#hiyori's story had no romance so far

[yume-fanfare]

yeah!

the idol series plotline was solved more or less well (personally i didnt like it at all everyone but hiyori was So Annoying to me) but because they had the novels to refer to

and the love series plotline was messy because like 85% of it was anime original

the asuka retcon was a mess because yeah, the point of her crush on asuka was that she projected her ideal prince dream on a random retail worker she met once, and the rejection was an important part to her development that she simply could not have in the anime. i don't think there was a way to have an asuka placeholder, really, introducing a new character for that would have been even worse if you look at the big picture. it is an interesting change to see hiyori doing the rejection rather than being rejected, and it has a completely different meaning than the original, but this is something that can be properly developed more in the mvs. it's just a completely different story.

the whole makeover bit in the anime also feels much different because. in the anime it happened because she felt like she wasn't cute enough because nagisa had judged her in the past ? and i do not like the sound of that at all

but in the end? i think it's not that deep, it's just the anime after all

let's see how it gets shown in the mvs because it can't exactly happen like that, and they did have some nice moments

and mona. she really was just there for viewer fanservice to make people go OMG MONA!!! and her character didn't have too much importance beyond being a cute cool girl. and yeah they could have made them to be closer friends but that would have been much more 100% anime original made up and? i do not trust them to write a good plotline about mona's issues on their own, and i don't think there was time to flesh her out more either. what did happen wasn't too good but a cheerful friendship between girls isn't too bad. if hiyori and mona ever become friends in the actual mv canon though, it'll probably be better than that

honestly, at some points the anime felt like episode 13 of an anime where they cameo a couple of characters that are too well-designed to be extras but that never get to have much spotlight because it is a tease on a future series. except that for now there is no future series so (shrugs)

tbh i understand that it's not like herotaru could've fully portrayed mona's depth as a character because it is not her anime. it's for hiyori and friends, and so far her and mona haven't actually even met in canon, she was mostly there as a treat to the viewers (and a Lot of people were happy to see her). maybe there were better ways of handling her, but there were other characters more important to hiyori's story that needed the development

all of the haniwa characters have their fleshed out stories but it is not always their moment to be told

[sw33tinferno]

ALRIGHT. I'm throwing this wild-ass crack theory out there:

Ready for the insane logic leading up to the stupidity? Ok cool.

We know that Toki had the power to send herself and other people through time and that she had a (as of yet, unknown) passionate desire to get to Wano.

And we know that Zoro has something to do with Wano (Oda mentioned in an SBS about "Zoro's lineage" and then cut himself off - classic Oda. . .)

The running gag for everyone's favorite swordsman (and, in fact one of the oldest running gags in the series) is that he's always getting lost, right? He has absolutely no idea where he is at any given time. Well. . . .

What if Zoro is LOST IN TIME?

Here's my hallucination:

Zoro and Toki were siblings and as a child, Toki accidentally sent her brother 800+ years into the future. Perhaps she had previously only had the power to send people ahead by a few minutes or so, therefore he wouldn't have considered how far into the future he was. He doesn't know where the hell he is, because the world likely has changed quite a bit in the last several CENTURIES. What if Toki's prediction about the nine red Scabbards wasn't about Kin'emon and pals (who have actually numbered more than nine), but about Zoro? Actual scabbards hold what exactly? Swords. Who can fight with nine swords at once? F*CKING ASURA ZORO THAT'S WHO.

Zoro had also gotten lost while on the way to the castle with Luffy, thus he was absent when the gang first found out about Kin'emon and company's time travel adventure and wouldn't have heard anyone mention Toki. That story was the only time she had been mentioned by name around the Straw Hats. We never saw him filled in on the story in either the manga or the anime, even after the Straw Hats had reconvened with the Scabbards. And there's precedent in the series for Zoro (and Luffy for that matter) not bothering to be filled in on the reason behind why they are fighting. He often simply knows there's an enemy to fight and takes it from there.

I think it would also tie in nicely with the few moments he's had with Momonoske, wherein the latter seems to truly admire the swordsman. Not to mention one of Zoro's first (non comedic) character rich moments in the new world was the double spread page where he declared to Kin'emon that he would help him rescue Momonoske.

And despite a fair few folks who ship Zoro and Hiyori, there hasn't been any actual 'romance' between the two; yeah, she curled up to him while he was sleeping, but I think it was played more as a gag than anything else (it certainly fits Oda's sense of humor).

I dunno. I've had this crackhead theory bouncing around in my head for about a year now, but finally seeing Toki in color gave me the mad desire to actually write the damn thing out.

[caliwashere]

TGKDN Part 1 (aka the JJK 0 Timeline) Thoughts & Spoilers

It’s been a ride and now I can’t wait for the JJK timeline to start. I’ll be covering chapters 23-30 of TGKDN in two other posts (separated). This is just my overall thoughts of part 1 aka the first half of book 1 of TGKDN

context: TGKDN is a jjkxoc (additional add-ons: dad!gojoxoc, yutaxoc, megumixoc) fic called Tsuki Ga Kirei Desu Ne. It’s linked in my bio in case anyone wants to read it. I don’t own TGKDN or take credit for the story/OCs! I’m just a fan!

i heavily recommend those who haven’t read TGKDN to read it. it’s made me cry from the angst chapters to scream into my pillow at 4am from adorable romance (fluff) moments. i personally don’t have anything i can say i dislike about it and the grammar/spelling + sequecing of events is good too like actual novel-worthy 

spoilers below ⬇️

-first and foremost, round of applause for the author for writing possibly one of the best JJK fanfics (my personal opinion) out there that has a character (Hiyori but again she can be seen as self-insert aka Y/N if you want) with actual depth 

-they’ve (the characters) come so far and this part was only supposed to be the introduction of Hiyori’s character

- I can’t wait to see how she’s going to do in the JJK timeline especially with the later arcs (Shibuya and Culling Games) and there are so many unanswered questions left like where her sister is, what exactly happened in her past to get her the title of the literal GRIM REAPER of curses, and who kazuha is

- i want to see more hiyori and her adoptive family content along with her and her relationship with the other first-years (ig second-years now?) since most of this first half of book 1 has been told in yuta’s pov 

- it’s quite obvious that hiyori has had a major impact in yuta’s life since the very beginning when he first met her at the playground so long ago but there’s been something bugging me about their first encounter

- why did the author write that? she could’ve easily written the rest of the story without yuta and hiyori having met during their childhood. i feel like there has to be a bigger reason why and no i don’t think it’s because she wanted to sell the first love trope (she seems to be the type to plan things out because there are a lot of small details that end up having completely different meanings like Hiyori’s white ribbon or her briefly mentioned dislike of orchids EVEN hiyori’s favorite food aka curry udon has a deep meaning to it)

- going off of this, kazuha definitely has played a fundamental role in shaping hiyori into the person she is now the same way rika shaped yuta to become who he was (shy PTSD-ridden boy)

- the difference between kazuha and rika is that rika’s relationship with yuta was blatantly unhealthy and toxic (let’s be honest, after her character profile, we all know rika’s far from an innocent little girl in fact she’s kind of a walking red flag) while kazuha’s relationship was healthy though it ended on a bad note based on hiyori’s words during chapter 27 about freeing him 

- he’s definitely one of the characters i’m most excited to see fleshed out during the JJK timeline since i have a feeling the author will replace gojo’s past arc with hiyori’s past arc since that seems most befitting

- after reading rika’s character profile, reading the “Rika’s Love” chapter again has made me take rika’s inner thoughts/pov in a whole different way

-i thought it was kind of cute that rika loved hiyori because of how nice hiyori was to her but if you really think about it, that’s terrifying because rika’s character profile has revealed that her form of love is toxic

- rika literally wanted yuta all to herself. she was extremely possessive (even before being cursed) and she’s manipulative (something gege said so himself). she strikes as the type to want to control what’s hers and gives me sociopathic/psychopathic tendencies. her entire character profile was like a big red flag

-now imagine if rika had stayed cursed and how dangerous this would’ve been for not just yuta anymore but hiyori as well because even in “Rika’s Love”, Rika literally tried to attack Kazuha’s ghost 

- the author’s way of writing “Rika’s Love” really changes depending on who the viewer is...to ppl who don’t know about Rika’s character profile, it’s sweet, but those who do know how terrifying it is

-im just glad rika is gone now and the author wrapped up that goodbye chapter in a tasteful way

- anyways moving on...

-im so glad hiyori and yuta are finally dating ( I HAVE WAITED FAR TOO LONG)

- THE CONFESSION WAS SO CUTE

- MY HEARTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

- THEIR LITTLE DATE BEFOREHAND WAS WHOLESOME TOO

- ALL THE TEARS I SHED WERE WORTH THAT CHAPTER

- i need more maki x hiyori content tho (sorry yuta but not rlly)

[hamliet]

Which anime/manga, in your opinion, has the best female characters and which is the worst?

I'm not really great on comparing based on this, because it's hard to say exactly. My standards are just to treat the female characters like actual characters with rich internal worlds, motivations, internal conflict, etc.

SnK does this really well with Mikasa and Annie and Gabi, and for half of it with Historia and Ymir, but the other half relies on some very, very extreme sexism for the latter two.

HxH has few female characters of prominence especially in its early arcs where they're essentially nonexistent, but once it does include them, it does give them some really complex arcs and does it beautifully (Palm, Biscuit, Oito, Komugi, etc.)

Monster has less female characters of import, but Nina is pretty great.

Tokyo Ghoul started off excellently, with fantastic female characters from Touka to Hinami to Hairu to Akira to Karren, but by the latter half of :re this took on some very sexist tropes as well; the one difference here to SnK is that the entire story's writing kinda went downhill, whereas in SnK it was really just that one plotline. How this affects any sort of ranking is up to you though.

Noragami has good female characters with Nora, Hiyori, and Bishamonten, although it definitely draws them in some very fanservicey ways.

BNHA has potential with its female characters, particularly Momo, Toga, Fuyumi, and Ochaco, but with the exception of Toga, they are all irrelevant to the main plot, mostly the same body type, and don't actually get much focus.

Naruto treats Sakura as a love interest but doesn't actually give her a satisfying on-screen resolution to this, but Lady Tsubone and Hinata are much better done.

JJK gives its female characters cool fights and no romance, but unfortunately that doesn't mean they have rich internal worlds or that they're strong characters in any way other than physical. "No romance" is different, but can itself be seen as a reactionary sexist trope ("ew, romance is for girls"). The female characters are also not important for the main plot (look Nobara's absence has had 0 impact, and the ending for the other three is very obvious buts hers is "who knows, who cares"). Maki and Mai had good arcs, but the latest chapter shot them both in the kneecaps and fridged one, so I retain my one ranking opinion that JJK is actually pretty tied with Naruto here.

Assassination Classroom... Kaede was a long waiting game and Irina was used for fanservice, even if Irina does have a really nice arc. The others weren't really as relevant.

Bungou Stray Dogs has less female characters than the males, but almost all of them have really complex internal worlds. Kyouka is fantastic, Higuchi seems like a play on the "Sakura" type but with internal complexity, Gin's injury was not used to build her brother's arc like even I thought it would be, Kouyou and Yosano each have complex arcs as well that have tied into the main plot. Lucy has as well, and so has Louisa. The only kind of useless one so far is Margaret, but there are more male characters who have been kind of useless (Mark Twain), so it's not a huge deal. Naomi also seems like creepy fanservice, but the manga hints (and the novels are even more explicit about this) that something is up with her that will be revealed later on.

[strawberrypiratenin]

Kanzashi (Ornamental Hair Pin)

Disclaimer: One piece owned by Oda. If I owned it, wouldn't really change a thing other than it would be updated faster and ASL bros will forever be protected. This is my take on Nami’s Onigashima raid attire from ch 975 in the manga, and my first ever fic.

This is also posted on my ff.net account by the same username if some people use that site :)

Word count: 3k+

Rating: T (for a tiny tiny coarse (?) language, but mostly K)

Genre: Romance, Friendship, Humor, Just pure fluff... i think.

Pairing: Zoro/ Nami

Note: Italicized words in ' ' are thoughts. The part where everything was italicized was a recollection of the past.

* * *

He extended his right hand once again. Tightening his grip on his new sword. That feeling of sucking his ryuuou is no more. The crows nest is also still intact, testament to his now control on this 'cursed' sword. As he moved to place his sword on its scabbard by his waist, he felt something shift in his haramaki. And stuck his hand in to take out the offending object.

'Oh.'

He thought, staring into the dainty object on his calloused hand.

* * * * *

A few days earlier…

"Momo was sent 20 years into the future… and stayed 8 years old. And that's why his younger sister is 26 now…" Zoro said recalling the perverted brat's face.

'That would mean that brat should technically be 28 by now!' He thought, his frown deepening as he remembered how that pervert snuggled into a certain navigator's chest.

He tried to shake off the disturbing thought of a fully grown man with his face on Nami's chest as he listened to rest of Hiyori's story.

* * *

Zoro tried to rest after his conversation with Hiyori, but can't seem to take off his good eye from the girl's head. Noting the bright color of her hair, he can't help but think of another troublesome girl with bright colored hair. How that hair was so short when he first met her, and how long it has gotten when the whole crew got back together after 2 years of being separated. He never seemed to remember if said girl ever adorned her hair with such trinkets as that on this girl's hair. Sure she would sometimes tie it up, or put in a 'pig tail' as they call it, but never with such decorations. Save for that time in Zou, with that beaded thing draped on her hair and shoulder… and that… dress. Noticing where his thoughts were dangerously heading, with his face almost scowling, he steeled himself to look at the blue haired girl's head once again, staring at the ornament placed on top of it.

"Beautiful." He thought. He was never one to be interested into such things. He's not that damned love cook after all. But for some reason his eye seem to fixate itself on that ornament. And no, it has nothing to do with how he imagined it adorning a certain orange head. At least that's what he kept telling himself.

"Eeeh!" His thoughts were broken by the sound of the older girl accompanying him and a tiny laugh from the younger one. Shifting his gaze to her face, he noted she was holding her palms to her cheeks in apparent shock, and… flattery?

'Wait. Did I say that out loud?' The swordsman frowned.

'No sense to keeping it to myself then', he sighed as he sat up.

"OI, where do you get those things?"

"Huh? I mean… pardon?" The girl said, obviously not expecting what he said and losing her 'lady like' manners for a moment.

"That thing. On your hair. That flowery thing? Where can I get one of those?"

The girl stared at him for a moment then brought her hand up to one of the ornaments on her hair. "You mean this kanzashi?"

He nodded. Not really bothering what it's called.

"Well I have a lot of these back at the flower capital, being an oiran and all. You can buy them there too, but they come at a price." She said, bringing up her index finger to her lips as though in thought. "Why? Are you interested in getting one Zorojuro?"

Zoro frowned, 'back at the flower capital? And with a price?' His frown deepening. 'So much for hoping to maybe get one.' With the witch always seeming to find ways to rack up his debt, he never seemed to have money on his person. 'Heh, see what you get for being money hungry, witch? Can't even give you something nice even if I wanted to.' He thought with an almost smirk then caught himself. 'Why the hell am I even bothering to get something for her anyway?' His almost smirk turning into an irritated frown as he scratched the back of his head.

The older girl observed as the swordsman changed facial expressions as if having a conversation with himself. "Zorojuro, if you want I can give you one. I have one still with me after all, they seem to put a lot on my head and had to remove some when I left. They tend to be uncomfortable after all when there's a lot." She said with a smile.

"Really? That would be great thanks!" He said eyeing her.

"Of course. It's the least I can do. You saved us after all." The older girl smiled, thinking it weird why a man would want a Kanzashi. 'Could other men be wearing this outside of Wano?' She thought. As far as her memory serves her, no men on the ship they were on back when she was very young had such thing on their heads. She even tried picturing a certain pineapple headed boy with a floral kanzashi on his head but quickly pushed the thought out as it looked really weird. 'Unless…' She laughed softly as she thought of the other reason why a man would want a beautiful ornament.

'That witch's luck never seem to run out after all huh?' He thought. Then he heard soft giggling from his two companions and grumpily tried to get back to taking a nap.

* * * * *

Back at the sunny, present day…

"Luffy you can't put that there! It's not gonna fit! I'm not going to tend to that after you ruin it over something so dumb." Nami scolded their ever so childish captain as she found him, along with Chopper and Usopp in front of the women's quarters. The boys were trying out the Samurai gear for their upcoming battle and Luffy was trying to put a helmet on top of his strawhat.

"Eh! But Nami! I need to look cool for battle too! I mean look at them!" He gestured to the other two Strawhats who were busy gushing over their attire with Chopper in a Samurai Helmet and Usopp in an armor and a forehead protector.

Nami sighed. "Well you have to choose just one! Either your hat or the helmet."

"Wha- No Nami! I have to wear my Hat!" The rubber boy said, as if what she said was just impossible.

Nami felt a vein popping on her temple. "Then don't wear the helmet! Why don't you just wear the armor? That way you will still look, uh, 'cool'."

"No way!" the stubborn captain said with a pout. "I won't be able to stretch freely with that!"

Nami sighed heavily, this boy won't drop this until he's satisfied he's wearing something 'cool'.

It was then that she remembered something. "Wait here." She ordered her captain as if ordering a child and went inside the women's quarters.

* * *

After a few minutes, she emerged from the room, relieved to find that Luffy actually stayed put instead of trying to find some kind of way to both wear his hat and the damn helmet. The other two boys with him have now run off to admire Franky who is also now, in a samurai helmet.

"Will this make you look cool?" She said as she handed him a black coat. She can't really remember when she got the garment but does recall thinking it looked fitting for a captain.

Luffy eyed the coat, seeming unconvinced that it would actually make him look cool. But as he grabbed and unfolded it, a grin slowly crept up his face. "Hey this looks like the one Shanks wore!" He said as he eagerly put the coat on. "Ooooh! You're right, this does look cool! Thanks Nami!"

Nami smiled back, glad to have pleased their stubborn Captain.

"Here, now you can have this! Shishishishi!" The boy excitedly pushed the samurai helmet and armor towards her.

"Ehh! I'm not gonna wear that! That would just cover my beautiful body!" The navigator protested as she hugged her curves. "And I won't be caught dead looking so ridiculous!" She barked at Luffy. But then a thought came to her… she does need to protect her 'beautiful' body after all, maybe it won't be so bad to try at least the armor? So she did.

"Oooh! Looks cool Nami!" Luffy effusively praised.

"You think so captain?" Nami smiled as she can't help but to be enthused as well. The armor doesn't look bad, it actually even hugged her figure. "Guess I'll wear it after all", she said smiling at her captain.

"Now the helmet!"

"Wha-?!" Nami's smile immediately dropped as she tried to fend off Luffy's hands as he tried to put the helmet on her head himself.

"No way am I going to wear that!" She screeched as her hand connected to her captain's head fast.

"No cool, Nami." Luffy pouted as he nursed the now enlarging bump on his head.

"You're all 'cool' now captain. Now go bother someone else!"

She sighed as she watched her captain run off laughing towards the rest of the Strawhats who were gushing over their new battle gear.

* * * * *

Inside the women's quarters, Nami adjusted the armor on her body as she inspected herself on the mirror. 'Now what to do with my hair? Keep it up maybe?' she thought.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." She shouted, not really paying mind to whoever was knocking as she started to gather her hair.

* * * 

On the other side of the door, a certain moss haired swordsman tried to maintain a straight face, not really sure what he's doing knocking on the women's quarters.

"Come in." He heard her say.

He sighed and went in, thinking what he's doing is not weird.

No, not weird at all for him. He tried to convince himself.

* * * 

"Hey."

"Hm?" Nami turned her gaze towards the door as the person she was least expecting to come over to the women's quarters walked in.

Zoro's gaze ran over the other occupant of the room. Noting the short…uh, kimono (?) dress and the armor on top of it. Can you really call something so short a Kimono? Never mind, he need not to boggle his mind over women's clothing anyway. Nothing new with her and seemingly shrunk clothes after all. Not like he disliked it but that's not saying he's obsessed with it like a certain perverted dartboard brow. It does looked good on her though, anything probably will. 'Wait what?' He caught himself with that thought. He shrugged the offensive thought and distracted himself with the armor instead, now that's new.

Nami watched as Zoro walked towards her. As he closed in on her, she decided to break the silence.

"What?"

He stood in front of her and frowned slightly with his gaze stuck on the navigator.

"Zo-" She was about to say, as she noted his gaze, the slight frown, and how he seemed to be in some kind of deep thought but was cut off by one of his hands suddenly being held towards her.

She looked at said hand then shifted her gaze toward his face. "Uhh… huh?"

Seemingly embarrassed, he looked away then opened the hand extended towards her.

Still confused, her gaze was back to his hand and was surprised to see a flowery ornament there. She paused, trying to grasp what's going on.

"Wha-?"

"Just take it." He said as his gaze shifted towards her face for a quick moment then away from her again as he tried to look annoyed.

'What's with him?' She thought as he observed him. This is the second time he cut her off in the few minutes he's been in the room. If this was any other situation, she would've nagged at him already, but... there is something different here, she felt.

"Uhm… okay?" She gently took the ornament from his hand all the while suspiciously eyeing him. He then immediately retracted his hand after.

Bringing the ornament closer to her face, she inspected it with interest with the fingers of her other hand. It's a hair ornament. She noted. A flower, with petals dangling below it. 'And it's pretty, no, it's beautiful. It looks expensive too. Wait, is Zoro… giving this to me?' Her cheeks seeming to heat up as she mulled on the idea.

She looked at him, a smile helplessly growing on her lips. "It's pretty! Where did you get it?"

Hearing her cheerful tone, his gaze was drawn back to her and was taken aback when he was greeted by a smile.

"Eh?" His previously 'annoyed' face softening. "Uh... some girl?" He replied.

"Some… girl?' Her eyes narrowing on him. "What girl?" Oh she's really curious now, not really sure why it mattered who this girl he got this ornament he's giving her from is.

"The girl with the blue hair, that pervert brat's sister." He answered coolly.

"Oh, that girl." She said in a soft voice. 'He got this from the most beautiful girl in Wano? Why? And… how?' The idea unknowingly consuming her thoughts as she tried to wrap her head around how Zoro ended up giving her such a beautiful hair ornament from the 'most beautiful girl' in the current country that they're in.

He can see as the gears on Nami's head start to be turning now and continued to observe her face as she seemed to be lost on her thoughts.

A good few seconds passed and he decided to end this slightly awkward moment. 'Look at me for once finally shutting up the ever so loud witch now', he snorted inwardly.

Then he sighed. "Just-"

She was broken from her trance as she looked up to meet his eye.

"Just thought it might look good on you." He declared, easily.

She stared at him for a while, noting his relaxed, earnest face. 'Did he just say?-'

Seeing the gears on her head turn again, he realized what he just admitted. Lone eye suddenly enlarging. If his left eye could, it probably would too.

Her mouth opened, about to speak, when he beat her to it.

"W- witch! I meant you might like it! The hell I care what looks good on you!" He said hurriedly, a little loudly, and almost choking. Then he gritted his teeth. 'Not that anything would look bad on her anyway' some invasive voice muttered in his mind, startling him. 'The heck was that?!' He thought, mentally kicking himself.

Amber eyes enlarged. Caught off guard. Boy was she caught off guard by that. She refocused her gaze on him, noticing the inner struggle he seem to be now in. Turning her gaze on the object on her hand, the very thing that brought this situation upon them, a smile once again began to blossom on the navigator's lips. 'It IS really pretty' she admitted to herself, with a slight blush powdering her cheeks and that smile she no longer can seem to fight off from reaching her eyes.

"Thank you, Zoro."

The swordsman halted his inner struggle and met her eyes. Now it's his turn to be caught off guard.

She's smiling. Not the mischievous trademark cat thief smile. But that smile. That smile he didn’t know until now he really liked seeing. That smile she has whenever they succeeded fighting off a great enemy. That smile she had when they all got back together on the Sunny after 2 years of being apart. That bright, genuine smile that sometimes makes you forget it's the same girl that can rob blind anyone she wanted or hit you in the head so hard that bumps would grow ON TOP of bumps. Not that he would have her other way, truthfully.

The swordsman's lips can't help but turn ever so slightly upwards. "Ah."

He can't tell how long they were smiling at each other like that. But he can't say he didn't like this moment of change from their usual banter. Not that he would really deny liking those too, at least to himself, but not to others. 

Unsure of what to say next, now satisfied with his 'mission', he turned to leave.

As he turned his back, the navigator brought up the ornament to admire it further. 'He really thought to give me this huh?' Their resident, lazy ass, always napping, can't find his way out of a box, swordsman. 'Turns out he's not just all, steel, muscle, and devilishly handsome face after all." Her face about to break into a grin once more. 'Wait. Handsome face?' She blinked. Her face now again starting to heat up. 'Wait no! This is Zoro we're talking about! Why am I suddenly like this?' She silently gasped, wide eyed, her other hand resting on her cheek while the other still grasped the hair ornament.

Zoro was about to push the door open when she suddenly spoke.

"But hey! Don't go thinking this means your debt will be reduced!"

He cringed, one hand resting on his swords, the other still plastered to the door knob. So much for thinking they actually had a nice moment there. He sighed, turning to look back at her, a scowl starting to form on his face.

"… s- so don't go injuring yourself or even getting yourself killed out there! Or I'll have to electrocute you back to life and drag you back from hell to make sure you can pay me back!" She blurted looking a bit flustered.

"Tsk." He said, bringing a finger to his ear. "Yeah yeah, not like you can drag me back from hell anyway. I'll be the one dragging you down there after all." His previous almost scowl now an amused- trying to look annoyed look.

Her hands are now on her hips as she puffed her cheek and stared at him.

… "So make sure you don't go down there on your own just yet, witch." He said staring directly into her eyes, now smirking. He then proceeded to turn and walk out the door and was about to close it behind him but not without hearing a sigh and the word "idiot".

* * * * *

Once alone in the room, Nami looked at the ornament in her hand once again. 'Well that was… nice', she thought, a soft chuckle escaping her.

"Guess I won't be putting my hair up after all."

** End.**

.

.

.

Bonus:

With her new hair ornament now fixed near her right temple, Nami headed out the women's quarters. Shutting the door on her back, she noticed the samurai helmet their captain previously tried to put on her head. 'See if I had that on, I won't be able to wear this.' She sighed with a smile as she tucked her hair on her right ear.

A sudden thought hit her then. 'What if…' She held out her climatact. 'He would be really helpful, might as well have him fit the theme'.

"Oh Zeus~"

"Woooh! The inside of your tact really is the best!" a delighted cloud exclaimed.

"Hmm, I wonder if it will work? Hey Zeus, I was thinking, how 'bout we replace that cap with this?" Nami suggested as she picked up the helmet on the ground.

"Huh?" The cloud said, curious but complying after remembering how her new 'master' can be when ticked off. "Okay I guess…", the cloud said as he lowered his position to allow the girl to put the helmet on his head.

"Oh, not bad after all!" The navigator commented, cheerily.

'Someone’s in a good mood.' The cloud thought looking at his new 'master' and smiling himself as he looked up at his new hat.

"Hey, the cloud is now looking cool too! Shishishishi." An amused laugh can now be heard from across the deck, followed by the cheer of a certain Tanuki, 'Almighty God Usopp' who once lead and entire army of samurais back in one of his adventures, and a 'superRR cool' robot samurai.

* * * * *

There you go. My first ever fic. Wow the last time I actually wrote a story was maybe a little more than 10 years ago? I was but an awkward teen back then. Now I'm but an awkward adult.

Just had to headcanon this after chap. 975 came out. Was lying in bed at 1 am and just thought ‘hey what if?...’. So here I am, trying to be productive by putting my daydreams into writing.

Hope you like this. If not, then it's cool too. :)

[hirako5hinji]

To think that one day, resident gremlin, Sarugaki Hiyori would ever make something as gooey and fwippy as chocolate. Not just any chocolate, but honmei chocolate. Melted and swished and flavoured with all her dumbass feelings. Well… no. Her feelings were not dumb. The year was still young and so was their romance. Chocolate and romance. She furrowed her brows, glancing at the arrangement of dark chocolate that she had made for Shinji. Unlike her batches of melted chocolate and strawberries, this one was different because it was a little richer in flavour and less sweeter. But Shinji preferred the slight bitterness that came from the darker variety of chocolate.

Hiyori wondered if he enjoyed bitter flavours where most of his life was now concerned. But, she did not mind. If his odd tastes did not extend to her, she wouldn’t even be here, folding melted reams of chocolate for her fiance. To think that this is how far they had come and yet- - Shinji could remain sweeter than anything she ever made.

It was the first time Shinji had made a selfish request of Hiyori. Shinji wasn’t selfish - not in the way she could be- and so she had finally relented and agreed to make the honmei chocolate for him. Only him.

How many years had gone by - this date included- where neither were aware of each other’s feelings? They had never been inclined to make a move before, that is until last summer. And even then, Shinji had been sweet and kind and patient towards her usual bitterness.

Perhaps he would… like this?‌

Hiyori stared at her creation of chocolate triangles, finally setting and flavoured with a hint of coffee before scattering little, pink, rose petals across the top as decoration. She hoped he would (?). She had never made anything pretty for him.

She had delivered all the chocolate that she could in the living world before heading to the senkaimon. Not before picking up the remaining batch of chocolate-coated strawberries for her friends in  Soul Society. The girl had decided that it wouldn’t be long until Shinji finished his duties for the night.

She had only sent him a simple, clinical-sounding text:‌ I’ll see you tonight, and was now inside the safe confines of his office/residence.

Hiyori had also brought a small meal with them and began setting up a small variety of Shinji’s favoured dishes and placing cutlery beside it. Chopsticks in their holders, plates beside a jug of water and of course, chocolate covered in roses… made her feel a little more than self-conscious.

“Gonna be properly romanced this baldy. Tch…. now where the fuck are those candles? Ughh… I’ll just use kidou flames. Or… total darkness ain’t too bad.”

No. It wasn’t. After all, she had another surprise for him underneath all the layers of food and propriety. Something Shinji had suspected that she would never be game for. But now was a good time as any. 

And inside it all - despite her moaning and groaning about the whole thing… she was looking forward to Shinji’s reaction. It had been annoying, yes… all this effort for such piddly items- but the very wild and delightful idea that Shinji would be grinning that Shinji grin of his when he saw the lengths she had gone to - -it kept her humming a terribly off-key tune all evening.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

         The day started out like any other day. There was paperwork to look into, training to oversee, the usual duties- yet today was special. The entire Gobantai was filled with an excited, buzzing energy, and to no one’s surprise. It was Valentine’s, and per the usual tradition, it was the time for most girls and women (sometimes men as well) to shower their appreciation on their acquaintances, friends and loved ones, usually in the form of sweets and chocolates and thoughtful notes and letters, both giri and honmei. It was no wonder that everyone was in a pleasant, anticipatory state of being today.

         Shinji was in a rather good mood too. He had already received some giri choco from subordinates and friends from other divisions, and other than being given sweets, there was also the additional perk of getting to interact with the aforementioned individuals, some of whom he did not always get to meet daily. There had also been a handful of others who had shyly tried to convey their admiration through honmei choco as well, but those he had gently turned down, unable to return their affection because that place in his heart had already been solely taken up by a certain monkey brat...  

         The rest of the work day passed surprisingly fast, and Shinji could not help smiling when he received Hiyori’s short text at around mid-noon.

              I’ll see you tonight, she wrote.

              Okay, he typed back. Can’t wait. 

         It had been weeks since they last saw each other, and while the frequent texts and the phone calls were nice and made the bite of yearning, of missing his mate, just that bit lesser, nothing could trump finally seeing her in the flesh. According to her, she had been putting in a lot of hard work for tonight’s program…and Shinji’s anticipation grew a notch more, trying to picture what Hiyori had in mind. It sounded from their conversations that she was throwing her whole heart and soul into this celebration, and while he had already repeatedly reminded her that she did not have to try so hard (he would be equally pleased if she had simply appeared at his door and demanded to be loved), she had ended up determined to do something special on this day…despite her previous disdain of Valentine’s, much to his amusement.  

        The sun had just disappeared into the distant horizon when Shinji decided to call it a day at the office. Setting up the usual barrier wards as he vacated the space, he also stopped briefly by Momo’s and Suzu’s offices on his way out, releasing them to celebrate the evening as they pleased. Shinji could almost sense Hiyori’s presence already as he strolled towards the barracks, where the Captain’s quarters were located. His steps hastened just a little bit more as he turned the corner, soon approaching. Arriving at the sprawling, single-story building, he scaled the short flight of steps to the engawa and slid open the shoji screen that led to his residence, treading gracefully into the genkan.

              “ Tadaima, ” he called out, not that she couldn’t sense his entry already. Toeing off his waraji for indoor slippers, Shinji stepped further into his quarters, his brow lifting at the soft glow of scented candles that lit up the place. The entire house was filled with a gentle warmth, and sitting on the low table right in the middle of the room was an intimate, sumptuous spread of homemade dishes...and a small, nicely wrapped box? That box looked intriguing, but first-

          The blond swept past the living room and towards the kitchenette, instinctively seeking out his lover. It did not take him long to find her, her back turned to him. He was entirely silently as he walked up and wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her waifish form in the voluminous folds of his uniform and haori, leaning forward to rest his chin on her shoulder. His cheek brushed against her warmer one, his embrace tightening ever so slightly, tugging her back against his chest.

              “ Hi there, ” he drawled, his voice like silk brushing against her ear. “ Fancy meetin’ ya here. ”

[flibbityflob]

When the Last Sword is Drawn (Shinjinkouen)

I got to see the last sword shinko!! It was a pretty damn fun experience, my first ever live yukigumi shinko, and whilst the casting didn’t end up what I wanted it to be (I was praying for Agachin to get that lead), I was still REALLY impressed, and had a great time!

Ayami Sera, 102nd Class, as Yoshimura Kanichirou (Nozomi Fuuto) – she’s rough, really really rough. She didn't have Daimon’s accent and it really affected the story and the character. She was clearly trying to emulate Daimon a lot and I really think it hurt her interpretation. Daimon has this natural aura and maturity about her and Amichan, being a baby, just. Didn't. I thought she was good, but nothing solid. Her voice is sweet and she's very very earnest, but boy is she lacking. Apparently she's come a long way since phantom earlier this year but I'm not sure she's gonna beat the hulking titan that is Agachin, a year older than her but so much more tracked. Good for her though. Yoshimura is a deceptively hard role, kind and earnest and youthful and yet sad and mature, a killer who does so because there's no other way. He's ruthless and moneygrabbing but he needs to be sympathetic and amichan is just. Young. She plays the role well but she doesn't convince me for even a second. She’s also the GIRLIEST person I’ve ever heard in my life, holy SHIT. It’s cute!

Irodori Michiru, 99th Class, as Shizu/Miyo (Maaya Kiho) – Holy hot damn michiru can sing now?? She's never been an amazing singer in my mind, and this role isn't that heavy on singing, but man she impressed me. I found her better at playing miyo than I did shizu, but I think that kind of bratty selfish teenager is something that she's naturally just brilliant at. She doesn't quite have the natural grace that Kiichan has, she doesn't portray the loneliness and agony shizu faces in the way I've grown accustomed to, but she impressed me.

On the topic of these two, I felt Daimon and Kiichan's absence so hard in their relationship. Daimon and kiichan made it work, their romance wasn't hugely explicit but holy shit was it the basis for a lot of the entire show. Amichan didn't sell the pure primal fear Daimon did when she found out shizu tried to kill herself. Not did I feel the longing and desire Daimon fucking radiated when given the option to hold someone who looked just enough like his wife to make the pain go away, even for only a second. It's a super personal thing for me but it just makes the show worse in my eyes.

Suwa Saki, 99th Class, as Oono Jiroemon (Ayakaze Sakina) – I love this girl. It's her last year of shinkos and she's really fucking good guys. She was quiet and restrained, yet also really emotional. I found her friendship with Amichan a lot more earnest and giddy than Saki and Daimon, and it worked a lot better for the youthful nature of this shinko. It’s not necessarily better, but I REALLY liked that friendship. She seems angrier about a lot of stuff than Saki was, at least to me. Saki was playing it a lot more akin to traditional Japanese customs of honour, and duty, and Suwa was a little more prone to expressing her emotions. Her emotionality might partly be because she only has to put that into this role once, but I was impressed.

Agata Sen, 101st Class, as Hijikata Toshizou (Ayanagi Shou) – BOY I'm almost incomprehensibly biased, this girl has taken me in and ruined my life and I'm not entirely sure I can BE objective. She was different to Shou. Where Shou was endeared by the combined nonsense of Harada/Nagakura/Okita/Saitou, Agachin just wants to get rid of them. She just wants them all to go away and stop being so annoying so she can finally go to bed. She's perfect and hot and beautiful and she got the lightest role she could have but she ROCKED it. I honestly feel like her honkouen role was bigger than her shinko role, or at least far more impressive and more likely to stick in her mind, but I don’t really care? She’s handsome and imposing and carries a kind of maturity and strength FAR beyond what she should be pulling out as a ken-5. She was perfect I will hear nothing against her it was exceptional.

Seika Rian, 100th Class, as Saitou Hajime (Asami Jun) – she was really impressive!! I wasn't sure what I was expecting from shinko Saitou, but she impressed me. I don't have TOO much to say but I loved her and especially her relationship with Ikenami. She’s adorable at iride, has the nicest smile in the world, and I just really love her. I think she’s one of those kids to keep an eye on, she won’t be going anywhere but she’s a talented actress and I really like her.

Manomiya Rui, 100th Class, as Okita Souji (Towaki Sea) – another surprise!! I love Rui, she's got the sweetest smile and the friendliest face and she always seems so delightful at iri and I didn't know what I was expecting from her Souji but it was different. Hitoko plays him with an anger and a charm and Rui plays him a lot more. Sad, I think. Melancholic and restrained and I really liked that interpretation. If you’re looking for someone who has a lovely smile and a charming energy, I really can’t recommend someone more than Rui. I’ve always said, there’s a version of Alex who isn’t in her current club, and is in Rui’s, and that Alex is very happy because Rui ROCKS.

Other mentions

Arisu Himeka (102nd) playing Hime’s role. She’s having fun literally every time she’s onstage, and she was entertaining in the background.

My personal MVP, Yume Maoto (100th). She’s funny as HELL, upping everything Souno Haruto was getting up to, leaving the whole audience in STITCHES.  

Soumi Haruma (103rd) coming out of nowhere looking like a 70s mafia baron and having a voice like an angel. She sounded amazing, and I was expecting absolutely nothing. She’s the most masculine otokoyaku I’ve ever seen in my life, it’s AMAZING.

Kirara Umi (100th) had Ai Sumire's role, and it turns out she's an enka style singer. It didn’t change her solo that much, but it was a really fun surprise and it just added a little extra charm to the song

Aoha Reiya (104th) as Kari – I don't have anything much to say other than I just thought she was really charming?

Jun Hana (102nd) did a really good job as the older version of Mitsu, even though that role really is just. Nothing. I just thought she was cute and I'm excited for Hollywood Gossip.

Ichika Ao (102nd) was ADORABLE, she was adorable and I liked what she was bringing to the role more than Ayana did? That’s not really a slight against Ayana, just that I found Ao REALLY impressive, and fucking adorable.

Hiyori Haruma (101st) had her douki (Agachin)’s role as Ikenami. She wasn't anything exceptional but she WAS cute and her and dynamic with saitou was cute, I thought. She was more teasing than Agachin was, but I think a substantial part of that was due to the fact Rio’s Saitou felt a lot softer than Aasa’s. I think with this role especially, I’m VERY biased, but she did a good job, so props to her! I will say, Agachin and Izumiko have a super cute dynamic in skystage content, and I love them together. They’re really cute together, I enjoy their friendship a lot. Izumiko also really captures the feeling that Ikenami is the underclassman of the Shinsengumi, trying to butter up the superiors before having a change of heart and developing as a person. Her scream of “Yoshimura-san!” was also… really good. Heartbreaking, and really good.

[kirakiraproject]

Kira Beauty - Hiyori

This week’s Kira Beauty is our only Finnish member, Hiyori from 3rd generation, Team P. I’m Mizuki and I’m the one who gonna interview Hiyori.

H = Hiyori M = Mizuki

M: Hello Hiyori! How are you today?

H: Hi! My day has been good so far. How about you?

M: I just woke up, so same here, haha. What do you feel about being a member of Crystal Rose so far?

H: It has been interesting. Assignments have been nice to do.

M: What was the reason that made you auditioned for Crystal Rose?

H: Well, Juju told me that the 3rd gen audition was going to start soon and suggested me to audition. I haven't been that interested in net-idols but I thought to myself "why not?" It’s a chance to improve.

M: Oh, so you have been friend with Juju before joining the group? How did you guys meet?

H: I don’t remember 😅 We both do dance covers so probably it had something to do with our channels.

M: So would you like to become a professional singer and dancer in the future?

H: Sure, both have been my childhood dream. And still, kind of. But more than anything I would like to work with theater or become an author.

M: Oh wow, so have you been doing acting before?

H: Yes, for 3 years now.

M: Wow so are you doing it as a hobby or is it your job?

H: Well I’ve done it as a job once, this spring. Other than that I go to acting school every Tuesday.

M: So great that you have been doing acting job! Have you also been writing any book?

H: I’m a part of a script writing group. Our goal is to write a script for a play that will be performed in summer 2018. But I mainly just write stories as a hobby.

M: Wow, you really have a huge role in the theater group. That's great! Since you love writing so much, do you also like to write your own music?

H: I’ve written some lyrics but they’re all rather bad 😅

M: Maybe not that bad as you think. Usually we always think everything we do is bad while in fact it isn't, haha. Do you also like to compose your own songs?

H: That’s true. And no, not really. I don't play any instruments well enough. I’ve made a song with an application tho.

M: Would you like to make your own song in the future or you prefer to sing songs made by other?

H: I’d like to sing my own song one day but the problem is I’d probably never be able to make one I'd be satisfied with. I criticize myself a lot. Haha.

M: Maybe you can take a class to learn from a teacher until you feel that you can make it. I believe you can! 

M: Which music genres do you like to sing?

H: That’s a good idea, maybe I really should! I like pretty much anything, it really depends on my mood what I sing. But my favorites genres in general would be punkrock, alternative rock, alternative hip hop, J-pop and K-pop.

M: Do you have any favorite artists that you look up to?

H: I look up to ANGERME, and right now especially Aikawa Maho as she has panic disorder. I have experienced panic attacks too and it's not nice. Then there are Korean groups B.A.P and BTS. I like them both very much. Also Finnish singer Saara Aalto. I admire her vocals.

M: When it comes to the lyrics, what do you like to listen to? Like romance, strong personality, friendship and etc.

H: I like songs with stories. The music I listen to is usually melancholic, or as my mom says, depressing, so I also like that kind of lyrics. I like lyrics that really makes me think about what is the song’s message, or something that moves me.

M: Like music that people for sure have put down a lot of energy into right?

H: Yes, that’s right. Oh and also lyrics that's like usual things. Something you can think "oh, is this song about me?".

M: Do you have other occupations that you like than singer, actress and author?

H: I'm going to take a training to become a amateur drama director next autumn. Within theater, I would like to work as a director.

M: Wow, you really like everything that have with the theater to do! How long have you been interested in theater?

H: True 😅 Well we’ve always went to see plays and musicals with my family or relatives. I remember how excited I always was. But what influenced me was Kudo Haruka's performance in the LILIUM musical as False in 2014. When I heard about a real theater school in my city back then I thought I had to go.

M: Oh so it was recently?

H: Yes. At first I was only into acting but now I'm more interesting in writing plays and directing them. Which I did as a child for my own fun too, haha. 

M:  What about the music? How long have you wanted to become a singer?

H: Hmm. That was probably since I was able to sing. My family sings a lot, always when our relatives gather together we sing. So that’s how I got into it.

M: So you already like to sing as a little kid?

H: Yes, that’s right. It's kind of a heritage. Everyone in my mother's family like to sing.

M: Hiyori, thank you so much for the interview! It was nice to talk with you today.

H: It was nice to talk with you too. Thank you for interviewing me.

M: Thank you everyone who have read this interview! Is it something you would like to say to our supporters, Hiyori?

H: Yes, thank you for reading and supporting us, please keep doing so! We are a good group! I would like to say that as June is LGBT(Q+) Pride Month, fitting to the theme, please accept everyone as they are and please spread love.

M: Yes that’s true!! Everyone should be accepted! Everyone have each own right to be the one we would like to be. No one should be judged by other! Respect other as much as we would like to be respected back!

H: Yes, exactly! Well and true said!

M: Thank you again for the interview and have a nice day, Hiyori! Take care! Bye~

H: Have a nice day too, bye!

[dr-gothtastic]

Dear  @i-wanttofeel-weightless -- Happy Valentines Day! I apologize for the prolonged posting of your gift. I just wanted to have both ready at relatively the same time. So, I again, pardon my tardiness. Also, pardon the crappyness of this Yatori fic. I don’t usually write Yatori or fluff and was a bit on the rushed side. But i do hope you like! I will have my second gift posted shortly, thank you for your patience and I hope you have a wonderful Valentines.

“A Potion to Solve All Our Problems”

Pairing: Yatori, (minor) Kazubisha, 

Word Count: 2,978 words (way longer than I first intended sorry)

Summary: 

- Yato buys a Love Potion to prank Kazuma with. But as Hiyori tries to be the hero and reclaim the potion, things backfire and chaos ensues.

“Yato, why did you drag us all the way here if you don’t even have a job today?” Hiyori questioned breathlessly as her sides heaved at the exertion of running in pace with the excited boy in front of her. “You could at least…” She took in another quick breath. “Slow down a bit.”

“No, way! I had to get here as fast as I can. This is a limited time offer. A one time kinda deal! I’m not passing this up for anything.” He said balling his fist and looking to the sky in a very dramatic stance to show his undeterred determination. Then he swept his hand over the small tent in a row of small stands selling various trinkets. “Wait out here while I go get the goods.”

Yukine huffed impatiently before shoving his hands in his pockets and glancing around at the other merchants. “What even is this place?”

Hiyori was about to ask the same question to Yato but he disappeared between the tent flaps before she got the chance. She let out a nervous laugh before giving Yukine a reassuring smile that seemed as fake as the antiques the merchant was selling across from them. “Looks like some sort of flea market or a festival? Maybe, Yato is picking up something for a client?”

Yukine narrowed his eyes into a scowl. “Doubt it.”

“Alrighty! Here we are.” Came a joyful call as the blue-eyed god emerged from the tent and held up a tube with a pink liquid being held in the glass vial. On the test tube just below the cork that kept the contacts from spilling, was a paper taped to it that had the depiction of a heart. “Tadaa! I’m a genius, right?”

Yukine immediately shook his head and began to walk away but Hiyori only leaned in closer trying to read the scribbled writing on the container. She poked the glass vial before looking up at Yato. “What is that?”

Yato laughed, his expression smug as he gazed fondly at his acquired item. “Oh, this is just a little love potion I bought. Totally awesome right?”

Hiyori jumped back as if he just declared that he had a nuclear bomb strapped to his chest. “A whaaa—?!”

Yato smiled and shook the contents before going on not seeming to notice Hiyori’s dismay. “A love potion. Whoever drinks it will fall hopelessly in love with the first person they lay their eyes on.”

“Why would you buy something like that?!” Hiyori asked incredulously.

Yato’s eyes lit aflame with mischief as his plan ran through his head. “Well, you know it being Valentines Day and romance being in the air I thought I’d use it for someone special.”

Hiyori raised her fist in warning, her tone a sharp dagger as she glared at him. “There is no way I’m going to drink that.”

“No, not you.” Yato paused and thought about it. “Then again….No. I was thinking of someone else.”

“Who?”

“Kazuma!” Yato let out a cackle but it ended with him coughing and trying not to choke.

“Kazuma?” Hiyori blinked and then thought of the horrible circumstances that came with Yato basically poisoning the most fearsome God of War’s second in command and blessed shinki. “Yato I don’t think—”

“I can just imagine the look on his face.” Yato mumbled before snickering under his breath as he held the love potion close to him.

“I doubt that’s even real.” Hiyori said trying to sound indifferent. “I doubt that love potions even exist. And why would you able to get one in a place like this?”

Yato looked almost horrified. “What? This is real. The magician said so.”

“Did you just say Magician?” Hiyori glanced back at the tent and sighed, shaking her head as she regarded the god inspecting the potion with desperation. “You can never trust a Magician, Yato. It’s probably not real so…y-you should just hand it over!”

Yato hissed and jumped away from her out stretched hand. “No. It is real and I can prove it.”

“No, Yato, wait—” Hiyori said as she watched as he opened the cork top and swallowed down half the vial.

He look down at the glass tube in his hands and licked his lips. “Hmmm, fruity.”

Hiyori regarded him warily taking a step forward, her hands in front of her as if to defend herself from what could be an unstable god. “Yato?”

“Yeah?” Yato looked up and stiffened as he saw her. “Oh, wow.”

“You okay there?” She asked gently, glancing down at the bottle still linked in his grasp.

“Actually, I’ve never been better.” He breathed and then grabbed Hiyori’s hand before getting down on one knee. His eyes beaming up at her with wonder and adoration. “Oh, Hiyori! Have I ever told you how dazzling your eyes are? Or how your voice is like a thousand angels singing in joyful harmony? Oh and you’re laugh, please grace me with your laugh so that I may sing my affirmations of my affections to the world!”

“W-w-what? Yato!” She cried out trying to pull her hand away as he planted a kiss on her knuckles.

“Sweet, fair, Hiyori, you are the most glorious being I have ever met.” He said in a very passionate tone as he pulled her hand closer to place it over his heart. “I was so blind before.”

He looked away in utter shame at his previous behavior. “How could I not see, your utter beauty and perfection that is before me.”

“Yato, stop.” She said wrenching her arm away from him and snatching the potion from his hand before taking off down the small street passing by the small stands and merchants selling their wares.

“NO, MY DEAREST HIYORI!” She heard him cry out in anguish behind her but she didn’t even dare look back as she made her escape. She didn’t get far when she barreled into someone almost face planting. Muttering a quick apologize she caught her balance only to run off again but was stopped by a familiar voice making her glance back.

“Hiyori, what’s wrong? Where’s Yato?” Yukine asked with an edge of concern.

“Oooooooh, Hiyori! My love, where are you? Shall I sing a ballad of my admiration for you?” Came Yato’s voice from somewhere in the crowd behind them.

“My love, what?” Yukine asked but Hiyori grabbed his hand and dragged him down a small ally way and off the busy streets where Yato the god of Romance now lurked.

“Hiyori?” Yukine whispered glancing between her and the crowd outside the alley way.

Hiyori sighed and glanced around warily hoping that Yato wasn’t around. “Yato drank this love potion he bought and now he thinks he’s in love with me.”

Yukine’s facial expression went from that of concern to one of indifference in a split second. “So, he ‘thinks’ that he is in love with you after drinking this potion?”

“Yeah, I was trying to have him give it to me so he wouldn’t use it on Kazuma but then he drank it himself.” She whispered quietly flinching as she heard her name being called by Yato in the distance.

“Well, I never heard of a love potion but maybe we can talk to the guy who sold him the potion?” Yukine suggested with a shrug of his shoulders.

Hiyori nodded. “Great idea, that would be a perfect place to start. He said the guy who sold it to him was a magician.”

“Uh-huh, okay.” Yukine stepped out the alley way only to stop and stare at the crowd to his right. Hiyori peeked her head out of the alley way and felt her cheeks flush hot as she saw a group of people standing in a circle as a man was trying to paint on a giant canvas a heart and a very familiar looking girl.

She grabbed Yukine’s hand again dragging him in the opposite direction. “Okay, can’t go that way.”

“Hey, wait, isn’t the Magician over there?” Yukine asked.

“And so is Yato. We gotta find someone else who knows a thing about love potions.” Hiyori said trying to go through a mental list of their friends.

“What about Kazuma?” Yukine suggested.

“I don’t know if he is familiar with potions but if anyone would know I suppose it would be him.” Hiyori said but then shook her head. “But he is most likely with Bishamon and we need to fix this now.”

“Well, he is with Lady Bishamon but,” Yukine pointed out two distinctive figures in the crowd of people. “I bet we could ask him.”

“Kazuma!” Hiyori called to him, weaving through the crowd to get to him. He turned and then looked surprised as his gaze focused on Hiyori and Yukine.

“I can’t say that I expected to see you here.” Kazuma said glancing at his master who sighed at their sudden appearance. “Just you two? Where’s Yato?”

“Long story.” Hiyori said hoping that Yato wouldn’t show up and embarrass her any further. She held up the glass vial still half-full of the potion. “Here, can you take a look at this?”

Kazuma carefully grabbed the bottle and adjusted his glasses before regarding it’s contents. “What is this?”

Hiyori hesitated. “A love potion? Yato bought from an apparent magician and he said that if you drink it that…the first person you see you fall madly in love with.” She said slowly now hearing how absurd it seemed.

Kazuma was obviously trying to stifle a smile whereas Bishamon looked perplexed at the notion. She looked from the potion to her exemplar. “Is that even possible, Kazuma?”

Kazuma smiled now and then opened the bottle. “Only one way to see.” He said holding the vial to his lips.

Hiyori and Bishamon spoke in unison. “Kazuma, wait!”

But he tilted the vial and drank the rest of the potion without hesitation. He swallowed before glancing at the glass tube curiously then he glanced at Bishamon with a large grin. Bishamon stared at him with wide eyes, her breath still only to whisper. “Well, Kazuma, how do you feel?”

He opened his mouth to say something and then just laughed almost a little bashfully before replying with a light hearted: “My feelings are as they always have been, Viina.”

Then he handed the empty container back to Hiyori. “Here you are.”

Hiyori stared at him before numbly taking the glass vial. “S-so it was a hoax?”

“Yes, I would recommend getting a refund from that magician you were speaking of.” Kazuma said moving his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his index finger. “That would be a vial of fruit punch and not a magical love serum. I’m sorry to be the barer of bad news but I’m fairly certain that love potions do not exist.”

Hiyori sighed relieved and then snapped her gaze to Yukine who was scowling. “Wait. That’s means….”

“Yato was faking it this whole time? Yeah.” Yukine finished her thought before turning and storming through the crowd.

“Thank you, Kazuma!” Hiyori called over her shoulder before racing after Yukine who was heading straight for the enamored artist in the plaza.

When they got through the boisterous crowds of people, Hiyori immediately broke the circle of bystanders and went straight for the singing god of romance. When he spotted her, he stopped singing and smiled wide. “Oh! You’ve come back, my love. I thought you would never return. How I’ve missed your beautiful and delightful company. My dearest Hiyori to whom I love and---“

He was cut off with a kick to the face which sent him reeling backwards. “Hey, what was that for?”

Fury lit a fire in her eyes as she grabbed him by the collar of his tracksuit. “You were faking this whole time?!”

“No, I wasn’t.” He shook his head. “What are you even talking about?”

“Game’s up, Kazuma said there is no such thing as love potions.” She shoved the vial in his face. “This was filled with fruit punch.”

He glanced at the vial as if he never seen it before in his life but when his cool blue optics met her infuriated gaze he gave in, holding up his hands in defense. “Okay, I was faking. I was faking. Alright? Now would you let me go?”

“How could you embarss me like that, Yato?” She hissed tears starting to well up in her eyes.

“Hiyori…?” He blinked. “Look, I’m sorry. I was just messing around. I honestly thought it was a love potion when I bought it and you know how I don’t want to be wrong about these things. I was just as disappointed as you, honestly.”

She loosened her grip on his collar bowing her head, her hair covering her face. “That’s not the point.”

Yato paused. “Okay? What’s the point than?”

She didn’t say anything for a long time and then shoved him. “The point is….” She shook her head. “The point is you are horrible shopper, what were you thinking? I can’t believe you actually believed some guy who called himself a magician and sells love potions. You dummy.”

Yato scratched the nape of his neck. “Yeah, yeah, I’m a dummy.” He shrugged and rolled the vial in his hand. “What a waste of money.”

She let out a short laugh. “Yeah, well, Kazuma said we should try to get a refund.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Yukine would be pissed if he found out I spent all his money on a couple ounces of fruit punch.” Yato laughed but that moment was shot lived as he got hit with a brick to the back of the head making him face plant on his canvas full of wet paint.

“You jerk! I knew you stole it from me.” Yukine shouted from a distance.

Hiyori looked down at Yato in concern before bursting out laughing as he raised his face to show the red and pink paint smeared along his features and dying his jet black hair. He scowled. “Dang regalia! Show your master some respect, will ya?”

 “Can I help you?” Said an eerie voice coming from the back of the tent. Hiyori blinked several times trying to adjust to the dark lighting within the small tent. At the back was the merchant who wore a cloak covering his face from sight along with his seemingly lean frame. On his chest was a sticker that said “Hi, my name is: Mac the Magician.” Hiyori cleared her throat awkwardly before stepping forward.

“Yes, uh, I would like to get a refund on this.” She handed him the empty vial. “You sold that to a friend of mine claiming it was a love potion? But it was only a container of fruit-punch.”

“Hmmm, that is fascinating indeed.” He said taking the glass vial from her. “It was in fact a love potion, the young man had asked for a rather potent one at that.”

“But it didn’t work.” Hiyori said firmly.

“How do you know? Was it you who drank the potion?” The man inquired, leaning forward to where only the bottom half of his face was peering from the shadows of his hood

“No but two of my friends took it and it hadn’t worked on either of them.” She insisted.

“Ah, but you see that this potion only works on those aren’t already devoted to the targeted person.” He informed placing the vial down on the table in front of him. “If the person who consumes the potion is already devoted to the person they first look upon then of course the potion won’t work because no potion is needed if the effect is already taking place.”

“So, it didn’t work because…” Her cheeks burned as realization dawned on her, now she was glad that she had come her alone, not knowing how she would face Yato with this piece of information.

“Magic is a funny thing, isn’t.” The magician said and then laughed. “So you see I shall be keeping your friends money but I won’t charge you any further.”

“Charge me?”

The Magician tilted his head. “Why, yes, for giving you the secrets of my potion. Let this be my valentine’s gift to you, Hiyori.”

Hiyori sighed and nodded once before turning to exit the tent, her mind elsewhere wondering if Yato knew anything about the truth to the love potion. She paused only briefly to turn back to the Magician. “Wait. How do you know my name?”

The magician laughed lightly. “You told me it when you first came in, Hiyori.”

She blinked and shook her head still do baffled about the previous revelation to remember whether she gave her name or not.

“Have a happy Valentine’s Day!” The Magician waited until she fully exited the tent before bringing his hands up and pulling off the cowl that had covered his features. “Well that was a bit of fun. I rather enjoyed myself there.” He said almost seeming as if he was speaking to himself.

“Is there really such thing as a love potion?” A small girl popped up by his side and sat down, tilting her head to look at him curiously.

“Well I suppose that is the question of the day, isn’t, Mizuchi?” He smiled as he patted her head fondly. “I guess it’s just a matter if you believe it’s true or not.”

“I still think that he should be punished, not dancing about with that brat.” She hissed angrily.

“Aww, now, now. This isn’t the time to cast around loathing. It is Valentine’s Day, let’s at least let them have today, shall we?” He got up taking her hand and smiling. “Then we shall see what tomorrow brings!”

[surutakai]

misconception: yato IS in love with hiyori :') ps. ily

MISCONCEPTIONS. ― PRETTY MUCH ALWAYS ACCEPTING.

oh nani you’ve done it nowTLDR; this is the misconception that bothers me the most in the fandom in general.

unpopular opinion warning.

First off, ( and only because I don’t need as much space to justify as to why it’s wrong ) whilst Yato does appear young ( in canon it’s stated he’s supposed to look as if he’s in his early twenties ) he is NOT YOUNG. He is over a thousand years old. Hiyori is fifteen at the beginning of the manga and anime. She turns sixteen later on but that doesn’t alter the point. It’s creepy.

I will be the first person to argue the point that Yato acts young, and indeed, is stunted in his emotional / social growth from Father’s abuse. However, this childishness, when taken in tandem with his appearance, makes me think people forget the age different that exists between these two characters.

This is my most clear-cut problem with the ship, which I have had since I saw the “romance” tag on manga reading sites and feeling my blood boil.

from here on out we venture into strong spoiler warning territory, for chapter 45 and beyond of the Noragami manga.

Next, I want to talk about Sakura, Yato’s former shinki whom he’d named when he was a kid, and who gave him the alias “Yato”. ( I won’t go into the whole story, I will only be touching on a few moments, but if you’re curious she appears first in chapter 45 of the manga, and stays in there for the next 1-2 chapters whilst the story plays out. ) She is the character who I feel Adachitoka put in the story to be a comparison point with Yato’s later relationship with Hiyori.

The story of Yato, Nora/Hiiro, Father, and Sakura isn’t told through Yato. Rather, it’s shown through Hiyori, who, in finding Yato after making up a “God’s Greatest Secret” to protect Yukine, falls asleep and becomes privy to the story through Yato’s dreams. While conveniently making it clear to the audience what the real god’s greatest secret is through the events of said story, it also begs for the comparison between Hiyori and Sakura, both of whom Yato has been obsessed with ( dare I even say love, in the childish sense ) at some point in time.  ( They even look alike for goodness sake ) And with good reason; they’ve both transformed Yato into a better god, and gave him that drive to be better for someone, effectively using the training within him, to do things for want of praise, to be something good and fulfilling.

Many points of growth and desire from Yato, the eventual ceasing of his killing, the desire for a shrine, and more than anything to have genuine praise and acceptance, were all threads that were created by Sakura to be fulfilled by Hiyori. And I think it is through this, rather than the motions that very much reflect things that Hiyori would do, that Yato may have connected these two figures in his life.

This is where my issue then comes; people wouldn’t ship Yato with Sakura. It’s just unrealistic, and creepy for the same reason that I mentioned first in this post. The chapter even pulls home just how long and how severe the abuse Yato was subjected to was, and if this abuse were to continue presumedly just as it was up until about halfway through the manga ( As through this chapter as well, Hiiro/Nora is shown to have sabotaged any meaningful relationship Yato may have had with a shinki or human that would have threatened said abuse ), then it is plain to me that there is no way he has grown up farther than that point.

Thus, I think that people should look at Hiyori and Yato’s relationship under the same lens as Sakura and Yato’s relationship. There’s love there, but it’s not romantic nor sexual.

I don’t want anyone to get me wrong here. I think Hiyori is a great and dynamic character. However, I think that placing them together romantically and/or sexually would undermine the character development of Yato that we’ve seen thus far, and also be a largely selfish move on his part. We’re shown often Yukine’s awareness of the transient nature of Hiyori in juxtaposition to himself, more or less permanent, and how this will bar him from advancing his feelings. I don’t believe that Yato would overlook this either; in fact, in being around for so much longer, he knows this much more intimately than anyone else.

Rather than being in love, I’ve known for awhile that I felt that it would be more rightly understood as an obsession, or even an obsessive manifestation of a fear of being forgotten ( or, even, a fear of letting her get too far away from him that would then open her up for attack by his ‘ family ‘ ). This obsession is nothing less than childish, a product of trauma and abuse ( if I were to go further with this argument, I don’t think Yato is developed enough for that sort of relationship regardless, but this post is long enough ).

[miss28ff]

SHRINE

(AU) (MUSIC/ROMANCE/DRAMA) (Yatori) (Kazubisha) (Daifuku) (18+ due to language, mature subjects and a little smut)

Summary: With her earphones on and melodies filling her ears, the girl looked at the ceiling, thinking. She, Iki Hiyori, a regular schoolgirl, had jumped at the street to save the life of a promising rock star.

TRACK 9.

Piano Man – Billy Joel.

It wasn’t until she wore again her recently returned scarf that she noticed one of Yato’s most unnerving traits: his perfume.

She couldn’t quite place her finger over what it was, because it didn’t seem like something store-bought. And it simply seemed to impregnate in everything he could lay his hands on, even faintly, but consistent nevertheless. During all that night, Hiyori was practically burying her nose on the pink fabric. Something in it was intriguing, intoxicating, even dangerous, and yet it was just a simple mixture of completely common smells, once she could sort of figure it out without feeling completely dumb or with that tickling sensation of rocks in her stomach. She could smell a bit of the cigarette’s tobacco plus one or two different kinds of candy and junk food, along with some sort of body soap, shampoo, and – surprisingly, fabric softener; and with all that, a little something that simply could be associated with him. An unmistakable note that had the power of standing all her hairs. When she realized what a simple smell was doing to her, she decided to go to sleep with a huff, trying to forget how hard it had been to shake Yato off herself to avoid him taking her right to her doorstep in that flashy car.

Along the day things weren’t much easier. Her mother and practically all the teachers had been constantly asking if she was running a fever. Of course, her completely reddened cheeks had absolutely nothing to do with being sick. She was wearing her scarf around her neck, covering her mouth and nose.

A very light snowfall made her breath to escape in the form of white clouds through the fabric, an Hiyori happily noticed that the smell seemed to reactivate with her breath’s humidity. She guarded below one of the eaves of the stores by the station’s door, waiting. Looking at the crowd, she suddenly felt paralyzed when she catched a glimpse of the blue-eyed smile of Yato in the distance, walking slowly, enjoying one of the last puffs of smoke of his cigarette. Today he looked quite different. He was wearing a long coat over a pair of jeans and a different sweatshirt, with a scarf around his neck, all in dark colors.

“Did you dressed all by yourself?” she let out. For an instant, he didn’t knew how to react.

“I shoulda’ left you go to Kofuku’s house on your own.”

Remembering Yukine’s little scene, her face went pale.

“No, I’m sorry! Actually you… you look fine”

“Flirting with me is really low, Hiyori, I thought you were better than this” said Yato smiling slyly, doing an awful job at hiding the slight red tint his cheeks had taken.

“Can we go?” she sighed, in the midst between annoyed and completely confused about how she felt at that moment with the sole fact of seeing him in an outfit that could be considered at least something presentable and the involuntary reaction of her face -blushing too. Yato looked at her, somewhat lost.

“Let’s go, but, are you feeling OK?” he said with a worried tone “looks like you’re running a fever”

Hiyori began walking hurriedly, and Yato was walking with her within short time. The cold made them walk faster without talking, and soon - “too soon”, thought Hiyori, before scolding herself internally and discarding the thought as quickly as she got it, they made it to Kofuku’s house.

It was in that point that the girl realized this hadn’t been a great idea, probably, according to what Yukine had said about not everyone being agree with involving her. Around the kotatsu were three faces watching her with different expressions. Yukine’s one was total annoyance. Kofuku showed a conciliating smile and Daikoku was avoiding looking at her at all. Hearing Yato was taking air to begin talking, Hiyori took a step forward and made a deep bow.

“I’m so sorry!”

The three people at the table answered with a surprised interjection.

“What are you talking about, Hiyorin?” asked Kofuku, getting on her feet.

“I’m so sorry to have lied to you guys… I’m actually…” the other girl took her from the arm and softly led her to sit at the Kotatsu. Her kindness filled her with courage. It was about time to clean up some of her lies.

Not very long after, finishing to tell her story on detail in front of a cup of tea, Hiyori took a deep breath. Daikoku raised his fist, effusive.

“You finding us was destiny!”

“I’m so sorry to have doubted you, Hiyorin!” cried Kofuku, pouncing over her, pulling Hiyori into a hug.

Yato and Yukine’s gazes crossed during a split second, before the teenager turned his face away, raising his nose. “It’s now your turn ignoring me, Yukine?” thought Yato, and smiled to himself.

“Okay, that’s enough already!” he said, standing up, “are we gonna begin or what?” Daikoku stood up too, and they left the room. Kofuku fluttered after them, and Hiyori waited a bit to let Yukine pass. The kid slid himself in front of her and stared at her with a piercing gaze that froze her right at the door. Yukine spoke with all the poison he could gather at that instant.

“I’m watching you” he said, simply, and followed the others. Hiyori felt her gut on the ground and a cold shiver ran through her back, until she heard Kofuku calling.

“Of course this house has a basement”, Hiyori thought, ironically, as soon as they opened that place’s door, revealing a room adequated entirely to achieve an ideal sound quality. Every wall was covered with carpet material, there were several speakers of different sizes located strategically around the place, a lot of microphones, the drum set, and all the instrument in their stands. Everything shone in chrome and silver and Hiyori searched for a spot to sit and admire the place in awe.

Yato, on the other hand, felt his body as light as a cloud and immediately began untangling the nest of cables on the floor before connecting everything in its place. If he could ignore the sudden sweat breakdown of his hands, he could feel the trace of an old emotion bubbling inside him. He identified that feeling at the moment he took his guitar in his hands and got the strap above his head. They were surrounded by an expectant silence.

Hiyori was just there, in front of them, she could feel the tension in the air when the three guys locked a stare.

Yato closed his eyes.

Black.

No noise. No strange thoughts eating his brain alive. No obsessions. He opened his eyes and glared swiftly to the brown haired girl sitting by the door before looking at Daikoku and Yukine. The first chord resounded not just all around, but also inside her brain, inside her stomach. She closed her eyes too, momentarily, and let herself sink in the melody. It was captivating, electrifying, even whithout the deep rich voice of Viina. When she opened her eyes again, she felt the little jump her heart did to the rhythm of music. Just in front of her, without any need of bending her gaze a bit, was Yato. His focused expression in the deepest part of the song gave him a seriousness she had never before seen in him; not even in the CD’s photos. The solo was approaching -Hiyori knew the songs really well, and the guy closed his eyes shut, letting his fingers caress the guitar, shifting his expression again, this time giving the impression of deep meditation, as a wandering monk in the climax of his prayer, and Hiyori felt a pinch in her heart again. Ending the solo, Yato let his eyes brush over her, and that momentary contact was enough to lit her face in red. “Why does he looks so good?”, she asked herself, mortified, trying to look somewhere else, without actually wanting. Kofuku watched her leaned in one of the biggest speakers, with her chin on her hand and an obnoxious smile glistening on her lips, with the stare of those who already know it all. Hiyori looked at her, confused, trying to discover what was so funny.

 “That was amazing!” claimed Hiyori, getting close to them when they stopped to take a break. “You guys sound a lot better than the record!”

“That’s the idea!” informed Yato, giving a big gulp to his beer can.

“It would actually sound a lot better if we had a singer!” huffed Daikoku, staring at Yato, who opted to walk around rising the beer can on the air, “I think it is time for us to begin thinking about making auditions, you animal!”

“Why don’t you ask Kofuku-san? I mean, she’s always here with you and she knows the songs…”

The laughter of the girl interrupted Hiyori, “You’re too funy, Hiyorin!”, she said. At the same time, Daikoku sighed, smiling, and denying silently with his head. Yukine scoffed, sitting a little far from everyone, sitting atop of an amp.

“Kofuku is good with people”, Daikoku explained, “but she has absolutely no musical talent whatsoever.”

“I rather see how handsome Kokki looks playing the drums!” said Kofuku, merrily.

“I actually think it’s better like this, if we let her sing she’d surely break a speaker or something”, said Yato, placing his guitar on the stand.

“Oh, c’mon, Yatty… that only happened once!”

“And you were sober… I don’t even wanna think what would’ve happened if you had been drunk”, said Yato again, leaning against the wall.

“Then… what about Yukine-kun or Daikoku-san?” suggested Hiyori again.

“Singing? No way!” let out Yukine, blushing.

“The rhythm section is actually very important, Hiyori. It gives everything a base; it’s our job not to be distracted and if we can just do our thing, that’s better”, pointed Daikoku, explaining patiently.

“And what about Yato?”

All of a sudden everyone kept silent. Yato straightened up.

“Ha-ha! Yes, I wonder”, he answered vaguely, trying to avoid the subject.

“Actually, Hiyorin”, explained Kofuku, “Yatty-chan sings pretty good.”

“He’s a freakin’ useless bum in everything else”, said Daikoku, crossing his arms, “but respecting music, it’s difficult to find someone who matches him.”

“I would like to hear that one day”, said Hiyori, giving Yato a sweet smile that made him blush up to his ears. He faked a sudden cough attack and climbed the stairs up, getting the cigarette box out from his pocket, leaving everyone in the room surprised.

  He took a drag of his cigarette, slowly, tasting the acid flavor of the smoke and the nicotine on his lips when passing his tongue over them, cursing silently about forgetting his coat inside. For some reason, Hiyori’s smile had been enough to give him a bolt of unbearable energy, and he had been about to leave running.

He was trying to figure what was making him behave like that, when his coat fell over his head.

“They say idiots don’t catch colds, but put this on anyway”, said Hiyori, with a hint of a laughter, shifting her coat herself. She admired Yato discreetly when he put the cigarette between his lips to be able to get the arms on the coat sleeves. She was still feeling the adrenaline rush of seeing them live, up close. “Yato”, she called, softly. He just looked at her, “thank you for inviting me over.”

“It’s not a big deal”, Yato raised a hand and scratched the nape of his neck, “thank you… for coming over.”

“You really have not considered to be the singer?”

The guy let an honest laugh out, and stared at the night in front of him. After another drag to his cigarette, he answered slowly, thinking each word.

“I’ve always thought that even when you’re able to do lotsa things at the same time, if you really want to be good at something, you have to really put your heart in it,” he looked at her again. He continued explaining when he noticed her furrowed brows, thinking, “yes, I’m good at guitar and I can sing. But I think about it this way: the best band needs the best guitarist, and I can’t be the best guitar player and the best singer at the same time. It’s either one or the other.”

Hiyori was so impressed about this way of thinking that weeks after she was still pondering his words. At that time, it meant breaking with absolutely everything she thought she knew and believed.

“I think” she muttered, “I’m beginning to understand what you said about my lessons.”

Seeing her mood go gloomy, Yato began to blab.

“We- but- not everything is bad! I mean, from the large selection of lessons you have, there has to be something good, I mean, you have to like one even a bit! And that’s okay! I’m just saying, the only one who should decide what to do with her time is yourself. What lesson you kept?”

“I still have to cancel my music lessons, but to be honest I would rather any other thing before seeing my teacher making his ‘I told you’ face…”

“Just hold on right there!” Yato cut her off, “You… d’you play?”

Hiyori giggled a bit.

“It’s nothing, actually. A long time ago I discovered I have absolutely no talent to anything artsy.”

“…But you play.” The surprised look on Yato’s face weirded her out a lot. He had even turned his body and seemed to be about to shake her from her shoulders at any minute.

“Y… yeah, you could say so.”

“What instrument?”

“I… piano – Yato, wh…?” she couldn’t ask him what was going through his head at the time, because he was already dragging her inside, back to the rehearsal basement. Yato took off his coat, throwing it carelessly and opening a little door in one of the room’s ends, almost disappearing through it. After several loud clanks, deaf thumps of something heavy being dragged and several rolls of cable being thrown away randomly out of that little storage, Yato came out again, carrying a black long case and a solid metal structure that formed an X once unfolded. The guy placed the case in the floor carefully, and Hiyori came near him slowly, as if watching a wizard about to perform a magic trick on the stage. The locks were removed, revealing a shiny electric keyboard, that Yato placed carefully on top of the base, and then walked a few times around it, muttering.

“How was this…? How…? Oh!”

He finally found the plug he was looking, and walked again several times back and forth between the keyboard and the audio console, searching for the ideal sound. When he finished, when the keys were pulsed, it let out a similar sound to that of a lone piano right at the center of a huge hall. Yato dragged close one of the mics that they used to practice second voices during the rehearsal, and placed it in front of the chair, which he put at one side of the keyboard. He then stole the little bench of the drumset and sitted behind the key instrument, placing his hands over it, skillfully.

“I actually remember very little about this”, he smiled, as an apology. After a few chord practices, he indicated Hiyori to sit on the chair with a stare. She straightened her skirt, fearful. He kept speaking while exercising his fingers over the keys, playing scales on repeat. “Say, Hiyori”, she stared at him, “what’s your mother’s favorite song?”

The question took her unprepared. She raised her hand to her chin, thoughtful. She answered after a minute.

“No frontiers.”

Yato stopped playing, and looked at her with agape mouth, totally surprised.

“Mary Black’s No frontiers? – Well, that IS a surprise, are we really talking about the same person that pushes her philosophy about being an upper class lady and all that garbage down your throat?”

“…Mary Black?” said Hiyori, a little ashamed, “no, The Corrs.”

Yato let out a big laughter. He was laughing a lot lately, he thought.

“Well, it’s kinda the same thing, The Corrs only gave the song’s popularity a boost”, saying this, he tried different key combinations, muttering to himself, “A? No, D?... maybe B… no, C? There you are!”

The melody flowed from his fingers like water. It was unbelievable, Hiyori was completely overthrown with this guy’s talent. How had she met him, again? His blue eyes were fixed on her.

“You surely know the lyrics… If life is a river…” Yato pointed to the mic with a stare, and Hiyori paralyzed. Was he singing? “c’mon! And your life is a boat…”

The girl approached the microphone with utter shyness, “and just like a water baby baby born to float…” Yato smiled, and urged her to continue, “And if life is a wild wind that blows way on high… And your heart is Amelia dying to fly… Heaven knows no frontiers…” Hiyori smiled singing the last phrase, “And I’ve seen heaven in your eyes…”

Yato retook the following verse. The atmosphere changed. Never, in all her life, Hiyori had been capable of thinking she would be able to understand so much with someone just by looking at them. Somehow, she knew what to do, when he was going to change and what did she had to do, and it didn’t had nothing to do with the fact her mother had sang sung that tune to herself every time she was happy.

“Heaven knows no frontiers, and I’ve seen heaven in your eyes…”

She had let her mind escape, and all of a sudden the song had ended, leaving them both with a gust of frozen air between the short half a meter between them. Hiyori’s face turned red, but Yato filled his chest, proud, with a huge smile. He was about to say something, when they heard movement on the stairs. Kofuku, Daikoku and Yukine had been there listening. Realizing it, Hiyori felt herself shrinking to floor level, to immediately after feel as walking between the clouds after what Yato said.

“Whaddayathink?”

“I think we are just going to need one audition”, stated Daikoku.

Yukine was still showing an attitude as bad as always, but his eyes showed absolute surprise, while Kofuku gave little jumps and clapped.

“What you say, Hiyori?” Asked Yato, “D’ya know the songs?”

After a brief silence, she answered, smiling confidently: “Every word.”

 But it was actually quite different, once being in the midst of the dynamics she had seen from the outside. During the brief half minute of the intro of one of the most popular SHRINE’s, Hiyori started to think she was actually trying to occupy Viina’s spot; the one with the exceptional vocal range, the one who could threat of killing you and you would still ask for more; the voice that had been the main treat of the band during all those years. Suddenly she was feeling like a Chihuahua in a San Bernardo event meeting. The first words came out unsure, misplaced and week. Between the harmony created for all three instruments supporting her, she could hear Yato’s yell, “Feel it!” The pressure was almost unbearable, and Hiyori closed her eyes, trying to place her voice in some point within the melody. It was way too easy for Yato to say, she thought, because he already had years of experience and knew what was up with all of that.

But suddenly, everything became so simple. The lyrics were about feeling desperate for a love that after trying hard, it never goes back. Hiyori had no idea of how that actually felt, but trying to fill Viina’s place was stressful enough to identify the tone the lyrics should have. Yato again made use of a brief silence within the song to yell “Let it flow!” Every piece fell together into place. Again, the song ended too early for her, and that cold rush of air surrounded her again. Daikoku ended making his drums growl chaotically and laughing loudly, with joy, and Yato had again that look, as if he was in front of the biggest diamond in the world.

This time, he wasn’t looking at a score.

He was looking at her.

[miss28ff]

SHRINE

(AU) (MUSIC/ROMANCE/DRAMA) (Yatori) (Kazubisha) (Daifuku) (18+ due to language, mature subjects and a little smut) (All photos in this fanfic are mine)

Summary: With her earphones on and melodies filling her ears, the girl looked at the ceiling, thinking. She, Iki Hiyori, a regular schoolgirl, had jumped at the street to save the life of a promising rock star.

TRACK 8

Psycho - Muse.

“Ami-chan, Yama-chan, wait”, Hiyori reached out to her Friends while crossing the main yard. Yama huffed in annoyance and made the gesture of leaving, but Ami held her from the arm, forcing her to face Hiyori.

“I want to… specially with you, Yama-chan, I…” doubted Hiyori, twirling her knuckles around her briefcase handle.

The long silence made the girl to look up to her friends, thanking the fact they were not rushing or put pressure in her for apologizing, which was already really hard for her. Ami had a concerned stare, while Yama tried to keep her annoyed face, but she didn’t move an inch even with Hiyori doubting right there.

“What you’d do?”

“I would let her rot in hell…”

Bits of her conversation with Yato days before came to her mind, and for her horror, they were far to make her feel better. The memories of that afternoon, those intense blue eyes, so expressive, letting her know from his comfortableness to his confusion to mistrust, the only thing they caused was that tears began trailing down from her eyes, leaving wet traces on her cheeks. A wave of anger and embarrassment made her weep, scolding herself for not being in control of her own emotions. She tried to keep talking but she was actually making an awful job at that. Her friends tensed up.

“H-hey!” Said Yama, baffled, “D-don’t cry! It’s actually not that big of a deal! Apology accepted!”

“Ow, Hiyori!” Sighed Ami, and squeezed her in an embrace. “We’re really really sorry too!”

Yama placed a  hand in one of Hiyori’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry too, Hiyori-chan.”

The three girls walked to their classroom while Hiyori wiped away her tears. Somehow they had thought those were apology tears, and she wasn’t going to correct that mistake. She was actually relieved to not having to give any explanation.

During lunch, Hiyori managed to fill the gaps on her story for SHRINE, but she ended up telling them about her little run-away with “Yuuto”, the cruelty Yukine had revealed a white lie she just slightly mentioned – and that fortunately Ami and Yama didn’t asked about, and the “punishment” imposed by the headmaster.

“Wow”, sighed Yama, overwhelmed, “well, if it serves you of anything, my judo club still has some spots opened.”

“If I go to my mother telling her I’m entering judo club I’ll surely sent her to hospital, but thanks, tho’”, said Hiyori, lowering her head.

“That’s right, you need to really ponder your options”, said Ami, with a finger on her chin. “And about this dude, Yuuto-san, you said? I’m sure if he really cares about you, he’ll listen whatever you have to say”, se added with a smile.

“He has to choose!” yelled Yama, passionate, “It’s either his friend or you!”

“…And that’s why you don’t have a boyfriend, Yama-chan”, sighed Ami, “That’s so not appropriate”

“Hey!”

“I actually don’t think is so simple as telling him to pick one of us”, said Hiyori. In that moment the bell announcing the end of lunch break rang, and the girls stood up, heading back to their classroom. Hiyori smiled. She finally had her friends back, but she couldn’t stop feeling wrong; she still kept lying to cover things that were not so easy to say, anyways. But what else could she do? Tell everything just the way it was?

“Hey, guys?”, called Hiyori, and the three stopped walking in the aisle, “would you believe me if I told you I knew SHRINE’s members and I spent one afternoon with the guitarist?”

Ami and Yama looked at her with eyes wide open. Then they broke down in laughter.

“Whatever you say, Hiyori-chan!”, let out Yama, sarcastically, and they kept walking with Hiyori a little behind, with her head sunk between her shoulders.

“That’s what I thought…”

  “It would be good if you get your ass to the kitchen to help for a change!” had said Daikoku some point within the week. He knew what he really wanted to see was some kind of reaction in him. There were five rooms in the house, but lately they were using just two. Yato had been locked up in the room he occupied when he was living there at the beginning, which was around the same size his whole basement in downtown was. He had tried to leave on the first days, but Daikoku had stopped him. He hadn’t left his room since. Kofuku had come to talk to him regularly through the door, when she also realized he wasn’t eating properly.

“Yatty-chan, you haven’t eaten one bite again…” Kofuku was saying today, “we’re sorry things have to be this way, but we have to keep safe. This time luckily nothing happened, but if you were here living with us there had been no need for you to be exposed like that…”

Yato listened to her in his usual spot, sitting by the little table near the window who showed directly the blue cover of the pool, smoking. His hair was a mess and the blanket over his shoulders made him look like an owl on his perch. He could listen to her clearly, he knew what he wanted to say, but he just stayed there, unmoving. An ocean of simultaneous thoughts flooded through him: the deadline, how long he had been on that house, the shame-filled face of Hiyori, Yukine, that stupid brat, Hiyori, the new song he had left on the basement, the fact he didn’t felt like eating anyhtin, Hiyori, she still had his email, would she have written? Probably not, how easy would it be to just smash his skull against the window…

Yato smashed the cigarette butt with more violence than needed, burning his fingertips and getting them dirty with the pile of ashes from several days. He actually hated smoking, but nicotine was able to suppress his constant anxious impulses and slow down his mind a bit. He was sure it killed brain cells, but that was okay. The only thing those little bastards did was idiotic thoughts that paralyzed him and deemed him unable to finish anything.

The magenta shine on that girl’s eyes came back to his head with the strength and precision of a baseball bat and Yato hunched, hugging his knees, burying his face in the boney bumps.

“If you saw me like this, you’d surely think I’m a straight up loser”, he thought, at the same time scolding himself for thinking that way, and simultaneously remembering that afternoon in his basement, where ideas were flowing, organized, where he looked at her eyes and everything was silent, where all the pieces fell into place perfectly.

He got up from his seat, almost knocking the table in his way, ripping away the blanket from his shoulders, his mind punishing him again for depending on a highschooler he had just met a few weeks ago, and for letting things to come to this point. He opened the bedroom’s door, releasing the door lock, and he still could see Kofuku walking away hallway down, giving up. The sound of the door made her look behind, and seeing Yato made her face glow.

After receiving the bubblegum pink tornado on his arms, he looked at her, smiling.

“How can it be that we haven’t had a rehearsal if we’re all here?”

“I’ll call everyone immediately!” sung Kofuku, and ran through the hallway like a butterfly.

 Yato smashed his face over the kotatsu, hours later, his hair still damp from the shower he took after the rehearsal… or whatever that had been. Daikoku growled angrily, asking him to stop getting the table dirty, and Kofuku slipped an arm over his shoulders, hugging him, speaking with the softest voice.

“Yatty-chan, c’mon, relax, OK? Not all rehearsals have to be good, much less after all that time”, his friend’s attempts to lift his mood only made his frustration bigger, and he turned his head to the other side. Yukine and Daikoku had turned on the videogame station and were having fun shooting the other team in an online match. At the current situation, Yato was unable to understand how a game of that kind allowed them to relax after that sucky rehearsal. He had been completely unable to concentrate, he kept missing his entrances, failed notes, and yelled in frustration about not being able to put two coherent ideas together. They decided to try the next day, although nobody really felt more calm. Hugged by Kofuku, Yato sniffed: “I wish I could concentrate like before.”

“Hey, man, take your time,” let out Daikoku, smiling. Seeing Yato out of his bedroom had relieved him somehow, “there’ll be something to bring the kazillion-dollar Yato back.”

“Bring a slut dressed as a schoolgirl, seems he likes that kind of shit” scoffed Yukine.

“Yuki…”, Kofuku tried to reprimand him. Yato didn’t even flinched with his words. The couple was completely aware that he was determined to ignore him as long as possible; but they were also sure Yukine said hurtful things on purpose, resented about receiving the cold shoulder, and they knew this was going to blow out really soon. Unfortunately, the teenager kept talking.

“Look at him, Kofuku! He’s being pathetic on purpose for us to feel guilty about opening his eyes to the truth of his girlfriend”, Yato blushed to the tip of his ears, but didn’t answered. Daikoku gripped the controller with more strength than necessary, counting on the seconds. Yukine didn’t looked away from the screen. “Anyways, I sent her ass back home and whatever she was planning to do will not happen, what a ridiculous thing to say she didn’t had any idea of who we were!”

“So what?” said a harsh voice rising up from the kotatsu. Yato straightened up, and pierced Yukine with a cold glare. “Am I not able to even pick my own friends anymore?”

“Bah, accept it, you don’t even know who to trust and since you think you can’t trust us since what happened with Viina, you go and search for the first person to come across you”. Daikoku and Kofuku closed their eyes at the same time. Something was indeed about to blow up.

“Viina, Viina! Goddamn it! I would really like for you to stop bringing her up every chance you guys have! I’m sick of all this, Yukine! What the fuck y’think you’re getting with reminding me time and time again it was my fault she left?!” After the yelling, Yukine turned off the console, furious.

“FOR YOU TO DEEP-THINK ABOUT IT, MAYBE!”

“DEEP-THINK ABOUT WHAT?”

“HOW PATHETIC IT IS FOR YOU TO DRAG YOUR ASS AROUND SOME GOOD FOR NOTHING BRAT TO OBTAIN A BIT OF VALIDATION EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HER!”

Yato took Yukine by the arm with violence and led him outside. Daikoku made the intent of standing up, but Kofuku stopped him putting a hand delicately on his arm. Smiling sweetly, she made a negative movement with her head.

“Yatty-chan would never hurt Yuki”, she said, with a spark on her eyes, “he’s not the same as before.”

Daikoku sat down again and looked outside, worried.

Outside, Yato practically threw Yukine against the blue sports car and looked at him with rage, before starting to remove the covering canvas. He took the keys out from his pocket and removed the locks. He opened the driver’s door.

“Get in”, he said. Yukine kept standing next to the car, crossing his arms, “I SAID GET IN!”, insisted Yato with a growl, and Yukine walked around the car reluctantly, closing the door behind him with a bang.

“Where are we going?” he asked, not showing any trace of the attitude he showed seconds before, feeling nervousness building up. Normally, when a fight got to this levels, Yato was the first one in avoiding it, usually by leaving. Something had changed.

Yato put his key on the slot by the wheel and turned the switch on. He looked at Yukine straight in the eye and saw him revolve on his seat. This kind of energy was something the kid had never saw in him. Without answering to the question, Yato turned the stereo on and searched for an unexistent station. Static filled the car’s cabin and Yukine looked at him, confused. Yato didn’t broke visual contact while turning up the static’s volume to an almost unbearable level. The blond turned his face into a pained one while covering his ears.

“Does it hurt?”, Yato yelled.

Yukine looked at him in disbelief while he turned the volume up even more. Even Yato’s face was showing signs of pain.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Yelled Yukine, getting his friend’s hand off the volume button with an upwards slap, turning the volume down and punching the off button.

“That was my brain”, Yato said. The glare in his eyes made it hard to believe he wasn’t telling the truth. He turned the stereo on again and searched a station of calm music. A violin quartet caressed the notes sweetly. “This is my brain when I’m with her.”

Yukine smashed his forehead against the car’s board with a grunt.

“Dammit, dude! Obviously you have feelings for the girl but there’s no need to be so cheesy, you disgust me!”

Yato blushed instantly.

“THAT’S NOT IT!” he kept blabbing seeing the skeptical stare Yukine gave him, “Don’t you understand, Yuki? THE WHOLE TIME something is going through my stupid brain and I’m not able to filter everything… until I met her, at least…. For the first time in a long time there’s silence… I can focus. I know I probably shoulda’ been more careful but…”

Yukine opened the car’s door.

“I already knew you were an idiot”, mumbled Yukine, bitterly, “but I wasn’t aware you were this fucking crazy.”

Yato chuckled.

“I guess I am a bit crazy.”

Yukine got off the car and turned around, talking with his hand on the edge of the door.

“Do whatever you want, ass”, he passed the other hand through his hair, ruffling it, “but think about the fact that whatever happens today onwards would be entirely her fault, and therefore yours, for involving her where she shouldn’t be.”

Yukine closed the door, and Yato got the window down before the kid could go far.

“Say, Yukine, what would you think if I was in your place and Suzuha was Hiyori?”, Yukine froze at the spot, “what would’ve happened if when you invited him over I had showed the same attitude with him that you showed with her… stepping over him, making him feel humiliated?”

“It’s not the same thing…”

“Oh, really? Because it seems to me the circumstances are actually similar, Suzuha comes here all the time and only you know who he is…”

“But I trust him!” he said, hot-headed, turning around again and glaring at Yato with furrowed brows.

“And I trust you. I also trust Hiyori.”

Yukine snorted and kept walking.

“I would have smashed your face in that moment.”

“Apparently the one who’s in love is someone else”, sung Yato in an annoying tone, typical of him.

He immediately got the window up, turned the car’s engine on and pushed play in his stereo’s CD player. While he turned around the fountain to get off the house ground, he watched Yukine’s face turn red as a tomato, but he couldn’t listen the “FUCK OFF!” yell, nor see him throw a handful of gravel that didn’t made it to his car.

  “You’re sure you don’t need any help from us, Hiyori-chan?”, asked Yama. Her and Ami were waving Hiyori off at the school gate.

“That’s very nice of you, guys, but the deal with my brother was taking care of it myself.” Said Hiyori, smiling apologetically, getting ready for an afternoon of hunting event halls, banquet services, florists, invitations…

The idea alone was overwhelming, but she had to begin somewhere. But Hiyori actually knew this was the perfect excuse to stop thinking about all that happened and get distracted from the constant jump to her mind of that pair of bright blue eyes appearing out of nowhere, in completely random situations, passing through any thought. While she was collecting phone numbers in the commercial district, she tried not to pay attention to her surroundings, that talked about him, that was trying for her to remember him painfully with every detail. It was completely inexplicable, even absurd. How could it be so hard to stop seeing someone who you’d barely knew?

An anger wave filled her starting from her stomach to the last fiber of her fingers, cooling them until they began to ache and she had to stop the pen’s movement that was still collecting phone numbers, even with her mind way too far from there. The girl kept walking, trying with all her will to blink until making the growingly bothersome sting at the corner of her eyes to go away. One rub in the eyes with her fists, a bit of a shake with her head, and she was ready to hunt again with a falcon’s eye some other place to collect information. She searched around, at the other sidewalk, trying to sharpen her sight. Maybe if she crossed the street…

She had barely made that choice, and she was shifting her feet to go there, when a loud honk made her jump like never before in her life, and with the heart pounding hurtfully looked at the damn crazy person who had smashed the horn of the blue car right next to her… an electric blue sports car… she had seen that car somewhere…

The tinted window of the co-pilot seat got down slowly, and it wasn’t even halfway down when from the inside of that Subaru WRX came out an extremely familiar voice.

“What happened, Hiyori? Saw a ghost?”

She would recognize that voice anywhere.

“Yato!” Hiyori hurriedly came near to the space left from the window, almost sticking her head in the inside of the car, “what are you doing here?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” he said, giving her a flashing smile, “I’m looking for people without a cellphone to put up an exhibition in a museum.”

“Ha-ha, very funny”, she said, stoic, “does Daikoku-san knows you stole his car?”

The face Yato did couldn’t have been funnier, and Hiyori almost couldn’t hear his reply from the laughter attack she had seeing it.

“Just for you to be aware, miss”, he said, crushing his chest with a hand, indignant, “this is MY car.” Hiyori let out an incredulous sound, and Yato snorted, exasperated, “Are you getting in or not?”

She smiled and opened the co-pilot’s door. She sat down, put her briefcase on the floor between her ankles and buckled her seatbelt.

“Where are we going, Toretto?” Hiyori asked, still smiling. Yato looked at her from head to toe, almost in disbelief. Inside of his head, at that time was nothing but silence. Without answering, his face turned into a mischievous smirk, and looking to the front, he hit the gas.

“Who are those?” asked Hiyori, dipping one French fries in a plastic pot filled with dressing.

“Red Hot Chilli Peppers -d’you really didn’t know this place?” Asked Yato, incredulous, taking one of the French fries of the bag she had.

The crisp-clean mat below Hiyori’s feet squealed when she shifted one of them, seeing them with a little smile. She had been asking him continuously the names of the bands playing the songs on his car’s stereo random setting, and Yato answered each band’s name with the patience and passion of a good teacher; he was indeed more concerned about the fact she had never been in that park in particular. It was a charming spot buried in Tokyo’s bay, in which throughout the years portions of land had been placed in order to be able to build more things. In front of them, like a cutout against the sunset light, they could see the shape of the Diamond and Flower ferris wheel, and Yato insisted to stay until the lights were lit. Meanwhile, they just sat in the car listening music.

Yato relaxed his back against the door, with the window down to allow the smoke of his cigarette to go out. Hiyori looked at him. They hadn’t really gotten into the subject.

“I’m sorry” she said, simply. Yato froze for an instant, but didn’t said anything for a while. He smiled sadly, looking to the front. She couldn’t see the expression in his eyes.

“How long had you knew?” he asked, finally, doubting before continuing, “did you saved me from that accident because I was a member of SHRINE?”

Hiyori doubted too. She actually wasn’t sure Yato was going to believe her.

“To be honest, I hadn’t heard about you until after the accident.”

“I don’t know if that helps me or it’s actually making me feel worse” he said, laughing a bit bitterly. He had relaxed again completely. “Actually, I think the one who needs to apologize here is me… Yukine… he’s…”

“Chill out”, cut Hiyori, shaking her head a little, “Yukine-kun was just a bit defensive.”

“And I really don’t know why to be like that with you, but it was indeed wrong… oh, by the way!” he said, and leaned to the back of the car, getting a pink scarf and Hiyori’s CD, “I didn’t had the change of getting those back to you.”

After a shy “thanks” from Hiyori, Yato returned to the topic.

“Hey, I know it’s not like a big deal but, in case you want, we can invite you over to a rehearsal…”

“COME AGAIN?!”

  I love each and every single one of you! Thank you so much for reading!!!!