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sabraeal · 5 months ago

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If the Mind Is Willing, Chapter 6

[Read on AO3]

Written for @claudeng80, who has been waiting longer than a month now for this birthday fic, and who has indeed beta'd this birthday fic as well, for we long ago passed the point where we pretend with each other that our final drafts are our first drafts. And though she cannot and will never see those first drafts because that is a layer of vulnerability on par with peeling off my skin to show off my bones, she can at least see my seconds drafts. Where she will then promptly tell me that I am missing a crucial word in a sentence, and maybe I should consider a comma or maybe a whole ass period, or possibly learn to spell words the way the god or at least the Oxford Dictionary intended. Because that is what friendship is all about 🤣

The problem is: it feels like too much.

The suitcase had been a given, of course; Chizuru only had the one, a gift from Father on her twelfth birthday, meant to be used on the single vacation he’d set aside time to take her on. Even after six years, the flower decals still looked like they’d been applied yesterday, pink a vibrant cherry blossom, only the dint on one corner to serve as proof it had ever been used. Disney World might have only lasted two days before a work emergency had them hopping the next flight back home, but at least the Orlando baggage carousel had left its mark. It’d been a happy reminder of better days when she’d been living out of it for those few weeks, unsure of where she would land— or whether she ever would.

It’s only— she hadn’t thought it would be full. Chizuru wouldn’t call herself a light packer by any means, but the event’s only three days, at a hotel that is possibly twenty minutes door-to-door, at least when school’s in session. It hardly seems like the sort of thing that calls for a suitcase filled to the brim. Above the brim even, if she were gutsy enough to take Kimigiku’s costume out of the garment bag— which she isn’t. It’d been heart-pounding enough putting Sen’s paper-wrapped kimono in there, let alone something with parts and pieces and things that could very easily scatter under her bed skirt and be lost for eternity.

Which brought her tally to one suitcase (over laden), one garment bag (to be treated with care), and the small travel pack she’d slung over her chest (overstuffed), gone over a half dozen times each, pared down to the barest bones, and still, still—

She can’t possibly take up this much space. Even in Shinpachi’s Range Rover, it’s too much. Maybe if she tried again, this time—?

3:15, her lock screen reads, a little snowflake sitting beside the 33°F below. Haah, with a four o’clock check in, there’s no chance of her whittling her luggage past the basics. Not unless she want to be late, and if she’s late, then—

Then everyone will be waiting for her. All of them clustered at the bottom of the stairs, watching the time tick down as she tries to decide if she really needs an extra pair of underwear or another package of hair ties. Just the thought threatens to have her break out in a full-body rash.

With a steeling breath, she adjusts her travel pack and rolls out to the hallway. A proposition that would be easier if not for the wall-to-wall carpets in the hall, but Chizuru manages to steer her suitcase competently enough, drawing up to the stairs with enough confidence to survive the six sets of eyes sure to turn her way—

Only to find two instead. Not waiting on her either— no, Yamazaki’s got his head bent close to Hajime, hands shaking with emphasis as he hisses, “I don’t care if he’s done hours before anyone else, I’m not getting in a car with him.”

“I was not insinuating that I would make you,” Hajime intones with weary patience. “I merely wanted to mention the likelihood of Souji being the first of our companions to finish with his preparations.”

“And I’m telling you that I’m not—”

It’s not on purpose; between fight or flight, Chizuru’s legs have chosen freeze, and she’s perfectly resigned to stand statue-still up here, silent and just out of sight. But her suitcase chooses to make it known to everyone in the major metropolitan area that one of its wheels is not perfectly situated on the landing. It tilts, the aggrieved wheel letting out a plaintive squeak— and that’s all it takes for Hajime’s eyes to narrow, slanting up to the top step.

“Good afternoon, Yukimura,” he says, oddly pointed. “It seems you are ready to head to the hotel.”

“Ah…” Her suitcase clunks down the next step with her, wheels spinning. “Yes. I just, um…”

Have to survive these stairs, she swallows down, gritting out a smile instead. She tries to lift her case and garment bag all together, but—

“Yukimura.” Long, well-clipped fingers wrap around the side handle, quite literally taking the weight out her hands. “Would it be alright if I handled this for you?”

“Oh.” Yamazaki’s not a tall man, not by any measure, but in the dim light of the stairway, he looms, and it— it flusters her, free hand fluttering uselessly between them. “I-I can’t possibly ask you to—”

“You’re not.” Hajime hovers at the bottom of the banister, a strange sort of lightness in his voice. If Chizuru didn’t know better she might call it…bubbly. “He is.”

“O-oh.” She stares down at the hand still clenched around a handle, willing each finger to release knuckle by knuckle, so slow it feels like someone else’s hand entirely. “Then…thank you, I guess.”

Yamazaki spares her a nod and a terse, “No problem,” right before he lifts her suitcase and—

And rams it right into the floral wallpaper.

“Nice,” Hajime hums, appreciative.

Yamazaki’s still flushed when he glares down, snapping, “I don’t see you helping.”

“And get between you and serving hime-sama?” Hajime’s not one to smirk— honestly, he’s not much on smiling either, save by millimeters— but a corner of his mouth trembles as Yamazaki tromps down the last few stairs, stormy as one of their winter squalls. “I would never.”

His jaw doesn’t so much open as fall, working, as if he needed a good running start to get his next words out. Chizuru simply slips around his side, asking brightly, “Have you been waiting long?”

“We were just discussing who we thought would be next in finishing their preparations,” Hajime tells her, not really answering her question. Experience tells her that means ‘a long time.’ “Although Shinpachi could fit the seven of us in his vehicle, we would more comfortably divide into three and four amongst two cars, and since I have a perfectly serviceable sedan”— Chizuru’s confusion must show her face, since one look at her has him hauling to a stop, coughing to clear his throat— “I mean to say, we were waiting for our third.”

“Oh.” She blinks, glancing between the two of them. “I guess that’s me?”

“So it seems.” There it is, that tremble at the corner of Hajime’s mouth, threatening to curl. For a moment, she’s certain it will, but he turns his head away, casting a speculative look down the hall. “Should we wait to take on another passenger, or—?”

“Better not risk it.” Hajime half-turns toward Yamazaki, disappointment palpable, and he adds, “Oh come on, Nagakura has the bigger car.”

“That doesn’t mean we should—”

Whatever Hajime means to say is lost in the tangle of boy and bag clattering down the stairs, the struggle so loud Chizuru’s ears still ring even after it’s over.

“Oh hey,” Heisuke says, cheerfully emerging from the tumble. “You guys haven’t left?”

Yamazaki blinks. “Not…yet…”

“We were just discussing if we should wait,” Hajime says. “Since Shinpachi’s vehicle might be preferable to the remaining passengers.”

“Nah, those guys are gonna take forever to get ready. Sano has a whole bag just for his freaking hair! And not only that, but him and Shinpachi have been fighting for the last ten minutes over who owns this styling gel or whatever, which like, who cares? But still” — Heisuke stops to catch his breath— “You got room for one more?”

Yamazaki and Hajime exchange looks. Just what exactly they’re saying, Chizuru can’t even begin to guess.

“Well,” Hajime hums, bemused. “That does handle one problem.”

“Fine.” Yamazaki sighs, hefting a bag over his shoulder. “Let’s just go already.”

Despite all her fretting, her suitcase fits easily into the back of Hajime’s Elantra, slotting into the last spot in the trunk with little more than a twist and a lift. It helps that all Heisuke has is a duffel, crammed into the corner with all the care of a dirty sock being returned to the hamper.

“Don’t you have costume parts in there?” Yamazaki manages around a grimace; one that only deepens at Heisuke’s shrug.

“It’s fine.” He gives the bag one last good shove, wedging it firmly against the side. “I just threw it together. And Sano says he’s gonna bring all the sticks or whatever—”

“They’re boffers,” Hajime interjects, “technically.”

“Yeah, that.” Heisuke claps him on the back. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Hotels have those iron thingies, don’t they?”

Both eyebrows hitch up to Hajime’s hairline. “You know how to use an iron?”

Heisuke’s face crumples in confusion. “Well, no. But how hard can it be?”

Plenty is the answer, though Chizuru’s in no mind to give it, not when she’s preoccupied with trying to hang her garment bag on the hook over the window. Yamazaki and Hajime had made it look easy, but hers just keeps sitting wrong, taking up too much space and—

“You can take the front.”

She blinks up, half spilled out of the back seat, right up into Yamazaki’s concerned frown. “Excuse me?”

“I mean, if you wanted. It’s probably, er, nicer than having to share the back with—” his gazes darts over her head, to where Hajime patiently coaches Heisuke in the proper way to treat his personal items— “anyone.”

Her hands fly up, waving between them. “Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly! I can’t have you sit back here with my bag in your way.”

“We have bags back there too,” he reminds her, leaving the ‘and we’re definitely making Heisuke deal with it’ unspoken. “It’s only fair for me to make the offer.”

“Ah, I suppose…” She runs her fingers down the seam of her garment bag, considering. “But really, I’ll be fine. I’m sure Hajime would prefer to have you as his copilot!”

His mouth furrows, the perfect counterpoint to the storm brewing on his brow. “Yukimura—”

“All done!” Heisuke bursts onto the bench seat beside her, quivering with the same energy as a dog wagging his tail. “We gonna get this show on the road soon?”

Yamazaki’s mouth pulls too thin for a sigh to slip through; instead it all rushes out of his nose, coming to an abrupt halt when he glances down at her. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to change seats?”

“Hey! What’s up with this thing?” There’s not a lot of Heisuke, but what there is stretches across the seat, reaching out to give her garment bag one good tug. It’s like magic— one minute it’s shoving a shoulder across her seat, and the next it’s tucked into the handle, laying flat against where the door would be. “There, all set.”

He settles back, utterly nonchalant, as if he didn’t realize he’d done anything exceptional at all. Chizuru fails to stifle a laugh.

“Yes,” she says, giving Yamazaki one of her brightest smiles. “I think I'll get along just fine.”

“Woah? This is the place?” Heisuke jabs a finger toward the glass doors beneath the portico, duffel slung over his shoulder. “You sure?”

“Of course it is.” Yamazaki steps into the revolving door, suitcase clattering at his heels. “Haven’t you seen the campus hotel before?”

“Well, like, not up close,” he admits, following him through. “But this is nice. Like nice-nice. Are you sure they’re gonna give us discounts on a place this swanky?”

Chizuru has to admit, she’s thinking the same. From the outside, it didn’t seem like anything much— just another brutalist building squatting on campus, only with better parking access— but on the inside…

“Is this marble?” she murmurs faintly, nervously mincing across the floor. A hundred dollars for the weekend seemed like a steal when she’d thought it’d have the same level of amenities as a Holiday Inn Express. Now it’s practically highway robbery. “And the chandeliers…?”

“Satsuma Estates has been very kind to our organization since it started,” Saito informs them as he emerges from the door, his own suitcase coming to rest at his heels. “Most of their meeting spaces are influenced by traditional Japanese aesthetics, which meets our standards for a desirable location, and on their part, we are regular, respectful customers who—”

“We hold our biggest events during the part of the fiscal year where there isn’t much in the way of guests.” Yamazaki’s mouth slants, almost sly. “Spending New Year’s Eve on an empty campus in the middle of nowhere isn’t exactly on anyone’s bucket list.”

“So we get to have this place all to ourselves?” Heisuke eyes a vase that could have been just as at home in the Forbidden Palace as it was in a hotel lobby. “And they don’t have a problem with us running around in our costumes? I mean, with the swords and everything?”

“Boffers,” Hajime reminds him at the same time Yamazaki sighs, “They’re just foam.”

There’s a look that passes between them; a weary one, at least for Yamazaki’s part, though Hajime…well, Chizuru could hardly pretend to be an expert on the minute changes that marked a shift in his moods. But if she had to hazard a guess, she might say…amused.

“The more regular players typically bring foam or rubber replicas, with little intention to use them outside of aesthetic accuracy.” Hajime nods his chin toward a plastic pipe leaning against the front desk, both ends thickly padded and wrapped in what looked like duct tape. “New ones or the more…martially oriented roles usually elect to use boffers. Regardless, any weapon paraphernalia is inspected and registered at check-in.”

“They are also not allowed to be drawn outside the designated bounds of a scene,” Yamazaki adds, not a little stern as he surveys the crowd. “Personal combat sequences usually require advanced warning as well, since they have to prepare an area especially to accommodate—”

“Hold up. ‘Personal combat sequences?’”

“Duels,” Hajime clarifies.

Heisuke’s eyes pulse wide. “Duels? Really? We can have one of those?”

“As honor demands.”

“Woah.” There’s a new level of respect in Heisuke’s eyes as he scans the room. “And everyone follows the rules?”

“Yes,” Hajime says as Yamazaki grunts, “Mostly.”

Another look slings between them, though this time Chizuru doesn’t mistake the censure in Hajime’s stare.

“They say we’re better behaved than a regular convention,” Yamazaki allows, begrudgingly. “Or at least, we smell better.”

Heisuke blinks. “Smell better?”

He huffs out something in the neighborhood of a laugh. “You don’t want to know.”

“Should we get in line?” Chizuru eyes the crush creeping toward the front desk, barely contained by the black tape borders. “It seems like there’s already a bit of a wait to get through…”

“Jeez! That’s a lot of people!” Heisuke startles, like he’s only just noticed. “I thought this was supposed to be small?”

“Our usual group is around twenty to thirty members.” Hajime casts a speculative look over the lobby. “But for our weekend events, it can easily double.”

“Dude, this is definitely more than double—”

“Why don’t we check into the event first?” Yamazaki juts his chin toward the hall past the lobby, tightening his grip on his bags. “If everyone’s out here, then there can’t be much of a line there.”

Heisuke’s mouth clicks shut with a shrug. “Sounds like as good a plan as any.”

The event’s check-in is down the hall from the real one, just inside the first exhibit hall they come across— nearly empty, just like Yamazaki said, the number of people loitering around denser behind the tables than in front of them. For the two boys who are best known as the only ones in the roommate agreement who possess some sense of caution, there’s no hesitation, no moment for them to take in the currents of the room and pick the best course— both beeline straight for one of the tables, lining up with all the ease of habit. Chizuru follows after them, not on their heels, like Heisuke, but taking in the size of the room, in how there’s a few people clinging to the corners, their conversations hushed but curious as they pass.

There’s a mountain of a man in front of them, made larger for how the seams of his button down strain at the shoulders to contain his hunch, and she can’t shake the feeling that it’s familiar. Especially when he stands, unfurling head and shoulders taller than all of them and—

“Yamazaki.” The man doesn’t so much speak as rumble, like far away thunder, turning to them with a warm smile. “I see you did bring your friends after all.”

“M-Mr Shimada,” Chizuru gasps, heat flooding her cheeks. “I didn’t even—?”

Recognize you, she nearly says, but he’s wearing the same button down and slacks he does behind his desk, looking every inch like the professor he is. Or at least, will be, once he’s made the jump from adjunct.

Think you’d be here is more accurate, but the longer she considers the idea, the less improbable it seems. He’s a history professor after all— the kind that keeps replica swords mounted on his office wall, right above the pictures of his wife and kids. An active kendo instructor at the campus gym too, plus a dozen other martial arts she can only half remember the syllables of. She’d already seen him do demonstrations with live steel at the freshman orientation fair, dressed up in a kimono and hakama. And when she thinks about it like that, it’s honestly more surprising that he’s the only one from the department here.

A chill shivers up her spine. He’s the only member of the department she sees. That doesn’t mean he’s the only one in attendance. Her eyes skitter out over the hall, searching for stiff shoulders or the lingering scent of Marlboro—

“He’s brought quite a few friends this time.”

Chizuru startles, but it’s not an expletive that’s been dragged over gravel— no, it’s the reedy voice of the man behind the table, a wide smile pulled across a face as dainty and delicate as a doll’s. And yet when those large eyes fix on her— not the same shocking green of Souji’s, but something softer, mossier, more natural— there’s no innocence behind them, just the ceaseless churning of a great machine.

“Though I see not all of them have made it yet.” He rises, half out of his seat and hand outstretched. “I take it this is…?”

A narrow set of shoulders steps between them. “Heisuke!”

The man blinks, impossibly long eyelashes batting against porcelain pale cheeks, but his smile doesn’t lose any of its shine. “Ah, yes, of course, Heisuke. How nice that you’ve decided to join us. I’m Keisuke Ootori, one of the game masters.”

“Thanks for having me,” Heisuke says, so easy, and— and it would be nice to be like that, to be so confident of being welcome that pleasantries don’t turn oddly personal; that saying hello doesn’t come off as desperate. “It’s my first time doing this whole LARP thing!”

“You don’t say.” Keisuke’s mild gaze slants toward Yamazaki, mouth hitched at a corner. “Well, any friend of Hajime and Susumu’s is a friend of ours.”

“Su…Susu…?” Heisuke blinks, rolling his eyes to stare at Yamazaki. “…Mu..?”

“Don’t start.”

“Now, you were playing…?” A finger runs down the binder in front of him, stopping with a victorious tap. “Matsu Yoshitora, the beastmaster.”

“He’s lion clan!” Heisuke leans over the table, practically quivering without a tail to wag. “Because that’s my fursona.”

“Oh.” There it is again, that little wobble at the corner of his mouth, that dart of his eyes to where Yamazaki stands, hands clapped over his face. “Isn’t that nice.”

“I don’t know him,” Yamazaki says through his fingers, ears blazing bright red. “He just followed us in.”

“What Heisuke means,” Hajime interjects with beatific levels of patience, “it that the lion is his favorite animal. At least out of the options presented in the player’s guide.”

“Ah, I see.” Teeth peek through his smile when the game master turns back to Heisuke, fingers knitted over his binder. “You know, one of our other players has a whole functioning tengu suit. I think you might get along.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Yamazaki grumbles, but it’s too late, Heisuke’s already nodding his head, saying, “I have no idea what that is, but it sounds cool.”

“It sure is. Technically impressive too. Now, if you have weapons”—his hand sweeps out toward the table cozened up to his, and the girl behind it— “Marie can take care of their registration.”

“They’re not here yet,” Heisuke hurries to tell him— and as an afterthought, her. “They’re in the other car.”

“If you can describe it, we can get the process started.” The girl— Marie— smiles, but it doesn’t have the same warmth as Keisuke’s. It’s perfunctory, precise, and certainly satisfies Heisuke, since he slides right over and starts trying to gesture dimensions. But still, Chizuru can’t quite shake the feeling that there’s something cold beneath that polite smile, something pointed about the way her eyes avoid anything past the midline of the tables—

“Now, you”— Keisuke’s angles sharpen, teeth flashing behind his smile— “must be Hime-sama.”

Conversation careens to a halt, even the restless murmurs from the corners of the room pressed into silence.

“Ah…um…yes.” Chizuru shuffles a hesitant step closer. “Chizuru. I mean, I’m Chizuru”— he only smiles wider at her blush— “I’m playing Doji Kaoru.”

“Ah, a pleasure to meet you, Chizuru.” He presses a gallant hand to his chest, a sparkle lurking in the corners of his eyes. “And Kaoru. We’ve been waiting a long time to do something with Hime-sama…”

“O-oh! Really?” Her stomach knots itself before hurtling to her throat, bile sour on the back of her tongue. “I’m sorry— it must be so much trouble to— I can always play someone else if it’s going to ruin—”

“On the contrary, Chizuru! You saved us quite a bit of trouble. Especially poor Marie here.” He jerks a thumb toward where she sits, studiously ignoring their conversation. “But on that note— once we’ve wrapped up with check-in, I’d like to talk to the three of you.”

“U-us?” Every hair stands on end. “Are we in…in trouble?”

She could pass out just considering it. Her name’s barely gotten crossed off the list, and already she’s being called in to the principal’s office to explain herself. If only—

“No, no, not at all. In fact, the opposite”— he laughs as he leans in, lowering his voice to a stage whisper— “we’d like you to raise a little trouble.”

“O-oh.” She clasps her fingers to keep them from trembling. “Okay? I guess.”

“We’ll discuss it in a bit.” He settles back, tilting his chin toward the table next to him. “Now if you have any weapons to register, you can—”

“I don’t.”

His words grind to a halt. “You…don’t?”

“No.” She blinks, fingers clenching painfully tight. “Is that…bad?”

“No, no.” He shakes his head, the warmth still radiating from his smile— but there’s a sharpness to it too. An edge an unwary finger could cut itself on. “That’s perfect.”

“Hey, Shinpachi! Sano!” Heisuke bolts like a dog let off his leash as they round the corner to the lobby. There’s more than a few people that stand head-and-shoulders above this crowd, but no-one besides Harada shines bright apple red under the light, hair so glossy and soft Chizuru wonders just what he uses for conditioner. “Look! I got this cool bracelet.”

His wrist thrusts out right under their noses, fluorescent green so close their eyes nearly cross just trying to look, but Shinpachi just pushes it out to a visible distance and grins. “Sweet, bro! Where do I get myself one of these babies?”

“Around the corner.” Heisuke puffs out his chest, free hand hooking onto his hip. “There’s a girl handing them out. Look, Chizuru’s got one too, and—”

“Do they really think I’m going wear that?” Souji doesn’t so much arrive as appear, gone one moment and holding her wrist the next, like the neighborhood cat that only winds itself around her ankles when she’s throwing out old chicken bones. One finger slips beneath the pink band, tugging like he hopes it’ll give. “I’d rather cut my wrist off.”

“If you’re not having fun,” Yamazaki sniffs, “you can just go home.”

Souji’s sneer hones to a point. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, nerd.”

Yamazaki’s jaw works, breath so heavy Chizuru’s half worried it might steam, but before he can manage to marshal anything beyond ‘you—’ Hajime replied, “Yes, the bracelet is required. It marks us out as participants in the event, as well as informs security at a glance that any weapons on our person have been registered and approved by the game masters.”

“Wow, really?” Shinpachi blinks, prodding at Heisuke’s band. “Is there some sort of chip in there or something? RFID or whatever?”

“Er, no.” Yamazaki scratches at the back of his neck. “It’s just the color. Green means he’s only got one registered.”

“Blue is two,” Hajime offers, flashing his own wrist. “As I wear both tachi and tanto.”

“Oh!” Chizuru blinks down at her pink band. “What about mine?”

“You do not possess any weaponry,” he tells her, tone taking a surprised lilt. “Either visible or concealed.”

“What?” Yamazaki catches her wrist up in one hand, long fingers feather-light across her pulse, and he blinks at the band like he’s never seen a red paler than fire engine. “You didn’t bring anything?”

“I…” hadn’t known that would be an option. “Is that bad?”

“Ah, no.” His eyes meet hers, pulling wide before his fingers flinch, both hands and gaze skittering away from her. “Just…unorthodox, maybe.”

“I just thought…Kaoru is a courtier.” She shies beneath a shrug, cheeks flushed. “That means that she would put more weight on her words rather than, er…”

Hajime nods. “A good character choice, Yukimura. One that may also have complicated consequences, depending on the sort of story the game masters would like to tell.”

“Oh.” Her throat squeezes, the first prickle of tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry.” A hand falls gently onto her shoulder, fingers tightening in the barest squeeze when she dares to glance up. Yamazaki may not be one for smiles either, but there’s a faint one clinging to the corners of his mouth now, both amused and— and something else. Fond, maybe. “You’re with us, Yukimura. Experienced players live for complications.”

It’s warm where his hand presses to her, even through her coat, and her tongue tangles trying to find the right word, to find the compromise between thank you and I’m sorry, but—

But Souji saunters right up between them, flicking the band at Yamazaki’s wrist. “Hey, if all these colors are supposed to have some meaning or whatever, what’s with the lame ass purple?”

Yamazaki snatches his hand off her shoulder, cradling it against his chest. “What if you just—?”

“It means that he keeps up to the event maximum,” Hajime informs him mildly. “Concealed.”

Harada frowns, considering the band. “And just how many is that?”

“Five.”

“Woah!” Shinpachi takes a half step back, Heisuke quick to follow suit. “That, uh….that’s pretty impressive. Do a, uh…lot of people do that, or…?”

“No, it’s special dispensation,” Hajime clarifies casually. “Only a handful of players ever display the responsibility and mastery of play to earn the right.”

“No way!” Heisuke suddenly no longer shrinks from but stretches toward Yamazaki, an eager grin tugging at his lips. “Dude, are you like, really cool?”

Souji sniffs. “Only if hell has frozen over.”

For once, Yamazaki doesn’t rise to his bait, merely shaking his head. “No, no. It’s really not that big a deal—”

“Uh-huh.” Harada crosses his arms, one corner of his mouth curling toward a smirk. “And just how many people have a band like yours?”

He hesitates— too long, since Hajime is quick to offer, “Three.”

Yamazaki flushes under the sudden spurt of attention turned his way. “Saito would have one too, if he wanted it! It’s just— shinobi carry knives!”

“Lots of ‘em, apparently,” Shinpachi mutters, impressed.

"That's not--!"

“Ah, hey, Chizuru…” Harada turns to her with a sheepish look, rubbing at the back of his neck. “You know, the bunch of us already checked in here, so uh, why don’t you guys go on up?”

“M-me?” She blinks, on hand resting against her chest. “B-but…”

It’s habit to turn to Yamazaki, to leave space for him to air his own thoughts, his own opinions drawn from forethought and experience, but—

But he’s too busy stumbling under the hand Shinpachi claps to his back, looking like he’d like the carpet to swallow him whole.

“Ah!” Her fingers squeeze tight. “Um, yes. Sure. I’ll…get on that.”

The line’s smaller than it was when they first arrived; no longer a crush of people and garment bags and boffers, but a more subdued queue. It’s in no way quick— it moves along, but there’s time to idle between their forays forward, Heisuke pressing Hajime about clans and combat and conspiracies while Yamazaki surreptitiously checks his phone. Never for long, just a click on and off of the screen, like he’s waiting for something, and—

“Next, please.”

“Yukimura,” Hajime intones, utterly serious. “It is your turn.”

She jolts up from her suitcase, eyeing the open desk. “O-oh! Are you sure? I don’t want to keep you all from—?”

“Next customer, please!” another clerk calls from further down as the cluster of people in front of her walk away, polite smile already tacked in place. “Please approach the desk when you’re ready to check in!”

“That’s us,” Yamazaki says, skirting his suitcase wide as he steps around her. “We’ll wait for you when you’re done.”

“Don’t look at me,” Heisuke says, even as she does. “I’m just here for the company. Sano and Shinpachi already handled my room.”

“A-alright.” Hand wrapped tight around her suitcase handle, she rolls forward, knees barely trembling. “H-hello. I have a reservation?”

The receptionist smiles down at her. “Can I have your name?”

“Chizuru Yukimura?” She rises onto her toes, neck craned to watch the woman key her name into their computer, as if that might somehow help her find it. “I should have a single—?”

“Single…? Oh, hm.” The receptionist sits back in her hips, stymied. “I’m actually seeing one of our queen suites?”

A chill races down her spine. “Ah, no, but I— it definitely was supposed to be a single.”

At least it was when she booked it; it was the only thing she could afford, even with the discount. And even then—

“Oh! I see.” A couple clacks across the keyboard brightens the receptionist’s smile by a couple of watts. “It seems you’ve been given a free upgrade to one of our deluxe suites!”

Nothing good comes for free, Father’s voice blares in her ear, they only want to hide a cost you would hesitate pay. Her stomach twists, cold seeping up her throat. “F-free? I don’t have to, er, sign up for anything, or…?”

The receptionist relaxes with clear relief. Chizuru wishes she could do the same. “Yes, completely for free, at no extra charge!”

It’s impossible to swallow past the lump in her throat. “W-why? Did I do something…?”

“It doesn’t say on the reservation.” Her shoulders offer up a scant shrug under her blazer. “We must have run out of single rooms.”

“But…” It’s worse this way, she wants to say, the words clawing in her throat. Because I didn’t earn it. “I…”

“Yukimura.” Yamazaki steps up beside her, furrowed brows already aimed over the counter. “Is everything all right?”

“A-ah, yes!” Chizuru drops her heels, shuffling back from the counter. “It was just…something with the room…?”

“Ms Yukimura received a free upgrade to her reservation,” the receptionist replies cheerily. “Give me one moment, I’ll activate your key.”

“Free upgrade?” He blinks down at her. “Is there something wrong, or—?”

“No!” It’s ridiculous how much of a scene she’s making— anyone else would have just received it with a smile, happy to have gotten the extra mile out of their money, but here she is, half faint, making a mountain out of a molehill. “It’s fine, really.”

The corners of his mouth bite deeper into his cheeks, unconvinced. “Are you sure? One of us could always—?”

“Here you go, ma’am— 1204.” The receptionist hands over a small envelope, two keys nestled inside. With one glance at Yamazaki, her smile slants, angle all-too knowing. “Enjoy your stay. Next customer, please?”

He frowns, knuckles blanching where they grip his bag. “Yukimura—”

“It’s fine!” Her teeth grit down in a smile. “Really, it is. Let’s just get settled in.”

The elevator doors ding in distress as Harada wraps his whole hand around one side of them, refusing to let them slide shut. “Are you sure you don’t want one of us to come with you? It’s not that far out of the way.”

It’s four floors at least— her twelve to their eight— and with how the halls stretch across this landing, the lobby central to the rest of the rooms, it’s impossible to say how far of a hike. “No no, it’s fine. I can handle finding it myself.”

“We’re not worried about your sense of direction, Chizu.” Shinpachi crosses his arms over his chest, forbidding. “But what if someone gets weird with you while you’re wandering around up there?”

“Of course that’s your problem with all this,” Souji snorts, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Chizuru gets an upgrade and suddenly you’re all acting like there’s lions trying to split the lame gazelle from the herd. What’s the problem, think someone’s going to make eyes at her getting ice if she doesn’t have at least three of you to scare ‘em off?”

“This is serious,” Shinpachi spits. “There’s a lot of people in this place right now—”

“A serious waste of my time.” With a desultory wave of his fingers, Souji stalks off down the hall, calling over his shoulder, “Chizuru’s already said she’s fine. Call me when it’s time to eat.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Harada hums, his too-kind eyes looming over her. “If you don’t feel comfortable, it’s fine for one of us to—”

“No, I’m okay, really.” Chizuru lets her mouth pull wide, hoping her smile is more confident than she is. “You guys need to get your stuff settled. We can meet up later for dinner.”

Harada hesitates, struggling against another distressed ding. “I don’t know…”

“You have your phone, don’t you?” Yamazaki drags his glare from Souji’s back to where she stands, softening. “You’ll call if you need to?”

“Ah, yes!” It takes a moment to fish her phone from her bag, opening and closing zippers as Harada slowly, by inches, loses his struggle against the doors. “Right here!”

She waves it, lock screen bright in the car, and Harada loosens his grip. “As long as you’re sure…”

“I’m sure.” The words echo behind closed doors, her stomach rolling as the elevator lurches upward. She glances down at her screen, just in time to see it flash 20% at the corner before going black. “I think.”

It’s the toots that startle her as she creeps down the hall, suitcase wheels rattling across the close-textured carpet, the loudest noise she’s heard since the elevator doors closed behind her. Her grip tightens around her garment bag, weight shifting back on her heels, ready to turn tail and run, but—

But it’s her. The tooting, that is. Or rather, her phone. Embarrassing how long it takes her to think of it, really, but she does, slipping it right out of the pocket she’d tucked it into. 15% it reads now, but that’s not what draws her attention, not when there’s a notification with Sen’s smiling face beaming beside it. did you make it?

The breath rushes from her lungs, half-sigh, half-laugh. Two steps away. Thanks for asking.

It takes an improbable amount of minutes to manage those two-steps, however. Maybe Harada could have made it in one— or Shinpachi, even— baggage all happily come to heel, card in hand, but Chizuru has to trip over hers first, juggling garment bag and suitcase and half-unzipped travel pack until she realizes she can just put her phone away to free up that critical hand. Even still, there’s rustling and shuffling to trade one flat slip of plastic for another, the envelope half bobbling out of her hands before she manages to prise one of those little cards free.

And then, with a wave of her hand— well, a couple of waves, trying to figure out just how to place the card before she just presses it to the pad at the handle— she’s in. Except—

Except it’s not a bedroom. No, it’s a small living area, couch and TV and a half-wall of a kitchenette, a few chairs scattered around. Chizuru toes off her shoes, parking her suitcase neatly beside them, and peers into the next nearest door— bathroom, the glass enclosed shower tucked into one corner and a huge tub beside it, big enough to fit at least three of her inside without touching. She pads her way across, tiles cold even through her socks, and opens the other door, leading out into—

The bedroom, finally. The queen suite with what has to be the largest queen she’s ever seen.

Her fingers fumble her phone from its pocket, flicking past the lock screen straight to the camera—

Only for, anyone swallow their tongues yet?🤭 to flash right across the top of the screen.

There’s no costumes tonight, only a dinner! Tomorrow will be our first opportunity to be in character Though I don’t think anyone will be swallowing their tongues when I’m dressed as a boy 😅

Chizuru clicks back through to the camera, tapping the screen to focus, but—

“Are those leaves?” She blinks, first at the screen, and then, as she lowers it, the bed covers. Which, as she suspected, is littered with…some sort of nature. She steps close, pinching one velvety piece of detritus between her fingers and murmurs, “Petals?”

Well, she can’t have that.

boo have some confidence!!! you look super cute in that jinbei i bet *someone’s* heart will flutter at the very least

Her neck swivels, this way and that, trying to find someplace— anyplace— where it’s safe to put down her phone, hopefully close to hand, and— ah, there it is, the bedside table. She sets it down, turning back to the bed with a shake of her head. To think, in a hotel as nice as this one, they had just let someone track in half the outside with them.

It takes her a moment to find the trash can hidden beneath the table, but after that, it’s just a matter of goading all the plant stuff off the cover and into it. A bit more work than she thought she’d be putting into settling it, but it’s worth it to have a clean place to sit when Sen asks, is your room nice?

Very!!! I reserved a single, but it seems they had run out of them, so they gave me a free upgrade 😱 The room’s huge! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bed this big!

With a proud grin tugging at her lips, Chizuru takes a quick picture of her newly cleaned covers and sends it off.

omg LOOK at that 😱😱 a real princess bed for hime-sama

Ah, she hadn’t thought of that. Her heels hook around the bed frame, knees cradled up against her chest, and— and Yamazaki might find that funny too, wouldn’t he? Hime-sama having her own palatial accommodations. It’s nothing to flick open his thread and attach the picture, thumb hovering over send—

the only question is who is going to warm hime-sama’s bed 😏

Heat floods her cheeks. What do you mean?

i hear what happens in feudal japan stays in feudal japan you have any idea who you’d like to share with 😏😏😏

I thought princesses didn’t have to share beds

😩 you’re killing me

It’s not new, being teased like this— about this even, not when she lives in a house with six men and a solid half of them only begrudgingly allow themselves to be clothed. But Sen won’t be placated with a blush and stuttered denial— no, once she gets a whiff of romance, she doesn’t know how to give up until she’s got it clenched between her teeth. And unless she wants to pick out one of the guys as her, er, target, well…

It’s funny though! When I got here there was stuff all over the bed

Distraction is the only way out.

stuff?? like…fluids??? gross 🤮 pls tell me you called housekeeping

No, no fluids thankfully! Just some leaf stuff I handled it myself! It took me a while, but I finally got all those little petals off 💪

leaf stuff? petals??

A knock startles her, enough that she finally sees 8% hovering in the corner, her screen flicking over into power saver mode.

“One minute!” she calls out, rummaging through her bag until her fingers catch on the charger cord, tugging it out—

And half of her travel bag. The knock comes again, no more insistent, but Chizuru’s sure it sounds impatient.

“Ah, just another minute, I just have to”— miss the outlet at least twice before she gets it seated— “do this—”

Her screen lights up, the charging icon taking the place of the percentage, and it immediately toots with, where are you staying again?

She has just enough time to dash off, Satsuma Estates, before the knock comes again, and she yelps, “Coming!”

She hurries over, nearly tripping on the corner of her suitcase, but she gets the door open.

“Good evening, Chizuru,” Hajime says, once she does. “It’s time for dinner.”

#yamachi #hakuouki #my fic #modern au #college au #if the mind is willing #LARP au #okay this chapter was not as MUCH unlimited OC works as anticipated #mainly because Chizuru's anxiety alone managed to triple my word count #so uhhhhhhh good for her i guess #but next time should be yamazaki POV. with LORE. and OCs #huzzah

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liliththunder · 3 years ago

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Koko made juunen, kore kara mo juunen

About the future of Hakumyu (updated version 20th of July 2023)

We followed Hakumyu for several years, and are still excited about the same story, even we watched uncountable times.

So what future does Hakumyu have? Which productions are awaiting us in the next years?

First if all we have a new writer and director, named Nishida Daisuke. He "created" two new series, the Shitan (Kazama & Hijikata) and Shinkai (Souma, Saito & Sannan) as well as LIVE3.

As of the 20th June of 2023 Shinkai Hijikata Toshizō Hen was announced. This date is also the historical Hijikata's death date. But it isn't Nishida, who is in charge.

We have already "explored" routes and "new" routes. (New routes with year are been already aired or scheduled)

Which are:

Explored:

Saitou Hajime (twice)

Okita Souji

Hijikata Toshizou (thrice) (+2024)

Kazama Chikage (twice)

Toudou Heisuke

Harada Sanosuke

Other:

Shinsengumi Kitan

Reimeiroku

And new:

Souma Kazue (2020→2021)

Sannan Keisuke (2023)

Sakamoto Ryoma

Nagakura Shinpachi

Yamazaki Susumu

Iba Hachirou

Shitan

is a series, which follows the screenwriting of Mōri Nobuhiro, but is directed by Mr. Nishida.

So the stories and routes in included are, what we all already know, which makes it 10 possible productions (of which we already have 2, so 8 future productions). But...

Shinkai

is a series written and directed by Nishida. I think, I wasn't the only one expecting there to be only new routes. But after the announcement of Shinkai Saito it made it much more. So we have the new routes and old ones, which make it 16 possiblities (14, if we count Souma Kazue Hen and the new one out)

And with Hijikata's third Hen (or rather fourth time, the left options are back to 15 options)

But...

Now someone could think: "Great, there will be 22 new productions." There won't be, because it is highly unlikely that one route gets a Shinkai and a Shitan production. So with what I calculated, we have 5 new Shinkai routes and 7 either Shinkai or Shitan old routes. Which make it a good chance that Hakumyu will be there even after another ten years. There are of course also other possibilities: for example: we finally get the Yukimura Kodo Hen 😜 or there will be a Hakumyu Uragata, or other stories based on Drama CDs and other game series related to Hakuouki. Also there is the chance we have more LIVEs.

Forget what I said as Hijikata Toshizō got a OG, a Shitan AND a Shinkai, we have the possibility of 21 possibilities.😅

Cast Stay, Comeback, Guests, Retire, Changes

We always wonder, who will be part of the cast, when a new musical is announced. (Everything is based on speculations or statements of actors)

Who will stay?

The cast that started the Shinkai series should stay for a while I think, but from what I observed single roles may change, but I think the majority will stay, only of course Chizuru will change everytime.

Comeback

We've seen several comebacks by now, like Sazaki Hideyoshi after three musicals and even in a different role. Than of course Suzuki Shogo, who played the first and forth generation Kazama Chikage, has returned. For Shinkai Saito Hen second generation Saitou, Hashimoto Shohei has returned. I personally think, we can expect more old cast to return. At least to Hakumyu LIVE 3 as guests. If you're are following the official Twitter account of Hakumyu, you may have noticed, that many of the old cast expressed their feelings about Hakuouki. So it is easy to believe, that we see a few of them again.

Guests

For the 10th anniversary of Hakumyu in general and Saitou Hajime in particular, the first Hakumyu-pair Matsuda Ryo (first generation Saito Hajime) and Yoshida Hitomi (first generation Yukimura Chizuru) made a guest appearance.

As well as in LIVE3 Takasaki Shota (third generation Yamazaki Susumu), Yazaki Hiroshi (first generation Hijikata Toshizou), Kashiwagi Yuusuke (first generation Shiranui Kyo), Naya Takeru (third generation Saitou Hajime) and Matsuda Gaku (fourth generation Hijikata Toshizou) made their appearance.

Even if they don't reprise their role many of the former cast is still attached to Hakumyu and I don't think that will change so fast.

Retire

According to interviews with Taira, we don't have to fear, we even might see him till the 'end of this dream'. I believe it was the special interview between Nishida, Suzuki and Imata, where it was stated that Imata had become the soul or backbone of Hakumyu. Even though some actors might retire from Hakumyu, it creates the chance to see new actors and their interpretation of our beloved characters.

Change

Since we had a Shinkai Routes, where extra characters appeared, we likely have a changeable part of the cast. That was confirmed by an interview about the new Shinkai Souma Hen. Which means, we had Souma, Nomura and Miki. And will probably have Sakamoto, Nakaoka, Motoyama and Iba be included. Also charakters that only occur in a specific route to be important (which were already part of the show) for example: Nagumo Kaoru or Sen-Hime, other like Kimigiku and Shimada or again Inoue. Or if there will be an Uragata Play, a whole cast change??

Also there could be a writer or director or composer change, but I seriously don't know and I have nothing, which indicates that.

So about that it is confirmed that Hakumyu goes back to Mouri's hands for a while. As he said in this interview, 'there's no case like Hakumyu'.

youtube

Conclusion

For the Future of Hakumyu is many hope, I think, although there are many uncertain things, so maybe it's impossible to wether it will be 10 years or only 5 years lying ahead. But there is a tomorrow, and that is important. As long Hakumyu will stay in our hearts, it will be fine, whatever happens.

If you have any other ideas, feel free to write them in the comments. (Also thank you for reaching the bottom)

#hakuouki musical hakumyu 10th anniversary #hakuouki #hakumyu #hakuouki musical #薄ミュ #kazama chikage #yukimura chizuru #souma hen #souma kazue #hakuoki #imata taira #suzuki shogo #kubota hidetoshi #hashimoto shouhei #future productions #hakumyu 10th anniversary #Youtube

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dadbodgintoki · 3 years ago

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gintama fic recs (shoka sonjuku/joui 4 edition)

this is the third in a series of gintama fic rec posts i’m making for my own organization and for whoever finds them fun! previously i’ve talked about hijigin and gen fic but i realized that i have read SO MUCH amazing shoka sonjuku/joui 4 era/focused fic & it needed its own post. so here they are, sorted vaguely pairing. they span all genres, ratings, and ranges of emotions, but they’re all sure to make you feel! once again PLEASE check out other works by these authors bc they’re all great!!!!

gen

Did Miss Clavell Suffer From Psychic Precognition or an Intense Case of Parental Instincts? by StarryDustandFluffyStuff. Rated G. WORK IN PROGRESS.

At night it should be calm, at night it should be still, but something in the air has given Shoyo-sensei a chill. AKA "Baby Katsura gets appendicitis the fic".

Series: It’s a Hard Knock Life by Linderosse. Starting with It’s a Hard Knock Life. AU. Rated G.

The new kid at school has cotton-white hair, picks his nose way too much, and wears a perpetual expression of disinterest. He’s dull, uncouth, and lazy: a grade-A weirdo. Nevertheless, as Katsura and Takasugi struggle with their own problems, they somehow find the new kid becoming a major part of their lives.

They Say It’s Only the Worst Day of Your Life So Far by StarryDustandFluffyStuff. Rated T.

Katsura's perspective on the worst day in his memory.

Fair Bargains Are Always Subjective by naye @listening-to-thunder. Rated G.

There is nothing Gintoki won't give for a chance at saving Zura's life, no matter what it might cost him.

Pacifists are the Best Mediators by @charmingstrangeness. Rated T.

In which Tatsuma joins a war, only to end up intervening in a second, smaller war between two particularly hot-headed captains.

To Weld and Solder by Liatheus. Rated G.

Four Kings to hold up Heaven; four promises to hold them there.

What to Do About Tomorrow by @shirokokuro. Rated T.

First impressions aren't meant to be this difficult.

ginzura

still waters by @pearthery. Rated T.

"I have a delicate, noble constitution that demands you pay attention to me," said Kotaro, drawing their attention back to the matter at hand. "We're having an extremely important conversation. No one's allowed to throw up. Especially not now. It's situationally inappropriate." "You sound like a dictator," said Gintoki. "I could throw up if I wanted to." [Zura is calm and composed. He has never been dead.]

what are scars but marks of the life you’ve lived, also by @pearthery. Rated T.

"This one, Shinpachi-kun," Katsura recalled wistfully. "Ah, this one was from the Joui War." "That sounds quite ominous," said Shinpachi. [Katsura recalls the past.]

Toll by athena_crikey. Rated T.

The Yorozuya get sent on an exorcism. Unsurprisingly, things do not go smoothly.

Resuscitation by @xparrot. Rated M.

For a while Katsura tells himself that it's no more than the camaraderie of the battleground.

seconds are always more complicated than firsts, except during dinner by mangemouth. Rated E.

College-era AU. Painfully, horrendously awkward smut.

Beginner’s Guide by tanktrilby. Rated T.

Katsura is terribly, terribly happy that his two best friends are in love with each other; the fact that he keeps killing aliens with gritted teeth and unnecessary fervor is unrelated. (written for Ginzura week day two: War)

a good ending by corvidity. Rated G.

Katsura tries to find somewhere to stay after the war, and is successful in more ways than one.

multipairing/OT3-4/misc

but it’s burning like an effigy in here by mangemouth. Rated E. Pairings: TakaZura, GinZura.

you have to worry about friendly fire the most by @becketted. Rated T. SakaMutsu and OT4, on the edge of gen/romantic.

“Ah, Zura, are you all right?” It probably says that he spends way too much time around Gintoki’s appalling manners, that it actually stops Katsura in his tracks, absolutely shocks him, a direct show of concern from a friend. So much that he even forgets to correct Sakamoto about his name. [Katsura needs a break. Mutsu needs a promise. Takasugi needs to leave. Gintoki just needs money.]

whatever a sun will always sing by Eddaic. Rated T. Pairings: TakaZura, GinZura.

“I can’t convince you of anything,” Gintoki says wearily, leaning against a wall and passing a hand over his eyes.

we all go to hell by guycecil. Rated E. Pairings: OT4

In an indistinct modern AU where the Joui 4 are all dating each other... Gintoki really just wants one thing.

Series: if you stay, i’ll be forgiven, also by guycecil. Pairings: a mix of Joui4 pairings and OT4. Ratings vary between T-M. Starting with let that mistake pass on.

The Joui 4 date each other. Timeline doesn't make any sense. It's gay. There's not much else to say. Title from "Famous Last Words" by My Chemical Romance.

some friends wouldn't mind having their noses picked by curlydots. Rated E. College AU. Pairings: OT4

There's something going on with Gintoki, Katsura, and Takasugi. Not that Sakamoto notices.

the perfect fit (for a girl in need) by @becketted. Rated E. Pairings: SakaZura

The next time the two friends meet is inside a nightclub. Katsura is looking fabulous, but on a vigilante mission. Sakamoto is a regular, but willing to help. They make the perfect team to punish the wicked and protect the innocent. Except one of them is taking the whole cabaret-girl-and-client cover a little too far.

compromise by perennials. Rated G. High School AU. Pairings: TakaGin

Takasugi's standards are sky-high; Gintoki sifts through the dirt for gold coins.

Hooking Up with Your Ex is the Best Way to Gain Closure, Obviously by @sharkiegorath. Rated E. Pairings: TakaGin, developing HijiGin

On the ship back to Edo, Gintoki and Takasugi dip into an old habit one last time.

There's No Together, There's No Apart, There Is Only Impossible Longing by printfogey. Rated T. Pairings: GinZura, TakaGin, TakaZura

A story about Gintoki, Katsura and Takasugi told through various scenes and fragments, starting pre-canon and ending post-canon. Warning for angst, coarse language, and canon spoilers.

#gintama #ginzura #gintama fic recs #fic recs #i cannot hide that i am a Zura Enjoyer i'm so sorry #it's just blatantly obvious #my god i am so tired i am so so tired #please feel free to add on your own recs too! the more the merrier #now i am going the mcfuck to sleep #i spent too many damn hours on this post today my elbows are killing me

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tae-shimura-is-my-wife · 2 years ago

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Perhaps even more so than GinTsu, I really hate KonTae. I hate how the fandom and it's shippers act like Otae is a shallow b*tch for not giving Kondo a chance, or alternatively, say she secretly loves him even though she was more concerned over Shinpachi being traumatized at the gorilla wedding. If Sacchan is a stalker, then the hypocrite fandom needs to condemn Kondo for the same thing.

ANTI KNTAE CONTENT BELOW, SCROLL, BLOCK ME OR BLOCK THE ANTI TAG!

Ahh kntae! A ship that until today idk why it is so popular 😊

The ppl who hate Otae for not reciprocating their feelings are so... UGH! Kondou invades her privacy and break her boundaries, but she needs to love him because??? He loves her so much??? The vibes are so ew...

Ppl think that she loves him because that wedding scene??? She wasn't giving a f about Kondou there, as you said. And there's some other scenes where SHE'S JUST BEING GENTLE WITH HIM and they say it's an evidence of her crush on him 😭😭 funny that when it comes to ginsachi they don't say the same thing. Or maybe is because they think she's a tsundere with him, when she isn't! Tae already expressed her care for him! She never negated that liked platonically plz him or something like that, she only beats Kondou because he goes beyond limits! Nothing related to tsundere at all.

Sacchan = Kondou. But the fandom isn't ready for this conversation...

#gintama tag #anti kontae #i hate this ship so much #all the wrong things are there #they can interpret what they want #but canonically she doesn't love him #and Sorachi makes it CLEAR #and tae deserves better #ask

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sparks-joy-imagines · 3 years ago

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Hello! Could I please request either headcanons or an imagine for Gintama? Reader is a good friend of Gintoki, Kagura and Shinpachi and visits them pretty often at odd jobs and Gintoki starts to fall for them. Shinpachi and Kagura notice his feelings for them and then they super protective of reader and threaten Gin to be a good boyfriend right when he's about to confess. Thanks <3

hi anon, here you go - niob

Gintoki x f!reader who is friends with the Yorozuya

you often stop by the Yorozuya after work and bring food for the kids (and sometimes give them secretly a little bit pocket money)

you occasionally beat Gintoki’s ass for playing Pachinko instead of feeding and paying them properly

whenever Gintoki at least tried to be responsible you also buy some strawberry milk for him

whenever you show up, Gintoki can’t help but smile a little bit to himself, he enjoys watching you talk to the kiddies but at some point, he wishes to be alone with you, even if it’s just for a little bit

he can’t deny anymore that he feels drawn to you and tries to get closer to you whenever he thinks he’s alone with you

but he is always interrupted by the kids as if there is a higher power stopping him to talk to you in private

one day, you bring a bag of food for the kids as usual and hear them arguing about something

you step inside and overhear how Kagura says “You better treat (y/n) like a queen if you get together! After all, she always brings us food!“

„Kagura-chan, that’s not the point here,” Shinpachi replies

your heartbeat suddenly increases rapidly as you get a hunch what this conversation seems to be about

you place the bag on the ground, turn around to leave and pretend that you never eavesdropped their talk but before you could reach the door, the bag tilts to the side and makes a noise as something falls to the ground

“(y/n)-san!” you hear Shinpachi’s surprised voice

you feel caught and turn around to face them, not knowing what to say

after a few seconds of awkward silence Shinpachi stutters, “K-Kagura-chan, there is something we need to do! Let’s go!”

and he grabs Kagura’s arm and disappears with her outside, leaving you and Gintoki alone

#gintama #sakata gintoki #gintoki x reader #kagura #shimura shinpachi #gintama x reader #gintama headcanons #headcanons #text #request #gintama requests are closed #niob #yorozuya

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imagininggintama · 4 years ago

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Yorozuya / Odd Jobs Masterlist + Katsura

Posted April 6th, 2021 7:51 PM PST

Gintoki Sakata:

Consensual non-con not sfw scenario*

Being Gin’s younger sibling & dating Hijikata

Safety HCs

Gintoki with a chubby s/o who’s self conscious

Birthday Celebrations

Scar HCs

Best Friend HCs

Honeymoon sfw & not sfw*

Shy, short, and very caring s/o

Fear HCs

Sex HCs*

S/O who likes stubble

Death of S/O

Aromantic & Friend with Benefits (separate)*

Scent HCs

Hands HCs

Crying/Affection HCs

Breakup HCs

Angst! Happy end.

S/O who suffers from panic attacks

Calling him someone else’s name

Tall S/O

S/O has low iron and easily faints

“I want a baby”, “I’m pregnant”, Trying for Baby, Pregnancy Sex*

Birth HCs

Angry & Sex HCs*

Being A Sadist in Bed*

Personality Preferences/Some of what they need

Going to the dentist with scared boy

S/O helping with nightmares

Appearance HCs

Oral: Receiving & Giving*

Taking care of Drunktoki

Reaction to small!s/o wearing his clothes

Kiss HCs! (Smoochtoki Sakata ;P )

Sleeping with Gin

Reacting to sad s/o

Gin trying to find a Glucose Guardian (sugar baby)

Baking HC

Gin sulking because girls are hitting on him (accidentally misread)

Gin’s S/O sulking because he keeps getting hit on

Jealous Gin

Helping S/O with bad period pains

Birthday celebrations!

Oblivious Crush

Oopsie During Sex*

S/O catcalling from balcony

S/O who is good cook

Appearance HC

Asking S/O to move in

How he would be with his daughter

Childhood crush & War ally reappearing in his life

Reaction to older child shaving younger’s head while on baby-sitting duty!

GIF reaction to flexible S/O

Getting caught by Shinpachi and Kagura😱

Getting scared of a horror movie during a sleep over at S/O’s place

S/O steals lollipop!

Pegging HCs*

I almost lost you

Reader has been cheated on in the past

First Date HCs

NSFW Alphabet O*

56. Spank me

33 from 300 follower event

12&16 from 300 follower event

NSFW Alphabet F*

31 from 300 follower event

4 from 300 Follower Event

NSFW Alphabet C G U*

NSFW Alphabet M*

1&58 from 300 Follower Event

NSFW Alphabet I*

NSFW Alphabet W*

NSFW Alphabet Q*

NSFW Alphabet X*

NSFW Alphabet I*

NSFW Alphabet K*

NSFW Alphabet J*

23&40 from 300 Follower Event

NSFW Alphabet D*

S/O who looks younger

52 from 300 Follower Event

S/O celebrating his birthday

Shinpachi Shimura:

Romance HCs

Kagura Yato

Your bedhead is super cute!!!

Kotarou Katsura:

Kissing HCs

Sex HCs*

Breakup HCs

Personality Preferences/Some of what they need

Katsura spending time with his niece

First Date HCs

NSFW Alphabet O*

NSFW Alphabet I*

NSFW Alphabet J*

#masterlist #yorozuya #odd jobs #sakata gintoki #gintoki sakata #gintama #shinpachi #shinpachi shimura #Shimura Shinpachi #kagura #Kagura Yato #kagura gintama #yato kagura #Katsura Kotarou #Katsura Kotaro #Zura ja nai katsura da #kotaro katsura #kotarou katsura

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jojolovenotes · 3 years ago

Note

how would gintoki self ship with me? very curious

Tell me who your f/o is and I’ll tell you how they’d selfship with you.

Gintoki is definitely a selfshipper, but I don’t think he uses the term ‘selfshipper’. In his eyes, you are his partner (it doesn’t matter if you’re fictional).

He indulges in the source material you’re a part of quite often, it’s one of his favorite things to do while he’s relaxing with some strawberry parfait ( oh how he wishes he could share some with you... Actually, no. He wouldn’t share any of his parfait with anyone).

He definitely has merch of you, but he hides it from Kagura and Shinpachi because he doesn’t want their greasy hands to touch it.

He’s always happy when Kagura and Shinpachi leave their place so at least he can indulge in your source material in peace (also... excuse him while he openly simps over you tbh)

Out of spite, Katsura totally says he has a crush on you too (just to rile up Gintoki)... This is what drives Gintoki to be more open about showing off his merch collection (Katsura just uses this as fuel to make fun of him).

He claims he wouldn’t get early to line up for merch of you ( but he definitely has).

#received transmission ✨#f/o games ✨#not jojo ✨#queue ✨

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side-lizabeth · 3 years ago

Text

ONE PIECE DRESSROSA-ZOU ARCS IMPRESSIONS

This part is the spoiler-free part of my impressions.

I don’t know what I was expecting from Dressrosa but it didn’t left me wanting for more... outside the animation part, probably. But I mean when you get spoiled on how OP’s being animated rn, no sh*t. Although I really did enjoy the new characters. Cavendish is accidentally becoming one of my favourite characters and this is because of the anime of Gintama... But that’s because I’m finding more and more seiyuus in One Piece that just so happened to be voicing recurrent characters (or straight up main characters) in Gintama, so I shouldn’t be suprised.

And then there’s Zou and I’d lie if I’d say I should have had expected an island with furries, and yet I didn’t. ...and once again the “holy sh*t I wasn’t expecting these seiyuus being in One Piece too” striked back. But at this point I don’t know if it’s really because of Gintama or just because I’m starting to go back to my old teen hobbies like when I was a hardcore Seiyuu fan, and recognizing a lot of seiyuus is giving me a huge bust of serotonin. (?)

Above all, I liked Dressrosa more than Zou, even if Dressrosa has... it’s own issues.

If you want to go straight up to the spoiler section, click down here:

Let’s start with Dressrosa:

I thought to just continue this lil update, where I started the non spoiler section by saying that I won’t feel any shame or make an apology for reblogging non stop posts of Roronoa Zoro, I’m still on that Idea, fight me if you want(maybe no); but I decided to explain more about my first impressions, and then maybe elaborate extra stuff from those bullet point-lighning round from that post.

Overall, I had fun. I geniuently enjoyed Doffy as a villain, and his motivations where pretty interesting too. NGL, this arc is basically new world Alabasta” and it pretty much shows... But the thing is that this time it was a little bit more interesting because of Doffy.

Doffy being the combo of Warlord and Celestial Dragon may sound like that moment of the Simpsons of “it’s just the same doll but with a new hat” in comparison to Alabasta, but even if I also enjoyed Crocodile as a villain in there, at least Doffy had a more interesting backstory and motivations to explore... while Crocodile was just an excuse to show off Nico Robin in all her glory. That’s it. I said it. (and probably made a fwend sad). Please, Crocodile, sir, next time you come back please do show us the secret Ivankov and you only know and then we talk.

Overall, I just had the time of my life hating Doffy, that’s it. I’m not going to try to explain anything else. I’m a basic b*tch whose favourite villains are the ones who are just so evil I just have the time of my life hating on. Like Tsurumi from Golden Kamuy, another despicable motherf*cker, for instance.

And now that I’m talking about Doffy... I KNOW UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE LIKE CORA-SAN AND I ALSO JOIN THE GANG. BEST FATHER EVER AND HE BARELY WAS ONE FOR 6 MONTHS. BUT GAVE BABY TORAO ENOUGH LOVE TO PREVENT HIM FROM BECOMING LIKE HIS BROTHER. KUDOS TO HIM.

...Btw, I just need to break this impressions one moment to openly say that, as a Spaniard, I feel weird now saying Doffy’s entire name. For a reason. And Cora-san’s too. Now I understand english speakers(americans to be more precisely) when they watch Bungou Stray Dogs and some characters from there just happened to be named after famous english literature writers... (the first comparison I just thought about, don’t attack me plz)

Also, kudos to the voice actors because they did an amazing job and I had even more fun, like for instance Koyama Rikiya. I absolutely loved Kyros thanks mainly to him... Although I wish I could entirely say the same about Rebecca and Baby 5 because they barelly had any screentime or, at least personally speaking, didn’t to bring something interesting tothe table... Well, maybe I can excuse Baby 5 because of the ending of Punk Hazard, but with Rebecca definetly not. FFS her seiyuu is the Queen Hayashibara Megumi, I was expecting more from Rebecca (although maybe the blame is really in me for expecting that much) than what we got. But don’t get me wrong, I did like her but.. I wanted just a little bit more of her.

Another thing I enjoyed a lot was the introduction of Fujitora. I knew he was popular for a reason, but I wasn’t expecting it to be... because of this. I was expecting him to be popular only because he was a blind old man who could fight harder than the dudebro’s gary stu fanfic-like idea they have of Zoro, but he’s definetly not that. Fujitora is a really interesting man who geniuently thinks about people’s safety (can’t say the same about Sakazuki and Borsalino, lol), and I respect that.

*LAST MOMENT EDIT BECAUSE I FORGOT ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT THING* THE REUNION OF LUFFY AND SABO MADE ME CRY TOO. I DON’T KNOW, I’M CRYING TOO MUCH OVER ONE PIECE

Now I’m just going through some bullet points from the update post:

First bullet point I’m actually elaborating: The Colloseum part was hella boring.

I just couldn’t stand it. I barely gave any sh*t about the characters and there’s also times where I’m just thinking that the Colloseum part could had been handled differently, with more interesting characters but well, that’s my opinion. I mean the only tournament arcs that I genuenly enjoyed were the Galaxy Wars from Saint Seiya (the OG one from the 80′s if somebody’s wondering), and maybe the Heaven’s Arena arc from HxH, so even if I was interested on seeing the OP take on it.. It kinda went sour for me at the beggining of this tournament, honestly. The fight versus Diamante was probably one of the very few interesting things happening inside the tournament.

And don’t get me wrong, interesting things do happen inside, like the encounter of Luffy and Rebecca, the fate of the losers from the colloseum, etc. But the tournament arc itself... not the best thing, pretty boring tbh.

The second bullet point I’m actually elaborating, but this time I’m literally copy-pasting the bullet point... for a reason: I STARTED TO SWEAT IN F*CKING FEAR WHEN NAMI’S GROUP ENCOUNTERED BIG MAM’S SHIP, AND EVEN MORE WHEN SANJI SAID “I’M GETTING INTO THAT SHIP”. NO. PLEASE. DON’T. I’M NOT READY FOR WHOLE CAKE ISLAND YET.

Look, by the time I’m writing this I’m already in Whole Cake and let me just tell you one thing; I’m still not ready for this arc. I know it’s very important, specially for Sanji’s development as a character and it’s like a re-introduction of him, but I’d lie if I’d said that I “do feel sensitive” around the themes explored in this arc, and it’s personally tought to go throught it but... Since it’s just too long and too personal to share the entire reason on a public post, I’m just leaving it as the following: “I’m not ready to tackle those themes, but I feel like I need to tackle them if I want to be the best version of myself”. That’s all.

The third and last bullet point I’m actually elaborating, LET ME TELL YOU HOW GINTAMA F*CKED ME UP ENTIRELY

For the sake of being short, I’m a crazy Gintama fan. I’m almost like an encyclopedia of shorts for all(?) Gintama content. I’ve been like this since I was 14-15 y/o (when I’m writing this I’m currently 25), so of course, if there’s something that remotely resembles something from Gintama (mainly gintama jokes or references when it happens), I’ll react to it instantly (but in a healthy way, not like an obnoxious annoying elitist lil sh*t of a fan), and sadly, part of this curse I ended up with included reconizing every single seiyuu that appeared in Gintama (or at least the ones who voiced important/popular characters) in other anime. And of course, seiyuus from Gintama did already appear before Dressrosa; like kid Ace’s seiyuu Sakaguchi Daisuke (voice of Shinpachi), or... Akainu’s seiyuu Tachiki Fumihiko (voice of Hasegawa “Madao” Taizou)... But then there’s Dressrosa and... It just went all over the board (pun not intended... does it even count as one tho?).

And don’t get me wrong, this did also happened to me on reverse with One Piece Seiyuus, but.... coming back to “Gintama f*cked me up”, it hitted differently, because it almost looked like they were casted to play certain characters based on the characters they played in Gintama and... NGL, it made everything even more hilarious. Like the fact that Kugimiya Rie voices a bad mouthed “child” in One Piece(Sugar)... just like she does in Gintama(Kagura). And I know technically speaking Sugar “is an adult” BUT, if we follow the logic of her Hobby Hobby fruit, she’s doomed to be an eternal child for the rest of her life, as in “no more development like a normal adult human would”. I’m just saying what the canon says, don’t mind me.

...Or Cavendish. I can confirm you that Cavendish is pretty much Gintama’s Katsura Kotarou’s madness as an OP character. And now he’s one of my favourite background characters in One Piece... Mainly because of that. And yes, they do in fact share the seiyuu Ishida Akira. (Also, is it just me or is he inspired by Lady Oscar from The Rose of Versailles???)

...So yeah, TLDR: too much gintama made me shout “oh shit, gintama’s taking over one piece”

Now with the Zou impressions

I liked the idea of Zou being an “island”, that’s not an Island but a millennia old elephant, walking around and hard to track down. Brilliant. Also, I’m pretty sure it’s inspired by something mythological but I still can’t point out which one.

...also I wasn’t expecting Pedro to be voiced by Miki Shin’Ichiro, in the same way I wasn’t expecting Orikasa Fumiko as Wanda... although she already voiced someone previously in One Piece so...

Even if it was a short arc, it gave a lot of valuable information like the origin of the poneglyphs and the link between the Mink tribe and the Kozuki clan from Wano but...

What I wasn’t expecting was how we got introduced to the Whole Cake arc. I came to this arc, thinking the Whole Cake thing won’t be that mentioned and... I ended up crying because of the sacrifice Sanji was willing to partake in... I feel bad for that guy... And since by the time of writing this I’m already in Whole Cake... Without spoilers I’ll say: yeah, no sh*t I was feeling bad for him” (also because I got almost entirely spoiled over all Whole Cake arc).

...but look, ngl, I didn’t like very much the ending of this arc. Probably what happened to Momonosuke and the Millennia old elephant may be more interesting and better explained in the near future but... I was more confused than anything, and I’m hopping it to be better explained in the future. I’ll just leave it as such.

Over all, if I had to choose, I’d say that Dressrosa was more entertaining than Zou... Although Zou did deliver bigger stuff when it comes to plot development, while Dressrosa was more focused on the next step to overthrow a Yonkou than anything, I felt like I had more ”fun” watching Dressrosa... Probably because I also want to get to Wano already.

Now I’m in Whole Cake arc, I’m more or less by the beggining of the arc and oh boy... This arc is going to be harder than expected and the only thing ready I have are the pocket tissues by my side because I already know I’m going to cry the hell out of this arc. And of course, have my soul utterly destroyed by the Reintroduction of Sanji and his past.

I hope he has a break after this because wow... He needs too many hugs to count. Probably more than Luffy in Marineford.

#personal mumbling #one piece spoilers #dressrosa arc #zou arc #the zoro joke from the spoiler sectiong was brought to you by a zoro enjoyer who hates straight zoro 'fans' *cofcof*dudebros*cofcof*#i know i said i may analize the spanish influence from dressrosa but it looks more like a cross between italy and barcelona tbf #i still can't believe i still can recognize so many seiyuus after all this time #I FORGOT TO MENTION CARROT IS HELLA CUTE AND I LOVE HER ALREADY #ALSO ALSO ALSO SPOILER BUT SABO AND KOALA ARE VERY CUTE

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impracticaldemon · 5 years ago

Note

what mbti type do you think are the captains of the shinsengumi?

Hi Anon!

I’m not an expert on MBTI, and I tend to overthink the Shinsengumi guys from Hakuouki. So this is a little rough, but conveys the key elements of how *I* perceive their characters :)

Myers-Briggs uses 4 basic traits; there is also a 5th indicator (newer)

Extroverted / IntrovertedIntuitive / SensoryThinking / FeelingJudging / Perceiving[Assertive / Turbulent ~ I’ll leave this out]

Hijikata Toshizo ~ appears extroverted to some, but actually somewhat introverted; borderline intuitive/sensory; more feeling than thinking (as Sannan often points out); judging ~ INFJ (can appear as ESTJ, but remember that this man is both creative and a visionary, and prefers small groups; introverts can be - often are - leaders, but it takes a toll on them)

Okita Souji ~ extroverted, because although he doesn’t like sharing anything of himself, he does seem to derive pleasure and energy from being around and teasing/interacting with others (positively or otherwise); intuitive more than sensory (he’s intuitive in both a positive and negative sense); feeling rather than thinking (he’s intelligent, but passionate); judging more than perceiving (overall, he’s stubborn, with strong personal biases and a dislike of change; loyal for good and for bad; intense and can be very attractive) ~ ENFJ

Saitou Hajime ~ introverted (the truest introvert of the lot); sensory rather than intuitive (mostly a benefit, but can make him appear cold; he cares more than it seems, but cares logically which can be distancing); thinking rather than feeling (again, more balanced than it appears, but he tends to bury or not understand the feeling aspects of what he does); perceiving more than judging (he can be more accepting and flexible with respect to what is real or necessary than most; but again, he can appear cold when he isn’t; he’s very perceptive, but often awkward or silent) ~ ISTP

Toudou Heisuke ~ an extroverted sweetheart (but don’t forget that he does a lot of self-reflection when he’s down); intuitive (tends to add his own “gloss” to the basic facts, or ignore what he doesn’t like until it’s too late); feeling (for good and for bad!); a mix of judging and perceiving, on balance more perceiving: he wants to stay open to different possibilities and is constantly looking for better ways to act and think ~ ENFP

Harada Sanosuke ~ extroverted, but with a streak of self-reflection (he also appreciates the intimacy of close friendships and smaller groups); a mix of sensory and intuitive, but more sensory (he tends to work with reality and facts, and only cautiously adds his own personal take); feeling (he tries for thinking, but his basic personality is feeling; maturity has helped balance things a bit); perceiving rather than judging (Harada is flexible in his outlook and adapts well to most changes in plan; like most of them, he’s stubborn about certain things) ~ ENFP

Kazama Chikage ~ introverted more than extroverted (he truly seeks solitude over companionship; being domineering/arrogant is a form of introversion, in his case); intuitive (he interprets the world almost entirely within the context of his own values and upbringing); thinking (he is confused when others don’t follow the “logical” path - although logical to him may be different than to others; put another way, he’s not empathic, and honestly finds it difficult to relate to the “illogical” behaviour of others); judging ~ INTJ [Note that his character has an innocence to it, despite his casual violence; he absolutely believes in himself, his role/place, and his duties; he’s immature by most standards, especially early on; the world is disillusioning to him]

I’ll have to put a shorter analysis for the newer or new route characters, both for time and knowledge reasons… Maybe to explore later?

Nagakura Shinpachi ~ ENFP (I could go into more detail, but he’s actually one of the easier ones to categorize, although he’s as complex a character as anyone; don’t underestimate his intelligence or ability to be logical)

Sannan Keisuke ~ ISTP (the textbook scientist?; maybe, but don’t underestimate his capacity for feeling, or his tendency toward non-logical reactions; still ISTP is probably the best fit - in many ways, he’s the true realist of the group)

[image: Iba, Sannan, Hijikata]

Yamazaki Susumu ~ ISTP, with tendencies toward F and J; I love Yamazaki, and he reacts more from his gut than you’d think (consider his not-as-buried-as-he’d-like romantic views of the world - hence the ninja, the devotion to the Shinsengumi etc); keep in mind that this middle-class doctor’s son “ran away” to become a samurai

[image: Okita, Yamazaki]

Iba Hachiro ~ moderately extroverted (he likes being with people, and likes people); more intuitive than sensory (a romantic type); feeling (ditto); more judging than perceiving (both by personality and upbringing, but moderate) ~ a moderate ENFJ

[image: Miki Saburo, Nomura, Souma]

Souma Kazue ~ a sweetheart who wears his heart on his sleeve (”earnest” should be his middle name!) ~ ENFJ (very moderate E)

Sakamoto Ryouma ~ a very strong E (yeah, okay, that part’s obvious); seriously, though, he’s quite canny, logical, and tends to see things as they are; flexible and always on the lookout for a better solution ~ ESTP

I hope this was interesting, Anon-san & others!

~ Imp

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xostrawberry-milkyox · 2 years ago

Note

I don’t know if you’re still doing requests, but how do you think Gintoki would deal with his s/o asking him if he counts as a Dilf? S/o thinks he counts.

I hope you don't mind that this is somewhat of a F!S/O

yes gintoki knows what a dilf is.

he finally admitted to being a father figure to shinpachi & kagura by the end of the series.

but considering the amount of times he's been called an old man.

he definitely doesn't consider himself one.

however, he has mixed feelings.

it boost his ego.

really any compliments from his s/o boost it.

since he's constantly being teased/teasing those close to him.

so of course he uses it as a way to tease his s/o.

"hoo. does someone need to sneak into a love hotel?"

lives for the blush this brings to their face.

the more he thinks about it.

he hopes it's not them trying to hint that they want kids though.

"uh, what were you trying to say earlier? are you trying to make me a father?"

he may not feel ready to have his own kids yet.

"...babe, you're like a father to kagura & shinpachi."

"ah! haha, of course I knew that's what you meant."

#gintama #sakata gintoki #gintama headcanons #sakata gintoki headcanons #sakata gintoki x reader #gintoki x reader #thanks for the ask!#nesting dreams

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smugshiranui · 5 years ago

Text

Birthday Pleasures

Sanosuke Harada x Reader

Oral Sex, Toys, Vaginal Sex

Summary: @spoonbae‘s raffle fic is finally here, and since her birthday was yesterday why not celebrate it with her fic being birthday sex with Sanosuke hehe.

Silence permeated the room for a moment as you looked over the wrapping of the gift in front of you, glancing off to the side where your friend who’d handed you the gift seemed to suddenly avoid eye-contact.

“If you keep taking your time, I’ll be waiting forever for you to get to my gift,” Sanosuke, an arm draped over your shoulder, leaned in and murmured his words into your ear, the low rumble of his voice running a chill down your spine that you tried to shrug off while surrounded by friends to celebrate your birthday.

“Alright alright,” you said with a dismissive wave of your hand.

Taking a quick look at the tiny, attached card to your gift, you peeked inside to read what your friend had scribbled on the inside, signed with her name.

‘BTW I bought it before you and Sanosuke got together!!!’

Perplexed, you glanced over to your friend, who seemed to still be trying to avoid looking directly at you, as well as embarrassed. The look said enough to give you some sort of concern as to what it was she’d gifted you.

But your curiosity had been piqued, so with your thumbs tucked into folds of the wrapping, you pulled away at it, allowing any bits of the paper to fall to the ground.

The sight of your friend’s gift immediately had you hot in the face.

While it did say “Personal Massager”, just about anyone could figure out what it was you were holding by the images on the box. First, you looked at your friend, whose hands covered her face, then at Sanosuke, whose expression seemed to shift but didn’t quite give away what he might be thinking. The tiny smile at the corner of his mouth gave you an idea, though.

A few chuckles from friends in the room broke some silence, but the first person to say anything had been Shinpachi, who boldly reached forward and practically snatched the box from your hands.

“A back massager? That’s pretty nice! I could use something like this.”

A cacophony of laughter erupted, and the friend who’d gifted you what most aware people would recognize as a Hitachi wand seemed to squeak and shrink herself as if to try and not draw any attention. Nagakura seemed confused, along with Heisuke who wasn’t laughing, though his cheeks were red and he had a puzzled expression.

For a moment, you couldn’t help but hide your own face in your hands as well. The gift itself didn’t cause embarrassment but Shinpachi drawing a lot more attention to it certainly left you some level of mortified.

“You should really learn what that is if you want to see improvement in your experiences with women, Shin,” Harada murmured with a sigh, although he too seemed relatively entertained by what went over Nagakura’s head.

His amber eyes fixated on your briefly, something intense in the way Sano locked eyes with you. It was something unlike what you’d been used to with the laid-back man, but you tried to shrug it off and laugh along with your friends at the situation, and thank your friend for her gift which you most certainly appreciated, circumstances of being at a party with friends aside.

---

“You’re a little extra forward, Sano,” you murmured the moment your body gently hit the mattress of your bed, Harada climbing on top of you. The red flush across his face said all you really needed to know, that the redhead was at that perfect little level of playful drunk.

“Do you mind?” He asked nonchalantly, rough calloused hands slipping beneath your shirt to promptly work it up your torso, revealing the skin of your stomach to the cool air.

Reaching a hand out to him, you caressed his soft red hair before spinning a single lock around your index finger, twirling the soft tresses absentmindedly before releasing him to allow for your shirt to be pulled up and off.

“Of course not,” you giggled as Harada leaned into you and placed teasing nip-laced kisses to the bare skin of your neck, “but I get the feeling there’s a little bit of jealousy at play here.”

Sanosuke shrugged, continuing to make steady progress at having you stripped beneath him, fingers curling at the waistband of your pants before tugging them down. He worked his way lower as he did, grazing plush lips downward to your chest, you could feel him smile against you.

“Not jealous,” he clarified, getting your pants down to your hips before you needed to shimmy out of the bottoms and kick them off the edge of your feet, “It just made me think there’s something I should have done for you awhile ago.”

A hand making its way behind you, to your back, it took little effort— simply a quick flicking-like movement for Sanosuke to have your bra unclasped, pulling the undergarment off to expose your breasts to his amber-eyed gaze. The cool air made your nipples begin to perk up, and Harada was quick to give them attention, parting his lips as he dipped further down to take the perky nub into the warmth of his mouth.

Tongue rolling around your nipple, his hand moved along to your other breast, giving it a gentle squeeze before a rough thumb began to flick and tease in time with the motions of his tongue.

Meanwhile, Harada’s other hand trailed the length of your waist to find its way to the last piece of clothing covering your body.

“Still looks like jealousy to me,” you teased, letting out a sharp exhale as Sanosuke used his lips to tug playfully at your nipple. You could feel him chuckle in a low rumble, the vibrations of it sending a tingle of pleasure through your body that made its way between your legs just in time for Harada’s fingers to slip past the hem of your underwear.

“Maybe,” he murmured with a shrug, releasing the suction of his mouth around you, lowering himself further down your body. Sanosuke’s objective became particularly obvious, as he left a trail of kisses in the wake of his path until his face was directly in front of your cunt. You opened your legs invitingly, but felt a nervous anticipation.

The thin layer of fabric did little to dull the sensation of Harada’s hot breath as he hovered just about you, his fingertips absentmindedly playing with the waistband of your underwear, joined by his other hand on the opposing side, like he was toying with whether or not to finally pull them down.

“I can’t believe you’re teasing me on my birthday,” you whined, shifting your hips so that you were closer to Sanosuke’s warm mouth. He responded in kind by withdrawing from you, and instead bringing his lips to your thighs, kissing delicately before using his teeth to playfully tug at the sensitive skin.

On the one hand, Harada had never been one to take teasing too far, instead he’d always been interested in making sure you were getting just as much pleasure as you wanted. On the other, he had never gone down on you, and the confidently mischievous glint in his heavy-lidded amber eyes made it clear he was going to draw out every little bit of enjoyment he could.

“The tease is part of the gift,” he mused, fingers finally curling more tightly around your underwear to finally pull them down your legs, allowing you to kick them off to fall wherever they would land, and leaving you completely bare to Sanosuke. “I’ll be sure to show you what just my mouth can do.”

Using two fingers, Harada gently nudged your labia apart to further expose your already visibly aroused cunt, seemingly taking a moment to take in the sight before finally the heat of his mouth was up against you, tongue poking past his lips to give a few experimental broad strokes along your slit.

The shiver that ran down your spine from the contact made your legs almost immediately snap closed around Sanosuke, drawing a groan of approval that rumbled in his chest as his lips circled around your clit, the suction sending another pleasant shiver through your body that made you whimper.

Shifting his position to properly accommodate himself, Harada slid his muscular arms beneath your thighs, wrapping around them to firmly tug you down more flush against his mouth.

It took all of a few seconds for Sanosuke to trail and flick his tongue so perfectly to get you moaning, your back arched on the bed while his face moved along with the circular patterns he drew with his tongue.

Keeping true to his word, he only used his mouth, tugging and sucking with his lips to get you to tense up and using his tongue to practically turn your limbs to jelly.

“S-Sanosuke…” you whimpered, your body reflexively wiggling which only served to have Harada tighten his grip to keep you still, “f-fuck Sano… hhaah t-that’s so… so good.”

As your sounds of pleasure started to increase in volume and frequency, he withdrew contact and simply exhaled warm breath against you in a tease that nearly felt painful as you ached for him to continue the work of his skillful tongue.

He watched with a self-satisfied—and more playful than his usual self— expression while your hips rolled in a clear sign you needed him to give you more, until deciding you were ready to be slowly worked up again.

Expert laps of his tongue quickly brought you back just as high as he’d left you before, each stroke making you mewl and whimper as the tight knot of pleasure in your stomach bordered on unbearable.

And then he stopped again.

“Please Sano,” you urged, trying to move your cunt closer to his mouth but meeting resistance as his arms kept your lower half still, “don’t stop…”

“So it feels good?” He teased, lips finding your inner thigh to pepper kisses along the expanse of skin.

“Of course it d-does,” your impatience was clear in your voice, and perhaps that reaction was what caused Harada to release his grip on your thighs and pull himself back up from between your legs.

“H-hey…” you pouted, watching Sanosuke lick off the remnants of your arousal from his lips seductively enough you were sure it was intentional.

In a swift movement you could hardly follow, he had his shirt off, and as much as you had already missed his tongue you were more than happy to be just a little bit less impatient with what he had in store at the sight of his bare chest.

Though you tried to reach for him to assist in removing his pants, Harada gently nudged your hand away with a gentle ‘tsk’, leaving you to simply watch while he pulled his bottoms off as well, bringing his underwear off along with them and freeing his visibly hard cock.

“I think we’re missing one thing,” he murmured, slowly positioning himself on the bed so that he was on his knees between your legs, his length resting lightly against your reddened, sensitive cunt. He pulled your thighs to rest over his parted knees, an ideal position for each of his movements to cause friction from his cock against you.

Reaching past you to the nightstand, your eyes followed Harada’s arm to see him plugging something in the wall, a white cord you’d recognized as being attached to the wand from earlier.

After opening gifts, the toy had been a bit of a joke for conversation, where Shinpachi in particular had finally learned exactly what some people liked to use them for, during which it had been taken out of the box.

Swallowing nervously, you gave Sanosuke a sheepish grin.

“Really?”

“Yes really,” he affirmed, bringing the toy between the both of your bodies so that it hovered over your clit. “For your birthday, of course.”

His free hand grasped the base of his cock, guiding it to slide up and down your wet slit and coating the tip with your arousal.

First, he pushed the head of his cock only your whole, gently biting into his lower lip as the warm tight sensation of your hole enveloped him. He stopped short of fully sliding into you, leaning forward and using a hand to brace himself against the bed so that he could take your lips in a gentle, firm kiss.

“Now let’s see how much pleasure I can watch across that pretty face.”

Sanosuke turned on the toy with an audible click of the switch.

The loud buzzing made it hard to hear any of the usual subtle noises, but the strength of the vibration of your already sensitive clit had your gasping and moaning right away, fingers clenching into the sheets while your other hand found Harada’s forearm to hold tightly.

His thrusts started shallow, but he didn’t spend too much time teasing that way, instead he quickened his pace, dialing up the intensity of your pleasure so much so that he brought you to the edge right away, your jaw clenched as you tried to resist how close you were.

“S-sa-sanosuke… it’s… t-too much haaa-Ahh…” you cried out, trying to move yourself away from the vibrating head of the toy.

Perhaps encouraged by your already desperate noises, Sanosuke’s thrusts became rough enough to push your body upwards on the bed with each time he buried himself into you, making your head spin drunk on pleasure.

It felt like a miracle you hadn’t cum right away, like the toy kept you entirely on the edge but wouldn’t quite bring you over it yet.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Sanosuke asked in breathy huffs, locks of hair falling in front of his face and obstructing his vision as he continued to nearly slam himself into you, “I know it does because you’re clenching around me so tight.”

“Ngh- it..it’s really…r-really good…” you whined, feeling your eyes stinging with tears as you were suspended right over the edge almost painfully so.

“Then cum for me,” he said his words gently, like an encouragement rather than an order, his thumb flicking the toy’s switch with a loud click.

Right as the intensity of the vibrations had gone up, that feeling of being suspended dropped, your eyes rolling and your mouth parting to let our a series of climactic moans as the wand’s vibrations forced out intense waves of your oragsm.

“S-Sanosuke! Ff..haaah, fuck, f-fuck… Sano…!” You nearly squealed in delight, your muscles tense as you tried to keep yourself from failing, hips twitching all the while Harada didn’t relent. By the time you could tell he was groaning in intense pleasure you were already seeing stars, but you could feel him bury himself into your cunt as he cursed; his own expression clearly contorted with pleasure.

Harada kept the wand held firmly against your clit, while he came inside your rapidly tightening walls. He kept a grip with his free hand on your hip, holding more tightly than even he might have liked as the vibrations were strong enough to even give Sanosuke himself an added pleasure.

As you came down, the strong vibrations proved to be too much and your body tried to jerk away from the toy, much too sensitive for almost any sort of contact. Sanosuke caught on quickly, flicking the wand off and tossing it onto the bed.

His chest—glistening in the dim light with sweat— rose and fell steadily as he remained still inside you, twitching just slightly while he came down from his own climax. It took time for you to catch your own breath, as if you had nearly forgotten how to breathe through the mind-blowing ordeal of being fucked by Sanosuke with that powerful toy against you.

Harada looked down at you with a clearly fond expression, withdrawing himself slowly as if trying not to cause too much overstimulation as he did.

“You look amazing like this,” he murmured, pulling himself out from between your legs and slowly lowering himself onto the bed next to you.

“Sweaty, messy, and maybe with a little bit of drool?” You asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, just like that.”

#Hakuouki #Sanosuke Harada #Sanosuke Harada x Reader #Sanosuke Harada/Reader #Reader Insert #Ficlet #q

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