#repeat iori

[koushirouizumi]

"...That's why I'm here," Iori reaffirms calmly, as Iori now stands up, BOOK in hands-- "...Because I should be able to support my upperclassman, in turn." Iori smiles, and closes THE BOOK -- -- it closes between Iori's hands.

Pre-Epilogue Iori in my fic, "The Past World" (originally written in 2k21, idea in mind since Young Me days, before XW finished airing)

#The Beginning Spoilers #TheBeginningSpoilers

(Visually Iori likely looked EXACTLY LIKE THIS before breaking out the smile.)

[teaitis]

Silly little darling!

[paiirupie]

i forgot to post these here..... i've been playing persona 3 these past few weeks:)

[eralisse]

Brothers Conflict: Season 1 LN - Ch16 Repeat, Sec2

Following the previous segment, this is Kaname's flashback to his confrontation with Iori after Iori's kiss with Ema.

Brothers Conflict Translations Index

Iori: “You’re telling me to get away from her?”

Iori looked genuinely surprised.

After pulling the two apart, I sent her home first, and then confronted Iori.

Iori: “What are you saying, Kaname-niisan? That’s absurd. The two of us mutually want each other, and forgive each other.”

His voice was filled with complete conviction. It was said so brazenly that, for a moment, I was at a loss for an answer. But I couldn’t afford to say nothing.

Kaname: “... Iori. You’re wrong.”

I said at last. I didn’t think I would get through to Iori. But still, it was necessary to object.

Kaname: “That’s just your assumption.”

Iori: “Ahh, Kaname-niisan has lied again.”

Iori smiled happily.

Iori: “She hasn’t rejected me at all. In fact, she has accepted me, you know.”

Kaname: “...!”

A piece of memory came to mind. That sight I saw through the trees.

— That sight of Iori embracing her and pressing his lips onto hers.

Iori: “And yet, it’s my assumption? If you insist. At the very least, you could lie a little more convincingly?”

Kaname: “Iori, listen to me…”

Iori: “Kaname-niisan.”

Iori’s words cut me off.

Iori: “Isn’t this a bit unsightly?”

Kaname: “What?”

Iori: “To put simply, your jealousy.”

The moment he said that, vehemence shot through my body. My voice burst out from the uncontrollable impulse. 

Kaname: “Iori!”

Iori: “Ahh.”

Iori smiled broadly.

Iori: “What a serious face… Well, I can understand your feelings. After all, the one who held out his hand before anyone else was Kaname-niisan.”

Kaname: “Wh–!”

Iori: “Do you remember the time when she was laid up with a cold?”

Iori said suddenly.

Iori: “Kaname-niisan, you had gone to call on her.”

Kaname: “Eh?”

Such a long time ago… The memories from shortly after when she first came to live at the apartment complex returned to me.

After midsummer had passed, she had caught a cold, probably from fatigue. And at that time, I had gone to her room to visit.

… But why did Iori know about that?

Iori: “Ahh, it was a coincidence.”

Iori said, as if reading my mind.

Iori: “Right before you’d gone, I’d also went to call on her. Then, when I was still at the stairs, you’d come.”

Kaname: “...”

Iori: “Of course, I hadn’t intended to eavesdrop.”

Iori smiled.

Iori: “I could hear you. Kaname-niisan, you said at the door, ‘Since that kiss, you’ve not spoken to me at all.’ “

Kaname: “Iori…”

Iori: “You’d kissed her before then, didn’t you?”

Kaname: “...”

Iori: “That is quite unforgivable.”

Iori’s smile grew.

Iori: “However, I see now that it was a big day. Because it was my victory.”

Iori’s face overflowed with his sense of superiority.

Iori: “Kaname-niisan.”

Iori continued.

Iori: “How does it feel to have me take so easily what you thought could be yours?”

Kaname: “... Iori.”

Iori: “But, since you’ve lost, I wish you’d quietly accept your defeat. You say you want to fix me, to protect me, but you’re trying to break us up. Don’t you think that’s a bit shameful?”

Kaname: “No, what are you saying…”

I tried hard to respond, but could not continue past that.

Iori: “Then, you didn’t kiss her? Can you say you didn’t kiss her?”

The smile left Iori’s eyes. Even though his mouth was still smiling, his eyes were shockingly cold.

Iori: “And… if you did kiss her, can you say you don’t like her?”

I was unable to say anything.

I wanted to stop Iori and Ema’s relationship more than anything. But I could not deny Iori’s point about it being my envy. 

It’s true that I kissed Ema, therefore, it couldn’t be helped that my interference would be seen as coming from jealousy.

… No, to a third party, it would probably be seen as natural.

(But… even so…)

This could not continue. If I left Iori alone, both he and Ema would get messed up.

(I have to stop them somehow…)

That thought whirled about my head, but nothing came up as to what I should say next.

Iori: “... I’ve had enough.”

Iori said after a while.

Iori: “I’ll forget what happened today… However.”

His voice suddenly became icy.

Iori: “If you get in the way again, I can’t say what will happen then… Understood?”

On that note, Iori walked away. I could do nothing except watch him leave.

---

Comments:

Iori is dangerous. You have been warned.

[unshackled-instinct]

🙏 Do you think the mun would be able to survive in your world?

"I said this before: she won't last."

[koushirouizumi]

@taikouvember!

Prompt: KINDNESS; + What is your favorite aspect{s} about their relationship/dynamic with any other Chosen Children? + What is your favorite aspect{s} about their relationship/dynamic with Mimi? {Belated} {I also view this particular theme as "Compassion" {+including Koushiro's OWN Compassion-slash-Kindness in a more general sense!}

{This AMV has background implied KouTai, as typical for this series!} (For the full ficverse on AO3: here!)

{Polyships can also be read in for A.U. Potentials, including Koushiro x Taichi x Mimi as a trio/OT3!!} (Alternative polyships can include: Yamato x Jou x Sora x Mimi {supporting KouTai} [Main]; Jou x Koushiro x Taichi x Mimi, and various combinations of all these six Chosen!)

Note: -This video’s embed may randomly not display at times, Showing like it’s “down”, but it’s not at this time! {It usually happens late at night[s] or seemingly when Tumblr is {seemingly} experiencing very high traffic} If that happens, please consider Checking back to watch at a later time! (If it seems permanently down, please leave a comment or tag to notify me!)

Note: A few more AMVs for this series have been made since this particular one, which could be considered an “End Phase” (or in-between point) of the 2nd-to-3rd phase/set of AMVs! (This AMV was closer to a “3rd Phase” Final stretch) {As in, the next series of AMVs I had initially planned to make; many more have been Inspired to be made since!!}

For other AMVs + Preview AMVs for this series: KOUSHIRO's State of the World (Music Replacement Edit for Kagerou Daze AMV) {contains a Twist} [+PicoDevimon & {Implied} Vademon; Adventure #24 A.U.s] / Children Record (Nijisanji Cover version) {Fixed Link} / Fireworks in the Summer End [+Kizuna (Implied); (2020!)KouTai Timeline A.U.s; +Mugendramon Arc Timeline Splits]

Digimon Adventure{s} (+Adv ~ Tri + {Side} / {A.U.} Adventure: [2020 Reboot]) ~ AMV [Anime Music Video] - Tomodachi no Uta {Song of Friends} (sung by: Nanami Kashiyama) {from originating series: Kagerou Project} featuring DUO/O.T.P/Poly-ships: - {Main} KouTaiMi / TaiKouMi (Mimi x Koushiro x Taichi); - (Heavily Implied) KouTai (Koushiro x Taichi)

PAST AMVS / VIDEO EDITS IN THIS SERIES: Kagerou Daze (Heat-Haze Daze) / Children Record [+Adv Chosen] / RED / Additional Memory and Imaginary Reload music edits for KageDaze / Days (short edit) / Lost Time Memory / Yesterday Evening / Summertime Record / Shounen Brave [+Jou] / Outer Science [+Villains] / Headphone Actor (short edit) / DAZE (short version / TV Size OP) / KOUSHIROS ? CYBER JOURNEY [+Maki] / Brave Heart x Kaien Panzermast [+Chosen Children] / Night Tales Deceive [Yobanashi Deceive] / [KOUSHIRO’S] Imaginary World / Mekakushi Code [Blindfold Code] [+Yamato&Sora&Adv Chosen] / Ultramarine Rain [+Mrs Yoshie Izumi; Izumis] / Imagination Forest [+Mimi&Jou] / Transparent Answer [TaiKou+Meiko] / Jinzou Enemy [Artificial Enemy] / DEAD and SEEK (short edit) / Headphone Actor (Full version Preview) / Otsukimi Recital [TaiKou+Chosen] / Shissou Word [Never-Lost Word] [(Yamatox)Sora(xMimi)(xJou)]+[TaiKou]+[Chosen] / My Funny Weekend [Mimi+Hikari+Chosen] / Kusanagi Attention [(Ken x)Miyako(x Hikari) (xDaisuke)+Mimi+02 Chosen+Advs Chosen (+TaiKou)] / Shinigami Record (Short Edit) [(+2020!)TaiKou] / [KSHRO’s]? Theory of Happiness [Adv~Tri TaiKou + Special Appearance] / Imaginary Reload (Music Edit Ver. 2) [Adv Chosen+2020 Chosen] / Children Record Re:Boot (Music Edit) / Children Record (Nijisanji Cover version)

Digimon Adventure{s} Franchise © Toei Animation & Bandai

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. This is FAN-MADE. No $$$ is being made off this fan-work * Please do not re-post, re-distribute, edit, or use my specific editing of any work in this series without asking my Permission! I do not allow my works to be re-produced for any usage, including A.I.!

Notes:

There are some spoilers for Tri (mainly Ketsui); {as well as a much smaller ‘moment’ of Mimi & Sora from “Kyousei”}; a scenery spoiler from the very opening moments of “Kizuna” also included (No character is shown!), as well as scenes from DigiAdv 2020 Eps 49~50, which feature an important mid-end series (second-to-last big) battle. The 2nd to final scene included has audio left in (though I still have to add in subs); of that battle’s aftermath; {the enemy itself is not seen in this}

This A.M.V. is part of the “A.M.V.s Route” of my Digimon Adventures Koushiro Izumi-centric, semi canon compliant A.U.s series; REPEAT?_VERSE (Please note all notes on that series if you choose to view it!) This one is an A.U. spin-off of sorts, with a pretty, “calm” song, and can easily be watched as a stand-alone!

A fan-translation for the song (not by me) can be found here! You may want to read the lyrics first before watching!

Side ships, AMV specific notes, & Lyrics/Translation under ‘read more‘!

Keep reading

[gojoux]

『 𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄 』

· Pairing: Geto Suguru x Reader

· Summary: The girl you're supervising for a mission is a spoiled brat princess. Once her eyes met your boyfriend, she becomes obsessed with him. You decided you've had enough once she took the chance.

· CW: 11.6k (sigh) // Fluff. Angst. Annoying behaviour. Act of deception. You and the girl having a beef. Jealousy. Suggestive themes. Implied and mention of sex. Implied past oral sex. Mention of genitals lmao.

Female reader, uses she/her pronouns, called ‘girl’ and ‘miss’.

“Excuse me, but what?” You look at your teacher, Yaga, after he tells you what your next mission is.

“You heard me. Your next mission is to look after one of the higher-ups' grand-daughter. Her parents are going out of town for a five days, and they want you to look after their only daughter.” Yaga explained once more.

“Your job is to keep her safe from cursed spirits. She's not a sorcerer therefore she can't use cursed technique, but she does see them.” He adds.

“But, why me?” You complain but make it sound as polite as you can since he's the teacher. “Shouldn't I be going on a mission to exorcise cursed spirits around the city instead?”

“You're the only one available right now,” Yaga answers straight to the point. “Anything else you want to say?”

‘The only one available, my ass.’ You curse in your mind.

“How about Utahime-san? She doesn't go much on a mission, right?” You try to bargain, hoping he would change your position.

“That's exactly why you're assisted. You're a frontline sorcerer, Iori is not, she's a support. What would happen if a cursed spirit attacked?” He answers sternly, not buying your suggestions.

You huff at the reasonable answer he gave you. “Any more questions?” He looks at you intently. “No.” You shake your head. Yaga nods at your response, “Good. You're dismissed.” 

You turn around to walk out of his office before he speaks again, “Three million yen of reward will wait for you if you complete this mission.” 

You stop your track, turning back to him slowly. “Three million yen?" You repeat as if in disbelief. “For taking care of a rich man's daughter?” You ask again.

Yaga nods at you for confirmation. “Just another piece of information.” He said. “For motivation purposes.” He adds tad a bit quietly.

‘Well, I'll be damned.’

You walk side by side with your boyfriend in the school's hallway, heading out to grab some snacks and drinks before heading out to your respective missions.

“What about your mission?” He asked, looking at you. “Anything special, or just some lower-grade curses?”

You huff in annoyance. “My next mission is actually to look after the grand-daughter of one of the higher-ups because her parents are out of town. You know, keeping an eye on her from cursed spirits.” You shrug. “I hope she's not a brat.”

“Oh? So you’re just a glorified babysitter for now.” He chuckles. “Don’t screw up now, okay?” He said playfully, then looked at you and smiled. “Are you at least getting paid extra?” He then adds in a joking tone.

“Hey!” You nudge his side with your elbow. He chuckles again, smiling brightly before looking at you and stroking your cheek.

“If I had a yen for every time you make that face, I'll be able to buy myself a house.” He said with the most teasing tone. “But seriously, is that all you’re doing? Looking after a girl? It can't be hard, right?”

”Yeah, but she's the only daughter from a rich family, her parents paid a lot for this.” You answer.

”So, they're rich? Do you get to be fed delicious food, perhaps?” He suggest with a sly smile.

“You just earned yourself the easiest mission ever, love,” he then said with a small nod. “Well, that depends on the princess you're going to babysit.” He jokes a bit while still leaning close to you with a smirk.

“I could lend a hand for you if you want?” He jokingly asks you with a wink.

“Please, do. I'll split the mission's reward with you, just a bit, though.” You shake your head at the thought of something that might happen in this mere mission or is it just you overthinking. 

“I have a feeling I'm the one who's going to have a hard time.” You let out a harsh sigh before shaking the negative thoughts off your head. “After that, we can get some good food.” 

“I'm just messing around. I'm not taking your reward, love." He chuckled a bit, patting your head. “So long as I’m with you, it’s already a reward.” 

Then, he thought for a moment before nodding. “Hey, maybe we can also cook some good food ourselves.” 

“What do you say?” He asked. “I can show you how to cook some dishes that my mom taught me.” He smiles sweetly at you.

“Really? That sounds wonderful. We can do that, too.” You nod at his suggestion. He pats your head again in response.

“So, are you excited to have a new job as a babysitter?” He asked you while walking, a little smug smile appeared on his face again. “I'm sure you can manage.” He added.

“Or... Do you want me to try babysitting you first to see what it's like taking care of a child?” He asked you jokingly, looking at you.

“I'm not a child.” You pout at him as you both walk closer to the vending machine.

“Hmm? You're not?” He asked with a teasing smile, knowing that you were being affected by his comment. “Are you sure? I'm seeing a certain toddler in front of me right now.” You huff at his words.

He reaches into his pocket and takes out a few coins. “Say, do you want anything, love?” He asked you, then looked at the vending machine in front of you and the snack options.

“Cola, please.” You step closer, standing next to him. “Such a spoiled little girl.” He said jokingly before chuckling. He inserts the necessary amount of coins and waits for the cola to drop down.

“And snacks.” He took out some more coins and put them inside of the machine before getting out some chips for the two of you.

“Here you go, my child.” He said jokingly before handing you a can of cola and some chips. “Don't eat too much.” He ruffles your hair gently.

“Yes, Father. Thank you for the treats.” You play along with the game and kiss him on the cheek as gratitude. 

He takes out his food, looking at you while he talks to you. “So, I guess we both have our own missions now. Who do you think will have it easier first, me or you?” He asked you, trying to initiate a little conversation.

“You.” You roll your eyes in annoyance. “I'll be stuck with a brat here instead. The only child of a rich family is not far from being spoiled after all.” You complain once again.

“You never know.” He said while eating his snack. “This person could be the sweetest thing on the face of the earth, but with the way you're talking, she probably senses your dislike for her, which will make her act out in return.” He said, still joking around with you to ease your mood about the mission.

“Please, don't jinx it.” You groan at the thought. Geto chuckles at your reaction. “Maybe this brat of a princess can be your bestie, you'll never know.” He said playfully.

“And if the brat ends up acting up like you're expecting them to, you can always ask Daddy for help.” He teases you more. “I think I will.” You roll your eyes.

Your phone vibrates in your pocket, you take it out with your free hand to see that you got a text from Yaga, saying that the rich man's daughter you're assigned to has arrived at school, which means your mission starts now. 

“The brat is here. I'll see you later, okay? Be safe on your mission!” You give him a short kiss on the lips. You gathered the snacks on your one arm and hold the cola on your other.

“I'll see you later, love.” He replied with his soft smile, waving goodbye to you. “Don't worry about me, I'll be back before you know it.” He added.

“Just be a good babysitter, okay?” He then smirked playfully, still waving goodbye to you. You wave back as you walk towards Yaga's office again to begin your task.

Once you reached the office, there's Yaga standing with a girl beside him outside of the office's door. They turn to you at the same time, expecting your arrival.

Did Geto really jinx it or did your instinct come true, you don't know, but you're cursing fate and whoever has sent this evil spirit to your presence. 

“Oh, how kind of you.” She grabs your chips and cola from your hands. The one that your boyfriend bought for you, and this brat thought you bought this for her.

‘It's the first day, come on. You can do this.’ You mentally cheer yourself. Pessimistically.

“This is Hanada Yui, the girl you'll be looking after.” Yaga introduced you to the girl as she held the chip close to her chest. “And this is (L/N) (Y/N), the one who is going to look after you for the next five days from now.” He adds, introducing you to her.

She looks young, but not far younger than you. She dresses well with expensive brand clothing, as expected from a child coming from a rich family.

“Nice to meet you, Hanada-chan.” You forced a smile, trying to be friendly with her, grimacing at the word ‘nice’ since you know it's not true at all.

“You, too.” She answers casually, a small smile gracing her face, you're not sure if it's genuine or not, but you brush it off, trying not to care so much.

“Alright. She's yours now.” He said to you before pointing toward the girl. Yaga walks closer to you before leaning a bit closer, “Be nice to the girl, okay?” He then said to you before looking at the girl. “Try to have a conversation with her, too.”

Yaga knows that you're not exactly the friendliest around new people, let alone the ones that don't strike well with you.

“Yes, got it.” You nod at him, assuring him and yourself. “Good, good.” Yaga gives you a small approving smile before excusing himself, letting you both talk with each other.

Yui, on the other hand, looks up at you with a slight pout. “So, you're my babysitter?” She asked you, her arms crossed in front of her and still holding onto the chips and cola. 

“I thought so.” She said, sounding disappointed. “I was hoping for a hot guy who's going to look after me.” She shrugs, her decorated pigtails moving as she tilts her head to the side. 

“How long am I stuck with you, by the way?” She asks. “Five days.” You answer shortly, trying to not let any annoyance come out of your tone.

“Ohh, that's long.” She groans as she eats the chip. After a while of her eating her chip in silence, she suddenly asked you a question. “Why are you even a babysitter in the first place? Shouldn't you have a real job?” She asked you, curious at your response.

‘Because I'm not.’ You grumble to yourself in your mind.

“You can see curses but you can't use a cursed technique, that's why your parents sent you here and assigned me, a Jujutsu sorcerer, to look after your safety. It's my mission.” You explain to her.

“Well, that's boring.” She looks at you in disapproval. 

“Why can't you at least play games with me?” She said to you while continuing to eat her snack. “I'm sure they pay you to let me have fun, I don't see the reason why you want me to just sit here all day. Do you plan on watching me until I sleep?” She asks you while sounding slightly annoyed.

“I'll do whatever you want.” You answer her, keeping your cool together. You just know that this brat is going to be a pain in the ass.

“You'll do whatever I want? No way. You're probably just trying to mess with me. I mean, you already seem like a boring babysitter to me.” She said while giving you the most unimpressed look ever. 

“Hmm...” She looks at you curiously, tilting her head while looking at you with her arms crossed. She then grins at you when she sees that you're actually taking her words seriously. 

“You'll do whatever I tell you to do, right? You're going to be my slave the entire time.” She then says with a smirk, and by the way you two are interacting, it seems like this is what she wanted.

‘Babysitter to slave? What a downgrade.’ You roll your eyes.

“Whatever you said, princess.” You answer with a hint of mocking. It's official, you got beef with this brat.

“Oh... Did I strike a nerve there?” She asked you with a smirk, clearly enjoying this. “I like you.” With her still smirking at you, she finally finishes her snack and hands you the empty packet of chips, looking at you while waiting for your response.

You grab the trash from her, “You're welcome.” You smile sarcastically at her as walks past you. You roll your eyes once more behind her back before following her.

“Hhmm... Alright, what should we do next?” She asked you, clearly looking for some fun. “Oh, how about a shopping spree?” She suggested.

“I think my wardrobe needs a bit of improvement. Don't you think so?” She said, expecting you to obey her orders.

“Yeah, sounds good.” You answer her, clearly not enjoying it. From now, you just have to answer her straight on, not entertain her ego even more even though Yaga just told you to be nice and talk with her.

“Ohhhh, you're actually going along with my idea, huh? I thought you'd be more resistant. Well, this is going to be fun!” She said with a slight snicker.

“Hurry up! We don't have all day!” She yelled at you as she walked ahead. It seems like she's the one in control of the situation right now, which might become a big problem if she keeps on treating you like that.

Yui wanted to go to the mall for shopping, and who are you to deny that? Your job is to look after her anyway, which means you'll be stuck around her to your own dismay. Good thing you're going to get paid well with this mission.

After the assistant manager drives to the mall and drops you both off, she excitedly enters the mall with you following close behind her.

It seems like Yui has a specific place in mind where she wants to go. She quickly makes a beeline towards a boutique store, pulling you along by the sleeves of your uniform.

“Come on, hurry!” She said as she opened the store door for you. “You better get me everything I want, okay? It's your job after all!” She said, looking at you with a smug smile before stepping inside the store.

“I thought the little princess was rich? Did Daddy not give you enough pocket money, sweetheart?” You answer mockingly with an equally smug smile. You're not going to let this brat have whatever she wants.

“Hmph.” She grunted once she heard your comment. Your words got to the little princess. She made a pout on her face, crossing her arms in front of her while letting out an angry groan.

“Of course, he gave me money! I just don't want to use it.” She said, trying to act tough. “Why should I use the allowance my daddy gave me when I could use your money instead?” She said, sounding bratty now.

“Oops, sorry, didn't bring any.” You pull the inside of your pockets out from your uniform, showing nothing with a feign apologetic tone.

It seems like that's not the right answer to say at the moment as Yui's expression immediately changes, her eyes widening as she lets out another groan of annoyance. She was pretty obviously expecting you to be her piggy bank, but that was quickly put to a stop.

She then tugs on the cuffs of your uniform sleeve aggressively, almost pulling your arm, before speaking to you in an angry voice.

“What?! So, you're saying that you're my babysitter but you didn't bring any money?” She asked you, sounding outraged by your reply. “How are you going to buy things for me then?” She then said, sounding demanding. “You better fix your mistake!”

“The garbage outside is free. I could get you that.” You shrug, looking around the boutique, not giving in to her bratty needs.

The comment you made clearly stung her heart, causing her to ball up her fists with anger.

“How dare you suggest to get me garbage, are you mocking me?” She said, her tone becoming a little more aggressive than before. “I'm not some poor kid that you could trick into thinking that getting garbage is even a good idea.” She then said, her voice getting raised a little.

“Now, let's find something to spend your money on.” She then added, pointing at you to get moving.

“Alright, alright.” You lift your hands in defense, letting her pull your uniform sleeve by force once more. “Good, you're understanding.” Then she just walks forward, expecting you to follow her.

She starts looking for something that she'll like while you're left to look after her and make sure she doesn't get into trouble.

She quickly walked over to a dress rack, and without even looking at you, she started to pull out some dresses that she wants to try

“Hm... I think I'll get this red dress.” She said to you, pointing at the red dress on the mannequin. “What do you think?” She then asked you, seemingly wanting to hear a response from you. 

“That's pretty.” You look at the dress she's pointing at. What an expensive-looking dress with an equally expensive price.

This got her smiling a little bit. “You really do think it's pretty?” She asks you while still looking at the dress that she's currently pointing at. “Do you want to go ahead and pay for me?” She adds with a proud smile.

“Oh, what's the limit again? Can I get more than one dress? Hmm... I'm sure you have enough to pay.” She said before looking at you with a cheeky grin.

Oh, how you want to wipe that off her face.

“Yeah, I'm filthy rich after all.“ You cross your arms smugly. “Pick any clothes you want, princess.” You play along with her game.

She seems happy to hear that. “Great! Then, I want this green dress as well.” She said while pointing at the green dress near the red dress. “And also those shoes, they'll go great with my dresses.” She added, pointing at a pair of white shoes.

“We might as well get some accessories too. Let's see...” She strokes her chin, looking at the accessories. “I'll get this headband and... How about... This one, this one, and... This one?” She picked more dresses out of the rack. “Is that a yes on my request, Miss Babysitter?” She then asked you still with a smug smile on her face.

“Yes, princess.” You roll your eyes. She keeps going here and there. You followed her with boredom, choosing to stay on your phone. After she was done, we went to the counter to pay. 

“How about you wait outside while I pay for this?” You offered. She tilts her head in confusion but does exactly what you ask her to do.

You wait at the counter, holding the things that she's chosen to buy while the saleslady is scanning the barcodes to price them individually.

“What a funny girl.” You shake your head, eyeing her from inside the boutique to make sure she doesn't go anywhere, and there are no cursed spirits around her. 

“The total would be three hundred forty-six thousand yen.” The saleslady put the clothes and accessories in the bag. You give her the credit card, watching her intently.

“With the name Hanada Yui?” She asks to make sure. “That's right.” You nod, trying to hide your sly smile. “Just type in the code here.” She turns around the card swipe machine for you to enter the pin.

The thing about being a sorcerer, you got to learn how to be sneaky and smart, never let them know what your next move is. That is exactly what you did.

While Yui was busy, you sneak inside her purse, grabbing the card from one of the pockets. You're kind of surprised she doesn't notice, well, that's what people do when they're too focused on one thing. You spend your time on your phone to search for the numbers of her credit card and get the code.

‘Filty rich, I wished.’ You chuckle at your words earlier.

Poor girl really thinks you're buying all her stuff, which she chooses many on purpose, even though you feel bad for deceiving her.

“Thank you for shopping.” The saleslady gives you back the card along with the bags with a respectful bow which you return.

She waited outside while you paid for all of the dresses that she picked out. When you got out of the store, she looked at you, expecting you to hand the dresses to her.

“It took you forever.” She said, not seeming too pleased by your actions. “Are you trying to make me unhappy? Because it's working.” She added, still not getting the dresses you bought for her as she looked at you with an annoyed expression.

“Here you go, princess.” You hand her the bags full of clothes and accessories she bought. “Wanna go back now?” 

She took the bags you gave to her while looking at you with a surprised smile. “Thank you, Miss Babysitter.” She said, sounding much more pleasant and bratty in a way.

“Of course, I want to go back. What? Do you think I'll willingly spend the entire day out here?” She sound annoyed by your question.

“Oh, right, I don't have to worry about that.” She then said, smirking once more. “Since you're my babysitter, you'll be with me for the entire day, whether you like it or not.”

You let out an annoyed sigh, dialing the same assistant manager to pick you up from the mall. As you wait, you got a few text from Geto.

I just finished the mission in Yokohama. Heading to Hachioji right now.

How was the babysitting duty, love?

You smile at his texts before typing,

Okay, stay safe ( ੭ ˘ ³˘)੭‎♥

It's horrid.

After a while, he read the your response and replied back,

I'll be back after a day. Be a good girl, okay? ♥

Tell me about it.

Yui seems to be curious on why you're smiling while on your phone, “Who are you texting?” You look up from your phone with a shrug, “No one.”

I'm always a good girl!!!ヽ(`д´；)/

I will later.

You put your phone back into your pocket as the car arrived. You wonder what tomorrow would be like with this brat around.

The second day doesn't get any better. This spoiled brat Yui keeps demanding things, and the more she does it, the more irritated you become.

“Can I have that?”

“Can we go here?”

“Can you buy me this?”

She keeps on asking you in a pushy tone, but you can't refuse her demands if you want to accomplish your mission. 

She still doesn't show any signs of calming down as she keeps on giving you multiple different requests for you to do. She seems to be trying hard to make your mission harder than it actually is.

She's not just asking for normal stuff either, like eating snacks or drinking cold drinks in the afternoon. No, she asks for the latest fashion accessories, the newest phone model, or the trendiest hairstyle.

In other words, she's the most bratty princess you probably have seen, which makes your mission harder than you'd think.

“I thought I'm your babysitter? Not your sugar mommy?” You look at her ridiculously, refusing the things she wants. Expensive stuff? Hell, no.

“Awww, Miss Babysitter doesn't wanna be my sugar mommy?” She asks you, putting on an exaggerated fake-cute voice. “Are you too poor to buy these things for me?” She asks you mockingly.

“Oh, I suppose I am, that's not good.” You feign the act of being sad, putting a hand to your forehead for the dramatic act, before relaxing back against the couch, crossing your legs.

“I'm starting to doubt you're actually rich when you keep refusing to use your own money.” You say, trying to get a rise out of this brat. “Is your credit card actually zero?” You feign surprise.

She tilted her head in confusion for a few seconds before her face suddenly grew tense with anger. “You dare say that I'm lying about being rich, huh?” She asks accusingly.

“I'll show you, Miss Babysitter.” She reached for her handbag before taking out a big bundle of money. “Look.” She shows you the money. “Is this zero to you?” She asked with a smirk on her face, wanting to hear your answer.

“Oho...” You chuckle at the sight, amused by her reaction. “I've seen more.” You say nonchalantly as if you're not impressed.

‘Yeah, Gojo's money when he lost a bet.’ You snicker to yourself.

“More? Who do you think you are?” She asked, offended by your remark. “Are you trying to say that you're richer than me?” She said like a spoiled princess. “You want to play the ‘I'm superior to you’ game now, huh?”

You let out a yawn, choosing to play on your phone instead as you relax on the couch, letting her talk whatever she wants. She doesn't seem to like your behavior right now, especially since she's trying her best to make you entertain her.

“Hey! Aren't you supposed to be looking after me?” She snapped at you, wanting your attention. “It's your job, isn't it? I thought you'd been hired to look after my safety, not to sit on the couch and be lazy!” She added with a scolding tone.

“Do you want to get fired? You won't get paid if you don't look after me.” She said, trying to intimidate you.

“Jujutsu sorcerers don't get fired, smartass.” You answer nonchalantly as you keep playing with your phone. “What do you want me to do anyway?”

This seems to make her even more angry again. “Is that how you react when someone hires you? By ignoring their orders?” She asked you, sounding annoyed.

“As I said before, you were hired to look after my safety. Now, do your job, or I'll complain to the teacher!” She then said, sounding a little bit more stern with her words as she looked at you, waiting for your response. “Do I really need to give you instructions, Miss Babysitter?”

The princess is angry again. Text you later (⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠³⁠˘⁠)⁠♥

He replied soon after you sent him the text,

wwwwwww alright. Later, love ♥

“Okay, then, princess. What would you like to do?” You put your phone down, leaning against the couch with your attention on her.

Her frown is replaced by a smug smile when you finally give in. “Can't you be imaginative by yourself? Do you need me to tell you what to do?” She asks you sarcastically while crossing her arms in front of her with a smug smile.

“But, I could give you some ideas on what to do.” She added before uncrossing her arms. “There's a cute cafe nearby. We could go there and have a chat. What do you say?” She sounds somewhat sweet as she says this.

“Alright, we can go there.” You get up from the couch. She seems delighted to hear your approval. “That's the spirit. Let's go there now.” She said excitedly, and with that, you both walked out of the dorm to get a ride from another available assistant manager and go to the said cafe that she mentioned earlier.

Once you manage to reach the cafe, she takes a seat and beckons you to sit down with her. “Come, sit down with me. I want to get to know you better.” She says to you, sounding pleasant. You sit in front of her right across the table.

“Now, let's begin by getting to know you first, Miss Babysitter.” She leaning towards you a little bit. “What do you like to do in your spare time? And are you in a relationship currently?” She asks you while looking at you with a small smile.

“Well, I like watching movies in my spare time. Maybe rest when I have no missions or school work.” You shrug.

When you didn't answer her last question, Yui made a curious sound. “Oh, then you're single?” She asked with a smirk on her face.

“You want to know?” You ask back teasingly. “You still didn't answer the last question, aren't you in a relationship? Don't be scared.” She sounds a little bit frustrated.

‘Damn, she's pushy as always.’

“I am.” You smile smugly. “He's a Special Grade sorcerer, he's on a mission right now.” You answer with a sense of pride.

“I see.” She leans back into her chair and crosses her arms. “So... You're saying that you're in a romantic relationship with some Special Grade sorcerer right now, huh?” She asked you, trying to make you tell her about the sorcerer she's talking about.

“How about you? Do you have any hobbies?” You avoid the topic. She seemed to be in a bit of a mood after hearing your reply, trying to change the subject.

“I asked you a question, I want you to answer that first. Tell me about this Special Grade sorcerer.” She asked you. “And no, I don't answer your questions while you're not answering mine.” She added, sounding a little bit more annoyed than before.

“Why would you want to know your babysitter's love life, hm? You wanna know if he's a hot shot or something?” You answer teasingly. Yui let out a groan while rolling her eyes.

“I should've known you won't give me a straightforward answer.” She said, annoyed. Her frown slowly changed into another smirk after you answered her question like that.

“Actually, I'm curious to know what kind of man your boyfriend is. Is he cute? Is he handsome? Does he have a great personality?” She asked you, sounding a little bit sarcastic while holding back her giggles.

“He's all of that.” You lean back on your seat, crossing your arms as well. Rubbing to her face about your boyfriend.

She raises both of her eyebrows in surprise, seeming to be a little bit frustrated now after hearing your answer.

“Wait... You serious? You actually have a hot boyfriend? He's both cute, handsome, and has a great personality?” She looks like she couldn't believe what you just told her. “No wonder you won't tell me about him.” She said with a pout on her face, crossing her arms and looking at the table.

“What? You jealous?” You snicker at her reaction, knowing exactly where this is going.

“Jealous? Me? Jealous over your boyfriend? Ha!” She answers sarcastically, shaking her head while looking at you. “I'll have you know that I can steal your boyfriend when I want to.” She added arrogantly while looking at you with a smug smile.

“So, you might want to watch what you're saying, otherwise, you might find yourself without a boyfriend by the end of the day.” She said sarcastically but a little bit intimidating at the same time.

“My boyfriend doesn't like bratty girls. Sorry, you don't have a chance.” You answer back with a feigned sympathy tone.

Her face turned into a displeased one upon hearing what you said. “What did you just call me?” She asked you, her voice sounded a little bit shaky as she gripped the arms of her chair very tightly.

“I'll have you know that I'm not a bratty girl at all.” She's defensive and a little bit prideful while giving you a cold stare. “You shouldn't assume that your boyfriend doesn't like bratty girls just because you don't like them.” 

You shake your head in amusement. “Whatever you said, princess.”

We spend more or less two hours at the cafe. Yui also leads you towards the arcade since she wants to play there, this time, you really paid for it.

You can't lie, you did enjoy playing the arcade with her despite her attitude problems. After it gets darker, she requested another meal at a restaurant before heading back to the school dorm.

It's 10:34 PM once you head back to your room after assisting Yui to her room. You plop down on the bed, drained after the day. 

Not long after, you heard knocking on your door. You get up with a groan, walking towards the door, ready to be greeted with the sight of Yui with her night cravings.

But to your surprise, you see your boyfriend, already home from his mission. “I'm back.” He opens his arms wide with a smile on his face. “Suguru!” You quickly jump into his embrace.

“Aww, you missed me, too, love?” He asked, holding you close into his warm body. He gives you a long kiss on your forehead before leading you back inside your bedroom before closing the door.

“I've missed you so much.” He rubs your cheek slowly while he stares at you lovingly with his soft eyes.

He chuckled slightly as you jumped into his arms, wrapping his arms around your body to hold you.

He laid you down on the bed as he lay beside you. “How was your day?” He asked you sweetly, caressing your hair.

“Tiring.” You groan, remember how you're babysitting a bratty girl who's almost the same age as yours. “The brat did give me a hard time, but she was okay today.” You've been talking about this through text, and he wants to hear it directly from you.

He chuckles lightly at your reply. “Oh, that girl again?” He asks you in a playful tone. “I see she got you all worked up, huh?” He looks at you amused.

“So, what did she do this time? Or should I say, what didn't she do this time?” He asked, curious and teasing at the same time.

“She asked if I have a boyfriend or something. She doesn't seem pleased when I answer her.” You shake your head with a dry chuckle. “Are you interested in bratty girls?” You caress his cheek with your thumb, remembering Yui's words from earlier.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise upon hearing your story, “What did she say when she found out that you're in a relationship?” He asked you while stroking your hair lovingly.

“And no, I'm not interested in bratty girls. Well, when you are being bratty, then yes. You're the only one for me.” He added in a flirty tone before leaning in to kiss your lips. “Good.” You said after returning the kiss. “Because she said she can steal you from me.” You huff.

“Steal me from you? She said that, huh?” He asked you with a chuckle, still stroking your hair. “She really thinks that she has a chance to be with me?” He asked you in a bewildered voice.

“Right? Glad you think so, too.” This time you lean to kiss him first. “Don't worry, my love. I'll always be by your side, only you.” He said assuringly. 

“She can keep trying but she won't succeed.” He gave you a kiss on the forehead before adding, “She probably just said that just because she wants to make you jealous, darling.”

“Yeah, I know that.” You frown, your hand slowly sneaking under his t-shirt for comfort, feeling his toned abs and cold skin. Seems like he just took a shower before coming here.

He lets out a hum as he feels your hand touching him underneath. “Ah, you're a one handsy girl. What's getting you in the mood, darling?” He seems to be enjoying the moment as he leans closer before kissing you.

He takes off his t-shirt and tosses it to the side, holding your hands onto his chest to feel his body more. “Mmm... Forget about the bratty girl. Let's enjoy each other.” He whispers to you, the mood starting to get intimate. “Let's focus on us.”

He lets out a small groan of pleasure as you pull him into an even deeper and more passionate kiss, one that could lead to something more. He closes his eyes in bliss as he deepens the kiss, his hands gently caressing your waist.

He makes no attempt to stop you, allowing the kiss to go on for as long as you want it to. He immediately holds your body in place, wanting you to be on top of him instead.

He looks at you as he continues to kiss you, his hands traveling down your back before he holds both of your hips. He starts to unbutton your sleeping shirt, his eyes still looking at you.

“Let me give you a good time, darling.” He says in a seductive voice. His eyes traveled slowly from your shoulders to your hips, his tongue teasingly sticking out for a moment before he finally took off your shirt and threw it beside him.

“My princess deserves to be treated like a queen tonight.”

In the morning, you wake up at the continuous knocking on the door. You snuggle onto Geto's bare chest, ignoring the sound.

You're still tired after last night, and you can't even think straight right now. But the knocking is getting louder and it's starting to annoy you.

Geto wakes up as well after hearing the knocking sound. He looks at you while lying down on the bed, annoyed.

He groans, bothered by the knocking sound, so eventually, he gets up from the bed and puts his pants on. “Hmm... Who's knocking so loudly like this...” He adds, still sleepy.

He heads to the door and opens it slightly, only to see Yui, standing outside. She seems surprised to see a man, a very handsome man opening the door of your room, shirtless even.

Geto is only wearing his pants, showing off his gloriously upper body from his v-line, abs, and chest. Not to mention there's a bulge from his pants since he doesn't wear anything underneath. His long hair is disheveled across his shoulder.

She just stares at Geto silently for a moment, then starts to blush as she turns her gaze away from him, feeling a little bit embarrassed at her actions. After a moment, she speaks up.

“W-what are you doing at (Y/N)-chan's room?” She asked, still looking away as her face looks a little bit red now.

“What are you doing? Knocking on someone's door this early.” Geto answered back, leaning against the wall. His face is not pleased after being disturbed in his sleep, especially after the mission and intimate moment with his girlfriend last night.

She looks up at Geto now, her body in a more confident position. She raises an eyebrow at his reply. “Why? I'm checking in on my babysitting assignment, she's supposed to take care of me by now. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?” She replies angrily.

“Plus, I've been hearing some noise coming from this room. Is it normal for you to let your assignment make all the noise at such an hour?” She adds with more annoyance in her voice. “I could've been sleeping instead of hearing all that noise.” A scowl appears on her face.

“Ah, right, sorry for that. We were busy last night.” He gives her a small apologetic smile, even still in his half-sleep state. She seems to be flustered upon seeing Geto's smile.

"A... ah... I see. You were busy last night doing... things." She looks away once again as she blushes slightly. “Well, at least, you're sorry. As for the noise, make sure it won't happen again.” She says while looking back at him.

“I expect you to be a proper babysitter. That means, no noise past your bedtime. Is that clear?” She asked while sounding a little bit like an annoyed teacher.

Geto shakes his head with a chuckle, starting to know why you're always rambling about this girl over the text. She has quite an attitude, and he knows you don't like being on the receiving end.

“Got it, princess~” He replied with the same tone you used on the nickname. Yui can't help but feel even more flustered at the nickname this handsome man just called her.

“What were you two doing last night? What do you mean ‘busy’?” She crossed her arms, always wanting to know everyone's business.

“Having sex?” Geto answered casually, saying the most obvious thing. “Why?” 

“What?!” She exclaimed as she looked at him in shock, her eyes widened at his sudden answer. 

“That's... A bit inappropriate for you to say in front of someone.” She then said, sounding a little bit embarrassed for him. “I'm sure your girlfriend wouldn't like it either.” She added.

“I know my girlfriend, she doesn't mind.” He chuckles at Yui's reaction. “By the way, what do you need this early?” He asked, back to the topic. 

The answer seems to fly out of her mind once she sees Geto like she's charmed so badly that she got a few seconds of amnesia.

“N-nothing... Just tell (Y/N)-chan that she's late for babysitting. She need to accompany me, right now.” She crossed her arms in annoyance, yet her eyes are somewhere else, trailing over Geto's body, and he doesn't seem to be bothered even though he noticed.

“She's still sleeping. Do you mind a bit later?” He offered. “Are you still busy?” She raised a brow before mumbling under her breath, “Fine, then.” She said before walking away.

He could only raise a brow for what just happened before letting out a sigh and closing the door. He takes off his pants before climbing up the bed with you, cradling your body against his.

“What does the brat want?” You ask him sleepily. “She wants you to accompany her.” He answered you, still sleepy as well.

"I told her that you're still asleep, but she doesn't seem to believe me. She probably thinks that you're busy with...” He then said as he pointed at himself, wanting to imply that you're busy doing intimate things with him.

“But I told her that I'll convince you to accompany her, so please wake up.” He said to you in a stern voice, but he's definitely smiling.

“Ah, yes, my babysitting duties to take care of the brat.” You groan before slowly waking up. He smiles at you, laying his head on the pillow, “Yeah, she's really persistent in having you accompany her.” He said while rolling his eyes playfully.

“Yeah. Two more days and I'll be free from this miserable duty.”

You noticed how you feel less annoyed with Yui around. She doesn't seem to need your company like she always whined about. And you suddenly come to the realization that this brat is paying attention less to you, and is locked onto her new target.

Your boyfriend.

You frown as you sit on the dorm's living room couch, crossing your arms and looking at their interaction as you slump against the couch.

‘This little brat...’ 

Geto seems to be aware of Yui's presence as he looks at her while she's clinging to him, and the way she occasionally leans towards him is making him uncomfortable. “Why are you clinging to me like that?” He asked Yui with a curious look on his face.

He doesn't want to say anything mean to Yui, but he also doesn't like the way she's clinging to him. 

“Do you want me to buy you something?” He added, confused but a little bit annoyed at the same time. “You shouldn't be so clingy with strangers, you know?”

“Let's get to know each other more, then!” Yui exclaimed happily, her personality changed when she was with him compared to when she was with you. 

Geto seems quite troubled by this suggestion. “Why should we get to know each other more? I mean... you're already being clingy with me right now and I barely even know your last name.”

"You should be thankful I'm even tolerating you right now." He said in a stern tone. Not even a few seconds after, he sighs for a moment before deciding to give in to her demands.

“Alright, let's get to know each other more.” He said in a soft tone, sounding somewhat reluctant, but he didn't want to come off as rude.

You could see him roll his eyes while talking to Yui. “What do you want to know about me? I'll answer your questions sincerely. As long as it's not too personal.”

Yui seems to still be thinking about what to ask, but she eventually comes up with a question to ask. “Okay... Um... What's your type? Oh, and don't be embarrassed about your answer.” She asks him in a soft tone, a tone she never uses with you.

Geto raised his eyebrows in surprise upon hearing her question. You roll your eyes in annoyance at the sight. What kind of shameless ass would ask a man his type when his girlfriend is right here? The brat.

He thinks about his answer for a moment. “Well, I think I have a thing for nice and beautiful girls.” He said, looking at you when he said the word ‘beautiful’. “Which means, my girl right here is my type.” He added with a loving smile as he looked at you.

He noticed your annoyed expression, turning to Yui again. “Why did you ask me about my taste in women? Do you want to know if you're my type or not?” 

“Yeah!” Yui answer. “Do you think I could be your type?” She asks in a flirty tone. You roll your eyes in annoyance once more at the sight.

Geto looked at Yui and you while rubbing his chin, trying to come up with the right answer. Instead, he gets an idea. He just wants to mess around with you, wondering how you'd react if he responded to Yui's flirting.

“Hmm... I'd say, yes, you're definitely my type.” He said with a flirtatious tone while looking at Yui, clearly trying to get you jealous.

“Who wouldn't love a cute girl like you, right?” He then said while stroking Yui's hair, looking at you while doing it. He wanted to see your reaction to their small flirting.

He kept entertaining her for a while, right in front of you. Responding Yui's flirt with his own with the gesture he only uses with you.

‘What the actual fuck?’ You scoff in disbelief. The audacity of him to mess around like that.

You're already been annoyed for the past two days stuck with this brat, and another annoyance just added to the list of your headaches.

Can't stand the sight any longer, you get up in a harsh manner before walking away, every step of your feet is hard against the wooden floor with how irritated you are.

He smiles a little bit while looking at you, noticing that you walked away after feeling annoyed.

“I see that my darling is jealous.” He said with a smile on his face before looking back at Yui. “I guess I'm going to spend the entire day with Yui, then.” He said in a playful tone while looking at her, wanting you to get even more jealous.

You frown at his words, clearly not entertained as you keep walking, not minding his comments.

He seemed to notice that you were hurt by his words as his smile turned into a soft one and got off the couch to catch up to you.

“Hey, sweetheart. Don't feel sad.” He said while reaching out to you, pulling you into a gentle hug from the back.

“You know how serious I am when it comes to our relationship, right? And I'm just joking when I was talking to Yui, you should know that by now.” He said, sounding a little bit defensive. “I was just trying to make you jealous.” He then added while caressing your hair gently.

“Yeah, I know. Why shouldn't I?” You pull yourself away from his grasp, starting to get mad at him. “Darling...” He called out to you, sounding a little bit disappointed when you pulled yourself away.

“If you know I was just trying to tease you a little bit, then why did you get mad, huh?” He asked you while caressing your arms. “I'm just trying to have some fun with you, my sweetheart.”

“I'm not in the mood, Suguru. Thank you for that.” You glare at him before walking away.

He widened his eyes in surprise when you called him by his name instead of his usual nickname, knowing that you're seriously mad right now.

“Love... Can't we just talk things out?” You can feel him following you while trying to talk to you, he still calls you by your nickname even though you called him by his name earlier.

Before he could catch up to you, Yui grabs his arms. “Just leave her, okay? You still have me.”

He looked annoyed as Yui grabbed his arm, causing him to stop in his tracks for a moment, giving her a stern look on his face.

“Stop trying to get me away from my beloved, Yui.” He looks at her, pulling his arm out of her grasp.

“Hey, hey!” Yui holds his arm yet again to hold him back from going after you, this time with more force, like how she did with you on the first day at the boutique. “We were talking before, right? Shouldn't we continue?” She smiled at him cheekily.

He lets out an irritated groan. “You really have a lot of boldness for a brat, you know that?” Yet she doesn't seem amused by his words.

He wants to talk to you and resolve this problem between you two, but it seems the brat is not letting him go that easily. He decided to give you space for a while.

“Fine, okay. We will continue, but after that, I'm going to try to talk to my girlfriend again, alright?” He said to Yui with a serious look on his face. “Yeay!” She gladly pulls him back to talk his ears off.

A few hours have passed and they're still at it. That brat keeps clinging to him wherever goes, like a parasite. You watched from afar this time, the girl has someone who's looking after her right now, why bother staying close to that nuisance?

The longer you watch her and Geto together, the more you feel frustrated and annoyed.

Geto was smiling, and Yui, at some point, laid her head against his shoulder while giggling at something he said.

“What a joke.” You mumble under your breath, feeling irritated. It almost felt like they don't even have a care in the world like they're not even thinking about being in a relationship with you or that you're right here.

Once the day comes to an end, you enter your room with a frown on your face, not planning to talk with Geto since you're still pissed at him for what he did earlier. You lay on the bed and tried to calm down, wanting to cool off a little bit in the room first.

After he escorts Yui back to her room, he lets out a sigh, “No wonder she's in a bad mood.” He shakes his head, understanding your behavior, because, damn, being close to that girl really drains your energy. Maybe she does have a cursed technique after all.

He walks towards your room, hoping to finally talk to you after making you wait for so long. He decided to not go in immediately but instead wanted to wait for a few minutes in case you're not ready to talk yet.

“Love...” He says to you from the door, not even going in yet. “Are you ready to talk?” He asked softly, guilty and worried about what he did earlier.

“Go away! Go with that brat you're having fun with earlier!” You yelled from your room, not even moving an inch from your bed.

He flinches a little from your sudden yell, slightly surprised by your tone as he tries to speak up once more. “But, love, you know I was just joking around, right? I just want to mess around with you.” He said in a soft tone while scratching his head.

“Is it really that bad?” He asked you, sad from your reply. “Please talk to me, love.” He added softly.

You keep on quiet, too tired to deal with this, but he's persistent. “Darling?” He calls out to you again, still standing right outside the door of your room.

“Please, could you just listen to what I want to say? At least give me a chance to explain.” He sounded desperate, wanting to fix whatever problem you two were having right now. “I just want to talk and spend quality time with you, is that too much to ask?”

His face filled with disappointment as he hears your silence outside the door, unsure if he should just enter and try to talk with you or not.

He sighs, trying to figure out what to do before he decides to try and enter your room in a moment. He hesitates and then, he finally does it. He slowly opened the door and entered the room without saying anything.

“What do you want?” You heard the door open and close. “I want to talk to you.” He said, somewhat defensive from your tone toward him.

He looks at you for a moment before sitting near your bed, deciding to stay in your room for the moment to talk things out. “Darling, you need to understand that I'm just trying to have fun with you. I wasn't being serious when I was flirting with Yui earlier.” He said, sincerely.

“I know.” You mumble. “I'm just not in the mood, okay? That brat gave me a hard time, I don't need my boyfriend adding the fuel.” You grumble, not even looking at him. He seems more relieved to hear that you understand his intention, but he didn't know how to react to what you just said.

He sighs before laying down on the bed and turning his body toward you, still looking at you. “I'm sorry that I have made you feel this way, darling. You're right, I wasn't thinking about your feelings at that moment.” 

“Fine. Now just go to sleep or whatever.” You mumble, your back is still on him. “I can't, love.” He immediately answered.

“Do you know how worried I am right now? I don't want to lose you over something like this.” He added. “You're not. I'm not that dramatic.” You answered shortly before silence fill the room again.

“Are we really going to sleep like this? I don't want to leave things like this between us.” He said while stroking your head from the back.

“Talk to me, love.” He's desperate from your continued silence. “You're so difficult to handle sometimes.” He said in a playful tone, hoping to lighten up the mood between the two of you.

You pout against the pillow at his words. He chuckled softly at your response before he slowly lifted his body to move your front so he could see you.

“Do you always have to be like this when you get moody?” He said in a teasing tone before he started to poke at you playfully. He can't help it, he always feels like poking you whenever you pout and act like a child.

He suddenly stops poking you and sits down, sighing loudly before he speaks up again. “I'm sorry, love.” He said again. “I didn't know this would turn out to be a serious issue. I thought you would laugh or play along with me like you always do whenever I tease you.”

“Can you forgive me?” He asked in a pleading tone. You only nod against the pillow, “Okay.”

“Is that really all I get?” He whispered with a soft chuckle while trying to joke with you. “I know you're still a little bit upset with me from what I did earlier.” He went silent for a moment. “Could you smile for me, please?” He asked softly as he looked at you with a smile of his own.

“Not in the mood.” You mumble the same words again. “Just hug me.” He gives you a small nod and moves even closer to you before opening his arm and pulling you in for a warm hug.

“You're not allowed to move away from me, okay?” He said playfully before kissing you on the forehead, stroking your hair gently while still hugging you.

“You don't need to talk or smile if you're feeling moody.” He kisses you again on the forehead. “I just want to feel your presence here right now.” He said before giving you a squeeze in his embrace.

“She's going to cling all over you again tomorrow, don't get attached to her, okay?” You mumble with a hint of worry.

“Attached to her?” He asks you curiously while stroking your hair. “Is that what you're worried about?” He chuckled softly.

“Darling, why would I be attached to her? You're the one I love, and I love you for a really long time now. I'm only treating her like another girl, nothing else.” He added without sounding offended by your possible accusation.

“Now, don't get jealous of her, please.” He then said while smiling sweetly at you, wanting to reassure you that he loves you and only you.

“Yeah, okay, whatever.” You nuzzle your nose to his chest before looking up. “Kiss me. I miss you today.” 

“You're such a child, aren't you?” He chuckled at your demand as he got closer to you, leaning in and planting a soft kiss on your lips before he deepened the kiss.

He presses you closer to his body as his other arm wraps around your waist, holding you in place while he was still kissing you, causing him to moan softly.

His hands are now grabbing your body, wanting to feel you more. He's holding you tightly while his lips and tongue are still playing with yours. He breaks off the kiss briefly and lets out a deep breath before he continues kissing you again.

Just like you predicted, Yui is all over your boyfriend again. This time, you're not as annoyed as yesterday after getting his assurance last night.

“Suguru-kun~ Let's walk around?” She clings to his arm as she speaks with her exaggerated sweet tone.

“Uh... Sure, I guess.” He said, sounding a bit unsure of his answer. He starts to figure that Yui can be very persistent, but it's not worth it to push her away so he gives in.

You followed closely from behind. Seems like you're no longer looking after her from cursed spirits, it's more like looking after her so she won't do anything beyond the line with your boyfriend.

“Miss Babysitter! I'm thirsty, buy me something to drink.” She turns around to talk to you, again with the demanding tone.

You roll your eyes with a sigh, ”Yes, princess.” before you walk away to find the nearest vending machine.

He looked at you when Yui asked you for a drink, not liking the way she talks to you, it makes him irritated by how demanding she was. “You can't buy it yourself?” He asked her with a raised brow.

“It's her job as my babysitter, isn't it? She's paid to do that.” Yui shrugs, not seeing the problem with this. 

“You know... You can ask her in a nicer way, Yui-chan. I'm sure she will get you a drink without your demanding tone.” He advises Yui in a soft tone, like how he would scold Gojo for the way he talks.

“But, I'm being nice, though? I didn't ask a lot, didn't I?” She answered as if it was a normal thing to her. He was a little bit stumped by her remark, not expecting her answer to be like that.

“You could've said ‘please’, Yui-chan.” He chuckled softly without sounding annoyed. “But, seriously though... You should be nicer.” He switches his tone to a stern tone. “Don't ask it like that, it's rude.”

“So boring!” She whines. “Ah, by the way, I've been wanting to say this since last night, but I like you.” She lets go of his arm and steps in front of him.

He stares at her, both surprised and shocked at her sudden confession right in front of him. “What? You like me?” He asks back, somewhat confused.

“You... What do you mean?” He said in a rush voice, trying to process his thoughts right now since he doesn't know how he should respond.

“Do you mean you like me as a person or...?” He then said, still sounding confused and unsure about what was going on with Yui right now.

His eyes then widened as he finally realized what she meant with her confession, not believing what he just heard.

“What?” He sounds surprised and more scared this time, also wondering if she just made a move toward him.

“You can't be serious, right? You do know that I already have a girlfriend, and I love her.” He brushes it off after a while with a small chuckle, thinking that her love confession was just a joke of some sort.

Yui's face quickly turns into an annoyed one when he doesn't seem to take her confession seriously. “I'm serious!” She frowns at him. “I'll prove it to you.” She reached his shoulder before leaning up to kiss his lips.

He flinches back when Yui leaned in quickly to kiss his lips, taken by surprise by the sudden action that the brat just did. He stepped back, looking at her with a mixture of surprise and disappointment.

“Yui, what are you doing?!” He said in a hurried and panicked tone, asking her what she was trying to accomplish by kissing him right now when he already has you as his girlfriend. “What was that for?” His tone turns cold by the second, still trying to process what Yui has done just now.

At the same time, you just come back and are greeted by the sight. You slam one of the three soda cans that you just bought in anger, which it's supposed to be for her.

“What is this?” You glare at them. Geto immediately turns at you, wanting to explain himself and what the brat, Yui, just tried to do earlier.

He notices your angry look, but he can't really say anything against you. You have the right to be mad after what Yui was trying to do.

“Darling, I can explain everything. She's just... trying to get a reaction out of me...” He explained, sounding worried and desperate. “It's nothing like what you think it is, love!” He continued, the panic in his voice as clear as day.

He pulls himself out from Yui's hold and quickly walks towards you, holding both of your hands in tight grip. “Darling, please, trust me. I would never do anything that would hurt you like that. I love you, I only love you!" He looks at you seriously, still with a hint of panic and concern in his tone.

“So?” You turn to Yui, still standing there as if she did nothing wrong. “What does my pussy taste like?” You ask Yui straightforwardly, tilting your head to the side and crossing your arms as you glare at her.

Both of them instantly freeze at your vulgar and embarrassing question to Yui, as she lets out a surprised yelp at your word. She didn't expect this to happen, and she didn't expect a harsh word like that from you.

“If you want to taste his dick so bad you should have kissed me instead.” You look at her in disgust. Yui's eyes widened as she heard what you said and that you were serious about it.

Geto then looks at you, feeling surprised by the way you confronted her right now. “Darl—” He started, wanting to say something, but then he stopped, letting you do the talk and let out your frustration at her. 

“Don't you dare talk about such things, (Y/N)-chan! I only want to be close to him because I like him, not because I want... something else." She said nervously, clearly not telling the truth, before she started to tremble when a mixture of fear and embarrassment washed over her.

“Yui-chan, what makes you think you can try to kiss me without any hesitation? You need to learn that everyone has boundaries, including yourself.” He looks at her disappointedly as he scolds her once again.

Yui's face turns red from how angry and humiliated she is after being confronted like this. And for the first time in four days, she doesn't know how to talk back like she usually does.

“I'm sick of her ass. I really am.” You take out your phone, quickly texting your upperclassmen. “I'm switching with Mei-san. She knows how to handle a brat like this one.”

“Go back to your room! I'm not assisting you again this time.” You raise your voice at her after days of keeping your annoyance back. She looks at you wide-eyed, ready to complain but when she sees how Geto looks at her, she shakes her head and runs away to the dorm.

He nods, glad that you made a good choice. “Yeah, that's actually not a bad idea. Mei-san is a good choice... I think she'll be able to handle Yui.”

He then looked at where Yui is going, wanting to confront and advise her more about her behavior, but he doesn't want to continue talking to her for too long, as he knows it will only lead to another argument and possible trouble.

He turns to you, sensing your silence while you're busy on the phone. “I'm sorry about Yui, love... I know you're still mad at me, but, please, hear me out.” He looks at you, wanting to talk to you right now as he wants to clear out this misunderstanding between the two of you.

Eventually, he walks to your side and stands close behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist. He then leans on your shoulder before kissing it gently. “Are you angry... with me, too?” He said in a quiet tone as he gently caressed your hair with his free hand.

“My baby...” He sighs softly when you don't answer and takes your hand gently on his own. “Can you look at me, please?” He pleads, wanting to see your face, hoping to get a chance to see your beautiful smile again.

“I'm upset.” You put your phone down. He lets out a small chuckle as he looks at you. “I know, you just gave me ‘the look’ of your sulkiness just now.”

“Still, can you look at me for a little bit? Even if you're mad at me at the moment, I still want to see your beautiful smile... I miss it.” He said softly, stepping in front of you again as he held your cheek.

“Mei-san wants the reward of my mission in return.” You pout, showing him your text with Mei-Mei, another reason you're upset.

3,000,000 yen for 5 days? Interesting. I'll take the last-day offer, then.

I'm expecting the 600.000 yen in return~

“Huh.” He reads her text. “Well, that's Mei-san for you. She loves money more than anything else.” He said in a light tone.

You look at him again. “You know, I really want to wipe your lips after that kiss with Yui.” His eyes widened at your comment. He then lets out a small chuckle, feeling slightly embarrassed by your comment.

“But, she forced herself onto me.” He said, guilty but still wanting to make things clear. “I'm sorry... If you want me to wipe my lips, then you can do so anytime.” He said, not refusing your offer.

You smile at him, cupping his face to give him a long, deep kiss. He let out a soft sigh, enjoying the feeling of your kiss, even for a moment. “This lips... Is mine to taste...” You say between kisses.

“Mmm...” He lets out a soft sound in response to your action, leaning toward you even more. He returns your kiss, making sure that it's deep and full of affection for you. His eyes were closed as if he just wants to savor your kiss as much as possible. He pulls you closer, wrapping his arms around your body while caressing your back. 

“Mm, I needed that..." He said softly after you two broke off from the kiss, looking at you with a smile on his face. He kisses you again, one of his hands going up to the back of your head to deepen the kiss.

You pushed your tongue against his lips to part them open, letting your tongue enter his mouth to savor him. “Mmm... Love that... Your taste...” He murmur between kisses before he pressed his lips more against yours with a bit of aggressiveness, wanting the kiss to be as fiery and lustful as he feels inside from this moment of the kiss.

He slowly moves both of his hands to your hips and pulls you towards him, wanting to feel you closer to him. He starts to kiss you down your neck, his lips trailing down your throat, nibbling the skin of your sensitive spot, his teeth lightly grazing against the delicate skin around your skin until it leaves a mark there before licking it.

“Speaking of taste...” His lips trail back up from your neck to your cheek, kissing the side of your lips. “What did you say I tasted like?” He reminds you of what you said earlier, wanting to hear it again.

“Mine.”

Got carried away with this 😮‍💨 It's originally longer, but I decided to cut some parts and replaced it with shorter words because it's already long enough 😭

[missmatchablossom]

The Champion's Babysitter

Pokemon x JJK AU

summary: you are the newest dragon-type gym leader, and you've just been tasked with babysitting the pokemon champion gojo satoru, who has not been taking his job seriously.

a.n.: fem reader, a couple of curse words, kinda slow burn romance, fluffy, cute pokemon interactions, 6.8k words. shoutout @silkspunweb for putting this AU in my head <3

~

“I’m sorry, could you please repeat that? I’m afraid I’m not following,” you asked, nerves overwhelming your senses as you stood before the four toughest pokemon trainers in the region: the Elite Four.

It was impossible not to be in awe of some of the world’s most renowned fighters. How could you just stand there, not shitting your pants, when you spent so many hours watching footage of their pokemon battles? You had the utmost respect for the four figures sitting before you.

Nanami Kento, the Steel-Type master

Okkotsu Yuta, the Dark-Type expert

Fushiguro Toji, the Poison-Type wielder

Iori Utahime, the Ice-Type genius

It was an honor to be granted a private audience with them upon their request. But your reverence was halted once Nanami began delivering the news to you.

“We are asking that you oversee the business of Gojo,” he said, looking you squarely in the eyes as he adjusted his glasses.

“Gojo, as in Gojo Satoru? Our current pokemon champion?” you asked incredulously, eyes flickering between the four people before you, desperate for clarification.

“The very same one,” Yuta answered, smiling at you sympathetically.

“What do you mean by oversee?” you continued, turning towards Utahime.

“As I’m sure you’ve already heard on the news, Champion Gojo has been neglecting his post as of late. Recent challengers have been showing up to battles to find him missing,” she responded, brows furrowing in distaste. The Frosslass at her side nodded her assent.

It was true, it’s been all over TV lately. The celebrated, undefeated champion has been ghosting any challengers. The footage that you see of him nowadays is of him lounging around at different cafes, snapping pictures of the sweets he’s indulging in.

Pathetic, you thought.

“His hedonism is causing a lot of uproar. It’s a huge pain in the ass,” Nanami added, as the others murmured in agreement.

“We’d like you to check in with him now and then…encourage him to take his position more seriously,” Yuta said, the gaze of his dusclops behind him unsettling you.

You blinked a few times.

“Why me?” you asked. The four exchanged loaded glances you struggled to decipher. You could’ve sworn that Yuta’s smile felt more mischievous than usual, like he knew something you didn’t.

“You’re one of the most promising young trainers we’ve seen in a long time. The gym leaders you’ve battled and your fellow peers have vouched for you as someone of great integrity, valor, and talent. We’ve seen it ourselves.” Utahime said, causing your chest to swell with pride.

“The decision to make you the newest Dragon-type gym leader was unanimous. We hope you don’t take that lightly,” Nanami revealed. 

“Thank you, it means a lot to me,” you said. You’d worked hard your entire life to become a gym leader worthy of the Dragon-type pokemon you hold near and dear to your heart. But they were still dancing around why they wanted you to do anything with the champion.

“Forgive me for asking, but what can I do that the rest of you cannot?” you pressed, ignoring the bored yawn from Toji.

“Gojo won’t listen to us. But we believe he will at least find interest in a fellow Dragon-type specialist, especially one as strong as you,” Yuta responded.

It was common knowledge that while our champion could wield any type of pokemon, he favored Dragon-types. Not many could say the same, as most trainers found it difficult to work with the stubborn, overpowering nature that is Dragon-type pokemon. 

Toji’s heavy sigh filled the room, the weedle around his shoulders tilting its head at you.

“Look kid, we’re asking you to be his babysitter. Follow him around, challenge him to battles, do whatever you need to get his ass back to work so he can stop being a pain in ours.” Toji stated gruffly, crossing his arms and leveling you with a look.

Nanami fired a look of quiet distaste in his direction, focusing back on you.

“My apologies for his tactlessness, but he’s not wrong. We know it’s a big task, but you’re the only one we can ask,” Nanami said, his Lucario nodding its head. 

“You might even learn something from him. Few people can say they got to train with Champion Gojo,” Utahime pressed, quipping her brow. 

She got you there. While you dedicated countless hours watching pokemon battles of each of the elite 4, you studied Gojo’s battles religiously. There was no documented battle of his that you didn’t know like the back of your hand, and no matter how many times you’d seen him fight, you always felt the same awe and respect watching his talent.

The elite 4 and their pokemon stared at you intensely, waiting for your response. How could you refuse, when some of the top trainers in the world were practically begging you for this favor?

“I’ll do it if you really think I can help,” you said, fiddling with your fingers nervously. 

All of them - minus Toji - notably relaxed their shoulders, thanking you. 

“We’ve synced up your pokedex with his so you can always locate each other. You have a pokemon capable of flying, yes?” Utahime said, handing you your updated pokedex. You nodded, slipping it into your pocket.

“Perfect. Why don’t you pay him a visit?” Yuta said, smiling angelically at you. It seemed like you didn’t have a choice, not with the way they were all looking expectantly. 

“All right. I’ll forward updates in the coming weeks,” you said, nodding to the rest of them as you turned to leave. 

Before you reached the exit, a soft paw pad touched your shoulder. You turned to face Nanami’s Lucario, which was holding out a can of lemonade in its paws. You reached out to grab the can, smiling at the pokemon.

“For me?” you asked, brows furrowing as the Lucario shook its head.

“For…Gojo?” you asked, and immediately the Lucario smiled and nodded. 

“Alright, I’ll pass it to him. Thank you,” you said, waving as you left. 

Once you were outside the building, you released a sigh. Salamence immediately popped out of his pokeball, letting out a mixture of chuffs and roars and he nudged you with his nose. 

You laughed, placing your hand under his chin and scratching.

“I’m alright buddy, I promise,” you said. You were incredibly bonded to all of your pokemon, but Salamence had a special place in your heart. He has always been your proud protector, ever since you came across him when he was an injured, weak Bagon.

Flipping open the map on your Pokedex, you located Gojo near a seaside town.

“Alright, ready to fly bud?” you asked Salamence. He roared in excitement as you jumped onto his back.

~

The soothing music of the waves against the shore always calmed you. Before you became a gym leader, you often visited the beach to relax and let your water-types splash around. 

You didn’t even need your pokedex to locate the champion, who was garnering attention from every person nearby as he sat at the local cafe. He was practically surrounded by people, the shine of his silvery hair being the only thing singling him out in a crowd so big. 

There was only one trick up your sleeve that was a sure-fire way of getting a crowd’s attention. Grabbing two of your pokeballs, you allowed Kingdra and Gyrrados to come out into the water. 

They both jumped in immediately, happily swimming around as you laughed.

“Alright you two, I need you both to execute plan sparkle,” you said. They voiced their agreement and immediately began performing a dual variation of the move dragon dance in the water, causing major splashes and ripples that began drawing the huge crowd of people away from Gojo and towards them.

You shot them a thumbs-up before making your way over to the champion. It almost pissed you off how nonchalant he looked, leaning back in his chair with his legs stretched out, like there wasn’t anywhere he should be. His famous luxray lay at his feet, curled up next to a plate of what looked like poke puffs. Once he spotted you, he rose to his full stature, positioning himself in front of his trainer in a protective stance. You offered the Luxray a treat from your pocket, and the pokemon gently took it in his mouth before retreating to Gojo’s side.

“Champion Satoru Gojo,” you began, squaring your shoulders. 

He glanced up at you immediately, his cerulean eyes peeking out behind a pair of black sunglasses that sat perched at the end of his nose. His silvery hair was down, brushing against his eyes ever so slightly from the sea breeze. 

A hint of surprise ran across over his features, fast enough that you almost didn’t catch it.

“My name is-”

“I know who you are, dragon prodigy,” Gojo said, calling you by your nickname. 

He knows who I am?

“May I ask why our esteemed champion is here, instead of facing all the challengers you have lined up to defeat you?” you asked, crossing your arms.

He smiled at you, sending a stampede of butterfrees down your body. Gojo wasn’t famed for just his prowess in pokemon battle, no. He was one of the most famous champions for his beauty, especially with that signature smile of his.

“Looking to battle me, are you?” he said, crossing his arms over his head as he tilted his head down to get a good look at you.

“I’d never turn down a battle, but I’m not interested in your title, champion,” you said, a note of disdain in your voice. He raised a brow at you, as if he couldn’t believe a trainer didn’t want to become the coveted title of pokemon champion.

“Oh? Then why have you tracked me down here, miss prodigy,” he asked, reaching down to pet his Luxray. 

“I’ve been tasked with making sure you get back to work. Please return to your post so I can return to my gym,” you said, failing at keeping the bite away from your words.

He stretched his long arms up, humming to himself as he considered your command.

“How about this? If you can retrieve the one thing I’m craving right now, I’ll return to the Pokemon League for today,” he said cheekily.

“How am I supposed to know what you’re cr-”

“You have 5 minutes. Good luck!” 

Bastard.

You trudged back towards the beach, not bothering to waste your time on a fool’s errand. You were already mentally preparing your apology letter to the elite 4.

At least Kingdra and Gyrrados are having fun, you thought to yourself. 

Your two water types continued to dance around in the water, thriving off the attention of all of the onlookers. 

You felt his pokeball rattle against its spot in your pack before Salamence came out, seeming to sense your frustration.

“Can you believe it, Sal? The unbeatable Gojo Satoru is wasting his time here and ignoring his job. Think about how many people look up to him as champion!” you exclaimed, pacing as Salamence nodded his head.

That’s why they say never meet your heroes.

“He asked me to find his craving in 5 minutes. How the hell am I supposed to know what he’s craving? I barely met the man. I just know he likes sweets from all those interviews,” you admitted, shaking your head. 

Salamence suddenly began nudging at the backpack you laid on the ground, tipping it over until its contents began to spill out.

“Hey knock it off bud, are you hungry or something?” you asked, reaching to gather the spilled contents. You paused when you laid eyes on the can of lemonade given to you by Nanami’s Lucario.

“There’s no way,” you mumbled to yourself, holding the can in your hands. 

Worth a shot, I guess, you thought.

“Salamence, return.” Once your dragon was safely tucked back into his pokeball, you strode back to the champion, placing the can of lemonade on the table before him.

Gojo looked at you incredulously, then eyed the lemonade with a look you struggled to pinpoint.

“Satisfied?” you asked, bracing yourself for a rejection.

Instead, the sincere smile gracing his features took you by surprise. The way he picked it up made it seem like it was something precious, and suddenly the champion looked much younger.

“I am,” he said, moving to stand up to his impressive height. He towered over you, forcing you to look up as he stepped into your space. You gulped as you took notice of how stupidly handsome this man was. 

“You win for today. But I’m sure I’ll see you again soon,” he drawled, stunning you with a wink. 

You watched silently as he walked away, his enormous Charizard appearing before him. You gawked at the beautiful pokemon, the dragon-type lover in you urging you to come closer.

He was gone within seconds, leaving you with a lingering funny feeling, especially after seeing that last smile. It was nothing like the smiles you were familiar with - the arrogant smiles he wore after each victory, the charming smiles he put on for each interview. You grew lost in thought as you tried swallowing the urge to make him smile like that again.

What did I get myself into?

~

“Altaria, use peck!” you yelled, watching your pokemon dive toward the challenger’s Machoke. The Machoke stumbled back with the force of the hit, but quickly righted itself. 

“Machoke, use low sweep!” your challenger yelled, his pokemon wasting no time in kicking out its feet against your Altaria. 

Your pokemon dodged skillfully, evading the assault with minimal effort. After a couple more turns, your Altaria finished off the opponent’s pokemon with a final peck.

“And the winner is, our Gym Leader! Better luck next time, trainer Itadori,” your gym assistant said.

The boy named Itadori Yuji sank to his knees dramatically, placing his head in his hands as he yelled out in sorrow. 

“You fought well Itadori,” you said, offering your hand to him. 

“Wait, really?!” he exclaimed, taking your hand. His look of despair was immediately replaced with hope, reminiscent of a puppy.

“Yes, that Machoke of yours is quite strong. My advice is to work a bit more on type matchups,” you said, smiling as he eagerly noted your tips.

“Alright, just you wait! I’ll train even harder and I’ll beat you in no time,” he exclaimed, the fire once again alight in his eyes.

“I look forward to it,” you said genuinely, watching as he ran out of the gym in record time. And you meant it. While he was a little sloppy, he fought bravely, and with raw power you haven’t seen in a while. You could definitely see him challenging Gojo one day.

You reached up to stroke Altaria’s feathers, commending her for another battle well done. 

“Okay, the rest of you can come out now,” you said aloud, smiling as the other 5 pokemon in your party came out of their pokeballs and began cheering for your victory.

Suddenly, Salamence began growling towards the platform where you usually held your battles. A familiar figure sat perched on the steps, smiling down at you like you were old friends.

“Congrats on the win, dragon prodigy,” Gojo said, unaffected by the rising hostility from Salamence.

“Easy bud, it's okay,” you said, patting his side. 

“How long have you been here?” you said, struggling to comprehend how he evaded notice.

“Long enough to see you bullshit that battle with Yuji,” he said, pissing you off with his infuriating smile.

“Excuse me?” you asked, debating on letting Salamence go off on him.

“With your skillset, you’re capable of defeating his pokemon with a single move from each of yours. Yet each of his pokemon lasted longer than they should’ve,” he said meaningfully, his long steps quickly eating up the distance between you two. 

“Why is that?” he asked, suddenly much closer to you, ignoring the snarling from Salamence. 

You looked straight into his blue eyes, intrigued by how they were flicking back and forth between your own, studying you.

“Every time I defeat a challenger that way, it crushes their spirit. I’m still beating them, but I’m giving them a bit more confidence and practice this way,” you answered, turning away from him.

It broke your heart to see the look of utter defeat on each challenger’s face when you actually fought even close enough to your full strength.

Gojo hummed, shaking his head at you.

“You’re setting them up for failure. You’re giving these kids the false hope that their pokemon are strong enough to stand against your own, then when they finally get to the elite 4, they won’t stand a chance,” he said, piercing you with his words.

“Then they won’t have a single hope against me,” he continued coldly, watching for your reaction.

You never thought about it that way, how taking it easy on your challengers could be hurting them more than helping them.

“My advice: don’t hold back. I’d love to watch that beautiful fighting style of yours when you’re serious,” he said lowly, placing something cold in your hands before walking away.

You looked down at your hands quizzically, finding a can of lemonade. 

“It’s the best after a fight!” Gojo yelled over his shoulder before he left.

You stood in silence, mulling over his words over and over again. 

~

You slid your pokedex back into your pocket after confirming you found the right building. 

Pokemon Trainer’s School was written in bold letters on the first sign you saw. 

Your entrance into the building turned a few heads, and you earned a good amount of wide-eyed smiles and points as you searched the building for a certain champion.

“It’s the 8th gym leader!”

“The dragon prodigy is here!”

“Oh my gosh let's go get an autograph!”

You smiled and waved politely at each of them, making your way through each room until you finally spotted Gojo, standing in front of a chalkboard of a small class of students.

His eyes flickered to yours, but he continued talking as if he were expecting you.

“In order for you to defeat dragon-type pokemon, it’s best to use Ice and Fairy-type pokemon. But make sure to study the types of your opponent, and be weary of dual-types,” he said.

You narrowed your eyes at him, which he of course ignored.

“Ah, perfect timing. Class, we have a special treat for today! A lesson from the very own dragon gym leader herself!” Gojo announced, gesturing to you. 

You froze as 6 heads turned your way, various levels of shock written across each of their faces.

“A lesson from the gym leader herself, so cool!” the boy you recognized as Itadori yelled, pumping his fist.

You plastered on a polite smile as you walked up to the front towards Gojo, leaning into his space while the students were buzzing with chatter.

“Teaching them how to defeat me, are you? You’re such a dick,” you said quietly, nudging him in the ribs.

“Worried?” he countered, the grin evident in his voice. 

“You wish,” you snapped, trying not to smile. It didn’t bother you, truly. What you were really trying to wrap your head around was why the elite champion was spending his afternoon teaching such a small class of trainers instead of battling his own challengers.

“Perfect, then you don’t mind teaching us a lesson about how to beat dragon types then right? Thank you!” he said, moving aside to sit amongst his students. You flipped him off before any of the kids could see, then focused your attention on the students staring at you expectantly.

“Alright, dragon types 101 then,” you said, launching into a lesson explaining almost everything you knew about your favorite type of pokemon.

The students listened attentively, surprising you with their engagement and the thoughtfulness of their questions. Class flew by in the blink of an eye, and soon enough you were alone in the classroom with Gojo.

He let out a whistle as you sat next to him on top of one of the desks.

“You’re a natural. Ever thought about teaching?” he said.

“Not really. But that was nice actually, those kids are very smart,” you admitted, smiling at the champion.

From the way his eyes widened ever so slightly, it must have thrown him off, seeing you smile for the first time like that. 

“They are. I’ll bet you the future champion is among them,” he said sincerely, smiling warmly for once. 

It tickled at your chest, the way his different expressions made you feel. You felt greedy to see more sides of him.

“Is that why you’re here, instead of doing your job?” you asked softly, nudging your knee against him.

“I’d much rather be here training these kids to become the best, than have to waste my time battling a bunch of rowdy upstarts who would abuse the champion title,” he said truthfully.

“Is that why you’re avoiding battles? Scared someone will beat you?” you asked curiously, studying the way his long lashes fanned against his cheek when he looked down.

“Nah. More like I don’t want to bother with kids who have zero chance beating me. It’s way more fun to train these kids to become strong enough to beat me. I’d be happy to hand over my title to one of them, someday,” he said, nudging you back.

His words made you pause. 

“That was the most decent thing I’ve ever heard you say,” you said, thoughtfully, admiring the way the light of the late afternoon made his hair seem to glow.

“That's rude as hell,” he said, causing you to burst out in laughter. By the time you finished, you realized he’d been staring at you, making a blush creep up your cheeks.

“What?” you said, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear nervously.

“What do I have to do to make you laugh like that again?” he asked genuinely, unleashing a hoard of butterfrees in your stomach.

You raised your brows, waiting for him to crack a joke or say something stupid again. But he didn’t, he was serious.

“Go back to the Pokemon League and do your job, then I’ll give you an award,” you said, smiling at the look of interest on his face.

“Hmm, since you were so kind to teach my kids a lesson, I’ll go back to work,” he said, rising up to his impressive stature.

“But I expect my reward to be paid in advance,” he said, leaning down so his face was inches away from yours. 

You blushed furiously as his eyes flickered down to your lips.

Clearing your throat, you calmed yourself, plastering the sweetest smile you could muster on your lips.

“Close your eyes then,” you said as silkily as you could, trailing your left hand up his arm. 

The champion froze, eyes widening before he complied and shut them. You fought a giggle before pressing the can of lemonade against his lips, enjoying the way his eyes shot open in surprise. 

He grabbed the can from your hand before you dashed out of the room, giggling at your prank. You heard his hearty laughter echoing across the halls before you left.

~

It was a rare day off you had to yourself. No gym challengers, no chasing Gojo, just you and your Pokemon lounging at the beach. 

The elite 4 sent you a thank you letter, claiming Gojo’s attendance had gone up significantly since you started checking up on him. They told you to take the week off, and you gladly did. There was an odd pang in your chest, though. You had become accustomed to seeing the champion, used to facing the different challenges he gave you that would get him back to work. He was undoubtedly annoying and cocky, yet you dared to find yourself missing him and the way he made you laugh.

Beach. Enjoy the beach, you urged yourself.

Kingdra and Gyrrados were racing each other in the water, joined by a couple of wild water pokemon. Altaria was soaring with a flock of wingulls, showing off her speed. Goodra and Garchomp were playing in the sand, creating what looked like a giant hole. Salamence was content to be laying at your side, sunbathing next to you. 

You broke out of your daze once Altaria started nudging you with her wing. 

“What’s up Tari? Are you already done flying?” you said, sitting up as you pressed your sunglasses to the top of your head. 

You were taken aback to see that the sunny skies had been completely replaced with angry stormclouds, threatening to unleash their rain at any second.

“Oh geez, it’s about to start pouring huh,” you said, quickly gathering up your things. 

You returned the rest of your party to their pokeballs, where they would be safe from the incoming storm.

The rain began coming down heavily, and you dashed out of the sand to take cover under a tree. 

An ear-piercing cry startled you, and you turned to see two kids standing next to rocks by the shore.

“Hey you two! It’s dangerous to be out here when it's storming!” you yelled, walking towards the young kids.

They turned their identical faces towards you, both streaked with tears. 

“Please rescue our Eevee!” one of them cried, clinging to you. 

“She was swimming when the storm started. We can’t find her anywhere!” the other said.

You knelt to be eye-level with them, grabbing one of their hands in each of yours.

“I’ll find her for you, okay? But I need you both to stay hidden. It’s dangerous when it rains, the stronger pokemon tend to come out,” you warned. 

“Salemence!” you yelled, watching as your pokemon appeared before you.

The twins looked at him with a mix of fear and awe as he quickly lifted his wings to shield them from the rain.

“I need you to stay with him okay? He’ll keep you safe while I rescue your Eevee,” you said. They nodded, huddling together against your pokemon.

Salamence immediately roared in protest, undoubtedly refusing to leave your side.

“I need you to protect them Sally, please. I’ll be okay, I promise,” you said, dropping your backpack next to him. You grabbed the mouthpiece that allowed you to breathe underwater, then dove into the sea before you had a chance to chicken out.

The freezing temperature of the water was a shock to your system. You had to rescue this Eevee fast if you wanted to avoid frostbite. You had honed your body to withstand extreme climates as you trained alongside your pokemon, but even you knew you couldn’t last long in this weather.

You swam furiously, dodging every pokemon within your radius. Not all of them would charge at you to battle, but the rain made it practically impossible to distinguish which pokemon was what, and you didn’t want to risk finding out. While treading water, you spotted a blur of brown on a group of rocks.

Swimming closer, you spotted a little Eevee, soaked wet and shivering. The poor thing looked up at you with sad, scared eyes as you hopped out of the water to approach it. 

“It’s okay little one, I’m here to rescue you okay?” you said through chattering teeth. You struggled to feel your fingers, but you forced yourself to take out the pokeball you borrowed from the twins anyways.

“I’ll get you back to your trainer. Eevee, return,” you said, breathing a sigh of relief once the pokemon was safely back into its ball.

Tucking the ball inside a small pouch you carried, you dove back into the water. To your dismay, a school of tentacruels were gathering near the surface of the water, and you knew them to be aggressive. You’d have to dive deeper into the water to avoid being spotted, but you were running out of time before the cold would give incapacitate you.

Mustering all your strength, you swam the distance back to shore, unable to gather the energy to do anything except lean against a rock just beyond the reach of the water. 

Salamence ran to you immediately, the two twins hot on his trail. Once he reached you, he whined and nudged at you, but you were too cold to move. The continued assault of the rain didn’t help the excruciating chill you were feeling.

“S-she’s s-safe,” you bit out, shakily placing Eevee’s pokeball back in the hands of the twins, who cried as they thanked you. 

“S-sal, please g-get them t-to the p-pokemon c-center,” you said, your shivers becoming so violent it was near impossible to talk. 

Salamence whined, refusing to move. He covered all three of you with his wings, and you had no strength left to chide him for ignoring you.

You vaguely heard the twins speaking to you, asking if you were okay. But you could barely register their words with the cold seeping into your bones, numbing your brain and making you feel sleepy. 

“Shit,” you heard from a familiar voice. You felt his hand against your cheek before he released a hiss.

“You’re fucking freezing,” he said, and you cracked your eyes open enough to see the panic racing against his beautiful features. 

“G-gojo?” you chattered, wondering if the hypothermia was getting to your brain and making you see things.

“Salamence, please get the kids to safety,” Gojo asked. You heard Salamence growl in response.

“I promise I will help your trainer, but I can’t do that if I need to help them too. Please,” he said, surprising you with how softly he spoke to your pokemon. 

It must have worked, as you heard the beating of his wings that meant he took flight. Probably to the nearest Pokemon Center to bring the twins to safety. 

“Bear with me for a sec,” Gojo said, lifting you up with one arm under your legs and one across your lower back. 

“I’m f-fucking c-cold,” you said, shaking violently in his arms, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“I know baby. I’ll get you warm,” he said, breaking out into a sprint. You clung to him as much as you could, releasing your grip once the sound of the rain became muffled. 

He set you down gently against what felt like a wall of rock. The cold bit into your skin, but at least it was dry here. 

Gojo knelt to face you, taking your face in his hands. You leaned your cheek into his warm palms, feeling overwhelmed with relief at seeing his familiar face. 

“I need to get you out of your wet clothes, okay?” he said, not moving until you nodded. Once you did, he made quick work of your outfit, stripping you down until you were completely bare before him. 

Any embarrassment you felt was overshadowed by the determination in his eyes, the hard set to his mouth that you rarely ever caught without a smile. A part of you wished he’d crack a joke or say something stupid to piss you off and lighten the mood, but he didn’t.

Reaching into his pack, he swiped a hand towel and began silently running it across your body, drying you swiftly as you continued to shiver. 

His cerulean eyes shimmered with focus as he stripped off his own clothing, slipping his own shirt over your frame. You sighed with relief as the warm, dry fabric of his shirt soothed your chilled skin, hanging over you like a dress and enveloping you with his clean scent. 

“Better?” he asked, taking your frozen fingers into his hands, and exhaling onto them to warm them up.

You nodded, warmth filling your body with how gently he was treating you. Your eyes traveled town his toned torso, admiring how his body seemed sculpted out of marble.

“But won’t you be c-cold?” you asked, wrapping your arms tightly against yourself.

“Worry about yourself, prodigy. Your lips are blue,” he said, settling himself behind you in only his pants and boots.

He placed his hands onto your hips, lifting you slightly and settling you on his lap. You gasped as the warmth of his front began seeping into your back, his arms cradling you and he continued to wordlessly rub your hands between his. It felt incredibly intimate.

He’s just doing it to save your life, calm down, you thought to yourself.

He paused for a second, reaching his hand to grab something from his pocket.

“Charizard,” he said. Within seconds, the pokemon appeared before your eyes, staring down at you. 

“We need your fire. Please,” Gojo said, jerking his head down towards you.

Charizard nodded, laying down on its stomach, positioning the tip of its tail in front of you and Gojo. The fire at the tip of its tail provided you with immediate relief. 

After a while, the shivering racking your body subsided, and your teeth finally stopped chattering.

“Thank you. Both of you,” you said quietly, breaking the silence. Charizard made a sound that you took as “you’re welcome, I guess,” and Gojo’s arms around you tightened.

“You could’ve died, you know,” Gojo said lowly, his voice tickling the shell of your ear.

“I know,” you answered, squeezing his hands that held yours.

“Why would you put yourself at risk like that?” he asked more calmly than you’d expected, rubbing slow circles into your palms.

“I couldn’t just leave their Eevee out there. It would’ve died,” you said, observing the rain still heavily pouring outside of the cave. There’s not a single doubt in your mind that their Eevee would’ve lost it’s life had you not saved it, either from drowning or from hypothermia.

“Why didn’t you have your pokemon help you? You have water types,” Gojo pressed, leaning forward to rest his chin on your shoulder, causing you to shiver.

“I couldn’t risk any of them getting injured. They’re too precious to me,” you said.

Gojo heaved a heavy sigh, the warmth of his exhale tickling across the sensitive skin near your nape.

“You and your bleeding heart,” he said, a mixture of resignment and admiration in his voice.

“Can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same. But I would’ve at least called for help first,” he said, making you laugh.

“Right, how did you know to find me here?” you asked, warm enough to turn in his lap to face him. Your breath caught as you realized just how close he was to you, and you couldn’t help your eyes as they lingered on his perfectly pink lips.

You’d never been close enough to him before to see the little flecks of silver that made his eyes shine. His silvery hair was slightly damp from the rain, a few strands curling around his face that made him seem younger. He was devastatingly beautiful.

He reached out to tuck a stray piece of your hair behind your ear.

“I just had a sudden urge to see you. I’ve become so used to seeing your pretty face show up everywhere I go, that I got lonely when you stopped,” he said honestly. You smiled. 

“Imagine my surprise when I get here and you’re freezing to death. You really scared me back there,” he said, his throat bobbing.

He was frightened for you. He saved you. He cared about you.

You leaned forward, gingerly wrapping your arms around his neck in a tight hug. He returned it immediately, wrapping his hands across your shoulders. His hands traced small circles into your skin, as if he needed to keep touching you to make sure you were still there.

“I’m sorry. Thank you,” you whispered into his ear, rubbing your cheek against the silky skin of his shoulder. 

The two of your relaxed in the silence, the sound of the rain and Charizard’s breathing becoming strangely comforting.

The sound of a familiar roar shook you from your thoughts, as Salamence landed at the front of the cave, a package in his mouth.

“Sally!” you yelled, attempting to get up from Gojo’s lap. His long fingers grasped your hips, tugging you back down to him.

“You’re not warm enough yet. Stay,” he said, earning him a warning growl from Salamence.

Salamence shook off the rain at the entrance of the cave, walking towards you. Him and Charizard exchanged a few snarls, but neither of them actually made any moves towards the other. 

You stuck your arm out, and Salamence stuck his nose against your palm.

“You okay bud? You’re soaked,” you said, feeling the chill from the rain on his skin. He chuffed, depositing the package in his mouth beside you.

Gojo unwrapped it, finding a set of dry clothes and a few towels. The pokemon centers usually prepared these packages for extreme weather, and the twins must have alerted one of the nurses to send him off with one.

“Good job,” Gojo said, reaching out his hand to pat Salemence. To your complete surprise, Salamence accepted his touch, closing his eyes contently as Gojo scratched his chin. 

“Let’s get you changed and head out. I’d rather get you checked out to be safe first, that okay?” Gojo asked, rubbing his hands up and down your arms, checking how warm you were.

You nodded, wishing he would never stop touching you.

~

Luckily, you narrowly avoided hypothermia or frostbite thanks to Gojo. You were able to recover quickly, and before you knew it you were back at your platform inside of your gym.

“How many challengers do we have today?” you asked your gym assistant, feeding Garchomp a pokepuff. 

“Um, one,” he said, eyes darting left to right nervously. 

“Just one?” you questioned, noticing how your assistant looked more anxious than usual. You were used to battling 4-5 challengers a day, making sure to give your pokemon ample rest between. It was unusual for you to only have one battle.

“Yes ma’am. He requested he be the only one,” your assistant said, fiddling with his pokedex.

“Requested? Who the hell does this guy think he is,” you said, glaring at the trembling teenager. It was very bold to request to be the only challenger at a gym - it usually implied that the trainer thought very highly of themselves.

“The champion,” Gojo said, stepping up from the staircase, smirking at you cockily.

You furrowed your brows as you stared at the Champion. He was actually dressed in his fighting attire - a dark blue zip-up with his collar popped up, and matching pants. You had to admit he looked damn good in it, even though he looked great in everything.

“You’re challenging me today?” you asked, placing you hands on your hips as you gawked at him in disbelief. To your dismay, Salamence came barreling up to him, nuzzling his side like they were old friends. 

“Yup,” he said, happily complying with Salamence’s demands for pets. Gojo walked up to you, stopping just a few feet before you. 

“I challenge you, dragon prodigy. If I win, you’ll let me take you out on a date,” he said, flashing an infuriatingly bright smile at you as he winked.

You threw your head back as you shook with laughter. Only he would be extra enough to challenge you to a battle in order to ask you out.

“You’re on, champion,” you said, mirroring his own grin with your own. Salamence roared in excitement, undoubtedly itching to face off with Gojo’s Charizard.

“And don’t you dare hold back on me baby, cuz I sure as hell won’t be holding back on you,” he said, readying the pokeball in his hands.

“I wouldn’t dare. Lets go, Salemence!” you said, watching your pokemon ready his stance in front of you.

But you knew you had already lost - because you were going out with him regardless of the outcome of this battle.

~

Back at the Pokemon League

“Seems like the dragon gym leader succeeded,” Yuta said, smiling at the news article on his pokedex.

“Indeed. Gojo agreed to stop ditching work as long as we invested more funds into training schools,” Nanami said, kicking a ball back and forth with his Lucario.

“Oh, I was talking about her finally dating Gojo. But it was great that she helped us get him back to work,” Yuta said, showing Nanami the article he was looking at.

Newest Dragon-type Gym Leader spotted holding hands with Pokemon Champion Gojo!

The ends of Nanami’s lips curved up as he smiled, shaking his head.

“It’s about time. He hasn’t shut up about her for years,” Nanami said. Yuta’s light laughter filled the room as he handed his Dusclops an oran berry.

“By the way, why did you have Lucario send her that can of lemonade the first time she came here?” Yuta asked.

“Ah, that,” Nanami began, patting Lucario on the head.

“Gojo got that brand every time he won a battle, back when we were teenagers. I figured it would help her make a good first impression,” he said. Yuta laughed once more.

“Looks like it worked.”

~fin~

[citruscitrushope]

Why Ken Shiraishi is Still Written OK (aka why Vivid BAD SQUAD will never surpass RAD WEEKEND, and why that's a good thing)

An essay I wrote in someone's Twitter DMs as we discussed their belief that Ken's writing has been becoming out of character ever since On Your Feet, and my attempt to present a counter-argument that turned into an analysis of VBS stories up to this point.

1,089 words, warnings for swearing, spoilers, and the fact that this is barely formatted like an essay at all but was just a ramble I thought I gave some good points in and wanted to share.

So bro is openly going against the things that made rw what it was ("ok Toya make all the songs" <- that is not what happened with radder)" and I doubt bro would be full on ignoring it (nor clpl full on ignoring it seeing as they have all of the group's full stories planned from the beginning) and I personally theorize that it's to emphasize the four's strengths as well as to make them come face to face with their weaknesses to grow stronger (I think concerto is the most obvious case of this). Nagi's goal with rw wasn't to make something to be surpassed, it was to pass radder's dream to the next generation to reach the heights they couldn't (i.e. worldwide popularity) and I very much feel like the vbs story has enough backing them going in that direction (Toya's wl chapter, what I've seen of radder flashbacks, even Ken's whole reason for opening weekend garage).

For context, the preceding conversation was about how Ken has been going against a lot of his initial things (Running weekend garage to help the next generation, helping them not work as hard, etc), how he knew Taiga was gonna tell vbs the truth of RAD WEEKEND and that he should first but he didn't, and then how he's been overworking the kids and going against the team effort rw was by radder

Again, clpl kinda suck at writing vbs sometimes but dammit they ain't bad at foreshadowing, they teased Nagi stuff for a year or two before lutf and stuff after all. Plus they've never had a sudden decline with a character, it took two years for Mafuyu's mom to fully be revealed as bad, and even with Taiga that was a solid year. (Now what they do do a lot of are sudden "redemption arcs", sure the Otori brothers' was decent but all the times they've tired to have Shinodad or Toya's dad grow as people has been so bad like bro some people are just shit).

Plus vbs' story has been slower than most of the other units until this current arc (hell they took the longest to end their first arc), slow building blocks to surpassing RAD WEEKEND. So for this current arc to have them saying "our next event will surpass them" so suddenly just doesn't add up. It has to be a red herring. And again, Taiga's been this game's only true betrayal arc, others have been characters going from neutral to bad (Mafumom, one-off characters) or ones meant to be bad that eventually become allies to their respective groups (Arata, Iori, Otori brothers). Taiga going from an explicit ally to an enemy is an outlier, and I've noticed that they usually won't repeat plots and stuff in this game (well outside of Smile of a Dreamer and Our Happy Ending but I think that was on purpose).

I highly doubt that vbs' ending will involve them surpassing RAD WEEKEND, they're probably the only group who's initial goal hadn't changed over time (L/n "I wanna be with my friends again" -> "We wanna be pros that touch others with music". WxS "Let's save this stage" -> "let's travel the world to make our dreams come true" n25 "i need to save mafuyu" -> "she's seemingly saved but shits still tucked"). Even MMJ's which has seemed to always be "Let's be idols and give hope to others" has had steps to go through, it wasn't instantly "Let's perform in the dome" it was "Let's be idols" -> "let's do a live show" -> "let's do a solo show" -> "let's perform in the dome". VBS hasn't been like that, it's always been "let's surpass RAD WEEKEND" and never been anything but that, so their progression has just been them saying "this'll get us closer to surpassing RAD WEEKEND" with little to actually show for it.

It's a lofty, impossible task, and I think Ken and Taiga know that, but they view it in different ways. Taiga sees it as "you'll never live up to it give up stop trying" while Ken's is "you'll never live up to it but that doesn't change that you're still talented performers". Even though how characters always compare each other to radder (An and Taiga seeing Nagi in Kohane, Taiga seeing Ken in Akito) , they're not radder, they'll never be them, and I feel like that's what the story wants to have them and the audience eventually realize. That's what Nagi wanted, right? To have the next generation do what she and the rest of radder couldn't, to keep singing and to be known around the world. They've already contrasted how both Taiga and Ken have attempted to keep Nagi's wishes alive before (i.e. the whole "Don't tell An until she's ready" thing), and Ken handled this better than Taiga but both weren't the best at it, and vbs had to find the strength themselves to keep going. Taiga did it in a brutal and dream-crushing way, while Ken's was gentler and more honest but came too late, and I feel that they wouldn't get rid of that contrast with Nagi's other dream. Taiga ran off and became famous overseas, but never fully processed his grief. Ken is encouraging the next generation, but still isn't doing it perfectly.

So I feel that Ken's plan is to show vbs *their* strengths. The ones only they have. Not in the context of reaching radder's level, but in reaching their own, and truly fulfilling Nagi's wish. He's not doing it perfectly, he's overworking them severely, but I highly doubt that this is purposeful. Again, I just don't think they'd make the dilf have a villain arc.

But nothing anyone has done in response to vbs's dream has been perfect. Even from the main story with akitoya and Kotarou sabotaging Kohane, to Arata in sbd, to Taiga to Arata in bfby, and then lutf is obvious. It's a messy tale of unprocessed grief and unfiltered dreams, things that can lead to both triumph and tragedy. But I truly can't see any malice in Ken's actions, or even Taiga's to an extent. While there obviously was some there, to him I assume it was to protect the legacy of his sister and to not tarnish her swansong.

I don't fully know where I was going with this but all in all I think Ken has good intentions albeit with unintentional extreme expectations, VBS was never meant to surpass RAD WEEKEND, and the vbs story's messy pacing lately is purposeful

[always-a-joyful-note]

I can't believe they mentioned graduation and STILL didn't let the high schoolers graduate

Do Idolish7 characters not age? I've done the math and it makes sense that Iori and Tamaki just entered their third year in JP high school, given their birthdays are April 1 and January (so they turned 17 right before or just on the day). But after a year (because they canonically had their 1 yr debut anniversary, which is in the summer), shouldn't they have, you know.....graduated?

[anianurst]

can we have a mini series for the sun and the moon ??? :(

Summary: if you were the moon, Yuji the sun, Megumi the stars, then Satoru was like the earth

A/n: hi anon! hope you like this small conti of my first post. maybe if I can think of another part I'll make a pt 3. this actually turned out to be heavier angst than what I was originally planning (I apologize in advance) I'll say it again: major spoilers for JJK that won't be covered by the anime (yet. probably season 3)

Warning(s): spoilers for the second season (the start of the Shibuya arc), as well as manga chapters 136+, mental breakdown(on readers part ig), megumi's unrequited feelings brought up again, misdirected anger and all-around messy feelings

A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon. As the Moon orbits, it falls into the Earth's shadow, which causes it to temporarily darken or change colors.

'How did all of this happen?' you think to yourself. There's a stillness in the air as you hug your knees closer to your body, trying to hide from the cruel and unforgiving world.

People mindlessly stand around you, an after-effect of being hit by Satoru's domain expansion. Their eyes roll into the back of their heads, and grumbles of nothing slip past their lips. But, you don't pay any mind to them. Not when you're trying to soak up the residues of Satoru's cursed technique, the last things left of him.

The crater left by Satoru seems to keep you tied to the ground. The scatterbrained people, spilled blood, dead, twisted corpses left behind by that patch-face curse, and the insurmountable damage don't mean anything to you. Not when Satoru's been ripped out of your life.

".....!......"

".....y.....!"

"...y/...!...."

"...y/n-chan...!"

You lift your head, eyes blank and body feeling so heavy, to see Iori. Her shoulders rise and fall as heavy breaths escape her, and you wonder where she came from. Her hair's disheveled, a good representation of the shit show that just went down in Shibuya.

Her mouth moves as she speaks, but nothing seems to be heard. Her hand touches the side of your head, and it's covered in red when she pulls back. Oh, so that's why you can't hear very well; you probably had some severe head damage.

The next couple of moments pass in a flash as you let her pull your body up from the ground and out of that forsaken train station. Everything's hazy as your eyes take in the damage down to the city: buildings destroyed, ash basically covering every, blood that's seemed to dry up and turned an ugly brownish-red, and bodies littering the ground.

"y/n!" Yuji says, his voice full of relief as he rushes towards you. His hands quickly come up to cradle your face as he inspects the new scar underneath your right eye. His eyes shine with a bright reassurance at the fact that you weren't killed in Shibuya. It doesn't take long for his oh-so-bright smile to reach his face as he quickly wraps his arms around you, burying his face into your hair to seek comfort.

Megumi stands some ways back as he watches Yuji gush all over you. A heavy pain fills his heart, but it's quickly replaced with relief that you're okay. He steps towards you, and places a hand on your head and says a quiet welcome to you.

You'd break down right about now if it weren't for the fact that your eyes land on a tall, blonde woman seated on the couch. Yuji and Megumi are pushed away in a blur as you quickly grab Yuki by her collar.

A nasty sneer makes it to your face as you glare at her. A destructive aura surrounds you as a vein pops out from your neck. As quick as you were to move, the others in the room swiftly tried to de-escalate the situation.

"y/n! Calm down! She's here to help us!" Yuji says, his hand coming to place itself on your shoulder.

"Help us? Where the fuck was she when all of your friends were dying, huh?" you spit back, eyes never leaving Yuki's as her face turned blank. "Where the fuck were you?" you repeat. "You're a goddamn special grade sorcerer, and yet the only time you fucking show up is after everyone's dead? You fucking slacker."

Your words cause a heavy shift in the room as everyone listens to your tear into Yuki. They all know it's not her who you're mad at, but it's easier to let you lay all your anger into her.

"We're going to go see Tengen-sama," is all she says as she removes your hand from her shirt, quickly rising to her feet and being the first one to leave the basement where you've all sought shelter.

Yuta (ever the good upperclassman) takes a soft step towards you as he ruffles your hair. "I know it's tough, y/n-chan," he tries to comfort.

But instead of thanks in return, all he gets is a scoff of disgust as you turn to look at him with an indescribable look in your eyes. With a suffocating gaze, you move to follow after Yuki. "The only thing she can do for now is give herself up as tribute when it's time for someone else to die," is all you say, your back facing everyone.

'No! No! No!' is all Yuji thinks as he watches you walk out of the basement. This cruel world can't take away your soft smiles from him. Your kind eyes, warm embrace, and ever-radiant warmness! You are supposed to be his shining moon that he looks to for solace, a safe place where he doesn't have to carry the burdens he's been cursed with.

He's stuck in place before Megumi knocks his arm with his elbow and tells him to follow. With a grave heart, he obeys, hoping (no, praying) that this is just a phase, and you'll go back to the girl he loves.

[koushirouizumi]

{D i g i m o n} Adventure 02: The Beginning ~ Official Images {"The Beginning' stills were added to the official DM_Partners account + site!}

+ Hikari at the childhood education center + Iori actively using the P.C {to S e a r c h up i n f o}.... + Daisuke + V-mon {seen as well from previous preview[s]}

#The Beginning Spoilers #TheBeginningSpoilers #Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning Spoilers #DigimonSpoilers

{Do Not Remove C a p t i o n} (Please A S K to U s e / S h a r e!)

[hurpdurpburps]

Otherside Picnic Manga Yuri Club Special Story 6 English Translation

SPOILER WARNING: Takes place immediately after the events of File 6 - Resort Night at the Beach of the End in Vol 2 of the novels.

Written by: Miyazawa Iori

Translated by: @hurpdurpburps

-

Chapter 6: Ishigaki Island, A Dazed Vacation [1]

The hotel room was air-conditioned and comfortable.

It was mid-afternoon, with the sun almost directly overhead. Although the glaring sunlight outside our windows was so bright that it was almost painful, it didn’t reach the inside of the room. With the lights off, the room felt dim, as if cut off from the rest of the world.

We were in a hotel room at a resort on Ishigaki Island.

Toriko and I were laying on a large bed, dazed.

We’d barely escaped the beach on the Otherside that we’d wandered into from the outskirts of Naha, and ended up on the faraway island of Ishigaki. On the verge of a mental breakdown, we’d impulsively fled to a resort hotel on the island in search of a place to relax.

The walk-in rates for our room was expensive, but I wasn’t in a position to point that out. We were in desperate need of some rest and refreshment.

We were doing fine immediately after our return from the beach on the Otherside, but as time passed and the tension that had been building up for so long was released, our condition deteriorated.

I suppose you could consider it a state of collapse. The shock we’d experienced from the Otherside was probably too much to bear. Somehow we had managed to check in, but I barely remembered anything afterwards. I was sure we’d entered the room and collapsed onto the bed... I couldn't remember anything after that. Everything felt like a fragmented dream, but I most likely simply blacked out.

It was already late morning when I woke up... After visiting the bathroom and drinking some water, I returned to bed, neither speaking nor thinking about anything.

Although it would’ve been more accurate to say I wasn’t capable of thinking about anything. A few hours had passed since then before I was finally able to take stock of our situation and put it into words.

"Are you awake?" I asked, my voice husky.

Toriko groaned in response as she stared at the ceiling.

"Good morning."

"Mmmm…" Toriko cleared her throat and repeated herself. "Good morning..."

"Are you going to sleep a little longer?"

"Dunno..."

And that was the end of our conversation.

We continued laying in bed, dazed. Toriko was on her back, staring at the ceiling. I rested my head against the headboard on a pillow, looking at the wall across us.

I could hear the gentle sound of waves beyond the windows.

Occasionally, I could hear people's voices coming from somewhere outside. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but they seemed to be laughing happily.

Come to think of it, we were at a resort. If we got up and went downstairs, there’d surely be tons of fun stuff to do.

And yet here we were, simply lazing in our room, wasting our time away in the shade and air conditioning, doing nothing. I knew better, but had no desire to do anything at all.

Depending on how you look at it, this might actually be the most extravagant way to spend time at a resort - staying put in a comfortable place, resting our body and mind, in a tropical location [2]…

Little by little, I could feel my ability to think return, but it was still a far cry from my normal state of being. Just remembering the scene on the beach, that deep blue sky above our heads-

I suddenly felt faint, and when I had finally regained consciousness, the clock had moved forward by about twenty minutes.

This is no good, I have to stop thinking about it. It’s bad for my brain.

I shook my head and lowered my gaze.

At some point, Toriko had decided to use my thigh as a pillow. Her long hair spread out messily on the sheets. She was sleeping on her side, so I couldn't see her face.

Perhaps in contrast with the bright sunlight outside, the inside of the hotel room was tinged with blue, as if it’d been passed through a filter. Toriko's golden hair appeared dull in the desaturated scene around us, and it felt as if I’d stumbled into a tranquil scene from a movie.

Without thinking, I reached out and stroked Toriko's head.

Toriko made no reaction. Facing away from me, she accepted my touch as if it were the most natural thing to do.

I had the sudden realisation that we’d missed our college classes, but I suppose it couldn’t be helped.

It was impossible for us to return right away, due to both time and distance.

I didn’t feel like rushing home immediately. Neither of us had recovered yet.

How many days did we intend to stay when we checked in?

We haven't been asked to check out by this point, so I don't think It’s just one night.

I'll confirm it later... It’s fine for now. I don't have the energy to think about such things.

But I'm starting to get hungry-

As if on cue, I heard Toriko's stomach growl just as the thought crossed my mind.

I waited until I had the energy to speak, then said, "You must be hungry."

"Mmn…" Toriko replied.

"Do you want to eat something?"

"Where...?"

“Dunno. The hotel must have a restaurant or something, right?"

"Or room service…"

"That sounds good too." My stomach started to growl just as I said that.

This time, it was Toriko’s turn to say it. “You must be hungry.”

The both of us burst into a fit of laughter.

It seemed strange that our stomachs were the first to complain, even though we hadn't fully recovered yet.

TL Notes

General note: I adopted a more 'literary' prose style to match the tone of the novels. Hence, the translation in this series will be significantly more liberal than my usual analytical posts. Feel free to ask me anything.

[1] The title of this short story is 石垣島、呆然のリゾート, which can be translated literally as “Ishigaki Island, Stunned Resort”, which makes no sense, so I made a more liberal interpretation.

[2] The term used here is 南国, which refers to Southern regions of Japan such as Wakayama, Kōchi, Kyushu and Okinawa, or even Hawaii and Guam in a 南洋幻想 context. Anyways, the gist of it is that due to the ‘tropical island’ connotations that come with 南国, I decided to translate this line as such.

List of Yuri Club's Otherside Picnic Short Stories [my translations]:

1. Shinjuku, The First Meet-Up (新宿、初めての待ち合わせ)

2. Hasshaku-sama Epilogue (八尺様エピローグ)

3. Ochanomizu, The First Afterparty (お茶の水、初めての打ち上げ)

4. Ikebukuro, Cafe Meal For One (池袋、ひとりカフェ飯)

5. Naha, After The Big Job (那覇、大仕事の後)

6. Ishigaki Island, A Dazed Vacation (石垣島、呆然のリゾート)

7. Mercedes AMG, The Backseat (メルセデスAMG、後部座席)

8. Otherworldly Elevator, On The Way Back (異世界エレベーター、帰路)

9. Kozakura Mansion, Pizza Party (小桜屋敷、ピザパーティー)

10. Ikebukuro Bookstore, Meet Up (池袋の書店、待ち合わせ)

11. Hannou, In The Car From The Station (飯能、駅からの車中)

12. TBD

[avataramy]

when did it end?

— finding comfort after tragedy

paring: gojo satoru x gender neutral reader

contents: established relationship w satoru; reader is a teacher/sorcerer at jujutsu high too; reader is best friends/grew up in the same class with sashisu; this takes place a few days/a week after the night parade/suguru’s death

warnings: angst, i guess? and terrible writing lmfaooo also not proofread 😮‍💨

a/n: i was listening to what was i made for by billie eilish on repeat while writing this so i suggest the same! especially the part where it says “when did it end?//all the enjoyment//i’m sad again//don’t tell my boyfriend” 😭😭😭 also i haven’t written anything in YEARS so please don’t flame me for this! 😭😭😭

it was early one morning, maybe a week or so after the night parade of a hundred demons. you had barely gotten any sleep since then and tonight wasn’t an exception. after tossing and turning all night, you decided to sit out on a grassy courtyard at jujutsu high and watch the sunrise. in a few hours you’d have to get ready for your students, today was supposed to be the first day back. you sat in silence mulling over today’s lesson plans when you heard satoru’s voice from across the courtyard. “oi! what’re you doin’ out here so early?” he sauntered over and plopped down next you. you look over at him. he wasn’t wearing his blindfold so you could see his bright, crystal blue eyes. they were tired and red underneath. you looked back up at the sky. “couldn’t sleep. you?” he nods, looking up at the sky too, “same.”

you two sat in silence, enjoying each other’s company. the birds were waking up and flying over head. he breaks the silence, asking “you ok?” you chuckle, “i’m barely keeping it together.” you looked at him, “you?” he tenses up but sighs, relaxing and laying down in the grass. “nah…not all,” he finally says. you nod, looking back up at the sky.

a moment of silence passes again.

“do you remember when would escape our dorms the 4 of us and make midnight trips to the 7-eleven?” satoru asked quietly. you bring your knees to your chest, hugging and resting your chin on them. you smile fondly, remembering those memories, “yeah…sometimes we’d drag kento and yu with us. iori and mei too.” satoru continued, “shoko would make suguru buy her cigarettes since he looked older than all of us.” “the cashier definitely knew we were all underage but he was too scared of suguru to tell him no,” you laughed, feeling tears prick the corners of your eyes. “and then we would just sit outside the store, laughing and talking until the sun started to rise. we would have to race back to the school, to our dorms before yaga would notice we were gone,” you said as you wiped away your tears. “somehow you and suguru would always get caught by him!” “heh, yeah,” satoru laughed. “man…those were the days.” satoru looked over to you, noticing you were crying. he sat up, concerned. you noticed him staring at you and tried to turn away from him. “oh sorry, i think it’s my allergies,” you said, voice slightly shaky. “(y/n),” he said softly. “it’s nothing, i’m fine i promise,” you say, voice cracking again. satoru sighs, placing his legs on either side of you and bringing you into his arms, turning off his limitless. you sob silently, leaning against him. “it’s not fair. we were all so young. we didn’t deserve to experience what we did so young. why did the higher-ups force us to go do missions filled with so much danger?” you say between sobs. “i know,” satoru says, rubbing your back. “why did riko have to die? why did yu have to die? why did suguru have to do what he did? did he not know he could’ve relied on us if he was feeling lost?” you cry loudly. satoru pressed his lips on the top of your head, closing his eyes. tears fell down his cheeks. you two cried in each others arms as the sky turned shades of orange and pink, mourning the loss of your youth, of your friends, of your happy memories.

“satoru…i’m tired,” you whispered after awhile. all of your pent up emotions had toppled over and tired you out, both physically and mentally. “me too,” he whispered, against your hair. you pull away and placed a tender hand on his wet face. “let’s go to bed, yeah?” you say. he nods, kissing your temple again. you stand up, leaning against him. you wrap your arms around each other, walking to the dorms. he brings you to the room, pulling you into bed with him. he sends yaga a quick message, stating to cancel classes today, that you weren’t feeling good and he was taking care of you for the day. you laid down, facing each other, arms still wrapped around each other. he brings you in close, kissing your forehead and resting his chin on top of your head, closing his eyes. you close your eyes and finally fall asleep, listening to each other’s soft breathing, hoping tomorrow would be a better day.

[seasidefallenangel]

take me down into your paradise 𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪

summary: spicy headcanons for kanata + iori

✣ his entire life, kanata has avoided physical contact with anyone with isn’t nayuta. getting him to hug and kiss you was a herculean task as is,  so it’s going to be quite some time before he’s comfortable enough to have sex - and even then he’ll act like it was 100% your idea and he wants no part in it.

✣ it’s not so much he’s disinterested in sex rather that he’s unfamiliar with the desire in the first place. he’s been so laser focused on survival his whole life that he never had the luxury to become invested in relationships and he certainly wouldn’t even bother with a one night stand.

✣ which means that the first time you sleep together, you’ll have to guide him without making it explicitly obvious you’re doing so. you know he’s inexperienced, and he knows he’s experienced, but he’ll turn bitchy if it’s brought up. 

✣ despite his lack of sexual history, kanata knows what he wants. and he is mean. he’s inherently kind of an asshole in general, and it only increases tenfold when he’s in a situation where he’s showing vulnerability. his hand rarely leaves your neck - cutting off your airflow every time you clench around him in a way that sends his mind haywire or when you look at him a little too affectionately with those lovelorn eyes. 

✣ kanata will never outright tell you what kinks he has, but it’s easy to figure out. he’s a biter for sure, his fang sinking into the junction of your neck and drawing the slightest bit of blood. he’ll mutter a half-assed “sorry” and lick the wound before dragging his teeth across and nipping then repeating the process again. 

✣ on the flip side, he dislikes overly flowery praise. rather than you telling him it feels good, he thinks you being unable to even speak coherently is a better compliment. he won’t whisper any sweet nothings to you either and instead opts to degrade you for being too loud, too annoying, for feeling far too incredible wrapped around his cock.

✣ as someone with a lot of pent up anger, kanata rarely finds healthy outlets to blow off some steam, and even then it’s not like he can do much with you when he lives with nayuta. so don’t be surprised when he shows up at your house in the middle of the night after a shitty day, not even letting you get a word in as he forces your door open and roughly grabs your jaw between his thumb and forefinger before angrily pressing his lips to yours ; as if it was somehow your fault that his errand for iori got fucked up. 

✣ not only is he too young for kids but he’s not nearly emotionally mature enough to raise one, especially not where him and nayuta live right now. he knows this, yet every time he swears to himself he’ll pull out it gets shoved to the back of his mind when he sees the creamy ring around the base of his cock from your repeated orgasms. from there, everything is a haze as his hips meet yours at a near animalistic pace.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

“would it kill you to shut the fuck up?” 

kanata’s voice is a sharp growl as he harshly thrusts his hips against your aching cunt. every tear that slides down your cheeks pisses him off even more while also causing the burning in his chest to grow larger. he loves you - he’s sure of it - but he prefers to fuck you like he hates you. he doesn’t have to deal with how precious you look beneath him when he’s spitting out words of cruelty. 

his lips meet yours in a rushed kiss and when you obediently open your mouth to let his tongue in, he can’t help but tighten the grip he has on your bruised neck. he’s so lucky to have you and he can’t stand it, it’d be so much easier if you just left him behind. but he knows you won’t, and he’d be an idiot to leave something so perfect, so he supposes he’ll have to do with ramming into you until you’re a babbling mess. 

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

✣ iori is a self proclaimed lover and not fighter, emphasis on the lover. (don’t believe him - he’s both.) he’s been around the block a few times but nothing permanent, moreso something to let off steam before going back to his hectic life. he swears up and down he’s done and over with seeking out flings now that he has you, not that you doubted him. on the bright side it means he’s more than skilled enough to properly take care of you in bed.

✣ a service top more than anything else. he’ll make sure you cum at least twice before he can even humor relieving himself, stating that your blissed out expression is ten times more satisfying than any orgasm he could have. he relishes in every overstimulated cry you let out and has half a mind to record it to listen to on repeat alone in his office.

✣ speaking of his office, simply seeing you walk through the door is enough to get him going. you’re not one of his hostesses but the idea entices him deeply no matter how taboo the “boss and employee” relationship dynamic might be. he lets his imagination run a little wild as he pins your arms to the top of his desk, gently gliding his finger over your clothed pussy. a self-satisfied smirk adorns his face while he coos at how easily you adhere to his whims and how maybe he can hire you. he has confidence that you’d rake in absurd amounts of cash but the idea of any other man admiring what belongs to him makes him a little antsy ; there’s no way his patrons wouldn’t walk out with a broken wrist for the lightest touch on your body so that idea is quickly thrown out the window.

✣ he hides his cruelty under the guise of adoration. your tears are the quickest way to get iori hard and the second he sees that misty look in your eyes as you orgasm from his fingers, he’s giving you no time to recover before harshly shoving his cock in. don’t believe his apologies ; that fanged smile he gives you tells you that he’d do it over and over again just to hear the way you whimper.

✣ iori eats pussy like it’s the last thing he’ll ever do - the type to say “thank you for the meal” before burying his face in your cunt for the next half hour. his eyes rarely look down, instead opting to stare up at the way you writhe for him and beg him to slow down, stop, let you breathe - none of which he listens to. it’ll be worth it in the end when you’re nice and prepped for him, so be a good girl and take it, okay?

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

the ache in your legs only grows stronger as iori pushes your thighs past their limit for the sole purpose of eating you like a five course meal. his tongue dips and swirls into every possible spot he can reach, only coming up for a moment to nip at your thigh and look at you with a shit-eating grin.

“yanno, if you knew how good you taste, ya’d spend as much time down here as me,” is all he offers before diving back in, not planning on letting you go until his face is covered in your slick and you’re a trembling mess beneath him.

[kaibutsushidousha]

Fitting given the recent FGO news, but what are your thoughts on Takeru?

Bundling all these asks together because they're inseparable. Probably the biggest askbox cleanup I ever did in one go.

The short version of the answer is "Fate/Samurai Remnant is the story of a pair completely enamored with each other's least favorite parts of themselves."

Saber was a complete natural. A child too strong. His father quickly noticed that and exploited Ousu as Yamato's mightiest colonizer. All they knew in life was violent conquest until Tachibana taught them love and kindness. But Tachibana was uncritical. She didn't talk Takeru out of their bloody path. On the contrary, she chose death so that the walk would continue. She loved Takeru's good and bad alike.

Through Iori, Saber met a new world. A world where the weak had the option not to fight. A world where rice was easily accessible. A world that had no need for Yamato Takeru's journey, thus no need for Ototachibanahime's death. And there he met an intriguing man who still wanted to fight in a world where this wasn't needed.

In their interactions, Saber grows to envy Iori's rational acclimation to the peaceful Edo. The ability to find solutions that don't require violence. To strategize conversations. To not do things aren't virtuous. To sympathize and empathize. To read and understand the thoughts of others. It's by emulating this that Saber changes.

Meanwhile, Iori is a thinker. His exceptional rationality allowed him to weasel his way out of a village massacre, which lasted until Munenori inadvertently saved his life. After this whole time desperately using his brain to survive, Iori witnessed the easy way out. With a slash that looked like the moon, the sword saint survived without resorting to Iori's tiresome trickery. That absolute strength was the symbol of survival Iori saught.

He learned from Musashi (and Kojirou) for as long as he could, but ultimately couldn't learn all. Without completing Niten's lessons, Iori was left capable only of doing what he does best: thinking, reading, and adapting. He designed his Five Stances model and began fighting by switching patterns according to his circumstances. The opposite of the all-purpose survival mechanism that he began his training for.

Through Saber, Iori saw his original inspiration. Right in the prologue, Iori is already gushing about how Saber fights with the swordplay of a champion who doesn't read or respond to their opponent, letting only themself dictate how they fight, like they were the only one in the field. Saber can survive any situation with far less effort than Iori.

In their interactions, Iori grows to envy Saber's force of character as an unmalleable force. Their outstanding technique is just like the moon he saw at the night at the port. Iori can't feel at peace until he surpasses it. No matter how much of himself he must trim down, he needs to find raw all-purpose power (the Fire and Void Stances). Saber's ability to push through any challenge without as much as evaluating it. It's by emulating this that Iori changes.

The conclusion of Entreat the Darkness sees Iori defeated by Saber's successful read of him. The talentless Iori continuously relied on his "petty" tactic of studying his opponent, so when the talented Saber started pulling the same thing on him, it was so thoroughly hopeless that he had to laugh it off and accept he got as far as he could. Iori was pacified by his own lessons being repeated to him by the person who heartfeltly absorbed them, in classic Ciel route style.

Saber and Iori were born in the wrong eras. The latter would have been more self-assured in an age where he could prove and elevate himself in duels that put the limits of life and death to the test. The former would have been more happy in an age where they could feel assured their treasured companion(s) would last as long as they did.

But through the short time they shared, they got everything they wanted. Iori found satisfaction in finding that insurmountable that confirmed that he became the very best he could possibly be. Saber found satisfaction in gaining a companion through a much more gratifying journey than the unification of Japan.

The logical conclusion to my opening sentence is that Saber and Iori had the missing pieces to each other's puzzle, and sharing those made both of them whole.