#as well as Kazuki's but the point is that she's away from them now and therefore an easy target

[oftheblue]

Spoilers for buddy daddies episode 10 (do not read if you haven't watched yet)

I just got a horrible thought: Imagine... Rei's father, wanting to test Rei's loyalty to the organization and "family" once and for all, gives him an assignment to finish. When Rei opens the file, he sees the targets. Unasaka Misaki and Unasaka Miri.

[dk-wren]

Saw Lily's newest BD art and had a cuteness overload. I couldn't resist writing something, but only had about an hour to throw it together. Anyways, I needed a break between all my coursework to finally work on a (quick) fic again. I hope you enjoy!

New Friend - inspired by Lily_20210401's art and this post from @/grelleswife.

“Oi, Miri, look over there,” Kazuki whispers into Miri’s ear, bending down to her height as she holds onto Papa Rei’s hand.

“Where, Papa?”

“A little further up the path,” Kazuki points ahead. Unable to hear what Kazuki said, but curious, Rei focuses his attention in the general direction his husband’s pointing at.

Whining a little bit, Miri whispers back, “Papa Kazu, I don’t see anything. Show me again!”

Chuckling, Kazuki stands back up and tells Miri, “Hold on, I think if we’re quiet enough and slow enough we won’t scare them off.”

Finding what Kazuki was trying to bring to Miri’s attention, Rei plays along, adding, “We’ll have to use our tippy toes to not to be caught by anything lurking in this park. You think you can do that, Miri?”

Miri shakes her head and raises herself slightly onto her tippy toes, looking between Rei and Kazuki for her next mission directions. Kazuki raises a finger to his lip and quietly starts to move forward, with Rei and Miri following close behind.

As they slowly walk down the park’s pathway, Miri cranes her neck to look ahead at what Kazuki was trying to bring to her attention. Soon enough, she lets out a little gasp that can be heard throughout the empty park. In an excited whisper, Miri announces, “Papa Kazu! Papa Rei! Bunny!”

A smile breaks across Rei’s face while Kazuki leans in once more. “Looks like somebunny wanted to greet you on our morning walk.”

With a giant grin breaking across her face, Miri inches closer to the bunny. The bunny has a brown coat and grayish ears, standing up in attention, likely to detect if the three humans approaching are a threat or not. The smaller size of the bunny suggests it may still be a baby, causing Miri, Kazuki, and Rei to be extra careful as they approach.

Kazuki and Rei walk closer to the bunny than Miri, knowing how to keep their footsteps quiet, light, and most importantly, non-threatening. Not wanting to scare away the bunny, Miri peaks around Rei’s leg for an even closer look.

As the bunny begins to move its head back and forth, looking at the crowd gathered before them, Miri gives a little wave as the bunny’s gaze seems to land on her.

“Oh, Miri, I think it recognizes another of its kind,” Kazuki teases, looking between the bunny and his daughter, who’s wearing a purple, fluffy poncho.

Rei uses one hand to bring Miri’s hood up so the bunny ears attached to the hood of her poncho became visible to the real bunny. “There you go. Now there’s no doubt you two will become friends.”

After a few minutes of the trio looking at the bunny, with only the sounds of nature and the occasional passing car breaking their silence, Miri asks, “Can we keep her?”

With a fake exasperation, Kazuki reminds Miri, “You want a pet bunny? Miri, we have two cats at home. Besides, I don’t know how well they’d get along with a bunny, considering they like to scratch all our furniture and think everything is a toy.”

Miri pouts a little while looking back down at the bunny, who is slowly making its way to the edge of the path. Lowering himself, Rei tries to make Miri understand in a different way why they cannot take home this bunny. “Miri, we can’t take this bunny because it might have a family waiting for her back in their den. We wouldn’t want to take this bunny away from her family to be with ours, right?”

“No…” Miri replies.

“Maybe in the future, we can have a pet bunny at home. But for now, let’s leave her to be and hope we cross paths again soon,” Rei suggests as the bunny disappears into the bushes.

Watching the bunny go, Miri nods her head. Rei gives Miri a quick kiss on the cheek to comfort her before rising back up and taking her hand again. Doing the same thing, Kazuki walks over to take Miri’s other hand as they resume their morning walk through the park. 

As they exit the park and turn towards home, there’s a new spring in Miri’s step. Kazuki and Rei notice this, but don’t question her in case it will cause her to feel down again. However, a few steps later, they get an answer as Miri announces, “Until we can get a pet bunny, I can pretend to be one. So you’ll have to feed me and brush my hair and give me a warm place to sleep.”

Unable to contain his laughter, Kazuki insists, “Miri, we do all those things for you…as our daughter. You don’t need to pretend to be a bunny for us to do that. But, if it means you’ll eat your carrots and veggies-”

“No! No veggies,” Miri interrupts.

Rei’s quiet chuckles join in now as Miri lets go of her papas’ hands and runs ahead a little bit to practice hopping like a bunny all the way back to their home.

[nightwalker6200]

I really think this foreshadows the rest of the season- i think we might see some hurt/ comfort from Rei/ Kazuki with the possibility of them dying in the field or getting hurt/ incapacitated. Perhaps in E8, Rei will come back hurt thus leaving Kazuki to face the idea of fatherhood on his own as we saw Rei face that possibility in E7. I also think Miri will be taken away at some point (either by SS in which Kazuki and Rei would have to figure out if they could even get her back, legally, possibly with Kyutaro’s help in forging, or check in on her from time-to-time as she goes to a “better” family; or, kidnapped as leverage thus leaving Kazuki/ Rei to find her). It would be interesting, as this could happen, with Rei being demanded to take over the family business- Rei would take this deal in order to protect both Kazuki and Miri- the Boss could demand he cut ties and his presence immediately (a breakup/ divorce, if you will). Thus, leaving Kazuki as a single parent for a while as Rei was ordered no contact and no family (I would assume if this were to happen, we’d see some montage or episode with Kazuki and Miri struggling, and Rei even more reclused or depressed- possibly deep in work; then, Miri gets kidnapped (either Kazuki will show up to the Boss’s house, pleading, or Rei will show up at his last apt), leaving Rei to make a choice- become a traitor with his father and go against him in order to find Miri, or remain in the business and leave Kazuki to deal with this on his own. Assuming Rei decides on patricide, I think we will have a huge BADASS fight scene with Rei and Kazuki showcasing their skill sets pushed to the limit. 

Also, unpopular opinion: As much as I want this to be YAOI because come on- two badass assassins protecting a sweet little daughter, I highly doubt we will ever see a Rei X Kazuki scene. 

Something else I wanted to mention- in light of the words uttered in E8 about things being taken: Happiness exists to be taken: Before Miri, the idea that either one of them had to betray or kill the other, would have meant nothing. For example, they seem to be friends who live together, or at least, “friendly” roommates (yes, there’s a difference); so, assuming Rei would have had to kill Kazuki or the other way around, then this task would have been quite easy. They saw each other every now and then, and did some stuff together, but their connections were minimal. They didn’t really mean that much to each other- so killing each other would have been like a small papercut/ annoyance. 

However, after Miri, the idea of having to kill/ betray each other would be far worse and difficult. Even if Miri were to leave the rest of the series, the connections established between Rei and Kazuki would still be there. So, if Rei were to try and come after Kazuki now, I’d assume he’d struggle with the task, perhaps even ignore the order, because he’s developed further emotional ties/ connections with Kazuki through Miri; opening himself up more and establishing himself from the Boss- becoming his own person- the same would be said for Kazuki. Killing each other now would HURT far worse, resembling a breakup or family member death- they’d break the connections between themselves that they have now- at the very least, their connections blossomed into a friendship deeper than the original (deepening every day as they are more than friends at this point; they are family); and they would hurt for Miri as she would also feel the fall out of this transaction. Killing each other or going after one another (ie. Rei targeting Kazuki and vice versa) would essentially kill Miri as well. She regards them, as they themselves, as her Papas. 

The connection between Rei and Kazuki, although might not be, nor ever be romantic, is extremely emotional and nurturing (ie. Rei saying in E8 to Kazuki: Before, you never meant that much to me) from where it originally started. If we ever see a target put on one of them for the other to carry out, i highly doubt they’d be able to finish the job (this doesn’t mean they won’t actually be able to start the job), which in turn could mean that someone else would be tasked with carrying out the hit thus causing a lot more protectiveness from either partner or confessions of guilt. Like mentioned, even if Miri were to somehow “disappear,” those connections would still remain because their memories would still be there as Rei and Kazuki are no longer friends (if they ever were) because they are now family (Miri just helps them see that a little better). 

Episode 8 spoilers discussion below:

With Rei fighting his mentor, and his mentor saying that Rei was a puppet--- that he used to be like that too until he found something to fight for (his now dead girlfriend), foreshadows, in my opinion, Rei’s possible future. We don’t see Rei react until the blade is pulled on him, leaving the real possibility that he could die or fail to kill his mentor thus leading to the Boss coming after his “family” as Rei would be marked a traitor. When he reacts, he shoves his mentor away with some newfound strength, saying he, too, found something worth protecting (Kazuki/ Miri)... This shows that although Rei might have started out a puppet, living any life the organization wanted, he no longer does now (which would mean, unless he cuts ties very quickly, he’ll be labelled a traitor too)- Rei fell in with a family of his own against/ soiling if you will, the Suwa bloodline- ironically the Boss mentions something along the lines of “we are the darkness in sunshine,” which I find extremely befitting as Rei and Kazuki are opposites (dark and light). 

Anyway, back to the main point, Rei’s mentor was basically Rei fighting his future self as he soon will be viewed a traitor, and someone will come after him to kill him. Rei is aware of this; he’s aware that if he doesn’t go back to his father, someone will come after what he loves- Kazuki and Miri. His mentor’s last words, “I’m on my way,” before he dies, is to his dead wife/ girlfriend/ partner- he was happy to die as he knew this was the only way he could be reunited with his family, the cause for his fight (Kazuki, I’m sure, feels this way for Yuko- I forgot how to spell her name- and is learning to live past it. I’m curious as Kazuki has now allowed himself to move on, and the Boss mentioning that Kazuki’s skills were adequate, just how badass he might be- he might be just as equal to Rei when it comes to assassinating, weapons, and stuff but was held back by his desire to see his dead wife/ child again). ANYWAY, the mentor’s last words, “I’m on my way,” were a slap in the face for Rei- he becomes highly aware, in this moment, that if he stays how he is, living with Kazuki and Miri, then he will inevitably get them tortured and killed, and the only way he’d ever be able to see them again (if he stays) is through his own death. 

Rei has found something worth protecting, worth fighting for, but to do so so openly in front of the organization, would mean Kazuki and Miri die (if Rei stays, he stays for his own selfish reasons, and they die; if he leaves, he does so through selfless reasons, and they live). I think Rei mentioning to Kazuki in the car that, “Before, you never meant that much to me,” was a goodbye, in a way. Rei knows in order to protect his family, in order to keep them safe, he needs to leave. Even if this decision isn’t what he wants, it’s one he’d gladly make in order to ensure Kazuki and Miri get to live. This will be, from Rei’s standpoint, his final and most open act of love for Kazuki and Miri. 

[bsd-elle]

KazuRei’s conversation on the balcony.

Their conversation in the balcony was a turning point for both of them. We see Rei smoking after a long time, which according to him, he stopped because of Miri.

And I love that Miri inspired this good habit, because throughout this conversation, he never actually smoked.

Rei winners if Miri is eating well, and he expresses genuine concern for her, and wishes her the best, whereas Kazuki doesn't even stop to consider the possibility that she isn't being treated well, because that would break his entire heart.

To know that they let her go but she's still not living a good life.

Rei says that he's planning on returning to his father's place, to which Kazuki replies that there's no point in them staying together. Which I'm just going to accept as another coping mechanism.

We've seen from past episodes that Kazuki was really concerned about Rei and the chance that he would return to his father's house, because he knows that it would be detrimental for Rei.

But now, we see him, pretty nonchalantly say that it wouldn't matter.

Kazuki, who just lost his daughter, is losing his partner, someone who has been by his side for so many years, and someone he thinks would be better off without him. Someone who wouldn't be considered his family without Miri.

He doesn't think that he can put up a fight, he doesn't think that he has any right to stop Rei, to stop their family from breaking apart.

Which is why, when Rei offers him his apartment, he declines because 'he'd like something smaller', I attribute to the fact that this apartment contains past memories of his family, one he was unable to keep.

From Rei's perspective, I just love that he offered Kazuki his apartment without a second thought, the same person who referred to Kazuki as 'couch-crasher' in the first episode, has had his apartment, his routine, his life be completely altered with a Kazuki shaped impression (and Miri shaped), with clean floors and full fridges.

I also think it was his way for Kazuki to always remember him. He knows that moving to his father's place would potentially mean that they would never see each other again, especially with Miri's absence. He knows that his father is aware of Kazuki's presence in his life, and it would be, on paper, better for him and safer for him to be away.

But he couldn't resist, throwing him his lighter, a constant reminder that Kazuki decided to take in a child, that both of them grew to love and care for, that both of them decided to give up for her safety, a child for whom Rei decided to stop smoking, and hasn't yet, to this date.

[totallyexhausted]

Sick Rei with caring Kazuki/ Miri...

Just small notes on one of the ff’s in case my computer deletes the files again (so I have like a triple backup)...

(Just random-ass notes for right now to have a back-up back-up for myself) - feel free to comment or motivate me lol jk brb crying....

Title:

Kazuki sighed as he walked through the door, his keys jingling against the lock as Miri pushes past excitedly. It’s late in the afternoon which isn’t unusual for them to come home, but today- today was rough. Everything went wrong. The French toast had burned, Miri’s drop-off was late, the weather had changed from sunny to rainy despite the forecast, the store was out of almost everything needed for dinner, and Rei- well, Rei had been a dick pretty much all day.

Moody, Kazuki would say. Not unlike Rei, but that didn’t stop the 25-year-old from fighting Kazuki every step of the way. The older asked for help which he got- eventually- in a half-ass form of quiet grumbling and slow movements. Fold the laundry. Do the dishes. Vacuum. Gather intel on their mission tonight. It wasn’t hard, and these were things Rei had been trying to improve over the past couple of weeks. But today, Rei just fought Kazuki the whole way.

Last night they’d gotten into an argument over dinner. Rei pushing his food around as Miri listed off all the exciting things she’d done in preschool that day. Playing games. Building a castle. Learning a new song. Gossiping about boys. The last one Kazuki didn’t appreciate but he let it go, assuming Anna-chan was the main culprit for “men are a mystery.”

Miri poked Rei in the ribs causing the younger man to flinch, turning towards her a few moments later, a questionable look plaster on tired features. She pointed a finger towards his plate, “You okay, Rei-Papa?”

Rei hummed before turning back towards his food, pushing a tomato around the white porcelain and resting his chin on his hand. Kazuki sighed, glancing over Rei’s features, trying to pinpoint something, anything. Truth was, Rei had been quiet all day- well, quieter than usual. He’d forgone playing his videogames halfway through the day, picking up a book that Kazuki had been reading, flipping through the pages before retreating to his room until the older had called him for dinner. …

           Ever since he turned 25 a few days prior, Rei had backed off. Retreating more to isolation and distancing himself from conversations Kazuki had come to expect from the ladder over the past three years. He hadn’t discussed what his father had wanted, and Kazuki didn’t push him. He didn’t want to know if Rei didn’t want him to- but the past couple of days had been weighing heavily, if not on Rei’s shoulders, but Kazuki’s. Something had happened. With Rei’s father. Something that Kazuki couldn’t fix- that seemed to erase the progress over the past few years. And that pissed Kazuki off.

           Rei hummed again as Miri asked another question, and Kazuki bit his lip as more food was pushed around, chopsticks scraping against glass. Rei had barely touched his food. He’d barely touched anything over the past couple of days- food, drinks, video games- even jerking away from Miri’s wild hands, and Kazuki’s gentle fingers. The 28-year-old didn’t want to pry, he really didn’t, but over the past three years, Kazuki had come to know Rei well enough to know when something was wrong. And something was.

           Rei’s chopsticks faltered, and his fingers froze as he inhaled loudly before setting the wooden utensil against the plate gently. Miri reached over, asking if she could have something from Rei’s plate, and the younger man nodded slowly, his gaze still cast on the barely touched food. Kazuki exhaled forcefully, “What’s your problem, huh?”

           The words left his mouth in a tense fashion Kazuki hadn’t known was there. He swallowed a few times as he closed his eyes, hoping they didn’t sound as harsh as they’d come across. He hadn’t meant to sound bitter- if anything he was more worried over the fact that Rei was mirroring his image from a few years ago than he was mad, but the words were twisted in his throat, dry against the concern he hoped plastered his face. But that was how the argument had started. Kazuki’s question coming out harsher than intended, his concern turning sharp and accusatory. And Rei glaring towards him.

           The 25-year-old leaned forward slightly; his eyes unwavering as he met Kazuki’s gaze. He expression cold as he cleared his throat, “Right now, you’re my problem...”

           The argument had escalated quickly and ended in Miri crying because her Papas were fighting. Kazuki had tried calming her, explaining they were just tired; and Rei had retreated to his room.

And that was the end of it. Until morning.

           Miri had insisted on filling the gaps of silence between Rei and Kazuki over breakfast; her mindless chatter usually a comfort to Kazuki, but today- today it was just a reminder of the previous night. Of Rei snapping at him. Of Rei’s attitude… and the hellish idea that after Miri was dropped at preschool, Kazuki would have to spend the whole day with someone who just wanted to be left alone.

           The 28-year-old had tried, really, to leave Rei alone as it seemed the younger wasn’t in any better spirits than before. But it was laundry day, and most of the chores he had, had become easier over the past few weeks with Rei helping him out. Besides, Kazuki tried apologizing, and Rei tried accepting it; but his part of the housework was sloppy at best. And after refolding the laundry and vacuuming again, Kazuki had given up. Clearly whatever was wrong was something Rei would have to deal with on his own… the 28-year-old would have to just leave him alone until then.

           But that was easier said than done… especially with a hyperactive 4-year-old.

           The apartment was dark when Kazuki stepped over the threshold. This wouldn’t have been as alarming considering it was raining, but it was only 15.00

           Kazuki pressed Miri against his thigh, his hand protectively forced against her shoulder blades as the little girl let out a small whine of discomfort. Kazuki knew he was being a little harsh with his grasp on her, but it was dark in here, and his internal alarms were going off. His observations skills drinking in everything his eyes could grasp, every small detail, every sound…

           If someone was here, if Rei was dead- well, Kazuki didn’t really want to finish that thought; but if Rei was dead, and that would be a big if, then his first act would be to get Miri out of here; away from the scene, the blood, away from a corpse- to protect her, to protect her innocence. But once she was safe, Kazuki was going to tear the whole damn world apart if-

           Miri squirmed against his thigh, slipping out from his grasp, and Kazuki reached for her, his fingers ghosting over her hoodie as he whispered her name. He stumbled, catching himself against the TV, his fingers reaching under the drawer, gripping for the gun locked behind the false bottom before light filled the room, and Kazuki squinted. He raised a hand, shielding his eyes as Miri pulled back the curtains, letting grey light filter through the room, rain splattering against the glass. He quickly released his grip on the gun, shoving the bottom back over the weapon and glanced around.

“Found you, Rei-Papa!” Miri shrieked as she pointed towards Rei sprawled across the couch, sleeping at an awkward angle, and Kazuki relaxed slowly. He let out a loud breath, running a hand through his blonde hair, glancing once more around the room as his eyes scanned for any hidden danger but coming up empty. There wasn’t a threat here. No one was planning on killing them… well, at least, not right now.

           “I found you! Found you! Found you! Found-”

Silence wasn’t something Miri was good at. Neither was Kazuki. Silence meant something was wrong. Silence was pain. Memories… waiting. Thoughts. Silence was thoughts that crept through cracks in the walls of memories Kazuki wanted to forget, to forgive… to leave. Silence wasn’t a comfort to him. But now, right now, silence was all he had.

              “Rei?”

             Kazuki knelt down in front of the couch, his eyes tracing over the pale features of Rei. His black hair covering most of his face as he slept, his left arm hanging off the couch, his fingers ghosting the ground.

             Kazuki smirked, running his fingers through Rei’s hair, brushing some of the black strands away from his face. He faltered, his knuckles stroking against the warmth radiating from the younger’s forehead, and the older sighed loudly. A fever. Rei was sick… or at least, felt sick. That’s why he’d been so moody today. Why he’d been distance over the past few days. He hadn’t felt well. Kazuki should have figured that out. But Rei had never really been sick in front of him. A migraine, sure. Some in-field wounds, and a few nightmares… but sick? No.

 “I found you! Found you! Found you! Found-”

 “Miri, stop… please,” Kazuki said softly, running his fingers through Rei’s hair again as the younger groaned slightly, his eyes scrunching together.

             Kazuki breathed loudly, “Hey.” Handsome.

 “It’s easier for me to leave if you hate me.”

“What?”

Sometimes even clean wounds become infected

 “Your wrist,” Kazuki said softly, his fingers ghosting over the deep three-inch cut lining Rei’s forearm. The flesh was red and angry, enflamed and hot to the touch. Infected. The wound was infected.

           Kazuki’s mind wondered to a few nights ago when… Rei had been hurt then. Kazuki should have seen; should have looked him over… but Rei didn’t want to talk and he was standing… so the thought of him being hurt, hadn’t really crossed the 28-year-old’s mind. Besides, if it was bad enough, Rei would have told him. He had learned from his mistake last year when Kazuki had taken him to the A&E before he bled to death in the shitty apartment bathroom. Blood smeared against the glass pane on the car window, Rei slumped against the door, his breathing shallow as his fingers tried gripping again at the open wound stabbed against his abdomen; and Kazuki cursed loudly as he reached over, his fingers grasping the younger’s shoulder to keep him awake…

           Rei groaned as Kazuki prodded the flesh harshly, pressing along the scabbed skin, his thumbnail digging slightly under the scab, releasing bloody puss from the swollen area. He hummed softly as Rei flinched, his head lolling against the tub before smacking against the older man’s shoulder, and the 28-year-old tightened his grip over the younger’s shoulders protectively, pulling him closer so Rei was leaning against his chest.

           “Rei,” Kazuki murmured, his voice low and soft, “The wound on your wrist is infected.” You idiot.

           Rei didn’t respond, and Kazuki tried again, shifting slightly to peer down at the younger man.

 “Okay, okay,” Kazuki started, reaching behind him, turning the knobs on the bathtub faucets. He needed to get Rei’s fever down. Get him to wake up… and then clean the wound…

 Kazuki’s left arm around Rei’s ribs to support him…

             Rei coughed weakly, turning his head slightly so his forehead pressed against Kazuki’s collarbone, and the older let out a sigh of relief as the younger man shifted. Kazuki dipped the cloth in the water again, adjusting his grip, supporting more of Rei’s weight against his shoulder as he wrung the rag over the 25-year-old’s heated back slowly. Water splashing against scarred flesh, trailing down Rei’s back in sweaty lines, disappearing beneath stilled lukewarm water. Kazuki repeated the action several times, adjusting his grip each time the younger shifted before pressing the soaked material on the back of Rei’s neck.

           Kazuki swallowed slowly; his actions hesitant as he placed a hand over Rei’s bare back, rubbing his fingers against the tension knotted across his shoulder blades, and the younger man relaxed further against him. Something moved outside the door, and Kazuki glanced towards the door, a small smirk crossing his face as he saw Miri’s shadowed back pressed against the frosted glass door. She was worried, and she had every right to be. Probably upset too as Kazuki made her sit in the hallway instead of the bathroom with him and Rei as she demanded. But despite how much she wanted to help, she’d only get in the way at the moment.

           Rei groaned again, coughing roughly as he moved a hand through the water slowly until it connected with Kazuki’s bicep. His fingers gripping at the 28-year-old’s sleeve loosely, his hand shaking before trailing back down and smacking against the water. Kazuki removed the rag from his neck and dipped it in the water once more, wringing out the excess over the younger’s back again, his shoulders, his chest. He bit the inside of his cheek as he gently uncurled Rei’s grasp on him, cupping the back of his neck and positioning the 25-year-old so he was leaning against the end of the bathtub.

           Kazuki brushed some messy black strands away from Rei’s face, mopping against the sweat covering his pale face as the younger clenched his eyes further, curling in on himself, his head turning slightly.

           “Rei?” Kazuki whispered, “You with me?”

           At first, the 25-year-old didn’t respond, and Kazuki swallowed, combing Rei’s bangs away from his forehead so he could see him better. A few minutes passed, and Miri shifted outside the door, her back pressing harshly against the glass and the sound of several small objects dropping to the wooden floor, rolling away quietly. Kazuki tried again, “Rei?”

           He ran his thumb over the younger’s temple slowly, his fingers carded through thick, messy tangles of black hair matted against heated flesh. Rei swallowed loudly before cracking his eyes open, his eyes searching for a second before landing on Kazuki leaning over the tub, his face a few inches from his. Kazuki smiled, “Hey. There he is.”

           Rei groaned, making an effort to force his body up before strong hands forced him back down gently, and the younger complied. He cleared his throat, swallowing again as water washed over him slowly, and the 25-year-old flinched as something pressed against his forehead, cheek, neck… chest. He blinked slowly, focusing on Kazuki’s movements as the older wrung out another cloth, pressing against Rei’s neck and shoulders.

           Rei coughed again, confusion eating away at his features as he pushed his hand against Kazuki’s hovering over his chest. He gulped, his eyebrows drawing together as Kazuki met his gaze, his blonde hair momentarily covering his brown eyes, and the older man smiled softly, pausing as Rei’s heated fingers covered his.

           The 25-year-old glanced around sluggishly, trying to piece together what was happening. His mind was muddled and foggy… like he’d been drugged, or he’d lost blood. Or something. Like something… His movements were weak and slow. And everything was hot. So fucking hot.

           Kazuki pressed the wet rag against Rei’s forehead gently, soaking the sweat rolling from his temple past flushed red set high on pale cheekbones. He untangled his other hand from Rei’s grasp and soaked another cloth, pressing firmly against the younger’s collarbone. The ladder made a small noise, and gripped tightly at Kazuki’s hand again, and the 28-year-old stopped.

           “No,” Rei breathed sharply, choking for a second as a dry cough made its way past his lips. His eyes fixed onto Kazuki’s as the older man held his gaze, making another attempt to move. Rei used his clasp on Kazuki to pull himself up somewhat, shoving his other hand against Kazuki’s chest harshly, preventing the ladder from moving closer to him. Kazuki faltered, wiggling his fingers, and Rei gripped tighter, his glare turning cold as he set his jaw, “No.”

           Kazuki swallowed, letting Rei clasp his fingers harder as he inched forward carefully. He exhaled lightly, a seriousness masking his features as he made sure to keep eye contact with the younger man. Rei’s features were alert- wrong, wild and fevered- but so very alert…

           “Rei,” Kazuki whispered cautiously, “Are you still with me?”

           Rei’s grip tightened, and Kazuki winced as fingernails dug into the skin on his hand, but he made no attempt to pull away. He tried again, “You’re sick. Your fever’s 40.8, remember? I need to cool you off… Please.” Please, let me help you, you idiot…

           Kazuki held his breath, biting the inside of his cheek as Rei kept his grip, his eyes searching over the older man’s face tiredly, before his grip loosened slowly, his hand falling against the water with a loud smack. The expression on Rei’s face softened slightly as realization washed over him, and he swallowed as he flopped back, water splashing against the tiled floor as he let his head fall back against the tub.

           “Sorry, Kazu,” Rei said softly, closing his eyes against the lights hanging above him as he swallowed against the dryness in mouth. Kazuki smirked, “No worries. I was more concerned I’d have to fight you… that would be hard to explain to our daughter…”

           A small smile toyed with Rei’s lips as Kazuki’s words reached him. Our daughter. Our. They weren’t dating. Nor married. Nor even hinted at some form of romantic or physical relationship, and yet Kazuki always had the audacity to describe Miri as theirs… or ours. A stupid inclusion that Rei had grown quite fond of over the past few months… He’d never really been included before, nor had he ever gone out of his way to include others.

But Kazuki had always made an effort to get Rei’s opinion on things- not that the younger really cared either way when it came to decision making. He’d learned a long time ago; his opinion didn’t matter. He didn’t matter. He was a soldier. An asset. Nothing more and nothing less… the product of a loveless marriage and carefully selected breeding. He wasn’t a son. He wasn’t a person. No one claimed him. No one wanted him… until Kazuki wormed his way into Rei’s cold dark little world.

Truth was, at first, it’d been a stupid arrangement that the younger man had gone along with because it didn’t matter- he had planned on killing himself… or at least, getting killed in the field. At least that would have had more pride than the ladder. Thing is, Rei didn’t need a roommate, and Kazuki didn’t need a distraction. But Rei had stupidly taken a bullet for the older man, and Kazuki knew how to cook…

And Kazuki cared. For some ungodly reason, he cared. And that was weird. It made Rei uncomfortable. His emotions, his expressions; the way he made sure the younger man ate, bathed, and looked after himself. He changed things Rei hadn’t cared about. He bought furniture and games, and sat at the other end of the couch, talking, always fucking talking, about some nonsense that Rei ignored… and despite how much of himself Rei had tried to turn off; Kazuki just wouldn’t let him. Even on his bad days. Even when Rei stayed in his room or in the bathtub, curled up, his knees pressed against his chest as he fought to see through memories that haunted sleepless nights and stopped his lungs from taking in air. Kazuki was still there.

He wasn’t overbearing… well, most of the time, he wasn’t. When Rei was struggling, Kazuki would leave his door open, checking in on the other, making sure Rei knew that if he wanted to talk, he was there. But he didn’t pressure him… he didn’t pry. He didn’t ask about the scars littering his chest, back and arms; he didn’t force him to talk when Rei woke up screaming… or when he stayed up for nights on end because he couldn’t close his eyes.

He respected Rei’s boundaries, and very rarely crossed them because that’s just who Kazuki was. He was a good person who lived a horrible life, and yet, somehow, he hadn’t turned out completely fucked up the Rei was. He hadn’t turned out useless… But perhaps that’s why their arrangement remained. Kazuki needed someone to take care of, and Rei- Rei needed someone to take care of him. He wasn’t an invalid, he wasn’t weak… he just didn’t care if he lived or died. Indifference crept into his life a long time ago, and buried itself so far deep within Rei that it became a core part of who he was. Indifferent. And. So. Fucking. Useless.

Something tapped against Rei’s cheek, and the 25-year-old opened his eyes slowly, unaware he’d closed them. He felt exhausted, the idea of having to….

“Can I wash your hair, Rei?” Kazuki asked softly, running his hand through Rei’s stale black hair gently, grimacing at the stiff strands. …

Strawberries. Miri’s tearless shampoo. The smell was overpowering, and Rei gagged loudly causing Kazuki to flinch, pulling the younger up clumsily until he was in a sitting position, his head smacking against the 28-year-old’s chest. The action was sharp and jarring, and Rei gagged again as he shut his eyes, the room around him spinning harshly as his overheated mind tried catching up with the rest of his body. He gripped his hand against Kazuki’s bicep, clenching his mouth shut as he breathed through the action; his body relaxing after a few minutes; the dizziness evading.

Kazuki exhaled as Rei’s grip around his arm loosened, and he cleared his throat, “Sorry, I’m almost done… I didn’t mean to pull you up so quickly, Rei.”

              His fingers felt nice. Strong, warm and gentle; massaging some of the pain exploding along his temples, behind his ears, down his neck.

 Wounds treated- nakedness wasn’t an embarrassment for them as they’d seen each other naked several times over the past few years- patching wounds… comfort…  Flashback to Rei caring for Kazuki (wound)

“I, uh, can stay… if you want.” Rei wasn’t a physical touch type of person but he knew Kazuki was.

               Rei isn’t entirely sure how much time had passed but the next time he woke, he was in bed. A fresh grey shirt plastered against his chest, sweat lining the collar and sleeves…

             “Rei? You awake?”

           “You still have a temperature, but it dropped to 38.8.”

           Rei nods slowly. He isn’t entirely sure what the number means nor does he care… fresh bandages on his wrist…

 Flashback to his father forcing him to work through sickness…. When he was 15, he’d gotten sick. Like really sick….

   Blood trailed down his temple, soaking against the black shirt pressed to bleeding flesh, cuts and bruises, red painting his body as busted ribs took in shallow breathes. Rei pressed the gun harder against Kazuki’s head causing the older to wince as he looked up; the black eye Rei had given him earlier, swelling; his lip busted….

 They were pitted against each other with Rei’s orders to kill Kazuki as he’d become a liability. He was no longer an asset, no longer useful to the Boss. That’s how it worked. Once the Boss had proven you a problem, you were taken out. Most of the time, the task was handed out… but this time, this time, the Boss wanted to give Rei one last chance to prove he wasn’t useless. To prove he could obey. Like before…

 The truth was it wasn’t a fair fight. Kazuki was strong… stronger than Rei had accounted for and determined. But Rei had experience on him. Years and years of experience. He was less emotional because emotions were dangerous. Reckless. And Kazuki wasn’t an assassin- he wasn’t skilled with weaponry or great in hand-to-hand combat. Rei was.

  The Boss yelling behind him to obey. To always obey… Obey. Why? He was old enough now to make his own decisions, and the Boss couldn’t hurt him anymore- he could only kill him. But death was never an issue. Never … if anything, it was a solution. If the Boss killed him in place of Kazuki, then he wouldn’t have to see the ladder in pain. Or watch Kazuki or Miri die… But perhaps that was selfish.

 K- “It’s okay, Rei. I forgive you.”

No one had ever forgiven him before, nor had he ever asked for it. He never needed it but with Kazuki… for Kazuki…

 Rei turns the gun on his Boss. The man who was supposed to be his father…

Don’t be ridiculous, boy. I’m your own flesh and blood. I’m your father.

No.

Excuse me?

“No. You’re not my father. You told me that every chance you got. Every time you were teaching me a lesson. Every time you or someone else was kicking the shit out of me. Every time you forced me to work through the pain, through broken bones and fevers, through bad dreams. Every time I begged you, screamed for you. Every time I cried for you. But that’s not what a father is. That’s not what a father is supposed to be. You were supposed to protect me. You were supposed to keep me safe. To be there when I needed you. To take care of me when I was hurt or sick. To soothe my nightmares, not become them. So, you’re not my father. You never were. You’re a Boss… but you’re no longer mine.”

  Years of sleepless guilt. Some people deserve to die. Strength feels better than weakness. When was the last time I felt like I belonged anywhere, like really belonged?

Why participate in society. It’s a cold, cruel world, and you cant survive on your own. Killing is just a part of the profession.

 “I need to ask you something and it’s going to be selfish.”

 Food hadn’t been a good idea. This was the thought that crossed Rei’s mind as he curled in on himself, his stomach twisting harshly as it made clear that, after a few days of barely eating, food wasn’t something he could handle right now.

 “Metallica?”

“Hey.”

“You were singing Metallica?”

“Yeah, sorry, I didn’t think you were awake,” Maybe Kazuki holding a sleeping Miri, or Miri asleep next to Rei, Kazuki lying on the other side of her… He went to make dinner and when he looked back in the living room, she was gone- she hadn’t really seen you in 2 days—Kazuki found her curled up next to Rei, Rei’s hand on her back protectively so he left them there.

           “How are you feeling?”

[silversoulstardust]

this is for @olyollyoxenfree , for encouraging my horny kazurei brainrot lol ily oly <3

have a 1.9k words of porn with barely any plot. MINORS DNI

-------------------------------

Miri’s arrival in the household had thrown everything off its axis.

It wasn’t enough for her to make it difficult for Kazuki and Rei to carry out their duties as a hitman, or mess with their regular day to day life schedule as two childless men, which was, okay, not as normal as any other two childless men living together because they weren’t assassin with sporadic schedules and irregular sleeping patterns, but with Miri’s presence around the house since Christmas, it had been increasingly difficult for Kazuki to get laid.

Which was fine at first.

Because they were tired most of the time. They chased her around, made sure she was alive and well fed, enrolled her in the best school with the best of everything, providing for her from top to toe with expensive goods and high quality school materials, all the while trying to make ends meet because holy shit having a child was so goddamn expensive. And they were so, so tired. Whenever Kazuki was feeling horny during their down time and having had to choose between sleeping and fucking, nine out of ten times he chose sleep. And Rei shared the same sentiment.

But once all the dust had settled, he started feeling it again. He had an itch that only Rei could scratch. Just watching Rei shirtless on the treadmill with sweat glistening on the beautifully carved back muscles made his dick twitch, reminiscing all the scratches he used to leave on those pale skin. 

The problem was, Miri’s presence was constant. She would be at home whenever they were at home, so when they wanted to get down and dirty, she was always in the way. Miri would walk in on them in the kitchen, or barge into their bedroom after having a nightmare, or climb into the bathtub that was already too cramped up with two adults in it. At this point, Kazuki was worried to do more than just make out with Rei, because what if Miri caught them in the middle of the act, with him on his knees and Rei’s dick deep in his ass? That little girl would be scarred for life.

The opportunity, however, presented itself on one lazy Sunday afternoon, after they had a hefty meal for lunch. Miri was playing a video game against Rei and Kazuki was elbow deep in soap suds doing the dishes while humming to random songs that popped up in his brain. It wasn’t until it was too late that he realized the apartment was devoid of sound of carts crashing and random explosions, and his eyes flicked from the greasy plate in his hands to the video game screen paused on the TV, only soft background music playing from it. A beat later, he felt two strong arms wrapped around his waist, and a nose buried itself on the side of his neck, inhaling deep as Kazuki was pulled into a tight embrace from behind.

“Miri’s asleep,” breathed Rei against his skin, and it sent shivers down Kazuki’s spine. “Let’s do something productive.”

“I am being productive,” Kazuki resumed his washing, working through the pots now, keeping his voice steady. “And there’s a child sleeping literally five feet away from us.”

Rei rubbed his face against the side of Kazuki’s face like a docile cat, and somehow managed to get his hands under Kazuki’s shirt, skating his fingers against his ribs and chest. “I saw how you looked at me while I was running two days ago, Kazuki. I know you want me,” said Rei, oddly confident. “We’re hidden behind this big kitchen counter, she can’t see us from the couch. And she’s asleep. There’s that. Come on, I’ll be quiet. You just need to be quiet too.”

Kazuki turned his face slightly to look at Rei’s determined look, his eyebrows knitted in a twist. “Wait, are we doing it here?” he asked in a loud whisper, eyes bulging out almost out of its sockets. “You’re out of your fucking mind, Suwa Rei.”

Rei never truly smiled, not sincerely anyway, but there was a mischievous smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. His hand snaked down south to palm Kazuki over his sweatpants, his dick already half hard from having this conversation. The fact that Rei was plastered to his back and his hands roam free touching him all over was not helping. “You need to be more honest, Kazuki,” replied Rei, slowly moving his hand up and down, gently cupping his erection that was growing by the moment. “Just let me suck you off.”

A moment of silence stretched between them, then a heavy sigh followed. There was no way of talking Rei out of this whenever his mood strikes. “The magic word.”

“What?” Rei’s scowl deepened, confused.

“The magic word, Rei,” repeated Kazuki as he rinsed a small pot. “Say the magic word and I’ll let you do whatever you want.”

Rei let out a groan and rolled his eyes. “Please let me suck your dick. There. Happy?”

“Yup. Happy,” Kazuki grinned, placing a quick peck on Rei’s cheek. “So how are we doing this?”

Rei let his arms around Kazuki go and took a step back. He then pulled Kazuki back from the sink, but still close enough for him to work on the dishes if he hunched forward. With the flexibility of an acrobat, Rei slink down and kneeled between Kazuki’s legs, with his back and head against the cabinet door, and his face right in Kazuki’s crotch. Another shiver coursed through his body when Rei buried his face right in the pubic mound, inhaling it like it was the most intoxicating thing in the world, feeling Rei’s breath warming up his skin. From where Kazuki was standing though, he couldn’t see what Rei was doing, because his view was obscured by the apron.

“I can’t see you,” whined Kazuki, adjusting his stance so it was optimum for Rei to fuck his dick with his mouth.

“Then remove the apron,” retorted Rei, as he pulled Kazuki’s sweatpants and let it pool around his ankles. 

“But I’m doing dishes,” but Kazuki’s complaint went unheard because in one quick swoop he felt wetness enveloped his length, much like a sucker punch to the gut that threw him off his game, causing him to buck forward. He dropped the pan he was holding back into the sink, thankfully the clatter was muffled by the clogged up suds water. There was a pause in Rei’s movement, and Kazuki froze in position too, waiting to see if the noise had awoken Miri from her afternoon nap. Moments passed, but no other sound filled the space other than soft background music of Wario Cart and small running tap water in the sink. 

Kazuki moved his pelvis to let Rei know it was safe for them to continue. Rei took the hint, taking Kazuki’s now raging hard cock deeper and deeper into his mouth, inch by inch, until he could feel Rei’s nose buried in his pubes. Kazuki finally had the opportunity to appreciate the velvety sensation of Rei’s warm and wet mouth, the push and pull on his erection hitting at the back of Rei's throat in an embarrassingly sloppy rhythm. It had been too long since they last had this. Kazuki had to bite his lower lip hard to clamp a loud moan that was threatening to rip out of him from how good he felt, with molten orgasm coiling at the base of his stomach bidding its time to spill. 

He was completely lost in the ecstasy that none of the dishes were done. There were still a couple of pots left in the sink, submerged in the soapy water untouched. Every time he attempted to wash up, Rei was pulling stunts with his genitals; teasing the slit with his tongue, or cradling his scrotums and sucking it like a treat in his mouth, or simply deepthroating himself with Kazuki’s raging cock. He could feel Rei’s satisfactory hums and moans, feeling the vibration from the back of his throat through his dick. It took everything Kazuki had to stand tall and not cave from the overwhelming  sensation, hands tight against the edge of the sink, knuckles white.

A sudden movement from the couch took Kazuki by surprise. He instinctively crowded Rei against the cabinet, drawing his legs shut to cover his presence, even though Miri was on the other side of the kitchen on the couch and couldn’t possibly see where Rei was. There was a punctuated groan that escaped Rei as the movement shoved Kazuki’s hard cock deep inside his mouth. 

Miri rubbed her eyes, voice thick with sleep and eyes still half-lidded. She took a stock around the apartment and asked, “Where’s papa Rei?”

“Papa Rei went out to the convenience store to get something,” Kazuki managed, keeping his voice and breathing even. Rei was adjusting himself, probably not wanting to suffocate to death from a dick in his windpipe, head bobbing away and still sucking Kazuki off at a time like this. Unbelievable. “Go back to sleep, Miri, and when you wake up again he’ll definitely come back with your favorite pudding.”

For a moment it looked like Miri wanted to protest, but the gravity pull over her eyelids were much stronger than her will to stay awake. She managed to raise a thumbs up before slumping back down on the couch, and it was quiet again moments later.

Rei took the opportunity to ramp up his movement. With one hand he gripped the base of Kazuki’s cock and moved it in tandem with his mouth, up and down, up and down, up and down in crescendo until Kazuki’s knees buckled and he whites out, coming inside Rei’s mouth with Rei’s name falling out of his lips. 

It felt like they just completed an intense mission, what they just accomplished. Kazuki finally threw in the towel and shut the faucet, giving up on dish washing to sit on the floor next to Rei. It was only after that he realized Rei was stroking himself with one hand as he was sucking him off, and he was on the verge of spilling his load. Kazuki took it upon himself to lend a helping hand. With a few strokes and kisses on the corner of Rei’s jaw, thick ropes of cum splattered against Rei’s chest and the kitchen floor.

They sat quietly next to each other, steadying their breath. Kazuki removed the remnant of his cum that was dripping from Rei’s chin using his hand and wiped his fingers against Rei’s already sullied shirt. They exchanged a gaze, staring deep into each other’s eyes before Kazuki laughed and a small smile cracked open on Rei’s face. 

“You’re a freak,” said Rei, amused. “You got off getting sucked out in the open apartment with other people in it.”

Kazuki scrunches up his face, mockingly offended. “Says the freak who suggested we fuck in the kitchen with our daughter sleeping five feet away from the counter.”

“That was a close call,” Rei mused. They both leaned back against the counter, letting a comfortable silence settled between them. Kazuki may be imagining it, but it sounded like a small huff of laughter escaped Rei’s throat, and it sounded really sweet. “Looks like we’re gonna need Kyu-chan babysitting service for this particular need after all.”

[kazukibou]

What was Fuhito's reaction to meeting Makoto for the first time and learning he's dating Kyoko? Alongside this, was this when the tension between him and Kyoko started?

Even though Hikari doesn't like him for understandable reasons, is the feeling somewhat mutual between Hikari and Fuhito? Do you think an argument between the two of them is likely gonna happen at some point?

What kind of activities do Kazuki and Hikari do with each other to pass the time? (Whenever Kazuki isn't busy)

What kind of music does Kyoko enjoy and what period?

Fuhito and Makoto don't meet until after the tragedy and Towa city is safe. If he met Makoto in high school and was dating Kyoko, he'd be unimpressed that someone so average was dating Kyoko.

However, Makoto is now the man who stopped Junko Enoshima and has continued to inspire and bring hope to the world. Fuhito may not agree with how Makoto wears his heart on his sleeve, how open he is, and how much he's supposedly changed Kyoko, but Fuhito respects Makoto.

The tension didn't start until a few years after Kazuki was born. Kyoko wasn't taking as many cases because she was spending time with her family, and as Kazuki was getting older, she wasn't training him for detective work the way Fuhito wanted. Kyoko took this as "You're parenting him wrong," as well as not training him to be a worthy heir. Yeah talk bad about Kyoko's kids and you're gonna get on her bad side. But she tries to still be involved in his life since he is the only blood relative, pre kids, she has left.

Once Hikari is a teenager/young adult, that's when she'd probably get into an argument with him...if Fuhito is still alive by then (sounds harsh but he's very old). He believes Hikari has so much potential as a detective but she's wasting it away by well...being a kid. Hikari doesn't like him, but I think Fuhito likes her similar to how he likes Kazuki.

Kazuki and Hikari play video games. Either they play at home, or they go to an arcade. Hikari always asks Kazuki to win a prize for her from crane games. He lost a lot before becoming decent at them. He struggles to say no to his sister.

I think Kyoko enjoys orchestral. Of course classical, but she enjoys modern day orchestral pieces as well. Her guilty pleasure is some of the music Makoto likes, which is pop music. She won't admit it

[y0noirs]

youve heard of “i have a new favorite buddy daddies episode” now get ready for “i have a new LEAST favorite buddy daddies episode” // buddy daddies ep 11 spoilers

as i was watching ep 11 the things i kept repeating as i watched were “WHAT?”, “????????”, “this is not fucking happening”, and “oh my fucking god”

needless to say i’m REALLY unsatisfied with the choice to kill misaki off ): i’m 100% not impressed at all whatsoever. i don’t think it was a good or sensible choice, even for the tragedy points. it left a bad taste in my mouth and it really sort of bothered me for the rest of the episode. there was nothing other than annoyance and dissatsifcation with the way she dropped dead.

is that the point? maybe. to which i say: that’s not cool, dude! i don’t think i will be satisfied with this result no matter what!

buddy daddies has had REALLY GOOD story beats so far. much of the writing, i was cool with! i really liked buddy daddies for the refreshing writing it had with this sort of concept. however, killing misaki off right after she had shown just how much she tried to change for miri, just how desperately she wanted to give miri everything, just how much she wanted to do for miri is so wasteful. not to mention, killing off a single mother who tried her best to change and did leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

was she the most righteous character? no. you could even say that her attempt to change even after all the neglect she put miri through is a little tasteless. not a lot of people like her, and it makes sense because she didn’t treat her daughter all that well, only to come back for her. but she’s a much deeper character than the surface hypocrisy that she displays. she was dealt a terrible hand. she was unlucky and, while she may have perpetuated her unfortunate situation, there’s no changing that she is a victim. and not every victim plays out to be someone who can be admirable or likable. the point is, though, that despite everything, misaki proved that she wanted to be miri’s mother. and that she really did try her best to be a good mother towards the end.

(fuck i hate saying that! “towards the end” is so stupid!)

i, for one, actually really like misaki’s character. i don’t like what she’s done, but she’s a very well-written and complex character. she’s supposed to be this parallel to kazuki, which was clear from their confrontation in ep 3. that’s really neat IMO! the two of them contrasted each other well, especially with how they learned to be the best parent for the same child.

but killing her off? it just seemed like a waste. i don’t feel like there’s a way to justify that choice that will satisfy me. revenge will not make it any better for me, nor will some other choice. i have no idea what they’ll do for the last episode, but i don’t feel like the conclusion will be satisfying for misaki at all. i hope they prove me wrong, but i’m not particularly that hopeful.

would it have been hard to fit her into miri's life if kazuki and rei managed to fix everything? sure. it would've been hard, but it would've been worth it. miri's happiness includes her mother, too. especially her mother who tried her best despite the bad hand she was given. just 'cause it's hard doesn't mean it's wrong.

anyway, what else? that confrontation between kazuki and rei! if there’s anything to be satisfied with in this episode, it’s probably definitely that. the contrast between kazuki wanting to pull away from miri’s life to keep her safe vs rei wanting to continue their family was really great! it flipped their dynamic on its head!

i’m always here for rei growth, ok? the way the last few episodes were about rei’s growth (ep 8 + 9) was really good for what ep 11 did to cement that character growth! and seeing that resolve become what it is now - the determination to give miri the happiness she deserves for bringing warmth into his life - is really so good to me.

and kazuki’s complexity is shown further in here. he just watched misaki die (FML!), possibly even blaming himself for it. at this point he brought BOTH of miri’s biological parents to their deaths. that’s not something that someone as soft-hearted and family oriented as kazuki can take. from this point onward, he has to cut ties with miri so that he doesn’t take any other part of her - or worse, have her taken away from him. in his eyes, nothing has changed at all. he can’t do anything but bring misery to everyone around him, exactly as misaki had once told him. wow! ouch man!

but thankfully rei can convince him. rei, who is now determined to follow through with his resolve. rei who desperately wants to keep the warmth and happiness he’s been shown by this little family of theirs. he can’t achieve that warmth and happiness alone. kazuki was part of that happiness, so he’ll do his goddamned best to to convince him that they can change - for the child who brought that happiness into their lives.

there’s a thousand things i could say about their confrontation, but there’s so many other people who are also talking about it and i don’t want to rehash everything since i agree LOL but i just ... i really liked that flashback sequence, too. “we can change” and kazuki thinks about meeting yuzuko and losing her. he thinks about meeting miri. “this time, we’ll make miri happy” and he thinks about karin’s faith in him to make miri happy. yes you can, kazuki!!! yes you can!!!!!! because when has rei wanted something this badly before? if he’s by your side, if your efforts are combined, can’t you achieve that impossible dream??

it’s not bad for both of them to need each other. it’s not bad for all three of them to need each other. altogether, their little family makes all of them happy.

but mark my words, PAworks. i care more about miri’s happiness than you do GRAHH misaki’s alive in my canon ok

[goldenlie]

glad we share an opinion queen!! also getting annoyed because of 4 year old acting like a 4 year old is incredibly valid to me tbh definitely had my own share of yup definitely no chlidren for me ever moments. I feel like later on it gets a little better because now we are focusing more on Kazuki and Rei's past and issues each of them brings to the table lmao I usually have issue only when people claim Miri isn't at all acting like an actual 4 year old and compare her to... Anya... a child who can literally read minds 😐 and will change her behaviour accordingly to what she hears as we have seen her do many times before and I didn't even watch all of spy x family like sir surely you are joking right now?? anyways I hope you are doing well, it's been a while ^_^ what are you up to these days? hope uni isn't giving you too much of a hard time!

(formerly) QQQQQNFFFFFF ENJOYYEEEERRR!!!! AGNESSS!!! It's so good to hear form you <3

If there's one thing I'm reliant at its being a bit of a hater to kids antics, I simply lack the gift of patience. I am right there with you in those moments I'm ngl. Okay the focus on more of their past dynamic and potentially how they got to be in the profession they're in sounds pretty interesting. The potential for angst skyrockets with each word I hear about this show and I am loving it.

That is,,,, a real unique comparison people have made. As someone who has suffered through two seasons of spyxfamily I can definitely vouch that Anya and Miri are not similar characters at all (To clarify spy family was good up until every progression the characters had was wrote away for a cheap punchline or coincidental memory loss, literally happened every second episode after s1 ep9). The only similarity between the two shows point blank is the premise. I would assume people are trying to draw nonexistent parallels purely based off of that, I have no idea as to why though. From what I saw (so, so little) Miri was undoubtedly acting like a four year old, when she spilt that drink in episode 2 it was very on brand kid looking for attention, I thought it showed her age pretty well. Anya as an older character, literally six years old, but she had a lot more motives at play. Obviously she's still young and immature but a lot more mature than Miri nonetheless. Anya could play strategy and was attempting to aid Loid with his spy missions, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume Miri is not going to locate a bomb or something in the remaining 10 eps I have to watch. Miri seems to be a much more honest and open character whereas Anya can be more scheming and conniving (I say with love, I did like Anya's character up until everyone minus Yor became very dislikable very fast), for her own self preservation. The two of them are pretty incomparable, I can see where your disbelief is coming from.

Uni is making me spin in a circle five times and then jump through a hoop 2 meters off the ground. The biggest thing rn is finding time to carry out experiments for my thesis which I will hopefully finish up with this week! It's actually such coincidental timing but this week I have to give a presentation on the most impactful book I've ever read (purely to build confidence in public speaking, damn though, thought I was in science so I didn't have to talk personally) which was extremely difficult considering all impactful "books" I've read in the past four years have been on ao3. So I ended up scavenging through our old messages trying to locate some book recs you had! I actually ended up with another recommendation from the bts boy though, who was reading Almond, this one is called "The Midnight Library" and sounded pretty intriguing! I'll be reading it tonight and tomorrow so if it's worth it I'll update you. What about you queen, are you still working in the job you started last year? I hope it's been going well if so! I know you're into buddy dads these days but anything else been keeping you occupied? Anime wise myself I'm actually about halfway through hunter x hunter?? I started the end of December and it intrigued me ngl. I'm not sure if you've seen but it's very easy to like the main character and his three main besties so I'm looking forward to seeing how things progress further. I also watched the entirety of Voltron out of pure curiosity for how bad the ending was? And I was surprised to see it was actually as shit as they say. However comma the show did lose its appeal much much earlier, have you ever watched? I actually finished up a kdrama series recently as well I believe you recommended me last year called Beyond Evil and holy fucking shit was it good. Usually I fear for around the halfway mark of kdramas that they lose their purpose but I swear they had only warmed up the engine by ep 8. It was addictive to watch and I was so immersed, my love dong sik and his relationship with inspector Han growing and changing throughout the series was extremely interesting to watch unfold. They were a powerful duo when they worked together and I will miss the thrill of each ep.

I hope you've been having a good time in general queen and things have been going well for you :D

[ambivalence-and-torpor]

🌠🔥❤️🎨📏🍼🙊☀️💤👁 for STRIIGGAAAAAAAAAAAA my beloved

Oh uhm... ehehe... beloved... ehehe... she's blushing...

🌠 SHOOTING STAR - if they could make any wish with no repercussions, what wish would they make?

Striga wants nothing more than her old family to be back together and happy. Though not in the way they used to be together! She wants her dad to be alive again. She wants everybody to get along, while also living their best lives... She wants Stryxe and Kazuki to be back together again, living happy lives away from the stress of everything else. She wants Kyuuga to be well, safe and happy and to do the things he enjoys, find his calling and follow it. She wants a happy family for her own home and she wants the occasional family get togethers where everybody talks about how things have been, exchanging pleasantries and unpleasantries alike. Maybe they can even bring over new friends and family while everybody is sharing food and just being happy to see each other again, and afterwards they return to their own lives... What Striga wants is so simple and sweet... yet so impossible to attain at this point...

-

🔥 FIRE - do they have any self destructive tendencies? what habits do they have that hinder them from becoming their best self?

Striga can get a little one track minded at times. Usually happens when the Rainbowdrinker blood starts boiling, almost like taking over any coherent thought she should be having. It's quite different to how Stryxe experiences it, almost like an all consuming rage, an all consuming hunger, ready to devour whatever comes close enough, ready to jump into any fight no matter how unwinnable. She loses sight of the things that are truly important and sight of self preservation in those moments. Though thankfully she's very aware of this side of hers, so she usually self isolates before it gets that far... usually...

-

❤️ RED HEART - their love language(s)?

Acts of service, quality time, gift giving, Striga just likes to be gentle and kind with just about anybody. And while he enjoys getting all of those things himself, I think words of affirmation are what touches him most deeply.

-

🎨 PALETTE - can they draw? what do they like to draw?

Good lord, Striga hasn't drawn since he was a lil kid and the things he used to draw were those cute kid like family drawings with Stryxe, Kazuki, Kyuuga, Noxtus and himself as pretty bad but very heartfelt stick figures. They used to hang on the fridge before Striga started feeling too embarrassed. Stryxe has since put them somewhere safe. If Striga would see them these days, he'd probably start crying...

-

📏 RULER - is your oc well educated? where did they get their learning from?

I wouldn't say Striga is well educated in a sense of regular school, but she's well versed in many things! She has skills for homesteading, farming, construction, sewing, gardening, cooking and baking, food preservation, hunting, animal husbandry, wiggler care and of course druidic stuff! Most of this she learned from her Pa, Stryxe, though she's since surpassed the old man in skills and knowledge.

-

🍼 BABY BOTTLE - what are their thoughts on children?

Striga loves kids! He's got an adopted wiggler as of now! Though he'd love to have multiple life partners and maybe his own wigglers at some point? Though he'd also be super happy to foster more wigglers. It's a bit of a long term dream of his to have a big ass family.

-

🙊 SPEAK-NO-EVIL - what is something your oc will refuse to stay quiet about?

Seeing other people being hurt. Striga just can't help himself! He's a bit of a worrywart sometimes and just wants to heal people up when he sees them being injured, bleeding, etc. He doesn't like forcing others into it, but he just can't stop himself, he just... he wants people to be safe and healthy for the most part.

-

☀️ SUN - are they a morning person? what is the first thing they do in the morning?

Yep! Striga doesn't mind waking up whenever. She doesn't seem to need all that much sleep to begin with, though first thing she tends to do is check on Revenn, see how he's doing, and then look at the chores for the day.

-

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep?

Striga doesn't fall asleep easily when she's not already tired to begin with. So anything that tires her out basically makes her fall asleep more easily.

-

👁️ EYE - what colour are their eyes? do people notice their eyes? is there anything special about them (shows emotion easily, literally magical…)?

The color is a pretty piercing shade of a bright almost neon jade while the sclera is almost black. Striga somewhat inherited the eye color from her dad, Kazuki.

-

Send me some Emojis from this Ask Game <3

[five-rivers]

I:"So why?" D:*sigh*"Would you believe me if I said it's because I'm an idiot?" I:*doubtful* T:"Actually, THIS part checks out." D:*flatly*"Thanks, Toshi. You're a real friend." T:*raises eyebrow*"Exhibit A: The dustbin incident." D:"YOU PROMISED NOT TO TALK ABOUT THAT!"

Izuku had some expectations when he opened the door to Aizawa-sensei’s apartment.  Namely, he expected Eri to be in the apartment.  Just Eri, because he had been asked last-minute to look after her by Aizawa-sensei who’d been called away by a hero emergency.  

Now, Eri was in the apartment.  Which was good.  Izuku was always slightly paranoid about leaving Eri alone for any length of time.  

Less good was-

“You!” shouted Izuku, pointing.  

“Uh,” said Danny Fenton, who was, for some reason, kneeling in front of Eri holding a large flower.  “I can explain?” he said.  

“Deku!” said Eri, bouncing on the couch.  “Danny’s teaching me about my quirk!”

“Or she can explain.  That’s good, too.”

Izuku hit the ‘time traveler panic button’ and frowned at Fenton.  Fenton waved.  

“So, uh.  You probably have questions.  Have you seen Banjo-san yet?”

“Do you know All for One?”  

“I met him.  Once.  Not really my best decision.  And before you say anything, I know that what I said to you and what Kazuki-san showed you about that is different.”

“Yeah?  And why is that?” asked Izuku, cautiously approaching.  He wanted to be between Eri and Fenton, but there wasn’t any way he could do that subtly.

“Deku?” asked Eri.  

“Don’t worry,” said Fenton.  “I just worry him.  Here.”  He handed Eri the flower, and stepped away, almost to the other side of the apartment, between the kitchen counter and a table with a vase with decaying flowers in it.  “Would you believe me if I said it was because I’m dumb?”

Izuku, mindful of the new space, put himself in front of Eri.  He almost wanted to take her and run, but he wasn’t sure what Fenton was capable of.  

“Actually,” said Toshinori-san, pushing the ajar door open the rest of the way, “that part checks out.”

“Thanks Toshinori-kun, you’re a real friend,” said Fenton, flatly.  “Who’s with you?”

Toshinori-san frowned, glancing at someone behind the doorframe.  “The dustbin incident, for example,” he said.  

“Oh, come on, you promised not to talk about that!  It wasn’t even my fault.”  Fenton tilted his head.  “Normally, I’d guess Sorahiko-kun was behind there, but he’s too short now...  And that doesn’t feel like his quirk.  Something to do with truth?”

Toshinori-san glanced to the side and shrugged.  “Might as well,” he said.  

Detective Tsukauchi stepped into the apartment.  

Izuku had hoped Toshinori-san would bring someone a little more suitable for a fight.  

“You can call me Detective Tsukauchi.  Although, I suppose you already knew that, being a time traveler.”

“That’s not really how this works,” said Fenton.  

“Then how does it work?”

Fenton looked back at Izuku.  “It’s related to the whole ‘I’m dumb’ thing from earlier.  It’s, ah.”  He glanced at Eri and then Detective Tsukauchi.  “The person that we were talking about, the one who the discrepancy was about, I didn’t realize they were the same person until later.”

“How can you know so much about One for All, and not that?”

“My boss is the one that has all the answers, not me.”

“That’s a lie.”

Fenton frowned.  “Well, I guess...  It would be better to say Clockwork has all the answers, not me.  He’s not really my boss.”

Detective Tsukauchi nodded.  Izuku made note of the name.  It was clearly an alias, but he doubted they’d get anything more concrete from Fenton.

“So what is your relationship?” asked Toshinori-san.  

“He’s... sort of my guardian.  My mentor.”  Fenton shrugged.  “It’s a long story and not relevant.  The thing is, everything is a lesson with him.  As much as this is a learning experience for you, it’s a learning experience for me.”

“When did you first meet All for One?” demanded Izuku.  

“Ah...  From my perspective?  About a month before I met Toshinori-kun.  I didn’t realize it at the time, thought.  I thought that when I joined Toshinori-kun’s school was my first time in this timeline.”

“And what did you do?”

Fenton made a face.  “The details of that aren’t safe.  But, um, the basics are that I got lost, someone asked me for help, and I gave it.”

“Not safe for who?” asked Detective Tsukauchi. 

“You guys, mostly.  I can always just not come back.”

“Did this Clockwork send you to All for One as well?” asked Toshinori.  His tone was bland and even, but Izuku could tell that there was a lot of anger behind his eyes.  

“I-  Look.  I will answer that, just...  Let me say a few things first?”  Fenton’s hands, still in a half-raised position, twitched in an aborted gesture.  “First, I genuinely mean no harm to anyone here.  I don’t think Clockwork does, either.  Second...  Midoriya-san, did you think about what I asked you, last time?  Why Toshinori-kun’s shape changed when he was using One for All, but yours doesn’t?”

Izuku bit his lip, wondering if he should answer.  He’d talked about it with Toshinori-san a few times, but he’d never said the explanation he’d come up with out loud.   

But his curiosity was a bit too great to resist.   

“It was his quirk, wasn’t it?” he asked.  “One for All made him develop his own quirk.”

“Bingo,” said Fenton.  “I mean, you did talk to Banjo-san, right?  At this point?”

Izuku nodded, slowly.  

“Great.  Like, because of that, you might be able to do the shapeshifting eventually, but, more importantly, you can’t move in that space, can you?  When you can...”

“That body,” said Izuku, “it’s not me, it’s my quirk being put together.”

“Basically, yeah.”

Had this been a year ago, Izuku would have been thrilled.  Now, however...  He really had enough on his plate.

“You know what it’s going to be, don’t you?”

“I have guesses,” said Fenton.  “But, no, I don’t know.”

“You said you’d answer my question,” said Toshinori-san.  

“Right.  Yes.  Well.”  Fenton took a deep breath.  “I don’t know.”

“If he sent you to that time-” started Toshinori.

“I don’t know if it was even him that did that part,” said Fenton.  “He might have, but he usually gives me a warning.  No.  It’s... ugh.  Here.”  He reached over to the vase and plucked out one of the flowers.  Light warped oddly around it and his hand, and when everything was clear again, the dahlia was as vibrant as it had been the day it was picked.  “Eri and Clockwork aren’t the only ones with time powers.”  He smiled at the little girl who was still hiding behind Izuku.  “Mine works a little differently, though.”

“You do have multiple quirks, then,” said Toshinori-san.  “What did you do, to get All for One to give you them?”

“I didn’t get anything from him,” said Fenton, sharply, “except for a promise that he broke basically immediately.”  He muttered something under his breath.  “My powers-  I’m not even sure they can be called a quirk.”

Izuku couldn’t help but look at Tsukauchi, who looked... confused.  But not like he was being lied to.

“I didn’t get them from anybody, I wasn’t born with them, they weren’t inherited.  I didn’t have them until I was fourteen.  They were an accident.  Like I told you I’m not from this timeline.  There are no quirks in my timeline, and only two other people even remotely like me, and-”  He took a deep breath.  “Sorry.  I’m ranting.  I have to go, soon, your teacher is almost back.  Last question.”

“Why are you here?” asked Izuku.  It was probably stupid, considering the two adults in the room.

“Um.  I thought that was obvious?  To help Eri with her quirk.  It would be really irresponsible of me to leave things like they were.”  He gave Eri a thumbs up.  “Don’t forget, little sister, it isn’t a curse.  And it’ll be a while, a long while, but you’ll get to meet Clockwork, and it’ll be super coo-”

“And...  He’s gone,” said Izuku, sagging.  

“At least we learned more?” said Toshinori-san.

“I-”

Aizawa-sensei skidded into the room.  “What,” he demanded, “happened?”

Eri tugged on Izuku’s pant leg.  “Deku?  What’s One for All?”

Toshinori-san blanched.  Izuku felt all the blood drain from his face.

This was going to be a problem.  

[theforbiddenpriestess]

The Pharaoh & His Princess

Seven |

Ill Father, Stubborn Daughter

The man couldn't help but puke in the bowl.

A burst goosebumps shot from his shoulders, violently making him shiver before he flinged himself back into his bedsheets. He let out a pitiful noise and rubbed his swollen eyes.

His body felt like it was on literal fire.

"Here, this ought to make it better!" Merit Ptah said as she rushed over to Pharaoh. She draped a cold wet towel on his forehead.

"I beg of you Chief Physician, please make it stop. I wish to see my daughter." he groaned.

"It's alright my Pharaoh" she replied. She pushed back his sweaty blonde bangs and moved the towel on his forehead. "The medicine should work soon."

"How soon?" he asked miserably. His body was wrought with aches and shivers. "I feel like I'm in literal fire."

"You're just sick my Pharaoh, not dying. It is just a fever, that's all." Mahad spoke, trying to calm his best friend. Atem shifted his gaze at Mahad and gave him a thankful weak smile.

Mahad had brought in the best doctors in all of Egypt and made them run every test available. It turned out to be food poisoning from undercooked meat.

Plus a fever as well.

Luckily the Pharaoh was still young and in great health, he should make a speedy recovery.

"Just give it a day, my Pharaoh." Mahad said with a small smile.

"Another whole day? I need to get better now!" he groaned.

Chief Physician Merit sighed and draped a cold towel on him once more.

"I know, but you need to get better. Egypt can wait. You cannot. I do not like seeing you so ill."

"I miss Anippe." Atem weakly let out. Mahad couldn't help but smile.

They had been separated for exactly a week now, and it was killing them. They were not meant to be apart for this long, it was pure torture for them and everyone else. But the last thing the Palace wanted was for princess Anippe to get sick as well.

"She misses you, too. She's always asking for you," Mhad replied before Merit added jokingly, "Please get better soon. I fear that if you do not, our beloved crowned princess will destroy the Palace."

Atem let out a weak laugh before his features changed to determination. "Alright. I promise you both, I will get better."

Merit nodded before taking the towels in the bowl of cold water and leaving. Mahad gave Atem a gentle squeeze on his shoulder.

"You rest now. I will return later to check up on you."

"Thank you, Mahad."

--

It was evening when a "Psst!" awoke Atem.

With a groan, he sat up and walked slowly towards his balcony. The curtains separating him and the person out his balcony.

"Hello?" he asked, too tired to demand the guards outside his chamber's doors to seize the intruder

"Papa?" his daughter's voice called from behind the curtains.

"Anippe?" Atem asked, his eyes widening at the thought of his daughter just a few feet away from him.

"Thank Ra you're okay!" his nine-year daughter let out.

"Anipee," Atem began weakly, yet tried to act upset.

"How did you get up here? This balcony is at least fifty feet high from the courtyard."

Anippe was silent which made Atem grow more upset at her.

"Anippe," he began but his daughter cut him off.

"I'm not sorry Papa. I had to see you!"

She let her head down as she whispered "I miss you."

Atem smiled sadly at her small figure on the other side of the curtain.

"I miss you too, my princess." Atem replied with a tender smile on his face. He had missed his daughter so much that just hearing her beautiful voice made him feel one hundred times better.

"I'm coming in!" Anippe stated suddenly. Atem saw her shadow reach out to grab the curtain separating the. As much as he wished to embrace her, he stayed firm.

"Anippe, no! You'll get sick too!"

"I don't care," she said resolutely. "We can be sick together."

He frowned and shook his head. "No dear. You have to stay healthy."

"Well I don't!" she shot back.

She huffed and crossed her arms.

"I just want to see you Papa."

At that moment, Atem was tempted to yank the curtains separating him and his daughter, just so he could grant her request, but then he remembered how awful he had felt these past few days.

His daughter was everything to him. He had to protect her at all costs. He would never forgive himself if he caused her to be in pain.

"I'm sorry my love, but you can't come in. I promise you, I'll get better soon" he assured her.

"When I do, we can play together again. You just need to be a bit more patient." Atem added as he saw her shoulders slouch.

Her head lowered down.

"You promise?" she asked weakly.

"Yes my love," he nodded. "I promise you."

After a minute she stood up firm and let out a defeated sigh.

"Fine Papa."

Atem smiled.

Anippe turned around and retrieved a small bag from her waist.

"I brought you some food."

Atem was surprised. "You didn't eat your lunch?"

Anippe shrugged. "I'm not very hungry. Besides, it's your favorite today."

"Ta'amiya?" Atem eagerly asked as if his love for his daughter could not have grown even more.

"No, it's batarekh." she replied without emotion.

Atem froze at the name.

Before he could react Anippe burst out laughing.

"Of course it's not! They're ta'amiyas Papa!" she giggled.

"Anippe," Atem let out, setting a hand above his heart.

"Don't scare me like that again." he scowled jokingly as his daughter continued to laugh.

She placed the wrapped food on the ground before standing up and pointing, "It's right here, Papa. They are still somewhat warm. Please eat them and get better, okay?"

A big grin blossomed on the Atem's features. "Very well my love. I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye Papa!" Anippe replied before she made her way to the edge of the balcony and disappeared.

When he was sure she had left, due to the yelling of Mahad down below, he stepped out of the curtains and grabbed the delicious wrapped meal.

Atem noticed a pendant was holding the handkerchief from unfolding. Taking it off, Atem brought it closer to his face and smiled at the realization.

This was the same pendant he had given her when she was sick of the cold back when she was five years of summer.

The pendant was a figure of a cat, symbolizing the goddess Bastet.

Protector of children and homes from diseases.

--

Extra Scene:

"Why you ought to be ashamed of yourself Anippe! Fifty feet high? You've gone too far young lady!" Mahad scowled at the princess as she gave him an emotionless look.

"By the end of tomorrow, I want one hundred parchment scrolls saying "I promise to never disobey Master Mahad again." Do I make myself clear?" Mahad affirmed, crossing his arms.

"Yes Master Mahad." Anippe replied.

With a final nod, he confiscated her rope and began to walk away. Anippe looked down at her shoes.

"Oh and Anippe,"

The princess looked up to see Mahad's back on her.

"Next time, use the secret ladder in the west side of your father's chamber. His chamber has another balcony there. It's just deeply hidden."

Anippe didn't say anything. She let Mahad walk away, before her face broke into a huge smile.

___________________

Note(s):

"Bastet is the Egyptian goddess of the home, domesticity, women's secrets, cats, fertility, and childbirth. She protected the home from evil spirits and disease, especially diseases associated with women and children." - worldhistory .org

"The first known female doctor was Merit Ptah who lived in Egypt around 2700 B.C. According to her son who was a High Priest, she wasn't just any doctor but "the Chief Physician". " - TODAYIFOUNDOUT .COM

According to Kazuki Takashi (the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh), Atem's favorite food is Ta'amiya while his least favorite one is Batarekh.

"Another type of bean identified from ancient sources is ful nabed, a pale variety of the common broad bean (Vicia faba). Pharaonic cooks almost certainly invented ta'amia or falafel, fried rissoles made from mashed beans, onions, garlic, and spices. Coptic Christians consume large quantities of falafel during Lent. The Copts are said to be descended from the ancient Egyptians and many of their traditions are so old that their origins may well lie in Dynastic times." - Hilary Wilson on ta'amiya in her book, Egyptian Food and Drink.

"Fish were also salted or pickled in oil and, in later times, great quantities of preserved first were exported from Egypt. In some scenes of fish preparation, removal of the roes is shown. The dried and salted roe of the grey mullet, known as batarekh, is considered a great delicacy in modern Egypt and is reputed to be a recipe as old as the pharaohs." - Hilary Wilson on batarekh in her book, Egyptian Food and Drink.

Reference: The book is titled Egyptian Food and Drink by Hilary Wilson and is part of the Shire Egyptology series.

Author's Note:

Hey guys. I'm leaving the city today and won't be back till a week or two. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, wherever you are, cause by the time you'll read this I'll probably be freezing myself in Alaska. Take care and see you all soon.

[msiopao]

The One With Koo Koo’s Little Munchkin

pairing: jungkook x nobi (ft. uncle bangtan)

summary: nobi’s brother lets her babysit her niece but her and jungkook don’t really know how to take care of a baby

if she was warned of the disaster and the regret that would happen later, nobi would’ve never let that baby enter her home.

it all started when kazuki, her older brother, needed someone to look after his daughter since him and his wife were going overseas for a week-long medical conference. unfortunately, the grandparents were also out of the country since the youngest child, maiya, had a chess tournament in China and needed her guardians.

that only left him with his other sister, sakura, or most commonly known to the world as Nobi of BTS.

with the ring of cellphone and the familiar ringtone dedicated just for her oldest sibling, nobi placed the washing gloves down and retrieved the phone that was on the counter to squish it between her ear and shoulder. 

“welcome to chili’s, how may I help you?” 

a burst of laughter from the other side caused a smile on her face. “table for 4, please!”

she froze, “WHAT!? HANA IS PREGNANT!? AGAIN!?”

“WHAT!? NO! IT’S FOR THE DOG! WOONGIE THE DOGGIE!”

a relieved sigh passed through her, “dear asahi, please don’t scare me like that again.”

“i mean... my favor might?”

with that sentence, nobi should’ve declined and hung up without a second thought. but as the loving and dependable little sister she was, she pressed farther and asked what for.

“you see... hana and i need to go to germany for some conference and we can’t take nanako since we’ll be in workshops all day. ma and pa are with maiya in China for chess so it only leaves you.”

“wOW, i’M the lAST rESoRt?!” An outraged yell from her caught the attention of jin, jungkook, and jimin, who were lounging in the living room.

“please, kura,” he begged and she sighed. “you love nanako, don’t you? besides! jungkook’s there and i trust him, so you have someone for help!”

“i haven’t even seen the kid since she was born not even a year ago. and jungkook’s a man-child.”

“but you still like her. and him.”

“eh, if she’s 50% of you then maybe i don’t. and he’s a handful already so adding an actual baby will be a pain.”

“kura! please!” 

the loud voice from her sister-in-law made her cringe and back her ear away. jungkook is familiar with the voices in her phone since he roomed with her and she called her brother and his wife often. 

“please take care of nanako!” she yelled and hung up, not even giving nobi time to protest.

nobi cursed under her breath and finished putting the last plate on the rack before wiping her hands and walking over to join the rest. jungkook scooted to the side so she could sit next to him and she curled up on his side since he opened up his right arm.

“what’s up?” jin asked as he placed an UNO wild card on the table during the heated match the boys had.

“kazuki wants me to take care of his brat,” she complained. “didn’t even give me any say in it.”

“ah, it’s okay! jin-hyung knows how to take care of them!” jimin reassured, not looking up from his 5 cards.

“um, not really?” the oldest asked unsurely.

“how old is the kid?”

“she’s turning one in 5 months.”

“aren’t you happy kazuki finally settled down, though?” hobi’s question made her shrug.

“i mean, the parents have been bugging him since he turned 23 to find a girlfriend. the guy married his first ever girlfriend and had a kid with her!” she exclaimed. “to be honest, i really thought he was paying her to act as his lover but apparently not!”

“can you imagine being so desperate to buy a fake girlfriend?” yoongi mumbled making her laugh.

“use that one,” nobi nudged yoongi with her toe pointing to the card. “also, jin-hyung didn’t change any of our diapers.”

“but wouldn’t a baby be easier than raising 4 teenagers?” namjoon said and nobi looked up from jungkook’s chest.

“well, i guess it won’t be that bad if i have help.”

“speak for yourself,” yoongi mumbled to which she playfully jabbed his side.

 “anyways. if their kid goes missing, it’s not my fault because i was forced in this situation.”

jungkook tightened his arm around her. “think of this as a trial-run, bub. since you never took care of your sister, you don’t really know if you’re good with kids or not. maybe you’re like the ultimate mother master.”

she giggled, “nah. suffering 9 months for a demon and being responsible for it for 18 more years? can’t even handle myself.”

...

true to her word, nobi really can’t look after herself, much less with a kid. the doorbell rang meaning they were outside and had the little demon to take care of waiting. she tripped over some of kook’s shoes on the floor and she stubbed her toe against the door frame in a hurry to answer the door.

when kazuki dropped off his baby girl, nobi begrudgingly took the carrier from hana’s hands and snarled when kazuki sent an victorious smile.

“it’s only for 7 days, kura.”

“you know what could happen in those 7 days?! anything can happen in that time period! i wrote an entire album in a week! what’s to say i won’t do something to the brat!” her whines made kazuki roll his eyes before thumping her on the forehead.

“you big dummy,” he mused. “it’ll be fine. besides, hana put in about 7 pages of instructions there for you just in case.” she followed his finger that was pointing to the bag on her arm.

“honestly, are you my brother?” she asked, irritated. “since when do you see me reading instructions?”

“when you’re handling a tiny human and you won’t have anyone there to help you. that’s when.”

the boys were huddled around the carrier in the middle of the parlor, absolutely smitten with chubby cheeks of the baby and the little puffs of air she let out. sleep was heavy on her and her tiny fist clenched the baby blue blanket that her mother knitted her.

nobi was sorting out the baby powder and the nappies at the kitchen while jungkook squeezed some of the milk on his arm to test the temperature. he had assembled a crib in their room earlier and she placed all of the clothes into an emptied drawer that used to house her socks.

“sakura! how could you hate this little angel?!” jin squealed. 

“hyung! too loud!” jungkook chided and nobi laughed.

“she looks too much like maiya.” her answer didn’t reach the others ears since no one reacted. she leaned her hip against the island and crossed her arm, amused and watching the boys get hypnotized by nanako.

“can you believe a little munchkin, not even a year old, has all the members of bangtan wrapped around her tiny finger?” jungkook asked from behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

nobi leaned against his chest, “well, the guys love kids in general. even she has yoongi-hyung’s attention, the attention that is reserved only for his baby Holly.”

jimin saw nanako flutter her tiny eyes open and watched it widen at the sight of 6 unfamiliar faces. she must’ve been frightened at the foreign surrounding and the lack of her mother and father only added to the fear. soon, her wails filled the previously quiet dorm and the boys panicked.

“oi! eomma! appa! your baby is crying!” tae shouted and nobi rushed over from the nappies, kneeling quickly and hovering over the carrier.

“hello, darling,” she cooed. “have a nice nap?” nanako didn’t respond but her cries did quiet down a bit, blinking up at the familiar-looking person. nobi picked her up and placed her on her arms, fingers gently touching her cheeks.

jungkook came over with the ready bottle of milk and handed it to her so she could feed the baby. “here.”

the boys watched the 2 peer down at the suckling baby and they snapped up when someone’s camera shutter and camera flash went off. taehyung had his old camera, jin had his polaroid, while namjoon had his phone up, all with wide eyes as if they were just caught.

“oi! nanako is feeding!” jungkook scolded causing nobi and the others to laugh.

“wah, it’s like we’re looking into the future!” hobi whispered, shocked at the sight in front of him.

“joonie, look! our babies with their baby!”

nanako continued to feed, eventually finishing her entire bottle, and nobi passed her off to jungkook so he could burp her while she washes the bottle for the next feed. 

the guys shared a look and they grinned, relieved that taking care of this baby wasn’t going to be as bad as they thought.

...

eyebags and wrinkles were making their home in the faces of nobi and jungkook, victims of her irregular sleeping schedule. it was only the third day and her second night with them was the roughest time they’ve went through in a while. 

jungkook was slumped over at the dining table, sleeping and breakfast shoved to the side, and nobi was clutching her coffee cup and seemed to be sleeping with her eyes wide open. 

jin and namjoon were observing them with concern since they too were woken up by the loud cries of the child and they know the maknaes haven’t had a good sleep since the first night.

“kura?” jin poked her at the shoulder but received no response. “sakura?”

she jolted, wildly looking around as if she didn’t know where she was. “huh?”

her sudden movement woke jungkook up and he also looked out of sorts, eyes suddenly going wide. “the baby!”

“the baby!” nobi echoed before shooting up to stand but a hand stopped her.

“sshh,” namjoon soothed. “taehyung and jimin washed her already and are changing her right now. don’t worry, hoseok’s there with them.”

similar fatigue-laced eyes settled on the oldest and the leader as they sat back down, confusion and alarm slowly disappearing. jungkook groaned and started to slump over to go back to sleep but shot up when he heard the giggles from the devil herself.

“appa! nanako is here!” tae said in a child-like voice, carrying nanako with jimin and hobi trailing behind him.. “nanako is clean!” nanako saw jungkook and nobi and immediately wiggled to go to her temporary parents.

“nanako wants to see eomma!” jimin followed but nobi immediately shook her head.

“no!” she expressed, back away from the baby.

“aw, why?” tae pouted but smiled again when jungkook outstretched his arms.

“come here, my little munchkin,” he grunted. nanako found solace in his arms and she laid her head on his chest, as if she was listening to his steady heartbeat with her eyes closed.

nobi observed the girl’s calm behavior, slightly leaning forward to get a better look. “if only she was this peaceful last night.”

“hm, this is what parenthood is like, kids.” yoongi’s comment made the rest shiver.

“when was the last time you both slept longer than 3 hours?” jin asked as the amount of times he heard walking in their room was concerning.

“the night before she got here,” jungkook answered. 

“well, you’re lucky she’s only here for a week. next week, we have a meeting with Bang and we might start choreography classes then. it’s good that we won’t have a baby in tow.” 

everyone nodded at namjoon and at the mention of the meeting, hobi and yoongi dispersed to leave to their studios while the 95-liners were leaving to go to the gym to prepare their bodies for the grueling dances. namjoon was accompanying jin to the grocery store so it left the maknaes and the baby at home with no one else.

thankfully, the child was starting to fall asleep and nobi noticed jungkook fighting to keep his eyes open.

“come on, let’s go to bed.” her suggestion sparked a little life in jungkook and he carefully carried nanako to their bedroom where they could all get comfortable.

within seconds, nanako fell asleep and with the rise and fall of jungkook’s chest combined with his heartbeat made her slip into dreamworld quickly. jungkook was already snoring by the time nobi laid next to him and she hummed in content, happy that she was able to finally sleep.

...

their days continued on like that.

being fortunate enough to be on break, jungkook and nobi were able to sleep whenever they wanted since they were usually kept up by the energy that nanako only released at nighttime. 

but they weren’t the only ones suffering.

it was now clear that the lungs that sakura had was genetic as it also transferred over to her niece by the way she belted her cries, the boys jokingly singing along to it (cue bretman rock). at night, they have created ways to block out her cries like sleeping with airpods plugged in or on jimin and hoseok’s case, leaving for 3 nights to sleep in a hotel since their room was right next door.

however, tonight was especially bad.

nanako refused to drink her milk, instead crying and screaming the entire time she was awake. when she did sleep, she would eventually wake herself up and start the entire cycle again. nobi was getting worried because she only had 1 bottle of milk today and she didn’t want to be held or touched by anyone.

combined with the worry and the sleep deprivation, nobi was in tears, sobbing on the floor next to nanako’s crib, who was also crying, so together they had a crying session. everyone else was busy, even jungkook since he joined the others in the gym, so she was left to fend for herself and the baby wasn’t helping by refusing to take in any milk.

“nanako, please,” she begged. “one bottle, hm? just one bottle.”

nanako shook her head and cried louder making sakura wail more. maybe it wasn’t the ideal situation or the ideal move but nobi didn’t know what to do because she’s never taken cared of a baby before. initially, she called her brother to figure out how to solve the problem but neither of them were answering and the booklet had nothing on there on how to get her to drink.

honestly, of all things, that should be in there.

the two girls were so busy having their sobbing match that they completely missed the front door and jungkook’s greeting. the boy was in shock at the sight of nobi clutching the crib with nanako inside while they both cried their eyes out.

“bub,” he whispered before grabbing her to his arms.

“i don’t know why she won’t drink, kook. and i’m so tired,” she wailed and cried harder.

jungkook racked his brain on what to do until settling on a decision. “tell you what. go to bed and plug your airpods in so you could sleep while i take care of nanako.”

nobi started to protest because she knew he needed sleep too but he waved her off. the feeling of the plushness of her bed was so foreign to her now since she rarely had time to sleep on it and relish in the comfort. the loud lo-fi music drowned out the screams and wails of the baby, allowing her to finally slip into her own dreamland.

it was only about 2 hours that she woke up and she cursed, fearing that she has so suddenly created a new maternal sense in a span of 5 days.quickly sitting up, the panic in her chest soothed when she saw an empty bottle on the dresser and jungkook swaying with nanako cradled on his arms, sleeping. she gently pried the earbuds out of her ears and smiled softly at jungkook’s quiet singing, feeling relaxed herself.

“go to sleep, my little munchkin,” he whispered. “koo koo will be here when you wake up. i promise.”

nobi closed her eyes in gratitude and forced down a scream of gratitude to the lord and savior, god almighty, that nanako has eaten and finally fallen asleep. and jungkook was here.

jungkook noticed her rising figure and he sat down next to her, still cradling the baby.

“morning,” she grinned to which he returned. “how was she?”

“well, took a while to convince her to eat but she did and she just fell asleep.”

“you’ll be a great father someday, koo koo.” jungkook bashfully looked away to hide the smile that threatened to escape.

“nah, i just communicate with children better.”

“do you want a baby girl? or a baby boy?” 

a moment of thinking caused silence until he answered, “doesn’t matter. as long as i have my family.”

if she didn’t grow up with jungkook and didn’t see through his puberty and awkward and ugly moments, nobi might’ve just busted out a ring and married him then and there.

...

kazuki and hana were amused at the smiling face of the usually shy jungkook and the anger and irritation that radiated off of the girl beside him. the father gently took hold of his daughter from jungkook’s arms and she giggled, seemingly happy to see her father again.

hana placed a hand on nobi’s arm and squeezed in gratitude. “thank you so much, kura.”

nobi had no energy left in her to lie a smile so she sighed. “you’re really welcome. but she’s a handful. she kinda reminds me of maiya.”

kazuki laughed at the mention of their youngest sister. “you stayed with grandmother for a year because you hated her crying.”

“exactly.”

“she was really nice, hyung.” jungkook reassured the man. “loud, but sweet.”

“then she should be over any time, right?”

“during the day, yes.” but she made a cross with her arms. “but nighttime, is no no.”

“either way, thank you so much, sakura, jungkook-ssi.” hana gratefully said and the family finally moved to leave.

nanako, who had her head on her father’s shoulder, turned to peak at the two who were slowly getting farther away and raised a wobbly hand as if saying her good-byes.

“bye bye, my little munchkin!” jungkook yelled and she giggled, flapping her arms.

when they were out of sight, nobi sighed and felt the relief flowing through her veins.

“she’s an absolute adorable little baby. but if i have to spend another night with her, i will lose it.”

jungkook laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her closer.

“again, it’s to prepare for the future, right? because i really want a munchkin of my own.”

a/n: don’t be silly, wrap your willy

[incensuous]

always you (kazuki/yuzuki)

fandom: selector infected wixoss pairing(s): kazuki/yuzuki (tw: twincest) rating: T read on ao3 Yuzuki asks Kazuki a question she’s not sure she’s ready to hear the answer to.

(i will die for this pair of CANON twincest. they’re amazing. i love them. i’m heartbroken there’s not more content for them. i want to give them so much more!!)

“Did you prefer me or Hanayo as me?”

The words came out in a rush, because Yuzuki had been exploding with this thought since she'd returned to her body, and—perhaps more importantly—to Kazuki’s side. When she regained her body, with it came the memories of the time Hanayo had occupied where she existed now. She was able to see all the moments Hanayo, as her, had experienced with Kazuki, and the uncertainty plagued her. 

They were finally home now, together, alone, for the first time in weeks (even though it felt like it had been much longer than that). 

Sitting in her bedroom, she wanted to cry with joy because she never thought she’d be with her twin again. 

Kazuki’s eyes widened at her, and Yuzuki tried to remain calm (ironically, Hanayo’s forte). She almost immediately regretted asking—she knows full well she wouldn't be able to handle it if he said... if he said—

“Yuzuki, how can you think I'd ever love anyone but you?”

Yuzuki deflated, all her anxiety and panic had her bursting at the seams, and her shoulders drooped in pure relief. The euphoria threatened to overwhelm her, and she wanted to leap with joy—this was what she’d wanted her whole life, right before her eyes, but she was so, so exhausted from bracing for the worst. She lifted tired eyes to her brother. 

“I just… I was so scared. I thought I could handle anything in the world, except losing you,” she whispered, weakly. “All this time, I wasn’t sure, that’s why I didn’t say anything.” She closed her eyes. “I thought it was so impossible, it’s why I did all of this in the first place.”

Kazuki didn’t know what to say. Before this, he hadn’t thought it was possible either. He was in so much denial, he’d ignored his feelings to the point of oblivion. The guilt had been eating at him since the realization of what Yuzuki had gone through… for him, for them. 

If he had acted on his feelings, could this all have been prevented? 

But it made no sense to dwell on it now. 

Instead, he sat beside her on her bed, taking her left hand in his. “I know. I’m sorry. We both… we told each other everything, except the most important thing, huh?

“But… I need you to know, the whole time, I thought it was you. I did think you were acting a bit strange at times, but I was always in love with only you, Yuzuki. I didn’t suddenly fall in love with the you who’d confessed to me. But it made me realize I’d loved you all this time. I need you to know that.”

Truly, the deception, even if there was no ill intent, had hurt him. Knowing the confession he’d received, while it was surely everything Yuzuki had dreamt of, had not come from his twin herself—not with her mind and soul present, was painful. Their moments, all the firsts he’d thought they’d cherish together for the rest of their lives… was one-sided, even as Hanayo channeled all of Yuzuki’s love for him. 

He looked at her then, seeing the slow tears trailing down her cheeks. It had always been quite rare for Yuzuki to cry, but much less so for him. 

His hand reached up to wipe them with the pad of his thumb, as he cupped her jaw, gently nudging her to face him. He hovered close, giving her time to edge away if she wasn’t ready, one last chance to back out. 

But she sat there, trembling, as he pressed his lips against hers for the first time, truly. 

Yuzuki felt jealous of her own body for already having experienced this, but the feelings burned away as she wept in joy, leaning in closer. 

Kazuki wasn’t sure if he was just imagining it, but he felt so much relief in his chest, as if he’d been holding his breath for so long without knowing, and finally things were starting to settle into their rightful places. 

He leaned his forehead against hers, staring into her watery eyes. “I love the Yuzuki who protected me. I love the Yuzuki who never left my side. I love you.” 

The ease of being with his twin, the one person he’d known the longest, longer than anyone in the universe, felt so complete. 

“I love you, Kazuki,” she whispered back, the way she'd always dreamed of. “Always.”

[aqvarius]

[REVIEW] Her Love in the Force: Shusuke Soma - Who I Once Was

Guys, I’m supposed to be dieting during this quarantine period but Voltage is keeping me FED with all this new amazing Soma content. 

HLITF fans, we have been blessed with amazing Soma content recently. Soma’s S3 Love’s Battlefield route was probably one of, if not the, most memorable HLITF routes I’ve ever played. I also adored his PoV despite it not covering all the moments that I personally wanted to read. (I understand disappointment over it, but I found that the bonus scenes they gave us made up for it, and it allows me to play with my own imagination a bit and potentially write up some fic for the scenes not in his PoV hehe.)

Like the manic Soma fan that I am, I had to IMMEDIATELY buy and read this route. I love him so much I am willing to do anything just to understand him even a little bit better. To my delight, I’m not even a little bit disappointed. And the route even made me spend 300 more coins to buy Goto’s Episode 0 so well done Voltage lol. 

I will summarise my thoughts on this story and then get into some more detail in the cut below. With that said, if you know Soma’s back story already, there isn’t much information to spoil. But I’ll leave some of the more surprising details under the cut.

This story shows us an unfamiliar Soma. This is a Soma that is far colder than even when we first meet him as a Special Instructor at the Academy. He battles with his conflict over his future and what he feels like his life’s purpose is, which is all sparked over his sister Kurume’s comment that she sees him as a hero. Throughout the route, he struggles with aimlessness and his futile attempts to investigate the metro gas attack even while doing his work in the Criminal Affairs/Investigations department, where he becomes the mentor for new recruits Ichiyanagi and Goto. That’s RIGHT, we finally get the Soma/Goto/Ichiyanagi Criminal Affairs dynamics that I have been waiting for years for ever since finding out that they all worked there together! (The only thing missing is Hayase but I guess he’s from a different timeline lol). 

This is something that makes the route super enjoyable to read because we get to see a Soma who isn’t as gentle and reticent as the one we know. He’s a bit colder, a bit harsher, and has less tolerance for antics. We also see Soma as a mentor before he became an instructor and it’s so cool to realise that Goto and Subaru are so capable partially because of the harsh but fair mentoring of Soma and the way that he’s not only drilled the fundamentals of police work into them but also supported them emotionally through the trials of losing a loved one. This route really helps you understand why Goto has so much trust and respect for Soma (and I’d like to see more Soma/Subaru interactions!) 

We also get to see Kurume for what I believe is the first time, which is incredible to be able to put a face to the name. I am such a sucker for big brother Shusuke and seeing more of his life with Kurume really adds depth to our understanding of his character and why/how losing him has made him lose perspective of his own life and identity. 

(I don’t know if I can explain in words how devastated seeing the two of them together made me feel...)

The route also gave some more insight into the Goto/Kazuki situation which was used really well to offset Soma’s own situation regarding vengeance and unresolved grief. We also get to see more of the relationship between Soma and Goto and how much Goto respects him as a senpai even though Goto transferred to Public Safety first (on the recommendation of a certain elite ;)). There are also some great Ishigami/Soma moments which I’ll elaborate on under the cut, as well as some things I discovered while cross referencing between this story and Goto’s Who I Once Was. 

I love that there’s a theme running throughout the story, which is about defining a hero. This is a crucial question which underpins Soma’s incessant yet pointless attempts to figure out his identity and purpose in life. I love that we begin to see him figuring out what being a hero means to him and that Goto’s own grief and slow road to recovery, and the way that he’s affected Goto’s life, is what sets him on this path towards figuring out where to go from here on out. This path is then what leads him to his MC, who we can see is someone who grabs him by the hand and pulls him ever forward. 

To put it briefly, this is a route you’ll enjoy if you love Team Ishigami. You get to see both Soma and Goto pre-trauma (you get to see a younger Goto than in his own episode 0), but then you see both of them forced to confront grief head-on, and then you can see how they both help each other to move forward in their own subtle ways. This story also showcases the best of Ishigami, a man who is collected and analytical but is always thinking of how he can help those around him who are hurt. Like how Ishigami and Kaga are saved by Namba, I would say that Soma saves Goto, then Goto returns the favour, and then Ishigami saves them both. 

Keep reading under the cut to see my further thoughts on Soma: Who I Once Was. I provide extra details about the story and provide some analysis on his relationships with his colleagues and his MC with lots of screenshots for evidence!

Okay so first off: Soma’s parents are ALIVE??? Why have we never met them?! You would think that they would come to Kurume’s grave on Soma’s birthday to see their children at least. For some reason I genuinely thought it was just him and Kurume but no it turns out that he’s had parents this whole time?! Either way, it’s so wonderful getting to see Soma’s home life from back when he was a teenager.

In the past, I’ve made joking comments about Soma being confused over familial and romantic love and wondering if he just cares for his MC like he cares for Kurume because how can you have sex with someone and then still wonder if you just care for them like a SISTER. But this story definitely helped me understand his mindset a bit better and why he sees similarities between his MC and his sister.

So I think we’ve discovered quite early on that Soma’s sister died on his 19th birthday. We also see scenes of them when Kurume is in high school and already having to fill out forms about her future. So she would be 15 at the very least while Shu would have been probably in his first year of uni? I think he’s mentioned that Kurume and his MC would be around the same age but I was really reminded of that in this route.

Honestly it devastated me to read that conversation because her future was just stripped away from her like that. And to see her get all excited about all the possibilities her future held just wrecked me emotionally. She was considering being a florist or a baker or a pharmacist. She would have been around the same age as the MC :’( To see Shu suggest that Kurume could consider studying agriculture made my heart ache because it made me think of how much care Soma puts into maintaining his plants and how much it means to him that his MC takes care of them for him when he can’t, especially because that’s what Kurume did. I also now believe that Soma is so invested in doing whatever it takes to guide his MC towards the best possible future for her because it’s his way of almost atoning for Kurume never being able to live out her dreams and future.

So rather than mistaking familial and romantic/sexual love, I think it’s rather that Soma sees his MC as symbolic of how his sister might have grown up. Rather than thinking of his MC as his sister, he wonders if he’s just fond of her because she’s similar to how she might have been, sort of like how you might make friends more easily with people that remind you of other friends or siblings/people close to you. That’s why he gets so confused when he feels more beyond just affection and can’t control his emotions, because he’s never felt love beyond just worrying and wanting the best for someone until his MC.

On a side note, Soma did a 4 year degree at a university before joining the police academy? What did he study?!?! I want to know!!!!!

I also love that we got to see Soma not really wanting to be a mentor. We get to see him at his most candid, and at a time in his life where he’s still figuring himself out and doesn’t have any goals except for getting to the bottom of the Crimson Wings case. So when he has to take two rambunctious young men under his wing, it’s so amusing to see how much they annoy him at first with their bickering. In the main stories, we only really get to see a bit of this when he deals with Kurosawa but when he does that, it’s kind of jokey and snarky but man Subaru and Goto really pissed him off at times LOL. Like I mentioned, we’ve only seen him as a seasoned instructor who goes out of his way to help you develop, but he is so reluctant to look after these kids at first. He calls them goons, the gruesome twosome, annoying, a pain in the ass… It’s so funny seeing this side of Soma.

I did think it was so cute that Subaru immediately jumped to calling him Shu and Goto was so polite and called him Soma-san but then somewhere down the line ended up calling him Shu as well (which is what he still calls him to this day. I would literally DIE to see some present-day Subaru/Soma interactions – will someone who’s played Goto’s Adversaries let me know if the two of them interact? Subaru is so alpha male especially now, I’d love to see him defer to Soma in the present day.) It was also so cute that they tried to throw him a birthday party (but also very tragic because his birthday is also the anniversary of Kurume’s death and none of them knew that).

I also loved seeing Soma’s response to Kazuki’s death and the way that Goto’s loss and Soma’s loss kind of play off each other. He knows how it feels to lose a loved one, he’s been dealing with the repercussions of it for at least around 5 years at this point with frankly very little progression. If Goto was not able to move forward because he was stuck in time, Soma is not able to move forward because he is lost. Goto’s grieving puts in in a static place where he can’t move, but Soma’s grieving has him constantly moving, but without direction. He’s haunted by Kurume’s words and even says as much: “I had no idea where I was supposed to go… I just let myself float along”. 

This is why Soma scolds him both in his own story and in Goto’s story, and it is Soma’s experience that allows him to guide Goto towards his growth. It’s also (at least partially) because of Soma that Goto ends up in Public Safety.

Ishigami approaches Soma for an evaluation of Goto, stating that “students raised by an elite teacher are elite themselves”. Soma’s evaluation sets the stage for Goto to eventually be able to confront his grief and develop as an undercover specialist through Ishigami’s guidance; Goto even calls him his “benefactor”. In Goto’s story, he says “It has to be him. The one who found me on the neon-lit street” and Goto then mentions a line about being blinded by revenge that I’m pretty certain is something that Soma said during their nighttime (and thus presumably neon-lit) back alley chat. So I’m not 100% certain who Goto has in mind but 95% he’s thinking about Soma, especially since he later thanks him for the transfer. 

 We know that Soma essentially helps Goto without trying because he’s confused when Goto calls him his benefactor. In evaluating Goto to Ishigami and cornering him in that dark alley, without even knowing it, Soma effectively helps to push Goto into facing his future – the two facets that Goto says makes someone a hero. 

We also discover that Soma is recruited to Public Safety through a recommendation by Goto, who is presumably “the elite who nominated” him.  I love that if Soma pushes the frozen-in-time Goto into moving forward, Goto helps the lost Soma begin to find some direction.  

For years, Soma has been chasing this elusive concept of “being a hero” without even knowing what that means, which is why he never gets closer to fulfilment, because he doesn’t know what it’s supposed to be like to “feel like a hero”. No matter what he himself does, he is never able to see himself as a hero either because he couldn’t prevent the death of the one person he wanted to save. I will say probably that the thing that first changed Soma into making him feel like he has more sense of purpose in becoming one step closer to the “hero” that Kurume said he was is that Goto basically called him his hero. I think it’s so special because here we can really see the links drawn between Goto’s life, Soma’s life, and the narrative theme of being a “hero”.

Something that I thought was missing was how Goto (and potentially Subaru?) finds out about Soma’s past. We never see him tell him about it, but I wonder if that’s the reason why he nominates Soma to join Public Safety? We know that Ishigami knows about it, but I think Goto would probably have found out through Soma himself?

On another note, I actually wondered why Soma, Goto and Kurosawa all have fairly similar strategies and strengths as detectives while Kaga and Shinonome have more specific specialties. Now I realise it’s because Goto trained under Soma, and Kurosawa trained under both Goto and Soma.

These two routes made me realise that Goto needed Soma, Soma needed Goto, and they both needed Ishigami and Public Safety in order to be able to keep walking forward without being trapped in neverending grief. I just need to talk for a little bit about how incredible Ishigami is. Ishigami’s judgement in picking his team is amazing. The fact that he finds these people who have personal vendettas who are working covertly and independently to achieve vengeance and then sees how they evaluate each other shows that he is actively building a team that respects each other and work well together. He sees that they have the skills for Public Safety work but also that they have personal issues that Public Safety can help them deal with, and then he does everything he can to help them attain their peace. Ishigami is unbelievably supportive. He works quietly and diligently within the system to get his subordinates to where they need to be and I LOVE THAT SO MUCH.

Okay with all this said, I cross referenced between Goto’s Episode 0 and Soma’s Episode 0 and found some timeline discrepancies? Right after Kazuki’s death, we know Goto spends a while completely depressed until Subaru drags him up to go to Kazuki’s funeral. Then after her funeral, he becomes obsessed with working independently to try to avenge her death. This goes on for long enough (weeks) that Soma has to corner him in a back alley to lecture him (which by the way happens surprisingly often with Soma lol). Goto transfers to Public Safety soon after Kazuki’s funeral. We know this because he transfers and we see him start doing work for Ishigami but when he goes to see her grave and Subaru says that he’s transferring to SP department, this happens on the monthiversary of Kazuki’s death (not even her funeral). Then, it says that Soma transfers to Public Safety a few weeks after Goto’s transfer (meaning it would have happened within a couple months at most after Kazuki’s death).

In Soma’s route, we know that he goes to see Goto a few weeks after Iijima (Kazuki)’s funeral with the bananas. This occurs while Goto is still at Criminal Affairs because Soma references “the other day” when Soma lectures him about his personal life getting in the way of his job. I’m assuming this happens after the back alley lecture when Goto has returned to normal life for that one week before he gets called to transfer to Public Safety. However, later Soma, still working in Criminal Affairs, says “Years have passed, but the one responsible for [Kazuki’s] case wasn’t caught”. This suggests that Soma was still at Criminal Affairs for years after Goto’s transfer to Public Safety rather than weeks? So what’s the TRUTH?

I also just briefly want to gush about how much I love the CG. We see those typical important Soma elements (his hair and the bonsai) but I just love the look on his face. I mean he looks impossibly handsome, but he looks so serious and determined while at the same time still lacking the warmth that we see in later CGs that he only develops after meeting his MC. Am I reading too much into this? Maybe, but let me PRETEND. 

Finally, I want to end my thoughts on how this relates to his relationship with his MC. Soma says that she’s helped him to face the future. As I previously discussed, I genuinely believe that part of this is because his MC lets him see glimpses of what Kurume could have been. Soma is attracted to her brightness, her bravery, her diligence, her conviction and her optimism. (He also starts enjoying everyday life with her when they pose as a married couple and let’s not forget that he does find her physically attractive even before he falls in love/realises he’s in love lol). But more significantly, I feel like this is because of how important he is to her.

Soma has previously said that he doesn’t trust Public Safety, but for some reason they seem to trust him. This reveals that he’s not sure of what his value is to his department or to his colleagues. While he has moved forward, he’s still working towards being that “someone who pushes you to face the future” and “helps people without trying”. Even though Goto basically implies that Soma is the one who has helped him face his future, Soma sort of interrupts so he doesn’t explicitly voice it. However, when his MC confesses how important he is to her with that unwavering conviction of hers, I believe in that moment he suddenly realises his own worth. His MC, who in some ways is a vicarious symbol of Kurume’s potential, helps him see that he has already been a “hero” to those he has saved through his Public Safety work and to his colleagues. This, combined with her trust in his colleagues and them actually coming to the rescue, is what makes Soma able to trust his colleagues. Because he finally knows his own worth, he can finally see how significant he is to his colleagues and how far they would go for him. I think this is also what makes him believe in Public Safety as an institution. For years, he’s been unable to trust or forgive Public Safety because of what happened to Kurume, but now he can finally see that they as an institution have actually helped people and saved people’s lives, and this is partially due to his own involvement.

Finally, the last facet of his relationship with his MC that I want to talk about is how mutually important their relationship is. I’ve already discussed how his MC sees him as a hero by those guidelines that Goto helped him set down, but by those same guidelines, his MC is also his hero. I mean first off, he first became conscious of her as a woman when she gave a ridiculous display of bravery. But more importantly, if a hero is someone who helps people without trying and someone who pushes you to face the future, she has done both of those for him. He says so himself: “With her, I think I can focus on the future and moving forward”. And she has helped him just by being herself. This theme really comes to a head when she literally throws away her own future to help him finally get closure. When he decides to cut his hair, he says this:

“I’ll make the cut, draw the distinction between the past and the future, because I love them both.

I have to let go of what I’ve lost and look to what I can still gain.”

He learns this because of her.

Soma: Who I Once Was is an incredible story that really helped me to understand my favourite character’s psyche, history and relationships just a little bit more. For that, I’m so thrilled and so grateful. I’m so pleased at the quality of this content and all the insight it provides, and I’m excited to see how Soma and his relationships continue to grow and develop in the future.

[breakingsomething]

the fall part twenty one - rise

basic summary: marvin and naomi try to be normal. the jackson-schneeplestein brothers aren't getting along. and jackie, aaron and rhea do something that may have disastrous consequences.

trigger warnings: mentions of suicide, murder and abuse, experimentation, hypnotism

tagslist: @synonymsforzombie @spicydanhowell @skyewardlight @dreaming-of-stories-and-stars @cest-mellow @graveyardlettuce @lower-your-expectationss

summary of what happened last time since it's been a full month: jamie hung out with his family on his birthday, resulting in a small breakfast over carving pumpkins. anti brought jamie a birthday gift. rhea and aaron had an argument that ended with jackie accidentally hypnotism aaron to make him shut up.

-

"you know," marvin said, pausing to sip his hot chocolate. "this is nice."

"it is," naomi agreed. she fumbled with her muffin, picking out a blueberry and popping it in her mouth. "it's been a long time since i've been on a proper date with someone. years, even."

the two of them had made an impulse decision that morning to go to costa and buy muffins and drinks, and it was turning out to have been a fantastic idea. the weather wasn't the best, and it was drizzling outside, but naomi gleefully exclaimed that she loved the rain, and marvin joked that maybe she was a flower herself and needed it to photosynthesize, and naomi pouted and called him a fire, jokingly suggesting that the rain might put him out and teach him how to have fun. he was very glad they had decided to sit outside now. they could listen to the rain from their cozy spot under the canopy as they drank their warm drinks, watching people go by. the air smelled like fresh rain. like jamie's magic, marvin thought, but less sharp. less cold. jamie was like ice. always had been. it was strange to think about.

"you alright?" naomi asked, snapping marvin from his thoughts. she smirked, shaking cinnamon hair from her eyes as she put on an exaggerated playful tone. "enjoying the view?"

he laughed, leaning forward in his seat. "of course! these muffins are absolutely beautiful, stunning, really -"

she smacked his hand, laughing before taking a chunk out his muffin. "you're right, they are! especially yours." she flashed him a grin, a small smudge of chocolate on her lips. marvin brushed it away with his thumb, grinning and bumping their noses together. he could hear naomi giggling. "you're such a soft bastard. aren't you going to try and steal mine?"

"no, i am not, because i am the one winning," he said softly against her lips, then pressed his mouth to hers. she tasted like chocolate. he pulled away after a moment, chest shaking. "fuck, this is so much harder to do while i'm still laughing."

naomi dropped her head to his shoulder. "such a romantic," she chuckled. "god, we are becoming the sappiest couple, aren't we?"

"maybe so." he ran his fingers through her hair, watching a van trundle down the glistening street. "who cares? life is short, might as well drink hot chocolate and be cheesy in a costa. we're all gonna die anyway."

naomi sat up, shaking her head. "a romantic indeed," she deadpanned, rolling her eyes with a smile. she flicked a blueberry at him from her muffin. "you sure know exactly how to flirt with a girl -"

"hey, hey, hey, i'm clearly - clearly a fantastic flirt," he said, holding up both hands. "you're dating me, after all."

"ha, yes, because i felt bad for your awful romancing skills -"

"rude!"

they continued jokingly bickering as they ate until both muffins were fully gone, partially eaten by each magician. the rain had gotten heavier, and naomi pulled up her hood, tapping her chin as she stared off into space. marvin tapped her arm. "penny for your thoughts?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. naomi jolted then sighed, relaxing into her hand and staring down at her hands.

"i dunno," she murmured. "so much is happening all at once. i feel like it can't all be real. you know what i mean?" she traced a finger round her plate in circles, frowning. "that could be just me. i swear i've been taking my meds."

marvin shook his head. "no, i get it. everything's bullshit, world is a fuck." he glanced around before lighting the tips of his fingers on fire and brushing them over his drink to heat it up again. "but it is real, ok? you're not imagining this or making it up."

she chuckled. "i don't know whether to be reassured by that or not. also, stop with the flames. you'll get us in trouble."

marvin shrugged. "nah, the veil will cover it up," he said nonchalantly, but extinguished the flames anyway. he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "mhm. i'm so tired, nai."

"go to bed earlier, then," she said playfully, but with a quiet tone. she pat his hand, watching the rain fall.

he heard his phone ring.

"shit," he muttered, not moving to answer it. instead, he leaned back in his seat, picking up his spoon and twirling it in the air. "weather's nice."

"your phone's ringing," naomi pointed out.

"let it ring." he reached across the table and kissed her again, touching the back of her head gently. "we should do this more often."

she giggled and was about to say something else when marvin's phone went off again. he sat back with an exaggerated groan, rolling his eyes to the sky.

"place your bets," he announced sarcastically, pulling his phone out and blowing a raspberry at naomi's amused expression. "will it be… chase, calling to ask if i ate the last bag of prawn cocktail crisps? i did, by the way, but don't tell him that. or will it be henrik, calling to ask where i am despite saying i was going out with you this morning? or will it inexplicably be anti, using the scraps of magic he has left to yell at me for some reason? find out within the next couple seconds, because - hello?"

"marvin," came kazuki's voice. "so, bad news. your magic book has been stolen, and i don't think it takes a genius to find out who took it."

-

chase clinked the spoon against the side of a cup as he stirred his tea, pausing to dump more sugar in it. henrik watched all this from the kitchen table, slightly amused. "mein gott, chase, you're going to have a heart attack and die."

"and when that happens, i'll have a doctor right here to save me," chase grinned smoothly before knocking back half the cup. immediately after he did he began to splutter, coughing and dripping tea down his chin. "shit - shit, fuck, hot hot hot hot!"

"lovely," henrik deadpanned, taking a calm sip of his coffee. "how graceful a man you are."

chase flipped him off, wiping his chin as jamie wandered in, confusion plastered across his face. "good morning?" he signed, his expression suggesting it was a question.

"morning, james," henrik greeted warmly. "chase is dying."

"that's not ideal," jamie said, sitting down at the table and stretching his arms out. "are you alright, chase?"

chase nodded, face bright red. "very hot," he coughed. "very very hot. i'm fine, i'll live."

henrik chuckled, shaking his head. "you're a wreck of a man. drink slower. or do i need to talk to you like you're connor?"

chase rolled his eyes. "shut it, you. where's marvin?"

"out with naomi," henrik said, shrugging. "he should be back soon. all dying aside, how are you this fine morning?"

chase finished his coughing fit and laughed, grabbing a tea towel to wipe up the spilled drink. "doing alright. how's you, james? sleep better?"

he nodded, smiling softly, but his eyes were far away. chase frowned, picking up his mug and sitting back down at the table. "hey, what's up?"

jamie shrugged. "anti," was all he signed. "thinking."

"oh, yeah," chase murmured, suddenly interested in his patterned socks. he and everyone else was all too aware of anti's visit a couple days ago to bring jamie his gifts. he noticed henrik had noticeably soured, staring into his mug. chase cleared his throat. "what… what are you thinking?"

another shrug. "don't know. a lot."

henrik muttered something that neither of them could quite catch. chase decided to ignore it, but jamie sat up, looking at him. "what?"

henrik blew the air out his cheeks, watching jamie's hands but not his face. a benefit of speaking sign, chase and henrik had long ago agreed on, was the lack of eye contact. "i don't want to talk about anti," he mumbled. jamie's face fell just slightly.

"ok," he signed carefully. "don't have to."

there was a tension in the air now that hadn't been there before. chase caught a breath, sipping his tea cautiously.

"you never ate the cookie he brought, did you?" henrik asked without warning. jamie raised an eyebrow, folding his arms across the table.

"what's it to you?" he said, movements almost flat. the tension was obvious now, and chase found himself standing up to make another mug of tea. why, he didn't know, but his heart was racing and he didn't want to turn to look at the others.

still, he could hear henrik's scowl in his voice. "because he could have poisoned it it something. who knows with that man?"

there was a pause, and chase made himself turn round to see jamie's response. "i know," he was saying cooly. "he's my brother and i know him better than any of the rest of you."

"i'm sure you do," henrik muttered, and both him and chase jumped when jamie suddenly slammed his fist to the table, making henrik's mug bounce. jamie had ice in his eyes, cold and unnerving. despite how ridiculously selfish it sounded, chase was glad he wasn't the one on the receiving end of the glare. if looks could kill, henrik would be very dead.

"if you have a problem," jamie signed, slowly, meticulously, so no one missed a word. "tell me upfront instead of being vague."

the kettle had finished boiling, and chase turned to finish his tea while henrik responded. "well," he heard him say, silent fury evident in his tone. "there is the small detail of your brother having held me in his own torture basement for over two months. i feel like - i feel like, with all the shit going on with jackie lately, you lot have forgotten this!"

chase flinched as jamie's fist hit the table again, slightly less furiously than the first time. "no one has forgotten," he signed, and chase wondered if he was imagining the trace of rain and petrichor in the air. "we know anti is not a good person. and we -"

"you're saying "we" a lot," henrik interrupted, and his gaze was also cold, calculating. he and jamie were never opposites; they were two peas in a pod, far too similar for their own good. "i don't think "you" know anything."

the room went very, very silent.

"you think so." jamie's expression was blank, his hands moving far too slowly. "you think i don't know anything, think i don't understand anti."

"jamie," henrik said, suddenly uncertain. "i - didn't mean -"

"no," jamie said. the smell of petrichor was stronger now, something cold radiating off of the man. "no. you spent two months of your life with anti. silly me. of course you understand him better than i do."

"i wasn't implying -"

"then what were you saying?" jamie suddenly exploded, knocking his chair back to hit the fridge as he stood. chase grabbed his mug, burning his fingers as he held it. "what, that you've seen him at his worst? that i couldn't possibly understand how bad he is? that only you went through trauma and that makes it all the worse for you?"

henrik's eyes were wide, and he managed to shake his head, month opening like he wanted to say something. jamie smirked dangerously, coldly. "oh, now you change your tune. because you remember that i spent - how long? over two years with anti? that i've seen far more of him than you ever will?"

jameson hit the table a third time, cold rage lining his face. "i've seen him at his best and his worst. i've seen him when he's vulnerable and hurting, i've seen him covered in blood after a kill, i've seen him have a panic attack after a nightmare, i've seen him when he's manic and making terrible decisions, i've seen him when he's shaking and desperate for someone to touch him, i've seen him depressed as fuck and joking about suicide, i've seen him furious and not paying attention to who it is he's hurting - and who do you think was there for him each time? who stitched up his wounds when he got into fights that he swore weren't intentional, who comforted him when he was hyperventilating and couldn't breathe through panic, who stopped him from committing multiple murders, who took the blows when there was no one else around?" jameson paused, resting his hands for a brief moment. "that was dear dapper jack. dapper jack the time traveler, dapper jack who was fucking made for anti, dapper jack whose very purpose was to fix anti's mistakes. do you have any idea of the things i've seen?"

there was a very silent pause.

"no," henrik murmured, eyes cast to the table. "i don't."

jameson wasn't smiling anymore, even mockingly. "that's right. you don't. you haven't seen the things i've rewinded, the things only i remember."

he took a shuddering breath, his gaze suddenly far away. "you haven't seen. you don't know how many times i've watched people die, people break, people say things they didn't mean to say. i've seen anti die, did you know? i've seen anti break and nearly kill himself, kill me. i've rewinded in my last moments of life. you - you don't even know it, but i've saved your lives as well. and i remember. i always remember." he goes silent. "i always remember."

chase's tea was lukewarm now. he still didn't drink it. henrik didn't say anything. his eyes were transfixed on jamie's, looking far away.

"so don't you dare tell me," jamie continued, and there was something in his face now - grief, a deep sadness, some kind of pain. "don't you dare tell me that i don't know anything. don't you dare. because i know far, far more than you could even begin to comprehend. far more than i wish i knew."

he raised his hand like he was going to hit the table again, but he didn't. he just stormed out the room, leaving behind only the smell of rain.

neither chase nor henrik spoke for a moment. chase was shaking. henrik was staring into the distance, and then let his head fall to the table, forehead resting against the wood.

"ich bin ein idiot," he mumbled. chase didn't disagree. just sipped his near cold tea and looked away.

-

"this is a terrible idea."

"oh, don't be such a paranoid worrywart, mckenzie. this is going to work perfectly."

jackie, aaron and rhea were in the city centre, sitting next to the fountain and quietly planning things out. rhea had insisted they all went out to get fresh air, which aaron had also protested was a bad idea ("we're literally fugitives running from the magic law, rhea, in what world is going out for no reason a good idea -"), and now the three of them were here instead of at rhea's place. and jackie, quite honestly, was beginning to get tired of the two of them fighting.

"i'm beginning to get tired of the two of you fighting," he sighed, stretching his leg out down the steps. "we're all in the same boat, so why don't we get along?"

"i think i've made my side of this plainly clear," aaron muttered, but didn't say more. rhea smiled up at jackie, and his heart swelled with guilt. he knew why aaron was being more reluctant to fight. his head still hurt thinking about the hypnotism he'd accidentally placed on his boyfriend, and he looked away, staring at the shops across the street.

"we're all enemies of restitutio now," rhea was saying, tapping on the notebook she'd brought along with her to doodle in and take notes that neither jackie nor aaron understood. "so we have to be really careful. i'm probably going to be your best bet, being blake's sister and all. i know how to get in and out. mckenzie, you know where the other two necklaces are, correct? i'm assuming they're in the same place as jackson's one."

aaron frowned. "ok, first of all, stop calling him jackson. second of all, do you not know any of this information yourself? i figured with you being bl- being - being the stiùiriche's sister and all."

rhea smirked at his inability to say the name. "i can call jackson whatever i want. why, does it annoy you? also, blake always hid the information from me. guess he never trusted me, huh? he was right not to, but it still breaks my heart." she clapped a hand over her chest, expression unchanging. jackie sighed, preparing to jump in the middle of another fight.

but he didn't have to. aaron just grinned sharply, shaking hair out his face. "ah, so you're relying on the dunderhead to get you the necklaces, huh? how funny. yes, i know where they are. do we have, like, a map of the place?"

rhea rolled her eyes. "a map? are you serious? oh yes, mckenzie, i have a map of the goddamn secret magic organization base that my family has been working to keep hidden for years -"

aaron threw up his hands. "ok, so there's no map, i get it, chill. sorry for insulting your bloodline or whatever." he grabbed rhea's notebook from the fountain steps and began to draw, much to rhea's loud dismay.

"did you - are you drawing a map?" she asked in disbelief. "how do you remember the layout so well?"

"i just do," aaron sing-songed, the red pen gliding across the page. "with our knowledge combined, then i suppose we'll know enough that this isn't a suicide mission. rhea, you're taking the stiùiriche, yeah?"

she nodded. "yep. shouldn't be too hard, he's a pussy when it comes to me. loves me too much, even though i've done such terrible things." another smirk split her face. "so full of weakness. he and your anti are very similar. think themselves strong but are honestly just pathetic. slightly unrelated, but do you guys wanna hear something fun?"

jackie nodded while aaron groaned. "is this something that's gonna get us killed?" he sighed deeply. rhea placed a finger over her lips, gathering up her stuff and leaping to her feet. jackie and aaron scrambled after her, exchanging glances.

"here's a secret," rhea said, and she appeared to be leading them to the co-op on the corner. "i'm not actually a shapeshifter. i know, surprising, right? but i'm not."

aaron snorted softly as they entered the shop, the air instantly warmer and the bustling of people replaced with the hum of a heater. "like hell you're not. we've seen you do it."

rhea grinned. "have you? have you really seen anything? nothing is real anymore, mckenzie, better get used to it."

"if you're not a shifter, then what?" jackie interjected quickly before aaron could say anything in response. "you can change your appearance and such. that's something i'm certain of."

rhea walked down the frozen food aisle, casually inspecting the variety of pizza brands. "i can change my appearance, yes, but not like that. you both know of the veil. what would you say if i told you it was possible to control it?"

jackie blinked. "i'd say… nothing surprises me anymore?"

rhea grinned. her eyes changed from golden yellow to bright pink, growing larger, hair shrinking back into her scalp as her nose turned up and smile became wider, teeth darkening to a near solid black. "not real," she said, and skipped down to the next aisle, grinning at them before changing back with a crack. "just an illusion."

"you're… you're saying you can manipulate the veil?" aaron said skeptically. he crossed his arms firmly. "prove it."

rhea cocked her head, raising an eyebrow. then she walked up to the cash register, a spring in her step, and grabbed a bag of popcorn and a chocolate bar from the shelf next to it. looking the woman behind the counter dead in the eye, she turned and left the store without paying. jackie and aaron followed, mouths agape in shock.

"how did the cashier not notice?" jackie said in disbelief, following rhea back to the fountain. rhea shrugged, smiling wickedly.

"veil manipulation," she said casually. "you could probably do it too. not as well as me, but you could do it. here, let me show you."

she raises her hands, motioning for the other two to follow her. jackie does so, feeling a bit silly. "you have to concentrate on what you want other people to see. it's like knitting in the air, but with illusions. have either of you done illusions before?"

jackie nodded, while aaron shook his head. "i specialize mostly in attack based magic," aaron explained.

"and i used to do light based illusions for -" jackie paused, stiffening. he didn't want to think about chase's kids right now. "yeah. is it anything like that?"

rhea raised an eyebrow at jackie's cutoff, but didn't press it. "in a way. but it's not like manipulating a real thing you can see. light is different. you're taking actual strands of light from the sun, or from fabricated light if you're indoors, and weaving them into shapes. the veil is different because you can't see it, and you can only feel it if you're connected to it. and if you want to connect with it, you have to understand exactly what you're doing. let's start simple." she turned to them, cross legged, and slowly blinked. her eyes changed from gold to purple. "you have to be confident, and you have to be aware. falter, and the illusion falters."

both men blinked, practically straining with the useless effort. "how are you so good at it?" jackie asked, frustrated.

"years of practice," was the response. "since i was born. my mother taught me. she always favoured me over blake, and she was an incredible magician. better than my father, i'd say. honestly, me and blake should have fought for the position of stiùiriche. i would have won." her eyes cleared and she shook her head, realizing how off track she was getting. "but yes, it's hard. we'll have plenty of time to learn later." she straightens, pulling out her notebook again and grinning at jackie and aaron satisfactorily. "for now, we have a magical organization to rob."

-

"so," aaron said. "this is it?"

jackie could not believe the irony of there being a secret entrance to restitutio right next to anti's old waterworks. a crack in the universe just between the trees, a literal hole in reality that no one else had ever found. "holy shit," he breathed, shaking his head in shock. "no fucking way. no fucking way this has been here since you were a kid and the bastard somehow never found it."

rhea shrugged, trying not to look too pleased with herself. "i found it years ago. when you told me anti used to live here, i almost couldn't believe it." she slipped through the trees, narrowly avoiding catching her hair on a branch. "to be fair, you'd have to be an extremely powerful magician to find this without knowing the spell word, and anti is not, and never was, a powerful magician. oh, bitch boy can teleport and fly as a cloud of static? bitch boy can fuck with computers? he's not special. he can't even fully control it - sorry, couldn't, because he's got nothing now, huh? well." she shot jackie a glance. "almost nothing."

jackie winced, remembering anti's brief teleportation that had managed to hurt rhea. he still didn't understand how that had happened, given that jackie thought he had all his magic. "unimportant now. we need to focus on where we're going. you two know the place far better than i do, so -"

"yes, we know, jackie," rhea snapped. she pulled aside a branch and sarcastically gestured for them to go through. "after you. and when you get inside, duck as soon as you can. go."

"wait, the entrance is here?" aaron started, and rhea rolled her eyes before pushing him through. aaron yelped and - disappeared. jackie was given only a moment to gape before he was pushed after him.

he was now in a black room, and a quick, frantic grab around him told him he was in some sort of closet. there was a door in front that was almost entirely made of glass, and jackie now understood why rhea had told them to duck. he feels aaron beside him, breathing heavily in the dark. "hey," he managed to say aloud. "how's it going?"

"shut up," hissed another voice, and jackie jumped before realizing it was rhea. "we're in a closet that's connected to a hallway, so anyone could just walk by. stay still while i check."

they didn't move as rhea slowly rose, a faint mist around her face. "coast's clear," she said softly, and the door opened with only a tiny click, exposing them to a plain white hall with no other defining features other than a camera on the wall. rhea sighed. "jackson, would you like the honour of fixing that?"

jackie really wasn't accustomed to using anti's magic. but he'd been practicing, and with a single flick of his hand, he could somehow see into the camera, see every inner working, see everything it was connected to. "woah," he breathed, raising his hand higher like he was trying to get a signal. "if this is how anti always saw things, i can see why he went bloody mental."

"hurry up and loop them," rhea reminded, and jackie startled before doing as she asked. with the cameras fixed, they fully stepped out into the hall, pressed against the wall as they caught their breaths, rhea already calculating the way. "ok, so jackie, you keep an eye on the cameras. i'll do my best to hide us all if anything happens. mckenzie, you're our backup in case everything goes to shit. you're our attack dog."

"course i am," aaron muttered, but didn't complain. they set off round the corner, rhea still leading, aaron in tow. they didn't see anyone for a while, and they moved slowly, jackie getting the hang of looping the camera feeds as they went.

suddenly, rhea stopped. "shit!' she gasped, and threw her hands up. a blurry shield of sorts lifted over them, and they all went dead silent as two men walked by, wearing dark outfits and speaking in hushed tones. pressed against the wall, the three of them didn't breathe. jackie could feel all three of their thoughts aligning to please don't catch us, please don't catch us, please don't catch us. he could hear aaron's heart beating and gripped his hand tightly, feeling how hot his palms were.

"- don't understand why she never bloody listens to me," the first man was saying quietly. he had light brown hair and almost greyish skin, a cloak shrugged over his shoulders. "i do everything for her. everything! i gave up meat for her, i basically stopped smoking for her - and yet i'm the problem! what the fuck does she want?"

"maybe you're shite in bed," sniggered the other man, who had dark skin and an unfortunate mullet. "or maybe you're just a dick and she doesn't like you."

the first man elbowed him in the side, slowing to check his phone. jackie's legs were shaking, and he lifted a hand to clamp over his mouth so he wouldn't cry out. "fuck off," the man scoffed as the second man laughed. "she loves me really. she just never cares - i say "i'm off to work," and she says "are you actually going to meet up with edward again" and maybe i am, but she doesn't know that and still doesn't trust me!"

they slowly began to walk again, and the second man slapped the first man on the back. "perry," he giggled, shaking his head. "sometimes i wish you'd listen to the horseshit that came out your mouth before you made me hear it."

the two of them continued bickering quietly as they rounded the corner, and as soon as they were gone, jackie gasped and fell fully into aaron, burying his face in his chest. "motherfucker," he heard rhea say as she dropped the illusion around them. "that guy was a right prick. i hope his partner cuts his d- jackson? fuck, what's up?"

jackie was clinging to the front of aaron's jacket, shaking. "i -" was all he managed to get out for a moment. "mistake, this is bad, we need to stop and go back -"

rhea scoffed. "don't be such a pussy. you get one scare and that's enough to send you running?"

"he said he doesn't want to!" aaron said loudly from above him. jackie felt the man's fingers curl into his hair protectively, holding him close. "and i don't want to either. this is fucking bullshit, and i -"

"hello?"

they all froze.

rhea went very, very pale.

"blake," she mouthed, and grabbed the two men by the collar, yanking them down the hall as fast as she could. they flew through the door to a stairwell and practically fell down them, listening to voices getting closer. at the bottom was another door, which they shoved through into a different hall with a fake window on the end. jackie could barely breathe, wiping cameras as quickly as he could, and then suddenly rhea was shoving them into a room and shutting the door, leaning against the small window. they could see a blurry shape on the other side - jackie couldn't tell if it was the stiùiriche or not - before they disappeared, leaving the three of them in silence.

"thank fuck," rhea whispered, voice very high. "that was definitely blake, and he would have seen through any of my illusions. shit, we're lucky to have gotten away with that."

aaron was tugging on jackie's sleeve. "jay," he hissed. jackie couldn't even turn, just closed his eyes and let his forehead rest against the door.

"where are we now?" he said quietly. his breathing was slowing back to normal, and he shuddered briefly, sighing.

"jay," aaron said again. "jackson."

"we should be just under the floor we were on," rhea murmured. "we're close now, so we might as well -"

"guys!"

they both turned in unison to see what aaron wanted. "what's the pr-" jackie started, before he finally took a look at the room they were in.

it genuinely looked like a lab from a horror movie. the room was lit up blue, a desk and trolley full of beakers and surgical tools next to bottles of multicoloured liquids, like potions. curtains hung over strange rectangular boxes. but none of that was what they were focusing on. in the centre of the room was a large, complex looking bed surrounded by black machines, and in the bed was a man. dark, greying skin and shaved coiled hair, wearing a white hospital gown. tubes stabbed into his skin, connecting to the machine. a nasal cannula on his face. pale and sickly, dead looking. it took jackie a moment to recognize him and when he did, it was like a direct kick to the chest.

"holy shit," aaron said in a high voice. "is that - is that not your brother's ex boyfriend?"

because yes, it was raymond. marvin's bastard ex. jackie couldn't breathe.

rhea stepped forward, eyes sparkling with curiosity. "my god, they did it," she murmured, tapping the side of the machine. "the fuckers went and did it."

"did - what?" jackie managed to choke out. "i - rhea, what are they doing to him?"

rhea turned back and rolled her eyes. "why do you care? it's your fault he's here in the first place. you chose to bring him here. didn't you say you hated him, hated him the same way you hated anti?" a raised eyebrow, another smirk. "didn't you want to hurt him?"

"this is so fucked," aaron sobbed, clamping his hands over his ears as he groaned in disgust. "rhea, for fuck's sake, tell us what they're doing to him!"

she sighed. "they're extracting his magic." she said this in a tone so casual that it took a moment to sink in. "i didn't think they'd manage it, but this machine is new. it tears every strip of magic from your body and, depending how much of it was in you, you'll either literally shrivel up and die or you'll lose half your senses and maybe a limb or two."

aaron turned and threw up. jackie found himself at rhea's side, watching the skeletal man's chest rise and fall, wheezing. "is he dead?" jackie breathed, something hot and unpleasant stirring in his chest. "and - why are they taking his magic?"

"he's not dead, no," rhea said matter of factly, leaning against the dark machine. "not yet. and as for your second question - think of it this way. you know how you took part of anti's soul and therefore gained most of his magic and a bunch of his memories? it's like that, only slightly different. they don't take the soul. only the pure, unreached magic. they use it to fuel their own. so they won't gain this man's powers when they use it, but instead, their own magic will be stronger."

"this is so messed up," aaron moaned, straightening from the corner he'd been vomiting in. he was pale, shivering. "we can't - we can't do this. we can't."

"oh, come on!" rhea said loudly, throwing up her hands and letting then flop to her sides. "you helped torture anti, did you not? he's human too, probably! human like this guy! both of them pricks, correct? both of them people who have hurt one or more of your brothers? why is it so wrong for anti to hurt and not him?"

even jackie didn't have an answer. not only that, but… there was a small, disgusted part of him that was almost satisfied to see raymond like this.

he wondered what marvin would say if he could see him now.

"this isn't important right now," aaron suddenly spat. he stormed towards them and grabbed jackie's hand, holding it tightly in his own. "are we going to get these bloody necklaces or what? let's go, i'm tired of fucking standing here."

both rhea and jackie were surprised by aaron's sudden change of heart, but neither one complained. they checked that the coast was clear and set off again, clicking the door behind them. jackie didn't look back at raymond.

"blake's corridor is over here," rhea said, guiding them through a hall and briefly throwing up a veiled illusion to hide them from someone walking by. jackie held his breath until they were gone. "the stiùiriche always gets a corridor to themself, lucky bastard. mckenzie, this is your time to shine. hopefully we can get in and out without too much trouble, but if not…" she cracked her neck. "blake is mine."

the hallway was dark, and no one was around. "he doesn't like people being around," rhea said quietly. their footsteps were the only sound they could hear. "back when he was announced as the new stiùiriche, even i wasn't usually allowed to - shit!"

she grabbed them and pulled them against the wall. on the staircase, seen through the window across the opposing room, staring right at them… was a man. short brown hair, pale skin, a black hoodie. jackie recognized him. fuck, but jackie recognized him.

is someone up above trying to fuck with me today? he thought. what the hell is going on?

"shouldn't we move?" aaron said. "he's seen us!"

"too late," rhea murmured. "way too late."

the man watched them.

"will he tell the stiùiriche?" jackie asked, heart racing.

"most likely," rhea replied.

aaron leaped forward, holding up his hands with a look of confusion on his face. "am i missing something? who is that?"

"unimportant," rhea said immediately. "let's go. if he's over there, blake probably is too. hopefully we'll be ok."

she took off down the hall. aaron fell into step beside jackie, shaking his arm to get his attention. "jackson. are you hiding something from me?"

guilt rolled in his chest. "shut up," he mumbled, hating himself as he said it. "i'll tell you later."

he did not plan to tell him later.

aaron let go of his hand.

"is this it?" rhea asked. they'd gone through another few rooms, seeing no one, and was now in what looked like some sort of strange dressing room, lit up yellow, lined with shelves and full of closets and desks. "or are we near it? you guys are so lucky i know the spell words to get into blake's places, by the way, otherwise you'd so be screwed. this place is fucking weird."

"we're close," aaron muttered. he'd been very quiet since seeing the man on the stairs. he moved across the room, opening closets and peeking inside. "i found this place when i left a meeting with the stiùiriche and went looking through some of the rooms while the spells were down for me. i was a rather well trusted member, and the magician who was to escort me out basically told me to go by myself. normally, i wouldn't have taken anything, but something seemed to be almost… compelling me. and i guess i'm glad i did." he paused in his search, expression unreadable. "maybe."

a few minutes of looking, and it was rhea who found what they were looking for in one of the many closets in the room. "blake's hidden safe," she breathed, staring into a black void with no apparent end. "i never knew where it was. he never let me in here. mckenzie, you legend!"

aaron just snorted, looking distant. "yeah, sure. let's go in and get the shit and then go home and be powerful, i guess." his tone was dripping with sarcasm.

jackie went in after rhea, staring in awe round the place. it was a literal abyss, with only a few glowing lights, like beacons. "your brother sure has a thing for creepy voids," jackie joked, trying to lighten the mood.

rhea wasn't paying attention. she marched across the floor - jackie blinked behind his glasses, because it looked like she was floating - and went up to the farthest beacon, eyes wide. "here," she gasped, beckoning jackie over. "quick, come here!"

it was the necklaces, laying on two white pedestals under glowing lights from an unknown source. they looked a lot like jackie's necklace, only slightly different colours; while jackie's was jet black, one was a deep silver with a red gem and the other was a golden copper with a green gem. "souls," rhea murmured, picking up the golden one and turning it over in her hands. "weapons. i wonder if they work the same as yours, jackie? mckenzie, come and - mckenzie?"

they both turned. aaron was gone.

"well, that's not good," rhea said lightly.

"shit," jackie hissed. he grabbed the other necklace, wincing at how it burned his hands, and darted back over to where the glowing entrance of the safe was. his feet didn't make a sound as he ran. "we got what we needed, let's find aaron and go."

"aw, do we have to?" rhea complained. she was fixing the necklace to her neck, letting it fall to her chest. "he's boring, can we leave him? he's probably off being emo because you wouldn't tell him who that other guy that you handed over to blake was."

"shut up!" jackie spat, stumbling out of the cupboard. panic was beginning to spike in his chest, and was it just his imagination, or were the lights flickering? "this was too easy, this was - this was a mistake. this was so a mistake, oh my god -"

"oh, yes. it was definitely a mistake."

that last voice wasn't rhea's. or aaron's.

jackie turned to face the stiùiriche himself.

he looked the same as last time he'd seen him. salt and pepper hair, galaxy suit that shifted as he walked, black cape, black eyes. he carried an aura of power and of demanding respect, head high and eyes blazing. already jackie was sinking, submitting to the pure magic the man radiated.

but then rhea stepped in. "blake," she said curtly, a polite grin on her face that only thinly disguised her malice. "how have you been?"

the stiùiriche glared down at them, arching an eyebrow. "stealing from me again, sister," he said, and he was looking at the necklaces in both their hands. "haven't you taken enough?"

rhea scoffed, her mask of indifference slipping. "mm, have i? i can think of a few more things i could strip you of. your position of power, your heart, your -"

jackie suddenly found himself swimming out the haze of near magic hypnotism that he'd been under, immediately beginning to shout. "where's aaron?" he cried, swaying on his feet. "what have you done with him?"

the stiùiriche frowned. "aaron mckenzie? the traitor man, the one who stole from me the first time? he is here too?"

"don't play dumb!" jackie roared, and before he could even think, his eyes and veins were blackening and the necklace was tightening on his chest. "give him back to me!"

then a hand was on his shoulder, pushing him back down when he hadn't even realized he was rising. "stop," rhea said sharply. "he's mine."

the lights in the room snapped off and plunged them into darkness.

when they turned back on… they weren't really back on. they were in another black void, like they always seemed to be with this guy. "is this one of your magic specialties?" jackie spat, leaning against rhea to keep her close. "weird black rooms?"

"pocket universes," he heard blake say, his voice echoing all around. "my specialty, yes, next to my… natural charm. hypnotism. i'm very good at it, jackieboy man, wouldn't you agree?"

"i -" he tried to direct a bolt of magic towards him, but the void seemed to swallow it up, and he couldn't even seem to pinpoint the stiùiriche's voice. "shut up! just shut up! stop it!"

"don't let him get to you," rhea shouted. she pressed her back to his, and the two of them briefly were one, spinning round, on defense, watching. "he uses emotion to his advantage. use your light! you're a photokinesis magician, are you not?"

jackie breathed in sharply, whimpering in sudden pain. "i am, i am, but - i - since the necklace, i -"

something began to laugh. "oh, that is rich," came the voice of the stiùiriche, and a sudden wave of magic hit the two of them, causing rhea to stumble and jackie to fall to the floor. "your light magic - it isn't compatible with the black soul magic that you stole, is it? the irony. the irony!"

"shut the fu͠cķ ͠u͞p̶!"̴ jackie screamed, and his magic began to thunder through his veins. rhea howled, and she was a wolf, she was an owl, she was a beast. something glowed - the stiùiriche's suit - and he hit them again. jackie, for a moment, couldn't move. he could barely see rhea, lashing out with coils of weak darkness, and blake, laughing, laughing.

"your illusions don't work on me, piuthar," the man said loudly, and jackie's vision spun. black inky shadows seeped from his eyes and nose and ears and in between his fingernails, and he attempted to use it to push himself to his feet. it worked, and he stumbled, looking frantically for rhea as blake rose, never staying in one place. "i see right through you. always have. how goes your quest to redeem yourself, rhea bird?"

"don't you dare," she hissed in the voice of a snake. something collided with flesh. something burned. "i have redeemed myself plenty without you. i have many powerful magicians under my control, wrapped around my little finger. you have no idea."

jackie did not know what she was talking about. he shot a bolt towards the dire direction of the man's voice, and seemed to get a lucky shot. the stiùiriche screamed, and something blew into jackie's face as he swayed, trying to get to rhea. "fuck," he moaned, feeling his body go light. "rhea, aaron, m-marvin… marvin…"

"where's your fucking boyfriend?" rhea cried, and jackie saw her leap aside, something dark coiled in her hands. "he was our attack dog, the bastard! this necklace isn't doing shit!"

jackie was going numb. his stomach lurched, head spinning with hypnotism, stronger than anti's own. fuck, he wished he knew how to control all this magic better. he was starting to become delirious. "marvin!" he yelled, voice breaking. "i can't - aaron, marvin!"

"jackson!"

aaron's voice. through jackie's blurred vision, he could see him in the broken doorway that hadn't been open a moment before. "come on!" he shouted, holding the doorway and straining as blake attempted to close it from where he was standing. "hurry up, i can't hold it!"

"traitor!" the stiùiriche screamed. rhea took this opportunity to roundhouse kick him right across the face. without even the use of magic, blake stumbled; the closing of the door paused, and jackie even within his delirious state knew to race over to the exit. "you traitor, pathetic boy! you could have had power!"

once again, jackie had no fucking clue what he was talking about. it seemed like he was feeling like that a lot lately. all he knew was that if he didn't get out, he'd be trapped in blake's pocket hell world, and that wasn't something he wanted. "rhea!" he called, feeling his legs beginning to give out beneath him. "come on, we've got what we need!"

the doorway was bright, and aaron's face felt even brighter. "thank fuck you're alright, hurry up!" he gasped, ushering jackie out the void. as soon as he was back in blake's strange dressing room - how many pocket universes did he have in these closets, because he was coming out of a different one than before - his mind began to clear, and fuck if it wasn't unnerving. had he really been hypnotized so easily, just by being in blake's presence? how was he still that weak, after everything?

"run, run, hurry!" aaron was shouting, and jackie snapped back to attention as the man grabbed his hand and pulled him out the room back into the hall. he could hear fighting behind them, something crashing, something exploding, something slamming into something else, someone screaming.

jackie tried to stop. "rhea, we need to wait for rhea!" he yelled over the noise. an alarm was blaring - rhea had mentioned that if they were caught, there was a chance an alarm could be set off. someone ahead was shouting - pounding footsteps, magic blasts - "stop, aaron, we have to make sure rhea's ok!"

"fuck rhea!" aaron panted. three other magicians materialized in front of them. fire glowed in one of their hands, and jackie and aaron stopped dead. "shit, shit -"

one of them lifted a hand, chanting something -

and jackie threw himself into aaron's arms, wrapping his arms around him as the sound of static filled the air louder and louder like a broken crescendo -

and they were in the trees next to the waterworks again.

they held each other for about thirty seconds, neither man daring to breathe, shaking, listening to each other's heartbeats in the silence.

"you teleported," aaron said, his voice very high. "you glitched, you did it, we're out, you -"

"where were you?" jackie whispered. he was too scared to pull away, too scared to let aaron see the look on his face. too scared to look at aaron's face. "where did you go? you left us, i was - aaron, i was…"

aaron pressed his lips to jackie's head, holding him upright with a hand on his back. "had to do something," he mumbled, something jackie couldn't understand in his voice. "i'm sorry. i'm sorry."

an awful feel began to sink in jackie's chest. "aaron. if you did what i think you did… i think rhea will genuinely kill you."

"then let's leave her," he said loudly, and sat straight up, eyes wide and desperate. "i have the necklace, which i really didn't need, but i have it. thank you for getting it for me, by the way." he took it from jackie's hands, admiring the unnatural silver shine. "we… we can go. we don't need her."

jackie pulled away so he could look at aaron's face, though he kept his arms round him just to keep him grounded. "you - what? we can't leave rhea, what the hell? why would we do that?"

aaron hesitated. "jackson. she's - she's fucked, she's with her brother. there's nothing else we can do, babe, we have to -"

"oh, planning on leaving me, were you?"

the two of them whipped round to see that yes, it was rhea emerging from the trees. she must have gotten out through the hidden portal in the closet again. her hair was singed, her nose bleeding and scratched, but she was very much undoubtedly alive. "rhea," jackie breathed, and without thinking, he broke free from aaron and ran over to give her a hug. she didn't return it. "rhea, what happened, i thought you were -"

"dead?" she laughed. something in her voice was harsh and cold. she didn't appear to find it funny at all. "nope. just got a bit caught up. nice to see you waited for me, though."

jackie winced, stepping back between aaron and rhea. "i - i wanted to, rhea, but some magicians were closing in and i ended up teleporting -"

"what's your excuse?" she suddenly said, turning to aaron. the mood in the air soured even further, the tension thick enough to be suffocating. "why did you leave?"

aaron, to his credit, didn't break as she stared him down. he stood tall, unblinking. something unspoken traveled between them. a threat. a promise.

jackie couldn't stand it. "let's not do this," he said quickly, raising his hands to act as a shield between them. "we can talk later. we need to get away in case the stiùiriche follows us or something. come on."

for a moment, neither aaron nor rhea moved. then the woman smiled, snakelike. "ok then. let's go. we can talk about all this later, yeah? we've got all the time in the world."

jackie didn't like the threat in her voice. but he had no choice but to follow her out of the trees and back to anti's old waterworks.