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Shinobu Mustard Episode 1

001

This spring, Harimaze Kie was a first year that had just enrolled in Naoetsu Private High School and a part of the girls' basketball club, and naturally, she was extremely regretting both of those decisions. She was regretting having enrolled in the university-focused Naoetsu High that had a high standard score, and she was regretting having joined the girls' basketball club that was too Spartan for a school that was supposed to be university-focused.

After all, the Naoetsu High girls' basketball club had previously had a super high-school level superstar, and the team had actually competed on a national level. But, as mentioned above, that senior had already retired, and what remained for the next generation to inherit was simply an intense training regimen.

A sports club with intense training, even though they weren't good.

That was the worst.

It was an ancient style of training that was influenced by images of a golden age—a bloated self-projection of, "we're both human beings, so I should be able to reach her level".

In the first place, this superstar senior had ultimately sustained an injury to her left arm and opted for an early retirement, so a Spartan training regimen was really meaningless, or rather, it could even prove to be backfiring on the team... So why was the club still forcing its members to do bunny hops?

Having said that, she wasn't exactly willing to quit the club of her own accord. If the coach or the captain were to give her the cruel verdict of, "You have no talent so you should just quit," then she'd happily resign with that as the reason. But unfortunately—and perhaps this was also a remnant of the era in which a superstar was a member—the Spartan girls' basketball club had a strong sense of solidarity.

And a strong sense of solidarity meant a heavy sense of collective responsibility.

If quitting of her own accord could end up influencing her teammates in some way, then it was hard to even bring up the subject... If she even said a word of "wanting to quit", then it would stop being just her problem alone.

Even though it was a tradition that couldn't be right, she didn't want to be the cause of putting it to an end... She wanted the evil tradition to come to its natural end, praying that it wasn't made out to be her fault. Stemming from the collective responsibility was a desire to shift the responsibility onto someone else. And probably, the other teammates were also continuing to endure the hard training with similar motives, their hands tied by similar ropes, all being foolish together.

And with that, it was today as well that Harimaze Kie had unwillingly participated in club activities right up until she was allowed to leave, dragging her two legs that ached with unending muscular pain down the dark evening path as she'd done for the past few months.

Her teammates all left in different directions, and obviously the time she left from school didn't coincide with her friends from class (in fact, her club activities had been so intense that she'd fallen out of contact with her friends from class), so she was returning home alone in a way that couldn't possibly be considered safe. She was even wondering if some bad guy wouldn't just come up and attack her already.

Even though she'd be able to triumphantly quit the club if she were to get badly hurt.

Even as she realized her thoughts had gone in too serious a direction, she could no longer control her thoughts anymore... She had become utterly exhausted from taking over the awful legacy that had meaninglessly remained, even as she knew it was backfiring.

Even her grades continued to decline.

It was true that practice was stopped before exams, but she'd found it hard to escape from the unspoken pressure of "training on your own" and "training in secret", and so her first midterm exams had resulted in awful scores that would been unthinkable for her in middle school. And at this rate, her rank for the final exams was sure to fall in the triple digits.

Well, not all of it could be blamed on club activities.

The students that had gathered at this private, university-focused school had simply had grades so excellent it made her embarrassed for having evaluated herself as a prodigy just a few months before... She'd gotten depressed, thinking things like, "Won't I end up becoming the first dropout since Naoetsu High was founded?"

Ah, that's why I want to be attacked.

Someone attack me. Beat me up.

Turn my life into chaos.

It could become an excuse for me to quit the club, and I might even get exempted from final exams... Then I can study while in the hospital and catch up on what I've fallen behind on. That's right, even if I wasn't a prodigy, I should be diligent enough to do that.

I can still redo everything.

Was this way of thinking just escapism?

(Escapism... Did that mean escaping from reality? Or did it mean managing to escape to reality?)

To throw away her hopes and dreams, and focus on reality.

In a sense, that was also a form of escapism... But in any case, there was no bad guy that conveniently appeared to strike her head in on Harimaze Kie's way home. No matter how many times, how many days she prayed.

Ah, then it's fine even if it isn't some bad guy.

It's fine if I get run over by a car at some corner, and it's fine if an airplane crashed onto my exact location... If it can make it easier for me, then anything's fine.

Even if it isn't reality... Even if it's a fantasy.

Like.

Yes, even something like a monstrous apparition—

"This is something I think every time I come to this country, but... There isn't a phrase that makes me less thankful than 'Thanks for the meal'... And saying 'It was delicious' is practically the opposite of delicious."

As she came near a three-way intersection, and as she walked—no, as she painfully dragged her legs while looking at her smartphone to make it even easier for a bad guy to attack her from behind, Harimaze Kie was, very openly, approached from the front.

And, as if a self-introduction was a form of etiquette that could never be forgotten—

"I'm the great Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster. The death-prepared, death-inevitable, death-certain vampire."

Her hope had been granted. Or perhaps, her despair had been granted.

Thinking that, Harimaze Kie raised her head.

002

It had been a while since I'd been to a hospital.

However, it wasn't that I, Araragi Koyomi, was particularly afraid of syringes, nor did I have a fear of lab coats—in fact, I actually loved them. This is just between you and me, but there'd been one time that I'd made my girlfriend wear a lab coat... We'd roleplayed using a mechanical pencil as a syringe.

Regardless (as much as it made me fall into some frustrations), the reason I'd stayed away from hospitals regardless of anything was that, during spring break when I was still a 17-year-old high schooler, I'd had my blood sucked by the gold-haired and gold-eyed, iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire, beautiful enough to send chills down my spine, and spent about 2 weeks as a vampire. And, because of the aftereffects, I had become completely free of injuries and diseases.

I was in such good health that I was almost tired of it.

Or rather, if I found myself getting examined at a hospital, then my aberrant regeneration abilities or superior eyesight could come to light, and I could end up being used as a sample for human experimentation... As a result, I'd even come up with an excuse to skip out on the physical examinations that occurred when entering college.

For the sake of my rose-colored campus life, there was no end to the caution I'd need to take... Regardless, the reason I came to the Naoetsu General Hospital this time was because I'd been personally called there by an adult that I owed more to than even my own parents.

By Gaen Izuko-san.

"So, what do you think, Koyomin? About this patient," said Gaen-san.

In a room on the fifth floor of the fourth ward, she spoke almost as if a doctor would—as if she were asking for my opinion. But I was in the science department and not the medical department, and if we were saying that, then not even Gaen-san was a doctor, either. Although, if it was her, it wouldn't be surprising if she had multiple doctor's licenses... Of course, while I had no intention of pretending to be a doctor at this point, after being prompted, I decided to give the bedridden "patient" a look.

Actually, because the single room wasn't all that big, that "patient" had already been in my field of vision since I'd entered, but it was just hard for me to look directly—I'd averted my eyes on reflex.

It felt like I'd seen something I wasn't supposed to.

The "patient" that was lying on the bed was,

"...A mummy."

While it had been made to wear a patient gown for hospital use, at the very least, it did not seem like a living being—or so it seemed.

"This is a mummy, isn't it? A human one, at that."

When I was a high schooler, there'd been a time that I witnessed something like a mummified monkey, but from the physique, and from the hair that was still left on the head, even if they'd gotten completely dried up, I could tell for certain that this mummy was a human.

Even if they weren't a living human.

They were certainly a dead human.

"No, no, this isn't even a dead human, Koyomin."

"...Um, Gaen-san. Isn't it about time for you to stop calling me 'Koyomin'? I'm already a college student now."

"A college freshman is practically the same as a newborn baby, you know. It was the same for me. I would say, goo goo ga ga."

She was totally unapproachable.

Well, it was a waste of breath. Considering this woman of unknown age, even once I became a fully-fledged adult, she would probably still affectionately call me "Koyomin"... But anyway, what did she mean by, "this isn't even a dead human"?

"It's alive. Still. Even in this state."

Gaen-san spoke without a moment's hesitation—it was a composed, not overly dramatic way of speaking very much like a specialist, or rather, very much like the administrator of specialists.

However, as someone who wasn't even close to being a specialist, it was a line I couldn't overlook.

This mummy was still alive? Really?

I would've guessed this was some kind of sokushinbutsu, some kind of mummified monk, that had been brought from some temple... Although, thinking about it, it would be in bad taste even for Gaen-san to lay someone like that to rest in the bed of a hospital.

"Its heart is still beating, and it's still breathing. Its bodily functions are almost disturbingly normal. Though there's certainly no consciousness, it's not dead yet... If you think it's a lie, you can check for yourself."

"Check for myself..."

Being told that, I nervously reached out a hand to feel the sleeping mummy's heartbeat—but just before I touched it, I was rebuked with a, "Hold on, Koyomin".

"That's a girl, you know. Touching her chest is off-limits. You could at least take the lady's arm to get a pulse like a gentleman."

A girl? Considering it had gotten all dried up, it was impossible to tell the gender of the mummy—however, regardless of whether or not she was a lady, I couldn't ignore the fact that she was a girl.

"...Then, if you'll excuse me."

I touched the left wrist of the mummy. Since she was a mummy, I was worried that she'd crumble into bits if I touched her, so I'd tried to be as gentle as possible, but that dried-up skin was still surprisingly resilient.

And I certainly felt a pulse. Thump, thump, thump.

"I'll just say this right now, but there's not actually any blood flowing—though her heart is still beating, there's no blood circulating."

It's just air circulating—said Gaen-san.

"Just air in a hollow body. Like it's completely empty."

"......"

As I listened to Gaen-san speak, unsure whether the line was supposed to be a joke or a fact, I pushed aside the mummy's hair to carefully check the girl's neck—and, as expected.

Two small holes had been pierced into her neck.

As if she'd been bitten by a snake.

Or, as if she'd been taken in by an oni.

"......"

"Harimaze Kie is the name of that mummy. A female student of the school you used to go to, Naoetsu High... But since she's a freshman that started this year, I don't think she's an acquaintance of yours."

"...Was she attacked by a vampire?"

Though I'd internally gotten flustered at the name of my alma mater suddenly showing up, I confirmed with Gaen-san something that didn't need to be said. It was so obvious that it definitely could've been left unsaid, but even so, I couldn't go without asking.

I gradually began to understand why I'd been called here.

"It seems so. On the way back from club activities, it seems she ran into one with a bang."

"Even though it'd been peaceful."

That was all I could say.

I had no intention of pretending that I understood anything.

However, everything started when I was attacked by a vampire during that spring break—the turmoil that ensued should have been brought to an end with my graduation ceremony, but to think that, just a few months later, a case like this would occur.

Well, it was possible that incidents like this occurred frequently across the world that I just didn't know about—if not for that, then Gaen-san, "the onee-san that knew everything", would be out of a job.

It was a terrible business opportunity.

It was a very niche livelihood—or rather, a niche death-lihood.

"So you're saying, this girl... Harimaze-chan? Did Harimaze-chan turn into a vampire?"

"Well, it seems that she failed to turn into a vampire."

Gaen-san shrugged.

"This is a fairly common occurrence. Successes like your case, Koyomin, are actually rarer. Although, with what happened, from the side of the vampire that sucked your blood, it was a huge failure for her."

Saying that, Gaen-san lowered her eyes to the linoleum that was characteristic of hospitals... That is, to my shadow on the floor.

Of course, there was no response from my shadow.

We were in broad daylight.

"Even though she's still alive, she's just barely not dead... Just a mummy with all its blood sucked out. Not on the verge of death, but still more dead than alive. Is that it..."

Even I could've become like this at that time... However, while a part of me was trembling, another part of me was relieved.

I had no intention of saying that it was fortunate that Harimaze-chan had her blood sucked by a vampire and turned into a mummy where it wasn't clear whether she was alive or not—but, as long as she was still alive, there was still hope.

And because of that, just like there had been for me, there must be a way to turn her back into a human—so the fact that her vampire transformation had failed was a blessing in disguise.

In my case, I had no choice but to do something about it by myself through my own efforts and self-education, but in this case, the omniscient specialist Gaen-san was presiding over it... I wasn't exactly optimistic, but there had to be a way to help this girl out.

"'Help her', huh? Didn't my very own Hawaiian-shirt guy say something about that?"

"...I've already completely forgotten what your Hawaiian-shirt guy has said, but Gaen-san, it's not something you say, isn't it? You don't say anything like, 'You can't help her. People can only help themselves.'"

"It seems like you remember it, though."

Gaen-san gave a sarcastic laugh.

"Of course, I'm here to help this girl, Harimaze-chan. However, Koyomin. If you simply think that a homebody like me being out here from the beginning is 'dependable', then that would be troublesome for me," she said.

What did she say?

"Huh? What does that mean? If you're saying you can't be depended on, Gaen-san, then who else is there that we can depend on?"

"That's a very nice thing to say, but before I explain, let's change locations."

"Change locations? To where?"

"We'll be making our rounds. Since it doesn't seem like you hate playing doctor, Koyomin, let me introduce you to the next patient."

003

It was a mystery how Gaen-san, who was neither a doctor nor a staff member of this hospital, was able to walk around as if she owned the place, but after seeing that a similar-looking mummy had been laid down in the bed of the next room over, I decided to come to the conclusion that the director of this hospital was the one who made the request to this specialist.

With these patients who had had all the fluids sucked out of their bodies and yet for some reason were still alive, if two were brought in in quick succession, it wasn't exactly something that modern medicine could do anything about... It had to be the work of the occult.

"This girl is called Honnou Aburi-chan. Another student of Naoetsu High—however, she's a second-year, so it's possible for even Koyomin to know her."

Unfortunately.

During my high school days, I wasn't exactly the sort that interacted much with my juniors.

Or rather, I hadn't even gotten accustomed to school enough to remember the names of students in other years... If she was currently a second-year, that meant that when I was a third-year, she was a first-year.

It was possible that I'd at least seen her face before, but because she was a mummy, and because she'd been made to wear a patient gown, I had no way of identifying her by her appearance... If I had to be completely honest, I couldn't even distinguish her from the mummy in the previous room.

"Harimaze-chan's mummy, that had been lying on the road, was discovered by a passerby the day before yesterday. Honnou-chan, who'd been found as a mummy at home in her own futon, was discovered last night by her mother."

"One person a day? That's quite a fast pace."

"It's not necessarily one person a day. There could be more that just simply haven't been discovered yet. Right now, it may just seem like only female students from Naoetsu High are being targeted, but there's a possibility this is only two out of a hundred victims."

Two out of a hundred. And that wasn't totally an exaggeration.

As for the vampire I personally knew, she boasted that she could stay alive even if she only drank the blood of a single person every few months, but on the other hand, she still had an appetite where she could suck the blood of all of humanity if she lost self-control.

However, in this case, I suppose I had to consider things based on Gaen-san's conjectures... There was some unidentified vampire targeting female students of Naoetsu High.

Unidentified... No.

The vampire I personally knew.

"Um, Gaen-san. Could it be possible that you're suspecting Shinobu? It's true that she'd been the subject of a rumor among the female students of Naoetsu High once before—"

"No, no, I've never once thought that to be the case. I only just realized when you asked me. It's not for that reason that I called you out, Koyomin, when you're enjoying your college life. I was just hoping to cooperate with you, as you know the lay of the land. So that we can prevent a 3rd victim, or perhaps a 101st victim."

Of course, you aren't a stranger to helping out a girl that you have absolutely no relation to—said Gaen-san, as if she were making fun of my personal history. Although I had nothing to say in response... It was because I got so desperate to help those I saw within range or within reach that I would end up troubling those who weren't within range and weren't within reach.

But, what should I do now?

After suddenly being shown not one, but two mummies in quick succession, and hearing that they were mummies of high school girls, I would inevitably be driven by a sense of moral obligation to help them, but fundamentally, a request made by Gaen-san wasn't something I could accept so readily.

For an adult that I couldn't know the true nature of, in a sense, she was scarier than a vampire.

Seeing that I stayed quiet instead of giving an immediate response, Gaen-san spoke.

"To be honest, the state of the board is such that I'd like to depend on Koyomin, too. A dependable Koyomin," she said. "It's a situation where someone like me, who likes working behind-the-scenes, had to be dispatched, you see. And if that's not enough, I can even say this... Right now, I'm taking measures to call that Yozuru back here."

"Eh... Kagenui-san?"

Perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised at that. However, I was still more than surprised—I was more surprised than I'd been after seeing two mummies in quick succession. At the very least, my reaction to Gaen-san's statement had to be more than what she'd anticipated.

To call that Yozuru back here.

Certainly, Kagenui-san, Kagenui Yozuru-san, was an onmyouji that specialized in immortal oddities, although it was hard to say that she was a respectable specialist. If anything, she was the specialist in this world that strayed furthest from the correct path—once, in my high school days, when I'd worked with together Gaen-san on a job, even in spite of the fact that an immortal oddity had been involved, Gaen-san had stubbornly refused to rely on Kagenui-san.

That meant that Gaen-san was predicting that this current situation was worse than that time.

In that case, was this something I couldn't ignore? It's not like I particularly had any love for my alma mater (in fact, when I'd still been attending school, I'd absolutely hated it), I'd feel guilty about pretending that I was unrelated to it.

Plus, though I had had almost no interaction with students of other years, it wasn't like there was absolutely no one I knew among my underclassmen... If I imagined one of them becoming the victim of a vampire and turning into a mummy, I couldn't exactly keep calm.

"...However, the practical issue is, if Kagenui-san is going to come, then I don't think that really gives me a chance to act. Or rather, I'd probably just become a hindrance to her. Maybe if I were still a high schooler with stronger aftereffects of my vampirism, but due to various reasons, I've gotten a lot more subdued after entering college."

"That's true. Though you were such an enthusiastic boy back then, it makes me feel lonely to see you all subdued like this."

Yeah, yeah.

"However, Yozuru isn't exactly nimble enough in her footwork to come as soon as she's called. As you're well aware, there are some special circumstances for her. No matter how much she hurries, it'll still take a few days until she arrives at this town... And those few days could very well be crucial to the number of victims."

I see.

If we went that far, then I was now a college student with more than enough time on his hands. If we were speaking of nimbleness in footwork, then I was even better than when I was in high school. Even today, I'd voluntarily skipped my algebra course to respond to Gaen-san's summons.

To tell the truth, there were a lot of circumstances with Kagenui-san that made me feel that it was simply difficult to face her right now, but in that case, it was possible that we could end this oddity phenomenon before she arrived at this town.

And, needless to say, doing that was preferable for Gaen-san, as well.

"Oh yeah. If Kagenui-san's coming here, then I'll have to let Ononoki-chan know, as well... Or rather, Gaen-san, aren't you going to inform Ononoki-chan about this?"

"Well, she herself is in the middle of work on a different case. But it's a secret from you, Koyomin."

"?"

I wonder what it is.

It seemed that Ononoki-chan had recently been hanging out with Sengoku a lot, but if that was the case, then it was hard for me to probe into it... Especially after being specifically told that it was a secret.

"It's important to not sweat the small stuff. If anything, this is just foreshadowing for the next installment. Nonetheless, I have no intention of pressuring you to work with me like I'd done before. If you can state in minute detail a legitimate reason as to why you'd like to flatly refuse getting involved with an incident that could possibly be traumatic, then I'll quickly drop the matter. If that happens, I'll call Kaiki."

"Leave it to me!"

No matter how I saw it, it didn't make sense for Gaen-san to think that that con man would make his entry for a phenomenon of this type, but if she brought out that name anyway, then I didn't really have a choice in the matter.

If it was to keep him as far from this town as possible, I'd do anything.

Con men were prohibited from entering this town.

"Well, con men are prohibited from most towns. Of course, I won't have you be working for free. In exchange for the considerable risk you're about to take, Koyomin, this friendly onee-san will be sure to offer the right amount of compensation."

A considerable risk, you say?

Well, it was quite likely that I would end up facing off against a vampire, and it wasn't like I could nonchalantly linger in safe zones... Not to mention, if I was going to get involved in a case estimated to be more dangerous than the revival of Shishirui Seishirou, I would need to be prepared for that much.

However, if you asked me whether or not I wanted compensation that corresponded to that level of risk, then honestly speaking, I didn't really want it... Frankly, receiving anything from Gaen-san was scary.

The deeper our relations or obligations get, the further into the depths I'd fall.

Being called out each and every time like this was almost like not being able to graduate from high school no matter how much time passed—but as I thought about it like that, Gaen-san spoke as if she'd accurately guessed the contents of my mind.

"If you decide to cooperate in the resolution of this oddity phenomenon, Koyomin... Until you graduate from college, that is, for the next four years or so, I won't appear in front of you again, and I won't even try to contact you. I swear it. You'll be able to go ahead with your bright and happy campus life, free from oddities and specialists," she said.

"For... For real?"

"Yes, for real. You'll never catch me in a lie or in twintails."

If it was Gaen-san in twintails, then I felt like I'd do anything to see that form, but this was a proposal that was even more attractive than that... Well, in another point of view it almost sounded like she was declaring that she'd cut ties with me, and if she swore that much it could even be a bit lonely (which sounded a bit selfish, even for me). But if it meant I could cleanly wash my hands of a life where I would be spoken to with an air of condescension whenever the chance arose, then there was no better compensation for me.

Well, it wasn't exactly clear how credible an oath made by the senior of that con man really was (it was even possible she'd done her hair up in twintails before), but, well, regardless of whether that promise was there, this certainly wasn't a situation that I could ignore.

All my reservations had been cleared up.

In the first place, for Gaen-san, I wasn't exactly a card that was easy to use. And it wasn't the same as with Kagenui-san. It was a problem of being too nimble in footwork. When it came to not moving within Gaen-san's predictions or directions, high school third-year Araragi Koyomi had been especially bad, if I do say so myself—now that I was remembering it, I had better repent for my behavior back then.

If an incident that forced Gaen-san's hand into using this worthless card was occurring in my hometown, then I absolutely couldn't just overlook this... That's right.

Sometimes, it was fine to help out people I didn't know.

"Understood. I'll do my best to work with you, to the extent that it doesn't interfere with my schoolwork—however, I don't want to cause trouble for my family, so I'd like for you be considerate in that respect."

"Ah. Of course, I can do something about that. I'd be well aware of the relationship between Yozuru and Tsukihi-chan even if I wasn't an onee-san that knew everything—oh!"

Just as Gaen-san managed to successfully gain my cooperation, her cell phone began playing a ringtone—well, considering we were inside a hospital, the thing that received a call could be her PHS, her Personal Handy-phone System, instead. She was an onee-san that carried a large number, with various kinds, of telecommunications equipment.

"Hello? Yeah. Yeah. ...Yeah."

As she spoke on the phone, Gaen-san's tone grew lower with every nod.

She was fundamentally an onee-san with a carefree style that didn't suit seriousness at all, but it seemed that the radio waves had managed to deliver information that could make this onee-san stop smiling.

"I have some unfortunate news, Koyomin," said Gaen-san after hanging up. "A third victim was discovered. Once again, a female student from Naoetsu High."

004

If you asked what would be the most striking difference, or perhaps transformation, between the Araragi Koyomi that attended Naoetsu Private High School and the Araragi Koyomi that attended Manase National University, then the most appropriate answer would be the method he took to go to school. Though I'd fundamentally spent my high school days going to school on a bicycle and otherwise on foot, when it came to college, my hands instead gripped the steering wheel of a car.

It was a Volkswagen New Beetle. It was after grueling hours of hard work at my part-time job that I managed to procure a used one in good condition, and I'd further restored it on my own—well, saying so would make a really good impression, but actually, it was a new car that was gifted to me by my parents to celebrate my high school graduation.

I was really being pampered.

Surprisingly enough, the fact that I so easily accepted that amount of pampering without resisting as part of my rebellious phase could actually be considered the biggest difference, or transformation... But putting that aside, after exiting the hospital, I had Gaen-san sit in the back seat of that New Beetle and headed towards the scene of the oddity phenomenon.

If you were wondering why I had her sit in the back seat, it was because a child seat had been affixed to the passenger seat—my passenger seat was reserved for a certain young girl.

"By appearance, isn't Shinobu-chan about 8 years old...? Though it's not even comparable to her in her complete mode, isn't she old enough to not need a child seat?"

"That feeling of having a slightly older kid fit tightly in a child seat is what I like."

"Mm... That's something you'd be better off not telling other people, Koyomin. Even me, an onee-san who knows everything, would have preferred not knowing that."

As we lightly exchanged such witty banter, we headed for our destination, which, as expected, was the school road to Naoetsu High—it wasn't a place that was too far off from the hospital, so we arrived fairly quickly.

Because it was immediately following the discovery of the mummy, I had thought there would be a crowd of onlookers that had formed or police officers that had rushed in, but the area was surprisingly unpopular... Even if it wasn't the time when people were going to school, could a normal road like this really be so deserted?

It had made me a bit suspicious, but it turned out that that was a result of Gaen-san's arrangements.

A way of keeping people out through some sort of barrier, the domain of specialists.

It should have been obvious from the beginning, but I wasn't the only person at Gaen-san's beck and call at this case—Gaen-san's forte was working in a team, and it could be seen as a good outcome that the search party had already managed to discover another victim that had been mummified in the same way as the two that had already been carried to the hospital.

Already. And yet, too late.

It couldn't really be said that finding the third victim was a good thing.

"I know you have some anxiety around strangers, Koyomin, so I had the search party leave the area, too. So you can perform your on-site inspection at a leisurely pace," said Gaen-san.

I was happy for that concern, but my stranger anxiety wasn't that extreme.

Well, from Gaen-san's perspective, she probably didn't want to introduce a temporary member like me to her subordinates, or her "real cooperators"—I could understand that.

Since my education wasn't very good.

"Even so, there's a limit to putting up a paranormal barrier in a residential area in the middle of the day, so let's move quickly. I expect this to have a strong visual impact, Koyomin, so make sure you prepare yourself mentally for that."

And Gaen-san exited from the back seat of the New Beetle... After being shown not one, but two mummified high school girls in quick succession, why was she telling me this now? That was what I'd been wondering as I followed her out, but immediately, I realized the importance of that advice.

Where the third victim had been discovered was, to be precise, inside some kind of shack that I didn't really understand, built on the other side of the guardrail alongside the school road.

Well, it had probably originally been some sort of wooden structure made for some purpose, but now, it could only be seen as some unidentifiable pile of wood... Though I'd said she was inside, it could at best be seen as some sort of awning, and with this many gaps in the woodwork, it likely would be able to keep out neither rain nor wind.

And, at the dried-up mummy inside it, I was rendered speechless.

Comparing the mummy that had been made to wear a patient gown and been laid down on a hospital bed, with the mummy that had been found in this mysterious incomprehensible shack wearing a high school uniform and collapsed on her side as if she had just dropped dead, the visual difference was striking.

Her shoes had fallen off, her clothes were a mess, and her bag had been thrown to the side.

Those details insistently nagged at me that this was the actual reality of things... Even if it was an oddity phenomenon, it was a reality that couldn't be passed off as fantasy.

There was no distinction between reality and delusion.

I was starting to regret having entered a domain that amateurs shouldn't lay a hand on—if it hadn't been Gaen-san that I'd made a promise with, I would probably turn tail and run.

However, it wasn't good to have my whole body tremble in fear.

In fact, it almost made me want to put on airs like a specialist... I tried to act as composed as possible and began to approach the mummy.

"This one also looks like a failure from a vampire transformation," I said, saying something I'd just learned as if I'd known it all along.

As I'd done earlier in the hospital, I took her wrist to feel for a pulse—and then.

"Koyomin, look out!"

It was unusual to hear Gaen-san shout, but it was no wonder she did.

When I'd squatted down near the mummy, she sprang up as if a spring had been installed in her back, and reached her arm out towards me—no, not her arm, but her finger.

And not her finger, but her nail.

The mummy tried to scratch me—tried to tear me to shreds.

"Wh-whoa! Ah..."

Being held down by a high school girl could be considered exciting and pleasurable depending on the circumstances, but if the conditions were that it had to take place inside an ominous shack and the high school girl had to be a mummy, then it definitely wasn't something I could feel happy about—though I'd carelessly approached the mummy to take her pulse, I'd ended up grabbing both of her arms for different reasons—for self-defense reasons.

I was able to somehow defend myself against the girl's ten unpainted nails, but I couldn't do anything about her fangs—by grabbing both her wrists, that also had the effect of sealing my own arms from being used.

And if the mummy, while holding me down, tried to come and bite into me, it wasn't like I could try and bite into her to defend myself.

Though I'd managed to perform all kinds of different kisses in my life, a mummified girl was way out of my strike zone—but ultimately, it was the work of a specialist that sealed the lips of the mummy that came onto me so passionately, and more importantly, the fangs that glinted within those lips.

Rather than sealing them, it was more like Gaen-san unleashed it—and what she unleashed was a cloth-like curtain that had covered the window of the shack.

And with that, the rays of the sun entered indoors, shining like a spotlight onto the mummy, and stopping her movements—like the opposite of a doll that moved using solar cells, as a result of bathing in the sun, the mummy ceased functioning.

As if her soul had been taken from her—if that was even possible—she collapsed onto me. That in itself was pretty frightening, but it seemed I'd just barely managed to escape from the predicament I'd carelessly stumbled into.

Although, considering that Gaen-san had cleaned up the predicament of this amateur college student with the most minimal of actions, perhaps it could hardly be considered a predicament... I see, even if the transformation had failed, the mummy was still a vampire, and was weak to sunlight.

Come to think of it, the hospital rooms where the mummies had been lying had also had the curtains open... And there were probably various other measures in place in that hospital room to seal the mummies' movements.

Even if they had no consciousness, even if the transformation had failed, a vampire was a vampire.

Even drawing near was dangerous.

"So... Sorry, Gaen-san. For acting on my own accord."

Rather than acting on my own accord, this was the result of me acting pretentious.

It was surprising how little I'd grown... Though I didn't know if getting my blood sucked by a mummy that had failed to become a vampire would turn me into a vampire, this had come dangerously close to eerily reproducing the events of that spring break when I was a 17-year-old.

Feeling ashamed of myself, I crawled out from underneath the mummy... But to that, Gaen-san said, "No, it's a great achievement, Koyomin," with some sort of consolation that I didn't understand.

An achievement?

"The name of this girl is Kuchimoto Kyoumi-chan. A first-year of Naoetsu High. Because of how tall she is, I'd thought she was a third-year, but it seems kids these days are growing very well."

Without showing any more concern for me, Gaen-san had taken the bag that had been off to the side and looked through her student handbook and wallet and other belongings to obtain the victim's personal information—the first mummy had been a first-year, the second mummy had been a second-year, so the third would be a third-year... But there was no such clever progression.

"Um... Gaen-san. What do you mean by it being an achievement?"

"When Kuchimoto-chan went after you to try and scratch you, Koyomin, she dropped the set of flash cards that were in her hand, you see—you're not a high schooler anymore, Koyomin, but you remember what vocabulary flash cards are, right? The pieces of paper that you use to memorize English words."

Without turning to face me, she promptly tossed me those flash cards—of course I remembered. They were a huge help when I'd been taking entrance exams.

I caught them—it seemed Kuchimoto-chan wasn't particularly studious, as the flash cards were almost brand new. Among those flash cards, only the first one had been used, and what had been handwritten on the surface in red pen wasn't even an English word.

"B777Q".

"...? What is this?"

"I wonder. By the way, there was a pen that seems like it could've written that among the writing materials right next to it—the cap of the pen wasn't even on. It was as if, when being attacked by a vampire, Kuchimoto-chan panicked and grabbed whatever she could to try and memorize that vocabulary word."

Gaen-san spoke carefreely as she fiddled with a smartphone with a strap on it, likely the high school girl's—unfortunately, it seemed a lock had been placed on it, which meant the contents of the phone could not be analyzed by even a specialist proficient with telecommunications equipment.

But anyway, the flash cards.

She tried to memorize vocabulary at that point... There's no way.

If anything...

"By the way, it seems Kuchimoto-san was an avid reader, which is admirable for this day and age. There was a work by Ellery Queen in her bag. You know, that Ellery Queen, famous for her 'Challenges to the Reader'."

And that Ellery Queen was famous for her dying messages as well—although, Kuchimoto-san had failed in a vampire transformation, so she was neither dead nor murdered, so the term dying message wasn't exactly accurate—but, "B777Q".

"It's a code that would elate that mystery maniac Ougi-chan. Although it would be impossible to go and depend on her now."

"Indeed. And she is still a student of Naoetsu High. She may even pull us further into the dark... At least during her stay of execution, I'd like to have her stay quiet."

During her stay of execution, huh? It had a nice ring to it.

Although it didn't particularly seem like she was going to stay quiet, there was no way I should further stimulate her curiosity—although, if more students of Naoetsu High were going to become victims, then that dark girl would very likely start acting on her own.

I was at a loss. If I were still in high school, I'd be able to depend on Hanekawa without hesitation, but... No, wait.

"Gaen-san. Will you please give Koyomin a chance to redeem himself?"

"Hm? What's that?"

"This dying message... Well, maybe we should be calling it a living message, but I think I have an idea about how to solve it. Please allow me to hold onto these flash cards for a bit."

"If you're going to say that much, then I don't mind. Living message, huh? How clever. It's common to make a joke that turns 'dying message' into 'dining message', but going for 'living' is fresh. And discovering that bit of evidence so early on is all thanks to Koyomin, after all—meanwhile, I'll be in charge of this."

Gaen-san had so disappointingly left the task to me that it felt less like she was giving me a chance to redeem myself and more like she'd discovered an even more important clue in her investigation—Gaen-san's line of sight was still resting on Kuchimoto-san's smartphone.

To be precise, what the specialist's keen eyes were looking at was not the locked smartphone itself.

It was the item that was literally connected to it, the strap.

"...Is there something wrong with the strap, Gaen-san?"

To an amateur like me, it looked like nothing but an ordinary strap. It had two accessories in the shape of the alphabet letter "K" dangling from it—without even needing to think about it, they were most likely the initials for the name "KYOUMI KUCHIMOTO".

Even if you locked your cell phone, if you left that personal information dangling out in the open, then it felt pretty meaningless...

"Of course, with just this, it would just be cute accessories that you could see anywhere. But if the second victim known as Honnou Aburi had a similar strap attached to her smartphone, wouldn't the story change?"

"Eh? ...A similar one?"

"Accessories with her initials. For Honnou Aburi-chan, it would be 'A H'... The lettering was the same. Of course, it could just be a coincidence. It could be a simple trend that this onee-san past her prime is unaware of."

The smartphone of the first victim, Harimaze-chan, wasn't decorated with any accessories at all, too—said Gaen-san, making a prudent excuse, before continuing with a "However".

"However, if the victims have something in common besides just being female students of Naoetsu High—there's a possibility that that missing link can tie back to the identity of that unidentifiable vampire as well."

005

Gaen-san called an ambulance to transport the third mummy, Kuchimoto Kyoumi-chan, to Naoetsu General Hospital, as the previous two mummies had been. And afterwards, I drove my New Beetle and headed for Manase University.

It wasn't anything like the admirable attitude of a college student to at least attend his afternoon lectures—it was to follow up on the idea I'd had with regards to solving the living message that had been left.

Conveniently, the 5th period course for today was the cryptography course I'd been thinking of—and undoubtedly, Meniko was sure to attend.

Hamukai Meniko.

She was a new friend I'd made in college. Considering she'd become a friend of mine, she was as usual a bit of an oddball, but what was important was that Hamukai Meniko was my first friend in a while to be completely unrelated to monstrous apparitions or evil spirits, urban legends or oddity stories—to be honest, just this made enrolling in university worthwhile.

I was glad I worked so hard to study.

Anyway, when I arrived at Manase University and entered the cryptography lecture hall in a bit of a late fashion, as usual, there was some good news and bad news.

The bad news: class had been canceled.

This was something that happened in college, after all.

However, the good news—there was a single person sitting in the lecture hall, neither reading a book nor playing with her smartphone nor draped over her desk asleep. And the one that was sitting while staring vacantly off into space was the student I was looking for.

"Yo, Meniko."

"Ah. Araragi-chan. Hola. Class is canceled, you know?"

"Hola. Seems like it, huh. But then, what are you even doing here?"

"Because I planned on spending my time here—I guess?"

As if she was wondering for the first time as to why she was sitting in a lecture hall for a canceled class, she responded as if she were playing dumb.

Thinking about it, it had been something like this when I first spoke to her, too—I'd come late to a class that had gotten canceled, and I'd ended up meeting Meniko, who was sitting in the classroom not doing anything.

In short, Meniko was decidedly bad at making changes to a schedule that she'd decided upon—even if a class was canceled, if she decided that she was going to spend that hour in that classroom, she'd move according to that schedule.

She was definitely an oddball. Although not as odd as I was.

But it was thanks to that that I could find her like this—because her personality was like this, it was pretty difficult to make plans over text as a result.

"There's something I want you to take a look at."

Finding it fortunate that the classroom had no one else in it, I took a seat next to Meniko and got straight to the point.

"All ri~ight. I'll look at anythi~ing. If it's a reque~est from Araragi-chan."

"It's about this flash card."

Since it was my first friend in a while with no involvement with oddities, I took special care not to get Meniko tangled up in my various oddity-related affairs, as I'd done with Oikura, while trying to maintain friendly relations with her, but in this case, it probably wouldn't be a problem—or rather, there were certainly many kinds of people in college, and among them, a female college student like this, with such a leisurely atmosphere, that it almost seemed like she was living in a different flow of time, and her hobby was deciphering codes, even when she wasn't a mystery maniac—she was quite an eccentric one.

She'd enrolled as a mathematics student as a result of her code maniac growing intense, and she was a promising ray of light among the first-years, valued highly by even the professor in charge of this cryptography course, although it had been canceled today.

And she was aiming to get a job in the police department's cyber security division or something... So, if I couldn't rely on Hanekawa or Ougi-chan, then I couldn't think of anyone else better than Meniko to ask for help—of course, I didn't reveal the fact that this was, not a dying message, but a living message left behind by a mummy that had failed to become a vampire.

I absolutely wouldn't introduce her to Gaen-san, either.

If I wanted to protect my precious friendships, I had to draw the line there.

"'B777Q'... Hmm?"

It seemed she'd been intrigued by it. It was hard to tell by her facial expression, but fundamentally, if there was something Meniko didn't find interesting, she'd ignore it as if she didn't even see it.

If you took in the fact that she'd so carelessly promised to "look at anything", then her words didn't match up with her actions at all, so it was good that I got her to look at it.

"Flash cards, hu~uh? How nosta~algic. Hm? There's something written on the back, too."

"Huh? The back?"

When I flipped through the cards back in that shack, I had judged that the rest of them had been completely blank, but right, since it they were flash cards, there was a space to write on the back, as well...

I definitely wasn't cut out for the role of a detective.

There were too many things I overlooked.

Nonetheless, when I inspected both sides of the flash cards dropped by Kuchimoto-san that I'd thought to be blank, both the fronts and the backs of almost all of them turned out to blank after all, without anything strange appearing—however, as Meniko had pointed out, on the other side of the very first card with "B777Q" written on it, the numbers "231" had been written in a manner even messier than on the front—"231"?

"B777Q" and "231"?

Absolutely nothing seemed to click for me—but what about the code maniac?

"Yeah. I have no idea."

"So you have no idea, either?"

"Yep. I have no idea. Why Araragi-chan, who's so much smarter than me, couldn't solve such an easy code like this—I have no idea."

So basically, did that mean she solved it?

006

I told Meniko that I could treat her to tea or something as thanks, but she politely declined, saying she had the next lecture to attend—well, that was the case for me as well, but unlike Meniko, I was flexible. The fact that I was not in the least reluctant to skip out on lectures was the same as in my high school days.

And, more simply, I had no time to waste.

Because it was an oddity phenomenon that involved a vampire, I needed to do as much as I could before the sun set—it's good to have a shelter against every storm.

After all, I'd even nearly been torn to shreds by mummies standing on the boundary line of life and death, unclear whether they were living or dead.

If I was going to have to confront the vampire itself—well, since I was under Gaen-san's management, it probably wouldn't develop into a battle, but it would still be better if I could resolve things before Kagenui-san arrived.

As such, I followed my navigation and traveled from Manase University to the Naoetsu General Hospital using the shortest paths possible. After arriving, I called the number of Gaen-san's PHS that I'd gotten from her when we'd parted ways, and had her tell me where Kuchimoto-chan's hospital room was—I'd foolishly wondered if, now that a third victim had appeared, it would be better to put them all in one large room for the sake of convenience, but it seemed Gaen-san wanted to keep them separate.

Well, if those related to the female students (mainly their families) ended up sharing strange information, it could cause a huge uproar—it was probably better to deal with each one of them as its own separate case, with "cause unknown", under the pretense of confidentiality, so as to keep this terrifying supernatural phenomenon behind closed doors and not cause a panic.

Of course, there had to be limits to that, but...

"Hey, Koyomin. You got back pretty quick, didn'tcha?"

Next to Kuchimoto-san, who'd been changed into a patient gown and laid on the bed like the two before her, Gaen-san, who was placing some sort of charm (vampire-sealing?), turned to look at me.

"Did you solve the code? I'd be happy if you said you did. Something a little inconvenient happened on my end, so I'd love to hear some good news."

"Huh. It's pretty unusual for something inconvenient to happen for you while I wasn't there."

"Totally."

Though she wouldn't offer any details, it seemed something truly inconvenient had indeed happened—although, unfortunately, I hadn't been able to return with good news that could make up for that.

Thanks to Meniko, the code I'd been assigned had indeed been solved, but that didn't change the fact that I had no idea what it meant—of course, this was just an amateur's judgment.

Perhaps, if I presented Meniko's solution (decryption) to Gaen-san, a specialist, it would be something immediately recognizable for her.

"My friend, who's planning on majoring in cryptography, solved it in 10 seconds. It was actually a bit too quick to be satisfying, but it was a code that a high schooler thought of, after all."

But it wasn't a code that couldn't be solved.

I put the flash cards on the shelf by the bed and tried to make my explanation brief.

"'B777Q'. If we take it apart, it's made up of a 'B' and a 'Q' with three sevens in between them, but what characteristics do the 'B' and 'Q' have in common?—although, I shouldn't need to start showing off like that in front of you, Gaen-san."

"No, it's fun. Keep going like that."

Even if you encouraged me...

Well, I was happy that she was going along with my self-redemption, now that I noticed it. It seemed she had some good points, when I actually could speak to her like this.

"Well, to sum it up, for the capital letters 'B' and 'Q' that look completely different when written in uppercase, they end up becoming the same shape, but rotated, when written in lowercase as 'b' and 'q'—and, if we think of them having the same shape, then there's a pair of Arabic numerals that also have the same shape."

"That's true. I'm well-aware of it from playing Uno."

"Um, it doesn't matter whether you know about it from playing Uno or not."

It was "6" and "9".

And, as you can see, "6" and "9" more or less had the same shape as "b" and "q"—in other words, after substituting them, we could come up with the equation that "B777Q" equals "67779".

"B777Q" = "67779".

"Oho. I see, I'm following you so far. But what does the number '67779' mean exactly? Do you have an interpretation for that?"

"Though she's aspiring to major in cryptography, that friend, like me, is a mathematics student, so when she sees a number lined up like this, she's the kind of person that thinks of prime factorization first, you see."

"What an annoying kind of person."

"Indeed. However, without even needing to do prime factorization, it should be clear as day that we can split '67779' into three prime numbers. That is, '67/7/79'."

"How is that even clear as day? Something like that is fainter than looking at a ghost."

Gaen-san shrugged her shoulders as if she was astounded.

Even an onee-san that knew everything couldn't know this as thoroughly as a code maniac and a prime number maniac could.

"So? How do you interpret '67/7/79' next?"

Of course, without even needing me to explain what prime numbers were, Gaen-san sought out the next step of the decryption—she was certainly good at using people.

"Well, we had a step where we converted the alphabet into Arabic numerals, right? So it's an orthodox method of doing the opposite now and turning the Arabic numerals back to letters of the alphabet."

"Hm... So is it 'S/D/V'?"

She was sharp.

Yes... "67" was the 19th prime number when you counted from "2". Similarly, "7" was the 4th prime number, and "79" was the 22nd prime number.

"67/7/79" = "S/D/V".

"If she managed to figure that out in 10 seconds, then I can't look down on college students these days, huh. Well, I don't have any complaints so far, but I still don't understand what 'S/D/V' is supposed to mean. You still have more, right?"

"Yes... I'm sure you probably realized this, Gaen-san, but for every piece of a flash card, there's always a backside... In the same handwriting as the front side, the numbers '231' were written."

"I hadn't realized it, though. Don't overestimate this onee-san too much, because I'd hate to disappoint you youngsters. '231'? Since it's obviously divisible by '3', it's naturally not a prime number. Although, among the titles of Maurice Leblanc's works, I think there was something like '313'."

"Since it had been specifically written on the back side, we should take this not as another code, but a sub-key to use as a hint... That is, it could be pointing out the order."

"The order? So, we should take the three letters pointed at by the code on the front side, and put them in the order of '2-3-1', like an anagram? So basically, 'S/D/V' becomes 'D/V/S'..."

"S/D/V" = "D/V/S".

It was likely that, in order to give off an air of perfection, the code had been rearranged to show the three sevens, "777", and this was an operation to put everything back.

Even I thought that "B777Q" looked better than "77QB7".

Putting it all together...

"B777Q" = "b777q" = "67779" = "67/7/79" = "S/D/V" = "D/V/S".

That was it—I was happy that I was being overestimated with her saying "Araragi-chan, who's so much smarter than me", but really, Meniko, arriving at something like this was impossible for me.

However, for a code maniac like Meniko, her decryption only went as far as this—just because "S/D/V" was "D/V/S", it still didn't change the fact that it was completely meaningless.

We could only decipher up to here for now.

However, if Gaen-san continued to say, "I still don't understand. You still have more, right?", then I'd have to throw my hands up—but the onee-san that knew everything stayed silent.

"......"

Without pressing further, and without even stating her own thoughts, she put a hand to her mouth, quietly behaving as if she were deep in thought.

Was there an interpretation that a specialist could make, as I had hoped? Could "D/V/S" be some sort of specialized term used by specialists... For example, something like "Dracula vampire soulless"...

But, as if chiding me for thinking something so stupid, Gaen-san said, "This is indeed an abbreviation, but these are initials, Koyomin. For example—the initials of a name like, 'Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster'."

"D/V/S" = "DEATHTOPIA VIRTUOSO SUICIDEMASTER".

007

It was an awfully specific name to use just as an example, but it seemed as Gaen-san had no intention of explaining any further, as she said, "Thanks, Koyomin. It seems like we might have something to go off of now," cutting short the conversation with her gratitude. "Give your friend my thanks, as well."

"Ah, yes..."

If the leader wrapped it up like this with that much force, I couldn't exactly go against it... Well, the fact that Gaen-san wasn't explaining it could mean that it was better off for me not to know. At least, for now...

In any case, for now we could put aside the deciphering of the living message that the third mummy, Kuchimoto Kyoumi-chan, left behind... As for me, I was more curious about Gaen-san's gloomy face that she'd shown when I entered the room.

Something inconvenient happened. That was what she'd said.

That's why she wanted some good news.

Even though she had said thanks, it didn't necessarily dispel the gloom from Gaen-san's expression, so I wondered if what I had brought was not good news but bad news. However, I couldn't just pretend to ignore whatever inconvenient thing happened while I'd been out.

"It might have been a bit of an exaggeration to call it inconvenient. Or rather, if it's like this, then I should say I'm glad I called you in in advance, Koyomin... In a way, this is fate. Well, because of the cell phone straps, I was wondering if there was another point in common between the victims aside from just them attending the same school, so I did a little invasion of the girls' privacy."

"When you put it like that, it makes it really hard to understand what exactly you're a specialist of, Gaen-san."

"As a result, I uncovered a completely unforeseen fact. All three of them were a part of the same club."

"The same club?"

Ah, then even if they were in different years, it would still make sense for them to be connected by having the same kind of strap... Although, I'd never been a part of a club, so I'd hardly associated with anyone who wasn't in my year.

Then, it wasn't just Kuchimoto-chan and Honnou-chan, but even the first mummy, Harimaze-chan, that were connected by a common missing link—but what was inconvenient about that?

Wasn't that a good thing?

It seemed much more concrete than the information I'd gone all the way to my college to bother a friend for, and it seemed like a much better clue that would take us a step closer to the resolution of the incident...

"And that club happens to be the girls' basketball club."

"Ah."

I understood. I understood very well.

Because, even though Gaen-san had almost nothing to be afraid of, specializing in all sorts of monstrous apparitions, she happened to have a single weakness, an organization that reminded her of her older sister... The Naoetsu High girls' basketball club.

Gaen Tooe.

That was the name of Gaen-san's sister, the onee-san's sister, and that onee-san's sister's daughter's name was Kanbaru Suruga—currently a third-year high school girl at Naoetsu High, and the former captain of the girls' basketball club.

She was one of the few juniors I'd interacted with—more precisely, she was the junior of my girlfriend, but, anyway, the keyword "mummy" was something that really had a bad affinity with Kanbaru.

And even if that weren't the case, the Naoetsu High girls' basketball club was rather unique... It was on quite a different level for a club that was in that uptight university-focused school.

Even if there were no oddities, it was still an odd organization.

If all three victims were members of the girls' basketball club, then it seemed impossible to just pass off as a coincidence... Although it was also dangerous to assume that that was the source of the incident.

Though I didn't remember when, a specialist had once said this.

Oddities have their own appropriate reasons—indeed.

Even the vampire that sucked out my blood during my spring break as a 17-year-old had inevitably had her own reason for doing so.

And if it happened that this case was also inevitable...

"We'd have to keep digging into it, right? Um, so basically... It would be better if I was the one to do that, right?"

"Right. I shouldn't get any more involved with Suruga, after all."

That was probably what she'd meant by when she said she was glad she'd called me in in advance... Once before, during an incident that wasn't just oddity-related, but also vampire-related, Gaen-san had needed to make use of Kanbaru's "left arm", and had operated under a fake name to do so.

She'd needed to do that much, because it was that taboo for her to step on her sister's shadow.

Though she was someone that was fuzzier than Oshino, she was strict about at least that much.

"Not to mention, Suruga has lost her 'left arm' now—or should we say she 'recovered' it? Really, Kaiki did something so unnecessary. Because of that, I lost another one of my successors."

"...Thinking about what happened before, I feel the same way in not wanting to get her involved. But, well."

I looked towards the bed... The third girl to be mummified, Kuchimoto Kyoumi.

After seeing her dried-up form once again, I knew I couldn't say that.

"In the first place, since it's been a while since Kanbaru retired from the basketball club, so it could be doubtful whether or not she has any useful information."

"Even so, I'd like you to do it. Since she's sociable like her mother, there's no way she wouldn't know even a single one of her juniors—if possible, I'd like to get a list of all the club's members."

"Understood."

And, though I accepted it, I couldn't reject the feelings of reluctance that followed. Because no matter how much caution I took, if I came to her with a weird approach, then Kanbaru would be sure to recklessly poke her nose into these affairs... At the very least, I didn't want a repeat of the events of the previous incident.

I checked the watch on my right wrist, confirming that it was currently in the middle of 6th period at the high school—at this rate, it should be possible to meet up with Kanbaru before the sun set.

Unlike Meniko, since Kanbaru was preparing for entrance exams, it was probably better to set things up over text beforehand... Or should I just handle everything by calling her? Although, considering the circumstances, I did want to meet up and talk to her directly...

"Also, I may as well let you know what I've ascertained after going through her belongings, Koyomin. From the on-site inspection, I had come to the conclusion that this girl had to have been attacked by the vampire this morning, but it turns out that she'd become a victim as early as dawn of yesterday."

"Yesterday? Um, then... She was the third person to be discovered, but Kuchimoto-san was actually the second victim?"

"Yep. That's how it is. She'd been missing for almost an entire day—that's what I learned after contacting her family. Putting it all together, Naoetsu High first-year Harimaze Kie-chan was attacked in the evening of the day before yesterday—and, before daybreak, the vampire attacked another Naoetsu High first-year, Kuchimoto Kyoumi-chan. It's still unclear whether the vampire sucked her blood in that shack or the vampire sucked her blood and then moved her to that shack, but regardless, it was done in the night—as a vampire does, it took a break during the day after the sun rose, and when night fell again, it bit into the neck of the Naoetsu High second-year, Honnou Aburi-chan, in her own home."

The permutation had changed, but, if anything, it broke down the hypothesis, high-paced as it was, that one victim was formed per day—by now, it wasn't exactly good news to hear.

This vampire was quite a glutton.

"Speaking of which, didn't vampires need permission to enter the houses or rooms of others? The second... that is, the third victim, Honnou-chan—wasn't she discovered in the futon of her own room?"

"There are variations to that idea, so I can only say that it depends on the circumstances. There are times when that's the case, and there are times when it isn't—however, if the culprit was some extremely handsome man with a well-proportioned body and an annual income of 500 million yen, like Shishirui Seishirou, then there's probably no high school girl that would not let someone like him enter their room."

Well, I wasn't sure about Shishirui Seishirou's annual income being 500 million yen, but, well, that was indeed a truth, or perhaps divine providence... It was also possible that, as was conjectured with Kuchimoto Kyoumi-chan's case, the unidentified vampire sucked the blood of the girl in an alleyway, turned her into a mummy, and then carried her into her room after that... Although I had no idea why it would do something like that.

"Of course, there might be even more victims, so I'll keep an eye out in this town for more dried-up mummies, not just limited to the female students of Naoetsu High—really, it feels more like searching for an ancient civilization, instead of just an oddity story. It's fortunate for now that the search range is just within this town, but depending on the situation, we may need to expand it even further."

"...Would it help if we asked Hachikuji for assistance?"

If we were talking about this town, then that lost child had become this town's god, so she'd probably be aware of troubles that were occurring in town... It was possible that she knew something.

"Hmm. I wonder about that. There's certainly a high possibility for that, but since she's become a god, that means by now that she's firmly on the side of the oddities."

"I see."

I wouldn't exactly be able to deal with depending on my old friend and putting her in a dilemma between humans and oddities.

Even gods had their own positions to keep in mind—if I appealed to her using my friendship and ended up toppling her from the seat of a god, that lost child could end up falling straight to hell without getting lost on the way.

After all, the road to the Kitashirahebi Shrine had become a throughway to hell.

And that was something that—well, it didn't really pain me to say it.

"Well, in any case, I'll set up plans to meet up with Kanbaru for now. And while I'm at it, I'll go and clean up her room really quick."

"That's a pretty incredible task to just do while you're at it. My niece is really causing trouble for you."

Although she wasn't as bad as you.

Well, I suppose it ran in the family.

"What will you do now, Gaen-san?"

"Though I feel bad because you and the search party are all working hard, I'm going to borrow an open bed in the hospital and take a nap—since I'm going to have to be active at night. No matter how young I dress myself up as, at this age, pulling an all-nighter is rough."

Well, that made sense.

As long as vampires were nocturnal, you'd have no choice but to adjust your biological clock to deal with their movements—even sleeping was part of the job.

Incidentally, a benefit of my aftereffects was that I didn't need to plan my sleep schedule like Gaen-san—it didn't put too much strain on me if I lost one or two nights of sleep. My vampire constitution had been modestly useful during my exam period.

"Oh yeah, by the way, Gaen-san. What should I tell Shinobu about this case? There's no doubt she'll wake up once night falls, after all."

Like with Kanbaru, during the case of Shishirui Seishirou, Oshino Shinobu had also been put to work, but I couldn't say that that weak-minded little girl had been totally useful.

If anything, she'd totally gotten in our way.

Well, I could sympathize with her situation, so I couldn't one-sidedly criticize her for her actions, and I had no intention of doing so, but if this was going to revive her feelings of remorse from that time, then perhaps we'd be better off excluding her from this case from the beginning.

After being sealed in my shadow, she had become not quite a half-vampire and more of a half-slave, but she wasn’t the kind of person that worked the way I wanted her to.

"After all, since they're both vampires, it could end up being someone she knows. That in itself would put her in a dilemma."

"For sure. It could be someone she knows. That would put her in a dilemma," repeated Gaen-san, nodding suggestively. "Well, we can think about that while she's sleeping. For now, focus on getting as much information as you can before tonight."

"Understood."

008

As I stepped on the accelerator on the way to Kanbaru's house, I pondered the possibility that the note that had been jotted down on that flash card was not actually a living message.

"B777Q" = "D/V/S".

It seemed Gaen-san had come up with some sort of hypothesis, and I believed Meniko's decryption had been right—however, for a code left behind just before the victim was transformed into a mummy, I felt that it was a little too elaborate.

Because, even if the cryptography was correct, this wasn't a mystery novel... Perhaps Ougi-chan would be convinced by it, but if you were being attacked by a vampire, or some other bad guy, would you really have the luxury of considering what the 22nd prime number was, or thinking that putting the three sevens together as "777" looked better?

No matter how much of a hard worker she was at school...

To be honest, even for me, who I could only recognize as having made it into college through his math skills alone, counting the prime numbers wasn't something I could easily do in my head, especially when I was driving like this... And if I were in a panic from being attacked, I was sure it would be close to impossible.

Well, it would be possible if it were Hanekawa, or even Meniko... Perhaps we could leave open the possibility that Kuchimoto Kyoumi-chan was one of those rarely seen child prodigies, but looking at those blank flash cards, it was hard to see her as anything but a studious honors student...

Especially if she was a member of the girls' basketball club known for its intense training... It was the same for Kanbaru, but that club had a system where you wouldn't be able to keep up if you didn't do your duties.

In that case, perhaps it wasn't a living message, or even a dying message—wasn't it more appropriate to deduce that this was actually the "signature" of the "culprit" vampire?

Signature, a declaration of crime, a proclamation of war, a self-expression.

It didn't matter what you called it, but it supported the theory of it being "initials" like Gaen-san mentioned briefly, or maybe even carelessly—it wasn't that the victim left behind the initials of the "culprit", but that the "culprit" left behind their own initials in the hands of the victim?

As if—making themselves known.

...If that was the case, the first (for now) victim, Harimaze Kie-chan, or the second (to be discovered) victim, Honnou Aburi-chan, could have something hidden among their personal belonging that involved such a self-inflated signature.

Should I let Gaen-san know about that? No, if it was a possibility on a level that I could come up with, then there was no way that Gaen-san didn't already hit upon it... And even if she hadn't, it wasn't a hypothesis worth waking her up, when she was trying to recharge herself for the coming night.

For now, I would focus on my own duty.

And as I pondered, the New Beetle arrived at the Japanese mansion where Kanbaru lived... I hadn't completely gotten free of the appeal of bicycles, but in the end, cars were on a completely different level in terms of mobility—I barely had the time to guess at deductions while I was traveling.

As if working as parking attendants, my junior stood outside the open gates, still in uniform on the way back from school—but, oh? It wasn't just one junior that was there.

Next to Kanbaru stood another female student, naturally wearing a Naoetsu High uniform as well—by the color of her necktie, she was a third-year, but who was she?

"Let me introduce you, Araragi-senpai. This is my friend from when I was in the basketball club, Higasa. After I retired, she took over as captain."

In a somewhat rushed greeting, Kanbaru introduced her classmate and friend to me when I left my car—her friend, who had been the captain of the girls' basketball club until very recently. I see, so when I let her know about the general idea of my business over the phone, she'd made some arrangements.

What a capable junior. I was unworthy of her.

"It's nice to meet you, Araragi-senpai. My name is Higasa Seiu. I've heard rumors about you for some time now."

"Haha. I'm sure they weren't any good rumors, right?"

"Ahahahahahahahahaha."

I was laughed at in an almost unnatural way. It seemed they weren't good rumors.

"Come inside, Araragi-senpai. No point in standing around here. Grandpa and Grandma are out on a trip, so they'll be away until the day after tomorrow, but even I can at least make tea for you."

"Eh. Um, but, your room..."

"It's fi~ine. I already know about it."

Though I'd been in a panic, Higasa-chan spoke up as if in total understanding—it seemed my capable junior had a capable friend. I felt a bit of relief at learning that Kanbaru had a friend among her peers that could tolerate such a chaotic room—but, anyway, I didn't want to overstay my welcome.

The problem in Kanbaru's left arm had been resolved, and it seemed she was lively and in high spirits, so let's quickly finish up my business here and take my leave—before she found out that I was playing around with her aunt.

"Here, have some tea, Araragi-senpai. I haven't put anything suspicious in it, so drink up without any worries."

"You don't need to add that remark!"

"Ahahahahahahahahaha."

Perhaps she was just someone who simply got drunk on laughter, but it seemed Higasa-chan didn't particularly mind sitting with and relaxing with a senior she'd just met, in this room whose mess seemed almost like a lie—as expected of Kanbaru's friend, she sure was easy-going.

"No, no, I'm actually very shy. Unlike Ruga, who's so boorish."

Although she certainly didn't seem like it.

Also, so Kanbaru was called "Ruga" by her friends...

For a moment, I'd been about to lean into the description of my cute junior as boorish, but in terms of our relationships, Higasa-chan was much closer to Kanbaru than I was, so it would be weird to condemn her evaluation.

"However, Araragi-senpai, you feel like someone I've known for a long time, so it doesn't really feel like we've just met for the first time."

"Really, what kind of rumors are floating around about me...?"

She was speaking as if I was someone like Lieutenant Columbo.

"You were the only delinquent among Naoetsu High's graduates, after all."

So that wasn't just Hanekawa's own misunderstanding?

Aw man.

"Although, just from hearing the rumors, it makes me quiver with fear. I'm so awestruck, so please forgive me if I end up being discourteous in any way out of my nervousness. Oh yeah, and I want to brag to all my friends, so could I please have your number?"

She didn't even hesitate.

Attached to the cell phone that was cheekily yet amiably presented to me was a strap with the letters "S H" as accessories... Hmm, it seemed that she had still left it on even after retiring.

What about Kanbaru?

Ah, that's right, her getting a cell phone was something that happened after she met me—it ended up being like that.

"So... About the girls' basketball club."

"Yes, yes. I have the data prepared right here."

From her school bag, Higasa-chan deftly pulled out a file that looked rather thick—it looked almost like a class's attendance record, but considering the context, it was most likely a register for the club.

"Since I joined the club, it's always been Higasa that kept records of all our activities, you see. If it were me, I wouldn't have even thought to make a list like that, and even if I did, I probably would have lost it somewhere," said Kanbaru.

Indeed, seeing the wretched state of this room that I had cleaned just the other day, I could see that she wasn't just being modest to praise her friend.

Though Higasa-chan had retired after she'd become a third-year, she'd still been present during the recruitment for the club in April, as she seemed to be completely aware of the affairs of the current second-years and the current first-years—however, when I reflexively reached out, she suddenly raised her hands in a banzai and kept the register out of my reach.

Like a basketball player trying to prevent a steal—or not.

"What is it? Nobody said, 'put your hands up!', Higasa-chan."

"Yeah. We-ell, Araragi-senpai. I shouldn't even need to say this, but this is the personal information of a hundred high school girls, after all," said Higasa-chan with a smile, holding the register in the air.

A hundred?

I turned to Kanbaru—and she nodded.

Wow, so the girls' basketball club had a hundred members.

A hundred members just from the first- and second-years... So were there at least fifty from each year? With a concrete number being defined, it put me at even more of a loss than when we had hypothesized an unspecified large number of victims.

Gaen-san had said something like "two out of a hundred", but that should have been just an example...

Well, for a sports club that competed on a national level, it could even be considered a fewer number of people than usual...

"To be exact, it's not fifty from each year. There are 76 second-years and 24 first-years, for a total of one hundred," said Higasa-chan. "So, even if this was something I made personally, if word got out that I leaked something like this, it wouldn't exactly end well for me."

"Right. Yeah, that's true."

I couldn't do anything but agree—I knew that, as someone who'd already graduated, and as someone who'd been part of the go-home club with absolutely no relation to the girls' basketball club, it was from the beginning a rather selfish request to ask for a hundred girls' worth of names, addresses, and contact information.

"Yes. If that happened, my blood will be spilled."

She was probably joking, but just today I'd laid eyes on three mummies with the blood sucked completely out of them, so I couldn't exactly go, "Ahahahahahahahahaha".

"Yes. It's not something to laugh about. It's not just their names and addresses and contact information—it even has their height and weight and three sizes and whether or not they have a partner."

"I'm sorry to take up more of your time, but Higasa-chan, would you mind blacking out those parts for me?"

"Even though it wouldn't end well for me, if I handed these records over to that Araragi-senpai infamous for being a hentai..."

"Infamous for being a hentai?"

"No. I said Araragi-hentai, infamous for being a senpai."

If that was what you said, that sounded even more cruel.

Should I go to Naoetsu High starting now to try and fix my bad reputation?

"Higasa. Being a hentai is my territory. And don't act all buddy-buddy and have fun with Araragi-senpai."

From off to the side, "Ruga" demonstrated the narrowness of her dignity.

Really, I couldn't feel any star power from her at all... And yet, they still called her the legendary ace of the basketball club.

However, if her intention was to protect the personal information of her members as an ex-captain, then Higasa-chan surely would not have even bothered to bring the register to this mansion on Kanbaru's request in the first place.

"I see. Understood, Higasa-chan. If I want to get that register, then you're saying I have to defeat you in a game of street basketball, right?"

"Um, no, that's not what I'm saying."

So it wasn't that? But I'd already taken off my jacket.

"Rather than that, the reason I'm risking becoming a bloody mess to lend you this top-secret register, Araragi-senpai, is in the hopes that maybe you'll be able to break down the current state of the Naoetsu High girls' basketball club."

"...? The current state of the club?"

"Higasa. If you ask that much from Araragi-hentai..."

While I was tilting my head at the rather unsettling wording, Kanbaru rebuked her friend—you're also calling me Araragi-hentai, aren't you.

You absolutely can't lend out the personal information of a hundred high school girls to someone like that!

"No, no. Even you feel some responsibility for it, though, don't you, Ruga? For the girlsbas right now. Perhaps even more than me."

"That's... Ah, Araragi-hentai. 'Girlsbas' is just a shortened form of 'girls' basketball club', and, most assuredly, does not mean the girls' bath."

"Could it actually be you that's spreading around my bad reputation, Kanbaru-kouhai?"

In any case, it seemed that, even between the two ex-captains, they didn't share the same opinion. And hearing that much, I wasn't the kind of Araragi-hentai that would back down so easily.

Not to mention, if there was some sort of trouble in the girls' basketball club right now, then, surprisingly enough, it could have some connection to the cause of the current serial mummification incident.

"Let me know what's going on. After all, I didn't come here to ask for help without doing anything in return. If there's something bothering you, I'll do my best to help."

"I'm very happy you feel that way, but it's enough to have you come over to clean my room every week or so, Araragi-senpai."

"Isn't that actually more than enough, Ruga...?" said Higasa-chan, scowling as if saying, don't say things that will make it harder for me to rely on Araragi-senpai. She then turned to me and said, "It's kinda in big trouble, the girlsbas after we retired," in an informal tone.

Really, what part of you was shy?

"It's not really a matter of there being any specific reason, but the atmosphere feels awful... When I visited the gym to try and be senpai-like and have them let off some exam stress, it almost felt like I put more stress on them instead."

Perhaps it was because of that that this girl was joking around in order to not make the atmosphere around here heavy as well—if so, she had a pretty good personality... Kanbaru had been acting as if she was embarrassed by her friend's behavior, but really, what you should be ashamed of is the state this room is in.

"Does it have to do with them getting weaker? Like, they fell out of the golden age that had the two of you in it."

I probably should have chosen my words better for that, but as someone with a small vocabulary, I couldn't think of another way to express it—they got weaker.

Although, well, that could just be inevitable, in a sense.

In a sense, Kanbaru was just too extraordinary.

To be even called a superstar, she was a student that was far more out-of-place than I was at Naoetsu High, a private school that was university-focused...

"That's true. Since I just worked really hard at my studies to chase after Senjougahara-senpai who I yearned for so much."

"Incidentally, I'm a sports-minded girl who can study without even needing to work hard at it."

Higasa-chan boastfully puffed out her chest, still keeping both her arms raised.

Well, there were those sorts of people, too.

"But I don't think it's because they got weaker. If anything, I'd say that would be even better for them... But, the atmosphere turned bad."

"The atmosphere—"

"The girls' basketball club stopped being a club that's bright and fun with a sense of solidarity," explained Kanbaru, almost unwillingly, in a way that was very much unlike her. "They lost their sense of solidarity—and all that was left was a sense of collective responsibility. And, to be specific..."

Kanbaru Suruga paused, then continued.

"Out of the hundred members listed in that register, five of them have gone missing."

009

According to Higasa-chan, saying that they'd "gone missing" was a bit of an exaggerated take from my rash junior, but to sum it up, among the first- and second-years, there were five members who couldn't be contacted.

Surprisingly enough, I was already familiar with three out of the five names they gave—although it wasn't that surprising.

Harimaze Kie. Honnou Aburi. Kuchimoto Kyoumi.

I could understand up to that point.

Thanks to Gaen-san's deft manipulation of information, and perhaps even an embargo of information, the various mummified girls were being treated as having a "strange disease", so their matters weren't publicized—as such, the three of them were seen from the outside as absent for some vague reason, the actual circumstances imperceptible.

"Gone missing".

Up to that point, it was a pre-established harmony, in a sense, so it wasn't worth getting shocked or taken aback—the problem would be the fact that two more names were included in the group of "missing" girls.

It was a fact that I didn't want to face.

It was a bit premature to assume that both of them had already fallen victim to a vampire, but even if that wasn't the case, five students going "missing" was more than enough to be a huge incident, wasn't it?-although, that was just what I thought as someone who'd already graduated, but, thinking back to when I'd still been enrolled, I had to conclude that that wasn't necessarily true.

I'd already mentioned that I'd skipped class in high school a lot, but it wouldn't exactly be right to say that, at this university-focused school where people "going missing" was rare, everyone but me was an honors student.

If you wondered what happened to the students that couldn't keep up in class, that weren't suited to the school tradition of having the top standard score, that ended up falling behind... Well, in short, you'd say they—"went away".

They'd transfer, or they'd drop out.

Or, like Oikura Sodachi, they'd shut themselves in their own home—they "went away".

What Higasa-chan had said was certainly right, and a "delinquent that graduated from Naoetsu High" like me was certainly rare.

It had to be an exaggeration to say that I was the "only" one, but most of them didn't make it to graduation.

They'd go away—they'd disappear.

As if they'd never been there in the first place—so, at Naoetsu High, becoming "unable to see" a student was not an especially unusual affair.

What the school was turning a blind eye to was not the students that fell behind themselves, but the idea that the school even had students that fell behind to begin with. That was the reality—the real problem.

Well, it wasn't just Naoetsu High. All private schools probably wanted to avoid scandals like that...

But, in terms of the trouble occurring in the girls' basketball club this time, what was different about it was that it wasn't trouble that stemmed from the intensity of class or exams, but trouble that stemmed from training and teamwork.

"Ruga herself will probably deny this, but to be perfectly clear, Naoetsu High's girlsbas was a club made around Kanbaru Suruga, because of Kanbaru Suruga, for Kanbaru Suruga, after all... Even from when I joined, I proactively worked to lead the club in direction, as well," said Higasa-chan. "I don't think doing that in itself was wrong, and it was because of that that we could make it to Nationals, after all. The problem was that, even after Ruga hurt her left arm and had to retire, that arrangement ended up being passed down as is... At least when I was captain, I did my best to fool the club to somehow keep things going, but after retiring in April, it fell apart all in one go."

A goal that was too far, training that was too hard, peer pressure that couldn't be escaped...

Not a sense of solidarity, but a sense of collective responsibility.

"Sports isn't something people should be suffering through, so if it's that harsh, then I feel like they'd be better off resigning, though."

Since the club was formed around her existence, it was hard to deny it completely, but Kanbaru, who was usually a straightforward person, spoke instead with a weak tone of voice.

"Even if they did want to resign, they probably don't want to be the first to do so."

"That's something I can't understand."

"Well, of course you can't, Ruga." And, as if exasperated, or maybe to sidestep the subject, Higasa-chan said, "There were kids that did resign, of course. Not that they sent in with an official notification of their resignation, since they resigned after getting hurt during practice."

Higasa-chan made it sound like they got hurt on purpose to resign... And I couldn't say that I didn't understand how they felt.

Although I couldn't say it was exactly the same, when I'd been studying for exams, I'd been tempted by the idea of hurting myself in order to avoid tackling a problem set for hours on end—of course, because of my vampire constitution, it didn't actually go well, but I could only say that there had been something wrong with me at the time.

In other words, there was something wrong here.

With the girls' basketball club right now.

Because they'd lost the support of the Kanbaru era—or rather, they'd lost the core.

"So, we knew we needed to do something about it, so we had a meeting of the OG third-years and debated over what to do, and, well, it's not like we didn't try to put some of our countermeasures in action, but it was like they backfired, since over the past few days, more and more members have stopped coming to school—and because it looks like there are no problems on the surface, it feels even worse than it should be. Even the ones that are having a hard time feel a sense of fulfillment or get filled with euphoria when they reach a stopping point, so they get stuck in place. And if someone carelessly complains about something, everyone else gets together and enjoys criticizing that person."

"It's hard for us to change that structure from where we are, Araragi-senpai. Or rather, it's because our generation is the one that made that structure in the first place, so what they're doing is almost exactly the same as what we're doing."

"Yeah. The difference is just how they feel about it. ...Um, it's possible that maybe we were wrong to set that up in the first place. Our advisor, who'd lived in an age of corporal punishment and a prevalent pecking order, had given us the opinion that 'it might not fit the current generation, but it was still good in its own way', and we didn't want to ignore that. Well, from the day I joined to the day I retired, I'm pretty sure I had fun every day, right?"

Well, who knows.

It was true that it was hard to deny a process before seeing the results, but the undeniable reality was that, even if they said and did the same things, if the people doing those things changed, then the impression would also change—however, in that case, I could understand how Kanbaru and Higasa-chan felt, about how it would be hard to guide their juniors that were just imitating them.

"The school itself is keeping us from saying anything, so we were basically at our wits' end when you approached us, Araragi-senpai. I almost thought this was a godsend."

They must have really been at their wits' end if they thought being approached by a pervert was a godsend, but anyway.

It was true that the timing was good.

Considering the current era, if it weren't for this timing, I doubted Higasa-chan would've even told me about the register's existence—however, I still couldn't say if this was inevitable or just a coincidence.

If the trouble in the girls' basketball club had a direct connection to the vampire turmoil occurring in this town—for Higasa-chan, she probably would never have guessed that I was already busy trying to resolve that trouble.

"...Hmm."

However, I still stopped to think.

I stopped to compare things with my experiences from last year... or not. What I was actually remembering were the words of my classmate, Hanekawa.

At the time, she had certainly been having some trouble, even though she didn't show it. And Hanekawa Tsubasa, whose worries had driven her up to the wall, had thought, during her spring break as a 17-year-old, that she "wanted to meet a vampire".

It was an earnest desire [setsubou].

It was despair [zetsubou].

To meet an incomprehensible monster that could burst through the immovable walls of reality, of real problems, in a single blow—even after graduating from high school, the Hanekawa that had spread her wings overseas was like that.

In that case, was it really so farfetched to infer that the students troubled over their club and worried about their school life thought, in the same way, that "it would be so much easier if a vampire came an attacked me"...?

And if that strong, earnest desire—or perhaps, that strong despair—was the missing link that connected the victims.

I couldn't afford to not determine the whereabouts of the remaining two names that had gone missing—especially if they hadn't been mummified yet, but no, even if they did already have their blood sucked.

"I got it, Higasa-chan. I don't really think a blockhead like me can do anything about the delicate problems that girls face—but if you can lend me that register, I promise I'll do my best to make sure that no more members go missing among your juniors, at the very least."

"Just you promising that is enough for me."

And though I knew that my words wouldn't give any peace of mind, Higasa-chan still said that and lowered her arms that had been raised all this time, handing over the register to me.

"By the way, Araragi-senpai, do you have a girlfriend?"

010

Nervously wondering about what would have happened if I had said that I didn't, and feeling embarrassed at myself for allowing myself to be teased by a high school girl that I'd met for the first time, I once again headed back to the Naoetsu General Hospital.

I'd ended up feeling a lot gloomier as a graduate of Naoetsu High, but just from the results, I'd managed to obtain the member list of the girls' basketball club fairly easily, so I assumed Gaen-san would still be in the middle of her nap in preparation for the night, and I started thinking about how I might be praised for my quick work, but when I arrived, the specialist was already awake.

Didn't she only sleep for about 30 minutes?

Even though she'd said that pulling an all-nighter was rough, was this woman also a short sleeper, like other eminent figures were...? In any case, I returned to the first hospital room I'd visited that day, containing the mummy of Harimaze Kie-chan, first-year of Naoetsu High and a member of the girls' basketball club, and relayed the information to Gaen-san in much the same way as a carrier pigeon would.

"I see. You're really living out your youth, huh?"

Those were her first words.

Well, for Gaen-san, who was from a completely different era, and had never even attended Naoetsu High, that may be how it seemed.

As someone who'd known firsthand of Kanbaru Suruga flourishing as a versatile superstar, it honestly pained me just hearing about the state of affairs in the current girls' basketball club, but it was useless to try and have those feelings be shared by an unrelated third party.

It was surely the same as how, for a fresh-faced college first-year like me, the concepts of employment or marriage were something I still couldn't understand.

"That's a little upsetting to hear. Even this onee-san had a period where she was in her youth, you know? A youth spent with Oshino and Kaiki and Kagenui... And a youth spent with my sister. Indeed, just as how youth is written with the kanji for 'blue' and 'spring', it was a springtime that turned me blue with shock."

"...I'm very sorry about that."

However, it was absolutely true that I couldn't picture Gaen-san and company in their teenage years... Especially not a teenage version of Kanbaru's mother, Gaen Tooe-san.

"From what you're saying, Koyomin, so far, there's no evidence to conclude that this has anything to do with the girls' mummification, but there is equally no evidence to dismiss it as irrelevant, either. So the members of the girls' basketball team were feeling depressed, wondering why they had to sacrifice their studies and devote themselves to grueling practices, when the seniors that would aim that high were already gone—and perhaps the vampire was attracted by the darkness in their hearts. That hypothesis does have a certain degree of plausibility."

"Oddities have a fitting reason to their existence—right?"

"Well, let this onee-san that knows everything tell you that the period of time that Suruga was a member of the team wasn't necessarily a healthy and beautiful adolescence, either. Putting aside the other girls, it wasn't as if that niece of mine got faster for a positive reason."

Indeed.

The superstar hadn't been a superstar from the moment she was born. Rather, circumstances made it so that she had to become a superstar.

Because she made a wish to a monkey.

"Even if she was freed from that monkey, it doesn't mean she's been freed from the worries of her adolescence. Well, it's the fate of upperclassmen to be bothered by their underclassmen. We'll just have to roll with it in order to uphold the cheap promise you made, Koyomin."

First off, why don't we focus on searching for the remaining two "missing" members of the club?—said Gaen-san, deciding on our plan of action after riffling through the register I gave her.

"Of course, we'll also be confirming the locations of the remaining members, too. Kanguu Misago-chan and Kiseki Souwa-chan—both second-years."

"Hypothetically, if those two have already had a run-in with the vampire, then out of the five victims, there would be three second-years and two first-years."

Not that I could draw any conclusions from that, and I might have been getting ahead of myself considering their mummies hadn't been discovered yet.

But I didn't want to turn away from unpleasant possibilities just because the pessimism would bum me out—I wanted to think of everything I could, so that I could deal with the worst-case scenario.

3:2... That was the ratio of the club members.

"Oh yeah. Gaen-san. I only thought of this afterwards, but do you think it's possible that the living message that Kuchimoto-chan left behind on that flash card was actually the vampire's signature?"

"I'd say it's very possible."

It seemed that it was a possibility that she'd already considered, as she responded to my question in an instant—the initials, huh?

"D/V/S".

"However, there was nothing of the sort in the belongings of either Harimaze Kie-chan here or Honnou Aburi-chan in the next room. Of course, there were no living messages either. But if the 'B777Q' on the flash card is actually a signature, it would make more sense if a similar code was left with every mummy."

That was true... But for her to have already verified that—did this person really take a nap while I was gone?

"In Kuchimoto-chan's case, instead of being on a public street or in a private house, she was in an abandoned shack. Maybe the vampire felt that they could work leisurely without worrying about being seen?"

As I said that, I couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Without worrying about being seen? Work leisurely?

A vampire worrying about being seen sounded like some sort of slapstick comedy... In that case, it would make more sense that they had left a code behind with the mummies of Harimaze-chan and Honnou-chan, a code that didn't seem like a code.

"There are a couple more things that don't make sense, Koyomin. If you explain this as a vampire leaving their signature in much the same way an artist signs their name on a work of art, it's pretty hair-raising and very appropriate for an oddity story—but in that case, don't you think they would have added it to a work that they'd be more proud of?"

At least, they wouldn't be doing it on a failure... —said Gaen-san, looking up from the register and towards the mummy on the bed.

I see.

As an ordinary person, my thoughts came to a standstill when I lay my eyes upon such a gruesome mummy, but in the end, a mummy like this was something that had "failed" to become a vampire—no matter how much they longed to be in the limelight, there was surely no artist that would sign their name on a failed work.

Then, should I simply assume that it was just a living message left behind by Kuchimoto-chan?

"I did do a handwriting analysis. I compared the writing in red pen on the flash card with the writing in her notebook that I found in her bag—however, I couldn't come to a definite conclusion. There didn't seem to be any matches in the handwriting, but if they were scribbling it down while being attacked by a vampire, it would make sense for it to be messy."

"That's true... Well, in the end, whether it's a living message or a signature, it doesn't really matter."

"Although, from our perspective as the pursuers, a vampire that longs to be in the limelight is much easier to find, so that would be helpful. But anyway, as the commander, I'd like to give you a command to follow, Koyomin."

"Ah. Yes. What is it?"

The sun was about to set. Time was running out.

We were entering the world of the night.

It seemed that, after the reconnaissance and discussion, it was finally time to come up with a practical response to this oddity phenomenon—thanks to talking with Kanbaru and Higasa-chan, my motivation to solve the case had increased as much as my mood had decreased, but now, what did I need to do?

"I was really unsure about whether or not I should ask this of you... But it seems I'll have to after all. Koyomin. This is only something you can do."

Gaen-san spoke with a serious expression.

"I'd like you to hold Shinobu-chan back for tonight."

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wiypt-writes · 4 years ago

Text

Stark Spangled Forever

One Shot: Man’s Best Friend

Intro: The Rogers bid a sad goodbye to a member of their family…

Warnings: Pet death- sorry, I know!!

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: This was a one shot I started writing a while back when I had to say goodbye to my horse, Cap, and I forgot about it until I was sifting through my files today. It as therapeutic for me to write, and I promise it has a happy end. Hope you all enjoy still reading about my favourite duo as much as I still enjoy writing for them.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Forever Masterlist // Main Masterlist

It’s a well held opinion that dogs don’t live as long as people because they don’t need to. People need to learn how to be good and kind as life moves on. Dogs are simply born that way…

November 2028

“Steve?” Bucky asked, watching Rori as she lay on the rug in the living room, her legs bent in the air behind her, crossed at the ankle as they swung to and fro. “Why does Rori have odd socks on? Thought it set your teeth on edge?”

“It does.” Steve rolled his eyes from where he sat on the sofa, eyes glued to the Giants game that was on the screen. “But you try getting her to change them.” “She’ll do anything for her Uncle Buck.” Bucky smirked and Steve turned to look at him, grinning.

“Go on then.” He watched, smirk on his face as he knew full well where this was gonna go.

“Hey, Rori.” Bucky spoke. The four year old turned her head to look at him with a questioning glance.

“How ‘bout you go change your socks, find two yellow ones.” “How ‘bout no?” She replied, turning back to her activity book.

“Rori.” Steve spoke sternly at her cheeky reply and her eyes turned to her father. She looked at him, completely unabashed, shrugging with an air that was so goddamned like her mother before she continued what she was doing, clearly no shits given whatsoever.

Steve looked at Bucky, an I-told-you-so smirk sliding on his face as he turned back to the game, beer bottle held in his hand. At that point Jamie came into the room, flopping down on his bean bag which was next to the sofa.

“Who’s winning?” he asked, glancing at the large TV.

“The Pats.” Steve wrinkled his nose in distaste.

“Gross.” Jamie agreed.” What are we getting for dinner?” “Jay, you ate like a whole pizza for lunch an hour ago.” Steve turned his eyes on him. “You can’t possibly be hungry.” Jamie shrugged.

Steve rolled his eyes. “I’ve no idea. If you’re that bad go grab a snack or something.” Jamie pushed himself off the sofa and Rori jumped up toddling after him. “Wait for me!” She called.

Bucky watched them go and turned to Steve with a grin. “Gotta hand it to you pal, you got this father thing down to a tee.” Steve looked at him, narrowing his eyes slightly. “You being sarcastic?”

“Not at all.” Bucky shook his head. “I mean they leave you in peace to watch football, get their own snacks…” At that point there came a piercing scream through the baby monitor signalling that Harry had awoken from his nap.

“You hadda curse it didn’t ya?” Steve sighed, looking at Bucky. Bucky simply smirked as Steve pushed himself up off the sofa and took the stairs two at a time, stepping over Lucky who was sprawled on the larger corner step as the staircase doglegged to the right. He entered his youngest son’s bedroom, to see the tot clutching the bars of his crib, tears pouring down his face.

“Hey, Pal.” He said softly, and Harry’s face split into a watery grin at the sight of his dad. “What’s all the cryin’ for, huh?”

“Dadadadadada” He babbled, holding his hands up and Steve smiled as he lifted him out of the crib.

“Yeah, all those tears are really not necessary.” He pressed a kiss to Harry’s head as he leaned over for his pacifier which was discarded by his blanket. Handing it to him, Harry shoved it in his mouth and wound his little hands into his Dad’s T-shirt, pressing his teary face into Steve’s neck. Steve smoothed his hair back and grabbed his precious stuffed giraffe, a gift from Clint who had sent it when the tot had been born, before making his way out of the room, all tears now done, his son silent in his arms.

It would take Harry a while to come round, Steve knew that. Jamie and Rori had been the same at this age, clingy through disorientation when they woke up, but Harry even more so than his siblings. He had a feeling it was because Katie babied him a lot more than she had with Jamie and Rori, for no other reason than they knew he was their last, and she wanted to cling onto him being that cuddly little boy for as long as she could. She’d been heartbroken when Jamie had no longer cried for her anymore at night and had started refusing her cuddles and stopped sitting on her knee. Thankfully, Rori was still at the stage where she was happy to do that but again, give it a few years and she wouldn’t be.

He headed back down the stairs, stepping over Lucky once more who hadn’t moved a muscle all day it seemed. Steve gave him a glance and said his name, the dog lazily thumping his tail against the floor but beyond that he showed no signs of life. He’d noticed the dog slowing down dramatically over the last year or so. His walks had become shorter and shorter, now they literally consisted of a potter to the top of the street so he could pee against the lamppost and then back again, most of his time was spent in the back garden or the step he was on now, simply sleeping, or at night on Jamie’s bed. His eyesight was going too, but on their last trip to the vets a few months ago, they had been told that for his age there was nothing wrong. He was simply old. And Steve could sympathise. At almost seventeen Jamie had relayed the message that meant Lucky was ninety in dog years, so as far as he and Katie were concerned, the dog had earned his right to be lazy.

When they walked back into the living room, Harry looked up and gave Bucky the once over. Bucky waggled his metal fingers at him, and the tot moved the hand that was tangling in Steve’s t-shirt to mimic the action, making the former assassin chuckle slightly as Steve sat back down, his son getting comfortably on his lap. As his blue eyes looked around the room, Bucky watched the tot with a little amusement. Whilst Jamie was a carbon copy of his father both in looks and personality bar the distinctly Stark-like nose he had, Aurora was the double of her mother in the same way but had inherited her father’s cheekbones, yet Harry was almost a perfect blend of the two of them. He had the light brown hair, freckles and nose from his mother yet the blue eyes, cheekbones, ears and jawline from Steve. He seemed to be a lot more placid that his elder brother, but then again there was time yet. He was stubborn, which Steve insisted he got from his mother, but both Bucky and Katie reminded him regularly that he was just as obstinate as she was, if not more so on some occasions.

Jamie and Rori returned and they sat and watched the game, both men and eight year old fully invested in it, getting annoyed as the Giants made mistake after mistake. At one point, Jamie let out an angry snort and rolled his eyes turning to his father asking why they were playing like garbage. Steve had no response, other than to shrug and comment that it must simply be a bad day at the office…and then, no sooner had he said it, they broke and made a run for the line.

Both Steve and Bucky jumped up, Harry in Steve’s arms now fully awake, and when they hit the touchdown Steve let out a loud cheer, and Harry mimicked him, grinning and clapping. Jamie did some kind of running man dance that Sam had taught him and then dabbed, just like Bruce had shown him how to do years ago. Harry watched before he moved his arms and did the same. Steve laughed.

“Jamie, do that again.”

Jamie turned and repeated the notion, Harry following again, causing Jamie and Steve to crack into identical grins.

“I leave you alone for a few hours.” A voice quipped and Steve spun round to see Katie stood in the doorway, back from the salon with her hair perfectly styled, arms folded, grin on her face. At the sight of his momma, Harry shrieked and wriggled in Steve’s arms. Steve set him down on the floor and he toddled towards her. Smiling she met him halfway and swung him up, peppering kisses all over his face, causing the tot to giggle.

“Your hair looks nice, Doll Face.” Bucky commented and Steve shot him a look, fuming that his friend had beaten him to compliment his girl.

“Kiss ass.”

Katie laughed as Bucky grinned innocently. “Thanks Buck.” She glanced around the room. “No Sam?”

“Gone to see his sister.” Steve dropped a kiss to her cheek as she moved to sit down on the couch. “Your hair does look good.”

She smiled at him, Harry winding his hands into the soft curls, the ends slightly lighter than the rest. “Won’t do for long if he keeps playing with it.” She looked around the room and frowned “Where’s Lucky?”

“On his step” Steve flopped down besides her. “Hasn’t moved since you left. I’ll take him up the road when the game’s finished”

“I’ll do it.” Katie shook her head. “I’ll take Harry, give him a chance to toddle outside for a bit. Fancy it, baby? Wanna take Lucky for a walk?”

Harry clapped his hands “Uck uck!”

“You wanna come, Jamie?” She asked. He shook his head from where he was lounging on a bean bag, eyes glued to the game. “Rori?”

Rori took a bit longer to consider before she also shook her head.

“Suit yourselves.” Katie stood up. She took Harry into the hallway and retrieved his coat, scarf and hat from the pegs before bundling him up and slipping on his boots. Once he was ready she wrapped herself up and then called Lucky down, jangling his leash. The dog padded down the stairs and sat obediently whilst she clipped it on and they headed outside.

It was a slow walk, Harry still unsteady on his feet but he chattered away, his speech was taking shape much faster than his siblings had, the three of them stopping every so often so Lucky could sniff at something. As they reached his preferred lamppost, at the end of their road, Lucky went to cock his leg but to Katie’s horror he wobbled and collapsed onto his side.

“Shit.” She muttered. Dropping gently to her knees she stroked the dog’s head and looked him over, noticing his breathing had become a little shallow.

“Ucky ‘leepy.” Harry nodded where he stood by his momma.

“Yeah, sleepy.” Katie took a deep breath and pulled out her phone to call Steve.

“Hey?” His confused voice answered “You ok?”

“Lucky’s collapsed.” She swallowed, fighting back her tears. “At the end of the road.” “Okay, wait there…” Steve cut the call and less than a minute later Katie looked up at the sound of feet slapping on the damp sidewalk to see him sprinting towards them, not even having bothered to put a jacket on.

He dropped down beside her and took a second to look at their dog before he glanced at Katie, the pair of them sharing worried and sad expressions.

“Let’s get him to the Vet.” Steve said, as Katie wiped the tears off her face. He gently and easily scooped the retriever into his arms as Katie picked up Harry and they quickly made their way home.

**** They left the two youngest with Bucky, Jamie insisting on coming with them. At eight years old he was clever enough to understand what was going on, and as Katie pointed out to Steve, it was only fair he came with them for what the adults both knew deep down was going to be Lucky’s last trip.

Jamie sat on the back seat, Lucky’s head in his lap, softly talking to the dog as Steve drove through streets to the local vet surgery. He glanced in the mirror at his son, then over to Katie who was biting her thumbnail, her knee jerking nervously. He took her left hand in his and gently pressed a kiss to her knuckles and she kept hold of his fingers until he had to gently untangle his hand from hers as he pulled the car into a space.

Katie went into the surgery whilst Steve stayed with Jamie, the young boy eventually breaking the silence.

“Is he gonna die, Dad?”

Steve felt his chest tighten as he debated how to answer. He never lied to his kids as much as could be helped so with a sigh he turned to face Jamie who was sat in the back, his eye full of fear.

“Jay, he’s an old dog. I think he might be ready to go, yeah.” Jamie bowed his head, sniffing a little, and at that point the passenger side door opened and Katie popped her head in.

“They can see us now.”

Steve nodded and climbed out, before he lifted Lucky into his arms. Jamie slipped his hand into Katie’s as they walked into the surgery and were ushered into a quiet examination room at the back.

The Vet, a short, grey haired man called John Mason smiled at them as he walked in, his round spectacles perched on his nose. He greeted them kindly as Katie explained what had happened and he gently gave the dog an examination, and Katie had to stifle the sob as even then Lucky was feebly wagging his tail.

“I’m so sorry.” The Vet looked at Katie and Steve sympathetically as he sighed. “As I told you the other month, Lucky is a very old dog. I could try some pain killers and maybe a vitamin supplement but you’re just going to be delaying the inevitable.” Katie pinched her nose and bowed her head, tears filling her eyes. “We won’t want him to be in any pain.” Steve slid his arm round her as Jamie’s hand tightened around her fingers as he squeezed, sniffing loudly.

“Mom, I don’t want him to die.” She looked down to see her eldest son crying and she crouched down so she was level with him suddenly struck with the fact that in another few years she probably wouldn’t need to do that.

“I’m sorry, Sweetheart.” She sniffed, her tears trickling down her face. “If I could fix him I could, but there’s nothing we can do. I think we need to let him go to sleep.” She glanced up at Steve, her soldier’s eyes were also filled with tears as he too crouched down to look Jamie in the eye. “Your mom’s right, buddy. He’s a very old dog. And we don’t want to see him in any more pain do we?”

Jamie shook his head, wiping his face with his hands. “But he’s my dog. My best friend.” “I know.” Katie sniffed, her lip trembling “But you’ll always have memories, and we can bring him home and bury him by his tree.” “The pee tree?” Jamie sniffed, and Steve gave a little chuckle.

“The pee tree.” He nodded.

Jamie looked up at the vet as his parents stood up at either side of him, Steve’s hand resting on the top of his head. “Will it hurt him?”

“No.” The Vet shook his head. “I’ll give him an injection first that will put him to sleep and then the second one will stop his heart. It will be very fast, he won’t feel a thing.” Katie glanced down and could see Jamie was contemplating something before he looked at her “Can we stay with him? He’ll be scared if we don’t.” “Of course we can.” Katie nodded.

The Vet glanced at her then to Steve who gave him a small nod of permission and Mason straightened up. “I’ll give you a few minutes with him whilst I go and get everything prepped.” The door clicked shut behind him and Jamie tugged on Steve’s arm. “Can you lift me up?”

Steve nodded and gently swung Jamie up onto the bench where he shuffled and gently lifted Lucky’s head into his lap. The dog’s tail began to thump again and that was when Katie turned away, her sobs silent. Steve gently reached out to her and she pressed her face into his chest, her shoulders shaking.

Steve was devastated too. That dog had seen so much with them since he had found him at Clint’s after the snap. He’d seen Emmy come and live with them, grow up, she’d wiped her tears into his fur the first time Peter had finished with her, then the second time. He’d seen the birth of all three of the younger kids, and had been curious at the small, noisy human that had been Jamie when they had brought him home, fast becoming the boy’s self-appointed guardian, taking up sentinel position outside his room whilst he had been young, and then moved himself into the room once he had been older. He’d put up with Rori covering him in pink glitter, been an expert at stealing toast off plates if you weren’t looking and both he and Katie had enjoyed his company later at night when he used to sidle up next to them on the couch or outside on the decking as they spent their evenings together. Up until about two years ago he’d been Steve’s running companion, one that he had missed a lot when he pounded the streets of Brooklyn and he knew that Katie talked to the dog as well when she was cooking and he was hovering, waiting for scraps. Steve had also sketched the dog, more times than he cared to remember, one of the best drawings he had done of him sat with Jamie on the kitchen step adorned Jamie’s wall in a frame above his bed and another one of him and all of the kids in the garden was displayed on the sideboard in the Den.

There was no doubt about it, losing him was going to leave a huge, Lucky shaped hole in their lives.

Steve looked at Jamie and tuned in to hear his son assuring the dog that he would be ok, and that he wouldn’t hurt, but it was when he told him to say hi to his Uncle Nee and Auntie Nat-Nat that he felt Katie give a choked sob and he wrapped his arms further around his wife, his own tear falling into her hair.

The Vet returned a little while later and Jamie made to move but he stopped him.

“You can stay there.” He said kindly. “Lucky seems nice and calm.” Jamie nodded, watching as the Vet gently prepared Lucky’s leg to find a vein and inserted the first needle, explaining what was going on.

“He’s going to fall asleep now.” He said, removing the needle and Katie moved from Steve’s hold to press face into the dog’s fur behind his neck, just as Steve had seen her do so many times before when she’d either been upset or just in the mood for a cuddle.

“Sweet dreams, puppy.” She said softly, standing up, and smoothing his fur down as Steve reached out and scratched the dogs’ ears.

“Miss you, buddy.” He sniffed slightly as the Vet injected the next drug. Jamie began to cry softly as he bent his head, Lucky’s breathing eventually stopping.

“Do you want to take his collar?” The vet asked gently as Jamie continued to stroke his beloved dog’s head and Katie looked at him.

“Jamie?”

He sniffed and nodded, and Steve moved forward, gently undoing the blue leather collar that was studded with metal bones from around his neck, Lucky’s name tag glinting in the light.

*****

December 2028

Steve opened the trunk to the car as Jamie walked round to join him, grabbing the dog basket that contained the freshly washed blankets.

“You got it?” Steve looked at him as Jamie easily lifted the item, another trait he had inherited from his dad, strength.

“Yeah.” Jamie assured him as Steve lifted the two large bags of dog food they had swung by the store for onto his shoulder and shut the trunk. Together they trudged through the light dusting of snow into the animal shelter and Steve pushed the door open. The receptionist looked up and smiled at them.

“We have some donations.” Steve smiled at her, dropping the bags onto the floor.

“And there’s this too.” Jamie offered, “Our dog died last month and he would want other dogs to have these.”

The receptionist came out from the desk and glanced at the basket, blankets and various toys which didn’t contain the rope tug chew that Lucky had been so attached to. That had stayed home and was going to be nailed to the tree they’d buried his ashes under.

“Sorry to hear about your dog.” She gave a soft smile. “Was he old?”

“Seventeen.” Jamie nodded, sniffing slightly. “He was my best friend.”

Steve dropped a hand to his son’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze as Jamie wiped his face. He knew his eldest son was still grieving. All of them were. Emmy had been distraught when they had called her at University to break the news and Clint had also been a little upset when Katie had spoken to him, the archer thanking them for giving him such a good home for the past ten years. Their faithful dog’s collar now rest next to a photo of him in the hallway and a few times over the last four weeks Steve had silently observed Jamie simply holding it, for a few moments, before he would place it back down and Steve had hastily made his retreat so his son never knew his dad had been intruding on his moments of grief and remembrance.

They’d left all the decisions about what to do with the rest of his things to Jamie, who had announced the previous day that he was ready to give Lucky’s basket and toys away and both he and Katie had been so upset but so proud of their boy when he said he wanted to take it to the local shelter along with some food in Lucky’s memory.

“We’ll make good use of them.” The receptionist assured him. Jamie nodded and looked up at Steve.

“Can we go now?”

“Sure buddy, come one.” Steve gave the receptionist another smile before he steered the boy towards the door. As they walked, Jamie casually glanced up at the board on the wall which contained photos of the animals ready for adoption and stopped dead.

“Dad,” he said, pointing, “look!”

Steve followed his hand and scanned the board. “Jamie, what…”

“The one in the middle,” he urged gently, “look at his name.”

Steve scanned the adverts when he spotted the one Jamie was talking about. It was a white and tan dog with a huge bushy tail and pointy ears. The dog’s large brown eyes wore an expression that was worried and scared, which wasn’t surprising considering he was in a rescue, and as he looked at the details learning the dog was approximately five years old and had been picked up as a stray, he read the name and his eyes widened.

“Well I’ll be damned.” He gave a low chuckle.

Jamie looked at him. “Can we see him?”

“Jamie…”

“I just want to see him,” his son said desperately, “that name!”

Steve glanced down at Jamie again who was wearing a look of hope on his face and he signed. “Fine, okay, we can see him. But just looking, okay?”

Famous last words.

It was a well-worn joke in the Rogers house hold that whilst Dad was the one that dished out the worst telling’s off when mum told him they’d been misbehaving and weren’t listening to her, he was also the pushover, the one who the kids went to first if they wanted something. So now, it was no surprise that Jamie turned all of his best pleading and reasoning on his father as he looked up at him from where he was crouched petting the dog, whose tail was wagging furiously as he licked the young boy’s face.

“Please dad!” Jamie looked at him. “Lucky sent him to us, he has to have done…”

“We can’t just take another dog home, not without asking your mom.” Steve shook his head

“Why not? She does stuff all the time that you tell her not to.”

Okay so that was true. And it wasn’t like they hadn’t talked about getting another dog, they’d agreed they’d wait until after Christmas though, and then come to the rescue as a family. But, as Steve looked at the dog, although he didn’t believe in fate, he had to admit the name was one hell of a coincidence. And when the volunteer who had taken them to see the dog had explained just why the dog was called that, well, he was struggling really to argue with Jamie about it being a sign.

Even though fate was a load of bullshit.

Steve took another look at his son. His young face was radiating utter joy, something that had been absent from his life since he’d lost his faithful companion. With a low groan, Steve turned to the volunteer.

“Hypothetically speaking, if we wanted to adopt him…”

“You need to fill out a form and we do a quick background check but, well, seeing as it’s his last day today there won’t be a home check or anything so…” “His last day?” Jamie’s head snapped up.

“Yeah he’s been here four weeks. We don’t keep them longer than that.”

“What?” Jamie’s mouth dropped open “You mean you’ll kill him?”

“Jamie.” Steve sighed, and the woman took a deep breath.

“Yeah, we err, we don’t have the space or…”

Jamie turned his blue eyes on his father, as the death row inmate in question licked his rosy cheeks, his tail wagging furiously.

“Damned it.” Steve grumbled as he turned back to the woman. “Better show me the form then.” ***** “Honey?” Steve called as he, Jamie and mutt entered the hallway. “Don’t go mad.” “Mad?” Her voice called back, “What would I be…”

Katie stopped dead as the dog pattered into the kitchen, bushy tail raised as he looked around sniffing, Jamie still holding his leash. Harry gave a shriek of excitement from his chair.

Steve held his hands up, palms out “This was not my idea.” “It was his last day, mom.” Jamie looked up as Katie crouched to pet the dog, her mouth still hanging open. “They were gonna kill him and we saw his photo and then his name and…” “His name?” Katie asked, looking up, almost falling back as the dog jumped up, two paws on her chest as he licked her face, his tail wagging furiously. “Why, what’s his name?” Steve, picking Harry up out of his chair, glanced at Jamie who grinned and looked at his mom as he spoke “Stark.”

“What?” She whispered softly, looking at Jamie then to Steve. Steve nodded to confirm what his son was saying was true. “He’s called Stark?”

Steve nodded, setting Harry down on the floor watching as the tot headed over to the dog, Katie showing him how to pet him softly. “The Wardens picked him up by that huge memorial-slash-murial of Tony near the park.” He informed her, softly. “Hence his name.” He watched as his wife’s eyes filled with tears and she stood up, hastily wiping her face. Steve reached out and rubbed her arm as she turned and moved back to where she had been chopping vegetables for dinner. Jamie stood up a little tentatively, looking at his dad before he glanced at his mother.

After a moments pause she spoke. “Suppose you best go show him your sister if he’s staying. She’s in the den.”

Jamie’s face split into a huge grin and he dropped the dogs leash and rushed over to his mom. “Thank you.” She turned to give him a hug, gently ruffling his hair before he took the dogs leash again and headed out of the room, Stark eagerly trotting by his side. Harry followed and Steve turned to Katie.

“You’re an asshole.” She narrowed her eyes at him before she turned back to the vegetables and he laughed as he crossed the room, wrapping his arm around her from behind as he kissed her neck.

“I’m sorry but, well come on, tell me you would have left him there.”

She took a deep breath, but her silence told Steve all he needed to know.

“So now we have a son and a dog named after Tony and a daughter who shares his birthday.” she snorted. “He’ll be laughing his head off up there.” Steve chuckled and they both turned as their kids walked back into the room, followed by their new dog who was now sporting a pink and blue bandana round his neck.

“I don’t like the collar from the rescue.” Jamie shrugged, as Rori giggled.

“Stark looks pretty.”

“Why don’t you let him outside?” Steve asked. “So he can see the garden.”

Jamie nodded and opened the door, the dog hesitating slightly before he stepped out and down the patio, before letting out a huge bark and running onto the snow covered grass. He dropped and rolled onto his back, happily before he jumped up and walked over to Lucky’s Tree. He sniffed, and then as they watched he cocked his leg and peed straight up the side of the trunk.

With a huff Jamie grinned, his arms folded as he leaned against the door frame, his father doing the same slightly higher up. “Still the pee tree, Dad.” “Still the Pee tree.” Steve nodded, agreeing. Katie snorted at the ridiculous similarity between the two and shook her head slightly as she held Harry on her hip. “What do you think, pal?”

Harry laughed and clapped his hands. “Pee!”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek and her attention turned to Steve who gave her a wink. “You’re still an asshole.”

“Language.” He shot back, as he moved over to where she was stood and whispered into her ear. “Make it up to you later pretty girl.”

There was something about the way he said that phrase that always sent shivers down her spine. He kissed the side of her neck again, before he headed out of the kitchen and Katie watched him go before she turned to look at Jamie and Rori who both shared a hi-five as Jamie whistled. Stark’s ears picked up and as he shouted to the dog he came bounding back over and into the kitchen, his tail wagging furiously before he dropped onto his back for a belly rub.

“I love him already!” Rori giggled and Jamie looked up at his mum, his eyes so like his fathers locked onto hers and he smiled.

“Love you, Momma.”

And if Steve hadn’t already won her over with his loaded promise a few moments ago, that would have done it there and then.

There was a lot of excitement over the new addition to the Rogers household, but eventually later that night they managed to get the three kids into bed, Jamie leaving his bedroom door open so that Stark could find where he felt more comfortable to sleep.

Later that night, Katie took a shower in the en-suite, and as she turned the water off she could hear Steve talking to someone or something. Assuming he was on the phone to Emmy, which wasn’t uncommon last thing at night, she opened the door and stopped dead. Stark was nestled next to Steve on the bed, his nose tucked under Steve’s as the super-soldier gently held the pup like he was one of their kids, softly cooing at him.

Katie gave a cough and he looked up at her sheepishly, shrugging.

“What can I say? I have a thing for Starks…”

N.B. Yes, the dog I had in my mind was Dodger, and I’m doing this shamelessly so that I can use photos of him and Chris because I’m a thirsty ho…

***Original Posting***

#stark spangled forever #steve rogers #Katie Stark #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers fic #mcu #mcu fanfic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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depressedkakashihatake-fics · 4 years ago

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Injuries Bringing Us Together

Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai

2028 Words

Kiss: Palm of the Hand kiss

For: @alumort @temarihime @trekkie-in-space (who came up with the beautiful idea of a fic)

Itchy

There was an urge deep down inside of Kakashi’s soul. One that screamed at him to rip off the cast that the medical ninja had just finished putting on his hand after he had destroyed the last one. He was barely able to contain the urge with a reminder that the medical ninja had specifically threatened him with placing him off duty for a month as punishment if he had to come in again for another new cast.

A week was bad enough. If he had to stay in the village for an entire month he was likely to murder someone, and that would just get him into more trouble.

For the first time in his career as a shinobi, Kakashi was actually angry with an enemy because of what they did to him. Not for hurting his teammates, or putting civilians in danger. No, he was used to being mad at enemy shinobi for things like that.

Today though, he was angry about his hand.

Specifically, about the moment that his enemy had decided to break his hand to prevent him from using his chidori to attack them after they had realized he didn’t actually need to weave signs to produce the electricity in his hand.

That he had a jutsu he could perform even with his hands tied behind his back.

They were smart, he’d give them that. But that fact didn’t make him hate them any less when the biggest, heaviest member of their team stomped down on his right hand with all of his might, crushing his bones in an instant.

Really, it was a miracle that he had a hand left at all. That his bones hadn’t been reduced to powder under the force of that stomp, and that he had actually been able to force himself to produce a chidori even afterwards.

Though, that last part was sheer force of will. It had taken him 7 different attempts, and a lot of pain. His enemies had even laughed at him when they realized what he was trying to do.

They quickly stopped laughing when electricity started sparking in his hands, and by the time his teammates found him all three of their enemies were unconscious on the ground.

He still wasn’t exactly sure what he had done to manage that, since he had blacked out from the pain somewhere in the middle. Though he was guessing it probably had something to do with his chidori meeting the ground.

That had been his plan after all, so his body had likely taken over for him when his brain decided to shut down because of the pain he was in. He was just thankful that his teammates had found him before the enemy shinobi were able to wake up. There was no doubt in his mind they would have forgotten about getting him back to Suna for interrogation and decided instead to murder him right where they were.

Not the best way for a shinobi to die.

“Rival!” He recognized the voice immediately, but there was something missing. An overwhelmingly enthusiastic tone seemed to be absent, and that didn’t sit well with Kakashi. He didn’t like it at all.

Turning towards the voice he looked at the other man as he made his way towards him, and immediately started to scan Gai’s body for any sign of injury. His eyes zeroed in on the brace wrapped around his left bicep all the way down to his wrist.

Now he was worried.

“Rival, i was not expecting y-”

Whatever Gai was going to say was cut off when Kakashi surged forward, invading his personal space in a way he never had before and grabbing his left wrist and brought the injured arm up closer so he could take a better look at the brace.

For the first time since he had gotten home, Kakashi forgot about his own injury. His attention focused instead on Gai as he examined the brace. “What happened?” The question is simple but firm, and he knows it catches Gai off guard. It’s not normal for Kakashi to worry about anyone else when they’re in the village. Injuries happen to everyone. It was a common occurrence in the life of a shinobi.

But here he was, clearly agitated by Gai’s injury.

“I uh-” Gai closed his eyes and chuckled “I had a bit of a difficult mission with a much more skilled shinobi than I am used to. To win the fight I was forced to open the fifth gate for the first time and- well my body took issue with this.”

There was a reason he hated the eight gates. Ever since seeing Gai open the fourth gate for a mission, and had subsequently torn the muscles in his arm while delivering a deadly blow to their enemies abdomen. As useful as the gates were in a sticky situation, he hated seeing Gai in pain, and anything past the first gate always caused him some amount of pain.

Perhaps that was why Kakashi had stopped learning the gates himself when he had mastered the first gate, though he also didn’t feel the same drive as Gai to open all of them. Not to mention he didn’t think he could learn them all, not like Gai was able to. He didn’t have the same drive and abilities as Gai that allowed him to learn the gates, and part of him was thankful for that.

He had enough working against him with Obito’s sharingan in his eye socket. He didn’t need more help hurting himself from the right gates.

With his hand still clasped firmly around Gai’s wrist, Kakashi scanned over the brace once more. Trying to will it away in his own mind as if that would suddenly remove the injury from Gai.

“Kakashi,” Gai’s voice is soft and full of fondness when he says his name. “I’m fine. The Doctors said that it should be healed in a few days with a mixture of rest and medical ninjutsu.”

“Huh,” It was rare for both of them to be in the village at the same time any other day, but for both of them to have injuries that had them benched from missions for the next few days. That was improbable, and yet here they were. “I guess that means i’ll be seeing you around a bit more than usual.”

Not a situation he was particularly against. Though he was aware he came off as ‘cold’ and ‘dismissive’ of Gai most days, he really wasn’t trying to be. He just had a lot on his mind and it was hard to focus on anything but work and his own self deprecating thoughts when he barely had any time to breath between missions.

Maybe with some time off together he could make it up to Gai.

“How about a challenge,” The hope of relaxing with his friend during his time off came crashing down on him like a ton of bricks. Why was it that Gai always wanted to do a challenge when they were together? It was always the first thing that he asked for. “We could have a race.”

“With your arm?” Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “The doctors would kill you when you go back to them in worse shape than you left them in. Not a chance, Gai.” And that wasn’t even touching on the fact that his hand was broken and wouldn’t heal properly if he tried to use it in any way. Which did include running, unfortunately. Anything but keeping his hand at his side constantly would cause a fit of pain that he didn’t want to deal with.

“Ok then,” placing a finger against his chin, Gai started to think through his options while Kakashi continued to look over the brace on his left arm. There wasn’t really anything to look over a second time, but he couldn’t seem to drag his eyes away from it. “How about an arm wr- no that won’t work.”

“How about,” Gai’s eyes lit up as soon as Kakashi opened his mouth. It was so rare for the Sharingan user to suggest a challenge for them. “Janken.”

There’s a triumphant look on his face when Gai’s shoulders whole upper body collapses forward as if someone has just set an unbearable weight upon his shoulders. He really did enjoy bugging his friend a little too much some days.

“I’m kidding,” well only partially. “We could do a challenge that’s not too demanding. One that won’t get us in trouble for straining ourselves when we are supposed to be relaxing.”

With new life in his soul, Gai straightened up and beamed at Kakashi. “An eating contest!” He proclaimed, loud enough to catch the attention of everyone within a five meter radius of them. “At the Ramen shop. We have not had the chance to get some ramen together in a long time, rival.”

Food didn’t sound like a terrible idea, and Ramen was certainly a better choice than some of the other things the pair had eaten together in the past.

“Sure, why not,” He could handle a challenge. Especially if it meant spending some time with Gai that didn’t involve running around the village or getting face planted into the dirt in a spar. “But you have to promise to stop eating before you barf this time.”

The last thing either of them needed was Teuchi kicking them out of the shop because Gai made a mess on the floor. It was one of the few places that he liked to eat when he managed to find time to go out with his friends.

“I will make this promise, but only because i know i’m going to win this time,” As confident as ever, Gai threw his good hand out and gave Kakashi his signature ‘thumbs up’ pose. “And with this victory i will be two points ahead of you in our competitions.”

Ok, now he had to win. There was no way he could let Gai get too far ahead of him in their competition.

“Mmmm, we’ll see,” releasing his grip on Gai’s arm, Kakashi moved to take a step back only to have Gai reach out with his good hand and stop him. “Gai?”

“I just realized that it might be difficult for you to participate in an eating competition,” Kakashi was about to ask what Gai meant when the Taijutsu user moved his hand down to his wrist and carefully lifted his broken hand between them. It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but he had actually forgotten about his own injury while worrying about Gai. “Do we need to think of another competition, Rival?”

Warm.

There was a warm feeling deep inside of his chest when Gai asked that simple question with soft kind eyes. He couldn’t explain why the feeling had bloomed so suddenly, but he liked it.

It felt like home.

“I’ll be fine, Turtle,” Using the nickname he had given Gai only a few years ago, he smiled when he saw the way Gai’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’m ambidextrous. I can use my left hand to eat.”

Accepting the answer that he had been given, Gai turned his hand over so that it was facing palm up, and leaned down to press a kiss against the cast. Suddenly, the warm feeling in his chest blossomed into something else.

A feeling he wasn’t quite familiar with, but wasn’t completely new. It was something he always felt when Gai was being particularly soft with him, and he wished he could hold onto that feeling all the time.

Love.

That’s what Kushina-Sensei had called it the first time he described it to her, just days before the nine tails attack on the village.

“W-we should go,” He cringed when his voice cracked under the pressure of his embarrassment. “We have a competition t-to do.”

Standing up straight, Gai released his hold on Kakashi’s hand and gave him a bright smile. “You are correct,” He stepped forward and threw an arm around Kakashi’s shoulder, turning him 180 degrees and heading down the street. “To Ichiraku Ramen!”

#KakaGai #GaiKaka #Hatake Kakashi #Maito Gai #Kakashi Hatake/Maito Gai #Maito Gai/Hatake Kakashi #Fluff #Adorable boys being adorable

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shotsbyshae · 5 years ago

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Masterlist

Updated: 3/16/20

Some stories are NSFW, 18+, Smut

Masterlist Compilations:

Because sometimes a one-shot gets carried away.

Monster of the Week

Hunter Steve

Ransom Drysdale

The Raven

Hit Me (With Your Best Shot) Reader Requests

Steve Rogers x Reader

Not Afraid Anymore There is a reason Nick Fury assigned you to Steve Rogers. You’ll tell him one day.

Cannonball When things go bad, you always end up at his door, and things are really, really bad. Prequel/Sequel to Not Afraid Anymore

Angel on Fire You literally fell for Bucky Barnes in 1944, Steve was there when it happened. How is it possible that you’re sitting across from him now in 2012 looking exactly the same?

Unforgettable It’s been a year and Steve reaches out with news. There shouldn’t be enough of your soul left to care, but the thought of him and a deep dive into the past, proves otherwise. Sequel to Angel on Fire.

Happier Steve returns the stones and instead of coming back to 2023, ends up coming back to 2028. A lot can change in five years.

Far Away Tony didn’t want you running this assignment for Fury, but you never listen. It was just a black market weapons auction, simple enough, until you get captured and find yourself as one of the weapons up for auction.

Teeth Post IW Snap, all you feel is angry all the time, except around him.

7 Rings As Tony’s daughter, you’re able to get almost anything you want.

Happy Birthday Tony You get Tony back - the only way you know how.

Shadows Six steamy sentence challenge

Valentine Steve’s Valentine’s dinner doesn’t go according to plan.

Coin-Operated Boy There’s a reason you don’t tell Steve about the project you’re working on for Tony.

Stay Steve was taken by you from the moment he saw you, without ever knowing who you were.

Strange Love Steve goes looking for a friend, in the one place he shouldn’t. (Prologue) (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Epilogue)

Wicked Game Steve Rogers is a fugitive and you haven’t seen him in a year. You learn the hard way you can’t always trust people. Sequel to Strange Love (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

Eyes Closed Steve’s just trying to keep a promise he made to his best friend. (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

Seven Devils What happens when two psychos stick you in a cell with the one person who hasn’t talked to you in six months with the intent to kill you both. (Monster of the Week)

I Put a Spell on You You were supposed to choose him, but what happens when it starts to look like you won’t? (Monster of the Week)

Heads Will Roll A shapeshifter comes through, turning the compound upside down, revealing one too many secrets. (Monster of the Week)

Hunter Steve Series

Kill of The Night Steve can’t quite figure out the new recruit, but he knows there’s something different about you.

Devil’s Playground Sequel to Kill of the Night, and how well Steve adapts to hunting.

Apocalyptic Steve has a run in with a demon. There’s just one problem, you have a history with said demon.

Monster Bucky and Sam show up unexpectedly to check on the two of you, but you’re on a case. How are you and Steve supposed to keep hunting a secret from them, if they get stuck in the middle of it?

Sacrifice A vampire hunt goes south when you become one of the targets for another hunter.

Living Proof The case you and Steve are on brings about your worst nightmare.

Colors A hunter turned vampire makes for the deadliest hunter around. What happens when an old foe decides to make their own breed of assassins?

Bag of Bones Everyone needs help sometimes, because not all battles are meant to be won.

Bucky Barnes x Reader

She Keeps Me Up You need a little help, but as Tony’s half-sister, you’re also off limits.

Broken Ones Loss. Loneliness. Bucky understands what you’re going through, even if he doesn’t say it.

Liar You’ve kept your promise to keep your distance from James Barnes for as long as you can, but you’ve always been a curious girl. That often leads you into trouble and makes a liar out of you.

Hurricane Bucky does something crazy for his best friend Steve, doesn’t he? After all, Barnes only tolerates you because of Rogers, right?

Living Dead Girl He’s a ghost story, isn’t he? (The Raven Series)

She Loves Control Turns out you know Steve, a little too well. (The Raven Series)

Heart of Novocaine You don’t need saving. (The Raven Series)

Familiar Taste of Poison Thanos is gone and everyone is alive, including Bucky Barnes. The world is perfect - isn't it? (Monster of the Week)

Hypnotic Bucky is sent to retrieve an artifact, getting more than he bargained for. (Hunter Bucky Series)

Loki x Reader

One More Habit Loki is fascinated by you, because he knows you’re hiding a secret from the rest of the team and he’s determined to figure you out.

Joke’s On You You’ve been keeping a secret from your friends. Can be a sequel to Valentine.

Power Over Me (Part 1) Loki has the Tesseract and can literally go anywhere he wants, so why does he keep getting drawn back to the broken little witch Steve Rogers abandoned?

Power Over Me (Part 2) It’s been three months since you started feeling this ache inside - like something’s missing - it happens at least once everyday. You’re not sure what’s causing it or why the stranger you keep seeing causes it instantaneously.

Tony Stark x Reader

Closer Tony likes to make things his.

Animals You were Steve's once, before the accords divided and broke everyone. Tony didn’t leave though.

Shameless Sequel to Animals. Steve wants a second chance at what he broke.

A Little Wicked Tony Stark is your weakness and you hate yourself for it. After all, you have a reputation to uphold. (Monster of the Week)

Peter Parker x Reader

Rock & Roll You admired Tony Stark more than anyone, so it was only natural you took some time off after the battle, but what happens when you return a couple years later to find Rhodey's rebuilt the compound and someone strange is working in Tony's lab. (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

Ransom Drysdale x Reader

My Oh My Series

My Oh My Hugh Ransom Drysdale might not be who everyone thinks he is.

Trouble Maybe the narcissistic playboy is smarter than most people give him credit for. Sequel to My Oh My

In the Dark You only thought Ransom was an asshole, wait until you meet his family. Sequel to Trouble

Stone Cold Ransom has one last interview left for his book. Sequel to In the Dark

Freaking Me Out Ransom has his book launch and it’s eventful to say the least. Sequel to Stone Cold

The Reckoning The aftermath of Freaking Me Out

The Wolf Series

The Wolf A blast from Ransom’s past blows into town, but there’s more to you than meets the eye.

Devil’s Worst Nightmare Ransom’s in over his head, but can you pull him out? Or will he just end up dragging you down with him? Sequel to The Wolf

Dean Winchester x Reader

Sex & Stardust He was never your intention, but it’s just one night - right?

Cannonball When things go bad, you always end up at his door, and things are really, really bad. Steve Rogers crossover. Prequel/Sequel to Not Afraid Anymore

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adventure-hearts · 4 years ago

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LAST EVOLUTION: Kizuna — Thoughts and first impression.

So, I watched the thing and wrote down some quick thoughts.

OBVIOUSLY, MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW.

So..........

I'm glad to say I liked it very much and it's a lot better than the novel!

(In fact, there were a few lines I thought were slightly different.)

Overall this is a very well-made movie, and a great addition to the Adventure canon. The animation, the music, and the voice acting were great. This must look fantastic on the big screen (Thanks TOEI, for making me watch it first via a crap version, and for forcing me to read the novelization in advance).

Story-wise, the first half is amazing. I loved the procedural / thriller aspect of it (“Is this a spy movie?” I WISH. Yamato is by far the best character in it, once again. The 02 kids were on point and USEFUL! The battle scenes were spectacularl-looking but, in my view, maybe a little excessive? The last big battle in particular seemed to drag a little, and the second half of the movie suffers a little because of that. But it’s an entertaining film throughout.

The implications of the "new twist" about the broken bonds are super interesting, and I can think of a million plot ideas and analyses this could inspire. I can understand why the idea didn’t please Kakudou, but I think it’s a cool addition to the mythos.

I haven’t had time to think about “Plot holes” or “inconsistencies” at this point, but I thought Kizuna was pretty respectful of previous canon. I’m going to have a fun time overanalyzing every frame of this eventually (International Chosen Cameos!!!)

Now for the not-so-good parts. Honestly, when I read the novel I was a bit disappointed for three main reasons, which the film kinda cemented:

1) The plot is unimaginative and even repetitive. It felt like threading old ground, most of the time. Sure, they’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here and, in some ways, this film seems like a course correction — a film that is meant to be as uncontroversial and safe as possible. In fact, in some parts Kizuna feels very warm and cuddly, and I can see this becoming a comfort film in the future.

Not getting into the discussion about who did it better, but the profile of the antagonist, the theme/emotional conflict of the film, and even the “loosing the digimon, possibly permanently” scenario were extremely reminiscing of the most recent installment. There’s a few too many references to the Hosoda films. This isn’t a bad thing, necessarily, and in getting a more conventional / familiar plot IS FINE, but I do think some new-ish elements could have made it a tiny bit fresher.

2) The majority of the characters are treated very poorly. Mimi, Jou, and especially Sora are completely pushed aside and ignored in a way that is almost infuriating. And yes, even the 02 kids felt like "not enough", precisely because they were so good and what we get is little and a bit superficial. Iori and Ken in particular also barely had lines!

Also — you drop a bomb like “the Digimon will essentially die on the kids” and yet, except for Menoa (who reacts badly) Taichi and Yamato (who react healthily), you don’t really show how it happens, how the other characters react, or even what they feel about it?

This universe has a “12 protagonists" issue, and absolutely no sequel so far has been able to address satisfactorily. But I can't help but to feel that the first short film, and possibly subsequent ones, should have fitted in the movie (it wasn’t even 90 minutes long!) and made it more balanced. Hopefully these next short films will mitigate this complaint to some extent.

3) The ending of the movie ends up feeling emotionally unsatisfying. Yeah, I understood what they were trying to do ("We gotta keep moving forward!" "Let the past die, kill it if you have to!” “isn't exactly subtle). But even the emotional punch of the final scenes doesn't land that well because we already know it's not definitive. Toy Story 3 this isn't! At the end of the film, more than commiserate with Taichi and Yamato (that scene was heartbreaking), I really wanted to know how they’re going to turn this around.

I'm just saying you can't finish a story on such an obvious cliffhanger and then not follow up on that. Hopefully, the message of the movie is also subliminally telling us "yeah, it's the end... for now. Don't lose hope, because we'll be back sometime before 2028". Kizuna doesn't really feel like a self-contained story: it feels like the first part of something, and it’s unsatisfying because it leaves a question that might never get answered. It begs for resolution — for a sequel!

These last few paragraphs run a risk of making this review sound negative, but trust me: I REALLY enjoyed this movie a lot. It's got everything you expect from an Adventure story: fun gags, throwbacks to the past, mythological/philosophical references, high stake fights and a very strong emotional core. It was a wonderful gift at this moment in time.

I'm going to enjoy rewatching it, and I would like nothing more than a sequel produced by the same team — if not LAST EVOLUTION 2, then maybe just tiny stories/shorts/drama CDs. Narrator!Takeru was right — this could be the story evolving in a new, fantastic direction. The people who made this movie had their heart in the right place.

But unlike most fans' expectations, this film is definitely not portrayed as THE END. That may be the worst, and simultaneously the best part of it.

PS: WHY IS YAMATO’S DIGIVICE PURPLE???

#digimon #DALEK #kizunaspoilers #kizuna spoilers

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imaginespazzi · 3 months ago

Note

PARRRRTTTT SEVEN REACCTTTIONNS

- nivi u angel bby thank you so much for the update!!! i always look forward to monday updates (west coast girly u did it with hours to spare) BUT REMEMBER don’t over work yourself over getting us updates!!! ily!!!

- my goal for the chapter is to stay far away from cliffs because i seem to always threaten them!

- stop paige’s little mini panic then relief when azzi and stephie are still there 😭😭 sweet girl went through it:(

- “and maybe this is how i become whole again.” oh hey it’s me, remember before i started reading i said i would stay clear of the cliffs? yeah well, fuck that! find me a cliff because i died dead. screaming, crying, throwing up. NIVI u are my evil genius but please please just protect her heart PLEASE.

- okay paige just left the bed if she leaves the house without speaking to azzi and stephie u might finally get some tears out of my eyes! i rlly don’t think she would but…

- stop poor drew 😢drew being annoyed with paige switching teams?!? im nervous for drew and azzi reunion.

- going to be honest i don’t really interact with azzis brothers stuff anywhere so i don’t know anything abt Tallulah but she seems so sweet in your fic ❤️‍🔥

- stop the fudds missing paige and talking about her😭😭 im on the floor next to the cliff bleeding out

- stop tim and paige mean so much to me

- stop paige legit tripping over her feet at the sight of stephie upset MY HEART

- STEPHIE ASKING PAIGE TO PROMISE SHE WILL NEVER LEAVE 😭😭 im scared

- I PROMISE ILL TRY TO STAY. fuck i’m scared

- god. your writing is a masterpiece. this whole situation is damaging my soul. i don’t hold it again azzi, im fully convinced she has her reasoning that were VAILD but oh my god i feel so bad for paige (this is not me saying that azzi didn’t go through shit too) but my poor bby is terrified i feel so bad ☹️

- stop stephie really is a mini azzi 🥹🥹

- love.

- kill

- me

- now

- let’s go back to me at the bottom of the cliff bleeding out, my pulse is barley there now.

- STWAAAPPPP paige spoils stephie it’s so cute

- YOUR DAUGHTER 🥹🥹🥹🥹

- i can’t tell if that helped or made my pulse worse

- hey so my baby fever is still here and killing me.

- “ONLY FOR YOU AND YOUR DAUGHTER.” my pulse just gave out, flatlined, not breathing, dead 🤗 thank you so much.

- YES PAIGE YOU ARE SAFE WITH AZZI.

- JANNNNNAAA MY GIRRLL

- Aunty Chérie you say? hmm i can just smell paige’s jealousy

- “you’re supposed to be holding me and i’m supposed to be holding you; it was meant to be us.” hey so i somehow just died even more😁

- okay here is the thing, i feel for olivia i do. the situation most have been hurtful to her however, CUNT CUNT CUNT DONT U DARE EVEN THINK A NEGATIVE THOUGHT AGAINST THE AMAZING, PERFECT, GORGEOUS, SMART, TALENTED, LOVELY, AZZI FUDD. her and her passive aggressive comments can leave.

- OHHHHH AZZI FUDD, YOU ATE HER UP SHE MAY BE 5th BEST BUT MY GOD AREBU NUMBER ONE BY MILLLLLLLES.

- “if it was azzi” paige babe let’s fast forward to that divorce.

- also paige going on tik tok spirals abt azzi while her wife is in the same room is just WILD and kinda sad almost makes me feel bad for mrs. cunt (my sympathy for her evaporated the second when opened her mouth around azzi 🤬🤬)

- the whole last section. omg. i know i already died then came back to life but i am not FLINGING myself back off the cliff 😁

- GODDDD NIVI u talented, talented women i cant believe how you always are able to amaze me with your writing.

- i’m gonna be honest it’s 2am for me i started reading at 10 and i just finished. i kept having to take breaks because i was screaming, no tears though!

- chapter was 100,000/10

- QUESTIONS FOR NEXT CHAPTER:

- OKAY so ms french girl whose name i can’t remember at the moment is no longer playing with the valkyries… are we gonna get like flashbacks of azzi and her in future chapters?

- this may be dumb but if the olympics were 2028 next ones were, 2032 and its 2033 right? so did the other olympics pass? are we gonna learn more about that? did azzi and paige win gold? IM SO CURIOUS!!!!

- okay that’s all i got i think…sorry for yapping so much!

oh also i kept dying but it’s def gonna keep happening tbh

-🤩🤩

HI MY LOVEEEEEE <3

- You're literally the most precious soul ever and lowkey I really needed to hear that cause I do mayhaps stress just a little bit about updating so thank you :)

- I like that you said you were going to stay away from cliffs and then managed to get through exactly one bullet without jumping off a cliff...

- I lowkey don't know a lot about Tallulah either because I only really have second-hand knowledge of the lives so I'm just lowkey molding her into what works for the plot I guess? But I'm sure she's lovely irl too!

- Circumstance truly is a bitch because I think they're both pretty scared of things beyond their control being an obstacle again

- Baby you really went through it for a couple of paragraphs there huh?

- Listen if I have to suffer through baby fever, you're all suffering with me like I keep having to remind myself that a college dorm is not appropriate for a baby bassinet

- MRS CUNT made me cackle out loud

- Omg not 4 hours babes lmao but I'm glad I still haven't brought you to tears!

- Hmmm I lowkey don't think there will be flashbacks of Clémence like that because her and Azzi's past isn't quite as integral as their present (opposite of Olivia in a sense I guess)

- The next Olympics were in fact 2032...I wonder what happened? I wonder if we'll find out?

Never apologize for yapping, it makes me so happy to hear everyone's thoughts!

#ask #fic talk #🤩 anon my cute star <3 #idk what has more chemistry? pazzi or you and the cliff lmao

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what-is-your-plan-today · 5 years ago

Text

Stark Spangled Forever: Man’s Best Friend.

Intro: The Rogers bid a sad goodbye to a member of their family…

Warnings: Pet death- sorry, I know!!

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

I love your re-blogs and comment, as always.

SSF Masterlist // WIYPT Masterlist

It’s a well held opinion that dogs don’t live as long as people because they don’t need to. People need to learn how to be good and kind as life moves on. Dogs are simply born that way…

November 2028

“Steve…” Bucky asked, watching Rori as she lay on the rug in the living room, her legs bent in the air behind her, crossed at the ankle as they swung to and fro. “Why does Rori have odd socks on? Thought it set your teeth on edge?”

“It does.” Steve rolled his eyes from where he sat on the sofa, eyes glued to the Giants game that was on the screen. “But you try getting her to change them.” “She’ll do anything for her uncle Buck…” Bucky smirked and Steve turned to look at him, grinning.

“Go on then…” he said, watching as he knew full well where this was gonna go.

“Hey, Ror…” Bucky spoke. The 4 year old turned her head to look at him with a questioning glance.

“How ‘bout you go change your socks, find 2 yellow ones.” “How ‘bout no?” She replied, turning back to her activity book.

“Rori…” Steve said, sternly at her cheeky reply and her eyes turned to her father. She looked at him, completely unabashed, shrugging with an air that was so goddamned like her mother before she continued what she was doing, clearly no shits given whatsoever.

Steve looked at Bucky, an I-told-you-so smirk sliding on his face as he turned back to the game, beer bottle held in his hand. At that point Jamie came into the room, flopping down next on his bean bag.

“Who’s winning?” he asked, glancing at the large TV.

“The Pats.” Steve said, his nose wrinkling.

“Gross.” Jamie agreed “What we getting for dinner?” “Jay, you ate a whole pizza for lunch like an hour ago.” Steve turned his eyes on him. “You can’t possibly be hungry.” Jamie shrugged.

Steve rolled his eyes “I’ve no idea…if you’re that bad go grab a snack or something…” Jamie pushed himself off the sofa and Rori jumped up toddling after him. “Wait for me…” she called.

Bucky watched them go and turned to Steve with a grin “Gotta hand it to you pal, you got this father thing down to a tee…” Steve looked at him, narrowing his eyes slightly “You being sarcastic?”

“Not at all.” Bucky said “I mean they leave you in peace to watch football, get their own snacks…” At that point there came a piercing scream through the baby monitor signalling that Harry had awoken from his nap.

“Hey pal…” he said softly, and Harry’s face split into a watery grin at the sight of his dad “What’s all the cryin’ for huh?”

“Dadadadadada” he babbled, holding his hands up and Steve smiled as he lifted him out of the crib and found his pacifier which was discarded by his blanket. Handing it to him, Harry shoved it in his mouth and wound his little hands into his Dad’s T-shirt, pressing his teary face into Steve’s neck. Steve smoothed his hair back and gave his head a soft kiss as he grabbed his stuffed giraffe before making his way out of the room, all tears now done, his son silent in his arms.

It would take him a while to come round, Steve knew that. Jamie and Rori had been the same at this age, clingy through disorientation when they woke up, but Harry even more so than his siblings. He had a feeling it was because Katie babied him a lot more than she had with Jamie and Rori, for no other reason than they knew he was their last, and she wanted to cling onto him being that cuddly little boy for as long as she could. She’d been heartbroken when Jamie had no longer cried for her anymore at night and had started refusing her cuddles and stopped sitting on her knee. Thankfully Rori was still at the stage where she was happy to do that but again, give it a few years and she wouldn’t be.

He headed back down the stairs, stepping over Lucky once more who hadn’t moved a muscle all day it seemed. Steve gave him a glance and said his name, the dog lazily thumping his tail against the floor but beyond that he showed no signs of life. He’d noticed the dog slowing down dramatically over the last year or so. His walks had become shorter and shorter, now they literally consisted of a potter to the top of the road so he could pee against the lamppost and then back again, most of his time was spent in the back garden or the step he was on now, simply sleeping, or at night on Jamie’s bed. His eyesight was going too, but on their last trip to the vets a few months ago he was limping quite badly on his front right, they had been told that for his age there was nothing wrong. He was simply old. And Steve could sympathise. At almost 17 Jamie had relayed the message that meant Lucky was almost 90 so as far as he and Katie were concerned, the dog had earned his right to be lazy.

When they walked back into the living room, Harry looked up and gave Bucky the once over. Bucky waggled his fingers at him, and the tot moved the hand that was tangling in Steve’s t-shirt to mimic the action, making the former assassin chuckle slightly as Steve sat back down, his son getting comfortably on his lap, his blue eyes looking around the room. Bucky watched the tot with a little amusement. Whilst Jamie was a carbon copy of his father both in looks and personality bar the distinctly Stark-like nose he had, Aurora was the double of her mother in the same way but had inherited her father’s cheekbones, yet Harry was almost a perfect blend of the two of them. He had the light brown hair, freckles and nose from his mother yet the blue eyes, cheekbones, ears and jawline from Steve. He seemed to be a lot more placid that his elder brother, but then again there was time yet. He was stubborn, which Steve insisted he got from his mother, but both Bucky and Katie reminded him regularly that he was just as obstinate as she was, if not more so on some occasions.

Jamie and Rori returned and they sat and watched the game, both men and 8 year old fully invested in it, getting annoyed as the Giants made mistake after mistake. At one point Jamie let out an angry snort and rolled his eyes turning to his father asking why they were playing so rubbish. Steve had no response, other than to shrug and comment that it must simply be a bad day at the office…and then, not sooner had he said it, they broke and made a run for the line.

“Jamie, do that again…” he said.

Jamie turned and repeated the notion, Harry following again, causing Jamie and Steve to crack into identical grins.

“I leave you alone for a few hours…” a voice quipped and Steve spun round to see Katie stood in the doorway, back from the salon with her hair perfectly styled, arms folded, grin on her face. At the sight of his momma, Harry shrieked and wriggled in Steve’s arms. Steve set him down on the floor and he toddled towards her. Smiling she met him halfway and swung him up, peppering kisses all over his face, causing the tot to giggle.

“Hair looks nice…” Bucky commented and Steve shot him a look, fuming that his friend had beaten him to compliment his girl.

“Kiss ass…”

Katie laughed as Bucky grinned innocently. “Thanks Buck.” she glanced around the room “No Sam?”

“Gone to see his sister.” Steve said, dropping kiss to her cheek as she moved to sit down on the couch. “Your hair does look good.”

She smiled at him, Harry winding his hands into the soft curls, the ends slightly lighter than the rest. “Won’t do for long if he keeps playing with it.” she looked around the room and frowned “Where’s Lucky?”

“On his step” Steve said, “Hasn’t moved since you left. I’ll take him up the road when the game’s finished”

“I’ll do it.” Katie shook her head “I’ll take Harry, give him a chance to toddle outside for a bit…fancy it baby? Wanna take Lucky for a walk?”

Harry clapped his hands “Uck uck…” he nodded.

“You wanna come Jamie?” she asked. He shook his head from where he was lounging on a bean bag, eyes glued to the game. “Rori?”

Rori took a bit longer to consider before she also shook her head.

“Suit yourselves…” she said, standing up. She took Harry into the hallway and retrieved his coat, scarf and hat from the pegs before bundling him up and slipping on his boots. Once he was ready she wrapped herself up and then called Lucky down, jangling his lead. The dog padded down the stairs and sat obediently whilst she clipped his lead on and they headed outside.

“Shit…” she muttered. Dropping gently to her knees she stroked the dog’s head and looked him over, noticing his breathing had become a little shallow.

“Ucky ‘leepy.” Harry said where he stood by his momma.

Katie took a deep breath and pulled out her phone to call Steve.

“Hey?” his confused voice answered “You ok?”

“No Lucky’s collapsed…”she said, fighting back her tears. “I can’t lift him to get him home…” “Ok, wait there…” Steve said, cutting the call.

Less than a minute later Katie looked up at the sound of feet slapping on the damp sidewalk to see Steve sprinting towards them, not even having bothered to put a jacket on.

He dropped down besides her and took a second to look at their dog before he glanced at Katie, the pair of them sharing worried and sad expressions.

“Let’s get him to the vets.” Steve said, as Katie wiped the tears off her face. He gently and easily scooped the retreiver into his arms as Katie picked up Harry and they quickly made their way home.

**** They left the two youngest with Bucky, Jamie insisting on coming with them. At 8 years old he was clever enough to understand what was going on, and as Katie pointed out to Steve it was only fair he came with them for what the adults both knew deep down was going to be Lucky’s last trip.

Katie went into the surgery whilst Steve stayed with Jamie, the young boy eventually breaking the silence.

“Is he gonna die dad?”

Steve felt his chest tighten as he debated how to answer. He never lied to his kids as much as could be helped so with a sigh he turned to face Jamie who was sat in the back, his eye full of fear.

“Jay…he’s an old dog.” Steve said softly “I think he might be ready to go yeah…” Jamie bowed his head a sniffed and at that point the passenger side door opened and Katie popped her head in.

“They can see us now” she said softly.

Steve nodded and climbed out, before he lifted Lucky into his arms. Jamie slipped his hand into Katie’s as they walked into the surgery and were ushered into a quiet examination room at the back.

The Vet, they knew as John Mason smiled at them as he walked in, his round spectacles perched on his nose. He greeted them kindly as Katie explained what had happened and he gently gave the dog an examination, and Katie had to stifle the sob as even then Lucky was feebly wagging his tail.

“I’m so sorry.” The Vet looked at Katie and Steve sympathetically as he sighed “As I told you the other month, Lucky is a very old dog. I could try some pain killers and maybe a vitamin supplement but you’re just going to be delaying the inevitable…” Katie pinched her nose and bowed her head, tears filling her eyes “We won’t want him to be in any pain.” Steve slid his arm round her as Jamie’s hand tangled into hers and gave it a squeeze as he sniffed. “Mom…” She looked down to see her eldest son crying and she crouched down so she was level with him suddenly struck with the fact that in another few years she probably wouldn’t need to do that.

“I’m sorry baby…” she sniffed, her tears trickling down her face “There’s nothing we can do… I think we need to let him go to sleep.” She glanced up at Steve, her soldier’s eyes were also filled with tears as he too crouched down to look Jamie in the eye. “Your mom’s right buddy. He’s a very old dog. And we don’t want to see him in any more pain do we?”

Jamie shook his head, wiping his face with his hands “But he’s my dog. My best friend…” “I know sweetheart.” Katie sniffed, her lip trembling “But you’ll always have memories, and we can bring him home and bury him by his tree.” “The pee tree?” Jamie sniffed, and Steve gave a little chuckle.

“The pee tree.” he nodded.

Jamie looked up at the vet as his parents stood up at either side of him, Steve’s hand resting on the top of his head. “Will it hurt him?”

“No.” The vet said “I’ll give him an injection first that will put him to sleep and then the second one will stop his heart. It will be very fast, he won’t feel a thing.” Katie glanced down and could see Jamie was contemplating something before he looked at her “Can we stay with him? He’ll be scared if we don’t…” “Of course we can.” Katie nodded.

The Vet glanced at her then to Steve who gave him a small nod of permission and Mason straightened up. “I’ll give you a few minutes with him ok? I’ll go and get everything prepped.” The door clicked shut behind him and Jamie tugged on Steve’s arm “Can you lift me up?”

Steve was devastated too. That dog had seen so much with them since he had found him at Clint’s after the snap. He’d seen Emmy come and live with them, grow up, she’d wiped her tears into his fur the first time Peter had finished with her, then the second time, and the third time. He’d seen the birth of all 3 of the younger kids, and had been curious at the small, noisy human that had been Jamie when they had brought him home but had fast become the boy’s self-appointed guardian, taking up sentinel position outside his room whilst he had been young, and then moved himself into the room once he had been older. He’d put up with Rori covering him in pink glitter, been an expert at stealing toast off their plates if you weren’t looking and both he and Katie had enjoyed his company later at night when he used to sidle up next to them on the couch or outside on the decking as they spent their later evenings together. Up until about 2 years ago he’d been Steve’s running companion, one that he had missed a lot when he pounded the streets of Brooklyn and he knew that Katie talked to the dog as well when she was cooking and he was hovering, waiting for scraps. Steve had also sketched the dog, more times than he cared to remember, one of the best drawings he had done of him sat with Jamie on the kitchen step adorned Jamie’s wall in a frame above his bed and another one of him and all of the kids in the garden was displayed on the sideboard in the Den.

There was no doubt about it, losing him was going to leave a huge, Lucky shaped hole in their lives.

The vet returned a little while later and Jamie made to move but he stopped him.

“You can stay there…” he said kindly, “He seems nice and calm.” Jamie nodded, watching as the vet gently prepared Lucky’s leg to find a vein and inserted the first needle, explaining what was going on.

“He’s going to fall asleep now…” He said, removing the needle and Katie moved from Steve’s hold to press face into the dogs fur behind his neck, just as Steve had seen her do so many times before when she’d either been upset or just in the mood for a cuddle.

“Sweet dreams puppy.” she said softly, standing up, and smoothing his fur down as Steve reached out and scratched the dogs’ ears.

“Miss you buddy.” he said, sniffing slightly as the vet injected the next drug. Jamie began to cry softly as he bent his head, Lucky’s breathing eventually stopping.

“Do you want to take his collar?” The vet asked gently as Jamie continued to stroke his beloved dog’s head and Katie looked at him.

“Jamie?”

He sniffed and nodded, and Steve moved forward, gently undoing the blue leather collar that was studded with metal bones from around his neck, Lucky’s name tag glinting in the light.

*****

December

Steve opened the trunk to the car as Jamie walked round to join him, grabbing the dog basket that contained the freshly washed blankets.

“You got it?” Steve looked at him as Jamie easily lifted the item, another trait he had inherited from his dad, strength.

“Yeah…” Jamie assured him as Steve lifted the 2 large bags of dog food they had swung by the store for onto his shoulder and shut the trunk. Together they trudged through the snow into the animal shelter and Steve pushed the door open. The receptionist looked up and smiled at them.

“We have some donations.” Steve smiled at her, dropping the bags onto the floor.

“And there’s this too.” Jamie offered, “Our dog died last month and he would want other dogs to have these…”

“Sorry to hear about your dog.” She said. “Was he old?”

“17.” Jamie nodded, sniffing slightly “He was my best friend.”

Steve dropped a hand to his son’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze as Jamie wiped his face. He knew his eldest son was still grieving. All of them were, Emmy had been distraught when they had called her at University to break the news and Clint had also been a ltitle upset, the archer thanking them for giving him such a good home for the past 10 years. His collar now rest next to a photo of him in the hallway and a few times over the last 4 weeks Steve had silently observed Jamie simply holding it, for a few moments, before he would place it back down and Steve had hastily made his retreat so his son never knew his dad had been intruding on his moments of grief and remembrance. They’d left all the decisions about what to do with the rest of his things to Jamie, who had announced the previous day that he was ready to give Lucky’s basket and toys away and both he and Katie had been so upset but so proud of their boy when he said he wanted to take it to the local shelter along with some food in Lucky’s memory.

“We’ll make good use of them.” the receptionist assured him. Jamie nodded and looked up.

“Can we go now?”

“Sure buddy, come one.” Steve said, giving the receptionist another smile before he steered the boy towards the door. As they walked Jamie casually glanced up at the board on the wall which contained photos of the animals ready for adoption and stopped dead.

“Dad…” he said, pointing “Look…”

Steve followed his hand and scanned the board. “Jamie, what…”

“The one in the middle…” he said gently, “look at his name.”

Steve scanned the adverts when he spotted the one Jamie was talking about. It was a white and tan dog with a huge bushy tail and pointy ears. The dog’s large brown eyes wore an expression that was worried and scared, which wasn’t surprising considering he was in a rescue and as he looked at the details learning the dog was approximately 5 years old and had been picked up as a stray, he read the name and his eyes widened.

“Well I’ll be damned…” he gave a low chuckle.

Jamie looked at him. “Can we see him?”

“Jamie…”

“I just want to see him….” his son said desperately “That name!”

Steve glanced down at Jamie again who was wearing a look of hope on his face and he signed. “Fine, ok, we can see him. But just looking ok?”

Famous last words.

So now, it was no surprise that Jamie turned all of his best pleading and reasoning on his father as he looked up at him from where he was crouched petting the dog, whose tail was wagging furiously.

“Please dad…” Jamie looked at him, “Lucky sent him to us, he has to have done…”

“We can’t just take another dog home…not without asking your mom.” Steve shook his head

“Why not? She does stuff all the time that you tell her not to.”

Ok so that was true. And it wasn’t like they hadn’t talked about getting another dog, they’d agreed they’d wait until after Christmas though, and then come to the rescue as a family…but, as he looked at the dog, although he didn’t believe in fate, he had to admit the name was one hell of a coincidence. And when the volunteer who had taken them to see the dog had explained just why the dog was called that…well, he was struggling really to argue with Jamie about it being a sign.

Even though fate was a load of bullshit.

“Hypothetically speaking, if we wanted to adopt him…”

“Yeah he’s been here 4 weeks. We don’t keep them longer than that.”

“What…” the young boy said, his mouth dropping open “You mean…” “Afraid so.” The woman sighed “We don’t have the space or…”

Jamie turned his blue eyes on his father, as the death row inmate in question licked his rosy cheeks, his tail wagging furiously.

“Damned it…” Steve grumbled as he turned back to the woman “Better show me the form then…” ***** “Honey?” Steve called as he, Jamie and mutt entered the hallway “Don’t go mad, but… “Mad?” her voice called back, “What would I be…”

Katie stopped dead as the dog pattered into the kitchen, bushy tail raised as he looked around sniffing, Jamie still holding his leash. Harry gave a shriek of excitement from his chair.

Steve held his hands up, palms out “This was not my idea…” “It was his last day mom.” Jamie looked up as Katie crouched to pet the dog, her mouth still hanging open. “They were gonna kill him and we saw his photo and then his name and…” “His name?” Katie asked, looking up and almost falling back as the dog jumped up, two paws on her chest as he licked her face, his tail wagging furiously. “Why, what’s his name?” Steve, picking Harry up out of his chair, glanced at Jamie who grinned and looked at his mom as he spoke “Stark.”

“What?” she whispered softly, looking at Jamie then to Steve. Steve nodded to confirm what his son was saying was true. “He’s…called Stark?”

Steve nodded, setting Harry down on the floor watching as the tot headed over to the dog, Katie showing him how to pet him softly. “The Wardens picked him up by that huge memorial-slash-murial of Tony near the park.” he said softly “Hence his name.” He watched as his wife’s eyes filled with tears and she stood up, hastily wiping her face. Steve reached out and rubbed her arm as she turned and moved back to where she had been chopping vegetables for dinner. Jamie stood up a little tentatively, looking at his dad before he glanced at his mother.

After a moments pause she spoke “Suppose you best go show him your sister if he’s staying. She’s in the den.”

Jamie’s face split into a huge grin and he dropped the dogs leash and rushed over to his mom. “Thank you….” She turned to give him a hug, gently ruffling his hair before he took the dogs leash again and headed out of the room, Stark eagerly trotting by his side. Harry followed and Steve turned to Katie.

“You’re an ass hole.” she narrowed her eyes at him before she turned back to the vegetables and he laughed as he crossed the room, wrapping his arm around her from behind as he kissed her neck.

“I’m sorry but…well come on, tell me you would have left him there.”

She took a deep breath, but her silence told Steve all he needed to know.

“So now we have a son and a dog named after Tony and a daughter who shares his birthday.” she said, snorting “He’ll be laughing his head off up there.” Steve chuckled and they both turned as their kids walked back into the room, followed by their new dog who was now sporting a pink and blue bandana round his neck.

“I don’t like the collar from the rescue…” Jamie shrugged, as Rori giggled.

“Stark looks pretty.”

“Why don’t you let him outside?” Steve asked, “So he can see the garden.”

Jamie nodded and opened the door, the dog hesitating slightly before he stepped out and down the patio, before letting out a huge bark and running onto the grass. He dropped and rolled onto his back, happily before he jumped up and walked over to Lucky’s Tree. He sniffed, and then as they watched he cocked his leg and peed straight up the side of the trunk.

With a huff Jamie grinned, his arms folded as he leaned against the door frame, his father doing the same slightly higher up. “Still the pee tree…Dad.” “Still the Pee tree.” Steve nodded, agreeing. Katie snorted at the ridiculous similarity between the two and shook her head slightly as she held Harry on her hip. “What do you think pal?”

Harry laughed and clapped his hand “pee”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek and her attention turned to Steve who gave her a wink.

“You’re still an ass hole.” she said to him.

“Language.” he shot back, as he moved over to where she was stood and whispered into her hear. “Make it up to you later pretty girl.”

“I love him already!” Rori giggled and Jamie looked up at his mum, his eyes so like his fathers locked onto hers and he smiled.

“Love you momma.”

And if Steve hadn’t already won her over with his loaded promise a few moments ago, that would have done it there and then.

There was a lot of excitement over the new addition to the Rogers household, but eventually later that night they managed to get the 3 kids into bed, Jamie leaving his bedroom door open so that Stark could find where he felt more comfortable to sleep.

When they were heading to bed, Katie took a shower in the en-suite, and as she turned the water off she could hear Steve talking to someone or something. Assuming he was on the phone to Emmy, which wasn’t uncommon last thing at night she opened the door and stopped dead. Stark was nestled next to Steve on the bed, his nose tucked under Steve’s as the super-soldier gently held the pup like he was one of their kids, softly cooing at him.

She gave a cough and he looked up at her sheepishly, shrugging.

“What can I say?” he smiled, raising an eyebrow “I have a thing for Starks…”

N.B. Yes, the dog I had in my mind was Dodger, and I’m doing this shamelessly so that I can use photos of him and Chris because I’m a thirsty ho…

@the-omni-princess @momobaby227 @geekofmanythings16 @angelofhell-666 @thewackywriter @marvelfansworld @cobalt-gear @asgardlover75 @jennmurawski13 @jtargaryen18 @saiyanprincessswanie @navispalace @patzammit @joannaliceevans-fanficblog @icanfeelastormbrewing @djeniiscorner @ayamenimthiriel @coldmuffinbanditshoe @disneylovingal @madzmilllz @sgtjaamesbaarnes @official-and-unstable-satan @jhayes6984 @sweater-daddiesdumbdork

#stark spangled forever #stark spangled banner #steve rogers #steve rogers x oc #steve rogers x original female character #katie stark #marvel #marvel fanfiction #mcu #mcu fanfiction

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