#just like he might not ever even meet takeru

[theheightofdishonor]

thinking about Udai and how post-timeskip he seems settled where he is in terms of life and volleyball and the distinctly monstrous glint in his eye when he learns that he's awakened new little giants and inspired players that he might never even know and that he's had an impact and just -when is a monster not a monster? false question a monster is always a monster even when its asleep

[lxmelle]

Sometimes people interpret Gojo’s “chasing after Geto” and the theme of “love” adopted from Yorozu as signs of Gojo trying to find love with Sukuna.

It is true they had fun and Gojo had an all-out battle, I think it was more of Gojo being true to Gojo: It was an extension of chasing Geto.

I say this with moderately reserved conviction because his Character Book pretty much confirms that there is no one particularly significant besides Geto. There is literally Geto everywhere. Everywhere. Some people on X were joking that Geto’s position in the relationship chart is comparable to a “wife’s position” and asking, “is this a Geto Suguru character book?”

In terms of preferences, too:

Even the preference for dogs - seems to point towards being due to Geto. Not a dog from Megumi’s ten shadows’ divine dogs. The picture shown was a dog Gojo never even canonically met. Linked to a person he also did not canonically meet.

I was probably slow on the uptake, but I only recently realised that Takeru (the dog) in that scene was actually Geto - mistakenly assumed by the old man, leading to his easy defeat.

What sorcery it was, we have no idea. The only best friend thing also seemed like a Gojo & Geto parallel.

Anyway. In this sense, Geto was Gojo’s Takeru. Seeing Geto got him sealed in the prison realm. Uhm, yeah. And it’s true that Gojo is said by Gege to seem more cat-like, being “pretty” and a little solitary, but is someone who likely prefers dogs, Gege thinks, so we can see how he has changed to become more of a dog person - even in characteristics, after Geto’s influence who had lived for others rather than for itself (as what a cat might do). Or, it could be that he just prefers dogs because Geto was once mistaken as a dog. Lol.

The beach - this is also something related to Geto. (The sheltered Gojo probably didn’t have much time to do leisurely stuff. We end up liking places based on experiences we had, and the best experiences he had were with Geto. Naturally, he loves the beach due to Okinawa.)

And the last Q pictured in the image above says Gojo changed after Geto left in that he became more responsible for the next generation. Killing the higher-ups was also related especially after what happened during his time in the prison realm. Not killing them before was related to Geto - he had committed to not killing without a strong meaning/purpose. So when strategy and meaning/purpose aligned, Gojo “chased after” Geto who had “left him behind” because he couldn’t afford to walk that moral path any longer - for the future generation of sorcerers that he and Geto fought so hard to protect with their literal blood sweat and tears. And Gojo never had a real moral issue with killing.

So yes. Doesn’t it just make sense that Gojo approached Sukuna’s fight with two motives - one for himself and one for Geto? To have an all out brawl that his monstrous side desires (I’ve said it before: it would be soooo unfulfilling to never ever find someone you can go all out with. Like, forced to walk when you were born to sprint?!?) and to reach him with compassion/empathy as was shown to him by no other than Geto (who was very much a part of him)? Gojo was far too single-minded to want a new lover. C’mon. Give the yearner some credit. Gojo really was loyal to the core… he felt left behind for years and the character song for Geto was literally Gojo saying he wanted Geto to return to him somehow before it was too late.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again... the place of a partner, cannot be replaced by that of others who are in the category of children, students, or even friends - especially if you have shared a connection so deep that you consider that person a special, “one and only” irreplaceable being.

Megumi has also mutually not placed Gojo as someone particularly special to him. It is really a relationship that is not more than their sensei. I’d be highly disturbed if my sensei or teacher of any capacity loved me to the degree of some of the headcanons out there. Sorry to say. If that is your fantasy, or a form of an AU - that’s ok - I just see it as not canon. That is all. The facts, signs and evidence just … plain & simply are not there. Gojo cared in the capacity of being a teacher. That is it. Some of the unfinished business he had in 236 was carried over from the HI arc and regarding his personal philosophy over death.

So yes, Gojo understood Sukuna as a monster who knew strength & isolation. But his battle and other desire to teach / reach him was another extension of catching up.

So, rather than trying to find a new “love” with Sukuna, I see it as an ultimate form of growth & character development for Gojo - he was changed and felt the empathy that Geto showed him & tried to teach it to someone else who was similarly, stronger than him (as Gojo was to Geto).

And of course Gojo did get a kick out of the battle and to be acknowledged by a peer (as a monster). Imagine you’re Serena Williams and you have to accept just being fulfilled by your husband and never play tennis? Some things are just separate. The fulfilment Gojo gained was not necessarily related to Geto. Just like how following his principles down his dark path had to be done on his own for Geto. It had no bearing on his love for Gojo. And vice versa.

Nevertheless, it seems apt that it was within Gojo to find the desire to resolve two halves of himself through the battle. His loneliness wasn’t quite the same as Sukuna’s I think. Especially since Gojo knew love and companionship.

I think Gojo matured rather well. Or at least, I headcanon that Geto would say so.

The lesson that Sukuna needed to learn is not comparable to that between Gojo & Geto, therefore it wasn’t something Gojo could teach alone. Sukuna had no backstory tied to Gojo and it wasn’t like Gojo was trying to do that with him. Otherwise Gojo would have that afterlife “talk” with Sukuna, rather than his soul heading straight for Geto. Even if it was a delusion, are you telling me that him dreaming of Geto to comfort himself isn’t significant enough to tell us something? Sob 😭

The rest is for Yuji & everyone to forge the revision of the jujutsu world. Yuji is the one with the relationship with both Sukuna and his vessel, Megumi.

Keep calm and carry on the good work, Yuji... Hang in there Megumi.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digi Dynamic Shipping Game

Send me two names among the following 12 and I’ll write a short analysis post about them:

Taichi Yagami | Yamato Ishida | Sora Takenouchi | Koushirou Izumi | Mimi Tachikawa | Jyou Kidou | Takeru Takaishi | Hikari Yagami | Daisuke Motomiya | Miyako Inoue | Iori Hida | Ken Ichijouji | Meiko Mochizuki

While Miyako is not referring to Koushirou but Ken, the screenshot was too good not to make use of it.

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

Even though Miyako is not Koushirou's direct heir in terms of their Crests, they have a lot of things in common at first glance. They're already acquainted by the time we meet Miyako for the first time, as they've been in the same computer club in elementary school. We already know that Miyako seems to be good with computers, because starts off the first episode Iori asks her to come over to fix his - and so it doesn't seem too surprising that Miyako is rather thrilled to see her "senpai", now all prim and proper in his middle school uniform, visiting her at school.

Miyako is known for fawning over boys - not just the good-looking, but also the "smart" ones. She isn't outright swooning over Koushirou through the course of the series, but is still implied to be looking up to him - which is ironic in two ways. First for all, due to their switched height difference. Second of all, in one of the dramas bridging the years between Adventure and 02, Koushirou talks about "even the girl(s) in my computer club are taller than me, but I'm doing my best", implying that there might be a particular girl he wants to "catch up to". Whether in terms of height or in other ways stays ambiguous...

Overall, they're both the respective computer experts of their groups and Koushirou is seen guiding and encouraging Miyako a few times - but also has a hard time keeping her overly-enthusiastic nature in check sometimes. They have very different energy levels - and despite fulfilling the roles of strategists in their groups respectively to some degree, they also have very different "work ethics". Similarly to Mimi, Miyako's judgement is often emotion-based, so she may not always check all potential outcomes. Additionally, she doesn't particularly enjoy the "workload" that being a Chosen Child brings with it, she doesn't really find it fun - whereas for Koushirou, the "fun" and also the frustration only starts when he's buried in his work.

Hence why, a sneaky little running gag about them ever since DSB seems to be that Miyako is causing Koushirou (extra) work - or that she tries to pass on troublesome tasks to him (particularly in Kizuna). Regardless of that, him entrusting her to take over the Chosen Children network in his absence (as seen in The Beginning) still speaks volumes on how much he believes in her. (And in some way, it may also be a sneaky little payback on his behalf, since she is still moping about having to deal with that responsibility.)

Unfortunately, ever since the middle of 02, we haven't seen them interacting directly with each other anymore.

Tl;dr: They may not have the closest bond, visibly speaking, but there is quite a foundation of similarities, mutual trust (and admiration) to work with.

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

If it wasn't for the fact that both Miyako and Koushirou have people they visibly focus on more through the course of the series, drifting away from each other more and more, seeing these two as romantically compatible may be an easy conclusion to come to. It seems like a cliché at first, but pairing off the short, more coordinative computer nerd with the tall, outgoing computer nerd does have its appeal. They have a complementary theme going on that could be interesting to watch develop further. First of all, as pointed out, there is a foundation of mutual admiration going on between them - and the more they'd get to know each other, the less they might idealize each other and reveal more of their actual selves. Getting more comfortable - and maybe more "mopey", bickering and gossiping over the rest of the Chosen Childen crew. They do have to deal with some thick-headed friends (they both love very dearly) after all...

Miyako is already showing signs of that by "comfortably passing on her workload" onto her senpai - but they might actually be brilliant if they strategized together for once.

The question is if they'd feel emotional and romantic attraction to each other too; while I can see Miyako's tastes varying a lot (Ken, Hikari, Mimi, Michael...), Koushirou does have a history of getting along well with more extroverted ones (Taichi, Mimi) once the ice is broken. In sum, they both have quite a fondness for the Yagami siblings - and Mimi -, so that might be quite a common ground to bond over.

Swooning over technology-related topics, going to fairs together - and complementing each other in more ways than one. Miyako may help Koushirou to feel more comfortable getting experimental with his wardrobe, whereas Koushirou may be able to help Miyako to ground herself a little better. They might have issues prioritizing similarly since their approach systems are so different - and as said, we haven't seen them talk in a while -, but once they can overcome that, they might be unstoppable. They both need to have a healthier, more equal work-life-balance though...

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

In the end, their energy levels and priorities might be too different to give each other what they really need - especially because they obviously still have to deal with a long-distance relationship too, with him being more grounded in his home area, while she's more of a jet-setter. And unlike Mimi, Miyako doesn't seem to have much of an interpersonal relationship with Koushirou by the time of The Beginning. So, instead of driving each other insane, I prefer them to stay platonic and have them focus more on the people mentioned above. Also, Mimi may adore the attention here anyway, heh.

[neerons]

Hi Neerons what do you think about Kai Soejima? Personally I hope to see more of him in future stories or it might be even nicer if he gets his own route hahaha that seems too impossible lol 😂

Hi anon!

I think he's very interesting, and I like that he and Kei seem to have this sort of opposite pattern between the moon/sun in either their character designs or personalities. Kai is also very brave and, without spoiling too much, I'm touched by what he did for Kei before in Blessed Lover. Despite their different upbringings, they seem to have shared the same burden and are wounded and haunted by the same past.

I didn't finish reading Blessed Lover yet so I don't know what his role will be at the end, but I hope to see more of him as well. He has more of a murderous intent towards Caleb compared to Kei, so I don't know how things will turn out between the brothers. I wish they lived in peace with each other after things are dealt with, but that's not an easy path to achieve and it might not be realistic nor what they want.

About him getting a route, I get what you mean. I myself wish I could read LI routes about some side characters I love (Takeru Momose from HLITF please Voltage and thank you) but I don't think they would do it for Kai, nor do I think it would be interesting for most readers to read him. There are actually multiple reasons why I think it wouldn't happen.

I think considering that Kai is inherently linked to Kei's route (at least for now), we might not see him in any other routes. It would be difficult in the writing process to create a new prologue and reason for MC to meet Kai in these conditions? And also, what would be the purpose of making a whole route about a character we already learned everything about in his brother's own route?

I guess that from a writer's PoV, it might not be interesting to write a whole route about a character that has already been explored through and through. There is nothing new to bring, nothing new to enhance. Just a new PoV about the same subjects (that they can already bring in Kei's route if they want).

I'm not saying it's impossible as it wouldn't take much for that to actually happen, but I think that if they ever did that with Kai, he would be treated in a worse way than the Boss. His route would be cut short because it would only interest the hard core fans of MK, the ones who are most interested in getting as many stories as they can to know more and more about every little aspect of the characters.

I think what they could do is create a side story dedicated to him and MC becoming lovers but maybe not a whole route

[27twinsister]

If you die enough times you get to meet Kamen Rider Ghost

Fandoms: Sentika F8ABA6 Jisariz & Kamen Rider Ghost (Crossover)

(Also mentions Decade a little tiny bit because Tsukasa and Jisariz are played by the same actor and Decade has different universes and all that.)

A/N: This is the niche crossover I wrote the other night. AO3 is still down so I’m posting it here. I do want to post it on AO3. I might post it under a different title there, I just…titles are hard.

Hurt/Comfort, 668 words, Not Rated

Summary: Takeru is always aware of heroes who died, whether they get revived later or not. But in this case, the person he hears about isn’t a superhero who dies in battle, and he wants to make sure she’s okay.

Content warnings: Characters talk about death, dying, and being killed in canon-compliant ways. Nobody dies in the fic. Casual spoilers for both shows.

Takeru was always aware of heroes who died, Kamen Rider or not. Sometimes the deaths were permanent, other times they were temporary. Either way, Takeru noticed every time they died.

And thanks to Tsukasa, Takeru caught wind of deaths happening in a different world. The world seemed to have reincarnation, so it wasn’t a big deal, but there was one problem: it seemed to be the same person killing the same victim every time. An adult man and a teenage girl.

Takeru got Tsukasa to take him to this world.

In this world, Takeru was surprised to see someone who looked shockingly like Tsukasa about to kill a teenage girl, and he knew he had to intervene.

"Stop," Takeru transformed and stood between the girl and her killer.

"Who are you to stop me?"

"I’m Kamen Rider Ghost!"

Takeru hadn’t fought in a while, so while he wasn’t particularly strong (and was mortal), he was able to stall and let the teenage girl get away.

After the man disappeared, Takeru decided to look for the girl again and ended up finding her sitting on a beach.

Takeru demorphed and approached her.

"Hey. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Yeah…" the girl nodded quietly.

"Uh, what’s your name? I’m Tenkuuji Takeru."

"I’m Ayuka."

"Ayuka…this is going to sound weird, but," Takeru paused. It was always hard to explain this out loud. "So, I’m Kamen Rider Ghost. That means a few years ago, I died. And ended up coming back to life. And then I died again- it’s a long story. But ever since then…"

"How did you die more than once?"

"Well, the first time I died I stayed dead for a few months before managing to revive myself. But even after that there have been times where, say, my heart stopped and I temporarily died- it’s complicated. Anyways, I’m alive now. But I have…more experience than average with being dead. And my friend told me that you…have also been dying a lot too," he said. He wasn’t sure how to word that, but Ayuka didn’t seem offended. "Is that true?"

"Yeah. I’ve been killed a lot," Ayuka said way too casually. "But I’m used to it."

Takeru wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

"Is that bad?" Ayuka asked after a moment.

"Kind of, yeah. Is there anything I can do…maybe stop that guy from killing you?"

"No. I kind of like that he’s the only one that kills me. He protects me from other people so that he can kill me himself. Is that bad?"

Takeru wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Like, yes, that was terrible. But if she was used to it, and even liked it…

"I think it is kinda bad. But I can’t make you change how you feel. Do you need a hug?"

Ayuka nodded, and Takeru gave her a hug.

Usually, when Takeru met other people in this situation, he asked how they died. Usually they were heroes and the answer was dying in battle. But in this situation, knowing Ayuka had been killed multiple times within a short period of time, Takeru didn’t ask. She probably wouldn’t want to talk about it.

"It hurts," Ayuka said. Her voice cracked and she hugged Takeru closer.

"Hm? What does?"

"Every time…usually he stabs me or chokes me. Does it ever hurt less?"

Takeru knew the answer to that question, and he felt a knot in his stomach as he answered.

"I wish it did. But even when I was a ghost, I could still get hurt in battles. I couldn’t die because I was already dead. But I don’t think the ability to feel pain ever really goes away."

(Unless the person was permanently dead, but he didn’t want to say that part out loud.)

Takeru quietly held Ayuka as she cried.

He wished he could do something to help her.

For now, all he could do was stay in this world and protect her.

[bokura-no-digital-world]

Jou Week 2022 - Day 5: Protective

Days: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Title: The Accident Characters: Jou KIdo, Gomamon, Mimi Tachikawa, Himawari Mizushima (OC), Hikari Yagami, Taichi Yagami, Katsuo Hashimoto (OC) Summary: Jou's first aid bag really comes in handy when one of the Chosen Children gets hurt during a trip. Jou went through his bag for the fifth time in a row. He knew he was running late to meet the rest of the Chosen Children. They were going on a small trip to celebrate another anniversary. It was also the first trip they were talking with all their respective girlfriends and boyfriends. “Jou, what are you doing?” Gomamon walked into his room. “If we take any longer, they are going to leave without us.” “I know. I know.” He said a little frustrated. “I have checked this bag several times and I still feel like I’m forgetting something.” “What?” “I have no idea. It’s probably nothing.” He shook his head and closed his bag after putting the last item in. Then he stood up and passed its strap over his shoulder. “Let’s go.” “What did you have in there, by the way?” “First aid kits and other things I might need if something happens.” “But, Jou, we’re just going to the beach. Do you really think an accident can happen?” “If there’s anything I’m sure of, is that something can always happen when you least expect. You wouldn’t believe some of the stories that brought patients to the hospital. Besides, when Leomon got injured by MetalEtemon back in 1999, I blamed myself for days for not having anything useful to help him. I only had toilet paper.” “I remember that. It was a heartbreaking moment. Him dying, not you not having proper emergency supplies.” “Yeah, but we were lucky he died in the Digital World and could be reborn. And ever since then, I promised myself I would walk around carrying everything I could, no matter if my bag got heavy or not.” “I wouldn’t expect anything less coming from you.” Gomamon smiled. “Now we really have to go. I’m surprised none of them had called you yet.” “Me too. Did you get everything you need?” “I did. Don’t forget your bags.” “I couldn’t do that even if I tried.” Jou couldn’t help but laugh before the closed the door from his apartment. “That’s true. So are we going to pick Himawari up before going to Taichi’s house, right?” “That’s right. And also Mimi and Hideaki. Everyone is sharing cars, except Takeru. He and Kimi are going straight from Kyoto.” “I see.” Jou shoved his hand into his pocket when he heard his phone ringing. He took it out and looked at the screen. “It’s Mimi. Hello?” “Hey, where are you?” “Sorry, I’m a little late because I was having trouble checking something. I should be arriving at your place in fifteen minutes.” “Okay, great. I’ll see you soon.” “Sure.” “Jou?” “Yeah?” “Were you checking your first-aid kit?” “No.” He replied in an awkward tone and swallowed hard. “Maybe.” “I knew it.” She giggled. “I’ll see you very soon.”

Keep reading it on FFN or AO3

[xoteajays]

No! The best part was.. Jin offered his half eaten omelette when they got caught eating, since she was just complaining about them eating most of the food. Before Gun's mother offered to cook more food.

Why are they like this?!

Now it makes sense why these boys prefer all you can eat buffets, the boys really eat too way much for any other restaurants they'd go to.

But salt and salt water on an open wound is the most effective way to torture someone. That would burn. That's excruciating pain for them.

That's what I thought.. No mentions of her mother, her father is dead, Choi was the only family she had before meeting everyone else in this point in her life. Now she has a mother, uncles and brothers. So it's so obvious the becomes this ice queen type of girl because she's always afraid to lose people she cares about. It's why she blocks herself off.

Oh my god! Jin's military pride. Gun's saluting awkwardly next to Jin's side, just so Jin's not the only one saluting them. Yang pulling on Jin's ear until he stops saluting. Jin has a lot of military towards everyone.

And Jin apparently having a YouTube channel where he goes to every restaurant to try their foods, a foodie who's also the food connoisseur. And then Gun saying he'd follow Jin on YouTube for more content just before Jin had to remind him that he stopped making those videos.

My affectionate boys!

I won't say anything. So no spoilers.. This is a big episode, this would be an intensely dramatic episode for everyone. That's all that is said.

Be prepared for anything.

~

Just about everyone in my family is either an addict, or has untreated medical conditions. Sometimes both. I'm no better.. Actually my main addiction is sugar, I consume too much unhealthy foods and drinks in my life. So that's my main addiction I guess. At least one of a few. But my family is on a whole other level than me. Majority of the addicts in my family are mostly from my mother's side, and a few on my father's side. And majority of the people from my mother's side also have lots of undiagnosed disorders and illnesses from their childhoods, which I will say includes trauma from abuses. My whole family is fucked up.

I don't know if you've ever watched the show Shameless. I have never watched the show, but I know enough about it. That's my family. Just way too many of that are completely unstable in any and every ways.

~

What I remember of Takeru. Obviously he was the eldest brother from those three. Apparently the strongest brother too. And he was even a really caring man towards everyone he met (at least to the teen girl in Red Rain). And he only had a sexual interest in women, not girls. That is all I can think about at the moment.. That I can remember anyway.

If Orange does not (somehow) end up in a romantic relationship with Cobra, then I'm stealing him for myself. He's such a really pretty man.

I was stalking through Takanori's pictures on social media... Because I was really trying to get some ideas for Cobra's character. To hopefully figure out his character out. Not completely sure yet. But who knows.

Oh! And I was stalking through the High&Low pictures on media too.. I forgot how many close up pictures they have to some of the places - mainly the places in Sannoh territory (like close up pictures of Itokan diner). So that might help me visual some areas better, whenever I'm writing my story. The visuals may really help people figure things out.

I feel like Cobra would already be there helping the Rascals during the fights just before Rocky (and Koo if he's not already there) show up to get involved. Koo and Kizzy are always complete opposites though.

Oh! I forgot. I guess Cobra was a smoker in the show? Because there was pictures of him smoking cigarettes. But you never see him being a smoker in the movies.. Regardless of what the relationship between Cobra and Orange is, maybe she just convinces him to stop smoking.

It's been a while since I've watched the actual show, not the movies.

~

There are a few fandoms that I want to write for, but have not written for yet either. Hopefully I could get around to writing for those stories too.. I don't know. We'll see. But I hope that I can write those fandoms at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later. No promise though.

I might have a few Korean face claims.. So far only one of them would be female. At least for now. AleXa might be the female face claim that I'll use for a character. And I might have male face claims. Maybe. But I'm not completely sure which fandoms I might use them for yet.. So I have to figure that out. Maybe I'll figure it out what fandoms that they could be used for whenever I get a chance to work on those fandoms.

~

Exactly. I'm too neutral about the Sweet Home show. I didn't hate the show, but I didn't love the show either. So I'm neutral about the series at the moment. And Sweet Home is based from a webtoon series just like many other popular Korean shows. But it's not surprising that the plot diverged from the comic halfway through the first season which I have mixed feelings about. They could've kept some things the same.

And, yes, they should flesh out the characters a bit more.. Even just a little more than in the first season. I hope they do flesh out characters though. But I guess we'll find out when the new seasons comes out.

Oh! And as for the shapeshifting monster.. I realized that he is Hwang Min-sung, the gay character in Vincenzo. So I knew I recognized him.

I think the most disgusting scene in All Of Us Are Dead, to me, is how they had to make their own homemade toilet.. That skeeves me out. I am completely disgusted at just the thought of that. That is so gross.

jin offering the omelette that had been in his mouth and ju's lil 'ew' face at it. that's so brother/sister relationship. can confirm as someone who has an older brother. i know they're boxers and dudes and they work-out a lot, but jeez they eat a lot. and so quickly too!

gun was so lazy about his salute, he kept trying to sit back down but jin's so serious. gun having to explain to lee about jin's military pride. jin's so dramatic about it.

~

i watched a little bit of shameless, but not a whole lot. my parents finished it (or my dad at least). nobody in my family is that bad, well, no one that's still in my family. one of my mum's sisters has broken her family away from the rest of my maternal family over some big drama that i can't even remember the reason for.

but yea, nobody but me and my brother have actually been to any form of therapy. i was briefly on medication, but then my mother convinced me to go off it. i personally think at least 90% of my entire family needs to get psychologically evaluated, for either mental disorders or illnesses.

~

yea, eldest, strongest, cares a lot about the people around him. i need to rewatch red rain. for takeru, but also hiroto development. and also shizuka development.

takanori is so pretty! i haven't been on his insta, but i've been watching a lot of jsb videos and they have a tiktok that i've clicked through. and i watched a couple modelling/photoshoot videos. he's so pretty!! all of them are!

cobra's kind of like the head of the whole sword alliance in a way. i feel like he's always on top of it when things are going down. so if he hears about trouble happening in any of the other territories, he's showing up to help, even if only by himself. kizzy's happy to see him (i think from that scene with her talking to miho that she has a little teeny crush on him), but koo's a lil embarrassed that he couldn't handle it on his own.

i'm ignoring most of the smoking in the show. except for like. hyuga, tsukumo and kohaku. cobra, spit it out, put it down, no.

~

oh alexa is so pretty! i love her blue hair and blonde/silvery hair. ooh and she's so short too. i might need to use her an fc, i don't have enough short short ocs. i haven't decided on a bloodhounds oc fc yet, might put her on the list. beefy tall boys and their tiny short gf. boxer boys and their knife gf.

wait look at the height difference ~~~~ (gun/oc/jin)

i love height differences aaaaAAA

~

i think it's always a little bit hard to develop a lot of characters in such a small amount of episodes, but i feel like they could've done a little bit better with it. like i wasn't overly connected to any of the characters so when the sad things happened to them, i didn't really?? care???

oh the shapeshifting guy was pretty. he was kind of a douche iirc, but i genuinely do not remember anything about him tbh. did not let sweet home hang around in my head for that long tbh. beyond go min si. because she was so pretty. sassy ballerina girl~

oh bleugh. it's one of the reasons i could never go camping. like sorry, im prissy. i need Things. air conditioning and a decent bed and working facilities. i've been camping once and couldn't even sleep for the two nights because i was so uncomfortable and paranoid.

[rainydayotomes]

Collar x Malice reacts to "How about you rearrange my guts?" meme

Based off of this post on reddit, hehe.

-----------

Yanagi

Yanagi.exe has stopped working

You look at him with a smirk playing on your lips, and watch as his face goes 50 different beautiful shades of red

You can literally see the gears turning in this man's head as he tries to process what the actual fuck you just said to him

After a moment he sighs, and just shakes his head. Now he's the one whos smirking....

"I thought I did that last night? Or, was that not enough for you...?"

Enomoto

You texted the poor lad during your lunch break, and you swear you could hear his shriek from the rooftop where you ate your lunch

"(Y/N) are you ok?!!?!?" he texts back.

"Yeah, why?"

"What do you mean by sending that?!?!"

"What do you mean what do I mean- I mean what I said"

"But that

but

but..."

Yeah congrats, now you're gonna have to order a new Enomoto

They're $15 at Walmart right now, better hurry!

He literally doesn't respond for the rest of the day

But when he sees you in person at the end of the day, his face erupts into the deepest blush you've ever seen and he can't even look at you

"If that's... uh... really what you want..." he sharply inhales, before continuing "Then I, Mineo Enomoto, will fulfill your wish!" He says as he strikes a pose

On the outside he appears alright

But on the inside his organs are currently melting from the heat deep within him...

Sasazuka

"Are you sure you should be saying something so lewd in public?"

This man always loves to startle you

You weren't even suppose to meet up today, and yet here he is at this crosswalk, leaning and looking over your shoulder like he had before (see: collar x malice unlimited)

"Takeru! Why do you always have to startle me!? T-T"

That fucking shit eating grin he's wearing right now just makes you want to push him off you

"It's not my fault you don't pay attention. You should be more aware of your surroundings, especially if you're trying to talk dirty in public."

"But it was a text-!"

"Doesn't matter."

You feel him peck your cheek before he removes himself from your shoulders

"If you're really in heat that badly, then wait for me tonight, dumb cat. Your master will give you a treat." He says with that same shit eating grin before he walks away

Okazaki

It takes the man a moment to reply to your text

"Will do! c(ˆ▿ˆc)"

wat

"Uhm Kei?"

"≧◉ᴥ◉≦"

"You're just.... not gonna say anything else about it?"

"Should I? (づ￣ ³￣)づ"

"Well uh... no, I guess not?"

"Alright then ( ＾◡＾)っ ♡"

Shiraishi

The two of you were meeting up tonight, because Shiraishi was allowed to go home for the weekend

You had let yourself into his apartment to wait for him and noticed some things had changed

Most notably, some of the usual things that were out, like some books on the coffee table and whatnot were currently nowhere to be found

So you sent him the text, smiling to yourself as you wondered how he'd take the joke

After a few minutes, you're alerted to his response

"That was the plan"

WHAT

"Why else do you think everything has been put away? Make yourself ready, I'll be there soon."

WHAT DOES HE MEAN 'MAKE YOURSELF READY'!?

"You're joking right?!"

"Nope." And with that, he sends a sly little cat sticker

Fucker always knows exactly what he's doing, doesn't he?

Fuck you Shiraishi

but also I love you

Bonus: Saeki

It had been a long, long time since you had last been in Saeki's small ass apartment

It's always been messy, but tonight it seemed a lot more organized and tidy then usual

So you joking recited the meme

He stops, and turns to you with huge eyes

"What!?"

You laugh at his reaction, which just makes him look like a kicked puppy

"Don't say things like that, or I might get the wrong idea... I'm still hopelessly single, you know."

I can change that no you are NOT saying that. no. stop it. bad.

Out of everyone, Saeki reacts the calmest, and doesn't take it seriously

....or so you think

When you're out of the room, he mumbles to himself as he's deep in thought

"So that's what you're into, eh (Y/N)...? Maybe some day I'll be able to treat you to your desires...."

[nishisun]

best part ☁️/ 001. Mama?

masterlist | previous | next

Kuroo cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brows at the little boy.

“The hell..?” Kuroo muttered, “Maybe it’s the wrong address.” before Kuroo could even turn around, he couldn’t help but notice a familiar voice calling out for the kid.

“Takeru! What did I tell you about opening the door for strangers? How did you even reach the knob?”

“I’m sorry!” the little boy squealed, you sighed and kneeled down to give him a quick peck on the cheek.

“It’s okay, honey. It’s just very dangerous and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” your scolding is quickly cut off when you see the man you’ve been expecting for two hours. “You’re late.” you mutter before attempting to shut the door.

“Hey, hey, hey, what’s up with the kid?” Kuroo’s hand is quick to rest on the door to prevent you from closing it on him. “Is this why you wanted me to come in the middle of the night?”

You swiftly carried Takeru, attempting to shut the door again, just to fail as Kuroo put his hand in between the opening of the door.

“Why? Do you think of me differently now?” you asked bitterly. When he doesn’t say anything, you try to slam the door for what seems like the 100th time. Takeru whines, and you immediately apologize quietly.

“Y/N, c’mon.” Kuroo says, grabbing ahold of your the arm that isn’t carrying the boy. “Can’t we just talk? You’re acting so cold towards me..” he chuckles a bit, sliding his hand that was gripping your arm down to your hand, now intertwining them together. “Get it? Cause it’s literally freezing cold?”

You only roll your eyes at him, before harshly yanking your hand off of his.

“Come in. I don’t want Takeru to get a cold.”

Once you get back from his room, you sit on the chair across from him. There’s an awkward silence at first, it starts off with the both of you making eye contact every now and you then you both look away. Already irritated, you finally speak up.

“What did you come here for, Kuroo?” you sigh in defeat, exhausted from the day you’ve had.

“Kuroo? What’s up with that?” he sounds pretty offended, and you can only bring yourself to sigh once again.

“We’re not dating anymore. It’s been 4 years since I’ve seen you, so I just feel like it’s appropriate for this situation.”

“Situation? Don’t you think you’re being a tad bit over dramatic?”

You shrug.

“and are we just gonna ignore the fact that there’s a literal kid sleeping in this house? Who’s kid is this?”

You look away from him and shrug shyly.

“Holy shit.” he whispers, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Kuroo-! Language!”

“So It’s true?” you turn to face Kuroo with a confused look on your face. Before you can even open your mouth to explain, Kuroo’s already speaking again. “Kenma told me, Y/N—Fucking Kenma! Do you know how that even makes me feel?” He whisper-yelled. He laughs bitterly, before pressing his lips together.

“Y/N, I’m going to ask you this once, and I’m going to need you to be 100% honest with me, okay?”

You nod, taking an nervous gulp.

“Is that kid in the room my child?”

You chewed on your bottom lip nervously, staring down at the ground. You only nod, unable to speak due to the lump forming on your throat.

Kuroo doesn’t say anything, he sighs and puts his head down on his knees to cover his face. “Do you know how long I had to drive in this freezing weather? Just for me to find out that I’m a dad?”

He’s talking gently, you can hear the obvious restrain in his voice telling you he’s trying his best not to lose his temper.

You don’t respond, you don’t really know what to say. You feel like a kid who’s getting lectured at by their parent.

“Shit,” he drags. You can tell his anger is slowly rising. “Who the fuck do you think are keeping me from my son?”

Ah, there it is. He’s fully upset now.

“It’s been four years for fucks sake! I’ve been missing out on four years! And the only reason I found out was because Kenma had to tell me!” He angrily runs his hand through his hair before sighing once again. “Which I had to practically beg him to tell me, by the way.”

You on the other hand, were surprised that Kenma actually told Kuroo. Of course, you gave him the consent to, (given the fact that you couldn’t bring yourself to tell kuroo yourself) but you definitely not expecting this.

“I” he lifts his head and straightens his posture. “I wanna see him-”

“No!” It’s not as if you don’t want Kuroo to form a bond with your—you and his child, but at his current state? No way in hell. Who knows what he might actually tell Takeru? “I’m not going to let you see him while you’re still upset. Look Kuroo, I understand why you’re angry and I don’t blame you at all! But it’s already late, and you’re not being yourself.”

“The hell does that mean? You don’t know me. I’m not the same Kuroo I was 4 years ago Y/N.”

You lean back on the chair you’re currently sitting in before letting out a sarcastic laugh. “Oh really?”

“It’s just like you said. You haven’t spoken to me in 4 years so how could you possibly know?” He crosses his arms before facing your opposite direction. Honestly. He looks like a kid right now. But something he said really hit home for you.

“Because you never let me, Kuroo!” You raised your voice slightly. “We were what—19? 20? I never even planned on ever having children. How do you think I felt when I found out I was pregnant with my ex’s child?”

Kuroo’s eyes widen slightly at your sudden change of emotions. He really wants to understand where you’re coming from, but you just look so hot when you’re frustrated, he thinks.

“And I wanted to tell you—God, I really did, but you never gave me the chance to. I really do want you to meet him, Kuroo. Just not today.”

He sighs and you’re internally praying he doesn’t argue back because you’re already exhausted.

“Fine,” He shrugs “So when can I meet him, then?”

“Well, I was planning on taking him to the park and getting frozen yogurt tomorrow. You can come if you want.”

“Sounds great—“

“On one condition.” You lift your pointer finger to stop him, making him nod is head confusingly. “You’re only coming as a ‘friend’. You cannot mention, or ask Takeru questions about father related stuff. Not until he’s comfortable with you.”

Kuroo looks like he’s about to disagree, until you glare at him and he sighs in defeat. “Fine.” He mutters. “Actually, It’s a smart idea, y/n.” He smiles. “you’re so smart.”

“shut up.”

“right.”

He stands up from where he’s seated awkwardly, walking towards the front door waiting for you to kick him out.

“Wait!”

he turns around, humming while his hands are still placed on the door.

“Since you drove an hour to get here, y-you should probably stay here. It’s dangerous out there.” you say shyly, staring at the ground.

“Aw, is my sweet Y/N concerned about me? So you do care for me even after all these years, huh?”

“No. I don’t. You’re just the father of my child.”

“your ears are turning red, babe.” he chuckles when you immediately cover your ears with your hands. “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t want to bother you or Takeru. I’ll see you tomorrow-“

“You’re not!” you quickly cover your mouth with your hands. Dammit y/n, don’t give him what he’s basically asking for.

His eyes widen, a smirk already developing on his face and all you want to do is slap it off.

“Okay, hun. If you insist.” grinning, Kuroo looks down at the couch before scratching the back of his head. “I’m gonna need some pillows and a blanket though. Unless you want me to sleep in the bed with you, then—“

Dear God. This man needs to go touch grass.

Clapping your hands to interrupt him form continuing his inappropriate sentence, you give him a fake smile. “You know what? Just for that comment, you’re going to actually be sleeping on the couch. I was going to let you have my bed and I sleep on the couch but it seems like you don’t really deserve it. I’m going to get you some pillows. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“You’re saying that like you’re leaving me in the house alone with our kid—“

“His name is Takeru, Kuroo.”

“Right, I knew that.”

Not even an hour later...

“Tetsuro.”

It’s been 5 minutes since you’ve tried to wake Kuroo up, and he still hasn’t even moved an inch.

“Tetsu.”

Not even the nickname you know he loves wakes him up.

“Kuroo!” you hit him with the pillow you brought from your room, causing him to groan in pain.

“Jesus,” he stretches, “Is it morning already?”

“No.”

“So why did you do that?”

You’re looking away from him now, gripping onto your pillow tighter.

“I..”

“You..?” He shakes his head in annoyance, he doesn’t understand why you had to hit him so hard with your pillow.

“Ihadabaddream.”

He bursts into laughter.

“You idiot. What’s so damn funny?” You scoff, crossing your arms. If you knew he’d annoy you this much you would’ve told him to leave by now. He hasn’t even been here for 2 hours and he’s already annoying the shit out of you.

“You’re 23-“

“Oh shut up! Since when does age have anything to do with my nightmares! It’s probably because you’re around.”

“Oh really?” he challenges, using his hands to wipe away the tears that have formed due to how hard he was laughing. “You really haven’t changed at all. Oh, this is too good. What? Want me to tuck you into bed?” He juts his lip out, obviously mocking you.

Don’t punch him, Y/N. It won’t be worth it.

“You look uncomfortable. Come to my bed.”

“And do what?” He asks cheekily.

“I cannot stand you. I was trying to be a nice person but obviously you’re not being appreciative. Have fun sleeping on the couch, loser—“

“I’ll come. Only cause you’re such a cutie.”

taglist: @coconut-dreamz @maadaaaa @mkkhaikyuu @tekushiii @callmekda @samkysnks @wild-strawberry-fields @crazysocklovingfangirl @jesstetsuro @xo-lovelyreign-xo @lilith412426 @erensnubs @syaziahvg @tsukkiswifeey @ysatrap @candybabey @rinsangel @elianetsantana @calumsfringe @rintarovibes @emsdesu @sailorstrawberi

[shihalyfie]

The difference between the Adventure group’s and the 02 group’s respective relationships with their Digimon

Kizuna very prominently depicts a difference between the older six Adventure group members (Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Koushirou, Mimi, Jou) and the younger six 02 group members (Takeru, Hikari, Daisuke, Ken, Miyako, Iori) in terms of how they interact with their partners, and part of it is because of the strange relationship between Kizuna and 02′s themes, but, in fact, there had always been a rather subtle difference between said dynamics even since all the way back in 02, just exacerbated by the 02 group being the only ones to be able to open Digital Gates via their D-3s and the fact that the circumstances of the plot were a bit engineered to make the 02 group a bit more functional during its duration.

The image of “every human-Digimon partner pair hanging together all of the time even through mundane daily life events” is certainly romantic, but, in fact, the older Adventure group is not portrayed as a group that necessarily longs for such an arrangement, and the 02 group doing so is something they specifically do because of their own personalities. This is something very tied to the distinction between the Adventure and 02 groups’ respective ways of life and internal dynamics, and what it says about each individual group’s preferences of independence vs. mutual support.

Once Adventure’s finale hit and the Adventure group had their first bout of “separation” from their partners, thus began the “two-and-a-half year break”, in which the Adventure group had to suddenly accept separation from their partners after (what had been to them) months of being together all of the time. It’s an understandable feeling of loss! You “took something for granted” when it’d been with you all of the time, you made an incredible, important friend and suddenly had to part. That said, there are some nuances to this that need to be taken into account here:

Takeru and Hikari (who turn out to later become involved with the 02 group and take on their mentality) are the two most confident about their parting on the note of “we’ll definitely meet again, don’t worry about it, it’ll be okay,” which is a pretty obvious meta hint at 02 airing one week later, but also does say a bit that they’re the ones most hung up on the possible reunion.

The two-and-a-half year break is characterized not so much by a permanent and unbroken separation as much as the lack of ability for Taichi and his friends to meet up with Agumon and the other partners on a regular, controlled basis. They weren’t completely cut off from contact -- Taichi receiving a message from Agumon in the above-linked drama CD, Koushirou keeping in contact with Gennai regularly, the entire events of Our War Game!, the Adventure mini dramas (yes, those are canon), the 15th anniversary drama CD, and the reunion depicted in 02 episode 27′s flashback. Moreover, the way Koushirou approaches the Digital Gates in the early episodes of 02, along with Two-and-a-Half Break itself, makes it clear that the gates still did open sporadically, it’s just that, since there was no real rhyme or reason to them opening, meetups with partners weren’t something that could be coordinated smoothly. Given that, it’s not that surprising that Taichi met up with Agumon without altogether too much fanfare in 02 episode 1 -- it certainly wasn’t something he could have done often, but the two had met up a handful of times during the last two and a half years, so it’s understandable that it doesn’t necessarily merit a massively dramatic reunion, especially when there’s a crisis going on at the exact moment.

Once the events of 02 kicked off, the Adventure kids started having some touching reunions with their respective partners now that the 02 kids’ D-3s could provide reliable standbys for going in and out of the Digital World, and, of course, it’s natural that they’d be a bit emotional after their contact had been so disjointed (even though, as with Taichi, it’s not actually nearly as dramatic as one might expect), but once that’s out of the way...

Practicality suggests that the Adventure kids’ Digimon partners would choose to spend most of their time in the Digital World for the duration of 02...but, in fact, even that considered, the older Adventure kids really don’t seem that bothered to not get to see their partners every day of their lives. Granted, they of course presumably don’t want to constantly bother their juniors all of the time to open the gate for them, but Sora demonstrates in 02 episode 12 that she will grab them and go in if it’s urgent, so there’s no reason to believe they wouldn’t recruit the kids to open the gate for them if they wanted or needed it that badly. Moreover, the juniors being able to consistently open and close the gate means that constant communication and occasional meetups with their Digimon partners are more than possible -- recruiting one of their partners to do something on the other end isn't too hard anymore, given the events of 02 episode 32 or such -- and so, the “inconsistent, fleeting contact” that spanned the “two-and-a-half year break” is no longer a problem.

All things considered, if the older kids really wanted to create some kind of pipeline or arrangement so they could hang out with their partners on the daily like the 02 kids do, you’d think they (especially Koushirou) would try a little harder, but they don’t actually seem to treat it with much more urgency than having a really good friend who might be a bit of a slightly inconvenient bus ride away. The fact that they actually have reasonably consistent methods of access to see each other if they really want to is comfort in itself. Of course, when Christmas comes and the juniors arrange a situation for all of their seniors to see their partners again, it really is a Christmas gift, because of course there’s the joy of getting to see an incredibly treasured friend you don’t normally get to see in a while!...but even then, Taichi says that Agumon should at least stay for the holiday, with a completely casual tone that suggests he has absolutely no qualms or emotional hangups about the idea that Agumon’s going to have to return to the Digital World soon and they won’t have day-to-day contact anymore (it’ll just be nice if Agumon can stay for the rice cake soup).

In the end, this is actually...probably a pretty normal thing to expect. Digimon partners are “best friends” in ways that are a bit unusually beyond your average so-called “best friend”, in that they’re somewhat psychologically linked to their human partners and thus “get” them in ways an average human friend wouldn’t, but nevertheless, it’s not like everyone constantly wants to have their best friend with them every single moment of every single day; boundaries and independence are a thing, and even Miyako felt that it was appropriate to leave Poromon with Koushirou for the duration of her Kyoto trip in 02 episode 33. (In fact, if you squint carefully, there are times when even the 02 kids’ Digimon occasionally don’t accompany their partners; Patamon and Tailmon didn’t attend the soccer game in 02 episode 8.) Or, if you want to take this all the way back to Adventure, “needing space” from one’s own partner once in a while was lightly addressed when Tentomon deliberately recused himself from Koushirou having a heart-to-heart with his parents, because he understood Koushirou needed catharsis on his own terms (and we see Hawkmon and Tailmon even do the same for Miyako and Hikari in 02 episode 31). So when those best friends were placed in dubious places of contact and it became difficult to tell when they’d ever meet again, it was emotionally difficult in the same way being forcibly cut off from a treasured friend and not being allowed to see them regularly would hurt -- but once some degree of regular, guaranteed contact was established, and it was understood that they could meet up when they needed to, they could schedule that easily (and in fact there’s no evidence that the older Adventure group never made use of that during days in the year that weren’t depicted in 02 proper).

Not only that, the Digital World is also treated as having its own “will” and letting Chosen in as needed in 02 episode 22, thus implying that, even without the 02 kids’ D-3s as a fail-safe, it was getting more receptive to open gates in general; Koushirou had been keeping track of them and alerting other Chosen to whenever they opened naturally (including Mimi in 02 episode 14), allowing contact to continue on a more regular basis.

So why are the 02 kids and their Digimon so different? Since the incidents depicted in 02 didn’t impact the real world itself until late in the series, why didn’t they make an arrangement like their seniors where the kids would meet up with their partners in the Digital World after school, thus avoiding the trouble of having to hide them in school and pass them off as plushies everywhere? Well, the thing is, they almost had that kind of arrangement...and it lasted only one episode. It was made a prominent point in 02 episode 2 that even after meeting V-mon and barely getting to know him, Daisuke couldn’t get him out of his mind. Then, Miyako and Iori met their own partners, and when they all emerged, the 02 group’s partners themselves came out with them, with Tentomon and Piyomon being the ones to say that they’d rather stay behind for the time being. In other words, it wasn’t a question of practicality surrounding the territory war with the Kaiser -- the 02 group’s Digimon and humans themselves actually wanted to stick to each other this badly, even if it meant that the Digimon would be staying in in an unfamiliar world long-term (after all, the Digital World is still every Digimon’s natural home, so it’s possible that the older kids’ Digimon aren’t too enthused about the idea of staying in the real world for so long themselves).

In the end, the real reason the 02 group and their Digimon stick to each other so constantly through any and all situations has to do with their mentality. In the case of the Adventure group, while being trapped in another world gave them a sense of necessity in sticking together all of the time and thus created a bit of extra shock when sudden separation occurred, either way, said older group was a bit more independent-minded and was ultimately able to mentally adjust to returning to a status quo where they couldn’t expect to see their partners all of the time, and managed to build proper lives around that assumption. Even when their partners were regularly accessible, they were able to live their lives somewhat independently from each other (especially due to the difficulty of integrating Digimon into the real world at this stage), with the understanding that they still could meet each other whenever necessary for anything ranging from a dangerous incident to simply just wanting to get together and have a nice heart-to-heart. The 02 group, on the other hand, consisted of a group of slight misfits with some degree of socialization problems prior to the start of the series, who have mentalities based on “their relationship with others” moreso than independence; their group dynamic was based on a slight amount of dependence on mutual support rather than necessarily being able to sustain themselves on their own, and it thus follows that they and their like-minded partners would be a bit clingier as a result, because they’re more in need of that emotional support and company on a day-to-day basis.

Look at Daisuke, whose entire character has a lot to do with his need for validation and support from others; it’s very easy to imagine that prolonged separation from V-mon might outright cause them separation anxiety before long (remember Daisuke’s reaction to getting briefly separated from V-mon after only knowing him for less than a day in 02 episode 2!). Or Takeru and Hikari, who still are parsing a lot of really unresolved issues that weren’t actually properly addressed in Adventure (remember: they’re the ones who were only able to accept the idea of parting if they had certainty that they’d meet again, and Tailmon especially associates Hikari specifically with a life she couldn’t initially have). These kids dislike being separated from each other for too long, so it stands to reason that they’re going to dislike separation from their respective partners even less. 02 being a story about relationships means it’s a series about how people who have difficulty finding their answers by themselves find it through the support of others, and so, more latently, it’s only natural that it’ll extend to their partners, and that their partners, being somewhat like-minded, would reflect that by willingly choosing to leave the Digital World to cling to their partners, even in an unfamiliar world.

Of course, you could potentially chalk this up to sheer practicality, in that the 02 group had access to D-3s and were simply making use of their time together, or that the nature of the Digital World territory war eventually getting brought out into the real world guided their actions this way...but, in fact, Kizuna continues to double down on there being a distinct difference between these two.

Because Kizuna only gives us very “limited context” by showing us limited snippets of a few days instead of the whole eight months 02 spanned over, we’re forced to extract from only a very small “sample size” of interactions, but one thing the movie does make clear is that the Adventure and 02 groups are both roughly in the same boat in regards to what they can and can’t do regarding their partners and the Digital World. The “advantage” the 02 group had over their seniors in that they could easily open gates is no longer in play, because travel can happen at leisure even with the older group thanks to the smartphone terminals Koushirou’s made (the deluxe Blu-ray booklet confirms that it’s the smartphones doing it, so it’s not like Yamato’s referring to the ability to grab one of the 02 group members here). On top of that, Digimon have some degree of recognition in society, so it’s not too much of a big deal to have them in real life, and all of the Digimon partners are probably much more used to going back and forth and being familiar with both parts of society. And yet, despite that, there is a difference.

The main reason I so often urge people not to take the question of “who has partners present in the credits and who doesn’t” as a definitive statement of who’s lost their partners like Taichi, Yamato, and Sora have is that the opening does the same thing -- none of the Adventure group’s partners are depicted in the respective characters’ vicinity, even though we know at this point that none of them have full-on disappeared yet. Rather, when you think about it, it’s more that the point being made is that their partners aren’t with them all of the time -- just because the gates are easily opened by anyone in this cast now doesn’t mean that the Adventure characters decided to bring them home to live with them the way the 02 group did. Tentomon is not shown to be in the proximity of Koushirou in the movie’s initial scenes, nor in the opening, nor during his company negotiations, and it’s only during later events when he’s seen in the office. Palmon not being on the plane with Mimi may well mean that she’s not actually with her all of the time, mainly just working alongside her every so often, and Jou’s memorial short indicates that there’s a certain degree of partners acting independently now (especially now that they can operate in the real world without too much issue). Obviously, said Digimon partners are still hanging around and reasonably well-involved in their lives, but they’re not always next to them, and may be hanging around elsewhere in the real world or killing time in the Digital World -- but meanwhile, the number of times any of the 02 group is physically seen in the movie or To Sora without their partner totals at zero.

In the end, the distinction between the older Adventure group’s and the 02 group’s respective behavior may have been somewhat exacerbated by the gate-opening issue at first, but even when that was taken away, the 02 group’s tendency to cling to their partners and vice versa was just something endemic to themselves.

Again, since Kizuna gives us a very limited frame of reference, it’s not to say that the 02 group is always stuck to their partners for every breathing moment of their lives; remember, even all the way back in 02 episode 33, Miyako was willing to leave Poromon with Koushirou for the duration of her Kyoto trip, and the memorial shorts also depict V-mon hanging out with Gabumon in a setting that we assume doesn’t involve Daisuke in the vicinity, and photos of Takeru and Hikari without their partners are seen on Imura’s board, and there certainly must be instances of need for privacy or busy moments of adulthood that couldn’t be depicted in the limited range of the movie -- but the point is made, and there is a massive contrast between the Adventure group living independent lives, and the 02 group playing around and doing mundane things and actively involving their partners in their conversations and interactions in ways far beyond that of their seniors. And, by extension, the fact that the drama CD depicts them going out of their way to meet up with each other in a setting where their seniors aren’t doing anything of the sort; the 02 group’s mentality, shaped by the events of their series, involves treasuring their personal relationships and gaining emotional support from each other as a bigger priority over individual ambition, and it’s applying even to eight years later in Kizuna to the point where it takes very little to recreate the aura of yet another average 02 episode.

Fundamentally speaking, neither group is in the wrong, and the “difference in mentality” between the two groups is reflected all the way into the 02 epilogue, so this is not a narrative that praises or condemns people for aligning more with being independent-minded and ambitious and not necessarily needing company most of the time, versus being the kind who needs company and emotional support from others and excelling better at giving that kind of support in return. Kizuna’s narrative doesn’t cast the more ostensibly distant (less so “distant” and more “more capable of independent action”) relationship the Adventure group has with their partners in a particularly negative light. I’m sure many reading this post will probably identify more with one group or the other here in terms of their way of living life and maintaining relationships. However, it does cast the concept of “abandoning one’s partner” as the reason for partnership dissolution -- not physical abandonment, but rather, emotional abandonment.

The timing of the partnership dissolution is the key, because the movie puts a huge spotlight on it not happening to Koushirou and Takeru for the time being, which means we’re obligated to look at Taichi and Yamato to see why it’s happening to them and them specifically, and what they have in common. Well, one day prior, they’d dumped their partners on their siblings with very few words, and then, over dinner, had outright scoffed at the idea of bringing their partners to school with them. Again, it’s not the issue of bringing them or not when even Koushirou doesn’t seem to be hanging out with Tentomon all of the time, but rather that they have such a condescending and cold attitude about it, as if their partners are “in the way” of their adult lives. Taichi doesn’t necessarily have to have Agumon live with him as a roommate, but he’s portrayed as horribly lonely and yet hadn’t even let Agumon visit once because he was so willing to shut him out. In other words, Taichi and Yamato had taken their partners so much for granted that they were basically yanking them out once in a while whenever they needed them for Digimon battles, and then tossing them aside flippantly to get back to whatever their lives were, rather than working on maintaining their relationships or allowing for emotional support. For the early duration of the movie, their conversations are not quite there, and are a bit stilted. Partner or not, it’s a cold way to treat a friend who just really wants to be there to support you.

And when you look at Sora, or Menoa (who’s revealed in the novel to have also been emotionally drifting from Morphomon for the sake of her studies), their abandonment of their partners was hardly physical -- Piyomon was there to watch Sora’s flower arrangement work, it’s just that Sora was coldly turning her away and snapping at her for the sake of her work, and Menoa was most likely still living in the same house as Morphomon back when she was studying in Colorado, but nevertheless, she hadn’t been talking to her anymore. Meanwhile, on the other hand, while Koushirou doesn’t seem to be with Tentomon all of the time, he still has a proper heart-to-heart with him in a way that wouldn’t be completely out of place in Adventure, so you can see why he’s not nearly in trouble as Taichi, Yamato, and Sora are at the time of the movie.

So, the take-home is that it’s not necessarily a requirement to be with your partner every single breathing moment of the day like the 02 group is; of course, them being more on the clingy (for lack of a better way to put it) side means that being emotionally in-tune with them is just a fact of life, but Koushirou, Mimi, and Jou all seem to have figured out comfortable ways of interaction and boundaries with their own partners even despite occasional distance, and that’s why they’re not in danger of losing their partners at the time of the movie, despite all of them technically being adults and Jou being a year older. (Well, there’s also the secondary metaphorical meaning of a partner meaning one’s own personal dreams and aspirations and how that factors into Taichi, Yamato, Sora, and Menoa’s actions, but we’ll leave that as a separate topic for the time being.)

One interesting thing about the epilogue is that, because the meeting depicted takes place in the Digital World and we have a very limited amount of information, we don’t really have evidence that most of the adult Chosen actually live with their Digimon partners on a day-to-day basis -- the only thing concrete we have is a strong implication that Hawkmon lives at home with Miyako’s family, which is reasonably par for the course with Miyako and Hawkmon’s respective characterizations (and although it’s not shown, you can also imagine that the very clingy Wormmon would likely prefer living with “Ken-chan” and his family). Otherwise, the only other “home” scene we get to see is that of Takeru and his son, but their partners aren’t shown in the real world.

The Character Complete File does add some implications depending on how you want to read certain ones, and Armadimon’s lack of presence in Iori’s attorney scene could conversely mean that he’s more likely to be a presence in Iori’s home life than he is in his work (which is also reasonably consistent with their characters), but either way, the take-home is that the nature of each Digimon partner’s involvement in each adult’s day-to-day life is ambiguous. So you can really make any kind of extrapolation about whose partners are involved in their lives to what degree; it’s been 17 years since Kizuna, relationships and day-to-day life needs have changed, and things like “career partner” and “family member” (or both) don’t necessarily have to entail a Digimon partner constantly clinging to their head and witnessing every moment of their life, as long as the understanding is still there that everyone still has a clear amount of emotional involvement and connection in each other’s lives to some degree.

It’s also interesting to note that the epilogue actually picks a slightly unusual way of phrasing the Digimon partnership phenomenon spreading globally: “a Digimon partner exists for everyone in the world.” In terms of sheer technical meaning, it’s not altogether that different from “everyone has a Digimon partner,” but such oblique wording brings more to mind the idea that, even now, not everyone may have met their Digimon partner yet, or may be living separately from them between worlds, or, with retroactive Kizuna context, being in a bit of an existential crisis or loss of self and having your partner not currently manifested for the time being -- but that doesn’t preclude you from having a partner, as long as you’re capable of maintaining some kind of relationship with them.

[nessinborderland]

Between Apple Pies and Chocolate Cosmos (01)

Pairing: Aguni x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Character Study

Words: 6.4k

Summary: Aguni first laid eyes on you in the greenhouse. After that, he simply couldn't take you out of his mind.

Warnings: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Feelings, Eventual Romance, Denial of Feelings, Slow Burn, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

Notes: This was inspired by the wonderful @aghostsrantingcorner ask. For reference, there’s some things in this fic that were inspired by these posts by @hatterstan-shameblog​. This will be 2-3 parts max. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do <3

Aguni first laid eyes on you in the greenhouse.

It was a rainy morning, and the Beach was as silent as you would expect after a night of deadly games and partying. He always took advantage of the silent mornings to have a walk around the place, breathe some fresh air, and – most importantly – attend to his garden.

He had started working on it soon after he and Takeru found the Beach, still in the early days when it was only them. He never saw a reason why he shouldn’t. Since he was stuck there for an indefinite amount of time – since he would probably die there – he might as well keep up with the only hobby that brought him some resemblance of peace.

So, he did it. Every single morning. It kept him grounded; reminded him of who he was.

His Eden – as he liked to think about it – was a medium-sized glasshouse near the kitchens, surrounded by land where he had replanted a variety of fruit trees and berry bushes that he had found around Tokyo. It needed some remodeling, but it was perfect as soon as he was done fixing the broken glass and built a system to expertly use the rainwater. He loved the place. Its variety of colors and smells, the silence, and – what made him the happiest – being able to watch the literal fruit of his labor grow.

It was his little piece of heaven in the hell he was trapped in.

Now, one thing about the greenhouse: no one was allowed inside the place beside him. Everybody knew it. It was not like anyone had any real interest in plants or vegetables but, still, people knew that that was his place. Even the old ladies responsible for the meals knew to not go inside; if they needed any ingredient, they asked him.

So imagine his surprise when he got closer to the glass walls of his greenhouse and heard soft singing coming from inside. It was barely audible, the tip-tap from the rain hitting the glass making it harder for him to understand any words. But he knew someone was in there.

His first thought was to barge in and kick out whoever was disrupting his garden. He could feel his anger grow as he stared at the blurred figure on the other side of the glass, messing around with his stuff. He took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping inside. 

The air inside the greenhouse was warm, with light condensation already sliding down the glass walls. The intruder – a woman, he noticed – was with her back turned to him, humming a song that was more than familiar due to Takeru’s taste in music.

“... lay all your love on– ” you gasped as you turned to him, no doubt startled by his presence. The vase in your hands shattered as it hit the floor with a loud smash, and you let out another startled sound. You crouched to clean up the mess, a row of apologies already escaping from your lips. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, please don’t move while I–”

“You shouldn’t be here,” was all he said as he stood there, stoic and cold expression looking at you from above. Your face was vaguely familiar to him – like every other face at the Beach – but he knew nothing about you. He noticed when you froze and slowly looked up, locking eyes with him. He saw the exact moment you recognized him, eyes growing wide and mouth agape as you held broken pieces of clay in your hands.

“Aguni–”

“Clean up your mess and leave,” he mumbled as he walked past you to access the damage you had done to his greenhouse. He noticed how several of his previous empty vases were now occupied by small plants and flowers that he had meant to work on that morning. You had just done his work for him. And perfectly, he could tell. Or as perfect as he could expect from someone that wasn’t him. He felt his anger subside. “The chamomile is supposed to be planted next to the tomatoes,” he said as he started carefully removing the small flowers from the vases. “We have no need for tea here.”

“Hmm...I thought you were using those for medicinal purposes?” you hesitantly asked. He kept his back to you, focusing on the task at hand as he waited for you to leave. Leave, however, you did not. "I'm sure they could be useful if–"

"There are only two kinds of people here," he interrupted in a cold tone. "The living and healthy, and the dead. If you're wounded, you belong to the latter. The tomatoes, though, could use some–"

"But couldn't we start an infirmary here?" Your question made him stop what he was doing, and he raised a brow as he looked at you over his shoulder. No one interrupted him; ever. You clearly didn't notice his hard stare as you continued to talk, "We could use garlic and oregano oil for infections, and aloe vera for–"

"You shouldn't be here," he repeated, now in a tone slightly louder than he liked to use. You halted mid-sentence, the small smile on your lips changing into a frown. "I'm not repeating myself. This greenhouse is off-limits. Leave." 

He gave you one last glance before focusing again on his task, listening as you gathered the broken vase. A whimper made him look back at you, watching as you stared at your bleeding finger, droplets of blood falling on the rich soil underneath you. He sighed before grabbing a roll of paper towels from a shelf above his head, turning to hand you one.

"Thank you," you said in a low tone as you accepted the help and involved the tissue around your finger, hissing from the pain.

Only then did he notice what that broken vase had been carrying. At your feet, in the middle of a small mountain of dirt, was a chocolate cosmos. It wasn't one of his flowers, he was sure of that. He had never even seen a live specimen before.

"Weren't those extinct?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Your eyes widen at his question before you looked at him with a soft smile on your lips. He felt the tips of his ears get warm; why in the hell were you smiling at him?

"Mhm, I think so... You can still find them in captivity, though," you said as you gently picked up the reddish-brown flower. You looked at him for a moment before nodding to the table behind him. "Could I get another vase, please? It's just that she's been staying in a box since I got her and I just wanted to– oh, thanks!"

You smiled at him again as he handed you another small vase without a word. Aguni averted his eyes, focusing on your hands as you arranged the pretty flower in its new home. He felt... uneasy, is the word. His usual relaxing morning had been ruined by some random woman with a nice smile.

He didn't like that one bit.

"Well... I'm gonna go now," you awkwardly started as you made your way to the door, before stopping and turning around as if you forgot something. "Oh, by the way, did you...did you do all this?" you asked, gesticulating around you. He nodded once and you smiled again. "It's beautiful. Good job."

With those words, you finally left him alone. 

Aguni was sure he wasn't just blushing in his ears now. His whole face was warm. He never had anyone compliment him on his gardening skills before. Yeah, Takeru told him several times he was good at it, but no one had actually shown interest. It made him feel some kind of way.

He shook his head and got back to his work. He could still enjoy his quiet morning before a council meeting if he was fast enough.

»«»«»«

You were there the next morning.

The sun had barely risen when he approached the greenhouse, a warm cup of coffee in hand while he whistled a tune that had been stuck in his head since he woke up. He hadn't even noticed you until he went to open the door, your voice making him jump slightly where he stood.

"You like ABBA too?" you asked from behind him.

He looked over his shoulder to stare at you. You were sitting under a tree not far away, that same nice smile on your face. You were holding something in your hands – something that he noticed was hot – as steam was visible in the chill morning air.

He felt his ears get warm again; damnit, he hadn't even realized that the tune he was whistling was the same song he had caught you singing the day before. He took a deep breath and shook his head. 

You both stood there, clearly waiting for the other to speak first. He was never a man of many words, though, so he just nodded once in your direction before getting inside his greenhouse and closing the door behind him.

A knock on the door not long after made him roll his eyes. He walked away from his work table with a sigh, cursing at his lack of peace and quiet; all the man wanted was to drink his morning coffee in solitude.

"What?" he asked as he opened the door to find you there, holding something wrapped in paper in his direction. He had noticed the steaming thing earlier. "What's that?"

"I wanted to thank you," you said, almost stumbling over your words as you signaled him to take it from you. "It's a pie."

"A pie?" he asked slowly, raising a brow in distrust.

"Yes, apple pie," you sent him a small smile as you tried to get him to accept the baked good. When he just stood there, arms crossed, your smile fell. He almost, almost, made a move to grab your offer then. "Hmm, Mrs. Yamamoto from the kitchen lets me use ingredients sometimes to bake stuff, and as long as I clean everything after–"

"I don't eat breakfast," he interrupted, arms still crossed as he looked you up and down with furrowed brows. He was trying to understand your intentions towards him. What was your move here?

"Oh, but you should, you know?" you said in a raised tone. "It's the most important meal of the day! A-and this one was made with your apples, so I thought you would–"

"What do you want from me?"

Even though Aguni was a man of few words, he never had any problem being direct. When you just looked at him with big, confused eyes, he was even more weirded out by your manners. You were either being genuine or were a really good actress. He didn't know what made him more uncomfortable.

"I just want to... to thank you for the vase?" you hesitantly answered, arms lowering.

His hand snapped towards your arm before he even realized, suddenly aware that he did want that pie. However, a pained gasp made him release you immediately upon touching you over your jacket. 

"Are you hurt?" he asked, secretly hoping he hadn't actually hurt you.

"I- I'm fine," you answered with a shake of your head. "It was just a small injury from yesterday's game."

"Let me see," he ordered.

You stared wide-eyed at him, and it almost made him backtrack and send you away. Why should he care if you were hurt?

Aguni was about to do exactly that when you gingerly extended your arm in his direction. He focused on your arm as his fingers lightly grabbed your wrist, pulling your sleeve up to show a burn mark roughly the size of your palm. It didn't look too bad, but he could see that you hadn't put anything on it.

"Come," he said as he gestured at you to follow him inside the greenhouse.

He worked fast as he prepared something that would help you with your burn. He didn't know much about medicinal plants, but he knew enough.

He gestured at you to sit on the table as he carefully applied a mix of aloe vera and oats to your injury with light feather-like touches. It was all done in silence until he heard a noise from you, something resembling a barely huffed laugh. He glanced up to notice you looking straight at him, that same damned smile on your lips. He quickly focused back on the injury, hoping you wouldn't notice his red ears.

"I thought I was part of the dead now," you said, clearly referencing what he had said the day before. He grunted with a shrug, now at all interested in talking about his change of ideals. "You know...I never thought you were the type," you kept talking, and he kept addressing your injury. "To like plants, I mean. This place is amazing." 

"What type am I, then?" he caught himself asking. Not that he particularly cared about your answer, but curiosity got the best of him. You laughed at his words and shrugged.

"Hmm, I don't know... the type that punches tigers?" He had to control the will to smile then, hiding his face from view. "I really wasn't expecting tall, big, and stoic Aguni to be so good with plants. I'm pleasantly surprised."

His movements halted for a second as he processed your words. He was sure he was red all over his face now, damn you. He continued what he was doing before he could overthink your words too much.

"Never judge a book by its cover."

He cringed as soon as those words left his mouth. What a corny thing to say. He decided then that your burn was sufficiently covered in aloe, and immediately retracted his hands, turning his back to you as he cleaned his fingers and tried to get his blush under control.

"Hmm, I guess you're right…" you said as he heard you stand up. "Well, thank you again, for this." He nodded and grunted in acknowledgment without turning to face you. "And the pie is here, just in case you want to try it." You hesitated, "...Hmm if you don't want it, you can always give it to Last Boss. He- he caught me in the kitchens once and I promised to bake him stuff if he helped me clean up after. He doesn't talk much and he's kind of scary, but he's nice." He turned to you then, and the expression on his face might've told you that you were overstaying your visit, so you quickly rushed for the door. "Mm okay, bye!" you said as you sent him an awkward wave and left.

He wondered if you thought he was scary but nice.

»«»«»«

A piece of chocolate cake was left by his greenhouse the day after.

The day after that, a croissant.

The gifts were always accompanied by small notes written in pretty handwriting. Some were simple recipes; others were small facts about medicinal plants he knew nothing about. He kept them all, safely hidden in a can on his worktable. A week went by where he expected a new pastry or sweet to welcome him. And, without fail, there it was. He never saw you around though, in the mornings or throughout the day, which he found odd. He didn't even know your name, but he found himself searching for you throughout the Beach, or in the games at night. But he never saw you. He would've thought you were dead if it weren't for the consistent gifts you left at his door.

Now, he wasn't lying when he said he wasn't a man for breakfast. He really wasn't. But after trying a piece of that apple pie, he saw himself devouring almost the whole thing. The same with the cake and the croissant. They were probably the best baked goods that he had ever tried. He was even more excited to start his mornings.

This morning, however, he arrived at the greenhouse to find nothing by the door. No box, no note, no wrapping. Nothing. He furrowed his brows, feeling disappointed, but quickly shrugged the feeling off as he got inside. Your pleasantries had to stop someday.

It bothered him, though. And he hated the fact that it bothered him. He hated the fact that he cared. He spent the day thinking about it. Thinking about you. Where could you possibly be? What happened? He didn’t even know your name. He didn’t know what bedroom you lived in, and it was driving him mad.

He had zoned out throughout the morning meeting, lashed out at several of the militants, and was now fully ignoring Takeru as his best friend went on and on about something he didn’t care enough to even pretend to be listening.

“Mori, hey!” His friend snapped his fingers in front of his face, forcing Aguni out of his thoughts. He stared at Takeru with a frown.

“What?” he asked, taking a sip from the glass of water in front of him.

“The first time all week that we’re having lunch together, and you’re quieter than usual,” his friend said, nodding at the plate of barely touched food in front of him. “You’re not even eating. What’s going on?” 

“I’m fine,” he shrugged, stabbing a piece of roasted rabbit with his fork and taking a bite. He chewed as he thought of a good excuse. Takeru could be annoyingly perceptive when it came to other people’s emotions, especially his. “Just have a lot on my mind, that’s all,” he finally said.

His friend looked at him for a moment before setting his elbows on the table, supporting his chin on his palms. Oh no, he knew what that meant. He was about to be questioned to death.

"Are you in love?" he asked, a slight smirk on his lips.

Aguni choked on his own spit at the man's question, violently coughing as he vehemently shook his head. 

"What the hell are you talking about?!" he asked after easing his cough, throat burning, and eyes teary from the effort.

"Well let's see," Takeru started, hand raised as he prepared himself to make a list. Aguni instantly regretted his question. "You've been late to meetings almost every morning for the past week, you barely pay attention to anything I tell you and I'm pretty sure I heard you hum 'Lay All Your Love on Me' by ABBA the other day. I've never heard you do anything close to singing," Takeru said as he wiggled three raised fingers before raising a fourth. "And a little bird told me that they heard you talking with someone inside your garden house." The smirk on his lips turned into a grin as Aguni averted his eyes. "So, tell me; who is she? Or is it a he? C'mon, you know you can tell–"

"I don't know what you're talking about," was all he said in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone.

Takeru wasn't easy to fool, though.

"You know what, I know you're full of shit, but I will allow it," he said with a fork pointed in his direction. "For now, at least. Now it's dessert time!" Takeru licked his lips as he pulled a tray to the center of the table. "I've been wanting you to try this for days, it's delicious!" He opened the tray to uncover two perfectly sized individual pies. Not just any pies, either. Aguni knew exactly who made them.

"Where did you get this?" he blurted out, staring at the perfectly cooked pastries. Takeru looked at him with a confused look.

"Huh, the kitchen? Where else?"

"Yeah, but who made them?" Aguni pressed further, wanting an answer that would show him that you were actually alive. "Were they made today?"

"Uh, I would hope so, yeah. And I don't know who made them, old Yamamoto just said it was one of her helpers," Takeru retorted with a shrug. "They're amazing, though, you should try it."

Aguni almost felt himself sag in relief. If these were made today, that meant that you were alive. It also meant that you definitely had stopped leaving gifts at his door. He tried not to focus on how he felt a little hurt by it. It was not like you owed him anything, anyway.

He still couldn't stop thinking about you as he finished his lunch with Takeru. He hated to admit it, but he felt bad for how he had treated you when you first met. He felt like he owed you at least an apology, and – not like he would ever admit it to himself – he wanted to see you again.

He always went for a short walk after lunch before having to proceed with his duties for the day. He wasn't exactly surprised to find himself by the kitchens, peeping inside the large double doors to take a look – part of him hoping to see you there.

What he saw instead were the so-called Food Ladies, a group of old women that had taken upon themselves the important role of cooking for everyone at the Beach. They were now chilling and having their own meals after the lunch hour rush. He spotted Mrs. Yamamoto, the oldest of the bunch – that also happened to be the boss – leaning by the doors that led outside, smoking her usual cigarette. She spotted him too, with small dark eyes that made him want to run away. It was strangely similar to the way his grandmother used to look at him when he misbehaved as a child.

“Oi, boy, c’mere,” she called him before he could walk away. The laughs and conversations of the other women ceased immediately as he entered the room. They eyed him for some time, one of the old ladies elbowing another before whispering something he couldn’t hear. His brows furrowed; he hated all that attention.

“Mrs. Yama–”

“You have to learn how to control your militants, Aguni,” she said as soon as he got close enough. “Two of your boys were disturbing one of my girls this morning. God knows what they would’ve done to the poor thing if I hadn’t shooed them away.” He had to control his facial expression; was she talking about you? “That girl gets up before dawn to cook sweets for so many people in this godforsaken place, and that’s how they repay her?” The old woman shook her head, before adding, “The rude boy with the piercings on his face and the odd one with the katana. See to it that they don’t get close to her again, do ya hear me?” 

He nodded once before turning to leave, anger already simmering inside him. He had the urge to use his fists on a very specific someone.

He found whom he was looking for on the roof, as he expected. Last Boss was the first to notice him, eyes going wide as Aguni power walked to the man next to him.

“...and Chishiya– oh fuck! What the hell?!” Niragi screamed as Aguni pushed him toward the edge of the roof before forcing him to lean over it.

He held the man by his collar, almost making him lose his balance and fall to his death. Part of him really wanted to let go. He knew what Niragi was capable of.

“What were you doing in the kitchen this morning?” he asked in a cold, emotionless tone. The younger man looked down before visibly gulping and staring at him with a furrowed brow.

“T- The kitchen?...” he asked back. Aguni took a deep breath before loosening the grip on his shirt, making Niragi yelp and grab his arm. “Look look, it was his idea to go there, I didn’t do anything!”

Aguni looked back at Last Boss, and the man raised his hands while shaking his head.

“He- he just followed me there, I didn’t ask him to come with me,” the tattooed man said, stumbling on his words. “If you’re talking about the old lady, she kicked us out, but we didn’t do anything, I swear.” 

“The girl?” he asked through gritted teeth. He was starting to lose his patience. The younger men shared a look between them before Last Boss started talking.

“Y/N?” he asked for clarification. So that was your name. “We didn’t touch her. Niragi just took some pies and we left.” 

“Is that so?” Aguni asked Niragi, the man still in his grasp. He knew what he was capable of, and he wouldn’t put it past Last Boss to lie for his friend. “Cause that’s not what I heard…” his fingers loosened once again around the man’s collar, making him tighten his grip on Aguni’s arm.

“Fine, fine, I- I might’ve teased her a little,” the man confessed. “But I didn’t mean to make her cry, and we left right after. I didn’t do anything, I swear!”

Aguni considered his words for a moment, before pulling Niragi off the edge and pushing him to the ground. The man cursed something under his breath that Aguni preferred to ignore as he now focused on Last Boss.

“Do you know her last name?” he asked. The man shook his head. Aguni sighed; he would have to check Mira’s records if he wanted to find her room. “You both better stay away from the kitchens and from that girl,” he said, now keeping his stone-cold gaze on Niragi. “Is that clear?”

Both men nodded. 

Without another word, Aguni left the roof.

»«»«»«

It was surprisingly hard for him to find your room. 

Mira had immediately denied any access to her records, claiming invasion of privacy. Which it was; he would probably do the same thing if he was in her place. But he pressed on, and she eventually gave in, simply saying that you lived in the south wing of the Hotel, somewhere on the second level. He accepted the information and forced himself to ask around for you, as inconspicuously as he could. Surprisingly, practically no one recognized the description he gave of you, and no one knew your name. He was almost giving up when finally...

“Oh, Y/N?” a couple of young women said. “Yeah, she lives next door to us, room 237.”

He finally had your room number.

Aguni spent five minutes gathering the necessary courage to knock on your door, hesitating and almost leaving every time he lifted his knuckles against the door. He made a frustrated sound, annoyed with himself.

“You’re an idiot,” he mumbled under his breath.

“Hello?” someone greeted behind him. Aguni froze before looking over his shoulder. There you were. Dressed in shorts and a light jacket, hair in a braid over your shoulder, and a hesitant smile on your face, you looked pretty in his eyes. It really made him wonder if Takeru was right; he did have a crush on someone. “Hmm, is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, uh- hey.” He cleared his throat as he realized he had been staring. He could feel his face getting warm. “Hm, how’re doing?” he asked, before grimacing. Ah yes, Morizono, very nice. You raised a brow as you looked at him for a moment.

“I’m... fine,” you answered with a hesitant smile. “Were you waiting for me?”

“Yes, I- I wanted to apologize,” he cringed at his stuttering. But there it was. Direct and clear. The fastest he could get himself out of this awkward conversation, the better. “I heard about what happened this morning with two of my militants, and I just want you to know that they won’t bother you again.”

“Oh, that was just a misunderstanding!" you say as you shake your head. "I was just talking with Mrs. Yamamoto about that. Nothing happened."

"That was not what I heard."

"No, no, I'm fine, they didn't do anything to me," you reassured him. "Niragi just… said some mean things, but Last Boss stopped him. Mrs. Yamamoto thought they were hurting me and I'm really sorry." You shrugged and gave him an awkward smile. "I just cry sometimes. I even went to talk with Last Boss about it, but I think Mrs. Yamamoto really scared him, 'cause he keeps avoiding me." You said with an awkward chuckle. "But I'm okay, really."

Aguni grunted with a nod, convinced that you were telling him the truth. Still, he wanted those two, Niragi in particular, as far from you as he could.

"If they mess with you again, let me know, all right?" You nodded at his request, and he almost had the urge to smile back at you. "Okay then," he said with a nod before making a move to leave.

"Hmm, did you enjoy today's pastry?" he heard you ask in a hesitant tone. He turned around, confused. There was no pastry waiting for him today. He said so to you, and your brows furrowed. "Uh, no, I'm pretty sure I left you something. Strawberry pie with a chocolate crust?"

"There was nothing when I got there," he said. There were butterflies in his stomach, though. You hadn't stopped baking stuff for him, after all. 

"That's odd…" you said as you bit your lip, wondering what could've happened. "Well," you shrugged, "I'll make sure you get it tomorrow morning, then."

He nodded without a word and watched as you smiled at him before moving to open your door.

"How's your arm?" he blurted out before he could stop himself. You froze by the door for a moment before showing him your arm, skin looking much better than it was just a week prior.

"That aloe mix you gave me helped a lot. Thanks, again," you said with another one of those smiles that made him want to smile back.

"You know…" he hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and saying what he meant to say, eyes on your feet, "If you ever want to, you can show up by the greenhouse, sometimes. There are these new seeds I got that might interest you. I don't know, but the offer stands."

He shrugged, like what he just said meant nothing. He finally focused on your face, and his stomach did somersaults as he found you grinning at him.

"I would like that very much." 

»«»«»«

You were there the next morning.

And the next. And the next. And the other one after that. Always with a smile on your face, always carrying a new sweet that you would both share.

The first days were as awkward as you could imagine. He almost feared looking you in the eyes, feeling like a teenager again with all the blushing and weird sensations in the pit of his stomach. All he needed was a smile from you to look as red as one of his tomatoes. 

At first, you would eat in silence, until you eventually broke it by mentioning something about plants, or what flowers you were expecting to bring the next time you went scavenging. Then it would be just you doing most of the talk as he stuffed his mouth with whatever deliciousness you had brought him that day, nodding, and grunting on occasion. He realized he liked hearing you speak. Hearing your voice.

Then he would start working on whatever he had planned the morning before, and that's when you would watch him as he went around his garden showing you things. You would give him ideas from time to time, always following him as you attentively listened to his words. He realized he liked the attention. Your attention.

It didn't take long until you were more comfortable around each other. Then you would both talk freely, almost always about plants. He would be lying if he said he wasn't curious to know more about you, but he didn't have the courage to ask.

"What did you do... before?" you asked one day, about a week into your morning rendezvous. You were sharing a quiche today, and he took his time chewing before answering.

"Was part of the SDF," he said. You nodded like it made sense that a man like him had a job like that. "Nothing too interesting, though,” he said with a shrug. “You?"

"Worked at my family's bakery," you said, a small smile on your face as you seemed to think back to those times. "My grandma taught me everything I know. She made the best quiche in Tokyo, you know? Mine has nothing on hers."

He couldn't control his chuckle then, nor he meant to say the words that got out of his mouth next.

"Takeru would love to hear that."

"Who?" you asked, brow raised as you chewed a piece of the salty pastry. There were flakes of crust on the corner of your mouth, and he had to control the urge to wipe them away with his thumb. He shook his head instead.

"Just a friend from… from back home," he said. "The man can't cook to save his life but bakes one hell of a quiche. Yours is better, though."

You smiled at the compliment and proceeded to eat in silence. He didn't want to waste the chance to get to know you more, though.

"What do you do all day?" he asked. You raised a brow, and he specified what he meant, "I mean, I barely see you around and no one seems to know you, so…"

"Oh, I just stay in my room all day," you said as you shrugged and let out an awkward chuckle. "I'm not really a people person and I spend most of my nights awake, so I mostly just sleep."

"What do you do when you're awake, then?"

"I go to the games, I bake and, well, now I spend some time here with you." He could swear his heart beat a little faster at your words. He felt strangely honored that you decided to spend time with him. 

"Yeah, I'm not much of a people person myself," he said. "Plants are much better, aren't they?" He tried to send you a small smile but immediately regretted it as it felt more like a grimace. You smiled back at him, though, so it probably wasn't as bad as he thought it was. 

"Hmm, you're right, but I don't mind some people."

He didn't know what to make of your statement.

»«»«»«

A month passed when you met every morning. 

Your joined morning routine had taken a comfortable rhythm for both of you, where you ate, talked, and worked without that awkward vibe of the first few days. With you joining him in the work, his crops flourished. It was the best part of his day, without a doubt.

He realized several things during that time.

The first was that you liked to sing while you worked. Didn't matter if you were planting potatoes, watering the flowers, or preparing herbal remedies – that you had eventually convinced him to be useful – you were always humming a tune under your breath, or singing the words aloud. 

The second thing he realized was that he liked it.

He liked to hear you sing so much that the songs would stay in his head for the rest of the day, and he would wake up with your voice still echoing in his head. He had even caught himself whistling at times. Once during a council meeting, where he had zoned out again and was completely oblivious to the fact that he had been humming 'I Want to Break Free’ by Queen until Takeru snapped his attention and everyone was looking at him like he had grown two heads. All except his best friend, that had a knowing smirk on his lips.

The third thing he realized – and, to his shock, didn't surprise him – was that he had totally developed a crush on you.

"So, am I ever going to meet them or what?" Takeru asked over his glass of golden whiskey, taking a sip when Aguni took too long to answer. "You can't keep them a secret from me forever."

"I don't know what you're talking about," was all Aguni said as he took a gulp of his own drink, avoiding his friend's eyes and looking at the moon up high in the sky. His friend really had the best view for late-night drinking, especially after a stressful game. 

"Fine, don't tell me," Takeru shrugged like he didn't care, but Aguni could tell he one hundred percent did. What was he supposed to tell him? There was no relationship for him to talk about. 

"Okay, listen…" his friend's eyes shined as he focused all his attention on him, making Aguni want to hide from his scrutiny. He took a deep breath before saying, "There's nothing to talk about. There's no relationship."

"Ahh, but you're in love, aren't you?" Takeru let out an excited laugh, and Aguni could feel the corners of his mouth pulling up. "In all the years we've been friends I saw you like what? Three people? And you never behaved like this." He drank whatever was left of the drink in his glass before filling it up again. "This one sure looks promising." There was a pause where they just drank in silence before he asked again "So, what's her name? It’s a she, isn't it?"

"Y/N," Aguni mumbled, loud enough for him to hear. Takeru's eyes widen comically at the name.

"The pie girl?!" he asked in a raised tone. "You're head over heels for the pie girl?" He laughed then, and Aguni furrowed his brows in annoyance.

"You know her?" 

"Yeah, I mean, old Yamamoto wouldn't tell me who the miracle baker was, so I went to see for myself. She's cute," he let out a mean chuckle, "I knew you were getting thicker around the waist. She's feeding you well, I see."

"Yeah." Aguni gave him a full-on smirk as he said the next words, "She makes the best quiche I've ever eaten." 

The shocked and offended gasp that left Takeru's mouth almost made him laugh. 

"You take that back!" the man punched his arm once and drank the remaining of his whiskey in one single gulp. "You just ruined my night. Get out and think about what you just said. I'll be expecting an apology by morning."

Aguni laughed then, the only kind of laugh that he could only make when he was around his best friend.

"Yours is good," he shrugged, still laughing. "But hers is better."

»«»«»«

->Next Chapter

[emilycollins00]

*slides in* can i have some fluff about tsuzuru and reader meeting the entire minagis _(:3」∠) (p/s love you emily~ hope you have a nice day)

My face when I read this request? I am FLOORED Miru. Big brain time. Love you too 💕

Thanks to @androidjasmine here is a photo of the young ones and their names to keep you all on your toes! It’s all fun and games until you remember everyone is called almost the same. Enjoy! 💕

Meeting at the Minagi's (TsuzuruxReader)

Kaoru stopped in his tracks and squinted his eyes, holding onto the heavy basket full of clothes. “Are you two really going to stay there until they come?”

“Of course we are!”

“We are!”

None of his two youngest brothers even bothered to turn around, eyes fixed on the door’s entrance, hands on their hips.

The seventh Minagi adjusted his glasses from inside the living room at the responses. He then licked his finger to pass another page of his book. “Don’t waste your time Kaoru-niisan. I’ve already tried to talk to them. It’s a lost cause.”

“Hey, I heard that!” this time Takeru’s head moved slightly, though his body and eyes remained facing the door. “And we are not a lost cause! We will make sure this Y/N person is good or bad before they set a foot inside!”

“Inside!” the youngest Minagi happily yelped.

Kaoru rolled his eyes, leaving the basket on the floor of the living room. As long as they were occupied for now it was fine, he imagined. He had been all over the place since he came back from school so any peace he could get was appreciated. “Can you fold these Tooru? I need to check on the vegetables cooking for dinner. Don’t want to ruin them.”

“What are we having?”

“Stir-fried crispy noodles.” Kaoru looked at the clock. “Some side dishes too If I manage.”

The young boy left the book on the side and stretched. “Sounds good. Want to help me Mitsuru? I know you can fold socks now.”

The soft boy who had until then been engrossed watching tv turned around quickly. “Yeah! Can I show them to Tsuzu-nii when he comes? He doesn’t know I learned yet!”

“Sure. You better fold them the best you can then, okay?”

“Okay!”

Kaoru smiled at the exchange. He was about to head back to the kitchen when the front door opened. “Ah, those must be-”

“Get away from Tsuzu-nii!”

There was a sound of something heavy falling and hitting the ground.

“Ow! Takeru what the-That hurt!”

“Tsu-nii comes home!”

Laughing, Yuzuru ran past the first twin and jumped on top of the second one -still untouched- who took him in his arms.

“You don’t have to follow everything Takeru does Yuzuru.”

“Come on now, I already told you before they are not coming for another two hours!” Kaoru walked in and bent over to help them stand. “Sorry Suberu. They have been all over the place about Tsuzuru’s and Y/N-san’s visit.”

“I can see that… why though? You didn’t act like this with Meguru-nissan.” he caressed his pained back. Takeru huffed, crossing his arms and turning his back on them.

“Meguru-nii stinks! He hasn’t come back to visit ever since he got married!”

Noboru chuckled, leaving Yuzuru once again down. “I see some pieces coming together.”

“Me too. Anyway, you two can stay here but only as long as there’s no more headbutting. You hear me Takeru? You promised you would behave today.” after he received a pouty nod from him, Kaoru decided to leave it be and turned his attention to the middle schoolers. “Welcome back you two. How was school? Think you two can help me prep the table and take away the toys?”

“Are mom and dad not home yet?”

“They both texted they might be a bit late, hopefully still on time.” The oldest finally managed to enter the kitchen, lowering the heat of the big pan. He should start prepping the rice and the noodles.

“Then we’ll shower and come back down.”

“Hey Mitsuru, are you and Tooru folding socks?”

“Yeah! I’m going to show them to Tsu-nii!”

“Tsuzuru’s partner uh.” Suberu muttered as both climbed the stairs. “I'm kinda excited too, not going to lie- who knew this day would actually come.”

Noboru laughed softly, following his twin inside their shared bedroom. “I know. Whoever was able to crack the head of that brother of ours, as much as I love him, deserves a raise.” .

.

.

A sneeze came out of you stronger than you had anticipated, making you stop in the middle of the road.

“You okay there? Here.” Tsuzuru looked inside his pocket, pulling out a small box of tissues and handing it to you.

“Ah- Thanks.” You cleaned your nose while looking at him ask for two train tickets on the station. He then gave you one and kept one for himself.

“It’s weird for you to sneeze, do you think you are getting sick? It’s gotten pretty chilly at night lately.”

“I’m good. You on the other hand are the one who looks constipated.”

“Ah…” He sighed, shaking his head. “Well, you can say that again, sorry. I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”

You nudged him on the way to the platform. “You worry too much. It’s just your parents and brothers right? Anytime you mention them it even makes me jealous of how much you all care for each other.”

“They are great. For the most part at least. It’s just… I guess I’m like this because I’ve never brought home someone. So, yeah. Don’t pay much attention to it.”

And while he tried to shrug it off, you couldn’t help but feel a little happy. You both had been dancing around the idea for a while, and after arranging times, although the two oldest Minagi brothers had had some difficulties to come at the last moment, you both decided to keep the day and meet the rest of the family.

“You know, I would lie If I said I’m not nervous, but I also can’t say I’m not excited. Hey,” tapping Tsuzuru’s knee he spun to face you. “We got this. Mankai was already covered right? I doubt I’ll have a bigger interview than that one.”

The sound of the train made its way into the station at the same time Tsuzuru groaned.

“Please don’t bring that up. I’m still trying to forget it.”

You laughed at the face he started to make. “See? This will be a walk around the park. Plus I believe bought sweets for everyone,” you lifted the token bags you had been carrying since you two had met and nodded proudly. “I count on convincing at least four to my side.”

Your joke finally made him grow a tiny smile. As the train stopped in front of you two he reached out to take your hand into his, your touch seeming to calm him down. You gave his hand a light squeeze.

.

Later on

“Okay, here we are.”

You rolled your eyes at your boyfriend’s dramatic remark when he stopped at the sight of -what you guessed was- his household roof.

“Tsuzuru.” cupping his face you pulled him close, his nose against yours. “I love you and I’m going to love your family too.”

His cheeks grew warm at your loud statement. “Just… if my little brothers are too much, let me know. Everyone kind of… tends to get overexcited.” he confessed. You both walked up to the front door, Tsuzuru knocking a few times before he stepped back to stand next to you.

Immediately a few voices came from inside the house, followed by the sound of closing steps. A woman opened the door, beaming at the sight of you two. “There you are, welcome!”

“Hi mom.”

“Hello dear.” she hugged him tightly as you followed them inside, setting down the bags and enjoying the scene. She gave off the same natural warmth and comfort Tsuzuru gave off, along with the distinctive turquoise vibrant eyes both wore. "I'm glad to see you are doing good," she then turned to you with a gentle smile. “And you must be Y/N, it’s so nice to formally meet you in person.”

You smiled back as you bowed. “I feel the same. You have a very lovely home by the way,” Tsuzuru and you started to step out of your shoes, tucking them up against where the others lay when the voices you had heard with the door closed -and a good sound of running steps- became louder and louder.

“Oh, I guess the twins weren’t able to stop them.”

“Tsuzuru-nii!!”

Tsuzuru's mother moved you both discreetly to the side as three balls of energy of different heights passed in front of you and tackled your boyfriend, making him almost fell to the ground. "H-hey, careful!" All of them wore brown hair and turquoise eyes just like in all the photos you had seen of them, and talked at such speed it was difficult for you to understand what one said over the others.

"We missed you!"

"Missed you lots!"

“Yeah it’s been ages, what took you so long?!”

Your heart grew warm when you noticed Tsuzuru’s eyes softening, even though he was slightly scolding them at the same time -trying to calm them down. You turned to her mother, who was watching the scene with the exact same expression. “Is there anything I can help you with meanwhile? I guess preparing food for this many people is no small feat.”

“Oh don’t worry Y/N, you are our guest today. I imagine you are tired too.”

“Tsuzu-nii you have to see my socks, look!"

"Leave the socks alone, come upstairs to see what game mom bought us last week!"

“Well aren’t you mister popular around here.”

His mother chuckled, embracing herself. “They get really attached to him whenever he comes back.”

“I imagine.”

"Are you Y/N?" one of them glanced your way, hiding behind Tsuzuru but without fully letting him go.

"I am. It's nice to finally see you all instead of just your pictures."

“Woah! Are these presents?”

“Yuzuru?” his mother called out “What did we talk about looking inside other people's bags?”

“Oi, Yuzuru!” Turning away from praising Mitzuru’s folded socks and Takeru’s hold, Tsuzuru tried to take him away from your bags too. You smiled, waving silently as to tell them it was okay. You crouched down to his height.

“Yup! Some sweets I brought for everyone later. I hope you like mochi.”

“I do! Take-nii too!”

“Is that so?” You turned to said boy, making him flinch and blush, still trying to hide between Tsuzuru’s legs. He glanced your way frowning shyly.

“I only like it with cream...”

“I-I like it with chocolate and strawberries!” Mitzuru called getting close to you now, socks now long forgotten. You smiled, mentally thanking asking Tsuzuru for advice.

“Good thing we have both and some more then.”

As if that changed everything, the three youngest Minagis started jumping and celebrating enthusiastically around you. Tsuzuru’s mother smiled while Tsuzuru himself tried to calm them down again.

“Thank you Y/N. I will take them to the fridge. For now let’s try to enter the living room and get you two seated. Kaoru has been all afternoon in the kitchen and your father and I are trying to help him finish making dinner, I’ll go get them.” .

.

.

With the youngest right on his toes, Tsuzuru guided you to the living room, finding the twins and the one you guessed was Tooru -mainly because of the glasses- waiting patiently for their turn.

“Hey guys. Y/N, these are Noboru and Suberu, the twins and Tooru.”

“Hi there!” you waved brightly, receiving a few quiet smiles. They seemed warier to approach you than the young ones, so you had waited for Tsuzuru to present you. "Oh. Tsuzuru was right, I can differentiate you better than I expected."

"Ah- yeah, when we were younger we used to look a lot more similar."

"I see... Are you two really middle schoolers? I'm really jealous of this house's general height."

The spring member laughed while turning to the one who had been quieter, kneeling next to him. “Hey buddy."

"...Hi"

"I see you are already on the second volume of that series, uh” Tsuzuru placed a hand on top of his head patting it. “I loved when I was younger a lot too.”

Tooru looked up at him surprised. When he noticed his behaviour he blushed, adjusting his glasses and quickly lowering his head smiling. He hugged the book against his chest tighter and nodded. "I missed you around, Tsuzuru-nissan."

"Me too." Tsuzuru patted his head once more as he stood up. "Y/N's right, I can’t believe you two are this tall already.”

“Well- It’d be nice to beat you nissan.”

At that moment another figure entered the living room, older than all the others you had seen so far. “I hope we don’t scare Y/N with all this chaos guys, we can hear you from all over the kitchen.”

You walked up to him and bowed with a smile. “Everyone has been great so far. It’s nice to finally meet you, Minagi-san.”

He nodded with a friendly smile, the wrinkles around his eyes making his face calming and comforting to look at. “The sentiment is mutual. You know, Tsuzuru's never brought anyone home before. He must be serious about you.”

You grinned, noticing the spring member's face gain color. “I’ve been somewhat informed.”

“Yeah! How did you convince him to go out with you?”

“I know! Is it because he tells amazing stories?”

"He also plays football super good."

"But not as good Meguru-nissan!"

"But still-!"

“Guys I appreciate the effort but can you not.”

The man gave a relaxed chuckle, ruffling his playwright son’s hair affectionately. “We are just glad to see you are doing good Tsuzuru, we’ve missed you.”

“You all have a weird way to show it.” Tsuzuru sighed embarrassed.

“Mhm? We haven’t taken out the albums yet.”

“And it will stay like that over the whole dinner.”

“Coming through!”

Making way for them, Tsuzuru’s mother and Kaoru arrived with a few more plates to share with everyone in the middle of the table. After they were placed, the high schooler turned to you. He gave away a similar vibe as the spring member, looking a bit all over the place, although that could also have been because of all the cooking and prepping you imagined it took. “Nice to meet you. Kaoru, right?”

“Yeah,” he smiled back. “Nice to meet you too, Y/N-san. The house is a bit of a mess but I hope you enjoy dinner at least.”

Oh, he definitely is a clone of Tsuzuru. “Are you kidding?” you shook your head at the number of plates with the biggest smile. “It smelled amazing even from the entrance! I can’t believe you cooked all this.”

The boy flushed at the sudden compliments. His parents shared a smile behind you as they made everyone get to their seats. “Ah- well, kinda. We use to have food prepared each day so it wasn’t that difficult.”

“Styr-fry crispy noodles, uh?” Tsuzuru looked around as you all placed your hands together and gave your thanks. “Mhm, this is good.” He nodded contentedly. “I can't believe how much I missed this flavor. Thanks Kaoru.”

Kaoru instantly lighted up at the statement, making you understand just how much Tsuzuru’s opinion and figure were valued around. All the young ones had fought in order to sit next to him, so you decided to give away your seat and instead eat next to one of the twins and his mother.

“So Y/N, are you studying too?”

“Yeah.” You explained your major and engaged in conversation with Kaoru and the twins, talking about selecting careers and future schools.

“How’s Tadoru-nissan? I’ve talked to Meguru-nissan lately but he’s unavailable whenever I call.”

At Tsuzuru’s questions, his mother placed a hand on her cheek pensively. "I wonder too. The last thing I know was him staying in an old village, where was it...?" her husband shook his head when she glanced at him. "But well- you know how he is. One day on one place yet tomorrow he could be perfectly knocking on this door."

"I hate how right you are..."

“Hey, Y/N! What do you think of his stories?” Takeru looked at you, eyes bright with expectantly. "Aren't they just so awesome?"

Having your mouth full too, you could only give him a thumbs up while nodding. You swallowed and chuckled. "They are. Your brother is pretty awesome in general."

You noticed Tsuzuru rolling his eyes, hiding his probably flushed face by drinking water.

“Right? He works so hard too!”

“Maybe too hard though.”

“I agree.”

“We used to do plays written by him when everyone was younger.”

His father leaned on the table entertained. "Right. You all loved to be selected for different roles."

“Oh, I didn’t know that! I’d love to see a full Minagi play at some point.”

Tsuzuru's eyes opened in shock. You could perfectly read the word traitor coming from his lips before gasps and general chaos erupted.

"We could?! I want to!!"

“Man they were a mess but it was fun. Tooru always wanted to be the hero, remember?”

"Me? No way!"

“Play, play!”

“I-I too wanna do a play written by Tsuzu-nii!”

His mother cleaned the corner of her third-youngest and smiled. “Maybe Tsuzuru could write something the next time he comes. Now it’s dinner time okay?”

Takeru gasped with excitement and stood up, looking at the playwright. “That would be so cool! You have to promise you will make one for us!”

“Promise!”

Tsuzuru scratched the back of his head. He looked in your direction but you shrugged, enjoying the situation too much to intervene. In the end he sighed and smiled defeated. He could never win against such excited faces. “Sure, I’ll try to come up with something next time.”

"Yay!!" .

.

.

“Are you sure you two don’t want to sleep here tonight? It’s gotten really late.”

“It’s fine mom. We both have University tomorrow so we should try to head back”

After having dinner and enjoying the sweets you had brought, midnight almost reached the Minagi household, so you two decided it was about time to head home. You were now at the entrance, having already said goodbye to the rest of the siblings and now being just both parents and Kaoru left.

“Alright, just be careful okay? And Y/N, come back whenever you want. We loved having you today.” Tsuzuru’s mother gave you a hug while his father smiled agreeing, nodding as he rocked an already sleep Yuzuru in his arms.

“It was a pleasure.”

“I’ll go with them,” Kaoru suddenly decided, stepping in to grab his own shoes. “I want to buy some ice cream from the convenience store anyway.”

And so, you three kept talking until the station came to view. Tsuzuru took a deep breath. It had been quite a while since he had walked around like that, a nostalgic feeling emerging as he remembered old times by looking at the streets. Time really flies.

“You didn’t have to walk us back, it’s late.”

“I know. Still wanted to.” his younger brother shrugged and placed his hands inside his pockets. The evening air was fresh. “I like them.”

“Uh?”

“Y/N-san, I mean.” looking behind Tsuzuru, he saw you humming while waiting for the train tickets back to Veludo to come out from the machine. “They must be special if you’re willing to bring them home to meet us.”

Tsuzuru copied him, watching your back and your little dance in the distance. He unconsciously felt the corners of his mouth rising up. “…Yeah. They are.” It was embarrassing to say it out loud in the silence of the night, but it was true.

“Meguru-nissan and Tadoru-nissan told me they would both try to come for dad’s birthday. You should bring them too.”

Tsuzuru snorted. His older brothers were on a whole new level. He ruffled Kaoru’s head. “Thanks. For everything.”

“You know you don’t have to thank us."

“Still-"

“Done!” You waved the tickets as you made your way back to the two brothers. “We are all set to go.” Kaoru nodded in understanding.

“Then I’ll go too. It was nice getting to know you, Y/N-san. We leave our big brother in your care. He’s a worrywart… so please don’t be afraid of taking his coffee and make him take a break.”

“Oh, that’s some hard quest right there.”

“I’m still here, you two are aware of this right?”

You both laughed at the spring member. “I will do my best to take care of your big brother, I promise." you turned to him.

Kaoru's eyes softened at your response. "Thanks." .

. .

“I think they liked you.” The playwright suddenly commented once inside the train, some time after you parted from Kaoru. You yawned and looked up smiling. “I got that feeling too, although I didn’t wanna jinx it. Were you expecting something different?”

He shrugged. “Not really. Just glad it ended well.” Tsuzuru took your hand, caressing it with his thumb.

“I liked them too, you nailed every single one of them.” You yawned again. “I’m also deadly tired though.”

“Welcome to my life.”

You giggled, allowing your head to rest on his shoulder. You could feel how happy and fortunate he had felt tonight, being able to enjoy some quality family time even though he used to complain here and there. Soon enough your breathing fell into a steady rhythm at the soothing sound of the rails. Along with the empty wagon, you closed your eyes enjoying Tsuzuru’s warmth.

It had been a nice day.

_____________________________________________________ The Minagi household literally has my heart.

Hope you all have a wonderful day! 💕

[hatterstan-shameblog]

💫✨💕send this to ten bloggers you think are wonderful. keep the game going 💕✨

Have a nice day/night/dance battle with the peacocks! :D

Alright, since you are a) very cool and fun and b) you took the time to send such a lovely message, I’m going to give you a part of a fic series I started many moons ago and abandoned for other things

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Hatter Has Definitely Kissed Every Executive At Least Once And This Is How It Went:  Ann Edition 

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Rating: PG-13

Tags: Alcohol, shenanigans, everyone’s cutting loose, mild reluctance (but these people don’t turn down dares so y’know)

Summary: As a “team building” exercise, all of the Executives have met for a little get-together; and with alcohol and a rousing game of “truth or dare” involved, what could possibly go wrong?

“Ann,” Chisiya says, “truth or dare?”

Ann sighs.  Her red-lacquered fingernails tap rhythmically against the green of a beer bottle, the glassy sound barely audible above the chatting of the half-drunk executives.

“I already told you, I’m not playing.”

“The fuck you aren’t,” Niragi snaps, grip on his rifle tightening as he downs another shot of vodka, “no skips, that’s the rule.”

“If I had to do it, you have to do it,” Keiichi offers mournfully, taking a sad sip of bourbon from a crystal-cut glass, “it’s only fair.”

Ann turns her attention towards Hatter.  He’s taking a healthy swig from—ew, is that a bottle of peppermint schnapps?  She wrinkles her nose in disgust as he raises his eyebrows in a suggestive arch.

“This is a terrible idea,” she tells him for the fourth time in the last hour, “and you should feel bad for making us do this.”

“Ann.  Sweet, darling,” Hatter takes note of her unimpressed grimace, “angry Ann.  This is all an exercise in trust.  A way for all of us executives to bond.”

“And because he loves the drama,” Aguni adds.

“I really do,” Hatter says wistfully, “So, come on.  One round and then you can go back to summoning demons or whatever you do in your little basement crypt.”

Ann sighs.  Everyone is looking at her with expectant eyes.  She finishes the rest of her beer and puts the empty bottle on the table.

“Fine,” she says, “One round, and then I’m leaving.”

“The ice queen giveth in,” Chisiya says, the corners of his mouth turning up onto a mischievous grin, “So, pick your poison.  Truth...or dare?”

“Dare,” Ann says coolly, and the room erupts.  Even Last Boss, who had been lurking in the corner until now, gasps.  In a rare show of camaraderie, Niragi slaps Chisiya on the back and tells him to ‘give that bitch a good one.’

Imbeciles.  All of them.

“Everyone gather ‘round the table,” Chisiya purrs—yes, purrs—as he looks her with a twinkle in his eye, “because this particular date involves each and every one of you.”

“Even me?” asks Last Boss.

“But of course,” Chisiya says, “we need everyone if we’re going to play...spin the bottle.”

Ann feels the blood drain from her face.  Oh, this little blond twerp is despicable.  He is evil and terrible and—

“No re-spins.  No backing out.  The kiss must last a minimum of five seconds, but it can go longer if you feel so inclined.”

“I won’t,” Ann answers curtly.  There is not a person in this room she could ever want to kiss.  (Except for Mira, but.  Well.  That’s a thought for another day.)

“I don’t know,” Niragi says with an exaggerated flick of his tongue, the silver piercing winking at her in a supposedly seductive manner, “once you get a taste of a real man, you might find yourself hooked.”

“Perhaps Niragi wouldn’t be so bad,” Mira muses with a serene smile, “his oral fixation is off-putting on the best of days, but it might translate well to a more intimate experience.  That is, until he starts talking again.  Then it’ll be terrible.”

Niragi’s face twists into a sharp scowl as he tries to sputter a comeback; drunkenness and embarrassment have apparently robbed him of his mental faculties, so he crosses his arms over his chest and pouts.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Ann says with a huff.  

She places her empty beer bottle, label-side down, on the long wooden table.  For the first time this evening, everyone is silent.  Honestly, it’s kind of nice—it would be better if she didn’t have to end up kissing one of them, but, beggars can’t be choosers.

“You know,” Ann says, “there is a possibility it could land on me.  Does that mean I don’t have to kiss anyone?”

“That means you get to choose,” Chisiya says, “which...well, that will most certainly add some spice to the night, wouldn’t it?”

“Very evil,” Aguni concludes with a nod, “I like it.”

Hm.  Well, it was worth a shot.  

With one final, annoyed sigh, Ann places her hand on the bottle and gives it a powerful spin.  Maybe it’ll spin right off the table and shatter on the floor.  She wouldn’t have to do anything weird, and then she could just go back to her room and take a long bath.  Alone.  The way the universe intended.

It’s impossible not to watch the bottle spin, light refracting off the glass and casting flickering spots of light around the room.  It’s just a kiss.  She’s kissed people before.  Many people.  At least two.  

Friends kiss each other all the time.  Not her friends, but other people and their friends.  And these people aren’t really ‘friends,’ but they’re...acquaintances.  Colleagues.  Does that make it better or worse?

It’s slowing down now.  With each passing second, her fate is being decided by the neck of the bottle.  Mira, Last Boss, Keiichi—oh, God, please don’t let it be Keiichi, they have a meeting in the morning, that would be so awkward...

But, luckily, the bottle does not land on Keiichi.  It does not land on Niragi, nor does it land on Chisiya.  Last Boss has also been spared, as have Aguni and Mira.  That leaves only one candidate...

“Oh, Ann,” Hatter says, clapping his hands together and looking entirely too pleased with this very strange turn of events, “I always knew there was something between us!”

The thing he’s talking about is tolerance—she tolerates him because it is both sensible and beneficial to be on his good side.  He also, surprisingly enough, defers to her expertise on certain matters, which is more than can be said for her previous employers.  They are friendly, certainly, but most certainly not friends.  

And...lovers?  

Out of the question.

But Fate (and a smug little blonde) have decided that they share a moment of passion. Could she have spun worse?  Yes.  Could she have spun better?  Absolutely.  100%.  Without a doubt.

But Ann is a woman of integrity.  When she commits, she commits.  And so, as she walks to the other side of the table, she keeps her spine straight and her head held high.  She refuses to let these people see her falter.

“In addition to the parameters already given, I’d like to establish some rules of my own,” she says coolly, barely resisting the temptation to roll her eyes when he takes another gulp of alcohol.  Yep, that’s definitely peppermint schnapps he has—she can tell by the stench of it, the way it’s sharpness burns at her eyes.

She’s always hated peppermint schnapps.

“Fine, fine,” Hatter says with a wave of his hand, “as long as you promise not to fall completely in love with me in the process.”

That gets a laugh from everyone—and even Ann considers cracking a smile at the thought of someone like her ever feeling something for someone like him.  

“No tongue.  No teeth.  And,” Ann tell him firmly, “if you want to leave this room with your balls intact, I suggest you keep your hands to yourself.”

The group ooh’s at that.  Ann doesn’t look at them.  She keeps her gaze focused on the man in front of her, watching him intently for any signs of weakness.

All she gets is a smirk.

“I would expect nothing less of you, Ann,” he replies, “however, you’re more than welcome to put your hands anywhere on my person.”

He leans in slightly, almost as if he’s letting her in on a secret.

“I could even give you a few suggestions, if you like.”

What a perfectly hideous thing for him to say.  It doesn’t help that he’s fluttering his eyelashes at her like some kind of lovestruck cartoon character.  

It’s annoying.

He’s annoying.

With a roll of her eyes, Ann grabs Takeru by the silk of his obnoxious robe and crashes her mouth against his-- because she’ll be damned if he’s the one kissing her.  

Five...

The group gasps-- Takeru included, the noise muffled by the seal of their lips as she kisses him fully and firmly.

Four...

And it’s...not as gross as it could be, but it’s still a very odd experience.  His lips are soft enough, and his beard-moustache-whatever-the-fuck is scratchy in a way that is.  Well, it’s interesting.  Not good, but...interesting.

Three...

“This is fucking weird,” Niragi shouts, sounding very disgusted.

Two...

“It’s like watching my parents,” Last Boss adds, “when they were still trying to convince my sister and I they were still in love and weren’t going to get a divorce.”

One...

And done.

“Okay,” Ann says flatly as she pulls away and swallows a grimace at the sight of her favorite shade of lipstick on Takeru’s lips (and is actually a very nice compliment to his skin tone, frustratingly enough) “Can I go now.” 

For good measure, she releases his robe with a disdainful flick of her fingers and subtly brushes her hands off on her shorts.  It’s not enough to get the scent of peppermint schnapps and awkwardness off of her skin, but it can’t hurt.

“A deal’s a deal,” Chisiya concedes, his eternally mischievous smirk stretched across his cheeks, “And I must say, I didn’t expect you to fulfill your end of the bargain so...enthusiastically.”

“That’s because nobody can resist me,” Takeru gloats, bottle of alcohol back in his grip as if it had never truly left, “It’s not her fault I’m so delectable--”

“Detestable,” Ann corrects under her breath.

“--And, even though you’ll try to deny it,” Takeru continues, disregarding her comment, “both of us know that there’s a part of you that liked kissing me.”

“I liked the part when she stopped,” Mira chirps cheerfully, “In fact, I think we all did!”

“You have no idea,” Aguni murmurs solemnly into his drink, his eyes darting towards Takeru with an unimpressed look.  That’s...hm, there’s clearly some kind of story there, although Ann isn’t sure she wants to know about it. 

Everyone begins talking amongst themselves once again-- Niragi has offered to spin the bottle next, and there’s a small argument breaking out over whether or not the group should continue with their original game of ‘truth or dare’ or pivot to this new one. 

And, Ann?

Ann doesn’t stick around to find out. 

[haikyuuwriting]

i just read your “forget it, you’re a fucking asshole” oikawa imagine and omg i- jskdjsksk

i know its been quite a while since it was posted but is it possible to ask for a part 2 where he struggles to move on and he sees the reader again then its hella angsty but with a hopeful ending? :(

hey thanks for sending this in!! I haven’t written a request in a while and this was super refreshing to write, so thank you!!

part one

—

The first few weeks adjusting to his new life went much better than he’d expected. He was way too busy meeting his new teammates, unpacking, and getting a feel of this new country he’d be living in, to think of anything other than the tasks he was focusing on. But when he went to bed three weeks after moving in, he wasn’t as tired as he had been, and his mind wandered to a conversation he’d had with Iwa-chan two weeks ago. 

Iwa-chan had called to check in on him, to see how he was settling in. Oikawa almost started crying—he was so relieved to hear a familiar voice. And piled on top of that was the lingering regret of the breakup. Now that he’d arrived in his new empty apartment, with no one to call or talk to, he was missing Y/N more than ever. He didn’t think that was possible, but the ache in his chest was so much stronger than it had been when they were dating and they weren’t together. He remembered that ache well; lying awake restless at night thinking of what Y/N was doing in that instant until he caved and would send them a text, and they’d immediately respond, teasing him for missing them.

Oikawa didn’t ask about Y/N, and Iwa-chan didn’t bring it up. He knew Iwa-chan would yell at him if he dared to ask about them, and this killed his dwindling courage to ask. Iwa-chan said he’d check in later in the month if he wasn’t busy, and when he hung up Oikawa was left with the ringing silence of his apartment.

Two months later he started training with his new teammates, and the time spent alone with his thoughts lessened considerably. On off days he took to wandering around the city exploring, or finding plants to fill his apartment with, remembering the window sill of his mom’s kitchen back home and the way it was always filled with plants. 

But no matter what he did, he couldn’t forget about Y/N. He’d downloaded dating apps and gone on a couple of dates, and no matter how much he enjoyed them he couldn’t bring himself to agree to a second date. He was starting to get frustrated with himself, scared he’d let it start to affect his playing. But none of his teammates or coach had yet to say anything about it, which relieved him. 

Before he knew it his off season was here, and he’d listen quietly to his teammates talk about returning home for a while to visit family. Oikawa still hadn’t decided if he’d leave for Japan. He did miss his family, but he also had a nagging feeling as though he should stay for now. He mentioned it to Iwa-chan through text in passing, and received a heated reply nearly a week later.

Stupidkawa. Stop being such a wuss, if you run into Y/N nothing bad will happen. When are you coming back, I might be able to kick your ass if I’m home at the same time as you.

This earned a laugh out of Oikawa. Unfortunately, though their schedules didn’t match up. But Oikawa made up his mind to head home for a bit. His parents were delighted, and Takeru was already making plans for playing volleyball with him as soon as he landed. 

He left his plants under the care of one of his teammates who was staying in the city and then he was off, catching his flight just before it left and settling into his seat with his stomach filled with nerves. He knew they weren’t about the flight—he was unnervingly nonchalant about airplanes. Oikawa was nervous about the small chance he’d run into Y/N, and what he’d say to them.

When their relationship was all he thought about, he practically had an apology memorized. That was months ago, though, and now he had no clue what he’d say to them. 

When he landed, Takeru and his older sister were there to take him home, and Oikawa felt his eyes teared up as he hugged them. He loved his apartment and his new friends, but now he was realizing he truly had missed home. The first few days back in Japan were a blur. Oikawa spent a lot of it telling stories to Takeru and playing volleyball with him, and helping his mom cook. He even made plans to meet up with old friends in the next few weeks. Things to look forward to.

One Saturday he found himself in an empty house. His parents had gone out to watch a movie together, and his sister and Takeru were busy at their own house, so he had the day to himself. His feet carried him out the door and down familiar streets. Streets he’d walked with Y/N, places they’d frequented often. 

He scanned faces as he crossed streets and peeked into stores, unconsciously searching for them. 

Until he finally found them.

He was grabbing lunch at one of his favorite small restaurants, the one he’d not so coincidentally brought Y/N on for their first date. He was settling down to wait for his food when he glanced up to see someone who’d just walked into the restaurant. They turned to look at him, as if drawn toward him, and when their eyes met Oikawa's his breath caught in his throat and his heartbeat sped up.

Y/N froze, eyes still trained on him, their expression unreadable. Oikawa was sure he was gaping at them like a fish, and he even felt his cheeks warming up slightly. He quickly glanced away, choosing to look intently at his phone, pretending to scroll through it. Anything to avoid eye contact. He hears Y/N order and sees them sit down at a nearby table out of the corner of his eye. He can’t tell if they’re looking over at him. He sincerely hopes not. 

Months of suppressing feelings begins to bubble up inside of him to the point where he feels unwell. A waiter brings him his food and he barely manages a thank you despite feeling infinitely grateful for a new distraction.

He swears he can feel Y/N watching him as he starts to eat. He’s glad he can’t see them well. If he could actually see them glaring at him he doesn’t know if he could ever recover. As he eats Oikawa tries to talk himself into going over to talk to them, finally apologizing for what he did. Because that had been his biggest regret of all— making Y/N feel as though they weren’t even worth his time. They were everything to him, and in the end he hadn’t shown that at all. 

He stands up abruptly just as the waiter is handing Y/N their to-go order. Shit. Oikawa hadn’t been paying attention. Of course they wouldn’t be eating here. 

He walks to where they are still sitting as the waiter scurries off. “Can I sit?” He almost sighs in relief when Y/N gives him a small nod.

“I am truly sorry for how I ended things. You didn’t deserve my shitty excuse of a breakup and the shitty way I told you, especially because you meant so much to me. I should’ve told you in person, and not doing so is my fault and I’m so sorry.” He exhales as he finishes, relaxing his shoulders as though the weight of his regret has literally been lifted off. “I don’t expect you to accept my apology or say anything, I just needed to apologize to you. It killed me that I didn’t get the chance to when I left.”

He moves to get up, to shamefully walk back to his table and drink some of his water to get rid of his dry throat, when Y/N puts their hand up, as if wanting to reach over to stop him. He freezes, watching them as they quickly retract their outstretched hand, letting it rest in their lap.

“I know that’s not how you wanted things to go. I’m sorry I never gave you the chance to apologize. And I’m sorry I ignored your calls and text messages. Iwaizumi called me, you know.” Oikawa flinches at this. “He told me how sad you sounded on the phone. He wanted me to at least hear you out, but I was still so heartbroken I refused. A lot of the hurt is my fault, too. So I’m sorry, Tooru.”

They move to stand up, grabbing their bag of take out. Oikawa stands too, moving out of their way after he pushes his chair in. Y/N is watching him, eyes trained on his every move as he sits back at his table a few feet away. They move closer, a small smile on their lips. “I’ll call you later, is that okay?”

He desperately needs that drink of water now. He manages a nod, and Y/N smiles in farewell before leaving. The sound of the bell above the door rings in his ear long after they’re gone, and he welcomes it, thankful for any other ringing besides the silence of his once lonely apartment. 

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

but it is sunlight

Fandom: Kamen Rider Agito, Kamen Rider Kabuto, Kamen Rider Gaim, Kamen Rider Ghost Characters: Tsugami Shouichi, Hikawa Makoto, Tendou Souji, Kagami Arata, Kazuraba Kouta, Kureshima Takatora, Tenkuuji Takeru, Fukami Makoto, Alain Song: "Sunlight," Hozier (playlist here) Warning: Mildly NSFW--not especially explicit, but people do have sex in this story

a buried and a burning flame – i

A shared day off is rare, but it does happen sometimes, and today the weather is so warm and perfect that Makoto is content to sit on the step drinking a lemonade and watching Shouichi garden.

Their garden space here isn’t as big as the one Shouichi got used to at Professor Misugi’s house, but it’s been expanded upwards with poles and frames and other contraptions that Makoto isn’t quite clear on. Really, they’re lucky to have a plot at all—the restaurant has its own rooftop space, so it’s not like Shouichi’s hurting for plant contact, but he needs it for himself as well. Makoto’s not sure he’ll ever understand the way Shouichi craves the presence of growing things. But then, he’s just happy to see Shouichi enjoying himself.

He glances around the garden briefly as Shouichi’s murmuring over a cucumber plant and frowns. “Aren’t sunflowers always supposed to face the sun?”

“Generally, sure.” Shouichi smiles but doesn’t look up from his work. “Why?”

“Well, if they don’t then doesn’t that mean they might be sick? The sun’s south of us right now, but your flowers are facing west.”

“Our.”

“Mm?”

“It’s your garden too.”

“Well, sure, but I mean it’s really—”

“Anyway, don’t worry, if they were sick I’d know. They’re probably just a little slow today.”

Makoto’s dubious, but he nods, and Shouichi beams at him for a moment and then goes back to fussing with the cucumbers. Once he finishes with them, he does something with a tomato plant nearby, and then hurries over to a small patch of green onions on the other side of the garden.

The faces of the sunflowers move to follow him as he walks. Makoto almost misses it, catches their motion out of the corner of his eye as he, too, is turning, and then freezes as they continue to shift. “Do—did you just see that?”

Shouichi frowns. “See what?”

“Ah…no, never mind.” Makoto settles forward, elbows on his knees, watching in soft fascination as Shouichi continues to work. “It’s not that important, I probably imagined it.”

---

the icarus to your certainty – i

Tendou doesn’t make demands most of the time, but he doesn’t make suggestions either. He makes statements and then continues on in the calm assumption that they’re true.

When he gets back from his trip abroad, for example, the first conversation Arata has with him ends with, “We’ll see you for dinner at six.” It’s not an invitation, or a request, or a question. It’s just a statement of fact, its truth etched into the fabric of the universe, and so Arata gets to the house at six precisely.

There are other statements that follow, of course. Like, “I’ll see you at the same time tomorrow,” and, “Other people address me by surname, not you,” and, “It’s late, you’ll stay the night.” The thing is, Arata wants to bristle at this casual certainty, but he can’t manage it, because so far Tendou—Souji—hasn’t said anything incorrect. When he makes these statements, Arata wants them to be true, and so they becometrue by default. He shows up at the same time the next day. He says, “Souji,” instead of, “Tendou,” and is shaken by the faint, surprised smile he gets in response. He stays the night.

Tonight Souji’s making some kind of crab risotto thing, and Arata is helping, which is to say making a salad. This is already strange, since it used to be that he was barely even allowed in the kitchen. Hiyori, visiting for the evening, is sitting on the couch with Juka while Juka talks about one of her classes at Jounan University. It’s very domestic.

He finishes slicing cucumbers and is reaching for the lettuce when Souji turns to him holding a small spoon and says, “Taste this.”

On automatic, and because his hands are busy, Arata just leans forward and eats the spoonful of risotto, letting it spread out creamily over his tongue. “Mm.”

Souji is looking at him expectantly. “What do you think?”

“I think—wait, you’re actually asking me for my opinion?”

“Shouldn’t I?”

“You just…don’t usually ask for opinions.”

“Not from other people, no, but other people aren’t you.”

Arata laughs in warm surprise. “Really? What makes me so different?”

He’s not really expecting an answer, but Souji looks at him for a long moment and then says, “If all of humanity were alchemically distilled into one specimen exhibiting only its finest qualities, that specimen would be you.”

Arata stares at him. “I. You. Are…is this a quotation, are you quoting something?”

Another one of the faint, surprised smiles he’s gotten to like seeing. “No. But perhaps someday, someone else will quote me, and rest assured, the recipient of the quotation will not deserve it nearly as much as you.” And, before Arata can really process that, “I would appreciate your opinion on the risotto now.”

“I…it’s really delicious, but. Maybe it could use a pinch more salt?”

Souji nods firmly. “I’d suspected as much. Thank you.”

He returns to his cooking, reaching for one of the little pots of salt next to the stove, and leaves Arata to cut up lettuce and try to figure out what just happened.

---

i had been lost to you – i

Kouta’s visits are infrequent, inconsistent, and never announced. The most warning Takatora ever gets is a sudden, powerful waft of flowers and fruit, moments before a zipper opens in the air in front of him. He’s gotten used to it, as much as one can get used to something like that.

(Kouta always comes to him. His house has more privacy than most other spots Kouta knows in Zawame, and anyway, according to him, “You’re always easy for me to find.”

Sometimes those visits are for “work,” as Kouta calls it, and he stays only for a brief moment before rushing off to whatever world-ending crisis has caught his attention. More often, though, the reason is nothing more than, “Things are aligned correctly right now, and I missed Zawame.”

He’s sitting in the park now, on a bench under a camellia tree. A casual observer wouldn’t look at him and see a god, just a smiling young man in a plaid shirt and dark jeans, shoes kicked off so that he can curl his bare toes in the grass. Maybe he’s waiting to meet a girlfriend, or a boyfriend; maybe he’s just enjoying the good weather. As Takatora watches, though, a squirrel runs down the trunk of the camellia tree and leaps onto Kouta’s shoulder, and he turns and beams at it, apparently listening intently to its chattering. A jay is perched on his knee. Two stray cats are sprawled on the grass flanking him like indolent sentries, and a dog with a collar, probably lost, is curled up against his hip on the bench.

He lifts a hand, cupped, and Takatora knows without being able to see it that his palm is filling with seeds, manifesting as if from his skin. He’s done it before. The squirrel runs downs his arm and begins to stuff itself, the jay hopping from his knee to his fingertips to do the same. With his other hand he reaches up absently to catch a gleaming red apple that drops down from the camellia tree and begins to eat. Only the plants nearby lean away from him, which seems strange until Takatora realizes that they’re not really leaning, they’re growing, extending outward from his presence like an aura, the grass increasingly tall around his ankles.

How strange to see him at peace. And what an astonishing thing, that he should turn his face even for a moment from the new world he guides and his cosmically-designated beloved to walk once more in the city that treated him so poorly.

(She doesn’t visit. She can’t set foot outside of her hallowed forest now. But Takatora did get to speak to her, once, and he knelt and begged her forgiveness for all that he allowed to happen and received in return a kiss so gentle and yet searing in its benediction that even now he can feel it on his skin, and sometimes has to look in the mirror to see if she left a mark on his forehead.)

“Hey!” Kouta is waving to him with the hand holding the apple core. “Takatora! Are you done with your meeting thing? Come on over, I want to hear everything that’s happened since the last time I was here.”

Takatora blinks and nods, shocked out of his reverie, and heads over to the camellia tree. The stray cats scatter as he approaches, but none of the other animals move, so after barely a moment’s hesitation he sits down in the grass at Kouta’s feet, unmindful of his suit, and says, “Well, reconstruction work is nearly finished, we’ve only got two or three more buildings left to repair. Did I tell you about the dance classes at the new community center?”

“The ones that Zack and Peko are running? I think you mentioned them a little last time, did those finally start?”

Camellias bloom out of season over their heads. “Yes, only a few weeks ago. There may be a few other Beat Riders assisting as well, possibly by running additional courses, apparently enrollment was well past what anyone had anticipated.” Takatora leans against Kouta’s shin as the grass slowly creeps up past his knees, comforted by his radiant warmth. “And Mitsuzane’s continuing to enjoy university, he’s going to be working for one of his professors next semester as a teaching assistant…”

---

love and its decisive pain – i

Being around Takeru is a strange experience now, because by simply existing he exerts a spiritual pressure unlike anything else Alain’s ever encountered. The pressure isn’t negative, but it is constant, the weight of a higher reality radiating from his skin. Or, not a higherreality—Alain isn’t sure what it is, but Takeru’s certainly of the human world.

Alain isn’t sure if people who aren’t from the Ganma World even notice it. Certainly he’s seen Javert twitch minutely when handing Takeru something, he’s seen how Igor goes tense around him, even Alia’s been known to flinch away from the intensity of his proximity. Are they unusually sensitive, or are the people of the human world just numb to it?

Perhaps it’s nothing new, and he’s just always been like that and that’s why people don’t notice. Makoto would know—he’s of the Ganma World now, even if he came to it late. “Has Takeru always had such…presence?”

Makoto glances at him, and then over at Takeru, who’s crouching to offer a rice ball to a child sniffling on the temple steps. The child takes it, hand brushing Takeru’s, and relaxes in the same way that Igor might tense at the same contact, perceptibly basking in that unseen but powerfully felt aura.

“No,” Makoto says. “No, this is new. He wasn’t like this before. Or at least he wasn’t like this when we were young.”

Somehow this answer isn’t reassuring at all. “I see. That’s…it’s a lot.”

“It is, isn’t it.”

That’s the point at which Takeru hears them and looks up, face transformed by delight at the sight of them. “Makoto! Alain! When did you get here?” Behind him, Narita comes forward to walk the sniffling child over to a quieter corner, asking her as they go whether she knows either of her parents’ phone numbers. Takeru waves goodbye to her, beaming, and then hurries across the room to crash into Makoto’s arms, and Alain can see Makoto being overtaken by that benevolent pressure. “You didn’t tell me you were coming! Nothing’s going on, right? Everything’s ok? Who’s taking care of things in the Ganma World?”

“Everything’s fine,” Makoto says into Takeru’s hair. “Alia’s got everything under control.”

“This is a social call,” Alain adds, and is favored with an embrace of his own, knees almost buckling under the warmth of Takeru’s presence. “We just missed you.”

“I missed you both too. I hope you’ll be here for a couple of days, at least?” The weight of his joyful expectation is so much that Alain can only nod. “Wonderful! Here, come on, you’re both probably hungry, let’s go get takoyaki.”

He’s human, Alain realizes as Takeru’s fingers wrap around his and he feels that shiver run through him again. That’s all it is, and also everything that it is. More than anyone else in this realm, he is human.

What an extraordinary thing.

“I’d like that,” Alain says out loud, and Takeru is already grabbing Makoto’s hand as well. “It’s been a while since we shared a meal.”

“It has, hasn’t it? Let’s go, you two can tell me all the news while we’re eating.”

---

a buried and a burning flame – ii

For the most part Shouichi doesn’t initiate. It’s not that he’s not enthusiastic about sex, he’s just an awful tease. Little gestures, bumps and brushes, obvious double entendre that he then winkingly denies; he’d rather drive Makoto to distraction and pretend innocence until Makoto finally loses patience and backs him up against the nearest wall. He even admitted to it once, in an unguarded moment of drowsiness. “I like when you do that, it’s fun. And it’s not like I can just ask you to.”

“You could, though,” Makoto had said, but Shouichi had already drifted off.

They’ve been together all day, but Makoto can barely remember any of it clearly except Shouichi. Everything else fades into the background when faced with the vividness of his smile.

Makoto’s shirt is somewhere back in the living room, he thinks maybe on the couch. They’ve been trying to get Shouichi’s shirt off, but that’s been a tougher prospect, because it’s a pullover. Finally, though, it comes off over his head and lands on the floor, and Makoto presses him to the wall again. And now, even more vivid than his smile is the feeling of his skin, burn-hot against Makoto’s lips and hands and chest, his fingers like a brand curling around the back of Makoto’s neck as Makoto kisses his throat.

They barely make it to the bedroom.

The heat of him is extraordinary, feverish, it would be frightening if Makoto wasn’t used to it. He is, though, they’ve been together for years now, so instead his own thoughts can melt away in the face of Shouichi and his pleasure, the taste of him, the sound of his breathless cries, Shouichi arching up against him. Sure, he gets off somewhere in there too, but the important thing is Shouichi, climaxing underneath him with a gasp of, “Makoto,” and a kiss that Makoto would be willing to end the world for.

Afterwards, they lie wrapped around each other in a state of abstracted bliss until Shouichi mumbles something about being thirsty, at which point Makoto extricates himself despite the attendant sleepy protests and heads to the kitchen with a blanket around his waist to get drinks. Passing the bathroom on the way back, he pauses, frowning, at the sliver of his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

It hadn’t been sunny enough today to get a real sunburn, but there’s a sunburn on the back of his neck nevertheless, bright red although not painful. He sets down one of the glasses, reaches up and covers it almost perfectly.

When he realizes what it is—although Shouichi’s palm is slightly broader than his, Shouichi’s fingers slightly shorter—he blushes and picks up the glass again, heading for the bedroom, hoping that his hair is long enough that no one at work asks about the handprint burned into his skin.

---

the icarus to your certainty – ii

It’s not always so precipitous.

Normally they have to be quiet, because normally there’s at least one other person in the house. And in any case, Souji dislikes rush—he’ll approach anything and everything with a plan in mind, sex included.

Tonight, though, after dinner finished, Juka distributed a round of cheek kisses and then gathered up her bag and headed out, to meet up with a university friend she’s doing a project with. Hiyori left shortly after that. (She rarely stays the night anyway, she doesn’t like to leave her parakeet alone.) They’re alone in the house unless the Zecters are around somewhere, and they mostly keep to themselves, they’re hardly company in the same way.

But.

Precipitous.

They do dishes together, in comfortable silence, and once that’s done and his washing gloves are off Souji turns to make one of those true statements. Except that Arata decides he doesn’t feel like hearing one right now, so before Souji’s even gotten through one word Arata takes a step forward and kisses him, bracketing him against the edge of the counter with both arms. Souji makes one of those little surprised noises and drapes his arms over Arata’s shoulders and pulls him closer, and a couple of minutes later Arata’s hands shift down to lift and Souji’s legs wrap around his waist, and.

It’s good that they have the house to themselves.

They can’t stay at the kitchen counter, because it’s a bad height and also that’s not sanitary, and the dinner table won’t support their weight, which is a lesson they learned the hard way. The couch is an option, though, and it’s not easy to get over there with another person wrapped around him, but it is doable. He sits, or more lands, with a thump, Souji in his lap, Souji’s hands on the sides of his face tilting his chin up, and for some while lets himself be overwhelmed by having all of Souji’s considerable attention focused on him.

A pause for breath, for the removal of at least some clothing (and if Souji fumbles Arata’s shirt buttons, Arata’s going to save the memory for himself and certainly never mention it), for—“Are you all right?”

For Souji looking down at him, dizzy-eyed, and saying, slowly, “Your depths are such that I think I could drown in you.”

Arata reaches up, takes hold of his wrists, thumbs rubbing gently across the pulse points. “I mean, I can’t get poetic about it like you can,” more quietly than warranted given that they’re alone, “but you’re so much that sometimes I feel I could burn up, so that seems like a fair trade.”

He’s expecting that surprised look, but it doesn’t come, because what he gets instead is a kiss that would definitely have him on his ass in seconds if he wasn’t already sitting down. “More than fair.”

---

i had been lost to you – ii

Even before his apotheosis Kouta was a man built for pleasure. It must have been a glorious accident of his birth, Takatora thinks, that on his mouth smiles are so natural, that his body responds to any rhythm with grace, that he laughs so easily. Takatora has lived his entire life on the far other end of that spectrum—at best, he might call himself austere—but he can’t bring himself to be jealous of such an infectious and in-born joy. He can only hope to increase it, in whatever way he can.

So he kneels.

It isn’t worship, because Kouta will not accept his worship. Or anyone else’s, for that matter, he may be a god but he refuses to be treated like one. But love, as a great man once said, is a sacrament best taken kneeling, and while there are many points Kouta will argue, Takatora’s esteem and affection for him are not one of them.

Really, though, Kouta isn’t saying anything especially coherent right now.

His unnecessary but habitual breathing is coming short, and his hair flickers from deep brown to unearthly gold as his concentration disintegrates. If his eyes weren’t squeezed shut, they, too, would be flickering. His fingers, curled on the edge of the bed, have flowers blooming between them. And Takatora, the indirect cause of this riotous growth and rendered speechless for more immediately physical reasons, continues until his lips are numb and Kouta is pulling him up and flattening him to the bed with a kiss.

“You don’t have to stop me, you know I wouldn’t mind if you—”

“No,” and a kiss, “no, we don’t know if it could—” and another kiss, “so no, even though you know I, you know—Takatora, I—” and the dissolution of coherence once again, now for both of them, as Takatora dizzily allows himself to be subsumed by Kouta’s passion and enthusiasm.

The first few times he was able to visit, afterglow involved actual glowing on Kouta’s part, which was the cause of some mutual hysteria—Takatora doesn’t want to call it giggling, but that’s really the accurate term. The glow’s under control now, and Kouta lies against him, asleep, and does not look more divine than any other beautiful man in repose.

There are still flowers blooming on the edge of the bed, red and orange against the plain bedspread. They’ll be scolded away later, but for the moment they are bright and strong and vivid. Takatora, drowsy himself, drifts off gazing at them, Kouta’s arms tight around his waist.

---

love and its decisive pain – ii

They are devoted partners, and thus Takeru’s anger is their anger, Takeru’s sorrow is their sorrow, Takeru’s joy is their joy, and, most crucially in this moment, with the dawn not arrived and the day yet to start and make them all busy, Takeru’s pleasure is their pleasure. And because he is who he is, because he feels everything with such strength and fervency that it radiates from him like sunlight, it is such pleasure. On his back, hands above his head, eyes bound, he has given himself over to their loving mercy and yet the weight of his existence is still enough to envelope them both.

Alain leans down to kiss the smiling mouth below the blindfold and say, softly, “Is there something you want?”

“Isn’t the point of this that you two are making the decisions?” Takeru sounds like he might laugh.

Alain glances over Takeru’s chest at Makoto, who is already looking over at him, and who raises an eyebrow before saying, “Is that a serious question or are you just being difficult?”

It’s definitely suppressed laughter. “A little of both, really. I want you to do what you want. I trust you.”

So they do what they want, which, gloriously weighed down by Takeru’s unconditional trust, is what he wants too. And what they want is to kiss, to touch, to take their pleasure in ways that render him arch-backed and breathless and crying out as they take their turns on him. They take their pleasure until he’s coming in an unexpected avalanche of laughter which, like all avalanches, overtakes them as well.

Dawn is breaking, light spilling in through the open window for Takeru to flinch against as they uncover his eyes. He buries his face against Makoto’s chest as soon as his arms are free and he can move, mumbling, “It’s too bright, I’m going back to sleep, you both have to keep me company since you’re the ones who wore me out.”

“Right,” Makoto says drily, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as Alain is draping himself over Takeru’s back, “humans need sleep, I forget that sometimes.”

He can feel Takeru’s smile like a separate presence in the room, even though he can’t see it. “Oh, like you’re so inhuman.”

Alain presses his face to the back of Takeru’s neck and finds that, at least for the moment, the pressure of his reality is not so much a weight as it is an embrace, enfolding the three of them as they lie together drowsing. “It’s not that we are less, perhaps.” A yawn against Takeru’s warm skin, occasioning a ticklish wriggle. “It’s just that you’re so much.”

[krappykawa]

ಌ i mildly like you more than like (p.3)

— in which an incessant fan girl, a kiss, and a little bit of denial makes oikawa tooru realize he might mildly like you more than like

description. you’ve been in love with oikawa tooru for longer than you can remember. having known him for the better part of nearly 11 years, you’ve come to accept that you’ll never be more than a best friend to him. but with the help of a few irritatingly persistent fangirls and a kiss that was only meant to drive them away, a tale of unrequited love might just prove to be something more. 

oikawa tooru x f!reader, fluff, angst, childhood best friends to lovers

word count. 4.5k

parts. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

note. this was only supposed to be a three part story but it keeps getting away from me 🧍🏻‍♀️ anyways i hope you guys like this chapter 😼

Oikawa tries to deny the way his heart skips a beat every time you’re around, he really does. He tries to ignore that his eyes constantly move to wherever you are in a room (though he feels as if maybe he’s always done that, but he tries not to dwell on it). He tries to ignore the incessant pull towards you and how he always finds himself reaching for your hand when he shouldn’t. But he’s not daft. He knows that something’s changed, and he knows that it’s something big. 

But he’s not quite ready to admit it - not yet. There’s one more thing he has to make sure of. 

That’s how he gets here - staring at the small letter that he holds between his fingertips and for the first time in months, debates whether or not he should accept this confession. He hasn’t accepted a confession since his ex-girlfriend, Yua had broken up with him and he hadn’t thought he would be accepting another any time in the next year. 

Yet here he is, staring at the girl in front of him and wondering if it’s worth it. He just wants to know for sure. He wants to know that what he feels for you isn’t stimulated by something false that his mind had tricked him into, because if there was anything that scared him more than his own failure, it was the thought of losing you as a best friend.

He knows that he shouldn’t do this to the girl that’s looking up at him hopefully with brown eyes full of adoration. She’s pretty, with bob-length hair and well-cut bangs to go along with a petite build and soft curves. But she’s not you, his mind immediately nags like a second instinct. He chooses to ignore it. 

He knows that it’s cruel of him to accept this confession without actually having feelings for her. He knows that by doing this he might just be living up to the stupid playboy expectation that everyone seems to place on him. 

But he needs to know. Or, if not that, he needs to forget your lips and the way you look up at him with what might be love in your eyes. He needs to, but he’s not even sure that he wants to. 

“Thank you Hishoko-san. I’m honored that you would take an interest in me. I accept your confession,” he says despite it all. The girl lights up with a megawatt smile. 

And even as he says those words, he knows that he’s making a mistake. 

You feel the old feelings of heartbreak resurfacing when Oikawa bounds up to you and Iwaizumi and announces that he’s gotten a girlfriend. The familiar ache in your chest comes back, but this time with greater force. It’s the feeling of disappointment when you’ve just barely gotten a taste of something delicious before it’s rudely knocked from your hands and lost to you. How could you forget the way his lips molded against yours and the way his eyes seemed to light up just a little brighter? You decide that it’s a cruel, cruel thing for the universe to hand you hope just to snatch it right out of your hands. 

You hadn’t wanted to let hope kindle within you for this very reason. But you were always a little more lenient with your rules when it came to the boy who’d stolen your heart and ran away with it. You let yourself hope that maybe he might just give it back.

But here it is, the striking blow of truth that those fantasies exist only in your imagination. 

“Do we know her?” The bitterness that’s so very present in your tone rings over and over in your head, playing as a constant reminder to everything you’re trying to avoid feeling. You hope that Oikawa doesn’t notice the way that your stomach is churning uncomfortably when you turn and attempt to smile softly at him. 

His gaze is on Iwaizumi when he answers, so you’re safe from any interrogation for a little while. “Iwa-chan does. She was the girl that you were partners with for that lab last year.”

“Oh. Her. She’s nice,” Iwaizumi says, his voice losing the soft touch that would usually hide beneath his harsh and unkind tone towards Oikawa. It’s not hard to tell from the quiet rage in his eyes that he’s angry. 

Oikawa cocks his head, his gaze flicking from you and up to Iwaizumi. “What’s wrong Iwa-chan? You don’t seem all that enthusiastic.”

You can practically feel Iwaizumi’s eyes burning holes into the side of your head, but you refuse to meet his gaze. If you happen to look over at him, you know that your facade would break, and you aren’t quite ready to come up with an explanation on why you’re so upset with this news. Oikawa would be able to see through that in an instant. 

Finally, after a long few seconds of pointedly avoiding his eyes, Iwaizumi looks away from you and answers Oikawa shortly. “She’s nice. I don’t know much about her though.”

You know that Oikawa must’ve noticed the brief exchange between you and Iwaizumi, but from some stroke of luck, he doesn’t question it. 

He clears his throat before turning his gaze down towards you. “What about you Y/N-chan?” There’s an odd tone in his voice that makes you look up at him. He’s staring at you with searching eyes that flick between your eyes and your lips, which makes you furrow your eyebrows ever so slightly. You’re not too sure what he’s searching for. His eyes don’t leave your face as he softly asks, “Are you two acquainted?” You think that the look in his eyes is far too serious for a situation that should be light and joyous on his end. 

It takes everything in you to tear your gaze away from his. You’re afraid that if he keeps looking at you like that, you might just start to cry. “No, I don’t think we are,” you try to say without your voice cracking. 

Oikawa doesn’t seem particularly satisfied with your answer, but it seems that he can tell that neither you or Iwaizumi really want to talk about this any further. You three walk in what might be the most awkward silence in your eleven years of friendship, the air thick with tension and unsaid words. Iwaizumi squeezes your shoulder and you feel Oikawa tense from beside you when he notices the small gesture. You can’t find it in you to care about what it might look like to him at the moment. 

“I’m really going to try this time. To make sure that I don’t neglect her,” Oikawa says again after a slightly uncomfortable silence. His gaze is aimed straight-ahead, but he looks as if he’s talking more to himself than he is to you and Iwaizumi. You want nothing more than to go home and pretend that this conversation hadn’t happened. 

Oikawa doesn’t fall in love easily. You’ve seen him go through countless relationships that barely last more than a few days because he simply can’t commit to them when volleyball has been his love for nearly his whole life. You know he doesn’t mean to hurt them and that he can’t help that his interest dwindles away. The one and only time you’d ever seen him actually fall in love was with Yua, and even then even his attempts at making them work had failed. 

So hearing him say that he was going to try again - to try and make sure that he doesn’t make the mistakes he’s made countless times wrenches at the screws in your heart. You had let yourself hope. You’d let yourself go to sleep thinking of the way he looked at you after you showed him that alien plush. You let yourself smile wider at him everytime he smiled at you with this new look in his eyes that you couldn’t help but be hopeful for. You let yourself love him freely for the first time without that nagging feeling in your mind that always told you that you were nothing more than his best friend.  And now you’re finding out that perhaps you’d imagined it all, and that instead, he was falling in love with another girl that you hadn’t known about. 

“That’s amazing, Tooru. I can’t wait to meet her,” you finally say. Iwaizumi hasn’t said a word, and you know that the moment that you get a moment alone with him, he’ll be bombarding you with questions about this recent development in Oikawa’s love life. You never quite told him of your feelings for his best friend, but Iwaizumi is almost, if not more observant than Oikawa. You’re sure that he figured it out one way or another. 

That’s why you’re glad when a girl that you had been assigned an assignment with calls out to you across the hall. You don’t even say a goodbye to either of the boys walking beside you before rushing to her side.

“You must be Y/N-san! Oikawa-kun tells me a lot about you!” Hishoko greets you with a smile. You two stand at nearly the same height, so you decide to pull her into a hug. Despite the way your heart aches at the sight of her standing next to Oikawa, you know that she’s done nothing wrong. She just happens to be in love with the same guy as you. You can’t fault her for that, not when you couldn’t even help yourself from falling for him.

“It’s really nice to meet you,” you say as you pull out of the hug. You look up at Oikawa to find him already watching you with a troubled look in his eyes. You decide not to think anything of it. 

If there’s one thing that has never failed to cheer you up, it’s your visits to Takeru’s volleyball club. Though you have never been particularly gifted at volleyball, you’ve managed to pick up on the basics with help from Oikawa and Iwaizumi over the years. 

“Y/N!” You smile brightly when you see Takeru standing next to Oikawa as you enter the gym. He runs up to you and you crouch down so that he can wrap his smaller arms around your neck. Oikawa trails after his nephew with a relaxed smile on his lips. 

You can’t help but let your gaze linger on him. He’s wearing a mint blue shirt and joggers in the Aoba Johsai volleyball team colors, a combination that was always one of your favorites on him (not that you’d ever let him know that). His hair is tousled and he’s slightly flushed from warming up with the kids that came early, though it only adds his blessed good looks. With an ache in your heart, you think that he might just be the most beautiful person on the Earth. 

After sending a small smile and nod in Oikawa’s direction, you pull slightly out of Takeru’s hold while still keeping your hands on his shoulders. He’s wearing a bright grin when he says the last thing you were expecting him to say. “Just promise not to kiss him in front of me okay? I don’t want to get either of your cooties.”

You blink at Takeru. “What?” You lock eyes with Oikawa, who seems to have an equally shocked look on his face. For a moment you feel as if everything else in the world has drowned out except for the mild hitch in Oikawa’s breathing when he hears what Takeru says.

“Takeru, what are you going on about?” There’s a mild discomfort in his voice.

“You said you got a new girlfriend and that she’s coming to the club today. Y/N always goes to the club so it has to be her! Right?”

For a second you feel as if you might just run out of the gym doors and never come back. You genuinely consider it, already thinking about what ice cream flavor you’ll be gouging on when you get home. But then you remember that doing that would probably lead to a lot of questions on Oikawa’s part, so you decide against it. 

Before you can formulate a response, Oikawa does it for you. “No, no. Not Y/N, Takeru.” He says it with a nervous laugh to his voice, but his eyes keep darting towards you. Your attempt at laughing with him sounds far too high-pitched. You’re very well aware of the fact that Oikawa knows that too. 

At a pace that would have surprised others, Oikawa seems to shed all nervousness and instead lets a joking lilt enter his voice as he puts a hand on Takeru’s shoulder and says, “Besides, neither of us have cooties, where ever did you get that idea?” 

You think back to his lips and how they most definitely did not have cooties. And even if he did, you would happily contract all the cooties in the world if it meant that you could kiss Oikawa’s lips whenever you wanted. You feel your face heat up at the thought of it. 

“One, you do have cooties ‘Kawa. And two, Takeru, you’ll love Hishoko-san. She’s very nice,” you say without looking at Oikawa. You don’t give either of them time to respond to anything you said before you stand up and pat your thighs. “I’m gonna go say hi to the other kids, if that’s okay with you, munchkin?”

As you turn to leave, Oikawa calls out from behind you. “Don’t go around defacing my name when you get there, Y/N-chan!”

“No promises, Cootiekawa!” You smile to yourself for coming up with that nickname on the fly, as childish as it is. 

“Don’t call me that!”

The little kids are bound with excitement when you walk up to them, all smiles and excited hellos. It’s funny really, how much admiration these kids have for both you and Oikawa. It warms your heart. 

By the time Hishoko walks in, you’re getting the cart of volleyballs ready after sending the kids off to get a drink of water. She looks entirely too beautiful in a flowy dress that highlights her features and you’re torn between feeling jealous that she and Oikawa make a gorgeous couple and feeling understanding that she was the one that Oikawa had fallen in love with. You send her the most convincing smile you can muster when she notices you and waves. 

When you have to turn away as Oikawa presses a kiss to Hishoko’s cheek, you’re met with a sight behind you that isn’t any more comforting. 

“Hey Y/N!” 

Kaoru is walking up to you, his hand clasped around a bashful-looking young boy. He still looks at you with the smile he used to wear when you were together, and you wish that he wouldn’t. Not when the reason you broke up with him for is standing just a few meters away from the both of you (not that either of them knew that). 

Despite that, you still manage a smile. “Kaoru, hey! What are you doing here?”

“Well, my cousin here started getting into volleyball, and I thought about this club. You used to go on and on about how much fun you had teaching the kids here and I thought that he might enjoy it.”

You have your hands wrapped around the volleyball that’s pressed against your midsection, feeling your stomach drop at his words. On paper, Kaoru might be considered your perfect match, but by some cruel dealing, your heart seems hell-bent on falling instead for the one guy that might never even look at you with more than platonic love in his eyes. You wish that you could’ve found it in you to fall in love with Kaoru instead.

“That’s thoughtful of you.” He seems to stand a little straighter as you say it. You try not to notice. “I’m more of a helper though. ‘Kawa’s the one that does the teaching most days. He’s over th-” You turn to point towards where Oikawa was standing and feel the words die on your lips. 

Oikawa’s already walking towards you with Takeru and Hishoko trailing behind him. He’s wearing what might be a friendly smile to anyone else, but you’ve seen it enough times to know that it’s a little too forced to be friendly. It’s the same smile he wears when he gets insanely competitive right before a volleyball game and is looking to intimidate his opponents. It’s the smile he uses when greeting Kageyama and Ushijima. It looks even more passive aggressive since he’s holding a volleyball against his hips. 

“Y/N-chan, who’s this?” You’re relieved that he’s using the amiable voice he uses to be friendly with strangers, but he still looks as if he hopes that Kaoru might just disappear if he just stares at him hard enough. 

“This is Kaoru’s cousin.” You look down at the boy. “I’m sorry, I never did catch your name.”

“I’m Kousuke, it’s nice to meet you. Kaoru says you’re really nice.”

“Oh I’m sure he does,” you hear Oikawa mutter under his breath. It’s so quiet that you might have imagined it because in the next second, his usually preppy demeanor is once again put up. “Hello there, I’m Oikawa,” he says kindly to Kaoru’s cousin. When he looks up at Kaoru though, his smile turns to sweetened acid. “Glad you brought him here. Who better to teach this young boy here but me? Isn’t that right Takeru? Your friends seem to be fond of me and my exceptional volleyball skills.”

Takeru looks up at Oikawa with a confused look. “No they don’t.”

“Takeru,” Oikawa says while fixing a stare at his nephew. Takeru seems to lose his attitude. 

“Uh, yeah I guess they do?”

“See! The kids love me! I’m practically their idol! They love my serve actually, always begging me to teach them. It’s a pretty hard serve though, so they really haven’t gotten the hang of it. You’ve seen my serve though, haven’t you Kaoru-kun?”

“It’s okay. I do remember that you hit it into the net the last time I came to watch with Y/N,” Kaoru shrugs. 

Oikawa practically growls. “I’d like to see you receive one of my serves.”

“I’d be more than happy to try.” Kaoru smiles, but you can’t tell if it’s genuine or just as passive aggressive as Oikawa’s. 

Oikawa lets out a low chuckle, and you force yourself to not look physically affected by it. You remind yourself that his girlfriend is standing right behind him. “I’m sure you would. Though most people struggle to do so, I wouldn’t want to injure you,” he says while moving the volleyball back and forth in his hands. 

Kousuke and Takeru look up at them with confused looks on their faces. Hishoko looks mildly bashful at what might be her first look at the Oikawa that’s not all sunshines and daisies. You’re merely wondering what’s caused all this tension. As far as you were aware, Oikawa and Kaoru weren’t on extremely bad terms. 

Kaoru flicks a look between you and Oikawa. “You’re pretty cocky aren’t you?”

“Not cocky. Just confident. I’m one of the best setters in the prefecture. Isn’t that right Y/N?” Oikawa turns to look at you and the passive aggressive look in his eyes turns to something more genuine. 

You shake your head, letting out a small laugh. “Yeah yeah, sure. Whatever. Stop showing off, ‘Kawa.”

“I’m not showing off!” There’s just barely a hint of humility in his voice. 

You raise a brow at him. He seems to wilt under your gaze. 

“I’m not,” he mumbles. 

You tilt your head in the direction of the kids getting ready on the court. “Come on. You have kids to teach. Stop picking fights.” You’re also more than ready to get away from Kaoru’s gaze. 

Oikawa doesn’t seem to be quite ready to teach though. “Why would I be picking fights?” His gaze is leveled on you.

You fake confusion as you stare right back at him. You want to remind him that there are others around you. “I don’t know, Tooru. Why would you?”

The air seems to still with tension. 

Thankfully, Takeru comes to your rescue. “Hey, Y/N? Do you think we should start now?” 

“Yeah, of course, Takeru.” You turn to Oikawa. “Receives. You take the older ones. Kousuke can be in your group.”

To both yours and Oikawa’s displeasure, Kaoru sticks around for the entirety of the club. He sits on the side with Hishoko and makes teasing comments to both you and Kousuke, almost like no time has passed since your break-up. 

It’s not that you harbor any harsh feelings for him. It’s just that you’re a little on edge with Oikawa and Hishoko here already, and now for some reason, it seems as if Oikawa and Kaoru are looking to off each other. 

“Good job today, Y/N-chan,” Oikawa says as he helps you put the volleyballs back in the cart. Despite the rough beginning, the day still went relatively well, especially when Oikawa landed a particularly nasty serve that got all the kids hyped and excited for the next time you’d be meeting. 

“Mhm. You too.”

Oikawa sighs. “You’re mad.” It’s not a question. 

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

He places the last volleyball back into the cart and closes it before turning to look at you. “Look, I’m sorry for that.”

“You should be,” you reply. “What got stuck up your ass that made you act like that anyway?”

“Nothing.”

You raise a brow at him.

“I’m just stressed. Team chemistry is on edge with Kyoutani back on the team ... amongst other things.”

It’s a half-truth. You can tell by the way his eyes divert from yours when he airily says “other things”. 

You lean against the cart to turn your body in his direction. “What are other things?”

“Other things,” he replies without looking at you. He’s leaning against the cart with his back to the metal rather than to his side, so all you’re met with is his side-profile. 

“So you’re not gonna tell me?” You’re a little miffed. 

He turns to look at you, his brown eyes boring into you. “I’m not the only one with secrets Y/N-chan.”

You feel your stomach drop, your head immediately thinking of everything he might’ve found out. Maybe he’s aware of the way you’re in love with him. Maybe he’s known this whole time and was just keeping you around in an act of pity. Your breathing seems to still at that possibility. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

This time, Oikawa moves so that he can turn to you fully, though his eyes don’t look any less intense. “The other day, with Iwa-chan. What was going on there?”

Your breathing returns. At least he doesn’t know. 

“Nothing.”

“Though so.” He looks mildly hurt. 

Before the conversation can stray into tense territory, Hishoko walks up to you two. You’re surprised to see that Kaoru and his cousin are following behind her. “Hey Oikawa, I was wondering if we could check out the sweet shop across the street?”

You want to tell her that Oikawa hates that shop. He took one step into it and complained about how their candy assortment was horrendous. You want to tell her that Oikawa would much rather go to the frozen yogurt shop that’s a few blocks away, but you don’t. It was sort of a tradition for you, Oikawa, and Takeru to head over there after the kid’s volleyball club had ended. It might be selfish to do so, but the thought of her completely replacing you in that sense makes your heart ache. 

“Huh?” Oikawa turns to look at her. “Oh. Right, sure.”

You place your hands on the cart, making to move it back into the storage closet. You don’t want to be around for the rest of the conversation. 

Oikawa notices what you’re doing and interrupts. “Y/N-chan? You want to come with?”

Stupid. You wonder if he’s asking because he really has no idea what the norms of a relationship are, or if he truly sees you as nothing more than just a sister if he’s more than willing to ask you to go with him on what could be a pseudo date with his girlfriend. 

“No, it’s fine. You have fun.”

You’re about to wheel away without waiting for a response when Kaoru hesitantly speaks up. “Y/N, are you walking home alone then?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Though I could probably take a bus home if needed.”

Kaoru beams, his teeth flashing in a perfect smile. “Kousuke and I were planning on heading to this yogurt shop we saw before we got here. I can take you home after if you want to come with us.” His hands are stuffed in his pockets as he rocks back and forth on the heels of his shoe. 

You can practically hear the way that Oikawa’s jaw clenches. You make a mental note to bring him a loaf of milk bread the next time you have a shift at the bakery in hopes of easing whatever stress he’s holding on to. 

Kaoru’s still looking at you expectantly. You weigh your options. You can either go with your ex-boyfriend and his cousin to get frozen yogurt and have him take you home after, or you can walk home alone. Despite what the implications of the first choice might have, it’s still an easy choice. 

“Yeah, sure. Let Tooru and I just clean up. I’ll meet you outside.”

Both Kaoru and Kousuke nod before heading out. Hishoko and Takeru follow them shortly after.

“You didn’t tell Hishoko that you despise that shop,” you say. The two of you had just finished hauling the volleyball net back into the equipment closet. 

“I didn’t want to disappoint her.”

“Hm,” you hum. “You … you like her a lot then?”

Oikawa pauses in his place, and you realize that you’re both standing much too close for comfort. His eyes wander your face again, like he’s searching for something. “Maybe. It’s too early to tell.”

You hate the way that your stomach churns because it really is unfair that he can look at you like that and not feel the same way you do. You take a step back and move to pick up your bag on the side of the bleachers. Oikawa follows close behind. 

When you both get to the gym doors, Kaoru and his cousin are standing by a tree to the right, and Hishoko and Takeru are standing by the pillar to the left. 

Oikawa turns to you once more, his voice sounding mildly fatigued. “Have fun with Kaoru.”

You attempt a smile. “Have fun with Hishoko.”

And with that, you both split off, heading in the direction of the two people waiting for you two. Neither of you voice out loud that you would much rather be with the other. 

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