christine again, wondering why she continues to bother with him when he keeps getting her stuck in the same trap over and over (“Why Does She Love Me?”).

The bartender recognizes something is off and while he may be somewhat pushing the boundaries of his job, he steps in. He doesn’t exactly pry, but he gets enough info to be able to start talking him back and set him in the right direction.

Christine has sought Meg’s council and invited her back to her hotel room. Meg learns the truth of Mr. Y’s identity and while she regrets having lead Christine back to him, she’s somewhat amused by the irony. Meg had come to New York to escape the reputation of the scared little girl who screamed at ghosts, intending to get as far away as she could. (“Why Does She Love Me? (Reprise)”) She ends up suggesting that perhaps that’s what would be best for Christine as well, to get away from everything, at least for a little while.

Also sort of in that same time frame, the Phantom realizes what he’s done in picking a fight with Raoul right after making the contract with Christine, cue the massive Oh Crap! Moment. Gangle says something which is somewhat related to the line between letting go and straight up acting like a thing never happened. There’s this kind of back and forth about how do I move on when I can’t or something to that effect (“Till I Hear You Sing (Reprise)”) which doesn’t solve everything and may not give answers, but, still kind of gives a general sense of what direction to start walking in.

No idea how I would wrap it up from there but for now the plan is something something closure something maybe force the rivals to work together in the confusion of Christine and Gustave being missing? Work the title song in somewhere, something, something ending with people parting ways. Everybody lives.

[rayadraws]

So I was listening to mr lover man by Ricky Montgomery (AMAZING SONG) and I thought omg, what if Genos got hurt so badly that he had to stay a year with kuseno to get repairs. Of course Saitama could visit, but couldn’t take Genos home, not even for holidays. And poor pining Saitama is all depressed and Genos hates himself for getting hurt and AAA the angst~

Hhhhhhhh

Tags: hurt/comfort, mild angst with happy ending, established relationship, G-rated

Genos had had several close calls. It wasn’t always easy to tell, ’cause the guy would do everything to hide it, like a sick animal pretending it was feeling fine. And it was hard sometimes to even tell what was serious when it came to him - losing an arm or a leg or both was annoying, but not life threatening in the least, like it would be for a regular person.

There was no denying it this time, though. When Saitama found him in the rubble, he felt his stomach drop. The image haunted him even days after. He didn’t even dare pick Genos up from where he laid, he was scared of making it worse, with all those... bits exposed. He just guarded him until the drones arrived and then he went home, unable to eat or read or do anything, so he went to bed at 8 pm and tried desperately to forget this day had even happened.

The phone didn’t ring until almost a full day later and when Saitama picked it up, it wasn’t Genos on the other end but his doc. Saitama had never heard him sound so grim before.

”How is he? Itching to get back up yet?”

”Saitama-kun, are you sitting down?”

It was bad. Really bad.

Kuseno had a bunch of complicated terms for it, but from what Saitama gathered basically the connection between Genos’ brain and his body had been severed, which was really dangerous, for obvious reasons. There was a risk of brain damage, but there was also apparently a risk that his brain wouldn’t correct right to his cyborg body again, or any cyborg body, if those connection points had been too badly damaged. Which would be really, really bad. Brain damage would be kinder. Without a body, there would barely be any life left for Genos, he’d be little more than a brain in a jar.

The doctor kept him in a medically induced coma for what felt like forever. At least Genos didn’t have muscles that would atrophy from lack of use in the meantime.

When he finally woke up again, they had no idea what to expect. Kuseno had warned Saitama that Genos probably wouldn’t move or say much, if anything at all. He’d been put in a new body, one that was set up more for people undergoing full body modification surgery for the first time - kinda like a bubble-wrapped edition. No weapons, no fancy scanners - as little as possible for a badly jostled brain to deal with. Just enough to be a person.

”Hey, bud, how are you feeling?”

Genos just looked at him, not moving as much as a muscle. His face looked the same as before... all this. His hair might have been a bit shorter, Saitama thought. Easier to care for while he recovered. And of course, all the cables and wires connected at the back of his neck, so thick they almost formed a pillow under his head where he laid on the table, covered only with a thin blanket.

Genos could be stoic, but he rarely tried to hide his feelings around Saitama. It was unnerving to see him so still. Saitama couldn’t even tell if he recognized him or not.

Kuseno clapped Saitama’s shoulder as he made his way towards the exit later, but he couldn’t make any hopeful promises.

The next time Saitama came to visit, things were better, thank goodness. Genos could move now, a little bit. Mostly his facial muscles, but enough that Saitama could tell he was happy to see him. Over a month since the accident had already passed at this point, so he was happy to finally see some improvement.

The third visit, Genos was in a foul mood already by the time Saitama arrived. That was unlike him (at least around Saitama). Kuseno explained he was upset because of how long his recovery was predicted to take, which he’d just been informed of.

A year.

If they were lucky.

No monster fighting. No shopping. No tracking the mad cyborg. Genos was going to be stuck in the lab for months and months, watching the world go on without him while he struggled to even move his toes.

Genos could be stoic. He wasn’t that day. Nor was he raging, though. He couldn’t control his body enough to be. The tears flowed quietly as Saitama held his head in his lap and tried to tell him that it would be okay. That his stuff would be waiting for him until he was ready. Saitama too. And he’d visit, as often as he could and Genos wanted him to. He’d bring him his favourite stuff, his notebooks and the chocolate he had hid among the frozen peas back home. The stupid plushie version of himself that Saitama suspected Genos had commissioned someone to make for him. By the fourth visit, all the things he’d brought last time were lined up so Genos could look at them whenever he wanted. He looked pleased at that, at least.

He still wasn’t speaking, couldn’t move anything below the neck. Didn’t even have his own room - lab wasn’t set up like that - but they’d made this one corner all his. Kuseno had pulled down a TV, a radio, audiobooks. A potted plant, though Saitama had no idea what kind it was. At least it added a bit of life. This portion of the lab didn’t have windows, so the doc had hung up a poster of a forest instead. It was as nice as you could make such a place. And in the middle of it all laid Genos, propped up like a grumpy-looking doll, probably wishing he was anywhere else.

About four months in, he started to talk again, which was nice, though it was hard to understand what he was trying to say most of the time. At first it was mostly grunts and sighs, he struggled to form actual words. But at least he could point and make gestures now, if you gave him time, so he could point at what he wanted. He couldn’t write yet, but he could flip the TV channels and change the radio station, giving him at least that little bit of control of his life. And he could eat and drink again, even if he spilled a lot. Must be nice though, to be able to finally do some stuff on his own at least. Saitama couldn’t imagine how bored and frustrated he must be, he was normally so active.

They celebrated Christmas down in the lab that year. Saitama had asked Kuseno if he couldn’t at least take Genos to the nearest town, just for a couple hours, but doc said it was essential Genos was hooked up to all those cables 24/7. Poor guy. But they had cake together and Genos even managed to murmur a ’murry chrysmaz’, which was both sad and cute.

Saitama got him gifts too, a book about space that looked cool and a Gudetama plushie and a hoodie that was really warm and soft. Genos gestured that he wanted to wear it immediately, so Saitama helped him out of the Qseno Tech one and pulled the hoodie over his head.

It contrasted nicely with his arms, which Saitama told him. These arms weren’t polished grey or black like most of Genos’ designs, but white with black accents. They looked so... peaceful, by comparison. Didn’t even have blasters, just soft pads for grip, almost like pawpads. Genos sat completely still as he let Saitama feel his hand over, interlacing their fingers.

Without warning, Saitama felt his eyes starting to burn. He took a deep breath, trying to will it away, but that only made it worse. He looked away, until he felt Genos’ fingers squeezing his.

”Shen...shei.”

He broke down.

It was Genos’ turn to comfort Saitama, which felt wrong, but he was so good at it. He held Saitama in his arms, resting his chin on his shoulder, until he got it all out, which took forever.

”It’s not the same without you there. It’s so lonely...”

”Clean-n?”

”If I’ve... kept it tidy?”

”Yus.”

”Uhh...”

”Shenshei!”

When Saitama dared meet Genos’ eyes, he was giving him that disapproving stare that he knew well from when he was slacking off.

”I’ll make sure the place is spotless when you return home.”

”Goo. Call Kin.”

”I guess I can invite King over.”

”Foobooki. Ban. Moomen.”

”Fine, I do have friends.”

Genos reached up to wipe a tear off his cheek. ”Yus.”

-

Inviting people over meant he had to tidy up. It was a lot and he completely misjudged how long it would take. He was only halfway done when King showed up and he tried to apologize, but King didn’t say much, just helped him with the rest. They got pizza and played video games and it was almost like normal. Apartment looked a lot less glum now, too. Wouldn’t need to be embarrassed when Genos got back home. If he could keep it up for another six months.

”I’d come earlier, if you’d only let me in, Saitama.”

”Yeah, I know.”

”You’re welcome to visit me too.”

”Yeah yeah.”

They played in silence for a while.

”You wanna talk about it?”

”It’s lonely without him.”

”Yeah. But he’s doing better, right?”

”Yeah. He can sit up now.”

”Is it taking that long to fix his body?”

”S’not his body, it’s his brain.”

”Oh.”

They went back to being quiet. After Saitama’s character had gotten his ass kicked half a dozen times, he told King to go home. He was hesitant, asking Saitama twice if he’d be okay. He promised he would be. Besides, Fubuki was coming over the next day. They were going to sort the mountains of get well-letters Genos’ fans had sent him after word finally got out that Demon Cyborg was on extended sick leave. He’d asked them to keep that stuff at the HA, but apparently they had had enough of that and were going to dump the boxes at the apartment the next morning. Saitama didn’t look forward to it.

Fubuki showed up looking very casual, for being her. Saitama wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen her in pants before, nevermind sweats, even if they were brand name. She brought food too, fruit and bread and stuff like that. But she didn’t ask any stupid questions, just shook her head at the stack of boxes of fanmail.

”We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

”Yup.”

”If you’d started months ago, it wouldn’t be this much work now.”

”Yup.”

Still, it wasn’t that bad once they got started. Most of the stuff they threw away, but they kept the treats and a few of the plushies. Saitama helped himself to one box of chocolate, but put the rest aside for Genos. Some kids had sent in drawings and those they kept too. They ate while they worked, taking care to not stain the letters.

”This one’s for you,” Fubuki said suddenly.

”Hate mail again.”

”No, nothing like that.”

”...”

”Listen. ’I read about Demon Cyborg and they say you’ve been seen walking alone in City Z. It breaks me heart to think of you being separated, you seem so close in all the photos. Please know that both of you are in our hearts. Best wishes.”

”Oh, well, that’s new.”

”We’ve all been worried, you know. For both of you.”

Saitama fiddled with the letter in his hands. ”It’s been rough. But it will be okay.”

Before he had the chance to stop her, Fubuki engulfed him in a hug.

-

He’d warned Genos that he was bringing him fan stuff today. Kuseno had encouraged Genos to read some of the letters, but he didn’t show much interest. They split the treats though and piled the plushies up on the least full shelf above the bed. The smallest one, a fuzzy cat, Saitama placed carefully on top of the potted plant. It was blooming, tiny delicate pink flowers.

”You know, I’ve never seen my cactus bloom, even after all these years,” Saitama remarked.

”Too bad,” Genos replied. His speech was getting clearer and clearer. He wasn’t chatting quite as much as he did… before all this, because it still required a fair deal of effort from him, but it was still a big improvement.

”Maybe I’ll bring cake, next time.”

”If you want.”

Genos didn’t remember his real birthdate. He didn’t remember much of the day his doctor found him either, but Kuseno did, of course. They’d picked that date as a stand-in birthday. They kept it simple, cause Genos didn’t like being surrounded by too many people and all, but they’d eat cake and Saitama always got him a little gift, usually slippers or oven mitts or something else that was practical. He’d waffled for like a week what to go for this time, especially with it being such a weird year and all. He still hadn't made up his mind .

Saitama took another letter from the pile and read it aloud. Reading vetted fanmail wasn’t so bad. They didn’t have to worry about weird or gross stuff, though Fubuki’s tolerance for allowing that had proven higher than Saitama’s.

”’In conclusion, get well soon’. That one was sweet, right?”

”I guess.”

”Oh come on, Demon Cyborg, with your ’hard exterior but fragile self within, so barely contained’.”

Genos snorted. It was like a balm, seeing him slowly return to his old self. That also meant he was getting increasingly restless, though. He’d already left his bed three times, now that Kuseno let him go without all the neck cables, once dutifully during physical therapy while supervised, twice at night when neither Saitama nor Kuseno were there to reel him in. The first of those times he didn’t get far, didn’t even leave the room, but the second he fell down a flight of stairs.

Thank goodness for his exceptionally hard head, or they might have had to put a helmet on him.

Saitama got it, though. Genos hadn’t like, lost any intelligence, or forgotten more stuff than, well, he already had. He still had his goals and interests and all that. And his body was still state of the art and ready to rock. The problem was getting the two - his brain and his body - to work together again. It was all way too complicated for Saitama, even when the doc tried to dumb it down for him, but at least Genos was going in the right direction.

The day came when Kuseno said it was okay for Genos to leave the lab for a few hours. They made a birthday date out of it, since they hadn’t had a proper date in nearly a year and his stand-in birthday was so close. It was hard to be left alone, though. People kept pointing and whispering and Genos didn’t want to deal with any of that. In the end, they bought tea and fancy cupcakes to go and then clambered into the nearest woods. Saitama had a bench or something in mind, or even just finding a nice patch of grass, but Genos had other plans.

”No, stop that.”

No response.

”Oi! Don’t!”

”Don’t worry, Sensei.”

He kept going higher. Into the damned tree.

”Genos! If you fall down your old man’s gonna skin me alive!”

”I will not fall.”

The next branch creaked worryingly under Genos’ weight, but he kept going. Slowly, but with great determination. What had gotten into the guy’s head?

There was nothing for it, then. With a great sigh, Saitama put the paper bag to his mouth, grabbing the edge with his teeth so he’d have his hands free. Branch by branch, he followed Genos up the tree.

About ten metres up, the stem of the tree split into two, leaving enough room for the two of them. With an exaggerated show of pretend-annoyance, Saitama made himself comfortable, placing the bag between them. Peering inside, he was pleased to note he hadn’t spilled anything. He looked up again. Genos was sitting with his eyes closed, hair moving in the breeze. He looked like an animal that had been released into the wild after a life of captivity. Maybe you wouldn’t think so looking at him, but Saitama knew Genos much preferred this environment to a busy city.

”Are you happy now, nature boy?” He nudged his companion in the side and handed him his paper cup. It couldn’t be more than lukewarm at this point, but his tea smelled real nice when Genos took off the lid to drink.

”Very pleased,” he all but purred.

”Can’t blame you, I guess.” And then, after a brief pause, ”I’m glad to see it. I’m glad you’re okay. You scared us, you know.”

”I know. I was scared too. And frustrated.”

”Don’t blame you.”

They didn’t say anything else. They didn’t need to. They said the rest through their actions, the held hands, the lingering gazes. The kiss, tasting of tea and pastries.

Saitama had no idea when he woke up that morning that he’d spend his afternoon kissing in a tree, but he had no complaints. Not until it was time to get down, anyway.

”We can jump.”

”Kuseno made me promise I’d return you without as much as a scratch and you already have a patch of mud on your shoulder. We’re not taking chances.”

”It will be fine.”

Somehow, it had escaped Saitama’s mind how goddamn stubborn his boyfriend was.

”How about I hold you and we jump together.”

”Sensei…”

”It’ll be like, romantic.”

”...Alright.”

Fortunately, Saitama hadn’t forgotten how much of a sap he could be.

It was a mess to stand up in the tree, nevermind getting into position, but eventually they figured it out. Genos grabbed Saitama’s shoulders and latched on, piggyback style, making sure to hold on to the bag as well, so it could be recycled back in town. Like that, they jumped down, and then continued. Apparently Genos couldn’t walk, now. Or rather, he’d decided he didn’t want to, that latching on to Saitama like a koala was better. Give that guy an inch…

When they got back inside the lab, Kuseno instantly looked worried upon seeing Genos being carried, but Saitama assured him that he was fine. He didn’t mention the tree climbing.

He was tempted to stay the night, but Genos was already really tired from the day out. Tussling his hair, he gave him a peck on the forehead and said his goodbyes, promising to be back soon.

That turned out to not be the case, but only because Genos was allowed to go home first. He called Saitama two days later, letting him know he’d be home soon. He sounded so happy, like an excited puppy. He just wanted to stop on the way and shop some stuff, so they could have a nice meal together once he was back.

Saitama never fury-cleaned the apartment with as much intensity as he did that morning.

And then, Genos stood there, wearing that baggy Qseno Tech hoodie and shining like the sun itself. He’d still need frequent checkups for a while and no monster fights for another month, at least, but he was back.

He was back.

”Welcome home,” Saitama smiled at him.

[ryqoshay]

How to Handle a Nico - Dinner at the Nishikino’s

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~4.1k Rating: K Time Frame: Late in Maki’s 1st year and Nico’s 3rd year in college. Story Arc: Stand Alone

Author’s Note: This chapter was assembled from a patchwork of about a dozen instances I wanted to include and thus wrote each separately. And somewhere along the lines, MS Word decided not to sync between my PC and mobile devices, so I ended up with two, slightly differently edited versions. Thus, here’s hoping my self-purported prowess with prose was successful in stitching this scene into a sensible structure. Please forgive any unsightly seams.

Nico couldn’t remember the last time she had been this nervous. No, wait, just a few days ago, her first date with Maki. Well, first official date, not counting all of the not-actually-date-but-technically-were-dates from years prior. Unfortunately, that was quickly falling into second place as she approached the gate to the Nishikino home.

Perhaps the date had been easier because she knew Maki, knew Maki liked her, knew Maki liked spending time with her, knew Maki wanted to date her, and was fairly confident Maki was attracted to her. She had known all of these things even before they started dating officially. As such, looking back, she wasn’t sure why she had been so nervous for their first date, because with the exception of one little hiccup named Etsuko, it had all gone splendidly.

But the parental Nishikinos were more of an unknown. Nico had met both of Maki’s parents a handful of times throughout the years, but had never really gotten to know either. She was all but certain she would have little problems with Maki’s mother as she had apparently been talking behind the scenes with her mother about her and Maki’s developing relationship. And she had been quite supportive of Maki’s time as a school idol, so Nico didn’t think she would object to her intended career choice.

Maki’s father on the other hand… Nico remembered quite vividly when he almost made Maki quit being a school idol after her grades slipped the tiniest of bits; not even enough for her to drop from her position as top of her class. Umi had been the one to stand up to him, which made sense insofar as she understood having parents with high expectations. Still, looking back, Nico couldn’t help feeling a bit of regret that she hadn’t been the one to protect Maki. Sure, she had offered her support, but…

“Good evening, Yazawa-san.” A voice came over the speaker.

Nico jumped. Had she even pushed the button to announce her presence?

“Yes, good evening.” She replied as she recognized the voice of the Nishikino estate manager.

“Ojou-sama has informed me of pending arrival, though as always, you are most welcome here.”

“Thanks.” Nico replied as the buzzer sounded to indicate the gate was unlocked.

One gate down, literally. Nico thought as she made her way toward the front door. Though part of her wished Maki had been the one to answer the intercom, she was nonetheless thankful that it had been a member of the house staff with whom she got along well. At least it hadn’t been…

“D-Dr. Nishikino?” Nico sputtered as the door suddenly swung open to reveal a towering, bespectacled man who immediately fixed her with a cool and calculating gaze.

Damn. Why had she stuttered? This wasn’t the first time she had met Maki’s father, and if all went well tonight, it wouldn’t be the last. You can do this Nico! Sure it wasn’t the man she expected and she was caught a bit unaware, but… Gah! Stop being intimidated. You’re here for a reason! And that reason is Maki-chan!

“Yazawa-san.” Maki’s father stated flatly.

“Hi…” Nico cutoff by clearing her throat. “Good evening.” She corrected, offering a polite bow. “I’m…”

“I’m afraid my daughter will be unable to entertain your visit tonight.” Dr. Nishikino interrupted. “We are expecting an important guest who should be arriving presently.”

I’m an important guest? No, wait, of course I am! I’m Maki’s girlfriend now. So, buck up and tell him that.

“Yes, sir, that guest is me.” For emphasis, Nico indicated the stylish dress she had picked out specifically for the occasion. “I’m Maki’s date.”

“…” Dr. Nishikino raised an eyebrow but remained steadfast in his position.

“Nico-chan!” the voice of an angelic savior came from behind the barrier of the paternal Nishikino. “Papa, let her in.”

Dr. Nishikino stepped aside and…

Holy… Nico had to make a conscious effort to avoid letting her jaw hit the floor. Not that Nico, at any point, had forgotten that Maki was beautiful, but when the redhead went all out, it was all she could do not to stare. Though elegantly modest, the deep purple dress still managed to highlight Maki’s best features.

“You’re early.” Maki said, bringing Nico back to reality.

“I’m sorry, did I take you away from your precious piano?” Nico couldn’t help teasing a bit, figuring the younger girl had wanted to arrive at her parents’ home earlier for a few moments of nostalgia with the instrument she grew up playing.

“Yeah, actually.” Maki admitted as she glanced away sheepishly.

“Well maybe after dinner, you can continue your concert, but with an audience?” Nico pointed herself as if it wasn’t already obvious who she meant.

“I’d like that.”

“You look lovely, by the way. Purple always looks good on you, Maki-chan.”

“Thanks.” Maki replied as pink dusted her cheeks. “You look good too. I like when you leave your hair down. It makes you look more…” She trailed off.

“More?”

“Sorry, I meant…”

“More mature?” Nico completed what she believed to be her girlfriend’s thought.

“Uhm… yeah…”

“I’ll have you know Nico is always mature.” She squared her shoulders and placed her hands on her hips pridefully.

Maki raised an eyebrow in a way that left no question as to her linage.

“Anyway, I haven’t seen that dress before, is it new?”

Maki nodded. “Mama and I just got back a little while ago from picking it out.”

Huh… Mama and I were also just out shopping for my dress. Nico thought to herself. And, wait a minute… “We match.” Or at least they matched in the way their old idol costumes matched in overall theme and enough details to be an obvious set while maintaining enough individuality to be unique as well.

“We do?” Maki glanced down at herself before back at Nico. After half a second, she smiled. “Yeah, we do. What a nice coincidence.”

Nico found herself wondering if the coincidence was perchance planned by a pair of meddling mothers who meant well. She made a mental note to ask her mother about the issue later, if for no other reason than to thank her for the cute gesture.

“So, dinner isn’t for a little while yet” Maki continued “but they might have appetizers ready already so why don’t we head to the dining room and I’ll quick check?”

“Lead the way.” Nico decided not to bring up how she still got lost in the huge house, even after visiting frequently over the last few years.

“You coming, Papa?”

Nico realized she had all but forgotten the paternal Nishikino was still there. Stealing a quick side glance, she found him quietly observing the couple. If she was reading things correctly, his aura had warmed somewhat, though was no less calculating than before; gears were obviously grinding behind his stoic expression.

“Your mother and I will meet you at the table.” Dr. Nishikino stated. “I’ll go find her.”

As Maki took her hand to lead her through the house, Nico noticed her grip was tighter than normal. A lot tighter. Maki was more nervous than she was letting on. Just how worried was she about her father’s approval of their relationship? Nico already knew Maki’s mother was wholly supportive, as was her own, but the only things she really knew about Maki’s father were that he had high expectations for his daughter and was not particularly fond of idols.

“Wait, Maki-chan,” Nico said, stopping in the hallway before they reached their destination “hold up a moment.”

“Eh?” Maki uttered, not seeming to notice the change and almost yanking Nico’s arm out of the socket before being held to a halt. “Nico-chan?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Maki.” Nico fixed her girlfriend with a steady stare. The redhead returned the gaze, though was far more furtive, and when she began to fidget with her hair, Nico reached out and gently touched her hand. “What’s wrong?” She repeated.

Maki released a puff of air. “I’m nervous, alright? I… I just really want Papa to like you.”

“I’m nervous too.” Nico admitted, her thoughts racing through things she could say to calm them both down. “But you know, he didn’t turn me away at the door, so that’s gotta count for something, right?” She paused for a moment. “Well, technically, he did, but that was before he realized why I was here, but he still let me in, so that has to mean he’s willing to give me a chance, right?”

“I just… I know he’ll bring up idols, and…”

“Maki-chan.” Nico took a step in to close some of the distance between them. “Nico didn’t become the No. 1 Idol in the Universe without learning a thing or two about reading her audience.”

“…” Maki’s expression wasn’t one of disbelief but of continued concern.

“Look, I’m not going to lie to your father about my career of choice, but I’m also not going to try to convert him into a fan or convince him that idols are the most amazing thing ever, even if I believe that myself.”

“I know…”

“And I am attending college and aim to get a degree.” Nico continued. “Sure it won’t be a fancy medical degree like yours, but I’m getting it while still being an idol. So that’s also gotta count for something, right?”

“Papa does respect hard work.”

“And Nico is a hard worker.”

“I know.” Maki affirmed, dropping her hand before leaning her head into Nico’s hand. “Nico-chan is one of the hardest workers I know when it comes to working toward her goals. It’s always admired, and envied, about you.”

Nico scoffed. “You say that as if you don’t work hard as well, Maki-chan.”

“Mmm…” Maki hummed in a tone that implied she was paying attention to something other than the conversation at hand.

Hand… Maki closed her eyes and nuzzled her cheek against Nico’s hand, causing her to open her fingers to increase contact. It should be fine here, right? Nico moved in the rest of the way and tilted her chin up. Maki followed her hand as Nico guided her down. Their lips touched and…

“Oh dear…” A startled voice uttered, causing the couple to jolt away from each other. “I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, Ojou-sama.”

“I-It’s f-fine…” A blushing Maki stumbled through.

Nico recognized the woman one of the newer members of the Nishikino house staff. She was responsible for general assistance wherever needed.

“Welcome, Yazawa-san.” The woman said with a polite bow, but when she righted herself, her expression was thoughtful. “Although, now that you’re dating Ojou-sama, perhaps Yazawa-sama is more appropriate?”

“Just Nico is fine.” Nico assured.

“Right, anyway, I’m on my away to retrieve some bottles of Cloudy Bay at the behest of the master.”

“White?” Maki inquired.

The woman nodded. “We’ve prepared a delightful shrimp pasta for the main course.” She turned to Nico. “Ojou-sama has informed us of your talent in the kitchen, so we hope to meet your standards, Yazawa-sama.”

Guess the new title is going to stick. Nico thought to herself. “I’m sure it will be great.”

“The caprese salads should be ready if you wish to head to the dining room now.”

“Tomatoes, of course.” Nico couldn’t help commenting.

“Yes.” The staff member confirmed. “We have also been informed of one of your preferences, so for dessert, we will be serving traditional crepes with lemon and sugar.”

“Sounds delicious.”

The woman smiled before bowing again to excuse herself and hurrying down the hall.

“Is there anything wrong with your father requesting white wine?” Nico asked, trying to gauge her girlfriend’s reaction.

“I don’t believe so.” Maki shook her head. “White is better paired with seafood, after all.”

“Yes, but…?”

“No, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” Maki shook her head again. “Cloudy Bay is actually one of Papa’s favorites. He’s quite fond of the New Zealand area in general.”

“One of his favorites? That’s gotta be a good sign, right?”

“I hope so.”

Nico took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then released it slowly. “Well, the salad is apparently ready, so we may as well get to it.”

Maki nodded before taking Nico’s hand once more to complete their journey to the dining room. Nico noted, thankfully, that her girlfriend’s grip was far more relaxed this time around.

Upon arrival, the couple was greeted by the Nishikino estate manager who showed them to their seats. Shortly thereafter, Maki’s parents arrived and took their own seats. Next the chef and her assistant from before arrived with the first course. Finally, the first bottle of wine was uncorked and the meal was underway.

“So, Yazawa-san,” Dr. Nishikino stated, drawing Nico’s attention “you’ve known Maki since high school, am I correct?”

“Yes.” Nico affirmed. “It was Maki-chan’s first year and my third.”

“I see. And were you one of the girls who helped convince her to become an idol?”

Well, that didn’t take long for the subject to come up. Nico thought to herself. Straight to the point, I guess, unlike a certain dishonest daughter of his…

“Actually, it was the other way around.” Nico replied.

“Oh?”

“I was in a disillusioned and jaded state back then, after my first attempt at forming a group fell through.” Nico admitted. “And it was Honoka and Maki-chan and the others that pulled me out of my funk and helped me remember why I adored idols so much and wanted so desperately to be one.” She couldn’t help smiling as fond memories flooded her mind. “I really do owe them all a debt of gratitude for that.”

“I see. And you are still an idol now?”

“Part time.” Nico nodded. “I was able to find a small production company that was willing to work around my classes. It fills up my schedule and keeps me busy, but also lets me keep my foot in the door.”

“Because you intend to go full time even once you’ve earned a degree?”

Nico wasn’t particularly fond of the wording of the question and had to resist the urge to call it out; had it been Maki and they were in a more casual setting, she likely would have done so.

“I do.” She said aloud instead. “And once I retire from being an idol, the degree will help me find other employment.”

“And what type of employment might that be?”

“Something still in the industry, if possible.” Out of the corner of her eye, Nico caught a suppressed expression of surprise on her girlfriend’s face. Understandable, as it was news to Maki as well. “Choreographer, trainer, costume design, heck maybe even a producer, someday. Basically, I’d like to pay forward my debt by helping the next generations of idols.”

“And one is able to earn a living in such an industry?”

“Others have before me; I believe I can as well.” Nico gave another glance to the redhead beside her. “I may not have the skills to become a life-saving doctor like Maki, but I can still do my part to make the world a better place; one smile at a time.”

“Medicine, law, business, engineering,” Maki’s mother suddenly spoke up “these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.” She smiled at Nico. “I believe Mr. Keating’s words hold true for many things. Music, painting, writing, really the arts as a whole are what make life worth living.”

“Mr. Keating?” Nico inquired.

“The lead character of Dead Poets Society.” Maki responded. “We should watch it sometime, Nico-chan; it’s really good.”

“And it is because the arts are so important” Dr. Nishikino continued “that my husband and I strive to support them as much as possible. In fact, we will be attending a performance of The Barber of Seville late next month and have not even started sending out invites to fill our box. You two are more than welcome to join us.”

At this, Maki’s eyes lit up. “Next month? When?”

“I’ll message you the dates later, but it’s a weekend so you should be able to work it into your study schedule.”

Maki turned to Nico with an expression rivaling the one she wore when December started. “Do you want to come with me?”

Nico smiled at her girlfriend’s excitement and word choice. “I’d love to. But where have I heard that title before?”

“From my playlist.”

“Tchaikovsky?” Nico made sure to pronounce the name as correctly as she could.

Maki shook her head. “Rossini.”

Nico racked her memory. “Cinderella?”

“Yes, different opera, same composer.”

“One smile at a time, you said?” Maki’s father suddenly stated.

“Oh, yeah.” Nico recalled her words from a few minutes ago.

The barest hint of something tugged at the edges of Dr. Nishikino’s lips. “Well, if nothing else, you have succeeded in making my daughter smile.” He nodded toward Maki, directing Nico’s attention back to the mentioned reaction. “And as my wife and I can attest, that is not always the easiest of tasks.”

“… P-Papa…” Maki offered a mild protest as pink dusted her cheeks and her mother chuckled.

Nico couldn’t help a smile of her own as she turned back to Maki’s father. “I think I’m up to the challenge.”

“Indeed.”

Wait… wasn’t this a bit hypocritical? Nico suddenly thought. Why claim to be a patron of the arts while simultaneously disallowing one’s daughter from being an artist?

On occasion, Maki had bemoaned being railroaded into the medical career while her dreams of being a professional pianist were dismissed as a passing fancy. Yet she hadn’t acknowledged the contradiction. Was she even aware of it? With the level of reverence Maki held for her parents, Nico could easily imagine her remaining oblivious; well, that and Maki’s overall naivete in many aspects of life.

Should she tell her? Was it even Nico’s place say such a thing? Nico was no stranger to speaking her mind when it came to her own interests, or those of her siblings. And she was dating Maki now, which meant defending her girlfriend’s best interests also shouldn’t surprise anyone. Or at least what she believed to be Maki’s best interests, as her parents obviously felt differently.

“On a related topic, Yazawa-san, Maki has told us much about your shared love of music.” Dr. Nishikino continued.

Nico derailed her own train of thought and refocused her attention on the conversation at hand. “It is one of our favorite subjects to discuss… or argue over.”

“And you often listen together while studying.”

“I believe music helps keep us in a good mood, which then helps us study.” Nico explained.

“I think we can all attest to the positive effects of music.” The Nishikino matriarch said.

“Indeed.” Her husband agreed.

“And Maki-chan has helped expand my appreciation of other genres of music.” Nico turned to her girlfriend. “And I’d like to think I’ve expanded hers as well.”

Maki nodded an affirmation with a smile.

“Maki also has told us that she often helps you study.”

“She does.” Nico confirmed. “Maki is incredibly smart. Even if she doesn’t know the answer to a problem, she is often able to logic things through and help guide me in the right direction. Honestly, if I didn’t already know she was going to be a doctor, I’d’ve suggested she become a teacher.”

“Now that would be an interesting career choice.” Maki’s mother said thoughtfully.

“Hrm…” Her father seemed less than convinced. “So, do you help her study in return?”

“Well…” Nico started.

“Nico-chan helps in other ways, Papa.” Maki offered. “Even if she isn’t able to help me with a given topic, she helps ensure I take regular breaks so I can come back with better focus. She makes sure I’m hydrated and helps track my nutrition and is quite insistent on keeping a decent sleep schedule. Honestly, she’s better at taking care of me than I am.” Her eyes widened as her admission registered in her mind.

“That’s right,” Her mother continued with the thoughtfulness from earlier, though Nico was sure she detected some teasing undertones “wasn’t it Nico that saved Maki from herself back on her birthday?”

“Mama…” Maki was losing a battle in trying to keep down another blush.

“Maki is very diligent in her studies.” Nico stated. “And I’m happy to help where I can.”

“Hmm… sounds like another couple we know, right Dear?” Dr. Nishikino sent a sly smile toward her husband, the teasing more obvious now.

“… Perhaps.” Maki’s father conceded.

Was it Nico’s imagination or did she just catch another glimpse into the source of some of Maki’s behavior? The Nishikino patriarch wasn’t the easiest to read behind his stoic mask, but his daughter wasn’t always straightforward with her emotions either and Nico had figured her out fairly well by this point.

As far as Nico was concerned, the rest of dinner went quite smoothly. Once Maki’s father got past his initial questions, he remained mostly quite. It ended up being Nico and Maki’s mother carrying the bulk of the conversations, which honestly didn’t really surprise Nico all that much. Maki’s mother inquired about Nico’s family, though Nico suspected she already knew most of the things anyway and it was more for Maki’s father’s sake. Still, Nico wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to brag about her amazing siblings and about how proud of them she was in taking care of the household and themselves in her absence.

After dinner, Maki’s parents excused themselves to finish up the day’s emails and paperwork. Nico couldn’t help but wonder if that would be something Maki would end up doing once she became more involved with the hospital administrative duties.

As for Nico herself, she joined Maki in the Nishikino music room for the previously promised private concert. There, she had happily settled into the best seat in the house, next her girlfriend on the bench. All in all, it was a wonderful conclusion to what she believed to be a wonderful night. However, as confident as she was, she still wanted to be sure, so she made a mental note to ask the one she believed would know best, or at least better than herself.

“So, how did I do?” Nico asked, once she was sure they were well beyond earshot of anyone even remotely associated with the Nishikino residence.

“You were perfect, Nico-chan.” Maki responded with a smile that sent a warm feeling through Nico’s chest. “I think Papa likes you and is fine with us dating, and we already know how Mama feels.”

Thank the gods… Nico thought with relief. And with that load off her mind, “Of course I was perfect,” she decided to get in some teasing of her own, after spending the evening watching Dr. Nishikino do so “Nico is always perfect.” She grinned and held up her signature gesture.

“Id…” Maki’s typical retort was interrupted by a yawn.

Nico laughed before continuing the tradition. “You love it.”

“… Maybe…” Maki managed to get out as her energy seemed to be leaving her rapidly.

Nico leaned her shoulder into her girlfriend. “Steady there, Maki-chan, you going to be alright getting back to your dormroom?”

“Eh? But, I thought…”

“You thought…?”

“I thought I was going to your place?”

“Well you can, obviously you’re always welcome, but…” Nico motioned to Maki’s outfit, taking the moment to enjoy the view as well “I figured since you don’t have a change of clothes, you wouldn’t want to put this back on in the morning.”

“It’s fine…” Maki stifled another yawn. “I just want to go home…” She blinked and shook her head. “I mean your home… Yours… yours and Nozomi’s, I mean… ueeehhh…”

Nico chuckled. “It’s your home too, Maki-chan.” By the gods did she want to kiss the redhead whose cheeks were now matching her hair, but even this late at night, there was a risk of being seen. Later. She promised herself. “Nozomi and my names may be on the lease,” she said instead “but that doesn’t make it any less home to you or Eli.”

“T-thank you…”

“You don’t have to thank me for that; that much is normal for couples, right? But you know, Eli does leave a lot of stuff in Nozomi’s room…” Nico thought aloud “perhaps I should clear out a drawer and make some room in the closet for you.”

“I’d like that.” Maki smiled. “I’ll be sure to bring some stuff over soon.”

“Good. For tonight, you can borrow your usual sleep shirt and we’ll figure out something else in the morning. I think the outfit I lent you the other day is clean, but if not, maybe Nozomi has something that will fit you.”

Maki nodded.

“Then it’s settled.” Nico took Maki’s hand as they boarded the train together. “Let’s go home.”

Author’s Note Continued in Followup Post

[nychwrites]

Winter’s Warmth — a Daichi and Michimiya fanfiction

Notes: I'm not good in writing fluff and this is my very first Haikyuu fanfiction, so I'm so sorry in advance if it's so-so 😂. I was experimenting with this, but here you go! 💓

Daichi Sawamura, class 3-4, Karasuno’s boys’ volleyball club team captain. Ever since they won the ticket to nationals, he’s been the talk of the town; girls here and there swooning over him and how he’s responsible, handsome, smart, and athletic in one.

What they don’t know, however, is that the Sawamura Daichi is also dense as fuck.

“It’s been a while, huh,” Yui Michimiya commented, gesturing to herself. “I mean, we never got the chance to talk after nationals...”

Daichi leaned against the window sill, arms crossed. “Yeah. How are things going?”

“Uh—the volleyball club seems pretty well ever since I retired,” Yui commented. “They’ve set their goals higher and the new captain is much more capable than me.”

“Don’t say that, you’re the best captain they can ever ask for you know,” Daichi replied casually, frowning a bit. Yui’s heart, however, started pounding like crazy.

The casualness between the two captains is something Yui grew up with. She’s used to being around him and the other third years in the volleyball club, not really minding that they’re, indeed, of opposite sexes. Besides, volleyball has always been the foundation of their friendship.

And well, her feelings for Daichi probably stemmed from that, too.

She knows to herself that she should’ve suppressed her feelings as soon as she felt it. It’s in Daichi’s nature to be caring and uplifting, knowing that he’s the volleyball team’s captain. However, some things just cannot be helped; best example, Yui’s situation.

I mean, what’s not to like about Daichi? He’s smart, athletic, caring, a huge gentleman, and selfless, although it’s nulled whenever he’s with his team—usually, his nagging side shows up instead.

Despite that, he’s an overall good guy. It’s a shame if nobody notices his good traits.

“Michimiya? You good?”

Yui snapped back in reality from fawning over Daichi. “Oh! I’m sorry, just thought of something,” she replied sheepishly. “So we’re graduating soon, huh...”

‘I haven’t even confessed to you,’ Yui wanted to add, but she couldn’t. Even if she tried, she knows she can’t. Even if she’s in her death bed, or if she’s in the highway to Hell. Heck, she’d rather die than to confess!

Ever since they’ve settled comfortably into the ‘friendship’ label, she can’t picture herself from beyond that. Sure, she fantasizes from time to time about being in a relationship with him, but she knows that with their current situation, that’s a bit of a stretch. She doesn’t even know if she’s worthy of being his girlfriend, even; she thinks that he’d rather date Sugawara or Azumane...

‘No. No more of the self-deprecation, Yui!’ she thought to herself. ‘At least ask him if he likes someone!’

With a determined stance, she slapped her cheeks as hard as she can, catching Daichi by surprise. “W-Woah! Are you really okay?”

Yui let out a heaved breath that she didn’t realize she was holding in and faced Daichi. “Uhm, S-Sawamura, do you, uh... l-like someone r-right now?”

Sugawara, who was just passing by, suddenly butted in with a, “Good luck, Daichi!” and walked away like it was nothing, leaving Yui confused and scared.

‘What did he mean by good luck?’

Daichi, on the other hand, was plain confused, both from the question and Suga’s sudden “good luck”. He considers Yui as a good friend, that he’s sure; but why the sudden question? And what the heck is up with Suga? Did Tanaka and Nishinoya cause ruckus again? Or, perhaps, did Hinata and Kageyama bother the vice president again? Or—

‘Ah, right. They’ll be in Ennoshita’s hands from now on.’

“U-Uhm, i-if you don’t wanna tell me, I’m fine with that,” Yui suddenly said, which snapped him out from his train of thoughts. He looked at her once more, and for the first time, saw her in a different light.

With a quickened heartbeat, he saw a different Yui Michimiya standing right in front of him; someone that wasn’t his “volleyball buddy” right from middle school. He saw the woman that she was now, with her beautiful short hair, soft, sparkling eyes, her cheeks flushed red and the sunlight reflecting down on her.

It was all too sudden.

“I-I’m sorry for asking!” she suddenly screamed, turning her body away. “I-I gotta go, b-bye!” With that, she ran away.

Daichi stood frozen, both from the shock at seeing Yui run away so suddenly and from the realization that he had.

“Oi, Daichi you stupid motherfu—“

“Suga, not too loud!”

Even with the noise his friends were making, Daichi’s head was still in the situation he was in a hot second ago. He suddenly realized the time when Suga would purposely leave him and Michimiya alone when they were talking, even dragging Asahi away from him—despite his confusion. His mind also wandered off to the time when Karasuno and Shiratorizawa played each other for the Spring Qualifiers, and how Michimiya gave him a charm. His reminiscence even took him as far back as middle school, when he and Michimiya first met and got closer to each other.

‘Why did I realize this just now?’

Those three years of junior year, and an additional three years of highschool. That’s six years in total. That’s how long it took him to realize that he, indeed, likes Michimiya.

“...chi. Daichi!”

“Huh, what?” he absentmindedly asked, turning to face his friends; a fuming Sugawara and a scared-looking Asahi, holding back the former.

“You idiot, why didn’t you run after Michimiya?!” Sugawara exploded, eyebrows knitted.

“S-Suga, give it a rest,” Asahi interjected unsurely. “You’re just asking to get bitten.”

Daichi casted a glare at Asahi, which made him flinch. Sugawara ignored the two, and placed his index finger in Daichi’s chest. “Everything that I hold from now on reeks of dumbass energy.”

“And everything that I look at is stupid,” he retaliated, staring down at Sugawara, who boldly stared back—even glaring. “Why’d you care, anyway?”

“For being a team captain, you sure are being careless right now,” the vice captain shot back immaturely, not wanting to back down.

“What’s that have to do with this?” Daichi asked in disbelief.

“Because! A leader has to be responsible and cleans up every mess being made!”

“We’re outside of the club! We’re graduating soon!”

“And so? That doesn’t deny the fact that you’re still Captain!”

‘Jesus, they’re like Kageyama and Hinata,’ Asahi thought, now letting go of Sugawara and standing in an awkward middle.

Asahi opened his mouth, wanting to stop their fight, but Daichi beat him to it and said, “It’s not like I’m not going to go after her, anyway. I’m just... thinking.”

“Wow, you sure are smart,” Sugawara commented sarcastically. “What, gonna think hard enough for her to magically run towards you?”

“Shut up,” Daichi growled, making Asahi cower. “I’m just... I wanna say the right words to her,” he added with a sigh. “I know... I’ve been dense and all—“

“That’s hardly news,” Sugawara butted in with a snicker.

“—but I think it’s about time I make it up to her,” Daichi continued. “I always had this gut feeling that she liked me, but I discarded those thoughts even way before I could even think about it deeper. And it’s not like I could ask her about it so casually, y’know?”

“But if you had the idea, wouldn’t it be better for you to clear it up?” Sugawara mused. “I mean, I’m surprised how you can disregard thoughts like that so easily. If it were me, I’d think about it for a week!”

“Oh, like how Shimizu held your hand?” Asahi perked up. “She’s really unpredictable.”

“Yeah, but she’s kinda like a sister to me now,” Sugawara immediately replied. “And I’m pretty sure she’s like the female version of Daichi. Unbothered by her fans.”

“Heard that,” Kiyoko spoke, suddenly appearing behind the three. “What’s with the serious talk?”

“Daichi’s got love problems,” Asahi explained. “Now, he’s conflicted about it.”

“Ah, no wonder why Michimiya look troubled earlier when I passed by her,” Kiyoko commented. She placed a hand on Daichi’s shoulders and demanded seriously, “You should go after her.”

“That’s what I’m gonna do, just dunno how I’m supposed to approach her,” Daichi said with a sigh, slumping his shoulder. “These things aren’t fit for ‘casual talk’ you know?”

“But you can casually cheer her up, can’t you?” Kiyoko pointed out. “That must mean a lot to her.”

“Yeah, but... this is ‘love’ we’re talking about,” Daichi countered. “It’s a gamble saying things recklessly and complacently just because I can expect something from her. I’ve only realized I like her a few minutes ago, but what if it isn’t en—“

“Just hearing you worry is enough proof that you’re sincere with her.”

They all fell silent when Kiyoko pointed that out, to which made her laugh.

“C’mon now, don’t start wimping out,” she said with a grin.

“Shimizu... I owe you a ton,” Daichi said sincerely, tapping her shoulder. “I gotta go, then,” he announced, turning his back on his peers. He started jogging away from them, raising a fist and grinning widely at his friends—his clubmates who stuck with him and the team for the past three years.

They raised their fists back, not minding Sugawara saying, “He doesn’t even know where Michimiya went.”

‘This is my last year of highschool, and it’s possible that we might never see each other again. If I screw this up, I’m done for,’ Daichi thought, repeating it over and over again as he combed through the entire campus and asking a few third years he could recognize. Eventually, his legs led him to gymnasium one, where squeaks and balls hitting the wood floor can be heard.

He slowed down his pace from a jog to a brisk walk, peaking between the open space of the steel door. He saw the basketball team with their passing drills, and on the other side is the girls’ volleyball team with their receiving drills. He suddenly remembered his own team, suddenly remembered the same determination they all shared even when it seemed like the whole world was against them.

“S-Sawamura?”

“Oh!”

Daichi almost tripped over the flights of stairs when he suddenly heard Michimiya’s voice from behind him. He had to subtly clutch his chest out of fear before facing her, and before he knew it, he had to clutch it again.

‘She’s so damn gorgeous.’

“Uh, hi,” Daichi greeted awkwardly. “I was, erm... looking for you.”

It was just one sentence; one that Yui heard a lot from Daichi over the past six years, but it had a different impact this time around. It was a cold February, and Daichi stood there in the warmth of his jacket and scarf, and the growing feelings he had for Michimiya that had seemed to triple each passing second he spent staring at her.

“O-Oh, what’s up?” Yui asked, trying to be casual, but her heart was beating loudly and frantically, as if it were going to pop out of her ribcage.

“This past six years... you always heard me out, I could confine to you whenever I had troubles—although often it was the other way around—and overall... you’ve been a big help. I don’t even know where to start because I’ve probably done a lot of awful things that seemed normal and right to me,” Daichi rambled. “I’m just—I realized something, you know? Something that’s a given, but something that I didn’t realize sooner.”

It was a cold February. The air was ringing and it was hard to breathe, layers and layers of cloth still can’t mask the coldness of two degrees Celsius and not moving for even a second can make you frozen solid. However, with each words Daichi spoke, Yui felt warm.

“Sawamura...”

“I like you, Yui... and I’m sorry that I hadn’t realized it sooner. I’m sorry for wasting six years,” he breathed out.

It was winter when Sawamura Daichi confessed his love to the person who has been in love for him for a long time. Compared to him, her love was way heavier, it was deeper and it was more intense. Suppressing it for a long time, then off to sending signals only to be ignored, then making efforts for him; Yui did so much for Daichi, not minding that it wasn’t possible even in the slightest for him to reciprocate it or to even notice it in the least.

But they’re here now, standing one meter apart and feeling the warmth of their hearts overpower the coldness of Japan. Until the very last minute, Yui was convinced that she doesn’t have a chance, as Daichi thought that he probably wouldn’t be given a chance.

But here they are now, with no gaps between them, bodies connected and pressed against each other gently, her slender hands wrapped around his back firmly and face buried in his chest, hot tears flowing down the sides of her eyes.

“Y-You dumbass...” she choked out, voice muffled, “W-Why...”

Daichi chuckled quietly, burying his head on Yui’s shoulder, gently caressing her hair. “I’m really, really sorry, Yui...”

“You don’t have to say sorry,” she replied back almost immediately. “Whatever you have to give, I’ll accept it wholeheartedly.”

“In that case, I’ll start giving you only the best, then.”

It was winter when Sawamura Daichi and Michimiya Yui finally, after six years, met an understanding and their hearts started to stand in the same path. For years, it’s always been Yui staring at Daichi from afar, only wishing to see him up close where they could walk away from that stranded spot together. When that day finally came, it wasn’t them walking away together; they stayed in the same stranded spot, hands clasped, leaning against each other as they send warmth to the other.

It was winter, but it didn’t feel too cold like the past six years. It was winter, and it was warm.

I hope you liked it! Hehe 💓

[lazella]

Infinity Stones AU: In Which They Met Spiderman...And Venom

I finally finished this one, just in time to relieve your Coronavirus blues. I really hope you enjoy. :)

Yuya and Yuma were having duel, no holograms as they were still working on making the Duel Disks compatible, trying to iron out the difference in rules and card types so that they could do a battle royal later. Yusaku was rather helpful in figuring out how the make the game fair between all the different playstyles. Though no one defeated Yugi, he won every time. But for now he was just watching enjoying the show. Yuma was pretty good but sometimes he would try to ask Astral for help who rather sarcastically reminded Yuma he needed to play on his own. Who knew spirits could be sassy? Yusei was in the lab with Tony working on something, they had been rather secretive about it. Judai was also spectating the match.

“Wait…how do Pendulum Monsters work again?” Yuma asked for the fifth time.

Yuya sighed and prepared to explain again only to be interrupted by a loud thump on the window followed by a voice.

“Oh hey there…loving the hair dye.”

Judai blinked few times, then yelled out back towards the labs, “Tony! There’s a guy in red spandex on the window! Not sure how he got there!”

There was some loud crash noise before Tony and Yusei entered the main room, Tony gave a look at the spandex person, and sighed, “How many times have I told you to call ahead and use the door?”

“But it’s a lot more fun to go swinging around the New York skyline!” The red figure argued back.

“Just go use the door!” Tony sighed, “Boys…meet Spiderman. And yes…he does what a spider does.”

“I’m am also very friendly!” Spiderman insisted as he enter the ‘proper’ way, “And also Mr. Stark why do they have their hair dyed! You wouldn’t let me dye my hair!”

“Believe it or not that is their natural color and no this is not permission to dye your hair.” Tony responded

“But I wear a full face mask! No one would know it was me!”

“You wanted to dye your hair RAINBOW!!!”

“It was going to be for a good cause!”

Yusei whispered to Yugi, “Do they sound like father and son?”

“They do but I don’t think Tony-san has any children.” Yugi said.

“His father tendencies are strong…” Judai added.

“He does a poor job of hiding it…” Yusaku said.

“You think he has other kids he may have ‘adopted’?” Yuya asked.

“I think it’s likely….” Astral said, “I believe he has adopted all of you.”

“Wha?” Yuma was perplexed, “But I still have parents!”

“WHY IS THERE A GHOST?!?!?!”

“Oh…he has noticed me.” The sass was back with Astral.

“Kid calm down….” Tony sighed, “That’s not a ghost…the short one can tell you the full details later.”

“I’m not short!” Yuma protested.

“But why are they here? They don’t look like heroes…” Spiderman asked.

“They have the Infinity Stones.”

“Ooooooooohhhhh…..that makes sense.” Spiderman said, “Think they can help me out?”

Tony arched an eyebrow, “What sort of problem do you have that might need the power of the Infinity Stones for?”

“I think I spotted Venom running amok earlier.”

“What?” Tony froze, “What you mean that you think you saw Venom today?! He’s in lock up!”

“That why I came here! To be sure!”

“Okay fine….” Tony sighed, “JARVIS…can you contact…”

Actually sir….I just received a message stating that Venom has escaped confinement.

“WHEN!?”

Four hours ago.

“AND THEY DIDN’T THINK IT WAS IMPORTANT TO CALL ME?!” Tony stormed over to a wall, pushed a button, and a compartment containing six gauntlets popped out. He tossed on to each of the boys, “Put these on, they are designed to help channel the power of the Infinity Stones, they are prototypes so be careful, now let’s hunt an alien symbiote.” He then stormed off to get suited up.

Judai turned to Spiderman, “So…what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain as we head out…” Spiderman let out a sigh.

………………………

“So we’re are dealing with an alien…”

“Yep…”

“That’s also a parasite.”

“Yep…”

“And it has favorite people it likes to attach to…including yourself.”

“Pretty much.”

“Cool!”

“It’s not cool!” Spiderman rubbed his temples, “It can corrupt and or kill the host!”

“So we still get to fight it right?” Nothing seemed to be fazing Judai at the moment. Spiderman wondered why he was left alone with this kid while Mr. Stark had the others spread out around town with scanners trying to find Venom.

“I rather just bottle it up and not touch it…” Spiderman sighed, “Just thinking about it touching me gives me shivers.”

Judai’s face turned serious, “How so?”

“It gets in your head…tells you things that sound appealing…” Spiderman explained, “But it makes you do stuff you normally don’t do…not to mention it kills most people it tries to attach too.”

“Oooohhhhh…I see…” Judai’s face turned to what Spiderman thought was understanding, “I can see why you didn’t want to deal with it by yourself.”

“It usually doesn’t end well facing Venom alone.” Spiderman said, “Mr. Stark always insists that I now call him up anytime I need to deal with him.”

Judai, can you hear me? Yugi’s voice came over the commlink.

“What is it Yugi-san?”

We spotted Venom. Three blocks east of your location and he’s heading your way fast.

“Got it!” Spiderman was on alert.

We’ll rendezvous as soon as we can. Please don’t do anything stupid please…Tony’s pleading voice came over the commlink.

“No promises…” Judai replied looking over to the direction that Venom was reported to be coming from. In the distance he could see a black figure coming towards them fast. He could see that the silhouette looked like a bulkier version of Spiderman but seemed to be having trouble keeping form.

That thing looks disgusting…. Yubel muttered.

“Looks like a sentient blob trying to copy you Spiderman.” Judai said.

“I guess he doesn’t have a host yet…which is why he’s gunning for me…” Spiderman gulped as Venom leaped for them.

“I’ve got your back!” Judai activated his duel disk and summoned Neos who punched the symbiote disrupting its form making it rain alien goop.

“It’s not going to be that easy…” Spiderman looked around wearingly as the blobs worked back towards each other.

“Neos! Keep the parts separated!” Judai ordered while he ran with Spiderman trying to keep distance between them and Venom jumping down the fire escape two steps at a time.

“Judai!” The brown-haired duelist looked up to see Yusei being dropped off by Tony carrying some equipment. “Mr. Stark has a plan to recapture Venom! Lure him to the nearby park so we can trap him!”

Spiderman seemed to recognize the equipment that Yusei is carrying, “Are those the high frequency disruptors?”

“Part of the plan,” Yusei explained, “Mr. Stark explain Venom’s weakness to me…” He handed Judai and Spiderman what looked like hand held cannons, “I can see you have Neos fighting Venom right now Judai but this is in case he tries attaching to anyone. Now get Neos to bring it to the park.”

“You heard him Neos!” Judai yelled out to his warrior. Neos gave a nod and began taunting the pieces of Venom into following him. The blobs let out a garbled shriek but took the bait. Spiderman grabbed Judai under the shoulders and began web slinging towards the park.

Yuma, Yuya, don’t take this wrong way but I need you two to stay back. Tony’s voice crackled over the commlink.

WHAT?! WHY?! Yuma screech nearly made everyone deaf.

Because dad said so!

“He admitted it finally!” Judai laughed.

W-What I meant was……that I don’t want Venom to be eating you two as a snack….Tony unconvincingly corrected himself.

You know they are going to get involved anyway. Yusei chimed in.

I think this is a proven point by now. Yugi chimed in next.

“Is this normal for you guys?” Spiderman asked Judai.

“Pretty much…” Judai shrugged, “I don’t think Tony is used to the fact that us kids saved our worlds a few times over, so we have little fear of anything.”

“I want to hear that story later.” Spiderman said as they touched down in the park with the Venom blobs hot on their tails.

“Can’t wait to test this out…” Judai grinned as he placed the Power Stone in the prototype gauntlet, the metal gaining a purple hue as it charged up with power. He ran towards the nearest blob and gave it a good punch turning the blob into something that had the consistency of black tar, but it did stop moving.

“Just do that again!” Spiderman cried out as tried to web down the incoming blobs. He spied Yusei setting up a perimeter with the equipment Mr. Stark had given him so he knew that he had to keep Venom’s attention away from him. Ironman himself had made an appearance himself blasting chunks of Venom with hypersonic frequencies. Overall, it was looking like they were having a handle on the situation. That is until Spiderman felt something shove him hard sending him flying across the park. When the world stopped spinning, he sat up and saw Judai trying to pull something black off his arm.

Black…on his arm….

Oh crap….

“MR. STARK! VENOM’S ON JUDAI!!!!!!” Spiderman yelled as loud as he could.

Within an instant, Ironman was on the scene trying to blast Venom off Judai. A task that was proving to be difficult as the other Venom blobs were darting for Judai and the glob that was on him was spreading fast.

“Get away Tony! I’M STARTING TO LOSE CONTROL!!!” Judai’s voice had already started distorting.

“Venom or Haou?” Ironman asked.

“BOTH!!!”

Spiderman had no idea what was going on but judging by the fact Mr. Stark immediately jumped back from Judai was a sign that it was not good. Wind started kicking up around Judai as he let out an inhumane growl and Spiderman could of sworn his eyes changed to a gold color.

“What’s going on!!!!” Yugi had arrived with the rest of the boys all looking shocked.

“Venom’s got Judai and it seems to be in an argument with that dark side of him you guys told me about.” Ironman explained, “Yusei’s almost done setting up the destabilizers and containment but we need to keep Vemon here and not hijack Judai’s body.”

“The Mind Stone trick is not going to work this time is it…” Yusaku glumly stated.

“Probably not…” Yugi frowned, “Yuma, can you do that fusion thing? You may need the extra protection.”

“Astral says if Yuya get set up the field we’ll be all set.” Yuma explained.

“I’ll add a barrier as well just in case…” Yuya focused on his gauntlet with the Reality Stone as a golden field surrounded the park.

Now Spiderman really had no idea what was going on. Even more so when it seemed that Yuma started glowing all sorts of colors and transformed into a really cool looking warrior with plated wings wielding two swords. He was so totally asking for details about that later.

“Yuma, you and I are on close combat!” Ironman started barking orders, “Yugi, Yuya, and Spiderman are on ranged attacks. Yusaku, you fall back with Yusei to make sure the equipment is ready to go on my signal!”

The team immediately acted on the orders. Spiderman watched as Yugi and Yuya used those cards they had to summon more things, a magician in purple armor and a red dragon attacking Judai/Venom when they could. Yuma and Ironman were keeping close slicing any stray bits of Venom that tried to attack or try to attach to a tree in hopes of escape. Spiderman himself was focusing on trapping any limbs that look close to striking anyone.

“Judai! Fight it off!” Yugi cried out.

“I’M TrYINg!!!! IT FeELS LIkE NaiLS IN MY heAD!!” Judai was switching between his own voice, an eerie echo of his own, and Venom’s voice.

“Hang on for one more minute!” Yusei yelled out, “We’re just about ready!”

Judai let out a growl that sounded like an okay and managed to get his uncover side of his body closer to the ground holding the Venom covered arm up.

“Everyone fall back!” Ironman yelled out as everyone got to a safe distance.

When everyone was clear, Yusei activated the sonic disruptors. The effect was instantaneous Venom shrieking, trying in vain to stay attached to Judai. The brown hair boy has having none of it. Judai’s golden eyes met Venom’s.

“If you do not wish to be disintegrated into sand…release me at once!”

With that, Venom finally released Judai. Yusaku immediately activated the containment field trapping the black blob.

Spiderman collapsed in relief; it was finally over.

Ironman helped Judai up and steadied him on his feet, “How did Venom even latch on to you?”

“It was gunning for Spiderman and I just shoved him out of the way.”

Spiderman was shocked, “You…you didn’t have to do that…I could have handled Venom.”

“You told me about your experience and trust me…I have personal experience and I’m sure you didn’t want to go through that again.” Judai just gave him a grin.

“B-But why?”

“It’s what we do for friends.” Was the reply.

“But we just met!”

“Get used to it,” Yugi said, “If Judai has named you a friend then you are a friend.”

“No point in fighting it.” Yusei added.

Spiderman decided to just roll with it. These guys seemed fun to hang out with anyway. It was tough being the youngest member of the Avengers. Finally, he had someone he can nerd with.

“Alright…I’m going to get Venom all bagged up and back into containment. You all head back to the tower and make Judai get looked over by medical. I am not in the mood for surprise side effects.” Tony said between a sigh and a groan.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine….” Judai said in a joking manner.

Tony just gave him a look, “You’ve got a superpowered, dark, alter ego in your head. I am not taking a chance that he picked up a thing or two from Venom”

Judai sighed in defeat, no point in arguing with Tony now.

“Don’t worry Mr. Stark, I’ll get him back to the tower and to medical,” Spiderman offered, “I’ll even web him to the bed if I need to!”

Tony grinned, “I knew I can count on you kid, we’ll catch up as soon as we’re done here.”

Spiderman gave a salute, scooped up Judai before he could make any sort of protest, and immediately began web slinging back to the tower.

“Do we really have to travel this way!?” Judai yelled over the wind.

“But it’s the route with the best views!”

“If you’re right side up! You’ve got me over your shoulders like a sack of potatoes!”

“It will just be a few minutes and I’ll keep you company while you get checked out by the doctor. Maybe you can show me that card game you were playing.”

That immediately brightened Judai’s mood, “You bet!”

[poorrichardslegacy]

Kacxa Week 2020 Day 7 - Return to Braylar IV

SUMMARY: Keith and Acxa return to Braylar IV with their teenage daughters. It is the first time either of them has been back to the planet since their first visit as enemies 23 decaphoebs earlier.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26923546

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Acxa/Keith (Voltron) Characters: Acxa (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Keith's Wolf (Voltron), Original Galran Character(s), Original Characters Additional Tags: Kacxa Week 2020, Family Secrets, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Pack Family, Wolf Pack, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon

---------------

Acxa looks around the clearing as Keith lands their ship on the surface of Braylar IV.

“Well, that was certainly a much smoother landing than the last time I was here.”

“Mom, any landing would be smoother than the one you made the last time you were here. You crash landed, remember?”

“Actually Cataleya, I try to forget that part of that trip.”

---------------

Disembarking from the ship, Keith sees four Cosmic Dire Wolves approaching. He and Acxa grin from ear to ear when they recognize the lead Wolf.

“Cosmo!”

The three rush forward to great one another. Standing over 8 feet tall at the shoulders, Cosmo bends down and allows Keith and Acxa to scratch him behind his ears.

“Oh, buddy. It’s so good to see you again! How have you been?”

“I am well, Keith. I assume all is well with you and Acxa? And the pups? Cataleya and Mireya? They are well?”

Acxa laughs. “The pups are fine, Cosmo. In fact, they’ve grown up since you last saw them.” She turns, looks behind her, and summons her daughters forward. “Girls, you remember, Cosmo? You were six the last time you saw him.”

“Mom, of course we remember Cosmo!” They rush forward to greet their former companion, who is just as happy to see them.

Keith sees a she-wolf with two pups standing behind Cosmo. He taps Cosmo on his shoulder. “Are you going to introduce us?”

“Of course. Keith, Acxa, Mireya, Catleya…this is my mate Corima, and our pups Tiguan and Merina.”

The Koganes bow in unison at the waist as they greet Cosmo’s family. “Corima, Tiguan, Merina…it is an honor to meet you.”

Corima and her pups bow in return. “The honor is ours, Black Paladin.”

“Black Paladin. That’s a title I haven’t been called in a long time.” Keith pauses and looks wistfully at Acxa. “A long time.” He turns back to Cosmo. “So, it’s been awhile since we’ve been here old friend. How is the pack?”

“The Sonai are well. About two decaphoebs ago, Father was severely injured fighting the Hyenas. They attacked a neighboring clan that was friendly to the Sonai, and he and I went to help them. Corima was a member of that clan. She helped me nurse him back to health and…well, here we are. I became alpha male of the Sonai when father and I returned.”

“Mother and Father are very eager to see you again. Shall we go to the compound?”

---------------

They enter the compound where the entire Sonai clan has gathered to meet them. As is their custom, the wolves bow out of respect for their visitors. Keith and his family return the courtesy, bowing in greeting as well.

Stepping forward out of the crowd with a noticeable limp is Soran. He is followed closely by Ashira, who keeps a watchful eye on her mate. Ashira looks well, but for Soran it is a different story. The decaphoebs have not been kind to the old Dire Wolf. Besides the limp, Soran is considerably grayer than he used to be.

Happy for the opportunity to see his friends again, Keith steps forward to greet them.

“Soran. Ashira. It is so good to see you again!”

“It is good to see you as well, old friend. I knew this day would come. I have been looking forward to seeing you again for a long time.”

“I’ve brought my family with me. I’d like to introduce them if I may.”

Soran looks past Keith and spies Acxa. He moves close to Keith and whispers to him. “So, you finally wised up and claimed her?”

Keith whispers back. “It’s more like she claimed me, but I’m not complaining.”

“It’s just as well, since you weren’t about to do it.”

Keith assumes an air of mock indignation. “And everyone asks me where Cosmo learned to be so snarky…like father like son.”

“Hey, I taught my son everything I know.”

---------------

Acxa shyly says hello to Soran, apologizing for her state the last time she was here. She gives Ashira a warm greeting as well, since Ashira and her sister saved Acxa’s life following her crash landing on Braylar IV.1

Ashira notices the girls. “Tell me Acxa, are these your pups?”

“Yes, they are. Girls, come here and say hello to Cosmo’s mother.” Acxa introduces the girls, who both render the respectful greeting Keith hammered home to them on the way here.

Soran turns to Keith. “So, she claimed you and you got busy. Well done!”

---------------

Keith sets up camp for his family in the cave that he and Acxa used for shelter 23 decaphoebs earlier. They are joined for dinner by Soran, Ashira, Cosmo, and his family. That night, around a campfire in the cave, Soran asks Keith’s daughters if their father told them of their parent’s first visit to Braylar IV.

“Do you know all that transpired in this very cave, young pups?”

“No sir, they mentioned they were here, but they never went into details.”

“Would you like to hear about it? How that rascal of a father of yours saved your mother’s life?”

“YES, PLEASE SIR!”

Acxa shoots Keith a panicked look. There is a part of this story she prefers not be told. Keith nods to his wife, then turns to Soran. “I don’t think that’s necessary. We don’t want to put you out.”

“Nonsense! These pups need to know about their parents before they were mated! It will help them understand who they sprung forth from.”

Soran turns to Acxa, a glint in his eye. “You’re not ashamed of anything I may tell them, are you?”

Acxa gives Soran a deadpan look straight in the eye. “Would it make a difference if I said yes?”

“Nope. I’m going to tell them anyway.”

Acxa sighs and looks to Keith. “That’s what I thought he would say.”

Soran proceeds to give the girls the full unabridged version of Keith and Acxa’s earlier visit to Braylar IV.2 3

Embellished and entirely from his perspective.

---------------

As Soran finishes his exaggerated story of Keith and Acxa’s first visit to Braylar IV, Mireya and Cataleya look at each other then turn to their mother with smirks on their faces.

“Mom…I gotta ask this…how in the name of all that is holy did you and Dad ever get together?”

“What do you mean, Cataleya?”

“Ok. This is what Soran just told us. You and Dad are enemies. You’re trying to kill each other. You fight Dad two planets from here, he cripples your fighter and breaks your arm, then he just flies away and leaves you. You crash land on this planet, you have to fight poisonous Hyenas, one of which poisons you, and you nearly die. All because Dad put you in this position. Not exactly good boyfriend behavior if you know what I mean.”

Keith, hurt by his daughter’s words, speaks up for himself. “In my defense, your mother jumped me at Braylar VI. I was just defending myself.”

Speaking of jumping on Keith, now it is Mireya’s turn to poke some good-natured fun at her father. “So, Dad, let me make sure I understand things from your point of view. You do all that to Mom, then you feel all guilty and decide to check on her. You got Mom naked while she was delirious with fever, yet you were a perfect gentleman and didn’t touch her…well…except for taking her bodysuit off…, you got your butt kicked by Narti and had to get the Sonai to help you beat her, and then you let Mom leave without saying goodbye? Wow, that doesn’t exactly sound like a romantic date to me. It sounds more like a date from hell. Mom, tell us again why you picked him?”

Seeing the hurt behind Keith’s eyes, Acxa reaches out, takes his hand, and whispers to him. “I’ve got this.” She pulls a recording device out of her pocket and turns to her girls. “You want to know why I picked your father as my life partner? This is why.”

Keith goes wide-eyed upon seeing the device. “You still have that thing?”

“Of course, I do, love. And it still plays like it did the day I found it.”

“Mom, what is it?”

“This? Oh, your father slipped this this little gem into my bag before he and Narti loaded me into the shuttle to return to Lotor’s cruiser. I think it’s worth listening to. You girls put an interesting forensic slant on what happened here, but there’s more to the story than what you just heard. You’re missing the nuances and you don’t really know what happened from your father’s perspective. This recording will put Soran’s story in a whole new light. It opened my eyes when I first heard it, so many decaphoebs ago.”

As the girls gather around their mother, Acxa starts the playback on the recording Keith made so many years ago.

“Hey, Acxa, it’s me, Keith. The Black Paladin. The guy you probably want to tear up into a million small pieces right about now. Yeah. But before you do that, let me explain a few things.”

“Wow, Dad, you look so young there. And hunky. I see why Mom fell for you…”

“Wait…Hunky? What does that…”

“SHHH! Dad! We want to hear this!”

“You might or might not remember the first fight against the Hyenas. I came down to help you because…I needed to...it was the right thing to do. One of them got close to you and slashed your right leg. You were injured pretty badly, lost a lot of blood.”

Pausing the recording, Acxa tells the girls about the onset of the symptoms of the Hyena poisoning. The big needle Keith used to inject the medicine that slowed the poison. How he asked for permission to remove her armor to treat her leg. And, how he treated Ashira, who was also poisoned by the Hyenas.4

She hits the play button again.

“I was also the one who called for Narti to come get you. I’d gone to your fighter to figure out your communication protocols, and I happened to see her on radar. I called, she came down, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

“I wanted to tell you all of this to your face, but…you were pretty loopy. You had no idea where you were or who you were talking to you. I don’t kill helpless enemies. But I know, technically, we are enemies. The next time we meet, if you come after me again like you did the last time, I will use deadly force if necessary, to defend myself.”

“I’d prefer not to do that. I had no desire to fight you at Braylar VI, because of our shared experience in the Weblum. I have no desire to fight you now. Not after what we just went through together.”

Mireya reaches in and hits the pause button on the playback device. “Wait…you two met on a Weblum?”

“No dear. Inside a Weblum.”

“WHAT?”

“The second stomach if you want to be precise. That’s another story.”

“Yeah, one that you two are going to tell us on the way back to Diabazaal! Then we want to hear the Androse Campfire story!”

Acxa prepares to restart the tape. “Pay attention girls, this is the important part.”

“I apologize for saying you lack honor. Narti told me about you. I believe what she said is true, and I was wrong to say what I said to you.”

“I also apologize for the pilot taunt. Turns out you’re just as good a pilot as I am. If not better. The skill it took to fly that fighter to Braylar IV with a broken arm and walk away from a crash landing is amazing.”

“Finally, I apologize for removing your body suit without your permission. I know you’ll figure it out sooner or later, so it’s best I admit it now. I mean nothing happened…it’s not like I haven’t seen…well…ok it was the first time I’ve seen…but it was purely clinical. Yeah, that’s it. I mean you were sweating…perspiring…uh…your body suit was saturated. You would have gotten a lot sicker if I left you in it. I did it for your own good. I hope you believe that. Please don’t kill me for it.”

“Wow, Dad…you were quite the smooth talker there…”

“Aww, he was really embarrassed Mireya…I think it’s cute…he tried.”

Acxa smiles and blushes at the memory, and at the sight of a clearly embarrassed and flustered Keith on the video. “Yes he did.”

“In another place and another time, I like to think we could be friends. We seem to have a lot in common. Also, if you ever have a change of heart and want to join the Coalition, you can do so any time. I would welcome you as a comrade in arms. And…as a friend. I hope someday we have a chance to talk when we aren’t pointing weapons at each other. In a selfish way it would be good to talk to you about what it means to be a half Galra.”

“Good luck and be safe, Acxa.”

Acxa carefully stows the recording device and faces her daughters.

“So, you see…your father did say goodbye. All kidding aside girls, after hearing that tape I began to realize that I had feelings for the man who would someday become your father.”

She takes Keith’s hand and looks him in the eye. “He told me decaphoebs later, the first time he said he loved me, that the message on this device was his way of telling me he was interested in me.”

She turns back to her daughters. “But he didn’t have to tell me that. I knew, just by listening to this recording. It only took us just over four decaphoebs to finally get together after we were here. Too long, in my opinion. But…we did it.”

“Thanks for sharing that recording, Mom. And for telling us how you fell for Dad.”

Mireya sheepishly turns to her father. “Dad…I’m sorry for needling you about what you did when you and Mom were here the first time. What you did was sweet. I see why Mom fell in love with you.”

Soran can’t resist on final parting shot at Keith.

“Good, then perhaps you can enlighten me. Because I still don’t see it.”

Keith turns to Ashira, a deadpan look on his face. “Ashira, would you smack him for me?”

Ashira give Soran a sharp whack across the top of his head with her paw.

“Ow!” The surprised wolf turns to Keith. “Why did you ask her to do that?”

Keith laughs. “That my old friend was a love tap to say how much I missed you and your snark. You’re just too tall for me to reach your head myself.”

“Well, if that was supposed to be a love tap, any chance you could let Ashira know the next time you decide to do that? She just about killed me!”

Ashira gives Soran a stern look. “Don’t be so dramatic, you old coot. If I wanted to hurt you, trust me you’d know.”

As the group shares a good-natured laugh, the Kogane girls turn to one another.

“You know, Mireya, this is turning out to be a pretty cool trip after all.”

  1 Return of the Prince, Chapter 11, Cry of the Wolf

2 Return of the Prince, Chapter 11 Cry of the Wolf

3 Return of the Prince, Chapter 12 Riders on the Storm

4 Return of the Prince, Chapter 11, Cry of the Wolf