#i just woke up so i immediately forgot i reblogged that post and then i got this ask and i was like.. LURKER... WHAT R U TALKING ABOUT ..

[shelterskimmer]

sexually homocidal emphasis on the homo

-lurker

LMFAOOO SEXUALLY HOMOCIDAL . literally thoughhhh so true . i wanna fuck a boy so bad im homocidal about it

[tonberry-yoda]

For the Fall Event, can I please get 18 with Crocodile or Mihawk. ❤

Happy Spooky Season!!

I Forgot How Cold it Can Get in Here - Mihawk 🎃

notes - I chose Mihawk for this one for two reasons: 1.) I NEVER write for him and have always wanted to, and 2.) I already wrote for croc, so I thought it would only be fair to write for my vampire husband. I love this idea for him so much too, so I'm like losing my mind! Thank you anon, and I hope you enjoy <3 word count - 317

It was rare that you got to spend time with Mihawk. He was always so busy fighting or just off doing his own thing. So, you always felt obligated to just appear in his mansion and stay for however long you cared to. In this case, you had already spent a month and weren't planning on leaving anytime soon.

You had watched some not quite dead trees around the castle turn orange, red, and yellow, and the air was starting to cool down. You loved fall, but Dracule's big mansion didn't help with how cold it was getting.

You woke up in his arms, feeling him press small kisses in the crook of your neck and never wanted to leave. It was so warm in the bed and you knew that the second you were to get up, you would be freezing.

"Come on, y/n, we both have stuff to do today." Mihawk said in a sleepy tone.

"Noooo." you whined, pulling your face into his chest.

"Come on."

You shook your head and took a deep breath in. Not only was he warm, but he smelled amazing.

He pushed past you though and stood up, immediately shivering. He usually slept shirtless, so the moment he got out of bed, he grabbed a shirt and a jacket.

You pulled the sheets off of you and winced. "Jesus!" The cold air bit you pretty damn hard. Why did he have to live in the coldest place on the planet?

"I forgot how cold it can get in here," Mihawk said with another shiver. "Here, take my jacket." He tossed it at you and you slipped it on, trying not to shiver yourself.

"I'm going to go get breakfast started, love. And figure out how to get a damn heater." He kissed you on the forehead and ran his fingers through your hair before heading to the kitchen.

~~~~~

one piece masterlist(2)| pinned post | ko-fi

2023 @tonberry-yoda– do not repost or claim ANY of my work as your own! likes, reblogs, and comments are not only welcome, but appreciated

~~~~~

[thotsfortherapy]

but yeah it also just makes me so grateful for my partner !!! like for the first time in my life my needs aren't questioned or made fun of they're just like. met. even if it's something 'small'/'silly' like wanting to leave a store immediately cause it's too overwhelming

like when I was a kid my mom would take us shopping for hours despite us vocally say please take us home we're tired and need rest and she would just tell us we were impatient and needed to wait. whereas if I tell my partner this is too much he'll be like tbh me too let's go.

so it's such whiplash to come home and be like wait what why are you invalidating me I'm literally right. but also it's refreshing because it's the first time where I'm assured enough in myself and my needs to like. not get gaslit about it. like yeah I am sensitive about certain topics but so is everyone. I don't actually want to spend 3 hours in church I'd rather be with my friends since I'm only here for a week. none of those things are weird to ask for I am not the problem here lmao

anyways damn is this what secure attachment feels like cause 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

man I'm low-key grateful for my late ADHD diagnosis cause after I told my mom her immediate reaction was to just force me to mask and be condescending about it and if that had happened when I was a kid that would just be another layer to unpack in therapy 😬

[nekoannie-chan]

Colorful

Title: Colorful.

Ship: Steve Rogers X 80’s!Reader.

Word count: 540 words.

Rating: Teen.

Square: B3 1980’s.

Summary: Steve by accident activated one of Chase’s invents and found the love of his life.

Warnings/Tags: Fluff, kind of time travel, happy ending. No Archive Warnings Apply.

A/N: This is my entry to @allcapsbingo​  AC1078

You can read it on Ao3 and Wattpad too.

@saiyanprincessswanie​

My native language is Spanish so I wanna improve my writing skills in English if you notice any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct them.

I don’t give any kind of permission that my fics to be posted on other platforms or languages (I translate myself my work) or the use of my graphics (my dividers are included in this), I did them exclusively for my fics, please respect my work and don't steal it. There are some people here who make dividers that anyone can use, mine is not this type, please look for the other's people. The only exception is the ones I gifted 'cuz now belong to someone else. If you find any of my works on a different platform and are not one of my accounts, please let me know. Reblogs and comments are always welcome.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Marvel's characters (unfortunately), except for the original characters and the story.

Add yourself to my taglist here.

My other media where I publish:  Ao3, Wattpad, ffnet, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter. 

If you like it, please vote, comment, and give me feedback to improve my skills and reblog.

Tags: @sinceimetyou​  @unnuevosoltransformalarealidad​ @navybrat817​ @angrythingstarlight​ @shield-agent78​ @charmed-asylum​ @pandaxnienke​ @real-fbi​ @smokeandnailz​  @white-wolf1940​ @tenaciousperfectionunknown​ @xoxonotme​ @bluemusickid​ @leyannrae​  @harrysthiccthighss​ @marvelatthisone​ @caplanbuckybarnes​ @sapphire-rogers​ @lizzieolseniskinda @notyourtypicalrose​  @hallecarey1​ @nana1000night​ @talia-rumlow​ @writingshae​ @alexxavicry​  @azulatodoryuga​ @daemonslittlebitch​ @chaoticcollectivenightmare​ @endlesstwanted​

1980

Steve woke up, he was in the middle of the street; however, when he realized, his surroundings were different, Madonna's music sounded far away. He immediately got up, if he was still lying there, the police would probably come soon and question him.

He didn't even know exactly what happened, the last thing he remembered was that he was in Chase Stein's lab and out of curiosity he had grabbed one of the objects there.

That's when he saw the date March 1st, 1980, on one of the newspapers on a stand, which meant he was in trouble, he hoped the others realized what had happened and could fix it since he didn't know who to go to for help.

“Are you okay? “You asked him when you saw him, it struck you that he looked confused, even as if you knew him, though you weren't sure.

“Uh... yeah, I think I got lost. "

“You're not from here," you pointed when you saw him, you knew all the people who lived in your neighborhood.

“Eh... no, I'm from... Illinois “Steve looked at the paper again so he could answer, he knew he couldn't tell the truth since he couldn't explain, rather it was hard to be believed.

“What are you looking for? “you asked.

“Eh... the restaurant... I forgot the name. "

“Ah, I think I know which restaurant you mean, I can take you there, it's very popular, but at this hour it's usually empty. I'm Y/N by the way. "

“Ste... Grant Rogers “he couldn't say his real name” “Is something wrong? “Steve asked as he noticed you kept looking at him.

“No, nothing, I just feel like we know each other. "

“I don't think so, I've never been here before," Steve replied nervously.

“Maybe it was in a past life," you replied.

“Why are you dressed like that, by the way? “He looked at your colorful clothes.

“Oh, I just finished taking my aerobics class," you explained.

1982

Steve didn't care if the rest couldn't fix what he caused, finally when he met you, he realized he had found the love of his life.

A week before he had told you the whole truth, at first he thought you would laugh or that he was joking. However, your only response was "I'm glad you made that mistake, otherwise we wouldn't have met". You even accompanied him to Camp Leigh and other places he wanted to visit.

That encouraged him to take the next step, that night he would propose to you.

1989

Steve smiled, at the same time that he saw the family photo, although the first weeks that he had arrived he doubted what had happened and tried to find a solution, now he would not change his decisions for anything in the world.

Now he had to hurry and finish packing the suitcases, the next day, very early you had to be at the airport to go on a trip to the country you had always wanted to know. You always took turns to fulfill the dream of one or the other.

Finally, he had achieved what he had always wanted and he would not change it for the world.

[arialerendeair]

I posted 2,570 times in 2022

That's 1,012 more posts than 2021!

106 posts created (4%)

2,464 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@cenedrariva

@cuubism

@theawkwardterrier

@murderturtles

@thuriweaver

I tagged 1,173 of my posts in 2022

#dreamling - 618 posts

#dream of the endless - 245 posts

#the sandman - 183 posts

#aria posts - 146 posts

#hob gadling - 127 posts

#sandman - 83 posts

#yes - 58 posts

#malec - 50 posts

#i love this - 45 posts

#my heart - 30 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#but i really do believe people need to understand it’s not loving the source media as much as it is loving the relatability of the media

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Challenge Mode

50,000 words.

48 Hours.

Starting now.

Wish me luck!

65 notes - Posted November 19, 2022

#4

I’ve seen so much meta and so many posts about Nightmare as Dream’s other form, but I am obsessed with the other side of Nightmare’s coin.

What about Daydream? What about Dream when he’s in the fresh blush if love that’s like the first days the flowers bloom in spring? What about Dream when he had a wife and son and his son’s music echoed across the Dreaming?

What about two parents who were so tied to creation, teaching their son to sing, and to play music, and the Dreams that must have been created before it turned to sorrow. What about the happy side of the coin?

I’m just having a lot of emotions about Dream’s other aspects. I just. I love Nightmare. I love writing Nightmare (and Torment, who is a step beyond Nightmare in my mind), and their opposites. Who are Dream, and… well. Daydream.

66 notes - Posted November 14, 2022

#3

Alec Lightwood Birthday Bash - Prompt Fill

From @to-the-stars-writing

I've seen a thousand amnesia fics, one or the other forgetting who they are, but what about a dual-amnesia fic where something happens on a mission or because of a spell and the others come in to find Magnus and Alec both temporarily forgot who they are, but they're still flirting like crazy with one another

~!~!~!~!~

When Alec woke up, there were three problems immediately apparent.

Number one, he was chained to the wall.  

Number two, he no longer had his stele, his bow, or seraph blades.

Number three, there was someone else across the cell and he looked like he was in even worse shape, if that was somehow even possible.  Which meant that he was going to be rescuing not just himself, but someone else too.  

"Hey," Alec hissed, glancing toward the ominous looking door.  "Hey, open your eyes.  I can't do this alone, and need your help."  

No movement, which meant that the other man was truly unconscious.  Alec frowned as he took the other man in properly - pants that, angels below, were they painted on?  A shirt that was... less fabric than it was supposed to be based on the slashes he could see, and a faint sheen of glitter on his eyes and hair could only mean one thing.  He was trapped in this cell with a warlock, for angels knew whatever reason.  

Alec looked around the cell again and tugged at his chains.  He had a little bit of give, which was more of a blessing than he would have expected, and his feet weren't chained to the ground.  Another quick check confirmed that he still had his boots, and even though the small knife he kept in the holster was gone (dammit, Jace was going to pout about that for hours, that had been a present), what he actually needed was not.  

Taking a second, Alec took a deep breath and focused - most of his runes had expired, but he could still hear the sound of guards much further down from their cell.  The only breathing he could hear belonged to him and the warlock nearby.  Which meant if he made a little bit of noise it wasn't going to bring anyone running.  He looked down at his boots and took a deep breath, testing all of his weight on the chains for a long moment.  

"Why do I get the feeling that you're about to do something devastatingly ridiculous that only shadowhunters know how to do?"

Alec looked up at the quiet voice and saw that the warlock was awake, relaxing.  At least he wouldn't have to be running around with an unconscious body.  That would have made things frustrating and unreasonably difficult.  "You have a better idea?  Magic, maybe?" he hissed back.  

The warlock hummed and shook his head.  "Unfortunately, however we ended up here and based on the..." he wrinkled his nose and licked his lips.  "Memory loss drought I can still taste the after effects of, my magic has either been drained, or I spent all of it.  I'm not without some skills, but nowhere near your own, I imagine."  

"I'll stand for you being able to walk," Alec muttered, ignoring the way that sparkling gold nail polish on his fingers shone on the faint light of the cell.  "You injured anywhere?"  

"Thankfully no."  A faint rustle.  "I am, however, not standing on the ground, so all of my weight has been on my shoulders and arms."  

Alec winced in sympathy.  That was going to mean he'd be able to walk but not do much in the way of fighting while his arms got their feeling back.  "I should be able to get us out of here," he reassured and looked up at his hands again.  "This might take me a couple of tries."  

He took a deep breath and lifted his legs carefully out in front of him.  Breathe in deep, and then move.  Shifting slowly with his grip against the chains, Alec brought his legs up further, bending himself almost in half to fumble with the secret latch on the side of his boots.  

"Darling, yoga instructors would envy that flexibility," the warlock praised.  "Not to mention that it does give one a wide variety of IDEAS, the nature of which is entirely inappropriate for our current predicament."  

Alec fought down the urge to snort, his arms starting to burn before he'd worked the lock pick half out of his boot.  He dropped his legs back down and breathed through the burning of his arms.  "Fuck, I need at least one more round."  

The warlock chuckled.  "Please feel free to do that as many times as you like.  I am quite enjoying the view.  I might enjoy a more practical demonstration later."  

Alec snorted.  "Pretty sure this is not the place to be flirting."  

"On the contrary, it's the perfect place to be flirting," the warlock correct.  "My name is Magnus, and I will be happy to take you out to dinner after this is over."  

"Your wife wouldn't like that," Alec said, his eyes drifting to the ring on Magnus' finger.  He took another deep breath and forced himself to relax, waiting for the burning to subside.  

Magnus looked at the ring on his finger, blinking in surprise.  "I've never had a wife, or a husband, mind you I am as equal opportunity as it comes.  Where did..." he flinched, his head aching.  "Ah, memory loss potion, right."  

Alec gave him a rueful grin.  "If it's any consolation at all, I would have said yes if you weren't attached."  He'd never met someone as beautiful as Magnus in all of his life.  If he'd had the chance, he probably never would have let someone like the warlock go.  "All right, let's try this again."  

Alec swung his legs up in an easy, determined motion and waited, breathing hard, for his fingers to bump against the lock pick.  It took three more tugs, but at last it was free in his fingertips and he could drop his feet again with a groan.  His whole body was sore and he was going to pay for doing that without runes tomorrow, that was for sure.  "All right, now to see if I remember how to do this..."

Magnus hummed.  "Where did a shadowhunter learn the art of lockpicking, I might wonder," he said, watching as the shadowhunter bit his lip in concentration, his eyes drawn back to the delicious sight of those lips reddening.  

"My siblings," Alec said, and that was enough explanation, apparently, for Magnus, who said nothing further as he finished getting himself completely unlocked, carefully resting the chains against the wall. 

See the full post

67 notes - Posted September 17, 2022

#2

What it says on the tin - and I love it. 

95 notes - Posted October 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

A Knight’s Favor

Okay hear me out.

Renaissance Fair - Hob drags Dream along for the fun of it all, mostly for an excuse to wear some of his oldest clothing, and his replica claymore (with dulled edges), attracting attention from everyone as he and Dream move together. 

They watch performances by the dozen, and take in the tournament matches, when, after it’s all over, the master of ceremonies steps forward and says that he’s going to need everyone’s help to coax someone to do an exhibition match.

Hob’s eyes are widening and he’s cursing as Evan looks up at him, smirking wide and he’s nearly scrambling out of his seat when Evan gets the crowd shouting his name in a chant, demanding he come down and put on an exhibition. 

Dream, of course, is watching all of this in amusement, and Hob’s just, embarrassed (in a proud way) and sighing.  He explains that it’d disappoint people if he didn’t, so he steals a quick kiss (which gets all of the AWWWs from the audience) and heads down to the arena.  He and Evan are kitted up, and have their weapons of choice (longsword vs. claymore was always an interesting one, since neither of them bother with shields).  

Hob is just settling into position, when a ROAR goes up from the crowd and he sees Evan laughing and gesturing behind him.  His breath catches at the sight of Dream standing there, holding out a ruby, a clear replica of HIS ruby, on a shimmering golden chain, a faint smile on his lips.  He’s approaching before he realizes it. 

“I believe it is custom to bestow a favor on the knight one wishes to win,” Dream says, his voice soft as he bends down and drapes the chain over Hob’s head, settling it against his chest before tucking it into his leather jerkin.  “Do attempt to win for me, valiant sir knight.” 

Hob’s flushed (and it has nothing to do with the light armor he’s wearing), and staring at Dream, who has the smuggest smirk on his face that he’s going to kiss off as soon as he’s done winning the battle.  But he nods, because of course he will win this fight for Dream and he turns back to Evan. 

Evan is smirking and Hob resolves to wipe that smirk off his face, and settles into a stance he hasn’t used in far too long.  He doesn’t hold back, not for a second.  He’s not going for a killing blow, only disarmament, but he can see the surprise on Evan’s face as he twists and wields the claymore in a way that only masters of it can. 

The fight is quick, brutal, and the crowd is roaring their approval. 

Hob can feel the heat of the ruby against his chest as Evan tries to push him back, forcing him into tighter combat.  A quick twist of his hips, faking dropping to one knee and Hob was able to toss Evan over his shoulder, sword and all, before spinning to point the claymore at his throat, grinning. 

Evan will laugh of course, and as the crowd cheers, he hugs Hob and thanks him for the match, and Hob turns to Dream who is...

His eyes are almost as hot as the ruby burning against his chest, the ruby that stands out against the white linen shirt he’s wearing under his armor, and Hob is grinning, triumphant and victorious as he strides towards Dream and reaches out for his hand, bowing low over it in a courtly bow before yanking his Dream into a kiss.  There’s another roar around them, but Hob forgets all of them as Dream kisses him hard enough to have him forgetting his name, let alone any silly old tournament. 

202 notes - Posted October 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[wilczachannn]

– RANBOO COMFORTING YOU DURING YOUR PERIOD INCLUDES, cc! ranboo.

in which // period comfort with ranboo.

genre // platonic ,, fluff.

word count // 360+

warning // mentions of having period ,, platonic forehead & head kisses ,, i think that's all?

a/n // a bit inspired by @i-tradio 's post with ranboo here !! i'm currently on my period so it was the reason for this ,, pls don't mind me ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎

– it honestly depends on what kind of period you have

– either the bitch one or the "good" one

– (which is the best kind without many cramps)

– waking up you immediately knew something was wrong- like the second you woke up-

– then you looked down at yourself and yeah ✨PROBLEM FOUND✨

– you felt more exhausted, more than before anyway

– and it ofc had to appear on the day ranboo was supposed to come over <3

– you called him and was like "hi boo i'm on my period i don't think you should come over :(("

– and he was like "and?" in the most blank voice ever ajjajajaj

– you went from "😣" to "😮" REAL QUICK

– he was so unbothered by it that it actually surprised you

– you smiled to yourself, happy that he didn't seem to care about it<3

– when ranboo got to your house and went to your room so quietly to not scare you because he knows periods hurt :(

– you saw him and got up to hug him boy went "no no no no we can't have that."

– HE GOT YOU ICE CREAM?? AND CHOCOLATE?? MANS THE BEST

– he would be so gentle around you 🥺

– getting up to get you things, make you tea, basically everything so you don't have to get up

– hugs are so so so gentle you almost can't tell he is hugging you 🥺🥺🥺

– when cramps get real bad he would get you the thing where you put hot water inside

– (I LITERALLY FORGOT WHAT IT'S CALLED PLS 💀 LET'S JUST PRETEND)

– other than that you two would probably play minecraft, watch a movie, eat ice cream and just enjoy your time spend together <3

– PLATONIC FOREHEAD KISSES OR HEAD KISSES OMG

– ALL PLATONIC BECAUSE Y'ALL ROMANTIC SHITS ARE VERY DISTURBING AND GROSS FOR OBVIOUS REASONS 🤡🤡

– would be by your side 100% of the time.

– IN CONCLUSION WE ALL NEED A RANBOO IN OUR LIFES

– could you tell by this that i need attention and hugs? probably. am i going to disappear again to try to write a fic? maybe.

━ TAGLIST ::

@bbh-a3sth3tic ,, @tanoukii

@lavenderjacobs ,, @oh-mcyts

@that-enby-mf ,, @joyfullymulti

@mcyt-sh1t ,, @luluwinchester

@kitsuneglasses ,, @beepbopbee

@angstyx ,, @sunniewrites

@oddf0x15 ,, @icarusthefoolish

@emprixnix ,, @xfeliciahardyx

feel free to join the taglist, here !!

reblogs & likes are appreciated !!

[aristotles-denial]

[ID: op’s original post has six tiktok comments that read:

1) “customer asked for brown bread and i didn't hear them so i said you're having sourdough' but forgot to ask it like a question and she just said 'ok'”

2) “One time I answered the phone at my job by saying "January, February, March…I'm so sorry I don't know why I did that how can I help you" they hung up”

3) “one time the phone was ringing but for some reason i hit the intercom button and said "hello?" across the entire store”

4) “One time I greeted a customer by saying "hey google" it was a bad day”

5) “One time a lady told me her last name was "Romaine" like the Lettuce, so I typed in "Lettuce" as her last name…. she came back in and laughed at me”

6) “it's ok i charged someone $100 for a scoop of ice cream once and all he said was "that's a bit expensive"”.

the first reblog has multiple images. the first is a screenshot of a tiktok with a smiling woman in the background with the text, “When I was working the cash register at my retail job and I had to put in the customers first name and she said her name was Lisa but for some reason I typed in Susan and she just goes "my names not Susan.." and I said "I'm sorry I have no idea why I did that"” over it. the other images in the reblog are screenshots of eight tiktok comments. they read:

1) “a customer was complimenting my earrings and I responded with "aw I love you too!" she never came back”

2) “when I worked at starbucks drive through and I said "hi welcome to McDonald's" even though I'd never worked at McDonald’s”

3) “guy at the cafe I work at said his name was sergio and I put banjo, woke up in a cold sweat that night when I finally realized”

4) “One time I accidentally asked a customer if they wanted to help fight kids with cancer instead of helping them fight cancer when asking for donations”

5) “had someone named garret come in and he left with gart written on his latte”

6) “I greeted my table saying my name was Linda. My name is Alyssa”

7) “I once spelled blue as B-L-O-O and had to go “sorry that’s not how you spell blue””

8) “one time a guy said to me ‘geoff with a g’ and i wrote J-G-E-F-F 😭 😭”

the final reblog has ten screenshots of tiktok comments, with the tenth screenshot containing three comments. the screenshots read:

1) “I said "hi and welcome home" once when I worked the drive thru at Burger King”

2) “i answered the phone at work one time and said “are you finding everything ok” instead of “hi can i help you””

3) “I worked at a pizza hut and when I answered the phone one time instead of saying “hello pizza hut” I said “hello bbq meat lovers””

4) “doing a thing in class with a partner, I write down his name as James. He goes "oh, no, it's Louis." I go "right, sorry" and then write James again”

5) “i handed a customer their food while the phone was ringing in my back pocket and looked them in the eyes and said "this is mackenzie speaking"”

6) “Drive-through barista asked me if I wanted a receipt, I stared at her blankly without answering, tried to drive away and drove straight into the wall”

7) “me working at subway, a customer tells me what cheese they want and i respond immediately with "and what kind of cheese?" 🤦🏻‍♀️”

8) “Being told the name was Scott for the waitlist and writing down Shart. And he said "oh, it's Scott." | said oh I'll change that”

9) “I answered the phone, took their name and address and then said "is that all?" Before they even ordered anything”

10) “i realized we forgot to put cold foam on this guys drink and reached into his car and just went "gimme it"”; “a customer pulled up to the window and I said "good morning!" it was quite literally 9:00pm”; “ time a girl ordered a coffee with 2 sugars and i looked her in the eye and said "no sugars?"” end ID.]

x

[feralnumberfive]

The Rewatch Academy: Episode 2 of Season 1

“Run Boy Run”

I am in no way a good analyst so my little analysis and speculations probably sound a bit goofy or pretty wild and probably mean nothing at all. Everything I put into this post about each episode is purely what I noticed or thought, whether it's funny or serious. I will be making jokes, so please just leave it at that (in no way am I trying to make fun of an actor and or character!) I am also in no way saying I noticed this stuff first. This is just what I noticed while rewatching these episodes

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

1x01 | 1x02 | 1x03 | 1x04

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

☂ Ben is a tired boy leaning on his chair

☂ Luther and Allison please stop making googly eyes at each other 

☂ Five really woke up and chose violence that day huh

☂ Diego already knows shit is about to go down and it’s so funny

☂ I love that Reginald doesn’t even scold Five for stabbing the table

☂ Five: “I have a question.” blah blah blah Veggie is talking Five: “I want to time travel.” That’s not a question, Five

☂ It’s interesting to see young Five blinking/jumping compared to older Five. Even at this age, 13, he says that he’s still practicing his spatial jumps. Young Five needs to clench his fists and almost squeeze his eyes shut just to concentrate. Older Five simply just teleports without effort and is able to casually blink even as he’s just walking. Five probably practiced teleporting a lot in the apocalypse 

☂ Someone else pointed this out, but all of the other Umbrellas are frozen for a for a second as Five teleports next to Reginald. While that freeze is just editing, and possibly a small error, this is another example of how Five’s spatial teleporting doesn’t make a noise. Luther, Diego, and Allison only look at Five when he begins talking to Reginald. Grace notices Five right away because he is in her line of sight while Luther and Diego were looking at where Five was sitting and Allison had her head down eating

☂ “The effects it might have on your body, even your mind, are far too unpredictable.” Harsh foreshadowing 

☂ The “Run Boy Run” scene is one of the best musical moments in all of the show. It gave me chills when I first heard it, and the fact that all of the lyrics that play during that part match so perfectly with it make it even better. Tomorrow is another day being sung as Five travels into 2019 is just too good 

☂ Imagine how scared you have to be to call out to your p.o.s father

☂ The instant regret immediately falls onto his face and he kneels in front of the Academy

☂ I love how in the first few episodes Five’s hair is styled exactly as it was when he was an old man and when he was actually 13. Over the rest of the season and the second season it just gets more disheveled and floppier 

☂ “You think I didn’t try everything to get back to my family?” Ahhhh there we go, one of my favorite Five lines. This here is probably when I truly fell in love with his character. He spent 45 years just trying to survive and attempting to get back to his family. He would have spent more too if the Handler hadn’t taken him in

☂ Vanya is genuinely trying to understand what happened and Five was being a little asshole. C’mon, bud, she’s just confused and hasn’t seen you in forever

☂ This Five and Vanya scene melts my heart (simply as a sibling relationship!!) She doesn’t care anymore if she understands, she just wants him to stay because she hasn’t seen him in a while. Even Five understands that as his demeanor quickly changes from being frustrated to gently telling her “Night.” He watches her as she leaves, also partially realizing that he hasn’t seen her in a while too

☂ Why didn’t Five just teleport outside of Vanya’s apartment?? That would have been the stealthiest thing

☂ “All quick and efficient skills.” A little note on Five’s level of skill of slaughtering the Commission agents in Griddy’s

☂ Diego said he bought his police badge on Ebay, so computers do exist in the UA universe

☂ “By the way, this thing might look like a botched robbery, but my gut’s telling me something else is going on here.”  Yeah, and that something else is your brother

☂ I want Claire to meet her uncles and aunt so bad

☂ So Ben has a ghostly puzzle book and pen he can use? Because if they were real Pogo would have been able to see them just floating in the air. What other ghostly items can Ben summon? (I believe this is more so just an error but it’s fun to think about)

☂  “I-I found it at a playground, actually. Must have just *click* popped out.” An underrated Five line

☂ Five immediately becomes aggressive at the thought of losing the eye, something he found clutched in the hand of his dead brother and was a clue to what caused the death of his siblings and the end of the world

☂ Just now noticed that you can see Diego up on the second floor being led down to where Patch is in the police station

☂ I really like that they added in the little tidbit about a cold case Five created 81 years ago

☂ I miss Patch. She deserved better and more screen time

☂ Hey, Diego might have been thrown out of the Police Academy but at least he’s still in The Umbrella Academy!

☂ Hearing Patch talk to Diego really made me realize that the Umbrellas weren’t even necessary for helping with crime. It was just Reginald’s way of training them

☂ Love the shot of Luther looking at Diego’s cross-stitch and the camera lining it up so it’s like he’s wearing the mask

☂ Five lying just to keep Vanya away and to continue on with his goal hurts. His goal is saving the world and his family, but I don’t think he actually took in what Vanya was saying to him or maybe he recognized the offer but shoved all of his feelings down. She was reaching out to actually get him some help and he lied to her to avoid that. Maybe he doesn’t care and is just blinded by his ultimate goal. Save the world and family first, then process your feelings and genuinely communicate with your siblings 

☂ Don’t worry Klaus, I would have let you wear that outfit

☂ When Cha-Cha questions “Five” aka the poor tow truck guy, she asks him about “The London job in ‘66.” I believe she is referring to the Shepherd’s Bush murders where three policemen were murdered

☂ Hazel replying “Not from what I’ve heard.” when Cha-Cha asks if he thinks Five is a whimperer shows that Five definitely had a reputation in the Commission for probably being a cold and stoic guy

☂ Vanya is just trying to help, chill Allison 😭. You haven’t seen her in years, what do you know about her?

☂ Klaus would really slap his brother in the face to get drug money

☂ Another example of Five not making noise when he teleports is when he blinks into the taxi and Klaus didn’t notice that he had left until he turned to look where Five was. On the other hand though the taxi driver does jump as Five suddenly appears in the car. However, I believe that might be from the driver noticing Five in a mirror in the car

☂ I wonder what languages the Hargreeves siblings know. Vanya didn’t understand Leonard’s German. You think Reginald would have taught them multiple languages or maybe she forgot it if she was taught it

☂ I don’t know why but Luther just siting there and reading a book and almost getting hit by the knife is really funny to me

☂ Yeah Diego doesn’t have to prove his innocence, but it would have saved a lot of trouble

☂ Rewatching the scene with Leonard talking to Vanya about his father is just disturbing when you already know what happened to him and how he’s lying just to try to be more relatable

☂ I heard a rumor that smoking is bad for you ❌

☂ Vanya calling to make sure Allison is okay even though she hurt her makes me sad. She’s so nice and thoughtful

☂ The old man can’t even reunite with his wife before he gets hunted down

☂ The shot of Hazel and Cha-Cha putting on their masks in the dark with the music is 👌👌

☂ Again, Cha-Cha isn’t able to hear Five as he teleports next to her and slices her arm. She might not have noticed him though because he was very quick to attack her

☂ Five really went through all of that just to bring his wife home

☂ I think it’s an easily blocked out part because we already know what Allison has to say and it’s exciting, but Luther is apologizing about accusing Diego and causing issues amongst his siblings

☂ Five is just so defeated and emotionally tired that he doesn’t allow Luther to touch him. In fact, he very quickly and aggressively grabs Luther’s wrist. You can tell Five is a little out of it and I believe it was more so his subconscious stopping Luther. Five doesn’t want help, he’s going to carry the burden of figuring out who ended the world and killed his family as far as he can by himself

☂ “There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing any of you can do.” Are such heavy lines. Five is so emotionally and mentally tired at the end of the day and he sounds like he’s about to breakdown. He’s replaying the moment he found his siblings’ corpses. They weren’t able to stop the person who ended the world. Luther is offering his help, but Five is denying it. Luther couldn’t stop the person who ended the world. None of his siblings were able to stop that person. He’s telling himself that they can’t help and he’s telling Luther and Allison that too. Five wants to be alone to figure out who this person is. His siblings can’t help him

☂ Five coming across the corpses of his siblings is just heartbreaking. He first stumbles across three adults lying in the rubble. One of them is holding an eye. He goes to shake the man in all black, having a tiny bit hope that miraculously he is still alive. He stumbles across another body only to back away with tears in his eyes as he spots the tattoo on the man’s arm and realizes who these people are

☂☂☂☂☂☂☂

Feel free to comment or reblog with things you have noticed too!

[practicedvmm13fullofpotatoes]

COUGH I JUST WOKE UP BUT HOLY SHIT HOLY FUCK THIS WAS SUCH AN ENJOYABLE READ WHAT

Anyways. My wording was so vague in the original post, even I had trouble understanding it-- (i also haven't rewatched the play so uhm. don't mind the inaccuracies 💀👍)

OKAY, so, me-from-8-hours-ago wrote "because he couldn't have had a talk with her beforehand" because I was thinking that like. Samantha probably hasn't gotten her powers yet so Mrs. Xavier talking to Egburt saying smthng like "yeah, so, you need to pretend that you fucked your sister-in-law so the whole war will be won" isn't a possibility?? Idk. Her powers just seem like a fairly recent thing, especially with how she's just kind of confused on how it works?? (I vaguely remember her saying something like "space and time-- well, I've not checked out time" and it kind of made me think that she doesn't know shit about her own powers)

And the above reason is why I think both Sally and Egburt had that fake memory put in their heads? Especially with the like. Scenes where Egburt talks about Sally?? I barely remember them but I knew that talking about Sally lead up to that whole "Darling, please, this is serious, men's lives are at stake here!" thing?? But it could also just be that Sally was the only one with the memory shoved into her brain and Egburt was just talking about her like she was a sister, idk (though, saying that your sister-in-law has good cheekbones while your wife is freaking the fuck out about your relationship and then you immediately say "well, I'm not into that!" may or may not be the most.. familial thing imo??)

(No but what in FUCK was my writing last night it makes no sense and leaves out so many details I had in my brain while writing it)

I ALSO COMPLETELY FORGOT TO PUT THE WHOLE "OH YEAH, HOW DID MRS. XAVIER KNOW WHAT HER DAUGHTER AND SON-IN-LAW WOULD FUCK LIKE UNLESS SHE'S SEEN IT??" AND THIS REBLOG JUST RUDELY REMINDED ME OF THAT THOUGHT. While making the of post, I thought of like two possibilities for how she made it but none of them are good. First, is she saw Egburt and Samantha have sex and kind of just. Manipulated the memory so it was Sally instead (unlikely, because I think it's canon that they haven't yet) and second, she just imagined it happening and just plopped it into her own kid's head at night (tbh I wouldn't be surprised if Mrs. Xavier could manipulate and forcefully make new memories. I mean. If she can remove and place memories, who's to say she can't make them?)

I'd also like to mention that Egburt was acting a bit.. defensive (or suspicious?) when talking about Sally with Samantha. And like mentioned in the first one, it's unlikely that Mrs. Xavier just talked to him about pretending, so he must genuinely believe that he cheated on his wife with her sister

Been thinking about Lefternmost again and uh.

So, Sally and Egburt both remember that they fucked eachother (Luke 100% planned out the divorce arc before doing a full u-turn near the end), meaning Mrs. Xavier kind of just. Planted that memory in both of their minds (because he couldn't have had a talk with her beforehand methinks?). We see Mrs. Xavier remove the memory from Sally's, but does she ever remove it from Egburt's? Because that divorce arc was kind of just. Forgotten after she removed it from Sally's. Does Egburt still believe this memory to be fact? Did Mrs. Xavier remove it from his mind afterwards? Did she just tell him "oh, yeah, no, that didn't actually happen, dw"??

also, do they still feel like something major happened between them despite the memory being removed from their brains??

ALSO, Mrs. Xavier removed the memory and put it into her's because "it's good". I uhm. Don't know what that implies about her but it's not good. She finds the memory of her own child fucking her son-in-law to be "good". What the fuck, madam?????

[buckleysjareau]

masterpost of all of my fics

!hey hey, here’s mostly everything i’ve ever written for 9-1-1 and Criminal Minds. Reblog if you like any of them, and always come back to check and see if it’s updated. It’ll always be pinned. :) Everything under the read more line!

AO3: 9-1-1

Buck Goes To Pride (buddie, getting together)

Thinking back to that cold winter afternoon when Buck broke down in her arms after the shit show that was his coming out, she never thought she'd be helping her brother get ready for Pride. He shut that part of himself away for a long time. But eleven years later, she's handing her brother a box with a pride flag in it, and he's grinning from ear to ear.

Buck goes to his first pride featuring his journey of coming out, lots of hugging, and Hen being the best.

...or you could have mine? (buddie, pre-relatioship)

There's too much going on between his agitation, people talking over each other, the way his uniform feels more scratchy than it ever has, and the bright lights. He can't sit still and he knows he's starting to annoy everyone but he can't help it no matter how much he wishes he could with his medication.

ADHD Buck

agree to disagree (buddie, getting together, friendship)

Whoever thought a night of heavy drinking between Buck, Eddie and Chimney was a good idea, were out of their minds. When sober, they were idiots but shot after shot of tequila plus the couple of beers they each had before meeting up multiplied the absolute stupidity of the three men.

Buck, Eddie, and Chimney get wasted and Athena wins a bet.

i put a spell on you (buddie, getting together)

Eddie Diaz absolutely loved Halloween. Ever since he was an excitable eight year old boy he’d been known to go all out for the holiday. Twenty-four years and a son had not changed that.

4k+ words of Eddie being happy, scaring his friends, and loving Halloween.

baby you know i just wanna leave tonight (buddie, pre-relationship)

If there was one thing that people knew about Evan Buckley, it was that he didn’t want people to know him.

People find out more about Buck then he ever wanted them to know when the Buckley’s come to town.

i woke up from a never ending dream (buddie, getting together)

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

Sensing the urgency, Eddie jogs the rest of the way. He doesn’t know what he’s really expecting, his mind not entirely focused, but for the second time that night, Buck surprises him.

“Buck?!”

Where Buck is going through it and Eddie has anxiety but they help each other through it. Featuring pet names and lovesick Eddie.

you feel like the sun on my face (buddie, established relationship)

Buck has a way of doing things and saying things that even in Eddie’s worst moods, he still can’t fight his smile.

Eddie's view on Buck's Wikipedia spirals and the beginning of the brilliant idea it inspires.

Part 1 of 3 in the ‘cause of i’m not too far and you’re my favorite place series

you feel like the perfect escape now (buddie, established relationship)

"In the symbolic language of jewels, a sapphire in a wedding ring means marital happiness."

Eddie planning his proposal with the help of Hen and Karen. Featuring good ol' Buck and Chimney banter, soft and in love boyfriends, and tooth rotting fluff.

Part 2 of 3 in the ‘cause i’m not too far and you’re my favorite place series

everything is blue (may + buck friendship, buddie, getting together)

When Evan Buckley is ten, he discovers nail polish.

In which Buck paints his nails, Eddie is flustered, and May is a matchmaker.

it weighs on me (buddie, established relationship)

The bad weather is gone, except it’s not.

In which Buck has a bad day and Eddie holds him through it.

101.9 (buddie, getting together)

Evan Buckley did not get sick.

Based on a tumblr prompt where Buck’s fever won’t fuck off so Eddie makes him take a cold bath.

when i’m walking in my sleep (buddie, getting together)

He finds that maybe he’s a little in over his head when Buck greets him with a loopy smile. He’s just a tiny bit in love with Evan Buckley, and having dealt with post-surgery Buck before, Eddie is sure his heart might burst with every zany grin and stage-whispered expression of appreciation.

Eddie takes care of a loopy Buck after he gets his screws removed, and truths come out.

you’re in my heart  (buddie, established relationship)

"I will not be broken... I will not be... fine, fine, you win! Stop with the face."

Eddie sings Buck to sleep after he finds out Eddie can sing.

we’ll be fine, you and i (buddie, established relationship)

He couldn’t believe his luck. He never imagined he’d be able to have this and now, he’s here. He has everything he could ask for and more in his boyfriend’s arms. Stability, happiness, love.

dizzy hurricane (buddie, pre-relationship)

“I’m a medic,” Buck mocks. “You’re a medic, but you can’t take care of yourself, apparently!”

Eddie refuses to admit he’s sick and finds his medic expertise is unreliable when it comes to himself.

tongue forgot the words and feet forgot the earth, it’s true (buddie, established relationship)

Eddie feels like he’s drowning in insurance payments, tuition raises, overbearing parents and anxiety. Things had definitely been worse on him when he didn’t have a whole new support system on his side but things just kept piling on, one after another, it was impossible for him not to feel suffocated. Every muscle in his body was sore from being completely tensed all of the time, the lack of sleep was getting to him, he’s in a foul mood to everyone that loves him. He just wants a break, needs a break.

Eddie finally gets a second to breathe.

you are my glitter and my gloom, i am so numb without you (buddie, getting together)

But right now, with Eddie by his side, he doesn’t worry. For the first time in almost a year, he doesn’t have to worry.

Buck has a flashback, or six, after the landslide. Eddie is there to bring him back, like always.

double vision wrapped in last night’s party clothes (buck centric, pre-relationship buddie)

"I have always been honest with you." When Eddie's voice cracks, Buck's composure almost cracks with it. "Why can't you just be honest with me?"

When Buck is let in on a long kept family secret, he doesn't know what to do. He almost ruins things with the one person that keeps him from feeling like he's floating away with no way to land, but it ultimately turns out okay with help of a little communication.

safe, better keep that thought to yourself (madney)

But days after, he still can’t stop hearing it in his head, over and over.

I love you, Howie. I love you, Howie. I love you, Howie. I love you, Howie.

with friends like ours anywhere is home (buck & tk, background buddie)

[@evanbuckley: you have two new follow requests.] @marjanmarwani would like to follow you. @tkstrand would like to follow you.

@tkstrand liked your photo. @tkstrand liked your photo. @tkstrand liked your video.

@tkstrand So, I see you have a boyfriend, too. I’m sorry for assuming haha

Wait, what?

Buck and TK’s long distance friendship featuring love advice, horrible nicknames and background Buddie.

wish i could keep you in amber, safe from the outside (buddie)

Neither of them say anything as Eddie takes shelter in Buck’s arms, face tucked in the crook of his neck, sheltered from all the bad that’s happened. A safe place.

He can only hope that he’s Buck’s safe place, too.

In which Eddie and Buck are struggling after the shooting and they finally have a much needed talk.

AO3: Criminal Minds

you light my fire (jemily, AU)

Emily's face stays complacent as JJ reaches out her hand to shake, only dropping the smug act and smiling genuinely when she reaches for JJ's hand. "Welcome to the team, Pennsylvania Petite."

Jemily Firefighter AU

Tumblr: 9-1-1

“i saw this and i thought of you immediately.” (buddie)

keep you warm (henren)

wheels up, buck (9-1-1, criminal minds crossover)

stand, you’re gonna run again (buck centric, buck & bobby)

bows and ribbons and glitter (buck & chimney, madney) 

“i believe that would be murder” (buddie, pre-relationship)

mac-and-cheesy (buddie, established relationship)

his saving grace (buddie, pre-relationship, buck centric)

what i love about the south (pre-relationship buddie)

unconditional, unadulterated (buddie, getting together)

home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling (buck & athena)

he’s special, they’re special (madney, meet-cute)

Tumblr: Criminal Minds

rough nights end in hot chocolate (garvez)

[flowerpowell]

The Dream Life of Ellie Wheeler (Colt x MC // Logan x MC)

PART TWO

<series moodboard coming hopefully soon>

A/N: unedited and not proofread but I just didnt have any time for that and wanted to post it before I’d overthink it and not post it after all. I’ll post it on Ao3 as well and reblog this post with the link to it. Please, let me know if you want me to keep you tagged or take you off the taglist. And if you prefer reading it here or on Ao3. 

Series summary: Ellie lives with a very strict father who doesn’t let her leave the house even for one night. When he forbids her to go to her dream college, Ellie decides to take matters into her hands and create her dream life. Since the only way to move out of the family house is to get married, Ellie needs to find a guy she can fake marry immediately. And who’s better than a young criminal that Ellie can easily blackmail? Unfortunately, not everything is as easy as Ellie hopes.

Rating: PG

Colt tags: @delightfullypinkglitter @mskaneko @desireepow-1986 @lovehugsandcandy @badchoicesposts @kingliam2019 @client-327 @walkerduchess 

Ellie woke up and her face immediately lit up. Today was the day she would finally take matters into her own hands and take a risk to make her biggest dream come true. Was it stupid? Yes, probably, but Ellie was determined. She wanted to go to Langston. She wanted to finally try living on her own. Besides, she wanted to try everything before giving up. And there was still at least—she looked at the phone—twelve hours before she had to send her answer whether she’d be attending the university or not. Twelve hours to execute her plan. At the end of the day she’d either gain nothing, go to college or be dead, if Colt Kaneko turned out to be dangerous. Either way, she wanted to try.

~~~~

She never took a day off. Her father would know if she did, besides, she needed money. Today was different and Alice promised she’d cover for her.

Ellie was sneaking up into the garage, hoping to meet Colt.

Colt and Colt only, she thought to herself. If that weirdo is with him I’m not sure I’d be able to say anything.

She was lucky. Colt was sleeping on the mattress, on the floor and there was no sight of Moana, or whatever her name was. Ellie took a deep breath and entered the garage.

Through the window.

Somehow, it felt inappropriate to use the main entrance, considering she was sneaking up. And on top of that, Ellie hoped it’d make a better impression on Colt since he was a criminal. In her head it made a lot of sense, the reality was slightly different, though.

What Ellie didn’t predict, was that she, in fact, wasn’t the tallest person, the window was pretty high and there wasn’t any dumpster on the other side of the window so she could climb down. As a result, instead of being sneaky, she fell down and made so much noise that all neighbors could hear.

“Ahhhhhhh!” she cried out when her body met with the floor and many toolboxes that she accidentally knocked over.

“The police are coming, abort mission!” she heard Colt yelling, before he rolled out of the mattress and started running away.

“No! No police, it’s just me!” So much for the good impression, Ellie. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to knock on the door so I wouldn’t wake you up.”

“Well, you did a great job, then,” Colt snarled as he massaged his neck. He looked at her again as if only now registering that she wasn’t supposed to be here.

“What… What on Earth are you doing here? Who are you?”

“I’m the barista from yesterday, remember?”

“Geez.” Colt rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me you came here because I didn’t thank you for the coffee or something. And may I ask, how did you even find me?!”

“Actually, you forgot your change,” Ellie joked but Colt looked as if she went crazy. Which, to be fair, she did. “I’m joking.”

“Funny,” he replied, with the most serious expression she ever saw. Ellie wanted to run. But first, she had a mission.

“Listen, what I’m about to say may sound crazy but I need you to listen to me—”

“Umm, can we go back to why you’re here and how you found me?”

“That’s what I was about to say before you interrupted me!” Ellie looked at him reproachingly.

“Amuse me.”

“I followed you yesterday. Just wanted to know the reason why I had to stay extra time at work. I… umm… overheard a thing or two. Listen,” Ellie took a deep breath deciding it was time to cut to the chase. “I know what you and Moana are doing…”

“Mona.”

“Same thing.” Ellie shrugged. “I know it’s illegal and I know now what your father was doing as well. And I also know what you’re about to do tonight. And I also happen to have a police officer for a father and he’d be very grateful for the information I have. But the thing is, I don’t what to give it to him, get it? I think I would benefit more if I didn’t tell anyone.”

“Wait, wait. I don’t understand what you’re saying. What is your point? You want to sell me out but … you don’t want to sell me out?”

“Ugh, I’m trying to blackmail you! I won’t tell anyone about the car deal tonight if you marry me today and take me with you to Oklahoma,” she finished and looked at Colt expectantly. For someone who has just been blackmailed, he seemed very calm.

“I’m sorry but…” Colt shook his head. “I think I’m still sleeping. It’s been a while since I had a vivid dream but here we are. You can disappear now and I need to wake up.”

Ellie sighed and walked up to Colt. She took his hand and pinched him hard, until she could see her nail marks on his skin. He hissed and took his arm away from her.

“Oh no.” That was all he said.

“Look, I know it’s not ideal but I really need to go to college and I can’t and—”

“IDEAL? You just asked me to marry you. Knowing too well I’m a criminal and you’re a daughter of a cop.”

“My father doesn’t allow me to go to college outside our city, unless I’m married. There’s no other way out. I’m helping you, you’re helping me. You’re not helping me, I’m not helping you.”

“I’m sorry to say that but I think you’re in the wrong place, sweetheart. Find someone else you can marry, I have a job to do.”

“Okay then. Good luck with your job. Me and a few other cops will come and look at your success tonight.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Colt murmured. “You know I could kill you right now? You know I’m a criminal and you’re not even scared of what I might do to you.”

“So? If I can’t go to college, what’s the point?”

“Geez, you’re such a nerd.” Colt rolled his eyes. He looked at Ellie and then at the car, covered with black cloth. “This is unfair. My job is only for one night. And I’ll have to stay married to you for more than one night.”

“Not really. I need to be married to leave the house. Obviously, after tonight, we both will go to Oklahoma. I don’t have a place to stay so I’ll stay with you until I find a dorm or something. We’ll be married only on paper and divorce as soon as I’ll settle into Langston.”

“I can’t marry into a family of cops!”

“Fake-marry,” Ellie corrected him.

“Same thing. What if your father does some research on me? A criminal marrying into a cop family.”

“Relax! I’ll handle it. He’s not gonna do anything when we’re still married. Trust me.”

“That’s… no. I can’t! I’ve done many stupid things in my life but this… This is the worst.”

“Would you rather… risk yours and Moana’s freedom?”

“Mona! And no! Of course not. I’ve got things to do…” Colt sighed. “How can I know you’re not lying? That you won’t say something to your father later?”

“Because I need your house? And be married to you? Without you, I’d have to stay here.”

Colt ran his hand though his hair. This was an important job. The last one before he would finish his father’s business and start his own. He couldn’t risk it. And that girl was clearly mad. Besides, she said it herself. That marriage would be only on paper. Was this a punishment for his sins? Was everything his did so bad that this was the only way to redeem himself? Was it—

“Can you make up your mind faster? I need to give my answer in less than ten hours.”

“Okay, fine. But if you do anything, you’ll regret it, I promise you!”

“Mhmm, yaay! Okay, we need to get married asap and send my answer! Hurry up, I still need to pack before my father comes home. Call Moana, we need a marriage witness or whatever. Hurry up!!”

~~~~

In the past five hours, Colt questioned his sanity more times than ever in his life. First, when he agreed to Ellie’s plan. He didn’t even know her but agreed to marry her. Later, he questioned his sanity when he asked Mona to be his best woman. Mona questioned his sanity, too. Then, he questioned it many more times during the ceremony and finally, when he said I do. By the end of the day, he was certain that it was only a bad dream. He couldn’t possibly marry Ellie. She was the weirdest person he’d ever met. And he, most certainly, met a great amount of weird people in his life.

Marriage certificate in his hand, he wondered when he’d wake up from this nightmare and what awaited him next.

 -----

[inactiive-shit]

Family

Y’all see that post that was asking how the dark sides would react once they found out about Virgil ducking out? Yeah. This is in response to that. My own take on what may have happened.

To the person who made the original post, I have no idea who you are. I thought I reblogged the post but I spent a while searching and was unable to find it. If you see this (or anybody else does and can point me in the right direction!) I would be more than willing to give you credit for this idea! Sorry about that.

Edit: Hey, so @1americaninapool, I totally meant to tag you as soon as I saw your comment. Unfortunately, I have the brain capacity of a jellyfish and immediately forgot. This is completely based off their idea. Thank you so much for reading it. I’m really glad you liked it!!

Words: 3,801

Without any further ado, here’s my best idea:

~~~~~

"Hey, Dec-Janus! Janus! How are you doing, Janus Janus bo banus, fee fi fo-"

"I am doing quite well, Patton," he said, smoothly interrupting before Patton could really get going on a song he hadn't heard since childhood. It was still so odd to hear the others using his true name. Only Remus and Virgil had known before, and it's not like Virgil-

Well. It was better not to think about Virgil.

Patton flushed but grinned, less exuberant than normal but Janus was willing to chalk that up to his own presence more than anything else. Patton tried, but the transition period was rough for all of them. Some more than others. "How are you, this lovely day?"

"I'm great!" Patton said immediately, and Janus could taste the lie on his tongue. But before he could contradict that, before he could even decide if it was his place to, Patton's smile took on a more somber note. "Well, maybe not great. I've been feeling kinda nostalgic, getting caught up in old memories." He sat on the window sill and leaned against the pane, watching the rain falling outside.

"What kind of memories? If you don't mind my asking," Janus said. He swept closer and leaned his hip against the table, staring out the window with Patton. The rain was pouring down and every once in a while thunder shook the house. He sometimes wondered why they had weather inside Thomas' mind, but then he would remember that the twins were the two most extra people he knew. Of course they had weather.

"Not the good ones," Patton said quietly. "The scary ones." He didn't look at Janus, and Janus really had no idea where this conversation was going. Scary movies, perhaps? Nightmares that, when Thomas woke up crying, would put himself back to bed, still too scared to even get up? A prank Remus had played on him that had gone too far?

"It's just," he continued, "the rain. It reminds me of Virge. Our little stormcloud."

"Oh, yes," Janus muttered. "Virgil. The absolute scariest thing this side of the mindscape." It startled a giggle out of Patton and Janus was so shocked he almost took a step back. He knew, of course, that Patton tended to throw up walls in the form of false smiles and laughs when he wasn't feeling well to redirect worry. (After all, Janus had been heart wrenchingly aware of each and every one. Not being accepted did not negate his base purpose and need to keep them safe and, yes, even happy. Much like Virgil, he would take the hate to keep the family he did and didn't have safe.) But what he had not expected was the genuine laugh he let out when he had already admitted to being less than great.

“He can be scary when he tries,” Patton said, smiling, and yes, that tasted sweet. Truth. He truly believed that Virgil could be scary. Good. Janus would hate for Virgil’s favorite pastime to become unavailable to him. “But that’s kind of misleading, I guess. I wasn’t thinking about how scary Virgil can be. I was thinking about how scary it was when he ducked out.”

Janus felt the room fall into slow motion. The words weren’t making sense and Patton’s mouth was moving but he could hardly hear the sounds coming out. He what? When did he-?

“We could have tried harder. We should have tried harder. But none of us realized-or, no, we refused to realize how important Virgil was. How much we need him around. I just get so caught up in what could’ve happened if we hadn’t gotten him back. How hurt we could have been. How hurt Virge could have been. And I-I feel so bad-” Patton turned to face Janus and there were tears running down his face. He barreled into Janus and on instinct he wrapped his arms around Patton and patted his back. After a minute, he summoned Logan.

“What do you-”

“Could you-help?” Janus muttered, motioning at Patton with one hand. Logan saw his tear covered face and bristled, but immediately stepped forward, placing a hand on Patton’s shoulder. Janus moved away without even noticing the glare tossed his way and, once he saw that Logan had it under control, sunk out.

He didn’t know where he was going, only that he needed a second to process. He needed to think about what had happened, figure out when Virgil had done that, why he had done something so incredibly stupid, why he hadn’t come to Janus and Remus instead. Why why why-

“Jayjay?” Remus said, softly wrapping an arm around Janus’ waist. From the tone of his voice, Janus knew that it wasn’t the first time he’d said his name. “You okay?” He pulled Janus to his bed and sat them both down. “Do I need to kill someone for you? I will.”

“I-” Janus said, but his voice was choked and the words cut off. Remus looked even more worried at that.

“Hey,” he said and he was being so gentle. “Do you want a severed head? I have some. Or I can get your snakes. What’s wrong?”

“It’s Virgil, he-” Janus choked on the words again and then buried his face in his hands. He was shaking. He was shaking and blurring and he couldn’t focus, couldn’t think past the thought of Virgil leaving. He tried to leave them and Janus hadn’t-he hadn’t even known, what kind of person did that make him? How could he have not known when Virgil left, when he tried to do that to himself? Why would Virgil do something like that? He knew better, he knew people cared, he knew he mattered. All three of them had made damn sure that they wouldn’t ever be alone, even if they were mad at each other, so why would he do that?

Slowly, Janus came back to himself. “C’mon, Snakey Jay, talk to me,” Remus said. He was kneeling in front of Janus, hands on his legs but not crowding his space. “Is everything alright? Is Virgil? Did he get hurt? Does he still have all of his limbs? Have they fallen off? Did one of the others stab him? Did crows eat his eyes? Is he alive? Did he get run over?”

“No, no,” Janus said. Remus’ frantically spoken thoughts came to a screeching halt to stare at Janus. “He’s fine, it’s okay.” Remus practically collapsed in on himself. Janus reached out and wrapped his arms around him, pulling them both back onto the bed. “Sorry,” he said quietly. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just-”

“What happened, Lord of the Lies? You’re usually much more put together than this.” Remus waved a hand at Janus’ clothes, and he only then realized that he hadn’t even noticed when Remus snapped him into different clothes. He was wearing his comfort clothes now: soft sweats and one of Remus’ old t-shirts and the black jacket that Virgil-

That Virgil-

“Virgil tried to duck out,” Janus said. Remus went totally still beside him. “I don’t know when. I think it had to have been a while ago, but he did. He tried to leave and I don’t know why or when or anything.” He turned to stare at Remus. “I didn’t even know. How didn’t we know?”

“He tried to leave?” he asked. Janus nodded miserably. “He just tried to-to leave us? He didn’t even bother saying goodbye? Who the fuck gave him the right? Who the fuck-”

“Remus-”

“-told him he could just do that? I am going to kick his ass, and when I’m done I’m never letting go of him again, that fucking asshole.” Remus launched himself off his bed and conjured his morningstar to hand.

“Don’t you think the morningstar is a little overkill?” Janus asked.

“Oh, it’s going to be,” Remus said and sank out before Janus could convince him to reconsider. With a sigh, Janus followed him to Virgil’s room a second later.

The cacophony of noise that met his ears when he rose up was overwhelming. The morningstar was sunk into the wall, a hairsbreadth from Virgil’s Jack and Sally posters and there were a couple of shattered dishes on the ground. Remus was waving his hands around like a maniac, spouting off words so repulsive Janus was sure Virgil had no idea what he was talking about. Sighing again, Janus waved a hand and Remus’ slapped over his own mouth. They could both still definitely hear the muffled curses Remus was incessantly shouting.

“What the frick is the matter with you?” Virgil shouted. “What the hell?”

“I agree,” Janus said. “What the hell?” He stared at Virgil. Virgil stared back.

“You realized I have no clue what you’re talking about, right? You’re ridiculous,” he muttered, and bent down to start collecting bits of the broken plate. Remus snapped the fingers on his free hand and it disappeared. Virgil glared at him.

“I was cleaning that up,” he snapped.

“Usually, when someone does you a favor, the correct response is a thank you,” Janus said.

“Maybe it would be if he hadn’t put his morningstar through my wall!” Virgil shouted. Janus snapped his own fingers and the wall self corrected back to the proper structure. The morningstar, for all that he thought it was unnecessary, remained in the room, leaning against the dresser.

“If I remove your hand, will you allow us to have a civil conversation?” he asked Remus. Remus began spouting more muffled nonsense from behind his hand. Janus sighed, but waved a hand so that Remus could speak again.

“You dumbass fucking asshole!” he screamed and tackled Virgil. Those were the tamest words to come out of his mouth since Janus had shown up, but from the look on Virgil’s face they were still plenty effective. The pair landed on the bed and wrestled around for a moment. Virgil screamed at Remus to get off of him and Remus kept calling him names. Janus watched it all with the exasperation generally reserved for parents with unruly children only a couple of years apart in age. He held his face in his hands, well aware that nothing that was getting solved, and waited.

Eventually, finally, Remus brought out his tentacles and wrapped around Virgil so securely that Virgil was incapable of removing him.

“Fuck off!” He pulled at a tentacle, but another immediately replaced it and wrapped around him even tighter.

“Fuck you!” Remus said. “Fuck me! Fuck us all, but I’m not moving!”

“What is this about?” Virgil snapped.

“I don’t know, Virgil. Why don’t you tell me,” Janus said. “What on earth could this be about?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking!”

“How are you doing, Virgil?” Janus asked instead of answering.

“I was fine until you burst into my room uninvited!”

“No urge to do anything ill-advised, then? Say, ducking out?”

Suddenly, as suddenly as they had appeared in his room, all of the fight went out of Virgil. He stopped trying to peel Remus’ tentacles off and stared off at one of his walls, not moving.

“Oh. Y’all heard about that?”

“Heard about that!” Remus echoed in a shrill, shrieky voice.

“Yes, Virgil, we heard about that. We have questions.”

“And demands,” Remus added. Janus was sorely tempted to silence Remus again, but he did have a point, and he did have just as much right as Janus did to be upset.

“You can watch the videos, then,” Virgil said. “I’m sure there will be more than enough information there to answer your questions. Now get out of my room.”

“The videos?” Janus said quietly, and Virgil winced so harshly Remus shuddered with him. “There are videos?”

“Forget I said that.” Virgil stood up from his bed and faced Janus. “I’m serious. Get out of my room. I don’t have the energy to deal with you two tonight.”

“Thomas put videos on YouTube of you trying to-”

“I said!” Virgil interrupted Remus, “Forget about it. And leave.”

“Like you tried to?” Remus said.

“Virgil,” Janus said, and he put the videos in the back of his mind. He’d watch them later, see what answers they could afford them, and then he’d have a serious conversation with the others about what kind of content was acceptable to put out. Who exactly was acceptable to exploit and what exactly would happen if those lines were ever crossed again. “You know what happens to a side when they stop fulfilling their function.”

“No crap,” he said.

“And yet you willing not only stopped fulfilling your function, but entirely took yourself out of the equation.” Janus stared at him. Virgil, with Remus still hanging from his body, stared back. Janus broke first. “Why would you do something like that?”

Janus wished he didn’t sound half as desperate as he did. He wished he could lie and believe himself when he said his voice didn’t break. Janus didn’t want to have this conversation, he didn’t want to have not known about what happened, he didn’t want to have to think about what might’ve happened. He didn’t want to think about Virgil doing what he did, and he wanted to be able to say Virgil would never in a million years so much as think about doing something like that and have it taste like candy in his mouth.

He thought the words, and he faintly tasted copper. He wasn’t sure he could believe them.

“Does it matter?” Virgil said. “It was two years ago. I’m over it. It’s in the past now.”

“It matters to me!” Janus yelled. Virgil took a step back, eyes getting bigger. He could feel the way the eye shadow was beginning to over take his face and he knew that Remus, as sensitive as he was to the way others felt normally, must be just as bad, if not worse off than him. It was a struggle to make himself care, though; to think anything past Virgil, leaving; Virgil, being gone; Virgil, not coming to him.

“I care about you,” Janus snapped. “Remus cares about you. We love you and we are your family whether you want us or not. We are with you no matter what.” He forced himself to take a breath, force the eye shadow and anxiety to recede. It was a learned skill, and it did not come easily. “You may have left, but that has never meant that we didn’t care about you.”

“Left?” Virgil said. “Don’t act like one day I just decided to move out. This wasn’t my choice. You kicked me out!”

“Record scratch?” Remus suggested, ripping his head off his body with his tentacles to look back and forth between them. Normally, Janus would have laughed. Now, there wasn’t a bit of joy in his body.

“I did no such thing,” Janus said. “You left in the middle of the night. We woke up and you were gone. We thought you’d-you’d ducked out. When we found out you had just moved…” He stopped, swallowing.

“We thought you were dead, Scarebear,” Remus muttered. “We were just relieved that you weren’t, even if it meant you hated us and moved away.” He put his head back on his body and nuzzled into Virgil.

“I didn’t want to leave,” Virgil said. His voice sounded choked. “I woke up on the other side surrounded by people who didn’t want me around and I thought you had kicked me out. That everybody hated me.”

“Is that why you ducked out?” Janus asked softly. There was a lump in his throat and it took every bit of his will to keep his voice from shaking or cracking.

Virgil hesitated, and the silence went on for an eternity. Janus thought he wouldn’t believe them, wouldn’t talk to them, would kick them out and never let them back in. Finally, he said, “I thought my family hated me and had gotten rid of me. The people I lived with hated me and thought I was only holding Thomas back and...and I started to believe them. So, yeah, I decided I’d just remove myself from the equation entirely. At the time, it seemed like the best answer. Nobody who didn’t want me around would have to be around me, I wouldn’t have to be constantly reminded that I was unwanted, and Thomas could finally start...enjoying his life, without me there to bring everything down.”

“Virgil,” Janus said, and that time his voice nearly did go out. He blinked furiously to keep the tears in his eyes from escaping. If he started crying now, he wouldn’t stop.

“That’s not true, Scarebear,” Remus said. A huff of air flew from Virgil’s mouth as Remus hugged him even tighter. “You always made my creations even better. Without your input, I wouldn’t have made half of the things I did. They would have been so much worse. And you made sure they worked out. You saved my life more times than I can count.”

“You have always called me on my bullshit when I needed you to,” Janus added, breathing slowly. “But you let me get away with it when I needed to, too. You have been innumerably helpful and we never wanted you to leave. We never wanted to lose you, for a minute or eternity.”

“And I always keep my promises. Even if we had kicked you out, I promised I’d always be there to help you. You should have come to me.” Remus’ voice was barely audible to Janus, muffled by Virgil’s hoodie. His new hoodie, in colors that suited him so much better than plain black ever did. He’d made himself a new home, despite it all. And there might not be room for Janus and Remus in it.

He’d have to learn to live with that, if it’s what Virgil wanted. No matter how much it hurt.

“Yeah, well, hindsight’s 20/20 and all that.” Virgil rolled his eyes and scrubbed at them, smearing eyeshadow over his face like coal dust. “God, you guys are the worst. Busting into my room unannounced just to make me break dishes and cry. Fuck this.”

“I suppose there’s nothing to be done for the dishes,” Janus said. He tried for smooth and fell devastatingly short. He took another shuddering breath and added, just in case Virgil forgot and needed to be reminded, “We love you, Virgil. I love you. So much.”

“I love you forever.” Remus shifted around again and Virgil almost lost his balance. “And the dragon-witches in my realm have missed you. You owe them a visit.”

“It’s best not to push our luck, Remus. Virgil will visit if he wants to, but he may need some time to process.” Janus shoved a piece of hair out of his face. He gave Virgil a strained smile. He didn’t know what he’d do if Virgil still wanted nothing to do with them. If he rejected this offer. “Our door is always open to you. It always has been. You are welcome with us anytime.”

“Fucking assholes,” Virgil said, and a crack Janus could feel went straight through his heart. Virgil threw a hand out to him, and Janus tried to prepare himself for getting cast out.

But how could you prepare yourself for something like that?

“Get over here, Jay.” One of Remus’ tentacles wrapped around his waist and jerked him forward before he could react. Virgil’s arm wrapped around his back and Remus’ tentacles held him there tightly and, in the embrace of the two people whom Janus treasured most in the world (and one of which he thought he’d never get to hug again) he couldn’t stop the tears. A dam broke open and it felt so good to finally have them all back, together, the way they had always belonged.

A wet spot soaked through the shirt he was wearing, and Janus realized he was far from the only one crying.

“Salty,” Remus said, licking the tears off of Virgil’s face. He reared back, letting out a noise somewhere between outrage and amusement, and they all toppled onto the bed. Janus snorted on a laugh as the position shifted. He ended up with Virgil more or less on his chest, and Remus still hanging onto him like a possessed koala.

“It’s getting rather late,” he muttered. “Should we-”

“You’re already in your pajamas,” Virgil cut him off. “And it’s a hell of a lot of effort to move. Just stay here.” He yawned and his eyes shut. Janus’ heart warmed at the sight.

“Okay,” he said. “But only because it takes so much effort to get up.”

“Obviously,” Virgil agreed, and both of the lies tasted like copper on his tongue. He’d never been quite so happy about tasting something so bitter.

Janus lay in the quiet, experiencing it for everything it was worth. Remus’ fingernails scraped lightly at the comforter and Virgil was absently humming a song that he couldn’t place. Janus wondered what music he’d gotten into since they’d stopped talking. He wondered if there was a whole new genre of music that he wouldn’t understand a single reference to. He wondered if Virgil still had playlists on his phone for both of them, and if he’d made some for the other sides, too. He wondered if he had kept all of the stuff he and Remus had given him. He wondered if they’d get to do it all again, now. (He wondered why Virgil’s room had moved. He wondered what the catalyst for all of this had been.)

But some questions were better left for tomorrow, and people that weren’t half asleep.

“I, uh,” Virgil murmured, and they both shifted to hear him better. “I-you guys-you’re good, you know. I never-”

“You love us, too,” Janus said.

“Yeah, that. Never stopped. Couldn’t have. Just...we’re always for each other, yeah?”

“It’s what families do,” Janus said. The taste of sugar and candy that flooded his mouth at Virgil's admission was the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted, and it was all he could do to not laugh giddily and maybe cry again.

“We never stopped loving you either, Spider.” Remus cradled his face with a tentacle.

“Slime machine,” Virgil said fondly. Remus cawed out a laugh.

“Only for you. You get the juiciest stuff.”

“Shut up,” Virgil groaned, but Janus could see the unguarded smile on his face. There was a warmth blossoming in his chest that he hadn’t felt in years. Happier than he ever thought he’d be again Janus let himself bask in their benign bickering. It was good. It was great. And if he was lucky, Janus would have a lot more where this came from.

[221bshrlocked]

II. Overthinking

Pretend You Don’t See Her! Masterlist

Pairing: Mob!Sebastian x Reader

Words: 1288

Warnings: none so far I think

A/N: literally just wanted to write something short and sweet because of the fucking trailer and then I got an influx of messages and comments and asks telling me to make this series and I don’t do very well with peer pressure so I guess this will be a series and I hope y’all like. I stopped tagging people a while ago because they never worked and some people’s usernames just didn’t want to tag but since many of yall liked this, I’ll try and do the tagging again but only for this fic. Let me know if you want to be tagged in the masterlist post. Please like, reblog and comment :) thanks a lot my thirsty friends. Next author’s note will not be this long I promise.

Previous Part | Next Part

You woke up to the sound of laughter in the hallway, slowly getting up to look at the time. It was still too early to go to work so you decided to go back to sleep. As you laid back down and took a deep breath, you saw the chair next to your bed with a coat hanging on the back. Flashes of what happened last night flew through your mind and you jumped out of bed instantly, looking down at your clothes and sighing in relief when you saw you were still dressed in your uniform.

There was no one with you. But he was here. He came up and made sure you were calm. And you remembered how you asked him to stay until you slept and almost vomited because of the prospects of what could have happened. He was a stranger, a dangerous man, who you let inside your home without question. None of it made sense and you looked at the kitchen table and found the gun right next to your wallet.

But why was his coat still here? You reached out to grab it and stopped, afraid he’d somehow make an appearance and watch as you sniffed it. Wait, when did you decide you were going to sniff it?

As you took it off the chair, you couldn’t help but feel how heavy it was and knew that he probably forgot some things in his pockets. Reaching for the right pocket, your hand fished out a watch and when you took a good look at it, you knew it most likely cost more than the building you currently lived in. Placing it back where it belonged, you grabbed for the thing in the left pocket, eyes widening in horror when you took out everything inside it.

You couldn’t believe your eyes. There were so many hundreds in that coat and your heart almost gave out when you counted how much there actually was.

Four grand! This man decided to leave four grand in his coat, in your apartment, probably knowing how poor you were from the looks of the place. Your hands began to shake and you placed the money back in the coat quickly, afraid of where your mind might go. You didn’t want to be tempted. This wasn’t your money, even though he probably didn’t need any of this. You needed to return everything to him.

But where do you even begin to look for him? He didn’t tell you his name or anything. You did vaguely remember the assailant telling him he didn’t know you were with him. Maybe he was someone famous and you’ve just been living under a rock? Looking down at the heavy garment, you couldn’t stop yourself from pulling it to your nose and taking a deep breath, the scent of cologne shooting straight to your thalamus and making you shiver instantly.

God he smelled so damn good. You weren’t sure if this was just the brand he used or if it was mixed with his sweat as well.

But you could also smell the heavy smell of gunpowder and smoke and you pushed the black coat away before getting up and walking to the bathroom. You were about to enter when you spotted a note right next to your wallet. You immediately picked it up and were surprised to find what was written on it.

You read it at least ten more times on your way to work, refusing to believe that the number, let alone the little message at the bottom, were real or heartfelt. He barely met you so why would he even bother, especially with someone like you? Someone that had nothing to give back. Someone that was nothing.

What if he thought you could give yourself in exchange for his help?

You shook your head violently at the thought. He didn’t seem like the type of person who’d ask for something like that. He would have asked last night.

And where was this bar anyway? You’ve never heard of it before. Actually, that made more sense that what actually happened last night. He looked important so he must have worked in a high-end bar or something. Maybe he even knew the owner. After pulling up his number at least fifteen times, you decided you wouldn’t call him. Besides not knowing what you were supposed to say, you didn’t know if he was even serious.

You thought that maybe you’d go to the bar after your shift to give him his stuff but you then chickened out. What if he misunderstood you? What if he thought you just wanted him for his money? Or that you were one of those clingy women who misunderstood his intentions? No, this wasn’t going to happen. Not today. Not this week even.

On the other side of town, the bar was buzzing with energy. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing in their corner.

Except Sebastian.

Sebastian couldn’t get any sleep, not because he knew trouble would come because news sure traveled fast in that neighborhood and the asshole of a man was definitely going to come knocking. But he just couldn’t get you out of his mind, not your sweet and soft breaths as you slept through a tough night or how soft the skin of your neck felt under his touch. God what he’d give to just see you again for a second.

But he couldn’t risk getting you involved in his line of work. You already had enough to deal with and he hoped being seen with you wouldn’t cause trouble as is. So he sulked in the corner, refusing to talk with the customers and the parties walking into his lounge.

Everyone noticed his sour mood and after a few of his men asking him if he needed anything, he aggressively pushed his chair back and went to his office, not wanting to cause a problem in his own place. He regretted that decision after a few minutes though because all he could think about was going to your diner or maybe waiting in front of your building to look at you one more time. He’d sworn off women all together and he thought he wouldn’t be tempted again.

But you were such a breath of fresh air, somehow seeing through his mask and breaking down all of his walls in the span of a night.

Yeah he had it bad.

And what’s worse was that he never got your name. He really thought you would have called him by now, maybe asking him where he is and if you could come and see him.

But nothing.

It occurred to him that maybe you wouldn’t have called because you didn’t want to tell him you needed the money and that you’d spent it all and needed more or something like that.

So he stayed in his office for the rest of the night, not bothering to leave even when one of his men came and told him some patrons wanted to sit down with him. He told him no one should disturb him again or someone was going to get shot. It was all what was needed to get some peace of mind for the night.

Walking to his couch, he laid on it to get an hour or two in before his next business deal. But every time Sebastian shut his eyes, he could see her bright and shy eyes meeting his gaze and he let his mind roam with the thoughts of her, hoping that her pretty face could somehow lull him to sleep.

And within minutes, it did.

And he dreamt of her soft skin and dizzying scent.

Tags (some didn’t work): @feelmyroarrrr​ @yallneedtrek​ @talk-geek-to-me​ @lovecatystuff​ @scuzmunkie​ @diablefatale​ @ayybtch​ @searchingforbuckyfavs​ @that-damn-girl​ @ruthyalva96​ @pizzarollpatrol​ @calwitch​ @maybeisthemoon​ @ladifreakingda @metalarmsandmanbuns​ @saliarheva​ @becs-bunker​ @gogomez-509​ @hailmary-yramliah​ @sycochick​ @evilxcupcakexnik​ @redgillan​ @dragonqueen0606​ @sydthekid1518​

[1-800-channie]

[10:30AM] with Chan;

Note: For my love, as promised, @backhugsforhyunjin ♥ I hope this is what you were asking for.

Warning: Very angst

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　 *･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　

If there was a time when Chan treated you like a queen, it was during your pregnancy days.

The sweet boy would send you a text in every chance he could, asking if you were alright or if the baby was quiet and letting you rest.

He would go shopping with you. Helping you choose the cutest outfits for your changing body.

You loved to wake up with him kissing your growing belly, or talking to your baby like the great father he is, completely lost in enjoyment.

Chan loved you more than anything. He knew, from the moment that your eyes locked for the first time, that you would be his wife and mother of his children.

Your wedding was simple and small, just his dear bandmates, his family and yours as well.

The blonde boy always believed that you couldn't become more gorgeous, but when his eyes witnessed your pregnant body, he changed his mind.

But, everything seemed to go down as soon as your baby, Mina, was born. Chan became completely in love with his girl and all of his attention turned to her.

She turned five months when the Stray Kids comeback was scheduled, and it got worst for you.

Since the baby still needed all your attention, you started to work from the house. Designing, after all, could be done from home, and since Mina was a sleepy girl, you could work relatively well.

Your routine was rough. You couldn't sleep much because the baby would wake up crying in the middle of the night, waking you up. And, when she finally falls asleep, you couldn't rest yourself. So, you decided to start working at night.

You had to take care of Mina, clean the house by yourself and even do your work. It was evident on your face that you lost some weight and the dark mess under your sights were showing signs of tiredness.

Your husband's routine was the same ever since then. He would kiss your forehead as goodbye in the morning, and, would do the same as he stepped inside the house passing the three in the morning.

Of course, he would go and kiss his Mina good night as well. And also, always tell her he loved her. Something he hasn't said to you, in months.

You woke yesterday with a new feeling of hope blooming in your chest. Day 15th of May, it's your wedding anniversary of 3 years.

You woke up early, hurrying in making your husband a delicious breakfast. As you happily hummed a song that was stuck in your head, you finished the pancakes, a proud smile displayed on your lips.

But quickly the smile vanished away when Chan appeared in the kitchen: He kissed your forehead, picked his keys from the hall and walked out.

No 'I love you'. No 'good morning baby'. No 'Happy 3 year anniversary.' Nothing.

With teary eyes you gazed all over the food you cooked him: the pancakes, the sweet orange juice, some warm coffee, fresh fruit, and his favorite cereals.

You cooked it all for nothing... 'No!' You thought to yourself. 'He is just tired of all the pressure on him. Chan still loves me.' You notify yourself, cleaning the salty teardrops with the back of your hand.

In the afternoon you texted him 'Have a good afternoon of work, Love' but he didn't text back. It's ok, he is probably working -You thought.

Your baby, Mina, seemed very cheerful and talkative today. Flashing her gummy smile at you, whenever you cutely talked to her. Deciding to try another thing, you dressed her up with a cute pink dress and snapped some precious pictures.

'Do I look pretty?' You joked as you sent some pictures of her to your lover, and for your surprise... Chan replied immediately: 'My baby looks so pretty!'

You smiled as the idea of a new surprise to your lover came to your senses. As soon as the child was peacefully sleeping you dug in your wardrobe for something to wear.

After choosing the whole outfit, you decided to work on your new design for a while, so you could make some time to start cooking dinner.

Everything was ready at nine pm. You took a shower and were smelling like roses. The blue velvet dress was hugging your, now, less curvy body perfectly, making you feel confident. Even your make up was fire, simple but blue, making your hazel eyes sparkle.

In the kitchen there were candles everywhere, making a shady and dark but sensual environment drown the whole place as his favorite food was ready for him to eat as soon as he came home.

To your unhappiness, when Chan came home, it passed the five am and he was too tired to notice your romantic kitchen or the absence of your presence by his side in the bed.

You woke up in the kitchen a few minutes later. The candles still burning, the food now freezing and the house completely silent.

With your heart thumping stupidly fast, you thought something happened to Chan because there was no evidence of him. But you were mistaken.

As you silently footed inside the large bedroom, not to wake up the sleeping newborn, your eyes widened as you saw your husband dozing off on the king-sized bed.

How didn't he noticed that you weren't there? How didn't he noticed the kitchen carefully decorated with candles? Why did he only answer the texts about Mina and left yours? Why hasn't he said he loved you in months?

With burning tears rolling down your cheeks you walked back to the kitchen and began to clean it all. Halfway to all the dishes you were washing, you couldn't glimpse anything from the tears in your eyes and ended you falling asleep sitting on a chair, your head resting over your tear-stained dress.

Chan woke up the next morning, today, with a loving smile, the sunlight was brilliant, making the bedroom have a comfortable and warm atmosphere.

His muscular arm searched for your body, but his hands were only met with cold sheets. Chan immediately opened his eyes.

You weren't in the bedroom. Maybe you were in your creative room, so he walked over there to check. But you weren't there either.

Then he remembered that you love to shower in the morning, so, he walked to the bathroom, only to find silence. No sign of you.

It hit him there. Where were you? Why weren't you by his side?

With fast and worried steps he walked to the kitchen and as soon as his eyes recognized your figure, the tears were already blurring his vision.

There was a burned smell inside, and he recognized it because of the melted candles all around him. His eyes found cooked food at the top of the table and dirty dishes on the sink.

No, no.... He couldn't....

You were even worse: Your face was stained with dry make-up under your eyes and cheeks. Your dress was messy and your heavy breathing suddenly felt like punches in his stomach.

The blonde man picks up his phone and notices the little reminder '3 year marriage anniversary - yesterday'.

Chan falls on his knees in a silent cry. All the memories of what he has been doing making his heart break with blame.

All those months without a single 'I love you'; all those months without giving you the, so worth love... He missed you.

You woke up scared. An unknown sound of sobs filling your ears. The baby... You guessed immediately, but the sight of your husband on his knees by your side made you think twice.

"Chan," You called for him. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

As soon as he recognized your voice, his guilty eyes studied your worried face. He wasted no more time: Chan stood up on his feet and held your body tightly against his:

"I'm so sorry YN. I never meant to hurt you... I swear... I just- I know I have been neglecting you and it's all my fault...." He cried with his face hidden in your shoulder in shame. "I'm such a bad husband. I was so focused on our daughter that I forgot that you needed my love as well... I'm so sorry baby..."

By this time, you couldn't stop the tears from dropping from your stares. You wanted to inform him that its ok, that it doesn't matter, but it does.

You've felt so alone, so lonely...

"Chan..." You whispered fighting back a cry.

"I'm sorry... I will pay more attention to you." Chan said with his lungs full of air. "I love you so much YN. And I will show it to you more, I'll thank you every day, for loving me and for taking care of our daughter." His fingers were caressing your cheeks, and you leaned on his touch.

"I missed you so much, Channie..." You pouted.

"I missed you too, darling." Chan smiled and then proceeded to smooch your lips. Once, twice... until he was satisfied.

"I won't ever neglect you again, love. You are the of my life..." With those last words, you buried your face in the crook of his neck and inhaled his manly perfume, as you hugged him.

You've missed this. You've missed your husband. But it's all good now, he is finally here for you.

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　 　*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿

Note: Hello my stars, I'm here but I am not. I'm just passing by to drop this veryyyy long time stamp that I've promised my dear friend to post. I really enjoyed writing it! (I may had shed a tear while writing). Remember, notes and reblogs are appreciated. Thank you so much ♥ Good night (it's passing the 1am here hahA) I'm sorry if there is any mistakes, I'll revise it again tomorrow.　

[fantranslatorbychoice]

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi Vol 1, Chapter 5 - Kakuriyo’s Capitol, Youto**

T/N: I mostly didn’t translate a lot of the names of the ayakashi/youkai, as well as the proper nouns because uhm... They’re basically nouns. It’s like how some translated manga are done. Plus it irks me sometimes when everything just gets transliterated, it kills off the vibe. But that’s just me. Links to references at the end of the post.

Also if you like this translation, you can share the link, reblog, but for pete’s sake DO NOT REPOST ELSEWHERE. I worked hard to finish this thing, it’s not like I just Google-translated this whole sh**.. 

If you need refreshers on what happened, @kakuriyo-translations​ already had the previous translations. I’m just contributing to this fandom. 

OK, here’s the stuff now.

P143 I really don't like taking naps in Utsushiyo**. I always change my sleep time, yet I keep dreaming about a memory that I hate. For me, the memory I hated the most was being inside a dark room, all alone with an empty stomach waiting earnestly for my mother everyday. I never saw my father. Mother was always out and about, leaving me at home. It's what's so-called NEGLECT. I was rolling around on the cold flooring while thinking how hungry I was, while staring up at the ceiling. The very dark ceiling was my only joy and entertainment, because I couldn't find any hope, and I didn't even have enough energy to cry. Come to think of it, there was that day when my mother didn't come home for a week. That time, a mysterious Ayakashi's voice came, and my life was saved. An Ayakashi instantaneously appeared near me, its figure came up from behind, and in the darkness only a vague form of a white Noh mask”” floated above, which I watched closely. Talking with that Ayakashi relieved me of the loneliness that I felt.

T/N: Youto, literally “Fairy Capital” or “Enchanted Capitol”.

Noh mask, what most Ayakashi wear in Kakuriyo. Noh Drama is a traditional play where characters wear masks, contrasting with Kabuki where the characters paint their faces. Think Jiyaira from Naruto. Utsushiyo, literally “The world above/surface world”. Kakuriyo is literally “Hidden world.” Aoi obviously came from the world above.

P144 Not only did that Ayakashi talked to me, but also shared food with me every day. I cannot remember what I sensed because it was fuzzy, nor what the conversations were about, even what food was given to me. It's no surprise that because the Ayakashi was wearing a mask, I couldn't figure out what its shape is. The only thing I can remember until now was that the food it gave me was delicious. More than a week after my mother has not returned, a group of adults that I've never met before came and took me away from my house without letting me take anything else. My mother never came out to greet these people from social services, so when they came back to the house, they went inside immediately to check if she was there. Upon entering the house though, the social services people did not run into the Ayakashi who used to give me food. I thought at first that I really, really wanted to meet the Ayakashi, but eventually I forgot about the whole incident. Whenever I talked about the Ayakashi, people in the orphanage I was in got spooked, and I get teased and made fun at. It seemed that the teachers and everyone else did not understand why I strongly insist that Ayakashi do exist. It came to a point that because of the Ayakashi thing, I was harmed and bullied by the children around me. Which is why I eventually kept a distance from others. This lead me to feel lonely again, in the orphanage. That is why it feels even worse when I'm alone in a crowd. It was around this time that Grandpa came for me at the orphanage and took me home with him. If my memory serves me correct, it was around the second grade. P145 I woke up in a cold sweat, and I soon realized that the surroundings were already getting dark and night was starting to fall. The memories of that time I was rocking myself on the floor without any food all came back to me. "Are you awake?" A voice suddenly spoke. Somehow, I thought it was a voice that brought back memories I yearned for, but it was just Odanna-sama's voice. Amidst the dim and dark, he was sitting on the counters and smoking a pipe. He was holding the camellia kanzashi** and twirling it around his fingers.It seemed that his red eyes and the camellia bud's scarlet color where somewhat sparkling. "Have I been sleeping?

T/N: Kanzashi, imagine a single chopstick with some flowers or something in the end, which you can stick into your hairdo. If you’ve watched that episode in Kimetsu no Yaiba where Tanjirou fought the monster that can split itself and eats young girls and swims inside solids, that one collects kanzashi and stuff.  P146 Oh, it's already evening." I woke up and stood without thinking. I felt so weak. It's horrid dream’s fault. Seeing the outside through the window, the sun has already set and I could see the lavender color of the sky. "It seems that you were having a nightmare." "What, really?" "Did you have a bad dream?" "No, I didn't." I felt like this because I saw a place that I hated. Odanna-sama, who was huffing and puffing on his pipe looked at me, immediately stood up and hid the camellia kanzashi, and went beside me, pulling my arm rather fast. Morover, I felt a sudden pain in my arm and pulled away. "Wait, let go. Odanna-sama, your long nails hurt my arm when you grabbed it." "Is that so?" I was absolutely unaware of that, Odanna-sama was really very suspicious. When he let go of my hand, I saw the nails on his hand. "I'm an Oni**, an ogre, that is the reason why they are long." Yet he still opened his hand. "Oh, so that's why. But still, what hurts hurt. Look, this part of my inner arm is delicate, that's why it still has your nail marks."

P147 As if looking at something weird, Odanna-sama started massaging the part of my inner arm that I showed to him, with his fingers. He spoke: "Humans have weak and frail bodies, with such soft flesh and skin." "Uhm, because humans aren't Ayakashi?" They probably aren't used to such things. "Aoi, what you did today deserves a reward." "What? That's... so unexpected." "About the whole affair with Matsuba-sama, the Tengu. Surely, I did not think Matsuba-sama could have liked your cooking. Come, let us go." He's telling me to go with him. My hair was still disheveled, and so is my one-piece dress from Utsushiyo, but Odanna-sama didn't mind and still invited me anyway. I wonder where we're going? It's complicated to think about it, so I thought we might be going somewhere sophisticated. "I think that it is a good idea to bring the Tengu's uchiwa fan." "Why?" "Why, she says. That uchiwa's power will protect you, would it not?" "It seems like I have no choice but to protect myself, don't I?" P148 It was disappointing. Odanna-sama started laughing and snickering, the meaning was deep within his narrowed eyes. "Because the kind Matsuba-sama gave it to you, I think it is a good habit to always bring it with you whenever you are out. For that is a special uchiwa, if you must know." "Hmph." "To tell you the truth, it is an item that can pay the entirety of Shiro's huge debt, if you sell it." "Well then.... Let's go to a pawnshop!" "Wait, wait.." Odanna-sama hurriedly followed me, and grabbed my collar. "Did you not declare that will pay for Shiro's debts all on your own? You even turned down Matsuba-sama's help. How I think of you.. has actually changed." "This uchiwa's mine, and however much I sell this to pay that debt, I still used my own power for that." I majestically cut him off with such words. I was thinking that I couldn't bear to sell the gift I received, but I will if I need to. I think if Grandpa was in the same place, he would do the same. Odanna-sama sensed it and got flustered. "Hey, wait, wait, wait, calm down for a moment." "I will definitely calm down after this." P149 "This is the Ayakashi's realm. Once you step out of Tenjin-ya, if you wander alone with no regard because you are a human girl, you will get kidnapped and eaten before you even get to the pawnshop. Please go behind me." I wondered how his attitude changed from yesterday, I was suspicious but I still looked at him. "What's that? Yesterday, in spite you saying that you're going to eat me, you extended your help with the Tengu matter. Yes, I may have a weak and fragile human body, but I couldn't just stay out of the quarrels between Ayakashi. Even though my arm can easily get wounded and just letting it be could kill me." Odanna-sama gently brushed off my bangs. After saying that, he placed his hand on my forehead. Yesterday, one of the Daruma's poocelain figurines hit my forehead and had me injured. I had some bandages attached, but that was a while ago. Embarrasingly, some of them were already starting to peel off. "Have your wounds not healed yet?" "I'm fine, the bleeding's stopped." "Ah, I see. That is good." His very different behavior from yesterday just bewildered me. And yet, I still meekly followed him from behind, holding my uchiwa. P150 We passed in front of a very large cauldron, and a splashing sound made me think of paranoid ideas, like "I'm going to get eaten". Just when I thought I wasn't going to snap out of it, ominously, we stopped. We were going to ride a ship. A flying airship. Its sails sails bear the crest of Tenjin-ya, and was decorated with paper lanterns. I could see that this magnificent ship sails a lot. I stared at the ship from its top to its lighted underside. We're going to ride this thing later? "Wow! It's high!" "We use airships as a means to travel in Kakuriyo. In Tenjin-ya, we use cruise ships and houseboats to hold banquets. This small model is called "Kaikakumaru. The small types are our latest cruise ships." "That's marvelous. I love high places, you know." "You are being childish." Odanna-sama butted in while I was staring at something unusual, in high spirits. The night wind feels wonderful, it would be fun to look down from a high place and see how vast the ground is. But what surprised me the most was that it was the first time that I saw Tenjin-ya as a whole. "Wow, Tenjin-ya is a really large inn, isn't it?" The inn was enclosed by a deep valley, thus the surroundings seem so dark wherever you look, but the facade and the main street were all lively and prosperous, and the hanging bridge over the shoreline seems passable. P151 Tenjin-ya's property was vast, and the main building's height and width are both tall and wide. Outside the main building, Tenjin-ya's land is dotted with countless buildings of various shapes and materials. From a distance, I could see that I was in the most central part. The intricate red tiles of the roofs were lighted up by the ogre fire. "Usually, the ogre fire is very flashy. But today, the inn is currently on a holiday break, so business is not as brisk." "That.. is not brisk?" Despite the inn currently on a break, there are so many Ayakashi piling up on the facade's hanging bridge towards the inn. There were those inside who were inquiring and receiving explanations. There were also a lot of Happi coat-wearing Tenjin-ya staff** as well. From above, it seems that Tenjin-ya was business as usual. The hustle and bustle makes the inn spectacularly dazzling and lovely. As Tenjin-ya goes further away from the distance, just as I was thinking of wandering around the ship's interior, the voices of three people suddenly popped up from inside. "Your bath has been prepared, Aoi-sama." "What the.. Nopperabou**?" It seems that the three faceless sisters also boarded the ship. It seems that they have happily taken me in their care.

T/N: Happi-coat - usually worn by staff of restaurants, shops, inns, dancers in festivals, etc. and has the company crest or team logo. 

Nopperabou - faceless woman youkai. P152 Just as before, the sisters carried me and took me away. "Let's have you take a hot water bath." "Let's also put on some makeup." 'Let's fix up your hair." While the sisters chattered unanimously, they then stripped me of all of my clothes and took me to the farthest regions of the ship, after which they washed me up. Well, it did feel rather luxurious. I then noticed a lovely camellia-patterned kimono, and they helped me put it on. Amidst the indigo-colored background, the deep red camellias stood out. The red obi's designs were also very intricate and elaborate, and wearing what seems to be a very expensive kimono has me into a panic. "Wait, why, why this kimono? Is it OK to wear this?" O-matsu-san explained to me as she tightened my obi: "It's nothing, that kimono is Odanna-sama's gift to Aoi-sama." I blinked my eyes in surprise. Why would that Oni give me such an expensive kimono? I was thinking of asking, but wearing a very beautiful kimono and seeing the pattern in front of a large mirror, I was so entranced. The three sisters were so moved. "Ah, that looks good on you, Aoi-sama!" "O-danna-sama will be so pleased." "That pretentiously innocent Young Mistress will groan at how beautiful and different you look." P153 "Hey, Ume, don't spoil our true intentions!" O-ume-san got scolded by O-take-san again. That Young Mistress, the Yuki-onna, the snow lady, I wonder if her presence annoys the three Nopperabou sisters. My hair was done elegantly to the side, and my lips were redder than usual. I was casually looking at myself in front of the large mirror, I was thinking that I am satisfied with everything. Of course, I was wearing a cute kimono with a lovely design. I was happy. "Do you love wearing it?" "Oh, uhm, yeah, I guess." My glowing figure and my giddy self wearing a kimono reflected in the mirror made it how obvious it was, and the three sisters kept giggling and laughing. I loved it, it was clear as day. No. But, could this kimono also add up to the debt or something? "Oh, my choice was not wrong. I thought a deep red camellia suits you." "What.. Wai.. Wait, since when did you get here?" Odanna-sama came when I wasn't aware of it, and he was looking at me over my shoulder, in front of the large mirror. I wonder if he saw my obviously eager face wearing this kimono. "I am glad that you loved it, Aoi." P154 I broadly looked at the other side of the entrance. My face was flushed and I was biting my lower lip. Somehow, I felt remorse. He came closer to my side, and from his sleeves he pulled out the camellia kanzashi. "Well then, use this for the adornment as well. Despite looking so charming, you look a bit dreary without anything in your hair." That being said, he placed the kanzashi on the left side of my hairdo. All of a sudden his large and wide-spanning hands near my face made me feel very nervous, but I didn't want to give in to this nervousness, so after a while the strength went back to my cheeks. "Here, why don't we take a look in the mirror and see?" He held my shoulders tight and turned me around, and as I tried fighting it I saw my side reflected, and saw myself in the mirror again. "See?" Unexpectedly, I realized that with any hair adorned with a hairpin, it felt as if it was a different look. Somehow, did the flower bud seem to have grown bigger? In the beginning, it looked just like a normal camellia bud kanzashi. But now it looks like it has grown a bit, and the petals have opened up. "The petals seems to move a bit. It will grow into a large, round bloom." "Oh, Kakuriyo has such magical things?" "When it reaches the end, the petals will get scattered." His face peeked from behind me as he said those words, full of deep meaning. In spite of myself, I looked at him. P155 "No kidding. This kanzashi has a countdown timer? I might lose it..." In Utsushiyo, I would have gotten a bit shocked. My whole face was lighting up, and his back was turned while giggling. I wanted to ask "What's funny?" "It seems that you love it, and that is what is more important. But once the hairpin's petals fall off and scatter, your debt must be settled too. Well, best of luck." Well that was so sudden, bringing up the debt repayment. "What the.. Isn't this like Beauty and the Beast?" "What's that? What are you saying?" "That story from France called 'Beauty and the Beast'. It's about two very different people who got married." Odanna-sama looked bewildered. Well, I didn't think that the Ayakashi in Kakuriyo would know the story of Beauty and the Beast, but even I'm not that shameless to think of myself like I'm Beauty, to that extent. But really, under these circumstances, it just feels like 'Beauty and the Beast', right? For instance, a bumbling non-human guardian who somewhat gets married, considerably. "It is good to tuck in your uchiwa in your obi**. Always handle it with care." I was groaning as Odanna-sama, in his own terms tucked the uchiwa fan into the back part of my obi, the paperplant uchiwa fan that I received from Matsuba-sama. It was styled like I was going to a summer festival.

T/N: Obi- the belt or sash wrapped around a kimono.

P156 O-matsu-san made me wear a pair of red-strapped geta sandals, and my kimono-wearing Kakuriyo style was complete. "Ah, we're almost here." "Where?" "If you come up the deck you;ll see." When Odanna-sama went to the deck, Kaikakumaru was starting to descend, and the bustling land below, studded with warm-colored lights came to view. Compared to Tenjin-ya's busy pace, this place has it on a whole new level. The central part of the area was a lot bigger compared to Tenjin-ya, and the sky is cut by a very high building, which when viewed from above is surrounded by a row of smaller buildings. The metropolis' four corners had gigantic red Torii gates, and the crossroads was cut by the main road that seemed to shine like it has encrusted jewels, and I realized that the paper lanterns hanging from the buildings below made it look as such. "Wow, this place place is amazing! Where are we?" "This is the Capitol of Kakuriyo, Youto. The building at the center is where the Ayakashi King resides." "Kakuriyo is like a country or something, so there is also a king?" "Of course. The Ayakashi King is called You-ou. In Kakuriyo, the entire country is made up of eight lands guarded by those called the Hachiyo, and it is said that those Hachiyo are connected to and governed by the You-ou. At any rate, we're already at the center of the capitol. P157 Odanna-sama had the ship stop at the capitol's harbor. It seems like a harbor because of the dark valleys and cliffs that surrounds Youto's edge, and that is where the ship was docked. The southern part of Youto's harbor have numerous ships anchored and tied up. and the sky is filled with sailing airships everywhere. "It's Tenjin-ya's Master." "This is bad, this is bad. Those from the evening news are also here." Tenjin-ya's Kaikakumaru is not a large ship, but the large, round crest "Ten" drawn on the sails were sighted by the Ayakashi near the cliffs. When I saw the gathering of a large crowd of Ayakashi, my opinion on Tenjin-ya's Odanna-sama changed: I came to realize that this Ogre god was very famous indeed. I absent-mindedly looked at him. "It seems that Odanna-sama is very famous, isn't he?" "And as my soon-to-be-wife, you dislike it?" "You casually had to push that, I see." "Well then, Aoi. If you do not wear this mask, they will find out that you are a human." Odanna-sama pulled out an Oni mask from his kimono's breast pocket. He was also wearing an Oni mask when we first met in Utsushiyo. He placed the mask on my face. Apparently, being found out to be a human can bring up a lot of trouble. Kaikanmaru then descended to the Southern Torii gate, and entering the capital through here seemed inconspicuous. P158 I followed Odanna-sama from behind in quick steps, and all around I kept hearing murmurs of "Who's that? Who's that?" Wearing this kimono and having an Oni mask on, it's impossible to be found out that I'm a human. The night was busy, with so many Ayakashi walking on the main road, and we started walking here towards the large place in the heart of Youto. The main road was lined up with magnificent stores, geta sandal shops, drapery and curtains, but the theater was  especially packed with so many people coming in and going out. A particular shop that seems to be rather famous was a large shop that had "Glass Shop" written on the shop curtains, and peeking inside the store seemed to have so many beautiful glasswares being sold. The many clients inside seem to be searching for dinnerware or whatnot. The outside of the glasswares had carvings that resemble ink scroll paintings, and the carvings had so many shapes. I've seen a lot of glasswares in Utsushiyo, in Japan, but these ones in Kakuriyo were somewhat different, they were all lined up, polished and state of the art. "Ah, this store Youto's cut glass store." "Cut glass... in Youto?" "Technology and techniques from Utsushiyo are transferred to Kakuriyo, as well as products. Recently, what you call 'glasswares' were started to be made here in Youto, and as such, dinnerware became fashionable." "Really..." Somehow, this capitol that is so Japanese had a store that gives off a Western feel, and the glasses were sparkly as well as giving off a sense of transparency, which made me feel nostalgic. P159 "I was thinking of cozying up our inn's meals with these glasswares, but the rowdy kitchen gang dreadfully detest anything new. But I spruced each room by decorating each one with a little bit of glass. I also had the long windows of the windbreakers made with glass." "Ah, if that's what you're saying, rooms such as the 'Big Camellia' do had round and large glass windows. Flying airships can be seen a lot passing by the windows. If I remember, they're changing those right now." Within the store premises, there weren't many customers and you can only see the lined up products on the storefront, but the craftsmanship of the glasswares are very noticeable.There was a fancy dish made with peach-colored glass that gives off a springtime vibe, covered with sakura patterns, which I picked up. From above the patterns resembled an intricate kaleidoscope, and the red lights of the paper lanterns made the transparent bowl shine so brightly. There were also delicately stacked green sake cups, decorated with hemp leaf designs. I took a long, hard look, I imagined that if I was going to use these glasswares, what meals would I make. Even with just that, I was already a bit pleased. If I could have my way, I would love the transparent, kaleidoscope-ish bowl. "Is there anything you like?" Odanna-sama peeped from behind me and patted my shoulder, seeing me looking eagerly at the glass bowl. My heart skipped a beat and I turned around. "I just think that they're lovely." P160 "Which one is nice? Would you like me to buy it for you?" "Wha-- Why would you do that?" This time I got startled, and I unconsciously looked at Odanna-sama and shrank a step back. I can't forget the stern Odanna-sama from yesterday, and I thought that with his dubious smile, it's now all outrageous and very suspicious. "Do not think of weird ideas. I owe you from helping Tenjin-ya yesterday, and I am only doing this as my way of saying thank you." "It's nothing, I'm good, it's not a big deal..." "You do not have to hesitate. You are guarding your heart too much." "It's because what you're saying is scary." I roughly turned away and headed for the store's entrance, and Odanna-sama was laughing behind my back. but what on earth's funny? "Wait, wait, please do not go ahead of me. Please stay by my side." As if his eyes were looking for me, Odanna-sama came up near me and I looked up at him. Despite being detached, I thought that calmly wandering aimlessly in a crowd made me stand out. P161 With his geta sandals echoing on the main road filled with bustling Ayakashi, Odanna-sama followed suit. Just as expected, everywhere I looked there were Ayakashi all over the place.I wonder what I'll do if I was found out to be a human? At the time I was thinking about it, I unexpectedly had a feeling. Everywhere I turned my head to look, the Ayakashi crossing the street seem to not care about me, and my true nature is not known. My feet stopped, and I got worried and flustered seeing Odanna-sama about to enter a dodgy shop. I wasn't used to wearing the geta, and I quickly fumbled over there. "Waii... Wait up." "Didn't I tell you a while ago that you must not leave my side? If you absent-mindedly do that, you; eventually get lost. If you're not with me by daybreak, they'll find out you're a human, and that's going to cause a huge ruckus. At worst, you will probably get eaten." As he was snickering, Odanna-sama beckoned me to come in. With its black, laquered and plastered walls, the storefront looks like a sophisticated warehouse”“. "Offal cuisine**... 'Iron Club for Oni**?'"

T/N: Warehouse -  old Japanese warehouses ( 蔵 ) have mud walls to prevent fires from spreading, like a firewall, but the facades look stylish with white paint. Some of them are now remade into restaurants and shops or whatnot.

Offal is basically organ meats, like liver, kidneys, tripe, etc. It’s not specified in the book what part was used so I just used the generic version. But personally, I think it’s tripe.

Iron Club for Oni - the Untranslated version is  鬼 に 金棒 (Oni ni Kanabou), kanabou is an iron rod that night watchmen use, but I like puns so I decided to transliterate this lol

P162 "Ah, when Oni who love offal get their food served, those that do, know that this place is high-class." "Offal cuisine..." A real Oni’s words made a heavy impression on me. The large cauldron with blood inside, seemingly filled with fresh, boiling and burbling human viscera filled my head with so much horrifying images. Could it be that I, unfortunately will be cooked in there, deliciously? "Why did you bring me to this place? Don't tell me, when you told me that you were taking me to a place that serves offal, giblets and whatnot, you were going to have me cut up by the cooking staff? Don't tell me, that you'll be having me get cooked for dinner?" After hearing me say those words, Odanna-sama started laughing. "You're saying such funny things." "I'm warning you." I got embarassed after being laughed at and I felt my cheeks burn red. "I did say I was going to treat you to some delicious food. Well, if you're that worried, come here." We went inside the restaurant, and as we waited for a bit, all of the high-end restaurant's staff started lining up. They bowed their heads politely, and the ogre's horns started to grow. P163 So this is what a high-class Oni's place looks like. The inside was a bit dark, even the atmosphere, but I could see why it was indeed an expensive place. We were taken to the second floor's most secluded room. When the window panes were opened, sitting by the window, the capitol's hustle and bustle can be seen. It was a very special room. "You can take off your mask, it's fine. This is a place that I have strong connections with. I have ensured that things will go well in here." "Really? Well, the Ayakashi haven't discovered that I'm a human, but it feels weird that I'm actually like one." Even so, as Odanna-sama said, I took off my Oni mask. I looked at it for a while, and for a little bit I understand why I looked rather scary while I had it on. "That suited you fine. You started to look like a typical ogre's wife." "Saying that this suits a girl may make her happy, but no human would think otherwise." I started to go to my seat uneasily as I let Odanna-sama's suprising praise sink in. He did say that he was treating me to an offal-ful meal, and I wonder what kind of meal that would be. "What the... Isn't that offal hotpot?" In the middle of the table was a pot, simmering gently, with garlic chives and cabbages, some ox offal and other ingredients, all looking delicious, that in Utsushiyo would be what would be famously called offal hotpot. P164 "Even the giblets in here look the same." Odanna-sama's face suddenly popped up. "Well, there's no way to tell that it's offal. That, may be perhaps, but I was thinking that I was surely disgusted seeing so much blood in that food, and I couldn't help but imagine all of the stuff I hate. Ah, but it's offal hotpot. And it's been a long time..." "You like it?" "Whaaa-  Grandpa took me to a lot of trips in Hakata, in Fukuoka, because I loved it. Those times, there were food like pork bone ramen, but we also ate offal hotpot." Back then, Grandpa took me to so many places across Japan. Particularly, we went a lot to Kyushu**, and Fukuoka Prefecture's Hakata was my favorite place. It's because Hakata was famous for their pork bone ramen and offal hotpot. "Hakata, you say? Hm.... When Shirou was a lot younger, we both went to Nakasu to visit." "Hmph. Well, I could see you and Grandpa definitely be going there, you two won't seem out of place." Nakasu is known for having so many fun spots. The riverside has so many outdoor stalls and I could remember that time during winter break, Grandpa took me there and we ate pork bone ramen on the stall's outdoor veranda. Well but.... In front of me is offal hotpot. The fragrance of the shoyu soup base just wafts in the air, and it made me decide to get the serving spoon. "So, I guess I'll serve myself. I'd stop hesitating. Because I'll eat. It's OK to eat, right?"

T/N: Spoiler alert: Yuuma-sensei is from Fukuoka, in Kyushu Island. Be prepared to read more about food lol P165 "I will make you eat, even though I told you I was going to take you to eat here." Odanna-sama's face looked dumbfounded, but I don't care. I served his portion, I got mine, I placed my hands together and said "Let's eat", with much excitement. After taking the first bite, I chewed the offal with gusto. It was beyond what I expected, and I was surprised by the taste and fragrance. "Wow, it's really good. The offal, was it roasted once?" It has already been roasted once, I could see it on the surface of the innards. It's slowly being cooked even more, in front of my eyes. “Yes, it has been scorched. It is cooked first that way, then the excess oils seem to have been added to the hotpot." "Reaally? Then let's start eating!" While reveling in the chewy texture, the melted fat in the soup dissolves in the mouth, and the mellow flavors come out. Also, the undertones of the red peppers had a very irresistable taste. "Does it taste delicious?" "Oh, yes! I was surprised. It is rather spicy, but the mild taste of the soy sauce soup base is something that Ayakashi fancy, don't they?" "Ah, yes, that is why, among Oni, and other Ayakashi, this kind of cooking is indeed a favorite." "So, as expected, ogres prefer food that have offal?" "Of course." "Then.. Is Odanna-sama's favorite food.. Offal hotpot?" P166 "Favorite?" I tried to casually ask. Before, I asked Ginji-san if he knows what Odanna-sama's favorite food was, but he said that he didn't know, and so I have no idea what Odanna-sama's food preferences were. He seemed to think for a bit. "Offal hotpot? I'm afraid to tell you... No. Concerning such things, I would strongly say that I prefer the fresh blood and viscera of young human girls." "Having to hear that from you, do you take me as a fool?" Did he said that in all honesty, or was that a whole-hearted and morbid joke? Even without laughing, he seemed to look pleased. "As for me, up to now I can only say that my most favorite thing is a lady, nothing else." "Is that.. Your lover?" "Are you interested?" "No, not really." Either I was dreaming or it's because of the hotpot. The offal with garlic and cabbages all boiling down was enjoyable. The garlic flavor was just appetizing, how much could I just eat? "Oh, so if I tell you what my most favorite is, will you make it for me?" "I have no intention to do that." "But was thinking of looking forward to that." P167 Odanna-sama seemed to have said those words with a pout. I wonder if he's saying those things in earnest. i just can't make out whatever he's saying, but I can speak harshly too. "Anyhow, for Odanna-sama, such a thing as my cooking isn't even somewhat of a great deal." "Well, isn't that harsh. But you've cooked so many kinds of food for Ginji, have you not? He kept praising your cooking." "What, really?" Him praising my cooking didn't felt like he had ill will. Moreover, hearing that Ginji-san saying that my cooking tasted good, I felt honored. Somehow, somewhat, Odanna-sama didn't seem pleased, and raised an eyebrow. "Because Ginji-san is a kind-hearted and gentle person, isn't he? Thanks to a certain someone during my wretched time in the past, someone kindly brought me food." "Food...?" "Oh, that's a secret I remembered." Hearing me inadvertently blurting out, Odanna-sama closed his mouth and seemed to have detached. He didn't ask for anything in particular. "Oh that, when I said that, what Ginji-san said about me, I already knew that about a while ago. Although, I wonder why." P168 "Have you forgotten?" "What?" "No, never mind." Odanna-sama seemed to dodge the whole thing, and just turned towards the sights of the windows, to the bustling crowds that passed by before his eyes. Might it have to do something with what I said about Ginji-san that I've already forgotten? "You haven't moved your chopsticks. It's fine to eat at your own pace, steadily." "Oh, OK." I wasn't thinking at all, I was just moving my food around. Aside from the offal hot pot, there were also other food such as sliced raw liver and some vinegared offal. The raw liver slices were very fresh, and it didn't smell that raw. I especially loved the vinegared offal, its sourness may be too strong in my mouth, but I appreciate how refreshing it tasted. I felt full from the offal. Because it was indeed delicious, I suppose that the ogre thinks that I'll do an awful job of cooking something like it. Way before Odanna-sama's time, Japanese people during the Heian Period alreay know of offal hotpot, and during this same time many prominent Oni traveled to Utsushiyo and probably brought it with them back to Kakuriyo. Whether it's true or not, I could now understand why Oni have a love for innards. "I apologize for disturbing you." While still inside that daze of eating offals, a voice came from outside the sliding doors. Odanna-sama replied "Come in" and a person came inside. In that case, it was a lovely lady wearing a beautifully styled sakura-patterned kimono. P169 The area around her eyes were colored with a red tinge, and the entire length of her eyes gave off a very strong impression. Even more so is that her wafty, scarlet hair was arranged into two buns on both sides of her head, along with some accessories. Who is this, I wonder? She is like a colorful little flower that blooms in the spring, which gives off a lovely vibe. "It has been a long time, Tenjin-ya's Master, Odanna-sama." "Ah, how are you doing, Suzuran?" "I am doing well, thank you. Suzuran has been working hard to improve her talents, althought not there yet, I am still doing my best to grow and be a better geisha." "You've grown even more lovelier. I heard that you're now famous here in the capitol." "That... I heard that Odanna-sama was visiting so I came all the way here, to see you. " "Well, I am glad to have you here." I just looked at the two, earnestly while eating some hotpot. Surely not, but could it be that Odanna-sama secretly has another lover, and that because he thinks I'm already aware of that, he's going to introduce her now? "Ah, this here is Youto's very famous geisha Suzuran. She is our head clerk, Akatsuki's younger sister." "What? So.. You're an earth spider, a tsuchigumo? No way." P170 "It is not a lie. What you said is true." I stopped eating, stared at the smiling Suzuran, and I blinked my eyes countless times. Her brother's eyes with small irises lack warmth, but here in front of me is the younger sister, all nice and lovely. "Suzuran, this is Tsubaki Aoi. He is Tsubaki Shirou's granddaughter," "Ah, Shirou-sama's..." As soon as Odanna-sama mentioned Grandpa's name, Suzuran's facial expression instantly brightened up, and her cheeks started blushing. She seemed so joyous, and yearning, yet her face seems to be in pain. "So, Shirou-sama is also here, in Kakuriyo? I.. I have to see him no matter what." "Uhm, Grandpa is..." "Shirou did not come here to Kakuriyo. It's just Aoi." Odanna-sama interrupted me talking, and Suzuran just oh-ed. My mouth just slacked. Somehow, it seemed better not to say anything about Granda passing away. "Oh, I see.. Though when I saw your face, even though he's not here, it's as if I already met him." Suzuran turned around, and fixed herself on the tatami mat, her lovely eyebrows beckoning. At that point, in my eyes, I could surmise that Suzuran is not Odanna-sama's lover. "So, in this case, Shiro-sama's daughter is, I should say, Odanna-sama's bride?" "Yes, she is." P171 "No, it isn't like that." Odanna-sama's laughing face confirmed Suzuran's question, while my grim face denied it. Suzuran titled her head on one side and looked as if in agreement. "Aoi here is a really stubborn girl. She said that she is not considering marrying me until she has paid Shirou's debt fully. Right now, she is currently unemployed." "Please saying that I'm unemployed. Also, somehow don't change the story. It isn't that I won't marry you until I paid the debt, it's because I don't want to marry that's why I am paying it on my own, that's the real reason." "What kind of condition is that? If I was offered to get married, in all honesty, I won't have to go through all that toiling and labor..." After refuting entirely the conditions I said, albeit in a childish tone, Odanna-sama sighed, and drank some wine poured for him by Suzuran. "A lady going to all that trouble under Odanna-sama, that seems to be a very unusual condition, isn't it?" "As expected of Shirou's granddaughter, she's like that." "Yes. Aoi-sama resembles Shirou somehow. This brings back memories." I stared at Suzuran who seemed to be longing for the days gone past. When our eyes met, she broke into a smile then a laugh, and I kept my laugh as much as I could. The Ayakashi who knew my grandfather all told me "You're just like Shirou." The Ayakashi that easily forgot him did, to some extent recalled him and would even attest that they knew him. P172 "Say, Suzuran, it has been a long time since you have played your Shamisen for me. Do you have the time right now?" "Yes, it is for that reason that I came here." Suzuran, with her Shamisen on her back went to a corner of the room. And then I was startled by the numerous, fluttery reflections of her obi's feathery decorations, which resembled and reminded me of spider legs. But it wasn't a frightful feeling. As the shamisen was being played, the atmosphere of a lady singing beautifully washes over us. Eating delicious food while hearing this girl play is just luxurious, and I think that at that time, the mood was uplifted. "Wah, that tasted really good. As expected, delicious food is the best, right?" "I had you accompany me here because you will finish up the delicious food prepared for you." We left the restaurant afterwards, and I was in really high spirits. So was Odanna-sama as he leisurely inhaled from his pipe just like before. I was in a situation that had me smiling. I was so glad to have been treated to delicious food. But his cold attitude yesterday reminded me to reconsider the calculations I had of him. "By the way, isn't Suzuran quite lovely? Cuold she possibly be your lover?" P173 After I asked him that question, Odanna-sama raised his eyebrows. "Lover? That's impossible. Suzuran is Akatsuki's younger sister. Besides, to me, there is a particular granddaughter's existence..." "What. You're saying that again.." "Actually, I have no other lovers." "You're lying. Wait, the young mistress, the Yuki-onna, there's a rumor that she's your lover." "Yuki-onna? O-ryo? That can't be." After saying that, Odanna-sama's facial expression delicately changed, pretending as if he was laughing at something. As expected, his attitude became suspicious, but I couldn't fathom his true intentions. "Would you like to go get some dessert?" "OK, let's go eat some." To an abrupt suggesting of eating some dessert, I whole-heartedly agreed. To avoid having to converse, I just agreed without a doubt, but inside I really didn't have any other ideas. I put on my mask and the geta that I'm still not used to, and followed Odanna-sama without any other choice. "Oh!" Again, beyond my line of sight, I had a strong feeling. I was walking a bit along the main road, and within a large crowd of Ayakashi crossing, P174 I got mixed into it. At any rate, my vision was sensitive to the Ayakashi in front of me. That sensitivity is thanks to the fact that they are alive, which is a good thing. I unconsciously stopped and looked back. At that moment, a giant fish-headed Ayakashi bumped into me, which made my Kanzashi fall into the ground. "Owww.. My hairpin..." As I crouched in a panic to pick up my hairpain, an Ayakashi child bumped forcefully on my back. Like an absolutely sudden gust of wind, the crowd parted to make way for a bunch of Ayakashi children running about. Their pretty pinwheels were whirling around making screeching noises, but I can't look at that for very long. "Oww.. They're gone now." I pushed on my hips and stood up. My Kanzashi was safe, but I was an inconvenience to have been crouching in a crowd. I looked around me carefully and started to go pale. It's because I had no idea where Odanna-sama headed to. Probably, that's exactly it, I suppose. No matter how dubious I think that guy is, when I'm alone with no other person that I know around, in an instant I feel hopeless. P175 Let alone this is Kakuriyo.This is the Ayakashi's realm. Right now I'm wearing a mask, and I could hide being a human, but other than that, in this world, I am still an outsider. "Hey, stop dilly-dallyin'!" I stood still, it was a loud yell from a red-faced bearded three-eyed man. He was holding a bottle of liquor while wavering, and was probably drunk. I fled the scene in a panic, going along the main road from side to side, until I ended in a smaller pathway with very few people. and walked on the side of the road. Within this wispy and dodgy atmosphere was a back alley. There were paper lanterns that slowly lighted the surroundings, and it was likely that because there aren't that many Ayakashi here, I won't be running into one. "This isn't good... This isn't good..." Murmuring and grumbling, with sweat dripping on my face, I was desperately breaking loose in this labyrinth-like back alley. Unfortunately, the more I walked and moved forward, the more I got lost. I was surrounded by houses that seem to have a dull, dense air around them. I stared nervously at the surroundings. Whenever a small sound pops up, it was as if there were a lot of nasty Ayakashi running around. Whether they were large or small, they were hidden by the darkness. It's good that I still had my mask on. However, along the way, I stumbled across an unexpected place. I slipped and fell on my backside, and it felt chilly. P176 "Ice?" Falling on the ground were spherical ice that seem to pile up and spread like water. I just noticed it because of that. It was a good thing that I still have the uchiwa fan still tucked on my back, so I pulled it out in a hurry. As it continued, a mysterious apparition appeared. Even though it was a spring evening, multitudes of snowballs started piling up in front of me, and I fell backwards. It was at that moment that the mask I was wearing slipped off. "It's a human..." "A human girl.. Looks delicious..." Once the mask has come off, it felt like the breaths of the Ayakashi drew nearer and nearer. Holy crap, I thought, and I stood up and started to run and flee, but because I was unaccustomed to the geta sandals I couldn't escape fast enough. Anyone who had an afterthought could have moved fast with their limbs, and I knew that I shouldn't have worn these clogs but I still did.This is bad. This is AWFUL.** "Gaaaah let go of me! You HOOLIGAN Youkai!" Spitting out those words, as if coming out of a daze, I swiped and swung the paperplant uchiwa fan thoughtlessly. Instantly after that, something unexpected happened. A strong whirlwind sprung up, and all of the Ayakashi surrounding me got blown upward. They were all yelling as they rose upwards, eventually looking like stars.

T/N: I was doing my best not to translate this part into ‘It was at this moment, I knew I was f****d.’ But that’s the feeling lol P177 In an instant, there was a strong whirlwind. Indeed, I just realized what had just happened, and I stared slowly at the leaf-looking uchiwa fan in my hand. I couldn't speak. OK, however I swing and move this fan, it seems that it creates a really strong gust of wind. "Thanks to this uchiwa, I was saved. I couldn't think of eating this now." I smiled a bit painfully as I wiped the sweat on my forehead. But, I sensed something again in my peripheral vision. It seems that no matter where I go, uneasiness follows me. I quickly turned my head when I saw a face, and hurriedly followed it through the dark back alleys, around every corner. Just as I was about to turn around a corner, I would stop and see if I'm about to head into walls. As soon as I could see who I was, I just cannot stop running and chasing. "Wah, Ahhh!" I peeked at the corner, and as soon as my face became visible, the person jumped backward. It seemed like I couldn't lose sight of that person anymore, and that person removed their straw hat. "Are you.. The Yuki-onna?" That person was Tenjin-ya's Young Mistress, the Snow lady O-ryo. Her white kimono was a bit disheveled as she collapsed into the ground. P178 "Whaa.. What're you doing? You may be a human, but you're so uncivilized!" "Hey, that's my line. You were the one who made the ice spread on where I was standing a while ago, wasn't it? But the snowballs flew off. When my mask tore off, the dangerous Ayakashi came to eat me there." "Miss. Humans here in Kakuriyo are just hoodlums, and it's a good thing that they'd get eaten. You and Odanna-sama may have gone out, but you're a thousand years too early." "So that's it..." I suddenly saw O-ryo's eyes in front of me. She was showing here true feelings in her face. She was probably jealous of me when Odanna-sama and I went out, and followed us here. "Could it possibly be that, you rode in the Kaikakumaru? By your own accord?" "How I got here is none of your business." "Don't feign ignorance. Could it be that you abandoned your post? Isn't a Young Mistress expected to be prim and proper?" My reply seemed to have shocked O-ryo. "But.. It's not like you're not doing anything!" "But I'm nothing like the inn's staff." "Don't pretend like you have no connections like that! This is why I hate human girls!" "Alright then, but I hate Ayakashi too, you know." P179 In that time, that place got filled with sounds of squawking. In the innermost part of the back alley that we were in, we started hearing hoarse yells of "Wait!" "Don't you dare run away!" O-ryo and I stopped our verbal fight.  The dark alley only has one street, and on the other side, the sounds of someone wearing geta sandals can be heard in the darkness, and it seems like a geisha was running towards us. She was wrapped in a flowing sakura-patterned kimono, and I recognized her. "Suzuran-san?!" It was Suzuran-san, the geisha. She also noticed O-ryo and I. "O.. Odanna-sama.. Is he not here?" Looking pale, Suzuran went towards us and clang onto me. She seemed to have been chased, and her body was trembling. From the farthest part of the back alley, I saw Ayakashi pointing their fingers and yelling "She's here!" I had no idea what the situation was about, but I thought that we must escape, in a bit I pulled Suzuran's hand and as if in a daze we ran towards the other side of the road. We turned toward several corners, and we hid within the shady parts in-between the buildings, and for a while we concealed our breaths. The footsteps of Suzuran's pursuers eventually sounded as if they're already far away, and already dispersed. "Are you OK?" "Yes." Suzuran replied as she nodded her head. P180 "I'm sorry, Odanna-sama isn't here. I lost sight of him." "Oh... I see..." The geisha's kimono was beautiful, but probably very heavy, and yet no matter how heavy it was, the decorations attached on the feathery obi were still intact. Suzuran running fast wearing such garb must have been a very extra-ordinary sight. "What on earth Suzuran, who were you running away from?" She was just simply perplexed, and didn't say anything. "Wait up, I'm going there too." The Yuki-onna O-ryo was following us from behind. It seemed like she came down from the sky, and with her white kimono swinging in front of me, she looked like she was fluttering as she flew down with a thud. "The Ayakashi chasing Suzuran were the Ittan-momen from the large drapery seller, Yahata-ya. They say that Yahata-ya is from the Southwest Hachiyo, they have money and power, aren't they an influential and long-established store? Suzuran, I wonder, could you have angered Yahata-ya's master?" "O-ryo san..." It seems that O-ryo and Suzuran knew each other. Nevertheless, Suzuran was still shaking. In any case, I was thinking that it was inevitable that I send the girl home safely, but she just couldn't move. P181 "I was sold." "Really?!" With a grim expression, Suzuran began talking about her circumstances. "Lately, Yahata-ya's young master whom I receive patronage from, insistently keeps dropping by, and a while ago when I went back to the geisha house, the boss that I trust so much commanded me to marry into Yahata-ya. 'That is for your own happiness.' he said. I detested it, and they know it, but they can surely get paid a very large sum of money, so they sold me off." She braced her face, and clutched her fists to her chest. "What is that, it's not the worst. The Yahata-ya's young master who spoils and pampers, is a young man from a rich family. He is famously known to go crazy over any girl he fancies. Even in Tenjin-ya, there is someone who does whatever they please." O-ryo reminded me of something I hate, and I frowned. Suzuran just kept her head hung. "The geisha house is just in front of Yahata-ya's property. I pretended to pack up my belongings, and I jumped down from my room's window. I fled as if death was surrounding me." The girl's expression was grave. Somehow, I could relate to Suzuran's situation after hearing her circumstances with regards to being stalked by a rich guy. No, it's a more complicated story than that. It's because Suzuran could lose her livelihood because of this. P182 "Oh, I see..." Our shoulders shuddered when we heard a voice other than ours, from somewhere. I thought they found us, but I saw that black kimono and the black haori, it was no other than Odanna-sama. Suzuran called out "Odanna-sama!!" considerably, and felt very much relieved to be safe. As for me, I could only say a few words. "You, where have you been until now? You left me behind!" "You disappeared! These back alleys were dizzying, and you were sitting and hiding in the dark spaces in between these buildings. Anyone who tries to find you won't find you. Rather than they finding you, I found you instead. I want you to compliment me, at the least," Odanna-sama uninterestedly retorted. I wonder if he's angry. But for sure, I got here in this place despite myself. Could it be that, he was relentlessly searching for me? Oh well, whatever it was I don't care anymore. "Oh my.. uhmm.. Alright, I'm here." No, it's not alright, there's someone else here. It's the Yuki-onna, O-ryo. She was hiding her face behind her sleeve and was about to run away in haste. But Odanna-sama has sharp eyes and found her. P183 "O-ryo, why are you here?" "Oh, that, uhm..." "I was sure that you said you were attending your duties in Tenjin-ya." O-ryou lightly and furtively watched Odanna-sama's facial expressions, and shut her mouth completely. "I hope it's not what I am thinking, but could you have abandoned your duties and came here?" As soon as Odanna-sama spoke those words, the entire surroundings suddenly got cold. The Yuki-onna's eyebrows twitched, but while seemingly agreeing, her facial expressions became unreadable. Moreover, I realized that our hair and our clothes were starting to get covered in snow. This snow lady, who threw countless snowballs at me, in an instant, why am I just shaking things off. "Well, whatever. Suzuran is here. Suzuran, since you have already escaped from Yahata-ya's gang, for the time being, it is a good idea to go to Tenjin-ya. It is safer there, and you can tell me everything that happened." As soon as Odanna-sama spoke to Suzuran, she felt relieved. That was the extent of her dreadful thoughts. "Odanna-sama, I apologize deeply." Odanna-sama spoke again, to Suzuran in a gentle voice. P184 "What are you apologizing for? You are our head clerk's younger sister. To me, you two are like two adorable grandchildren. Even though you were forced into a marriage proposal, we cannot be silent about it. Come now, let us go back to Kaikakumaru." After that, I patted Suzuran's shoulders and hugged her, and we just exchanged looks. As I nodded in approval, a low voice from the Yuki-onna came from behind. "Alright then, I guess I'm going home too." O-ryo seemed exhausted.Odanna-sama's eyes may have darkened, but I think she needs to pay for her mistakes. I was exasperated. "Yuki-onna, before we were found by Odanna-sama, were you thinking of going back to Tenjin-ya?" "You.. You shut up! You have nothing to do with this!" "Well, that was expected of you." It was like a time when a parent goes out of a room and leaves the child unattended, and when the kid quietly leaves to play hooky and wander about gets caught in the act. A while ago, the Yuki-onna was up on her high horse, as if invincible, but now she's disheartened, and her shoulders dropped. I think she looked like melting ice cream. P185 As wispy clouds drifted past, daybreak has begun. The Ayakashi's activities have ended, and in a little while the shops started closing for the day. We, on the other hand will be returning over to the Southern Torii gate, to ride Tenjin-ya's ship. "Ah, she's there! She's boarding Tenjin-ya's Kaikakumaru!" In that moment, we were definitely found out by the Yahata-ya's henchmen. Those guys seemed to have searched the entire harbor relentlessly for Suzuran, and for a very long time. Everyone had white hair, and all of Yahata-ya's guys had a human form. Each of their faces were covered with a white cloth with "Han"** written on it, making their expressions unreadable, but their impatience can be easily seen through their movements. Odanna-sama left Suzuran in the care of the three Nopperabou sisters, who came out to take her inside the ship, as instructed. Odanna-sama and I stood leisurely in front of the ship while we casually looked at the Ittan-momen. "The Ittan-momen have a strong image of being a long, single piece of cloth, but these ones have a human form, don't they?" "Ayakashi usually change their forms. Whatever Ayakashi they are, they have a human shape." "So when you say that, the earth spiders, even Ginji-san, you all have a human form?"

T/N: Ittan-momen - they’re long pieces of cloth youkai, that strangle humans. The “Han” ( 反 ) on their faces also form the words for drapery, as ittan ( 一反 ) is a unit of measurement, mostly for cloths. P186 While we were casually chatting, a powerful voice boomed out. "Tenjin-ya's Master. Please hand over the geisha, Suzuran to us. We legally and formally received her!" In the middle of the Ittan-momen stands a young man, surely from a rich family. A young man wearing a very gaudy haori. With his long, white hair flapping like a flag, his face was strongly expressing a smile. Beside him was a terrible-looking red-faced man-servant, who seems to be surrounded by a lot of underlings. The other Ayakashi in the main road, and those who were returning to the harbor to board their boats who seem to be so elegant were all going "What's that? What's going on?" and started to look at the scene. On the roofs were some guys' camera shutters going off. Odanna-sama on the other hand faced the nervous Ittan-momen, and did his usual smile. "Hey there, aren't you the young master of Yahata-ya, whom we were always under the care of? What happened to you, your facial expression has changed? Suzuran is our head clerk's younger sister, and they always have been by themselves, so I'm bringing her back to Tenjin-ya so they could be together." "How shameless! Even though you say that you're always under our care, the truth is that Tenjin-ya has never used our fabrics!" Odanna-sama's retort insulted the short-statured man-servant. P187 From the side, Odanna-sama was stealthily asked. "Doesn't Tenjin-ya use Yahata-ya's products?" "Our yukata were provided to us by the owner of Shikiidou. Yahata-ya may be old and established, but aren't their products fairly expensive?" "Ah, about that..." This was different from that time with the Tengu. Especially when it comes to a point that there is no customer-client relationship, the rivalry just gets worse. Once again, with his usual smile Odanna-sama spoke to the young master. "Moreover, young lord, Suzuran awfully seems to not like you. A marriage obtained unreasonably, isn't that selfish on your part? Hmm... My opinion is there's nothing more useless than a loveless marriage, isn't it?" "Wha... What did you just say to me?!" The young master's face showed his anger, and went to his man-servant. Selfishly, he retorted, "You have insulted me. I am declaring a war! By any means!" But to me, seeing as there is no other choice, with a smug grin** Odanna-sama replied "Well, if you say so." That is no joke. With a nonchalant face, Odanna-sama commanded Kaikakumaru’s crew to get up and sail.

T/N: Shit-eating grin is a better translation but Odanna-sama’s too pretty for that lol. P188 What, we haven't gotten in, are they going to leave the harbor? "Hey, stop! Tenjin-ya's ship!" As Kaikakumaru slowly and steadily rose, from everywhere a flood of Ittan-momen started lining up, preparing their bows and arrows, and assumed their shooting stance. The tips of their arrows were covered with an oil-soaked cloth, with pyres filled with blazing yellow enchanted fire in front of them, and the dangerous army faced Kaikakumaru and started to shoot. I was dumbfounded. With a sudden and loud gasp, Odanna-started to defend us. Standing with an expressionless and unchanging face, the arrows flying towards me were received by him with one hand, and fiercely blew out the enchanted flames like trash that gets thrown away. I think it's a flawless defense. However, several arrows hit Kaikakumaru , and the sails started to catch fire. Not just Kaikakumaru, but the other surrounding boats were reached by the flaming arrows, and everwhere the flames started rising up. The screaming and panicking voices of the Ayakashi were audible. It was terrible. It was merciless. It was inhumane! That was what I was thinking, but those guys were Ayakashi. As for Odanna-sama, he was still blowing on his pipe with a composed face. Seeing that again, the Man-servant got excited and the Yahata-ya’s Ittan-momen squad once again started to aim, towards us and prepared for shooting their flaming arrows. P189 This time they were aiming towards Odanna-sama. If this continues, I'll be in danger. "Oww!" A small burning piece fell down and grazed my arm. Instantly, I remembered in that moment the Tengu's uchiwa fan. "Fire!" The Ittan-momen squad pulled back their bows and released their flaming arrows toward us again. Without any hesitation, I leaned forward in front of Odanna-sama and deliberately fanned the uchiwa fan upwards, and I put a lot of power in fanning it. A strong gust of wind blew wildly. The flaming arrows flying towards me were all extinguished, and flew towards and beyond the Southern Torii gate. After that, the numerous human-bodied Ittan-momen of Yahata-ya were halted and then like paper were blown away. Even the ox-cart that they were using also got turned over. Only the young lord and his man-servant were left, desperately clinging onto a pillar. "Ohhh.. You defended me, Aoi!" "No, I did that to save myself." Odanna-sama may have spoken in joy, but I was just stating the obvious. I was changed, and I understood the power of the uchiwa fan. I stared at it begrudgingly. P190 "Looking at this leaf, it's an awesome uchiwa fan! I was only going to use this for serving seafood dishes, but definitely not anymore." "Yes indeed, it's good that you don't. There's nothing as precious as that treasured fan." Odanna-sama's retort definitely hit. The Yahata-ya's Ittan-momen started to pull back. "Isn't that the Tengu's treasured uchiwa fan?" "What on earth is that little girl?" I heard so many whispered voices. So many Ayakashi were gawking. At least, the wind brought the Ittan-momen down. Their young master, with his long hair disheveled by the blowing wind, and his body equally in distress, pointed at me and yelled with anger, "What did you just do, little girl? Who are you? Are you a Tengu?" "No, I can't say who I am.." Right now I am a human girl. Incidentally, unemployed. I am not a Tengu. But Odanna-sama relaxed his lips. He pulled my waist and magnanimously started to proclaim, "This is Tsubaki Shirou's granddaughter, Tsubaki Aoi. I am Tenjin-ya's master, and she is my bride!" "Whaaaat?" My face spelled "What is this man talking about?" After his proclamation, he pulled me close and from where we were standing leaped up, and with a strong force flew up towards Kaikakumaru’s wooden deck. P191 It was like riding a jet coaster, I was mentally unprepared for it as we landed. At the back of my mind, the harbor was adrift with an eerie silence. But that silence was broken by a high-pitched scream, as I was looking down my voice just exploded. "Move to port side, steer to port side..." As my consciousness fled that place, there were other Ayakashi in their cruise ships. "Oh, hell, no, Kakuriyo is doomed!" Why were they expecting Kakuriyo's demise, my head couldn't wrap around it, that some Ayakashi were so serious. "That Tsubaki Shirou's granddaughter, she is the wife of Tenjin-ya's ogre-god?" "Isn't that a tragedy?" It seems that the sudden interest can't be suppresed, it was the topic of discussion among the lowly Ayakashi while having their booze and appetizers. "Go back! Go back! The news' evening edition must be replaced!" "There's no time! We'll just hurry it up for the afternoon edition tomorrow!" The news item about a celebrity scandal seems to be catching on, and from beyong the large Torii gate, Youto's crowd was broken up by Ayakashi that look like news reporters. Odanna-sama's proclamation was a shocking target, it seems. To the Ayakashi, Tenjin-ya's Master and Shirou Tsubaki's granddaughter "getting married" was obviously horrible, scary and revolting, and it created a huge ruckus. P192 "Say, Odanna-sama, why were those Ayakashi shocked? Are you a celebrity?" "I'm not a celebrity, I am Tenjin-ya's Master. But, well, I do hold the title of a Hachiyo. Being one gives fame and power. Each of Kakuriyo's remarkable Ayakashi, there are a lot of stories when it comes to sudden marriage proposals, whether with a daughter or a granddaughter." "Hmmmph. So up until today, you were single?" Even though it was a dodgy question, Odanna-sama confidently agreed. "Well, that's it. Which is why in Kakuriyo, it’s common gossip to ask who shall be my bride. Those are what people talk about me. A powerful person, particularly an Ayakashi who holds the position of Hachiyo, news about their marriage are always a subject of public interest by the populace in Kakuriyo." "Interest.. But, I don't think anyone would be happy about that." “Haha, it's not really a pleasant matter. Surely, it is a public announcement, and because Shirou's granddaughter was involved, everyone was absolutely caught off-guard. It's probably the worst." Odanna-sama's way of speaking sounded dubious. I titled my head. "That's.. because Aoi is Shirou's granddaughter." P193 Looking at my face, with a sneering smile, Odanna-sama's remarks about Grandpa seem to have a strong impact. To Kakuriyo, Grandpa is a very influential person. Even amongst Ayakashi, he is the scariest. From the soles of my feet, a cold chill crept up, and I looked below. Yahata-ya's Ittan-momen were creating a noisy argument. They stopped, and other than being unable to wave their hands to us in the boat, they could only stare at the slowing rising Kaikakumaru in vexation. Even as Kaikakumaru’s sails were ablaze, it was still rising up. Despite that grave 10 minutes, the ship's deck still standing, the commotion that happened below, no matter how much I think about it, I still can't understand it. Odanna-sama seems to have lost interest in what happened before, and started instructing the ship's crew, who were desperately extinguishing the fires on the sails here and there, and the blazing flames of Kaikakumaru’s sails were eventually extinguished. The beautiful sunrise from the east has come. Normally, this would be a silent time in Kakuriyo. But today, Kakuriyo's capitol had an early-morning disturbance. While thinking about the myriad of things that happened today, the day started brightly as before, and I rubbed my eyes. P194 A while later, I realized what happened, and the next day, Kakuriyo's Metropolitan Newspaper reads "Bride from Hell went Haywire", among other things, I was decorated with a very typical and one-sided title. From then on, without me knowing it, I was known as the rumored "Tenjin-ya's Wife from Hell."

End of Chapter 5, Volume 1.

Volume 1 Translations by Kakuriyo-translations

Prologue               Chapter 1            Chapter 2      Chapter 3       Chapter 4

References:

Wonderful site for the youkai references

Other stuff I used to do this: Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (you can buy here, I’m not sponsored btw). I was about to buy the older edition but then the newer one came out 2013 so I bought that instead. Worth buying since I was able to find nearly all of the words I needed just by stroke pattern alone.

Merriam-Webster's Japanese-English Dictionary (the red-covered 1996 version is apparently out of print right now). This is what I have been using for a very long time, I bought it when I was still a fetus (yes I am old so what lol), and after so many years, when compared to newer editions, I still prefer this one since its entirety is Japanese-English, the English to Japanese gloss are just 16 pages tops, so you get more Japanese words for your buck. But that’s just my opinion, maybe other people prefer the Jap-En x En-Jap IDEK.

Basic online dictionary, Jisho. Knowledge of verb conjugations  and other words are necessary since not all have entries.

If you can read Japanese, you can buy the whole set in Amazon Japan, they’re shipping worldwide now, I think.

[antihero-writings]

His Butler Cemetery, Chapter 3: The Problem of the Nights

Fandom: Black Butler | Kuroshitsuji (manga)

Fic Summary: Four visits to the cemetery, each growing in emotional intensity, and spanning backwards in time. (Spoilers for the manga!!)

(I'll put the links to chapters 1 & 2 in a reblog!!)

Chapter Summary: “Young Master, Edward. If something you held most dear suddenly shattered one day...What would you do?"

"Dear, God. What a terrible ordeal you've tasked my sister with...."

Character Focus: Edward and Lizzie Midford

Notes: Eyyy remember this fic? The one I planned to finish in October 2018? Hehe...Yeah...

I never forgot about this fic... life just kinda got in the way and I moved on to other things. I have so many fics on my computer that I just can't seem to figure out how to finish, and this chapter was one of them. Lately I've been trying to go through some of them and either just slap an ending on them, or split them into multiple chapters so it's more manageable, haha. So I just picked a way to end it, even if I'm not entirely satisfied XD

I actually really really like Edward as a character, and was kind of inspired by the quote above to write this. I was excited to write for him for this fic, and really really liked this chapter, so I couldn't go without posting it at some point!!I hope people still like it, even though it's been so long...I'd deeply appreciate it if you could leave a comment to let me know!!

By the way, I am NOT caught up on the manga, so please don't spoil anything from the recent chapters for me!!

Chapter 3, the Problem of the Nights:

Edward never could win against her.

Father would laugh and say that the Midford women had always been strong, and it was no cause for shame.

Still, there’s something particularly humiliating about getting your ass kicked by a cute little girl….Especially when she’s your younger sister.

The world would coo over her: her pretty shoes, her curly blonde hair, her frilly dresses, and sigh in awe that someone so cute could be so skilled with the sword.

And, if he was perfectly honest, she was incredible. He would never deny that, never say the praise was undeserved. Often he was her biggest fan, her loudest cheerleader, and if anyone dare lay a finger on her, or say a single syllable of slander, they’d certainly have a sword to answer to.

And, he supposed, her proficiency was good for him too, in a way, because it pushed him to work harder.

But no matter how many days he spent waking up early to wave his sword at empty air, no matter how much mastery he had compared to his classmates, he could never catch up to her. Sometimes it felt like the race was rigged, and he wasn’t moving at all.

He applauded her, admired her.

But sometimes he would throw his sword into the wall and demand that it listen to him. That he, a thirteen-year-old boy could and should be better at swordplay, than a ten-year-old girl who decorated her world in pink plushies and bonnets.

When the other nobles chatted with Lizzie, and about Lizzie, and then turned to him to ask what he’d been doing, sure he had a story to top hers…

Sometimes he would hold his head high and boast of his accomplishments, and Lizzie would have only the loftiest of compliments to add.

But other times that question would ring through his head, and his tongue would fall limp in his mouth.

Because no matter how much he’d done, if he was the top of his class, he could never triumph Lizzie.

What have I done lately? Not much compared to Lizzie.

Mother was not the kind of person who would answer for you; unlike most mothers she wouldn’t boast of her children smallest accomplishments. In fact, in even their greatest endeavors she could find “room for improvement.” He wasn’t complaining: this too was a good thing; he would never be where he was now without that.

But sometimes he just wished she would just wrap her arms around him and say that she was proud of him.

There was Father at least, who was the softie of the family. Who would clap him on the back and tell Francis not to be so hard on him, that he’d done more than well. His eyes would shine as he promised he was a champion in his own right, as well as his eyes. And that helped. Still…

Still, he didn’t feel like much.

It wasn’t that he was bad at things, or dumb. He was quite smart, good at school, but he didn’t…excel.

The thing about Lizzie is that there were only a few things she practiced, but she excelled at them.

Jack of all trades, master of none, so they say.

And no one notices you unless you’re very good at something, or very bad at it.

So he faded into the background. Lizzie’s cheerleader. His parents’ son. And he told himself he was alright with that.

Beneath all those intermingling feelings of pride and jealousy was a question:

How could such a small girl hold so much fight inside her? How could those gentle eyes hold so much fire?

It didn’t make sense. She was supposed to be sweet, and gentle, and soft. So what was it that drove her to get the gold when he could only ever snag second place?

He got his answer when he met Ciel.

The twin boys, one of whom she was destined to marry—some day, after they had learned how to be gentlemen in a world of men who weren’t gentle.

Well he couldn’t approve of that without meeting him first.

The twins were…so small. Smaller even than Lizzie. Big blue eyes like stormy days.

One marched up to him and demanded who he was, and what he was doing there, and that his name was Ciel, and he was to be the Earl some day. The other, hid behind his father’s pant leg, and muttered his greeting from afar. And when Mother scolded Mr. Phantomhive to keep them in line, and comb their hair properly, even the bolder one shirked into the shadows.

He finally understood what Lizzie had that he didn’t:

Something to protect.

When he took up the sword, it was for the sake of the sword itself, and a name.

When she took it up, she did so for something more than the trade, the passed-down-name, the skill. The sword was a means, not an end. There was something—someone—she loved, or was learning to at least, and if that person were ever threatened, she didn’t want to stand on the sidelines and cry. She wanted to stand between him and danger and do everything in her power to keep the hurt at bay.

She didn’t care about being well-versed in the sword: she just cared about protecting him. The sword was simply how she’d do that. And, well, the irony of being something is that you’ll only be good at it when you’re looking beyond it.

And it was that, that passion, that idea that there was something beyond, that this was all in preparation for a war against anything that stood to harm him, that was why she excelled. Because he didn’t have anything calling him to it, besides the fact that the Midford’s had always been good at it. As long as he didn’t have a reason for it within himself, he would never excel.

So, from then on, he never complained, silently or aloud. From then on he was nothing more than her firmest supporter, and when people asked what he had done lately, expecting his story to top hers, he could be okay that he would never be better than her at some things.

And then, one snowy December, when they were putting their finishing touches on their Christmas tree, and competing to make the best cookies, someone arrived at their door to tell them they found Mr. and Mrs. Phantomhive in a pool of their own blood…and the twins…they didn’t find.

She didn’t cry. She didn’t immediately burst into a thousand shards of glass like he would have expected.

He would have liked it better that way. Because he could deal with that. Because he could do something, he could run up to her, hug her, kiss her, comfort her. Be the big brother.

No, the Midford women had always been strong, and she was no exception. She didn’t fall to pieces. She went into her room, put on a black dress and bonnet—(as was proper). And she went to the funeral, as all good little noblegirls should.

And all throughout the service, as they lay Rachel and Vincent to rest, beside two little graves they all knew were empty, as the vicar read from a Bible a passage about sheep, and finding your way home, he kept glancing at her, kept waiting to see the tears to stream down her face, for her to fall to her knees.

Her eyes were big, and blank, and full of almost-to-the-surface tears, yet she was sugar and spice and everything nice; the picture of an English noblewoman.

She went about her day, whole, composed, proper. And no one could have guessed that grief wasn’t another thing she excelled at.

But he’d never quite forget that night. The sound he heard, even through the passing years.

That night, after the funeral, after mother sent her off to bed with a few proud words, and father kissed her one to many times, after Edward grabbed her hand and asked “Are you sure you’re okay?” After she said “Yes, I’ll be fine.”—

He woke up to the sound of screaming.

He shot up in bed, wondering if he’d dreamed it, heart yammering, breath burning. He didn’t bother to light a candle, just stumbled out of bed, and ran down the halls, calling her name.

When he reached her room, she was sitting on the floor beside her bed in her little white nightdress, and tear tracks staining her face; in pieces. A perfect gold stain on the world.

She reached her hands weakly out to him as he knelt down before her, and wrapped her arms so tight around him that he thought she might break him too…and she cried into his nightshirt until she stained it. But he didn’t care.

Many little girls run to their parents in this situation. But he knew, if she had gone to their parents, mother would have told her there was no use crying, they weren’t coming back, and father would have doted on her, and she wanted neither…or rather, something in between. So she came to him.

This wasn’t the last time.

During the day she would go about her life as normal.

But every night she woke up. It was always somewhere between 14:00 and 16:00 he heard her screaming, calling the name of the sky. Either that, or he would hear a faint knock on his door, and see the face of a broken little girl in need of her big brother.

It became muscle memory for Edward to comfort her. To throw off his covers and run to his sister’s room, or he would pat the blankets beside him to say come here, and either way he’d wrap his arms around her tight, as if trying to wring the tears out of her, and she would sob until they burned rivers in his skin. He would brush his hands through her golden hair, whispering things in her ear like shh, and it’ll be okay, and singing old lullabies, all the while knowing knowing the quiet would come. And he would pray. Pray that things would be okay. Pray that the one who created the universe would grant some solace to this sweet little sheep.

He would pray, and the next day, with tears barely barred from his own cheeks, he would kick the wall, and demand why and how a merciful God could do this to someone like her. Why he would take good people from the world.

—(He would pray, and he thought one day he heard Him say They aren’t yours to keep.)—

Sometimes she asked if they could go to the cemetery in the morning. They would dress in their finest blacks, looking like ink blots on the world, onyx with gold filigree in the cracks. She would carry bouquets of flowers, the petals sifting off in the wind, and add them to those there, left by the miscellaneous others who cared for them…And she wouldn’t cry then, no. She wouldn’t cry until it was past the witching hour.

She didn’t give up. Didn’t stop living. For all intents and purposes she was the same as she’d always been…but something was missing when they crossed blades.

She woke up less and less as time went by. Eventually her visits to his room were stray nights in the grand scheme of things, and she didn’t cry so hard. Sometimes she’d just sit with him, or ask to play chess, or chat with him till the morning came.

And then one day, after the grief didn’t burn so badly in her chest—

Her fiancé came back without an eye, and with a pitch black butler.

He didn’t talk about what he’d gone through, or how he’d come back. He didn’t speak of that day his parents died. He didn’t mention how his brother died—he didn’t mention much of his brother at all.

He wasn’t that brazen, bold, grinning child they knew before. He was dark, and serious…and he never smiled.

And Edward was glad to have him back…yet from the start he couldn’t help but feel…uneasy. Like something was wrong. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. There were too many questions, too many gaps in information, and the darkness that seemed to flock to this boy now didn’t help.

And Edward, though Lizzie’s fire was only stronger since he came back, her skill even more unmatchable, was at last able to get a few good hits in sometimes.

He couldn’t believe he never saw it before, his reason beyond the sword, the task of carrying on a name... it was there from the beginning.

He knew who it was he had to protect.