#but then aki appeared out of nowhere and pulled me out and asked if I was okay

[meownotgood]

dreamt that aki protected me........ hhh

[princesslocket]

🥣 Made With Love 🥣

Hi hi! Before we get to the fanfic, I'd just like to say a big thank you to @ina11writingexchange for hosting this awesome writers exchange! I'm so glad to have been able to participate for this round as well as being given the opportunity to gift @hachuna yet another gift this year!

With that being said, I hope you enjoy this Hachuna! It was a lot of fun to write ((Btw this fic is also cross-posted on AO3 if anyone is interested in reading it there too! The link is in the title))

If anyone were to ask Endou Natsumi what her favorite pass time activity was, she’d automatically answer with “cooking!” and then excitedly list off all the dishes she had made within the past week. It always amazed her friends just how passionate she was about preparing food in the kitchen.

However, she hadn’t always been a fan of cooking.

Natsumi’s love for cooking had originated during her time spent managing the Raimon soccer team in her middle school years. In the beginning she had been quiet hesitant to even try making a rice ball but after she mastered the art of the rice ball, her love for cooking sparked almost instantaneously. It only took preparing a couple more meals before Natsumi was fully onboard with the idea of preparing food in general. It filled her with a sense of pride whenever she was able to witness the team enjoying the meals she, Haruna, and Aki made for them. The compliments they dished out were a great source of ego boosting as well, but she always made it point to stay humble. And even after the team graduated, leaving her with no one else to cook for, Natsumi continued to search up new recipes to try making for herself in the comfort of her own home.

Over the years her cooking had improved, albeit not as significantly as everyone had hoped for, but just enough to where she no longer mixed up the salt and sugars when she tried baking the occasional birthday cake. It was a subtle yet profound type of improvement that left Endou that much more hopeful for their future meals seeing as he had married her not too long after her cooking had started to improve.

One thing that really helped Natsumi improve in her cooking was through the aid of an old looking cook book she just so happened to borrow from Endou! She’d seen the book several times laying in various places throughout their house but had never bothered to look through it until one day when her curiosity got the better of her and she found herself rejoicing at all the cool looking recipes inside. Oh the joy she felt while flipping through the pages was almost too good. How had she not opened the book sooner?

Following the days upon opening the cook book, Natsumi happily followed the messily written instructions provided by the cook book to prepare dishes that she could only assume had been passed down from Endou’s family. She would later find out from Endou himself that the cook book she had been using was actually Endou Daisuke’s hissatsu manual. The discovery came as quiet a shook to Natsumi seeing as she had been following the instructions of the book for several weeks, even going as far to serving a boy named Matsukaze Tenma some of said dishes as well. But all Endou could do was laugh at the situation they found themselves in.

“You mean to tell me that this really isn’t the kanji for egg?”

“I’m positive, Natsumi. These are the instructions for God Hand- Wait a second! How were even able to mistake this for a cook book? I thought you knew what Daisuke’s hissatsu manual looked like?”

“It’s been a while since I last saw it okay!”

Even after the discovery of the ‘cook book’s’ true nature was revealed Natsumi continued to use it. Admittedly, the food Natsumi made following the hissatsu manual never inherently tasted terribly bad. So what harm was there in letting her continue to use it? As long as Endou was there to assist her with some of the misinterpreted kanji of the book, everything was fine.

Unfortunately, not all good things lasted forever. On one particular day an unforeseen disaster appeared out of nowhere…

Natsumi had been preparing dinner in the kitchen when it happened. She hadn’t thought anything of it at first. Ever since Endou took over as Raimon’s coach, he would occasionally return home late, so why would this time be any different? As the minutes ticked by Natsumi continued to prepare dinner. While she maneuvered around the kitchen she kept herself entertained with the quiet sound of the T.V. playing in the background.

Although she usually paid no mind to what the news anchors were saying, something about that night in particular urged her to listen carefully. She had been cutting away at a bundle of carrots when a certain news report caught her attention. Although they weren’t showing video footage of the incident taking place, the news anchors reported a massive car crash near Raimon.

Upon hearing the name of the school, Natsumi put all food to the side and quickly ran to her phone, dialing up Endou to ask if he was still at the school. Knowing her husband, he would most likely be assisting whoever had been unfortunate enough to get hurt outside of their old school. But when he didn’t answer her first, second, or third call, Natsumi began to worry. The news anchors wouldn’t disclose the names of the people involved in the accident, nor would they show the faces of anyone other than the reporter on duty. They did, however, announce the arrival of special dispatched services on the scene as well as the name of the hospital the heavily injured were being taken to.

After a while Natsumi’s phone began to ring, which she immediately answered. Letting out a sigh of relief, Natsumi pressed the phone to her ear, ready to hear Endou’s cheerful voice. With everything appearing to be taken care of on screen, Endou was surely going to fill her in on everything that had happed. It was a good thing she had prepared so much food for the night!

“Natsumi, it’s Kidou, we don’t have much time- It’s Endou… He got into a car crash and- You need to hurry. An ambulance is already taking him to the hospital but… I’ll fill you in on everything once you get here-“

“I’m on the way.”

Within seconds Natsumi was already racing out of the house, dinner abandoned in the kitchen and T.V still playing quietly in the background. She did everything in her power to get to the hospital as fast as she could but it was too late. By the time she came rushing in through the hospital doors, Endou had been pronounced dead.

Time flashed by in a blur following Endou’s death. His funeral came and went, the days following blended together a little too seamlessly and Natsumi’s love for cooking diminished along with her once cheery life. Without Endou around, she no longer held the motivation to prepare any kind of meal in or out of the kitchen. Even when Haruna, Aki, and Fuyuka tried to rekindle their little cooking arties, Natsumi couldn’t bring herself to make anything. Everything she had ever made was out of her love for Endou.

As time went by, Natsumi slowly began to store her cooking utensils away. If she wasn’t going to be cooking anymore, than why bother keep them out in the open to collect dust?

She was in the middle of labeling a soon to be packed away box of kitchen ladles one day when the sound of knocking stopped her. Setting her marker to the side, Natsumi walked to the front door. Her knees nearly buckled when she gazed out the peep hole to see who was outside.

Standing just outside the door was Endou… But it couldn’t be him, right? He had passed away months ago. She had gone to his funeral and everything! There was no way her could possibly be standing outside. As she was thinking these thoughts an almost indescribable feeling washed over her. Suddenly she couldn’t remember attending a funeral nor could she remember why she had started packing away all her cooking supplies. It was as if she was just now waking up from some type of horrible nightmare, a nightmare had clouded over her real life for the past several months.

Whatever nightmare she been under was finally over. Any trace of sadness and despair melted away the longer she stared at Endou. Instead, the feelings were replaced with joy and relief. Although the sudden change in feelings were a little unexpected, they weren’t unwelcomed. In fact she was all the happier to embrace them!

Not wanting to keep Endou waiting any longer, Natsumi decidedly threw the door open, startling Endou as it swung to the side, and proceeded to jumping into the arms of the man in front of her.

“Mamoru!” Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she pressed herself as tightly as she could to her husband. “I can’t explain it but it feels like I haven’t seen you in forever! Where have you been all day?”

“Woah! I missed you too! Oh man, Natsumi, you wouldn’t believe all the crazy things that happened to me ‘today.’ I’ve got so much to tell you but, uh, I think it’d be best if we went inside first.” Contradictory to his own words, Endou hugged Natsumi even closer to himself, thus rendering any attempt to head into the house useless.

For several long minutes the two stood outside their house, hugging each other, and exchanging a few words before wither one of them made any real attempts to pull away. But when they did, it was Natsumi who moved away. She waisted no time in dragging Endou inside and towards their dining room table, pulling out a chair for him to sit in and then rushing off towards their refrigerator in search of something for them to eat.

Strangely enough, the refrigerator was once again filled with an abundance of food Natsumi had almost no recollection of buying. She glanced a look to Endou, who at first made no comment, but as soon as she turned her back had heard the faintest of words from him.

“I guess time really did reset itself.”

From that day on life returned to normal, or as normal as it could be with Natsumi knowing her ‘nightmare’ had in fact been real but was now a part of a separate timeline of sorts. But seeing as their current timeline was restored, Natsumi decidedly let her supposed bad months drift away.

She started cooking again, only this time she followed tutorials online through YouTube and an odd app called TikTok. When Endou asked why she was following so many different cooking videos, Natsumi would claim that “the hissatsu manual could only offer so much.”

Despite her best efforts her cooking still left much to be desired from. But Endou never truly cared about the overall outcome of the food he’d be offered.

“It’s the thought counts.” He’d tell himself whenever a dish was placed in front of him. “If it’s for Natsumi, I’d gladly eat a thousand more meals of her cooking- I’d do anything to make her happy.”

[sneyrwrites]

|Cold Blooded| Nishinoya Yuu x Azumane Asahi

Wordcount: 2,3k

Genre: Angst

Warning: FEELS

A/N: This broke my heart a little. I had so much fun participating in this collab, and i really hope i could portray the song corretly since i have little to no experience with writing songfics!

The way you've been treating me Is getting out of hand

And you walk around Like you're so innocent

It was silly, wasn't it? How he always fluttered around Kiyoko, declaring his feelings for her, when in reality the only he wanted to throw his body at in a bone-crushing hug was Asahi. But he couldn't gather the courage to come forward and put his heart out in the open. Not until they were alone in the gym, at least.

Once the Ace started doubting his capability and spiraling into a loop of self loathing Nishinoya couldn't take it anymore, not when Asahi was denying everything the small libero loved about him, and in the importance of his role in the team.

With their backs against the wall, sweating bodies sitting next to each other, and as their shoulders pressed together, he tried to calm his thundering heartbeat, trying to contain the retorts that were begging to be shouted at the top of his lungs.

But when Asahi said implied it was better for him to just quit and leave the team, Nishinoya snapped, his hands gripping the neck of the Ace's shirt harshly and bringing him really close to his face. The emotion raw in his eyes as he held back tears that appeared when the guy he had feelings for dragged his self-esteem to the dirt like it was the most normal thing to do.

"Stop talking!" With barely contained anger, and the tension between them thick as a vault door Asahi let out a shaky exhale before Nishinoya's lips crashed against his.

A surprised sound came from the back of his throat, his shoulders tensing and the heat rushing up his neck as he observed with big eyes Nishinoya's frown above his tightly shut eyes.

The kiss was all but careful, with his mouth harshly moving against his shocked sempai's, hands still imprisoning his shirt in a tight fist. The kiss was in fact corresponded, but only halfheartedly since Asahi never once relaxed. His breath caught in his lungs.

Nishinoya pulled away first, the flame within his brown eyes still ignited but more dim than it was before. Taking in the red face of his sempai he realized what just happened, and even if he was still pissed, he rushed to apologize for his bluntness, but Asahi rushed to say it was fine, waving it off with his hand.

But it wasn't fine, not to Nishinoya at least.

A kiss as just a kiss, but he wanted it to be much more than that.

I lost my sight And you're leading me on

Is it 'cause you're used to guys always doing you wrong?

Even after they left the gym's corner where they shared they first kiss, things remained the same between them, except for the fact that they could hardly look each other in the eyes without their faces exploding with color.

Their small moment was shoved at the back of Nishinoya's mind, as he tried to focus in his training, and not in the disappointment that came after it.

His interactions with Asahi became sparse, and it pained him immensely. Why couldn't things work out in his favor for once? The world seemed to mock him as the days went by and their relationship kept going downhill.

Until one day the stars aligned and things seemed to brighten up.

Walking down the halls to the third years classroom needing to find Daichi to let him know he wouldn't make it to practice, the last thing Nishinoya expected was for Asahi to pull on his arm and wrap him in his arms.

"I'm sorry... But i need to do this." His brown eyes bore into the liberos with an intensity that killed all the questions that were about to tumble out of him " I Can't hold it anymore Nishinoya." And just like that, their lips met in a hesitant small kiss.

Nishinoya could feel the curious eyes of everyone in the hall, and he knew how inappropriate what they were doing was, but he couldn't find a damn to give when Asahi held his face in such a tender way that could melt him. His eyes fluttered close, and he felt like he was floating, his body filed with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Even after the kiss ended, it took him a minute to reopen his eyes, almost afraid that when they focused, everything turned out to be just a trick of his heavily sleep deprived mind. But his heart leaped excitedly when Asahi remained in front of him, looking at him with a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

A fake cough broke their moment and grounded Nishinoya. Turning around, he found Daichi and Sugawara staring at them.

"What was that...?" Daichi asked with eyes glimmering with amusement. "When did you planned to tell us? Huh?" Clasping his hand in their shoulders he gave them a reassuring squeeze.

"Uh..." Nishinoya could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks, showing how flustered he really was. "I... He... We uh..." Words seemed to run away from him as he tried to come p with something to say.

"Relax Nishinoya! I'm only teasing." Daichi chuckled.

Too embarrassed to noticed anything else, Nishinoya missed the disappointed look Sugawara was throwing Asahi's way, who avoided his eyes at all costs, searching in the crowd for someone in hopes he witnessed the exchange he just had with Nishinoya.

Do you really love me? Or is it just revenge? 

Lately, you don't seem so genuine.

The smell of coffee filled Noya's senses as they sat in a small coffee shop two blocks away to the school's building.

His hands gripped his mug, trying to dissipate the stiffness in his fingers winter brought along. Asahi sat in front of him with a coffee of his own, observing out the window to the cars that passed by, his eyes not meeting Nishinoya's. The libero was relieved tough, because this way he could observe the way the shy sunshine that peaked from out the windows made his boyfriend glimmer.

Nishinoya's face was full of adoration for him, but how embarrassing would it be if he caught him staring in such a way.

The tingling from the door signaling someone's arrival snapped both boys' attention to it. Two figures entered the almost empty shop, and Asahi's breathing stopped when he saw them, his fist tightening around the white porcelain until his knuckles turned white.

Nishinoya was confused, to say the least. It was rare to see the calm boy get worked up over simple things. Azumane's hard glare towards the couple installed unease into his chest, because Noya knew that look.

It was the same one Tanaka sent to whoever dared to get close to his precious Kiyoko-san, one that spoke of jealousy and threats. Surveying the couple, he recognized Karasuno's uniform first, and then he noticed one of them was his upperclassmen Akio, who had tried the club before deciding it wasn't his thing.

"Asahi...?" He tried to catch his boyfriend's attention, failing miserably.

At his words, Akio turned around with wide eyes, and a blush crept on his cheeks. He was obviously uncomfortable with encountering them, and most specifically, with Azumane's stare, who kept stabbing daggers in his date's back.

The screeching sound of the chair being dragged startled Nishinoya. Asahi got up like lightning and bolted out the door, leaving him and the coffee behind and completely ignoring his pleads to wait. Nishinoya quickly grabbed his belongings and got up to follow after his boyfriend, sending an apologetic smile in Akio's way who looked at him with something close to pity.

His look wrapped cold around his heart as he got out and searched around for Asahi, seeing him walking towards his house in hurried steps. Falling behind him, he kept quiet until they reached his house and went to his bedroom.

And I feel your fear Surrounded by your skin. 

 You feel my heartbeat Vibrate so violent  

Inside of your head I see it in your eyes

You're no good for me And love is blind

Asahi never intended for things to go this far.

The guilt builded on his shoulders like a ton of bricks, but he was in too deep. The only thing he ever wanted was Akio back, but now he doubted his approach was the correct one. Nishinoya really care for him and he was risking the boy's wellbeing in order to get his crush to regret rejecting him.

Laying in bed next to him in bed, Azumane ran a hand through his hair, exhaling heavily, trying to ignore the shame and sadness that kept pushing tears to his eyes. Nishinoya shifted beside him and looked up at him.

"Hey... Is everything okay?" Nishinoya had noticed his change of demeanour after they encountered Akio in the coffee shop, his eyes letting him know what his mouth couldn't express.

He was afraid, and Azumane was to blame. Trying to comfort him, Azumane brushed his knuckles against his cheek, mustering strength to put up a cheerful facade. Nishinoya leaned into his touch, exhaling through his teeth at the tenderness of his boyfriend, and Asahi could almost feel the anxious and dark thoughts that loomed in his mind underneath the fair skin.

"Yeah... Yeah, everything's fine." Wrapping an arm around his neck, Nishinoya brought him closer, pressed tightly against his chest, his heartbeat hammering against his ribcage and not going unnoticed by the small boy in his arms.

"Um... If you don't mind me asking. What happened back there?" Asahi's shudder at the dreading question as he pushed himself up from the bed.

"What do you mean?" He played dumb. Of course he knew what he meant, but he wasn't really to come clean about his actions just yet.

"About you storming out and leaving me behind out of nowhere...?" Nishinoya replied. Knowing full, it wasn't out of nowhere and that the sudden outburst was linked to the other third year.

"Nothing." He replied defensively, his tone sharp and cold

"What do you mean nothing? It didn't seem like nothing to me." Nishinoya pushed focus on getting the truth out of him.

"I said it was nothing! Why do you keep asking? Do you have something to blame me for?" The Ace knew he should just keep quiet, but the stress of the lie and seeing him Akio took a toll in his better judgment.

"What? No!" His tone rose because of the  situation.

"Then leave me the hell alone! God, you're so annoying sometimes..." Asahi's words felt like a slap to the face, and they propped Nishinoya up and out of the bed.

"Oh! Excuse me for caring about my boyfriend!" Asahi visibly flinched at the term and Nishinoya tried to pretend it didn't hurt him.

Sighing heavily and getting up, Asahi spoke

"Look, i think it's better if you just go..." Asahi turned around, shying away from his boyfriend's eyes, trying to avoid witnessing the flash of hurt behind them. Busying his hands in his hair, he tied it up in a bun to appear collected when in reality his entire body was shaking "Seriously Nishinoya, just leave."

His shoulders were tense, and the shuddering breaths that lifted them were only a proof of just how uncomfortable Asahi felt with him in the room.

"Wh-what do you mean Asahi?" His voice shuddered, trying to contain all the frustration he felt at the moment, "What happened? Is this because of Aki..."

"Just Go!" Asahi snapped at him, interrupting his sentence. Turning his head around, the cold in his eyes seemed to freeze Nishinoya to the core as he flinched. The Ace noticed this and sighed, trying to recompose himself a little "Please?"

Nishinoya stormed off of his house after that, not even bothering to say goodbye, all his energy focused in containing the hot tears that gathered in his eyes.

As he laid in his bed that night, the fight replaying over and over again, he tried to figure out what had gone wrong between them. Was Asahi no interested in him anymore?. The thought horrified him, anxiety clutching his heart as waves of insecurity threatened to drown him, dragging him down.

Was he too much to handle? Not enough for the big and mighty Karasuno's Ace?

Nishinoya wasn't stupid, or at least not as dense as everybody thought him to be.

He could see the way Asahi was acting strange specially when they walked the halls of the third years. The hand that would usually settle for holding his smaller one as they walked suddenly would be draped around him with an urgency that had nothing to do with whatever they were talking, and if they walked in front of the class 3-b Asahi, in a bold and out of character manner would pull him in for a kiss.

Nishinoya never questioned this, way too happy for the kiss. He was okay with PDA, in fact he loved it, but the nerves and the fear of making Asahi feel uncomfortable always stopped him. Now that he kept brushing hi off and giving him the cold shoulder he could see the pattern. Who was on class 3-B and why was Asahi so adamant in the seeing him with Nishinoya?

It didn't take a genius to connect the dots and figure out that the person was the same guy who walked in the coffee shop that day.

Betrayal clawed at his chest in the same fashion tears clawed up his throat. Heavy sobs rocked his body as the facts dawned upon him. Azumane wasn't really interested in the relationship.

He felt dirty and used, his trust broken just like his heart, and as he chocked on broken cries.

[angelheart-ftw]

Scarlet Static (Guardian Project/Shooting Stars short story)

(cw: violence, death mention/implication)

The sound of Aki's boots hitting the tiled floor echoed through the hall, regular and rhythmic, like the ticking of an analog clock. He walked past a large digital one mounted on the sky blue walls. Its display showed the time as 18:32, in blocky font, its red glow faded by the brighter lights lining the ceiling. A cute little homage to the older days of LED displays.

"Mr. Hoshiyama?"

Aki stopped, and after a moment of silence, looked over his shoulder. There was a lanky woman with red glasses, in one of those suit-dress fusions, solid black, broken up by her grey jacket. He recognized her as his superior's assistant.

He turned towards her and nodded. "Yes?"

She had a wary look in her eye, as she gestured to the star pendant hanging from Aki's belt, a little like a chatelaine.

Aki shrugged. He could guess what her question was. "I'm not looking for trouble. Sadako told me to bring it. Must be for a demonstration or... something."

The assistant looked to his face, back at the star, and met his eye again. "Is Captain Yukihara expecting, uh... a disturbance?"

"When isn't she, these days?" Aki replied, sardonically. "I want to tell her to stop reading the news before bed, but honestly? This isn't really like that."

"Oh?"

"I mean..." Aki continued, shuffling his foot a bit. "...hearing about a string of assassinations of local Arcadian officials hits different when you are one, you know?"

"Ah, right," the assistant said with a nod. "The Exiles are it again."

He pressed his lips into a line. "Mmm... it wouldn't be surprising, but we don't have any evidence of that."

The assistant raised an eyebrow. "Didn't they leave their symbol at the last one?"

Aki blinked, in surprise. He figured he would hear about something like that. "Seriously?"

"Y-yeah..." the assistant averted her gaze, driving it slightly off to the side. "A... a coworker told me that on the- the presentation screen thing at a conference, their symbol flashed before the power went off. I thought that would have made the news..."

At that moment, the lights in the hall flickered - Looking away from the assistant, he saw the display on the wall kept shining. Must be battery operated. Its light appeared brighter and redder the more the light above dimmed.

He reached towards his belt, for the star pendant.

"Run." 

Except for the red light of the clock, the hall went dark, as he heard the assistant make a mad dash down the hall behind him. Aki's eyes were drawn to another source of light. At the other end of the hall, above a door way, a bright red EXIT sign. In the doorway itself, red lines that traced a shadowed figure's limbs and torso faded in and glowed, their light reflected in the figure's eyes, and off the blades at their sides.

There was a flash of violet light.

It dripped off Aki's scythe as he lifted it, and held the handle in front of him defensively.

The figure sprinted towards him - then vanished. Aki blinked. There was a sound like television static in one ear, a red light at the edge of his vision. The figure blinked into existence right beside him, dashing past while slashing a blade at Aki's side.

He gasped, spun around and swung the scythe forward. It hooked around, the inner blade now in front of the figure. Their eyes widened, and they took a step to the side, but their arm still caught on the tip of the scythe.

They turned around and swung their blade - a sabre -  at Aki. He jumped back, and the blow missed him. A violet-tinged smoke sizzled at his fingertips. Raising arm, with a flick of his wrist, a number of purple circles opened up behind him, and fired bolts of light and smoke down the hall. An line of red orbs appeared in front of the figure and blasted forward in an arc, as the figure popped out of sight.

Aki ducked, the orbs sailing just over his head. Looking up, he saw the red lines on the figure's body fade in further down the hall, before the rest of their image flickered in around it, like static.

Grasping the scythe with both hands, he changed forward. The figure crossed both sabres in front of them, as Aki swung his scythe down at them. The blades connected, and pushed against each other. Aki pulled away first - immediately, the figure swiped a sabre towards his face.

He dropped down, away from the blade, then swept his foot towards the figure's feet. It connected - they stumbled, planting one foot way forward, next to Aki's knee, and stabbed a sabre towards his chest. Letting go of the scythe, he rolled out of the way, then scrambled to his feet. He opened his hand. The scythe vanished from the floor. He curled his fingers, and they closed around the scythe's handle.

The figure was gone.

Aki looked around the hall, frantic. Still, nowhere. Then he heard static behind him, saw red light fade in at the corner of his vision.

At where his back was once turned, he spun and slashed the scythe. There was a yelp, as it caught the figure just as they were phasing into the space, slicing across their torso. A sliver of purple light traced the inner blade, ran down the handle, and jumped into Aki's fingertips. The cut in his side stung for a bit, and then closed up.

The figure growled, as a row of red orbs appeared by their head. Aki narrowed his eyes, and a few violet bolts formed beside him, before being fired. The red orbs launched at the same time - most were intercepted by bolts.

Aki dodged to the side - the heat against his face crackled like static as an orb flew past his head. He braced himself, brought his scythe back up, and ran at the other person. There was a glint in their eye as they registered his movement. They dropped to the ground and slid under the sweep of the scythe. Aki skidded to a halt, and turned, just in time to see them get up some distance away, bathed in the red glow of the clock.

They were still, for a moment. Aki could see them clearer now - short hair, wearing an almost catsuit-like thing, lined by red. They glanced at the time. It read 18:43. Turning back to Aki, a smirk appeared on their face, as they lifted one of their sabres.

Aki took a step back and swung the scythe - but this time, the blade detached from the handle and flew down the hall. It target vanished, and the blade tumbled through the air they were once standing.

Taking another step, Aki backed up against the wall, only to realize his mistake as the static and red light filled the center of his vision. He saw the metallic shine of a sabre for a moment, before his opponent materialized right in front of him, and stabbed the blade through his shoulder.

A scream tore from his throat. Looking above him with that same smirk, the figure reared their other sabre back.

There was a sound of metal cutting through air, as the scythe blade turned around like a boomerang and flew right into right into its target's back.

They drew in a sharp breath and fell forward, the scythe blade tumbling to the floor. Aki pushed them off him, and holding the handle with  his good arm, tapped it against the scythe blade, causing it to lift up slightly and snap back into place. He got up, standing over his opponent. As they rolled over to look up, he laid the edge of the scythe against their neck.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

Their wide eyes darted around, then glanced at the clock. The time read 18:45. Instantly, they relaxed, and smiled at Aki.

"Don't you have more important things to worry about?" they asked, in a low, feminine voice.

Just then, the lights flickered, then turned back on. From the other side of the wall, there was a scream.

---

"Well, at least there weren't two of them in there," Sadako noted softly, rubbing a hand over the bandaging on Aki's shoulder. "And you couldn't have known, anyway."

Sitting at the edge of the bed, he stared at the wall across from him, and sighed. "I guess... I guess you're right. But you'd think I'd figure it was, I don't know, fishy? Assassins usually- well, Exile assassins usually don't- I could have-"

"Hmph!" Sadako interrupted, putting a hand on Aki's cheek and turning his face towards her. Her and her icy blue eyes, the brown hair falling past her face...

"Could have, should have, always!" she nagged. "I'm still here, aren't I?!"

Aki fell silent. He raised his hand to take Sadako's own, and pulled it off his face gently. "That's... good, yes," he said, after some time. Aki figured what she was trying to say was that there was a chance that, if things had been worse, she *wouldn't* be here right now. "But... that's not..."

Sadako brought her hands into her lap, and pouted as he trailed off. It made him feel a little bad, for bringing it up.

"Look, never mind. What’s done is done," he quickly dismissed, laying his head down on a pillow.

"Aren't you the one who's supposed to tell *me* not to read depressing stuff before bed?" Sadako commented, before lying down beside him and closing her eyes.

Taglist: @overlap @write-for-your-life2 @lonelysuburb @fartistically @thecatsgrave

[zenithlux]

Cadence - CH 17

In which Vergil learns what might be wrong with him, with help from his friends and family.

Catch up on the story here!

Don’t say I’m out of touch With this rampant chaos your reality I know well what lies beyond my slipping refuge The nightmare I built my own world to escape.

Imaginary - Evanescence

It took less than ten minutes for Vergil to have an existential crisis. 

Why did I call Nero?

Why didn’t I call Dante?

What is wrong with me?

Why will you not leave me alone?

And the questions went on and on; a never-ending wave of increasingly dark and impossible to answer things. Vergil tried to stop them. He tried not to think about the possibilities or the mark on his chest. He tried to convince himself that the voice in his head was no more than a nightmare. That the portal he would have opened would have led to nowhere, and he’d just looked like a fool in front of Kuro. 

That sword no longer belongs to you. Kuro had said. 

What does he know?

A knock on the door startled him. “Verge?” Dante’s voice echoed inside. 

Go away, Vergil tried to say, but nothing happened. 

“Nero said you might need some help.”

Vergil held back a swear as he forced himself to his feet. He’d barely started zipping his vest up before he heard. “Oh hey Kuro! Didn’t know you could open the door.” 

“Are you calling me a fool, mortal?”

“... Why do you have Yamato?”

“Your brother almost returned to his master.”

Vergil took a single step and hit the floor before he could stop himself. 

When he opened his eyes again, he saw nothing but pure darkness. He tried to sit up, but a pair of burly hands pushed him back down. Panicked, Vergil fought back. Something cold slipped from his head as he yanked on the arms. They pushed harder, fingernails digging into his skin. Voices echoed in from all directions- a rabble of nothingness. “Let me go!” He snapped. “I will not…”

Nelo. 

“I’m not...”

Come back to me, Nelo.

“I’m not his…”

“Dad!”

He froze as a single word broke through the chaos. Dad? No one had ever called him that. No one should call him that. He wasn’t a father. He was barely a man. Just some pawn in Mundus’ endless game. Vergil thought he could escape. He thought this was over. Was two decades of his life not enough? Would the consequences of his mistakes never end?

“I wouldn’t do that, Sunshine,” another voice said. “He’s not exactly in his right mind.”

“It’s alright,” A woman said. Vergil recognized them both, but couldn’t place their names. Everything was dark. So dark. So cold. He was trapped again. Paralyzed and lost in the suit he’d been shoved into. 

Then a soft hand brushed his cheek. “Vergil,” The woman’s voice whispered again. “You’re alright. We’re all here for you.”

His eyes snapped open as he gasped for air. Dante’s hand tightened on his shoulder, but it was Roxy’s eyes he met first. Behind her was Nero with a look of pure relief as his shoulders sagged forward and he shook his head. Even further away was Nico with Aki in her hand and a smaller Kuro on her shoulder. “Let go,” Vergil said. This time, his voice was calm enough that Dante listened. Yet, Vergil didn’t sit up. Instead, he let his eyes drift back to her. “You’re awake.”

“Thanks to you,” Roxy said with a nod. Her hand had yet to leave his cheek. “Kuro didn’t have to do much this time.”

“How long has it been.”

“A little over a day I’ve been told.”

“A day,” Vergil said, his voice hollow. “I’ve been out for a day?”

“I found you unconscious in the bathroom,” Dante said. “Don’t worry though! I cleaned ya up and the kid only found ya sleeping,” He gave Vergil a lazy grin, but he heard the truth behind his brother’s oddly peppy words, nobody saw the mark but me. Vergil nodded, hoping to convey his gratitude. If Dante understood or not, he didn’t respond.  

“What happened?” Nero said. 

Vergil’s eyes closed for another moment. What did he say to that? The truth seemed more unbelievable than anything else he could say. But he had called Nero here for… something. 

Why had he thought that this was the right call again?

Yamato. 

And, as painful as it was to admit it, Vergil said. “I need one of you to take Yamato.”

Nero, Nico, and Dante all exchanged glances. “Who are you and what have you done to my brother?” Dante said. 

That time, Roxy pulled away as Vergil practically shot upright. “Do you honestly think I’d joke about such a thing?”

Dante threw his hands up between them. “I mean the things practically your security blanket, Verge. I’m shocked you’re not holding it right now.”

He wasn’t wrong necessarily, but Vergil really thought his brother could word that entire sentence differently. Instead, he explained what was happening. Or, at the very least, what he assumed was happening. It was difficult to know for certain what was in his head or not. He’d recognize Mundus’ voice from anywhere, as it had permeated all of his nightmares since even before he’d escaped hell. But whether or not he was actually calling to him…

He stopped short and glared at Kuro. “You knew.”

Kuro snorted. “I used to be one of Mundus’ pets myself a long time ago. I remember you.”

Vergil’s eyes widened. “I don’t…”

“I escaped just after he promoted you,” The dragon said. “As did my brother. But my story isn’t important.”

“Promoted?” Nero said. “So you were, what, working for this… Mundus guy?”

That time, it was Dante and Vergil who exchanged glances. “Listen, kid,” Dante said slowly, looking to Vergil for permission. When Vergil said nothing, Dante continued. “Did you ever wonder why your dad was gone for so long? Why he never sought you out or all that jazz?”

Nero frowned. “I just assumed…” He trailed off.

“That I wanted nothing to do with you?” Vergil said.

A slight red tinged Nero’s cheeks. “Well I know now that you didn’t know about me. But still… figured you were an asshole for just abandoning whoever my mom was too.”

“He abandoned everyone,” Dante muttered. Vergil glared at him, but his brother didn’t meet it. “He was trapped in hell, Nero. Twenty years of his life, gone to this ‘Mundus guy’.” 

“I’ve heard of him,” Roxy whispered. “But I never imagined…” She closed her eyes and shook her head before meeting his gaze again. “Kuro explained what happened, and we have a theory as to what’s going on. I’ve already called Dia on the matter but…” She trailed off as her eyes flickered away. 

“What?” Vergil asked.

“You’re probably not gonna like it.”

 “Just get on with it,” Vergil snapped. She flinched before he caught himself, but an apology didn’t come. If she expected one, she didn’t show it. “What’s your theory?” Vergil said, his voice much quieter than before. A part of him already knew what she was going to say , but hearing it was much better than assumptions.

“Kuro believes that Mundus forced you to make a pact with him,” Roxy said. “Now that you’re free, he’s trying to call you back.”

The room went dead silent. Even the younger devil hunters, who had learned Mundus’ name all of five minutes ago, went slack-jawed as their eyes snapped to him. Vergil couldn’t read anyone’s expressions. Dante’s lips were pressed together, and his gaze had hardened to the point that even his eyes didn’t give anything away. Nero looked somewhere between horrified, confused, and trying to find the right words to say. Nico looked like she was pondering something beyond Vergil’s comprehension. Only Roxy’s expression was soft as she placed her fingers on the back of his hand. “It’s alright,” She said. “We can fix this.”

“How?” Vergil said. “How can you fix this, Roxy?”

It was Nico who snorted. “Who knows more about pacts than our resident summoner, V-man?”

“Dia, technically,” Roxy said. “But yes, I know a good amount.” She pushed herself to her feet and took a small step back. “Can the rest of you leave for a bit? I need to speak to Vergil.”

“Are you sure about that?” Dante said. “He’s nearly lost it twice.”

“Keep that sword away,” Kuro growled as he crawled onto Roxy’s shoulder. “And she’ll have nothing to fear.”

“No offense,” Nero said. “But I’m with Dante on this one.”

“I’m not a wild animal,” Vergil said. 

“But are you in control?” Dante said.

Vergil glared at his brother. “Yes.”

Dante shrugged. “Alright then,” He beckoned to the other two. “I’ll grab Yamato. You’ll have to take Nico back to the van.” He waved his hand in front of her face to make a point. She didn’t even blink. “She’s far, far away in a galaxy I like to call the Nico-veerse.” He disappeared into the kitchen before returning with Yamato. “We’ll be nearby, sunshine. Holler if you need us,” He glanced at Vergil one last time. But, when Vergil nodded, his brother smiled and left. 

“We hadn’t planned on leaving for a few days,” Nero said. “So…”

“We won’t be long,” Roxy said. “Promise.”

Nero hesitated, but he soon followed after Dante, dragging a very distracted Nico behind him. Aki chirped his goodbye as he hopped off Nico’s shoulder and found his way onto Vergil’s lap where he curled up and promptly fell asleep. And while Vergil thought he should have found this annoying in any other situation, the creature’s soft purrs against his legs was oddly soothing. All he could remember was Shadow sleeping beside him on the few nights his human self got any rest. He recalled how he’d wake up in the morning with the oversized kitten lying right on top of him, only a few pounds shy of crushing him outright. 

He’d found that comforting too.

“Dia’s going to visit tomorrow,” Roxy said. “But I need to know what we’re dealing with.” She hesitated, followed by a sigh. “I know you’re probably not comfortable with the idea, but Dante mentioned a mark?”

“... It appeared yesterday.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“How could you possibly know any of this?” Vergil said. 

“I know how pact making works,” She countered. “Every demon can be made into a familiar, Vergil. Half-demon or otherwise. My father and Dia studied the effects of half-demon familiars for years before he died. I don’t know everything, but I know enough.” She shook her head. “Humans are able to escape it. Demons can’t. The two halves of your mind are fighting with each other. However…”

“However?”

“Half-demons need a powerful item to bind them to another soul,” Kuro said. “Marks can manifest, yes. But they are not enough. Not when the host wishes to control the other.”

“We think Mundus may have used Yamato,” Roxy said. “If he knew of its portal capabilities, then it’s likely he assumed he could bring you back whenever he wanted, so losing you wasn’t an issue.”

“He likely did not expect you to resist.”

“How can you be certain of any of this?” Vergil asked.

“I’m not,” She said. “With everything I and Dia know, it’s still a shot in the dark. But it’s all we’ve got right now, Vergil.”

“Luckily for you,” Kuro said as he hopped down to the couch. “We may already have a solution.”

“Which is?” Vergil said. 

“Dia thinks that we may be able to break your connection with him by creating a new one with me.”

Vergil didn’t understand why his body clenched at the thought. He didn’t know why he suddenly felt light headed, or why the world was spinning. And he certainly didn’t know why he recoiled at the sheer idea of making a pact with her. But there it was. An uncertain and terrible fear that burned in his veins and pulsed in his head. But, as if noticing his distress (was it really that obvious?) Roxy quickly sat across from him. “I would never force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” She said. “And Dia thinks I can break it the second you are free from Mundus’ control.”

That didn’t make him feel any better. “You’re asking me to risk…” He trailed off, self-conscious. Servitude was the word on his tongue, but was that even fair? He wanted to believe that he trusted Roxy. They had gotten to know each other over the last nine or so months. Almost a year now as friends, and at least three months as close companions.

But did that mean he trusted her with his life?

And if not… Did he trust anyone?

“If it would make you more comfortable,” She said. “Then I can show you my own marks as well.”

“You would do that?” Vergil said. “For me?”

“I’m asking you to give me something very personal,” She said. “It’s only fair that I do the same for you.”

“Besides,” Kuro said with a flick of his tongue. “If making a pact is the only way to protect you, then you’ll have to trust each other, or it will never work.”

Vergil was starting to think that the dragon might be reading his thoughts, but he didn’t dare mention it less he gave himself away. But his heart stilled as Roxy held her hand out. “Are you alright?” She whispered; the silly, special phrase that had quickly become their own. Slowly, Vergil met her fingers with his own and nodded. And in that moment, as she squeezed his hand with a quiet reassurance and returned his gaze with a confident smile, Vergil decided that he would trust her. Her, his brother, his son, Nico… all of them. 

Because if there was one thing Vergil had finally learned over all these years, it was that he couldn’t fight a war on his own. 

“I’ll go first,” She said. “If that’s alright.” She pulled away from him and shed her sweatshirt, revealing a tight fitting tank top beneath. And it was at that moment that Vergil fully realized just  how small the woman before him was. He’d known this already, as her head only came to his chest even in shoes, but she looked even more petite than before. The thought of hurting her… of crushing her with a single hand… 

He squeezed his eyes shut when she wasn’t looking, and pulled his thoughts back to reality. He wouldn’t hurt her. He couldn’t hurt her. Not Roxy. Not the woman he’ d grown to care so deeply for. 

Care deeply for. 

He really was a fool.

And Vergil might have blushed once she removed her shirt, but his eyes drifted to the ice blue swirls on her stomach. Her marks were much lighter than his had been, but Vergil could still see the exquisite details of every small snowflake. The lines continued around her waist, and when she turned, Vergil saw that both sides connected to a dragon-wing. Vergil could feel the demonic magic pulsing from the lines themselves, and he realized that this was the power he'd been feeling. Kuro's power, yes, but mixed with her own humanity. But behind the marks were scars; long, jagged scars that Vergil was certain would never truly fade. Momentos of the accident, he assumed. But they were worse than he thought. But right now, as she shared a piece of herself with him, he didn't dare ask for more. 

He had a feeling he'd know soon enough. 

When she turned back to face him, there was a playfulness to her tone. It was almost as if this was all completely normal and she wasn't sitting before him in a rather lacy and debatably risque blue bra. And it was that thought, of all things, that finally brought the heat to his cheeks. But only a little. No more than was necessary. (He'd have to ponder the strange buzzing energy that pulsed through the rest of him later). "Your turn," She said. And when he did unzip his vest, she waited for a nod before pressing her fingers against his mark. 

Her touch made him shiver. This was wildly intimate. More so than any hand holding. But if she felt any discomfort, she didn't show it. Professional, Vergil thought. And if she could manage that, so could he. 

“The good news,” She said as her fingers traced the lines. “Is that this isn’t a very strong mark, meaning he’s aware that you can fight him off if given enough time.” 

“Why would it appear now?”

“Could be to scare you,” she said. “He might want you to think that you don’t have a choice, or that returning to him is an inevitability. But do you see how faded the lines are?” Vergil nodded before she continued. “His link to you is tenuous at best, and I think Kuro was right about Yamato.”

The dragon huffed. “Of course I was.”

“Regardless,” she said with a soft glare in the familar’s direction. “Dia will be able to tell us more tomorrow.” Her gaze shifted back to his chest and she frowned.

“What is it?”

“This one in the middle,” She said. “ It’s not a mark, persay. It’s more of a scar. But you heal everything… right?" 

Vergil reached for the zipper of his vest. "I guess some wounds never heal… even mine."

Then their eyes met, and it took everything Vergil had to keep his gaze on hers. Roxy was close now. So…. very close. If he turned just right and leaned forward just enough… 

“Are you alright?” She whispered, but there was something else to her tone. Something else Vergil couldn’t quite pick out of the chaos raging in his mind. He found himself reaching for her cheek, and his knuckles gently caressed the skin as he stared into her beautiful emerald eyes. She tilted her head and nuzzled against him, eyes never leaving his own. The hand on his chest drifted to the side as she shifted closer. Her breath was cool on his lips and smelled of mint. He tilted his head and leaned in…

“If you were planning this,” Dia’s voice echoed in disapproval. “Then you probably shouldn’t have called me.”

Roxy jumped at the same time as Vergil. And, in an uncharacteristic show of clumsiness, his forehead knocked straight into hers. The resounding thud made his ears ring. She groaned as she pulled away, rubbing the side of her forehead as she fumbled around for her jacket. “It wasn’t like that,” She muttered. “And you said you were coming tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow. Today. It’s all the same.” She waved her off. “Now lets see if we can fix our little Mundus problem, shall we?”

Ko-fi – Master List – AO3

[queenmina37]

#103: Parade

It was the Grand Reopening of Link VRAINS (again) and the streets of the virtual world were filled with avatars. People looked around, ran around the place, laughed and chatted, making new friends.

 Playmaker was standing away from everyone else, hidden by the shadows. He watched as people chatted with Soulburner and the rest of his comrades, and their Ignis. Even Ai was there, having run there after complaining about him being a wallflower. The Ignis was currently chatting with Ghost Girl, who was smiling down at it.

 “So?” Ghost Girl asked. “Where’s Playmaker?”

 “Right there…” Ai pointed to where he had left him, but as he turned to look… he wasn’t there.

 While Ai was internally screaming, Ghost Girl smirked. “Oh? Did he abandon you?”

 While Ai started screaming at her while being completely ignored, Soulburner hummed, worried. “Where is he? The parade is about to start.”

 “Are you guys a part of it?” Ghost Girl asked, smiling.

 “No.” Soulburner laughed. “They tried to have us there, but we refused. But Blue Angel and Go Onizuka are there, right?”

 They chatted for a while longer, before the sky suddenly turned dark, like the lights had been turned off. Everyone turned to the end of the long street they were standing by as two commentators let their voices reach out throughout Link VRAINS. “Ladies and Gentlemen!”

 “We have the privilege to welcome you all to the new and improved Link VRAINS!”

 “To celebrate this unforgettable night, a parade of the greatest duelists shall walk right before your eyes! Let us all welcome them!”

 “First, we have the undeniable Queen of Link VRAINS, who fought alongside the toughest and bravest heroes against the evil! Blue Angel!!”

 Blue Angel was standing on top of a moving platform, smiling and waving to her fans who cheered loudly for her. Some of her monsters were also on the platform, dancing and giggling.

 As the platform moved to make room for the next one, the same voice called out. “And here we have the King of Link VRAINS, Go Onizuka!”

 The cheers continued as more and more famous duelists made appearances. Charisma Duelists put on a show, as did the others, though not as much as the Charisma Duelists. The crowd watched, cheering and waving back to them, taking photos, videotaping it. Music filled the air as people danced, laughed and chatted excitedly with others.

 When the parade was nearing its end, Blue Girl ran to them, looking around. “Did I miss the end?”

 “No.” Ghost Girl looked at her. “Why? Is something interesting happening?”

 “Yeah.” Blue Girl shrugged her shoulders. “Or, well, I don’t know. The commentator from Neo Domino City was really excited about the last group. I talked with others before the parade, and one of them, Harald from Team Ragnarok, said that they weren’t there yet and someone else said that they’d make a dramatic entrance or something.”

 ��Team Ragnarok?” Unnamed turned to look at the, currently, last platform. “Those three?”

 “Yeah.” Blue Girl nodded. “They’re supposed to be the last ones, before Team 5D’s, I think was the name.”

 “Ladies and Gentlemen! It is time for the last duelists to take the stage! And though they’re the last, they’re most definitely not the least!”

 The group watched, surprised, as all the 3-man teams vacated to the sides of their platforms, turning their eyes to the last platform that appeared behind the long line. There was no one on the platform. It was completely empty of people, of monsters, of everything.

 “What?” Soulburner blinked. “Isn’t there supposed to be…?”

 Suddenly, the platform lighted up in an eerie red glow. On the top of the platform, red lines appeared, making up some kind of mark. And, then, just as the mark was done, something dark, something akin a tornado, burst up in the middle of it. Black feathers floated down from the sky, making people let out noises of awe. Then, two red slits appeared in the tornado, before it disappeared with a loud flap of wings, almost as if they were the reason it disappeared. Now, standing on the platform was a black dragon with red eyes, a young man with orange hair in front of it. The man was grinning, waving to the crowd where fans were suddenly squealing and cheering.

 “Let us welcome, Crow ‘The Bullet’ Hogan, the Tail of the Crimson Dragon!”

 “The Crimson Dragon?” Ghost Girl glanced upwards, to where the two commentators were. “What’s that?”

 They had no time to ponder, though. Crow and his dragon quickly jumped to the side of the platform, balancing on the edge. The platform lighted up in that eerie red glow once more, but this time, the mark was different, looking almost like a claw. When the lines had become a mark, it was like lightning shot from the heavens. Red rose petals flew in the air as a strong gust of wind blew, whirling around. It disappeared as soon as it appeared, though, and the rose petals hovered to the ground, like the black feathers earlier. On the platform, there was a black dragon with wings made of red rose petals. In front of it stood a young woman with dark burgundy hair, a smile on her face as she looked around.

 “The Foot of the Crimson Dragon, the Black Rose Witch, Izayoi Aki!!”

 Aki winked to the crowds, making the people gasp. She then jumped to the other side of the platform, nearly facing Crow as she turned her back to the crowds. The platform lighted up, again, lines appearing to make a mark. The moment it was done, flames shot up from out of nowhere, burning brightly and hotly. A loud roar was heard long before the silhouette of a dragon was seen through the flames that condensed around the dragon’s fists, revealing a black-and-red dragon with an almost demonic look. In front of it stood a blond man, dressed in a white coat.

 “The Wings of the Crimson Dragon, Former King of Riding Duels, Jack Atlas!!!”

 Obviously, there was something fun with what the commentator said, because a lot of the famous duelists started laughing, some trying to hide it, some not. Crow was one of the ones who didn’t try to, and Aki tried to. Jack himself shot the man a glare.

 “Oh?” Unnamed chuckled. “I wonder what that’s about?”

 “Who knows?” Soulburner laughed.

 Before they could say anything else, though, there was another light. Jack jumped to the side, to stand a little further away from Crow. The lines made up a mark, almost like a claw that held something. Then, there was a large cracking sound and a burst of light. The sound of jingling bells was heard, as well as the sound of large machinery parts falling to the ground. When the light disappeared, there were two dragons there, one blue and almost like a fairy, one brown with a spear or something attached to its other arm. In front of the dragons were two youngsters, maybe 14 years old at most, with green hair and otherwise identical looks.

 “The Hand and Heart of the Crimson Dragon, the Wonder Twins, Ruka and Rua!”

 The duo laughed, waving to the crowd. Then, they jumped to the opposite sides of the platform, Rua to stand on the same side with Crow and Jack, Ruka to stand with Aki. They smiled and stood there, laughing, and then they waited.

 They didn’t have to wait for long. The platform lighted up once more, the eerie red glow becoming stronger than before. The lines quickly moved, making a mark. But unlike before, the mark wasn’t obscured as a dragon made an appearance. No, the spectators were instead left to gasp as something glittery rained down on them. As they turned to look up to the sky, they saw a white and blue dragon that was softly roaring as it flew over the street, over the people, its wings softly flapping. Whatever the glittery substance was, it was like it fell from the dragon’s wings.

 When the dragon flew over the platform, though, something dropped from on top of it. Or, rather, someone.

 People gasped, horrified and worried, as they saw someone freefall from that height, head first, straight towards the ground. They flipped over in the air, though, just before they hit the platform, landing on their feet in a crouch. The dragon landed behind them, letting out a soft roar.

 “The Head of the Crimson Dragon, Satellite’s Shooting Star, The King of Riding Duels, Fudo Yusei!!!”

 “Oh my, and who is that in his arms?!”

 It was then that people realized that it was indeed two people, rather than one, that had dropped from the dragon. Yusei was holding the other in a tight grip, holding them bridal style. And that other person…

 Ai gasped, shouting. “PLAYMAKER???!!!”

 “I’m going to kill you, one of these days.” Playmaker ignored the loud shout of his name, no doubt coming from the Ignis. Instead, he gave Yusei a glare as he was let down.

 “You would have already killed me if you had any plans to do so.” Yusei chuckled softly, ignoring the crimson red tendrils that began appearing in the air around their platform. “Now, come over here.”

 “Why?” Playmaker gave him a suspicious look but stepped closer. “If this is another one of your…”

 Yusei pressed his lips against Playmaker’s.

 At first, it was deadly silent. Then, people were screaming, because did some bigshot from Neo Domino City just kiss Playmaker???!!!

 The red tendrils began fusing. People noticed them, making confused noises as the tendrils began to take another shape, curling around the platform that was, once again, glowing an eerie red color. The tendrils began to make a snake-like body, like the lines on the platform… making a tail… feet… wings… hands… a head…

 Yusei pulled away, smiling as Playmaker glanced upwards at the replica of the Crimson Dragon that had curled around the platform. “… Isn’t it bad to make fun of a god like this?”

 “We’re showing our gratitude in our own way.” Yusei chuckled. “The Crimson Dragon would understand.”

 “… Yeah, you guys are unique like that.” Playmaker laughed, which made the crowds pause. “The Crimson Dragon would totally understand.”

 Yusei smiled and gave him another kiss before turning to the crowd and waving. His teammates and Playmaker did the same. The dragons roared in tune with the replica of the Crimson Dragon. It was truly a spectacle to see.

[ick25]

Rockman.EXE Final Episode Review!

I ain’t afraid of no Gostler.

Finally, the last episode of the first season of the Rockman.EXE anime, the last episode before Axess changes almost everything!

You might not know this, but I am NOT a huge fan of Axess, it nearly destroys everything I’m used to and love from the first season, but I’ll talk about that some other time. Lets dive into this final adventure!

Who you’re gonna call?

The episode begins at night where Netto’s dad is carrying out an experiment. He created something called the “Dimensional core” that projects a grassy field in a parking lot, however, this is not a hologram since Dr. Hikari is able to touch a tree, claiming the experiment was a success.

He is basically God now.

The next morning we are at Netto’s house where his useless mom is humming Aki’s cheesy song while Netto is working on some kind of device he invented. The device happens to be a wireless plug that allows him to connect Rockman into a far away computer.

I’m not completely sure how this is suppose to work. I initially thought it was a way for Netto to plug-in to any computer withing range, but I think it just allows him to reconnect with Rockman if he is stranded in a computer, since it has been showed in the anime that he can’t send chips if he is not directly connected to the computer or server.

Netto gets a phone call from Commander Beef who gives him some worrying news about his father before the title card appears.

We then see Netto and his friends, along with Higure, Masa and Mariko-sensei for some reason, in a commercial plane, I guess Yaito decided to get cheap on us today.

Netto tells everyone that Commander Beef just told him that his dad had suddenly gone missing in Jawaii. He is obviously worried by this and the grown-ups try to cheer him up, with Higure saying that Commander Beef was probably lying, which angers Masa for some “unknown” reason.

Netto suddenly receives a call from Enzan who gives him more information about Dr. Hikari’s location and what he was working on.

I find it interesting that this last line was skipped and given to Rockman later on in the american version.

What is Enzan’s reason to help Netto all of a sudden?

Speaking of the dub, the line they gave to Yaito here was very awkward, by revealing that she likes Chaud/Enzan which is completely out of character.

We don’t go to commercials just yet, but we get the first screen saver we haven’t seen since the first part of the season.

Gotta love the sub’s sense of humor.

The next scene takes us to the shopping mall that has been taken over by some big roots, with a giant tree suddenly appearing on the roof. Netto and company are now on a helicopter where they are amazed at the sight of the tree. Rockman tells them that the tree is made out of cyber matter but functions just like a real tree.

While giving us the code for shrinking the Shield program. I used to think that was a chemical equation or something. XD

So after Mariko-sensei makes a bad joke, Yaito orders the pilot... Oh no! Why is SHE the pilot?!

Did we really need that gag to return?

Meanwhile, on another part of Jawaii, we see the Ex-WWW who have opened a second restaurant called Maha Niban and it seems there is an air of contentment around them because they all look happy and fulfilled.

Oh boy, I can tell something bad is gonna happen to them soon and I just can’t wait!

Back to our heroes, the inside of the mall looks like that planet from the Degoba system where Yoda lived, except the camera rotates around some of the plants that look three-dimensional but they’re actually bi-dimensional.

Which raises a question. How come these plants are bi-dimensional but Dr. Hikari was able to touch a solid tree at the start of this episode?

The group suddenly hear a familiar voice, it turns out to be Aki-chan who calls for Netto from a projection near the wall.

Aki tells them about Dr. Hikari’s experiment and how it started in the parking lot of the mall with the program he created called the Dimensional Core, however, viruses have taken over the Dimensional Core making the cyberworld in the mall unstable.

After Aki’s transmission is cut off, everyone decide to go to the parking lot, but not before Yaito reminds us how clumsy Sakurako is by telling her to stay put.

Seriously, what were you thinking, Yaito?

The group find an elevator that is still working, while they wait, Rush sees what looks like a pink female version of himself, presumably, another Mole virus. The girl virus lures him over and then... Does this.

What in the world was that?! This always confuse me. Is that how those viruses are supposed to be like? Is Rush like a tamed virus? Was it trying to eat him? Unfortunately that isn’t the case since Rush quickly hides behind Meiru who then notices that they are not alone.

What a silly question, Dekao. They are viruses, they are programmed to destroy everything in sight, whether it moves or not.

The group manages to escape through the elevator where Tohru says that the viruses probably materialized due to Dr. Hikari’s experiment. Just then,  Metools begin to destroy the elevator.

So cute, yet, so deadly.

The group is forced to get off in the second floor with the Mettools right behind them, but they are suddenly stopped by a group of Bunny viruses. With viruses on both sides, Netto and friends pull an impossible stunt to avoid getting hit by the viruses attacks.

No uncomfortable line after that, Netto? When that happened in episode 29 you were pretty happy about it. 

After the vines break and Higure is chased away by a Ghostler virus, Netto and his friends decide to use their Navis to stop the experiment from the cyberworld. 

I remember this part having my full attention, if viruses where able to materialized in the real world, maybe the Navis would too, we might see something different for once.

o_o  Well... That’s certainly different.

Apparently the cyberworld has become so unstable due to the experiment, that the Navis had nowhere to stand on, because that’s how computers work, right?

So after this, we get the second intermission with Rush running away from a Mettool, with some confusing messages from the subs.

One, what would Pharaohman’s first appearance have to do with anything? And two, isn’t it CTRL+Alt+Del? Because either way, DON’T DO IT!

None of the PETs can find the Navis, so Netto takes out his WiFi device and says how it is connected to Rockman, and can tell Netto if there is a Bluetooh-I mean, if Rockman is within range.

Then what was the point of building that thing?

With the Navis missing, the group have to find another solution, but before they can think of something, they are surprised by a Handi virus, and during the confusion, a Magma Dragon virus kidnaps Mariko-sensei with Masa running after it. Netto and friends are then ambushed by a Powei virus who chases them. 

While trying to get away from the virus, Meiru trips (because of course she has to trip), Netto goes back for her and gets her out of the way just in time.

The virus breaks a water fountain and the splash deletes it giving Netto an idea of how to fight the viruses.

Meanwhile, we find the Navis walking around an area that looks like the inside of a tree. Since they have no idea where they are or where they’re going, they start to lose hope until Aki-chan appears before them with the compression code for Fast Gauge because we need to speed things up.

We return to Netto and friends who have found Gabgom’s department store that Yaito mentioned back on the plane, where they are all suiting up for some Live Action Virus Busting or LAVB.

So we get a Ghost Buster tribute, but instead of high tech gadgets, our heroes have water guns.

The boys cover an area of the mall shooting water at the viruses to delete them. Rush is also helping out (Even though we know he has a virus summoning ability), and we get one last scene with the weird female Rush virus before she is deleted with the water; but I still have one question in mind.

The girls cover another area where Yaito is riding a mini tank that fires water balloons.

She had a bazooka in another episode so this doesn’t surprise me.

Then we get this quick scene of Masa-san changing into Commander Beef in a dressing room and attempting to save Mariko-sensei from the Magma Dragon.

As expected, it didn’t work. 

After this, the Magma Dragon lands and is ready to eat Mariko-sensei or something, but the boys appear to save her. Since the Magma Dragon is big, it takes a lot of water to finally delete it. They reunite with Mariko who asks if everyone is alright.

Wow, that’s cold, Netto. I know it’s just a Gostler, but a materialized virus is still pretty dangerous, except for Rush.

We then get the final commercial break that omits the second part, something the subs kindly reminds us of.

I guess it’s fair since we saw chibi Blues twice in the last episode.

We return with the Navis who finally see the exit.

“Hurry just like a Fast Gauge!”

Back in the real world, our heroes arrive in the parking lot basement where they find the Dimensional core under a gigantic tree, but before they can think of how to fix it, they are surprised by a very big cameo from the game.

The Life Virus!

Of course the anime leaves the final boss of the first game for the final episode, and it is even more intimidating than in the game.

Turns out the powerful Life virus is the one responsible for making the program unstable. Since the boys are the only ones with water tanks for some reason now, they shoot water at the Life Virus, but because it is so humongous, their attacks are ineffective and they quickly run out of water.

With no more water, Netto and friends wait fearfully as the Life virus approaches them, but just then, Netto’s wireless device starts to react.

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! FINALLY!

After 55 episodes, Rockman finally appears in the real world!

The rest of the Navis appear soon after, giving Meiru and the others my exact reaction to this scene.

But I have no idea why this shot was skipped in the dub.

The Life virus attacks and the Navis fight back.

Unfortunately, their combined attacks are not enough to delete the Life virus, so Netto connects his PET to the wireless device in order to send Battle Chips to Rockman.

Now, if you’ve been taking screenshots of the episode like me, you’ll notice that there are quite a few recycled shots and animation errors, like Netto’s slot-in scenes with his regular cloths except that they were painted over to look like the outfit he’s wearing.

And this reused shot from episode 51, since it’s the wrong chip and the background is from the WWW lair.

Kanketsen is Fountain, a chip that normally can only be used with an aqua element Style Change.

Speaking of said Style Change, Netto somehow activates the Aqua Custom Style without the Extra code to finish off the Life virus with the Mega Deus Ex Maquina burst!

Now it’s the right chip, but still the wrong background.

Once the Life virus is deleted, the Dimensional core stabilizes and all the other plants, trees, and even the Net Navis return to the cyberworld.

With everything back to normal, the group find Netto’s dad who was sleeping the whole time, and the ending music starts to play in the background along with the credits.

Netto wakes him up by pulling his ear, and then he has this weird formal exchange with Mariko-sensei.

No questions about why your son’s school teacher is with them in the artificial park you created in a mall in Jawaii?

Now, this part might be a little infuriating since Netto’s dad had no idea that the experiment was corrupted by a Live virus, how it took over the shopping mall, and how everyone was worried about him since they didn’t hear from him in a very long time, but the upbeat ending music kinda makes you realize that this is not suppose to be taken seriously.

The worst part is that Dr. Hikari just straight up leaves Netto behind while he goes back home to Japan in his weird flying van, something I would expect from Yaito.

I guess it’s a good thing the dub changed his lines to avoid making him feel like a jerk. What does he say instead? Well, its kinda of spoiler for what happens next.

Rockman and the other Navis materializing in the real world, and the Ex-WWW is attacked by a giant tree... I should feel satisfied, but not really.

My final thoughts?

Wow, once again the show plays with my emotions by finally making Rockman and the other Navis appear in the real world but it doesn’t last long and it doesn’t feel as meaningful as it should be. The whole episode is treated like a filler episode rather that an important plot point for the next season. During that time, and also because Axess was never dubbed in Latin America, I never knew that they were gonna use the Dimensional Core as the basis for the Dimensional Area in the next season.

Speaking of Axess, it looked like they weren’t even planning on making another season after this, but they just had to because of the forth game that would be released for December of 2003. This episode premiered in March of 2003 while Axess started in October of the same year, that means that the producers had to hire a whole new team of writers and animators to work on Axess in the course of 7 months, because the feeling of the new season is almost completely different from the first two, and that is why the first seasons will remain in my heart while having mixed feelings towards Axess.

The idea of Netto suddenly being an inventor in this episode is a cheap way to introduce the Wireless device he gets from Meiru in BN2.

Only to have it stuck forever on the other side of a room when confronting Princess Pride who had destroy part of the floor.

Battle Network logic.

Before ending this review I have to thank WolfPack Productions and the other groups who subbed these episodes, specifically the former because they made their own credits after this episode.

And thanks to them, not only did I discover that Higure and Numberman are played by the same voice actor, but Coloredman too.

So thanks to them and everyone who follows me on Tumblr and Deviantart who liked and or commented on this reviews.

[i-dont-look-good-i-look-great]

Who I Am 1

She woke up with the sounds of fire burning and screaming. Her nose was fill with the smell of smoke from a fire burning somewhere close by meanwhile her eyes began to burn and tear a little from smoke that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Next to her, her little sister began to stir awake, suddenly crying when she finds it hard to breath.

“Aki!” A voice calls her name. “Aki! Aki! Do you hear me?!”

She knows that voice. It’s her mother’s voice. “Mother!” She shouts from inside. “Mother what’s happening?”

Her mother enters the room and closes the door quickly as she rushes to them. “Aki,” her mother huffs and puffs. “We are under attack.”

Under attack? Under attack by whom?

“I don’t have time to explain.” Her mother says as she quickly picks them up and went around one of the corners of the wall.

She uses her hand to check the walls until she finally open one of the walls… well according to Akihime, she always thought it was a wall, never a door. Akihime looks inside the dark room, there was nothing more than a rug on top of the tatami mats. Her mother pulls the rug up and Akihime was surprised there was a small handle on the mat. Her mother grabs the handle and flips open a door, or a small escape room? Akihime wasn’t sure what she was seeing.

“You and Aihime must escape!” Her mother cries, holding them both in her arms. “Follow the trail in and when you are out, RUN! Run away and as far as you can! Don’t look back or come back!”

“M-mother!” Akihime too, cries. “Are you abandoning us? Mother! P-please tell me. What about brother?! Where’s Hideaki?”

She watches as her mother’s face saddens and the tears dripping down her mother’s cheek. Her mother reaches into her pocket and pulls out two rings both tied on a string. She handed it to Akihime.

“Take this,” her mother says in a serious tone. “And go. This is the last thing I can give you. Remember that your father and I will always love you and Aihime. Hideaki will come find you two soon. Remember our name Akihime. No matter what remember our name.”

Akihime and her little sister were push down into the small room with nothing, but the last image of her mother’s heartbreaking looks in their eyes.

“Mother! Mother! Mother!” Akihime shouts but when she heard the doors slam open and her mother’s scream, she went silent and cover her sister’s mouth.

Her mother’s scream was horrifying and terrifying. She heard a loud thump on the ground and in this instant, she knew that her mother was gone. Shaking and fearing for her life, she reaches her hand out to feel the walls around her, trying to find a way out of the darkness. When she was able to feel an opening, she follows the trail, not knowing where she was going. For a moment when her sister had calm down, she carried her sister on her back while still searching for their way out.

They walk for a while. They walk and walk until Akihime saw the light from the moon shining through an opening. They both walk towards the opening until they reach the outside. They were somewhere in the middle of the forest, lost and have nowhere to go or return to.

“Aki,” Aihime suddenly spoke. “I wanna go back.”

“We can’t.” Akihime sadly says. “There won’t be anything left to return to.”

“Aki,” Aihime tugs Akihime’s sleeve. “I wanna go to mommy.”

Akihime reaches for Aihime’s hand. “Let’s go.”

“Tamune. Tamune. Tamune”. She whispers. “My name is Akihime Tamune and this is my sister, Aihime Tamune.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12 years later~

I stare into the mirror as I wrap my chest around with a long white cloth. Looking down I sigh a little.

“Will you ever stop growing?” I ask myself.

“Aki! I’m coming in!”

“AH NO STOP!” I scream out to whoever was going to burst into my room without knocking.

That someone was no one other than Aihime. She rushes into my room and sat down next to me.

“Inuchiyo’s here!” She smiles. “He’s helping me today, so you don’t have to worry about no one helping me today! So, go to your lessons today!” She suddenly grabs my yukata and quickly pulls it up over my shoulders and try to tie the front, but she stops. “Aki why are your boobs so big?! Why am I not as gifted?!”

“Aihime!” I jokingly slap her hand. “I’m not to blame! Besides I even bind it today hoping it’ll look smaller.”

“Aki you always bind it.” Aihime watches as I fix my clothing. “I swear if you let them free from those binding, I’ll get a brother-in-law in no time!”

“Aihime!” I frown at her. “I am not going to get marry sooner or later. Besides I don’t even think anyone will like me.”

“Oh, I dOn’T thInk AnyONe WiLl liKe Me,” Aihime mocks me. “Shut up! You’ve been friend-zoning that Tanjiro guy from next door for two years now.”

“And you’ve been friend zoning Inuchiyo for four years now.” I wink jokingly at her.

“I-I did not!” Aihime declines it. “Inuchiyo and I are just friends! We’re all childhood friends!”

I laugh at her, seeing that her face was flush red makes the joke even more entertaining. “Will I must go before I am late. You know how Madam Yu is when someone is late.” I smile at her before taking my leave.

On my way out of the door, mother stops me.

“Akihime,” she smiles sweetly at me. “Are you off to Madam Yu’s lessons?”

“Yes mother!” I smile back at her. “Inuchiyo will be here to help you and Aihime with the shop while I’m gone.”

“Alright then,” Mother sees me off the door. “Have fun Akihime.”

I wave her goodbye before heading my way to Madam Yu’s place. She teaches young girls how to dance and how to play some instruments. Mother is one of Madam Yu’s good friends so Aihime and I can come to Madam Yu’s lesson for a small discount. However, Aihime says that she isn’t interested in dancing or music so it’s just me.

I look up at the sky, remembering that day when mother picked Aihime and I off the streets. 12 years ago, after our clan was murdered, Aihime and I escaped safely. However, we were caught by a daughter from the Suwa clan and taken hostage before our older brother, Hideaki, came and saved us… But in order to save us he lost his life for us. We ran away once again and was later found by mother. So even though mother isn’t our birth mother, I still love her as much as my own mother. She gave us everything we could’ve asked for and because of her, we are here today, healthy and alive.

Right when I got in front of Madam Yu’s place, my hand was suddenly taken by someone from behind me. Looking back, I realize that Tanjiro had followed me all the way to Madam Yu’s place.

“Tanjiro…” I murmur his name.

“I thought I saw a beautiful goddess pass.” Tanjiro winks at me. “Would you say I’ve caught the goddess?”

I laugh. “Oh stop.” I pull my hand away from his. “What goddess do you see? The only goddess I see is at home.”

Tanjiro peers into my face, looking me up and down. “Aihime?” He asks. “Who are you kidding?! I mean look at you! Your hair is long and silky just like silk. Your skin is-“

“Tanjiro,” I stop him, blushing. “I would really love to spend more time to talk with you but I’m running late. Please excuse me!”

I turn around and walk away quickly, not turning even when he bid me farewell. A chill up my spine, I enter Madam Yu’s house for my lesson. I sat down in my usual seat and wait for Madam Yu to arrive. There are about ten other young ladies with me and usually, some of us would practice our koto skills while we wait since we always start a koto lesson before anything else. However, there are a few of us like to sit around and gossip. As I am practicing, Mayumi, same age as me, a bit cocky, suddenly slide up to me.

“Aki! Aki! Aki!” She purposely pokes my waist. “Tanjiro was with you, today isn’t he? Oh, what did he say to you? Did he propose?”

I frown. “No, Mayumi. Tanjiro and I are just friends. Besides, if you like him that much, then why don’t you propose to him?”

“Oh Aki!” Mayumi laughs cockily and wraps her arms around me. “How can I? The only lady he sees is you! Oh, how romantic!”

If I was to be honest, Tanjiro isn’t a bad guy himself. I’ve met him a few years ago through Inuchiyo when they had a few fights. Ever since, he and I have been friends. His family owns a winery and it’s the best ones. He’s got gentle brown eyes, brown hair and he is big for a man his age, same as Inuchiyo. If someone to was look at him, they’ll think that he is already married and is in his mid-twenties. If anyone was to look at him for a while, he does appear cute and handsome occasionally. However, to me, I only see Tanjiro as a friend. He and I are like friends and trade every now and then. I also know that many girls around here try to go for him and unlike me, they are beautiful and have everything I don’t have.

“Aki?” Mayumi waves her hand in front of me. “Do you hear me?”

“Do not call me that.” I coldly scold her. “We are not that familiar.”

Right when she was about to say something, Madam Yu suddenly burst into the room. Scared, Mayumi quickly rush to her seat.

“Girls,” Madam Yu says in a sad voice. “I have some news.”

We all look up to Madam Yu.

“I love all you girls so much. I love teaching you and I love seeing you girls grow up with the passion to dance and play. However, I will be moving within the next few weeks.”

I am shocked. Madam Yu’s leaving? Where will she be heading? What are we going to do when she isn’t here to teach us anymore?

“I’m afraid that I cannot teach you any longer.” Madam Yu looks down. “Our lessons ends in three weeks. However! I expect everyone to be on their best behavior and continue the things I’ve taught you.”

I am a little sadden when Madam Yu announced this, however, no matter how sad I am, I cannot do anything to stop her from moving. All I can give her is my blessings.

~~~~~~~~~~

Walking home, I just remember that in a few days it’ll be Aihime’s birthday. I decide to walk around and look at shops to find something that Aihime might like. I was looking until my eyes lay upon this beautiful roll of fabric from a fabric shop. Bewitched by how beautiful the fabric was, I walk up to the shop to look at the fabric more. While examining it, I reach a hand to touch the fabric, however a hand suddenly reaches over too and touches my hand.

I panic a little and quickly remove my hand and apologize.

“Forgive me-” I look up to the person but instantly froze.

The person who touched me was a man. A man who looked down at me with eyes that stare of ice and daggers, probably already killing me a few times. I began to shake, never have I ever bumped into a man this intimidating.

“Lord Nobunaga,” someone suddenly spoke, breaking this intimidating atmosphere. “You are scaring the young lady.”

Oh shoot he’s a lord?! A lord from where?! I start to examine the so-called-Lord Nobunaga closely and realize that he is handsome and hot, however his two blades by his side seems to be shaking and itching to dig into my skin.

Looking me up and down, Lord Nobunaga sighs a little. “I apologize.”

I look back confused. Confused why a lord would apologize to me. However those were the only two words he said to me before turning around and walking the other way. A little shaken up, I stood there for a while before even leaving the shop, forgetting to buy the fabric for Aihime.

I look up at the sky for a while, watching the color change as the sun began to set. I kept walking until I see Tanjiro from a distance, looking at something.

“What are you looking at?” I ask, peering over his shoulder.

“Ah! Akihime!” Tanjiro almost screams my name out. “Y-You scared me!”

I laugh, hiding my smile behind my sleeve. “Oh come on, you and Aihime exaggerate too much.” I lightly pat his shoulder. “Tell me, what are you looking at?”

“O-oh!” He stutters. “I’m… looking for something for someone special.”

“Oooo!” I mock him a little. “Who’s the lucky woman? Tell me Tanjiro, I promise you I won’t tell anyone.”

Tanjiro blushes, looking away from me. “I- I can’t tell you!”

I pucker my lips a little. “We’ve been friends for so long and you can’t even trust me with one little secret?”

“Akihime…” Tanjiro finally looks at me. “I’ve been wanting to ask you! Would you go watch the sunset with me?!”

I was taken aback for a moment. “Um… s-sure! I’d love to watch the sunset!”

~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting on the roof of Tanjiro’s house, we both watch the sun set. For a moment I wonder why he suddenly asked me to watch the sunset with him. I want to ask but I wasn’t sure how to break the silence. It’s not that I wasn’t sure, it was just that the atmosphere around us felt so calm and relaxing that I didn’t want to ruin the moment.

“Sorry for asking you to come with me.” Tanjiro suddenly apologizes. “I just thought that… the sunset was too beautiful to miss out today.”

“No, no, no don’t apologize.” I smile at him. “You are right, the sunset today is beautiful. I mean… look at it, that pink color is beautiful. Who wouldn’t want to miss it?”

Tanjiro laugh. “You are right,” he smiles. “It’s beautiful.”

And our conversation died like that. I frown a little, uncomfortable in this situation.

“Akihime… I can… ask you something?” Tanjiro spoke, breaking silence. “Would you-“

“Oi Tanjiro! How many times have I told you to stay away from her?!”

Shock from the voice shouting at us, we both look down from the roof, to see Inuchiyo standing there, looking up at us.

“Oi! Akihime. Come down and let’s go home. Aihime and your mother are worried!” Inuchiyo shouts from below. “Oi Tanjiro. This is my last warning! Stay away from Aki! I’ll never approve you!”

Tanjiro frowns and glares at Inuchiyo. “Oi dog! Are you her dad?! Are you mad?! Stay out of my business! If you always chase every man who comes near Akihime, then who’ll marry her huh?!”

“Anyone but you, will marry her!” Inuchiyo shouts back. “Akihime, come down and let’s go home.”

“Calm down Inuchiyo.” I sigh deeply, embarrassed. “I’m coming down.” I turn to Tanjiro, a little blush on my face. “I’m sorry Tanjiro. Please don’t mind Inuchiyo, he’s just being a hot head right now.”

Tanjiro smiles at me, waving his hands. “Oh no don’t worry! Of course I know how much of a hot head he is.”

“I can hear you bald eagle!” Inuchiyo complains from below.

I shrug at Tanjiro with a nervous smile before heading down. I wave goodbye to Tanjiro before giving Inuchiyo a cold stare and stomping into the house without him. When we got into the house, Inuchiyo started calling for me.

“Akihime stop! We need to talk about that Tanjiro!”

Walking pass mother and Aihime, I shout back. “Inuchiyo, Tanjiro and I are friends! We are nothing more than friends! Thanks for embarrassing me in front of Tanjiro! Oh not just Tanjiro! Almost every guy who comes near me!”

“I’m just trying to protect you!” Inuchiyo shouts back. “Can I not protect you?!”

“Some protection!” I yell while stomping into my room and slamming the door.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Toshiie,” mother scolds Inuchiyo. “Maybe Tanjiro is right. If you always chase every man away from Akihime and Aihime, who’ll marry them huh?”

Inuchiyo looks down, frustrated. “What are you heard that?! oh uh, I’m sorry.” He apologies. “It’s just… I don’t trust them.”

Aihime went over to Inuchiyo and pats his back. “Inuchiyo it’s okay.” Aihime smiles sweetly at him. “I love that you’re protecting us but maybe this is too much. You don’t have to go too far. Trust me! I’m sure Aki knows what she’s doing.

Inuchiyo sighs heavily, looking at the way Akihime just left.

TBC~~~~~

A/N ~

Oh my it’s been a while since I've written something! Honestly I’ve been waiting to write this for a long time and I’m excited to see how this story will turn out! Anyways I hope you all don’t mind the idea of this story because I got it from one of my older fic I wrote a long time ago and decided that I kinda like the idea and wanted to use it to write a longer version but a lot of things will be changing.

 If you’ve been keeping up with my other long series *cough* (Yukkin), I will be putting it on a little break because I'm out of ideas T0T, but I will continue it!

@parawhore212

@kitty-kat-ty

I don’t know who else to tag. But tell me if you want to be tag for more :)

[sentofighta]

Happy Birthday, Deuce and...I love you. || @oursongofhealing

It is the day. Machina made up his mind to finally come with terms with his feelings. It was not easy at all. For years, he thought he loved Rem. Perhaps because she was the only person in his village to survive with him. The only person he remembers after ‘Izana’ but now she is...truly the only one.

His feelings were mixed, he loved her, wanted to protect her, wanted to make her happy, all because she was always pushing herself even though she was sick. She covered it up with tiny lies but he saw through them but couldn’t confront her.

Then...Class Zero appeared and everything went crazy, his life, his feelings, everything. Despite how the higher-ups tried to portrait class zero for him, there was something that bugged him about it. Talking to the zero cadets, they felt detached from the world around them yet they cared in their own way. 

He met Deuce and honestly he never thought that one day he could have feelings for another girl beside Rem. Their interactions were superficial, limited to their missions but little by little, fate kept betting on them. Each time they were in a team, he felt a strange feeling; he wanted to be there for her because she is always pushing herself...Ah...just like Rem.

Machina pushed the thought away, thinking his feelings were nothing but how a classmate looks after his fellow classmate. Perhaps with time, he saw her as a little sister because she kept trying to interact with him until a couple of faithful encounters that made him question if he really sees her as just a ‘classmate’, a target for his spying activities. 

His heart was in pain, torn between who he knows he really loves and the new sudden warm feeling he gets whenever he sees the flutist. Even Rem at some point noticed something was wrong with him towards Deuce and she encouraged him on her own way which he did not think about it until later on.

He loves Rem. His fear to lose the only person who he has memories with hunts him. He loves Rem. Perhaps his obsession with being strong had blinded his ‘love’ and made him possessive of her. She never complained that is why he assumed it was the right thing. To love her and wish she was his only, no one had the right to ‘have’ her but him. How foolish...when he thinks about it, it makes him mad at himself for viewing Rem like that. How his simple wish to be strong to protect everyone turned to complete possession of everything?

His fear.

He is scared.

He does not want to forget or be forgotten.

‘She’ made him that way.

‘She’ made Rem that way.

‘She’ put him in an endless cycle of fear and doubt.

‘She’ could have let everything the way it was, everyone was friends but ‘She’ wanted her children to be puppets.

If only they could go back to one of the old spirals, where everything was okay...alas...another one soon starts after and wipes their memories clean. 

New Game  .  .   . ?

New Cycle.

Restart the pain.

Machina was done of feeling pathetic for himself. If it is the only thing he can control in his life, at least he should do it right. For himself, and for her.

Today is her birthday and in his mind, it was probably the only good chance he will ever have to confess his feelings. He has to do it!

Well, easier said than done when his body is refusing to leave his room. Gosh...his heart is about to jump out of his chest, thinking about meeting her and saying...he...he loves her.

Alright, steady breathes. He can do it. “GAaaaaaah!!!!” why did he remember her blue stripes pants now? Commence bashing his head to the nearest wall to calm down. “Nn...that’s....she will be upset of me...I have to tell her about that too...before or after ...Damn it...”

If he kept at this it will be noon and he will ruin every chance of seeing her first in the morning. Pushing himself to open the door, Machina exists his room and head to the girls' dorm. He might die in the process because Studen President Aki might catch him but he does not care (well, he is scared but he is trying his best not to think about this.)

Sneaking inside, his heart dropped when he saw Sice coming his way and quickly opt to hide. Thankfully, she did not see her but to his chagrin, Cinque was right behind him.

“eeeehhh~ machipyon? what are you doing here?”

“AAAAAAH! C-C-Cinque?! M-me? N-nothing. Ha..ha....walking.”

“Walking in the girls' dorm~~?”

“........Yes. I’m maintaining peace.”

“Heeeeeeeeee~ Machina is a nice guy~ Cinque wants to help too! Do you think someone is trying to steal the girls’ panties?”

“P-P-Pa!”

“Pa pa pa?”

“....Nn...I feel...sick...”

“Oh no~ should I go call Deuce? she can cast some healing magic on you ~”

“NOT DEUCE! NOT! DEUCE!”

“Uwah! Machina is acting strange.”

“I-I’m not!...uugghh! just go, okay? I have...I mean I will go too.”

“...Oka~~~y. if you say so. but cinque wanted to help in kicking bad people’s ass too.” 

“thanks, i will call you when i erm fine bad people to be kicked.”

“ye~y!” she turned and walked then stopped, “y’know deuce has left her room already~ she said she was going to water the flowers in the cemetery~ byennee~”

“!!!” how did....he had a hunch that this cinque had more than she let out. So deuce is already out...he wanted to leave this message to get her somewhere where they can talk alone but that is okay too.

Machina quickly left before anyone else spot him or it will be really his death sentence. he made his way to the cemetery which he had to pass through the class and luckily no one was around because it was still early in the morning. he spotted eight who was as per usual training. sheesh...this kid is either training or training. 

He walked into the cemetery, teal eyes flickering around, trying to scan where the flutist is when she got up after watering some plants. His heart skipped a beat seeing her smile at the flowers.

Damn it, he thought to himself, left hand pressed against his chest. He cannot have cold feet now. A deep breath before he walked towards her, “H-hey...” to get her attention and not startle her.

Deuce turned around quickly when she heard the voice and a smile beamed on her features which made him freeze in his place before he shook his head, “Um...you’re early...”

“Mhm. I have to water the poor flowers or no one will.”

“That’s..awful kind of you...”

“Is...it?”

“I-I mean um..you are sure busy and stuff and...make time for them...*sigh* I admire that...”

“Hehe, they can’t water themselves, can they?--- o-oh...” she clasped her hands.

“I admire a lot of things about you...You still talk to me even though I am...a spy.”

“Machina...”

“I have something to tell you, so please, listen to me.”

“Yes, I will. Go ahead, Machina.”

“...Okay...First, I have to apologize for something before I um forget.”

“...?”

“I’m sorry! I am REALLY SORRY!” he bowed, “that day when we were on Milites land and we were climbing for the other side of the building and--”he coughed because he was talking fast, “a-ahem, I...s..s..s-s..saw your...um...underwear....I couldn’t tell you because I was scared that you might think I meant for it to happen! I swear I did not!” he was legit scared to look up but he could tell she tensed up. Deuce’s face was definitely glowing red as she held onto her skirt, pulling it down unconsciously. Great...he ruined the moment.

“I-...It is okay. Machina did not mean to...l-look. Besides, it was my idea to go first so, I know you didn’t mean to...” she was so embarrassed, probably thinking what underwear was she was wearing at that time and she is shy to ask him which one he saw. Crystal...

“D-do you forgive me...?”

“Mhm...It’s in the past.”

“...ha...ha...”

“M-Machina...?’

“...that’s a relief...” he fixed his posture, a smile curled his lips.

“U-um, is that...all?”

“...No.” he closed his eyes, took another deep breath and looked right into her eyes. Deuce felt it was even important so she took this even serious and looked him back right into his eyes. “You know that...I love Rem....”

It was evident that she momentarily flinched but kept her cool, “...yes.”

“I...thought I do. I mean, she was the only person left in my life who knows me. I clung so hard onto her because I was scared of losing her. Of losing the last person who I share memories with. When Izana died, it felt..weird and ..there is something missing in my heart. He was my brother but even now I cannot feel that ...sad to not have him. I feel angry because I cannot recall what he was to me, how we acted around each other, did he loved me? did I love him? were we good family? I...recall nothing. Rem was the only thing I can clearly remember any part of the day and it kept me going.” he paused to sigh and look up. “If it weren’t for that love, I wouldn’t be here...strange...I wouldn’t have met you...” a sad smile formed on his lips. “My love for Rem was...i don’t know if it is but it felt like...obsession more than love. I based everything in my life on her. I..I for sure made it hard for her but she never complained. She was and still a good friend. I wish if she said something about my behavior sooner...Maybe she...loves me...maybe she just petty me...but I can’t go on like this. She has the right to live her life the way she wants. I..I want to protect her but..I want to protect you more.” eyes look back at her. “*sigh* This is..going nowhere....Deuce, I love you.” he let that sink first before he continues. “I love Rem but now I see I was projecting my insecurities on her and treated her unfairly. You came in and opened my eyes. You are the reason i have the courage to stand against my fears, to stand against everything that has shackled me for years.”

Deuce was paralyzed and said nothing. Of course, she was. A confession after that long rant was a curveball.

Machina stepped closer towards her, “Deuce...will you...have me?”

[twilighteve-writes]

Blooming Gladiolus, Fall to the Ground -- Ch. 2

Summary: When Midoriya Hisashi finally comes home from years-long work outside the country, Izuku expected to have some family down time that he hadn’t ever had with him since… well, forever. Catching-up talk, maybe. Chatting while drinking coffee or eating ice cream at some fancy outdoor patio. Definitely fumbling around for an explanation about him developing a Quirk pretty much out of nowhere.

His expectations were turned upside down, because apparently, his father isn’t what he seems, and Izuku doesn’t know what to expect anymore.

What Izuku knows is that the appearance of Midoriya Hisashi triggers a domino effect that sends his whole world toppling down. And honestly, being accused of turning around and becoming a villain is just a bonus. When have life ever passed the chance to fuck him over, anyway?

Can also be read in AO3 or FF.net.

Chapter 1:  AO3 or FF.net.

“You’re going home today?”

Izuku nodded at the question Iida gave him, hoisting his backpack up. “My father’s home after going abroad for work. My mom thought we should get a family dinner, at least. I’ll be back here by tomorrow, don’t worry.”

“Wait, the shithead’s back home?” Bakugou’s question thundered from across the room. “Now, of all times?”

“Bakugou, that’s not nice!” Ashido exclaimed. “It’s impolite to say someone’s dad is a shithead!”

“Well don’t blame me for doing that! The shithead’s the one who’s been gone for years with no word to his family at all!”

“Wait, really?” Kirishima turned to Izuku. “Midoriya, is that true?”

Izuku shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t even remember what he looks like.”

Uraraka looked both disturbed and pitiful. “Are you sure you’re related to him, Deku-kun?”

“I am, according to my birth certificate,” Izuku answered with another shrug. At Uraraka’s disbelieving gaze, he sent a helpless smile. “I mean, I’m pretty sure the last time I actually saw him was when I was three. I can barely remember his face.”

“Are you sure you’re related to him, Deku-kun?” Uraraka repeated, worry lacing her voice. Izuku could only laugh awkwardly as a response and bid his friends goodbye before walking out of the school grounds.

It was nice, to be out for a family outing for once, even if he had to wear the tracking bracelet to monitor where he was so U.A could track him if anything happened. For so long, going out of school meant doing internships and heroics, and as much as he loved it things could get tiring after a while. It wasn’t often that he could actually walk around outside to take a breather, so Izuku intended to enjoy it while it lasted.

He should’ve known things wouldn’t go smoothly, though. As he exited the train station nearest to his house, he bumped into someone harshly. His eyes widened in horror when he saw that the woman he bumped into held a cup of coffee in her hand and the bump had her spilling the coffee all over her pale blue shirt – and what made Izuku felt even more guilty was the fact that not a drop had been spilled on him.

“I’m sorry!” he apologized automatically. “I didn’t mean – are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she answered blandly, looking down at her shirt as she lowered the now-empty cup of coffee. Her voice was surprisingly melodious, bell-like, and it chimed through the air prettily despite the almost deadpan tone. “I wasn’t looking, either.”

“Still… wasn’t the coffee hot? Are you hurt?” Izuku pressed.

She pressed the coffee stain until her finger met the skin through the fabric. She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t that hot. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Your shirt is ruined, though.” With a gulp, his hand reached for his pocket to take his wallet. “At least let me pay for it. Or the laundry cost.”

The stranger’s white wood eyes widened in surprise. “Oh no, please don’t,” she hurriedly shook her head. “I’m the one who’s at fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going. You don’t have to pay for anything.”

Izuku chewed his lip. As relieving as that was, considering that he didn’t have that much money to begin with, it still felt wrong to just leave her be. “Let me lend you my jacket at least, to cover the stain,” he bargained.

She opened her mouth and paused, looking down at her shirt once more, and sighed. “That would be wonderful,” she reluctantly agreed. As Izuku slipped his jacket off to offer to her, she took out her phone and asked, “Can I have your contact information, so I can give you back your jacket? I’m sure you’ll need it back.”

“Oh, sure!” Izuku rattled his phone number to her, confirmed it when she read it back to him, and gave her the jacket. She did the same with her phone number.

“What’s your name?” she asked as she slipped the jacket on.

“It’s Midoriya,” he answered. “Midoriya Izuku.”

She paused and stared at him, something akin to surprise and recognition in her eyes. “Midoriya…?”

He blinked at her and blushed. “I, um. I’m a U.A student. You probably know me from the sports festival. I know it was pretty scary; I wrecked my hands really badly.”

“That’s not – um.” She shuffled awkwardly. “Um, yes, sports festival. I think you did well enough.”

That was sort of a weird response, but Izuku was too busy being embarrassed to think about it. Instead he asked her, “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name…?”

“It’s Yuki,” she answered promptly, clearly as eager as he was to leave the topic behind. “Yuki Koemi. Um, thanks for the jacket. I’ll give you a call when I’ve gotten it washed.”

“You don’t have to – “ Izuku clamped his mouth shut. “Uh, yes, um. Thank you.”

She smiled at that, and it didn’t look awkward. “No, thank you. See you later, Midoriya-san,” she waved as she walked ahead.

“Ah – s-see you later,” Izuku nodded at her, but she was long gone, turning to enter the train station as she tossed the empty coffee cup into a trash bin.

Well. Izuku just hoped nothing would happen during the rest of the walk home. Hopefully, Mom had prepared katsudon for dinner.

There was a really specific feeling about meeting your practical boss’ kid and she was fairly sure she could find a name of it in German – because the Germans had word for pretty much everything – but Koemi sure as heck wouldn’t waste any time looking for it, especially not with a meeting looming over her head. She wasn’t about to come to a meeting late.

She’d just have to make do with the shirt. At least the jacket would do well to hide the stain.

She walked to the venue of the meeting, making sure to keep her head held high so exude an air of confidence and authority. The hostess at the front casted a dubious look at her that she covered quickly with a neutral smile, but she expected it – it was a fancy fine dining restaurant, and a cup of simple green tea could probably land her in debt. Not to mention she wasn’t exactly dressed to fit in. A combination of coffee-stained shirt, All Might jacket, knee-length skirt, and worn sneakers that wouldn’t be out of place in a dumpster didn’t exactly scream wealthy, after all.

“Welcome,” the hostess greeted. There was a glint of reluctance in her eyes, but that too was well within the expected range of skepticism. “What can I do for you?”

She flashed the hostess her most winning smile. “Well, I have an appointment with Kinjo-san. Kinjo Yutaka? He should have booked a private room.”

The hostess’ eyes widened, almost to a comical proportion, and she had to suppress a smile at it. She loved it when she managed to throw people off. The hostess cleared her throat and composed herself. “Yes – a-hem­ – he booked a private room. Two of your companions have already gotten here, although Kinjo-san himself hasn’t arrived just yet. Let me show you to the room.”

Koemi nodded at let the hostess lead her deep into the restaurant, into one of the soundproof private dining room at the back. She thanked the hostess when she opened the door for her and stepped in, looking around.

“Oh, you’re here,” her companion greeted her. He grinned brightly at her, and she blinked at him wordlessly.

“You’re dressed up,” she noted at last. “Aki, what in the world. I didn’t even know you had a suit.”

“Oh, no, I borrowed this from an acquaintance,” the man assured. He straightened the blazer he wore and preened. “I would’ve taken the tie, but I thought a casual look would suit me better.”

“Of course it does, we don’t want a repeat of that tux disaster,” her other companion chimed from one of the seats. She herself wore a black casual formal dress that made her white hair look even brighter. “Why do you dress so casually? You look so out of place here.”

“I was too lazy to get a more formal attire,” Koemi admitted. She pulled at the jacket to show the coffee stain. “Also, this. I bumped into a kid and he offered his jacket to hide the stain. Pretty sure it was the boss’ kid.”

“Midoriya Izuku?” Aki asked curiously. “How’s the kid?”

“He’s nice,” Koemi admitted. “Plain. Pretty cute for a teen.”

“Cute? Don’t tell me you’re into kids, Koemi,” Aki teased.

Koemi glared at him. “I swear to god, Aki, I’m this close to making you jump off a cliff. He’s, I don’t know, fifteen, or sixteen. Himoyo would be a better match.”

The other girl hmphed. “No thanks. I’m not into younger guys.” She glanced at the door. “By the way, I’ve been monitoring the security cameras. Looks like the client is finally here.” She reached down to the floor and unplugged the cable that trailed from her head.

Koemi nodded. Himoyo’s quirk, living computer, basically made her a human with computer-like constitution, complete with USB ports and plugs. Unfortunately, it made her vulnerable to both biological sickness and computer virus, so she had to install antivirus on herself. She had also learned to hack, if only to protect herself from some hackers and crackers who thought she was a regular computer with interesting security instead of a human being whose body also happened to double as a computer.

She sure ended up using the hacking part a lot to do a recon mission, though.

True to her words, the door opened and a man in a pressed, clearly expensive suit walked in. His hair was still thick on his head, but starting to gray. Age had etched lines into his angular face, and he stared at the three of them with calculating piercing eyes before he nodded at them. “Good evening. I apologize for coming late.”

“Don’t worry, we didn’t have to wait long,” Aki replied easily. “Can we start, Kinjo-san?”

Kinjo’s lips pressed thin. “I was under the impression that Trailblaze would be here as well.”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s here or not since our group doesn’t really have any formal hierarchy,” Aki argued. “He will be notified later. Besides, if you really want the exact hierarchy or something, Trailblaze left me in charge.”

Kinjo’s gaze seemed to wither then and there.

Aki shrugged. “Well, it’s either me or Siren, and we’re all aware that most people aren’t keen with talking with her.”

Koemi smiled sweetly. She tamped down the urge to give a witty comment, knowing that her silence was needed to build Kinjo’s trust.

Kinjo met her gaze silently before glancing to Himoyo. “And her?”

“Access is the resident tech specialist and isn’t exactly the best when it comes to socializing,” Aki explained. “Moreover, she’s young and inexperienced. Trailblaze doesn’t really trust her to handle contracts and such.”

“Also, just for the record,” Himoyo piped up, “I hold grudges and I won’t hesitate to dig up dirt on you.”

“Access, not the time,” Koemi sighed softly to her, earning a nonchalant shrug in return. None of them missed how Kinjo stiffened when Koemi spoke. She decided to lean back and keep her mouth closed, knowing full well that her voice wasn’t an asset in this situation. Rather, it was a liability.

Aki recovered quickly, thankfully, by gesturing to Himoyo. “See? She just demonstrated why Trailblaze doesn’t trust her with contracts. Anyway, point is, we’ll be fine without Trailblaze. Can we start?”

Kinjo spared him an unreadable look before smiling that annoying impossible-to-read smile all politicians seemed to have in their arsenal. “In a bit. I thought lunch before discussion would be a good idea. My treat, of course.”

Koemi made sure that her smile could convey her internal of course with as much sarcasm as possible. Kinjo glanced at her and looked away. He probably didn’t get the totally sarcastic of course, but oh well.

As Koemi expected, Kinjo purposefully ordered the most lavish and expensive dishes around. It was ridiculous, of course; there was no reason why a bunch of asparagus could cost so much, but eh. It wasn’t her money. She clapped softly and gave her thanks aloud before taking her chopsticks and picked on the asparagus. Well, alright, it did taste really good.

Koemi made sure to eat elegantly, as did Aki to a certain degree, but Himoyo had no such qualms. As soon as she offered her thanks her chopsticks flashed around the table freely and quickly, taking samples from each and every dish. She looked about ready to lick the plates clean if Aki didn’t pull on her elbow and gave a stern shake.

All the while, Kinjo stared at them with that unreadable look in his face, only it wasn’t as unreadable now. Koemi could recognize it, because she’d seen it before in the face of other bigwig people who thought they owned the world because they had much money. She smiled blandly at him and spoke at him directly for the first time, “It won’t work, you know.”

Her tone was calm, but Kinjo tensed at her voice all the same. He looked at her warily. “I beg your pardon?”

“If you plan to deter us somehow by showing that you have more cash so you could make a contract that benefit you more somehow, it won’t work,” Koemi elaborated. “You’re not the first to pull that card. We’re pretty much immune by now. So… I don’t know about you, but I think you could stop hoping we’ll turn over and show you our throats.” She pointed at Himoyo. “Also, Access? She doesn’t care how much money you just pulled out of your pocket for the lunch. For her free food is free food. If you chose to bring her the most expensive lobster, that’s on you.” Her smile turned a tad softer. “And please stop tensing whenever I speak. I promise I won’t use my quirk on you. Doing so in public would be illegal, after all.”

“We’re not exactly in public right now,” Kinjo pointed out.

“That’s true, but I’m here with my colleagues so we could establish a work contract,” Koemi said. “I’m not going to use my quirk on you. Besides, if I were, you’d have no way to stop it. Please, can we start?”

Kinjo glanced to Himoyo. “Your friend doesn’t seem to be finished.”

“She won’t stop eating until there’s nothing left to eat, so we might as well start now,” Aki shifted in his seat, pointedly ignoring how Himoyo picked one of the lobster’s feet and began sucking on it. “Trailblaze mentioned that you talked about public use of quirks?”

Kinjo’s eyes glinted. There was steel in his gaze. “Yes, about that. It’s not exactly public use of quirks. It’s more of the heroes’ use of quirks in public.”

Koemi sat back and let Aki take over the conversation. Kinjo explained everything; how heroes’ use of quirks destroyed public spaces just as much as villains’, using Mt. Lady as an example. Apparently, another politician didn’t like how heroes were wrecking things as much as villains and decided that heroes should be banned, giving the reins in dealing with villains to the police. The police should be authorized on using quirks, and any other individuals wanting to use their quirks for the society should turn to military.

It was… a lot to take in. Heroes helped upkeep the peace in society, and it was hard to believe that anyone would look at them and thought ‘nope, better get them into the army’.

Apparently, Kinjo thought the same and hoped to stop the idea from even being brought up within the political circles, and if it did get brought up it should be met with extreme disdain. He wanted them to arrange something to showcase that heroes’ use of quirks was vital while making sure the heroes wouldn’t break anything of public use.

“Why hire us?” Himoyo spoke up for the first time as she poked at the lobster’s head. “Society at large would dislike the idea already.”

“This slimy little snake is good at convincing others to see things in his perspective,” Kinjo explained. “He might be able to persuade enough people. Moreover, I’m going to admit that I’m petty and I want to see him eat dirt.”

The steel in his eyes had turned into sharp blades that threatened to cut through any obstacles in his way. It was the sort of look that screamed of quiet danger, because this man may not have a combat-oriented quirk but he knew how to make use of his resources, and he had many resources.

Aki, refusing to be one-upped, activated his quirk – probably unconsciously, by the way he grinned and looked at Kinjo with open interest. The room dimmed considerably before the light flared out again, almost blinding. Normally, whenever Aki did it, their clients showed alarm in their gaze, most of them already knowing his quirk but not expecting how dramatic he could be with it. Kinjo, however, simply blinked at him.

Koemi shared a glance with Himoyo, who had stopped picking on the lobster’s head in favor of studying Kinjo’s face. Both decided that Kinjo was probably their most interesting client so far.

After all, not many would so openly declare their contempt for their supposed coworker, not even in a controlled environment, least of all the slimy politicians who made it their business to keep things with themselves in fear of retribution.

Mom didn’t cook katsudon. She cooked nabe instead – which was kind of weird because it wasn’t even cold yet – but it looked nice and it smelled heavenly, and the miso soup practically caressed his face and whispered sweet promises of a comforting meal, and his stomach growled loud enough to wake the dead.

Dinner, however, was as awkward as Izuku had predicted, and seeing his mom smooch a practical stranger in front of his face made him stiffen and stare as he screamed internally for the stranger to move away even though he logically knew that it was his own father.

Perks of not having seen him since he was basically a toddler, he guessed.

“Is something wrong, Izu?” Hisashi asked, not unkindly, and Izuku tensed. Izu. It was a nickname he used to refer to him, and one he apparently used a lot when Izuku was a child. Still, it felt like a stranger was being overly friendly with him, and years of bullying had taught Izuku that it meant pain and ridicule even though he knew it wouldn’t happen, not in his own house, not from his… father.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” he assured instead. “Um. Wh-what did you say you were? An engineer?”

Hisashi let out a huff of laugh that made it look like he was amused by some joke Izuku wasn’t in on. “Heh. Yeah, more or less. I work for a hero support company called Shine Supports. It’s a small company, and I end up taking the mantle of the leader as well as the engineer. We got dragged to do some work in America for a while, and I guess we just got so engrossed in our work that time just flies. I’m sorry about that.”

“So… uh, you’re the boss?”

“I wouldn’t say so,” Hisashi shrugged. “It’s more a four-person job all the time and we don’t really have any clear hierarchy, but I do end up being referred to as the leader more often than not, partly because I’m the oldest.” He smiled. “The youngest in my team is only nineteen. If I ever introduced you to her, I hope you could be friends.”

A nineteen-year-old really seemed kind of intimidating, especially if she was good enough to work in a support company at that age, but Izuku nodded.

“Anyway, your mom told me you got into U.A,” Hisashi grinned, finally bringing up the subject Izuku had been dreading to approach. “That’s great for you! You’re in general studies, right?”

Izuku felt heat creeping at his face and shook his head, looking down at his plate. Next to Hisashi, Inko giggled into her hand.

“Oh, support then?”

“I’m.” Izuku gulped when he heard himself squeak and forced himself to steady. When he spoke again, his voice sounded much calmer than he actually felt. “I’m actually in heroics.”

There was a tense beat of silence, during which Izuku felt like a pin would make a sound like a gong. And then Hisashi turned to Inko, licks of flames climbing out between his lips without harm, yelling, “Inko! I asked you before, why didn’t you tell me?!”

Inko laughed freely, then. “I thought you’d want to hear it for yourself.”

“Of course I do!” Hisashi’s eyes sparkled. Then the sparkles dimmed. “Wait. Without a quirk?”

Izuku tensed. “Well, uh. It’s kind of complicated, but… basically, there was some sort of freak mutation or something. The quirk manifested really, really late.”

“How late?”

“It manifested on the day of the entrance exam.”

Hisashi stared at Izuku incredulously. Inko, having heard the story before, once again hid her giggles behind her hand and openly enjoyed how Hisashi tried to understand, to grasp and absorb the story.

Izuku ducked his head. “Like I said. Really late.”

“…wow,” Hisashi grinned, open pride in his eyes. “What’s your quirk like? Is it anything like your mom’s, or mine? Or is it a mix of both?”

Izuku swallowed his guilt and smiled. Suddenly the nabe didn’t taste so great anymore. “Ah… it’s completely different, actually. I have a strength-enhancement quirk.” He shrugged. “I’m not exactly sure how, either. Anyway, I had to learn to control it really fast, and I got some wounds at first, but now I think I’m pretty good at controlling it.”

“You broke your arm and legs quite a lot, Izuku,” Inko deadpanned, and Izuku winced.

“Well, um. I don’t anymore?”

“It’s great, though,” Hisashi said, a bright smile at his lips. “I know you’ve wanted to become a hero since you were still a little kid. Heck, you’ve prattled about being a hero since you learned how to talk! I’m glad you could go for it now.”

Izuku offered him a tentative smile, still unsure of how he should act around him. Still, it made Hisashi beam happily.

It was then that Hisashi’s phone trilled loudly, and he mumbled apologies as he stood up and answered the call. It didn’t take long. Izuku caught the word contract spoken in the conversation, as well as quickly and flashy. Soon it ended, and he turned to walk back to the table, but then his phone trilled again. He sighed as he answered the call.

This time it was even shorter. He listened, narrowed his eyes, and huffed a quiet laugh. “Explosive, huh?” he said into the phone, clear enough for Izuku to hear. He then listened again, confirmed an affirmative, and ended the call.

He returned to the table with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, that was work. We get more request here than expected.”

“Will you go abroad again after they’re all done?” Inko asked as she pushed Hisashi’s half-full bowl of rice, silently nudging him to eat more. “It gets lonely here, with Izuku at the dorms.”

Hisashi smiled apologetically. “Well, I can’t say for sure if I’ll get another request from abroad,” he began. “People tend to want our group to do our job nearer to the heroes we’re helping, since it’s more practical that way. Still, I’m going to make sure to stay here as long as I can.” His eyes glinted again, and he glanced at Izuku as if he was telling a joke no one in the room was in on except for himself. “Plus, I don’t know. We might see something really interesting around here.”

Izuku didn’t know why, but the smile Hisashi sent his way felt unsettlng.

[acoolguyscoollife]

Chapter 16: The Protege

“What’s the plan, Stan?” CG asked as he slouched against the computer that Tabitha was sat near. A grin was on his face, and for a reason I couldn’t fathom, there was one on Aki’s face too. The possibility of what the two could have done while they were by themselves crossed my mind, but quickly left. That was just a stupid idea.

“What’s gotten you two so happy?” I said, hoping to get insight into their happiness. In turn, Aki sat in one of the computer chairs and spun herself around, arms in the air.

“Aki got closure, and then I showed her the wonders of the internet.” CG said with a cock of his head and a coy smile. “Turns out, she missed out on a lot of TV while trapped underground and also in another dimension.” Aki laughed at that, stopping her spin with an outstretched leg.

“Why would anyone ever leave the house? Everything you could ever need is online!” Aki said happily, and I shot a glance towards Tabitha, who shared my disdain at CG being Aki’s current role model.

“It’s called a job, and they suck. The trick is to find something that can sustain you that isn’t a real job. Like being a writer, or a scientist in a privately-owned, self-sustaining facility with food, water and power.” Tabitha said, making me think that maybe I was the only one that actually disapproved of CG being her role model.

“Exactly!” CG waved a finger-gun towards Tabitha in agreement, before standing up straight. “But yeah, you called me over, so what’s the good news?” He added, and I glanced over at her. Seth was nowhere to be seen, and I wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not.

“Right, yes. Well, first off, let’s clear up the obvious question. I don’t know where Uchen is yet, but I’m close to finding him. Currently, Seth’s in a world that Uchen had been in, looking for whatever he can find. God knows what that’s going to be, but we’ll find out right about…” Tabitha trailed off from her rambling to glance at her watch, waiting for a few moments before a bright light practically blinded me. When it dissipated, Seth stood in front of me, looking a little disoriented, but otherwise normal. “…Now. Okay Seth, what did you get?” In response, Seth chucked her something with an underarm toss, and she caught it deftly. I stood up to see what it was, and soon enough everyone crowded around her to look at it. It was… was…

CG

It was a freaking cassette tape? Now, I’m definitely an open-minded kinda guy, but this was something else. Of all the things that Seth could have come back with, this seemed like the most useless. I had to admit though, if there was anyone that would have been enough of a hoarder to have kept a tape deck, it would have been Tabitha. Speaking of, she was looking at it with a faint smile, gently feeling the plastic with her thumb.

“It’s an old joke we had.” Tabitha said quietly, looking up at us. “What’s the most data you could put in a cassette tape?” She asked us, and I had no answer. I was sure it couldn’t have been much, they’d been out of style for a long time.

“About… maybe a few hundred kilobytes?” Seth offered, and I had no idea whether that would have been too high or low, but Tabitha chuckled either way.

“The answer…” Tabitha began, before prying her nail into the seam holding it together, pulling the tape apart. “is depends on how big the SD card inside is.” Inside the tape drive had been a smaller, concealed card. “He’s alive.” My eyebrow raised, most likely to the point where it could be seen over the lens of my sunglasses.

“Was… that something that we didn’t know?” I asked, not sure if I’d missed where she had said oh yeah, he could totally be dead.

“Well, no, we knew he was okay, just… it’s been so long. And now, I’m actually close…” Despite her looking down, the quivering in her voice told me that she was close to tears. So naturally, I did what any friend would do in this situation, and quickly changed focus. I swiped the card from her, looking for a slot on the computer to push it into, and found one quickly, slotting it in and moving Tabitha’s mouse before she could even react. The computer took a second to load the video, but soon enough, it popped up, and the man filming adjusted the camera so he could be clearly seen. His white hair reached his shoulders, but it seemed like less of a stylistic choice and more of a… forced one. His face was haggard, but still bore a warm smile, laughter lines etched on his face from what must have been years of happiness.

“Well, you found it, Williams. At this point, I’d have to say you’re way more advanced than I am, if you managed to get this far and still return.” Wallace Uchen’s voice was slightly gravelly, but otherwise easily understood. He spoke clearly and concisely, choosing his words precisely to make sure that he was clearly understood. “I would have told you to stay back, but I have the feeling you won’t listen. So instead, I’m going to do the next best thing, and warn you of what’s coming.” He moved slightly closer to the camera, which must have been propped up against something, as it shook slightly as he did so. “If you come to find me, you need to come prepared. I’m not the only one travelling worlds in here, and the person I’m following is an infinitesimally more skilled traveller than I am. For every step I make, he takes two, and he knows it.” He paused to cough; a rough, body-wracking cough that made me slightly uncomfortable to watch. It definitely didn’t sound like a healthy one, but Tabitha didn’t seem to notice. “But while he slows down, I don’t. While he rests, I move. I just wish I knew what he was resting for.” Never mind what he was saying, I just wished that I knew who Uchen was talking about. I could tell that Tabitha knew, though. She had a tell for when someone didn’t know something, and it was to act very specifically as if she did know, to avoid seeming stupid. “If you find me, prepare for whatever might come next. I don’t want to scare you, but it might not end well.” He finished, a frown creeping onto his face. “I hope to see you again soon.” Uchen said with a smile, before the footage cut off. We sat in silence for a while, all of us glancing towards Tabitha, waiting for a reaction. The one we ended up getting was… different.

“Shit!” She yelled, slamming her fist into her desk and letting fly a flurry of cursing, a lot of which I’d never even heard before. Each word was punctuated by a slam of her fist against the desk, over and over, to the point where her hand must have been injured. “I knew he would have gone looking, the old dumbass did it on purpose!” A few more curses, before she stood up. “Okay, we’re looking for him, and we’re not stopping except for… well, when we need to stop, I suppose. Get ready to jump.” She said, moving to where Seth was stood, ready to transfer herself to another world.

“Whoa whoa, hold on a second. What the hell is going on?” I asked, looking over at everyone else who was as clueless as I was. “I’m totally willing to help but I need context here.” Tabitha sighed, sitting on the edge of one of the tables that had been used for the façade of a virtual reality experience.

“Before Uchen and I met… he had another protégé. This guy, he was a prodigy, but he was insane. They kept fighting over what they wanted to do with this ability they had, since they had equal measures in making the machine in the first place. Most of what I know comes from his protégé’s notes, scrawled and barely legible, but still outstanding in terms of understanding quantum mechanics. If he had been mentally stable, he’d have probably figured out faster-than-light travel.” Tabitha paused for a moment, and I wasn’t sure whether that had been an attempt at a joke. “He’d been working on it, and if what had happened to him hadn’t happened, he’d have most likely cracked it.” She added, and I realised that it wasn’t supposed to be a joke. Once again, the circumstances that we four twenty-year-olds were in reached insane levels of amazingness. “But when Uchen refused to budge, the protégé took it upon himself to travel to somewhere else. Except, doing that without safety measures, like I’ve told you guys, ends up going bad very quickly. Without Uchen manning the tether, the protégé burned up, atomised and scattered between worlds. Or so we thought, anyway. But whatever Uchen’s found must make him think otherwise.” Tabitha stood up, and I moved closer to her, joining her and Seth in the space I knew we’d be travelling from. “He warned me to come prepared, and I have a feeling that it’s because however insane the protégé had been before, it’s been amplified tenfold.” Aki moved over to us as well, resting her hand on my shoulder.

“It’s just as well you’re not alone, right?” She said brightly. “You’ve got us by your side, and we kicked the ass of the king, so we can do anything!” Tabitha smiled at her, but her eyes behind her thick-rimmed glasses were still grim.

“As strong as we are, I have something stronger in mind. But we need to travel first.” Tabitha said, and I looked over at Amy, who was the last one to move. For a moment, she looked at her phone, but shook her head and joined us soon after. In the blink of an eye, we were in the void that I had assumed to be part of the simulation before we learned better. Now that we weren’t in our own world, Tabitha was able to wave her hand and have objects appear, floating in the air behind her head as she walked. Twenty objects in total, suspended in the air and floating behind her as she turned around.

“Mirrors?” Seth asked, being the ever-observant person that he was. Tabitha nodded, letting one float to him. “Magic mirrors. They link to other worlds. Each one links to a different world that I’ve travelled to before, allowing for quick travel without the hassle.” Tabitha said, and Amy raised her arm.

“I thought magic wasn’t real, and it was just energy.” Amy said, and Tabitha nodded, opening her mouth to explain it. Her expression changed to slight confusion, eyes glancing off to the side as she actually tried to think about how it was possible. Before the mirrors could disappear in a puff of logic, she turned back to Amy.

“It’s not really important how they work, we’ll just say it’s transferring energy from our bodies through the mirror, transporting us. But that’s not what matters here.” Four mirrors moved to each person in the void, with four staying with Tabitha. “We can all use the latent energy we have to store these in a world-between-worlds, much like what we’re in now. With a thought and a quick move of the hand like so…” Tabitha demonstrated, having her mirrors disappear from near her, and then reappear a few seconds later. “…We can store them for when we need them. You guys try it.” Aki didn’t look confident at first, attempting the gesture half-heartedly, but perked up quickly when she saw that two of her mirrors had disappeared. She must have forgotten that she’d already been able to use magic, and this was just an afterthought to her. Amy was quick to make hers disappear, as was Seth, with a slight struggle. I looked over at my own, raising my hands so they were visible. I gestured with my hand, three fingers pointing outwards as Tabitha had done, and my hands began to glow purple, the mirrors disappearing. That was… certainly different to everyone else’s magic. Nobody else had seemed to notice, though, so I didn’t bother to bring it up.

“So, what are we using them for? Quick getaways? Luring the protégé through different worlds to tire him out?” Amy asked, and Tabitha shook her head.

“We’re going to use them…” Tabitha began, while turning away from us. “…to shred the protégé into twenty pieces.”

[zenithlux]

Cadence CH 7

Catch up on the story here!

In which Roxy shows Vergil what she can really do.

Still is my soul My blood drawn cold I gain control

Oblivion - THE PRIMALS

The second Vergil stepped out of the portal, the latent demonic energy in the area snapped at him like a pack of rabid wolves unaware that he was the much more dangerous predator. He heard Roxy suck in a sharp breath, followed by a cautious coo from Aki as he hopped up onto her shoulder. “What is it?” Vergil said, genuinely curious if she felt something similar. V had some awareness of demons around him thanks to Griffon and Shadow, but a single month wasn’t enough to explore the possibilities of the familiars’ power. A decades-long connection with Aki must have given her something.

Then there was the matter of her second demon. He couldn’t sense it, but that didn’t surprise him. Familiars had no true form when contained within their pact-maker. He’d felt Nightmare at the back of his mind, but had never tried conversing with it. He wasn’t even sure if it was capable of normal speech. Maybe her’s wasn’t either. 

“There’s a lot of demons around,” She said with a frown. “More than I’m used to.” 

“Can you tell anything about them from here?”

Her look turned quizzical. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

Vergil realized he didn’t have a good response to that, as any explanation he could provide would likely give away his own demonic nature. He wasn’t sure what the right time to share that was, but the first day of an actual acquaintanceship probably wasn’t it. “We need to find Nico,” He said. Nico was smart enough to stay away from the more dangerous fights, but if the portals had caught her off guard…

He heard the van long before he saw it. And whether it was the screeching of tires, the clear panic in the echo of Nico’s voice, or his demonic sixth sense, he pulled Roxy towards himself and dashed to the side. He heard her gasp, but it was drowned out by the engine of the van as it whirled by them both. It spun to the side as it skidded, and nearly toppled over before somehow landing on all four wheels. In her wake were at least five demon corpses, including the one who’s bones cracked under the van. Roxy’s ragged, terrified breathing echoed in his ears, and her heart was beating so loudly that he could feel it as if it were his own. “What was that!?” She said. 

“Nico,” Vergil replied

“Is she crazy?”

“It’s highly probable.”

“I knew he’d save ya,” Nico said as she hopped out of the driver’s seat. “Well, I didn’t know you’d be here, but figured it would work out.” Vergil glared at her, but Nico didn’t pay him any mind. Instead, she kicked at the head of the dead empusa beneath her van three times before it dislodged from whatever had impaled it. “I haven’t heard from Nero or Dante since we got a call about this place, so I’m assuming they’re fine. But another portal opened up near here that you should be able to take out before they get back.”

Vergil wasn’t certain if that was a casual remark on how quickly he could fight, or a warning: Nero will be back soon.  “What’s causing it?” Roxy asked. 

“Not sure,” Nico said. “They might know more by now but…” 

She flinched as a series of varied shrieks echoed on the horizon. Of course, Vergil heard more than she ever could. “There’s a lot more than just demons around,” He said simply as he clicked Yamato in his hand. 

“Humans caught up in it?” Roxy said. “We could try reaching…” Her voice trailed off as a black line appeared in the air before expanding into an uneven square; a shredded portal that was nowhere near as clean as the ones Vergil could open. The demons that spilled out were the expected variety of rabble. Empusas (hell seemed to have an abundance of those)  Hell Cainas with their skeleton bodies and incredibly long scythes, and a few Hellbats with the usual chamber of explosive flames mounted on their backs. These weaklings weren’t a concern. Vergil could kill them all with a set of summoned swords if he wanted. Though that would make hiding his demonic nature a bit more difficult, so a few quick slices would have to do. 

A trio of arrows pierced the empusas first, draining their blood as they crumbled. The arrows vanished in a spark of purple light and the energy returned to Roxy’s hand. She took a deep and satisfied breath, though Vergil could see the twinge of worry in her eyes. “These bugs are always nice to see,” She said. “Easy targets. Plenty of energy to harvest. A hunter's dream.”

“They’re called Empusas,” he said.

She hummed in thought. “Not the name I would’ve given them. But sure, let’s go with that.”

“There’s plenty of books on the topic.”

“Not in any library I’ve been to recently.”

“Your father studied demons, didn’t he?”

“The important ones, sure,” She said with a dismissive wave. “I also don’t think those particular demons existed while he was still alive considering they showed up when that tree did.”

Vergil hadn’t thought of that, nor did he want to talk about that particular tree. Instead, he silently grabbed Yamato, lurched forward, cut down the Hell Cainas and shot a bat out of the air with a summoned sword from close enough that she shouldn’t see it. He slid away from the explosion, taking great care to not instinctively teleport. 

Acting human was a lot more difficult than it should have been.

“So you fight them up close and I’ll shoot down whatever I can.” Roxy said cheerfully.

He almost snapped a quick “I can handle this myself”, but bit his tongue. Sure, he could. But handling itself meant he wouldn’t get to see her other demon, and she would have used all of her energy for nothing. But not trusting himself to express that the right way, he simply nodded as more demons spilled out of the portal. This time, the empusas were replaced by the lizard-like Riots. Nothing that concerned him. He surged forward without a second thought, forcing himself to weaken what he could without outright killing them.

That too was something much more difficult than it should have been.

But Roxy kept her word. Every almost dead demon he left behind, she shot in a heartbeat. He tried his best to move on before absorbing the essence himself. However, he realized quickly that he didn’t have to worry, as her arrows drained the demons on their own. A clever evolution for Aki. Vergil wondered if it was something her father had taught the demon or something it had picked up on its own over the years. 

Once that portal vanished, Vergil was confident he had seen enough. “Check on Nico,” He said as he sheathed Yamato and scanned the area for any more spikes of energy. There were still a few demons around, but the human screams in the area were gone, and the only blood he could smell was demonic. If any humans had died, they weren’t here. 

But whatever pride he might have felt at such a thing (which wasn’t much given the simplicity of the task) dissipated the second Nero arrived.

Every time Vergil saw Nero, he was always struck by the impossibility of it all.  He really should have been Dante's son, not his. He knew from the occasional drunk conversation that Dante had considered it when they first met. (Dante being drunk, not Vergil. He'd be a corpse in the ground long before he partook of that infernal drink). His brother's escapades with women during their teenage years were far more frequent than Vergil's, seeing as he'd been with one person and Dante couldn't give him a definitive number. But Dante had joked that Vergil must not have considered any form of protection, and Vergil had been too stubborn to ask what he meant. 

Now he knew, but not through his brother. He tried to avoid his brothers smug, know-it-all grin as much as possible. 

But he and Nero were nothing alike, physicality aside. Vergil was calm and kept his thoughts mostly to himself. Nero was brash and spoke his mind. Vergil avoided most human contact whenever possible. Nero embraced it, even volunteering at the orphanage in his spare time. 

Nero had his life together. Vergil, regrettably, did not.

“What are you doing here?” Nero said as he reached for the sword on his back. Vergil wasn’t sure if that was a self-conscious decision, or if his son truly intended to fight him right now in the midst of a demon invasion.

“I am here to help,” Vergil said. “Just as you are.”

“Sure you are,” Nero said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you were the idiot who summoned all these things.”

Vergil’s eyes narrowed. “I did nothing of the sort.”

Nero snorted, rolling his eyes. “I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“You know nothing about me.”

“And whose fault is that?”

Both of ours, Vergil thought, but he stopped himself before he said it. Vergil refused to blame anyone else for his predicament, even though he didn’t think there was much else he could do. Nero seemed to take his silence as an admission of guilt and continued. “Thankfully for you, Dante already found the guy. Some old man in his basement. But don’t you dare think this makes anything better. People are dying out here and you went on a date.”

“You didn’t call me,” Vergil said. “Nico did. And it wasn’t a date. It was a meeting.”

“You were supposed to be on surveillance.”

“Wasn’t it your goal to keep me away from this part of the city to begin with?”

Nero was seething now, and Vergil was surprised one of them didn’t burst into flames. “There are portals over there too, asshole. I had to send Lady and Trish in your place.”

“How many?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes it does,” Vergil said. “As I am more than capable of dealing with the influx of portals here. A single, coincidental one over there would be a waste of my time.” It was simple logic really, but Vergil didn’t say so. 

A scream from Nico knocked them both out of the petty feud. In the distance, a pack of Riots surrounded her, stalking from all sides. Another demon, a gangly Baphomet that Vergil hadn’t seen in a long time, hovered just in front of a new portal, chanting something in an old demonic language. And while Nico scrambled for the van, Roxy stood in front of her, calm and collected. A small blue light hovered over her palm, and Vergil realized that the demons were moving much slower than they usually did. 

“Nico!” Nero shouted

“Wait,” Vergil said.

Nero’s head jerked toward him in protest, but Vergil ignored him. Roxy’s fingers twitched and the light rose just a bit higher before snapping into a new shape. An orb of ice hovered over her hand like an otherworldly snow globe called from the aether. A single glass snowflake hovered within, glittering with a swirl of light blue. It was enough to quiet Nero’s panic beside him. Even the demons consumed by a desire for human blood had gone still. Her eyes flickered to him, and her tight-lipped expression shifted to a small smirk as she looked back at the monsters before her. 

“Come forth, friend.”

Her voice was a whisper, but the air around her responded to her call.  The orb pulsed once as she raised her hand toward the sky. It lifted far above her head before it pulsed again. Shards of ice shot out from its smooth surface as its perfect form expanded into a jagged, powerful conglomerate of magic. The blue in her hair bled out, and a matching glow radiated through her clothing. An impossible flurry of snow rose from her feet, swirling upward around her body until it reached the ever-expanding orb above her. Her hair turned a deep shade of red. Her skin paled. Energy pulsed again. The demons broke from their stupor, each one charging with desperate abandon.

Vergil grabbed Nero’s arm seconds before the younger devil hunter lurched to her aid. “I said wait,” Vergil said, calm in the face of the pure rage that followed as his son tried to escape his grasp. 

“You’re just going to let them die?” He snapped.

“The situation is under control.”

“You don’t know that you fucking…”

A resounding crack silenced him. When they looked back, the orb shattered. But shards that should have gone in all directions turned to snow, and the energy alone shot the demons backward. Some shattered the moment they touched the ground. Others survived but were slow to get up. The Baphomet began mumbling its familiar shield incantation, but Vergil knew that wouldn’t save it from her.

“Kuraokami,” She said. The snow surged backward forming a tornado flurry. A massive tail with overlapping scales of ice curled out around her and slammed against the ground. Two arms twice as tall as Roxy followed, with one on either side of her. Pauldrons of white ice formed on its shoulders and talons pierced straight through the concrete. Vast wings of sharpened icicles snapped outward and the tornado dissipated. A large dragon head stretched out over her with four horns curving backward and multiple layers of ice protecting its back. Pale blue eyes snapped open and the demon roared; a haunting sound that echoed all around them even though there was nothing to contain it. 

But Vergil felt the strength behind that sound alone. An arch-demon; one far older than himself. His demon-half wasn’t intimidated, but it acknowledged the untold amount of years between them. And, given Nero’s dumbfounded expression, Vergil assumed he felt something similar, even if he didn’t know what it was. 

But Vergil… Vergil was impressed. This human woman, whose body seemed to shift between perfectly healthy and broken in the blink of an eye, had made a pact with an arch demon. And given the way its power quite literally radiated off of her, Vergil was certain this partnership had lasted far longer than he would have ever guessed without seeing it for himself. 

Now, with this ice dragon towering over them all, he realized he’d judged her far too soon. He had taken her for someone who had made a pact on a whim and was still struggling to control it. It explained the back pain and the temporary paralysis, so he hadn’t considered this second demon to be any more than an unruly mess. Aki had been a gift from her father, so surely she couldn’t have made a strong pact on her own. 

Vergil now understood how wrong his assumptions had been. She stood with pride, staring down the demons before her with the confidence of someone who had fought similar battles hundreds of times. And the way her hand drifted along the dragon’s icy scales with great fondness… She was clearly an experienced summoner, and this pact was no accident. A single month with three arguably weaker demons had nearly broken him. He couldn’t imagine what she had given up for such a beast. 

Now, Roxanna had Vergil's full attention, and he was certain she knew it.

“It is good to see you,” Roxy whispered as she glanced up at her companion. The dragon growled in response, and she laughed. “It has been a rather long nap for you, hasn’t it?” The portal across from her widened, and a new batch of demons surged outward. But her smile didn’t fade. “Destroy the source, and I’ll handle the rest.” The dragon huffed, and a puff of white snow billowed from its nostrils. Roxy shook her head. “Child’s play for you, yes?” She held her hand out and Aki vanished as the bow appeared. This time, it crackled with purple lightning, surging outward stronger than the last time he had seen her. 

I hunted yesterday, She had said. How many demons had she needed to kill to achieve this? Surely he and Dante would have heard about such an infestation. 

And how had she done that alone in what he assumed was a weakened state?

Vergil swallowed a sudden strange feeling of excitement. A part of him thought these questions shouldn’t matter. Her abilities were there for all of them to see. But he realized very quickly that he wanted to know how she had accomplished such a feat. He wanted to understand how this power of hers worked, and why her strength seemed to wax and wane at seemingly random times instead of a steady decline. 

The Baphomet’s shield appeared as Roxy threw her hand out. “Shatter!” The dragon’s head snapped forward at her call and a beam of pure ice swept through the demons. Each one turned to ice. The demon struggled, but a series of quick arrows killed them all. The essence flooded into the dragon as it fired another shot straight into the portal. Ice billowed out, swirling around the edges until only a small hole remained. Vergil heard the shrieks from the other side; one more shot would end it. But when Roxy reached for another arrow, she flinched. Her hand twitched toward her back, but she stopped and forced herself to stand up as straight as she could. “Impossible,” She muttered. “How could yesterday not have been enough?” 

A shard of ice shot out of the portal. The dragon’s tail knocked it out of the sky, and Roxy found a smaller arrow to shoot at a second. A Riot slammed into the ice, shrieking as it tossed itself into the barrier over and over again. Vergil heard the grating sounds of metal claws scratching on the surface, but it had yet to break through. But as soon as he heard Roxy’s labored breathing, he knew she couldn’t hold the dragon’s power much longer. “He’s slowed the demons inside,” Roxy said. “But I can’t close it myself.”

Vergil moved without another word, and long before Nero had the chance. The Riot’s head emerged from the hole, cracking the barrier. But when Vergil slashed across the ice, the portal snapped shut. The lizard’s head hit the ground and turned to dust. He sheathed Yamato with a satisfying click and looked to her. 

Except what he got was a very very angry Nero. 

“What was the point in waiting?” Nero said. “You risked their lives for what? Your amusement?”

Vergil’s eyebrow shot up. Did Nero truly believe he couldn’t have intervened? Or that he wasn’t ready at any point to step in? “They were fine.”

“Bullshit!” Nero said. “You didn’t have a clue what she could do.”

Now, Vergil was baffled. Wasn’t Nero the one who wanted humans to learn to fight for themselves? Or had he misunderstood Dante’s descriptions of the boy? “She is a grown woman, Nero. She’s fought demons before and wanted to do it again. Who am I to stop her?”

“Wonderful!” Nero snapped. “Let’s just risk the lives of even more humans so Ms. Ice Queen over there can summon a demon!” He paused for a moment, before glancing at her and mumbling a quiet “no offense.” She shrugged, but the pain in her eyes was more alarming than her lack of response. 

“You closed the other portals, yes?” Vergil said.

“Of course I did,” Nero said. “Because unlike you, I’m not a useless asshole.”

Vergil stared at him, fingers tightening on Yamato. He felt his jaw clench and quickly fought to bury any other reaction to his son’s words. He expected to be angry or find a reason to fight. Vergil assumed he would have something to say to such an accusation. But any response he might have had vanished before it reached his tongue. Instead, a deep stinging pain pierced right through his heart. His mind flashed to his imprisonment, and he tore his gaze away before it consumed him. He would not let Nero see his weakness. Not now. Not like this. Not when Nero already hated him, and not when Vergil didn’t know how to fix it. 

But what could he do? Nothing he said could fix this. Nothing he did…

“Vergil?”

His eyes snapped to Roxy’s as she pulled away from a very worried Nico. The dragon was gone, and her hair had returned to its light blue hue. Aki hovered toward Vergil with a concerned chirp, but Roxy whistled and the demon returned to her shoulder. And as she slowly made her way toward them - no slump, but a slight limp. Clearly in need of more demonic energy- Vergil wanted to walk away. He didn’t want the questions, nor did he know what to tell her. This was all moving too fast, even for him.

This was a mistake. He couldn’t even get along with his own son. What right did he have to make friends with someone like her? How did he dare consider pursuing this new information when he hadn’t atoned for all his past mistakes? But how did he tell her this? How did…

Then, she turned to Nero and bowed her head. Vergil froze, surprised. Nero stared at her, confused. “It was my fault,” She said. “Not his.” Nero’s eyes widened and his mouth opened to respond, but Roxy continued. “I should have been able to handle it, but I misjudged the amount of energy I was carrying.” When she lifted her head, her back spasmed, but she held herself together. In fact, Vergil was certain Nero hadn’t noticed a thing. 

“It’s not… that…” This was the first time Nero had ever looked embarrassed as far as Vergil could remember, but his anger had completely diminished. “I didn’t mean to doubt you,” He said hastily. “I mean that demon of yours is pretty cool… no pun intended,” He chuckled awkwardly.

“Come on, devil-boy!” Nico said as she dropped her arms over both his and Vergil’s shoulders. Honestly, he was more annoyed that he hadn’t noticed her move between them. “Let’s go check in on your uncle. Your old man’s got plenty to take care of himself.”

Nero frowned as he pulled himself out of Nico’s awkward, three-man hug, but he didn’t look at Vergil again. “Fine,” He said. “It was nice meeting you.” Vergil could hear his voice crack, caught between the genuine desire to be nice and his anger toward his father. He finally gave up and hopped into the passenger seat and slammed the door, flinching as he did so. 

Nico gave a dramatic sigh as she pat Vergil on the back. “You’ll take care of your Ice Queen, right V-man?” She winked at Roxy who blushed and looked away. Vergil paused, his mind drifting back to his worries. Was this… alright? Was this… fair? Should he continue on with this friendship after everything…?

He twitched when Nico quite literally smacked him upside the head. “Excuse me?” He said, glaring at her. 

“Restarting those gears in your head,” She said as she followed after Nero. “See ya later, right Rox?” 

The woman blinked before her gaze fell to the other woman. “As long as I get to drive,” She said. 

“Hell no!” Nico said with a laugh. “I’m the best driver around.”

Roxy looked like she believed that about as much as she believed she could jump to the moon. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Her small smile was genuine, at the very least. That was much better than Vergil could manage at the moment. At least the tightness in his chest was starting to ease the more he had time to breathe. And Roxy stepping toward him was… comforting. That same, interested spark returned when she stood beside him in Nico’s place, and the pain in his chest vanished completely when she met his gaze with that same confident smile.

“How do you do it?” Vergil muttered.

“I’ve had a lot of practice.”

Vergil blinked, unaware he had spoken aloud to begin with. He glanced at the van one last time, but Nero didn’t look back as Nico drove away. Vergil took a long deep breath, and he could almost hear Griffon’s voice pulsing in the back of his head. 

Ya ain’t gonna give up like that, right, my lady?

Vergil shoved the bird aside and looked back at her. “You need more essence, yes?”

She sighed. “Seems that way. Guess I miscalculated.” 

“There are some demons left behind,” Vergil said. “I can weaken them for you, but you’ll have to find the strength to kill them yourself.”

She nodded. “Lead the way.”