#hc epilogue

[ikeromantic]

A Wedding Means Goodbye

A Mitsuhide Akechi fanfiction. This scene is set well after the events of the romantic epilogue and features Mitsuhide and MC in a modern setting extended story. Approx. 2300 words.

First: Mitsuhide and the Maiden

Previous: Useful Tasks

Mitsuhide was certain that he should be nervous. This was his wedding day. The moment he pledged the rest of his life to the woman he loved. A momentous and life-changing occasion that should have put a tremor in his voice and at least a chip of ice in his gut. Yet all he felt was pleased. A peaceful sense of certainty that rose in him like the warm glow of the sun over water. 

“She’s ready for you,” Miyake called from the other side of the door. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Mitsuhide pushed it open and stepped into the hall. 

“I dunno. You nervous? Hungover?”

Mitsuhide wrinkled his nose. “Of course not.”

“Then come on.” Miyake led the way out into the small temple garden. 

As his vassal opened the door, Mitsuhide’s eyes fell on the chatelaine. His little mouse. Beloved of his heart. There had not been time to reconstruct her elaborate dress, but looking at her now he decided she didn’t need it. She was radiant in the simple blue and white sundress she’d chosen. She would be in anything, he thought. 

Then she looked up at him, her gaze catching his, and she smiled and Mitsuhide felt his heart stutter in his chest. That chip of ice he’d expected in his belly arrived and it was a boulder. How could a man like him be marrying a woman like her? He did not deserve her. If they married, he would only disappoint her . . . taint her . . . destroy the joy in her eyes . . .

“Boss.” He felt Miyake’s hand on his shoulder. “It’s gonna be fine. Come on.” Then a gentle nudge forward. 

With a tremble in his step, Mitsuhide joined his love and together they went to the shrine. The short ceremony went by in a blur and all he could remember from it was the feeling of her hand in his and the drum of his own heartbeat. Things only began to come back together afterward, when he and his little one had a moment alone.

“Are you happy?” 

Mitsuhide turned to look at his little one, and saw a glimmer of worry in her expression. “I am so happy that I don’t know what to do with it,” he admitted. 

She hugged him, burying her face in his chest. “Me too. I feel so happy that it hurts. I didn’t think we would really get married.”

“Oh? Did you imagine I would let something stop me from wedding the woman I love?” He kissed the top of her head, reveling in the feel of her in his arms. It was funny to him how good it felt to hold her right now. As if being married made the gesture different, somehow. 

“I thought you might let yourself get in the way.” She laughed softly. “Backing out at the last minute or disappearing with some vague warning that marrying you is just too dangerous.”

Mitsuhide stiffened. “Well, it is too dangerous. But I can’t dissuade you from loving me nor can I make myself give you up. So,” he tilted her chin up to look her in the eye. “It is something we will face together.” And then, to take any sting from his words, he kissed her again. Deeply and hungrily, as if he could pour some of the overwhelming affection he felt into her, but the kiss only made him feel even more. 

She pulled back, breathless. “It’s a good thing everyone else is on their way to the reception. I’m pretty sure you can’t kiss a girl like that in front of her dad.” 

“Is that a challenge, little mouse?”

“Oh god no!” She flushed to the tips of her ears. 

Mitsuhide chuckled. “Are you sure? Because I would hate to disappoint you on our first day as husband and wife.” 

She kissed his chin. “Trust me, I’m not disappointed. I like to keep these kinds of kisses private. Let’s me get away with all kinds of naughty things.” Her fingertips drew a line down his chest, stopping just below his belt buckle. 

“What’s this? Are you trying to tease me?” He leaned back against the wall as if her touch hadn’t sent jolts of pleasure singing through his limbs. They’d made love countless times and yet every time she reached for him it was like the first time. Better even. 

“Maybe . . .” Her fingers crept lower. She smiled wickedly. “Think we have time for . . . you know . . .”

Mitsuhide tried to say yes but words left him and so did all sense as she did more than just skim her fingertips across the taut fabric. It seemed they would be late to their own party, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. 

***

Sasuke spoke with the caterer with quiet authority. The waitstaff were uneasy, and no wonder. Half the attendees were Miyake’s new ‘warlords’ and then there were Mitsuhide’s trio of miscreant boys, and then there were the other guests. A collection of old school chums and fashionistas that knew the chatelaine, the parents of the bride, and some of their friends as well. It was a volatile mixture that needed only a slight imbalance to descend into disaster. 

Minoru, the chatelaine’s father, paced nervously. He kept glancing at the crowd with a grimace. 

“Sit down, dear. You aren’t going to get our baby girl here any sooner.” Youko, the bride’s mother, beckoned him to a nearby chair. 

“I can’t believe you’re so calm. After everything that’s happened . . . and now she and that fiance-”

“Husband,” Youko corrected.

“Are running late and they didn’t even call and-”

“Minoru, remember our wedding day?” She smiled up at him. 

He frowned even more fiercely. “Exactly! They could be getting up to -”

“All the things married people do. Now sit down and be quiet. I won’t have you making a fuss.”Youko pointed at the chair, and after a moment, her husband sat in it. 

Sasuke walked over after he sent the caterer off on another errand. “The party is going pretty well. I hope you don’t mind, I ordered another round of champagne for the toast later.”

“We don’t mind at all,” Youko replied. 

“Did you hear from my daughter or that man of hers?” Minoru turned his glare on the hapless ninja. 

Sasuke wished he’d packed some smokebombs to engineer a quick escape. “Not yet, sir. But I am sure Mitsuhide and your daughter will be along shortly. They probably got . . . held up. Changing into party clothes. Yes.”

The chatelaine’s father looked more unhappy the more he said. 

“I’ll just . . . oh look, I - I think the dj has a question. Bye!” Sasuke pretended he’d been summoned and got away with his skin intact. Thankfully, just as he arrived at the dj booth, he saw Mitsuhide and the chatelaine enter.

She looked so happy. Mitsuhide as well. It was strange to imagine she was the same girl who tried to save his life the night of that first wormhole. He’d spent years searching for her, training to rescue her. And she hadn’t needed a rescue at all. Funny the way things turned out. And now, they were here in their own time - but strangers to it all, just waiting to go back home to the past. 

The next storm would arrive in a few days, if his calculations were correct. It would take them back to the Sengoku. Back to the friends they’d left behind months ago. Sasuke just hoped it wasn’t too late. The attack on Azuchi, Shingen’s deteriorating health, the return of long-absent allies . . . how many things would be different? It left him feeling anxious in spite of himself. 

He pushed his worry aside. This wasn’t the moment to think about all of that. They would know soon enough anyway. Tonight was about celebrating life and love. And the unexpected. He grabbed a glass of champagne and headed toward the happy couple, eager to give them his well wishes. 

***

Miyake felt like this was his last night with his lord. It was strangely bittersweet. He’d always wanted to prove himself and be given a proper command - but he’d never imagined getting one would mean leaving behind everything he knew. Of course, it wasn’t just about the job. He looked at the two women beside him fondly. 

Kei was tall, statuesque, her arms as well-muscled as a warrior’s, and her eyes always had a glint of mischief. She was more woman than a man could handle all on her own. But Miyake had somehow caught her attention, and that of Masako. The short, round seamstress-friend of Lady Akechi. He adored Masako’s shy laughter and awkward affection just as much as he did Kei’s forward teasing. 

If he was honest with himself, those two were the real reason he’d chosen to stay and try to fix the corrupt business of these modern ‘mafia’ men. Though they had only a few short, wild months together, Miyake did not want to go back to a life without them. Nor did he want to ask them to give up everything for him. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kei turned her head to look back at him. “Please tell me you’re about to go all mushy and ask us to marry you?”

Masako clapped a hand over her mouth. “Kei! Don’t go blabbing things like that! I’ll have a heart attack.” 

Miyake chuckled and slipped an arm around Kei’s waist. “Please. We all know if someone was going to propose, it would be you, gorgeous.”

“Why not me?” Mayako frowned. 

“Because you are too adorably shy.” He slipped his other arm around her back. 

She giggled. “Maybe. But you could be wrong. Tell him, Kei.”

“Oh he could be. Never underestimate Masako. She’s tiny but fierce.” 

“Hm. You’ll have to show -” Miyake yelped as two seamstress-strong fingers pinched him. 

Masako grinned triumphantly. “Got you.” 

“So you did.” He grinned. “I’ll remember that ton- ouch!” He jumped a little as Kei pinched him too. “What was that for?”

“I can’t let Masako have all the fun.” Kei grinned. 

“Well now you’re both in for it.” Miyake resisted the urge to rub his poor ass-cheek. Those girls had strong fingers! 

***

Mitsuhide looked down at his little one’s face, reading her emotions as easily as words on a page. She’d realized something he knew before tonight. The knowledge of it was etched into her features, though she tried to cover it with a smile. 

He let her continue the charade as they thanked the line of well-wishers but when they caught a moment to themselves, he took her hand. “You can still change your mind.”

“What?” She frowned.��

“About leaving. If you really want to -”

She shook her head, dislodging a curl. “No. I mean, I know I will miss my family. My friends. Soft mattresses. Stuff in general, I guess? But . . . I really miss our friends in Azuchi too. I don’t want to abandon them.”

“Even if it means leaving all this behind? Your mother and father?”

Her eyes closed for a moment as she took a deep breath. “Yes. I thought about it a lot, these last few months. I wish there was some way to have it all - but there isn’t. And at least now I can say goodbye. I can make the choice. And I have.”

Mitsuhide felt proud of her, the way she spoke so firmly. The certainty in her posture. 

“I know what I am giving up, and I know what I’m getting. It would be a lot easier to stay here, of course. To let me father and Sasuke arrange things for us. Live like everyone else does here. Comfortable. Peaceful. But we have a duty in Azuchi. People relying on us.” She smiled as she opened her eyes again. “So don’t try to persuade me otherwise, you serpent-tongued kitsune.”

He laughed. “Me? Serpent tongued? When have I ever led you astray?”

“Don’t make me count the times.”

Mitsuhide kissed her cheek. “I just wanted to make sure you know you don’t have to pick Azuchi for me. I would stay, if that’s what you really wanted.”

“I know you would.” She squeezed his hand. “But I really want to go back.” Her gaze took in the crowd. “Sometimes, a wedding is a way to say goodbye. Even if we weren’t going 500 years in the past. We are going to live our own lives, and that means letting go.”

“Wise words, little mouse.” He’d never thought of a marriage in that way, but she was right. Even without their unique circumstance, they would be leaving one life to start a new one. Together. And that was true wherever fate took them.

Next: Home Is Where the Hugs Are

[steamclouds]

When your soon-to-be husband is a (lore-accurately sized) drow

[wildflowercryptid]

now that i've played the epilogue, i'm back on my gay shit.

[phonification]

weird hsbc adjacent ii au doodles ,,

[aspennntree]

i cooked.

[kirbyliker12]

magylour ?????!?!?!?! 😲😲😲😲😲

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Im sure he was also mending bridges with his old Pokemon team, too--especially Poliwrath

[thepanicsquid]

Shadowheart is definitely that friend that encourages everyone to stay up too late and drink too much wine….down by the river, obviously.

[wannaeatramyeon]

Word quantity: high. Word quality: low. You have been warned.

Goo Kim x Reader: School Days with Princess & the Delinquent

Chapter 10 - Please read chapter 1 first!

Index: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Epilogue

Graduation day is filled with cheers and tears from the rest of your classmates.

Students and parents mingling and celebrating together. Cliques and groups hugging and bidding goodbye to each other and hello to the next stage of their lives.

Impossibly lonely even in the sea of bodies and your forced cheer making you surlier as the hours crawl by, you leave your parents and friends to their own devices. Reject invites to parties and final hurrahs with a strained smile. 

Up on the rooftop, you sit in solitude as the sun sets.

(It’s a shame that you’ve gotten so close to Goo, because he has left a mark everywhere. All the places you frequent are filled with memories of him. You can’t escape.)

You watch the final group of stragglers leave school. Swaying and singing happily. Drunk on happiness or something stronger you don’t know and don’t care.

Maybe you should be feeling more about never seeing some of these people again, and yes, you’re thankful for your friends rallying around you in the last couple months yet your heart hangs heavy.

You think about what university will bring. New experiences, new friends, new love. It should be exciting but-

Your emotional battery is depleted. 

Continues to deplete every day as you look for a tall frame and blonde hair and a smile that only reaches their eyes when they look at you. 

A voice that cuts through the rest of the humdrum, loud and crass and a touch manic. 

Words you know you should never trust, that worms its way into your heart anyway. 

And a nickname, just for you-

‘Princess.’

It’s been months though you can hear him as clear as day.

“Princess?” A voice calls out again. Have you missed him so much you start hearing things? Are you so delirious with your sadness, about being ghosted that your mind has conjured up a perfect echo?

The bleached hair, sharp eyes behind glasses and sardonic smile moves into your line of vision.

As if he hasn’t disappeared for months, as if he just said be right back and gone away for 10 minutes. He gives you a little wave. Casual as anything. Waggling his fingers like you’re supposed to find it cute.

“Goo Kim?”

“That’s me!” he says, approaching you with a spring in his step.

You know this could never be a figment of your imagination. You could never imagine this full complexity of Goo Kim; anything your brain dreams of is just a pale imitation of the real thing. You can never fully capture the confident strut, the way his lips lifts and reveals a faint dimple, the long elegant fingers adjusting his glasses, the way the breeze catches his hair. 

You’ve thought about him so much that now seeing him with all his layers, all his charms, completely dazzles and blinds you.

Discomfort overwhelms Goo the closer he gets, finds the front harder to put up.

He’s missed you. 

Had hoped that absence didn’t make the heart grow fonder and much preferring out of sight, out of mind. 

It’s a loss he had allowed to rest and soak into his bones, thinking that that was the way to deal with these frivolous sentiments. Tried to lick his wounds and patch it up with money. Thought he had gotten used to it; could happily live with it as long as he achieved the lifestyle to match his ambition.

Goo didn’t realise exactly how much he missed you, how much his soul aches at not seeing you, hearing you, touching you until you’re standing right there.

He doesn’t know what to do with all this.

Goo stops within arms reach and you both stare. Taking each other in. A classic smirk painted on his face and disbelief on yours. 

How had you become so entangled? You were supposed to be like oil and water.

“Bastard,” is all you manage as tears spring to your eyes and nostrils burn. You avert your gaze, dropping it to the floor, ashamed at your outburst. 

That he is the same as ever, unruffled and nonchalant, and you are vulnerable and weak.

You try to quiet your sniffles by biting your lip, try to not bring your hand to your face to wipe your tears. That would make it obvious.

(Like it isn’t already.)

If you stand there and don’t make a move, don’t make a sound, then you can fade into the background, becoming invisible and Goo wouldn’t know the effect he has had on you.

A firm hand gives you an awkward pat on the head, and then with a gentleness that makes your heart hurt, pulls your body against his and into his arms.

“Who’s making you cry?” Goo makes a strained effort to inject levity and amusement into his tone to hide his own emotions “Tell me and I’ll beat them up.”

Even so, his voice cracks at the last word. 

Like a rupture of a dam, your arms come up around his neck and you let your tears flow.

“Ugh! Do you know how expensive this coat is?!” His actions don't match up to his words, just holding you tighter to him.

An unsuspecting wet laugh bubbles up and out. This is the least of what he deserves. You hope it stains and never washes out.

You wipe your eyes and rub your nose on his clothing with no remorse. 

And you know, being here in his arms, that it feels like you’re letting Goo off easy.

You have so much rage and so much mistrust that you don’t know where to start. You have so many questions and you want to demand so many answers. 

Yet him appearing in the here and now doesn’t feel like a coincidence. You can hear the clock ticking, counting down the borrowed time together.

As you rest your head on his shoulder, smelling the expensive cologne but with the undertone that is distinctly Goo, you wonder what to ask first, to say first.

You rummage through your mind, picking through your grief and heartache, searching how you can put into words the explanations you need right here right now so you don’t have to live with regret and what-ifs forever.

The buzzing in your brain quiets then disappears, and you think you’re ready.

There’s a lot you know about Goo Kim. You don’t need him to recount his feelings for you. His actions and behaviour during your brief time together make it clear.

Instead-

A bitter question that you need to resolve.

To know if you should treat this as closure and move on. Or if there is any hope.

“Is this goodbye?” 

You’re not sure if Goo can hear you, your voice thick with tears and muffled against his neck, but his body stills and you feel it.

He hums, deliberating over your words. The subtle and intimate vibrations of his throat reverberates through you too.

Goo doesn’t know.

Really. This is messy enough as it is and will only get messier. Probably too messy, too dangerous and resulting only in more heartache. For you, for him, for both.

You’ll be a weakness, a fatal soft spot that he has no use for. A flaw with bright flashing arrow heads for enemies to target.

But the need to see you today, a final farewell on your graduation overrode everything else.

(Gun only gave him a knowing glance when he announced he was taking a personal day in a tone that left no room for argument)

This visit was supposed to close a very bizarre chapter in his life. 

Post-juvie and pre-HNH.

A stop gap, a temporary distraction.

Just a last little bit of novel normalcy before Goo’s life is upturned forever. Onto much better and much bigger things.

Yet.

Here you are.

Entering in his life when he needed you the least but wanted you the most.

You.

Resembling more and more like lightning in a bottle. A once in a lifetime opportunity. Too good to pass up.  

And here Goo is.

He can’t give you up. Only a fool would do so without seeing how it plays out.

Goo doesn’t know why he’s still thinking about it.

The fact he is here at all is answer enough.

Releasing a breath, he tells you “No.” 

“No?”

“This isn’t goodbye.”

“Oh.”

You let his word, that single syllable sit with you.

Settle into your body. Grow familiar with what it means.

No.

You’re not sure if the no is for right now or for forever. You think this is good enough. You think you can live with any future heartache if you can spend more time with Goo now. 

Live in the present and all that.

“Princess?” At his questioning tone, you turn to look at him.

Goo takes in your pink nose, the tear tracks running down your cheeks, your red eyes; he sees everything he has felt for you reflected in your face.

You study his features, refamiliarising yourself. You always knew Goo Kim was handsome, but now he seems ethereal. Wearing an expression you haven’t seen before, a look in his eyes that seems wilder than ever and a face that is absolutely enamoured. 

Goo brings his hand up to wipe away the last of your tears, running it along your jaw then thumb brushing over your cheek.

“I’ve wondered about this for so long,” he murmurs, leaning close, pressing your body fully along his. Until he didn’t know where his ended and yours began.

Closer and closer he inches, until you're everything he sees, until he can only feel your breath mingling with his, until there is no space left between your lips and his.

He kisses, at first gentle and cautious, before finally pouring in all of himself.

He kisses in a way that is purely Goo Kim, a little feral, a little teasing and a lot fun.

When you both finally break apart, it clicks into place.

This is everything Goo has been searching for.

[dizzycloudzzz]

she's scolding some unlucky one

mama Willow

my silly stuff below:

today was Willow 7 day, I think if she was like this in canon it would be MANY years in the future, everyone older

I currently wear pants just like her, and I think she has the most "Willow vibe" hairstyle

drawing these discarded designs of her makes me think about the layers of the character and everything she is and could be

my plant girl

Willow 3 post

Willow 4 post

vibe that W7 gives me:

mom friend, currently acts and dresses like a mom/aunt, cool aunt Willow, good with children

lives worried, has stress problems, gives good advice, responsible, tea&coffee lover, DAMN SHE'S A MOm

so small, the smallest Willow. or the tallest, I'm not sure

still wears braids from time to time, and braids her friends

has catchphrases like "fool me once and you suffer. fool me twice and you suffer twice as much. fool my friends and you won't be alive to suffer. got it?" and the most famous "don't forget to take a coat"

passionate about accessories (makes hers) and makeup, help others with that

whenever she can wears something red in honor of Flapjack, and for sure has more than one tattoo

rebel, dye strands of hair

is a babysitter on weekends, baby demons are so cuuuute#+27-_<382$8

[sgnl---lxst]

[writergracethepanda]

*Phoebe and Silas flirting with each other yet again*  Rosalind: And you two are sure you're not dating?  Silas: 100%.  Phoebe: Of course not! Why would you think that?  Rosalind: I wonder why that possibility would even cross my mind, Phoebe. I fucking wonder.

[swordmaid]

thinking about how profound it must’ve been for shri’iia when she first received scratch’s ball (woman who has never gotten anything for free in her life ever)

[zimisnotdrifting]

I finally learned to properly draw magolor

[elfsyellowflowerzart]

the guys...

[vegetabletaxi]

Headcanon that Harry didn’t like and actively avoided ‘girly’ things as a little kid but as a teenager he’s fully embraced being girlypop.

thats a valid way of looking at it!

it is mentioned that he got his own sewing machine when he was 10 because he kept using roxy's before; so personally i like to think that he always was into stuff like that. i dont think john or roxy really gendered activities so how would he even know whats girly or not.

but i DO like to think he was a big retro gamer as a kid thanks to john and roxy, and grew up on a bunch of old earth stuff. like movies for example (he does love heathers because of course he does).

additionally in The Influencers and later in HS2 its implied roxy (even in candy) cares a lot about being able to explore your gender and stuff like that. even if she didnt do it herself i'm sure she'd urge harry anderson to be able to do so. and considering harry looked at a lot of old media from old earth, he knows how ignorant things used to be, what with homophobia and transphobia and all...

so i like to think he is a huge gender question mark as a simple fuck you to that. and ofc being able to express himself whichever way he wants. but i do also think he's a kid that doesn't know himself that well yet. he just does what he wants n that's that. he's got no label yet.