#hear that? that's my heart shattering into 50 million pieces

[slytherinshua]

BY YOUR SIDE

genre. hurt/comfort. warnings. takes place in between s1 and s2. yul is still in seoho fortress. stupid worm 👎 yul has to think about how much longer he has until he dies.... a lot. pairing. fiancé!yul x fem!reader. wc. 811. request. no. a/n. yul being in pain w the worm gives me such brainrot cause nursing trope is my fav trope and it doesn't quite count as nursing trope but ITS CLOSE ENOUGH HEHE.

“Shit— It’s happening again!?” You stood up from your seat with haste, rushing to the other side of the table where your lover sat. Yul doubled over in pain, breath irregular and aching. It happened often— ever since the day he had gotten trapped in the training center by the ice stone, he had never fully recovered. Though he tried to conceal his condition so you would not worry, he couldn’t keep it up for long. 

You were one of the few people that Seo Yul trusted without a doubt, and the only person he had ever told about his condition. He wanted to make sure that if the condition killed him, at least you knew. You spent every moment with him preciously, wanting to make use of however long you were given with him. Whether it was 50 days or 50 years, you wanted to make Yul as happy as you could. 

In front of others, Yul was forced to conceal his pain. You had watched as he kept a straight face in front of his father, mother, uncle, and household servants. It had taken quite a bit of coaxing from you to even get him to not conceal his pain from you. 

Your heart shattered into a million pieces seeing him like that; in pure agony, sweat building on his forehead, jaw clenched and eyes shut tightly as he tried to endure it. It was hard to even imagine how painful it must be— Yul barely even flinched from a stab wound. How much more painful must it be that he could barely stand?

You wrapped your arms around him tightly, your left hand finding his, “Squeeze it as hard as you need to.” You told him softly. Thankfully he complied, squeezing your hand tightly, breathing out in short cut-off gasps.

You knew you couldn’t do much— you felt helpless every time it happened. You could hold him tightly and soothe him with your words, and you hoped at least that much was enough.

You watched his breathing steady a little, and you let out a relieved sigh, knowing that the pain was subsiding. You pressed kisses to his temple until he stopped squeezing your hand. He held it gently, his strength completely exhausted.

“You’re okay. It’s okay.” The words were more of a reassurance than a fact. You knew he was not okay, nor would the pain ever stop unless there was some way to get the wretched worm out of his body. You longed to be able to take over his pain, if only for one day. Anything to let him rest.

“Thank you.” Yul uttered once he had caught his breath, letting his head fall until it rested on your bosom. You sunk your fingers into his hair, gently threading them through to relax him.

“I hate to see you in pain… I wish I could take it away from you.” You told him quietly. The moments after were always filled with a voiceless longing for things to change, from both Yul and you.

Yul straightened, shaking his head, “No. Never. It is far too painful for me to even think of you experiencing it too.” He met your gaze. You had rarely seen him look so scared and determined at the same time. “Seeing you in pain would be far worse than the pain I experience now.” You sighed, knowing you could not fight him on this. 

“You understand how I feel then…” You swallowed uncomfortably and forced a smile back on your face. Fighting with him over this, even if it was just a small disagreement, was not worth it to you. 

He reached for your hands, “I am fine now, my love. Do not trouble yourself over it too much.” He smiled at you, and you could not help but mirror it. Cupping his cheek, you leaned down until your lips connected. Hearing Yul’s contented sigh at the feeling of your soft lips, you smiled into the kiss.

Despite the agonising pain Yul experienced daily, as long as he was still able to hold you close and kiss you like this, he would do it all again without thinking. He could not lie to you and promise to be able to spend decades more by your side. He could wish for that amount of time to stay next to you— to call you his wife— but he’d be dumb to believe that he was going to live for that much longer. All he could do was vow to stay by your side for the rest of his life. Hundreds of years would still never feel like enough when it was all over. He had learned to cherish what he had while he had it. He wouldn’t let you go until he was at death’s door. That way he could die without any regret. 

↳ k-drama taglist (bolded could not be tagged): @eternalgyu,, @wolfmoonmusic,, @cha3w0n-hearts,, @tempobaekh,, @candewlsy,,

@cosmicwintr,, @blossominghunnie,, @parkjennykim,, @seunghancore,, @emmylksblog,,

@bananabubble

[jhoneybees]

: :A Bad dream: :

This is my first time writing a little! Fanfic, I really hope it didn't cross any lines! Never experienced or met anyone who is in the littlespace/babyspace community so if I missed any warnings/triggers. Please let me know!

Characters: (50s)Little! Elvis and CG!Reader

Prompt: Elvis wakes up from a nightmare and just wants comfort from his mama.

Warnings/triggers: Little space, age regression, argument, yelling

This is a Fluff fanfic, hope you enjoy and if you don't feel comfortable reading about arguments then you may skip past the first paragraph :)

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“Ugh quit being clingy, you're so annoying” you brush Elvis' hands away from your waist, making Elvis look at you in the reflection of the vanity mirror with a pout. He opens his mouth to say something but before he could you raise your hand; giving him an angry glare through the mirror. You've finally had enough. “GO AWAY!” The boy widens his eyes out of shock but not long after, he runs and locks himself in the bathroom, sobbing. Leaning his back against the door, melting down onto the tiled floor and curling into himself. He did nothing wrong, he wasn’t ever a bad boy. “I thought Mama loved me..”

“No..no..m-mama..” eyes fluttering, Elvis begins to cry in his sleep but soon wakes up. Breathing heavily as his eyes dart around the room until they land on you who's still sleeping peacefully. Choking up sobs just at the sight of you, Elvis shuffles closer to you and wraps his arms around your waist as he buries his face under your breasts which makes you wake up. “Elvis?” Your voice sleepy and groggy, you reach for the lamp on the bedside table; switching it on only to look back down to see the top of Elvis' head and feeling his body tremble against you. The sound of Elvis' sobs makes you come to your senses so you pry his arms away from around your waist “Honey? What's going on?” gently tilting his chin up to look at you, his eyes showing the scared little boy that you always adored, your eyebrows furrow and a click of a tongue follows. “Aww sweetie…” as you thumb away at his tears, Elvis sobs continue and his trembling hands try to find their way to touch your hands that are cupping his cheeks “M-mama, mama” his breathing becoming out of control.

You quickly tell him to slow down his breathing just like you taught him, frantically nodding his head and closing his eyes as he takes a deep breath. “Good boy, deep breaths baby. Deep breaths” his breathing slows down and his tears stop falling, leaving just hiccups, you gently card your fingers through his hair knowing it’ll soothe him. “What happened baby? Wanna tell Mama what happened?” You make sure your voice is quiet so it wouldn’t scare Elvis since when he’s little, it doesn’t take much for him to cry whenever he hears a loud noise he doesn’t like, especially yelling. Elvis slowly opens his eyes and nuzzles his head up against your chest. “B-ba-bad dream” nodding your head silently with a soft hum. “Baby had a bad dream? Aww darlin’ I’m sorry” Elvis sniffles softly and nuzzles even further into your chest and you adjust yourself to get more comfortable. “Do you wanna talk about it?” feeling his head move, assuming it was a nod. “M-mama yelled at Elvie… told me to go away..” Hearing your heart shatter into a million pieces, you shake your head. “Sweetie..” Elvis wraps his arms around you again and you wrap yours around his head gently. “Mama could never tell you to go away, Baby’s the most precious thing in the world” rubbing your hand in between his shoulder blades you lean down to peck the crown of his head. “ M’not a bad boy?” Elvis asks in the softest voice that makes your heart melt. “No honey, You could never be a bad boy to Mama…” Peeking over the curve of your breasts looking up at you, Elvis’ blue eyes sparkle and you break into a genuine smile. “Love baby too much to live without him” You state. With smiling eyes, Elvis giggles “I love you mama”...”I love you baby”.

[stephstars08]

The Only Exception

River Phoenix x Reader

Warnings: Some Adult Language, Angst, Fluff, Mention of Messy Divorce, Mention of Fighting, Abandonment, Mention of Sexual Activities, Daddy Issues, and Possible Grammar Errors (Sorry if I Forgot Any!!)

Summary: Growing up Y/N’s mother always told her that there is no such thing as true love and for a long time Y/N believed her mother. Well, until she met a blonde haired boy named River Phoenix.

Song Inspiration: The Only Exception by Paramore

Word Count: 1,451

Author’s Note: This is my first River Phoenix story. I know there aren’t a lot of River Phoenix stories on here and some people wanted me to write for him so I finally did! I’ve been wanting to write a story based off this song forever since it’s been one of my favorite songs ever since I was a little girl so I definitely suggest listening to the song before reading! I hope you all enjoy!🩵

Y/N is from a small town in Ohio but moved to California after she turned eighteen and has now lived there for almost two years. The reason why Y/N left Ohio was because of the bad memories that were made there. Y/N doesn’t just come from a single broken home, she comes from two broken homes.

When Y/N was just four years old her parents split up from a marriage that wasn’t filled with love. The only reason why her parents got married was because her mom got pregnant with her. Y/N would constantly hear her parents yell and scream at one another. Sometimes she would hear glass and furniture slamming against the walls and shattering.

When they finally divorced Y/N thought things would get better but they didn’t. In the beginning of the divorce Y/N lived with both of her parents separately. One week she would be living with her mom and then the next week with her dad but that didn’t last long. When she turned ten her father remarried and started another family. He wanted nothing to do with her or her mother. He just cared for his new wife and kids.

Y/N’s mother never remarried because of the heartbreak Y/N’s fathers caused not just her but Y/N as well. As Y/N grew up her mom would always tell to never fall in love because love doesn’t exist. All love does is crush you into a million pieces and most of Y/N’s life she believed what her mother said to her was true. There is no such thing as true love.

Well, she thought that until she met the one and only River Phoenix.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

It was an early Friday morning and Y/N just started her shift at the 50’s style diner she works at. As she was cleaning off the counter she would glance up at the glass doors from time to time. “You on the look out for your boyfriend?” She heard a voice say. When Y/N looked over she saw her best friend/co worker Lori looking at her with a teasing look in her green eyes. “He’s not my boyfriend.” Y/N told her in a stern tone. “But you want him to be your boyfriend.” Lori said to her. Y/N just stayed silent.

Yes, what Lori just said was very true but Y/N doesn’t feel like she’s ready to admit it out loud.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes.” Lori told her and walked into the back where the kitchen is. Y/N let out a heavy sigh and went back to wiping down the counter.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

A couple of hours passed when River finally walked through the glass doors with the same couple of friends he always comes in with. Y/N was waiting on a couple and their three children at the counter so she didn’t notice River had showed up. When she walked over to the cash register to put the money the customers gave her was when her Y/E/C eyes met River’s memorizing ones.

Y/N just shook it off and opened the cash register to put the money in it. As she waited for the receipt to print she could feel River’s strong gaze on her. That strong gaze he has always makes her feel like her heart is going to beat out of her fucking chest. That’s the effect River has on her.

“Here comes your boyfriend.” She heard Lori whisper into her ear as she walked behind her to the coffee machine. Before Y/N could say anything back at Lori she heard River say her name. There he is. The man that is making her doubt what her mother always told her.

“Sorry to bother you while you’re working but I need to talk to you about something.” River told her. “It’s okay. You could never bother me.” Y/N told him in a reassuring tone in her voice. “What do you need to talk about?” Y/N asked him with curious in her voice. “Are you and Lori doing anything tonight?” River asked her. Y/N answered his question with a shake of the head. “My guys and I are having a party on the beach tonight and we would love it for you two to come.” River told her. Before Y/N could say anything Lori appeared behind Y/N. “We’ll be there!” Lori told River with an exciting smile on her face. “Cool, party starts at seven.” River said as his lips curved into a smirk. “See you tonight.” River added and turned back around to walk back to the table where is friends are sitting.

“Lori! What the fuck was that?” Y/N said with a hiss as she looked at her with a glare in her eyes. “What? What did I do?” Lori asked with confusion in her tone. “You know how I feel about parties.” Y/N reminded her with frustration in her voice. “Y/N, this is your chance with River.” Lori told her. “I know you two are crazy about one another. Sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone to get with the boy you like.” Lori explained to her.

Y/N knew that Lori again was one hundred percent right. “Okay.” Y/N told her with a nod. “That’s my girl.” Lori said giving her a pat on the shoulder. Lori walked away back over to the coffee maker. Y/N let out a sigh as she grabbed the receipt out of the printer of the cash register.

Y/N glanced over at River. He was laughing at something on of his friends said. Y/N couldn’t help but put on a soft smile. She looked away and walked over to the family she was waiting on.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

When Y/N arrived at the party with Lori she could feel her nerves start to pace. There is a lot more people at the party than she thought. As the night went on, Y/N would mingle around with Lori but once she started to talking to this one guy, she forgot all about Y/N.

Y/N decided to go sit down in the sand by herself a little bit away from the loud crowd of people. As she sat there she watched the waves crash on the shore line in front of her. “Hey.” She heard a familiar voice say to her. When she looked up she saw that the voice belonged to River. “Hi.” Y/N said in a soft voice. “Can I sit with you?” River asked her in a curious tone. After Y/N answered his question with a nod he bent down and sat right down next to her. Y/N could feel the butterflies in her stomach go into a frenzy.

“Where did Lori go?” River asked her. “Probably fucking with the random guy she ditched me for.” Y/N told him with annoyance as she stared out at the ocean. “Does she always ditch you to go fuck with a random guy?” River asked her which made her let out a sigh in frustration. “Pretty much. That’s why I don’t like coming to parties.” Y/N told him.

A comforting silence fell between the two as they both looked out at the beautiful blue water.

“What are you hiding from me?” River asked her breaking the silence. That question took Y/N by surprise. “What?” Y/N asked with confusion looking over at him. “I don’t know about you but I can feel something between us but when I go to make a move I feel like you shut your feelings away from me.” River explained to her looking at her with softness in his eyes. “When it comes to love, I caution myself.” Y/N told him. “May I ask why?” River asked her.

Y/N looked back out at the water. This will be the first time she’s told someone about her childhood. “Growing up, my mom always told me that love doesn’t exist and it’s just a shit show that breaks you down.” Y/N told him. “But?” River said sensing that there is more. “I recently made one exception.” Y/N told him still not looking at his strong gaze.

River used one of his hands to her chin to move her head towards him so that they were looking at each other in the eyes. “What is that exception?” River asked as his eyes locked onto hers. “You.” Y/N answered in a soft tone.

River moved his hand from her chin to one of her cheeks. Y/N leaned into his touch as his thumb gently stroked her cheek. River leaned in and connected his lips with her’s. As Y/N kissed him back she felt like she was on cloud nine.

Thanks to a boy named River, she believes that there is such a thing called true love.

[wintryscorner]

miss wintry!! i would love jamikali + 50 from the touching prompts 😔💗

50: putting a hand over the other's mouth to shut them up

pairing: jamil/kalim

rating: t

He thinks he’s found a good hiding spot in one of the guest rooms; that is, until he opens the large wooden doors of the closet doors to find Jamil between a set of coat hangers. Kalim opens his mouth to say his name, only to be yanked inside when the tiny footsteps of his cousin resound from around the corner. Jamil closes the doors, engulfing the both of them in darkness, and before Kalim can even think of making a noise, Jamil’s hand covers his mouth.

“Be quiet,” he whispers, and Kalim stills completely, waiting until his cousin walks out of the room again.

She had insisted on playing hide and seek with him and his sibling. Obviously, Kalim immediately said yes - and got Jamil to play as well, though he seemed visibly less enthusiastic about it.

Now, the weight of Jamil's warm, calloused hand is pressing against his lips, while Kalim clings onto the front of his kameez to steady himself within the small space they're in. The small space that keeps getting smaller the longer his chest is less than an inch away from being pressed against Jamil's. He can't see anything within the pitch black, but the lack of sight only makes him more aware of how close he is. It's been so long since he's touched him he forgot what it's like. The sensation of Jamil's palm, his long fingers, makes the hairs on his skin rise with thrilling anticipation, the shivers almost, almost making his knees buckle. 

Kalim looks up and tries to imagine what Jamil looks like right now. He thinks about the line between his brows when he's displeased, how his eyes remind him of steel, how Kalim loves every bit of attention he gets from him even when Jamil is absolutely fed up with him, and how all he wants is to just be close, as close as he can be to him. Would he push him away if he let himself fall into his arms?

"What are you looking at?" Jamil suddenly says, and Kalim nearly bumps his head into his jaw. The pressure and warmth of Jamil's hand leaves his mouth.

"I was just- Just waiting for Salma to leave," he says, letting out an awkward laugh. "I didn't know you were able to see in the dark, that's so cool!"

"I can't. You're just too obvious in all of your actions for me not to notice when you’re creepily staring at me."

Kalim deflates, somehow feeling like he should've expected an answer like that from him. "I just didn't expect to run into you here. And did you really have to cover my mouth like that? I wasn't saying anything!"

"Knowing you and that empty head of yours, you were definitely going to say something and get both of us caught immediately," Jamil cuts him off, and Kalim feels him shifting forward. "Or what, would you prefer if I shut you up with my mouth instead?"

His heart pounds so loudly in his ears he feels like Jamil can hear it. "Yes," Kalim blurts out, even before he processes the implication behind Jamil's words and his own anwer. Heat spreads through his chest, up his neck and to his face, and he's somehow grateful that he can't see Jamil - that Jamil can't see him. When he finally speaks after what feels like months, the mirth in his voice makes Kalim's stomach jitter.

"You have no idea how ridiculous you are, do you, Kalim?" Jamil says softly, in an odd mix of both exasperation and amusement that Kalim can't wait to hear more of, only to have their private space shatter into a million pieces when the doors of the closet open wide. The light peers in, and the first thing he sees before he turns around is Jamil's blank expression. 

"Found you!" Salma exclaims with a toothy grin. "I was hiding around the corner the whole time!"

"Oh no, we've been had," Jamil puts his hands up in a defensive motion, his features smoothed out into his usual polite disposition when talking to one of Kalim’s relatives. "And here I thought I'd found a good hiding spot. I guess we’re no match to Salma’s outstanding foresight." He brushes past Kalim without so much as glancing at him and smiles at his cousin, who is beaming in response. “Scarabia would love to have you.” 

There’s a deep pit in his stomach, a coldness from the sudden distance Kalim dreads so much. He grins at Salma and rubs her head. “Yeah, we were barely gone before you found us! Great job in finding us so quickly, Salma!”

When she runs out of the room to find his siblings, Jamil has already left and Kalim is by himself again, wishing for just one more minute, just a bit more time inside that closet.

[dawnmon]

Foolish Tommy Lore Transcript

Title says it lol, on May 6th they did lore that I transcribed at the time; the whole stream is great but I only transcribed the lore bit just for funsies, regardless of if it already exists. If it does, welp; I promise this is my own typed out thing that took an hour or so lol

Copy pasted from a google doc; whole 2.2k word transcript beneath the cut: 

*Text*: Sound effects *Laughs* *Sighs* *Pickle sounds*

(Text): Actions, descriptions, or lulls (Pause) (Long Pause) (Looks away) (Loudly)

/Text: Overlapping lines

Pickle: Pickle.

https://youtu.be/Djy6uPtIKiE 

Starts at 2:52:50

Foolish: I am a rich man, Tommy. 

Tommy: Well, cool. I’m not.

Foolish: *Laughs* You’re wearing full Netherite armor. Well, besides the iron boots.

Tommy: Well I borrowed from Tubbo, so I could go and fight Dream.

(Pause)

Foolish: ...Oh, how’d that go? (Pause) ...Wait, you fought Dream?

Tommy: …*Frustrated sigh*

Tommy: (Heading to the Pickle) Do you hear that, do you hear that?!

Foolish: N-No no, no, nono, no no no, that is an important question!

Tommy: Do you hear that?!

Foolish: That is an important question!

Tommy: *Pickle sound effect* Ayyy! /Amen brother, amen! 

Foolish: /No no, bad, no, shut up Pickle!

Foolish: What do you mean, you fought Dream?

Tommy (Quietly): ...W-Well, y’know… you’ve seen Wilbur, haven’t you?

Foolish: No, no, actually. Well, actually, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Ghostbur…. Probably, like, a few weeks ago. Lovely guy, I like Ghostbur.

(Long pause, Tommy looks down at the floor)

Foolish: Do you need Pickle time? You seem upset.

Tommy: Nope. We just mine.

Foolish: Just mine? Okay! Okay..

Tommy: *Long sigh* … Ghostbur’s, um, Ghostbur’s not here anymore.

Foolish: Oh, did he pack up? Move out? Got bored? He seemed like a free spirit.

Tommy: Yeah, he moved out, um, to this little train station, far away. There’s a little train station, you know, right near the world border. There’s a little train station. 

Foolish: Oh, well that’s cool! I wanna see that sometime. (Pause) ...I was thinking about building a train myself, actually, I was gonna call it The Hype Train. 

Tommy: ...That’s really cringe.

Foolish: Well, I-I disagree, That depends on your definition of cringe. 

Tommy: You hit it, the nail on the head.

Foolish: No, I disagree, I-

Tommy: There’s a little, um, there’s a little train station, out near the world border, and Ghostbur went, but he left Friend. 

Foolish: He left Friend?

Tommy: But we’ll get Friend to him soon. 

Foolish: Oh.

Tommy: Because then he’ll be happy. ...But no, um, Ghostbur left, and I, I went to prison, to go and….

Tommy: (Pause) How much can you… take, Foolish? 

Foolish: Take? What do you mean?

Tommy: Blood. Blood. Does that upset you?

Foolish: Uuum, mm, see, okay, okay, I-I don’t really, do that anymore. I haven’t killed a soul since being here. I don’t really do killing.

Tommy: (Slightly shaky) Ouh...well, um. I went to go and kill Dream, Foolish, you see, you know he killed me, don’t you? /And uh-

Foolish: /Yeah, I’m aware that- Wait, speaking of which, h- I never really asked you, you know, I knew it was kind of a touchy subject… How exactly are you back?

(Long silence. They stare at each other.)

Foolish: Okay, okay, maybe wrong question, wrong question…. Y’know, one step at a time…

Tommy: Alright, I don’t really feel comfortable talking about that with you, Foolish, /if I’m honest.

Foolish: /Okay, okay, no, fair enough,

Tommy: But, um…. *coughs* No.

Foolish: So, you fought Dream?

Tommy: Yeah.

Foolish: Recently? 

Tommy: Well, I tried to, and then Wilbur, uh, was revived, he was revived, and he came back, uuuh, and now he’s… I don’t know where he’s gone, (Energetically) but all I know is I’m proving that bitch wrong, ay?!

Foolish: Wait, what do you mean-

Tommy: Because he told me, he told me I’m weak! He told me I couldn’t even lift… lift my whole weight, six-foot-three, and now, I’m, what I’m doing is I’m going and I’m picking up all this stone to prove him, I’m gonna get it and I’m gonna fucken go “Yeah, bitch!”

Foolish: You’re… gathering stone… wait okay, I have so many questions, but we'll just stick to one question at a time…. You’re gathering stone… to prove that, you’re a…a man? 

Tommy: Well, I already know I’m a man, just to, fucken prove him wrong. And I need to, uh-

Foolish: That you can… gather stone? 

Tommy: (Pause, quieter) Well, y-yeah. Fuckin’, I don’t know how to speak to you, man. 

Foolish: I don’t really see how this solves the problem…?

Tommy: Well, it doesn’t solve the problem, it’s preventing the problem, Foolish, alright? Have you noticed that all the problems come, the-they don’t get solved, do they, alright? It ends up with some madman screaming he’s solved it, alright, and now he’s- and then look at ‘im, alright, now he’s taken away everyone's favorite man. Ghostbur, alright? Problems don’t really get solved on this server.

Foolish: No, no, yeah, I-I suppose you’re right….

Tommy: Yeah. /Well, that’s what I’m doing- 

Foolish: /Well, how do we go about changing that? By gathering stone?

Tommy: No! Well, what I’m doing, my friend, is preventing the problem. Before it gets out of hand, like it did before, alright? *Sigh*

Foolish: So… Wilbur’s back… Uumm, okay, yep, I’ll just- I’ll- I’m not even gonna ask how he’s back, that’s-that’s a question for another day-- and you’re here, just, you’re trying to stop him? You don’t- You don’t like that he’s back? I- Weren’t you guys friends at some point? 

Tommy: Listen. Listen, alright. /Come over here Foolish,

Foolish: /I’m still a little fuzzy on everything,

Tommy: Let me-Let me show you something, alright? You-You’re still very new ‘round here, /I’m not really sure... what you are, but, come over here, alright? 

Foolish: /Yeah yeah yeah.

Tommy: (Leads him to L’manberg) You see this? L’manberg. 

Foolish: Oh yeah, I’ve heard this before.

Tommy: This was mine and Wilbur’s na- It was Wilbur’s nation, (shakily) it was Wilbur’s, which makes it all the more heart-wrenching, alright? And he decided, that even, *sigh* and he doesn’t mean this, but even though at the time--when we made this?--it was to get away from Dream, because Dream, wouldn’t let us do what we wanted to. He told us that we had to live under his big, iron fist, but we went “No, Dream, that’s not fair, is it?” alright, you don’t think that’s fair, do you Foolish? 

Foolish: No, no, /so you were a couple revolutionaries...revolutionists, basically.

Tommy: /We can’t- People want to do what they want. So we made this nation, yeah, we made a nation, and it was glorious, and it was amazing! People challenged it, sure, but we got through it! 

Tommy: *Heavy sigh* And then to try and con--you really don’t know the story?-- /and then to try and consolidate our power... we held an election. 

Foolish: /I mean...yeah.

Tommy: Now… *Sigh*

Foolish: Oh man, you’re saying there used to government here? Oof.

Tommy: Now, the problem with an election is it kinda puts all your life on the line, which can be good, if you’re confident, but perhaps we were a little overconfident… and because of that, Foolish, well, we, um…. We lost! To the hands of JSchlatt, right here, actually, right about here is where we lost. 

Foolish: Oh. 

Tommy: And Schlatt banished us. Now, we were okay, when- I was okay, when we were banished, and I knew that we’d get it back, that we’d talk about it, right, as you said, peace is the option.

Foolish: Mhm.

Tommy: ...But here’s the thing, Foolish. Wilbur didn’t want to do anymore talking, he’d given up with that, because some people aren’t strong enough, alright, some people stop talking. 

Tommy: ...You know the phrase “treat others how you’d want to be treated”, Foolish? /That’s a really important phrase.

Foolish: /Yeah! Yeah (nods)

Tommy: And people hear it, you hear your teachers say it, you hear it when you’re young, people don’t ever listen to it, “treat others how you’d want to be treated”. Wilbur disregarded that rule. He decided that... he wanted to be treated poorly, so he’d treat everyone else poorly.

Foolish: Why do you think that? 

Tommy: *Sigh* Honestly, I…. Sometimes I don’t know, myself. (Pause). But this block here, (Gestures to TNT at Wilbur’s shrine), he used this and he blew up L’manberg and...shattered it into a million pieces. Now, Wilbur, he was a good man, he is a good man, deep inside him, alright? /But he’s been a-

Foolish: /So you’re saying there’s still redemption for him? 

Tommy: Well, he’s been a good man deep inside him, but he’s been a bad guy for a very, very long time. And I know that there’s still good in him, there’s still good in everyone, really, Foolish, even if they are all assholes, and wankers, and… but-

Foolish: Do you believe in second chances? 

Tommy: No, I don’t. I don’t really believe in second chances, I don’t- that’s not really a thing for me, Foolish, it’s just that… *sigh*...I believe everyone’s got a little bit of good in them. And I know that Wilbur had good in him, alright, so I won’t g-

Foolish: You said “had”?

Tommy:...Yeah, he did, because when we made this nation- although now he seems to claim- he claimed to me, Foolish, that the nation (slams fists on irl desk) we built together! *Shaky inhale* ...He claimed that it was all just a ruse for power. Now, I think that Wilbur’s just being a bad guy, alright, and that’s okay, we’re all bad guys, everyone messes up, it’s- you learn the most from your mistakes. He’s made so many mistakes, so many that have hurt so many people, but, what this is gonna be about isn’t giving him a second chance, isn't giving him a third chance, it’s not about chances, Foolish! It’s about making sure you don’t give up on the people you care about. So I know you’re still really new to this server, and I know you’ve built lots of things, 

Foolish: (Nods) Yeah, yeah,

Tommy: So I know if you really care about someone, do not give up on them, Foolish, don’t give up on people, alright? /Because that’s how you lose.

Foolish: /You know, Tommy, I think I had you wrong. I think I had you wrong.

(They leave L’manberg)

Tommy: Oh, I don’t know what that means. 

Foolish: Well I just, y’know, you’re a little more...mature than I thought you would be. I thought you were just a loud, obnoxious, y’know what I mean, do-what-you-want, y’know, a couple muggings here and there, but no, maybe there’s more to you than meets the eye.

Tommy: Well, I still do that, obviously, because it’s funny. And it’s fun-

Foolish: Well, *Laughs nervously* Nah, I mean- I understand…. But maybe there’s more to you, Tommy, than I thought. 

Tommy: Thanks, I guess. (Begrudgingly) ..Maybe there’s more to you, too.

Foolish: Oh, there’s so much….

Tommy: Okay.

Foolish: Do you consider yourself to be the good guy or the bad guy? 

Tommy: ...That really depends who you ask, doesn’t it, you know? If you ask Dream, he’d say I’m- he’d say I’m his little- I’m his little play- (shakily) his little toy, that he plays with, y’know? It doesn’t… 

Tommy: *Inhale* Foolish, honestly, I used to consider myself the “good guy”, y’know, the fucken second in command, going around and going “yeah, let’s do this!” yeah, but recently… these past….

Tommy: …*Shaky breath* (Quietly) These past 6 months, or so, Foolish, everything got so much harder than it was before, but, because before it was just “us fighting the bad guys!” but it was also clear, y’know, it was all so clear,

Foolish: Yeah, nothing muddy,

Tommy: But it’s not been clear for so long, alright? It wasn’t “these are the bad guys, these are the good guys,” now it’s, “he’s doing this, and that makes him a bit worse, that makes him a bit-”, it all got so fucking complicated, so… I don’t know. It depends on who you ask, but… *sigh*

Foolish:  I dunno, it all seems strange, cause, just hearing from others, and y’know, learning a little bit, it seems like you’ve been… the hero, you’ve been, the villain, the conqueror, the savior, and even now I still have no idea what you exactly are. 

Tommy: Well, that’s up to you to decide, isn’t it? I’m just a… I dunno, these days Foolish, I’m a little weaker than I used to be. I’m not who I want to be, but… *long sigh*

Foolish: I’m gonna be honest with you, Tommy, that’s the same case for me as well. 

Tommy: Oh, really? 

Foolish: Yeah, yeah yeah yeah

Tommy: Here’s the thing, Foolish, unlike you, I don’t really have a choice. I have to try and be who I want to be, ‘cause if I don’t… very bad things are going to happen on this server. And now Wilbur’s back, Foolish, I can’t… quite frankly, no one can risk that. So I don’t really have a choice. I’ll just keep on mining, I’ll and keep on pogchamping. 

Foolish: You’re just gonna pog through the pain? 

Tommy: I try to, and then Twitch deleted the Pog emote.

(They talk about Pogchamp and Lore Man for the rest of the stream [a very funny bit])

Ends at 3:03:23

[aka-ashi-keiji]

“i can’t hear you”

Bakugou Katsuki x best friend reader

soft angst

tw: screaming, emotional meltdown.

short fic about bakugou and you’re his childhood best friend, and you help him through dealing with his hearing loss. enjoy lovies.

*******************************************************

You woke up to the sound of your mother knocking on your door and yelling, “y/n wake up, you have training today with katsuki. i love that boy but i am not in the mood to deal with his explosive attitude over you being late .” You lived right next door to katsuki all your life and since your moms were best friends, you guys were best friends since you learned how to walk. Every saturday you guys would train from 8 AM to noon in his garage since it was basically a mini gym, and then after you both would head over to your house. You checked the time on your phone on the bedside table and it read 7:50. “SHIT MOM WHY DIDN’T YOU WAKE ME UP SOONER” you yelled as you jumped out of bed and quickly found a black tank top and grey sweatpants to train in. You could hear your mom chuckling as she walked away from your door. You grabbed your headphones, phone, water bottle, and Nike’s before yelling a goodbye and dashing over to Katsuki’s front yard. 

You knocked on his door four times so that his family knew it was you. You were halfway through slipping your shoes on when Mitsuki answered. She yawned and pulled you into a side hug. “Good morning y/n, you hungry?” She asked as she closed the door behind you guys and started towards the kitchen. “No thanks Mitsuki, I don’t like to train on a full stomach. My mom is making a huge lunch though, you guys are welcome to join us.” You said cheerfully, but kept your voice low since it was very early and you could tell Katsuki’s mom was still half asleep. She nodded and then whipped her head to face you wearing a look on her face as if she had just remembered something very important. “Kat has been very on edge lately and not very responsive this week.” She paused before starting again and turned her gaze to the floor, almost as if she didn’t want to talk. “I think it might have to do with his hearing. He won’t admit it, but I think his quirk is finally starting to affect him. Good thing we put him in those sign language classes as a precaution.” she laughed dryly and then turned back to look at you. “Just, take it easy him with the teasing today okay? and maybe try speaking a little louder. I’ll go see if he’s ready” and with that she gathered herself up the stairs and disappeared. 

You thought silently as you waited, and all of a sudden it made sense. Lately at school bakugou has been yelling more than usual, and telling everyone to speak louder. Maybe he was yelling more to be able to hear himself? You didn’t know. Bakugou has been learning sign language since he was 7 years old as a precaution for this and has been regularly signing while he talks since he was 10. So, bakugou using his sign language all the time wasn’t uncommon, but maybe Mitsuki was right. You made a mental note not to say anything until you actually noticed a big change in your guys’ training. You waited patiently for about another 10 minutes before Katsuki finally came downstairs. 

“Hey idiot, nice outfit.” Katsuki greeted you in his groggy morning voice, his hands signing his words lazily. You looked down at the tank top and sweatpants you were wearing and looked back to him, you both were wearing the same exact thing. “Morning pom pom” you greeted back as you gathered your things and started to head towards the garage. You turned around to see bakugou staring into nothing, so you called out. “Hey kat, you coming?” No response. You repeated yourself, but this time loud enough you were sure you woke his dad. He whipped his head towards you and nodded before following along. As you were walking down the hall, you turned to him and asked, “You okay?” while signing your words. Katsuki looked down at your hands and his cheeks started to dust with the lightest shade of pink. He huffed and his red eyes sparked as he just growled out a ‘yeah’ and walked ahead of you into the garage, starting to set up for your session. You yourself had picked up sign language at a young age because your dad was deaf because his quirk was being able to shoot sonic booms from his hands. you pressed the button to open the garage door and let some light in. You then walked over to the speakers and plugged your phone in as you hit play on your playlist specifically for training days. Bakugou stopped setting up the bench press station and yelled, “Can you turn it up? “ as he signed quickly, but then went back to putting the weights together. You turned back to the speaker only to be surprised since the volume was already almost at max capacity. You shook your head and turned the volume all the way up. This session should be interesting. 

It was around 9:30 AM at this point and you and Kat had finished weights and went on a 2 mile run. You were currently sitting on the floor stretching your quads as the loud techno music boomed around you. You glanced over at katsuki who was stretching on the other side of the garage and he seemed to be in a whole other universe. You called out to him, but he didn’t do so much as flinch. You picked yourself up off the floor and slowly walked towards him. You called a few more times and still got nothing from him, so you decided to turn off the music. As soon as you did Katsuki’s head shot up and his eyes darted towards you. “What the hell was that for dipshit? We’re gonna start sparring soon, we need it.” He said/yelled at you while you sauntered over to him and took a seat about a foot away from his now steaming body. You wiped the sweat from your forehead with the back of your arm before talking to katsuki, well you didn’t exactly talk with your voice, you were mostly signing. “Katsuki are you sure you’re okay? You’re not responding when I call out for you.” You waited for his response as his eyes stayed on your hands that were once moving. This time he answered, but for some reason he didn’t sign. “If I tell you, you can’t tell a single soul you hear me dumbass? Not even my parents. “ You nodded your head and gently reach over to squeeze his hand four times, your guys’ way of saying I promise. He then began to talk, and signed very aggressively as he did so, and what he said was enough to shatter you into a million pieces. 

 “I’ve been struggling in a way lately,” he started, “I tried to cover it up by just yelling all the time hoping people would just think it was my normal behavior. But, really it was so i could he hear myself.” Katsuki let out a long breath and you could see his hands slightly shaking. “It started out last week as just a slight ringing, but it got louder every damn day. But, this week the ringing got quieter, and eventually everything around me started to sound like I was underwater. “ He looked up at you and your breath hitched, tears rolled down katsuki’s face as he held eye contact. He shook out his hands and took another shakey breath before he began, “I- I can barely hear you y/n! And its so frusturating.” the volume of his voice was rising, and you could see the pain he was feeling through his eyes and the tears that were now dripping down to his shirt. “I can’t hear your fucking voice damnit! It’s the only one that doesn’t drive me up fucking walls.  it terrifies me!” He was screaming at this point as his hands worked through the air to express his words. The tears came at a much quicker pace once he had stopped to breathe, and those tear turned into sobs as he curled in on himself. He tucked his knees to his chest and ducked his head into his arms as they wrapped around his legs. His shoulders and back shook as he cried, and for a moment you didn’t know what to do. You haven’t seen Katsuki cry since you both were 8 years old and he was playing with his quirk and accidently blasted your arm. He started crying as soon as he heard you wail in pain, and the lecture from his mother didn’t help in the slightest. You subconsciously reached up to rest your hand on the scar as you tried to think of what you could say to him.

 Katsuki leveled his head and looked up at you, and slowly reached his hand out, still crying quietly. For a second you didn’t know what he meant, but it soon clicked in your head and you took his hand in yours. you looked at him with teary eyes and signed, “How can i help?” He untucked his legs from his chest and moved closer to you. Then, before you could even register what was happening, Katsuki had his arms around your waist with his head on your shoulder. You froze, it had been quite some time since either of you had needed a hug like this. once your shock had subsided, you brought your hands to rest on his upper back and rubbed soothingly. He began to cry again, which then led to sobs just like they had before. You began to talk, whispering variations of ‘I’m here’ and ‘You don’t have to be scared’, only to remember that he probably can’t hear you. Seeing katsuki as vulnerable as this broke your heart, and single tear fell from your face. Katsuki could feel your jaw muscles moving against the side of his face, so he knew you were talking, but he couldn’t hear you. “I- i- i- I can’t hear! I can’t hear you! Y/n I can’t hear you, fix it please, please I hate this so much!” He screamed into your shoulder which luckily muffled it enough to not draw any attention from the neighbors. He gripped onto your waist tighter as he breathed long and hard breaths. “I’m so scared. I’m terrified of losing you.” He whispered. This had confused you so you gently placed your hands on his shoulders and put a bit of distance between you guys so he could see you signing. “What do you mean you’re gonna lose me? I’m not going anywhere.” You said and waited for his response. He brought his trembling hands up to start signing and began, “I’m scared that if i can’t hear you, I won’t hear you calling me for help when you’re in danger. What kind of hero am I if i can’t even save my best friend?” You took one of his hands in yours and began to sign with your other. “You’re gonna be okay, We’re both gonna get you through this. I know you, and you don’t take shit from no one. And I know damn well you’re not gonna let a little hearing loss get in the way of beating deku.” He laughed slightly at the last statement, and seeing his small smile was like the world coming off of your shoulders. “We’ll take you to the doctor, they’ll help you.” He shook his head at that and his angry glowering returned. “It’s not anything to be embarrassed about. And I’m sure your parents would do anything to help you become the hero you want to be.” You finished your monologue and squeezed his hand four times, promising him you’re not going anywhere. He smiled down at his hand and then brought his other one up to sign, “I love you shithead” and you signed back, “Yeah I know, I love you too Kat”.

 He began to stand up and Katsuki pulled you up with him.  He immediately pulled you into the tightest bear hug possible. No one knew, but Katsuki was the biggest hugger, and it was your favorite thing about him. You released your arms from his waist and he released his hold around your shoulders. You took the sides on his face in your hands, and pointed to your lips as a signal to read your words. He nodded his head, and in a volume Katsuki couldn’t hear, you said, “I can hear you, I can hear you.”. He nodded and smiled the most genuine smile you’d seen out of him in years. “You ready?” he signed, and you answered “for what?”. He smirked and was quiet for a few seconds before shoving you to the side a little and running off towards your house. “Race you!” he yelled, “First one there, is your mom’s favorite you loser.” Kat called again. You smiled and shook your head as you sprinted off after him, remembering this is the Katsuki that will be the #1 hero someday. 

***************************************🌸

[snowflakeanimelover]

Do you think that things would turn out very differently if Naruto never drank the spolit milk and got caught up in the toilet...if Naruto heard and saw Sakura badmouthing him to Sasuke. I guess that poor Naruto's heart would probably shatter in a million pieces to hear his crush talking about him that way...Naruto pulls pranks and puts on a goofy personality to hide what really hurts deep inside...things would probably turn out differently...Naruto would probably respect her space but would probably be unhappy for a while...(and team seven notices his different attitude..)..

Then yet again, it would probably drive the Naruto series in a whole different direction.

Honestly, things probably wouldn't have changed much if Naruto didn't drink the spoiled milk. I feel like the creator(Can't remember his name) would have found a way, either way, to make it hard on Naruto. Not in a bad way, obviously, but Naruto is just prone to having bad luck with people, I guess.

Naruto has already heard a lot of people talk bad about him, and he knows Sakura doesn't like him. Sasuke, as well. But that doesn't stop him from liking Sakura and being a pain to Sasuke to one up him. I mean, yeah, he would probably feel upset about it, but it's nothing new for him. He'd get over it quickly and possibly be the same, or somewhat back off from her. It's 50/50 on that.

And, if what you say were to happen instead of my theory, I feel like not much would have changed. He would be more mature and be more active on his responsibilities but would have easily gotten over that whole situation and move on. After all, his main goal is to be Hokage, not to get the girl ;)

[gabriel-gabdiel]

Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword Chapter 57: Living Sin (Part 9)

Hiei does his best to take care of Usui Uonuma, who’s gunning for his Jagan. In turn, Yusuke deals with his old behemoth of an enemy who was once merely B-Class in power level.

Kenshin in turn deals with an enemy from his past with the assistance of one of the Spirit World ferry-girls.

Credit for the pictures goes to Ozzy Oz da Vyrus. 

The original source of this idea comes from Chad Yang. I continued his story idea found here.

The rest of the chapters of my Yuyu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin crossover fan fiction are available here and here. Enjoy.

First | Previous | Next

Up above the Okushiri Military Base....

The flying fortress made of solidified reiatsu (spiritual pressure or pressurized spirit energy) care of the Quest-Class powers of Detective Daiji Matsudaira (the reincarnation of Aoshi Shinomori) landed on the helipad of the base, startling the soldiers there.

Yahiko had earlier requested Botan to fly even higher up than the flying castle with purple beams of light shooting out of it in order to get the drop on the structure.

Literally.

From 50 kilometers above the earth, Yahiko descended straight towards the moving castle, its concentrated jaki beams dissipating against the ghostly human missile and his neutralizing reiki.

He first skydived from the ferry-girl's oar (much to her surprise and chagrin) up in the stratosphere and did his imitation of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu's "RYU TSUI SEN! (DRAGON HAMMER FLASH!)" for starters.

The impact then cracked the topmost outer shell of the dense fortress.

A trickle of reiatsu leaked off of the spiritual construct, like scattering fireflies in the night.

He then did one of his own Revisal Techniques of the Kamiya Kasshin School, named, "DOU GAMI! (GOD ON EARTH!)", which rocked the castle further at its core and spread cracks all over its very foundations.

Daiji's solidified reiatsu then turned into a shower of outright sparks, the solidified energy sublimating and ionizing into pure spirit energy.

Finally, the Tokyo Samurai Spirit executed a "TEN GAMI! (GOD IN HEAVEN!)" that started the downward spiral of the moving building, the cracks turning into outright crags and debris as the teenaged ghost got jettisoned high above even the stratosphere, reaching instead all the way to the mesosphere.

He reached a height about 70 kilometers or 43 miles away from earth.

The young samurai kid drove the Onmyouji's prison that whole distance from heaven to earth with a sky-cleaving, earth-shattering strike, or at least a strike powerful enough to send cloudy shockwaves behind them as they broke through the speed barrier.  

"INGA GAMI! (KARMIC GOD!)"

Yahiko's first of two ultimate attacks had enough jaki-neutralizing power to push that huge pillar right into the middle of the military base like a meteorite. A shooting star.

The sublime mix of reiki (spirit energy) and jaki (negative energy) then ionized into their base forms, the kenki (swordsman energy) that bound them fading away into the ether.

All of these forms of energy were neutralized by Yahiko's own strange spirit energy. His own reiatsu or unique mixture of reiki and kenki.

His strike from his self-made sakabatou (Kenshin's reverse-edged sword that Yahiko manifested using his reiki) was powerful enough to warp time and space itself. Like a blunt version of the Jigen Tou.

Only a single helipad-sized spire of the formerly huge fortress was left by the time it crash-landed unto the base.

***

Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword

A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho Crossover Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Original Concept by Chad Yang

The Kenshingumi will now take care of their loose ends before fighting the final boss of this arc. This battle is about to explode! FIGHT!

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and Studio Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallop, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted materials that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 57: Living Sin (Part 9)

***

Back at Kitaoimisaki Park...

Usui Uonuma shook his head. The newbie member of the New Ten Swords, Kuronue, was outwitted by the legendary demon fox Youko Kurama as well.

If you wanted something done right, do it yourself.

Amidst the burned shadows and silhouettes that were once Kuronue stood Usui, his previously broken Tinbe practically whole now.

With it now capable of withstanding the heat and impact of multiple Jaou-En-Satsu Kokuryuha (Dragons of Darkness Flames) from Jaganshi (Evil Eye User) Hiei, the black serpentine flames were unable to affect the turtle shell one way or another.

But Uonuma knew that Jaganshi Hiei had one more ace up his sleeve. The Chojin's spies had briefed him about the fire demon and his ability to absorb the power of the fiery dragon beings unto himself.

As expected, Hiei boosted his speed and power tremendously by absorbing the flame dragons of the Kokuryuha right into his body, his youki (demon energy) rising to astonishing levels. To S-Level and beyond.

Under the old Reikai rules, Hiei's presence there would've been considered outright illegal. A demon that powerful shouldn't be in the Ningenkai (Human World).

A demon that powerful was on par with one of the Chojin's Ten Swords.

'So this demon's name is Hiei, huh?' thought the blind man, waxing nostalgic. That was also the name of the mountain where the old Juppon Gatana (Ten Swords) stronghold was.

What a curious demon. He had the speed of Souiro "Heaven Sword" Seta and the strength (or even firepower) of Makoto Shishio.

If Usui could conquer this strong demon, then he'd get one more step closer to standing as equals with the Youkiri (Demon-Slayer) Tenro.

To sit at the right hand of an unborn god. To be able to challenge an unborn god and become one himself.

Nah, perhaps that last one was still a bridge too far for him. But this, defeating the fire demon, wasn't.

The dragons roared and gnawed against the Tinbe but like a mountain standing above the earth with a crown of clouds, it wouldn't yield.

His Tinbe then reformed completely, but there was a gap the size of a sword slash right on its upper top left corner.

That was where Hiei focused his attack, sticking the tip of his Jaou-En-Satsu Ken (Sword of Darkness Flame) right into it, forcing its way in.

Hiei learned a lot from Kurama's little trick earlier with the Demon World Moss. This time around, the jaganshi found a weak point before the shield was able to fully heal or reconstitute itself.

Hiei's aura of youki and black flames flared to life, increasing the pressure on that one little crack, like a pressure cooker about to burst.

More cracks appeared on the shield as the pressure built up further and further. It reached the boiling point and then went beyond it. Through this one weakness, Hiei was able to focus his demonic energies and bust through.

The Tinbe cracked apart in twain and then into a million pieces, and from there Hiei released all of the Dragons of Darkness Flame unto Usui's hapless form.

However, that was actually a ruse.

The blind swordsman and spearman had actually activated a second illusion from Jine Udo's Jagan as Hiei attacked with the full power of the Kokuryuha inside of him, knowing full well that his Tinbe wasn't complete yet.

However, by making Hiei dream that he had broken the false Tinbe, this bought Usui enough time to completely manifest his real Tinbe with the small crack or gap finally filled in.

It was this shield that stopped the Dragons of Darkness Flame cold.

Usui baited Hiei into wasting his one shot at him and it worked. Hook, line, and sinker.

Every last one of the flame dragons crashed uselessly against the reinforced and complete Tinbe, like the waves of the ocean crashing against the sea wall or dam. The tides turned but the wall remained unperturbed.

Hiei's Jagan was now his...!

However, as Uonuma began his counter Rochin stab with the intension of pinning both Hiei and Kurama into the nearest wall like twin butterflies, something felt amiss.

His body then literally fell apart into tiny pieces of meat cubes, red mist spraying all around him.

Usui was able to seal the crack on his Tinbe, but the gap of time he needed to do his counterstrike was all Hiei required to strike back.

In that fraction of a fraction of a second, the super-powered fire demon slashed at him at the rate of a hundred times per second. Or more.

Before Usui could block one strike with his shield. Or counter with a thrown spear to the heart or face.  Or even activate Jine's Jagan at the last second and create another illusion to fool Hiei with.

Moving faster than his sensitive hearing could detect. Or predict.

Moving faster than his mind could fathom.

Moving faster than sound itself.

***

About a hundred years ago, around the 1870s, inside Shishio's hidden fortress within Mount Hiei...

From out of the blue, Usui Uonuma asked Makoto Shishio a simple question.

"Between the Ten Ken (Heaven Sword) and myself, who is more powerful?" he had asked out of whimsy. "Who would win in a fight?"

Shishio chuckled, swirling the wine inside his wineglass as he considered Uonuma's unusual query. He decided to humor his former hitokiri (manslayer) rival.

"You can keep up with Sou-kun's speed up until he uses the Shun Ten Satsu (Instant Heaven Kill), which is him using both battoujutsu (sword-drawing techniques) and the Shukuchi (Reduced Earth) at the same time. If you're able to disable him before that, then you will win."

"Shun Ten Satsu, huh?" repeated Usui. "Why do you think that?"

Makoto drunk his drink in one shot and then gave the glass back to his courtesan and lover, Yumi Komagata.

"It's simple. You can counter anything you can hear, smell, sense, and react to, right? Sou-kun's Shun Ten Satsu is faster than sound. Your Shingan won't even hear him coming."

***

Back in 1993, at Mount Kannon...

Kenshin Himura sighed as he trudged on foot back to Mt. Kannon within the Hidaka Mountain Range of Hokkaido.

He had Kazuma Kuwabara place him near the mountain care of the trusty Jigen Tou (Dimension Sword).

Like in the case of the battle at Mount Kamui, Mount Kannon was outside of Okushiri.

Kenshin had absorbed enough spirit energy from all the Reikai Tantei (Spirit Detectives) earlier to manifest himself and his spiritual body on his own, without being wielded by any of them.

Although he was kind of curious what sort of powers would manifest if his sword were held by the likes of Yahiko Myojin, Natsuki Shinkai, Likka Ikumi, or Daiji Matsudaira.

Perhaps another time, they'd find out.

Most of the energy he soaked up came from Yusuke Urameshi, in fact. It should last him until the rest of the battle.

The fact that Yusuke's reiki was that immense was both reassuring and worrying.

Reassuring in that they had the big guns against the Shin Juppon Gatana (New Ten Swords) this time around. Worrying in that he wasn't sure if it was Rando's Kugai (World of Suffering) curse or Urameshi's own developing powers that led him to have this surplus of energy.

Without all those multiple seals that held back his power, Yusuke might still suffer from power incontinence. He might still be unable to control his full immeasurable strength.

Regardless, Himura had other concerns to deal with. He was busy taking care of this Chinese warrior earlier, who wounded him in battle that made it difficult for him to save Hajime Saito from Feng Xinhai's schemes and Toguro Ani's attempt at possession.

A Chinese warrior that ended up related to him and his dark past after all.

The stranger with white hair and crazed eyes that Kenshin fought was no stranger to him after all. He remembered who the man was.

The man's name was Enishi Yukishiro, all grown up. The younger brother of Kenshin's ex-wife, Tomoe.

Since Tomoe was Kenshin's ex-wife, that made Enishi his brother-in-law. A brother-in-law with a century-old grudge regarding Kenshin's (accidental) murder of Tomoe Himura (nee Yukishiro).

"...Tell me, Battousai. Is my sister smiling down on you from heaven?" so said Tomoe's brother, Enishi.

Enishi had somehow ended up in the Heisei Era and got himself mixed up in Kenshin's current affairs. Himura could've almost sworn that his brother-in-law had died back in the Bakumatsu.

The younger brother of Tomoe was one of many unsettled debts Kenshin left when he died fighting against Makoto Shishio back at Mount Hiei.

In their first meeting in a hundred years, Enishi even gave Kenshin the same wound that ultimately killed Tomoe.

Meanwhile, as Himura neared where he previously defeated the martial artist, the cross-shaped scar on his cheek flared with a twinge of pain. No, actually the cuts felt as painful and fresh to him as the first time they were made.

The scar somehow ached even more than the much deeper laceration on his chest that still hadn't fully healed.

Like a paper cut that microscopically tore through skin and thousands of nerve endings like a jagged handsaw.

As though Enishi's very presence had reactivated Tomoe's curse on him. The curse of the cross-shaped scar.

***

At the helipad of the Okushiri Military Base...

"Get the HELL out of THERE! Sadojima Houji!" beckoned Yahiko as he sheathed his sakabatou while Botan herself swooped down from above then behind him.

He further chided, "That strike wasn't enough to take you down, right? No, you still have the Chojin's powers inside you, you dirty rat. Of course that wasn't enough!"

"You're being too loud, Yahiko! You're bothering the military people!" was what Botan resisted herself from saying, inwardly reminding the Kaoru inside her, 'He's supposed to be loud, you silly goose! The Chojin and his forces are invading Okushiri, remember? If not Hokkaido altogether!'

The aforementioned military base had long ago been put on high alert ever since supernatural beings started attacking different parts of the island at once.

Many of their deployed teams didn't return to the base hours after deployment.

"Stand aside, kid!" one of the soldiers said, who in Yahiko's eyes should've looked more shocked at seeing the seeming U.F.O. land in the middle of their base. "Civilians aren't allowed in here. This is now official military business!"

Another private attempted to grab hold of Myojin, only for him to slip his grasp. The teenaged version of Yahiko willed his ghostly self to become incorporeal.

The Jieitai or JSDF (Japanese Self-Defense Forces) then surrounded what was left of Daiji's solidified reiatsu structure, their guns cocked and ready to go.

What remained of Matsudaira's seal broke apart like a hatching egg.

And from there came forth the Onmyouji (Occult Priest) in all his glory, wearing a mix of a business suit with an occultist robe serving as his overcoat. The true right-hand man of the Overfiend.

With purple glowing eyes and a miasmic aura that flowed all over his body like thick black and crimson smoke from a smoldering flame, Houji spoke in askance.

"Why do you want to fight me, Myojin Yahiko? Do you bear a grudge against me? Do you hate me from the bottom of your heart?"

Yahiko was taken aback by the question. "W-What...?"

"Right now, you have no such hate in your heart," said Houji the Onmyouji. "You're fighting out of a sense of duty to your friends. To your idol, Himura Battousai. Otherwise, you'd have no such quarrel against me."

Or perhaps Sadojima was merely acting as the representative speaker to one other person.

Perhaps Myojin was actually talking to the Chojin (Overfiend) himself. The mastermind behind all these resurrected baddies from the Meiji Era to the Heisei Era.

Just who the hell was the Chojin anyway? Was he Makoto Shishio? Or someone else entirely?

The Onmyouji's ghoulish shikigami (familiars) with their tattered robes and sharp scythes flew at the gathered soldiers, who fired at them to no avail.

"STOP!" screamed both Yahiko and Botan at the familiars prior to the massacre that was about to take place.

None of the military men stood a chance against these supernatural beings.

***

Back in Hokkaido, far away from Okushiri, at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

Kenshin witnessed Enishi's strength firsthand.

The Chinese warrior had become so powerful he drove Himura Battousai himself from the forests of Okushiri all the way to a whole separate mountain range in Hokkaido, miles away from the island.

By pure willpower and hatred, Enishi grew strong enough to give pause to even the powered-up version of Battousai that had his own magical Demon Sword.

The Overfiend had indeed prepared for every last contingency. He was every bit as cunning as Youko Kurama himself.

Earlier, Kenshin's chest actually got hit by Enishi Yukishiro's ultimate attack, the Kofuku Zetsu Tou Sei or Kofuku Zettousei (Crouching Tiger Severing Sword Rush), as a counter to the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash).

Kenshin was also distracted by the fact that Tomoe's brother managed to find him a century later to enact his rightful revenge. His Jinchu.

That was why he was defeated by a technique Enishi must've trained over and over again to counter all sorts of battoujutsu strikes, including the ultimate one devised for the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.

Luckily, instead of doing the follow-up strike that would've also missed, Kenshin had the foresight to do a more powerful version of the Dou Ryu Sen on the ground that was enhanced by the vortex created by the succession technique.

This last-minute creative counter was what initially buried Enishi right into the heart of Mt. Kannon.

Regardless, Kenshin arrived back at his earlier starting point.

By Himura's estimation, only he or maybe Yusuke could take Yukishiro out one-on-one. Enishi should not be allowed to join forces with the rest of the Shin Ju.

***

Yahiko manifested his neutralizing reiki and kenki all over the military base with a sparkling blue and yellow light that blended together and formed a green glow. This then warded off the raggedy evil spirits that served as the Onmyouji's shikigami.

It was his own form of spirit pressure. His spirit energy interacted with his swordsman presence in a way that sealed or canceled out the spiritual power of his opponents.

Botan, in turn, flickered back and forth between her original shinigami (death goddess) form and Kaoru Kamiya's form as she saved the soldiers from being reaped by Houji's soul reapers by using her floating boat oar like a bokken (wooden sword) or naginata (glaive).

The two Kamiya Kasshin Ryu practitioners made short work of the familiars before they could take one life of the JSDF military corps.

"Please evacuate from here. You're no match against them," explained Botan to one of the soldiers before swatting multiple weakened shikigami away with her weaponized boat paddle.

One of Myojin's shikigami-dissipating swings swiped mere inches away from Houji's face, creating a thin cut over the bridge of his nose.

"Swinging a sword mindlessly at someone out of hatred is just violence. Kenshin taught me that," said Yahiko. "My duty as the Son of Tokyo Samurai is to defeat you. That is all. I'll even stake my life on it."

Sadojima smirked. "So be it. Samurai-san."

From behind Houji teleported the ever-reliable Gatekeeper Itsuki.

Yahiko turned towards the blue-haired shinigami and told her, "Quick, call Boke (Moron) and tell him to come here right now."

"Boke...?" trailed off Botan.

"KUWABARA! Kuwabara Kazuma! We need him here now! If he needs healing, heal him up as well! He and his space sword are the only ones who can take on that green-haired yoga guy and his goddamn portals!"

"All right! I'll call him! Jeez," said Botan, who turned on her communicator.

"Language, Yahiko!" reprimanded the Kaoru inside her in turn.

Afterwards, Itsuki summoned a multitude of warp gates, this time rectangular and doorway-shaped instead of circular and hole-shaped.

Inside each dimensional door was either the corpse (as well as ashes) or unconscious body of the many different Shin Juppon Gatana members.

It was through these gates that the Occult Priest blasted his purple beams of negative energy. Before, they served as destructive pillars of neon plasma. Now, they were probably used to give the killed or otherwise heavily injured Shin Ju another lease on life.

"Oh no," said Botan. "Not again. He's not going to revive all the New Ten again, is he? Jeez, we just defeated those goons! Learn how to stay down and give up!"

The shining eyes of Houji the Onmyouji then dimmed and faded away, replaced with his actual normal eyes.

"Ah, you returned. The snotty little brat. How does it feel to go back to zero after all the effort you've spent killing the Shin Ju? Like Sisyphus and his rock, right?"

The boisterous nature of the Chojin's conduit had returned. Houji was seemingly awakened from his brief slumber earlier, when he actually sounded "cool" and "aloof" for a hot minute.

"Hey," said Yahiko. "What happened to you earlier? You weren't the one talking, were you?"

Houji raised an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. It was the Chojin who talked to us back then, right?" asked Myojin. "Tell it to me straight: The Chojin is Shishio Makoto, isn't he? Of course, he is! Who else would start a war against the Spirit World with a team called the New Ten Swords? No one but him!"

The necromancer chuckled. "That's a... secret."

With a grunt, the samurai teen jumped and attacked the Chojin's right-hand man with a downward slash from the Jodan-no-Kamae (Fire Stance), which was then blocked by Houji's scythe.

They crossed blades, their different energies clashing against each other as arcs of lightning ripped through everywhere like light-filled cracks that broke through reality itself.

Houji's lack of formal training with his weapon was rendered moot due to his seemingly oceanic flow of negative energy that gave his simple block the weight of the world. Or at least the huge water pressure of the ocean depths.

However, regardless, the beams of purple plasma emanating from the dark priest flickered and wavered as it interacted with the reiatsu of Yahiko.

"That's it! You can do it, Yahiko!" said the Kaoru within Botan. "Show them why I consider you the number one pupil of the Kamiya Kasshin School!"

"Can you really do it, boy?" asked Houji, smirking. "Can you seal away the overflowing, overwhelming power of the Chojin himself? The Living Sin?"

The dimensional doors leading to the Shin Ju were then shut down. Or rather, slashed shut.

Gatekeeper Itsuki chuckled, his slashed eye that doubled as a dimensional portal opening. "He's here."

Sure enough, in one of the doors, the jaki beam was slashed in twain, the negative energy cut down by the spiritual might of the Jigen Tou.

It was from this door that Kazuma Kuwabara emerged, the transparent ghost of a recovering Sanosuke Sagara beside hiim.

"You called, Jo-chan (Missy)?" said Sano.

"YOSHA! (HELL YEAH!) Let's get this party started, samurai boy!" shouted Kazuma, the rambunctious teenager with bleached orange hair similarly styled like his best friend Yusuke Urameshi's hair.

***

And so there he was. Buried deep underneath Mt. Kannon itself like Son Goku the Monkey King from the literary masterpiece, "Journey to the West".

The rumbling inside the grumbling mountain roared deeper and harder. Like it was about to explode and turn into a volcano.

"...BATTOUSAI!" screamed Tomoe Yukishiro's little brother Enishi from underneath Kannon Mountain, spewing hot fire along with the brimstone and magma he was surrounded in.

His spectacles had long ago been lost or burned to smoke and ash by molten rock. The rest of his outfit remained intact though, probably protected by his body's significant aura.

Yukishiro crawled out of the hot magma pits of hell, or at least the otherwise dormant mountain in an explosion of fire, smoke, molten rock, and lava flow that scarred and burned the surrounding forest.

The singes and burns on Enishi's (literally) piping hot body, however, started healing right before Kenshin's eyes.

Not quite at the level of instantaneous regeneration as the Elder Toguro, but quick enough to survive a trip down a volcano and live to tell the tale. Still too quick compared to a normal mortal though.

Besides which, he wasn't supposed to only be burned from the fires of a river of magma anyway. It must've taken thousands of degrees of heat to even leave him slightly scalded at all.

His humongous amount of spirit energy kept him from suffering life-threatening injury. The same way Hiei or Yusuke would've survived such a predicament.

The red-hot blade of the Chinese-styled warrior didn't quite reach its melting point but it cooled down from the sheer blast of miasmic spirit energy from him.

If allowed to run rampant like the rest of the Ten Swords, Yukishiro could very well murder every last one of them. The Reikai Tantei, the Kenshingumi, and the Oniwabanshu.

All of them could die. This high-level martial artist could do what at least 8 of the 10 Shin Ju couldn't. He was a one-man army. He was like their Hajime Saito. A true wild card of sorts.

Kenshin foresaw it all through the Youtou Shinnoken.

The last thing Yahiko and the rest of the Reikai Senshi (Spirit World Warriors) needed right now while battling the Onmyouji and the Chojin's wealth of negative energy was a spanner in the works like Enishi.

***

The powers of most of the reincarnations or ghosts from the Meiji Era—most of Kenshin's comrades—were a result of how their spirit energy interacted with their swordsman energy or fighting spirit, creating what was known as reiatsu.

With Daiji Matsudaira (Aoshi Shinomori's reincarnation), it was the Quest-Class manifestation of objects and materials from his spirit energy.

With Natsuki Shinkai (Yutaro Tsukayama's reincarnation), it was the ability to manipulate kinetic momentum or acceleration, usually in the form of reflection or deflection.

With Likka Ikumi (Misao Makimachi's reincarnation), it was her skill to manifest her thoughts into reality, creating visual mirages or even holographic illusions seen by all.

With Sanosuke Sagara's soul, it was his pure fighting spirit that allowed his ghost to approach Regent-Class regeneration abilities, stamina, and pure brute force that allowed him to affect the physical plain like a rampaging poltergeist.

With Kaoru Kamiya's soul, it was a mix between Botan's soul reaper powers and Kaoru's past swordsmanship skills that allowed them to heal, boost, replenish, bind, manipulate, or otherwise enhance the spirit energy within them or of those around them.

With Kenshin Himura's soul, he became one with the Demon Sword, a demon-slaying blade that could arguably injure or kill a god. His own reiki, kenki, and reiatsu interacted with anyone who wielded his blade in ways that raised their very power levels.

Finally, with Yahiko Myojin's soul, his unique brand of spirit energy interacted with other spirit energy (whether it was human or demonic) in a way that suppressed or neutralized them into nothingness.

Yahiko's unique powers worked like how an acid and a base reacted quantitatively with each other when mixed until the acidity of the acid disappeared. Or how Hiei's Jaou-En-Satsu Kokuryuha was cancelled out by Shinobu Sensui's polar opposite power of Sei Kou Ki (Saint Light Ki).

Their reiatsu was different from the reiki and youki used by Yusuke Urameshi and their comrades due to the use of other forms of reiki within the Meiji Era reincarnations and the use of classic shinigami warrior techniques among the revived spirits.

Reiatsu was more comparable to something like Sensui's Saint Light Ki or Yusuke mixing his reiki and youki together to form something approaching Sei Kou Ki instead of either pure reiki or youki. Even jaki.

It was through these souls—these seeds of hope—that Koenma Daio intended to defeat the Chojin and his unnatural powers that defied death and the natural order of the Spirit World.

***

Kurama's board full of chess pieces were in their proper places, which kept the Chojin in check. They were practically on the verge of a checkmate, even.

The pawns were positioned to divide and conquer the Shin Juppon Gatana, with each Reikai Senshi paired up to their appropriate members.

Their source of power, Houji, had his borrowed negative energy suppressed by Yahiko. Their means of transportation, Itsuki, got sealed off by the Reikai's own Kuwabara and his Dimensional Sword.

Botan was there to heal and replenish reiki as well as assist Myojin tactics-wise care of Kaoru. Sanosuke himself was gradually recovering his spirit energy and fighting spirit for good measure as "Jo-chan" or the shinigami she fused with nursed his flickering body back to health.

Kuwabara regained his second wind even, which allowed him to not only create portals but to close or destroy them with his twin Dimension Swords.

This kept the annoying Gatekeeper from transporting jaki to the injured/dead Shin Ju or even getting the recovered members to help Houji out.

Even with his use of Sensui's seven personalities and the new powers it brought him, Kazuma kept him at bay.

As for the shikigami that served as the Onmyouji's infantry, Sanosuke punched them out with the "FUTAE NO KIWAMI! (DUAL EXTREME!)" while riding shotgun on Botan's oar.  

So why did Myojin feel like something was amiss? Like he had a bad feeling about everything? Like something terrible was about to happen?

A new enemy descended from an unseen sky portal that Kuwabara noticed, slashed apart, and closed too late.

"Huh!?" was Yahiko's reaction to the new arrival. This distracted him even as he ended up on the verge of disarming the untrained Houji. "Who is that? Is it another replacement Shin Ju?"

Kuwabara said, "We've already confirmed that Toguro Ani and Kuronue replaced Suzaku and Udo Jine! It's not one of the New Ten! Must be one of the Dai Shin Kan instead!"

Sanosuke's jaw dropped. "No way...!" which made Botan and Kaoru ask in unison, "Who is that supposed to be, Sano?"

Kazuma jumped into action, intending to slash a portal and kick the newcomer into it, only for his Jigen Tou's energy to start unraveling before his eyes.

The woman in courtesan clothes smiled as she floated down using her umbrella as a parachute (like goddamn Mary Poppins, Botan realized), crimson energy emanating from her pale white skin.

"Ah, it's all coming together now." Houji cackled. "Welcome back, Komagata Yumi. Get rid of these insects for me, if you would please."  

And so Makoto Shishio's personal courtesan and lover arrived, dressed in her classic Meiji Era garb but this time there was a hole in her chest where her heart used to be.

The very place where Shishio stabbed her in order to do a surprise attack on Battousai Himura.

Also, she had long fangs inside her mouth.

"Inner Blood Turmoil," Yumi said as she sapped Kuwabara of all his spirit energy using the Kyuuketsuki Kakuto Ryu (Vampire Martial Arts) that Rando stole from her.

"SHIT! Now even Shishio's girlfriend has superpowers too?!" said Sanosuke, remembering the woman whom he did a bridal carry with as they traversed Shishio's Mt. Hiei stronghold.

"...BLOOD WIND!" she screamed, releasing a red energy-sapping tornado at the Reikai Senshi.

***

Originally, Kenshin was barely able to defeat Enishi and get back in time and save Sanosuke Sagara, Kazuma Kuwabara, and Hajime Saito from the nefarious machinations of Karasu, Feng Xinhai, Usui Uonuma, and Gatekeeper Itsuki at Mt. Kamui.

But now that his detour was over, he had to get back to his original business.

He had to. Or else Enishi would undo everything they'd done so far to suppress the New Ten Swords from conquering the island of Okushiri as well as Hokkaido.

"Sessha (This one) wonders why even though I thought I'd never met you before, you seemed to know everything about me de gozaru (that you did)."

"'Sessha'? 'De gozaru'?" Enishi repeated the words with a snarl and a dismissive snort. "Are you kidding me, Battousai? Why is the most fearsome hitokiri of the Bakumatsu acting like a gentle fool with flowery samurai language? Enough of your lies!"

"This one never thought to see you again after a hundred years. I was sure you were already dead," confessed Kenshin.

"I did die. But I live again. Reincarnated in a new era," said Enishi. "I willed this weak new body I was reborn into to become even stronger than I already was before you died in the hands of Shishio Makoto."

'So he survived the Bakumatsu after all,' thought Kenshin, who believed that Enishi had died of starvation as a little boy in the ensuing revolution.

"Now I will enact the revenge that I was robbed of a hundred years ago! If you've been dispensing Tenchu (Heavenly Retribution) in your time as a hitokiri, then this is Jinchu (Earthly Retribution) for all your sins! Prepare yourself, Battousai! ZETSUGI...!"  

From there, he didn't even give Himura the chance to breathe or any breathing room as he attacked, attacked, an attacked some more.

Tomoe's little brother had grown ridiculously strong. As though he'd been training the last hundred years for this one moment. Empowered purely by hate.

However, one way or another, Kenshin was able to contain Yukishiro's growing threat long enough to assist Saito's rescue or allow the Kenshingumi to go through their mission of taking out Houji.

Himura figured out how his Wattoujutsu (a mixture of Japanese swordsmanship and Chinese kung fu) worked after only seeing a couple of techniques from it.

The Demon Sword's blade then shone with an ethereal light before Kenshin's form changed altogether.

From a 30-year-old man, his body returned to his more youthful 15- to-16-year-old self.

The form he had before he developed the cross-shaped scars. When he was still known as the Hitokiri Battousai. This way, he could engage Enishi the same way he did against any other opponent.

Free of bias. Free of shame or guilt.

"SHUUGEKI TOU SEI! (KICKING SWORD RUSH!)"

This technique of Enishí's involved hitting his opponent from below then kicking the blunt side of his sword at the last second to maximize damage.

Thusly, Kenshin answered the technique back with his own, "SOU RYU SEN! (TWIN DRAGON FLASH!)"

"KAISHI TOU SEI! (BAYONET SWORD RUSH!)"

As for the Bayonet Sword Rush, it was a follow-up whirling counterattack or riposte involving Enishi putting the hilt of his sword against his opponent's sword to add momentum to his pivoting swing.

However, Kenshin had a similar counterstrike technique like that as well in the form of "RYU KAN SEN! (DRAGON WRAP FLASH!)"

"SHO HA TOU SEI! (PALM BREAK SWORD RUSH!)"

From the Jodan Stance, Enishi swept his sword starting from over his head down to the ground. Afterwards, he then placed the palm of his hand on the sword's blunt side to push it forward at full force.

The answer to this move that resembled the Dragon Hammer Flash was the "RYU SHO SEN! (RISING DRAGON FLASH!)", which was the natural Ryu Tsui Sen counter that doubled as a two-handed sword block wherein the sword was held by its handle and tip with either hand.

"CHOU TEN TOU SEI! (UP-AND-DOWN SWORD RUSH!)"

This was Wattoujutsu's version of the Ryu Sho Sen. It allowed Enishi to leap upwards using his sword as his pole vault then attack from the air by pulling his sword towards him by its hilt cord immediately after jumping.

Kenshin drew out the fearsome technique with a feinted Ryu Tsui Sen only to do the "RYU KAN SEN ARASHI! (DRAGON WRAP FLASH STORM!) at the last second, the multi-hit forward somersault sword strikes catching Yukishiro off-guard.

"Ugh!" Enishi landed bad on his ankle, his knees buckling from the force of the centrifugal strikes, the chainsaw-like windmill of strikes drawing a fine mist and squall of blood. "Damn you, Battousai...!"

Kenshin cut Enishi's cursing short with a jarring punch to his jaw.

Battousai Himura had a Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu answer to every one of the white-haired young man's Wattoujutsu techniques. He took advantage of Enishi's barrage of hateful, unfocused strikes with clinical precision.

The fact that Himura didn't realize who exactly he was fighting against until the last second helped him figure out the proper counters to Enishi's Wattoujutsu early on and even bury him right inside the Kamui Mountain itself. Albeit temporarily.

Kenshin imagined he'd have a harder time with the kung fu master swordsman were he distracted by his guilt for killing Tomoe and knowing Enishi's identity from the start.

"Is that all you've got, Battousai?" demanded the scuffed-up, bleeding-from-the-mouth Enishi, who spat away blood as his veins—no, his very nerves themselves—hypertrophied or thickened enough to become visible underneath his skin with vascular density.

This was his Kyokei Myaku (Nerves of Insanity) in action.

***

It was bedlam at the Military Base of Okushiri.

Ten things were happening at once, and barely anyone could keep up.

More soldiers were deployed to rescue the fallen and suppress the invaders.

They waged war against the Onmyouji's shikigami, even though many of them couldn't even see the grim reaper familiars.

They had to use their special thermal goggles to detect and shoot the enemy, but neither bullets nor grenades worked on them.

Botan had more luck dissipating the strange creatures into the ether, but that was because it was part of her job description as a soul reaper.

She did double duty in casting her healing and reiki-replenishing spells on Yahiko, Sanosuke, and Kuwabara while at the same time defeating her share of scythe-wielding reapers created from wayward earthbound spirits infected with the Chojin's jaki.

Also, the bodies were really hitting the floor now. Not due to the Kenshingumi (they were basically all ghosts) or their Reikai Tantei comrade falling into a dead faint.

It was because the vampire (or perhaps succubus) Yumi bit the necks and absorbed the blood of all the nearest JSDF soldiers to power her Kyuuketsuki Kakuto Ryu.

As for Gatekeeper Itsuki, he and Kuwabara were having a portal contest of sorts. He kept making portals while Kazuma kept slicing them apart.

Regardless, it took much longer for Yahiko to seal the power of the Chojin, the borrowed ocean of jaki overflowing with immense pressure from within gleeful Sadojima.

"TSUI GAMI...!? (HAMMER OF GOD...!?)"

Myojin's attempt at the sword-breaking, jaki-neutralizing Hammer of God was thwarted with a simple yet shuddering one-handed scythe swipe that belied Houji's actual physical strength.

"So you intend to beat me at this level of strength?" asked a smug Sadojima before releasing a pillar of jaki that made Yahiko kneel before him, as though bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Yahiko felt like he had plunged deep underwater, drowning in negative energy as the oceanic water pressure increased further and further the deeper he went.

Myojin grunted, grit his teeth, and rose up against the harsh and dense waves of pure jaki that bore down on him in waves, his green aura of reiatsu resisting the crushing force of the Overfiend's distant yet overbearing presence.

Like a black sun whose dark rays and heat reached the earth all the way from space despite being millions of miles away.

It was a tug of war between the Chojin's power boosts and Yahiko's neutralization skill.

Thanks to Botan and Kaoru, the ghost of Sanosuke had healed up and reenergized himself with reiki enough to summon his signature Zanbatou (Horse-Chopping Sword) again at long last.

He had more bandages than usual, half of which were spirit seals from Botan that kept his ectoplasm from escaping his ghostly form.

"ZANBATOU ATE! (ZANBATOU DISTANCE HIT!)"

Sanosuke's Zanbatou Ate, based on Anji Yukyuzan's Tou Ate (Bladed Distance Hit), created a landslide aimed at Houji, who shielded himself with his shikigami ghouls.

"ZANKUU ZANBATOU ATE! (ZANBATOU VACUUM DISTANCE HIT!) "

As for his Zankuu Zanbatou Ate, Sanosuke aimed it at the ensuing Blood Wind air funnel that the courtesan in revealing clothing fired off at him.

The last thing Sano expected was to use that 12-foot longsword against Shishio's lover, the non-fighter known as Yumi.

***

Enishi did a low split-legged crouch, only to charge with an onslaught of strikes instead of doing another Zettousei when he saw Kenshin sink his stance low in kind instead of taking his bait and attacking with the Hirameki.

"SENRAN TOU SEI! (WAR SWORD RUSH!)"

"RYU SOU SEN! (DRAGON NEST FLASH!)"

Sparks flew everywhere as though they were in a steel mill or foundry as they parried and attacked each other with impunity, their swords crossing and chipping at their edges.

Blood and ectoplasm stained the ground soon afterward from both combatants.

Enishi moved faster than Kenshin could react. Like an unswattable fly. Or perhaps a whole swarm of flies. Locusts. Bees. Wasps, even. A plague of wasps. His twitch muscles able to react to attacks or counterattacks by lightning-fast reflexes.

It was like dealing with Soujiro Seta's Shukuchi all over again. Himura couldn't even predict Enishi's strikes by reading his sakki (bloodlust) because he was exuding hatred and killer instinct at all times. At every waking moment.

Like the polar opposite of the Heaven Sword. It was no different to deal with someone who lacked bloodlust compared to someone who always exuded bloodlust. There was no sudden spike of killer instinct you could use to read an opponent's moves.

This forced Kenshin to take the initiative and jump high into the air in order to become the aggressor for a change, even if only to draw out a counterstrike that he could then counter.

"RYU TSUI SEN! (DRAGON HAMMER FLASH!)"

Yukishiro countered by also leaping vertically before Kenshin could drop him with the Dragon Hammer Flash. Afterwards, at the point where his jump force was equal to Earth's gravity, he jumped even further, thus essentially doing a double jump or what was known to basketball players as an airwalk.

"SHIKKU TOU SEI! (SLASHER SWORD RUSH!)"

Kenshin's youtou (demon sword) and Enishi's watou (Chinese-style katana) clashed hard against each other, their impactful vibrations strong enough to shatter steel. However, their mystical swords forged from spirit energy and the life force of their very souls both held true.

However, Battousai or no Battousai, the scarless Kenshin realized he had to take Yukishiro out before his own feelings of despair, depression, shame, and remorse got the better of him.

For even now, he felt like he deserved to get hit by every last strike from Enishi for the sin of accidentally killing his ex-wife in an attempt to rescue her from her kidnapper.

"KUZU RYU SEN! (NINE-HEADED DRAGON FLASH!)"

"UGH!"

Like water crushing rock over time, the constant barrage of counters from earlier finally took its toll on Enishi, leading to several lapses of attention that the Battousai took advantage of to great effect.

Kenshin's persistence paid off, with that last multi-hit attack finally landing on his nerve-filled brother-in-law.

He then prepared to do a supersonic noutoujutsu (sword-sheathing technique). The same one he used to disable the super sensitive hearing of Usui Uonuma's Shingan.

"RYU MEI...! (DRAGON CRY...!)"

Kenshin stopped short of doing his high-pitched sheathing technique when he saw a familiar young woman with jet-black hair, doe eyes, a white kimono, and purple shawl appear out of the half-burnt forest.

She brought with her a nostalgic, heartbreaking scent.

"T-Tomoe...?!" stuttered Kenshin before Enishi's Watou ended up stabbing him right in his chest, on the same wound made by the Zettousei that got him earlier.

The pair of scars on his left cheek reappeared. Bleeding with fresh blood (or, in his case, ectoplasm).

***

Back at the Okushiri Military Base...

The Blood Wind dissipated from the strength of Sanosuke's vacuum slash, but Yumi herself blocked the wind pressure with her open, glowing-red umbrella serving as her shield.

Ah, yes. The Blood Wind.

The double-edged, energy-sapping red tornado created from the heat of the spirit energy it stole and the coldness of an injured body that was losing blood.

However, this woman somehow managed to do Blood Winds without the need to be injured. Or perhaps the hole in her chest served as her injury?

Sagara originally thought it was one of Rando's ultimate moves, only to remember something about him stealing techniques. So this energy-sapping technique was actually her move, wasn't it?

Regardless, what was a desperation move for Rando was a normal move for her. It all made sense now. Or at least that part did.

"How the hell did you get superpowers too, lady?" Sano demanded to Yumi. "You even went so far as to change yourself into a vampire! You really are something else!"

"Stop acting so friendly around me, you boorish lout," said Komagata to Sagara with half-lidded eyes, parrying his probing zanbatou stab from more than 12 feet away with her closed umbrella that doubled as her sword. "You should've stayed as a ghost in the Spirit World. You'll regret crossing paths with us again after a hundred years, Sagara Sanosuke."

Sano left his cumbersome giant sword behind, charged unimpeded, and backhanded the woman. "Nothing personal, Neechan. We can't let you or your psycho boyfriend run amok again in this era either."

"...Bastard! You dare hit a lady?! Youki Duantoutai! (Spirit Guillotine!)" Yumi reeled from the slap that caught her by surprise but then kept Sanosuke at bay with the Spirit Guillotines.

"...Son of a bitch! Rando stole that move from you too?!" said Yahiko before breaking the paper-thin waves of demon energy with "Men (Head)" strikes from the Fire Stance and flying skyward with the God in Heaven technique.

"Not exactly," Yumi chatted with a nonchalant smirk. "I stole some of Rando's moves myself in exchange for the moves he stole from me. Tit-for-tat."

As for Sanosuke, his follow-up attempt at chopping Komagata in half with his 12-foot sword led to it getting blasted full of huge holes care of Itsuki. This made the zanbatou look like a macroscopic slice of grey Swiss cheese.

The scattershot blasts responsible for Sano's predicament originated from a gun attached to Itsuki's right arm. It shot out miniature black holes the size of pinholes but had event horizons the size of bowling balls or bigger. They ate up any type of matter nearest them.

It was a (literal) handgun with black holes as its bullets that the Gatekeeper developed through the help of Shinobu Sensui's Kazuya personality.

Itsuki's Black Hole Gun also ate up chunks of Sano's ghostly flesh whole.

"GUUAAAHH!"

The Gatekeeper had taken advantage of Sanosuke's moment of hesitation in killing Yumi. Sano remembered mid-swing how she had originally died by Shishio's hand and then had her corpse burn along with his in a sudden unintended funeral pyre.

Meanwhile, as the flying Myojin attacked Yumi from above, Botan attacked from below. She flew on her oar mere inches from the ground before getting off her ride and using her forward momentum to smash her paddle right into the vampire. She then let the more athletic Kaoru inside her do the rest.

Using jaki and youki together, the succubus imbued her foldable fan and her closed umbrella with enough blood-red energy to stop the oar cold with a cross-block. She then unfurled her umbrella in time to also prevent Yahiko's Ryu Tsui Sen from hitting her noggin.

From this close proximity, she then used her Inner Blood Turmoil to absorb her attackers' spirit energy unto herself, sapping the two of their reiki and making their souls flicker and fade.

Neither the living nor the dead were safe from this vampire queen.

***

"GOU TSUI TOU SEI! (FALLING BLADE SWORD RUSH!)" screamed Enishi after impaling the distracted Kenshin in the chest.

The Falling Blade Sword Rush allowed the white-haired martial artist to pin Battousai at last, lifting him high up and over his head with his sword and upper-body strength.

"At last. At long last. You're going to die, Battousai! You scum! You criminal! You took away everything from me! Now I will return the favor and take away everything from you! This is my Jinchu!"

The Guardian of the Youtou Shinnoken grunted and coughed, his eyes unable to tear themselves away at the visage and silhouette of his ex-wife Tomoe Yukishiro.

Red tears streamed down his cheeks and bloodstained scar.

"T-Tomoe? I-Is that really you?" he mumbled in disbelief, as though not even noticing Enishi's watou inside of him.

He was no longer Hitokiri Battousai (Battousai the Manslayer). Instead, he transformed back to Rurouni Kenshin (Kenshin the Vagabond).

"Tomoe" then told Enishi with an old man's deep voice, "My apologies. This is the best help I can give you for now. That damn Okashira stole all of the jaki that the Chojin gave me and sealed me and my precious Iwanbos away with it, turning the energy into solidified reiatsu."

"You did splendidly, Gein," said Enishi, who smiled for once. He couldn't face the reanimated corpse of his elder sister eye-to-eye, though. "Now please take that puppet away. I don't want you to soil my sister's memory with it."

Kenshin went pale. He'd been duped by one of Gein's puppets. However, his trickery paid off. He didn't feel like hurting Tomoe's little brother any longer.

"Did you know what I went through to get to this moment, Battousai? As an orphaned boy, I ate human flesh in the battlefield to survive. I was adopted by a rich couple, only for me to kill them because I hated how happy they were. I ended up becoming an arms dealer using their wealth for good measure. I then found out you already died, which sapped me of my will to live. Only to be reborn in this era after I found out you became the Demon Sword's guardian."

Enishi dragged Kenshin's bloody (or ectoplasmic) body all over the forest at the foot of Mt. Kannon, savoring the moment before pulling his sword out and stomping on the Battousai's bleeding wound for good measure.

"I'm not sure whether I should wield your damn sword myself or just destroy you along with that sword. Oh well. It doesn't matter. You could die a thousand deaths and it won't bring back my sister. Even after I died, I couldn't find her anymore. I've lost her forever. All that's left is to make you feel the despair I felt when you stole her away from me."

***

Back at the Okushiri Military Base...

Chaos continued. Fires broke out everywhere.  The wind howled like wolves to the moon. The base crumbled and turned into shambles. It was Hell on Earth.

Hell in Hokkaido.

Komagata's Inner Blood Turmoil created her own version of reiatsu—her youki mixed with the Kenshingumi's reiki, the blood of the soldiers she fed on, and the Chojin's jaki—before releasing that pent-up energy towards Yahiko in the form of the "BLOOD FIRE WAVE!" projectile.

However, thinking fast on her feet, Botan purified the surplus of jaki around them then used it to replenish the reiki she and Myojin lost from being in contact with Yumi.

'Wow. She's doing the thing! The same thing Urameshi did when he got hold of the Meikai's crystal ball thingy,' thought Kuwabara. 'She's purifying jaki into reiki!'

Again, Botan used spirit bandages that doubled as spiritual energy seals, acting more like a priestess than Hinageshi the Shrine Maiden or Houji the Onmyouji.

"Nice one, Tanuki-chan!" said Yahiko. "I mean, thank you, Botan."

Botan smiled at the samurai boy. "You're welcome. Now go get 'em."

'This woman is seriously getting on my nerves,' thought Yumi while eyeing the ferry-girl whose astral body housed two souls instead of just one.

A rejuvenated Myojin then did the sword-breaking "TSUI GAMI!" to neutralize the Blood Fire Wave and the pinhole-sized black holes that Itsuki's sneaky Kazuya personality shot right into his heart and head with the Black Hole Gun.

The samurai kid kept moving forward, practically swimming in the thick of "it", with "it" being the Chojin's ocean of jaki.

Meanwhile, Houji frowned, his arms crossed. 'This goddamn brat! For Chojin's sake, he sure is persistent.'

He thought that the Chojin allowing him more access to his boundless negative energy—enough jaki to, quite frankly, revive the long-dead kingdom of Meikai (Nether World)—was sufficient to neutralize the neutralizer.

However, Houji's jaki output remained relatively low and it even started dwindling.

Like opening your water main at full capacity yet still ending up with less water than you expected when filling up your bathtub. Defying the very will of the Overfiend himself.

'The boy is starting to get better control of his neutralization powers, isn't he?' the Onmyouji thought, tapping his scythe's handle to the ground impatiently.

To Yumi and Itsuki, he only had one command. "Kill him."

Yumi then made it rain blood like the Battousai would back in the Bakumatsu.

A literal rain of blood poured down on them, but each droplet contained razor-sharp scalpels. A bloody rain that cut you apart in order to induce a thicker bloodbath afterwards. It pelted the ground like suppressive fire from a machine gun.

She aptly named the technique, "Bloody Rain."

It was the bloodsucker's way of creating the energy-absorbing Blood Wind without having to sacrifice all the plasma that she had already drained from her other victims.

"I don't know who you are, lady, but you leave that boy alone!" said Kuwabara, who finally had time to intervene.

***

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island...

Yusuke Urameshi had actually been in a punching match with Toguro Ototo all this time.

Right in the middle of Okushiri Island, in fact. Along the Tsurikake River.

Instead of playing with the percentages of his power, the Younger Toguro instead went all out from the start, displaying 100% of his full strength.

'His B-Level strength,' was Yusuke's unsaid sentiment. He recalled how easily he manhandled the A-Level Rando earlier now that he wasn't faced with any distractions or dirty tactics.

So dealing with Toguro should be a cakewalk now, right?

In kind, Urameshi himself released his first pair of Spirit Cuffs. Just like the good ol' days, they ended up in a slugfest that turned the peaceful river into roiling rapids from the shockwaves of their punches.

"You've struggled in every encounter you've faced with the Chojin's forces so far yet won every time," said the Younger Toguro. "Why is that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, man," said Yusuke before blasting the gigantic hulking grey behemoth before him with the "SHOT GUN!" technique, bombarding him with the purest of reiki bullets.

The vascular and muscular Toguro pressed on, healing the missing pieces of his flesh instantly like his older brother would.

An impressive feat a power level or two ago. To Yusuke, it had somehow become old hat. Any S-Level worth their salt should be able to regenerate fast enough as long as they had an abundance of spirit or demon energy inside them.

"I took on Rando, Souther (Xinhai), Suzaku, the blind guy (Usui), and the rest of the Chojin's New Ten Swords fair and square. All I'm doing now is killing time and keeping you from ruining Kurama's plans to take your new gang out. Right until your big bad boss, the Chojin, shows up."

Toguro's eyes narrowed behind his shades. 'His reiki is... overflowing. It almost reminds me of the Chojin's own jaki. Immeasurable.'

Yusuke dodged the Shi Dan (Finger Flip Bullets) by reflex even though he had a feeling he could survive direct hits from Toguro's unnaturally strong finger flicks at this point in time.

It was a B-Level against an S-Level (albeit one who was holding his strength back), after all.

The Shi Dan were even more powerful than the strongest human punches, capable of blasting through concrete, but against Urameshi's wealth of spirit energy, he doubted that they'd even penetrate his skin.

Even with his powers sealed, he teetered from being a high A-Level to a low S-Level.  

'Are you hiding your present power level, Toguro? Is your 100% form not your full power?' Urameshi thought.

There was just no way that the likes of Rando, Xinhai, Usui, Saito, or Suzaku would end up stronger than the Toguro Ototo himself.

Then again, while it took Toguro 50 years to reach B-Level, it took only 10 years for Sensui to reach S-Level. Meanwhile, it took less than 3 years for Yusuke to surpass them both and take on a centuries-old S-Level archdemon, Yomi, to the brink of defeat.

To Toguro, Urameshi asked, "What happened to you deciding to stay in Hell for 100 million years to atone for all the crimes you've committed? Were you plucked from Hell by the Chojin and forced to work for him? Answer me, Toguro!"

"...We're not so different, you and I."

"OH, COME ON! Not this tired cliché again!" the teenaged living warhead told off the demonized human strongman in between bone-crushing punches.

He didn't want to hear such things from someone much weaker than him.

***

The veiny (actually nervy) Enishi got talkative all of a sudden, Kenshin realized.

His life story was as unfortunate as the vagabond expected. Maybe even more so. So he even killed a family after he was given a new lease in life? How much of a monster had he become?

This was a lot for Himura to take in. He could barely breathe right now; much less digest Yukishiro's words.

Meanwhile, Enishi snarled in remembrance of the things he'd been through. The people he killed. The opportunities of happiness he turned his back on in favor of a century-old grudge.

The innocents he murdered in order to harden his heart enough to take on a monster like the Battousai. When he died, he resisted the reincarnation cycle for so long, hoping against hope he'd find Himura's soul in the afterlife and drag him to Hell along with him, torturing him for a million years.

However, his chance had finally arrived only a few decades ago. He reentered the reincarnation cycle and avoided becoming an insect or a slug, getting instead the body of a Chinese boy with his memories of the past as a Japanese man intact somehow.

He then trained his body in martial arts, went to prison more than a few times, became a career criminal, and climbed the ranks of organized Chinese crime known as The Triad (what the Shanghai Arms Dealers eventually developed into a hundred years down the line).

In fact, until a few couple of years ago, Enishi occupied the position of Dragon Head that his protégé, Feng Xinhai, currently had. He had a Chinese name himself, but he long ago abandoned that identity in order to completely become Enishi Yukishiro.

He dedicated himself into becoming what he was in his past life and more.

It was because the Chojin himself reawakened his soul's past memories for the purpose of taking down Kenshin Himura.

Under the guidance of the Chojin and his reformed Shin Juppon Gatana, he even learned how to use his spiritual powers on top of reviving the lost martial arts of Wattoujutsu. He studied the Japanese language.

He began slaying demons himself by helping fund technology that linked the Demon World to the Human World with the money he made by being the Triad Dragon Head.

And now, while serving under Tenro the Demon-Slayer's Yakuza Family as one of his enforcers, he finally crossed paths with the man who stole his happiness a hundred years ago.

His revenge, his Jinchu, was literally a hundred years in the making.

"I will kill you now and then the rest of your friends afterwards. I'll break apart the Demon Sword or steal it for myself. Become its new master. From there, in the Spirit World, I will also hunt your ghost and kill you again until all memory of you is erased. Suffer like I did. Suffer for eternity, Battousai!"

Something stirred inside Kenshin when he heard those words. It was one thing for Enishi to swear to kill him. However, what did the rest of his comrades have to do with his revenge? Was he really going to kill the Kenshingumi or even the Reikai Tantei and the Oniwabanshu all in the name of his Jinchu?

Just as Enishi prepared to finish Himura off, a shinigami flew between them like a bolt from the blue.

The woman who sported a black kimono and raven hair zeroed in not on Enishi and Kenshin but instead on the Tomoe puppet of the Puppet Master.

'Ah, I remember her,' thought the Guardian of the Demon Sword. He met that death goddess before while assisting the training of Sanosuke and Yahiko when they first arrived in the Human World.

From his limited interactions with the shinigami, Kenshin surmised that she mainly did research work for Koenma Daio, not unlike the child inspector Sayaka.

'Ayame, was it? She's the shinigami that Kurama assigned to the Southeast Quadrant of Okushiri. Did she follow us all the way here?'

***

Yusuke wanted to end the fight with Toguro using one gigaton punch or one Chou Rei-Gan (Mega Spirit Gun), but he held back. Kept his cool.

He wanted to bet on a "maybe".  As in, "Maybe Toguro is holding back and is about to show me something more amazing than 100% of his power".

Otherwise, Urameshi would've already blasted Toguro back to Hell where he belonged and had a 100 million year sentence to serve. From there, the teenager would've waited for the Chojin or someone to arrive and force him use 100% of his power instead.

Finishing this fight early presented too much of a risk. Like eating an unripe fruit or something. Besides which, if Yusuke went all out, he'd wipe out several mountain ranges and riverbanks off of the map.

But maybe he was risking hundreds of thousands of lives over his own selfish whims.

'Fine. I'll push a little harder, then.'

The ensuing "REI-KOU-DAN! (SPIRIT WAVE BULLET!)" that fissured the surrounding ground and threatened to break the world in half was mostly absorbed by Younger Toguro's beefy body.

Toguro's 100% form before might instead be his 000.1% now. Maybe he'd been training all this time in Hell. Training from Hell.

Or maybe this was all wishful thinking on Urameshi's part now that he had outgrown his boogeyman from his past.

Yusuke put his hip into his last punch, manhandling the "ultimate" form of Toguro that earlier on threw him around like a rag doll the first time they fought.

"You want to rise to your greatest potential, but unfortunately you've already been there and done that and more. You've become too powerful," Toguro said after fixing his twisted neck that had his head staring straight behind him.

"You're not somehow begging for mercy, are you?" asked Yusuke as he hit another bone-crushing uppercut to Toguro's jaw.

"...Nothing challenges you anymore, but you don't want to sever your attachment to this world of weaklings."

Toguro flexed and did a full-powered tackling punch with enough force to move or even obliterate mountains. Alas, this version of Yusuke ate mountains for breakfast ever since achieving S-Level during his fight against Sensui.

This was nothing to him. Drop a building on him, and he'd wonder if it was raining.

He hated to think in such a way, but to him fighting Toguro now was akin to fighting Kuwabara. It didn't help that the behemoth fought straightforwardly and without trickery, unlike Xinhai and Rando.

"You honestly sound pathetic now, Toguro. What happened to you? Keiko can hit harder than that. Put your hips into it!"

But nothing major really happened to Toguro after dying back in the Ankoku Bujutsukai (Dark Martial Arts Tournament). It was Urameshi who had changed.

Any of the current roster of Roku Youkai (Six Demons) could take him on and turn him into roadkill, to be honest.

Toguro's form doubled or even tripled in size. He was now doing his "100% of 100%" technique that had him stake his very soul's life force in order to unleash his fullest potential.

However, his fullest potential ended up just B-Plus in the end. Not even at A-Level.

'Quit messing around and go 1,000% power or something already, Toguro!' Yusuke inwardly begged. But that never happened. He kept dealing with a Toguro who could barely make him flinch.

"In order to continue to live the lie you call your life, you're someone strong pretending to be weak so you could fit in with the rest of the weaklings."

"Stop yammering! I'm more impressed with your big mouth than any of your punches!"

Yusuke did his signature finger gun pose and focused his ocean of reiki at a single point of his index finger, gathering all that limitless energy into one concentrated shot.

"Great fighters refuse to lose, but you refuse to win just to get back that feeling and exhilaration of conquering something greater than you. So what do you do now that you're in a world where nothing is greater than you?"

"Jeez. Shut up already."

Yusuke sighed. If Toguro really was going to unleash a new superpower on him, he would've done so by now. Meanwhile, he himself hadn't even worked up a sweat.

Was this some sort of long-con, "Sun Tzu's Art of War" deal? Was Toguro hiding his power level like he always had, using only a small percentage of his potential? Or was this indeed his limits after his defeat in the Dark Tournament?

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I have been a little careless in my fights lately. However, in the end, I kept winning anyway. So who cares? It's my curse, I know. REI-GAN!"

***

Back at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

Ayame the Shinigami grabbed hold of the corpse puppet of Gein and cut off its spiritual connection with the mad scientist using her reaper powers.

She then said to Enishi, "There's no way your sister is smiling down on you in heaven! Not while you're doing something as terrible as this, stalking Himura-san for decades! A whole century!"

Enishi scowled at the impudent ferry-girl. How dare she say such things to him.

"What do you know? How can you possibly know the pain I've been through? The pain that my sister and her fiancé suffered from? You're nothing but a stranger! You have nothing to do with me!"

Kenshin tried standing up, but Enishi kicked his chest wound and pinned him down with a foot stomp. "And as for you, stay down! I'm not done with you yet!"

Yukishiro was about to punch Koenma's ferry-girl away when she chanted an incantation that led to the body double of his sister Tomoe to frown at him and cry tears of blood.

"Don't you hear it? Don't you hear the cries of despair of your dearly departed sister Tomoe from a hundred years ago? The last thing she wants to see is you suffering or making everyone suffer along with you!"

Enishi shook and shuddered before he himself screamed in anguish, screaming until his throat became ragged. Clutching his chest at that baleful look that rocked him to his very core.

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Enough of your lies, Reikai! I don't believe any of them for a second!

However, he couldn't for the life of him kill even a puppet of his sister. Any young woman who reminded him of his sister, he couldn't bring himself to kill.

He damn well tried to though, his hatred rising. His cognitive dissonance assuring him these were all lies. That his sister had wanted to kill Battousai all along to avenge her fiancé's death.

That the rumor of how Battousai pledged to not kill ever since he killed Enishi's sister was just a rumor.

That Enishi hadn't wasted his multiple chances at a new lease on life for nothing.

He slashed the Tomoe corpse puppet apart with the Sho Ha Tou Sei, his own tears flowing down as he did so. Nauseated by the act, he moved away and puked soon after.

Even though she wasn't the real Tomoe.

'I have to do this. I have to destroy all their lies!'

He had waited for so long and come so far. In the end, it should still matter, right? If it didn't matter then what was the point of all this?

It was all Battousai's fault. He was the one who ruined his life. He was the one who forced him to suffer like this. Everything was perfect until he came along.

Even in the afterlife, Himura haunted him.

"Himura Battousai must die! Suffer! Die a thousand deaths! A million deaths! I won't rest until he has suffered as much as I have and MORE!"

Yukishiro prepared to do his ultimate attack on Kenshin, only for Ayame to get in his way.

This looked mighty familiar.

He hesitated for a whole second in cleaving the shinigami in half. Here was another woman the same age as his sister. Everywhere he looked, such maidens like her kept reminding him of what he had lost.

A second was an eternity in a fight, though.

Kenshin rose up and blocked Enishi's ensuing sword strike even though, unbeknownst to him, his brother-in-law intended to miss Ayame by a mile anyway.

Himura's heart swelled at doing so. Here and now, the vagabond was able to do the sword block that he failed to do against Shishio.

Had he done the same block against his hitokiri successor, would he have survived their mutually assured destruction? Had he not given up back then and decided to fight on, would he have been able to come back to Tokyo with the rest of the Kenshingumi? With Miss Kaoru?

Kenshin really wished he had fought on instead of giving up and dying along with Shishio. That he did.

"...I will fight to the end to protect those I hold dear! That is my truth!"

Himura's resolve in defeating Enishi finally hardened after wavering for so long, his cross-shaped scar seemingly glowing with a red bioluminescent light.

The crouching tiger faced off against the unhidden dragon one more time.

"KOFUKU ZETTOUSEI! (CROUCHING TIGER SEVERING SWORD RUSH!)"

"AMAKAKERU RYU NO HIRAMEKI! (HEAVENS GLIDING DRAGON FLASH!)"

Last time, the tiger was able to cut deep wounds into the flying serpent even though it was driven deep underground by sharp dragon claws.

Would the tiger finish what it had started? Or would the dragon have something hidden behind its upward flight into the heavens?

***

Kazuma attempted to create a portal to serve as a shield over Yahiko, only for Itsuki to seal that portal with Kazuya's Black Hole Gun, the twin rips in space-time canceling each other out.

However, Kuwabara expected the maneuver and teleported right in front of Itsuki in order to slash apart the firearm at pointblank range with the Jigen Tou.

"Motherfucker...!" shouted the foul-mouthed Kazuya possessing Itsuki's body, grasping his damaged handgun.

Itsuki then awoke Sensui's George personality in order to gain access to a hyperdimensional gun vault filled with Tommy guns, pistols, Desert Eagles, mini guns, shotguns, AK-47 rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and bazookas.

He had actually restocked his gun collection by stealing many of the armaments and ammunition available in the very military base they were invading right then and there. Knowing full well that ordinary guns were more useful against living, flesh-and-blood beings like Kuwabara versus the solidified souls of shinigami and ghosts from the past.

In retrospect, this made Houji's efforts to shoot Yahiko, a ghost, with a gun moot. However, Itsuki at least had a backup plan.

"I'll kill you all!" said Hitoshi. "I will purify the Human World by getting rid of all the humans!" His shtick was that he wished for human extinction.

However, before he could use one magazine or clip from his guns, he got pummeled to submission by a revived Sanosuke Sagara.

Botan had healed up the wounds of Sano's ghost yet again with purified jaki turned into reiki. He then got the jump on the green-haired youkai through brute strength instead of fancy teleportation techniques.

'Her again?' thought Houji, noticing how Battousai's woman served the same function as he did with the rest of the Shin Ju. 'That Reikai shinigami is making this mission of ours needlessly difficult.'

Furthermore, every attempt Itsuki made to get away from Sagara was blocked by Kuwabara, who himself punched the demon back into portals of his own that redirected him towards Sano's waiting fists and "FUTAE NO KIWAMI!"

"All right, enough of this!" declared Yumi, who shifted from targeting Yahiko to focusing her Spirit Guillotines and Blood Fire Waves at the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu kendoist turned shinigami Botan/Kaoru Kamiya.

Kaoru assisted Botan in deploying evasive maneuvers against the succubus, with her using the reiki-imbued boat paddle to bat and parry away the projectiles headed towards her before flying away from the bloodsucker.

She then ended up blocking the scythe of the unskilled but jaki-empowered Houji, which kept her from taking flight and escaping. "Keep still like a good girl."

Finally, a black hole appeared where her chest used to be. It was actually a dimensional rift that sucked the ferry-girl's ghostly flesh and ectoplasm away.

Gatekeeper Itsuki then closed the portal that mortally wounded Botan/Kaoru with a wave of his hand.

The ferry-girl's jaw opened, clenched, and froze at a silent scream, her red eyes rolling upwards until only her eye whites were visible.

"KAORUUU! BOTAAAAAN! NOOOO!" said Yahiko with an anguished, bloodcurdling shriek of his own.

Itsuki's mouth curved upwards in curiosity. 'What will you do now, Samurai-san? Is this enough to break you into pieces like what happened to my dearest Shinobu (Sensui) when he saw the Black Chapter Tapes?'

***

Back at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

As Enishi Yukishiro's heart wavered, Kenshin Himura's resolve hardened. Tempered by his will to protect those around him.

The Kofuku Zetsu Tou Sei should've countered the Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash by avoiding the first slash completely and countering the second slash with a well-time riposte, unfazed or even aided by the void created by the first slash.

The Zettousei was seemingly designed to break apart or deconstruct the Hirameki, as demonstrated earlier by Kenshin barely surviving it the first time it was used.

It should've halved the effectiveness of the second slash, but by Kenshin drawing the sword low and removing the ground-based leverage of his crouch, Enishi stood no chance.

Kenshin's much faster and stronger Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash hit low to weaken Enishi's strong crouch then hit high with the multiplied centrifugal force of the follow-up second strike of his ougi, the Crouching Tiger Severing Sword Rush buckling under pressure.

Enishi's counter was ultimately overpowered by the much stronger and better applied succession technique.

However, like before, even after his counter was countered by a more experienced, worldlier version of Battousai guarding a powerful demonic sword, he still kept standing.

Sure, Yukishiro shook like a leaf and heaved belabored breaths because his double-edged, hypertrophied Nerves of Insanity multiplied his pain to the point where an ordinary man would've blacked out in a dead faint.

But he wouldn't go down. He refused to go down. He'd rather die than go down.

Whether he was thrown into magma inside a mountain or cut down to oblivion with the Legendary Youtou Shinnoken (Demon Sword: The True Blade), his willpower continued to defy fate and destiny itself.

He braced himself for Battousai to deliver the finishing blow, relying on his twitch reflexes and his thick pulsating nerves that were practically on fire at this point to launch another counter.

Instead, Kenshin told him, "You didn't really mean to raise your sword at Miss Ayame, did you? Cutting down the fake Tomoe puppet to you was like ripping your heart out."

He spat, "What of it, Battousai?! That's just a puppet I tore apart, not my real sister! My sister that you killed!"

"It doesn't matter if the puppet was fake or not. Ripping her apart hurt you at your core. The pain you felt is real."

"DAMN YOU TO HELL! Push me any further, and I'll do the same to the shinigami!"

Himura replied, "Even though you've murdered others because you couldn't stand how happy they were, you hesitated in killing Ayame-dono. She reminded you too much of Tomoe to go through with it, didn't she?"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME, BASTARD! Her murderer has no right to do so!"

"...In the end, what stopped you was your sister. So I ask you the same question you asked me. Is your sister smiling down on you from heaven?"

Delirious, he started having visions.

Visions of his sister taking care of him when he was sick with the flu, sleeping at his bedside. Cooking for him. Taking care of him. Serving as the only family and mother figure that he ever knew.

His revenge against Kenshin was all he had left. All that mattered. His only reason for being, since Battousai robbed him of the original reason for his being. Without this one goal, he'd be nothing.

He could do anything as long as his sister was smiling back at him.

He closed his eyes. All he could see—the face he claimed was a lie made by the Spirit World—was his sister frowning at him with sad eyes full of pity.

The things he'd ignored earlier that bothered him also started making sense.

Why his sister threw herself in between Battousai and the leader of the Yaminobu.

Why his sister stayed with Battousai for so long and even became his wife (being a deep cover agent wasn't enough to explain that away).

Why Battousai vowed never to kill after "easily" killing so many people for such a long time.

'He did that because he felt guilty after killing my sister! And everyone around him! He's a criminal who's celebrated as a hero because he killed during a war when it's 'legal' to do so!'

He opened his eyes. The image of his unhappy, melancholic sister coalesced into Shinigami Ayame's face while bearing the same grim expression with her mouth.

He fell to his knees and broke down bawling. A broken man.

It wasn't the strike from a mystical demonic blade or the most powerful technique of a ghostly guardian from the Bakumatsu that brought him down to his knees.

No. It was him realizing his sister's disapproval of his Jinchu that unraveled his single-minded determination to kill Kenshin and/or make him suffer for an eternity and a day.

Only sheer willpower kept Enishi standing. So when Kenshin broke even that, he had nothing left.

His will to fight went away. All that was left was anguish, despair, and hopelessness.

"Neesan... Neesan...! (Big sis... Big sis...!)"

What was he supposed to do now?

***

To Be Continued...

The main event is about to start, and it's a doozy. Tenro will finally make his appearance to complete the Okushiri Arc!

Ciao, Abdiel

[kristallioness]

"...Kyoshi understood that much. The link between Air Nomads and their flying companions was so strong that the animals would normally run away and rejoin wild herds if they lost their Airbender. It was a complete miracle that Pengpeng had stuck around to help her..."

("The Rise of Kyoshi", page 250)

If you hear a shattering sound, that's my heart breaking into millions of pieces. For so long, I've headcanoned that after Aang's death, Appa lived for a little while longer before dying of overwhelming sadness (like dogs sometimes do in our world, when their owner passes away) or due to the connection being cut off between them (the "if you go, I go" kind of thing, like what happened with Roku and Fang, when the dragon chose to go down together with his companion).

But this excerpt means two things. One would be that, as soon as Aang died, Appa felt the connection between them fade away (just like Pengpeng did with Kelsang) and he eventually flew away to join a wild herd (maybe not on the same day, but a few days.. a week or two later, he was gone) and he lived the rest of his life together with other untamed bison.

Option number two is even more heartwrenching. It'd mean Appa stayed on Air Temple Island, despite his best friend's passing, which we all know was a rare thing to do for a sky bison. Maybe he did feel the urge to fly away in the beginning, but there was something stronger that kept him grounded to that place.

Maybe it was those 100 years of being frozen in an iceberg, and the 50+ years they'd spent together on that island. The hard work and effort that they put into making a home of that place. The sense of belonging to a different, mixed-species kind of family (him, Katara and the kids, Momo). It was the last place he could remember being connected to Aang...

And then imagine Katara, all alone in the living quarters of their home, shedding tears over losing the love of her life. Because that's all she can do right now - grieve. But then, she'd look out the window and notice that something's off with her husband's animal guide.

She knows about the unbreakable bond that the airbender and sky bison shared, but she has no idea how a broken connection would affect their buddy. Will Appa fly away? Will he stay? She wipes away her tears and makes her way outside to check how he's doing.

Appa would roll over on his belly and watch as she slowly approaches him. Katara would step in front of his face and look into his big brown eyes knowingly. The white fur around them betrays the frown on the sky bison's face. She can tell he's grieving, too.

Katara would sit down on her knees and ever so gently, she'd lay a hand on his wet nose. Appa would growl in a melancholic tone, but still accept her comforting strokes through the beige fur between his eyes.

"He's gone.. he's gone, Appa.." Katara would utter to him, her voice cracking the entire time. Appa would bump his forehead against hers and rub his cheek against her. They would cry together, console each other. There's just this mutual understanding between them, that they've both lost someone near and dear to them.

[smokeysister]

The Stepford Game (Part 2)

(This story features elements of brainwashing, mind control, physical transformation, stepfordization, and reality warping)

Carrie still couldn’t believe what was happening. It all felt like her wildest dream had been brought to life. She had bought some old board game, one about 50s housewives trying to make their way to a barbecue, but once she and her friends started playing it.... Well, it seemed as though the game was magic. Or cursed, as her best friend Vivian called it. Whenever a card in the board game was drawn and read out loud, it affected reality. First, Carrie’s short, unpainted nails were made cherry red and given a perfect manicure. Then Vivian’s jet black hair was swept up into a beautiful red ponytail, tied up with a cute little bow. The last change so far, as far as anyone was aware, was Mariah’s basketball jersey and shorts being stripped off and replaced by a gorgeous satin green evening dress, along with an elegant shawl. Mariah wasn’t too happy about it, but Carrie found herself staring at the ensemble with a mixture of jealousy and, well… A fair bit of lust!

She had always sort of enjoyed the 1950s housewife aesthetic, deep down. She didn’t much talk about it, since it was odd to most folks, but Carrie often had dreams of being a doting housewife, living in a suburban paradise and caring for her dream husband. And seeing her friend lose her sporty clothing and be forced to wear such a pretty vintage outfit… Well, that stirred something in Carrie’s loins. Meanwhile, Linh, the fourth girl in the group, was still looking exactly the same as she did that morning. But as the only girl who landed on one of the Stepford Game’s “reality spaces”, her own history, the very fabric of reality, had been altered, and nobody could remember the way things used to be. As soon as she read the card out loud, Linh’s workaholic, cold hearted mother was transformed into the perfect sitcom housewife, straight from the 1950s. Linh, who originally longed for her mother’s affection, had now grown up being doted on by a regular June Cleaver! And she wanted to be a housewife now, just like her mother. But now it was time for Carrie’s second turn, and she held the dice with bated breath. What kind of space would she land on? Would she get a pretty 1950s style dress, like the one that Mariah was huffing about in? Or would her drab blonde pixie cut be transformed, like Vivian’s hair had been? Would she get a reality card, like Linh? Or would she land on the third type of space, the mysterious “chore space”? She took a deep breath, rolled the dice, and moved her game piece along the board as everyone watched in anticipation. “Chore space,” Carrie said slowly. She glanced around the circle, and met the eyes of each of her friends. Mariah looked worried, Vivian looked curious, and Linh, well… Linh looked like she was having the time of her life. Linh hummed happily as she handed the top card from the chore pile to Carrie, who then read it out loud for all to hear. “Scrub-A-Dub-Dub. Your husband is on his way home, and you forgot to wash the dishes! No time now to run the dishwasher, you’ll have to scrub them all by hand! Better hurry!” When Carrie looked up, she blanched. Just a second ago, she had been sitting on the floor of Linh’s bedroom. But after reading the card, she was standing in what seemed to be a classic 1950s style kitchen, but one of the walls was missing. Where the wall should be, there was instead a wall-to-wall window. On the other side was Linh, Vivian, and Mariah, still in the bedroom, and watching her with wide eyes. Before anyone could say something, there was a loud buzzing noise, and the clock on the wall started ticking down. Below the clock was a sink filled with dirty dishes. They must have been stacked up three feet! And on Carrie’s hands were a pair of thick, pink rubber gloves. Without thinking, Carrie dashed over to the sink and turned the hot water on. She began scrubbing dish after dish with soapy water, silently praying that she would finish them before her time ran out. She hadn’t checked the rules to see how the chore challenges worked, but she remembered seeing something about a “punishment” if someone failed. Dish after dish, Carrie scrubbed off all the dirt and grime, then set them on the other side of the counter to dry. She could feel herself start to sweat, and her forehead went clammy. She didn’t even have time to check the clock, but she could hear the girls on the other side of the window cheering her on. Or, rather, she could hear Linh cheer her on while Mariah and Vivian watched in fearful silence. Eventually, Carrie heard Vivian whisper “come on, hurry up!”, and her nerves started to fray even more. And that’s when Carrie slipped up. She grabbed another plate, the very last one in fact, and started to scrub it, but once it was clean, it slipped right out of Carrie’s hands and fell onto the floor, where it shattered into a million pieces. Carrie stared in horror at the shards that littered the floor, and then the buzzer went off, and the door to the kitchen opened. “Honey, I’m home!” It was Kent! Her boyfriend? But what was he doing here? How was he a part of the game? Magic. Of course. It was a magic game, and she was in a fake little kitchen set, so naturally there would be a fake husband too. And he just so happened to look and sound like her boyfriend who she was on the rocks with, albeit wearing a suit and tie, with a briefcase in hand. “What’s this, then?” Kent asked, looking at the broken dish, and then giving Carrie a stern look. “Carol, what did you do?” “I-I’m sorry?” She stammered. Carrie glanced at the window, where all three of her friends, even Linh, were looking worried. “I lost, didn’t I?” “You made a mess!” Kent exclaimed, exasperated. He stuck his hands on his hips for a moment as he thought about what to do, and then he grabbed Carrie by the wrist. He sat down in one of the kitchen chairs and bent Carrie over his lap. No matter how much she struggled, his grip was just too tight, but not painfully so. But then he brought his open hand down on her bottom, and Carrie gasped as a loud “smack” rang out. “Oh, hell no,” Mariah said. “Carrie? Carrie are you okay?” Vivian asked. “Oh, he’s spanking her! That’s what daddy does whenever mom breaks a dish!” Linh said with a giggle. Carrie, however, stayed perfectly silent as Kent’s double spanked her again. And again. And again. It went on for what felt like an eternity, but Carrie didn’t resist after that first whack on the ass. Each slap that he brought down on her bottom made Carrie heat up just a touch more than the last, and she was already blushing as red as a beet. She had never fantasized about being spanked before, but right then and there, Carrie realized just how wonderful each additional stroke felt. Down in her pants, she felt herself growing slick, and it took all of her willpower not to moan with pleasure. But eventually her punishment came to an end, and when Carrie opened her eyes, she found herself sitting on a sore bottom, back in Linh’s bedroom, with all eyes on her. If it was possible to blush any brighter, she would. Meanwhile, Carrie’s red game piece moved back two spaces, without being touched by anyone, just the game’s magic. “Carrie… Are you alright?” Vivian asked, grabbing Carrie’s hand to show her concern for her best friend. “Y-yeah, I-I’m fine,” Carrie said, still coming down from the high of being brought so close to, well… To reaching the top of that hill. “Let’s just keep going, okay? Linh?” “Oh right, it’s my turn now!” Linh said. She rolled the dice, and moved her tiny purple housewife forward another three spaces, landing on the same wardrobe piece that Vivian’s black piece was resting on. A wardrobe space, which led her to draw a wardrobe card. “Sunday Best. It’s a Sunday, and you know what that means! Time to head on over to morning mass, and be sure to dress nicely when you go.” Just like every other time someone drew a wardrobe card, the tiny speaker in the center of the game board played a happy little jingle. And this time, just like when Mariah’s clothing was altered, Linh’s outfit vanished before their very eyes. For a brief moment, the 19 year old Asian girl was left nude, totally exposed for all her friends to see, before a new outfit began to appear on her body. First, a set of vintage undergarments appeared to cover her shame. A bullet bra, panties, garter belt, and stockings. Then, a white blouse with a peter pan collar covered her upper half, while a deep purple skirt wrapped around her bottom, with its hemline reaching her calves. Finally, a matching purple sweater went on over the blouse, and a cross necklace formed around Linh’s neck. “Ahh, this is just the sort of thing that I’d love to wear to mass!” Linh squealed happily, marveling at her new outfit. “I didn’t know you were religious,” Vivian noted. “Well, I’m not, really,” Linh admitted sheepishly, tugging at her skirt. “But it’s still a really nice outfit! It’s sort of like what my mother wears when she goes to church. I wouldn’t mind going more, honestly.” “It really suits you, Linh,” Carrie gushed. Like with Mariah, Carrie felt a rush of both jealousy and lust at the sight of Linh wearing the sort of outfit you’d see a 50s housewife wearing. She looked so demure, so pure, so innocent… And the arousal from her earlier punishment certainly wasn’t going away now! “Thanks, Carrie!” Linh said, giving her friend a quick hug. “So I ended up in some frou frou ball gown and she’s looking like a church girl. Great. Really fun game, Carrie,” Mariah huffed, crossing her arms and pouting. Unfortunately, her outfit negated any impact her grumpiness may have had, and Mariah ended up just looking a little silly and adorable. “Hey, she didn’t know any of this would happen!” Vivian spoke up, rather angrily, in Carrie’s defense. “And need I remind you that she was just spanked in front of all of us! If anyone has a right to be embarrassed right now, it’s Carrie. It’s an old dress, you can deal.” Mariah fell silent and looked down at her lap, sufficiently shamed. Vivian grabbed the dice from Linh and rolled for her turn, pushing through the awkwardness and keeping the game going. She just wanted to get it over with, and hopefully avoid any more unfortunate scenes that night. She moved her piece along the board, and wound up on another chore space. Everyone but Linh exchanged awkward, worried glances, as Vivian accepted the chore card from Linh. “Laundry Day. Your spouse needs a clean set of clothes, so don’t delay! Take good care of the laundry, and try not to end up with pink socks!” When Vivian looked up from the card, she found herself in a similar predicament as the one that faced Carrie earlier. The three walled, almost 1950s sitcom looking house set was the same, as was the giant window for her friends to watch her through. But rather than being in a kitchen, Vivian was trapped in a small laundry room. There was no ticking clock, but she was faced with a mountain’s worth of dirty laundry. Vintage frocks, stockings and undergarments, blouses… All things that one would expect a 50s housewife to wear. But mixed in among them, Vivian discovered as she sorted out the whites, were articles that likely belonged to other members of the supposed “family” she was doing this laundry for. Fitted suits, pencil skirts, ties of varying colors and styles, things that most likely belonged to her own false spouse, like how Carrie had a false version of Kent. The fact that she was currently single didn’t seem to matter to the game. And on top of that, there was also an assortment of small dresses, bobby socks, and cloth diapers. So she was doing laundry for a baby, too. Luckily, Vivian didn’t have to work with a time limit, and she had more than enough experience in washing her own clothes. She figured that the game cared more about her skill and knowledge in how to properly sort and wash the clothes than her speed at a simpler task, like Carrie got. In fact, time didn’t seem to make much sense at all during her little challenge. The instant that she put a load in the wash, it was all ready to move over to the dryer, without even a minute’s wait. She was grateful for that, at least. Otherwise, with the amount of laundry she was tasked with handling, it would take half a day to do it all, if not longer. But once she finished with the last of the drying, Vivian found that she wasn’t back in Linh’s bedroom, not yet. She looked at the window, to the others watching her, and hoped that they might have an answer. “You’ve got to fold them, silly!” Linh explained, rolling her eyes. “Right. Makes sense,” Vivian muttered to herself as she turned back around and started work on getting everything folded and divided up by who the clothes belonged to. As the time went on, she began to realize that the monotony of the chore wasn’t boring her. If anything, it was actually rather relaxing, just devoting herself to one simple task. And the smell of the clean clothes was rather enjoyable. She had never really noticed that before, but it was. There wasn’t anything about the task for her to complain about, and Vivian smiled to herself as she got into the rhythm of folding the various dresses and skirts and diapers, and setting them off to the side so that she could start on the next article. She had gotten off easy on the chores, she figured, but that wasn’t a bad thing at all. Once she set the last toddler’s dress aside, as neatly folded as everything else, Vivian heard a little ding, like the sound of a tiny bell being rung. When she looked around, she found herself, finally, back in Linh’s bedroom, with the other girls watching her. Carrie seemed relieved that Vivian had avoided being punished like she was, while Mariah breathed a sigh of relief and started looking for the dice. Linh, however, was busy fawning over Vivian’s appearance. “Gosh, those earrings are so cute, Viv!” Linh gushed, touching Vivian’s ear delicately. Vivian reached up and felt her earlobe, and understood what her reward for winning the challenge had been. Her gauges were gone, and the large hole they created was fully healed up. In their places were a pair of large pearl earrings, as smooth and cool as she always imagined pearls must feel. “Oh,” Vivian said, not sure what else to even say about the change. She should have been mad, just as upset as Mariah was about the changes, if not more. She had paid a lot of money for her various piercings, and to have two of them replaced ought to feel like a violation. But instead, she didn’t mind it at all. In fact, she felt almost happy about it. Thinking on it, the gauges were something she’d probably grow to regret someday, while a nice, classy pair of pearl earrings was something she couldn’t go wrong with. Even if they did clash with the rest of her appearance. But there wasn’t any time to think about that, since Mariah was already taking her turn. “Two spaces,” Mariah noted. She moved her game piece along the board, and breathed a sigh of relief when she landed on a reality space. “Reality space! Okay, you demon game, what fact about my life are you going to predict?” “Biblical Name. Your name is Mary. It’s the only name you’ve got, so don’t wear it out!” Mary stared at the card after reading it, confused. The other three looked at her as she slowly set the card down. “But my name isn’t Mary,” she claimed, getting defensive. “My name is Mary! Er, wait, what? My name is Mary. Mary. My name is Mary!” “Yeah, we know what your name is, Mary,” Linh said. “No! This isn’t right. I know that my name was something else, but whenever I try to think of it, my brain just says… Mary.” Mary started to get even more worried. The harder she thought about it, the more her original name seemed to elude her. She tried to spell it out inside of her head. It started with an M, and then an A, followed by an R… And then a Y. M-A-R-Y. “I-I think that these cards don’t tell us facts about reality,” Mary realized, finally. “I think that they change reality, just like those other cards change our appearance!” “But my card didn’t change reality,” Linh told her, growing somewhat annoyed by her friend’s little scene. “My mom is a housewife and I want to be one too. That’s how it’s always been, Mary. And I don’t remember you ever having another name!” “Neither do I,” Carrie agreed, and Vivian nodded her head. “You’re Mary. What other name would you have?” “I think you both might be right,” Vivian said. “I think that Mary knows she had a different name once, but we can only think of her as Mary. So whatever her name used to be doesn’t really matter, since it’s gone entirely now.” “But… But that’s my name!” Mary exclaimed. Even so, her outrage was subsiding. She just didn’t have it in her to keep arguing when even she couldn’t recall what her old name was anymore. The only name she could think of as her’s was Mary, and there was nothing she could do about it, and so she sank to her knees and folded her hands in her lap as she sniffled her tears away. Linh patted her on the shoulder sympathetically, but even Mary knew that she must have sounded ridiculous. The game was really starting to get to her. “Just take your turn, Carrie,” Mary told her, pushing the dice in the blonde’s direction. Carrie nodded and shook the dice in her hands, filled with a mixture of excitement and fear as she rolled them. She couldn’t wait to see what came next, even if it was a bit intimidating. “Wow, Carrie! Two chore spaces in a row!” Linh noted once she saw where Carrie’s game piece landed. Carrie drew the chore card and read it with bated breath. Would she fail this challenge, like she did the last one? Would she… Would she be spanked again? In front of her friends, as they watched a man bend her over his knee and treat her like a misbehaving child? What was this game doing to her, making her all hot and bothered at the thought of something so shameful? Or had she always wanted that sort of thing, but just hadn’t realized it? “Changing Time. Your baby needs a changing, and any mother worth her salt knows how to change a diaper! Can you do it in time?” Carrie shut her eyes as the world around her shifted. She could feel the air change, and her nose picked up the scent of... baby powder? When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a nursery, standing by a crib. Another smell cut through the first one, this one much more foul. Carrie wrinkled her nose in disgust, and then she heard a loud, piercing cry coming from the crib. She didn’t even waste time looking at her friends through the window in the wall. She had a challenge to win! Thankfully, Carrie had experience with babysitting from back in high school. Changing a diaper and calming an infant down was no issue at all for her, and she didn’t even need to pay attention to the clock on the wall as it ticked downwards. Her time wasn’t even halfway up when she finished, and a happy little chime played. And just like that, Carrie was already back in Linh’s room. But to her brief confusion, everyone was staring at her, just like when she had been spanked. Mary was, as usual, somewhat horrified and disgusted. Vivian was shocked. Linh, of course, was excited as she could possibly be. Then, Carrie realized that there was a weight in her arms. Something heavy, warm, soft, and… squirming? She looked down at what she was holding, and her own eyes went wide with shock.

“Oh my gosh, Carrie! Did the game give you a baby?” Linh asked. She practically flew over to Carrie and started fawning over the infant that Carrie had been saddled with. Carrie’s initial surprise faded fast. The more attention that she paid the baby, the more she seemed to know about it. She was a girl, eight months old, her name was Alice, and her father was Carrie’s boyfriend, Kent. She knew that just a second ago, she was a childless young woman. She had always practiced safe sex! But she also knew, without a doubt in her mind, that this precious little girl was her’s. This must be what Mary felt like, with the game changing her name. She knew, logically, that the game had changed a facet of her life, but that didn’t change that this was her life now. And so she hugged Alice close to her chest and sighed happily as the baby cooed at her “aunty Linh”. “This is the game, isn’t it?” Mary asked, her worries bubbling up again. “This game keeps screwing with our fucking lives, and we can’t do anything to stop it while we keep fucking playing it!” “Mary, stop that!” Carrie hushed her. “No cursing around the baby. Linh, why don’t you take your turn, okay?” “Look, I’m sorry, okay? But we can’t just keep ignoring this,” Mary insisted. “This game is messing with our heads, with our bodies, and now with our lives too! We need to quit while we’re ahead, before it, I dunno, makes Linh pregnant!” “Oh, Mary! That would be so amazing!” Linh gushed, her head filling up with thoughts about the prospect. “Okay, bad example, but still!” Mary moaned. She pointed a finger at Vivian as she continued. “What if the game removed Vivian’s intelligence or something? O-Or made me LIKE this?!” “Do you really think the game could completely change someone like that, Mary?” Linh asked, incredulous. The idea that someone could have their own thoughts and desires warped by the game was ludicrous to her. “Anyways, you can quit if you want, but I’m having a lot of fun!” “So am I, actually,” Carrie agreed as she stuck a pacifier into her new baby’s mouth. “I haven’t had this much fun in years.” “I’m staying in if Carrie is,” Vivian said. She didn’t admit that a part of her wanted to see just how deep all of this could go, and what else could change. Would she be the next one to end up in vintage clothing? Or would it be Carrie? Could someone else end up becoming a mother, seemingly out of nowhere? A small, determined part of Vivian desperately wanted to experience whatever the game had to offer. “...Fine,” Mary said, after a lengthy pause. “But if anything happens to me, it’s on you guys. Take your turn, Linh.” “Okie dokie!” Linh said with a giggle as she rolled the dice, eager to see what would happen to her next. “Two, three, four… Oh, yay! Reality space!” The young asian woman excitedly reached for an appropriate card and cleared her throat before reading it aloud to the group. She couldn’t wait to see what would happen, or rather, to find out if the game could really change something about her life like it did to Mary and Carrie. “Getting Your MRS Degree. You tried to give it the old college try, but college was just too smart for you! It’s okay, though. An aspiring housewife doesn’t need a degree to clog up her brain.” Linh nodded her head. That made sense to her. After all, she had dropped out of college after just one semester, once it became apparent that she was far too dumb to make it in academia. “Wait, but… But aren’t we all on break from school?” Mary asked, looking around the circle for confirmation. Carrie and Vivian nodded their heads. That was true, obviously. “Well yeah, you guys are,” Linh said. “But I dropped out during our first year, remember? I’ve been helping my mother around the house ever since, at least until a boy sweeps me off my feet and makes me his housewife!” “But Linh, what if that’s just the game messing with your life? Like how it changed my name, or made Carrie a mom!” Linh shrugged her shoulders. “Does it matter? I don’t really care about school anyways. I just want to be a housewife!” “I guess…” Mary said, admitting defeat. Did it really matter if it matched Linh’s own desires? Odds are she’d drop out eventually anyways, regardless of if the game had made it happen early or not. “See, Mary? This game isn’t making any of us grumpy except for you,” Linh told her, gently touching Mary’s shoulder. “If you try to enjoy it, like we are, you might have some fun!” Mary didn’t say anything in response. She just kept on sulking, trying to convince herself that Linh was wrong. It was a hard argument to win, though, so she kept quiet and waited for Vivian to roll the dice and let whatever change that’d come happen. Wasn’t like she could stop it, even if she tried. Could she? “I got a five,” Vivian mumbled, before picking up her little black housewife shaped game piece. She dragged it along the board over five spaces, moving right on past Linh’s piece, and ending up on the next reality space. Her heart rate picked up as she realized what that meant for her. Up till now, she had gotten by with minimal changes from the game. Just her hair and earrings had been changed, while Mary, Carrie, and Linh had all experienced massive shifts in either their wardrobe, their life, or both. But now her life was going to change, possibly forever, all due to the whim of a card in some old, possibly cursed, board game. It was terrifying, but also exciting. Why was she excited by the prospect of the game radically altering her very life? All she could do was draw the reality card and see what awaited her. “Clean As A Whistle. You’re not sure what these “body mod” things are, but you’ve certainly never had one! No siree, your body is a temple, and no tattoo needle or piercing gun has marred your beautiful skin.” Vivian looked down at her arm as the lights dimmed, and while her stomach turned, she could see the tattoos fade away, until there was just unblemished, ivory skin. She raised a hand to her face and felt around as her piercings seemed to sink into her skin, and then vanish entirely. Even her new pearl earrings vanished by the time that the lights came back on! And when the room went back to normal, Vivian found that she couldn’t remember ever sitting down to get a tattoo or piercing. She didn’t have the faintest clue as to what that experience felt like. She shuddered at the thought. It must be so painful, all just to have some ugly image ruin her skin! Thank goodness she had never gotten any kind of body modification before. “So… Let me guess. Vivian used to be covered in tattoos or something?” Mary said, looking Vivian up and down. Vivian nearly gagged at the very idea! “Vivian with tattoos? I can’t even picture what that’d look like,” Carrie admitted. The thought of her friend getting a tattoo was frankly absurd. Vivian always hated tattoos! She wouldn’t even sit down to get her ears pierced, no matter how much you paid her. “Viv with tattoos? Oh wow, that’d be a sight!” Linh laughed. “Can we just move on, please?” Vivian asked. “I don’t really like all this theorizing. We all know how I feel about the subject.” Still, Vivian felt that Mary must have had a point. Considering how the cards worked, she must have had some sort of body modification done to herself in the past, even if the idea disgusted her now. Did the game really change something so drastic about her, even down to her feelings on something like that? She couldn’t stop wondering...

[indigosees]

Yandere!Adam x Emilio

((Since I can’t think of a better title. Would probably make more, who knows.))

Fandoms: Planet Puto Characters: Emilio Jose Andres del Pilar, Yandere!Adam ( belongs to @ask-emilz-de-philz) Relationships: Emilio/Yandere!Adam

Emilio, Emilio...

His name would roll in his head over and over and over and God Almighty he doesn’t want it to stop. Adam would wonder where he’s been, who he’s talked to, or what he’s eaten--he wants to know everything. He loves watching him sleep, eat, and hell he’s hoping Emilio doesn’t find out about the camera he installed in his bathroom. His ruby eyes glazed over the camera screen. It’s time for his dear Emilio to bathe. That’s early. Usually, he’d be bathing in… 24 minutes from now. Then again, his dear Emilio is unlike clockwork, and that is what makes him love Emilio more. Nothing is ever on schedule. There is, however, a window when he would do his daily rituals like breakfast and taking a shower. Why be earlier than usual today, my dear Emilio? Are you upset? Are you excited? Did someone ask you out and you have to meet them before lunch? Are you getting ready for someone else other than me?! He gritted his teeth. His head shot to the direction of a loud shrill, realizing it was from Emilio’s phone, which was in his dearest’s room. Why would it ring? Who the fuck is that?! Ruby eyes returned to the bathroom recording, and he could see his dear Emilio singing in the shower. Good, my dear Emilio. You don’t need to hear your phone ringing. You don’t need to talk to anyone. You only need me.

The annoying shrill would soon turn to a gentle melody as Adam focuses on Emilio’s voice. Of course, he won’t forget to install a microphone in the bathroom. His dear Emilio would always sing in the shower, and who in their right mind wouldn't want to hear him sing? He’d lean back in his chair, closing his eyes, his dear Emilio’s voice embracing him like a warm lullaby. In his mind, the imagery of his sun-kissed skin, his chocolate hair, and his hazelnut eyes--his pretty, hazelnut eyes--sticks like tar in his lungs. He’d kiss them, his eyes. He'd kiss him: on the forehead, on his cheek, on his lips, on his neck, on his shoulders--oh he’d make sure his dear Emilio would sing. Giggling, he dreams of the day he would be able to hold his dear Emilio so close in his arms and hug him so tight and feel his skin against his own. His hand would trace his pocket, carefully pulling out the cloth he used to wipe his dear Emilio’s blood. Placing it over his nose, the scent of his dearest envelopes him. Emilio Jose Andres del Pilar. It sounds so… foreign. You should have a name, an American name. Not that I hate your name. It just doesn’t feel right that you still keep that name when I own you. It was given to you by that filthy scum, and you have no reason to use that name any longer. Maybe we’ll keep the Emilio. It fits you like a glove and rolls off my tongue like I would roll you in my hands.

Adam’s attention returned to the screen upon hearing the shower curtains sliding open. It was time for his dearest Emilio to step out of the shower. He placed the cloth back in his pocket. Checking his watch, his shower time was within the average range. Hm. Didn’t you think of me, Emilio? Sometimes I wonder if you ever do. I spend every second of my breathing life thinking of you. Did you know that you’re so cute when you curse at me? You’re so lively and full of fire that it doesn’t surprise me if more of those motherfuckers would want you for themselves. Right. There is that.

He quickly took out his phone, dialing his dear Emilio’s number (though of course, it was on speed dial). The phone would ring again, catching the attention of his dearest, who had just entered his bedroom. As usual, he would reject his call. And, as usual, he’ll keep calling until his dearest Emilio answers it.

After around seven rejected calls, his dearest finally picked up. “What the fuck do you want?” Sweet, sweet poison.

“Good morning, Emilio!” Adam chirped. “Did you enjoy your shower?” He tapped at the armrest, eyes intently watching the brunet.  His dearest wildly turned his head around. Are you looking for me? I’m just here, my sweetheart. Don’t worry, I’ll show my face to you once you’ve finished answering my questions. Though, you’re so affectionate with me today. “You have plans later?” He wanted to know. He needs to know, and he will make sure he finds out who the fuck it was that's trying to take his dearest far from him.

His dearest wasn't having it, though, and kept cursing. The blonde grimaced. Now, when he asks, his dearest should know better than to stall. Time is of the essence, and surely dearest knows they both don't have time to waste. His finger stopped mid-tap, his lips pulling wider. “Now, Emilio. Are you going to tell me, or should I try to find out by my own means?”

His dearest’s voice wavered as he explained. He was going to meet with his siblings, as they were going to discuss matters about their local economy. Why wasn't Adam invited, then? He would know what to do and provide excellent counsel. Having 50 states and a stable economy, he has the experience so why not ask him first? Then meet with his siblings once he has given his dearest some pointers. Better than bickering around like children. He sighed. Emilio still has a lot to learn.

Smiling, he bid his dearest a good day, promising to see him soon. At least he's sure he won't see his dearest bloodied in the face later. The day that happened, his heart shattered a million pieces. Who was this heartless to beat his dearest? Who was the idiot that tried to hurt him?  Who was the son of a bitch that dared to damage his property? He focused on his dear Emilio, who is getting dressed, to calm his nerves. His smooth, chocolate skin has always been a sight for sore eyes. It was all dealt with then, of course, so there was nothing to worry about. Those bastards won't touch his Emilio ever again.

No one would be able to harm his dearest Emilio ever again.

[mcmansionhell]

50 States of McMansion Hell: Hillsborough County, New Hampshire

Hello Friends! Happy Labor Day (or as one of my college professors humorously called it, Socialist Christmas)! I hope you like freedom because this week’s McMansion definitely has...some of that!

This 1996 beauty features 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, but somehow ends up totaling almost 5000 square feet. For under $1.3 million dollars you’d think you’d get at least 5 baths. 

Onwards!

Foyer

Friends, I’ve found the Jaws theme window, and, of course it’s an awkward stairwell window. Best not slam the front door too hard, lest you send those vases tumbling to the ground, where they shatter into a million pieces coating the foyer in 21 years worth of dust bunnies. 

Gr8 Room

I will never not make a joke about Bullwinkle upon seeing a cruelly beheaded moose used as a centerpiece. Also that tiny little stove is negated by the tall ceilings and wall of windows. New England Winter: 1, McMansion: 0. 

Dining Room

(extremely Lemony Snicket voice:) If one spends a long period of time anxiously waiting in a particularly dreadful place, such as a dentist’s office or tucked away in a municipal post office crawling with several enemy spies, one fixates on the details of said place. In the case of the dentist’s office, one might seek refuse in a particularly bawdy floral painting, or, in the case of the municipal post office crawling with several enemy spies, the increasingly heinous price of postage stamps in a desperate attempt to distract oneself from one’s dire situation.

Sitting Room

Alexa can never truly replace the hole in Jerry’s heart left by his eldest daughter’s running off with an artist.

Kitschen

Did every rural working class family get one of these catalogs or was it just mine?

Also, in case you were wondering, they’re still around and they’re still selling the same stuff from 2001. 

Nook of Glory

This blog was looong overdue for one of my pithy generational political jokes. Also shoutout to my wealthier girl-friends growing up in the South who had to hear “how do you expect to find a husband when you [insert nonconforming behavior here]” as a method of policing deviation from the norm. 

Master Bedroom

Uncle Jerry is the guy who DVRs football games and doesn’t fast forward through the commercials. 

Master Bath

old twitter joke context: https://twitter.com/pixelatedboat/status/741904787361300481?lang=en

The minstrelsy sun wins the worst ‘an art’ on mcmansion hell dot com award, one I think it will hold onto for a very, very long time. 

Bedroom 2

Imagine listening to The Cure in this room before answering the reader poll thanks

Basement

Folks, I’ve seen more inviting tax offices. 

Anyways, we’re coming to the end of the post, which means its time for our favorite part:

Rear Exterior

Time for a McMansion Hell Personality Test: Which “feature” window are YOU??

Left Window: you are passionate and intelligent, yet neurotic. Your friends worry that you won’t be able to handle the punishing amount of work you force yourself to do because you would rather be physically exhausted than have to spend ample amounts of time alone with your own insecurities.

Middle Window: You are confident and idealistic, yet neurotic. You think that your problems can be solved by yelling louder than the person you’re currently arguing with. You may have been poor at sports as a child and also have an energy drink dependency. 

Right Window: You are kind and dependable, yet neurotic. You enjoy spacing out while reading difficult books, liking but never reblogging, and earnestly avoiding cable news. You may have a penchant for emotionally unavailable romantic partners and ignoring your newly bought cookbooks in lieu of a good old-fashioned round of takeout (your fifth this week.) 

I got..all three of these, wow! 

That’s it for this week’s post folks! Be sure to stay tuned tomorrow for our special NEW JERSEY McMansion, and this weekend for another installment of Looking Around! 

OH AND ONE MORE THING

Are YOU in the Baltimore metro area?? Do you want to witness me give a live diss on McMansions and talk about my rad as hell politics in one of the 3 coffee shops I write this blog in? Well you’re in luck because Thursday, September 7th, I’ll be doing a McMansion Hell LIVE event at Red Emma’s Bookstore & Coffeehouse. More info here, if you’re up to it.

If you like this post, and want to see more like it, consider supporting me on Patreon!  Also JUST A HEADS UP - I’ve started posting a GOOD HOUSE built since 1980 from the area where I picked this week’s McMansion as bonus content on Patreon!

Not into small donations and sick bonus content? Check out the McMansion Hell Store- 100% goes to charity.

Copyright Disclaimer: All photographs are used in this post under fair use for the purposes of education, satire, and parody, consistent with 17 USC §107. Manipulated photos are considered derivative work and are Copyright © 2017 McMansion Hell. Please email kate@mcmansionhell.com before using these images on another site. (am v chill about this)

[yes-dillman-yes]

Shattered

Reddie/It/One Shot

Paring: Eddie K. x Richie T.

Summary: This is basically a really angsty cheating breaking up one shot. Enjoy.

Third Person POV

Richie never had anything good in life. Never had a reason to try or care. Until he met Eddie.

The boy who he loved since high school and all through college. The sweet boy that held his hand when things went to shit, told him that he loved him, and promised that damn boy the world.

Eddie found Richie in the dark and fixed him.

At least tried to fix him.

But, nobody could fix something that was shattered. And Richie was shattered.

He was so happy for a long time, but then everything he had slowly started slipping away. Everything he loved.

His developing drinking problem, smoking addiction, and the worse of all, his secret hookups were just part of his crumbling life. Part of his life that hurt Eddie more than anything you could think of.

Eddie loved Richie. He moved away from his hometown and went to a shitty college for a guy he trusted with his life. Trusted with his heart.

Eddie tried to avoid the rising issues in his relationship, but sometimes people get pushed so far that they just break.

And Eddie broke.

He broke the minute he saw Richie in bed with some random women. He broke the minute Richie lied straight to his face.

He broke the second he came to the conclusion that his relationship was over before it was actually said.

~

“Get out.”

“Oh shit, Eddie! Eddie, it’s not what it looks like! Let me explain.”

“I said, get out.”

“Eddie, baby, I’m so-”

“GET OUT, RIGHT NOW!”

~

At that moment, another piece of Richie shattered. This was his heart.

It didn’t matter what crazy explanation Richie had. It didn’t matter why he did what he did. Nothing mattered. And that’s what made it worse.

It wasn’t a surprise to Eddie. If anything, he predicted this to happen sooner or later. But, to see it. Actually knowing that it’s real, destroyed him.

So, Eddie didn’t cry. He didn’t get angry. He didn’t feel anything for the first time in his life.

While Richie cried, screamed, punched walls, and felt everything. For the first time in a long time, he felt everything.

~

“I’m an idiot. I fucked this all up, didn’t I? Call me when you’re ready to talk.”

“You haven’t called. Let me explain? I feel lost. Eddie, you know you’re all I got.”

“Hey, me again. You can’t tell me that you don’t wanna talk to me. Talk to me, baby. Talk to me.”

“Eddie, I’ve called you about a million times. It’s been over a week. Talk to me. I need to hear from you. I miss you. Please, just call.”

~

Eddie didn’t call.

Until 2 weeks, 14 lonely nights, and 50 more voicemails later.

It was the worse two weeks of his life, but those weeks would never compare to the pain he felt next.

The biggest mistake of his life was about to happen.

~

“Oh my god, I’m such a damn idiot. Get out, Richie! I should’ve never called, I should’ve never invited you over, and I should’ve never trusted you.”

“Eddie, this is a sign! We didn’t just sleep together, we got a second chance. Please, just forgive me?”

“Forgive you? I’ll forgive you when hell freezes over. Otherwise, fuck you! Now leave!”

“Leave? I love you. I love you and I know I fucked-”

“Richie, god Richie, just go. This time don’t call. This was a mistake. We were a mistake.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I’ve never meant something more in my life than this.”

~

Happy endings didn’t exist. At least for them. For Richie. For Eddie.

But, he did leave. Richie left and never changed.

Because all things shattered can never be fixed.

Orginal @yes-dillman-yes

[shiyabelleth]

Tagged!!!

Tagged by: @iamvegorott Rules: Write the first 10 songs that come up on shuffle (no skipping) and quote your favorite lyrics from each song, then tag 10 people.

1. Weathers- Happy Pills “ We take strange things to feel normal We take strange things to feel normal We take strange things to feel normal To feel normal, to feel normal “

2. Panic! At the Disco- LA Devotee “ The black magic of Mulholland Drive Swimming pools under desert skies Drinking white wine in the blushing light Just another LA Devotee”

3. Fall Out Boy - The Last Of The Real Ones “ 'Cause you're the last of a dying breed Write our names in the wet concrete I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me I'm here in search of your glory There's been a million before me That ultra-kind of love You never walk away from You're just the last of the real ones”

4.  Avicii- Hey Brother “ What if I'm far from home? Oh brother, I will hear you call! What if I lose it all? Oh sister, I will help you out! Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do”

5. Ruth B- Lost boy “ I am a lost boy from Neverland Usually hanging out with Peter Pan And when we're bored we play in the woods Always on the run from Captain Hook "Run, run, lost boy, " they say to me Away from all of reality “

6. DEH OBC- Requiem “ I could curl up and hide in my room There in my bed, still sobbing tomorrow I could give in to all of the gloom But tell me, tell me what for Why should I have a heavy heart? Why should I start to break in pieces? Why should I go and fall apart for you?”

7. Craig Campbell - Family Man “ There's dirty shirts to wash Dishes in the sink to do And there's how many times Does 17 go into 52 There's bedtime prayers to pray Sleep tights and I love you's And then there's a pair of eyes I get to lose myself into”

8. NSYNC- Pop “ Now, why you want to try to classify the type of thing we do Cause were just fine doin what we like, can we say the same for you Tired of feelin all around me animosity Just worry about trust cause I'ma get mine, people can't you see”

9. Train-  50 Ways to Say Goodbye “ She went down in an airplane Fried getting suntan Fell in a cement mixer full of quicksand Help me, help me, I'm no good at goodbyes! She met a shark under water Fell and no one caught her I returned everything I ever bought her Help me, help me, I'm all out of lies”

10. Hot Chelle Rae- Forever Unstoppable “ When you're broken, and you're shattered Love will save you from disaster You can take my heart, if yours won't beat We're forever, forever, forever unstoppable” I’m gonna taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag: @pixiepatches, @blizzy-bun, @i-am-not-anon, and @aoimatsurika You don’t have to do it if you would not like to, but here ya go ^^

[justinswifeyy94]

"So You Chose Her..."

<p>

Ring! Ring! - Hey this is Justin, I can't get to phone right---

</p>

<p>

I felt the tears ran down my eyes as I looked at my phone at the 50 sometimes I called and text and never got one answer. I didn't understand why…. We were fine actually great a few days ago until now. Justin and I have been together for almost four years, we met during his dark time, we became best friends and slowly we became more. I sat on the cold marble floor off our bedroom as I tried to piece together what have I done to deserve this because I honestly couldn't think of anything. We were always smiling, happy, our arguments always turns out funny and we'll laugh about it.

</p>

<p>

I grip the pink and white stick laying next to me on the floor… looking at it I was been happy and devastated at the same time. I didn't know if I should smile or cry…

</p>

<p>

SLAM!

</p>

<p>

I heard the front door of opened and closed. Justin?

</p>

<p>

I shot up running down the stairs to a sight I never thought I would of seen. My heart shattered into a million pieces right there, I felt my stomach dropped to my feet. Justin laying on top of a girl… I couldn't see her face because it was buried into Justin's neck. I felt my body growing weak grabbing at the tiny table with vase of flowers at the bottom at the stairs causing the vase to hit the floor catching their attention.

</p>

<p>

The look on his face I could he was shocked. “Y/N..?” he whispered grabbing his jersey off the floor. I finally saw who the mystery girl was… none other than Selena Gomez. It all made sense now, of cause. If my heart was into a million pieces it's now into a billion pieces. I could feel the tears beaming at the bottom of my eyes. Justin slowly walked towards me as I glared at him he stopped in his tracks.

</p>

<p>

“Y/N… I didn't know you were here… I thought you left..” he paused in between his words… I couldn't believe he was saying this to me, so he's basically saying he had hope I had already left our home…. He wants me to leave..

</p>

<p>

I could feel the anger building inside me but I didn't know to get it out. My body was numb. I didn't bother to answer him as I just pointed at Selena.

</p>

<p>

“So this is where you have been?” I asked sternly, a guilty look appeared across his face as he nodded. I felt the tears rushing down my cheeks.

</p>

<p>

“We started talking a few days ago, we were hanging out and we realized how much we l-” I raised my hand signaling him to stop, I honestly couldn't hear those words come out of his mouth.

</p>

<p>

“I'm so sorry Y/N….” Selena sympathize and that's when I exploded.

</p>

<p>

“BITCH! I DON'T NEED YOUR SYMPATHY! YOU ARE JUST USING HIM FOR FAME AND IT'S A SHAME HE CAN'T SEE THAT! Even after four fucking years he's still blinded by you…! Abel wasn't enough for you huh? You just love messing up other people's lives… that's who you are! A fucking homewrecker!” I screamed throwing the tiny table at her and that's when Justin grabbed me by the arms.

</p>

<p>

“Y/N! Stop it! It's not her fault.” he said as I pound on his chest. “All I ever did was love you! How could you do this to me?! Why Justin?! Answer me?!” I screamed crying my eyes out. “I love her okay! She has always been my one true love!” he shouted shaking me a bit my body went numb at his words.

</p>

<p>

CLACKS!

</p>

<p>

Catching both of us attention the stick hit the floor face forward showing two bright pink lines. He slowly release his grip from me stooping to pick up the stick, he stared at me.

</p>

“Y/N! Answer me! What's this!?” he shouted, I just took it from his hand looking at it as the tears pour down my face.

</p>

<p>

“Nothing--that--ma-tters to you. You chos-e her tha-ts all that mat-ters.” I stammered before grabbing my car keys running out the door. I could hear Justin shouting my name but I didn't care, he chose her…. so it's just me and ou- my baby.

</p>

A/N: Sorry if this offend any Selena fans. It's just a imagine. I hope you enjoy! Let me know if I do a part 2. 😊

[ameerawritesstuff]

Prompt Garashir; 27, 31, 37, 40, 41, 50

Whoo! Sorry these took a bit! But wow, these were some of my absolute favorites to do! Btw, I took a very different interpretation than is probably expected for #40 and I think I’m going to turn it into a longer series on ao3 t some point because I’m really interested in where it could go.

Thank you for these great prompts!

27 “I’m with you, okay? Always”

I’m with you, okay? Always. Garak read that last line over and over again. He would have thought he was just being hopeful, wishing that Julian could ever feel the same way about him as he did. But the way the letter ended had shattered that. Love, Julian

Garak found himself reading the entire letter again:

My dear, Garak

That comma placement alone had gotten Garak’s heart beating rapidly. Surely it was a grammatical error, although out of character for Julian Bashir, it wasn’t unlikely. Furthermore, it could be a simple show of platonic affection. After exchanging letter after letter, even Garak had to realize he was indeed held dear in the doctor’s heart.

My heart ached reading your last letter, as it has for every letter prior.

The details of Cardassia being rebuilt were not easy to swallow, so it was no surprise Julian found them upsetting. Still, this was the first time he admitted it instead of offering suggestions and words of encouragement.

I won’t come to Cardassia if you don’t want me to and since you haven’t asked me to join you, I’ve stayed put, but please let me do something for you.

The idea that Julian would even consider moving to Cardassia hadn’t even crossed Garak’s mind. It had been a fantasy, that Starfleet would send him to Cardassia as a part of a goodwill project or something, but Garak had never thought it could be a reality. And yet here Julian was, saying he would join him if Garak asked.

I don’t know what I can send you, what I can say, what I need to do to help you. And I’m talking about you Garak, not Cardassia.

That had made Garak confused. Why would Garak, one man, get special consideration over an entire suffering population. Sure, Julian actually knew Garak, but familiarity was hardly necessary when it came to that young man’s bleeding heart.

Just ask me for anything and it’s yours. You’re working so hard to take care of all of Cardassia, you’ve neglected to take care of yourself. Let me take care of you then, please, I’m begging you.

Did Julian know that was essentially a proposal in Cardassian culture?

Being there for you never has been and never could be an imposition or a burden, since my heart’s always with you no matter what.

I’m with you, okay? Always.

Love,

Julian

The young man had somehow rendered Garak, who was never at a loss for words, speechless. How could he respond to this letter? Admit that he ached for Julian every day? Or simply ask that he join him as a friend? He could decline but thank Julian for his offer of assistance, that would be the wisest way for Garak to keep himself from getting hurt.

Still, the entire world that Garak loved had fallen apart. He had essentially no one to truly depend on and he had grown so tired and so hopeless. Would it be so wrong for him to want something nice for himself? To dream again? To desire?

My dearest, Julian

I await your arrival with baited breath.

Love,

Garak

31 “You’re alive?!”

“You’re alive?!” Garak couldn’t believe the doctor had just walked into his shop to see why he wasn’t at lunch. Why would Garak go to lunch with a ghost?

“No one told you…” Julian breathed in shock before chuckling. “I suppose that explains why you didn’t meet me at the infirmary.” He shot Garak an apologetic smile. “Sorry about the scare.”

“I watched footage of you being killed by the Harvesters,” Garak began, trying to regain his footing. “I’m not angry to see that it was obviously a forgery, however shocked I may be.”

“‘Not angry’ isn’t the same as being happy.” Julian smirked. “Come on, Garak, you can’t tell me you were upset over one Starfleet member.”

“Two Starfleet members.” Garak corrected. “I believed the Chief had also been killed.”

“Ah, yes, and you two are close, I’m sure.” Julian scoffed. “How many other people still think I’m dead?” Garak shrugged, as he truly didn’t know. “Well, how did you find out? We weren’t gone so long that news would really have been spread outside of personnel and family. Did Professor O’Brien tell people or something?” Garak said nothing. “Well? Am I going to terrify everyone I see if I walk into Quark’s?”

“I doubt that, my dear.” Garak said with a wave of his hand.

“Garak…” Julian had a mischievous smile on his face. “You weren’t supposed to have watched the footage, were you?” Garak was silent again. “You watched a classified transmission, risking your status on this station…” His grin only grew wider. “Were you really that worried about me when my return was delayed?”

“Well,” Garak said with a click of his tongue. “It’s not as if I haven’t openly shown my fondness for you.”

“Oh, don’t act ashamed, Garak.” Julian laughed as he walked up to Garak. “You’re not the first person to develop a crush on me and you won’t be the last.”

“I said nothing about romantic feelings!” Garak protested a little too quickly. Julian looked back with wide-eyed hurt.

“So…” He bit his lip and looked away. “You don’t feel that way about me?” It was maybe only a few seconds of silence, but it felt like an eternity for Garak before Julian burst into laughter. “Alright, but seriously, Garak, are we going to get lunch or not?” Garak was relieved that he didn’t have to answer the other question. While he was used to lying, he hardly wanted to deny his feelings for the beautiful young doctor that he was now walking to the replimat with.

.

37 “Because I love you god damn it!”

“Because I love you, god damn it!” Julian was absolutely seething at Garak so he didn’t even stop to register what he’d just confessed. “Do you know how much it hurts to watch you sacrifice yourself so much for someone who never deserved your loyalty?” If Garak were not behind a force field, he would have embraced Julian in an instant. “You think I sympathize with the Founders? Of course not! But you would have tried to kill anyone if you thought they had a hand in killing Tain!” Julian shook his head in rage. “That man was not just a monster in general, he was a monster to you!”

“Doctor…” Garak breathed. There was so much being said, words Garak thought he’d never hear. He never thought someone would be critical of his father’s treatment of him and he certainly never thought Julian Bashir could love him.

“I suppose I just don’t understand.” Julian sighed. “I don’t know who Tain really was to you, but I know who he was to me. I met him once and he mocked and belittled the man I love.” There it was again, Julian saying he loved Garak. “I wanted to wring his thick scaly neck and wipe that arrogant smile off his face.”

“All on my behalf?” Garak couldn’t fathom Julian’s affection for him.

“And I suppose my own jealous motivations.” Julian crossed his arms in a huff. “I don’t know what the nature of your relationship was…” Julian blushed slightly and looked away.

“Doctor, you speak as if you and I are romantically involved.” Julian’s eyes snapped to focus.

“Aren’t we?” Julian asked in surprise. “I mean, I researched Cardassian courtship and, well, I’ve tried to follow all of the customs.” This was not something Garak had expected. “The shoulder touch you first gave me was a proposition and I accepted.”

“You’re telling me that all this time you’ve believed that we were a couple?” Had Garak missed the potential of a million kisses somehow? There was heartbreak and confusion in Julian’s eyes so Garak quickly spoke again. “I’m hardly opposed to the idea, but nothing was ever made official. Not to mention our physical intimacy has been….” Non-existent was the word, but that didn’t feel right. It wasn’t that Garak was just pointing out that they hadn’t been intimate, it was that he wished they had been. “Lacking…”

“‘Innuendo and subtlety are what make a true romance,’” Julian quoted, “‘To be blunt and direct would be to lose any chance.’” Illoja of Prim’s poem To Lovers, With Love which was essentially an instructional piece on Cardassian courtship told in the loveliest of verse. “I wasn’t about to spell out the nature of our relationship and have you disgusted by being so brazen.” It was true, on Cardassia, for anyone to openly claim they were romantically involved without announcing a marriage would be scandalous. “And I wasn’t about to lay a finger on you until you made the first move.”

“Why did you have to be so chivalrous?” Garak sighed and brought his hand to his forehead. “If you had just kissed me, or made some other recognizable move…” Garak shook his head. “Do you realize how long I’ve lusted after you?”

“Well, you’ll have to lust just a bit longer.” Julian huffed. “You got yourself thrown in jail, remember?”

“Believe me, if this barrier were not here, this conversation would be going very differently.” Garak sighed again as he looked at Julian with new wonder. “I would have embraced you and told you how long I have loved you.”

“I’m still mad at you.” Julian looked away with a smirk. “I’m a bit madder since apparently I’ve been single all these years without knowing.”

“At least you got to have the illusion of romance!” Garak protested. “I’ve been pining over you and certain you could never feel the same way.”

“Well, you were wrong about that.” Julian clicked his tongue and looked back at Garak with a strong glare. “And you were wrong to have tried to kill all the Founders.”

“I’ll admit that it was rash.” Garak conceded. “And I’ll endeavor to be worthy of you.” He gave a small bow and was surprised to hear the force field brought down. “There’s no way you have the authority to release me.”

“I’m not releasing you.” Julian grinned. He then firmly embraced Garak and kissed him. It was strong and passionate but not forceful. Garak allowed himself to be led and for his eyes to close only for Julian to pull away. Garak looked at him through hazy blinking. “I’m just making sure you realize what you’re missing out on while you’re in here.” With that, Julian exited the cell and then pressed the keypad so the force field went back up.

“You are cruel.” Garak breathed with a smirk.

“But I bet you’ll never do anything like this again, hmm?” Julian’s smile faded and he bit his lip. “You’ll be back in a month. I’ll still be here for you.”

“I’ll count the moments.”

40 “I could hold you forever”

“I could hold you forever.” Garak said as he tapped his fingers against his desk. “Truly, I have all the time in the world and no one cares what happens to you.” Julian wanted to believe someone would come for him. That Starfleet, The Klingons, The Tal’Shiar, anyone would save him, but who would go against the Obsidian Order for an augment? For a freak?

“Then you would spend forever learning nothing.” Julian said with a weary chuckle. “I’ve told your men everything I know so any further torture would just be for your own sadistic pleasure at this point.” When he’d been discovered at Starfleet Medical, Julian decided his best course of action was to run away to somewhere that wouldn’t question his identity out of desperation. He’d gotten surgically altered to appear Bajoran and created an identity and earring for himself. He told himself that he would neither join the resistance or the collaborators. He would just keep his head down and treat anyone who needed medical attention. Eventually, when Bajor got less desperate, he’d be able to live more like himself and no one would be suspicious since he’d be a familiar face.

Julian now realized how naive he’d been. The slaughter of Bajorans didn’t simply happen behind the scenes or away from prying eyes, it happened right on the streets for everyone to see. Every action was politicized. Treating a Bajoran meant you weren’t using supplies on a Cardassian and vice versa. Julian found himself picking a side quicker than expected, the Bajoran side. It seemed natural to everyone. A Bajoran smuggling resources for other Bajorans, but Julian wasn’t really a Bajoran. Unfortunately, this man from the Obsidian Order had found that out.

“You think I enjoy this?” Garak sighed. “Truly, my dear, I have no desire to see you suffer. I told my men to bring you to me unharmed.” Julian scoffed. “How do you think I discovered you weren’t Bajoran?”

“A medical scan of some sort?” Julian guessed. “Hidden in a device so I wouldn’t notice?”

“You remember when we first met?” Garak asked. Julian nodded. “I didn’t like the idea of being treated by a Bajoran doctor, but the prefect of Bajor seems to think it’s polite to have a few around.” Garak had an amused smirk. “But I must say, you healed my wounds more efficiently than any Cardassian I’ve ever been to.”

“So you decided I couldn’t be Bajoran?” Julian scoffed. “That wouldn’t fit your idea of them being inferior?”

“Oh, please, I’m not so close-minded.” Garak waved his hand. “In truth, I was essentially told the truth, by the orb.” Julian blinked. “Even though you’re not actually Bajoran, I’m sure you know about orb experiences.” Julian nodded. “Yes, well, while the silly fairy tales of Bajor are mostly a waste of time, the orbs seem to create a lucid type of dreaming. It can allow you to discover what your subconscious has already learned.” Julian said nothing. “Have I lost you?”

“No,” Julian shook his head. “You’re saying you realized I was human because of the orb?”

“It also showed me some other things about you.” Garak got up and moved toward Julian.

“It showed you that I was smuggling medical supplies.” Julian clicked his tongue. Of course there would be some bizarre and seemingly fantastical device that would expose Julian.

“That, and the fact that I need to keep your from getting yourself killed.” Garak moved to touch Julian’s shoulder, but stopped his hand when Julian flinched. “You’re a very precious creature, Julian Bashir.” Julian looked up in horror at the use of his real name. “Don’t worry, not even Central Command knows who you really are. I imagine they’d love to use you as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the Federation.”

“But you intend to use me in some other way?” Julian supplied. “Let me guess, you want an augmented agent who, not being Cardassian, can gain the trust of Bajorans.”

“That is a charming idea.” Garak smiled. “But truly, I have no intention of forcing you into anything.”

“So I can cooperate or rot in a cell?” Julian rolled his eyes. “That’s still manipulation of power and extortion, even if you try and fool me into it being something else.” Garak glanced down and pursed his lips.

“I don’t really know how to go about this…” He sighed. “I have reason to believe you and I are intended for one another.”

“I’m sorry?” Julian asked, not really knowing what that meant.

“The orb,” Garak explained, “it showed you and I together… intimately.” Julian’s eyes grew wide.

“So your subconscious had some sick fantasy about me?” Julian was horrified. If only the light beam wasn’t keeping him trapped to the chair, he would run. “If you’re going to rape me, at least be honest about it. Don’t pretend some illusion of romance is involved.” He spat. What else did Julian have but insults? He could refuse to cooperate with anything, but he couldn’t stop Garak from doing whatever he pleased.

“My dear doctor,” Garak looked almost remorseful. “If I thought this was some fleeting desire or lust, I would ignore it easily.” He shook his head. “You think I want to lie with a non-Cardassian? An enemy of the state?”

“You wouldn’t be the first.” Julian squirmed under the restraining light. “I had to heal countless Bajorans that were given special treatment.”

“And I, like you, find that distasteful.” Garak took a step back and leaned against his desk now. “What do you know about Cardassian culture?”

“You don’t want to hear my thoughts on Central Command.” Julian scoffed. “I assure you, I’m not a fan.”

“Your disapproval of my government is not my concern.” Garak dismissed. “I’m talking about the culture, outside of politics.” Julian thought for a moment.

“You value family.” Garak nodded. “And you were once a spiritual and peaceful people.”

“Yes, and with that sentimentality came weakness and poverty.” Garak said cooly. “Unfortunately, there are still elements of our old beliefs that resonate even in myself.” Julian watched Garak carefully. He seemed sincere and relatively respectful of Julian’s desire to not be touched, but that could easily be an act to convince Julian to submit. “There’s a belief that people are intertwined and destined to fall in love.”

“And you believe that’s what’s going to happen to us?” Julian said in disbelief.

“I believe that is what’s going to happen to me.” Garak said with a click of his tongue. “But I’m not pleased by it.” He sighed. “The vision ended with you stabbing me in the heart.”

“I’m beginning to like this fantasy.” Julian smiled. Garak returned his smile with his own sad one. Without another word, Garak pressed a button on his desk and Julian was released from the light beam. He immediately stood up and tried to back away, but his wounds from earlier hit him with a stabbing pain and he fell to the ground.

“Stay still.” Garak tsked as he moved over to Julian. “I’m going to fix you up.”

“You wouldn’t want me bleeding all over you as you molest me?” Julian coughed out. Garak said nothing as he ran a dermal regenerator over most of Julian’s injuries.

“Better?” Garak said with a warm smile. Julian glared at him.

“I see you only know how to hurt people, not heal them.” He bit back. “A dermal regenerator hardly solves everything.”

“What else is wrong?” Garak asked with concern.

“I think…” Julian looked at his leg and bit his lip. “I think my ankle is fractured.”

“How do I fix that?” Julian eyed Garak suspiciously. If this Cardassian was only healing him in order to rape him, it would be in Julian’s best interest to not tell Garak what to do. Then again, there was almost no way Julian would be able to escape with a fractured ankle.

“Twist it back into place to start.” Julian bit his lip as he prepared himself for the pain and Garak frowned and stood up. “Where are you going?”

“I’m not about to subject you to more pain.” Garak explained as he began rifling through his desk. “My med kit should have a localized anesthetic.” Garak pulled out the medical kit and returned to Julian’s side. He opened it up and took out a hypospray. “Where should I inject this?”

“Just a little bit above the ankle.” Julian winced when Garak touched the pained spot but when the burst from the hypo was released, Julian sighed at the numbing sensation.

“Well, that smile’s a good sign.” Garak grinned. Julian gulped uncomfortably at the display of affection. Garak seemed to be a bit embarrassed himself and looked back at Julian’s ankle. “I’m going to reset it now, alright?” Julian nodded. Garak hesitated before taking Julian’s ankle. He twisted it back into place but he immediately glanced with worry at Julian. “Did that hurt you?” Julian shook his head. “Now what?”

“There should be a Marrow Threader in your med kit.” Garak searched inside the case for a moment before pulling it out. “Run that over it three or four times.” Garak did as he was was told and then looked at Julian again curiously.

“Did it work?” Garak asked. He was acting so innocent and child-like. Julian nearly forgot he should be frightened.

“I can’t really tell since it’s still numb.” Julian reached out his hand. “Here, help me up. If I can stand on my own, it worked.” Garak pulled Julian to his feet and then steadied him with care. Julian smiled as he felt stable again.

“That’s a relief.” Garak sighed.

“Thanks.” Julian smiled happily at Garak before remembering who he was talking to. “What…” Julian licked his lips. It had been foolish to try to run away in the first place, he wouldn’t get far with or without a fractured ankle. “What are you going to do with me?”

“I’m going to keep you safe, my dear.” Garak put a gentle hand on Julian’s cheek. Julian froze but then allowed himself to relax. It wouldn’t do to show fear. “I have no doubt that you will one day kill me, but I can’t seem to find it within myself to kill you first.” Julian searched Garak’s blue eyes for any sign of a lie.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” He said in surprise. “You actually think I’m your soulmate or something?” Garak nodded. “All because of what the orb showed you?”

“And because when I first met you, I already wanted you.” Garak admitted. “I ignored it at first. Even after the orb experience I tried to rid my mind of you…” Garak dropped his hand and looked away. “But I suppose I never really had a choice in the end.” Julian looked Garak over. The man had never actually hurt him and he had to admit he’d shown Julian only kindness. There was a part of Julian that found Garak attractive as well, a feeling that had first awakened when Garak had come into his infirmary. The Cardassian was a fascinating mystery and here he was seeming so vulnerable in front of Julian.

“Neither did I.” Julian breathed as he placed a delicate hand on Garak’s shoulder. He knew what that motion meant, he’d lived among Cardassians long enough to pick up a few things. Garak looked at him in surprise. “If I kiss you…” Julian said, licking his lips, “you won’t hurt me?”

“I swear on my life.” Garak said as he let his eyes fall closed. Julian brought his lips to Garak’s and lay a long and passionate kiss there. He would tell himself later that it was a ploy, that this was simply to fulfill the end of that fantasy where he at last would stab Garak. However, in this moment he simply enjoyed the kiss.

41 “Everytime I see you, I fall in love with you all over again”

“Everytime I see you, I fall in love with you all over again.” Garak smiled when Julian’s face appeared on the screen.

“I know distance makes the heart grow fonder, but honestly, Elim,” Julian shook his head with a smile. “Do you have to be so romantic when you’re too far away to hold?”

“It’s merely the first thing that came to mind.” Garak sighed. “Being so far away from you is frustrating.”

“Believe me,” Julian leaned back in his chair and exhaled. “I am also frustrated.”

“Now that was just cruel.” Garak said. “You realize that I’m now picturing you taking matters into your own hands.”

“When are you coming home?” Julian said sadly. “The news from Loval hasn’t been good.”

“Unfortunately it’s accurate though.” Garak sighed. “It’s hard enough to unite our peoples on Cardassia Prime, let alone planets outside of the Cardassian system.” He shook his head. “Many people here still view Dukat as a hero due to his business with K’Temang.”

“Have the riots stopped at least?” Garak said nothing. “I see…” Julian bit his lip. “I should have gone with you.”

“Do not berate yourself, dear.” Garak said, wagging a finger. “The hospital is in desperate need of your expertise. While the situation here is politically dire, there are significantly less wounded.”

“Not to mention it wouldn’t do for a human to accompany you.” Julian mumbled.

“I wish it were different.” Garak said.

“No, I understand.” Julian sighed. “You’re attempting to unify these people and interspecies mingling is a highly divisive issue.” He rubbed some weariness from his eyes. “I miss you, but mostly I worry about you.”

“I’m very safe, Julian.” Garak smiled. “Truly, I’m out of harm’s way. No one’s going to hurt me.”

“You’re your own worst enemy.” Julian responded. “I don’t want you blaming yourself for all the troubles you see and thinking you’ve somehow failed Cardassia.” Garak couldn’t argue with that as Julian had had to reassure him often that things would improve. “You’re going to do more for Loval than anyone else would have been able to and then you’re going to come back to me, understand?”

“Yes, doctor.” Garak smirked. “I’ll return to you as soon as I am able.”

“Good.” Julian nodded firmly before smiling. “Now, I’m free for the rest of the evening and would like to just talk to you about Jake Sisko’s new book.”

“Ah, yes,” Garak said, shaking his head. Long-distance meant flirting was really all they had as far as romance. A good debate was essentially their love-making while they were apart. “He’s a talented young writer, it’s a shame about his Federation bias making the Maquis rebel seem sympathetic.”

“You found Jacobi sympathetic!?”

50 “Please… I need you”

“Please… I need you.” Julian whimpered. He felt so pathetic and childish. It had only been a nightmare, it wasn’t a good enough reason to wake Garak up in the middle of the night. Still, Julian had already used the comm and asked him to come to his quarters, it was too late to save face.

“I’m on my way.” Garak said that with more alertness than his initial response to being hailed at whatever hour this was. He sounded worried and serious. Julian had no idea what he was going to tell Garak when he was asked what was so urgent. I’m sorry to have disturbed you, Garak but, you see, I dreamt I was in solitary again except this time I was lying on a biobed in the room and my parents were there. Julian shuddered at the memory. That hadn’t been the particularly unsettling part of the dream, what had shaken Julian was when a Changeling appeared and took his form. That was when his parents happily embraced the Changeling as their son. The Changeling smiled at Julian as he looked on in horror and whispered, “goodbye, Jules.” And suddenly Julian was awake in a cold sweat.

“Enter.” Julian mumbled when he heard his door chime. How could he tell Garak that nothing had really happened? It was all just ghosts. Ghosts that were probably nothing compared to the kinds that haunted Garak. Julian almost considered making up a different reason for needing him. He thought about claiming he thought he saw the Changeling still in his quarters. Of course, if that were true, Garak knew that Julian would have contacted security first. Julian had gotten so lost in his thoughts, he jumped when he felt Garak’s hand gently touch his back.

“I’m sorry, my dear.” Garak said soothingly.

“No, no, it’s alright.” Julian shook his head. “I was just startled, is all.” He looked at Garak and chuckled a bit. “I really shouldn’t have bothered you so late.”

“Not at all,” Garak smiled, “what happened?” The question Julian had been dreading.

“It’s honestly silly.” Julian shrugged with an apologetic smile. “I was still half asleep when I called you, I’m really fine now.”

“Silly?” Garak asked skeptically. “Well, I could use a little humor.” That was an invitation to share as much as it was a challenge. Garak knew there was something really bothering Julian.

“I had a nightmare.” Julian whispered. He felt like he was too small for his own pajamas with how foolish he sounded.

“I see…” Garak nodded and was quiet for a moment. He seemed to be thinking about it as if Julian had stated some complicated philosophy. “Do you want to talk about it?” Julian did not want to talk about it so he shook his head. “Do you want to go back to sleep?” Julian didn’t know how to respond to that question. He welcomed rest, but he was afraid of what lay behind his eyelids. “Personally, I’m wide awake now and wouldn’t mind some company if I’m going to be up.”

“I really am sorry about waking you.” Julian looked away.

“Don’t be.” Garak said, shaking his head. “You said that you needed me. Being needed is the most important part of life and I haven’t been needed in a long time.” Garak had a sad, distant smile on his face.

“I do need you, Garak.” It was said instinctively, but Julian knew he meant it. “I mean, I called you for a reason.”

“That is actually something I’m curious about.” Garak said, raising an eye ridge. “I assumed you’d require some sort of…” He glanced around the room as he always did before he told a lie that was meant to be seen as one, “tailoring work. However, while I don’t mind being emotional support, I’m not exactly the obvious choice.”

“I didn’t really think about it.” Julian admitted. “You were just the person I wanted to see most.” Julian hadn’t meant to phrase it quite like that, but it was the truth. He wanted comfort and there were few things as comforting to him as Garak. The rest of the station would probably be revolted at the fact that Julian felt safe with the obvious Carddassian spy, but Julian knew it was true.

“I’m flattered.” Garak bowed his head slightly. “Anything I can do to help you, I will do.”

“You being here is plenty.” Julian sighed. He felt so tired and drowsy but every time he let his eyelids grow heavy, he snapped his eyes open out of fear.

“Lie down, my dear.” Garak directed. Julian didn’t resist and let himself be slowly lowered back again. “You do need your rest. I’ll keep watch and be here in case you begin to have nightmares again.”

“Thank you…” Julian breathed. It was both a small and huge favor at the same time. Julian allowed his eyes to close and tried to breathe deeply. There was a warmth that came with Garak being near him, even if the Cardassian was technically cold. Julian found himself lie in that warmth and finally submit to the exhaustion that came over him.