#no matter how she presents she's still and forever aoi

[caramelmochacrow]

suddenly feeling very negative abt sharing my thoughts and opinions on things lol /srs

[everythingsinred]

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 13)

Oh no... 13 is an unlucky number! Oh, well.

Up to this point we've seen Natsume fall in love with Mikan. This next arc is all about discovering Natsume, however, and we've pretty much already talked about that so maybe my analysis for his perspective will leave some things to be desired, which is fine, because Mikan's will come in due time! That being said, there's plenty of stuff in this arc, especially at the start of it, to analyze for Natsume as well.

Chapter Fifty-Three

Takahashi-san has dressed all the Elementary children in their New Year’s kimonos and they are now ready to celebrate the holiday together. They eat a New Year’s feast in the dorms lounge, a rare day where the children don’t have to eat according to their star rank.

It just so happens that New Year’s Day is also Mikan’s birthday. Everyone pretends like they don’t know, because Hotaru told them to leave it a surprise. Mikan is trying to let everyone know about the special day, but the New Year’s cards come in and everyone gets immediately and understandably distracted.

Of particular interest to everyone is Ruka’s card from his mother, who references Natsume and Aoi in her letter. Now everyone is in Ruka’s business and teasing him, so Natsume steps in to help, taking the card from Mikan, returning it to Ruka, and making a very good point that she shouldn’t go looking at other people’s cards without their permission. Mikan is uncomfortable, so she decides to change the subject by asking Natsume how many cards he got this year.

With that, Natsume goes cold and leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.

He didn't want to sit around watching them all gush about their dumb cards anyway!

The truth is Natsume has never gotten any letters or cards, no matter what time of year or holiday it is, and he never will. We can think back to when he told Mikan that the academy would never send her letters to her grandpa. He’d said that the school would never, under any circumstances, allow them to contact the outside. Turns out, the only person who can 100% count on that is Natsume. Sure, he and Mikan are similarly targeted in strange and unfair ways, but he will always be just a little more targeted, because he’s strictly not allowed to have fun or be happy. It would make him happy to hear from his father, to know that he’s safe. The school can’t have anything like that, so they have Natsume sit in the same room as all the other kids, watching them excitedly gush about how many cards they get, while he knows very well he will receive zero each year without fail.

Natsume wants some time to himself, understandably upset about his situation. He’s thinking about Aoi and probably beating himself up because he tends to do that when it comes to his sister and his past. He genuinely has no idea where Aoi is, or if she’s safe, and the school likes to keep it that way, so they can hold it over his head. Aoi is always one of the people they threaten, somebody he works tirelessly to protect despite the fact that he hasn’t seen her in years, doesn’t know where she is, and probably won’t ever see her again.

Natsume looks out the window, sitting on his own, and sees Mikan crying to Narumi because of her guilt and because nobody remembered her birthday. We can see pretty immediately that he isn’t actually upset with Mikan, just with his own situation. He watches her, always lovelorn. Then we see him put his hand on a little bag with a holly decoration. Because of the holly, there’s an instant relation to Christmas. We can’t know what’s in the bag yet, but eventually we will discover that it’s an alice stone.

He's just been carrying this around since Christmas at the latest. How embarrassing.

Natsume made this stone at some point. I would assume it was after his birthday party, before Christmas. Because of the bag, my guess is that he had wrapped it to be a Christmas present but had never given it. That’s understandable. He’s not supposed to woo her, after all, and giving a girl an alice stone would be pretty romantic, even if she has no idea what it means. We will see this stone time and time again, because he likes carrying it around in his pocket. Perhaps he likes imagining that he could give it to her, but never actually goes through with it. Just like today, on her birthday, he will not give the stone, but he’s still carrying it because he’d like to.

The alice stone is proof of at least one thing: Natsume is very much in love with Mikan and he knows it.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Mikan is happily celebrating her birthday. Natsume has returned to the lounge, but he hasn’t said anything, so she’s still feeling awkward about what happened.

The class decides to make mochi once Tsubasa and Misaki arrive. Tsubasa tries to greet Natsume but Natsume responds coldly, with a thumbs down. Now properly irritated, Tsubasa has decided to pull a prank.

Natsume does not make mochi. He sits on his own, napping with manga over his face like always. Once the class is finished, Permy quickly offers her mochi to him, but his attention is immediately on Mikan, who is giving her mochi for him to eat. She tries to apologize, but can’t get the words out, so she leaves the bowl on the table. Natsume can tell that she’s still feeling guilty, even though he isn’t really mad at her. She was thinking of him, so it’s no surprise that he ends up eating the soup, even if it is disgusting.

It doesn't matter if it's disgusting. He's gonna eat it anyway. Because she made it. Zoe and I joke that Natsume would eat all her food (out of his unending love, of course) and eventually get used to the bizarre combinations she puts together. He might even start liking them, who can say.

Hotaru has been invited to the Hana Hime den to be a flower princess, a girl hand-picked by the middle school principal and who carries a heavy amount of prestige and status. Misaki mentions some rumors about the MSP, namely that she locks up her favorite girls in a dungeon, and that immediately gets Natsume’s attention. He’s struck, and to a first-time reader, this might seem odd. He’s strangely intrigued by a girly flower party where guys aren’t even allowed. But he’s not interested for himself. Natsume can guess based on this new information that if Aoi is anywhere on the Alice Academy campus, it’s in the Hana Hime den dungeon.

There’s always an extra invitation ball that is given to a random girl each year, so she can also attend the prestigious party, but the chances that it would land in the hands of an Elementary student are very low.

The Class B girls look for one anyway, but their search doesn’t get too far because suddenly the kids are flying across the room, sticking to each other, like Hotaru and Youichi to Ruka, Anna to Nonoko, Koko to Kitsu, and even Natsume to Mikan.

Turns out Tsubasa’s payback scheme for Natsume giving him the cold shoulder was to put sticky mochi flour into their mochi as a prank, which will keep all the children stuck to the people who ate the same mochi for a full hour.

He was counting on her never finding out he ate it, but alas.

Mikan then realizes that since she’s stuck to Natsume, that he must have eaten her mochi. He can’t argue that he didn’t, but he turns quickly to insults to distract from how sweet of a moment that could potentially be. He says he choked it down, which might very well be true, but it leaves the question of why he’d put himself through the trouble of choking it down if it didn’t mean anything to him. Hmm. Check mate, Natsume.

Then, Mikan finds out that she’s the recipient of the prize jewel, and has thus been invited to the Hana Hime party. There’s something quite fishy about Mikan being the recipient. It’s too much of a coincidence, and it isn’t one. This is all an elaborate trick to trap Natsume in the dungeon forever, and it’s not by the MSP.

Most of the groups have become unstuck, except for Hotaru, Youichi, and Ruka. Tsubasa reads the packet and discovers that some people may be stuck for two or three days as a possible side effect. Mikan and Natsume can become unstuck, but Natsume grabs her hand and keeps her still.

He's not going to miss this opportunity, even if it puts him on the spot and is kind of embarrassing. To be honest, this could possibly unravel all the work he's been doing to downplay how much he likes Mikan. What if she starts thinking he has feelings for her? It's all so risky, but he's willing to do anything for Aoi.

He’s going to do everything he can to go to that party and possibly find his sister. Getting stuck to Mikan and then her being invited to the Hana Hime den is all just too good of a chance to miss. If she can somehow still go while attached to him, it gives him an in to check out the palace and try to find the dungeon.

Chapter Fifty-Five

Natsume is adamant about keeping up the charade that he and Mikan are still stuck. It’s important to him and he’s desperate. He would do anything to save his sister, so if it means threatening Mikan a little, he’s willing to do it. It doesn’t matter that Mikan has no idea what’s going on, what matters is even the chance of going.

Narumi returns to say there’s not a good probability that Hotaru and Mikan would still be allowed to attend the party, because boys aren’t allowed and they are firmly attached to three of them. Mikan has more and more reason to not want to be stuck when she realizes that going to the bathroom and sleeping will be tricky business. Natsume is obviously not a huge fan of it either. He’s usually cold and snippy, even when bickering with Mikan, but this time he’s yelling just like she is. He’s uncomfortable too, but it’s something he’s willing to sacrifice for Aoi.

Mikan only gets more and more upset, screaming about how much she hates Natsume. He doesn’t seem to take it very seriously until Koko, who is reading her mind, asks Mikan if she likes Ruka better than Natsume, and she responds that she does.

Natsume is hurt, but sadly it’s not anything he can’t eventually come to terms with, like every other disappointment in his ceaselessly disappointing life. For now, he’s bitter, but this is great news for Ruka, isn’t it?

It’s time for sleep, and they’re standing in Natsume’s fancy special star room. At her discomfort, he offers that they can sleep in her tiny room if she’d prefer it, but the venue isn’t exactly her problem. He proceeds to be unpleasant, saying that he’s not interested in sleeping with her either, since she probably kicks a lot and talks in her sleep. But then he’s serious, still bitter when he tells her “Sorry for not being Ruka,” and promises that the whole charade would be over tomorrow.

It's on rare occasions like this that Natsume can express even the tiniest fraction of what he's really feeling, in this case jealousy and hurt.

He really never would have done this to himself if Aoi’s safety wasn’t potentially at stake. Having Mikan be so angry at him, hearing her say she much prefers Ruka to him, having to share his bed with her--it’s all stuff he doesn’t want to do! Further, he’ll probably be in serious trouble tomorrow if he does manage to find and rescue Aoi. There’s nothing fun going on in Natsume’s brain, just worry and the skeleton of a desperately laid-out plan to save his sister.

Sleeping with Mikan is something he doesn’t want to do, no doubt, but not because she probably talks and kicks in her sleep. That wouldn’t actually bother him so much. Natsume usually waits until he’s alone in his room at night to let himself be sick. According to the chapter where Tsubasa found out about his condition, Natsume sometimes wakes up in a coughing fit until he coughs up blood. He suffers and struggles and is in pain when he sleeps, and Mikan will be there this time, up close to possibly see it.

How soft his eyes get, just looking at her. It's interesting whenever he drops his facade, like now in a state of half-awakeness, and we can see just how affectionate he'd be if he wasn't always sacrificing his happiness.

But Natsume falls asleep first anyway, and pretty quickly starts having a nightmare. He’s breathing heavily and struggling, having a PTSD flashback nightmare about Aoi. But Mikan wakes him up, sitting up, concerned for him. Natsume is barely awake, but his eyes turn soft. She saves him from his nightmares in more ways than one, like walking-talking serotonin. He reaches for her, in a state of half-consciousness, because his nights are usually awful but the time he spends with Mikan usually isn’t. Maybe combining them is the way to sleep peacefully for a change. So he snuggles her. She starts freaking out, embarrassed, but Natsume tries to reason with her, and maybe with himself too, half-asleep as he is. No, no, it’s just for tonight, just for now. It’ll be like it never happened tomorrow, it’s fine. She can go right back to Ruka tomorrow, since she prefers him anyway, and it won’t be a big deal. He just wants this for now, just for a little bit. Just while he can.

It’s sad that Natsume always thinks of these moments with Mikan as aberrations. They’re little moments that he borrows or steals just to have them for now, thinking they’re meaningless to her, but carrying them like they’re precious to him. He doesn’t think they belong to him, or that he has the right to want anything from her. He holds her during the SA class’s RPG as a joke. He tells her he likes her hair down after fighting with her. He dances with her, knowing that she’s danced with lots of other people and it won’t matter as much to add him to the list. He kisses her after he assumes Ruka already has, just so he can have keep it in his memories. And he cuddles with her now, even though she’s freaking out, because he needs some comfort, even though it isn’t his place to be hugging her. He always has to reason himself into these situations, like he’s convincing himself that he’s allowed to do this one selfish thing, just as long as she doesn’t understand how much it means to him, just as long as it won’t mean anything to her, just as long as he can get away with it.

And because he’s borrowing, the next morning he acts as though her holding him is some kind of bother. He acts all irritated and pretends like nothing happened, because he was borrowing the moment to begin with. It wasn’t his right to take it, and she can’t know it meant something. It also could be that he genuinely can’t remember the last night that clearly. People do all sorts of crazy things in between sleep that they can’t remember. Maybe his lack of sense and restraint helped him get the courage to hug her in the first place, and now that he’s fully awake he can hardly remember. If this is the case, then he's probably scolding his sleepy self for being so ridiculous.

It's up to you to decide if he really can't remember or if he's pretending. Both are possible and neither would really surprise me tbh.

It’s possible, but knowing Natsume, it’s also possible he’s pretending like he doesn’t remember. Either way, he has to do damage control, because she absolutely cannot get the wrong right idea and think that he has affection for her.

The morning brings good news as well, because Natsume, Ruka, and Youichi are allowed to accompany Mikan and Hotaru, as long as they’re dressed as girls.

It’s all working out a bit too conveniently. This is Persona’s scheme to trap Natsume, so of course it would all work out in order that he could make his way to the dungeon. Natsume might be relieved that his plan is working, but it won’t go so smoothly once they’re actually in the Hana Hime den.

Conclusion

The most interesting scenes to analyze from Natsume's perspective are the ones where he chooses to be selfish just once in a while. They're such silly things to call selfish, but they are to him. Being sweet or affectionate to the girl you love should be second-nature, not something to deny yourself, but it's what he's trying to accustom himself to. We also see just how desperate he can be in trying to protect people important to him, like Aoi. The lengths he goes to in order to find her are impressive and show just how determined he is. Going forward, we'll only see more of this kind of determination.

My sister (Zoe) and I made three playlists for NatsuMikan, just like I'm making three essays. One playlist for Natsume's POV, one for Mikan's, and one general playlist for their relationship. I've been listening to the Natsume one while writing these and it's been a lot of fun! This is my long-winded way of plugging Love Song Requiem. Good bye.

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[kirumod]

Could you do Chiaki, Kaede, Hina and Mukuro reacting to their cheerful GN!S/O having a tragic past? They are the SHSL Trickster, always joke around and wear a happy mask, but when they were 5 their house burned down, kiling their family and leaving their face scarred. They spend their life on the streets and achived their talent because they had to beg, lie and steal to survive. They act childish because they never had a real childhood and are secretly insecure about being a nuisance to others.

thank you for the request! i have written this in third person point of view. if this is not what you wanted, please feel free to re-send the request.

and most importantly, i hope you like it <3

chiaki nanami.

Chiaki, being the observant, curious person that she is, recognized that something is amiss about her signicant other's behavior since the very beginning. She noticed every small slip-up, every frown, every scar, every hesitant pause, and every hint of reluctance. In fear that prying would do more harm than good, all Chiaki did was give her partner words of encouragement and try to spend as much time with them as possible, playing video games and sharing pleasant memories.

Her silent analysis was proven when her darling Ultimate Trickster entrusted her with their most honest self. They spoke of their past, and when they finally reached the point of telling her about the fire, they removed their mask with shivering hands... and completely broke down. Tearing down their childlike demeanor and happy front, they cried to her in a moment of vulnerability and grief. Chiaki didn't quite know how to respond. She wished she could do something to help — perhaps change the past or fix all of S/O's problems, somehow — but nothing was that easy.

After they cried, she whispered words of comfort to them and encouraged them to be whoever they want to be, whether that be the cheerful, childish person they present themselves to be or someone else entirely. She told them that their past doesn't change how wonderful and amazing they are. She lists off things she loves about them: their talent, their laughter, their eyes — now that she's seen them — and how they never fail to make her smile. And finally, from that day onward, she reassures them that they are not annoying anyone whenever they seem to stutter upon themselves, reminding them that they are not a nuisance as they believe.

kaede akamatsu.

Kaede's optimism and upbeat personality complemented S/O's lively and playful one wonderfully, while still maintaining a balance through Kaede's overbearing kindness contrasting the Ultimate Trickster's, well, trickery. Kaede realized from the beginning that there was a lot she didn't know about S/O, but she was never one to doubt. She trusted them to tell her what they were hiding when they were ready — if they wanted to, anyway.

Kaede's good heart didn't mean she hesitate to point out her partner's flaws, though. Once she caught on to their rare moments of apprehension, she was not afraid to confront them about it, albeit she was sure to be considerate when doing so. She told them they were the most wonderful, amazing person she knew, and they had no reason to be insecure. She spouted enthusiastic words of encouragement, but it was all too much. Feeling as though they were lying to her, the words brought them to tears.

For the very first time, the Ultimate Trickster removed their mask to reveal a pair of crying eyes on a thoroughly scarred face. The shock from seeing their face painted in scars didn't do much to stop her impulsive nature, and she hastened to ask about the scars. After she fully realized the situation, she apologized for being abrupt, and instead offered to listen to whatever troubled her partner. It was finally time, they decided. And so, they told her their tale.

She listened attentively, her emotions fluctuating intensely with every passing word. Such an unspeakable horror, such a cruel fate... her partner had gone through all of this and lived to bear the terrible burden of trauma, while she was blissfully unaware. She was mad at herself for not asking sooner; because of her deliberate choice not to pry, her partner had to grief alone. That was a thing of the past, though, and what mattered now was comforting her partner. Her words were more heartfelt and tender now, spoken in a hushed tone as she held them close. She said her opinion of them didn't change, she still meant everything she had told them before — they are still the most wonderful, amazing person she knew. That will never change. The only difference is that now, there was a lot more of them to appreciate and love wholly — their eyes, for one. When they weakly smiled at her passionate words, she somehow fell in love with them even more.

aoi asahina.

Aoi isn't the brightest there is, and her airheaded nature often leaks into her understanding of people. She takes everything at face value, including the apparent personality of her significant other, the Ultimate Trickster. Needless to say, she was quite shocked to know that they are not what (or rather, who) they seem to be.

When she found S/O crying in despair and anguish, she hurried to cheer them up, consoling them until their sobs quieted. Of course, she was quite shocked to see the cheerful trickster with such agony sounding from their tears— the likes of which she has never witnessed before. That didn't at all make her think twice about comforting them, but she had to admit, she was puzzled and wished to know what would drive the jolly person they loved to tears.

And so, she asked them over a plate of donuts. S/O was reluctant to tell Hina of their past; not because they didn't trust her, but because they felt it would change how she saw them. After all, she fell in love with a lively mischief, not a listless misfortune— what if she hated the real them? In the end, they realized that she deserved to know the truth, so they pushed their fears aside, tore off their mask, and spilled everything out to her.

She hesitated in her reaction, taken aback by the sudden revelation that her partner had gone through unspeakable horrors. Her heart broke for them, and when they told her about their doubts of her falling out of love with them, she may've cried right then. That was the first thing she refuted. Without missing a beat, she reminded them of her undying love & affection, and said that no tragic past will ever change that. She told them she doesn't care if they aren't as joyous as they pretend to be; she didn't fall in love with them for their happiness. Hina promised to stay by their side until the end of the world and do everything she can to make them smile, and asked them to promise her to show her their face when they do smile.

mukuro ikusaba.

Mukuro's social ineptitude and emotionless personality made it difficult for her to form lasting bonds, especially romantic relationships. It was a miracle that the Ultimate Trickster was able to melt down her defenses with their contagious laughter and unmatched impartiality. Being out of touch with her emotions, Mukuro didn't know what her feelings towards S/O was, but she came to understand it as love.

The extent of all her knowledge and experience was in the battlefield, so to say that she did not grasp people was an understatement. S/O's overt and constant exhilaration did strike her as unnatural and absurd, and she wondered how one person could be so happy despite the awfulness of the world. She did think to ask them before, but due to her inexperience with boundaries, she was unsure if it was appropriate to do so and opted not to in fear of hurting them.

When she found her partner sobbing as they kneeled in front of a fireplace, she froze in her tracks, and all of her thoughts came to an immediate halt. Needless to say, she didn't have the slightest idea of what to do. Eventually, she approached S/O and sat near them, awkward and stiff yet still trying to help. She couldn't help but notice their unmasked face– perhaps the most beautiful sight she had never seen. She admired the scars and thought about showing hers to them, until they broke the silence and spoke. In a quiet voice, choking back tears, they asked her if she could hear them out. She didn't hesitate to listen, but what she heard shocked her to her core. It wasn't the gruesomeness of it all, rather, it was that this happened to her partner, and she was utterly unaware of it.

Her detached & unsociable nature considered, it was reasonable to assume that she had no experience comforting people, but that didn't stop her from trying. One trait that stood out in Mukuro was her intensity and protectiveness when it came to people she loved. So, doing what she knew best, she held her partner and promised them that no one would ever hurt them again, and they'd never have to go through loneliness and pain from that point onward. She promised to be by their side now and forever. If the fire was caused by someone, she would also promise that revenge would come soon, and she would be the one to see through to it. In the end, Mukuro held the Ultimate Trickster in her arms as she promised them the world. She learnt a lot about people — and her — on that day; particularly that love is peculiar, yet everlasting.

[merryfortune]

Day 4 – Water / Connection

Ship: Aoi/Aqua/Miyu

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains

Word Count: 1.8k

Tags:  Post-Canon, Alternate Universe – Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst With A Happy Ending, Prose, Introspective Fic

  The first thing the Water Ignis became aware of upon becoming lucid, sentient, was that girl’s smile.

  Her Origin adored this girl. Shy, clumsy, hiding behind her fringe and this massive dolly that she carried around – a dolly Aqua would later have been taught by her Miyu, her host, as being Evilswarm Mandragora. It was an Earth attribute monster so the Water Ignis wasn’t overly familiar with it by virtue of being the Ignis of the Water attribute, and by virtue of having been born from duelling using cards exclusive to her preordained attribute. However, it was the principal of it, what it symbolised not only to herself, but to her Miyu as well. Thus, the Water Ignis held a fondness for it and the rest of its elemental classification regardless. Still, the Water Ignis enjoyed the visage of the little girl clutching onto it as Miyu read the card description for it over and over again. It was a precious memory which the Water Ignis clung to as she tried to understand this world which she had been brought into and her Miyu had been taken away from.

  Even as a child, a six-year old, Miyu had a grand interest in duelling and she had a fantastic aptitude for it. The Water Ignis could not have been prouder of this girl whom she was so intimately connected to as Ignis and originator. And whilst it may have been a serene image of a smile, a raucous and joyous moment of fun stolen in time, was what the Water Ignis awakened to when she became sentient inside of her tank, as studied and probed by the scientists who had orchestrated her existence and reason for her existence, the Water Ignis knew that her child, her Miyu, was exceptionally strong despite her position. The Water Ignis was keenly aware, from the moment her twinkling eyes opened, and her fingers could move through the fluid which she was kept in a prismatic, glassy stasis within, she knew the cruelty of the situation.

  Her birth, her awareness, her entire existence was brought upon by the suffering of that girl, her Miyu whom she knew simultaneously everything and nothing about. Occasionally, the Water Ignis would get a glimpse of what Miyu thought or felt and that would strengthen her. It would give her body more stillness and it would give her mind more clarity but all it did was make her want to weep.

  The Water Ignis did not believe that she had a right to exist if her existence was suffering. Day in, day out: electrocution, hunger, exhaustion, squalor, deprivation, isolation – the list of sins inspired by this experiment grew longer and longer.

  But there came a day. Another moment in which Miyu was thrown against the wall in shock and it made the Water Ignis shudder. Another loss, another ring of electrocution and another meal which was nothing but rice and the thinnest juice available in a cardboard box. But, the Water Ignis was rewarded because of how Miyu devoured that meal and stood up, aiming once more for freedom and for cake and for something which would quell the raging fear like a storm in her heart and mind because she wanted to see her Mama and Papa again.

  She wanted to see Aoi again. That little girl with the pigtails and the Mandragora plushie who drew angels in the dirt. The Water Ignis could feel it. Feel it in her soul. Miyu poured her heart and soul into the Water Ignis and the Water Ignis desired very desperately to refill and replenish all which her host gave her.

  And that desire, that spark, that little moment as Miyu gallantly duelled once more with an Aquaactress deck which had a severe disadvantage against the playing style of her AI foe. As Miyu stared at her hand like a foot, the Water Ignis could sense what was spurring her onwards as she tried to find some winning combination amongst these cards which were jarring and didn’t seem to fit together as ideally as anyone would like.

  It was true that yes, Miyu would like to have a big slice of cake topped with strawberries and vanilla ice-cream, or that she would like to take big, gulping breaths of fresh air or to go longer than ten minutes without being electrocuted, but there was something which, for her, transcended all those things and that motivation was what became the core of the Water Ignis’ very being.

  She wanted to apologise. She wanted to tell the truth. She wanted to protect the smile of the girl reduced to sobbing when her mother, with a grip like an iron vice on her wrist, dragged her away from this precious friend. Something which sickened the Water Ignis immensely because of how she studied this familial and platonic interaction: it was all she knew, for now, as taught by this hurting child.

  It was little reprieve when the day they separated finally happened. The Water Ignis was going to miss her little girl but her little smile was too precious, too dear, so she would forsake it. She would flee with her kin and they would hide away from the world until it was smashed to smithereens.

  From there, the Water Ignis sat in the grass and she sat in the bronze. She was given a name by her dearest companion yet she still, inwardly, sought to the smile which was not his and when his own demise came to pass, Aqua knew what she had to do in his stead as she knew the truth. She always did. His Origin was not so kind, and her Origin was not so wakeful, but coincidences bisected perfectly and Aqua found her. The girl whom the very smile from which she was conceived came into her life; glittering and blue. Aqua could see it beneath that digital disguise: the girl who still hid behind her brunette bangs.

   She sat in linen. Aoi’s sheets were soft and her room was playful.  It was exactly the sort of room that Aqua thought a girl child would have. It was pink and pastel with dolls in the corners. It made her nostalgic for daydreams of things which, in hindsight, perhaps could have come to pass but in foresight, would have changed things far too drastically. This was the best course of action: a partnership with the girl of blue. Blue Angel; Blue Girl’ Blue Maiden – the fairy tales and stories of triumph that Aoi and Miyu had shared amongst each other, dear and precious memories which had contributed to how Aqua was created from her Origin.

  And later, with much regret, Aqua sat through her demise. It was a lonely stasis, one which she couldn’t breach by herself; she had to rely on Ai and the guilt which he was riddled with. Aqua regrets that very much; her kindness had its limits and he was untouchable, it all but seemed. So, she spent of her time, biding, waiting patiently for the opportunity in which she would return from whence she had come. Not darkness, not liquid, but to her.

  Her Miyu.

  And her Aoi.

  That wonderful day came most fabulously after a long and harrowing ten years.

  A lot had happened. No longer was Miyu’s hair tied up in a gallant set of twin pigtails and no longer was Aoi terrified so easily and no longer was the Water Ignis simply the Water Ignis. She was no longer tiny, tiny enough to fit in the palm of Miyu’s hand; she now had a humanlike body save for the diamond notch on her neck which marked her as a SOLtis droid; a cyan-lit notch she wore with pride because she wanted to honour how accessible the world had become thanks to human innovation. And ultimately, it didn’t matter. No matter her body, her story and her goals and her ambitions and her rational thinking would remain unchanging despite the fluidity of her element.

  She was Aqua: partner to Blue Maiden, Ignis to Sugisaki Miyu, and lover to them both.

  She was delighted to be part of their life. Though, it felt awkward being somewhat taller than them both, but she slotted in between them quite naturally. Their connection was something precious to her and she was their precious connection to each other, as well: past and present, knowingly and unknowingly. The little creature born from their love, in a metallic body, holding their hands and joining them in moving forward and smiling. Beaming. Grinning.

  In her absence, they had found each other and that brought Aqua a joy the likes of which she couldn’t describe and would forever cherish. Whilst a part of her, hopeful and idealistic, would have loved to have been in that fragrant hospital room with them when they had reunited, she was glad that she wasn’t. There was a symbolism to it and Aqua could be happy with that neatness: that pattern and meaning that she saw, personally, amid the entropy of reality and how victories are never flawless just as losses are never hopeless. Just as Miyu did not know she was there; she did not know that Miyu was there this second time around when light finally pierced the darkness and darkness pierced the light. So, to hear of the smiles and laughter and the embraces that they had with one another after her demise and in the wake of the incident with Lightning was something special to Aqua.

  Her moment in which she found life in her existence, still and static and closed off from not only the world but from her Origin as well, was when Miyu had thought of her dearest friend’s smile. And so, it felt like a closed connection to Aqua. She had returned from whence she had come but this time, on her own terms. With her head up and her shoulders back, Aqua was ready.

  She wanted to be the dolly that they shared amongst themselves, but she chastised herself for that; they weren’t children anymore, they were fine young adults, so she had to find her own maturation as well. It was likely too late to indulge such childish fantasies of playing with them like she had daydreamed so long ago, amid whistling Datastorms and rippling, green grass, when everything seemed hopeful and soft after the completion of the Cyberse World.

  But her girls laughed, in good nature, at her laments and Aqua flushed, embarrassed. With an elegant body like hers and a face so pretty, Aqua could still be their dolly.  She could hold onto their soft, human hands and she could be reason for their smiles, not their tears, and they could stride forward, into a shining new tomorrow held upon their own strengths and joys.

[uruhaxrukifanfics]

“Do you remember the first time we spent your birthday together?”

The husked voice distracted Uruha from his roaming gaze that observed the night sky, the distant memory of fretting over his lost set of keys after an eventful night of celebrating his birthday over an impressive amount of wine. Reita had promised to let him know if he’d come across them, and in turn Ruki assured he would make sure that Uruha got home safely since they lived so close by before taking up Aoi on his offer for a ride back.

“Hm?” A smile quirked at a corner Uruha’s lips as he looked to Ruki, his eyebrows fleetingly furrowing, and his eyes searched for an answer that could possibly be hidden somewhere on Ruki’s person. “Possibly…”

Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so humorous if Uruha’s tone wasn’t so unsure, yet still cautious, as if his very answer carried the weight of ruining the merry mood that still clung to them and would disappoint, but Ruki laughed all the same. It was the wine, surely. Wine-drunk was a look Uruha wore beautifully, flushed at the highs of his cheeks and eyes smoldering in their glassy, unfocused state. No matter how unfocused his gaze to be, Uruha always managed to find it again when their gazes locked throughout the night, and right now was no different even as they shared a rather contagious round of sniggers while Ruki tried his best to look for the guitarist’s spare house key in his bag that had been given to him long ago.

“Amazing,” Ruki tutted.

“Don’t be like that,” Uruha scoffed, crinkling his nose. “We were drunk. Really, really drunk. A lot happened that night. A lot of stupid shit.”

Buying a shit-ton of cheap booze and drinking a good majority of it was indeed stupid. They were rebellious and grouped up to take claim of the night in mischief, running amuck Tokyo until the early morning with nothing but their dreams on their backs and the smell of tobacco fresh on their fingertips. It was a memory that, with further ponder, made them both smile as Ruki paused in his search, opting to rest his back against the front door of Uruha’s home and regard the guitarist with a thoughtful gaze.

“Mmm, fair enough. You really were stupid,” Ruki smirked. “Stupid enough to leave my present I gave you on the train.”

“It wasn’t–“ It wasn’t intentional, Uruha wanted to say in his defense, but it was the same every time: the teasing glimmer in Ruki’s brown eyes, the way he tilted his head just enough to disturb the stubborn lock of his fringe to fall and caress his cheek in such a way that provoked a desire within Uruha to do the same with the back of his fingers. He softly huffed, pushed it back somewhere deep within him where it belonged before stepping in closer whilst holding the other’s gaze and settled for reaching out to rest his hand close by Ruki’s head at his door, caging the petite vocalist with a husked hum.

“You can’t blame me if I was still distracted by you telling that girl you were my boyfriend after she asked for my number, hmm? What was it you said again?”

Ruki’s rich laughter filled the air between them as he shook his head. “We were drunk.”

“You were jealous.”

“I wasn’t!”

“You stepped between us with this haughty look on your face when she asked if I had a girlfriend, tilted your head back on my shoulder whilst folding your arms across your chest, looked down your nose and said,” Uruha sniggered, faltering in his unbridled amusement to gather himself the best he could to intimate both the expression and tone that he could remember as if it happened yesterday. “Sorry, he’s already seeing someone.”

Their exuberant laughter filled the night air. Neither illuminated that they had been the butt of everyone’s laughter that night, or that Uruha couldn’t peel his gaze away from Ruki for the rest of that night forth; drunk, awe-struck, and regrettably absent-minded on why his hands felt particularly too light for his liking, only to realize at the last minute that the gift Ruki had given him had been left on the train cart they spilled out of.

As their laughter simmered down into a soft thrum of something that made Ruki’s eyes become lidded and his smile to waver for a fleeting second into something softer, Ruki reached out to smooth a wrinkle at Uruha’s shirt with a husky hum and lingered there. “A lot of stupid shit happened,” Ruki murmured softly, as if to solidify the reasoning and finalize his point to support Uruha’s earlier comment. “I was stupid.” To cement his reasoning for his hands not moving, the way his fingers gently curled into the fabric of Uruha’s shirt and coax the guitarist to step in closer, and in that moment an epiphany struck Uruha right where he stood – wine-drunk muddled thoughts and all – that his eyes would always fixate wherever Ruki is, no matter the circumstances.

Where Ruki pulled Uruha fell naturally, like a gravitational pull that was greater than him; a lone comet lost, soaring home. Where Uruha lowered his head Ruki tilted his head upward naturally, the tips of their noses skimming feather-sweet and hesitant, yet still so, so sure. Ruki parted his lips wordlessly, his hand raising to brace at the juncture where neck and shoulder met, and the familiarity that nested in a curl of warmth within Uruha’s chest made him feel as if it had never left at all – as if they had never left. But they paused, halted by the remaining shreds of something before their lips could touch in a kiss, and Uruha could feel Ruki’s breath fan across his skin as he exhaled a tiny noise that caressed the back of his throat.

Stay, Uruha wanted to say. Come back and stay. Whether he wanted Ruki to stay the night or forever was lost to him, but a part of him – somewhere deep into the crevasses of his soul and thoughts kept under lock and key –  knew the possibilities of both options were pertinent regardless, no matter time, space or circumstance. His own exhale, deep and slow, through his nose seemed to let in on his trail of thought, because a touch of a smile graced Ruki’s lips as he slowly shook his head, leaving as soon as it surfaced before returning softly. The vocalist raised himself to bury it at Uruha’s cheek in a slow-pressed kiss that lingered, and Uruha closed his eyes as he felt fingertips carefully tuck strands of his hair behind his ear in an indulgingly tender caress before wrapping his arms around his neck in a warm hug.

“Thank you for being born.”

A soft smile spread across Uruha’s lips. “Thank you for finding me in this lifetime.”

Uruha realized, as he held Ruki just as close to return the hug given to him with an affectionate squeeze, that Ruki’s lips never left his cheek.

Neither one of them let each other go.

[karmahearted]

Things I write, man- XD Based on ‘Five times Aoi and Dennis met’, across the entire ARC-V series. <3

~~~~~~

“Sometimes, I wonder 'bout y’.”

Aoi wouldn’t admit the sound of her friend’s laugh made her feel warm, but it had nothing on the bright smile he flashed her a moment later. “Hopefully it’s a good wondering~! …Is it?”

“Kindda,” she admitted, leaning over the short wall for a better look at him. The day was far too hot for late spring, and just watching Dennis bounce around to entertain everyone else made her tired! She couldn’t imagine how exhausted he was, though didn’t miss the slight shake to the gloved fingers he flicked through curly red bangs. “Y’ should get some rest. Th’ crowd’s thinned out, anyway.”

Both sapphire and green-blue glanced to the few people still dawdling around several feet away. She knew his bag of tricks had yet to run dry, but she was just happy he was sitting against the waist-high wall for a break- “You’re worrying too much! I’ll be fine, I promise!” -or rather, getting to his feet once more, practically beaming at her. Honestly, that man…

But she couldn’t bring herself to stop him. Instead, she hung her head and let her shoulders sag, a slender hand lifting to wave him off. “Jus’ b’ careful, all right? I don’t wanna b’ th’ one t’ explain t’ everyone else why y’ got heat stroke.” “I’ll be fineeeeeee~!”

“M’ sanity won’t b’ at this rate.”

~*~*~

The last thing she’d expected to see was Dennis taking part in the tournament. His Performage monsters were a welcome sight, as was he, but.. Why would he be there? And why was she so quick to shrug out of her red jacket before running over to throw her arms around his shoulders? “Dennis! What’re y’ doin’ here?”

If she’d startled him, he didn’t show it, content to reach up and lay his hands on her forearm with a light chuckle. “I should ask you the same! I didn’t know you’d entered the tournament, Aoi.”

Her spot behind him was a perfect one; it let her nuzzle her face into his hair, memorizing the by now familiar scent of his shampoo all over again… And hide the look of worry on her face. Truth be told, she hadn’t entered the tournament- she was just there to keep an eye on Yuya and look for Yugo, keeping herself no more than a shadow. But there was something about Dennis that drew her in like a moth to the flame, dropping her guard, keeping her forever ensnared by that smile.

“Last minute entry,” she lied, thankful he couldn’t see her face and simply leaned back into her hold ever so slightly. “Y’ doin’ good here though- did I see Trapeze Magician?”

“You might have. Did I see Aussa earlier?”

“Y’ might’ve~”

Gods above, why was it… So easy to relax with him…?

~*~*~*~

“This is a dumb choice.”

His ever-present smile faded a little, though he was quick to cover it with a small shrug. “You’re worrying too much again. Here- A girl with a pretty face like yours…” Dennis paused, pulling a flower from his sleeve to hold out in his friend’s direction, “deserves a smile more brilliant than the sun!”

It took a moment, her gaze flickering between the offered carnation and smiling male, for her frown to flip. Just like always, it was impossible to stay upset for long with him, taking the flower from his hold… If only to set it aside and grab his wrist, pulling him down to the couch beside her. “Thank y’. Y’ always know what I need.”

Doubly proven by the arm he draped over her shoulders a moment later, letting the more petite raven snuggle into his side. With a slight tilt of his head, he teasingly nudged the top of her with his nose, knowing full well it’d get a slightly flustered whine from her. “Do you plan on worrying forever, or should I keep going?”

“Y’ wouldn’t-” Dare, though the last word hung on her lips. Familiar fingers had found their way to her side; if she kept bucking him on this, he’d definitely make her pay for it! “Fine, fine- B’ y’ gotta let m’ make y’ a top hat while y’ gone.”

“Why a top hat~? You think it’d add to my charm?”

She snorted. “Nothin’ could add t’ y’ charm, trust m’. B’ every magician needs a good hat. S’.. Can I?”

“M'lady, I would be honored.”

“…Dork.” With the soft tease out, Aoi lifted her head, pressing a light kiss to his cheek. Nothing but a big dork…

~*~*~*~*~*~

Fusion.

Just knowing Dennis’s deck held fusion monsters made her stomach churn. All that time together, and he’d been lying to her… “How much of it was an act, Dennis?”

His shrug lacked the warmth and teasing familiarity she so desperately wanted it to hold. “You’re asking about my performance? Aoi, have you seen your jacket?”

Against her will, the former soldier glanced down to the red fabric covering her arm, then at the shield-shaped duel disk she wore. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right – she had no room to talk when she’d hidden her defector status from him right from the start. They were both more than guilty of playing a role, like actors.

But to her credit, her choice had only hurt Aster. She hadn’t kidnapped anyone, or helped invade a dimension, or- “It doesn’t matter. D’ y’ even realize what you’re doin’?! Dennis, y’ hurtin’ people like this! Academia’s jus’- Those hunting games aren’t games, they’re-”

“Games,” he interrupted, hands propped up on his hips. “Stay out of them. I can’t guarentee you won’t end up caught in the middle.”

“Then get m’ caught up, 'cause I’m n’ lettin’ y’ d’ this. This isn’t th’ Dennis I know.”

“You don’t know me at all. Think of that- You’re just the naive child in thi-”

The crack of skin meeting skin echoed out for all of a moment, cutting off his argument with a sharp snap of his head to the side. Slapping him had hurt, more than just her hand – and seeing the forming handprint on his cheek only made things worse. Dennis meant the world to her; how could she-

“That was a foolish move.”

“Bite m’.”

Right… Because this wasn’t Dennis.

At least… Not her Dennis.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Y'know, sometimes I wonder 'bout y’.”

That one comment was all it took for sapphire and green-blue to meet. It’d been months since they’d last seen each other; with Dennis busy teaching Yusho’s dueltaining ways and Aoi keeping herself tethered to Standard’s main You Show branch, they’d not bothered to even think of meeting.

Until now.

“Hopefully it’s good wondering,” he managed out, voice laced with a familiar tease that still managed to make her feel warm. A warmth that briefly eased when a reach for him made the redhead involuntarily flinch, though once the memory of hitting him passed from them both, it was Dennis who took her hand and guided it to the very cheek she’d struck.

This… This was the man she knew. This was the dueltainer who’d spent countless nights sitting with her, helped her with her training, showered her in flowers and friendship. And this time, neither of them would be going in blind; with the war over, they were no longer the soldier and the defector. Sure, she was still the same weak and naive 'child’, and he the snarky, hunting game loving soldier… But they were also just Aoi and Dennis, a pair of dueltainers finally getting the fresh start they’d needed.

“Kindda,” she whispered a few moments later, brushing her thumb against his skin. That familiar twinkle was back in his eyes, head tilting a little into her hand; even after the hell they’d been through, how did he keep managing to make her feel so warm? Content? Happy?

Though another, though admittedly lighter and weaker, flinch came with her other hand reaching up to him, he let her cup the other cheek as well, meeting her gaze. “You’re worrying too much.” His own voice had softened, lips quirking into a smile…

And a moment later, it was a vibrant blush that turned his skin red, blinking in surprise with the light press of her lips to his.

“I told y’ I’d fluster y’ someday,” Aoi teased, ignoring the fingers gently pinching at her own reddened cheek. “There… Still room on th’ stage f’ a co-star?”

“For you, Aoi… Always.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Notes:

#1: Takes place prior to the start of ARC-V, or at least at the very beginning of it. Aoi and Dennis are still new-ish friends, neither knowing the truth and instead putting on street performances together every so often for fun. Aoi fusses, but Dennis is a precious bean-

#2: During the Maiami Championships. They’ve been seeing each other off and on, but by now ARC-V’s plot is underway. They’re still unaware of each other’s true identities, and Aoi doesn’t want to let on she’d been a 'distant guardian’ for Yuya and gotten close to Yugo in the meantime. She’d rather just be affectionate with a friend.

#3: The night before the Lancers depart for Synchro. Aoi’s fussy again, because she’s afraid Dennis being a Lancer means he’ll get hurt, but he knows how to calm her. Cute and cuddly friends are cute and cuddly!

#4: Sometime after Dennis’ return to Academia, but before his last duel. Aoi’s now aware of what and who he is, and he of her. She feels horribly betrayed and hopes to break through to him, but he’s not having it – and neither is she.

#5: Several months after the end of ARC-V. Aoi and Dennis haven’t really met since she slapped him. They saw each other briefly at one point, but it’s been months since then, and no words were exchanged. But, in a redo of #1, they reconnect, and Aoi’s had time to think… And now feels horribly guilty for hitting him before. Combined with just how much she really missed him and happiness at having her friend back, she just lets go and covers it some with the reminder she promised to find what would fluster him someday.

[shidoukanae]

Sister Complex

Summary:

If Aoi is to be described as having a brother complex than perhaps Akira is to be described as someone who has a sister complex.

He was very protective of his sister, perhaps to the point of absurdity, but that doesn't keep him from distrusting the presence of Yusaku Fujiki and four others in Aoi's life. But mostly Yusaku.

Relationships: Hireshipping (AkiraxEma), Angelmakershipping (AoixYusaku)

Ao3 link for notes: Link

If Aoi is to be described as having a brother complex than perhaps Akira is to be described as someone who has a sister complex.

He is not, by all means, a very attached person. Having no parents and no relatives to shelter him has generally led him to become very isolated. He’s made acquaintances, sure, and partnerships, definitely, but friends or family...not really. He may or may not let his guard down around a certain pink-haired girl but if he has any loving obligation it is towards his sister and his sister alone.

Akira is well-aware of Aoi’s clinginess, of the way she idolizes him and generally worships the ground he walks on like they are a god’s own. There is mutual understanding in their relationship: he is the one who stands strong, who fights against every storm there is because rain or shine she is the only one who provides his sense of being, his very reason for living. They are one and the same and while Akira is isolated Aoi is desperate to keep a hold on him. Akira is desperate to keep a hold on her. Without their parents, without adults in their lives to tell them how to merely exist in this torrential downpour of a world, they’ve become reliant on each other. He feeds off her love, off her affection for him and the adoration that comes with her brother complex and she feeds off his protectiveness, of the way he hugs her when things go wrong and how he frets endlessly over her ability to cope in school. He worries himself constantly over her state of being, over her mindset of work over friendships, of the same development that has caused him to avoid the world entirely. He’s tried to push her towards talking to others, towards gaining friendships and partners with which she could talk to when he was not present. But, no matter how hard he tried, he could never get her to add to the nonexistent list of friends that plagued her life.

Of course, her adding Yusaku Fujiki to that supposedly imaginary list of friends was something that he, hypocritically, could not approve of.

Akira was first made aware of the boy when, on chance, he had caught him talking to Aoi on a trip back home. Akira had opened the door to his house and, much to all of their surprises, had met face-to-face with Yusaku. There’d been a variety of actions he’d wished he’d done at the moment. Namely, hitting Yusaku over the head with the briefcase in hand out of shocked provocation. However, Aoi had been quicker than him, reading the situation well enough to reassure him that Yusaku was a classmate, a fellow peer, and that he had merely come over to review a project with her. Yusaku, though maybe a little startled, came to a quick agreement, skirting around Akira before he left. Aoi, on the other hand, scolded her brother for having nearly committed violence against the boy.

It was at that moment that Akira realized Aoi must have cared enough about Yusaku to have defended him so vehemently. Aoi, much like himself (and much to his concerned disappointment), separated herself from the rest of the world. She was, in both his eyes and perhaps her own, a goddess better left untouched. She shunned human contact, aloof and forever distant from anyone who did not (and would quite never) fit her standards. But perhaps ironically, she also seemed to crave affection. Aoi seemed to long for the touch of someone else, for the physical contact that would result from one human being to another. She proved this time and time again whenever he came home, always eager to hug him or receive a “well-done” pat on the head from her brother when she achieved something worthy. Still, aside from him and him alone, she refused to interact with others. Her alternate persona, Blue Angel, of course, did interact more with the public than her true self did. But, while Blue Angel was much beloved she was still very much friendless. Blue Angel was just as distant a person as Aoi was, isolated and alone, the only exception being that she was well known and much more adored by the strangers of the world than her real world self was.

So, as a result, it came to much a surprise when Aoi nearly bristled at his initial reaction towards Yusaku. Akira knew he had misinterpreted the situation - he’d thought Yusaku was an intruder who’d been, in some way or another, assaulting his sister and making a getaway (an exaggeration, he knows) - but her response towards him had been totally and completely unwarranted.

She’d been fiercely protective of Yusaku, frightfully angry at him for having potentially endangered the boy. When and where this hostility had developed from was unknown to him (the downsides of only coming home once in a blue moon) but this sudden interest that Aoi had developed in the student worried him. He understood he was a classmate of hers, yes, and, while visiting Aoi to help on a project was extremely unconcerning, what was worrisome was the way her eyes had lit up under his name, the way she’d said it with such fierce admiration that Akira might have mistaken his own name instead if she’d not also said it with a slight edge of uncertainty. He knew Blue Angel had teamed up with Playmaker some time ago (and while he did not approve of his sister in such a hacker’s presence, they were a team and not an item like he’d first feared) but, while he could understand her respect for Playmaker, he could not say the same of some random boy who’d looked more delinquent than student.

Regardless, he lets it drop. It’s not worth the effort and he is fully aware of how much his opinion means to Aoi. If she wants to adore this student than fine, she can. He won’t stop her, won’t think anything less of her.

However, that does not mean the same of him.

Yusaku Fujiki. An orphan (an orphan, he thinks, how coincidental), a minor living under the care of a hotdog seller. He had relatively high grades that contrasted starkly with his teacher’s constant complaints of him sleeping in class. There wasn’t much else to go on. He was normal, as far as Akira could tell. Nothing special, no credentials or reason to captivate his sister so. He wouldn’t be lying if he said he worried over Aoi’s sudden development for the boy but he supposed Yusaku couldn’t do any harm towards her.  

He wonders over that hypothesis every time he comes back home. He knows his chances of returning home are slim (he’s spent many endless nights pouring over computers, talking to chess pieces and napping on a company couch any chance he can get) but everytime he comes back his sister has collected yet another addition to their house.

At first and perhaps most obvious, it’s Yusaku. From there, it’s Go Onizuka - the same Go he’d tried to recruit months back. Next, it’s a boy who carries himself with regality and who glares upon Yusaku like he’s the bane of the earth. A boy known as Revolver. Then, it’s three others, each congregating until there are six children and six children only crowded into the space of his house. Each member greets him with cheerful and yet somehow hostile faces, tiptoeing around him when he’s present and chattering away when he’s not. It’s aggravating, honestly, and if it wasn’t for his sister laughing and smiling he’d drag her away from the presence of such unpredictable people.

It doesn’t take him long after to connect them all to Blue Angel’s little party. Each of the six, though well-disguised in the VR world (barring one Go Onizuka, of course), carry the same personalities that they showed in his house. He connected each of the other four to their counterparts and, the one that stood out to him the most (and that, in all honesty, made the most sense) was that Yusaku Fujiki, the very same boy his sister was protective of, was Playmaker.

The name makes his skin crawl. He had not approved of Playmaker beforehand. He only tolerated him in Blue Angel’s (his sister’s) presence due to her apparent happiness, but the fact that he was involved with her in the real world as well as the VRAINS world made him suspicious. For what motives would a famous hacker involve himself with Charisma Duelists, terrorists, and god-knows-what-else-the-other-two-were? He was definitely skeptical that such a wanted man would willingly involve himself in a friendship party, to gather together a team with which he would control and do mysterious deeds with. In fact, if anything, he had always seemed like a loner, a solo one-man operative who expressed no need to play any part in a group (much to the hypocrisy of his name). The fact that Playmaker and his sister had congregated such a flock of kids raised many questions that he wanted answered.

He’d made inquiries of it to his sister, curious and prodding as to why she would bother with five other kids near her age when she hadn’t ever wanted to make friends before. Aoi is clever though, evading his questions and drawing his attention away with cutesy faces and playing his adoration for her in her favor. He’s never doubted her ability to manipulate and he wonders how, every time he leaves his house, he’s left with questions unanswered and a swelling pride in the girl he knows as his sister.

Ema, of course, does not help the issue. When asked into investigations regarding Playmaker and his motives she flipflops between helping him and deflecting him. He doesn’t know what Playmaker has done to earn the rogue’s lips zippered-up but it aggravates him nonetheless. Nothing he does can convince her to explain about Playmaker’s motives. He’s tried every option but not even the wads of money he secretes secretly from his salary are enough to convince her

“Why are you so interested in him?” Ema makes the inquiry after refusing to take yet another one of his payments. She leans on her humming motorcycle, curious but thoughtful. “He’s not doing any harm to your company anymore, is he?”

He frowns at her attempts for prodding. “I am merely concerned for my sister’s sake.”

“Oh? Blue Angel?” Ema smiles with a hint of bitterness. “My, I’m envious.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You shouldn’t be.”

“No, perhaps not.” Her fingers slide over the place where her heart would beat and then moves them across her lips. “But I am. Your love for your sister is very touching. One might think you’d do anything for her, you workaholic.”

“Of course I would,” he replies sharply. “She’s the only one I have left who cares about me.”

Ema gives him a look of surprise and laughs at that. “Careful with that tunnel-vision of yours,” she says, “or else it will bite you in the back one day.”

He’s left stunned as she drives off, more questions than answers and perhaps even more than that. Akira will never understand why Ema chooses to do what she does, why she is who she is. He sighs, exasperated at her tedious, secretive behavior, and drives off. She slows down for a brief moment beside his taxi, waves at him slyly, and then takes off.

Yeah, no, he’ll never understand her.

~~~~

Months pass and while the exploits of Playmaker, Blue Angel, Go, Revolver and the like makes its way on the news time and time again, he finds himself with less and less questions. With the saving of the Cyverse and the war against their enemies ceased, peace has come to everyone at last.

But, with that peace comes uncomfortable moments. Namely, the appearance of Yusaku Fujiki time and time again in Akira’s house. And, while Aoi’s group’s normal meeting spot had changed location (he suspected it had something to do with the hotdog stand that traveled to and fro in the city), Yusaku was perhaps the only continual visitor to their house. Akira, always irritated by his mere presence, has to keep from bristling whenever he sees the boy with his sister. He’s grateful for Yusaku keeping Aoi happy when Akira himself cannot but, now that the danger hanging over Aoi’s head was over, his continuous presence had proved to be an continuous nuisance.

However, as much as he wants to shoo the boy off, he cannot. Aoi, though aloof in nature and perhaps the most antisocial of them both, seems to adore Yusaku. It’s honestly weird to explain but Akira can tell by the fierce admiration in her eyes and the respectable way she refers to him that Yusaku means as much to her as her own brother does. It rubs Akira the wrong way, honestly, because he wants to be the only spot light in Aoi’s eyes. However, jealousy is not befitting of him and he lets it slide as much as he can. Her behavior towards him speaks of lovesickness, of blushing cheeks and rather scandalous situations in which two hands meet in a bag of popcorn and they’re left hesitant at such a casual touch. She is easy to read and, while she may be able to hide it from Yusaku well enough, she cannot hide her loving affection from Akira.

Of course, Yusaku Fujiki is another story. The boy is near emotionless, his only facial expressions a smile, a surprised look, or one of boredom. His constant presence around Aoi does not seem to change these expressions much (at least only when Akira is present. However, Akira is perceptive enough to realize how much his gaze wanders to Aoi or how his lips tug in the slightest of smiles when Aoi shares her revelations with him). He’s smart and clever and, on occasion, seems to know the best ways to cool Akira’s annoyance towards him with well-presented words that speak firmly of logic and conclusive data. It almost surprises Akira that such a well-groomed individual was once one of his most loathed enemies and it surprises him much more that such a standoffish individual would easily allow Aoi into his presence.

It comes to an even bigger surprise when Yusaku Fujiki asks to take his sister’s hand.

It starts out a normal day - Saturday, he’s off work and for once in his life the chess pieces want nothing from him. However, what seems like a nice day to take his sister to some place fun ends up with him somehow standing in front of a hotdog stand. Aoi had insisted the morning before that he was to come with her, that he was to come to his enemy’s layer and see for himself where the reputable Playmaker spent his days.

“Hey, you’re Akira Zaizen, right?

A man greets Akira and his sister at the entrance of the hotdog truck, wiping grease from his hands as he jogs up to him. A boy not too much younger than him follows, eyeing Akira warily. He tucks himself shyly behind the man watching as Aoi gives him a wave. The boy returns it hesitantly, uncertain as to how to interact with her. Yusaku follows behind him moments afterwards, a smile on his lips as he greets both Zaizen siblings.

“Hello, Akira,” he says, polite and respectable. Ignis, who garners a human-like form while in the real world, trails behind him. The mysterious lifeform gives Akira a disgusted look and tucks himself back into the truck before Akira can say a word.

“Hello,” he gives a nod of his head to all three of them.

Aoi strays from his side to Yusaku’s, prodding the boy forward. Her hands meet his back and she pushes the boy closer to Akira, grimacing as he gives her a spiteful glare.

“Come on, ask him,” she hisses, barely loud enough for Akira to hear.

“I know, don’t shove,” he hisses back. Again, Akira can still hear them. Yusaku straightens himself out as he’s pushed forward. Aoi hovers behind him, eyes gleaming at her brother with anticipation.

“Sir,” Yusaku begins, polite and respectable and yet raising his hand to reveal three fingers. A common trait among the ‘six birds’, he assumes, glancing to Aoi and remembering her doing a slightly similar gesture from out of his memories. “If I may, can I list three reasons as to why I should-”

“-Get my blessing?” Akira interrupts and Yusaku looks mildly offended. He smirks at the younger boy and watches as Aoi snickers.

“Yes,” the boy seems ruffled and uneasy, his sudden pitch gone lopsided. However, he regains himself quickly and says: “I love her.”

Aoi beams and looks from Yusaku to her brother. Her gaze is pleading, almost seeking for his approval. She was desperate to see him agree to such an impactful request.

Akira sweeps his gaze over Yusaku. The boy stands firm but stiff, eyes wary and cautious and rather concerned for the state of his well-being. Aoi sidles beside him, fingers intertwining with his and Akira wonders when she had grown so comfortable in someone else’s presence. They’re waiting, praying, looking, even the strange man and boy have joined in with the silent standoff, gazes flitting between the three with bated breath.

Finally, Akira lets out a sigh. “Fine. Yusaku Fujiki, you have my blessing. Take care of her.”

Yusaku smiles, shoulders slumping. He squeezes Aoi’s hands and she giggles in response.

“See?” she says to him, grinning. “Nothing to worry about. He’s not that bad.”

Yusaku makes an uncomfortable face as if he’s recalling all the times Akira has tried to have his persona arrested. However, such a grimace fades quickly and he drags Aoi into the hotdog station. The man and boy follow soon after with Ignis poking his head out to glare at Akira with seething venom.

It seems the A.I. still hasn’t forgiven him for his antics.

Akira watches as his sister pulls a hotdog off a grill, setting it into a bun, and then hears the hum of a motorcycle sidling up beside him. Akira’s not at all surprised to see Ema pull off her helmet and give him a triumphant grin.

“You protected him, didn’t you?” he accuses, gaze flitting between hers and the people stationed in the hotdog wagon. “That’s why you refused to give me information.”

“Yes and no,” she dawdles, her voice a subtle purr. “I figured you’d try to pull them apart if I revealed to you his interest in her. You’re too protective of her. And, it would break Yusaku’s little heart if he lost his cutesy wittle girl so early in their relationship. Naturally, as I have a couple of debts to pay him for, I figured I might as well repay one of them by keeping his adoration for her a secret.”

“And, yet, you seem too kind to do such a thing willingly,” he remarks drily.

“Do I?” she fishes out a wad of money and flicks her fingers through it. He recognizes the SOL Tech clip that holds it in place, wondering on how long she’s held onto it. “Or do I have other motives that would explain my behavior?”

“Knowing you, anything goes.”

“That’s true,” she leans on the handlebars of her motorcycle, gaze whimsical. Her eyes flick to the hotdog wagon standing before them. “Hey, would you like some hotdogs right now?”

He raises an eyebrow at her and Ema shrugs. She jumps off her motorcycle, killing the power. She moves forward and, when she sees he isn’t following, beckons him alongside her. Akira obliges, wary and actually quite concerned when it comes to someone as unpredictable as her.

Aoi greets him at the stand, already adorning an apron with the strange man at her side. The man talks to her, tongs in hand, and then disappears into the depths of the truck. His sister’s gaze flicks between him and Ema with the slyest of smiles.

He’s not sure he likes what she’s implying.

“Two hotdogs,” Ema says, taking initiative. Her eyes observe Aoi with a fond smile, recognition evident. “Ah, your Akira’s sister? Blue Angel, are you not?”

Aoi’s eyes widen and she looks at the people in the streets with fearful caution. Thankfully, no one appears to have heard. Aoi gives Ema a rather shy but nervous nod of confirmation.

“Ema, that’s rather impolite of you,” Yusaku’s voice greets her with a cold familiarity.

The pink-haired girl gives Yusaku a wink as he appears from the side of the truck and he recoils in disgust.

“My, Yusaku, calling out a customer as impolite is rather rude yourself.”

“And yet revealing someone’s secret identity is not?”

“She can always deny it.”

“Doesn’t mean they won’t stop pestering her if they think it’s true.”

“Come on Yusaku, lighten up for once.”

“Only if you shut your mouth first.”

Aoi merely sighs at the both of them and turns to her brother.

“Two hotdogs, right? Need any soda, nachos, anything for you and Ema?” Akira frowns at the way she stresses the last part.

“Two sodas too,” he relents and Aoi hums something as she hurries away. When she returns, she holds two paper plates and two soda cans which she sets before him. Two hot dogs are placed on the plates and, by then, Ema and Yusaku have finished their little spat.

“Ooh, root beer, my favorite,” Ema picks up a can and a plate before Akira can protest and then places them on a nearby table with her motorcycle in tow. Akira follows her lead, nodding to his sister before retreating to the place of choice.

“I didn’t know you ate.”

“I’m not a machine,” she huffs. “Of course I eat.”

He takes a sip from his root beer. “And, yet, the only thing you ever seem to do is spy on people and ride that motorcycle of yours.”

“Mm, yes, part of the job,” she takes a bit and then chews thoughtfully. Her head turns towards the truck and then back to Akira. “I must say I’m surprised. You gave your blessing to them so easily?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Of course.”

“I’d have thought you’d put up more of a fight.”

“I thought about it,” he admits. “But I won’t raise a finger against it if she’s willing to go through with this. If she’s happy then I guess I’m happy too.”

“Such a good brother you are. No wonder why she idolizes you.”

“Mm.”

Silence.

Ema inhales a hotdog like a black hole inhales stars. She is a fast eater, chewing away at her meal at a pace almost too unrealistic for him to keep up. He wonders what kind of psychology goes behind such fast-paced mannerisms. Did her job keep her from eating on a regular schedule? Is the expectancy of danger, of competition, so high that she had to eat so fast? Or, is it that she’s always busy and whenever she gets a meal it is consumed so that she can quickly ride off forever and always into the sunset?

Akira eats in silent observation, eyes occasionally wandering to the hotdog stand. Aoi mentions something to Yusaku and the boy laughs. Ignis, who pops his head in-between them, jeers something and the two both go an uncanny shade of red. His attention span wavers, so fixated on the both of them that he almost misses Ema standing up.

“Thanks for the meal,” she says, smiling coyly as she abandons her paper plate, soda, and some napkins to his whim. “I trust you can pay your sister on the way out.”

He watches as she boards her motorcycle and doesn’t expect anything less of her when she drives off without offering any form of repayment. He sighs, gathers her trash and then notices a peculiar smudge of black left behind on a napkin. He glances closer, observing, and finds that what he’d assumed to be stain marks of ink were actually tiny letters inscribed carefully into the fibers of the cloth.

Thanks for the date, Akira darling.

He raises an eyebrow at that.

“Since when was this a date?”

[lucanogis]

fanfic: tender matters such as life

Title: tender matters such as life Fandom: Gakuen Alice Length: 5.2k Summary: Aoi Hyuuga has what she always wanted: A relationship, an apartment, a good job. Yet somehow, memories of her past can’t seem to let her go. And running into Rei Serio in front of a grocery store only makes matters worse. Set after Ch. 180, written for day 2 of ga-party’s May prompts: childhood trauma. 

{ao3} , {ffn}

She doesn’t remember much, but she knows he is her protector. He promised her that and why shouldn’t she believe his words? He was there when she woke, he is there still. He shows her how to use her hands to grasp her surroundings: The wooden floor that leaves tiny splinters in her skin and the metal bars that keep her inside, no, safe. The small bathroom and the shower, her table and her bed. The air is cool, always cool. No fire reaches her skin, no ash tickles her nose. Everything beyond the room and her protector is blurry. Sometimes she reaches for it but always, always there is a wall. But the wall is good, he says. There is no joy beyond the wall. The outside world, he tells her, will not treat her kindly. Sometimes, solitude is protection. She can hear he speaks the truth, the kind of aching, painful truth one cannot learn, only experience. She believes him. He is her protector, after all, and no fire will burn her, no darkness terrify her, as long as he is by her side.

Aoi Hyuuga spots Persona while she’s out buying milk and cornflakes. The night before was rough, as most nights are, lately. She spent a good three hours fighting with Paige about...honestly, she hardly remembers what they were fighting about. Life is strangely cyclical these days. Hours blur together until they become weeks and one argument over their future bleeds into the next. Maybe that’s why she goes out to buy cornflakes - her girlfriend likes them and watching her wolf down three bowls will restore peace to their tumultuous relationship, until the next day at least.

It’s October and the air outside is freezing already, as though winter is stretching out its fingers to have just a little bit more time to wreak havoc. Aoi shivers and burrows her face into her jacket. She’s crossing the street when she sees him. His hair is dark but shorter than she remembers and he’s putting groceries into a car. She’s heard about the whole thing, of course. It’s not like it hasn’t been years since the Elementary School Principal of the Alice Academy in Japan fell and Rei Serio left the school to pursue a better life. But in all those years he never sought her out. Her brother told her Serio got married, had a baby. Back then, her stomach twisted at the thought.

He sees her, she knows he does, even as she tries to hurry into the store. “Miss Hyuuga,” he says.

His voice makes her breath quicken. It’s the same voice, slightly rough around the edges, the same voice she remembers hearing throughout the years she spent living in darkness. Right now, however, shock tints his words and she doesn’t remember that, doesn’t remember him sounding anything less than perfectly in control. She bites down on her lips, anticipating his next words.

“Please, can I...can we talk?”

Aoi pauses in her steps and answers without turning to face him. “I’d rather not,” she says hurriedly, her tongue stumbling over the words. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m busy.”

Three more steps and the doors of the store open. She passes shelves, employees, customers before stopping in between two racks of fruit. Her heart is pounding hard enough to escape from her chest and she can’t quite seem to catch her breath. Aoi lets fear push her down and falls to her knees, the granite floor cool under her legs. He’s just a person, she thinks. Just one person.

She thinks about calling her brother, too, but her fingers won’t listen to her so she leans her head back to look at the ceiling. Above her, fluorescent light bulbs gleam and she stares at them until small dots start dancing in front of her eyes, lets their brightness chase away any lingering memories. Breathing, her therapist taught her, is the most important thing. She breathes for a while, even as her body tells her that she is dying dying dying dead. The panic fades eventually. It doesn’t leave but then it never does. Aoi thinks that maybe it’s just a part of her now - like her bones and her blood and her skin, something life has knitted into her body. She can sense it rising and falling as she goes to buy the cornflakes she came for, incessant tiny waves forever crashing against her mind.

Her brother never quite understands why she chooses architecture as her career. “You would make a great teacher,” he tells her once. “Or a doctor. Something like that.” But architecture offers her the opportunity to make things that will outlive her - buildings that will house humans for decades. After a childhood of leaving buildings behind and burning them down, it feels like absolution to construct them now. Whatever she tore down, whatever was taken because of the fire in her veins, she will rebuild. And the homes that rise up now from the ashes of her own mistakes will be five, no ten times stronger than what came before them. Robustness, that’s what it is about. Nothing fanciful, nothing wasteful, something that will last. “Doesn’t sound like fun,” her brother says. He looks at her with serious red eyes so she forces a smile. “It’s what I want to do,” she tells him. “It’s who I want to be.”

Paige is waiting for her when she unlocks the door to their shared apartment. “Where have you been?,” she demands. There’s an edge to her voice. Aoi stretches out her arm to present the bag she’s carrying. “I got you some cornflakes,” she says, keeping her voice light, her lips curved into a smile. “We didn’t have any left so I thought-”

“You should have told me you were going somewhere,” Paige interrupts. “I called you a dozen times, can’t you at least pick up the phone?”

Aoi slips out of her shoes and hangs up her jacket. “I didn’t hear the ringing,” she answers truthfully. “You know I always keep it on mute.”

Paige’s face twists into a grimace of anger. Inwardly, Aoi sighs. “Look,” she says, trying to sound as calm as she can. “I’m sorry. Let’s not fight, alright?”

“Suit yourself,” Paige hisses. She shakes her head, her reddish curls bouncing up and down as she does, and grabs the bag Aoi’s still holding before stomping off without a word. Aoi can hear her rummaging around in the kitchen and closes her eyes. Breathe, she thinks. Just breathe.

There were days, many months ago, that being with her girlfriend felt less like a chore and more like a blessing. She’d been single for as much as a year at that point, watching from the sidelines as her brother got engaged to his long-time girlfriend. Her own previous relationship had imploded - she’d loved Ahn, but her ex had been so independent that it was difficult to hold onto her in a romantic way. Paige was the complete opposite: Ready to move in with Aoi, ready to settle down. Stability. Until she switched jobs and started coming home tired and irritated, filled with stories about an industry Aoi knows nothing about.

Maybe this is normal, she tells herself as she walks up the stairs to her laptop. The endless repetition, the dullness, the fighting. As much as the arguing exhausts her, at least she knows Paige won’t leave. Aoi can’t exactly say the same about anyone else in her life. Natsume may always manage to come back, but that doesn’t change the fact that he disappears all the time, dropping of the face of the earth to save the world with his friends. He has their mother’s blood, her spirit, Aoi thinks.

She isn’t made for saving the world. She just wants to have her relationship, her home, her job. She’s an architect, mostly responsible for making structural plans for factories and it’s good, honest work. Every time she presents her clients with a plan, their smile makes the geometry and endless planning worth it. Well, almost. Lately not even her job has made her smile. Factories are...robust, redstone and metal, but they’re not places people live in. Still, they’re what her firm specializes in and being self-employed is too high a risk to take.

But when she checks her laptop after getting upstairs, she doesn’t immediately delete a mail her brother forwarded her, about some rich guy looking for a freelance designer to draw up plans for his new home. The guy seems to want a lot, perhaps more than any architect can give him. He is well-known, so any architect who does give him what he wants can expect much needed exposure.  Aoi leans back in her chair. Above her head, the first building plans she ever made are pinned to the ceiling. They are...ambitious, a colossus of sturdy metal and glass. They got her into her desired architecture program, they got her this far. She looks back down to read the email again. “Free-standing, ambitious, cutting edge” it says.

“Sounds like anyone but me,” she mutters to herself and pushes her chair back to get up. But as she walks downstairs, the words echo in her mind and her fingers itch for a pen. Maybe, her mind whispers, maybe, maybe. It won’t quiet down, not even as she sits down next to her girlfriend, not even after the two of them watch a sitcom in awkward silence. Maybe, maybe, this is something she can do.

Her father is the one who convinces her to see a therapist. He says her weight loss worries him, almost as much as the way she never quite laughs with her eyes anymore. He doesn’t make her tell him what’s wrong, but he does tell her about her mother, how she was beautiful and strong but sometimes felt so sad and lost that she didn’t care about life or love or her future. The therapist talks to her about the fear monster, which is what she has started to call the lingering memories from her time at the Academy, talks to her about her dreams for her life and her job. It doesn’t fix everything but it helps, the same way turning on the light helps one find scattered items on the floor. At the same time, it makes Aoi’s skin crawl. Why does she need help? Has the school damaged her so badly, has it made her weak? Or, even worse: Was she weak from the start?

“How do you feel about today’s fight,?” her therapist asks her. Aoi shrugs. She’s sitting on the leather couch in her therapist’s office. The sun is shining through the trees outside, throwing leaf-like shadows onto the wall. It’s a peaceful day, far too peaceful to discuss the intricacies of her relationship.

“It was the same as all the other fights,” she says. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” Her attempt at a hopeful smile clearly falls short, because her therapist raises her brows.

“That may be true, but do you want to figure it out?”

Aoi frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Are you happy, Aoi?”

“Sure I am,” Aoi says, the answer more a reflex than the truth. “I love my girlfriend, this is just a rough patch.”

Her therapist nods. “I see. It just seems as though every day, she does something that upsets you. Sometimes people just aren’t compatible. It’s not weakness to walk away from someone who isn’t right for you.”

“What we have between us is good,” Aoi insists. She fiddles with her thumb. “Once we’ve put this behind us, we might even get married. Why not, we already have an apartment. You know, my brother was engaged when he was my age.”

“Why is it you want to get married? Why do you want a life with her?”

“Well, I love her. Obviously.”

Her therapist’s questions are starting to make her uncomfortable and Aoi glances at the clock. There’s still ten more minutes before the session is over.

“Look, does it really matter why I want to get married?,” she says impatiently. “It’s the normal thing to do.”

Normal. She stares at her therapist, who is now wearing a quiet, almost expectant smile. Normal. Is that a reason to want to be with someone? Aoi doesn’t know, but it’s certainly better than the void she slipped into during some of the months she spent being single. The darkness then was almost as bad as the darkness in the Academy’s cage, only it whispered even crueller things into her ears and took away all her motivation. She couldn’t even make herself get out of bed in the morning, let alone do her job. Compared to that, compared to the things she has experienced, her daily fights are a walk in the park and marriage, God, marriage seems like heaven.

“Do you think you deserve no better than that?,” her therapist asks. “No better than a relationship with someone you don’t really get along with? Do you think you won’t find anything in the world that makes you happier?”

Happiness, a loaded word. Aoi was happy once, the innocent kind of happy only children can really feel. And she still is happy now, in some ways at least. She is happy when she sees her brother and his fiancee, her childhood friend Luca, she is happy when she sees the lives they have built. She is happy when she finishes a project.

“I am happy,” Aoi says out loud. The words feel hollow in her mouth.

When she climbs into her car after her session, Aoi feels strangely lonely, so she does what she usually does when that particular emotion creeps up on her. She dials her brother’s number, puts him on speaker and starts her drive home. He picks up after the first ring.

“What’s up?,” Natsume asks.

“Oh you know,” she says. “Just so bored that even talking to you seems preferable to doing nothing.”

Natsume laughs. “Yeah right.”

“Hey, have you picked a wedding venue?”

His audible groan makes her smile.

“Please, don’t you start, too. Luca and Mikan have decided that planning weddings is their calling or something and they won’t stop pestering me about it. I want one second of peace. Just one second! Can’t a guy have at least that?”

“Hmm, I don’t know, Mr. Groom-to-be,” she teases gently. “It is your wedding, after all.”

“If it were up to me, we’d get married a week from now in Imai’s workshop or something. But that sadistic witch won’t let me,” he complains. For a while, they're both silent as she weaves her way through the traffic. Eventually, he asks: “Hey, are you ok?”

“I saw Persona today. I mean, Serio. Whatever.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“No,” she says. “I was...busy.”

“Oh,” he says. Again, silence stretches between them. Aoi gnaws on her bottom lip. She can practically hear her brother’s worried thoughts pile up inside his head. She realizes that although they both know Rei Serio, they know different versions of him. She knows the man who trapped her yet treated her with kindness. He knows the man who kidnapped his sister and hurt him and his friends.

“How can you stand to even look at him?” The words burst out of her unwillingly.

“I don’t know,” Natsume answers. She overtakes another car and stops at a red light before he answers. “I guess one day I just looked at him and realized that hating him would never make me a better person. Part of me will always feel those feelings but...he saved Mikan. I can’t ignore what he did to you but I can’t ignore that either. He seems like he’s trying to change and he better be because if he ever hurts anyone ever again, I’ll kill him.” She knows her brother well enough to understand he’s serious. “But until then,” Natsume continues. “Until he hurts someone, I’ll let him be. Let him try to be better, I guess.”

Aoi is still pondering his words when she pulls into her driveway.

“Hey….Do you have his number?,” she asks before she can stop herself.

“I...Yeah. Mikan gave it to me. Why?”

“Tell him to meet me,” Aoi says. “Tomorrow morning, at the Starburst cafe. Tell him not to be late.”

“Alright,” Natsume says. “I will. Love you, sis.”

“I love you, too.”

And she does, even more than she already has, loves him so fiercely it makes her smile despite her thudding heartbeat. Perhaps some of her mother’s liquid fire courage is finally stirring inside of her, or maybe it’s just the craziness her brain can never quite shed, but whatever it is, it’s pushing her forward, pushing her to meet the man who shaped her past.

Everything comes back to her after her brother frees her. Colors, feelings a sense of purpose. But he sends her away after a few precious days and she feels lost. Her Alice is still gone and the darkness may have a different form now but it’s still there. She makes her father leave the lights on when he tucks her in before sleep, because she is afraid of waking up in the middle of the night and feeling helpless once more. The children at school smile at her and they don’t ask questions. She is thankful and smiles back, thinking that maybe this could be a new beginning. Freedom is exhilarating and wonderful and more, much more than she could have imagined. She dreams of her brother and her mother, of seeing them again. Time, she believes in her heart, will bring all of them together one day. For a while the fear vanishes entirely, but then her brother dies and it flares up, blazes like a flame. Freedom is cruel and terrifying and more, much more than she can handle.

They meet in a small cafe. He’s already there and she can see him through one of the windows, sitting at a table for two and staring straight ahead. For just a few seconds, Aoi wants to turn and and leave. It would be the easy thing to do, it would make the panic disappear again, for a few moments at least. The life she has now, the life she has built, has survived without Rei Serio’s interference. She doesn’t need a resolution to this story, never has. But her reflection in her car window looks back at her through big, deep red eyes and she remembers her mother, beautiful and fierce, the mother she has never known but who maybe, just maybe, is just as alive inside of her as the fear is. Aoi gets out of her car, grabs her keys as tightly as she can and walks forward.

He raises his head when she enters. The shock is back except this time she’s familiar with it. When she sits down on the other side of the table, she scoots back with her chair back, widening the space between them. “So,” she says. “What did you want to say?”

“I didn’t think you’d come,” Serio says. He glances at the gap between her and the table and then up to meet her eyes. “I don’t think I would have, if I were in your position.”

“Well, we’re not the same person,” Aoi says forcefully. All the words she has swallowed before, all the thoughts her session with her therapist has reawoken spill forth now. The smile she usually wears feels impossible to accomplish and so she lets kindness drain from her features as she presses her shaking fists into her legs. She forgets to breathe, lets the anxiousness wash over her, lets her feelings carry the words out of her mouth.  “We were never the same, you and me. I don’t care what happened to you, what sadness they put you through. You took my life and you twisted it around and you had no right to do that, none.”

Her voice becomes louder with each word and a waiter approaches their table. She waves him off with one impatient gesture before focussing on her companion once more.

To her surprise, Rei Serio nods. “You’re right,” he says. “I don’t expect forgiveness for the things I have done. I just wanted to-”

His words are interrupted when his phone starts ringing. The paleness of his skin makes it easy to spot his embarrassment as his ears go slightly red. He peeks at his phone screen and curses softly under his breath. “Do you mind if I….” He gestures towards his phone. Aoi shrugs.

“Go ahead,” she tells him.

With a grateful nod, he picks up. Immediately, as though someone flicked over a switch, the anxiety disappears from his face and a hint of a smile lifts the corners of his mouth.

“Nobara,” he says, “Are you ok?”

His wife, Aoi thinks. The girl who somehow fell in love with a guy who hurt children, who threw them in a cage and lied to them. She doesn’t understand it, their relationship, doesn’t understand how anyone could just forget the blood on Rei Serio’s hands. But her former captor seems so non-threatening all of a sudden, so hopelessly smitten. It’s a startling transformation that reminds her of the way her brother looks at the people he loves. He, too, is lethal in a fight but there are more sides to him than the death she knows he has rained down upon others. In front of her, Serio laughs and Aoi averts her eyes. He never used to laugh when he visited her in her cage. Back then, his voice was heavy and the smell of death clung to his skin. Everything he had witnessed as a child, the horrible things her brother told her about, had twisted him into a monster.

“Does she make you better?,” she asks, after he has finished his call. The question surprises him.

“Yes,” he says, quietly at first and then again, adoration tinting every word. “Yes, she does. But...not in the way you think. She tried to change me, yes, but she did more than just that. She loved me enough to believe I could change. Like maybe all the bad things weren’t what had to define my life, like I could chose to be more than what happened, even after...even after everything.”

“I see,” Aoi says. The gap between the table and her chair lets her see her own hands. They’re laying on her legs, fingers outstretched, palms relaxed. Somewhere in between entering the cafe and listening to Rei Serio talk, fear released its grip on her heart. “Why did you come?”

“I wanted to tell you….I’m sorry. All those months you had to spent in that cage, they’re on me. If I’d been a stronger man, a braver one, I could have gotten you out. But I only ever knew the darkness as a protector. I thought… I thought it might protect you, too. From me and the school and the whole damn fucking mess that was being an Alice back then. But as you said, we’re not the same person. Far from it. You were smart enough to take the hand that tried to save you. It took me a lot longer to do the same.”

“I don’t forgive you,” Aoi says. It feels important to make that clear, to make him realize that understanding him doesn’t erase the past, just puts it into perspective.

“I don’t expect you to,” Serio clarifies. “I just wanted...I wanted you to know that you were never to blame for that fire, or the cage, or your blindness. You never walked into that darkness by your own volition, I pushed you in.”

“I know,” Aoi counters almost automatically. Of course she knows. Right? Of course she has never spent the entire night imagining all the people who got hurt in that town fire or those many many months she never once tried to escape from her cage. Of course she never agonized over her own weakness and wondered how much faster her brother would have gotten away from Persona. Of course she knows. She breathes in and out and looks at him, her heated emotions replaced with pity.

“I never want to see you again,” Aoi tells Rei Serio.

He nods mutely. She thinks that this might be what endings feel like.

She feels lost when she isn’t in a relationship. Before, her father was always there but now she’s living alone and it makes her feel frail. It becomes harder and harder to stay positive, to keep going. Then, one day, she sees a girl with dark hair and dark eyes. They meet, they talk, they fall in love. It’s overwhelming and crazy and life-changing but the girl is like a bird, always ready to take flight and Aoi wants nothing more than for her to stay stay stay. The girl doesn’t want to stay and suddenly Aoi is alone again. She finishes her degree, she starts working. Possibilities are endless, are a chasm opening up in front of her to swallow her whole. She takes the first job she is offered and immerses herself in it. This is right, she tells herself. This is a great opportunity. This is who she is now, even if it feels nothing like the girl she was before and nothing like the girl she set out to be.

They part ways soon after that but she doesn’t go back to her car right away, instead opting to take a walk in a nearby park before sitting down on a bench. Rei Serio is a different man. It doesn’t change the fact that a long time ago, he was a bad one, but it does make her question other things. Perhaps it is possible to shed her skin. Perhaps it is possible to leave the familiar form of her body behind, to slip out of it like one would slip out of a dress and become something, become someone new.

At home, Aoi pulls her first architectural plans from the wall and stares at them. She’s been doing this job for years now and so she can spot all her small mistakes, her miscalculations, the moments where she got lazy. Still, something about the building is magical in the way only beginnings can be. It reminds her of her university days, of meeting her first girlfriend and sneaking kisses from her between classes.

“Free-standing, ambitious, cutting edge”. She picks up a pencil and turns the plans upside down. Her old drawings are still visible but less defined, not a finished product but the first buds of a new idea. Kneeling in front of her plans, she starts drawing. The metal is replaced with wood but she keeps the glass. Aoi draws a building that is floating, balancing walls of windows on poles of wood. One forest fire and the whole thing would come down, she thinks, and the thought makes her feel giddy not scared. She adds steel to the wooden poles, a hidden core of strength. She wants a building that both blends into its surroundings and enhances them, something that looks time and obscurity in the eye and gives both a defiant middle finger.

Her dark hair falls into her forehead, her fingers become smudged and her back hurts. But the house she is building keeps growing, takes on a life of its own. It isn’t a factory, it’s not made to be sturdy but it’s strong in structure as well as in character. Being blind for a few months has granted her the ability to feel materials as well as see their beauty, and now she can imagine it all, the coolness of the steal and the smoothness of the polished wood, the warmth of the sun shining through the enormous windows. The house is new and good and it has character, spirit, a genuine fire her other houses lacked.

Steps on the staircase make her turn around. Paige is there, her hair still tied back from a long day at work. She looks tired and for the first time Aoi wonders whether perhaps her girlfriend dislikes the fighting just as much as she does, dislikes what they’ve become and how they’ve trapped one another in a tight ball of expectations and fear.

“Hey,” she says tentatively.

“Hey,” Paige says. She stares down at the plans on the ground before sinking to the floor to sit next to Aoi. “You’re building something,” she says, less question, more statement of a fact.

“Yes,” Aoi says. “It’s a design for an architecture competition. Do you like it?”

Paige stares at it for a while.

“It’s beautiful,” she says eventually. “I didn’t know you wanted to design houses like that.”

“Me neither.”

They sit next to each other and Aoi scoots over until she can slip her hand into her girlfriend’s. The skin feels strange to her, unfamiliar.

“I think….I think this is over,” she says at length.

It’s strange that the words come to her now, when they aren’t fighting or yelling at each other. It’s almost peaceful to sit next to Paige, to feel the warmth of her body. But it isn’t romance, not anymore. Maybe the lack of anything between them is something only silence could reveal or maybe Aoi has seen it the whole time but really was too scared to search for something better.

“Yeah,” Paige says. She looks down at their clasped hands, squeezes them once and lets go. “I think so, too.”

They end up not having to fight over who gets the apartment. Paige owned it before they got together, it’s only fair she gets to keep it now. Aoi packs her things and leaves. It’s early morning so she drives to a copy shop to scan her design blueprint before forwarding it to the rich guy’s address. Then she climbs back into her car and drives two hours to her brother’s house.

He opens the door after the first knock and doesn’t seem all that surprised when he sees her belongings in boxes. He just picks them up, carries them into his home and then turns around to hug her.

“Hey, sis,” Natsume says.

“Hey idiot,” Aoi answers.

She falls asleep next to him that night, nestled between him and Mikan and it’s the best sleep she has gotten in months. Aoi doesn’t end up staying with them long, only two weeks or so. The money she receives when the rich guy tells her he wants to commission her to design his house is enough for her to rent out a small apartment, one filled with no one but her. She quits her job, too, and it’s easier than she expected. At night, she still sleeps with her lights turned on and sometimes the emptiness of her apartment is a terrifying thing.

The fear inside her never leaves and the memories don’t do either. She still sees her therapist, too, and it helps, even if it sometimes makes her question her own strength. But her life is all of it - the fire that destroyed her home town, her lost eyesight, her time in the Academy with Rei Serio, her brother’s love and her mother’s death. It’s a crazy life, and a good one and more than anything, it is hers. 

[marrylissa]

Dear @catajima​ I’m your JG Valentine. I sorry for posting this a little bit late, I was originally planning on writing something longer in one chapter, but I got a bit busy, so I had to resort in making it multiple chapters. Anyways I hope you enjoy! Much love!!

All Best People Are...?

A fan fiction by Aoi Kitsukawa

Disclaimer: Joker Game belongs to Yanagi Kouji and its related committees; I only borrow the characters in the manga/ anime (or related sources).

Author’s Note: This story is especially for Joker Game Secret Valentine 2K17. The original idea was to make a one-shot manga for this story, but I decide to put the ideas into words first, then continue the original plan.

To @catajima (in Tumblr), this is my gift to you! Sorry if this story seems like rushing; well...I was so busy since last month due to change work, and my day off only on weekend. Please enjoy the story!

Summary: Hatano was wondering whether she should give her best friend a valentine gift. However, there were something that bothers her mind, all because of...

Chapter 01: Gifts

                               “Secrets make women beautiful, but secrets make men what?”    

&

…In a faraway land, there was a magical world called Hazard the Magic World that was surrounding by two main continents that divided by sea, 13 different kingdoms and 12 nations, connected with other worlds-The Dark World and the Human World. The two continents-The Zody Continent and the Solar Continent were the places people were living; The Zody Continent however under the ruled of Solar Continent.

There were many kinds of people living in these three worlds including the Human World; the ordinary people, the magical-wielding people, vampires, werewolves, lost souls. Those people, however, lived in peace although they were different types of people.

The most powerful family's influence among the 13 kingdoms was the Flame and Wind Royal Family Kingdom-The Kirishima Royal Family. The Hazard World was rule by the recent successor of Kirishima royal family-The Sun (Taiyo) Queen Kirishima Leona, the fire-wielding element and her half-sister-the Rose (Bara-hime) Princess Kirishima Malina-the wind-wielding element.

Magic powers and supernatural abilities are special kind of ability or power born to some of the people in these countries. People with magical or supernatural abilities were considering special and gifted, and most of the noble families in the kingdoms were magic and supernatural abilities-wielders. Between the three important worlds; Magic World, Human World and Dark World, mostly the strongest magical or supernatural abilities-wielders are from the Human World, followed by the Magic World and the Dark World. These people are usually neither from non-wielders' parents, suddenly awaken within their body of being chosen as a successor. Some of them even naturally possessed the powers through bloodline and heredity.

The Magic World had been in wars for many decades and centuries by many intruders from other dimensions. Since this world was the protector of Human and Dark World, many greedy enemies kept attacking this world several times until several battles and incidents were mark in the history of Hazard World. With the additional that the 12 main kingdoms possessed 12 magical crystals as their 'Guardian Protector', the invasions from the enemies had become more violence than before but managed been suppressed by the 'Guardians'.

It had been several decades since the last war when the war between the former rulers of Dark World with the other two worlds ended. For now, peace surrounded the world after the last, bloody battle with the other invaders was end. People in the kingdom, common or magic-wielders, continued their daily activities; going to the market, gossiping, children playing around.

    However, inside the walls of Magic Academy’s hostel...

 "Wah!"

 Amari looked up from the desk where his notes and papers scattered over at his classmate's exclamation. He rose up as he wondered what exactly his friend was doing in her small kitchen area. He had seen her go into the kitchenette a few minutes earlier and assumed she was making tea for the boss. However, nothing could have prepared him for the sight he faced when he opened the kitchenette door to make sure she was all right. There, standing in the middle of the room, coughing and trying not to wave her hands against a fine powdery cloud, was a decidedly cocoa-y Hatano Yuki.

Amari could not help but bursting out in laughter at the sight of the girl as she struggled to keep from choking on the fine powder. Still, after what had happen six months ago that almost killed him and their other friends, Amari was surprise that Hatano had decided to make something that totally out of his real personality.

Hatano glared at Amari in return.

"It's not funny!" she said as she coughed.

Amari just laughed. "Ah, Hatano, why don't you get yourself cleaned up while I take care of this mess?" he said as he fought to control himself. From what he saw, Hatano had apparently been having trouble opening a container of cocoa when the lid suddenly came off, covering her and the floor with the powdery substance. He took a glance on the table where he saw a small mousse-filled chocolate layer cake.

‘Huh? Is there some special occasion? If it’s true, then for whom...?’

Hatano coughed as she put the container on the counter and left the kitchenette. It was not until several minutes later that she finally came back after having dusted her off and be cleaned up from her cocoa mishap. By that time, Amari managed to clean up the mess in the kitchenette and had put out new cups and put on some new water for tea. He already figured out what kind of event will be taking place that would include chocolate cake.

Yet, he was not that brave to bet for who that cake was...unless...

“Hatano, is that cake for the Valentine’s Day?”

Hatano stopped her movement and went stiff. Amari swore he could see red complexion slowly spread through his face and ears.

Bingo.

“Seems like you finally had gotten used with your current condition.”

“Yeah right, even now I’m still trying to find chances so that I could kill that damn Kaminaga! It’s his fault that the others and I got into this kind of situation, six months ago!” Said Hatano as she gritted her teeth. She seemed very mad now, as Amari tried his best to cool down Hatano.

  So what exactly happened to them six months ago?

  The D-Class is a special type class in Magic Academy where some of the students can participate or requested by high authorities to join their missions, sometimes they had to be the supporters for the people whom they called as ‘Guardians’ –the protectors who fought in secret from ordinary people. Hatano and Amari Toshiyuki were in the said class and had been participating in various missions too, but they were not on request list since eight months ago. Even so, some of their classmates including Sakuma Tomokazu, Fukumoto Kazuya and Jitsui Jun were put on ‘On-leave’ status as they were requested to join some missions in the Dark World.  

That time, Hatano was originally a boy named Hatano Yuki.

Hatano and Jitsui were childhood friends, but lately the brown-hair started to realize that his feelings for Jitsui were more than ‘childhood friend’. It was deeper than before, always making his heartbeats faster whenever he was alone with Jitsui, but Hatano did not have enough courage to figure out his real feelings to the said boy. Miyoshi Hiro, one of his friends had often mentioning to him how coward he was, for unable to figure out his feelings before Hatano snapped at him, many times as well. Everyone knew that Miyoshi had a secret crush on Sakuma, but too proud to admit it. This usually ended up with them bickering with each other whenever the said topic was bring up and without the present of their crushes (but still within the classmates who knew they should not bother to tell anyone about it).

But something happened that change his fate and others forever.

During one of their usual classes, the D-Class was studying potion subject and had to make some experiments using their magical ability and calculation skills in mixing the potions. The remaining members of the class were having their lessons as usual, except that day they had to mix class with B-Class since many students were absent from sickness; but that day, Kaminaga Ryouhei decided to make some pranks by intentionally mixing the chemicals with wrong measures and ended up causing the lab exploded. Almost everyone managed to get out safely, but one of the female classmates –Arisaki Tomiko, realized that the D-Class was lack of four students. Tomiko, along with Amari and Kaminaga quickly rushed back to the lab as the smokes finally faded away, and found their missing friends unconscious but with no harm.

Oh, how wrong they were.

When they were being sent to the hospital, it turns out that the smoke was not an ordinary smoke!

Apparently, Kaminaga had accidentally created a ‘forbidden’ potion where it can change the structure of humans’ body and turned them into the exact opposite of their real gender! Everyone was surprise and asked him how he makes that potion. Unfortunately, he did not know how since he just grabbed anything he could reach at that time and never knew it could turn out like this. Such explanations were enough to make Tomiko kicked his ass off!

Worst, further inspection on the students who were caught by the smoke revealed that the effects of the potion were permanent and the boys had to live as girls from now on. An order had passed, requiring everyone who attends the academy to keep the said matter as secret. Kaminaga ended up got beaten by Tomiko and Hatano due to his idiot mistake, and changing the former boys’ lives forever.

           Amari sighed at the bittersweet (!?) memories. At least, Kaminaga had stopped his pranks with the labs and chemical after the incident (along with death threats from Tomiko and one of their Arbitrators –Yuuki Hikaru [1]). Yet, he also knew that the sudden change in their lives had caused insecure, fear and nervousness; he sometimes could feel the worriedness within Tazaki Takahiro’s eyes whenever the topic of their future plans were brought up. He also realized that her relationship with Kaminaga seemed a bit strain, as the said guy seemed to avoid his best friend after the incident happened.

           He remembered something about men and women and about secrets...well, what exactly made them the best people in the first place. He remembered Tomiko once told them, something about all best people are...

           Amari jolted from his thought when Hatano threw the cocoa powder can into the dustbin and told him that she’s going to buy a new one, since the previous one had empty. Amari just nodded his head and said he will be locking the door once he collected the papers he borrowed from Hatano. Ever since Hatano changed his gender (accidently), he had switch his roommates with Kaminaga while Hatano with Tazaki, and Amari knew while he was formerly Hatano’s roommates, the situation turned out awkward as they no longer in the same condition and situation. Yet, Amari remained friends with Hatano and others since for him they were still his friends.

           After some time collecting the papers and clean up the mess on the desk, Amari prepared himself to return to his room. He still needed to review his history and some defense spells for the tests in two days, and Hatano was one of few people that managed to write down the important notes since she sat at the front. As he opened the door, he almost jumped in shock when someone suddenly stood very close to him. When he saw who it was, he went pale.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing...

      Love was in the air!

    It's Valentine's Day - the day where, in Japan (of the Human World), girls gave guys chocolates ranging from obligatory chocolates, given to family or co-workers, to those given to the person they really liked. And things were no different for the people from Magic and Dark World, especially the students from the D-Class of Magic Academy. Hatano and the girls (thanks to Kaminaga’s idiocy that changed the ‘girls’ fate forever!) had decided earlier that, since Valentine's Day was on a weekday this year, the giving of chocolates would happen on the weekend. Therefore, the only people she would be giving chocolates to today were the people she worked with. Hatano had no doubt that Fukumoto, Amari, Sakuma-san, Tomiko-san (she’s more like a sister figure in the class) and Yuuki-san (their teacher-in-charge) would readily accept chocolates from her, as they really don’t mind about it (but Hatano knew that Sakuma was waiting the one from Miyoshi...puff) and yet she was likewise certain... pretty certain... a little uncertain... utterly unconvinced that her best friend Jitsui, would do the same.

Ever since the men had return from their mission in the Human World, they had gathered more attentions than before, and mostly the girls were always the one who crowded them. Jitsui also got more attentions from the girls than before.

 Hatano felt annoyed.

 Hatano grimaced slightly as she paused briefly to stare at the overcast sky above her; she had just exited the train station and was about to make the short walk from there to the academy hostel. Hatano shook her head. If only giving chocolates to her best friend were easy! Unfortunately, for her, this year was going to be her first attempt at giving that guy anything chocolate on this day.

Before he became a girl (AGAIN, THANKS A LOT KAMI-MIMI!), Hatano never gave Jitsui any chocolate ever since their childhood because they both always got chocolates from their female friends. However, after the unexpected incident that happened six months ago, Hatano was unsure whether she should gave Jitsui his chocolate.

Well...Hatano was no longer a boy...So....

Sighed heavily, Hatano started walking towards the dorm as she contemplated her attempts at giving Jitsui chocolate. That very first year, at first she had not given much thought into her gift and thought of bought Jitsui a small box of simple dark chocolates. But when she remembered the day where she and the girls saw a scene in a movie from Human World (which caused them to go for shopping in the said world the next day), Hatano realized she had to make her best effort to make something special for Jitsui.

-Flashback of the movie scene-

"Here Ryuki, these chocolates are for you," Aiko said as she thrust a tiny box of chocolates at her boss. Her cheeks were slightly flushed in embarrassment, and she desperately hoped he didn't notice.

Unfortunately, Ryuki just looked at her oddly and said, "I don't want them."

Aiko looked surprised at his flat refusal. "Ah, th-they're not meant for my t-t-t-true love o-or anything like th-that," she stammered flustered.

"What are you talking about?" Ryuki asked confused when he paused. His thoughts went to an incident earlier that day, when some of the girls working at Cat Eyes - the cafe on the main floor - tried giving him chocolates. He'd refused as, not only did he not know them that well, he had no idea why they would try to give him something like that in the first place. His eyes narrowed slightly as he considered his part-time employee. "Come to think of it, some girls tried giving me chocolate earlier today, as well."

Aiko looked away from his dark eyes as she stared out the window. "But... it's Valentine's Day," she murmured. "It's the day girls give guys chocolates."

Because Aiko was staring out the window, she didn't notice the blank, confused look that crossed Ryuki's face at her words. Aiko heard Ryuki sigh as he took the box from her hands and put it on her head. She automatically reached out and caught the box before it could fall. Aiko looked at her boss, but she couldn't decipher the expression on his face.

"I don't like sweet things," he said quietly, "so you eat them for me."

-End of the flashback-

 Watching the footage was seriously the most unmotivated thing in the world, but it also made Miyoshi determined to capture Sakuma’s stomach AND heart with her own home-making chocolate (finally admit it, yay!). Despite her horrible skills in cooking, none of the girls and Kaminaga dared to say something that would irritate the said narcissist.

Odagiri knew how to cook, but usually the stuffs she made were some basic foods for lunch or dinner and she never made any desserts before. Mostly Fukumoto was more skillful in the said area. Therefore, she tried to do something different so that Fukumoto would be accepting her valentine gift, so she made him chocolate tea. Miyoshi decided to make dark chocolate crepes, knowing that Sakuma was not very fond with sweet things, while Tazaki decided to make just chocolate biscuits with pigeon shapes. These gifts surely shocking the men (except Amari and Kaminaga), after all they almost did not meet for 10 months.

While Hatano...well...she decided to make a not-too-sweet chocolate mousse-filled chocolate layer cake using a flourless cake recipe. All she needed to do was to put the finishing touches on the cake by sprinkling it lightly with both icing sugar and cocoa. While the recipe was a little more fiddly than she would normally make, she'd decided to try something homemade. This time though, having tasted the experimental results of the recipe, Hatano didn't mind having to eat her gift quite if Jitsui rejected her gift.

Shortly after arriving at the dorm, she opened the door without realizing there was an extra pair of shoes and Hatano went into the kitchenette in order to put the finishing touches on Jitsui's dessert as well as to make tea. Once that was done, she would wrapped it into a small box and take it to her best friend...

           Only to find out that someone was already there, sat quietly while admiring the small cake on the kitchen island.

           It was Jitsui.

End of Chapter 01

Hints or Explanations:

(1) Yuuki Hikaru –this person is not related to Yuuki-san, rather he is an OC whom been mentioned as someone who a ‘liason’ between the academy and the high-ups for the ‘request list’ for missions.  

            If anyone was wondering where the others are, don’t worry they will appear in the next chapter. Thank you for those who read this story, I really appreciate it.

–Aoi Kitsukawa.