#i love yamato with cat eyes

[bonniedraws]

happy birthday to my boi yamato

[kaiser1ns]

#. FALLIN' FOR YA

featuring 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝘅 𝗳𝗲𝗺!𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 ıllı. togame jo, takiishi chika, umemiya hajime, endo yamato, sakura haruka, kaji ren

fluff. to say you have fallen in love is one thing, but to fall for him was something you didn't expect.

TOGAME JO

You found yourself on the rooftop of Ori, the headquarters of the Shishitoren gang, high above the ground, your heart racing as you glanced down. You had no idea how you ended up here or what possessed you to climb this high, but now you were stuck, paralyzed by fear.

"Baby, I am scared," your voice trembled as you looked down at Togame who had come to your rescue. It wasn't that high — you'd seen the way Choji jumped like a monkey, scaling the building in seconds. But you were neither Choji nor a monkey.

Your boyfriend stood below, his beautiful green eyes reflected calmness. A lazy smile played on his lips as he held out his arms. "Angel, just jump. I will catch you."

"That's even more scary. We will both get hurt," you protested, your heart pounding in your chest. He looked up at you, his smile never wavering. "Come on now, nothing bad can happen."

"Jo, do you understand that I can literally break mine and your bones?" you said, stepping back from the edge, taking a deep breath to steady yourself.

"The only thing you will break is my heart if you decide to stay there any longer," he said softly. You let out a big sigh, taking a few more deep breaths before finally deciding to overcome your fear. "Alright... On three."

He began to count for you, "One... two... three!"

With your eyes squeezed shut, you jumped from the rooftop, bracing for the impact. But instead of hitting the hard ground, you felt his strong arms catch you, pulling you into a tight embrace.

"Angel, did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?" he whispered into your ear, a playful lilt in his voice.

You were on the verge of tears from the fear and stress of the situation, and here he was, flirting with you. "I should have stayed there," you replied, burying your face in his shoulder, half relieved and half annoyed.

TAKIISHI CHIKA

You had never thought you'd develop feelings for Takiishi Chika. Yet, here you were, inexplicably drawn to the red-headed boy who had somehow let you inside his usually closed comfort zone. One day, you found yourself asking him to teach you some defensive techniques. Just in case, you told him, you ended up alone without him in sight, which will never happen.

"So I clench my fist like this and then I—" you began, mimicking his earlier demonstration.

Elbow strikes could be thrown sideways like a hook, upwards like an uppercut, downwards with the point of the elbow, diagonally, or directly, even during a jump. As you tried to attack him, he easily stopped you, his hand catching yours, of course he will stop you he is the strongest after all.

"Don't tighten your muscles so much, and don't squat like that," he instructed, his voice calm yet firm, you loved listening to him on the rare moments he decided to speak.

You nodded, resetting your stance. Determined to impress him, you moved faster this time, but your foot caught on nothing, and you started to fall. Before you could hit the ground, his hands catched your wrists, steadying you as your body leaned closer.

Your eyes locked, his gaze made your heart race, and you were sure you were going to kiss at any second. You had fallen for him, deeply, and there was no turning back. But then, he let go, and you landed on your butt with a thud.

"Ow," you muttered, rubbing the sore spot. "What was that for, Chika?"

When you looked up, he was already walking away, his back to you. First he makes you fall for him and then making you chase after him — a typical game of cat and mouse.

You scrambled to your feet, quickly closing the distance between you. As you caught up, he glanced at you with a sidelong look, letting out a sigh. Despite his cold behaviour, you didn't miss the way his hand found its place on your waist, holding you close. You may have fallen for him, but he fell harder for you ... but you didn't hear it from me, alright?

UMEMIYA HAJIME

You have always been close to the members of Bofurin, especially with their leader, with whom you had a strange relationship, you were together but at the same time you were not. Nothing was official, but everything was real — from holding hands to kissing eachother. Right now you are not trying to think about it as you help the first years paint. Perched on a mini staircase, you meticulously worked on the higher parts, lost in the rhythm of the brush strokes.

"You are doing so well, Y/N-chan!" A familiar voice interrupted your thoughts. You didn't need to turn around to know who it was; that voice was unmistakable.

"Hajime, you scared me!" you exclaimed, your heart fluttering, as he laughed at you.

"Oh, did I? I am sorry," he said, his tone teasing. You rolled your eyes at him playfully as he crossed his arms and watched you work, a smile adoring his beautiful and gentle face.

Turning around, you noticed that it had fallen unusually silent. The first years were nowhere to be seen. Confused, you asked, "Where is everyone?"

"I made them go to Kotoha to get lunch. You can't work while hungry," he explained, his eyes soft with concern. He always cared about others and that was one of the things you liked about him.

Shaking your head with a smile, you returned to your painting, stretching to reach the higher spots. Suddenly, the staircase wobbled beneath you, and you lost your balance, but before you could fall, strong arms caught you.

"My little shooting star~ I guess my wish came true," he whispered, his breath warm against your ear. Your cheeks flamed with embarrassment as you buried your face in his chest, the scent of him filling your senses. "What wish?" you wondered and asked him looking into his eyes, those beautiful blue eyes you could drown in as if you were in the ocean.

"The one where you finally fall for me!" you didn't know if he was joking or not, but even with that playful tone, he was completely serious.

"Is this how we are making it official?" you mumbled, your voice muffled by his shirt.

"I guess it is," he replied softly, his arms tightening around you. Here, in his embrace, was where you belonged, as you have fallen in the right place at the right time.

ENDO YAMATO

You stumble slightly as you walk, your heels clicking against the pavement as you walked hand in hand with Endo, his grip was reassuring somehow distracting you, yet you couldn't help but hiss from the pain in your feet. Those heels were a mistake, but they were the perfect finishing touch to your outfit. You curse yourself for choosing fashion over comfort, wanting everything to be perfect tonight.

"You okay there?" Endo asked, giving your hand a gentle squeeze. His voice was filled with genuine concern, sometimes it surprised you how much he cares for you, even for the smallest things.

"Yeah, nothing to worry about. It's fine," you replied, trying to mask the discomfort. He glanced at you with those thoughtful eyes that always seemed to be searching for something. "Y/N, I may be a very bad judge of character, but I know when a person experiences pain." His words were more of a hint than a statement, and you knew he was right.

You stopped walking, intending to turn to him and reassure him face to face. But as you twisted your body, your ankle gave away. You felt yourself tipping forward, bracing for the impact of the fall.

But it never came. Endo caught you, his tattooed arms strong and steady around you. "Careful, doll. Don't fall so soon for me," he teased, the mischievousness never leaving his eyes.

Your heart raced, not just from the near fall, but from the way he held you, the way you could melt right on the spot. You had always been unpredictable around him, your feelings a whirlwind that neither of you fully understood.

"Yamato," you whispered, looking up at him. His carefree personality masked a complexity you were only beginning to uncover. He made you feel loved despite him not knowing how to identify his own emotions.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, his eyes searching yours as he wondered how you do the things you do? Why do you make him feel... like this? He had hard time recognising what's happening inside his brain and heart. He never understood the emotions people around him expressed because he thought it just was how he was meant to live — like a lifeless soul.

You smiled, your heart swelling a bit uncertainty, but there was nothing to lose this time. "I like you." you admitted.

He blinked, processing your words as if you were speaking gibberish. "You... really do?" he asked, the surprise in his eyes was genuine, and for a moment, you wondered if you had made a mistake.

"If I didn't liked you, I wouldn't have gone on so many dates with you," you repeated, more confidently this time. "I didn't mean to make things awkward, but I couldn't keep it to myself any longer."

His grip on your waist tightened slightly, his eyes never leaving yours. "You’re serious?" You nodded, your heart was about to burst out, "Yes, I am. I know you might not feel the same way, because dating isn't your thing. I just... needed you to know."

Endo's gaze softened, and the playfulness in his eyes was replaced by something deeper, something you had never seen before coming from him.

"Y/N, you have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say that," he admitted, his voice raw with emotion. "You’ve been driving me crazy, in the best possible way."

A smile spread across your face, the pain in your feet forgotten. "Glad to know that." He chuckled, "But I can’t have you walking around in pain all night," he said, glancing down at your heels. "Here, let me help."

You looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?" Without another word, Endo crouched down in front of you, patting his back. "Hop on. I’ll give you a piggyback ride. Princesses should be taken care of."

SAKURA HARUKA

It was Tsubaki idea to invite you, Kotoha and the first years to the biggest sleepover in the history of Bofurin. He treasured you like a little sister, and took a liking in the new students especially Sakura — the boy who proved himself worthy for the gang, and the boy despite his confidence in most situations had a peculiar inability to speak or act normally around you.

The night’s activities progressed, and soon everyone found themselves engaged in a lively game of Twister. One by one, players stumbled and fell, until only you and Sakura were left on the mat. Nirei spun the wheel and called out, "Left hand on red," signaling Sakura’s turn. He gulped hard, his eyes widening slightly as he realized the predicament. You were directly beneath him, your bodies precariously close. Sakura carefully stretched his left hand towards the red circle as your hand was on the blue one, his fingers brushing yours as he did so.

The atmosphere grew tense, heat radiating from both of you as sweat glistened on his brow. His face flushed with a rosy hue, betraying his nerves and the overwhelming proximity. Meanwhile, Suo watched the unfolding scene with delight, clearly enjoying the awkward dance of two fools in love.

Nirei spun the wheel again, as he announced, "Y/N-chan, left hand on green." You felt your muscles strain, you were in a push-up position and you had to turn your whole body to reach the green circle. Every fiber in your hands screamed with effort as you managed the turn, finding yourself directly under Sakura.

The eye-patched boy, ever the prankster, seized the moment and nudged Sakura’s leg just enough to cause a slight wobble. The sudden movement startled you, and before you could steady yourself, your hands slipped. The world seemed to slow as you fell, leaving you face to face with Sakura, who had caught himself just in time.

You found yourself caged between his arms, his face mere inches from yours. His breath hitched, his cheeks a deep crimson that seemed almost like a new shade to add in the red pallet. The warmth of his body radiated into yours, his bicoloured eyes locked onto yours — panic and longing swirling within them. His lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out, only the soft sound of his breath mingling with yours.

Sakura wanted to kiss you, wanted to know what's it like to kiss the girl he held feelings for ... He wanted you and was not going to be a coward about it. Just as he decided to bend down even less the door opened and Tsubaki's voice echoed around the room causing him to startle and lose his balance falling on top of you.

"Oh, my! I am sorry, did I interrupt something?" Tsubaki asked, genuinely concerned about the two of you, putting his hand on his mouth from the surprised scene he stepped into.

Sakura's eyes widened in panic, but you could feel the warmth of his body pressed against yours, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. Why couldn't he talk? His gaze, now tender and earnest, silently begged for understanding and perhaps a second chance, and pretty soon he will be able to express his feelings without a Twister next time.

KAJI REN

You were angry, extremely pissed to the point you just want to scream, throw something or someone in the pool, kill the next person who asks you another stupid question. Your nails dug into the flesh of your palms as you tried your best to stay calm. The one time you got Kaji to agree to go somewhere, some girls immediately flocked to him, even though he ignored them or politely said no.

You watched as he spoke to them, with their polite smiles, but there was nothing nice about them, only fueling your irritation. It wasn’t fair. This was supposed to be your time with him. You took a deep breath, trying to rationalize your thoughts. It wasn't his fault, after all, but it didn't make the sting any less sharp.

"Y/N," Kaji's voice pulled you from your thoughts. He had walked away from the crowd of girls and was now standing in front of you, his expression concerned, he's never seen you like this. "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" you repeated, your voice dripping with sarcasm. "Do you think I'm okay, Kaji?"

He blinked, taken aback by your tone, as he was getting annoyed by the fact that you weren't telling him everything in the right context, "What’s wrong?"

"What's wrong?" you echoed mimicking his words, feeling your temper rise. "Do you really have to ask? Look around! Every time we go somewhere, you’re swarmed by girls. Can’t you see how frustrating that is?"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, and you looking at his well-shaped body. "You think I wanted that? Stop with this bullsh—"

Your frustration boiled over. Without thinking, you gave him a hard shove, sending him stumbling backwards. Before you could register what happened, he reached out, grabbing your wrist to steady himself. But it carried you both, and with a splash, you were both in the pool.

The water engulfed you, the coolness a shock to your heated skin. You struggled, disoriented, trying to find the surface. Panic set in as you realized you weren’t as good a swimmer as you thought. Just when you felt you couldn’t hold your breath any longer, strong arms wrapped around you, pulling you up.

You broke the surface, gasping for air, coughing and spluttering. Kaji held you close, his eyes wide with worry. "Breathe, Y/N, just breathe."

You clung to him, your fingers digging into his shoulders as you tried to steady your breathing. He patted your back gently, his other hand cradling your head.

"You're so stupid," he murmured, though his tone was soft, almost affectionate. "Why would you do that?"

Your cheeks burned, both from embarrassment and from the closeness, as you realised how you are skin to skin. "I... I wasn’t thinking. I just... I was so mad."

You looked up at him, his eyes were judging you but it was out of concern, "I'm sorry," you whispered. "Listen, Y/N," he began, "Those girls don't matter to me. They never have and never will." He shook his head, his fingers brushing a wet strand of hair from your face, and you knew he meant it, otherwise you would have had fallen for him or in this case with him.

©2024 kaiser1ns do not copy, repost or modify my work

[zonigiri]

𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈 𝐃𝐎 𝐈𝐒 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐄

pairing: wano!zoro x reader

summary: unfortunately, you have a crush on zoro and zoro is in love with someone else and so, cue: pining (or so you think)

wc: 3.3k

cw: fluff + reader smokes + potentially inaccurate wano arc details because I haven’t caught up with the manga but i had to get this out sorry!!

a/n: i had to get this out of my head and i haven’t written anything in a while and so reqs/ideas/feedback on asks are welcome!

Clinking glasses, boisterous laughter and sounds of revelry filled the air. The kingdom of Wano was celebrating the end of Kaido’s reign and of the ill-famed prophecy coming to fruition after two long decades. As always, your crew was in the centre of the limelight. Luffy was predictably surrounded by piles of empty plates on one side and plates loaded with food on the other. Ussopp and Chopper were merry-making, Robin, Nami and Franky were engaged in conversation with Yamato-kun and Tsuru-san, Brook was playing with some children and you couldn’t see Sanji anywhere. Probably escorting some damsel in distress somewhere, was your best bet. And in a corner of the room, surrounded by Kin’e’mon, Duke Dogstorm and Cat Viper was Zoro – all of them going through barrels of sake like running water. With the burden of Kaido off everyone’s shoulders, everyone felt lighter, freer. So why was there a heaviness in your heart?

You excused yourself from the people around you and you went outside the room to take a deep breath. Maybe looking at the stars would remind you again how insignificant your troubles were. You chastised yourself for feeling the way you did when there were people that had lost their loved ones in the war and in the years preceding it, and once again you wished that matters of the heart could be reigned over by logic. You’d carried a thing of sake with you and there were strains of faint music coming in from somewhere and so you took unladylike sips while staring up at the stars in the sky, willing all other thoughts out of your brain.

“Oi, what are you doing out here?,” a familiar gruff voice rang out behind you. Jolted out of your thoughts and nearly choking on the sake, your eyes widened as you turned around to find Zoro. However, before you could get a word in, he spoke again, and your chest felt heavy again.

“Shitty-cook was looking for you.” Oh. It was probably too much to have expected Zoro to notice your absence and come find out in the middle of a banquet with free-flowing sake. You should’ve known better.

As if right on cue, another familiar voice filled with half-hearted anger and pure annoyance called out from a distance. “Oi Marimo, where the hell have you been? Hiyori-chan’s been looking for you all night, how dare you keep a lady waiting?” Your heart lurched again hearing Hiyori’s name and as Zoro turned around to face Sanji, Sanji spotted you. His tone changed immediately as he called out to you this time, sweetly and with no trace of earlier frustration, “Hellooo YN-chan, didn’t see you there! Are you enjoying the party? Was mosshead over here, bothering you?” 

“Haaa?!”

You let out a little laugh and a wave, with a smile you hoped was convincing enough, the same time as Zoro let out an accusatory curse.

“Hey, Sanji! I’m alright thanks, I was looking for you actually. Can I have a cigarette?”

“Of course, anything for you!” Sanji trips over himself trying to get out his pack of cigarettes and insists on lighting it for you. Having completed it, he turns around to see Zoro still standing there, staring at the two of you. “You stupid Marimo, didn’t I tell you Hiyori-chan’s waiting for you? Don’t you have any manners? I can’t believe she would pick you over me. She’s the most beautiful woman in the whole country, why would she even want a brute like you?! Don’t keep her waiting, you ill-mannered animal!” Sanji all but kicks Zoro, as if sending him flying to Hiyori’s feet might make up for however long she’s been waiting. For a second it looks like Zoro and Sanji are going to butt heads for the nth time but Zoro simply twists his face into a scowl, decides against it and walks off, grumbling under his breath. You turn back to rest your elbows on the parapet as you watch the smoke billow away into the night sky.

“So, Zoro and Hiyori, huh?,” you say with a little laugh.

Sanji lets out a scoff, takes a drag as if to compose himself, and then speaks, “Can you believe it?”

You don’t answer him and the two of you finish your cigarettes in silence afterwards. You offer Sanji your remaining sake and he graciously accepts. The two of you walk back to the banquet hall and instinctively your eyes scan the room for Zoro – he is nowhere to be found. And then, cautiously and against your best interests, you scan the room for Hiyori – she is nowhere to be found either. You can feel the bile rising in your chest as you scan the room a third time, this time for signs of either of them, but nothing. Putting two plus two together, you walk into the room with a heavier heart than you’d left. Walking over to the banquet table, you grab two bottles of sake and go join the group nearest to you. Chopper was putting chopsticks up his nose and the entire group was in splits – it was easy to pretend you were having fun too.

Back on the ship, you try your best to give Zoro as wide a berth as possible and hope it goes unnoticed. In your defense, it’s nothing obvious – it’s not like you’re walking the other way when you see him. You didn’t really want to either. Your heart might have been hurting but even then, you couldn’t deny how good he looked doing push-ups on the deck of the Sunny. Well into his 500’s, brazenly shirtless, and sweat glistening like molten gold on his brown skin in the sunlight. Had you not been bothered about giving him some space, you likely would’ve been staring at him shamelessly and Robin would’ve passed a cheeky comment about flies going into your open mouth. With a heavy sigh, and a slightly heavier heart, you go back to the book you were reading.

Days pass like this, with you toeing a thin line doing your best to keep your distance while trying to not make it obvious to anyone. This was just a passing crush and from past experience you’d learned that the best, and probably only way, to deal with it was to bide your time and let it fade away on its own. You only wondered how long it would take this time, because there was a limit to the pangs of pain you could tolerate.

You were sitting in the crow’s nest, knees to your chest and cradling the book you were reading when a movement drew your attention to the door. Zoro walked in with weights and set them down on the floor next to you.

“Should I- do you need the room?” you asked getting ready to get up, hoping simultaneously he’d say yes and no to appease the two splits your heart was in.

“Stay,” he grunted under his breath and he turned around and began setting up his equipment.

Long ago the two of you had come to an agreement to tolerate, and allow, only each other in this little sacred space the two of you had managed to create for yourselves on the Sunny. You reading in silence while Zoro worked out nearby was a near-natural occurrence for the two of you and naturally it often led to small talk, casual conversation and eventually playful banter. You’d spent nights up here on watch, drinking from the secret alcohol stash that Zoro and you had hidden away underneath the floorboards. The more you thought about all the memories you have of the two of you in the room where you were, the more the awkwardness of the present moment was stifling, closing in your heart and squeezing it in desperation. It was too far gone now, there was no escape. If you left now, it would make it even more obvious so all you could hope for was that Zoro hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. Although with the way you’d tried to leave earlier… Zoro was an idiot but unfortunately, the bastard could be observant when he wanted to. It was all you could do to stare into the book in your hands, boring your eyes into the words on the page and registering none of them.

Wordlessly you slid back into place, watching him curiously as he arranged the weights on the racks with his back to you. Thanks to your efforts, you had never been alone with him ever since you’d left Wano. You’d made it a point to always stay on the deck, with others in company and sight, to prevent yourself from the exact situation that you were in right now. You knew Zoro liked to train in the crow’s nest, but it was also your favourite place to read a book for similar reasons – it was quiet and far away from the chaos that the deck was almost always prone to.

Speaking of the devil, Zoro's voice cuts through the room, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Dunno, you’ve seemed a little out of it ever since we left Wano.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, we haven’t- you haven’t come up to the crow’s nest to read or anything,”

“Oh.” Your heart flutters a little at the fact that he noticed, but the rational part of your brain shuts it down. That’s what a friend does. He cares about you, just not the way you do about him. “I uh- I wanted to give you some space.”

It was Zoro’s turn to look confused. “Hah? Why?”

“I thought you might need some time to get over….” your voice dies down as the confusion in Zoro’s eyes increases. “Get over what?” The pure obliviousness almost makes you question yourself but for the sake of your sanity, you decide to press on. “Over Okiku-san?” you say softly. You see his eyes soften at the mention of her name.

“Oh. Yeah, I visited her grave with Kin’e’mon before we left.” You nodded understandingly. “If that’s what you’re worried about, I’m fine.”

“Do you miss her?”

“Miss her? I only knew her for a week.”

“Then… do you miss Hiyori-san?”

“Haaah?! How do you know about that? Did someone tell you? I bet it was Brook he has awful fucking timing. Just like that morning….” Zoro grumbled under his breath.

Your heart sinks a little as you recall he’s referring to the night that they slept together. You remember feeling devastated when Brook was telling you and Nami and you had to do everything in your power to act like it was scandalizing gossip and not like it felt like your heart was like a rock dropping rapidly into the sea. And it was happening again.

“No one told me, I just… guessed. I’m sorry,” you say softly, trying to stop tears from falling.

“What for?”

“It must suck to leave someone you love behind.” A pause and then you offered honestly, “I don’t know if I could do it.”

“Who did I leave behind?”

“Hiyori-san?”

You could see the gears in his brain turning as he tried to put the pieces together, “And who do I love?”

“Hiyori-san….?”

“Where the hell did you get that from?!”

“From you?!" Zoro continued to stare at you like you were spouting nonsense and so you added in your defense, "I thought she confessed to you on the night of the banquet!”

“She did,” but before you could say anything Zoro spoke again, "But I turned her down.”

“Oh. So it was Okiku-chan then?”

“Haaa?! Where are you getting any of this from?! You’ve been acting strangely ever since we left Wano and now you keep fuckin’ talking about me being with people I haven’t ever thought about that way. Do you think I’m like ero-cook over there, who falls in love with every single girl he meets? Is that really what you think of me?”

“No,” you whisper, tears threatening to spill any moment now. You’d never seen Zoro this annoyed, and never at you. Zoro turns around and starts putting his weights back, his back to you. “Forget it, I just wanted to see if you’re okay but I don’t know what’s wrong with you.” 

Your heart sank to your knees and all the arguments you'd been using to not confess to him suddenly fell away. All that was left was your need to explain to Zoro that you'd never meant to piss him off, only to try and know who he liked because you liked him. You spoke before you realized you were doing it, and before you knew it the words had already left your wobbly lips in a shaky whisper. 

“Zoro, I’m sorry. I like you.”

Hearing your trembling voice, Zoro turned around and walked over to stand a few steps away from you. You could feel his eyes on you and you’re sure he had questions, but you were also sure there were tears in your eyes; and so you were staring holes into the ground because the last thing you wanted now was for Zoro to see you cry. 

Zoro’s voice was softer when he spoke, “I like you too. Are you alright? You know you can talk to me if something’s bothering you, right?” He didn’t know what was going on and your sudden change in behaviour only confused him even further.

Incredulous, you looked up to face him, brimming tears now forgotten. You wondered if you should let it pass since your tortured confession was wildly misunderstood by the swordsman who really had moss for brains at times but now that you’d come out and said it, you figured you might as well get it over and done with. It had taken you months to get this far, and the part of you that was sick playing pretend just wanted to let it all go to flames and see where the pieces fell in the aftermath. You weren’t sure if you could handle another day of acting like Zoro was just a friend to you and another night of going to bed wondering what it would be like if you had the courage to tell him how you felt. 

“Zoro no, I like you," gathering courage you started tentatively with a shaky breath and hoped that this time the confession would go through. "I was, I was upset because Brook told us about Hiyori and you and then Luffy told us about Okiku-san and then she died the night of the fight and then- it was all a lot to process and- and I was jealous. And hurt. And I didn’t know how to handle it so I thought avoiding you would help because I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry, please don’t be mad at me.”

Your voice went back to a wobbly whisper by the end, and so you missed the way Zoro was looking at you. You’d looked up briefly at some point during your long-winded defense but you'd gone back to the comfort of staring at the ground, talking about this was hard enough. Was it because you'd seen the way Zoro's eyes had widened? Possibly, but you were shaking with nervousness and there was only so much you could admit to on a day when all you were planning to do was finish your book, really. Hearing you talk, his expression had gone through shock, mild distaste at hearing you thought he liked Okiku which immediately changed to a smirk as soon as he heard you say you were jealous. Right now, there was only half a smirk on his face because he was fighting a smile that was threatening to show up. 

“Stupid woman, why didn’t you tell me?”

“What?” 

“That you liked me." Your head shot up at that and all you could do was stare wordlessly at him as he continued, each next word causing another heartbeat to miss, leaving you with an anxiousness you felt bubbling in the depths of your chest. "Could’ve avoided all these tears if you’d told me earlier. ‘Cause I like you too.”

Your eyes widened hearing him and all of a sudden your brain went blank. All the questions you had for him disappeared and all you could do was look at Zoro wordlessly as he continued to speak. 

“I turned Hiyori down because I told her I like someone else, have liked, for a long time now. It’s you, dummy. I like you. Now, will you stop crying? You’re kinda ruining the moment here.”

He gently flicked your forehead and you smacked his arm out of reflex with an offended squawk. A grin broke out on Zoro’s face, “There we go, that’s my girl. Glad to have you back, princess.”

A watery smile made its way onto your face but you were still trying to process what you'd just heard. 

“You turned down Hiyori-san… for me? She’s the oiran," your voice faltered as you re-realized the reality. 

“Yeah, so?"

"She's the most beautiful girl in all of Wano."

"Yeah well, I think you're prettier." Your eyes widened at his words, tears long halted, as you looked up at him in awe. Like you couldn’t believe the moment you're in is real. Zoro's hands cup your face, his face inches away from yours, as he asks under his breath, "Can I- can I kiss you?" 

You nod as if in a daze and you feel his lips on yours immediately afterwards, hungry and hot. His other hand grabs your waist and pulls you closer to him in a single jerk and then he digs his fingers into the skin of your waist, holding you so tight it would've hurt had you been focusing on that instead of drinking his gasps and little groans in. Breaking away from the kiss and looking into Zoro's eyes, you saw a searing look in there that would've buckled your knees had he not been holding you. Tiptoeing, you pressed a shorter, chaste kiss onto his lips and hoped Zoro could feel what you were trying to say: thank you, thank you. 

Pulling away, you make yourself comfortable in Zoro's hold, looping your arms around his neck and when you speak there's a twinkle in your eyes, "So… you had a crush on me, huh? That's embarrassing."

"Oi! You said you liked me first!"

You throw your head back and laugh, because yeah he's got you there but you've got him now so you can't be a sore loser. Not today, anyway. 

BONUS:

It's late at night and you're lying next to Zoro on the deck, staring up at the sky. The remainder of the day was spent skirting around each other, sharing furtive glances and shy smiles when others weren't looking. Telling others hadn't come up yet but you'd be lying if you said you hadn't been thinking about what this meant for the both of you. With that thought still lingering, you piped up. 

"Soo, does this mean we're dating?"

"Nope."

"What?! Why not?" you cried out in indignation and propped yourself up on your elbows to turn to him, offense painted all over your face. 

"You still have to ask me out," Zoro pointed out.

"I confessed to you!"  

"Exactly, that's why you have to ask me out."

"You-" The logic didn't make any sense but you of all people knew it was futile to argue with Zoro when he'd made up his mind. So you lay back down with a sigh, "Fine. Fine. Roronoa Zoro, will you be my boyfriend?" 

You turn to him after you finish your question, staring into his eyes with only a slight glare, loving annoyance pricking your tone but you both know it's harmless. Zoro matches your stare with his own and doesn't speak but leans in closer towards you to close the gap with a kiss he hopes answers your question: a resounding yes. But just in case you hadn't received the message, he mumbles it softly against your lips, "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to say yes." 

[mirror-and-mind]

(i cant stop yapping about Asakame please help me-)

Do you think every illustration in the Fusuma/Shoji doors decorated in the Ooku means anything to a scene? I saw in the Fire Rat trailer when the woman meeting is held the door was a tiger, it sort of gets me on a "cat-fight" between them. And will the final boss of the trilogy be a snake? Since the first ever teaser for the movie had snakes on them

(trying so hard not to mention when Asa said what kept her emotions on ground was Kame the scene had her place beside the WHOLE panel illustration of the Fox Wedding door and the fact that a foxes wedding is associated with sunshowers)

By all means keep posting about Asakame, I love it!

Given that it's Mononoke, the Symbolism and Metaphor show, I do think every piece of door and wall art has meaning. You can also see that there are tamari balls bouncing around on the wall of Mugitani's room (a tamari ball being the object she threw into the well).

I'm not sure what the meaning of the tiger would be. It looks like it's trying to get in, so maybe it symbolizes the rage of the mononoke trying to break through?

That's a good thought about the snakes... There is a snake youkai called Uwabami that's known for its gluttonous nature. It also once called down a huge rain and flood on a guy who ticked it off, so there are possible connections with the Kun Trigram (connected with the stomach) and with the Karakasa. Another is Yamata no Orochi. I remember someone suggested when we first saw the art that it was reminiscent of the Yamato no Orochi legend.

Snakes are also symbols of life, death, and rebirth, and in Buddhism they're symbols of the poison of hatred or anger. In the first "Bakeneko" arc, there are snakes on the walls behind Lord Sakai and his son, along with a red thread, which is a symbol of fate.

I think part of the Nue looks like a snake as well? It's quite possible that the final mononoke could have a snake form.

The fox wedding thing... Yeah, they may well have been going straight for the lesbians thing there. 😛

A couple other things I noticed about the walls in Karakasa:

The three "eyes" of the mononoke sometimes appear on the images. For example, they're in the eyes of the flamingos on the wall when Awashima cuts Kame's hair. It's notable, I think, that when those "eyes" appear on images and objects, they tend to stay put for a while, whereas when they appear in human eyes, they vanish quickly.

Also, the art is sometimes animated. When Kame is talking about wanting to become a concubine while Mugitani is giving them "the tour," the puppies playing on the wall are blinking.

In these shots where the wall art appears to be alive, I think it's connected to the idea of life existing in objects, like the objects the women threw into the well, which carried parts of themselves.

And of course there are flowers everywhere, with the idea of the women themselves as "flowers" being a big theme in the movie.

Kusu also has a mischievous little kitty and a demon behind him here, so make of that what you will. 😛

That same wall also has a kappa on it right above the cat. The kappa is an aquatic ayakashi, so that's a probable connection to Karakasa's rain/water theme. According to yokai.com, they're also "a kind of water god" in Shinto.

I'm sure there's a ton more that others who have seen the movie more times than I have, who are more observant than I am, and/or who are better versed in Japanese culture than I am have picked up on. But yeah, all that wall art is important for sure. I'd say all the wall art in the series is important as well, but that's a whole other post.

[v-67]

I just love it when the characters say something along these lines : Gocha gocha Urusei/ or Gocha gocha something. It's just perfect and I resonate so much with those lines🤝🤌 (This was Luffy saying this to Eustass)⬆️

The eyes. The shading. The emotion. Love love love it.⬆️

When Yamato tells Luffy that Ace was here to take Kaido's head in the past and he spoke a lot about him (Luffy). I just felt so weak in my heart, I miss Ace. It's not fair with how everything happened, it's just not.⬆️

When Luffy removes Yamato's handcuffs, and they explode and Yamato goes like : That bull something, he was really going to kill me, that part is really funny.⬆️

Episode 995 is really realllllllly cool, it also has the whole b/w panels where the Akazaya nine show up, and then attack Kaido, while Kaido looks at remnants of Oden within them.

Also I know Orochi died and stuff, and most of me does not care about that, but part of me wanted to slap him SO many times before he was killed. More like, I wanted Akazaya Kunin to deal with him. I don't know what the exact deal was with the Kurozumi clan, because the story that was told to Orochi was a way of brainwashing and the plan succeeded in the direction Kaido wanted to.

It's like, i cannot really sympathize with Orochi and honestly I don't, but when you think more about it, he was brainwashed and backed up and given a fake sense of importance and power, and he got drunk over it. Way too drunk. And...yeah, it's so, something.

Also Kikku and Kanjuro and the whole fight, and the blood falling over from the sky slowly like snow fall, THAT WAS SO EMOTIONAL AND COOOL

But Kanjuro in the very end still stuck up with the thought he always had, he was always looking for a place to die. I wanna open his brain and analyse his pattern of thoughts because he was on a very different spiral.

I like Izo. And I loved everyone's reaction on seeing him again. Also I don't like the notion that they're here to die, as Kinnemon says to Izo when they meet. Y'all, none of you are supposed to die. Build the land of wano again after that shitty Kaido dies/goes away.

Also when Neko/cat-viper punches Jack, Oooooh the satisfaction I got. Just perfect.

Episode 988-995

9th April, 2024

[kivaember]

the dagda dlc in smtvv reminded me that i started to write a nahobino nanashi oneshot aaaaaaaaaaaages ago when vanilla came out in 2022... rereading it again and wondering if i should finish it. i loved writing nanashi and dagda bouncing off each other...

anyway excerpts below:

-

All Nanashi could see was sand. 

It was bright; a searing gold that half-blinded him, streams of it wisping across the shifting dunes from a constant, dry wind. Nanashi squinted against the glare and the grit clinging to his eyelashes, and tried to orientate himself. He felt… groggy, and weird, like his body was both too heavy and too light for him. Pretty standard when he resurrected from a particularly nasty death; Dagda had to rearrange organs sometimes and pad missing muscle and…

Speaking of. 

“Dagda?” he mumbled, and cringed when his voice came out all rasping and strange. There was a bizarre reverb to it, and he ran his hand over his mouth - and froze.

That… did not feel normal. 

Kid, Dagda piped up abruptly, his voice utterly flat. What did you do.

“Why’re you blaming me?!” Nanashi complained, his hackles raised instantly. He didn’t do anything! He… thinks. Did he? They were in the Yamato Reactor place, then… hm, something happened and… ah, Nanashi can’t really remember. Whatever, it probably wasn’t a big deal. They’d find out where they were eventually.

He felt an upwelling of utter disgust - then confusion. Wait, that wasn’t his confusion - though he was pretty fucking confused - that was- 

“Wait,” Nanashi scrambled onto his feet, clumsily, pinwheeling his arms and blinking rapidly to clear his fuzzy vision. His entire body felt out of sync, and he drew his hands close, squinting at them. 

…

These weren’t his hands. 

Nanashi closed his eyes, counted to ten, and opened them. 

…still weren’t his hands. 

We’ve become a Nahobino, Dagda muttered. He said the word like it was a particularly juvenile insult, far too beneath him to utter and he resented Nanashi for making him say it. Of all the things…

“Can you please explain to the poor, stupid human?” Nanashi asked, his gaze travelling up his (???) arms. Briefly, he wondered if he was in Dagda’s body, but the proportions were all off, and the brown, stylised armour was far sleeker and different. It was like, Nanashi but in Dagda’s armour, but less… pointy. 

Kind of reminded him of Danu, actually- 

It’s a god’s ‘true form’, Dagda sneered. Hn, true in that it is the form mortals initially envisioned us as, before YHVH stole our Knowledge. It makes no difference to me. A prison is a prison, powerful or not.

“So, why am I in your armour and…” Nanashi lowered his arms, twisting around to see that, yup, he had Dagda’s dorky scarf-cape thing too. 

You got something to say about my fashion sense?

Nanashi jumped slightly. “Hey! We agreed on no mind-reading!”

You’re practically bellowing your thoughts in here, kid. I can’t ignore them even if I wanted to.

Nanashi immaturely thought of the dirtiest thing he could think of (a faded and suspiciously stained page from a ye olde porn mag) - and yelped when his hand abruptly swung up and punched him in the face. 

“OW! SONUVA-!”

As a Nahobino, Dagda purred, his presence and voice slinking along his thoughts like a mangy cat, we share a body. You’re more of a puppet than you were before. So step carefully, kid.

Nanashi scowled and gingerly rubbed his jaw. His fingers trailed the sharp, jutting edges and he mapped it out, Dagda’s threat immediately forgotten. It felt like his entire lower jaw was covered in some sort of guard, but he could feel where the metal - bone? - merged into the rest of his face - which felt like it had skin, thank god. He didn’t know what he’d do if he had a creepy skeleton face like Dagda. 

Kid, Dagda growled. He radiated irritation like a nuclear reactor core. 

Nanashi quickly moved his hand away from his face in case Dagda decided to poke his eye out or something. “We need to find a mirror.”

Over there, Dagda said curtly, and Nanashi grimaced when his head snapped to the side like an invisible hand had forced it to turn. City ruins. One of them might still have glass in its windows.

Nanashi obediently walked in the direction Dagda indicated. It was - weird. His legs felt a little longer than usual, and what were with these heels?! He knew Dagda wore them tall but Nanashi hadn’t realised how tall until he was trying to strut in them - in sand. In deep, shin-deep sand. He didn’t walk so much as he flailed and staggered his way over to the ruins like a drunken nekomata. 

Stop being an idiot and walk normally, Dagda grumped. 

“I’m sorry but I’m not used to walking in high heels in the desert,” Nanashi hissed back. “If it’s bothering you so much, why don’t you try walking us over, huh?”

Dagda prickled, but Nanashi felt the disconcerting sensation of his body being hijacked. It was like - well, it was like being a puppet, an invisible force marionetting his body to smooth out its gait and murder-strut over to the collapsed buildings despite the deep sand. Nanashi could do nothing but blink, unable to command a single muscle in his body until Dagda deposited him directly in front of a cracked, filthy window and relinquished control. 

“What the fuck,” Nanashi said. 

It looked like him. His face was mostly the same, but his entire bottom jaw was now some weird, armoured skeleton jaw, and his eyes were such a poisonous green they glowed brightly. His body resembled Dagda’s, but the armour was sleeker, more proportioned for him - but it also made him look like a wooden doll. Behind him fluttered twin tails of Dagda’s dark scarf, but they felt… Nanashi frowned and concentrated. The scarf tails twitched, and its frayed edges morphed slightly into claws - two extra hands, apparently, in sentient scarf form. 

Nanashi processed, and said, again, “What the fuck.”

-

(THEN SMTH SMTH THEY RUN INTO NAHOBINO RIN)

-

“So, wait…” Nanashi ogled the strange creature before him. “You two want to be partners?”

The human blinked slowly at him. He didn’t emote much, but Nanashi was used to parsing expressions from Dagda’s stone-cold skull - this ‘Rin’ wasn’t that difficult to figure out in comparison - and it was clear that he was both confused and concerned. 

“Yes?” Rin said. “Isn’t it the same for you?”

Dagda made a low, scoffing noise. He was still glaring dramatically across the desert’s… horizon (did it count as a horizon when it curved upwards?), but as always he was unable to stay out of a conversation if he could be a petty bitch in it. Nanashi made sure to think this thought extra loudly, and was rewarded with a very sharp mental poke that felt like Dagda spiritually speared his brainstem. 

“...well,” Nanashi said. “It's difficult to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’.” 

“He’s my puppet,” Dagda sneered, turning towards them with dark, intent eyes. “He’s my Godslayer, and he kills who I order him to kill.”

There was a brief, taut pause where Dagda glanced from Rin to his towering ‘partner’, who stared back just as intently (but with a lot less murder vibes). Nanashi could almost feel Dagda’s decision to be a dick.

“And you two are climbing high on that list,” Dagda finished in a low, threatening rasp. 

Nanashi rolled his eyes. Jesus fucking Christ. 

“Basically,” he interjected, “he’s too lazy to do anything himself.”

Dagda slowly turned towards him, pinning him down with that death glare. Sucks to be him, Nanashi was immune.

“A terrible backseat driver, though,” Nanashi continued, holding Dagda’s glare with a smirk so sharp it could cut diamonds. “Can’t handle any sort of criticism, won’t be caught dead putting in more effort than quipping a useless taunt, never outgrew his edgy teenager phase-”

Dagda clamped his hand down on his head, forcing him downwards into a low bow and his neck to strain at a painfully awkward angle. Nanashi grunted, grabbing Dagda’s wrist, but the god was unrelenting. 

“I should just snap your neck,” Dagda grumbled, but, as Nanashi was beginning to realise, he was all bark and no bite when it came to him (so long as Nanashi was useful as a Godslayer, that is). 

There was a quick flash of blue light that flickered across the ground and over his and Dagda’s feet, followed by a soft ‘ffwsst!’ of raw energy cutting the air. 

“Oh?” Dagda purred. “Looking for a fight, are you?”

Wait, were those two going to-!? 

“It’s fine!” Nanashi quickly yelped, and he smacked Dagda’s arm frantically in a ‘let me up!’ gesture. Dagda ignored him. “Dagda’s harmless! For him, I mean! He just revives me if I die so it’s fine!”

“What,” the other human said, flat and cold. 

“As I said, he’s my puppet,” Dagda sneered. “He’ll die when I order him to die, not before, and not after.”

Why was Dagda like this?! Seriously!

“I’m gonna snap my own neck in a minute if you don’t stop being difficult,” Nanashi hissed. “And I’ll stay dead too! See if you ever get a Godslayer as good as me again!”

“Don’t think too highly of yourself,” Dagda huffed, but he did let him go, so Nanashi chalked that up as a win for him. 

“‘Don’t think too highly-!’ Ugh, you’re such a brat!” Nanashi snarled as he straightened up, roughly clawing his fingers through his hair to fluff it up where Dagda had flattened it. “Who’s the adult here, huh? It definitely ain’t you!”

Dagda just gave him a ‘stop throwing a temper tantrum in the milk aisle kid you’re embarrassing me’ glare, but Nanashi just ignored him, pivoting to the communicatively healthy demon-human pair (god what a thought) fused into one being again. Rin was sort of but not quite glaring at Dagda, looking like he was unsure on whether he should intervene or if this was normal for them (it was, unfortunately). 

“You wanna swap?” Nanashi asked, jerking his thumb at Dagda. 

“...no thanks,” Rin said a bit stiffly. “He looks too high maintenance.”

Nanashi barked out a mean laugh - and swiftly ducked out of the way of Dagda’s grasping hand when the old grump went to scruff him. Not seriously scruff him, as Dagda didn’t pursue when Nanashi danced out of range. The god just settled for trying to liquidise him with his poisonous stare alone. 

“Is this…” Rin began slowly, reluctantly extinguishing his energy blade. “Normal for you two?”

“Our relationship is built on professional pragmatism,” Nanashi said honestly. “Though, the professional bit kinda slides here and there.”

Dagda almost felt approving, which was utterly bizarre to feel. Nanashi gave him a weird look and instantly Dagda self-corrected, pushing a sludge of feelings through their new yet highly unwanted connection that made Nanashi feel vaguely oily and gross. What a disturbing experience. 

“Stop doing that,” Nanashi grumbled. “I’ll lick you.”

“Keep your disease ridden tongue away from me, kid, unless you wanna lose it.”

-

(SMTH SMTH THEN AOGAMI AND DAGDA TALK ABOUT THEIR RESPECTIVE HUMANS)

-

“-he’s been a pain from the start,” Dagda finished sourly. 

Aogami didn’t respond, not that Dagda expected him to engage in his ‘why humans are pathetic, part one’ rant. Watching this synthetic demon interact with his ~partner~ was downright nauseating at times, but also morbidly curious. Was this what humanity really craved? The gods and demons they unwittingly imprisoned being their friends? Or more, if the vibes he was sensing between those two were right (ugh, why was he surrounded by demon fuckers). 

But then Aogami said; “I think you’re actually quite fond of your human.”

If Dagda was cursed with the human affliction called ‘breathing’, he would’ve choked. As it was, he just stared at the synthetic demon with every dreg of bitter disdain he could muster in his body - which, admittedly, was infinite. A lesser demon would have cowered away from such concentrated hostility being laser beamed directly into their skull. Unfortunately, Aogami either had nerves of steel or was socially braindead, as Dagda’s rancid vibes just bounced right off him.  

“Do you disagree?” the synthetic demon asked mildly. 

“I,” Dagda said loftily, “feel many emotions towards my Godslayer, but fondness is not one of them.”

“You protect him and offer guidance.”

“I am ensuring my investment actually crosses the finish line,” Dagda sneered, jabbing his finger aggressively in Aogami’s direction. He wished he was closer so he could poke out his eyes. “I’ve poured too much of my precious time and effort into this kid for him to just- get himself killed in this backwater world. The gods here are pathetic and unworthy of even being target practice-”

Aogami bulldozed right over Dagda’s rant-building momentum. “Gods have nothing but time. You can easily replace him.”

Dagda… paused.

He hadn’t expected such logical callousness from this otherwise bleeding heart of a robot companion. He crossed his arm (not defensively) and narrowed a suspicious glare at him. Aogami’s expression hadn’t changed or twitched. It made him infuriatingly difficult to read. 

“...I hate wasting my time, no matter how infinite,” Dagda said, but even he knew it was a weak defence. 

“It would be more efficient for you to abandon Nanashi here, and return to your own realm, as gods are not bound to specific worlds as humans are,” Aogami pointed out, his tone still perfectly mild. “Remaining here with him, trying to return him to his original world, is ‘wasting time’.”

it isn’t, Dagda almost said, but narrowly held it back because… 

He had waited a long time for his Godslayer, and not because he had slim pickings. Dagda had lurked at the mouth of the human netherworld, watching the species parade in droves into that mysterious place beyond even a god’s reach. He hadn’t extended his hand to any one of them, because they had been grey, washed out things - weak, spineless, unworthy. A few had the spark of defiance here and there, but the rough life of Tokyo had turned them brittle, and death was the final blow that broke them. 

Nanashi, though…

The kid had come barrelling at him like a wrecking ball, his eyes bright with viciousness and his tiny fists clenched in aggressive fury. Nanashi had been fully prepared to lunge at him, to chew his throat out like he had fucking rabies - he blazed with the desire to live, to keep on living, to claw and bite and scream his way into life even if he had to throw himself bloody against the gatekeeper. Dagda had taken one look at him and just thought ‘you’.

Death broke humans, repeated deaths shattered them - it was unnatural to them, to die and live and die and live again. Nanashi endured it, though, because he was just too fucking furious and stubborn at the world. Maybe Dagda saw a little of himself in him, this angry slip of a thing, too small to do anything because the world was so big and he was so insignificant, unless…

Dagda was a hypocrite, he knew. He preached to never rely on others, but here he leaned on Nanashi, even if it was just as a useful tool. Nanashi leaned on him for life and strength. They were both pathetic in their own way, but Dagda was self-aware enough to acknowledge his own hypocrisy. So long as he achieved his goal, did it really matter if he was a fucking liar to himself? 

So, yeah, maybe a bit of protectiveness over his investment had spawned. It didn’t matter. ‘Fond’ meant something entirely different to whatever shit Aogami had concocted in that warped little brain of his. 

“You think worthy humans just grow on trees?” Dagda drawled. “You think any of them are like our humans? Sure, I can ditch the kid… but I’d be waiting around for another few hundred years to find someone equivalent. It’ll be faster in the long run to punch a hole through reality and drag the kid through, kicking and screaming, back to where he belonged.”

[genork-the-fandork]

Falter

Word Count: 623 Prompt: First Summer A/N: Late to my own party! Of course! It's been a wild week thus far, but I had to make sure I participated this year. I owe it to Takari! I had this idea in my head for a few days, and I think it came out better than I ever meant it to. @takariweek

Though she had known about it, this place where the Digimon originated, and though Taichi had told her the tales of his adventures with the others, the Digital World was entirely new and astounding to Hikari. Her eyes stretched so wide a headache was starting to form, but she wanted to take it as much of the sights as she could. What if she forgot all of this when it was over? The thought nearly broke her heart. Surely the image of this place would be etched into her memory for the rest of her life?

There was a fear, however small, however irrational, of ruining this place if she even took a step, breathed the air, touched a tree. While the others took their return to the Digital World in stride, dusting themselves off and coming up with a plan, Hikari was frozen in place, her fingers flexing and taking in the feel of the grass beneath her. So similar to that in her own world, and yet so different in that this was Tailmon's home. Tailmon, who stood alert, ears pricked, tail poised to strike should anyone threaten either of them. The other half she didn't know she'd been looking for until it was found.

While the others milled around, pondering next steps, Hikari stayed on the grass, her excitement intertwining with nerves. This place was foreign to her, strange, and she was without her parents. Her brother she trusted, of course, of course, and she had Tailmon, but without knowing the rest very well, she was unsure about her prospects of safety. The stories she'd heard indicated that perhaps she was in far more danger here than she'd been even with Vamdemon.

"Need any help?"

Hikari lifted her head, meeting the eyes of the only other Chosen that was her age—Takeru. Yamato's younger brother. His Digimon partner had been key to the prophecy that had helped them defeat Vamdemon once and for all. But other than that, she didn't know much about him. She remembered thinking he was very brave for all his efforts to help her and Tailmon. It was embarrassing, that this experienced veteran of this world would see her falter so soon after she'd joined them here. Yet some part of her trusted enough to admit the truth: "I'm a little scared."

Takeru smiled and nodded. Glancing over at their brothers, immersed deep in discussion, he whispered conspiratorially, "I was really scared at first, too."

"Really?" Him? This child who had so bravely allowed his Digimon to shoot an arrow through his brother's heart. A connection, then—they had both been intimidated by this place upon first encounter. This revelation lifted the weight on her lungs, releasing the anxiety that had been bubbling under her skin.

Once again, Takeru nodded, and he looked down at Tokomon, grinning with all of his shark teeth. Although the sight looked scary, Hikari knew instinctively the Digimon was trying to smile. "Having Tokomon helped a lot."

Hikari placed her hand upon Tailmon's head, not missing the way her ear twitched in acknowledgement. So like a cat, and so unlike one all at once. She loved her partner dearly. "I'm relying on you, Tailmon."

Their eyes met, and Tailmon said solemnly, "I won't let you down, Hikari."

That settled, Takeru grinned and held out his hand. "C'mon, let's go join the others."

She lightly took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. For a few moments, they looked at each other, hands clasped, a silent agreement and acceptance passing between them. Should the others falter, they would stand together. It was only right.

In quite a few ways, they were all they had in this strange world of wonderful creatures.

[insideliascrazyhead]

The great expressions of High&Low

„Look how adorable I am with my kicked puppy expression?!Yeah?I´m still gonna come for you with the nastiest wrestling moves like a squirrel on acid!“

„Oh yeah?!What are you gonna do?Fight me?!“Makes angry Fujio noises to assert dominance.

Odajima; „Yeah,go Sawamura!“

Jinkawa; Is painfully single in silence

Shidaken; „Sachio is so gonna go on a rampage!

„Is this man serious?!At least tell me you´re joking?!Imma go fishing,I might decide not to come back.“

„Doesn´t the loony bin have a field trip you gotta return to before they see a unmedicated,delusional nutjob is missing?!“

Plans Jigsaw-style murder in silence.Heavily debating to might attack and bite someone later on.10/10 Hyuga would adopt that feral gremlin

Yamato; „Why can´t there be at least motorcycles?!“

Cobra;“No idea what´s going on whatsoever,just gonna look cute,heavily pretending to understand sports.“

„That shit´s like straight porn those guys are hot but I have no idea what the fucks going on“

„How do you play this shit?!Is he supposed to fail miserably?!“

hissing like a kitty cat and inhuamne demon screeching noises

„Don´t make the others see you´re dating that crazy chaos of a human being they might doubt the rest of your sanity Cobra,still kinda proud tho.“

"That´s it.I´m hallucinating.I´m going insane!What was in those noodles earlier?!Nobody gonna belive that,I need evidence!“

Emotional support from the distance,might run when shit goes downhill idk.

„Im too young for this kinda high blood pressure!“Man is a single mother of 9

“Fuck leading S.W.O.R.D imma be a Supermodel!”

Also he´s coming for them fishies,swim little Nemo!Swim!

„Oh I shouldn´t love that as much as I do.Did I just discvover a   kink?!Gotta call Tsukasa later...“

„Why are we screaming?!“

“Bitch what in everything holy is going on here and why the fuck am I not notified?!” or "Oh,great!Now I gotta go and bleach my eyes simpsons style."

Confused but at least got the spirit!

[rollinouttahere-writes]

…

…

Kaido as Lucky’s yandere in Wano

I’m sorry I know it’ll probably be King or Yamato or anyone else but damn if I don’t love messy drama and not even my room is messier than Kaido being in love with Lucky

Yeah it makes no sense because realistically Kaido wouldn’t have a good impression of her, therefore the necklace wouldn’t work, but I can’t stop thinking what if

I mean it could very well still happen. I haven't gotten to that arc so who knows? Maybe I'll think of a dynamic between them. Even if I don't, I'm not opposed to writing what if scenarios for characters that aren't canon love interests. I've already done that for Shanks lol

I will admit that King is a likely candidate, because like... look at him. He's distractingly gorgeous 😍

Who's Who is also likely because cat + Lucky = love lmao

I've also got my eye on Sasaki but that is 100% just because he's got long hair and a dad-bod and that does a lot for me

It could be anyone, or several. I'm not limiting one per arc by any means.

[madraleen]

Seraph of the End - Takaya Kagami/Yamato Yamamoto Vol. 27-28: Of ships, frustration and excitement - a commentary.

-a close-up of mika's tail as he gets curious? really not helping that cat mika impression that i have

-not yuu finally questioning guren???

-it's really sad how at the end of the day, no matter what happened in the past, no matter who they really are, yuu and mika are just so out of their depth with all of these grand schemes. emotionally, information-wise, even power-wise (or at least the power that they're aware of having).

-i'm cheering that yuu finally stands up to guren, but it's kinda funny seeing them 'HRAAAAA'-ing so passionately when i'm sure soon they'll be buddies again and the only one left to fret in distress and harbor grudges will be mika dearest.

-guren and yuu are so similar, aren't they. both incredibly strong and oh so weak, both with strong views in the things that matter to them, both having their favorite person as their demon, and another very important person in that equation (shinoa-shinya). but they're also so different, in how they perceive things, how they react to things, who they want to be in the world.

-yuu can give family guy dom toretto a real run for his money

-seven sinful keys and the lives of all vampires in exchange for mika's resurrection. what does the sinful keys part mean for yuu? that poor seraph guy is still alive without it, right?

-ARE YOU SERIOUS, WE HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN RESURRECTING MIKA OR HUMANITY! ARE YOU SERIOUS! ARE YOU SERIOUS, GUREN! omfg

-hold up, we can't just make that choice... hold up, i don't like this... hold up... HOLD UP, FUCK YOU, GUREN! dropping that on yuu like that! COME THE FUCK ON! (very in-character, BUT ARGH)

-what are "ugly desires," mika, and why are they different. is it a personal taste preference

-mika, what a good egg. what a good egg. did he know he's The Son, he doesn't look particularly shooketh

-okay, but like... it's basically canon that yuu's in love with mika, right? (and vice versa) IT'S NOT JUST THE WORDS, it's the panel composition and everything!

-WHY ISN'T THIS ANIMATED, THE VAS WOULD HAVE KILLED IT. LIKE, EVEN IF IT WERE STICK FIGURES, THEY VAS WOULD STILL MAKE IT PACK A PUNCH

-lil' yuu choosing mika tho :")

-LOOK AT THAT RUMBLING, ashera’s Not Happy

-SOMEONE GIVE YUU POWER, HE'LL TURN INTO A SERAPH AT THIS RATE

-the gall of that woman that's drinking children's blood to call ashera a monster. lady. lady, please

-LIKE, WHAT IS THIS FREAKING PHRASING, "from the start, you've only ever had eyes for mikaela"?! THAT'S A VERY KINDA SORTA KINDA PHRASING! it's silently canon, right?

-yuu will do it, you guys, trust, he'll do it, he'll save everyone somehow. he just needs mika by his side to do it is all. trust. TRUST YOUR MC, GUYS!

-yeah, the first and yuu kinda want the same thing rn. or at least their interests don't clash. for now.

-honestly, seeing yuu's persistence, i don't know if i'm reading the resolve of an MC who'll succeed despite the odds or the hubris of a greek tragedy protag. i'm rooting for him anyway

-what a crime that this isn't animated.

-i'm sorry, but the irony of guren being like "aren't we family to you?!" to yuu while they're restraining and injecting him after guren sprung on him the impossible choice and basically cornered him via peak emotional manipulation techniques. okay. i'm not saying guren doesn't believe it when he says it, i'm saying 'ayo, boy, shut up'

-shinoa be out there making a love confession, someone comfort her (she's the "this is my boyfriend, and this is my boyfriend's boyfriend" meme)

-YUU GOING IN FOR THE KILL, OMFG ("by the way, i've been sane this whole time" CHOMP!)

-for real? ashera's dead? not even a shred of him inside yuu or mika? that’s how he ends? 

-gosh, i love yuu. i do. there's just something so pure about him. not saying he doesn't need a kick in the butt at times, but he's just so pure, he's so himself.

-shinoa's face when she realizes yuu will leave. beautiful panel.

-mitsu, give her a hug. please give shinoa a hug. please hold her.

-takaya kagami's afterwords are among my favorites, 'cause he just! sounds! so! excited! to be doing what he does. it's heartwarming.

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure Drama CD 3 (Character Song + Mini Drama 3)

The final part in this drama CD trilogy! There are other Digimon Adventure CDs for me to go through, but this is the end of the character song + mini drama collection. So great that these are easily accessible online. I've had a lot of fun going through them.

Download link

Translation

The Stolen First Dreams of the Year - Parts 1 & 2

The gang realizes that none of them had a New Year's dream (it's a Japanese tradition to analyze your first dream of the year). Yamato and Takeru go to investigate and Bakumon reveals he ate everyone's dreams! Dun dun dunnnn

Gotta love the totally realistic conversations of people being like "you didn't have a dream either, so weird!" I feel like I don't remember my dreams most nights lol.

I've always known that tapir were associated with dream-eating in Japan (due to anime and video games), but I've never looked up the origins of this. According to Wikipedia the nightmare eating, supernatural "baku" and the tapir are both called "baku," but they're different...but also baku look just like tapir lol. Not confusing at all!

In part 2 of this drama Yamato and Takeru are trapped in Takeru's dream. Takeru is a cat, Patamon's a kite, and Gabumon's a shishimai. I thought it was funny that Takeru had a profound reason for Patamon to be a kite, but Gabumon was a shishimai because...he just kinda looks like one lol

Takeru uses the power of lucid dreaming to defeat Bakumon and escape his dream...that's a pretty obvious weakness

Image Song 1 - Walk on the Edge (Yamato Ishida)

Translation

A very "cool" song for Yamato, very fitting. A lot of it is directed at Taichi, telling him to stop being so hot-headed and just be cool, like Yamato.

I feel like there's some conflicting vibes here because at one point in the lyrics he's like "we're the chosen children, we can do anything!" but then he's like "I'm fine on my own." Kinda jarring that both ends of his arc would be put into one song like that. Like...pick a personality.

I liked that they incorporated his harmonica in the song's intro. Smart.

Image Song 2 - Be All Right (Takeru Takaishi)

Translation

This had a similar vibe to Hikari's song, kinda abstract and hopeful about the future. (Makes sense since Hikari and Takeru become a duo).

I feel like Takeru's voice actress didn't even try to do her character's voice when singing this. It just sounds like some lady lol. In my opinion, when it comes to image songs, I prefer the song to sound more authentic to the character than to sound "good."

The Digimon’s New Year Performance

This was definitely the best gag drama yet! They threw a lot of dumb jokes in there that made me laugh/roll my eyes. Best bits were probably: Gabumon finally taking his fur off (in the AUDIO drama), Tentomon speaking without his accent (cursed), Sora and Joe praising Piyomon and Gomamon for their lame tricks and Hikari judging Tailmon for acting cutesy.

I felt bad for Agumon for being booed, glad he got his revenge at the end lol.

Image Song 3 - Shinka de Guts! (Partner digimon, minus Tailmon)

Translation

This one snuck up on me. It's so cute!! I feel like this is one of those anime songs that make you feel like you can do anything and everything's gonna be alright ;w;

Love hearing the digimon sing. This is what I was talking about in my critique of Takeru's song. I love in-character songs that aren't worried about sounding kinda goofy.

The digimon sing about their power together and their love for their human partners, very wholesome. There were also some lyrics thrown in there about taking it easy and stopping to smell the flowers. Cozy.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Veterinarian gai au

Kakashi comes in A LOT bc he has so many dogs. Dogs that enjoy going to the vet bc gai is great

Ohhh, i love the idea of Vet Gai. He’d be so sweet with all of the animals and a lot of people underestimate his skill but he’s one of the best around

Gai has a special bond with Bull, who will only cooperate when it’s Gai caring for him because every other vet is too rough (the assume they have to be because of his size, but Kakashi usually steps in to sooth Bull while he gets his check-up/medication/whatever it is he needs)

Pakkun refuses to be looked at unless he has a paw on Kakashi’s hand and Gai thinks that is adorable. If there was an award for most loyal dog he’s certain it would go to Pakkun (he’s convinced of it when Kakashi brings Pakkun in one day with a big big on his side. Kakashi explains that Pakkun got between him and a large dog running up to attack him, and while pakkun sustained one really bad bite he’s pretty sure the other dog lost both its eyes before finally letting Pakkun go, at which point pakkun went for the throat bite. The other dogs owners try to sue Kakashi, but it goes no where cuz Pakkun was the one protecting his human)

Gai see’s all sorts of animals of course. He also cares for Yamato’s cat who seems to hate everyone but Yamato, but will at least sit nicely while Gai does the check up.

Anko’s snakes are some of his more interesting guests. He actually doesn’t know a lot about reptiles until Anko brings one of her snakes in, then he makes it a goal to learn as much as he can so he can give them the same care he gives all the other animals.

Kakashi usually visits once a week because with Eight dogs injuries are common. Gai teaches him how to care for some of the basic injuries (which he admits Kakashi learns fast.)

One year for Gai’s Birthday, Kakashi actually gifts him a book of short stories centered around dogs. It’s not until he reads it a year later that he finds out it’s a first print of Kakashi’s first book ever released. He quickly starts to treasure that book a lot more than he already did (and there’s even a story including a vet in it! A vet that seems to be oddly similar to Gai)

Gai doesn’t often make house trips, but he does head out for emergencies where the owner can’t get the pet to him.

This poor man has held far too many animals in their last moments and he can’t help but cry as soon as he gets home. Sometimes the animal was old and already dying, but sometimes it’s due to an accident (car, other animal) and he mourns the loss of s life gone far too soon.

Yamato’s cat comes in once a year, but Yamato visits once a week with treats from the nearby bakery. Gai’s a little confused about it, but he does like treats so he doesn’t complain. It takes him five months to learn that the bakery belongs to Yamato and is run by him, Kakashi (accountant) and Yoshino.

[lowder-the-koopa]

The Return of Lowder Reviews: Digimon Adventure (Movie)/Digimon Adventure Review Part 1: A Short and Sweet Film

This review is going to be another short review.

Plot Summary

In Highton View Terrace, Tokyo, a boy named Taichi "Tai" Kamiya wakes up late at night and sees his sister Kari Kamiya looking at their dad's computer. Suddenly, a strange egg comes out of it. The next morning, Tai cannot believe his eyes when he realizes the egg is real. While their mother is out, the egg seems to develop a mind of its own when it escapes Kari's grasp and rolls away. It then hatches into a Botamon and immediately latches onto Tai's face. Tai throws it off, and it runs under the nearby bed. Tai tries to get it out by throwing his googles at it, but that just makes Botamon blow bubbles at him. Kari eventually gains its trust with her whistle and begins feeding it chocolate, causing it to digivolve into Koromon.

Now out of food, Kari steals the food belonging to their cat, Miko, and gives it to Koromon, who thanks her by latching onto her face as well and then Tai's. Miko soon finds Koromon with its food, however, and lashes out. Tai tries to protect him and, soon after, Koromon introduces himself. Tai is at first upset first because Kari is talking to Koromon but will only blow her whistle at him. He tells Tai and Kari that he is a Digimon from the Digital World. They don't really understand this and later head to bed, but Koromon suddenly digivolves into Big Agumon and begins roaming the streets, causing destruction on a small scale, while carrying Kari on his back.

Agumon is roaming around the city causing trouble while Tai frantically chases after him and Kari. Before he manages to cause any real casualties, a Parrotmon appears out of a huge egg in the sky. Agumon lashes out, which only angers the bird, causing it to destroy an overhead bridge and covering Agumon and the two kids in rubble. Out of the rubble, Red Greymon appears in Agumon's place and begins fighting back against Parrotmon. After a few minutes, Greymon is knocked out, and only awakens when Tai blows Kari's whistle as loud as he can. He then lets out a blinding fire breath attack, and the two Digimon vanish, leaving Tai and Kari alone amongst all the destruction. Yamato "Matt" Ishida, Sora Takenouchi, Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi, Mimi Tachikawa, Joe Kido, and Takeru "T.K." Takaishi all see the battle from their windows and are chosen as DigiDestined along with Tai and Kari four years later.

Thoughts

I'm going to be honest with you, this is one of the best animate films I have seen in my entire life. I love how this film looks and how well animated it is.

(About time I started incorporating my emotes into these reviews.)

This film reminds me a lot of when I was kid growing up and how much happier I was compared to now.

But I'm a lot happier now compared to the beginning of the year and last year, because of the people I've met both here and in real life.

Getting back to the review, Taichi and Hikari, even though they aren't as developed as they are in the show, are good protagonists to me because of how curious both of them are about Digimon and how they react to this unnatural situation, because, even though they head into danger, they are still little kids at the end of the day and that's okay.

Botamon/Koromon/Agumon/Greymon is a cute and enjoyable character and I love the friendship between him and the Yagami siblings. I love the fight between him and Parrotmon at the end of the film because of how stunning it is to look at it and how good the sound design was for the entire fight.

When it comes to story, its simplistic but I'm fine with it because this is suppose to be a preview to the actual show. Which from what I have read, is a lot more expansive compared to this film.

When it comes to problems, I think the only problems I have with this film are just some animation errors but I can mostly ignore most of those because of I think most of those can be ignored due to being small.

Conclusion

Overall, I think Digimon Adventure (Film) is a great film and I enjoyed my time watching it with the beautiful animation and the vibes making me feel nostalgic and happy.

Rating

Digimon Adventure (Film) gets a Lowder Reviews first, 10/10.

Join me next time when we enter the Digital World in Digimon Adventure (Season One).

[nami-lvr]

Correct OP: Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4

Ft: Shanks, Law, Ace, Sabo, Marco, Smoker, and princess Vivi

A/N: I love everyone on this list like for real come kiss me Vivi 🙁🙁 SHANKS TOO. HE IS SO FINE. SO IS ACE. LIKE GYYYYYAT!! Next part is Enel, Katakuri, Big Mom, Kidd, Arlong, and Yamato (last part)

Shanks

Loud ass snoring

Does not care

Aaabsolutley pulls bitches

Marines or not marines

Paints his nails the brightest most noticeable colors

Bright yellow

Hot pink

Neon green

Absolutely outstanding father

10/10 dad

The one you call to get drunk or high or cross faded with

Would deal his kids weed to make sure they stay safe

Would also give alcohol recommendations

���all when they’re legally allowed ofc

Law

Definitely

A lil fruitcake

Sorry to all Law simps but he is AroAce and atp it’s cannon

Would not be into romance at all

Ever

He would definitely read gay dirty books though

“I WAS JUST CURIOUS-“

Boooo lame excuse

Like

Ok gay ass 🥸

Would dress like a teen boy trying to be cool

Would be an outstanding father if he ever had kids

Would be so into Star Trek not even joking

Speaking Klingon and allat

Stoner

WEED SMOKER

Is a Math/Science kinda smart guy

Ace

I do not give a single shit what this GIF looks like

Ace has a hooked nose

And crooked teeth

And heterochromia

One green eye one brown eye type shit

Is color blind

The green and red kind

Can not drive

Do not let him behind the wheel

Please

Got that greasy hair

That unwashed stench

Overgrown armpit hair

Has a forest under there

A REALLY GOOD LOOKING HAPPY TRAIL ☹️☹️

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GOOD HIS HAPPY TRAIL LOOKS I SWEAR TO YOU

Sabo

This motherfucker is inSANE

Bro needs to go back to the mental health institution

Has a gold tooth

Has cologne on always

And it smells so good

Doesn’t brush his hair

But its fine bc he really pulls off the messy look

Tried to grow a beard and it did not look good

Is very organized

Is insecure about his scars

(Secretly) looks at guys

Not so secretly looks at girls

Is definitely bisexual

TRANSGENDER

Choked on the devil fruit when he ate it

Messy eater

CROOKED NOSE

It’s basically facts that the ASL brothers have crooked noses

Except for Ace with his hooked nose

Can speak Spanish but not Portuguese

Loser can’t speak the language he grew up around 💀💀

Marco

Just GET A DIFFERENT BARBER GYAT DAMN 😭😭

At least get a fade

Has male pattern baldness

Knows his hair is bad (doesn’t care)

Has cavities

Doesn’t floss

Does not wear deodorant

would definitely dress grungy

And or punk

And have a mohawk sometimes ;p

And think he’s the shit

When he needs to fix that GODDAMN HAIR

He would be gay

Oh my god how gay he would be

Has SEX

This guy FUCKS

Idk how but I feel like he pulls some major bitches

Smoker

TBH I would fuck him and I’m literally asexual

So yk this dude is getting it on

Has tried to smoke 20 cigars at once

Succeeded somehow

Type of guy to say “I bet five dollars that___” and always lose

But does it anyways

GOD at rock paper scissors

You may win the first time you play him, but that’s because he’s watching your tactics

Sneaky little bastard

Straight and Cis but fully supports the LGBTQIA+

“They don’t bother me, and even if a queer person did bother me, it would only be that specific one. Not all of them.”

It makes no sense how people get bullied for things they can’t control

Very stand up kinda guy

Beats up bullies type of fella

Princess Vivi

She is so fine istg

She would for sure pull

Would have an unbelievably dark past by age 30

God of never have I ever

Would just own everyone in it

The coolest backstory

Paints her nails to match her hair

Looks really good in modest dresses

Uh

She’s Hispanic

Not sorry

For real she is

I think she would really like cats

Keeps in contact with the strawhats

Buys them things and all that

Gives them supply crates like food and fresh ingredients

Really likes working with kids

Would be an amazing and patient teacher

Would have a really good singing voice

Looks absolutely amazing in white

[koumeowkami]

Nods nods while noting abt gyroaxia down.... Ok what else boss. Go on 👁️ (hope I'm not annoying you akajwjfnfknd..)

you're not annoying me at all!!! i love when people ask me about the things i love <3 even tho i can't articulate my thoughts at all lol

so ummm... here are random thoughts about the other groups :]

argonavis: the main guys!! they're kinda cute ngl. yuto (guitar) deadass followed ren everywhere in order to make him join the band and told him "you should join our band for two reasons: one, your singing is awesome. two, you're stupid", i think that's amazing. oh btw yuto and wataru (bass) are married i think

fantôme iris: the cool gay uncles. they all cosplay vampires. invented visual kei, they're my second fav band!! they're literally my family. felix (vocalist) is really cringefail (rei sakuma vibes) but i love him nonetheless. jun (guitar) is a pathetic wet cat, struggles 24/7 and is so damn relatable tbh (he's my beloved). koharu (bass) and daimon (drums) are basically the mom and dad of the group (also married). koharu cosplays as a woman in the band and he's the definition of slay honestly

fuujin rizing: chaotic good vibes. the silly ska band aka [playing the sax through the pain]. they're all close friends and deserve the world <3 their whole dynamic is basically futa (vocalist), misaki (guitar) and yamato (drums) being chaotic children and aoi (trombone) and kohei (bass) trying to keep them at bay and looking after them. i think they're neat

epsilon phi: chaotic evil vibes. the problematic band no one can take their eyes off of. honestly idek what goes on there, everyone hates each other. we basically have two twins in a toxic relationship (i hope kanata explodes), the less sadomasochistic version of amprule and a poor guy who can't understand feelings and is genuinely curious of all the mess he witnesses everyday in this band. also shu (vocalist) is the most insufferable kid ever seen in my life but i think he's becoming a bit more decent as time passes. their music is fire tho

btw check out the cast !!!! cause there are some popular seiyuus you definitely know (example: gakuto kajiwara, yoshiki nakajima, yuki sakakihara and shinnosuke tachibana), but honestly they're all very good!! i got to know one of my fav seiyuus thanks to argopro (jin ogasawara my beloved) 🫶🏻

[lavenderangeline]

She who holds the spirits

TW: Bodyhorror at the beginning (transformation from dragon into human), slight NSFW and flustered Yamato

Chapter 2 the thing with the cat in the doorway

The long body shrinked, from her mouth came a bit of blood as all the organs came back in place. Her spine cracked, almost looked like it's rotating into place through the thick skin and scales. Her massive claws pinning into the ground as she growled in pain. At last Anna was panting on all force, spiting blood out of her mouth, wiping a bit away on the side of month, looking up to the group of three, she still had sharp canine teeth, her horns on the forehead there shrinking back inside of her head. Eyes fixed on the reaction of the others like a predator, with her ice blue glowing eyes and the long cat like pupils it at least felt that way. She could feel, smell and see how they got goosebumps, shivers down their spine. They tried to look away but they didn't. Inside of Anna she were grinning. Some side of her wanted them to know how it was, being this way. But there was something else in their eyes. They there… Worried. If she was honest with herself the only time she saw someone worried about her in this state- was her mother. The only person that, till now, truly cares.

Shaky the stood up. Swaying from side to side. Her ears were ringing, slowly she shakes her head. Normally the transformation is smoother than that but she forced it back which makes it so painful. Holding her head she still feels how the golden horns go back. Her surroundings are dark, did the sun say its goodnight so fast or did the transformation took that long?

It seemed like Kakashi hold Yamato and Naruto back. Else they would've sprinted towards her but now they slowly approach.

Now that the power of the dragon goes back into it's sealing, it's like being surrounded by cotton, in a cloud wich isn't the 7th one. Just staying there, holding herself together. Feeling a warm hand on her shoulder. Not hearing clearly through the fog it's Yamato that tries to talk to her, Kakashi in the background trying to calm him. Like there wouldn't be any use of talking to her in hat circumstance of mind and body.

Just her saying, whispering even “I'm fine. It'll go away. “ staring into nothing as if her instincts are taking over just to reassure them. The little wound from the stretched flesh n skin heals. She feels so cold. As a dragon her body temperature sinks to minimum. A silent “don't do it ever again” echoes from her ear into her mind. A slight smile hushes over her lips. What a calming voice. Without noticing they all begin to move. One foot after the other Anna following, Naruto seems to help her now. Trying to talk to her here and there until he comes to the conclusion that she “just needs some ishirakus AMAZING miso soup and you feel better. I promise!” his grin was honest and happy. He had the chance to make a new friend after all. Anna huffed in amusement. “You seem to love promising things don't you.” she smiled. It hurts. Everything in her body hurts. But she didn't wanted to show her full vulnerability before her new comrades.

With every step it got better, until she got to walk alone yet again. Naruto and Anna had a really good conversation. But still she told him to wait until she could explain herself with the powers, it drains her just thinking about it.

Somehow he understood. Kept up the conversation with other things.

In the background Yamato and Kakashi were talking to each other more silent. “Do you think she could be dangerous to us? To him?”, Yamato asked calm but serious, looking at his senpai. Kakashi thought for a bit, looking at Anna. “She could be one. But she can control herself, she can control it. What do you think her intentions are Tenzo?” now looking at the younger man there's not much moving in his very limited seen facial expression. At first he pouted slightly, he shouldn't call him Tenzo! Then he sighed. “She's an overall friendly Human and seems to have an sweet personality. Anna basically threw all the information I needed towards me. Happily telling me about her future plans and what she wanted to archive as an medic here in Konoha. She was telling it with an specific spark in her eyes. As far as I noticed there was nothing that could be suspicious.” he scratched his head.

Maybe Kakashi saw the light blush on Yamatos cheeks. How he did in the dim light of the streetlights is questionable. After a little while Kakashi finally said something as he watched his old friend,

“Did it really took you one day to fall for a girl?”

This caught Tenzo so off guard that his face expression dropped, he freezed, unable to move just staring at Kakashi in pure disbelief. The silver haired man stood a few steps before him, again, watching his reaction closely. “I know you since we were Kids Tenzo and you never even dared to speak about a women in that tone. Friendly, of course, but there's something else in your voice.” Yamato, being shy and flustered as ever, tried to answer him. Beginning new sentences after the other, stepping over his own tounge as his head went from sunkissed to tomato red. “T- IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!” he's fiddling around with his eyes, shaking his head.

Kakashi chuckled, slowly approaching his friend from the side holding up an icha icha book wich he already read like a thousand times. He points on one sentence. “Didn't you said you'll be sleeping with her tonight? Why don't you two do that? “ suggesting what stands in the book. Yamato is done. He can't do this anymore and wobbles forward.

Kashi, seemingly proud of himself, claps the book close and follows the rest.

The chestnut brown haired man thinks a lot until they finally arrive at ishirakus. They all sit down, eat and talk. Yamato can't get out of his head what Kakashi just said to him. He watches Anna, looking at her face, the way her nose is a little bit crooked at her nostrils, how she smiles. Just now he actually notices every piercing she got. As she and Naruto have an little argument about the soup she sticks out her tounge. A little gem is on it. She has an tounge piercing. Yamato asks himself why she did that. If he should ask her now? No. He doesn't think so. Silently he sighs, looking into his soup, eating a little with blushed cheeks.

It got kind of late. They all said goodnight and walk home. Yamato, still being by Anna's side, is a little nervous. Thanks to Kakashi he just noticed that he indeed finds her attractive. Helpful is something else. How should he approach her now? She encouraged him being himself around her and honest if something is wrong. Told him that directly in the face as they walked to the streets this morning. Pulling himself together he wanted to ask her how she feels now but she was faster:

“Are you okay? You suddenly became so silent. I hope I didn't scare you” as she looked up at him, he thought he's gonna melt. Her eyes looked like a puppy, asking to get some pets. He blushed and smiled. “No. No worries. You didn't scare me. Well… I was kind of scared but just because I was worried. You seemed so full of pain transforming back and the aftermath wasn't fun for you.” he scratches his head.

Anna is kind of surprised. Feeling a kind of warmth in her chest. Thinking that this man is the cutest. “It's okay”, she explained further, “I forced the transformation back into a human. If that happens it hurts. Else it would go away over time but I can't walk through streets as a dragon or fly over konoha, scaring everyone. It was the only choice I had today.” Her heart makes a big thud as he places his big hand on her hand, caressing for a few seconds. “That is good to know. Just please… Don't do it again.” She nods in agreement. “I won't. Promise.”

They arrive by Anna's new home, go in and silently shut the door. It's late and Keiko is sleeping since an hour or two, Annaisha explained to Yamato. Going upstairs they find an little note of her mother on the kitchen counter.

Hello little Sparrow! I made room for Yamato in the office, the futon is still in your room. If you don't mind putting it into the room for him? I love you, goodnight and see you in the morning. Love, Mom

Anna sighed. “Well, seems like you're going to sleep in the office.” She smiled at him. His eyes seeming like two black holes in the nearly dark room. “I show you where it is.” “Sure.”,he answered.

They go one floor up, Anna goes into her room grabbing the rolled futon, pillow and blanket. As they go to office they hear someone snorring. The big fat cat lays in the doorway of the office. Anna's shoulders slughes in annoyment. “Oh Shu… Do you have to lay there??” She tries to wake the red cat up by nudging him. Letting out a even more annoyed sigh she let's her head fall into the soft it of her mother's cat.

“How did he even get up here…?” with an questioning face expression Yamato stared at the at. Anna rolled her head to the side, looking at him. “he can make himself tiny but he refuses to be tiny all the time. He said it's like being in “too tight clothes”” Yamato began to question everything he knows and believes in. “so he can…talk…” “yes.” “would he talk to us now?”Anna looked up with her eyes, thinking. She sighs “I don't think soooo…he's pretty stubborn. If he found a place to sleep he stays there until… He doesn't…” They both just stand there for a little while. “Do you wanna sleep in the living room? You wouldn't get a long sleep bc my mom is a early riser.”

Yamatos throat gets dry, he blushes by thinking of sleeping in the same room as her, it was still a possibility after all. Also something she told him today…. “If… if you wouldn't mind… I'd like to sleep in your room…He fiddles with his sleeve. “Mhm” is the only sound Anna makes, looking into nothing then begins to move again. “Fine, follow me.” She walks into her room as Yamato follows. Letting herself blop on the bed, looking at the young man, for a moment, just a slight second he watches her boobs jiggle, then fast looks away letting his gaze go around the room. “make yourself comfortable. If you need to go to the toilet, shower etc you can use my bathroom” she points at a door beside on the other side of her bed, “don't be shy. I only bite in dragon form” she chuckles.

Like a useless statue of liberty he doesn't know where to go until Anna says something. The awkward situation is even too much for her. “Well, you can either change in the bathroom or I do- nah forget it, I change in the bath.” She gets up, looking in her little closet for some clothes and dissappears in the bath.

Yamato sighs. The tension flows out of his body. He looks around for a bit before he finally lays down the futon, tidying it up and begins to get out his Shinobi outfit. Putting the headpiece on the desk in Anna's room, regarding to keep it nice and tidy. Giving himself only a little bit of space on the room.

Hearing the shower turning on in the bath, he's sure that she won't come out that fast. Sitting down on his futon, for now without shirt and in pyjama pants, he begins to read one of the architecture books he saw in Anna's bookshelf. Basically he couldn't resist bc it is one that he doesn't possesses.

As he looses himself in his book he doesn't notice as Anna comes out of the bathroom. Her naked feet tapping dull on the flooring as she walks around him, sits down on her bed and watches him smiling. “You like Architecture?” Surprised he looks up. “Oh- eh… Yes, yes I do haha” massaging his neck, smiling bit embarrassed. “Do you like it too? I mean- it's your book after all.” she leans forward, her tight top wich is hugging her body revealing her boobs in the cleavage. Fast he looks into the book. How are her Tits so huge…? He thinks to himself. “Well… Yeah. Kind of. I mostly need it for drawing ideas and all. That's why I have it.” Yamato stares on one word in the book.

Anna gets up. Asking herself why he acts so strange. Only hoping she doesn't make him uncomfortable. Maybe she should put on an oversized t-shirt. Pulling one out of her drawer, throwing it over her head. She likes him. He's nice and over all it feels comfortable with him. She knows that she tends to trust people fast, maybe too easily but with him she's sure that trusting him is the right thing to do.

Shia noticed black eyes following her movements. She looks at him and he gazes up, back at her. Smiling she opens her mini braid by her right temple, putting the little pearl and mini hairband into a dish by her desk. “We should go to sleep.” she says calmly. With her gaze still at him, he nods stands up to put the book away. Anna puts her night lamp out, watching Yamatos arm movement closely. It shakes a little. She noticed the whole day that there was something wrong.

“Yamato.” she walks closer to him. He turns around towards her. Blushes hardly as he notices how close he is right now. “Your arm. You're in pain.” He furrows his eyebrows. How could she notice? “I'm going to touch you.” she warns him, before he can say anything Anna takes his arm, feeling over it, massasing certain trigger points in the muscles. “You over did it. Did you lifted anything too heavy or holded your arm in a certain position wich was actually uncomfortable?” She looks so concentrated, as her eyes begin to glow again, the pupils wider but still yet again like a cat. Fascinated by how she looked he didn't answer and just watched her movements. Anna activated her medical Jutsu, tracing other his arm, shoulder and chest. “You… Don't have to…” he breathed. “it's my job.” she answered, “of course I have to.” “do you really have enough Chakra left after this evening?” For a brief moment she looked him in the eyes, than back at what she actually was doing. “I have more than enough. Can't explain why it is that way. Only can imagine it is bc if the dragon spirit.” A little grunt came out between Yamatos teeth as Anna found the point where his muscle hardened. Loosing it up with the Jutsu felt unexpectedly good. Like he could finally relax. A pleased smile came from the redhead. Knowing that he actually helped him makes her happy. Yamato traces her face in the slight dark again, her smile… How would her lips feel like against his…? “You were part of the ANBU?” As she was done with the treatment, her fingertips caressing over the Tattoo. Interested tracing over the red curved lines. Being out of his trance by staring at her lips he stammers: “wha- eh… Yes… yes I was. Lady Tsunade gave me then a mission to go with Naruto, Sakura and Sai because Kakashi was injured. And now I'm in Team seven I guess…”

Annaisha looks up into his eyes. She has questions. Many of them. But it's not the time for it. Also they are knowing each other for only a day. She doesn't want to put salt in old wounds just bc she's curious to know him. It seems like Yamato notices the curiosity in her eyes but they just both smiled at each other before Anna took his hand in both of hers, squeezed it slightly and then let go.

She turned around and sit down on her bed, pulling the shirt over her head and throwing it on the chair where even more clothes piled up, all of them tidyly folded. Ruffling her hair before, sliding her hand through it to set her bangs right. “Goodnight Yamato, sleep well.” He huffed happily, now feeling how tired he actually is, he sits down and goes under the blanket. “Goodnight Annaisha. You too.”

Her blanket ruffles as she rolls herself up in it. Internally screaming. Hoping she hid her emotions perfectly. Damn. Shit.

How-

Is-

He-

So….

Cute?!?!

The door opens slightly. A small head looks into the room, meows and Anna looks towards her. “Mellie!” slight euphoria in her silent voice and the cat answers with an another meow. Hearing Yamato chuckle makes this situation basically the best for Anna. “She says it's bedtime and wakes me up every morning. Come here~” Mel jumps up on the bed and snuggles into the blanket in the height of Anna's stomach. “That's cute.” Yamato comments and after a while everybody sleeps in.