#kumo akira

[clubkidandcollectives]

[graphicpolicy]

Anime NYC 2023: Yen Press announces 11 New Releases

Anime NYC 2023: Yen Press announces 11 New Releases #manga #animenyc #animenyc2023 #animenyc23 #comics #comicbooks

Yen Press, LLC announced eleven new acquisitions at its Industry Panel at Anime NYC. Releasing in May 2024, this lineup includes eight manga (Bungo Stray Dogs Official Anthology; Days with My Stepsister; Goblin Slayer: A Day in the Life; Sword Art Online Re:Aincrad; The Kept Man of the Princess Knight; No Game No Life Chapter 2: Eastern Union; She Likes Gays, but Not Me; Friday at the Atelier),…

[iincogneeto]

I realized I never did an introduction!

so here’s all about me!

my name (online name) is Incogneeto! It comes from me wanting a hidden identity! (I would of gone with “incognito” the actual spelling but that’s taken everywhere lol)

I am a Minor, and Hungarian 🇭🇺 and American! 🇺🇸

my art requests are always open, but I may not get you you! I’ll try tho!! [ I’m currently in a state where I can’t draw anything but what I want and I hate it ] (For art, You might get my doodle style, the kny style, or maybe my actual style! They style I draw it just depends all the time.)

_____________________________________________

I’m into: MHA, kimetsu-no-yaiba, Mob Psycho 100, Zom100, Undead Unluck, One Piece, TTOA/ROTT, HTTYD, Carmen Sandiego, Ninjago, Saiki K, Glitch Techs, TLKOE, SpiderMan, Kid cosmic, Breaking Bad, Better Caul Saul, JJK, Star Trek Prodigy, ST: Lower decks, and more!

I’m a digital illustrator who draws on their phone with their finger! I use IbisPaintX!

my socials are….

Toyhouse: incogneeto

discord: iincogneeto

Twitter: iincogneetoIV

TikTok: incogneetto

Pinterest: iincogneeto

can you tell i was going with a theme? 😋

I post a lot on all of them!

always bet..on hakari! ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

My Ocs!! :: (kny) ::

Jinsei (thread breathing)

shūkūro (drunkard breathing)

Kanan (Steel breathing)

Elliot (kakushi)

Akemi/Akane (Flaming Blood, Ink Breathing)

Akira (shadow breathing)

Tae-Jun (illusion breathing)

Xiaocheng (violin breathing)

Asahi ( nunchucks/wind )

Saito ( no breathing )

Kumo-Rui ( Spider Breathing )

ask them (and they will answer in chara 😋) click right here 😋😋

[symphonic-scream]

Hey guess what

More details for the Shadow Twins au

(P5 au where Makoto and Goro, as twins, are Shadow OPS, Niijima siblings raised by NaoRise)

I worked out the thieves! And the palace order!

The first two remain the same. Kamoshida and Madarame happen pretty much as it does originally, but around school there's talk of those "really smart third years" or something

Palace three is where things change. In game, it's Kaneshiro. Here? It's Okumura. He lives! But he mentions seeing the "Black Masks" and feeling threatened, fearing for his life at the time. Anyways this means Haru is the fifth party member instead of Makoto

Futaba's remains the same, but then in place of Okumura, theres a palace for Hifumi's mother. Togo palace! I'm working it out but yeah Hifumi joins after Futaba

This is where things change a lot more. The next palace would be Saw normally, but that's not happening when she's a defense attorney. The investigator here? Zenkichi Hasegawa. He's the one interviewing the Wild Cards the whole time. He's been hunting down the duo responsible for everything, and at one point, he gets a little, less legal with his investigations

He goes after Makoto and Goro. He presses Sae for info, why the went back to Shujin if they've already graduated, isn't the timing funny? You wouldn't want your job put at risk should this come out, right? Naoto goes to "set things straight" with him after, and he lays off. But, the twins are concerned. They don't want their family to suffer or lose their jobs protecting them from something they didn't do

So? They finally contact the thieves. After explaining what they are and that they aren't killing people, they ask for help. They want Hasegawa's heart stolen, and they haven't done one themselves. Changes of heart in mementos? Old news. But Palace stuff? They don't want to mess up. So, they make a deal with the Thieves to get this done in exchange for helping clear their name through Kirijo's network

Then it's Shido and then the YaBoi stuff. But, after that, in the third semester? Instead of the Maruki deal there's another new spot in Mementos. Beneath the Holy Grail. The thieves and Ops enter a train car, go down a tunnel, and at the other end? The levels start going up.

Cause they have to fight Nyx again the seal was broken by Yalbasshole when he swiped Minato and Minako to be his pieces in the game with Igor (Igor's wildcards are Akira and Ren)

So there's that! Akira would be transfem, and Ren would have a slow burn romance with Goro that comes to a head on Christmas, whereas Makoto and Haru move a little faster, getting together in Hawaii.

Also, I've made up my mind. The Shadow Ops as a whole have been raising Koromaru's puppies for a bit, to see if any would have the potential. The two boys of the litter end up assigned to assist with the special task the twins have, so. Yeah they got doggies

Hoshi and Kumo, with their personas Balto and Laika. Helps add to the family environment in the Shirogane house. Hoshi and Kumo don't join them when they search for targets in Mementos, but have helped Makoto and Goro track the movements of the Phantom Thieves, and with general exploration

(it's. Because they can't fit on Johanna too. Only room for Makoto and Goro)

But here's some stuff on Naoto and Rise since I haven't said much on them

Naoto is only a part time Shadow OP. He works as a detective on retainer for the Tokyo police most of the time, but takes private cases, mostly from Kirijo directly, now and then. He sometimes travels for work, and makes sure that if he can't bring his family, that he brings home gifts for them all

This is a trans man Naoto. Cause I'm weak. QueerHet NaoRise my beloved.

Now, Rise has retired as an idol years ago. She's a vocal instructor at a music and dance studio focused on youth, and she uses some of her idol money to help pay for students who need help paying for classes or music gear. She hasn't been involved in persona business since Inaba all those years ago. She was given the offer, but she didn't take it. Using Himiko that much back then really tired her out, made her feel like a zombie sometimes. She'd help in an emergency, but she's done enough in her mind

They were looking to adopt when they got the news of the Niijima's passing. It felt like the universe was giving them a sign, to Rise. Naoto wouldn't use those words, but same feeling. Having a teen and two infants was tough, but for them? Rewarding as fuck. Rise sobbed when one of the twins first babbled a "Mama" in her direction, and cried so hard watching Naoto melt at being called "Papa"

Rise would sing to them to get them to sleep. During storms, the whole family would get under a fort in the living room with cushions and blankets, Rise singing and Naoto humming as they watch their youngest, Makoto, gradually stop shaking, her iron grip on her brother and big sis slackening

So. Yeah. Please let me know if you like this au and if I should keep goinf

[luv-kakashi]

One of us is dead

chapter six - brotherhood

chapter five | chapter seven

Hues of red and gold danced over each other, as the evening sky dusked Konoha. A young boy ran through the streets, his hair glowing a golden wheat tone as he sought to find his best friend.

"Shisui! Wait up, Kami. You know me and my asthma can't keep up." Akira yelled, leaning on his knees to catch his breath after catching up with Shisui.

"What do you want?" Shisui snapped, his jaded eyes staring straight at Akira.

"Fight me and don't hold back this time." Akira pleaded as he dragged Shisui to the nearest training ground.

Both boys readied themselves: one eager to knock some sense into his disillusioned friend.

They started off sending and returning simple punches which soon unravelled into a series of kicks.

But by this point, it was obvious that Shisui had no intention of taking Akira seriously by receiving all the incoming blows, his face bruised and bloody. Akira was given no choice but to use the last weapon stored in his arsenal- The talk no jutsu.

"Why are you doing nothing, you coward?" Akira howled, becoming increasingly impatient with the deadened fight, "Cowards don't deserve to be called shinobi."

"You're right, I don't deserve to be called a shinobi." Shisui stated as he backed up onto a tree, falling to the floor. He untied his headband and held it in his hands for a brief second, before throwing it to the floor as if it were defiled, dirty and degraded. For a split second, you could see his eyes falter. They held regret, disappointment and shame. But the more he continued to open up, the harder the walls he so forcefully held up began to crumble.

"I'm a selfish coward who's cursed with this stupid Uchiha name!" Shisui screamed, "You don't understand what happened out there during the war. I killed. I killed the very comrades I swore to protect when I received that headband."

"What do you mean Shisui?"

Shisui raised his head to meet the gaze of his friend when he heard a small gasp escape his mouth.

A deep red shade danced over his pupils. But instead of the normal 3 tomoe pattern Akira was expecting, a new pattern branded his pupils: a pinwheel of 4 spiralling curves.

"Do you know why Itsuki never came back? During the war we were ambushed by kumo nin and cornered us. We were just chunin, and we didn't know how we were going to get out of there," Shisui screamed, pulling at his hair as tears streamed down his face, "Itsuki never made it. And it was all my fault! If I had only offered my hand, he didn't have to die. I could have saved him and I didn't!"

"Shisui, that wasn't your fault. You were left in an impossible position to get out of. Thank Kami someone found you, it isn't your fault."

"But it is! Our best friend is dead because of me! We promised we'd protect Konoha together, get put on the same team and now that will never happen."

"I still can't see how any of this is your fault."

"It is! He was blessed with everything, extraordinary skill far greater than the both of ours combined. He was always miles ahead of us, running in front of danger, never thinking twice to protect us. I couldn't get to him in time... I killed him. I killed our brother!" Shisui vented, "The overwhelming emotion caused my eyes to evolve into the Mangekyou Sharingan. It awakened from the regret of not being able to save Itsuki that day. Don't you see? I'm just a coward, a murderer! I don't deserve to be called a shinobi...

And look! Everyone praises me for this stupid eye! Shisui of the Sharingan! The boy who unlocked his mangekyo so soon! This cursed Uchiha name worships me for killing Itsuki!"

The red and gold hues darkened into a midnight blue as the night sky covered the corners of Konoha. The silence that followed Shisui's confession was thick enough to stifle any creature of the night.

Yet despite this suffocating feeling, it was nimbly sliced by the sound of a slap that hammered Shisui's cheek.

"You idiot! Don't you understand? There was nothing you could have done; you did everything that you could have" Akira yelled. "Are you really going to beat yourself up for what happened? We're shinobi Shisui. Do you remember what Itsuki told us when you two graduated?

'The life of a shinobi is only going to get harder from here on out. There may be a time where we are forced to make sacrifices for the greater good of the village so don't let those sacrifices be in vain. Honor the fallen shinobi!'. Don't forget the lessons he taught us Shisui!

He sacrificed himself for you to come back to the leaf, our home, and to protect it with the new visual powers you have been blessed with. You aren't a coward; you are a shinobi of the hidden leaf village." Akira said as he picked up Shisui's headband off the ground and passed it to him. He took a seat next to Shisui and stared up at the night sky adorned with glistening stars.

"It's our responsibility to protect the people and to bring peace to this world." Akira said, "The most honorable act you could do is to make sure Itsuki's name is not lost in vain. Honour him, remember him and continue to protect the Leaf."

"Thank you, Akira" Shisui muttered, tears streaming down his face.

"Well, we're brothers Shisui, never forget that." Akira said, "I don't like serious, bitch-face Shisui. I prefer the goofy version better."

"Heh, you're right. Being a bitch doesn't suit me at all." Shisui chuckled, wiping his tears.

"You managed to scare away the new girl Y/N. I think that's a first, no girl has ever been scared off by THE Shisui Uchiha."

"I was a bit rude to her. I'll apologise tomorrow." Shisui said, reaching his arm out to the night sky, "Thank you Akira. You're really smart when you actually use your head."

"Pfft, I'm always smart you cry-baby."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The Itachi Shinden novel states that Shisui unlocked his Mangekyo Sharingan after witnessing a close friend die on a mission and subsequently felt responsible for his death. I wanted to explore Shisui's feelings and how he processed his friends death, which is why he seems very out of character.

But fear not! I have been writing away and goofy, humble, cute, sexy Shisui Uchiha will return soon. (And turns out his flirt game is pretty strong too)

Loving you always,

Suri 🎀

[hjazysol]

Mikhail: Akira I would just like to know if you'd...Like... ... ...Dear God! AKIRA!?!?!?

Akira, clearly lacking sleep: Huh? What? Oh. Hey Mik. (Yawns) How's life treating you?

Mikhail: Don't "How's life" me! You look awful! When was the last time you slept!?

Akira: 2 months ago.

Mikhail: That's unusual for you! You don't normally need to stay awake to finish off your experiments. WHICH BRINGS ME TO THIS!! WHAT THE HELL!?

Akira: What?

Mikhail: You've practically got thousands of human corpses hanging in capsules around your lab! What do you mean "What"!? I thought you weren't gonna do any more stuff like this.

Akira: I know I know. But a revelation has come to mind!

Mikhail: What?

Akira: Look! I will show you. So in the past few years there have been several instances where people have been murdered via drowning. Only thing is they were drowned in alleyways & random empty areas, no water to drown someone there. So it was a Quirk.

Mikhail: ... ...Ok...

Akira: So I had this theory I thought what if I were to reform the cells within the water from the Quirk to restore the lives of the dead bodies of course I was thinking during all of this. "Oh this is a terrible idea! This'll never work" My research lead me to this!!! I have restored the life of approximately 300!!! I repeat 300 people Mikhail!!!

Mikhail: WHAT THE HELL!?!? NO WAY REALLY!?

Akira: YES WAY! WITHIN THOSE CAPSULES ARE THE 300 RESTORED! RIGHT NOW THERE BODIES ARE STILL STABILISING!

Mikhail: That's nice! But wait a second. This is 300 people you've been doing this for 2 months. Unlike your Hero Creation Lab which took nearly years to create.

Akira: .... ....

Mikhail: Akira... ...Answer me...How much of your own body cells have you infused within those people to bring thrm back alive?

Akira: I.... ....

Mikhail: ANSWER ME!

Akira: ... ... ...

Mikhail looked down to Akira's left side of his body. Noticing it was entirely covered in bandages underneath his lab coat.

Mikhail: Akira... ...You are taking yourself apart...For the good of these people. You aren't resting yourself enough.

Akira: It's fine see. I'm alive.

Mikhail: But you might not be by the end of this!

Akira: I'm willing to die for the happiness of these people...At least if I do die...Well at least I know that I've died knowing that I did something to make up for my foolish mistakes in the past. That's what I say at least.

Mikhail: ... ...Akira... ...

Akira: Their families won't even need to question it...They'd just be happy they came back.

Mikhail: Wait...You said 300. I count 299.

Akira: Oh yes that's right I sent one of them on there way today. A 17 year old. Finally I've done something with my life that can help people.

Mikhail: But then in theory couldn't you revive every dead person in a graveyard.

Akira: Well that depends on the state of the body or Cranium. If the very top is destroyed in any manner I cannot create another skull for them for this procedure to work.

Mikhail: Why?

Akira: Because placing a skull in place is annoying and seemingly pointless. That and I can't use any DNA to splice with mine to use my Quirk to make a skull since the body is destroyed.

Mikhail: I see...While I definitely don't agree with the science of this calibur. It's clear that this is an effective method. You should be proud Akira.

Akira: Heh... ...Thanks.

_________

Sanbi: Alright then we're almost there just about 10 minutes away from the fight.

Henshi: Right!

Sanbi eventually came to a sudden stop. With a face similar to that of someone who'd seen a ghost.

Henshi: Huh!? Why'd you stop for!?

Sanbi: ... ...No way.

Henshi: Sanbi?

Sanbi: That kid... ...

Sanbi points over to a rather lost child covered in a few stiches.

Henshi: ...What the...

Sanbi: I... ...I killed that guy around my debut as a villain... ...I was 12 at that time... ...But why are they alive...My mind must be playing tricks on me.

The boy was suddenly infront of Sanbi he placed a hand on his shoulder.

Kid: Yo.

Sanbi: O_O

Kid: Could you tell me where Star Allies Agency is I need to make a request to them.

Sanbi: ... ... ... ...

Kid: Erm...Hello?

Henshi: Oh! Don't mind him. He... ...Erm...Doesn't... ...Speak Japanese. Star Allies is just a few metres away over to the left.

Kid: Ah! Thank you! Bye!

Henshi: Bye!

Sanbi: Their hand... ...It was warm...They were very much alive!...It's as though...What we were talking about earlier...It's become real. Someone I killed has come back...As if by magic... ...Is...Is there a God?

Henshi: Heheh. Relax I'm sure it was most likely a similar guy. Come on! We gotta go.

Sanbi: Right.

_________

Star Allies at this moment were faced off against the Hero Killer Stain after he infiltrated their building to find Meta Knight.

Stain: ...Well then? It's rude to keep a guest waiting you know.

Kaabi: Well we hat to break it to you but Meta's already left!

Marx: Hey Kaabi can I hurt him bad huh?

Kaabi: Do it.

Marx: Yes! Hahaha! Welcome to a true nightmare! BLACK HO-

A shovel was thrown at Marx from out of nowhere knocking him out.

Marx: (Coughs blood) Wh-What the!?

Susie: Who the hell throws a shovel!?

Jackson: (Hiding in a box) Heeeerheeheeheehee.

Stain, in his head: What just happened? No matter. With that Marx guy knocked out killing him'll be easy.

Stain: Someone who's a Hero yet they enjoy Hero work just for the pure violence & for fun.

Stain jumped up and aimed his sword downward as he fell above Marx.

Stain: That is not the ideal of a true Hero!

Taranza: Nope!

Taranza pulled Marx back to the safe zone away from Stain.

Taranza: Kaabi now!

Kaabi: Right! INHALE!!!

Kaabi started to inhale everything around him. Until eventually Stain lost grip of his sword which flew into Kaabi's mouth.

Kaabi: SWORD KAABI!

Stain: Shit. I let go. Now I'm at a disadvantage.

Another object flew from the same direction as the shovel.

Stain: Again?

Kaabi went in to attack.

Bandana: KAABI STOP!!!

Kaabi: Huh? Taro What's the big deal?

Bandana: Look! It's that weapon again!

Kaabi: ...Wait! Oh god! Oh shit! Is he here aswell!?

Stain: A scythe? It has a note? "This weapon makes anyone who gets cut by it suffer." Hmm. Seems a bit big. But I can work with it. As long as it kills that's all that matters.

Kaabi: The Sinful Man of the 31st! Jackson Blaze. Has left his lord a little gift. Once we deal with you Stain. I'll personally make sure that every one of your pitiful followers gets put in a cell! Count on it.

Stain: Like I care what you say. Prepare to lose Kaabi! You aren't a target of mine but if you keep getting in the way I may accidentally kill you.

Kaabi: Let's get to it then!

@hopeaterart

@lyxine

[satsukiichan]

A list of BL mangas with animal characteristics - PART 1

Hi everyone!! Hope you are doing well. I took my time to make a list of BL mangas with animal characteristics, this is part 1. What I mean by ''animal characteristic'' is that certain parts of the character´s body will be animal parts (ears, tails, etc), but they are not going to be neccesarily omegaverse. Hope you like them :)

Kedamono Arashi / ケダモノアラシ

In this world exist, “normal” human beings and those with ears called “beasts”. Beasts have a unique body that experiences heats/ruts and pregnancy between the same sex is possible. Miyaji Akira is a beast doctor. A beast himself, he defies nature to be one that is not swayed by instincts. Kijima is the hospital director who likes to meddle with Miyaji. Kijima, born with the rare dominant gene, has very strong pheromones which results in him leading a very crazy sex life. Miyaji, although not very good at dealing with the guy and in spite of being the total opposite of him, is tempted by him.

Omega Shunki / オメガ春機

Kumo from the mountain dog tribe was picked up by Kin from the cat tribe and who lives near a wolf tribe doctor of the omegas, Ise. Whether it be Kumo having the characteristics of a dog, he tends to make playful nibbles and licks towards Kin. However, the fact that Ise was pleased with their excellent compatibility makes Kin’s heart ache.

Playboy Beast / プレイボーイ・ビースト

In a world where demi-beasts and humans co-exist, Riku Kurobuchi, a panther demi-beast, finds himself facing a dilemma. He is sociable, good looking, talented at sports, and popular with girls, but for some reason he still hasn't experienced his "heat" like everyone else. After an unexpected transfer, he begins sharing his dorm room with the mature and handsome albino lion demi-beast, Touma Shishigaya. Riku wants to keep his secret hidden from the confrontational Touma, but it's Touma's pheromones that bring about Riku's first heat.

Bakemono no Hanayome / ばけものの花嫁

Hinata's a fox who's become the bride of Kyouya, a member of the wolf pack. Their tribes are bitter enemies, but this marriage should bring about peace. Hinata's disguised as a female at the wedding and has ulterior motives for his soon-to-be husband: he plans to kill Kyouya, who's the son of the wolf pack's leader. The night of their wedding, he tries to carry out the assassination, but Kyouya catches on and he fails. Because he has nine tails, Hinata's even an outcast in his own pack and he decides to wants to die. But, instead of killing him, Kyouya says, "It's time for our honeymoon" and takes him prisoner.

Musebinake, Junjou / むせび鳴け、純

Yuki has a secret he can't tell anyone: he's actually a beast-person. Yuki has fallen in love with a regular customer, Godai, a man who hunts beasts for a living. If Godai finds out about his identity, their love and chances of being able to see each other will no longer be possible. Yet, Godai who gets chased out of his apartment suddenly ends up freeloading at Yuki's house. Will Yuki be able to hide his secret?

Yakimochi wa Kitsuineiro / ヤキモチはきつね色

Akiha came to Tokyo to attend school, but on his first day, he's molested on a crowded train. Surprised by it, he was struck dumb but one young man stepped in to help. As they talked, controlled by the fox he is possessed by, he suddenly hugged the young man to thank him.

Ok, that't it for part 1! What are some of your favorite ones?

[deathleadsarc]

top 5 song associations:     QISTINA.

share the top songs in your playlist that most inspire / represent your muses the most.    bonus points   if you include lyrics to go along with it.

Ajar - Mike Lazarev

Lullaby - The Cure

Alchemy Of The Soul - Therion

 Crime and Punishment - akira senju

Golden slaughterer - zts

tagged by: @destructivour (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝) / tagging: @flameleads , @shiroi---kumo , @longerhuman , @mellodiies , @sozokami , @biskael , @suender , @areapermostcapricious , @makimv + anyone else who'd like to do this!

[sh1mmer-add1ct]

Oc list:

Keep in mind it will be edited/updated and I'm probably forgetting some

Angels of Death (not counting family members)

Riley Elizabeth Morgan

Mia Rose Jacobs

Kai Marie Miller

Aubrie Hayden

Lucille Hawthorne

Violet Jones

Micah

Twisted Wonderland:

Jasper

Blaise

Aaron Hatter

Milo

Finn Casey

Alister

Ezra

Beatrix

Silas

Calix

Rajah

Asher

Sal

Elliot

Ronan

Vivian

Ajax

Mao Sasaki

Mikio Sasaki (^ twins)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Game):

Tess Scott (victim)

Rae (killer)

Lynn Rose (killer)

Bungo Stray Dogs:

Yūrei Shio

Akira Sakamoto

Dimitri Ivanov

Haruki Murakami

Ghostface ocs:

Dawn Wilson

Jay Walton

Demon Slayer:

Haru Saito

Akari Sakai

Aomi

Mutsuki Ito

Ren Itsuki

Kumo Ayaki

FNAF:

Willow Parker

Luna(r) (Daycare attendant)

Bea (child oc)

Creepypasta:

Alice Carter

South Park:

Damian Vash

Lilith Vash

Nyx Vash

[chuuyas--boo]

Oc list (not counting parents or siblings as I don't really roleplay for them, but feel free to ask about them!!)

Angels of Death:

Riley Morgan

Mia Jacobs

Violet Jones

Aubrie Hayden

Kai Miller

Micah/Micah Foster

Axel Martinez

Jaiden Martinez

Crowscare/Inmimb:

Gwen

Ace

Tokyo Ghoul:

Mika Sugawara

Yuno (removing Nakahara as his last name cause YEAH-)

Demon Slayer:

Mitsuki Ito

Ren Itsuki

Haru Saito

Akari Sakai

Aomi

Kumo

Bungo Stray Dogs:

Akira Sakamoto

Yūrei Shio

Unnamed assassin for the PM

The Promised Neverland:

Esther

Bnha:

Natsuki Bakugou (Katsuki's sister)

Ayuna Ogawa

Haikyuu:

Jiro Nakamura

Assassination Classroom:

Kyo (need to decide a last name)

Attack on Titan:

Monika Webber

Marie Müller

FNAF:

Willow Parker

Suicide Boy:

Mi-sun

More to come :>

[failedandrossa]

NAME: Jacobo Granga

AGE: 35 (SF 64), 39 (Farewell beloved Falco), 42 (SF Adventure),43 ( SF Assault). The age of the little monkey depends on the verse.

HEIGHT: 4'9

SPECIES: Black capuchin

GENDER: Male (cis).

NATIONALITY: Cornerian.

BIRTHDAY: May 7

SUN SIGN: Taurus

RESIDENCE: Androsa or Venomian Neighborhood (SF 64 / DLW) Sargasso or a dwarf planet of the Lylat System ( ALW ).

MARITAL STATUS: Paired with Osamu Kumo ( Shogun pilot )in an open relationship.

ALIGNMENT: X

DRINK: Manaos

FOOD: Sweet food, desserts. It is common to see him with lollipops or gummies. Also enjoy pasta food.

DAY OR NIGHT: Night

SNACKS: Sandiwch or Omelette.

SONGS: 1) Waiting for you by Akira Yamaoka, 2) Mother by Pink Floyd, 3) I will fail you by Demon Hunter, 4) Proud of your boy by Adam Jacobs, 5) Unintended by Muse 6) Despicable by Grandson.

PET: X

COLOR (S): Blue

FLOWER: Myosotis/forget-me-nots

SEXUALITY: Pansexual

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Panromantic

BODY TYPE: Average

EYE COLOR: Blue

HAIR COLOR: Brown

Tagged by:

Tagging: If you have eyes and you read this, do it.

[thedragnreaper]

Kumo

Nickname/Alias: The Arachnid (WWE), The Spider

Signed : Firestorm Championship Wrestling

Height :

Weight :

From : The Land Of The Rising Sun

Former BIW United States Champion

Former BIW Trios Champion w/ Hajime O'Hara & Han Zo Mon as a part of The Assassins

Final BIW Trios Champion w/ Hajime O'Hara & Han Zo Mon as a part of The Assassins

Inaugural BIW Tag Team Champion w/ Sicario as 1/2 of The Poison Pair

Former BIW Tag Team Champion w/ Sicario as 1/2 of The Poison Pair

Inaugural FCW World Tag Team Champion w/ Akira Kobayashi as 1/2 of The Red Sun Dojo

Former FCW World Tag Team Champion w/ Akira Kobayashi as 1/2 of The Red Sun Dojo

Current FCW World Tag Team Champions w/ The Golden Navajo as 1/2 of The Golden Gods

1/2 of The Golden Gods w/ The Golden Navajo

[katy-mha-blog]

Some of the headshot sketches I did for my Universe A next-gen. From left to right, top to bottom:

. Akira Iida(son/youngest child of Tenya/Momo)

. Riku Satou(son/youngest child of Rikado/Janora)

. Yoru Shinsou(son/child of Hitoshi/Mei, older twin to Yukari)

. Yukari Shinsou(daughter/child of Hitoshi/Mei, younger twin to Yoru)

. Junko Mineta(daughter/oldest child of Minoru/Himiko)

. Satoshi Jirou(son/only child of Denki/Kyouka)

. Hitomi Aoyama(daughter/only child of Yuga/Camie)

. Sora Satou(son/oldest child of Rikado/Janora)

. Kumo Sero(son/only child to Hanta)

[sterling-silvers]

Samurai 8 - Kishimoto’s Champloo of Samurai and Sci-fi

Samurai 8 8.5 out of 10  

I was elated when Kishimoto was said to be returning to the manga game. As you all know, I am a huge Narutard (Uchiha all day!!!!) and it remains one of my favorite long going series. So, when Samurai 8 was announced I could not wait to read – and after reading it, I’m not disappointed.

While I am sad that Kishimoto isn’t drawing the series – he’s only writing for the story and adding storyboards– the artist who he picked, Akira Okubo is a sufficient stand in. The art is clean (leagues above Boruto’s crude and lackluster style) albeit it’s missing that Kishimoto crispness. 

Nonetheless, there are tons of visual intertextualities to Naruto, including; the Naruto Samurai archetype design, Asura Path Pain, Samurai Armor Susanoo, Anbu masks, Valley of the End (the battle – granted, it’s on a smaller scale), Kumogakure Village, and Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki (and the God clan of Naruto in general). 

In terms of story, while there were only “nine” characters for the first chapter – which is 72 pages long – the story felt expansive and succinct as a starting off point. The main character, Hachimaru, is decent at the start and there is a critical moment (that made me tear up) which I think will really allow the audience to attach to him. While his personality isn’t anything illustrious, his actions speak volumes and that’s where his true layers of character lie – so far. 

Moreover, in this one chapter, the general theme came full circle in a satisfying way. When it comes to the depictions of action, it’s passable though it does get a tad messy during critical moments. The world is very magi-tech and it works for the most part; honestly, it’s a few hints sigh of the Afro Samurai world. The big difference, of course, being that it has a more cosmic, interstellar feel to it. Finally, I enjoy the character design. 

Once again, they’re decent with two characters really stick to me (one you can already guess as they are pretty hard to miss). I was SOOOO happy to see that kind of representation from Kishimoto AGAIN – he is, by far, the best mainstream manga artist that portrays Black people adequately and non-stereo-typically; he gave this understanding in both quality and quantity with the Kumo Village and he’s already established that same level of understanding in the first chapter (which makes me highly suspect Yasuke is in here SOMEWHERE!!!!). 

Some of the weapon designs gave me Tenchi Muyo vibes, as well. This is a welcomed return to form with some the same Kishimoto themes – like reincarnation, Nindo, and Japanese lore and history – all execute in a new champloo of samurai sci-fi. Thanks to an interview I was told about (link below), I was able to dive more into the inspiration and mindset of Kishimoto and most of what read was portrayed in this chapter, in a competent way.   https://www.reddit.com/r/Samurai8/comments/bmm6gn/summary_of_da_vinci_magazines_longform_interview/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app All in all, I am more than willing to go on a journey with him again and he’s ecstatically ready to take me on it. For that, with this first chapter – with many more to come – it gets an 8.5 out of 10.

[hjazysol]

Chapter 12: Snake & The Fire

Summary:

Hokori & his small group of runaways find a place to stay for a while. The bounty hunters are also on the move.

_______

The same night after the Okashi Incident. The scene of the action was currently still in the process of getting cleared out. The collapsed rubble of the abandoned Hero Creation Facility entrance began rustling about. Wildly. Emerging in a quick burst of speed shot out the top half of a rather portly male figure roaring out in excitement and bliss.

"ARRRRRGH! I'M ALIVE! HARGHHHH!" It was the Self Proclaimed Protector of Dreams & leader of Star Allies. Dan Aotori. Yanking out alongside him, both Kumo & Taro his subordinates. Both extremely lost of all strength. Well mostly Kumo, Taro was basically fine.

"Dedede sir? What happened?"

The King crossed his arms triumphantly. Softly chuckling to himself. "Ah. Dee my boy...I have no idea, but it's fine we lived! ... ...I remember that girl jumped us. When I woke up. The stone around us collapsed. How we made it out? I don't know. Probably luck."

"I feel sick." Taranza weerily spoke the spider quirk user beside them. Falling into his bosses arm.

"...Hm. Well. I have a job to do. So I'll just go at it alone for now. You can go... You've been spared!" Dan stared forward to the bright sunlight dramatically. His colleagues weakly holding out their hands reaching out to him "No Great King Dedede!"

"...I'm sorry."

"What are they doing?" Some bystanders crossed by the scene viewing Dan & his gang from the moment they emerged. "Must be some crazy street performance."

"They might actually get people's attention if the big guy cosplayed an actually good hero."

".... ...." The King looked down to his subordinates awkwardly smiling. "Go get a taxi back."

______

Sunday Afternoon 2 PM

"The attack on Eusha outside the Pyramid Shopping centre was stopped yesterday by a runaway student of the previously hidden class in UA, 1-S, the boy's name is Hokori Hi- hmm." The reporter had her attention pulled away in a split moment of time before getting to say the full name, shortly after she was covering her own mouth surprised. "Oh that's right! Forgive me. Ahem. But anyway. According to some boys who were involved with the event." A news report following the situation yesterday was being broadcast on tv around Japan. This one in particular was positioned in the top corner of a bar.

The man sat there was listening in to what was being shared. "The attack in question was done by a creation gone rouge after resurfacing 7 years later, one made by Professor Akira Kamijiru. The same man responsible for the incident involving his illegal projects in the Hero Creation Facilities. Leading to it's eventual eradication. "

"Eh really? That quack again?" The man began to get a bit restless at this revelation. "Of course one of those things caused this. They weren't even human."

"Couldn't even survive without their dear old Professor nearby. And those monsters were meant to become greater than today's heroes? Haha! What a joke! Just a madman's failed fantasy."

An elderly but well built man picked up their empty glasses before reaching to wash them out with water. "Ah wait hang on. Kat-Ya One more fill there." The man jiggled around in their pocket reaching out a few yen for another drink. "What about you Kat? What do you think of the scientist?"

The old man Kat-Ya, began topping it up, all while watching the news himself. "Heh? That fogey?" They slid the drink back over to them collecting his pay off the counter infront. "He had ambitious goals that's for sure...It ain't easy ta make someone greater than All Might. And as you said. They ain't traditional human beings either... As proven yesterday, the rats are dangerous unchecked- 7 Years Alone that one was l, as they've been saying... And one small trigger, the thought of being replaced drove em, bizarre."

"If you ask me they should just kill the thing."

"That would be a solution I suppose. Either way they end up more civil than yesterday." Kat continued to scrub at his dirty glassses nearby. "... However, Zen my friend...I do see the craft...Heroes these days have more than just 'save the day' in their minds these days stuff like, fame & status end up being acknowledged more & more. The mad man just wanted heroes who had the fundamentals etched in their minds."

"...I guess I can get behind that. According to what they showed earlier though that clown will give all the quirks that they took back by today...They're smart just like the techy bastard."

"Sir please stop!" The sound of a woman shouting shot through the building alerting Kat-Ya and Zen. To look behind them. A kid dressed in black & white, with the attire of a rough old-school delinquent was setting fire to a table that they sat at in the restaurant portion of the building. They appeared to have a Quirk that solidified fire to make Green Lantern styled structures.

They were currently bashing at nearby tables with a fiery bat. "SHUT THE HELL UP BITCH! I'VE BEEN WAITING TOO LONG HERE WHERE'S THE DAMN SOUS CHEF!? I NEED TO KICK THEIR HEAD IN!? Where I'm sitting, the little ring table I'm in right now? This is where they works for reals ya hears! Another thing I'm annoyed about. How shit the food was here! What're you tryna do poinson me?"

They very briefly pressed the hot bat onto the girls leg burning her skin, she barely reacted though. " Heh... I'm Fightin' em and you ain't doing shit til they shows!" They wacked the sous chef's station leaving a mark on it. "They're lucky this things fire proof. I'd destroy it to set an example. NOW STEP OFF OR I'LL BURN YOUR UNIFORM TO! Heheh! "

Zen wistfully whistled with a smirk on his face, looking over to his old friend. "Well Kat-Ya. Your brats gone and brought a monster home?"

"...Damn rats! ...Kids these days have no respect!" They stepped over the bar counter removing their black vest. "Oi! Kozo!"

"Eh!?" They started eyeing up the slowly approaching old man. "....You... ...You ain't the Sous. Gets lost."

"Oh you'll wish I was lost... It's unfortunate for you though."

______

About an hour Later.

"We're almost there now guys." Having been on a constant walk for about a day after stopping Okashi's attack on Eusha, Hokori's group were still following by Shebi's lead, waiting to see where she's taking them. Everyone except her was tired.

"Shebi we've been travelling for a day straight! My legs are suffering back here." Takaishi was stuck in the back skulking as close as possible as not to be separated from the others. "I need to hear more than cars driving around!"

"Damn... It's really busy today... (sigh) Ok. Here we are get in." The building they were dragged all the way over to wasn't anything like what they'd expected. It was sort of 'adult looking' for someone as obsessed with looking beautiful as she was. "...Oi. What are you dawdling for? Get in!"

"This is Err... Where we're hiding out?" Kageyama said glaring skeptically at the place. "That's a club."

"No that's a restaurant...I have a job here."

"... ...How old are you again?"

"Sixteen."

Kageyama laughed to himself in amusement. "Heh well that's good seeing you in one of those sexy outfits would make the customers ill."

"What!?" Irritated she yanked the boy by his ear pulling him in closer. "I just said it's not some horny ass Club! You're lucky I'm even letting you guys come here. This is a top class restaurant. You barely fit the bill!"

"Alright alright! (Top Class? There's like three broke windows upstairs)"

"Hey Shebi?" Cut in Hokori. "You said you worked here right so what do you do, beat people up if they're too rowdy?"

"I serve food when it's ready." She said with a large amount of pride in herself. And unexpected on her behalf, everyone else wasn't really that impressed, serving plates of food? How boring.

"B-B-But yes. I do also beat up rowdy guests much to the disappointment of my boss, says it's bad for reputation. But the thing is." She pushed open the double doors making the entrance and flying out the doorway came a massively beaten body of a delinquent startling Shebi's guests', she sighed aloud. "He's no better than I am."

"Damn punk. If you have an issue with the food..." Coming up to the doorway with a grey grizzled beard and placing a pair of circle lenses glasses over his eyes, walked out Shebi's boss and the Executive Chef "...You don't harass my waiting staff. You come up to the kitchen & talk crap to our faces!"

~Executive Chef Katsoden Yasuden aka Kat-Ya by friends. Works the bar when he has nothing better to do.~

"If you couldn't beat me you'd never beat the sous chef, now fuck off & good riddance. You're never welcome here again, even if you want to just take a piss and leave!" The door was slammed back & shut on everyone's faces. Leaving everyone shocked mainly by his build. They all expected a nice young man who'd be extremely welcoming to others but what they were facing ended up looking like a foul mouthed bear defending it's territory.

A few seconds later he reopened the door. "Ah... *Hebi Shojo. You showed up."

*Young Snake

"Heh." Shebi looked away from the old man somewhat in disgust. "Well I do still like getting paid you know."

"At this time? You're 1 Hour Late."

"You old crone. I told you to check your damn phone! I said I'd be late!"

The old man grabbed Shebi by the hair lifting her up from the ground. "I've already told you multiple times you damn snake you shouldn't be showing up late to work idiot! You're lucky I even let your shift start so late."

Shebi returned the feeling by pulling his cheeks apart from one another. "And I told you I've been in a bit of trouble recently!"

"YOU'VE SHOWN UP LATE EVERYDAY SINCE I FIRST HIRED YOU!"

"Tch... If you read your messages you'd know I can't think about that even more now... ..."

"..." Katsoden put the kid back on the ground this time, letting go of the hair instead gently patting her on the head. "Listen you brat..." Shebi stayed silent keeping her eyes averted. "...Hey look at me kid..." With that bit of coaxing she timidly turned & tilted her head to look at him. "Listen... ...I'm glad you're ok. But you need to start being even more careful. They're gonna come after you for who knows how long. You always were a loner. But that shouldn't be a reason for ya to get reckless."

"It's just a bit pressuring is all... It's fine...I don't need your pampering."

"... ...Come on, it's time to get to work, snake-" He finally noticed the others guided to this place. "Oh. You runts are the guys who are being tracked down by the Heroes?"

Still bewildered by the massive man's presence they just calmly nod without breaking eye contact. He sighed. "Honestly now! This is a restaurant not a help shelter, you all get lost. Go bother some other guy."

"Y-Yeah we'll go!" Said Kageyama, badly hiding how afraid he was of the man. "A restaurant isn't really a very good place to hide out anyway. Your unsightly Employee over there brought us here!"

"Unsightly?" Shebi murmured giving an intense side eye.

Katsoden responded with a few seconds of uninterrupted silence, til his eyes began to fixate on Hokori for the remainder, his eyebrows now raising with interest. He eventually held the doors open for them all to come in. "Go on then. You're all welcome."

"Eh?... I-Is this a trap?"

"No." He silently glanced over to Hokori. "(That kid. It really is isn't it?"

He pointed to Hokori, Shuri & Takaishi. "Altogether you three are starving... I can tell. Come in I'll make you something but after that you all lea- ... ...Oh?"

After being teased with free food the three were already gone. Nobody even noticed how fast they moved. Kageyama worried about the other customers seeing them followed in after them. "Those idiots! Are they trying to get me locked up!? Stay hidden!"

Once Shebi followed in however absolutely none of the customers made a comment about her being a 1-S runaway. They in fact all cheered from her arrival. "Huh? They're excited by the Gorgon?" Kageyama said murmering with a shade of jealousy.

"Of course they're excited. They could care less if I'm on the run. After all I'm the star of this restaurant! Everyone wants to see me. It's only natural no one can ignore beauty."

"Star?...Tch. Let's hope their eyes don't burn away at the sight of you today."

"My looks & style of fighting aren't the only beautiful things about me Kageyama."

"You're not beautiful. You don't even wear glasses."

Loud clanging pans & dishes could be heard dropping and crashing from the kitchen. Alerting both Katsoden & his right hand girl. "Wha-? Are they fighting in there!? Bah. You get started, Hebi Shojo. I can deal with whatever is happening."

He stormed off to the kitchen door leaving Shebi to her own devices as she stepped passed multiple tables, eventually reaching a horizontally long podium-like structure at the centre of this velvet coloured hall. She didn't utter even a single word. Only grabbed a bandana on the platform next to her, which was tied round the head and had her hair tucked inside.

"Is she getting that stuff out ready for the chefs or something?" Yatsua asked in interest.

"Bit of an odd set up don't you think? Right in the middle of the dining hall." Replied Kageyama.

Finally, to cap off this sequence she pressed a button under the stage-like structure. And surrounding her at that moment popped out a bunch of kitchen equipment. As if on queue all the guests exploded into an eruption of cheers and whistles.

"Well she's definitely popular here."

Meanwhile in the kitchen. "GARAH!? WHAT DO YA MOOCHERS THINK YER DOIN' DAMNIT!?" Katsoden had just cracked open the doors catching Hokori stuffing his mouth full of pre made dishes and ingredients. "YOU! RED HEAD! You've gone and bled my shelves dry!"

Not even uttering the slightest word Hokori raised his hand all before sinking it inside a cake right next to him. That he slowly shovelled into his mouth.

"DO YOU THINK I CAN'T SEE YOU OR SOMETHING!?"

"OWNER OWNER!" One of the chefs in the kitchen yelled out from the pantry.

"Gah! So much in just a few minutes. First a loudmouthed idiot, then she comes late again, now I have food moochers & yet there's another problem! What!?"

"Well i-it's the food. I was going to say it's all gone but err." The employee pointed over at Hokori still stuffing himself with food. "That boy ate everything."

"EVERYTHING!?"

"You said I cou-" The giant man grabbed Hokori by his face, with it still full of food.

"I! I Said I would make you something! Not that you could steal my stuff! Get outt of here!"

"EH!? I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!" While Hokori was being scolded Takaishi & Shuri had hid themselves behind a wall of crates, now empty because of their food searches.

"Honestly! ... ...("That's the last of the ingredients. I was gonna ask Zen to grab today's shipment... but...") It's fine kid. But you've gotta do a favour now ya hear?"

"O-Of course it's only fair!"

Katsoden pulled out a highly detailed map from a drawer a secure drawer. "I want you to go..." He circled a section of it with a marker. "...Here. Seeing as ya cleansed my place ya can go get the new food and ingredients. Now!" They handed the map off to Hokori. Throwing him out the back entrance of the kitchen. "You better not take too long damn brat. Shebi can make do with her kitchen's ingredients in the meantime."

"Shebi? Hmm. Ah well...This is 3 Miles away... ...I could probably take... No forget it. On foot will do." And off he went on his own.

____

"Shebi-Aneki! You're ok."

"Huh?" Shebi turned from the work station in front of them after being called out to. "Ah! Kyo!"

~Kyo Oyagashi is the female waiter who confronted the delinquent earlier.~

"...Hey?" She lifted up her the skirt of her work clothes. "What's with the bandages?" She pointed at their colleagues bare thigh noticing the mummy wrap of bandages around it just below the pair of short spats they wore. "You hurt that soft skin of yours again?"

"O-Oh that i-it's fine I just had a slight burn is all. ("If she found out, forget hospital that kid would be in a morgue if I told her what happened")"

"Speaking of... The table has a burn as well..."

"Oh that was the guy Kat-Ya threw out. It's fine though. No major damage. Eep! (So much for that.)"

Shebi stayed fixated on the burn marks temporarily seemingly bothered before smiling generously at Kyo. "They burnt you!?... ... ...Well if you say it's just that burn then it'll be fine. Kat already thrashed him anyway. Just as long as you're ok....But get ready. The snakes are gonna come out to serve the dishes real soon! Oh...You have the orders right?"

"Oh!? Of course!" Frantically rummaging round a small bag Kyo removed at least over 200 notes with multiple food orders on each of them, it was a big place. She handed each and every one over to Shebi. Skimming through everyone of them before placing them on a pile up front.

"Tch. Ok! This'll be easy." She kicked up a leg. Following up behind it flew a tube and nozzle. It was a soda gun. But she wasn't finished she kicked up at least 5 more. "Ok Kyo! Just leave me with the glasses. I can handle the rest now... Ok so the most popular dish today... ...Sushi & Sashimi? I can do that first...But there's also orders for varying bowls of ramen, and... oh, just one Curry. Hm?"

She read the order for the Curry again. Next to it was a drawing of a skull & a hot pepper- Well drawn. "Woah! This person's looking to die today I see heheh. Either that or they want to be stuck in the bathroom all day."

And with the orders read she pulled out glasses & alcohol just before the first soda gun could touch ground. "Now the show can begin." Off it went the second it landed into her hands, Shebi set fired different flavours of cola, lemonade and other soft drinks into the glasses set up earlier. Following up the first, the remaining 5 guns swiftly followed down. And Shebi stretched her arms out to form a T shape.

Every tube connecting the gun fell round her arms wrapping around them like flowing water & coiling themselves safely round her body. "Stick those glasses high!" With a click of the trigger more drinks came firing out into the nearby glasses garnering more attention and cheers from the crowds. Kageyama & Yatsua however were still beyond confused.

"I-Is she? The entertainment or something?" Questioned Yatsua his 4 highest arms both on his head & hips respectively.

"I don't know but however she's doing that all at once is freaky."

Jumping up from behind them rolled in Kyo. "Oh you mean sister Shebi?"

"Eh? Err sure...She's just throwing stuff around."

"Oh it's fine! This is your first time here right, well Shebi is the youngest of the working staff. But she is strong and a star." "A star? But I don't work here?" Kageyama scoffed playfully. "Her ability when cooking & serving is beautiful just like herself. Kat-Ya would much rather die than give up the kid. Especially since she's the Sous Chef."

"...Wha- She's the Sous!? I thought she just served the food. She never said anything about making it..."

"You see the rows of marble paving along the ground?" Separating the already massive amount of tables from one another were shimmering line of marble. Kageyama knelt down to look at his reflection.

"I sure am incredible today...Why are these so special though. Besides my reflection."

"Well that's where Shebi has the snakes come out."

Both the boys continued being enamored with the ground they didn't fully understand. When they looked back to Shebi there was an abnormally sized pot on the workspace infront of her filled with boiling water & multiple smaller ones with some boiling eggs. And all the pop & alcohol was already served and a crowd of roaring cheers followed.

"WHA- She got to so many people already? Did she even leave her own table!?" Yatsua was overwhelmed by how much happened in such a short burst of time.

"Ah. You missed them."

"...Them?"

"Believe it or not Shebi herself is no faster than a professional runner right now. Even if you turned away that's not fast enough to serve out to drinks to every table in this place. For our restaurant that's around 250 down here then the upstairs section takes up an extra 200."

"HUH!? OVER 400!"

Kyo pointed back over to her superior as they were talking Shebi had finished adding the other ingredients for the first massive pot of ramen. But already behind her were several plates of sushi & sashimi.

"SHE DID IT AGAIN!"

"Shh. Now watch."

"Queen..." The fast working Sous Chef raises her foot above her head stretched out at a straight 180 angle. "...Giza!" Slamming down her food deep into the marble with ease the impact seemingly caused it wave round as if it had become the ocean.

The Snakes were here. The shining stone waves rose up from the ground becoming far more tube like in shape with a head at the front.

"A-A-Ahh! S-So...These are the snakes you were on about?"

Kyo nodded- a smile on her face. "Now pay close attention this is the final part."

Swiftly, piling up each plate of both sushi & sashimi Shebi had stuck them ontop of the newly arriving stone snakes and under her control she had them slide around the restaurant at otherwise dangerous speeds. But she was still in control, as much as they do seem independent, as long as they're connected to the ground she can maneuver them mentally.

It was like an express train but for food. "Amazing...she does this everyday?" Yatsua asked, his head locking onto the constantly moving stone reptiles.

Kyo unnervingly laughed at his question rubbing at the back of her own head, a bit embarrassed to say. "She only comes in when she wants money."

"...That's not how jobs work."

"For her it is. He'd never admit it but Kat-Ya tends to spoil her a lot."

A loud masculine sneeze came from the main kitchen. Shebi's snakes sank back to the ground while she separated noodles from the giant container into multiple smaller sized ones. "It's time for the home stretch now"

___

On the way back from getting more ingredients & resources. After following Katsoden's map. Hokori was stood in place extremely puzzled. "Hmm... Despite following the map...I'm lost... ...Hm!? Who's there!?"

Loud bellowing footsteps crept up towards him as he distanced himself slightly back. They were heavy steps. The silhouette peering through the dimly lit alley was massive.

"Oh. How lucky... ...I got to you-" The voice was cut off. And the figure was suddenly gone. Surprising the Bandana wearing boy greatly.

Until. "I really did didn't I?" He felt a widespread grip atop his own shoulder. "I really ended up finding you first? How lucky."

Hokori looked behind to face the man- A hulking man in a purple trench coat. And straw hat. "... ...Hi there! Do you mind moving you're kind of in my way?"

"Unfortunately for you, my friends and I are in the middle of a game. My boss believes you might end up evil. So I'm here to kill you and be the first to claim the head of the strongest in your team...Being you...Hm?"

The small boy circled around his much larger soon to be assailant. "Ah. You definitely train. You must be really strong then right? But I'm sorry I'm not a villain."

"As far as things go that is also correct. So I'm watching you..."

"Wha-... Wa-Watching?"

"I refuse to attack unless you genuinely do bad things. Smiler said to just attack and have fun but I'd rather wait and see for myself."

"Ah... ..." Having met this seemingly relaxed individual Hokori handed over one of the crates he had been wheeling back to Katsoden's restaurant. "Can you help with these then please?"

"...Sure."

"...So how did you get that tall anyway?"

"Milk."

Across the alleyway behind them was Dedede watching from afar. Dumbfounded by this encounter. "There's no way? A boy like that!? With Itaimo?" Clutching his shoulder he knelt down. "...Relax. I'm sure it's just a coincidence. If I reach the boy in time then absolutely nothing bad will happen. I'll beat the big guy then I can ask him what his goals are...I'm sure he's a good kid. I need to help him now."

The big guy, Itaimo suddenly stopped turning around to the exact location that Dedede was hiding from. This behaviour confusing Hokori. "Huh? Hey why'd you stop?"

His glare only intensified. "(...Found...Already?...The boss is right then...I need to work on my stealth.)" He raised a hand... "Lady Metal... Stop him please."

"(SHIT! She's in there to!?) He must have noticed me." He stepped out into the light with Hokori & Itaimo watching. "H-Hey now. Relax. I'm here. No need to call her out!"

"Hmph. Well that's good... Their are plenty of bounties on your head Sir Dan. "You're lucky you're good at heart. Ignoring the less likeable aspects."

"Erm." Hokori spoke up again to the much taller adults. "I really need to get back now... Can we leave please?"

"... Sure. The King can join us. Can't you Sir Dan?"

Aotori didn't say anything he just watched. A skinnier more female shaped arm stretched out of Itaimo's back several massive spikes were inbetween the frail looking fingers on that hand. They approached Hokori slowly with his back turned and walking away.

"OK OK! I'll go jeez." On the immediate command of his shouting the hand retracted back into the hat wearers bulky back. "Good dog."

"...What do you even want with the boy?..."

"Don't worry King... We won't kill him... Yet. We're only here to see whether he does good or bad... ...It's a game you see. Whoever wins gets paid by every person who lost. And at Kastoden's place we will finally know the answer."

"Katsoden's?" The robed man chuckled to himself grinning with a mildly puzzled look. "You'd risk taking me someplace where I get the advantage?"

"Perhaps..."

"... ...So if he's good then you'll just leave?"

"...I will...But my Lady & The Smiler? I can't tell you...They're more thorough when it comes to baring fruit a true personality."

"Tch. Dirty hunters."

"What you call dirty is just buisness."

____

An hour passes once again.

"Queen Giza!" One final snake erupted from the restaurant floor charging straight forward with the last plates of food and any drinks before sinking back down. Shebi decided to take the one plate of Curry to the table herself. It was just one girl sat alone tapping her foot impatiently. "(Hmm? What's her problem? Well whatever... She must really hate her organs if she wants to eat something this hot... Why's the old man even sell this stuff)"

Her friends had sat themselves down at a table. "Woah really! We missed all that?" Yatsua & Kageyama had just finished telling Shuri & Takaishi about Shebi's quirk and how fast she made it move.

"Yeah. It's funny Hokori doesn't even know they have such a strong quirk. But still is so friendly with her." Kageyama's statement confused the others.

"Wh...Why does that matter?"

"If she actually trusted him she'd have said...Fighting as a team would be hard if we can't cover our strengths and weaknesses.... ....But then again."

He turned to his peers giving them a sly smile with a punchable face. "Me & Hokori would be enough as it is. You guys are just deadweight for us. Ahahhahahahah!"

"So obnoxious."

Shebi's angered voice came from the final customers table. The plate of curry was smashed and spilled all over the floor.

It was loud enough to silence the whole establishment. Even the outside the outside ambience was practically non existent. "Oh no!...Not again!" Kyo tried to get as close to Shebi & the customer as possible.

The one who ordered the food poked her finger against the blonde haired girl's forhead aggressively. "Maybe you weren't paying attention then? Your cooking skill is non existent! You call this curry hot!? It's about as cold as you will be in a second! If you don't sort this out!"

"(THREATENING SHEBI!? DOES THAT GIRL WANT TO DIE!?)" Still sat over at the bar breathed through their teeth. "Well shit. Hopefully it doesn't end too badly."

"What's happening out here?" Katsoden stepped out from the kitchen. Burying a cleaver into the bar table next to him.

"Erm. Well your Sous Chef had her cooking insulted. I don't know who that girl is confronting her but..."

"Huh?...O- Oh no!... What's that girl thinking! Grah! Kyo! Stay far away from them and you stop engaging right now Shebi you damn brat! ... ...YOU HEAR ME!?"

She didn't hear a word Katsoden said she was annoyed greatly by her statement. At this moment in time she was only thinking how badly she could hurt the girl that mocked her.

This dark-red haired girl smirked with a lollipop stick poking from her mouth. She was far from done picking on this short tempered cook, staring her down in rage.

"My apologies. You must be the one who serves the food then? If this restaurant relies on a waiter to cook then no wonder this places crap is barely even palatable. Your leader should be ashamed to even live with that."

"You think I'm just a damn waitress huh!? ... ...Krrk! A burial in stone... ...Is what you want then!... RIGHT!?" Shebi took on the red head's taunt she had gone redder that the tomatoes she had lay across her working station.

"Shebi! Drop it already." Droned Katsoden desperately trying to get to Shebi's ears. "It's fine! What happened wasn't in your control, it never was! I don't care about what she's saying! Don't act rash!"

"..."

"..."

Neither girl said anything for a while. They just stared at each other with equally intimidating faces, ignoring the background noise. "GET LOST!" Shebi reacted first swinging round her right leg for a kick. But it missed they had jumped backwards to avoid it.

"Hm. It seems you're as bad as fighting as you are cooking? What was a slow flimsy kick like that supposed to do to someone like me?"

Ignoring the taunt Shebi shot out another kick faster than the previous though it was blocked this time.

"Tch. I guess you're not as fast as you thought!" Shebi immediately answered back with a gruesome spinning kick to her opponents face. 

 The kick was strong enough to send her flying into the bar. The resulting crash breaking multiple bottles on the shelves, & knocking Zen's drink out his hand. "Oi! Leave me out of this!"

"... ... ...Show your chef some respect idiot... ...("She's wearing that same black and white outfit as that sword guy that attacked back then? She's here for us I suppose...It doesn't matter anymore now though.)" Fixing back her long bangs, Shebi stylishly walked away back to her station. Leaving the other customers and more importantly her allies in awe.

"She's... Terrifyingly strong." Whispered Shuri looking at the aftermath from the fight.

However, in spite of the fact Shebi dared assume the fight was over. They got back up removing an emptied wine bottle from their mouth. Various glass shard from the bottles pittering across the ground like a violent storm of knives. "*Hic* Wh-what's yhat huuuuuuuuuuuh!? Respect did you say? Me showing a gorilla like you the strength given to me by my father!"

"...Are you drunk!? It was just one bottle... ...Besides I never asked about you showing your Quirk. Get it together dumbass."

"*Hic* I Kayrya Zuki, daughter of justice do not get drunk. Damn snake! Never! Never!"

"... ...Well what do you want me for."

"*Hic* W-Well you are one of those 1-S students I think. You're kind of blurry right now. I can barely tell~ You are ugly though I can tell that much..." The dark red haired girl raised both her arms. "I don't know if you saw my brother outside there. He got beat by your leader."

Shebi laughed at that proclaim. "Leader!? Kat-Ya? What's with all this formal bullshit!?"

"Kayryu and I, have similar abilities to our father."

"I could care less! Now apologise for what you said already. I won't tolerate disrespect to me. Even less so, to this restaurant as a whole."

Kayrya's hands began glowing a bright orange and made a bubbling noise. As she did this Shebi's breath became visible in the air. "What the? It's cold? ...!?!?" She looked back at Kayrya she was now glowing with orange colours and steaming. "(This looks bad...) Hey! All of you get the hell out of here! This bitch is gonna blow!"

All the customers in the restaurant began a crowded dash towards to entrance. However, Takaishi's hearing noticed a small flickering noise like fire come from under the doorway. "W-WAIT STOP DON'T OPEN THAT!" He yelled out to late the first person to reach opened the doors wide. And flooding in. Was a massive wall of flames.

"A-A backdraft!?"

"*Hic* Now now Snake. Did you forget? My stupid little brother's outside. He's burning things right now. So you see right? There's no escape. I've gained all the heat necessary and with my brother's fire outside I'll never run out."

~Kayrya Zuki. Quirk: Heat Steal. She can take away the heat from anything nearby and apply it to herself. She can then make small explosive bursts that serve as projectiles and can increase striking power. And obviously she's really hot.

"If I apprehend you, father will let me be one of his top guards at the prison." She charged at Shebi, an arm held low for a punch to the body. A tiny explosion triggered just behind her elbow as they threw a fist forward. Shebi, not expecting it to come so quick, was nailed directly in her stomach. Her skin sizzled and burned the second they touched.

"TITZZZZZZ! THAT BURNS!" Before Kayrya followed through too much. She had the marble below trap her feet. And backed off from the fist. After a short while the heat Kayrya absorbed melted the marble away.

"Childish games... Now then. Let me show you just how good I am at cooking."

[chisie12]

Kisame Week Day 2: Hidden in the Abyss

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20036536/chapters/47594251

The next chapter for Breathing Under Water :D ! 

It doesn’t start with Kisame but he does appear early on! Hope you enjoy reading! 

~*~*~

The Autumn dawn was about to break, quietly and slowly lighting up the concrete pavements. Crystalline dew hopped off the bouncing auburn leaves as Akira stepped through the large white pine door. Nodding her head at the guards, she silently walked through the crimson carpeted floors and stopped before the double doors.

“Come in, Akira,” said a deep voice.

Her solemn countenance cracked with the betrayal of a smile. You can’t get past shinobi instincts after all, especially when it’s –

“Good morning, Hokage-sama.” She bowed her respects before greeting a bubbly Minato and a grumpy, definitely sleepy, Shikaku who stood by the side.

The old man, weathered by the vicissitudes of life smiled warmly. “A very early one indeed. What’s your report?”

“There are some correlations, Hokage-sama,” Akira began. “It will still need more testing for a definitive answer if we wish to know whether Eden can improve our strength in real life, but training in that world is possible. In terms of testing out skills and movements, I believe it’s doable. Because of the nerve connections and realism that Eden utilises, one would really feel like they’re fully immersed in the game.”

“What level are you, Akira?” Minato interjected excitedly. His blue eyes lit up, shining brighter despite the time.

“Only 35.” Her voice was small, shy even. Because it’s been three months since she started, having played since the launch, but her level was rather... miserable. “I've spent too much time figuring out the possibilities of utilising my character differently,” she harrumphed. “Of course I cannot compare to a level 47 Shadow Hunter like you. Aren’t you at the top of the leaderboard?”

Minato shook his head with a small smile. “Supposedly, yes.” Seeing Akira’s raised brow, he continued with a grin. “If you did it the conventional way too, you'd top me.”

Akira didn’t suppress her snort at his comment or her smile. A teasing glint shone in her eyes, leaning in front of a grumbling Shikaku to wink at Minato. “I would top you if Kushina-hime allowed it. Oh, maybe we could both top you.” Dark giggles danced out of her lips, the sly smile widening bit by bit into a full blown grin at the blond’s reddening face. “The hime will probably love that.” The flush was darkening, almost to the beautiful fire of his said wife’s hair.

Shikaku groaned as he painfully squeezed his eyes shut.

Despite the difference in their ranks, Konoha City’s Hokage Sarutobi chuckled, feeling a little wistful yet nostalgic at watching the younger generation. He used to be one of them once upon a time, and the only regret he had was not eliminating the wars as they grew up. “Alright, before my Commander embarrasses himself further, what of the swordsman that you found a month ago?”

Akira straightened her back and replied solemnly, “As previously reported, I’ve already established contact with him, Hokage-sama. He seems to linger around areas near the sea.”

He laced his fingers, nodding at her words. “You know what to do, Shimizu-san.”

Basically, determine whether to ally with him or kill him. An absolute joy.

“Yes, Hokage-sama.”

Sarutobi stared at his commanders, inwardly sighing at the sight. They were young, too young for such bloodshed, but it was necessary, lest the enemies come knocking on their door.

Minato, Konoha’s Forces Commander, Akira his vice, and Shikaku, the Tactical Commander straightened themselves when Sarutobi looked at them.

The meeting then began.

Iwa City and Kumo City had been knocking down Leaf City’s border patrols recently and Konoha were no strangers to the frequent skirmishes that were happening. After the Second Shinobi War, power of the Five Great Shinobi Countries was declining, and more and more task forces were being sent out to man the border stations, only to end up in another scuffle.

Hokage Sarutobi only hoped that it wouldn’t blow up into a full scale war. He wished for his people to live in peace, to go about their lives without a worry of bloodshed, for their children to grow up healthy and strong, both shinobi and civilians alike.

Because his life hadn’t been like that. It was always a war after the other, eliminating threats and protecting his family. Throughout the years he reigned as Hokage, he managed to give birth to a full technologically advanced city, the village now a city with a stable economy and good education.

Eden was secretly a Konoha government project after all. Even though Mad Games hailed from the Akibaba City nearer to the Country of Merchants, Konoha had managed to reach out to the team, promising support and massive investments, if certain programs could be implemented. They agreed, easily enough (Konoha’s happy tree huggers reputation does come in handy), if not for the investments, but for the challenge and wish to create a game closely linked with reality.

When the sun was high in the sky did the talks end.

And then it was back into the land of Eden...

 ~*~*~

 Thick blood drifted on the sea, like celebratory crimson streamers. His blue hand loosened its grip on the sword’s handle and he was enveloped in a white light. Tailless Beast was finally at level 40.

He dropped to sit on the empty sands of Faraway Beach, an area where level 40 to 50 monsters roamed. The rush of his bloodlust calmed with every lap of the waves, fingers softly digging into the sand, drenched by the pushing water, cold and chilly, yet welcoming to his mind. And then he saw it floating on the surface, riding the wave to the beach, only to get stuck within the grooves of rolling sand. Memories, like the slow whoosh of the waves, drifted into his mind; Of laughter and of smiles, of a moment of normalcy, of a simple friend.

‘But she’ll never be my friend now if she saw me.’ With a sigh and a push off his hand, he stood up, strapping the plain silver steel broadsword on his back and picked up the trash.

Ding!

[Picked up ‘Trash on the Beach’. 1/20]

His small black eyes widened in surprise. Looking around the beach, he spotted a broken beer bottle sticking out in the sand nearby. Digging his toes into the sand below the glass, feeling the cool hard surface, he flicked his foot up and perfectly caught the bottle in his hand.

[Picked up ‘Trash on the Beach’. 2/20]

A soft rumble vibrated in his chest, a gentle sound unlike the usual snarls and growls. Such an odd quest, totally unrelated to the any classes, but he continued picking up trash acquiescently. Each time his hand reached out, a phantom shadow of a smaller, tanned and not blue hand would appear in his mind, and a smaller, petite silhouette would occasionally emerge at the corner, figure bending down wordlessly, soiling her fair fingers with trash and dirt. Kids, an innocent time; freedom unrestrained by many forces. His childhood wasn’t anything nice to look at, and if anything, those from Konoha would be appalled, pale faced and shocked if they knew what Kiri subjected him to. Training grounds filled with blood and gore, harsh vomit and burning tears, bloody screams of innocent children and the whistling of the blade slicing through soft flesh.

With a tired sigh, Tailless Beast shook those thoughts away, flinging them far away into the abyss of the sea and focused on the silhouette that’d occasionally emerge. He felt peace when he remembered the clear joyful chortle bubbling from her chest, the small tilt of her lips and provocative look she’d send his way, the crescent shaped eyes and grin from the joy of swimming in the salty depths. He remembered it all, down to the same flower kanzashi she always wore in her high ponytail.

When he picked his 19th trash, a notification popped up.

[Clear Shadow sent you a friend request. Accept? Reject?]

The wistful happiness from a moment ago was doused like a bucket of water onto the fire, replaced by sheer irritation and sharp teeth grinding against each other.

He instantly rejected her.

“Hewwo.”

Immediately after, he received a text message from Clear Shadow. He ignored it and went to look for another trash to pick up, somehow seemingly finding none. Frustrated, he walked further down the beach, further from the vast sands through an area of grassy patches where a natural rock archway of the cove presented itself up ahead.

[Clear Shadow sent a video message. Click to view.]

He was stopped in his tracks at the message that came through, staring at the message’s preview and like an automation and the subconscious dreaded curiosity of a hungry fish staring at the worm, a screen popped up before him. He could only curse at his brief stupidity as he stared at the short two second video. On loop. That blue furry looking monster (if he recalled correctly) was an alien named Stitch, who was holding his claws out, curling slightly while his mouth attempted at what should be a friendly grin as he greeted in a dragged out “Hi.”

“Hewwo,” Clear Shadow said the moment the video replayed. “I thought you were ignoring me!”

“I was,” Tailless Beast replied curtly.

���Not anymore.” And he swore she (it’s a she, right? No sane male would do this video sending and ‘hewwo-ing’) was giggling to herself.

A growl ripped out of his throat as he closed the chat with her, scolding himself for allowing her stupidity to spread to him.

He walked closer to the cove, frightened seagulls cawing in the air.

[Clear Shadow sent you a friend request. Accept? Reject?]

Rejected.

The hell was wrong with her?

Another message came this time and his impassive expression cracked, lips tilting into a manic, feral grin.

“Notice me, senpai.”

Irritation flared, clouding his mind and words danced across his screen, his finger hitting send before he could process what just happened. “Go away! The hell is wrong with you? I’m not your friend or your senpai! Go bug someone else!”

And then came a silence, pervaded by confusion and unsettled anger. Tailless Beast scoffed, jabbing at the ‘x’ to close the chat window in an attempt to satisfy his desire for a fight. Bending down after nearing the cove, he picked up the trash and it displayed that he had picked up a full 20 out of 20, but... the quest remained incomplete.

“What the heck? Is there a bug?”

A female voice cursed, the voice a little echo and distant. Rounding up the natural rock archway, he saw a level 40 female Elementalist cladded in a red robe. The hell? Wasn’t she level 35 yesterday?

“Why won't the quest complete?”

He'd go up and ask her, he really would. The quest was baffling him too. Not only was it totally random, it seemed to be bugging as well. But he couldn’t, wouldn’t, step forward. No. The confusion and curiousity in him melted in the wrath of unsettled, rekindled annoyance, all because the mage’s ID was “Clear Shadow”.

As though sensing his gaze on her, he watched the surprise flit across her face before her mouth curved into a mischievous smile. No, don’t start –

“Senpai noticed me!”

Fuck.

He turned around to leave when the tide rushed in, a wavy crystalline surface rippling across ashy brown coloured rocks, crashing into him and her, drenching their armour. He dropped his lifted foot while the water receded, cringing in pain when a sharp object pierced through his steel boots and a small damage floated above his head.

“What the hell?”

A softer voice meshed with his, words overlapping each other in the same mix of annoyed confusion, yet in an odd presence of tacit understanding, they bent down to inspect the items. A crisp ring rang as they both received notifications.

Tailless Beast: [You have discovered the tooth of Sharkman Kelo. Follow the clues to unravel the truth of the fall of Atlantis.]

Clear Shadow: [You have discovered the tears of Mermaid Knight Rie. Follow the clues to unravel the truth of her death.]

A lilt voice, soft and gentle sang a sorrowful tune. The crashing waves seemed to have calmed, as though mournful at hearing the voice, now mere small ripples swimming in the natural grooves on the ground. A salty breeze drifted in, picking up strands of their hair and caressed their cheeks before dipping into their bags. An azure halation lit up in the shallow water and small glowing beads appeared before the surface. They congregated near both players’ bags and the twenty trash items floated out, hanging around their figures in two perfect dancing circles. The blue light pulsed and they watched as the items started breaking down, integrating with the shrinking glow that nestled itself around their necks. A thin azure line stretched out. Both the shark tooth and pearl were lifted off their palms, moving towards their neck and attaching themselves to the dimming glows. When the rock archway calmed and returned to normal, with the voice turning silent, there was a pair of matching necklaces hanging around their necks. The chain was shimmering in a translucent pale blue from glass beads strung together, with the only difference the shark tooth and pearl hanging in the centre.

 Sharkman Kelo’s Ring of Promise (Legendary): Ornament.

Requirements: Level 0, male.

Properties: Strength +227, Strength +293 (in water), Speed +100 (in water), Dexterity +100 (in water).

User will also gain the ability to breathe underwater.

 Restriction: Bound to Tailless Beast.

  Mermaid Knight Rie’s Tear in the Abyss (Legendary): Ornament.

Requirements: Level 0, female.

Properties: Intellect +426, Strength +112 (in water), Dexterity +100 (in water).

User will also gain the ability to breathe underwater.

 Restriction: Bound to Clear Shadow.

 Tailless Beast pursed his lips and looked at Clear Shadow. Clearly, the quest to Atlantis was related to hers and he didn’t know if he wanted to complete it or not. He preferred grinding solo, with no annoying bugs in the way, but what truly caught his attention was that she seemed to have done the same quest he did: Picking up trash on the beach. Was it merely a coincidence?

Akira returned Tailless Beast’s stare, a myriad of emotions filling her mind. Like him, she figured it was a quest they both had to embark on together, but she had a special mission to complete. But she also had the mission to tail him. What to do!?

Tailless Beast took in her silence curiously. Maybe going on a quest with her wouldn’t be so bad after all? “How did you trigger the quest?”

Akira arched a brow. “By picking up trash. Didn’t you trigger it too?”

His mouth opened and closed, words twisting in his head as he tried to form a sentence. “But why would you?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Habit, maybe. I used to pick up trash on the beach when I was younger. Watched a friend do it, so I started doing it too.”

Something nagged at him, something he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Dejected, he turned to leave, the new emotions swimming in him foreign and confusing, and he wanted to find a quiet spot to stew in his thoughts. He only took one step, a simple one tiny step, when a system notification popped up.

[Clear Shadow sent you a friend request. Accept? Reject?]

A vein bulged on his temple when he saw it. Pursed lips parted into a snarl, black beady eyes glaring at Akira when a new message popped up.

Clear Shadow, “It’ll be easier to do the quest this way.”

“Who said I wanted to quest with you?”

“What? Are you afraid of a little competition? Can’t handle a small mage like me?” Akira taunted.

“I'm not afraid! I just don’t want to carry you!”

“Pfft, I’ll be carrying you in the end.” Akira replied. She waited a beat then continuing, “Forget it. You're just going to drag me down. I'm gonna level up myself.”

Before she could cancel the friend request, it disappeared, replaced by a system notification displaying [Tailless Beast accepted your friend request.]. A smirk made its way onto her lips and she quickly smoothened her expression out.

“Senpai did notice me after all!”

“Fuck off. I’m not your senpai.”

“You can’t regret becoming my friend.”

“I already did.”

“You suck. You just don’t want to admit I'm better than you since we’re both level 40 now.”

“Fuck no. Someone probably carried you.”

As they bickered back and forth, the same lilt voice appeared again and a glow appeared within the deep blue sea. That was their clue.

Their words got stuck in their throats, their argument forced to die as they exchanged a glance; one grinning, one grumpy. They really were going to do this.

In the back of his mind, something was nagging at him like an annoying scratch, that he never fully noticed before, but... she wasn’t finding him weird or scary from his ‘choice’ of appearance. She never questioned or judged it (to be fair on his part though, she was probably weirder than a blue-skinned, shark-looking Blade Master).  

“Last one there is a rotten fish!”

She’s definitely going to be the death of him.

The pair dashed into the waves and leapt simultaneously, body arching in a perfect curve and they dove down into the depths with only the mysterious glow guiding them. The necklaces worked their magic, only glowing a faint azure colour before returning to its unassuming state. Lines were carved onto their necks, thin black lines that opened and closed with their every breath, filtering out oxygen from the salty depths. Excitement gleamed in their eyes, endless possibilities suddenly available to them with this gift, when they noticed exactly who it was that they shared this joy with, there was a mix of reactions; one of tease and the other of grumbles. The vast golden sands stretched out far and deep, rocks standing strong and steady with beautiful coral reefs steadily appearing with seaweed and small schools of fishes waving their greetings. Darkness flooded their vision the deeper they went, yet that mysterious glow was still so far away. Small fishes gradually grew larger to the point the pair had to hide as the monsters slowly grew stronger as well.

Tailless Beast watched the giant angler fish swim past the tall rock pillar, barely thick enough to conceal both players. Akira huddled close to the near two-meter-tall giant, whose hand stretched out in front of her. To hold her in place? To protect her? They both held their breaths, heart beating steady as they kept their calm. She peeked out from over his shoulder, observing the monster.

 Revengeful Angler (Level 60)

HP: 450,000/450,000

 She gulped the lump in her throat and subconsciously inched closer to Tailless Beast. When he felt her figure closer to his, silk robes caressing his skin, his eyes darted to her fair fingers gripping tightly onto the stick she called a wand, illuminated ever so slightly by the lone light of the Revengeful Angler. Lifting his eyes to steal a glimpse at her panicking gaze, he decided against commenting on her actions, smirking instead to himself at the new memory.

“The hell you smirking at, big blue?” Akira sent him a whisper when she caught sight of his upturned lips.

“You’re a scaredy-cat,” he sent back, eyes still glued to the retreating figure of the monster. “And why big blue? Cause I'm big and blue? You get 0 points in creativity.”

“Oh, we’re counting points now? I at least get a point for coming up with a nickname. And no, I'm not a scaredy-cat. You try going up and killing that fish. Maybe I get to eat sashimi tonight.”

“That sashimi will poison you, I'm sure. You get a point for creativity and a penalty for coming up with a shit one. So you're at 0 points. Also, I don’t have a death wish. I'm not going up against it.”

“Senpai, I didn’t know you were such a scaredy-cat.”

“Shut the fuck up with the ‘senpai’.” All traces of his mirth disappeared.

Seeing his snarl, full of pointy teeth and huge frame towering in fury, Akira’s bottom lip jutted out into a pout. “Sorry, sorry, Beast. Don't get mad, okay?”

He scoffed, turning instead to Revengeful Angler that was circling back to the stone pillar they hid behind. “We might need to make a swim for it.”

He growled when she leaned too far forward, her ribs pushed against his still outstretched arm. “Not so far!”

Fighting the urge to roll get eyes, she chose to rather merely nod and agreed to his earlier suggestion. “When it swims back out, we will.”

And so they waited, storing their weapons away to reduce their burden when they swam. Tailless Beast nudged her back a little, scooting further to the other side as the large monster swam past, its light gleaming over the hidden players only for a brief moment. They attentively watched it swim, awaiting the moment that they wanted.

“Now!” he called under his breath, a calloused hand tugging at her smaller one as he started swimming away, towards the mysterious light that no other lifeforms could somehow detect. They kicked their legs hard, stretching their arms out as far as possible and pushed as hard as they could. A monstrous roar shook the sea as Revengeful Angler spotted the escaping duo and immediately chased after them.

Soon, the gap between Akira and Tailless Beast widened, but she remained calm, fighting hard to swim faster but the difference in strength directly affected their swimming speed. Even though she wasn’t an orthodox Elementalist with high intellect but rather an odd mix of intellect and strength, she would never be able to catch up to a Blade Master whose strength stats were high, and higher in the water.

He swam fast and swift, an unrestrained joy washing his every nerve and muscle while he swam, just like a fish in water. He turned back towards Akira, that joy blanking into panic when he saw the tens of meters of distance between them. Seeing the mage robes billowing in the water and the monster not far behind her, he realised there and then that he forgot; forgot of their differences, forgot to support another fellow party member. Now he wasn’t swimming away anymore. Mists of tiny bubbles shrouded his rushing body, thick muscles of his legs kicking up a storm with eyes focused on both Akira and Revengeful Angler. An arm stretched out, slender desperate fingers finding their way to his and surprised blue eyes, the colour deeper in the sea lit up only by the angler fish’s light, stared at him incredulously. He ignored her stare, instead pulling hard at her much smaller hand towards him.

A heat wave behind her broke their trance and they turned to see Revengeful Angler charging an attack with her esca. The light grew brighter, stronger and the water fifteen meters around it rose in temperature until it began bubbling. A chill ran down their spines.

“It should only be a linear attack! Move!” Akira yelled out and pushed Tailless Beast away no matter how much she enjoyed whatever it was before.

In the split second Revengeful Beast let out its attack, Akira and Tailless Beast were separated, and the beam shot right through their middle, extending another twenty meters with the heat strong enough to make them boil despite the distance of a few feet. Tailless Beast immediately pulled Akira next to him again when the attack ended and started swimming again. The light started to fade, returning to only light up the area around the Revengeful Beast and shrouded in darkness, the two were safe. Moments after, when they were tired and irritated at the long distance, they finally neared the mysterious light. The small ball of white flames was flickering alone in the deep sea.

“This is it? I don’t see Atlantis anywhere.”

Akira remained quiet while she observed the flames, somehow seeing the illusion that a mermaid was crying in the embers. She reached out a finger as Mermaid Knight Rie’s Tear in the Abyss started to glow in correspondence. It was surprisingly cool on her skin, comforting and gentle like a spring breeze when everything suddenly plunged into darkness. The fire was snuffed out, the pearl’s glow disappeared.

And then, a horizontal white slit appeared in the abyss, widening with a blurry vision a mix of blue, green and gold entering her sight until sharpness returned.

 [You have discovered the fallen land of Atlantis.]