#hikari I love you but PLEASE put on a jacket-

[starkittnd93]

Ngl I felt so bad playing though the Stormhail chapters when I had Hikari equipped with the Hunter subjob bc damn, he really isn’t wearing much in that outfit is he-

Like, that, and the fact that he’s from the desert, meaning he’s probably not used to the cold :,D

Anyway here’s my headcanon on how Hikari somehow survived the weather-

And an extra comic with the subjobs I picked for Temenos and Ochette too

[seventeenlovesthree]

ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, I HAVE THOUGHTS ON THIS. They're still rather scrambled, so bear with me while I'm trying to get them in order. So, what do we have? Let's summarize first:

In late March of 2025, we will get another PV (Promotional Video), more specifically, another music video. In contrast to the "Butterfly" PV we got on August 1st 2024, featuring newly animated/interpreted scenes from the OG Adventure anime, this one will play to "Brave Heart" and will show what'll happen between "now" (presumably after the events of Kizuna/The Beginning) and the infamous epilogue of 2028. It'll be produced by Hiroyuki Kakudou (!), who also drew the poster depicted above. It'll be animated by Yumeta Company, which was already responsible for Kizuna, The Beginning and the previous PV - and the character designs of Taichi and Yamato we've been shown were made by Rie Nishimura, chief animation director of The Beginning.

It will depict all the characters as adults, and "you will see Agumon (!!!) and their team working together a little differently than before. I think it will be especially pleasing to all of you who have always believed that you have a partner Digimon as well".

OH BOY, WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN??? Beware of some rambles under the cut:

Seeing how Kakudou had just recently commented on Taiorato in a somewhat official interview, you can say that I am genuinely surprised to see him return to such a project. A project that, dare I say it, feels like it could potentially be the final chapter, the definite closure to the Adventure timeline...? It is meant to finally summarize what'll happen until we get to the epilogue. Which is interesting if you consider that Tri and the previous two movies all told somewhat separate stories revolving around "outside characters" (Meiko, Menoa and Rui) without really breaking through the status quo. Granted, we had a few very... Mixed messages in between, questioning the reasoning behind, the foundation of partnerships, dealing with separation, isolation and sacrifices for various side and main characters alike. There was a lot of heartbreak, but Digimon wouldn't be Digimon if there wasn't also always room left for a hopeful note.

And seeing how Kakudou, who had been mostly absent from the previous projects, seems to tackle this "in between" period is very interesting to say the least. There are so many loose threads to tie up that one probably cannot fit all of them in one music video. Nevertheless, this may be his final say in how he wants to see the timeline "end" for his characters. We can already assume that the fighting scene depicted above implies the FINAL return of Agumon and Gabumon, giving closure to Kizuna's ending... But there are still so many other questions unsolved (including Sora's and Piyomon's return to the group as well).

Granted it's always possible that they might use this as a stepping stone to a new series and, really... I wouldn't be opposed to that at all, because these character designs are probably among the best we have gotten in years. You may know that I have my love/dislike relationship with the Kizuna designs and The Beginning had improved on it slightly (Hikari was still the biggest win of the century in my book), but still felt like there was room for growth...

But this? This looks promising as heck and it absolutely has evolved/changed from what we've gotten before. And it's also pretty curious, leaving room for speculation.

Remember how Kizuna basically framed Yamato to be mostly prim and proper with his neatly cut "old" haircut, the hipster glasses, stylish biker jacket, green shirt, while pants and his motorcycle? He was obviously still very distinctly Yamato, especially when you put him next to Taichi and Takeru, but he was very... Well, neat, prim and proper. We know both him and Taichi have been on their way of reconnecting with their true selves, passions and goals post Kizuna, so... Having Kakudou decide on giving Yamato his 02!haircut back is HUGE. And has two potential implications:

02's intention had always been to show a side of Yamato that was more chill. Granted, he still had his emotional outbursts and strong opinions, but he was allowed to be goofy, silly and live for his music. He may never be a 100% people-y person (and never really fancied the fan attention either) and that is perfectly fine, because... Then he wouldn't be Yamato. But he still enjoyed playing his harmonica, playing bass, singing in his band. Personally, I always found that change a bit drastic, but boy needed to figure himself out, grow his hair out and give his emotions an outlet. Having him return to such a state visually is simply... Interesting. Especially because most recent fandom depictions (mostly on the Jyoumato side) have depicted him in his "rockstar aesthetic" as well, INCLUDING the piercing (!). It may just be a temporary state, but it still implies that something in him has changed, bringing him back on track, slowly but steadily.

What does this mean from a production point of view? My personal guess would be - and I could be completely wrong here, so take this with a grain of salt -, that Kakudou wants to put his foot down. Yamato was among those characters who lived through various hairstyle changes in recent years (to the point of returning to his signature hair in Kizuna, probably for nostalgia/promotion reasons if Koushirou's hairstyle change back to his Adventure hair gives you any clue). 02!Yamato is Kakudou's Yamato. This is going to be HIS vision and thus, we're likely to see a LOT of things he would have liked to portray in the previous iterations as well. Whether or not that means he will adjust the FINAL outcome of the epilogue, changing singular aspects about it or not, remains to be seen... Because we know that Yamato's final hair did not look like it does in the concept art, so he may go through more changes after reuniting with Gabumon. We'll see.

When it comes to Taichi, I do not have a lot to add here. If you've read all my analysis posts before, you know how much I hope for my boy to find happiness again, to finally find his path, reunite with his partner... Seeing him wear wide clothes as he does in the poster feels very reminiscent of his "young" self again, so I am curious to see where we're headed with him. Until then... Excuse me while I keep swooning over his concept art (and get absolutely giddy just thinking about how the others may look like!!!), I am absolutely in AWE of how gorgeous he looks there. I cannot wait to see his signature smile again in this art style...

I know, no matter what we'll get, not all answers will be answered. There will still be controversies, there will still be fandom wars (probably). Kakudou wants us to get that final note, that future where everyone will end up with a Digimon partner (despite all the hardships - and everything we went through with the previous three bigger projects in this timeline). Not everybody will be happy with what we'll get.

But I'm still looking forward to it.

Edit: It's also possible that Kakudou will just completely ignore everything that happened post 02 and just go straight from there. We will have to see.

[cottoncandyjester]

Your OCs are so cute! How would they handle a darling that counters them i.e. theo w/ someone who can see through his manipulation, hikari w/ someone who refuses to be belittled, prince w/ a prudish or nonsexual darling?

Oh such a good question! thank you very much for the praise they are my babies ✨

This story contains: talk of sex, talk of abuse,drugs, mutilation, manipulation yandere behavior

Theodore

You don't fall for his bullshit

His emotional manipulation doesn't work on you

This both frustrated and amazed him

You were much stronger than he thinks

But it annoys him that he can't go the simple and painless route for this

Everytime he tries to manipulate you it usually ends with you shutting him down

"darling, my sweet angel won't it be much smarter if you stayed with me..listen to me"

"nope. I do what I want"

Wait you can't say that! That's illegal!

He immediately panicked and used force to knock you out

If his words won't work then it seems he has to keep you heavily sedated

Being a med student has beautiful benefits

He doesn't want to keep you like this but it's just until you comply

"angel? Sweetie..? Can you tell me what day it is?"

Silence.

A sigh escaped him as he watched your dull glazed eyes stare back into his, you definitely were too out of it to respond back. He unbuckled the straps he had put on the wheelchair before scooping you up and walking to the bedroom to place you into bed.

"maybe when the drugs wear off you'll be better yeah? I really hate seeing you like this..I miss our conversations and I miss your adorable fiery behavior even if it was a tad bit frustrating"

As he slid his jacket off he crawled into the bed with you hugging you close with a happy sigh inhaling the smell of your hair now

"we can try again tomorrow"

Hikaru

You brush off his insults and he hates it

His temper explodes and so he reacts in violence

Pure rage and violence

He'll put a permanent scar or mark on you that everyone could see

You will definitely have to deal with his feral side

He wants to be sweet and loving to you but he will also do what it takes to have you

You make things such a challenge

If fear of death makes you stay than damn it that's what he has to do

"come to me cutie, don't you want to cuddle?"

"I rather chew nails"

"the hell did you say, pig?"

His sharp tone made you huff lightly, his degrading was nothing new to you if anything you would just throw it right back at him

"you're th pig not me. You are as ugly as one"

Uh oh.

Hikaru tensed up and scowled before walking over to you and gripping you by your hair, giving it a harsh tug and pulling you on your knees in front of him

"listen here bitch, watch your damn mouth before I cut your tongue off! You stupid selfish disgusting-"

Hikaru Inhaled deeply letting out a shaky breath as he let go and cupped your face in his hands his blue eyes swirling with a devilish idea

"you know..you don't need fingers and a tongue to be adorable darling. I'll love you either way, so maybe it's time to make some changes"

Axis

No matter how helpless and pathetic he looks you won't fall for it

He could have been sobbing into your lap begging you to stay and you'll just push him off

This wasn't good

His method didn't work

He had to come up with something new

He restored to desperate measures

If you were handicapped as well you would have no choice but to stay

Doesn't want to hurt you

Sobs while doing it

Will only do it if all other choices fail

"p-please stay-"

"no, I'm leaving for good. Nothing you say will change that"

Axis was on his knees begging you to stay, he was crying so hard now knowing what had to be done. He leaned his head against your stomach with a gentle sigh as he slipped a hand into his pocket

"I understand, after all you can walk out if you wish just know that i love you"

"thank you for being understanding axis now please le-"

You winced and screamed when the male stabbed a needle into your thigh looking up at you his eyes pouring with tears, he looked like it hurt him more than it did you

"i-its okay honey! I'll treat you well, I'll just do something quick and easy like break your legs or maybe paralyze you from the waist down, we can be broken together"

He stood up as you were becoming limp in his arms and he peppered kisses lovingly along your face and neck with a happy hum

"I love you my sweetie"

Prince

Okay...no sex on the first day got it he can wait a day

A week later. No sex..okay?

Two weeks went by and now he was getting worried

You cringed at the utter mention of sex

He was going through a withdrawal

It was driving him crazy how much of a prude you were

Poor boy was being blueballed and he didn't like it

Pleasuring himself was totally not enough

He wanted to feel you

This was how he showed his love and the fact that he couldn't made him pissed

Hell your clothes covered your entire body

You even wore wet suits at the beach

WHO DOES THAT?!

by two months he had snapped

He couldn't take it anymore

He restored to drugging your drink with several aphrodisiacs

He kinda went crazy and mixed a bunch of different ones together

After that it doesn't take long til you are panting and writhing from the feeling

He was only being a sweetheart and decided to help

"what's wrong baby?"

Prince smirks against his beer can as he watched you press your legs together whining and whimpering as your body felt like it would melt.

"i-i feel hot..so hot"

Prince made sure to strike during a cuddle session, he put his can down and held you close tightly looking at you curiously, his smirk only getting wider when he saw just how adorable you looked

"should I help you!"

"i-we shouldn't-"

"do you want to suffer?"

That statement made you whine as he trailed his hands along your body watching you squirm around wildly

"calm down, I'll be gentle I'm just trying to help baby cUse this feeling won't go away on its own"

He will have to use drugs more often

Yuki

Blackmail doesn't work on you

You have nothing to lose it seems

This annoyed him

He just wants to love you why are you being so mean

He just wants to love you

He is normally too lazy for force but if he has to he will

His use of force will just be tying you up and holding you close

If he has to gag you he will

He will make sure you won't leave

Every escape you try is only met with disappointment

He always stays calm

Until you decide to break his fantasy

"leave me alone!"

"be kinder to your boyfriend..."

"oh my fucking God! You aren't my boyfriend! We aren't anything you are just a sicko who is obsessed with me! Go away!"

"but-"

I DONT WANT YOU! I NEVER WILL!"

There was silence after that and a soft sniffle escaped him before he simply reached out fast gripping your wrist while using his free hand to wipe his tears.

"that's not true- not true not true. You just forgot I'll have to remind you just how much I love you"

With that he threw you over his shoulder while tears rolled down his cheeks, he needed a good nap to sleep the depression away and if course you will be at his side so he can cuddle but first he has to take care of you.

You were so mean so he figured he can use his piercing kit to do something about that mouth, he's never pierced someone's mouth shut but maybe he can do that

[damejanai]

Dame janai radio

2020.10.14

~Ishikawa Kaito's birthday episode~

Guest: Nishiyama Koutaro

Soma: Ummm

Kaito: Yay! oops

S: wwwww

Koutaro: Did you hear that, Saito san?

S: Ummm, it's not time for that yet

Ko: I see i see, please wait a little will you?

S: Even if this is a radio show, there's also a programme to follow

Ko: Yes especially one for this episode

Ka: Got it got it

S: So after this we have several things to do

Ka: Got it, i didn't really understand

S: Umm, I heard your CD

Ko: Ahhhh, thank you!

S: The way the songs were inserted was also really great

Ko: Thank you

Ka: Hey that album looks like a different size from what I got

S: wwwwwwww

Ko: wwwwwww

S: You know I guess, mini albums are great

Ko: Yes yes yes

S: Like

Ko: It has 6 songs

S: It's not too few and not too many

Ko: Yes yes yes

S: Like you could have more songs but, it satisfies you too

Ko: That's true that's true that's true

S: Umm, Could I have an autograph?

Ko: Ah that yes, I actually wanted to sign it earlier

S: For reals?

Ko: But it wasn't the right time for it, when I passed it to you

S: That's true

Ko: Alright so, is now a good time? Pen?

S: Amazing! There's a pen!

Ko: Thank you!

S: As expected, amazing

Ko: Right?

S: Mikami san wwwww

Ko: Okay so

S: Could you right, "I like you"

Ko: "I like you", okay here!

S: Thank you! Shall we begin? This is Saito Soma's

Ko: And Nishiyama Koutaro's

S/ Ko: Dame janai radio!

----

S: Happy birthday!!

Ko: Thank you!!

S: Shall we?

Ko: No way! For reals?

S: Alright and so it's Nishiyama Koutaro's birthday!!

Ko: Wow! thank you! I really didn't expect this

S: This (shirt) goes really well with corduroy pants

Ko: Really? Can i open it?

S: Yes yes please do

Ko: Right away, wow wow wow! It's a shirt i think? a top. Ahhh, it's so nice! From Cullni

S: From Cullni yes, a long sleeved one

Ko: A top, a white one, i shall wear it now

S: wwwww it might have some CITY feel, i thought

Ko: This would totally match

S: wwwww It really suits you! www

Ko: This is great isn't it? This is

S: It's nice!

Ko: Good for the coming season, I could put a jacket over too

S: The size is not too tight fitting

Ko: It's awesome!

S: I don't know, it just, fits you so well wwww

Ko: Nah you have good taste

S: Wow i think it's good to end the radio for today here

Ko: Right? It was really really a good one, thank you

S: Happy birthday

Ko: I think there is, a guest whose birthday is today, and is debuting as a musician

S: Ah, I think i heard about that too

Ko: That's somewhat similar to me

S: That's true. So we don't know what kind of person is (he) yet but, (he) is already here so

K: Let's begin shall we, please continue listening to "Saito Soma and Nishiyama Koutaro's Damejanai radio"

-----

Ko: Let's welcome the guest for today then, it is this person!

Ka: (In a debuted musician's voice) Good evening everyone! I am Ishikawa Kaito. I am very very very pleased to be invited here this evening

S: Ah, so Ishikawa Kaito san, am i right?

Ka: That's right

S: Your birthday was just around the corner am i right

Ka: That's right, it's one day before the on air date of this radio if i'm not wrong, not JUST around the corner

S: Ohhh! A very happy birthday to you! Is is true that no matter how old you become, you'll still be glad?

Ka: Ahhh yes it is. I guess as you grow older year by year, your songs get more deep. That's a good thing

Ko: Ohhhh I see! What did you do? On your birthday itself (It was the very day they were recording this)

Ka: Ahh, on the day itself, I was spending it with my listeners

Ko: Ahhh, you really think for your fans huh

Ka: Well it's because of our fans that we musicians are here

Ko: Ummm, yes, sorry, there's some stuff I do not know but, I would like to hear about your album in more detail. What kind of songs will you be releasing?

Ka: Ah right, in detail. Personally, I don't think the artist is supposed to be explaining about his own music in detail

Ko: Ahhhh I see, so Ishikawa Kaito just equals music, that sort of thing is it?

Ka: It's just what I can deliver to you guys

S: wwwwwww ummmm

Ko: wwwwww

S: For example, the music that you will be releasing soon, could you give us title of a song?

Ka: Soon? title?

S: Yes yes

Ka: Ahhhh, well today I am here to promote it as well so

Ko: Please tell us more

S: Could you tell us

Ka: Ah well, there is not much I can say but

S: wwwwww

Ka: But I'll answer your questions if you have any

S: Okay we will ask as we go along

Ka: Sure sure

S: By the way, Nishiyama Koutarou has released his debut mini album, "CITY", on October 7th, and in his album, he has sung songs from genres that he likes

Ka: Ahh, it's a great CD yes

S: What sort of music do you listen to, Ishikawa san?

Ka: .....

S: wwwwww

Ka: It's that... I listen to

S: Yes?

Ka: I actually like anime, and manga

S/Ko: Uh huh

Ka: Among those Otaku culture, i actually like voice actors

S/Ko: Oooooooooooh

Ka: That's also why I am here on this program

S: Yes yes yes

Ka: The one i listen to often is Uchida Yuma i guess

S: wwww

Ko: Ahhh i see

S: Ahhhh, yes he is quite close to us in terms of age and we're quite good friends with him too

Ka: Also there's the artist Saito Soma too, well i guess i listen to him

S: You guess you listen...

Ko: Ah i seeee

S: So you sort of listen

Ko: Could you give us one more?

S: Yes

Ka: Well speaking about recent releases, Nishiyama Koutaro's album, that was released around last week, the songs in there are splendid

Ko: Is that so?!

S: You're really updated huh!

Ko: Really updated!

Ka: Of course I am

Ko: So you have been listening to it

Ka: I guess for things you love, speed is important

S: Which song did you like? (laughs)

Ka: Which song?

S: Yesss

Ka: Which song?

Ko: He has a really bad expressions now

S: wwwwww

Ka: Welllllll, for that CD, there are songs that suit different times of the day

S: Yes

Ka: Out of those songs, the morning song is nice

Ko: Ahhhh okayyy

S: Okayy

Ka: I... don't remember the title

S/Ko: HAHHAHHHHAA

Ko: You already got your message across quite well

Ka: Soto wa hikari ga odotte iru, this is a good song

S: The song name

Ko: I'm glad you like it!

Ka: You know when we leave the house for work, it's morning

Ko: Yes

Ka: So i'll listen to it alot

Ko: Ahhh, so for Ishikawa san, you listen to songs in the morning to wake yourself up. So, among the songs you have released, there are also morning songs right?

Ka: Ahhhh, of course

Ko: What song was it?

Ka: With morning as the theme, it's that, "Tenshou Dynamite” (his character song from Dame x Prince)

S: wwww!!!

Ko: First thing in the morning! Dynamite!

Ka: Like going hunting and stuff

Ko: First thing in the morning!?

S: They're such mornings too right?

Ka: To pump it up and be on the move! sort of, That is a good song

Ko: You like those huh..

S: Thank you very much

Ko: There is something i would like to ask Ishikawa san

Ka: Ohhh what is it?

Ko: I don't have much experience performing live, do you have any secrets?

S: That's true....

Ka: Well, you know, it's good to have a catchy song that the audience get get hyped up on

S: That's true~~

Ka: That would make a lot of difference, after all everyone comes together to make the live experience better

Ko: What's the best song to hype up the audience?

Ka: Ummmm, one of mine you mean?

Ko: Yes

Ka: Well, yes, "Tenshou Dynamite"

S: HAHAHAHHAA

Ko: Alright that's all the time we have for now

S: Ahh yes that's right

Ka: Before that, let me give you some advice

Ko: Yes

Ka: Your Chikipu, is really awesome

Ko: Ahhh thank you! I'm so glad to hear that!

S : Yeahh~

Ka: That's a word that really sticks

Ko: Thank you very much

Ka: If any Nishiyama Koutarou fans are listening now, please remember this and get hyped up during the concert

S: Wowww

Ko: Thank you! Lastly a word from Ishikawa Kaito san

Ka: I have a Youtube channel, so please subscribe and give it a like!

S: Well you know, this artist is quite quick to ride on trends...So lastly, could we get Ishikawa san to introduce the next song?

K: Hey

S: Huh?

K: Can't you tell from where this convo is going?

Ko: Huh?

S: Huh? Yuuzo? (Kaito's character from the Omikuji Yon Kyoudai reading live)

Ko: From Omikuji Yon Kyoudai?

S: Wwwwwww

K: You guys don't get it huh? I don't have any song! no matter how you try to put it

Ko: You mentioned "Tenshou Dynamite"

Ka: That is someone else's song! I just randomly introduced it as my own

Ko: Ahh... I see

Ka: I don't have music artist activities at all much

Ko: Then shall we play one of my songs ?

S: Shall we do that?

.....

Ka: Can't help it then

S: So could you please do the honours?

Ka: Well, well well well well well, here's "Time Machine" by Nishiyama Koutaro

S: wwwwwww

Ko: And that was today's guest, Ishikawa Kaito!

S/Ko: Thank you!

Ka: I'll never come on this show again! hahhaha

---

Presents for Kaito~

*Soma gives Kaito his present*

K: Let's see... ah it's a blouse jacket! I'm really glad to receive this hahaa

S: Yayy!

K: I was just looking for something that would fit me just nice!

S: Yes yes yes something that would nicely fit

K: It does fit nicely!

S: I bought it to fit you just nice according to your current slimmed down build now

Ko: Amazing

Ka: It totally fits nicely, the sleeves too, oh wow

S: wow

Ka: Do you have a life sized figure of me at your house or something?

S: wwww

Ko: Right... it's like that huh

S: Hey stop telling lies that make it sound like I like you or something

K: Huh? That goes the same for you!

S/Ko: Hahahaha!!

Ko: You guys are really...

*Koutaro gives Kaito his present*

Ko: I got something that you can wear too

[tk-productions]

Mystic Sisters -Ch.7 More & More

Hikari’s Pov

“Why can't you just tell me?” Yua yelled following me into my room.

“There’s nothing to tell you.” I shrugged sitting at my desk trying to ignore my sister.

“What do you mean? You were hanging out with Haru and probably talking about me.”

“I have better things to do besides talk about you. Haru walked home with me because he saw me walking alone. I wouldn't have been alone if you didn't have to stay after school. ” I said rolling my eyes at her.

“Don't sass me. Tell me what you were talking about. And I don't want you hanging out with him.” she warned.

“Yua I don't have to tell you anything. Haru and I are friends. You can't tell me who I can and can't hang out with.”

“I'm not leaving until you tell me.” she replied, stomping her feet on the floor. I pushed her out of my room and into the hallway even though she protested.

“Now if you're done yelling at me I have homework that I would like to get done before dinner.” I shut the door, slamming it and walked back to my desk. I could hear Yua slam her bedroom door.

Geez what's gotten into her? I thought, sliding into my chair and opening up a box of Pocky. For some reason Yua has been moody and has taken her anger out on me every chance she gets. Yesterday she got mad because I used the last of her shampoo. Before school she was mad because I was wearing her jacket. And now she's upset because Haru walked me home from school.

“Haru you didn't have to walk me all the way home.” I said standing on the front steps.

“It wasn't a problem, it gave us a chance to talk. Plus I dont live that far.” That was true Haru only lived a couple blocks from us. Before Yua walked to where we were standing I could feel her presence.

“Why is he here?” she growled.

“He was just leaving.” I said giving Haru a look. He picked up on my signal and hurried home.

“Yua why are you acting like this? You've been getting mad at me all week for no reason.” she rolled her eyes opening the front door.

I kept trying to talk to her all week but it just ended with her getting mad at me. I started to think that I did something wrong but if I did she would tell me. Right? A few hours later I knocked on Yua’s door.

“Go away.” she said muffled from behind the door.

“Just talk to me please.” I pleaded. She opened the door and gave me a blank stare.

“Did you finally come to tell me why you were with Haru?”

“I told you earlier we walked home together. We stopped at the convenience store for ice cream but that was it.Is Haru the only one you're worried about? What about me? You know you haven't been the nicest to me lately.” I fumed.

“Hikari I don't want to talk to you right now.”

“The same way you wont talk to Haru?” I shot back.

“Why are you always bringing him up? Don't you think it weird you're still friends with my ex?”

“You're the one that keeps talking about him! You're obviously still in love with him.” I yelled.

“Hik-”

“No. Don't talk to me until you figure things out.” I walked back to my room and threw myself on my bed. I loved Yua but I hate when she acts like this. Angrily I grabbed my manga off my desk and read until mom called us down for dinner.

We ate dinner in silence besides our parents asking us a few questions here and there. I guess they picked up on our weird behavior when my dad gave a mom a look.

“Girls, is there something going on? You've been quiet.” Dad asked us. I shook my head no without making eye contact with him.

“Everything is just fine.” Yua replied, glancing over at me while angrily stabbing her chopsticks into her bowl of chicken curry. I pushed my empty plate away from me and stood up annoyed with Yua.

“I'm going to bed.” I hurried to my room before my parents could protest.

I could hear Yua go to her room a few minutes later. Maybe I could try talking to her tomorrow if she wasn’t still mad at me.

I woke up the next morning to find out that Yua had left for school without me. I guess she was really mad. I grabbed my backpack and went downstairs to the kitchen.

“Hi honey.” my mom smiled pouring herself a cup of coffee which was probably her second cup of the day. I smiled back and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl.

“I'll drop your duffle bag at Hisako’s house on my way to work.” she pulled me in for a bone crushing hug as I tried to take a bite of my apple.

“Mom, I'm just spending the weekend at Hisako’s. You're acting like I'm moving out.” I say muffled. She let me go and laughed.

“Have a good day and text me when you get to Hisako’s. Okay?” I nodded and told her goodbye.

It was a lonely ride on the trade without Yua. When I got to school I peeked inside her classroom only to find she wasn't there either. I saw Hisako talking with a girl and when she saw me she gave me a warm smile. She stepped outside the classroom and ran over to me.

“Have you seen Yua?” She shook her head.

“No she hasn't come in yet. Is everything okay? Is she still mad at you?” I nodded and Hisako opened her arms for a hug. I hugged her back embracing her warmth.

“You didn't walk together?”

“No.” I sighed still in Hisako’s arms while she patted my head.

“Don't worry. She’ll talk when she’s ready. You know you guys always work it out.” I knew she was right. Hisako was comforting. She always knew how to make me feel better. I looked up at Hisako smiling at her.

“Aww you're so cute.” she cooed, pinching my cheeks.

“Why are you like this?” I winned trying to break free.

“Why are you so cute?” she laughed. A group of students walked past us and Hisako pushed me off as her cheeks turned red. I looked to see who the students were and turned back to her laughing.

“Did your crush just see you cuddling me and calling me cute?” I laughed again teasing her.

“Go to class.” she rolled her eyes, walking back into class.

I didn't see Yua all day. I tried texting her but I never got a reply. She was really ignoring me. I peeked over the students looking for Yua as I waited for Hisako by the front gate of school. “She probably went home. Is she really that upset with me?” I thought to myself.

“You still havent talked to her have you?” Hisako questioned. I shook my head and she gave me a reassuring smile.

“She’ll come around eventually. Cmon lets go get snacks for our sleepover.” she said grabbing my hand.

Yua’s Pov

When I got home the first thing I did was run a bath. “This calls for extra bubbles.” I yawned while grabbing the bubble bath from the cabinet. I stepped into the tub and relaxed under the warm water. I knew Hikari was hurt because I could feel it. Mom would say it's our twintuition. Maybe that was the reason we’re so close and why this isn't one of our normal fights. I know I hurt my sister. I sighed resting my head against the cold bathroom tile. Both of my parents were at work and Hikari was at a sleepover so it was just me and my thoughts. Those were the same thoughts that kept reminding me of how I've been taking my anger out on Hikari the past week. At first I didn't know why I was so upset. I finally realized it after our fight last night.

“Why are you always bringing him up? Don't you think it weird you're still friends with my ex?”

“You're the one that keeps talking about him! You're obviously still in love with him.”

When she said that to me I didn't want to believe it but the fight kept replaying in my head last night. That's when I realized she was right. I still love Haru and it hurts that he’s pushing me away. When I saw them together yesterday I was jealous. I was jealous that they were able to talk so easily like him and I used to. I got out of the tub and wrapped myself in my robe. After getting changed I sat on my bed with my phone in my hands. My fingers kept hovering over Hikari’s contact.

Should I text her? Maybe I should call? I don't want to ruin her night. Why do I do this to myself? I groaned lying on my bed, tossing my phone to the side. Hikari wasn't the only one I needed to call right now. It was Haru. Before I could call him I was interrupted by the front door opening.

“Yua come help me with the groceries!’ mom called from downstairs.

“Im coming!”

“Mom when is Hikari coming back?” I asked putting away the vegetables.

“Sunday. Why, whats up?”

“Nothing I was just wondering.”

“Is everything okay with you two? You've been acting weird the past few days.” she stopped and turned to face me.

“No everything is fine. She wanted me to help her with some homework but I guess Hisako can help her.” I lied. She nodded, probably not believing me and went back to putting up the groceries.

I guess I have to wait until sunday to fix this.

Hikari’s pov

Hisako sat in her bed as I laid in her lap watching a movie. “How many times are you gonna make me watch this?” I yawned, growing bored.

“You know it's our tradition to watch Mean Girls during our sleepovers.”

“Yeah but do we have to watch it 5 times in one night?” I laughed looking up at her. I got off her bed and dug through my duffle bag until I pulled out two sheet masks. I turned to show her and she smiled.

“Are those the ones with green tea?” She asked joining me on the floor. I nodded handing her a mask. It was quiet besides the sound of the tv playing or the occasional giggle from Hisako.

“I missed this. We should have our sleepovers more.” I said resting my head on her shoulder. She nodded in response.

The next morning I waved to Hisako and her mom as they dropped me back off at home.

“Mom, I'm home!” I yell entering the house. No answer. I placed my keys on the entryway table and called her again. I walked into the kitchen to see Yua placing freshly baked cookies onto a tray.

“Mom had a last minute work meeting.”

“Oh.”

“Cookie?” She asked, holding the tray towards me offering a small smile.

“No thanks.” I started to walk away when she called my name.

I turned back to face her. “What? Are you gonna yell at me because I didn't take one of your cookies?” She stepped closer to me and sighed.

“No, I made those as a peace offering. I wanted to talk to you...about everything.” I studied her face for a moment before replying. I grabbed a cookie off the tray and stuffed it into my mouth.

“Well it’s gonna take a lot more than chocolate chip cookies to win me over.” I mumbled. She laughed walking out the kitchen to the living room. I followed sitting on the opposite side.

“I know I’ve been a horrible sister and i'm sorry for that. No, not just that. I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you. I never meant anything I said. I was mad at Haru and took it out on you. Also I was jealous. I was jealous because you were able to talk to him while I've been trying to do that for months. I don't expect you to forgive me right now but just know I'm really sorry and most importantly I love you.” Yua stared at me the whole time with glossy eyes. I knew she meant what she said. I scooted over sitting closer to her.

“You promised that you would never let a guy in the way of our relationship. You broke that promise and hurt me but I know how much Haru means to you. I'm willing to forgive you for now.” she smiled at me for the first time all week before engulfing me in a hug.

“You're my favorite sister and nothing can change that.”

“Yua I’m your only sister.” I pulled away from her. She was back to being herself.

“When we were fighting I realized you were right. I still love him. I left early for school. I wanted to talk to him and work everything out not because I was avoiding you.”

“Did you ever find him?”

“No.” I groaned leaning on the back of the couch. “I tried looking for him all day only to find out he didn't show up for school.”

“Talk to him tomorrow no matter what.”

“I will. You don't have to worry about us.” she smiled reaching for a cookie on the coffee table.

“Yua the day you saw us together we were talking about you. Haru doesn't know how to be around you anymore. He doesn't know how to talk to you. He knows when he left he hurt you and he doesn't want to do that again.” she stared back at me with a shocked expression on her face.

“I would never do anything to hurt you. You know Haru and I are friends. I was just comforting him.” Yua pulled me into another hug but this time it was tighter.

“Wow I really am a bad sister.”

“No, I understand why you were upset. Just have a little more faith in me next time. Okay?”

“This is why you can't date until you're 30.”

“Yuaaa.” I winned. She let me go and stood up from the couch.

“Fine you can date when you're 29.” I rolled my eyes at her.

“C'mon I’ll treat you to dinner. What do you want?”

“Shabu-Shabu!” I yelled excitedly.

“I should have known.”

[unlockthelore]

Let It Out

Written early in the morning for hananeneweek. The final installment for the Where the Shores Meet series. Inspired by this amazing artwork drawn by @sunny16504. 

Amane was practically dead on his feet as he shuffled through the front door. Tentatively, he glanced around the entryway but to his surprise, there was no loud cry or cheery voice to greet him. He stepped through and toed out of his shoes, setting them beside three pairs facing toward the door. Hesitantly closing it and wincing as the lock clicked into place. When no one arrived, he pursed his lips and furrowed his brow, hanging up his school bag on the hook beside two small jackets and one overcoat. His hands working diligently at the buttons of his own coat as he peered into the sitting room and then the kitchen, finding both of them empty.

Which was more off-putting than anything considering the time of day. Normally, when he returned home late there was someone waiting for him. Ready to tackle him the moment that he stepped through the door. Lately though, or at least for the past week or so, he’d been finding that greeting less and less though he couldn’t understand why. Rubbing his chin, he decided to head upstairs and listened out for the familiar thump and patter of feet. Reaching the top of the stairs, he blinked owlishly at the folding ladder leading up to the attic. 

It was still out.

Checking his bedroom, then the other, he frowned and scratched at his head before deciding to take his chances. Taking hold of the ladder, he climbed up wrung by wrung until he reached the darkened room. The hatch leading to the rooftop was open and he could hear soft laughter and giggling, his eyes softening as he followed the sound. His hand pressing against the glass as he pushed the window pane aside, poking his head out and peering around. On the veranda built onto the makeshift observatory tower at the top of his home, the view of the stars was much better without all of the light pollution.

Although he had to ask his wife and was nearly ready to plead, she conceded easily and smiled at him as he cheered. His heart pounding as he climbed up, closing the hatch behind him. The stars were everywhere and the moon was full, hanging high in the sky and bathing the world in a silvery glow. Beneath it, standing at the railing where his telescope was, his wife was adjusting the scope in the same careful manner that he showed her. 

“Nene?” Amane called as he walked across the veranda, raising his hands when she startled. “It’s just me.”

“Amane…?” She smiled widely and laughed heartily, side-stepping a checkered blanket covered in toys, action figures and pages with doodles of stars and suns and moons. Her arms wrapping around his neck as his found home around her waist. His cheek rubbing against her shoulder as ashen teal locks brushed against his chin, tickling beneath his nose. 

“I thought you wouldn’t be home for another hour,” she said as they parted, holding him by his shoulders. “Did Tsuchigomori-sensei decide to let you off easy?”

He wished. The day that happened, he would be an old man. With a shake of the head, he pressed a kiss to her temple and eased his hand to rest at her hip while the other tucked in his pocket. They walked side by side to his telescope and he was pleased to see that it was realigned properly. Pressing another kiss to her cheek and listening to her weak protests as her arm wrapped around his back and hugged him close to her side. 

“Doesn’t matter,” he admitted, nuzzling her forehead. “I’m home. Though, I did miss my usual greeting,” he whispered close to her ear. 

Her nose wrinkled and she swatted at his chest, a smile playing on her lips. “They have been looking forward to this for a week now, it’s the first clear night since the rainy season started…” 

She was right about that. Night after night, it was difficult to see the heavens as clouds and heavy mist covered the moon and its stars. He couldn’t stand the disappointed faces as they gazed out the windows mournfully over another night lost. 

“Speaking of them, where are they?”

Looking up at the observatory tower, Amane shielded his eyes with his hand. His wife squeezing his side lightly and a shiver ran down his spine at her hold. She flashed him a smile then cupped her hand around the side of her mouth.

“Tsukiko! Hikari! Your dad is home!”

The winding staircase leading up the observatory tower had an echo and Amane could hear the thunderous footsteps quickly approaching. Clamoring, a bit of bickering and apologies before the door swung open to the veranda, sending some of the pages scattering across. Two children with unruly dark hair and nigh identical features coupled with ruby eyes that reminded him far too much of his wife’s shot out from the doorway, hurrying across the  veranda into his waiting arms.

A loud cry of “dad” both warming his heart and making him want to cry. Their little faces tucked against his stomach, tiny hands clutching at his coat and pulling. His heart leaping into his throat at the contact before he relaxed, feeling his wife’s hand on his shoulder. It was difficult. Associating touch with happiness rather than pain, genuine love rather than its twisted counterpart. 

“Evening you two,” Amane greeted, pressing a kiss to the top of their heads to hear those soft giggles. “Your mom said that you were planning something for me.”

Hikari was the first to pull away from him, eyes widened and smile practically too big for his face. “Uh-huh, Tsu and I did a thing!”

“You did a thing..?” Amane glanced up at Nene and she shrugged. “Okay, what’s the thing?”

Tsukiko was slow to let go of him but followed his brother’s quick strides to the papers they left lying around. Picking up one after another and bringing them back to show him each one. They clamored over one another to talk about what they’d done, pointing at things that he couldn’t quite make out and others he could. Their focus shifting to their mother when she complimented their artwork, giving Amane a moment to look them over.

His job as a teacher made him prone to pointing out inaccuracies but he couldn’t bring himself to when he saw his childrens’ drawings. Pictures of their family standing atop of the moon, holding hands and smiling. He glanced up at the moon, full and beautiful. He may not have been able to go there but he had his own moon right in front of him and could always see It whenever he wanted.

Sifting through the papers, Amane took stock of each one until he heard Tsukiko and Hikari’s bantering turn into bickering. Nene trying to calm the boys before they fought and a grainy image of his own childhood painted across Amane’s mind. The papers were tucked away in the inner pocket of his coat as he approached, kneeling on one knee. He took habit of doing it when speaking to his sons. Never wanting to tower over them or make them feel small.

His hands settled on the back of their heads, guiding two sets of ruby eyes to him.

“What’s wrong?” 

It was Tsukiko who pointed a finger at his brother. “Hi said that I’m still too small to use the telescope, but we’re both small, dad!”

“Nuh-uh,” Hikari shot back, brushing aside his brother’s finger and pointing at him with a slight pout. “Mom said that I’m older by two whole minutes, so I’m two whole minutes bigger than you.”

Amane tilted his head, glancing up at Nene to see if she could make sense of this. Her lips were pressed tightly together and twitching but the amusement was in her eyes. He could already see the story that she would write about this playing out in her mind.

“Honestly…” he ruffled his sons’ hair. “Tsukiko, Hikari… you two…”

Their bickering died down and they stared up at him widely, making Amane pause in mid scolding. Although they had Nene’s eyes, they inherited her features as well, seeming softer and smaller. But they had his sharp tongue and his unruly dark hair, and shared his fate of being bound to another person by blood and appearance. Distantly, he yearned for Tsukasa. Despite their differences, his brother was still his brother but they were far too volatile in their love for one another to be healthy for his sons.

Or for Nene.

“You’re brothers, and it’s alright if you don’t always get along but… you’re supposed to help one another. Tsukiko, your name is part of the moon… and Hikari, yours is light. The two of you need one another to shine and you might not always like it. But, would you want anything to happen to your brother…?”

Both boys looked absolutely guilty as they looked toward one another, shaking their heads vehemently. His sons were gentle children although they could be mischievous. They were playful and sweet, and filled with morals that confused Amane at times but reminded him wholly of Nene.

“If Tsukiko is small…” Seeing Tsukiko’s protest, Amane repeated. “If…” His gaze drifted to Hikari as Tsukiko deflated with a huff. “Then it’s your job to help him, Hikari. Not tease him. Alright?”

Hikari’s jaw clenched and he nodded firmly, his head bobbing and hair falling in his eyes. Amane smiled and brushed his hair aside, stroking the back of his knuckles against his cheek. “Good. Now, I want to see what surprise you two had for me.”

They perked up immediately, racing to the stool that Nene set down for them to climb up on to use the telescope. Lingering behind them as they helped one another up and balanced on it to adjust the telescope for themselves, he wasn’t surprised when her arms wrapped around his own.

“They’re better listeners than most students,” Amane said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Tsuchigomori-sensei says that I go on and on about space when there’s plenty of other scientific topics to talk about. But how are any of them as important?”

Nene rolled her eyes fondly, squeezing his bicep as she hugged his arm closer. “As long as you’re not giving them a hard time like Kou-kun, isn’t he the new P.E. teacher?”

“Mhm. The school is going to be whipped into shape by the time we have a competition. Kou really doesn’t play around…”

“And Yako-san?”

“Still causing trouble in theatre. Did you know that she offered to pay for all the production as long as she got the show that she wanted for this years’ play?”

Nene sighed. “Well, she did say that nothing would stop her.”

“Still…” Amane shook his head, pillowing his cheek against the top of her own as he stared up at the heavens. “How is your writing going? Still have a bit of blockage?”

“Nope!” Nene chirped proudly, setting one hand on her hip. “After the boys left with Aoi-chan and Akane-kun, I managed to finish one whole chapter!”

“Oooh…” Amane clapped his hands as best as he could. “Did you use that kabedon thing you were talking about?”

Her cheeks burned red and she swatted at his hand as she laughed. 

“That’s not funny! I told you not to mention that again.”

“No, no, you said not to surprise you again, there’s a difference!” He pecked her forehead, and the anger drained from her face immediately. Her eyes wide and adoring as she smiled. 

“You’re really too much still.”

“Sorry not sorry..”

“Dad!” Two voices called out, waving over from the telescope. “Mom, come look! You can see Venus from here!”

“Venus?!” Amane grinned and started hurrying over but a tight hold on his hand kept him from crossing to them. Tsukiko and Hikari’s faces frozen with their smiles and hands raised in the air. Even the wind and the sound of birdsong stopped and Amane’s smile steadily fell, turning to look over his shoulder.

“… Something wrong, Yashiro?” He asked softly, curling his fingers around hers and squeezing tight. “Tsukiko and Hika—” 

“Hanako-kun…” Her eyes were wet with unshed tears as she guided him back to stand in front of her. The warmth that he felt from her touch was no longer there and his heart ached for it as he grasped at her hands uselessly. “You’re taking care of yourself, right? You’ve been coming back more and more lately…”

His heart stammered in beating and from the look on her face, the one on his own must have given him away. “It’s peaceful here,” he admits, glancing down at his feet, the drawing of their family and their smiles tugging at his heartstrings. “I want to stay here… Yashiro. With you, and with them…”

“Tsukiko and Hikari wandered into this Boundary years ago, and I kept them safe.” She smiled affectionately at the boys staring up at the sky. “They still don’t know that they died, or why… and that’s alright. When the time comes, their dad and mom will tell them… when we’re all truly together as a family.”

Amane pressed his lips together and shook his head, trying to shake off the words. He wanted to go through the motions with them. Watch the stars until the boys fell asleep, share a kiss with her under the moonlight, carry them to bed and eat a quick dinner before falling asleep talking about everything and nothing. He couldn’t have that if he woke up. He couldn’t have it if he accepted what she said.

Her hands pressed to his cheeks and the warm trails running from his eyes were brushed away.

“Hanako-kun…” 

Amane willed himself not to open his eyes, trying to find the warmth in her grasp, to ignore the sound of the tide. The Far Shore where her life was taken away.

“We’ll wait for you…”

The warmth built and his cheeks felt wet, his hands grasping at her own wrists but his fingers passed through them and a seething sob choked from his throat.

“Once your job is finished, we’ll be right here waiting for you. Right here…”

The waves crashed against the shore and he breathed in the salty air and the aching pain. His eyes slowly opening, staring at the wood of the third girls bathroom stall. The bathroom was still cleaned properly but he had no other assistant. The Mokke deciding to take on the task since his former one’s passing.

Stepping off his perch, he set his hand on his shoulder and swiped it clean across the air, his cape appearing in a flourish. Once his duty was finished and he was released from his contract with God — perhaps he would grant him the ability to see his moon once again.

[writer-and-artist27]

Chapter 19 Missing Scene

Note: Inspired by two specific chapters in a Fire Emblem: Three Houses fanfic I’ve been reading, titled Godspeed, and taking place between S&S 19 and 20. The ending specifically leads into the main conflict of S&S 20, now that I think on it. I took from this chapter of CYB too when writing. 

Let it be said I regret not writing the scene of Tomo gifting Obito cupcakes. So, I’m fixing it. 

Oh? You’re wondering where this came from? Dunno. Let it be said I have no clue where all this fluff comes from, especially with how the world is dealing with collective trauma. But this oneshot/interlude thingie is loosely based on an actual conversation I had with Josh and Leo when I was in high school, so there are emotions at least.

The theme song I recommend for this thingie is Qonell’s piano and vocal rendition of Credens Justitiam from Madoka. It’s the only thing I found that fit.

---------------------------

Staaaaaare. 

I fidgeted.

Staaaaaaaaaare. 

Is he going to let you in or not? Hisako said hotly.

Obito didn’t move when I gently gestured with the plate in my hands for him to take it. He merely kept his gaze fixated on the orange frosting and light white sprinkles covering all of the cupcakes there, his jaw slack enough to hit the floor if it could.

“Obi?” I tried gently.

Obito startled in place at his apartment doorstep, glancing to both sides as if to gauge if someone was watching before grabbing my hand. I did my best to retain my balance and hold onto the cupcakes as he pulled me into his home, eyes frantic as he used his other hand to lock the door behind us. “T-Tomo-chan,” he said slowly once he established we were alone, “this isn’t what I think it is, i-is it?”

Despite the anxiety starting to flood my veins, I still raised my delivery of a cupcake plate towards him. “I felt bad about you having to yell at me and Kei-chan yesterday, so I woke up early to make cupcakes to compensate for the trouble? And as a small apology?”

“I-It’s no trouble!” Obito yelped, his hand immediately letting go of mine to wave around in the air like a limp rag toy. “Sure, it sucked hearing you two talking yourselves down, but being there is what friends do!” His voice pitched upwards like he was in disbelief I was even here offering him something. And his cheeks were flushing red too. What was going on? “You didn’t have to do this, Tomo-chan!”

Oh. 

I sense insecurity here, Hisako added helpfully.

Aye. Outwardly, I smiled wryly and still offered the cupcake plate to him. “But I wanted to, Obi.”

Obito opened his mouth as if about to say something before stopping. Quite comically too. In any other place, it could’ve looked like he had turned to stone. And in any other situation, I would’ve laughed it off and called it a day, but this was still Obito. Obito was still a boy who, in another universe, was so touch-starved and lonely that it took one man manipulating everything for him to turn out evil. And I didn’t want that. I never did. 

“…Why, Tomo-chan?” Obito said finally, his eyebrows furrowed across his forehead. It was as if his mind had finally started turning enough gears to address me as the awkward elephant in the room. “You’re not getting anything out of this.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked honestly back, feeling confused. 

Obito throws his hands behind his head and turns away, gazing elsewhere in his apartment. It’s only then that I notice how musty the place smells. Dusty. Barely lived-in. Almost empty. It takes a bit of my self-control to not glance past his shoulder to survey the place. “You have a lot on your hands already, Tomo-chan,” he elaborated, his hands tightening their grip on each other behind his hair as he doesn’t meet my eyes. “Taking care of the café with Judai-jichan and Hikari-bachan, training with Kei and Hayate, working with Rin-chan in your off-time, and then handling… handling…” Obito attempts to hold back a sigh but fails anyway, exhaling loudly through his nose as he breathes out, “Bakashi,” and I try not to wince at the bad nickname. Grudges were still present, apparently. “So why come here? Why make cupcakes for me?”

Hisako blinks behind her gray glasses as whatever witty retort she had on her tongue is lost in the shared surprise. He thinks you should be spending your time elsewhere. Her voice came out incredulous in our shared mindscape. He thinks he… Oh, Obito. 

I shook my head. “I wanted to, Obi,” I began, my voice quieter in an attempt to be gentle. I had no clue if it was working, but it was enough to make Obito turn to meet my eyes. “You helped me out, so I wanted to do something in exchange. That’s all.”

Obito still frowned. “Friendship isn’t just give and take, Tomo-chan,” he said in the same quiet voice, making him sound all the more serious, but one of his arms still twitched, his gaze flickering between my face and the cupcakes still in my hand. “Friendship is just us enjoying our time together, helping out when we can. You don’t have to keep giving us things just for us to come after you.”

My heart beat at that and I smiled. “That doesn’t stop me from giving you these cupcakes, Obi.”

“You’re not listening!” I jump once Obito rounds on me with a scowl, his voice loud with protest. “You’re always giving things, Tomo-chan! Even when you’re hurting and struggling! You don’t have to do that! We all care for you too! Just…” he simmers down as if he lost steam at the last part, lowering his gaze to the carpet of his apartment. “Why? Why put in all the effort?”

Why try…? Hisako filled in, her tone screaming understanding and sadness all at once. 

I already knew by Obito’s outburst that it was a delicate moment. I was walking on eggshells and anything else could ruin things. 

Like it did with Ty. 

So, without anything to back me up, I said in the same small voice, apropos of nothing, “Because you all deserve nice things and I love you?”

Obito stilled at that. He raised his head to look at me, for real this time, his black eyes wide enough to expose my reflection in the irises.

My tiny nervous reflection.

I tried not to think of a certain other black-haired boy who I loved once, blocking out his voice in my head to open my mouth. “…There’s been times where I look at everyone’s backs and find them looking lonely,” I admitted, shaking my head. “And considering how I’m a civilian and everyone else is shinobi, I just…wanted to give something back, is all.” It still felt like an excuse in the back of my mind, but at the same time, I knew I meant every single word. “There’s so much you all will go through in life away from Konoha, away from the café, Obi. So, if I could do something to help make everyone feel a bit better, a bit happier in spite of the war,” I put on a small smile while offering the cupcakes to him, “that’s enough of a reason, isn’t it?”

Obito blinked at me.

Feeling anxious, I found my thoughts coming out in rambles. “I-I mean, you and Kei and everyone else do a lot! I appreciate you still being here with me in spite of my weirdness, being my friend and caring, so um.” I ducked my head and thrust my hands forward, hoping the cupcakes got somewhere. Seriously, what was wrong with me? “Just take these. Please?”

A pregnant and awkward pause followed my outburst. My heart was pounding enough for the palms of my hands to get sweaty, and once it became obvious Obito wasn’t saying anything, I peeked up from between my bangs to try reading his expression. 

What’s going on? Hisako said for me.

“Obi?” I tried again, gulping. “I-If you don’t like vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting, I could try to do something—”

Words failed me once Obito took hold of one of my hands again. He proceeded to lead me into his apartment kitchen and without glancing up to meet my gaze, opened the fridge to gently take the cupcake plate off my other hand. He then placed it inside, probably on one of the shelves, before closing the fridge door and turning back to face me. 

Out of anything he could’ve done, I did not expect him to rush and tackle me into a tight hug. It took all I had to not squeak, inhaling as much air as I could to compensate for the year or two that was knocked out of me in the initial encounter while placing a hand on his back. My feet weren’t on the ground anymore, my calves feeling the cold air coming in from the open window. Sure, I could extend my toes to touch the floor, but… “Obi?”

There was a soft sniffle against the top of my hair. “Tomo-chan,” Obito said finally, my nickname coming out almost like a prayer of sorts as he squeezed me tighter, “Tomo-chan.” This time he gasped for air and I did my best to ignore the feeling of something wet starting to soak the shoulder of my blouse. “Tomo-chan.”

I think you shocked him, Hisako offered, a wry smile on her face. Has anyone said the things you have to him before, dear?

I thought back to Obito’s birthday and felt the realization hit me like cold water. No, I admitted to her, I don’t think anyone has. Except Kei and Hayate and Miyako-bachan and everyone else. 

Who weren’t here in the original Canon, dear, she reminded me almost immediately. Her voice is softer, comforting even. You’re doing good. You’re helping a friend out, so don’t stay here all stiff. 

I wound my arms around Obito’s waist back, hugging him. “Aye aye,” I say softly, resting my nose into the crook between his shoulder and neck. “I’m here, Obi.”

Obito snorts, and this time a hand is on the back of my head, tightening the hug and giving the clear signal that he didn’t want me to let go. “Tomo-chan,” he repeats, a sound caught between a gurgle and a happy sob of sorts following the call of my nickname, “y-you really are—”

“I try, Obi,” I settle for instead, patting his back. “I try. It’s okay.”

I didn’t think I had the courage to let go either. 

Obito didn’t seem to want to point out the little wet droplets covering the shoulder of his jacket once I snuggled him, but at that point, I’m glad he didn’t. 

I could push out bad thoughts and Ty a bit longer with moments like this. 

---------------------------

By the time I woke up the next morning to start work, no one in the house but me seemed surprised to hear knocking at the kitchen window. 

“Go get him, sweetie...” Mama muttered from hers and Papa’s shared room once the knocking went past a minute.

Shaking sleep dust out of the corners of my eyes, I drew my short hair into a messy ponytail to run out to the source, nearly balking once a familiar pair of orange goggles caught my eye.

Blue jacket tipped with orange hems and hitai-ite, check. 

“Hi, Tomo-chan!” Obito chirped through the glass, knocking on it again. “Can you let me in?”

I didn’t have the heart to refuse him. “Good morning to you too, Obi,” I said in fond exasperation, shaking my head. “Use the door next time if you want to join us for breakfast.”

Obito just beamed at me. 

[takethistoyourstardust]

OH I should give my thoughts on LRFes maybe. Overall: I loved it and I cried. More detailed thoughts below.

EVERYONE WAS IN COSTUME!!!!!!

Everyone was also in character so in this I flip between their va’s and their characters I apologize.

Argonavis was first up and I swear I love Masa’s voice but for some reason Goal Line was super rough to start out with. As they proceeded with the setlist it got better thought! They played Starry Line and Pray back to back so they REALLY wanted to wring the tears out of people but the song that made me most emotional was Ameagari no Sakamichi, the ending theme to the anime.

Next up was Fujin RIZING! and oh my god Run-Gun-Run FUCKS SO HARD. For some reason Yoshiki had a very ikemen quality to his voice when he sang RGR which made me at 5 am go *blushing emoji*. Aoi’s VA was also there too (also in costume!!) and Yoshiki ad-libbed a bit about the typhoon that almost delayed the live hg. With Aoi’s VA they did Dachi Friend and Banzai RIZING. I think bc of covid restrictions the audience had to p much stay silent which I understand but it kinda stinks bc Banzai RIZING is literally a call and respond song, YOKATAI (YOKATAI) IKUBAI (IKUBAI) YOKATAI IKUBAI MINNA DE (BANZAI). Very fun!

Then it was Fantome Iris and oh my god they did NOT have to go so fucking hard but they did for US!!!!! Arthur we knew would be in full costume but he was the only one of the singing only seiyuus that had a support band AND THE SUPPORT BAND WAS DRESSED LIKE THE OTHER MEMBERS OF FANIRI!!!!!!!! Shout out to the support band!!!! Especially the HARU cosplayer how the hell did you play with those fucking sleeves!!!! He did historie, Zakuro, and Gin no Yuri, and honestly he embodied the more mature vibes his character has, at least onstage. His movements were so elegant, even during the harder rock vibes of Zakuro. He understands his character extremely well, and it showed on stage.

Epsilon Phi was next, a complete tonal whiplash, but Yuki was SO much fun to watch. I was so glad they gave him full pants and not the shorts Shuu wears I think my brain would’ve melted out of my head if that happened. He opened with Sake It Love! (it’s pronounced “shake” but the official name is “sake”) which is probably my favorite EpsPhi original with just Shuu singing. He brought out a fan near the end it was cute. The whole idea is that his character is twelve but a musical genius and also “face of an angel mind of a demon” thing, which rly hit with the song progressions. The second was Play With You which is my least favorite of the EpsPhi songs BUT near the end he brought out the puppet version of Ren and that made me fucking scream. With delight or confusion I’m still not sure, probably both. He yeeted it across the stage I was fucking wheezing. The last song was Hikari no Akumu, and I’m gonna be honest, until this point I was not sold on Shuu. But at the very end, Yuki let out this really loud laugh, and then just... slumped over, and suddenly I was reminded that Shuu is a lonely child who’s the heir of a record label but has no “real” family and doesn’t know how to connect to the world around him without seeing it as “his toybox”. It felt... disturbing, which was exactly the vibe he wanted I think.

Finally, GYROAXIA. And can I just say that OgaJin here sounded better than even in the Ignition live a month ago???? Like oh my god even when they opened with MANIFESTO I was like “holy shit he’s actually hitting the notes and not falling flat on them”. I SOUND SO MEAN TALKING ABT MASA AND OGAJIN I really do adore their voices. Anywhoms, it was mostly songs we already have studio releases for, with the exception of GETTING HIGH, which fucked hard. During GETTING HIGH OgaJin ended up taking off his jacket and didn’t put it back on for the rest of the setlist, and his shirt was sleeveless. All the simps lost their minds. I also thought SCATTER was going to be their final song and was like “oh thank GOD they aren’t playing Ignition or else I’d fucking cry” and at the very end OgaJin was like “this is our final song... Ignition” and I realized I was BooBoo The Fool. Teared up.

They didn’t do nyrn Starting Over for the encore but they DID play it announcing the WeGO NayuRen collab. PLEASE look at it. Who the fuck chose Nayuta’s outfit. Ren’s is very cute but the word on his hoodie is the word for the seven stars of the big dipper which is Literally Just His Last Name (Seven Stars = Nanahoshi).

BUSHI ROCK FES IN FEBUARY WITH RAS AND GYRO AND RONDO LET’S MOTHER FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOO

The encore was cuteeeeeeee, Masa almost cried ;w;... AND THEN THEY DID THE FIVE VOCALIST VERSION OF AASIDE WHICH I FUCKING CALLED!!!!!!!!!!

This is kinda unrelated but during AAside, this fanart of Kasumi Toyama from the Girls Band Party half of the franchise popped up, with the caption “looking for the kirakira dokidoki” and that pushed me over the edge to full on sobbing, but the good kind. It made me realize how far this franchise I love had come, from just Aimi announcing she was making a band to this huge franchise popular enough to get a spin off as good as AAside... like I put on my twitter, “thank you for paving the way, our little star”.

SO YEAH overall I’m super happy with LRFes! I hope they keep livestreaming these lives,,, weh...

[daybreak-academy-fanfic]

Daybreak Academy: Chapter 31

The Formal: Fast Slow Disco

Summary: In which the King and Queen of the Spring Formal is crowned. Word Count: 2,946 First | Previous | Next ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆

Compared to the heat inside the gym, the cool spring air outside was like a slap to the face. Anora immediately shivered as they walked outside. The water in her plastic cup swished and threatened to spill over at the sudden movement. Ephemer gave her a worried look, but was afraid to touch her.

“Are you too cold now?” he carefully asked. “I can give you my jacket if you want it.”

But Anora shook her head- it only served to worry him more.

The two found a park bench by the gym and decided to sit down. They both took the opposite ends, almost refusing to look at each other. An uncomfortable silence started to fill between them. It hurt even more when they both wanted to say something, but were unsure of what to say in regards to the situation.

“I told you not to fall in love when you saw me all dressed up.” Ephemer finally teased- hoping to break the tension. “Now the gym's going to be too cold when we go back in!”

All Anora could do was give an exasperated shake of her head. He was taking this a lot better than she thought he would. She had enough embarrassment to be red for days. Of course, now that they were out of the heat of the gym, even she could admit that whatever had happened seemed almost silly. Ridiculous, even. Falling in love with your friend during a slow song only happened in movies. Real love took time, and there was still so much that she and Ephemer didn't know about each other. This wasn't real love, it was adrenaline.

Ephemer, on the other hand, was thinking a bit differently on the matter. Sure, he could agree he didn't know much about Anora (in fact, he knew less about her than she knew about him), but he definitely wanted to. Was that love? He wasn't much of an expert in that department; his last commitment lasted three months, and it was not something he liked to talk about. But for Anora…?

With a wistful sigh, the boy started to fondly remark, “Hey Ano-”

“There you two are!”

Both teens blinked in confusion for a moment before turning to the source of the voice. Turns out it was Skuld, with Ventus not far behind her, as the two came over to the bench. Ephemer almost immediately stood up; a small frown on his face as he studied the other two carefully.

“Were you guys looking for us?” he asked once they were close enough.

“You kinda disappeared out of nowhere.” Ven agreed with a small nod of his head.

“Besides,” Skuld added- a small smirk appearing on her face once she glanced at Anora, “Someone has to make sure you don't get suspended for making out on school grounds.”

For a moment, Ephemer raised an eyebrow at his friend before a cheeky grin crossed his lips. “It's too early in our relationship to start making out.” he insisted with a callous flick of his wrist. “Especially not in public- you know how rude that is?”

Skuld snorted. “Right.” she bemused. “Sure, casanova, I know the effect you have on women when you wear a suit.”

“What can I say? It's a gift!”

Anora and Ventus gave each other an equally worried glance. Whatever this line of conversation was, it didn't seem like something you would lightly joke about.

“Either way,” Skuld then said, “Are you two going to come back inside sometime soon? It's getting close to the King and Queen announcement.”

“When are they going to announce the King and Queen?” Ven yawned. He tried to hide it with the back of his hand, but didn't do a very good job at it.

“Tired?” Skuld mused with a half smile.

“Yeah, actually.” the boy agreed. “You know a lot of people- I can't keep up.”

“You talk as if you didn't go hard for the Electric Slide when it came on.”

“I think he did better with the Cupid Shuffle.” Ephemer thoughtfully chimed in. “It looked like you got so into it that you totally forgot that the rest of us existed.”

Ventus nervously chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. “So glad you guys chose to forget that I knew the dance for that K-pop song...”

“How did you know that?” Skuld questioned with a neat raise of her eyebrow.

Ven started to blush as he admitted, “Someone I knew before coming here. She had a whole K-pop and anime phase for awhile.”

Ephemer gave a cheeky little grin before deciding, “Sounds like Skuld in the good ol' days.”

“Oh shut up!” said girl retorted as she lightly hit Ephemer on the back of the head. The older boy gave a small whine in protest and mock hurt, leading the four of them into a happy laughter.

“Ephemer! Anora!” a new voice called out to the group. The four of them turned their heads to see a duo come up to them. Anora noticed the fedora on the boy first before recognizing Pyra a few steps behind him.

“Hey Brain.” Ephemer greeted with a smile. “How's your night going?”

Brain gave a satisfied little snort before saying, “Pretty well, if I had to guess.” He looked over at Pyra, winked, then said, “What do you think Pyra? Fun night so far?”

For the first time since Anora knew her, Pyra refused to say. As Brain's smirk only continued to grow, a bit of light glimmered against his face revealing a bright red lipstick mark on his lips.

Before anyone could stop him, Ven naively asked, “Are you wearing lipstick?”

For a moment, Brain gave Ventus a weird look before wiping his mouth off. When he saw the lipstick stain on the back of his hand, he gave a small laugh to himself.

“Oh, that's not mine.” the older boy mused. “I must have borrowed it from someone else.”

“Wh-” Ven started to asked before Skuld elbowed him in the ribs. “Ow!” he then retorted instead. “What was that for?”

It was Skuld's sharp expression that made Ven realize that he might have overstepped somewhere. He didn't know what he had said, but he was coming to know that he shouldn't have said it. Brain found it incredibly hilarious.

“Would you four like to come back inside with us?” the intelligent teen asked. “I hear they're going to announce the King and Queen soon.”

“I am getting hungry.” Ephemer agreed with a small nod. He turned to the others before asking, “What do you guys think? Ready to head back in?”

Skuld, Ventus, and Anora all looked at each other, shrugged, then looked back at Ephemer and Brain with a nod. With that being decided, the six of them started to head back inside. After Anora stood up to walk with everyone, she moved over to Pyra and gave her a quizzical look. The older girl only blushed before taking a tight hold of Anora's arm.

“Nin was right.” Pyra hissed just loud enough for only Anora to hear. “He is a lady killer.”

. . .

The gym seemed a lot more crowded than it was at the beginning of the night. Trying to make sure the microphone was working was Mr. Snoops.

“Attention!” the muscular teacher said into the mic. “Can I have everyone's attention please!”

Everyone in the gym came to an eventual hush, allowing Mr. Snoops to go on with his announcement.

“As you all know,” he said to them all, “It's now that time to crown this year's spring formal King and Queen!”

A modest applause followed. At the same time, a student that had been placed on the ballot counting committee walked up to Mr. Snoops and handed him a small envelope. Mr. Snoops thanked the student before turning his attention back to the crowd.

“In my hands, I now hold the all important envelope of truth!” he declared, snickering a bit at his humor. “So, without further ado...” The gym teacher pulled out a small multi-use pocket knife to open the envelope. He pulled out a small card with the winning results and read the names listed. With a grin he announced, “And the King and Queen of this year's formal is...” (he paused here for dramatic effect, not that anyone really wanted him to) “Ventus Hikari and Ninjitsa Edo!”

“Hey, congrats buddy!” Ephemer happily cheered to the younger boy. Ven didn't react- every inch of him frozen in surprise. Meanwhile, the very loud, very angered screech of Nin demanded, “ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!” rang throughout the gym, causing a few background snickers. Anora had to fight back her laughter at the revelation.

“I assume they're a friend of yours?” Skuld questioned, noticing Anora's lack of tact. She nodded, still trying to hold back her amusement.

Everything in Ventus had froze in place. He didn't quite register as Ephemer ushered him up to Mr. Snoops. He didn't even notice Nin as the disgruntled teen adamantly denied the tiara Mr. Snoops was trying to place on her. Instead, Ven stared down at the crowd- his face paling as he was just now realizing how many students were at the formal. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Vanitas stare right back at him. When Mr. Snoops put the king's crown on Ven, the boy could almost see Vanitas over him instead, squeezing him to an inch of his life.

It was because of Nin that there wasn't a slow dance between the two of them. So Ven numbly walked back to his friends as other students started to dance again. His senses slowly started to come back him as Ephemer gave him a hearty pat on the back. If he had been a bit more coherent, he would have realized that Skuld was genuinely smiling at him for the first time since they met.

“You ready to go now, your highness?” Skuld teased.

“Yes please.” came the small, bashful answer. Apparently, Skuld thought that Ven's catatonia was the result of exhaustion and not because he hated being in the spotlight- literally and figuratively.

“We'll catch you guys later!” Skuld said as she waved Ephemer and Anora goodbye. The two waved her and Ventus away before Ephemer turned to Anora.

“What about you?” he then asked. His grin was wide and filled with joy. “Are you ready to head back too?”

But Anora shook her head. She gestured to the dance floor, indicating that she wanted to dance again. The King and Queen crowning really gave her a second wind, it seemed.

“Promise not to faint on me again?”

Anora gave him a bright, wide smile that he absolutely adored before she took his hands and led him back out to the dance floor.

. . .

Ava was actually surprised that Ephemer had stayed so late. Normally, the boy could only go on for a good two hours before deciding he didn't like crowds. This year he stayed for a good five hours before escorting his friend, Anora, back to her dorm. Ava hugged herself as a small gush of wind brushed past her; she could still remember how small he was when she first met him.

A sharp pinch from behind caused Ava to immediately whip around to exclaim, “Gula!”

The youngest of the headmasters only offered her an innocent smile. Ava could feel her face flush in realizing just how close he was to her.

“I enjoy it when history repeats.” he then said, slinking an arm around her waist.

Ava blinked, letting out a confused, “What?”

At first, Gula only smirked. Then he carefully placed a finger under her chin and guided her to look in a certain direction. It took Ava a moment to realize what he was making her look at, and when she did, her knees started to weaken a little.

Gula had brought her attention back to Ephemer and Anora; the two were a bit further than before, but Ava could still see their happy smiles. It had been a long time since she'd seen Ephemer that happy.

“Makes you kinda jealous, doesn't it?” Gula then mused, leading her attention back to him. “So youthful, so innocent...”

Despite knowing full well when Gula was trying to make a pass at her, Ava shook her head.

“I'm not jealous.” she told him. “I'm happy for them, for him.”

“Oh really?” Gula entertained, now moving closer to her. Ava gave a small giggle as she mirrored him.

“Really.” she agreed before the two shared a loving embrace.

. . .

“And that's when I tell Skuld,” Ephemer laughed, “That's when I tell her, 'maybe you should have left the lights on!' and she got so mad, I thought she was going to murder me!”

The duo went into a loud, happy uproar of laughter at his story. Anora had to stop walking for a moment because she had almost forgotten how to breathe. They couldn't stop laughing for a solid five minutes- it took another three for them to settle down completely without a random bubble of laughter here and there.

When they had finally settled down, they look at each other and smiled. In the light of the quarter moon, they almost forgot that they had just spent five hours at the formal. Their minds forgetting the night's earlier events but their hearts were still yearning for more. A small sigh escaped from both of their lips; now it was only them in the stillness of the night. They didn't have to hear teachers telling them to stand a respectful distance away from each other, or go to talk to a friend they hadn't seen in awhile. It was just them, alone, and it felt nice.

But Ephemer started to frown.

“Formals and stuff always ruin the way we see others.” he thoughtfully told Anora. “Everyone's all dressed up, some of us are still stressed by schoolwork or from preparing everything, and by the end of the night everyone is so exhausted that they usually can't sleep.”

Anora gave him a very quizzical look. But something had sparked deep within the boy, something he couldn't quite name.

“Right now, if I had my way, I wouldn't share you with anyone else.” he mused, stepping a bit closer to her. “I'd sneak up to your dorm and just stay with you all night. I don't know what we'd do, but after the formal I'd do anything just to know you more.”

Still a bit confused, Anora softly said, “But you can't...”

“No.” he agreed. “I can't.”

Not without getting caught...

“But it is funny,” he said to her with a teasing wag of his finger. “Skuld knows I've got a thing for a well applied smokey eyeshadow. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's trying to set us up.”

Anora raised an eyebrow at him; what an… oddly specific detail. And a super random one at that. He seemed to have noticed this and only proceeded to shrug it off.

“I'll probably start talking like this after the play too, just so you know.” he went on. He almost sounded like he was talking to himself more than her. “Skuld can attest to that. So don't take anything I say to heart, okay? We're friends- nothing is going to change that.”

A small part of Anora ached when he said that. She didn't know what, but she easily dismissed it. Ephemer also partially regretted saying it the moment it came out of his mouth. The boy bit his lip in thought. He didn't want to leave her yet- it felt like there was still something else they needed to do.

“Let's audition for the play together.” he then suggested, almost blurting it out as he said so. He didn't quite expect for Anora's eyes to widen in surprise.

“I have never...” she started to say, but she couldn't quite finish her thought. Ephemer already knew what she was trying to say, though.

“Been up on stage before?”

Anora gave a small nod of agreement.

“That's why we'll do it together!” Ephemer told her, taking her hands into his. “It'll be fun- promise!”

Anora continued to look down as she thought it over. She looked up at him and looked Ephemer directly in the eye for the third time that night. Unconsciously, the two drifted closer to each other. And when they were just close enough for their foreheads to touch, Anora pulled away.

“Tomorrow, right? At the gym?” she asked. Ephemer blinked for a moment- his brain trying to come back from a moment that didn't happen.

“Y-yeah.” he agreed. “I think the auditions start around 10.30.”

Anora gave a small nod. Looking back him she said, “Good night.” and started to walk to rest of the way to the dorms.

“Good night.” Ephemer agreed. He stood where he was, like a deer in headlights, as he watched her leave.

When Anora entered her room, she lightly shut the door behind her, and immediately flopped herself on her bed. For the longest time she stared up at the ceiling. She knew that the moment she closed her eyes, she would have been asleep- so, to delay the inevitable, she pulled herself back up again to pick up Chirithy. Anora gently stroked the toy in thought. In the back of her mind, she knew that if it could talk, it would ask her how her night went. She gave it a smile as she imagined her answer back.

Tonight had been perfect.

[kabih]

I need confirmation to move forwards

It’s past midnight! Merry Christmas and Happy holidays......or should I say Holigays 

This is my gift for​ @seicchan-art, I’m your secret Santa! I love your art and I hope you don’t hate what I wrote 😅 (I posted this on ao3 and I really recommend reading it there. Just because the formatting is better and you don’t have to deal with tumblr adding emojis everywhere)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21898144

_______________________________________

Wendy now turned her head to Carla who was still flying around Lucy, “It should be blue.”  Lucy ignored her and continued going through Wendy's closet, adding on to the pile of clothes on the floor when she picked up something she didn’t like. 

“Wendy's always wearing blue”, Lucy hurriedly looked over to the girl in question to make sure she didn’t take offence, “Not that you don’t look cute in it! I just feel like there nothing wrong with wearing something different.” 

Carla flew closer to the closet now trying to find an outfit of her own “She shouldn’t be trying anything different, you're supposed to act like yourself on a date! And that counts for looks too!”   Her eyes landed on a sky blue dress and pointed towards it, “See something simple like this would be perfect for Wendy.”

“I mean-” Wendy intervened.

Lucy talked over her. “Really! Carla come on! I’m sure Wendy would rather-” 

“Well- ” the young girl tried again 

“I’m sure Wendy would prefer-” 

“Well!”    Lucy and Carla turned to look at the young girl sitting on her bed tired from being ignored. Once Wendy knew she actually had their attention, she continued, “You guys sure are mentioning my name a lot in a conversation I don’t even get to be apart of.”     Lucy dropped the purple shirt she was trying to convince Carla would be a good choice.     “Sorry! Sorry!” Wendy was waving her hands with her face turning red, realizing how harsh she sounded in her outburst. “I’m just stressed and you guys fighting over my outfit isn’t helping. Plus it just doesn’t seem like the most important thing right now.”     Carla went over to Wendy, apologizing for the fight yet not without commenting on how Wendy should still wear the blue dress. 

Lucy picked up a few of the clothes on the floor and put them back in the closet. She then put her arm around Wendy after she joined her on the bed. “It’s okay, sorry if we’re going overboard. I understand if you're a bit anxious Wendy, but remember it’s just Chelia! Imagine like it’s you guys hanging out, but in a more romantic setting.”    Yet that’s exactly what was freaking Wendy out. Her and Chelia have been friends for years and this is the first time there’s hope she could like the dragon slayer back.  

_______________________________________

A few days prior the pink-haired girl asks Wendy out. Well, Lucy is the one who seems to think Chelia asks her out. Wendy on the other hands see's this has another normal outing. 

Chelia ran up to her with her face red, asking her if they could meet tomorrow at some new coffee shop that opened.

"Do you think they have strawberry shortcake?" Ezra asked, Gray behind with her. "If so can we come? I've heard good things about it but I'd rather not go across town if they don't have any."

Chelia responded, eyes never leaving Wendy's, "Sorry, but I'm not going to be in town long and I really wanted it to be the two of us. So, do you want to go out with me Wendy?" _______________________________________

Wendy could see Lucy running over to her the second Chelia left.

_______________________________________

Once Lucy caught up to her she enthusiastically decided she was going to help Wendy get ready for her "date". Well till Carla started disagreeing with her sense of style. 

Wendy couldn't help but comment, "Lucy I still feel like your making a big deal out of nothing."

Lucy just hugged the girl tighter, "Wendy listen to me, she literally said and I quote "do you want to go out?" I don't know how she could have meant something else."

"Still," Wendy murmured, "they were people around, don't you ask people on a date in private? Plus she wasn't even nervous"

"Wendy the poor girl faced looked like a red rose garden, trust me when I say she was nervous."

"She was just running from Toby for ditching their mission." 

It's not like Wendy doesn't want this to be a date. She does! But if she was asking Chelia to "hang" by themselves she'd be a blushing mess and she wouldn't do it in such a public space as the guildhall! Even if her words were romantic, the context of them really wasn't! For someone who loves to talk about love, there no way Chelia would ask Wendy out in such a lacklustre manner.

Maybe Wendy didn’t misunderstand anything like Lucy said, maybe this really was just her and Chelia hanging out.  If she was really asking Wendy on a date, then Wendy would have been picked that up herself. She’s not oblivious! Wendy not that young! She’s old enough to go on a date damn it!    Well a, maybe date that is.  _______________________________________ Wendy ended up wearing a light purple jacket, with small desings of silver decorating it's bottom. Before Wendy left, Lucy found some black fur-lined leggings that Carla and Lucy both didn't hate. _______________________________________

Wendy swears on the hot chocolate she's drinking that was Gray entering the coffee shop her and Chelia were just leaving. 

Wendy couldn't help herself, "Chelia doesn't that look like Gray?"

"Wait seriously? What's he doing here?" She turned her head to try to find him.

"Ezra did ask if there were selling strawberry shortcake here. She'll be really happy when he tells them they do."

Chelia giggled into her mittens "Please, don't tell me he went across town just to check if they had shortcakes?" 

"It was a strawberry shortcake Chelia! And it was for Ezra, of course, he'd go."

Both girls laughed and joked a bit longer till they reached the center of Magnolia. There were shops and trees all covered with snow. With the sky turning into a beautiful midnight blue it was easy to notice the stars started appearing. Not too long after what seemed like a multitude of tiny lights slowly started trickling into the sky. About as big as a human thumb, you could compare them to the stars above, though they were probably a lot easier to reach. 

Wendy noticed Chelia looking up at them in wonder. "I've always wondered what those were every time i've visited."

"They're called Hikari, they came out after the sun sets during winter. You can only find them in Magnolia."

They were so close, floating all around, so easy to grab and Chelia then reached out to do just that. Once she's got hold of it, it slipped through her fingers and flew into the sky. Wendy couldn't help but smile watching Chelia make the same mistake she made during her first winters in Magnolia "Sorry Chelia, but these little guys don't like being touched" 

The pink-haired girl pouted, "So they don't love me? Too bad I'm quite a catch! Oh, don't worry you're a catch to Wendy."

It's when Chelia slowly slipes her hand into Wendy's that said girl remembers why she was so stressed about this "date".

She pulled away and took a step back. "Wendy are you okay?" Chelia seems worried now. Probably thinking she did something wrong. Did she? Is it her fault Wendy confused? 

No, it's not her fault, Wendy the one with the crush. But still, how much longer...........will she have to wait for someone else to say something.     

She likes Chelia, god she really does. What Wendy doesn’t like is this back and forth, this can they will they. She can’t spend forever waiting for Chelia to take the first step and shouldn't this be it? 

"Chelia...." 

But it doesn't feel like it. Not without her saying something. Wendy’s a confident person, she’s faced way worse than the cute girl urging her to continue.

  “I mean, Chelia.....do you...?”    She needs to know how Chelia feels. No, she wants to know. By the off chance, Chelia doesn’t like Wendy back that's, that’s fine! Sure it would hurt, but they’ll move past it. Chelia would understand! That’s one of the reasons why Wendy likes her in the first place.    “Is this....is this....” 

But what if she doesn't-

Who cares about what if’s.

“Is this a date? Because I want it to be one.” 

  Chelia doesn’t look away from Wendy, she doesn’t stop smiling either.    Taking that as a sign to continue, “It’s just when you ask me to come with you I wasn’t sure if it was. Since you did it so casually I thought this was just us being friends" She no longer watching Chelia's reaction ending her ramble by studying her hands.

“So I wanted to know if this was a date, I want to know if you really did like me like that.”    There was a long pause before Chelia answered, Wendy still wasn't looking at her.

I wonder if she's still smiling.   “I really should have brought flowers or something?” Wendy's eyes flickered back to the other girl's face.   “I’m sorry Wendy, I should have thought of something more romantic than a coffee shop and a walk in the snow." Now Chelia was the one blushing. Wendy couldn't help but notice how she really does like a red rose.

"I was just in such a rush to find something to do since I found out we'd be coming to Magnolia. It was so sudden so at that point I didn't care what we did as long as it was with you." 

Well that confirms her feeling for Wendy.

Wendy didn't pull away when Chelia linked their hands together this time, listening to her actions instead of her words.

The two girls walked in silence for some time, admiring all the lights floating above them. At some point, they passed a flower shop with red, pink, purple and white roses on display. Chelia bends down and picked the purple one out of its pot.  Chelia handed Wendy the flower, "I'll try to remember that my girlfriend can be a bit oblivious at times."

"First of all, I am not. Second, the shop owner is coming up to us and he looks pretty mad that you just ripped out one of his flowers"

[dc-translator]

[ENG TL] 191031 Ray interview

[Dreamcatcher] members,active globally, spill the beans about fashion choice and cosmetics

2019/10/30 CULTURE

Original article:https://ray-web.jp/52989?page=1

Notice: This translation was completed without any form of endorsement from the copyright holder. It may be deleted later.

Dreamcatcher, the 7-member girl group who have been attracting a lot of attention with their Japanese album, 'The Beginning Of The End', as well as their new Korean track, 'Deja Vu'. Though they look cool performing on stage, we get up close and personal with the surprising private life of the girls.♥

What kind of group is Dreamcatcher? Check out the member profiles!

They debuted on January 2017, featuring the "Nightmare" concept. Their charm comes from the use of intense metal sounds, as well as their powerful performances, rare for a Korean girl group♥ They've drawn interest as they were active not only in Japan and Korea, but all over the world, visiting Europe and South America in their world tour!

JIU 'My own clothes are in simple styles♪'

Leader, lead vocal. Born on May 17th 1994. Blood type B. Assigned nightmare is "the dream where you are being chased by someone.''

"Hello! I'm Dreamcatcher's charismatic bunny, leader JIU♥"

Q. What is your unique charm?

That I look pure and sexy at the same time? (Laugh)

Q. What kind of fashion do you like?

I generally go with simple, comfortable styles, like a white T-shirt and denims.

Q. Is there something you focus on when doing makeup yourself?

I care about everything in makeup, but if I had to choose one... lips!

Q. What is your morning and evening skin care routine?

The day before important schedules, I make sure to put a pack on before I sleep.

Sua 'Energy level to Andromeda (Laugh)'

Main dancer, sub vocal. Born on August 10th 1994. Blood type O. Assigned nightmare is "the dream where you can't move your body"

"I'm the dancer and queen, Sua."

Q. What is your unique charm?

Beyond everything else, I'm very upbeat. Andromeda levels of energy! (Laugh) I also like fun things.

Q. What kind of fashion do you like?

I like clothes that feel comfortable when I'm wearing them!

Q. Is there something you focus on when doing makeup yourself?

I focus most on the base makeup! I enjoy matte textures, so I make sure to finish it off properly with powder.

Q. What is your morning and evening skin care routine?

My skin is really sensitive, so I make an effort to make sure that my skin care products are soft on my skin.

Siyeon "I like boyish style fashion!"

Main vocal. Born on October 1st 1995. Blood type A. Assigned nightmare is "the dream where you are trapped in a small place"

"Hello. I'm the wolf of Dreamcatcher! Siyeon."

Q. What is your unique charm?

My wolf-like facial expressions and eyes on stage!

Q. What kind of fashion do you like?

I often wear oversized clothes. I like Jerseys so I have a lot of them in multiple colors. I also like fancy floral patterns♥

Q. Is there something you focus on when doing makeup yourself?

It's my lips. I like the calmer colors, but in summer, I'll use brighter colors as well.

Q. What is your morning and evening skin care routine?

I use two types of toners, and I care a lot about them. One of them helps control the oils in my skin, and the other is for adding moisture!

Handong "I like making my eye bags look shiny ♥

Sub vocal. Born on March 26th 1996. Blood type O. Assigned nightmare is "the dream where you are watched by someone"

"Hello, I'm the kitty, Handong"

Q. What is your unique charm?

How elegant I am♥

Q. What kind of fashion do you like?

I wear a lot of different styles! I like cropped tops

Q. Is there something you focus on when doing makeup yourself?

I really like making my eye bags look shiny!

Q. What is your morning and evening skin care routine?

I make sure to apply essence.

Yoohyeon "I'm doing the '7 skin method' with my twist on it!'

Lead vocal. Born on January 7th 1997. Blood type O. Assigned nightmare is "the dream where you wander around an unfamiliar place"

"I'm the puppy of Dreamcatcher, Yoohyeon. I'm often told that my face and mannerisms resemble a puppy. (laugh)

Q. What is your unique charm?

The stupidly bright expression I make when I laugh!

Q. What kind of fashion do you like?

I like formal styles♥

Q. Is there something you focus on when doing makeup yourself?

My cheeks! My complexion looks better just by applying cheek makeup, so even when I go without makeup otherwise, I make sure to apply cheek makeup.

Q. What is your morning and evening skin care routine?

I apply toner multiple times. It's called the "7 skin method". Applying toner multiple times over is supposed to be good for your skin, and it's been popular among beauty Youtubers. But since I'm lazy, I only do it twice. (laugh)

Dami "I focus more on skin care than on makeup"

Main rapper. Born on March 7th 1997. Blood type A. Assigned Nightmare is "the dream where you get hurt"

"Hello! I'm the rapper, Dami."

Q. What is your unique charm?

That I have good judgement?

Q. What kind of fashion do you like?

I have a lot of tracksuits. Also, I don't deal with the cold very well, so I always try to dry warmly!

Q. Is there something you focus on when doing makeup yourself?

I don't put makeup on very often. Instead, I put a lot of attention in skincare.

Q. What is your morning and evening skin care routine?

At nights, I cleanse and wash my face like anyone else, but for mornings, I wash my face with water only!

Gahyeon "I don't really pay a lot of attention to either fashion or skincare! (laugh)"

Sub vocal. Born on February 3rd 1999. Blood type AB. Assigned nightmare is "the dream where you fall from high places".

"Hello. I'm the lovely maknae Gahyeon!"

Q. What is your unique charm?

Beyond anything else, I'm filled with aegyo♪

Q. What kind of fashion do you like?

I tend to put on whatever's there. (Laugh) I often wear miniskirts and denims.

Q. Is there something you focus on when doing makeup yourself?

Eyelashes! I finish them with about 3 types of mascara, so it takes a good deal of time.

Q. What is your morning and evening skin care routine?

I almost don't do anything...(Laugh) I do apply lotion, though.

Voice 01

What is Dreamcatcher's unique charm?

JIU: "Dreamcatcher" is a name that was chosen to give people listening to our songs the sense that they're "in a good dream". So members were each assigned different nightmare concepts since our debut. That concept is reflected in the story of our music videos and in our album jackets!

Voice 02

Is there a point that you'd like us to pay attention to in "Breaking Out, the lead track of your 1st album, released in September?

Siyeon: The lyrics towards the end of the track goes "Bye bye to the nightmare now". To us, this album is "the beginning of the end". We've promoted under the nightmare concept until now, and this promotion closes that out. So I feel like those lyrics are the focal point of the song.

Voice 03

Was there a story you wanted to share with us about filming the "Breaking Out" MV?

Yoohyeon: There was a scene where Handong and I had to act while gazing at each other. We really struggled to not laugh. (Laugh) Still, we managed to pull it off in the end, so that was a relief.

Sua: I had an individual shoot where I had to be on a flaming swing. I was really surprised when real sparks fell from above. I also had really high heeled shoes on, so I couldn't jump off if something happened. The staff kept saying "don't raise your face" as I filmed the scene.

JIU: A big fly kept bothering me while I was trying to act, which was bothersome... We were filming at a studio deep in the mountains, and there were a ton of bugs.(cry)

Voice 04

The showcase in September was also a big hit. You've already held multiple shows in Japan now. Compared to your first time in Japan, has something changed?

Siyeon: Every time we hold promotions for songs or concerts, the number of InSomnias who come to see us seem to increase. Whenever I notice that, I feel really happy, and feel like I'll be able to work even harder.

Dami: At first, I was really hung up on memorizing Japanese. Now, I'm able to focus more on presenting a perfect performance.

Voice 05

Europe, South America, you're holding shows all over the world. Is there something you found memorable about the cultural differences, or the fans' reactions?

Gahyeon: In Europe and South America, the passion is palpable even before the concert starts. Before concerts, our songs play within the venue. Our fans will sing along to that, or dance to it. Then, when the concert starts, they cheer for us even more energetically. I thought they were incredibly passionate.

Voice 06

Tell us something unexpected about the members, that the fans wouldn't know!

Handong: I shared a hotel room with Yoohyeon during our Japanese schedules once. I looked at her suitcase, and it was almost empty. It seemed like she mistook the length of our stay. She didn't have any clothes to wear, so during our stay in Japan, she was making do with our Live merch T-shirts and things like that. (Laugh)

A great gift from Dreamcatcher♥

Follow the Ray official twitter & Retweet our tweet of this article. From those who do, we’ll randomly choose 7 to receive signed polaroids of the members♥

[Application]

1. Follow the official Ray twitter account (@mag_ray) 2. Retweet the notice for the Dreamcatcher article, and tell us which member you want to receive.

The winners will be contacted by our editorial board via DMs.

Selecting the winners could take up to a week after applications are closed. After the winners are selected, we are going to contact them with TL, so please don’t unfollow us until then.

We’ll wait your applications♪

[Application deadline]

Until November 8th(Fri) 2019 23:59

[Information]

[DREAMCATCHER ‘NIGHTMARES BEFORE CHRISTMAS’2019]

Dec. 21st(Sat) Osaka Cool Japan Park Osaka SS Hall

Part 1 13:00 Open / 13:30 Start   Part 2 17:30 Open / 18:00 Start

Dec. 22nd(Sun) Tokyo Shibuya Hikarie Hikarie Hall B

Part 1 13:00 Open / 13:30 Start   Part 2 17:30 Open / 18:00 Start

[queen-of-hearts92]

Revue Starlight 1: I can’t believe it’s not Ikuhara!

GRANT ME THE POWER TO REVOLU-wait. Wrong show.

If you haven’t read the prelude for this, you should! Please go here!

Otherwise come on in for the episode summary and discussion! This will be fun! ouo

Note: I have NOT seen episode 2 as of this post/typing. All this is based on the first episode and the first episode alone.

>RAISE THE CURTAINS Y’ALL, IT’S STORY TIME!

The episode starts with our main character, Karen Aijou, repeating a story she’s seeing on stage which she is also performing in with her childhood friend, Hikari Kagura, who also recites the story. It cuts back to the audience and now Hikari and Karen are little kids watching the play that their teenage selves are performing in. The play is called Starlight, it's about goddesses that were drawn into the glowing of heaven. That’s about it for the play summary. Teen! Karen speaks about ties that bind others together, Teen! Hikari counters that they still can be pulled away from each other anyways and never see each other ever again. She refers to the story as sad. 

Next we get this amazing shot, I pulled it together so it’s one screenshot cause we gotta see it in its full glory. I hope it looks alright!

I WARNED YOU ABOUT THOSE STAIRS BRO

It seems like on these stairs they are underneath the Tokyo Tower, which seems to be quite relevant to this series cause this isn’t the last time we will see it. Not by a long shot lol. Anyways, Karen declares that she and presumably Hikari are gonna go to the stars together and we get a very Ikuhara looking title card. (It also comes in black!)

Is that the Tokyo Tower? God damn this tower is EVERYWHERE.

We then start with how most anime starts, getting up for school. Karen is woken up by her roommate, Mahiru Tsuyuzaki, because she slept through her sweet dino alarm clock going off and they gotta get to school (side note: a framed picture of little Karen and Hikari sleeping on a bus is on Karen’s desk). Karen, isn’t a morning person at all but she gets up and dressed and sleeply waits to cross the road with Mahiru. Karen realizes she left her crown barrette in her dorm so they run back to get it. Mahiru isn’t a fan of running back just for a hairpin but sometimes you do wild shit just because you have a crush on your roommate. 

The two make it to school not only right on time but they are the first ones there, the first class of the day seems to be dance so the two of them suit up and start doing stretches and warm ups together in the dance room.

We also find out that Karen’s class is the 99th one here and she’s student number 1. Mahiru’s student number is 17. Soon the other girls in their class start showing up. Student number 25, Junna Hoshimi walks in first. Junna expresses surprise that Karen got up in time this day, student number 11 Claudine Saijou also comments on that but in song because she’s a theater kid. Student number 15, Nana Daiba aka Banana-chan (yes that’s her nickname), twirls Mahiru and says Karen getting up on time was probably because of Mahiru’s help. We are then introduced to number 22 Kaoruko Hanayagi and number 2 Futaba Isurugi at the same time, I also like to call them our resident Haruka and Michiru descendants lol. Student number 18, Maya Tendou, strolls in with a sparkle sound effect and makes her way to the center of the room. All the girls follow and stand for the morning class. 

We learn there are 28 girls (this is before Hikari comes) in this class all together and that they are Class 2-A which means they are most likely second years (as it goes for anime set in high schools). It’s also May 14th, I dunno if dates will be relevant but we should make note of it anyways just in case.

Karen gives us internal exposition explaining the school is 100 years old and it’s a theater training school. She also says they are classmates but also rivals at the same time but it’s cool they all get along. We then see more of the pretty school grounds and then we go to the girls having lunch. 

During this lunch scene we see more glimpses of what the characters are like and their quirks. At the table with Karen are Mahiru and Nana. Junna comes over and gives them flyers for something called the Seisho Festival, even though this festival isn’t until next year Junna says they are preparing to get ready for it anyways. According to the flyer, Karen’s class will be performing the Starlight play we saw a bit of at the beginning. Nana is nostalgic about the first year they performed this play but Junna scoffs and says what they did was amateurish and they needed to do better than last year. 

We learn that this class at least will perform the Starlight play every year of them being in high school for this festival. Karen is jazzed about doing the play again. Mahiru comments that maybe next time her and Karen could be the “fated couple”. Karen is like, nah Claudine and Maya will probs be the leads since they are the best in the class. Junna disagrees with this assumption and shows her disagreement via dipping Karen and saying they shouldn’t assume who will be getting the roles in the play just yet.

Back in class, Karen is sitting in the back row by the windows (as many protags have) and she...She has a vision/daydream of some sort. We get a shot of gears turning and smoke and then she’s on the top of the Tokyo tower, overlooking the city. Karen admires the view and wonders how she’s getting such a great view when suddenly Hikari walks up behind her and pushes her off the tower. Karen falls backwards in slow motion, the background music turns distorted and off putting. Karen recalls that the tower was where she bought her crown barrette. She talks about a promise coming true and then we get a symbol with a giraffe on it and Karen lying on the classroom floor. 

Mahiru and Futaba (I think) asks if she’s ok and Karen is like its cool I’m fine. We cut to Junna’s phone and on its screen there is the giraffe symbol and it says underneath “Auditions Day 1”.

If you want to prove your love you-wait no thats bears not giraffes

Karen thinks about her weird dream and then the teacher announces there is a new transfer student and, bam it’s Hikari! She has the number 29. Karen is super excited to see her childhood friend but Hikari doesn’t seem like she feels the same way. Hikari has been at the Royal Drama Academy in England for the past 12 years. Karen and Mahiru show her to the dorms after school, on the way there Karen comments on the promise and it has something to do with their barrettes (Hikari’s barrette is stars/sparkles). 

Karen wants Hikari to stay with her and Mahiru, much to Mahiru’s distress, but Hikari says no and goes to her own room. Hikari doesn’t have a roommate btw. Karen says through the closed door of Hikari’s room “let’s be stars one day”, the tower is shown again.

We then get a montage of Hikari being amazing at everything because she’s a anime transfer student, that’s just how these things go. Next we go to everyone but Hikari in the showers (don’t worry, we don’t see anything at all) and Karen is fangirling about Hikari and how cool she is. The other girls join in on the fangirling and it’s commented that Hikari seems rather cold, Karen defends her saying it just means she’s cool and mysterious. The other girls playfully tease her about that statement. Afterwords Karen realizes Hikari isn’t around and looks for her. 

And I must mention this line is said:

Is this foreshadowing? We just don’t know.

I could be wrong but have a feeling this will be important later down the line.

Anyways. Maya comments that she can’t “see Hikari’s heart” and then we go back to Karen. She goes to Hikari’s room and finds it empty, she also finds Hikari has the same picture of them as kids as she does. Karen then notices Hikari outside running off somewhere and decides to follow her. This leads Karen to the school, Hikari seemingly has disappeared. Karen notices a strange elevator she’s never seen before, she steps in and presses the down button cause thats what you do when you find strange elevators. 

And then.

The fucking elevator rapidly drops down screeching all the way, speeding down like it’s a fucking rollercoaster. The gotta go fast elevator takes her to the “Underground Music Theater of Seisho academy”, this stage is under a recreation of the Tokyo Tower. A voice declares that day one of the auditions has begun. We are shown center stage, the voice says the competitors are aiming to be “the top star”. Karen is flung into the air and lands safely in a audience theater chair. The stage lights up and Hikari and Junna are seen decked out in a fancy uniform. The two start singing and then, they start dueling. Hikari has a dagger and Junna has a bow and arrow. 

Karen is confused, she asks “Is this Starlight?” which means that the songs they are singing are likely from that play. A stray arrow whizzes by Karen’s head and then its revealed she’s not alone in the audience. There's a giraffe. A talking giraffe.

*Insert Spongebob joke here*

This giraffe was the voice from earlier. The giraffe says the revue has begun and talks about the wonderful combo of song and dance and fighting. He says the person who presents the “most sparkling revue” will have the path to the “top star” opened to them. He also says the top star will get the “heavenly tiara”, a tiara is then shown. There are suddenly stars on stage everywhere as Hikari and Junna fight. 

Karen is still confused, the giraffe says “they understand” and says “they are desperate” and thats what makes them Duelists Stage Girls. He asks if Karen has the same determination. Hikari is struggling, Giraffe says if the metal pin/button on her jacket falls the revue is over. Hikari gets pinned to a wooden star decoration via arrow and loses her weapon, it seems like she’s going to lose. Giraffe says that those who don’t wish to play lead don’t get chosen and asks Karen to leave. Karen gets on Giraffe’s neck, he tips over and she leaps off his head towards the stage declaring she and Hikari are going to become stars together. 

Then, the transformation sequence happens.

Maybe one day she’ll become a car to revolutionize the world.

After she transforms Karen, wielding a sword, announces her presence on stage. Junna tells her to fuck off and Hikari seems horrified that Karen is here. Karen then smoothly charges to Junna, blocking her arrows with ease, knocks Junna’s pin/button off and smoothly dips her finishing the duel. There’s a very brief shot of Junna kneeling on the ground in the dark defeated before a curtain falls on her.

Karen stabs her sword into the ground declaring “Position Zero!” and we get this shot of curtains/ribbons covering tower like a fucked up christmas tree.

We can’t go without our phallic symbols you know.

Giraffe declares the first day of auditions over. Karen is pretty pleased with herself, Hikari on the other hand is crying and says “Baka Karen!”. The episode ends here.

We get to see the opening and its pretty cutesy but, we all know ops can lie about what the tone of a series is don’t we?

This looks a little different from when I did theater. Less giraffe. 

>If 9 girls worked for Love Live it can work here!

Alright now, Imma go over all nine of the girls very briefly and then we can move on to the episode breakdown.

Karen: Our protagonist! I find she’s starting off the series about as standard as protags get. She’s passionate, kinda weird, and determined. However there's one particular thing that stands out about her to me, she’s not untalented or struggling with the craft she wants to do. Quite the opposite in fact! Like she won that duel with pretty much no problem and doesn’t seem like she’s struggling in any of the classes! Her classmates tease her about her being a sleepyhead but they never tease about what she can do nor imply she’s behind everyone in someway. I find that to be quite unusual for this kind of protag character. I’m interested to see where she goes from here.

Hikari: Hellllooo mysterious transfer student! I’m getting strong Homura Akemi vibes from her, as in she knows more than she lets on and really doesn’t want the main character to get involved into whatever crazy shit is going down. It will be interesting to learn about her as the show goes on.

Mahiru: She’s very cute but all I can think is “oh this girl is gonna get her heartbroken isn’t she”. I’m getting a strong vibe she has feelings for Karen but is too shy to confess, and unfortunately it seems like Karen only has eyes for Hikari. This, could get messy.

Junna: Serious business girl here. I like her design, I can’t say I’ve seen this particular look for a character before. Specially the bell decorations. Unfortunately for her, she’s the one who loses these stage duels first and we will get to see via her what happens when someone loses. If anything. Could be nothing. Or she’s fucked. Guess we will know next episode.

Claudine: If this show was made in the 90s, Claudine would have the “ohohohoho!” laugh. This is based off her looks alone btw. She’s one of the top students and she reminds me of a classmate who was in choir with me in Jr High and she would sing opera in the girls locker room nearly everyday. It seems like she’s not a “mean girl” and gets along with her classmates, except for Maya. She and Maya obviously have a rivalry going on, to a point they compete with each other over eating lunch. But they were also the leads the the play last year so there’s probably more than meets the eye for their relationship for sure.

Nana: Her nickname is Banana and I just. I dunno if I’ll ever call her that, but her hair does look like bananas. She’s interesting, it seems like she’d interested in Junna since she took like three pictures of Junna with her phone in one scene. She might be the “is sweet but 100% can kill you if she wanted to” type. She also seems pretty nostalgic, talking about how fun it was to do the play last year and such.

Kaoruko: Ah yes, one part of the couple of this series. She and Futaba are always seen together, even on the steps from the start of this episode and in the op. Kaoruko is the femme in the relationship and seems to have a knack for traditional dancing, but she’s also a bit childish. She’s super sleepy in the morning and when Futaba drops her she complains and during lunch when she finds a food she doesn’t like she plops it into her girlfriend’s plate. I like her.

Futaba: The other part of the couple of the series, always seen with Kaoruko. Futaba is the butch in the relationship and her skill lies in stage combat if her wiping the floor with everyone during practice is any indication. In the op she’s seen riding a moped. She seems pretty patient with her gf’s antics. Sighing and rolling her eyes like she’s super used to it, like when Kaoruko dumps the food she doesn’t like onto her plate. I like her too.

Maya: The other top student and rival to Claudine. Maya seems to be very confident in herself, she walks like she’s all that and a bag of chips in her first scene and she isn’t intimidated by Hikari’s talents. It seems like she might know something is up with the not seeing Hikari’s heart comment but it’s hard to say for sure right now.

>Holy Zettai Unmei Mokushioku Batman!

-This anime nails down the Ikuhara style excellently! Especially in the last half of the episode, the part with the sewing(?) machines when Karen enters the stage reminded me of the Utena movie when Utena turns into a car. The action scenes are amazing and I’m really impressed with them! You could legit replace the soundtrack of this show with Utena’s and it would work just the same (in fact I went ahead and did just that!). I’m very impressed in this regard for sure.

-Something that I picked up on right away is the fact that Revue Starlight starts similarly to shows like Utena, Princess Tutu, Madoka Magica, and Penguindrum. A standard not so new plot is happening and then PSYCE you are going down an elevator 2000 mph and there's a secret stage underground and a giraffe is there. I think this is a reason why this show gives me a good feeling about it, cause it opens the same way shows I love have done.

-The fact that this school’s specific age was said makes me go HMMM. To my memory, that’s not something you state in anime unless it’s important to the story or becomes relevant later. A 100 year old school is nothing to sneeze at anyways.

-I’ve seen some folks saying that the underground stage bit is imaginary and it’s really just a normal audition but I very much disagree with that. It’s too mysterious for such a simple explanation, Hikari is way too dodgey about going there for it to be normal, and we see Junna get the call for this weird audition in the classroom. No this is real, giraffe and all.

-Speaking of the Giraffe let’s talk about him a bit, so it’s clear he knows what’s up and he acts as a referee of sorts at the very least. I looked up to see if giraffes have any particular symbolic meaning but I can’t find anything concrete, just spirit animal websites which isn’t a reliable source to say the least. So, let’s look at this from a historical perspective briefly. Giraffes are subjects of African folklore unsurprisingly, it seems these tales revolve around how the fuck it’s neck got so long. Outside of folklore, giraffes have captured people’s fascination for a long time. They were often kept as pets on the continent and especially overseas. The Greeks and Romans thought giraffes were a camel and leopard hybrid and called them camelopardalis. Giraffes have often been used as showanimals so to speak, their owners would travel around the world to be like LOOK AT THIS LONG THING. They were liked because they were pretty and elegant looking and yet they are also very powerful animals...hm possible meaning here? 

I also must mention Qilins. 

A Qilin is a mythical animal from east asian cultures, and they are based on giraffes. A giraffe was brought to China and the Emperor declared them to be magical creatures (I don’t blame him, giraffes are amazing). Quilins are basically very small dragons that sometimes have unicorn-like horns. In Japan, Quilins are called Kirins which is also the modern word for giraffe in Japanese. In the power hierarchy of mythological animals in Japan, Kirins are at the top with the phoenix and the dragon right behind it. There's a lot more about Qilins/Kirins to say but for now I think it’s a being to keep in mind going forward. It might be relevant or not, we will see.

-I refer to Futaba and Kaoruko as the Haruka and Michiru of the group because let’s face it, ever since they’ve appeared in the 90s they’ve been a source of lesbian couple inspiration in anime and other media. Honestly that’s what I think of first when I see couples in anime like Futaba and Kaoruko, even if their personalities aren’t 100% like our favorite early 90s gays. Now if they will be like them in their actions it remains to be seen though.

-Hikari seems really upset Karen became a Stage Girl, that’s one reason why I’m thinking there's more than meets the eye for these auditions. She seems way too upset, to the point of crying, for it to be just “oh crap we gotta be rivals now”. Her cold demeanor also extends to this, trying to push Karen away so she doesn’t get involved. Whoops she got involved, you tried Hikari.

-The Tokyo Tower is seen EVERYWHERE in this episode and it’s even in the title card! I don’t know if this takes place in Tokyo but even if it doesn’t that doesn’t change the fact it’s in places it shouldn’t be. The only relevance for why the tower is around as of right now is it seems to be the place Karen and Hikari got their barrettes and made their “promise”. There might be something else that happened there too though.

-On the shot of the girls sleeping/knocked out on the stairs, there's something odd here. The narrator says 8 women, not 9. And Karen, isn’t there. Her cape and sword are at the top by Hikari but Karen herself isn’t there. Oh dear, this can’t be a good sign for Karen.

-I find that the curtain falling on Junna after she loses interesting, especially with how fast it comes and goes. Took a few tries to get a screenshot, which will be below. Symbolism? Besides a pun that is, “IT’S CURTAINS FOR YOU” being a phrase that describes when someone has lost. Or the curtains falling meaning the ending of a stage performance. We won’t know more for sure until we know if anything in particular happens to those that lose.

Plot twist the curtain literally ate her.

-Cool thing about the elevator, when it drops down its styled to look it someone cut the dang thing out with scissors. Like a cut of reality? Anywho, I just think it’s neat.

-I like the glimpses we got into the girl’s dynamics and personalities. Claudine and Maya are rivals and possibly more than that. Futaba and Kaoruko are together all the time. Mahiru is the responsible friend who might have a crush on Karen. Nana is friendly and sweet and likes to reminisce on the past. So on and so forth. It makes me curious about seeing more of them that’s for sure.

-On wikipedia, it states this anime is 12 episodes long and while I’m still not sure if that is correct, I’m gonna assume that’s what we will get until told otherwise though.

-I like how the teachers don’t look like, ya know super young and childlike. No their teacher looks like an adult and you can tell she’s one compared to the teenagers. I really like that. I’m curious if we will see other staff members of this school but it’s hard to say if we will or won’t right now.

-I wonder how big this academy is? The dorms appear to be at least a few blocks away from the school itself judging by when Karen and Mahiru leave in the morning and when they show Hikari where the dorms are. It’s not as wild as Ohtori’s design but I want to see more of this campus for sure.

-The musical part sounded good BUT it was really hard to hear over the fucking giraffe talking. I’m gonna assume this won’t happen next time cause Karen is in this shit now but it was a little annoying. I get why, had to explain shit, but I was like aw man when he was talking over the song.

-Hikari’s cape is blue while everyone else's is red. Interesting. SYMBOLISM?

-I’ve seen some people say “oh this is an idol anime?” no. No it isn’t. The girls aren’t idols, they are stage theater performers. I can’t say I’ve seen a ton of idol anime but no this ain’t an idol anime. And just because it has a game coming out for it doesn’t make it one either, if it did we should consider Fate/Stay Night one then lol.

-A Stage Girl eh? Hm, the fact that they are called something like this concerns me. Like it’s a mark of being fucked over like duelists in Utena are.

-There are flower petals all over the opening and the last shot of the opening is Karen and Hikari holding hands. Interestingggg.

-This show is hardcore using Utena as a basis and invoking Utena imagery, just look at the official art! The opening, the dueling outfits, the fact that dueling is occurring and how they are won, the title cards, the transformation parts, the flowers (what kind of flowers I dunno), the tower, even the god damn title all invoke Utena imagery. I’m hoping this means we are going to good places.

>Gogai! Gogai! Speculation and Questions time!

-So this is a school that's there to recruit girls for a very specific dancing group which appears to be named after a, I assume, tragic play. And the recruitment process is done in an underground stage and it appears this class and solely this class have been chosen for this audition. I don’t know about all of you, but this sounds awful ritualistic and just plain fishy to me. There's something wrong with this group, or whoever is running the group behind the scenes. At least it feels that way.

-This series could be a metaphor/symbolic for two things, it could either be about the competitive nature of stage theater and how it can make or break relationships we have with each other. Or, if they are going deeper than that, it’s about all the struggles of those who do theater professionally/want to do it and everything that comes with it including exploitation, being overworked, sacrificing relationships, and, if they really are going for it, homophobia. It will really depend how much creative freedom is here. I’ll talk about that a bit more later.

-There MIGHT be a deeper reason to why Hikari left Japan all that time ago. To chase her dreams? Something darker? Is there more to the Tokyo Tower beyond them just getting barrettes together? Why the dream sequence at the start? Was there a falling out there? Too little to go off of just yet.

-So, this is the 99th class right. The first years below them are 100th then. Does, that indicate anything? Why was this particular class chosen and why now? Unless this happens every year to the second years? Many questions.

>But is this really such a good idea?

This anime shows A LOT of promise, I haven’t been this excited for a new anime in a long time like I said in the prelude. However, I’m worried that my gut feeling is wrong. It’s mostly cause of who produces this series. I’ll explain my two big concerns here.

-Revue Starlight looks A LOT like an Ikuhara work, that is for sure. But, is it going to talk the talk if it’s walking the walk? Will this just look like an Ikuhara thing and not commit storywise? I’m not expecting Utena levels of greatness or discussion here, I just feel if you are gonna imitate Ikuhara you need to have something to say. But, what is allowed to be said is unknown here. You see, like I said in the prelude, Bushiroad has its hands in this project. These are the guys that have made Love Live and Bandori, their usual target demographic is male otaku that want to imagine themselves in relationships with fictional girls and buy all the merch and blu rays. This begs the question, is the Revue Starlight anime going for that crowd? 

It’s not airing at “Otaku O Clock”, which is a time period late at night that specifically airs shows for male otaku (RS airs around 4/5pm btw). But that doesn’t mean it won’t be an issue nor does it say what the target demographic is. Revue Starlight is going to be a multimedia project, it has an rpg mobile game planned, as well as a stage musical. So that begs the question, how much creative freedom is here with the anime? Will it be limited because they want to appeal to and not upset the male otaku? If so that might prevent this series from being more than just a superficial Ikuhara look alike. However, Bushiroad has also produced Watamote which is a jab at socially awkward otaku but Watamote wasn’t gonna be a multimedia project so. I dunno if that should indicate anything at all.

-Even though I’ve been referring to the girls in this show having romantic feelings for each other, the other thing I worry about is the use of lesbians/wlw here. You see, shows like Love Live and Bandori don’t have a whole world inhabited by girls for no reason. Having little to no male characters in these types of shows is so there isn’t anyone to get in the way of the entitled male otaku’s fancys of being in a relationship with one of the girls. In turn, any and all gay romantic tension in these shows aren’t for the girls benefits nor are they for any queer person watching, it’s so the entitled male otaku don’t feel threatened and for any yuri fans. 

In these shows, there will never be a canon gay couple or even any girl that will admit that she’s gay. Most will call this queerbaiting but that would imply that this is for any queer people, cause it isn’t aiming to bait queer folks. So I’ll refer to it as Yuri Baiting, sure the girls can flirt with each other and “act” gay towards each other but nothing will ever come of it! As a gay lady myself, it’s frustrating to watch. Love Live is annoying enough with it but Bandori, oh man. It hangs around the borders of committing but it just doesn’t, legit theres a character flirting with every girl she sees and she’s pretty much all but gay without saying anything but they never will say as such! Despite me being a fan of both these series, I really really hate seeing this.

Now I’m gonna clarify what I mean by committing, I don’t mean that the characters have to kiss or even be like “THIS IS MY GIRLFRIEND”, you can have gay characters without them ever declaring themselves as such. Utena is a great example of that, Anthy and Utena fall in love with each other and even though they don’t kiss in the show (beyond a frame in the second ending credits) you can tell that’s what's going on via the language of visual storytelling. Granted Utena made this even more obvious in the movie where they do kiss, hell it’s one of the last shots at the end! Another example is with Haruka and Michiru, they don’t really like say they are together romantically but you can tell they are via how they are shown interacting with each other and how other characters see them and comment on it. You can do this without even saying the word lesbian! Hell even before Ruby and Sapphire of Steven Universe got married you can tell from the moment we meet them they are very obviously a romantic couple. In the same vein, you can tell Pearl was romantically in love with Rose from Rose’s Scabbard (and even before that) onwards. In Legend of Korra, reading Asami and Korra’s interactions as romantic is very much the correct read because they become the official couple at the end even if it’s never said within the tv show. I haven’t seen Yuri on Ice but my understanding is Victor and Yuri, while canon, also shows they are romantically into each other via visuals. Visual storytelling is useful like that!

Hence you can tell in things like Love Live that it isn’t going to do that, I’m using Love Live as an example cause it’s so fucking clear it’s Yuri Baiting that you can’t fucking miss it. This is super 1000 times more obvious in the mobile game where, sometimes the girl on your screen will hit on you or flirt with you (please stop I am 26 YEARS OLD). And while yes, in universe the player is another student at the all girls school but that doesn’t matter. Their dialogue is directed to the person playing and when the target audience is male otaku well, that is who they are really speaking to.

Gdi one time Riko, one of the girls in Love Live, blatantly buys yuri doujin/manga but does that mean anything? Nopeeee! AND, the same anime has probably one of the biggest examples of Yuri Bait in this particular series! There’s an episode of the anime Love Live Sunshine where Chika and Riko are standing by a beach, looking in each others eyes and holding hands and the sun slowly comes up all romantic looking and the music swells and Riko tells Chika “I love you.” and that’s where this episode ends. Now you’d think this would go somewhere, but NOPE. No it sure fucking doesn’t! It’s never fucking mentioned again. When I first saw the ep I was like “Fucking christ this isn’t gonna go anywhere isn’t it.” and ta dah I was right! Cause fuck you if you think they’d ever commit to anything that isn’t pandering to their shit tier demographic and anyone who is queer can go fuck themselves cause all we are seen by these people is fetish bullshit that fucking hates you and fucking christ I’m SO TIRED OF THIS SHIT! AaaaaaaAAAAHHH!

This Chu Chu is here to prevent me from ranting too much about off topic stuff. Please stand by as I scream into a corner.

Ok. I’m good now. Ok. Sorry about that.

I could go on but I won’t. My point being here is I’m worried that the Revue Starlight anime will backflip into this direction. If it does then any and all romantic looking interactions are a fucking lie and fuck you if you think it’s anything else but fetish pandering. I’m hoping it doesn’t do that in this anime, but it’s hard to tell at this point. So I have this fear anyways. I am hoping I’m concerned for nothing, I really am.

>Starlight, Starbright?

So, after all this I am left to wonder if my good feeling about this show is correct. I’m either right or the visuals are tricking me and this show is either really mediocre at best or outright bad. Right now, concerns aside, this show feels very very promising. The fact I’m able to write this much about it is a good sign to me. 

Well, that’s all for now! I promise the next post won’t be as long, or at least I’m thinking so but who knows? Thanks for reading!

Meet you back on the stage for episode 2!

[turtleparadise]

[ ~ One ~ Two ~ Three ~ Four ~ Five ~ Six ~ Seven ~ ]

7. One Year Later

"They'll be here soon, Empress."

"I can't wait!" Yuffie jumped up and down, shaking flowers in the bouquet she was holding on to.

"It's been a long time," Vincent said out of nowhere, making his girlfriend jump into the air. She turned around and gave him an annoyed stare.

"Where have you been, all this time?"

"Searching for my true love," he grinned, lifting up her hand and kissing it delicately.

"Excellent save, sir," said one of their attendants, wiping dust off of Vincent's jacket. He waved them away, and they began dusting Yuffie's clothes instead.

"Does it count as a save if she's still annoyed?" Yamato asked in monotone, not looking up from the clipboard he was scribbling on.

"You know me so well," Yuffie laughed.

"Is everything alright, Yamato?" Vincent asked.

"He's just in a mood because we're not holding the party in Hana."

"I'm not 'in a mood'," Yamato said. "The Imperial City is a splendid place to hold any arrangement. Except..."

"You miss your kids," Yuffie pointed out.

"So, Vincent," Yamato said, trying to take the subject off of himself, "where were you, really?"

"Ah... Speaking with Godo."

"I'm so glad he likes you now," Yuffie said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him in close.

"It took a long time," he nodded. "I remember how furious he had been, at first. What with you 'shaming the entire nation', as he put it."

"He's such a drama queen," she shook her head.

"You did create quite a stir," Yamato reminded her. It was the understatement of the year. "What with you jumping into his arms in front of an entire city. And all their cameras. And internet connections."

"Worth it," Yuffie said, kissing Vincent tenderly. "One hundred percent worth it."

"Well," Ayase cleared her throat, "the airship has landed, and they will be arriving by cab within minutes. Everything is in order for the special welcome. Places, everyone!" She and Yamato stood off to the sides in the garden square, while the attendants all ran off to take their places. Yuffie and Vincent stood in the center, staring up at the starry sky while waiting to greet their guests.

In no time at all, the cars all arrived, and their guests poured out: Cloud, Tifa, Reeve, and his "son" Cait Sith from one car, and Shera, Cid, Barret, and Marlene from another. They all greeted their two friends with smiles, hugs, and stories. And from a third...

"Yamato!"

"Kids!" Yamato broke protocol and ran toward a group of five, three young adults and two children, who piled on top of him and knocked him to the garden floor. He couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, look at you! Cid, Luneth, you're sprouting up like bamboo! How did you grow so much in a year? Oh... What a wonderful surprise."

"Cloud and Tifa insisted on paying our way," Hikari said, once they had let Yamato stand back up. "This is our first time out of the country."

"Hana is growing," Leon said. "You should come visit soon and see the sights."

"Sorry I'm late," Nanaki greeted, leaping over the archway and into the square. "It's been several years since I last ran through the fields of Wutai... I couldn't resist."

"Naturally," Yuffie winked. "Aren't they lovely?"

"Is that everyone?" Vincent asked, gazing around the small crowd.

"Not quite," Yuffie said, gesturing toward two more cars. From these stepped President Dawn, Mayor Bianca, Mayor Vaast, and several other community leaders from around the world. The Empress greeted them all with hugs - except for Vaast, who preferred handshakes.

"Well then," Ayase said, checking off items on her clipboard before giving the Empress her full attention. "With the exception of a few others, who've already called ahead late, we have liftoff."

"Everyone," Yuffie smiled, barely able to contain her excitement. "Welcome..."

She struck a pose, one arm in the air, fingers outstretched. As she spoke, cherry blossoms were thrown into the air, raining down gently around the guests. At the same time, far in the distance, fireworks leaped high into the sky and exploded into flowers of gorgeous, colorful fire.

"...to the Imperial City of Wutai!" The entire group applauded, keeping their eyes on the gorgeous light show that continued.

"All that, jus' to greet us?" Cid asked. "Coulda' saved a lotta money-OOF." Shera elbowed him in the ribs.

"Thank you, all of you," she said, bowing to Yamato and Ayase.

"Come in, come in!" Yuffie made frantic beckoning waves with the hand that wasn't looped around Vincent's arm. The two turned and headed farther into the garden, along a beautiful stone pathway that led to a splendid little palace. The giant double doors were left open, so they could easily see that the first floor was completely dedicated to the party in question. Many citizens from all over Wutai were dancing up a storm, playing games, or chatting amongst themselves. "This is gonna be FUN!"

\\\\\

"Yuffie...?"

"Terra!" Yuffie gave the young woman a hug. "Enjoying the party? Where's Hikari?"

"They went to get some drinks," Terra said. "I, er... asked them to."

"Vinnie, can you get me something, too?"

"Of course," Vincent said, bowing to the two before walking away.

"I... I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Terra said. "For getting mad at you last year."

"Don't apologize for your feelings," she said, shaking her head. "If you had yelled at me, or been rude, or something, I would accept your apology. But you didn't. Not that I remember, anyway." Terra simply shrugged at this. "Will you still be my friend?"

"Of course!"

"And... I'm guessing you feel a lot better these days? You definitely look happy with your arm around Hikari..." She nudged the young woman with her elbow.

"Yuffie!" Terra put her hands on her hips, blushing.

"Sorry, sorry," Yuffie laughed. "How long have you two been together?"

"Almost a year now. They asked me out after we danced together at that party. I said no."

"You did? Why?"

"Feelings," she shook her head. "But after a while I called them up and we gave it a shot. I was still kind of hoping I wouldn't like them, but... I had a wonderful time, and they were so great. So we kept seeing each other. Yuffie, I... I think I'm in love!" Yuffie screamed excitedly, jumping up and down and taking Terra with her.

"That's great! I'm so glad to hear it!"

\\\\\

"A water and a green tea, please."

"Right away, Mister Valentine!"

"Valentine?" Hikari looked up from where they were waiting for their drinks. "Vincent Valentine?" Vincent nodded.

"I knew you looked familiar... You probably don't remember me, though."

"Hikari Sakaguchi," Vincent recalled. "You're the young one who spoke out against the party crashers last year. I heard your speech was beautiful."

"I wouldn't call it a speech," they said, their cheeks rosy. "I, uh... I just spoke in the moment."

"Sometimes that's all it takes."

"I guess... Hey, uh... What is it like, being the boyfriend of the Empress?" Vincent shrugged.

"When you're in love, it's an amazing experience, whether they're royalty or penniless. Although... I will say, when I'm here, life is certainly strange. It's different... being around the people she grew up around."

"How did you... Um..." More blood rushing to their cheeks.

"We met on the mission to save the Planet."

"No, not that... Do you have any advice on how to say the 'L' word?"

"I... can't help you there. It was an accident."

"What?"

"Three waters and a green tea," one of the workers at the bar announced, sliding the drinks toward the two.

"Thank you so much," Hikari said with a smile.

"Thank you," Vincent bowed. With fresh drinks in hand, they made their way back to the girls.

"How was it an accident?"

"We had just had... a dangerous moment, let's leave it at that. And we took a while to catch our breaths. I sang a bit for her. She reached out to touch my cheek... And it just..."

"And it just came out," Yuffie was telling Terra; apparently the two young adults had asked the same question. "It was so cute, you would not believe it."

"What did you say?"

"Well, at first I was shocked... But then-"

"But then she kept saying it over and over," Vincent interjected, "because she couldn't stand that I had said it twice before she had said it once. Water?"

"I didn't say it that many times," Yuffie scowled, accepting the glass. "Thank you."

"We said it back and forth for a good minute, as if we were arguing," Vincent said. "And then when I went to-"

"They don't need to hear the rest!"

"...I was going to leave out the sensitive information."

"What sensitive information?" Terra asked, sipping on the water Hikari had brought her.

"We'll tell the rest of that story another time," Yuffie insisted. "When it's just us friends, and not half the country able to listen in."

"That's fair," Hikari nodded.

\\\\\

"So, what are the plans?" Yuffie asked. "Three of you guys are finishing school soon, right?"

"I'm joining the new space administration," Leon said. "I was one of the first to sign up! Would have been the first, if not for Cecil..."

"Friend of yours?"

"Something like that."

"I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time working with Cid and Shera. They'll take good care of you."

"I'm going to university," Hikari announced. "I've already signed up for an internship at Parliament. I'll probably only take food orders or something, but... It'll be a good opportunity."

"Planning on running for President when you get out of college?" Yuffie grinned. Hikari laughed.

"Right... Me, President... What a thought."

"I thought I told you not to sell yourself short."

"Yeah... I guess, you never know what could happen."

"I'm gonna be a Guardian," Terra said between gulps of soda. "I already got my papers. Apparently, I'll be apprenticing under Reno."

"Oh, Leviathan!" Yuffie grimaced. "Not Reno!"

"Yes, Reno." The red-haired man swung by the table and pulled up a chair - sitting backward - next to Terra.

"I still don't have an apprentice..." Rude remained standing behind him.

"When did you two get here?" Vincent asked.

"Heh. Did you miss us, senpai?" Reno winked.

"Senpai?" The young adults at the table all stared at Vincent.

"...It's a long story."

"So, little baby-Turk," Reno addressed Terra. "Are you ready for the workout of your life?"

"Not yet," she laughed nervously. "Let me write my will."

"It won't be that bad," Cloud said, coming up to the table to smack Reno on the back of his head. Tifa arrived with him, but resisted the urge to hit their red-haired friend. "We'll all be with you, every step of the way."

"Do you think I can get as strong as you?" Cloud shrugged at this.

"Anything is possible."

"I'm putting in for an internship at the Wind Plant," Luneth spoke up. "When I reach high school."

"Eww," Cid squinted. "You're supposed to have fun in high school." Luneth shrugged.

"Gotta have job experience to land a good career by the time we get married." Cid choked on his apple juice.

"We are TWELVE. Marriage should be the last thing on our minds."

"That's what I said." It was Marlene's girlfriend, who had been quiet most of the evening. Marlene gave her a sideways glance.

"Krile, you have to think about the future, even a little bit."

"And what kind of job experience are you aiming for?"

"Well... I was a bartender when I was four," Marlene said, nonchalant. Krile's eyes went wide for a moment, jaw dropped, before she suddenly started laughing at the top of her lungs.

"That's right... I forgot we were all born in Midgar."

"A different world, that's for sure," Cid said.

"I'm glad we're the last generation that had to be born in that hell-hole," Marlene sighed.

"Marlene!" Tifa scolded. "Language."

"Sorry, Aunt Tifa."

"You know it's true, though," Leon said. "Living in the slums was a nightmare. And Edge wasn't much better, before the collapse."

"That's why everyone loves you so much, Yuffie," Hikari said. "You gave us all a new home, built from a strong foundation. A clean home, with clean energy, where we can all live in peace and happiness."

"Well..." Yuffie blushed. "I helped a little."

"Now who's selling herself short?"

"You really are amazing, Yuffie," Terra said. "You're so talented and generous. You've been working so hard for the whole world."

"You're just feeding her ego at this point," Vincent said. Yuffie smacked him lightly.

"Quiet, you." He smiled and took her hand in his.

"I didn't say they had to stop. At any rate, I want to dance. How about you?"

"You want to dance?"

"It can be exhilarating."

"I'd better take him up on his offer," Yuffie said to the young ones. "It might not come around again." They all had a good laugh at this as Vincent led her to the dance floor. "So... What is it, love?"

"I just wanted to hold you," Vincent said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in close. "We've both been so busy that I haven't had any alone time with you all day."

"So needy," Yuffie shook her head, before kissing him softly.

"I'm the only one, huh?" Vincent scoffed. "Like you haven't called in sick so you could lie in bed with me all day."

"Yep, it's just you," she teased. "Thank you, though, really... I think it's incredibly cute."

"I love you like the arrival of Spring," he said, leaning his head against her brow. Standing, their heights were too different for him to comfortably rest his head on her shoulder, so that was his main alternative.

"I love you like footsteps on a wooden bridge."

"I love you like a building's shade on a hot day."

"I love you like the smell of a bakery."

"Mmm... That's a wonderful smell. I love you like seventy-five-percent-off groceries."

"Now that's a good one!"

\\\\\

"So, when're y'all thinkin' 'bout tyin' the knot?"

Yuffie spat out her wine when she heard the question from Cid Highwind.

"A bit soon for that, don't you think?"

"We've only been together for a year," Vincent agreed, using napkins to dab at the wine that had sprayed onto him.

"I just had ta' mess with ya," Cid chuckled. The eight friends were seated in a large booth surrounding a round table large enough for them, and then some. The party was winding down, and barely any of the guests remained. The children and young adults were all seated at another booth across the hall, chatting among themselves.

"How is everything going between you two?" Tifa asked.

"I'd say it's awesome," Yuffie grinned. "I couldn't ask for more. What about you?"

"I love it," Vincent said, his cheeks turning pink. "I love..." He stared at the table, where his hands rested, fingers intertwining and then separating over and over. "I love Yuffie."

"Tell us something we don't know," Tifa laughed.

"I love spending daily life with her... I love venturing into the places that are dear to her. I love listening to her speak passionately about things I don't care about..." He looked into Yuffie's eyes. "I love waking up to see your face."

"So that's the irresistible charm, eh?" Barret laughed while Yuffie practically mauled Vincent, covering him with kisses.

"Life has been about the same for me," Nanaki said. "Then again, I age much slower than the rest of you. I spend most of my time wandering the world, learning what I can from places besides the Canyon. But it is always nice to go back home... I believe I'll be staying there for the next few months. Any of you are welcome to visit if you'd like."

"That sounds like a great idea," Yuffie nodded, peeking up from where she was depleting her boyfriend's oxygen supply. "Me and Vinnie are running a world tour here in a few weeks. We could stop by on our way to Gongaga."

"World Tour?" Cid asked.

"Going to all the places we've done construction, seeing how everyone's doing. I'd also like to go to South Corel and Mideel to assess damages and see what all I can work with, since I haven't gotten around to that just yet."

"Always busy," Cloud smiled. "I'm proud of you two."

"Space Administration's startin' out great," Cid said. "We're plannin' our first launch six months from now. Y'all wanna come say 'hi', better do it 'fore I'm up on the moon!"

"We'll put it on our schedule," Cloud nodded.

"Life hasn't changed," Reeve said. "The WRO is nowhere near as active as it once was. I can relax with Cait in my new home."

"Just a few blocks from us and Barret," Tifa cheered.

"Does Cait go to school?" Yuffie asked.

"Hmm..." Reeve shrugged. "He hasn't mentioned wanting to go. I'll have to think about that. It may be... very strange."

"Life's the same for me," Barret shrugged. "I love these peaceful days. Not a care in the world, 'cept for raisin' Marlene right. But she's growin' so fast..."

"I've heard they tend to do that," Tifa said. "I'm still not quite ready for one of those, even though it's such a joy having children over."

"How are things for you guys?" Yuffie asked.

"Guardian work is very slow," Cloud said. "But I'm on salary, so I don't mind. Spend most of my time training with the other Guardians."

"I've started giving piano lessons on weekend mornings," Tifa announced. "I still play at theatres and clubs in the evening."

"And so life goes on," Nanaki said. "Sometimes... Sometimes, I awaken with this fear... That the old crises and battles have begun again."

"So do I," Barret said. The entire group nodded.

"I don't think that fear will ever leave us completely," Vincent said. "But I also don't think there's anything to worry about. The old evils are gone. The Planet is healthy. The Lifestream has been cleansed."

"Everything's going to be alright," Tifa said, and believed it. Yuffie nodded, raising her glass.

"I'll drink to everything being alright."

"To everything being alright!"

\\\\\

"And so another amazing adventure of Kisaragi and Valentine begins! Better get ready, Vinnie! With no one else around, I'm gonna annoy the daylights outta you."

"I want you to annoy me," he smiled. "I thought we talked about that."

"Oh... Oh gods... It's hot." She immediately launched herself onto Vincent's back.

"You didn't even try," he laughed, though he didn't mind in the slightest.

"You know, we haven't roughed it together in a long time. I'm gonna be dirty as all get-out. Are you ready for dirty-Yuffie, Vinnie? The Sights and Smells of Dirty Yuffie?"

"I can't wait." Blood rushed to her face, and she dropped her chin onto his head.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing..."

"Right... Hey, Vinnie, if we ever do get married, there are certain customs when dealing with the Imperial family, you know?"

"Tell me all about it."

"Well, as much as I'd love to be 'Yuffie Valentine', you're gonna have to take my name."

"Good."

"'Good'?" Yuffie couldn't help but laugh.

"Yuffie..." Vincent stopped walking for a moment, trying to stare up at her eyes, though she had to lean forward a bit. "The name 'Valentine' is just another withered remnant of the past I've left behind. When it's gone, I'll have nothing left of those old wounds but the painful memories that still come to me from time to time."

"Does that mean you've forgotten about... her?"

"I still remember..." He continued walking. "Sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks, I'll remember again. But for the most part, yes, she and all the rest of the pain are the farthest things from my mind."

"...Good."

"Don't be jealous of someone who's not even there."

"I'm not jealous!" She pounded her fists against his shoulders.

"Let yourself feel your feelings."

"Make up your mind!"

"What I'm trying to say is, I love you more than the tattered phantoms of my past. I love you more than the person I was when I buried myself in sleep for all those years. You have my heart. Leave all the rest of it in the past. Where it belongs."

"I love you, Vinnie," she sighed, burying her face in his shoulder. "You know what I've realized? We don't jump on each other as much anymore." Vincent paused to stare up at her again. "That's not what I mean! We're not... Like..." She grumbled.

"It's less often that we're desperately intimate," he offered.

"I like that... desperately intimate. Sounds nice."

"We've been together more than a year now. Granted, quite a bit of that time has been spent away from each other, but the result is still the same. Our brains release the 'love' chemicals less often. We don't feel the desperate need to touch each other every moment. At that point, love shifts into its next phase. The chemicals have done their job, and now it's up to the people in the relationship, working as a team, to keep it going."

"That's scary..."

"A little. But... We've done the work. We communicate openly, and don't hold each other to unreasonable expectations. We respect each others' boundaries, listen when the other says 'no'. We respect each other as individuals. I think we can handle it. And... the desperation may no longer be there, but we still want to touch each other."

"A LOT," Yuffie grinned, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Hey... But there are still times when I feel the... 'desperation'."

"Of course. The chemicals are still released, just not nearly as much. I think we'll always have those moments. The important thing is to continue to do the work. Together."

"No sweat."

"I love you like a train, travelling fast, creating a strong wind."

"I love you like the wind making trees dance."

"I love you like a cold breeze on a Summer day."

"Hey... Will you still love me when I'm old and withered and grey?"

"...How would I know?" Yuffie felt a dagger pierce her heart, and she lost her grip on him and fell backwards onto the grass. He turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Are you... alright?"

"Vinnie!" Yuffie grumbled as she sat up. "When your girlfriend asks you that, there's only one answer! 'Of course, I'll love you forever, you'll always be beautiful to me!'."

"That sounds unrealistic." Another dagger.

"Vinnie!"

"No one can predict the future. As much as I love you, something could happen... I mean, it seems highly unlikely at this point, but you never know..."

"You're just making me feel worse and worse..." Vincent sighed and knelt down, lifting her chin with his fingers.

"Yuffie... I love you now. I love you today. I'll love you a year from now, I'm willing to bet. Even two or three... Who knows how many years?"

"Urge to stab you, still rising."

"There's no telling what will happen... But... If I have my way, I'll love you longer than the rest of our lives, until the Planet is gone, until the stars themselves have gone out one by one, until time and life itself no longer exist. If I have my way, we will love each other forever."

"That's... better." Her cheeks were flushed again. "'If I have my way'... Beautiful... Yes, yes, much better." Vincent leaned in to kiss her. They brought their hands to brush against each other's cheeks ever so gently, and remained locked together for quite some time before he pulled away to continue.

"I love you, Yuffie Kisaragi. I love you more than any simile I could ever think of. No comparison could be enough. I love you. And I don't want to think about tomorrow."

"What do you want to think about?" She asked, grinning.

"I don't know... Nothing, at the moment."

"Good. Because the sun's going down, and I want those lungs. I wanna be 'desperately intimate'." He smiled at this and laced his fingers with hers.

"Show me how."

[ ~ One ~ Two ~ Three ~ Four ~ Five ~ Six ~ Seven ~ ]

[ And they lived, to some extent or another, happily ever after.

I want to thank anyone who reads this, once again. If you've read this entire story, it means a lot to me. Please feel free to tell me what you think, tell all your friends, etc. I don't know what I'm going to do with this blog now, if anything, but I have a few ideas... ]

[momantaichi-blog]

You’re the expert now, Mimi-san (part 1)

Koumi Week

Day 03: Switched Personalities

Word Count: 1390

Pairing: Koushiro Izumi & Mimi Tachikawa

Time Period:  Digimon Tri (Ketsui / Determination)  

[ Prologue: ]

This story is set before the School Festival, where Mimi proposes throwing an “American-style High School prom dance” to the planning committee.

The committee accepts it and the dance is going to be the night of the festival closure.

Part 1.

[ Girl talks through the school speaker ]

“To all students, attention:

For the closing event of this year’s School Festival, the planning committee is throwing a school dance.

The dance theme is going to be “Hollywood movies”

So hurry up, and ask someone to be your dance partner or you’re going to spend the night dancing alone.

That’s all the announcements, have a nice afternoon”.

 [ Two hours later ]

—Koushiro-kun!

Wake up!

Koushiro heard someone slapping his desk, and a girl’s voice.

 —KOUSHIRO-KUN!

Another noise was heard, but this time it was the noise of the curtains being opened. Koushiro opened his eyes too, with difficulty because of the sun light.

—Koushiro-kun! Why you didn’t come to school today?! We are partners at biology’s project, remember? — asked the girl with an angry expression.

—Mi…Mimi-san. — said Koushiro, still half asleep.

Koushiro was found asleep on his desk, inside the darkness of his office by Mimi.

—It’s been 3 days since the last day you came to school, Koushiro-kun.

I even asked Sora-chan and Taichi-san about you, but no one had idea of what happened to you. So I came to your office to see if you were okay… — explained Mimi.

—Mimi-san, how you entered to my office? — asked Koushiro, somehow angry.

 —I let her in, Koushiro-han. — said Tentomon, who was inside the TV Screen of the server that Koushiro made for protecting their Digimon partners.

 —Tentomon… — said Koushiro, almost smiling.

 —I was worried about you, Koushiro-kun. — said Mimi, grabbing her arm with the other one. —I’m sorry for entering to your office without permission.

Koushiro smiled.

 —It’s okay, Mimi-san, sorry for worrying you. But don’t think I forgot about our biology project. I finished it about 3 hours ago. I’ve already sent it to the professor e-mail. — said Koushiro, while turning his PC on.

 But then Mimi made an angry expression, and removed the cable from the electric plug and Koushiro’s PC went black.

 —MIMI-SAN! — yelled Koushiro, with a very angry expression.

 The Digimon were looking at them through the screen, uncomfortable.

 —You’re not listening to me, Koushiro-kun. Could you please ignore your stupid computer for a minute and pay attention to me? Could you? — said Mimi, with an expression that made all the Digimon afraid.

 Koushiro looked at Mimi with a blank expression, he was overwhelmed.

 —I know you’re working hard to find the reason of what causes the virus infection, and I know you try very hard, but you are forgetting about yourself, Koushiro-kun.

There are people who worry about you. I called at your home last night to see if you were there, but even your Mom didn’t knew where you’ve been.

You’re being selfish, Koushiro-kun, making everyone worry about you. You should think in other people’s feelings. — said Mimi, with a severe tone.

 Koushiro couldn’t articulate a word. He was speechless.

 Mimi plugged the PC back, and the screen lighted on.

 —I don’t care about the stupid biology project. It’s not important.

I care about you, Koushiro-kun.

We’re all a team, remember? You don’t have to do this all by yourself. You’re not alone. We’re all worried about the infection just as you do.

I want to help you. So let me in, let me help you. — said Mimi, almost crying.

 —Mimi-san…

Thank you. I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention worry all of you.

You’re right, it wasn’t nice from me. But… — Koushiro closed his fists… while trying to end his sentence.

 —But what, Koushiro-kun? — asked Mimi in a gentle way.

 —I’m overwhelmed by the situation.

I can’t find an explanation about what is causing this… We don’t have enough information. I can’t do anything like this. — confessed Koushiro, while sitting on his chair, looking at the window.

 —I think you need to distract yourself a little.

Get yourself away a couple of hours about this infection thing, Koushiro-kun. And I think I have the solution for this. — said Mimi, smiling.

[ The next day, after school ] 

—A SCHOOL DANCE!??? — screamed at the same time Taichi and Yamato, surprised.

Koushiro was sat on a bench, telling the situation to his friends, Taichi-san and Yamato-san.

—Yes, a school dance.

Mimi came by to my office yesterday, and she gave me the invitation. It’s Hollywood themed, so I have to go dressed up as a celebrity, or some movie character. — explained Koushiro.

 —That sounds boring. — said Taichi.

—And quite problematic — replied Yamato.

—And that’s not the worst part, I have to invite a girl to the dance, and actually dance with her. — said Koushiro, with a sad expression.

 Both Yamato and Taichi laughed very hard at Koushiro.

 —Koushiro, now you’re really screwed. — said Taichi, smiling and laughing at Koushiro.

 —You should be angry with Mimi for putting you into this. — said Yamato.

 —I don’t want to go to that dance, and especially I don’t want to dance or invite someone.

But Mimi is organizing it, so she would get upset with me if I don’t show up. —said Koushiro, while looking at the dance poster beside him.

 —Then you should invite her, Koushiro. — said Taichi, with an evil smile.

Koushiro blushed red hot and both Taichi and Yamato started to laugh.

 —I have to go, I have rehearsal with my band. — said Yamato.

—Me too, I have soccer practice, good luck with your Hollywood dance, Koushiro-kun — said Taichi, trying to do an impression of Mimi’s voice.

—I can’t help you neither, sorry. — said Sora.

—B-b-but, Sora-san, I really need your help this time! — begged Koushiro.

—You want me to help you with what?

With the part of the outfit you should wear to the dance? Or with the part of inviting Mimi to the dance? — said Sora, giving Koushiro an evil expression.

 Koushiro blushed, and he started sweating.

 —So-Sora-san! I, I’m not, me, I, I’m, Mimi-san, I mean, I’m not. — Koushiro tried to reply, but he failed.

 —Yamato told me about the dance, I think you should invite Mimi. Then you could dress up with her as a paring costume. You don’t have to think about the outfit. Just ask Mimi and she will come with something. — said Sora, walking away from Koushiro.

 —Bu-but, Sora-San… — said Koushiro, while watching Sora walking away.

 —If you keep hesitating, some other guy is going to invite Mimi. — screamed Sora, a few meters from Koushiro, waving her hand in goodbye.

—I think Sora-san is right, Koushiro-san. It’s easier to ask Mimi to go with you, I’m sure she will have a lot of ideas for both of you. Going to a school dance dressed up in a pairs costume is something that sounds like Mimi-san would love to do. — said Takeru, while drinking from his water bottle.

—But… Takeru-kun, what if she says “no”? What if she already has a pair for the school dance? I mean, she’s pretty, and she is in the planning committee. I think she already has someone to go with her. — said Koushiro, very anxious.

 —No, she doesn’t have anyone to go with. No one has invited her, Koushiro-san. — said Hikari, who was passing by, and listened to their conversation.

—Hikari-chan! — said both Koushiro and Takeru.

—I know from a very reliable source that Mimi doesn’t have pair for the dance. Don’t overthink, and just invite her, Koushiro-san. — said Hikari, in a gentle way.

[ Phone ringing]

“—Moshi moshi —Ah, Jou-san, sorry for bothering you —It’s okay, Koushiro, no problem, you needed something? —Uhmm, yes, I wanted advice from you, you see… you have a girlfriend now and I was wondering if… —it’s about the school dance? Mimi-kun already told me about it, she’s waiting for someone to invite her. —Jo-Jou-san… I wasn’t… —I think you should invite her, Koushiro. Anyways, I gotta go, I have lots of homework. See ya!”.

—What happened, Koushiro-han? — said Tentomon, flying next to Koushiro, inside his office. —Jou-san hung up the phone. — replied Koushiro, very disappointed. —Koushiro-han… — Tentomon talked to Koushiro, who was putting his jacket, while walking to the door. —I have to go, Tentomon. I need to do something. — said Koushiro, with a determined look. —Good luck with Mimi-han, Koushiro-han! — said Tentomon. —She’s going to say yes! I know it! — yelled Palmon, who was inside the TV screen.

All the Digimon looked at Koushiro, who blushed like crazy, hided his face and then left the office.

[To be continued]

<< Previous | Next >>

[h0bbitx3]

TV LIFE 2017.2.17 NEWS Crosstalk

TL: Your new song "EMMA" makes quite an impact, in regards to both the song itself and its dance.

Masuda: It follows the path of "Chankapaana." It's a song where you can feel the wide range of NEWS.

Koyama: When I heard that this unique song would be the opening theme of Shige's drama, I was a little surprised that a song this unusual was suitable.

Kato: That's true (lol). It's played when the actors are doing a "mannequin challenge" and surprisingly it fits well!

Koyama: That's good. I'm relieved (lol).

Tegoshi: Mannequin challenges are being done now, right. When I was in junior high school we used to do them for fun. With about ten friends we'd walk down the street and suddenly stop. And then everyone around us would be surprised.

Masuda: Of course they'd be.

Koyama: That's, yeah. But let's put that story aside for now (lol).

Tegoshi: Oh, we should talk about "EMMA" (lol). In 2016, following "Hikari no Shizuku" and "Koi o Shiranai Kimi e," we had 24 Hour Television. After showing ourselves as traditional idols, I think having this song is great.

Kato: There is quite a gap. But there's also the sense that this NEWS has come back again, and with its hard-boiled quality it's a song fitting the current NEWS.

Tegoshi: Maybe this is excessively self-conscious, but this is a song that no one other than NEWS could sing. I can't imagine another group singing this song.

Koyama: This stance of going on attack is NEWS.

TL: Masuda-san made the costumes, right. What points were you particular about or had trouble with?

Masuda: This time the producer had a clear idea in mind of the approach he wanted to take. Based on that, while listening to the demo song I thought about the themes I received: "jackets over bare chests," "manliness," and "hard-boiled." But the choreographer was planning on having us remove the jackets and swinging them around. If we were just wearing jackets we'd be dancing bare-chested the whole time! So I decided that we would wear shirts (lol).

Kato: I'm glad you realized that (lol).

Masuda: That's why I suggested let's dress with jackets worn by EMMA.

Koyama: The jackets we're wearing were made as women's items.

Tegoshi: Also there are moves where we treat the jackets as if they are EMMA.

Masuda: The dance moves are also really unique, and when we first performed it on the CDTV special we were actually rushing around a lot behind the scenes. We were learning the dance in between the rehearsal and on-air.

Kato: Yeah. Since we filmed the music video on the 30th and New Year's Eve, we didn't have time to memorize it.

Koyama: I hadn't been that nervous in a long time.

Kato: The hard-boiled worldview comes out strongly in the music video as well. I think it's turned out into a quite manly and smoky work.

Koyama: I think that the monochrome also makes a big impact. It's a pattern that we've never used before.

Tegoshi: The CD covers are also monochrome. The worldview is extremely thorough.

Masuda: Won't everyone finally be in their thirties this year. I'm somehow happy that amidst that our first single has this cool atmosphere.

TL: The coupling songs on the first-run edition B are new versions of "Sakura Girl" and "I・ZA・NA・I・ZU・KI."

Koyama: These are songs that both we and the fans love, and seasonal elements also contributed to choosing these two songs this time.

Tegoshi: When we perform them at concerts the reaction is big and we thought fans would be happy.

Kato: When we recorded them previously our ages were different, so our voices have also changed. With that meaning it felt fresh.

Masuda: While I was recording my parts I worried over what the correct way I should sing them now was. Rerecording songs that we've sung at concerts for a CD is difficult.

Kato: That's true. Maybe our ways of singing and techniques are better now, but we no longer have that freshness of youth. It makes you think about what is good about singing them at our current age.

Tegoshi: In the hook of "I・ZA・NA・I~" I harmonize at a high key and at the original time it was a little difficult for me as my voice had just finished changing, but now it comes out pretty easily. Maybe that part sounds better, but I think that the feeling of "trying hard" was also a part of its charm.

Koyama: You mean that your voice is higher now? That's pretty amazing (lol). But it's nice if people can feel the calmness that only adults have.

Masuda: Speaking of, I listened to the original song when I was recording and I felt that Tegoshi's voice had changed the most.

Tegoshi: Oh, really? Maybe that's true.

Kato: You had a cute voice (lol). Your voice had an innocence to it at that time.

Koyama: Along with the voice changes, as the fans age as well perhaps their ways of feeling the songs change.

Kato: And this is a chance for people who only know the current NEWS to learn about our older songs.

Koyama: If we can I'd like to continue this and increase the number of these songs.

Kato: But of course we wouldn't be able to do NEWS Nippon? (lol)

Masuda: True. The freshness would be tough!

TL: Do you have any memories relating to these two songs or episodes from that time period?

Masuda: I remember filming the "Sakura~" music video really well. They specially put up trees in a location where there was nothing at all.

Koyama: Yeah. But it was a really windy day.

Tegoshi: It was cold. And in the filming breaks we all gathered around a 1seg mobile phone and watched a figure skating competition.

Kato: That's right! There weren't smartphones yet, you can feel the era~.

Masuda: If you're talking about the era, "I・ZA・NA・I~" is a song from our first album, you know.

Tegoshi: I remember at our outdoor concert in 2012 a beautiful moon came out during this song.

Koyama: Outdoor concerts, that's nostalgic! Songs are seriously amazing. They make all kinds of things rush back like this.

TL: Well then, in conclusion everyone please share your recent happenings!

Kato: The first time we all got together in the new year was...

Masuda: The 5th. We had a rehearsal for Shonen Club Premium.

Tegoshi: How did you all spend New Year's?

Koyama: I had news every. from the 4th, so I spent three days with my family. On the last day I had sukiyaki at my grandparents' home and gave otoshidama to my niece and nephew. I did typical New Year's things.

Kato: I had filming for my drama from the 4th. I was sick briefly on New Year's, but I got better through spirit and went fishing on the 2nd (lol). About all else I did was memorize lines.

Tegoshi: I went to my family's home. On the 2nd I cheered on the Hakone Ekiden from the roadside.

Koyama: You move around from New Year's~ (lol).

Tegoshi: I'm the same as a tuna which dies when it stops moving (lol).

Masuda: I'm the complete opposite. I didn't do anything. I relaxed at home while eating mochi.

Kato: That's New Year's like in its own way.

Masuda: As for what's next, our tour begins in April so soon we'll start preparing.

Koyama: We're still at the very first stage now, getting ready for meetings.

Tegoshi: I wonder if we can't start rehearsal quickly~.

Kato: So hasty (lol).

Koyama: You do hate meetings (lol).

Tegoshi: I think that this time as well I'll play around by taking pictures of the staff during meetings (lol). But if they last too long I even get tired of that.

Masuda: I don't know what you're talking about! (lol)

Kato: It's okay because during that time I'll ignore Tegoshi magnificently and quickly continue on the meeting (lol).

Masuda: In a sense, it's a team play (lol)

Koyama: With this spirit we'll create a great tour this time as well, so please look forward to it (lol).

[lilietsblog]

sailor moon episode 24 (nephrite gets fucked over: THE FUCKSPLOSION)

SO BACK TO SAILOR MOON SAILOR MOON ...why are you spoiling the entire episode in the preview (maybe I wanted to hope it'll end differently this time ;~;)

its really cool how i can pause on frames of opening and read the hiragana part of the sentences

gomen is written in katakana for emphasis huh

apparently there's a kanji that's pronounced just 'i'

and a kanji that's pronounced just 'a'

omg i just noticed the kanji have small hiragana pronounciations above them!!! bless u subbers let's practice

...this resolution is not good enough for half the spelling symbols >_<

i've managed to catch the frame before the romaji subs appeared this time, but i feel like i'm cheating because i half remember the lyrics )=

welp i dont know how to tell small tsu from big tsu and confused 'te' with 'ta' -_-

okay this mistake doesnt count because i just couldnt make out the symbol and took a random stab at it >_>

tsuki no hikari ni michibikare

i just know this line by heart >_>

(im deleting most of the stuff i transcribed here w/e)

look the mistakes i made because i cant fucking make out the teeny tiny kanji transcription dont count >_>

WELL THIS HAS BEEN AWESOME IF I KEEP THIS UP I MIGHT EVEN LEARN SOME KATAKANA I REMEMBER 'N' ALREADY

oh hey the episode name is transcribed too! neato!

Naru-chan koukyuu Nephraito ai no shi!

(this was not transcribed in romaji so im legit proud of this! lets see how many mistakes I made) (nephrite was in katakana and i cant read that so i just kinda assumed XD)

goddammit goukyuu i did not notice the " mark ;~;

EVERYTHING ELSE IS CORRECT I CAN DO THIS

aw man this is the same playground, isn't it? no wait last time it was a swimming pool i think either way last time they were playing and now Naru just sits there well NOW she knows for a fact how badly in over her head she is doesn't she

and Usagi is just standing there worried queen <3

and still pushing her line about forgetting him heh even after her wish on the stars for him to not do bad things anymore wise child <3

man they are pulling out all stops with Tragic Naru here the voice, the sharp lighting on hair covering her eyes

ah hello fucker long time no see let's see what you are thinking about this now with your head slightly cooled

'Was that the energy of love?' and this smile omg

i bet he's really fucking tired of being the only shitennou without a romantic interest lol

ahaha and her laughing face before his eyes

they are totally trying to sell us on the whole 'he did fall for her' thing whatever actually, i dont even care for the age difference, the everything else difference is too bad

oh hey look at Nephrite being more observant than Naru sorry dude but secret identities dont work that way )= it just means that /Sailor Moon/ knows who Naru is not the other way round

hello Zoicite pissed at Nephrite stealing your job

'could ginzuishou be something inside a human body?' i don't know what circuitous path his logic took to this conclusion given that Naru is NOT the ginzuishou holder

surprisingly, it's possible to render looking into a girl's naked body in a non-pervy way wow who fucking knew

Naru did you know you are supposed to be more freaked out at a scary adult guy being in your room / in your window eh she knows >_>

ah the carefully measured dozes of truth best way of lying

'Thanks to you, I have learned what love is for the first time' (LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE)

'In the evil organization I have been a part of, there is no love' ...actually, if you define 'love' as 'mutual, non-manipulative, non-fucked-up' that might just be close to truth

I bet that for all that Nephrite is lying to her, the part about his grievance with the Dark Kingdom is real he just prioritizes his mission still

'I thought that was normal, but your love opened my eyes' ah here comes the carefully measured bullshit part again

(Naru is obviously buying this wholesale)

'Now I'm thinking I might want to join Sailor Moon to fight against the evil organization' see the bs tingler here is that if it's the lack of love and personal fulfillment that led him away, not any kind of moral reasoning, and Naru isn't a part of Sailor Moon's team, he wouldn't want to go back to the same fight, he'd just want to get away then again he does think Naru is a part of Sailor Moon's team I guess

man I wanna write a fic where he ends up doing just that, what he says here ;u;

'If you know anything about Sailor Moon, please tell me' and here comes the biggest bullshit tingler if he approached this in good faith, he wouldn't have asked Naru to betray Sailor Moon's confidence, he'd just ask her to relay a message, put them in contact, come up with some way to prove his loyalty this is bullshit that's measured specifically for a young girl who's not thinking straight

'Can you not trust me?' THE BIGGEST BULLSHIT TINGLER SHE CANNOT TRUST YOU AND YOU KNOW THAT VERY WELL

and he appears in a reflection neat visual trick, I do wonder where he is physically

ha he didn't even expect her to actually tell him, just to contact Sailor Moon I guess if Naru were /actually/ trusted with the secret, she WOULD be more careful

ahaha and now Zoicite is making the entirely wrong conclusion well okay maybe not entirely? idk it's definitely not the same kind of infatuation Naru has for him she arrested his imagination, sure he's tempted to reciprocate her care and accept her as his own, yes o well Zoicite ends up on top either way

I wonder what time it is, if Usagi's mom actually calls her to the phone and isn't just like 'fuck you it's midnight go to sleep' or is it just because it's Usagi's mom...

and Usagi is listening I wonder how much she can figure out of what's going on

USAGI TRANSFORM man she can run real well I love this girl she is all ready to kick anyone's ass now and like she called the youma to show itself BEFORE transforming badassest rabbit <3

ahaha and she immediately panics when Nephrite throws her off balance

PLEASE! DON'T TELL ANYBODY THAT I'M SAILOR MOON! OKAY?! PLEASE?!

oh my god what a wonderful rabbit <3

NEPHRITE GETS A WTF SWEAT DROP ON HIS GLOVE <333333333333333333

GIRL IM ABOUT TO KILL YOU WHY IS YOUR PRIORITY SECRET IDENTITIES

I DONT WANNA DIE

I love just how... earnestly Usagi engages with him she's ready to assume he's not an enemy she's ready to talk even after he confirms he is

OH HEY IS THIS TUXEDO KAMEN or is this plant youma >_>

aww yip it's Tuxedo <33

hey Tuxedo fought him already before in the tennis episode didn't he

man if Nephrite didn't get killed this ep Usagi would really be in troube

SARAMADA I wonder what exactly this is Japanese

'That idiot! Who cares what happens to that girl?!' says Nephrite after having aborted the fight with Sailor Moon to check on her, about to rush to her rescue XD

thats a smart way of tying Naru up, she really can't move

AND HERE HE IS SHOWING UP EVERYONE IS SURPRISED yeah girls you kind of want to run man why did Nephrite hold back against Sailor Moon so much he would really have killed the senshi if he had really tried >_>

'I may continue to lie to you, even after this' man this is the most honest thing Nephrite has ever said in his life ;~;

NARU WILL TAKE WHATEVER

OMG NEPHRITE'S EXPRESSION IF I HAD NOT PAUSED HERE I WOULD NOT HAVE CAUGHT IT PLEASE ENJOY

so is Nephrite's blood green or is it from the plant minions

NARU SWEETHEART IT'S REALLY REALLY NOT YOUR FAULT HE GOT HURT LIKE IN NO REALITY DO YOU OWE HIM ANYTHING AT ALL FOR BAILING YOU OUT OF A JAM HE GOT YOU HIMSELF

awww and the symbolic Taking Off The Jacket it's somewhere around now that the decision to Prioritize Naru is solidifying in his head

aw Naru your pyjamas )= (my priorities remain excellent as ever)

...okay so maybe Nephrite is kidna handsome >_> more here than last episode

ehehe Naru can tell when he's lying <3

man she's just so comfortable settling there on the grass she's so happy to be sitting there ;~;

'Oh, come to think of it, does the evil organization give you Sundays off, too?' oh this line not only is it hilarious, but it also indicates that Naru figured out he was playing her she knows he's not actually leaving the evil organization for real and takes it for granted that he also understands that he knows too cute ;u;

and obviously the attack is going to come while they are laughing because that was the emotional climax of that scene and it's time to switch over now >_>

yup that's what happens

Nephrite did you know you could push away Naru without putting yourself in the way of the attack o well split-second reactions

NIGERO NARU BAKA NIGERUNJA

nope shes going to stay and be a hero because that's who Naru is AND SHE DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER

AND NEPHRITE IS JUST TRYING TO CONVINCE HER THAT'S ENOUGH IT'S OKAY HE'S SO GOOD AT EMOTIONS

and she does the impossible... to bad that's not enough

...yeah I'm pretty sure at this point that it's Nephrite's blood that's green, as little sense as it makes with his skintone

OKAY ZOICITE GOT THE KUROZUISHOU CAN YOU FUCK OFF AND LET NEPHRITE LIVE NOW JUST A SUGGESTION

goddammit this is stupid why am I rooting for the fucker so hard again >_>

welp this is the most terrifying moment for Naru TIME FOR THE SENSHI TO APPEAR

but before that, again "Run!" "No!" Naru...

USAGI WITH THE TEAM THANK YOU

"YOU ARE REALLY MEAN, TRYING TO INTERFERE WITH TWO PEOPLE IN LOVE!" says Usagi, after several days spent trying to dissuade Naru I love this rabbit "so I contradict myself, what of it: I am large, I contain multitudes" <3

OMG AND THE GIRLS ARE JOINING IN WITH THEIR OWN RIDICULOUS SLOGANS

STAND UNDER A COLD WATERFALL AND REFLECT ON YOUR CONDUCT ONLY YOU CAN MAKE THIS SOUND BADASS AMI

IN THE NAME OF THE MARS I WILL CHASTISE YOU REI THATS LIKE USAGIS LINE ONLY SLIGHTLY LESS COOL YOU BEAUTIFUL DORK YOU

dear plant youma HAVE YOU NOT LEARNED YOUR LESSON YET IF YOU ENCOUNTER THE SENSHI YOU FUCKING RUN

thank you Ami for your beautiful and universal battlefield control capabilities <3

And Rei/Usagi combo attack <3

the three of them really ahve this figured out <3

awww <3

"Sailor Moon?" "Hai?" and she steps forward, too she's very open to this "No, please don't die!" (well Usagi you did ask the stars for him to never do anything bad again...) (this is the time for MOON HEALING POWER im just saying) (too bad you dont know about that yet)

oh Naru )=

man this is a beautiful scene tho

and the only part of him that physically exists is Naru's pyjamas bandage )=

oh hey ending hiragana practice time!

oh god I confused to and ta this time urgh ...and tsu and shi i am Ashamed

and here it's that rule where 'ha' is actually 'wa' that i dont remember >_>

AND NOW IT'S KE AND KU SHAME ON ME

TSU AND SHI THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS

ugh confusing o and a i knew this moment would come >_>

WELL OVERALL THIS WAS A SUCCESS ANYWAY