#so junko gets more eating scenes

[aparticularbandit]

you know.

for all that i talk about junko being super thin.

junko had a lot of eating scenes in oaei and ryoko's had all of one in oafc and keeps throwing up so maybe junko's not the super thin one here.

[batw1nggg]

hi!! odd request could you explain why komahina isnt toxic

IVE BEEN MEANING TO MAKE A POST ABOUT THIS ANON !!!! u read my mind ….. so the reason why i dont consider komahina to be true and real toxic yaoi is because theyre intended to be mutually healing for each other.

their main, striking similarity is their upholding of danganronpa’s harmful societal values on talent. a theme throughout their interactions is komaeda explicitly stating a subconscious belief hajime has and then hajime denying that there’s any similarities in their belief system — everything komaeda says about the inferiority of the talentless is something hajime has always believed, just in a less self aware way. they both end up essentially killing themselves (komaeda in a more literal manner, hajime with the kamukura project) to become something bigger, something worth being called the ultimate hope, because they believe their talent status gives their life no meaning and they feel they have to “make up” for it. theyve always been similar; one sees the other in the things he hates about himself.

this is why, when they fall in love, it’s so groundbreaking for their respective arcs. in realizing the similarities in their belief system, hajime becomes more self aware about how stupid his insecurities are. hajime is able to break komaedas worldview by being talentless and inspiring hope/being an equal to his talented peers from 77b, and this makes komaeda realize that, because they are so similar, HE can do that too (side note makoto does this first when he kills junko, but komaeda knows hajime personally/saw hajimes development play out firsthand so its more effective). they feed into each other’s development and are able to grow from it.

they’re not really framed with much toxicity, and you can especially see this with allllll the visual parallels theyre given by the end of the anime. the juxtaposition of hajime grabbing komaedas junko arm to help him out of the pod and hajime grabbing komaedas prosthetic arm to help him onto the boat (paired with the line “let’s set off, in the name of hope”) symbolizes how interconnected hajime is to komaeda’s arc — his journey from old arm to new arm, from despair to hope to future. (and then theres the scene where hajime ditches ghost chiaki for komaeda too. and u see them eating with each other in the credits.) if they were intended to be toxic, they wouldnt have ended on that note.

and THENNNN theres also the fact that hajime’s really the only person capable of loving komaeda, in the beginning. hajime cant get struck down by komaedas luck, because hajimes the only one with ult luck powerful enough to counter komaedas. their lucks cancelling each other out is a concept stressed by the anime with the kamukoma gun scene. he’s also the only person with the guts to put in the effort to UNDERSTAND komaeda, a concept stressed in komaedas FTEs. hes the first person that physically can, and the first person thats made the effort. this is groundbreaking for komaeda.

theyre not toxic, they just go through a little angst period that ends up being resolved in the end. hajimes confusion towards komaeda and komaedas confusion towards hajime was necessary, they HAD to figure each other out because in doing that they learn something about THEMSELVES. that process comes with some angsting that is often mistaken for toxicity. of course they cant start dating mid killing game, THAT would have be pretty toxic, because a killing game is not a breeding ground for romance. this is why komahina never canonically starts dating - the time frame doesnt cover enough time for that. but they get two love confessions and the whole first fte is explicitly romantic.

[sprinklenoodles]

I'm so tired right now. Is 10pm at the time of sending this on my end. I DID IT THOUGH!!! Woooo. Since there are two, my blabbering won't be as long though.

Chapter 2 is the reason why there are two of them here. Would have sent yesterday on my end but I struggled so hard on the composition here. Like, I blanked the minute there was more than 3 people. This is what I get for not looking up a reference T-T. Also, I just had no clue what to do with Leon's outfit. Like, looked references of the pre-despair pics. Like, the photos. He never wears his school uniform though!! Like, he's just allergic to it I guess. It's just so close to his og clothes in canon though so I didn't wanna just draw that. So, I tried a balance? Who knows. Maybe he just slipped on the uniform jacket cus it was closer than his regular jacket and he was just too tired to change out of it for the day. I dunno though!

For chapter 3, this one was also a bit of a struggle since no matter what I did, I felt Chihiro didn't quite look right. Also, as you can tell, I drew Chihiro getting the hairs all ruffled. It was too cuuuuuute!! I loved that so much. That scene was adorable and also illustrated the nueance of these "mean" students. Like, I could gush more about the fic but I am just too tired unfortunately. Another thing to note that I wish to state here is that I was unsure how I should have posed Junko. I won't lie. Her posing isn't as good as it was in the first drawing. I did try and just play around with her outfit though. I liked the idea of her wearing a new bow each time cus she just has that kind of money to have each bow be different since she's just extra like that. Also, I am so sorry for what became of Byakuya's torso. It just became mush cus he's in the middle and I drew him last ;-; I'm glad I got Makoto in here though this time! He's just lost. And I totally didn't even bother to draw the troublesome trio's lunch cus I just had no clue what they'd eat. I am bad with that stuff. All I know is bad quality American school lunches and it shows -_-

AHHHH!!! Thank you!!! They're both sooo awesome!

Really love how happy Sayaka just is in that first picture. Like, they're discussing sorta serious things and she's just like "new friend!"

And the way u drew the second picture is sooo cute! Love the fact that Junko had a different hairstyle this time around- she would so be like that!!

[sweepweep]

@bonsaa actually asked for me to continue my Kamukura Project ramblings and I’ve never been more thrilled, this gives me a great excuse to continue.

Continuing with the idea of how marvelously fucked up the Project was in the first place: the project was sketchy from the start. For one, I’m pretty sure Hajime’s parents were NOT aware of it at all. If they were, they either would’ve 1: signed Hajime away to it, not giving him a choice. Or 2: disagreed with it and also would’ve not given him the choice. The fact that the chairman ASKED Hajime whether or not he’d come to a decision shows this.

There was also the fact that whatever Hajime signed was a blatant lie. Going into the building after he’d agreed to it, Hajime says that he’ll become someone Chiaki could be proud of, someone with a talent. He was convinced that HE would be coming out of it, same person, same personality, just with a talent. If he was told that he would’ve been erased, he wouldn’t have done it. Why? Because if he came out a different person, the whole “Chiaki can be proud of” thing would be for nothing.

So of course, now we’re at the point and time for the start of the surgeries. Izuru has super strength and super speed. That has to have been given to him while he was still Hajime. Because if they created Izuru with average human abilities, THEN given him speed and strength, Izuru would’ve figured out what he was before the scientists got a chance to use him as intended. Just imagine that. Hajime is told he’ll be going into the first surgery to get a talent. He comes out of it and now has to function in a completely different and strange body. He goes to pick up a fork to eat and accidentally mangles it. That sounds like an exaggeration, but Izuru threw Junko and Mukuro across the room by flicking his wrist. Izuru was “born” with abilities like that so it would’ve been normal to him. Hajime on the other hand, then would’ve had to adapt from what he was used to.

And you can’t just erase someone’s entire existence in one surgery. The scientists and doctors probably cut off all of his contact with the world so that he didn’t have any reminder of who he was. They probably referred to him as Izuru Kamukura throughout the process to condition his mind to respond as if it was his name. On that note, Izuru was described as a “super weapon” and a “tool for hope”. That is objectification. The scientists probably didn’t consider Hajime or Izuru human. I can imagine they referred to him as an object, not only so that Izuru would think of himself as a weapon for Hope’s Peak (sure that was a lot of it), but also to clear their own consciousnesses. It would’ve been a lot easier for them to think about preforming a lobotomy on a non-human object than on a person.

And of course we all saw the room Izuru was kept in. They probably kept Hajime in the same room so that 1: he didn’t have any self-reminders. And 2: so that Izuru would be more likely to consider it his room when he was created. We saw from Chiaki’s death scene that Izuru kept some of Hajime’s feelings, so if Izuru considered that empty box his room, he’d be less likely to want something more habitable, as he’d be used to it.

And when it comes to the surgical procedures themselves, I did a little digging on sedatives. Just going to start off by saying that Hope’s Peak probably didn’t fully sedate him, in hopes of increasing pain tolerance. But what I found, was that many even heavily sedated patients are award of their surroundings. It’s recommended people talk to them because they can hear and comprehend what they are hearing. The only issue being, they can’t respond. Now when working with sedated patients, the doctors will close the patient’s eyes and put something over them. If you look at Hajime just as he’s going into the final surgery, his eyes are not covered. He was probably listening and seeing as the doctors spoke about what they planned on doing. And while it would’ve gotten fuzzy when they started on his brain, sedated patients have spoken about how they remember a lot, but just chalked it up to a vivid hallucination or nightmare. So Izuru would’ve retained a lot of that.

Keeping with the topic of sedation and awareness, we’re going to circle back to the muscle and body modifications Hajime would’ve had to go through. Everyone talks about his main lobotomy scar on his head, but Izuru came out of everything super strong and fast. Post-Neo World Hajime wouldn’t have just had a scar wrapping around his head, but so many along every muscle in his body. Reminder that Izuru took down the SHSL Soldier with a wrist flick. Imagine the modifications that would’ve had to have been done to allow him to do that. Post-Game Hajime would’ve had scars all over his body, accompanied by memories of the slicing done to get them.

Now during the surgery, once Hajime realized that they planned on erasing him, or even when they cut off his contact with everything and everyone he knew, he would’ve tried to fight back. He fought the Ultimate Boxer as a Reserve Course Student. Being even stronger (and knowing that) he wouldn’t have wanted to stick around for long, so why not use his new strength to just fight his way out. The scientists would’ve known about this and put him on a crap ton of mood-changers to keep him remotely cooperative. His food was probably drugged left and right, and that along with the entire project would’ve led to a truck-load of trust issues that would take years to undo.

Thanks for listening to my hyperfixated ramble. I wish I could finish my WIPs with this kind of dedication.

Original post

[starlightshadowsworld]

The scene where Kirigiri reveals her talent.

Except Makoto is feeling petty and rather unhinged.

What with the attempted murder and everything.

... Everything...

And bored, cos nothing bores a guy like almost dying and than slowly starving in a rubbish pit.

So Makoto's just like... Nu uh.

Puts on the sweetest smile he can muster.

Makoto: Wow Kirigiri... I'm really sorry to dampen your moment. But you're not the Ultimate Detective, I am.

Kirigiri: What?! That's impossible, I'm the Ultimate Detective.

Makoto: was friends with all his former classmates, including Junko. He learned a few things.

Are you though? From what I see, I've been the one investigating the bodies, taking the lead in the trials and bringing the murderers into light.

Kirigiri: I... I won't deny you've made a lot of contributions but that doesn't mean-

Makoto: I know it's a lot to take in, but I had to keep it a secret lest the mastermind tried to kill me.

And you saw what happen... What with Sayaka getting killed in my room and now me getting attacked while sick and injured. The trial ending so soon... It was all to get rid of me.

Kirigiri: That's true but... You can't be...

Makoto: I'm so sorry, I wanted to tell you but I didn't think you'd take it well... Especially because I kinda stole your talent and pretended it was mine to avoid suspicion.

Kirigiri: What?! No, no... No I can't, I can't have such a use-... That kind of talent!

Makoto: any remorse he felt fades away I knew if I had my real talent I'd be instantly singled out as a threat. But I couldn't stand by and let this stuff happen knowing I had the ability to stop it.

You couldn't remember your talent but I used my deductive reasoning to figure it out. And so I pretended it was mine with no one the wiser.

Kirigiri: That's not possible! I'm a Kirigiri, it's in my blood to be a detective! How do you explain my findings, my investigation!

Makoto: I was impressed you did amazing. Better than I thought you'd do. But correct me if I'm wrong, you found your clues at the bodies, in the same places everyone was looking.

You found areas and secrets that others couldn't access but opened themselves to you... And I'm not expert but that sounds like Luck to me.

And, not to sound rude but I kinda figured it all out without your help.

Kirigiri: I...

Makoto: And... I hate to pry into your personal life Kirigiri but... You said you weren't exactly close to your father.

Do you think a man like him would have found it easy to love a child that didn't share his families talent?

Especially being the headmaster of this kind of institution. Imagine if it got out his child was basically untalented.

Kirigiri: stunned into silence

Makoto: internally got ya

Junko: watching from cameras, eating popcorn You can't make this shit up... I've never been more proud in my life. If I win this, you're joining me mister.

[aeymii]

It was like a little bonding moment for Protag!Nagito. The survivors all had a big communal bath, split between boys and girls. And it just felt weirdly nice for him to be hanging out with Kaz and Gundham there, since it made him feel included.

Honestly I imagine lots of moments like that for their AU. Like I've got this one idea where they're actually not immediately saved by the Future Foundation after getting out of the school. And so they go on a little roadtrip with one of Hope's Peak's leftover vans (which they fit as many supplies in as they could). Deciding to stop off at Nagito's house first. Mainly to give him about a week or so to properly heal from the lost arm. But also because it occurs to him that in the post-Apocalypse, money probably isn't as useful for trade as items to barter. And assuming that his house hasn't been ransacked, there's still his dad's old wine cellar that they can use for currency. They think perhaps they might try to find some kind of boat after that, to head to Novoselic in Europe.

It's just like a really quiet "calm before the storm" period. Where they lay him down in his bedroom, while the girls share his parents' old room and the boys share the guestroom. And take turns keeping him company (with Mikan as his main nurse). Just lots of tender FTEs with his classmates, who slowly get a bit more of an idea of what his life was like when they look around his house. Like imagine Mahiru getting a bit of a shock when she sees a photo of a happy kid Nagito, and realizing he didn't always have white hair. He makes a special request that if he doesn't make it, that they please bury him in the spot out back right next to where his dog is buried. They assure him it won't come to that, but promise that they would if it did.

...Also on a less serious, and more morbidly hilarious note, I did have this one funny idea for how Junko potentially died in the AU. Nagito accidentally killed her in a scene reminiscent of Pulp Fiction's bit with Marvin. Carelessly waving around a handgun he believes is empty, with his finger on the trigger while the two get into a big finale debate. Only for the gun to go off and hit her directly in the head, bringing an anticlimactic end to things. Everyone panicking for a moment, Nagito most of all, with him being like "Oh shit, I thought it wasn't loaded!" This whole thing of course being televised.

Hrjsjaiaksnks bonding moment ehehhehehehe, the protage and the bonding<3 AHHH HE FELT INCULDED FOR ONCEE MY BOY!! 💖💖 give him love everyone!!!! Includeee himmmm

OH!! OMG OMG THIS SI AKAZINAG AGHH I LOVE SEEING MOMENTS IN THE APOCALYPSE, The red sky aesthetic and the wastelandd- Oooo an abandoned van!!!! My guy lost his arm yep let em heal, haha money ain't gonna work at the end of the world OHHHHH A TRIP TO NOVOSELIC AHHHH AGRESSIVELY EATS YOUR IDEAS LIKE A DOG WITH RABIES

TAKEN CARE OF BY MIKAN, HE'S IN HEAVEN MIKAN MY ANGEL I LOVE HER SO MUCH<33 ✨✨ And they start to understand him better lemme go sob in the corner this sheet giving me emotional damage- HAPPY NAGIBOY WAHHH THAT'S SO.. beside the dog.. WAHHH THAT'S SO SADDD NOT THE DOGGGG

AHAHAHAHAH HE WAVED AROUND HIS GUN AND WHISTLED UNTIL HE KILLED A RANDOM TEEN AND WENT :0 PFFT, and y'all panicking understandably, and the audience too lol, but bro saved the universe with that!! He did them more good than bad because it's "The Junko" bro deserves some medals and a crown or something ahahah this is so crazy I love every part of it

[lightlycareless]

First, it hurts— Chapter XXIV [part 1]

(part 2)

Naoya Zen’in x Fem!Reader

While arranged marriages are not uncommon in the jujutsu community, it was strange to receive a proposal from none other than the Zen’in’s, nonetheless your clan accepted and before you knew it, you were married off to Naoya.

Your new purpose was clear: to serve and submit, to be seen and not heard. To forget any sense of individuality in favor of obeying your husband.

Will this marriage ever flourish into something else? Will it change…for better or for worse?

Chapter warnings: (most for part 2) slight body-shaming? non-con, mentions of sex, the actual act of sex, mentions of adultery, slut-shaming, fingering (vaginal and anal) slight penetration (anal), misogyny, abuse, mentions of abuse, and a bunch of inner and external struggles 😥

A/N: not much 👀 hi!

Without any further ado, happy reading! 🥰

Masterlist ➸ Chapter 25

Ao3 link.

There are moments when you wake up and the first thing that comes to your attention is the uneasy sensation that something's… different, odd. As if something were preparing to happen, but you're unable to pinpoint it down to anything but… well, your own imagination.

And today seems to be that kind of day.

You try to avoid giving this unfounded worry much space in your mind, for you believe it to be nothing more than the natural aftermath to the emotional agitation of past events, starting with your poisonous cycle of abuse, which developed some kind of anxiety addiction due to the many despondent occurrences you were dragged through upon arrival to the Zen’in estate, to the eventual gracious introduction of Mai and Maki, liberation and closure of your feud with Mariya and finally… the realization of your feelings for Naoaki.

A situation you weren’t able to give much time to think about either, for your initial assumptions gained sturdiness upon seeing the servants frantically running around from one side of the estate to the other, hurrying to complete a task you were ignorant about.

Some were carrying cleaning supplies and incense to clear the ambience of any lingering hunches, while others took care to tend the gardens by cutting off extra branches and withering leaves, turning the whole estate upside down while at it.

Skepticism of something important happening behind the scenes began to cultivate in the back of your mind as you and your ladies—minus Mariya— showed to be equally mystified by the roving staff.

“What has gotten into them today?” Haruko would be the first one to pry as the three made their way towards the kitchen for the first meal of the day.

“Who knows?” Hitomi queried back, skeptically eyeing the few servants that greeted their lady as they passed by. “Termites?”

“...I don’t think so” Haruko shakes her head “It’s getting too cold for them”

“They’re active all-year round, so it might be” Hitomi would correct “What do you think, Lady Y/N? Did Mariya-san tell you anything?”

“No…” you admit, for all that your prime lady-in-waiting had done beside waking you up and getting you ready was to tell you to go ahead and get something to eat while she dealt with something exterior, nothing unusual when it comes to her routine. “But I’m sure Junko-san will keep us up-to-date when we see her”

But not even the austere mother of two was sufficient to give you the clarification you sought after. 

When the mysterious woman approached you to seemingly assign your duties for the day, you were received with the startling directive that you’re to do… nothing.

Nada.

Zero.

Just sit there and… look pretty, for a lack of better words.

Junko also didn’t waste time to inform you that her daughters would be away, to seemingly oversee another angle of their duties—presumably the servitude side of their upcoming lifestyle.

It’s at this point that your assumptions stopped being theories, and rather, foundations of something enigmatic happening underneath their noses.

But unable to dig up any additional information, you begrudgingly agree to play the role of sitting duck and eat breakfast instead.

It felt weird to not have anything to do for the day, which made you wonder… When was the last time you actually had nothing to do? Ever since you arrived at the Zen’in estate… Well, that never seemed to be the case. 

Junko had made sure to drill you down with the same mentality that fast-paced environments proudly carried around, and that is: there is always something to do, something to fix. Whether big or small, it didn’t matter, something always needed to have your attention and it was your responsibility to know what.

You could argue that the most dull days of your life had to be back when you were nothing more than a student at jujutsu high due to an imposed quarantine via exterior forces as well as being the only student in your class that forced you to stand still.

However, the main difference is that even if you carried the deep-seated sensation of uneasiness that has your mind continuously ticking, you knew the reason why back then.

Today, you were left in the dark—and your ladies were not insensitive to it either. 

However, you soon realize that there was no point in ruminating on the unfathomable, and if there is something that your short-lived life has taught you, is that everything will come to the light in due time, thus, you decided to enjoy the fact you had no duties to perform as well as the free time you get to spend with your ladies, now under better circumstances.

“It’s been a while since it’s just been the three of us.” you say as you take another bite of the meal that Haruko prepared for you—a salmon filet, rice, and miso soup— while enjoying the panorama mother nature offered through the camelia garden before you.

“It has.” Hitomi agrees, taking a seat beside you, but not before a random servant that was casually passing by approaches you with a bowl of green apple slices and places them on the tray near you, earning them a mild unamused scowl from your seamstress.

“Good morning Lady Y/N!” the woman greets with a bow and a wide smile on her lips “Such a wonderful morning today, hmm? Be sure to dress appropriately today though, the weather forecast for today is awfully cold, and I would hate it if our beloved lady got sick!”

The servant then vanishes without a word.

“What the…” Hitomi cautions, eyeing the bowl before her and then up to her sister, shooting her a glance that said did you see this?

But her sister wasn’t caught off guard by the servant’s sudden behavior, and not because she wasn’t attentive to it, no, she was all but distracted by this woman’s clear attempt of flattery towards you, but rather… her attention now dwelled on the approaching figure that appeared on the corner of her eye, soon to reveal itself to you and Haruko in a simple matter of seconds.

"I'm here, I'm here!!” Mariya announced breathlessly, agitated for having to rush through the many halls and corridors of this large estate towards your location. 

With hair slightly disheveled and cheeks painted with a vibrant red shade, it's a sight that only adds another layer to her hastiness and commitment, nonetheless, fixable thanks to the nimble swipe of her fingers that put the mislaid locks of dark hair back into place. “Sorry, sorry—that took me longer than I would’ve liked, but I’m here now” 

The sisters blinked, one, two—no, three times out of surprise at their superior’s unusual cursory behavior against her always collected demeanor, believing that she had undergone a trivial task which they were ignorant about, and thus, regretful for not being able to offer their support.

Your mind, however, was in a completely different place thanks to the small… conjugal revelation on one fateful night, leading your face to swap from surprise into one of a mischievous know-it-all that has Mariya squinting her eyes, as if warning you to not start now, Y/N .

You silently chuckle, understanding her message and it seems that your subtle interaction between two ends without much more to say, but not overlooked— certainly not to your perceptive seamstress Hitomi, who has long caught wind of these small back-and-forth jabs between you and Mariya from one day forward, and while she’s glad that your asserted dispute with her is over… she can’t help but wonder how that came to happen.

But regardless of how it came to be, if there was one thing she was absolutely sure of, is that she was happy to see you this comfortable with her, and vice versa. 

You both deserve each other's friendship, it's the least after all the obstacles both had to endure. 

“Ah, these servants…” Mariya comments as soon as she glances over to your tray of food and finds a clustered amount of snacks and drinks grouped alongside the breakfast she knows Haruko to be the sole author behind it. And while it wasn’t the first time she or the sisters had seen offerings of this nature, it doesn't mean they would eventually grow accepting of it. “They’re going to leave us without a job if they keep doing this”

“Should I start looking at applications?” You jest, and Mariya smirks.

“Of course not, Lady Y/N” She responds “I’m confident enough in our skills to defend our positions” she then proceeds to lean down with the intention of separating the items she considers… unnecessary. “However… there is something I want to know—how long has this been going on?” 

Haruko and Hitomi glance at each other and shrug, revealing to be on the same page as Mariya. 

The question now befalls you, and you recoil at their sudden interest, forcing you to plunge into the endless recollections of past days. 

If you have to set a date… it must've been right after you sent the first letter to your sister. 

“For a few days now” you admit “It started out of nowhere, continued on for a few days… but I thought they would stop by now, after all, where do they even get all this food to spare?” Surprisingly, you’re still unable to find a connection between the righteous act of protecting the new hire against Meiko, and the subsequent acceptance of the staff. Maybe because you think it was the right thing to do, thus, not deserving of such exorbitant recognition?

“And where does it go after they give it to you?” Mariya ponders on, and a hot streak of shame spreads across your cheeks.

“Oh—um” You stammer, looking away. It seems like you’ve miscalculated your words, ignorantly showing that you’ve forgotten the fact that your diet was a heavily monitored aspect of your new life, thus, something that your ladies would not be appreciative of you going ahead and foiling their diligent work by eating outside of your planned meals.

The seed of discord was sowed, gaining you a one way trip to their scolding.

“I’ve… eaten some of it—mostly fruit, of course” you attempt to ease the blow “It… shouldn’t be a problem with it, right?”

You don’t even want to think of their reaction if they ever get to know you actually ate a whole box of mochi.

However, as strict as Mariya could be, she’s also very understanding, far more than she lets on actually. And once she catches your inner turmoil via the stammering of your words, she rushes to fix her misunderstanding 

“I’m not angry at you for eating it or not, nor did I intend to shame you for that'' She justifies. After all, she's been on the receiving end of shameless comments regarding her weight, and it’s not of her personal liking, thus, she wouldn’t do unto others what she wouldn’t do unto herself. “I’m just… disapproving of the fact that they’re dumping you with all this food without consideration that it might be too much for you to eat, forcing you to feel some kind of responsibility towards their gesture, or forgetting that if it doesn’t get eaten… it’s just getting thrown away! Seriously, their lack of awareness is outstanding” she groans, rubbing her temples and showing how frustrated this whole topic had her feeling. 

And like clouds after the rain, your nerves start to dissipate. 

It was almost comical that you thought Mariya capable of denouncing you, considering this was the woman that had sought for your well-being since the very first day. You had to be a bit more trusting of her!

Besides, after all was said and done, Mariya was also glad that the servants had finally started to get a liking to you, specially after the small altercation she had with Meiko due to abrupt decision to stop informing her of the upcoming events pertaining the household, as well as the servants deliberately working against her (and subsequently, you…) just to show their solidarity towards the masters,

Junko had been the only one that remained somewhat… cognizant enough to recognize that this was no way to handle a clan and its affairs, if it were to keep on functioning correctly, thus she ignored Meiko's pettiness and kept working with you and your staff.

She'll still have her exceptions of course, just like today. 

And talking about today…

“By the way, do any of you have any idea what’s happening today?” Mariya asks, taking a seat just beside Hitomi, who after the unforeseen distraction with that one servant, finally took her place next to you. “I saw Junko-san a few minutes ago, and all that she told me was to clean your clothes and keep you presentable, Lady Y/N”

“You… don’t know what’s happening?” Haruko fearfully asks, the notion of Mariya, her fountain of knowledge, her go-to person regarding the successions around the estate seemingly going dry… Well, she imagines this must be what being abandoned by god feels like. 

“No… and neither do… you?” Mariya apprehensively asked back, now referring to you.

“No” You shake your head “We saw Junko-san too and asked her about it but… she just told us to not worry about it and, well, do nothing. Apparently all of my duties will be overseen by her so there’s that. Oh! And also told me I wouldn’t be able to see Mai and Maki today. How… strange” you wistfully sigh, and Mariya understands how forlorn you must’ve felt for this notice.

“Must’ve been awful to hear that” Mariya consoles and you nod.

“Ah, well, I can’t hoard all their attention” you attempt to reassure yourself with a chuckle, as well as wanting to avoid thinking about what they were possibly doing right now 'cause you already had an idea it would only get you angrier to discuss it further.

“But they sure can yours!” Haruko’s quick banter manages to pull you out of the solemn pit of Mai and Maki’s absences, making you agree with a laugh. “Gotta give it to you, Lady Y/N. I don’t know how you keep up with them, just by looking at you I get tired!”

“We missed having you around, Lady Y/N” Hitomi suddenly adds, cool and straight to the point as she always was, but with a warm edge that shows her sympathy towards your situation.

If there was one thing this whole situation brought clarity to, is that you were never alone to begin with.

"At one point we wondered if we even had a mistress to care for…" she adds, and you purse your lips together.

“Ah, I know” you lament, ashamed by all the time you mismanaged by placing preferential treatment on the twins (and Naoaki for that matter), naturally leading you to regretfully neglect your staff. But that no longer matters, you’re here now. “I hope you can forgive me”

“All is good , no worries” Haruko dismisses you reassuringly “I’m just surprised, you get along well with them, and they seem to get along with you too. Whenever I tried to approach them, they just ran away from me” She sighs “Oh, let me guess! You were the playful one of your siblings, right? It’s only natural that you would get along with them"

“Hmmm, now that I think about it… I was the one that struggled to keep up with them!” you confess, and you’re suddenly besieged with nostalgia “And not because they were too fast or rougher, or anything like that, although Hinata was always the most athletic of the three of us… but rather, because what they liked was always so… different. In that sense, Mai and Maki get along way better than me and my siblings”

Or from what you've been able to see. They were very contrasting in nature, Maki giving you the impression to be the one always in charge, with Mai simply tagging along. 

Well, either would’ve already complained of this arrangement if it wasn’t to their liking.

But now that you thought about it… why weren’t you able to get along with them in the very beginning?

Conflict often ensued when Ren's preference to listen to music and watch T.V., clashed with Hinata's inclination for outdoor activities. 

You’d be dragged from one activity to the other by both of your siblings, and you’d try to spend equally distributed time between the two so as to avoid one of them feeling less than the other, but since they were so… different from one another, and demanding from time to time, there were occasions more often than not where you wished you could split yourself in three—this way, you would be able to do what they wanted, as well as what you wanted, because even if you were their younger sister, you still were a person of your own.

“I think it’s when we started training in jujutsu that we kind of found a middle ground to spend time together, as well as maturing and realizing that there were better ways to do what we wanted” you muse “Although it wouldn’t take long before it became obvious that Hinata was the most intense out of us when it came to physical training—not even my brother, whose specialty is strength, can compete with her sometimes!” you chuckle. “Maybe that’s why I’m able to keep up with the twins…?”

Haruko doesn’t understand much of jujutsu, what it entails, or even if it’s something to be understood, however, judging by the glimmer in your eye and the grin on your lips, she knows that you’re sharing a memory that brings you great happiness. And wanting to partake in this sentiment, she decides to share an experience of her own.

“Hitomi and I would always get in so much trouble when we were younger” Haruko says “In our case, our mom was the one that had trouble keeping up with us—oh, she always had to apologize on our behalf for all the things we did. Schools hated us, I think we even got secretly banned from one”

“ Huh?! ” Hitomi gasps loudly, causing you to flinch, as if her sister just spewed the most outrageous thing she has ever heard in her life,

And it might as well be  

“What are you talking about? You’re the one that always got me in trouble! I was just there because I tried to stop you from making a bigger fool of yourself, so don’t act like you and I are the same!”

“What do you mean? I clearly remember you following me everywhere, by your own volition must I add!” Haruko counters. “What about the times I took the fall for you?” she snaps back. "Like when you broke mom's vase because you were chasing me??"

“I—I don’t recall such a thing” Hitomi cries back, feeling more offended than before. “Besides, you just proved my point! I was always trailing behind you because I disliked seeing you getting in trouble, and being scolded by our mom, or anyone else for that matter! You like messing up things, I don’t, we’re not the same, we were never the same, so don’t compare yourself to me.” She groans “Besides, why would you even bring this up, if not to embarrass me in front of Lady Y/N? Of all things that you could’ve shared…” she concludes, looking away as to hide the evident change in her now ruby-red face and put an end to this whimsical expose of her sister for once and for all.

“Oh, don’t worry about me at all!” You chuckle, feeling right at home with their interaction. “I know what it is to grow with siblings, so I’m familiar with how they can be. But… it surprised me Hitomi, I never thought you had it in you to be naughty”

“Of course not, Lady Y/N” Hitomi would stammer, fearing that the clean and proper image she worked so hard to maintain for you had been finally stained by her sister's antics, or perhaps… unwilling admittance of her childhood misbehavior? “I mean, I guess I must’ve done something when I was younger, who hasn’t? But I was always a well-behaved child, and my grades were the perfect example of that—I was always the star student”

“Or more like the teacher's pet…” Haruko mumbles under her breath, and you quickly dart towards her, surprised that she’s saying such a thing.

However, seconds pass, and the laughter you’ve been holding on for a while finally comes out to its full splendor, with Haruko soon joining it.

You’re confident enough to understand that Haruko was putting up nothing more than an act just to get a rise out of Hitomi, while the last, would fight back with a play of her own, a pursuit to erase her past and act as if she’d always been the goody-two-shoes she presently claims to be, but it's for naught, for you’ve discovered both’s truth.

Hitomi isn’t amused by your clear demonstration of alliance towards Haruko (or so that’s what she interprets) by the evident icy gaze of judgment in her face, however, this also proves to be nothing more than a ruse, for she's aware enough to not take herself too seriously and make this situation any bigger than it deserves, soon partakes in your cheerful exchange with a giggle.

After all, could they really call each other siblings if they didn’t entertain senseless bickering like this from time to time?

“And what about you, Mariya-san? Were mischief prone?” You muster through chortles and hiccups “Or maybe any siblings that took on that role?” you say, looking now at your main lady-in-waiting, who silently observed the scene unfold before her with a tender smile, only pulling back to reality once she realizes you were now referring to her.

“Oh, no. I was an only child” She reveals with a sigh. You’re unable to define her reaction as one of relief for having the fortune of skipping all these silly affairs when growing up (but still having to deal with them now with Haruko and Hitomi) or mournfully longing for the family she never had the misfortune of having.

“That’s… interesting” You respond, hoping to pull Mariya out of the latter topic “I never really thought about it… but now… it makes sense”

“Why is that? Do I give the impression of being an only child?” Mariya chuckles.

“A little bit” you confess “Only children are supposed to be natural leaders on their own, diligent, independent, as well as considered mature for their age—things that I consider you to be” Hitomi and Haruko nodded along, seemingly in agreement with your descriptions.

“Sounds like something you got out of a magazine, or horoscope” Mariya notes; she doesn’t think that you’re particularly right, since what you described are adjectives that often fall in the realm of generalization (and she believes that taking them might be a bit… presumptuous) but it was still interesting for her to hear your perspective “I never thought you’d be into that”

“Not really, but they’re entertaining!” You added “It’s nice to think that there’s some kind of omnipotent force pulling the strings, kind of gives you the chance to sit back and relax, let the universe do its work—although… I think there is such a thing in the jujutsu world, so… that might not be that far fetched”

“Ooooh, the mystic stuff!” Haruko gasps. Ever since you briefly introduced to the world of jujutsu through your experience back in the library, she has been fascinated about the whole subject and has been wanting to get to know more about it, but there was no one willing to quench her curiosity. Fortunately… her prayers are to be heard right this moment. “Are there like… clairvoyants in your community? Or what’s it called, psychics? Magic crystal balls? Tarot?”

“That’s not… entirely how jujutsu works” You laugh, a common misconception “Although seers were part of the history of jujutsu at one point, with some even being able to talk to the dead”

“Is there even such a thing as horoscopes in your community?” Hitomi asks, quick to gain the understanding that most of the supernatural occurrences happening inside the civilian society to be originated from sorcerers (which they were). Although, just as Mariya, she’s not overly fond of the generalization of the masses by simple coinciding factors, such as birthdays and the alignment of the planets, but that doesn’t mean she can’t indulge in the buoyant thinking of how much the jujutsu world influenced hers.

“...No… I don’t think so? Or maybe there is…” you think, not having really given that topic much thought, since your role as a sorcerer was to exorcise curses and nothing more… “But all that I know about the stars and whatnot come from a magazine I found at a convenience store one time I was hanging out with my friends, we thought it would be fun to see if it was true, or guess which category we fit in”

Satoru suddenly comes to mind.

It’s baffling to know that Mariya and Satoru are in the same only-child category, and yet, couldn’t be any more different.

Although, in his defense… Satoru is someone that many would consider an overachiever; whatever he put his mind into, he would do it. To the point that he actually had not to do anything just to give others a chance because he would just not fail.

Condescending in a way, but if you break it down… it’s the truth. He is considered to be the strongest for a reason, regardless of how spoiled he liked to behave from time to time, and basically held the balance of the Japanese jujutsu community in the palm of his hands. That was just the kind of role he was given by those around him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

How… contrasting. Compared to Mariya, that is, who seemed to be an arduous believer of the hard work beats talent thinking. Or even Geto, in that case…

“And what about you?” Haruko chirps in “You’re the youngest, right? The baby! People always say that the youngest one gets to be the most pampered of their parents, as well as everyone around them”

“How would you know?” you laugh.

“Because our baby sister is that way” Haruko reveals.

“Wait—you have another sister?!” you gasp. How come you didn’t know that?!

“Yes” Hitomi nods “She’s just 5 years old”

"Oh, and she's the cutest thing! I wish I had a picture to show you" Haruko quietly laments "oh well! Maybe next time" She shrugs "But tell me Lady Y/N! Did I get it right?"

"Well… they did come in the article and it said just what you did…" but at the same time… there’s always two sides to a coin.

While many, just like Haruko, place their agreements in the popular belief that the youngest of the family were blessed with the most attention and care from their parents, to the point of being considered spoiled , they were also highly susceptible to the contrary.

Simply because the parents, at that point, had gone through the same ordeal over and over again with their other children. 

For example, why would they be impressed that their youngest would eventually learn how to walk, talk and read, when the others already proved capable of it? 

Their achievements would cease to be impressionable, repetitive even, and could even lead them to increase the amount of pressure they place on their youngest if they ever get the impression that they’re not… well, at the same pace as the others, inwardly wondering why they aren’t capable of catching up faster.

You, however, don’t think you ever felt this way—at least not from your parents. 

But you have experienced a somewhat similar disposition from your siblings whenever they would try to push you into doing more, apply more effort, try harder, don’t give up… simply because they’ve already gone through that challenge and overcome all obstacles in their way, completely forgetting the fear of a first-timer and expecting you to behave as the polished version of them.

And you don’t even want to talk about the jujutsu community, on their reaction when you finally decided to enroll into the jujutsu technical school in Tokyo (which they knew was to happen in due time) and when your skill was revealed to them. They considered it practical… but disappointingly not of the same caliber of uniqueness as your sister’s.

It was fine, really. You knew that you weren’t special compared to Hinata, but that didn’t bother you much. As long as you were capable of completing your 4 years of school, sailing by as you performed your duties as a sorcerer—with the occasional unrequited comments from the elders of your clan— with a somewhat regular life… you’d be fine.

That is, until you got married.

To say that it was such a cultural shock to be suddenly received by the Zen’in clan as the future Lady of the House —a title you’ve never dreamed nor longed to receive in your lifetime, less from a clan as prestigious as this one— and all the responsibilities and attention that went with it… was an understatement.

From being considered good enough, to suddenly be pushed to the highest of expectations… Well, it’s easy to say that you were like a fish out of water.

Attention that you in no way considered to be good, taking into account that it came from a misogynistic, stuck-in-time clan, but you just couldn’t seem to run away from it, and less to actually get used to being in the spotlight.

You were so… out there , it seemed that every little thing you did was worthy of being in the front page of their publications. 

You wondered if Hinata ever felt this kind of pressure from the Gojo’s back in the day, gaining a new understanding of the duels she had to overcome by herself from a very young age.

“Eh, but it really depends on how you grew up” you shrug, not wanting to unwind once more the long monologue you’ve just detailed in your mind “You can have loving parents that will treat all children equally, or those that have preferences for one. I’m glad to say that my family never made me feel… like I wasn’t loved. Sure, we had fights here and there, but at the end of the day, I know I can trust them”

It’s now Naoaki’s and Naoya’s turn to enter your mind.

Oh , Naoaki... 

Even if you’ve made peace with his background, it doesn’t mean it hurts any less. Considering all the things he had to go through in his youth, his life could’ve taken a drastic turn, and yet… it didn’t. Instead, he decided to go down the path of becoming the person he wished he had when he was younger, and support his siblings.

Yes, even Naoya , whom he couldn’t get along with no matter how much he tried, has been on the receiving end of his caring nature and expressed to be somewhat happy that he got to achieve what he was never capable of doing so.

So different from the brazen Naoya who you were sure had never tasted what suffering is, obtaining whatever he wanted simply because he was born in a more privileged position.

And to think that you both were the youngest of their families… you even want to laugh at how different you were from Naoya. You’d rather throw yourself over a cliff than turn into someone like him. An ironic thought, considering that you’re married to him.

“I’m glad that you had a good family” Mariya says, assuring that you’ve always spoken highly of Hinata and Ren, and also of your mother on the few occasions that you allow yourself to talk about her “It must be so… difficult to miss them”

“...Yeah” you murmur. And while your homesickness became  tolerable thanks to the companionship of the twins, your staff, and Naoaki… well, it’s not the same as having them physically there with you. “But it’s ok—as long as I have them in my heart and the happy times we’ve spent together, I’ll survive”

“It’s not fair that he doesn’t let Lady Y/N contact her family” Haruko curses, deliberately letting out the name of your husband out of the equation, for in her mind, she’d be doing him a favor to even name him with her priceless breath, and that wasn’t about to happen any time soon.

Oh, right.

Because even if you’ve gotten closer to Mariya, Haruko and Hitomi… you have yet to reveal that you’ve been writing to Hinata.

It’s still… risky to do so, and even if they’ve earned your trust, there are two things holding you back: starting with the promise you made to Naoaki of not telling anyone, regardless if they held your trust, and… the fact that there are many external influences you have yet to consider.

A compromise of this nature was no easy task to keep, less when considering getting more people involved. Regardless of how much effort is placed to maintain its discretion, the possibilities of it falling in the wrong ears is higher, and detrimental to your position, and you weren’t about to take that risk just yet.

You trusted them greatly, but for now, it will remain confidential. 

Hopefully when Hinata’s eventual reply comes, you’ll be able to tell them.

“Obviously he wouldn’t. He’s afraid that Lady Y/N will snitch on him and that he’d actually have to face consequences for the first time in his life” Hitomi rolls her eyes, and your eyes widen at the essence of her words.

You knew Hitomi to be somewhat stern when it came to it. But it’s the first time you’ve ever heard her talk so openly of her distaste for your husband. And to think that she was the most reserved of the three…

A sad thought trails your mind as you come to the conclusion that she was probably the one that despised you the most when you were still on bad terms with Mariya. 

But that was nothing more than a fallacious thought, product of your self doubt. 

The truth was, Hitomi was the one that worried the most about you, evident by the way she rushed into your arms the first day you stepped out of your room after the scare of your unresponsiveness, and all the other things she’s done, and she’d continue to do so.

“And while I do agree on your sentiment, Hitomi-chan” Mariya continues “I think it’s better if we keep these thoughts to ourselves for now. There’s many ears across the estate… and something doesn’t feel right about today”

“Right” Hitomi agrees, eyes dropping to the floor beneath her, before they find their way to your now empty plate “Oh, Lady Y/N, you’re done with your food” she notes, making quick work to stand up and pick up your tray, hoping that her current efforts will dissolve the fact that she’d forgotten to check in on you, seemingly too enthralled in your conversation “Would you like something else?”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you.” You look at Haruko “My compliments to the chef, delicious as always!”

“My pleasure!” She grins, theatrically bowing before you as a blush appears on her cheeks “Let me get that out of your way—”

“I’ll take it” Hitomi interrupts, quick to move the tray away from her sister, but to the latter's displeasure “Why don’t you help me put the rest of the food away instead?” she nudges at the leftover unopened food “ And maybe keep a few for ourselves ” She whispered, evidently solely for her sister to hear.

“Ok” Haruko whispers back before looking at Mariya. If she noted this small exchange between the sister’s, she did not show. “We’ll be cleaning up everything then! Where shall we meet up after we’re done?”

“Ah, well…” Mariya falters, she hasn’t given much thought to today's itinerary now that it was effectively blank, falling in the belief that you’d be able to fill in the blanks. However, there was still something that she wanted to check with you, so… “Go ahead for now, I’ll let you know when I come up with something”

“Ok! See you around Lady Y/N!” Haruko and Hitomi bid their farewells, and vanished into the labyrinth of the estate.

Now in the solitude of the garden, with nothing more than the sounds of nature and your closest friend, Mariya, you take this as a moment to openly talk to her about what you wanted to jab her with.

“How is Tatsuro?”

“Oh, you” Mariya rolls her eyes “You knew it was him I was going to look for, didn’t you?”

“It’s so clear to me now” You laugh “How could I not see it?”

“Discretion comes with the job, I’ll take it as a compliment” Mariya grins “But he’s fine, thank you. A bit… shocked that we made up”

“Ah, I think Haruko and Hitomi are too”

“Within reason, within reason…” she nods.

“But… it’s good” you smile, inching closer to her “it’s like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I can finally be comfortable with the ones closest to me—and it should’ve always been like that… I always should’ve kept you three close to me”

“We’re here now” She reassures you “And that’s all that matters… and keeping Tatsuro a secret from them” Mariya reminds you, and you nod. It’s such a mystery to you why she hasn't told them, but holder of your own secrets, you decide not to pressure her. “By the way… do you really not know what’s happening today?”

“Not a clue” you shake your head “It’s… quite unnerving, don’t you think?”

“It is” Mariya agrees. “Not even Junko-san has told me anything about it, and she’s the first one to talk. Odd”

“...Do you think somebody died?” you eventually conclude, because… well, what else could assemble this kind of franticness from the staff?

“I… don’t think so” Mariya tries to think of a sickly Zen’in clanmember, or even an elder one (which were many) but… no, that couldn’t be. News of it would’ve graced her ears by now and you, as current representative of your husband, would be expected to be present in the ceremony. Thus, a theory that’s promptly scratched out “Ah, well, it’s no use worrying about this. The only thing I know is that you have a free day to do whatever you want—so… is there something you want to do for today?”

“Actually…” you pause, mind going back to your room and the small white envelope resting underneath your pillow “There is something that I need to do first. See you at the pagoda past the living quarters?”

Mariya doesn’t need to ask more.

The smirk on your face is all that she needs to see to understand the intentions behind your words… and who you’re seeing. 

A conclusion that has her heart aching with distress because she can’t deny that this peculiar man has brought you immense happiness, to the point of returning the beautiful glint in your eye, and possibly even being the starting point for her to rekindle a friendship with you.

But at the same time, it’s like playing with fire. 

Naoaki was Naoya’s brother at the end of the day and… well, she… There's much that she’s seen during the duration of her employment at the estate to have her on the edge of her seat whenever you’re around him. 

In a way, it was shocking that nothing bad has come out from this relationship, considering the turbulent behavior Naoya seemed to carry around his brothers, and Naoaki’s awareness of this.

There was no denying that the oldest of Naobito’s sons was a mystery when it came to you and his reason to approach you in the first place… something that she has never been able to discover due to the aloof nature of his behavior with those outside of his circle.

But unable to do much but to agree to your conditions and bid you farewell, Mariya limits herself to offer you a silent prayer as she observes your figure distance from her, until your footsteps vanish into thin air, hoping that whatever succession fate was preparing for today… didn’t involve you, or Naoaki.

If there was one thing that today's worries you couldn’t deprive yourself from, no matter how intrigued you were, it would have to be Naoaki.

Not even when you saw the sprinting servants frantically going from one corner of the estate to the other, as well as the investigation that ensued between your staff and you, or the absence of your impish twins… was it enough for Naoaki to stay out of your mind, And for obvious reasons.

Ever since you arrived at the eye-opening culmination of your feelings that dreamy night, it seems to be all you could think of.

No, scratch that. 

Saying such things makes it seem like you were more than happy to come to this conclusion in the first place, when in fact, you still went through the necessary stage of denial, thinking it to be nothing more than the excitement of getting your favorite sweets as well as saving your relationship with Naoaki.

However, fluttering hearts don’t do that just because , and it wouldn’t take long before you understood that… Well, it was the beginning of something new, something beautiful .

And once you finally made peace with your newfound revelation, that’s when you were able to see things you’ve previously failed to recognize: from the way he chewed his food, to how he played with the sleeves of his garments whenever in deep thought… it was safe to say that you were effectively struck with deep seated admiration for the oldest of the Zen’in siblings and wanted to do nothing more than spend most of your time with him and get to know him even better.

Everything new about him seemed so… fresh, so different, and you even dared to say… like the missing pieces of your puzzled life.

But as much as you were enthralled to dive into the waters of Naoaki’s persona, a part of you was afraid of ruining what little there was between the two, for until now, you’ve considered Naoaki to be nothing more than kind, with you being the one to first develop feelings for the other. Thus, unknowingly began to change the way you acted around him in hopes of not appearing… weird to him.

When you were once quick witted, sharp in returning his jabs with ones of your own creation, and avoid taking his bait… you now found yourself to be hesitant, coy, falling down to the role of silent listener as your heart painfully thundered against your chest to the point that was all you could hear, just to prevent doing something stupid that could push him away and throw your friendship out the window.

Nonetheless, that didn’t stop you from actively seeking him, and once you successfully retrieved the secret envelope from the sanctity of your chambers, you ran onto the usual rendezvous point of this unique friendship—careful to not bump into the working servants, but swift enough to not waste much time where you did not need.

Oh, if only he didn’t have a prior commitment, you were sure this could’ve turned out to be the best day of your life.

Now, not to disregard the fact that you’re still going to make the best of this situation, it's just that… well, you think it could’ve been even better alongside him.

Guess you’ll have to make it up in another way, but for now, you’ll wait for him at the lily garden.

And as the distance between you and your destination narrowed down… that’s when you saw him. 

Naoaki, just… standing there, seemingly enjoying the view of the garden before him as he waited for you, just like he always did whenever you were to meet up.

Your heart soared at his presence, lips parting into a heart warming grin as you picked up the pace and ran even faster towards him; the noise of your approaching footsteps causing him to swirl towards your direction, a smile gracing his face soon after upon noticing you.

But his presence wasn’t the only thing that had your heart skipping a beat or two, although it could be the overwhelming majority, but rather… how he presented himself.

For today, he decided to wear a black leather jacket with a black turtleneck beneath, accompanied with ripped dark jeans, slightly ripped, and beige boots. His dark hair was styled in the same parted way as always, but somehow, it made him look… different, more handsome if you must.

He looked completely different, so contrasting from the usual indoor kimonos or hakama sets he would wear. And while you wouldn’t go ahead and say that you haven’t seen him wear casual attires like this before… this whole conjunction of garments was… well, you can’t put any words into it, except that he looked ravishing .

And his different choice of cologne for today does nothing to stop your beating heart from trying to escape the confines of your tightening chest when a breeze of hair makes it apparent to you—making you wonder if there was a special reason behind his choices.

“H-hey, Naoaki” you say upon coming close to him, immediately regretting the stammer in which your words came out, believing to make you seem… Well, silly. Unprepared. And in a way… you kind of were.

“Hey, Y/N” He greets back, with a smile that has you swooning on the spot, completely oblivious to the inner turmoil going on in your head. “Good morning, did you sleep well?”

“Oh… yeah” you say, nervously chuckling as you take a quick glance to the ground, before circling back to him “And… you?”

“Fine, a bit too cold if I must add” Naoaki shrugs, a tremor making way through his spine, as if to add another layer of veracity to his words “I hope you had better luck, did you have a cold night?”

“No” you shake your head, a streak of red appearing on your cheeks, and when you would’ve added something more… your answer ends.

You might be oblivious to your change of behavior, but that wasn’t the case with Naoaki. 

He noticed every single change that you’ve undergone. 

From the way that you would stammer every few words, to how your gaze would seem to linger elsewhere when talking to him, or how you’d remain quiet whenever he was telling you something, unusual behaviors that he noticed to have started ever since he gifted you the box of mochi.

Naoaki doesn’t want to think ill of the moment he considered sweet and the salvation of a relationship he dispiritedly thought lost but… the saboteur inside him is taunting him with a different version, one that tells him that the combination of timing, as well as the reason that pushed him to be at your bedroom’s door so late at night, could’ve be misinterpreted as trespassing your limits, and subsequently, disrespecting your persona. With you simply accepting his words because… well, he imposed you to do so.

He dreaded to think that was the reason behind your actions, and now, you’ve grown upset enough to not trust him anymore.

Or perhaps it’s all in his head? Because you still continue to see him, and he has to admit that although your character has grown to be a bit more… quiet, he’s still seen your lovely smile and twinkling chuckle from time to time.

You were… odd, to say the least, but that doesn’t stop his fondness for you. 

He soon assumes his worries to be nothing but fragments of his imagination, and if he continues to show how much you mean to him, you’d eventually go back to your usual self.

…

…

…

Right?

“Are you… ok?” He asks, the worry of his last question now evident in his voice, causing you to believe you’ve somehow upset him.

“Yeah!” You cry back “I’m fine, what about you?”

“Good…?” he responds… again, You seem to be a bit more distracted than usual today, and assuming that you allegedly had a cold night… were you perhaps sick?

Well, if that were the case, he was sure the twins would’ve gotten sick as well, after all, if not with your staff, or him, you’re with them. However… They haven’t shown any signs of the flu or the normal every-winter cold, and neither has Junko, so that was out of the question.

Besides, if you were sick, he knew that your hard-working ladies would’ve quarantined you into your bedroom immediately , and… well, you’re here before him—with big round eyes that he can’t help but stare at them with awe.

Perhaps you were barely starting to show the first symptoms?

“It’s quite cold today, Y/N” Naoaki says, hoping to alleviate his concerns as well as the rising tension between the two with the typical ice-breaker “And you do look a bit underdressed… Do you want me to get you something else to wear?”

“Oh, no! It’s fine really” You shake your head, finding his concern cute, but unnecessary. If anything, you should be worrying about him since he’s the one leaving! “What about you? Are you cold?”

Naoaki can’t help but chuckle at the third time you’ve asked him the same question, although through different words. Guess there’s something keeping your attention away from the conversation at hand. 

Oh, was it the commotion happening around the estate that made you feel uneasy?

“I’m fine” He smiles, placing his hand over your head and gently palming it “You seem distracted, is everything truly alright?”

“Yep!” You cry out of fearing of appearing as some kind of creep , and the man widens his eyes out of surprise for your unforeseen squeak “Oh, sorry”

“Don’t apologize” He chuckles “You’re not the only one acting a bit… too odd today, or the other days too”

You blush. What does that mean? Have you been acting differently with him?

Nah, of course not. You’re trying your best to not make your feelings come in the way of this friendship that you value so much and make him uncomfortable, weird, you know?

After all, you’re still unclear if he has feelings for you… even if he’s treated you in a way that makes you feel so…. special…

«He’s just being nice, Y/N.» you say, grounding you back to earth «He’s nice with everyone»

Yeah, but never to that extent of going to your room and apologizing , as well as implying that you’re more than a friend to him.

You shake the ideas out of your head before you stray too far from reality, and instead, focus on the amusing matter of Naoaki being on the same page as you when it comes to the antics of the servants, and Junko’s if you think about it.

An opportunity to quiet down one intrigue that has plagued you and your ladies presented itself, and you were not about to let it pass.

Besides, you can always get back to knowing him better afterwards.

“Do you know why they’re acting like that?” you ask, shifting the conversation onto this new topic.

“Ah, that” Naoaki frowns “I don’t know. Father seems to be busy, when not drinking of course, as well as my cousins, although I don’t think it’s necessarily related to this since they’re always busy. But outside of that, I haven’t been told anything else, so I simply assumed it wasn’t my business to inquire any further”

You frown. You could understand being intentionally left out of the loop when it comes to certain subjects around the estate, for an infinity of sexist reasons if you must.

But Naoaki ? The man that continues to serve them in more ways than one? The same man they continue to berate for seemingly unfulfilling their expectations, but are unable to admit that he’s still necessary as part of many gears that make the Zen’in clan work?

That’s just… inexcusable. And terrifying at the same time.

But it’s a system neither you or him can fight—Naoaki has long made peace with that fact, much to your dismay… thus, you won’t force him to go back into a situation he’s clearly wanting to avoid at all costs.

“Well, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your work… I guess it’s fine” you conceded, now looking at the lily flowers found in the garden. Now that this topic was… essentially over, you jump onto the one that has bothered you for the past few minutes, one that would reveal the special occasion behind him getting all dressed up “... where are you going today?” 

“Just to do some paperwork” he responds honestly “I have to go to city hall to oversee the last details of that owner-name typo and I’ll be finally free of that problem” He sigh in relief, expelling all that stress that he’s been dragging for months now and enjoy the notion of a documentless future! Ah, he could almost feel the pen in his hand! 

No more wasted days for having to visit city hall, dealing with humorless secretaries, listening to the complaints and bickering of other visitors, pressure from his relatives to get this problem done as fast as possible…!

That is, until another problem arises, but for now…

“Maybe go to the movies with Naohiko, but most importantly…” Naoaki steps closer to you, and the narrowing of his presence causes you to jolt his gaze back to him “I was hoping to get some more mochi for you”

“Na—Naoaki” your blink, of all things, you certainly didn’t expect him to bring that ! “You… you don’t have to” you say, having done so one time was dangerous enough, but twice? Now that’s just abusive!

Oh, how are you not supposed to feel this dreamy about him?!

“There’s no way I’m not going to, now that I know which ones are your favorites—taro, right?” he guesses, and you reluctantly nod.

“But aren’t they too far from where you’re going?” you wonder, assuming distance to be one of the limiting reasons for him to bring you more sweets. “I don’t want you to worry about me, just go and spend some time with your brother”

“Not really” He shakes his head in denial “It took me a while to get them because I didn’t know which store to go to, but now that I’ve found one of your liking, it’s my duty to bring you more”

“You’re making me look like I’m forcing you to do them” you murmur. “...but you really don’t have to”

“But I want to” Naoaki reiterates “Can’t I spoil you?”

“Jesus, stop it” you pout, looking away “Besides, where did you even get them?”

“There’s a small store in Kyoto. It’s pretty rustic, but very cozy. I think you would’ve liked it…” he says, seemingly implying how he would’ve liked to take you there personally, instead of ordering take out.

But that will remain nothing more than a nice thought.

“Maybe one day” you reassure “For now… there’s something else that I need to ask from you”

“Want something different besides taro?” Naoaki winks, and you roll your eyes yet again. It’s nice to see you at ease with him once more, especially after he saw you act so weird with him these past few days. 

Guess he just needed to bribe you with mochi in order to get you to be the friendly self he’d fallen for.

“...Perhaps” you twist your lips “...but it’s something a bit more confidential ”

At the mention of that last word, Naoaki is quick to understand what you mean, and he proceeds to quickly drop the playful act to scan the surroundings before signaling you to be free of unwanted onlookers. 

You make haste to get the envelope out from your obi and pass it over to Naoaki, which he takes in the same nature of your swiftness and puts it away in one of the pockets inside his leather jacket, securing it away.

It’s not necessary to detail any further instructions, but you deem it necessary nonetheless to confirm your request.

“It’s another letter… for Hinata” you whisper, glazing one more at the seemingly empty halls and rooms around you, coming with the conclusion that you were still alone “If you can… of course. If you have time”

“Of course” he replies. 

Naoaki already suspected that you were attempting to write a second letter to your sister due to the time that has passed from the first one being sent as well as your request for more paper, it's just that your availability never aligned with the right circumstances. 

But during one sleepless night and with the extra care of not flashing your bed light towards the hallways, to avoid announcing that you were awake to any passerby or lady-in-waiting, you managed to write up another letter for Hinata. 

“I was planning on checking if she sent anything anyways”

“... I hope so” you sigh “I worry that… well, ah, never mind. It’s not important”

“It is to me.” Naoaki says, as if inviting you to open up to him. You look away, and that’s all that he needs to understand your thoughts. “That she doesn’t care?”

“Yeah” you press your lips together “I didn’t want to say it, but yeah, that was it”

“She cares” Naoaki proceeds to reassure “I know that much. And your brother does too. Take it from me, I care for my brothers even if some of them don’t really like me” he chuckles.

Oh, how you want to hug him….

If they’re not appreciative of their affection, you are!

“Thank you, Naoaki” is all that you limit to respond, knowing it was not the appropriate place to engage in physical gestures, giving him the letter being risky enough. 

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel your affection, evident by the way you now made him blush.

“You always know what to say to make me feel better. I wish I could do the same” you add.

“Really?” He asks, vibrant redness further evident in his face. “Well… I guess I’m just saying what you make me feel, and… you already make me happy with just being here”

You blink—did he just…? Is there perhaps something more behind—??

“I have to go now” Naoaki interrupts your thoughts before they could spiral down into your dreamland of infatuation, and because you were cut so abruptly, your mouth unwittingly blurts out:

“Do you really have to?” 

It almost sounds like a plea, and alongside your big round puppy eyes that he’s unsure if you know that you’re playing that trick on him…  Naoaki’s heart skips a beat.

“I have to” he reluctantly repeats “I want to finish this job soon, and… well, I already have the tickets for the movie”

«But if you ask me again, I’ll stay»

“Ah… right” you say, glancing away out of embarrassment for your imprudent remark, and your willingness to accept his poor excuse twists his heart. “...I won’t stop you then. Have a nice trip. Take care, Naoaki. See you soon?”

“Don’t wait up for me” he attempts to step away from the sadness of your acceptance by jumping back to his cheerful banter, made successful by the way your lips part into a smile via his next words “I won’t bring you mochi in the middle of the night anymore”

“Silly” you scoff “As if I’ll let you interrupt my sleep again”

“I wouldn’t dream of dealing with a grumpy Y/N anymore” he taunts. Although… he imagines that waking up next to you must be a—.

“Goodbye Naoaki” You say, interrupting his thoughts.

From here onwards, all that he has to do is turn around and leave.

But he can’t seem to force himself to do so, not when his gaze falls from your eyes and onto your lips.. Lingering on them for a few seconds, as if appreciating the delicateness of them, it’s shape, it’s color. Had they always been this… tempting? There’s a desire inside him that’s pushing him to lean down and take them with his own on a—

Naoaki stops himself upon remembering his surroundings, quick to shake away the intrusive thoughts from his mind and finally taking route towards the exit, hoping that you haven’t seen this short moment of weakness whilst he berates himself for taking advantage of the situation. You’ve just opened up to him about your sister, why did he think it was the right time to do anything else but support you?

Giving you one last farewell with the wave of his hand and soon, he’s out of sight.

And luckily for him, you don’t seem to have noticed anything outside of the unusual (thanks to the predisposed desire of having Naoaki remain for a bit longer) although… there was a magnetic force engulfing the two of you asking you to do… something.

But, as much as you wanted to stay behind and make sense of it, this wasn’t the right time to do so. 

Now that one of your many burden’s is cleared, and wanting to share this newfound piece of information (which really didn’t show you anything new, except that not even Naoaki knew what was going on) you decide to make way towards the pagoda where you know your ladies to be patiently waiting for you.

It certainly feels weird not having Junko to follow you around… although it was often you who did the following around.

Eitherway, this unusual sensation is likened to something you consider being able around without restraints, with the freedom of choosing whatever you want to do—within the optimized list of things a woman of your rank has to do, of course.

Should you continue with your knitting project or continue practicing your calligraphy? Oh, this way, you can give Naoaki a scarf for the upcoming winter!

Or maybe you can take this time to practice your cooking and learn a few things from Haruko? It has been a while since Junko got a day off, or your ladies for that matter. You want to show your appreciation for them once more. Or maybe a few sewing tips from Hitomi? There must be a sewing machine somewhere, would it be Singer or Brother? Maybe one of those vintages one, those are certainly a relic of the past, similar to the outdated ideals of—

“You seem rather cheerful for today’s event’s Lady Y/N”

An unknown voice queries from behind you, halting you in your tracks. 

Curiosity for this sudden approach causes you to carefully turn around and face the one behind the call. 

Judging the color of their garments as well as the style of confection of the same, you come to the conclusion that the person before you is none other than a servant you have yet to gain the fortune of making your acquaintance.

However, that wasn’t what caught your interest or surprise, but rather the tone that followed her remark. One that immediately provokes you to seek answers.

“What do you mean?” You ask, slightly pressing your brows together. 

The woman reacts… astonished by your attitude, deep in disbelief, almost as if she couldn’t even fathom the idea of you not knowing the trivial reality happening around you.

Her face only serves to confuse you even further, and your mind is quick to dive into the worst possibilities.

Has somebody actually died? Even if you were on bad terms with this family, you wouldn’t go ahead and mistreat the dead. A funeral is a serious matter, and you should’ve prepared accordingly. 

“Do you really not know?” She insists, and your concern begins to weigh heavier on your shoulders.

Hopefully, your ignorance doesn’t come off as carelessness.

“Not… really” You shake your head. But if it was a serious occasion, why were you purposely left out? Naoaki would certainly know if someone of his relatives died .

And her face doesn’t offer much help as if offended by your insensitivity, leaving you to continuously dive into an ocean of endless somber possibilities.

What could possibly be, that has her and the rest of the servants acting so errantly?

However, her answer would be the darkest possible yet, one you’ve completely forgotten in favor of enjoying the newfound happiness you’ve created in the flimsy foundations of Naoaki’s security, the twins companionship, and Mariya’s friendship, easy to crumble down and pulling you back to your cruel reality once she uttered the following words.

“Naoya-sama is to return today”

It might as well be your funeral.

“We’re to arrive in 30 minutes” The chauffeur announces and the young Zen’in heir is prompted to lift his face from his phone, golden eyes falling on the scene out the glass window. 

He’s lost count of how many days he’s spent in Tokyo getting ready for his exam, taking the actual exam, and subsequently waiting for the results to be deliberated.

But it’s finally over, and now, he is just a few miles away from home.

He takes this time to look back to past days' successions.

The food at the jujutsu school in Tokyo was tolerable, certainly no better than the one in Kyoto, and absolutely nowhere near the level to the ones from his cooks. He was certainly glad to have left behind whatever it was that they served him and get something deserving of his character.

The flight was tolerable, to say the least. He got a first class ticket but he’s seen better seats in other flights, and don’t even get him started with the food.

Not like he actually expected a 5-star meal on a damned plane, but for his money’s worth, he just might’ve demanded so.

And the car trip back to the Zen’in estate was… ok. Certainly more comfortable than those crammed seats at the plane, and with the ability to stop wherever he wanted, because he wasn’t particularly fond of sitting down for seemingly hours on end, thus, taking any opportunity to stretch without second thought.

However, he was glad that the one in charge to pick him up, his usual chauffeur, was punctual. The airline was punctual with his baggage as well, so there was no need to go and complain to the floozy attendants who would probably give him the same bullshit response they gave everyone of we’re working as fast as we can to get your bags , because they were trained to not think, just regurgitate whatever booklet they were given.

In fact, everything had been punctual, with the exception of his exam, rest of the applicants for that matter, and his subsequent deliberation. It’s the reason why he was forced to stay behind in the first place instead of just leaving when he was done.

But of all things considered, he’s sure of one:

He’s glad to be back home.

Like the prodigal son, his arrival at the Zen’in estate had been rather… glorified. But it was nothing that he didn’t expect. After all, he was gone for god knows how long, and returned with good news.

The servants seemingly demonstrated to be happy for him as well as they portrayed to be all too eager to pick up his things and set them in their respective places back in his room, while others offered him all kinds of drinks and food to partake in for a good recovery.

And while he was glad to have been received as triumphantly as he was, he still couldn’t find it in himself to be appreciative of their work, which became apparent by the sneering smirk that painted his face which came from him realizing just how easy it could be for him to set a bad word for them if he desired so.

A rush of power he’d become addicted to.

But as much as he would’ve liked to toy with them and accept their endless requests of pleasing, he had to reject them for his immediate attention was required elsewhere.

In fact, he had to postpone many of his concerts in favor of this particular issue that he knew had to deal with as soon as he stepped foot into the Zen’in estate.

Which he would be guided to by none other than Junko herself.

“Welcome back and congratulations, Naoya-sama” She would greet, bowing in the respective and graceful manner that always accompanied Junko’s actions “I never doubted you’d complete your exam with outstanding performance, proper of the Zen’in heir”

Oh. Right.

The reason why Naoya was so high in his arrogance, only heightened by the seemingly supportive behavior of his servants was because…

He passed his exam.

Or the first part at least.

“It’s good to be back” He states, disappointment evident in his eyes once he realizes a familiar figure is absent to receive him. Naoya doesn’t linger on that thought for much longer, limiting himself to assume that there is a reasonable justification behind your nonattendance, (and he hopes it's an unproblematic one for he would hate running his celebration) which he expected to be brought up by his aunt in due time.

His attention then passes onto the cheerful servants, whom he had to note as being unusually… lively, considering how he left the estate many days ago.

Either way, he can’t deny that he’s basking in it. And his small mind can’t fathom there being another reason for their behavior than his return and the criteria in which he left Tokyo. “The estate seems to be in good condition”

“It is” Junko agrees “Your absence was noted, and we wanted to make your return as enjoyable as possible”

Naoya knows this to be a rubbish response from her aunt, but what can he expect? Just like them, she’s eager to obtain favor from him. She knows which words to say, what buttons to push, to… well, live another day. Thus, he shouldn’t be surprised that she’s trying to pour honey in his ears. 

However, he can’t help but feel that her words might not be as inclusive as she thinks they are.

“Has it?” He ponders, making way to use his suspicion against her “Even by my beloved wife? Where is that vixen by the way?”

Junko’s face might’ve remained emotionless, but the rest of her body wasn't evident by the way her shoulders seem to tense,, if only for the slightest of seconds, but not away from Naoya’s watchful gaze, which he takes with morbid interest.

“Yes… even your wife” She eventually responds, stern and direct. “She’s at the pagoda, inside the allowed premises. She’s been adjusting well to the life in the estate”

Naoya smirks. To hear your dutiful following of his limitations makes him… happy, to say the least. As if you’re slowly accepting your role underneath him—which he knew you would accept eventually.

However, he’s doubtful of Junko’s choice of words, considering how you were the last time he saw you.

Was she perhaps attempting to hide something else?

Ah, isn’t that wonderful ?

Either way, he can’t wait to see you again and relish Junko's continued efforts to make you into the proper woman to be by his side—even if there were a few flaws to oversee. After all, as your husband, he still has to do something when it comes to you, doesn’t he?

But he’s not going to go any further than that; it’s not the right moment anyways. Thus, he allows the conversation to temporarily die, but not placing a mental note to go back to it later.

“Is everyone at the meeting hall already?” Naoya moves onto the next topic—completely uninterested in Junko's opinion— the matter of his so-important meeting that he desperately has to oversee first before moving onto the best part.

“Yes, your father and the elders are waiting for you.” Junko replies.

Naoya frowns; he knows his father to be there simply to follow protocol; the old man was probably intoxicated out of his mind, unable to speak through anything but slurred words and will most certainly forget whatever it was discussed in the meeting as soon as it’s over.

But even then, he doesn’t care.

Not when his results speak louder than whatever the elders had to say—he’s just fulfilling a formality at this point.

“Do I have any correspondence?”

“No”

“Where is the hei ? The kukuru unit?”

“At the training grounds”

Naoya’s eyes then go somber.

“Any news from… Ogi regarding that ?”

“None”

And his questioning ends.

Once at the meeting hall, Junko stands aside and opens the door for Naoya, allowing him inside and closing the door in the same quiet manner she opened it once inside.

Just as she described, the meeting hall was filled with the attendance of all 5 elders… and his befuddled father evidently struggling to sit up straight.

Naoya wanted to show his distaste for the older man, but in the presence of the other 5 geezers , he decided it was best to play along the role of dutiful young heir and take his place before them.

“Welcome home, my son” Naobito is the first to speak upon finally realizing his youngest to be in the same room as him. The older man attempts to reach for his son, perhaps to give him a father-son embrace and show his appreciation, but fails so miserably, further evidence that he has been indulging in the company of alcohol.

Naoya swears he can smell the stench of his breath all the way to where he’s standing.

“Thank you… father” Naoya responds, uninterestedly.

“You were gone for quite a while...” Naobito slurs “Did you have fun? Did you go fooling around to celebrate the great successes of your exam?” he snickers.

Naoya wants to scoff, but “I know” is all that the youngest limits himself to respond with. He doesn’t allow his father’s senseless words to rile him up anymore… at least, not as much.

It’s obvious that he’s longing for a position that he no longer has, or never had to begin with, trying his hardest to compare himself to him—but they were never even the same to begin with.

And the elders seem to be on the same page as Naoya. They weren’t… enthusiastic about having Naobito present in this meeting, considering his addiction to alcohol, but just as Naoya assumed, they were required to bring him in due to tradition. 

If it were up to them, they would even alienate him of his title just to avoid any more situations like this one, but that would be far too precarious. Besides, even if he was a common drunk, they could still acknowledge that Naobito was one to achieve results—and that’s all that matters with the Zen’in.

And now, it seems that Naoya is en route to that same prospect.

“Naobito, I’d appreciate it if you limited yourself to drinking outside of meetings” One of the elders snaps as soon as they see Naobito take another large gulp of alcohol from his sake bottle.

Naobito scoffs, pulling the rim of the bottle away from his lips, a drop dribbling from the corners of his mouth and onto his chin.

“Gah—whatever” he groans, placing the bottle back on its previous place and wiping the remnants out of his chin. “Not like I haven’t done this before”

“Naoya” another man calls, attempting to circle back the attention of this body to the important topic at hand. His gaze goes through a paper of indistinguishable contents, but judging by the nature of this meeting, Naoya assumes them to be none other than the results of his exams.

“Your results exceeded our expectations” he says what Naoya already knows, still looking through the papers he received directly from the Tokyo school of Jujutsu, the same ones that signaled his return in the first place. “You received the best grade of your generation”

If it wasn’t clear that he was relishing on the continuous strokes of his ego, his countenance stepped up to the job by the grin that now appeared on Naoya’s face.

“If you continue on like this” another one adds “You’ll be the youngest sorcerer in the clan to have achieved rank 1”

And he probably would’ve achieved way earlier if it wasn’t for the ongoing crisis, however, this doesn’t stop Naoya’s ego from growing bigger.

That’s a title not even his brothers, uncles, or cousins , were likely to achieve in their lifetime

After all, he’s the heir. Did they expect any less?

“All that’s left is the second part of the exam, isn’t it?” The first elder asks, and Naoya nods.

“Yes. The practical exam in Kyoto” Naoya clarifies.

“When is it?”

“Two days from now” He responded “I came back to oversee the functioning of the estate before going back” Naoya lies, he could really care less if the estate was in shambles. There was only one thing that he cared about, besides his career—and one could guess who .

“I see” another one breathes, pleased by his feigned commitment to the clan “Once you receive this rank, the Hei will officially pass to be under your jurisdiction, as well as the ownership of certain cursed tools in the warehouse”

If there is one thing that Naoya considers to be a bit unfair about this whole ordeal, is that even after all the endeavors he’s done to upkeep the Hei into top shape (something his uncle has failed to do so), they still aren’t recognized as his.

Well, that’s going to change soon anyways. It’s only a matter of days before he’s finally where he has to be. From there, special grade is only a matter of requesting it, and maybe, with enough persuasion… he can finally demand the title from his father.

“We just wanted to remind you that” The last elder, seated on the far left, speaks upon noticing to have gone through all pending points “Congratulations on your half promotion, Naoya. Dismissed” the man derisively applauds, as if trying to lower the young heir's ego, but to no avail. Naoya was already too high in his own arrogance to care what a bunch of old people had to say about him, his eyes were solely set on the prize .

“Thank you. I will not fail you” The Zen’in heir bids his farewell diplomatically with a bow, and without further ado, exits the room.

If his arrogance wasn’t big enough when he left the city of Tokyo, it was now through the roof.

And all because he believed everything in his life was starting to align, just where he wanted it to be, starting with his career.

The exam had to be postponed various times due to the small insurgency created by this well-known curse user. Many of the schools thought it to be a bit risky to be holding such ceremonies, since sorcerers had to travel from one school to the other and this could be inviting to anyone who sought an opening to infiltrate these safe havens, thus, forcing them to stop them until further notice.

But now that the crisis has calmed down (as well as headquarters' desperate need of more sorcerers in their alignments) applications were to be received once more, and Naoya wasted no second to file his. 

Delegation of the results was a bit… trivial, seemingly for not being completely prepared to handle the large quantities of applicants each school received, but even this didn’t falter Naoya one bit.

He knew he was an excellent sorcerer, he had his talent and everyone around him as evidence. He just stayed behind to play along with his respective sorcerers and maybe even mock those that didn’t pass the theoretical exam.

Secondly, the status of the estate.

Because even if he really didn’t care about the body of the clan, he knew that he couldn’t act that way if he was to be responsible for it in due time.

When he expected to come down to a broken-down house, filled with chaos and discord, he was pleasantly surprised to see that it kept on working as if nothing ever happened—in fact, it was even better compared to how he left it in the first place.

And while he knew that the servants would have to go on with their jobs, or risk getting fired… There was one variable he knew was also affected by this sudden change of atmosphere, if not the origin of it all.

You .

Because why else would the estate be in such a good state, if you , the main perpetrator of its turmoil, hadn’t finally accepted your role as his wife?

Yeah. That had to be. You finally succumbed to your expectations, and now, the gears started to work as they were always intended to do so.

His delusional, arrogant filled mind didn’t allow him to think of other possibilities, no. Of course not. He would never comprehend that maybe, the estate started to behave this way because you were the difference they needed, instead of the other way around.

For Naoya, it was all or nothing—but there were still suspicions nonetheless.

Sure, he somewhat trusted Junko to fulfill her work and break you to the clan’s liking, but her earlier interaction gave him the understanding that there was something happening going on.

Well, just as he stated before, he couldn’t be too angry at her. You were his responsibility after all, weren’t you? His wife. And he would hate it if anyone took this from him.

He wouldn’t have to wait that long to discover the truth either, because he knew there was one person in this whole household that held all of the truth. The reason why he didn’t bother to ask his aunt any more questions about you, not when he could get a better rendition of the truth, and with full detail.

His small spy, his friend . The cheerful Ranta who had rushed to see his friend just minutes after hearing of his arrival, was more than ready to celebrate his successes alongside him.

“Congratulations on your promotion!” Ranta beams as he abruptly stops just a few feet away from him, but Naoya, who was never one to partake in the silliness of his friend, would simply scoff at his ignorance.

“I haven’t been promoted yet” He explains, and the young man’s cheek flushes out of embarrassment “I just completed the first part”

“Oh… right” He laments. Ranta feels a bit silly for having committed such a mistake, but as someone like him, who never had the opportunity to go through the ranking system as Naoya did, it was only natural that he would be uneducated in certain aspects. “But you still passed, didn’t you? Congratulations!” 

The long haired man would then proceed to pat Naoya on the back, and while the heir wasn’t one to thrive on the physical affections of others that weren’t his wife, he could agree that it felt nice to be appreciated.

“Thanks” Naoya eventually acknowledges, much to his friends' delight.

“Shall we celebrate later?” Ranta cheerfully suggests, and while it does sound exciting to partake in a celebration of his achievements, it’s at this point that Naoya feels he’s intentionally avoiding a subject. After all, he was assigned the diligent mission to keep a close eye on everything surrounding a certain… special someone, why else would he call him for?

A secrecy Naoya is all too excited to uncover the reason why.

“Now, that sounds alluring , Ranta” Naoya says, carefully circling the first foundations of the direction this conversation is to shift to, like a predator preparing to pounce on its prey, making the young man quietly shiver on the spot. “But you know there’s something I wish to know before that”

“Really?” Ranta nervously plays the fool “Ah, but wouldn’t it be better if you got comfortable first? After all, you just got back home after a long trip and you must be—”

“ Ranta ” Naoya cuts, direct and straight to the point, making Ranta freeze.

He swallows. Ranta should’ve known it was futile to sway Naoya’s interest one his mind was set on it—in fact, he hoped that the small meeting with the elders would’ve been enough to postpone his investigation, if only for a few moments, before having to face the demands of his responsibility.

But the cat’s finally out of the bag, and there’s no reason to try and hide away the valuable information he held in his custody, not when he acted foolishly to the point he basically gave away that he was indeed hiding something.

Ranta shouldn’t be blamed.

Everyone knew of the young man’s precarious ways when it came to what belonged to him, especially so if his brother’s were… involved. Thus, wanting to do everything in his power to avoid the subject all together.

But unfortunately for him, and you for that matter, these two variables were present in the same equation.

With no excuse to hide behind, Ranta silently hopes that the positive receiving of his exam will be enough to sway his temperament, at least to a more tolerable demeanor, as he prepares to speak.

Well, should he start with the negative, or the positive?

Naoya’s judgmental eyes don’t allow him to dwell on the question for much longer, and opting to ease the blow, starts with the positive.

“She’s… fine” He begins, afraid to look Naoya in the eye for a second before regaining his composure—acting all hesitant and demure will not help his case in delivering the shocking news at the end and survive through it. “Somewhere around the estate”

Naoya frowns, and he can’t help but consider Ranta’s answer to be of a mocking, deceiving nature.

“I mean!” Ranta shrills, quick to fix his mistake “She's been adjusting well to her new duties, with Junko-san following her around and all that…”

The Zen’in heir had a nasty habit of drilling those underneath him just to get what he wanted, regardless if they carried what he sought, to the point of making others crumble under the pressure, a terrifying sight that always brought a morbid satisfaction to him—Something that Ranta is all too familiar with, and in hopes of avoid being in the receiving end of his twisted games any further, does his best to push forward yet again.

“The servants have also taken a liking to her” Ranta continues on “They always greet her every morning, and give her food or drinks from time to time… as if she didn’t have staff of her own to care for her”

“Is that so?” Naoya ponders; in the short amount of time that passed from his arrival to the present, he’s been able to note the fleeting glances of his servants and their seemingly brighter behavior, all reactions that he thought to be because of his triumphant return—but never because of their personal affinity towards you .

He wonders what could’ve happened to gain this kind of behavior from his staff, more so when the last thing he was aware of was their distaste for you, which brought unrequited comments towards your little death scare —which he now found ridiculous.

Ah, it’s nothing important anyways. The staff was so underneath his concerns anyways, that he considered it a waste of time to lower himself to their level and ponder what was happening in those little pathetic minds of them—if it was someone’s duty, it was Meiko’s.

There were bigger fish to worry about anyways.

“Is that all?” Naoya asks, skeptical to believe that this was all that happened during his absence. And not to be pessimistic, but he hoped you would’ve done more while secluded away from the clutches of your husband.

Had you really been that willing to settle down once and for all? All that it took was his father’s threat and a bit of his absence to make you fall in line?

If so, perhaps he should reward you.

But that’s not where the truth stops, and Naoya soon comes to that conclusion upon seeing the faltering gaze in Ranta’s countenance.

«Ranta knows something, and he doesn’t want to tell me» Naoya correctly assumes, and in the deepest part of his mind, a fire begins to ignite «Just what did you do, my silly Y/N?»

Being a master of obtaining what he wants, Naoya decides to give him a little push into the right direction and persuade him to reveal all that he knows, unless he wants to see his best friend angered.

And that’s no way to receive him after days of absence, right?

“What a boring life, Ranta” Naoya derides, a smirk on his lips “I kind of feel bad for my poor wife , unless… there’s something more?”

“She—She’s been….” Ranta stammers, dreadfully resenting the fact that he’s to be the messenger of bad news. But such was the task that he accepted, and slowly but surely, his displeasure shifts towards you and your nerve to perform such occurrences.

Ah, if you’d only behaved appropriately, then maybe he wouldn’t be stuck in this predicament.

“She’s been spending time with the twins, but—but she also had her period!” Ranta attempts to use the second statement as bait to divert his attention from the first and onto what he considers perhaps the most important subject when it comes to you, and for the Zen’in as well, but it’s all for naught. Once he brought along the presence of Mai and Maki, Naoya’s attention was set.

Because if there’s one thing that he likes the most when it comes to the clan, it is the macabre drama surrounding its members.

And the glimmer in Naoya’s eye upon the mention of his cousins is proof enough to confirm Ranta his efforts were for naught. 

He’s finally entering uncharted territory, a mine filled landscape where the slightest misplaced word will end up in him getting detonated.

No, that couldn’t be right.

With this wording, it implies the possibility of finding a safe spot in Naoya’s indignation, when in reality, there’s no such thing. The heir’s mind is filled with dark motives and solutions, not a single space offering preservation.

And God help the poor soul that finds themselves trapped in the realm of Naoya’s thoughts.

“The girls?” Naoya scoffs. “Ogi’s daughter’s?”

Ranta nods “The same ones…”

Well, isn’t that an interesting story?

Why is his wife , a woman of undeniable rank and prestige, wasting her time by intermingling with the disgraceful members of the Zen’in clan?

He could argue that they’re involvement surged due to their future roles as his staff, (an agreement that he had no involvement in, and neither had interest in dissolving due to the twins literally having no other use) but he sure remembers specifically ordering Meiko to assign exclusive staff for your care, to avoid you relating to them or anyone else for that matter; after all, why would he allow the putrid excuses of his cousins to come near the woman who is to carry on the next generation?

Naoya doesn’t know if their deficiency is capable of being transferred to his wife via aura, presence, atmosphere, or whatever other bullshit sorcerers like to talk about, but he’s certainly not going to sit aside and find out. Seems like a conversation with Junko is due in—

Oh .

Wait a minute.

There’s a thought that suddenly crosses his mind.

Could it be…?

Was Junko perhaps…. Trying to bribe his wife with the attention of her walking bad omens, appeal to your motherly side, just to obtain some kind of favor? Secure a better position for her wasteful children?

If that were the case… Naoya considers himself suitably intrigued—he never thought his aunt to be the kind of person willing to bend the rules to obtain something for her personal advantage! After all, she was cut from a different fabric from you and she had learned her place amongst the ranks of this clan, even before she arrived at the estate, it's why Ogi took her as his wife in the first place.

But you… you’re different, an outsider, and a weakness if he must, to these people. Something that could’ve given her the wrong impression to seize the moment and attack… why the servants took great interest in you as well!

Oh, and you must’ve flourished when Junko finally made her move. After all, why would you pass up the opportunity to gain attention? Leverage? Especially after behaving like a spoiled brat once you considered his attention unsuitable for your taste.

Ah, maybe he miscalculated the force of your influence—he’ll have to deal with that issue with Ogi when he has the chance.

However, it couldn't be all bad.

With his father's teachings, he's long learned to see that every little succession always bore a positive side, and in this occasion it boiled down to the innocent nature of their interference and what could be of benefit for him.

"It'll serve as an experience for when Y/N finally becomes a mother" is all that Naoya concludes of his informer's statement, and while he was somewhat… Irritated by this unexpected course of events, he thinks about Ranta's reaction as out of proportion—your interaction with Junko and the twins is nothing more than women bickering with other women, part of their nature, and nothing more. "Is that why you were so worried about Ranta?" Naoya asks, going ahead and passively mocking the young man's face of concern.

Ranta wishes he could go ahead and say he's relieved for seemingly surviving this precarious stage of his deliberation, but he can't.

Because compared to what is next to come, this was the easier part to traverse— Mai and Maki were always under Naoya’s radar anyway, in route to being his servants simply because Ogi wanted to remain in the good graces of the clan and keep his image as clean as possible by giving them some kind of use, so it was within reason that he wouldn’t react so outrageously when it came to it.

It's what comes next that has him riddled with affright, a premonition of the dangers to come. He’s seen all kinds of conflicts happen between the siblings, for a wide range of reasons, simply because Naoya felt they were starting to step on his toes or because they looked at him weirdly—but this is unexplored territory for all of the siblings; the addition of a woman in their circle, his youngest brother’s wife … Well, many knew better and decided to keep away.

With the exception of one.

And casually, the one Naoya got along with the worst.

«Well…. He’s going to know about it one way or the other» Ranta muses as he mentally prepares himself to go on with the most difficult stage of his testimony «Maybe it’s for the best that I be the first one to tell him about it…»

“There’s…. Something else” Ranta softly says, looping Naoya back into his attention. The Zen’in heir stops his desultory walk across the estate and turns around to face the averse man with captious eyes.

“Is there?” Naoya gibed, impatient to see what else you’ve hidden under your sleeve. And without a second to waste, the young man forces himself to finally confess…

“She’s been hanging… with your brother” And he swears to feel the temperature of the atmosphere drop to freezing levels.

The consuming silence between the two is quick to suffocate Ranta, to the point he finds difficulty to breath through the tightening constraints of his chest and the resounding noise of his heartbeat in his ears. He doesn’t even need to look up to Naoya’s eyes to know that he will find the familiar glint of a killing intention in his eyes, proving that not even the triumphant results of his examination was enough to moderate the extent of his reception.

“Which… brother?” Naoya darkly queries, and Ranta wishes he could just disappear, preparing himself for impact.

“...Naoaki”

It was only a matter of seconds before the young Zen’in heir would make his thoughts known, followed by angrily demanding your presence to be brought upon him and repeat the successions of the day you and your husband came back from the doctor; it’s by pure luck that Naoaki had been out of the estate when his arrival took place, almost as if he knew this was about to happen and made the run for it. 

But you weren’t about to be blessed with the same possibilities, and certainly, Ogi wouldn’t step in once more to save you.

 As the one left behind, you’d be the sole responsible to pick the broken glass of this ruptured relationship, with no one to uphold your innocence.

The clock is ticking, and Ranta knows that Naoya’s mind is machinating all kinds of gruesome punishments to grace his wife with, if not to hasten Naobito’s verdict.

But when Naoya finally decides to open his mouth and reveal his next move… Ranta’s heart drops to the pit of his stomach.

It’s nothing of what he expected, in fact, he doesn’t know if he prefers the initial outcome he had in mind.

Because what Naoya decided to do was…

Laugh.

The blonde-haired man was cackling , almost feloniously, seemingly amused by the antics of his older brother, and his wife in that matter.

“Ah, Naoaki, is it?” Nayoa derisorily queries “The imbecile of my older brother?”

“Y-yes…?” Ranta nervously agrees. Of all Naoya’s that he’s seen, this has to be the most unnerving one.

“That’s incredible!” Naoya boasts “He really thought he was doing something, wasn’t he? Oh, and my stupid wife fell into it”

Ranta frighteningly wonders if Naoya is seeing something that he isn’t, perhaps a clue that he overlooked, or maybe even the words that he said? 

And all things considered, that was the truth.

The combination of Naoya Zen’in’s arrogance and delusional mind brought him to see a side Ranta failed to recognize, the alleged clarification of the actions of his older brother’s actions:

Naoaki was using you.

His beloved failure of a brother was using you to get back at him one way or the other, he’s always been the jealous one out of the two, thus, it made complete sense!

Naoya could see it now. He probably approached you with sweet nothings and actions that would make any cornered woman fall into his arms after realizing how out of place you felt, and falling straight into his trap.  

And while he wasn’t all too happy with the route his father had decided to take regarding your infertility , that's how things worked in the Zen’in estate and you either eat, or risk to be eaten.

However, that didn’t mean you had the right to seek comfort in the company of another man—regardless of the other’s intentions.

Well, it seems there were still a few things to iron out between him and you. Not everything could be perfect—but Naoya doesn’t mind.

In fact, he was relishing the fact that he had something to work on, you were his wife after all, and he liked being your husband. And putting you back in place during these matters was a role Junko couldn’t possibly play.

“The nerve of them to disrespect me… it’s adorable really” Naoya says, regaining his pace and continuing walking across the estate, eventually arriving at the pagoda garden where he manages to see the familiar figures of your staff…and you.

“I—I don’t think they’ve done anything…if that’s what you’re implying” Ranta adds, hoping that his words would halt whatever direction he was going, but it was too late, Naoya already made up his delusional mind and assessed ways to deal with this situation.

“I know” Naoya darkly reassures him. Besides, if anything had occurred, Junko would’ve been the first one to cry wolf—she knows better after all.

The misconception that his brother’s wouldn’t act out of line due to the power he represented was greatly apparent through his laughter and his subsequent reaction—it’s why he was comfortable leaving you around the estate, but not without restraints, of course. They feared his anger too much, because his brothers knew better, right?

But he fails to realize that he’s being blinded by his own arrogance (due to his outstanding performance, no question about it, as well as rank) to the point that he’s lost touch with the reality of his surroundings, the depths of your feelings, and now, Naoaki’s.

Naoya is playing the live, accurate representation of a popular saying that goes: The higher they climb, the harder they fall, and Ranta knows that this is about to happen. 

After all, his friend has effectively broken free of all restraints thanks to the lightness of his response, a crucial ingredient for the recipe of disaster.

And if his fear regarding him and his future actions were already on alarming levels, he now thinks to have broken the scale.

Excitement pumped through Naoya’s veins as he looked forward to revealing all the secrets of your flourishing relationship with Naoaki, to see just how low you could go, have his fun… After all, you’ve denied him for far too long—and that’s no way to live.

“Do you… want me to call her?” Ranta asks upon noticing the gaze of his friend stuck on your figure for more than a few seconds, giving him the impression that he desired to reach out to you at this very moment. 

However, the young heir simply chuckles, and you are suddenly inundated with the heavy sensation of someone observing you, forcing you to look for the author behind this feeling.

Naoya watches the way your head swirls towards your sides, until it finally falls in your direction—it’s here that he finds himself admiring the way your eyes go round in shock when his and your gazes cross paths—confirming that your husband was indeed, back in the estate. “No…” Naoya says with a smirk as he takes one last look at your frightened face before going back to his way, ignoring the murmurs of your concerns ladies, as he heads towards his room; at least you’re aware that your little ruse has been discovered, and he can’t wait to remind you just who you think you’re toying with. 

Or who Naoaki is messing with.

“I think I’ll have dessert after dinner”

(part 2)

[plaindangan]

All masterminds are subs.

Junko hears Yasuke say bend over and she immediately gets on her hands and knees.

Chaiki says the loser has to give the winner oral and before she can blink Izuru loses the game and has started getting his head between her legs.

Rantaro helps Tsumugi with her cosplay by modelling as one of her favourite characters and decides to flirt with using a line the character said and makes it a little lewder next thing he knows she gets really into the role play

Disclaimer: Below is content that's more on the racy side! If not for you, you probably shouldn't read!

Bend over.

Even as with that cocky smirk of hers, it was like a switch went off in Junko once the neurologist sad those words. On her hands and knees in his laboratory, her stomach was filled butterflies as her raven haired boyfriend went right behind her.

"Seriously, just ask for sex the normal way. Would it kill you to do that at least once!?" Having to fuck your wackjob of a girlfriend turns out to be much more of a roadblack when failure to do so is her potentially using your work in her umpteenth scheme to end the world.

"Awww, but where's the fun in that?~ C'mon, you know you get a kick out of this!~" Flipping up her skirt, Junko began shaking her large, bouncy ass covered in black lacey panties. Clapping it a few times just for good measure.

"Yeah, yeah...." Yasuke grumbled, pants already to his legs. Giving two spanks to said ass to silence the despairful trickster, he wasted no time in plunging his member into her tight ass. Junko was such a pain in the ass...so it's fitting that Yasuke's allowed to be one in turn, riiight?~

--

"A-aah, s-s-seriously!? Y...mmm...you could have at least tried!" Panted a blushing Chiaki. Her skirt was flipped up and panties pulled to her ankles as the loser dutifully ate her out, his tongue licking and shoving himself deep within the gamer.

This 'loser' just so happens to be the closest thing in the world to a literal God, Izuru Kamukura. As soon as her heard that the penalty for losing would be eating other out, he had immediately had his character jump off the closest edge he could find and lose all of his lives. By the time, Chiaki could comprehend that he has essentially threw the fight, he was already between her legs doing his utmost to please his gamer girlfriend!~

"Ugh...n-next...next tiiime we play for reaaal! F-fuuuuck! Seriously, h-how are you so good at this?" she asked. For a moment, Izuru, in all of his stoic nature, paused to look right at Chiaki.

"....Apparently sex mastery counts as a talent to Hope's Peak." he said before going right at it. Even he had to question Hope's Peak's standards...but considering it net him Chiaki's pleasure...he didn't mind one bit at the moment.

--

"I...am far from empty!!!"

Moments after shouting that line with as much bravado as possible, Rantaro turned towards Tsumugi with a sheepish smile. "So how's that?" For a con coming up, Tsumugi had elected to ask Rantaro for help modelling a Yu Narukami cosplay.

"Ah-ah...g-good job!" Tsumugi said, her cheeks blushing like crazy. As it turns out Rantaro really knew how to make those clothes work and he knew damn well how to work them!~ It didn't help his voice was quite similar to Yu as well.

Noticing this, Rantaro decided to tease her a little bit more as a joke. "The truth always has a way of revealing itself...and truth is I think you're pretty cute!~" he says, chuckling soon after...only to blink and get pounced on by a lustful nerd, unable to really contain herself anymore.

"H-heeeeeey!!! Tsumugi!?" Ripping her vest and shirt off to showcase more of her mature, enviable set of big boobs, she looks down at Rantaro, absolute ecstatic.

"Pl-please...show me your true inner self!~ Fuck me senseless, pleaaase, Narukami!~" Oooh, boy, she was knee deep in her fantasies. What should Rantaro do?

...

"FACE THE 'TRUTH!!!" he yells, having bent the cosplay over her desk, fucking her pussy with as much intensity as the scene deserved. By now, Tsumugi had changed into dressing as Marie, drooling in absolute pleasure as Rantaro gave her the fucking she so desperately wanted.

"Y-y-y-you...youstupidbigdickjerk!!! Wh-why are you slowiiiiiing!? Ahahaha! M-moreeeee! Moooooooooooore!~" It was official. She had to get Rantaro model more costume for her...maybe Joker for next time?

[ghostonmyfeed]

Girl From Nowhere S2 Theory

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT: I will be talking entirely about events in the 2nd season.

**Very long**

**I will tell the story of the episodes as well**

! ! WHAT I SAY ISN'T CANON IT'S JUST A THEORY !!

In episode 4 We're introduced to Yuri, who's up for revenge on her "friends". This is when Nanno realized it's going to be a whole lot different.

In the last season we see Nanno bringing karma to those around her. May it be a teacher or a student. In those instances, they either regret all the things they did and die or learn from their mistakes and live to be a better person.

In Yuri's case, all she wants is revenge because she's been used by her rich friends. In this episode, everyone is in the wrong and they all deserved bad karma.

Towards the end of that episode we see that Nanno was "dead" and put in a bathtub, while Yuri's head was inside, because she drowned to death in that tub by men she used to get her revenge.

Yuri's plan backfired on her. And of course in old Nanno fashion when the coast is clear, Nanno goes back to life and leaves the room.

But in the last scene, we see Nanno's blood going in Yuri's nose and bringing her back to life.

But was is intentional? We know that Nanno does not make mistakes, at all because everything she does happens for a reason.

For the rest of the season we have Nanno and Yuri competing over what the people in the wrong deserve.

Yuri is impatient and all about death and revenge without teaching them what they did wrong.

Nanno is patient, all about giving them the punishment they deserve and them learning from their mistakes.

Nanno does not doubt her tactics and knows exactly what to do to give the bad people what they deserve.

We know that in the end of every episode, everyone who lived and learned their lesson got to go back to their normal lives with their families.

We see a crack in Nanno's façade in episode 7: JennyX when Jenny slit Nanno's throat that didn't heal and where she had to take Jenny's identity because of Yuri's interferance.

In this episode we see that Nanno is capable of taking people's identities. But that wasn't part of her plan. She herself knew that this was not what Jenny deserved, it was too much and she doubted herself.

JennyX was a failed 'mission' on Nanno's part, because even if Jenny learned her lesson, she didn't get to go back to the life she had and correct her mistakes.

In the season finale Nanno and Yuri were arguing over who deserved to be punished.

Yuri says Junko's the victim because she was bullied by teachers and students and her mother purposely paralyzed her legs.

Nanno calls both Yuri and Junko out by saying both of them are hardly victims because they choose to kill people.

Junko was killing off students and faculty staff and studying their organs (Junko was interested in anatomy) her mother had no choice but to paralyze Junko so she would stop killing people because the mom always had to get rid of the bodies.

Towards the end of the finale Nanno tried to stop Junko from stabbing the mother but she gets injured and it didn't heal.

In the scene we see Nanno being stabbed to death by Junko and her mother, Yuri letting out an evil laugh. After stabbing Nanno to death, Junko slit her mother's throat.

At that final scene we see Yuri giving Junko her blood and going their separate ways. And looking down on them from the rooftop, was none other than Nanno herself narrarating.

"In a world where everyone thinks they are free and does whatever the hell they want. Am I really necessary anymore?" ~ Nanno

THEORY:

From the 4th episode, Nanno has been waiting patiently for the moment to teach Yuri a lesson.

Come to think of it, Nanno still didn't punish Yuri in that 4th episode. Yuri didn't regret any of the horrible things she did because to her it was all necessary for revenge. She didn't deserve to die because that was too easy. So Nanno intentionally made her immortal to teach her a lesson.

In episode 6 Yuri impatiently tried to get rid of Nanno and deliver her "justice" by making the students revolt. It worked for a moment but when the students came to one of them killing a teacher, the students fell apart and started blaming one another. So when their principal said they'll take care of the mess students made as long as they go back to doing everything the faculty says, most of the students agreed leaving the students who believed in revolting to face the consequences for everyone.

Yuri then sees her plan does not work and Nannos (yes plural) appear to finish the job. In the last scenes of the episode, the original Nanno locks Yuri in a room with her clones and the faculty, telling her they'll starve to death unless they start eating each other.

This could have been Yuri's karma if she just learned that her way doesn't help anyone. But it didn't, it just fueled her thirst for revenge more.

In the last scene of the finale, we see Nanno's neck fully healed. Meaning everything was part of her plan. If Yuri thinks Nanno's dead she would let down her guard down and it would be easy for Nanno to strike back.

But then what about the Nanno who was stabbed? It could be none other than one of her clones. We've seen her use her clones before to punish people in S1 ep2.

We don't know for sure if her clones can have lasting effects but in ep7 we see her clone's tongue cut off and it was still cut off in the end of that episode. When it was cut off, we also know that it made them bleed so the thought of of Nanno faking her death in front of Yuri isn't impossible.

Yuri already thinks that when Nanno's in doubt she can lose her immortality and make her vulnerable. Why? Maybe because Nanno planted that idea in Yuri's head.

This is Nanno we're talking about, she's what? a demon? a spirit? Let's say she's the spirit of karma because from what we see, she brings karma to everyone around her. Karma can't die, karma is just there. Nanno can't die, Nanno is just there.

What does she mean by her narration at the finale?

"In a world where everyone thinks they are free and does whatever the hell they want. Am I really necessary anymore?"

She's saying, if everyone does terrible things knowing very clear that they will be caught and there will be consequences but keep doing it anyway, what's the point of karma?

So instead of learning from their mistakes, they continue to make them, if that's it then is punishing them over and over again really necessary when it changes nothing?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME IN READING THIS

This is just a theory and my own interpretation, I know there are different opinions and this is my own. You can disagree and find my opinions, interpretations and theories stupid and I'm okay with that and I respect your opinion, but please refrain from harsh/foul language. Thank you!

[austajunk]

Please PLEASE go into detail about how protective he is over Chiaki!! I literally am begging to finally hear someone else actually acknowledge their friendship/relationship especially after having to deal with a pretty toxic anti-bi/pan Nagito rper I was on a server with for a good part of a year! (Sorry went kinda ranty but hopefully my anguish is understandable!)

Oh my lord, you’re giving me a chance to shine with my fixations?! I can’t thank you enough! Now, please understand that this is based on my perception of the series as I’ve played through the second game twice. I’m pretty good when it comes to being the person who has unpopular opinions and ships and I know claiming that Nagito is bi/pan/Demi is probably one of them. But honestly, it comes from the desire to see this boy get as much love as possible. Because he sure needs it.

Ultimately, Nagito’s sexuality is never canonly specified, so I think whether gay, bisexual, Pansexual, or what have you, we’re all well within our rights to just have fun and see what we want to in a really flawed and relatable character. And that’s what makes it interesting.

That being said, let’s talk about Nagito and Chiaki. Friendship or romantic, I don’t think you can deny that Chiaki is at least special to Nagito in some way.

Upon replaying the second game, I’ve realized how protective Nagito actually is towards Chiaki interestingly enough.

In chapter 2, she leaves to go question Fuyuhiko but Nagito stops her and tells her not to let Fuyuhiko get rough with her. Every time Chiaki’s skills help them advance, he deeply praises her. Even after he’s stopped praising all the others (which he does mostly after Chapter one, hinting he does not like some of them as actual people). But for some reason, especially during the trials, Nagito is quick to jump in and mention how wonderful Chiaki is and compliment her (only to be usually cut off by someone when he starts to ramble).

It should also be noted that Chiaki and Nagito both share an appreciation for games. Nagito seems to like more luck-based games for obvious reasons, but he also mentions that like Chiaki, he likes the Twilight Syndrome series. Both of them similarly state that they felt Monokuma was butchering a favorite game of theirs.

They also both have an odd way of trying to cheer Hajime up and joke with him, the examples shown coincidentally beside one another. Chiaki says she’s gonna look for a dirty book, throwing Hajime off and Nagito “jokingly” tells Hajime to lick his boots and now to him, but Hajime is extremely put off when he claims it was a joke. These oddballs get each other in the weirdest of ways is what I’m saying. They’re both incredibly antisocial, but their hearts are reaching the same place too when they try to make an effort.

In chapter 4, when Chiaki teams up with Nagito and Kazuichi, then leaves because they’re both being clingy, Nagito quickly follows and chases after her to make sure she’s okay. Then he chastised her for running off, looking deeply concerned. Even after his attitude change, he will answer her more directly and not ignore her. When she tells him to be quiet, he politely obeys... or maybe it’s because he’s deep in thought about her motives as he mentions he was watching the trial carefully to decide on who the traitor is.

I may just be mentioning this because they’re my OTP, but if you know about their school time together and pay attention to Nagito’s Hope versus Chiaki’s Hope, I think it’s fascinating.

Okay, now let’s head into Danganronpa 3 territory. Now this is the part where I am the most shaky as I’m still trying to determine what I take canon from this series. The thing is, a friend who got me into the series informed me that the production was way rushed and that Kodaka never wanted to do the anime in the first place. But! That being said, Chiaki and Nagito have some great moments in this and the anthology comics along with it, so let’s get into some stuff.

First of all, Nagito warmly mentions that Chiaki being their class rep makes her the true Hope of their class. And you can tell he’s serious because as he’s saying it, he’s doing that thing where he’s staring at his hand desperately like he wants eat it. You know the look.

Moving on, it’s clear that aside from Chisa, Chiaki is the only one to value and treasure Nagito. And this makes sense. In her own dying words, she loves her classmates. They are the world to her. All of them. And of course, she loves Nagito too with all her heart. As evidenced as she cradled him protectively in her arms while he’s injured. At first when Chiaki and the others are determined to stand up to Junko and get their teacher back, Nagito pleads with Chiaki not to. That his luck could not overcome them. He knows they can’t win in this situation and I do think he was actually trying to talk Chiaki out of it. But of course, when Chiaki pushes back and says she wants to go anyways, he literally can’t help himself when it comes to wanting to see Hope shine. So he agrees and praises her again because of course he does.

Until it all leads to the Pain Train with Despair coming out on top. Chiaki is brutally slaughtered and we see something new from Nagito. He breaks down crying. Tears are streaming madly down his face as a forced and twisted smile appears on his lips. He even beseeches Chiaki’s name. “You understand right? You know you’re a stepping stone for Hope!” “What has been done to Nanami is unforgivable...” Nagito’s already trying to cope. To rationalize something horrible that he just witnessed in his mind. He’s trying to protect himself as he’s utterly being destroyed and breaking down like all of his classmates. Chiaki’s death literally shatters his mind. It’s a pretty well done scene even if I’m not a big fan of the brainwashing stuff. Not to mention, the way he says “You understand right, Nanami?” As if he’s begging for her forgiveness as he falls apart. It’s so very very tragic. And of course, when being made apart of the Neo World Program, his desire to see Chiaki once more, just one more time like his classmates, brings her back to him(and the other classmates) in AI form.

Honestly... it’s pretty beautiful. Chiaki is apart of Nagito in some way and is imprinted into his mind and heart. He longed to see her as much as everyone else. This person, who doesn’t seek out relationships because his luck either gets them killed or he finds their Hope to be too weak, has a connection with Chiaki like that. This is literally a person who believes his life is just a stepping stone for better and more worthy people, someone who knows their existence is a formality at this point. And still, he does have connections. There are people capable of caring about him and loving him and Chiaki was one of those people. And he wanted to see her again in the Neo World Program. Like Chiaki said, it’s no less than miracle.

But alas, this is getting rather long, isn’t it? Well in the D3 anthology, Nagito also is concerned when Chiaki avoids eating because of her hyperfixation on gaming. Chiaki skipping out on self care?! Not cool, Chiaki. And so he challenges her to a game to make sure she’ll eat lunch. Fucking protective as hell. And yes yes, the anthology isn’t canon... but that’s the thing about Danganronpa. The series is over. Any additional info and stuff added to it is meant to enrich the experience for the fandom, so it’s canon to me. What’s the fandom gonna do? Whine at me and tell me it isn’t? That Nagito wouldn’t do these things when official anthologies and content that’s sold for Danganronpa tells me he would? So... yeah.

Ultimately, whether you ship them or not, I think this fandom is missing out on the Komanami side of things and how good their relationship is when you really observe it. :3

[noddytheornithopod]

Time to see the Despair Sisters in DRS!

Mukuro

Mahiru’s taking photos of her. Mahiru actually is amazed at the photos in Junko’s magazines, but Mukuro brings out the whole “they’re edited” thing. She says it’s nice Mahiru is able to get more “real” photos of her, tragically Mukuro is in her Junko disguise, though.

Scene with Akane and Tenko. Tenko’s used to Akane stuffing herself between workouts so she can kinda now understand her when eating. Tenko thinks fashonistas get a bad rap cuz of sexist impressions of them. Tenko seems impressed by “Junko”, and also Akane apparently doesn’t know what social media is. :v Ignorance is bliss, Owari, ignorance is bliss.

Mukuro is reminiscing about her sister and being apart from her. Shirokuma appears. Mukuro vents about being apart from Junko without explicitly saying anything, basically.

Scene with Yasuhiro, who calls her... “Junkie dude”. Also Mukuro asks if he’s on something, which is funnier if you know fandom in-jokes lol. Okay, so Yasuhiro is doing a fortune on her (even if Mukuro doesn’t want it), and he says what he sees is about her anxieties. He sees... glossy black hair, which of course takes her back. After mentioning her makeup in the vision he offers to explain more, but he asks for money. :v

Mukuro, Toko and Mikan all in bikinis, okay then. :v It’s awkward for them. Mikan does her usual shtick, and Toko is all standoffish too, but Mukuro tries to keep them calm. She says they don’t have to dislike each other, Mukuro even mentions opposite personalities can attract, like Toko and Komaru, and Ibuki and Mikan (guess there’s some fodder for that heh). Mukuro lets it slip she feels like being too similar can make it hard to get along sometimes, and Toko is naturally confused because Mukuro said too much. :v She covers herself by saying they’re all schoolgirls, and Mikan rightfully points out that should mean nobody would get along if that were the case, lol.

Monaca recognises fake Junko and wants to meet the real one. Gonta interrupts, chasing a bug, and Mukuro actually catches it and gives it to him? When Gonta leaves, the mood is ruined, so they just agree to chat later.

Scene with Sakura and Ibuki. Ibuki is into the others being beefy (alright, Mukuro abs people now have even MORE reason to be mad). Mukuro is surprised, but Sakura actually agrees. Ibuki then wonders what it would be like if she got ripped lol. And it actually seems like... she’s gonna go for it. Sakura says just do what’s best for her (and Mukuro agrees), but she’ll offer to help if she desires. I now demand we see buff Ibuki fanart.

OMG flashback to real Junko, and we see her basically telling Mukuro is the one who should go in VR so she can scheme IRL.

Hajime thinks Mukuro should be true to herself, and from what we can see Mukuro seems like she kinda feels that way deep down.

Mondo tried to stop the kids using the rollercoaster but they just fucked with him and disappeared, Mukuro’s there to help him through it though. They end up talking about how they look and how they wish there was an option to look different in VR. Mukuro jokes he could try a look like Taka, which offends Mondo cuz their looks are still meant to reflect who they are. Plus, it probably wouldn’t change the kids’ opinions of him if he looked nicer anyway. Mukuro said she’d liked to have gone for a more serious look... in other words, herself. :P Mondo’s gut reaction is a look like Toko’s and can’t imagine it, lol. Mukuro says she agrees but that’s what makes it fun, and gives the example of turning Kyoko or Peko into fashionistas. Okay, THAT’s also gotta get fanart lol. Mondo also gives the example of turning Makoto and Shuichi into playboys... wow, stop fanart baiting (also...). It’s also hilarious that Mondo says that when as protagonists they have potential to romance several of the characters (Shuichi got the friggin love hotels even lmao). Mukuro agrees it would be funny but she also says it’s a bit late to be thinking about that. :P Look, if everyone was watching Saimatsu on the beach, I think I see what she’s getting at. :v Haven’t seen any Naegiri content so far but even besides that I kinda wonder if Mukuro is also thinking about how she likes Makoto too.

It’s Makoto! Mukuro went for a swim, and Makoto is impressed at her stamina cuz appearance of model. Mukuro just says she works out more than her peers. :P They then talk about about their futures and how some ultimates like unusual lives (like herself), and then Mukuro drags Makoto into the water with her.

Mukuro wonders why Toko isn’t with Byakuya, and he just denies ever being with her and... calls her a lemon? Mukuro wonders why Byakuya doesn’t have MORE girls after him... he clearly doesn’t care and hates this discussion, lol. Mukuro does think about how things are always weird in Hope’s Peak tho, eg her dressed as Junko and she’s still not popular herself. Byakuya asks why she’s even here, and she says she wants to swim, and enjoys having privacy vs drawing attention cuz fame. Byakuya... just says he has a private beach. :v Mukuro then wants in, much to his annoyance. Byakuya just says to call his butler about it... because he obviously wouldn’t join in, lol. He finally gives in... only to say he can’t promise he’ll be free cuz busy. :P

Aoi’s annoyed about not having her usual swimsuit, especially since one of her straps was... slipping. Mukuro says casual wear like these bikinis is fine and you can also “flaunt it”, but Aoi prefers practicality. Mukuro then basically says it brings out her curves and straight up says it’s sexy. :v Aoi still isn’t into it (nor should she be :v). Mukuro says it took time for her to get used to as well, and she still thinks the look suits her, lol.

Mukuro makes some trinkets for the festival, Hiyoko sees her make a Japanese style hairpin and she actually seems to like it even if it doesn’t compare to artisan stuff.

Tsumugi also is a bit too eager to get something in her “supporter colour” (is the implication that she’s being a Junko fangirl here?).

Ryoma is actually in a sentimental mood, and Mukuro lets him know she feels similarly with things about to end too.

Akane is eating so fast that Mukuro actually chimes in to give her more so Teruteru doesn’t run out for the others, lol.

Mukuro... actually goes back to Yasuhiro to get her fortune told. I wonder if him describing her true appearance was part of what brought her back? She decides to ask about her “family” and whether their goals will be achieved. If it’s a yes, it’s only a 30% chance Junko will plunge the world into despair, so uh yay for good odds?

Scene with Monokuma, huh? Basically... he’s testing her, to see if she’s still willing to do what Junko wants. Mukuro says yes even if she has to kill them because despite her fondness for her classmates she would despair and that would please her sister. Monokuma’s surprised at the lack of hesitation, so Mukuro says she’d be crying as she goes around killing everyone. Mukuro then asks if she hypothetically betrayed Junko and how much she’d despair, which shocks Monokuma. Mukuro then thinks about what would cause more despair for her sister, and Monokuma is impressed she’s grown to be more than just doing whatever she says. Her ending scene says she found her own hope too, so I wonder what that means...

Junko

Time to watch the same shit again with different results, lol.

Junko says she bored of despair and will play along with the hope shit... lol, let’s see how long THAT lasts.

First... Aoi? Junko noticed the strap slipping instantly, and Aoi wishes she had a suit more like Junko’s, lol. Junko says it’s nice to try new things, and that she chose the one piece for laughs, lol. Aoi naturally expected something really skimpy, but Junko wanted to subvert expectations. Aoi says it’s kinda deep, and Junko’s just all “too bad the boys probably wanted to see more skin from this barely legal bitch” (for the record, the “barely legal” and “bitch” parts AREN’T paraphrasing). However, she then says some people probably get off to swimsuits like this... is she referencing that weird school swimsuit fetish in Japan (YEAH THAT’S A THING APPARENTLY)? Aoi is naturally disturbed.

Junko is much more confident in front of the camera as expected, and basically convinces Mahiru to do shots of her modeling cuz she’s supposed to expand what she can do. She ends saying there’s someone she’d like to show them to... I wonder who? I guess Mukuro but IDK.

Akane and Tenko scene! This time, Tenko is amazed that Junko of course can understand what Akane is saying while talking. Lol, Tenko affectionately calls her gluttonous, while Akane says not to “glut-shame” her. :v Tenko quickly apologises, lol. Junko thinks maybe Akane needs to expand her vocabulary, while Akane is just all “if it’s good, it’s good”.

Okay so there seems to be exclusive swimsuit scenes, heh. Cuz here, Junko is with Kaede and Tsumugi. Kaede is in awe of Junko’s swimsuit and how... yeah. Tsumugi is similarly shocked, but... she KNOWS what’s up, and says Hifumi’s reaction would be interesting. Junko says to bet if he nosebleeds or even passes out. Kaede actually says the more she thinks about it, the more right it feels for Junko cuz as a fashionista, she can pull off anything. Junko seeing this then starts to think her suit wasn’t shocking enough, lol. Tsumugi then points out swimsuits don’t need to be a surprise or joke, and that she’s going to have to wear that for the whole trip. Junko sees them getting over it and she’s already bored of it, and Kaede and Tsumugi are basically like “too bad”. Kaede and Tsumugi suggest going to the beach, but Junko says her look would be “despairingly out of place” and wants to stick to pools only for the time being... until she gets bored of that, of course. Tsumugi finds her incomprehensible a lot, and Junko’s just all “it’s fun, plus you can’t fully understand anyone”.

Junko swimming! Effortlessly, and it bores her. Makoto is amazed like with Mukuro. When Makoto assumes she’d do exercise to keep her figure, Junko says she’d be perfect even without it, lol. Junko then mentions not having any hope feels empty, catching Makoto’s attention. Junko basically confesses she got bored of her original shtick. Makoto assures her she’s great and she’ll find something to live for, only for her to respond with “how hopeless” and says he has a poor judge of character. Also, Makoto seems to be aware of how corny he sounds. :P

Mondo time! Junko starts with the whole “be nicer to them”. Junko then says she’s what all girls wished they looked like, and Mondo likes to think the same for guys, but things change. Mondo decides what works for him best is what he feels is right for him. Junko says she didn’t expect fashion discourse, and notes how Mondo has softened over these few years in HP. She then talks about HP bringing everyone together was worth it, which naturally confuses Mondo. Junko plays it off as virtual world stuff.

Things already different with Mikan and Toko... Mikan is instantly happier Junko appears, while Toko is still Toko. Junko figures Toko has more bad relationships than good ones, but Toko sticks up for herself, mentioning she has a friend. Junko then pretends to be disappointed and says she thought they were friends, lol. Mikan completely buys into what Junko is saying, while Toko thinks it’s shallow and is disappointed Mikan would buy that. Seems Junko already knows how to play Mikan like a fiddle, or Mikan is maybe just a SIMP, lol. Weirdly my approach to friends is kinda similar to Toko, at least IRL I find it really hard to call people my friends.

Monaca’s talking about... Haiji... to Junko. When Gonta shows up, a bug lands on Junko, and she says she’s popular even with bugs lol. Gonta thinks it must like her, and Junko says while she’s joking, maybe he has a point.

Junko told Toko Byakuya was at the beach, and says she’s giving a heads up... sure. :v Junko tries to continue her thing, but Byakuya’s already done with her. Byakuya just wants her to cut to the chase (also apparently the boys are having a barbecue in the woods and Junko feels above it, lol). Byakuya notices she has a lack of drive and is surprised, and Junko feigns shock that he’s “concerned”. Byakuya just finds it obvious, and Junko after some tangent about how she should become a shut in in her room cuz teasing Byakuya isn’t fun says that if she leaves Toko will appear. Byakuya then decides to leave himself. Junko is just there bored, now.

Junko talks to Kaede about getting tired of what she cares about, ie despair. Kaede is given a scenario with say she gives up on piano, and she naturally considers it unthinkable and would get depressed pretty easily. Junko is happy to just chat now, have a drink and make her laugh. She ends saying she despaired over despairing about despair. :P

Junko talks to Shirokuma and is actually upfront about it, and Shirokuma is shocked about it. Junko says this event happening to her is also despairing, lol. Despairing over despair and being tired of it, she says she might as well be nothing now, cuz to her she IS despair. Junko concludes she’s in despair no matter where she goes.

Aoi is impressed at Junko’s swimming, saying if she kept it up she’d have a legit rival. Aoi really admires Junko, and Junko almost lets her problem slip. She ends up saying if you took away everything that would make a person, they’d end up changing. When Aoi finds that thought uncomfortable, Junko says she promises that wouldn’t happen... provided she stays tired of despair.

Ibuki and Sakura... Ibuki seems to like Junko here too, lol. Junko has abs confirmed? Ibuki considers being swole, Junko says she’s fine how she is, but Ibuki says she’s willing to try and be the best she can. Junko and Sakura agree they both wonder if there’s still more potential for them to be reached.

Yasuhiro calls her Junkie here too, lol. He says he notices her acting differently, like she’s worried. Yasuhiro tries to get her to let him tell her fortune, while she knows exactly what he does, even breaking down his whole ordeal. :v Yeah, she declines.

Junko... doing fortune telling? Lol. She actually does it because she’s analysed everyone so well, and she decides she can just give really vague stuff to get away with it. First up, Monaca. Junko basically just says she’ll get into despair, and even despair about that despair.

Kaede sees Junko trying this and is curious so gives it a shot, heh. Junko says her positivity and optimism might backfire one day, but she should keep being herself anyway. Kaede agrees this is what she does best so decides to keep being herself. Junko is curious to see where she’ll end up. Also... I feel like Junko kinda summed up her story in V3. Dammit Junko, do you wanna make me cry again? Eh, she probably would.

Yasuhiro now says “Junky”, and sees a rival. :P Junko reassures him it’s just because it’s a unique day, so Hiro asks for his fortune told. Junko just says this will always be his life, which makes Yasuhiro freak out and says he only wants to hear himself be free of debt collectors. Junko says she could show him true despair and end his life to herself.

Junko asks Kaito if he’s afraid of the fire, lol. He isn’t, but also says without fear you can’t prepare for danger, but if you’re not prepared and are scared in the moment, you’re doomed. Junko then says what he really fears is probably losing the fire in his heart.

Chiaki on the other hand does fear fire, cuz it’s often bad news in games. Junko says something can be a source of hope or despair depending on perspective.

Komaeda also fears, but he also sees fire symbolising optimism and hope. They compare it to having a dangerous ally, Komaeda says sometimes some terror and misfortune is necessary for hope. Junko asks what if there isn’t any hope at the end and you just suffer, and Komaeda of course rebukes that, saying hope is destined to shine. Junko then only pretends to listen to him, lol.

Lol, Junko’s end cutscene starts with her reminiscing to Monokuma about basically doing the plot of DR2. :P Wait, uh oh... she seems to be feeling inspired again? Junko also implies she even gets bored of sleeping and eating, and that those people do exist when Monokuma says people wouldn’t get bored of that. :v She then says when you lose hope, even doing basic necessities is troublesome. She then talks about how seeking despair in itself is hope, and she is the result of failing to resolve that. They’re intertwined. If one lacks hope in living, despair becomes its own hope. Monokuma sees she’s despairing over despair, and even offers to kill her, lol. Junko then says she haves hope to scare Monokuma, and offer despair. Junko says she’s actually serious despite Monokuma’s surprise, thinking that hope will be the only way she can return to her old self, she wants the things she always craved. Somehow, Junko pushes deeper into despair even as she grows tired of it, lol.

Her end card is her asking if she’ll ever be free of despair. Dammit Junko, I was rooting for you to break your endless cycle of despair and despair and despair and despair and despair and desp

Lol YouTube comments being mad that she suddenly isn’t into despair anymore, even though a) it’s still all about despair, it’s just a weird new (and honestly fascinating) take on it, and b) it’s nice to do something new with her

[goth-albino-angel]

Yugiri's smile is everything. She has so many of them and they all mean different things. When she's relaxed, when she's excited, when she's confused, when she has no clue what's going on but everyone else is happy so she's happy, when she's relieved, when she's proud... She has so many different smiles and if Tumblr didn't have the 10 image rules, I would absolutely gush about every single one of them in detail. Unfortunately, if I do that, all of those posts will probably be eaten out of the tag, so instead, here are my top 10 favorite Yugiri smiles so far, images included. (Pre-Revenge episode 9)

10. Season One, Episode 2: The First Smile/ 9. Season One, Episode 10: The Sentimental Smile

Episode 2 is the first time we ever see Yugiri smile. Before this, she seemed relatively nonplussed or generally disinterested in pretty much everything going on. Even though she was in a different time period with complete strangers and a madman demanding her to be something she has no knowledge of, she was fairly calm. Then the first time we see her smile, it's when she sees something completely familiar. Her own face. Not only that, but she directs that smile toward the character that is going to become basically her little sister. The first one means so much and it's so important.

Within the same vein, her smile to Kotaro in episode 10 is one during an emotionally heavy moment. It's the first time he's hit an actual snag in his plans. Sakura's singular focus on the Arpino show rather than on the bigger picture of the group as a whole would have been a massive roadblock had she not realized her mistake.

Yugiri is the only one who properly realizes the reason they were sent into the mountains in the first place. Instead of simply sitting on the information, she's proactive about it and actually goes to discuss the problem with Kotaro. She wants to understand his reasoning so that she might be able to help him. And when she turns toward him, she also gives him the observations she's witnessed throughout her new life. This smile may be low on my list of favorites, but it's still unbelievably important.

...Also, when they released the preview image of this smile, my brain short-circuited for ten minutes, so it had to make it onto the list regardless.

8. Season Two, Episode One: The Professional Smile

This smile isn't much out of the ordinary for what we've come to expect of Yugiri, but it's on here because this was our first look at Yugiri after basically two years of very little. None of us knew how the group would come back, how the writing team had incorporated the unexpected pandemic, how things would play out, or what would be happening. The Promo showed Tae's hand flying off to knock off Sakura's head, but as 2018 displayed, the promos can't always be trusted. This showed that, even in this new world where she's only been awake for a year, she's putting her skills to use and working just as hard as the others. Thanks to the conversation from Episode 10 of the first season, we know she was trained as a geisha which would make service work much easier than it would be for the other girls.

I don't have too much to say on this one, to be honest. I do like that she's in softer lighting, as opposed to the others who were all surrounded by harsh lighting on their season two introductions. The softer lighting lends itself well to the lack of pigment and coloration in the girls' makeup, allowing Yugiri to look like she has some color, even if she still looks somewhat pale and tired. It doesn't give her quite the same sickly look the others have at their jobs. The red dress? 100/10. Perfect decision.

7. Season One, Episode Five: The Proud Smile

SHE. DOES. GYMNASTICS. She has every right to this smile! I did the math for this specific part of the episode and Yugiri got third place. The judges liked her rope aerobics so much, they shot her all the way to third place even though her distance was zero meters. It wouldn't have gotten her interviewed, but it would have at least put Franchouchou at the forefront. I still applaud Tae snagging first place, but Yugiri deserves some praise. She really did go face first into the mud on a bike and said, "Never again." She's so proud of herself. I'll be gushing about the actual gymnastics part in a different post a little later, too, but she definitely deserves to be proud of herself. I'm really gay...

6. Season One, Episode Four: The Cute Smile

Originally, this was just going to be me doing some keysmash version of a squeal or something, but there's something I'd like to draw attention to. I'm pretty sure that, by this point, Franchouchou only knows two songs. Yomigaere, which was supposed to be performed in episode 2, and Mezame Returner, which is what's being performed here. Of these two, Yugiri has more experience with this one, but from what the audience had been shown, it wasn't good experience.

Memorizing the lyrics would have been the easy part for her. It's that a good portion of the dance practice was also spent helping Lily get the steps down and potentially calming her frustrations. Then the performance itself would have been a complete disaster if Junko and Ai hadn't gotten over themselves at the last minute to finally help.

This is the first successful performance of Mezame Returner we're witnessing and it's clear the group's had more practice since then. You can see how excited and happy Yugiri is here because this one is actually going well. They had a bit more time to prepare, the two lead roles were actually involved this time, and the audience also was clearly enjoying the performance. She's so happy and it's just so heart-warming to see. Yes, even with the CGI. Don't @ me, she looks adorable.

5. Season One, Episode Seven: The Sassy Smile

This one also was just going to be a squealing keysmash thing, but again, I have something to point out. Look how much more confident she is now that Junko and Ai have, once again, gotten over themselves. Yugiri sees the effect that Junko stepping in had on the others and just like the rest of the group, her movements are more relaxed and free.

It's more obvious, actually, if you look at the way the other girls are moving directly after Junko helps Ai up in comparison to how Yugiri is moving. She did a spin while waiting for Sakura and Lily to finish their segment, and she could be cheeky during her own. She sensed that the tension had mostly dissolved and because of that, she allowed herself to relax and could properly throw herself into the performance. When she throws out this smile and wink, it's not actually directed at the audience. It's Yugiri telling the others that they've got this without breaking the performance.

4. Season Two, Episode Four: The Gentle Smiles

I put both of these here because Yugiri's just... so... caring? So much of what she does is passive that you don't realize just how much work she puts into relieving the stress from the other girls until long after the problem has been resolved.

In the first, she's speaking to Sakura. No doubt, Yugiri probably noticed how worried Sakura was about Junko. Even though Sakura was trying not to let the others catch on just how anxious she really was, Yugiri still knew that something was bothering Sakura as well as Junko. Yugiri knew that the key to easing Junko's mind lay in placating Sakura first. She's seen what happens to them all when they fall apart and she wants to avoid that at all costs. So, Yugiri lifts Sakura's spirits and gives her back the fire and determination to make a great performance.

In the second, Yugiri is watching Junko eat. Unlike the others, it's clear Yugiri knows that Junko is in much higher spirits than when last they saw her. Junko would likely have still been a stuttering, quivering mess otherwise, but she wasn't stuttering and her actions were purposeful and self-assured. Yugiri is very observant. She would have caught on that something had happened to make Junko feel better. What makes this smile even better is that she's not the least bit disappointed. The reason she made dinner was to help Junko, but she doesn't view the meal as a waste of time. She's so focused on other people, that she's happy Junko is feeling better at all and even offers her different platters to help keep her mood up.

These are high on the list for two reasons. One, they're a show of just how much Yugiri does for her girls. Two, YUGIRI COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS HEADCANON CONFIRMED BITCHEEEESSS!!! I GOT ONE RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!

3. Season Two, Episode Six: The Affectionate Smile

I will be completely honest, I have no idea why this one is as high as it is. I admit, I did spend three hours replaying this single thirty second scene because it's really sweet and Yugiri and Tae don't interact very often, so seeing Yugiri not only be worried for Tae, but also be immediately reassured that Tae would be fine was just something my heart didn't know it needed until it had it. The sheer level of affection Yugiri shows toward Tae is too adorable. Especially since Yugiri usually only has moments like those with Sakura and, to a lesser extent, Lily. This smile's really cute, it's in the middle of a wholesome scene, and it made me love both Yugiri and Tae that much more.

2. Season One, Episode Three: The Excited Smile

Once again, an entry that was going to be a simple squealing keysmash until I realized there was something to point out here as well. This is the first smile we ever see from Yugiri that's genuinely enthusiastic. She has plenty of them, especially during her performances, but this is our first time seeing her fully incorporate herself into the group as an actual member and actually look excited to do something with the others. This was an omen of adorable things to come and damn did it deliver.

Honorable Mentions.

I'm only going to touch on each of these briefly because to be honest, there are a LOT of smiles I could've picked.

The first one is from episode 6 when the group is talking about their very first meet-and-greet. Lily asks Yugiri if she's keeping up okay, and Yugiri remarks that she's taking things as they come. This was a small look into the kind of character she is. As I mentioned before, she's very passive in the way she operates, but that's to the benefit of those she cares for. This is her admitting that she doesn't want to be a problem and it's just sweet that even though Lily is worried about her, Yugiri's still highkey thinking about everyone else.

To the right is a shot of Yugiri during Electric Returner. This one is just the squealing keysmash because she looks so genuinely ecstatic, it's contagious. She's NO DAMN CLUE what happened or why they sound so different, but she is absolutely living her best second life.

The next shot comes from the beginning of Yomigaere and is somewhat of a repeat of the above. She's excited to perform for such a big crowd, she's glad Sakura finally agreed to actually participate, and she's living her best second life. Whoever animates Yugiri's CG model? I love you. I want to send you a gift basket. She's always so happy during performances.

Then comes her smile after the group finds out Sakura's memories are back. She's just glad Sakura, her Sakura, has come back to them, that she accepts her crap luck and is still willing to stay. For Yugiri, this goes under the list of Best Possible Outcomes. Her family is whole again and she's so relieved.

Last in the top row is the first full frontal shot we get of Yugiri in the Saga Jihen music video. She's so unbelievably adorable here. I wish I could've gotten her first expression, but the curtain was still rising and without photoshop, I'm not editing an image to the degree needed to get her whole face lightened. Point is, she's cute and everyone deserves to see her adorable face on the first song she got to be center for.

First on the bottom row is Yugiri looking apologetic from episode 8 of Revenge. She's so cute. It was an honest mistake and she had no way of knowing the paper belonged to Kiichi. No doubt, that was probably why she offered to help him rewrite them later.

Next is how cute she looks in big sister mode. She's wiping the mud from Kiichi's cheeks and is taking such care with him. Throughout the entire episode, she treats him like a little kid and it's likely because her role was big sister for so long that she doesn't know how not to treat him that way. It really does shed light on just how kind she is to everyone, though, that she doesn't even think about her dirty kimono and focuses on cleaning him up a little first.

Then we have her smiling at Kiichi as she remarks on how beautiful his dream of reviving Saga is. She even says she hopes it comes true. His dream means something to her. She can't even fully see it, he can't even fully see it, but they don't need to. What Itou didn't understand this whole time is something Yugiri understood immediately just from listening to Kiichi talk. They don't need to see it in their minds, all they need is to feel it in their hearts, and that's something Yugiri knows.

And lastly on the honorable mentions, because this post is already super long, Yugiri smiling while she's cooking for her guests. It was a tossup between this or the pinwheel because it's just really nice that Yugiri can simply enjoy mundane things. I chose this one because it's a direct contrast to how she was at the beginning. Before, she ate with a disinterested expression, but now, she's cooking for guests rather than just for herself. The lift in her mood is obvious, and it's something so small but so heartwarming, I couldn't resist.

I would've put the pinwheel moment anyway, but unfortunately, as a com major, formatting and design are everything and an extra picture on the top or bottom without a balancer would've thrown the whole thing off. Maybe next time.

NOW FOR NUMBER ONE

1. Season Two, Episode Eight: The Softest Smile

This should have been expected. There's something genuinely touching about the fact that Yugiri really does give her everything, even to complete strangers. These girls barely know her, everyone in town barely knows her, but because her dance students suggested Yugiri go out and actually experience, Yugiri gives it actual thought. She doesn't dismiss them, she doesn't deride them, she doesn't make them feel foolish or anything like that. She treats their suggestion the same way she would if it had come from a close friend. And she does actually take them up on it.

Later, we see her come into contact with Kiichi to demonstrate that even full-on strangers aren't exempt from her kind heart, but this means more. All we know is that these girls take Yugiri's dance class, and from the way they speak when we first meet them, it's clear Yugiri has a professional wall between herself and those she instructs. But she still treats them as she would the girls back in Shimabara. It's proof that, even in the past, Yugiri really was just as kind-hearted as in the present. It's a show don't tell kind of thing that just speaks so deeply to the writer in me. I love this smile. It's everything. Her smiles are everything. She's everything.

[glitchydyke]

what if. celeskuro pre killing game hcs <3 bc i will make content for them my damn self if i have to

• celeste takes an interest in mukuro from their very first day at hope’s peak

• she isn’t sure why - their class, hell, the whole school is filled with pretty girls - so what’s this connection she feels with mukuro?

• seriously? standoffish, obedient, quiet mukuro?

• it drives her insane for longer than she’d like to admit

• until one day, someone from an older class is giving chihiro a hard time, and mukuro breaks from junko’s side to take him down in a matter of seconds

• and it’s there, with mukuro standing proud like a superhero, with chihiro holding back tears and clinging onto her waist, with mukuro stroking one hand comfortingly down chihiro’s back, that celeste has her italicised oh moment

• celeste immediately resolves to ask her out

• and so one day after classes, she all but corners her with an invitation to tea

• mukuro looks… kind of like a deer in headlights, and celeste can’t help but find it anything less than adorable

• she waits patiently as mukuro looks to junko for permission, and is subsequently met with a harsh shove and an annoyed “whatever, i don’t care what you do”

• celeste supposes that’s as good of an answer as she’s going to get

• so she takes mukuro by the hand (a little forward, maybe, but this is important, so screw it) and leads her to the cafeteria

• it takes a single snap of her fingers to get hifumi to set down the rest of the food he’d been plating for them and make himself scarce

• (celeste briefly wonders if mukuro would approve of her blackmailing hifumi into setting this up. probably, honestly)

• it takes a second for mukuro to register her surroundings, but with a few quick blinks she steps forward and pulls out a chair for celeste

• it’s more than a little clumsy, but celeste appreciates the effort - this isn’t mukuro’s usual scene, and her attempts at being proper are incredibly endearing

• it quickly becomes clear, however, that that’s where mukuro’s knowledge of being proper ends

• mukuro’s tea cup comes close to being smashed multiple times with the way she sets it down, and the way she eats isn’t as dainty as celeste’s small bites

• celeste smiles. again, endearing

• tea ends fairly quickly, but celeste supposes she can’t blame mukuro for wanting to get it over with - judging by the flickering of her eyes, she’s clearly trying to hide her confusion and, dare celeste say it, embarrassment

• still, celeste thanks her, tells her that her company was enjoyable, and they go their separate ways

• there’s a knock on celeste’s door the next morning. her alarm reads 06:00, and it takes all of her willpower to pry herself out from under the covers

• opening the door (only enough for her to peek out - none of her classmates need to see her without her drills, clad in pyjamas) she’s met with mukuro, fingers tangling together nervously

• she barely gets a word out before mukuro says “breakfast.” celeste isn’t sure whether it’s an invitation or an order

• (she’s also not sure why she’d be fine with it being either)

• she agrees, and mukuro nods, leaving her to get changed

• when she arrives at the dining hall, there’s no one else there. mukuro sits at a table with a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, and a plate of pastries

• it takes everything in celeste not to smile when she sees one of her favourite pastries from their meal the night before on the plate, and her tea made exactly the way she likes it

• the conversation starts with an apology. “i’m sorry. it’s early, i know. i usually wake at five, but junko said i should leave you for a while so i didn’t wake you… i hope this is okay?”

• it’s more than okay. celeste tells her so

• mukuro seems to relax after that, taking tentative bites of a pastry and brushing crumbs from where they fall onto her tattoo

• it’s still quiet. given that she spends her time with junko, celeste isn’t surprised mukuro doesn’t talk much - it’s likely she usually can’t get a word in edgeways

• it’s comfortable though, and the small conversations they do have drift from mukuro’s time with fenrir (short and sweet stories there, mukuro is adamant she can’t say too much) to celeste’s dramatic tales of hustling faceless nobodies out of more money than they own

• when the clock strikes 07:00 and some of their classmates start trickling in, celeste catches mukuro’s arm as she makes to leave

• she blurts it out a lot quicker that she’d like - “i’m going out tonight. i would like it if you accompanied me”

• mukuro’s deer in headlights look comes back in full force, but she gives a short nod and an even shorter smile before leaving the cafeteria

• when celeste meets her in the hallway that evening, she dutifully pretends not to notice the weapons visibly strapped to mukuro’s body (or the ones that she’s sure are also there, in much less visible places)

• the way mukuro stands tall and proud as they walk through the streets makes her smile. celeste has always been capable of handling herself, but mukuro’s evident protective streak is a welcomed personality trait

• mukuro is only slightly surprised when celeste waltzes into a casino like she owns the place, and no one even attempts to tell her she’s underage

• when celeste takes a seat at the nearest poker table, the people already gathered there shift uncomfortably, an action that only increases when they notice mukuro stood defensively behind her

• celeste is all smiles and fluttering eyelashes and carefully trained eyes, seeking out tells and playing the game with a voice dripping in honey

• mukuro finds it… much more attractive than she probably should

• especially when a small crowd gathers around celeste, wide eyes and gasps and bated breath at every tense part of the game, but celeste stays perfectly calm, a self-assured smile painted across her lips

• when they leave, it’s with celeste much richer than she was at the beginning of the night, mukuro more content than she can ever remember being, and muffled sounds of anger emanating from behind the casino’s doors

• their return to hope’s peak should probably be quiet, given the time of night, but celeste has seemingly no fear as her heels click against the floor before she stops outside her room

• mukuro stops with her. celeste pushes her door open, takes a single step inside, and turns back to mukuro with an outstretched hand, her ring glinting in the dim hallway lighting

• mukuro doesn’t hesitate

• she takes it, and celeste pulls her inside, and there’s a few quiet seconds of sitting on the edge of the bed before mukuro feels cold metal against her chin

• the top of celeste’s ring traces gently across her jawline, tilting her head up so that their eyes meet

• and there’s celeste, beautiful in the moonlight cascading through the window

• celeste, with curious eyes and a gentle smile, her other hand reaching out to hold mukuro’s in the space between their legs

• celeste, who’s made mukuro feel something. something other than despair, something other than junko’s words echoing in her head

• celeste, who’s made mukuro something she’d never thought she’d be - happy

• mukuro leans in

• and so does celeste

• and they meet in the middle, gentle and wanting, and everything just… fits

• they can both feel it - missing pieces slotting into place, something missing finally being found, their fingers intertwining between them

• the feeling of home, of happiness, the feeling of hope

[hibiscuswolverine]

Ha ha oops-

My THH rewrite?? Ghost Au??? Idk everyone the same except Makoto gets tired and is somewhat himself. Ghosts get angry and you might think I took something before writing this all down.

CW: talks of gore, and brief mention of attempted su//c//de

-Sayaka is the first ghost he encounters, both in a dream/nightmare/somewhat memory and then in real life. The Nightmare starts somewhat normal enough it’s a memory of a younger him and Komaru walking along the Santa Cruz boardwalk, they escape their babysitters and run off to the beach. Komaru dares him to play hide and seek with her in the mirror/glass maze that’s on the beach, he declines at first(because it’s dark and she made him lose the candy apple he was eating) but after Komaru calls him a chicken it is on. She goes first and then he goes in *cue cute kid running into every other glass mirror*

-NOw the lights were on (dimmed) but then at some point they go out completely and baby Makoto ain’t really feeling it. So he still looking for Komaru with more urgency and starts to call for her.

-When he does find her it’s like they’re in their own solitary cubes but they can see each other through the glass wall. Komaru tries around all sides to get out and reach her brother but she can’t, so then Makoto tries but to no avail, even the side that he came in is blocked off. And then the light behind Komaru’s cube turns on and nothing is there BUT then the left and right lights begin to flicker. Yeah, so uhm she’s screwed but they’re both 5 and 6 and don’t watch horror movies so they don’t know that yet.

Anyway, Makoto and Komaru are obviously very scared and both are trying anything to break the glass but then they freeze because something does crack neither of them caused it. It’s the glass behind Komaru, then it’s the one on the left then the right.

-Do you remember that one scene in Pennywise 2 where Pennywise smashes his head against the glass and then eats the kid? Yeah so Rip Komaru. (I don’t really have a design(s) for monster Sayaka but the middle would be like one based on her actual death, while the other two would be based on her unused execution.

-After watching his sis get eaten Makoto is in a panic but he’s frozen he doesn’t know what to do because like Komaru he is surrounded on all sides. So he huddles himself into a ball in the middle and tries to ignore the glass breaking, it goes quiet and he uncurls himself only to get jump scared.

- Then he wakes up and he gets jumpscared again!! By Sayaka’s actual ghost who proceeds to choke him (causing him to levitate and eyes roll back) and he passes out.

- He wakes up again its morning now the day after the 1st trial and goes to get ready hesitantly in his own bathroom. And finds marks around his neck, and a big ol’ scabbed stabbed wound in his torso, and a few other ones around it. He is very confused cuz he knows he locked the door so he’s just very confused.

-At some point He gets fed up with Sayaka and her ghost shenanigans(scrapping on his door, screaming at the top of her lungs, banging on the door) and just puts a circle ring of salt around his shower. He also has one on the outside of the bathroom door too just in case!

-Speaking of Makoto’s bathroom it is trashed except for the toilet, sink, and tiles. He shattered the mirror and destroyed the shower in a fit of insanity because Sayaka's hallucination was taunting him. So he uses the bathhouse instead for hygiene needs.

-Oh no I didn’t forget about the others, they’re there. They also help him lose his mind.

-Some don’t do much; ie Chihiro, Hifumi, and Sakura (she mostly hangs around Hina but she did have to knock him out once because he was about to take his own life) and Muruko.

- Taka: gave him a really bad migraine for skateboarding in the halls.

Leon: Idk why but he makes him spit up a baseball? I dunno I might change it but for now, he spits up a baseball.

Mondo: kinda takes a chunk out of his calf (with the pickaxe) but the cherry on top is he gets him in the shoulder and by shoulder I mean like really close to the joint but he missed a few inches. BUT he then tries to rip upward and during this process because mondo got melted guess who’s muscles are getting melted??! Luckily Taka walked by stopping the process before the pickaxe could rip through his shoulder blade.

Celeste: I actually wrote about what she did in my goretober Fic! And I am too lazy to state it so you can read it here- :)). OH! BUT I didn’t mention that she set him on fire, (that’ll be explained later)

Sakaya: Well you know.

-The apparitions do get better over time, but when they first enter the spirit realm they’re kinda pissed at first. Now Makoto and his hallucinations of them are a different story.

-The survivors don’t really know what to do with Makoto tbh, like they know he’s suffering and often find him asleep just anywhere. (Makoto doesn’t fear death at this point so if monokuma were to tell him he’s going to die he would just shrug and go back to sleep and that isn’t despairful at all so he lets him get away with it).

-B//ut I do want the kids to have fun so they do with what they got. Not individually too! Like all 5 of them being homies! They play a game of drunk uno, dance to Queen in the concert hall, watch some movies (i.e mostly horror movies cuz I feel like that’s what junko would leave), a jumping contest in the pool, Act out little plays and scenes from books, they play Mario kart- wii sport - just dance-, s’moRES, ARTS N’ CRAFT-

-The Ghosts are there too but only Makoto can see them, and the more the chapters or time progresses the more ‘back to normal’ they begin to look. How? Through ghost therapy sessions, or FTE events idk.

-At one point in time he’s going to kinda lose his cool at one of them and it’s going to be celeste. She woke him up by setting him on fire because he was so deep in his sleep. She called him because the other four (kyoko not included) were attempting to summon something and celeste claims that she can’t fight the thing they summoned that’s in them (now earlier she told him at some point that she was quite a powerful demon,) and needs him to do it. All he does is beat the thing out of them with a bat (one or two hits).

- Now Makoto is frustrated because she woke him up at the ungodly hour of three something, had to do something she probably could have done herself, and then tell him to take them back to their rooms because she doesn’t want them in hers (it's the rec room but shh). He is not having it, he is tired his wounds hurt like a mother and he just wants to go to bed, so yells at her, dogs on her some, and then leaves saying “THESE AREN’T JUST MY FRIENDS THESE ARE YOUR FRIENDS TOO SO YOU’RE GOING TO BE A GOOD FRIEND AND LET THEM SLEEPOVER OK? OK!” I know I know canon Makoto would be a good dog and carry all these bodies down to there dorm but let Makoto be mean for five seconds ok-

- Something kinda chill, because this is being broadcasted (live I assume) right before and after it cuts to commercials, they show pictures that were taken by the remaining students or various artworks of the students from fans, Like SNL.

I Have other ideas for this AU specifically Makoto’s dreams/nightmare/memories and perhaps a few premonitions? But that’s for another time

[mistbornthefinal]

Madoka Magica Aniversary Analysis: Part2

Hunting for Witches

(here there be spoilers, proceed at your own risk)

We get a quick recap of Mami introducing herself and blowing away Gertrude’s familiars, before cutting to Madoka waking up in bed much like last ep. Only this time Kubey is being a creepy bunnycat like always and is looming over her bed. Cue Connect.

As the two of them are brushing their teeth in their weird giant bathroom Junko chastises Madoka for being late and not checking in with the family. We then cut back to yesterday as Mami leads Madoka and Sayaka back to her house. Honestly I prefer the original broadcast version of Mami’s house it’s emptiness laid the seeds for the reveal of the desperately lonely girl Mami actually was. 

(Shaft there was a point where this need to stop and we’ve clearly passed it)

Mami gives them some cake and then gets down to business about this whole magic thing. She starts with the soul gem, the source of a magical girls powers which is created when she forms a contract with Kyubey. Kyubey then lays out the terms in exchange for becoming a magical girl he will grant the subject one wish, according to him anything is on the table. But becoming Meguca has a price, a magical girl must fight Witches. 

Back in the present Madoka asks her mom what she would wish for. Junko says she’d oust a couple of board members at her company, maybe the president as well the man is by her account too long in tooth and yet still refuses name a successor. Madoka suggest the she might be the next president and you can almost immediately see the wheels starting to turn in Junko’s head. Madoka watches slightly nonplussed as Junko begins playing her next moves in Game of Thrones: Mitakihara office politics edition.

(Madoka has no idea the cataclysm her off the cuff statement precipitated) 

Hours in the past Sayaka asks what a Witch is and how they are different from magical girls. Kyubey replies (in retrospect very weaselly) that if magical girls are born from wishes than witches are born from curses. In addition Witches can not be seen by normal humans, but none the less prey on them sowing anger and despair. Mami chimes in that many seemly inexplicable murders and suicides are due to witch curses. Sayaka asks why this isn’t common knowlage. The answer Witches hid from humanity in unreal pocket dimensions, the labyrinths.

What happened to the girls earlier is they had wandered into a labyrinth, something that’s usually fatal to ordinary humans. Mami stresses that within the labyrinth even her life is in danger so the two of them ought to weigh their options carefully before making a contract. As tempting as wish might be the price could very well be death. Despite the danger Mami offers them a chance to accompany them on a witch hunt to see what it’s like before they sign up.

As Madoka meets up with her friends on the way to school Sayaka is quick to react to the bunnycat perched on her shoulder. In addition to being invisible to muggles Kuybey also acts as telepathic relay. Though the twos silent conversation give Hitomi the wrong idea

(this scene became a meme for good reason) 

In the classroom Sayaka questions the wisdom of Kyubey coming to school, given the girl who tired to ice him yesterday is in their class. Kyubey says Mami is in telepathic range (prompting her to chime in) and he doesn’t peg Homura as the sort to cause a public disturbance. Homura’s arrival in class triggers another flashback to last evening.

Specifically the part of the conversation were they discuss the transfer student. Mami confirms that she is another magical girl. This confused Sayaka, why would a magical girl attack Madoka, shouldn’t they be allies of justice. Kyubey corrects her Homura was after him, likely to prevent him from making new contracts. Mami explains that conflict among magical girls is a common occurrence. Witch hunting has it’s rewards and sometimes megucas will fight each other to secure them. Sayaka rather astutely connects her interest in Madoka with the presumed desire to keep competitors out of the picture. 

This whole cutting between past and present thing might be a little hard to follow in text recap form, but it does us a service by cutting our big exposition dump and giving us time to breath in between segments. This scene tells us everything we need to know about magical girls and witches (or so we think) and even gives us some insight into what Homura is about. After EP 1 left us with nothing but questions EP 2 has given us faith that this show isn’t going to leave us in the dark. 

At lunch which Madoka and Sayaka have decided to eat on their schools aesthetic as fvck roof, the two discuss the possibilities of a wish.

(this school is cursed and I love it)

Sayaka says that as tempting as a wish is she balks at the cost, then laments that most people should have a wish that they would risk their lives for and that neither of them do shows how privileged they are. There is a brief cut who we will later learn is Kyosuke before laments that there are plenty of people in the world who would risk their lives on a wish, so why them.

Before we can get an answer Homura enters the scene. The girls are startled but Mami’s voice chimes in revealing that she’s providing overwatch from a nearby tower. Homura says she’s not here to fight and going after Kyubey again is pointless now that he’s made contact with Madoka. She just want’s to know where the stand re:becoming meguca. She then reminds Madoka of her earlier warning, a warning that hopefully has not fallen on deaf ears. Madoka asks what Homura wished for but only receives a cryptic look. 

They ditch Hitomi to go Witch hunting and fail to correct her... assumptions along the way. When the meet up with Mami at the cafe we learn that Sayaka brought a bat, while Madoka brought sketches of magical girl costumes. 

(sketches drawn by her awesome voice actress Yuuki Aoi)

They go back to where Mami fought the familiars so she can pick up the Witches magic trail and track it to her labyrinths new location. As the girls are following the trail we cut to a woman stumbling into an abandoned building, a building that someone wrote a Faust quote on one of the walls in the original German (more on that when do a post on Madok’s Faust references). 

Bach with Mami and hangers on we learn she has been systemizing her method of witch hunting, checking the places already prone to violence and accidents that witches tend to frequent. According to her the worst place for a witch to be is a hospital where they can leach the life from those already weakened by illness.

The arrive at the abandoned building just in time for Mami to catch the woman from earlier when she jumps off the roof. Though uninjured the woman is cationic and marked with a strange glyph that Mami identifies as a witches kiss. She lead the two of them into the labyrinth through a portal but not before enchanting Sayaka’s bat. Homura is not far behind. 

Mami makes easy work of the familiars and after a series a surreal doors open we reach to core of the labyrinth and meet it’s creator.

(I’m not sure what people were expecting back in 2011 but I don’t think it was a butterfly rosebush monster)

Gertrude gets her name plastered on the screen in witch runes, setting us up for a boss fight, cue magia. Mami curtsies to the witch causing two of her signature muskets to fall from her skirt. Gerturde throws her sofa at her and the flies through the air to dodge return fair from Mami’s guns. While Mami is focused on the witch herself several small familiars on the ground merge into a giant tendril that takes her off guard and slams her into the wall. 

Mami is able to turn the table by conjuring threads from the bullets embedded in the ground to ensnare the witch. She then uses the ribbon of her uniform to cut herself free and then conjures a giant gun with it that blows the witch away.

(No one else in this show names their attacks, Mami is such a dork)

Mami celebrates with a cup of tea as the barrier dissipates, then picks up a strange black object from the ground. This she tells Madoka, Sayaka, and the audience is a Grief Seed. The Grief Seed is a witches egg and it can be used to cleanse the darkness of a girls soul gem, replenishing her magic. She then tosses it into the darkness only for a previously unseen Homura to catch it. It has one more use which Mami offers to Homura. Homura rebuffs this offer which Mami takes poorly and Sayaka even more poorly. Madoka on the other hand just wants everyone to get along. 

With the influence of the witch gone the woman from earlier awakens, and is distraught at what she almost did. Mami comforts the woman telling her it was all a bad dream. The episode ends with Madoka musing that while she has no idea what wish she would stake her life on she admires Mami’s heroism. (cue Mata Ashita)

That’s Episode 2 which I would say is the most fundamental episode for understanding Madoka’s plot. We got a whole lot of exposition dumped, far more than you notice because it’s intercut with slice of life movements and character building. The it was capped off with a cool fight scene.  Everything from here on essentially either confirms or subverts what episode establishes.  

[aeymii]

Also imagine the trio ending up in the grand meetup of the other Komas and their ship clubs. And because he's a protagonist in his verse, and has so much ship teasing going on with like a quarter of the cast, Protag!Nagito has doppelgangers on all sides insisting that he join their club.

Matsukoma Nagito: "You're not one of those Mikan-loving Komaedas, are you? There's only one truly worthwhile medical partner. Even if he's dead in your verse, Yasuke is irreplaceable."

Protag!Nagito: "Now wait just a minute! I'll have you know that Mikan is a lovely person, and a very dear-"

Komamiki Nagito: "ONE OF US! HE'S ONE OF US!"

Protag!Nagito: "Wait, wait! I didn't say that-"

Matsukoma Nagito: "You didn't say that you weren't either. Well?"

Protag!Nagito: "I...But..."

Roulette Nagito: "Hold the phone! We saw footage of that hotbaths scene with Gudham. You seemed to be quite enjoying yourself there."

Protag!Nagito: "I was just really happy to be included as one of the guys!"

Soumaeda Nagito: "Kaz was there too!"

Roulette Nagito: "...What if he's in a poly relationship with Gundham AND Kaz?"

Soumaeda Nagito: "Ooh! I don't think we've had that combo yet. Or maybe with Gundham, Kaz, AND Sonia. He seems to get along very well with her too."

Protag!Nagito: "What?! No, you've got it all...I mean..."

Komazumi Nagito: "Oh come on. We've seen you've had some cute bonding moments with Mahiru. No one can smile quite the way she does. And those freckles!"

Protag!Nagito: "Mahiru...is important to me. But this is all so very sudden!"

Komanami Nagito: "NO! Stay loyal to Chiaki to the very end! Even if it means waiting until the next life!"

Protag!Nagito: "Aargh! Leave me alone!"

All the while main Nagito and Nagiko are just laughing in the background eating popcorn. Just to be clear I treat main Nagito and Protag!Nagito's OTP as "Insert preferred ship here". It could be Komahina. Or it could be something as wild as a resurrected cyborg Yasuke for the Matsukoma diehards.

I do also have this one idea I've mused about for Nagiko's flings. Generally speaking she actually doesn't hold the many Kamukuras of the multiverse in high regard. Feeling that the novelty wears off fast, as once you've met one Kamukura, you've met most of them. Channeling Stillwell from the comic The Boys and thinking like "What have you thought of to do that the lowest speck of humanity couldn't, were they to be granted your level of power?". Being especially unimpressed by the ones that try to assuage their boredom by joining Junko or doing something else she considers equally dull and unproductive.

But there are exceptions to that. Like one Natsumizuru that she took a fondness to. Who had a bit more of a spark in her than a lot of other Kamukuras did, and channeled her talents in more productive ways to stave off boredom. I have this one mental image of Nagiko trolling main Fuyuhiko by not-so-subtly implying she had a thing going on with an alternate superhuman version of his sister. Being all like "Man she was rough, if I didn't have a reinforced skeleton that girl would have demolished my spine."

Komas unite for real HAHAHA, EXACTLY like, the protagonist always gets the best ships in this franchise!! I can't even pick a favorite Saihara ship- I have like 4 favorites?!?!

Nahh Koma's not gonna defend her- I WILL DEFEND HER!! WHADDYA SAY TO MIKAN PUNK?! hehe, Go Yasuke lol, YEAH TELL EM PROTAG- ONE OF US AHZDVA IM DYING HAHAHAHA THIS IS HILARIOUS!! Y'all calm down maybe he's a Matsukomamiki something haha!! YOOOO HE'S EXPOSED 💀💀💀💀 GET EM GUYSSSS‼️🗣️ AND KAZUICHI WAS THERE TOO!?!? EXPLAIN YOURSELF BWAHAHAGA

THIS SHEET EPIC!! AND SONIA'S THERE TOO LOL<33 poor PROTAG he can't even catch a break, that's crazy!! GET HIM Y'ALL!! IMMA GRAB THE POPCORN 🍿 🍿 OMG Mahiru smiling?!?! That's a rare one and she's so adorable<33 HAHA GO KOMANAMI NAGITO!!

AND THEY JUST LAUGHING IN THE BACKGROUND LOVE THEM!! I agree!! FOR DA KOMAHINAS!! AND THE DIE HARD MATSUKOMASS AND ALL THE KOMASS THE SHIPVERSE LOL!! YEAH Nagiko slayy queen!! She don't give two sheets about Izuru<3 yeah it wares off after a while I mean there's like the whole different versions around, she don't care about nobody hahah love the girlboss NATSUMI I MISSED HERRR YASS, OOOO SHE HAS THE HOTS FOR HIS SISTER?! go women yayy OOOOOO this is just pure epicness I LOVE IT YOUR IDEAS ARE SO GOOD MY FAV ANON, have some cookies!!!! 🍪🍪