#pre-war arc

[here-comes-the-moose]

Time for another headcanon that randomly popped into my head and would not leave me alone until I posted it:

Before Omega entered the picture, all of Hunter’s protective, caring, mother hen instincts we see in Bad Batch weren’t dormant, they were just focused on Crosshair. 😂

[flashthescalesian-art]

Fives: When I first met you, I did not like you

Dogma: I'm aware of that.

Fives: But then you and I had some time together.

Dogma: Uh-huh?

Fives: It did not get better.

[scarleteyedbstard]

something about the this is confusing and uncomfortable as hell but at least you're here

i'm insane about them actually

[psychomusic]

oc time again! + her town & culture (heavily inspired by pre-roman italic populations)

she is suri sauthon. her story is linked to my swtor imperial agent, tar'x, but most of her life except for the one year away where she meets him, is spent in a town in the mountains of mirial.

despite mirial being cold and desert, and many cities developing underground, her town flourishes thanks to a force nexus, venerated in the form of an ancient, sacred, alive crystal. the ecosystem of that mountain depended on what "the horned crystal" was capable of giving them, but mirialans couldn't live off of that alone, so they developed trade and some rudimental technology, even if oftentimes it was bought thanks to the highly profitable trade of a plant used to make medicines that slowed down aging and had overall healing properties.

note: everything that's generated by this nexus has these healing properties BUT they have to be processed, except for those who bathed in the waters of the cavity under the crystal - the "real" nexus, but not the worshipped one. the waters were sacred but they were not thought to be miraculous, unlike the crystal, who instead was thought of as the keystone of the ecosystem: without it, everything would fall apart (and that is partially true: the cavity was the "real" nexus but thanks to the crystal, also strong in the force, the properties were spread all over the mountains). those who bathed in the cavity's waters - so, all of the town, who had a sort of baptism there - could eat the plant, make whatever food with it, and not only that plant, but everything generated by the nexus, that, again, had similar properties. this allowed people to live up to normal life-spans without advanced medicines or, much, really. to those who didn't live there, though, after the processing, had incredible effects, slowing down aging - for those who took it regularly - and making people able to live up to half a century more than the average]

originally, there were four tribes of nomads that lived thanks to horned farm animals that decided to settle down into one bigger town and other smaller settlements, to live off of transhumance. this division of the tribes stayed into the political and social organization: every person belonged to one tribe specifically, and had slightly different rituals and culture. for examples, each tribe had their own priests and healers, with different techniques and traditions. the town, tho, was guided by a group of people in the high priesthood, a position you could reach only by having earned the trust of all tribes. those high priests had many roles: they guided the people into sacred processions common to all the tribes, they managed the trading with outsiders, they did the maintenance of the temple of the summit (the one that functioned as casket to the crystal) and created a special liquid to offer the crystal that helps it grow.

this particular temple was important because 1. it was very visible, from every angle of the town, and it became an important identity symbol; 2. it stored the venerated horned crystal; 3. it had the altar where sacrifices were made for the crystals. that altar had a hole connected to the cavity, that allowed the liquids to reach the underground; 4. it had various symbols: statues representing each tribe + the high priesthood, and typical mirialan tattoos carved into the wood of the trees that served as columns for the temple, symbolizing 8 values that who dared to enter HAD to have; 5. it was on the way to an important lake (called "mother lake" because the lake the town was built around to depended on the waters of that other lake) where they traveled to in important processions; 6. it was said that a the wizard who unified the tribes made it with its magic, making the plant grow to hold the temple's roof. this wizard was, actually, a force user, obv.

BACK TO HER THOUGH: she's daughter of one of the high priests, who was in charge of managing the trades with outsiders, and lives in a house on the mountains with her mother and him. her parents are from different tribes (that's one of the things that earned him trust from the 4 tribes): when a child is born from two different tribes, they don't pick one to allign to, but they're usually linked automatically to the one with more relatives in it (in her case, the father's tribe: she had many uncles and aunts on his side while her mom only had one sister).

later, though, she got quite tied to her mother's tribe due to a mysterious illness that only her mother's tribe healer was able to cure. she spent 4 years (from 10 to 14 years old) living with the healer and learned her secrets. to better study, she wrote them down. when she returned home, she studied to become a priestess with her father. at 22 (the average age: you can't become priest before your 20s), she was supposed to take a test and become a priestess, but the healer of her mother's tribe died and the tribe asked her to take her place. she couldn't technically do that, but both tribes estimated both her and her parents and she was allowed to become both. she then decided to try to become a high priestess, and became one at 25 (a quite young age). being part of the council, she tried to convince the various tribe healers to unite their knowledges and write them down, and eventually made it. healers still remained tribe based but they now had an "upper, inter-tribe level" similar to high priesthood.

years later, the sacred horned crystal is stolen from the temple by some Hutt mercenaries looking for a profit. given the trust she has earned from all the tribes and the fact that her father is the high priest that deals with outsiders (and she's been hearing stories and advice about it since she was little), she is the one tasked with getting it back. without the growing crystal, the keystone to their ecosystem, the village would have lasted only a few years. in hrr quest, she meets imperial intelligence agent tar'x laran and, as they "solve the mystery" and fight to have it back, they get closer. they'll get married and have a daughter, Vegoia (who's the only one who actually will get to the plot of my story. this was all background)

[obitinenovelwhen]

Today marks 15 years since The Mandalore Plot debuted on Cartoon Network, which means happy birthday to:

Obitine! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

The darksaber

Jon Favreau’s first steps into Mandalorian lore

[carrionmagpie]

Another year of creating customs! 🤯🤯

This hobby has become such a significant part of my left and had such a positive effect on my mental wellbeing! It's been fantastic to keep creating and meet so many people along the way, here's to more years to come!

[bluecoffeebeanz]

THEY EVEN TOOK HIS QUEEN

[raayllum]

The Mage Wars

How could I not know that? What really happened? History has a way of burying the ugly truths of those who write it.

So it was supremely satisfying to finally have a textual answer to something fans have been curious about since S2 aired in 2019, and definitely after S3. There was speculation at the time that the West being so different from the East was likely due to two options:

Xadian forces took magic out of the west as a preventative measure when the elves / everyone was leaving, and then sent the humans in. This would mean a more difficult path for humanity in terms of stripping away Xadia's natural abundance, but better protect all the unique creatures/beings who lived on the western half of the continent by shepherding them somewhere safer

Xadian forces left the West untouched, and sent humans into that same natural abundance. Humanity consumed and destroyed it over long term dark magic use and infighting (calling back to Viren's line in 2x05 of "After centuries of fighting amongst ourselves...") because dark magic is a personal, subjective morality free-for-all of terror and consequences

We now definitively know it's the second one... but why? Why tell us this at all?

Well there's a few potential reasons:

Now that we're fully opening up the border between the Pentarchy and the Xadia, with the caveat that the Pentarchy can defend themselves from future dragon attacks, we could see encroaching war of more powerful humans who wish to plunder magic from the remaining magical side of the continent. All the previous guardians of Xadia's land and seas (the Archdragons) have also been taken out by Aaravos.

Side note: I forget where, but I saw people speculate that the coral-horned creature could be the Empress of the Deep mentioned in Deep Below, who was a dear friend of Domina Profundis, and who was hunted by a collection of elves and humans.

The history of the Mage Wars is also likely relevant to the Staff of Ziard. We see it featured prominently in the flashback and that it seemed to denote powerful mages in particular. This makes sense as it's something Aaravos crafted and then gave to humanity, along with dark magic itself earlier on. We also know that (particularly human) mages were his preferred prey and that the Mage Wars are exactly the kind of conflict he'd be more than ready to nudge along. His imprisonment being 300 years ago (depending on when the fighting came to an end) could also line up.

Going back to the Staff, we know that the staff metal itself came from the Starscraper (alongside 8 others that remain there), the quasar diamond was stolen from the Corona of the Heavens and placed in the staff, and that it eventually became attributed to the High Mage position in Katolis, passing from generation to generation. We know that traditionally it would've passed from Kpp'Ar to Viren, and has now gone to Callum, who seems to no longer be High Mage, but retains ownership over the staff anyway. We don't know why Kpp'Ar believed that the staff should never be used again, so it seems that's an arc 3 question.

I'm also curious if the end of the mage wars, given the volcanic setting is reminiscent of the arc 1 intro with Avizandum, might be something we see some day / in further detail. If the timeline matches up where it was coming to a close around 300 years ago, that could be part of the reason why the Orphan Queen journeyed into Xadia and why she had reason to be suspicious of Aaravos.

[cloneshipficquotes]

The fresher door opening jolts Echo awake. He huffs, relaxing again once Fives finally comes into the bedroom.

“You didn’t have to wait up for me,” Fives points out, wearing absolutely nothing, not even a towel.

Echo shifts onto his back as Fives walks around the end of the bed, watching him, appreciating just how hot Fives is, and how he’s, thankfully, uninjured. Fives knows he’s staring and smirks.

“You know, I was gonna put on some clothes, but if you like what you see that much…” he teases. It’s a fairly weak attempt at flirting on his part. Echo can’t blame him. They’re both exhausted.

— Airlock_Failure, from Chapter 26: Overstimulation: Fives/Echo in ‘Sanguis Et Passio’

[now-you-sound-like-a-jedi]

There's something very narratively/thematically tragic about Satine's death, in the sense that one of the most common tragic conventions is the idea that whatever your intentions are, they will backfire in the worst possible way.

In S2 of The Clone Wars, Obi-Wan always defaults to protecting Satine. It doesn't matter if that's his official Council-assigned role (like during the Mandalorian civil war, or in Voyage of Temptation) or if he just happens to be there for other reasons, like on Concordia and Coruscant. When shit hits the fan, which it always does, he can be counted on to keep her safe. It's instinctive, it's second-nature, and it becomes predictable.

Which is exactly how this desire to protect her ends up being the very thing that gets her killed.

[emo-nova]

I have come to a realisation why I don't like Boruto:Next Gen. It isn't quite the turn they have decided, but it focuses more on the handling of Naruto and his actions as a father. I truly, and utterly believe, that this is what turned me off from the show, albeit some storylines of the show is iffy to me its fine.

Naruto, in my whole opinion, would try to emulate Iruka Umino. He would try to be there for his son, for his failings and his successes even before and after as Hokage. This kid would become Hokage and immediately go to Iruka and ask how to balance work and private so he can be there for his son, he might go to Kakashi as well but let's be honestly does he have a life outside of his work as a ninja? Anyways.

This is what got me off of the show. I couldn't watch Naruto as a parent of Boruto because I don't think he would be handling it like that. He would take his son out after forcing him to clean the faces for ramen or burgers to get him to speak up about it. He would try to emulate the father-figure Iruka was to him in his early life, and he would be the same with Himawari.

That is my realisation. I know that if Naruto parented differently, there would or could be bigger changes in Boruto Canon. I am fine with cherry picking what I like from it, but Naruto being an absent parent is not what I see for him.

If I have anything wrong, do tell me, I will like to be stand corrected over this :)

[tcw-incorrect-quotes]

Hevy: Lol. Heads up, if you try to make a candle with food coloring, the food coloring will just sink to the bottom of the glass, and when the flame eventually reaches the bottom, all the food coloring will catch fire and become one giant tall flame that you cannot possibly blow out, and the glass will start to crack, and then you’ll throw your tea on it in a panic, and then the extremely hot food coloring will boil and sizzle horribly, and then the glass will shatter. Please take my word on this.  Echo: What did you do, Hevy?  Hevy: A mistake.

[theuntoldoriginsoftheportmafia]

The Untold Origins of The Port Mafia

“War has a way of blackening all it touches, doesn’t it?” - Fukuzawa Yukichi

“True, but it is from the deepest of darkness that the brightest lights come” - Mori Ougai

Great roaring fires that blaze, bright and strong, choosing either to gently guide others into the light, a place of healing, or ignite a path through the dark and lead those same broken souls to victory, whatever sacrifice it may require.

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

This is a long fic. It is a semi-role swap AU that restarts canon by going back 15 years before the start of the main series and asking what would happen if Fukuzawa had joined Fukuchi when he was deployed to Tokoyami Island to fight in The Great War. Who would he have met? What would have become of him? And of Fukuchi?

Will a dark beginning lead to an even darker end?

Along the way Fukuzawa will meet a doctor, an angel, an author, a genius and many, many others. Read to follow their journeys as they twist and turn but eventually end up right where they're supposed to be.

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(all chapters are linked, just click on the one you want to go to. The ones without lines under them have no been posted yet.)

Part One - The War

Chapter 1.1 ❀ The Two Fukus ❀

Chapter 2.1 ⚔ The Battlefield ⚔

Chapter 3.1 正 The 356th Infantry Division 正

Chapter 4.1 ⚐ The End of The Great War ⚐

Part Two - The Doctor, The Butterfly & The Wolf

Chapter 1.2 ✾ The Sadness of Those With Wings ✾

Chapter 2.2 A Doctor and His Daughters Begin a New Life

Chapter 3.2 ♂ The Other Brother ♂

Chapter 4.2 🜛The Silver Wolf 🜛

Chapter 5.2 Mori Ougai and His Bodyguard

Part three - The Takeover

Chapter 1.3 ☜ The Child Detective ☞

Chapter 2.3 〜 The Boy In A Human Body 〜

Chapter 3.3 ☠ The Death of A Mafia Boss ☠

Part Four - The Port Mafia

Chapter 1.4 The World's Greatest Detective Does Consulting

Chapter 2.4 ⏲ Miles To Go ⏲

Chapter 3.4 ⚠ When Life Gives You Lemons . . . ⚠

Chapter 4.4 ✗ Who the hell is Edgar? ✗

Chapter 5.4 ⛼ The New and the Old ⛼

Chapter 6.4 The Many ＞The Few (Or the One)

Part Five - Escape

Chapter 1.5 ☽ The Hitman’s Dream ☾

Chapter 2.5 ♘ A Detective Must Be Armed ♘

Chapter 3.5 ䷸ Bandages & Coattails Flutter in the Wind ䷸

Part Six - The Armed Detectives Agency

Chapter 1.6 🜚🜛🜠🜜 Tachihara Shunzen’s Entrance Exam 🜜🜠🜛🜚

Chapter 2.6 ✎ The Matchless Maths Teacher ✐

Chapter 3.6 ✐ Kunikida Doppo’s Entrance Exam ✎

Chapter 4.6 🜡 Tachihara Michizou’s Entrance Exam 🜡

Part Seven - The Story Begins

Chapter 1.7 ⏴ The Black Lizard Attack Squadron ⏵

Chapter 2.7 ⛰ Disaster in Ihatovo . . . Almost ⛰

Chapter 3.7 ⚞ The Tale of The Man-Eating Tiger ⚟

Chapter 4.7 ❅ To Rescue A Demon ❅

Chapter 5.7 A Weretiger Worth (many times) His Weight In Yen

Chapter 6.7 The Book ✑

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Originally posted on my other blog @knockyasocksoff2022 where my other fics and BSD content are. I just felt like it deserved its own blog because it got so long and I want more people to see it because I'm really proud of it. Sorry if the summary was cringy af. I was trying to make it sound like a real book summary, and not give spoilers.

This fic is my baby, I've been working on it since January 2024. I wasn't even going to post this until it was done, but I'm lacking motivation and I want to know if people even like this so screw it!

There are 20 / 30 chapters finished right now, so if you'd like it finished pls, pls, pls leave comments and likes. I need motivation to continue.

Update schedule is whenever my brain gives me sudden bursts of inspiration, but comments always help me remember to keep going so those are very welcome.

PFP from: https://nmousesedits.tumblr.com/post/187968275018/x-free-to-use-source

Background from the flashback scene in the anime where Fukuchi is asking Fukuzawa to join the military with him but I got the screenshot itself from: https://iwritenarrativesandstuff.tumblr.com/post/728235003081834496/bird-symbolism-in-the-fukufuku-breakup-scene

[musical-chan]

Father of Time Chapter 81: A Held Breath

Link looked up from a chair by the fire, hearing the howling wind, his ears twitching at the sound of voices speaking in-under-around the tempest outside the doors.  Who was talking? Friend or foe? Was someone controlling the wind? He strained to remember Windy's voice, to hear if it was him that was speaking, but the sounds only jumbled together more, impossible to discern. 

Was it day or was it night? The storm was endless and dark, a trap to keep him inside and helpless.  He stood and paced, wondering where the others were, hoping they were okay. He tried to sing, to hum, send out a call to anyone at all but the music was unfinished, the wind outside stole the melody and tossed it into the deepest chasms where it rotted into dust.

The voice in the storm grew louder. 

"Levias?" 

He was at the open door, staring out into the blinding white, only the lights from the building illuminating anything. It shifted and swirled in patterns while things screamed out of the dark. 

Laughter. 

(Read the rest on AO3)

ONE YEAR! ONE YEAR OF POSTING THIS FIC! HOW DOES TIME EVEN WORK? I DON'T KNOW! THAT'S WHY WE WRITE ABOUT THE HERO OF TIME! AHHHHHHH!

[worthyheir]

@wcrriorhearts (Luke) / one-liner to one-para starter call

"Are you prepared for this?" Jace had suspected for quite some time that there might be war - the enmity between Alicent's children and he and his brothers, the contention of a woman ruling Westeros, the succession of the Iron Throne being easily overthrown, while they sat on Dragonstone and the Hightowers were in King's Landing. This seemed an inevitability, more than a happenstance. Arrax and Vermax grumbled on not too far away, ready to take their riders. "īlon shall rhaenagon arlī kesīr aderī" We shall meet back here soon.

[healeroflightanddark]

Yuya's Sleepiness

Yuya tried to keep his eyes open as he lay in his bed, feeling the weight of his illness settle over him. He never had enough energy to stay awake for very long when he was sick, though he always tried. But his head was starting to hurt from the light streaming into his room through the window.

His mother came in with a bowl of chicken and rice soup, a cup of steaming jasmine tea, and a bottle of medicine. Yuya started to sit up, swaying from his sudden dizziness. Yoko quickly set the tray down and steadied her son with a hand. “Careful, Yuya!”

“Dizzy…” Yuya mumbled. Yoko helped him sit up with his back leaning against his headboard. Yuya closed his eyes for a moment, slowly relaxing a bit. After a few moments, Yoko gently shook him. “Yuya, wake up. You need to eat!”

“Huh…?” Yuya opened his eyes and looked sleepily at his mother. “M’awake…”

“Here, eat some soup,” his mother said gently, picking up the bowl of soup. She held the spoon up to Yuya’s lips, and the tomato-head sipped it slowly. “Yummy soup…”

“It’s good for you too,” Yoko said, smiling at her son. Yuya slowly nodded, closing his eyes again. Yoko quickly poked him, causing him to open his eyes with a sulky pout. “No sleeping until you eat some more soup.”

“Tired…” Yuya mumbled. Yoko smiled sympathetically at him. “I know, but you need to eat before you go back to sleep. I know you, and I know you’re next to impossible to wake up when you’re sick, even for soup and medicine. So you need to eat now, so that I don’t have to wake you up for a while.”

Yuya pouted for a little while longer, then slowly opened his mouth for more soup. Yoko spooned some more into his open mouth, watching as he chewed and swallowed. “Mom…?”

“Yes, Yuya?” Yoko asked gently. Yuya raised a hand and pointed at the tea a bit shakily. “Can I have some tea, please…?”

“Yes, of course,” Yoko replied, setting the bowl of soup down and picking up the tea. She helped Yuya sit up enough to drink some of the tea. “Nice and hot.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Yuya murmured after he’d satisfied his tea thirst. Yoko ruffled his tomato fluff, smiling warmly at him. “Eat a little bit more soup, and then you need some medicine, and then you can sleep.”

“M’kay,” Yuya mumbled, opening his mouth for more soup. Yoko smiled and began feeding him some more soup. Yuya was able to finish almost half the bowl before he finally turned his head away from the spoon.

“Full?” Yoko asked. Yuya nodded, closing his eyes again. Yoko set the bowl aside and picked up the bottle of medicine. Yuya opened one eye, watching his mother open the bottle and pour a dose of medicine into the cup. When she held it towards her son’s mouth, the boy turned his head away. “No… no medicine… hate medicine… sucks…”

“Yuya, you have to take your medicine,” Yoko told him firmly. “Otherwise you’ll stay sick for longer.”

“Nuh-uh…” Yuya mumbled, turning over in bed and burying his face in his pillow. “Never…”

Yoko sighed and rolled him back onto his back. “C’mon, Yuya. Medicine.”

“Noooo…” Yuya whined. “S’time for sleepies…”

“No, no sleepies until you take your medicine,” Yoko replied. “You wanna get better, don’t you? You don’t wanna be sick for longer than you have to be, right?”

Yuya closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep. Maybe if his mother thought he was sleeping, she’d leave him alone and let him actually sleep. Unfortunately, Yoko’s stubbornness was greater than her son’s. She poked him in the side a few times, making him giggle and squirm. “Mohohom! No tickling! Stohohop!”

“Take your medicine and I’ll stop tickling you,” Yoko replied, switching from poking to tickling in earnest. Yuya squealed and tried to wiggle away. Alas, while he was a very wiggly worm in his sleep when he was healthy, he didn’t have much strength or energy when he was sick. “Ohohohokahahahay! Mohohom! I’ll tahahake my medicine! Just stohohohop! Heeheeheeheeheehee!”

“Open!” Yoko said, still tickling Yuya as she held the medicine cup up to his lips. Yuya obediently opened his mouth and let his mother pour the medicine inside, forcing himself to swallow it. As soon as he did, his mother stopped tickling him. “See, now was that so hard? Now you can rest for a bit until the family doctor arrives.”

Yuya nodded and snuggled back down into his blankets, closing his eyes. Within moments he was already drifting off to sleep. Yoko tucked him into bed and kissed his forehead before taking the tray she’d brought back to the kitchen. “Sweet dreams, Yuya.”

*   *   *

By the time the family doctor arrived, Yuya was already fast asleep. The doctor knew from experience that Yuya would be next to impossible to wake up for the examination, so he would have to check the boy while he was asleep.

“Looks like he’s got the flu,” the doctor told Yoko after doing the examination. “I’ll need to take a sample of his saliva to run a few tests to confirm, but I should have a proper diagnosis ready for you within a few hours, as well as a prescription for his illness.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Yoko said. “Hopefully it’s not something too serious. I still remember the time he was sick with pneumonia when he was eight. He had to go to the hospital for emergency care. I don’t wanna risk anything like that happening again.”

“Yes, I remember that too,” the doctor said. “As I recall, the doctor you had at the time misdiagnosed him, and he almost died. He’s lucky you listened to your instincts and took him to the hospital instead of trusting that doctor’s judgement.”

“Oh, yeah, I read that doctor the riot act the next time I saw him,” Yoko said, scowling at the memory. “He didn’t even seem to care that his misdiagnosis nearly cost my son his life. I don’t think someone like that should be a doctor.”

“From what I heard, he was recently fired for malpractice and is facing serious charges after a couple more misdiagnoses,” the doctor confided. “Actually, I think you may be contacted for a testimony, and might be awarded financial compensation for what happened to Yuya back then.”

“Well, that would certainly help with our current financial situation,” Yoko sighed. The doctor nodded as he packed up his medical supplies. “I should have a diagnosis for Yuya ready within two hours. I’ll contact you and send you the prescription as soon as it’s ready.”

*   *   *

A little less than two hours later, Yoko came into Yuya’s room with a bottle. Yuya was sleeping like the dead, and Yoko knew that it would be a struggle to wake him for his medicine. His face was flushed red from the fever, and he was sweating profusely.

“Oh, Yuya,” Yoko murmured softly. The doctor’s diagnosis had confirmed that Yuya had the flu, but at least it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Yoko left the room to grab a cloth and a bowl of cool water to help with Yuya’s fever. She dipped the cloth in the water and placed it on her son’s forehead, before pulling the blankets off him. His fever was so high that having too many layers could cause him to get heatstroke.

Yuya began shivering almost as soon as the blankets were on him, and Yoko began lightly shaking him. “Yuya, wake up. You need to take some medicine.” The tomato-head did not wake up, so Yoko shook him just a little harder, not hard enough to hurt him though.

It took three and a half minutes of shaking Yuya for him to finally respond. “Uhn…?” he groaned, forcing his eyes open. The light from the window made him shut them tightly again.

“Yuya, you need to take some medicine,” Yoko said gently. Yuya groaned. “Noooo…”

“Shh, it’s okay!” Yoko soothed him. “It’s not liquid this time. It’s a pill. It shouldn’t taste bad. The doctor said it shouldn’t have any taste at all!”

Yuya whimpered, but reluctantly opened his mouth after a few moments, waiting for the pill. Yoko opened the bottle and placed a single tablet in Yuya’s mouth, then held a cup of jasmine tea up to his lips so he could swallow it.

Yuya hadn’t realized just how thirsty he actually was until the tea flowed over his tongue. Before he knew it, he had drained the entire cup. “More… more please… so thirsty…”

Yoko poured some more tea into the cup and helped her sick son drink it. It took three more cups of tea before Yuya’s thirst was finally sated and he lay back against his pillow. “M’cold…” he mumbled, shivering.

“I know, sweetie,” Yoko murmured soothingly. “Your fever is so high that the room feels cold to you. I’ll get you a clean sheet to cover you so you don’t overheat.”

“M’kay…” Yuya mumbled, still shivering. Yoko picked up the blanket, which by now was wet from Yuya’s fever sweat, and took it to the laundry room to wash it. She grabbed a clean linen sheet from the closet on her way back to Yuya’s room.

By the time Yoko returned, Yuya was already fast asleep once more. He was still shivering, so Yoko covered him in the thin linen sheet and tucked him in. Her poor boy pulled the sheet closer to his chin in his sleep, mumbling incoherently.

“Oh, Yuya,” Yoko said softly, kissing his cheek. “I wish there was something I could do about your weak immune system. You always get sick at least three times every Cold-and-Flu season, and everytime a new sickness shows up, you somehow manage to catch it as well.”

Well, if there was one good thing that came out of all of this, it was the fact that Yuya didn’t seem to fight the medicine as much as he usually did. It seemed he’d learned that the medicine wouldn’t simply go away if he ignored it. And at least Yoko was able to take care of him even without Yusho around to help her anymore. Yoko would never leave Yuya, no matter what. A mother’s love knew no bounds.