#like if i were to pit these kings against each other who technically wins cause again In General Fuckability ichi wins

[binunus]

college bf!rocky

a/n next is our rock and aegyo king sorry sanha park minhyuk !! also I was going to post this yesterday :( but me and my roommates got a little too lit for valentine’s and I literally sat for 7 hours straight in zoom so I couldn’t finish it until now but !! I hope you loves enjoy!!

→ genre: fluff, smut

→ word count: 4.9k

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alright aright alrightttt

we’re gonna switch it up a little bit

add a little flavor

because as much as I would love to say that college bf!astro all got their partners in a cute and smooth sailing way

we all know relationships aren’t that easy

but before we get into how you and rocky met

major: dance

are we surprised? no

rocky is a prodigy in dance

he’s been dancing since he could walk

he started choreographing at age 6

it just made sense for him, like even his parents were like go pursue dance, you’re not a law or business type of kid

he can master any type of dance from jazz, to ballet, to street, to contemporary, to tango, whatever you can think of

he’s roommates with music tech!jinjin

jin literally takes care of him all the time bc rocky??? when he comes back to the apt after dance practice?? dead weight

only passes his gen ed classes bc eunwoo tutors him

if it weren’t for the boys, rocky would literally live in the dance studio

they make sure to drag him out for fun and food at least once a week

or they join and keep him company while he’s practicing

have they gotten noise complaints before while messing around in the dance studio? yes

rocky is loud alright, especially when he’s with astro

he’s a perfectionist, literally will not leave the studio until he’s 100% satisfied with his progress

oh the amount of times myungjun and jin nag at him to take care of his health

now now

you’re also a dance major

people could say that you and rocky are the top two dancers of your year

gasp a rivals to lovers au??? you betcha baby

granted you switched into a dancer major your second year so rocky technically had seniority

but boom baby as soon as you made your appearance, it rocked his world

now im not saying rocky’s cocky bc obviously he’s a cute hardworking humble boy

but was he used to always being placed first in evaluations or getting the highest marks??? yeah

so the first time you placed first and he placed second??? it lit a bit of a fire in him

he’s seen a ton of good dancers in his time, but no one has ever matched his capabilities better than you

there was an unspoken rivalry between you two, everyone knew about it 

you both always wanted to upstage the other

there was always a tension whenever you two were in the same room

but like...have either of you ever really talked to each other besides side remarks in class?

no

and it didn’t really help that the whole dance department basically pit you up against each other to see who was really the best dancer of your year

so you and rocky never had the proper introduction to a friendship, it just went straight to rivalry 

and then came the announcements for the end of the year showcase

and instead of putting on a solo, the department chairs decided to have you and rocky perform a duet

and you’ve never worked with him before so you were dreading the first time you met up

you to your roommate: ugh i can’t believe im partnered up with rocky, that arrogant rude–

your roommate: have you ever even talked to him, y/n? he’s actually very nice

you: no...but that’s what he wants you to believe!

your ego sorta just went along with the whole thing

and rocky was 15 min late to your meeting bc he was out eating food with the guys so your patience?? very thin

literally as soon as he stepped into the dance studio, the air turned stuffy

rocky could feel you glaring at him and he just smirks?? 

rocky: did I make you wait long y/n?

you: yeah you did

he liked pushing your buttons?? idk he just felt satisfaction knowing that any small of action of his affected you that much

it made him feel like he was winning or whatever

and god it took literally forever for you two to decide on a song and genre of performance for the showcase

you wanted contemporary, he wanted ballet

you were literally disagreeing so much on it that you had to ask Siri to flip a coin

and then you fought and said that Siri was rigged when it chose tails (contemporary)

so you decided on a happy? mix of both

rocky at the end of your first meeting: i get that we’re not exactly friends, y/n, but we have to work together so let’s at least be professional

you: i can if you can

rocky: fine

you two literally bicker like five year olds on a playground

even the guys are like ???? why are you being so childish ???

you have 2 months of preparation until the showcase and you start meeting once a week for choreography and practice since given the assignment

you two are pretty civil for the most part, you make the contemporary parts and he makes the ballet parts and then you combine it when you meet up and see how it can incorporate and complement each other

there’s not much joking around ?? like you know how rocky’s a clown when he’s teaching astro choreography?? it’s not like that at all

and honestly you two are too caught up in your rivalry and tension to notice that your styles really match and highlight each other well??

there’s definitely a lot of “i could do this better than you” from both sides

i repeat: you are children

and then there’s this one practice where you and rocky are trying a pas de deux for the first time

(i literally looked this term up, it’s basically what jungkook and jimin from bts did during the 2020 mma black swan intro...if you haven’t seen it, watch it bc it is perfection mmm chefs kiss)

and you don’t know if it’s because you didn’t have enough momentum or rocky didn’t prep himself enough for the lift but he ends up dropping you and you both fall

and you both immediately start blaming each other for the mishap

until you lift your hand to point at him and it just hurts

it’s like a switch goes off, rocky’s immediately concerned and he’s like gently taking your hand like: holy shit are you okay??

you shake your head and you’re wincing whenever you try to move it

you: ow fuck rocky, I think it’s sprained

and he suddenly feels so guilty, like he goes silent

you: can we stop for today? I’m gonna go get this checked out, make sure it’s not broken

rocky: do you want me to go with you?

you: no. I’ll see you next week.

boy he feels so bad, he texts you throughout the course of the following week asking if you’re okay, asking your roommate if you’re okay, telling you he’s sorry that he dropped you

you didn’t respond much, not bc you felt weird texting him–well, you did a little bit shhh–but bc you were beating yourself up for getting injured a month before the showcase

you show up to practice the next week with your wrist in a compression bandage

and he doesn’t greet you with a quip like he usually does, he immediately grabs your wrist (gently) and he’s like inspecting the bandage

you: uh...the doctor said I should be careful with it for a week or two if i want it to heal faster. so don’t bitch at me if i’m not going all out

rocky: y/n...i’m so sorry...I didn’t mean to injure you, it was my fault that we didn’t execute the pas de deux

you just shrug: it was both our faults...if I didn’t fall on my wrist maybe we could have avoided this little obstacle

rocky: if I caught you correctly, you wouldn’t have even fallen

you: are we really arguing right now about this??

and then the two of you just laugh??? 

this is the first real pleasant interaction you’ve had with him

and you notice like wow rocky had a nice smile

you: i should be back to normal before the showcase so we should be fine

rocky: don’t push it though while we’re practicing alright? if your wrist starts hurting then stop, and don’t even think about doing any floor choreo

the atmosphere between you and rocky change after that

he becomes pretty concerned about your recovery–and maybe it’s bc he still blames himself for the cause of it

each night before your set practice days, he always shoots you a text asking how you’re feeling and how your wrist is doing

he brings ice packs, painkillers, and extra bandages during your practices just in case you need it

and you’re actually pretty touched by his concern

about two weeks before the showcase, your wrist is back to full movement and you’re like excited to actually practice to your best ability

from now on you see each other twice a week, just to get that detail and fine-tuning perfected

rocky’s still a bit hesitant to have you go full out but you reassure him that you’re fine

you both try the pas de deux again the day you take your bandage off 

and you can see that he’s nervous to try it

you: rocky, i’m fully healed now. we haven’t practiced this move since the first time and we need it in our routine

rocky: but...y/n, what if I drop you again??

you: you won’t...i trust you 

and you really did, that move requires a lot of trust between partners and you know? maybe it didn’t work out the first time because of the lack of trust between you two

and so you go through the full routine and rocky was holding his breath when that part of the choreography came up but you both successfully did it!! and it was a beautiful move

he was so excited at the end of the run through that he hugged you

and you were smiling too bc this was the first time you did a full run through without any stops in between

you both don’t even notice that all the hostility is gone??

and the tension suddenly changed from hatred to...dare I say it...sexual

oo baby the day of the showcase you two were hella nervous 

but c���mon you and rocky were the best of the best so ofc you absolutely killed the performance

your energies literally merged as soon as the music started

every move was flawless

and you both had to face each other during your ending pose and you were just like looking at him like ??? wtf ??? did you maybe wanna kiss him??

and you know the look that rocky has in his eyes when he’s dancing

imagine that literally piercing into your soul

you got the shivers waiting for the lights to dim 

you both received a standing ovation after your duet obviously

astro watching it bc they always support rocky: they’re gonna fuck 100%

fast forward to the next term bc you both didn’t really have a reason to contact each other during summer break now that the showcase was done

you and rocky had two classes together, dance research and advanced modern technique

it was then that you started to see his actual personality and how goofy of a person he was

you still had a rivalry of course, but now it was healthy

instead of trying to bring each other down, you both started motivating each other to do better

and yes you’ve always been impressed with how good of a dancer rocky was (and vice versa), but now whenever you saw him practice you start to feel a little bit of stir in your stomach and shit are you blushing??

and then you two get paired up again for your midterm evaluation

your teacher: i saw the chemistry you had for the showcase last term, i think you two would work well together for this project

and god is your teacher trying to murder you??? the theme of this midterm was “couple dance” to encourage collaboration or whatever

you were just thankful that the song choice she gave you was more upbeat and not sensual bc you know for a fact that you would not survive doing a sexy dance routine with rocky

but that didn’t stop the way your skin felt like it was on fire whenever he touched you for partner-dependent moves

this time around, you did the choreography process together and it was actually pretty fun??

you and him would bounce back ideas and joke around whenever something looked stupid

you and rocky did this by the way for reference

and then there was one late night when you two were practicing

it was around 2 am, no one else was in the music building and you both didn’t have class the next day so you two were just like fuck it let’s just practice until campus security kicks us out or whatever

you both were literally dancing for four hours, not just this new routine but old ones and freestyles as well

and then you were doing your new routine and during the part where he had to twirl and dip you, you both fall again

but no one got injured this time luckily

and you both just burst out laughing, maybe you were a little delirious at this point in the night

you: i can’t believe you dropped me again

rocky’s laughing and you both just look at each other, and he’s hovering above you right???

and your heart is beating so loudly in your chest you’re positive he can hear it

and you’re thankful that your face was already hot from dancing so that he couldn’t tell that you were in fact blushing

rocky’s like looking at you for a good minute or so and he’s just like thinking in his head: have you always been this cute?

and maybe it’s bc you guys have been getting along so well lately and the vibes are??? immaculate

but the atmosphere suddenly gets super thick and he !! just !! leans down !! and !! kisses !! you !!

and phew baby you bet that you immediately respond to it

you’re literally making out on the floor for like five minutes

and mind you, five minutes is a long time

until rocky’s phone rings loudly through the speaker and you both suddenly separate

he scurries to his phone and you sit up trying to compose yourself 

jinjin: park minhyuk where are you?! it’s 3 am!!

you literally hear jinjin scolding rocky through the phone and you laugh a little bc it’s so cute how he’s getting nagged right now

rocky: hyung...im practicing...

jinjin: do i need to drag you out of there?! i’ll literally call bin to carry your ass to our apartment! how long have you been practicing huh?? have you eaten dinner at all??

rocky: okay okay I’ll come back home

he turns to you after ending the call and he’s so !! shy !!

rocky: I guess that’s the end of our practice haha...do you want me to walk you back to your place?? it’s pretty late out

you: yeah that’d be nice...hm you sure your hyung’s not gonna call a search party for you??

you’re teasing him and he just pouts

rocky: i’ll be fine

rocky walks you back to your apartment and it’s a little?? awkward?? 

but before you bid him goodbye he’s like: uh...the kiss earlier...sorry if I surprised you

your cheeks are hot again: it’s um...it’s okay, I didn’t mind it...it was actually pretty nice...I guess...

and rocky’s heart skips a beat and now he’s blushing: yeah...it was...i’ll see you in class then??

you: yeah, i’ll see you. text me when you get home okay?

he nods and waits until you’re safely inside and then he just starts grumbling to himself

rocky: i’ll see you in class?? could i say anything more stupid??? 

rocky’s adorable okay

him texting you when he gets back: im home :)

you: that’s good! good night rocky :)

he goes to the guys the day after like: i have a predicament !! me and y/n kissed !! 

jinjin: that’s why you were late last night??

eunwoo: you dirty dog, doing it in the dance studio??

rocky: we didn’t do anything else hyung !!

bin: so did you ask them out??

rocky: no...i said...i’ll see you in class

myungjun: i’ll see you in class?!?! are you an idiot??

sanha: hyung even I’d ask y/n out after that

rocky: i know !! im dumb okay!! help me

sanha: you’re a lost case sorry

jinjin: why don’t you start with, hey y/n do you wanna get some food with me??

rocky: AHHHH

yes he does want to ask you out, yes he does want to kiss you again more than he’d like to admit, but he’s shy

you’re not faring any better, you and roommate were literally talking about it all weekend

the next time you see rocky (in class), you two are awkward as fuck

you both keep stealing glances at each other and then if one of you get caught, you both immediately look away

those 50 minutes of class could not go by any slower

and you were so ready to book it after the professor dismissed you but then you hear rocky call your name

rocky: hey y/n, are you free right now?

you: uh yeah! why what’s up

rocky: do you...um...wanna get some coffee with me?? or food or something??

you: do you mean like just to hang out or...uh like a date?

rocky: a date...if you want it to be

and cue the blushies again

you and rocky end up going to this cute cafe and get smoothies bc neither of you were feeling caffeine at the moment

and the whole time you two are just ??? so cute and shy and awkward with each other ???

which is such a contrast from how you two would dance together

rocky’s so sweet, really the cutest boy

gives you so many butterflies

the two of you end up going on little cafe dates before practice 

and you’re all cute and wholesome

and then he turns all passionate and dominant when you start dancing

like wow alright rocky giving you whiplash or whatever

when you show the routine for your midterm, the teacher and other students give you both high praises 

and he’s all giddy after class and he goes up to you: i think its safe to say that we have really good chemistry when we work together, don’t you think?

you’re smiling hehe but you wanna mess with him a little: hmm i think we’re alright, but who knows, i might mesh well with someone else

and then he’s all frowny, a little jealous: what do you mean someone else? do you make out with someone who just has alright chemistry with you??

your eyes go wide and you put your hand over his mouth: im kidding!!

rocky just smirks at your embarrassed reaction and he like tickles your sides

and then he just grabs your hand like: don’t find another dance partner y/n, just be mine

how could you say no to that??? especially when rocky’s just looking all handsome and charming and shit??? exactly. you can’t and why would you ever say no in the first place??

you and rocky dating?? biiiig news in the dance department

and even outside of it

bc lowkey rocky had a bit of a fanclub bc of how good he is at dancing, are we shocked? no

the boys are so happy for him !!

you meet his friends literally the day the two of you start dating

and you’re a bit nervous meeting them bc ofc you want them to like you, they’re his friends

but they’re so sweet...and headass

when rocky brings you to their dinner, the five of them literally start applauding at your entrance

you were so confused and rocky’s just out here with second hand embarrassment

he’s the cutest boyfriend

shy with pda in public (unless you’re dancing), most he’ll do is hold your hand

but in private he’s very clingy

loves backhugging you

he also tickles you when he wants to be a little shit

which is 50% of the time

very playful bf, will tease you at least once every day

if you two are just practicing dancing, he’ll make any sort of excuse to hold you or kiss you

asddfadsjf he’s so cute

gets very soft at night especially when you two are worn out from practice

just wants to go back to your (or his) apartment and cuddle and sleep

imagine just you two cuddling in bed after hours of dancing and he’s just spooning you and he mumbles tiredly into your shoulder: you’re amazing y/n...you’re one of the best dancers i’ve ever seen

and before, his pride would have never allowed him to say that, but now it can

not really one for pet names in my opinion, but he does call you “my y/n”

after you two start dating, you begin to call him by his real name, minhyuk

or you say hyukie

he lowkey loves it when you call him that, it’s so endearing

the guys teasing him, cooing at rocky all gross like : heyyy hyukkie

then rocky just like crosses his arms: only y/n can call me hyukie

he didn’t realize he loves couple dances so much until you and him are dating

well he only loves it because you’re his partner ofc

alright hear me out !! slow dancing with rocky

slow !! dancing !! with !! rocky !!

he dims the lights in the dance studio until it’s just a single spotlight and some slow romantic music comes on and he just grabs you by the hand and twirls you once before pulling you close and you’re just swaying side to side

and then he presses your foreheads together and he’s just looking into your eyes and gives you the softest smile

!!! im freaking out!! i want this so bad !!

that’s how the first i love you comes out

surprise, you say it first

okay but like in the moment, the atmosphere is literally so perfect, and you can just see how much he treasures you and you always feel butterflies whenever he does this, but there was just something that night that made you say it

like your chest was constricting so hard and you were thinking to yourself, i love this man

and so you just said it

and omg the smile on rocky’s face just widens and he kisses you so sweetly before he says it back

loves kissing you, your lips are like a drug to him

can literally make out with you for hours

has pushed you against the walls of the practice room just for a little make out session

ahhh here we go ladies and gents

sex !! with !! rocky !!

first and foremost, dance studio sex??? yes

especially if it’s just you two late night practicing like the first time you kissed?

mirror kink? maybe so

and bc y’all are ~flexible~, you bet he likes bending your back like a pretzel

he’s a very passionate lover, your pleasure is his #1 priority

loves foreplay just as much as the main event

but oof his hips?? grrrrr bark bark ram me over with a truck

his stroke game is so good

literally knows how to fuck you in all the right places

and his stamina??? god tier, can go at it for hours on end

into edging and overstimulation, oof you bet you’re cumming at least twice during every session

i cannot stress this enough!! thigh riding

you know he has thighs of steel

will make you cum just from riding his thigh

most of the time you guys start off slow and sweet, and then just boom it turns it hard sex

will definitely get turned on from doing a sexy dance routine

the amount of times he’s wanted to just fuck you in the middle of class bc you turned him on?? but ofc he has public decency he won’t do that

he knows you get turned on from his fingers oops

anal or vaginal fingering?? he’s all for it baby

he’s loud during sex, all the grunting, huffing, growling, oo im getting chills

not afraid to tell you how good you’re making him feel

not really into spanking, but he grips a lot, like his fingernails have definitely left some deep imprints in your hips or your ass

hair pulling?? yes, both sides receiving

okay but if you call him rocky during sex? big turn on

i can’t explain why, it just is

favorite position?? cowgirl

he loves when you’re on top of him

yes he likes seeing you try to fuck yourself on him

and then when he can’t take it anymore and just grabs your hips and thrusts up into you until your body literally collapses on him

he always tries to make you cum first but oops sometimes baby just busts a nut

yes you will probably tease him about it and then he’ll just shut you up by kissing you 

on another note, no way to turn rocky on faster than sucking on his bottom lip when you’re kissing

will cuddle you after cumming, like he doesn’t care if either of you are sweaty or messy, he’s hugging you for at least five minutes

honestly becomes a baby after sex so it’s more like you’re giving him after care sksksk

the switch he makes from being a sex fiend to a clingy cuddly boy? whiplash

like you need to go to the bathroom to pee or something and he’s like: but...i wanna hug u

i would risk it all for rocky yes

anyway after graduating, rocky becomes a choreographer for this really famous dance studio and get recruited to join a highly-competitive dance troupe

you both do long distance for a little bit bc obviously he’s back home but you have to travel with your group for competitions, sometimes even internationally

and so that caused some strain in your relationship bc distance sucks, but you would always make sure to call him every night before going to bed and despite any time zone difference, he would always answer

your biggest supporter !! literally flew out to surprise you during a big dance competition in london or whatever and you cried happy tears bc was he really there right now??

that’s when you knew that he was the one :’)

you spent the night w him in his hotel room and after a good couple rounds of reunion sex, you were like trying to test the waters a little bit: i missed you hyukie

rocky: i missed you too, but now that you’re here with me, nothing else matters

you: what do you really think about this long distance thing??

rocky: it sucks...but i know it made us stronger. i feel like we can get through anything now

you: yeah, i agree

rocky getting paranoid: omg why? are you thinking of living abroad?? y/n, do i need to start looking at dance studios out here??

you have to hold in your laughter bc he’s so cute: why? would you move out of the county for me if i wanted to??

rocky: i mean...if you’re thinking of leaving for good...then yeah.

he gets so shy and quiet and you’re just !! wow you love him !! he’s yours !!

you kiss him shortly and you smile: no, i’m not gonna live abroad. I miss being home and I miss seeing you all the time. I told you before, I’m thinking of leaving the troupe in two months and then gonna find a job back home for good.

he lets out a sigh of relief: you scared me a little

you just laugh: I only wanted to confirm something and hmm I was right

rocky: what did you wanna confirm??

you being a confident baddie: that I wanna be with you for the rest of my life

rocky feeling his heart implode: you mean it??

you scoffing: why would I be lying about this?

he just laughs and kisses you: I wanna be with you too...I’ve been thinking it since the last time you visited. How much I love you and how much I hated seeing you leave for who knows how long, but I didn’t wanna say anything bc you’re still living your life and I didn’t want a promise like this to influence you to come back if you didn’t want to yet.

two months later you’re back for good and move in with rocky

you end up becoming a choreographer at his dance studio too

you and rocky: the couple™

and you live happily ever after

somewhere down the line...

sanha: hey remember when you two hated each other?

eunwoo: remember when you injured y/n??

bin: remember when you freaked out to us about your first kiss together

myungjun: and you said i’LL sEe yOu iN cLaSs

jinjin: those were fun times, right hyukie?

rocky: i hate you all

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2-16-21

[mcyt-amber-tftsmp]

𝐈 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 {𝐑𝐚𝐧 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫} 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐈

Part I : Growing Feelings

Request?: Liznix_

Character: Ran

Side Character(s): Technically the rest of TFTSMP The Pit Cast!

Story-type: The first part is platonic and a bit romantic at the end but the second part is romance and slightly angst

Story Length: 6450 words

AU or Not: Assassin! Ran AU! And a few of things would be different

Time Period: Future and technically the Subbin Empire

Plot Summary: hmm well i was thinking something like Ran is an assassin that infiltrated the games to assassinate the king (King Porkius VII) and the reader is someone close to the king, so ran tries to get close to them to get close to the king, but ends up falling for them accidentally and is conflicted about what to do.

Small Info: The Reader would be the king's younger sibling who is a few months younger than Ran who is 17 and the Reader is 16! Also instead of Jackie winning it would be Ran who would take John's place in fighting against Jackie!

Keywords:

Y/N = Your Name H/L = Hair Length H/C = Hair Color E/C = Eye Color

Trigger Warning:

- Mentions of killing and assassination - Falling into a huge conflict - Death - Slight blood and gore - Slight Catcalling

Normal Warning: Cringe writing cause yes- ✨

--------------------------------------------------

Third Person Point of View~

At this point Ran was thinking over what just happened. He denied the fact that he could have fallen for you and just stayed quiet. He had to do his mission for the sake of you staying alive and him as well. He felt very weak at this point.

Meanwhile, Jackie and Genevieve were fighting in the water dome thing and lastly Jackie won. You were pretty much not sure who to root for considering you liked them both and were good fighters but the boy won.

Porkius then told him to tell the three of them to come up for the Three Person fight. As Jackie went down he saw Genevieve being carried down to be healed. He felt bad but he didn't really have a choice.

As he went down he called, he found John and Bartholomew and told them that it was the Three person fight right now and told them to get ready. He saw that Ran wasn't here so he went to search for him only to find him in a corner putting his forehead against the wall.

"You okay Big Man?" Jackie asked which brought Ran's attention to him as he looked down.

"Yes and no." he responded to the shorter boy as he lifted his head from the wall.

"Well whatever is bothering you I hope you figure it out cause now it's your turn along with two others! Best of luck! I am rooting for you!" he said giving him a slight pat on the shoulder and running off.

Ran watched him go as he got ready to go through the water. He went up first whereas John followed him through the same one. They waited for a few for Bartholomew to get up from his side which he took a bit longer to come considering he is drunk.

After Bartholomew came up everyone was giving him a weird look considering he looked different. He technically said that you would have to look good if we had to survive in fights. Ran just shook his head at his words. He was too drunk for his own good. You on the other hand was thinking as to who left the alcohol downstairs.

The fight commenced after Porkius set off the zombies and made them literally swim through air to fight each other which was kinda difficult. At this point the entire thing was like a show until Porkius disabled the dive mode thing and now everyone was fighting like normal except zombies were chasing them.

Though the zombies were chasing John the most and Ran technically came out from the opposite area and started to attack John while Bartholomew was behind him. Before anyone knew it was Bartholomew and John fighting each other while Ran was using his strategy of being as isolate as possible.

"Ran is the only person here whose technique we have not witnessed yet. This is his first battle." Porkius said and as he did Ran took down Bartholomew.

Now it was just Ran and John who now had to fight each other to get the one spot in the Final Round.

"Oh my gosh! It's officially Ran versus Grievous." Karl exclaimed.

You on the other hand was amazed with his fighting skills and was quietly cheering him on. You were hoping for him to win at least.

"Oh he has he already has an entire army after him I think I am good." he said running the other direction laughing at his own words.

"No!" John wailed trying to attack Ran as he continued laughing.

"No I think I am I think I am completely fine actually I think I literally just have to keep on running away from that guy." Ran said continuing to run laughing.

This made Karl and you laugh at his words and what was going. To you he was actually pretty funny and to be honest this was the first time when you saw him goof off a bit especially here and his humor was pretty nice.

"I don't think that will work. The zombies are not very fast." Porkius said as Ran stopped.

"You're right they aren't." Ran said turning on his heels and started to fight John.

"You have to get much faster zombies next time king." Karl said turning to look back at the two fight.

You noticed that John was giving Ran way more hits than Ran was and was about to shoot him with an arrow but Ran quickly dodged it and lunged at him with his sword and struck a blow to John  making his fall unconscious as Ran stood victorious.

((Author: You really couldn't do what I just wrote here in the episode now could you Ran?! 🤦🏻‍♀️))

Ran literally thought he was going to lose and that rush of adrenal really nearly killed him. Luckily he was able to control himself from doing that. Karl was technically shocked along with Porkius with Ran's surprise attack. You were pretty much amazed at this.

He was quickly dismissed as John was taken away. God he felt about nearly killing him. He quickly went down the steps as everyone excluding John who was being treated right now looked at him as Watson and Jackie came up to him and congratulated him.

"Good job mate. You did well." Watson said to him while giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"Congratulations Big man! I will see you at our Final fight!" Jackie said with a grin.

At this point Watson was like a dad to him while Jackie was a younger brother.

"Your parents would be proud of you right now." Watson said which made Ran's eyes widen.

He slightly frowned as he looked down. He knew they wouldn't knowing what he was doing here in the first place. He had to quickly respond since he didn't want to them to get worried.

"Yeah they would be... if they still lived..." He said the last part a bit quieter which Watson was able to catch and felt really bad.

"I-I am sorry mate I didn't know." Watson said apologizing as Ran sighed.

"It's fine dad- I mean Watson. Sorry about that." He said quickly apologizing since he accidentally called him 'dad'.

Watson smiled. No one really called him dad that much but he was a pretty good fatherly figure towards everyone and Ran calling him dad was something he liked. He went to him and gave him a warm hug which surprised ran a bit. It has been a while since he got a hug.

"I don't mind you calling me dad ran, it's fine really. I am just letting you know I am here for you if you ever need me." Watson said.

Ran was shocked at his words. he felt like crying but he didn't want to seem weak. He wanted to tell Watson everything right now but he didn't want to knowing that it would ruin everything. He slightly hugged back as he thanked him.

After all that Jackie and Ran were now fighting in the Last Round though what Ran found out was how Jackie carried at least three Totems of Undying and he made a quick strategy so he doesn't use any of them and would able to kill him off without him coming back three times.

The fight didn't last too long Ran used his strategy and whenever he saw Jackie about to use a Totem of Undying he would simply somehow make it fall out of his hands whilst trying to use it and before he knew it he fell unconscious as ran won the event. The entire crowd was cheering for Ran as Jackie was carried down to be treated.

They had to wait for a few minutes for all the gladiators to come up. Once they all did Porkius literally told Ran to just kill them all of altogether. You knew well that this wasn't what was supposed to happen and you told Ran to just fight them unconscious and that's basically it.

Ran technically fought of all of them minus Jackie and Watson who were just keeping their distance not fighting at all. ran was able to make them all fall unconscious and was made General while Watson and Jackie ran off somewhere which the king didn't seem to notice nor care.

Oh and a Karl was basically able to take all the footage of the show which you were relieved since you didn't want him ending up like all the other ones which have somehow messed up. Then Karl just went somewhere and vanished which kind of made Ran suspicious but he shook it off knowing he had a mission to complete.

Ran's Point Of View~

I exited the stadium following Y/N. Technically the king was going to be here for a while and I had to go with Y/N which was okay for the time being. Before I could get down the stairs I heard a small 'psst' and looked behind me to see Watson and Jackie. Watson quickly came in and handed me a paper which looked like an address.

"This is my address if you ever feel like visiting me. Jackie is apparently planning in staying with me since he has nowhere to go now. I don't want to keep you waiting so bye Ran." Watson said as Jackie waved me goodbye.

I quickly followed up on the king and stood beside Y/n as we walked in silence. I didn't really know what else to say other than feel my heart beat really fast since I was somewhat close to her right now.

"So how are you feeling about all of this?" I heard her ask me.

"... You could say I am slightly nervous." I responded to her.

"That's understandable. How old are you anyways?" She asked yet again.

"I just turned seventeen last month." I said.

"Oh that's cool. I am sixteen and I will soon be seventeen in five months." She said as I nodded.

Before I could say anything else I heard a whistle and looked to my side to see a man was looking at Y/N which she seemed to notice but she was feeling pretty uncomfortable and to make things worse the man started to catcall her.

I took off my coat and draped it around her and gave a man a threatening death glare which seemed to scare him. Y/N looked surprised the fact that I gave it to her.

"Y-you didn't have to do that..." She said as I shook my head.

"It's fine really I couldn't really get him get away with that. Does this happen often?" I said and asked her as she slowly nodded.

"Sometimes not all the time." She said.

Timeskip to them reaching the palace~

We reached the palace after a few minutes as Y/N was leading me towards my room. As she was doing so I remembered what I had to do originally. I can't really get distracted right now. If I don't do this then I am dead and so is she. God I am just hoping these feelings go away. I noticed that she came to halt in front of a door which I presumed was my room.

"This is your room. I hope you like it. You can get settled in and I will come back after a few to give you a tour around the place." She said before leaving.

I entered the room and it was pretty decent. She did say she was going to come back later to give me a tour of this place. It was enough time for me to try and set my plan. I am basically given a month to do this and if don't do this by the end of the month I don't know what to do. I started to set a plan as I laid down on the soft mattress as I faced the ceiling.

Timeskip~

I had already set up my plan on assassinating the king but I just need to find the right time. At this point I feel like my boss has eyes on me whenever I do missions or maybe I am just paranoid. I am just hoping his two men aren't watching my every move.

Right now I am on a tour with the princess, Y/N. I actually like her company. She's nice and very beautiful- okay Ran stop it. You can't get distracted. God I hate this. She showed me around the place. I clearly made a map of the place in my head as she took me down to different places.

The tour was pretty long but interesting. To be honest being a general is something I could have originally taken if I hadn't really been an assassin. After the tour was done I went back to my room after telling her. I was planning on using the training room later. I looked out the window to see it was evening already.

I decided to go to the training room after a few m minutes which I did. The room was a pretty god place for training and other combat practices such as sword fighting, hand-to-hand combat and others. The King had already arrived after I was done with training.

After I had freshened up I had a quick dinner which the maid had given me inside my room. It was a pretty decent meal i got for the first time. Normally I don't get stuff like this to eat but it was pretty good.

After I was done eating I didn't really know what else to do I just thought of going to the garden at the back. It was a pretty nice and well made garden. I headed towards the place as I looked about in my surroundings like it was all new to me which it was but I have seen it a few times already in like a few hours.

As I arrived I noticed a lone figure sitting on a bench and once I came a little closer I noticed that it was Y/N. She looked beautiful under the moonlight. A blush crept up on my face at the thought ad I looked away. God I need help. I just met her a few hours ago and now this. I was able to calm myself down and went to her.

"Y/N?" I said which snapped her attention towards me and he face turned into relief.

"Oh it's just you Ran. Sorry I thought you were someone else." She said apologizing.

"It's alright really." I said and she smiled with a nod.

"You can sit with me if you like?" She asked as I looked at her for a few seconds before slowly sitting down next to her.

"So you like coming out here?" I asked as she nodded.

"It's one of my favorite places to be most of my time. My brother knows I don't like social gatherings much so she just lets me off to be here or in my room most of the time." She explained to me as I listened.

"That's very nice of him. I like the outdoors a lot myself. It's pretty calming to say the least." I said.

Then there was a small yet comfortable silence between us as we didn't speak but the sounds of crickets didn't make it so awkward. I hands slightly shook but I was able to stop it from happening.

"So you love your brother a lot huh?" I asked as she looked at me and nodded.

"Mhm! He's really the only one I have. After my parents died he took care of me the most. He would always think of my safety before anyone else's." I heard her say.

I felt guilt building up in me. After hearing those I didn't feel like doing my job and just wanted to run away from all this yet here I am doing my boss' dirty work which I am not even fond of doing anymore.

"That's... nice. I think I am going to go now. Goodnight princess." I said as I got up and walked back in.

I felt bad for not letting her say anything as I went away bu I couldn't bear it. I thought of just sleeping through the weeks until the last day where I am supposed to set my plan into action. I know I am going to regret this but I already hate it but I have to do it. I can't get distracted at all.

Third Person Point of View~

The weeks weren't so good for Ran as it went by. Everyday whenever he would do his job of getting closer to you, his face keeps on heating up at times.

The first week went by pretty fast.

He would train and do whatever he had to do. He would notice how you and your brother would talk down the hallway. It made him feel more bad on what he was already planning and it just didn't get any easier.

He tried to block out all his feelings so he could focus on his mission. He didn't want you to get hurt but he knew you would be more hurt knowing his brother was killed by someone she and the king trusted the most.

He didn't want you to be stabbed in the back.

But he didn't really see any other choice.

The Second week went by a bit slow. Luckily for Ran it was pretty fine considering he didn't want the months to go away cause he didn't want to do this. His feelings for you at this point was huge. He knew it was pointless having feelings for you knowing you don't even feel the same way so what's the point in having them.

Plus he wasn't even sure how the king will react knowing the General he is, is in love with his little sister. What he didn't know was that you also were catching feelings for him and would sometimes blush whenever he called you princess.

The king may have already noticed how his sister looks at the general. He smiles knowing her sister had maybe found love but he really didn't know if the general felt the same. He didn't want his sister to be hurt.

The third week went by slowly. Ran was right now in a huge problem. More like a huge conflict he wouldn't be able to get out of anymore. He has so many regrets right now. Yet here he is doing this crappy job he has fallen into.

If he had to end a person's life right now it was going to be his but he felt weak to do any of that. He just wished things would get easier for him for the next six days. Though he knew very well that wouldn't be happening.

Six days of the fourth and final week went by. Ran knew his feelings for you were strong. He loved you. A lot. Everything about you was just wow. If he had to describe anything beautiful it was going to be you.

This was now a huge problem. He didn't know what to do. He was just in a huge problem. Either way of doing things would just lead to death. He couldn't do it. But he had no choice. At this point he didn't care. He didn't care if you hated him after all this. She deserves better.

He had an event tomorrow to join the king for dinner with other kings and generals across the kingdoms and empires and he will be poisoning the king's drink. There was no turning back.

"I am sorry Y/N for what I am about to do tomorrow. I hope you one day forgive me." he said wiping his face which were covered in tears.

Let's see how things go tomorrow.

Timeskip to the last day of the month~

Ran's Point of View~

I walked down the hallways with my head lowered as I looked at the ground. Today was the day I would be putting my plan into action. Did I want to do this? No. Did I have a choice? No. Do I hate myself? Yes.

If god plans on sending me to hell for the things I have done then I would be happy. I deserve this anyway. As I walked I stopped for a bit and looked to my side to see the entrance to the entrance to the garden. I took a deep breath and headed towards the garden.

It was a pretty nice afternoon which was going to turn bad sooner or later thanks to me. I let out a huge sigh as I walked around until my eyes landed on a single bright pinkish-red rose. I slightly bent down and slowly plucked it out. Luckily it didn't have any thorns. I picked it up and put it i the inside pocket of my coat.

I then heard a faint voice. I think someone was... singing? I headed towards that direction and soon saw that it was Y/N who was singing. God her voice sounded like an angel. To be honest she looked like an angel who was sent in this world.

I swear I sound like a hopeless romantic at this point. I was about to move away when I accidentally stepped on a twig which stopped her singing as she looked in my direction. God spare me from this embarrassment.

"S-sorry about that Y/N." I said apologizing.

"Hey Ran and its fine really. But how much did you hear?" She said looking a bit nervous as she fiddled with her fingers.

"Um well I think I heard all of it? I am not really sure but all I can say is that you have a nice voice." I said as I went to her to sit down next to her.

"Thanks. You are really kind." She said as I shrugged.

"I guess so." I responded.

There was a small silence between us yet again. I couldn't really believe what I was going to do tonight. God I just hate this. Y/N is so nice and here I am just straight up going to kill her only family.

"So you are going to have dinner with my brother and the people from the kingdom am I right?" She asked which brought me back to reality.

"Yes I am. Are you going to be there?" I asked as I saw her shake her head.

"No. Even if I was I wouldn't be able to go since it's not something I should be there for. Are you nervous?" She asked.

Nervous? Yeah pretty much and not because of the many people going to be there but because of my plan of killing her brother.

"You could say that." I said.

"You don't need to be nervous. Everything will be fine. And here have this." She said and soon enough I felt her hugging me.

"This is for good luck." She finished saying as she released herself from it.

I smiled as I nodded. I noticed that it was getting late and I should get ready. Y/N seemed to notice it too. We both got up from the bench and were about to head off but then I remembered the rose in my pocket.

"Wait! Before I go, I want to you to have this." I said as I took out the pinkish-red rose from the inside pocket of my coat and handed it out to her. "It's for you."

She was slightly shocked but she gently took it from my hands as she smiled.

"Thank you Ran It's very sweet of you." She said.

Before she could do anything and before I could even think, I leaned down and kissed her on the lips. I quickly pulled away. God what was I thinking. She looked pretty shocked that I did that and was technically blushing mad.

"S-sorry. I will be heading off now." I said as I took out an enderpearl and teleported myself to the entrance of the garden.

God I think I just made this even more difficult for myself. Before i could head in, I heard the rustling of a bush. I looked behind me but I saw nothing. Strange... I thought there was something. I shrugged it of thinking it was just the wind. I let out a huge sigh and went to my room to get ready and to poison the drink.

Y/N's Point of View~

I stood there shocked, still not letting go off the fact that Ran just kissed me?! God I am such a blushing mess right now. I am just hoping he isn't beating himself up for doing that. I really like him as well.

I want to tell him but I don't think he is able to now since he has a dinner to attend to. My thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of rustling bushes. I looked to my side to see no one. But I didn't feel like sticking around right now so I just headed for the entrance of the garden to go to my room.

But I just felt like someone was following me. God I think I am just paranoid. But this time I am actually getting the feeling I am being followed or watched. I quickly entered my room and closed the door and shut the windows.

Eventually I calmed down and sat on my bed thinking as I put my fingers on my lips. I blushed at the thought. I liked him a lot. Way more than friends. I decided that I will tell him after this. But for some reason i still felt like I was being watched...

Ran's Point of View~

I wore a decent formal outfit which all generals wear . Of course I still had my white Victorian shirt on me but my coat was a black coat with a green stone on the side like my usual maroon coat.

I was able to poison the drink which was laid at King Porkius' table without anyone present in the room. Though it did make his drink's color change a bit lighter color but I don't think he would notice.

I went out of my room and headed towards the dining pavilion. As I entered I noticed a few kings and generals have already arrived. Slowly and gradually all the guests were here and I was getting even more nervous.

I was introduced and greeted everyone as we all sat down. The king didn't seem to notice the wine was slightly discolored from everyone else's. I was thinking if I should let him have it or take it out right now.

After a few minutes the king was about to start drinking his wine. The glass was inches away from his lips and before I could think of anything I quickly knocked the glass of wine out of his hands and it landed onto the floor. The other guests gasped as King Porkius in shock. I knew I made the right decision.

"What is the meaning of this General Ran?!" King Porkius yelled out.

"Your majesty I can explain! Your wine was tainted and looked different from all of ours. I could tell that it was poisoned." I said immediately which shocked him and the other guests.

He looked at our wine glasses and his one on the floor which was sizzling. He then noticed that he was about to be killed if it wasn't for my quick thinking. Then the next thing I heard was a scream.

Not just any scream. It was a girl's scream and it belonged to Y/N.

I quickly got out of my chair as the king and a few guards followed me into Y/N's room to see that she wasn't there and instead it was pieces of broken glass on the floor with the window broken. I went over to see anything to help me find and so did a few guards.

I found a scrunched up piece of paper whose hand writing I knew very well.

It read,

You knew the consequences Ran. I sent two of my men look at you do your job to see if you would do it yet you failed me. Now your little princess is with me. If you want her to live then come after me. Then we will see what happens next. Oh and here is the location for it. You better hurry cause your princess wouldn't last forever.

- anonymous

I saw the location was written here. I scrunched up the paper and stood up and bolted out the door. I felt eyes on me as I ran out of the place and the palace altogether. But I didn't care. I had to find her. I can't lose her. I just can't!

As I entered the forest area I was straight away ambushed by his two men. They thought they could take me down this easily. God they seriously don't know that I have done my years of killing and stealth. I was able to take them down and killed them. Luckily I was wearing gloves so my hand-print doesn't get on the dagger.

I was glad to be done with those two and won't be seeing them for like ever. I ran as fast as I could until I reached the location but I didn't see where they were until I heard a faint cry and yelling. I went towards the direction of the clearing and found. I was finally able to find them but what I saw made me livid. He was hurting her and this made my blood boil.

"Leave. Her. ALONE!" I said which made my boss turn around to face me with an evil grin.

She was holding Y/N by the neck with her arms and had a knife in his other hand. I looked at her and she looked so scared and I hated to see this.

"Ah! Ran I am so glad to see you." He said with an evil smirk forming on his face.

"Leave her out of this Nicholas!" I said as he laughed evilly.

"Oh this is funny considering you were about to kill the king." He said which made me freeze as Y/N looked at me confused and scared.

"W-What...?" I heard her say.

"Tell her Ran! tell her how you were about to kill her brother tonight but decided not to and you just joined the Gladiator Event just to get close to her in order to do this job!" I heard him yell.

I didn't hear a response from Y/N. I could tell she was angry but when i saw her face, all i saw was how scared she was and the fear in her eyes. I had an idea on how to get out of this but it was going to be risky.

"Now Ran you either join me and kill the king off or I kill your little princess over here." He said.

"Ran don't- hmph." I saw my boss cover her mouth.

I already had my plan set in motion and I was hoping it would work.

"Alright... I will join you but please... let her go." I said.

"Good." I heard him say as he dropped her harshly on the ground.

"Now come here Ran." He told me as I looked at him as I came close to him.

"You know..." I started as he looked at me slightly perplexed as I took out my enderpearl. "I still remember how you always told me to never let my guard down." I finished.

I looked at my boss's face as it his realization of what I meant and before he could react I teleported behind him and was quickly about to stab him but he countered back but he didn't know I had another dagger and drove that straight in the heart.

I took out the dagger as he dropped dead on the ground. The dagger had blood. His blood. I looked at my now dead boss on the ground with his own pool of blood.

I panted as my heart raced. This was a close call. I looked over at Y/N who was also shocked and surprised. I dropped the blade next to my dead boss' corpse as I helped Y/N up. I expected her to slap me and hate me but she just hugged me. I slowly hugged back not sure what else to do.

"Let's get you home princess. Your brother is worried sick." I said as I led her out of the forest as we walked towards the palace.

Third Person Point of View~

The entire walk was silent as none of them said a word. It was not until that much until you started to speak.

"Why didn't you do it?" You said.

They both came to a halt as ran looked down at the ground. His messy black hair slightly falling over his eyes as he tried to find the right words.

"I never wanted to in the first place but I was threatened to do it. He said that if I didn't he would kill you and your brother which also included me as well." He stopped saying as tears welled up in his eyes eyes as it flowed down his cheeks.

He explained how he got himself into this mess and how much he hated this job he was stuck in. he even mentioned how he never wanted to do it in the first place. He even mentioned how he was supposed to get close and befriend you only to fall in love with you and how she had said his brother was someone who was her only family and that this made him think about his choices of doing it. He never wanted to hurt you in anyway possible.

You looked at him as you felt pity and bad for him. You still loved him and you couldn't hate him for this but the fact that he didn't do it was because he fell in love with you. This made your heart skip a beat. You didn't know what to think.

"Ran I could never hate you. I forgive you okay?" You said as you embraced him in another hug.

He didn't know what to think. You had forgiven him and that shocked him the most. He hugged you back slightly crying. He finally felt free. All the burden he had were now gone. Yet he knew those would still remain but he felt free. After a while you both released from the hug as Ran wiped his face.

"Ran?" You spoke up yet again.

"Hmm?" he hummed in response.

"Did you... regret falling in love... with me...?" She said.

Ran was surprised at her words. He didn't think of anything else as he put his hand on her chin and lifted it to make her look at him. Ran looked at E/C colored eyes. He could get lost in them for days.

Ran didn't hesitate and slowly leaned down and kissed you on the lips. This time you kissed him back while standing on your tippy-toes to slightly reach his height as you wrapped your arms around the back of his neck while one his hands caressed your cheek.

The kiss was long and passionate and had to pull away for air. Ran pressed his forehead on hers as his hand was still on her cheek as his thumb rubbed on it. They both had a smile on their faces.

"I never regret falling in love with you Princess." Ran said as your giggled.

"I love you too Ran." He heard her say.

"I am glad. In case you are wondering I will still remain a General for your brother I am also planning on visiting Watson and Jackie sooner or later and they will be glad if you came along." Ran said as you smiled and nodded.

"I would love to." She said as ran gently picked her up in bridal style and kissed her on the forehead as he chuckled while you giggled.

"Come on now love let's get you home." He said as he started to walk while you held onto him close.

You both reached home safely as King Porkius was glad to see you safe and not harmed or hurt in anyway. He was very grateful towards Ran for protecting you and bringing you back here safely. He felt happy for saving you and him and forever grateful to have him.

Eventually you both did visit Watson and Jackie. They didn't live very far from the Subbin Empire which was fine knowing you could visit them any time. They were both happy to see you two and what you liked was how Watson treated Ran as his own son and Jackie treated him as a big brother.

But Ran was a different case.

He didn't care about his dark past and was finally able to start anew by being a General and having family like figures like Watson and Jackie.

He was finally happy to be with you.

His light in the dark.

The love of his life.

--------------------------------------------------

[emmaekay]

Kotonari - a sequel to Keiyaku

AN: Hello! I’ve been wrestling with this first chapter for probably a week. If you haven’t read Keiyaku – stop. The entire plot of Keiyaku will be spoiled within this first chapter and that will make you sad. Just surf the #vegebul au tag on my blog to find the Keiyaku master post and happy reading. If you enjoyed Keiyaku, hooray! Since I’m not writing this for a smutfest, not every chapter will contain sex scenes this time – womp womp – but this story will be explicit.

 This is chapter one, part one. Chapter one, part two coming soon!

 Chapter One – Birth

 Part One:

 “There’s one thing,” Vegeta began, addressing his father over the shogi board, “that I never understood.”

The king snorted. “Just one? I could list the things you don’t understand, given time and the appropriate length of writing paper.”

Tiles snapped against the board and Vegeta clicked his teeth, his trademark response when no biting remark came to mind. “Tch. About the fasting, I mean.”

“Well, my son, when a male and a female feel a deep bond –“

“Were you always this sarcastic?”

The king laughed. “What is this ‘one thing?”

“Before Bulma arrived, you were so insistant that I find a woman to fast. Insistent to the point of threatening me, to the point of desperation. That day,” Vegeta recalled, snapping another tile down, “you seemed almost afraid of some… consequence if I did not choose a partner immediately.”

“Mm. I was not afraid.”

“Your eyes were afraid.”

“Vegeta, I was not afraid. But. If I were afraid, what do you suspect the cause of that fear to have been? Have you ever known your King, your father, to fear anything?”

Vegeta played a tile more, and his father took his turn languidly. Had he ever known his father to show fear? What did a King with a Kingdom undisputed ever fear? Vegeta turned the thought over and over in his mind.

A tile snapped against the board.

“I will tell you, I fear one thing, son.”

Vegeta’s hand dropped.

“There is yet one foe in this world I fear. It is not disease or death, or any such abstract concept. I will embrace my death when it comes and I will fight any disease like I would any man – ruthlessly. It is a person. Can you fathom who it might be?”

Vegeta played his tile as his mother swept into the room. She was speaking to several attendants about her plans for the day and important meetings she must take, about Bulma’s doctor arriving soon and reminding her ladies-in-waiting that she must be informed the very second that doctor arrived. She broke off her stream of directions and demands to cross over to her husband and son.

She draped herself over the King’s broad left shoulder, lazily surveying the board. “You’re losing, my King.”

“I am aware, Pea,” he said mirthlessly, but kissing her hand before giving it a squeeze and letting it drop again.

Queen Pea reached over her husband and snapped a tile over her son’s king piece. “Match.”

Both the King and the Prince dropped their jaws – neither had seen the winning move staring them in the face. Prince Vegeta had thought he was toying with his father – victory assured – but had stepped into a trap the King hadn’t even intended to set.

The queen sashayed away, back to her attendants to continue an endless stream of duties, as the men continued to puzzle.

“And now you know,” the King began, “the identity of the one and only person in this universe who I fear.”

“Mother?”

“The queen had not been pleased with your long absence, nor with the death of your brother, for at least a full sun cycle before you came home. She was ready to go out into the stars to find and actually fight you – actually fight you, Vegeta – to force you to return. The fact is, she was insistent that you come home and fast to someone because she was lonely for her children.”

“I see.”

“And when she is insistent, it is of me. Constantly. Daily. Hourly. Minutely. There are a limited number of times I can stand to be berated by that woman, and I had reached my limit the day your boots hit Vegetasei.”

Vegeta laughed, a chuckle at first that built to a full laugh, head thrown back. What death? What frailty? What abdication? His father was tired of his mother’s endless bitching, and took it out on him.

The King joined his son’s laughter until both men were redoubled in belly shaking hilarity.

 ---

“Ohh, babies, come ouuuut,” Bulma moaned painfully, rubbing her swollen belly. “You have to be big enough now, don’t you? I’ll send your father in there!”

“Will you now?” Vegeta stood in the doorway of their study, Bulma sprawled out before him on the fourth couch they’d had this week. The first – too soft, the second – too firm, the third – no reason, it just made Bulma cry to look at it.

“Ve-ge-taaaaaaa, why won’t the babies come? It’s been one thousand years.”

“It has been 38-41 weeks, depending on when you became pregnant.”

“IT’S BEEN LONGER THAN THAT.”

Vegeta smirked and crossed the room to his beloved one – his beloved ones. He knelt down at the couch and put his head on Bulma’s thigh, mouth facing the dome of her womb and pressed a soft kiss to her flesh. “Little Saiyans, your mother wishes to meet you. Your grandmother wishes to meet you.”

Bulma laid her head back on a pillow and felt herself beginning to cry – again – for no reason other than the gentle timbre of her lover’s voice.

“Little warriors, come out and see your people.

Little royals, come out and see the land.

Little prince and little princess

Your Kingdom is at hand.”

The words were an old royal Saiyan nursery rhyme, and technically, it should have been “little prince OR little princess” but Vegeta had decided long ago that there was one of each in there. He didn’t know how he knew, but he did. Bulma hadn’t disputed it – in fact, she agreed with him. There were no ultrasounds, nothing like the prenatal care on Earth, but there were doctors and doulas who could read the ki signatures of the babies. Queen Pea sent for a specialist with knowledge of the Saiyan Gemini, but he was across the planet and refused to travel by pod. He should be in Asket soon, but until he arrived, Bulma was uncomfortable and weepy and from somewhere down in the pit of her stomach, she was worried about the babies, but didn’t know why.

Vegeta continued humming wordlessly, soothing the babies until their ki mellowed. As it did, some of the pain went out of Bulma’s face and she felt herself relax.

“They like you better than me already,” she pouted.

“Nonsense. Saiyans just don’t like being cooped up together for extended periods of time. They were probably fighting.”

“Vegeta, babies don’t fight.”

“Saiyan babies do.” He joked, tickling her thighs with ungloved fingers, raising gooseflesh all over her legs and arms.

“Of course they don’t!” she giggled.

“Of course they do. Saiyans are warlike beasts and you’ll be all alone amongst three of them. We’ll outnumber you.”

“Oh, but I’m sure,” she purred as he began kissing her belly, parting her legs and sweeping his hands over and over the inside of her thighs, “that my prince will defend me from such beasties.”

Vegeta chuckled, his chest rumbling as he hiked her dress a little further up her hips to expose her pert behind and tuft of unruly blue hair. Panties had gone by the wayside about 8 months into her pregnancy, and dresses were about the only thing she could wear. Her normally delicately manicured hair had grown wild, and natural, and for some reason, Vegeta preferred her that way. She was raw, and real, and she was all his.

He kissed lower on her bump, lower down to that tuft of blue, lower down still to kiss her lips and watch her squirm. “Ahn, Vegeta.” She cooed, already melting at his touch.

“Yes, Princess Bulma?”

“I love you.”

He dove into her then, parting her and lapping up her juicy sweetness as it flowed out around his gentle, skillful fingers as they curled into her and rubbed that spot she loved. With his free hand, he massaged and soothed her ever-aching back and she moaned in two kinds of pleasure underneath him. When she grasped his hair with her fingers and cried out, he increased the intensity and sent her toppling over the edge of her delight.

He looked up at her, wiping his mouth. “Come on. I ran you a bath.”

He picked her up with ease, like picking up an overstuffed pillow, and carried her to the bathing chamber. Beri had actually run the bath, sprinkling in oils and herbs to soothe Bulma’s discomfort and stress. The chamber smelled like roses and the steam was warm around her naked body. He knelt down on one knee, lowering her gently into the water. Her head lolled back and she breathed a sigh.

“Tell Beri I said thank you.”

“Tch.” So much for taking credit. “I’ll be in the kitchen. Call me when you’re ready to get out.”

“Mmhm.” “Bulma.”

“Hmm?” she mumbled, eyes closed.

“Call me when you’re ready to get out. Do not attempt to get out on your own – again.”

“I won’t.”

“Bulma…” he growled a warning.

“Really! Falling once was enough.”

Satisfied, or as satisfied as he was going to be, he shut the door behind him.

---

“VEGETA!” Bulma screamed. Something was wrong, something was wrong with the babies. The water around her was red, billowing out from a deep crimson into a pink blush at the edges of the tub. “VEGETA!” Bulma was bawling, crying, screaming as Vegeta burst through the bathing chamber door.

“Woma –“ he cut himself off as he was stunned into silence. Blood in the water, terror on her tear streaked face. In half a second, he was at the tub. “I’ll go get Beri or one of the doulas from the castle or – “ He began to pull away from her.

“Vegeta don’t leave me! What’s happening, what’s happening, what’s wrong with my babies?”

He didn’t know. He couldn’t answer her. He needed to go find someone who could help, but she was digging her desperate fingers into his arm and weeping, weeping in abject and perfect terror. Blood welled up from the pricks in his arm, and welled out of her into the water.

“Little warriors, come out and see your people,” he began to sing, in his low, gravelly baritone – an accidental vibrato now, as fear stole in to his voice and it shook and broke. He could feel himself about to cry… something he had not done since he was a baby himself.

“V-vegeta,” Bulma sobbed, “that’s not going to work this time.”

He swallowed. Was he about to meet his children, or watch his wife die? “Little royals, come out and see the land.” He choked, plunging one arm into the water between her legs, as the air around them took on the softest lilac glow.

Bulma was straining against him, against the tub, pushing because instinct told her to. He could feel a little head in his hand, and he jumped into the tub fully clothed, never letting his hand stray from that soft, wet mop of hair.

“Little prince and little princess,” he sang, because he could not scream in his terror, covered now in the bloody water with his wife astride him as he faced her, hands ready to catch their little child. Their little living child, he willed, he insisted.

One last mighty push, and the babe was free in his hands and coming up through the water and breaching the water now, and squalling and crying now – alive, alive, alive his heart sang.

“Your Kingdom is at hand.”

Bulma’s head fell back, cracking against the edge of the tub. “Bulma. Bulma!” He shook her thigh, but she didn’t respond. Tucking the babe - prince or princess unknown, but live and crying with a fury – into the skin tight chest of the suit he still wore, he leaned forward and with measured strength, slapped her face. “BULMA!”

She came to, blinking, bewildered, dazed. “Is he?” and the baby answered her question with renewed volume. “Alive. Stay awake Bulma, stay awake now.” She groaned and tensed every muscle, crying again.

“Vegeta, it hurts!”

“I know, I know, I’m here.”

“The other baby’s coming,” she gritted through bared teeth. The lavender glow of the room deepened to a deep, plummy aubergine light and Bulma pushed again with all her strength. One baby still tucked up into his chest and held in place with his left arm, he had only one hand to catch the baby coming now. Bulma screamed and wept, wept and screamed.

Blood billowed out into the water, and Vegeta felt the baby’s head. “She’s here, she’s here. One more, Bulma, just one more.”

A final, almighty and exhausting effort – Bulma pulled herself up, hands digging into the backs of her knees and feet braced against the solidity of Vegeta’s abdominal muscles – a final push and the baby was born.

Bulma watched through a dreamlike haze as Vegeta’s hand pulled the baby up through the water, up through the air, in silence. She didn’t cry. Was she alive? Was she alive? “Vegeta – is she?” Bulma choked on the question, on her tears.

With a careful hand, Vegeta turned the baby to face her mother – her bright black eyes open, cheeks flushed, chest rising and falling in rapid but steady breaths. He placed the little princess on Bulma’s bare chest. Alive.

Beri burst through the door then, at last, “Prince Vegeta, the estate is glowing purple!” Her eyes widened in horror and fear as she saw the babies, saw the blood, saw the fully clothed prince awash in the tub and an exhausted Bulma weeping in pain and in joy. “I’ll get the doctors! I’ll get your mother!” She flew from the room as fast as she could.

Bulma was still bleeding into the water, and Vegeta could feel her ki fading. “Bulma.”

“Vegeta, look.” She whispered to him, “She’s perfect. She’s perfect. You were right, one girl. Is the other a boy?”

“Yes.” His voice was the raspiest husk as he reached forward to take the little princess from his wife as her hands slipped down into the water. “Yes. He’s strong.”

“He’s not crying anymore.” Her voice was fading, the thinnest rumor of a whisper now.

Vegeta tucked the little princess into his shirt, next to her brother. “Bulma, you need to stay awake. Bulma!”

“Little warriors, come out and see your people,” she whispered, arms dangling limply in the water, eyes fluttering closed. “Little royals, come out and see the land.”

Vegeta lay there in her blood, trapped by his fear and uncertainty, his children pressed against his heart. He finished the rhyme, tears running down his face. “Little prince and little princess, your Kingdom is at hand.”

[skittymon]

So after some encouragement from twitter, I’ve decided to write down my feelings about the Yusaku/Revolver rivalry, since their second duel is coming up, and I don’t have the highest exceptions in it, except that were bound to learn more about the Lost Incident, and Ignis.

Also to keep it fair I’ll be analyzing the past rivals only up to their second duel, with the exception of GX. That being said let’s dive in.

I’ll be basing rivals and their rivalries based off three points:

1. Their motivation to win.

2. Their effect on the protagonist, or vise versa.

3. Their threat as a rival.

Off the bat Revolver does hold for point three: he’s the leader of a terrorist group, however as a rival Revolver lost most of his treat, at least to me, after losing to Yusaku. Of course other rivals have as well, but I respect them more as a rival and character than Revolver. Let’s go over previous rivals.

To get the easy ones out of the way: Reiji and Kaito. 

While both of their first duels against their protagonists ended inclusive, it’s very clear Reiji and Kaito would have both won their duel. Which is amazing considering protagonists is ygo are usually unbeatable. So their threat as a rival stands.

Not only that, their motivation which we learn well before their second duel against the protagonists is phenomenal: Reiji’s discover his father started an interdimensional war and wants to stop it, he’s a rival to Yuya to push him further to evolve him and his dueling so Yuya can become a powerful Lancer. Kaito wants to save his little brother who is suffering and gets off on pain now. He antagonizes Yuma and Astral because they hold the number cards that can save Haruto.

Finally, their effect on the protagonists. After Yuma and Astral’s duel the two are afraid, of losing and disappearing and I’m pretty sure after that Yuma goes to the Duel Temple, I may be mistaken. Yuya, learning other people can use Pendulum Summoning, shuts down once again and it takes a duel with Shuzo to pull out of it.

So both Kaito and Reiji are phenomenal rivals, the best if I might say. 

And while both did win their duel against Yuma and Yuya the second time, those duels happen at later points (ep 72 (i think) and ep 51 of Zxl and A5 respectively) which is later than the presumably ep 34-36 range that the second duel of Yusaku and Revolver will take place, so these points were ignored will giving Kaito and Reiji their checks.

Next, Jack, since his first (on screen) duel with Yusei ended inclusive as well. However, according to Jack, Yusei would have won their duel had it continued. 

So instead of effecting Yusei, the inclusive duel effects Jack and causes him to struggle and wonder if he is worthy of being King. So their rivalry passes the second check.

Now motivation, Jack’s motivation prior to their first is to find a better life than the shitty one he had in the satellite. He achieves this goal and vows to never look back. But when Yusei, his past, comes after him he strives to beat to prove that he’s better than Yusei, the satellite, that he’s better than garbage. So point one checks.

Point three for all the rivals from now one is gonna be iffy because they lose against the protagonist, and that to me, makes them not a threat. But for Jack, he didn’t technically lose, and as the final boss for the fortune cup and seeing his resolve to beat Yusei makes it hard to willingly want him to lose.

Next we have the interesting case of Manjoume, who sadly has never beaten Judai. Revolver has a good chance of being on this boat too considering than chances of Yusaku losing the duel with everything at stake is slim to none. But what makes Manjoume such a good rival in my book?

Let’s take a look at point two first: effect on protagonist or vise versa. Honestly, to me, Manjoume doesn’t make a difference on Judai, the only ones to do so are Ryou and Edo, but ho boy does Judai make an impact on him.

After losing his credibility from being defeated by a Osiris Red, Manjoume loses practically everything, favor from his teachers, his ‘friends’ and I’m pretty its at this point he loses respect from his brothers. So what does he do? He builds himself back up.

That episode where Manjoume is outside South Academy, looking for cards and climbing to the top has to be my favorite in season 1. Hell Judai was my favorite protag before Yuya came along and damn did I want him to lose so Manjoume’s efforts could pay off - point one checks out.

A well written ‘loser’ who may have never beaten his rival but damn do I want him to. 2/3 points to him, I understand why people would claim Ryou or Edo are Judai’s true rivals.

Finally we have Kaiba and Shark the two who lost their first duel against their rival, but won the rematch.

Now, only Shark actually won out of skill (granted season ones rules are bullshit), but I’m 80% sure Yuma was over confident in that match, I don’t remember. But lets look at the lead up to those duels since that’s where we are in Vr.

I’m gonna be honest and say I hated Kaiba for the longest time. He’s an asshole and at like six years old destroying someones property is the worst thing someone can do. But once Mokuba was introduced? I felt bad for the guy. HELL, he had to see Mokuba’s unmoving body - HIS ONLY FAMILY THAT LIKES AND HE GIVES A FLYING FUCK ABOUT. 

Sadly I have to leave out the AMAZING second duel of their and what Kaiba does to be fair but I will say that point two checks out with Yugi after that duel.

But what about point three? Kaiba lost to Yugi before. HOWEVER, that won was practically bs as Yugi had managed to summon the one monster that legally causes automatic win, which was now lost. That win had nothing to do with either of their skills, just luck and what cards they happen to have. Without Exodia, Kaiba has a solid chance to defeat Yugi and with the title of World Champion (at least in the dub) Kaiba is very much a real threat. 2/3 points.

Now Shark. Shark is interesting in the fact he doesn’t have a point one at this moment in zxl, thats his entire arc. He doesn’t know what to do with himself so he turns to the thug life. This downward spiral started because he lost to Yuma. And Yuma was able to his journey to becoming a better duelist because of his first duel with Shark. Both influence each other greatly - just in opposite ways. Point two stays.

Now point three is very meh because with Astral’s help, Yuma can win probably easily but at this time in zxl Yuma and Astral relationship is...rocky with Yuma blatantly refusing Astral’s help. But seeing how Shark is even worse off than Yuma his threat as a rival doesn’t stick that well. 

1/3 points however that’s intended in the story and Shark turns this around after their second duel.

Now how does Revolver stack up against the previous rivals? 

I already stated he doesn’t have a threat as a rival and I mean it. ‘He has a powerful new card!’ Yea okay but....look what happens if Yusaku loses:

-Ema stays dead forever

-A bunch of other people will die

-Yusaku would have failed to protect the LINK VRAINS thus breaking his promise to that little boy and god forbid if a protag can’t keep a promise

-No more speed duels which is the series gimmick

-The actual end of the digital age thus no more duel besides table duels and no will watch episode of that

so I hardly doubt Yusaku will lose with all that’s at stake. At most Yusaku wins and Revolver somehow manages to take Ignis from his somehow.

So...no threat. In verse yes, but people watching? lmao hell no.

Point two, effects on the protagonist or vise versa.

....

I got nothing.

Besides getting information from one another (Yusaku learning more about the Lost Incident and Revolver discovering his one of the six kids) from their first duel to know they haven’t effected each other.

Yusaku didn’t stop the KoH, in fact more hooligans apparently joined based on the Another Incidents. No one in the KoH questioned Revolver’s authority despite losing to the guy who causing them the most problems. 

The only thing that might pass is that Yusaku and Ignis’ relationship deepened but consider there’s a good chance Ignis is going to betray him I guess not. Oh and Firewall Dragon showed up, yea (not counting that as influencing since Yusaku could have potentially grab Firewall from any data storm).

So no point two.

Finally point one, what is Revolver’s reason for wanting to beat Yusaku?

Well that’s easy, he wants Ignis!

Why?

Because he’ll destroy the world as we know it!

How?

Uhhhh...

It is really worth putting society back to an era without technology?

Maybe...?

Yes, most likely we’ll learn the answers during the duel but that why I brought ulp the previous rivals. At this point, before any of the other rivals second duel against the protag we have learned:

Kaiba is dueling to save his little brother who’s soul was taken and has seen his lifeless body

Manjoume is dueling to get his respect back after we have seen him fall to the pits and valiantly brought himself back up

Jack is dueling to prove he is King, it’s his destiny, and that he’s more than satellite trash and he won’t go back there.

Shark doesn’t have purpose and Yuma has to throw himself out there to save Shark from ruining his own life.

Kaito is dueling to save his little brother who screams in terror and helps destroy an entire world.

Reiji is dueling to stop his father’s plan and to help bring peace back to the dimensions.

So while Revolver’s motives are noble, there’s not a lot of backbone to them. Does he feel guilty that his father’s project caused this? I know those professor people Faust and Ava did but does he? 

I feel like I don’t know Revolver at all. I know about him, but I don’t know any of his emotions and that just makes him feel like a level boss for Yusaku to defeat, not his rival for the show.

So dude, for me of course, gets a soft 1/3.

So year here you go. I hope after this hyped up duel I’ll learn to like Revolver more cause haha he’s kinda disappointing to me atm.

[rnrmarineservices-blog]

What is behind the surge in new 60ft plus yacht designs and can you sail one safely without pro crew?

New yacht design has taken a giant leap in average length. Toby Hodges reports on the boom in big boats

Oyster 625

Looking along the row of new yachts berthed stern-to at Cannes Boat Show in September, it seems impossible that just a few years ago a yard might hold up its 55-footer as the flagship of its fleet. In 2016, it's the new yachts between 55ft and 80ft from the production yards that really stand out. So what has changed? Why the sudden surge in new large yachts and is it really possible to sail them without professional crew?

The 60ft plus market represents only around 120 yachts worldwide per year, but according to Oyster CEO David Tydeman, there is a need for variety. “Where Beneteau likes the fact that we series-build ��5m boats, we like the fact that Beneteau does €1m series builds,” he says. “It brings people into the industry.”

Customers range from those wanting short-term sailing holidays and second home use, to those exercising long held dreams to sail offshore in the utmost comfort. It's a wide range of people being targeted by a wide range of brands and from the list of boats yet to be launched, it's evident that the majority of builders have bet against this size segment being a passing fad.

Who is building new yachts over 60ft?

The volume production yards have been growing their flagship models, mostly launched in the last year or two, to fulfil demand in the 55-65ft sector. This is perhaps indicative of an increasing number of impulsive buyers on today's new yacht market; those who don't want to wait for a couple of years for their yacht are going to be more attracted to the volume-built boats.

Models over 65ft are typically still the domain of luxury bluewater cruising brands, such as Oyster and Contest; prestige brands, such as CNB and Euphoria; or performance semi-custom designs from the likes of Swan, Solaris, Mylius and Advanced Yachts. Highlights include X-Yachts's 65ft X6 (see X6 on test), the Grand Soleil 58 Performance; Mylius' striking new 76; the Turkish Euphoria 68 (see Euphoria 68 on test) and the luxurious new Contest 67CS (see video review here), not to mention the new Oysters 675 and 745.

Contest 67CS: The owner of this first 67CS started sailing in Norway in September 2009, aged 40. Since then he has owned two yachts, completed an ARC crossing and sailed with his wife in the Caribbean five times a year. “We were looking for a bigger yacht for longer stays but which we can still sail with the two of us.” They plan to sail the boat themselves, but add that for “maintenance and preparations it is smart to have professionals who know our Contest 67CS.”

At the 60ft plus size range, yards have to be flexible to be competitive. Prospective buyers expect their yachts to be semi-customised; rather than simply ticking options boxes, they want the yard to listen to their individual choices, styles and needs.

Volume producers will offer a lengthy list of layouts, fabrics and finishes, while the high-end builders will typically offer major hull variations, including different transom designs, rig options, and appendage types, with interior layouts only really constrained by watertight bulkheads. Those braving the first of a new model line may get extra privileges in this respect.

Mylius 76: In many ways, Mylius's yachts are a total contrast to the large, luxury cruising yachts of northern European yards. The all-carbon builds are super-minimalist throughout; modern turbo-charged Italian head-turners for smoking across the Med in style and enjoying the odd regatta. Pictured right is the flush-deck version. The deck saloon model (far right interiors) is novel and niche – a fascinating combination of space, speed and style.

High volume production

Of the volume yards, Hanse arguably led the way with its 630e back in 2006, 70 of which were built. Equally impressive is that the German yard then went on to sell 175 of its 575 in the last four years. This year Hanse launched the 675, its largest volume production yacht to date.

Hanse consistently wows with its loft-style interiors – more like a luxury apartment in fact on this, its largest model yet, the new 675.

Groupe Beneteau brands all now have yachts in the 60ft plus size range. The Bordeaux 60 caused a stir when it launched in 2008 – hull number 46 is in build – bringing trappings of superyacht glamour to the production market. The follow-up CNB 76 made a striking debut at Cannes in 2013. This contemporary Briand design uses an innovative construction method to reduce build time and cost. Seventeen of the €2m 76s have now sold, leading CNB to commission designs for a new smaller sister, the 66 (see page 33). To give some indication as to the demand at this size, CNB has already sold eight of the smaller yachts despite only releasing initial designs in September, and has also just announced it will take on 100 more workers to meet demand.

CNB 76: The 76 is a powerful yet elegant yacht with a well-camouflaged deck saloon, proper crew accommodation and a practical tender garage. A modular build scheme allows CNB to construct the entire interior of the 76 outside of the hull, dramatically reducing build time (to six months) and cost. The win-win result is superyacht styling and engineering, yet with a serial production price starting at €2m.

Unlike CNB, which is originally a builder of large custom yachts, the other volume production yards and Groupe Beneteau brands are upsizing. Superyacht designers Philippe Briand and Andrew Winch collaborated to produce one of the most successful of these – the Jeanneau 64 launched in 2014. It marries the worlds of big boat design, luxury and comfort with production boat pricing – its base price was kept below €1m – offering 10ft more yacht than an equivalent-priced semi-custom model.

Sister brand Beneteau has now followed suit with its Oceanis Yachts 62 this year. This is the first of a new luxury range from 53-73ft for which Beneteau went to a motorboat designer to find new styling solutions. The result is a bold look and a host of new comfort solutions throughout. Also, the goal with the pricing was even more ambitious than Jeanneau – its €650,000 base price shows how competitive pricing has become, even at this size level.

Oceanis Yachts 62: Beneteau is arguably the most innovative production yacht brand. Here it's taken ideas and styling from its motorboat side to create this first of an entirely new line. The 62 brings a commendable feeling of luxury both on deck and below, plus has a proper tender launching solution for a Williams Jet Rib. The crunch part? Its base price starts at just €650,000.

Dufour will have a new 63ft flagship as of January, which, like the Oceanis Yachts, is the first of a new premium-end 'Exclusive' range.

All of which leaves Bavaria as the last big volume yard without a 60-footer. This is mainly down to its in-line production method, which has, to date, limited the maximum length of yacht it can build. However this summer Bavaria changed the set-up of one of its production lines to address this limitation, so we can presume that it's only a question of time before the largest sailing Bavaria model yet is announced.

The practicalities

Large yachts are getting ever easier to handle. Push-button electrics and hydraulics that allow loads to be managed reliably have created new possibilities for managing sizable yachts short-handed. Thrusters – both bow and stern – are the norm at this size and can alleviate concerns with mooring, while advances in deck-gear technology have made sail-handling much easier.

As in the car industry, space has become king. Added length in yachts can bring increased comfort, elegance and speed, but there are downsides. With extra volume and weight comes a linear increase in the size and cost of each bit of deck gear and rigging needed to bear the extra loads.

Sailing a push-button power-assisted yacht might be a one-person affair, but managing and maintaining it is a different prospect altogether. Large yachts increase the crew's dependence on powered systems and machinery, from gensets, watermakers, air con and thrusters to the hydraulics needed to operate winches, sail systems, garage doors etc. Keeping such a yacht shipshape is likely to involve a great deal of time afloat servicing machinery, or regular shore periods and pit stops. The less mechanically minded owners will probably need to employ a skipper or paid hand for this purpose.

Solaris: Once a custom yacht builder, Solaris has become a serial manufacturer of premium performance cruisers. Its range now spans from 37-72ft, with an Acebal-designed 55 and 68 in the pipeline.

Need for crew?

Up until 2011, when Hallberg-Rassy brought out its HR64, a yacht that was designed specifically for two people to sail and manage, I would have said that 57ft was the transition point from owner-operated yacht to crewed yacht. But yachts have continued to grow since then.

Skip Novak, who runs two expedition yachts – one 54ft and the other 74ft – says: “We can do things with [the 54ft] Pelagic that we wouldn't dare do with Pelagic Australis. Pelagic is 'man-handleable', while the big boat at 74ft and 55 tonnes displacement is not. The systems on the smaller boat are by nature simpler, and the cruises usually are more trouble-free technically.”

Most new yachts over the 55ft mark have the option for a crew cabin of some sort. The big question is, are you happy sharing your yacht with paid hands? For temporary quarters, during a short charter for example, the forepeak-style box that is self-contained away from the rest of the accommodation may be all that is required in terms of accommodation. But for any owners seeking a longer-term crew – and wishing to retain reliable crew for any period of time – a more comfortable arrangement within the interior, like the use of a Pullman cabin, is necessary.

The current Oyster range spans the crossover between owner-operated yachts and crewed yachts, which helps to illustrate where the actual dividing line between the two might lie. For example, none of the 20 Oyster 625 owners uses a skipper full-time, although three of the 20 use skippers for when the boat is in charter mode. The new 675, which has been developed as a larger version of the 625, is also designed to be a yacht that can be owner-run. The new 745 on the other hand, which also launched this September, is designed to be run with two professional crew.

I sailed with Tim and Sybilla Beebe six years ago on a passage test of an Oyster 575 from Palma to Spain. They have since run an Oyster 68, a 72 and Tim is currently skippering Eddie Jordan's Oyster 885, Lush. We discussed at what size level an owner should be thinking about employing a full-time crew.

“Firstly it's dependent on experience,” says Beebe. “Can the owner sail the boat safely and do they want the responsibility? I agree that after 60ft, the time spent on upkeep starts to outweigh the enjoyment of it… unless you are living on it full-time.

“There are companies that will look after a 60ft boat and have it ready for owners when they arrive,” Beebe continued. “The amount of time needs to flexible. You can allot time for cleaning – inside and out – but maintenance must be flexible. There are always surprises.”

So where might a potential new owner be caught out? “The basic maintenance to keep the boat running is not too bad on a 60-footer but it's the little bits that might get overlooked, which can quickly add up. You have to stay on top of everything. Winch maintenance, for example, might surprise the average new owner: to properly service all the winches takes a good deal of time – and is a once-a-season job.”

What advice would Beebe give owners of 60-70-footers looking to employ and keep a good crew? “Maintaining good relations is key. You all have to get on in a small space. From my experience, forward planning is nice to have, plus adequate time with guests off the boat for maintenance. Of course the occasional day off doesn't go amiss either.”

Case study: Oyster 745 for bluewater cruising with family and friends

Henrik Nyman has sailed all his life on a variety of different sized boats, including owning and chartering various yachts and is now upgrading from an Oyster 625 to a 745 for bluewater cruising with friends and family. Why move to a yacht that needs crew? “Size alone is not a factor. For me, quality, engineering and function were my drivers… I thought 60ft was the maximum I could handle without crew, but in fact I feel that the 745 should be no trouble mainly due to very well thought-out functions and engineering. Handling is one part, but also you want crew for comfort, to go to the supermarket, some meals, formalities etc… I can sail basically alone but I want a good deckhand, mainly for safety purposes and for maintenance as well. “My biggest concern is that the equipment installed does not meet the same quality as the yacht itself. My experience from the 625 is that the majority if not all warranty issues are caused by third party installations.”

Case study: Discovery 67 – trading up for extra space

Simon Phillips is a highly experienced cruising and racing sailor, who has gradually scaled up in size from a Sonata, a Sadler 29, a Hanse 47e and a Discovery 55. He bought his 67ft Sapphire 2 of London this June and his main reason for trading up was to gain space. “Sapphire is 40 per cent larger inside which makes a big difference if you're planning to spend 18 to 24 months on board. My wife and I are actively planning for the World ARC.” Phillips hasn't used a professional crew before, but has employed delivery companies to do short deliveries due to time pressures. He normally sails with friends and contacts. “Sapphire is much more technical than the Discovery 55. Her size requires more planning and thought on where you can go etc. While it is possible to sail the yacht single-handed you really need one crew on the helm and three on lines to come alongside in any sort of windy and tidal conditions.”

Showcase boats: New and upcoming launches in the 60ft plus category

Vismara 62: Vismara is a custom carbon yacht builder that has now introduced some semi-custom series. The V62 is based on the success of the Mark Mills designed racer-cruiser SuperNikka. A mould was taken from her hull and adapted to make it more cruiser friendly.

Hallberg-Rassy 64: “Push button controls are the only way you could handle a boat of this size without a big crew and our owners absolutely don't want that,” said Magnus Rassy at the time of our HR64 test. “A huge amount of care has gone into making a boat that will be easy to sail long-distance, to maintain and to continue to use when things stop working.”

Dufour 63 Exclusive: Due to launch at the Düsseldorf Boat Show in 2017, Dufour's new flagship is a response to those from Beneteau, Jeanneau and Hanse and is the first of its new Exclusive range. The 63 is a yacht that maximises exterior comfort with a 5m long cockpit and exterior galley option alongside a tender garage.

CNB 66: The Bordeaux 60 and CNB 76 have both been true success stories. This 66 is very much the smaller sister to the 76 and looks set to replace the 60. “With the 66 the idea was to be able to sail without crew,” says CNB's Thomas Gailly. “So we wanted it to be very simple, with no lift keel option or retracting anchor arm – easy to maintain and use.”

Baltic 67: Over the past few years, Baltic Yachts has launched some of the finest new carbon superyachts, but its recent announcement of a new serially produced model marks a return to the more moderate-sized fast cruisers it was known for in the past.

Advanced Yachts 62: Advanced Yachts uses some of the leading design firms to represent Italian luxury performance at its best, with models from 44-100ft. And this new A62 looks simply sensational.

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