#and he's gonna be sooooo sad and depressed bc yk who he always comes to when something bad happens?

[no-one-hears-me]

people overestimate their value in my life

[lilac-5ky]

AGHFGHFHJAHJFHJSHJFSJG hear me screaming in the middle of the night bc this chapter was so gooood?

XXX spoilers for who didn't yet read ch 7 XXX

I honestly didn't expect they have kissed in the past. idk, guess I kinda imagined their first kiss is gonna happen in the present coz of how much Takasugi seemed to be on guard around her then-- as if he had set a line for himself that he shouldn't cross bc of his plans and how they would affect the Tsugaru sole heir? but it makes sense he let his guard down on one vulnerable drunken night,,, hajhjfhsjgjsahhhh look at me read this with a stupid grin on my face lol… the entire scene is so beautiful and serene (one rare moment of calm before the storm before shit hits the fan smh)

also why is this line so sad: "just tonight allow me to sheathe my sword" (and how do you come up with such meaningful lines????)

the drinking part with the boys was so funny! I can totally see that scene happening--nah it's just completely canon hehehe,, the fact that shoyo never met sakomoto makes me sad too :c he'd have been amused by sakomoto 100% lmao,,, and the part where Takasugi hallucinates about shoyo TT_TT </3 </3

for the present: nah, I didn't feel the way reader "changes" her mind comes off as abrupt or anything. for one, she is still in love with Takasugi and the feelings were mutual in the past (yk, the kiss cough cough) even if she was bitter before, thinking he had merely been toying with her feelings to achieve his own goals-- but to almost die saving the life of a "pawn"???? that is either utter stupidity or a sign of his true feelings hehehehe (ntm why you two bickering like kids in the cell?)

ahhh the poetic rain imagery for tears is back!! (although here it's from reader's pov but I have to say-> in canon this boy is just so poetic with his inner thoughts~ the rain monologue from the rakoyou arc is my favorite and also his last words to gintoki were also so tragically poetic ;-; had he not been a terrorist, he should have become a writer/poet imo lmao)

and you ended the chapter with a cliffhanger grrr jkjk ;~; wondering if there is a twist somewhere, like in nobume's case? it can't be, right? it is Takasugi who killed the Tsugaru clan, right? I mean, he had been the one making plans to get rid of this clan but did he change his mind at the last moment and someone else intercepted him to the deed and he managed to save only Harumi before reader's arrival? lol idk what to think….

on the whole, another excellent chapter, author-san! this has to be my favorite fics among all you have written so far *_* thank you once again for bringing this story into existence orz ^^

FIRST OF ALL, omg thank you again for the precious feedback <3

about the past, well you aren't wrong! Shinsuke was the more upright/uptight one for sure between the two of them, considering how 1)he knew what would happen and 2)he is still heavily depressed about the shouyou thing :( and that's why he has a hard time resisting and keeping his guard up. she is so carefree and forward about the way she feels, that he gets carried away. PLUS let's not forget, he is still a teenager at that time, it's heartbreaking if u consider how he never got to live as one :((( and she can afford to do that, but lacks the freedom to live freely, so while on polar situations, they do understand one another!

i won't go into much detail regarding how their relationship "ended" back then, since i'll explain that in future chapters :p so stay tuned ^^

about the present: I feel like this is where the whole tsundere Takasugi trope shines best LMAO. he's always been the kind of person to "reject" his emotions and act as if they don't matter, while acting solely on emotion (aka him acting as if gin and the others arent his comrades while constantly being up their asses, him starting an entire rebellion bcs of shouyou, claiming that people are his pawns despite saving sooooo many of them) and you know, this is one of his charms that goes unnoticed!

It's easy to assume that someone doesn't care enough or that are pure evil based on things they say, while neglecting their actions. In this case, she doesn't really know what to believe. Part of her blames herself bcs she thinks that she fell for his lies, but he never lied to her. Even if he acted coldly towards her in the past, he saved her and taught her things that shouyou taught him. He took care of her in his own way and even now, he didn't have it in him to harm her.

So yeah, in her mind he definitely is responsible for killing her father, and because of that she tried to see the "evil" in all of his actions, ignoring the possibility of them being real and that's exactly why he kissed her. Because he doesn't have an easy time communicating his emotions and he can only hope she sees the truth in his actions. It's hard on him to keep pushing her away and keep acting as if he is the bad guy all the time, despite being accountable for his actions .-. THEY ARE BOTH VICTIMS OKAY LMAO

Back to what you said, SHINSUKE WOULD DEFINITELY BE ONE OF THOSE SECRETLY ARTSY THEATER KIDS IN SCHOOL LMAO I mean he is very poetic like you said! I love that about him, and in general, I'm a huge fan of metaphors myself. Seeing one thing and connecting it to something else, it's just beautiful imo. As to how I come with meaningful lines, WELL they just happen :p I literally have a notebook on me 24/7 so I can always note things down as I think of them :p They always come in handy in future ffs or chapters.

And to end this loooooong ass response, about him being the actual killer or not, you'll have to wait and see :p next chapter will once again be Takasugi POV heavy since I'll finally reveal what the hell went down in the past. Just know that the scene in the first chapter where she had her nightmare, is not 100% correct. I mean, it was just a dream, things didn't necessarily happen like that :p

For real though, thank you for your kind words ahahaha it makes my day to read such comments, really! you are so nice ;-;