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kiljoius-writes · 11 months

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Sun Rising

Ao3 Link

Pairing: Minato Namikaze/Kushina Uzumaki

Summary: Kushina Uzumaki is alone in the world.

A classroom full of bug-eyed kids stare at her and she stares back. She has to wonder if this village has no concept of color. Her eyes flicker to the only bright thing in the room: obnoxious, spiky, blond hair. Not even blond, just straight up yellow. This boy is actually too bright, if you ask her.

It's a lonely world for a jinchūriki, especially a foreign one with wild red hair and a temper.

For motroshell, part of the 2023 Fest no Jutsu. Prompt: Uzumaki Kushina does make it to Hokage and fulfils her childhood dream. Minato has been supporting her every step of the way. How did it happen?

Kushina Uzumaki is alone in the world.

That became overwhelmingly evident when a Konoha jōnin swept her from her home at the tender age of 9.

She remembers begging her grandmother to come with her.

“Don’t make me go alone! Grandma, I don’t want to leave you!”

Life is unfair and that was simply a fact that she got to learn early in her life.

Lucky her.

Kushina Uzumaki is alone in the world.

A classroom full of bug-eyed kids stare at her and she stares back. There’s a lot of black- and brown-haired and eyed children here. All dull pastels with their boring gray and tan jackets and fatigues. They look at her like she’s the alien, but she can’t possibly be. They’re the ones who look like they crawled out from a cave with zero sunshine and no concept of color. At least she has a reason for wearing pale yellow and brown: it compliments her hair!

Her eyes flicker to the only bright thing in the room: obnoxious, spiky, blond hair. Not even blond, just straight up yellow. This boy is actually too bright, if you ask her. His eyes are startlingly blue, his jacket is a crisp white, the only dark thing about him are the blue of his fatigues. Those electrifying blue eyes are locked on her and she feels a shiver up her spine, immediately averts her eyes to the rest of the class.

She inhales deeply.

“I’m Kushina Uzumaki y’know!”

Embarrassment seeps out of her at the way her voice sounds. She hasn’t spoken much in the last few weeks during her travel, and immediately, giggles spread over the classroom. She covers her mouth as one of those dumb, drab boys points at her and immediately insults her hair.

“I’m gonna…”

Another inhale as she clutches her fists.

“I’m going to become the first female Hokage of Konohagakure!”

Then, that boy. That alarmingly bright boy stands up and declares his intention to become Hokage, too. Looking so, so happy about it, too! Like he didn’t just steal her thunder! Like a little bolt of lightning, zapping all the energy out of her.

“Tomato!”

That dumb blond kid just stares at her, and she tries not to let tears sting her eyes.

Kushina Uzumaki is alone in the world.

A shiny new headband with a leaf symbol greets her, handed to her by their sensei who looks like he’s bored. She takes it in her hands and feels the cool touch of metal against her fingertips.

She is a kunoichi of Konoha. One that smashes the faces in of all the dumb, drab boys around her.

It should have been no surprise to her that once she graduated, the teasing only got worse. 8 others join her, only 4 of which she bothered to learn the names of. Inoichi Yamanaka, Shikaku Nara, Chouza Akimichi, and of course that weak blond and blue boy. The one she sees looking at her too often, the one who has a never-ceasing smile on his face, the one who travels this world without anything troubling him.

Her first C-Rank mission accompanies a group of chūnin. She resents that she’s not being trusted to take on a C-Rank herself but looks at the snot-nosed boys with her and figures it’s only natural they wouldn’t trust them with anything important.

“Thought you’d grow out of those chubby cheeks by now, but you just look even more like a ripe tomato.”

Kushina wants to rip her hair straight out of her skull. Instead, she whips around, reels back a fist, all while the boy guffaws and holds his arms in front of his face to prepare for impact. Her fist connects with the top of his head and he crashes into the ground.

One of the chūnin hollers at them and rushes up to pull Kushina by the armpits off of her dumb, drab boy teammate. From behind, deep, obsidian eyes crinkle with a smile. One of the first genuine smiles she’s received in ages.

“Certainly not a tomato.”

The older girl approaches her, ignoring the wailing of her boy teammate, and holds out her hand to Kushina. She eyes it with suspicion.

“I’m Mikoto.”

Carefully, she takes the hand.

“I think red-hot habanero is more appropriate, don’t you think?”

Kushina Uzumaki doesn’t feel quite as lone in the world.

They tried to keep the news from her, but she would inevitably hear the whispers.

“Did you hear? Uzushiogakure destroyed overnight.”

“I heard it was to wipe out that Uzumaki clan.”

“Isn’t that the one that little girl came here from?”

Kushina ran, and ran, and ran. She didn’t stop running, even when her feet went bloody.

It couldn’t be true. There was absolutely no conceivable way it could be true. Her home, her people, her grandmother. It couldn’t be that they were all just gone.

She had to see for herself. She paid enough attention in school to know which way Uzushio was, and she bolted. No thoughts occupied her mind except the overwhelming need to see it. See what they did to the place she held so dear. Find her grandmother and bring her to safety. She couldn’t be dead. There was no way.

“Grandma.”

She huffs and puffs as she pounds the ground with her heels, sweat dripping from her hairline, hair everywhere. If someone were looking on, they’d just see a red streak tearing through the mountain side.

Suddenly, she feels her body crashing to the ground.

“Kushina!”

Immediately, she fights back. Screams at the top of her lungs, tries to swipe at whoever is pinning her to the ground. Yells at them to let go of her, that she has to get home, that she’ll tear their eyes out if they don’t stop. In the flurry of it all, she can’t make out who her captor is, until she manages to slip out of their grip. Her eyes pop open to meet spinning red ones staring back at her, eyes she’s only seen once before on another teams sensei. Then she measures the rest and sees Mikoto staring back at her, heaving.

“You can’t leave the village.”

Kushina feels her insides get fiery, doesn’t even register the tears streaming down her face. She tells her she has to, that she has to save her family and her home. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. She tells Mikoto that she’s not afraid to knock her out if she has to. She expects Mikoto to laugh at her like anyone else would, a little genin threatening a chūnin, a Uchiha of all people, but she does not laugh.

Instead, she relaxes her stance and steps towards Kushina. Instinctively, she steps backwards, but stops with her next steps. Arms encircle her and pull her body in. And she realizes that her world is crashing around her, so her body gives out and heaves with trembling sobs. Her cries fill the forest air.

Kushina Uzumaki is alone in the world.

For her 12th birthday, she is gifted with the Kyūbi.

Mito Uzumaki tells her that it’s her destiny, to absorb the Konoha bijū, become it’s jinchūriki. That special, beautiful, bright chakra flows through her. That only her chakra can possibly handle the beast. That only her heart could possibly take the burden on.

For the last year, she had grown closer and closer to Mito. It was a special kind of pain to become attached to someone you knew for a fact would inevitably die quite soon. One that would die on a schedule, to ensure that damn bijū would successfully transfer to Kushina. One that she would have to watch die with her own two eyes.

When Kushina looks into Mito’s eyes, she thinks of her grandma. She learned shortly after her village was destroyed that crying about her grandma would only invite more mocking. That the tomato is broken and leaking. No matter how often she proved herself strong, not matter how many faces she smashed into the ground, no matter how brightly her chakra flashed, she was always simply that chubby cheeked tomato. Some days, she contemplates shaving her head.

But when she looks into Mito’s eyes, she feels tears sting her eyes, and lets it happen. It’s the only time she feels like she can cry in front of someone else. Mito just pats her hands, doesn’t ask why she’s crying. Just seems to understand, and Kushina is grateful for it.

One day, on a day she doesn’t cry, Mito has biscuits and tea waiting for her when she arrives. As her time grows near, she’s being treated more and more like royalty. It’s a bittersweet thing. One in which she wishes she could tell certain people to shove it, but grins and bears it instead. Just like she must.

Today, Mito tells her about Uzushiogakure. It’s the first time it’s been brought up in conversation. Of course, Kushina has wanted to ask her about it for a long time, but also has resisted doing so because she’s not quite sure she wants to tear open those wounds.

Speaks of all the great clans that lived there, including their own. Talks about her life there before being whisked to Konohagakure. Tells her how frightened she had been, too, but was doing it for her people.

Then she drops a bomb on Kushina.

“Many of our people escaped during the destruction of our home.”

Kushina hangs onto every word, thinks of her grandma. Could she have escaped…?

Mito goes on to talk about their clan, their strength, their power, their unique ability. Their crest, the meaning of rasen, all while making the long climb up the spiral staircase to the top of the Hokage tower.

As she looks out to the Hokage mountain, she envisions her face on those rocks.

Thinks maybe it’s possible. Then she wouldn’t be some outsider.

And when she does, she’ll find her grandma.

Kushina Uzumaki decides maybe she’s not so alone in the world.

As soon as she starts to feel better, something is right around the corner to knock her right back down. Peace isn’t something Kushina’s known in a very long time, so she just expects it to be ripped away from her at this point. So when she enters her home and finds her caretaker missing, it’s expected. Then, they come for her. It’s dead night, so it’s quiet and she can hear them before she sees them. It’s too little, too late, and she’s snatched up. She cries out in vain, because she’s in a desolate part of the village where few people reside, and those that do would never respond to screams in the night.

A few hours later, and her hands are tied behind her back while she’s marched through the thicket of the forest outside of the village. While she indeed holds the Kyūbi inside of her, she doubts anyone will notice she’s gone until tomorrow when she doesn’t arrive for her daily training sessions. Nobody ever visits her in the night. And by tomorrow, it will likely be too late. She’ll be very far away in Kumogakure, where she assumes they’ll attempt to take the Kyūbi, resulting in her death.

Still, she has to try something. She can’t go out without even a little fight from her.

She’s not naïve. There’s no way she can overpower three men, likely jōnin or higher, no matter how powerful she thinks she is. That would probably just result in them knocking her out, leaving her no way to try to escape. No, she has to be sneaky. Trying to get out of her restraints would likely be too noticeable.

She tugs at her hair behind her, and the light bulb goes off.

If she can leave a trail behind her, it would result in whoever comes to look for her finding her quicker. They’d probably even be able to figure out she’s in Kumo based on the path.

One hair is plucked, and she doesn’t wince, keeps a stoic face. Releases it, lets it travel the ground.

A few seconds later, another hair or two.

She continues like this for a full hour, purposefully walking slower to delay. One of them shoves at her back, so she picks up the pace, then slows again. The cycle repeats.

Exhaustion begins to take hold. No matter how tired she is, she continues the process of slowly removing her hair. Wonders if she’ll have a bald spot after this. Hopes she’ll live to find out. Still, she barely registers her surroundings.

Her eyes drift shut, and her legs keep moving on instinct.

She doesn’t even hear the chaos around her.

Only when she hears a familiar voice.

“Are you okay?”

Slowly, she stops, struggles to lift her head, and sees someone she never thought she’d be so happy to see.

The moon illuminates that blond hair and his shiny headband that she knows for a fact he polishes daily.

“I came to rescue you.”

Me…?

Her brain is fuzzy. The joy that overcomes her is the last straw. All she can manage is a smile before her body gives out for good. She falls to her knees, and before she can face plant, he’s there in a flash to catch her and keep her body up. She struggles to look at him.

“Everything’s going to be fine.”

When he slides his arms under her back and legs and hoists her up, she starts to protest, but she can’t even get her arms wrapped around him before he takes off with her held to him. Her eyes find his face, perfectly framed by a full moon, and then they fall to his hand and she sees it: her hair between his fingers.

It worked?

He tells her that her hair is beautiful, that he realized straight away it had to be hers. Her protective instinct over her own emotions kicks in, and she asks him why he ignores her if that’s the case. His response catches her off guard, telling her she’s always been able to take care of herself, that she’s strong.

“Both in body and in spirit.”

Tells her he doesn’t want to lose her. Tells her she’s not an outsider. Tells her she lives in Konoha.

“You’re one of us.”

Never once had Kushina Uzumaki wanted to kiss a boy.

Thought it’d be impossible for her to ever find love, ever since she came to this damn village.

Suddenly, she looks at that brat, the one she thought was another weak, dumb little boy, and everything has changed in her eyes.

That blond hair doesn’t look so obnoxious anymore, those eyes so piercing. He glows like he’s her sun in the midst of night. Now she thinks that maybe he is her sun.

Kushina Uzumaki isn’t alone in the world.

It’s amidst the Third Shinobi War that she’s taken on as an apprentice to one of the Legendary Sannin. Tsunade Senju ensures that no one will ever be able to kill Kushina, no matter how hard they try. By her side is Minato, but even so, he gets sent out to battle. It’s a miserable spot she’s in, constantly thinking of the love of her life possibly being killed in action every moment he’s gone.

It happened so quickly, but Kushina can’t begin to fathom her existence without Minato. Out of nowhere, that blond brat became her whole world, and he’s not much of a brat anymore. He’s getting tall – taller than her, and they’re not technically together. He’s held her in his arms and she’s given him a cheek kiss out of gratitude, but Kushina’s already decided he’s her one true person. The only person she can trust, she can be vulnerable with, she can love.

When he’s gone, it hurts.

It only strengthens her resolve. To become stronger, to become faster, to master the Kyūbi, so that when she’s needed, she’ll be there. She’ll make sure no one else dies, least of all Minato Namikaze.

Her will is no longer made up of spite. Instead, it’s fueled by love. Desire to live, desire to protect.

She has no idea just how long this damn war would actually last.

The Second Shinobi war lasted barely 3 years. Their lives would be plagued in battle for half a decade.

For two years, she’s kept from the front lines. She spends every waking hour training under Tsunade, mastering chakra control, pushing her stamina to its limits, and bringing her healing powers to new heights. Whenever Minato returns home, the first thing they do is spar, so she can show him just how far she’s come. He shows her, too, and it brings her some relief to see him grow stronger, even if it’s apart from her.

The day he revealed to her what he had been working on with Jiraiya for so long is a day that will be carved into her memory her entire life. Told her it was a jutsu created to battle bijū and jinchūriki, but also to work with her chakra. That it was all done to make sure he wouldn’t lose her.

She remembers blacking out, the monster living inside of her flashing through her mind in a blind rage, then her knees meeting the ground. Minato’s voice fights to overpower that of the Kyūbi’s, a voice that she hears every night in her dreams, for better or worse. Seeing Minato fly into the air and crash land is the last thing she remembers before hearing those words.

“That’s why I love Kushina.”

The rest happens so fast, but she remembers it all so clearly. Thinking back to her conversation with Mito. The Adamantine Sealing Chains being released to keep the Kyūbi back. One of those claws going straight through Minato’s side. Her pleading with him to run, to leave her, all for nothing, because that was never an option he’d consider. Finally, that big, bright ball of what looked like pure energy, flying straight into the Kyūbi’s chakra sphere.

Once he recovers, she spend the next three days in his hospital bed, eating the dry rice balls and cups of sugary pudding they bring them, drinking soda and juice while watching old movies on the new T.V.’s the hospital had installed. Honestly, for as terrified as she was of what possible grave injuries he had endured, she finds the time she spends with him so…nice. They’d never been able to just chill for so long together. Be in each other company and really get to know each other’s laughs, be present and also mindless.

She knows it can’t last. They both know it. Besides, she doesn’t want to become out of practice.

Still, she savors this little moment she gets with him.

“C’mon Namikaze!” she shouts at him one day, when he barely puts up a fight. Her heel lands in his chest, and they both come crashing down. She quickly wraps her arms around him so that he’ll roll with her, rather than be flung into a nearby tree, and they come to a stop with her on top of him. She huffs, annoyed, pushing her hair from her face as she glares down at him, unimpressed. Asks him what the hell he’s doing.

He apologizes, rubbing at his face with a sigh. “Just a little tired.”

She laughs, shaking her head. “The great Minato doesn’t get tired.”

His hand slides off his face and he gives her a smile. It makes her smile, too, so she presses a kiss to his nose, deciding to lay off him a little. “No, no, you’re right. An entire war shouldn’t be trying me out.”

She giggles, softly, presses her forehead to his. Then, her smile falls as she thinks about him on the battlefield. Almost makes her eyes water – almost. “I hate it when you’re gone.”

“Awh.” He reaches up to cup one of her cheeks in his dirty palm, and she doesn’t even mind. “I do, too.”

Her eyes flutter shut as she leans into his hold.

“That’s why…I decided to take the Third up on becoming a jōnin sensei.”

Kushina collapses on top of him, unaware of just how tired she really was. He holds her for a good 20 minutes before they peel away, and she’s crying. Mostly from relief. But some of it is worry.

Part of being kept back in the village while the rest go to war has made her especially soft for the children. Every few days, she witnesses a sweet little face burst into tears when they’re told mommy or daddy, brother or sister, auntie or uncle, are gone now. She’s watched them grow from little soppy toddlers to rambunctious kids to rowdy genin.

Thinking of them being the next soldiers makes her maternal instincts churn.

But…Minato will be home.

He will be with her. For at least a little while.

She wonders which of these anxious little kiddos will end up in his care.

It’s hard to think of any of them as lucky, but if they’re all destined to work for the war machine, at least some of them will be taught by Minato. A man she admires with her entire soul, one who she thinks will do right by them, someone who wouldn’t ever purposefully mess up a kid’s life.

Kushina stands in the shadows as she watches Minato greet three little babies she knows.

Rin Nohara. A spritely girl who greets Minato with enthusiasm, yet determination. She lets him know she’s not to be reckoned with, but that she’s eager awaiting their assignments.

Obito Uchiha. Kushina thinks of her pregnant friend, Mikoto. He’s even more wiley than Rin, with a wide grin and bright eyes, despite their dark shade. The grin makes her smile, even. His determination shines through his goggles.

Then there’s Kakashi Hatake. A boy Kushina’s heart is soft for, despite it all. Just a baby when his mother died, and still just a baby when his father took his own. The boy is aloof, but dangerous. Watching him hurts her insides, makes her eyes burn.

Kushina Uzumaki feels that her world is full.

Whenever she has spare time, she’s training with the three newly minted chūnin, or bringing them back to the apartment her and Minato bought with their measly earnings. When they were moving, Team 7 spent the whole day helping them. Minato made cookies and Kushina made sure the fridge was packed with sugary drinks. Kakashi even took a few cookies home, wherever home was for him.

It’s the closest to normalcy Kushina’s ever felt in her life, and she’s desperate not to let it slip away. Seeing three little faces sitting on the carpet, munching on treats and excitedly talking about their next mission, shoving each other’s faces and shooting jabs at one another. It’s something she realizes she wants in life, to be surrounded by people she loves.

She loves Minato. She loves Rin, and Obito, and Kakashi. Thinks that when she becomes Hokage, she’ll be able to show the whole village how much love she has to give.

When the day was over, and she was helping Minato clean up the kitchen, surrounded in boxes and stray utensils and blankets and tools, he spoke words that propelled her.

“You’re going to be the best Hokage Konoha’s ever seen, you know that?”

They’re the last words she expects to hear while drying a plate, so predictably, she drops it.

Minato, living up to his renown nickname, catches it before it shatters on the counter.

“What…did you say Hokage?”

He doesn’t skip a beat when he confirms, smiling up at her. Sets the plate where it goes and lets her grab him by the cheeks.

Let’s her pull him down to the kitchen floor and devour him.

“Gods, I love you.”

Kushina can’t even deny how perfect it is for him to say it to her here and now. Feels full of love and happiness, despite everything. Can’t believe that a war happens right outside of their tiny village while she confesses right back to him. It’s just so perfect, somehow, she’s not even sure why. The way he looks over her, happy and sweet and genuine, it makes her really believe.

She says “I love you” back, with just as much passion as he does to her.

They say it over, and over, and over again.

On top of each other, next to each other, in their ears, inside their mouths, in notes and through looks.

Kushina Uzumaki is madly in love with Minato Namikaze.

After a lethal mission that brings both boys back to her, missing eyes, Kushina feels her entire body lit on fire.

It’s a normal day, as Minato told her, a fairly light mission they go on. But she stands outside of her home, watching her fiancé and his team slug up to her.

Rin is in quiet tears, but she feels it, worse than ever. Kyūbi makes sure of it. Kakashi breathes heavier than normal, but isn’t disabled, just covers one eye. Finally, Obito has an arm slung over Minato’s neck.

When they come into full view, her heart drops further than it ever has in her entire life. Breath caught in her throat, tingles on the back of her skull and neck, tears already stinging the bottoms of her eyes.

She bursts through the front door, aiming for Rin, who looks the least likely to be injured by a hug.

“Why are you not all at the hospital?!”

“I need help.”

She stops for only a moment, just a sliver of a second to collect herself, before she lifts the worst looking one into her arms: Obito. Like a baby, she holds him to her chest, looks at Minato, who sighs in relief and nods, then takes off to the hospital, all the while letting healing chakra seep from her pores directly into him.

They all recover.

It’s some of the best news she’s ever heard in her entire gods-forsaken life.

Obito and Kakashi both missing an eye, but they are opposite. They learn to cover each other, whilst Rin covers the rest. Keeps them safe and sound. Kushina helps on the upcoming missions after they’re released back to ninja duty, makes sure that whatever Minato misses, she catches.

She knows Minato is strong and capable. Doesn’t make her lose her entire sense of self whenever he comes back, looking worse than before. Now, the village elders have no choice but to allow her to participate in the war. The power was always in her hands, but now she really feels it when she looks the Third right in the eye and dares him to try to make her stay. Let’s the fire of the Kyūbi in her palms burn a little brighter just to make sure the point sticks.

Kushina Uzumaki wants to make sure she’ll never be alone, ever.

Just when they think they’ve seen the worst of the worst, something hits them harder than before. Being on the front lines is terrifying, but it’s the only place she thinks she belongs right now. Tuning out the Kyūbi from poisoning her thoughts becomes easier and easier, day by day. Mito prepared her well, made sure she could remain collected no matter what sort of vile thoughts they tried to implant in her head. Still, there were times she would look on the battlefield, see the lifeless bodies, and listen.

Listen to the sounds of heartbreak, sounds of pain, sounds of despair that she could not soothe.

Those were some of the rare moments the Kyūbi would weasel their way in.

Couldn’t save them, girl.

Kushina rubs at her crusty, tired eyes as she turns her head from the gruesome scene.

By yourself, you’re weak.

With a sigh, she reaches back to tighten her ponytail before getting to her knees.

With me, you could do more.

Gently, she turns the dog tag over from the deceased in front of her. Notes the name and rank on a pad of paper.

You’ll regret the day that boy dies because you didn’t care enough.

The pen between her fingers snaps and the growl in the back of her throat sounds too much like the Kyūbi’s.

Didn’t care enough to make sure you protected him.

“SHUT UP!”

Her fingernails elongate, her jaw becomes stiff, her skin feels like it’s lit on fire.

It happens so quickly, the throaty scream that leaves her feeling so foreign. Before it can go any further, she stabs her fingernails into her stomach, clawing at the skin around the seal. Squeezes her eyes shut, willing the mocking laugh away by pressing her forehead into the wet grass below.

The Kyūbi doesn’t escape that day, and Kushina finally thinks that maybe, now, it never will.

Kushina Uzumaki wants to make sure no one is alone in the world.

Early in her pregnancy, she decides it’ll be her last chance for a while to go back to her homeland. Look upon it with her own eyes. See her old home and what remains. Minato and team 7 join her, keep her spirits up and make sure she’s well protected. No one besides Minato knows of her pregnancy, and she prefers to keep it that way until she absolutely cannot keep it a secret any longer.

Once Uzushiogakure came into view, Kushina steeled her gaze, made sure no one could see her break.

It wasn’t anything she wasn’t expecting. She had heard stories and seen drawings depicting what remained of the land. The broken pillars and overgrown foliage didn’t bother her so much. It had been over ten years since the news reached her ears, it was enough time for her to adjust to the reality that her village was gone. All that remained was the hope that some of her people made it out alive.

Even seeing her childhood home flattened didn’t hurt as bad as she thought it would. She stands in the middle of it and closes her eyes, thinks of her grandmother. Hugs her own middle and bows her head.

The part that hurt the most was going to the cemetery.

Her feet carry her to where she knows her parents are buried, and her heart sinks at an additional tombstone. She stops before she can get close enough to read it, but already knows what she’s going to see. Swallows down the sob that threatens to escape her and just kneels in front of it, blinking bleary eyes.

Yukina Uzumaki

“I did it, grandma…”

She feels Minato’s eyes on her back as she slides a hand over her stomach, rubbing circles into the seal there.

With a longing sigh, she begins her tale to a ghost. She wonders if he thinks she looks crazy, talking to a stone, recounting her life’s adventures. Arriving in Konoha, her bond with Mito, little boys yanking her hair and teasing her face. Receiving the Kyūbi, being kidnapped by Kumo, a bright eyed blond boy saving her. That bright-eyed blond boy being her entire world for now.

“Until…until this one gets here.”

Finally, she smiles, with watery eyes and a stuffy nose, looking down at her lap.

“After that, they’ll both be my whole world.”

Kushina Uzumaki refuses to let her child be alone in the world.

When a masked man plucks her child and the love of her life chases after him, she feels the Kyūbi push against her insides. Her own screams deafen herself and everyone around her as she clutches at her stomach.

How?

After everything she’s gone through, this couldn’t be how it ended. Her newborn baby kidnapped, her husband fighting for his life, and the Kyūbi escaping her, to leave her lifeless. Leave her child alone in the world, just like she was. For just a few seconds, she got to look at the chubby, crying face of her son. Lightning blond hair and big, blue eyes, just like the man she loved. All that flashes through her mind is that blond little boy without his parents who so desperately loved him, alone.

With every breath, she feels them getting further and further away from her. The man returns, without Minato or Naruto, and she feels like her insides are lava. The seal strains, twists and burns her skin as she cries. The chakra chains she’s spent the last decade of her life training with strap in, and she sees the masked man return. She tries to yell at him, tries to ask him what he’s done, tries to do something, but she can’t let the Kyūbi escape. He walks to her, and she glares at him, feels the Kyūbi’s power flow through her arms and legs, her fingertips and toes. Then she sees it behind the mask – the sharingan.

“No - !”

Before he can come any closer, she summons every last shred of chakra from inside of her and holds one hand over the seal and faces her other palm towards the man.

It all happens so fast, chakra flares, the building they’re in cracks under the force, everything around her is hot and dry. Adrenaline courses through her veins, the only thing she can feel is the pressure from inside. The only thing that runs through her mind is that chubby faced baby and how desperately she wants to make sure she gets to see him again. She yells for him, and for Minato before she buckles to her knees, both hands working to maintain her seal.

It feels like hours that she’s done this, but at most, it had to have only been a minute. Just as the man steps to her, reaches out to restrain her, a flash of powerful blue chakra appears next to him. It takes everything she has not to give up, to keep doing her part while Minato takes care of the man.

Blood pours from her mouth as she coughs, doubling over onto herself before she finally blacks out.

When it is that she wakes up, she’s not sure, but the first thing she does is tumble out of bed, frantically searching for Naruto.

“He’s safe, Ms. Kushina!”

“They both are.”

Her vision is blurry as she tries to look for the source of the voices.

“Rin’s with Naruto.”

Two smaller shoulders lift her up on either side, and she breathes a sigh of relief. She blinks her bleary eyes, tries to focus them, then her heart sinks at an unfortunately familiar sight. Minato in a hospital bed, again.

She whispers his name, limps to his bed, carefully pulls her body into it. Hears Obito’s voice say that he’ll go get Rin and the med nin.

When they bring him in, her eyes immediately burn with tears, the happiest tears she’s ever had the fortune of shedding. As they nestle a sleeping baby between them, she feels Minato stir next to her, a little grumble and cough. His eyes peel open and they find hers immediately and she gives him a weak smile. He blinks, slowly, looks from her to Naruto, and she sees tears pool in his eyes, too.

Kakashi crouches on his haunches against the wall while Obito and Rin carefully sit on the end of the bed, looking at them with concern.

That all of them are safe and relatively healthy in the confines of the hospital, Kushina can’t justify anything other than unabashed relief.

With one arm under Naruto and the other over Minato’s chest, she gently nestles into them.

Kushina Uzumaki is not alone in the world.

The day it’s announced that the Third is stepping down, everyone looks to Kushina.

“My official recommendation…is Minato Namikaze.”

Hushed whispers fall over the room and she feels Minato freeze next to her. Kushina holds her gaze forward, lips thinned to a harsh line.

Immediately, debate breaks out within the space. After a moment, Minato clears his throat and voices his rejection of the nomination.

“He doesn’t want it?”

“Bullshit, he’s always talked about it.”

“Can he even reject the nomination anyway?”

Kushina grits her teeth, shifting her eyes slightly. It’s not like this wasn’t what she had always expected, anyway. It was always going to be Minato. She knew it back then, she knows it now. There was no way they’d ever let a woman hold the position, let alone the jinchūriki of the village. Even if she never asked to be, she was.

“If I’m appointed Hokage, I’ll immediately step down and nominate Kushina Uzumaki.”

Silence coats the room for a moment, and Kushina just sighs. She’s tired of people looking down on her after everything she’s gone through. Maybe it would just be easier…

“I’m in favor of Kushina Uzumaki as well, Lord Third.”

They both stop to look at the stony face of Fugaku Uchiha, who doesn’t look back at them.

Then another voices their agreement, Hiashi Hyūga. Then another, and another.

“She fought on the front lines in the war, saved my son.”

“Also protected the village from the Kyūbi.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen such powerful chakra.”

Soon, what starts as murmured agreement turns into full blown encouragement. Her hands fall to her sides as she scans the room, feeling a rush of excitement hit her heart. His hand slides into hers and squeezes.

Kushina Uzumaki will never be alone in the world.

For the first time, she truly believes it.

It’s a quiet Tuesday when she climbs the spiraling steps of the Hokage tower, like she did so many years ago with Mito. Takes her time, plants her foot firmly on each one, like showing her intention as she ascends. Recalls all of the conversations, big and small, she had on these steps. With Mito. With Mikoto. With Minato. Dreams of becoming Hokage, protecting the ones she loves, and loving them and being loved.

A slow push of double doors reveals a clear day to greet her. The village is sleepy with peace. Foliage blooms, little birds and critters chirp, and the sun is warm on her face. The same spot she had looked at for so many years now adorns her face. It looks ridiculous, but she thinks that’s part of the deal. Can’t look too nice on the side of a mountain, she supposes. The face looks serious and stern like the others, but it’s her face.

On top of it, like a cute little bow, sits her son and his friends. The only noise in the village is his loud laughter. It’s the only noise in the world she’ll never get tired of. A sight she never gets tired of is her husband appearing behind him and scaring the daylight out of him.

Carefully, she runs her fingertips over the cord of her Hokage robes, twisting it between them.

Kushina Uzumaki has the love and support of an entire village.

Never will she feel alone again.

#naruto fanfic #minakushi #minato namikaze #kushina uzumaki #minato #kushina #minakushi fanfic #my writing #sun rising

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telomeke · 1 year

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MOONLIGHT CHICKEN: UR THE... TOMATO SAUCE???

(above) Moonlight Chicken Ep.6 [4/4] 5.05

OK, so this post did a pretty pirouette and twirled its way back onto my dashboard once again after more than a month away. OP @vegasandhishedgehog had pointed out that the graphic text on Heart and Li Ming's t-shirts together seemed to be inexplicably telegraphing the cryptic message "Ur the... Tomato Sauce"... 🤔

This time around I couldn't help but look a bit more deeply into what it might mean, especially the intriguing "Tomato Sauce" on Li Ming's t-shirt. Based on what I've found, I think it is possible to read a bit of cheeky wordplay in the English words of this scene. 🤩 But first – a detour into linguistics and etymology is necessary.

There's a phenomenon that is sometimes seen in cross-cultural commerce – I don't know if it has a name, since I'm not trained in linguistics or anything of the sort – but whenever a hitherto unknown product or ingredient is introduced into a culture, locals will try to give it a name that resonates or sticks. And often that name will be along the lines of "this thing is the X country or foreign version of our more familiar local Y thing" (sorry for all the technical jargon here, hah! 😂).

You can see this in Southeast Asia: the Dutch may have been responsible for introducing many new food items to the Malay archipelago because a number of food items around the region are labeled "Dutch" even though they don't originate from the Netherlands.

The soursop fruit (originally from the tropical Americas and the Caribbean) is called durian belanda in Malay (meaning Dutch durian, because both fruits are spiky). In Malaysian Cantonese, potatoes are sometimes called ho laan syu (Holland tuber) and green beans ho laan dau (Holland beans), the latter echoing the way haricots verts are sometimes called French beans in English.

In Malay, turkeys are called ayam belanda (Dutch chicken), which nicely parallels the French word dinde – when turkeys were introduced to France, they were called (among other names) poulet d'Inde or chicken of India (possibly because India was seen as a source of exotic prized goods, or maybe because the birds, native to the Americas, were thought of as originating in the West Indies or les Indes occidentales). Poulet d'Inde eventually got shortened to just dinde though.

There's something similar going on with the tomato in Thailand. As its original homeland was the Americas, at some point in time it must have been a new and unnamed vegetable (botanically a fruit) when it first appeared in markets there.

So in Thai, tomatoes are called มะเขือเทศ (ma kheuua thaeht), and in keeping with the principle of adding some qualifier (that denotes external origins) to a local counterpart, the word เทศ (thaeht) means foreign or outlandish, while มะเขือ (ma kheuua) actually means EGGPLANT.

Thus the Thai word for tomato translates literally to foreign eggplant (or perhaps, outlandish eggplant).

For the text-savvy in this digital age (and that must surely include teens Heart and Li Ming), the eggplant emoji is laden with phallic innuendo (I'm not going into detail, but here's a visual 😂):

🍆

Remembering that in Thailand, Thai equivalents of weiner and wee-wee can sometimes be used as cutesy nicknames for boys (see this My School President write-up linked here, also Uncle Tong calling Junior กระจู๋ or gra juu in Bad Buddy Ep.11 [1I4] 10.38), it's possible to read the "Tomato" part of Li Ming's t-shirt – because of the outlandish eggplant reference – as a subjectively cute pet name along the same lines. Maybe the effect is meant to be something like: "You're a weird little weiner" (expressed with affection through Heart's loving eyes, mind you 💖).

Plus there's also the theme in Moonlight Chicken of young Li Ming growing into adulthood (despite Jim's constant efforts to infantilize him), while comfortably claiming his own sexuality in the process (and with Heart playing a pivotal role in this). Heart and Li Ming's t‑shirts pointing out the innuendo and imagery of the tomato/eggplant could also be a nod at that, with the outlandish definition of เทศ/thaeht suggesting that since Li Ming is gay, this eggplant/gra juu is not like most other ones (although he's not at all the exception in Moonlight Chicken! 😂).

Noting too that Li Ming is hyperfocused on escaping to the West, him being labeled Little Weiner of a Foreign Persuasion also does kind of fit. 😍

In this light, the word sauce just adds to the naughtiness of eggplant, while it also carries connotations of piquancy, sass and/or the essence or distillation of something.

And so the "Tomato Sauce" on Li Ming's t-shirt can possibly be read as symbolizing his indomitably feisty (gay) spirit, his faraway aspirations and his place in Heart's life as a cherished young boyfriend (worthy of a cutesy, if unspoken, pet name).

Am I over-analyzing again? Perhaps. But at the very least I think it's still a fun way of looking at Li Ming's t-shirt, and I wouldn't put it past Director Aof and screenwriter Best Kittisak Kongka to be playing with stuff like this. 🤩 They already did something similar with Li Ming's Sesame Street "Everything I Know I Learned On The Streets" t-shirt (see Ep.3 [4/4] 6.42), a metaphor for his uneasy juxtaposition at the amorphous line between childhood (represented by the kiddie vibes of Sesame Street) and incipient adulthood (as signaled by his streetwise self-confidence, gained independently perhaps from Jim). And there was also the wordplay around his "St. Rene" t-shirt (written up here).

Tagging @vegasandhishedgehog because you're the eagle-eyed OP who first noticed Heart and Li Ming's t-shirts, and as always @dribs-and-drabbles because you're foremost the one I think of whenever there's anything t-shirt related in BL! 😍

PS It's not the first time a vegetable was used as a metaphor for larger issues in Moonlight Chicken – see my write-up at the end of @airenyah's My School President Thai linguistics post that I reblogged here, for more info on Jim's winter melons in the market (although he was being decidedly less playful there! 😍). Li Ming also steals the scene away from Jim and his produce, once again displaying more adult maturity than his loong will give him credit for. 💖

‌

#moonlight chicken #li ming's t-shirt #tomato #tomato sauce #eggplant #thai linguistics #wordplay

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greypetrel · 7 months

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Grocery list with glitter

@shivunin, here's the second of your prompts! I had fun with this, again sorry for the small italian, I headcanon vernacular Tevene to be Italian for quickness of use and not to get overtly crazy with Latin. xD (Green beans in italian are "Fagiolini". Which litterally means "little beans".)

Tis the prompt list

5. a note/letter found in your OC’s pocket - Raina

A crumpled piece of parchment, softened with use. There are glitters pouring down when uncrumpled, the handwriting is spiky and slanted, but readable.

Beer

Bread

Tomatoes

Oregano

Carrots

Potatoes

These greens neither Orana nor Fenris can remember the name of in Trade (Little beans? Beans of some kind? They're pods, and green, but not peas) -> drawing of a pair of green beans pods. Stylized but still recogniseable

Eggs

Milk

Meat - for both bipeds and Beowoof

Cream puffs. Extra ones, Sandal looked happy at the idea

Blue yarn - 2 metres at least, better make it 3

-Beer More beer, fuck it

there's a scribble on the next point in the list, but it's not a letter, its tail dragged as if the writer got interrupted in the middle of writing. A splotch of ink right after. The writing continues below, quicker.

Glitter yarn. heavily underlined three times and surrounded by stylized sparkles The glitteriest and the cheapest. Check if shaking the ball it looses glitter. If it does, take that. The one that looses the more glitter around. Fucking Meredith, I'll fill her fucking desk.

there's a rough scheme of a sweater drawn on what seems a doodly version of Anders. Measurements are annotated to the sides of the sweater, converted in knots and with the various pieces all noted down. On the chest there's written "Meredith infame / Per te solo lame" with an arrow and another note

-> Check on a dictionary that Fenris translated it correctly and didn't trick me again with Tevene. It should say "Hateful Meredith, only blades for you" in vernacular Tevene. When Orana says it it rhymes!

#oc codex prompts #da2 #female hawke #raina hawke #writing petrel

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lilianvanrouge · 2 years

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Malleus and Lilia x Frail and Abused Reader Part 9

You and Malleus just finished the Silky Melon and continued to enjoy the fruit section of the bazaar. Something then suddenly caught your eyes.

“Malyulus look! They have dragon fruit here!” you said happily.

“Dragon fruit? Which one is it?” asked Malleus interested.

“It’s a spiky pink fruit that looks like it has scales of a dragon. They can also be yellow or purplish pink,” you said.

Malleus saw the fruit you were talking about and was immediately disappointed.

“What’s wrong?” you asked.

“It’s different from what I expected. I thought it would be the type of fruit that breathed fire,” he said.

You laughed and said, “Malyulus, you’re so silly. Do you really think they’ll bring a fruit like that to a dry place or a place where families come to shop?”

“No, you’re right,” he sighed.

“They’re high in nutrition and sweet. They taste even better with honey, here try,” you said.

Malleus ate the honey covered fruit and smiled.

“I see, I will forgive them for naming this dragon fruit now,” said Malleus happily.

“Well I glad like it,” you laugh. “Ohh! I’d like these please.”

You bought some papayas, bananas, and ginger.

“What are these for?” asked Malleus.

“They’re for Lilia,” you said.

Malleus was surprised and confused.

“You said he had a stomach ache right. All these will help him. Poor thing. Ginger relieves nausea and vomiting, papayas improve digestion and stomach ulcers, and bananas are good for the colon,” you stated.

“Hmm. She certainly knows a lot. That’s probably because her body often goes through it, since she’s frail,” Malleus thought.

“You’re so kind (Y/N). Lilia was very kind to me when I was little. He always brought me back gifts from the places he visited, since I was never allowed to leave the castle,” he said.

“That so sweet!” you said happily.

“That’s why I want to hear your thoughts too,” he said.

“Sure, I would love to help you pick out a gift for Lilia. I want to pick one out too!” you said happily.

“That’s great, because I never shopped for anyone before. I’ve also been looking around for pennants since Lilia collects them, but I couldn’t find them,” Malleus sighed.

You didn’t have the heart to tell him that people only make pennants for sports teams and schools now and he would definitely not find one here.

“How about this shirt? It’s bright yellow with orange flowers and says “This is a shirt that will free you of everything!” you beamed.

Malleus remembered how (Y/B/F) said orange flowers mean energy, fascination and gratitude. Malleus happily agreed and he bought the shirt.

“Now what are you going to get for Lilia?” asked Malleus.

“I already got it handled,” you said happily.

You two continued your little adventure until you saw a very busy ice cream shop.

“Aww man! I really want to buy you an ice cream, since we were having a great time,” you sighed.

“Then why not? You wait here and I’ll get us some. Then we can share it like the Silky Melon,” said Malleus smirking.

When Malleus was getting the ice cream you were laughing as the shop owner play tricks on Malleus. Eventually you both sat down and ate the ice cream.

“It tastes pretty good, and it has an interesting texture. I love it,” said Malleus happily.

“Malyulus, you got some on your nose,” you said.

You wiped it off with your thumb and said, “Well it’s not good to waste food.”

You then licked the ice cream off your thumb, which left the fae tomato red. You were very confused because you did this to your younger brothers and they just laughed.

All of a sudden you saw Trey and Cater run up to y’all. Malleus was upset that they interrupted effort of a first date.

“Where have you guys been we’ve been looking all over for both of you?!!” shouted Cater, exhausted.

“The fireworks are about to begin soon, so we better hurry,” said Trey.

Your little ice cream break was halted and Malleus was upset. On the way to the fireworks Cater and Trey told you the story of how they captured a thief with everyone else who was about to ruin the fireworks. You were very interested listening to the story without noticing the fae following far behind glaring daggers at the back of both human boys’ heads.

During the fireworks you were all given mint lemonade and Cater wanted everyone to cheer.

“Why? What are we celebrating?” asked Malleus.

“That we’re all seeing the fireworks together,” said Cater.

Malleus sighed and cheered. He’d rather have a place where you two can alone and watch the fireworks together. Jamil was soon given the privilege of setting off the fireworks and it was beautiful.

Kalim gave you all another surprise by saying you all were supposed to dance as well. You offered to record the whole dance on your phone to show Lilia as everyone else danced. When there dance was over Malleus walked up to you.

“You guys were amazing and I got the fireworks in the shot too! Aren’t they pretty?” you said happily.

“I agree they are beautiful. You know we can watch the fireworks closer if we fly with magic?” said Malleus.

“That sounds a bit dangerous,” you said.

“Hmph, I just joking. I won’t actually do it,” said Malleus with a smile.

“You said that Lilia likes to travel alone, right?” you asked.

“Yes,” said Malleus with a smile.

“Can you tell me some of his stories?” you asked.

Malleus smirked seeing this as the chance to get you alone with him again. Through the rest fireworks display he told you stories of Lilia. Some good. Some bad.

The fireworks was over sooner than Malleus expected and he didn’t like that. As you and all your friends went back to Kalim’s house you all got ready for bed. Malleus walked through the hallway trying to finding a bathroom, but bumped into you.

“Hi Maley!” you said.

“What a happy little accident,” Malleus thought.

You looked smaller without your shoes and you were wearing a plain white shirt and shorts that were two sizes too big for you. You were also very clearly braless, since the shirt you were wearing was huge.

“I really had an amazing time with you today! I can’t remember when I last had so much fun! In matter of fact I never left my home village either. Words can’t describe how I feel right now. I’m truly glad that I got to spend the day with you and I can’t wait to tell Lilia about it tomorrow,” you said.

You then walked back to your room leaving fae extremely happy. And before you knew it, it was morning and you were bad at Night Raven College. You immediately went to Diasomnia worried about Lilia with Malleus following behind.

Once you opened the gates the first thing you saw was Silver and Sebek.

“Human!! What are you doing with Malleus-sama?!!” shouted Sebek, charging at you.

You then passed out on the ground. Malleus got angry at Sebek and chastised him. You woke up five minutes later in Lilia’s bed next to Lilia.

“Morning sleepy head!” said Lilia with a big smile.

“Lilia!” you said, surprised.

“You’re such a sleepy thing! Just like Silver!” laughed Lilia.

You were on the side of the bed where you were trapped against the wall and him. Lilia grabbed your bag from the floor, which he could tell you were looking for.

“Lilia, I brought back papayas, bananas, and some ginger from the trip. It’s for your stomach, and by the way are you feeling better?” you asked.

“Yeah, I’m feeling a bit better now that I can sit up now,” said Lilia.

You gave him a banana and he started eating it.

“I bought a gift for you as well!” you said.

You pulled out two snake charming flutes: one crimson red and the other peacock green.

“Oh they’re lovely!” Lilia said happily.

“I remembered how you loved to play instruments and I was hoping you can teach me. Since I’ve never played a flute like this before,” you said.

Blew in the flute once and out came a high pitched off key note. The face you made Lilia crack up.

“The crimson one is yours. I tried to find a raspberry colored one to go with your beautiful eyes, but I couldn’t find one. Oh yeah, there’s another feature I want to show you,” you said.

You turned both flutes on their backs and put them side by side. Lilia was intrigued. When both flutes were combined it showed a carving of a bat. Lilia also took notice to how his flute had a golden L and a carving of a water lily under his half of the bat.

“Yeah, I saw the bat mat you have on the side of your bed and bathtub, so I thought you would really. I also thought to get your bat carving so it’s on the left side so I’ll always think of double L, for left and Lilia,” you laughed.

“She clearly put all this thought into a present for me and we haven’t even known each other for that long by my perspective,” thought Lilia.

“What’s the water lily carving for?” he asked.

“Isn’t obvious?!” you laughed. “It’s because you’re my Pretty Lili.”

You gave Lilia a side hug not wanting to squeeze his aching stomach. And at that quick moment a glimmer happened in Lilia’s eyes and his heart rapidly started beating. Lilia loosely wrapped his arms around you and steadily tried to make his way up to your upper back to fulfill the hug. Unfortunately, an interruption that you weren’t expecting till later came.

(Y/B/F) was furious and pulled out the bed. You didn’t tell him about the trip knowing that he would make you stay on campus. During the trip he sent nearly a thousand calls and texts trying to reach you. You knew this was going to happen so you put your to sleep and didn’t use it all yesterday.

He dragged you out of Lilia’s room pulling you by the ear, while scolding you like a parent. Though you were in pain you laughed at (Y/B/F)’s care for you while saying goodbye to Lilia. Lilia waved and said goodbye, but confused at what he was watching.

Lilia layed back down in his bed and rolled.

Crunch!!!

Lilia lifted his blanket hearing the noise. It was a note on top of three shirt similar to the one he got from Malleus.

Dear Lili,

While Malyulus was buying your shirt the shop owner did get a chance to tell him that it came with a free extra, so I got it in his size. I also got shirts for Silver and Sebek, since they didn’t come on the trip. I got an auroral colored shirt with silver flowers for Silver. The mint colored shirt with green flowers is for Sebek. I embroidered the messages into them since they were blank.

Love (Y/N)

I looked at Silver’s shirt and it had gold embroidery said, “Strength. Strength is nothing without trust, loyalty, and devotion. Strength is useless without devotion you both need each other.” On Sebek’s shirt is said “Devotion. Devotion is can’t exist without, trust, loyalty, and strength. Devotion is useless without strength you both need each other.”

“She’s very wise for one so young. She’s also very kind, smart, and good at crafts and cooking. She’s also almost as cute as me. I think. . . I like her,” Lilia said to himself.

#lilia vanrouge #malleus draconia #twisted wonderland #lilia x reader #malleus x reader #lilia & malleus x reader #abused reader #frail body

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tcvsfiredemon · 10 months

Text

Narumayo Week Day 2: Investigations/Caretaking

When Phoenix sneezed it sounded like his entire life force was escaping his body. Maya had learned over the past couple days to get out of his way when he drew in a long, ragged breath, because what came next was a gale force wind of hot air and snot that would inevitably end up in her hair. Luckily he’d graciously waited until they were off the bike to really let loose. A sneeze like that, Maya could understand why medieval people thought demons were responsible.

“Nick, are you sure you wanna do this investigation today? You should probably be sleeping the cold away.”

“It’s fine, Maya. I’ve worked sicker than this before.”

“Have you?”

In the three years she’d spent as Phoenix’s assistant she’d never seen him with so much as a sore throat. Sure he was a major klutz and had been nearly hit by cars on four separate occasions, but for all intents and purposes Phoenix’s body was a temple. The universe must have finally decided to exact its karmic revenge by unleashing the cold to end all colds just days before their latest case.

Really, Maya had hoped this would be a breather for Phoenix, a nice simple robbery case after the whole Xin Eohp saga and all that crazy stuff in England before that. Then Phoenix woke up yesterday with a fever of 102, a splitting headache, and enough congestion to choke an elephant. He had insisted even then that he could work that day, but she’d forced him to stay in bed while she ran around town getting interviews and taking notes, desperately hoping she wasn’t botching the whole thing.

He was feeling better today, but not by much, and while she couldn’t argue that he wasn’t usually better at scoping out the crime scene than she was, the way he was hobbling around with a zombie and making a visible effort to avoid sneezing wasn’t making her very optimistic.

“Just don’t push yourself as hard as usual, okay?”

“I don’t push myself that hard.”

“Nick, have you actually met yourself before?”

They were standing at the door to the upscale apartment of Cynthia Aster, self-help author and (at least until recently) owner of the rare Aster Ruby. She and the defendant, Patrick Xi, were in some weird secret society together, and Aster had let it slip to him that she kept the ruby sealed in a can of diced tomatoes in her pantry. Within days the pantry had been ransacked, the ruby had been stolen, and several perfectly good cans of tomatoes had gone to waste.

As Maya and Phoenix crossed the threshold into the apartment, the first thing she deduced was that this woman was pretty loaded. The place was spacious, all laid out in a weird modern architectural style with no walls and every room at a different height. The stairs that separated them had no railings, which struck Maya as a pretty serious design flaw, but then she wasn’t an architect or anything. There was also a distinct theme to the decor.

All around the place were paintings, photos, statues of hands. Left hands specifically. Words of inspiration were scattered all over the wall, all specifically about being left handed. Maya wasn’t sure what was on the bookshelves, but she wouldn’t be surprised if Ms. Aster carefully vetted them to make sure the authors wrote the manuscripts with their left hand.

“Talk about making one trait your whole personality, huh?”

“Remember, Ms. Aster and Mr. Xi met in a club for left-handed people. You don’t join a club like that unless you’re really committed.”

“Maybe you should join a club for people with spiky hair, Nick. You’re definitely committed to that look.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Maya frowned a bit. Usually Phoenix would have snapped back with some comment about her joining a topknot club or something (which would have obviously been inaccurate, because she had a super cute hair bun, not a topknot). He was clearly off his game.

“So, where to first? We can see it all from right here.”

Phoenix seemed to snap out of a daze. Again, not a great sign. He was often the inattentive type, but never during an investigation.

“I guess we should start with the pantry, where the crime took place.”

“Great, let’s go!”

The pantry, much to Maya’s delight, was an actual room, with walls and a door and everything. It was filled wall to wall with cans of everything that could possibly be canned. Soup, beans, fruit, vegetables, pie fillings, even a few stray cans of bread(ew). You could totally build a fort out of all this. In the corner

“Wow, this is a room a doomsday prepper would have.”

Phoenix rubbed his temples with his fingers. “Yeah, I think a lot of these cans might have been decoys to keep people from finding the one with the ruby in it.”

“Such a weird plan to hide a gem in a tomato can, huh? Seems pretty out of left field to me!”

She turned to give him a silly look, but he didn’t react at all. She would’ve expected at least a groan in response to such an egregious pun.

“Yeah, I guess…I guess…”

Phoenix took in a big gasp of air and Maya ducked for cover as another massive sneeze erupted out of her friend’s mouth. She looked at him, still dazed, and put her hands on her hips.

“All right, that’s it. We’re taking a break.”

“Huh?”

“I’m gonna make you some soup.”

“Soup? What?”

She was already hard at work digging through the wall of cans to find something good. Some of the soups had sell-by dates of over five years ago, so Phoenix’s assumption that they might be decoys was probably correct. Eventually, she found something that looked good.

“Here! Cream of mushroom!”

“Maya! You can’t just make soup at a crime scene!”

“Who’s gonna stop us? We know the chief of police.”

“Okay, but–”

She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him up to the kitchen. No way in hell was she going to let Phoenix make himself sicker over some lame jewel thief. She sat him down at the kitchen table and ran over to search for a pot and a can opener.

“Just sit there and rest for a bit, Nick. I’m gonna help you feel better.”

“Maya, everything in this apartment is evidence. We’re tampering with evidence”

“And I’m about to serve you up some fresh, hot, savory evidence in just a second!”

Luckily there was a can opener right on the counter, which she put to quick work. She found a saucepan pretty quickly as well, and after futzing around with the high-tech stove for a bit, she had a good pot of soup on the boil. Over at the kitchen table, Phoenix was sneezing up a storm.

“That’s good, Nick, let it all out.”

“You sound like my mom,” Phoenix groaned

“No talking back, young man,” Maya chirped back, tapping the wooden spoon against her hand in a mock-stern way, “close your eyes and the soup will come to you.”

In a few minutes, she’d prepared a nice hot bowl of soup, served in a beautiful china dish that they definitely weren’t supposed to be touching. Holding the bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other, she straddled Phoenix and brought the warm liquid toward his mouth.

“Here comes the airplane.”

Phoenix’s head bolted up. “Nope, you’re not baby birding me. That’s where I’m drawing the line.”

Maya jumped off him, her face heating up. Yeah, that was maybe a bit too much. She carefully set the bowl down and handed him the spoon. He took a spoonful and let out the most satisfying sigh she’d heard from him all day.

“Okay, that’s really good.”

She sat down next to him and happily watched him eat. He looked so cute shoveling the soup down with the dainty little spoon she’d found. When he was done he leaned back in his chair, satisfied.

“Feel better?”

“So much.”

Suddenly, Phoenix’s eyes opened wide. “Maya, how did you open the soup can?”

“What? Uh, there was a can opener on the counter.”

“Was it hard to use or anything?”

“Not really? I’ve used can openers before, you know.”

He rushed over to inspect the utensil, then quickly started searching through all the drawers in the kitchen until he found what he was looking for and held it up for her to see.

“Another can opener?”

“A left handed can opener! The one you used was a regular one. Which means…”

“It doesn’t actually belong to Ms. Aster,” Maya gasped, “The thief must have brought his own to get the ruby!”

“And since Mr. Xi is left handed as well…”

“The thief couldn’t have been him! Nick, you figured it out!”

Phoenix blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, we’ll probably need to find a bit more evidence to get the full picture, but it’s a start.”

“Then let’s get to it!” Maya exclaimed, fists pumping and stars in her eyes.

“Okay, but first I have to…have to…”

Phoenix took in a long, ragged breath and Maya jumped for cover.

#narumayo #narumayoweek2023 #maya fey #phoenix wright #fanfic #these keep ending up way longer than I planned

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ashintheairlikesnow · 1 year

Note

For the five sentences! Jameson and Taron au

"I think you should name the goat, if you're not scared."

@for-the-love-of-angst and I have an Au where my OC Jameson stumbles into their OC Taron's restaurant and they strike up a sometimes tentative but enduring friendship.

"I think... you should name the goat. If you're not scared."

The stray scowls at him, eyebrows drawn like thunderclouds, scars like lightning strikes pulling at the corner of one side of his mouth. His hair's a wild spiky patchy mess in the wind. "I'm not fucking scared of the goat."

His voice might say that, but the way he hunches further into the sweater he definitely took from Taron's office at the restaurant says otherwise. Taron has to work to keep from smiling.

"Yeah, yeah. So. You want to name her? Zizi's got this idea of raising baby goats next year."

The stray brightens a little, although he immediately tries to drop back into his scowl when he realizes Taron is looking. "Baby goats?"

"Yeah, baby goats. They're called kids." He pauses. Zizi would add like you, and the stray would act mad but actually eat it up. If Taron says it, he'll turn the same color as a ripe tomato, mumble something, and then not talk again until the next day.

Taron isn't blind.

He just likes to not see things sometimes, is all.

Zizi clocked the sweater was Taron's - probably one she bought him actually - as soon as they got out of the truck yesterday. All she did was give Taron a raised eyebrow and wry smile when the kid wasn't looking. Good. If anyone points it out, even just as a joking thing, he'll vanish again.

Jameson has stuck around for two months now, put on some weight even. Grown his hair out. Spends less time trying not to be noticed and more time asking questions. Sleeps at the farm three or four nights a week, helps Zizi with everything she'll let him help with. Helps Taron at the restaurant.

Stray doesn't sleep, though.

Or, well, he does fall asleep, but... He has nightmares and walks around at night to settle jangling nerves. Taron's usually up anyway.

Same reason, even.

Sometimes they watch old movies together until whatever haunts the kid's head backs off enough for him to try and sleep again. Sometimes he just falls asleep right there, and Taron covers him with a blanket and lets him rest wherever he finds it.

He looks better. He feels better.

Maybe... maybe Taron can save this one. This time. He tries not to think about that too much. But sometimes - like now, scowling and acting more pissed off than he is - it's hard not to think how alike they can be.

"Kids, huh." Jameson looks over at the new goat. She bleats, but keeps her distance. However nice the kid is, he is not a natural with the animals. And, whether he admits it or not, he's scared of dogs. A smile brightens the stray's expression. "How about... Bogart?"

Whatever face Taron must make in response, that moment of open cheer instantly fades and the angry look comes right back in its place.

"Never mind. Stupid fucking name for a goat. You should name it. I'm fucking shit at ideas, we're not meant to have brains. You do it."

Might be the thing he likes least about the kid - how he shuts down when he thinks someone is judging him, usually calls himself some version of stupid or a slut, and then dares you to argue with him about it. Taron has been fielding this for a while, though. He's got it figured, what to do next..

"What made you think Bogart?"

Simple question, simply worded. No judgement. No false enthusiasm either. Just a question.

Jameson scrapes a circle in the ground with the toe of his shoe. "Cause of the movie the other night."

"Which one?" Could be any of a dozen, actually. Both of them have had a hard week when it comes to sleep.

"Casablanca. Here's looking at you, kid. Kid, goats... Humphrey Bogart... Like I said. Stupid name."

"It's not. Lot of name for a little goat, though. What about... Elsie? The woman in Casablanca is Ilsa. You and I will still know it's from that, right?"

Jameson blushes right to the roots of his hair. Taron wishes he had his phone to take a picture to show Zizi. Not that she doesn't see it all the time - she's an expert at getting the stray to turn this color without actually making him run away. "... Right. Yeah. Elsie is... good."

"Good. Want to ride along to the store with me today? Need to buy a few things for Elsie here to settle in."

As always, the stray brightens all over again. Taron's heart aches, just seeing it. If only this had been something he could have done, creating a safe place to land, when-

He won't think about that.

He just heads for the truck and the stray falls in behind.

#jameson au #taron and jameson au #i love taron #whump #whump oc #traumatized whumpees #insomnia reference #ptsd reference

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harrison-abbott · 3 months

Text

Did they ever make you do ‘Solo Talks’ in school? Whereby they got you to get up in front of the class and speak in front of a room full of people? It was about the hardest, most nerve wracking thing to do when you were eleven or twelve.

I remember doing one at that age, in English class. I think it was based on a personal story of some sort. Whereby you had to go up and talk about an experience that happened to you.

Up in front of the thirty kids and the teacher I began telling my story. I am a naturally shy person, and my voice quivered and faltered as I tried to recollect the tale – which was about my first football game when I was in primary school, playing for the team. (It was all I could think of as a personal experience that they had us write the essay on originally.)

And, mid-speech, I looked up, and there was this kid in the front row. He was called Sean White. And he was a right aggressive, mean boy, with spiky Bart Simpson hair. And he just scowled at me – for some reason – just gave me this sneer when I caught his eye.

It made me blush. I blushed all tomato in the face after that scowl of his. Then I fumbled even further, because, blushing in front of thirty people is never pleasant.

I think the teacher gave me a D on the grade.

Anyway.

A few years later, in fourth year. I was still in Sean White’s English class. Was a wee bit older these days.

And we were working in groups at tables. Or, I think the teacher paired me with somebody else to do a task – and got me to sit next to Sean White. He mentioned by the by that he was going to a Hibs game (the football team) that night. And I mentioned that they were my team as well.

So we got speaking a little about football.

And then the task ended. The stuff we were working on. And I noticed that my usual seat up ahead in the classroom was free. So I got up to go back to my ordinary seat.

Sean called to me, “Harry, just stay here.” Meaning, he was inviting me to sit next to him. But I still remembered what he’d done to me on that solo talk.

I pointed at my usual seat, shrugged and said, “I’m just going back.”

And he scowled in that same virile ugly manner as he had done a couple of years back. This screwed up expression. But it didn’t make me blush this time.

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #real life story #tumblr writers #spilled ink

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yuriko-mukami · 11 months

Text

His Possession Ecstasy 02

Beta reader: @ruki-mukami-dl

"So… Eli-chan… how has your life with the Sakamakis started?" Yuriko walked next to her best friend along a corridor she hadn’t stepped into before. Elizabeth had told her that she discovered a secret library in the school, and of course, Yuriko couldn’t resist checking that out with her during the lunch break.

And yes, Yuriko was finally back in school. It had taken several discussions with Ruki but finally, he had given in. They had agreed that Yuriko wouldn't go anywhere alone, but she could tell that Ruki hadn't been enthusiastic when she wished to spend the lunch break with Elizabeth.

“I get along with Subaru.” Elizabeth avoided looking at Yuriko who couldn’t help but wonder if everything was truly alright. “You know, I think not many students are aware of this library. I only learned about it because of Shin.”

That was a surprise, for Shin didn’t strike Yuriko as a person who would spend his spare time reading. But before she had time to voice out her thoughts, Elizabeth pulled her to a staircase that seemed to lead underground. Soon, the girls were standing in the middle of a huge room filled with bookshelves. It didn’t have the same kind of vibe as the official school library and reminded Yuriko more of an archive. By the look of it, this place didn’t have novels but non-fiction books in carefully chosen order.

Moving closer to the shelves, Yuriko started to go through them. Old schoolbooks but among them she noticed tomes of curious topics of matters humans would call supernatural. “Have you looked at these books before, Eli-chan?”

“Eh… Well… No…”

“Oh? Then what have you been doing here?” Yuriko turned to look at her friend who suddenly started to remind her of a tomato while staring at her toes. “Eli-chan?”

Tilting her head to the side, Yuriko wandered closer. Never had she seen her friend like this but perhaps something had changed during the time Elizabeth had been hiding from the world… or maybe while Yuriko hadn’t been attending the school. She was seething with curiosity.

“Eli-chan… why did Shin bring you here?”

“Tell me, Yuri-Yuri, what kinds of things do you do in a library with Ruki?” Elizabeth lifted her head, gazing at Yuriko with almost glimmering eyes.

“Eh… Read?”

“And?”

“Study, do my homework…”

“You know that I don’t mean those things, Yuri-Yuri…”

“Then what do…” Yuriko blinked. With a sudden realization, heat coursed up her cheeks. “Oh…! So, you and Shin…?”

“No, no, no! We’re talking about you here!”

“Eli-chan… you are nuts for Shin, aren’t you?” Yuriko giggled. She leaned her hand against the shelf and held her belly as the laughter burst through her. Oh, how happy she was to have her friend back. And seeing Elizabeth almost boiling with her apple-red face was too funny in an adorable way.

“Then you are soup!” Eli frowned.

“Eh?”

“Soup for Ruki. Doesn’t he like to devour it?”

“I… I wouldn’t say… devour…”

“You two are still the same idiots.”

Yuriko jumped in place when she heard the familiar voice which was soon followed by a young man with spiky hair and an eye pad that covered not just his left eye but also his eyeglasses from that side.

“I can’t believe that you brought Yuriko here, Eli.” Shin's voice was full of accusations as anger covered his face. “And then you can’t even admit whose property you are. You should leave those disgusting Vampires at once and if Brother hadn’t told me to leave the matter I would –”

“My aunt made an agreement. I can’t change it…” It was like all strength had been sucked out of Elizabeth.

“You enjoy it there, right?!” Shin leaned in, sniffing. “Getting along with Subaru! Isn’t that what you just told Yuriko?!”

“I didn’t mean it like that!”

The air was filled with the scent of angriness. Yuriko didn’t quite know how she could tell but it felt so obvious. Hastily, she stepped between Elizabeth and Shin. “Please… no fighting. Surely, Eli-chan’s aunt had her reasons…”

“This isn’t your business, Yuriko!” Shin pushed her aside and grabbed Elizabeth by the arm. The tiny girl almost flew past Yuriko from the pull.

“I’m gonna mark you…” Shin sank his fangs directly into Elizabeth’s wrist, not minding that Yuriko was still standing right next to them.

“Oh my gosh!” Yuriko covered her face with her hands, but she couldn’t block out Elizabeth’s whimpering and sucking sounds that sent shivers down her spine. While she was used to getting her blood taken it was a completely different matter to witness it happening to someone else.

“Haa… still sweet…” As Shin lifted his head, Yuriko peeked in between her fingers just to see him licking his lips. “So, none of them has yet to bite you…”

“They… aren’t allowed to take my blood…” Elizabeth swallowed, her fragile body quivering.

“Like hell, you have ever seen Vampires keeping their end of a deal…”

Nibbling her bottom lip, Yuriko lowered her hands. Blood had clearly calmed Shin down, at least partly as the room didn’t reek of heavy feelings anymore. Still, she wasn’t sure what to think of the situation. In a way, it seemed bad, but Yuriko couldn’t truly know. Someone could have said that arrangements between Ruki and her seemed bad even though she had agreed with everything more than willingly… Well, most part of it anyway. She never had asked to be showered with ice-cold water because of something someone else had done. But Ruki had only wanted to purify her… right? His intentions had been good.

“I… I think… not all Vampires are bad…” Yuriko straightened up and met Shin’s golden gaze.

The Founder growled, looking like he wanted to spit on the floor. “You sleeping with one of them doesn’t make them worthy beings. If anything, you should choose your company better.”

Yuriko gasped, not believing how rude Shin was. She had thought that they had formed some kind of bond because she had saved him once and now helped him to bring Elizabeth back. Ruki had played a part in that too, but Shin talked about him like he was something… something disgusting. “I… I’m very happy with Ruki…”

“Then why are you whimpering with a flushed face? You’re a bad liar.” Shin stepped closer, wrinkling his nose as if he had just smelled something unpleasant. “Your kind should bow to me.”

“I know nothing of such relations! And… and… I won’t bow to you… since you offended Ruki!” Now, Yuriko knew she was being much ruder than ever, but she couldn’t hold back the words. Ruki was the one who had welcomed her with open arms. No one was allowed to insult him.

“Hmph, this amazing boyfriend of yours is lurking in the shadows…”

“I would not call it lurking, more like observing what you are planning to do to my possession.” Ruki stepped between shelves, and in the instant, another burst of angriness hit Yuriko’s nose. Now, she was sure she could smell it!

Grabbing Yuriko’s arm, Ruki yanked her further away from Shin. “I do not know why you and your brother have suddenly crawled out and appeared here but keep Yuriko out of your business. She is mine.”

“As if I wanted to have her. I could get any fox if I was into them.” Shin let out a growl. He reached his arm, pulling Elizabeth close. “But it seems that these two can’t stay away from each other. And I can’t let them go on blabbering whatever.”

“May I remind you; it was Yuriko’s eagerness and my familiars that made it possible for you to fetch Elizabeth back?” Ruki’s voice was ice cold.

Something went through Shin’s mind, and Yuriko could tell it wasn’t pleasant. It was odd that Shin couldn’t have figured out Elizabeth’s location on his own even though he seemed to be in an important position in the Demon World. Or was that the reason?

Before Shin could say anything, Ruki held Yuriko’s hand and started to walk her out of the library. “The lunch break is over for you. We are to go back to the classroom.”

“But Ruki…”

“I will not negotiate this.” Ruki pushed Yuriko to the stairs and forced her to climb up.

Yuriko peeked behind her and waved her hand. “I’m sorry, Eli-chan! We’ll talk another time!”

They walked through the corridors in silence which made Yuriko’s skin tickle. She could still smell the burning scent of rage that lingered within Ruki even though outside he looked as collected as ever. Finally, he pushed her into an empty classroom and closed the door behind them.

“You are a handful. What is it in that Elizabeth that lures you to her over and over again?” Ruki ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “I do not understand that. You have a home now, a family. You have me as your master. Why is having a friend so important?”

“I simply like Eli-chan. Having her in my life makes me happy.”

Ruki frowned and pressed toward Yuriko. Her buttocks hit the edge of a desk as she backed down, but Ruki scooted even closer, leaning in while imprisoning her gaze. “Your master should make you happy.”

“And… you do. It’s not that you don’t make me happy… but having other people around me enlightens my life as well.” Yuriko swallowed. She didn’t want yet another fight with Ruki. Not yet another cold shower. If only Ruki would have seen her point of view… but he kept pushing closer until Yuriko almost laid on the desk and he hovered above her.

“It is… it is… like you have your brothers! They are special to you. I can’t ever take their place and neither I should… There is room for all of us in your heart.” Yuriko’s words made Ruki stop. He frowned and his gaze seemed to turn inwards for a moment. Her heart pounded, and she didn’t dare to say anything more, not to break Ruki’s focus on inner matters nor even ask what was going through his mind.

“I see…” Ruki sighed. “You are driving me crazy, Yuriko… I do not know what this power of yours is but it is messing with my thoughts. Constantly. Over and over again you make me think about things I usually do not bother to consider.”

“I… I… I’m sorry for that…”

“Then perhaps you should take responsibility for your actions…” Ruki pinned Yuriko against the desk, pressing her wrists on the hard wood. The tip of his nose nuzzled to the column of her neck as he inhaled deeply. “Such a sweet scent…”

Releasing Yuriko’s wrists, Ruki tore her ribbon off and the upmost buttons of her shirt open. “I cannot stand the thought that someone else would come this close to you…”

“Of course… of course, not! Having friends isn’t like that! We simply talk and do fun stuff together! Elizabeth isn’t going to bite me!” Yuriko placed her hands on Ruki’s shoulder, squeezing them slightly.

“She better not, for everything within you belongs to your one and only master…” Ruki’s breath swiped over Yuriko’s skin as he spoke. His lips glided along her neck until they stopped over a vein that pulsed against them. Tensing, Yuriko could feel how her heart climbed toward her throat and drummed in her ears.

“Hmm, so eager for your master’s fangs. You are such a good girl…”

The white pain hit Yuriko, making her arch and whine under Ruki. Her eyelids fell shut as her fingers clenched his school uniform’s jacket. As the piercing ache turned into gentle sucks a moan escaped her.

“Such a shameless sound…” Ruki kept draining Yuriko’s blood, pressing his body on hers. He took his time, savoring every drop of the sweet liquid that had bound them together. “I should take you home right now so that you could give me more…” Licking over the wound, Ruki sighed. He kissed the bite mark, straightening up right after and pulling Yuriko with him.

Arms enveloped the Kitsune woman as Ruki almost crushed her on his chest. She wrapped her tinier hands around him and squeezed as hard as she could, dizziness making her lean against him.

“Always remember to whom you belong.” Ruki’s words were mumbles as Yuriko’s hair muffled them. “I will not let anyone else have you this way.”

Ruki released his grip, taking half of a step back. A cold finger brushed Yuriko’s cheek and finally combed a strand of her hair behind her ear, revealing the fresh bite mark better. Picking up her ribbon, Ruki buttoned Yuriko’s shirt and hung the accessory back in its place. “You are not to meet that Tsukinami Shin again. He is dangerous… and we do not know his full connections to the Kitsune. You are allowed to spend time with your friend Elizabeth but that is all. Is that clear?”

Still dizzy and out of breath, Yuriko nodded. “Yes… I understand.”

Ruki’s smile turned the world upside down. Yuriko would have given anything to see that every day.

“You truly are my angel. Now, let us go to the last class.” Ruki took Yuriko’s hand and pulled her back to the hallway. “And prepare yourself, I will expect to hear more of those unashamed voices of yours when we are back at home.”

Yuriko placed her school bag next to her desk and pulled off her cardigan. As she tapped the switch of a tiny lamp, a slightly fluttering orange light filled the room, leaving the corners of it hiding in the shadows. The surface of the desk was drifting with pens and notes Yuriko had written another day while doing her homework. She knew she should arrange things better but right now, the mental energy for that was slipping from her reach as the weight of the past evening pressed on her shoulders.

On the other side of the window, the night sky spread over the yard, but the moon was hiding behind the heavy clouds, making everything shadowy and even darker than usual. The school night was still whirling through her mind as she roamed to her closet and stuffed the cardigan on the shelf.

There were so many things going on. Elizabeth seemed to have her own troubles, living with the Sakamakis, and Yuriko didn’t want to bother her friend too much with her endless search for her brother and mother. Other than that, she knew she should be concentrating on school, but everything else simply felt more important.

A knock from the door made Yuriko’s hand stop when she was just about to tug off her ribbon. She didn’t have time to say anything when Ruki already walked in, pressing the door back shut behind him.

“Umh… Ruki?” Yuriko lowered her hand, pulling the ribbon off at the same time. “Did you already finish your talk with Kou-kun?”

“Yes.” Ruki stepped closer, picking up the ribbon from Yuriko’s fingers. “You do not need this now.” He let the accessory fall, gazing down at Yuriko.

“Well… yes, I was going to change my clothes anyway…” Yuriko squirmed, glancing into the closet where her pajama shorts and top were waiting for her.

“You will not need any other piece of clothing either.” Ruki leaned in, running his fingers along the column of Yuriko’s neck and finally, plucking open the uppermost button of her dress shirt. “Such beautiful skin… I should be the only one who is allowed to admire you like this.”

“And… and… you are…” Yuriko gasped as Ruki pulled open another button. She didn’t shy away, for he had seen everything there was to see. There were no secrets between them in this regard. He was the only one who had ever wanted her, who had shown her all these signs of love. “You don’t need to worry. I don’t want anyone else… and no one else wants me. So there —”

Ruki's gaze darted to Yuriko’s eyes as stormy as ever. “Do you not see how everyone’s eyes are ogling you?”

“Eh? No… no, I don’t…”

Pulling another button, Ruki frowned. “You are so beautiful that everyone keeps staring at you with dirty thoughts in their minds.”

Yuriko shook her head. “I… I don’t think so… There isn’t anything special in me…” Sure, she had strange colored hair, and perhaps, that made people turn to look at her but that was all. In general, she didn’t even have other friends than Elizabeth. No one was interested in her, so Ruki’s worries were unnecessary.

Ruki stopped opening the buttons and snatched Yuriko’s chin, lifting it. A smirk rose on his lips. “Perhaps your master should show you the true beauty of yours. Would you like to see that, Yuriko?”

“I guess?” Yuriko didn’t understand how Ruki could display something like that. She knew what she looked like, so there was nothing new to see.

Chuckling, Ruki released Yuriko’s chin and enveloped her waist, making her walk directly to the tall mirror in the corner of her room. It reflected them both, revealing Yuriko’s slightly flushed cheeks and bosom that vibrated up and down along with her breathing.

“Now, what do you see?” Ruki’s lips caressed Yuriko’s earlobe. “Tell your master everything…”

“I… I see myself… I see us… standing in front of the mirror. We look like we always do…” Yuriko tried to glance at Ruki, but he took her chin again and turned her face toward the mirror.

“Do not avert your gaze for a moment, my angel.” Smirking through the mirror, Ruki opened the rest of the buttons of Yuriko’s shirt. “You are to keep your eyes on the mirror until I tell you otherwise. Is that clear, Yuriko?”

Yuriko nodded. A tickle meandered in the bottom of her stomach, and she couldn’t prevent her muscles from tensing as Ruki slid the shirt off her shoulders, letting it fall on the floor. The mirror showed a lace bra that pushed slightly up a perky pair of breasts, one of them blemished with a rather fresh bitemark.

Ruki let his hands trace Yuriko’s sides until they met the waist of her skirt. He didn’t waste time, moving one of his hands behind her and tucking the zipper open. The skirt, too, ended up on the floor, pooling around Yuriko’s feet. Her panties were comfortable cotton with tiny hearts printed on them, looking a bit childish now when Yuriko stared at them. The panties didn’t quite fit together with the bra and thigh-high white socks that squeezed her legs slightly.

“Now…” Ruki plugged Yuriko’s bra from behind, releasing the hooks. His cold fingers caressed her at the same time he pushed the straps down her shoulders, making her shiver all over. The piece of clothing met the floor in front of Yuriko’s eyes, revealing her bare breast to the mirror.

Yuriko wasn’t used to staring at herself like that. Of course, she knew what she looked like, but this was different. She could see how the tips of her perky buds were slightly swollen and reddish as if asking to be touched. But she didn’t dare to lift her hands, neither did Ruki give her the fondling her body cried for.

“Such a beautiful sight. Now, take off your panties, and do not avert your gaze.” Ruki’s voice was as calm and collected as ever even though Yuriko’s insides were trembling. Her breathing got stuck in her throat, making her feel slightly dizzy. This was completely different from other intimate moments she had shared with Ruki.

With quivering hands, Yuriko took hold of her panties and pulled them down. As she tried to keep her gaze in the mirror, her legs wavered and she almost stumbled while tugging the fabric and lifting her feet.

Ruki ran his fingers on both sides of Yuriko’s neck. Their coldness radiated on her skin, sending even more shivers down her spine. Ruki moved on, caressing her shoulders with slow movements. Leaning in, he followed his hand trail with the tip of his nose and inhaled deeply while looking directly into Yuriko’s eyes through the mirror.

Grating his fangs along Yuriko’s shoulder, Ruki smirked. Yuriko tensed, squeezing her hands into fists as she prepared herself for what was to come. The urge to close her eyes was almost unbearable, yet somehow, she managed to fight against it. As she watched, Ruki pierced her skin. The pain shot down her upper arm, making her gasp for air and flutter all over. A small rivulet of crimson tried to escape, yet Ruki caught it with his tongue before focusing on gentle sucks that make Yuriko’s heart bounce as if it wanted to give him even more of her elixir of life.

Relishing with Yuriko’s blood, Ruki traced her sides and followed her curves, finally placing his hands on her hips and holding her in the spot. He savored each drop without hurry while keeping their gazes locked into each other. Gaping her mouth, Yuriko could see how a pinkish flush climbed from her chest to her neck and all the way to her cheeks.

“Such a good girl.” Sighing, Ruki licked over the wound and kissed it. His tongue darted out, tracing his lips before his hands pushed Yuriko toward the floor. “Sit down with me…”

Ruki slid into a sitting position, placing his legs on each side of Yuriko’s. She squirmed, turning her head. No way she could watch anymore. This was getting too… something!

“I told you not to avert your gaze.” Ruki grabbed Yuriko’s chin, forcing her head to turn again. Her view went blurry the moment she saw the mirror. “Hmm… that was unexpected.” Ruki’s chuckle embraced her ear. For a moment, he let go of her chin but only to remove her glasses… and once more she could see her face that was as red as her eyes were amber-yellow.

Taking Yuriko’s chin again, Ruki put his other hand on her thigh. He shoved the leg gently and finally lifted it over his when Yuriko didn’t move. “Now, the other one.”

“Umh!” Yuriko drew breath, unable to voice out her whirling thoughts. Or did she even have any thoughts at all anymore? Her face was searing, her deepest parts quivering, almost clenching.

“Be a good girl for your master and do it~”

Holding her breath, Yuriko raised her leg over Ruki’s as the urge to close her eyes kept growing. Yet, she couldn’t stop staring at the sight in front of her. Never had she seen herself from this angle, and a tiny voice in the back of her mind told her to snap her legs back together and stop being so lewd.

“Hmmm… already glistening for your master’s eyes…” Ruki glided his hand on Yuriko’s inner thigh, moving up until his fingers were caressing her soft hair. He pushed his fingers over the curls, dipping one of the digits between her folds. “So wet. It seems you are enjoying yourself, is that not so?”

“I… I… umh…” Yuriko didn’t even know what to say. It was like her mind was turning into an empty space or mush. Ruki meandered his fingers deeper, pushing one against her entrance while his thumb rubbed on the tiny moist, and glimmering pearl.

Biting her bottom lip, Yuriko tried to keep the moan in. Yet it escaped her.

“Do not hurt what is mine.” Now, there was a slight edge on Ruki’s voice. Smirking through the mirror, he traced Yuriko’s bottom lip while still holding her chin and finally, pushed a digit into her mouth. As Yuriko gasped, he only pressed his finger further in, repeating the gesture at the apex of her thighs as well. The moist sound made her cheeks flush even more, yet she couldn’t do anything but stare at the finger that dipped into her, sliding deeper every time while Ruki kept his thumb dancing on her clit at a steady pace. His other index finger pressed against her tongue, rubbing it, and preventing her from swallowing. The shocking pleasure almost sent her swooning.

Yuriko’s back was resting against Ruki’s chest as he made his fingers work their magic. Another digit pushed past her boundaries, conquering her now embarrassingly damp deepness. She clapped her hand on Ruki’s thigh, squeezing instinctively.

“That is right. Hang onto your master.” Ruki’s darkened voice echoed against Yuriko’s ear, his lips caressing the earlobe as he spoke. “Now, let the bliss take you over~” He increased the pace, thrusting his fingers back and forth while curling their tips, causing friction against her walls. At the same time, his thumb never stopped but circled her pulsating pearl until she could not do anything but surrender the sweet sensation that sent heated shivers from her core to every single cell of her body, filling her mind with gratifying rapture and covering the view from the mirror with tiny, sparkling stars.

“Oh my gosh!” Yuriko’s squeal turned into a muffled mumble when Ruki’s finger pushed her tongue, darting in and out of her gaping mouth. She arched her back. It was more and more difficult to keep her gaze on the mirror when Ruki pushed her closer to the edge. Her body was weeping, her mind whimpering, yearning for the peek of pleasure no matter how shameless she looked at the moment. Her inner walls clenched around Ruki’s fingers while she felt something hard pressing on the small of her back, jerking even. Whining and squirming, she dug her fingers into Ruki’s thigh and moaned as his fingers wetted her mouth and turned her into throbbing hot pudding with their dance on her most sensitive spots.

And just then Ruki pulled his fingers out and moved his thumb from Yuriko’s crying pearl with a smirk on his lips. As his index finger left her mouth, she let out a frustrated moan. She felt so empty and was in a brick of explosion. Yet now the grand final had been stolen from her, spirited away. “Ruki… please… I need you…”

“Is that so?” Ruki’s smirk only grew bigger. He lifted his hand which was glistening with Yuriko’s arousal. “Then be a good girl and lick this clean. Perhaps then your master will grant your wish.”

The fingers had a distinct smell of Yuriko’s lust when Ruki moved them closer to her face. Blinking, she couldn’t help but glance in the mirror. Her cheeks were scorching red while her body was covered with a slightly pinkish shade as her breath pushed out as whimpering pants. She opened her mouth, sliding out her tongue and tracing Ruki’s digits with it. The taste of sweet saltiness filled her senses as she worked through the sticky moistness that coated his skin. Deep within her a sensation of a squeeze made her shiver. Her body craved more, so she wrapped her fingers around Ruki’s wrist and kept licking until there wasn’t even a drop of the liquid of her love left.

“Such a good girl~” Ruki smiled almost gently, moving his hand and making Yuriko release her grip. He pulled off his blazer and ripped his shirt over his head, tossing both on the floor. “Open my pants. Hurry.”

Turning around, Yuriko took hold of Ruki’s belt and tugged it open with quivering hands. Now, when she couldn’t see herself, it was easier to act. She unzipped Ruki’s pants and started to yank them down. He helped her and soon there was only one last piece of clothing separating them. Yuriko pressed her palm on the bulge, massaging slightly. She could feel how the length jerked as if asking to be freed from its fabric cage.

Ruki plucked his fingers under the waistband of his boxers, pulling them down, allowing his hardness to spring against his belly. The sight made blood throb in Yuriko’s veins in so a fast and heated manner, she could almost hear it in her ear canals. “Ruki, please… I want to feel you…”

A pleased smirk. Ruki nodded. “Then turn around again and sit on your master’s lap.” He moved sitting on his folded legs, his eyes not leaving Yuriko even for a moment.

Swallowing, Yuriko crawled around, meeting her wide gaze in the mirror again. She backed down a little, moving her legs on each side of Ruki’s and taking support from his knees. He grabbed her waist, lifting her hips, while his manhood poked against gates that were ready to open up for him. He was all she wanted; all she could think about now.

Ruki pushed Yuriko down, bolstering her, as his shaft spread her heat, slowly and teasingly. Shame and desire mingled hot in her throat while Ruki reached the bottom of her depths, holding her down.

“You look so sexy right now.” Ruki’s words were a mere whisper that caressed Yuriko’s ear, yet they sank into her heart. “You are taking me so well. Now, prepare yourself.”

Pressing her palms on Ruki’s thighs, Yuriko let him lift her waist again and then shove it down once more. She was lost to the rhythm and each thrust guided her further and further into the glow of desire, into a bonfire of their lust that was already consuming her. As their gazes met through the mirror, a wild, raw need passed between them.

Ruki slid one hand over Yuriko’s chest, between her breasts that were bouncing with each buck of his hips, and constrained her against his upper body, making her back arch slightly. As he glided his other hand over her heat, massaging her weeping pearl again she couldn’t help but throw her head back and moan, her inner walls crushing his manhood that pierced her over and over again.

Lifting her hand, Yuriko grabbed Ruki’s nape. As he once again hit the sweet spot deep within her while his fingers teased her throbbing nub without mercy, she sank her nails into his skin and moaned like ever before. Her whole body squirmed and quivered as everything else disappeared. There wasn’t anything else than this thrusting rhythm, Ruki’s shaft filling every inch of her and his touch sending tidal waves of pleasure through her.

“Oh my gosh! Oh gosh! Ruki! I can’t take it!” Yuriko whimpered, almost sobbing as she felt like she was about to burst into tiny pieces beyond repair.

But Ruki growled and increased his pace, pushing them both against the floor. “You can and you will!”

Yuriko’s breast rubbed on the carpet while Ruki bounced in mercilessly, without taking any breaks. She cried and panted, scratching the rug under her as her mind turned into mush. She clenched around his length breathtakingly fast, exploding again… and again while endlessly wailing his name.

Just when Yuriko thought another explosion of bliss would kill her, Ruki pulled out, rubbing his manhood between her buttocks. The cool yet sticky liquid shot over her, coating her butt and sliding into the junction of her legs. Shivers run through Yuriko as the sensation hit her. She lifted her dizzy head and gazed through the mirror at Ruki, who was taking support from her lower body while panting heavily.

“Never question your beauty and sexiness again, Yuriko.” Ruki’s voice had a rough edge to it. His hand caressed Yuriko’s frosted buttock. He let out a long sigh before leaning in and hauling Yuriko in his arms. She sobbed and shook in his grasp as the stickiness of her skin glued them onto each other. Ruki turned her around, stroking her back while pressing her on him. He caught her lips with his, seducing her into a soft kiss.

“I love you, Yuriko. From the bottom of my heart.”

A whisper that meant to the world. Yuriko smiled between her sobs, wrapping her limbs around Ruki. “And I love you, Ruki… more than I can ever tell.”

Ruki chuckled. “You could try.” He took a tight hold of Yuriko and teleported them directly into a hot bath that wafted the scent of lavender.

#yuriko's story #yuriko tsukino #ruki mukami #shin tsukinami #elizabeth virnien #steamytimes

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chocolatechibi · 1 year

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Nuts n Dolts week: Day 7

@nuts-and-dolts-week

Prompt: first kiss

Garden of Ecstacy

Baby can’t you see, you could be with me, we could live inside a garden of ecstasy…

“It’s this way!”

I squeeze Penny’s fingers tight, her hand warm against mine.

Spiky weeds and long blades of grass prick at our ankles as we run down the overgrown hill, heading for the little gated garden at the bottom, tucked away behind the old family gym building.

The fence surrounding the garden is old and rusted, almost falling over. The cheap green material once spread neatly over it is torn and tattered, shreds of it littering the floor and almost blending into the grass. I’m not sure who the fence was supposed to keep out, seeing as—I don’t think—the garden was ever private property. Either way, it’s abandoned now, and what was once a neat, tiny little garden is now overgrown and wild, the weeds alone up to your knees.

“It’s… it’s so nice,” Penny breathes.

She moves her hand away from her eyes, no longer having to block them from the sun. The whole garden is dappled in shade, dim and cool. Penny brushes her messy bangs away from her eyes, taking a look around at the maze of wild looking plants everywhere.

Just watching her makes my heart flutter a little.

Yes, I, fifteen-year-old high school girl Ruby Rose, have a crush on my best friend.

Penny is amazing, sweet and beautiful, and I’ve had feelings for what has become quite a while. I think my sister said that gardens are romantic, so that’s why I brought her here. It’s a little secluded spot just for us, and here, I’m finally going to tell her how I feel. I just have to keep the courage to do it. I have to do it this time.

We venture deeper into the garden, hand in hand. I brush my other hand over the tops of some unruly looking tomato plants, feeling the wrinkly leaves against my skin. The plants’ stems are thick, heavy with fruit that hasn’t ripened yet.

I look at Penny again. She’s wearing a plain white t-shirt and an avocado green skirt with a green stripe at the bottom. She took my advice and wore closed-toed shoes, but the skirt still leaves her legs bare, and I see her flinch as a weed pricks across her skin.

I’m not doing much better with my red t-shirt and gray shorts, but I don’t really mind.

Penny doesn’t really seem to either. Rather, she seems positively enraptured by the secretive spot. She brushes her bangs away again, as they keep sticking to her forehead in the spring heat. She gazes around at the garden, which is surprisingly big on the inside for how small it looks from afar. It is definitely more than meets the eye. It’s wild here.

I was also an idiot to not look where I was going in an overgrown place like this, and my foot comes in contact with a rock, throwing me off balance. I trip over my own feet and keel forward, about to fall.

In a split second I feel Penny yank on my hand, pulling me up again as she wraps an arm around my waist. She pulls me against her.

“Ruby, are you okay?”

My silver eyes meet concerned teal ones, and I can feel my face heat up at the closeness. Penny is so pretty up close. I’m kind of glad I fell now. I picture kissing her right then, and maybe I should’ve done it, although I would never have actually had the guts.

“Ruby?”

I come back to myself in an instant and let go as quickly as possible, stumbling a bit as I try to get my bearings.

“S-sorry, just tripped is all,” I say, rubbing the back of my head anxiously.

“No worries! It’s pretty overgrown here, huh?”

Penny gives me a bright smile.

“Y-yeah.”

I’m sure my face must be pretty red by now, but I ignore it and clear my throat a bit, offering my hand to Penny again. She gladly takes it, and we’re walking again.

“I wonder why no one cares for this place anymore. If they ever did,” she muses.

“I don’t know. No one really seems to know about it. I just found it by chance one day. It seems to be doing pretty well on its own, though.

“It’s taken root, no rules!” Penny exclaims excitedly, making me smile.

“Yep.”

We pass a wall of thin green vines laden with creamy white flowers. They smell bright, like nature. That’s how I see it, at least. It might not make much sense, it’s more a feeling than anything I can put into words.

“So did you say there was passion fruit here?” Penny asks, even though she already knows the answer.

That’s the one thing I did tell her about this place before we came, deciding to leave the rest a surprise, but it definitely got her excited.

She presses herself closer to my side, sliding her arm through mine, so they’re linked.

“Yep!” I say, trying to be normal, “They’re near the back.”

When did things stop being normal, and start being me as a blushing mess whenever I’m around her?

“Thanks for bringing me here, Ruby,” Penny says, “I never even knew this was here, and it’s so big!”

“Yeah,” I say, smiling, “I’m glad you like it.”

The passion fruit vines grow wild on the back fence, twining over and over through the chain links like they’ll never let go. They probably never will. A lot of the plants here seem to be like that. They’ve taken root. This whole fence is overgrown with passion vines, and it’s thick, all dark green leaves and foliage.

The flowers are beautiful, vibrant purple in color and strange. Like something from another planet.

Penny gently brushes her hand over one, delight dancing in her eyes.

“They’re beautiful…”

“You’re beautiful,” I whisper.

Oh lord. Why did I say that?

But somehow, even though I’m the cheesiest person ever and that was terrible, Penny still blushes.

“You too, Ruby. Inside and out.”

Now it’s my time to blush, and for a moment I just stand there speechless, but Penny is Penny, and she just starts talking again.

“So!” she says energetically, “Is there any fruit?”

She shoves her hands into the vines, digging around in the leaves until her hand apparently meets something.

“Ah!” she cries, pulling it forward, “A passion fruit!!”

It is. In her hand is one of the wrinkled, purple fruits. It’s pretty big, too.

“You found one!” I exclaim, “Pick it!”

“Can we? We can, right?”

“Of course! No one’ll know. Plus, they’ll just go bad if we don’t eat them.”

“Good point.”

Penny tugs on the fruit, and it makes a little snapping sound as it pops off the vine and into her palm. She grins in delight, turning it over and over in her hands. It makes me happy to see her so happy. I’m glad I brought her here. Now I just have to be brave enough to stick with my mission. The real reason I brought her here…

“Ruby!”

Penny’s voice breaks me out of my reverie, and I shake my head to clear it.

“Yeah Penny?”

“You should find one, too!” she tells me, “I’ll help you look!”

“Oh yeah, right. Sure.”

We begin the hunt for another passion fruit, though it doesn’t take long to find one.

“Here it is!” I say, pulling the little fruit forward.

It’s smaller and less wrinkled than the other one, but it’s still purple. Is it not as ripe? I have literally no idea, so I just pluck it off the vine anyway. I’ll give it a try.

“Let’s eat them!” Penny says impatiently, bouncing on her toes.

She’s a bit like a child in her excitement, but it’s charming, I think. She’s always fancied fruit, as well, so she’s extra eager now. She’s so cute, well, all the time.

I giggle as she pulls me down to sit beside her in the overgrown grass, holding the fruit out in front of her.

“Alright… how do we open it?” I ask, staring at the fruit.

I did not plan for this at all. How are you supposed to eat in then, Ruby, did you think of that?

No, I did not.

I try to break mine open with my fingers, but it doesn’t work. The outside of the fruit is too tough. Could I bite it open…?

But Penny is already way ahead of me. She bashes her fruit against a small rock that was hidden in the grass, and yellow juice sprays everywhere. I shriek in surprise, but Penny just laughs, trying to wipe the juice spray off her white shirt. I cringe.

“The white-“

“It’s fine!”

Penny doesn’t miss a beat, cracking the fruit open to reveal the delicious pearls of juice inside, the bright yellow seeds. It’s the true treasure of the passion fruit—and of this garden.

I give a little cheer and follow her lead, smashing the fruit open on the rock, although a little gentler this time, so as not to make more mess.

“Cheers!” I say softly, holding up my fruit.

Penny’s eyes light up, and she taps hers against mine.

“Cheers, Ruby!”

Cheers to me actually going through with this confession…

I tip some seeds into my mouth. The delicious flavor fills my mouth, sweet and tropical and wild. It’s perfect.

Penny squeals her approval, shoveling more seeds into her mouth as juice drips down her hand.

“Yummy, huh?” I say.

They’re delicious, and now, with this memory of eating them with Penny, I’m sure they’re my new favorite fruit. I’ll always think of her whenever I taste this taste, no matter where I go.

I feel so strongly about this girl before me, my best friend. I care about her so much.

I have to say how I feel. What’s the point? I can’t feel like this and never let her know, I can’t hold it in anymore! It wouldn’t be fair to either of us.

I wait until the last sweet seeds have been swallowed down.

It’s time, Ruby. You have to tell her.

I try to hold onto the bubbling lightness in my chest, the energy and brightness of my feelings for Penny.

You can do this, Ruby.

You have to tell her.

“Penny…”

“Yeah?”

Penny tilts her head in question, staring straight at me.

Just say it!

And by some miracle, I just say it. Let it slip out before I can even stop to think about it for one second more.

“Penny, I- I like you.”

It’s as simple as that.

Her eyes sparkle.

“I like you, too. You’re my best friend!”

“No, I meant like-“

“And I would love to be your girlfriend.”

The words freeze me to the spot, the pressure of all the nervousness and emotion in my chest exploding, stealing my breath away. Penny just keeps smiling, clear intention in her expression. She knows exactly what she said.

Does she really….

Did she just…

“Penny!”

Time seems to unpause, and my eyes light up with joy. I jump on her, hugging her tight, and she hugs me back, as we both laugh with joy.

I can’t believe what she just said.

She likes me back!

She’s my best friend. We’re always together. And now I told her I liked her, and she actually accepted! I barely even know how to feel, I’m just one big ball of emotions I can’t keep straight. It’s like I’m blinded by the brightness of this one moment.

I do see one thing. Penny. I see my best friend.

And our faces are so close…

“I…” I whisper softly, “Could I- can I- um, well…”

“Yes.”

Softly, our lips meet.

There it is. My first kiss.

It’s really happening, and it’s… I’m not even sure. It’s so much better than I ever imagined, so strange and yet so warm and wonderful all at once… it feels surreal.

Penny’s lips are soft, and her arms around me are warm. I feel like I’m in a whole other world, emotions tangled up all around us in a never ending brightness. It’s just excitement, and joy, and it’s everywhere.

It’s ecstasy, passionate and warm, all around us. All I can feel is this crazy excited feeling, this ecstasy, and it feels as if it’s filling the whole garden, so that the whole world is so much brighter and more excited to just be alive.

When at last we break apart, I can barely contain my emotion. I throw my arms around Penny’s neck, hugging her close, feeling her nuzzle into my neck.

Happiness seems to radiate off of both of us, spreading through the garden, making it glow.

This is our secret spot, this garden just for us, where only the plants and the passion fruit are around to witness our story. The story of two best friends. Friends who were really so much more.

I experienced one of the most amazing, intense things of my life, my first kiss, the next step along my journey with Penny, and it was right here, in this wild place. We’ll be back here, I’m sure, to this garden of brightness and happy memories, this garden that’s steeped in emotion that will never leave it.

Our garden of ecstasy.

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newcoralfarmer · 11 months

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Day 1

Well first night went ok, I do need to see what I need to fix the cracks up though. They mailed me what I need; 50 wood and 20 stone, I think I can get all of that just from the farm itself.

I found a couple of interesting things while I did a little clearing, a geode and a coffer, no idea what to do with them just yet but I'll figure it out.

I planted some of the seeds, they were turnips and daisies, the packets said they didn't take long to grow which I guess is good? I wonder if they have farming books here? The most I remember about it was summers helping Grandpa water tomatoes and chasing the chickens… I wonder if I can get chickens? I wandered around a bit found some pretty flowers, and I found the General Store! Sam seems nice, and the Mayor was there to introduce us, also to encourage me to meet some of the townsfolk apparently I make them nervous? Here I was thinking they were excited.

Anyway the General store apparently sells seasonal seeds, so I'll have to go in at the start of ever season to see the new seeds. I picked up some potato seeds to plant.

Meeting new people… So far I've met Ben, who was in the General Store, he seems…nice? He said I had good vibes? So that's something. Oh and I saw the most adorable fluffy brown dog! His tag said his name was BonBon, 😍 so cute! I also ran into Alice! Gosh we used to play on the beach in Summer with her sister Suki, she's still here too, apparently they run the Inn now! Which…hasn't had much business? In the Town Square I met this adorable girl called Eva, apparently her names actually Everest I always thought that was a guys name. She also mentioned they don't get a lot of new faces. Finally an explanation, I ran into a charming woman while heading back to the farm, name of Betty, she was filling up some bird feeders and upon my introduction mentioned that there was oil spill near here. Which I do remember hearing about, but I guess I never realised it was here of all places. Grandma certainly didn't mention it when she offered me the farm.

I headed down to the beach, I wanted to see how bad it was, I was tired yesterday and didn't notice anything which…it's bad, there's oil and these weird like spiky root things, how the heck did I miss this? I guess Mum was right about how observant I'm not…she can never know. Anyway I did a little exploratory running around, found the Carpenters! So now I know where that is, also the forest… Oh man there are so many monkeys! Also a weird place with a danger sign that sounded like it had a fight going on inside… not sure what that was about.

Oh and I met a few other people, someone named Chaem who…honestly seemed pretty forthright, a lady name of Zarah who was using a metal detector and seemed surprised I'd moved here after the oil spill. A dapper person called Raj who mentioned they did coffee ☕? So I know where to go for a pick me up 🤩.

The forest also seems to do pretty good for mushrooms, I found some nice Shiitake and some canola to pop in my shipping bin. I also found wasabi 😫.

Finally after a long days work, I headed to bed. If I keep up this pace I should hopefully have enough wood and stone by either tomorrow or the next day. I just hope it doesn't rain.

😴

#Coral Island #coral island gameplay #Day 1 #stairway games

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healeroflightanddark · 5 months

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The Yuus of Blue Apts. Chapter 5: Encounter

Yuri grumbled as he carried his grocery bags into the apartment complex. The elevator was out, so he was going to have to carry the heavy bags all the way up eight flights of stairs to the fourth floor. And it was very difficult to get the doors open with his hands and arms loaded with bags.

He was trying to get the door to the stairwell open and failing miserably, when he heard a voice behind him ask, “Need help?” He looked toward the voice and saw a young man with hair that was blue with yellow banana bangs approaching him.

Normally Yuri would reject any help offered, not wanting to look weak. But… he thought he recognized that voice. “…Yugo…?”

Yugo lit up when the cabbage-haired man said his name. “Oh, hey! You’re Yuri, right?”

“Yeah,” Yuri said. Yugo grinned and grabbed some of Yuri’s grocery bags. “Let me help you!”

Yuri blinked, but since Yugo had already grabbed the bags he allowed it. Then the door to the stairwell opened, and a young man with spiky purple and black hair almost walked right into the two. “Oh, sorry!”

Yugo lit up at the voice. “Yuto!” he exclaimed. “You’re Yuto!”

Yuto blinked, then realized who he was. “Oh, hi Yugo. And…?”

“This is Yuri!” Yugo said. “I’m helping him bring his groceries in! The elevator’s out.”

“Oh, here, let me help too,” Yuto said, grabbing some of Yuri’s bags and holding the door open. The three of them started heading up the stairs, and Yugo looked around thoughtfully. “I wonder if we’ll see Yuya too?”

“Did someone say my name?” A tomato-haired young man looked down over the rail of the stairs two flights above them.

Yugo grinned. “Yay! We met Yuya today too!” Yuya blinked, then smiled. “Oh, hi Yugo! And I’m guessing you two are Yuri and Yuto?”

“Yep!” Yuto said, waving to Yuya. The tomato then noticed all of the grocery bags, and hurried down to help. Together the four of them were able to get all of Yuri’s groceries up to his apartment.

“Thanks,” Yuri said as he unlocked his door and led his neighbors into his apartment. “That would have been a nightmare to have to do all alone.”

“No problem!” Yuya said. “I needed some time away from my computer anyway. But at least I don’t have to work in an office.”

“Oh, what do you do for a living?” Yugo asked curiously.

“I make 3D animated videos online,�� Yuya replied. “Have you ever heard of Sakaki Shorts? I make those videos!”

“Oh! I’ve seen those videos!” Yugo said excitedly. “They’re so cool! All I do is build robots and sell them online.”

“Oh, that’s cool too!” Yuya said, intrigued. “Robots are probably really hard to make too! What about you guys?” He looked at Yuto and Yuri.

“I’m a freelance painter,” Yuto said. “I make most of my money from commissions.”

“I’m a garden blogger,” Yuri said.

“Wow, you’re all pretty cool!” Yugo said in admiration.

Yuya smiled. “So are you!”

#cross posted on ao3 #cross posted on deviantart #cross posted on quotev #cross posted on wattpad #yugioh arc v #yuya sakaki #yuri #yugo #yuto #slice of life #apartment au

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singthesongsofsin · 1 year

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Adelard's Opinion of Foods He Didn't Know Existed Until After His Death

Corn: Adelard likes corn fine, but honestly he's neutral on it. He'll put it in soup, but he doesn't grow it either. If he wants it, he's more likely to buy it.

Potato: You could be forgiven for thinking that Adelard didn't have potatoes when he was alive. He is never giving the potato back. They go in soup, they go in bread, he can make alcohol out of them. He can cook them a dozen different ways on put an unlimited number of toppings on it, they can be eaten fine even without teeth.

Avocado: Are you a millennial known for putting avocado on toast? Then good news! You have nothing on this man. Adelard loves avocado, they go in so much. He's done things with avocados no one has ever thought of because whyyy would you have? It combines with his most beloved of foods, bread (which was also the core of his diet when he was alive) beautifully. A whole portion of his garden is dedicated to avocado.

Vanilla: He really likes vanilla, but he's been trying to figure out a really good use for it. For now, it sort of goes on everything, and that is both a promise and a threat because it's made a home alongside warm spices... and in the medieval era, those were all the rage. Coming to dinner at his house is an adventure! Sometimes you'll get some lovely bread and a roast... sometimes you get a chicken/vanilla/nutmeg soup.

Tea: He didn't have proper tea, but he did have like... nettles which he prepared more or less the same. If he wants a nice hot drink, he'll go for it. He has several dozen cartons of tea bags.

Coffee: ...no unless it's flavoured. Cinnamon, vanilla, florals, honey, milk, all of these are frequent in his coffee, when he has it, which isn't often. There's like a ton of it kicking around somewhere for guests.

Tomato: Complicated. He sort of likes a little of it in soups, and it's nice as a fresh thing on top of salads, or mixed with avocado, but mostly it just... exists.

Chocolate: A lot of people really adore it, and if he's offered something with it in it, he'll say yes, but in all honesty, it's not really his thing. If he wants something sweet, he's more likely to use sugar or honey, and if he wants a flavour he's more likely to choose vanilla or spices.

Carrot: Less successful adaption than the potato, but like with them, he grows them in his garden. Root vegetables tend to be a safe bet.

Artichokes: No. Just no.

Blueberries: Do you mean bilberries? Because those are nice, and he sees no reason to introduce another similar berry when the ones he's been using for 700 years serve him just fine.

Cashews: They're nice! There is no other commentary. He's been experimenting with them recently, someone should maybe tell him they're easier to work with if you let them soak overnight.

Cranberries: There's a few varieties that are native to Britain, and as e's more likely to use them for medicinal reasons, those are the ones he still tends to use.

Onions: ...maybe. Jury's still out, but he'll include them in soup.

peppers (bell peppers, chili peppers): Red bell peppers if he remembers they exist are acceptable, anything else is a 'no, absolutely not' category.

Pineapples: Confused or concerned is probably the easiest way to describe his opinion of these fruits. Why is it spiky? Why does it look like that? What do you mean it eats you back-- wait come back here, explain--!

Plums: You'll notice he has thoughts about New World fruit, but plums are except from that. He likes plums, he also finds it a satisfying word to say: plum, pluuum, plum!

Pumpkin: Some of the younger sinners he wound up taking care of introduced him to the idea of jack-o-lanterns, and honestly he's devastated he never thought about those before. And oh yeah, the actual eating of them... yeah, they're nice. His use of the as an edible thing comes second to carving them though. He makes beautiful carvings in them.

Strawberries: He's had the larger Virginia Strawberries, but the woodland variety of them did grow in Britain, and honestly, he prefers them to the ones introduced later.

Sunflowers: He doesn't much like the taste, or the texture-- they're a touch hard to eat without teeth, but he does like the way they look. They have a spot in his garden for aesthetic alone.

#Me: yeah I'll do this it'll be fun!#me a little while later: Oh my god whyyyy are there so many?#this isn't even a complete list!#Some of them are more surprising than others #like CARROTS????#they were introduced WAYYY later than I thought!#If I ever go down more rabbit holes in this topic #save me #So you know enjoy this insight into both what was available when he was alive #and also what he thinks of things now!#🍂 Adelard | Keeper of knowledge & death #🍂 Adelard | headcanon

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greypetrel · 2 years

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oh!! for gestures of affection, how about "Tucking a flower behind the other’s ear" for Raina and Merrill?

Here I am, better late then never!

Ahahahah this was just perfect for them, right? :P

Coming! During Act 2. Also some references to GarrettxFenris on the side. Raina knows nothing of what happened, she noticed they were getting closer… But they’ve both been private.

Also some platonic flirting with Varric because yes.

Tis the prompt list

"Tucking a flower behind the other’s ear"

The good thing about the Bone Pit was that everything, in comparison, was lovely and fascinating. Even that small flat clearing in the Wounded Coast, more sand and dried vegetation struggling to grow in that terrain, had its own fascination while compared with the depressing atmosphere of the mine.

Cursed the day she ever decided to listen to that idiot Hubert and tell him yes. Sure, the mine was a stable source of income, but her business partner got ideas when she first helped him herself. And so, the visits became a nasty, regular occurrence.

But the nice thing about those, was that even Darktown, after, became prettier. And stopping to have a quick break to eat in a quiet spot, sitting on the ground and looking at the sea and at the shipwrecks in the bay, had almost something idyllic about it. Even if the grass and the plants were awfully spiky and Raina had sand in her boots and, somehow, inside her socks as well. At least tho the air didn’t smell like sulphur. It smell of salt and wind, and she tried to ignore how it reminded her of Isabela. Because whatever was going on, feeling were very clearly out of the question.

Instead, she concentrated on the company, biting another morsel of her sandwhich -Orana always put those diced tomatoes seasoned with oil, garlic and some other herbs that just were out of this world- and focusing again on what was going on.

Varric was lying on his back, groaning loudly and complaining about the sand and about how he hated it. Nobody even listened to him anymore. Garrett was still brooding, as he’s been doing ever since the morning they left – Raina didn’t know what happened, she heard… Happy noises coming from the wall that separated their rooms the night before, which definitely woke her up, threw a boot against said shared wall, and got back to sleep with a pillow above her head. The next morning he snapped at her instead of replying to her joke with another, as they would usually do, actually yelled at her -something he never did, the one she had yelling matches with was Carver. And he’s been deadly silent for all the trip down there, ignoring her and Varric’s trials to joke and lighten the mood with humour and exchanging some words just with Merrill. Who’s the one that actually have been kind with him, and now was dragging him around to pick up sea lilies and malvas and some oleanders that were still blooming so late in summer. She was the one speaking, he just… Looked at everything and picked up flowers with the air of a sad dog that has been beated, Beowoof dragging along them, running around happily and barking at seagulls, sniffing around and enjoying himself, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

Which was weird. And made Raina happy to have asked Merrill to tag along. Merrill was good with these things, talking about feeling and being delicate and make people feel welcomed. And, she was very cute, there, hopping between thorny bushes with a smile on her face, bending down to collect flowers as she chatted of this and that, not that she could hear them from this side of the clearing. They were cute.

It would have been nice, she thought, spending time like that on a regular basis. Going out of town to properly have a pic nic and enjoy a nice summer day, pic flowers and talk about feelings and mushy things. Not just to solve people’s problems.

In another life, maybe… In another life it would have been her in Garrett’s place, following the elf around and smiling at her. Maybe holding hands and-

-And, no.

Bela had said she didn’t want feeling, that it was just sex between them, and something fun but… But, Raina never actually talked to her about… Feelings and preferences. She didn’t know what they were, how they stood with each other, if the piratess was ok in her seeing other people on the sideline. And really, she liked Isabela, she was having fun, she didn’t want to ruin it. And a little part of her heart, one she was desperately trying to hide and bury deep, deep down, was hoping in something more, was hoping in actually bringing feelings on the table. Maybe add a third person to the equation.

Merrill, hence, was off limits, no matter how cute and adorable she found her when she picked flowers, when she was kind to her, when she laughed at her jokes -she always laughed, even to the bad ones- when she said something that actually let on that she wasn’t just competent, no. She was brilliant at it.

But, off limits. Garrett could be her friends, they got along well, had lots of things in common to talk about. Much, much more than what Raina had with her, anyway.

So, she just sighed and finished her lunch, dragging herself down from pointless dreams that just couldn’t come true. She would have drowned her frustration in Orana’s cuisine, she decided. Yes. A barrell full of tomatoes and garlic and herbs. That would have made her perfectly happy, she decided as she licked her fingers with gusto.

“Why did you ask me to tag along, exactly?” Varric asked, groaning loudly from beside her.

“Because I love you and can’t stay away from you for so long, Snoogums.” She remarked, blowing him a kiss.

“I am sorry, pumpkin, I don’t love you enough for this. Too far away from civilization, too much sand.”

“How could you do this to me, you foul!”

“Alas, I think I sweated all my love away.”

“What a cruel, terrible and smelly destiny! Two star-crossed lovers separated by a small trek!” She sighed, closing a hand on her heart and tossing her head behind her. “You should write a book about it.” She concluded, returning serious and rubbing her hands on her trousers. They were dirty anyway.

Varric snorted at that. Starting to explain that sweat wasn’t really a plot device that sold many copies, people tended to find it gross, they kept on bantering back and forth, not noticing that, in the meanwhile, the two mages had gained a bountiful of flowers that Merrill deemed sufficient, and were walking back to them.

Raina wasn’t easily startled, from basically the fact that she rarely let her guard down and was hyperactive enough to be always more or less aware of her surroundings. But right now she maybe was tired, or distracted, the balmy sea air, the golden light and the distant noise of the tide relaxing her nerves. The result was that she actually jumped on her spot when a hand delicately placed on her shoulder, snapping her head on the side just enough to quickly assess that there was one Merrill far, far too close to her face. Smiling brightly and approaching her hand to her face.

She froze in place, brain totally blocked and running amock in scenarios it didn’t need to go. Her eyes were a very pretty shade of green, and her tattoos -vallaslin, she called them- were not black, from up so close, or grey as she thought before, but another dark, muted shade of green. It suited her, it really did, the curved lines complimenting her features. She was pretty, and Raina lost ability to function for one moment. One long, dragged moment when the elf raised her hand, a white, spiky flower held between her thumb and index finger, and tucked it behind her ear, combing back short hair so it could sit more securely there.

“There. A sea daffodil for you. It suits you!”

The elf declared, smiling as she sat back on her heels, in front of her, admiring her work. And the eldest Hawke, still staring with her mouth open.

“Spiky and with an open mouth?” Varric chuckled, propping himself up on his elbow.

A quick glance on the side revealed that the dwarf was looking at her with a smug, knowing face Raina really didn’t like at all. She swatted his shoulder, in all reply.

“Hey!” He complained, chuckling.

“No, it smells good, it’s intense, and it flowers even in difficult conditions and it’s the prettiest on the beach.”

And with that, Raina’s brain just flew out of her nose and yeeted itself in the sun. It was said innocently, and Merrill just giggled and rose up, going to sit on Varric’s side, where she left her staff and her pack before.

Varric was still smirking at her, as did Garrett, sitting beside her.

“You’re drooling.”

“And you’re moping.”

“Maybe, but I’m the prettiest on the beach.”

“Shut up.”

Merrill was, actually, forbidden territory. Not before a talk. But Maker, did Raina wanted to kiss her, as she giggled quietly in her corner, making a flower crown to give Varric.

#dragon age #dragon age fic #dragon age 2 #female hawke x merrill #merrihawke #hawke x merrill #raina hawke #writing petrel #da2 #ficlet #PINING #raina is honestly a raccoon in human form #someone help her

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