#and pat hiro a few times for me

[ghostofhyuck]

Taguan ng Anak series 3

Ex-lovers! Jeno and reader

Summary: On the first sunrise of the year, you met again the person who you loved the most that he completely destroyed you.

Oh right, and he’s the father of the unknowingly twins that he befriended.

cw: mentions of pregnancy.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

No one appreciates winter at the beach as much as Jeno.

His camera sat idly on his hand, waiting for the sun to rise. It was the first sunrise of the year, and Jeno made sure that he’ll watch it somewhere unique. Jeno searched on Naver just to look for a hidden beach that’s not crowded with people during the winter season.

The place was beautiful. The resthouse that he booked was clean and suits his taste. There were only a few people around the area but he heard that the room next to his was rented too, he guessed that he’s not the only one who went to watch the sunrise there.

It was ten minutes till sunrise, Jeno patiently sat on the sand, looking at the old photos on his camera. He couldn’t help but smile as he saw photos of his family, his cats, and even his friends. Jeno enjoys taking pictures in his spare time, a small hobby that he grew to love outside his busy job as a nurse.

“Hey! I told you not to throw sand on me!”

“You did it first!”

“I didn’t! And addressed me as your ‘noona!’ I’m much older!”

“No! We’re only five minutes apart!”

Jeno couldn’t help but glance at the noise that sort of destroyed his peace. He saw two kids nearby, fighting. Jeno crunches his forehead, who the hell leaves their kids unsupervised? He looks around and sees that it’s just him and the two kids, as much as he wants to mind his own business, Jeno couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.

“Yah! The sun is near! Where’s our phone?”

“I told you to get mama’s phone!”

“Her phone’s still charging,”

“You drained its battery playing games again! How can we take photos of the sunrise now!?”

“Hey you two!” Jeno shouted, standing up from his place. He quietly patted the sand from his pants and approached the two kids.

“We’re sorry for being noisy,” the girl immediately said, bowing her head. Her younger brother immediately followed. Jeno stops, surprised to see how the kids’ attitudes changed immediately.

Jeno chuckles, “hey, you guys did disturb me, but it’s fine. I heard you two wanted pictures of the sunrise, I’ll give you some.”

“Really!? Thank you uncle!” the girl exclaims, bowing once again which her younger brother imitated.

“No worries kids, come on, let's watch the sunrise together,” Jeno smiles.

“Thank you uncle!” they both said once again.

Somehow, Jeno feels lighthearted around them. He couldn’t help but feel like there’s something that connects him to the two of them. Jeno couldn’t point it out and tries to ignore the fact that the boy looks like a splitting image of him.

“There’s no way,” he couldn’t help but laugh. Trying to erase his imaginative mind and instead, focused on the golden sky in front of them. The kids were behaving well beside him, Jeno could only hear small gasps as the sun rose slowly. He took pictures of the scenery and the kids too. Jeno wanted to make sure that the kids can bring home some good memories.

“Thank you uncle for taking pictures of the sunset!” the younger girl said. “Mama would like this!”

“Oh really? Where’s your mom?” Jeno asked. Looking around and still seeing that it’s just the three of them around the area.

“She’s in the resthouse sleeping! She said that she’ll watch the sunrise with us but she overslept!” the younger boy explains with a pout.

“But, but! That’s because she spent the night finishing her draft, you know that Hiro!” the girl explains.

“Yeah, but this is our vacation! Why is she working anyway,” the boy scratches his head.

Jeno couldn’t help but laugh, “by the way, I don’t know your names yet, can you tell me?”

“Oh! We’re —”

“Yoomi! Hiro! Where are you two!?”

“Mama!” Jeno stopped his tracks when the kids passed by him and went to the voice that called them.

“Oh dear, I was worried!? What if a bad guy stole you two from me!?” Jeno turns around and becomes dazed to see you with the kids hugging your legs. You were so worried that you didn’t even notice Jeno. you were trying to check the twins if there was anything that happened to them.

“It’s okay mama! There’s this good-looking uncle who took photos for us!” Yoomi excitedly said.

“She’s right mama! There’s uncle!” Hiro shouted, pointing at Jeno.

And in a second, your world stopped. He approaches you casually so that you didn’t realise that you were frozen from where you are standing.

“Jeno…” you mumbled.

“It’s been a long time huh?” He greets you with a bitter tone.

“Yeah, it’s been a long time since…” you don’t want to finish your sentence, knowing how fresh it was still to you when was the last time you saw Jeno.

You met Jeno right after graduation. Right when you’re just trying to be stable in your life. To make it short, he was the best and the worst thing that ever happened to your life.

It’s not like he’s a bad guy but the timing was wrong. You two never passed the honeymoon phase so things went rough with you being a starving artist while Jeno struggled to survive med school, complications arose from the shared apartment. Small misunderstanding and fights did occur, no one wants to lower their pride.

At the same time, both of you crave for each other, for each other’s touch and kisses. Most of your arguments will end up in bed. The two of you think that most of your fights were resolved after sharing intimacy, and the day will go back to normal as if both of you weren’t mad at each other.

But then came the huge fight between you two, you barely recall what was the starting point of the fight but all you know is that both of you were tired. So the two of you called it quits. The next day, you moved out of the apartment, leaving Jeno alone.

You know that relationships fail and you just have to pick yourself again to start over again. Well that didn’t happen to you after you broke up with Jeno. Especially when he left you not only with one, but two kids to carry. And with a little pride left to you, you returned to your hometown and raised the kids on your own until you were ready to settle and create your own career once again.

You didn’t hold any resentment against your children, but of course, there’s a part of you who wished that you had kids when you’re ready. You had choices too, but a part of you held onto that thought that the twins remind you so much about the person whom you loved so much that it completely destroyed you.

But it was all in the past now. You’re a rising writer and at the same time an editor at a well-known publishing company. Your schedule’s a bit hectic but you were able to raise the twins with love and care.

“You didn’t tell me,” Jeno said with a serious tone.

After that awkward greeting, the kids begged you to have Jeno come over to your place so that he can give them the pictures. Turns out it was you who rented the room next to his.

“How did you know?”

Jeno raised an eyebrow, “come on now, Hiro looks like me when I was young.”

You stayed quiet and could only look at the half glass of cold water in front of you, “If I told you, would things be different?”

“What do you mean?”

“Jeno I’m scared, you know how toxic we were back then, if I had returned to you and told you that I was pregnant, would it change a thing?”

Jeno became quiet, not knowing what to say. You were right, would things change if you went back to him? It never crossed his mind about having a family and kids; both of you are not ready during that time.

But it crossed his mind the thought of you raising two babies alone. You explained to him that you asked help with your parents and siblings but still, Jeno couldn’t help but feel guilty at what you’ve been through.

You two fought a lot and Jeno knows how toxic you two back then, but a part of him wished that he hadn’t engaged with those petty fights, he wished that he could’ve been more mature and see that relationships will always not be rainbows and sunshines.

He wishes that he could’ve been more understanding, and that he should’ve made your relationship with him work rather than making it worse.

“You’re right, things might’ve been worse too,” Jeno could only mutter. “I’m just — we were immature and I had some faults too, I’m sorry for everything.”

“I’m sorry too, maybe the timing wasn’t right,”

“Do you think that the timing’s right now?”

You became quiet. You saw how Jeno looks at you with sincerity.

“You’re being straightforward,” you comment.

“I know and it’s all of the sudden,” he lets out a sigh. “But I am still the twin’s father, I want to help you on raising them. Listen, it doesn’t need for us to be together again, I just want to be a father to my kids.”

His kids. It’s so fitting to him. Something inside of you jumped when he told you those words. But you couldn’t help but fear that things might not work again. You’re afraid that you’ll let him enter your life again — only for you to be disappointed that the two of you are just never meant to be.

“I…Jeno, I —”

“I know, I’ll give you time to think,” Jeno quietly says. He then taps something on his phone, making your phone’s ringtone to chime.

“Seems like your phone number hasn’t changed,” he then stands up. “I’ll be going now, if the twins want to see me, they can just knock next door.”

As you hear the door closed, you couldn’t help but exhale loudly. It felt like a thick thorn had been removed from your heart after that conversation with Jeno. You have a lot of things to consider but for now, you could only look at the message Jeno has sent you.

No, it was a picture. It was Yoomi and Hiro together. Both of them are smiling widely and behind them was the first sunrise of the year. You couldn’t help but shed a tear, imagining what their reactions would be if you told them that it was their father who took photos of them.

[bad268]

Blindfold (Tadashi Hamada X Fiance! Reader)

Fandom: Big Hero 6

Requested: Day 28 of Writing Inktober prompts instead of drawing!

Warnings: none.

POV: Second Person (You/your)

W.C. 587

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

Writing Inktober 2024 Materlist

~~(^PInterest)

You always hated the rain. That’s why you lived in San Fransokyo. It doesn’t rain often, but when it does, it pours. Usually, in these cases, you would find comfort in your boyfriend-then turned fiance- but you couldn’t do that tonight. Despite not really believing in superstitions, Aunt Cass did, and she made it a point to block you and Tadashi from seeing each other the night before your wedding. 

You glanced at your phone to see it’s barely past midnight when a sudden crack of thunder caused you to jump and hide under the blankets. You tried your best to get as small as possible, but on a couch, there was only so much you could do. You listened to the rumble of the clouds and the creaking of the house, and it all just made you want to hide in yourself more.

You almost screamed when you felt something on top of you, pulling the blanket off of your head to see what it was.

“What the hell are you doing?” You whisper-shouted at Tadashi as you slapped his shoulder. That’s when you noticed there was something covering his eyes. “Do you have a blindfold on?”

“Yeah,” He chuckled nervously, patting around the couch for a clear spot to sit. You moved your legs immediately and pulled him down to sit with you. Then you threw yourself across his lap as another crack of thunder scared you into his arms, hiding your face in his chest. “Hey, don’t worry about the rain. I’m here to protect you now.”

“Aunt Cass is going to kill you,” You whimpered, still on edge for more thunder to come. “You’re not supposed to see me.”

“I can’t see anything. That’s the point of the blindfold,” Tadashi chuckled, gesturing to the bandana he had wrapped over his eyes. “Plus, it’s past midnight. We’ll be Mr. and Mx. Hamada in a few hours. I don’t think there’s much she can do now.”

“You have a point,” You cracked a smile finally, and Tadash wished he could have seen it. Instead, he just felt you lean your head against his chest again and yawn. “Are you staying down here, or are you heading back to bed when the storm passes?”

“I was planning on heading back upstairs, but I’m taking you with me if I do,” He chuckled, holding you tight against him.

“I trust you, you know that, but I don’t know if I trust you to carry me up stairs blindfolded,” You chuckled with him. “And before you say it, I’m too tired to walk.”

“Then, get on my back or let me take it off,” Tadashi offered, but you didn’t need to be told twice as you lifted the bottom of the bandana to let his eyes peek out. “Hi, long time no see.”

“Hi,” you replied shyly as you blushed. No matter how long you had been with him, he never failed to make you flustered. “Can we go to bed now? We have a long day tomorrow.”

“Your wish is my command,” Tadashi joked as he stood with you in his arms and carried you into his room. He gently placed you on his bed before taking the blindfold off fully and throwing it somewhere to the side. “Get some sleep. I’ll deal with Aunt Cass if she says anything.”

“If I hear anything from you guys,” Hiro threatened from the other side of the room, causing you and Tadashi to laugh, “I’m screaming for Aunt Cass.”

~~~~~

© BAD268 2024. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

[fennybunny]

HIRO HAMADA X READER

You can check out chapter one here

CHAPTER TWO

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴

▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰

The next day both the brothers were waking at the Cafe since it was too crowded.

"I'm not saying she didn’t lie to us or that the place isn’t dangerous at all. What I’m saying is that I want to go check it out"

"You must be crazy if you think either me or Aunt Cass will let you go"

"Go where?"

Aunt Cass got between the two boys cleaning her hands from the flour of the donuts she was kneading and waited for an answer with a big smile.

"Nothing!"

They said in unison. Neither of them could let a detail slip or both of them would get in trouble. Tadashi because he shouldn’t have given a ride to his sibling, who already has a gambling problem, to a bot fight, and Hiro because he shouldn’t be out during the night to bet more money. They gave each other a terrorized look and then served their aunt the fakest smile they had ever pulled. She gave them a suspicious look and crossed her arms.

"You boys know you can tell me anything right? What is it? Puberty? Hormones?"

Hiro pushed his hands on her mouth to shut her up.

"Please stop, this is embarrassing and everyone's looking at us!"

She moved her nephew’s hands away from her face.

"Oh come on, no one's listening to our conversation"

That's when Tadashi stools his hand out pointing it to the people sitting at the tables. A few of the clients immediately lowered their heads to go back to what they were doing. Some coughed creating an even more embarrassing atmosphere. Cass rolled her eyes and lowered the two boys so they could meet her height then started squishing them together in a loving but lethal embrace.

"You guys know how much I love you. My nephews. My family. You are growing so much and so fast, soon you'll want to leave the nest and fly away to start your own life and I'll feel so lonely!"

She started sobbing and pulled out a tissue from her pocket to blow her nose while Tadashi gently patted her back to calm her down. Hiro spoke.

"Come on we're still young and none of us will ever abandon you"

"You promise?"

"Scout's honor"

Tadashi said sticking one hand up and putting the other on his chest. That's when it clicked. She put her hands on their ears and started pulling bringing their faces closer to each other as the two boys started hissing from the pain.

"Then where were you last night? And why did you come back at 2 am?"

Their faces got paler and both of them started blabbering and stuttering to try and get an excuse out of their mouths. She let go of them and in a couple of minutes managed to get all the clients out. She pushed two tables together to create a bigger one and three chairs under it, one on one side and two on the opposite side.

"Sit"

They took a sit and Aunt Cass followed them facepalming herself and farrowing her brows between her fingers.

"You know I don't like acting like the bad guy but sneaking out of the house at night. You guys could have gotten endangered or worse... What if something happened to you? I would never forgive myself"

They looked at each other and decided to tell all the truth about last night, including the fact that Tadashi fell asleep on his school work, and the mysterious woman until Tess shook her head.

"Listen... Hiro, I'm not saying that it wouldn’t be interesting for you but you have to admit that it could be dangerous"

Tadashi spoke up while slapping the back of his brother’s head.

"Thank you!"

"But if you want I can give you a ride and stay with you for the whole night until you're bot hunger dies"

Hiro was speechless, his eyes glowing for the big opportunity ahead.

"BUT you'll have to give a chance to your brother's university and of course, you're both grounded for two weeks which means no bot fights or going out with friends until the punishment is over"

Hiro slammed his face straight into the table in a dramatic manner while his brother shook his head accepting the consequences of his actions. He knew it was the right thing to do and Hiro knew it too but it was still two weeks of staying at home, two weeks where he couldn’t be helpful and so much time wasted.

Cass patted Hiro's hands in a comforting manner.

"Dashi you can go now, but I want to have a private discussion with you Hiro"

The older brother got up and whispered a "Good luck" into his brother's ear then vanished upstairs. Hiro also got up as soon as he could no longer hear the steps from upstairs. Aunt Cass put her hands on his shoulders and got quick to hug him.

"It was really sweet of you to try to help me financially, but we don’t need it. The business is going well and it’s not something you should be worried about. You’ve already lost your childhood by going to high school, and I don’t want you wasting your teenage years."

Hiro smiled pushing his face into her shoulder. Cass had always been so sweet to him and he knew that. Tadashi was young when it all happened and soon took the role of the big brother growing up but Hiro... he doesn’t even remember his parents' faces or voices, he was just a baby so the closest thing he ever had to a parent was Cass. She always did her best for both of them and loved them as if they were her kids. The young boy took a few steps back and went to his room. One step... two steps... three steps... he stood still and a tear ran down his cheek. He quickly cleaned it with her off his hoodie and went to his room. That night he spent the dinner explaining to his aunt how botfights worked and fixing his strategy with his brother. After dinner they got in the car and went to the place signaled on the map the woman had given them. They arrived 10 minutes before the opening. It was a 5-floor building. The first and second floors were occupied by a huge shopping center, just looking at it from outside Hiro could see restaurants and clothes stores, the big glass shop windows making it easy to do so; on the third floor there was a gym, one of those expensive ones whose monthly subscription cost a kidney; the fourth floor was a multiplex cinema, the posters of the films of the moment were hung on the outside wall and ran all over the wall from both sides, there could be even seen the romantic movie Cassie wanted him and his brother to go see with her 'blood and passion'. Dashi had been the first one to decline the offer soon followed by Hiro. And finally the fifth floor. There was a private elevator just to that floor and right there in front of it was a mile-long line of at least 250 people.

"Are we joking now? We arrived early and there's still so much to wait just to get there?"

Dashi furrowed his eyebrows annoyed but Hiro was too excited to even notice it. A few minutes passed after they got in line and waited patiently. He took out his phone and checked the time: 10:29. He saw the two big men in front of the elevator start to let people inside in groups of 5, this was it. After 30 minutes the three were finally in the R2W club. It had dim lights with LEDs and paintings on the walls, some read "fight time" and others just indicated the main arenas. The local was huge and even if they had just gotten there it already smelled like cheeseburgers. Some people were sitting at the bar and already drinking something that looked anything but apple juice, I mean maybe there was some apple juice in it but certainly it was mixed with whiskey or vodka. Aunt Cass immediately left the two alone as she proceeded to the bar and Hiro went to the registration desk for the tournament.

"Hello I'm here for the tournament"

The boy on the other side of the desk had bubble gum in his mouth and was chewing it intensely, he had a zoned-out look and looked as if he didn’t want to be there. So all he did was slide a form on the table in his direction.

"If you are of legal age you must fill in the form and enter your personal data and bot parameters, otherwise an adult will have to fill it out for you. If you are an unaccompanied minor, security will be called to escort you out"

He blew the chewing gum he was chewing in a bubble and popped it loudly.

"Everything clear? Good because I won't repeat it"

Tadashi came behind him and picking up a pen from the table he started filling out the form.

"17 years old. Born in... Sanfransokyo... tall... 5" "

"Hey, I'm 5'9"! Don’t write that stuff there! When will you stop being so annoying?"

"Uhm excuse me"

A girl passed right next to him trying to make her way through between him and the group of guys complaining with the bored guy at the registration desk. Her soft but distinct perfume made Hiro turn his head to look at her. She was shorter than him, brunette with wavy hair. Black glasses that reflected the colorful light of the place. A blue hoodie and black skirt. And her red backpack looked full with all of the things she had stuffed in there. She looked a mix of different ethnicities. The eyes of the bored boy at the desk lit up with joy. All he could do was listen to the conversation.

"Hey, Fenny already back to the grand dungeon?"

"You know how I am. So who will I be fighting with tonight?"

She said after filling up her form. It was obligatory for every night players went so that it testimonies the fact that a certain person was there during the night. It was an easy way to be sure that if the police were called the owners of the place knew everyone who was there during the night and could easily find the culprit to make them pay but also an excuse for everyone not to call the police since they were all listed as guests for the nights.

"You know the usual, just a few random people, the strong ones and there's a new guy"

"A new guy? Who?"

"A kid, he's right behind you"

She turned around catching Hiro staring at her and she gave him a mix of a smile and a challenging expression.

"I'm Fen, welcome to the Mash Night new guy"

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

[rkin413]

Naeishi Family - Father's Day

"Father, we're here!" Taka called, knocking on the door. Next to him Makoto stood, struggling slightly with a couple bags of groceries they'd picked up, and the twins behind them.

"Wanna go home..." Sachiko muttered quietly to herself, although Taka still heard her.

"Come now, Sachiko! It's Father's Day!" he scolded. "Don't you want to see your grandfather?"

"No."

Taka bit back a sigh. Sachiko had never liked his father – she was just as scared of him as she was of... everyone that wasn't himself, Makoto, or Noriko. The one thing the two of them most frequently clashed over was her tendency to hide for the entire duration of his father's visits, which were becoming increasingly rare. No doubt due at least in part to Sachiko's blatant rejection of him.

The door opened.

"Taka-Boy, Mako!" Hiroko greeted, opening the door to let the family in. "4'oclock on the dot, I see."

"Of course! Punctuality-"

"Is everything," both Makoto and Hiroko said in unison. Makoto coughed slightly, apparently not expecting the stero.

"I'm going to take these to the kitchen," he said, holding up his bags. Sachiko clung onto his leg and gave him a pleading look to keep him from leaving. He transfered one bag to the other hand and pat her head. "You'll be fine, Sachi. Hiroko, could you show me the thing we talked about on the phone?"

Taka knew he was referring to something about the two of them cooking a meal for the day, although he didn't know the specifics. Hiroko nodded and led him towards the kitchen.

His father's study creaked open, and Taka had to lunge for Sachiko as she tried to dash behind a nightstand. Foiled, she instead spun with surprising dexterity to hide behind Taka instead, bending his arm awkwardly in the process.

"Hello you three," his father greeted, looking tired. As usual. "Happy Father's Day, Kiyotaka."

"Happy Father's Day to you as well, Father!" Taka greeted. he was still happy to see his father, no matter how melancholy the other man's exhaustion made him.

Noriko, completely unlike her sister, charged her grandfather and wrapped her arms around his legs. Takaaki ruffled her hair.

"Hello, Golden Rule."

"That's Daddy and Papa's name for Nori," Sachiko muttered to herself.

"Say hello to your grandfather, Sachiko," Taka told her, his tone slightly sharper than he'd intended.

"...hi, grandpa." Sachiko said quietly, barely peeking out from behind Taka's legs. She immediately hid herself again, and this time Taka did sigh.

.................................................

Aside from Sachiko's chronic rudeness, which was worsened by her disappearing to who-knows-where once Taka had let go of her, the visit was nice. Makoto had come out a few minutes later to greet his father-in-law, and the adults had struck up a conversation about recent clean-ups in the area, including the fact that a mysterious group (either one of Hajime's groups or a copycat group) had set up air purifiers in the area. Makoto clearly intended to ask later, and Taka quietly wondered if his father and stepmother living in the area had anything to do with it. Makoto and Hiroko both disappeared into and reappeared from the kitchen, and after an hour and a half, the doorbell rang again.

"That'd be Yasu," Hiroko smiled, and Taka watched her bring her son and grandson in.

"Hiro!" Taka scolded, making Hiro jump as soon as he'd wandered leisurely though the door. Eiji did not, and just shot his Dad an amused look, knowing a scolding was incoming. "Everyone was meant to be here by five o'clock at the latest! How could you be so late!"

"Whoa, hey, chill lil'bro!" Hiro defended. "Our train lost power midway, okay?"

"He lost our tickets," Eiji snitched.

"No I didn't! You stole them!"

"Because you would have forgotten the, Dad. You didn't realize you didn't have them until we were at the station."

"The disrespect..."

"How'd that make you guys late if you had the tickets?" Makoto asked in confusion.

"Dad dragged me all around the station trying to get someone else's, while I was trying to get his attention."

"Hey, you got my attention plenty of times! You just used those times to give suggestions instead of telling me you had-"

"Enough!" Taka interrupted. "You both should be ashamed of yourselves, trying to take other people's tickets! Especially you, Hiro, you need to set a better example!"

Hiro muttered something about Sachiko's absence from the room that no one quite caught but Taka still wilted slightly.

"I'll go find Sachiko," Makoto volunteered. "Eiji, want to help?"

"Sure, Uncle Makoto, I can ferret her out." The two left, and Taka heard him asking about whether Toko, Komaru, and Ryuu would be joining them, which they wouldn't be. Something about being busy – Makoto had told Taka that he suspected they were going to visit the hospital again. He wished them the best.

"Heya Nori!" Hiro greeted, scooping up his niece. "You're glad to see me, right?"

Noriko nodded once, neutral expression never leaving her face, and Hiro somehow managed to deposit her on his shoulders despite the excess of dreadlocks on his head that logically should have blocked her.

"I'm glad to see you," Hiroko said, inexplicably smirking, "now give your mother a hug!"

Hiro obliged.

"Now, dinner's almost ready. Help me take stuff out of the oven, will ya?"

"This is the real reason we were late," Hiro stage-whispered to Noriko, "getting out of manual labor- ow!"

Hiroko had flicked his cheek. Hiro swung Noriko down back onto the ground and followed his mother, and there were various sounds from the kitchen for a minute.

"NO NO NO!" Sachiko screamed as Eiji, with a little too much glee on his face, physically dragged her back into the room by her legs. Taka stood up immediately, panic jolting through him. "HAGAKURE LET ME GO I WILL HURT YOU!"

Noriko walked over and picked up her sister's shoulder to help. Taka sat back down – if Noriko wasn't all that concerned, she probably wasn't hurt.

"ET TU NORI?!" she wailed.

"You cannot possibly think you're going to die," Eiji said. "Why do you do this?"

"Are you okay, Sachikio?" Makoto asked, peering into the room nervously.

"No!"

"She's fine, right Noriko?"

Noriko nodded.

"Don't trust them they're liars!"

Eiji was – he somehow took after his father, despite no actual biological relation – but Noriko wasn't.

"Dinner!" Hiroko called.

"It's more of a late brunch!" Hiro called immediately after.

Eiji sighed, dropping his half of his cousin.

...............................................................

Dinner/Brunch was nice – although Hiro tried to claim more credit for it than just 'took a vegetable casserole out of the oven' probably warranted, but Taka decided to let that one go.

Sachiko looked like she wanted to run off still, and only very cautiously ate a few bites of her curry, until Makoto told her he'd cooked that in it's entierty. Then she ate all of it and didn't touch anything else.

"Wait, there could have been something wrong with the cookwear..." she muttered to herself in horror shortly after dinner and Taka felt a twinge of a headache. She wasn't like this at home!

Naturally, she disappeared before anyone else noticed as soon as she was able. Well, perhaps not anyone, since Noriko was also missing.

"I'll go find her," Makoto quietly told him with a sigh. "Again."

"Oh, hey, while they're doing that, Eiji and I've got a present for ya, Pops!" Hiro said. "Eiji, I know we left it in the living room, can you go get it?"

Eiji rolled his eyes, shoved himself out of his seat, and dashed into the other room.

Hiroko took a sip of her tea, and turned to her son.

"So, any girls I should know about?"

"Ma! Come on, not today!" Hiro blushed.

"What about that nice Nakajima girl?" Hiroko's tone made it clear she was just teasing, and not expecting an actual potential daughter-in-law. "Or Aoi? She's been around, she's nice."

"I think I'd have to be the last guy on earth for Hina to consider anything with me," Hiro said. "Same with Kanonchi. And I'm not interested either!"

"I believe Hina is dating someone, actually," Taka volunteered. Hiro blinked.

"Wait, really? Oh, wait, 's it that guy with the blue hair again?"

"They're not dating – they're just roommates," Makoto volunteered, reentering the room with no children. "The girl's are working on something in the study – nothing that should cause trouble, but they want privacy."

"Oh? What is it?" Takaaki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll see."

"Present!" Eiji declared, running back into the room. Taka wondered if he'd waited for Makoto to rejoin them.

.......................................................................

A couple of hours later, and sadly the younger Ishimarus had to set off. Noriko had come out of the study, and Sachiko had graduated to peeking through doorways of her own volition, at least.

Taka hugged his father on the way out, and Makoto gave him a slightly nervous handshake. Hiroko scooped them both up into a hug to deposit "motherly kisses" onto both their foreheads. Noriko tugged on Takaaki's pantleg, and he bent down to see what was on the piece of paper she was holding up to him. As soon as he was down to her level, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug.

"Thank you Noriko," he said. She didn't let go after several seconds. "Okay, I need to stand up now." Nothing. "Alright, I love you too, please let me go now, N-"

Sachiko dashed out of where she was hiding, gave her grandfather a kiss on the cheek and fled out the partially-opened door. Noriko let go, an unusally smug look on her usually restrained face. She then handed the piece of paper to her stunned grandfather, and skipped out after her sister, leaving the stunned group behind.

"Hey, Progress!" Hiro declared, breaking the silence. Taka shared a relieved grin with his husband, before they both abruptly realized their daughters had both left the house without them and had to chase after them.

[sakumz]

mayoi arashi and/or wataru 😭!!! congrats on 100 kyaaaaaa!! 🐏

𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃

𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. [ a. mayoi x gn reader ]

warning❗: slight ooc

genre 𑁍 : fluff

wc ⚘ :ㅤ

a/n ꕤ : someone talk to me, IMSOBORED... wanna be moots?ㅤ𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒

" y/n... " mayoi calls as he spots you sleeping at your desk, he couldn't help but brush away the stray hair covering your face.

what a sight he hopes will last, your peaceful face as you make your way to dream land. what are you dreaming of? are you happy in that dream? humming softly to a tune he couldn't and you probably don't recognise, you slowly opened your eyes.

" oh no! was I too noisy?! I'm sorry- " he jumped back and away from you, standing up facing you as he bowed and apologise for waking you up.

laughing softly at his sudden outburst, you pat his head to where he bows. mumbling an " it's ok, " as a yawn escapes your lips. he couldn't help but blush slightly at how adorable you look for a second.

" what do you need anyways? " you question.

" alkaloid... we don't have any idol activities so I'm free, wait what should we even do? now that we are forced on break? " he's taking one for the team, he repeats in his head.

to ask such a question to the person who was the caused of this break. would you hate him? but alkaloid was really clear off idol activities, there's really nothing they could do. no lives, no interviews, no fan meetings, nothing. everyone was pretty surprised when you even brought the news of alkaloid not having idol works for a week. was this some kind of punishment?

mayoi couldn't help but look away and think of all the possible outcomes, is this your way of eliminating alkaloid from the whole idol industry? sure they did cause trouble here and there especially around debut time. but isn't this a bit too cruel to strike them off? just when they were gaining the attention they deserved, at least he believed they deserved.

pursing your lips as you hummed, with your hand under your chin. you looked like you were thinking hard for your next words. he gulps as he awaits your response.

" a break, that's what you all deserved. don't you see that you've gotten a tad bit more attention? it's all thanks to your hardwork, so a break... take it? " so unsure with how the conversation plays out, both stare at each other in silence for a moment.

mayoi clears his throats before speaking up, " well what should I do then? " taking this as an opportunity to maybe offer a few ideas. you couldn't help but feel a little excited.

" have you been to a picnic date? " you start as he looks at you, full of attention or even extra full of attention.

" no... " he replies meekly.

" you're in luck then, we're going on a picnic date tomorrow, " you say smugly.

" but I haven't agreed yet? " mayoi counters as you laugh at the reply.

" you don't and won't have to agree, it's pretty obvious that you've got a crush. "

he couldn't help but cover his face in embarrassment. all the work of trying not to make it obvious was in vain.

" how? "

" tatsumi, aira and hiro actually told me about it. what great friends you've gotten. "

" wow... " speechless was all he could think before he felt you place a kiss to his cheek, making him blush more.

[kokichi-oumagines]

hello!!! i am akihiro but please call me aki or hiro!! whatever you like!! your blog is really pretty so i shall stay!! could i please request some f l u f f y cuddling hcs with a smaller reader? tysm boo!! -aki 💜

Oh noooo~ My hand slipped and now I accidentally didn't make an actual writing post in almost two years~ Silly me! Guess I'll just post this and be on my way... (I have also realised I am not good at writing headcanons because they are too short and have no plot so have a scenario I accidentally wrote instead)

Thank you for the request!

- Mod Ouma

- Whether it's platonic or not, the first time you ask to cuddle is bound to be a little bit awkward- considering how Kokichi isn't very used to physical affection. Not only that, it's also a bit scary for the both of you

- Although you're smaller, you have to be the bigger person, and take the leap of faith yourself with this one. Unfortunately, Kokichi isn't really the type to act when he is unsure of himself and, when it comes to cozy affections and you in particular, well... let's just say he doesn't exactly trust himself to make the right moves- if any at all

- Is he scared? Of you? Of trusting you to be in such close proximity to him? Of you trusting him when he can barely trust himself? Of bugs? Pfft- what- uh... no? Maybe? He pleads the fifth? Actually, maybe the last one...

- When you finally ask, he is less shocked, more so confused. Rather, he thinks you're confused: why would you want to cuddle with him? Where are the cameras? Were you bribed? Blackmailed? Did Maki threaten you to do this? To tempt him with simple, comforting affection, then to pull back last minute?

- ... From the genuine look on your face, he doesn't think so. He supposes he trusts you enough to cuddle with him. You smile when he agrees, though he can still see some left-over anxiety on your face from this new situation

- The first time -the first few, in fact- he sits there, completely still, frozen, not moving, some other fourth thing that basically means stops functioning completely, as you carefully wrap your arms around him. You see, he's a little overwhelmed but won't admit it. You're pretty sure you broke him, and would move away to check on him if it wasn't for the light grip he has on your arm that revealed his real response

- You attempt to reassure him that he can cuddle back, that you weren't going to bite, but he breaks from his frozen state specifically to comment on how weird of a phrase 'I won't bite' is, and that he knows you won't, he just doesn't feel like it. It hurt you a little, but you know it's new to him and that he'll do so when he's ready

- Eventually, Kokichi realises that he can't keep not reciprocating forever, so he makes an attempt at cuddling you back... which ends with just a very awkward pat from him. He's improving! You notice, but don't comment, just giving him a smug little smile that knows you're winning him over, which he then gives back to you

- After what feels like a lifetime, and with him hyping himself up mentally for this moment, Kokichi is able to finally cuddle you back! Yay! Until he can feel himself start to get a little too comfortable in your arms, and immediately moves away, shoving you a little. No! After making him apologise for shoving you, you calm yourself and request an honest explanation as to why he is so reluctant to cuddle you, and if you should just stop

- ...Where he proceeds to immediately lie and say that yes, totally, absolutely, you should stop because you're not cool enough to cuddle him and- and-

- That's when you realise how much this is effecting him. So you calm him, putting a little bit of distance between the two of you, and ask once again if he wants to cuddle with you. He hesitates, exaggerating a little so you can't see the sincerity in his thought, and with an extended wellllll, he admits he's fine with it. He was just lying about you not being cool enough! Obviously!

- Then the two of you just sit there. Silent. Waiting for something you’re uncertain will happen, something Kokichi hasn't figured out yet. Until it occurs to him. Oh!

- ...

- Oh-

- Another hesitation. The silence continues. A hand outstretches a slither of an amount, then curling back into himself. Patiently, you wait, not making the first move. Kokichi takes a small breath in: maybe he is scared. Just a little bit. He stares at his hands, then at you. Slowly, and cautiously, he engulfs you in his arms and allows himself to relax- to trust you and himself

- Kokichi lets himself be comfortable with you

[keaalu]

WIP - ‘Kestrel Kestrel’

So apparently “WIP Wednesday” is a thing? Like I need any excuses to dump incomplete ficbits on the internet.

----

Still feeling sore and muzzy, with 55 lurking quietly next to her, monitoring her vital signs, she’d only been human again for thirty seven minutes but Kate was already on her third plate of sandwiches, crunching her way through Spacehawk’s entire stock of crispy snacks. 101 looked alarmed by how quickly his inventory was dropping but wasn’t hesitating at bringing more when she looked at him in a specific way.

“Growing a whole new skeleton really takes it out of you,” she said, accepting the offering when the zeroid trundled over pushing yet another packet of crisps towards her.

“That’s our last pack of those,” 101 informed her, trying but not quite able to keep all the reproach from his tone. “So if you need anything else you’ll need to pick something different. Like broccoli.”

“Sorry, hon.” She suspected it had probably been Hiro’s favourites she’d been happily munching her way through, if the zeroid’s manner was anything to go by. “I’ll send some more up on your next supply run.”

He chirped an acknowledgement and seemed mollified, for the moment.

“I guess it must have felt a bit like this when you got your body back after Zelda turned you into a cube, huh?” she wondered.

“Oh I don’t think my experience was anywhere near as bad as yours, ma’am,” he demurred. “Mine was more like… maybe just a very unflattering new set of clothes.”

Kate patted him on the head, anyway. “I bet it still sucked. And at least you weren’t a were-cube,” she joked, and winced.

“And it didn’t involve a trash compactor,” he agreed, and gave her fingers a bump. “Would you like a coffee? I just heard it finish brewing.”

“That would be amazing. Thank you.”

He squeaked another little nonverbal agreement, and rolled away to get it. (She wondered if she could get away with asking for more sandwiches when he came back.)

“Tea? Oh, yes please,” she heard Hiro say, and looked up to find the lieutenant in the doorway.

“I ate all your chips, so I think I’m in trouble with your little space husband,” Kate apologised, holding the open pack out to him. Even that small action made her shoulders ache. Perhaps she ought to forego more sandwiches in favour of sleeping for a few days.

Hiro smiled and took a single crisp, but otherwise waved her off. “I once told him I particularly liked these, so now he always buys far too many, then pretends they were on offer. Then we have to somehow store four cases of them.” He settled on the floor next to her, cross legged, and nibbled the snack. “I try not to eat them too quickly, because then he panics that we are running out and buys more.��� A little sigh. “There are certain nuances to human behaviour that zeroids don’t quite get, yet, and striking a balance between foods we enjoy and sensible nutritional choices appears to be one of them.”

“Well, you have plenty of ‘sensible nutritional choices’ in the form of broccoli, apparently.”

“And why do you think we have plenty of that?” Hiro gave her an arch look, then relented and took another crisp.

“Yeah, I get it.” Kate chuckled, tiredly. “So do you have an update for me?”

“I do. Not much of one, yet, but we wanted to ensure you were kept in the loop.” He held out the tablet for her.

Kate stared at the confusing mosaic of… biopsy images? “What am I looking at?”

He tapped the first image and it enlarged to a graphical representation genetic data. “Initially, when you arrived and we took a skin sample?” At her nod, he went on; “We thought that Zelda must have done something structurally to alter your DNA, but when we analysed it, it was all still human. We could not explain it. How could you be human, but categorically not human, at the same time? So we did a visual scan of your blood sample, instead. And we found… this.” He touched the screen and brought up a new image.

It was some sort of microscopy of a blood film. Kate could recognise red blood cells easily. The irregular, blobby purplish masses were probably white blood cells.

She had no idea what the scattering of angular black flecks were, though.

She felt a set of cold fingers draw up the back of her neck. “The hell are those.”

“We are still working on our analysis, but they look like very small machines of some sort. They have proved hard to extract to get under the electron microscope. Kiljoy is still working on it.”

---

“The black dots.” She let out a breath in a very long exhale. “Can you remove them?”

Hiro’s silence was all she needed to know.

“We will remove them,” he hastily added. “I just don’t know how quickly we can do it, yet.”

“Can you block them?”

“I don’t know.”

“So what you mean is, I could turn back into a bird at literally any moment. Including at the worst possible time. Like… at the controls of an aircraft.”

He took her hand and squeezed her fingers, briefly. “I’m sorry, Kate.”

The two zeroids had both converged on her as well, leaning comfortingly against her.

“It’s okay, guys.” She forced a smile. “I know it’s not your fault. I just… oh, man. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse.”

[nenchuu]

Grocery Store ⏤ (OC Only) Takashi Tachibana & Hiro Otsuka.

I wrote this one last year to better understand the relationship between my two characters and navigate Hiro's "voice." I figured I might as well share it with y'all!

“Cool, right?” Hiro gestures out to a large supermarket awning built into the corner of a gray building. “This place has foreign stuff!”

“Yeah, that’s cool.” Takashi stands with Hiro, significantly less impressed, but not disinterested. “Do you need groceries?”

“Just a few things, I promise. I won’t take up too much of your precious time.” Hiro replies with a hint of ribbing in his voice.

Takashi isn’t really even sure why he’s here. Hiro randomly decided to text him earlier that day to ask if he wanted to check out this grocery store near him and on a whim, Takashi agreed. He didn’t have much else to do that day, anyway.

“Anything specific you’re looking for?”

“Ehhhh… Not really. I just figured I’d look around and get ideas, y’know? Freestyle it.”

“Got it… ‘Freestyle.’”

They step on the rubber mat, the glass doors sliding open to accept them in. Hiro takes a hand basket and is immediately greeted by a display of produce. Takashi watches as Hiro swiftly takes three containers of already cored pineapple. He must really like pineapple, he thinks.

“I wonder if they have South-American food…” Hiro wonders out loud.

“Do you like foreign food, Hiro-kun?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess so… I grew up somewhere with a lot of foreigners, so I got used to seeing different kinds of food.” Hiro’s face drops the usual smarminess as he thinks about his upbringing.

Takashi bites his lip, knowing they grew up in the same town, but Hiro doesn’t know that.

Hiro approaches an older woman in uniform, clearly an employee. “Excuse me, ma’am, do you sell any South-American foods here?” They exchange a few words before he thanks her for her time and walks back toward Takashi. Takashi raises an eyebrow at Hiro with a stunned expression. “What? I’m a gentleman.”

“Sure…” Takashi shakes his head, slightly taken aback by Hiro’s out-of-character manner of speaking. “You should talk like that with women your own age.”

“What? No way, girls don’t like that. Makes them feel ugly.”

“And you know this how exactly?”

“Oh, my poor, sweet, naïve Takashi-kun. You just don’t get women like I do.” Hiro pats Takashi’s shoulder in misdirected pity. “Also, they only have European crap here. Aw well.”

“Sorry, I guess?” Takashi replies specifically about the lack of South-American food, trying to ignore the first part.

Hiro, however, interpreted this as about Takashi’s lack of experience with women. “It’s cool, you don’t know any better.”

They pass an aisle of different European brands of alcohol, but none of them seem to interest Hiro, even the ones that are discounted. “I would think you’d get some of the alcohol here.”

“Nah, trust me, I drink plenty at work. I don’t need any more of it.” They move on to look over the packaged meats glowing under the LED lights. “Nice, they have pork on sale! And it’s the organic stuff too!”

“I didn’t know you liked that kind of stuff.”

“I mean… It’s supposed to be better, right? I dunno. It’s cheaper, that’s all I care about.” He takes the marbled meat and drops it in his basket, his fingers creasing the shrink-wrap.

As they move through the aisles, Hiro suddenly stops in his tracks to gasp and cover his mouth, feigning shock. “Oh no, Takashi-kun…!”

Takashi follows his gaze to a cooler with bags of oranges inside and next to it, a machine with the words “100% Fresh Juice” in English letters printed above. The sign shows a cartoon anthropomorphic orange touting a full cup of fresh juice.

“They’re juicing you!” Hiro turns his head back and forth between the juicer and Takashi, his mouth agape. Hiro’s clearly trying to amuse Takashi, exaggerating his movements.

Takashi can’t help but snicker under his breath, trying and failing to stifle a laugh. Hiro looks back at him with a big, satisfactory grin. “See, you like me!” “No, I hate you, actually,” Takashi quips back, his smile betraying him.

“You think I’m charming~” Hiro teases in a sing-song voice with a toothy grin. It’s reminiscent of a proud child. Takashi narrows his eyes, biting the inside of his cheek.

Takashi does like Hiro… Sometimes. When he isn’t being completely inappropriate or egotistical. Which is most of the time.

There are times, however, when he’s a quarter less obnoxious. Takashi likes when he’s just being goofy, like right now. Or those rare moments of sincerity that accidentally slip out.

Takashi rolls his eyes half-heartedly. “That was such a dumb joke, dude.”

“You don’t have to be so tsundere, y’know. Just be honest and say you want me.” Hiro punctuates his sentence with a smug hair flip. “I mean, I don’t blame you. Look at me.”

Yep… That’s Hiro.

Takashi walks up ahead, leaving Hiro to be caught up in his own little world until his proverbial bubble pops and he awkwardly scrambles to catch up with Takashi. “Come on baby, don’t be like that!” Hiro whines a little too loudly behind Takashi, making the man ahead of him furrow his brow with a grimace. “Would you forgive me if I bought you a snack or somethin’? A peace offering snack?”

Takashi looks over his shoulder, Hiro finally catching up. “That depends. How much are you willing to spend for my forgiveness?”

“Uh, I mean, not anything too expensive–” Takashi starts walking away again, causing Hiro to stumble. “Okay, okay! Whatever you want, man!”

Takashi smiles triumphantly. “Sounds good to me.” Hiro finally catches up with Takashi, walking beside him at a steady speed. “You’re kinda sexy when you’re being bossy.”

Takashi immediately frowns. “Can you stop talking, please?”

“I’m just sayin’ you should be more confident! It’s a good thing!”

“That is NOT what you were saying.”

“Okay, you got me there.” Hiro just shrugs with a half-smile, picking up some pre-made meals along the way. Takashi can only sigh in response.

“Do you need anything else?” Takashi asks a little impatiently.

“Hmmmm…” Hiro rubs his chin with a bit of flourish. “I guess just whatever you want. And a drink. I’m thirsty.”

Takashi ignores the way Hiro wiggles his thick eyebrows as he says this, looking through the aisles to pick something out. A bag of foreign chips catches his eye, not really knowing what exactly he’s getting, but the flavor looks interesting. “Is this okay?”

“Whatever you want, man, you have my word.” Takashi gently places the bag in Hiro’s basket while Hiro grabs a bottle of green tea.

They walk up to the cash registers together, checking out and getting the items bagged. Hiro thanks the clerk for their help before getting ready to leave, walking out into the sunny Tokyo streets.

Once they’re outside, Hiro rustles through the plastic bag to give Takashi his promised snack. “Thank you,” Takashi replies, the plastic crinkling in his hand.

“Hey, uh… Takashi-kun?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for, y’know, coming with me…” Hiro scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. “It’s kinda nice doin’ chores and stuff with somebody else… I guess.”

There it was. One of those rare genuine moments. Takashi looks at his bashful face, reminding him of when they were both teenagers.

Yep. That’s Hiro.

[xsweetelegantdisasterx]

Lessgo! Here is the one-shot of none other than OG babe.

✒ Title: Heatwave {Listen I'm obsessed with this song okay?}

✒ Summary : Misaki and Zin needs a little bit of help to spark their unrequited love

✒ Characters: Zin & OC

✒ Word Count: More than 2k. {I lost count.}

✒ Genre: Mostly Fluff. *Yall ain't ready for my smut.

A/N: Be warned. . I'm gonna write one of them all. . . Baby steps tho Bros. I hope you like it ♡

Taglist: @stardragongalaxy

Zin was usually good about texting his schedule, to prevent any indication that he didn't want to chit chat. After shoveling out dance practices and music videos, he was becoming tired; disregarding the usual.

She looked at her phone seeing the read notification right under her messages. When Zin became tired in the past, that never bothered her before. This time, it was different. Misaki sat in her bed as her mind went thirty different directions. She stalled on the next message, erasing and rewriting the text no less than a hundred times. Finally, she just settled for a good night text. She laid down noticing the squishmallow he had recently bought her as she moved it across the room.

“Sorry buddy, you’re going to have to stay over here until further notice.”

Misaki climbed back into bed as now her bed was uncomfortable as shit. No position she ended up in was comfortable anymore. Her eyes darted to the squishmallow as she sighed. It was so stupid how one little plush changed the dynamics of how comfortable her bed was, but it was what it was. She had no choice but to bring her squishmallow out of its timeout. Misaki growled under her breath, grabbing the plush, proceeding to lay down with it. Just like that, she drifted off.

The next morning, she didn’t bother texting Zin, in fear of annoying him. Instead, she just laid in bed for a few minutes extra before deciding to get dressed. Hearing her phone go off, she turned it over. It was Yamasho, her second favorite. His attitude was that of a small, but peaceful, tornado. She smiled at the fact that at least one of them liked to talk to her.

A loud knock befell her door as she ran to it. When she opened it all of her guys were there holding a cake; even their manager Hiro. She gave a smirk as Zin patted her on the shoulder as she stepped aside to let them in. Kenta went straight to her cabinets to pull out plates and utensils. She grabbed glasses noticing Zin would look over at her periodically when she wasn’t looking. She brushed it off, as he was just trying to figure out if she was upset with him.

Her apartment was full of laughter, her included. The guys were the ones who Masaki spent her time with. Hiro took her to the side wanting to speak with her.

“Misa, you look troubled.”

“I’m okay, just have inner turmoil going on. I’ll be alright though.”

She always loved talking to Hiro, as he was receptive of her emotions and was a father like influence in her life.

“One of my dancers isn’t feeling well. You are one of the only people that have seen the practices, so I was going to ask if you could fill in?”

She was shocked. He never asked her any favors, so she knew he was in a bind. It was true she spent her time at the company, but she wasn't confident on dancing since she never fully learned how.

“Me, but won't I just be in the way? I mean, I'll try but,” she looked over at Zin in conversation, “who will I be dancing with and what song?”

“Yamasho, and the song is Heatwave.”

“Oh, okay I know that one. That’s fine, I’ll help.”

Misaki was relieved by his words. That song was upbeat, and she would be paired with her favorite troll. She joined back up with Yamasho and Shohei. Hiro was confused why she didn’t put up a fight, since he was sure she was in love with Zin. He was going to ignite something, he was betting on it.

“Oh Misaki, be there tomorrow, we start practicing early.”

She nodded her head happily. Shohei bumped his shoulder with hers playfully. They were happy she was going to be with them on set. After everyone finished eating they decided to leave. Zin stayed back to help her clean. If anything, she was confused on the mixed emotions she was feeling. He was caring towards her, answered her texts most of the time, and spent time with her. It was throwing her off on how he was, and had been the past few days, but she was going to enjoy his company.

“So you're filling in for someone?”

“Yeah, I can't say no to Hiro, even though I wanted too.”

Zin just nodded his head never looking away from the plate he was washing. “Who's he making you dance with?”

“With Yamasho.”

He paused seemingly uncomfortable with the conversation now. “Oh, that’s nice.”

“That's not a problem, is it?”

“Not at all Misa, you both are the same height so it'll work out perfectly.”

She scoffed, as that was not the answer she was expecting, or hoping for that matter. They stood in silence finishing the dishes. He dried his hands as he decided to leave.

“Zin, are you mad at me? You've been weird; especially with the whole Yamasho situation just now.”

“No I'm not mad, I just need to get back at the studio. I'll see you tomorrow though, don't sleep in,” He forced a smile as he left.

Misaki sat at her bar resting her head on her hands. That stubborn mule, could it be to much to ask for him to admit that he's jealous? She couldn't shake the thoughts out.

Her phone buzzing brought her out of deep thought. To no avail, it was Yamasho wishing her a happy birthday. She hit send on her reply, just to receive another from Zin. At least she got to see them for a little bit, but in her mind all the time in the world just wouldn't be enough. Most of her evening was spent pacing and looking out her window periodically. It wasn't like she was expecting anyone else to show, but she couldn't shut her mind off for the time being.

The next morning, Misaki awoken to her alarms debating on whether she should go or not. She made her a coffee to go as she locked her door. Misaki arrived at where they were meeting, seeing the other girls there. She instantly felt insecure. Why on earth Hiro wanted her to fill in, with her not even comparing to these ladies, was beyond her. She spotted Yamasho as he was already in his attire. He looked charming, smiling at her. Suddenly, his eyes darted behind her as she turned around. Zin smirked seeing Misaki.

“You’re not late.”

“No, surprisingly,” she chuckled moving her hair behind her ear. “I'm really nervous Zin, I've never done anything like this. I mean we’ve danced in the studio, but nothing like this.”

“If you start feeling overwhelmed, just picture us only. You know the routine Misa, don’t worry.”

The wardrobe crew starting pulling Misaki away to get her ready. They starting placing outfits against her body as they decided on the right one. After she placed the outfit on, she just stood in front of the mirror. The clothes were a lot shorter than she was used too, but it would only be for the duration of the filming. The makeup artist went to town to get her ready for the camera. Time passed by as everyone was almost ready to begin.

Misaki walked out trying to place the mask on. Her hands were shaking terribly, she had help to steady them; she was surprised to see Yamasho. He helped place the mask on her face, smirking.

“Why are you looking at me like that Yamasho?”

“For once, you have your hair down, usually it’s in a bun.”

“Yeah, well I don’t want my hair falling in my face at work.”

“It looks good Misa, you’re hard to look away from. You’ve been stared at since you walked out.”

“It’s making me nervous. What if I screw up our part?”

“They’ll just have us redo it, no big deal. Hiro knew what he was doing when he asked you. Surely that crossed his mind. Oh and Misa,” he got right up to her ear, “Did you know you have a figure? You’re Queen thickness. Who would’ve known with the scrubs you always wear.”

Misa shoved Yamasho back causing him to laugh. “Don't be a troll Yamasshole,” her cheeks filled up with color.

“I’m not being a troll, I’m just saying you shouldn’t hide behind anything. Work what your mama gave you girl!” Yamasho z-snapped at her causing laughter from her.

She looked over at Zin as he couldn’t peel his eyes away from her. It was starting, the Jealousy; his biggest friend. Before he had liked Misa; her quirkiness, included. Now though, a new fire sparked inside of him. He wanted to march to Yamasho and tell him he was going to be her dance partner, but that wasn’t his ultimate call. Instead, he’d just admire her. One of the girls wrapped her arm around Misa as she guided her to their spot.

They got into place as the music started, just as she had seen before, she perfected it on cue. She glided over to Yamasho as they did their solo. Even though she was nervous, she was glad he was the one she got paired with. Misaki watched Zin's solo, encapsulated by him. She too began to feel some type of way about him dancing with someone other than her. She shook it off, focusing on her and Yamasho. They completed the song as Misa exhaled silently. Yamasho grabbed her hand leading her to the side, giving her a huge hug.

“You’re still a troll, Macho,” she hugged him back.

“I'm your favorite though thick’ems.”

She looked over at Zin, he had a sparkle to his eye when he looked at her. He walked over, slowly removing the mask from her face.

“You did good. I'm proud of you.”

“Thank you Zin. What now?”

“We wait to watch the video. You need to go change.”

“I think I should wear this more often. Especially if you react like this,” she tried walking past him just for him to pull her back.

“Misa, you’ve never had to wear anything revealing to get this reaction,” he placed her hand on his chest, “my heart beats fast when you are around. But, it doesn’t beat when you are sad, when you’re not around, or you look past me.”

Misaki stood still hypnotized. His words swam in her mind. Plus, she was touching bare chested Zin. Her hand curled around his, unbeknownst to her. She let out a mild gasp. It was as if her hand had its own mind. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

“I had a secret to uphold. You know I can't keep secrets from you.”

She stood quiet, breaking his eye contact. Her mind was mixed with different thoughts. Misa looked around, pulling her hand away. Zin's smile disappeared.

“Fuck it,” she leaped into his arms wrapping her legs around his waist. She couldn’t be eye level otherwise. “Tell me your biggest secret Sakamoto Zin.”

“I love you Misaki. You’re a menace to my heart but I adore you with every fiber of my being. And if you ever just willingly dance with anyone other than me, we will take our differences in the parking lot,” he smiled the biggest following his words.

Misaki cupped his face, closing the space between them. Cheers and yelling was heard behind them. She giggled behind their kiss, feeling his lips curve into a grin. Zin brought his forehead to hers. Misa wrapped her arms around his neck.

“You promise, cause I love you more. Now, take me home.”

[nachotrash]

Mnesic 

Adjective; pertaining to memory

A Childe x Nova fic, angst to comfort i guess?

Warnings: mentions of pregnancy, Nova has a meltdown, crying, kids, uhhh slight spoilers for Childe's lore?

A/N: It took me a while, but it's finally finished! Hope you enjoy this emotional mess with my OC Nova!

“Do you know what this means?” Nova’s lips trembled. She knew all too well what this meant, but she doesn’t want to. “Hiro, I’m not ready for this. I-I’m not ready to raise a kid! Not now!” She buried her face into her hands. This can’t be real. Only a few days ago, Nova’s boyfriend —no, ex -- departed towards Snezhnaya for a mission that could very well cost him his life.

Hinari wrapped her arms around her little sister as Nova let out soft sobs. “Do you want to keep the kid?” She asked, rubbing circles on Nova’s back.

“I do, I do, but… I don’t know if I can” Nova returned the embrace as her tears stained Hinari’s shirt. “I’m scared. We don’t even know if he’s going to come back alive, and if he does, what am I gonna tell him?!” She looked up at her sister with red eyes. “We’re not even together anymore.”

Hinari could feel her heart shatter. As a psychiatrist, her job is to help people lose the mental burden on their shoulders. She has seen and heard a bit of any traumatic story before. So it shouldn’t faze her. But seeing her little sister so distraught like this… to say it hurt her would be an understatement.

“Hey, hey hey. Look at me.” She crouched down to Nova's height and cupped her cheek. “Everything is going to be just fine. It’s gonna work out, so don’t stress okay? We’re here to help you. Don’t forget that.”

“Yeah. Whether you want to keep it or not, isn’t important. We will be here for you no matter what.” Hiroshi stood up and walked over to the two women, wrapping his arms around both of them.

———————

“Nova?” Childe opened the door to the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe. Nova was making some coffee and hummed in response. “Yeah, babe? What’s up?” 

Childe frowned. “Can we talk?” Nova turned around and walked up to him. “Of course, is everything okay?” She grabbed his hand and led him to the couch. As she sat down, Childe started to tense up, the feeling of regret already pooling in his stomach. 

“Nova. I think we should break up.” 

Nova froze. 

“…What?”

Before Childe could repeat his words, the young woman set down her mug, hard. “Let’s not do anything rash. Why do you want to break up with me? Did I do something or..?” She didn’t dare to look the other one in the eyes, staring at the floor instead.

The redhead's eyes widened. “Nononono! It has nothing to do with you! Please listen to me first. Okay?” He sat down next to her on the couch and held her hand. 

“Her Majesty assigned a new mission for me, which requires me to go back to Sneznhaya. It’s very dangerous, and can take a lot of time.”

“Aren’t all of your missions dangerous? What makes this one different?” Nova snapped. She couldn’t believe they were about to break up for a small reason. 

Childe sighed. “Nova, listen to me. There is a likely chance that we won’t be seeing each other for years, maybe decades. The chance that I won’t return alive is really high. Are you willing to wait until the end of your life only to find out I’ve been dead all along?” 

She young woman turned her head away, taking a deep breath to stop the tears from forming. She turned back after a few seconds to show that she had failed to hold back her tears. She chuckled at herself. Why is she crying already? He’s still here. Pathetic. 

She knew that there was no way to avoid the mission. If they were to go into hiding, they would only hunt him down and well… get rid of him in their own way. Nova wiped her eyes and turned around to hug her boyfriend, which caused Childe to fall over on his back. He held her tightly as she buried her face in his chest. “When is it?” She asked, sniffling. Childe patted her back softly. “It’s okay. We still have two weeks” he whispered as he pressed a kiss onto her hair. Nova hugged her boyfriend even tighter. “I don’t want you to leave…” 

The ginger propped his arm under his head as he stared blankly at the ceiling. “Me neither, love. I’m sorry.”

————————

Winter in Mondstadt was one of the most magical times of the year. Once the temperature drops, everyone takes out their fluffy coats, gloves or mittens, and scarves. The Cat’s Tail and Angel’s Share have discounts on warm beverages and Good Hunter brings out their seasonal special again, the aromatic scent lingering in the air attracting many customers. The moment the first snowflake falls, kids are running out of their homes bouncing with excitement. 

It’s been a little over seven years since Childe had last stepped into the city of Mondstadt. Although the cold was nothing compared to the icy lands of Sneznhaya, he still wrapped his thick coat tightly around him. Childe had spent the past seven years of his life in the spiral abyss, sent by Her Majesty the Tsaritsa to seek the truth of this world. He had to leave his beloved behind in Mondstadt and regretted his decision for a long time. According to the Fatui, he was getting too distracted and needed to be reminded of what he actually was: a killing machine.

Although he wasn’t born nor raised in Mondstadt, the ginger could feel a wave of nostalgia hit him in the face. It reminded him of the moments he’d spent with his ex-lover Nova. 

Talking about Nova, he was kind of hoping to see her again. All communication had been cut off, so he had no idea how she was doing. He subconsciously searched through the streets for any signs of his past lover but was disappointed when he couldn’t find anything. Has she moved on? Maybe she’s found someone new and is on a date with them? The fatuus sighed as he made his way up the stairs to the statue of Barbatos, the Anemo Archon. 

Just as he turned at the top of the stairs, something bumped into him. He looked down and it seemed to be a small, dark-haired girl with a lighter strand in her bangs. The little girl falls back on her butt and immediately stands up. She quickly yelled, “Sorry mister!” And ran away. 

Childe was just processing this when a silver-haired man walked over with an apologetic expression. “Hey man, sorry about that. She’s just a kid and-“ the man’s eyes widened for a second when he took a better look. “Childe? You’re alive?” 

It was Hiroshi. Childe didn’t expect to see him here actually, he didn’t know how he should react to seeing the brother of his ex seven years after they broke up. He could only smile awkwardly. “Uh, hi..” 

Neither of the two men knew what to do or to say, so the next minute or so is spent in awkward silence. “So um, who was that girl just now?” The ginger asked. Hiroshi smiled proudly and said “That’s my favorite and only niece. She’s cute right?” Childe nodded absentmindedly. Wait, niece? Nova is the only one with dark hair… So she has already moved on. His heart broke a little, but then again, it is to be expected. Who would wait 7 years for an ex-lover? She must’ve already found someone else. The little bit of hope he had faded away quickly.

“Do you want to see her? I’m sure she’ll be glad to have you back.” Hiroshi pointed with his thumb to a group of people, among which Childe could recognize the silhouette of his past lover. He nodded, maybe a little too eager, but he was trying so hard to not run over to hug her and never let go. 

“I’ve told you, you need to be more careful! Have you apologized to the man?” Children are so cute and so precious, but dang are they a pain sometimes. Nova sighed as she checked her child for any injuries. The kid grinned brightly. “Yep! Uncle Hiro also went to talk to him! Look! He’s over there!” Nova smiled. “That’s great, now off you go! Watch out this time okay?” The little girl hurriedly ran over to her friends as her mother watched her with tenderness in her eyes. She took a glance in the direction of her brother and—

Wait.

Nova froze. Her smile faltered as she turned back to stare at the two men approaching. One was her brother, while the other one was someone whom she assumed was dead. 

It seems that Hinari, who was standing next to her, also noticed. “Nova? Is that Childe?” She whispered. Nova shook her head in disbelief. Wasn’t he dead? She just assumed that he died because well… it’s been seven years since she last even heard of him. It was impossible to move her body or to say anything at all. She could only stare in shock as the two men approached.

Childe saw the shocked expression and felt a wave of pity wash over him. It was all his fault for not at least letting her know that he was alive. He assumed that he would never be able to see her again, so he had no idea how to react or what to do. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone back to Mondstadt. Maybe it would have been better for both him and Nova to never see each other again. It would only hurt her more than she already was. Not to mention that it might stir up some unnecessary trouble for the couple and possibly their kid… Childe felt his chest tighten. He recognized this feeling but… he couldn’t possibly be jealous. He shouldn’t be. That’s just unreasonable and unfair. It’s been seven years. He should be over this already, not holding onto it like he’s a little kid. The ginger waved with a polite smile on his face. He didn’t want to overwhelm the woman in front of him. “Hello there Nova. I hope you’ve been doing well.” He held his hand out front for a handshake, but instead of shaking his hand, the woman just stood there, still staring at him as if he was a ghost. The expression on her face was a mix of fear, sadness, a little anger, and most importantly, disbelief. 

She snapped out of her trance when her sister, who was standing next to her, nudged her with her elbow. "Woa, Uhm, hello to you too?" What was she supposed to say? "I'm doing well", "Where the fuck have you been?" or "You're alive?"  What ARE you supposed to say when your presumably dead ex shows up out of nowhere? She finally shook his hand. Tears started forming at the corners of her eyes, but she successfully stopped them from falling. 

"Welcome back? Aah, I'm sorry. I'm not quite sure how to react." She laughed softly, blinking the tears away. Now that she sees Childe up close, she starts to notice little changes in his appearance. His skin didn't look at delicate as before anymore, and his hair had gotten paler. His eyes though stayed the same as she remembered. Maybe it's just the way that it feels like they can pierce through anything, but Nova could swear that nothing had changed if she saw only the eyes. 

Childe smiled, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's okay. I can't blame you. I wouldn't know what to do either. Is there anything I've missed these years? For example..." He gestured to the dark-haired kid, who was playing in the snow further away. 

"Oh, yes! That's Natasha, my daughter." Nova's face lights up, showing just how much she adored her lovely little girl. "She's turning seven in two months. She's cute, right?" She smiled tenderly, her eyes full of love. 

She’s turning seven? Childe quickly did the math. If she’s six now, then she was born less than a year after he’d left… Huh. 

He felt his stomach twist, but couldn’t quite describe what he was feeling. It was not pleasant, was it some variation of anger? He shook his head mentally. She wouldn’t do that to him.. would she? 

Before he could fully process his thoughts and say something, the little girl ran up to her mother. “Mama, do you know that man?” 

Nova smiled. “Yes, sweetie. He’s an.. old friend of mine. Why don’t you go say hi to him?” Natasha nodded and turned to run up to the ginger man. “Hello, mister! Who are you?” She asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity. It reminded Childe of when he first met Nova. The same eyes and excited expression. It made him smile.

“Hey there, kid. As your mom said, we’re old friends. What’s your name?” He crouched down to her height and reached out to pat her head, but hesitated and retracted his hand. “My name is Natasha. What’s your name mister?” the kid asked. “You can call me Tartaglia. Say, do you like the snow?” Natasha nodded. “Yup! It looks so pretty! Mama says that it’s too cold for her, but she says that my dad likes the snow too!” 

There it is. The mention of the unknown father. Childe's smile stiffened but since he didn’t want to come off as an asshole, he refrained from asking who he was. “Really? Your dad likes the snow too?  That’s nice,” The kid grinned in excitement from talking about her father. “He’s so cool! You know what my mom told me?” She shifted to whisper in his ear. “My mom said that he was so strong, he could take out 5 ruin guards at the same time! Isn’t that just awesome?” At this point, Natasha is already jumping up and down from the hype.  “I wanna be just like him when I grow up!”

Childe smiled again, patting her softly on the shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll be girlie” 

Natasha grinned when a blonde boy ran over and told her to “Come quick! The snowman is almost done!” The girl nodded and followed him to another group of kids.

The ginger stood up and looked at Nova, who looked at the ground blankly. “So ah, if I may ask… Just who is Natasha's father?” 

Nova chuckled awkwardly, while Hiroshi, who was standing at the side the entire time, crossed his arms and finally spoke up. “Well, if it wasn’t obvious already, it’s you.”

…

“...What?” 

The anemo user sighed. “It’s you. Childe Tartaglia whatever you use as your name, you are the father.” 

Whoa whoa whoa. Wait. Pause. “What- What do you mean I’m the father?!” The man took a step back in shock. Hiroshi shrugged. “I said what I said,” Childe turned to look at Nova, only to see her slowly nodding her head. He didn’t know what to say. How to react, how to feel. He’s got a kid? And he didn’t know about her? He can’t do anything properly, can he? Childe chuckled internally at his patheticness. Of course he has to get distracted, be forced to leave the love of his life, hurt her in the process, and fail to be a proper brother AND father. What a piece of shit. “I… Archons.”

Before he could say anything acceptable, a man with brown hair walked over and whispered something to him.

“Well! I think I’ve got to get going. People are waiting for me.” He looks at Nova. “You wanna, uh, catch up in the tavern after I’m done with my work? Only if you have time, of course.” Nova smiled at him and nodded, which he returned before leaving the group. 

—---------------

Nova sat down at a table in the dimly lit tavern, waiting nervously for the ginger to show up. She felt like a weight had just been lifted off of her shoulders. He knows now. There isn’t really a reason to hide anything from him anymore. There wasn’t even a reason in the first place. She kept looking at the door every time someone would enter, silently hoping that it was the person she’d been waiting for. 

When Childe finally arrived, she automatically stood up but didn’t know how to greet him. “Hey… Glad you’re here” 

The ginger took off his coat and sat down across from her. The question he’d been aching to ask all day was finally going to get its answer. “I’m happy to see you as well. I don’t know how to say this without sounding like an asshole, but… Are you dating anyone else right now?” Nova looked away, which Childe took as a sign that she did in fact, move on. He swallowed thickly as he felt whatever hope he had left disappear. It was naive to think that she would wait for him. What was he even thinking?

“Would you be mad if I say that I’m not?” Nova suddenly spoke up. It was actually more like mumbling, but clear enough for him to hear. He wanted to smile but held himself back. “Oh no, of course not! I was just wondering if Natasha had a father figure or something since… well, I was obviously not there.” She took a sip of the coffee she’d ordered. “The closest person to a father figure to her would probably be Hiro or Tobias since they helped me out the most after I gave birth to her.” the hydro user folded her arms together. It wasn’t the happiest memory she had, but it was important to her. “The first few weeks were the hardest for me. Mentally. To say that I was terrified was an understatement.” Childe felt his heart break. He had no idea that she went through such a horrific experience on her own and he wasn’t even there to support her. “I-I’m so sorry Nova. I’m so sorry you had to go through that—”

He was cut off by a tight embrace. Nova had stood up and hugged him close. “I’m just glad you’re alive. You don’t know how many times I’ve prayed for you to be safe.” Her voice cracked as she tried to whisper. It’s a good thing that the tavern is quite busy at this time of day. Childe returned the embrace with a heavy heart. He missed her so much, it was unreal.  He held her close and they stayed like that for a while. Just them in each other's arms and the calming background noise of the tavern. 

After a little bit, she pulled away and sat down in the chair next to him. “So, about Natasha…” The ginger spoke up.

“Yes?” 

“Was it difficult? Financially, I mean” He asked. Although he wasn’t present in his daughter’s life, he feels like he should do something. 

“It was a little difficult at first. I had to quit my job as a knight because it was too physically demanding and wore me out.” She glanced at her coat hanging from the chair behind her. “So now I make custom outfits and clothing for commissions. It’s also kind of been my childhood dream, so I’m pretty content for now.” She said with a smile.

Out of nowhere, Childe grabbed a pouch of mora and slid it over to Nova, who stared at it in confusion. 

“And what is that supposed to be?”

“Child support for those past seven years.” He chuckled at his own words.

Nova looked at him, unimpressed but still cracking a smile. “Your first dad joke? Seriously?” 

————————

The woman closed the door after waving her sister goodbye. Hinari had been babysitting Natasha while Nova was in the tavern catching up with the Fatuus. 

She walked upstairs into her bedroom and changed into a pair of pyjamas before sitting down on her bed. This is when the realization hits her. 

Childe is alive. He’s safe. He made it. All those nights of begging the archons paid off. It wasn’t a dream. He is alive and he’s safe and sound. 

Nova didn’t realize she was crying until a teardrop fell onto her lap.

“Mama?” A small voice rang in the hall. Then, the head of a child peeks out from behind the door. Nova quickly wiped her tears and watched her kid walking up to her with a stuffed animal. “Yes, sweetheart? What’s wrong?” 

Natasha climbed onto her mother's lap and looked up at her face. “Why are you crying? Are you sad?”

Nova shook her head with a smile. “I’m not sad baby. I’m just really happy all of a sudden.” The kid nodded and leaned on her chest. “Okay then, can I sleep with you tonight?” Nova hummed a ‘yes’ and planted a small kiss on her daughter's forehead. 

“Nothing is going to hurt you. Everything is going to be okay.”

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Let’s Start the Game...

[Buffalo, New York City, Two Days Later...]

HELLOOOOOO NEW YOORK!

Heheh...You’ve been waiting this entire trip to say that, haven’t you?

Sure have!

Shame that Hiro wasn’t here to say it with me.

...

*Byakuya pats her on the shoulder.

We find this 404 guy, and we may be one step closer to getting him back.

Stay strong Hina. We’ll get through this.

Yeah...yeah, you’re right.

Ok, so...where do we start?

It might be ideal for us to split up into groups of two or three to cover as much ground as possible. According to Chihiro’s info, this is around where the ERR0RM3SS4GE graffiti was. 

So this is where we search. If we’re going in groups, then Maya and I will go together.

That makes sense to me.

Toko and Komaru are probably gonna go together so...I’ll go with Byakuya.

I accept these terms.

Yeah, I mean...we’ll get this done faster if we go with people we’re familiar with.

We should take Akeru with us too. Are you two gonna go together then? If so, what about Kuripa?

Well Kuripa? Would you like to come with us?

Actually, I think I’m gonna go solo on this one.

Huh?

I can get stuff done fine on my own. You go with your wife.

A-Are you sure?

You can come with Four and me if you don’t wanna go with them.

I still need time to think about things. I’ll drag you down if I tag along.

But...I really must insist-

Who the hell do you think you are...? I can take care of myself...!

...!

You’re my boss...

Stop trying to be my Dad...

...Sorry.

Don’t worry, I’ll be FINE. I’ll call you if anything comes up.

You broke your phone, didn’t you?

Oh yeah...

Alright, well, I’ll just come straight back to the van with anything I find.

Stay safe, ok?

I will, I will...

*Everyone starts to disperse.

...

...?

...

*Kuripa catches Akeru giving him a weird glance before she trails behind her parents.

...

*True to his word, Kuripa starts wandering and searching on his own, however, unlike the rest of the group, he has his sights set on a certain place.

(Boss relayed the story to me with what happened to Akane Taira here...She said she visited some internet café, which is where she got threatened...”

*He stands out the front of one particular internet café.

(Let’s see if I’m worth threatening too...)

*He enters the café looks for the booths. Most of them are already full.

...Well, I don’t have my phone, and it’s not like I brought a laptop or some shit with me...Only one thing for it...

*He suddenly enters one of the occupied booths.

Customer: Ah-!?

You look like a reasonably smart man! Listen, I don’t have time to explain, but I’m on a mission. Give me your laptop.

Customer: A-Are you crazy!? Get out of my booth you weirdo, I’m in the middle of something!

...

*Kuripa suddenly grasps the customer by his head.

That wasn’t a request...

*WHAM!*

Customer: AAUGH! Uuugh......

*Kuripa slams the customers head into the desk, instantly knocking him out. He drags his body and leans it in a recovery position against the wall behind him.

Sorry, official Future Foundation business.

*He cracks his knuckles and starts typing into the laptop. He goes straight to ERR0RM3SS4GES website.

“Rumor has it if you say ERR0RM3SS4GES name 3 times in the mirror, 404 materializes behind you and calls you a bitch...”

But why do that when you can just offer yourself up as a sacrifice? When 404 finds out how many juicy secrets I’M hiding, he’s not gonna be able to resist the urge.

*Kuripa browses the website, and then after a few minutes.

...

Ooooooh...Either this is some flashy pop-up ad, or aliens are contacting me!

Psh...Who am I, Hagakure?

Close, but no cigar...Kuripa Kurafto, yes?

Ah, so you know my name?

...!

*Unsure of whether he’s being watched, Kuripa pokes his head up over the booth and peeks around the cafe. When he doesn’t spot anyone suspicious, he ducks back down again.

I know more about you than just a name you know. ERR0RM3SS4GE knows almost everything about everyone.

Oh yeah? Let’s test that.

What’s my fetish?

ENF and public humiliation.

Big boobs or small boobs?

You like small boobs.

I once wrote an erotic fanfiction on WattPad, True or False?

False. You wrote an erotic fanfiction on AO3 though.

Shit man, you ARE good.

Is that really all you want to know? There are many others parts of your history that are suitably...colorful.

Ah-Let me stop you right there pal.

I certainly have a lot of deep dark secrets that I don’t want anyone knowing, but the reason isn’t because I’m trying to protect myself.

If they find out what I’ve done or who I am, they won’t feel safe around me anymore...They won’t trust me and...it’ll break Boss’s heart.

So if you really are an agent of societal justice like I am, you’ll keep what you know to yourself. Understand?

...

Also, don’t talk tough shit. Uchui probably told you all of that stuff about me, didn’t he?

No actually. Uchui endeavored to keep your secrets for you. It seems the sense of companionship between you remains even though you fight on opposing sides.

Uh-huh...

And what side are YOU on?

...

You don’t seem inherently hostile, and I have heard rumors about the big bad brutes of society you shut down. I can get behind that cause.

But you also helped Uchui betray me and get into cahoots with Organization Zetsubou. What kind of plot are you cooking here.

...

If you don’t wanna answer, fine, at least answer me THIS.

ERR0RM3SS4GE are based in Japan, or so they say. What are you doing here in the USA?

...I’m on a mission.

Ah he speaks...! Interesting...what kind of mission?

Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you and the Future Foundation about. You’re the first I’ve been able to get in contact with, but...I need help.

...Help huh? Give me one second...

*Kuripa starts navigating through the customers laptop, and luckily, he finds a recording function. He activates it and it starts recording the screen.

So...you need help with this “mission” of yours...Let’s say, hypothetically, that we agree to help you with whatever you’re up against. What do WE get out of this?

Future Foundation are used to helping people without direct compensation, but unfortunately, morally ambiguous hacker organizations aren’t exactly on our help list.

Hahahah...Your sense of humor definitely adds levity to this situation. But whether you think we’re good or bad, all we’re trying to do is make a difference.

...

Help me...and I’ll send you the location of Organization Zetsubou’s base.

Wait...you know where they’re hiding...!?

If you want me to be perfectly honest, no, I don’t. However, I currently have a plan in the works involving getting that information. Help me, and as soon as I get it, it’s all yours.

Then...the reason you helped Uchui...!? It was so you could use him to find Zetsubou...!?

We can discuss that later. But on top of information, you’ll get all my connections and all my assets to use as you please. If you play nice...maybe I’ll even lend you some gear to destroy Organization Zetsubou once and for all.

...

An enticing offer, but what exactly is it that you need us to do for you?

Unfortunately, I can’t say that directly. I need to know if you’re well and truly up to the task. Not just in terms of abilities, but in terms of how far you’re willing to go.

Well, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to rescue those kids that got taken at the camp. But I can’t say the same for my cohorts. THEY have standards.

Exactly. If you want to know what I know, then I suggest you make your way to a place called the Walkie-Talkie.

The Walkie-Talkie?

Yes. It’s placed at the top of a high-rise flat, and serves as a social gathering hub. People come and go and make business deals and also friends there. However, others tend to use it as a front for illicit dealings and otherwise.

I see...so your target is that place?

No...My target is something much bigger...

Huh?

But it is true that place is hiding some secrets. More will be revealed there. I’ve just uploaded the necessary data to this PC, so do with that what you will. I’ll be going now. 404 out.

Wha-Hey!

*Before Kuripa can stop him, 404 disappears from the screen.

Piss!

*He stops the recording, swipes the laptop and hurries back to the camper.

[uncleweed]

Interview with Nanao Sakaki, poet and godfather of Japanese Hippies

by DC in Minami Izu (Southern Izu Peninsula), Japan, 1/16/04 --------written and posted on 6/04/04

to interviews         Japan Stories   See photo of Nanao at end of interview

Nanao Sakaki link page

Finding the Conch - the Japan story leading up to this story.

Here and Nanao

"O Jama shimasu," I apologized for being a bother, a standard expression one says when visiting in Japan. It's a little more literally true when one shows up unannounced to visit someone you haven't seen in more than a decade and who may not remember you standing there inside their home with a backpack and nowhere else to go. "Surprise," I said meekly.

"Good! good!" Nanao said in English, "I like surprises! Nothing happens here so we very much appreciate your bringing us a great surprise!" He uses a lot of exclamation marks when he talks which I'll omit as I find their excessive use on paper to be irritating.

Kenji stood by the door, letting me take care of myself. I announced my name to remind Nanao. I hoped he would remember it, but I knew he'd welcome anyone who walked through the door.

He repeated my name a few times with emphasis and throwing his head back as if to reminisce, "Yes, yes, a great Zen man comes to visit. You must stay and talk and drink." He looked pretty spry for eighty-one – that’s what Hiro and Nado had said his age was. A long-haired young man came down the packed dirt-floored hall and greeted Kenji and was introduced to me as Nakagawa-san. He got out four cups but Kenji begged out. I thanked him for his kindness, something I'd be doing a lot of for the next two weeks, and he was off.

Nanao asked how long had it been and I said I thought that the last time we'd met was at his trailer in the pine woods of Arroyo Seco, a hamlet at 9000 feet on the side of a mountain above Taos, New Mexico. That was more than twenty years past. I was on a late morning walk coming back from waterfall viewing with a long-red bearded friend from the early Tassajara days named Bob who worked at Dwayne Hopper's Western art gallery called the Buffalo Dancer and with Dwayne's brother who owned another gallery in Taos. I reminded Nanao he’d served the three of us green tea on a stump table with stump chairs and when I’d asked him what he was doing up there he’d said dramatically, "Some days I go to deep mountain to chant Buddhist sutra. Sometimes I visit peyote road man. Some days I wander around like a stupid fool."

"Do you still go to deep mountain to chant Buddhist sutra?" I asked noting his sinewy frame. He looked as if he’d still be hard to keep up with.

"Sometimes walk up hillside behind us," he said. "Always I'm a stupid fool."

We went behind a curtain to a former pig sty now with a wooden floor, wall hangings, a large low table, and an iron stove in front of which they insisted I take a cushion – the honored position. The warmth of the stove did a good job in countering the cold gusts that I assumed blew in only through openings between the boards on the wall - until I noticed later when I went outside to pee that there were rather large openings in the walls of some sections on the opposite side of the hallway – large enough for say, a pig to get through. I said it was sort of like the barn I'd moved into back home but even funkier. "We are barn people," said Nanao.

"How's Ryuho doing," he asked?

Ah, hippie monk Ryuho Yamada. I shook my head and said, "Oh, he has had cancer for some years now."

"Oh, that's too bad. What type?"

"Colon," I said. He didn't understand and I didn't know the word in Japanese so I said, "shiri" patting my butt. Nanao nodded and sighed.

I said that Clay and I had visited with Ryuho and his wife Mayumi in Berkeley the night before we left on our trip to Texas back in July. People were always taking care of Ryuho and for some reason they were ensconsed in a wonderful old redwood mansion in the hills. I'd thought he was in Carmel near Tassajara and intended to visit after our annual ten days stint as students at Tassajara, but there I learned he was back in the Bay Area so we drove back up to see him before continuing down south. I suspected this was my last chance to see him. And Clay's. Clay had met him before and found him intriguing. Ryuho was weak and thin, but in good spirits and had lived much longer than anyone expected, the result, he said, of all the years of physical and medicinal therapy and attention to diet. I told Nanao he was probably not with us any more though I hadn't received any word in emails. Nanao, Ryuho, and I had spent some time together in walking around San Francisco and we made vague comments about that.

There was shochu again and Nakagawa made us brown rice and vegetables which we ate with chopsticks he’d made from local wood. And Nanao and I talked about other people we'd known, including all those from the night before with Hiro.

Nanao asked if I ever saw his best American friend, Gary Snyder, and I said that we'd said hello when we bumped into each other and had spoken on the phone a few times over the years when I had some question he could answer about early California Zen history, but that was all. Nanao said Snyder had visited him the year before but that they’d taken no long hikes as they once did in the mountainous wilderness of California and Alaska. He asked about Richard Baker and I said he was teaching in his monastery in Crestone Colorado and in Germany about half and half, still going strong despite some health problems, and married to a young German princess.

"Oh, Baker Roshi married into royalty?" he asked.

"More like she married out of it."

"And how is Ryuho," he asked? It had been twenty minutes since we'd talked about that and we'd been drinking a little bit and I guessed it had slipped his mind.

"He has cancer, " I said. "He's had it a number of years."

"What type of cancer?" he said concerned.

"Shiri," I said, patting my butt.

After this had happened a few more times, Nakagawa looked up at Nanao and told him it was the fifth time we'd gone over this. Nanao wasn't fazed. "Kenbosho," he said. "I have kenbosho." I asked if that meant senility or Alzheimer's and he wasn't exactly sure. But he was quite cheerful about it.

"Ah, kenbosho is very good," he said. "No need to remember anything anyway. My mind is becoming more empty and free every day! This is a very good thing. I like kenbosho very much."

Nakagawa's comment did seem to work though because Nanao didn't ask about Ryuho again.

"Can you remember things further back pretty well," I asked?

"Little by little I forget everything, but I remember too much still."

"Well then," I said, "How about telling me the story of your life and let’s see how much you can remember. I interview people for the oral history of the early Zen Center times when Suzuki Roshi was alive. I don't have a tape recorder and I don't want to take notes but I'll remember what's of critical importance for future generations."

"Very well," he said, "the story of my life. Hmm. What is that? Let's see. In the beginning I was born a little innocent baby – in Kagoshima. And even though Kagoshima is on the south end of Kyushu which is the southernmost island of Japan – not counting Okinawa which is Japan that is not Japan. Even though it was so hot there in Kagoshima, it snowed quit a bit."

"It snowed in Kagoshima?"

"Yes, very great snow, very deep. And very gray."

"Oh," I said, realizing what he meant.

"The snow where I lived came from the mountain and not from the sky and I would play in it and breath it as a boy." He went on. "I have great respect for volcano and enjoy very much the volcanic snow. It is more pervasive than snow from sky which melts. Sometimes for weeks it was everywhere - all over the streets and cars and coming in the homes and stores. Very stubborn. It gets into your motors and ball point pens and underwear."

He went on. Even though he was not a bad student, at the age of twelve Nanao decided not to go to the next level of school and, as it was not uncommon for a young person to start a profession at that age, got a job as an office boy in the local department of education. There he learned to use the soroban which we call an abacus which is a Greek word. Wonder how that came to be? They still use these in Japan and they tend to win competitions over electronic calculators. Like nimble kids today with computer games, he soon was able to move the beads on that ancient Asian calculator with blurring speed. And he was accurate. In time he was auditing the finances of all the schools around Kagoshima. The local newspaper did an article on him. At sixteen he moved to Tokyo where he continued to do office and soroban work.

Then at seventeen it was time for Nanao to go into the military which all young men did at that age because Japan was engulfed by militarism – had been so increasingly since before he was born. All he knew was Japan and living in a society run by the army. He choose the navy which was the most progressive branch of the armed forces. He was already feeling inside the rise of anti-establishment sentiment and that was the best he could do. He asked to be assigned to radar because he was interested in science and had gathered that radar technicians got to learn a lot of science. His wish was granted.

It was 1939 and Japanese forces were mainly in China, Taiwan, and Korea, but before long they had attacked Pearl Harbor and invaded Malaysia and Indonesia. Nanao was stationed somewhere on the southern island of Kyushu where he had grown up. He would spend a great deal of time looking at radar screens with nothing much happening. but eventually America started to bomb them so his job became much more important and interesting. But still he’d get stir crazy in his concrete underground bunker just looking at that radar screen. So sometimes he’d take a break and go outside – even when they were being bombed. Actually, that was the easiest time to take a break because then he’d already told them what was coming and from where and everyone would be busy shooting antiaircraft guns or running for cover. If it was peaceful and sunny out, say the type of day that would be perfect for a picnic of seaweed and octopus, he’d have to be hunkered down in the bunker minding his screen. Japan had become terribly stretched toward the end of the war so his schedule was rather full, mainly consisting of being on duty and sleeping.

Most of the communication he had with others in those bunker hunkered days was electronic – voice or codes over wires – and people were busy dodging ordinance and having their world come to an end so no one paid much attention when he started growing a beard. He was mostly by himself looking at his screen, his beard growing and eventually becoming quite long. Not all Japanese men can grow long beards but some can, due possibly to an extra bit of Ainu blood (Ainu being the original and Caucasian inhabitants of Japan who are the hairiest people on earth).

One day Nanao went out to get some sunlight and stretch his legs amidst the crashing of bombs and cacophony of antiaircraft rounds and spraying of machine gun bullets from strafing planes, all of which he’d become accustomed to, when a small American fighter got so close to him that for the briefest moment he could see the face of the pilot and the pilot had a big red beard.

So there was Nanao with his long beard and the fighter pilot with his long beard zooming close by and they looked at each other. And then the pilot circled back around and swooped down even closer and they waved at each other and he flew off – the pilot, not Nanao. But he’d too be gone soon for the war was almost over.

I told Nanao that his story reminded me, except for all the bombs and bullets, of an experience that Clay and I had driving into Death Valley the previous February. It was ski week and I had taken him skiing, well actually snowboarding, at other times, but the slopes would be sort of busy then so we went to Death Valley which I love visit. On the way we pulled off and drove down a rocky road to a vast scenic view of the valley, not yet Death valley, below and the rocky sandy ridge way way beyond and then Death Valley beyond that – and lots of wide sky. An added bonus for guys like Clay and me of going to just about any desert in America is that there are air bases nearby and testing grounds and stuffed aliens and whatnot and on this particular day we could hear jets zooming over and as we stood there looking over this extremely expansive valley there was another one coming from the distance. Now the airplane that went by Nanao was a lot more threatening than the one approaching us, but ours was a fighter jet going at incredible speed. It went right over us and then, swooping off to our right, circled way way around down into the lowlands in the distance and then, returning upward across the mountain ridge before us veered back and dipped down into the valley to our left and it came right up where we were and almost seemed to hover within reach for a second. It was a rare experience of astounding power and we could almost see the pilot’s face but surely didn't as it happened so quickly and noisily. It was so amazing and the pilot was obviously playing with us. We waved.

After the war, Nanao returned to Tokyo and got a job in publishing and worked there for a year or so and then, realizing he didn’t like that sort of life, decided that he would rather live with the bums in Shinjuku. So he did. He just quit working and started living out on the street. He liked the people and the lifestyle there. He’d sit out on the sidewalk or in a park and watch people go by and write poetry. And he’d walk. He really got into walking and he walked and walked in the city and then he walked out of the city. With Tokyo that takes a while. He walked on to the next city and then to another and another. He kept it up for years and went all over Japan, even visited Okinawa and eventually found a small island that he liked for two reasons: it was almost uninhabited though people came to visit and it was volcanic. Its name was Suwanose and there he founded a commune and they built homes and farmed. I looked it up on the Internet and found it was near Kagoshima where he was born (though I'd thought he said it was near Okinawa). It has one of the most active volcanoes on earth. They stopped an airport from being built there to destroy the isolated natural beauty that the tourists in the planes would come in to see. That's the first thing I remember hearing about him back in the sixties before we'd met, and reading, I think, a poem he'd written about it - that he was the founder of a hippie commune on an island in the south of Japan and that they were trying to stop an airport from being built there.

Nanao’s reputation spread and in the sixties when Allen Ginsberg went to Kyoto to visit Gary Snyder, they were told they had to meet Nanao so they did and they all became fast friends and they invited him to go to America which he did. He spent about ten years in America – in San Francisco and New Mexico and in the mountains and desserts. A friend of mine who knows Nanao says that Nanao walked from New York to California and back and forth a number of times and up to Alaska and so forth. All the walking stories I've heard about Nanao seem to me to add up to more miles than one could cover in a lifetime. But whatever he's walked, it's been one whole heck of a lot.

Folks at the SF Zen Center got to know Nanao because he never had a place of his own or any money so one of the communal houses near Zen Center would take him in as an honored guest. But he just wrote poetry and philosophized and didn’t tend to do the dishes so, after a while, he’d be passed on to another Zen Center house or hippy commune. And he’d write poetry and publish books and go to events like be-ins and concerts. He didn't always get his way. Kyokes in Kyoto was working at an environmental center on Yoshida mountain by the Yoshida shrine on the West side of the city - the same place where landscaper and Nanao buddy Sogyu is now. They were running a little hostel there a few years ago at quite reasonable rates and Nanao showed up and wanted a room for free and thought his name would do for legal tender but she said he'd have to pay like everyone else so he went off and found somewhere else.

Nanao has visited the commune on Suwanose through the years and says there are still about ten families living there and farming beneath the volcano. He's traveled to Europe and to Asian countries other than Japan and the South Seas. He’s been back to America. He was married a couple of times and had many lovers through the years, has two sons in the northern island of Hokkaido now and one who says he’s Nanao’s son who’s in the Bay Area and who Nanao would be happy to meet. And he has a daughter in Seattle who was due to have twins before long. He plans to come visit in the spring of this year. Maybe his plane is landing now. Or maybe he walked.

I told him I remembered a poem he had years before given me a photocopy of that talked about how much environmental damage Japan had done to itself - cementing creeks all over, cementing the coastline. I had an image of the coast cemented but I said that I'd lived in Japan since then and came to realize that he was probably talking in that poem about all the tetrahedrons, or what we called tetrahedrons lining the beaches and stacked out in the water to prevent erosion. A tetrahedron is a three dimensional shape composed of four triangular faces, but somehow that came to be what we called large cement forms of any shape that were piled in the ocean - sometimes stretching straight out into the sea, sometimes running along with the coastline. They were everywhere on Japan's circumference. And so were cemented creeks and sides of rivers and dams in creeks and rivers. A nation with unquestioned engineers gone crazy we agreed. I told him that I'd long had the idea to create a coffee table book of this phenomena. There were many different shapes and configurations of the tetrahedrons. Some of the cement objects were like jacks - star shaped. Maybe some were even tetrahedron shaped. I asked him what the book should be called. We agreed on "The Way of Cement." So the idea had started with just having a coffee table book on the "tetrahedrons" along the coastline but had expanded into cemented creeks, damns, sidewalks, buildings - all the many impressive examples of how cement has been used in Japan.

Speaking of which means writing of books, Nanao has three poetry books listed on Amazon.com: Let's Eat Stars, Break the Mirror: the Poems of Nanao Sakaki (with illustrations by Gary Snyder)- out of print, and Real Play: Poetry and Drama (Tooth of Times)- out of print.He translated poems by Issa Kobayashi and that book is called Inch by Inch: 45 Poems by Issa (La Alameda). There's a book by Gary Lawless with many contributions from various people on Nanao called Nanao or Never: Nanao Sakaki Walks Earth A. I don't understand the "Earth A" part but the title gave me the idea for the title of this piece. These books are published by Blackberry except the two otherwise noted. 

I gave Nanao a copy of To Shine One Corner of the World: Moments with Shunryu Suzuki and of course signed it. It's a good book to give foreigners because it's all little vignettes. I told him how I still interviewed people for the oral history of the Suzuki days and that I'd write up something on our conversation and put it on my web site. And I asked him if he'd ever met Suzuki.

Nanao said, "Yes. I met him two times. Both times were at the Zen Center on Page Street in San Francisco. The first time Richard Baker took me. He introduced us. I said 'hi' and he said 'hi.'

"In English?"

"Yes. Everyone else was speaking English and we could too. And hi is not so difficult English."

"Suzuki Roshi loved to say 'hi,'" I said. "He said it a lot. I think it always had a little bit of the Japanese 'hai' in it - you know, yes in Japanese. There was always a lot of hai yes and hi hello and they were mixed together and had a sort of positive 'gambate,' go-for-it, encouraging sort of feeling.

"Yes," he said, and repeated the word a few times. And then, "Hello - we will do it!"

"So you said 'hi' and then?"

"That's all. Just hi. It was enough. I could see his great spirit and he could see me. And the second time I met him was when he was dying. Gary Snyder took me and we visited him. And we had exactly the same conversation we'd had before. Just 'hi' and 'hi' and we bowed our heads a little."

"So you and Suzuki Roshi had two meetings over the years and the sum total of what you said to each other in both meetings was four words - actually, one word four times?"

"Yes. It was just right. I am so happy to have met him. He was a great teacher for America."

Finding the Conch - the Japan story leading up to this story.

[oldirontender]

i can only find aeg but i got gordon and hiro

THEYRE SO FUICKING CUTE

[hyuganejiswife]

Dandelions | Shino Aburame X GNReader

Masterlist | Part 1 / Part 2

| self indulgent, if anyone has any good Shino fics, send em my way please, reader is Kiba’s older sibling

Word Count: 1384

Your mother, Tsume, had forced your younger brother to invite his teammates over for dinner, the young man complaining the whole time before they had even arrived at the designated time. He didn’t want to risk being embarrassed by his sister, Hana, or by you if you would even be there to begin with. Which, as far as he was concerned, you were still out on your mission with your own hound and Akamaru’s older brother, Akahiro.

Kiba sighs with his head in hands, Akamaru sleeping in his jacket as his mother and older sister go on and on about many embarrassing stories and how you would practically torment your younger brother. Hana’s own companions were sleeping soundly beneath the dining table much to Hinata's amusement. “Mom! Tell Hana to knock it off! Both of you! It’s not funny!”

Hinata giggles and covers her mouth, finding the similarities between the three to be quite amusing especially when Hana stands to scold the man for talking to their mother that way.

“Ah, I sure do miss being home…” You laugh as you step in the door, your large black hound, Akahiro slipping in behind you. Silence falls over the room and Hinata looks at you surprised, noticing the scrapes on your face and arms as you had just returned a few days early. Much to her and Shino’s surprise, Kiba is the one jumping up to greet you, throwing his arms around you and showing them just how much of a caring younger brother he really was for the middle sibling that is you. Even if you two butted heads, you were still his best friend.

You laugh a bit and pat his head like you would a dog’s, ruffling his hair playfully. “I sure missed you too, little brother.” You look past him at his friends and clear your throat, “Are you gonna introduce me to your friends or what?”

As he suddenly remembers who’s there, he quickly steps back and puts on his tough guy act again, clearing his throat. “Right,” he leads the way in and you plop down into the empty seat beside Shino, slouching in the chair and letting out a breath of relief when your aching feet finally catch a break. “That’s Shino and this is Hinata.”

You hum and look at all the food laid out before you, not showing too much interest in meeting them as your stomach growls. “Yeah, nice to meet you- Ow!” You wince and bring a hand to the back of your head following your mother’s hit. With one look from her, you sigh, putting on your best manners as you properly greet your brother’s teammates. “I’m Y/N, the middle child. Nice to meet you. Just got back from a mission and I’m starving, am I allowed to eat now?”

“I’ve heard so much about you!” Hinata is the only one between the two to speak up, “Go ahead, don’t let us keep you from enjoying your dinner. I’m sure you’re hungry. What was your mission? What ranking was it?”

“B-rank. Just some basic tracking. Old Akahiro is the best for that!” You laugh and point at your hound who had taken an interest in the man beside you, pressing his snout against the man’s arm. “Hiro, back off would ya! Give the man some space.”

Shino seemed tense at how close the hound was, he was practically vibrating from his bugs, unsure of the hound’s intentions. His gaze flickers up to yours, though you can’t really tell where he’s looking purely because of his glasses. You cringe a bit when Akahiro drools on the man’s leg and you stand up, ordering the dog outside if he wasn’t going to listen to you.

When Akahiro disappears from your sight, Akamaru curiously manages to follow after him, you apologize and pass a few napkins to Kiba’s friend. Shino thanks you quietly before speaking up, “Were you seen by the medical team before coming here?”

The table falls silent and you narrow your eyes, “Of course I was!” Your mother had locked onto you, very much intrigued by the challenge from the man beside you. Hana sits back in her chair and crosses her arms, waiting for the shit show of a scolding you were definitely going to get from your mother.

He shakes his head, letting out a soft huff of disapproval, as if he could tell that you were lying. “I was only wondering. You’ve been favoring your left shoulder since you walked in the door. You winced in pain when Kiba hugged you. You haven’t once lifted your left hand higher than a few inches and you haven’t even moved your arm. I would go as far as to guess that you have some kind of shoulder injury, perhaps a dislocation.”

How did he know this? How had he paid so much attention? You had planned on being seen! Of course you did! You just wanted some of your mom’s good old home cooked dinner. “Why you little brat!”

At the sound of your full name, you tense up and are immediately grabbed by your right shoulder, your mom dragging you to the door so she could force you to the hospital herself to have your shoulder set. Shino laughs, dipping his mouth behind the collar of his jacket at the sight of you being handled and talked to like a child, taking a great deal of joy following your dog’s drool drenching his pants leg.

On your way out the door, you turn your head, yelling at the man when you heard him laughing, reminding him that you had enhanced hearing and that you’d track him down for revenge now that you had his scent too.

Kiba gawks and looks over at Shino, “Dude, you’re so dead.”

By the time you’d returned home with your mom, Hana had packed the remainder of dinner away and was ready to be heated back up for you upon your arrival home. She was in the yard training with her three canines and Kiba with Akamura, his friends watching the two siblings goat it, showing off their different skills.

Akahiro had been awaiting your return, your heart swelling at the sight of your hound laying in a patch of dandelions. Your arm was now in a sling and when Akahiro sees you, he whines in disapproval. “I’m alright, Hiro. No need to worry about me.” You sit beside him, lowering yourself carefully, sighing as you rake your good hand through his fur. “I’ll be good as new in no time! I promise!”

Akahiro felt guilty that you were hurt in the first place, this much you know. He was radiating guilt and it was almost as if you could smell it on him. He should have and could have been there to protect you and he wasn’t.

Shino watches your interaction quietly, Hinata picking up on this as well as a single bug flies from his jacket and lands on the back of your canine. You glance back at it curiously before you climb to your feet, thinking nothing of it and not knowing it was sent over to listen in a little better by Shino himself.

As you head inside to get something to eat, Akahiro following after you, you pause in front of the pair. You attempt to meet Shino’s gaze but you don’t even know if he’s looking at you at this point. “Just you wait until my arm heals. I’ll come and kick your ass for outing me like that!”

Shino peers at you over his glasses and your eyes widen in surprise, your mouth opening and closing before you stay silent waiting for him to finally say something. “I’ll be waiting then. I never back down from a challenge.” And just like that his eyes are hidden away again.

You huff turning to Akahiro who you can only hope looks at least a little bit threatening. You frown, notice lumps of the dandelions stuck in his fur. “You’re supposed to look menacing and you look like a flower prince right now, Hiro!” You sigh in disappointment, shaking your head and heading into the house once more, Shino watching your every move until you’re out of his line of sight.

[maximumcheese]

Cards - Where to Go with no Answers 2

Hiiro: …My bad. Maybe I should have saved a seat before I picked up my food tray.

Mayoi: The seats have really all filled up in just the last couple minutes… Would you like me to try going around the cafeteria looking for any available seats?

Hiiro: No, that doesn’t seem to be necessary anymore. Look.

Aira: Hiro-kun, Mayo-san~! Over here, over here!

Mayoi: Aira-san and Tatsumi-san…♪ I see the two of you are already having lunch together.

Tatsumi: I had planned to make something at Seisou Hall, but there were no ingredients available, so we ended up going to ES, as you can see.

But thanks to that, we are able to have lunch with both of you. It’s all thanks to that nearly empty fridge. ♪

Hiiro: Yes! Thank you fridge!

Aira: Well, the food at the cafeteria is good and the menu is varied, so. And it's easy on the wallet, too.

But I lo~ve Tatsun-senpai’s food, too! I hope you make something for me again, another time. ♪

Tatsumi: It's no problem. If I can see your happy faces, I'll do it with all my heart.

Aira: Come on, come on, sit down, you two. Tell us your opinions on this, too.

Mayoi: Opinions? On what?

Tatsumi: Actually, Aira-san and I are setting up plans for the future.

Aira: Well, we had good results in the R2 the other day, right?

That’s why I thought it’d be a good idea to treat ourselves a bit.  I was discussing with Tatsun-senpai about going somewhere with just the four of us.

Mayoi: Indeed, the other day in R2, everyone's singing voices were smooth, the dancing was sharp, and there were no mistakes… It was a great performance, wasn’t it.

Ufufu. It’s so cute that you want a “treat”, Aira-san…♪

Hiiro: Yes! Aira is cute!

Aira: Hiro-kun, you can’t just piggyback onto what your seniors say, you know?

Tatsumi: …Well that’s the situation now. I was talking with Aira-san about possible autumn tourist destinations that we could easily visit.

Aira: Anyway, I've listed a few candidates, but out of all of them, this is the one that I’d like to go to the most.

Look, look, isn’t it pretty? ♪ (shows his phone screen)

Hiiro: There’s a lot of pretty flowers in bloom, aren’t there?

Mayoi: Is that place…It’s a botanical garden, isn’t it?

Aira: You’re almost right, Mayo-san!

This place is very popular among young women and couples now! Of course, you can also go visit with family, but it’s a pleasant flower garden, you see. ♪

Hiiro: —What is a “Flower Garden”?

Aira: What's more! This flower garden is also the place where Knights performed about a year ago!

That's why idol fans visit so many times, it's like a so-called holy land. ♪

Hiiro: …He ignored me (looks at Mayoi’s face)

Mayoi: Th-There, there…? (shyly pats Hiiro’s head)

Mayoi: Hah, hahiah. Is it okay for me to comfort him like this? Is it okay for me to comfort Hiiro-san when he’s all sad and cute like this?

Aira: What do you mean by “sad and cute”? Just, listen to what I have to say.

Tatsumi: …Fufu. When all four of us are together, even a little chaotic conversation can be fun. ♪

I think it’s fine. I’m listening to what you have to say, and even if Hiiro-san’s gaze is focused on Mayoi-san, getting his head pat, there is no one to blame him if he is to do so.

Mayoi: I am forgiven…! (without hesitation, he pats Hiiro’s head)

Hiiro: Fufu, that’s a little ticklish, huh. (still getting his head pat)

Tatsumi: —Well then. The park that Aira-san is showing us is colored with lush greenery and seasonal flowers…Well, the flower garden, that is.

This time of year, the autumn roses seem to be at their best. Is that right, Aira-san?

Aira: Yeah! There’s lots of pics uploaded on social media, it’s super pretty~ ♪

Hiiro: “The flowers and greenery cured me, a very lovely park.” “All the flowers were well taken care of and there was plenty to see.”

Aira: Hey, It’s got a high rating and good reviews, right?

It’s a huge garden, so even if there’s only a few people, or a big crowd, it should be okay. Even Mayo-san should be able to take it easy there.

Mayoi: Aira-san… Thank you for taking me into consideration.

Aira: Since we're all going together as Alkaloid, it's only natural that we should make it a place where everyone can have fun. What do you think, Hiro-kun?

Hiiro: Yes, I have no objection. I'd just be happy to see all the beautiful flowers and greenery that we don't have many opportunities to see in the city. ♪

Tatsumi: Well then, we’ve made our decision.

Let’s rent a car and head to the flower garden… I’ll take the burden of driving us there. ♪

Mayoi: Ugh, car is scary, car is scary, car is scary!?

Aira: I-I’ll check the public transportation options right now, okay! Tatsun-senpai, you might not get the chance to drive, okay~?

We’ll think about transportation some other time! Hiro-kun and Mayo-san, what were you doing together anyways?

← previous

next →

[yuufujimaru]

Thanks for your story. I really am enjoying it. I have one question and one story request. Who is in relationships? If there are spoilers feel free to skip, but I am curious if I have figured some out implied ones? I keep debating if it is supposed to be ship tease or good friendship. Even if it is obvious like Hiro's. Also the story request is Lilia's reaction to Silver taking his last name. Silver didn't claim it at the feast in the beginning so it happened while at Hogwarts. Thank you again.

Story request below!

Relationships!

Floyd/Azul/Jade: They are all they have in the Coral Sea and while they have friends in Night Raven once they head back to the sea they need to establish themselves and it will be a while before they can go back.

Jamil/Kalim: It's complicated but they are working on it, it's mostly Kalim that is really trying to change and Jamil trying to understand him

Hiro/Crewel: They Fuck, very obvious and very, very noticeable they are dating.

Anymore you have feel free to tell me the implied ones you thought of, other than that they are good friendships! I tend to write without much thought and sometimes implied things get put in their because of the flow of my writing.

All this Pomp.

Lilia never understood it, not even after becoming the most decorated war hero in the Valley.

He hated it with a passion to be quite frank and with that he had decided that once the official first dance was finished he was going to make it a proper dance for him and his sweet boy.

His boy...Silver..

He shifted in spot as Yuu's godfather began to grill the idiot of a minister, the former war hero smirking into his drink as he looked about to piss his pants...quite the sight indeed. He chuckled just as the first of the champions began to enter, smirking at the sight of people gasping at the Granger girl, happy that she looked confident and that Yuu followed his advice on attempting to make peace with the girl before he left.

He knew it would eat the boy up.

Sighing he took another drink of his fruit punch as Trey and Fleur entered the girl smiling at her partner who patted her arm in assurance as they took their spot on the dance floor.

They where a good match, but Lilia knew that Trey saw her as another sister figure and he would let her down gently.

They weren't staying and he wasn't to lead on one after all.

"Hoo boy," Cater smirked as Harry and his date entered, Lilia snorting along with Vil and Leona as they looked at the boy who looked so confused and lost.

Like a puppy.

He felt a bit bad for him really, but then again he and Yuu never did get along and the boy was a bit air headed so...eh. You get what you get.

Lilia leaned back next to Sebek and Malleus, eyes narrowed as Cedric entered, the boy having ignored Yuu for the last few months despite them supposedly being good friends.

He would need to talk to the boy about it later, their separation was not handled correctly and he was not going to let it slide.

Now for his boy and Yuu-

“Yuu Fujimaru and Silver Vanrouge!”

Lilia froze, Sebek turned to him with a big smile like he knew about it and Malleus smiled into his drink as Lilia locked eyes on his boy's body.

Silver...Vanrouge?

Vanrouge.

Vanrouge.

His last name.

He took his last name.

His boy finally took his last name.

Lilia felt a smile break out onto his face as Malleus clapped him on the back and he turned to him, his smile seemingly etched on as he blushed happily, elated for the first time in forever.

"From the day you brought him to the Castle to now, he has always been a Vanrouge, but these people gave him the push he needed to finally accept that YOUR name is HIS," Malleus told him, Lilia feeling tears welling up in his eyes as the accusations of him ...stealing ...bewitching ...charming Silver to be his son came back. He had never seen Silver so angered and upset, he had yelled for the first time in years, had threatened bodily harm..

Lilia had tried to calm the boy down and offer to do tests, but Silver had always refused; saying they had nothing to prove as he was his father and he was going to show them all.

And he did.

"That's...that's my son," he nodded, happy as the dance ended and they bowed before their partners.

"And that's my little brother," Malleus smiled, stepping back as Lilia turned to his son who was speaking to Yuu.

Well...time to do his fatherly duties!

He noted Luna and Floyd heading out onto the dance floor and snickered at the sight of them trying to keep up with the...floof of the night.

“They are so cute together,” Lilia snickered as he popped beside the champion and partner, looking at Floyd and Luna who were struggling to keep up with the pomp before Lilia had enough. “Time to crash this old fest,” he snickered as Silver groaned. He locked eyes with his son, winking before heading to the stage; he knew his boy would follow him.

“Old Man,” he hissed, following him as he reached the stage and began to play the bass.

"Yes my son," he smiled, just as Cater came up. "...I love you."

"...I love you to father," Silver smiled, stepping back as he began to play in earnest with Cater and Kalim.

What a wonderful this was shaping out to be!