#i don’t even know what to say about nara

[dira333]

The Road Not Taken - part 20 (The End)

Shibi x  female reader with a name - arranged marriage

Summary: Airi Nara seems a hopeless case, until her grandmother sets her up for an arranged marriage. But was marrying Shibi Aburame the right choice after all?

Masterlist ; Character sheet (now with Hito)

THIS IS THE FINAL CHAPTER! WE MADE IT!

- 5 years after the Uchiha Massacre -

Natsu hasn’t spotted him yet, too distracted by a flock of birds.

“Oi, Shino!” Naruto points out, as usual too loud for the situation he’s in. “Someone’s waiting for you.”

Most of the kids turn to look at Naruto now instead of Shino, who’s slipping out of the crowd almost unnoticed. His shoulders are tense as he walks over, the tension not letting off even as Natsu does her best at climbing up his leg.

“I missed you!” She tells him. “It was boring at home.”

“Did you do your training?” Shino asks and she pouts.

“Course! I’m so strong I can totally kick your butt.”

“Ah,” you drag a hand through her hair which usually makes her let go of whatever she’s clinging to. 

“What?” She asks, turning back. “I didn’t say ass.”

Shino grins into his collar, you can tell. You sigh.

“What did you do today?” You ask over Natsu’s chatter as you make your way home.

Shino’s classes run later than Natsu’s and although picking him up is a rather untimely break, you don’t mind doing it once or twice a week. Natsu’s easily distracted as it is, and that little break is often what she needs to focus for two more hours

“They told us what teams we’ll be getting into,” Shino tells you quietly, his hand slipping into yours as you make your way through a quiet alley, a gesture reminding him of how little he used to be.

“Really?” Natsu squeaks to your feet. “Who’s going to be your Sensei?”

“Kurenai.”

You furrow your brows. Kurenai’s known for her use of Genjutsu. Not the first choice for an Aburame.

Shino senses your hesitation. “I’ll talk to Father about it,” he replies. 

“Who else is going to be in your team?”

“Kiba Inuzuka.” He pauses. “And Hinata Hyuuga.”

Ah. You can tell by the arch of his shoulders where the problem lies.

Natsu, not the least bit attentive, doesn’t. She rambles on, jealous that he’s going to get to be in a real Genin Team now while she’s just started attending Academy, that he’s going to be spending time with an Inuzuka - they have dogs! - while she trains with Kaede of all people.

But you know your son. Sometimes better than his father, it seems.

-

“What’s the problem with it?” Shibi asks after Dinner in the privacy of his office, the kids doing their homework on the other side - or rather Shino’s helping Natsu do hers.

“It’s Hinata. Hinata Hyuuga. He has a crush on her.”

Shibi drops his pen. “What?”

“Yeah, didn’t you notice?” You lean into him until he moves his legs a little apart, lets you take a seat on his lap. Over six years of marriage have not made you long less for his touch but even you’ve noticed that you’ve been exceptionally cuddly these past weeks.

“No,” he admits, pulling you a little closer. “Did he tell you?”

“Well, yeah.” You close your eyes for a second, reveling in the closeness. “I figured it out and talked to him about it. She’s really sweet, but apparently she’s head over heels for Naruto.”

“Poor Shino,” Shibi sighs. “I know that feeling.”

“Excuse me?” You lean back again to eye him. “When did you experience that kind of thing?”

“Well,” he pulls a face. “I did have a life before Zoka. There was this girl in my class… Looking back I can only be glad she never knew I liked her, but she was really into…” He stops, furrowing his brows. “I forgot his name.”

You laugh. “Well, let’s hope Shino will experience something similar. Do you…” You hesitate. “Do you plan on arranging a marriage for him as well?”

Shibi’s head knocks heavily into yours. “I was thinking about it. Chiasa brought it up. It’s too early for that yet, but I might talk to him about it, just so he knows.”

“He might not take the offer.”

“Yes,” Shibi nods. “He might not. But it’s his decision. Why? I won’t force him into something he has no desire for.”

You sigh. Your eyes wander over his desk, not really looking for anything but a distraction until they catch onto the picture pinned to the wall. Natsu, barely six months old, had wanted out of your hold so bad her arms and legs are blurry from the movement, but it’s not her your eyes latch onto. Behind her, body covered from head to toe, is Torune, smiling at the camera.

You still wonder about him daily, but the pain has lessened over time.

Shibi, sensing the shift, leans in to kiss your temple.

“How about we take a nice bath after the kids have gone to bed?” He asks. “Celebrate the fact that you put on some weight again.”

You laugh despite yourself. “That’s not usually a thing to celebrate.”

“It is to me.”

And you know what he’s thinking about, the time of your life you barely remember, when all you did was sleep and cry. 

You suppose he’s right. Sometimes these things are worth celebrating.

- - -

It’s a rare treat to go shopping on your own and not just for necessities.

Shibi’s on a mission that should only last one day, Natsu’s training with Chiasa right after school and Shino’s training with his new Genin Team, leaving the house quiet except for the purring of Okita 

Sure there’s things to do, like there always are. The laundry needs to be folded, the garden needs tending, but nothing is urgent and you’re craving a little window shop.

They say to never go shopping on an hungry stomach, but the same might be true for the opposite. 

You find sweets for you and Natsu, a little trinket Toshiko will cherish, and the most practical gift you could possibly get Shibi - a multi pack of new boxer briefs - until you make your way through yet another store, remembering that you’ll need new toothbrushes soon.

You take a turn to the left and stare at a display of pregnancy tests, all but snorting at the price.

With a little bit of Chakra you can do that for free and since the aisle is empty, you do just so, proving to yourself that you might be a little rusty at the edges, but not that much.

The result has you freeze in surprise, hands still splayed out over your abdomen.

You try again. The result doesn’t change.

-

And it’s not like you changed your mind about having more children after Torune was taken away, but it had not been on the forefront of your mind anymore.

Grief had been. And then getting better.

The tea Chiasa had gotten you had moved to the far end of the cupboard, replaced by other, more needed things. A tea to soothe Natsu’s upset stomach or the fever she ran when teething. 

To find out you’re pregnant again, at a time like this, in a place like this… You can’t help but laugh.

- 

Natsu looks at you weird when she returns from her grandmother.

“Why are you smiling like that?” She asks, stomping adorably through the room to join you in the kitchen. 

“I’m happy. Are you not?”

She harrumphs before taking a seat at the table, launching into a detailed explanation of today’s training, the bugs and birds she had seen and all the reasons why she needed to get a puppy.

Shino, much like his sister, halts at the door to eye you.

“You seem very happy,” he points out, sliding out of his shoes.

“I said that too,” Natsu exclaims, eager to show off.

“I am,” you explain simply, inviting him to the table. “Can you help me with the beans?”

“Did you get to pet Akamaru today?” Natsu asks before Shino’s even sat, disappointed when his answer is no.

You eat Dinner without Shibi, sadly a not so rare occurrence.

Natsu settles on the living room floor after Dinner to play with a lazy Okita while Shino curiously sidles closer on the Couch.

“Did something happen?” He whispers, mindful of his sisters nosiness.

“Yes,” you agree. “But I will have to tell your father first.”

Shino watches you for a second, his sunglasses giving nothing away. Then, just barely visible, his mouth quirks upward before he leans in to whisper even quieter into your ear.

“I hope this time I will get a quieter sibling.”

You snort, waving it off as a bad joke when Natsu perks up immediately.

“I know a joke!” She exclaims at that, sitting upright. “Where do the cows go to have fun?”

“Where, Natsu?”

“To the Moovies! Get it? Because they Moo!”

You laugh along with her, praising her for it. 

She goes back to Okita after a while but Shino sticks close until he falls asleep with his head on your shoulder.

He’s grown so much, but he’s still your little boy after all.

- - -

Shibi takes one step into your bedroom before he halts.

“What happened?” He asks, his coat half open.

You laugh. “Why does everyone ask me that today? Is it hat obvious?”

“You’re glowing,” he comments before flinching back. “No!” He gasps. “Can it-”

“Yes,” your smile turns shy now, a hand pressed to your belly. “I went to the hospital to triple check. I’m two months along already.”

The sound Shibi makes sounds both like a sob and a sigh and he rushes over to cradle the barely there bump in his hands.

“So that’s the weight you put on,” he points out quietly, hands caressing the skin above the new life growing.

You rake a hand through his hair, overcome with too many emotions to talk.

He understands nonetheless.

“Do you want to call him Torune, if it’s a boy?” His voice is quiet, unobtrusive.

“No,” you shake your head, your voice tight. “No, I don’t… I don’t want to replace him. Torune will always be my son. If it’s a boy, he will be his own little person.”

Shibi nods, pressing a kiss to your stomach.

“Welcome,” he whispers. “We’re very eager to meet you.”

“Shino already knows,” you tell him once he’s settled in behind you, one hand cradling your belly.

Shino huffs out a laugh. “He’s too perceptive.”

“Do you want to tell Natsu?”

He laughs louder. “No, I know my limitations. That’s all yours.”

-.- Shibi -.-

Hito Aburame steps just as quietly into the world as he’d slipped into your life.

One day you’re still pregnant, your belly heavy, the next he’s there with you, watching the little carved antlers move above his bed.

You gave birth at night, a quiet, quick affair, Shibi’s hand tight in yours as Chiasa watched.

Hito has his fathers Kikaichu, your eyes and Shino’s quietness, charming his way into everyone’s heart, even that of stubborn Natsu who had been adamant not to like him.

“He’s very cute,” she admits just two days later, carrying him from one room to the next. Every thought of a puppy is forgotten when he blows bubbles at her, holds onto her pinky with his tiny fists.

-

Hito’s presence is sorely needed.

He’d been worried sick these past months.

The third Hokage has been killed, the attack almost taking Shino as well.

You’d watched him for days until the poison left his system, one hand on his, the other on your growing belly.

It had been a new fear, though not unfounded. He’d almost lost you over Torune, he doesn’t want to think what losing Shino would do to you.

The life of a Shinobi is hard, every mission might be your last. 

But Shibi can’t help but think that the life of a parent is harder, knowing that no matter how hard you train your children they might not make it home one day.

And what world, he can’t help but wonder, what village, expects their children to fight the battles of grown ups?

- - -

The years pass.

They celebrate Shino making Chunin by visiting the bath house, a rather ironic celebration giving the fact that both Shino and him have to stay out of the water lest they overheat.

Hito doesn’t seem to mind the heat but you don’t dare risk it at his young age while Natsu dives into the water from every angle possible.

“Torune would be proud of you,” you tell Shino after Dinner, your voice thick with emotion. 

Shino’s hand curls around yours and his, joining them together.

His son rarely smiles but tonight, he seems content.

-

Natsu’s Genin team consists of her, a quiet, massive Taijutsu User named Kenta Akimichi and the stubborn Genjutsu prodigy Umeda Daisuke, a clanless boy Natsu never stops complaining about.

“She’s got a crush on him,” you comment one rainy afternoon after Natsu’s stormed out to train, her tirade over Daisuke still ringing in their ears. “She just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Poor Daisuke,” Shino comments from where he’s packing his bag for a mission. “He doesn’t know what’s going to hit him until it’s too late.”

You laugh, both at Shino’s comment and Shibi’s awkwardness, his unwillingness to think about his little girl growing up.

“How about you?” You ask, pinching Shino’s cheek, lifting Hito up so he can do the same, the toddler clinging to you every waking hour. “Any girl worth crushing on?”

Red dusts Shino’s cheeks and Shibi straightens, trying not to pry.

“I’m fine as it is,” Shino points out. “I want to make… I want to make you guys proud.”

“I am proud,” you tell him, conviction heavy in your voice. “So, so proud.”

“Still,” Shino shakes his head. “I’m only eighteen. Who knows what’s going to happen in the next year or so? Naruto just came back and you know how he makes everything…”

“Interesting?” You offer at the same time Shibi mutters a quiet “Complicated?”

Shino shrugs.

“If you want me to look for someone-,” Shibi offers but Shino waves him off. “No, no, I’m fine.”

Shibi catches your eye. He knows that look and sighs. A little looking around won’t hurt.

- - - After the Shinobi war - - -

Shibi finds you at the hospital, not surprised to see you up and working even at midnight, a sleeping Hito tied to your back. He’s too old to be carried around like that, but the times are rough and he knows you wouldn’t leave him to sleep in some room when there might be a new attack any minute.

You pull him in for a hug the second you see him, your clothes just as drenched in blood and dirt as his.

“You’re alive,” you cry into his chest and he nods, eyes closed, relieved to be just for one second.

“Who did we lose?” You ask moments later, voice shaky as you brace yourself.

“Muta,” he watches you crumble at the name, holds you tight as you cry into his chest. All the other names will follow, but this one hurts the most. Toshiko’s your closest friend and Muta nothing less than your nephew, just another big brother of Natsu.

Shibi hasn’t heard of Shino yet, just knows that he’s alive.

-

Konoha does what it does best.

They rebuild itself from the dirt and the ashes, from the tears and the blood.

Natsu is quieter now, a constant companion to a grieving Kaede, sitting hours on end with him and little Hito as she ponders the injustice of the world.

Muta had been a person she knew, one she loved dearly. It’s the first death, the first loss she can really grasp.

Torune’s death hits you much harder, though not as hard as him saying goodbye all those years ago.

So much has happened in so little time that it seems almost comical that their house is still standing, their garden’s almost untouched from all those fights.

-

“Let’s come together,” you ask one Sunday morning, the first you get to spend at home after doing double shifts at the hospital all week. “Under the pear tree.”

The Blanket you spread out on the ground is one he knows well, the one you gifted Torune all those years ago, the one your parents made for you.

Hito settles quietly in your lap, the others following shortly.

Chiasa, Toshiko, Kenji and Kaede arrive as if pulled in by your shadows, settling in the soft shade.

It’s quiet outside, just the rustling of the wind in the leaves, not even Natsu utters a word as she lets Kaede sit close, shoulders brushing.

A shadow brushes past the edge of the house, blindingly blond hair reflecting the sun.

“Hi,” Naruto stands there awkwardly. “I wanted to- Is it okay if I-”

“Sit,” Shino motions toward a free corner to his right and Naruto waves at someone behind him who turns out to be Iruka. 

The blanket is pretty much full now but you look around as if waiting for someone. Maybe you are.

“When I was dreaming in the Infinite Tsukuyomi,” you say into the quiet of the morning. “When I was dreaming, I saw us like this. Sitting together under this pear tree. My parents were there as well. Jurou and Zoka, Torune and Muta.” Toshiko sniffles loudly and you smile at her, taking her hand to squeeze it.

“And we didn’t have to do much. We just were and we were happy like this. And I think we can be like that, still.” Your eyes find Shibi’s and you smile, sad and happy at the same time.

“After all, no one’s truly dead unless they are forgotten.”

- - -

It’s only hours later, in the quiet of the night, that you shuffle close, your head coming to rest on his chest.

“What are you thinking about?” You ask.

“Everything and nothing,” he admits. “Torune, Muta, Shiruko. Zoka, too. The girl… The girl I found for Shino, if he wants it. Who’s going to be Hito’s Sensei when it’s time. Should he even become a Shinobi?”

“I thought you didn’t like thinking about the road not taken?”

“I don’t,” he sighs. “But my mind won’t let it rest.”

“Would it help you,” you ask then, “If we went down it together?”

He considers it for a second, your hand in his, his hand in yours.

“Always.”

THE END!

I am so proud of this story. This took some twists and turns and I'm sure it did not answer every question, not that it needs to. You won't get answers to every question in your own life either, sadly.

I modeled the events of the Shinobi War to what I know from the Naruto Wiki - so I didn't spend as much time on Torune's and Muta's death as I could have.

What do you think, though?

Will Shino accept an arranged marriage like his father?

What side character deserves a long story like this (and why should it be Nagato? 😉)

Or do you have any other thoughts you want to share? I'd love to hear it.

Thank you for all the support you've shown this fic. Shibi, Shino and the whole Aburame Clan are, after all, side characters. Often forgotten. But our love for them unites us in this corner of the interweb.

taglist: @burningbluegalaxy @sammieshuttle97 @mellophoned @theferretkids

@diamondtrashbag @sarisfae @elliotintgewoods

@c-cozylove @f1girlie @cutiepattotie @neonrogueraven @sage101

@gloriouschaosprincess @urgaeheh @kitty262 @gacha-gods-hate-me

@hey-ginger-pyro @imeatingyourfloorboards @theshortmuffin07 @oldanimefan @shadowwolf202101blog

[noxaurumque]

@pawowogic if i may add my thoughts under your thoughts related to this post:

i think the main reason eva and aglaya are written that way is to pull the rug out from the player and hammer home the themes of futility: the game puts these characters in your care and has them put faith in your abilities, and then it kills them anyway like some sort of cruel joke. they saw you as something special, but it turned out you were subject to the same limitations. fun! i love it

i will always complain about this a little because. i suspect the writers are relying on the player being more invested in a potential love interest over other characters. as if they were saying, “look they love you! you love them too, yes?” ehh… personally, i think the emotional impact of those scripted deaths would’ve hit harder if they had developed those particular character relationships.

anyways, that’s not to say there’s nothing to love about them. even with it’s flaws, patho’s character writing is really strong. buuuut when it comes to the romance, you will find me leaning into the realm of unrequited love and tragic idealism. it's how i'm coping. sorry ladies, don’t put your faith in a god who is no better than a child playing with dolls.

(now excuse me while continue to play god to a religiously traumatized teenage girl in the next route. this will go extremely well)

[leewritestoomuch]

Naruto Characters Accidentally Calling their Girlfriend their Wife

MR KRABSSSS I HAVE AN IDEAAA

Fem reader (or if you want to be called wife)

Characters: Naruto, Sasuke, Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Rock Lee, Kankuro, and Gaara.

(Masterlist is up now) also I’ll be adding Sai to this in the morning

Naruto Uzumaki

He’s talking to some new people and enthusiastically pulls you to his side, a large smile on his face, and he says “This is my wife! Y/N!”

You can’t hide your shock, not fully at least. He’s never called you his wife before. I mean, he’s said things like “you’ll be my future wife, right?” As he giggles or something.

But you are in a state of shock that he introduced you that way.

Nonetheless, you’re happy.

If the person makes a comment about how young or cute you two are for a married couple, he’d realize. Likely, he’d respond a little oddly, stuttering, but recovers and just full sends with the claim you’re his wife.

Sasuke Uchiha

If he’s with you, you’re gonna be his wife anyways. He didn’t get with you until he was sure of that, because it took him a long time to realize he felt that way anyways.

So he calls you his wife with full confidence, before realizing his mistake. However, he doesn’t care too much to correct himself or anything.

Because you are gonna marry him right? (He’s actually really nervous to propose, but he won’t admit that.)

People would probably just believe him immediately considering just how serious he is about you to even be with you.

When you confront him about it later, he’ll ask you if that was okay, explain it was a mistake, but he’ll probably comment on how he’s dating to marry anyways so… you might as well be his wife.

You can probably expect a proposal soon.

Shino Aburame

I can’t fully see this happening tbh. However, let’s say that it does.

He’d probably over explain himself to the person he referred of you as his wife too.

Not that he doesn’t want you as his wife, but you haven’t said you’ll be his wife yet. So he can’t call you his wife. That’s how he sees it.

He’ll probably think he messed up and upset you, so you’ll have to explain it was cute.

Once you explain to him, he’ll see your point. Maybe with some reluctance to lighten up on himself.

He’ll be happy you want to be seen as his wife though.

Kiba Inuzuka

Realized his mistake, but he could not be bothered.

He will keep on as if there is no mistake. As if you are legally married.

He’ll be upset if you correct him in front of people.

It’ll turn into a bit of an argument if you correct him in any way other than sweetly.

Because what the big deal???

If you leave it alone, and talk to him later, now he’s nervous and stuttering. But he’ll likely comment on how he knows you want to marry him so you might as well be called his wife.

Shikamaru Nara

Immediately realizing what slipped out his mouth.

Does he really want you to be his wife? Well, of course he does. But that’s a lot for him to accidentally spill out to some strangers you’re both meeting.

They don’t know he made a mistake, because you roll with it.

Later, he’ll try to avoid talking about it, but if you bring it up, he’ll say it was a mistake, don’t take it so seriously.

If you seem down about his underwhelming response, he’ll likely have an actual talk about his future with you to reassure you that he was just being an idiot when he said that.

Choji Akimichi

He forgot you’re not his wife.

I think Choji would just love you so much that he would simply treat you like a wife. To the point he forgets, you’re not his wife.

If you comment on it, he’ll think about it and probably be like ohhhh right.

He’ll apologize, but more than likely you’ll just say it was cute.

I can see him calling you wifey.

But if he’s gonna call you that, he’s gotta get you that ring. He’s planning on it as yall speak.

Neji Hyuga

You two are waiting a while before calling it official. Plans of marriage are far off.

He’s a little too traditional to jump at marriage quickly.

So when he accidentally calls you his wife, it was to Hiashi. He went pale. Paler than usual.

Later, depending on how exactly that went, he’ll probably be in his head.

Let’s assume for this though, that Hiashi approves of you completely.

Hiashi made a comment, rather he meant it badly or not, Neji will take it the wrong way. Realize he jumped too far.

You’ll have to tell him you find it cute, and rather his uncle approves of you two or not, you’ll be his wife someday :)

Rock Lee

It COULD be an honest mistake.

But let’s be honest,

It’s Lee.

He calls you his wife to your face, to other people, hell, he’d shout it from the roof tops.

So it’s not an accident. He meant it. He will one day make you his wife, so why would he not call you his wife now!

If you have any reserves about being called his wife before actual marriage, he will pout and be upset. He won’t understand.

But, once that’s over, he’s crying and begging for forgiveness.

Please tell him it’s cute that he wants to marry you, even if you do want to have a talk with him about not assuming roles you don’t officially have.

Gaara

HE CALLED YOU HIS WIFE IN FRONT OF A CROWD. so now he’s blushing.

He might correct his mistake, might not. Depends.

He’s a confident speaker, but that threw him off a little bit.

Likely you were a strong shinobi or something and he was trying to give you credit where it’s due, but it didn’t go as planned.

When you too are alone later, you’ll bring it up likely.

If you tell him you thought it was cute or sweet, he’ll turn bright red like his hair.

He likely won’t go on calling you his wife or anything. Maybe in private.

But he’s not ashamed of it. After all, he’s strongly considering marriage.

Kankuro

Called you his wife to his siblings while you were over for dinner.

Temari is not letting him live it down.

“Hey, I think your wife is trying to get your attention.” “I don’t know, maybe ask your wife?” “What about your wife?” From then on out.

He’s frustrated because it was a mistake, BUTTTT honestly, eventually he’ll make some snarky comment about how at least he’s closer to marriage than she is. Then he probably harps on Shikamaru a little bit in defense for his own comment.

(He approves of Shikamaru tho, if he’s being real. He just thinks it’s a little funny)

As long as this is before a certain point.

He decides to call you his wife to your face.

He’ll call you that to tease you now.

[latetaektalk]

love to hate you | jjk [viii, preview]

“when obnoxiously rich and spoiled frat boy jeon jungkook comes up to you one day and asks you to fake date him for money, you definitely should have said no. because before you knew it, you were going on insta dates with him and having lunch with his equally obnoxiously rich and spoiled friends.”

— genre: fratboy! AU, fake dating! AU, college! AU, rich kid! AU, enemies to lovers! AU, angst, fluff, sexual themes (later chapters)

— pairing: jungkook x female reader

— word count: estimated 100k for the entire series, 970 for this preview

— warnings: none for this preview

— playlist: to be added

— a/n: i cant believe we've gotten this far into the story. we're slowly but surely nearing the end and i hope you guys will have as much fun reading this as i did writing it bc this is by far my favourite chapter ive written so far for those two idiots <3

— find it here

Oh.

Your friends followed your gaze.

Jungkook had his backpack strapped to his shoulder and the red scarf wrapped around his neck. It shouldn’t be possible. You were technically too far for you to properly see, but you saw it—the tension in his shoulders, the strain in his nape, the deep knit between his brows. He was…. annoyed. It was new to you. For a moment, you almost expected to find Narae walking behind him, bugging him, hot on his trail. It would explain it to you, and you would just simply walk over there and pull him to your table. Just like that, you would ease the knit between your brows, take the tension out of his shoulders and neck-

But it wasn’t Narae. 

It was Taehyung. 

He said something to Jungkook that made him roll his eyes. Jungkook didn’t seem to want to respond, shaking his head and waving his hand around, an attempt to end the conversation. But Taehyung wasn’t so kind, going on, even taking hold of his shoulder.

“Someone is in a mood,” Namjoon mumbled, cringing.

“What are they talking about, Y/N?” Jimin asked, looking at you, and you stared right back at him, frowning.

“How would I know?”

“You’re his girlfriend.”

“So?”

“Go find out.”

“What? I just walk up to them and say,” you raised your voice a few pitches, “‘Oh my God, hi, you guys are clearly fighting. Care to share?’ Is that what you want?”

Jimin blinked, shrugging. “Sure, that would work.”

“You’re so ridiculous, Jimin,” you hissed, touching a hand to your forehead. “That wouldn’t work.”

“Of course, it would. Kook’s absolutely obsessed-”

“Oh my God, shut up,” Chaeyoung hissed, slapping Jimin. “They’re looking!”

“You guys are always so loud,” Hoseok sighed, and you sent him a glare because no, you don’t! It’s just Jimin!

But they were right. Taehyung and Jungkook were both looking at you, their conversation having come to an end. When you met his gaze, Jungkook’s face contorted into something else, features twitching. You couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but it wasn’t the usual. He didn’t soften in the way you were used to when he would see you. And when you tried a smile, Jungkook struggled to return it. You felt shot, and your smile faltered.

But Jimin didn’t sense it at all, wildly waving his hand around, gesturing for the two to come this way. And as if it wasn’t more obvious, he yelled it too, “Hey, Tae and Kook! Come join us!”

Jisoo sighed, “He’s such an idiot.”

Chaeyoung and Hoseok shrugged, as if to say well, it’s Jimin. They were right, it was just Jimin being himself, unaware and impulsive. Namjoon didn’t have any words, shaking his head. 

Jungkook and Taehyung looked at each other, exchanging a few words before the latter glanced at his watch and shook his head. He had to go. Taehyung placed his hand on Jungkook’s shoulder, whispering something into his ear. You must have imagined it but it looked like he glanced in your direction. But before you could think about it, Taehyung headed in the same direction he had previously come from, and Jungkook slowly made his way over, not meeting your eyes once.

“What were you arguing about?” Jimin asked when Jungkook stood in front of you, and you watched him grip the strap of his backpack, the skin over his knuckles stretching thin.

“Jimin!” Jisoo hissed, punching him. 

“Ow!”

“Right, yeah, of course, you’d ask,” he smiled. “It’s fine.”

Jungkook said it with a laugh, but it was all wrong. 

“We weren’t arguing.” 

And as if it wasn’t enough, Jungkook put on his brightest and biggest smile. He showed it to everyone. Like a stone plunged into the deep sea, your heart sank. You had seen it before, that smile. It had decorated his lips during the Halloween party when you first walked in, or when you had first hurt his feelings while you had gone costume shopping. 

Namjoon and you looked at each other shortly, both of you sensing it. 

“Is everything-”

“Well, it looked like you were,” Jimin mumbled, accidentally interrupting Namjoon. He waited for Jungkook to budge and cave under his gaze, but when he wouldn’t, he shrugged. “Come sit.”

Maybe he could feel your burning gaze on him, but Jungkook finally glanced in your direction. If only for a second, so very brief. But it dug into your heart and split it open, gutted you and left you utterly empty. You had seen him just yesterday, picked out your dress together, parted ways this morning a few hours ago, and now he seemed like another person. He looked so sad, sad in a way you hadn’t seen before. You didn’t think that any emotion close to that had ever crossed his features, not in your presence at least. It was so new and surprising to you—because somehow in your mind, you had forgotten he had the ability to feel… upset—you froze.

“I’m sorry, I have to go,” Jungkook said, nailing that same smile back onto his lips as before. “But I’ll see you guys around.”

And before any of you could protest, he was gone, back turned to your table and heading into the crowd. 

“Well, that was… weird,” Chaeyoung said, pointing out the elephant in the room. And as if she had said your name, everyone turned to you for some kind of answer.

You blinked back at them. “Yeah, I-I don’t know.”

There was another beat of silence before ultimately your friends shrugged.

“Maybe it’s just not a good day?” Hoseok proposed, and they were all quick to agree, moving on. And though you didn’t voice it, you knew it wasn’t that. It couldn’t just be that. 

You knew it was about you. It had to be.

find it here

[lalunanymph]

𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝟐: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍

after a scandal that rocks the entire nation, itadori 'ryomen' sukuna is forced to marry a girl chosen by his brother in order to straighten him out. but, what jin doesn't expect is how much he's willing to destroy everything he knows just to get his freedom back—even at the expense of breaking his wife's soul.

warnings: mean!sukuna, unrequited love, child neglect, childhood trauma, flashback-heavy, language, repressed trauma, allusions to d/rug a/buse, mentions of s/moking, mentions of food, mentions of a/lcohol, explicit s/mut (sukuna x este), cuckcake-ish vibes, tension, MDNI

masterlist | playlist

He sees the invitation in his brother’s hand first thing in the morning, and wishes he hadn’t woken up in the first place. 

Groggy and still drunk from the night before partying with Ino and his gang of friends, Sukuna blinks the crust from his eyes with wary bleariness.

“What do they want now?”

He groans, recognizing the L/N family seal from a single glance.

Jin, clad in a beige sweater the color of boring and a similar pair of bland slacks, shakes his head. “I don’t know ‘Kuna. But, I think your future in-laws want to get to know you better.”

His brother tosses the invitation onto the dining table, and turns to refill his coffee while humming under his breath. Despite his hesitation and dismay, Sukuna reaches for the innocuous item, turning it around his fingers to check the edges; evaluating the invitation like its a show pony up for sale.

Constellation Snow paper with Waterman ink. 

The L/N’s were serious about their reputation.

A cruel smirk plays on the corners of his lips. Compared to the Naras, the L/N’s were shams in their society—new money desperately trying to climb the ladder. Your mother, Lia, was descended from department store royalty but chose to taint her blood with a middle-class business associate from Shibuya who scrappily acquired his own company at the age of twenty-five.

Your family’s history was thoroughly researched on by Hiromi even before the idea of marriage was put forth, attesting to the lawyer’s incredible foresight.

And now the snakes are waiting in the bushes to strike.

However much Sukuna wants to refuse this invite, it would not look good on the Itadoris if they dismissed a future business partner.

Jin, too, appears to have the same line of thought, sitting across from him with a slight frown. The buttery smell of coffee beans wafts in the air, coaxing him from his drunken fatigue.

“So?” his younger twin asks. “Are you going to say ‘yes’?” 

Sukuna turns the card over, flips it over to his brother. Jin catches it before it goes tumbling to the ground, tossing him a scowl. He unfolds it, reads through its contents quickly.

“A getaway for a week at their private mountain lodge,” he mutters wryly. “Whatever could go wrong?”

Hearing the note of amusement in Jin’s voice, Sukuna rolls his eyes, scrubbing a hand down his face. “It's so they can force us into this alliance. How else are we going to plan an escape if we’re trapped with them on a goddamn peak.”

“Is this what you see your fate as?” Jin murmurs, trying hard not to smirk. “A trap?”

“You got a better term for it?” Sukuna grouses. “You didn’t give me a chance to say ‘no’ to the whole thing. You forced my hand before I could even consent.”

“Don’t be dramatic,” Jin mutters, returning back to the table with a plate of toast and some butter. Sukuna tries to grab one of the brown slices, but his brother swats his hand away with a scowl that says go get your own food.

Begrudgingly, he stands to make himself a bowl of cereal before he comes to a stop.

Usually, someone would be here to take his plate, toast his bread for him, and prepare his usual fare of strawberry jam and manuka honey on the table before he could even lift a finger. Or, they would prepare the granola and milk for him on the table before he even has to ask.

“Where’s the help today?” He suddenly realizes, perturbed by their quiet absence. 

In response, Jin hums. “I gave them a day off."

Sukuna looks at him like he has grown two heads, wondering what could possess such a man to debilitate his household like this. When he would become the man of the house, Sukuna wouldn't give them a day off on a whim like his weak-hearted younger brother.

“Why? What did they do to deserve it?” 

His blood is boiling, about to spill over in his infamous temper tantrums when Jin sighs, stopping him in his tracks with his next words.

“It’s her Death Day anniversary today.”

Sukuna almost blurts out “Who?” when the sight of Jin's grim expression suddenly jogs his memory.

He immediately remembers and wishes he hadn’t been so blunt. 

Ah.

Kaori. 

The older twin shifts uncomfortably from one foot to another. “Happy… Death Day. I guess?” 

Sukuna was lucky Jin was in a decent mood and didn't sock him in the face for that insensitive comment. As her death was two years ago, the young air stewardess’ absence was still very much felt by her grieving husband until this day—a blow to his soft heart which he will never get over for as long as he lived.

“We need to respond to that invitation,” he switches the subject, cleaning up after himself. “Oh, and with kind consideration for our future companions, the L/N’s have also offered the Gojos and Naras an invite.”

Sukuna almost choked on his cereal. “T-the Naras are coming?” 

Without turning to him or being ticked off by the change in his older brother’s tone, Jin nods, continuing to scrub his dishes. 

“James wants to talk new business terms with Ken, and he’s interested in hearing what the guy has to offer. Also, Gojo Sr. might be bringing his best cigars. It’s unmissable.”

The older Itadori internally swore, wondering if the entire universe had just upended and gone entirely insane. 

Though he was a bastard through and through, even Sukuna could admit that having his future wife and hookup slash sorta girlfriend under one roof would be a disaster waiting to happen. 

You could never find out about him and Este. 

“That’s… interesting.”

“You can join us if you want,” Jin adds, “Only if you can keep your partying tendencies on hold for three days.”

“Just for three days?” Sukuna smirks, and Jin finally turns around, giving a look he is all too familiar with.

Throwing his hands up, the older Itadori shrugs, trying his best to look as innocent as possible.

“You know me, Jin-Jin. I’m always on my best behavior.”

“Darling, we must hurry,” your father scolds, and you struggle to keep up with them in your tottering heels. Behind you, your mother shoos you down the tarmac, towards the humming private jet ready to depart. 

“We can’t keep the Itadoris waiting!” 

The maids rush with your bags, one of them carrying your fur trimmed hat in case it flutters off your head.

Once the butlers had stowed away your luggage, each of them formed a line and bowed to you and your parents as the three of you climbed up the airstairs, waving you off with polite smiles.

“I can’t believe we’re going to spend three whole days with the Itadoris,” Lia gushes as the cabin crew starts to pat down the overhead compartments, doing their final checks. She looks radiant in her mink-trimmed fur coat hanging off her shoulders, the picture of elegance with her sleek bodycon dress and sparkling golden jewelry dripping from her throat and ears.

Relaxing into the muted beige seat, you nod. “Me, too. I wonder what activities Itadori-san likes.”

In comparison to her, you're dressed in all monochrome; your stylist came in at the nick of time to take inspiration from some of his ex-girlfriends' winter fashion—settling you into a ribbed sweater dress with some stylish earmuffs and a black trench coat that feels like a million bucks under your splayed palms.

Your mother turns to your father who was trying to catch his breath, shaking out his handkerchief to pat his shining face.

“Jiro, darling. Do you think it’s brazen if we request for them to share a room together?” 

Your father looks over his half-moon spectacles, tilting his head to the side. “Itadori-san and our daughter? Well, I don’t see why not.”

You blanch, but before you are able to voice your discontent, an air stewardess glides by with three flutes of champagne. Setting it down, she asks in a soft voice if you were all ready for refreshments.

Unsure how to broach the subject, you stew in your disappointment for the entire plane ride to Hokkaido, glad you chose the window seat so you could spend a little more time alone in your thoughts.

Your phone vibrates with a text, and you switch it on to find Utahime sending you a GIF of a cat waving a good luck banner.

Smiling to yourself, you respond with another cat GIF, this one sticking its face to a window with its whiskers twitching sorrowfully, and put your phone on silent for takeoff.

Iori could always make you smile, no matter how nervous you are. You kind of wish she could be here with you. Staring out at the passing scenery below, you tilt your head back, wondering what kind of carnage awaits at the base of mountainous Hokkaido.

Since striking lucky with his marriage to your mother, your father began divesting his profits into property, and the 5,000 feet lodge instantly became the highlight of his purchases. 

Imposing and standing firm on fortified concrete to withstand the harsh, cold mountain air, your childhood days were spent playing in the narrow hallways, fashioned similarly to the labyrinth-like interior of Europe’s oldest castles. Your parents absolutely adored German architecture with its spiraling spires and brick red slates upon such historical monuments, and wanted to emulate the design right on the slopes of Hakodate. 

It’s been years since I’ve seen the lodge. 

The last time you were there, you were just shy of your sixteenth birthday. 

Bright-eyed, and romantically wistful. You often imagined how pretty it would be to walk along the grand balcony as the sun performed its final best for the day; orange rays soaking your skin from head to toe as you admire nature's best while hand-in-hand with a man you love.

And now, your fantasies have a chance of turning into reality. 

You wonder how Sukuna will feel when he sees the spires, the chimneys, and the cozy old brick walls that allows for the warmth of the house to seep into them despite the persistent chill.

He would be impressed—you like to think he might be a bit more polite once he sees your family is just like his. Just as powerful and grand and worthy. 

Smiling secretly to yourself, you swallow down an Ambien, slip on your headphones, and settle into the comfortable seats for the start of your wildest hopes coming true.

The private car taking them up the winding road almost makes Sukuna turn green around the edges.

Jin sits beside him, a faint flush on his cheeks from the cold despite not having reached the mountain’s first base. Their mother used to always tease how he was the easiest to blush or bruise; so much different from his staunch older brother.

“The weather is lovely,” his twin muses.

Sukuna stares out the window, not bothering to hide his sulky mood. His phone is off, his last text from Este snidely insulting the L/N’s on how they only had two private hot springs in their lodge went unreplied. 

He hasn’t bothered to respond to her because he’ll see her soon enough. 

Fuck… this is some twisted shit. A part of him still can’t wrap his head around the fact that his situationship and future fiance would be in the same room together. 

Jin hums, breaking him from his thoughts, and after a brief lull, shoots up excitedly, tapping the driver’s seat. “It’s this one! We’re here.”

Unable to match his enthusiasm, Sukuna sighs deeply and rolls his eyes. The driver stops the Jeep right in front of the lodge, and for a split second, Sukuna wonders if the Ambien he took on the private-plane ride here accidentally knocked him out long enough for them to appear in the middle of Heidelberg or some far flung place in fucking Europe. 

This lodge had fucking spires, for god’s sake. 

He can’t help the bubble of distaste gurgling in his chest when he sees such opulence in the middle of nowhere. Inaccessible to the base unless with a Jeep and a day’s worth of travel, one could only imagine the amount needed to keep a money drainer like this going. 

They’re rubbing their wealth in our face, he sneers inwardly. What a nouveau riche thing to do. 

A butler rushes out to hoist their bags, allowing Jin and him the leisure to crane their necks and take in more of the grand rooms. Wooden timber floors echo the dull thuds of their boots, high beams in the same honey color wood arching and intersecting, opening the living room into an expansive ceiling and windows that seem to touch the sky. 

The interior is tasteful with accents of natural wood on the walls, a spiral staircase, and a large fireplace that’s happily belching heat across a sunken pit fitted with black corduroy sofas. A flat screen TV is on, and Sukuna almost misses a bundle moving from the end of the chair, walking right to them.

You're in a silky black dress with a sweetheart neckline, house slippers on your perfectly manicured feet. So different from the beige and bland girl he saw at the cafe that Sukuna has to hide his double take behind a sudden cough, the tips of his ears feeling a little bit warmer than before.

Jin is the one who smiles widely, bowing low. “Y/N. It’s good to see you.”

Returning his gesture, you grin. “It’s lovely to see you too, Itadori-san,” and not forgetting Sukuna, you added, “You too, Itadori-san.”

“Please, call me Jin,” the younger twin extends a note of familiarity and you receive it graciously with another smile. 

From the corner of his eye, Jin glances at Sukuna, as if expecting him to drop all formalities with the woman who was soon to be his wife. But, the older twin did no such thing; nodding to you in greeting while keeping his antipathy closely tucked to his chest.

“Hello again, Y/N.” 

Though his abrupt unfriendliness puts you off, you plaster on your best hostess smile, about to show the two brothers to their rooms when your mother’s shrill voice pierces through the quiet. 

“Jin-san! Itadori-san!” Exuberant, she bounces down the steps, fresh from a shower and wearing a new coat of makeup after the dreary flight. “You’re both here!” 

Jin takes her hand, and in a gallant gesture you never expect him to do, presses the back of it to his lips. “Lovely to see you again, Lia.”

You never thought you’d see the day when your mother stutters like a schoolgirl in love. She coughs, batting her lashes and turns to the older twin. “Itadori-san.” To him, she bows slightly, showing him deference as the older brother in this dynamic. This time, Sukuna returns her bow, knowing full well that to lord his rank over them would be disrespectful to his host.

“Lia-san. You look well.”

Beaming at the two men, your mother sinks her fingers into your shoulders. “I’m so happy you finally got to meet Y/N in person, Jin-san. Isn’t she lovely?” 

Diplomatic to a fault, the younger twin nods. “She is as lovely as you are, Lia-san.” 

Expectantly, she turns to Sukuna, who clears his throat, his skin suddenly crawling from all eyes on him. “The cold air does wonders for all of us,” were his words. You feel your mother’s fingers digging deeper. 

Sparing the room from an awkward note, you clear your throat. “Shall we show them to their rooms, mom?” Emphasizing on the last word, you effectively break Lia’s spell, her million dollar modeling smile back on. 

“Yes. Yes. Jin-san, I hope you don’t mind rooming with Gojo Satoru when he arrives. He barely sleeps, but then again, so do you. I’m afraid his father couldn’t make it due to a sudden stomach bug so he’s the only one representing the Gojos.” 

Jin remains genial. “I would love to catch up with Satoru when he arrives.”

“Perfect.” She turns her smile to Sukuna, who feels every expectation surrounding him amplifying; dread pools in his stomach when the physical embodiment of lies and deception starts deepening her grin. Lia unclasps one hand from your shoulder to grip Sukuna’s bicep.

“I hope you don’t mind me taking the liberty to make a special arrangement for you, Itadori-san.”

He wonders if they’re going to put him with your father in a separate room; already the picture of the older man’s twisted words and smarmy grin come to his mind, trying to force his hand to hurry up and marry you.

But, what Lia says is much worse than his imagination could conjure. Her hand on his arm burns hot and prickles his skin past the cashmere sleeve.

“I’ve put a room together just for you and my daughter, of course.”

Jin swears he’s never had to drag Sukuna out from a room fast enough. 

His brother seethes, hands clenching open and close while he tries to find a quiet enough spot so the older twin doesn’t explode into a raging temper tantrum. 

“‘Kuna, it’s okay,” he consoles, but Sukuna doesn’t want to hear it. 

“How dare they think they can do this!” His jaw tenses, veins popping from his neck. The kitchen is empty, though for it to be free of errant eyes and ears, Jin can’t be sure.

“Hey, come on—don’t lose it here now,” Jin begs. 

The older twin’s volatile temper is hard to predict and even harder to cool down once he reaches that peak of no return. To think it would be triggered by a simple room assignment would be comical if Jin has had a few beers, but this just solidifies to him how acutely Sukuna truly resents you.

It takes Jin aback. You’re such a sweet person; a kind soul. Why would his brother react in such a way to you was a mystery to the younger man. He doesn't have time to prod further. Voices ring down the hallway, and Jin recognizes Adam Nara’s jolly baritone, following Gojo Sr.’s cheerful greeting to your father.

The other players have entered the game. Jin couldn't afford to lose face now.

He grabs his brother by the shoulders and shakes him a little. 

“Listen, shit face. Our enemies and alliances are just beyond this door. If you love ka-san and oto-san—” Scratch that. Sukuna cares for no one but himself. Jin shakes his head. “If you care about the money and getting your inheritance, I need you to pull yourself together. Just for this evening. Got it?”

Sukuna doesn’t respond, and Jin’s no longer the nice, younger brother he has to be in front of others. He transforms into Itadori Jin, de facto Chairman of Itadori Holdings, his shoulders squared and mouth set in a firm line. Purely meaning business.

If he wasn’t in such a rage, Sukuna would find the change impressive; he’s almost quivering in his boots. 

“You’re going to go out there, and you’re going to play nice, you hear me?” There’s a threat hidden behind his calm words—the edge of a sharp knife wrapped in between soft sheets. “You will be polite to Y/N, treat her parents with respect and you will be married by the end of this month, am I clear?” 

It stung. It bruises his ego to have Jin control his life. 

But, didn’t you give up the crown when you decided to leave the family and make it on your own? A small, bitter voice in the back of his head quips. 

He’s quick to shoot it down, though a lingering sense of loathing balloons in his chest. It’s humiliation and resignation all in one. Sukuna pauses for a second, letting Jin stew in his anger, before slowly nodding.

His younger brother exhales, and releases his death grip from his twin’s shoulders. 

“Good. If you’re antsy about the room situation, you can always tell Lia you want to protect her daughter’s virtue. It’ll be a decent enough reason and score you brownie points with the family.”

Jin’s words which were meant to soothe and comfort him, strikes a chord, flipping the switch in his mind. Excitement bubbles right in the pit of his stomach.

If I can’t change my fate in this arrangement, maybe I can influence it. 

“No,” he says coolly, taking his brother aback. “I’ll do it.” Jin stares at him as if someone had just swooped in and switched his twin with a different man. 

Is he planning something insidious? Though the Itadori Chairman has his suspicions, he can’t outright call his brother out on it—not when Sukuna is making the effort to appease and honor the deal.

“Okay,” Jin says slowly, though the note of hesitation and distrust is palpable. 

Sukuna maintains his innocent facade with a blank mask, the markings on his face starker under the orange light.

Jin represses a shudder, trying not to let the memory of that day come up again.

The voices outside grow louder, and he can scarcely ignore them.

Duty’s calling and he has to answer.

“Alright,” he murmurs into the quiet. “Let’s go outside to meet them.” Before Sukuna can leave, Jin grasps his shoulder, forcing him to round back and look at him.

Wearing a look awfully similar to Wasuke, Jin wags his finger. 

“Remember, ‘Kuna. No fucking funny business.”

He stops, rolls his eyes and plants a crooked smile in place. It’s the smile that could win any girl over into his bed for the night no matter her relationship status; reassures the most fidgety investor that their returns would be safe with him.

“You have nothing to worry about, Jin. No funny business—I promise.”

Itadori Wasuke wasn’t just a father—he was the blueprint to Jin’s lifepath. 

Ever since he could walk and talk, Jin loved following his dad around—tottering into meetings, plopping himself onto the older man’s lap and grabbing the papers on his desk to drool over them. 

Despite his status as a ruthless businessman and one of the shrewdest minds in transportation, Wasuke loved nothing more than to indulge his boys with time, wisdom, and guidance. He would never push his youngest away—always with a firm hand and a soothing voice to lead him in the right direction. 

Rainy days were Jin’s favorite. His father usually sat himself in the parlor with a cigarette and the latest paper, relaxing after a day filled with nothing but meetings.

The memory of him clambering on the couch next to him, curls of nicotine smoke filling the air, was such a vivid one Jin still thinks he can smell the tobacco on his skin. 

“What’re you doing here?” His father’s faded pink hair, a rarity in this world which he passed to his two sons, shone like silk under the amber lighting, those red-brown eyes dancing with mirth at the sight of his golden child. 

Jin fiddles with his fingers, suddenly aware of the secret he was holding and how much it could ruin his father’s mood. But, he had no choice. He had to tell his dad before the maids could beat him to it and get his nii-san into more trouble than he already was in.

“Um… it’s ‘K-Kuna, oto-san.”

At the mention of his oldest, Wasuke snaps the paper close, the fine lines around his mouth deepening.

“What happened to him? Did he do something wrong again?” 

Blaming Sukuna was a default in the Itadori home. Sometimes, Jin overhears his father lamenting to his mother past the thin doors, wondering where and how he went wrong in raising two sons who were as different as day and night.

“He… made a bet at school and…” Jin sucks in a breath.

Putting the newspaper down, Wasuke’s attention was fully on him, those vermillion eyes ablaze. “Well? What happened? Did he hurt someone?”

Flinching, Jin shakes his head. His brother may be a jerk and a rebel, but Sukuna would never hurt someone intentionally. Deep down in his heart, the youngest twin was sure of it. 

“He made a bet with some boys and lost and he—” Jin exhales out the last part in one, frighteningly quick breath. “—hewentandgothisfacetattooed.”

His father blinks. The sleeves of his crisp white shirt, pushed past his elbows were stretched across his taut arms, as if he was holding himself back from slamming his fists into the table.

“Where is he?” Deceptively calm; a storm brewing in the distance.

Jin naively hoped his father would put things right again—talk some sense into Sukuna to get those tattoos removed from his face and arms.

They were the Itadoris, a respectful house.

How was his nii-san supposed to lead a company when he didn’t look professional at all? And not to mention, they were both fifteen—they were too young to think about permanent inks and bets.

Wasuke seems to echo his youngest son’s thoughts, sinking back into the plush, leather sofa and pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. Jin can tell his father is going through a range of emotions—the blood rushes to his face, leaves his cheeks red, puce, and then sickeningly green around the edges.

This is bad. This is very, very bad.

“Thank you for telling me, Jin,” his father finally manages to compose himself enough to pat his head. “You can go back to bed now. I’ll speak to Sukuna when he comes back home.”

Stiffly, the youngest twin stands, bowing once to his dad. He wishes the old man a goodnight and trudges back to bed, unaware of a woman lurking in the corner who slinks into the room, having heard everything that transpired between her husband and son.

“—what did he do now?”

A resounding crash shakes the walls, and Jin freezes, darting behind a potted plant to listen in.

His mother’s shrieks filter past the flimsy wood; their argument front and center for the whole house to hear.

Jin hears snatches of the altercation, his heart plummeting right to his stomach.

“—your son!” His father roars.

“You mean, our son!” his mother yells back. There’s another crash, and Jin covers his ears, shaking his head from side to side.

Make it stop, please. Make it stop. 

The guilt eats him alive, especially when he hears what his father says next.

“Fifteen years I’ve been tolerating that boy, but it has to end here. He can’t keep misbehaving as if the world owes him everything at his feet. If this keeps up—” Wasuke swears, and a heavy object crashes into the wall. His mother shrieks. “—I’ll make Jin my heir!” 

At the mention of his name, the young boy freezes, not daring to even breathe.

His father can't make him the heir. It would break his older brother's heart.

“You can’t!” she sobs. “It’s against the natural rule of things! Sukuna is set to inherit the fortune. You can’t change the order of our world, Wasuke!”

His father laughs, a terrifying, full belly roar which makes the ground shake and his chest cave in. 

“I can and I will. You watch me, woman. The will is mine and mine alone to execute. If you keep this up—protecting that stupid boy when he doesn't deserve it, I will send him to the military and keep him there until he finally grows a spine and some common sense, you hear?! I can have him killed in battle—”

Kasumi screams again, and this time, it claws straight through Jin’s soul; a wounded animal sound of a mother terrified for her young.

“Dear, please. He’s only a boy. Only a child. You can’t expect the world of him. He is your blood and flesh—”

“Someone this idiotic and foolish will never be my son and I will never claim him!” 

From the corner of his eye, Jin spots movement by the stairs. His brother, backpack slung across his shoulder, skin around his face and arms mottled and red from the tattoos, pauses at the top step.

“He has done nothing but bring shame to the Itadori name!” 

Wasuke bellows, his next words rattling the roof and breaking every heart within the vicinity; most of all, his oldest son’s who had innocently stumbled into the middle of the fray without any warning. 

“I wouldn’t care if he lived or died! I have Jin and he’s the better choice.” A loaded exhale—a reloading of more emotionally charged bullets. 

“You and that bastard can fucking rot to death for all I care."

Sukuna rubs a hand down his face, feeling the steam clinging onto his pores. 

The onsen was quiet tonight, everyone in the house either up in the parlor drinking, smoking, or by the sunken sofa fireplace, exchanging gossip about another up-and-coming family or an investment scheme gone wrong. 

He’s never been one to belong in a world like this, so Sukuna had taken his leave early after dinner with the excuse that he was feeling a headache coming along. The maids had already hauled his suitcase up to the suite he would be sharing with you, and thankfully, you were locked in a conversation with Gojo Satoru, the only other person around his, Jin’s, Este’s, and your age on this trip to notice he had gone missing. 

While his brother plays along with the whims of the upper echelon, Sukuna prefers to submerge his tired body in the mineral-dense waters. 

Though the woman he was fucking was here, too, Sukuna had reservedly given her a one-sided hug when Este walked in, green eyes sparkling and looking like the picture of allure in her ermine coat and slinky black dress. Throughout dinner, she kept on glancing at him, and he tried to pretend like her eyes didn’t bore holes into the side of his head; that her accusatory glare didn’t feel hot on the back of his neck when he was forced to sit beside you during dessert, striking up an awkward conversation.

For your part, you had no idea the woman whose bed he warms is in the same room as you, and Sukuna likes to keep it that way. There will be hell to pay if word of this gets out. 

Footsteps resound, prickling his ears. Through the steam and fog of this glass room, he makes out a familiar figure walking right towards him, clad in just a towel.

“Sukuna-san.”

Este stands, long brown hair shimmering like a coat of silky chocolate down her back, the rise of her collarbones already flushing red from the steam. There’s a look in her eyes that spells trouble when she slinks closer towards him.

Acutely aware of his nakedness, Sukuna does nothing but a cock a brow in her direction.

“Getting bolder now, I see.”

But, he doesn’t stop her from sinking one foot into the natural hewn pool, her towel melting off her body and falling in a heap behind her.

He unabashedly drinks in her curves; the mole on her left breast he loves to bite down on, those puckered nipples tightening from the humidity. The planes of her abs defined from years of pilates led right to a smattering of dark hair near her pubic bone, and he caught the slightest glance of that little hole he loves when she parts her legs, sitting comfortably against the rock across from him.

Rolling her neck from side to side, Este sighs deeply.

“What a bore this is. I honestly thought mom would let me smoke here, but she says she doesn’t want to give the Gojo’s a wrong idea.” Her full lips twist into a sneer. “You’re not looking any better.”

He scoffs, splashing her with the warm water. Este shrieks, giving him a murderous glare.

Outside, a light snowfall starts to descend, tiny flakes lingering on the transparent dome. It’s ethereal and romantic, though the woman in front of him ruins his view. 

You stand by the door, unsure if you should step in when you see Sukuna and another gorgeous woman in the onsen. They’re both bickering, and Sukuna stops when he notices you about to turn and leave.

“Hey. Join us.”

His low baritone is crisp. Commanding.

You can’t turn away, not when he’s already noticed you.

Plastering on a fake smile, you shake your head, trying to beat a hasty retreat. “M-my bad, Itadori-san. Nara-san. I thought the onsen was empty—”

Este, daughter of James Nara and one of the richest trust fund babies in Japan, snorts. She’s beautiful, but something about her sharp features and those plump lips makes a shiver run down your spine. It’s as if she’s a bloodhound, trying to sniff out your weakness. She bares her too white teeth and you’re reminded of a Great White seconds away from snapping a fish’s spine in half.

“Nonsense. This is your house, Y/N-san. You should join us. We want to know everything about you.”

The back of your neck prickles, and it’s not from the heat. 

Sludges of white gather atop the dome, trickling down to the packed ground like you were stuck inside a live snow globe. Your smile tightens around the edges and you clutch the towel in a numb grip, mind blanking out on an excuse.

These onsens were your private escape from the real world, and you rarely took a dip naked in front of your own family, let alone a pair of strangers.

Sukuna rolls his eyes, growing annoyed at your floundering and hesitation. “Look. Either you join us, or you leave us to continue our conversation. We were in the middle of something.”

Cheeks flushing warmly, you felt the chill deepening in your soul. Your smile never broke, but you darted your eyes away from his indifferent expression, corners of your lips quivering.

Snapping your mouth shut, you nod. “I… I’ll leave you two alone, then.”

The minute you leave the room, Este turns to him. “Ouch. That was kinda harsh.”

Sukuna snorts, and with the knowledge of you not returning into the room now that he had humiliated you, he brazenly draws Este to his lap, nuzzling his face into her neck.

She purrs, looking like the cat who got the cream when she straddles his lap, letting him feast his hungry eyes over her perfect body. The tip of her acrylic traces down the tattoo near his jaw, and that diabolical smile of hers deepens. 

“That was your fiance, Ryomen. You should be nicer to her.”

He makes a sound of disagreement in the back of his throat, moving his cool lips from the hollow of her neck to the rise of her breasts. Licking and sucking at her nipples, he alternates, biting down on the flesh, blowing on those buds to watch them harden into stiff, pink peaks. Her soft moans carry together with the steam rising to the top of the glass ceiling; those verdant eyes rolling back into her head from the shivers he was wracking in her body.

“Stop talking about her,” he murmurs, lifting her up slightly by the hips and sliding his already throbbing cock deep into her twitching heat. She winces, stabs her nails into his shoulders from the sudden stretch. “I need to fuck you.”

She ticks her hips forward, a little slutty show just for him. Sukuna can tell the idea of fucking him with you under the same roof is driving her wild.

“m’not on the pill today,” she whispers into the hot shell of his ear, running her tongue over the delicate ridges. Sukuna’s fingers are bruising her hips, rutting deep into her. He likes how she takes him without complaint or prep—the perfect hole to be used and abused. 

He’s thrusting into a spot inside of her that’s too deep to reach, snaking his hand around her throat and squeezing down hard.

“Don’t care,” he breathes heavily, vermillion eyes hooded; harsh tattoos lining his face jumping out from under the low light. “Just pop something after.”

He’s evil and tantalizing—the devil she readily gives her body to whenever he snaps his fingers.

Este nods, leaning back to brace her hands against his strong thighs, eager to please him. 

“Yes, Sir.”

It was once said that the greatest artists in this world found contentment within their own solitude where their wildest inspirations could come to life with no judgment from the public eye. 

Though you could not compare to Van Gogh or Monet, you had to admit that there was a shred of truth to those words. 

Mountain air fills your lungs, and you span your gaze towards the horizon as your eyes can see. The easel you requested the butlers to prepare was your standing guard, the blank canvas leaning on it your enemy to parry with.

Like a writer hunched over their incomplete manuscript, your art block was equally as vicious. The lines and colors eluded you, and you could not focus a single thought on what was to be the final outcome. 

You could paint the view, but it was overdone and frankly, expected.

Maybe you could dig deep into the stinging pain in your chest you felt the night before and scoop it up, smear it across the blank whiteness, and stain it with your embarrassment and indignation.

Sighing deeply, you lean back on the stool, setting your paintbrush down and rubbing the back of your neck.

“Art block can be a bitch, huh?” 

You whirl around to find a tall man with a mop of white hair approaching you with his hands in his bathrobe pockets, wearing a charming, lopsided smile. 

“Gojo-san,” you immediately straighten and he waves your formalities away. 

“Satoru,” he says and looks you up and down. “You left last night. After dessert. Smart.”

Letting out a gust of breath you didn’t know you were holding, you tilt your head to the side in confusion. “Did something happen?”

“Oh, just your parents pulling us into the parlor for some charades,” he chuckles at the recollection, and this close, you can’t help but notice even his eyelashes are the color of powdery white snow. “It’s been a while since I went on a family getaway. I’m not much of a homey son, you see. I rarely spend time with family and would much rather be handling business.”

“Ha,” you snort, and then, slap a hand over your mouth as if to cover for your mistake. 

Though word in your world runs rampant, no news came faster (even to a wallflower like you) of how rebellious and unorthodox the Gojo family’s only son was.

Satoru’s bright eyes, the color of a melted icy river in the middle of summer, seems to twinkle at your slip-up.

“Did I say something amusing?”

You quickly shake your head, though your warm cheeks betray you. “N-no, Gojo-s—Satoru.”

Cursing your careless mouth and actions, you take this moment to turn back to your canvas, picking up your paintbrush and pretending to concentrate on your next stroke.

Undeterred by your lack of forthcoming conversation, you feel him approaching you from the back, coming to stand over your shoulder.

“You know, if you wanted to lie, you could’ve done so by telling me how I absolutely do not deserve the Gojo Chairman position.” Those eyes sparkle with barely concealed mirth. “Or, don’t you agree with what everyone else is saying?” 

Gaping, you turn to him. “Wh—Satoru, that’s a cruel thing for me to say to someone I barely know!”

That amused grin never left his sightly lips, and you couldn’t help but notice how well-moisturized they were. Not even a dry fleck of skin on them, despite the atrociously cold weather.

As if noticing your train of thought, Gojo smiles and changes the subject. “It’s awfully cold out here. Why are you painting in the middle of such freezing weather?”

The words tumble past your defenses before you could rein them in, yet another slip up from your distracted morning. “I find the cold air to be refreshing. It helps to clear my mind.”

Gojo stands there, back straight, and for a single moment, you can imagine him in the middle of a boardroom, scrutinizing a subordinate and catching them in the middle of a flimsy lie.

But, you were not his employee, and Satoru was a welcomed guest under your roof. He could not overstep his boundaries.

“I see.” 

It seems he has something he wants to say but can’t put forth; the minute struggle in those cerulean blue eyes gives away a deeper meaning. The vulnerable connection that trembles between both your held gazes dissipates like fine mist—never there in the first place—and he’s back to being his usual cryptic, teasing self.

“I shall leave you alone then, Miss Y/N. Ah, my apologies.” He smacks his forehead, correcting his mistake instantly. 

“Wrong name. I hope you have a wonderful painting session… Mrs. Itadori to-be.”

That night, you return to the huge double rooms to find your fiance out cold.

His broad back turned towards the wall, arm dangling from the edge of the huge, ornate sofa your mother personally sourced from Istanbul. You try and fail to hide your surprise, wondering what he’s done to venture into your part of the room.

The memories twist and turn, rising like black smoke from the ashes of your dismay and stinging disappointment at how petty Sukuna could be.

“You’re sleeping on the sofa,” he mumbles, “I don’t do well with company in my bed.” 

You’re about to argue, when he takes the room, slamming the door closed and clicking it shut. At least the maids had left out some pillows and a blanket on the sofa for you both to divide and claim… but if Sukuna didn’t want you near him, shouldn’t he be a gentleman and take the couch instead? 

There’s no soothing the prickling shame you feel when you realize your fiance has given you the cold shoulder in a space that belongs to your family. Belonged to you. Is this how he will treat me for the entire marriage? You approach the door, about to bang on it with your fists when you hear the first stirrings of a snore. 

Faltering, you bite your lower lip. To risk waking Sukuna up and infuriating him further which would ruin the entire arrangement your family was trying to secure for you… or to bite your tongue for a night and hope he would be more forgiving come morning? 

You sighed, plodding over to the sofa, still in your dress which Okura-san sourced straight from an underground Chinese designer—the same talent Sukuna’s last ex-girlfriend, Sora Hyuk, was fond of. Thumbing the hem, you feel like tearing it off and throwing it into the fireplace, your cheeks warm with embarrassment and resentment.

If only your parents could see you now. 

The truth was, you could tell them what Sukuna had done—how he had embarrassed you so openly and without hesitation right in the heart of your vacation home. But, knowing your parents and how diligent they were with moving up the ladder, your complaints would be nothing but fodder for them to sneer at when they were both alone.

A daughter is nothing but a bartering chip. That is what your mother had once told you. 

And that is why, despite how coldly Sukuna had locked you out of the shared room, you took comfort in the antechamber where no one, not even the maids, could come in without your permission. 

Good thing the fire is burning, you thought, as you kicked off your slippers and sank into the soft couch, trying to drift off into an uneasy sleep. I'll count that as a small blessing for today.

Blinking back the painful reminder, you’re about to roughly shake him off the sofa, marching towards him with your expression scrunched up in anger.

Grabbing his shoulder, you give it a push, and he barely moves.

“Oi,” you huff. “Wake up. You’re in my spot.”

Another push. Sukuna doesn’t even groan.

Suddenly, a chilling sensation seizes over you. Without wasting time, you flip him onto his back, bracing yourself on the edge of the wide sofa. 

Sukuna’s eyes are rolled back into his head, the whites of them shining under the warm, orange light of the chandelier above. You scream and try to shake him, smacking his shoulder to rouse him back from unconsciousness. When he doesn’t move, you grab the first thing you see—a cup of tea you were halfway drinking in the morning, long cold and still with the tea bag attached—and throw it right into his face.

Immediately, his eyes snap back, pupils smaller than pinpricks as he roughly grasps you, dragging you under his bigger build.

Flecks of black tea fall into your face, almost dripping into your wide open mouth, frozen in a mid-shriek.

“What the fuck did you do?” He snarls, and without warning, the tea bag clinging for its dear life on top of his head slides off his pink locks and plops right onto your cheek. 

Sukuna grabs it and brings it closer to his face, sneering at the small brown-soaked sachet and tossing it over his shoulder with his scarily fast reflexes.

“You weren’t responding,” you stutter, pointing one trembling finger to his eyes. “And your eyes were rolled back. I—I thought you were having a seizure.”

“I wasn’t.” His nostrils flare, and those piercing red-brown eyes feel like they could dig right into your soul; scooping up your second-hand embarrassment and smearing it all over your shell-shocked face. “You had no fucking right to pull such a stunt on me—who the fuck do you think you are?”

It’s the most he’s ever spoke to you, and it riles you up how defensive he’s being—like you were some nuisance of a toddler purposely destroying his expensive things and not someone who was trying to save his fucking life.

Who did this man take you for?

You open your mouth, but he beats you to the punch. 

“Don’t ever touch me without my permission. Do you understand me?” 

You snap your mouth close, feeling the chagrin and indignation brimming behind your eyes. If he didn’t let you go right this instant, you were going to burst out in tears right in front of him—an act which would surely annoy him more rather than make him suddenly tender to your afflictions. 

It’s like he doesn't even have a heart.

Thankfully, Sukuna releases your wrists and rolls off you. 

“We both can’t sleep on the sofa since it’s fucking stained with tea—no thanks to you.” His expression is like someone had shoved sour powder down his throat. “I suppose… there’s the room.”

You don’t even try to hide the disbelieving confusion bleeding across your face. This man who nearly threw a fit because you had tried to resuscitate him… was buying into the idea of sharing a bed with you? 

“But, I thought you didn’t want me to touch you without your permission?”

An honest inquiry. You had only wanted to remind him of the words he said to you in case he thought you hadn’t clocked it in.

However, the reaction you receive confirms everything you implicitly knew and more: Sukuna, without a doubt, hated your entire guts for reasons unknown to you. 

Those vermillion eyes become glacial, freezing over any attempt at diffusing the tension in this situation you were trying your hardest to salvage. 

“Who said you would be on the bed?” He gestures behind his back, towards the room you were forbidden from sleeping in despite your family name stamped on this lodge.

“The floor’s comfy,” his callous words chill you right to your soul; you think you might actually start to lose it because of how cruel he’s being to you. “You can take it, can’t you?” 

Biting your bottom lip, you physically have to will the tears away—not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing you cry. 

“Yes,” you murmur softly, turning your gaze to the floor. 

You have to do this—you don't have a choice. 

For the sake of this arrangement. For the sake of your father’s business. 

“You can take the bed. I’ll take the floor… Itadori-san.” 

After another day in the mountains, your mother thought it was a good idea to bond with you over a foot massage. 

There’s a Thai massage parlor down at the base of the mountain, their herbal baths and footstone rubs rumored to cure even the worst altitude sickness. Driving past the winding mountainous edge slowly, the car ride was bumpy, jolting you with jerkish movements that make your head spin. As the Range Rover idles to a stop, the driver opens the doors, and your mother steps out, barely paying him any attention.

Meanwhile, you turn to the older driver and whisper, “Thank you,” while handing him a ¥1,000 bill. He takes it with a bright grin, tips his hat, and waits inside the humming vehicle as you both get started on your pampering session. 

“Sit here, Y/N,” Lia waves you over, completely ignoring the masseuse ushering her to another seat further back.

You follow your mother obediently, taking the reclining chair next to her. 

The leather creaks under your weight as you slowly slide to a comfortable position. Glancing at your mother, you’re surprised to see her eyes sparkling, and she’s close enough to grip your arm, excitedly shaking your shoulder. “So?” she demands, and you give her a confused look.

“So… what?”

“Sukuna, you dummy,” she huffs, rolling her eyes. If there was a man here, he would stop dead in his tracks, enamored by your mother’s alluring and natural sass. 

Thankfully, the masseuses were all foreign women, and as they washed your feet with soap and warm water, you hesitantly updated here about your living situation with Sukuna.

“He’s nice enough,” you mumble weakly. Lia taps her milky white French tips on the chair’s arm, waiting for you to add more. 

“Um.” You flounder. “He’s a heavy sleeper, too—barely moves when we sleep next to each other.”

Another lame addition. This time, her nose crinkles. If only she could be a fly on your bedroom wall, seeing how Sukuna treats you with disdain and exasperation; making you sleep on the floor while he hogs the king-sized bed all for himself.

“It sounds like you’re both barely speaking to one another,” Lia deduces, arching a perfectly groomed brow. “Is that right?” 

You deflate. If there’s one person in the world who can call you out on your bullshit, it would be the woman who birthed and raised you. “Yes.” You finally admit. “I can’t seem to crack through him, mom. He’s so guarded.”

At your rising frustration, she hums and leans back, eyes falling close. You follow the same, feeling the older masseuse’s firm knuckles rubbing up and down your aching Achilles tendon. 

There’s nothing filling your senses but the smell of lemongrass oil and the warmth of the heaters blowing hot air circulating around the room. Someone places a cup of tea and biscuits on your left side table, and you open your eyes; picking up the brew and enjoying the sourish sweet tang of lemongrass tea on your tongue.

“Sukuna-san is a notoriously hard man to know because of his upbringing.”

You pause, cup hovering close to your lips. Setting it down on the lacquered wood table with a crisp click, you frown. 

“What do you mean, mom?” 

Lia opens her eyes, staring up the ceiling as she rummages in her memories for a recollection you weren’t aware of. 

“Sukuna-san’s mother—Kasumi—passed away when he was just 18. Wasuke, his father, followed her 3 years after, and they made Jin Itadori heir because Sukuna fled Tokyo and stayed in Madrid for almost a decade.”

Filled with curiosity, you furrow your brows. “Did they say why he left home in such a rush?” 

“No one knows,” your mother clarifies. “But, one day, he showed up, and Jin took him back in—the prodigal brother making his return.”

“I bet it would’ve been interesting to be a fly on the wall for that conversation,” you snort.

Lia gives you a look. “It wasn’t. I heard the rumors that both brothers were more than estranged—they barely spoke to each other in that decade when Sukuna was missing. But, Jin has always been a kind man, and he let his brother’s misdoings slide—just wanting him to come back home.”

You feel a begrudging sense of respect for the younger Itadori twin. “He seems more like my match than Sukuna-san.”

Your words were meant to be a joke, but it rubs Lia the wrong way. She scowls, lifting a brow. “Don’t you even dare to think of something like that, Y/N.” 

Instantly chastised, you quieten. Lia continues, on a roll from your careless remark. 

“Jin-san loves his wife too much—she passed away during childbirth and he treasures Yuuji more than any gold in this world. He would not spare you a second look, and so, Sukuna was chosen for you.”

“But, why?” 

Frustration bedevils you, and you spew out the first question on your mind. “Why would Sukuna-san be a better match for me? We have nothing in common.”

The masseuses are pretending not to listen in to the conversation, heads bent low and focusing all their attention on melting away the stress that was mounting more and more with every passing second you spent in your mother’s presence.

Lia’s left eye twitches, a sign she’s growing more irritated by the second. “Y/N, don’t spit in fate’s face when they give you a golden egg. Sukuna-san is perfect for you because he’s not picky. He would have anyone familiar with the ways of our society… even if they call you a Wisteria Woman to your face.”

Hurt bleeds through her tone, and you’re reminded once again of how low your family standing is compared to the Itadoris. While they were a family from old transportation money back during Tokyo’s electrical motor boom, your family rode on the backs of your grandfather’s standing to give your father’s ideas a chance to win over prickly investors. 

Eventually, he clawed his way through the world of politics through grit and a good dose of ass-kissing, earning a cushy spot at the top where he’s starting to see his results flourish—the first one being your marriage to a well-established house.

But, it wasn’t always a smooth journey to where your family was now. 

Your mother had to endure years of other rich wives' subtle digging and whispers behind palms—calling her a “Wisteria Woman”—mocking her patience in clinging onto your father as he steadily rose to popularity; calling her a foolish woman only concerned with social status.

It was an insincere attempt at making her an object of ridicule, at best. Your grandfather’s wealth as the king of department stores before his demise could buy over any of these small family’s trust funds three times over.

“They don’t know what they’re saying, mom,” you remind her. “You’ve always stood by dad’s side because you believed in the man he could become one day. And it’s paid off—they’re the ones eating their words now.”

Lia fixes her gaze on you, her expression softening. You think she might even reach out and pat your head. But, she only gives you a single piece of advice, further solidifying that despite all your protests, your marriage to Sukuna has already been woven in the threads of fate long before you were even aware of it. 

“Y/N, I want you to remember this well—no matter what these people say to your face or whisper behind your back... don’t you ever give them the satisfaction of seeing that they’re right.”

a/n. drama on the mountains alert! drama on the mountains alert!

btw feedbacks and reblogs will always be loved <3 thank you for supporting my story thus far i luv u

©️ lalunanymph. do not copy elements of my work, repost, change the sentence structures, translate across any other platforms. and claim as your own

[todomitoukei]

Japanese vs. English Todoroki Family Finale - A 426 Comparison

Just a few days after Horikoshi announced that there were only 5 chapters left, the so-called final chapter for the Todoroki family came out, as always sparking lots of discussion and bringing forth countless questionable takes, followed by the release of the official English translation.

So let’s take a closer look at the Japanese lines, starting with the Todoroki family’s short conversation before going to see Touya:

「来なくて大丈夫って言ったのに！」

「来なくて ; konakute」-> not coming 「大丈夫 ; daijoubu」-> okay; alright 「って ; tte」-> quoting particle (casual of と) 「言った ; itta」-> said 「のに ; noni」-> even though

= “Even though we said it’s okay not to come.”

「それを言うなら貴方たちもよ冬美夏雄」

「それ ; sore」-> that 「を ; o」-> direct object marker 「言う ; iu」-> to say 「なら ; nara」-> that being the case; on the topic of 「貴方たち ; anatatachi」-> you (plural) 「も ; mo」-> also; too 「よ ; yo」-> emphasis particle 「冬美 ; fuyumi」-> Fuyumi 「夏雄 ; natsuo」-> Natsuo

= “On the topic of saying that, you too, Fuyumi, Natsuo.”

What stood out to me here was Rei calling him Natsuo, when usually, everyone else (except Endeavor) calls him Natsu-kun or Natsu. Calling him by the full version of his first name rather than a shortened version might be done to indicate that things have changed, although not necessarily in a negative way. It's more that there has been a shift.

By the way, I am working on a masterpost talking about how the family addresses + refers to each other. Yes, I am going through the entire manga for that (this is a cry for help). Once the manga is finished I will post it (at some point), so look out for that if you’re interested in finding out exactly how many times who gets called what (yes, I am counting and making graphs)!

「お母さんでも…」

「お母さん ; okaasan」-> mom 「でも ; demo」-> but

= “But mom…”

「それを言うならおまえもだ冷」

「それ ; sore」-> that 「を ; o」-> direct object marker 「言う ; iu」-> to say 「なら ; nara」-> that being the case; on the topic of 「おまえ ; omae」-> you 「も ; mo」-> also; too 「だ ; da」-> be 「冷 ; rei」-> Rei

= “On the topic of saying that, you too, Rei.”

I love that he almost fully copies Rei’s phrase here. This is the first of many unoriginal lines that he has in this chapter. It only goes downhill from here.

「義務感で来たんじゃねぇから！皆そうだろ」

「義務感 ; gimukan」-> sense of duty (obligation) 「で ; de」-> with; by 「来た ; kita」-> came 「ん ; n」-> explanatory particle 「じゃねえ ; janee」-> isn’t 「から ; kara」-> because; so  (used to change the other person’s thoughts etc.) 「皆 ; mina」-> everyone 「そう ; sou」-> so; that way 「だろ ; daro」-> right?

= “I didn’t come out of a sense of duty! Everyone is that way, right?”

Usually, a second phrase would follow up the kara, but can also be left out when the meaning of that second phrase is implied enough. Since Fuyumi said Shouto didn’t have to come (if he didn’t want to, didn’t feel comfortable etc.) there is an implication that perhaps he only showed up because he felt like that was expected of him. Ending his clarification of “I didn’t come because I felt obligated” with kara “so” the implied follow up would be along the lines of “don’t worry”, which then gets wrapped up suggesting that all of them are showing up not because they feel pressured to do so, but because they want to visit Touya - since they basically just went around in a circle letting each other know they didn’t have to come if they don’t want to.

「会話は可能ですが一日に数分が限界です」

「会話 ; kaiwa」-> conversation 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「可能 ; kanou」-> possible 「です ; desu」-> to be 「が ; ga」-> but 「一日 ; ichi nichi」-> one day 「に ; ni」-> at; in 「数分 ; suufun」-> a few minutes 「が ; ga」-> subject marker particle 「限界 ; genkai」-> limit 「です ; desu」-> to be

= “Conversations are possible, but a few minutes a day is the limit.”

I’m not sure how long Touya has been in here, but this line indicates that the staff members have been talking to him and I’d be curious to know what those conversations were like. What did they talk about? What kind of attitude did he give them? What was his reaction when he first regained consciousness? These are the questions we want answered, but alas, the Todoroki family plot simply isn’t about him. All the way to the bitter end it shall remain focusing on the most underrepresented group of them all: rich middle-aged men.

「緩やかに死へと向かっている…それが今の轟燈矢です」

「緩やかに ; yuruyakani」-> slowly 「死 ; shi」-> death 「へと ; e to」-> towards 「向かっている ; mukatteiru」-> to face; to head toward 「れ ; sore」-> that 「が ; ga」-> subject marker particle 「今 ; ima」-> now; current 「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「轟燈矢 ; todoroki touya」-> Touya Todoroki 「です ; desu」-> to be

= “Slowly heading towards death… that is the current Touya Todoroki.”

The particle e is a directional particle that can be translated as “toward”. Adding the particle to after it adds an emotional emphasis to the part that follows the to particle as opposed to just stating a fact, there is sympathy in this claim.

As for the claim itself - I know that a lot of people are convinced he is going to die because look! Random nameless character #47AAB7 said so, it must be true! But to be honest, I’m not even going to entertain that thought because despite all the criticism I have for this story, Horikoshi isn’t that bad of a writer. If he had wanted Touya dead, he could’ve easily killed him at the end of the last war. It makes zero sense for him to be saved and then pass away quietly and peacefully in a hospital (or whatever that place is).

Even if we were to say that Shouto managed to save him emotionally, so that counts as a win! It’s kind of a shit win if the only difference is that you now get to die “at peace”, which also could’ve been accomplished on the battlefield. At this point, it’s just inefficient and therefore, him dying at this point is not going to happen.

「........ぞろぞろと」

「ぞろぞろ ; zorozoro」-> in droves; swarming 「と ; to」-> adds emphasis

= “....In droves”

Zorozoro is used to describe several beings (can be humans or animals) that appear or move together like a swarm. This certainly is the first time the entire family is together, so it’s not surprising the rare sight is being pointed out in a joking manner, although he undoubtedly means this in a positive way as it contradicts his prior belief of no one in his family caring about him or missing him.

The fact that, upon first waking up after his coma as a teenager his immediate thought was to return and apologize, and now after ten years he finally gets the chance to talk to them and what is the first thing coming out of his mouth? Calling them a swarm. Forever and always the most relatable character.

「ハハ…観光名所じゃねぇんだよ........」

「ハハ ; haha」-> haha 「観光名所 ; kankoumeisho」-> tourist attraction; sightseeing spot 「じゃねぇ ; janee」-> isn’t 「んだ ; nda」-> explanatory particle 「よ ; yo」-> emphasis particle

= “Haha… It’s not a tourist attraction, right?”

If he was a tourist attraction, Hori better drop the location right now. Please. For research purposes or whatever.

「燈矢」

「燈矢 ; touya」-> Touya

= “Touya.”

「今後の話をしに来たんだ燈矢」

「今後 ; kongo」-> from now on 「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「話 ; hanashi」-> talk, conversation 「を ; o」-> direct object marker 「しに来た ; shi ni kita」-> came to do sth 「んだ ; nda」-> explanatory particle 「燈矢 ; touya」-> Touya

= “I came to talk about the future, Touya.”

Kongo literally means “after now” or in other words, the future.

「俺はヒーローを引退するよ」

「俺 ; ore」-> I  「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「ヒーロー ; hiirou」-> hero 「を ; o」-> direct object marker 「引退する ; intai suru」-> to retire 「よ ; yo」-> emphasis particle

= “I am retiring from being a Hero.”

He says as though he has a choice. This is also one of those “This could’ve been an email” kinds of lines.

「元より戦いが終わったらそうするつもりだったが 最早自力で立つことすらままならん」

「元より ; moto yori」-> all along; from the first 「戦い ; tatakai」-> war 「が ; ga」-> subject marker particle 「終わったら ; owattara」-> when it ended 「そう ; sou」-> so; that way 「する ; suru」-> to do 「つもり ; tsumori」-> to plan 「だった ; datta」-> was 「が ; ga」-> but 「最早 ; mohaya」-> already; no longer 「自力 ; jiriki」-> one’s own strength 「で ; de」-> with 「立つ ; tatsu」-> to stand 「こと ; koto 」-> nominalizes prior word/phrase 「すら ; sura」-> even 「ままならん ; mama naran」-> beyond one’s control; unable to do as one wishes

= “Since after the first war ended, I decided to do so, but I not I am not even able to stand on my own anymore.”

Mamanaru combines the words mama “as it is; as one likes” and naranai “to be unable to” to create a word that describes that something is beyond one’s control, one is unable to do as they wish or something is not going the way one wants it to. In other words, a great word to sum up Endeavor’s entire life story.

The way he continuously takes over conversations that are supposed to be about the entire family - aka his victims - and makes it about himself while pitying himself - in front of his victims - never fails to impress me. At least he is consistent I guess, but it would have been great to see him actually change in the end. Surely he is done, oh no, nevermind, he keeps talking- 

「ヒーローエンデヴァーは焼かれて死んだ

おまえの炎は誰よりも強かった」

「ヒーロー ; hiirou」-> hero 「エンデヴァー ; endevaa」-> Endeavo 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「焼かれて ; yakarete」-> burned 「死んだ ; shinda」-> died 「おまえ ; omae」-> you 「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「炎 ; honoo」-> flame 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「誰 ; dare」-> anyone 「よりも ; yorimo」-> more than 「強かった ; tsuyokatta」-> was strong

= “The hero Endeavor was burned and died. Your flames were stronger than anyone else’s.”

「そっか　ご愁傷様　事が済んでから諂うなよ…卑怯者…」

「そっか ; sokka」-> I see 「ご愁傷様 ; goshuushousama」-> my condolences 「事 ; koto」-> things; matter 「が ; ga」-> subject marker particle 「済んでから」-> after it ended (済む + てから) 「諂う ; hetsurau」-> to flatter; to suck up to; to carry favour 「な ; na」-> na (negative command form) 「よ ; yo」-> emphasis particle 「卑怯者 ; hikyoumono」-> coward

= “I see. My condolences. Don’t suck up to me after it’s over… coward…”

Here is my beef with the official translation: they keep making Touya say the most random words and phrases, but then don’t make him say “don’t curry favour”?? “Don’t be toady”?? “Don’t be toady, Todoroki” would go so hard… wait… you know what… Here’s a little extra from me to you:

Back to business:

「そうだな　燈矢は誰のことをよくわかってる　ずっと見てたんだもんな」

「そう ; sou」-> so; that way 「だ ; da」-> be 「な ; na」-> sentence ending particle; used to seek confirmation 「燈矢 ; touya」-> Touya 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「誰 ; dare」-> anyone 「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「こと ; koto 」-> nominalizes prior word/phrase 「を ; o」-> direct object marker 「よく ; yoku」-> well 「わかってる ; wakatteru」-> to understand 「ずっと ; zutto」-> continuously 「見てた ; miteta」-> was watching 「んだ ; nda」-> explanatory particle 「もん ; mon」-> because; indicates reason 「な ; na」-> sentence ending particle; used to seek confirmation

= “That’s right, isn’t it. You know everyone so well. Because you have been watching continuously.”

「俺に見てほしかったんだもんな

なのに見なかった…」

「俺 ; ore」-> I  「に ; ni」-> at 「見てほしかった ; mitehoshikatta」-> wanted me to look 「んだ ; nda」-> explanatory particle 「もん ; mon」-> because; indicates reason 「な ; na」-> sentence ending particle; used to seek confirmation 「なのに ; nanoni」-> and yet; despite that 「見なかった ; minakatta」-> didn’t look

= “You wanted me to look, right? Despite that I didn’t look…”

If I didn’t know any better I would say this was a conversation with a toddler. I usually like to point out that Horikoshi really nails the sibling experience, but he is also, unfortunately, really good at accurately writing how privileged middle-aged men talk. A mangaka of many talents, but at what cost?

「俺はお父さんの子どもなんだから」

「俺 ; ore」-> I  「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「お父さん ; otousan」-> dad 「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「子ども ; kodomo」-> child 「なんだ ; nanda」-> explanatory particle 「から ; kara」-> because; so

= “Because I am dad’s child.”

「おまえはエンデヴァーじゃない！！」

「おまえ ; omae」-> you 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「エンデヴァー ; endevaa」-> Endeavor 「じゃない ; janai」-> isn’t

= ”You aren’t Endeavor!!”

Yes. That’s why we love him.

「誰が何と言おうと........　おまえの炎（ねつ）は俺のヘルフレイムだ

あの告発映像を毎���見続けている」

「誰 ; dare」-> someone 「が ; ga」-> subject marker particle 「何と ; nanto」-> what 「言うと ; iou to」-> to try to say 「おまえ ; omae」-> you 「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「炎 ; honoo」-> flames 「ねつ ; netsu」-> heat; rage; mania 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「俺 ; ore」-> I  「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「ヘルフレイム ; herufureimu」-> Hell Flame 「だ ; da」-> be 「あの ; ano」-> that 「告発 ; kokuhatsu」-> complaint; prosecution 「映像 ; eizou」-> footage 「を ; o」-> direct object marker 「毎日 ; mainichi」-> every day 「見続けている ; mitsuzuketeiru」-> continue to watch

= “Whatever people try to say… Your flames (rage) are my Hellflame. I’ve continuously watched your prosecution video every day.”

This wouldn’t be a translation breakdown if we didn’t have a case of the furigana don’t match the kanji! Essentially what this means is that the furigana - written in brackets - show what the character says out loud, while the kanji shows what the character means. This time, when we get the kanji for flames in the second sentence, the furigana read netsu, which can meat “heat”, but also refer to “rage” or “mania” and since flames are hot, “heat” wouldn’t make it necessary to opt for a different reading, hence Endeavor is saying that the rage of Dabi was, in fact, Endeavor’s Hellflame.

「おどお゙さん見で」

「おどお゙さん ; odoosan」-> dad 「見で ; mide」-> look

= “Dad, look”

You might notice that the words are spelled differently from the normal otousan and mite. Softening the t sounds to a d sound highlights the difficulties he has speaking while being on fire. In addition to the softened t to d, the u also gets changed into an o with dakuten (the two lines on top), which only exist for the sounds that can become softer (t->d, h->b, k->g, s->j), which can’t be done to a vowel like o. In this case, the dakuten suggests that the o is said with emotion and somehow stands out from how it would be said normally.

「これからー」

「これから ; korekara」-> from now on

= “From now on-”

「毎日来る　話をしよう」

「毎日 ; mainichi」-> every day 「来る ; kuru 」-> to come 「話 ; hanashi」-> talk; conversation; chat 「を ; o」-> direct object marker 「しよう ; shiyou」-> let’s do/have

= “I will come every day. Let’s talk.”

「あまりに遅すぎたけれど話そう」

「あまりに; amari ni」-> too much; overly 「遅すぎた ; ososugita」-> was too late 「けれど ; keredo」-> however 「話そう ; hanasou」-> let’s talk

= “I was much too late, but let’s talk.”

Both amari ni and adding -sugiru to the stem of a verb can be translated as “too much” and in combination place an additional emphasis on the verb, in this case, being late, which could be referencing anything from the specific instances he showed up to too late (i.e. when Touya set himself on fire on Sekoto Peak) or in a more general sense him trying to show up as a father too late (the only example would be showing up in the hospital here and the fact he has retired and plans on protecting the family from facing any consequences for all of this, although even that is still more the bare minimum of making up for his mistakes rather than being a father but I doubt he understands the difference).

「心拍数上昇これ以上は負担が」

「心拍数 ; shinpakusuu」-> heart rate 「上昇 ; joushou」-> rising; ascending 「これ以上 ; kore ijou」 - > any more; any further; any longer 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「負担 ; futan」-> burden, load 「が ; ga」-> subject marker particle

= “His heart rate is rising. Any more will (be) a burden.”

The ga would normally be followed by a verb (in this case most likely kakaru = to put), but is being omitted here as the meaning can be understood regardless.

「冷　夏雄　冬美　焦凍が…　残してくれた時間で話そう」

「冷 ; rei」-> Rei 「夏雄 ; natsuo」-> Natsuo 「冬美 ; fuyumi」-> Fuyumi 「焦凍 ; shouto」-> Shouto 「が ; ga」-> subject marker particle 「残してくれた」-> reserved for us (残す+くれる) 「時間 ; jikan」-> time 「で ; de」-> with 「話そう ; hanasou」-> let’s talk

= “Rei, Natsuo, Fuyum. Let’s talk with the time Shouto reserved for us.

Adding -tekureta after nokosu implies that someone did a favor for the speaker. Here, it means that Shouto reserved the time to talk to Touya for them.

「憎いなら…憎いと　なんでもいい　ぶつけてくれ…！」

「憎い ; nikui」-> hateful 「なら ; nara」-> if 「憎い ; nikui」-> hateful 「と ; to」-> speech particle 「なんでもいい ; nandemo ii」-> anything is fine; it doesn’t matter what 「ぶつけてくれ ; butsuketekure」-> throw it at me

= “If you hate me… hate me. Anything is fine, throw it at me…!!”

「燈矢兄私も…！」

「燈矢兄 ; touya nii」-> Touya-Nii 「私 ; watashi」-> I 「も ; mo」-> also; too

= “Touya-nii, me too…!”

「話したい事たくさんあるの」

「話したい ; hanashitai」-> want to talk 「事 ; koto」-> things 「たくさん ; takusan」-> a lot 「ある ; aru」-> to be 「の ; no」-> explanatory particle

= “There are a lot of things I want to talk about.”

This is about him getting piercings and dying his hair isn’t it. Maybe even taking off his shirt on live TV in front of the entire country. If only we could see that conversation…

「今日は止めにしましょう！！また明日にでも…」

「今日 ; kyou」-> today 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「止めにしましょう , yame ni shimashou」-> let’s stop 「また ; mata」-> again 「明日 ; asu」-> tomorrow 「に ; ni」-> at 「でも ; demo」-> or something

= “Let’s stop for today!! (You can come back) tomorrow or something…”

「最後に一ついいですか　聞きたかったことあるんだ」

「最後 ; saigo」-> final 「に ; ni」-> at 「一つ ; hitotsu」-> one 「いい ; ii」-> good 「です ; desu」-> to be 「か ; ka」-> question marker particle 「聞きたかった」-> wanted to ask 「こと ; koto」-> thing 「ある ; aru」-> to be 「んだ ; nda」-> explanatory particle

= “Can I (ask) one last thing? Because there is one thing I wanted to ask.”

The first panel or first sentence ends in the polite form using desu ka as he is asking the employee for permission to ask one more question. The second panel or sentence, on the other hand, is casual as it ends in da, so without even waiting to receive an answer from the employee, he instantly goes to directly address Touya-nii for this extremely important question.

「燈矢兄　好きな食べ物何？」

「燈矢兄 ; touya nii」-> Touya-Nii 「好きな ; suki」-> to like 「食べ物 ; tabemono」-> food 「何 ; nani」-> what

= “Touya-nii. What’s your favorite food?”

Everybody liked that. It was really great when the spoilers came out and as soon as Shouto said he wanted to ask Touya something everyone instantly knew what the question was going to be. Also a lot of pressure for Touya. Wrong answer and his little brother can pull the plug. 

「......体力の限界ですね今日は眠らせてまた…」

「体力 ; tairyoku」-> stamina; endurance 「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「限界 ; genkai」-> limit 「です ; desu」-> to be 「ね ; ne」-> sentence ending particle; used to seek confirmation 「今日 ; kyou」-> today 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「眠らせて ; nemurasete」-> to let someone sleep 「また ; mata」-> again

= “This is the limit, isn’t it. Let’s let him sleep again for today.”

「蕎麦」

「蕎麦 ; soba」-> soba

= “Soba.”

These lines are always my favorite to break down. It’s not easy translating such complex phrases so please recognize the years of studying it took to be able to perfectly translate this kind of high-level sentence. Thank you.

I can only imagine him going back to his classmates, looking at Bakugo and saying: “You were wrong. It’s soba.”

「おんなじだ」

「おんなじ ; onnaji」-> same 「だ ; da」-> be

= “It’s the same.”

Usually, the word same is written as 同じ and read as onaji. In itself, these two spellings have the same meaning, however, the more standard onaji would be used in the sense of something or a situation being exactly the same, for example attending the same school as someone or facing the same problem. Onnaji, on the other hand, indicates something has very similar properties and is used more in the sense of the same color, taste etc, which is why this spelling has a bit more emotion associated with it.

So Shouto is saying that it’s the same, but he says so with emotion. Rather than stating a fact, them having the same food holds meaning to him. 

「これ以上は平行線だ　交わるよ　無理にでも」

「これ以上 ; kore ijou」-> from here on; any further 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「平行線 ; heikousen」-> remaining far apart; not reaching an agreement 「だ ; da」-> be 「交わる ; majiwaru」-> to cross; to mingle with 「よ ; yo」-> emphasis particle 「無理に ; muri ni」-> forcible; forced 「でも ; demo」-> even

= “From here on it’s parallel lines. I will cross, even if by force.”

「焦凍…　ごめんな…」

「焦凍 ; shouto」-> Shouto 「ごめん ; gomen」-> I‘m sorry 「な ; na」-> used to say something emotionally

= “Shouto… I’m sorry…”

If only… Shouto had heard this… and they could’ve talked about this… that would be crazy, right? No, why don’t we focus on the main character again, instead of getting a conversation the entire story has been building up to.

「俺はここまでだわ　悪いけど気持ち変わんない　俺はもう付き合わない」

「俺 ; ore」-> I  「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「ここ ; koko」-> here 「��で ; made」-> until 「だ ; da」-> be 「わ ; wa」-> 「悪い ; warui」-> sorry 「けど ; kedo」-> but 「気持ち ; kimochi」-> feelings 「変わんない ; kawannai」-> unchanged 「俺 ; ore」-> I  「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「もう ; mou」-> already 「付き合わない ; tsukiawanai」-> don’t associate with

= “For me it’s (ending) here. I’m sorry, but my feelings haven’t changed. I won’t associate with you anymore.”

The particle wa is used when reflecting one’s view toward a situation after coming to a conclusion. There is a nuance of confidently affirming the phrase or regretting the situation, depending on the tone, which we don’t have here, but this reads more as a confident statement than one of regret, although it might just be a little bit of both.

「ああ」

「ああ ; aa」-> Ah

= “Ah.”

「彼女と籍入れたい　式は挙げない紹介もしない」

「彼女 ; kanojo」-> girlfriend 「と ; to」-> with 「籍入れたい ; seki iretai」-> to get married; to want to have a name entered in the family register 「式 ; shiki」-> (wedding) ceremony 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「挙げない ; agenai」-> to conduct 「紹介 ; shoukai」-> introduction 「も ; mo」-> also 「しない ; shinai」-> won’t do

= “I want to enter the family register with my girlfriend. We won’t conduct a ceremony and I also won’t introduce you.”

Normally, to talk about marriage or getting married you would use the word kekkon (suru). Here, Natsuo specifically uses the term “to enter in the family registry.” While these two words can be used to mean the same thing (= getting married), entering the family registry differs in that one person enters an already existing family registry rather than creating a new one upon marriage, which is why this can also be used for when a child gets adopted by a step-parent or if a child takes on their other parent’s last name after a divorce.

Again, this can just be treated as a synonym for getting married, but it might also be to emphasize this as an act of removing himself from his father rather than an act of love. It surely feels like an odd time to be thinking of marriage, with the current situation not having him in the right mental or emotional state for such a big step to be smart (he already did the whole “cutting my hair during a crisis” so he should follow that with dying his hair or something else that is going to affect his life less than marriage).

Let’s face it: had he said this while they were with Touya, his big bro’s heart monitor would have gone crazy before he would have broken out of that machine to talk some sense into his little brother.

Also, not to insult Natsuo because he is very sweet, but I just have to mention the irony of him getting married as a means to solve his issues when that was also his dad’s first step. It’s obviously different, but still worth pointing out.

「ああ…分かったな」

「ああ ; aa」-> Ah 「分かった ; wakatta」-> understood 「な ; na」-> sentence ending particle; used to seek confirmation

= “Ah, I get it.”

「姉ちゃんは？仕事やめたんだろ？」

「姉ちゃん ; neechan」-> big sister 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「仕事 ; shigoto」-> job 「やめた ; yameta」-> to quit 「ん ; n」-> explanatory particle 「だろ ; daro」-> right

= “What about you, big sis? You left your job, right?”

I do like the symbolism of him standing in the middle of the street, ready to use the crosswalk, while the rest of the family remain on the side of the road, but I am also worried he is going to get hit by a car.

「うんでも　生徒のお母さんが新しい職場紹介してくれてねサポートしてくれるって」

「うん ; un」-> yeah 「でも ; demo」-> but 「生徒 ; seito」-> student 「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「お母さん ; okaasan」-> mom 「が ; ga」-> subject marker particle 「新しい ; atarashii」-> new 「職場 ; shokuba」-> workplace 「紹介してくれて ; shoukai shitekurete」-> introduced me (as a favor) 「ね ; ne」-> sentence ending particle; used to seek confirmation 「サポートしてくれる ; sapooto shitekureru」-> support (as a favor) 「って ; tte」-> quoting particle (casual of という)

= “Yeah, but the mom of a student introduced me to a new workplace. So she’s being supportive.”

Similar to before, the -tekurete suggests that this introduction as well as the support is seen as a favor.

「........正直責任は果たしたと思う　罰も受けたと思う…もういいんじゃねーの？」

「正直 ; shoujiki」-> honestly; frankly 「責任 ; sekinin」-> duty 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「果たした ; hatashita」-> accomplished; carried out 「と思う ; to omou」-> to think 「罰 ; batsu」-> punishment 「も ; mo」-> too 「受けた ; uketa」-> received 「と思う ; to omou」-> to think 「もういい ; mou ii」-> that’s enough 「ん ; n」-> explanatory particle 「じゃねー ; janee」-> isn’t 「のか ; noka-> question marker particle seeking an explanation

= “Frankly, I think we’ve fulfilled our responsibilities. I think we already received our punishment. That’s enough, isn’t it?”

This line has gotten some negative attention as fan translations have this line directed toward Endeavor, whereas the official English translation has this line be directed toward the entire family. As you can see in the breakdown above, there is no explicit human subject in this sentence to clarify who is being addressed here, in addition to the fact that he has his back turned to us readers with no indication as to who he is looking at.

However, the last person he directly addressed was Fuyumi, who was also the one speaking right before this line. Furthermore, the next line is Endeavor saying that he will ensure to take the blame and whatnot from here on out so that they do not need to face any more consequences for this.

With that being said, to me this reads as him talking to the family, specifically as a response to Fuyumi suggesting that her former student’s mother introducing her to a new workplace and supporting her is somewhat of a favor. While we don’t know exactly why she left her job, there is still a suggestion that this situation has impacted her negatively and that people showing support is somehow worth noting. And yes, Japan has a culture of blaming the entire family when a family member commits a crime, however, Natsuo’s line then seems somewhat frustrated at this, feeling as though they all already faced consequences (like Fuyumi leaving her job), and that they shouldn’t have to face consequences for the rest of their lives, let alone feel overly grateful for any person that still treats them as individuals rather than an accomplice for something they had nothing to do with.

Overall, this line reads more like he wants them to be able to move past this, rather than have this now haunt them after they have already been struggling their whole lives by growing up in the Todoroki household.

「犯した罪の賠償と謝罪を一生をかけて続けていく

見ていなくていい子どもたち（おまえたち）に降りかかる火の粉をできる限り俺が受け止める　生き延びた意味があるとすればそれだけなんだ」

「犯した ; okashita」-> committed 「罪 ; tsumi」-> crime; sin 「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「賠償 ; baishou」-> compensation; reparations 「と ; to」-> with 「謝罪 ; shazai」-> apology 「を ; o」-> direct object marker 「一生 ; issho」-> whole life 「を ; o」-> direct object marker 「かけて ; kakete」-> make; put out 「続けていく ; tsuzuketeiku 」->to continue from now on (続ける+いく) 「見ていなくて ; mitenakute」-> not looking 「いい ; ii」-> good; okay 「子どもたち ; kodomotachi」-> children 「おまえたち ; omaetachi」-> you (plural) 「に ; ni」-> to 「降りかかる ; furikakaru」-> to happen; to befall 「火の粉 ; hi no ko」-> sparks 「を ; o」-> direct object marker 「できる ; dekiru」-> to be able to 「限り ; kagiri」-> limit; degree 「俺 ; ore」-> I  「が ; ga」-> subject marker particle 「受け止める ; uketomeru」-> to catch; to stop the blow 「生き延びた ; ikinobita」-> survived; lived long 「意味 ; imi」-> meaning 「が ; ga」-> subject marker particle 「ある ; aru」-> to exist 「とすれば ; to sureba」-> then; if so; if 「それだけ ; soredake」-> that much; to that extent; only that 「なんだ ; nanda」-> explanatory particle

= “From here on out I will continue to make reparations and apologize for my committed crimes for my whole life. I will catch as much of the sparks that fall on you kids who don’t have to watch. If there is any meaning in my survival, it is just that.”

Again, he says “you” but means “children”. The miteinakute ii is used to say that “it’s okay not to watch”, in other words he does not expect them to keep in touch with him or anything along those lines.

The -teiku after tsuzukeru is used to imply that something will continue from this moment forward. While he didn't make up for his mistakes, from now on he will.

「........地獄だぞ」

「地獄 ; jigoku」-> hell 「だ ; da」-> be 「ぞ ; zo」-> emphasizes the speaker’s will or opinion; can be inviting to the listener

= “........It’s hell.”

「ああダンスの誘いを受けたんでな」

「ああ ; aa」-> Ah 「ダンス ; dansu」-> dance 「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「誘い ; sasoi」-> invitation 「を ; o」-> direct object marker 「受けた ; uketa」-> to accept 「んでな ; ndena」-> explanatory particle

= “Ah, I did accept the dance invitation.”

「…初めてだよ　お父さんの事　かっこいいって思えたの」

「初めて ; hajimete」-> first time  「だ ; da」-> be 「よ ; yo」-> emphasis particle 「お父さん ; otousan」-> dad 「の ; no」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe 「事 ; koto」-> nominalizes prior word/phrase 「かっこいい ; kakkoii」-> cool 「って思えた ; tte omoeta」-> to seem; to appear 「の ; no」-> explanatory particle

= “It was the first time that you seemed cool.”

 Natsuo has called Endeavor by many (disrespectful) names. This is the first time he calls him by the standard/polite term for father. This is not to say that he likes him now. With the whole marriage talk in mind, this feels more like him letting go of his feelings for a second to make a somewhat neutral statement. Neutral in the sense of being able to recognize and view something his dad has done in a positive light rather than letting his feelings completely take over his judgment.

「焦凍は？学校戻るんだろ？」

「焦凍 ; shouto」-> Shouto 「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「学校 ; gakkou」-> school 「戻る ; modoru」-> to return to 「ん ; n」-> explanatory particle 「だろ ; daro」-> I think; right?

= “What about you, Shouto? You’re returning to school, right?”

「うん」

「うん ; un」-> yeah

= “Yeah.” 

「乗ってけよ姉ちゃんも」　

「乗ってけ ; notteke」-> I’ll give you a ride 「よ ; yo」-> emphasis particle 「姉ちゃん ; neechan」-> big sis  「も ; mo」-> also; too

= “I’ll give you a ride. Nee-chan, too.”

「ありがとう」

「ありがとう ; arigatou」-> thanks

= “Thanks.”

「親父　お母さん　俺にはA組（みんな）いるから大丈夫だよ！　俺は自分でなりてえようになれるから！」

「親父 ; oyaji」-> dad 「お母さん ; okaasan」-> mom 「俺 ; ore」-> I  「には ; niwa」-> as for 「A組 ; e gumi」-> class A  「みんな ; minna」-> everyone  「いる ; iru」-> to be  「から ; kara」-> therefore  「大丈夫 ; daijoubu」-> alright  「だ ; da」-> be 「よ ; yo」-> emphasis particle 「俺 ; ore」-> I  「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle 「自分 ; jibun」-> myself  「で ; de」-> with 「なりてえ ; naritee」-> want to become (casual of naritai)  「ようになれる ; you ni nareru」-> to reach the point where; to come to; to begin to 「から ; kara」-> because; so

= “Dad, mom. I’ll be okay because of Class A (everyone). I can reach the point of being what I want to be!”

Just like before we get furigana that differ from the kanji. Shouto says that he will be alright because everyone is there, but he specifically means Class A when he says that.

「地獄でも」

「地獄 ; jigoku」-> hell  「でも ; demo」-> even though

= “Even though it’s hell.”

「おーう早かったな！！大丈夫だったかあ！？」

「おーう ; ou」-> Ooh 「早かった ; hayakatta」-> early 「な ; na」-> sentence ending particle; used to seek confirmation 「大丈夫 ; daijoubu」-> alright 「だった ; datta」-> was 「かあ ; kaa」-> question marker particle

= “Oh, you’re early! Was it alright!?”

「おなかすいた」

「おなかすいた ; onaka suita」-> I’m starving

= “I’m starving.”

「見てる人がいる」

「見てる ; miteru」-> looking 「人 ; hito」-> person 「が ; ga」-> subject marker particle 「いる ; iru」-> to be

= “There is someone who is watching.”

Me. I’m the one watching. But at what cost? The family’s two most used words have got to be “hell” and “to look” . Someone please teach them some more words.

That concludes the Todoroki family interaction in this chapter and supposedly for the story (everyone disliked that). Personally, this does not read as a conclusion so I am going to just treat this as the beginning of the conclusion, instead. And perhaps the final in the sense of the whole family not getting together anymore because Natsuo isn’t going to be around Endeavor anymore.

Personally, my biggest issue with this chapter is the fact that while it’s called final and set up as though the family and we finally get closure by everyone reuniting with Touya, it’s just another episode of self-pitying with a grown-ass man that has still not changed or understood anything despite everything. Yes, he finally managed to talk to Touya, to apologize and acknowledge both Touya’s pain as well as his own accountability in the entire affair. However, the rest of the family could have been left out of this chapter entirely since they said nothing other than “we have lots to talk about” which is obviously a beginning, but I’m sure we all have been waiting patiently to get an actual conversation not just hear them say that they want to talk at a later point, which we then won't ever get to see.

The soba part is amazing, of course, but it could and should have played a bigger role in this chapter.

People have been expressing various opinions in regards to the family’s current situation and their future, though - again - it would be great to see more of that because this chapter only briefly touched on various interesting points and then didn’t explore these points more because if there is one thing this world needs more is privileged people whining about how hard their life is and the many sacrifices they have had to make (= barely facing consequences).

That being said, we’ll see what the final 4 chapters will offer and whether we will see the Todoroki family make another appearance.

And no, Touya won’t die.

[qqueenofhades]

you don’t have to answer if this could cause some discourse, but what’s with all the republicans screaming about the documents biden had? that’s not the same situation, is it?

You tell me:

BIDEN

Is the sitting US President

Had one box of documents dating from his tenure as VP that, during a review by his own staff, were found to be classified

Immediately notified NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) that was the case, within one day

NARA came and retrieved them

The end

This "1,850 boxes!" thing Trump keeps screaming about refers to the UNCLASSIFIED documents that Biden put in his VP library

He does not own, physically possess, or use these documents; NARA does

TRUMP

Explicitly admitted (on tape) that as he was no longer president, it was illegal for him to possess these documents, much less encourage others to look at them, which he then did

Spent months refusing, ducking, ignoring, or obstructing requests by NARA to return the documents he took

Finally, when DOJ issued a subpoena, he also ignored/lied about it

This led to the raid on Mar-a-Lago and the retrieval of the documents, which had been carelessly stored in unsecured locations and shared with God knows who;

Some of these documents are still missing;

The indictment today explicitly spells out that these are extremely high level defense and national security documents, including nuclear, in regard to the US and foreign countries, and that there would be a substantial risk of harm to American interests or individuals if they were disclosed

Trump recruited staff and family in said months-long, ongoing attempted coverup, commiting more crimes (obstruction, etc) in the process

THIRTY ONE COUNTS UNDER THE ESPIONAGE ACT

That.... does not happen by accident. Or even because you took some papers and genuinely forgot to give them back.

Hey anyone remember Mike Pence?

I know, I try not to either

He was also found to have had a classified document at home recently

He returned it and therefore, was not charged

It's so easy to not get charged with 31 counts under the Espionage Act

I cannot emphasize enough how easy it is

Just give the documents back when they ask! Or better yet, don't take them at all! And definitely don't LITERALLY WAVE THEM UNDER PEOPLE'S NOSES AND BOAST ABOUT IT!

Republicans (at least the establishment ones; the crazies are in full-on alternate reality) know this very well

But don't expect to catch any of them saying so

Once again: 31 counts under the Espionage Act

At this rate we will be at 100 separate felonies by the time this summer is over

Or more

I'm not picky

[xq1zi]

simple words

warnings: angst, badly written in my opinion, english not first language, and rushed.

word count: 1.9k

A/N: i did this in one sitting bc i had to get off my mind. but i couldn’t choose on how i wanted to end it T_T

it was known that you were friends with everyone. friendly with everyone. being the leafs sweetheart almost. but even a little more friendly with shikamaru nara. only being aware of your feelings two years ago during the time when naruto had gone away for training.

it was during a sleepover with the girls. the question had come up about crushes naturally. all were teasing hinata for still not being able to be in a 10 meter radius of naruto without passing out.

and how ino and sakura are still going at it for sasuke. but unfortunately tenten just happened to mention how you would prefer shikamaru’s presence than anyone else.

naturally you were denying these claims. how you act the same with everyone and how they are just seeing things. “[name] you really think that we are that blind? we all can tell that you have a thing for him.” sakura pointed out.

“right. you couldn’t be more obvious then hinata. no offense hinata.” ino added on.

“none taken.” hinata spoke softly as always.

“i think you should make a move [name]. i don’t see anyone else competing with you.” tenten teased. “guys stop it i don’t have a crush on him or anyone else! it never even crossed my mind!” the feeling of blood rushing to your cheeks.

now that fact has crossed your mind. it seems like your cheeks even reddened more. liking the possibility of being with him. ‘i do i actually like him?’ you thought.

“based on how your face is red as a tomato, i think you do have a crush on him. no way you had a crush on him without knowing.” the teasing only began from ino.

sakura joined in only to say how could you like someone who’s so lazy. but he wasn't, he was a hard thinker. and a good person. luckily they calmed down and you learned on how to be more aware about your relationship with him.

preparation for the chunin exams have begun. and with the newly bloomed relationship with the sand village. and with that temari came to help. with that shikamaru was appointed to be her escort.

you could tell they have a different relationship. it was almost like they were more comfortable with each other. he claimed it was a drag and he didn’t like doing it. but secretly you had a feeling you just couldn’t ignore. especially the rumors.

it gotten worse each day. how they looked and acted like a old married couple. ‘how annoying.’ as soon as that thought came you stopped it. ‘no way am i jealous? this isn’t like me…’

these feelings are only brewing more and more. one day you asked shikamaru if he wanted to hang out.

“so shika what do you say? we haven’t hung out in a while?!” you said excitedly.

“nah, sorry can’t. i have to escort temari again. this is starting to be a real drag.” he groaned.

“oh.. well i can help you or something? you know like keep you company!”

“too much company in my opinion. women can be such a drag.” typical response. but it still hurts a bit. “oh okay next time then.”

he walked away while waving from behind. wasn't the first time he rejected your proposal. you would often do a little pleading with him. but this time it’s different. it's for a girl that he’s rejecting you. but it’s his job right? to keep her safe while here. not like he want that time to be alone with her.

now shikamaru was no idiot he could tell you were drawn to him more but merely brushed it off. girl and boys can be just friends too. when naruto had come back he walked with him alongside temari and sakura. after leaving the hokage building. naruto hinted at the idea of him and temari he also said something else.

“you know shikamaru i would always thought you would end up with [name] seeing how she was always close to you.” naruto blurted out.

“shut up you idiot. i’m not with anyone, nor am i going to be.” he said right back.

“yeah as if i would ever be with him.” temari almost grossed out of the idea.

he can’t lie that he enjoys temari’s presence. it was different. without both of them knowing they do some friendly flirting.

lady tsunade sent you on a mission alone C level nothing you can’t handle on your own. you had heard some voices coming. once they became more clear it was them. shikamaru and temari in pure panic you hid up in a tree. he never walked her this far; he always left her at the village entrance.

“so you have a little girlfriend. is that right?” she teased.

“huh? what are you talking about.” he raised an eyebrow.

“naruto was talking about how [name] is so close to you. and always with you.” she elaborated.

“she more like a clingy friend than anything else. a nice friend but extremely clingy in my opinion.” did you hear that right? are you sure you aren’t imagining it?

“aw come on, don't be like that, she's nice. she probably just has a crush on you.”

“yeah, yeah whatever. bye see you.” he didn’t want to continue the conversation so he left.

“see you soon!” she yelled as he walked away.

you stood in place. clingy? is that how he saw you. that’s the equivalent of being annoying. were you annoying? you know how he didn’t like people who were annoying. he likes to be at peace. your mind being sent into a mental overdrive. seemingly almost forgetting that you were being sent on a mission.

the whole time being sent on your mission his words repeating in your mind. your soul was crushed. someone who you thought had a good relationship with. only thinks you're clingy. heartbroken was an understatement. what if others would agree? were you actually clingy?

‘i have to stop thinking this is getting out of control.’ you thought. and with that you completely shut off the rest of the time and not think about it. when coming back it felt like a fever dream.

not to mention what happened in the sand village when you were gone. sakura fills you in on what happened. shocking as it was if you were being honest that wasn’t your main concern. now being self aware of how you acted, you made sure you toned it down a bit. sakura invited you to a dinner that everyone is coming to.

when dinner time came you went to the restaurant where dinner was taking place. you greeted everyone, sitting down and the night began. you kept your answers nice and short.

nothing too complicated. sat between naruto and lee you didn’t have to say much. but having shikamaru across from you your nerves never seemed to calm down. having to be painfully aware of a reality that you just didn’t want to face.

“i think i'm going to call it a night. i'm still tired from coming back.” you got up while making the announcement.

as you were walking out ino nudged shikamaru to walk you home like he has always done.

“hey!, i’ll walk you home.” he called out. you stopped. but not turning to face him.

“actually, there isn’t really a need. I'll be fine on my own but thank you.” you stated walking out.

he stood there confused and sat right back down. “damn shikamaru, whatcha do that got her upset? i don’t think i’ve seen her reject someone walking her home, even you.” kiba laughed as akamaru barked.

“you think something happened to her? i feel like something is upsetting her.” sakura said in a worried tone. “yes!, indeed! i feel as if something happened to [name] also!” lee agreed.

“i hope nothing happened to her while on her mission.” hinata spoke. “nah! [name] is a sweet person you know! with a strong mind no way a little C level mission can change something. right shikamaru.” naruto yelled while eating his food.

“yeah, no way something could’ve happened.” shikamaru reassured. neji agreed with him, the others were not so convinced. nonetheless didn’t think much of it.

days went by and you didn’t seem to revert back to your old self. everyone was concerned but you told them it was nothing to worry about.they were just imagining it.

you stopped hanging out with shikamaru as much. not like you think he actually mind that much. you say by yourself under a tree, and shikamaru seemingly popped out of nowhere.

“you women, you're such a drag.” he said, surprising you.

“what are you talking about shikamaru?” a dry but warm response. also using his full name. no nickname.

“what’s up with you. why are you being so weird. i’m getting dragged into this because everyone thinks i should talk with you.” he sat down just about 1 foot away from you.

“i honestly don’t know where you guys are getting this from but it’s getting annoying. i think you guys are imagining things” almost chuckling.

“stop the bullcrap. something’s bothering you. you haven't hung out with us as much anymore” what a serious tone he used.

“would you leave me if i told you? would you drop this and forget it.”

“yeah, i guess i would not sure about the others.” he put his arms up against the back of his head and laid back on the tree.

“fine then. more or less i got heartbroken by some guy and he told me something that made me aware of some things. there. happy now?” said with a defeated tone. if you were to go more into it you fear you would burst into tears.

“man, all of this over some dude. what a pain. he probably wasn’t worth it.”

“…” it was too much. you had overheard about how temari had broken down into shikamaru’s arms after almost losing her two brothers. villagers stating how they almost kissed.

how they went out to dinner and he never made her pay. new travels fast. not to mention how you overheard him to the guys saying he wouldn’t mind the idea of being married to her. when he was asked.

“don’t start thinking about how he was probably worth it.” he complained about the idea of you spouting nonsense about this “guy”.

“i won’t. he doesn’t even like me. he likes someone else. anyways you told me you would leave me alone.” you huffed. still acting like nothing personally wrong with the two of you.

“oh right, man this is over some guy? don’t be getting everyone worried like that.” he stood up.

“you don’t understand. you’re just a guy.” you playfully said with a hint of sadness. not only did he make you self conscious about how you act. and how annoying you could possibly be. a girl who has known him in less time has won him over.

“right, sure even then that’s too much work to even understand so i’ll let you be.” so he left. leaving you with your thoughts.

when he returned to report on the conversation to the rest of the girls, they had a feeling that “guy” was actually the person spilling all this information. they came to your house later that night. and eventually. you caved.

“he likes her. i can’t compete with her. he called me clingy?! i’m i really that clingy?? am i so annoying to him?” the tears went on for the night. nothing that others could say that would help.

unfortunately now you had your brain chemically altered. over just some simple words. and your unrequited love is nothing more than a mere empty fantasy.

heyy! hope this wasn’t a pain to read. i feel as tho this was badly written and rushed. lmk if it is then i’ll fix it!

[httpino]

hiii everyone! this is my opinion on what college majors each of the konoha 11 + sasuke n the sand siblings have :D + my general college headcanons about them. enjoy!!

p.s. this is a non massacre au so everyone is alive and well

Naruto characters in College

Naruto Uzumaki: Political Science

- he’s obvi into the whole politics thing so it seemed obvious to him to go into polisci

- unfortunate frat brother

- he’s not like the annoying weird ones but he does indulge in a bit of excessive drinking

- even when he’s hokage (think of it as like the president of everything i don’t fucking know) he’ll still do the stupid ass frat greeting if he sees a fellow brother

- barely passing but once he starts studying seriously with sakura, he’s on his grind fr

- he was never stupid, he just has adhd and no idea how to ask for help

- graduates at a decent place n continues on the higher education track (to everyone’s surprise)

Sasuke Uchiha: Business with a concentration in Finance

- he plans on taking over the family business from his older brother since he’s sick and needs to focus on his health

- does not engage in frat business no matter how much naruto begs

- he’s above it all

- he’s less fucked in the head (because his whole family was not senselessly murdered!) so he does like partying n is less antisocial

- non massacre au sasuke is a WHORE idgaf

- will entertain whoever he needs to to get laid

- this is before he starts dating sakura and then he’s like a nun, he does not look in people’s direction at all

- model student, graduates with a ridiculously high gpa

Sakura Haruno: Biology + Chemistry Double Major (pre-med)

- did anyone say overachiever

- she was told she just needed to pick a science if she wanted to do the pre-med track but she said fuck it and chose two

- bordering deranged, the constant homework is getting to her

- very efficient at studying so she’s able to have some semblance of a school-life balance but barely

- she’s spent more nights in the library crying over her homework than she cares to admit

- finds it all easier when she’s with her friends so she, naruto, ino, sasuke, shikamaru, neji, and hinata have a little study circle every night

- model student, legit is the student that her professors tell their students about years after she graduates

- goes on to med school (we love you dr.haruno)

Sai: Art

- obviously

- he’s having a good time here

- once he gets to the point where he’s having to do other art (sculpting for example) he’s losing it a bit

- he’s just a little guy who wants to draw pretty little pictures :(

- the mf who says “ugh i have a drawing due at 11:59” and then promptly gets jumped for having the audacity to complain around sakura

- doesn’t really party, if he does get dragged out, he spends the whole time drawing the scene in front of him

- he has so many drawings of drunk naruto doing stupid shit, he’s compiled it in a little booklet n adds to it

- by the end of college, he has a thick ass book of these drawings (naruto, ino, sakura, and lee being most of the drawings)

- graduates with flying colors (see what i did there) to become ino’s house husband who supports her through med school

Shikamaru Nara: International Relations

- bro did not want to go to college

- literally dragged himself through high school, why would he want to do it all over again but it’s harder???

- anyway he settles on international relations n breezes through it

- his friends wanna strangle him every time he complains about his schoolwork

- sakura’s eye is twitching, tenten is planning his untimely demise, ino is calling him a lazy idiot

- in his defense, he doesn’t really know what’s going on at any given moment

- he does his work on time but that’s only after he has to teach himself everything cause he skips class religiously

- high off his ass the entire four years

- is known around campus, not for his smarts, but because he’s been found sleeping in the oddest places

- there’s an instagram page for sightings of his naps in odd places (that was definitely not started by ino)

- graduates with decent grades and gets a job in the hokage’s office with the power of nepotism and his brain

Choji Akimichi: Culinary Arts

- he’s having a grand time really

- he’s a phenomenal cook and he already knows all the cooking techniques since his dad owns the highest rated restaurant in the country

- literally has never complained about anything a day in his life

- his to go meals are the only thing keeping his friends alive, they all have the diet of a college student which is water, tears, and a side of ramen

- always has excess food left from class so he goes around campus delivering it to the different food banks

- random people know about choji akimichi’s legendary hangover meal

- graduates with flying colors and goes on to take over his father’s restaurant and open one of his own!

Ino Yamanaka: Psychology (pre-med)

- annoying psych major who psychoanalyzes her friends

- drunk off her ass and she’s asking kiba if his attachment to his dogs comes from trying to make up for his terrible relationship with his mother

- is literally always out, no one has no idea how considering all the other psych students are fighting for their lives

- when she meets sai, she’s excited as fuck, she loves a fine ass man with a brain she can pick apart

- a little crazy

- graduates top of her major but it’s a mystery how she did such a thing 

Kiba Inuzuka: Vet science

- picked this because his dog got sick once n he was like bro what the fuck i need to never let this happen again

- actually a really good student contrary to popular belief! (hinata asked him to study with her one time n then it became a routine)

- who said FRAT BOY KIBA!!! (it’s me, i said frat boy kiba)

- chronic day drinker (bro needs to attend a.a meetings)

- gets an internship in the local vet office and he has deep beef with all the cats there

- he thinks they’re evil but the cats just smell dog on him n they do not fuck with it

- graduates at a decent place n goes to vet school (idk how that works, just pretend i do)

Shino Aburame: Entomology

- DUH!!

- bro might as well be a professor, he’s so good with the whole thing

- which is why he becomes a TA by the end of his first year (unheard of btw)

- out of everyone, he’s having the easiest time

- literally goes to class, does his little science classes, studies his little bugs, then comes home to his apartment n thinks about bugs

- he’s attended every seminar about environment so he can pipe up n say that preserving the bugs in each ecosystem could help

- graduates n goes on to get an offer to teach entomology at konoha university

Hinata Hyuga: Communication

- she has no idea what she wants to do

- this was mainly a placeholder till she figured something out

- the required public speaking course nearly took something out of her

- but after all her friends gathered to listen to her speech n cheer her on, she felt so much confidence that she got an amazing grade

- this led to her sticking with comm!

- she picks a focus on media so she ends up working at the tv station (behind the scenes, she’s not a in front of the camera type of girl)

- does great n has study circles with her friends :D

- doesn’t party, doesn’t drink, doesn’t do much of anything but she’ll go out to make sure kiba doesn’t get into a bar fight or something

Neji Hyuga: Physics

- not so sure about this one but idkkk something in my heart says he’s a physics major

- he’s not sure what he wants to do with it but it makes him sound smart when his dad brags to the other parents

- extremely paranoid about missing assignments so he does everything the moment he gets it

- has never been relaxed ever

- time management king

- he got pulled into a study circle and though he’ll NEVER admit it, it’s helped him a lot

- graduates in three years instead of four and goes on to grad school (he’s trying to avoid finding a job)

Rock Lee: Sports science

- DUH!!

- he wants to help injured athletes so why not study how a healthy body is supposed to work while exercising?

- he gets an internship with guy, who’s the athletic trainer of konoha university n he’s everyone’s favorite

- had learned not to complain about his workload around tenten (she broke down and started bawling over her homework and he freaked out)

- graduates with a good gpa and then gets a job with the athletic trainers office

Tenten: Business with a concentration in Entrepreneurship + Engineering Double Major

- this determined ass mf

- she’s been dreaming of creating a weapon that will allow for easy usage while also being tailored to the needs of the user

- so she decides on the business major part to create a business out of it and engineering so she can figure out how to do it herself

- she’s fighting for her life the entire four years of college

- turns down so many parties and invites because her homework is literally a stack the size of her

Kankuro: Political Science + Art History Double Major

- he wanted badly to do art history alone

- but he decides that maybe he does want to be employed in the future

- so he picks up political science as a side thing

- he cheats off gaara so he doesn’t have to focus too much on the polisci portion of his degree

- exchange student (obvi) n he’s indulging in konoha culture

- which is just getting black out drunk on a wednesday evening!

- finishes out college as a decent student, not exceptional but also he’s not terrible

Gaara: Political Science

- literally decides he’s gonna become the kazekage and picks up polisci immediately

- like his siblings he’s an exchange student

- literally doesn’t do any “stereotypical” college things

- doesn’t drink a drop of alcohol, doesn’t dabble in drugs, his most wild weekend is him indulging in TWO red bulls instead of one

- which is why no one is surprised when he graduates top of his class n immediately gets a job in the kazekage’s office where he works his way up

Temari: Meteorology

- just walk with me here

- exchange student from suna

- always found interest in weather patterns considering she lived in a place with such predictable patterns

- like day after day it was all sun, no rain until one random day, there was an absolute downpour before everything went back to normal

- she absolutely went WILDDDD she needed to know what had happened to cause such a thing

- she has no interest in smiling in front of the camera n giving the forecast, she wants to just study what the fuck goes on with the weather

- has a decent workload but she really doesn’t mind it, it gives her an excuse to avoid ino’s constant invites to go out

- one time, she went out n got hammered n slept with shikamaru n then she literally never did that again

- it worked cause she started dating him soon after but still… you can never be too safe

- graduates with a perfect gpa n goes on to become the best meteorologist in the world

[leewritestoomuch]

hey!! do u think u could write for sasuke, shikamaru, kiba, lee, neji, gaara, and/or sai with a clingy reader who gets jealous easily? love language is acts of service and quality time but she clings onto them a lot too. (feel free to change up the characters/add or omit anyone!! thank you!!)

Naruto Characters with a Clingy/Jealous S/O

Characters: Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino, Rock Lee, Neji, Sai, Gaara, and Kankuro

I wanna include Kankuro somewhere so don’t mind me squeezing him in frfr. Also ofc, I gotta add Shino.

Sasuke Uchiha

He’s acting cool. He’s acting real cool. Dark and mysterious.

You’re throwing that off, but if you’ve got him wrapped around your finger, he can’t seem to bring himself to shake you off.

You’re like throwing off the dark and mysterious with your energy, so he’s gonna act indifferent, maybe even irritated.

Best believe that he clings onto you right back at home. I don’t take criticism on this take.

If you get jealous easy… good luck.

Now he’s not feeding in to these other girls minds that he could somehow care to look their way, but these girls STILL stare at him with heart eyes.

Cue him just walking away from them, telling you to come on already.

He’s not entertaining their bullshit, so you two can go where they will leave you both alone :)!

Shikamaru Nara

Complains, complains, complains again.

“What a drag” “you’re so troublesome”

He’s blushing though, don’t let him lie. It’s obvious.

He secretly finds comfort in your constant clinging. And the way you like to spend time with him. And be around him constantly. You must really like him. He’s secretly flattered.

He just can’t open up so he’s never gonna tell you that.

He’s not really the type that women are just falling at his feet, so you won’t have to worry about being jealous so much.

If a girl on a mission does get a little too close though, he WILL distance himself from her. Don’t worry.

He’ll complain if you step in for him to help get the girl away, but he’ll be grateful for the help (silently, bc out loud he’s saying he can handle it himself)

Kiba Inuzuka

I don’t know why people think Kiba is some player or fuck boy. So I want to go ahead and clarify, I don’t think he would be. I think he’s actually got nervous teen boy crushing energy, no matter his age.

He’s clinging to you too. Lmfao.

Literally you two are attached at the hip, arm, shoulder, whatever. Attached.

Akamaru is always with you two though, but who doesn’t love Akamaru?!

He gets jealous too.

You two are probably unbearable bc listen, hope for everybody’s sake you aren’t as jealous as he is.

If a man looks in your direction, he will whine for the rest of the night.

That being said, he is not accusing you of entertaining or doing anything, he’s just complaining about the guys audacity to even look in your direction.

Shino Aburame

DO NOT LET THIS MAN LIE TO YOU. He gets jealous.

Like petty kinda jealous. He’s a petty mf.

So you are not alone if you get jealous.

He’s also physically clingy behind closed doors, but ONLY behind closed doors.

He asks that you not hang off him like a koala in front of everybody, but he’ll perhaps hold your hand.

He’s clingy in a less physical way. He needs you to stay close to him most of the time, just be there. So if you like quality time, this the guy for you.

Back to jealously, this is the only reason I could ever foresee him being even a little toxic. He trusts you fully, but give a little bit too much attention to somebody and he’ll convince himself he’s like not your first choice and you forgot him like everybody else did.

So he’s more jealous than you, without a doubt in my mind.

Honestly, he takes time and effort to convince to settle down and get out of his own head.

Neji Hyuga

Not a PDA person. I think he might be willing to like hold hands. Accept a kiss on the cheek or something. But really, he wouldn’t be all TOO found of being literally clinged to.

However, he does like to have you around. So if you are just the clingy type in regards to being around them all the time, he’s okay with that.

He wants to be around you too.

He’s not the jealous type himself, and he probably won’t really notice that you’re jealous.

I don’t think he’d appreciate somebody other than you being all over him though, so you don’t have to worry much. He’ll tell a person straight up, no sugarcoating, to get away from him.

If you complain about somebody’s actions later, he’ll realize you were jealous. He’ll probably ask why if he told them off anyways. After a conversation, he’ll probably just reassure you that he will continue to tell people off.

Nobody touches him but you.

Rock Lee

HES SO MFING CLINGY

PHYSICALLY AND JUST IN GENERAL.

He talks about you all the time to everybody he can. He’s constantly telling people that you’re his partner. Bragging about you.

And since you’re clingy and he’s clingy, you’re probably right there by his side as he does this.

If for some reason, he doesn’t get a chance or remember to introduce you in some flamboyant, glamorous, extra way, and somebody tries to make a pass at him, he won’t notice they’re flirting unless it’s OBVIOUS.

So cue your jealously.

He would be the type to literally push somebody away and say some shit like “I’m flattered, but I have a gorgeous, amazing partner already.”

Sai Yamanaka

(I call him Sai Yamanaka bc it creates a bigger line for the name btw, he’s not married in this case)

He does not mind you constantly clinging to him or following him around. Not in the slightest.

That is because he likes you, so he wants to be around the person he likes, after all. (Sai, yall are dating. That’s obvious, you don’t have to say it)

He probably follows you around a lot because he thinks he’s supposed to. And also, he finds that he likes to be around you.

He might do something a book told him to, get too close to another person, paying no mind to any like reason it could be wrong. He didn’t mean it that way.

And since we’ve established you’re the jealous type, you’d have to explain to Sai that he can’t just get too close to other people like that.

Gaara of the Sand

He doesn’t mind the clinging, but he doesn’t have the time for it :/

When you can cling to him or follow him around without interfering with his focus and work, he’s perfectly okay with it.

And he’ll find himself wishing that when he’s busy, he wasn’t so you could be with him.

A lot of the girls in the village have a crush on him now that he’s kazekage, so you’re bound to be pretty jealous.

But Gaara doesn’t let these girls near him. He’s polite with them, but he’s not entertaining anything at ALL.

You don’t have to worry with him. He’s as loyal as can be.

At home, he’s clinging to you too. He’s touch starved.

And he loves to spend his free time with you.

Kankuro of the Sand

Cling to him in public like a koala. He’s not complaining. He’s BRAGGING.

PLEASE.

He’s the type to tease you about it, but if you break away from him because of it he’ll complain bc WHERE ARE YOU GOINGGG?

He would purposely make you jealous. Within reason. He will not disrespect your relationship to do so. But if he knows something simple could make you jealous, like giving too much attention to a stuffed animal, he will do it on purpose

“You wish this was you, huh?”

He’d like it if you wanted to just come sit in his workshop with him while he works on puppets. He’ll talk when he’s not like SUPER focused.

[theproperweirdo]

AFK JOURNEY RUSTPORT TRAILER THEORIES!!

All screenshots are from the second official trailer 🔥🔥 here’s the first one

Also BIG APPLAUSE to the Lilith team for this trailer, the music and visuals were absurdly good. I will be listening to the soundtrack and researching for the animation

Okay okay soooooo we’re gonna move in chronological order of the second video

Alright, the “Carmine” whispers:

The “Carmine” part is new, I guess they added it as an adjective? Weird. The name whisperers is from “the faint whisper coins make on cloth while being picked out of pockets.” I’m sad to loose that…

This guy in the glasses is also new. With this scene composition of Sonja and unnamed guy on the sides with glasses guy in the middle, it looks like he might be the boss of the Whispers here. Very different from the OG story, where Sonja and Nara built up the Whispers together as its bosses, before Sonja took over completely.

However, we get a snippet of Sonja pointing her cane toward Glasses McGee, so there’s likely internal conflict arising. She might overthrow him or something.

I don’t have any info on the guy on the right tho.

Sonja herself looks pretty different now. Less roses on the side of her head, and more thorn imagery on her design. No other major changes tho.

This snippet seems to allude to Rustport now being involved in weapon or some other form of manufacturing. Probably will be part of the main conflict. This is purely from the idea that they wouldn’t show anything in a trailer if it was irrelevant. There has to be a process of why they include shots right?? 😭😭

HODGKIN!! The dead tide fleet is here!! Looks like they’ll be against the Carmine whispers. This artifact (or relic, as he says) looking thingy that Hodgkin is holding seems pretty important. It may be why he has the allegiance of these sea-graveborn esq creatures. In the trailer, it kind of activates, and then a large Kraken like thing starts grabbing at the ship.

Nara is also in cahoots with the Dead tide fleet this time around. We see her fighting alongside them during both trailers. Means she’s no longer a whisperer??? We don’t know what happened to her in Arena after she died, so I have nothing to go off. Seems like they’ve got some form of an agreement here.

There’s that pretty new ranger woman, but her design screams fan service 2 me so rn I feel like she’s not entirely lore relevant. She’s probably got her own side story.

This new guy, Sinbad, seems to be our companion in Rustport. A handy magic compass and a history of treasure hunting means he could be after that artifact Hodgkin has. My theory is he grew up in Rustport, knows the town well, and has some kind of personal agenda against both the dead tide fleet and the Whisperers. He’s called a merchant in the first trailer, so I suspect he’s a black market relic seller in Rustport.

Graveborn lore!! Viperian has appeared 🙏 as an “unconventional” scholar, he’s either in Rustport for research/testing, or travelling with Nara and Hodgkin for his own reasons. With this season centred around LB/GB, we’re (hopefully) getting some more content of him.

AHHHHHH I love these two… little Nara and little Sonja… 😢😢

But it looks like they’re against each other in Journey. Or, Nara wants something from Sonja? She’s actively fighting against Rustport, maybe even wants to destroy and take over it. More likely that’s she here solely for Sonja tho. Her line at the end of the trailer “now you’ll never forget me, Sonja…” alludes to a possible misunderstanding from Nara, that Sonja had forgotten about her completely. Either way, they’re fighting each other 😢

Okay, now for more personal speculation. I’ll be referencing a lot of the OG story from Arena here.

Originally, Nara reawakens from the dead because of both her extremely violent nature, and her deep desire to see Sonja again. “The survival of the Whispers, or punishing the traitors—they were all irrelevant now. All she wanted was to return to Rustport, to the Whispers, and to Sonja's side, where those warm hands could once again comfort her icy soul.” She literally has a vision of Sonja’s hands reaching out for her when she wakes up again 😭😭😭

In this new Journey trailer, my guess is that Nara has been fed fake info— something along the lines of that Sonja didn’t care she was dead, and now has double the power she used to. Their dynamic looks like depressed grieving gf and angry resentful gf. It could’ve been Hodgkin or Viperian manipulating her.

I can’t think up any reason why Hodgkin would be attacking Rustport. He’s been known as “the most ruthless pirate” of the seas, feared widely and being infamous for his title. But I don’t remember him being after property or wanting to take over towns like that. I mean, he’s from Rustport. This could be a character rewrite (wouldn’t be new).

The big plot of this season looks like Whisperers vs Dead Tide Fleet, with the sub plots of Nara v Sonja, Sinbad, Relic (probably related to the Hypogeans or something), and Hodgkin against glasses boss. I wrote this up fast and we only have two videos out rn, so I’ll wait and see.

Please tell me ur personal thoughts and feelings 🤞🤞

[watermelonsloth]

Should Shikamaru have become a Medic Nin?

Back when I made my post about Ino on the Sasuke Retrieval Mission, I ended up returning to the manga to review some info. While reviewing, I returned to Shikamaru’s reaction to the failed mission/his comrades being okay. I could talk about how fucked up Temari and Shikaku’s reactions to Shikamaru’s very reasonable self-doubt/guilt was, but for now I’ll just talk about his interactions with Tsunade following those reactions. Specifically how (and I might just be reading into this) their interactions seem to hint at him becoming a medic ninja.

First, some review/background info for anyone who hasn’t read the manga/watched the anime in a while. The scene starts with Shikamaru and Temari sat outside Choji’s hospital room. At this time, Choji and Neji are under intensive care, Kiba has barely woken up, and Naruto and Sasuke are both still missing in action. Shikamaru feels guilty for, despite being team leader, walking away mostly unscathed and tells Temari that he’s considering quitting being a shinobi altogether. Temari tells him off for being emotionally “delicate” and Shikaku tells him off for being a “coward” (specifically saying that him leaving the field won’t actually protect anyone). Then Tsunade shows up to say that Choji is stable, Shizune says Neji is stable and Naruto’s returned alive, and Tsunade says she couldn’t have asked for more than them all getting out alive. Shikamaru promises the next mission will be perfect and the chapter ends.

This is a nice moment, but it’s not really relevant to my point outside of Tsunade mentioning that the “Nara Clan’s Sacred Medicine Guide” was helpful. The main reason I brought this up is because of how it frames the next scene.

So, the last scene was Shikamaru anxiously waiting outside the ninja icu for his best friend to survive feeling so useless that he wants to quit his job, something he only decides against after hearing that his team isn’t dead and being told that if he doesn’t want his friends to die, he should work to better keep them alive in the future. The next scene is him talking to Tsunade about how every team should have a medic nin and what it takes to become one. For the people who framing isn’t their strong suit: it’s following up a scene about a character realizing that to reach their goal (keeping their friends alive) they need to step up and work harder with a scene explaining how hard medic nin have to work to step up.

You can't even argue that Kishimoto doesn’t know that the previous scene will impact how the following scene is interpreted because he does it for the literal next scene transition. Almost immediately after Tsunade ominously saying that first-rate medics need a “special something” (literally only 2-3 panels apart) it cuts to Sakura, future medicine extraordinaire. At most, you can argue that Kishimoto intended for the scene to be interpreted as Shikamaru becoming a smarter strategist or that Kishimoto wasn’t considering transitions between chapters. But unintentional readings are still valid, so I think my point still stands.

Now that I’ve talked about the story structuring that started me down this rabbit hole, let’s talk about the actual story. Should Shikamaru become a medic nin?

I first want to go over whether or not Shikamaru has what it takes to become a medic nin according to Tsunade. She lists the qualifications as follows: a light and precise hand, an enormous amount of expertise, an adeptness at practical application, patience, and a “special something”.

Taking her first point literally, Shikamaru is pretty precise in all that he does and I don’t think shaky hands will be a problem for him considering all of the awkward positions he maintains for his different shadow jutsu. Taking it in a more metaphorical “gentle but efficient touch” sort of way, I also think it applies, at least when it matters. The best example of this is when he dragged Naruto out of his depression after Jiraiya’s death, but I’ll also mention how he became friends with Choji by standing up for him (in his own way) and how he deferred to Ino in the Forest of Death about protecting Sakura. Expertise is easily yes because it’s just training and Shikamaru has shown his willingness to put in the work if it’s for the people he cares about. I don’t think practical application will be a problem for two reasons: 1. Considering he’s able to translate shoji, a board game, into on-field strategies, he seems pretty good at translating practice into practicality, 2. Shikamaru just got out of a conversation with Temari about how he was too naive and that there’s a difference between training and doing, it wouldn’t make sense for him not to try getting better at the doing part after saying that. Patience is probably the most obvious. Asuma literally described him as doing everything at the pace of an old man. The “special something” isn’t explicitly defined in-manga, but it’s implied to be a person’s personal drive to do something/reach a goal. While it isn’t exactly something I’d describe Shikamaru as having at this point in the series, I would say him gaining it would align with his character arc of gaining that drive and learning to follow it.

Speaking of character arcs, I also want to get into how I think him becoming a medic would impact his character quality. I’m not gonna detail how him becoming a medic would be better payoff to his two scenes with Tsunade at the hospital because I’ve already gone into them and I think you’re smart enough to figure that out yourself. I also won’t get too into the other main benefit to him becoming a medic because I’ve already made a post on the topic. OGs of this blog may remember my post about Shikamaru’s sexism and how it should’ve been addressed in-series. Shikamaru becoming a student of Tsunade would absolutely do this. Not only would he be acknowledging her prowess as a ninja, but it would also give him a positive female role model (one who didn’t shame him for his feelings and would absolutely understand his fear of his loved ones dying in the field due to his failure). Plus, depending on your conclusions about the ninja world, by becoming a medic, he might be entering a female dominated field. I also think that him becoming a medic/doctor/surgeon would be a good (and potentially better) end to his character arc about motivation and self discipline because the medical field is absolutely ruthless and slackers aren’t gonna make it.

Some miscellaneous thoughts I had are also that expanding on the Nara clan’s ties to medicine would be interesting, Shikamaru probably has the chakra control for the job considering his clan jutsu, the series is in dire need of more male medic nin, there would be way more tragedy to Asuma’s death if Shikamaru couldn’t save him even with medical ninjutsu, I think Shikamaru killing Hidan using his knowledge of the human body (like irreversibly paralyzing him or just slowly cutting him to bits with the chakra scalpel rather than blowing him up) would be cooler, and Asuma wanting Shikamaru specifically to take care of Kurenai and Mirai would make more sense if he was a doctor.

If nothing else, I think Shikamaru becoming a medic ninja would make more sense than Ino and arguably Sakura.

[all-thestories-aretrue]

Here are the Thoughts™️I promised @discordkittenterumi

This post is a much longer follow to this post from last night as I was listening to episode 60.

This post is also in conversation with with something @peppedstep mentioned about Neil’s loyalty to the coterie, which I touch on briefly.

Everything sort of solidified in my brain after finishing 60 at like 2 am last night.

In 60, we see Neil wake up in a strange place with Weathers and Amara with him. The last thing he remembers is running from his sire which seems to be several days ago.

Neil also does not remember much of Baghdad (which is a whole separate post that is coming. I have many thoughts about Nara and Neil in that situation).

He routinely has panic attacks, some of which lead to dissociation. For example, before his trial in 37 and 38, we see him go catatonic when he realizes his haven is under attack. Dissociation is not usually something that happens to someone once and then never again. It’s a coping mechanism, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say it’s something he experiences, perhaps not regularly, but with some sort of frequency.

In addition, many of his rituals require his mind to be separated from his body, and we know kalif also impacts his cognitive function as also seen in Baghdad. He has the capability of astral projecting which leaves his body behind, defenseless. The ritual with the bull in 6, he had others stay nearby just in case something were to happen. The second time he completes the ritual, Johnny escorts him.

Neil is often dependent on the people around him to keep him safe, and we see him repeatedly look to others for their judgement before he makes a decision on his own. He looks to Nara to trust Jubair, and he looks to Amara to trust Catherine and this mission. In these two cases in particular, he’s forced to rely on others’ assessments of the situation because he cannot make his own. In addition, relies on Britta and Miles to defend him in court while Johnny and Wynn take care of his haven. He also places an immense amount of trust in the coterie and their decisions, generally speaking.

Peppedstep mentioned that family is important to Neil, the coterie is important to Neil. He consistently revolves around the idea of keeping them together and spending their final nights together. I agree, but to add another layer to that, Neil trusts everyone in the coterie, and as has often been discussed, trust is an extremely rare commodity for Kindred, and in some cases doesn’t exist at all. What Neil has with the coterie almost seems to be unprecedented given the general picture of the Camarilla and Kindred society the audience is presented with. He knows these people will protect him and/or his body when he is unable to.

I would imagine, without them, his quality of life would be diminished, and all it would take is one mistake, one bad episode, for him to meet final death or another horrible fate, especially considering his abilities. It was a stroke of luck that Amara and Weathers picked Neil up.

His drug use, mental health issues, and magical abilities all work closely together to form a complex web of memory loss and a distrust of his own opinions. Even further, I would argue that his memory loss contributes to his lack of a sense of identity.

I believe it’s been mentioned a few times that Neil doesn’t really have a strong sense of identity (I am not going to sort through all 60 episodes to find those sources though, sorry! I do think it might have been brought up at the party when Fester was preparing him?), and that’s proven by how he talks about his worth early on when Wynn confronts him after the bull ritual. He, and I am paraphrasing here, believes he is useful because he can provide the coterie with knowledge. Later on, he mentions that Miles kept him around because of his specific abilities which again, his worth is tied up in his usefulness to people.

This mentality is compounded by his early history with his sire. In 51 or 52 (I can’t remember which and I’m not going to look it up), it’s described that Neil looks at his sire the way one might look at an abusive parent. Neil is absolutely terrified of this person even now. Based on Neil’s nonconfrontational personality, some of his coping mechanisms in the face of this abuse could easily be making himself small, agreeing with his sire, etc. leading to the people-pleasing nature we see in Neil now. Peppedstep also posited that Neil could have been Embraced to be made in his sire’s image. We know he is a loner, we know he has visions, and maybe he also feels the need for family in his own demented way. Regardless of if that is true, Neil’s sire had a massive effect on who Neil became as a Kindred and without question would influence his sense of identity. If Peppedsteps’s theory is true, then Neil’s sire would have stripped away any sense of who he was to remake him in his image.

TLDR: Neil has memory loss from a combination of drug use, mental health issues, and magical abilities which make him reliant on others for his safety in certain circumstances and further exacerbate his lack of a sense of identity.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[nanamimizz]

tags: fluff, after the 4th great war, reader is described as being shorter than shikamaru, smoking, drinking, reader wears shikamaru’s clothes - let me know if i missed something!

synopsis: love is seen in the smallest of moments, when its just you and the other - alone.

loving shikamaru is built upon the smallest of moments.

when he murmurs into your ear at the table - “going out for a smoke, i’ll be back.” his box of cigarettes and his lighter tap against the table. you can’t help but shiver from his breath dancing along your neck. you smile, cheeks bitten and hot but he blames it on the cold outside and the warn inside. he gives a blushing smile when you tell him you’ll save him a plate.

his cigarette is half way out when you find him, stumbling past the door a slight stumble in your step. he’s at your side faster than you’d expect asking what’s wrong, hands griping your shoulders to steady you. in return you only laugh, rubbing your temples.

“kiba challenged me to chug a pint but then my head started spinning so sakura said to get some fresh air.” you explain and he sighs, exasperated but fond. you’ve always had a habit of not being able to say no when asked to do something. he shakes his head muttering about how kiba is a bonehead and you giggle breathlessly.

his gaze softens at the sound, eyes fond at how you smile softly if not a little wobbly. happiness looks lovely on you, shikamaru can’t help but think.

he blinks as he mulls over his recent thought, tucks away its implications and focuses in the light conversation you begin - you hiccup slightly in between each couple words and he fonds that rather being annoyed by its interruption; he can’t help but find it cute.

he bites the inside of his cheek and marks the tally.

you shiver as a brisk breeze passes over - its fall and heading into winter. he recalls how you’ve always been sensitive to the cold. he calls your name without thinking and before he can rationally process it, he’s zipping off his vest and handing it to you. you’re eyes are wide and shining under the fluorescent lights of the restaurant sign.

“here, i don’t want you freezing on me.” he keeps his tone light but even he sweats under the weight of your stare. smiling bashfully and tucking your chin to your chest, you take the vest and sling it on. the dark green material is warm from his body heat - despite his lean build shikamaru has always run warm. its long on you; he can’t help but huff amused at how the bottom of the zipper hits lower than your waist. he comes closer to you, brings his hands to the collar and pulling out the large pieces of your hair that had gotten stuck underneath the thick collar of the vest.

it’s oddly intimate - he’s smoothing your hair down, and zipping up the vest. he lets his hands run down the slope of your shoulders and his hands come to rest on your biceps. shikamaru swallows. realizing he’s so close to you that he can see the faint mole at the bottom of your lip, the birthmark on your nose and the small gap of hairs in your left eyebrow.

“how do you feel now?” he asks, voice tentatively and soft. he feels like a kid again, seeing the deer of the nara woods with his father for the first time. he can see how your lashes link together when you blink and you look back up at him, he’s grateful for the height difference between you to in this moment. shikamaru can see everyone of your most defining features - he finds them all to be as beautiful as the reflection of the night sky found on the top of a lake.

“my head feels clearer, and i’m a lot warmer now.” you reply, honestly and your eyes flicker away. you are like a doe he thinks, gentle in your approach and demure in your observation. he nods.

“that’s good. want to head in now?” he asks. he half hopes you say no so he can stay here with you just for a little longer. he can smell your perfume - like how you hands smell like the oranges you peel on a hot summer day, and he wonders if you’ll be as sweet as those memories.

“y-yeah, we should. they might be wondering where we are.” you say and he can’t help but agree. he lets go off you, letting his hands trail a little longer and he coughs into his hand. when you go to unzip his vest he stops you.

“it’s okay. keep it until you feel warm enough.” he tells you, looking away and scratching at the back of his neck. shikamaru wonders if you can see his pink cheeks and fights back the embarrassment he feels in his chest if you can.

“besides, it…it looks good on you. just give back at the end of the night.” he finishes with a thin smile and you laugh into your hand at his sheepishly given compliment. you nod, agreeing and watching him with warm cheeks as he heads in first. as he enters back into the restaurant you thumb at the dark green material of the vest.

against your better nature, you bring your nose to the collar and sigh at the scent of pine wood and the hint of cigarette smoke. you walk in shortly after, ducking at the raised eyesbrows of ino and choji, smiling carefully at shikamaru and remove the vest easily. you hand it back with a thank you and he nods, slipping it back on with no comments or complaints.

later in the night, shikamaru does something unlike himself.

when shikamaru lies in bed, he holds the vest up to his face, nose buried in the collar just like you did when left alone. his head spins surround by the scent of citrus and jasmine - a note he didn’t pick up on when he was next to you. with his pounding heart and cheeks red, he realizes something that had been reaching its conclusion since his academy days.

shikamaru nara is in love with you.

[saintsir4n]

Can u do the scene with eden finding out about grace. Thank u and I am in love with ur writing, I've read Dark twisted fantasy about 3 times already and will read for a 4th time, I love how u write the black women in ur stories, how u show their emotions and how u portray them. ♥️♥️

love this and thank you.

BETRAYED

——

1919

“What is it? What’s wrong you had everythin’ fuckin’ planned.” Eden stressed, after being told they had been betrayed.

Ada had left the room, with baby Karl and an anxious Inara in tow, whilst Eden and Tommy stayed. The Dawkins woman watched as he paced, gulping and tugging at the roots of his hair, wanting to say something but couldn’t spit it out.

Black Star Day was their day. It was planned, everything was going according to plan, and Tommy said so. Prayers had been said, drinks had been poured, and Eden and her newfound friend Grace even chatted, buzzing about it all.

But it went to hell when Jeremiah informed Arthur that Billy Kimber was spotted, with an army full of fuckers rallying behind him. There was no God in Small Heath. With every War that ended, another started up.

“It was Grace,” Tommy finally blurted.

Eden froze, face full of confusion, “What was Grace?”

“We’ve been fuckin’ betrayed.”

Tommy had been so stuck on the why, he didn’t focus on the how, how the Irish Barmaid they befriended so quickly could accomplish all of this in such a small frame.

“No,” Eden, of course refused to believe it.

And just like that, she began to pace and he watched, observed with a pained expression as she struggled to come to terms with the truth.

“Eden,” Tommy exclaimed.

“No, she’s our friend remember,” Eden gesticulated. “She was in the Garrison, fuckin’ seconds ago, pouring pints, celebrating with us all.”

Tommy breathed out, more steadier than before, “She gave us away.”

His voice was calm but he was anything but. He had to keep it together, for her. For his Edie, who was on the verge of spiralling.

Eden gulped as her heels slammed against the floorboards, creaking and cracking.

“You said we could trust her,” she whispered, but he heard.

It was like shrapnel to his chest.

You were wrong Tom, was what she meant. You didn’t think.

“I know,” Tommy nodded, standing still, silently raging.

She turned to him, gritted her teeth, “You said we could trust her Thomas.”

He shut his eyes, “Don’t you think I don't fuckin’ know that.”

“You said we could fuckin’ trust her!”

Eden wrung out her numb hands as she choked back a sob. All that happened, all that has been going wrong since that fucking inspector came to their city, their town of Small Heath. She felt the work of a wretched soul at play but she didn’t expect to think it would come from such a nice girl like Grace.

Huh…

Nice, she certainly pulled the wool over their fucking eyes.

Eden had just felt so lonely, Tommy had returned home from the war and her best friends were either dead or in London. She needed someone other than her husband to speak to, preferably anyone without the last name Shelby. And there Grace was, singing her way into the Garrison with her soft and trusting voice.

Oh, how they were wrong.

Eden’s face scrunched up as Tommy’s eyes quickly opened having heard her shuddering breaths.

You said we could fuckin’ trust her. Tommy had his suspicions. He knew the barmaid lied about where she came from and why she moved. He didn’t trust her at first but his wife did. He too, missed the comfort of a friend. Freddie wasn’t one anymore, not after the war, they were on two different paths, racing like trains that wouldn’t come to a halt at any time soon. His other good friend was dead and had been for years. The war took more from him than he thought and his little ‘Nara was the light of his life, his Edie was his heart. But Grace… she was something new, something calm that settled both him and his wife. An outsider, a new friend.

Oh, how she played them for a fool.

“She’s the reason why ‘Nara was almost taken,” Eden’s glossy eyes darted to him, as he stood there in shock. “That fuckin’ inspector tried clawing our daughter out of our hands. For dirty dealin’ Moss said. He got the fuckin’ social on us, claimed that we were a pack of animals.” Eden remembered it all like it was just yesterday. “But they — they trashed our houses, turned it all into a tip, framin’ us like we did it all and they tried… oh Tom they scared us good they did. They scared our little girl even more.”

Tommy’s jaw clenched, recalling the day, hearing his daughter’s screeches and his wife’s wails… Christ, they were louder than the shovels against the wall. Pat. Pat. Pat. He almost wasn't there to stop it. They claimed that Eden was too erratic, too primitive to look after a child like theirs. Daddy! Inara’s shaken voice will always stay with them.

Being dragged and kicked back to that day, neither parent saw or heard Polly enter the room, full of grief and torment.

The Shelby Matriarch's stomach dropped once more, it scarred her brain just like it did when her children were taken from her.

Eden rasped, “I need to see her.”

“No, no you won’t.” Polly shook her head, “I'll deal with Grace. If either one of you set eyes on her again, you might kill her.”

Eden hung onto that blissful thought.

When Polly left, Tommy turned to his wife, sighing when she gripped her Black Madonna.

“I thought we could trust her,” Eden wanted to cry.

She wanted to scream, stab, shoot, fuck anything.

“I know love. I know,” Tommy slowly nodded.

The two exchanged a dark look, one that read, that they’ll talk later.

“Tommy?”

“Yeah.”

“Please be safe.”

And with that Tommy raced out of the house, needing to end this all one and for all.

——

a/n:

If I ever wrote the canon plot, Tommy wouldn’t cheat on Eden, but because of who he is he would do other things to fuck up their relationship.

In this though both trusted Grace as a friend because of how they lost friends in my headcanon

[princelylove]

I think it’s fairly obvious that mafiosi would have at least some sexism going on. It’s just shown differently, and it's hard to put them all in the same category because their psychology is different. For my freaks who happen to be into a little misogyny/sexism:

Call Guido old fashioned, but he thinks it’s wrong to be rough with a girl. It rubs him the wrong way. Yeah, of course girls can do whatever we can, he’s all for them working and voting and all the good stuff, but you just shouldn’t treat a girl like that. He tends to say ‘girl’ instead of ‘woman,’ even when he’s referring to someone that’s implied to be older than he is. 

When Guido interrogates Scolippi in the english dub, he says “I should end you for killing a girl,” and “You killed an innocent girl, psycho,” which could just be intentionally guilt tripping Scolippi, but Guido isn’t the guilt type. He’s an immediate physical punishment type. He hates men that harm women, no matter the degree. 

If he ends up having a crush on someone who is masculine, you might not notice at all (unless you pick up on his hesitation). Guido’s always been fairly handsy, he’ll put his arm around Pannacotta (who normally shoves him off), he picks up Narancia and won’t let him down until he gets his good morning cheek kiss, he’ll bother Giorno until he gets a little smoochie-woochie (said like that because he knows Giorno hates that sort of talk), and he sits way too close to his darling. He’s microdosing physical contact until he gets the nerve to actually touch you like he does Panna and Nara… Guys can play around, too, you know. But it’s different with his darling! He psyches himself out most times until he can find excuses to get handsy- like, he was just hugging Panna, he’s not gonna leave you out. Come on, man, you know you want one. 

With a feminine darling, he tries to be touchy and affectionate in the friend stage too, but he’s a little scared. You may notice his hands trembling as he picks you up, or that when he puts his arm around your waist, his hand hovers instead of resting on you. He’s strong enough to hold you up for quite a while, he’s just nervous. Poor guy. He gets rather panicky when he sees a girl in distress, if he ever scared you off, he doesn't even know what he'd do.

Narancia copies Bruno, but less in a ‘Chivalry is important’ sense and more of a ‘Masculine men don’t do certain shit’ sense. Which is missing the point of Bruno’s philosophy entirely. He doesn’t really have any women in his life, besides from Trish and she is not a role model for him or a spokesperson for all of womankind, so his only experience with women are the old ladies that pinch his cheeks and girl mags. 

He probably has a harder time with a masculine darling. He isn’t gay ‘cause he thinks you’re pretty, or whatever… You’re just, like… pretty, he guesses. Narancia tries to justify it- you’re pretty feminine for a dude! You have, like, soft hands. And soft hair. And… something else that justifies his crush. Oh! Oh! How you talk! Some people just sound feminine, you know? The words they use, and like, their tone. Like- Like Giorno! He’s a feminine guy, but he’s still a guy! Yeah, that justifies it for sure. Never mind the fact that you are not feminine in the slightest, Narancia will find some way to throw it on you so his crush is ‘ok.’

Leone surprisingly has nothing going on in the sexism department. Lucky him. He might speak a bit softer to a fem darling, but other than that, the experience is roughly the same.

Pannacotta’s distrust of women isn’t inherently sexist. It’s not like he thinks less of them, it’s just that it takes a significant amount of time for him to trust one. He gets along with men at the ‘normal, appropriate’ speed, he’d say. Never mind the fact that he’s distrusting in general and having a crush on a stranger is eating him alive. Strangers are never to be trusted- you just don’t know what they’re thinking about or what their intentions are. They could be perverse, or… just generally ill-willed. It’s unnerving. 

Trish is allergic to going fifty-fifty. It’s not that she’s super into gender roles or anything, it’s just that, she’s a girl, come on. Really? You’re gonna make her split the bill with you? She could be spending that money on, like, anything else. 

She has these expectations of you no matter your gender, don’t make her pay, give her your jacket when she’s cold, carry her shopping bags, get her flowers on valentine’s day, things like that. It’s less ‘I’m the girl in our relationship’ and more ‘I’m spoiled and won’t be bending anytime soon,’ but you could argue she has some internalized sexism going on. In fact I am making that argument.  Trish doesn’t have ‘boy’ hobbies, she’s vehemently opposed to doing masculine work. It isn’t sexist to have preferences, but it is sexist to scoff at your partner who is struggling with carrying something and go “You’re supposed to be stronger than that, you’re a guy.” Poor darling. You don’t get out of it if you’re feminine, either. She’s the girl, you’re her not-man. Perfect! When she eventually matures, she’ll help out a bit more, but it’s probably never equal.