#i was talking about ichi though hes so .... like hes going through a lot but he never stops feeling for others ....

[dirt-str1der]

Ichiban .... hes literally my boy !!!!!!! Thank you rgg7 for having the best protagonist ever

[todomitoukei]

Japanese vs. English Todoroki Family Finale - A 426 Comparison

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

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

「来なくて大丈夫って言ったのに！」

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

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

「それを言うなら貴方たちもよ冬美夏雄」

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

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

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

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

「お母さんでも…」

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

= “But mom…”

「それを言うならおまえもだ冷」

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

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

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

「義務感で来たんじゃねぇから！皆そうだろ」

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

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

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

「会話は可能ですが一日に数分が限界です」

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

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

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

「緩やかに死へと向かっている…それが今の轟燈矢です」

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

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

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

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

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

「........ぞろぞろと」

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

= “....In droves”

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

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

「ハハ…観光名所じゃねぇんだよ........」

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

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

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

「燈矢」

「燈矢 ; touya」-> Touya

= “Touya.”

「今後の話をしに来たんだ燈矢」

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

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

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

「俺はヒーローを引退するよ」

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

= “I am retiring from being a Hero.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

「ヒーローエンデヴァーは焼かれて死んだ

おまえの炎は誰よりも強かった」

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

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

「そっか　ご愁傷様　事が済んでから諂うなよ…卑怯者…」

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

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

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

Back to business:

「そうだな　燈矢は誰のことをよくわかってる　ずっと見てたんだもんな」

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

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

「俺に見てほしかったんだもんな

なのに見なかった…」

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

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

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

「俺はお父さんの子どもなんだから」

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

= “Because I am dad’s child.”

「おまえはエンデヴァーじゃない！！」

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

= ”You aren’t Endeavor!!”

Yes. That’s why we love him.

「誰が何と言おうと........　おまえの炎（ねつ）は俺のヘルフレイムだ

あの告発映像を毎日見続けている」

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

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

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

「おどお゙さん見で」

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

= “Dad, look”

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

「これからー」

「これから ; korekara」-> from now on

= “From now on-”

「毎日来る　話をしよう」

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

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

「あまりに遅すぎたけれど話そう」

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

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

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

「心拍数上昇これ以上は負担が」

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

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

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

「冷　夏雄　冬美　焦凍が…　残してくれた時間で話そう」

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

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

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

「憎いなら…憎いと　なんでもいい　ぶつけてくれ…！」

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

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

「燈矢兄私も…！」

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

= “Touya-nii, me too…!”

「話したい事たくさんあるの」

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

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

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

「今日は止めにしましょう！！また明日にでも…」

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

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

「最後に一ついいですか　聞きたかったことあるんだ」

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

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

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

「燈矢兄　好きな食べ物何？」

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

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

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

「......体力の限界ですね今日は眠らせてまた…」

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

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

「蕎麦」

「蕎麦 ; soba」-> soba

= “Soba.”

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

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

「おんなじだ」

「おんなじ ; onnaji」-> same 「だ ; da」-> be

= “It’s the same.”

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

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

「これ以上は平行線だ　交わるよ　無理にでも」

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

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

「焦凍…　ごめんな…」

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

= “Shouto… I’m sorry…”

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

「俺はここまでだわ　悪いけど気持ち変わんない　俺はもう付き合わない」

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

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

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

「ああ」

「ああ ; aa」-> Ah

= “Ah.”

「彼女と籍入れたい　式は挙げない紹介もしない」

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

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

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

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

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

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

「ああ…分かったな」

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

= “Ah, I get it.”

「姉ちゃんは？仕事やめたんだろ？」

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

「犯した罪の賠償と謝罪を一生をかけて続けていく

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

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

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

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

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

「........地獄だぞ」

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

= “........It’s hell.”

「ああダンスの誘いを受けたんでな」

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

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

「…初めてだよ　お父さんの事　かっこいいって思えたの」

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

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

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

「焦凍は？学校戻るんだろ？」

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

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

「うん」

「うん ; un」-> yeah

= “Yeah.” 

「乗ってけよ姉ちゃんも」　

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

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

「ありがとう」

「ありがとう ; arigatou」-> thanks

= “Thanks.”

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

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

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

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

「地獄でも」

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

= “Even though it’s hell.”

「おーう早かったな！！大丈夫だったかあ！？」

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

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

「おなかすいた」

「おなかすいた ; onaka suita」-> I’m starving

= “I’m starving.”

「見てる人がいる」

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

= “There is someone who is watching.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

And no, Touya won’t die.

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Zanzou Slow Motion

Title: Zanzou Slow Motion (残像スローモーション)

Author/Artist: Janome

Shop: CD + Manga

Release Date: 2021/05/28

Cast:

Furukawa Makoto x Nakazawa Masatomo

Eguchi Takuya

Satou Gen

Tadokoro Hinata

Yasuaki Takumi

Matsuoka Yoshitsugu

Ichikawa Aoi

Yanagi Kouhei

Karino Sho

Synopsis:

What happens when two rival directors who hate each other's guts are forced to share one roof? And what if one of them has a secret he's been harboring for years? Throw in a shared love of movies, BL manga, and an accidental kiss, and you've got the next heart-pumping love story in Midorigaoka High and the sequel to Twilight Out of Focus 1. Jin Kikuchihara, third-year director, main actor, and president of the film club, and second-year director Giichi Ichikawa see eye-to-eye on very little. Jin is flashy, flirty, and focused on keeping everyone happy, while Giichi expects the best from himself and others, and will compromise nothing to see his vision through. Constantly at each other's necks, the two can hardly stand to be in the same club. But what will happen when family trouble forces them to live in the same room? Will their shared interests bring them closer as friends, push them further apart as rivals, or something else entirely?

Review Proper

I love Tasogare Outfocus, but this is actually my favorite Janome.

The second installment curse strikes again!

UGHHHHHHH THIS WAS SO WHOLESOME. Don't get me wrong, Tasogare Outfocus is written pretty decently, but I really don't like how Janome just glossed over Hisashi's SA and grooming like that. It reminds me a lot of Etude vol. 1. I can still get over Etude vol. 1 'cause it's not that uncommon to see in sports and Ichi-san's deal with Futami was given some closure in 2, but given how short Tasogare Outfocus was, Hisashi felt like he just lmao byed his teacher. 😔Doesn't help that it kinda doesn't matter anymore in overlap even though it hasn't been long since it ended. Is my son Hisashi really okay now? 🥹

I'm old, so DK BL doesn't appeal to me that much anymore. It's also hard to find good DK rivalries nowadays that aren't just about fucking or delinquents. Zanzou Slow Motion, however, just checked all the right boxes for the category: simple, no drama, and no loose ends. That coupled with Janome's element of touch?

And can we talk about this monologue?

Ugh.

I will say Jin's suspenders, Ichikawa's snatched waist, and the ABO shout-out greatly influenced my decision too. Y'all should get suspended in high school, not wear suspenders!

Onto the technicalities...

I don't think I've heard these two co-star before (or I just don't remember), so I was a bit skeptical especially 'cause last I heard Makonyan in a DK was in, well... Given as BLCD!Ritsu. And where else did we hear Yuuma star in a DK too? Yuuma as Anime!Ritsu. We just had Given Anime!Ritsu in Tasogare Outfocus being somewhat friends with Ichikawa and now we have BLCD!Ritsu (thanks to ecargmura for catching this!) trying to romance him. They used very different tones for Ritsu, but the vibe was the same overall. THEY'RE THE SAME PERSON. Makonyan and Nakamo also played tops in the last works I heard of them (Makonyan as Takaba in Kurui Naku and Nakamo as Yakumo in Nu:carnival), so I was concerned about a lot of things. Thankfully, however, instead of Makonyan going for his Ritsu tone or his lighter Kimitte Yatsu for a more youthful vibe, he went all shounen in here lmaooo.

His bwakame was so funny it reminded me of this:

I love roasting Makonyan more than any other seiyuu out of fondness, but I'm really proud of how far he's gone. He's gotten so much better in his delivery, and it's obvious in his budding anime career, too.

But...

I didn't expect there would be improvements in his bedding techniques too...

What the fuck was that? HAHAHAHAHAHA. WAIT. No, y'all don't understand. I have most of this man's r-18 otome CDs and BLCDs, and I have never heard him this... this hot before???? Jin is such a smooth flirt, so I had some expectations on the delivery, but FURUKAWA MAKOTO HISSES. HE HISSES!!! SIR IS THIS APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR FOR A HIGH SCHOOL BOY??? THEY DON'T EVEN SHOW THEM DO THE DO FOR MORE THAN A MINUTE??? WHERE WAS THE NEED?!

PUTS THE GODDAMN FU IN FURUKAWA MAKOTO ALRIGHT!

First it was Ono Yuuki, now it's Makonyan. Is Nakamo's ass really that good that his tops go all in???

I admittedly don't have a lot to say about Nakamo because that man always slays. I was afraid that Makonyan would overpower him during their Netflix and chill, but as soon as I had that thought, Nakamo pushed back like??? THEM SHAKIRA HIPS DON'T LIE!

HOW DO I LEGALLY MARRY GINGER RECORDS???

I didn't read the scan or the official English release 'cause I actually had the raws, so I can't vouch for the translation. As for faithfulness to the manga, however, I need to stress that there were a lot of rearranged events and cut dialogue. One notable instance was Ichikawa's message for Jin. It was placed after their kiss in the last chapter, so I believe that these changes are quite significant. It is still possible to read the manga while listening to the BLCD, but I suggest reading the manga once first so you're aware of which pages you need to jump to.

Chil-chil Awards 2022 was a scam 'cause this wasn't nominated for ANYTHING! This might actually just be my favorite BLCD of 2021... and Makonyan was my favorite actor in this series so far. OKITSU AND MAKONYAN REALLY SWITCHED IN THIS LOG HAHAHAHA. Makonyan and Nakamo at least won in my heart. 😌 Definitely listen to this if you're a Makonyan fan or if you're a fan of the series in general. It's also perfect if you're looking for something light and sweet but immersive at the same time. Chesk gives this a 9/10! Only the third 9 after Sonna ni and KD!

[eponymousfics]

To tide you over during AO3 maintenance, have a deleted/alternate scene from the latest tsp chapter (33)!

This would've been the opening to the chapter but I wound up rewriting it because it didn't flow right.

A conversation between the family while Ichi and Reader were out buying beer:

Despite the differences, disagreements, and general dysfunction of their dynamic, the Matsuno family was a closeknit unit. Whatever happened in the world, that they were all together as a group was the one constant in the stream of minor entropies that was Life. It was insular and cozy and never saw more than superficial changes.

Until recently.

Just about as soon as the front door closed behind Ichimatsu and his partner as they went to buy more beers, Mom and Dad collapsed against each other in tears.

“Did you see that! Did you see how he already sounded like a real son-in-law? Isn’t that amazing! Isn’t that wonderful!”

“You boys have a lot to live up to when you finally get partners!” Dad said.

“Oh really? I thought you totally gave up on us already,” Todomatsu said, sounding unimpressed.

“Well—I mean, yeah—” Dad said, sending arrows through their chests, “—but, well, of course, I mean…right?”

“’Right’ what, Dad?” Choromatsu asked.

Their parents exchanged looks.

“Well, you know…if Icchan can do it…” Mom said meaningfully.

“What? That’s a horrible thing to say about one of your sons!” Choromatsu protested, although he did agree.

“Man, it’s gonna be hard to top a ski vacation right off the bat though,” Osomatsu laughed, sounding surprisingly care-free about it. Choromatsu glared at him, put out that he wasn’t more put out about it. How was Choromatsu supposed to be the reasonable emotional anchor when Osomatsu didn’t even seem remotely at sea anymore?? Why did he always do this?!

It was especially bad because everyone was right­—it was going to be hard to top Ichimatsu’s achievements here. He just seemed to be piling them on lately, and it didn’t seem like any amount of hard work or diligence could possibly get the rest of them caught up anymore. How could silent grumpypants Nyanmatsu secretly be the most suited to normie life?!

“True—maybe one of you can find someone who already owns a home,” sighed Mom wistfully.

“In this economy?” Todomatsu joked, which infuriated Choromatsu because he was going to say it unironically. Smart people talked about the economy.

“What about a car?” Dad added, also looking wistful. “At least a motorcycle—one of you should be hanging out at biker rallies!”

“That’s why you should buy me a hog!” Karamatsu said, waving his arms excitedly. No one acknowledged him.

“Maybe one of you can get a janitor job at a big office building so you have a better chance at meeting a salary worker! Or better yet, at a café in a big office building! You could get to know someone over their lunch order—”

“Hahaha—have you been reading romance novels again Mom?” Jyushimatsu asked.

“Wh—ahahaha! Of course not, I don’t—I certainly don’t read those kind of—”

“Me and Karamatsu did some dramatic readings of a bunch of them a while back,” Osomatsu said casually. “Super gross, Mom.”

“What?! Why on earth would you do th—” Mom sighed deeply, a hand on her forehead. “This is why you boys need to find partners, I can’t keep you in line forever!”

“That’s a bad reason to date someone, isn’t it?” Choromatsu said, frowning.

“Yeahhh…but it’s true and you know it, nii-san,” Todomatsu replied, idly tapping the side of his beer can with a delicate little tck tck. “If we don’t marry rich, we’re gonna die.”

“Only one of you needs to marry rich,” Mom said, reaching across the table to put a hand on Todomatsu’s shoulder. “I’m counting on you, Totty.”

“On it,” he replied with a grin. “Now that Ichimatsu-niisan is out of the way, maybe I’ll have a better chance.”

“Oh my god, you dry monster!” Choromatsu accused. “We shouldn’t be talking about our potential romantic futures like this!”

“Choromatsu is right. Where there is passion and true love, life will find a way!” Karamatsu said.

“…I feel less good about it when you put it like that, but yeah, kind of! We’re not a pack of olden time daughters who need to find husbands to provide for us!”

“Aren’t you? Aside from the gender stuff?” Dad said, entirely too frankly.

“I am!” Osomatsu drawled, holding up his beer in a mock toast.

“Me too!” Todomatsu added.

“Don’t be proud of that!” Choromatsu hissed. “How do you guys keep finding new ways of digging us deeper in the ‘shitty NEET’ hole?!”

“Ahh, like you’re not down here holding a shovel with the rest us,” Osomatsu said, swigging his can and evidently finding it empty.

“We should keep an eye out at the resort. Anybody who comes to ski must have some disposable income,” Todomatsu said.

“That-a-boy!” Dad cheered.

Choromatsu glared at the table. This was all wrong.

He prided himself on being the rational one, even though he went about it in the most irrational way. He was a champion of contorting logic round to frame it in the way that looked best at the time, which admittedly tended to backfire on him, but someone had to try and keep up appearances around here!

But Ichimatsu wasn’t just “keeping up appearances” anymore. He had…substance. He had you. He even seemed to have…just a little bit of self-worth, even though it was wildly antithetical to who he’d been for the last several years,.

It was amazing. Inspiring. Sickening. And deeply infuriating, from a dark, starved place where feral need sprang with claws out.

Choromatsu had to believe that it could happen to any of them, if it could happen to Ichimatsu. That meant this relationship with you had to go well, and that if the rest of his family was going to start getting serious about dating—meaning actually making moves rather than just whining at home—it needed to come from a better place than find a wealthy spouse so we can stay NEETs forever. They shouldn’t be talking about this whole free ski trip thing like it was the ultimate goal of having a relationship. It wasn’t right.

And if you or Ichimatsu ever heard them talking like this, it would definitely fuck things up, and they’d all be back to square negative one hundred.

Fuck, maybe this whole thing was a bad idea.

“What about you, Choromatsu-niisan?” Jyushimatsu yelled in his face, happily.

“Wah!” Choromatsu fell over, and briefly couldn’t get up as his whole head spun in its marinade of alcohol. “What about me?! I’m doing fine with all of this!!”

He could tell that was the wrong answer from the raised eyebrows and subtle looks the others gave each other and scowled.

“…Sorry, what are we talking about?”

“Are you gonna try skiing or skateboarding??” Jyushimatsu said.

Choromatsu frowned. “Don’t you mean snowboarding?”

“Ahaha, oh that’s right. That champagne was better than I thought!”

Was this bad for them? Given the financial difficulty, it was extremely rare for all of them to be able to go on trips as a family, so it was only natural that everyone was excited, but…maybe getting spoiled like this would bring out the worst in all of them. His family tended to get carried away, and deep down he knew he was no exception.

How could they possibly manage not to embarrass themselves if they went? They didn’t ski, they weren’t skiers, who did they think they were?! They wouldn’t know what to do at a ski resort, they wouldn’t be able to conduct themselves properly, and the best case scenario was no one got injured. The worst case was total humiliation, both for his and your family, and possibly everyone in a hundred-mile radius, and maybe several dozen miscellaneous shattered bones. 

…Shit, was he going to try to cancel this trip?! Everyone would hate him if he even implied it! And he did want to go! Skiing was a cool person sport, even if he personally thought it looked ridiculous! How could he look a gift cat in the mouth? Argh, but the whole thing was so weird!

Ichimatsu had sounded so…normal on that call. Like…like a real person! It was worse than remembering how he’d been in high school, because at least you were allowed to be weird in high school, even if “weird” in this case actually meant “normal.”

It was not normal for Ichimatsu to be normal and Choromatsu was deeply afraid of the meaning behind it, and possible consequences. How much effort had it taken him to pretend for that long? Was the repressed stress of it going to come out later as murderous intent?

Or worse…was it going to become a habit?

“I…don’t know yet. I’ll have to do some research before we go,” he said, as he realized the others were still waiting for an answer. He couldn’t imagine Ichimatsu being like that all the time. It was so wrong. It couldn’t possibly be natural.

“Haha, that’s just like you to say, niisan.”

Was his brother’s whole relationship with you even a good thing, in that case? Did he feel pressured to not be himself in order to be with you? Didn’t they always say you should only be with someone long-term that you could be yourself around? How much of himself did Ichimatsu have to hide from you?

“You know me,” he said vaguely, eyes firmly fixed on his inner monologue.

Sure, you seemed to have a relatively high tolerance for weirdness, since you were still here, but maybe Osomatsu had a point. Maybe they did need to test you. It was for Ichimatsu’s sake in the end, after all, wasn’t that what a good big brother would do?

No, no, no…that couldn’t end well. But what could he do? What should he do?

[discotenny]

Im gonna be sick I saw this English translation of Get Busy and I’m sick!!!

Have some Get Busy thoughts as I write the next few fics.

To be clear!!! I have not looked at translations for the Block Party drama tracks so this is me working on all the info from before those came out.

Long analysis under cut

I think it’s made clear that both of them are referring to their own individual potential as people. The whole “get busy” and “push push buddy” parts referring to the fact that they both are moving forward and must keep moving forward to continue to develop to be the best versions of themselves.

But there’s a lot of talk about a second individual. With all the “our eyes cross each other” “if you run from this there’s no second chance” “connecting the dots together,” etc etc. I have a few ideas, one main idea but two others.

1) They’re referring to each other. If they show the interactions in the Block Party that leads to them performing this at the music festival it would make sense 🤔 Are these songs actually being performed in the music festival though ? Unsure LOL.

But the two have very similar personalities in terms of extrovertedness and excitement so it would make sense that they’re referring to each other in this song if you look at it like that.

2) They’re referring to the listener. Hypmic lyrics typically seem to be more about the characters rather than the messages they can put out to the readers (at least that’s what I can understand). But the introduction of this second person character could be Hypmic inviting the listener to take on the stance and outlook these two characters have in life.

Basically, it would be Jiro and Kuko telling the listeners they need to “get busy” and “push push buddy” if they want to live up to their fullest potential. They’re inviting the listeners to take that journey with them- and I think that’d be neat.

But, my main theory.

3) They’re referring to Ichiro. To be clear- I do NOT ship any of the BBs and this is not me trying to make up defenses. I am a Kuko and Ichi shipper so do with that what you will LOL.

In terms of Jiro- it’s clear his overall arc is about learning to be more independent from and to not idolize Ichiro so much. He’s really becoming his own person- developing a view of Ichi as someone who can and has done wrong, but still loving and caring for his brother all the same. He even stopped calling Ichi Ichinii because he stopped viewing him as one does a little kid.

I think this song symbolizes Jiro’s full independence from Ichiro. The whole “if you run from this there’s no second chance” could be him inviting Ichi to take the step with him, but won’t chase him out anymore if he doesn’t want to go with him. Showing that it’s not that he doesn’t care if Ichi is by his side, but he will continue to push forward in his own goals even without his brother’s support.

And my argument for Kuko? This whole damn verse LOL

“Somehow, it turned out this way” referring to the mind hacking event. It’s canon that he and Sasara don’t know what exactly they said to their partners.

“Being suggestive is OK” tbh I think this is just Kuko being Kuko. But if you want to read into it more it could be Kuko saying that Ichi doesn’t have to tell him exactly what happened if he doesn’t want to.

“My feelings are on wits end from mischief and passing time” There’s two ways I could see this- Kuko’s built up feelings of all his development from all the years he’s lived through or that the ‘passing time’ refers to his time in MCD. Both would work tbh

“Squeezing out each other,” if looking through the lens of this being about Ichiro- could refer to the fact that the two have sort of ‘moved on’ from the incident. They have people in their lives now that filled the void they once left in each other.

“Obviously… in time” again, referring to their reconciliation.

“Stepping together it hurts” could imply that there’s still leftover negative feelings between the two. Not bad blood per se , but maybe it’s guilt from kuko’s end about what he once did to Ichi. Or it’s fear that things might turn out the same way again 🤔

Overall- I do think both characters are referring to Ichiro in this song. But rather than the song being ABOUT Ichi- it’s about them moving on from their characters focal points being about him. Being their own people, acknowledging their connections, but not letting it define them.

Jiro- not going to idolize Ichi and is willing to walk forward even if he’s not by his side.

Kuko- accepting that they’re different people at the moment and continuing to walk, opening a hesitant hand if Ichiro wants to take it.

[scaryspears]

Baby Reindeer Review + Rant

So I watched Baby Reindeer. I'm going to be honest, I wasn't interested at first, but it gained a lot of attention by Tiktokers. I don't have my own Netflix account, so when my mum travelled and I had access to her TV, I took a chance while I could. 7 episodes, 20-30 minutes each. 

I feel like the suspense was ruined since I knew it was a stalker situation, but I guess I was patient enough to see what would happen. I heard people talking about how Martha was scary, or how they found Baby Reindeer to be a horror, and I must admit that it wasn't the same case for me. When I think of horror I think of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Ichi the Killer. If we're going to argue about realistic situations when I'm going to throw in Audition 1999, a film about a man ignoring red flags and suffering the consequences of chasing after a woman he had no business chasing. Perhaps I have tainted my mind of so many disgusting images that I didn't register that I was watching a horror.

Speaking of ignoring red flags, I understood that Donnie was a victim, and I understand that trauma can affect how a person views the world and how they may navigate certain situations. I know Richard Gadd was sort of confronting himself when retelling that story, and how it's to investigate his psychology. But I also understood that he was an idiot.

A part of me genuinely thought his gender had something to do with it. How men will see a situation vs how women will see a situation. The Man vs Bear situation influenced that thought process of mine. But the episode that opens up about him being groomed and taken advantage of cancelled that out. Maybe he kept underestimating Martha because he sees a poor little woman who needs help.

Martha is a dangerous person, yet he entertained her, sort of. It was clear that he wanted to set boundaries, but didn't know how to, especially if her feelings were going to be hurt. Somehow Martha found her way around it, and when he did set a boundary for sure she started lashing out. She became worse, and yet somehow he was still able to hold sympathy for her. I think that sympathy is forgiveness, but not the kind that demands you to run with caution, the kind that convinces you to give one more chance.

One act of kindness was punished. Is punished. While I can relate, a vengeful part of me scolds him instead. Martha attacked Teri. I hated how Martha was made out to be someone to sympathise with. She threatened and hurt people, and is shown to be a bit of a racist and maybe a homophone, meaning she's an overall unpleasant person. I don't care if she has mental health problems, that doesn't make her innocent or someone I should sympathise with. Do you know what's also mental health? A 36 year old man stabbing a 14 year old boy to death in Hainault. That actually happened.

As soon as a mentally unwell individual starts harming people it's wraps. Donnie contacted the police, but didn't tell the police about Teri. He went along with his dead-end-job coworkers about not reporting what Martha did at the bar to the police because it would be bad for business. The same coworkers who looked through his email and sent that inappropriate message to Martha, making things worse for Donnie. He willingly associated himself with bad people, and willingly put himself through sticky situations. Also, faking who he is on a dating app? Scary. Yes, Donnie is a victim, but he's a massive idiot. Like people who continue to let others suck the life out of them even though they know they shouldn't. Dogs returning to vomit.

I didn't psychoanalyse him while watching the show, but now that I think about his actions, he's just as bad a person. Yes, he told off Martha after she attacked Teri, but it shouldn't have ever gotten that far in the first place. Richard Gadd was honest about not being a 'woe is me' character, and how his younger self made many dumb decisions. I also know that info on stalking was quite limited at the time, such as the fact that giving them attention makes things worse. Donnie saw her at the bus stop, spacing out, and instead of leaving her there to suffer he got her home. But even that act of kindness, Martha still contacted his family to send threats. She didn't stop being a horrible person. No good deed goes unpunished with people like this. No matter what way it is framed, Martha is not a poor little misunderstood creature, she's a monster.

Conclusion: Baby Reindeer, while an entertaining watch, just made me angry. It makes me think of people who are naive and are forced to learn the hard way. No matter how many times they learn, the lesson doesn't hit.

[todayisafridaynight]

So we talked about this in the dragon ball channel but is there a sexy character in the Yakuza world?… and is it either Ichiban or Daigo. I know Goro was voted sexiest, but I can’t imagine anyone in the games going Gaga for him.

there's a lot to unpack here so let's go through it bullet by bullet <3

1.) thank you and others for referring to my blogs as 'channels' i genuinely love it

2.) ichiban and daigo could never be sexy in my terrible eyes. ichiban makes me too happy and giddy esp with his gamer disease to ever have sex appeal and daigo is like a son to me. my cringe fail son. cannot ever see him getting laid he's just like his father (kazuma kiryu). ichi's english voice gets points tho cause SOMETIMES it hits different I Cannot Tell A Lie but not enough for me to call ichi as a whole sexy

3.) majima had a wife once so canonically he is fuckable but we're not going to get into it and it's not cause i dont want to talk about majima fucking (i mean thats a true statement also but not the main reason iykyk). is he sexy though Like. Objectively I Guess. i'm squinting at my wall and putting my biases aside and saying I Guess x2

4.) i made a Baddie Baddies tier list and i got booed for it so my opinion is not to be trusted when it comes to these matters 😔. you can look at it tho

5.) nishitani

[yaminerua]

i keep on thinking of chibita starting to write love letters to karamatsu - partly because he finds writing his feelings out anonymously helps him channel all that emotional energy that’s started to build up because having nowhere to vent it is beginning to drive him nuts.

So he writes his feelings out, in a way that’s honest but vague enough for Karamatsu not to be able to figure out it’s from him if he were to find it. And he doesn’t intend initially for him to read it at all at first. But then he thinks it would potentially give Karamatsu an edge over his brothers. Some kind of victory. An encouragement of sorts. And then before he can think too deeply on all the ways this could go horribly wrong, he sends it in the mail, not daring to run the risk of being caught sending it personally.

And on the morning that it arrives, Jyushimatsu picks it up, along with the rest of the mail. He shuffles through it all as he heads back through the house, seeing that it’s mostly just the usual stuff.. a random magazine, more of Choromatsu’s idol fan-club stuff, boring-looking letters for the parents...and... hmm?? A letter? For Karamatsu? That’s new.

And like... remember how in the episode with Hatabou’s birthday Jyushi could tell the invitation was from Hatabou because it smelled like Hatabou? I figure Jyushi at this point would already know it’s from Chibita because it smells like him.

He joins the others and loudly declares that there’s a letter for Karamatsu. This, of course, catches everyone’s attention. Somebody remarks “Yeah right, who would bother writing to Shittymatsu?”

Karamatsu, who was sort of sitting staring dramatically out the window as if that makes him look deep and thoughtful and mysterious, is now staring in disbelief at Jyushimatsu. He takes the letter from him and can feel everyone watching him out of the corner of their eyes as he curiously opens the envelope and takes out the little folded letter.

There’s silence as he reads through what’s written on it but the look on his face is rapidly evolving. He looks like he’s going to cry from joy and when he’s finally done he presses the letter to his chest and starts rambling about how some shy and surely beautiful angel has finally chosen to convey her feelings to him. His Karamatsu Girl has arrived at last.

And everyone’s like what the shit!? Osomatsu snatches the letter out of Kara’s hands and scans his gaze across what’s written there, his face contorting as he finds that it is indeed a love letter to karamatsu.

There follows a short period of the letter passing from brother to brother before it finally ends up in Jyushimatsu’s hands again. He’s got a peculiar look on his face as he sniffs the paper just to be sure he hadn’t got it wrong earlier. But no, it still smells like Chibita to him.

Karamatsu’s exasperated at this point. He would like the letter from his secret admirer safely back in his own hands now and stares beseechingly at Jyushi to hand it back to him. And Jyushi pauses, looks like he’s going to say something but then seems to change his mind and simply hands the letter back over with an innocent “Congratulations Karamatsu-niisan!”

Nothing more is said on the matter. The brothers go back to ignoring Karamatsu as best they can because his immense joy over this letter is already starting to get to them. But Ichi is more concerned with Jyushi’s peculiar behaviour. “You know who it’s from don’t you?” he asks him privately at one point.

And Jyushi thinks of telling him. But instead he just says he thought he did at first but was wrong. He doesn’t want to spoil Karamatsu’s joy. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. And maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t actually from Chibita after all..

Some time later though.. they’re all dining out at Chibita’s cart and oh boy Karamatsu is talking a lot tonight isn’t he? Waxing poetic about how sincere his anonymous angel’s confessions of love were and how he awaits the day they can meet face to face. And how he greatly wishes the sender had left him a means of contacting them.

Jyushi’s gaze is fixed on Chibita the entire time, who seems just a little bit awkward tonight. He’s definitely trying to change the subject and it’s just making Jyushimatsu more suspicious about whether his previous assumptions had been correct after all... and when they’re making to leave he hangs back a little, giving Chibita that owl-like stare of his for a few moments before Choromatsu calls for him to hurry up.

It unnerves him, but not any more than Jyushimatsu usually would.

So Chibita keeps writing the letters even after that first one, but after a while he starts to think it was a bad idea. Whenever Karamatsu comes by the cart all he seems to talk about is the latest letter, and how he wishes his shy admirer would allow him to speak with them. And it’s kind of heartbreaking. Because Chibita’s the one writing those letters and Karamatsu has no idea. But he’s certain things would not go well if he discovered the truth. Especially after the look Karamatsu gave him when he interrupted one of his rambles with a noticeably irritable ‘How do you even know it’s a Karamatsu Girl anyway?’ He’d gone so quiet after that which only served to suggest to him that the prospect of such a thing was preposterous.

So he resigns himself to it and just has to sit and endure this and try to decide whether or not he should stop writing them... This can’t go on forever after all.. It’s not even fair on Karamatsu... getting his hopes up only to never actually go beyond that.. To tease him with the promise of a love that he’ll never be allowed to meet with...

And idk I want Jyushi to have some sort of part in getting the confusions and gaps in the communication closed up.

Karamatsu is understandably miserable once the letters do stop. Chibita’s feeling no better... but it was for the best. And eventually, after seeing both sides wilting as this goes on and on, Jyushimatsu finally decides to tell Karamatsu about what he’s known for months now. Because anything is better than letting this atmosphere fester any longer. But Karamatsu doesn’t believe him, because why would Chibita do something like that? And Jyushimatsu doesn’t have an answer to that, he’ll just have to ask Chibita.

When he says this to Chibita himself tho, it causes Chibita to drop a plate in shock and just freeze up. And Karamatsu misreads the reaction like, ‘yeah, unbelievable right?”

And Chibita laughs awkwardly as he gathers up the broken pieces of the plate he dropped but it’s a laugh completely devoid of amusement...

There’s an anxious pulse that’s entered his system now and it just keeps going round and round until finally, he can stand it no longer. If Karamatsu’s going to keep talking about this it’s just going to drive him nuts. If he has to keep this a secret any longer he’s going to explode.... Karamatsu deserves to know the truth.. no matter what response the truth provokes...

So as Kara makes to leave to allow Chibita to close up for the night, Chibita halts him, shouting out so suddenly into the night air that it makes Kara jump.

And he comes clean with it. He confesses to the fact that he indeed was the one writing all those letters. That he thought it was a good idea and would maybe be good for Karamatsu and that he didn’t mean for it to wind up like this. It comes out all at once in a long emotional and frustrated ramble and through all of it Chibita cannot look Karamatsu in the eye, instead choosing to busy himself with hurriedly packing things away and keeping his gaze averted and at the end when he finally runs out of breath he stands there with his head bowed and bitter tears gathering at the corners of his eyes because dammit this is such a mess....

And Karamatsu is very quiet as he processes everything he’s just heard and when Chibita finally risks a glance at him his expression is completely unreadable.

He doesn’t wait to find out what his response is. In truth he feels ready to just throw himself down onto his futon at home and scream into his pillow for the rest of the night. Gaze turned to the ground he offers an awkward apology and pulls his cart off in the direction of home leaving Karamatsu still standing shell-shocked and staring after him... his mind still in the process of computing all this new information and what it means...

When he gets home he reads through all the letters again, refreshing his memory of everything that was written there and allowing those words to blend in with the knowledge that the hand that wrote them belonged to Chibita... and to figure out how he feels about that.

Did Chibita mean what he wrote in these? Were those words genuine? Or was it just like he’d said, just doing this to make Karamatsu feel better and give him an edge over his brothers?? That’s an important distinction... He finds he really wants to - needs to - know which is true. Did Chibita really feel those things? Or was he just writing things he thought Karamatsu would like to hear from someone else? Does Chibita... maybe… love him???

The mere thought quickens his heartbeat... it brings a strange fluttery feeling to his gut and a dryness to his mouth and causes a whole flood of other feelings to fill him up all at once - some of them oddly familiar... and he could almost kick himself for being so blind and never noticing them within himself before whenever he and Chibita had been in each other’s company. He was fond of him before, yes. But the more he thinks about this situation now, the more he realises that perhaps ‘fond’ is too weak a word to use...

And with that realisation, he also knows what he wants the outcome of this to be.. And it all depends on Chibita.

[maximalttigers]

Eki on Vroid 2

Did more Eki on Vroid to show more interactions with @hyperforcereignition's Mila.

"Wha-?! Who?!"- Eki's reaction to Mila's first appearance in her universe, casually minding her own business as she was getting a drink from a nearby vending machine when Mila suddenly appeared.

With both girls confused and Mila starts panicking, Eki calms down first and states that they're heading the Hyperforce team for help. This would be what would start the conversation.

"Go Chiro! Go Skyper!"- Eki cheering her Chiro and Skyper on in a fight. She has a lot of confidence in Chiro which gets to Chiro's head sometimes as he shows off. No wonder people think they're dating....

"Why do you call Chiro 'Ichi'?"- Eki curious of the source of Mila's nickname as in 'Hunted Butterfly' Chiro's full name is 'Chiro Takashi'.

Mila would explain and Eki would be all 'Cool' before carrying on, she does think the nickname is cute.

"Be careful! Skyper doesn't like being touched by strangers!"- Eki warning Mila since Skyper will lash out when he's touched by strangers as an act of self-defence.

Skyper will warm up to Mila quicker than the others since Eki trusts her and that the new woman has Chiro's scent, earning Skyper's curiousity since Chiro has never mentioned a woman like her before. But her appearance certainly reminds him of something he's already seen...

"It's called being alert, not being tetchy."

"You're still being mean to Miss Mila!"

"...."

"I suppose we have been a bit... Unwelcoming... But we have been more concern about what could have brought Miss Hanamura to our realm."

"Knowing our luck, it probably has something to do with Dark Ones or Skeleton King."

"The 'Dark Reaper' and I would have sensed it if that was the case, surely it would have told you?"

"It's not talkative remember?"

"..."

"Can you please be nicer to her though? She really wants to go home and never wanted any of this."

"That is true... Very well, I will abide by your request."

*Sigh* "Fine... Don't expect me to engage to much with her though, or be completely fine with her talking to Otto!"

"Thank you..."

*Mischievous chuckle* "Jealousy thy name Chrome~"

*Glares* "Can it eight-eyes! It's bad enough I'm going soft..."

Mila overhearing a conversation between Eki, Chrome and Salem (Mila had yet to meet him since he was busy) as they talk about what could have brought Mila to their universe. Due to Chrome and Salem's personal experiences, they are naturally alert and trying to logic what could have caused these events.

Chrome and Otto are dating which Mila wouldn't be aware of at this point so Chrome was very distasteful of her talking to 'Hunted Butterfly' version of Otto.

(Colour coded: black for Chrome, purple for Eki, and blue for Salem)

Although this could be Eki questioning what Mila said about the Skull Witch, having no idea on who she is.

"Glad to hear that you and Antauri are on good terms.... But... What Skull Witch? Who's Valina?"

'Hunted Butterfly' is set during what would have been season 5 of 'Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!' so Valina is long gone and Eki wasn't told about her since the others didn't consider it to be her concern.

Mila wouldn't have a clue to the time jump but I feel that she would be relieved that Valina isn't around.

"There ye are little butterfly!"

"Huh?"

"Hey there!"

"Dear, you shouldn't yell so loudly. You'll scare people."

"Can't help it babe!"

"Azure! Ruby!"

"Hey sweetheart." *Looks over at Mila* "So this is the guest that Chrome was talking about?"

*Quietly* "She's an adult, right? She hardly looks older than Chiro..."

*Nods* "This is Mila Hanamura."

"Is dat so?" *Grins and gives the finger guns* "Well, the name's Ruby Mace! And this my husband, Azure Spear!"

"Its nice to meet you." *Kindly smiles*

Mila meets Azure Spear and Ruby Mace, the married monkeys who give advice for relationships and personal problems to the team. They learnt about Mila's presence through Chrome so they went to find her to make their acquaintance.

Mila might be shocked to hear marriage from these two as they show their wedding rings.

(Colour coded: red for Ruby, purple for Eki and blue for Azure)

"How long do you suppose this will this last?"

"Too long..."

"Salem? Tech?"

"Hey dear...."

"They're at it again?"

"Sadly yes. Knowing my brother, he'll find try to find a reason for this whole mess that has nothing to do with the Power Primate."

"Sometimes it's hard to believe that he's set a good example to his goddaughter..."

"I think we'll get going...."

"Yeah, good idea! Sometimes it's hard to believe that they're both adults!"

Chrome and Antauri have always butted heads over the Power Primate; One hates it while the other does not. So when they're trying to figure out how Mila got to their universe, it ended up into an argument.

It shouldn't be new at this point but it is annoying, especially when they have guests. Mila would meet Tech here and learn that Chrome surprisingly has a brother let alone a goddaughter.

(Colour coded: blue for Salem, green for Tech and purple for Eki)

"... At least... You knew your mommy..."- Through conversations about Mila's upbringing, Mila would learn about Eki's past...

Eki doesn't know her father, barely remembers her mother, was a prisoner of a madman known as Professor Gadhavi, her bionics were forcefully infused into her by said madman at a young age and she's constantly living in fear of him getting her.

Skyper would be with them, the little guy is in tune to Eki's emotions so he would be trying to comfort her while lowkey glaring at Mila for bringing up the topic. But not full on hating her since she didn't know.

This could be Eki copying one of Mila's moves or just trying to be cool like Chiro.

That's all for now. If I get more ideas, I'll do more

[sun-flowerfields]

(Your lovelies with my Naruto Muses)

@historias-multorum Oh man look- LOOK YOU UNLOCKED ONE OF MY SECRET MUSES AND NOW I HAVE TO EVENTUALLY MAKE A BIO! But really there so many horrible ships and interactions i want with you and just- 👌

Pairings under cut.

DoYoung Jangnim Pairings:

Izuna Uchiha- I just love the thought of her hating these people so damn much but they seem to surround her. Like she can be extremely pissy about them but we all know these Uchiha are growing on her.

Itachi Uchiha- Hey they share a work buddy, even if Do kind of disrespects Kisame. She at least has the balls to do it in his face. He'd be constantly amused by her horrible antics. Why is this hoblin woman handing me food? Where did that even come from?

Karin Uzumaki- Hey sis what's up 👋. Uzumaki shenanigan's. She will drag Karin into chaos. Science sounds cool, but putting it into practice would probably blow Do's little brain. Hunting for old man Ga as a bonding experiment and it ending with them kicking him while he's balled up on the ground. Look I live for these girls.

Madara Uchiha- Pure sin tbh, it would be so damn Toxic. Like "Ah an Uzumaki mixed woman- for FWEEEEE?!?" Shes gonna try to fight him a lot ngl. "Look me in the eyes when we talk motherfucker." The actual audacity- but also she will literally look him in the eyes and you gotta respect that.

Yuho Inuzuka pair's:

Hana Inuzuka- Same clan! Dog- so many dogs. Hana waqtching Yuho lay on the floor and cry because one of her students called her old. Winter trips to Kumo please!!!

Sasuke Uchiha- "I remember you being a sad motherfucker in school. Wanna go see some puppies, you probably need it." Will bring him fizzy drinks and listen to his problems.

Ichiban Hyuuga pair's:

Hinata Hyuga- Same clan and same branch. She's probably run into him a few times before being steered away. Ichi was a giant Hyuuga heart throb with a shitty past and a love for his baby sister, that's right up her alley. "I can fix him I swear 🥺"

Tsunade- A bit of an age gap but he's perfectly fine with that. Tsunade beating his ass and dragging him back to the village kicking and screaming would be HILARIOUS! "Mommy, I'm sorry- Mommy?"

TenTen- She deserves so much. Here have a Hyuga Tens, you deserve it. Them meeting when he's all busted and bruised would be such a classic movie moment.

Karin Uzumaki- It would be kinda Toxic, he's a bit daft and that would result in some smacking. Them meeting while in the land of tea and he's just fucking awe struck. Is the equivalent of a golden retriever.

Sook Ga Uzumaki pairs:

Tsunade- Look, I'm not saying he'd be a simp but- he'd simp. Them working on recording Uzumaki scrolls and techniques that are dying out. Tsunade helping him with smithing when he can't wear his prosthetic sounds bad ass.

Izuna Uchiha- He approached first and it left an impression LOL. Uzumaki's x Uchiha's is a winning mix lets be real. Sook is old enough to know about Izuna so seeing this fucker has him confused, he doesn't ask though because he's a good boy gdi.

DoHwang Jangnim:

Hinata Hyuga: she's so tiny and shy, he loves that. Gentle woman, kind woman, will rip your throat right out though- he's impressed. Hwang is extremely pretty, but very blind. Them walking arm and arm and her describing the sky and he's just swimming in her words. Very slice of life and fluffy.

Karin Uzumaki- They share Uzumaki blood. Karen restoring his eyes and that being a huge ass moment between them because she's the first thing he see's. Him sneaking her little gifts when he's in the area from his missions. 10/10 would court like a princess.

Itachi Uchiha- Blind big brother issues. Might have a lot more in common than they think with Hwang being a retired Hunting captain. There will be some outrage from Hwangs side because he would never push his sister to revenge for his own selfish need to die. Will be willing to work through that with the other man though.

[fireflysprincess]

how about uhhhh 69 for the jokes lol and ummmm 24 and 36

OH BOY LADS ITS ALL TO.KU IDIOTS LETS GOOOO

f/o ask game !

NUMBER CHOSEN: 69

F/O CHOSEN: Azuma Mic.hi.na.ga !

SO LUCKILY ENOUGH IVE ALREADY POSTED SCREENSHOTS EXPLAINING THE AZU LORE BEFORE

Which is nice because there's so. So. Much.

Link for the lore please appreciate my insanity

So here's some silly facts: my s/i calls him azu ! All the time. Frequently

He also takes every cow, bull, or buffalo plush he finds and buys it and then shows it to azu and is like "this is u"

He annoys azu so much but in an affectionate way ya know

NUMBER CHOSEN: 24

F/O CHOSEN: Ignis !

This insane bitch

Okay ! So my s/i works for guts-select ! And accidentally sees kengo turning into trigger one day and well. Cover blown. Not that kengo was hiding it well.

So he is dragged into so much chaos and well! Fucking ignis appears. And takes and interest in him bc he's fucking insane..and tries to attack ignis with a giant hammer. It's fine.

ALL JOKES ASIDE the two start to get closer and at some point have a genuine heart to heart when ignis is ✨imprisoned for his crimes✨

Fun fact the confession is actually dumb as fuck bc there's an ep where everyone's hallucinating their desires and well. Guess what happens to my s/i ✨ and guess who is there to see it ✨

It's fine it works out Ignis is ecstatic

Though Ignis does still do some insane ass shit (plan to sacrifice himself to kill the guy who destroyed his planet) ONCE EVERYTHING IS SETTLED AND OKAY they go travelling through space together!!! Yay !!!

NUMBER CHOSEN: 36

F/O CHOSEN: Shuichi Ki.ta.ok.a !

WHERE DO I EVEN. BEGIN.

Uh beware there is slight nsfw talk here but it's not detailed

Okay so me and twin have uh. Complex lore for ry.u.ki in which we changed up a lot but also not a lot at the same time. So my s/i is similar to think like. tsu.mu.ri in ge.a.ts, kinda helps explain shit and keep things running properly

Only because he and his twin got dragged into the blast that started all of this and also got kinda. Trapped in-between the mir.ror world and regular world

ANYWAYS THID BITCH will NOT leave my s/i alone constantly calling him up to ask stupid questions and bug the shit out of him

A lot of shit happens, the two actually at some point begin a fwb type situation lol because ichi is annoying and is into him and my s/i is always stressed

Eventually he finds out about ichis illness and why he's even agreed to take part in the ri.d.er war, and yeah.

The two get in an argument at some point about ichi nearly dying which leads into my s/i confessing in a panicked moment of fearing losing him and well. Yeah.

Goro is also involved! It's a poly relationship all three are dating each other but he wasn't the one rolled so we won't go deep into that

ANYWAYS ichi eventually succumbs to his illness WHICH IS SO FUCKED and that mentally destroys my s/i and goro takes ichi places to try to win to wish him back BUT WELL THST GOES BACK TOO AND PAIN AND SUFFERING.

And then the world resets ! Fun !

But hey everyone is alive again ! And it's all ! Totally okay! Totally! Sure ! Let's say that. Alas they all forgot their memories

Though me and twin decided fuck that and they do get them back after a while (similar mechanism to bu.il.d we decided) and well!! Happy reunion !!!!

This is such a watered down explanation of events BUT GOD. SO MUCH. HAPPENS. IN THIS DAMN SHOW.

The three are happily married the end JENDJDJJD

[midoropalace]

Yakuza: Like a Dragon -6-

The one in which Ichiban goes on a Dragon Quest.

So... things aren't looking too good for Ichiban. The Tokyo Omi Alliance is on his ass, Kume is out in the wild, his long-lost father is dead, and Sawashiro threw himself into the fire like a true baddie. While Ichiban works through a pack of Newports, Nanba reminds him that they need to find Kume -- ASAP.

Their search is cut short by the Omi Alliance, who are out for blood and quickly swarm Survive. I use this opportunity to try out Night Queen Saeko's new ability, "Vital Vibration".

O-Oh.

...Anyway... On the way to Bleach Japan's office, I clean up some Part-Time Hero requests as usual. Nothing special.

I also encounter some Table Talks at a few restaurants. The one with my husband gets me to the halfway point for the "Drink Link-related "Food for Thought" trophy.

At the Bleach Japan office, Kume is nowhere to be found. Instead, we once again get swarmed by the Omi Alliance. We make quick work of them, but Ichiban's bloodlust isn't satiated -- he starts wailing on one guy, demanding to know where Kume is. The mafioso reveals Kume escaped to Kamurocho, and Ichi continues to pound on the guy -- much to his party's dismay. He is then stopped by...

It's ok, Kiryu, I'm open to being poly with you and Zhao...

Kiryu tells Ichi that he has information relating to Ryo Aoki, but expresses disgust over Ichiban's lack of control and decides to test him. He tells Ichi to meet him at the Geomijul headquarters later that night.

Speaking of Aoki, we get a scene where he and Horinouchi have a tense confrontation over Aoki's assassination plots, which he denies taking part in. Sure.

Anyway, we head to the Geomijul, where Kiryu awaits. I'm warned that there will be a tough fight ahead of me, so I take the opportunity to do a bit of grinding at Sotenbori. I get Ichiban to level 50 and get a trophy as a reward.

With that, I return to the Geomijul to confront Kiryu. He tells Ichi that if he wants to learn about Ryo Aoki's next move, he has to fight him in combat. Ichi simply has no choice but to accept, though he is bitter toward Kiryu from concealing such critical information from him. I blink, and both Kiryu's and Ichiban's suit and shirt have miraculously been peeled off in true Yakuza fashion.

Kiryu shows off his badass dragon tattoo, while Ichiban shows off his slightly less badass Gyarados tattoo.

This screenshot alone should easily set the stage for what's to come. Kiryu is no pushover in this battle; he hits like a truck and is quite fast. His main gimmick is that he switches into different fighting styles throughout the battle. He begins in the Brawler style, before moving into the Rush style, then the Beast style, and finally the Dragon of Dojima style. Entering the Rush style grants Kiryu a permanent speed boost. This leads to him getting more turns in than usual, and I find my more frail characters (Joon-gi and Nanba) have a lot of trouble staying alive here.

Thankfully, Kiryu is weak to ice attacks. After several Platter Shatters and Ice Spreaders, he goes down without too much difficulty.

Of course, because Kiryu is... well, Kiryu, he's not going to let an amateur like Ichi get the best of him. In fact, it seems like despite winning the battle, Ichi winds up losing. Cool. Ichiban then imagines that he is a hero fighting a massive dragon -- a dragon that either killed or maimed his friends. Ichiban stabs the dragon with his sword, ending his reign of terror and likely gaining tons of exp in the process

Of course, this is all just a dream -- Ichiban awakes, and Kiryu asks if he's calm. Ichi confirms that he is. Turns out, this whole incident was Kiryu's way of teaching Ichiban a valuable lesson about controlling his anger and trusting his comrades or... something. The party head deeper into the Geomijul, where Seong-hui reveals that the surveillance system is back up and running. Unfortunately, it seems there's a new threat looming on the horizon.

As it turns out, Ryo Aoki deems Sawashiro's imprisonment a threat and has hired an assassin -- Mirror Face -- to silence him. Mirror Face is a master of disguise and an experienced killer. His amazing ability to don new appearances means that Sawashiro isn't safe despite being in prison.

Ichiban and the others agree that now is the time to fight back and show Ryo Aoki that he can't throw his weight around Ijincho unchecked -- they're going to stop Sawashiro's assassination and push back against the looming threat Masato is imposing. Kiryu notes to Ichiban that their prior fight was not one in which the end result was victory or defeat, but a test of wills; and though Ichiban isn't quite on Kiryu's level yet, he will be -- one day.

With that, the torch has been passed. Now it's time to burn this motherfucker down.

[heyheyloki]

U&I

Summary: The reader begins to realize his feelings for Saiki.

Saiki x M!Reader

Word Count: 8711

1. The Best Friends

Being friends with a psychic definitely had its ups and downs. At first, you didn’t notice a thing out of the ordinary with Saiki, well, granted you were kids when the both of you met so naturally you just wanted to be friends and thought nothing more. However, he noticed something odd with you the moment you two met.

He couldn’t read your mind.

Actually forget being about to read your mind, none of his psychic abilities worked on you. He couldn’t see through you and when he touched you without his super thin transparent gloves on nothing happened. You were basically immune to him.

At first, he thought something was wrong with you, or that maybe you had some psychic powers as well. That wasn’t the case at all. In reality, you were a normal human without any powers or tricks. That stumped Saiki even more, but it also became the soul reason he wanted to be your friend as well.

For one, he didn’t have to deal with your thoughts. Two, his image of you wasn’t ruined because he can’t see under your skin. Three, your calmer personality made him relax. And of course all those other things like your kindness and stuff, but those were irrelevant the moment he knew he couldn’t read your mind.

It’s been years since he met you in the park during recess, and now here you guys were, 16 years later and still friends. Oh, there was one thing that bothered him about you.

“What to hang out today?” You asked as you slung your bag over your shoulder.

“Sure.” Saiki said. Yep. That’s right, since he can’t get in your mind, he actually has to move his mouth when he talks to you.

It was a bit weird to others that he never did it with anyone else other than you, but he didn’t care.

On the way home he couldn’t help but notice you eyeing his antennas, the things that keep his powers stable. He turned his head towards you and gave you a curiosity look.

“Do those things poke at your head at all?” You asked, moving you hand up to poke at the top of the pink ball. “Like, does it make your head ichy?”

Saiki shook his head. He knew he had to talk to you at some points, but times like these he didn’t. He enjoyed that about you too, that you don’t force him to talk all the time. You knew it was a bit weird for him to talk, he explained it to you when he told you all about his powers.

“Hm,” you hummed out. Your hands going back at your side and into your pant pockets. “It would for me, if I was you. They just look painful, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do if you don’t wanna blow up the world.”

Saiki nodded his head, his eyes continuing to linger on you. It was one days like these when he saw you thinking so hard about something that he wished he could just take a peak. At some points, he loved the silence, especially when the both of you were watching movies, but right now, especially in this moment, he’d give anything to know. It was mostly prominent when he’d stare at you during class and you’d have this far out look in your orbs, you drew him in, and perhaps that’s why he fell for you.

Though, there were other factors that won his favor. Mostly the fact that, unlike everyone else, he can’t stare right through you and just see your raw muscles and pumping organs. Instead, he was able to focus on your handsome face and not get side tracked about your racing thoughts. You were the only person in the world that make him feel somewhat normal. That was a love-hate relationship at times.

“Think I could sleep over tonight?” You suddenly asked, “we don’t have school tomorrow.”

Saiki stared at you for a moment just to relish in that fact that nothing worked on you. No telekinesis, mind control, no nothing. He was going to have to win your favor just like everyone else. To him, it wasn’t normal, but looking at you, he didn’t seem to mind the extra work.

“Sure,” Saiki said. He still had trouble talking aloud, hell, sometimes he will actually use telekinesis and wait for your response only to have pure silence. “My parents are leaving for a wedding, so the house should be free for a while.”

When the two of you got to Saiki’s house, it was a bit peaceful until his parents had to head out. You liked his mom and dad a lot, they were like your second family, so you wanted to wish them a good time. It was for one Saiki’s dad’s coworkers.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna come with us?” Saiki’s dad asked his son. “You’ve met Kirishima before, and you can bring [Name] as your plus one date.”

You knew Saiki wasn’t going to be interested in a wedding. He always told you normal happy events for others is misery for him since he can hear the jealousy and pity that the crowd is thinking. You felt sorry that he couldn’t turn it off, but you were glad that you were the only person he could catch a break with. However, when you looking over at Saiki, he seemed to entertain the thought.

It was a new side to Saiki, one that made you confused. It was always either you or no one. You could tell the way he wanted to get away from many of the people in his class that seemed to have declared themselves his friends from a small interaction. Sure, you felt their interest, but it was just a bit sad to you that Saiki could never actually enjoy friends unless they were pure. Otherwise, he could hear all the backstabbing thoughts or otherwise stupid comments that go around in their brain that was thought to be private to them.

“I’m going to have to pass,” you commented. “I don’t have a suit, besides, you two should enjoy the night. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you both go out alone.”

Saiki’s mom smiled widely at you. Her eyes clouding over with a wet film before wrapping her arms around you for a tight hug. “Ah, thank you, [Name]! What would we do without you?”

You chuckled softy at the comment before saying, “Who knows, I rather not think about that.”

When she finally let you go, you and Saiki waved the both of them off as they left. Honestly, you weren’t sure if they’d even make it back at a reasonable time. It was a wedding, after all. Oh well, as long as they make it back drunk and safe rather than drunk and not safe, you didn’t mind. You were sleeping over anyway, so right now, you just wanted to hang out with your childhood best friend.

“What do you wanna do?” You asked with a calming tone.

Saiki turned his head to you. “TV?”

“Sure,” you smiled. However, as soon as you turned to the living room, you noticed the absolute mess his parents left behind. So, out of the goodness of your heart, you said, “How about you find something and all clean up this in the meantime. Sound good?”

Saiki nodded once more. He truly thought your actions were kind, but he rather have you watching TV with him than picking up his dad’s dirty clothes. He knew his father tended to be sloppy, but this was just a mess.

As you were about to pick up a pair of jeans, all the clothes that were strewn about the floor suddenly started to float in the air and shoot into the open washing machine. The trash floated itself into the garage while everything else was moved around to make it look clean until otherwise.

You pressed your lips together as your brows furrowed in annoyance. Once you turned to Saiki and saw his innocence face, you knew you couldn’t be angry but you had to ask, “Do you really want me to watch TV with you that bad?”

“Yes,” Saiki stated.

You sighed, your lips parting as you left the oxygen leave your lungs. “Fine, but let’s both clean up a bit before than. It’ll be a nice surprise and a way to thank your parents for letting me stay the night.”

Saiki nodded. “Okay.”

It took a bit of convincing on your end to let him let you help out. You may not have powers, but you didn’t want to take advantage of his. You knew it was effortless and he made it seem like it didn’t affect him whatsoever, but you knew every time he does something it takes a toll. His powers aren’t perfect.

You both ended up cleaning the living room, Saiki’s room, and now you were in the kitchen sorting the trash. Saiki was using his powers to sort while you whipped down the countertops.

“Good grief,” Saiki said aloud, his voice drawing your eyes to him. He was crouched down with two bags in front of him and the garage floating upside down, it’s contents was either going in the first or second bag.

“What?” You asked curiosity. It wasn’t all the time that he speaks from his mouth without you talking first.

“How could anyone have let it get this dirty in here?” He asked aloud. “I mean, really it’s a wonder we don’t have bugs.”

You were going to respond. That was until he suddenly shut his mouth, a chest deep grunt leaving him as you notice him stare at something on the furniture next to him.

It was a cockroach.

Mind you, the moment you realized what it was you weren’t the least bit surprised when he suddenly teleported. Saiki hates bugs. He could read the minds of humans, as well as animals, but he couldn’t with bugs. He thought they were small minded icky things. Hell, he couldn’t even let his powers touch the thing.

You counted down the seconds before he came back. It was around ten, maybe fifteen. He also teleported right behind you.

“Welcome back,” you greeted and watched as his eyes dart towards the floor.

“Sorry, I may have overreacted.” He muttered. “I just hate them.”

“I know,” you hummed out before looking around and grabbing a cup and piece of paper. Saiki watched you as you let the roach crawl on the piece of paper before placing the cup over it so it didn’t run away. You were quick to put it outside and close the window after so Saiki didn’t worry about it coming back in.

“All gone,” you cheered with a smile. “Now, let’s watch TV, ya?”

2. Saiki’s Pushy Friends

PK Academy was a school were many different personalities and people collided. It was always fun to meet new people in this school, yet on the other side of the coin, sometimes they were more than a little odd. Not like you can speak, your best friend was a psychic. Though, he wasn’t delusional like this one guy in your class that declared himself Saiki’s friend. His name was Kaido. He thinks he has powers and has an evil organization following him around.

Then, you have Nendou. Basically, he’s stupid. Not that you minded, but sometimes being stupid isn’t the best thing in the world, especially now.

It was the sports festival at PK and Saiki and you had to participate in it. You both were on the same team since all the teams were decided by class. This also gave you a good idea of the friends Saiki has made. It was safe to say that Kaido was growing on you. You felt a little bad for the guy, what can you say.

Let’s not forget about Hairo as well. You knew him a bit more from hearsay than the others, plus he was class rep. Though, you had to say, he was a little too overly enthusiastic.

It was kind of a surprise to see Teruhashi, the most popular girl in school, try and interact with Saiki. Though, it was a bit amusing since to him, she’s nothing more than walking muscle. However, you did think he would swoon over her like all the other guys in your school if she was like you. However, you knew Saiki had no interest in romance so you don’t care either way.

Finally, Nendou. You were originally going to say that you didn’t mind the guy that much and thought maybe he would be a good thing for Saiki. However, after just watching him take out one of the antennas from Saiki’s head, you started to wonder how much of a danger his stupidity is to Saiki.

You watched that pink haired friend of yours collapse to the ground with a hard thud as soon as Nendou pull the thing out of his head. You were quick to rush over to him and sit by his side. When you flipped him over, since he fell face forward, worry grew about your body and infected your bloodstream.

You heard protests about turning him over, but at this point all the worried voices drowned before they were even audible to you. His lips were parted as drool leaked from his mouth and went down his chin, his eyes dead and without life as darkness surrounded them. It didn’t take you long to recover and swipe the antenna Nendou was holding and pop it back in its rightful place in his pink locks.

You didn’t know how long it would take for him to wake up, or if he’d wake up at all. All you knew was to sit and wait for him to wake up. To your surprise, he woke up rather quickly. Maybe a mere minute or so after you fixed him up. When his eyes opened, you felt yourself suddenly get surrounded as Saiki’s friends crowed over him to ask how he was.

You noticed him using telepathy to talk to everyone when Hairo said, “You passed out after Nendou took that think out of your head, lucky for you, [Name] put it back right away!”

“Yeah, he saved your life!” Kaido spit out next, their hands placing on my shoulder out of respect and gratitude. 

Saiki’s eye then direct to you, his voice never leaving his lips for a moment before you noticed him flinch.

‘Ah,’ you thought. ‘He tried to use telepathy with me again.’

When he noticed, Saiki just nodded in your direction. You knew he was thanking you, he didn’t need to word it out to you. The look in his eyes was enough.

Lunch came immediately after Saiki ended up waking up, and it was understatement to say he didn’t want to be bother with anyone else besides you. He was quick to drag you to the roof of the school to eat.

The both of you sat against the railing, lunch in your laps. You wanted I just forget about the scare that Saiki gave you, but the after effects he was having wasn’t making that easy. He was having trouble, and it was easy to see when his hands were shaking so much that he couldn’t even pick up his food without it falling back in the box.

You side eyed him, his expression one of concentration as he tried to pick up his food again. Though, he dropped it again.

He sighed quickly after that, only looking down at his food as you saw his mind wonder off.

Once you finished chewing whatever food you had in your mouth, you placed your food to the side and moved so that you weren’t side to side, but rather across from Saiki’s body now. He didn’t register your movements until he saw a hand come into his view and pick up an item of food with his chopsticks.

When he turned to you, you had the chopsticks in your dominant hand and your other under the food so it didn’t drop to the filthy ground.

“C’mon, lemme help,” you said. It was easy for Saiki to pick up the worry in your tone, however he knew not to address it or else you’ll just either deny it or baby him. “Open up.”

He obeyed your command after a moment, opening his mouth wide enough for you to place his food in his mouth. The hand that was meant to catch the food if it fell made sure Saiki closed his mouth, his fingers placed a bit of pressure under his chin to shut his jaws before slowly trailing away. The food wasn’t nearly as satisfying as the chill that ran down his spine at your lingering touch that crawled on his skin.

“I could hurt you.” He suddenly spit out. It was pained. “Having my antenna taken out messed up my powers.”

You leaned your head to the side, your eyes never falling from his. “Yeah, I kinda figured.”

“You should go.” He stated.

“Why?”

“I just told you.”

You smiled. “Saiki, you could never hurt me.”

He looked at you like you had something stuck in your teeth. “You don’t know that, I may not be able to read your mind, but I don’t know how my other powers react to you.”

You remained quiet for a moment before shuffling your body side by side again, your head falling to rest of Saiki’s shoulder. You felt him flinch at the contact, his muscles even began to tighten just out of fear.

“Yanno,” you started out saying, your hand coming up to play the antenna that you could reach. “It’s odd to me how these things are the only thing keeping you stable.”

“Is it?”

You chuckled and nodded. “Small things like these verses your powers. The thing that gets me is that these things actually win in that fight. Though, I suppose it does complete the look you have.”

“And what look is that?” Saiki asked as he gazed down at you to see your eyes already on him. He could feel his fingers twitch as he watched you say shamelessly, “The cute, mysterious loner type.”

Saiki’s lips parted as he gazed at you. He quickly recomposed himself when he noticed you waiting patiently for him to respond. He sighed before asking, “Mysterious loner? Where’d you get that?”

You laughed before sarcastically questioning, “yep, I wonder where.”

3. Your friends are my friends

You don’t know how you got wrapped into this, but perhaps it’ll allow you to know Saiki’s friends better.

Currently, you were walking with Kaido, Nendou, and Saiki to a good ramen shop Nendou suggested. You were dragged along when Nendou remembered you from the Sports Festival and as Saiki’s friend. They never really got the chance to speak to you since you’re usually out the door as soon as the bell rings, but today they finally caught you.

At some point Teruhashi joined the group, though you feel like she kinda took over since now the boys, except for Saiki and you, were fawning over her. Saiki and you took it upon yourselves to give them all room to talk to her, so you both sorts trailed behind.

It was silent for a while, the only noise was Nendou or Kaido talking to Teruhashi. However, you caught the, “what does that even mean,” that Saiki mumbled under his breath.

“Hm?” You hummed. “What does what mean?”

It was obvious to you he didn’t realize he said that aloud. But he just seemed to be glad that only you heard that.

“Teruhashi wants me to go ‘oh wow’ or something to her.” Saiki revealed. “I don’t even know what that means.”

You kept your gaze on Saiki for a moment. “So, she likes you?”

“I guess,” he muttered. “I think it’s more that I’m the only guy that isn’t kissing her feet.”

You watched Teruhashi interact with Nendou and Kaido. You know that, normally, she wouldn’t take time to hang out with these guys. However, because of her crush on Saiki, she bares with them. In all honesty, she seems a bit perfect. Being able to deal with them just for the person she adores. It’s easy for anyone to do, and not a lot of people would even bother.

“She seems like a good fit for you.” You suddenly uttered out.

When Saiki heard that, he felt his hands twitch. He didn’t like that, not one bit. What irked him the most was that it seemed natural, like you actually meant it. And, of course, he had no way of knowing if those words were genuine or actually forced.

“No way,” Saiki stated coldly. “Never in a million years.”

“Damn, that’s cold, Saiki.” He heard you say, a teasing tone wedged in your voice.

“Why do you keep calling me Saiki, anyway? We aren’t acquaintances.”

“Hm?” You questioned. “I thought you don’t like me calling you by your first name in public?”

Saiki sighed. “Well now I’m telling you I don’t care.”

Saiki knew this way of showing that you were closer to him than anyone would ever be may have been childish on his part, but when he heard his first name come from your lips in front of his other ‘friends’, he felt more than satisfied. 

4. Friendship Can Bring Romance

Being able to rest during class was one of your guilty pleasures. Even if you got called out by your teacher, you didn’t mind. It was better when it was raining outside, the patter of rain when it hit the window made you want to nap.

“Hey,” a voice called out to you. You didn’t listen though, it wasn’t important.

“Hey, [Name],” it called out again. Okay, maybe you should wake up. Then again, sleep. You could always sleep later though.

You fluttered your eyes open as you felt your body being pushed around. When your sight became focused, the blurry figure in front of you showed a blue hair kid. You knew him, but from where?

“Saiki asked me to wake you up, sorry,” he confessed.

Oh, right. That’s Kaido, Saiki’s friend.

“Hm? Where is Kusuo?” You asked in a groggy voice, your hand coming up to wipe your eyes.

“Oh, he went home.” Kaido informed you. “Something just came up, I guess.”

“Alright,” you hummed before the end of your lips pulled upward. “Thank you, Kaido.”

It wasn’t easy for Kaido to wake up the quiet kid. Kaido only met the guy once or twice, and when he was hanging with him, you only stayed close to Saiki. It was kinda odd, but Kaido understood your attachment to the pink haired man. Saiki was Kaido’s first friend, after all, so he knew how awesome the guy was.

Though, he’s never got the chance to speak to you. He knows Saiki never really goes anywhere with you, and somehow you always end up by his side. He just always seemed to miss you when it came to getting the chance to introduce himself so Kaido was pretty glad when you came along the trip to that ramen place, even if it was a dumb and he got distracted by Teruhashi.

Kaido knew you were the closest person to Saiki. He’s pretty sure that not even Nendou is as close to Saiki as you are. And those two are best friends. Kaido didn’t know the extend of how long you two have been friends, but he does know from watching that Saiki has respect for you. So, it was critical that he makes a great impression with you so that he can become closer to Saiki and maybe you as well.

“S-Sure, no problem!” He stuttered, his bandaged hand retracting from your shoulder and holding them up in the air in a surrendered notion.

“Do you live around here at all? I’ll walk you home as a thank you.” You said as you stood from your seat and began to search for your bag.

“What? You don’t have to do that, really, it isn’t necessary!” Kaido spit out quickly, his words jumping all over the place.

“It’s really no trouble at all,” you stated as you put your bag over your shoulder. “C’mon, let’s get going before the rain gets worse.”

The rain eventually stopped when both teens got closer to your house. Kaido’s was further ahead, so he thought it would be better if he just walked you home instead so you didn’t have to walk more than you have to already.

“So, you’ve been friends with Saiki since he was little, huh?” Kaido asked as you explained why Saiki trusts you so much. “That’s pretty awesome! What was he like back then?”

“Pretty much the same.” You answered. “Though he did get more handsome throughout the years, and he used to be kinda sweet. Now, not so much.”

“I see, so you guys have been through it all together.” Kaido replied.

“Basically, though, he did start to worry me a bit since I was his only friend for a really long time,” you confessed. You paused as you looked up at Kaido and gave him a smile, “But I’m glad he finally made a friend like you.”

Kaido could feel his heart beat a million miles an hour just at the words you strung together. He never heard kinder words than those, and he was even more thrilled that he succeeded in making a good impression on Saiki’s childhood friend!

“It’s, uh, n-no problem, really!” Kaido muttered out as his whole face began to fluster, his hands going everywhere.

“Oh,” you hummed out.

“Hm?” Kaido questioned. His nerves going down. “What is it?”

“Did you know you were dragging your scarf the whole time?” You asked curiosity as your hands started to real in the extra fabric.

“What?” He asked out of pure shock. Though, realizing that he doesn’t make a fool out of himself he said, “O-Of course I did! It’s a fashion choice.”

“Not the best one,” you stated as you stepped closer to the blue haired male.

Kaido’s eyes widened as he stated directly into your colored orbs, watching them dance solely for him. It was like getting attention from a loved one, but this attention make him nervous to the point where he thought his face was going to explode with red. Kaido’s lips slowly started to disappear as the scarf started to build up around his shoulders and neck.

“There you go,” you said, “much better. Now your scarf doesn’t get more dirty and you look even better.”

‘Even better? What’s that supposed to mean? Does it.. does it mean he thought I looked good before?!’ Kaido thought.

Kaido let out an awkward laugh as he played with the end of the scarf. “O-Oh, haha, thank you.”

“Sure,” you hummed. “Now let’s get going.”

5. Blessing Turned On Jealousy

What’s that saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Yeah, that’s it. See, that could apply to this yet at the same time it would go a little different.

More like, the enemy of my best friend is my friend. At least for your situation. You see, walking home with Saiki has now turned into walking home with Saiki, Nendou, and Kaido. Not that you mind, but sometimes you really do wish it was back to when Saiki and you got to spend time alone together. However, being friends with Saiki and then having his friends automatically become your friends may have some perks.

Like now. Bumping into Kaido’s mom was totally accidental. But, in the end it payed off. Why?

Because coffee jelly.

“I know it’s not easy being friends with my son because he’s so shy, but please be patient.” Kaido’s mom announced as she placed the coffee jelly down in front of Saiki and you.

“Please don’t say that mama—I mean—mother.” Kaido pleased, his voice cracking as it got higher with embarrassment.

Overall, the beginning was a very nice. Hell, it was damn near perfect. Although, you just had to snoop around. Well, it was more like exploring Kaido’s room.

Your fingertips brushed along the spines of the many books Kaido had stacked up in his bookcase. It was seriously amazing how many books he had, he even had some original copies of some famous old books.

“This is pretty awesome,” you muttered to yourself before your eyes spotted something that didn’t quite match with the others. In all honesty, you were simply curious. However, curiosity did kill the cat. In your case, more like awakened the Saiki K.

“Hey, Kaido, what is the Jet Black Wings?” You asked aloud as the group sat down eating whatever snacks were about. You would always hear either chewing or at least some conversation, but after that question left your mouth it was dead silent. You felt like you killed something, but when you looked over you noticed Kaido’s face beat red. Seriously, his entire face was as red as a blood moon.

“P-Put that back!” He stuttered out, the blue haired boy suddenly running up to you to snatch the book from your hand.

As he reached for it, you held it higher. Even if he was about the same height or maybe a inch or so taller, you just needed to make him miss his hand from grabbing it.

“Don’t be embarrassed, I’m just curious.” You calmly said. “Is it bad or something?”

“N-No! It’s nothing, uh, bad! Just give me it back!” Kaido begged this time around, his hands trying desperately to grab it from you. Okay, maybe you were being a little mean at this point, but it was kinda fun to tease him.

You began to back up as Kaido trying to nab the book in your hand. “Just explain it!”

“No! Never!” He shouted.

You couldn’t help but laugh a little, though, that was your fatal mistake. Having yourself distracted by your own humor, your mind didn’t take into account the pile of prep books scattered about until it was too late. You quickly lost your voice, as well as your balance before slamming your head hard against the wood floors.

“Woah! You guys okay?” Nendou asked out of genuine concern.

As much as you would have liked to answer him, you were too concerned with the pain pounding into your skull like a jackhammer. Seriously, this is gonna give you one massive headache.

You scrunched your nose as your finally gave effort to open your eyes, though, they permanently remained open when you noticed a face staring down at you, a body on top of yours. You guessed that during the fall Kaido tried to save you, but only got dragged along instead.

“H-Hey, um, are you okay?” He asked under his shaky breath.

You only nodded before trying to avoid his gaze in any possible way. The position you were in didn’t help whatsoever in that department. Instead, you hoped that Kaido would take the hint and get off. That plan wasn’t looking too good cause all that was running through his mind was how you looked under him. Let’s say, the thoughts he had left a distaste in Saiki’s mouth.

Originally, he was just gonna let you handle it, but after hearing Kaido’s perverted thoughts about you, that plan blew up.

Saiki stood up, leaving his coffee jelly half eaten before grabbing Kaido by the back of his shirt and yanking him off of you. Saiki gave some strength into that but not enough to launch him into the bookshelf like he wanted too. He knelt down to come to your level and help you up, your massive headache being noticeable when you held onto the back of your head.

“Damnit, that really hurt,” you muttered to yourself but Saiki heard it clear as day.

It wasn’t long after that he took you home as well as the left over coffee jelly. Saiki advised you to stay home a day just to let the pain die down a bit before going back to school, so, the pink haired boy was all alone today. And all alone to everyone else meant to bother him more than usual.

Teruhashi, Nendou, Hairo. All of them. Though, it was a bit weird that Kaido wasn’t bothering with him today. Not that he was complaining, but he couldn’t pinpoint the answer until he heard Kaido’s thoughts, ‘I need to ask Saiki for permission. They’re best friends, it would be rude if I didn’t ask permission to ask out [Name].’

Never mind. He didn’t need to know that.

It was around lunch time that Kaido walked up to Saiki for the first one, the blush that littered his cheeks made Saiki want to gag for a moment.

“So, uh, Saiki, I have to ask you something.” Kaido uttered out lowly. Clearly, this was nerve wracking for him.

“What is it?” Saiki asked telepathically.

“Well, it’s about [Name], yanno, our [Name]?”

‘What other person has that name?’ Saiki thought. ‘And don’t say our, it’s creepy.’

“You see, I, well, I think I like him and I’d like your blessing to ask him out!” Kaido shouted, his body bowing at an almost 90 degree angle.

Normally, Saiki would just say to do whatever since he could read [Name]’s thoughts and see that he doesn’t like Kaido in that way. However, the one person in the world that Saiki actually wants is immune to his powers. He knew he needed to shut this down fast.

‘No way.’ Saiki responded.

“Thank you so much, Saiki, you won’t—wait—why not?” Kaido asked aloud, his voice getting higher the more he freaked out. He thought this would be easy, he means, it was Saiki. The most chill guy ever actually gave him a hard ‘no’ to asking out his best friend. Kaido shouldn’t be surprised, even though he is.

‘Because I said so,’ Saiki strictly put. He knew it was wrong to say this, who was he to say no to something that isn’t his business. Though, the feeling of relief that he still had a chance was more satisfying in the end.

By the time Saiki got to your house it was basically as soon as school ended. He used teleportation to get here as fast as he could, as well as just appear in your room. He wasn’t expecting you to still be asleep, though, he supposed this wasn’t too bad.

The pink haired male carefully walking up to the bedside of his best friend. It was odd to see your hair going in one direction instead of all over the place like normal, and don’t even get him started on the soft snores that came from your nose. Snoring isn’t usually the most attractive thing in the world, but this light snores from you made him think of the habit as cute.

Now, he would normally wake you up. But, just allowing himself to look at you for a moment longer without any consequences never hurt anybody. Saiki sat himself down on your floor, his eyes keeping to your closed ones as they slowly began to travel down to your lips. He doesn’t know what came over him, but it seriously began to freak him out when he started think about Kaido touching his lips with yours. After the freak out, jealousy was spiraling around in the psychic. He never knew that Kaido, of all people, would actually develop romantic feelings for you. If he did, he would have never allowed the both of you to interact the way you did at his house the other day.

Saiki let out a sigh before standing up once more, his hand came up to your shoulder slowly and began to shake it. It wasn’t long after that your eyes fluttered open and gave him that soft smile that caused his heart to skip a beat.

6. School Trip

The school trip was always the most looked forward to activity in high school. This year it was a three day trip to Okinawa. While you were excited to spend some time at a gorgeous place like Okinawa, Saiki was definitely less excited.

As kids talked with their friends in a group or just at their desks, you were currently sitting on top of Saiki’s desk with the pink haired boy sitting in the chair. This wasn’t something you always do, especially since at times Saiki has pushed you off out of retaliation, but after a moment or two of still being there, you knew he didn’t mind today.

“You excited?” You asked him.

“No. I don’t get the appeal.” He spit out, his eyes closing as he moved his head down. “I could get to Okinawa in three minutes.”

“Kusuo, not everyone is like you.” You explained. “So don’t go getting moody on this trip, I’m not letting you ruin it for me.”

“I won’t, I’m just saying a fact.” He replied.

You were about to continue with things you’re excited to do during the trip before Hairo came around to the both of you with a clip board in hand. He was responsible for dividing rooms.

“Saiki, [Name], did you guys decide on your group for the class trip?” He asked politely. “You should have three boys and three girls in your group.”

Saiki didn’t say anything, instead he just rested his head against your forearm. Perhaps he wanted Hairo to think he fell asleep and leave it to you, or maybe he was actually saying that he didn’t care as long as he was with you. Either way, you smiled at the contact and said to Hairo, “Kusuo and I will be rooming, it doesn’t matter who else is in our group.”

“Okay, great!” Hairo exclaimed as he wrote it down. “Kaido and Nendou are still available so I’ll just place Kaido with your group, and then randomly place you guys with a girls group.”

“Thanks, Hairo,” you hummed out as he walked away to probably inform Kaido about the rooming.

You never minded contact with Saiki, in fact, you sort of enjoyed it. However, seeing him still like this, even with Hario now gone, you worried.

“Hey, Kusuo,” you called out.

No answer.

“Kusuo?” You asked this time. And when he didn’t answer again you unconsciously moved your hand up to his head and moved it back to where you could look him in the eyes. Saiki’s face was still without expression, though, those eyes worried you. He seemed, almost, upset.

“Kusuo?” You asked. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head, signaling that nothing was wrong. You knew he was lying.

You tilted your head, some of your hair moving with gravity to expose part of your forehead. “Why are you lying to me?”

“I’m not.” He said, his voice was steady and yet, that look in his eyes still bothered you.

You knew he wasn’t going to budge but still, just because you’re going to let it go now doesn’t mean that you weren’t about to keep an eye on him.

Throughout the beginning and the first day of the trip, you kept an eye on Saiki. He seemed way more tired than usual, but that didn’t startle you. Instead, it was how he was by your side more often now when Kaido was around. You weren’t an idiot, it was pretty obvious. You didn’t mind Saiki’s attention, but you didn’t want him to think just because you were friends with Kaido that he’d be put second.

“Kusuo, can we talk?” You asked him as the two of you had the room to yourselves. The others were out and about, but the two of you decided on an early night.

“About what?” He asked as he set up his sleeping area.

“Today.” You started out. “You’ve been acting weird around Kaido. Did something happen?”

You watched Saiki carefully, so carefully that you noticed his fingers lightly curl around the blanket. You didn’t want to push him, so instead of pushing him to speak, you allowed yourself to be silent and let him take his time. You don’t remember how many minutes pasted, but you swear it felt like decades.

“Nothing happened.” He informed you. “His thoughts just aren’t for my taste at the moment.”

“His thoughts?” You questioned as you slowly approached Saiki on his blanket until you were right in front of him. “Okay, then, what’s got you all bothered? Let me guess, he’s thinking dirty things, right?”

“Sort of.” He replied.

“I bet it’s about Teruhashi,” you theorized. “Is that why you don’t like it?”

“No, it’s not about Teruhashi.”

“Really? Then who?”

Saiki went quiet once more.

You sighed. Your head moving down to get a glimpse at his face. It wasn’t until you moved your hand over by his, your finger tips brushing with his accidentally to get more stability as you leaned in did you hear him finally confess.

“It was about you.”

To say that you needed a minute to take that in was an understatement. Kaido was a good guy and all, but it was kinda startling to realize he liked guys, as well as girls, since you didn’t suspect that even for a minute with him.

“Seriously?” You asked once more.

Saiki nodded. “He asked me if he could ask you out.”

“And what did you say?”

“No.”

You couldn’t help a smile crawl upon your face with that one. You knew it was a bit hard to read Saiki, especially when it came to you, but you were just beyond happy to hear that.

“Good,” you suddenly shot out. Saiki’s head moving back up in an instant to see your happy features. “I don’t like Kaido like that anyway, saves me from breaking his heart.”

“You don’t?”

“Nope.” You hummed out. You knew this may backfire on you in more ways than one, but right now, you didn’t care. The happiness you felt told you to take a chance and throw out the bait. “I know you can’t read my mind, but I actually do have someone I like.”

Saiki aimlessly stared at you for a moment and took in the words you confessed to him. It was an odd feeling, the rapid beating of his heart, but perhaps this was finally the start of things going his way for once.

On the second day of the trip, everyone went to Emerald Beach. It was one of the many places were people could stare at others and no one would think anything of it. A perverts dream. Though, for Saiki, he just wanted to hang out with you.

“Where’s [Name]?” Kaido asked Nendou as Saiki stood behind the two.

“He said he had to go buy a swimsuit. The one he brought apparently went missing.” Nendou told the blue haired boy.

Now, that want a mistake. Sure, it may have been a dirty trick but Saiki rather die than see you in the swimsuit you brought. After all, you bought a shirt with it. He knew you didn’t take off your shirt often, even at the beach, but he was determined to see you with just a pair of shorts.

Much like how all the guys that crowded around the girls changing house waited patiently to see Teruhashi in a two piece swim suit.

It was a while after Teruhashi came out, and when everyone was in the water that you made your appearance. You had your hands wedged into your swim shirt pockets as you allowed your feet to take in the hot sand that felt magical between your toes. You gazed around for a moment before noticing pink hair sitting under an umbrella.

A devilish smirk crawled on your features as you began to slowly approach the male. This may give Saiki a heart attack, but it was worth it. As you stood over him from behind, you attacked. Your body shot down as your arms wrapped aruund his neck and pushed your chest into his bare back.

“Hey, what’s a cute guy like you doing all alone at a place like this?” You teased, allowing your voice to go on for some time so that he realized it was just you.

Saiki immediately flinched at the contact before noticing it was just you. However, when he noticed the touch of your skin against his, he could feel his entire body heat up. The sensation was new, he’s felt his face go hot before, but his entire body was a new one.

“What took you so long?” Saiki tried to play off.

You just sighed and got a tighter grip on the male, your chest pushing more into his back. “Someone stole my swimsuit. Sadly, I didn’t have enough money to replace the whole thing, so I had to go by some swim shorts.”

“Hm, as least you’re here.” Saiki stated, making sure not to comment on the ‘stolen swimsuit’.

“Yeah,” you uttered as you released Saiki from your grasp and sat down next to him. You gazed out at the beautiful ocean that was filled with laughing people with this loving look in your eyes, all the while not realizing Saiki’s held that same gaze as he stared at you.

When you did turn to him, he completely lost himself in his mind as his eyes wondered about your figure. You weren’t the most fit guy in the world, but you did have these subtle yet enchanting muscle lines along your upper body that made Saiki lose himself.

“I saw that.” You suddenly said. Saiki’s eyes now darting back to yours. “You just checked me out.”

Saiki saw no way out of this one. So, he just confessed it. “So what if I was?”

In all honesty, he just expected you to laugh and tell him that it’s only fair if he does the same. However, the twist was unexpected and, well, definitely appreciated. He watched as you gazed down, this bashful look in your eyes as you did everything to avoid his gaze. Your body language wasn’t helping either. Your fingers were tapping against the towel and the heel of your foot was moving back and forth.

Maybe this trip wasn’t totally for nothing.

7. All That Was A Secret

Spring break. It was one of those weeks that Saiki went to go visit his grandparents all the way in the middle fo nowhere. So, for the most of this break, you were home alone. 

It was kind of boring. This break was definitely not one that you looked forward to, more now then before, especially after the beach during the class trip. Those words always ended up repeating in your mind, way too much then you thought they would. Then again, you shouldn’t be surprised. All those days that you’d try to subtly touch him, tease him, it was just a way to relieve yourself of the pent up emotions you’ve had for him for a few years now. 

Currently, you were in your room upon your bed, hugging one of your pillows close to your chest. You never tried to dwell on if Saiki felt the same or not, but recently, it’s been clawing at you more and more. It wasn’t like you didn’t think you had a chance, but more if Saiki was more comfortable just staying friends. You would understand, even if it would hurt, you’d do it for him. You’d do anything for that guy. 

You sighed before slowly lifting your body off the bed. Today wasn’t a good day for being sad, it was summer break, after all. You knew you had to get your mind off Saiki, and him being away made it a bit easier. So, you grabbed some clothes from your closet and laid them on the bed. You weren’t sure what you were going to do, but you were determined to fine something to take your mind off him. 

You let your pants drop to the ground before taking the ones on your bed and letting your legs slip through each of the pant legs. Next, you stripped your shirt off and took in a deep breath. You paused for a moment before dropping the dirty shirt on the ground and grabbing the new one. In all honestly, you never really pay attention to your surroundings when changing. But, does anyone? It wasn’t until your head went through the hole on the top of the shirt did you realize that the bed in front of you was now missing and the wall you were staring at was not the wall of your bed room. When you turned your head, you locked eyes with Saiki in an unfamiliar room. 

“Huh?” You uttered under your breath before your eyes widened, your face felling hotter than usual before frantically pulling your shirt all the way down. Once down, you opened your mouth and said, “You can’t do that without me knowing! What if I was in the middle of a shower or something and not just changing?”

“I would have given you some of my clothes.” He replied nonchalantly.

You bit the inside of your cheek before crossing your arms over your chest. “Why did you teleport me anyway?”

“I can’t stand it here.” Saiki confessed. Of course, you knew he didn’t exactly enjoying visiting his grandparents but he has never done this before. “Just hang out with me. I’ll send you back after.”

You sighed. You can’t exactly say no after that, so, with that Saiki and you began to watch a movie. It wasn’t one you two watched before so it was easy to get lost in it. Though, it was also easy to focus on Saiki when he suddenly placed his hand on top of yours as you guys watched. You weren’t too sure if he thought you wouldn’t notice, but there was no way you were going to pull away. After all, it’s not like he placed his fingers between yours, if he did that, you don’t know if you could handle it. 

After a half an hour into the movie you finally got the plot of it, and you weren’t amused at all. It was a best friends to lovers troupe. More specifically, childhood friends that drifted apart only to be brought back together by work and now slowly are developing feelings for one another. Let’s just say now, you were a little more than nervous. 

Thank god Saiki couldn’t read your mind, because now, you feel like you’d give him a headache. You couldn’t help but ask yourself if he knows and is only doing this to taunt you, or maybe this was all just a big coincident. Yeah, one massive coincident. In reality though, Saiki was just teasing you. He had no idea of your feelings but he wanted to watch the movie with you to implant the idea in his mind of the possibility.

Well, his plan was working. Maybe a little too much. Though, as you were about to spit something out, your eyes suddenly shot down to the floor in embarrassment. Yep, a make out scene. Of course, Saiki had no idea about that, but it was better than just the sappy stuff cause now it was really ingrained in your head. 

Once it was over and you had somewhat of your cool back you couldn’t help it. You needed to ask. If it blew up in flames, then so be it. 

“Hey, Saiki,” you uttered out lowly. Saiki caught it immediately and turned his gaze on you. “I have a.. question.”

“What?” He asked.

“Well,” your voice trailed off as you moved your eyes down to where both of your hands connected. “We’ve been best friends for a long time now but, have you ever, um, thought about doing...that?

Saiki remained quiet for a moment, his thoughts going everywhere before thinking to himself, ‘All the time, actually.’

As much as he wish he could have said that telepathically, he could never try to say that vocally. So, he just opted for a nod and watched your body flinch. The hand he touched growing warm.

“You’re hot.” Saiki suddenly spit out. This time, you brought your hand back to your body so he couldn’t tell anymore. 

“S-So what?” You stuttered out.

To say that Saiki didn’t like this side of you was an understatement. He’s never never seen you so flustered before, and it was really adorable to look at.

“It’s cute.” Saiki commented, his body leaning in just to see your face closer.

You turned your head to the side, eyes darting to the tv just to look away for a moment to compose yourself. You knew that there wasn’t gonna be another perfect moment like this so, you slowly reached over to place your hand on the back of Saiki’s neck. It was warm. When he noticed what you wanted as you started to lean back and gently pull him with you, he complied quickly until he gazed at you from above. Suddenly, he was jealous at the fact that Kaido got to see this view before him. 

He stared at you for a moment before watching you bite down on your bottom lip, his mind doing backflips at the want to read your mind, but also at how good you looked under him. 

“Kiss me.” You whispered under your breath, just loud enough for him to hear. 

“If I do,” Saiki uttered lowly. “I might not be able to stop.”

“That’s okay.”

[fluffypeachwriting]

Tdd ichiro date .... But also the mini bros popping up from time to time

Cute!!! I did some hcs outlining a first date with tdd Ichi, with some cute baby bros seeing what’s up  <(￣︶￣)> I hope you enjoy!!

I doubt Ichiro has any experience going on a date, as romance is the last thing on his mind. This would make asking someone out pretty daunting. He knows that the easy way to do it would be to send you a text or slip you a note, but Ichiro does things the right way – no cowardice allowed!

When the day comes, Ichiro does the best he can to make a good impression, though I doubt he would be interested in someone he wasn’t already familiar with. He shows up in the smartest clothes he has (after spending hours debating how smart to look, lest you feel underdressed), holding a small gift of chocolates for you. Deep in the notes on his phone, there hides a list of all your favourite foods and candies, so of course the chocolates he gets are perfect for you. A slightly creased shirt and a pair of ill-fitting jeans is the outfit he settles on, although you barely notice the faults because his blushy face is so hard to ignore. It’s so cute to see a big guy practically shaking in his boots.

As for the date location itself, Ichiro would prefer to take you to a spot where he would have seen a lot of couples go to, to really let you know that he’s interested in dating you! There are so many bright and exciting places to go too, and he wants to take you there in the future, but on your first date he’d rather find somewhere to get to know you better.

A café in the city turns out to be the perfect date destination for the two of you – nothing too intensive, and nothing too boring. Not only does he get to sit opposite you for hours, he also gets to think about holding hand as you walk side-by-side! He hangs on to every word you say, keeping an ear out for any sign of discomfort or unease you have – you are going on a date with one of the most well-known delinquents in town, but you realise pretty quickly that he’s actually a huge softie.

He does his best to keep a conversation going, asking how you’re doing, if your friends and family are alright, small talk like that. Even with light chatter, Ichiro gets so worked up that he doesn’t even notice he’s been stirring his coffee for ten minutes until you point it out to him. He’d immediately apologise (and do it again like a minute later) for acting so awkwardly, then try to over-compensate by using some of his typical ‘manly bravado’ on you, although it just comes across as boyish confidence – adorable nonetheless. Unintentionally, he totally charms you, and you’d be a fool to turn down a second date.

We know that during this era Jiro and Saburo stuck together, and didn’t get to spend much time with Ichiro, so learning that Ichiro going on a date of all things would probably throw them through a loop. It would be almost comical, how they pop out of hiding every time you turn a corner. Ichiro would be too nervous to notice, but you might. It’s sweet to see their inquisitive little faces peeking over signs and stuff, and it’s even sweeter to see them scamper away when they think they’ve been caught.

[eponymousfics]

For the ask fic writer thing: yellooowww 🧟

💛: Do you ever alter, highlight, or de-emphasize certain canonical traits in a character? If so, why and describe how.

Oh absolutely.

It’s probably easiest to explain with the sextuplets as examples (and odds are you’re here bc of that fandom lol), so here we go. (...Under a cut because this got super long sorry >_>)

In the silence purrs, I definitely emphasize Ichi’s common sense/decency and minimize the shitting-on-tables-when-panicked side, because the genre is fundamentally different than the show. The show is low-brow comedy, tsp is romance with comedic elements.

I reference the wilder side, but try to avoid showing it directly on-screen, so to speak, because the fic is a lot more about unpacking his fundamental fear of failure and simultaneous need for love and companionship.

I also highlight his kindness, which gets hinted at in the show but isn’t focused on because it’s not funny. And I think the environment created by the brothers’ dynamic just inherently disallows most displays of tenderness.

The fic is a way to explore how he can create a different version of himself when he’s put in a new position with new influences, and balance that with who he is with his family. (Which is hard and a big reason why the freakin' New Year's party chapter has been taking me ages lol)

I also have a different fic idea with him that would emphasize his creativity, using that to create new relationships, and I think that one would also let him indulge more in the side of him that likes dressing up and acting.

We’d probably wind up exploring how much more he has in common with Karamatsu than either of them would ever like to admit and how part of why Ichi is much harsher towards Kara is because of self-recognition in the other leading to activating his self-loathing, plus a little jealousy of the fact that Kara can express himself while Ichi can’t. (Which isn’t fully true bc Kara hides a LOT also but y’know)

I also have a prince AU that emphasizes his self-destructive side and how his anxiety and self-loathing can wind up pushing away and hurting the people who love him, the inherent self-centered nature of that self-loathing, and how he overcomes it. That one is a lot more angst/hurt/comfort.

The genre and what traits are emphasized or minimized and very intertwined, though it isn’t always that one dictates the other. Like with tsp, I didn’t set out with a genre in mind other than romance, I just knew Ichi was going to comfort a stranger bc the presence of cats would make him brave enough to push past his anxiety for once. In the initial stages of writing I didn’t think the reader would wind up having as much emotional baggage themselves as they do, and that the whole fic would be a little more lighthearted, but sometimes things just happen lol

With the sextuplets especially, there's going to be more of this kind of trait highlighting/cherry-picking/unpacking because any fic (that I'd write for them) would always be some form of "I can fix him." Let's face it, if we want any of them to be relatively healthy romantic partners for anybody, they have a lot of personal growth to go through.

Which makes for interesting stories! And because their traits are so saturated and bold in the show, you can kind of play around with some very strong colors, including de-saturating or toning down, or mixing up in weird and fun ways.

Taking a more realistic approach inherently requires a little toning down, but you could also go the opposite way and throw in a Bugs Bunny-esque OC and do a wacky tasteless borderline-crackfic romcom. Kind of anything goes, so long as you keep the tone consistent within the story, which is probably why I've wound up writing the most in this fandom as opposed to anything else I'm into.

Anyway, I could talk about this kind of thing all day, and if there was a different fandom I've written for you wanted to ask about specifically lmk! For now though, this is way too long already lol

Thank you so much for asking! I had a lot of fun answering this ^o^

[ash-imagines]

Since you've technically written both Sebastian from Stardew and Ichimatsu from Osomatsu-san as yanderes, and because I've seen lots of people compare the 2, what would be some differences between the 2 as yanderes? Would there be any lines one would be willing to cross that the other wouldn't even consider? Who would be the 'nicer' of the 2 to deal with? Also, since I saw you had started classes again recently, I hope those are going well for you so far :)

Thank you! It's been tough so far but I'll power through 😁

I think the main difference is that Sebastian kind of has no choice but to interact at least a little bit with the object of his obsession. Living in a small town means he can't hide away all the time, so at some point your paths will cross. But even if that weren't the case, I think he's still a little bit more proactive than Ichimatsu. They'll both be sneaking and snooping if they think they can get away with it, but Sebby is just slightly more daring than Ichi.

Another big difference is probably that Sebby could potentially get away with a little kidnapping if he was very careful. His family might wonder where he went, but he's always hated this town and was always talking about leaving someday. Everyone would probably just assume the two of you left town together of your own accord. As for Ichi, his family is just too big and nosy for something like that to work.

And perhaps the saddest difference: I don't think either of them would want to seriously hurt their families, and they would definitely never kill a family member, but I think Sebby is more likely to lash out violently at a family member if he felt like they were interfering. He would feel awfully guilty afterwards, though.

Overall I think Ichimatsu is the "nicer" one, since he's more likely to just admire you from afar.