#konekomaru wasn't looking down on him

[everyryuujisuguro]

[tonguetiedraven]

hello, I've never written a request before and idk of you are still taking them but if yes bon x rin but the class is oblivious to them dating or thinks it's a prank something along those lines. Thank you

I got terribly behind on these and entirely distracted with longer Blue Exorcist requests, but I am finally trying to respond to all of these, lol.

Sorry for the delay, but I hope you enjoy this silly fic ^^

Yukio’s class was full of idiots.

While that might not quite be fair, it certainly felt that way as he watched his students and friends all just… just not notice. They were all attempting to become licensed exorcists and that meant they’d need to notice things other people didn’t, but at the moment, they all seemed to have lost their observation skills.

This was at least the fifth time Rin had come in with Ryuuji’s sweater. It was obviously Ryuuji’s because the thing was much too big and practically a dress on Rin. 

Ryuuji had even blushed at the sight of it. While Ryuuji blushing wasn’t exactly unusual, the tall and buff punk was an easily embarrassed punk, it was unusual to see that blush accompanied by a small smile. 

Ryuuji had a resting glare. There was no getting around that. He was rather a good natured punk, but he certainly looked like a murderous one. To see him purposefully smile over a sweater was all the information that Yukio had needed.

It seemed nowhere near enough for the rest. The next blatant piece of evidence was the new earring. It was a lot like his other spiral, but it was white this time, and flared out more. It was unmistakably similar to Rin's tail, which meant Ryuuji had one for both halves of Rin. 

It was hilariously sappy for such a grumpy looking punk and no one noticed. 

There were the shared lunches, the whispered conversations, the note passing, the fact that Rin stuck around to the end of class to leave with Ryuuji, the stolen glances—hardly new, but far more blatant now—and Yukio had even caught them coming into class holding hands.

There was an insurmountable amount of evidence. A glutton of it really, and none of his students seem to notice a damned thing.

It would be depressing, if it wasn't so damn funny. Yukio had always been a fan of slapstick, and this felt like at least a variation of that. He had watched the two be oblivious to their feelings, watch them come to a realization of them, and to his relief, do something about them.

He seemed to be the only one who had watched any of it. It would make him question his own over interest in the subject, but really, it had been impossible to miss. Even if he didn't live with half of the couple.

It was the sweater today, and he decided to do a bit of his own test. He wanted to see if he could make the others notice. He was certain his twin and Ryuuji weren't actually trying to hide anything. He was certain they thought everyone was aware. They would have at least been mildly subtle if they hadn't wanted the information out there. They were, despite their loud personalities, occasionally capable of subtlety. If not exactly talented liars. (Which neither of them were at all.)

"No need to sit down, Rin. Sit with Ryuuji. We're doing group assignments today."

The swish of Rin's wagging tail was immediately audible. And once again, Ryuuji blushed.

No one seemed to take any notice of that. Yukio mentally added another homework assignment for them. He'd get with Light on finding them a few cursed objects to fight. They'd force his students to observe.

Ryuuji shifted his arm so his hand could be along the edge of Rin's desk. Rin didn't waste a second before hooking their pinkies together.

Yukio could forgive them not noticing that, if Konekomaru didn't sit next to Ryuuji.

It was baffling to him. Rin’s tail had even looped itself around to rest on Ryuuji’s knee! They were obvious. 

Yukio, staring for a moment, decided to mentally wave goodbye to his lesson plan for the day. He was going to make them notice by the end of this class. Somehow.

Smiling a bit, Yukio pulled open his desk drawer and drew out his set of keys.

“Everyone line up at the front in  your groups. We’re going to be doing some active training today. It’ll get a bit hot.”

It would as soon as Yukio figured out a plan. He just needed Rin to take that sweater off and draw attention to it.

Sure enough, his words had Rin standing up with a flirty grin at Ryuuji before he was taking off the sweater and setting it on his borrowed desk.

Renzou and Izumo watched the motion, but neither seemed to notice. 

That was fine, Yukio could up the ante.

— — ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) — —

Yukio, as always, underestimated his class.  They often exceeded his expectations in astounding ways, but just as often…

They did not. 

The couple held hands on the way to the gym, but they were always shoulder to shoulder and had been before they got together, so he could probably excuse that. He wouldn’t, but he could. 

Ryuuji shed his own sweater at the gym, and Rin stared hard and long enough that Yukio was pretty sure he was going to find his twin had drooled. He would not blame Rin for that because Ryuuji did make an impressive sight, but it was a sight that had been hanging around their dorm a lot.

Besides, no one else noticed the additional and blatant staring, or the fact that Ryuuji was purposefully flexing and stretching and making an entire show of it. 

Shiemi was staring with wide-eyes at him like she wanted to know how he’d done it, and that was hilarious, but no one else was noticing that either. 

Yukio decided to start with trust falls, something they’d never done and felt a little heavy handed to him, but it led to way too many looks and lingering touches and blatant gropes. They spent way too much time on the fall part and the staying fallen, and it was all blatant and obvious and downright brazen. 

There was also a lack of noticing, so Yukio called them to the front to perform.

Ryuuji fell back towards Rin with less hesitation than even Yukio would have, and Rin caught him with one arm before swooping around in a move that looked entirely like he intended to plant one on Ryuuji. He stopped at the last moment before he could, but it was enough to have Ryuuji blushing and Yukio looking at his audience, only to once again find none of them the wiser.

Fine. To the garden they went. 

The bai suzhen was hiding somewhere among the flowers, and if her beeline to Ryuuji and Rin did not prove to the others that something was happening, he was going to quit. 

He turned his attention from them for a few moments, picking through the chrysanthemums, peonies, and sunflowers, until he found evidence of her nest, and then he shooed her out and hurried towards the others, only to find Ryuuji tucking a flower behind Rin’s ear with a murmur of words that had Rin entirely pink and his tail wagging in a dangerous way for anyone who stepped into the smacking zone. He was going to give himself Happy Tail Syndrome at this rate.

“Over here!” He called, and got their attentions. Rin snagged Ryuuji’s hand and pulled him forward, and didn’t let go.

“We are going up against a bai suzhen,” he explained. “They are drawn to romantic love, lust, and displays of romantic or sexual affection—”

“Rip Shima,” Izumo huffed, not seeming to notice Rin and Ryuuji both glance at each other and step a bit closer.

“Their bite is poisonous and they’ll go after half the pair or a member of the group to try and distract/dismay the lover.”

Ryuuji’s hand shot up. The one that wasn’t holding Rin’s.

“Suguro?” Yukio politely asked.

“Is there a way to keep their attention so they don’t?”

Rin growled a little at the implication in that question that Ryuuji would be drawing the attention. They were both ridiculous and Ryuuji wondered how they didn’t drive eachother crazy. 

“Be the more obviously in love party? They’re susceptible to trapping circles and stilling spells, if you’re quick.”

Ryuuji nodded determinedly. 

A hiss let him know the demon had arrived, and he stepped back to watch the chaos.

To his surprise, Rin turned around, grabbed Ryuuji’s tie, hauled the tall teen down by it, and planted a hard kiss to his lips that had Konekomaru squeaking in shock and Ryuuji’s hands spasming at his sides. The demoness shrieked, and lunged for Rin.

Yukio gave a small cheer, only to realize Konekomaru had been squeaking at the demon.

None of them had noticed the kiss.

Ryuuji shoved Rin out of the way, getting himself tackled for the motion, and the two of them started to wrestle in the grass as Konekomaru hastily erected a shield to cover all three of them.

Izumo shrieked, apparently not a fan of snakes, and Shiemi had Nee spring forward, growing a bushel worth of lovage to try and attract the demon. 

It didn’t. Rin and Ryuuji were making a valiant display of love, even if no one recognized it. She didn’t have to attack anyone to be feeding. 

“Shima!” Konekomaru barked, “khakkhara!”

Shima yelped and brought out his khakkhara, never seeming to remember to have it at the ready, and took a swipe at the white snake with the staff. Yamantaka’s black smoke began to pour out, clashing against the brightness of her scaly skin.

Rin and Ryuuji seemed to both realize that they were missing their chance to exorcise or stop the demon, and shoved at each other to get up, still fighting to get in front of the other.

It seemed like Rin had forgotten that he didn’t have to move at all with his flames. Yukio would be making him do drills later.

Yamantaka knocked her out, and she transformed back to her humanoid form as she lost consciousness, making Shima squeak and promptly drool in delight. Yukio clapped his hands again to draw their attention before he had to catch the teen for being a pervert.

“Was that it?” Izumo asked, crossing her arms over her chest and tossing her hair like she hadn’t spent the entire fight terrified of the snake.

Yukio’s eye twitched. 

“No! That was not it. All of you fail. Not one of you notices anything and I cannot believe it and frankly, I am out of ideas and patience.”

Everyone looked confused, which seemed to be their default because they were all clearly incapable of noticing details.

“What?!” Izumo demanded while Ryuuji made an entirely worried noise and Rin looked baffled. 

“You fail all observation skills. Rin, Suguro, why did it go after the two of you?”

Ryuuji looked to Rin and raised an eyebrow. “Because he kissed me?”

All heads turned towards them with obvious and frustrating surprise. 

“What?” Izumo asked again while Shima added a, “for real? You finally did it, Rin?”

Yukio valiantly resisted the urge to shriek. “Finally?! They’ve been dating for months!” 

They were all looking at him now, but he could see Rin and Ryuuji starting to realize the obvious.

“You’re kidding, right?” Shima asked, earning a surprised sort of choke from Rin. 

“Of course he’s not!” Ryuuji looked entirely indignant. Yukio hadn’t even noticed him grabbing Rin’s hand again. “We’ve been together for almost three months.”

“Since when?!”

Rin gaped at Izumo. “Since Ryuuji asked me out after the golem.” 

“That long?” Shiemi asked, looking floored. Nee clapped and sent a few flower petals through the air like confetti. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Konekomaru demanded.

“How did you get a boyfriend before I did?!” Shima whined.

“Didn’t—we did!” Rin huffed and jabbed his finger forward. “The day after it happened!”

“We hold hounds!”

“We go on dates!”

“He makes me bentos almost every day!”

“We flirt—”

“All the time.” Yukio interjected, feeling vindicated and tired. 

“—All the time,” Rin agreed before scowling. “We do not!”

“So fail,” Yukio reiterated to the rest of them. “Class dismissed and for god's sake, stop flirting in my classes.” 

 With that, he strode (stomped) away, leaving the others spluttering and asking questions, and feeling like he hadn’t proven much other than that his class was fantastically dense.

He wondered how long it would be before they noticed the other bai suzhen slowly slithering closer. 

He wasn’t going to point it out. They had to eventually learn to spot the obvious.

[lordpheles]

Blue exorcist chapter 152 notes.

This month, we check in with the other exorcists helping Rin and Yukio's group infiltrate Satan's lair. We also learn how the rest of the world is reacting to a demonic apocalypse.

Lightning is checking in with the mission groups to see exactly what the chessboard looks like

Rin, Yukio, Shiemi, Neuhaus and doggo Mephisto are at the top of a pyramid with buttraced appendages in some sort of gazebo. They are safe for now.

2. Lucy Yang has been killed (as far as we know). Communication is lost, and there is no sign of Liu or the rest of the Taiwan branch. We see these smouldering, molten lava demons and a destroyed landscape.

3. Kuro and Konekomaru are chased by a demonic monster resembling roots or cloth. He finally understands that he's been sent out as bait, using the powers of Shemihaza as a guiding beacon for Satan to lure him away from the other teams.

The media turns up and is filming Satan's demonic walled city; the rest of humanity, meanwhile, is watching the scene unfold on live TV.

This part is a bit interesting. We're taken to the Takara household, a wealthy family that seems to be weathering the apocalypse well. Nemu and Kamiki's little sister are there. Nemu is most likely a secret weapon Mephisto has on stand-by.

We also get glimpses of Paku, (Godain?) and Myoda, all of which are getting antsy. They feel guilty for not fighting.

The Myoda is on stand-by. Once Myoda realizes the exwires are in Satan's walled city, they will show up to help. They think the kids are safe right now, but that's far from the truth. The Myoda sect answers to Mephisto and is his personal fighting unit. Mephisto has been the patron demon of Myoda since he gave their founder the Koma sword. This group of exorcists are another secret weapon he can deploy.

Rin and Yukio are alone with a small band of brave exorcists and exwires, and the situation is grim. They do need reinforcements. With his demon heart, Lightning isn't afraid to sacrifice the entire unit to win, but wouldn't it be nice if that wasn't the only way?

What would happen if humanity stood up to the demons instead of pretending they don't exist or segregating themselves? If we think back to Mephisto's Mad Ravings, he's very interested in this concept. Godain turns down the eyedrops that rid him of temptaint, and he gets used to seeing demons and overcoming his fear

Now that Gehenna and Assiah have merged, humanity has been infected with temptaint; all humans can see demons.

This also means that humanity could potentially harness demonic powers like exorcists (who all are related to or collaborate with demons in some way and share power.)

Humans have two choices: Learn to live, collaborate and get along with demons or continue to segregate and hate what they don't understand. The change is permanent. Humanity needs to evolve.

When we see that terrible glimpse into the future, we know what segregation does. Rin becomes feared and hated and fights on the side of demons...the human world becomes smaller and grim as a result. It doesn't thrive but merely survives.

One more fast note.

At the end of this chapter, a second helicopter arrives, and it's the Illuminati.

We see an odd exchange between Beel and Egyn. They both acknowledge each other, and they are both afraid. These kids seem to have real emotions as compared to the other kings.

Egyn, in my opinion, works for Lucifer out of fear. His elder brother, after all, can so quickly smite him. Maybe Egyn follows Lucifer more out of a Stockholm syndrome-type situation than honest loyalty.

I feel sorry for these two little guys...I bet Egyn doesn't want to hurt anyone.

[marble-wolf]

Happy birthday to @tonguetiedraven! Her birthday is actually tomorrow but I'm posting her gift today. I hope you like it, Raven! (Thank you to @b0ring-n4m3 for the title idea!)

Accidentally in Love (𝓞𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓤𝓹𝓸𝓷 𝓐 𝓣𝓲𝓶𝓮)

Usamaro looked from Rin to the boy named Suguro with a frown. He didn't understand the blush on Rin's cheeks that had appeared. Did he have a fever? 

 

It must be contagious, Usamaro observed. Suguro was going pink too as Rin offered him a matcha mochi. 

 

Their fingers brushed and they jolted apart like they had been shocked. Rin fumbled the mochi and Suguro caught it before it hit the ground. The brown eyed boy gave a smug smirk at his catch. Rin's face was a shade of red that didn't seem possible and some of his hair had come loose from the hair clip a little. Their eyes locked and Suguro raised an eyebrow at Rin's clumsiness. Did they notice the way they were leaning closer? The others certainly did. The other teenagers were watching the exchange with varying degrees of amusement. 

 

Izumo shook her head with a soft scoff. The pink haired boy, Shima, shuffled behind the pair and moved his hands up to form a heart. A mischievous grin lit his whole face up and Shiemi giggled next to Usamaro. The pair were the center of attention and yet, too engrossed in each other to know. 

 

The rabbit demon looked over the scene again, watching Rin's tail curl around the back of Suguro's chair. Suguro had a small smile on his lips, and Rin's shining eyes never turned away from the bigger boy. 

 

It clicked and Usamaro stood up on his chair, victorious. 

 

"You're in love!" He declared, thrilled at his discovery. 

 

All eyes turned to the demon with morbid fascination. Usamaro beamed and planted his hands on the table to lean closer to the pair. 

 

"Love?" Rin asked. He was glancing around, searching for whoever the statement was directed to. 

 

His blue eyes widened as he shrank in on himself when he realized everyone was looking at him.

 

Suguro choked a little and was staring at Usamaro. 

 

Usamaro nodded vigorously. "Love! You love Suguro!" Rin was shaking his head, his tail stiff behind him. The halfling was flaming up from the force of his embarrassment. "But that's ok because he loves you too!" 

 

Rin abruptly froze, his fangs poking out of his gaping mouth. Suguro glanced at Rin, and away again. The fire around Rin's face was nearly purple from the force of his blush. The other Exwires were silent, holding their breath. 

 

Suguro shifted in his seat. His face set in a familiar stubbornness. "Hey, Okumura?" 

 

Rin gave a spectacular squeak. "Yes?"

 

The brown eyed boy nudged Rin with his shoulder, heedless of the flames. "You want to go out after the festival?" 

 

Rin finally turned his attention back to Suguro. "Yes!" 

 

Shima burst out laughing, his fist banged the table and he wagged a finger at Usamaro. "Look at that! You're a little cupid!" 

 

Konekomaru broke into a grin and turned his hand to Shima. "I told you they would get together before the festival. Pay up."

 

Shima squawked. "That doesn't count! They had help!" 

 

Izumo sighed and shook her head at the antics. "Now that you know… please lay off the eyes. " 

 

Rin blushed (had he ever actually stopped?) and his flames showed no sign of dissipating. Suguro took his hand and entwined their fingers together. 

 

The stars returned to Rin's eyes and fresh laughter rang out through the dorm at Izumo's growl. Usamaro sat down, happy to see Rin happy. 

 

It's all he wanted. 

૮₍´｡ᵔ ꈊ ᵔ｡`₎ა

 

The black haired boy had insisted Ryuuji follow him. Rin's hand grasped his own with a confidence that made Ryuuji breathless. What had changed? Wasn't it just yesterday that Rin shied away from him?

 

Then the halfling had sat him down in front of the small snow covered shrine and began to tell a tale that sounded impossible. Rin told of a little demon from the tattered storybook that he lovingly clutched to his chest. 

 

Rin was an active storyteller, demanding the attention of his audience. His hands gave life to his story with a flicker of flames like shadow puppets. His tail wagged. His eyes spoke of his silent despair and how he cherished the moments, welling with tears as he detailed how they played baseball. Then with a blush on his face, he told the story of how Rin and Ryuuji realized their feelings. 

 

His words were like the key to a locked box. The memory was murky and dreamlike, the entire scene was muted, the demon Rin named Usamaro was a black shadow but he could see it. He knew Rin spoke the truth. He could feel the phantom heat of holding Rin's hand for the first time. 

 

Ryuuji lifted his hand as Rin continued his story and took Rin's hand. He could feel that the halfling had been chewing his nails, and the callouses from a life fighting demons and bullies. It was real. 

 

"And that's it…" Rin ended, he was staring down at their clasped hands, his pinky was rolling Ryuuji's prayer beads slowly. A small trail of tears were on his cheeks.

 

"That's a lot." Ryuuji whispered as he used a finger to wipe away the evidence of tears on Rin's soft cheeks. 

 

Rin was absolutely breathtaking in the moonlight. The muted colors of the night didn't touch him as he glowed with anxious harmless flames. Rin's eyes were reflecting the light of the moon like a cat's. 

 

"It seems I owe you a date." Ryuuji wasn't sure if he was asking or not. 

 

Rin grinned bashfully. "I'd like that." 

 

Ryuuji helped Rin to his feet and they took a moment to look out over the water admiring the way it reflected the sky and Mephisto's towering city. 

 

"I would have never gotten up the courage to admit my feelings… I sorta… accidentally fell in love with you." Rin admitted with a soft giggle. The condensation of his breath created a fog around his face that was batted away by the flames. His fangs glinted in the blue light in a way that had been the cause of distraction for Ryuuji in the past. 

 

Ryuuji pulled Rin into a hug (something he had been yearning for) and buried his face in Rin's neck. He was warm and the scent of him was a balm on the young Aria's current turbulent thoughts. Ryuuji could feel the book pressing into his chest. 

 

Ryuuji turned his eyes on the little rabbit statue at the shrine and mouthed a silent " thank you ". 

 

 "I love you too." Ryuuji whispered, thankful that the darkness hid the heat of his cheeks and glanced at the sky again. He reluctantly pulled away from Rin's arms but kept a tight hold on the halfling's hand. "Isn't your brother going to be mad at you for being out so late?" 

 

Rin shook his head and finally contained his flames. "Nah. He's been spending all his time with that Cheng-long guy."

 

"Konekomaru won't be happy to lose the bet this time." Ryuuji told Rin, earning a laugh. 

 

"Maybe we should wait to say anything until they make a new bet. So Koneko still wins! We won't hear the end of it if Shima wins." Rin offered with a mischievous air. 

 

They walked together in the cold dark night, untouched by demons and free to explore a shy kiss or two. 

 

" Once upon a time. On the outskirts of a tiny village, a demon appeared." 

 

♡૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა♡ 

[ilikeyoubetterthisway]

Vol. 16 - The Romance Volume: A Ryuumo Analysis (with a bit of Rinshi)

Part 1.

Hello, I'm back again with another analysis. This time it will be about volume 16, and since it has so much content, I will need more than one post for it, je.

This analysis will explain how Vol. 16 is the romance volume. It will be specifically centered on Ryuumo (obviously), with a side of Rinshi, but with more focus on Ryuuji's feelings and his situation.

[I'm back from the dead with my Ryuumo posts jajaja. I think I will make this analysis around 5 or 6 posts in total. I will edit this out later too jeje. I also want to try out the edit and interlink feature thingy and I seriously need to fix my tumblr page, is a complete mess and school was killing me but now I'm more free, yassss, also, someone send help I have around 30 drafts saved and my a$$ is sitting on them doing notHing].

Anyways, enjoy~!!

The volume starts with ch. 68, Naked Festival, in which the gang and Shura go to the hot springs (courtesy of Mephisto), to relax after the great battle against the Illuminati in Inari. Here we have some debating of whether to trust Shima or not.

But the other main dilemma is that everyone realizes Shima is trying to spy on the girls. We have Ryuuji asking him what's his deal and why he's been acting so weird since they came there, and Shima answers that is because Izumo, Shiemi and Shura are all naked on the other side of the wall.

We know that this is typical Shima behavior (which shouldn't be normalized by the way), but is still acting according to his main traits, but what is important here is that, when Shima expressed what he wanted to do, Ryuuji didn't seem all that annoyed/angry like how he used to react to Shima's antics before.

Ryuuji seems to find strange, as well as looking confused, worried and panicked by Shima's persistence and willingness to go all the way to look at the girls.

But even despite all this, he no longer chastises him about having interest and/or desires over girls (even though he's still completely oppossed to that blatant display of harrasment).

He's hesitant, as well as Yukio and Konekomaru, to come closer to the three wise monkeys, once they find out they are the cause of this whole problem, and he's the one that actually dispells the influence the monkeys have over Rin and Shima.

But again, he is seemingly no longer oppossed to the harboring of interest and desire over girls, but still opts to keep those feelings, thoughts and desires hidden.

I wonder why the sudden change? What happened that could have provoked such a serious and deep change in Ryuuji's opinion about the topic?

A sudden realization of feelings over a certan girl..? To whom he was shown (during the entire duration of the last arc), to be brooding, angsty, worried, thinking, reacting, being vocal and snapping in tsundere behavior at her demeanor and petitions?

And once she was safe and recovering and witnessed her growth, development, honest feelings and purpose for becoming an exorcist, witnessing her real heart, soul and self, he stood there blushing in silent thought with a look of realization and acceptance?

I seriously wonder what could have been the reason for his sudden change over such a strong personal opinion and topic...

Pssst. He has developed feelings as well.

Also, on the last scene in the hot springs, we see that the wall actually broke down and ended with the girls staring at the guys and viceversa.

(Srry for the censorship, I don't wanna get banned or smt).

At first, I thought it wasn't that big of a deal since four of the guys were standing and looking, but upon analyzing it further, I realized this was just another Ryuumo and Rinshi moment, and just the beginning of the tense romantic (coughand spicinesscough) occasions in this volume.

For starters, Shima is being covered by the wall, half drowning-half fainted, the only ones with at least 80% of their bodies visible are Ryuuji and Rin, while Yukio and Konekomaru have like 30% of their bodies visible, this added to the fact that they don't seem to be the main focus of the panel compared to Ryuuji and Rin.

Now, I will be kind to remind you that both Yukio and Konekomaru wear glasses. Konekomaru could barely distinguish Shima against the wall and the girls are even further away, so it would have been pretty difficult for him to be able to see them.

We don't have a good long example of Yukio's eyesight but based on the character general info from the first volume, it says that he has extremely poor eyesight and in the spin-off manga, Salaryman Exorcist, Yukio couldn't even distinguish Rin in a costume less than 50cm (around 1.6ft.), away from him, so from this we can take that he has rlly bad eyesight and could not see the girls at that distance as well. So with Shima out of the picture, the only ones being able to actually see the girls are Ryuuji and Rin, the main love interests for them.

We skip to all of them sharing a tiring moment after the bath, with Ryuuji telling Rin that his feelings were pretty obvious. (Another moment of Ryuumo being aware and supporting Rinshi).

And then Mephisto looking amused from the results of having planned all this scandal. Meaning that he already knows something, he always knows something.

This covers the first chapter of the volume. I'm gonna skip the next one since is just plot driven and has nothing to do with da ships. And also, if you thought this was already long, buckle up because is barely starting.

Thank you for reading this far!! See you in the next part~~!!!

[ishipeverything33]

Leave it All Behind

{Blue Exorcist Angst Fic}

The clouds gently drift peacefully across the blue sky.

The breeze blows softly.

Everything is peaceful.

But all that can change in an instant.

The skies can easily shift from bright blue to an eerie grey.

The clouds can become dark and stormy signalling that a storm is upon us.

The beautiful calm can instantly turn into a chaotic storm.

The skies can fool you into thinking that the weather is sunny and it will be another beautiful day. However when you finally step outside it is bitter cold.

The calm before the storm.

Everything can change in an instant.

Rin had learned that in the worst way imaginable.

Rin gazes up into the sky. It was early in the morning, classes would not start for a good while. He usually spent most mornings going for a run with Kuro, or just wandering through the woods just outside of True Cross. Usually some lower ranked demons such as Coal Tars or Hobgoblins would join him and Kuro. Right now, they were his only company.

Everyone else had left him. Those who he thought were his friends and family abandoned him. He knew that they would when they found out, he just hoped they wouldn't. Deep down, he wanted someone to prove to him that he could rely on others. He wanted someone to prove to him that he wasn't alone in the world. He wanted someone prove him wrong.

He didn't want to believe that his friends would leave him, he wanted to believe they'd be there for him no matter what. He wanted to believe that his brother didn't mean it when he wished that he had been the one killed by Satan instead of their father.

He wanted to believe that everything would turn out to be okay. But he didn't. He didn't believe any of it.

He wished someone would be able to prove him wrong, but no one did. And by the looks of it. No one ever will.

They all shunned him.

He could feel their hateful glares on him whenever he walked into the cram school.

If looks could kill, he'd be dead.

They never listened to what he had to say.

He mastered controlling his flames not too long after the trip to Kyoto. But it was useless, they wouldn't give him the chance to tell them.

They would never talk to him directly.

Thanks to his demonic abilities, he had heightened senses, he can hear every word they say about him behind his back no matter how softly they whisper it or how far away they are.

The isolation is eating him up inside.

He's so lonely, all the time.

He has so many pent up emotions, but he has no one to talk to.

No one to spill his guts to.

It's tearing up his mind.

Out of desperation to relieve himself from the pent up frustrations he had returned to old habits.

He traced the outline of his scars on his arm, it was still fresh, he could still feel the sting. He used to avoid making cuts on his arm so no one would see, but he had given up on hiding them so well. He'd never tell anyone about it, especially not his younger brother Yukio. But yet again, even if they had found out, it's not like they would care. They had even flat out told him to kill himself and that they wouldn't care if he died.

If no one cared if he was dead, why is he still alive?

Being half demon, suicide isn't exactly easy.

So why doesn't he turn himself into the Vatican and have them execute him? He had thought about that. But he still had a sliver of hope that someone, somewhere out there, cared for him. At least a little bit.

He still had Kuro, he wouldn't want to upset the little guy. But he could always ask someone else to take care of him.

But besides Kuro, what reason did he have to live?

He was a demon.

The bastard son of Satan.

He was a monster.

A burden.

A killer.

A screw up.

Good for nothing demon. 

If he were never born, so many people wouldn't have died on the night of the Blue Night. His mother Yuri might still be alive. Shiro, his true father, might still be alive. Konekomaru's parents and Shima's older brother, they all might still be alive. Just his birth alone cost the world so many lives and caused so many people sorrow.

If he were dead, Yukio wouldn't have to worry about him, he could become a doctor or a great exorcist. His classmates would have no reason to be scared of him. Peoples lives would probably benefit from his death.

He wished he could do them all a favour and rid the world of himself. He wanted to die. To end his and other people suffering.

He couldn't help but feel though, that everything would be better, if things were just a little bit different.

He hated this life.

He'd leave it all behind at the drop of a hat.

You can read the rest of my fanfic on AO3 :3

[tonguetiedraven]

I love your Kyoto stuff! (MarbleWolf too!) and was wondering if you could do something with them all teasing Ryuuji about his crush and him panicking about Rin finding out? Get together?

Thank you so much! @marble-wolf and I took this in a slightly different direction, but we hope you like it! We've got a teaser below with a link to the full fic under it.

-- -- -- -- --

The difference of stepping off the bus and onto the road that would lead them to the ryokan, the temple, and the Deep Keep, was immediate to Ryuuji, though he wasn’t sure anyone else would notice. Konekomaru almost certainly, Renzou maybe, but he doubted his other classmates would notice the absence of it. 

The air was clear. Crisp and cold, but fresh. Ryuuji took a deep breath of it, beaming as he did (probably still looking a bit grouchy because he could never quite seem to not look that way) and set a quick pace towards his home that Renzou calling out a frustrated sounding “Bon!”

He slowed back down which proved to be a terrible idea because it put him right next to Rin. Shoulder to shoulder almost. 

The last time Ryuuji was here, that would have been a terrible thing because they hadn’t been talking at all and he was frustrated and confused and worried. But now, now he wasn’t worried and stressed about the temple he loved and wanted to restore imploding more with every second before he could possibly restore it, and he understood Rin now, and—

And more than understood Rin and that was absolutely the problem now as he peeked over at the scarf and hat clad boy who was pink cheeked with a red nose and pink ears and looking adorably cold despite the fact he had flames whenever he wanted. 

Ryuuji’s eyes shot forward again and he was grateful the chill could hide the way his own cheeks went a bit pink as the chuchi Rin always just summoned in Ryuuji once again surged to life in his stomach. 

“Just ahead,” he said gruffly, and a bit stupidly. Rin had been here. He knew where the ryokan was. It was visible and there were a few of the Myōō Dharani hanging in front of it. 

Rin gave the happiest sort of bounce to find Ryuuji next to him now. He was happy to be away from True Cross for a little while and it was even better to get to spend the rest of break with his friends — especially Ryuuji. 

The young monk had been catching Rin's eye more and more recently. (Actually it wasn't recently, but it had just intensified after the Impure King and the trip into Kyoto and then the undercut … he wanted to run his fingers through it.) 

But he couldn't do anything about it because he was certain to be turned down and he was just happy to have friends. 

He had enjoyed the final days in Kyoto and he hoped they'd have an even better time now without the Impure King stressing Ryuuji out so much. 

"Yeah!" He said to Ryuuji, his tail brushing his friend's hand before lifting higher to wag happily in greeting to the Myōō Dharani monks. "I'm excited to be back!"  

Ryuuji returned Rin’s smile with  his own growing and let his eyes linger for a second before looking forward to the monks gathered at the front. Kinzou, Yumi (he could feel Konekomaru bracing himself for a flying hug), Shishamo, Mika, Chika, Ao, and Uta were all up front and half of them were waving like they weren’t all the only ones on the street and like they weren’t easy to spot. 

They were all dorks, but they were his dorks. 

“Hey!” Kinzou bellowed, waving all the hard. “Bon! And Rin!” 

The way he said it made Ryuuji immediately miss a step, and his face heated in a hot blush that was mostly hidden by his hat and scarf.

What the hell was that tone about?”

“Koneko!” Yumi squealed and launched herself across the distance with a flurry of movement that had Konekomaru grunting as he was rocked back into an extremely indignant Izumo.

Ryuuji used that distraction to put the smallest amount of space between himself and Rin. 

“Bon!” Ao and Mika called out in unison and then leaned into whisper something that had them both giggling and Uta whacking their arm with a shake of her own head. 

Chika and Shishamo hurried across the space to help grab their luggage (and ogle Shura and her not at all to regulations Exorcist coat.) 

“Aren’t you all cozy,” KInzou hummed, snagging Renzou and pulling him into a head lock as he kept smiling between Ryuuji and Rin. 

Rin's hand moved up to where he was practically hiding in his scarf and Kuro who's little head was poking out of his bag. 

"Yeah?" Rin agreed simply because at least Kuro looked perfectly cozy in the bag. 

He felt like everyone was staring at him and he had sorta hoped everybody would have not been still hung up on the Son of Satan thing or the saving them from the Impure King. He smiled anyway and waved at the gathering crowd.  

“Your parents are inside,” Uta offered, giving Bon a teasing smile as half the gazes went between him and Rin. Renzou was trying (and failing) to escape Kinzou’s clutches and Konekomaru was entirely wrapped up by Yumi who was asking Izumo questions about her hair clips. 

Shiemi was hanging at the back with Yukio, both of them staring a bit too wide eyed, and Ryuuji could see Kinzou opening his mouth again, so he freed his duffle bag from Shishamo’s hand and jogged up to the engawa to get away as it felt like his face was much too red.

He had to be imagining that. They couldn’t know. It was just that he was standing next to Rin. No one could know about his crush. He’d barely even admitted its existence to himself.

He slid the door open, slipping his shoes off as he stepped inside and smiled (only a bit flustered) at his mother and father and more of the Myōō Dharani, all bustling around busily for the upcoming wedding. 

Rin hurried to follow Ryuuji, eager to get inside and hopefully away from all the too wide grins. (And before he could get knocked over by the flailing Shima brothers.) 

He tripped his way out of his shoes and caught himself on a grumpy looking Yukio who'd followed him inside and he brightened up at the sight of Ryuuji's parents. 

"Hi!" He called.  

Ryuuji shifted to give him more space, catching sight of his father slipping past Juuzou and a few Deep Keep exorcists he didn’t know the name of. He made a beeline for him, not wanting to get lectured over his hair and the new spiral by his mom. She was going to be furious when she saw the bigger gauges and he didn’t think she’d approve of the undercut.

(It wasn’t because it looked like that was where Rin was going and his cheeks were still hot about the way Kinzou had said Rin and the fact that he had tried to walk close to Rin.) 

“Ryuuji!” Tatsuma greeted, immediately moving in for a hug and hauling Ryuuji into it before he could resist. (He wouldn’t have, he just blushed at the noise he heard Izumo make.) 

“Hey, dad.” 

“Bon!” Juuzou cheered, coming over with a mildly frantic smile. He had a wedding in two days, it made sense. 

“Ah, Rin,” Tatsuma added as he released Ryuuji and he reached for Rin’s hand, using it to pull Rin closer so he could set his other hand on Rin’s arm and give him an affectionate squeeze. “I see you two have still made up.”

“We didn’t— it wasn’t a fight.” Ryuuji was blushing again and grateful he hadn’t taken the scarf off yet.

Rin laughed softly, relaxing into the kind, fatherly touch that he missed so much it hurt. He gave a smile because he didn't know… 

"The Impure King stuff? That wasn't… was that a fight?" Rin directed the last question to Ryuuji, looking at him with wide eyes. 

Torako pulled Ryuuji away from Tatsuma to give him a hug that looked far too tight but entirely loving as she ran a hand over his hair. 

"I approve of this hair much more. You look wonderful." She said with a wide smile.  

Ryuuji blushed, torn between who he should talk to, but he gave his mom a warm smile and returned the hug. (Better than a lecture.) 

“Thanks, ma.” 

“Was it not?” Tatsuma asked, smiling mischievously. “My mistake. It’s still nice to see you two getting along.”

“We—” Ryuuji’s attention was immediately returned to them as his blush darkened again “—it wasn’t—”

“Of course not,” Tatsuma said congenially and moved on to greet Konekomaru with a final squeeze of Rin’s arm, leaving Ryuuji there with his mom messing up his hair and a blush.

Torako looked suddenly apologetic, almost exaggeratedly so, as she sighed and ran her thumb over Ryuuji's cheek. (He was getting so scruffy . He wasn't a baby anymore.)

"I hope you two don't mind, but we are having Ryuuji share his room with you, Rin sweetie. The wedding has us booked out! We have Yukio with Konekomaru and Renzou gets to go home." She said in a soft voice. 

Rin's heart leapt and he was blushing before he could stop it as his eyes immediately went to Ryuuji as Torako held a hand out to him.  

Ryuuji was certain he had to have misheard that for a moment. The plan had been for him to share with Koenkomaru and the twins to take one of their rooms and them to take the other.

But apparently that had been switched and now he was blushing. (He hadn’t actually stopped.

“I—what?”

“Yes,” Konekomaru agreed from behind him. “That was the plan?” Yukio nodded his own agreement and passed by to congratulate Juuzou.

It sure as hell hadn’t been. Ryuuji would have remembered that plan. 

“We—” Ryuuji cut himself off and swallowed at how high his voice had sounded. “Is that okay, Okumura?” 

Rin blinked dumbly for a long moment before brightening. "Yeah! I don't mind." 

Someone coughed in the crowd and Torako beamed. 

"Wonderful! You kids go get unpacked and we can get to work." She said, practically herding them out.  

Tatsuma shot her and Konekomaru a wink as Kinzou grinned mischievously and Renzou still struggled to get free. 

Ryuuji walked towards his room, wide-eyed and only internally panicking a bit. 

“Right in here,” he offered (croaked.) He slid the door to his room open and motioned inside, eyeing it for anything weird and embarrassing and blushing darker at a few of the posters he had up. 

His futon was rolled up in the corner, and sure enough, there was a second beside it. He’d need to move his prayer mat for Rin, and it still wouldn’t be a lot of space. He didn’t have a particularly large room. 

He stepped further into it, striving to keep walking normally (because it felt like he wasn’t at all) and stopped by the dresser, setting his bag next to it and daring to pull off his hat and scarf and set them on top of it. 

“Just, uh, make yourself at home.”

Rin went inside, eyes wide and drinking in the room and how rich in Ryuuji's personality it was. There were collections of prayer beads and such a Ryuuji mix of Buddhist flair and punk (that made Rin's knees weak.) 

He slipped inside and set his bag close to the door to keep it out of the way. Kuro meowed and hopped out of the bag to probably look for someone to feed him. 

"Cool! It suits you!" Rin praised, giving Ryuuji a wide grin. He sat down on the floor and took off his scarf and jacket, already a bit too warm and it was guaranteed to get worse with the room smelling like Ryuuji and him being right there .  

Ryuuji’s eyes shot to Rin and stayed a moment longer than they should, and felt his cheeks darken all the more.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, and wondered if that was the right answer. It sounded a bit lame as he tugged off his own jacket and set it on the dresser too. 

“I get up early,” he added, absolutely not thinking about the fact that Rin would be sleeping right next to him. This was some kind of devilish temptation. (Fitting that it was Rin, but Ryuuji couldn’t imagine what he’d done to earn that sort of karma.)

“But I won’t wake you up.” He grinned and tried to make it look normal. “Don’t worry. I’ll let ya sleep in past six.” 

"Oka— wait! Don't wake me up at six-thirty!" Rin said because that seemed like a smart ass thing Ryuuji would do. 

(And he would give Rin that teasing, smug look that had made Rin want to hit him before but now he just loved it. ) 

"I stay up late!" Rin offered in exchange. He had trouble going to sleep on a normal day… it might be impossible with Ryuuji sleeping so close.  

“I sleep like the dead, so that’s not gonna be a problem. And understood, it’ll be six-fourty five then.” He gave Rin a wink and looked away before Rin could see the blush. 

“Do—”

There was a polite knock at the door that had Ryuuji looking over in confusion. It slid open before he could say anything and Mika leaned in with a broad smile on her lips and a bit of black hair in her eyes.

“You two are on mochi duty with me, the Hojos, and Shigemichi,” she informed them.

“We’re what?”

“You’re going to be making mochi. For dinner. We’re going to be making a lot. You know how the Shimas eat.” 

She gave Rin a grin before looking back at Ryuuji with mischief in her eyes. “You said Rin was a good—no, fantastic cook, didn’t you, Bon?”

Ryuuji no longer had a scarf to hide his blush.

[tonguetiedraven]

Ao No Summer 2023 Prompt: Shopping!

I went bonrin for this one. Short and sweet!

(⁠♡⁠ω⁠♡⁠ ⁠)⁠ ⁠~♡~(⁠*⁠˘⁠︶⁠˘⁠*⁠)

Shopping with Rin was always a bit of an adventure. Ryuuji had been on many adventures with Rin, but shopping was the chaotic sort of adventure that felt like it really shouldn't be one.

But then again, Rin had always made food and adventure. Rin also managed to feed the two of them, Kuro, whatever other random demon had found its way into their house, lunch for Yukio for each work day, and something to feed any random visitors they might have. (And it couldn't be something as simple as instant ramen because Mephisto had given Rin a personal grudge against that for a meal and he had a tendency to growl anytime that Ryuuji mentioned it as an option.)

All of which meant that shopping trips with Rin tended to be a bit long, and strangely involved. Ryuuji would suggest making a list every time they had to go to the store, and every time they went to the store, his idea was shot immediately down. Usually with a look from Rin like he was questioning his boyfriend's intelligence for even bringing it up. Ryuuji didn't get looked at like he was stupid all that often, but there was something about shopping, specifically grocery shopping, that made Rin use that look far too often.

The lists were never made, and the trips were never quick.

Part of the problem was that Rin liked to look at everything. He would pick through all the produce, move every can, squeeze every loaf, pick up every spice and squint at it, check the prices and check them again, and spend long enough in the freezer section that Ryuuji almost always wished he had brought a coat. The boy Ryuuji intended to marry someday simply could not leave a grocery store unless he felt like he knew everything it contained in its depths.

The boy Ryuuji loved also couldn't remember something for longer than 5 minutes, so every time they came back to the store Rin seemed to have to once again reacquaint himself with the entirety of it.

It would be utterly exasperating if it wasn't also so fascinating to watch Rin create new recipes and ideas right in front of him. A random vegetable would give him an idea for a brand new masterpiece that sounded slightly strange, or entirely incomprehensible to Ryuuji while Rin eagerly described it at a quick ramble, usually with incorrect words, and then the moment they got home, Rin would start to create his new masterpiece and it would be delicious and the memory of their lengthy trip would begin to fade.

The second reason for their lengthy trips, other than the aforementioned need to know everything in the store, and the tendency to create new recipes while he was roaming the aisles, was that neither Ryuuji or Rin (or Yukio for that matter) made anything close to a lot of money. Exorcist had fairly meager salaries, and there was rent to be paid, insurance to be bought (because Rin's method of fighting did tend to result in some things burning, and a few buildings or furniture being mildly destroyed), new clothes to be bought because the fighting and flames were rough on them too, and they never had a lot of money to spend on food.

Yet, one would never know with the quality and the quantity of food that Rin managed to produce. Ryuuji could happily tell them that it was because Rin spent hours on finding the best deals. Rin—who had failed most of his math classes and had only passed any of them because Ryuuji, Yukio, and Konekomaru had dragged him through them—would stare at the prices and compare them and figure out substitutes or how he could completely remove specific ingredients just so that he could fit their price range.

Most people considered Rin to be an artist in the kitchen, and Ryuuji would be the first to agree to that description. Rin was able to create masterpieces on a whim in the kitchen. He could sculpt beautiful items and create exquisite new tastes all while making it feel like love, but...

Ryuuji thought that Rin was also an incredible sight in a grocery store. He was an artist there as well, not as one traditionally thought of them, but there was something beautifully creative and incredibly resourceful and the way he would take the challenge of their tiny budget and make it last and stretch and be something delicious and exciting. And while he would not be opposed to shorter trips, he still thought it was fun to watch Rin work.

[tonguetiedraven]

Okay so- I have a funny little headcanon that I havent seen anyone write about yet. Rin can handle spicy food a lot better than Ryuuji, now, Ryuuji does like spicy food, but he has a limit. So if Rin is ever pissed at Ryuuji and feels like being petty bc he's upset with Ryuuji about something, he'll make something overly spicy to get back at him.

Another double prompt fill, lol. Thanks to @marble-wolf for helping me with this one.

-- -- -- -- --

Ryuuji sent a text that he was going to miss lunch, and he felt bad that he had to opt for that over a phone call, but trying to talk on the phone around Lewin was a bit of a death wish. At the very least it was an embarrassment wish. Lewin would rattle off whatever crossed his mind and Ryuuji had only been dating Rin for a little bit and was not ready for that wild card in their relationship. They had enough wildcards just being them. 

A few hours later and he was still following Lewin through a swamp, and he had to send another text to Rin that he was going to miss their dinner date as well. That was a special kind of torture, because Rin had mentioned curry and Ryuuji was going to end up eating rations. Entirely unfair. (And he was missing time with Rin.) 

He’d be back for tomorrow’s lunch, hopefully, but in the mean time, he was frowning at the lack of returning texts.

That didn’t bode well.

Rin was fuming. This shit was happening far too often because Lewin couldn't do anything without having his hand held by Ryuuji. 

Ryuuji, who was Rin's new boyfriend, was unable to tell Lewin no and was missing too many dates. Strapped down by Lewin's command. And Rin understood why but it didn't make it any easier. He felt like Ryuuji should put a bit more effort into making time for Rin. (Instead of trotting after Lewin and trying to keep him clean.) 

Ryuuji hadn't even called. No, it had been texts. 

Rin crossed his arms over the pot of curry, mentally grumbling and considered what he wanted to do. Something that he could do to get back at both Ryuuji and Lewin. 

Kuro chirped and peeked in the pot, "what's wrong, Rin? Is it too spicy?" 

"Spicy? No. Ryuuji isn't coming."  Rin said with a frown. 

"Oh. I'm sorry." Kuro sighed. "We can eat together!" 

Rin smiled and nodded. "Sure, Kuro." 

And it was only as he set aside portions for himself and Kuro and the cat sidhe Doves into the meal with a happy purr that the thought occurred to him. 

Spicy.  

— — — — —

Ryuuji was not particularly astute at picking up subtleties of his friends’ moods. It had cost him multiple times, and had tried to get better at it, but he doubted he would ever reach Konekomaru’s level of observation.

Even with that lack of natural ability, Ryuuji couldn’t miss the mildly frigid air as Rin served up lunch. It looked like a yakisoba bun (which was Ryuuji’s favorite lunch) but Rin just dropped the wrapped lunch in front of him and sat down in a noisy way that seemed to radiate I am not happy even to Ryuuji’s mildly deaf ears.

“Thank you?” He said, not entirely sure why he’d made it a question as he pulled the meal a bit closer and opened it up. His nose tingled a little as he breathed in the warm scent, and that was a bit strange. Had Rin used a new sauce?

Rin's tail flicked and he nodded in response. He did slide a bottle of green tea closer to Ryuuji because he wasn't a total asshole before crossing his arms back and staring at Ryuuji.  

Ryuuji stared back for a moment. Rin wouldn’t poison him. He took too much pride in his cooking for that. Still, Ryuuji mildly felt like he shouldn’t eat, or possibly drink, any of this. Something was up. 

However, he wasn’t a coward and he was always a bit more daring than was probably good for him, and he trusted Rin wouldn’t actively try to really hurt him, so he picked the bun up and took a bite, and confirmed that, yep, Rin had done something.

It was quite easily the hottest thing Ryuuji had ever tried to eat. (He avoided overly spicy foods for a lot of reasons.) The spice immediately cut through absolutely everything else and there was no real way to tell what the flavor was outside of the immediate and overwhelming ow of the rest of the sandwich. 

He coughed a little because he couldn’t help it, and almost dropped the sandwich with the force of it. He avoided the green tea he’d been given and opted for his own water as well, not trusting that Rin hadn’t done something to that as well. 

Then, with a glare at his boyfriend, he took another bite. (And he was going to regret the hell out of that, he just knew it. Indigestion aside, he was playing with fire.)

Rin's tail flicked and he battled back any guilt he might feel with his own narrowed eyes. He tugged out his own yakisoba and ate it without a flinch, enjoying the heat of it and hoping Lewin had taken a bite out of his own.  

Ryuuji, still ignoring the green tea, finished the sandwich as quickly as he could and pushed the container away, sweating a bit and marveling at just how numb his mouth felt. His eyes were watering and his nose was running, and whatever he’d done had clearly really pissed Rin off. 

(He should not have eaten that. It was stupid, but damn it, he wasn’t going to be beaten by something like that.)

“Alright,” he said, and damn it, even his voice was a bit rough, “what the hell is wrong?”

Rin sat up stiffly, huffing. "Why you gotta ask?"  

“‘Cause you just tried to kill me?” And probably would. Ryuuji needed to go find something to counteract that spice. Something told him a spinach salad wasn’t quite going to cut it with that. “What happened?” 

Rin rolled his eyes. "I wasn't trying to kill ya. I'm just… I've finally got your attention!" 

Rin nudged at the tea. "Look, it's still sealed up." 

"First, you need to tell Light to fuck off occasion because you have plans. Second! Don't text me. And don't let Light drag you into stuff. I am tired of getting stood up for a man that can't wash his own socks. And you don't seem to care." Rin was pouting and glaring but he couldn't help it with the hurt.  

Ryuuji ditched the non helpful water and went for the pocky he’d brought to share with Rin, pulling out a few sticks and sucking on the sweet matcha while he gave Rin an unimpressed look. It did almost nothing to soothe the burn. So much for sugar being a cure. 

“I text ya,” he said around the pocky, “because Lightning will shout random shit if I call.” He could feel his cheeks going a bit red (though it probably wasn’t visible past the heat flush.) “I don’t…” It was embarrassing. Lightning had even made kissing noises and moaned when Ryuuji was going to call Rin. He was not dealing with that. 

Huffing out a breath, he gave his boyfriend a long look, taking in the sad eyes and the slumped posture despite the defiantly crossed arms. He’d hurt him. Enough for Rin to try and get back. (Nirvana, please just let it have been a shitty meal. He should not have eaten that. Why had he done that? There was no way he got out of that scott free. At the very least he’d fucked up his singing voice for Aria class with all the extra snot. At the worst…

He didn’t want to deal with the migraine that was guaranteed to bring.)

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you like that. I care, honest. I’ll figure out a way to get some space from him if it happens so I can call ya. And…” Ugh. He really did tend to push everything but school to the side for Lewin.

“I’ll work on it,” he promised.

Rin's pout relaxed a little, though he still felt betrayed and like Lewin was always going to be top priority. 

"Okay. Just… try?" Rin asked. That was all he really needed.  

Ryuuji pushed the strawberry pocky towards Rin. “I’ll try.” 

“Hey!” An exuberant voice called and Ryuuji’s head gave a low throb of annoyance that had him closing his eyes and murmuring a prayer that was almost guaranteed to not push away the migraine he’d more or less signed himself up for. 

(He should have had a talk about that with Rin. He should have told his cook boyfriend what foods could make things worse. He was an idiot.) 

“Lightning?” He growled, not bothering to open his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose and Lewin bounded up to their table. 

“Okumura! That was delicious! It’s so hard to find really spicy things here! You got anymore? I’d pay for that!”

Rin blinked in astonishment and leaned away from the man as Lewin leaned way too close and beamed at him like an excited shaggy dog. 

"Huh? What? Seriously?”  Rin squeaked, his tail moving to hide and his hand holding his sword to keep it out of grabby hands. 

"You liked that?" Rin gasped, lifting up what was left of his own sandwich.  

“I love spicy food!” Lewin gushed, pulling out a chair and sitting down like he’d been invited over. “I didn’t know you could get that kinda spicy yakisoba bun. I don’t usually get the spicy stuff ‘cause Ryuuji can’t have it with the migraines and he’s the one that likes yakisoba buns, but I’d eat all of those ya got!”

Ryuuji dropped his hand and shot Lewin the most unbelieving of stares. Why was he even here? (And he was staring like he was going to steal what was left of Rin’s sandwich.)

Rin's eyes went wide and horrified and what he had managed to eat felt too heavy and his stomach was twisting as the guilt shot through him. 

"Migraines! This— I— Ryuuji!" Rin cried out and he shoved the rest of his sandwich at Lewin. 

"Take that and go away."  

Lewin accepted the sandwich with a frown while Ryuuji covered his face with his hand again and sighed. That was going to bite him in the ass. He should have ditched this lunch and gone to yesterday’s. 

“Uh,” Lewin began, “what—”

“Just go,” Ryuuji sighed. “Please,” he added after a moment. He didn’t bother to look to see if his master did and simply picked up another piece of matcha pocky to suck on and hope it made him capable of feeling his mouth again. (For fucks sake, he hadn’t even known heat could hang around that long.)

Lewin did as requested, raising a curious eyebrow and keeping his eye on them as long as he could while he finished the second bun. 

"Ryuuji!" Rin hissed, dropping his voice as if Ryuuji already had a migraine. "Why didn't you say something?"

The guilt was twisting higher and Rin was scrambling to clean up and he cracked open Ryuuji's tea and shoved it at him.  

“Tea doesn’t help with heat, Rin.” Ryuuji took it anyway because caffeine could help migraines. (Supposedly. He’d never really noticed any difference. Green tea was still his favorite drink either way.) 

He took a few sips and shrugged. “Seemed kinda late to mention it?” And how did you bring something like that up without painting someone as a bad guy? You gave me a triggering food! It wasn’t like it was a widely known thing. It wasn’t an allergy. It was just… 

Stupid of him to eat the whole thing simply so he didn’t lose Rin’s I’m mad at you challenge. 

Rin stood up and put his hand out to Ryuuji. 

"Okay but now you get to take the rest of the day off." Rin ordered. "Can you take something before the migraine? Is that allowed?" 

"I'm sorry, babe," Rin whispered.  

“I’m the one that ate the sandwich,” Ryuuji pointed out. “And that’s not necessary. It’d hit tomorrow if I got one.” Or around bedtime, which would mean a long night for him. “It’s not gonna be a problem,” he said, and hoped it wasn’t a lie even though it probably was. Ugh. He rather hated his broken ass brain. Maybe he’d get lucky and it’d take it a full day to hit. He could catch up with missing cram classes more easily than missing cram classes and regular classes. 

He did take Rin’s hand and move in close for an after lunch walk before their cram classes. (Hopefully not an intense aria class or that migraine would be guaranteed.) 

Rin frowned but accepted that Ryuuji knew what he was talking about. 

"Okay. No more spicy." Definitely not. Maybe to bribe Lewin but that's all.  

— — — — —

There was a light drizzle of rain out the window that was distracting with how the water streaked down the window as Rin waited for Ryuuji to appear. He had a towel ready to toss over his boyfriend and they could eat the leftover curry because Ryuuji loved curry and —

Rin blinked in confusion at the keyboard slap text he had just received from Ryuuji. What? 

It didn't make any sense to Rin and he immediately thought of an accidental typing, usually done when Ryuuji was on a run. But he couldn't help but feel worried. Rin sent out a text to Konekomaru and didn't have to wait long for the dreaded reply. 

A migraine. 

Rin's guilt drove him to immediately flick off the stove, ask Ukobach to put away the reheated food and run out the door with the ice packs from the freezer in his hands. 

It was entirely his fault and he would make it up to Ryuuji ten-fold. He ran all the way to Ryuuji's dorm and mentally thanked whoever had left the door unlocked (probably Konekomaru) as he nudged the door open as little as possible. 

Ryuuji was lying, curled up in a tight ball on his bed, his phone dropped onto the floor and the room as dark as it could be. Rin tiptoed his way over and sat down at the edge of Ryuuji's bed. 

The ice pack was laid over Ryuuji's shoulder and neck and Rin nudged at the tense muscles. 

"Ryuuji?"  

A whimper left Ryuuji’s lips (embarrassingly) as he rolled towards Rin. He thought he might have imagined the door opening and closing, but there wasn’t any imagining the blessed relief of the ice on his neck or the slight whisper of his name.

He knew he had fucked up with the sandwich, and he’d entirely cemented his fate when they’d had the sparring in his aria class. Trying to hold shields against the attacks had given him a mental beating, and no matter how much he wished it hadn’t happened, the migraine had hit him with a sledgehammer.

Embarrassing or not, Ryuuji pressed his face against Rin’s knees and told himself to explain about the migraine and the agony everything was, and that despite being the son of Satan, Rin was clearly actually an angel for bringing the ice pack and being so quiet about it. He told himself to apologize for the text when Rin had said to call, but calling wasn’t going to happen with a migraine. (Had he sent a text? It hurt even trying to remember.)

Instead of any of that, Ryuuji managed a simple (and raspy), “Rin.”

Rin bent his head down to bury his nose in Ryuuji's hair, nuzzling and trying to show without words that he was there. His fingers moved to rub at Ryuuji's head and neck while his tail curled around Ryuuji's back. 

"Did you take meds?" Rin whispered as loud as he dared.  

Ryuuji mumbled a yes that still felt too loud as it echoed around in his head, enhancing the pressure that was already trying to make his brain explode. 

He tilted towards the nuzzle, curling his fingers into the fabric of Rin’s shirt and appreciating the presence more than he could tell. (He couldn’t tell Rin much of anything at this moment.) He hated the isolation that always came with this and he’d wanted to hang out with Rin after their stressful afternoon, and his brain had fucked up his plans instead. (Though he supposed he should be grateful he didn’t often have the sensitivity to touch.)

The heat of his boyfriend’s touch was also a balm. He was half tempted to try and tuck his freezing toes against Rin’s legs. He never understood why his feet got cold with this. 

Rin toed off his shoes and climbed into bed next to Ryuuji and held him close to his chest. 

Rin would be taking Ryuuji out for something cold and bargain with Lewin for Ryuuji getting days off (bribed with the hottest food Rin could make.)   

Ryuuji curled up against him, hiding his face against Rin’s shoulder, tucking his freezing feet against Rin’s molten ones, closing his eyes a bit too tightly, and just breathing as well as he could. 

He laid there, surrounded by Rin, and slowly tried to find the words he needed through the fog in his head. He’d had something important to say, and he couldn’t let Rin lay here guilty. 

“Not your fault,” he murmured. “Aria class woulda done… woulda done it.” Something else had happened, but he didn’t remember it. The memories would come back later and he could explain that all more clearly later. He’d been doomed before that sandwich, but…

“I shouldn’ta finished it. A bite wouldn’t… wouldn’t do it… But not your fault.” He tugged on Rin’s shirt a little, not certain if his message had gotten across, or even made sense to begin with.

Rin rubbed his hands over Ryuuji's back and kissed Ryuuji's temple. 

"Okay. But no more spicy food." Rin whispered, warming Ryuuji's freezing feet and keeping him wrapped up and safe. "We just both gotta stop being so stubborn, eh?"  

Ryuuji grinned despite his pain. He doubted that would happen. Still… 

“It’s all Lightning’s fault,” Ryuuji decided, whispering as quietly as he could. Barely breathing the words because Rin could still hear them anyway. “I’m gonna make him take a bath for this.”

[tonguetiedraven]

May I ask for some Rin not so secretly swooning over Bon’s new haircut?

I'm so sorry for the wait! I'm really behind on all these ;-;

But thank you so much for such a fun prompt ^^ Rin absolutely is not subtle with his swooning, lol. I changed the moment when Rin first sees the hair cut a bit, and I hope this fits what you wanted :D

— — — ｡･ﾟ(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄) ( ` - ´ )— — —

Rin loved the rooster haircut. It was bold, distinct, rebellious, and just brought all the more attention to how tall Ryuuji was, and how thick his hair was. Staring up at the proud mohawk and the thick brown locks that surrounded it had always made Rin want to proudly stand out from the crowd too, and made him really want to bury his fingers in the wavy locks so he could pull Ryuuji down and—

Well, he liked the hair style a lot. It was the first thing he'd noticed about Ryuuji — because it was kinda hard to notice anything else before the bright blond streak — and it was one of the first things that popped in his mind when he thought of Ryuuji. (Though recently he'd been thinking of soft brown eyes that were kind and clever and—)

And it was what gave him his first nickname for the cute boy, er, his friend. Rooster was synonymous with Suguro in his mind.

Princess was fun too, but not as fun as rooster, and he wasn't going to try babe again unless they were in another life or death situation just the two of them. They got in a lot of life and death scenarios (more than they really should) but not just the two of them. (Which was good and bad. Extra help always made it more likely to get out of those situations, but Rin didn't like anyone being in them, and there was something more intense about being in them with Ryuuji.)

Anyway, his eyes were trained to look for a proud crest of blond in a crowd, and that was how he'd spot his friend, and with Lightning hanging around and stealing all the extra Ryuuji time, Rin had been scanning for that rooster crest all the more.

It was lunch time, and Rin couldn't find it. He was at the fountain by the deli — Ryuuji's typical lunch spot because the affordable meatbun rush was getting harder and harder to fight and they could actually eat their lunch instead of nursing their wounds if they just went to the slightly more expensive deli — and Rin couldn't see it.

He did see Konekomaru's bald head, and Renzou's bright pink head, so he went towards them and tried not to look as upset about the missing streak of blond. He could see Ryuuji in class. At least he had friends to eat with today, and that was always fun.

There was a third boy sitting next to Konekomaru. Someone tall and broad shoulder who had their back to Rin.

The stranger had an undercut. Rin had always loved undercuts, and had thought of getting one after Yukio left for school — because he'd thought his proper twin would find it too rebellious and degenerate — but the sword drama had made him reconsider. An undercut would make his weird ears obvious. So he admired from afar and tugged his own shaggy locks over his own hair.

But this boy had really fantastically thick brown hair that was all whispy and wavy at the top of his head, and Rin found himself wanting to touch it. It looked soft and—

Holy shit.

Rin stopped dead in his tracks as he caught proper sight of the boy's profile. Not a stranger. Not a stranger at all. Ryuuji. Ryuuji with an undercut. Ryuuji without the streak of blond, and somehow looking older and more intimidating for the lack of mohawk. Heavenly Father have mercy, Rin's knees felt a bit weak with the full view. Ryuuji's beard seemed bigger, his hair styled so that it no longer hung in his eyes, thick but somehow accentuating his strong features, his numerous piercings, and his eyes.

Rin made a small, embarrassing noise, and three sets of eyes turned towards him curiously. Rin straightened as much as he could, spread his lips in as big a smile as he could (ack! That wasn't natural!) and tried to wave only to realize that looked stupid and weird, and drop his hand partway through the embarrassing wave.

Yay. He looked totally normal.

"Okumura," the trio greeted. Ryuuji made the extra motion to move his bag off the fountain, opening up a spot for Rin to sit by his side.

How did he look so much smarter with this haircut? That wasn't fair at all! He'd always looked so effortlessly cool and now he had to spring a surprise haircut on Rin and look all devilish and handsome and cool while he did it, and he had to be considerate and make space for Rin who now had to sit next to the attractive boy and act like he was normal.

Tail wagging nervously behind him, Rin hurried across the spot, tripped, nearly went sprawling to the ground, righted himself, and practically flung himself onto the fountain next to Ryuuji.

"You changed your hair!" He blurted way too loudly.

Ryuuji's cheeks tinted a light pink. It was at odds with the rest of the look, and somehow made everything all the cuter. The tough boy could blush too.

Rin swallowed and tried to make his eyes not quite as wide as Ryuuji's hand reached up to nervously pat at his hair.

"Yeah? Just needed a—“

"Isn't it awful?!" Renzou wailed while Konekomaru let out a tired "Shima."

Ryuuji's cheeks flushed darker as he sent a glare to Renzou.

"It's not awful! It's cool," Rin gushed, and wished he hadn't as Ryuuji froze next to him. His tail thumped nervously, and he almost dropped his lunch as he waved his hands frantically. "Not to say the rooster—"

"Don't call me that!"

"—Wasn't cool! But this... It's like, sleeker. Yeah! You look older. Extinguished."

"...Distingquished?"

Rin's cheeks were going to set themselves on fire. "Yeah. That." He pried the top off his bento and shoveled some rice in his mouth as Renzou continued to whine about the loss of the streak and Konekomaru continued to sigh in weary resignation and Ryuuji continued to glare (and blush.)

Despite his best try, Rin couldn't keep his eyes off the new haircut. He found his eyes almost immediately shooting back to the chestnut locks, and wondering how Ryuuji got them to be that textured and how they stayed like that, and if they'd be as soft as they looked. Would Rin be able to tangle his fingers in it? Would the buzzed part be scratchy or soft?

Did Ryuuji have more piercings? And had he always had that cool spiral? Rin hadn't noticed them as much before.

"I got something on my face?" Ryuuji snapped, spearing a piece of fruit aggressively and sending an unhappy look Rin's way.

Rin blinked, realized he'd be staring with his chopsticks halfway to his face, and blushed as hard as he possibly could. (Hopefully. If his face got any hotter, it really would ignite.)

"No! Just. Its cool is all. Did you always have that earring?" he poked the spiral in question, enjoying how cool and smooth it felt against his finger. He barely managed to stop himself from reaching up higher and tangling his fingers in the new hairstyle. He'd end up in the fountain if he tried that.

"Huh? Oh. Had it for a while? Since Inari." Ryuuji turned back to his lunch, cheeks and ears still a bit red, and fiddled with his fruit. "My hair kinda hid them."

Rin, only having eyes for Ryuuji, did not notice the look Konekomaru and Renzou shared, or the shit eating grin that promptly lifted Renzou's lips.

Ryuuji was blushing more the Rin stared.

"I like 'em. You should definitely keep this." Rin made a vague motion with his chopstick, flinging a bit of  rice with the motion. "All of it. Cool. Distingsquish. Fits ya."

"Yeah," Renzou said, something sly in his voice that made RIn freeze and feel all squirmy, "that's it."

"Shima."

Ryuuji gave Renzou another sharp look, and Rin realized he was once again staring. He forced himself to look at his bento and eat a few more bites.

Well, he thought as he snuck another look (and maybe a few more) it might not be as easy to spot as the blond streak, but Rin was pretty confident he’d still be able to find Ryuuji in any crowd.

[tonguetiedraven]

Hi, Konekomaru anon here!

I would love seeing a continuation! Either from you would make me happy, thank you so much!

I decided to do a new story, because I wasn't sure you'd like Konekomaru/Renzou, and that would be part of the continued story.

Summary: Konekomaru finds Renzou hiding from the rest of the Myoa Dha on one of their mandatory visits, and tries to understand just why his friend went hiding. Renzou is difficult, of course.

-- -- -- -- --

Kyoto was always a complicated place to visit. No matter the reason for their return, Konekomaru always felt a bit like he was walking on eggshells around his friends trying to navigate the volatile emotions. Ryuuji would get tense and prone to exploding at any moment.

Ryuuji would try and do everything, and he’d try and do it without accepting help or taking even a moment to rest until he’d twisted himself in a tense and angry knot that was prone to yell at everyone but his mother. (‘Meditate!’ Konekomaru would always order, and Ryuuji would scowl and fight him on it until he finally broke and took some time to meditate and calm down and then he’d be okay and solve whatever problem had them there.)

Renzou always disappeared. He became extremely difficult to find, and Konekomaru would be tasked with finding him. (It was him, Kinzou, or Ryuuji. Kinzou would beat Renzou up, Ryuuji would yell, and really, it was difficult enough to be in Kyoto without that drama adding tension to it.)

It was hardly surprising when Renzou vanished on their third day. Konekomaru suspected it would be at least another day before he managed to get Ryuuji to meditate, and Kinzou was practically bouncing with energy at the idea of ‘sparring’ with his younger brother.

Konekomaru grabbed two lunches, a few extra waters, a first aid kit just in case, and quietly left the inn. With Ryuuji stomping around and Torako stomping after him, it was easy to slip away unnoticed.

He checked the usual haunts, and was only mildly surprised to not find him. The forest seemed empty, the small deli was bustling but not with pink hair, the creek was bubbling happily, but not with Renzou’s laugh, and finally, he went to the more obscure places.

He was a little surprised to find Renzou at the remains of the old temple. It was less surprising to find him sprawled out next to the altar on an old blanket (of Kinzou’s) as he sunbathed.

“Isn’t it too cloudy for that?” Konekomaru set his bag down after a quick scan didn’t show any obvious injuries. Renzou was clever, but he could be a bit reckless in his attempt to avoid work.

“It’s possible to get sunburned in the rain, Koneko. ‘Sides, the clouds should disappear eventually. I’m making shapes out of ‘em in the mean time.”

Konekomaru carefully picked his way over the ash and charred remains of what had once been a beautiful koudou. The scriptures had been saved even if the building hadn’t. Reaching Renzou, he nudged him with his foot. Renzou blew out a breath (that was mostly fond) and shuffled to the edge of the blanket. Konekomaru took the available spot and laid out.

“They’re looking for you.”

He could feel Renzou rolling his eyes. “No shit.”

It was going to be one of those days. Everyone else might think Renzou was a lazy teen — and he certainly was — but he didn’t run away to just avoid work. If he wanted to avoid work he’d hang out on the roof or go to the deli. He never traveled far to be lazy, because if you put a lot of effort into it, that beat the point of being lazy.

No, when Renzou put effort into disappearing, it was because he was upset. Renzou never purposefully showed his upsetness unless it was a joke, and right now he was trying too hard for normal. Konekomaru didn’t understand how everyone couldn’t see it when it was so obvious.

“So?”

Renzou’s head tilted slightly towards him. “So what? Don’t be vague, Koneko. I’m too tired for games.”

Konekomaru didn’t bother stifling his abrupt laugh. “Liar! You live for games.” If he looked, he knew he’d see Renzou sticking his tongue out. He kept his gaze upwards instead, his glasses slightly skewed as he watched the rolling clouds. “So as in ‘what shapes?’”

Renzou didn’t answer for a long moment, which gave Konekomaru a small surge of delight. He’d surprised him then. Ha. It was always such a challenge to surprise Renzou.

“Whaddya think I’m seeing?”

“Probably something that would get you smacked by your mother.”

Renzou laughed in a loud, startled way. “Of course, Koneko.”

“I see a cat.” He pointed it out and didn’t mind the amused huff it earned him. You had to work to get anything out of Renzou, and Konekomaru could take the required time. Besides, it had been years since he cloud watched, and he didn’t particularly want to return to the inn yet either.

“Well then it better run, ‘cause that one’s a dog.” Renzou pointed at another fluffy cloud, and if Konekomaru squinted, he could sort of see a dog.

“Maybe they could be friends.”

“Maybe your cat’s a cat sidhe and he won’t have to run. He can just grow.”

Konekomaru let them lapse back into silence as he mulled that answer over. Renzou would break the silence first, Konekomaru could go days without speaking, his thoughts were plenty company enough, but Renzou got twitchy in heavy silence.

He won’t have to run… Had something made Renzou feel trapped?

“What, you not want a cat sidhe now?”

“Of course I do. I’m still hopeful Kuro has friends,” Konekomaru murmured without really paying attention. He was trying to remember if anything odd had happened since they’d arrived. He hadn’t seen much of Renzou today. He’d been too busy trying to take a few tasks from Ryuuji. (And failing because it was easier to pull teeth than to pull a task from Ryuuji’s stressed hands.)

“You could just adopt a cat.”

“We’re not allowed pets.”

“Who’d blab? Me? I’d be thrilled to see you breaking a rule.”

Konekomaru shook his head, knocking his glasses further off his nose. “I’m not breaking rules, Renzou.”

“Maybe I’ll get a cat then.” Renzou laughed. It was too forced a sound to be real. He was trying to distract. It must have been really upsetting for him to try so hard. Or it was a really small thing that he felt silly for being upset about. “Would you turn me in for that?”

“Bon would.”

Renzou shook his head. “Nah, Rin would keep him from doing it. He’d give him those puppy eyes and point out how much you love cats. Plus it’d make Izumo all heart eyed and she’d kick his ass if he said anything. Hey, maybe that would get me a date.”

Worry twisted in his gut. He’d missed something following after Bon. “Why are we out here?”

Renzou stiffened next to him. “I already told ya, I’m cloud watching.”

“Shima, I stopped buying that tone before we were teenagers.”

Renzou stuck his tongue out. “Maybe I just wanted some space.”

It wasn’t quite the truth. Not that Konekomaru could be certain of most anything with Renzou. Still… he had to trust his gut, and it didn’t quite buy that.

“Yeah? So you came here?”

“No one else was here.”

It was the temple though. Renzou hated this place (or so he claimed) so why hide in the remains of the temple? What had upset him that much? “But why?”

Renzou shifted away. “Because I felt like it. Drop it, Koneko. Focus on your cats.”

“Cat. I only saw the one. And you’ll feel better if you tell.”

“You always say that, and it’s never true. Besides, I’m fine. Just wanted some space. Now shut up and watch the clouds, or go back to the temple. I don’t care. Just don’t let them know I’m here.”

Renzou propped his arms behind his head in a way that blocked his face from Konekomaru’s view. It had to be deliberate. It was bad, whatever it had been. Yaouzou? Juuzou? Kinzou? All of them? Who had upset him? Or had he done something and gotten a lecture? (Or had he just gotten a lecture for not doing something they expected of him?)

“I’m serious. Just go if you’re gonna think that loud.” There was something almost petulant in Renzou’s tone. Something defensive and unhappy, and it reminded him of when they were children and Ryuuji would run too fast for them to keep up. He’d take on that hurt tone and say he didn’t want to race anyway when he meant he didn't want to be left behind.

Konekomaru didn’t know much, but he knew Renzou didn’t actually want to be alone. He rarely did.

Fixing his gaze back on the clouds over head, he tried not to sigh. Everything always had to be so difficult in Kyoto. His friends became complicated to handle and tense, and they never said what they meant. Konekomaru was already so tired, and they had at least another week of this nonsense.

Maybe the fault was his own. Maybe he pushed too hard. Maybe the why didn’t matter. Maybe just sitting would be enough. Renzou was unhappy, and that much he knew, even if he had no idea on anything else.

“There,” he pointed overhead, letting go of the need to know and just accept what answers he did have, “it’s a kitsune.”

Renzou relaxed next to him and followed the pointing hand. “Yeah? Still stuck on the cat family?”

“They’re canines, Shima.”

Renzou stuck his tongue out, and Konekomaru offered him a smile. Whatever was wrong wouldn’t be fixed like this, but if it could be better with a bit of cloud watching, Konekomaru was happy to help. They'd get through this visit together, like they always did, and he'd support his friends until they could be peaceful again.

"There!" Renzou gushed, pointing at particularly fluffly clouds. Konekomaru rolled his eyes. Some things would never change (for better or worse.)