#ive already said what Hikaru’s is but

[risingscorchingsuns]

reblog this with what your oc’s spiritual core would look like in the tags…

[rd0265667]

Eunchae x Reader: Savior

TW!Bullying

(NOTE: The depictions of IVE in this story are NOT ACCURATE)

Stream Unforgiven yall

"Will you stop looking? You're so creepy." Kazuha teased, lightly nudging Eunchae on the shoulder, who slowly shook herself back to attention, her focus straying away from the conversation her unniess were having, ending up elsewhere.

"Aigoo, does Eunchae have a crush?" Yunjin giggled, patting Eunchae on the back who shook her head in exasperation, trying to dispel the notion, to no avail

"Aish, they all grow up too fast..." Sakura sighed, before Chaewon began laughing

"I mean, time passes faster when you're as old as you." Sakura and Chaewon began bickering, Kazuha and Yunjin joining in as Eunchae smiled, shaking her head at her unnies antics.

Her gaze went back to where it was previously, as her eyebrows furrowed.

'What are they doing?'

Eunchae gritted her teeth, this wasn't an uncommon sight, and they had been a pest for far too long.

"Y/N!" You sighed, the voice all too familiar to you. Great, I was already having a bad day, what's worse. "What do you want Yujin..." You replied monotonously, looking up to see 6 girls who have made your life in school, interesting "Aish, Y/N, is that anyway to speak to your friends?" Wonyoung questioned, a slight mocking tone on her voice "Friends don't bully their friends now, do they?" You slowly went back to your food, before Gaeul snatched the bowl in front of you, slowly slurping up your noodles You clenched your fist, glaring at them but exercising your self control to the best of your ability. With a content sigh, Gaeul set the bowl on the table "Besides, Y/N, we're here to help you!" She pulled out a bouquet from behind her back, as you cringed at the sight of it "See, we found this in your locker just now, and we were just thinking, hmm, what happened to poor Y/N?" Gaeul asked mockingly, throwing the bouquet in your face. "Which rejection is this?" Yujin asked out loud "Hmm, Karina, Chaeryoung, Hikaru, Yeji, Minju, 6th one this year then." "Aish, that's so pathetic, seems you like so many people, if only there were someone who liked you, so who is the new one?" Gaeul taunted, as you turned away, anger seething but calming yourself down. Gaeul was right though, you had a bad habit of falling too easily. They'd just help you out, smile at you, and you'd fall, just like that, following them like a lovesick puppy, till you eventually get rejected.

Haewon was the recent one you fell for, you worked up the courage to tell her, only to get rapidly friend-zoned. Turns out, You have many many friends. Infatuation often hit you hard, but honestly, all you wanted was to love someone who loved you back "Leave me alone, Gaeul, please." You groaned, grabbing about your pockets to see if you could get something else, your hunger not yet sated. Nothing. Great. "Aww, but why? We're friends Y/N, we're hanging out with you!" She laughed, roughly pushing you towards the other girls, as you stumbled, struggling to catch your balance, the bouquet nearly slipping out of your hand. "Hey, you found it!" You turned your head in confusion as you saw a girl from your homeroom running to you. Hong Eunchae, you think to yourself.  She quickly wrested the bouquet from your hands, before clinging onto your arm, taking a deep whiff of it. "Why haven't you texted me! I've been waiting for your text for so long!" She tugged at your shoulder, pouting as she stared at you, your heart's pace quickening "I'm sorry, who are you?" Gaeul questioned, a little confused at what was going on. "I'm Hong Eunchae, Y/N's girlfriend." She explained, as the cogs in your head started to slowly spin, if this was going to get the 6 of them off your back, you'd be more than willing to play along. "Sorry, Eunchae-ah, I'll be with you soon, I need to go get some money from my bag to get some food." You said, as you walked towards the locker, the 6 girls in front of you rolling their eyes, walking away, their fun ruined. You smiled to the girl still clinging onto your arm as the 6 girls walked out of your sight, silently thanking the gods for a saviour. Kudos for sending such an adorable one too. "Thank you, Eunchae-Ssi." You bowed, as she waved her hands. "No worries, and you can just call me Eunchae!" She said, smiling brightly as she still clung onto your shoulder "Sure! I need to go get my money now, so..." You slowly tried to withdraw your hand, skinship with someone you had few interactions with wasn't something you were used to, but Eunchae refused to budge. "Nonsense. I saw Gaeul take your food just now, I'll get you another bowl, you just get seated at with my unnies alright?" She insisted, tugging at your arm as she walked you to the table, seating you next to her vacant seat as she walked over to the food shop. You smiled awkwardly at the 4 girls at the table, 3 of them smiling at you, one not as much. You recognised one of the smiling girls to be Yunjin, you have Literature together, and you partnered with her for a project once. "Hey Yunjin!" You greeted, the girl lighting up at the fact that you still remembered her. "Hey Y/N! It's nice to see you again. Just a quick introduction, this is Kazuha, Chaewon and Sakura." You bowed to each of them, as they all greeted you, Chaewon doing so a little monotonously. Sitting at the table awkwardly, you smiled at the girls, before Chaewon whispered ominously to you, "Break her heart and I break you."  Before you could ask what that was about, Eunchae quickly set the bowl down, beckoning you to eat, though in your periphery, you noticed Sakura lightly nudging Chaewon. Hmm, wonder what that's about? Regardless, you had 5 minutes before class started, so you wolved the meal down, as the 6 of you got up from the table, ready to head to class, before you stopped Eunchae, who beckoned the rest to go to class

"Thank you for earlier Eunchae, I owe you one." You thanked, as Eunchae smiled back. 'She's cute' "How bout I cash that in now?" Eunchae questioned, as you tilted your head in confusion "Let's go out, together." Eunchae took a deep breath, looking nervously at you "You mean like a date?" "I guess?" Eunchae asked, her nervous tone not lost upon you. "Umm, sure!" You said, as Eunchae's face lit up, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she giggled. "Give me your phone?" She stuck her hand out, before keying her number into your phone, before handing it back to you. "Now close your eyes!" A little suspicious, you still obliged, before feeling Eunchae taking your hand in hers, lifting it, before kissing the back of your hand "I'll see you around Y/N!" Eunchae shouted out, before running to her room Still stunned, you took your phone out, seeing Eunchae's number, saved as "Girlfriend hopefully?"

You chuckled to yourself, perhaps your savior could be the one for you

[dullahandyke]

yippee yippee yippee yippee eimear con haul!!!!

Hi. It was my birthday recently and I'm bad to shop for so instead of gifts I got money to spend at Kaizokucon. So here's a haul. Under the cut bcos I couldnt fit it nicely in one picture and I wanna ramble

ok we're gonna take it one picture at a time ^_^ the ID in the alt text explains what everything is if u just wanna see what i got without the rambling sure to come with it. links in rambling r to the artists of the fan stuff where i can find em ^_^ only one of them is a direct link to the product tho bcos some ppls shops r down and some ppl dont have all their stuff online. lemons_arent_green youre a real one

Ok the flat stuff!!! black rock shooter poster bcos i already have a figure but i liek her... badass anime girl ily.... was so so sure i saw a reigen keychain but when i went to go get one there weren't any so i got this sticker sheet instead :3 SPEAKING OF KEYCHAINS!!! yippee yippee kaguya i love you youre my special little tiempsy. yue you are a gay anime boy with a cool design. tomoyo ive always felt a kinship with you and its because im a desperate dyke. monokuma is here ig 🙄 i put him on my carabiner and hes fun to stim with. i am not immune to the sdr2 fanboying. also full disclosure ive not watched naruto (its in the spreadsheet) i just thought funko pop sasuke keychain was really really funny. my son who stares into my soul. comparatively i dont have as much to say on the badges!! luka luka fever for real girlie ily. the bandori ones were blind bags and i got himari on my first try <3<3<3<3<3<3 sorry eve i kind of dont care. 🙁 the dr girlies i kinda picked at random based on who i've been vibing w lately.

THE POKEMON DIORAMA!!!! its soooo cool, staff were setting up the trade hall so i was in there all day friday and this shop was one of the first to set up their stands and i was literally staring at it all day... so fucking awesome. the rings n the necklace r from the same shop look at them... im fucking obsessed w the catgirl necklace. literally look at her. i dont thiiink shes supposed to be a specific character but she might be. oh well. cat girl ily. aaaand the arisa stand is actually a little clip for papers n stuff!! she was also a blind box but specifically for popipa so i was gonna b happy w whoever <3

MIIIIKUUUUUU MY PRINCESS MY EVERYTHING!!!!! she was calling to me she beckoned..... shes actually rlly big irl shes the biggest figure i have, replacing my kokoro one... shes the one where i audibly said 'it was my birthday i can buy things' bcos figures spencey... she wasnt too bad actually i just like bitching. 6 euro axel for scale

BOOKS 💥💥💥 i was reading nana a while back and i dropped it but i gotta pick it up again... rlly pretty and awesome... aaaand the summer hikaru died!!! kay if youre seeing this then know you posting abt it convinced me <3 i originally got it bcos i was on door duty in a quiet area and didnt wanna spend my time draining battery life on my phone but after i bought it i realised that that was literally a terrible idea so <3 we'll get around to them soon

FINALLLYYYYYY TSHIRTS!!! the top yellow one was my staff t-shirt, it has 'staff' on the back i was wearing it all weekend and yippee i love it.... emotional bond.... and if this is a safe space can i just say. if kaito was a woman? would. next up FAYE FUCKIN VALENTINEEEE!!! do u remember that post i made going thru all the sellers that were gonna b at the con that started like 'i hate shounen fans. name a woman'? well this is the seller i was talking about but all was forgiven in the name of FAYE ! GODDAMN ! VALENTINE ! ugh i love you girlie. and the last t-shirt was given out free to staff after the closing ceremony!! it was the tenth anniversary of kaizokucon so we got this awesomes design yay.... wore it to classes today hoping somebody would comment on it and nobody did 😌and in the middle i got CLOW CARRRDS BITCHES!!!!!! i saw them and immediately all thought left my fucking brain. i needed them. so important. the seller also recognised the axel in my fanny pack yippee!!!! a few people recognised him over the weekend actually and i was always like yes!! the him

anyway. yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! yippee! con con con con con :)

[lunarlagomorph]

so fmdm. is really hard to sum up my feelings on. kind of long so ill readmore it

I think the game has some major flaws. First off there are many elements that just feel racist. The emishi in general (named and based on a real group of people, btw), and especially what ive already said about white emishi. A fascination with nazis is present in the game. Also, I think that it just takes a very "restore-the-emperor" stance on japan post WWII. These are some of the main reasons i disliked the game.

Another problem it has is that it bites off more than it can chew. There are so many characters deserving of more in-depth characterization and theres just no room for any of it. Muramasa's mom literally has like no screentime despite how important ginsego is to the plot. Chachamaru feels like a yumizuka situation where shes incredible and then she dies quickly (though less quickly than yumizuka). The characters given entire routes worth of characterization show up for five minutes total in the true route. Sorimachi is called kageaki's true enemy and basically fucks off until the very end to just be like ehehehehe (though tbh i didnt mind this one as much, it made sense).

the main thing im still deciding how i feel about it is its handling of themes. Admittedly, I expected the true route to be just: killing is bad, and here's how you could have done everything peacefully. The fact that the game instead tries to say "killing is bad, but sometimes you have to do it -- which doesn't make it less bad" is interesting. I actually believe something very similar and so I want to say I like it. But the delivery feels like it bounces all over the place as we follow kageaki himself trying to grasp the truth. and so im not really sure if it "stuck the landing" and need to think about it more.

speaking of sticking the landing, i think the ending (not the epilogue ending) of the true route was what surprised me most. This game has never been restrained, and so I kept expecting a full layout of what exactly happened to kageaki when he split the helmet and fucked his mom. THis never comes, and I think I want to say I respect the story more for it. god knows it had enough gratitous h-scenes already. The fact too that theres really only a moment of resolution with hikaru felt right.

Beyond my complaints, I think i spent most of the time enjoying the game, with plenty of lulls though. Really great if you love well writen fight scenes (like some of the best, honestly), and the chunni shit never stops coming. I also just love Kageaki, i love hikaru, i love muramasa, and so many other characters. I'm probably going to tackle the fan discs at some time just because i want more of them. But yeah. Even if it feels rough, it aims incredibly high, and when it works it really works. And when it doesn't, it really doesn't. But i'm the kind of person who appreciates what a game does well more than cares about what it does poorly. And as bad as the politics can be, i don't think it makes this vn poisoned fruit, though I do think it will stay my hand in reccomending it to many people, and i can understand why people would dismiss it entirely because of them, which I cannot fault them for.

so basically id say 8.5 out of 10. In some ways its a 10/10. In others a 4/10.

[svnaslove]

cuddles. II

Genre: fluff !! and chaos 😔 !!

Characters: Kishoshita, Narita, Kageyama, Hinata, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi

warnings: uhm.. yams’ part is a lil suggestive 😳

#7 | Hisashi Kinoshita | 木下

kinoshita !!

chile let me take a moment to breathe because he’s so underrated but idk how because this man is so pretty !! and kind !! and respectful !!

im about to bark

n e ways

he’s a lil insecure bub🥺

since he sits alot i feel like that did a little something to his confidence :((

but it also made him more aware of his surroundings and he’s very very supportive !!

when you first said you wanted to cuddle he was like

“😳 y-you wanna cuddle?”

kinda scared to at first because he doesn’t know what to do lsjfdls

so you guys started small like just leaning on each other, then laying on each others laps and then full on cuddle sessions <3

he’s so fcking cute !!

if your hair’s long, he ties it up while you’re cuddling so it doesn’t get in the way for you 🥺

if anything he’s trying to make sure you have a good time when cuddling more then himself

#8 | Kazuhito Narita | 成田

cutie !!

again, another v underrated boi, imma cri real quick

he’s literally the cutest ever

he was the first to initiate cuddles and it was so cuteee

he went in to give you a hug while you were standing in the kitchen and he was just like “i miss you :(”

he was touch-starved😭

but then he just...

didn’t let go DSFJLKDS

“kazu, baby, do you want to cuddle?”

HIS EYES LIT UP, HE GOT SO EXCITED

but then he got bashful,,, “if you want to....then i want to too... “

“dummy, i saw how excited you got, let’s go cuddle”

literally happy boi, just trailing after you to the bed to cuddle :))

holds u so tight >.<

but a comfy tight :)

#9 | Tobio Kageyama |影山

my heart goes out to kageyama this absolute baby😭

he’s so awkward because he doesn’t know how to initiate anything and the only thing he’s ever thought about is volleyball

it’s to the point where he has this weird feeling that he just wants to hold you but he doesn’t know how to ask ??

and sometimes he doesn’t know what it is either so he’ll be like, “damn, maybe if i drink some milk, this odd feeling will go away”

spoiler alert: the milk does not help 💔

heart 💔 been broke 📉 so many times ⏰ i don’t know 🤔 what to believe 💯 mama 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 said 🗣 it’s my fault 😢 it’s my fault 🤦🏻‍♀️i wear my heart ❤️ on my sleeve 💪 

so one day you guys are just late night watching tv together and you’re both under the blanket and he’s like “damn, here’s that weird feeling again”

and he just

stares

he just stares at you because he doesn’t know how to ask because he’s scared to feel embarrassed

you feel him looking and you just turn to him like

“😳 hello?”

literally this pretty ass boy is just staring at you and you’re freaking out and he has no self realization and you’re just there, mad blushing

he gets all blushy too and looks away 

SLKDFJLSDJF

“im sorry :(”

then he can’t take it anymore

he stares again 😭

“ 😳 tobio, do you need something?”

“c-can we cuddle?”

THIS CUTIE SLDKFJSDLKF

and you’re like oH, THAT’S WHY HE WAS STARING AT ME LIKE THAT

“yeah, come here”

you hold out your arms and he just goes to your arms

you’ll be laying on your back and he’s laying on your stomach 

and you’ll just play with his hair and hum and he just feels so relaxed and he just takes in your scent and gets smiley sometimes 

and now every time he just stares at you, you know that he wants to cuddle, its just a non-verbal agreement now fldsjsljf

bonus:

this position of cuddling with him was the first time he told you that he loved you 🥺

you were just the only person that could keep him grounded, and when he’s like that with you he just feels so at peace and he just realized out of nowhere that he fell in love with you 🥺

#10 | Hinata Shoyou | 日向

🥺 🥺 🥺  !!!

so baby !!

he can’t stop smiling when you guys are about to cuddle

like his cheeks are hurting !! and he’s still like :DD

like nishinoya, he would tickle you too but it wouldn’t go as far as a tickle fight, just a little something to get you to giggle 

squeals “you’re so cuteeee” ALOT

he will squish your cheeks

honestly, at this point, you guys’ cuddles are more like both of you just laying next to each other really close face to face, some limbs intertwined and just squishing each others cheeks, tickling here and there and just tracing each others features

literally about to cry, the puppy love energy is astronomical 😭

count each others beauty marks, i just feel like that is def something that would happen one day lfkjs

silly faces !!

he compliments you all the time like “you’re so prettyy 🥺” but when you compliment him he’s like

“wait🤚 😳 , u talking about me?? 😳” will blush so hard he will blackout

he’ll have to hide his face into like the crook of your neck because he’s all blushy 

#11 | Kei Tsukishima | 月島

i hate him with so much love

does that make sense

yes, it does.

will tease the HELL out of you when you show that you want to cuddle

gets all smug too😤

but tbh he just does that because he just gets wayyy too excited and his hearts all chaos

it’s his coping mechanism for being a simp 🤡

so he’ll just play with you

“oh? you wanna cuddle? hmm, i don’t know, ask me again in 5 minutes”

MF I SWEAR I WILL CLIMB U

also he gets way into that “hmmm” as if he’s thinking really hard about it SDLKJFSDLK

then you get all pouty and leave and he’s like 

“IM JUST KIDDING JESUS WHERE ARE YOU GOING”

he let his simp side show 😔 r.i.p. ur pride tsukki

and you’re shocked, like where tf did tsukki go?? this ain’t him fkjsd

so you mess with him too

“oh? so you wanna cuddle with me now? hmm, i don’t know, you were kinda mean to me earlier, maybe i’ll just ask tadashi or something.”

you’re literally reaching for your car keys and walking out of your apartment and he just 

*SWOOP*

this tree ass mf swooped you out of the floor over his shoulder earning a loud and embarrassing yelp from you and just carries you to bed

“you’re not going anywhere, don’t be an idiot”

puts you on top of the bed and just lays on top of you to keep you from moving anywhere

“KEI THIS IS NOT COMFORTABLE I CAN’T BREATHE”

“then stop being weird saying you’re going to cuddle other people and cuddle me already dumbass”

gets off and you guys lay comfortably together

“i hate you kei” ~in a playful manner ofc <3

“i know” *gives you a kiss on your forehead* 🥺

#12 | Tadashi Yamaguchi | 山口

i will violently *🥺* for yamaguchi any day, everyday

i love him so much he’s just so 🥺 🥺 !!

ok !!

so cuddling with yamaguchi is the softest experience any human could ever go through

he so soft ???

he’s so sweet ???

he’s so cute ???

he’s so respectful ???

im in love.

will always be asking if somethings okay, if you’re alright, if you’re comfy, if he’s doing anything wrong

but it’s never in an overbearing way, it’s more in a reassuring way !

he was def awkward the first time but he just got more comfy with you over time

but that doesn’t mean he still doesn’t get all blushy and a lil nervous on where to put his hands because he does

he just wants to know if you’re okay, he doesn’t want to accidently make you uncomfortable

but uhm....

one day...

you two were cuddling

and everything was going good, everything was just fine

in fact, he didn’t even need to ask if you were okay or comfy etc,, because he just knows what you like now and he can tell from your body language

but uhm...

you were cuddling, you were the little spoon and he was the big spoon 

and you just wanted to get closer

so you nuzzled back into him 

and he just

froze.

“tadashi? what’s wrong?”

“uhhhh.....”

literally his face is so red 

and then...

u felt it.

you tense up too and you’re face is starting to get red and you’re like 

“uhh.....is ....that...?”

yamaguchi looks like he’s about to cry lsdfkjs

“IM SORRY, I CAN’T CONTROL IT, YOU JSUT FJSDKL YOU BACKED INTO ME AND IT JSUT DID IT IM SORRY”

literally already standing up ready to run out of there

but then 😳

you just grab his wrist n you’re like

“let me help”

his v*rgin brain just short circuits like $(*#$)(#@*#*)$(@#*$)(@#$*

R.I.P. Yamaguchi Tadashi 2020

damn we already lost daichi and now we lost yams too  😔🕊️ fly high

TOBE FLYYYY HIIIIGHHHH ASE TOTHIDONARIDADE

HIKARU SUBASEYO IMA ZENBU ZENBU FLYYYYYYYY

*raw guitar riffs going WIIUM WIIUM WAUUM WAUUM WIIUM*

Part I: Daichi, Sugawara, Asahi, Nishinoya, Tanaka, Ennoshita

Part II: Kinoshita, Narita, Kageyama, Hinata, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi

Part III: Kiyoko, Yachi, Ukai Keishin, Takeda

Part IV: Saeko Tanaka, Akiteru Tsukishima, Shimada, Takinoue

[elpercotreviews]

Kaze Hikaru Ending

OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

I AM WARNING YALL, THIS ENDING GENUINELY MADE ME DECIDE TO STOP READING THE MANGA, WHICH IVE READ FOR YEARS.

Okay so basically Imma put y'all onto some historical context first. If y'all didn't know already, Kaze Hikaru is based on real life people and real life historical events. The Shinsengumi were real and pretty much also every named character in the Shinsengumi in Kaze Hikaru is based off a real person. If you read the author's message that Watanabe-sensei leaves at the end of every volume, you can see that she cares a LOT about the historical accuracy.

And I was dreading that cuz ... if you know the history of the Bakumatsu era like I do ... then you know that pretty much everyone in the Shinsengumi dies in some tragic way (except Saito apparently IRL he lived to old age and all that).

Soooo unfortunately of course this applies to our loveable and amazing male lead as well, Okita Souji. Historically, he gets sick and dies of tuberculosis, unable to fight alongside Hijikata and the last remnants of the Shinsengumi during the Boshin War. Like I said, this is all REAL LIFE HISTORY, so if you want "spoilers" about the actual overall events and plot of Kaze Hikaru just go onto Wikipedia and whatnot and research the Bakumatsu era and the Shinsengumi lolol. Because like I said, the mangaka put a LOT of research and effort to be historically accurate. Even about mundane things like the architecture of the buildings, the lamps they're using, the language, all of it.

LAST WARNING FOR THE ACTUAL MANGA ITSELF THOUGH

But since Kaze Hikaru is a SHOUJO and a historical ROMANCE, as I kept reading and translating the manga I was like, "No way they'd actually kill off Souji right? RIGHT?! Like maybe yeah he'll get tuberculosis but somehow he'll survive it right and just have a happy ending with Sei right? RIGHT?!" WELL FUCK ME AND FUCK ALL OF US ENGLISH READERS CUZ NO THATS DEAD WRONG. THATS RIGHT HE DOES DIE. And it's in such a sad and depressing way too like wtfff, I did not want to read a shoujo to just witness our beloved main lead die in such a slow and painful way and our female lead just so heartbroken.

And get this. This the real kicker in the balls. Lemme preface this by saying I didn't actually read the last chapter. I literally couldn't find it anywhere online, even in Japanese. I searched a long time but yeah no one has uploaded the last chapter, illegally or otherwise. But what I DID find were a LOT of amazon reviews about the ending because clearly people had a lot to say about it. That's why I know the GIST of what the ending is. So I can't give anymore details than what I know okay. Read my "Discontinuing Scanlations" post, and you'll see I already admitted to this. So yeah, the way the manga ends ends is basically yeah Souji dies and .... Sei has a kid with Hijikata???????????? And a lot of the reviews were saying something about it being sus and like dubious consent/maybe even rape????? Idk I'm not that fluent so I couldn't really tell if people were saying it "felt" like a rape or "was" a rape, BUT STILL WTF.

YOU HEARD ME YALL. IM LITERALLY NOT FUCKING WITH YALL, THATS WHAT HAPPENS. I AM DEAD SERIOUS.

I was so genuinely shook and distraught and lemme say THE JAPANESE READERS WERE SHOOKETH TOO. LIKE THE AMOUNT OF REVIEWS OF JAPANESE PEOPLE EQUALLY GOING "BUT WHY THO???" The amount of reviews that were like "I read this manga from start to finish for 20 years ... what a disappointment." LIKE AHHHHHHH. The Japanese reviews all seemed to agree that Sei having a kid with Hijikata was just so damn random and nonsensical, especially taking in the fact that Hijikata always had a neutral/tolerant attitude towards Sei, and no romantic feelings. People also pointed out that Sei having a kid and just going back to being a woman and all that COMPLETELY didn't align with the story's message about Sei being strong and bushi and rejecting her feminine side for something she saw as a higher purpose.

One review deadass said something like "Maybe it would've been better if Sei just died after Okita did." LIKE FR THOUGH ☠️☠️☠️

Back when I first wrote my "Discontinuing Scanlations" posts, reviews were more split 50/50 if the ending was good or not. But after rechecking today so I could write this post, it's like majority bad reviews now lolol. People were that disappointed and upset by the ending and yeah same.

SO THERE. YALL GOT ME TO CAVE AND REVEAL WHAT THE ENDING PRETTY MUCH IS. If your Japanese is a lot more fluent than me/you wait another decade, then you'll get a more detailed understanding of the ending, but like I said that's the basic gist of what happens and what all the Japanese readers were upset about. So yeah, LET KAZE HIKARU DIE IN MY MIND IM OVER IT 😭

[twinsky]

if you. if you looked at me a month ago and said “your first two fics of 2020 will be hng fics” i think i would be confused because i’d tell you “bro thats not a fandom ive thought about in years maybe” and yet. and yet. I just wanted to write something nice and cute since the last one was sad...

anyways, 2020 is off to a great start, thats 2 fics done before the end of january

-

Title: And in your hands, a universe

Word Count: 7k+

Summary: The biggest changes in our lives are often brought upon by the smallest of things.

In this case, Hikaru meeting Sai at a much younger age starts with something as simple as his father being called away on a business trip.

(ao3 link)

Heihachi ponders how exactly he ever managed to raise Masao as he rattles a toy over Hikaru’s head. Of course that was more thanks to his wife than anything, but it wasn’t as if he wasn’t involved at all. But, if he allows himself some kind of leeway, Masao had not been an infant for almost four decades, and the 8-month-old before him, though loved dearly, seems almost like a strange concept. Some grandfather he was, silently fretting about being left alone with his own grandson.

Hikaru babbles in response to his musings, tiny hands reaching up towards the toy as a bit of drool drips down his chin. He reaches up too high, tilting forward, somehow managing to clumsily place his hands on the floor to right himself before he can grab him. He sighs in relief, if Hikaru somehow got injured on top of everything else…

“Zee’, Zee’,” HIkaru cheered, once again lifting his hands up too reach, and Heihachi did not understand at all, but if Misako was here he was almost sure she’d be insisting he was trying to say ‘Jii-chan’. His daughter in law had the upmost confidence her boy would be speaking soon, he was indeed quite the babbler.

“Zee’ indeed, Hikaru” He replies graciously, using his free hand to lift Hikaru’s bib to his chin to wipe off the drool.

Perhaps he and Hikaru would be alright for a couple of days by themselves, even his home was not the most child friendly environment at the moment. He sighs, leaning back to rest his weight on one arm, gazing softly at his grandson as his mind slipped into the situation that had landed the two of them here.

  -

  He could say that it started a week ago, but it would be more accurate to say it began nine months ago when one tiny Shindou Hikaru was born into the world, and his father instantly fell in love.

Between work and other obligations Heihachi had not had much to do with his son’s younger years, he helped when he could, made time for the important events, but most of the duties had fallen on his wife, who was a stay at home mother. He had thought his son would be much the same.

Masao however, seemed intent on spending as much time at home as he could. He went into work earlier than before, worked as hard as he could, so he would have to work as little overtime as possible. Heihachi didn’t know what kind of deal he’d made with his employers but even his business trips usually lasted no longer than a day or three. His son had seemed tired, but the exhaustion did not compare to the joy on his face any time he visited with little Hikaru in his arms.

His wife and him had raised a good son, he was quite proud of that.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and a week and a half ago Masao had been informed that they needed someone to head down to the Nagoya branch of the company for a month. All other possible substitutes were already tied to other projects or roles and he’d have little choice but to accept. It was amusing at least to watch a grown man hold his son teary-eyed as he left to board his flight.

As soon as the trip had been decided a couple things were agreed upon, his wife had instantly agreed to move into their household for the duration of the trip, Hikaru was still young and fussy and her help would be better suited there than sitting around here at home with him.

Which was fine of course, he was more than capable of making meals for himself and keeping the home for a month, but then his wife had turned her stern eyes on him and demanded that the storehouse be cleaned in her absence.

“You’ll be all alone in that house for a month! What more do you have to do than finally organize that mess, it was your choice to keep it all so don’t think I will.” He remembered her saying quite clearly, the stern tilt to her voice that he had somehow always found endearing.

He had spent most of the first week just getting everything in the store house spread out around the house. Today he had been planning to begin cleaning the second floor of the storehouse when his wife had called him just a bit frantic, informing him that she’d be over soon before hanging up.

She had arrived a tense thirty minutes a large pack in one arm and Hikaru calmly sleeping in the other.

“Mitsuko collapsed.” She said as he greeted her, and it was only her casual tone that kept him from worrying, “She’s fine, perhaps a combination of the heat and stress caused her to grow sick, but she’s resting just fine in the hospital now. The doctor’s want to monitor her for a couple days however, and a hospital is no place for such a small child so you will watch him and I will watch over her.” She paused, putting the bag down and shifting her hold on Hikaru. “Don’t tell Masao, that boy will worry needlessly when it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Dear, the house is a mess, I have antiques and other objects just laying around.” He said as she gently placed Hikaru in his arms, moving into the kitchen to grab the phone. “It’s not exactly the most child friendly of places at the moment.”

She raised an eyebrow at him as she lifted the phone to her ear, plugging in a number. “You’ll be fine, don’t you fret on me as well Mitsuko is already beside herself with worry.” Her gaze shifted, angling towards the phone, “Yes, hello, if I could please order a taxi.” She paused, rattling off their address, “as soon as you can, yes. Thank you very much, have a nice day.”

“Sae…”

“I have to hurry back to let Mitsuko know Hikaru is in good hands. Do call if you need anything.” She replied, probably not listening to his call at all, coming over to kiss him on the cheek and then angling herself to place one on Hikaru’s forehead. “Have fun.” She’d said lightly as she marched out the door.

He sighed, looking down at Hikaru’s slumbering face, “Just you and me now kiddo.”

 -

 That had been a few hours ago, and Hikaru had since woken up, been fed, and changed twice. He should probably wash him now, or perhaps give him a small snack and then do that.

“Right, Hikaru?” He asked, looking down and then stilling, “Hikaru?” He said faintly, hoping that perhaps if said it again his grandson would just appear in front of him.

He knew the boy loved to crawl, these days he looked just about ready to stand up and sprint. And yet he’d allowed himself to wander when they were just sitting here on the ground with no barrier, a house full of things a child could injure himself with. He stood up in a panic, if something happened to him his own guilt would be the least of his worries.

His wife would kill him, let alone what Masao and Mitsuko would do.

“Hikaru,” he called as he looked around the room, “Come on Hikaru, tell Jii-chan where you are.”

In answer, a shriek resounded through the house and Heihachi found himself moving faster than he thought himself possible of at this age.

He found Hikaru two rooms over, sitting in front of one of the Goban’s, and his heart thudded irrationaly in his chest as he realized it was the haunted one. His grandson disappears and reappears in front of a haunted goban, he was almost sure this was how horror movie’s started.

“Ah’, Ah’” Hikaru was saying, hands stretching up like they had been when they we’re playing with the toy except nothing was there, they wiggled around the air, as if searching for something. He moved closer just as Hikaru’s hands landed on the top of it, lifting himself up on clumsy legs. Had he done that yet? He was pretty sure Hikaru was still just crawling. “Ah’, Ah’” Hikaru called again, trying to reach and stay up right with little success.

He sighed, walking over to lift Hikaru up and he screeched happily as it happened, chubby arms wiggling forward even now.

“Come on, let’s go, this isn’t any place for a child.” He said, cradling Hikaru closer, and Hikaru, as if understanding his intentions began to cry. “Come now, shh, it’s okay.”

Hikaru quieted, almost disturbingly quick, and he looked down to see he had fallen asleep. Heihachi sighed, softly rubbing away the tear tracks as he left the room. He cast a suspicious look back at the goban, and was somehow more suspicious of it now that the air around it seemed different, calmer. He should have kept that thing locked away on its own while he did this.

He sighed again, looking down at Hikaru’s slumbering face. At least he was fine, curling closer to Heihachi as if he felt a bit cold.

Yes, his grandson was just fine.

  -

  Fujiwara no Sai is no stranger to children, to infants. He himself had never gotten married, and nor had Torajirou, but he had had younger siblings, had spent time around the women who took care of the palace children and in Torajirou’s younger years, before he had moved to the capital, was constantly underfoot by running toddlers and children.

Sai had a special appreciation for children, and the world of possibilities that existed in them before the world and people shaped them. It was magical, he had said once to the ladies of the court, and they had tittered politely in reply but he had thought there was some truth to the statement. Perhaps not something so ephemeral or flowery, but it was something.

Sai liked children, it did not mean he knew what to do with them.

So when he’d felt the presence by the board, the way it reacted to his words, the pressure as whoever it was pressed a hand against Torajirou’s blood stain he had been ecstatic, energy surging forward as he escaped the confines of the goban he had not expected to find a child, not even of age to speak.

His eyes flickered to the older man a few paces away, because surely it was the man who had heard his call. But it was the child who’s hands were planted upon the goban, the child who’s tiny limbs we’re trying to reach up to him, clearly seeing him where the other man’s gaze was focused solely on the child.

It was bewilderment that kept him from saying anything more, his introduction when he had felt the presence earlier was aimed towards not just someone who could hear him, but could understand him as well. He had no idea what to say no.

He watched absently as the older man picked the child up, “Come on, let’s go, this isn’t any place for a child.” He was taking the boy away, and he stared, unsure, the boy… they were connected now, could feel it as surely as he had felt his connection with Torajirou.

The man turned, and his view of the tiny child in his arms disappeared, and at the same moment he began to wail.

Panic overwhelmed his confusion and he moved, floating over to face the child, who calmed as their eyes met. He smiled softly as he stared down at him.

“Well hello young one, it seems as though we’ll be together from now on. My name is Fujiwara no Sai, and it seems we’ll be spending quite some time together.”

The child smiled, happily, once again stretching his hand out at him. This time he obliged, reaching out and taking it softly in his own. The child’s smile brightened and then dimmed in exhaustion, falling back again the man asleep.

Sai hummed, well this was odd, but it was interesting at least.

  -

  If there was something to be said about this, it was that being a ghost attached to a child was a bit boring. Hikaru (he had learned later that first day, as his grandfather had tried getting the fussy boy to eat) paid attention to him, but he could not converse with him, and Sai found most of his days spent between paying attention to Hikaru and paying half a mind to the conversation of his parents.

He liked when they visited Hikaru’s grandparents, his grandfather usually convinced his father to play a game of Go with him, and Sai treasured watching those innocent battles between family.

He missed Go, but Hikaru was still young, and his grandfather seemed wary of letting Hikaru near them ever since he had found him on his own before Torajirou’s. He supposed that was his own fault, but he had felt Hikaru so close and could not contain his excitement, he had not expected his call to bring him such a small child, but there was no helping it now.

He found other ways to entertain himself in the mean time.

“Come on Hikaru,” he said, waving his fan around, “say it, I know you can. Sai, Suh-ai”

Around him Hikaru’s mother and father we’re trying the same, and he was a bit unduly proud of how Hikaru’s eyes lingered on him the most. He supposed he should not be surprised, stuck as he was to Hikaru’s side and unable to sleep it had become a habit to help him calm down when he woke up crying in the night, and to play along with his mindless games when his parents were busy with other tasks.

He had noticed his mother’s suspicious gazes, racing in after hearing her son’s cries only to already find him peacefully asleep or giggling softly in his crib.

“Sa!” Hikaru said happily, clapping his hands together.

“Yes!” His mother cheered, misinterpreting his attempt. “Kaa-chan, Hikaru, Kaaah-chan.”

“No Hikaru, say Tou-chan, say it.” His father pouted.

Hikaru ignored them, still trying to say the same word.

“Saaaa,” Hikaru intoned, “Saaaa-y, Sai! Saaai!”

“Hikaru!” Sai called back, floating around to embrace him as Hikaru laughed in response.

“Sai!” He continued to chant, as his parents stared at him in confusion, unsure whether he had said anything at all. Eventually they relented, his mother picking Hikaru up as they left the activity for another day.

(A week later when Hikaru managed to say Kaa-chan, no one but him could notice Sai’s pout as he lamented no one’s appreciation of Hikaru saying his name first.

Of course, no one but Hikaru could see him, and know his name to understand it, but it was the principle of the thing.

“Sai, ‘ky” Hikaru had said, roughly patting Sai’s knee as watched his mother and father hug tearfully. He giggled raising his arms high, “Up!”

“Hikaru your second word!” Mitsuko cried, immediately rushing to lift her son while Masao took pictures.

“Third word,” Sai muttered, of course unheard by all but himself and Hikaru. And he supposed that that was enough, Hikaru and he would know, and that would be their own little secret.)

  -

  Sai is not physical; he is a ghost haunting the boy, the soul, he has linked himself too. That is something he understands perfectly well, it was true back in Torajirou’s time, it was true back when he first died and his soul was tied to the goban. He cannot be seen, he cannot feel, he cannot touch. The world passes through him like air, and the things he tries to touch slip through his fingers like glass, however there is one exception to that rule.

And that exception seems to have trouble understanding that.

He supposes he cannot blame Hikaru, to a child it must be hard to understand why a person he can see and touch is incapable of being seen by others, of touching the toys Hikaru offers him.

He hides a smile behind his fan as Hikaru drags him determinedly forward, placing him in front of the net like object his parents had bought him. Something to do with that soccer game Hikaru had started to like watching on the television.

“Sai stay!” Hikaru said, grabbing the ball and ambling over to the other side.

Then he set the ball kicking it as hard as he could, falling back with the force of it, and both of them watched as it sped straight towards the net, slipping right through Sai and into the net.

“No!” Hikaru shouted angrily, “Sai stop ball.”

He sighed, floating closer, “Hikaru I can’t touch the ball to stop it.”

Hikaru pouted, cheeks puffing out and Sai valiantly resisted the urge to reach down and pinch them. “S’easy.”

“For you maybe,” Sai said, folding his legs to sit neatly on the ground, Hikaru plopping down beside him, grumpily tugging on the ends of his kariginu. “Hikaru it might be hard for you to understand, but only you can see me, and I can only touch you nothing else.” He pauses, if he calls himself a ghost, will Hikaru be scared? Will he understand what that really means? He’s not sure what Hikaru thinks when he sees him, other than that he’s always happy when he does. “I am here, only to your eyes.” he decides on eventually.

“Kaa-chan no see,” Hikaru grumbles, “Tou-chan no see. Hikaru see!”

“Well yes, that is true.” He replies as Hikaru grows quiet, staring down at where his hands are buried in the fabric of Sai’s clothing.

“We play!” Hikaru eventually decides, standing and tugging at Sai, urging him to get up. He complies easily, following Hikaru as he stubbornly pushes the net out of the way and then reaches into his toy box for a paint set one of the neighbor’s had gotten him for his second birthday.

“You say,” Hikaru begins as he spreads paper on the floor, taking the brush clumsily in his hand, “I draw.”

Sai blinks, staring down at Hikaru who is waiting impatiently for his reply.

“You say!” Hikaru repeats.

“Ah, a tree then.” Sai replies, watching as Hikaru moves the brush up and down in a nonsensical pattern, dipping the dirty brush into the green to repeat the process.

When Hikaru eventually finishes and lifts it up proudly, Sai smiles and calls it wonderful as he gives him another world.

An hour later when Mitsuko peeks into the living room she will find her son surrounded by drawing after drawing of colourful scribbles and a couple of just black, the lines on those a bit more uniform.

Of course, Sai could not help himself. He saw paper, he saw brushes, and he could not help but want Hikaru to work on his brush strokes. Calligraphy is such a beautiful art, not as nice as Go, but it would be nice if Hikaru could learn it as well.

  -

  Hikaru is three and a half years old and Sai comes to the sudden realization that Hikaru does not have friends. Which is a problem, children should have friends, other children they can speak and relate to. And Hikaru is such a bright and happy child, there should be no reason for him to always be spending do much time on his own.

And yet… Sai comes to his second sudden realization. And it is that this situation is most likely his fault.

Today Mitsuko has taken them to a nearby park, and while other children run and chase each other around, Hikaru is by himself in the sandbox, occasionally asking Sai’s opinion as he worked on his creation.

“Hikaru.” Sai said, watching as his eyes flickered over before focusing back on his building. “Why don’t you go play with the other kids?”

“Am playing.” Hikaru replied, reaching for one of the nearby sticks.

“Yes, but playing with others is so much more fun than playing by yourself!”

At that Hikaru paused, looking up at Sai with a frown. “Not self, playing with you.”

Sai sighed, he thought that might be the issue. “Yes but other kids, to run around with. You could play soccer with them, they’d make a much better goalie than me.”

“Really?” Hikaru said, eyes glittering as they darted towards the ball resting by Mitsuko as she spoke to one of the other mothers.

“Yes,” Sai replied, getting excited himself, “You could play with them, make some real friends.” He continued, clapping his hands together until he noticed the way Hikaru’s shoulders had hunched together as his attention turned back to his construction.

“Sai’s real.” He said. “Real friend.” He said stubbornly, “No wanna play soccer.”

Ah, a poor choice of words on his part. Hikaru had been a foul mood a few days ago when he’d brought Sai up to his mother and she’d brushed the topic away as a simple imaginary friend. Sai felt nothing towards that, it was a reasonable assessment, no one would think to believe their child haunted, but to Hikaru who knew and saw him as real, the statement had hurt.

Sai still thought it best if Hikaru could make some friends his own age, but he conceded the battle for the day. His wording had soured the topic for now, and pushing it would do them no good.

He sighed, wondering if there was anything, he could do to help that along.

He was still pondering it when a little girl came along and sat down on the other side of Hikaru.

“What ya doing?” She asked, brushing the sand off her skirt.

“Building.”

“What ya building?”

“Castle.”

“What kind of castle?”

Hikaru paused, turning to look at her. “I dunno? Just a castle.”

“Boring.” The girl intoned solemnly as Hikaru puffed up in anger.

“S’not boring!”

“Boring.” She said again, sticking out her tongue.

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

“Is not!”

“Is t—ah!” She screamed as Hikaru tackled her, wiggling underneath him until she flipped it around. Sai watched them roll around in amusement until both parents came to separate them, frantic apologies on both their lips.

Sai ignored that, watching the girl’s grinning face as Hikaru stuck his tongue out at her.

This was their first meeting with Hikaru’s future best friend, Fujisaki Akari and Sai personally thought it was perfect. The strongest of friendships were forged in the fiercest of fires. And to a small child, what stronger fire existed than childish struggles over personal accomplishments.

Nothing, Sai thought quite firmly, and as he watched Hikaru’s frown fade into a grin, he saw nothing to change his mind.

  -

  “Sai are you a ghost?” Hikaru asks one day on the way home from school. At six Hikaru has become quite the chatterbox, and it had leant well to making friends in his class.

The question gives him pause as he looks over, but Hikaru’s gaze is locked firmly forward. In all the time they have spent together Hikaru had never really questioned Sai’s presence. Sai was here, and he was real, and that was all Hikaru had ever really cared to know.

“Why do you want to know?” He asks, watching as Hikaru shrugs, kicking a passing a rock.

“I dunno, heard some kids talkin’ about it.” Sai hummed, trying to think of what Hikaru was talking about but came up blank.

“I am.” He eventually said, not wanting to lie, nor seeing a reason to. Hikaru would have to learn eventually, and if he was asking Sai would not deny him.

“Okay.” Hikaru had replied however, seemingly ending the topic there.

   There is a question on Hikaru’s mind, and even with their connection Sai cannot see it. Hikaru keeps it close, grumbling and bothered, but does not voice it.

A week later Hikaru asks one night before bed; “Sai, are you happy?”

“Of course,” he replied easily, because he was, watching Hikaru grow up was a delight, and though he still missed playing Go, still had his own goals he wanted to strive for, he was patient, and he would not rush. Such a small child’s life was not his to change.

“Okay.” Hikaru replied again, turning around to face him “I’m glad.” He floated over, a bubble of concern forming in his not-there stomach as he took Hikaru’s hand in his own.

He fell asleep soon after, and not once through the night did he let Sai’s hand go.

   “How did you die?” Hikaru asks, another week later, legs swinging on the chair as he works through his homework.

“Hikaru… I don’t –”

“I wanna know.” He interrupted, writing his next answer with enough force the paper squeaked. “Will you tell me, please?” He put the pencil down, turning to look at Sai looking so small and pleading.

He fretted, flitting about the room, before sighing settling right beside him.

“Okay. If you’re sure Hikaru.” And Hikaru nodded, gaze eager and intent upon him. “Okay… It starts, it starts one thousand years ago in the emperor’s abode…”

He watches Hikaru as he tells his story, of how he was sent to the emperor to be his tutor, of his fellow tutor’s jealousy, his plot, the deception. His death. His regrets. Watches as he tells him of Torajirou, the first soul he had been with, a kind man who let him play as he wanted in his search for the Hand of God. Time well spent and held dear until the day Torajirou died. A kind soul who died caring for those in need.

He gets lost in the story, it has been a long time since he’d reminisced on it. He had not forgotten his desire, it burned brightly in him every day, every moment. But watching Hikaru grow had been calm, gentle, he liked it.

He gets lost in his memories, pulled out only by the sound of Hikaru’s soft cries and he blinks, suddenly aware and present. He panics, there was a reason he hadn’t wanted to share this story, at least not until Hikaru was older.

“Hikaru, Hikaru, look at me.” He says softly, kneeling beside the chair, hands hovering idly in front of him. He does, tears streaming down his face, but when they lock onto his he moves, flinging himself off the chair and into Sai.

He catches him easily, patting his head softly, murmuring soft reassurances as his cries stifle and quiet.

“Can you teach me?”

“Hmm?”

“Go. Wanna learn.” He mumbles into the folds of Sai’s clothes.

“Oh!” He says, unable to withhold his excitement, but still… “Are you sure? It’s a lot of sitting.” Sai would love nothing more than for Hikaru to see in Go the same passion and excitement that he always felt, he would love to show Hikaru how to fight and battle through just stones on a board. But… Hikaru has been a bit odd as of late, and he doesn’t want to force him.

“It’ll be fun.” Hikaru says firmly.

“And how are you so sure?”

“Sai loves it. It’ll be fun.” Hikaru replies, and well, he has no argument for that.

 -

 At 7 Hikaru finally gets a chance to play on a real board. He hadn’t known how to explain to his parents his sudden interest, or how he’d even learned. Hikaru’s grandfather played, but he still made an effort to keep the game from his grandson.

Frankly Sai thought he should get over it, the goban wasn’t even haunted anymore! And sure, that was because Sai was now haunting Hikaru, but that was beside the point.

Sai bemoaned how Go had fallen out of favour, it was so popular back in his day, and yet now it was almost odd for a child to know of it. Until now they had made do with a drawn board on a piece of paper Hikaru had made. And on it Sai had taught him the basics, how to count lines, where stones would be placed. Buttons and pieces of paper used in place of proper stones.

But now, here they were, in Hikaru’s grandfather’s house, the family distracted by one conversation or the other.

“Hikaru, over here.” He called softly, his head lifting up from the drawing he had been making it. He looked over to his parents, then nodded, sliding out of the chair slowly, padding over to him. “It should be out here…” He murmured, more to himself than anything. Even though he was now tied to Hikaru, here, so close to it, he could still feel it.

“ ‘M not s’pposed to go in here.” Hikaru told him, though he did not hesitate to follow him through the storehouse’s door.

“Don’t you want to play on a real board Hikaru? I tell you there is nothing quite like the sound of stones clacking on the wood, the feeling of the stone between your fingers.” He sighed dreamily, pausing as he reminisced.

“Sai go,” Hikaru muttered, kicking his foot out. “I wanna see, show me.”

“Oh yes, of course.” He startled, looking around the room, eyes landing on the ladder-like staircase. “Up there.”

“Kay,” Hikaru replied as he climbed up the steps, “Dunno how grandpa does this all the time…”

Sai laughed, floating up the steps and into the second floor, and it was there. Just like he remembered it all those years ago, Torajirou’s stain still marking it’s edges.

“It’s bloody.” Hikaru remarked and Sai paused, the stain was… well it wasn’t there. Sai saw it, but he had understood well enough that no one else could. He supposed it made sense, Hikaru could see him, of course he could see the stain on the board.

“Torajirou’s,” Sai replied solemnly, “He died playing on this board. My board, his board.” He smiles softly. “It could be your board too.”

Hikaru’s lips pursed. “Gross,” he replied, sitting down beside it, “But cool. Don’t think grandpa would let me have it.”

“Well for now we can practice.” He said, rather upset because Hikaru was right. He did not see the boy’s grandfather giving it to him so willingly. “Come, grab a stone, you can practice placing them.”

Hikaru nodded, grabbing a stone from one of the goke’s between his thumb and forefinger and placing it on the board.

“No,” he bemoaned, waving the fan at him, “Not like that!”

“Well how else am I s’pposed too?”

“Like this!” He replied, holding his hand up, middle and pointer finger extended outwards over top each other. “You place it between your fingers like so.”

“S’hard.” Hikaru scowled.

“It takes practice,” He said, “Now come on, I’ll call out places on the board. You place them.”

It was amusing to watch Hikaru struggle to even lift the pieces at first, trembling fingers dropping them as they hovered over the board. He would scowl, swiping the stone back into the goke before starting the process over again. He smiled as he watched the determination light up in his eyes, and as the colours on the board grew and took shape each movement became more steady.

He lost himself to the rhythm of the game, and with Hikaru concentrating on placing the pieces he supposed it was his fault that neither of them noticed the angry steps bounding up the staircase.

“Hikaru.” Heihachi’s voice came, firm and striking and Hikaru flinched, dropping the stone he had been holding. “I’ve told you before you aren’t allowed in here.”

“Wanted to play.” Hikaru mumbled, grabbing another stone and rolling it through his hands.

“There’s a perfectly good goban in the house.” He replied after a moment, apparently off put by the statement.

“You don’t like me near it.” Hikaru said and Sai watched with perhaps a tad too much glee as he flinched at the statement. Yes! Feel bad for depriving your wonderful grandson of this game.

“Yes, well, this one is worse.” Heihachi replied, still frowning. “I should have sold it years ago like I had been planning.”

“No!” Hikaru shouted, spreading his arms as if to protect it from him. “You can’t, grandpa please.”

“Hikaru I…” Heihachi began, before trailing off, eyes straying towards the board. “Hikaru that game, where is it from?”

Ah. Perhaps a poor choice on his part to have Hikaru recreate a game from his palace days for practice. A child would have no reason to have such an advanced game memorized.

“Friend told me.” Hikaru remarked casually, “You won’t sell it right? Or um, I can buy it. Maybe…”

Heihachi sighed, running a hand down his face. “No. no that’s alright, you’re really interested in playing?”

“Yeah!” Hikaru exclaimed, “Look!” He said, picking up one of the stones swiftly and perfectly between his fingers, oh Sai was so proud. “I can do it now!”

“You can,” He replied softly, shaking his head, “come on now Hikaru, you worried your parents disappearing like that.”

“How’d ya know where to find me?” Hikaru asked, taking his grandpa’s hand to stand up as he looked back at the board.

“Don’t worry, we’ll clear it up after. And… it was a hunch boy, just a guess.”

Sai was doing a terrible job of keeping Hikaru’s grandfather’s suspicion of him down.

“You promise you won’t sell it?” Hikaru whined.

“No, no I have different idea.” He replied, ignoring Hikaru’s suspicious gaze to ruffle his hair.

 To both their delights, they went home that day with the goban in tow, and a promise to come by and play his grandfather in the near future.

  -

  ‘Sai, Sai come on hurry up, I wanna play.’ Hikaru called as he bounded up the steps to his room.

“You have to do your homework first, and you promised Akari and the other’s we’d go to a movie this evening.”

‘Ugh’ Hikaru groaned, feet kicking out as he landed roughly on his bed. Even at 10 Hikaru was still adorable, rolling over to look at Sai with a pout. “That just means that if I finish my homework real fast we can play a game.”

“You’d have to do it correctly as well.” Smiling as he stuck his tongue out at him.

“What would you know about it being right?”

“I am in your classes every day Hikaru, I listen. And though the world has changed I still have the knowledge I gleamed from my past days, though much of it is… not as useful as I once thought.”

“Shut up! Annoying, come help me with this problem. I know you want to play too.”

“Oh I really do Hikaru, it’s been forever since we played.”

“We played this morning, and I took you to that net café to play online just a couple days ago.”

“Ah yes, that computer thing, I do hope we can go again, so many people.”

“And I told you once a week, I don’t have enough money for more than that. Besides, playing me isn’t good enough?”

“Hikaru,” Sai gasped, lazily flopping himself on the boy, “Hikaru playing you is the best, there’s nothing like playing someone face to face. And you learn so fast, you’re the best student I could ask for!”

“I don’t want to be your student.” Hikaru muttered and Sai paused, pushing away.

“You… you don’t?” He asked teary-eyed. He supposed he was being a bit forward, but Sai was the one who taught him, who introduced him to the game.

“Stop looking sad!” Hikaru shouted, slapping his arms. “It’s not like that, it’s just…” he trailed off, muttering something underneath his breath.

“Hmm?” He asked, wiping the tears from his eyes, “Hikaru what do you mean then?”

Hikaru glared, cheeks heating up until he forcibly turned his head away, fiddling with the strings of his hood.

“It’s just. You’re you, you’ve been here my whole life, it’d be weird…” he trailed off, face turning an even brighter shade of red as he continued in a mumble but clear enough for Sai to hear; “You’re like a brother to me.”

“Hikaru!” He cried again, tears spilling out as he threw himself at him.

“Get off! We won’t get to play if I don’t finish this homework.”

“Yes, of course.” Sai said sagely, floating over to the desk, waiting for Hikaru to finish getting his materials. He sat silently for a while, watching him work, until he reached a problem that caused him to pause. “What’s wrong? Do you need help? I wouldn’t want my little brother to struggle.”

Hikaru’s hands slammed down on the table, turning to glare at him, an expression ruined by the adorable blush on his cheeks. “I changed my mind, no game today, in fact I’m gonna call Akari and ask her if she wants to meet up early to hang out.”

“No!” He wailed, “Hikaru I’m sorry I was just teasing, come on we have to play. The game this morning was just Speed Go I need something slower.”

“Solve this one for me then.”

“That’s cheating!”

“I don’t know, I think I just heard mom hang up the phone though.”

“Fine,” he huffed, “I’ll help.”

  A short while later as he watched Hikaru contemplate his next move, Sai thought he was quite happy with how things were. His time with Torajirou had been precious, one he would always look back upon fondly, but this was different, a softer kind of happiness.

Sai had missed having a little brother, and it was nice to have one again.

  -

  “Hikaru are you quite sure about this? You look like a robber.” Sai murmured as he stared up at the building.

‘You said you wanted to play a real person!’ Hikaru grumbled, pushing the cap further down his head, and then huffing when the action displaced the sunglasses perched on his nose, and the facemask covering that.

“Well you won’t let me play your grandfather, or Akari even though she’s been making such a wonderful effort to learn lately.”

‘And I told you, you can’t play them. They know how I play, they’ll think it’s weird that I’m suddenly super strong.’

“You’re quite strong yourself Hikaru, but I see your point.”

‘Exactly, hence the outfit. Even if someone I know is for some reason in there, the outfit should keep me from being recognized.’

“You look silly.”

‘Yes. I sure do, now shut up. I’m doing this for you after all.’

“And I appreciate it, but how did you even hear of this place, it’s quite a ways from your home.”

‘Akari told me about it, one of the ladies at the Go thing she goes to mentioned it to her. It being so far lowers our chances of seeing someone familiar. Now hush, I’m going in.’

It was a nice looking place, it had that sleek modern look Sai had long since come to understand replaced the traditional feel he was accustomed too. There was such a nice amount of flora though, which was calming. And so many games! Oh why had Hikaru never brought him to one of these places before.

‘Sai.’ Hikaru’s voice came, and he turned his attention back to him. He had finished his conversation with the nice looking lady behind the counter. ‘Do you see anyone you want to play?’

He scanned the room again, this time looking at the people opposed to the surroundings, eyes falling on a boy Hikaru’s age seated by himself in the corner.

“Hikaru! Hikaru you should play him! It’s fun to play people the same age you, my cousin was one of my favorite opponents when I was a boy.”

‘We’re here for you Sai, if you really want I can try again another day, but today’s for you.’

“I suppose,” he said glumly, before he perked up again, reminded that he would soon be playing Go against a real person other than Hikaru, “I think I’d still like to play him, it’s nice to see someone so young playing. And by himself as well, I’m sure he studies quite hard.”

‘Weirdo’, Hikaru hummed, saying something to the lady at the counter before walking over to the boy.

“Shindou Hikaru,” He said as he stood over the boy, arm extended in greeting.

“Ah,” The boy mumbled, confused by holding out a hand as well, “Touya Akira, nice to meet you.”

“Yeah,” Hikaru replied, sitting in the opposite chair and placing the one black stone on the table. “same. Nigiri?”

Touya looked even more perplexed at that and Sai laughed behind his fan. “You… you don’t want a handicap?”

“What? We’re the same age that’d be weird.” Hikaru scoffed, ‘And besides it’d be unfair, considering you’re the one who’s going to be playing.’

“Well…if you’re sure.” Touya replied, placing a handful of white stones on the table.

“Onegaishimasu.” Hikaru bowed, and the boy blinked. Perhaps he hadn’t expected Hikaru’s formality? Sai had made sure to instruct him well with the formalities of the game, he could even get Hikaru to sit in seiza through most of their games.

Though he supposed, given his covered appearance Hikaru didn’t look like the most proper of people.

“Onegaishimasu.” Touya replied, and when he lifted himself back up there was a sharp look in his eye. The gaze of someone who played with passion, a gaze he wished he could get Hikaru to grasp, but the boy was content playing for fun online and with family.

Maybe he could get Hikaru to learn something from this match.

He grinned, pointing his fan to a point on the board as Touya placed his first stone.

Yes, something told him that life after this game was going to be very exciting.

And Sai was very excited about that.

Spending time with Hikaru was always fun, but he was sure it was about to get even better.

As the game progressed, and Touya’s eyes became sharper as he studied the board more deeply, Sai decided he had never been more sure of anything in his life.

Exciting indeed.

[voltage-vixen]

Kidnapped by the Kings---Part VII

Part I    II   III   IV   V  VI

Prologue: She wanted to see Taki more than ever, and MC was going to do whatever it took to make that happen. The sounds of Hikaru’s footsteps were now louder, and MC knew he was gaining ground on her. A sharp pain suddenly shot through her side, and MC let out a loud gasp. This caused her to lose her footing, and she felt herself begin to fall, since she couldn’t grab onto the railing in time. Please let my baby be alright, she silently prayed, before she could hit the ground. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Have there been any updates?” Eisuke asked the frantic looking Taki when he finally arrived at the hospital with Soryu in tow. “No, there hasn’t been!” Taki snapped and lunged at the other billionaire. Yosuke and Shun managed to hold him back, but Taki kicked the chair in the waiting room out of frustration. “It’s your fault MC is even in this situation to begin with,” he barked in melancholy, “You were more concerned about your selfish motives, rather than MC’s emotional wellbeing. She was so desperate to get away from you, that when she somehow managed to escape, she was attempting to sprint down nearly twenty flights of stairs.” Soryu who had remained silent up until this point, clenched his fists and stepped towards Taki with an angry look on his face.

Eisuke held up a hand to stop Soryu, and Taki took the opportunity to continue his rant. “Why did you keep her as a hostage? I’m sure she told you about me. I could have paid you back, and MC could have signed a non-disclosure agreement. You don’t need money though, so was it to protect the integrity of your stupid auctions?” The words hit Eisuke harder than he anticipated they would. These were all solutions he had considered when he originally saved MC from the auctions, but he never followed through on them. “There was no reason for her to have left the room,” Eisuke calmly tried to defend his actions, “I told her I was going to take care of it, but she disobeyed my orders.” Taki felt the rage boil inside of him, as Eisuke stood there still not realizing the repercussions of his actions.

“Why the hell would she ever believe a word that comes out of your mouth? I would be willing to guarantee MC asked if she could leave. After holding her hostage against her will, I wouldn’t trust you either.” Taki’s declaration left Eisuke speechless. He had that he originally thought of MC as an annoying problem he was going to have to deal with. Overtime, as he began to get to know her, his opinion started to change. Although, Eisuke was concerned about the information regarding the auctions leaking, deep down he knew that MC wasn’t that type. Taking the time to reflect, Eisuke had finally reached the conclusion that his intentions were purely for personal reasons. Before Eisuke could respond to Taki, a doctor finally appeared in the waiting room.

“Is there a family member here for MC? I have an update on her current condition,” the doctor casually stated, unaware of the surrounding tension in the air. Taki refused to be kept out of the loop, and instead replied with a small white lie. “I’m her husband.” The doctor gestured him to follow, and no one said a word while they watched him leave. “Taki,” Eisuke called out, “I hope you learn to take better care of your property in the future.” Taki scowled at those words, even though they Eisuke meant in the highest sincerity, and disappeared down the hallway. Eisuke had been contemplating telling Taki about MC’s pregnancy, but he felt that it wasn’t his place to get further involved. Hopefully, both the baby and MC were having a peaceful recovery.

Once he was gone, Yosuke was the first to break the silence. “What should we do about the other two?” They had all been in such a rush to get MC to the hospital, that they had left Kozue and the kidnapper in Mamoru’s custody back at the Tres Spades. Eisuke folded his arms across his chest, and then turned to face Soryu. “Take care of it.” Shun was the first to interject with his surprise. “Are you sure that’s how you want to handle it? I really don’t think that’s what MC would want.” Soryu ignored Shun’s remarks and gave Eisuke a final nod before leaving the hospital. “Nobody messes with me or my business affairs and gets away with it,” Eisuke declared. He started to follow after Soryu but paused to say one final comment. “MC has been through enough already. The last thing I want is for her to ever have to deal with them again.”

Shun and Yosuke both were left standing there speechless. Yosuke suddenly smiled and decided to propose a bet to Shun. “How much do you want to bet Taki will finally propose in the hospital room?” Sighing and shaking his head, Shun was not the least bit surprised to see that Yosuke was already back to his usual antics. “Taki has been planning ways to make this as special as possible for MC. There’s no way he pops the question now.” Yosuke ignored that comment and pondered on what the pair could possibly place a wager on. He smiled when he thought up the perfect prize. Whispering in a hushed tone, Shun rolled his eyes and groaned in annoyance when Yosuke finished his explanation. “Taki is never going to allow that,” Shun warned. “Don’t worry about my man Taki. He’s totally going to think it’s a great idea,” Yosuke happily exclaimed. Despite his initial hesitation, Shun shook Yosuke’s extended hand.

“This is going to be very interesting,” Yosuke noted, before following Shun into the cafeteria.

To be continued….

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