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lyranova · 3 years

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Children of the Future:

Chapter 13: Suspicions

Hi guys! I’m so sorry its taken so long to get this chapter out, I hope you guys enjoy it! Chapter 14 will be reblogged soon I gotta make a few edits first but it should only be a day or two hehe. Also the story is kinda picking up a bit in this chapter but not too much hehe, I hope you all enjoy~!

Taglist: @eme-eleff @crazyclownthanos @ckjwnnbc @thoughtfullyrainynightmare @talpup @elysianluv @melissa-novachrono @jovialnoise @bowandcurtsey @simpingforthisonedeer @flow3rbudz (if anyone else wants to be added please let me know or if i forgot to add you please let me know!)

Word Count: 2,216

Warnings: None

———

William glanced over his shoulder at the two members of his squad, Yuno and Neva, and their ‘daughter’ Miku. This wasn’t what he had been expecting when Marx asked him to come up to the castle as there was something he needed to see, but Yami seemed to have an inkling because he had the smuggest grin on his face and was almost too happy about William getting a call from Marx. That should have been his first clue as to what was going on.

After Marx had met him at the doors and explained the situation William had been expecting the members to be either Klaus or even Alecdora, but insteadWilliam had been very surprised to see that it was in fact Yuno and Neva. Those were the last two he had thought of when Marx was telling him the details, but after seeing the young girl and seeing his two squad members there was no denying that she was their daughter. She looked like Neva but with black hair, her serious face was a perfect blend of Yuno’s and Neva’s, but she appeared to carry herself more like Yuno then Neva. This was interesting.

“ Is everyone alright?” William asked as he glanced over his shoulder, the three nodded but remained silent. Apparently they were all still trying to process this information, it was no secret that Yuno and Neva had a crush on each other, but it seemed the only ones who didn’t know about this, were the two in question. William let out a soft sigh before walking out the castle doors and walking towards the brooms.

“ Captain, where exactly are we going?” Neva asked as she grabbed one of the brooms, Yuno began to use his wind magic to make himself a transportation vessel. Miku looked between the two before walking towards Neva and her broom, apparently she wasn’t very comfortable flying using wind magic.

“ We have a house not too far from here that we’ve all been staying in the past few days, just until we’ve gotten things sorted out with the children and how to get them back home.” William explained simply before stepping onto his broom, Neva did the same as Miku sat behind her and wrapped her arms around the blonde haired woman's middle, and Yuno summoned his wind vessel.

“ ‘We’ve’?” Both Neva and Yuno said at the same time, just how many people were there?

———

They all landed softly outside the house a few moments later and walked up to the door, dread was steadily filling William. He knew Yami was going to enjoy this too much, especially since so far every child had been connected to the Black Bulls in some way. He opened the door slowly and looked inside, some of the kids appeared to be at the dining table while others were in the common room. Zora and Nebra were on two opposite ends of the common room, would there come a time those two could look past their differences? Even if it was only for Ace’s sake? William didn’t know at this point. Charlotte and Yami were sitting at the dining table with Alistar and Hikari, all of them appeared to be having a pleasant conversation. Except Yami continuously glared at Alistar, probably because of what Zora said yesterday.

“ Y’know Captain,” Neva started as she looked around the house. “ when you said ‘we’ I was kind of assuming there would be a few people but not-.”

“ Almost an entire squad.” Yuno finished as he looked around himself, William let out a soft chuckle before nodding in agreement.

“ Yes, I guess you could say we’re slowly becoming our own squad. But we make it work.” William shrugged before everyone finally seemed to take notice that there were new people in the house.

“ Hah! Finally, Goldie Guts is going through what I’ve been going through the past few days!” Yami said with a shout of laughter, William chuckled as he walked towards the dining table.

“ Yes the universe decided to finally take pity on you and give you a small reprieve from the future children.” William said, Yami grumbled something under his breath as Hikari and Charlotte also began to laugh softly. Alistar frowned and looked around his father to see who it was and his eyes widened slightly; it was his Auntie Neva and Yuno, which meant it was one of three possible children.

The white haired man stood up and tried his best to look around the two Golden Dawn members to see which child it was, but they were hiding behind their ‘parents’ legs all too well. From what he could see it was a girl, which left two options and he had a feeling he knew which of the two it was.

“ Miku? Is that you?” He called out softly, he watched as the girl poked her head between her parents to look and see who was calling her and she blinked when her eyes landed on the young man.

“ Oh, hi Alistar.” The girl said softly as she moved to stand in front of her parents.

Hikari turned to look at Alistar and frowned; he had relief in his eyes, but he also held confusion and genuine surprise. She turned to look back at the young 12 year old girl, Hikari had only interacted with her a few times so she didn’t know her that well, but she seemed surprised as well, except she was better at hiding it then Alistar.

The white haired man walked away from the dining table and moved to stand in front of Miku, he crouched down in front of her. The two just stared at each other silently as everyone else looked on curiously, it was as though the two were speaking telepathically.

“ What are you doing here?” They asked in unison, apparently neither one had expected to see the other here. Alistar frowned a bit before standing and holding out his hand, Miku looked at him with a frown.

“ I need to talk to you a bit outside if that's ok?” He asked politely and with a soft warm smile, Miku rolled her eyes and walked past him.

“ Of course it’s alright, but I’m not a kid anymore so I don’t need to hold your hand.” She grumbled, Alistar let out a small chuckle before following the girl out of the house.

Everyone just stood there in confusion, completely unsure of what just happened. The two seemed to know each other pretty well, but it still felt like everyone had missed out on some big piece of information that only those two seemed privy to.

“ Alistar and Miku are ‘cousins’ not by blood but more like by choice,” Hikari began to explain. “ since Captain Vangeance and Neva have a sibling-like relationship, Alistar and Miku, along with Miku’s siblings, have adopted a familial relationship as well. So they affectionately call each others ‘cousin’ as well as call Captain Vangeance ‘Uncle William’ and Alistar calls Neva ‘Auntie Neva’.” Hikari added with a shrug, everyone’s confusion seemed to clear slightly, but not completely.

“ Miku’s siblings?” Neva and Yuno once again asked at the same time before they both seemed to pale, this was beginning to be too much for them to handle. They could take down a devil and invade a kingdom set on destroying and taking over the continent and be perfectly ok, but finding out they had children together? Nope, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

“ Erm, oops?” Hikari said with a nervous laugh, she had said more than she had meant too. Charlotte stood suddenly before looking at Yami and William.

“ I would actually like to speak with you two privately as well.” She said, The two Captains in question looked at each other before nodding and following behind Charlotte as she walked down one of the hallways of the house.

As the Captains left everyone just stood there awkwardly, not really sure of what to do now, since it appeared everyone was having secret conversations.

“ So, nice weather we’re having huh?”

———

Hikari frowned as she watched Alistar and Miku talk, she was watching them through the kitchen window as she assumed they would hear her if she stepped outside. She wondered what on earth they could be talking about, especially since it appeared to be a private conversation. Did it have to do with what Alistar told her a few days ago? About why they had been sent back? If so, then why was Miku sent back as well? It made no sense, especially since she wasn’t-.

“ Y’know,” Josslyn said suddenly, accidentally startling Hikari. She had been so lost in thought she hadn’t sensed the girls Ki or heard her approach. “ There’s something very strange going on with Pretty Boy and the little Princess.” She added.

“ Strange? What do you mean?” Hikari asked, feigning slight ignorance. The pink haired girl scoffed, clearly seeing through Hikari’s lie.

“ You know exactly what I mean, you and Pretty boy are having secret conversations late at night, he’s wearing a normal magic knight's robe instead of his Captain's one, he dodges every question about himself and why he’s here. He’s acting stranger than usual. As though he knows something.” Josslyn said with slight irritation, Hikari could understand the girl's frustration as she was feeling the same, But.

“ We need to trust him. I’m sure he knows what’s truly going on here and why we’re being sent back. But he can’t tell us, not yet. So for now, until he can tell us, we just have to trust him.” Hikari said softly, Josslyn scoffed again.

“ Well you can trust him all you want, but I won’t. The only one I trust here is you and myself, so I guess if you trust him then I’ll trust your judgment. But if anything seems even more suspicious then what it already is, than I’m going to make him talk, willingly or unwillingly.” Josslyn said seriously, Hikari let out a sigh but nodded. She already knew how a fight between the two would turn out, and she can’t say Josslyn would win.

“ Y’know, I could sneak outside and listen to their conversation? They wouldn’t even know I was there.” The pink haired girl said after a moment of quiet fell between the two, Hikari grabbed the girl's arm before she could run off and dragged her into the kitchen.

“ Oh no you’re not. You’re going to help me with dinner.”

———

Yami sighed as he closed the door behind him, Charlotte sat down on the bed as William and Yami leaned against the walls on either side of the door.

“ So what did you want to talk about Princess?” Yami asked as he crossed his arms.

“ I’ve been wondering recently, I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before, but did you ever wonder why Lord Julius gave us this house in particular? I mean, at first it was only three of us living here and the house was too big for just three people. He could have easily given us a smaller house to stay in, but instead he chose this one.” Charlotte started curiously, Yami tilted his head.

“ Maybe he felt like we needed the space?” Yami reasoned with a shrug.

“ As much as I would like to believe that, Lord Julius is a very smart man and he plans things out pretty meticulously. So I doubt he felt that we needed a big house just for the sake of it.” Charlotte argued, William crossed his arms as well.

“ What are you saying Charlotte? You think Julius knew that this was going to happen?” He asked her, the room went deadly silent for a moment before Charlotte spoke cautiously.

“ I...I’m not sure. But it seems all the signs are pointing to that conclusion. Otherwise, why else give us this house with a bunch of rooms and with a wide open field where we could all train if we needed too.” Charlotte said, none of them wanted to believe Julius knew this was going to happen, but considering he did have time magic, maybe it was possible he saw the future or otherwise somehow knew this would be happening?

Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the door.

“ C-Captain Roselei? We need you in the kitchen, Josslyn almost burned it down.” Ace called softly before they heard him walk away. Charlotte sighed before standing and walking towards the door.

“ We keep this between us, we don’t have the full story and I could easily be wrong, but for now, I think we should assume Julius knows more than what he’s letting on.” Charlotte said before walking out of the room, William and Yami shared a look between them. They wouldn’t be completely surprised if Julius was hiding something, but that didn’t mean they still wanted it to be true. The two Captains followed Charlotte out of the room and into the kitchen.

“ Honestly? As long as my squad doesn’t have any more kids coming back, I don’t care how many come from the future.” Yami said with a laugh.

But, the universe had a twisted sense of humor as well, and Yami would find that out the hard way the next morning.

———

I’m sorry this isn’t very good and its very rushed but I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

#children of the future #black clover fanfiction #oc; alistar #oc neva #oc; josslyn #josslyn is not my oc #oc; hikari #hikari is not my oc #yami sukehiro #charlotte roselei #william vangeance #yuno grinberryall #chapter 13 #oc; ace #ace is not my oc

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addictedtomanga · 4 years

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Shoujo manga recommendations - one shot

1. Adele to Darius

Adele was just another maltreated slave girl being sold at the country market. She was sold one day to become an addition to the harem of the country’s King of Cruelty. Rumor has it that the once the King takes a slave girl for the night, he then executes her in the morning. Once in the harem, she sees that all girls who are called into the King’s chamber really do not return. To fight against this fate, Adele resolves to volunteer to be called to the King’s chamber and find out the truth. But things are not what they seem…

2. Ao no Rhapsodia

There's a legend about a lost continent of gold and only one man has successfully made his way through the treacherous waters to that continent. The man entrusted the map to the lost continent to his daughter, Allegra Reese, making her the prime target for every pirate on Edythe Island.

3. Banken Toki Doki Ookami

A lamb surrounded by wolves gets a guard dog. But is the guard dog the most dangerous wolf of them all?!

4. Bitter Trap (Takagi Shigeyoshi)

Nanao came from a rich family before their business failed. Now the only hope for her family to pay off their debts is if she can cement a marriage with the prestigious Takatsuki family within a week. How will Nanao overcome this problem when one of the three eligible Takatsuki men is her former arrogant schoolmate, Yoshito, who completely distrusts people? And did we forget to mention that Nanao is already the ninety-ninth candidate for the position of future wife?!

5. Black Coffee (Nakano Emiko)

How does a girl declared by her childhood friend to be gloomy and anti-social transform into a cutie “as sweet as sugar�� and every boy’s dream? And does every boy really dream of girls “as sweet as sugar”? Or is the rich and deep taste of coffee better than sugary glitter? The story of a girl who may not be sweet, but sure is as addictive as black coffee!

6. Defense Bakari No Koi Ja Dame

Nao is seen by her classmates as the "Cool Queen", however, she is just extremely shy. How will she deal with suddenly becoming the basketball's temporary manager?!

7. Egaku Nara Happy Ending

It's a story about Makoto Nosu and Yusuke Moriyama who have been together for 6 years since junior high school. They are about to finish high school and enter college so they decided to break up since they will be going to different colleges that's far from one another.What happens to their relationship then?

8. Fly High! (Mitsuki Kako)

Asuka, the ace of the volleyball club is training to become the best. But there's the devil coach, Nagano...

9. Gyu... tte shite ii?

I just clean up the club room and threw away trashes! but then he hugged me and "Become my pillow" is what he suddenly ordered me to do...?!

10. Itazura na Ningyo

The love story between two childhood friends and the magical legend of a mermaid can grant a wish of unrequited love

11. In the Chocolate

A collection of oneshots.

12. Kaibutsu-san ni Rei

At the Christmas training camp, Yuzuki was paired up with no other than... that guy?!

13. Kimi wa Tomodachi

He was always by my side. ... So, I thought that I certainly won't fall in love with him.

14. Kira Kira Namida

Yuuma is taciturn and no one knows what she’s thinking. But then, she’ll meet someone that will change that…

15. Kiss to Koukai

A collection of oneshots.

16. Koakuma no Jikku

She was an accomplished fashion model, but her blunt, straight forward attitude drove wedges between her and the rest of the world. She just didn't know how to lie in the least, and when she caught the eye of a famous stylist seeking the face for a new major brand of cosmetic, it promised to be the beginning... or the end... of everthing. Can she manage to not alienate the presumptuous company 'nobility', because if she does, this time it's her whole agency that's going to pay.

17. Koi wa Beniiro

Beniko, an old fashioned high-school girl is suddenly forced to eat lunch with the new teacher in charge, Nomoto-sensei…

18. Meikyuu Yaburi no Hananusubito

Arisawa Kei’s life seems rather bleak until she notices a strange man staring at her on the way to school. Hakamada Ryuuhei, an En specialist who can see and tie or cut threads of fate, tells her that she has “death-bringer” threads on her hands. But what does that mean to Kei, who doesn’t believe in En or luck?

19. Melodramatic Library

A teacher at Kanae's school has been fired for having an affair with a student. Then, a hot new librarian comes in… Kanae falls in love with the new librarian. However, she sees a ring on his finger...?

20. Mijuku na Bokura

Even if they are only friends, she wants to be something else... Can it change the relationship that they have? Or will she be conformed to be just friends?

21. Mitsubachi Hakushaku to Hana no Dress

Dahlia is the only female dressmaker in Galleria. She kidnapped and commissioned by the infamous "Honeybee Earl", who is known to jump from woman to woman like a capricious bee jumps from flower to flower, to make the ultimate wedding dress for his fiancee. Can Dahlia complete the dress without getting stung by the Honeybee Earl?

22. Murasame-kun na Tawagoto

Chika has always seen Murasame-kun as a rival who manages to constantly piss her off. While wondering out loud to herself, her sister whom overhears Chika, gives her a perfume necklace which supposedly able to capture a guy's heart. The next day, Chika bumps into Murasame-kun and spills all the perfume. As she begins to apologize, he suddenly asks her out!?

23. Once Again, I'd Like to Love You/Mou Ikkai

A high school girl runs into her ex-boyfriend at a train station and the two reconnect.

24. Narabuna Kiken

Miku and Natsume have always been fighting with each other until Natsume suddenly asks Miku to pretend to be his girlfriend!!! At first, Miku is quite opposed to the idea, but slowly… This mismatched couple, of a super tall guy and a girl often mistaken for an elementary student, fall in love.

25. Seinaru Yoruni Oshiete Ageru

Sakura is childish and doesn't get why everyone wants a boyfriend. A few days before the Christmas Eve, her handsome childhood friend suddenly kisses her and makes her heart race. What will she do?

26. Sekai wa Kirai de Afureteiru

Ten and Rio are friends from the old days. they will become high school students starting from this spring, Ten stills carries a certain memory in her heart....?

27. Shounen Aromatic

Kabuki Takitsugu is a boy who has the family trait of smell. He can smell anyone's fragrance and find their perfect match. One day, a mysterious girl named Hatsune appears before him, asking him to find a match for her. But, for some strange reason.. Hatsune doesn't have a scent.

28. Takarazora

Yuuchi is a girl that has a passion for art.... or rather, HAD a passion for art. Because of her mother, Yuuchi had to give up her talents and love for painting. Still, she had made a promise to her baseball-loving friend, Natsu, that she'd paint a picture of him. With all hopes lost for her dreams, Yuuchi now must find the "hope" within herself to continue.

29. Tokubetsu ni Naritai

It’s only during rainy days that Kae can get closer to Ichi, the most popular guy in the school, because he always gets under her umbrella. But Kae wants to be close to him everyday, not only during rainy days. What can she do to be special to him?

30. Tsuki to Himawari

Asahi-kun is a carefree junior-high student, never attaching to girls even though he enjoys going with them. But when the school's number 1 honor student Mitsuki "cyborg" Konno asked him to a 1-month date, in exchange for the front row ticket to his favorite singer's concert, he was forced to accept. He only has to show her what it feels like to date, right? He is ready for that...however, what he's not prepared for was his heart's reaction...

31. Watashi no Suki na Souma-kun

Sena is working as a maid to look after her younger brother and sister. But her employer turns out to be a guy at her school! Will she get a new job or will she get a new love?

32. Wish Upon a Glass

Find a piece of red sea glass and your wish is sure to come true. Sachiko is searching for her own piece of red sea glass. Can it make her romantic wish come true?

33. Wonderful Cafe ni Youkoso

A dog shop love comedy! The place where hot men and cute dogs come together!

34. Yuuwaku Honey

To get someone as cool as you to look my way, I'll do my best with my first attempt at seduction!!

35. Zannen Nagara Chigaimasu

He wasn't even that handsome, but when I saw him, I was captivated. He said "meet me upstairs". it seems he also feels the same because we're now signing a marriage registration form?!

12 notes · View notes

sparrellow · 4 years

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i can be ur angle or yuor devil

“I literally called you sexy. I winked at you. Then you sat on me and gave me a boner.”

It just so happens that the company's plans to revive Rin's failing idol status brings her closer to her previous partner-in-crime.

rating: T+ genre: romance/humor ships: rin/len word count: 6,974

Life in the idol world was tough.

Rin knew as much, because she, unfortunately, was an idol.

She wasn’t even sure how she got herself into this mess, but she was talent scouted at an age too young by Western standards, probably, and then forced into a duet with some bratty kid called Len.

The whole farce was that they looked almost exactly the same, and were the same age, and ‘had the same family name’ (they didn’t, but that was a long story). So, they were marketed as like, twins-by-chance-not-blood or mirror-images or gender-bend-friends or whatever.

That worked for a while, until Len went through puberty and became way too hot to duet with Rin, and his own popularity sky-rocketed so much that they were basically forced to be their own pop stars.

Alas, Rin was kind of just too damn average to go solo. Especially with more appealing talents in the charts, like Japan’s darling idol Miku Hatsune, or just, Len himself, she had no chance. All that could be concluded from this was that Rin was just too ugly and untalented.

After Meiko had heard Rin’s internal woes, she patted her roughly on the back and sighed.

“Oh, Rin. You’re not ugly or bad at singing. You wouldn’t have gotten this far if you were.”

Rin sniffled, and blew her ugly face into her handkerchief. Of course she’d started crying during the whole monologue, which made her sound and look even more ridiculous than before. “But I’m literally sucking. Even the manager has called an emergency meeting about my lack of popularity.”

That was true. Earlier that day, the manager had sent a text into the Vocaloid Idol Group Chat™ calling for an emergency meeting to save a certain idol’s plunging fanbase. Even if he didn’t name her directly, literally everyone in the group chat knew it was about her.

How embarrassing. Even Miku and Len saw it. She wanted to die.

Meiko tutted, shaking her head. “You know, you’ve been a duet with Len for almost your whole career. Everyone knows you as part of a duet. So, of course your image might suffer a little with such a sudden change as you go into solo careers. The manager just needs to figure out how to market you in a way that shows idol fans how truly spectacular you are as a solo idol. That’s all.”

Rin wailed. “That’s the thing. I’m not spectacular as a solo idol. I’m just painfully average.”

“Lies!” her companion said. “Rin, you are so cute. Like, you can take anything and make it cute. And your voice is unique, like Len’s. It doesn’t have to be like Miku’s to be special, it’s already special as is.”

She dabbed at her tears and sniffled again. Her stupid idol makeup was running down her face, making her look like she’d just crawled out of a TV set showing a horror movie. Even Miku would still look painfully beautiful crying, and not like some unfortunate Halloween-costume-gone-wrong.

“Thanks Meiko,” Rin said. “I don’t believe a word you said but thanks for trying to comfort me anyway.”

Meiko rolled her eyes, giving her another rough pat on the back. “Would you believe me if I was Len telling you all that stuff?”

The mention of Len made her ears turn pink. “Hmm,” she said, knowing the point her senior idol was making.

Meiko smirked. “That’s right.”

The brunette then left Rin to cry like a baby by herself in the private idol lobby of their record company building. To be honest, it would be humiliating if anyone else saw her like this, but she couldn’t bring herself to move somewhere more private to cry. Besides, everyone knew her career was going down the toilet.

Perhaps she would’ve been able to bounce back more if things were different, but a certain Blonde Boy with a Very Attractive Face made it all the more complicated.

Here was the catch: Rin was totally enamored of Len.

It was a bit sad, really. And it hadn’t always been so cliched-romance-story, with her pining after his very nicely shaped ass. In the beginning, they actually sort of hated each other, with her wanting to kick his ass to the moon.

He was the most self-absorbed dingus at first, and he would play pranks on her constantly. They weren’t even good pranks—like, once he put a whoopee cushion on her seat during a meeting and found that hilarious.

Of course, with time, they grew on each other and actually became very good friends. They had secret jokes with each other, they played pranks on other idols, they watched horror movies until dawn and then slept on the couch together for the rest of the week because they were too scared to sleep in their own beds.

It couldn’t be helped that Rin eventually fell for Len. Daring, mischievous, but charming Len. He always knew how to make her smile (or tear her hair out with frustration).

But for the sake of professionalism, she never dared uttering her true feelings to him—only confiding in Meiko from time to time, since she was the only Vocaloid she could trust. It sucked, but she couldn’t risk ruining the relationship between them, thus ruining their career had Len demanded they should go solo.

Of course, then they grew up. Len’s voice changed, as well as his appearance, and soon his own popularity outgrew the popularity of the duet itself. The manager made the wise choice to break them up. He went solo, with much success.

Rin, however, flopped like a suffocating fish out of water.

With his success, he moved on to doing occasional collaborations with Miku Hatsune, the record company’s most popular idol. She was, by definition, probably a global superstar at this stage. She toured internationally. She had fans of all nationalities, ages, genders, so have it. She was beautiful and cute and talented, and Len had finally made it far enough to sing with her.

It made Rin’s blood boil, because she was petty and jealous. She was also worried. Miku was just so perfect. It was inevitable that Len would fall for her, right? They were perfect for each other. Perfect people love other perfect people.

Rin blew her nose noisily and sunk back into the lounge chair. This sucked. This sucked.

Gumi appeared, having heard her meltdown, and offered some makeup wipes to fix her face.

Rin took them graciously.

“Is this about the text from the manager in the group chat?” she asked, handing her another wipe after Rin had used up the other one.

Rin just looked at her and said nothing. There was no need to say anything.

Gumi didn’t press and fell silent. She was a nice idol. She wasn’t nearly as successful as the others, but she was quite popular in her own way. At least she was kind enough to not nag about the matter.

Another sad thing about popularity was that Len soon became distant once they parted ways. They used to be so close, but now Rin felt like she couldn’t even approach him unless approached herself. Of course they talked, but only occasionally. Their careers had drifted so far apart they barely saw each other anyway.

Had their friendship only survived because they were a duet? Was Len glad to be a solo artist now and not having to deal with her anymore? It was sad to think about.

Gumi squeezed Rin’s shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. “It’ll all work out, Rin,” she said. Then she handed her her pack of makeup wipes. “You can keep them. I have plenty of extras anyway. Take care of yourself, okay?”

“Thank you,” Rin said, watching as she jumped up from the couch and skipped off. (Probably to do better things than comfort a failing idol.)

Soon came the time for the not-so long-awaited yet very-muchly-apprehended emergency meeting to fix Rin’s poor career.

She didn’t want to go. She’d rather be curled up in her room, stuffing her face with chocolate and crying over poorly-written teen romance on Netflix. But Meiko had practically dragged her to the meeting room, makeup-less and in her go-to comfort clothes: a stained, baggy sweater and yoga pants.

Rin had already been humiliated enough as is, so showing up in this state couldn’t be any worse.

Supposedly.

Like fate itself had it in for her, Len also showed up in the elevator on the way to the meeting. He did a double take when he saw her.

“Oh, Rin! I almost didn’t recognise you.”

Rin then promptly burst into tears.

Len blinked at her in confusion and panic. “I, uh, didn’t mean that in a bad way—”

Meiko just put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. She’s just being fragile.”

He looked at Rin with an eye of concern, but said nothing more.

They filed into the meeting room in silence, and Len took a seat at a distance from her. Much to her further dismay, Miku took the seat right next to him, and they started chatting and showing each other things on their phones.

Rin didn’t know if she was going to have a tantrum or a breakdown.

The meeting began with the manager going over sales-related information, and just general, boring business things. About half-an-hour into the meeting, though, he set aside his stacks of paper, clasped his hands in front of him and leaned forward; a look that meant serious business.

Oh boy.

“I’ve discussed with both the marketing and sales department leaders as to where to go next with Vocaloid’s image. As you know, the idol market is ever-changing and in demand of fresh concepts. We’ve decided on a new image for some idols, and we appreciate everyone’s understanding and cooperation with this change.”

Translation: Rin’s career is going down the toilet, so we need to make her more interesting or something.

“Miku and Len,” the manager addressed. The pair straightened up with serious expressions. “I want you two to have a new image. You’re both our most successful idols, and your fanbase is very supportive of your every move. This is why we feel it’s best for you to take on an image of innocence and purity. You will become Vocaloid’s angels.”

Rin was already sinking down into her seat. This was going so terribly awful. Miku and Len? Angels? Together? She couldn’t even see where this was going for her.

Unfortunately, she’d find out very, very soon, as the manager then fixated his gaze on her.

“Rin. Ever since going solo, your fanbase has been dwindling and sales for both your albums, new singles, and lives, have been suffering.” Oof. “The marketing department has acknowledged this is a fault of their own, for not better marketing your image as something new and fresh after splitting from your duet with Len. We didn’t anticipate Len’s popularity to skyrocket so much that it would overshadow your own success.”

Everyone’s eyes were on her. Including Len’s.

“Your image has always been cute and innocent, and while you fit it quite well, the market is flooded too much with idols like you. That’s why we decided, you will become our devil.”

Rin almost fell out of her chair. Her entire face lit up red like a traffic light.

A devil. A devil. They were going to make Miku and Len innocent and pure, and her evil and chaotic like Satan? Wow. Wow. Rin never wanted to die more than now.

“A devil may sound bad, but we want to combine your current cute image with something mischievous, cheeky, alluring. The current idol market lacks that sort of appeal, and we believe people would become quite attracted to it. You’ll be cute, but with a twist of something dark. We think this new image will suit you quite well.”

Okay, so, Rin representing evil was like a match made in heaven? Did she radiate chaotic evil energy or something? She literally couldn’t even kill a fly without wanting to cry with guilt.

“Any questions or concerns about our decisions?” the manager asked the group.

The room was silent.

“Good,” he said with a smile. “Miku, Rin, Len. Please stay for further discussion about our next campaign. The rest of you are free to leave.”

Meiko shot Rin a sympathetic look before leaving, and once the room emptied out, the manager motioned for the trio to move closer.

“First, do you three have anything you would like to say regarding these changes?” he asked them, sorting through his paperwork to find his notes.

It was quiet a moment, before Len slowly put up his hand.

“Yes?”

“Why are Miku and I involved with this image chance if we’re fine in terms of sales and popularity?”

Big oof. But, honestly, it was a question on Rin’s mind, too. Why were they involved with this miserable attempt at reviving her career?

“While you two are both doing very well, the sales department has noticed that you two have both, er, capped for your sales, and they're no longer increasing. They predicted that it could decrease as people become bored with your current images, so in order to prevent that, we wanted to take a different approach.”

It was Miku and Len’s turn to blush.

“Besides, your popularity will help promote Rin to a larger audience, which is why your next campaign will be together.”

Rin wanted to hide under the table.

“Any other questions?”

Everyone shook their heads, so the manager moved on. “As I said, your next campaign will be together. We were thinking of doing a photoshoot to promote a popular brand of clothing, and using that as a base of your new image. Respectively, Len and Miku promoting a more soft, pure style of clothing, and Rin, promoting a more gothic look.”

Rin? Gothic? Was she going to have to change her stage name to Darkness or Elvira or Raven Way to suit her image, too?

“We’ll see how this goes. If the campaign gains enough popularity, we’ll keep moving forward, perhaps on to new songs and collaborations with each other.”

The manager then relayed the information for the photoshoot, asked for any more questions, and after receiving no further response, dismissed them.

Miku said nothing much once they left the meeting room, simply excusing herself as 'she had business to get to'. Len stayed behind, staring at the carpet between him and Rin.

“So, uh, what do you think?” he asked.

Rin looked at him. “I’m so sorry you two have to get involved with me.”

Len snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. We don’t care about that. But you care, right?”

“I guess I don’t really want to be Satan, but…” she said in a low voice.

He chuckled, and Rin’s face grew warm. “Yeah. I can understand it. But, not saying you’re evil or anything, I feel like some cute devil image would totally suit you.”

“Excuse me?”

Len dodged her elbow, stepping back. “I mean, you’re already cute. Putting angel wings on you would be boring. But you with some devil wings? I can see the appeal—”

Rin didn’t know whether to be flattered or offended. She stepped on his foot to stop him mid-sentence. “Don’t mock it!”

“I’m not,” he said with a grin. “I’m just saying, it’ll be interesting to see what they’ll do with your image.”

She flushed. “Yeah, well, I wonder what they’ll do with yours.”

He laughed and turned away, starting off down the hall. “Don’t knock it until we’ve tried it, Rin,” he said over his shoulder.

Rin sighed. He had a point… but.

Still.

She had tried it, and was ready to knock it.

Rin stared at her reflection in complete and utter mortification. Her wardrobe for the photoshoot was something she'd only be caught dead in. One outfit was a long, black dress that made her look a bit like a nun. The other outfit—her current one—consisted of leather shorts, a black corset top, fishnet tights, and lots of unnecessary ribbons.

Oh, and platform boots, but they were kind of cool.

She grimaced at the stupid devil accessories she had to wear. Seriously? A tail? Wings? Little horns? This was a nightmare.

Meanwhile, Miku could wear this pretty, floral dress and cute, frilly overall skirt. She looked so soft and fluffy and it made Rin want to throw herself into piranha-infested waters.

Len appeared behind her reflection in the mirror. He had matching overall pants to Miku’s skirt, and a frilly, white button-up shirt with a ribbon at the neck. Rin never knew she needed to see him in soft, feminine clothing until now.

“I told you it’d suit you,” he said with a shit-eating grin.

“I look like I just walked out of a 90s vampire-romance manga.”

Len snickered. “Yeah, well, you would fit in really well with the kids in Harajuku,” he said. “Anyway, you’re totally giving off cute-sexy vibes.”

��How can one be cute and sexy?” Rin asked, not sure to take what he said seriously, let alone as a compliment.

He began playing with her tail, using it to hit her in the legs. “I don’t know. But you somehow do it.”

Her face burst into flames. Thank god her makeup was thick enough to hide that (though her ears were giving away the secret).

Len then walked off, as if nothing ever happened, but that was basically his signature move. The guy was really good at making her melt and not noticing it at all.

The first shoot was with Miku, and the photographer seemed to be really into making it weirdly intimate, so it felt rather homoerotic. Not that Rin cared, because, well, even she felt slightly gay for Miku.

That aside, it was pretty uneventful. Miku was polite, and laughed when her tail kept knocking the set pieces over.

Next was Miku and Len. Since they were ‘angels’, they did, like, angel-ly things or whatever. Looking beautiful, eating grapes and watching humans make fools of themselves. (That was what the photographer said.)

Of course, some poses made Rin’s blood curdle with jealousy as she stood to the side watching, in between the makeup and hair artist fussing about her appearance. But her prayers were soon answered as Miku was sent off set and Rin called up to start her shoot with Len.

“So, you two were partners, right?” the photographer asked, as he set them up for the first pose.

“A duet, yes,” Rin said.

“Hmm,” the photographer said, in a way that was slightly concerning.

The first few poses were fairly tame. Rin being evil, Len being good. “Steal his grapes,” the photographer ordered. “Okay, good, now look sad because she stole your grapes.”

Why were grapes even a part of this weird shoot? What did they have to do with heaven and hell, or whatever the theme was?

“So, now, Len, I want you to look sad for your partner. She’s become evil.”

Rin frowned at the directions, and Len burst out laughing in her face. “Sorry, I’m sorry,” he apologised to the photographer.

“Rin, you want to lure Len over to the dark side.”

Len snickered again, his expression faltering just for a moment. Rin rolled her eyes, and followed the directions for how she should pose.

She placed a hand on his cheek, leaning over him and pressing a finger to her lips. He looked up at her with wide eyes, and for a moment she thought it was his actual expression, before she remembered the context of the photo and yada yada yada.

The photographer repositioned them a few times, telling Rin to play with his hair and Len to act as if he was pushing her away.

The whole time, Rin could only think about how bright red her ears were, and how the photo editor would probably have to photoshop them back to a human colour.

Eventually it came to the last photo of them together.

“Okay. Len, you have given in. Your devil has lured you to the dark side.”

Rin wanted to face-palm. Len raised his eyebrows at her and winked.

“Creep,” she muttered to him.

“Hey, you’re the one dressed in leather right now,” he said.

“Yeah, and it’s giving me a massive wedgie.”

Len snorted. “TMI, Rin.”

The photographer began unbuttoning Len’s shirt somewhat. “Rin, hold his collar and motion like you’re trying to take off his shirt.”

“Why,” she said without thinking, and the photographer stopped to look at her questioningly. Len was laughing into his hand. She cleared her throat. “Sorry, I was kidding.”

As if wanting revenge, the photographer then instructed, “Also, I want you to sit on his lap, so that you’re both facing each other.”

Len stopped laughing, checking to see if the photographer was serious. (He was.)

Rin, with the very last remaining bit of courage, reluctantly sat down so that she was straddling Len. Their eyes met, and they pretty much communicated silent apologies to each other.

She held onto his shirt as per instruction, pretending that she was unbuttoning it. A hint of his bare stomach peaked through at her, and she almost screamed.

Len was told to hold her waist. The poor boy seemed humiliated.

Imagine having to shoot something this grossly intimate with someone you’re incredibly not attracted to, Rin thought. That was probably what was going through his brain.

After being repositioned a few times, the photoshoot between them was finally over, and Rin leapt off his legs like she had been sitting on flames the whole time.

“I’m sorry,” she said to him, and Len looked at her with surprise.

“Why are you sorry?”

“Oh, just. That pose was a bit… Uh.”

He shook his head and patted her shoulder. “No need to apologise, Rin. It’s part of the job.”

Right. Right.

It’s part of the job.

She didn’t know why those words stung as much as they did.

The rest of the shoot was fairly tame. Perhaps the photographer sensed their discomfort with that one position, but he didn’t really force them into any intimate positions after that. Thank god (but Rin was also a little disappointed, you know, because …).

Once they wrapped up the shoot and returned to regular human form, Miku suggested that they order pizza and chill out at her apartment.

As they headed there in a taxi, Len nudged Rin and gave her this pouty expression.

“I’m so sad they didn’t let you keep the devil wings and stuff,” he said.

“Why, did you want to wear them?” Rin asked.

“No!” Len exclaimed, looking flustered at such a suggestion. “I—I—”

Miku chuckled at them from the front seat. “You two are really close, aren’t you?”

“What?” Rin said.

Miku and Len both looked at her, surprised by her response.

“I mean, we barely even talk anymore.”

A strange expression crossed Len’s face, and he opened his mouth to say something, before snapping it shut and turning away to stare out the window. Miku watched this, before looking back at Rin.

“Really?” she said. “It doesn’t seem that way to me.”

Then Miku turned back to face the front.

Rin was silent. Had she said something wrong? She thought Len would laugh about it or agree, but…

She sighed and turned to stare out the window as well. She could tell pizza was going to be awkward.

As expected, pizza was pretty awkward.

Len was very strangely serious with everything, and Miku tried desperately to lighten the mood. Eventually, Rin gave up and made some excuse about needing to get home so she could call her parents.

She stared at her long-untouched LINE chat with Len while waiting at the station for the next train home. It was only the truth, though; what she’d said. They'd used to talk every day, whether it be in person or through text. But then one day, he'd just stopped, and so did she.

Was it her fault, or something? She had tried initiating conversation before, but they’d died rather quickly. To be honest, today’s photoshoot was the first time they’d talked that much in like, a year or so.

So why was Len so upset about what she said?

He seemed to ignore her after that, or avoided her as much as possible. Even in the followup meetings between him, Miku, her and the manager, he avoided her gaze entirely.

The manager gave them some pictures from the shoot at their last meeting, saying their photos would be in the next volume of Sara, a pretty popular alternative fashion magazine.

One of the photos he’d given them happened to be that pose.

Rin stared at it. It felt incredibly unnatural and awkward at the time, but as a photo, it looked peaceful and natural, and the expression on Len’s face was something different, almost as if he truly was captivated by her or something. Had they mysteriously photoshopped all their humiliation out of the picture?

When she got home from work, she stuck it on the wall above her bed, alongside other photos from their many escapades in the years before. It hadn’t grown much since they went solo, so it was nice to have a new addition.

Rin still felt miserable about it all. She didn’t know if she should message him an apology, or try talking to him about it, because she just didn’t understand.

She pulled out her phone and called Meiko.

Meiko picked up on the third ring. “What can I help you with, Little Miss Devil?”

“Oh no. Let me guess. You saw the photos?”

“Of course. Miku and Len were showing everyone in the lobby. Your butt looked really nice in those pants.”

“Please don’t remind me of my trauma,” Rin moaned, thinking back to her killer wedgie. She was pretty sure she got chafing from those shorts.

“So, what’s up? You don’t just call me for small talk.”

Rin winced, realising she’d kind of used Meiko as a bit of a therapist lately.

Nevertheless.

“It… it’s Len.”

“Len, huh? What did he do?”

“It’s not what he did, more so what I did.”

Meiko was silent for a moment. “Hmm.”

Rin hesitated. “What?”

“I think I know what you did. Miku told me about what happened a few weeks ago, and was asking for context or whatever.”

“What did you tell her?”

“Nothing,” Meiko said smoothly. “Anyway, I was waiting for you to talk to me about it, because I only have one thing to tell you: Talk to him about it.”

Rin clenched her jaw. “Talk to him about it? Why?”

“Because I’m not Len and I can’t tell you what his problem is.”

“Wait,” she said. “Has Len told you about this?”

Meiko hummed. “Not specifically, but I know some things.”

Rin began to tug at her hair, anxious. “Wait. What. What does that mean?”

“Rin,” Meiko said in a firm voice. “From one experienced adult to a less-experienced adult: communication is key.”

Not letting her get another word of protest in, the woman hung up.

Rin stared at her phone in her hand. She was mentally pooping herself. What was going on? What terrible, awful thing was going to happen next?

Reluctantly, she opened her LINE chat with Len and began writing a message to him.

Much to her surprise, Len agreed to meet up at a cafe on their day off. It was one of those hole-in-the-wall cafes, so not really busy anyway, and they took a seat in the far back corner of the shop, where it was more private for a serious discussion.

He was very quiet the whole time, until they’d settled into their seats. He looked up at her, sitting back in his chair. “So, what did you want to talk about?” he asked, straight to the point.

Rin hadn’t elaborated the reason for the talk or anything, let alone even thought about how she would broach the topic. “Uh, um…” she said, staring down at the menu in front of her. Did she want milk tea, or something herbal? She wasn’t sure how pleasant the conversation was going to be, and if shit were to hit the fan somehow, maybe she should avoid dairy in case her (anxious) shit were to also, figuratively, hit the fan.

Len raised an eyebrow at her.

“About… the day of the photoshoot,” Rin finally said, settling on just getting straight to the point. “I’m sorry about what I said. I didn’t realise it was going to upset you. It… I didn’t say it to hurt you, or be mean, or anything.”

He shifted in his chair, picking up his menu to read. “You don’t need to apologise for it. I know what you meant. And it’s true.”

Rin bit her lip. “But I still upset you.”

Len looked at her over the top of the menu. “I’m not looking for your apology,” he said in a low voice. “I don’t want it.”

“Oh.” Ouch.

He put his menu down. “Have you decided what you want, yet?”

“Yeah."

“What do you want?”

Rin blinked at him a few times, before acknowledging he wasn’t going to move on before she gave an answer. “Er, I’ll just get some yuzu tea.”

“No food?” he asked, pointing at the cake and sweets menu.

She shook her head, and he stood from his chair. Was he going to leave?

Then he pulled his wallet out from his pocket. “Well, I’ll get you something anyway,” he said, and left to order the food before she could protest.

Rin stared down at her knees, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and willed herself not to cry in front of him. Again.

What did he mean about not apologising? What did he want, then? Was he just really, really mad at her?

She glanced over her shoulder to check he hadn’t just run away, but he was at the counter, making their order.

Right. She needed to pay him back for this, too. She pulled out her purse and checked she had enough change to give him.

“How much?” she asked when he sat down.

“No,” he said, eyes narrowing in on her purse.

Rin ignored his response, counting out her coins to give him. Before she could hand them over, he reached out and pushed her hand back to her.

“Really, Rin,” Len insisted. “You don’t have to pay me back.”

Sulking, she dropped the coins back into her purse and put it away.

They both fell into silence until their order came. Len had gotten honey toast for them to share.

It was like old times; when they used to always hang out together, when they would order something crazy like a giant parfait meant for four people and try to finish it all without making themselves sick.

Rin couldn’t help but frown.

Len paused when handing her a spoon. “Do you not like honey toast?”

“Huh?” she said, glancing up at him. “Oh, no. It’s fine.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.

Rin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, digging the spoon into the dessert. “It’s just nostalgic, that’s all.”

Len gazed at her.

She looked away from him, embarrassed by the very intense-and-direct eye contact he was giving her.

He then said, “Rin, I know we’ve gone our own ways and fallen out of contact, but you do know I consider you one of my closest friends, right? Just because we don’t talk as much as we used to, or see each other that much anymore, doesn’t mean I don’t think of you as someone special to me.”

Rin flushed. She set down her spoon on the table, losing her appetite. “So, you are mad at me about what I said.”

Len opened his mouth, like he was about to protest, but then he hung his head. “It’s… not…” he said, before sighing in defeat. “It’s more so, I’m sad that… that’s how you think. I’m sad that things made you feel like we weren’t good friends anymore.”

She wanted to cry again, but held her breath in an attempt to stop the tears. “Mmmmmmm,” was all she could say.

He then rested his head in his hand, playing with his spoon in the other. “I guess maybe I’ve been a bit careless about it all and I haven’t really… thought about how you’ve been feeling. And what you said made me realise that.”

“It’s my fault,” Rin began to blubber. “I should’ve talked about it sooner rather than just making the assumption you weren’t interested in me anymore.”

Len glanced up at her, noticing her ugly crying face, and reached for a napkin to hand to her. She hid behind it, trying to silence her loud sobs.

“Rin, we worked together for so long. I couldn’t just throw away our friendship after that,” he said with a pained expression.

Rin wiped her face and sighed. “I know. I’m being unreasonable. But… seeing you with Miku and everything, it just…”

Len snorted. “Miku and I, we’re friends, well, more like colleagues, but we don’t, you know, click like you and I do. Sure, we hang out and talk and stuff, but with you… I can just be me. You laugh at all my jokes. With Miku, it’s not like that. It’s not always fun and easy and natural like it is with you.”

Her ears began to burn. “Len…” she said. God. Just rip out her heart right there. He was saying all these nice things about them being friends, and she didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. Well, of course she was happy, but… she wished it was more than just. Friendship.

Maybe it was time she just. Laid it flat on the table. Killed two birds with one stone. Set the whole kitchen on fire and just get it all out.

Len looked at her from across the table, spoon in hand, waiting expectantly for her to continue with what she wanted to say.

Rin sucked in a breath, pushed back her tears and smacked her hands on the table, making both herself and Len jump, and also everyone else within earshot.

He blinked. “Rin—”

“Len,” she said, before realising she had no idea what she wanted to say next. She’d stood from her seat and was leaning across the table, staring at him. Her face grew warm as panic began to set in. Okay, okay, just say something at least, because this was getting awkward. “Len.”

Len gulped. “Yes?”

Rin sucked in a shaky breath. Okay. Here we go. Here we go—

“Marry me please,” she blurted.

Len dropped his spoon on the floor.

Rin had never run so fast to the bathroom in her life. She didn’t even stick around to hear his response (nor see his reaction). She just high-tailed it to somewhere where she could emergency call Meiko for advice.

“I just proposed to Len,” she cried as soon as Meiko answered the phone.

There was a moment of silence, before she said, “Congratulations?”

“I’m serious,” Rin said. “I literally told him to marry me.”

“Good for you.”

“Meiko! What do I do? I can’t go back out there and face him after that!”

Meiko sighed. “Where are you?”

“In the bathroom.”

She snorted. “So you just left him there after that? Did you even wait for his answer?”

“No! Of course not! Why would I wait for rejection?!”

“How do you know he was going to reject you? Did you see the future, or something, Rin?”

“Well, no , but—”

“Rin,” Meiko said, her tone suddenly very serious. “I’m not your fairy godmother. I can’t help you out of this situation. Go back out there and talk to him. Len is your friend, isn’t he? Do you think he’d completely destroy you as a rejection? Does that sound like him? Think about it.”

Rin did think about it. “Well… no… maybe…”

“So, what are you doing? Don’t leave him there by himself to wonder what the hell is going on.”

She closed her eyes, leaned back against the back of the toilet and pinched the bridge of her nose. A few beats of silence passed, before she let out an exhale. “Okay. Okay. I’ll do it.”

“Good. Now, get your ass out of the bathroom, you disgusting creature.”

“R-right! Thank you Meiko!”

Rin hung up, sat on the toilet for a moment longer, before getting up to check her reflection in the mirror and emerge with caution from the bathroom. A part of her felt relief seeing Len still at their table, another part felt pure and utter terror.

He was on his phone with a serious expression, and she had no idea how to decipher that.

Without a word, she took her seat across from him and had a mouthful of her citrus tea (which had long gone cold).

Len glanced up, looking surprised, and just stared at her with wide eyes.

Okay.

Damage control.

Okay.

Rin took a breath. “So, um, I panicked…” she began to explain.

Len cocked an eyebrow.

“The truth is,” she said, staring down hard at the barely-touched honey toast in front of them. “The truth is that you’re really hot.”

Oh boy. This was going south really fast.

“Thank… you?” Len said, confused.

Rin smacked her forehead. “Yeah, like, so, um, I’m, you know…”

He tilted his head. “I don’t know.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, and it all began pouring out of her mouth like vomit.

“I’ve been really attracted to you for like ever and it’s been eating me up inside and everything just feels a lot worse because I really like you and I don’t know how to handle it but you know I’m happy to just be friends if that’s not reciprocated because I never really wanted to confess my feelings to you anyway and I know it’s not professional or anything but please don’t hate me just because I like you like way more than a friend because I also like being friends with you please don’t hate me.”

Len blinked several times, processing that flood of information, before opening his mouth to speak.

Rin clapped her hands over her ears and cried, “It’s okay! You don’t need to answer! I just wanted to get that off my chest! Let’s forget this ever happened and move on.”

He shook his head at her. “No.”

She lowered her hands. No? That’s it? Just no?

Well, okay then. Alright. Cool cool cool.

Rin sat back in her chair, dazed and uncertain how to take in such a completely cold rejection.

“No, I don’t want to forget this happened,” he continued. Wait. What? He averted his gaze to the table, rubbing his hands together. “I don’t really understand why you think I’d hate you or something.”

She gawked at him. “Wh… what do you mean…?”

Len dug a hand into his hair, scrunching up his fringe in his fist. He looked up at her from under his dark lashes. “Rin, I literally flirted with you the entire photoshoot.”

Rin almost choked on her own saliva. “You—wh—huh. ”

He pressed his palms together, using his thumbs to massage the space between his eyebrows. “I literally called you sexy. I winked at you. Then you sat on me and gave me a boner.”

Her soul left her body. It just upped and left. See you later, humanity. I’m outta here.

Rin slid down in her chair, looking up at the ceiling. “I didn’t even notice,” she said, feeling like the world’s biggest clown.

“I’m surprised you didn’t even notice,” he continued. “That thing was like rock hard. I was shitting myself. I was praying so hard no one else would notice. I never felt so close to death in my entire life.”

“Not the boner, Len,” she said. “I mean, I didn’t notice that either but—the flirting. I meant the flirting.”

“Oh.”

“I just thought your pants were really stiff or something.”

“Aha… well.”

Rin smacked her palm against her forehead again. “I can’t believe it. I just thought you were teasing me for having to be a devil or whatever.”

“While that is quite hilarious, I was way too turned on by you at the photoshoot to mock the fact that we were dressed like the occult.”

She was defeated. That’s it? She’d been panicking over this for… nothing?

Wait. Wait a minute.

Meiko… Meiko had totally pushed her to do this, despite the chance of her getting rejected. Which meant…

Meiko totally knew Len felt the same way.

That… evil…!

“So, like, does this mean we’re dating, or…?” Len asked.

Rin turned beet red at the mention of dating. Dating Len. Wow. Wow. Just wow. Big fat wow.

“Y-yes?” she squeaked.

He grinned at her, a mischievous glint in his eye. “So, does that mean I can have you sit on me again?”

“Never mind I changed my mind—”

“Noooo—”

Rin smiled and sat forward, leaning across the table. She remembered the look on his face from the photoshoot, with his wide eyes staring up at her as she had leaned over him, playing with his hair. She wanted to see that look. She wanted to see it again.

Len gazed at her as she reached out and grabbed the collar of his shirt. She brought her face close to his. “Only if we go to your apartment after this. I haven’t cleaned mine for a month.”

“That’s disgusting,” he said into her face. “Sounds good.”

Then she kissed him on the lips.

It was awesome.

#vocaloid #fanfiction #kagamines #kagamine mirrors #rin kagamine #len kagamine #kagamine rin #kagamine len #rinlen #lenrin #rinxlen #lenxrin #vocaloid fanfiction #wrote this in one sitting and it shows #honestly this was like a crack fic basically #enjoy tho #omg had to go fix all my line breaks realised they Didnt compute #rip

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thewritingstar · 5 years

Text

Gruvia day 2019!!!

Ahhhh it’s Gruvia day today and I had no idea! So of course I had to write something for my fav pair.

As the “Gruvia Goddess” (title given by the lovely @fairywithajetblackheart) I wanted to do something cute and fluffy this time. I will relieve y’all of angst...for now.

Also this features the Fullbuster fam plus my oc daughter named Miku who I think I’ve written for before.

Enjoy!

———-

The sun was shining all over the city and it truly was a picture perfect summers day. With the new generation being brought up, days like this where the family could relax and play together quietly without the rustle and bustle of the guild were rare for the Fullbuster family.

“Higher mommy! Higher!” Miku giggled as Juvia smiled and pulled the swing back to push her four year old daughter.

“Up into the clouds little one!” Juvia laughed and even formed a little shower over them and a rainbow appeared.

Mikus dark brown eyes became entranced by her mother’s magic. Her bright blue hair that was gifted primarily from her mother was tied into the cutest pigtails and bobbed up and down as she was pushed higher.

Sitting on the porch was Gray. Relaxing with a drink in his hand, he watched his wife dance and play with their expressive little girl.

“Hey dad?” Silver called as he walked outside with a folder in his hand. “Could you help me with a project?”

“Project? School hasn’t even started yet and Levy already started homework?” Gray shook his head as Silver sat next to him and placed his folder on the glass table.

“It’s extra credit.” Silver shrugged. “Normally I wouldn’t care to do it but Nashi and I are in the same class again and I have to start the year with better grades.”

Gray let out a laugh as he recalled that the Fullbuster and Dragneel feud still lived on through their children, something he wasn’t entirely sure he was proud of.

“Alright. What kind of assignment!”

“Well it’s like a presentation of you life. You can choose a certain aspect to focus on and I decided that you and mom were my best option.”

“Really? Doing a project on your old man?” Gray smiled smugly. Silver rolled his eyes and blew his deep blue fringe out from his face.

“Yeah, yeah. I wanted to know how you met.”

“You know how we met. Your mother and I fought, I saved her life, she joined the guild and bam! You were born.” He winked and Silvers face twisted in disgust.

“Okay, gross. But no. I wanted to know how you knew you loved her, I already asked mom and she gave me a super long list of literally every aspect of you.” He pulled out a paper and true to his word, the entire thing was filled with Juvias responses and also another paragraph about how much she loved him.

Gray could feel his heart speed up as he quickly raked his eyes over them.

“Well for starters Juvia is extremely kind and loving. She is the most devoted and self sacrificing woman I have ever met-“

“No” Silver stopped him. “I want the moment you knew you loved her. What was the defying moment that changed you and you knew that every second moving forward, you love her?” He asked.

Gray was taken back from his request. “Oh.” He started. “I didn’t realize you wanted this to be that deep.” His eyes then refocused on the woman playing with the blue haired girl in the sandbox.

He watched as she formed animals and shapes using her magic and the way her eyes lit up when their daughter giggled brought him back to the memorie.

“It was after an intense battle.” Gray started, his eyes still on Juvia. “I had just lost my father, again. There was so much pain in my heart as I was hunched over his grave in the snow. And then she came along. She told me that she didn’t have a right to love me anymore and that she would leave.” Silvers eyes widened. “And that’s when I knew.”

“I wasn’t lying when I said she is devoted. I’m lucky enough she waited for me to get my act together. When she came and stayed by my side, I knew she was forever.”

“So you knew mom was the one when Grandpa died?” Silver asked hesitantly.

“I knew I never wanted to leave her side from that moment but I think I fell in love with her on a different day.”

“Do tell.”

“It was raining. A terrible storm was pouring outside and I knew she wasn’t going to be too pleased. Water might be her element but before FairyTail, she hated the rain. So at this time we had just started dating, I was very new to the whole thing but your mom did everything in her power to make sure that I was alright. Nothing too fast, nothing too slow.”

“Sounds like mom wears the pants in the relationship.” Silver snorted and his father only shrugged.

“So instead of going inside to watch a movie. We sparred. She was now more confident with the rain as her past didn’t define her anymore. At first it was light and nothing more than kicks and punches.”

“You punched mom!” Silver yelled and Gray shushed him.

“We were sparring, it’s what you do. Now I knew I was going to be struggling since it was raining but I didn’t know how powerful she was going to be. Your mom used her magic to water lock me. She pinned me to the ground, raised my chin and said-“

“Juvias got you right where she wants you.”

The boys turned around to see Juvia holding a sleepy Miku.

“You. You pinned dad to the ground and that’s when he fell in love!” Silver said in disbelief.

“What can I say. She took my breath away.”

“Literally, your father passed out after he told me he loved me.” Juvia smiled sheepishly.

“Wow.” Silver stated and Gray nodded.

“Silver honey, will you take your sister and lay her down in her crib.” Juvia said as she passed her daughter to her son.

He took his sister kindly and went inside. “It’s funny darling.” Juvia giggled as she took a seat on her husbands lap. “Juvia doesn’t believe that was the day, or have you been lying to me?” She pouted playfully.

“You know damn well the moment I fell in love with you is when you sent Natsus ass flying.”

Juvias face deadpanned as she glared at her husband and raised an eyebrow.

“Okay okay!” He smirked and kissed her hand. “It was during the Grand Magic Games, when we went on our date.”

“Juvia remembers.” She whispered softly.

“And we were alone.” His fingers trailed up her arms. “And I remember what you were wearing or specifically what you weren’t wearing.” He winked and he could hear her breathing hitch. “And how beautiful you were as my name left your lips.”

In that moment she captured his lips and kissed him slowly. Even after years of marriage and kids, the spark between them roared like an eternal flame.

“Juvia likes that story so much more.” Her forehead pressed against his and he agreed.

“Well I wasn’t going to tell our son that.” He laughed and pecked her lips again.

Suddenly a dangerous spark gleamed in her blue eyes. “Silver! Pack a bag you’re staying at your staying at Aunt Lucy’s house!” Juvia called without taking her eyes off her husband.

The porch door opened and they turned to see a bruiting Silver. “You guys are gross.”

His parents let out a laugh as their teenage son grumbled as he stormed back into the house.

“Oh he’s so cute when he’s mad.” Juvia cooed over her baby boy.

“Yeah but you’re cuter.” He nuzzled her cheek. “And I love you.”

Juvia batted her eyelashes and titled his chin with her finger. “I love you too.”

——

I hope you enjoyed! Sorry if it seems rushed (cause it is) and I hope you all had a good Gruvia day!!!

Also Miku means “beautiful sky” in Japanese so I thought it was fitting for her :)

#gruvia #gruvia day 2019 #gruvia oneshot #juvia x gray #gray x juvia #fairytail #fairytail oneshots #gruvia drabbles #juvia lockser #juvia fullbuster #gray fullbuster #silver fullbuster #miku fullbuster #oc child #happy gruvia day!!!#thewritingstar

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tfw-no-tennis · 4 years

Text

hxh RESUME

back at it again w/the hxh, heres my recap of the last few eps

ok so i totally forgot to recap that one ep at the end of the hunter exam arc lets see what i remember from like 3 wks ago lollll

i thiiiiink i left off in the middle of ep 21 lol. i really dont remember much tbh so im gonna skim the ep to refresh

exposition time! its so wild that if you lose ur hunter card That It like u cant get another or retake the exam hgabjdfuhasjf Ls

also the fact that you can sell it is rlly interesting

leorio & kurapika backing up gon as he confronts illumi again :’) good lil family

illumi u fool. gon is a shounen protag. he can do anything he sets his mind to

the fact that gon thanks illumi for telling him where killua is....hes literally THAT polite like...what a perfect boy

hisoka just fuckgin stepping out of the shadows....ok bitch

the fact that gon fucked up illumis arm that bad with one hand....boi is STRONK

AUGH AUGH AUGHHHH HISOKA IS SO CREEPY AUGHHH I HATE THIS BIIIITCH

ok but like is illumi implying that hisoka is a fr p*do bc uhhhhh thats so nasty oh lord. pls stay away from gon, and killua, and like everyone as a matter of fact

EWWWWWWWWWW I HATE HISOKA HES SO NASTY. PLS STOP MAKING P*RNO FACES IN RELATION TO 12 YR OLD BOYS.

no but rlly what IS hisoka gonna do now. im assuming he’ll show up p soon (tho probs not in the zoldyc arc like i thought bc its shorter than i thought)

ok the fact that they have the internet is hilariously wild to me for some reason....it just seems like this would be one of those fantasy shounen worlds with very little tech (a la one piece) but lol nope we can just google shit hvbhjdhjdfks

gon: it was fun when you beat me up for 3 hours and broke my arm! seeya dude!

i love gon he is so chill and doesnt seem to hold grudges except when it really matters (like hisoka and illumi)

hanzo has.....ninja business cards....thats amazing hvbhsdjkujfnd

dont worry pokkle, leorio was basically carried thru the hunter exam by various people and also won by default. he still deserves his license tho

an exotic game hunter sounds pretty cool! i wonder if we’ll see pokkle again. kinda doubt it? that sounds pretty firmly non-combat based, and therefore probably pretty far from any plot lol

so gons dad is a bigshot huh.....whatever hed be a bigger deal if he didnt abandon his son tbh

gon swinging his feet on the bench....sooo cute

so ging could restore a bunch of ruins but he couldnt raise his son...ok

im just gonna be bitter at this guy for abandoning the most perfect boy vhbhjfbsjhdhbfsk sorry dude but being a good hunter doesnt make up for being a shit father

gon is so precious ;_;

WHAT WAS SATOTZ GONNA SAY TO GON???

why does it look like theyre googling things on MS paint

ah yes, padokea, on the continent of Africa But Sideways

idk if i talked abt it before but the world map is WILD lmao i love how its all the continents/landmasses scrambled around.....im super curious abt that weird island in the top center of the map, thats the only thing that immediately sticks out as not having a real life equivalent

the music in this show is so charming :’) i love the main theme sm

gon is sooo precious i literally cant get over it. and his hurry to rescue killua is so sweet....and i love how naturally charming/charismatic gon is....pretty much everyone he meets likes him, especially leorio and kurapika, who basically adopted him after knowing him for like a day, and continue to be completely taken by him

ok wtf is satotz & co talking abt......do they know something abt ging that they arent allowed to tell gon???? shouldnt gon have access to the same info now that hes a hunter? i need ANSWERS

i bet this whole thing abt the hunter exam not rlly being over is a metaphor abt the hunter exam NEVER truly ending bc youre always being tested, or st

ok the ED continues to be So Much like especially the last shot where the 4 main characters look like theyre posing for a JC Penny catalog while the singer goes FULL metal-screamo

ok ruth and i just rewatched the next two eps woohoo

i love that there are tourist busses that take people to the front gates so they can like pose for pics and stuff vhbhjafdsfkj and its like ‘ah yes here are where the local assassins live!’ thats so funny yet it makes so much sense

i love that leorio passed tf out during the bus ride. big big mood

gon is so cute...hes like ok yes i understand that we’re not supposed to go in but i think they can make an exception for me bc im very polite.

those 2 dudes r so ugly and so dead god bless

that bigass buster sword....sir please

ruth and i rlly thot that the old guard guy was gonna turn out to be grandpa zoldyk or st lol

the fact that the dog managed to eat All their flesh but left some clothes....skill

also the dog is named mike but it sounds like the guy is calling him miku hvbjdfssk

this cant be the first time some morons have been killed here likeeee

i cant believe nobody has visited the zoldyk estate in 20 years damn they all rlly b havin no friends. depressing

the whole gates thing is wild. also that part where gon gets the math wrong on the weight.....BIG mood kiddo

ok the part where gons on the phone w/the butler is soooo good oh man. i love how gon just calmly dials the phone again after hes hung up on the first time and then YELLS....and leorio and kurapikas faces r so good

also the butler guy unfortunately has a point, it isnt foolproof that gon is here Legit....but he IS let him see his tiny bf :(

as ruth pointed out, the butler guy is reminiscent of kuro from one piece. same vibes

maybe if leorio was jacked like he is in the manga/1999 anime he couldve opened the gate that first time around....Ls

god i love this shows approach to Everything so far,....as ruth put it, half the time its like ‘oh wow they should do [x]/i wish theyd do [x] but ofc they wont cause its a shounen’ but then they DO do [x] and its like damn thats dope

anyways i love how gon is increasingly approaching situations with his Plucky Shounen Protag Attitude in full swing, and he pretty much gets shot down every time. BUT his general determination to see killua bc killuas his FRIEND and hes gonna RESCUE HIM is still a good and pure motivating force

like here, when hes climbing over the wall and hes like whatever i dont wanna have to deal w/being tested thats bullshit, i wanna see killua, my intentions are pure, im gonna try my luck with the dog....i was like ok yeah he’ll get over and like tame or defeat the dog and the guard will be suitably impressed bc nobodys ever done That before, and then gon will continue on to get killua

but NOPE instead the guard calls him down and explains that gon Will Die if he tries that, and then the guard will die too for letting that happen. and gon is like oh shit my actions have consequences for people other than me, wow.

and THEN the guard takes them in to meet the dog. and hot DAMN that is a scary creature. not even really a dog tbh. they did an excellent job making the dog Legit Scary and not just like, big and flashy looking....those eyes are so soulless, and the proportions are freaky

and the guard says exactly what i was thinking - that gon would use his Country Boy Woodland Creature Skills to workaround the dog....but then the subversion - this creature is NOTHING like the woodland critters gon is probably used to dealing with. theres no way gon stood a chance here. the guard just saved him from a really unfortunate death

i love all the Super Heavy Stuff in the servant house that seems so inconvenient vbhjdkfasjfld. also forgot to mention earlier but the guard guy being Absolutely Ripped was wild and kinda funny

training montage! gon continues to be so cute. and i love so much how leorio and kurapika are like no, you rest, we’ll take care of this. good parents!!!!

and then!!!! they sync up and use the power of gay love to almost open the gate. but then gon uses the power of Improbable Shounen Protag Healing Speed to toss that arm sling off and help out

i feel like leorio was side-eyeing gon like w8 a sec u broke that arm like a few days ago that aint right.....

oh man i almost forgot abt that scene with the zoldyks torturing killua :( :( this poor kid he doesnt deserve that

also mom zoldyck seems truly awful but i must say her aesthetic does fuck. the victorian-lookin outfit paired with the futuristic cyclops visor thing....excellent. also im betting this face bandages are from killua cutting her face

this family is so fucked up hvbsjdhjfbakdfn

killua telling his mom that gon is definitely gonna make it there :’) hes got such unshakable faith in his bf thats so good.....

back w/the gang, and immediately they run into more trouble in the form of the young girl butler, whose name i dont know, but i love her....her design is SO good oh man. a non-caricature black person? who also isnt sexualized? in MY anime??????

i love how gons approach to conflict is currently ‘let more powerful person beat me up for hours straight in hopes that they get tired or something idk bro’ like....i love him lol, is it in an effort to show how determined he is? he doesnt even try to dodge her blows or get around her....id be tryin to hop that fence lol

oh shit the tiny zoldyk kid from earlier is spying on them....she was w/the mom so im sure thats not good

when he punches the rock part and it breaks....strong boiiii

oh man that little flashback from when killua first came back and told her that he made a friend ;_; bruh

i love butler girl :( she wants to let gon but knows it isnt allowed....and as soon as she starts to waver BAM here comes mom zoldyck JFC that was so sudden and jarring....im assuming butler girl isnt dead cause that would be lame and anticlimactic

also IS THAT NEN??? NEN>>>??? NEN??? HM? NEN?????????

im so annoying abt nen i need to make one of those ‘is this a pigeon?’ memes w/’is this nen?’ bc thats me anytime anything remotely weird happens lmao

i do think its rlly nen this time tho

anyways shit is wild, cant wait to meet the full zoldyck family

PREDICTION CORNER:

as i said above i doubt hisoka will show up now bc this arc is a lot shorter than i anticipated. also im doubting that illumis even gonna show up honestly

i think we’re gonna have this OP for a while, as the part just at the end shows gon and hisoka fighting in what looks to be an arena, and ik the next arc is the heavens arena arc, which im assuming is the tournament arc....

also i have no idea what that weird building in the OP is but my guess is that its the building w/the heavens arena in it bc its tall and,,,,heaven

i predict there wont be much fighting in this little arc bc how tf else is it so short. at this point i rlly think gon is just gonna grab killua and go lmao. im super curious abt how thats gonna go down, considering that killua is currently strung up just bc he wont apologize...so i cant imagine his family would just let him leave w/gon. i wonder if killua will fight them, or if gons determination will impress them and then theyll let killua go (doubt it)

thats basically it....we’ll see abt the next few eps holla

#lj watches hxh #hxh #woohoo continuation

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sparklyjojos · 4 years

Photo

THE SAIMON FAMILY CASE recaps [10/13]

In which we meet a young wordician and the detectives finally stumble upon a breakthrough in the case.

PART 7

Three days before August 19th, a few other detectives from Nihon Tantei Club propose they can help with the Saimon Family Case. Ajiro might take them on their word if the next incident doesn’t clear anything up. However, he’s afraid to mix anyone else into this, seeing as a single case stretching for so long is already pulling their attention away from other cases.

In fact, Ajiro reveals to everyone that he’s considering withdrawing from the Club entirely; he’s grateful to everyone who would hate to see him go (especially tearful Kirigirisu), but he still has his pride as a detective. If no progress in the case is made soon, he will be forced to make that decision. Two young detectives, Raiouji and Mikuruma, outright declare that they will quit too if push comes to shove.

Three days later Ajiro and Kirigirisu are faced with a new incident in the Saimon Family Case when Kyuuzou dies from a hornet sting.

On the same day, Raiouji and Mikuruma are killed when a reckless truck driver hits them on their usual bike ride.

As soon as they get the news, Ajiro and Kirigirisu stop their investigation in Tsuwano and return to Kyoto to learn more about what happened. Witnesses testify that the truck driver (who also died in the crash) didn’t even attempt to brake before hitting the two young detectives. The police finds stimulant drugs in the truck’s cabin, states that the man was probably using them, and files the case away as a normal traffic accident.

Raiouji’s and Mikuruma’s joint funeral ceremony is held a day after Fujita Kyuuzou’s wake, and unexpectedly a few Saimons decide to go to Kyoto to attend it: Soga Tensui with Miku, Taishi with his wife Yurine, Hyousen with his son Hyousai, a few members of Fujita-gumi, even shy Takayoshi.

Miku says that they wanted to bring Juku along at first, but decided against it, as him wearing sunglasses throughout the entire ceremony could be seen as rude by other people. It’s still unknown just what made the boy so strangely beautiful after his brother’s death.

(Kirigirisu has had some very outlandish theories about it come to his mind. If we define the twins’ previous beauty as being “90% perfect” for each one, then maybe after one died, the other one now somehow counted for two, and the accumulated value tipped over the point of “100% perfection”… This sort of ridiculous theories. Kirigirisu has no idea why he even thought about it.)

As they talk with the family, Hyousen mentions that he saw Ajiro’s grandfather Soujin yesterday in Tsuwano, showing up in the Fujita household once everyone else left after Kyuuzou’s wake. Hyousen acts quite friendly towards them, what with his late father and Soujin having been sworn brothers and all. There is some uneasiness in Hyousen’s behavior that wasn't there before, but one can expect it from a son who just lost his father... from someone who keeps losing his family every month. He says that his wife Shima couldn't show up, as she's been feeling sick lately.

Takayoshi exchanges a word or two with the detectives, but leaves in a hurry once his brother Taishi approaches (unsurprising reaction, considering the two's past). Taishi isn't as friendly as everyone else and claims that he's only here because he has another business in the prefecture anyway.

"The other Kotensui lives in Kyoto," Taishi says. "That is, the kid that provided Kotensui's voice, Ryuuguu Jounosuke. We have something to do at his house."

Ajiro seems to know the name Ryuuguu. Or rather, he knows about Ryuuguujou, the family’s palace so splendid it’s often called one of the two great mansions of Northern Kyoto (the other being a place called Geneijo). So this strangely named Ryuuguu Jounosuke has to be a young noble. Apparently when his ancestor Yatsutarou was designing the palace grounds, he took inspiration from the Saimon family’s garden, which led to him becoming friends with Saimon Taishin.

The Ryuuguus offered the Circus financial help many times, but the Saimons always refused to take any money from them. However, Taishi can tell that the Circus is pretty much over now with so many performers dead, and wants to ask the Ryuuguus for help—not even asking for money, but for a few of their koi so he can repopulate the depressingly empty pond.

It feels like Taishi’s sense of loss is connected less to their fish, and more to Akio; perhaps his sudden desire to get the pond back to normal comes from subconsciously wanting his brother back.

The bright spot in despair is that Taishi's and Tensui’s relations are getting better lately. Taishi states that if anyone will be able to keep the Circus going in the future, it will be the three child geniuses: Yomiko, Juku, and Jounosuke.

“That boy is a true wordician,” he says of Jounosuke. “A magician of words.”

Apparently Jounosuke has been travelling all over the world with his parents since he was born, which contributed to his knowledge of an astounding number of languages. He likes words so much he even named some of the buildings belonging to the Saimons, like Sanasou and Shakuya. For some reason he also likes to call Tensui yossha no ojisan (well, Tensui kind of is an "alrighty guy", but it's still a strange way to address him).

That last innocuous fact seems to pique Ajiro’s curiosity and he wants to have a word with Jounosuke.

And so, on August 22nd, Ajiro and Kirigirisu ride to Ryuuguujou together with Taishi and Yurine. It’s easy to see how rich the Ryuuguus are; their private grounds could probably fit an entire Disneyland, and a sleek limousine takes the guests to the palace, a giant black building with a tall tower in the middle. Ryuuguujou is surrounded by a western-style garden on one side and an eastern-style one on the other. In fact, the entire building was designed to resemble an European castle on one side and a Japanese keep on the other, down to the internal decor.

A butler shows them inside, where they meet Mr. and Mrs. Ryuuguu—Kintarou and Kaguya—who dress like they just got here in a time machine from 18th century France. They welcome the guests in a pretty exalted manner, both seeming constantly cheerful. They are without a doubt the weirdest people Kirigirisu has ever met, and that’s counting all the strange detectives he works with. Maybe that’s just how people living in palaces are.

Apparently Kintarou and Kaguya don’t always dress like this, but choose between many outfits from different eras on a whim (and even invite the detectives to borrow costumes and join their dress-up game if they like). They travel abroad for most of the year and because of that take special care to keep their friendships going whenever they're back in Japan. They like to consider anyone they meet as a potential great companion.

Their endless chatter is a bit exhausting, so even if the couple is extremely friendly, Ajiro and Kirigirisu are glad they can leave for the eastern garden to search for Jounosuke. Kirigirisu is actually a little worried for Mr. and Mrs. Ryuuguu; they seem so trusting and ready to help everyone around that maybe someone could easily abuse their friendship for nefarious purposes.

The detectives find Jounosuke feeding koi in the garden. Even in the summer the boy is wearing all black, including an elegant hat, gloves, and a long cape (but at least the shirt under that cape is sleeveless). He looks at them with curious big eyes, a happy smile on his face.

“Oh, so Mother and Father have made new friends,” he says when they introduce themselves.

Ajiro makes a comment that as expected from someone called a wordician, his speech sounds very intelligent, then asks about his age.

“Ryuuguu is now ten, in fourth grade at school," Jounosuke answers in third person. "Are you friends with yossha no ojisan? You called Ryuuguu a wordician, which means you know people from the Circus, and the one who knows the most about Ryuuguu there is yossha no ojisan, so you probably came to talk with Ryuuguu on his request.”

“This child is quite a detective,” Ajiro comments in amused surprise. “Maybe we should employ him in the future, huh, Kirigirisu?”

“Are you detectives?” Jounosuke puts two and two together quickly.

“Yes, we are detectives. We’re investigating a case and we would like you to help us with something.”

“You want to know yossha no ojisan’s secret? Um… but Ryuuguu promised he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“I see. Then I won’t ask about it. You were the one who named Sanasou (山鴉荘) and Shakuya (杓屋), right? Could you tell us the origin of these names?”

“Oh! Sanasou has the kanji for raven (鴉) trapped in the word for a mountain villa (山荘), but it should actually be written differently. In the word for sake kasu (酒糟), there's this kasu (糟) that can also be read as sou. And by looking at Sanasou and changing sou to kasu you get Sanakasu (山鴉糟), which sounds like Saakasu—“Circus”! “And Shakuya is where they keep sharks, so it’s a shark room, shaaku-room, shaaku-ya.”

These are… quite the wordplays. Ajiro seems intrigued by the last one.

“I don’t know if you did that on purpose, Jounosuke… but that kanji for shaku (杓) means a dipper. I think the shaku in Shakuya may mean a constellation called the Big Dipper… and it refers to one other thing too, doesn’t it?”

“Um, that one is a secret.”

Ajiro gives Kirigirisu a conspiratory wink. Jounosuke may be smart, but he's still a child, so Ajiro can try and get the secret out of him in a roundabout way, by checking what topics the boy doesn't want to talk about.

“By the way,” Ajiro says, “in the aviary at Sanasou there’s a big dove figure called Onikaru-sama. Was that name also created by you?”

“No, Ryuuguu thinks it’s been called that since a long time ago.”

“Do you know that name’s origin?”

“Ryuuguu knows… and won’t tell.”

“I think that Onikaru-sama is not quite its actual name. Instead of O-ni-ka-ru it should be pronounced On-i-ka-ru, right?”

Kirigirisu has no idea what the difference is, but Jounosuke makes a troubled face. The boy’s not a very good liar, that for sure. Even if he stays quiet, Ajiro is pelting questions at him and presumably reading out satisfying answers between the lines.

“Tell me, did yossha no ojisan tell you anything about the word juuku?”

“Juuku… that’s the name of yossha no ojisan’s son, who’s a few years younger than Ryuuguu. Actually, Ryuuguu has never met him before.”

“Certainly, juuku written like the number nineteen is also Saimon Juku’s first name. But have you perhaps heard something else about juuku?”

“Huh? Ryuuguu doesn’t understand…” This time Jounosuke seems honestly confused.

“Then… have you heard of Golgo 13?” Ajiro for some reason names a manga series about an assassin for hire. What does that have to do with anything?

“Um, no… when Ryuuguu thinks of the shape of the word juuku (十九), the only thing he's reminded of is Senmaru (千丸)...”

That last word sends a cold shiver down Kirigirisu's spine.

Senmaru is a common nickname for the crossing at Senbon Maruta, the same place where Raiouji and Mikuruma were killed in an accident mere days ago. This has to be just a coincidence… right?

Kirigirisu doesn’t really understand what this entire conversation meant, but Ajiro looks completely satisfied and thanks Jounosuke for the help.

“Can Ryuuguu show you an illusion to end with?” the boy asks. “It’s the best, even yossha no ojisan was surprised! Is it okay if it breaks your watch?”

“It’s alright,” Ajiro says presenting the arm with his watch. “What gets broken can be fixed. It’s only fair to help you show us an illusion, considering how much you helped us today.”

Jounosuke reaches forward with one gloved finger, lightly pokes Ajiro’s watch—and it instantly stops working, the hands freezing in their tracks.

“I see…” Ajiro seems strangely satisfied for having his watch broken. “You’re like the opposite of Uri Geller, making clocks stop instead of restoring their function…”

“Jounosuke!” shouts a new voice. A teen girl in a white dress is walking their way with a stern face. “How many times did I tell you not to break other people’s things? I am deeply sorry, we will cover the cost of repairs …”

“No, it’s alright. My watch was already acting strangely and I wanted to repair it anyway. You must be Jounosuke’s older sister?”

“Ah, yes. My name is Ryuuguu Otohime. I’m sorry if my parents and brother were bothering you…” She sounds quite mature and like the only normal person in this family. Well, they do say that children either end up highly similar to their parents or become their complete opposite. “I’m not sure how to explain it, but what Jounosuke just did wasn’t an illusion. He has a strange power that lets him break every mechanical device he touches. It just suddenly showed up last year, around the same time when he started wearing all black.”

“It’s still a kind of magic,” Ajiro states. “As long as one acts like there is a secret method behind the performance, even a supernatural power is illusion. I think it’s wonderful to have abilities that other people don’t have.”

Soon, Kirigirisu and Ajiro prepare to leave against the wishes of Kintarou, Kaguya, and especially Jounosuke, who would love for them to stay and hang out all night. (Taishi and his wife do spend the night, since they live in another prefecture).

The detectives get a taxi back to the city. The slightly bizarre frenzied atmosphere from before turns into grim silence as they approach the crossing of Senmaru.

A class of small children is following their teacher through the crossing, and for a short moment Kirigirisu is sure he spotted Juku and Joukei among them—but that can’t be, Joukei is not around anymore. He takes another look. The two children he saw are actually a pair of a boy and a girl, perhaps also twins, both their backpacks having the name TAMEI written on them. [Which implies these two are Dakushoin and his sister from the other JDC books. What a nice little cameo.]

“Boys, be ambitious,” Ajiro says suddenly.

Huh? The popular phrase shounen yo, taishi wo idake? Ajiro doesn't elaborate what he means by it, instead adding another non-sequitur.

“We are the ambassadors solving the mystery of the magic show.” [Ore-tachi wa, kijutsu shou no nazo wo toku taishi nanda.]

Ambassadors? Kirigirisu truly has no idea what Ajiro means by those strange phrases, but has a feeling they aren’t just random gibberish.

Ajiro and Kirigirisu return to Nihon Tantei Club’s office, where everyone else (except Shiranui and always wandering Soujin) is waiting for them. Some of the detectives, especially Shiranui’s group, seem fed up with Ajiro doing things on his own and relegating responsibilities of the representative to others; even if he still gets cases solved, he falls behind as a team leader. Arito Tarou points out that Raiouji and Mikuruma were likely killed because of the Saimon Family Case, so Ajiro should at least tell everyone what’s really going on.

Ajiro can’t deny that those two deaths could be connected to the Case; if that’s the truth, he’s taking full responsibility. Even if it was just an accident, Ajiro admits he has to either abandon the Saimon Family Case and go back to his duties, or pursue the Case and abandon his position instead. He decides that if he doesn’t solve the Case until the end of September 19th, or if the deaths of Raiouji and Mikuruma turn out to really be connected to the Case, Ajiro will quit the Club.

Kirigirisu immediately announces that if Ajiro’s going to turn in his resignation, then he’s quitting too.

Soon everyone except for our two main detectives leaves the office for the night. Kirigirisu walks to the nearby Lawson to buy them something to eat. When he comes back, he notices a gorgeous white car parked under the building, then meets its owner on the stairs inside. Short and thin, with a white suit and the atmosphere of the Godfather—it’s Ajiro’s grandfather Soujin, who hasn’t shown up around for over a year. As always, his presence is overwhelming, making it obvious why the man was once called “Ajiro the God”. Soujin is happy to see Kirigirisu, but apparently is so busy he already has to leave.

Back in the office, Kirigirisu discovers that another old detective showed up in his absence, Shiranui Zenzou. Apparently Soujin gave him a lift here. Did the two Ajiros and Shiranui talk about the Case?

“We did,” Ajiro answers. "The Saimon Family Case that’s been confusing us for a year took grandpa all of three seconds to figure out. Well, it’s not that he solved it, but he gave us an important hint. The truth behind the Case that boils down to a single word.”

Shiranui interrupts him, saying that he doesn’t really know what’s going on, and his own method of reasoning (basically “doubting every single detail”) is still focused on whether Kyuuzou was actually stung by a hornet or not. Ajiro explains that while a stinger really was found in the victim’s body, the hornet itself may have not existed; anyone skilled enough in voice mimicry could emit a convincing buzzing noise. It’s possible that the murderer used a prepared stinger to kill the victim, making it look like an unfortunate accident.

Someone skilled in illusion and voice mimicry… Soga Tensui is apparently pretty good at both.

“If we were to guess the truth based on all the data we have gathered, everything would point to Tensui being the culprit,” Ajiro says. “However, a single word from grandpa forced us to abandon our previous theories and go back to the drawing board. This word is kuroyashi. Yashi may refer to the merchants and peddlers of a tekiya yakuza group, such as Fujita-gumi. Kuroyashi would mean “a black peddler”. And if you switch black and white around, what do you get?”

That would be shiroyashi… which sounds suspiciously close to Shiroyasha, the masked murderer.

The Case is finally one step closer to being solved.

[>>>NEXT PART>>>]

#sparkly reads the saimon family case #maijo and jdc stuff #jounosuke i love you

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starry-sky-1 · 5 years

Text

Jungkook's little adventure

Spinoff of this lovely series by @lil-meow-meow-goes-rawr who let me do this!!!! Lotso love to her and kookie who I couldn't resist writing uwu.

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“JK, JK wake up” Seokjin sighed as he shook the human bundle of blankets for the umpteenth time. The little Hatsune Miku figurine alarm clock on the bedside table chimed a dainty 8:30 am as the bundle in question groaned and shriveled into a tighter ball.

Seokjin stood, arms akimbo, and pursed his lips. “Yah! Jungkook-ah you have to wake up or did you forget its your turn to bring the groceries today? Its your free day so I understand you were up playing Overwatch till 3 am but breakfast is getting cold. I made hash browns with eggs benedict and that bread you’re fond of.We even have Banana Milk.”

Hearing about banana milk, the bundle rumbled and sat up, a head popping out of its recesses like a bunny, puffy doe eyes that were closed, revealed a mop of fluffy hair, sticking up in all directions as Jungkook let out a cute yawn before rolling on the other side and getting up, stubbing his toe in the process.

The shock of pain, made him wince and his eyes flew open, clutching the now sensitive toe in his hand.

“Ow, Ow, OW”

The elder had an amused smile on his face as he watched the entire scene unfold.

“Sometimes I wonder how you’re related to me Jungkook-ah, a graceful, beautiful human like me, sculpted by the finest, who ladies die over, and then there’s you.”

“Way to boost my confidence, hyung” He muttered and grasped his spectacles, promptly putting them on. “I’ll meet you down in 15 minutes.”

Seokjin nodded and moved to the door, kicking a one piece themed sweatpants pair that was lying on the floor for god knows how long and shut the door behind him.

Jungkook stretched, cracking his bones and made his way over to the ensuite bathroom, both brothers had their rooms connected , in a small apartment unit above the bar.

He made his way down to see Seokjin on a call, recently they had been getting quite a number of assignments. The aloof bartender was a former secret service agent and one of the finest in the nation. He knew and dealt with secrets, disillusioned by bureaucracy and corruption, leaving after finishing one of the most difficult assignments ever with him as the only survivor.

“Yes Yoongi I’ll be more than happy to babysit the squirt as you and Hoseok plummet yourself into another dangerous mission, I mean wasn’t Mist enough for you?”

Ahh Mist, that brought back some memories, quite the adventure.

Jungkook scarfed the meal on the table, marvelling at his hyung’s cooking, the meals he cooked could make him a celebrity chef and yet here he was, dealing with dangerous stuff.

“To each his own I guess” he muttered and rinsed his plate, putting it in the right place before moving to the coatstand, his trusty hooded jacket would be perfect for the crisp nip in the air. He shuffled his shoes on and went down, deciding to explore the city a bit before he would fetch groceries and then munch on snacks as he played Overwatch again, he had a score to settle with NoobMaster96.

Patting his pockets, he checked his phone, keys and wallet before making his way downtown. October would be here soon and the parks would be full of leaves in various shades of reds, oranges.He loved those.

The public park was near the older market with a lot of old shops who sold stuff the traditional way, he found the square market to be too boisterous, the stores too fancy with their automatic doors, self checkouts, the crowd too predictable. He would rather source his seaweed chips and ramyun packets from the old lady who would almost always mistake him for her grandson and give him a mangatteok whenever he dropped by.

Speaking of ramyun, he was running low on his nutrition source with cans of energy drink, that’s how he survived those gruesome matches and lived to tell the tale.

He was just rounding the corner near the store, when a police car caught his attention, the small group of people gathering near it obstructed his view from what was happening. He slipped his hood on and slipped into the gathering with practiced ease and noticed his old lady angrily ranting off to two policemen who he knew very well.

Jimin had on a strained smile as he tried to ease the temper of the lady while Taehyung stood flabbergasted, asking questions to an old man who answered them. He turned on his heel and looked at the crowd when his eyes landed at an all too familiar face. Jungkook ducked, having been caught by Tae who flashed him his signature boxy grin and walked towards him, swiftly pulling him out causing Jungkook to squawk.

“Well, well, well if it isn’t my favourite Dongsaeng” he said.

“I’m the only dongsaeng you know from school, hyung” Jungkook pouted as Tae ruffled his hair, causing his cowlick to stand once again which he had spent a lot of time setting.

Jimin noticed Jungkook and pinched his cheek, smiling his infamous eye smile “Still as grumpy as ever.”

“And you’re still as short as ever.”

Jimin’s smile dropped while Tae guffawed and slapped him on the back. Jimin kicked Tae’s shin and then smacked Jungkook’s neck causing the younger to cry out in indignance.

“Yah! Is this how you talk to your hyung after everything we’ve done for you, brat?”

Jungkook gave him a mischievous smirk and rolled his shoulders.

The crowd had begun to disperse and it was then he turned to look at his allies slash friends and asked them what was with the crowd?

Tae looked at him and sighed, “Recently there have been a lot of petty theft incidents here by individuals dressed in all black with helmets or masks and riding gloves. They snatch handbags, briefcases, anything that they can land their hands on. Moreover we can’t ID them as they have blurred their motorcycle number plates and move on a very common design, the physical build is also more or less the same so we can’t say if it’s a single person or a group.”

Suddenly his eyes shone and his grin came back, Jungkook knew that look all too well.

“No Hyung, I am not helping you in this case again, I have to defeat NoobMaster96” He whined.

“Consider it payment for helping your eccentric psychopath friend and his cute ward. Oho she’s too adorable for her own good.”

Jimin added “The coverup alone took us so much time, we hardly slept for a month and it almost cost us our current titles. I NEVER want to work on the desk again” He said with a shudder.

Jungkook nibbled on his lower lip, On one hand he knew he was obligated to help Hoseok hyung and Yana, who he considered his own little sister, on the other hand he still had to game…….

“Fineeeeee” he replied, huffing.

“I knew if there was anyone who could help us, it would be our dear little Kookie” Tae chimed and Jimin smiled as well, highfiving his partner.

“But I need the details you have, the police files and access to the traffic security cameras”

“Consider it done”

“And I want 5 packets of chili ramyeon and nori chips as thanks”

“Whaaaa”

“Don’t question him, Jimin, and done.”

Jungkook moved to their car and Tae fetched a brown paper bag with the words confidential written on it.

“Now lets move to someplace less public and discuss with fewer ears” Jimin suggested and both nodded and followed him to a cafe owned by an ex policeman.

The little bell chimed as they entered and the owner flashed the 2 detectives a toothy smile as he continued to wipe a mug in his hand. They moved to the little private cabin which he held for “special” customers and took a seat. Jimin and Tae knew it was soundproof on the inside meaning no noise from the cabin would go out but they could hear everything on the outside clearly.

Jungkook spread the files on the table and quickly went over them, clicking a few pictures of evidence on his phone, whose camera he had upgraded to give better resolutions. Taking pictures of the suspects from the traffic cameras, he placed them back into the folder.

“I’ve sent you a link that would help you get into the mainframe. I hope you know the drill. Do NOT leave any evidence of your presence, you know SPD’s IT team is getting better at tracking illegal hacking or data hostage attempts.”

The younger only rolled his eyes when there was a knock on the door. Jimin tapped in confirmation and the owner came in, placing two cups of cappucinos for the boys and a hot chocolate for him, closing the door on his way out.

They discussed more details as they took their respective drinks and Tae told him he’d told the owner to bring hot chocolate for him since he knew that Jungkook couldn’t stand the strong taste at all.

Jungkook remembered he had to get groceries and once finished, Tae and Jimin helped him fetch stuff from the aisles at the next door mart and told him they’d drop him off before going back to the station to “work”. He whined when they did not get his snacks telling him that would be his reward if he could give them the missing link to the case and close it.

Clutching the full bags, Jungkook managed to balance them as he slid his key in and went inside. The lights were off which meant Seokjin was out and should be back soon to prepare for opening the bar.

He deposited them on the kitchen counter, placing the perishables in the fridge and moved to his room, opening his laptop as he decided to copy the data from his phone. Maybe Namjoon hyung could give him an insight on this? Ahh no he’s busy so he mustn’t be bothered.

Jin returned and noticed that Jungkook was home a little earlier than usual. The boy would never drop in before 8 pm, just in time for dinner on his days off. So it was surprising to see him back so soon.

He knocked on his door “JK, did you have lunch?” the boy didn’t respond. Jin knocked louder this time. Jungkook fumbled with his headphones and peeped from the door.

“Yes?”

“I asked if you had eaten lunch yet?”

“I had a cup of hot chocolate”

“Yah! That doesn’t count as lunch! I’m making fried rice, come down in 10, irrespective of what you’re working on” Jin said, motioning to the laptop and the wires attached to his phone.

Jungkook swiftly nodded and closed the door, resuming the transfer of data as he waited. He checked his phone for messages, finding none. Of course who would message him, he smiled ruefully before checking progress of the tapes downloading in his system.

As soon as there was a single minute left to 3:10 pm, he went down in the kitchen, just in time to see Jin plating 2 servings, his being smaller than what he had poured for the younger one.

The smell was heavenly and before he knew it, the plate was wiped clean. Jungkook rose to put them in the washer but Jin shook his head.

“You have homework, right kiddo? Don’t worry hyung will handle it”

Jungkook smiled at him brightly before running upstairs, almost tripping on his feet before he plopped himself on his table again, working on a short code that would narrow his search to the bikes of the model, the perpetrators used. It would limit his view time to 5 hours. Something he was sure he could manage. He carefully scanned the now shortened footage and noticed that the perpetrators would always, exclusively be downtown. It was as if they knew their chances of escaping were better there. He also noticed how they seemed to know where to go, irrespective of whether they were on foot or bike. The alleys where the cameras could not record their further movement. Also not a sliver of skin was exposed so nothing could be said about their build, complexion or looks, even gender. All the footage looked the same.

He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing his glasses up, there was no clue, how could he help Jimin and Tae, when suddenly one of the bikes went too close to the pole. Jungkook narrowed his eyes and played the footage again. On the back of the bike was an imperceptible symbol, which he enlarged and screenshot.

One thing that he understood was that the perpetrator(s) had a good idea of the alleys, secondly they knew how to conceal their identity well so it would be physically impossible to identify them, thirdly they chose their victims randomly and finally another bike had yellow paint on its tires, from the footage of a day ago, the one with the old woman whose bag was stolen.

Jungkook knew that there was renovation going on in the eastern part which meant that atleast one of them had entered via Incheon.

He zoomed the footage as he spotted a man push the woman and snatched her bag in broad daylight as he sped off, the old woman screaming at him, which caused the few shopkeepers around to come out. Jungkook noticed that this bike was devoid of the same symbol but had another one in the same design.

He searched them and discovered 2 numbers, in a snake font, 13 and 55.

Weird!

He quickly overlooked the dates of the events and discovered that the dates were in fact a sequence! Running them through the algorithm detector he found that they were Fibonacci numbers and the

snake fonts actually represented their positioning on the cartesian plane.

He had heard Hoseok talk about a gang in town, slowly acquiring power through meticulous attacks, they hadn’t done anything severe, but their attacks were random enough to confuse the police. To make matters worse nobody knew of their arrival or departure, they chose less populated areas to target and left no evidence behind.

Putting the dates in sequence, Jungkook knew when the next attack would take place, coincidentally it was a free day for him as well. It wouldn’t hurt to give a little tip off to the detectives.

The only problem was how to confirm his suspicions, what if he was wrong? He couldn’t afford to let down another of the residents at downtown or undermine what was at stake for Tae and Jimin. He knew the pattern of such gangs all too well, it would slowly evolve to bigger crimes including shootouts and murders once they’d amassed enough power and terrorised the locals. It was an ugly spiral in the Criminal Underworld.

It was almost 11 pm by the time he had finished. Shoot! Just on time his stomach rumbled as well. He hadn’t had anything since lunch. He padded downstairs, knowing Jin would be at the bar but he’d chew his head off the next day for ignoring dinner. There was a plate of samgyeopsal with rice and clear soup, left for him. Jungkook felt a rush of affection for his step brother rise in his heart, who took care of him more like a parent than a sibling, never once questioning when he was dumped at his door out of nowhere and readily gave him a roof to live in and made sure all his needs were fulfilled.

He sat and ate dinner in silence and cleaned the kitchen up before wiping the table. Jin rarely let him in the bar, being fiercely protective of the younger one, wanting him to live as normally as possible.

He shut the lights and formulated a plan in his head. Oh he couldn’t wait to see it all unfold.

The D day had Jungkook nervous as hell, Tae had bombarded him with questions all week about his progress but Jungkook said it was difficult with lack of data but nonetheless sent him the designs on the 2 bikes just to not rouse his suspicions too much. They had thankfully bought the little lie and were busy running for matches through their databases.

He waited at the eastern end on his bike which he had borrowed from Yoongi, the sleek model was very flexible for driving in narrower lanes or taking sharp turns. The only condition was that he had to hack into some company’s financial statements, an easy job.

Hiding in the alleyway, he waited until it was just a few people out on the streets. If his calculations were correct, there would be an incident any time now. His notice turned to one of the shops in his direct line of vision, A girl with curly hair, sunkissed skin exit the cafe where had been the last week.

She had long, pretty legs clad in a pair of skinfit jeans and a white blouse tied in a knot above the highwaist as she put her slingbag around her and moved. He spotted movement on the peripheral of his vision.

Bingo! There were 2 people on the bike this time, heading straight for the woman who now had her headphones on, moving to whatever beat it played. Jungkook revved his own and gave chase right as one of them broke the bag from its sling and ran, clutching it tightly.

She screamed and gave chase, but wasn’t as fast enough as the person. Jungkook knew he’d take the alley with limited access to the traffic camera and his friend would be there, taking a quick shortcut he locked the bike and hid in the thick shadows knowing the person would be there anytime soon, as his friend waited at the other end.

The person came in, huffing as the outfit proved too much for the weather. Jungkook pounced on them, taking them down in a tangle of limbs as he subdued them. Their partner long gone when they realised that the ally had been subdued. He took the helmet off to reveal a young man with a nasty scar across his eye.This wasn’t an injury, no it was a deliberate slash. Quickly he found some spare plastic ties near the dumpbox and tied the man down. He dragged him over to the main footpath and saw the girl jogging up to him.She was even prettier up close and he blushed a bit. He dialed Tae and said

“Hyung, I have a certain present for you, come down quick” as he gave him his coordinates.

Taehyung cursed and kicked the table as his partner raised an eyebrow in question.

“That damn brat” was all he said before nudging Jimin into the car, speeding off.

Jungkook dusted the bag and gave it to the girl who muttered a “thank you”. Heck even her accent was cute and her voice had a lilt to it.

Before he could say something, the siren indicated that they were here. He looked down at the bound man who was glaring daggers at him.

Jimin stepped out first looking at Jungkook and then the man. “why am I not surprised? Of course you would throw yourself in harm’s way with 0 afterthought, Seokjin would have our skins as doormats if anything happened to you,brat.”

Taehyung looked at the man, amused.

“Can’t believe a kid took you down and those are some good knots, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re into some hardcore Shibari shit, Jungkook-ah”

Jungkook only reddened in response as the girl smirked at him.

Taehyung then looked at her and asked if they could ask her a few questions, she was free to go then. She nodded in assent and answered them, truthfully as Jungkook watched in rapt attention.

Jimin noticed and winked at him, wiggling his eyebrows, making Jungkook squeak and turn his head.

The detectives, satisfied thanked Jungkook after taking his statement as well.

“We’ll get all from him, but kiddo, next time you pull a stunt like this, do give us a call before jumping blindly, what if the other man was armed? and do mail us all the evidence you found, your ramyun and chips will be at your door by evening”

He smiled and waved them off before realising the girl was still there.

“So how does coffee sound?”

“Truthfully, Yakult is better than coffee, coffee is too strong for my nose” he replied, tapping his nose and shrugging. He looked at his watch.

“Oh dang I’m late for lunch again, hyung’s going to break my legs but I don’t need to buy snacks now so yess” he mumbled to himself.

The girl shook her head in amusement.

“I-I gotta run, have a nice day.Be safe” he bowed to her before taking off, picking his bike up and speeding his way over to home. Oh he was so dead today!

OMAKE

“You mean she asked me out on a date and I messed it up?” Jungkook groaned as Seokjin burst into laughter at his obliviousness.

Maybe he could spot her next time he was in downtown? It wouldn’t hurt to have her number. He flopped on the bed groaning and cursing. Atleast his Miku chan was still by his bedside to cheer him.

The End!

#btsau #bts friendship #bts fluff #bts fic #bts jhope #bts jimin #bts jin #bts taehyung #bts jungkook #hackerkook #fluff #jungkook is a baby #uwu

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drshojo · 6 years

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Confessions of a Shortcake Cake Lover

Hiya everybody! Its been awhile huh? Sorry about that, I had a ton of commissions this month- For those that don’t know I work freelance as an artist on top of my regular 9-5 job so things can get craaaaazy!

BUT WE’RE BACK! Back to talk about Shortcake Cake! Which is, in fact, at this very moment at least, my favorite shojo of all time! Shortcake cake has the best protagonist. Shortcake cake has the perfect will they won't they love triangle. Shortcake cake has well developed male leads. Shortcake cake reminds me I'm not straight

And viz media published a review and it sucked and you can tell the person isn't a shojo enthusiast and BY THE NINE DIVINES IM HERE TO SHOUT THE PRAISE SHORTCAKE CAKE DESERVES!

BECAUSE THAT’S RIGHT IT GOT AN OFFICIAL ENGLISH TANKOBON SO ITS TIME TO CELEBRATE BEING ABLE TO HOLD THIS MANGA IN MY HANDS!

For Talos’s sake all the art on this blog is just pictures of Ten, the protagonist from this series!

Now lets talk about me being gay for Ten

AH-HEM

MOVEING ALONG, I’m not ashamed to admit I picked up this series solely because I like Tens design. She's cute, cat-like and kind of looks like Hatsune Miku in my favorite Pinocchio-P song Nobody Makes Sense.

(Right?!)

As far as personality goes, Ten does not disappoint. She's thoughtful, practical, inexperienced in love but by no means does that obliviousness come off as stupid.

AND MARA’S SAKE TOO MANY TIMES WE HAVE THE DIZY PROTAGONIST AS A DEVICE TO ARBITRARILY DRAW OUT THE PLOT WHEN EVERYTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN SOLVED IF SHE THOUGHT HUH THIS GUY KISSED ME AND WE ALWAYS HANG OUT MABY I SHOULD ASK “CHUNTS UP WITH THAT?”

Ten says what she means all the time. She's the smart best friend character that you always wish was the main. I can pinpoint the exact moment Ten became my shojo protagonist hero.

Its right here at the end of volume one

(This outfit ten is wearing does +100 damage and leaves your Pokémon infatuated)

Your average clueless inexperienced heroine would pretend to be asleep. She would ponder the meaning of one dudes' words for days and come up with no answer at all! But not our ten. Our Ten gets right to the point. Now that doesn’t mean Ten is infallible. She gets confused and worries about love later in the series but only when it makes sense to do so because the actual situations call for it. Shortcake cake masterfully depicts the feelings many shojos fail to capture realistically. At what moment does one fall in love? Why do we like the people we do? How should we act around that person? It’s the realism of the characters that really draws you in to Shortcake Cakes lack of plot.

Oh ya the plot! There's not a whole lot to it. Cliffnotes version is - A girl lives into a boarding house with two cute guys and some other people whom you can immediately tell the author does not care about.

The long version is that Ten has a long commute to school so she moves into a boarding house that is closer to school with two cute guys and some other people whom you can immediately tell the author does not care about.

You might think I'm being harsh on the other housemates BUT LOOK AT HER BEST FRIENDS/HOUSEMATES EYES

HELLO EXPOSITION SALLY. COULD YOU REALLY NOT GIVE HER PROPER EYES THAT CAN EXPRESS PROPER EMOTIONS. I IMMEDIATELY KNOW YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE PLOT RELEVANT. THIS IS MY ONE CRITICISM OF SHORTCAKE CAKE. It really doesn't value anyone other than the main three.

Now let's get to the meat of what makes Shortcake cake not just good but fantastic.

It’s a little something that shojos almost never do for some reason

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOR MALE CHARACTERS

A LOVE TRIANGLE THAT DEVELOPS ORGANICALLY AND BELIEVABLY.

For black haired boy A there's the “too friendly with girls” Riku. Riku is the type of male lead that I normally hate. He’s too flirty, and all that happiness is just gonna be a façade for some major hangups. But this is where shortcake cake works its magic. We get to hear a lot of Rikus thoughts outside of what he says to Ten. We get to see when he feels awkward, when he second guesses what he says to cute girl. (like us all hahah) He’s believable! We know what he worries about! And thus, we know he's a good guy even as Ten is trying to figure him out. Shortcake cake gives Riku a chance to shine so we can care about him just as much as we care about Ten.

And for not black haired boy b there is the gorgeous book loving Chiaki!

Chiaki is the secret ditzy heroine of Shortcake Cake. He’s confused about his feelings a lot of the time I feel. Sometimes says quotes from books when he's not sure what to say because he's a cute dork like that. And he has a Shonen-esque pre-occupation with friendship.

Chiaki knows he's falling for Ten but he also knows Riku is his friend. Dare I say it? Riku is his nakama. There's an alternate universe script of shortcake cake that’s a yaoi I stg. Riku is so devoted to supporting Rikus love that’s its hilarious. He is the Kaoru to Rikus Hikaru (we still remember ouran high-school host club right?). But this boy is also a natural smooth talker. He has some genuinely great moments with ten that really leave you guessing who she might go for. He’s gorgeous and he cares so much about the people around him that you can’t help but really like him. 10/10 shojo boy. Might be bisexual. In a perfect world this series would be about an OT3 instead of an OTP This is why I love this series. It gives you a love triangle where they guys have a strong relationship that gets developed outside the girl- and all three stand as such strong characters the love triangle tension actually works.

The other thing about shortcake cake is that I like Ten so much that I would be perfectly happy with whatever ending because she's the one I'm rooting for- but the author had to go and make both boys so damn likeable that I can't pick a side! The characters carry the story and I don’t want to spoil it because there are some truly wonderful romantic moments and love triangle hilarity. It makes me want to be at that damn boarding house.

Also this doesn't need to be said because ya’ll have eyes but the art is GEORGEIOUS. The use of pretty designs, contrast and geometric shapes is stunning.

Anyways in conclusion Shortcake cake is everything a shojo should be. It makes you want to be in love. It's funny and gives you that heart squeezing feeling. It treats its characters as real people and lets us see how people could fall for one another. Despite some trope bending It is a shojo through and though. If That’s not your thing, shortcake cake isn't going to change your mind. But, if a good shojo is what you live for, JOIN ME ON THIS JOURNEY THAT STILL DOSNT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH CAKE!

Until next time,

Ciao!

Dr. Shojo

#shortcakecake #Shortcake cake #Short cake cake #riku #chiaki #ten #shojo #dr shojo #suu morishita #morishita #shojo beat #love triangle #manga #down to earth #riku x ten #riku x chiaki #ot3 #chiakixten #tenxriku

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syphineas-blog · 7 years

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songbird + 3 and 7

AU: a more hateful xerxesplaying: i just hate people — pinocchio-p ft. hatsune miku One for All, All for Woof Woof Woof! Let’s become dogs! Let’s become cats! Let’s become yous! But… I do not at all want to become peoples!!

“why do you hate people?” ephraim asked him as they were peacefully eating one of the snacks the chef had cooked. he paused for a moment, spoon a centimeter away from his lips. and there was silence for a few, brief seconds as he mulled over whether he wanted to answer or not.

“if you’re a man, you have to be strong, you have to wear pants, and you’re the fighter.” he began with his explanation, mock dripping from his like poison. “if you’re a woman, you’re going to be protected by the man, you must wear skirts, and you stay behind to do the chores.”

“if you’re a criminal, you’re bad and must be taken down. heck, if you’re a member of aves then you’re a rowdy bunch preaching about freedom. i could really go on with this.” he listed stereotypes with disdain, aggravation flickering in his eyes. a slight tug downwards to the corner of his lips, and eventually a tired sigh.

“i don’t necessarily hate you or someone like, i don’t know—bob, joe, jane, or emily—what i do hate is that we’re grouped into different categories, a certain ideal and stereotypes following each. it feels constricting.” he informed, a few gestures thrown in here and there to emphasize and really send the message across.

“i’d rather use all be ‘yous’ than ‘peoples’, individuals without anything tying us to another—even if it’s more of a concept than anything else.” he added in the end. “but this is my belief, and in the end not everyone can agree with me.”

“after all, for my belief, we are all free to pick our own beliefs.” nonchalantly shrugging as he went back to his meal. he didn’t really think he’d go to a spiel about it, but he had felt like explaining himself in more detail. maybe one day, he’d try to convince others to share the same beliefs but that would simultaneously ruin their freedom. unlike aves, he strives for true individualism after all.

AU: non-aves, doctor xerxesplaying: setsuna drive — 9 parabellum bullet ft. ia You understand, right? In this moment, we felt eternal. We are the truth.

i.to this day, he still had so much regrets over that one decision he didn’t take. sure, there were so much that could go wrong—but it was better than now. he had become his parent’s tool, a mere extension of their extension. working on everything with precision, perfection, and much like a robot. he was practically an android with a biology of that of a human. to be free, even if he’d roam around with a strange, new, group of people—should he have taken that risk?

ariel was never a place he could call home, despite having lived in the planet all this time. he could, however, see it as his cage. because as long as he’s tied with his parents, anything related to them would be envisioned to chain him down.

which was why he took walks like this, to ease his mind. walking with no destination in mind, away from the perpetrators behind his sufferings. he would breathe more easily, shoulders sagging slightly, just becoming less than perfect.

what he did not know was that during this time, during this walk of his—he would come across another that’ll shift this life of his for the better. a boy that had just freed himself and now trying to survive in a new environment.

and then he’d reach his hand out, because even if he could not seek his own freedom and survive in there—perhaps he could save this boy.

ii.ephraim was the boy’s name. and initially, it took a lot of coaxing and the sort to at least get the younger to trust him enough that he could help find a job for the other. for once he thanked his parent’s teachings, for if they had not hammered into head about knowing the people of ariel and the locations and the most minuscule of details—he wouldn’t find a place for ephraim so easily.

then afterwards, he found himself changing his routine. his free time would become visits to the restaurant to see how ephraim progressed, conversing to the boy and finding himself much more relaxed than he had ever been before. he wondered if this was what it was like to have a friend, someone he didn’t have to be poised for or to maintain the image of perfection. instead, he’s slowly figuring out the person he wished to be—the one he believed that was who he truly was.

and later, they’d form a tight bond and he’d end up releasing all the pent up frustrations when ranting to ephraim. and when he could, he’s be by the other’s side and give comfort in his own way ( and even if it comes off as awkward, he tried ).

it’s a connection forged in the span of a few months, but it was more than he ever had in his life. if anyone asked him before, he wouldn’t believe he’d be able to make a friend like this.

but he was also aware of how ephraim looked rather awkward still. ariel did not suit the young boy who he had noted to be more fond of tight-knit, small communities than that of the large populace that bustled around constantly. he couldn’t help but agree—but then again, ariel was never one for him. that aside, he had a feeling that ephraim’s just waiting for a chance to go. and oh, he knew ephraim was better off away. the problem was, he had to let ephraim go.

and to let him go, was to let what made him feel like him go. but...he had already decided long ago that he would help ephraim gain his freedom. which was why, he readied himself for that day.

he glanced at the boy humming as he cook another meals, a sad smile adorning his face.

yes, he could let go for him.

iii.“'m goin'.” ephraim told him one day. “i found serenity and they needed a chef so 'm goin'.”

he expected the day to come, but he underestimated on how soon it’ll be. fortunately, he mastered the art of having masking his feelings thanks to his wretched family. he hid any signs that showed off the sinking feeling he had, the desperate ‘don’t leave yet’ which caused him to clamp his mouth shut, just anything that would showcase anything other than the joy and pride and forced out ‘i’m glad’.

so instead, he stared at ephraim, and blinked slowly. all he could actually convey in words was “oh.”

but now that begged another question. if ephraim was going, then why was he here telling him that? he could have sent him a wave, because he’s sure it’s more ideal to hurry on with serenity then to bother coming back to him. it seemed that ephraim noticed the questions which floated around his mind and said “i wanted to ask you somethin’ before i leave...wanna come ‘board with me?”

his mind blanked out for a moment.

such an obvious option, one that wouldn’t require to let go of the other—yet, not once he thought it would have been possible. and he would have laughed at his own idiocy if it wasn’t for the fact that he was feeling other emotions along with it. instead, he settled for an answer—one which sounded so grateful and a bit choked up “i would love to.”

this time, he would take the chance of freedom. and the fear that once used to gnaw at him, disappeared knowing that at least in this case—he had ephraim. he had someone to go to if everything else goes wrong. someone to trust, unlike back then.

this time, he will get his freedom. and perhaps, rather than it being him helping ephraim to find his freedom—it had been the other way around this whole time.

#syxephraim #m e m e. }#o o c. smh both the freedom based songs wow. }#o o c. this als went way longer than i expected. }#o o c. hope you liked it :") }

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terriblevocaloidshit · 7 years

Text

Mod Mew Reads! “Don’t Trust Anyone, Not Even Yourself” (PART ONE)

Hihi, guys, and welcome back to Mod Mew Reads! And it only took eight months! Today, we’re gonna be reading something special. It’s gonna be big, it’s gonna be huge, and it’s gonna be personal. Why? Because today, we’re looking at the first three chapters of a fanfiction.

A fanfiction that I wrote.

That’s right! Today we’re looking at Chapters 1 and 2 of Forbidden Magnetism, my GakuKai fanfiction I wrote three years ago! Is it as bad as I’m making it out to be? Well, let’s not stall any longer. Let’s dive in HEAD FIRST!

Kaito and Gakupo both have new girlfriends, they both love them so much. However, when they meet each other in a practice studio, an attraction that shouldn't be forms between the two. How long can this magnetism last before they are caught? Rated M for later chapters containing smut. Yaoi, boy on boy, KaitoxGakupo. UPDATED FROM MY TUMBLR WITH CORRECT SPELLING.

For a little context, I based this entire fanfic off of this video. The video is five years old and the creator has not updated in three years, but just watching it brings back memories. Hot tip for high school me; don’t make a name for yourself critiquing fanfic and then write a shitty one yourself. Anyways, enough stalling.

Fate is a bitch.

I still think this is my best opening line of anything ever.

This is the conclusion Gakupo came to after the events that happened. First, he had finally asked Luka out, and, to his suprise, said yes.

Oi, past me, have you heard of this hot new tool called SpellCheck? “Surprise” still gives me trouble, but good lord.

However, he couldn't kiss her, not at the school. Luka had told him her best friend, Miku, also got a boyfriend not too long ago. He had decided to stay after in the school's expansive practice school, to write her a song.

Why was fate a bitch?

Because as soon as he stepped in, his eyes fell on a beautiful person.

He knew immediately who the person was. It was Kaito. He was part of the 'Big Five', the most popular kids at the high school. The most popular of them all was Kaito's new girlfriend, Hatsune Miku. If you were associated with them in any way, you were considered 'popular', or at the very least, 'known'.

The ‘Big Five’ in my mind were Miku, Luka, Rin, Len, and Gumi, if I’m remembering correctly.

Kaito was 16, but he looked around 20. He was tall, with dark blue hair. He always wore his scarf, no matter what.

OH YEAH I FORGOT I MADE THE CHARACTERS TEENS. Spoilers, but they have sex in later chapters, so I wrote underage smut when I myself was underage. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

I know age of consent laws are very iffy, and the AoC in my state is 16 years old, but to me the AoC always will be 18.

He was beautiful.

And staring right at Gakupo.

The events that followed were a blur in his mind. He remembered walking towards Kaito, and the next thing they knew, they were kissing furiously, unable to stop.

Fun fact, the inspiration for this scene was a seen in Brokeback Mountain.

What had lead up to this?

Well, first off a thirsty 15 year old girl who had an unfortunate habit of fetishizing gay men, but that’s a story for another day.

Gakupo remembered talking to him, remembered him being asked to practice a duet with Kaito that he was going to do with Miku. His memory fogs up, then clears up around the time he hit the wall while making out with Kaito. They didn't want to break the contact, not even to breath, as of they feared that if they did, they could never kiss each other again. Their tongues were fighting for dominance, but it was becoming painfully clear that Gakupo was the dominate one.

The tall one isn’t always the dominate one open up your eyes sheeple.

Finally, the need for air overpowered their want for each other.

There’s this funny little thing called your nose, try breathing through that.

They broke apart, gasping for air. Gakupo could feel that just the kissing had made them both half hard. He wanted to continue, so badly. However, the sudden realizations that both of them had girlfriends hit him like a bullet train.

YEAH NO SHIT ASSHOLE!!

He pushed himself off of Kaito, and, without another word, left the studio.

What school has a professional recording studio? All I had at my high school was a shitty photo room we used as a storage closet.

If the two boys had been smarter, that meeting would have been just a little fling, and nothing more.

YOU STILL CHEATED ON YOUR GIRLFRIENDS YOU FUCKSUCKS!

However, nobody could even begin to guess how far out of control this situation would get. And it all started thanks to a magnetism that shouldn't have been felt.

Kabosoi hi ga kokoro no hashi ni tomoru Itsu no ma ni ka moehirogaru netsujou

... What? Once a weeb always a weeb.

—

(AN: So, yeah. That 's the first chapter. More to come! By the way, if this seems like déjà vu, it's because I've posted this on my tumblr [URL HAS SINCE CHANGED]. I've fixed the spelling errors in this version. Enjoy!)

Sure you did.

And that’s it for chapter one! Sadly, I’m a masochist who loves inflicting pain on myself and we still have chapter two to read through tonight, so let’s fuckin do that shit.

(AN: Alright, still going! On tumblr, I mentioned that I didn't want to write smut. Well, I will soon, I promise you. Enjoy chapter two!)

Here’s a tip for anyone writing smut; let your inhibitions go. otherwise, it’ll be so obvious that you’re uncomfortable.

—-

It had been a couple of days since their 'meeting', and both boys had become a bit restless, unable to shake the memory of each other out of their minds. They couldn't really see each other during the day, and they felt as if they were slowly going insane. They hoped their girlfriends didn't notice.

They did.

Oh, they noticed that you two fucking CHEATED ON THEM huh?!

Luka decided to keep silent about the situation, and not inquire Gakupo. After all, if the problem was truly bothering him, he would've told her by now. She chalked it up to nerves.

Kids, if you’re having relationship troubles, just talk it out with the person, it’ll be so much better in the long run.

Miku, on the other hand, was the talkative type.

Speakin of which, if this goes up on time, happy 10th birthday, Miku!

She expressed her emotions through many words. Including her concern over Kaito.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Miku asked one day between classes. She needed to know. Otherwise, it would drive her nuts trying to figure it out for herself.

Kaito smiled sweetly at her. "It's nothing, Miku," he lied. He was a performer. He could fake any emotion at the drop of a hat. And no one could see he was faking.

No one, that is, except Miku.

I want to re-write this but like, not have the guys cheat on the girls??? Polyamory, it’s a thing.

"Don't lie to me, Kaito," Miku said sternly. "I won't be mad. I promise." Her puppy dog eyes seem to be staring right into Kaito's soul.

No, trust me, you’ll be pissed.

"I'm just nervous. You're my first real girlfriend. I don't want to mess this up."

I actually ship KaiMeiko more so LMAO @ past me.

Miku grinned. "Was that all? Well, that's a relief! I thought it was something seriously bad. I'll try not to make you nervous."

Kaito was relieved that she believed him. There were truth to his words; Miku was his first girlfriend, and he didn't want to screw up too badly. However, in his mind, making out with your girlfriend's best friend's boyfriend (try saying that three times) qualified as 'screwing up', and was in the subcategory of 'screwing up pretty damn badly'.

JESUS YOU FUCKIN THINK!!!

The warning bell rang, and Miku gave him a quick kiss goodbye, before rushing to her classroom.

Kaito always felt a spark when he kissed Miku. He always felt like it was right, like she was the one.

But no matter how hard he tried to deny it, he had felt that same spark during that meeting with Gakupo.

See, this is something that I liked; Kaito having feelings for both Miku and Gakupo was super interesting to me, and I want to expand on it one day, but maybe in a format that’s... well, less shit.

Also, looking back, this might’ve been me working through the fact that I’m bisexual...

Because of their concern, the girl decided a double date would set everyone at ease. They planned it out, and didn't tell the boys about it until the day of. The boys didn't have any choice but to say yes.

For the girl, the date went just as planned. The park they chose was close enough so everyone could walk there and back, yet secluded enough for them to enjoy the day in peace. They had a nice day, and things felt right.

For the boys, it was a totally different story. Every time they saw the other's girlfriend kiss them, they wanted to say "No, he's mine." But they knew they couldn't. It was as if the girls were trying to make them envious. Envious of a love that they wanted to share with each other.

After the date had ended, and both girl went home, the boys arrived at Gakupo's house. They decided to make a promise: whenever they could, they would meet up at one of their houses, and leave when dawn came around. No one would know except them. It was the perfect plan. As soon as they agreed, they began kissing.

Hey past me, if you actually took time to develop scenes instead of acting like you’re Sonic The Hedgehog and speeding through them, maybe your writing wouldn’t be as shit.

Of course, anyone with half of a brain could see this promise was idiotic and flawed in so many ways.

No, really? I can’t see how cheating on your s/o with their best friend’s s/o is a bad idea, not at all!

—

(AN: The next chapter is just going to kind of be a filler. I'd still read it, but hey, it's just gonna be a filler. Don't kill me. Thanks!)

A lot of these chapters were filler, don’t lie to yourself.

Overall reaction:

Me @ my past self CATCH THESE FISTS.

Oh god oh god that was so bad. Maybe if I snark all of it, we can all heal together. I could see where I was going, I really could, but GOD it’s so bad.

And to all the fucking obvious cheating going on?

Well, thank y’all for reading, and I’ll see you next game!

~ Mod Mew

*Who’s currently cringing oh god why the hell did I think that was okay at all*

#mod mew #mod mew reads #vocaloid #Vocaloid KAITO #gakupo kamui #GakuKai #hhhhhhh this si so bad why did i think this was okay!!!

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vrheadsets · 8 years

Text

10 Franchises SEGA Would Be Crazy Not To Bring To VR – Part 1

Welcome to another edition of VR vs. The weekly VRFocus column where the ‘other one’ from the site talks about most anything and everything to do with virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) or some crazed combination of the three. Today we’re continuing a thread begun last week in the final part of my three-week feature into what may lie ahead in 2017. There I mooted the idea that of all the studios currently involved within VR, certainly from a gaming perspective there is one that is conspicuous by its absence. SEGA. Yes, yes, I know there are Hatsune Miku games but as I pointed out at the time Hatsune Miku and the vocaloid bunch ultimately aren’t SEGA property and aren’t a traditional franchise. They aren’t one recognised within their All-Stars series for instance – and whilst that isn’t a qualifying marker for this list considering how big the Project Diva series is and how iconic a figure Miku is in Japanese culture certainly, you’d’ve thought SEGA would make more of a deal out of things than they have were she theirs. So on that basis, scrub those out PSVR games off your mental tally.

Updated total? Zero.

This is unusual for SEGA. Historically SEGA (at least in the third-party era) have rushed in to support whatever new technology comes along. Do you by any chance remember the EyeToy, Sony’s camera accessory for the PlayStation 2? Yes? No? There weren’t exactly a whole heap of games for it. But SEGA were there with the original SEGA Superstars to fly the flag. They supported the Kinect they fell into bed with Wii U pretty quickly, etc, etc. For SEGA to not have had one of its more noted franchises in the West ready to rock and roll when VR came to retail, certainly the PSVR, was pretty unusual. (Again, discounting the leek-swinging singer lady.)

But that’s not to say there aren’t plenty of opportunities for SEGA to embrace VR and thrown a bone to its more beloved franchises. It’s one of the sad truths about SEGA that their most iconic of series, with the exception of the fast spiky one, have never exactly been humongous successes financially. Still, why not use some of them and maybe give them a new lease of life outside of a new racing game? (No, really SEGA. It’s time for Transformed 2. Throw some money at SUMO Digital, will ya?) It’s also not like we don’t know SEGA aren’t messing around with VR either. Both SEGA Europe (SOE) and SEGA America (SOA) revealed their ownership of VR kits (HTC Vive and PlayStation VR for SOE and Hololens for SOA) thanks to community videos. Way to keep that secret chaps. A+ work.

So let’s get things underway. As before I must point out that I used to work for SEGA for several years and worked on a number of the franchises listed that I’ll be bringing up. It was some time ago now, but I’m reliably informed that if I don’t do that the world will apparently end. We begin first with an honourable mention.

Honourable Mention: Alien Isolation

It’s just not going to happen folks. Many have said the masterfully creepy atmosphere of “SEGA’s Good Alien Game” – tho everyone forgets they also did an Alien game on the DS in that discussion – was a perfect match for a full and proper adaption into a VR experience. The scare factor would be immense, obviously. As it’s bad enough being stalked by a Xenomorph without actually looking down at your chest as its tail pushes through it to kill you. As much as we’d all like it to, the economic factors involved just mean Alien Isolation is a non-starter for Creative Assembly to even get involved in really. Boo-urns.

However, speaking of Creative Assembly…

Total War

It’s one of gaming’s little quirks that one of console gaming’s most well known names is the publisher that is in actuality one of PC Gaming’s powerhouses. Between Sports Interactive’s Football Manager series and Creative Assembly’s Total War franchise SEGA have an commanding grip of the PC chart, one would go far to say dominance at some points in the year. If you have lived in a hole for the past couple of decades, Total War is a series of real-time strategy games that takes keen players take on the role of General in various eras of time. Replaying notable battles and playing tactical hardball with history. Whether it’s the Medieval period, the time of Rome, the rise of Napoleon or the era of the samurai there’s plenty to do. Heck, you can even throw history right out the window now and enjoy some Warhammer in your Total War.

Total War has always been about getting stuck in to battles. The planning, the preparation, the implementation and the execution. The buck stops with you, and as the series has developed the control system has allowed you to get ever deeper into the action. You can even follow individual soldiers. It’s such a well developed system that there’s even been a BBC game show (essentially) based on playing the series. One that’s recently had something of a comeback.

youtube

So with this in mind how would VR make Total War better? Control.

Now, considering what I’ve just written you might be wondering what I’ve been talking about since I’ve just been praising the system. But you can always improve and everyone and anyone who has played Total War has always had periods where the game just won’t place units right or you can’t get the camera in jussssst the right position. Now imagine you are in the map as opposed to looking at a 2D surface. Imagine you were, with your motion controllers able to to manipulate your units and your surroundings just so. How much easier and dynamic and engaging an experience that would bee if you brought a touch of Minority Report to proceedings.

Heck, can you imagine a Hololens version of Total War? With you waging battles from your sofa over your coffee table, and manoeuvring your archers onto the high ground of the TV unit? That’d be amazing.

Samba de Amigo

Break out the Bellini boys and girls!

When I first saw the HTC Vive controllers my first thought, partly because of how they were being held and moved at the time, was that they kind of looked like maracas. And there’s only one game that invites you, without a hint of suggestiveness, to get your maracas out. Samba de Amigo first burst onto the scene on SEGA’s much loved Dreamcast and was actually developed by Sonic Team if you didn’t realise it. It also came out as an arcade experience before next surfacing on the Nintendo Wii. The game plays with you in amongst a vibrantly coloured carnival, armed with your maracas you control Amigo, one of SEGA’s two monkey mascots (the other being Super Monkey Ball‘s AiAi, strangely the two have never been seen as rivals in the Superstars/All-Stars titles. Which has always puzzled me.) You move and dance along to a selection of upbeat tracks, shaking your controllers in time to the beat and occasionally having to strike a pose. It’s a simple enough title, and well and truly puts the party into party game.

VR needs more games like that I think. More games that are just full on fun and colours. It’s why Balloon Chair Death Match got people excited, it was a simple premise and it looked fun. Job Simulator is the same. Bright colours and poitively oozes fun. Yes, we can all enjoy a nice serious game with high stakes, but in dammit we all just want to be silly sometimes. Samba allows you to do exactly that. Now, what I’m essentially asking you is to imagine this in VR. Please watch the video below as in this instance it is important to what I’m writing about.

A warning before you do however; if you are wearing headphones please turn them down. There’s some loud audio distortion on the video from the outset.

youtube

Just look at this man. Look how bloody happy he is. He doesn’t care he’s in the middle of an arcade, he doesn’t care he has a crowd. He’s just going for it: a master at work. Nevermind your beloved Salt Bae (a reference I realise will date this article terribly), in your heart of hearts you wish that were you. You wish you were as cool as the Samba Bae.

Now I’m waving any potential wire-based issues here. Forget ’em. Let’s lay it out. You put on the headset and you step into a party; a “Carnaval de VR”. Everyone around you is interacting with you. The movement is infectious. You are the centre of a mass celebration with bouncing creatures and an equally bouncing musical beat. You have motion tracking controls. You wave them about in time to the music. It’s escapement, elation, exercise and fun. Now we bring things up to date with the new technology and throw in a dash of evolution to the game as well. Unlike before you can use the sensors or PlayStation camera to fully track your movements. All of a sudden Samba can have a touch of Dance Central in it, evolving it into a bit more of a full body game with one stroke. You have greater accuracy than ever before on the controllers, the game can actually see you for the first time and you get one of the most smile inducing experiences on VR. As an added bonus it gets to be a game franchise fully realised on VR, something people are clamoring for.

Yo SEGA. You’ve got my number. Call my people (me) and let’s make this happen. I’m totally open to being Producer on this thing. SAMBA! Du du de-du du-du du de-du…

Condemned

There’s a very good chance you don’t remember Condemned: Criminal Origins. There’s an even better chance you’ve never played it or Condemned 2: Bloodshot. Which is a pity really. Condemned is a first-person experience which puts you in the shoes of Ethan Thomas, a police officer investigating a murder which slowly takes him down a path to discovering secret societies, mysterious entities, encountering nightmarish visions and the city falling into the grip of madness. Both games are a twisted mix of dark menacing settings, genuine scares that mess with play on psychology and improvised combat usually involving whatever Ethan can get his hands on. It’s frantic, up in-your-face stuff and perfect for VR with the combat emphasis on melee.

youtube

It’s not just that though. The first Condemned game especially has you dealing, within your role as a police investigator, a number of different crime scenes. These are technical, and involve you hunting for clues, such as finger prints and making deductions. What Condemned is, is what I suggested it could be back at E3 2016. It could be the Batman VR game you’ve always wanted but combined with all the best twisted bits of Resident Evil VII.

We’ll just ignore the bit about shouting people to death from number 2. (Check out my good friend John’s Let’s Play of Condemned 2 to see what I mean.)

That’s all for this week. On next week’s selection of titles we’re embracing freedom in a couple of ways and I use the term “wave shooter”. Which will probably annoy people. Until then…

from VRFocus http://ift.tt/2jsNXtJ

#VRFocus #vr #virtual reality #canada

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