#the fact she also starts with p is a coincidence i swear

[caligatinsole]

“The city isn't going anywhere.”

It started to rain so P decided to take shelter inside one of the many abandon carriages that wasn’t smelling like rotten corpse.

[buckyownsmylife]

Burn - Henry Cavill smut

The one where Henry’s blindfolded.

Words: 2.2k

Warnings: p in v, oral (f and m), curse words, one mention of daddy! kink, unprotected sex (I don’t recommend it), restraints and blindfolds. Also, the reader is trying to be a dom in this one, but she’s pretty soft.

A/N: day 11 of kinktober and the prompts were blindfold + “Hold it”. Once again, the smut is coming without revision and I’m still taking up friendship applications and beta applications which may or may not coincide. Hope you like this one, because I’m feeling dead inside.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

Rationally, I knew it was stupid to feel this way. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to a date with Henry, but the truth was, nothing could have prepared me to what it would feel like to see him kissing someone else, having to sell that he was in love with another woman because that was a part of what he did to make a living.

But I had the best boyfriend, and he seemed to know exactly what I needed to feel better about the entire situation.

“How are you feeling, baby?” I asked as I slowly grinded against his belly muscles, appreciating the view of my very strong boyfriend stripped naked, blindfolded and handcuffed to the bed. 

“I-I’m okay,” he answered in the form of a whisper, almost like he was afraid to break the sexual atmosphere of the room, but I pouted. That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear. It made me feel like I wasn’t doing my job right.

“Only okay?” I had to clarify, running one of my fingers over his bottom lip, before pulling it down and biting it until I heard him gasp. “You’re breaking my heart, honey. Would you prefer if it was Keyra doing this with you?”

The reaction was immediate. His body tensed up, and by the abrupt movement of his arms, I could see he had tried to move them to hold me, but the restraints made it impossible for him to do so.

“No, darling. Absolutely not. You’re the only one I want like this, the only one I trust enough to share this experience with.” I melted. Who wouldn’t, after such a declaration from the man you love?

“I know, baby,” I calmed him, leaning down to press a quick kiss on his lips, watching in amusement as he tried to follow me in the hopes of deepening it. “I’m only messing with you.” I resumed the movements over his abs, needing to feel a little bit more friction on my clit. His answering groan warned me of how truly pained he was feeling at the whole situation.

“Not being able to see you grinding against my chest is the most terrible punishment you could administer.” I had to giggle at his dramatics. Only my bear of a boyfriend would feel so terrible at having his girlfriend controlling his pleasure for once.

“Well, maybe this way you can understand how I feel everytime you film a love scene with another person.” He sucked in a breath, immediately shutting up, and I almost felt bad about my honest remark, but I decided he was mature enough to be able to suck it up. He was the one to suggest our current activity, after all.

“You know what? I don’t see why your punishment should be mine, too. I wanna cum, and you’re gonna make me cum.” I climbed over his body until my legs were on each side of his face, and I tried to ignore the cheshire cat smile Henry was trying very hard to suppress at the prospect of eating me out. “You remember what you have to do when you need to come up for air? Ok.”

After making sure he was reminded of the safe gesture we had anticipated for this kind of activity (a bite on my inner thigh), I lowered myself to meet his waiting tongue, that stood perfectly pointed up at me.

“Fuck,” I immediately breathed out, as always pleasantly surprised at just how incredible Henry was at eating pussy. He treated it like some sort of exotic, delicious dish, and he loved how wet he could make me get just so there was more for him to taste. “You’re too good at this,” I jested, wrapping my fingers around his curls, taking advantage of the fact that he had allowed his hair to get longer for this last role. I loved it like this, I loved being able to use it to try to control his movements.

But tonight, I didn’t have to try. I was the one in control. 

I rode Henry’s face slowly, still too self-aware in this position, but the second his lips wrapped around my clit, I was a goner. Gripping the headboard in front of me, I let myself sit more comfortably in his face, trusting in his use of the safety measure if it was necessary, and I relaxed, enjoying the filthy symphony that my moans and his slurping sounds created in our bedroom. 

As my high approached, he must have sensed it, because his licking became more feral, growls escaping his lips and reverberating against me as I started to fully grind my pussy against his face, crying out every time I bumped on his nose.

And then, I flooded his lips with my essence, temporarily blacking out before scrambling to get out of his face, so he could properly breathe again. I felt like my heart was fluttering at the sight of his perfect lips arranged in a full-on pout.

“You didn’t let me enjoy my meal properly!”

“You’re not supposed to enjoy this at all, remember?” He still looked like I had deeply hurt him, so I leaned down to properly kiss him for the first time that night. Henry moaned against my lips when I deepened our kiss, allowing his tongue to dance with mine as I appreciated my own taste. When we separated again, I was slightly out of breath and his lips were a shade of pink that denounced just how roughly we’d been kissing.

“Didn’t take you for having an asphyxiation kink,” I whispered against his lips, making him smile. “Now, I think it’s about time I take care of you, huh? Let me help you.” Henry didn’t say anything to that, knowing a trap when he heard one. In fact, I could see that he was holding his breath, as I made my way down his body, until I was staring at his perfect cock. The second I wrapped my hand around it, a deep, guttural groan escaped from Henry’s chest.

“Well, someone’s been feeling deprived.” I smiled at my boyfriends chuckle, knowing that was the very idea of the exercise we were currently partaking in, only now it was time for the real torture. Slowly, I licked a strip from the base of his cock until his leaking head, allowing myself to shallowly suck the precum there before immediately releasing his member.  

“You do taste wonderfully,” I teased, licking my own lips to chase the remnants of his taste. My only response was another groan, this one more tortured than the last. “And we’re only getting started, baby.”

I leaned down to wrap my lips around his dick once more, this time going further down after spending a few minutes sucking on the head of his member. Each new inch I uncovered had me retreating until only the head was between my lips, until I was bobbing my head and sucking the life out of him.

Henry’s P.O.V.

Going from practically no stimulation to the best blowjob of my life was making me feral with the intensity of the reactions she provoked on my body. My heartbeat had accelerated to a point not even running could achieve, and I swear that if I was standing, my knees would have given out on me.

Within minutes, I could feel my sack weighing heavier, signaling a fast approaching release I knew she wouldn’t grant me. Still, I allowed myself to entertain the idea of cumming on her perfect mouth, filling her up with my seed and hearing her satisfied little moan at my taste on her tongue. 

“Hold it.” Two words, and yet the effect was instantaneous, if only because at the sight of me fighting against my restraints as my orgasm approached, she immediately retreated until only her fist remained on my erection, massaging it just enough to keep it alive.

The slow, shallow movements were worse than nothing at all, somehow. I couldn’t keep the disappointed groan that made her laugh from showing just how devastated I truly was, but her answering laugh came with the feeling of her warm cunt rubbing against the blunt head of my cock, so I felt like a reward was on the horizon for me.

“Do you miss this?” I knew what she was referring to, and I also knew the answer without even needing to think about it. There were few things I loved in life more than being inside of her, and in that moment, I couldn’t remember any of them.

“Madly.” She chuckled at my answer, and I could perfectly imagine her shaking her head at me, a cute little smile on her face as she averted her gaze, still incapable of accepting just how much I truly loved and desired her.

“How is it that you always know just what to say?” It was my turn to chuckle, but it turned into a hiss as she calmly positioned my cock over her hole and leisurely sat down on it, like it was no big deal at all.

I knew better, however. It was in the way her nails bit on my navel as the muscles in her thighs struggled to accept the tempo of the movement she was performing. I knew she was relishing in the burn of my member stretching her, like it always did anytime I penetrated her, no matter how thoroughly I fucked her nightly. She always struggled to take me in, and I can’t say it wasn’t a huge ego booster.

“Tell me what you want,” she ordered, and I licked my lips at the prospect of finally getting my way. 

“I want to fill that perfect little pussy until it’s dripping out of you, even with my cock still buried in there.” I didn’t have to see to know that she shivered at my words. I could feel it through the connection between our bodies, and I took devious delight in it.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

Well, I couldn’t say that he didn’t earn it. Just his words were enough to get me hornier than I’d ever been before I met Henry, and my hips moved on their own accord, until I was riding him with an ardor I hadn’t known I was capable of feeling. I didn’t even know I had the muscle strength to express it.

Nonetheless, we’re capable of a lot when we’re thrown in the fits of passion, I’d come to learn. And for Henry, I was pretty much down to do anything. So I just accepted the burst of energy and held on his chest for the ride, taking the opportunity to oggle my boyfriend freely even though I could see his beautiful eyes staring back at me. 

He still looked perfect, and absolutely ruined, his mouth open in a silent O as he panted and tried to thrust up against me as I fucked myself on his cock, but his desperation didn’t allow him to match our tempos. 

I still knew just how to make him cum with me, though.

Planting my knees on the mattress more firmly, I leaned over him to change the angle he was hitting inside of me, making sure the head of his cock was pounding against my sweet spot each time he was snuggled deep inside of me. And then, I threw myself back at his member furiously, determined to reach my own high and bring him with me. 

“Come on, honey, didn’t you say you wanted to fill me up? Here’s your chance. Fill me up, daddy. I wanna have your cum dripping out of me, making a mess on our bed. Please, cum inside of me. Please, please, please.” Each word that came out of my lips was accompanied by a jolt of my hips, and soon enough, Henry’s cock was twitching inside of me just when I, too, reached that euphoric high. 

I’d barely caught my breath and he was already struggling against the restraints, wordlessly begging me to release him, and I had to roll my eyes at his antics. “There you go, was that really so hard?” I asked after I’d freed him from the handcuffs and he immediately took off the blindfold, his hands coming up to squeeze a breast before rubbing all over my body, like he was trying to make up for lost time. 

“Darling, I think you know better than anyone just how hard I was.” I had to laugh, thankful to have his hands on me again after, in reality, depriving myself of his touch, but he really wasn’t wrong in what he was saying.

“Oh, yeah, I can attest to that. Specially since you’re still pretty hard inside of me.” Before I could understand what was happening, he had rolled us over until he was the one hovering over me, his cock still nested deep inside my pussy.

“And I know just the way to solve that problem.”

[nightshade-minho]

-Blue Book- (9)

Warnings: parent death, daddy issues, abandonment and ~le angst~

Wc: 4.1k

You sat at Dea's desk, your eyes drooping heavily as you explained a sum to her. The girl opposite you was wide awake though, energetic as she solved the problem in her worksheet.

You were glad she had warmed up to you after the first session, but her endless enthusiasm towards mathematics at the moment was diametrically opposed to how you were feeling. The numbers on the pages swam as you decided to let your cheek rest on the table, your eyes fluttering closed for just a moment.

"Y/n?"

You darted awake, turning your head to her. "Y-yeah?"

"I solved it. Also, are you okay? You look tired."

That's because I am. "I'm fine." You assured, flipping through her workbook to find another page for her to do.

Could anyone blame you for being tired? You'd stayed awake all night in anticipation, your heart thrumming as you thought about what was going to happen today.

After this session, you were going to go straight to the park. If Chan showed up...you would know he felt the same. What if he didn't?

You shook your head, dispelling the negative thought. Fuck no. You'd gone without pessissism for so many years, despite having many reasons to be the same. This wasn't going to be the day you surrender to it.

You felt your phone chirp, signalling the end of the session as you looked over at Dea, who had finished her worksheet. You smiled and took it from her, putting it in your bag to correct later.

"Our next session is going to be day after tomorrow, okay? Your mom said you have a sleepover to attend tomorrow." You said as you packed your bag, getting up. "Remember to do your homework though."

She nodded. "It's the sums on page 38, right?" She asked, pulling out a pink book from her drawer and writing in it.

"Yeah-" you narrowed your eyes as your eyes fell on her book, confusion filling you.

The book was covered with brocade, a very familiar pattern on top. It was the same design as yours, except pink. The color was the only difference. The print, the shape, the size....everything was the exact same, down to the signature on the bottom of the cover.

The signature of your father's.

You opened your mouth, words failing to leave you as you watched her write in it, your mind hurtling back as the memories drove into you, full-force.

You were extremely young when your dad had gifted you the little blue book you'd come to love and cherish. It was the last good memory you had of him. The tiny books were handmade by him, a result of a hobby he'd picked up one summer. Your dad had always been somewhat of an artsy man, and this was his latest project.

He'd made a dark red diary for himself, one for work purposes. You remembered marveling over how pretty it looked, begging him to make a similar one for you. And he did.

And now here was an exact copy of the book you'd kept for years, in the hands of this young girl you'd never met before. Was it a coincidence?

"Earth to Y/n!"

You snapped back into attention, looking at the girl who had her eyebrow raised. You opened your mouth, wondering if you should ask.

But you couldn't. Shaking your head, you decided to bring it up to your mom when you got home. For now, you simply bid adieu to Dea, leaving the house as your mind swam.

***

Minho looked to the side, thanking the heavens that Jisung and Felix were still asleep, despite it being morning already. Thankfully, the heavy curtains in Changbin's guest room ensured that the sunlight didn't manage to wake up the two.

Last night after the match, he'd decided to spend the night at Changbin's house along with Felix and Jisung. And now he was just waiting for the right opportunity.

As the snores increased in intensity, Minho carefully took out your book from his pocket, using the light of his phone to illuminate the pages as he flipped through each one to find what he was looking for.

Drawings. Drawings. A few poems. Even more drawings- huh. Drawings of Chan. They were well done, yet clearly drawn by someone who was in love with him. Minho rolled his eyes as he checked the back pocket and the front one, searching the book thoroughly and letting out an angry sigh when he found nothing inside.

Anger surged through him as he threw the book roughly next to him on the bed, rubbing at his tired eyes in disappointment as he tried not to let the frustration bubble up. Why did the universe hate him so much? Was it all for nothing?

A minute later, he felt Jisung stirring, snapping him out of his thoughts. Swearing under his breath, he grabbed your book and moved to hide it again- frowning when his eyes fell on the long note written across the page.

He'd obviously missed this the first time he flipped through. Narrowing his eyes, Minho started to read the poem, slowly realizing it was a love letter, meant for Chan. His eyes moved to the last sentence. Ah...

So, you were planning to confess to Chan at the park. Minho grinned, knowing Chan wouldn't show up. After all, he never saw this letter. His smirk grew as he reread the sentence.

Not to worry. Even if Chan didn't show up, he would.

***

It was way too early. Chan hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night, his heart twisting with anxiety.

He'd lost the book.

Last night, after he'd gotten out of the shower, he checked his pants for your book, deciding he was feeling calm enough to read what you'd written for him. As he'd searched his pockets, finding them empty, his stomach had filled with dread as he realized it was gone.

Trust. You'd trusted him enough to give him your closest possession, and he'd been careless enough to lose it. He cursed himself, turning over and burying his face in his pillow, wondering how he was going to face you. Usually, he called you every morning to make plans to hang out, but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to.

He didn't want to see you sad and disappointed, knowing he was the reason behind your ever-present smile disappearing.

***

Minho walked home, sipping on the can of beer he'd stolen from Changbin's fridge. It was definitely too early for this, but he honestly couldn't care less. As he neared his house, he tossed the can in the trash, running a hand through his hair as he walked closer.

The front door opened suddenly, and he frowned. His mom usually went to work much earlier than this, so who was leaving his house right now?

Minho's eyes widened as the person finally came into view, shutting the door and walking down the street.

Quickly darting behind a tree, he watched as you walked away, your feet moving quickly.

What were you doing in his house?

***

As Chan made his way into the locker room, he searched everywhere for the little book. He couldn't comprehend how it could have just disappeared like that. He was so sure he'd kept it in his pocket...

He let out a frustrated groan as he left the stadium, pulling his hood over his head as he noticed how there were a few dark clouds accumulating in the sky.

He'd done everything he could. He'd already called Felix and told him about the situation, but he didn't have a clue either.

Now, there was nothing left to do but face you. He wanted to curse, wanted to kick something or punch someone. You were never going to trust him again after this, and the thought broke his heart more than it should have.

****

You sat on the park bench, nervously, twiddling your thumbs as you waited for Chan to arrive. You stared at the lake, your heart pounding impossibly fast as you expected him to come at any moment now.

The sunlight shone on the water, and you observed the pair of ducks swimming together, a soft smile on your face, desperately wishing you could draw them in your book. It felt weird being away from it. It was usually always in your bag, the proximity of it always giving you comfort.

You couldn’t bring yourself to regret giving it to Chan, though- The book had been replaced. Chan made you comfortable in a way no inanimate object ever could.

The view in front of you was extremely peaceful. Love really was everywhere. You'd never really understood it before, but now you could...And it was a beautiful feeling, yet scary at the same time. You felt like confessing had taken a huge weight off of your heart, but you were deeply terrified of Chan's reaction. Sure, he'd been the one to approach you, take you on dates...he'd been the one to initiate the hand-holding and the kiss. Yet you couldn't help but be self-conscious. Your father leaving you had given you trust issues, and your mind started coming up with worst case scenarios even as you desperately tried to bat the negativity away.

But all of it melted away as you felt someone tap your shoulder.

This was it.

Your heart fluttered as you turned around slowly, your mind filling with happiness at the prospect of seeing him again after last night-

Wait.

The smirk facing you definitely did not belong to Chan.

You stared at Minho in shock, standing up from the bench and backing away slightly as he raised an eyebrow. Why the fuck was he here? The dread in your stomach was back, and this time it was heavier.

"Surprised to see me?" He snarled, moving forward. You continued to move away as he moved closer, fear filling you as you stared at his slightly deranged expression.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He chuckled, and you swore as you realize you were cornered, having unintentionally backed up against a tree.

"At least, not yet." He said nonchalantly, trapping you against the bark as he hovered over you, making you gulp.

"W-why are you here? I'm...I'm expecting Chan soon, so p-please leave." You mumbled, summoning all your confidence as you avoided his heavy gaze. He narrowed his eyes, smirk reappearing as he shook his head at your naïvety.

"Oh, I hate to break it to you...Channie's not coming, dear." He said in a matter of fact tone, relishing the way your expression dropped further.

"What? B-but, the book-" you mumbled under your breath, almost to yourself. Minho scoffed, slipping your book out from his pocket roughly and holding it up in front of you.

"You mean this book?"

Your eyes widened. No. No way. How did this happen? How did it end up in his hands?

"You must be wondering how I got this, hm?" He let out a small snort. "Well, your precious Channie gave it to me last night. In fact, we all looked through it. Had a nice little laugh. The guys will definitely thank you for the fun night." He smirked, the devastation on your face pleasing him incredibly. He put on a mock face of surprise at your expression.

"Wow, is this some sort of surprise for you? Did you really think he had feelings for you? I'm sorry, but he was just using you, darling. He's always been in love with Miyoung, and he was just using you to get her."

The nonchalance with which he uttered those words was throwing you off as you tried to understand.

No...

This couldn't be happening...was what he said true? You felt your heart breaking slowly, completely as the image of Chan laughing at the contents of your book with his friends came to mind, tears springing to your eyes as it sunk in. He'd been using you, all this time? But...his smile, the kiss...it had all felt so fucking genuine.

Minho's expression turned incredulous as he noticed your tears. "Wait, are you crying? Bitch, you don't deserve to cry." He spat, holding the book up to you and shaking it slightly.

"Now that those little truths are out of the way." He cleared his throat. "Tell me where the fuck it is."

Wait, what? Confusion filled your face as Minho glared at you, his tone growing angrier.

"I don't know...what you're talking about." You said slowly, cowering as he raised his eyebrows, scoffing again.

"The money." He said sharply. "Tell me where the money is. Cause I know your father most definitely hid it in this pathetic book."

Your dad? The confusion quickly became more potent as you stared up at Minho, his expression twisted with such pure wrath that it caught you off-guard.

"How do you...I- w-what?"

"Don't play dumb." He gritted his teeth. "Don't act all innocent and pretend to not know what your fucking father did to my family."

"I-" you narrowed your eyes, lip trembling as you spoke. "I have literally no idea what you're talking about."

The sky was darkening.

"Looks like I need to spell it out for you." Minho inhaled deeply, looking up before looking down at you again.

"Your father stole all my mother's money before leaving us." His voice shook a little as your eyebrows knitted together. "He left her destitute and pregnant, with a little boy to support. And then he had the balls to go and fucking die. Sound familiar?"

The words sunk into your head, like teeth. Your brain couldn't comprehend what he was saying properly and you opened your mouth, your voice stuck in your throat.

You couldn't believe it. He was your dad's stepson? The child you'd seen in the faded photos your dad had sent you of his shining, amazing new family?

It was starting to rain. The drops of water came down on the two of you, not entirely soaking you thanks to the tree above. The air was icy, and your teeth chattered- out of nervousness or the cold, you didn't know.

"So now, all I want to know is where the money he took is. I've searched this stupid book inside and out, but it's nowhere. So you tell me where it is."

"W-why would it be in my book?" You asked quietly, the implications of what Minho was saying overwhelming you beyond compare. You'd never really put much thought into your father's new family, having just seen a few old photos of them. Somehow it all made sense, and at the same time didn't.

"I know he made this book. It's the only heirloom he left for you. I know because he made the same one for my little sister, before he up and left. When I saw you with it at the cafeteria, I knew you were his daughter. And I just- I assumed it would be in here-" his voice was starting to break as he scrunched his eyes shut, realizing how far-fetched this was.

"I...M-minho...I haven't seen my dad since I was 9. I don't know where the money is. I'm..." You swallowed thickly. "I'm sorry he screwed up your family like he did mine. There's nothing I can do about it." You mumbled, looking down and avoiding his gaze.

His eyes softened a little as he let go of you, stepping back slightly and letting out a shaky sigh. He tossed the book to you and you caught it, looking up at him and his distressed expression. He'd known it was a bit of a reach- this whole thing was. Always had been. But he'd been desperate. He'd chased after this long shot of a theory ever since he laid eyes on you for the first time, writing in that book. The sudden self-loathing he felt was blinding as he realized what he’d done.

Minho turned to you. "I...I saw you leaving my house today. So you were the tutor Mom was talking about?"

"Yeah." Everything was slowly sinking in as your heart was still thudding. You understood why Dea's mom had looked so familiar. You'd seen her in the photos. Of course she'd been heavily pregnant then, a glow in her eyes that just wasn't there now.

"So you...you really hadn't seen him again since he left you? When he left us, he wrote a note. Said he was going back to his old family." He tilted his head at you, running a hand through his hair and baring his vulnerability. It was tiring having had to hide it for so long.

"No. He must have...must have died before he could. Or he was just lying. He wasn't always the most honest man in the world."

"You could say that." He shook his head, sighing as he went back over to the bench, flopping down on it and burying his head in his hands, not wanting to look at you. The guilt wrecking him was overwhelming, and he felt his heart shake.

You hesitated a little before going over and sitting next to him. He looked up at you, and you noticed small tears mixing with the raindrops running down his face.

"I'm...really sorry." He said in a small voice. "I was angry at him and I took it out on you." He looked back down at his lap, his eyebrows furrowing. "My childhood was spent trying to support my mom and my little sister. I guess I didn't stop to think about the fact that he did the same to you. Left you alone." He mumbled, his tone genuine.

You nodded, sighing and staring at your hands. "I...can forgive you, Minho. I understand the pain."

"I was just so...so stupid." He shook his head. "I don't even know why I thought that the money would be with you. I...fuck, I was an absolute asshole, wasn't I?" He said, tone filling with anger directed towards himself as he sat up.

You shrugged. "Well, I won't deny you were. But I guess you had a good reason." You said softly, thoughtfully humming. Maybe you were forgiving him too soon, but to be honest, your heart wasn't build to hold grudges. The boy next to you looked devastated enough.

"So...isn't Dea my sister, too?" Your mind swam as you realized you'd already met your half sister and hadn't even known it.

"Yeah. She would be excited to know she has a sister. She's always wanted one. Says I'm too serious for her." He laughed, smiling at you before clearing his throat and looking away.

There was a silence for a few minutes as the two of you let everything wash away with the rain. Both your hearts were still pounding from the heavy truths you'd learnt...but there was an odd sense of peacefulness filling you, now.

The same man had messed with the both of you, ruined your families. You'd come to terms with what he'd done, but Minho clearly hadn't. You were still surprised how easy forgiving him had been, especially after everything that he'd done.

The regret filling him was immense. Minho looked over at you, and slowly he decided to shift closer until your thighs were touching. Your clothes were wet, but neither of you could bring yourself to care. He slowly put his arm on the bench behind you.

There was a sense of comfort from knowing the two of you shared a reason to be fucked up. Sighing, you let your head rest on his shoulder.

Calm, finally.

***

Chan walked through the rain, not wanting to stop his search for you despite the heavy downpour. His clothes were soaked through as he made his way to the park, knowing it was probably where you were if you weren't at your own house.

As he made his way to your bench, he mentally rehearsed what he would say to you. Hi, I lost the book you value more than life itself at a football game- fuck, he'd really messed up this time.

As Chan walked on the path to the lake, he frowned as he noticed two figures on the bench the two of you always sat on. Shit, maybe you weren't here after all.

However as he came closer, his heart thudding impossibly loud, he realized he recognized the heads.

It was you and Minho, looking awfully close as your head rested on his shoulder, the two of you looking at the lake even as the rain poured down on you.

Chan felt his throat dry up completely as he stood there, feeling the betrayal hit him squarely in the chest and almost forgetting how to breathe.

Turning around, his expression stiff, he walked away as quickly as he could, thankful for the rain in that moment. He wouldn't cry, not over you.

He couldn't believe he'd been foolish enough to let you in. At the end of the day, he was destined to be miserable. Nothing could save him, and he winced as his heart leaked, slowly emptying itself of you, and all the memories he had of you.

Happiness was a fucking scam, and he was glad he realized it sooner than never.

***

You adjusted Minho's jacket around you as you waited for your mom to open the door. It was still raining heavily, and you were entirely soaked.

You still wanted to talk to Minho, and ask him a few more questions. Even more than that, you were excited to see Dea again. A sister. You finally had a sister, and an amazing one too at that. The girl was a sweetheart, and she really was a mini-you, now that you thought about it...

The rain had forced you to separate ways though. You scrolled through your phone out of boredom, shivering.

You checked your texts, frowning as you noticed the absurd amount of messages your mom had sent you. Wow, she’d been really intent on contacting you...was something wrong?

Worry growing, you knocked on the door extra hard, letting out a relieved sigh as the door was finally opened.

You'd had your fair share of shocks since the morning. However, nothing could have prepared you for what you saw.

Your mother opened the door quickly, peeking outside before ushering you in. As you entered the house, you swallowed as you noticed the amount of boxes and cartons that were lying around.

"I..mom? What is going on?" You asked, frowning as you watched her dart around in a hurry, dumping things into random boxes.

"Y/n, change and get ready, quick. Come on, we don't have much time-"

"What? Why? What's...what's happening?" You asked, clutching your saddlebag tighter as she went from one room to the other, tossing nearly all of your belongings into the assorted brown boxes littered around.

"What's happening is we're moving. And we have to do it right now." She glanced around. "I may have gotten into some... trouble. Thankfully my new boyfriend has a place up north, so we'll be fine-" she continued rambling, causing you to tune her out as you swore.

You felt tears prick your eyes. You wanted to burst out, the anger and sadness clawing at your throat insufferably. There was no way this was actually happening. Just when things were coming together a little bit...and now she wanted to uproot you again?

In all these years though, you'd come to realize that sometimes, there was just no other option.

Sometimes, you just had to accept the hard truths without complaints.

***

You sat in your mom's car as she drove, knowing better than to ask her what exactly the problem was. You stared at your phone, yearning to call Chan.

Don't, Y/n. You deserve better.

In the midst of all the revelations Minho had brought forth, you'd completely forgotten about the first truth Minho had let you in on.

Chan had been...using you. To get Miyoung. Unfortunately, you couldn't say it had come as a surprise. In the beginning, you'd noticed his lingering gazes on her, the way his demeanor changed every time she was around. After all, who wouldn't like Miyoung? She was lovable and sweet. Nothing like you.

But...but it had all seemed so real. How could he have been faking it the whole time?

You finally threw all caution to the wind, dialling his number and sighing when it went straight to voicemail.

Your heart was still broken, but that didn't mean you were going to be a complete asshole and disappear from his life without notice.

You started off just telling him you were leaving. However, you couldn't just...stop. There was unfinished business between the two of you.

You took a deep breath and decided to recite the love poem you'd written for him in the book, omitting the last sentence and sighing.

"I guess we were just not meant to be, after all. Thanks for everything, though. For just a while, you made me feel like I belonged."

And with that, you dropped your phone next to you, staring out at the raindrops running down the car window. The tears were making a reappearance, but at this point you couldn't bring yourself to give a fuck.

Something told you tears were going to be a regular occurrence from now on.

***

Note: Act 1 is over. Act 2 will commence from the next chapter, and there will be a time-skip of a few years.

[yuta-nakamots]

santa tell me - l.yy

Pairing - Yangyang x Reader

Genre - Fluff, Angst

Warnings - None

Summary - Growing up, your wishes to Santa were always things like a doll set, a pretty outfit, or a Nintendo gaming system. You didn’t know if he would answer to a wish that was not tangible, like wishing for a person, but it didn’t hurt to try.

Word Count - 4.2k

Taglist - @danishmiilk @dearyongs​

A/N - bolded phrases are song lyrics taken from the songs listed in the prompts. special appearance by @orange-nimon-cross​. 

Written for the Walking In A Winter Wonderland Collab hosted by @suh-insane​ and @neocitybynight​. 

Prompts:

“Come and kiss me baby, we don’t need no mistletoe” - Ariana Grande (Wit it This Christmas)

“Santa tell me if you’re really there. Don’t make me fall in love again if he won’t be here next year.” - Ariana Grande (Santa Tell Me)

When you had first started off in university, one of your biggest worries was not being able to make new friends and fit in with them. Granted, you chose to stay home and go to one of your local schools meaning that some of your high school friends would still be with you but you also wanted to meet new people so you’re not stuck with the same idiots for the rest of your life.

Such idiots being Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno who had stuck with you all through high school. Both of them had told you that they too would be staying at home and would be going to school with you, which you were secretly extremely thankful for, though you knew they too were probably itching to make new friends.

Luckily, you three were all majoring in the STEM field so many of your classes coincided with each other. You stuck with Jaemin as biology majors on the pre-med track while Jeno majored in engineering. Somehow, Jeno, one of the most quiet and intimidating people at first glance, had managed to connect with the other freshmen, introducing you to Yangyang and Renjun, both of whom he met in his calculus class.

Yangyang was majoring in bioengineering, a quite daunting major to say the least, while Renjun was going into computer science. Much to your surprise, Yangyang was actually local. It's just that he had gone to one of your rival high schools which was why you hadn’t yet met him unlike Renjun who actually flew in from a different city.

Like this, your little friend group was complete for your first year of college. With all of you being in the STEM fields, group study sessions were a must, especially for Renjun who felt the need to be over prepared for every quiz or exam though he claimed that the rest of you were just ‘underprepared’.

“So who can tell me what the values of N(0) and N(9) are?” Renjun asked, standing in front of the whiteboard in the study room you all booked to prepare for your calculus exam the next day.

Everyone was silent as they analyzed the problem. “Oh, N(0) is 41 and N(9) is 325, right?” Yangyang answered.

“Correct, they’re simply the values given to us in the problem,” Renjun explained as he wrote the numbers on the board, “and so from here, what do we do if we want to find the unknown relative growth rate?”

“Is that the equation with all the letters and stuff?” Jaemin chimed in. “You know, the one with all the P and the t and the-”

“The exponential growth equation.” Jeno interrupted, playfully rolling his eyes at Jaemin who proceeded to throw his eraser at the former.

“Hey, we’re here to study, not for us to babysit you two,” Renjun scolded, “anyway, which values will we be plugging in?”

“9 for the t, 325 for the P(9), and 41 for P(0),” you stated, pretty much unphased by the antics of your friends, “then you divide the 325 by 41 and multiply both sides by the natural log to get rid of the e.”

“Very good-”

“Wait slow down-”

“I don’t get it-”

Renjun, Jeno, and Jaemin all spoke at the same time, shooting each other looks as they fought to decide who should speak though Yangyang beat them all to it. “We’re trying to find the growth rate which is why we divide the final value by the starting value, it’s like finding the rate of change, you know?”

“God, at least I know three of us won’t fail the test,” Renjun muttered.

“Hey,” Jeno complained, “I understand it, I just need more time to write it all down, don’t be so mean.”

“Yeah okay, whatever, let’s just finish up this problem already because I’m hungry and I swear, if we don’t end before the cafeteria closes-”

“Multiply both sides by 1 over 9 to isolate the k constant and from there plug it into a calculator and solve to get the unknown relative growth rate,” you commented, your own stomach growling the tiniest bit at the mention of food.

“Oh my baby is so smart! I’m so proud of you,” Jaemin exclaimed as he reached over to try to squish your cheeks though you were quickly pulled out of his reach as someone moved your chair, “hey! Don’t take my baby away from me.”

“She’s not a baby, she’s already 18,” Yangyang reasoned.

A loud sigh came from the front of the room, effectively interrupting all conversation. “Jaemin, can you at least try to put in some effort?” Renjun whined.

“I did! Look, the k constant is equal to 0.23003 and I have everything written down here,” Jaemin defended, sliding his paper closer to Renjun who was struggling to see it from a distance.

Renjun made a noise of both content and confusion, “then why did you say that you didn’t get it?”

Jaemin shook his head, “oh no no no, I didn’t say that I didn’t get it, I was going to say that I don’t get how our y/n is so smart already. She’s going to be such a good doctor!”

“That’s your goal bro, not her’s.” Yangyang interjected.

There was a loud sound of a book shutting and everyone looked over at Jeno who was packing up his stuff. “What?” He questioned, when he noticed everyone's eyes on him. “Aren’t we going to get dinner?”

The rest of you started following suit after doing one last check that everyone was good on all of the material for the test tomorrow. “What score do you think you’ll get on the exam?” Yangyang asked as the group of you headed over to the cafeteria.

You let out a hum as you thought to yourself. “Maybe like an 85 or something around there.”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure you’ll hit at least a 90, or even a 90 exactly,” he responded with a cheeky giggle.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Because I’m the 10 that you need.”

Sure enough, you scored 90 points on the exam, prompting Yangyang to excitedly treat you for lunch that following weekend. One small date became two and eventually three which was when he asked you to be his girlfriend.

When you told the rest of the guys that the two of you were together, Jaemin let out a whoop before turning to the others, “you both owe me twenty.”

You raised an eyebrow at them, asking for an explanation. “We made a bet on when Yangyang would finally get the guts to ask you out. Turns out it was a lot faster than we thought,” Renjun explained dryly as he opened his wallet to hand Jaemin the bill.

The rest of your first year in college went by in the blink of an eye jumping from spending Christmas with Yangyang, Jeno, and Jaemin, to submitting your registrations for the next school year, then to finals to wrap up the term.

If there was one thing about freshman year that you’d keep dear to your heart, it would be the little Christmas party the four of you had at Jeno’s house. You had each brought a gift as each other’s Secret Santa, yours was a cute pair of pink socks with strawberries on them for Jaemin who you knew hated strawberries though he’d wear them anyways because they’re from you.

Supporting your predictions, Jaemin changed his socks right then and there with a smile on his face because “they’re so cute, just like my baby” causing your boyfriend, who was in fact your Secret Santa, to jokingly make a gagging sound at Jaemin’s affection towards you.

The gift Yangyang gave you was a thin bracelet with a single little sheep charm dangling off of it. “In Korean, yang means sheep so I thought it would be cute to give you something that could be a reminder of me when I’m not with you.” Now it was Jaemin and Jeno’s turns to make the sounds of disgust as you kissed Yangyang’s cheek to thank him.

So I think you should give your love to me. Baby, let me know

Sophomore year was when things started to change starting with Yangyang leaving to continue his studies in China where he was accepted into one of his dream universities. He had told you about his plans beforehand and you celebrated every milestone with him like when he first submitted his application, when he got his acceptance letter, and then a scholarship. Here you were finally, sending your boyfriend off at the airport before the beginning of fall semester.

“I love you so much, stay safe and don’t get sick,” you told him as you held him in a tight hug, not wanting to say goodbye just yet.

Yangyang laughed as he felt you trying to nuzzle into his chest. “I’ll be back sooner than you know it. Just four months and I’ll be back for the holidays.”

Even as your tears began to fall, you still smiled, not wanting his last moments with you to be sad ones. “Promise?”

“I promise.” He locked pinkies with you, sealing the deal.

It was difficult to be in a long distance relationship, especially when it seems like the time zones are working against you. When you’re awake and going about your day, Yangyang is winding down and finishing up his work, about the head to sleep. There was never a good time for you to call each other, especially as the semester progressed and your workloads only increased.

“I really miss you, you know. I miss getting to hold you in my arms and mess up your hair only to have you hit me all the time.” You paused the voice recording he had sent you a few days ago, wanting so badly for time to go by faster and for Yangyang to return home sooner.

You sent him a voice recording back. “I passed that test I was talking about last week! I didn’t really do too well but it’s okay because apparently Jeno and Jaemin didn’t do all that great either. I miss having you here to help me study and tell me that I’m doing well. How did your ochem lab go? I’m sure you aced it.”

Sending each other voice recordings was the next best thing after calling because you could still hear each other’s voice while also still doing it at a time that was comfortable for you. It was like texting but with your voice instead of typing out words. Though sometimes it left you anxious because it wasn’t like a call where the other person is responding in real time. Yangyang would often leave you on read and would take a few days to respond so you inadvertently began doing the same thing.

It wasn’t until one weekend when both of you had free time that Yangyang finally snapped during a call. “It’s like you don’t want me anymore.”

“What? No, what do you mean?” You questioned.

“You don’t respond all the time and it’s like I’m not a top priority anymore,” he rambled.

“To be fair,” you began, “you don’t respond to me all the time either-”

“Yeah because I’m busy.” Yangyang interrupted.

You let out a sigh. “I’m busy too. We’re both college students majoring in some of the hardest fields, we know how hard we have to work for our education.”

“I know but like, you can still text me back. You don’t have to send voice recordings so often if you’re really that busy-”

“No, don’t make it sound like I’m exaggerating how busy I am. You are a top priority, but you’re not my number one and that should be common sense.” You tell him, feeling your own temper starting to go.

You could practically see Yangyang rolling his eyes at you. “I’m not trying to downplay your work at all. I’m just saying that it’s not that hard to put effort into our relationship.”

“Then how about you give me something to go off of first instead of making me change for you. You barely respond to me either so I can say just the same thing for you,” you argued.

“Look, I think we need some time away from each other to clear our heads and figure this out when we aren’t being weighed down by all our other problems,” he reasoned.

You let out a laugh. “You say that as if we haven’t already been separated from each other for two months already but okay.”

“Goodnight, y/n.” You heard the line go dead. He didn’t even end with an ‘I love you’ or anything like that though you chose not to think too hard about it because he was probably just as tense as you.

When Yangyang came home in December it felt like everything was right once again. He got to be reunited with the original group along with meeting the two newest additions, Haechan and Shotaro who were both business majors and were roped in by Jeno who had a shared class with both of them.  

Yangyang had gotten you a second charm, the number 10 to go on the bracelet he had bought you the year before which you still wore almost constantly. “Ten because I’m the ten you need, remember?” You nodded as you smiled up at him, glad to finally have him back in your arms.

He had to go back to school sooner than the rest of you so your time with him was short-lived and things went back to the way they used to be, except even more distant this time around. Normally Yangyang would be sure to call you back if he ever missed a call from you, but he didn’t. He’d go days without responding to you, opening your messages but never sending anything back.

But it’s hard to tell if this is just a fling or if it’s true love that he thinks of

That semester, the two of you decided to break things off after yet another fight in hopes to preserve the friendship that you had before things got any worse. It was like a breath of fresh air for a moment, getting to finally focus your energy on your work and not worry about having to respond to messages from a boyfriend who didn’t really seem like one. Only when you slowed down did things really start to hit you.

When Yangyang came back during summer, your group was torn on how to handle the situation, wanting to hang out with both of you but not wanting to make things uncomfortable knowing how rocky things were between the two of you. You ended up pulling yourself back and encouraging them to go out with Yangyang since they could see you during the school year whereas he was in a different country and it only seemed fair.

That was really the last you saw or heard of him as you chose to bury yourself in work for the next year, not wanting to let yourself fall behind in school because of your emotions. It was, by far, one of your most productive years. Not only did you take some of your grad school tests and applied for many scholarships, you also earned yourself a spot on the Dean’s list and took part in a notable marine biology study done on the effects of pollution on the local animals.

Between balancing all of your current works and goals along with things to prepare you for your potential future careers, the mere existence of Liu Yangyang slipped your mind for just that short time. It was only a year later, during the summer before your senior year, did you hear from Jaemin that Yangyang was planning to come back.

“Yeah he was asking Jeno what we’re planning on doing for housing next year and if he could join us.” Jaemin informed you as the two of you were running an experiment and working on tracking the carbon output of the little plants in front of you.

“So what did you say to him?” You asked as you placed the oxygen gauge inside the chamber of the first plant.

Jaemin paused to see if the gauge was sending data to the computer. “I told him that the six of us were looking into getting one of the campus apartments in the fall so we might not be able to accommodate him.”

“Wait, six? Aren’t there five of us?” You started listing the names of your friends in your head.

“Haechan is going off-campus and Jeno’s girlfriend is joining us,” Jaemin corrects, “so next semester it’s us, Jeno and Yunha, Renjun, and Shotaro. Six. We probably won’t have space for him unless someone backs out.” You stared at the rising and falling of the line on the computer graph, not really sure if you were happy or sad at this. “Would you have liked it if he were to join us?” He questioned after seeing your silence.

“I don’t know, it’s not that I’m ‘uncomfortable’ around him…” your voice trailed off as the computer finished collecting data and indicated for you to reset and move on to the next plant, “it’s just that we didn’t really have a clean end to our relationship, if you know what I mean.”

Jaemin nodded in understanding as you moved the gauge to the second plant. “Would you like to get back together with him if given the opportunity?”

“Well, yeah but not if we’re both as busy as we are right now.” You explained, looking over at the screen to see if the oxygen was tracking.

“Try inserting it a little further,” Jaemin instructed when you both saw that the line was running a bit low, “but anyway, you guys are both going into the medical field, there’s no escaping being busy.”

“Yeah that’s exactly wh-”

“No, listen. What I’m saying is that you don’t have to both see each other all the time. Think about it. There’s tons of people out there who don’t even understand their partner’s job but they still make it work-” He rambled

“And who’s to say you can group me in with a majority?” You interject.

Jaemin looks away from the screen to roll his eyes at you. “That’s not the point. I’m just saying that maybe you should think about giving him another chance whether he lives with us or not.”

“I mean, I’ll think about it. That doesn’t mean I will.” You decide, wanting to get back to the experiment.

Santa tell me if you’re really there. Don’t make me fall in love again if he won’t be here next year

Truthfully, you hadn’t really gotten over Yangyang, you had merely forgotten about him for a while with all the stuff you were doing, which was what you had planned to do. A part of you wanted to see if things could still work out again but the other part of you didn’t want to put yourself in that same situation again, especially now that both you and him would probably be even more busy than before.

You didn’t know if he’d be coming back for good or if he’d be leaving again to go somewhere else and you didn’t want to take the chance of falling for him only to lose him shortly after. Thankfully the other guys didn’t ask too much about it seeing as how the housing situation was already settled.

It was just your luck and misfortune that you went in to work on a research assignment on the day you did. As you walked down the hallways of the lab building, you heard that one familiar voice ringing throughout the halls from an open door. You paused in your tracks, diverting from your course through the building to see if your suspicions were true as you peeked into one of the labs.

As you looked in, you saw his back towards you while he talked animatedly with one of your colleagues about how different it was to go to a university in China. You quickly ducked away when your colleague waved in your direction, not wanting to be seen by Yangyang.

“Who was that?” He asked, his voice getting fainter as you sped away from the room. You heard your name mentioned followed by an “oh” but that was about it as you got into the elevator to head to the archives.

And I’m trying to play it cool but it’s hard to focus when I see him walking around the room

Senior year progressed just like any other year, though you were glad that you got to live with your closest friends and at least see them for meals when you were all too busy to actually hang out. If anything, it was just the slightest bit more calm since there was no longer stress about passing general classes now that you were in more specialized biology courses that were actually enjoyable.

The annual Christmas party came up much faster than you expected but now that the six of you shared an apartment, it was only that much more convenient and because it would be your last year all together, Jaemin insisted that it be an actual get-together for your friends.

He invited Haechan and some of the guys he was now living with, though they were all older too. Renjun brought over some of the other computer science grad students that he had gotten close to recently, similar to Jeno in the engineering field.

As more people showed up and you worked on keeping all of your guests entertained, you hadn’t managed to keep track of everyone who set foot into the door, trusting Renjun to not let anyone in who had no business with you guys. It wasn’t until dinner started that you saw a face you hadn’t seen in a while.

“Hey,” Yangyang began as he almost ran into you exiting the kitchen with a plate full of food in his hands.

“Hey,” you said back, startled and unsure of how to actually react.

After you had gotten your food and returned to the living room, you say that he had taken up a seat next to Jeno and Jaemin as some Christmas movie started playing and you opted to sit on the sofa next to Jeno’s girlfriend Yunha, who gladly scooted over to make room for you. “Who’s that?” She asked, nodding over to where her boyfriend was.

“That’s, uh, Yangyang. He was one of our close friends during our freshmen year but he left to study at a school in China,” you inform her, glad that she accepted the simple explanation.

You successfully avoided him for almost the rest of the night, not because you didn’t like him but because you were scared of talking to him after so long. It was nearing the end of the night when Renjun had yelled for everyone to “sit your asses down in a circle” with the present they brought for the white elephant game gift exchange game.

The apartment was filled with laughter and cheers as the game progressed and people opened the gifts they chose, finding things outrageous as a whisk or backscratcher or even a bag of clothespins. The best one was the gift Jeno, a cat lover opened, pulling out a box of dog treats.

“Aw, our big samoyed!” Jaemin cooed. “Do some tricks for us!” Jeno shot him a glare before allowing the game to continue on.

The gift you decided on keeping was a small red envelope sealed with a shiny golden sticker. When you opened it, you pulled out a postcard from Shanghai and you felt a wave of emotion hit you. You held it up to show the people around you what it was before quickly slipping it back into the envelope and placing it on the ground beneath your crossed legs.

Once everyone had opened their gifts and a few people were starting to leave, you decided to get a head start on cleaning up in the kitchen as your roommates bid everyone farewell and wished them a safe drive home.

“I think it’s kind of funny how you got my gift,” a voice said from behind as you transferred the leftover dumplings from the plate they were on into a tupperware container.

You shrugged your shoulders. “The minimum price requirement was $5 and I’m sure you couldn’t have spent more than $2 on that.”

“The envelope and the sticker made up for the other $3,” he stated, his playful attitude ever so present, “so how have you been lately?”

“Pretty good, I guess. Got accepted into grad school, finishing up my remaining courses, just normal college stuff, how about you?” You finally make eye contact with him as you have to nudge him out of the way for you to open the refrigerator. He looks nearly exactly the same as when he first left but somehow more handsome and less boyish.

“Oh, I’ve been doing just about the same I could say. I decided to stay home for this school year, though I suppose you already knew that seeing as how you were spying on me at the beginning of the semester.” He shot you a wink as you returned back to the counter to start working on another dish.

You let out a gasp, “I was not spying on you.”

“Then why did you just peek into the lab and leave before I got to see you?” He inquired.

“Because I had other things to do,” you respond quickly.

“Well what if I told you that I actually wanted to see you and was disappointed that you ran away?” He took a step closer to you.

You secured the lid on a container of fried rice. “Then I guess you’re not the only one.”

“Hm, so you really did miss me then,” Yangyang chuckles.

“Will the two of you stop talking and just kiss already?” Jaemin shouts from the hallway.

Yangyang lets out a laugh. “You heard the guy. Come here.”

You gave in to your heart as you closed the refrigerator again, turning to face him and taking only two steps until you were in his arms once again as his lips met yours.

Come and kiss me baby, we don’t need no mistletoe

[fizzingwizard]

I could cry y’all. Episode 37 was SO GOOD. So good!! It truly felt like a Mimi episode, and it truly felt like Digimon Adventure, in multiple ways. It’s seriously fantastic!

I feel at once super duper relieved that this show is, really and truly, capable of this time of episode, and also super duper confused why, if it could do this, it hasn’t been doing it the whole time??

Anyway, we’ve now had four or five solid episodes in a row, so I’m letting myself feel hopeful again!

This episode is called “Mimi Wars,” but I feel it might be more aptly titled “Sailor Mimi”

In the name of employee rights, I will punish you!

More below!

Okay... so as I was watching this episode, I really got the feeling that they were parodying something again. Like last we had a Mimi episode - far far away in the distant past though it was - when they very obviously parodied Castle in the Sky. That’s twice now Mimi’s been compared with a girl with twin tails, Usagi’s pigtails and Sheeta’s braids xD

Although the poses Mimi uses aren’t exact replicas of Usagi’s, though, so maybe I’m wrong. I got the Usagi vibe from her personality even more, so maybe using the poses would have been considered copyright infringement and so they had to change them a little. Or, maybe Mimi is parodying someone else who also uses dramatic hand movements and talks a lot about justice in spite of being generally clueless...

See the resemblance? XD

But what I REALLY think is going on is, they’re spoofing the genre in general, while also taking it seriously. That’s important. It’s not just a joke here. This is the girl power episode, in a way, and in my opinion, it’s a better girl power episode than the fare I got used to growing up, which went more or less like this:

Guy: *does something with good intentions but inept*

Girl: Ugh! Men don’t respect women!

Guy: I’m sorry, what did I do wrong?

Girl: I won’t tell you because feminism! C’mon girlfriends, let’s assert our confidence as women by going on a girls night out shopping spree and making a bunch of random guys stare in awe at us for no clear reason!

Girls: Yes! This is third wave feminism!

... that was more or less the formula. It was... awkward. I’d like to blame on “those episodes were written by men who think all feminists are angry feminists,” but I think if I went and checked who the scriptwriters were, there’d be some women in there for sure.

What we got in THIS episode is something I’d actually want my daughter to see. First off you’ve got Mimi, who loves pink and pretty things and comes across as a real girly girl, not to mention a bit of a ditz. And the show’s straight up, “but just because you have flaws doesn’t mean you can’t grow into a great person. Also, being girly is not incompatible with being a boss.”

Mimi doesn’t need to be a man, nor does she need to be a hard ass, nor does she need to be especially kind and sweet to soften her orders. All she has to do, according to this episode, is care about her craft, care about quality, and care about worker conditions.

I mean... a show where the girl boss wasn’t a Russian spy in a former life?? A show where the girl boss isn’t a Stepford wife who got where she is by marrying rich and funding her perfume company that way? She’s... she’s Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. She gets to be flawed and girly and fun-loving and bossy and ditzy all at the same time. She loves diamonds - but diamonds are no longer a “girl’s best friend.” Rather, Mimi herself is the diamond in the rough!

This actually makes her a really good set with Sora. Sora continues to be both a tomboy and very sisterly. Mimi’s very girly but very bossy. Between the two of them, they can conquer the world. Of course, I don’t know that the show would take it any farther than they already have, but I’m just happy to see this development for Mimi at all. We had it to a degree in 99 Adventure, and Kizuna took it a bit further by making her an entrepreneur. Reboot Mimi is a remix of that for the 21st century.

*deeeeeeeeeep breath*

so... back to our regularly scheduled programming!

As awesome as Mimi is, she’s not the only one who’s great in this episode. The others get to let their real personalities shine, at least. We needed this episode sooooo bad like 20 episodes ago... le sigh.

Anyway, we start off having mad camp, for some reason (why aren’t they just staying on Komondomon?? whatev)

Food! They’re going to get food! They’re splitting up and making a plan in order to get food!!! I still miss the “food desperation” of 99 Adventure but hey, at least they’re acknowledging that they need to eat.

Sora advises Hikari and Takeru not to go too far on their quest and Tailmon swears like a knight of the round table to protect Hikari with her life.

Taichi: Oookay... note to self: don’t piss off little sister’s hotheaded partner...

Taichi adds that they’re also counting on Patamon, who is just thrilled to go off and play with Takeru.

Tailmon: *BIG SIGH*

Lol I really love that they’re bringing back the old Patamon/Tailmon dynamic where she’s all grown up serious and he’s got the priorities of a toddler most of the time... It’s Black Widow and Hawkeye bahahahaha

We even get to see them COLLECT FOOD what did I do to deserve this they are COLLECTING FOOD IT’S NOT HAPPENING OFF SCREEN I REPEAT IT’S NOT HAPPENING OFF SCREEN

Taichi even has to warn Agumon not to eat the food becaues they’re supposed to be gathering it to share ;___; omg... we actually get on screen proof that Agumon is a glutton??

Then Taichi tries to “help” by shaking the tree and the tree falls and they -

BAHAHAHAHAHA

humor!!! Poking fun at Taichi even!! Over food!! Because he has a klutz for a partner!!! And because he himself was overzealous!! ;_; I could die of Cute.

Sora absolutely shocks me this episode too. I expected she’d just watch Taichi and Agumon drift away with their folly while sighing and shrugging her shoulders or something.

NOPE

She jumps DIRECTLY UP and into the water without a moment’s hesitation, like they’re going to die without her - I don’t even know what her plan is here, she seems to want Piyomon to evolve and pull them out, but why does that mean Sora has to be in the water too?

I think her sisterly instincts just freaked out on seeing Taichi looking wet and confused and clinging to a tree trunk so she just did the first thing she could think of which was “Get to him!!”

Piyomon then fails to evolve, reason unclear, I suppose she’s hungry... they never do eat though so I’m not sure why she can evolve later xD (probably they eat off screen)

But I mean I just love that we got this bit with Sora. I call it freaking out but she doesn’t seem freaked out - she stays calm and seems decisive and takes action - all good things. It’s just hard to understand her thought process xD But it’s all good info about Sora. (again stuff we needed more of AGES ago)

Now I had thought this was all just a funny bit that was separate to the main story, but this is how Taichi and Sora end up washed up in the rocky area Mimi is. This does mean Koushirou, Takeru, and Hikari aren’t much in the rest of the episode, sadly. Not sure why but the reboot does seem to struggle with writing episodes for the whole group.

Like last week, I’m somewhat miffed that, in the end, the main group finds the stragglers instead of the other way around. It’s even worse this time because at least last episode Koushirou told them where he was and they had a reason to go there. This time they have no idea Mimi’s gonna be there and it’s all a big coincidence. On the other hand... I do think Mimi was born under a lucky star, so that explains it. :P

Taichi and Sora suddenly find them selves trapped Gulliver’s Travels style and they’re both immediately like, “Hmm... something about this situation seems very familiar...”

Taichi and Sora: Oh that’s RIGHT we totally forgot that the pink cowgirl we hand out with is also TOTALLY BATSHIT

D’awww. Our future overlord is just so adorable, I don’t even mind when she flogs us in the street

TBH, up till now they’ve woefully underestimated just how batshit she is. And it’s wonderful.

So Mimi has happened upon some poor, disenfranchised Digimon who are being forced to work for an evil boss who collects the beautiful gems that grow in this area. Like in 99 Adventure, Mimi will have none of this sort of crap. Her reasons, though, have evolved with the times:

omg... she voted for Bernie Sanders!

This is how Harry and Ron reacted when Hermione said she was starting a house-elf welfare organization called SPEW.

Though I joke - like I said before, even though Taichi and Sora are rather mind-boggled by Mimi’s mood swings and fits of passion, and there’s definitely humor there, Mimi herself is not a joke here. We are shown strongly that, however in the clouds her head might be, her heart is not only in the place, it’s also already internalized the fact that people don’t always get treated well in the real world and it’s up to those with power to ensure that are protected.

I mean. At this point, I’m going, “Sorry but ISN’T MIMI THE REAL LEADER IN THIS SHOW?!?!”

Of course she does have another, less lofty motivation... she really likes pretty stones.

Buhahahaha.

Mimi’s names are as creative as they are incredible, just like her. Taichi and Sora have trouble keying in with Mimi due to how changeable she is, but they never talk badly about her or reject her. They never try to wrest leadership from her either! Taichi might think Mimi’s names for the stones are over the top, but sort of sidesteps it and just goes along with her plan.

Reason #14567876867867 why I love Yagami Taichi: when someone else is the leader, he can be a follower. And he’ll be the BEST follower. Keep reading to see why.

The story of how Mimi befriended the enslaved rock Digimon here is pretty much how Goku became besties with Vegeta.

Men communicate their hearts through their fists! Or swords, depending on the anime. ANOTHER AWESOME SUBVERSIVE MOMENT FOR MIMI - she’s now even got cliche shonen hero tropes assigned to her!

Taichi and Sora, like I said, don’t try to change Mimi’s mind - they’re actually touched by her strong feelings about workers’ rights and her desire to help her new friends -

Taichi: Wait... what?

Sora: Well, she’s still a ten year old girl.

The rock Digimon show their allegiance to Princess CEO Mimi. They don’t even mind having their names and identities stripped away and being reduced to numbers on an Excel spreadsheet...

Taichi: I hate Excel.

Sora: I do too, but I’m more impressed that she remembers the numbers she gave us back in episode 6.

Taichi: Impressed? More like filled with a sense of impending doom

Only Taichi seems to understand Mimi’s unique power bahahaha.

But back to what I said earlier, about Mimi being the real leader: I don’t know if the show’s gonna keep doing anything with this at all, but I really like that they didn’t NOT do this in order to ensure Taichi’s the only leader. (I mean, Yamato’s so far not made much of a bid for leadership so he’s been pretty uncontested thus far. He also hasn’t had to do all that much leading given how often the group is separated... but I digress)

I love the idea that Taichi can step back and let someone else take the reins when they’re best suited. Which Mimi is, due to her easy ability to make friends and gain trust. Mimi had this ability in 99 as well and it was used in the final battle to muster the troops, so to speak. It ought to have been a bigger deal but wasn’t since she missed most of the final battle :/ But I loved that “social, able to make friends” wasn’t some stupid “Girls talk too much” trait, it was actually something that was useful. This is a great place to take that with the reboot.

At the same time, while Mimi and Taichi both have similar leadership traits, there are places they diverge that potentially make them leaders for different situations. Taichi’s pretty cool and strategic even in emergencies. He was more of a hothead in 99, but Mimi’s always been quick to anger. (And quick to cool down.) As we’ll see in this episode, that’s sort of where Taichi’s true ability lies: he’s serious, determined, strategic, and reliable as well as brave. But this is Mimi’s episode, and Taichi isn’t going to get to be the hero anymore than he (almost) was last week with Koushirou. Because more than one character can have positive leadership traits! Hallelujah.

Quick nip over to Komondomon and the others - Koushirou’s group is going to try to find them, but Komondomon falls asleep. Oh noes. I wish someone (Koushirou) would ask, out loud, “Gee, what are these strange symbols that appear when we communicate via digivice? Do they mean something? How were they assigned?” I really thought we’d get a hint what with all the conveniently colorful gemstones this episode, but still nope.

My girl looking like a BAMF!

Mimi explains her plan to her servants employees. She is surprisingly artistic!

Sora plays the role of bait to create a diversion while Greymon digs a tunnel to get to where the gems are stored. Mimi congratulates herself on a job well done.

Taichi: A job well done? Who d’you think has been doing the work here?

Greymon: That would be me.

Taichi: Right, right I was going to say you >.>;

So we do see bits of Mimi’s self-centered side as well - she’s not perfect, but who is? Taichi just lives with it. Mwehehehe.

... will be fired! LMAO

No. 72 is Taichi, btw. Mimi gave up calling people by their names for Lent.

Taichi: Lent’s not for over a month.

Mimi: It’s never too early for religious sacrifice.

Taichi: And you’re not Catholic.

Mimi: I celebrate Mardi Gras.

Taichi: yOU JUST LIKE THE COSTUMES AND KING CAKE

He’s miffed and he.... just lives with it. Again. xD

It’s hilarious. And adorable. I love both that 1) Mimi is an awesome boss while being, in fact, rather bossy, and that 2) in spite of being a boss type himself, Taichi not only listens to Mimi, but he totally indulges her like he’s her older brother or something x’D He wouldn’t be out of line for saying “I have a name you know!” On the other hand, I guess he knows her well enough to understand that she doesn’t mean anything by it, and... there’s no stopping her when she gets like this :P

Feel the wrath of Tachikawa Mimi!!!

So Mimi’s plan has worked so far, and she’s got everyone listening to her despite her questionable business practices, and then she... suddenly rushes off in another direction.

Taichi: That’s it, I am through being her personal assistant if she’s just going to change the plan on a whim!

Taichi: ... I don’t want to see her get hurt or be sad though...

Greymon understands Taichi’s heart ;___; and enables him to go after Mimi. I don’t really get why it’s wise to split up given that Taichi can’t fight big rock Digimon without his partner... x’D So I’m going to chalk this up to, Greymon understands that Taichi is, at his core, the team Dad. He’s got to be allowed to worry and check up on the kids, even when it’s not so advisable. Awwwwwwwww.

Indeed, Taichi doesn’t get to be the hero this ep, but small moments like this give us waaaay more character development than always being the hero!

Fortunately Mimi does have her own partner and she’s not afraid of the enemy’s rock hard abs. :P

They make it into the storage center for all the gems. IT’S SO COLORFUL. Ten year old men is squeeing just like Mimi.

Come on!! She’s holding yellow/orange topaz and purple amethyst! It could be the material for Taichi or Takeru’s and Koushirou’s crests! (I always liked fire opal for Taichi though xD)

Taichi’s been promomted!! To chief pack animal x’D Just because it’s a cool name doesn’t mean that’s what the job is, Meems.

Taichi’s just like, “I think I’m too young for that position.” Bahahaha.

He’s going to be carrying her books to school before long.

Then something big and hard hits Taichi in the head!! He freaking starts to cry, it hurts so bad!!

Taichi: Owww! Omg I think I got a concussion from that! Help someone call an ambulance!

He was hit in the head by a diamond, which Mimi loves. So she goes off on a monologue about how much she likes diamonds. She never asks him if he’s okay x’D

Taichi: Don’t worry about me, I’m fine, not that you asked or anything.

Mimi: Please, everyone knows your head is already harder than diamonds.

Taichi: ...

The pile of gems looks like Fruity Pebbles. Mmmmm

It turns out the mastermind of this whole operation is Gogmamon, who is the bastard child of Gogmagog I assume :P He eats the gemstones as well as Gotsumon for power. He then produces the diamonds?? I didn’t quite understand if he was spitting out the diamonds because he didn’t like them, or he was creating them inside him when eating and then spitting them out like... diamond turds...

...

they’re diamond turds aren’t they >__>

Mimi is not interested in big business bulldozing the mom and pop shops and small upstarts. And she hates sweatshops! She is pro-Fair Trade all the way! And she will yell it in your face!

Taichi: It’s the yelling part that I’m having trouble with.

Mimi: A good speech from the boss is what keeps up employee morale!

Taichi: Yeah, that’s less true when the boss is about to be gobbled up herself...

Golemon and Togemon try to fight Gogmamon and this results in Golemon falling to pieces.

Taichi: Are you okay?

Golemon: My HEAD was knocked off, but sure I’m doing JUST FINE -____- little brat

Taichi stands protectively in front of Golemon’s head. Lol. He’s thinking of strategies... perhaps regretting rushing after Mimi and leaving his own partner behind...

Mimi joins him and Gogmamon finds her a formidable opponent in the war of words. Gogmamon argues that all the rocks, all the Digimon, everything here belongs to him and him alone! And Mimi brilliantly counters with:

“Fuck that! They belong to ME!”

x’D He just like... under his breath... “she admits that’s how she thinks of us...” hahahaha... I laughed out loud...

It might not be 3D but this is an excellent evolution sequence xD I haven’t said so yet but the animation in this episode was good! Good for the show anyway. It was smoother than usual despite some mechanical-like mouth movements and more than that, it had character and expression!

okay important question everyone: Taichi = Kermit, Mimi = Miss Piggy... discuss??

So Gogmamon has a pretty cool-sounding attack, “Curse Reflection.” I have often complained that the villains we fight and get new evolutions with aren’t that scary, but Gogmamon not only seemed pretty formidable (if not the smart, I mean he does have rocks for a brain), he also had a good story build up. My one disappointment in this episode is that the ending is so fast and Gogmamon so easily dealt with. This would have been a good time to introduce Rosemon (like how last week would have been an appropriate time for HerculesKabuterimon). But in both cases, we’re definitely supposed to take away at least that these guys are almost there... Anyway yeah, I would have liked a tiny bit more meant to the resolution but.

So here’s ANOTHER cool thing! Taichi notices that Gogmamon rejects the diamonds, and realizes they’re the key to defeating him. But he doesn’t just tell that to Mimi. He asks her “Did you see that?” And guess what - she did!

So even though the show couldn’t resist telling us that yes, Taichi would have been able to handle this situation - it doesn’t even let him give Mimi a hint towards victory. She figures it out for herself! The most we can say he does is point out the diamond, but she understands the implication and is able to use it against Gogmamon through her own intellect.

TAICHI DOESN’T MANSPLAIN Y’ALL. HE’S NOT A MANSPLAINER. HALLELUJAH AND PAST THE PEAS!!

Mimi is very influenced by her hardworking, CEO grandpa, Tachikawa Genichiro, who’s taught her things about business and things about values, and it really reads as if she’s the one who will inherit the family business - like she’s the family investment. You know, the role that traditionally only falls to sons. That’s changed with the world, and apparently Tachikawa Genichiro-jiisan is totally on board with his granddaughter being more than just a pretty heiress!

... btw what are they making...

“You’re fired!” Mimi yells as Lillymon takes Gogmamon down x’D kill me I love it

Like last time (and it sure was a long time ago that we saw it ;_;), the aftereffects of Lillymon’s powers is plants start growing everywhere. This is such a cool effect, I don’t get why it’s not used more. Right now I feel like Mimi/Palmon are the best set in the show.

(I did think it was funny when Mimi gives the diamond to Lillymon to use against Gogmamon and Lillymon acts like Mimi’s making this huge sacrifice since she loves diamonds so much. But 1) it wasn’t the only one, and 2) they were spat out by Gogmamo! that’s gross! that’s got to cut into the value! hahah)

The others finally catch up and the day is saved. Golemon is an employee for life now. Awww.

AWWWWWW.

I gushed about all this before so I won’t repeat myself, but yeah, I’m so happy with this episode.

Lol Sora and Taichi have accepted their places in Mimi’s world, in the end. They might have numbers instead of names and their boss might change her mind about things every five seconds, but other than that it’s a pretty nice gig overall.

Again the art, so sweet. This reminded me of Miyako yelling to Mimi about how she wants to be like her when she grows up in 02 so I capped it.

And I absolutely love this little play on words since it’s in English! Wow!

SO CUTE. How did a Mimi episode kick every other episode out of the water? Scratch that, we always knew Mimi was fantastic. A shojo hero for the 21st century.

Well I said a ton and this is really long now so I’m gonna assume you all get my thoughts on this episode. 9.5/10, really awesome, totally unexpected but perfectly suted to Mimi. I’m so so happy this show seems to have figured things out and remebered that it’s supposed to be freaking Digimon Adventure, it seemed like it forgot for a while there. I just hope we haven’t wasted too much time on those more lackluster episodes, I want so many more stories like this one.

Next week looks like another winner:

OK, that concept is hilarious x’D I’m so sorry. But also, leave it to Yamato and Gabumon to get the tragedy episode.

The mood maker will be this guy! I’m totally psyched for Yamato and Jou. Taichi’s been important in the past two episodes even though they were centered on Koushirou and Mimi, so I wonder if/when he’ll be involved this time? Or maybe it really will be just Yamato and Jou - my dream combo?? I can’t wait either way.

DID NOT CHECK FOR TYPOS! See y’all next week.

[percywinchester27]

@caughtaghostsomehow reblogged your post A lot like ‘Us’ (Part-26) and added:

I feel so goddamned sorry for Sam. He was ready to listen to Jess's advice and at least try to rekindle whatever he had with his wife but then Meg put this idea in his head that he's hurting her and he's not gonna let it go unless he hears from her lips that she wants him in her life. And who knows when that's gonna happen? She probably already noticed him being distant and she has no way of knowing what caused it so how would she even talk to him about it?

 And poor Max... I know Sam feels awful with what he's doing to him but he feels it's necessary so that his wife and son don't end up even more hurt but holy shit it's really not going well. I know Max is hurting too and I definitely understand why he's angry with Sam. And Y/N is probably worried about the boy as well... She got a message telling her he's fine but come on... She's probably wondering what happened suddenly that Max didn't come visit. It's an all around messy situation with literally everybody getting hurt in the process.

Yeah, she’ll eventually notice... I mean there’s only so much Sam can do to keep them apart. She’s bound to get suspicious at some point. The problem is that everyone is going off half information here- for the reader it’s hard facts that she doesn’t know and in Sam’s case, it’s the emotions. 

I was taken aback by 2011 Sam... His wife leaving changed him into a completely different person. I like how we get to see him notice that people are reacting to him differently but the fact he hadn't noticed before? I knew he was incredibly hurt when she left but fuck, this did him a lot more damage than I originally thought. He's so... Calloused. And sharp and intimidating. A real stereotype of a lawyer. Also... The fact he didn't do pro bono cases? You managed to convey so much about Sam in that period of time in only just a few sentences and it's incredible. I wonder what would've happened if he never met Max... If he'd stay this way or manage to overcome the pain he's been living with on his own.... Max really did save him.

This was what I was telling you about? Him becoming dispassionate and insensitive. And the only way to actually know you’ve become a heartless person is to see yourself through other people’s eyes. He wasn’t gonna wake up to some divine intervention telling him, ‘hey you’re a jerk now!’ Thank you so much for saying that! I thought that might be the best way to put forth how different he was because we’ve all seen him being so careful for James’s pro bono and it was an independent case. 

Hmmm... I’ve given it some thought and I think he’d let his anger for the reader fester any more than that, and he hadn’t found Max when he did, maybe the change would have been permanent. If he’d met her later in life, instead of the anger he was feeling at the beginning of the series, he’d have felt utter contempt and hatred. Now THAT would have been angsty :P

A brief mention of Chase because I like him more and more with every chapter 😁 I can see why Sam and him became friends. And Stacy! She seems genuinely lovely, I feel so sorry that she had to deal with Sam's mood swings.

Hahahaa I like how everyone (my beta, that is) saw all that chaotic good energy went like, ‘Yep! Checks out! That’s definitely Chase’ I mean you guys don’t even have a doubt! Yup, Stacey is pretty cool. There’s very little of their interaction outside of the memories, but, it all adds something to the story.

I had a feeling that Max never really had proper parents but this still hurt to read. The fact that a maid cared for him because no one else would... And he was literally hiding in the closet when his parents were murdered. They didn't deserve that title but still, I'm so glad he didn't actually see it happen or find their bodies... Poor baby.

Max has gone through so much in such a short life I had to stop and take a breather while reading. No wonder everyone falls in love with him when they meet him, he's such a sweet boy despite all the pain life brought him. I'm so glad he found a real family in Sam... They really ended up saving each other.

No, he didn’t. Sam’s right about that bit- how Max had no clue what parents were supposed to be like. He had to go through extensive therapy, but because he was that young, he didn’t understand a lot of the emotional trauma he experienced (thank God!) only the physical trauma became an instinct. And yeah, it’s actually good that he was ignored, because otherwise he’d have been in that room and either seen the murders or worse. 

I think that bit brought down Sam more than anything from his callous high. That a kid that small, having suffered through so much bullshit could still be that nice... he was an adult with sensibilities. I’m glad they ended up finding each other, too! He’s been a pleasure to write.

That moment when Sam saw the emptiness in Max's eyes and almost had a panic attack... Jeeze that hurt. I know he had his wife before his eyes when he saw that little boy's expression and the fact that he had this visceral of a reaction remembering that time? My heart is breaking. I wonder if Y/N was already working then... Or where she was in life. I have my own head canons about that but I'll only tell you if we don't end up finding out a bit about her past too 😁

I also love how Sam interacts with Max. I love that he treats him with kindness and speaks to him gently but doesn't dismiss his intelligence. He can clearly see the boy is incredibly clever.

You caught that, huh? ;) You smart, smart girl! I was contemplating whether to refer to the reader explicitly in that part, then let it slide. I mean, sure he could go off being the heartless lawyer, but it’s because he is hurting SO much inside and burying it. One time he slipped and allowed himself to remember, the pain was staggering. 

Ummm I think the reader was in college for Pre-law in Texas and working part-time. I think. We’re not getting anymore of the reader’s backstory... just a vague timeline of her academic/ professional achievements. You’re free to spin your own headcanons. They’ll probably be more on point than mine XD

I don’t know much about parenting, but I do believe that’s how you should treat kids- with respect. Maybe Sam’s attitude as a dad was what helped Max heal the most.

So this is probably why it became his favourite book, huh? I wonder how many times Sam read it to him. Something in my heart definitely tightened when Sam had to stop reading cause the last time he probably opened that book was when he read it to his wife... Oh that hurts.

I breezed through this chapter, Ana, I need more like now 😫😂

But seriously, I loved it so so so much. I'm so happy were getting to see more of Sam's life after she left and Max's story. I can't wait for the next chapter, I wanna know everything 😁❤❤❤

Yep yep yep! Nothing there is coincidence. Sam didn’t remove the book from his phone cause he just couldn’t bear to do it. And Max probably started associating the book to the first safe place he’s ever known- Sam presence. Also, YOU CAUGHT THAT! Sam’s pause! You’re in MY HEAD! While you’re there, please help me with that design brief as well :P

THANK YOU SO MUCH, Ria! I swear your reblogs add years to my design brief ridden life. Next chapter is a slightly bigger bomb ;) I can tell you now that you’ll like that one, too, if you liked this! 

I love you so much <3

[cordoniantrash]

Once Upon Another Time: Chapter Five

AU: In another time where the brothers Beaumont did not reach Cassandra in time, the waitress turned lady went back to New York to rebuild her old life. After finding an unexpected souvenir, she set off and joined her long lost family. Four years later, a newly divorced King of Cordonia arrives in New York in hopes of reuniting with his beloved. Instead of Cassandra, all he found was a postcard with the word Edgewater written on the back

Catch up here: Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four

Plus a masterlist if you guys are interested.

Hello, one and all! Welcome to this monster of a chapter, the longest one to date. My brain is tired, so grammatical errors are my own and comments are greatly appreciated.

Also, should I write a brief description of the chapters instead of the usual story description (as seen above)? Let me know guys. 

Thanks to @thequeennefertipi for betaing!

Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters, Pixleberry has that privilege. Title for both the series and the chapter titles, plus the epigraphs are from Sara Bareilles’ discography  

Pairing: Liam x MC

Warning: swearing, mentions of drinking, brief non-graphic discussion of violence

Words: 5397

Chapter Five: Gravity

Something always brings me back to you

It never takes too long

No matter what I say or do

I'll still feel you here 'till the moment I'm gone

  “Can you see that? A future with me?” he hesitated, “with children?”

She took his hand, met his gaze, and smiled. 

“We’ll have adorable kids.”

Unbidden, the memory surfaced in his mind. Four years after he had that conversation with Cassandra, he found himself staring into another pair of brown eyes. It’s like looking in a mirror. Or an old photograph. 

He mentally shook his head. It can’t be. It’s just a coincidence. There’s a whole country of people that looks like me. 

But for all his rational thoughts, his reasons and logic, he can’t help but feel that this is a reunion, not a first meeting. Somehow, a part of him he didn’t know was missing had finally returned to him. His heart ached. His knees felt weak. 

Mechanically, he finished greeting the Countess. Without missing a beat, she smiled and held the little boy’s hand.

“I must apologise for my grandson’s outburst, Your Majesty. He’s an excitable child.”

“Oh, not at all, my lady. In fact, I find it charming,” Liam replied, barely remembering his training. “Though I’d like to introduce myself, if possible.” Her grandson. Cassandra’s grandmother died before we met and she had never met her paternal grandparents either. Then it can’t be. His heart was beating hard in his chest. Am I disappointed or relieved?

The Countess agreed, and the tension that he didn’t know he held was lifted. Ignoring royal protocol, he knelt down and met the little boy’s gaze. 

“Hello!” the little boy exclaimed bouncing on the balls of his feet. His grandmother cleared her throat, and the boy startled, quickly executing a bow. “Your Majesty.” He hastily added. 

Liam’s heart melted. He extended his hand for a handshake. The little boy gripped Liam’s hand. He didn’t want to let go.

“Hello,” the king replied. “My name’s Liam. Might I know yours?”

“My name’s Lucas and I’m four years old! And you’re the man from the telly!” Lucas flashed him a smile, beaming all the while.

Despite himself, Liam chuckled. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Lucas.” The man from the telly? What does that mean?

Behind him, his secretary cleared their throat. Reluctantly Liam stood up. After a few more seconds of pleasantries, he managed to walk away from the ambassador and his family. As Bastien whisked him away for the opening remarks, another thought came to his mind. I know that smile. Cassie has the same smile. His heart seemed to stop.

----

“Champagne, Mother?”

“Thank you, darling.”

Charles stared at her. 

“What are you playing at?”

Clara let out a tinkling laugh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Charles. Oh, and don’t frown, darling. People might think there’s a problem.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And that would be absurd, wouldn’t it?”

Clara smiled around the rim of her champagne glass. “Yes, it would.”

“Are you torturing the man then? Dangling the possibility of a child and then taking it away? When you asked me last week to look into him, this isn’t what I envisioned.” He paused, looking around and lowering his voice further. “If that is what you’re doing, then that is just cruel Mother. I know they hurt one of ours and I understand the urge to retaliate, but you were never one for mind games and power plays.”

“That’s an interesting possibility Charles, but have you considered another?”

“And what might that other possibility be?”

“The possibility that I might be interested in testing our gracious host,” she caught his affronted expression. “Oh, do calm down, darling. I just want to get a measure of him before an inevitable reunion occurs.”

“Might have been fairer if he knew he is being tested though,” Charles mumbled as his shoulders relaxed.

“I often find that the best tests are blind. Besides, we should always measure the depth of the water before diving in.”

“Why are we diving in in the first place? I thought you hated this place?”

“Perhaps it’s time we reacquaint ourselves with our extended family. Come to our suites later, your sister and I have something to show you.”

----

“You’ve outdone yourself, mon cher,” Kiara said as she handed Hana a glass of champagne. 

Hana blushed as she accepted Kiara’s offering. “Oh, it’s nothing, really. Maxwell and Olivia helped.”

Kiara raised her eyebrow. “Hana, we’ve talked about this.”

Hana blushed once more. “Right. But they deserve the praise too.”

“And I’ll give them one when I see them. But right now I’m congratulating you.”

“Thank you, Kiara,” Hana said as she smiled, “really.”

“So, how is charming the nobility going?” Kiara asked as the two of them started to walk around the length of the room. “Is there anything we should look out for?”

“So far there’s no mention of Madeleine,” Hana answered in French. “But if Olivia’s source is right, then she might arrive with her mother.”

Kiara sighed. “Why can’t she just run back to her hovel?”

Hana stifled a laugh. “Well, you know what they say about the bad ones.”

“Perish the thought,” Kiara said with a shudder. “Although I can’t quite gauge her motivation for crashing this dinner. She has to know that this would just make her look desperate.”

Hana shrugged. “There is virtue in being bold.”

“In other circumstances perhaps. But Madeleine has always been calculating,” Kiara answered, her eyes narrowed. “Boldness is not exactly her forte. We both know she is not one for gambits.”

“Well, whatever her reasoning is,” Hana shrugged once more. “We’ve got Olivia on hand should things go south.”

Kiara sighed. It took her a few steps to realise that Hana had stopped in her tracks. Kiara turned and saw the lady standing stock still, staring across the ballroom. Confused, Kiara followed her gaze. It was the British Ambassador’s party. She turned to Hana once more, a question on the tip of her tongue when Hana subtly nodded towards the little boy beside the Ambassador. Kiara looked again. Is she shocked that there are children during the state dinner? It might be odd but hardly scandalous.

The little boy turned and Kiara was able to see his face. Her heart lurched. There were some differences, but the resemblance was uncanny. She felt chills.

He looks like Liam. But how? 

The two ladies stood there staring at the little boy when someone cleared their throat behind them. Kiara whirled around and saw Olivia, eyebrow arched, a glass of wine in hand. 

“What are you two gaping at? The she-demon has been spotted near the gates!”

Wordlessly, Kiara nodded towards the little boy. She saw Olivia’s hand tighten around her wine glass.

“Fuck.”

Fuck indeed.

----

“My lady, can We welcome you to Cordonia one more?”

Lady Harper smiled. “My family and I thank you for such a warm welcome, sir. Have I mentioned that this is my grandson’s first time abroad? He was very excited to come.”

Liam smiled, ignoring the pang he felt when the Countess referred to Lucas as her grandson. 

“I could recommend some sights to visit during your stay here, the palace gardens, for instance. Cordonia might be a small country but we have a lot to offer.”

“So my son has told me.” Countess Clara looked at him and Liam couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being scrutinised. Just as he was about to fidget, the Countess smiled (it did not really reach her eyes, Liam noted), “if you want to talk to Lucas, you can just say so Your Majesty. He’s with his Uncle Charles at the moment.”

“Oh, so Viscountess Elizabeth is his mother then?” Liam asked, trying his best to remain casual. This is just small talk, he reminded himself. Earn her trust before you ask questions.

The Countess laughed. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but that thought is just too funny,” she straightened, seeing Liam’s confusion. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. My Lizzy is of the Sapphic persuasion if you catch my meaning. She’s quite loud about it.”

“Oh. My apologies, my lady. I did not mean to presume—“

“It’s quite alright, King Liam,” she said saving him from fumbling, “I know you meant no offence. In truth, Lucas is my sister’s grandson.”

Liam tried his best to maintain his composure. He swallowed.

“I see.”

“Oh, but enough of the past,” Lady Harper said, sipping her drink, “you are more than welcome to talk to Lucas. Not that I’d blame you, he’s got his charm from his mother.” 

“Thank you, my lady. I’m sure he is a credit to you and your family.”

As he walked towards the Ambassador and his nephew, Liam couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being examined, judged from one angle to another. But on what exactly? He quickly set aside the thought as he approached the boy.

Lucas beamed when he caught sight of him. Liam couldn’t help but smile in return. 

“Hello!” Lucas said as Liam approached them. The Ambassador bowed and his sister curtsied. 

“Hello Lucas,” Liam said, he then nodded to Lord Charles and Lady Elizabeth. “Might I interest you and your family in a tour of the gardens later tonight? I would be remiss in my duties as the host if I don’t show you one of the best features of the palace.”

“We would be quite honoured, Your Majesty. But it will be Lucas’ bedtime in a few hours. We promised his mother that he’ll be in bed after a course or two,” Lady Elizabeth said apologetically.

“But I wanna see the garden, Aunty Lizzy! I’ll be good!”

The Ambassador and his sister hesitated.

“You can come along if you like Your Excellency, My Lady. But I give you my word that Lucas will be safe with me.”

“I’d like to come along if you don’t mind.” A voice piped up behind him. Liam turned and saw that Countess Clara had joined their little circle. “You two can keep on socialising here, but I for one would welcome some fresh air.”

Lucas let out a little cheer. Liam’s smile grew wider.

“Shall we?” he asked. 

Lucas grinned and grabbed his grandmother’s hand.

“Let’s go!”

----

Edgewater

The sun’s almost setting, Cassandra mused as she looked through the windows of the sitting room. She stood up, closing her laptop and leaving it on the couch. That means the guests are already arriving. I bet dinner will be served soon. I hope Lucas has been cooperating. State dinners can be stuffy and boring. Is he behaving?

Has he seen Liam yet?

Has Liam seen Lucas yet?

Why did I agree to this in the first place?

She sighed. Cassandra opened her laptop again. It showed an airline’s website. The destination was Cordonia.

Could I really go back there? Should I? But what about my family here?

He’s divorced, yes. But showing up there after years of no contact? With a little boy too. What if he really believed those photos? What if he doesn’t feel the same way? What if he doesn’t want me? 

What about Lucas?

----

The Palace’s Garden, Cordonia

Clara walked a few paces behind Liam and Lucas. She could barely keep up with the stream of questions that her grandson was asking the King. To his credit, Liam was attentive, actively listening and patiently answering the four-year-old’s questions. He seemed relaxed and in his element, trained to perfection. But Clara’s sharp eyes did not miss the way the monarch could barely take his eyes away from the child, a question silently asked every time he turned to Lucas.

The pair stopped in front of a tree. Liam turned to Lucas and said, “This is the centre of the maze. You win maze tag when you reach this tree.”

Lucas oohed and aahed, as he reached out and touched the tree. He peeked to one side and gasped.

“Oh! A swing!” Lucas exclaimed, and the King froze for a moment before offering to push the child on the swing. Then the pair looked at her for permission. She chuckled. After Clara gave her assent, Liam still kept on glancing at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. 

I wager you’re too wary to ask me if he’s yours. She’d seen the way he reacted to the child. This one’s quick on the uptake. That’s a good sign. You’re already a step ahead of your nobles.

Remaining composed this evening had taken all her willpower. These are the people who stood by and let her niece be humiliated. Some of them even relished the chance to drag Cassie’s name through the mud. 

Having Charlie look into the events that happened in that same ballroom years ago had been illuminating. It certainly shed a light on why after everything that happened, Cassandra would still be quick to defend Liam. 

She tries to hide it. Denies it to herself on most days. But she still loves him. 

Looking at the way Liam was staring Lucas, Clara is stuck with the feeling that her niece’s affection is returned. 

Smiling at Lucas, Clara’s mind wandered to the journal she had brought with her. If Cordelia’s right, then the King Father’s death means Cassandra and Lucas can come back here if she chooses to. My family might be safe. 

Looking at the father and son at the centre of the maze, Clara imagines that dear Cassie would go back here, one way or another. 

----

“Are you sure the girls will be fine?”

“Relax hun. The royal staff is more than capable of handling the twins for a night.”

Katie nodded, shoulders easing up a little. “Right. But can we still call them after dinner?”

Leo nodded and said, “We can even check up on them later if you want. They won’t notice if we slip away for a bit.”

Katie smiled and squeezed his hand. 

Before Leo could continue to reassure his wife, he noticed Olivia stalking towards them with Kiara and Lady Hana in tow. Huh, I didn’t know Liv had friends.

“Uh…” Katie trailed off beside him. “Leo, what did you do?”

Leo looked at his wife, his eyebrows drawn. “I don’t think I did anything…” 

Both husband and wife looked on with confusion as Olivia approached the pair.

Before either of them could ask anything, the Scarlet Duchess had passed the nobles and staff still mingling near the entrance and had grabbed both of their arms.

“We have a situation and we need both of you to distract the she-demon.”

Leo and Katie exchanged a glance. Katie shrugged.

“I don’t mind.”

Olivia raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Really?”

His wife smirked then replied, “She never really got over the fact that Leo broke their years-old engagement to marry me. That should be enough of a distraction.”

Olivia smirked. “Oh, I’d love to see this.”

Leo raised an eyebrow and readied a retort when his wife elbowed him. Lady Hana cleared her throat.

“There’s another matter,” she said, turning the attention on her. “There’s a little boy in the British Ambassador’s party and well…” she trailed off.

What now?

“He looks like Liam.” Kiara supplied seeing Leo’s confusion. 

“What?”

Olivia sighed, impatient. “It’s better to show you.”

With that, she stirred Leo and Katie towards a corner and directed their gaze to a little boy chattering away with Liam. 

Huh. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Liam had a love child with someone. 

Does this mean I’m finally an uncle?

“Oh, my…” Katie murmured.

“Look alive,” Olivia said, interrupting Leo’s musings, “she-demon’s just arrived.”

“Well then,” Leo sighed as he extended an arm towards his wife, “I assume that aside from pissing her off, we also have to prevent her from seeing Liam’s mini-me?”

Katie hooked her arm with his. “I think that goes without saying, hun.”

----

The Beaumont Estate, Ramsford

He was having a headache. If I have to skim through another document, I’m gonna throw myself off the building. We’ve found a mention of the place. Is that clue not enough? We should just go there now, really. 

Drake stood up, stretching this way and that to try and fight the sleepiness that was threatening to come over him. He understood the need to be covert, and the threat of hackers is a real concern, but he would kill to just have a computer do this job for him. I should have stayed in as part of the security at the dinner, even if it means putting up with Olivia’s barbs. 

“Continue the investigation he said,” Drake muttered as he walked around the room, “keep up appearance he said. When Maxwell gets back here, I’m gonna let him have it.” 

He groaned. God, I sound like Bertrand. Drake shuddered. 

Deciding to fix himself a drink, he began to walk out of the room. He paused at the doorway.

“Can’t have the staff see what we’re looking at.”

Drake doubled back and collected the papers on the desk. Deciding to put them in the drawer, for the time being, he opened the first one. It was full of loose papers. 

Grumbling, Drake took the papers from the drawer and placed them next to the gathered documents. 

“I can’t believe I’m more organised than this,” he muttered.

As he finished stuffing the documents into the drawer, his eyes caught a name.

Savannah Walker

Drake blinked. He picked up the paper with shaking hands.

Underneath the name was an address.

An hour later, the skeleton staff at the Beaumont estate would see Drake Walker walking out of the doors, practically shaking with anger. They then heard his car take off, disappearing into the night.

----

The Palace

She held her head high as the herald who looked visibly uncomfortable, exited the foyer, presumably to announce her into the ballroom. Her mother shook her head and sighed. Madeleine glanced at her as they started walking toward the doors. 

“What now, Mother.”

“This will get people talking.”

“I thought you liked gossip?”

“Not when we’re walking towards the lion’s den.”

“Oh, please. We have Aunt Regina and half the court on our side.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, dear. Regina’s beginning to rebuild her relationship with Liam. Or so I’ve heard.”

“Then we still have the court and the media on our side.”

They were almost at the door.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that either.”

Madeleine raised an eyebrow.

“They will be if they know what’s good for them.”

Adelaide glanced at her. 

“After your Reign of Terror, I doubt they’ll be too eager to ally with you.”

Madeleine opened her mouth to retort when the doors opened. 

The nobles gathered near the entrance avoided her eyes. Madeleine narrowed her eyes but still held her head high as they entered the ballroom. A cursory glance of the room told her that Liam wasn’t at his throne. Probably talking to some dignitaries. No matter, I’ll see him soon enough. 

“Well, I’ll be damned. It’s Maddy!” a voice behind her said. Her heart lurched. She turned around. Standing before her, wearing a suit was her former fiancé. On his arm was the woman who ruined Madeleine’s first chance of becoming Queen. Ignoring her narrowed eyes, Leo turned towards her mother.

“Hey, Adelaide! It’s been a while!” he inclined his head towards his wife. “May I introduce my wife, Katie?”

“Hello, dear. I must say, that gown is stunning!”

The minx smiled. “Thank you, Your Grace. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Adelaide’s smile grew. Madeleine could feel herself glower.

“Mother,” she interrupted, her voice clipped, “I think Duchess Joelle wants a word.”

“Hm… Joelle is fun at parties,” Adelaide said, glancing at Madeleine. “I’d leave you youngsters to your conversation.”

Madeleine barely glanced at her mother as the Duchess flounced off to join her peers. Her gaze was fixed on Leo’s wife. The woman met her eyes without flinching. 

“How are you finding the festivities, Madeleine?” Katie asked.

“I see that you’ve forgotten royal etiquette. It’s Countess Madeleine, Katie,” Madeleine retorted, “and it’s quite the prestigious event. I’m sure you’ve rarely seen the like.” 

Leo tensed but stayed silent. His wife just smiled.

“Well, if we’re going to address each other by our titles, then I suppose you must call me Mrs Rys,” the shorter woman smirked, “that shouldn’t be hard to remember, seeing as I’m the only one with that title.”

Leo smirked, drawing his wife close to his side.

“Oh, do lighten up Maddy! Let’s not add etiquette to an already stuffy occasion.”

“Oh yes, we’re all friends here,” she paused then added, “Well most of us.”

Madeleine felt herself tense. What do they know?

Leo perked up. “Hun, there’s Anna de Luca,” indicating to the journalist near where they’re standing. “She was the one that asked to interview you.”

What?

“Oh, then I’d better talk to her before dinner starts. Talk schedule and all,” she looked at Madeleine. “If you’ll excuse me, my lady.”

Without waiting for a response, she turned her back to Madeleine and strutted towards the reporter.

“Bless, Anna,” Leo mused, “she was quite eager to score an interview. But, you know all about that, don't you Maddy?”

Madeleine scowled. “Don’t call me that.”

“Why not? It’s not as though you’ve spent years calling me a nickname I don’t like.”

“Have you come here to gloat?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“Gloat what? That I married the love of my life or that my brother divorced you?”

Madeleine opened her mouth for a retort that never came.

“Face it, Maddy. There’s nothing here for you. Especially since you’ve been badmouthing the host of this party.”

“You don’t know that,” she shot back. “I’m still the rightful queen.”

“So what?” Leo shrugged. “You’ve alienated the nobility since you became queen. The media, your last ace, is losing interest. So why continue?”

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand the intricacies of politics, Leo.”

Leo huffed out a laugh then shot her a look. It was achingly familiar. Madeleine glanced at him. The young girl within her still longs for some affection. Feasting on the scraps he tossed her all those years ago. Her pearls felt tight against her throat. You gave these to me, remember?

She shook her head.

We’ve always been taught how important reputation is. Kill the figure and a dozen will take his place. Destroy the power structure, the trust, the reputation, and he’s as good as dead.

“So that’s what you’re after,” Leo murmured and she startled, horror quickly taking over her, “you’ve gone down and you want to take everything else with you. You’ll bring us all to our own graves. All because you were denied a crown.”

Shit. 

Madeleine felt as though she was suddenly dunked underwater. Her vision blurred. She dimly heard the bell signalling the start of the dinner, sound travelling towards her slowly. 

“Well,” he said, clapping her shoulder. “It was nice talking to you, Maddy.”

What have I done?

Her entire being was submerged in water and it was slowly freezing over. She could vaguely see Leo’s back as he walked towards the double-doors. Her feet refused to move, frozen solid by the horror that gripped her throat. Around her, people were making their way towards the dining room. That’s where I should be. But why can’t I move?

Time seemed to slow down, like water reduced to a trickle. I have to go…

Slowly, painstakingly, she spun around towards the outer doors.

And walked. Just another ghost inside the palace walls.

At the doorway, she turned for one last look.

That was when she saw him.

A little boy holding an elder woman’s hand. Foreigners perhaps, but that was hardly what caught her attention.

The little boy looked just like Liam.

For a moment the boy turned, and she caught sight of his eyes and suddenly, she remembered another lady, another foreigner. It was in the way he tilted his head and in the shade of brown in those eyes. Another ghost from years ago. One that stood between her and Liam throughout their whole marriage.

Her mind went blank. She whirled around and stumbled out into the night. 

----

“The grounds are secure Your Grace.”

A passing server whispered to Olivia. Granting her a subtle nod, the Scarlet Duchess then walked towards the dining room, where most of the guests had already gathered. 

Maxwell was waiting for her on the other side of the door. The look on his face gave her pause. 

“What is it?” apprehension colouring her tone.

“Drake’s gone.”

Olivia seized his arm and dragged him near the corner of the room, mindful of eyes and ears that might be trained their way.

“What do you mean gone?” she hissed.

“The staff just saw him storming out of the estate!” Maxwell said, doing his best to lower his voice. “I don’t know what caused it, I swear!”

Olivia let out an aggravated sigh. 

“D’you think — “Maxwell began, hesitating at the face of her ire.

“That he rushed off to find Cassandra because of your little clue? Probably. Who knows?”

“But we had a plan! Why would he do that?”

“I assume it has a little bit to do with the little flame he still carries for her,” she shot him a look, “as to your last question, we all know that he’s got an impulsive streak.”

“But this isn’t like him at all!”

“Hm. You’re right about that,” Olivia narrowed her eyes. “Tell me, Maxwell: Is there anything in your estate that might set him off?”

Maxwell gulped, his eyes wide. Bingo. 

“Urgh. I’ll send some of my people after his trail. We’ll sort it out once we find him.”

“What if we don’t find him?”

“He’ll go back here sooner or later,” she bared her teeth, “and he will not like what he finds.”

----

Later that night, the guest bedrooms in the Palace    

Clara watched as her son flipped through their cousin’s journal. After a few moments, she stood up and checked on the four-year-old safely tucked in her bed, safely sleeping. 

“Good Lord,” Charles said from his seat. Clara turned back toward her son.

“Indeed.”

“And to think he was also the mastermind behind Cassie’s scandal.”

“In a way, I suppose we should be thankful that that’s all he did,” Elizabeth added from her perch on the bed. “However despicable that was.”

“He, uh, took care of a whole family just because they were associated with a dissenting group.” Charles countered.

“Murdered, Charles. You can say it. He murdered a whole family, down to their little baby, just because they disagreed with his policies and dared form a group over it,” Clara sighed, “he also orchestrated the disappearance of several aristocrats. Goodness knows that’s just another word for murder, too.”

“But he changed.” Even as he said it, Charles grimaced. 

“Yes, after cousin Cordelia gave him a son,” Elizabeth answered. “I saw him earlier, by the way. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve heard about him.”

“And to think he could have been King,” Charles mused. “Although I find his younger brother more agreeable.”

“Of course, you do,” Clara said with a chuckle. “Liam’s a more capable King than Leo. That’s as plain as night and day. Thank goodness they don’t share the same mother.”

Charles glanced at Lucas. “Then this means that our little Lucas is actually a prince.”

Clara shrugged. “That depends.”

Charles leaned towards his mother. “Depends on what mother?”

“On what Cassie chooses of course. Technically, Lucas is still the King’s bastard.”

“What else would Cassie choose? Her name’s been cleared, her lover’s divorced and pining for her if tonight was any indication and the man who orchestrated her scandal’s long dead.”

Clara raised an eyebrow. 

“Exactly. It’s too easy.”

“You’re complaining that things are too easy?” Elizabeth said as she and Charles shared a befuddled look. 

“Yes, darlings. From what this journal has told us, Constantine was a master manipulator and a tyrant to boot. He was obsessed with his legacy. He changed his tune and sheathed his claws but that does not mean it’s still not there.”

“The man’s dead mother,” Elizabeth said. “Even you can admit there’s not much he can do beyond the grave.”

Clara sighed. Charles raised his eyebrows.

“Unless you’re concerned about something else?” Charles added. “Two little birds leaving the nest, perhaps?”

Clara scowled. Charles had the gall to chuckle and Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. Clara changed the subject. 

“Aren’t you the least bit curious about why he tried so hard to prevent them from reaching Cassandra?”

“I’d imagine that’s because she’s also a Foredale,” Charles stood up and walked towards the window, “Cousin Cordelia was fortunate enough to escape with her life, let alone with that journal and all its secrets. You said it yourself, Mother. The man’s obsessed with his legacy. Imagine finding that one of his son’s suitors was related to his first wife. Of course, he’ll try to eliminate the threat.”

“Perhaps.”

Her son turned to look at her. “I know you’re worried. I am too. But there’s no need to rush just yet, nor is there any use. Let’s just take this one day at a time and figure this out.”

Clara nodded, her thoughts swirling.

“Are we going to tell her?” Elizabeth asked into the silence that covered the room.

“… I don’t know,” Clara answered. 

----

The Lady 

Hana sighed as soon as her mother closed the door. Lorelai had been nearly impossible to shake earlier. Thankfully, Rashad had offered to distract her parents while she kept track of the nobles at the dinner.

They are her parents, yes, but Hana was tired. An ambitious mother and a guilty, well-meaning father. Years of neglect and impossibly high expectations. Their insistence that all this was for her own good. But now that I’ve secured a suitable match, what comes next? A decade of my mother hovering near to instruct me on how to be a proper wife? Am I going to be their pawn forever? Why can’t they leave me be? They insist on moulding me to be the ever accomplished, capable lady then turn around and say that they must hold my hand at every step. 

Hana shook her head. Now is not the time for morose thoughts, as Kiara would say.

Kiara. Hana smiled at the thought of her. Maybe I am not the daughter you want me to be, but at least there’s someone who sees me for me.

Her phone vibrated, snapping her out of her thoughts. It was Maxwell.

Emergency meeting! Usual place in an hour.

Hana quickly got up. Her room was the closest to their usual meeting place. The corridors were still and silent. She quickly slipped inside Liam’s private study.

Kiara was already in the room.

“Do you have any idea why they called a meeting?”

Kiara shook her head. “Non, mon cher. Although I suspect it might be because of the little boy earlier.”

Hana came closer and Kiara took her hand. Hana laid her head on Kiara’s shoulder. Together, the two ladies sat in comfortable silence for a while.

Olivia was the next one to enter.

“Urgh. Express your affection somewhere else.”

Hana could practically see Kiara roll her eyes. She chuckled.

“Are we going to discuss the little boy?”

Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose. “That among other things.”

“Other things?” Kiara echoed.

“It’s better to talk when we’re all here.”

“We’re here!” Maxwell said as he rushed through the door, Liam following behind.

Hana’s eyebrows furrowed. “Where’s Drake?”

Olivia scowled and Maxwell fidgeted. Liam looked out the window, his gaze far off.

“That’s why we’re here,” Olivia spat out. “Bastard’s runoff.”

Liam frowned. “We don’t know that, Olivia.”

“No. But we know that he booked a flight and ran away.”

“Where exactly? The UK?” Kiara asked, straightening up. Hana missed the warmth.

“No…” Maxwell mumbled. “He’s gone to Paris.”

“Why Paris?” Hana asked. “The clue you found and –“she hesitated looking at Liam.

“And Lucas is from a county in England,” Liam finished for her. He turned towards them. “His grandmother is the Countess of Edgewater.”

Hana’s eyes widened. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Olivia standing still with Maxwell’s shocked face at her side. Beside her, Hana felt Kiara tense.

“I think— “Liam’s voice broke. “Lucas might be my son.”

#

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[1000dactyls]

a song analysis: why kamado tanjiro no uta is a banger

you can listen to the full song by go shiina and nami nakagawa here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-uhgIzHYYo

I close my eyes and remember That time which has passed by I can't turn back, I can't return home There's a deep, yawning darkness

I can't turn back, I can't return home There's a deep, yawning darkness A tender sound that makes you want to cry No matter the pain Go forward (go forward), go forward (go forward), keep going ahead (keep going ahead) Cut away the despair Even with all I've lost, even with all I've lost I have no choice but to keep living Even if I am beaten down There are things to protect

Even with all I've lost, even with all I've lost I have no choice but to keep living Even if I am beaten down There are things to protect

If there is nothing but this fate for me, I will be prepared for it Even if I struggle and claw through the mud There's a thin thread that can't be seen And a tender sound that makes you want to cry No matter the frustration Go forward, go forward, keep facing ahead Cut away the despair Even with all the pain, even with all the pain I have no choice but to stand up again There are things to protect There are things to protect

-- the english translation, as provided by the kny wiki

the analysis will be under the cut, because jesus good GOD is it long. tl;dr because it's a lot: kamado tanjiro no uta is just a really good fucking song guys

starting with the opening notes of the song, it begins on a high note on the piano. it plays when tanjiro remembers his family--here, only the melody is played as he remembers him and nezuko dancing for their dad. there's a few interesting things here, starting with the fact that it opens with only the melody; it invokes a sense of nostalgia and longing for something more simple. the fact that it opens up playing the melody is also something worth considering: the scene opens up on tanjiro remembering his family, or what we could consider the core reason as to why he's fighting.

then you get to the beginning of the vocals (which are seriously gorgeous, like GOD, okay, flex on us nami nakagawa please?). these play over the clip of tanjiro's dad dancing--the lyrics during this part are below:

I close my eyes and remember That time which has passed by I can't turn back, I can't return home There's a deep, yawning darkness

obviously, it's describing tanjiro's reflection on his past and his family. however, the last lyric is interesting: there's a deep, yawning darkness can be talking about his past and how he can no longer go back to the happy days with his family he once had, but it also describes the situation on hand as well. the fact that they choose to contrast this with the fire dance scene, in which the night is illuminated by the hinokami kagura, could be counted as foreshadowing! in this scene, tanjiro also talks with his mom about the strength his dad has (implied that it's so because of the dance).

then we get the high flute before transitioning to the motif being played on a lower octave. here, we begin to get more--depth, i'd say? but the deeper tone provides more of a stronger 'backbone' that could be compared to the opening: while the high notes resonate something of a simple desire, the pitch here gives more depth, which makes sense because tanjiro is talking to his dad about the dance as they look at their family. in episode 19, the screen goes black before tanjuro states the line, "that's what i promised." the high note on the piano that plays before the lyrics come back in could potentially be a reminder of what tanjiro's reason is for all of this, as to why he's fighting to begin with: for his family, for nezuko.

finally, the bass comes in, reflecting the strength that tanjiro gains (realizes what was in him all along? maybe???) in his convictions (and in turn, his fighting power). the vocals begin to play again, being almost a reprise of the first verse:

I can't turn back, I can't return home There's a deep, yawning darkness

you could interpret this as tanjiro having remembered his reason for fighting. this is also really interesting for the fact that this is where the brass and other instruments come in, representing how he now has more reasons and beliefs to aid his main goal (like how the brass, etc. enhance the melody). and like earlier above, you could also say that these lyrics (aka tanjiro's reasons) are what make him stronger.

the next lyrics are as follows, played over a clip of tanjiro approaching rui with all he's got. the brass doesn't play in this section, instead being the piano and strings (i swear, there's a harp in there somewhere):

A tender sound that makes you want to cry No matter the pain Go forward (go forward), go forward (go forward), keep going ahead (keep going ahead) Cut away the despair

the lyrics here could also be interpreted as tanjiro gaining more reasons to keep on fighting: some have pointed out that the lines a tender sound that makes you want to cry refers to zenitsu, and that cut away the despair could be a throwback to sabito. the music in this section is on a higher pitch, again reflecting that more simple desire/reason. then, as the lyrics begin to urge tanjiro to get up and fight, the music begins to build up, which could be about how tanjiro isn't alone in his struggle anymore: he isn't by himself, because he has nezuko, zenitsu, inosuke, sabito... etc.

once again, the brass joins in, this time with the strings and piano. paired with the clip of tanjiro's broken sword cutting down rui's strings, this could represent tanjiro's determination triumphing any obstacle in his way:

Even with all I've lost, even with all I've lost I have no choice but to keep living Even if I am beaten down There are things to protect

the lyrics here reaffirm that; even if he's being losing, he has to protect the people and things he cares about. the end of this verse coincides with when tanjiro is about to cut rui's neck off, but at the cost of his own life, and that's when the vocals stop for a period of time for nezuko.

here, there's no brass or vocals: when the scene focuses on nezuko and kie urging her to save her brother, it's noticeably more quiet. however, the flute plays here, playing the main motif. not only does it reflect how nezuko is tanjiro's main reason for fighting, but it can also apply to nezuko: her reason for fighting is tanjiro.

the fact that there's no lyrics sung during this is also really interesting: you could say that it was just because it was an appropriate time for no lyrics, which is fair, but there could be no lyrics because of nezuko's silence. at this point in time, she's still unable to speak. however, midway through, it begins to gain more strength, representing how nezuko gains more reasons to wake up and protect everyone. finally, it goes into the next verse:

Even with all I've lost, even with all I've lost I have no choice but to keep living Even if I am beaten down There are things to protect

this plays over nezuko waking up, pushing beyond her limits and using her blood demon art to save tanjiro (who then proceeds to cut rui's head off). yeah, these lyrics totally apply to tanjiro, but when you think about it, this also goes for nezuko as well. she's lost everything: her family, her ability to communicate, her humanity--and yet, she still keeps on going on, all for the sake of protecting her brother. even if we still don't know much about what she wants in the anime, this really speaks volumes.

and when you think about it, the fact that there's a verse that can apply to nezuko really makes sense. the song is called kamado tanjiro no uta, for sure, but it is because of nezuko that tanjiro is the way he is--and vice versa.

the 'violin rush' plays into this lyric, which is If there is nothing but this fate for me, I will be prepared for it. what's really interesting here is that you could take the choppiness for tanjiro's start into his journey: it's rough and he's unprepared for everything he faces, and he's thrown headfirst into this world of demons and slayers. and despite that, he perseveres and takes the measures to prepare for it, which leads into the 'smoother' section that plays next.

Even if I struggle and claw through the mud There's a thin thread that can't be seen

the violins play here, and honestly, the only thing i can say is just this made me cry a lot and how it's interesting that the violins are smoother here as the lyrics describe tanjiro's struggle. however, tanjiro adapts and tries his best, eventually being so that he can see the line of interval (the string).

next, we have more references to the new reasons tanjiro has to fight for:

And a tender sound that makes you want to cry No matter the frustration

here, the piano plays almost entirely on it's own. it plays a gentle melody as it reflects on tanjiro's past (his blood family), but it also references the bonds he's forged in blood like zenitsu and his friendship (his found family).

Go forward, go forward, keep facing ahead Cut away the despair

the build up in music begins as the lyrics urge tanjiro to get up and fight, also referencing sabito once more. you could take this as how tanjiro, built up by the support of the people who love him, gets stronger and stronger. finally, the brass, strings, piano, drum, and vocals all come together in a spectacular climax. the lyrics do repeat, but here they are again:

Even with all the pain, even with all the pain I have no choice but to stand up again

in the credits of episode 19, the last picture to be shown is one of tanjiro and nezuko turned a demon holding onto each other despite everything. a lone instrument plays before the drums join in, before the entire ensemble for one final, dramatic climax of it all. of course, the lyrics are There are things to protect, There are things to protect. it's a final reaffirmation of everything tanjiro stands for, for what was tried and tested in the fight against rui, and the entire ensemble coming in as the second there are things to protect is the force, conviction, everything that tanjiro has bled for in a climax.

and it is gorgeous.

[lady-charinette]

For the fic requests aged up fluffy college marichat au please! I love how beautifully u write marichat

Oh, thank you very much anon!! I wrote this on my phone (since I didn't bring my laptop with me so there may be some mistakes). I hope its okay! (A bit Adrienette-ish)

Marinette - 21 years old

Chat Noir/Adrien - 21 years old

My Furriendly Doormate

The dark haired girl sighed, stretching her arms and wiggling her fingers in anticipation, gaze fixed on the squares in front of her, "Alright boxes, bring it on."

Marinette picked up the boxes with staggering feet, gritting her teeth at the fact she just had to pick the heaviest box, the one containing her books, first.

She hoped her dorm room wasn't too far away, thankfully she had the number written down...

Somewhere.

Taking small, tentative steps forward Marinette glued herself to the wall for support as she ascended the stairs, trying hard not to let the box or herself fall.

It was her first moving day to the college dorm, she'd heard terrifying stories of her friends, about accidents while moving their stuff, about not getting along with their roommates, about having trouble juggling classes and social life.

Marinette was terrified.

But she promised her parents and Alya and herself that she will not give up so easily.

She was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

She never gave up!

"That's right! I don't-wuaaahhow!" her foot suddenly missing solid ground sent her heart skyrocketing, it felt like it would jump out of her ribcage. Where was the floor?! Did she miss a step?!

The mounting panic only got her off balance, her entire body seizing up and tilting to one side.

She started falling forward, towards the stairs she'd just conquered on her own, the added weight of the box only accelerating her descend to doom.

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut, physically and mentally bracing herself for the undoubtedly harsh impact with the ground.

Please spare the books! They were expensive!

Until two arms wrapped around her elbow and pulled her back, the box rustling with the action and being squeezed by not just her but another body behind it.

"Hey, are you okay? Did you hurt yourself? Do you need help with the box?" the deep voice from behind the box told her it wasn't a girl that just saved her life, and her books, and Marinette felt relieved and surprised when the stranger lifted the heavy box from her trembling hands. Her body still trying to process the shock it got from the threat of falling down the flight of stairs and she froze when she spied a shock of blond hair.

She could finally see who saved her life and properly thank him.

Marinette's heart skyrocketed for an entirely different reason now.

She couldn't help it.

She giggled.

Marinette dissolved into giggles, the hand in front of her mouth doing nothing to stop her.

The guy was wearing a black cat-like mask on his face and ears atop his head.

His blond hair was so messy, it looked like he just woke up.

She quickly composed herself when he asked, "Hey, what's so funny?" he rose an eyebrow and Marinette's stomach quivered when she tried suppressing the laughter still bubbling in her throat.

"N-nothing! Oh I'm so sorry, I just-!" she covered her cheeks, "Y-Your face!"

The guy paused as if thinking what could possibly make the girl laugh, but the second she playfully touched one of the fake cat ears atop his head his cheeks tinted pink and he smiled in embarassment, "O-Oh...damn..I furgot the costume." he grinned sheepishly, "Err... it's for a play, I swear! I don't usually walk around with them, I mean not that I couldn't but um..w-well, h-hey you're still laughing!"

The stranger pouted, the black mask only making his green eyes stand out more and Marinette finally got her laughter under control, her own cheeks a darker shade of red than they were before, "I'm sorry, I don't usually laugh at strangers but...the ears really caught me off guard!" she shook her head, feeling her heart slow to its normal speed, "Thank you for saving me and my books, they were so expensive!" she ran a hand down her face.

The guy half snorted, half laughed, "That's what I was aiming for, saving the books. But I understand, they are expensive." he looked at her over the edge of the box, green eyes moving in curiosity, "Um, would you mind telling me where to carry this? I don't mind holding it, but I think you want your books on a shelf than in a box." he chuckled when the girl promptly turned on her heel, key in hand, the number to the door written on a tag.

"R-Right, sorry!"

He smiled, "That's fine." he followed her in the direction of her dorm and was surprised to find the path familiar, "Hey, wait, that's-"

He looked at the door the dark haired girl was headed to and he couldn't help but chuckle, "Why are you laughing?"

The guy shook his head, "I just realized my room is just a door down from yours." He motioned toward the door the woman was standing in front of.

She smiled sheepishly, "Oh, what a coincidence. Looks like we're...hallway neighbours?" he nodded with a small grin, entering when she unlocked the door.

As expected, the small living room was empty, barren of everything except a few shelves, a couch, a small table and a TV.

"So, you're just moving in, huh?" the blond commented conversationally, green eyes taking in every nook and cranny as he set the box carefully down.

She turned to look at him fully now and nodded, "Yeah, it looks like you know your way around."

He chuckled awkwardly, running a hand through his already messy hair, "Not really, I moved in myself just three weeks ago. I still have a few things that need moving, but I have the essentials for now." he glanced back outside at the door, "You need help moving the rest? I'm on break right now."

She quickly shook her head and hands, "What? Oh no, no, no I wouldn't want to keep you from your break, it's fine really! Thank you so much for earlier again!" she bowed briefly and the blond found it endearing.

"It's really not a purroblem, I don't mind." he sent her a reassuring wink and she slowly smiled, giving in.

"Alright...thank you...uh..." she was at a loss for words, looking questioningly at him before he realized what she was looking for.

He hastily ripped off the cat ears and mask and held out his hand with burning cheeks, "A-Adrien." he scratched the back of his neck with his free hand, "But uhm..in the play I'm known as Chat Noir."

Marinette's eyes twinkled in curiosity, "A play? There's a drama group in college?"

Adrien smiled, looking relieved to change the subject, "Yeah, if you want to join, we're still recruiting people." His next words made the blush on his cheeks worse, "We already have a queen, though maybe she would need a spunky and brave princess to keep her in line." he glanced down at the dark haired woman, whose own cheeks were now identical to his own.

Cute.

"P-Princess? Me? O-Oh, um, I don't really think I can play that role so well." Marinette backtracked on autopilot, she was never a spoiled princess, even if it was a play, it would be difficult for her to switch her mindset on stage so easily.

That is, until Adrien smiled reassuringly, "I should mention how the brave little princess is secretly pranking the queen and actively trying to annoy her, together with the super funny and charming thief of course."

Marinette snorted, crossing her arms, "Let me guess, Chat Noir is a thief?"

Adrien smiled, doing a dramatic bow, "The one and only!"

Marinette giggled and Adrien's smile widened, "May I ask for the princess' name?"

The girl couldn't fight off another fierce blush, despite her best efforts, "Marinette."

"Well, Marinette, it's nice to meowt you!" she smiled and did a curtesy, lifting the imaginary ends of her dress up in the air as she did so.

"It's nice meowting you too, Adrien."

Both young adults laughed, basking in the other's presence and the comfortable atmosphere.

It was after the final box was carried into Marinette's dorm room that they rejoiced and leaned against the stacked boxes, "We did it..."

Marinette blew a strand of wayward hair out of her face, "You mean we did it thanks to your help, I never would've been done hadn't you helped. Thanks Adrien."

The blond smiled back, "You're welcome Marinette. I'm glad I was able to help you get all set for now. Like I said, if you need any help, my room's just a door away." she giggled and nodded, making Adrien smile.

They stayed like that in a comfortable silence, each briefly lost to their thoughts before Adrien cleared his throat, "Hey, would...do you want to...go grab some coffee? I heard it's purrty delicious here on campus." the blond model-like guy smiled awkwardly and Marinette played with the loose strands on her pigtail before she mentally gave herself a kick.

"Y-Yes! I...I would love to." she smiled shyly up at him, "We could also try to write down all our prank ideas for the evil arrogant queen." she grinned and Adrien laughed.

"You know, princess, I think you'll fit in just purrfecfly."

I hope it turned out okay, thank you for the request!! :3

[almaasi]

reaction post typed while watching SPN 14x12 “Prophet and Loss”

me: (◕︿◕✿)

i’m too soft™ for this

03:26pm

i am NOT READY in any way, shape or form

but i have a standard-quality video file and a 720p one is downloading slowly

i saw the promo video thing, dean’s phone battery died and i swear my heart died with it

i’m with cas on the “no suicide please” train

on the one hand, this is a deadly duo episode and i don’t trust them. BUT, they have been less awful recently. so. i’m like. expecting some gay. but that gay is ultimately gonna feel like queerbaiting, right?? LET’S HOPE NOT

fingers crossed for real gay, just in case i jinx it by doubting it

-

03:29

HERE GOES

-

03:31

the box underwater

THIS BETTER BE A DREAM

-

03:32

THE TERROR ON DEAN’S FACE IS MAKING MY HEART POUND I DON’T LIKE THIS ONE LITTLE BIT

-

03:33

the blood on the walls from his fingers

jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez

;~;

-

03:34

so far enjoying the directing here

dean’s got a red light saying nope, not changing his mind

sam’s behind him every step of the way

now sam’s trying to build a bridge between them (art on the wall)

-

03:38

just............ sitting here............. recoiling constantly from the screen while this dude does whatever he’s doing to his girl

deeply uncomfortable

-

03:41

so dean hasn’t even told cas and jack

oh man

-

03:42

OH MAN SAM ALREADY TOLD CAS

OH MAN

-

03:42

the fact dean shoulders open the bathroom door without touching it and dries his hands on his jeans is a) so beautiful, and b) so relatable

-

03:45

the guy with the knife again

i winced away from the screen so hard i pulled a muscle in my neck

goddamn i forget how wearing earbud headphones means i can’t just close my ears or move away from the distressing noise

-

03:39

sam: “if we could not have conversations that sound like deathbed apologies, i would really appreciate..”

i fricking cannot with my emotions right now

also john winchester is an asshole

-

03:56

THE SMILE

;A;

“it’s so good to hear from you!!!!”

;A; ;A; ;A;

-

03:58

dean: “so thank you, and, um........................ it’s good to hear your voice”

;~;

-

04:01

why do people say “you don’t have to do this” when tied up and in danger

i find that a strange thing to say? idk

-

04:50

more red lights

a lot of red lights in this

-

04:07

another one

-

04:14pm

switching to 720p because the download’s finally done

also do women actually wear those kinds of frilly night gowns??? or is that just what people imagine “lady life partner who died violently in the night to further the manpain” to wear

-

04:17

sarah: “you wanted him... you still do.... you didn’t come here to find peace, you came here to the place where you became one with him”

sounds gay and evil

-

04:19

sarah: “you can’t.... because you are him”

i mean that makes sense, if an angel is in a host for a long time and does the same acts over and over and feels certain emotions, the host’s brain pathways would form that way, to continue doing and feeling those things

but also i guess nick said yes in the first place, and continued to allow lucifer to use him, because he was that way inclined to begin with

......you know, by the same logic, jimmy probably had feelings for dean tbh

-

04:22

i kept expecting sarah to explode in a justified ghostly rage and set the walls on fire

but here we are..........

not with a bang but with a whimper

-

04:23

kjasdufshfsdhfhFDSKJGJDSJGSJDKGJKDJGJDJGJKGJKGDFJKKJG

this screenshot of cas is a screenshot of me reacting to this screenshot

(also the noise dean’s brain is making)

-

04:25

“doctor”

this screenshot doesn’t show the subtlety of all his movements  BUT HE’S FUCKING trying not to look THRILLED LOOK AT THAT ALMOST-SMILE OMG.

just a hair’s breadth from flustering and looking down the way he did with dr. sexy maybe??? tbh he also looks sad, he would be a lot happier if he weren’t about to lock himself in a box for eternity

the lil gulp as well ?

definitely lowkey flustered, i’m calling it

-

04:29

yup, cut to sam and the real doctor WHILE DEAN AND CAS HAVE A SILENT CONVERSATION OFF SCREEN yes/yes?

-

04:32

“oh, no. no, please don’t compare this with your suicidal plan. just stop.”

he SO MAD

i love cas more than words can say

-

04:34

cas: “so then.......... this is goodbye?

THE LOOK IN THEIR EYES

MY HEART IS BREAKING OH NO

-

04:35

And then SAM INTERRUPTS

ARE YOU KIDIDNG ME

ARE YOU FSDUFVJSDGVJ ING KIDDING ME

well at least that means there’s still something to be said between them, still eternally unsaid

-

04:37

cas: “dean, if there’s a spark, a hope, then i have to try”

aaaaaaand there’s the parallel again, if cas can save donatello then he can save dean

-

04:38

YELLOW LIGHT GREEN ROOM

WE’RE GETTING SOMEWHERE

and of course cas was the one who, by appearing, changed everything

-

04:43

this is so stinking cute i love seeing them together doing ANYTHING AT ALL i love them both so much

-

04:44

also they talk v close and it feels v intimate

i can feel their body heat from here

-

THEY GOT CLOSER

-

04:45

I HAVE MISSED SEEING THEM TOGETHER AND NOT ANGRY OR ACTIVELY DYING

-

CAS’ LIL SMILE

-

04:47

dean: “cas’ll catch you up”

BUT IS DEAN GONNA LEAVE FOREVER AND LEAVE CAS OH NO

-

04:50

sam: “donatello never quit fighting, so we could help him, because he never gave up”

OH MAN THAT GOT ME RIGHT IN THE DEPRESSION FEELS

I LOVE THAT THEY GAVE JARED THOSE LINES

-

04:51

sam: “i believe in us” *punch*

okay but i laughed and i probably shouldn’t laugh

but i did laugh

-

04:52

dean: “okay sam. let’s go home”

ok time to cry

-

04:52

dean: “but i do believe in us”

(cas walks up)

“i believe in all of us”

P E R F  E C T

-

04:54

the end screen is white from the impala lights and i’m crying this was beautiful and perfect and HOW THE FUCK DID THE DEADLY DUO PULL THIS OFF

thAT PARALLEL BETWEEN DONATELLO AND DEAN THOUGH

THAT WAS LIKE...... ACTUAL WRITING

this was great??????/ and i’m emotional??????/ more emotional that i have been for ...um, pretty much every episode for like... 2 or 3 seasons, maybe

this was a 10/10 easily

jeeeez the suicide thing and sam talking dean out of it

look

y’all know how much i love dean and cas, and seeing them in the same place at the same time

but sam’s moment at the end was the best part of this whole thing

.........but. also.

i feel like dean and cas had a scene cut. as always. there was something missing there that i feel we were promised and didn’t get. please god let us get an actual conversation between them??? about their feelings for each other????????? it kind of sickens me that we haven’t had that yet. and it’s clearly almost happening, again and again and again and it’s definitely a romance trope, interrupted before they confess their feelings

a high point: dean and sam saved the asian kid from being killed by fire, that was both good and cool and i was very relieved

i’m a bit frustrated that nick is still ... happening

but at the same time, i find nick like 350% more interesting and enjoyable to watch than lucifer

there was a lot going on in this episode, as there always is in the buckleming episodes, but i watched in stops and starts because of cats and food and the wind slamming my door and my sister texting me, so if there were pacing issues i didn’t notice. it seemed pretty smooth to me idk

but i did really enjoy this, besides the gruesome murders and latino murdery guy (who was the best friend of the older twin brother (dean parallel), technically making the murdery guy a cas parallel?) killing people in horrible ways and then killing himself :/

also dean saying the guy was a psycho and then punching him out felt a liiittle bit like “people with mental health issues are evil and dangerous” and that felt uncomfortable EVEN THOUGH the guy WAS a bad murdery sort, and the whole episode was clearly also about helping people with depression or suicidal designs for themselves.

(now i type all this out, i’m realising the underlying messages of this episode were kind of messy. just a bit.)

edit: OR maybe that was dean’s self-hatred talking

(how and why did the next prophet in line have an enochian tattoo, if the pick is random? was it just coincidence? or did he get that tattoo after donatello started whispering to him?)

sarah...... she was clearly angry, and ghosts that’ve been around a long time tend to get verrrry angry, as i recall? she could’ve done some angry ghost stuff, that would’ve been more satisfying maybe (but on the other hand, the quietness of nick’s exit was also impactful)

i enjoyed the transition of red lights and backdrops throughout the episode to yellow and white, and then the green in the room at the end

anyway. yes. really did expect more on the dean-and-cas front, but i also expected to be let down, so i don’t really know where i stand on that. i just want more of them interacting in general ;~;

next week: MORE EMOTIONS!!!! YAY

[yoosungiib]

I’d like to request MC going through a bad emotional breakdown (can be caused by a really bad fight with the RFA or whatever you want) that causes a lapse in her memory. Like, she’s so out of it during her meltdown that she doesn’t realize where or who she’s with and the RFA are really worried and trying to bring her back to reality. I’d also like the minor trio included. If it’s too much you don’t have to do it!

Of course I can, darling. Ah~, do I love me some angst and some fluff! ;D I’ll say this quickly, I’ve had incidents where I’ve had breakdowns or panic attacks and I’ve had memory lapses, so I kinda based these off of my own experiences, and how others like my parents and friends will help me.

If there is anything you think I did wrong, or not accurately to yours, if that is what you are implying, please tell me and I will do my best to fix it. Thank you! :)

Seven and Saeran’s were my favorites by the way~ ;) it’s no surprise that Saeran’s was my favorite~ but I just thought I’d share :D

RFA + Minor Trio reacting to MC having a bad emotional breakdown that causes a short memory lapse due to an argument

~~~

★ Yoosung ★

It was an accident, but Yoosung didn’t think so; you guys had been arguing over the amount of time Yoosung was spending playing video games for a couple weeks now. You tried to lay off him after he confessed he felt like you were trying to control him, but you couldn’t help that it bothered you how much more time he seemed to like spending playing video games then actually spending time with you.

So of course when you accidently spilt your tea on his computer when you tripped on one of his LOLOL guides mind you, he immediately presumed you did it on purpose because you didn’t want him playing anymore, and boy was he furious.

“Yoosung, I promise it was an accident!” You exclaim, already getting yourself worked up as tears brimmed in your eyes, and you found yourself becoming light headed and stressed. He looked so angry, and angry Yoosung can either be funny or terrifying, and as of now, it was terrifying.

“So what are you then, careless? Or just stupid? Do you think I’m really so gullible as to believe this is just a coincidence after all the badgering you’ve been doing on how much I play?”

“Yoosung, please-”

“No! What’s wrong with me playing every once in awhile? You say that I don’t leave enough time for you when I’m providing for you, making sure food is on the table, dammit, you don’t even have a job! And so what I just want to take a break and play one match? God, it’s like I can’t do anything with my free will anymore!”

“Please, Yoosung, stop,” you cried.

“Save it,” he snapped, turning around from you, grabbing a paper towel and angrily beginning to clean up the mess on his desk. “I don’t want to hear it anymore.”

“Y-Yoosung, please, I can’t… I swear, I didn’t…”

Your knees suddenly buckled, and you fell against the hard bedroom floor, meekly reaching your arms out to stop yourself. It was like a damn had been broken as your tears fell from your eyes, gliding down your face like streams. You were panting heavily, and you rolled onto your side, pulling your knees up to your chest, rocking a little as you sobbed and clutched at your head.

Yoosung stopped his cleaning and instantly felt guilty when he saw you on the ground having your breakdown. He tossed the rag across the room and slid across the floor to you. He didn’t know if he should touch you, so his hands first hovered over your body as he said, “I’m sorry, honey, I shouldn’t have shouted. I’m so sorry!”

You clearly were not comprehending anything he was saying, so he slowly lifted your upper body from the ground and pulled you against his chest, cupping your head and holding it against his shoulder. “Where am I, who are you, I don’t understand, p-please.” Yoosung was concerned and really confused; he’s seen you have panic attacks before, or a few breakdowns, but never anything like this. You just seem so much more distraught and disoriented. I mean, you’re here saying you don’t know where you are or who you’re with, so of course he’s incredibly confused and a little lost at what to do.

He gulps, continuing to pet your hair and rock you a little. “It’s me, baby, it’s Yoosung,” he starts, voice cracking a little as he feels himself starting to cry, heartbroken at your state. “We’re in our bedroom, in our apartment.”

Slowly he pulls you up, helping you onto your feet. He takes you out of the bedroom and walks you around the house, careful of your wobbly legs, and very aware of the fact you are still hyperventilating a bit. He keeps an arm wrapped around you, and guides you, pointing things out. He stops when he finds Lisa at her food bowl, staring up at the rather distraught couple. He chuckles lightly and picks the small kitten up, placing her into your hands and wrapping your fingers around it’s tiny body. “This is our kitty, Lisa! She’s beautiful isn’t she? Do you remember Lisa? Are you remembering where you are now?”

You slowly nod, snuggling the kitten against your chest, nestling your cheek against the top of it’s head. Yoosung sighs, smiling as he wraps his arms around you and pulls you close. “I’m so sorry, MC. I was so mean, I’m sorry. I didn’t take your anxiety into account when I was yelling, a-and I know you would have never spilt your tea on purpose. I’m so sorry.”

You nod, smiling softly and accepting his apology quietly. Yoosung is very doting and affectionate for the rest of the day. He orders takeout, leaves the mess for later, and just spends the day looking after you.

He feels really terrible about what happened– he honestly doesn’t know what to do at first to help you other than just a lot of cuddling and kissing, and saying quite a lot that he is just so sorry. He never wants to see you experience something like that again.

♪ Zen ♪

The fight happened to be over money. It was no secret to anyone in the RFA that money was tight for you guys, even with Zen’s flourishing career. You had a small job that paid small, and theatre actors don’t normally get paid. And if they do get paid, it’s not a lot. Even when in movies, he doesn’t get paid enough.

You could tell Zen was really frustrated about the money situation. For one, he wished he had enough money in the world so he could buy you more stuff, take you places and treat you to things, but some nights, you guys could barely afford dinner.

Zen is usually really good about keeping his emotions in check, not letting his anger or frustration get to him, but when he finds out that you, Seven and Yoosung went out for dinner for a catch up, and you paid for the meal, he was furious for two reasons; One, he’s jealous, and two, you couldn’t afford to pay for three meals!

“What were you thinking!?” he barked, the booming in his voice startling you, causing you to flinch. “You know we cannot afford to take people out to dinner.”

“It was the least I could due-”

“Least you could do? You didn’t need to do anything?! You didn’t owe them anything! Why did you even have to go out with them anyways? All you have done now is waste our money!” You take a deep breath, feeling your chest clench up and breathing become harder.

You reach out to Zen, hoping to calm him down some bit with simple affection, but just as your fingers brush against his he yanks his hand away, mumbling under his breath he can’t deal with this before going into the bedroom and slamming the door.

You feel your heart sink as you sit outside the door, your back against the hardwood and your knees pulled to your chest. You tried to talk to him through the door but he ignored you, and at one point you were pretty sure you smelt smoke so you had a feeling he was smoking in there, which any day would bother you to no wits end, yet at this moment all you wanted was him to talk to you again.

The attack hit you quickly. Suddenly, you were unable to breath, and your hands were tingling, numb, and you could feel sweat pooling at your hairline and dripping down your forehead. “Please, please, I…,” you couldn’t form any proper words as your memory seemed to be fading, and you couldn’t hold onto it.

The door behind you opened, and you felt warm arms wrapping around you from behind, however, you couldn’t quite grasp who it could be. For some reason, you couldn’t remember where you were, who you were with, what was happening, and it was making you panic even more. But the warm embrace was comforting, and you gripped the arms that were clutching onto you.

“Breathe, princess. Take a deep breath, ok? Ready, breath in… breath out. Just like that, you’re doing great,” he praises.

“I don’t know what’s happening, where am I?” you ask, your voice quivering.

Zen moves you so your facing him on his lap, peppering kisses on your face and rubbing your back. “You’re at home, and you’re safe. You’re in your prince charming’s arms, and I will always keep you safe,” he says, still kissing you.

After a couple more minutes or so, your memories come back and you feel your panic attack subsiding. You relax against his chest, breathing in his scent from his shirt. “I’m sorry, Zen,” you whisper. Zen smiles gently, apologizing too for yelling. The rest of the day, he completely showers you with affection; tons of cuddles, fun in bed~, and letting you chose the games and movies you guys watch that night.  

❀ Jaehee ❀

That atmosphere of your shared apartment is nothing close to tranquility as the two of you stressed out over the tardiness for the arrival of new plates and mugs. Jaehee was practically pulling her hair out, and you chewed at your lip, waiting by the door for the new china to arrive. It wasn’t that you guys were particularly low on plates, but with the cafe getting more popular, and lots of plates being broken in the past, new ones were in need.

Finally, the plates and mugs arrive, and you take the box from the postman and rush up the stairs to the apartment. Unfortunately, you miscalculated a step and tripped, dropping the package in the process, causing the box to fall down the flight of stairs, and the plates and mugs inside to shatter.

Jaehee hearing the sound of broken glass drops everything and runs to the stairs. You looked up from your position sprawled on the stairs, and you watch as her face contorts to concern, and then anger in a flash. She glares down at you and her face becomes a bright red. At the top of the stairwell, she shouts down at you, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Her voice echoes, bouncing off the walls, and you bow your head in shame as you slowly start to pick yourself up.

“Do you realize what you’ve done? How much money we spent on all that new china, and now it lays a shattered mess at the bottom of the stairs? How absent minded are you.”

You gulp, a single tear slipping from your eyes. “I’m sorry, Jaehee, I really am-”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, MC. We can’t afford another batch of plates. What are we going to do, MC? You tell me,” she demands. You stay silent, besides a few more tears falling, and your anxiety getting worse. You try to form a response but you’re unable to. “Tell me, MC, tell me!” Jaehee shouts, and you jump, your body trembling.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I…” you don’t know. You don’t know anything, literally. You suddenly can’t remember where you are. You suddenly can’t remember what happened. You suddenly can’t remember who Jaehee is; your mind goes blank and you try to put all the pieces together and joggle you memory, shaking your head and banging the side of it, but nothing seems to come back to you.

And then the panting begins. Still on the stairs, you rock back and forth, looking around you frantically, and pulling your knees to your chests and clutching them tightly.

You shut your eyes, and listened to the sound of the stairs creaking, and you felt the sudden presence of a body besides you. Jaehee takes a deep breath, pulling herself into check before resting a hand on the top of your knee since you sit with your back against the wall and feet rested on the stairs. “Ok, MC,” she says gently, after a while carefully taking a hold of your hand, rubbing the top your hand in gentle circles with her thumb. “Let’s breathe together.”

“I don’t know where am I, where am I, I don’t-”

“MC,” she says gently interrupting you. “Calm down. We’re in our apartment complex, we are on the stairs, and through that door is our home, ok? Nod if you understand.” You slowly nod, feeling your senses coming back to you.

“Ok, can you tell me who I am?” You nod and tell her her name, barely above a whisper, and Jaehee smiles. “Good. Are you feeling better? Your breathing sounds much better, dear.” You nod once again. “That’s good again. Here, let’s get you inside and something to drink.”

Suddenly remembering the plates, you turn towards the box that lays on the ground, some plates flooding out of it, and you try to move to it mumbling you need to ‘fix things.’ But Jaehee gently grabs your arm, pulling you away and telling you she’ll deal with it in a bit, or she’ll call someone to help out with the mess.

She sits you on the couch and goes to make you a cup of tea. She comes back a few minutes later with a steaming cup, and carefully puts it in your hands. She sits besides you, watching you carefully as you stare aimlessly into the glass with a glum look. “Are you ok, MC?”

“Are you still mad at me?” you ask quietly, not meeting her gaze but continuing to look into the tea. Jaehee sighs, scooching closer to you and wrapping her arms around you.

“MC, I’m not happy, but I’m not mad either. It was an accident, and I was just frustrated and a little harsh with you. For that I apologize.” You nod, a small smile gracing your features. Jaehee grins, patting your head with her hand so it can then rest on her shoulder. “Now, I was gonna save this for a surprise, but I don’t see why not show it to you now, but… I got us a copy of Zen performing in Zekyll and Hyde!! What do you say we watch it?”

☂ Jumin ☂

guys, totally paired Yoosung and Zen together here, this is my ship!

Though Jumin may deny it, or pass it off as him just be protective, ona quote-on-quote ‘healthy level,’ Jumin is a jealous man. And he has a tendency to become jealous whenever he says a man look at you, or more importantly, whenever you have your movie nights with Zen and Yoosung.

For one, he’s already bothered that he is not allowed to come under Zen’s request. It is Zen’s house afterall. And two, though the two men, Zen and Yoosung, made their relationship official only a couple months ago, he still has his suspicions that Zen has some sort of feelings for you. Maybe even Yoosung for that matter!

But of course, he doesn’t stop you from going to these movies nights because as much as he wants to, he knows it would be controlling you, and that isn’t fair, and though he is your husband, it doesn’t give him a right to do that. However, he draws the line when you decide to stay the night with Zen and Yoosung after a movie ran late. When Driver Kim came home empty handed, without you, Jumin was furious and demanding his driver to take him to the residence of Zen and Yoosung.

He knocked on the door, his fists practically banging on the hardwood, and of course it was Zen who answered and immediately had his own scowl on his face, telling Jumin to go away since he disturbed all their sleeps. Hearing the commotion and the arguing between the two, you exited the spare room and rushed over, seeing Jumin in the doorway clearly very upset.

“Jumin? Darling? Why are you here-”

“I need to talk to you,” he cuts you off. Zen continued to quarrel with Jumin, but Yoosung, very tired and in his onesie, gently pulled Zen away telling Zen to let them talk. Guys, this is my SHIP!

“Are you ok, Jumin?”

“No, I am not ok,” he snaps, you and him now standing in the center of the room. You jump a little, crossing your arms in front of your chest and give him a concerned look. You debate on walking closer to him and maybe trying to give him a comforting touch, but you decide it’s probably better to give him some space for now. From the short distance you are away from him, you can see his is clearly angry and cleary has no control of his emotions at the moment. It’s a little frightening to be honest. He is not someone you generally want to make angry. “What the hell are you thinking staying the night with two men who are not your husband? It’s bad enough that I let you come here anyway at odd hours, but now you want to be sleeping here?”

“Jumin, I’m sorry, I really didn’t think it was a big deal. The movie just ran late and I didn’t want to make Driver Kim wait any longer.”

Jumin flairs his nostril, huffing before laughing exasperated. “MC, it’s his job to drive us around, it’s not your concern whether or not he’s out too late or not – I give him a pretty good paycheck for it.” You nod slowly, ready to say something but he cuts you off again, his voice become gradually louder too. “And that is besides the point! You should be at home with me, with your husband. I don’t trust these two for you to be alone with them. You have no idea what they would do.”

“Jumin, please, you know they would never do anything, we’re just friends. And can you please stop shouting, I know you’re upset but it’s really stressing me out,” you said, taking a step closer to him and reaching out your hand to take his. But for some reason, that seemed the be the last straw for him, and he hollered without even thinking, “You’re stressed out!? How the hell do you think I feel!?” You gasped, stepping backwards a couple steps. Immediately, Jumin felt guilty for yelling, and yelling so close to your face. His face softened when he saw the look of horror and fear on your face. He was about to apologize but you suddenly collapsed on the ground, your knees buckling and your hands reaching out to stop yourself from partially belly flopping on the ground.

Jumin recognized right away that you were entering a panic attack or a break down, and he sprinted towards you, falling to the ground besides you and yanking you onto his lap. He had his arm wrapped around you back, and he pushed the loose strands of hair away from your face, then cupping your cheek that was becoming soggy from tears. “MC? Can you hear me? You’re ok, shh,” he soothes.

You mutter a few things, at first incomprehensible, but then he can hear you clearly when you say, “Where am I?” a few times, over and over again.

“We’re at Zen and Yoosung’s home, darling. Remember? You came here for movie night?” You shake your head frantically, and Jumin shouts for Zen and Yoosung. The two men come out, and the moment they see you and Jumin on the ground, they are running to you guys.

“What happened? Should I call an ambulance-”

“What movie were you guys watching?” Zen stops, looking at Jumin with a dumbfounded look.

“What?”

“What fucking movie were you watching?!”

“The Bee Movie!” Yoosung shouts rushing back in with a glass of water, handing it Jumin who yanks it out of his hand and brings to your mouth, helping you to drink it since you are shaking so much. “We were watching The Bee Movie, it was my choice since I thought it would be-”

Jumin cuts Yoosung off, gently pressing the cool glass against your face, saying, “Remember? Is it coming back to you, love?” A small smile graces Jumins features. He feels his own tears brimming in his eyes, pain in his heart seeing you so disoriented and lost, and it hurts more knowing he caused this. “You remember who I am, right? Jumin, you’re husband. And Zen and Yoosung, they’re,” he nearly gags here, “your best friends.”

Slowly, you begin to calm down, your breathing coming back to a normal pace, and though you’re incredibly pale and flushed, you are more relaxed. You rest against Jumin, too tired to do or say anything. The four of you just sit there, Jumin rubbing your back and stroking your arms, peppering a few kisses to the top of your head. After awhile, you fall asleep against him, and Zen shows him to the guest bedroom, Jumin carrying you bridal style. He rests you under the covers, tucking it up to your chin, and he bends down to kiss your cheek. “I’ll come back for her in the morning. Please take care of him, and watch over her if possible,” Jumin says rather glumly, his head slightly bowed as he walks towards the door. His breath hitches however when he feel’s Zen’s hand on his shoulder.

“Stay with her, man. She’s gonna need her husband the most, alright?” Jumin nods, agreeing with Zen and giving a small thank you before walking back to the guest room. Before entering, he turns around slowly to face Zen who is cleaning up some of the mess from movie night, and says,

“I’m sorry about this.” Zen stops to look up at Jumin, his eyes widening slightly. “Really, I am.” Zen lets out a small laugh, coming over to pat Jumins shoulder and saying, “I know you are. Now go to your wife.” Jumin chuckles, closing the door and sliding under the covers besides you, still in his suit. He cuddles up to you, and he grins when you unknowingly in your sleep cuddle up to him. He wraps his arms around you and tucks your head beneath his chin. It takes him a while to fall asleep, since he wants to make sure you are ok and comfortable, and that nothing disturbs your sleep. During that time he stays awake, he thinks of all the ways he plans to spoil you.

☺ Seven/Saeyoung ☺

To say you were stressed and a little unhinged with how Seven was acting since he got to your apartment, which was once Rika’s, would be an understatement. No, you were beyond stressed at this point, finding yourself alone in your room having to pull your emotions into check as you would cry, thinking of the hurtful things he said to you.

Everything you did in an attempt to get closer to him, to help him, to comfort him always backfired in your face, since instead of accepting anything from you, he’d only yell and say something hurtful. Usually it would be a jab at your intelligence, or a reminder that he didn’t care for you or how you felt whatsoever. And after he dismissed you harshly, you managed to make it seem like you didn’t care, and his words did not affect you like they really did. But then you went to your room, locked the door, and hid under your covers, silently crying yourself to sleep.

You didn’t want him to push you away anymore. You understood why he was doing it; he was upset, broken, felt betrayed by his father figure, was scared – you understood! And you wanted to help him because you loved him. But he wouldn’t let you.

You had just finished making spaghetti for dinner. Seven was still in the corner, his back towards you as usual and his headphones covering his ears. You could hear what sounded like strange music blasting through the headphones, slightly muffled. You scooped some spaghetti into a bowl for yourself, and in a bowl for him, and you carried it over to him, placing it on the floor besides him. But in a second of the bowl touching the ground, his hand shot out and he shoved it across the room, some of the spaghetti falling from the sides.

You sighed, gently sitting on your knees a short distance away from him. You took the bowl and pushed it back to him, and this time he didn’t touch it, just glared at it and you from the corner of his eyes. “Seven, please eat. I know you haven’t eaten in at least a day.” After saying that, you realized there was no way he could have heard you with his headphones on. Taking a deep breath you reached over to take his headphones off but seeing you in the corner of his eyes, he is quick in turning towards you, grabbing a hold of your wrist and startling, taking his headphones off himself but only so he can yell at you.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” he shouts, his voice booming throughout the apartment. Your breathing becomes heavier, but you remain calm, pulling your wrist out of his grasp and taking a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just you need to eat.”

Seven scoffs, slamming his computer shut and spinning his whole body around to face you properly. “Well you have upset me,” he says, a deep frown on his face. Your breath hitches at the dark tone in his voice, and you keep your gaze down, not wanting to look him in the eyes. “What I need is for you to leave me alone so I can work. So please, for the love of god, just go away.” He turns back to work, slowly opening the computer back up and moving to put his headphones back on, but when he sees that you haven’t moved a budge, he snaps, “Why are you still here?”

Trying your best not to cry, though tears were burning behind your eyes, you asked rather meekly and desperately, “Please stop doing this to me.” Your voice was so quiet that Seven almost didn’t hear you. “It really hurts me,” you say. Seven feels a pain in his heart, though he keeps a straight face as he stares at you. God, does it hurt him to be hurting you like this, but yet he can’t stop himself. He doesn’t want you in danger, and the only way he knows how to stop you from being in danger is by pushing you away and making sure you know that he is too dangerous. But the both of you know deep down no matter what he says, you will not leave him. You love him so much. Still, he does not stop.

“I don’t care about your feelings,” he says curtly.

“I don’t think that’s true,” you say, but stopping yourself from saying anymore as you see Seven start to rise, you jumping to your feet too as you back away from him, slightly alarmed at the grave look on his face.

“Oh, yeah?” he snides, taking a few more steps to you, you walking away from him until you can’t go any further since your back is against the wall. “Do you want to know what I really care about, MC? What I care about is finding my brother who I’ve only just found out has been used and manipulated for these past years when I thought he was safe!” He shouted, causing you to jump and turn your face away, clenching your eyes shut. “I care about bringing him home, and curing him, and maybe I would have done that by now if it wasn’t that I have to worry about you, or you didn’t bother me so damn much.”

Seven shuts up instantly when your face crumpled and tears started to flow down your cheeks. It wasn’t just simple crying, but full on sobs into your hands, your whole entire body shaking and racking with sobs. “Shit,” he mutters, realizing he went way too far. He doesn’t know what to do for a minute, and he justs stares at you crying. He goes to reach for you but you suddenly push past him, tripping on your feet a bit as you run through the door of the apartment.

He is quick on your tail, shouting your name as you run into the empty elevator, falling to the ground against the elevator walls. He falls besides you, his arms wrapping around you and he slams his fist against the emergency button as the elevator starts to move down. He cradles your head against his chest, allowing you to sob uncontrollably into his shirt. I fucked up, I fucked up, he thinks to himself. He wants to panic and cry himself, but what is more important to him is calming you down. “MC? MC, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that, I promise you, I meant none of that.”

“Where am I? I don’t understand, where am I, what’s happening?” He’s confused for a moment, but then he figures you are having a memory lapse due to all your emotions running wild and probably a high blood pressure. Now he really is about to have a panic attack, but he takes a deep breath, rubbing your arms as he pulls you off his chest and rests you against the elevator wall. He moves to sit on his knees in front of you, and he takes a gentle hold of your hands, massaging the top of them with his thumb.

“We are in an elevator, MC. We are in your apartment complex. You live in the apartment that used to belong to Rika, the head of the RFA, but it’s now your home, do you remember, honey?” he asks. You don’t make any indication of knowing what he’s talking about, so he sighs and then asks, “You know who I am right? 707! Some people call me Seven, or even better, Defender of Justice. I make a lot of jokes in our RFA chat room that you seem to like. Here’s one now! What’s 6 inches long, 2 inches wide and drives me wild? That cash from Jumin Han!” wow, hilarious

You snort, your hand going to your mouth as you start to laugh, and Seven laughs along with you, slowly letting go of your hands then cupping your face, stroking your cheek gently. “I love that smile,” he whispers. He slowly sits next to you, his back against the wall, and he holds your hand, the both of you sitting together in silence for awhile. “I’m so sorry,” he says breaking the silence after ten minutes or so.

“It’s ok,” you say quietly. 

Seven shakes his head, squeezing your hand and looking towards you. “No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have said that because it’s not true. I care about you so much, MC.

“Really?”

“Yes,” he says with a smile, leaning down to press his lips against yours. The two of you smile into the kiss, and he pulls you onto this lap. The both of you stay in the elevator for awhile, not wanting to move or come out of eachothers embraces, but just enjoy finally getting to be in eachothers arms.

❆ V ❆

this isn’t a real argument because I don’t see you guys fighting unless it’s over Rika, and I don’t feel like talking about her right now, nuh uh

It was quite the grand ball that Jumin had invited you and V too, and unfortunately, it therefore made anxiety a greater matter for you as you found yourself overwhelmed by all the people and all the guests. But V and had been looking forward to this party since it meant he was going to have time with Jumin, and he had rarely been able to see Jumin after being in Paris and his busy work schedule. So you pretended to not be really freaking out on the inside, and acted as if you were fine and unbothered by anything.

But as the night continued, and you found it harder and harder to contain your anxiety, you couldn’t help but rush to find V, who stood admiring some flowers in a garden and taking a few pictures while Jumin went to get wine, and start to beg him to take you home.

At this point, you were not particularly in full on panic mode, so when you came to him telling him you wanted to leave, he refused, saying he did not want to leave since he had been looking forward to this, and he didn’t believe it was fair to Jumin. He was as gentle as ever, smiling softly and stroking your cheek, saying, “Just another hour, darling, alright? Then we can go home.”

But then your face became pale and your eyes widened, and V was suddenly frowning, and gripping your shoulders, sitting you down on the outside bench. “Darling? Are you alright?” he asks. Your entire body starts to shake, and V watches as you become more flushed and your breathing becomes heavier. V cups your cheek, and presses the back of his hand to your forehead. You are definitely in a full on panic attack at this point, and V is frantically pulling his jacket off and swinging it around your shoulders, rubbing your arms to try and keep you warm and soothe you. “It’s going to be alright, sweetheart, I’m going to get you through this, just focus on me and focus on your breathing.”

Jumin finally comes back, and when he sees what is going on he practically throws the glass of wine across the yard and rushes over to you guys, one hand on V’s shoulder, the other on your arm. “Does she need an ambulance? A doctor? Can I get her something?” he asks his friend, knowing that you are only going through a panic attack, but wanting to take proper permissions.

“Please find a doctor and get her some water. Her heart rate is getting way too high. Thank you, Jumin.” Jumin nods and rushes off to get his doctor and some water, and V goes right back to helping you. He kneels in front of you keeps his hands holding yours on your knees. “My love? Can you hear me?”

“Where am I? What’s going on? Who are you, I don’t remember what’s happening-”

“Shh, shh,” he gently shushes, stroking your cheek and pushing hair behind your ears. “It’s ok, this has happened before. You are suffering with a short memory lapse, darling. We are at a party. I am your husband, Jihyun. We are here for our friend Jumin, do you remember that?”

After thinking it over, you slowly nod, the memories coming back and you slump on the bench, your breathing slowing down too for that matter. Jumin arrives with the doctor and water, handing it to you, and since your hands still shake, V helps you to take small sips. He turns to Jumin and asks, “Is there any chance you can call a cab for us, please? I would like to take her home now.”

“Of course, I will have Driver Kim take you home. And if you don’t mind, I will stop by your residence tomorrow to check on MC and we can chat a little more.” V smiles, thanking his friend then lifting you up bridal style, cradling you against him. He carries you out to the car waiting for you both, gently fastening your seatbelt and resting your head on his shoulder. He smiles when you cuddle up to him, wrapping your arms around his torso and squeezing him in a hug. He hears you mumble something into his shirt, and he tilts your head back a bit asking you to please repeat.

“I’m sorry I ruined the party,” you say again, a single tear slipping from your eye but V is quick to wipe it away with his thumb.

“Don’t say that, my love. I’m sorry for not listening to you when you asked to leave. I should have taken better notice that you were uncomfortable. If I had, this wouldn’t have happened.”

V takes you home and makes you some dinner, since neither of you had eaten properly at the party. Afterwards, the two of you spend a peaceful night together on the couch, drinking tea and watching whatever is on the television until you both fall asleep on the couch.

☻ Saeran/Unknown ☻

A simple thing any normal couple would argue over suddenly turned into something personal, and something terrifying for Saeran who had to witness your breakdown. Thankfully, Saeran knew what to do based off of his own breakdowns, some of which caused short memory lapses too, so he knew how to aid and tend to you properly.

Even so, he found himself panicicing at your shaking and stuttering from, crying you didn’t know where you were. What made it worse for Saeran was he completely blamed himself for letting a silly thing turn into a big argument. However, what was more important to him then dwelling over his self-blame, was helping you and calming you down.

You noticed pretty soon into the relationship that Saeran had a tendency to leave his clothes around, not picking them up or carelessly tossing them somewhere without thinking. You could live with it at first, just bending down to pick them up and toss them in the laundry yourself, but then one day you slipped on a sock and hurt your back. Not seriously, but it was enough to make you upset and fed up with his tendencies.

Never did you think just a simple asking of him to try to pick up his clothes would make him so angry. His face turned red and small scowl was on his face. His brows stitched together in irritation, and he clenched his fists to his sides before snapping at you, “Don’t try to control me.”

You looked at him flabbergasted, tongue tied before saying softly, “That wasn’t what I was trying to do, baby-”

“Yeah, well it’s exactly what it sounds like you are doing. I’m tired of people trying to control what I do or don’t do. You said it yourself that I am free now, so let me be free.”

You sighed, trying to reach out to him and take his hand, but he startles you by yanking it out of your grip, turning away from you to head to the kitchen. You can feel yourself getting stressed out, and upset too for that matter at his attitude towards you. You didn’t think you were being irrational – you let the whole ‘clothes on the floor’ thing go for a long time. And you asked him nicely and respectively, so why was he acting like this? Taking a few deep breaths, you followed him into the kitchen, and watched him angrily pull out pans and start to make dinner. Even when angry, his top priority is your well being.

“Saeran, can we please talk about this?” He slams one of the pots on the counter, turning around to look at you, his eyes squinting, still cleary upset. “I’m sorry if I upset you, that wasn’t my intention. It’s just it’s becoming a safety hazard – I slipped a couple days ago on a sock. And sometimes I find clothes just in the randomness of places. Let this not turn into a big argument, but let us deal with this civilly. Why don’t we sit down and-”

“This wouldn’t have turned into an argument if you were not trying to control me,” he snaps, striding a little closer to you. “This isn’t about the damn clothes.”

“Saeran, you are making it not about the clothes. You are misunderstanding what I’m saying and taking it way out of proportion. I am not trying to control you! I just want you to learn to put your clothes away and not throw them on the floor!”

“You see!” He suddenly shouts, his voice booming and echoing throughout the house, bouncing off the walls and hitting louder against your ears. “You know who you sound like? Rita. You act as if I’m incapable or that I am helpless by trying to tell me what to do, and how to act. Did you lie to me when you said I was free? Did you? Did you lie like her?”

That seemed to be a breaking point for you. He thought you were like Rika? The Rika who hurt, brainwashed, tortured him, and he was comparing you to her. You wanted to say something, you literally had something on the tip of your tongue, but your whole body suddenly went numb. You couldn’t feel your tongue, let alone the rest of your body. Hot sweat starting pouring down from your forehead, and your face crumpled before tears pooled at the brim of your eyes then spilling down your cheeks and dripping to the floor. Your lip trembled, and you hiccuped. “MC?” Saeran asks taking a much gentler tone, carefully reaching to cup your cheek. You just hiccuped for a moment, not really comprehending he was touching you and trying to apologize, before your knees buckled and you fell to the ground, your shaking going to a whole other level.

Saeran caught you, sliding to the ground with you. To anyone, it may have looked like you were having a seizure, but Saeran could tell by your crying, and by how wide and terrified your eyes were, that this was a panic attack or breakdown. When you started crying, “W-where am I? Where am I? Who… I don’t know what’s happening,” Saeran immediately recognized this behavior as something he suffered with in early recovery. You were having a memory lapse due to your breakdown, he was certain of that. He really felt like trash at that moment, thinking back to what he said as he held onto you, realizing how irrational and cruel he sounded. More than anything, he felt like kicking himself but he knew that now was not the time to be thinking about that, and hating himself at the moment would not help the situation any more.

“MC, it’s me. Saeran, your boyfriend, see?” he said, pulling away the hair that sticked to your face, and cupping your cheeks in a way he could hold you closer to his own face so you could get a better look. “We’ve been together for a year now, remember?”

“Where am I? Where am I?” You panicked.

“We’re at home, this is our home. We are in the kitchen.” He scoops you up, rushing up the stairs with you still in his arms and into the bedroom. “This is our room,” he says, laying you gently on the bed, swinging you around so your back is against the fluffy pillows, and he can sit next to you.

He reaches across you, one hand resting gently on your arm, and pulls over a soft blanket. He takes your hands and helps you to grip the blanket. “This is your favorite blanket. It’s soft isn’t it? You like to wrap yourself up in – sometimes we cuddle in it together,” he says, taking the blanket from you to wrap it around your shoulders.

He takes a small vase from the nightstand and holds it in front of you. “This is a primrose. It’s our flower. We make sure to always have a new, fresh primrose in this vase. We bought this vase together. Can you tell me the colour of the vace?”

“Blue,” you stuttered.

“Yes, do you know why we got a blue vase? To symbolize the blue rose I used to always where, impossibility, and remember how far I’ve come.  It was your idea, and I was so happy when you suggested it. It made my heart flutter!”

He started showing you random things around to room, in hopes to joggle your memory a bit. He made sure to always have a hand on you, like your arm or shoulder, and to keep in your line and vision. Slowly but surely, you began to relax, and besides a few sniffling as you clutched the blanket close to you and had a tight grip on Saeran’s hand, your breakdown concluded and your ‘memories’ were back. You panted slowly, wiping at your face since tears still fell.

You looked up at Saeran, and he gave you a gentle smile, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and pulling you closer to him. You sunk into him, resting your head on his chest and gripping onto his shirt. “I’m sorry, Saeran,” you say softly, a few tears dripping onto his shirt, dappening the spot above his heart. Saeran shook his head, stroking your head and tangling his fingers within your hair. He turned and gave your forehead a kiss before saying,

“Don’t apologize. This was my fault. I shouldn’t have been so irrational. I know you were not trying to control me, and you are nothing like Rika. I should have never said that. I’m so sorry. I love you, MC.” He bends down, tilting your head back a bit so he can press his lips against yours in a gentle kiss. The kiss goes on for a couple minutes, your lips moving together gracefully, softly, tenderly.  “My precious flower, my angel. I love you.”

You nodded, forgiving him, and snuggling into him more, a smile on your face. “I love you too, Saeran. I love you so, so much. Nothing will ever make me stop loving you.” You were too tired to say anything else, and you quickly fell asleep laying on Saeran. When you woke up a couple hours later, Saeran ran you a bath then made you dinner, and the two of you sat on the couch, talking everything out together between kisses and snuggles. You then both watched a movie, and the whole time Saeran was very doting and affectionate you guys also took a walk on the beach at one point. It was night time, and the two of your could look up at the stars and count constellations. It felt nice and you felt much better than earlier. Between the debate with the clothes and breakdown, everything was sorted, and you were very happy about that; you were very happy that you could now sit here with Saeran, cuddled up to him, feeling peaceful and loved.

✌ Vanderwood ✌

“MC!” You jumped nearly a foot in the air, never before having heard Vanderwood shout so loud or sound so angry. You rested a hand over your beating heart, taking a few deep breaths before going towards the sound of your vexed boyfriend.

In the kitchen, he stood in front of the open dishwasher, glaring at you as his brows stitched together in irritation, a scowl, and his face red. In all honesty, you were a little afraid, and confused as to why he was so angry until he pointed at the dishwasher and all the plates that were inside. You stepped closer and saw that one had a large crack down the middle. You opened the mouth to say something but he stopped you, his voice booming as he yells, “How many damn times have I told you that you can’t put the plates this way? I have showed you numerous times how to do the fucking dishwasher, and every time you still do it fucking wrong.”

Immediately you felt the tears burning in your eyes, but you tried to remain calm and appease the situation. However, it seemed he wasn’t having any of what you had to say. Every time you tried to apologize, he would spit something back at you shouting apologies were not enough. Every time you tried to defend yourself, it just made him yell more than your excuses were pathetic. Soon enough, you were on the brink of a full panic and emotional breakdown. This day, week had already been stressful as it was with work. You knew it had been stressful for Vanderwood too because he started a new job and it was a huge adjustment for him. Due to this, you kept your strains to yourself, but now with him yelling and you getting yourself worked up, you were unable to stop yourself from breaking down in front of him.

“You are either careless or stupid, MC, what is it?” He didn’t mean to be harsh or mean, he was just angry. His face immediately softens when he sees you start to shake, and now he is panicking. Tears are running down your face in fast streams; you are in full on sobs. Your head is bowed and your body is trembling as you wrap your arms around yourself. You start muttering things incoherently, and he’s trying to figure out what you’re saying as he still stands still besides the dishwasher. When he sees you’re about to collapse, he runs over to you, not caring that he bangs his leg against the open dishwasher, and grabs you before slowly lowering you to the ground. “Hey, hey, look I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he says, trying this best to soothe and calm you.

He holds you tight against him, your face buried in his purple shirt, and while he still holds onto you, he manages to get his coat off and sling it around you. He has both arms wrapped around you, one stroking your arm and the other rubbing soothing circles on your back. He kisses the top of your head, leaving his face there as he rocks you back and forth.

You start to mumble things again, and Vanderwood gently pulls you off of him, still situated on his lap, and cups your face. “Take deep breaths, MC, take deep breaths then talk.”

You don’t really listen to him and start rambling, “I don’t know where I am, I don’t know where I am, who… who…”

“Ok, ok,” he says, more to calm himself down, but you too. He wipes at your tears and brushes the hair behind your ears. “We’re at home, MC. This is our home, that’s where you are.” He points at himself, and says, “I’m Vanderwood, your fiance. We’ve been together for a year now. Sometimes you call me Vandy, or Stark, because you know that makes me happy.”

“Vanderwood?” you ask meekly, blinking rapidly as you try to jog your memory. He smiles softly, holding your chin.

“Yes, and you’re MC. You’re the party coordinator for the RFA, a really fucked up organization that you’ve been trying to convince me to join for the last year.” You laugh and he laughs with you, wiping some slobber from your mouth. “See, you’re remembering now.” You nod your head, smiling slightly before your eyes suddenly go wide and you grip onto Vanderwoods sleeve, giving him another look of panic.

“The dishwasher-”

He quickly shushes you, placing a finger over your lip. He shakes his head and says softly, “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I overreacted.” He lifts you up, cradling and carrying you bridal style to the living room. He sets you down on the couch and keeps his coat wrapped around you since you don’t want to let it go. Taking a few deep breaths, making sure he is calmed down, he goes into the kitchen and quickly closes the dishwasher back up, deciding he will do it later.

He spends the rest of the day keeping a close eye on you and making sure you’re ok. He checks your blood pressure, checks your heart rate. He makes you tea then orders dinner from your favorite take out restaurant. You guys have a peaceful night, staying in each others arms, feeding each other and talking. When you fall asleep with your head in his lap, he carries you to the bedroom and carefully puts you in your pajamas, tucks you into bed, then gets in besides you, wrapping his arms around you. He kisses his forehead and whispers he loves you, and that he’ll always look out for you.

~~~

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[tonidshipper]

The Sky In My Heart Clears - A YoshiMaru Fanfiction

Read on Ao3: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Chapter 2: That’s one hell of an opportunity indeed 

Chapter Summary:  In which Yoshiko is just plain confused with how her day is going.

Yoshiko have Cinematography 1 and Film Theories 1 for today, both of which are morning classes so it is convenient that she is scheduled for an afternoon interview.

Cinematography is interesting, as usual. They’re finally testing the different cameras to use for filmmaking. The Arriflex’ video quality was superb but, she is much more comfortable with the low-costs filmmaking using a DSLR. Thanks to Mari’s gift, her DSLR is up to date with the new ones. She was still using a camcorder back then for her ‘fallen angel livestream for the little demons’ and it was also the same one they used to film their first few Aqours PV and other content. Compared to the DSLR, that camcorder was like a potato, as the internet would say.

Since Yoshiko got the camera, she’s been studying the functions and using it to practice which is why she’s thankful that when they start making their short film projects, they’re not required to use the Arriflex and they can use their rigs. For this term, at least. They will have to use it at some point for Cinematography 2 though.

After that fun class comes Yoshiko’s least favorite course, Film Theories 1. Mis-en-scene is the current topic, which Yoshiko defines as ‘everything you see on the set and in the scene, basically ’. Of course, it is a lot more broader than that, with the different elements and all, but she is just very distracted by the fact that she will be going to an interview after class.

As soon as their professor dismisses them, Yoshiko bolts out of her seat and out of the classroom.

She barely makes it on time. She enters the building, showing her ID to the security guard. She receives a pass which she pins to her ID before heading towards the reception desk.

“Hi, how can I help you?” The brunette receptionist inquires.

“Hello, I’m here for an interview with-” Crap, she forgot the name of the person she was supposed to look for. “Sorry, let me just get my phone,” she says.

The receptionist practically beams at her before which, Yoshiko doesn’t really know how to react to. The older woman watches her for a few seconds. “Tsushima Yoshiko-san, right?” She asks. Dumbfounded, Yoshiko nods. “It’s nice to meet you. My younger sister is a fan of Aqours. As am I, as an extension.”

Oh, right. “A-Ah, yes. Thank you for your support.” She smiles then bows her head, not sure how to react once again. She really needs to calm down, she scolds herself mentally for it. Yoshiko finally manages to fish her phone out and read the text from last night. “Sorry, I’m looking for Tanaka Keiko-san.”

The woman nods in acknowledgement. “For a moment please, Tsushima-san.”

Yoshiko still can’t believe that people recognize her for being a part of Aqours up to this day. In fact, the friends she met in university approached her because they recognized her. While it did have its perks, Yoshiko feels like some people are reluctant to approach her because of it.

A woman comes up to the reception desk while Yoshiko is lost in thought. The receptionist knows her, it seems.

“Ah, you’re here to see Tanaka-san?”

“Yup! She’s here, right?”

“Yes but Tsushima-san here is being scouted as a talent, I believe and she’s asked by Tanaka-san to come here for an interview.”

“A talen-?” Yoshiko mumbles to herself in confusion and finally glances at the person the receptionist is talking to. The woman is shorter than her by 2 inches, probably. Her hair is jet black hair which are tied into high pigtails with red ribbons on both sides. The woman’s ruby eyes are doing the same thing - looking at her curiously.

Then, the woman grins. And Yoshiko swears she has never been more stunned in her life. It’s almost impossible for Yoshiko not to recognize who this person is. After all, Chika would gush about them back in high school non-stop during the time they were in the process of establishing Aqours. Also, Ruby and Hanamaru managed to make her watch a lot of their music videos and TV guestings. Because of that, somehow, Yoshiko knows what the woman will say next.

“Nico-Nico-Nii!”

“Y-Y-Yazawa N-Nico-san!”

Nico strikes her signature pose while Yoshiko bows.

“Call me Nico! You’ll be working with Nico, after all. You’re Tsushima Yoshiko of Aqours, right?” Nico tilts her head. Still, Yoshiko hasn’t recovered from the shock that is meeting one of Aqours’ inspiration that she can only nod. “Ah, this is amazing! Hanayo’s going to flip when she hears that Nico’s going to work with a member of Aqours!”

A lot of things are going on in Yoshiko’s mind. First is, what the hell? Second is the Yazawa Nico of μ's somehow knows her and the rest of Aqours. Third, did the idol just say that she’ll be working with her?

“N-Nice to meet y-you, Nico-senpai,” is what Yoshiko manages to reply because honestly, what do you even reply at a time like this?

Nico grins. “Likewise! You can drop the senpai too, really. But that’s up to you. And, since we’re both heading towards Kei-chan’s office, let’s go together!” The idol waves at the receptionist and heads toward the elevators.

The younger girl continues to stands there in shock which Nico has noticed. The idol looks back at her. “Tsushima-san?”

“E-eh!” Flustered, Yoshiko nearly jumps at the sound of the idol calling her. “P-Please, just call me Yoha-” No, not that, she scolds herself. “Yoshiko.” She bows down to the woman behind the reception desk who seems pretty entertained by their interaction before following Nico.

When Yoshiko was still in high school, she could remember their no. 1 resident idol expert, Dia, saying that Nico was the only one from μ's who actually continued being an idol. Yoshiko remembered the older Kurosawa saying that even if μ's had already made a name for themselves, Nico still worked hard and started in a small agency. But she made it big in the end. Which is why Yoshiko still can’t comprehend how she’s now standing next to one of the members of μ's in an elevator.

“Nico was with Kei-chan when she was sorting through the submissions from applicants.” The older woman starts, breaking the silence. “When she mentioned your name, Nico had to look at your profile because Nico had to make sure that she heard that correctly since I’m a fan of Aqours. I then ended up showing a bunch of videos from Aqours. Nico’s always been really impressed with your voice. When Kei-chan heard you, she was too.”

Yoshiko takes note of the fact that Nico refers to herself in third person which, she finds odd. Then again, Yoshiko referred to herself as 'the fallen angel, Yohane' for so many years that she really shouldn’t judge. Also, did her senior just say that she’s a fan of Aqours? “T-Thank you very much,” is all Yoshiko musters to reply.

Nico tilts her head then laughs. “I know Nico’s presence is stunning but you don’t have to be so reserved!” The older woman is grinning at her. “You need to get used to being with the No.1 idol in the universe if you’ll be working with me on this project after all.”

Okay, she’s… a lot of things, Yoshiko thinks, for the lack of a better word. Overwhelming might be the closest word to what she’s feeling but not exactly. “Sorry, I just didn’t expect to meet you and you’re even saying you’re a fan of our school idol group,” Yoshiko explains, slightly bowing her head as a sign of her apology as well. “Aqours was actually established because our leader was inspired by μ's. She eventually managed to turn us into fans as well. We look up to μ's so much so it’s quite a surprise to hear that from you.”

The elevator stops and Yoshiko sees that they are on the fifth floor. Nico gestures for her to go, so she does and the idol gets off as well then begins walking down the hall. “Takami Chika-san did mention in a few magazine interviews, yeah.” She even knew Chika? At first Yoshiko was thinking maybe Nico was just being humble but, holy shit, is she serious? “Nico likes to be updated with the winners of Love Live. It’s nice to see new faces in the industry, y’know?” The idol continues walking until they reach a door at the end of the hall.

Yoshiko watches as Nico raises a hand to knock on the door three times before turning the knob and swinging the door violently. She stands there in shock as Nico barges in. “Your favorite idol is here!” Nico announces. By the doorway, Yoshiko sees paper, crumpled into a ball, thrown at Nico’s forehead. “Hey…” the idol’s voice lowers and she scowls at who Yoshiko assumes is Tanaka Keiko. “You can’t treat me like that! Especially when I was kind enough to bring you the company's latest recruit!"

The fallen angel feels her face loosen into a smirk. So the idol’s demeanor totally changes when she’s talking to people she’s close to, maybe?

“It was just coincidence that you happen to arrive at the same time, Yazawa.” A stern, modulated voice comes from the inside. “Tsushima-san, please come inside.”

At the sound of her name, Yoshiko walks to the door, peeking inside the room first. She’s met by two keen, blue eyes that followed her as she makes her way inside. They’re not exactly harsh. Rather, the eyes reflected warmth and kindness. Somehow, she feels calmer than before. Yoshiko bows down. “I’m Tsushima Yoshiko. It is a pleasure to meet you,” she greets.

“The pleasure is mine, Tsushima-san.” The woman, dressed in a black blazer over a white shirt tilts her head and smiles. She then stands up from her seat. “My name is Tanaka Keiko. I’m one of the artist managers here in Grand Sky Entertainment.” The auburn-haired woman says. Yoshiko nods in acknowledgement but wonders why she’s meeting an artist manager . Shouldn’t she be meeting the Human Resources for hiring? From her peripheral vision, she sees Nico lounging on a leather couch inside the room and looking at her phone. “Thank you for coming today. Please have a seat.” Keiko gestures the seat in front of her table.

The college student obeys. “I’ve read your profile,” the manager starts. “I do admit that I am quite interested because you came from a school idol group much like Yazawa. Though I’ll be frank, I almost didn’t consider sending you an invite.” Again, her blue eyes looks at Yoshiko, as if seeing how she reacts. When she sees that Yoshiko still looks at her with a determined face, she smiles then continues. “The reason for that is because you’re still a student. You see, we here at Grand Sky rarely accept students because of schedules and conflicts.

However, Yazawa over there insisted because she was very sure that you’d do well so the whole student issue will not apply,” She gestures Nico who is now playing what seems to be a rhythm game on her phone. She has her tongue stuck out of her mouth as she played the game. Yoshiko is getting more confused by the second. What exactly is going on? “Which is why I’d like to know if you’re willing to commit to us, if ever we do accept you in the agency. We don’t just take in people, Tsushima-san. We develop them.”

“Basically,” the idol intervenes, making Yoshiko look at her direction. “What she’s trying to say is that she’s willing to take you in as a talent of Grand Sky and not just someone they call occasionally for a job,” Nico mumbles from the couch. Keiko shoots her a look which she doesn’t even see because she’s too busy playing- “Ah, I was scouting for a UR! What’s with these SRs? Stupid game...” -School Idol Festival, it seems.

Keiko clears her throat, Yoshiko’s attention immediately diverted back to her. “Before I was rudely interrupted by-”

“The number one idol in the universe.”

“I was going to say number one annoyance in my ass,” Yoshiko can’t help but let out a subtle chuckle at that. If the idol did notice, she decided not to comment about it. “But yes, Yazawa is correct. We’re willing to take you in as a talent. Of course, that means you’ll go through formal trainings if you’re on board.”

Yoshiko looks at them, bewildered at what is currently happening. “U-Uhm, you must be mistaken, I’m applying as the part-time assis-”

“And we’re offering that you be a talent of ours instead. We do know you’re looking for the job experience since it does say here that you go to a film school. And yes, we are looking for part-timers willing to assist us in some of our shootings and recordings. But, Yazawa over there has sent in a video of yours back when you were still engaged in your school idol activities. I was impressed with your voice and Yazawa gave me the idea that maybe we could scout you as a talent instead.” Keiko explains.

Nico puts her phone down and smiles at Yoshiko. “Unless you’d rather sort out scripts, manage the schedule and all that, I’m sure Kei-chan’s willing to hire you as an assistant around here too, of course.” The idol chuckles. “Totally up to you, Yoshiko-chan.”

In the end, they gave Yoshiko a few days to think about the offer. She has absolutely no idea how things escalated so quickly. She walked in there, applying to help out for music video shoots and studio recordings - how did she end up with a contract to be Grand Sky’s newest rising talent?

“Admittedly, from a business standpoint, you’re very bankable, Tsushima-san.” Yoshiko remembers Keiko’s words from earlier.“You’ve got a good number of followers and fans up to this day, even if you do not realize this yourself. Aqours may have stopped performing but your fans have stayed. That’s part of why we’re scouting you.

As for Yazawa, she’s coming from a fan’s standpoint. School idol groups from Love Live! tend to disband after a few members graduate. Only a few decide to stay together and transition as professional idols, A-Rise being the first. Fans are devastated when that happens. I think that’s why Yazawa is so insistent to take you in. Because she knows how it feels to have a group disband at the peak of their career. She knows how μ's fans felt during their disbandment.  She also knows that you’ve got so much potential than just sorting out schedules and scripts, and all that kind of work.”

It’s flattering to have someone like Yazawa Nico, one of the most popular idols right now, believe in her so much but, Yoshiko’s not really sure if she can live up to the expectations that her senpai has of her.

“Give it some thought, Yoshiko-chan,” is what Nico said before she went out of Keiko’s office. “We’re not pressuring you or anything. Like Nico said earlier, Kei-chan can offer you the assistant job if you’re set on that. Nico personally thinks that Yoshiko-chan’s got a lot more to offer so, we want to give you the opportunity.”

Yeah, opportunity. That’s one hell of an opportunity indeed. But can she really do it? Besides, she’s studying and she actually likes films. What happens when she agrees to become Grand Sky’s talent? She didn’t really look into what Grand Sky’s talents does because she wasn’t even applying to be one but now, she’d be lying if she says that she’s not interested.

And so, Yoshiko relies on Google.

Apparently, Grand Sky was previously known as a voice acting school and a recording studio.

So, voice acting?

But Grand Sky isn’t just a voice acting school now. When Yazawa Nico, who was under a small entertainment label back then, signed as an endorser and became the face of the company four years ago, she became a game changer for Grand Sky as she attracted investors because of her fame. From then on, it was eventually turned into an entertainment label.

It turns out that during that time, Nico was in the process of going on as a freelance idol because of misunderstandings with her previous label. It was not disclosed but a lot speculated that it has something to do with the idol love ban that her previous label strictly imposed. There are a lot of gossips on the internet about the issue.

Yoshiko makes a mental note that she really shouldn’t look too much into it. The idol love ban is stupid anyway, in Yoshiko’s opinion. It was not confirmed whether that was true but whatever they did to Nico was enough for her to think that she should go on her idol career as a freelancer. That was supposed to be the case however, she figured she could stay with another company for a while so she signed with Grand Sky as their talent. Because of Grand Sky’s sudden popularity, Nico eventually decided to invest on the company as well, now making her a shareholder.

Another contribution that Nico did for the industry other than helping Grand Sky to establish a name as one of the fastest growing entertainment label is the school idol transition program. Grand Sky is closely tied with Love Live! as school idols who decide to go professional are trained there and eventually, they debut as Grand Sky’s new idol group. In short, it became a starting ground for school idols transitioning to professional idols.

Yoshiko’s jaw slacks at Nico’s achievements, business wise. She’s already known how huge the name Yazawa Nico is in the entertainment industry - the idol industry, to be exact so it’s not surprising to hear about achievements such as music awards and idol recognition. Impressive but not surprising. But when she thinks of how her senior was acting earlier, she wouldn’t have thought that the behind the child-like appearance and personality, the idol is a force to be reckoned with. Clearly, more than being just an idol, Nico has thought of helping other idols which, in turn, helps out the idol industry.

Well, Yazawa Nico’s pretty amazing but still, what did she see in her for her to be so insistent on taking her in as a talent? Yoshiko’s been so into her research that she jumps in surprise when her phone rang.

Call from: Zuramaru

Yoshiko swipes on the screen to answer the call. “He-”

“Yoshiko-chan?! Are you alright?!” Comes her friend’s worried (and unnecessarily loud) voice from the earpiece of the phone.

“Eh? I’m fine! I’m fine! What’s wrong Zuramaru?”

A sigh. “Thank goodness, zura!” Yoshiko hears actual relief from Hanamaru’s voice. “I’ve been texting you multiple times earlier and you haven’t replied so I thought you might be busy or you’re still bein’ interviewed but, it’s been hours and you aren’t replying so I thought something might’ve happened to you, zura. I kind of panicked and decided to call you-”

As Hanamaru continues telling her why she’s panicking, a smile tugs at Yoshiko’s lips as she feels warmth envelope her. She’s so cute, she thinks to herself. “Zuramaru,” Yoshiko says and almost immediately, Hanamaru stops. “Breathe,” she instructs and sure enough, Hanamaru exhales. “I’m sorry I haven’t replied. And, thank you for worrying about me. I just had,” Yoshiko pauses, thinking of the right word to describe what just happened to her. “a bizarre day.”

Hanamaru hums. “Did you not get the job, Yoshiko-chan?”

“Quite the opposite, Zuramaru.” Yoshiko lies down her apartment floor and stretches. “I got offered a different job.”

So she spends a good couple of minutes explaining everything to her best friend. “And now, I’ve got a contract with Grand Sky that I’m not sure what to do with.” Hanamaru is silent on the other end and Yoshiko begins to wonder if the other girl had fallen asleep somewhere along her story. “Zuramaru?”

“You met Yazawa Nico-san?! Nico-san from μ's?!”

“Glad to know you’re excited for my new job, Zuramaru.” Yoshiko jokes.

Surprised Hanamaru noises follow afterwards which makes Yoshiko laugh. “That’s not what I meant! Of course I’m happy for you, zura!” Her friend exclaims. “But I think it’s astonishing that you met Yazawa Nico! Was she kind?”

Yoshiko thinks. “Well, she is. But she is also a lot of things.”

“I can imagine, zura.” Silence. “I hope you’re not feeling pressured, Yoshiko-chan. You can say no if you feel like it’s not for you.”

“I know, thank you Hanamaru. Actually, Nico-senpai said that they’re not pressuring me into it.” Yoshiko scratches her cheeks with a finger, lost in thought. “Honestly though, a part of me feels like I want it. I’ve always liked performing. You know how I am with my theatrics.” That earns her a giggle from Hanamaru. “I don’t know Zuramaru. When I think about myself, doing these kinds of things, it just doesn’t feel right.”

“Why so?”

Why? Yoshiko sighs. “It doesn’t feel right not to have you, and everyone else by me.”

Aqours has always Aqours. They all performed as part Aqours. When she thinks of her, alone, without the eight girls she’s been with during their time in the limelight, it feels lonely.

“Y’know, Yoshiko-chan? Sometimes I just wish I was there with you,” Hanamaru says it so genuinely that Yoshiko can’t help but smile sadly. “You sound so different - so sad at times, zura. You know we’re all just here for you, right?”

“Hmm...” Yoshiko sighs. “Zuramaru…” she groans and makes sure to drag out the last syllable, sounding like a whine.

“Now, now, Yoshiko-chan, don’t make me go there,” Hanamaru replies, chuckling. “But really, I feel like you’ve got so much going on so I really worry whether you’re getting enough rest and if you’re eating well, zura.”

Yoshiko leans her head against the table, sighing. Hanamaru always know how to warm her heart. Along with this is a longing to see the girl in person. “I’m alright, Zuramaru. You’re talking about Yohane, the fallen angel! Sustenance is not a problem for me unlike mere mortals like yourself,” Yoshiko says to lighten up the conversation also because Hanamaru has done enough worrying for today. As if on cue though, her stomach rumbles.

“Sure, Yoshiko-chan. Also, I heard that, zura.”

“Zuramaru!” Yoshiko groans in embarrassment as she hears Hanamaru laughing on the other line. She can’t help but smile though because somehow, she feels a lot better. “Fine, I’ll prepare my food.” Yoshiko grumbles. “Say, have you eaten yet?”

“Yes, I have,” Hanamaru answers. “Uhm, do you want me to hang up?”

Yoshiko looks a the time. It’s just 7:30 in the evening. She and Hanamaru have stayed on the phone later than that so maybe she should try and push for a few more minutes. “Shouldn’t I be the one hanging up, since you’re the one who called?”

Hanamaru giggles. “Well, it is not like it is a written rule, zura.”

“It’s a tradition!” Yoshiko exclaims, earning her another laugh from Hanamaru. “A-Are you tired yet, though? If you are, then it’s fine,” she mumbles.

“Does this mean that Yoshiko-chan wants me to accompany her longer, I wonder…” the temple girl says, her tone teasing.

Yoshiko chuckles. “And you call me horrible.” She shakes her head, smiling. Yoshiko stands up and starts heating up some leftovers from her meal the other day. “Is it bad though, if I want you to stay longer?”

She hears Hanamaru make one of her usual ‘Hanamaru noises’ - which is usually a small gasp or a low humming sound or, sometimes just a dragged out ‘zuraaaa’. Yoshiko thinks it’s very adorable when she does that. Though, she wonders what Hanamaru is doing since it’s taking a while for her to reply.

“Zuramaru?”

“Eh?!”

Yoshiko raises an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”

“I am fine, Yoshiko-chan! I-I said I’d actually love to, zura.” Hanamaru replies quickly. “O-Oh, and Yoshiko-chan, actually I’m curious. Did Yazawa-san do that thing she does?”

What was up with that sudden change of subject? Yoshiko wonders but she doesn’t address it. Instead she asks, “Thing?”

“You know! Did she do the ‘Nico-Nico-Nii’ at you, zura?”

Yoshiko laughs. “Yeah,” she says. “That she definitely did.”

The two of them spend the rest of the evening, talking, as Hanamaru accompanies Yoshiko while she eats.

Still, as they continue talking, Yoshiko can’t help but think back to what Hanamaru has said earlier.

She really wishes that her best friend is actually there with her, too.

[ontheoddoccasioniwritestuff]

Complementary (Collins x OC) Chapter 10: Drown

Summary: Cracks start to show in the current patriarch of the Collins' household.

Tagging: @you-are-the-first-dream

Previous Chapter     Masterlist     Next Chapter     Gif Credit 

 So far, Genevieve had been enjoying her time with Jack and Cora. She’d fitted right in with the cleaning schedule and Cora never pushed her into saying anything she didn’t want. Most importantly, today she’d managed to get a letter to her family to tell them she was ok and would be home soon.

 Jack however was closed off more recently, almost as if they had swapped personas. He had disappeared at five past four without his coat. Cora and Genevieve knew that it was because he was drinking a lot more now he had access to a bigger supply of whiskey and had stalked off to the pub after a confrontation with his ma. Not wanting to get between them, Genevieve had stayed in her room.

 But now it was getting late and Jack hadn’t returned. So in spite of her anxiety, she was now walking towards the local in search of her friend.

 The bar was packed with strangers, so tightly that one couldn’t move through the room without bumping into at least five people and getting something spilt down your front. In Genevieve’s case it was four people on the way in and a splash of white wine down her coat.

 Slipping past some of the more sober patrons, Genevieve spotted her mark and tapped Jack on the shoulder, “Hello.”

 “’S th’ light of me life!” Jack cheered over the rabble. His speech was noticeably slower and more emphasised, like he’d spent hours deciding on what his words were going to be. What were more indicative of his drunken state were his eyes – bloodshot – and his movements – sluggish and sloppy. Not to mention the fact that his nose was bright red and shiny.

Genevieve was a tad surprised. Usually Jack was incredibly bad-tempered before and after a drink. All the physical symptoms were the same. It was just his persona.

 “What are you doing?”

 “I didnae drown in me Spitfire! But I’ll drown in whiskey!” He held out his glass, spilling some of the whiskey onto the floor. He was grinning with obvious pleasure at his play-on words.

 “Ok,” Genevieve took the glass out of his hand, already extremely uncomfortable with the scenario, “Home time, your ma’s waiting.”

 “Wha’? Already? But s’happy hour in a bit!” Jack attempted to down the rest of his drink in time for his departure but Genevieve took the glass away, ignoring his childish protests, and dragged him out of the door. He whined the whole way home, clinging to her side and vying for her attention.

 As they got through the door, Cora was waiting by the banister with a blank expression on her face. It was more terrifying than any shouting Genevieve had received at the hands of a parent; she shied away from Cora as she stepped up to her son with folded arms.

 “I have no words for you but rest assured, I will have plenty for you tomorrow,” She spoke with calm anger.

 “Ma! I ‘ave words too! I love you.” Jack beamed at her widely and unaffected by this threat, wiping his feet on the mat obediently.

 “Do you want me to get him upstairs?” Cora looked at Genevieve, her face now relaxed in a sympathetic smile, “I really appreciate you going to fetch him. You must be tired.”

 “It’s alright, you head upstairs. I’ll sort him out.”

 “Oooo, you’ll sort me oooot,” Jack swooned with his over-the-top girly tone, leaning backwards so that, despite facing away from her, he was resting his head against Genevieve’s shoulder. Straightening him up, Genevieve dedicated all energy to helping Jack up the stairs. He tried to help himself but he nearly knocked them both backwards.

 Eventually they made it to his room. By that time, Genevieve was too tired for any complex instructions.

 “Jack, go get changed.”

 “No, I don’ wanna,” He whined, “I wanna dance.”

 “You can dance tomorrow. Now you change into your pyjamas and go to bed.”

 “I don’ like me jammies.”

 Genevieve hid her face in her hand, “Jesus Christ.”

 “You can call me Ja-” He prepared to spin around with the rest of his quippy one-liner but lost his balance and landed on the bed. Genuine laughter nearly escaped Genevieve’s chest but she held it in with a stoic face. Then Jack sat up violently and his eyes widened. He made a dash for the bathroom. Genevieve followed in time to see him throw up the contents of his stomach into the bath. Dropping beside him, she rubbed his back.

 “Ok, sweetie, it’s gonna be ok,” She ran her fingers through his hair as he clung to the bath’s rim. His gibberish was gone now. Taking the silence that followed as the signal that Jack’s stomach was now empty, Genevieve topped up a glass of water and, with a flannel under his chin, helped Jack drink it.

 She was refilling the glass when she heard a small voice say, “I miss Farrier.”

 Genevieve looked at his reflection. His hand was over his shoulder and still clinging to the rim of the tub. His glassy eyes stared dully without seeing. Gentle with his face, Genevieve helped him sip the rest of his drink before placing the glass back on the side.

 “Come on. Let’s get you ready for bed.”

 “I’m a real lightweight,” Jack had a nostalgic smile on his face, “Farrier used to have to carry me back, like you did tonight!”

 “That was nice of him,” Genevieve offered him a sympathetic smile

 “The two people I love helpin’ me home when I’m pissed. Coincidence or wha’?”

 Tensing slightly, Genevieve pulled him up to his feet and moved him back to the bedroom to change him out of his clothes. She managed to get him down to his undershirt and his underwear before he started giggling again but he was already in bed by this point. Genevieve tucked him in as he wriggled into the duvet with a pout. The pout subsided into a goofy grin when Genevieve smoothed the hair off his forehead.

 “I do think I love you,” Jack mumbled into the duvet. Genevieve tensed again before speaking.

 “I think you’re drunk.”

 “I know am drunk,” He lifted his head up, knocking his forehead against hers with a girly giggle, “So, by process of elimination, that means I know I love you!”

 “Jack, you’ve known me two weeks,” Genevieve sat up with a frown, “You’re drunk, you won’t remember this, why am I applying logic to this?”

 “Because love is illogicalalal!” Jack babbled as he sat up with her.

 “That’s… countering your argument. Lie down.”

 “I dinnae ken wha’ I’m saying! ’M drunk! I shan’t!”

 With a sigh, Genevieve straightened out the covers again as Jack stuck his arms out and met her annoyed stare with a face of shining innocence. She stood to leave but Jack grabbed her hand and tugged it.

 “Please stay,” He said, his bottom lip quivering, his eyes impossibly wide with begging. In no mood to argue, Genevieve sat beside him to pull off her socks. Eagerly, Jack patted the side of his bed where she lay down on her back with no intention of falling asleep. After moving one of his pillows into the centre of the bed, he rolled onto his side and stared at her.

 Without looking at him, Genevieve told him, “Close your eyes, Jack.” She watched at the ceiling, following the winding crack along to the wall where the white paint flaked and fluttered to the floor.

 “Do you hate me?”

 Frowning, Genevieve turned her head to face Jack with his big blue eyes still on her, “No, I don’t. Where did you get that idea from?”

 “I dinnae ken. ’Ve been grumpy all week and I made you go in a bar to get me and I know you dinnae like ‘em,” Jack snuggled into his blankets, “I don’ want you to hate me.”

 “I swear you’re going through the seven stages of grief,” Genevieve raised an eyebrow with a smile – the first of the evening.

 He gave a throaty stuttering laugh, “You’re funny, Genevieve, and so pretty when you smile.” He reached a clumsy hand out and grazed her cheek. So as not to insult him, Genevieve restrained her recoil, opting instead to ease away from his touch. Jack nodded, as if he understood, flopping his arm on top of the pillow – a respectable distance from her. Drunk Jack truly was a rollercoaster of emotions.

 “Come on, Jack. Time for sleep,” Genevieve coaxed softly. Moving his head, Jack nestled into the pillows with a mumble before drifting off.

 Genevieve felt odd keeping watch on Jack as he slept. It was weird to stare at someone, regardless of scenario, so him passed out was not high on the list of acceptable things to do. He did look beautiful though, peaceful for once. With his head propped up on the pillow, he was vaguely reminiscent of a cherub asleep on a cloud.

 Her mind drifted to what he had said, more specifically what he had said about Farrier. Could she…?

 Drool started to dribble out of his mouth. Using the blanket, Genevieve gently wiped his mouth clean whilst managing not to groan at him. Retracting her hand, she carefully got off the bed and went into the bathroom. Unsure of how bad his morning was going to be, she rooted around for an aspirin in the bathroom cupboards. She retrieved the last one in the bottle. They would have to go shopping tomorrow.

 Jack was writhing about in his sleep, trying to find a more comfortable spot. He settled with a snore as Genevieve placed the aspirin with his newly topped up glass of water. She left the room with barely a creak of the floorboards to alert Jack of her absence.

  AN: Oooooo spicy shit is going down and we're only halfway through the fic! Also, just imagine Jack staring at you with completely drunk adoration. I would probably melt. 

[theficbuddies]

Guardian Angel

Hey, it’s nyrandrea and themarginalartist back at it with another chapter!

Once again, this story is inspired by @thelostmoongazer‘s Mob Boss Bendy AU and features @the-vampire-inside-me‘s character, Abel the Angel!

Without further ado, please enjoy!

Chapter 2 - The Middle

Abel could feel the effects of the alcohol start to take over, his head felt very light, and his thoughts were starting to swirl against each other, making him feel pretty nauseous.

The toon put a hand to his head as he kept walking down the cold, dark and empty street, the only light source that guided him towards his destination were the dimly lit, flickering street lamps. 

He puffed out another cloud of smoke from his worn out cigar, and watched the wisps float away into the night air. He smirked slightly, smoking was the only thing that seemed to calm him down these days.

However, the cigar still couldn’t help him get that mental image of the little human girl out of his mind, the tattered light pink dress, the frazzled reddish brown braids, the little silver locket…

“God damn it…” He bitterly muttered under his breath. The distant sound of slurred shouting barely caught his attention, but it managed to distract him for a small moment.

‘Another drunken brawl…’ He lazily thought to himself. ‘Figures.’ The angel didn’t even stop to investigate, he honestly couldn’t even be bothered, he just wanted to get home.

As Abel continued down the path, his mind wandered back to her again.

‘Oh come on…!’ He scolded to himself. ‘She had to go, they all had to go, I did the right thing!’

‘I did the right thing…’

The mental image of the little girl changed into one of a little boy.

‘Damn it…’

It was late afternoon, Abel was passing through the shopping district on his way to go see Elymas. He was lost in his thoughts, preparing for the next heist he was going to pull, a new shipment of ink was due in a few days, and it was going to get him a rather fat stack of cash if everything went as planned. Which it wasn't likely that it wouldn't. He was good at what he did,  a small smirk tugged at his lips.

Maybe a little too good.

As he walked down the district, he couldn’t help but have a little glance around the place, many of the shops had outdoor displays out. Coats, dresses, tops, hats, and many other articles of clothing were out on public display. He barely paid them any mind, content to continue on his path, until something caught the corner of his eye, that was when he saw him. A little boy, of African descent, sneaking around the clothing racks.

Abel couldn’t help but blink in surprise.

‘What the hell? Another kid?’ He quickly glanced around, it appeared as if nobody else had noticed the child yet.

He slowed down, watching the boy’s movements carefully from behind, wondering what the heck the kid was after, given he had bypassed the boy's clothes from a nearby rack. Abel quietly moved around to the other side of the racks, keeping far enough behind the kid so that he wouldn't notice him.

‘Looks as though the kid needs some new clothes badly, but what on earth is he looking for?’ The angel internally questioned himself.

The back of the kid’s navy blue t-shirt looked to be nearly shredded, his khaki colored shorts were completely coated in dirt and had frayed hems, and his legs and arms were coated in faded and frayed bandages. A turn of the boy's head revealed another one plastered to the bridge of his nose. His dark brown, curly hair was also pretty mangled and messy, just like the little girl’s that he had previously met about a week ago.

Abel kept observing the little boy closely as he looked around from the rack he was near, and when the boy thought the coast was clear, he returned his focus to the rack. It was filled with small dresses, definitely not what the kid needed. A light clicking noise suddenly caught Abel’s attention, he looked up and noticed a toon nearby adjusting the racks, who he assumed was the shopkeeper, but it seemed as though the kid was completely oblivious as to what was about to happen.

Abel reacted quickly, silently coming up from behind the boy and let his wings draw around them as he snatched the kid up and pulled him into the back of a nearby alley. The child struggled hard against his grip, but to no avail as Abel held on tight enough to make sure the boy wouldn't get away just yet.

“What the Hell do you think you're doing, kid?” Abel questioned in a quiet but stern tone,  but he didn’t get an answer as the little boy simply kept struggling against him. The toon sighed and looked around to make sure nobody was nearby, before unfolding his wings and setting the child down.

The kid tried to take the opportunity to escape, but Abel kept a firm grasp on his thin wrist to prevent him from getting any further, resulting in a panicked response from the young one as he grabbed and tried to pull the gloved hand off.

“P-please mister…” The boy muttered with a cracked voice. “I didn’t do anything, I swear!”

“Yeah, but you were about to, weren’t ya? You shouldn’t steal, kid. It ain’t…” He trailed off.

The angel’s poker face instantly melted into one of sympathy as the child looked up at him with wide eyes, and continued to struggle against him, looking absolutely petrified. The boy started to claw at Abel’s hand in a frenzied manner, though it hardly did much of anything, he was pretty small and very weak, the poor thing didn’t stand a chance.

‘Ah geez…’ The toon inwardly cringed as the boy kept trying to attack him. ‘Should probably try and calm the poor kid down.’

He loosened his grip and knelt down to get on the little boy’s level, before placing both hands gently on the child’s scrawny shoulders. The poor thing looked like he needed a decent meal, which made Abel wonder, where were these children coming from? There was that girl from the week before, and now this.

‘Huh...it is pretty weird.’ He inwardly shrugged. ‘Eh, it’s probably just coincidence.’

The toon was snapped out of his thoughts however, as he felt a sudden trembling against his hands, and glanced down to the kid, he frowned at what he saw. The little boy looked as though he was on the brink of tears.

“Hey, there’s no need for that now.” He tried to coax with a smile. “Yer fine, I ain’t gonna hurt ya.” This seemed to ease the human slightly, as he rubbed his eyes with his small hands and shuffled slightly.

“You’re...you’re not?” The little boy asked timidly. Abel smirked in a friendly manner and lifted a hand to lightly ruffle his curly, tangled hair but stopped when he noticed that the kid flinched, his emerald eyes widening in fear slightly. So he simply lowered his hand again to rest it on the child’s shoulder.

“Nah. ‘Course not.” The angel replied with a reassuring smile, before frowning slightly. “But ya can’t steal from that shop, alright? Or any other shop for that matter, it ain’t right. You’re lucky I caught you instead of another toon.” This earned a curious look from the kid.

“What...What do you mean, mister?” This made Abel cringe slightly, he wasn’t really sure how to explain the fact that toons were wary of humans for convoluted reasons to a kid that looked no older than six.

“Look kid, you can’t exactly stick around in this town, the folks here, they uh, don’t really take too well to your kind.” He tried to explain in the simplest way possible.

The child only responded by casting his eyes down to the ground.

“So...it’s just like those other guys…” The boy murmured, making Abel raise an eyebrow.

“Other guys?” He questioned, hoping for a more specific answer.

The child nodded his head, his expression still downcast, “Yeah...the grown ups.” The angel frowned as he quickly caught onto what he meant.

‘Once again, the humans treat their own kind like crap, even the little kids.’ Abel bitterly thought. ‘Typical.’

“Look kid, if you're looking for something warm then let me get ya a shirt or something, a dress ain't gonna cut it, they weren't your size anyway.” Abel said, subtly trying to get the kid to explain himself.

 The boy flicked his eyes to meet Abel’s briefly before looking back down, Abel saw the kid’s lips move but couldn't hear the quiet, mumbled words. “I didn't quite catch that kid, what did you say?” He asked with a raised brow.

“Nothing!” Came the all too fast, wide eyed reply, Abel had to fight the rising urge to roll his eyes, he could feel himself starting to get slightly impatient.

‘Damn, I could really go for a cigar and brandy right about now.’ But he brushed the thought to the side, now was not the time.

“Kid…” The toon sighed in defeat and rubbed his temples. “Fine, how about this? I get you a coat or something, and then you get outta town.” It was subtle but his eyes caught the little boy flinch at the request, making the angel frown in sympathy once again. “Hey... y’know I'm not trying to be mean kid, but... it's for your own safety.” Abel sighed, this was the little girl all over again.

‘Dammit, don't get attached Abel.’ He couldn't afford this, he just couldn’t. He couldn't be a bleeding heart, the safety of the other toons had to come first. Besides, he also had his reputation to uphold.

He got up from his kneeling position and gestured for the child to stay where he was. “Stay here kid, and I'd stick back here behind the cans and crates if I were you, I'll be back in a minute.”

Abel straightened up, the small human’s green eyes cautiously tracking his movements. The toon walked towards the front of the alley, listening closely for a moment to make sure the boy wasn't about to leave the safety of the alley. Once he was absolutely sure, he made his way back towards the shops, and went straight to browsing the shirt racks first.

But as he raked through the shirts, he cringed slightly as he suddenly realised an important point. ‘Shit, I gotta make this look like it's for me.’ He thought as he continued searching, his hands quickly going through the various selections.

‘While a shirt would be better, I got these big wings, the shirt would have holes and it would completely defeat the damn purpose…’ He stopped as his eye caught something. ‘Hhmmm…’

He lifted his head to have a proper look.

‘Maybe… Yeah, that’ll work.’ Abel moved from the shirt section and towards the nearby coat rack, and started browsing through the jackets. ‘Yeah this one should do just fine.’ He mentally smirked as he looked at his soon to be new purchase.

Abel went into the shop and was soon back out again after the quick transaction, he watched his surroundings carefully to make sure that no one would spot him, before ducking back into the alley. He made his way to the rear, before a light rustling behind the cans and crates alerted him to the child.

“Kid, it's only me.” He gently coaxed with a smile. There was a moment of silence before a tiny, browned hand poked out, slowly followed by the boy's face, his emerald eyes wide in a look of confusion and surprise.

“Hey, I got ya something.” Abel said as he started to rustle the bag, the boy stepped out again and stood a little bit away from the angel.

“I... didn't think you were coming back…” Abel just caught the delicately whispered words and frowned slightly, before he gave a small but confident smirk.

“Hey, come one, ya gotta trust this old angel. I said I was gonna get you something, didn’t I?” This made the little boy blink in mild surprise.

“Y-yeah, you did...but-” The child was cut off as Abel swiftly brought out a medium sized, lightly tanned trenchcoat and smoothly draped it over the small boy’s thin figure. The coat looked pretty large on the kid as it completely covered him while the bottom half dragged along the ground.

“Eh…” Abel crossed his arms and gave the boy a slightly amused look. “It’s pretty big on ya but at least it’ll keep ya warm, besides, you’ll grow into it.” The angel inwardly scolded himself at that last part, he doubted the boy was going to even last that long, not with the poorly condition he was in.

‘He might last if ya help him.’ A seething voice of self doubt commented.

The toon shook his head, as much as he wanted to, he just...couldn’t.

He looked back down to see that the little boy was looking over his new piece of clothing with a look of awe in his face, Abel’s brow furrowed.

‘God...he’s amazed at a damn coat, of all things…’

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted however, when the child looked up to him with a small smile on his face.

“Geez...mister, this is really cool, thanks a lot...” The boy said with a genuine tone. Abel rubbed the back of his neck nervously, his wings twitched as his thoughts and morals clashed once again.

“...It’s no problem kid, but uh...I’m afraid ya gotta hit the road now.” The angel quickly said as he turned to walk away, before continuing,  “However the hell you got in, use it to get back out, understand?”

“But-”

Abel turned his head quickly and narrowed his eyes. “Ya don’t wanna argue with me, kid.” He said in a calm but threatening tone.

The child’s eyes widened slightly as he took a small step back and silently nodded his head quickly.

“Good. Now beat it.” Abel nonchalantly said as he reached into his hammerspace for a cigar and lighter, his hands trembling slightly while doing so.

“...You were the one she made those drawings for...the angel…” The boy’s quiet voice whispered, Abel’s eyes widened slightly.

“Wait, what did you just-” He quickly turned around, only to find that the child was gone. “...say…?” He trailed off.

A chilly wind ruffled the feathers of his wings as he simply stared into the empty alley.

‘I did the right thing, dammit!’ Abel inwardly scolded himself.

First there was the little girl, and then the boy and then…

He chuckled to himself as he lit up a new cigar.

Then there was the fierce one.

Woot, woot! Second chapter out! We are on a roll with this!

Let us know what y’all think!

[getoffthesoapbox]

[SnB:VS] EP3 - A Wild Love Triangle Appears!

I wasn’t going to speculate per episode but, dagnabbit, the speculation opportunities are calling me. 

This series is the highlight of my week, I swear. 

Mirroring the Opening

This whole episode set up a scenario quite similar to what we see in the opening theme visuals--Azazel being drawn out by Charioce and Nina on the move to save him. I’m not sure how it will unfold, or if we’ll see more than one variation of this scenario within the first twelve episodes, but I’m definitely looking forward to whatever is coming.

Now that I’m sure we’re not changing the opening every episode to switch to a new character, I feel more confident that Azazel is meant to be the main male protagonist. It’s still weird that Charioce is listed first in the ending credits, but that may just be because Charioce gets top billing as main love interest for Nina. Who knows. 

Azazel and Mugaro

Well, I know what ship I’m switching to if Nina decides to be a fool. (When Mugaro is older, of course. Too young right now.)

Azazel is painstakingly tender with Mugaro. He has so much affection for the kid, it’s utterly heartwarming. I do suspect this affection will be tested when he finds out Mugaro isn’t a demon--Azazel probably dislikes angels as much as he dislikes humans. But his life is now going to be filled with humans and angels, in order to help him learn to see past the race and accept the common essence each of them shares. 

Regardless, this does prove that Azazel has a good heart when he’s not being a prejudiced turd. This explains a little more the loyalties his fellow demons had to him in the previous series, as well as why he himself was never consumed with ambition. He’s a swell chap at heart; he just needs to overcome his biases against humans (and presumably angels). 

I did find it interesting that Mugaro chose Azazel, rather than vice versa. Azazel doesn’t seem to know the extent of Mugaro’s powers, either. Mugaro seems to be hiding things from Azazel. It’s surely not out of malicious intent (I doubt Mugaro has a malicious bone in his body), but it’s likely so Mugaro can stay as close to Azazel as he can for as long as he can.

Azazel’s lucky to be protected by two incredibly powerful beings--Nina and Mugaro. Undoubtedly he’s going to screw up, and those two are strong enough to get him out of whatever tomfoolery he gets himself into.  I also love how Azazel relies on Rita--she’s the one he feels he can entrust Mugaro to, and given how fond he is of Mugaro, this shows how highly he esteems Rita. 

The Love Triangle Arrives!

The moment I’d been waiting for since the 3rd PV arrived at last! Nina has now met both of her main suitors--Azazel and the “Turbaned Gentleman”, who clearly is none other than our out of control king, Charioce. 

Nina clearly has a “type”--tall, toned, and youthful. She can look at huge muscles and square jaws all day without blinking, but the minute some model-magazine quality young man walks by, she’s all blushes. It’s pretty cute. =)

I found the choices the writers took with this pivotal meeting between Nina and Charioce to be quite interesting. 

Nina doesn’t get to see Charioce first (Hamsa warns her Charioce is an ikemen, giving her time to place a blindfold over her eyes). On a higher meta implication, this renders her blind to who he is. Maaaaaybe it’s just coincidence, but methinks not, given how careful these writers have been so far. ;) You never want to start off blind in a relationship--bad things come of that.

Usually in these types of stories, the “strong” heroine will lose to her superior male mate. Nina almost loses to Charioce, but it’s mostly due to her being distracted over touching him rather than his particular strength. He is strong, make no mistake, but once she finally digs in and gets serious, she easily overpowers him, sending him flying and taking the table with him. The fact that the story allowed Nina to win the contest could imply several things: she will win him over in the end, she will win against him in the end, or perhaps he’s the wrong choice for her (or any or all of these). 

Charioce’s reaction to Nina is one of mild intrigue as well as a bit of posturing. He knows he’s an attractive man, and he knows she’s starstruck by him. He probably sees her as a bit of a country bumpkin. Her strength does impress him, and I expect it will be her strength (and her transformation) that will draw him back to her. What that’s going to ultimately mean, I’m not quite sure yet. The narrative did give him one tiny “humanizing” moment where he stood at the mystery grave stone, so he might have more to him than meets the eye. Will it be enough to wipe away all his evil deeds? I doubt it, but who knows. I’ve seen worse. <cough>Berserk and Vampire Knight</cough>

All in all, Charioce’s and Nina’s first meeting was more underwhelming than I was expecting, given the 3rd PV. Spacing out their encounters like this, instead of really focusing in on it, diffuses the impact (a direct contrast to Amira and Favaro from the prequel). This is very good for those of us on the Azazel train. ;)

Nina herself is clearly starstruck at first sight. However, despite her flailing and fangirling and her heart doing its pre-dragon thing, she never once loses control nor does she actually go “full dragon” for Charioce. Perhaps she will later, but right not Azazel is the only one who’s effected the full transformation from her. I’m not sure what that means, exactly, but it is interesting that they made sure to focus more on general girly reactions to Charioce, rather than the larger narrative implications of her transformation for Azazel. It paints the Charioce reaction in a lighter, more comical perspective. Obviously the regular viewer is going to see this and think “wow, Nina’s in love with Charioce,” which is exactly what the writers want. Tricksy writers. I shall not be fooled!

We have the love triangle confirmed from Rita herself. She asks Nina who she finds more handsome--Azazel or Charioce. The tricksy writers are at it again by not letting Nina answer. She does blink several times before reacting, however, and that implies she can’t immediately choose one over the other, rendering them about equal at this point in the story. This is important in order to keep Azazel as an option, because right now Nina’s not supposed to be pursuing him. She’s supposed to be pursuing Charioce, but we still need the clues leading toward her switching to Azazel later, because no one enjoys asspulls in storytelling. ;)

For now, Nina doesn’t get to interact with Azazel this episode, mostly to allow Charioce to finally “weigh in.” But she does immediately run to Azazel’s rescue despite only having known him for a brief time. =P 

Charioce’s Romance/Narrative Trajectory

Despite Azazel having the opening theme dedicated to him, and despite all the cues that Charioce is the narrative’s main villain, he’s still being billed at number 2 in the ending. This implies that he should be either the main love interest or the main male protagonist, second only to Nina. I’m quite baffled, but, hey, I’m willing to trust these writers to give the story a good run.

Right now I see three paths for Charioce’s development, given where he’s starting:

Charioce initially is interested in Nina for her abilities/skills, but gradually falls in love with her. He and she clash over the treatment of the demons, and eventually he realizes the error of his ways through her. {The problem with this is that it basically mirrors Azazel’s Beauty & the Beast trajectory, telling the exact same story. Unless Azazel’s going to become the main villain instead, this isn’t going to work.}

Charioce initially has no interest in Nina at all until he realizes what she is (presumably after seeing her dragon transformation). He then goes about deliberately seducing her, as he already knows she’s starstruck by him. He works on twisting her to his will to do his bidding, holding out the promise of romance as a reward. This puts her into direct conflict with Azazel and Kaisar and co. This leads to several different paths where Nina can fight her friends, or tun on Charioce, or get broken hearted and try to save Charioce, etc. Lots of opportunities with this route that don’t conflict with Azazel’s route. 

Charioce is interested in Nina and doesn’t realize who she is. He continues to do his usual evil bad guy stuff, and they have a pivotal moment halfway through where she realizes he’s been this jerk she’s been fighting all along. Nina realizes he’s not the person she loved, and she turns on him. Charioce, meanwhile, actually is in love with Nina and tries to win her back, but he’s committed to his path because he believes he’s righteous. This is a bit more nuanced version of #2 above which allows Charioce to be more complicated than just a nasty schemer. ;D 

Honestly, Charioce’s trajectory is where all the fun is. I’m not sure if he’s the final villain or if Bahamut still is or if we’ll get someone else who’s pulling Charioce’s strings later on, but he does bring a variety of opportunities to the table that poor Azazel can’t. ;) Rock on, Charioce! I’m counting on you to make things fun!

{Fun fact: Charioce is why I wanted to watch this show in the first place, lol. And I’m rooting against him, lol. =D}

Rita and Kaisar 

My secret OTP from the original series lives!!! OMG Rita calls Rocky Kaisar’s child! It’s his own darn hand, lol! (I adore how nonchalant she is about it. But the implications! She keeps a piece of him with her all the time! Gah!) The marriage implications! Kaisar gets in Rita’s intimate zones! He has eyes only for her! He doesn’t even notice Nina! But he does run after Nina as soon as the wife tells him to get moving! Gah! It’s so great!

I love that Nina asked if Kaisar was Rita’s lover (even though she didn’t know who exactly it was). Please make it so, show! I was so so so so worried they’d shoehorn him with Jeanne after that little short prequel episode they did with him and Jeanne recently, but I should not have feared! Rita’s devotion can’t be defeated! 

This also explains why Rita lives at the capital. She must be near her Kaisar! I’m so happy I can’t even express myself properly. Please give me more, show! *ahem*

The Family Protects Its Own

Can I just say how much I love the way Virgin Soul is developing the heroic family? Genesis did the best it could with this given its limited runtime, but Virgin Soul is taking what Genesis began and running with it beautifully.

We’re getting more information about Hamsa and Bacchus, for one thing. For another, the team has really come together around Nina and Azazel. Their reactions to Nina’s mentor (Favaro returns!) are charming and perfectly in character with how they reacted to him during Genesis. It’s easy to see how much they not only love Nina, but love Favaro as well. 

The fact that all of them, including Kaisar, are protecting Azazel explains why he’s the only bounty still able to run freely. It also explains why Charioce was suspecting Kaisar in the first place--Kaisar’s probably been letting Azazel get away more often than he should. 

Rita trying to stop Nina from going after Azazel was the moment that really got me this episode, though. She’s such a caring, loving person, and she’s only known this girl for a short time, and still she wants to keep her safe so badly she sends her beloved Kaisar after her. The strong bond this group is forming is going to be something to behold by the end, I think. 

I have a huge soft spot for stories that continue developing their characters from their earlier seasons, even if they’ve shifted focus to other characters. Being able to explore the original cast in new ways as they react to these new scenarios is one of the joys of a story like this. 

I am seriously floored by how much content there is in each episode of Virgin Soul. This series has easily taken the top slot in the season for me, no small feat with Rinne and Shingeki no Kyojin and Berserk in the same season. I hope it continues to be such a complex and compelling ride all the way to the end, a credit to its predecessor even as it forges new territory.

In the meantime, though, where are Jeanne and Lucifer dammut! ;)

Until next week!

[sasusakufestival]

Samsara (Part 2/3)

Summary: Sakura’s words die in her throat as the man’s eyes shoot open, and the coldest red irises she has ever seen meet hers. She is hit by a wave of terrifying certainty about two things right then – that she knows these eyes better than any other and that, if he wanted to, this man could stop her heart with just a look. [SasuSaku Festival 2017 – Day 15 – Prompt: “The Biggest Gesture”]

Disclaimer: This story utilizes characters, situations and premises that are copyright Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz Media. No infringement on their respective copyrights pertaining to episodes, novelizations, comics or short stories is intended by the author in any way, shape or form. This fan oriented story is written solely for the author’s own amusement and the entertainment of the readers. It is not for profit. Any resemblance to real organizations, institutions, products or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All fiction, plot and Original Characters with the exception of those introduced in the books, manga, video games, novelizations and anime, are the sole creation of KuriQuinn and using them without permission is considered rude, in bad-taste and will reflect seriously on your credibility as a writer. You will be squished by a Susanoo wielding demi god if you are found plagiarizing.

Warning: Spoilersfor pretty much everything up to Naruto Gaiden.

Canon-Compliance: Takes place during the Blank Period.

Fanon-Compliance: Takes place several years before An Inch of Gold and Unplanned.

AN: So, I decided I didn’t feel like waiting to post this. It’s unedited, but I will put up the edited part as soon as is humanly possible. Also, although I had originally planned for this to be a two-part fic, my plot bunnies decided to hit me with a bunch of other plot possibilities. So it’s probably gonna end up three parts. Therefore, if you want to read the continuation, you guys’ll just have to follow on my blog or something once SasuSakuFestival is over. I hope to post the next chapter within the week :P

__________________________________

“Indra.”

Sasuke repeats the name slowly, sounding out the syllables as if the word is completely foreign to him. There is a deceptive calm in his voice, as if he is putting every shred of his considerable concentration into not reacting to Sakura’s tale.

“It’s…it’s not exactly a common name, is it?” she murmurs tentatively, hanging on to that tiny shred of hope that’s taken root since she awoke in a terrified sweat.

“No.”

They regard each other in heavy silence. Neither knows quite what to make of this development.

“Do you…” she begins, then pauses, because the question is utterly ridiculous and there’s no possible way… And yet. “Do you remember any of it?”

She doesn’t know what exactly Sasuke saw or experienced when he interacted with the Sage of Six Paths, whether the transfer of his chakra also meant a transfer of memories. It’s not a time they speak of very often.

“No. Whatever I knew that day disappeared quickly,” Sasuke tells her quietly.

“Oh.” She wraps her arms around herself. “So why am I dreaming this then? If anyone should be dreaming about you – past-you – it should be you. Or Naruto even. Unless –” She peeks up at him. “Maybe it’s my past life?”

“Then why are you only experiencing it now, after everything we’ve seen?” he counters, the calm from earlier giving way to something sharp.

“I don’t know,” she admits. “It does kind of seem like something the Sage of Six Paths should have mentioned when we all met. But what else could it be? It’s like I’m her, Sasuke.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrow in contemplation, jaw clenched and she swears she can hear him grinding his teeth. She reaches out – it’s instinctive to want to comfort him, even though she’s the one who woke upset – and places a soothing hand on his shoulder. The other automatically covers her still flat stomach.

Sasuke’s eyes follow the movement, and then snap back to her face.

“The dreams didn’t start until you found out you were pregnant,” he says in a low tone.

“It’s possible,” she allows.

“That’s the connection,” he muses, almost to himself, staring into the distance like he is seeing something she can’t. “He is the ancestor of the Uchiha…you’re carrying the next generation…it has to have something to do with that.”

“You really think so?” Sakura asks. The idea is unsettling.

“Do you have any other explanation?” he replies, almost harsh. The calm from earlier has begun to erode.

“Well, no, but we can’t just jump to conclusions,” she reasons. “Maybe it’s just…maybe every woman in your clan has dreams like this. Or…or maybe only women who are about to give birth to someone of Indra’s bloodline. Or ���”

“Or maybe it’s because I’m Indra’s reincarnation that it’s happening,” Sasuke interrupts, running a hand across his face in agitation. His right eye flickers briefly between red and black. “Of course, we’ll never know for sure and there’s no one to ask because –”

“Sasuke, stop,” she cuts him off, taking hold of his hand. She squeezes it, trying to transmit some sense of calm, despite the fact that his obvious panic is frightening her. She has never seen him lose composure like this, and her immediate instinct is to put a stop to it. “It’s not something worth getting worked up about. These are dreams. Dreams that might not even be real, and are probably just my mind shoving together a bunch of information. You know, odd facts I know about you and me and maybe some of the plot from that horrible romance novel I was reading. If it helps, I’ll stop reading it.”

“Sakura –”

“Let’s not worry too much about unwanted commentary from dead people, okay?” She makes a face. “And that is a sentence I never though I would say.

The look Sasuke gives her now is equal parts awed and disbelieving.

“You are taking this remarkably well,” he says, sounding almost accusing.

Sakura tosses her hair. “I told you, didn’t I? The day we met the Sage of Six Paths? Nothing will ever surprise me again.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” he says stonily. “Are you sure you don’t know any sleeping draughts you could take? Just to stop the dreams until we know more.”

“Nothing that wouldn’t harm the baby,” she confides. “Relax, darling. I’m sure this is all just a big coincidence. We’re reading too much into it.”

“I’ll have to watch out for you better. Until there’s a way to protect you from this, I need to know everything you see.”

Sakura snorts at this. “Right, and what exactly are you going to do, pry my eyes open when you think I’m having a nightmare and use the…Sharingan…to…Ehhh!” She sees the subtle shift in his expression. “You’re actually th– no! No, no, no! You can’t do that!”

“I wasn’t going to. I was just…considering.”

“Well, considering me breaking your nose!”

“Using the Sharingan that way wouldn’t be possible anyhow.”

“Possible or impossible, that’s never going to happen! You promise me right now, or I’ll put you down so hard, losing an arm will look like a bee sting!”

Sasuke’s skin turns a shade paler, and he nods.

眠り

Sakura might have quelled at least some of Sasuke’s fears, but she isn’t as confident as she pretends. The idea that the fetus inside her is connected to as dark and tragic a past as Indra Ōtsutsuki is worrisome, but at the same time…

She has to admit she’s curious.

That doesn’t stop her being relieved when the dreams inexplicably stop bringing her to the strange beach. Her nightly visions become vague again, bursts of colour and emotion, occasionally faces that are familiar to her but inconsequential. She still experiences the frustrating moments of abuse, attacks from a faceless father and sister; her experiences paralyse her as she sleeps, and leave her irritated upon waking. But overall, there is such a vague and hurried quality to these that she suspects she is experiencing time passing.

This pattern continues long enough that it’s almost a shock when she falls asleep one night and finds herself once more in a completely lucid, detailed dream.

She is sitting uncomfortably at a table in a richly decorated room, and the dim memories Sakura can access suggest that her attendance here is rare, perhaps even only occasionally required. Sitting across from her are two people whose presence not only disheartens her – the small, curious part of her had been hoping to meet Indra again – but also fills her with overwhelming wariness.

 “There’s talk among the court of a newcomer,” Father says as the servants place their meals before them. “A man of great talent, said to be the son of a wise sage from the East. They say he can call lightning from the sky and breathe fire like the dragons of old.”

“It would be useful to have such a man beholden to you,” Older Sister remarks, sounding bored as she picks at her food.

“Yes, it is better to be on the side of a demon than in his path. Should the stories of this man be true, I intend to offer him alliance. I am told he is young and ambitious. Command of my armies should sway his loyalty. Or, perhaps, marriage.”

Older Sister scowls. “Marriage to a foreigner won’t grow the coffers of this land.”

“Maybe not, but talents he is said to be able to teach could,” Father says. “I am confident you’ll do your duty, daughter.” He then suddenly turns and barks, “What’s that look for, Shachi? Have you something to say?”

They are both looking at her now and she realises that she is Shachi.

Her lips part. “If…if…”

“If…if…if…” Older Sister mocks. Sakura inwardly snarls, knowing if she had control of her body right now, she would wipe the floor with the painted doll before her.

 “I-If Older Sister doesn’t wish to marry h-him, I w-would take on th-that duty, F-Father. If it would p-please you.”

He snorts. “Dishonour an important man with a concubine’s spawn instead of the heiress to the land? I intend to court an ally, not lend insult. Keep your ridiculous opinions to yourself. Don’t make me regret my generosity in allowing you to sit at my table.”

“As you wish, Father.” She bows.

“May the gods soon find me a man who can look past your whore of a mother’s legacy and take you off my hands,” he grumbles to himself.

Sakura – Shachi – looks down at her knees, shoulders sinking.

Older Sister sniggers. “Oh, don’t look so downcast. Besides, if the stories of this stranger is true, he attracts many followers. Maybe someone among the riffraff will take an interest in you.”

The two of them laugh, leaving Sakura – Shachi – clenching her fists.

夢

They are at the back of an izakaya, scouring dishes from a busy dinner rush; they don’t have any money tonight, and in exchange for a room they’re helping with hostess out. Sasuke washes, Sakura dries. There has been nothing but companionable silence until she breaks it.

“Can I…can I ask you something?”

“Hm.”

 “It’s about your brother,” she goes on, hesitant, because the topic is a difficult one, and usually provides some cue for him to make an escape. She’s hoping soapy hands make that a little harder this time.

From the tense set of his shoulders, she knows he’s already planning bolt, and she hurriedly continues.

“It’s about your relationship before – before all of it. You never talk about it, and you don’t have to now, I just…I never had an older brother or sister, so I don’t know myself. I was wondering…is it normal for an older sibling to hate the younger one?”

She winces, because it still came out awkwardly, and she bets he’s going to ignore it, because it’s not exactly what she was asking but –

“For a long time, I thought so,” Sasuke answers in a low voice. “But over time, I learned it’s the exception, not the rule.”

She exhales at this. “Oh.”

“Why do you ask?”

“No reason. Just thinking.”

“Sakura.”

She scowls, because he’s getting a lot better at reading her voice. Or maybe he always could, now he just chooses to react to it.

“It’s something I noticed in my dream –”

“You had another one?” he interrupts sharply, nearly dropping one of the bowls in his hand.

“Yes – and no, I haven’t seen him again, if that’s what you want to know. Don’t you think I’d tell you right away?”

“Hn.”

“Well, I would. I just…haven’t had to say anything lately because nothing happened. I don’t think he’s in the picture right now. But this – the person I am in my dreams – her name is Shachi, I think.” She peeks at him. “Does that sound familiar to you?”

Since their conversation about a possible past life or odd Uchiha-specific pregnancy quirk, she has found it easier to ask him these questions. After all, between the two of them, he’s the only one who has a definite link to whatever it is she’s dreaming.

He closes his eyes, frowning in concentration, then shakes his head. “I feel as if I’ve heard the name before, but it could be from anywhere.”

He’s right, they meet enough new people every day, perhaps it’s a name they’ve encountered in their travels.

“It’s just, her family – or, I guess the people who raised her – they treat her so badly. It’s as if she’s beneath them, and I don’t…I don’t understand how family can do that,” she exclaims, frustrated. “How can someone not protect their younger sibling? How can a parent not love their child? I can’t imagine a world where you look at our baby like he – or she – means nothing.”

“It would never happen.”

He says it so instantly and certainly that she feels a wave of pure joy wash over her, and she offers him a loving smile. “I know that. But in my dream –”

“You said yourself your mind might just be processing things,” Sasuke continues. “You’ve mentioned feeling weak, held back. It’s possible that you’re drawing on experiences you’ve actually lived and your brain is interpreting them in the simplest way.”

Sakura shoots him a suspicious look. “You’ve been reading my medical scrolls, haven’t you? The psychology ones?”

“They offer the most logical explanation to all this.”

She sighs. “Darling, you can’t search for clues based on the answer you want.”

“It’s not what I want. It’s what it could be. And all of this could simply be a quirk of your dreams.”

They work in silence for a spell.

“You don’t really think it is, do you?” she asks eventually.

A pause.

“No.”

“So, if it is something that happened, why do you think she’s treated so badly?”

“Back then, people saw children differently. A means to an end, a legacy.”

“And what’s our child?”

Sasuke holds her gaze, no trace of doubt there, and simply says, “Hope.”

眠り

For some reason, after this conversation, the tone of her dreams changes. Her awareness of being in a dream fades faster. Memories of an entire life crowd out her identity during waking hours, and so when the stranger arrives in their land, her first reaction – Shachi’s first reaction – is of surprise.

Even though she shouldn’t be. Because there aren’t many men who can control lightning, after all, and there is such a commanding air about him that the idea of him as the leader her father spoke of is not impossible.

The day he steps foot in her father’s court is grey and overcast, inauspicious in it’s normalcy, and yet her body – both in her dream and her present self – feels taut with awareness. He arrives quietly, with little pomp, into Father’s audience chamber. If he notices her sitting on the dais by her sister’s feet, he gives no indication, his every attention focussed on the lord of the land.

He says very little, and yet before the audience is over, everyone knows who he is: Lord Indra of the Eastern Lands, a master in the secret arts. He is well-spoken and a warrior by bearing and – based on Older Sister’s expression upon seeing him for the first time – an acceptable possible match.

He seeks followers, those he will impart with teachings, and who he intends to make stronger, asks only for the freedom to recruit whoever he wants.

“My methods are difficult,” he warns quietly, “and only those willing to lay down their lives in dedication will succeed. In exchange, I will instruct the soldiers in your armies as well.”

Father is beside himself – this is exactly what he wanted, after all – and the accord is soon settled. He celebrates by throwing a lavish banquet in Lord Indra’s honour, despite the obvious fact that the young man has no use for the gesture. He appears restless and impatient, as if he wishes to get started on his mission as soon as possible.

Sakura – Shachi? – watches him with wide eyes, thinking on the helpless man she nursed back to health, the one who could have killed her but didn’t. As frightened as she is by him, she can’t fight down her interest.

He notices her watching him and looks up, holding her gaze. Her entire body tenses, and she feels as if she’s looking into the eyes of a snake moments before it strikes. She can’t look away until he does, and once free, her entire body shivers. Her breath comes in sharp bursts and she wonders if, perhaps, he hasn’t used some of his strange power on her.

夢

“It sounds like genjutsu,” Sasuke as he sets up a wire-trap.

“I don’t think so,” Sakura muses, leaning against a nearby tree. “He wouldn’t need to use that on her. She’s too afraid. Too docile. You only use genjutsu on someone if you expect resistance.”

She and Sasuke exchange a tense look, both of them acknowledging a bitter shared memory.

Sasuke grunts and hops down from the tree.

“When we’re done here, we’re heading to that temple we passed. Maybe there will be someone there who can explain why you’re seeing this.”

“We might as well stop at a hospital too and have me speak to a bunch of therapists,” she deadpans. “I don’t think anyone is going to have answers on this one.”

Sasuke scowls. “So, your strategy is to wait and see?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t accept that.��

“Well, tough. While I’m incubating the tiny human, I make the rules. And as of right now, I’m not in any actual medical danger, and other than being annoying and sometimes confusing, what I see when I’m asleep isn’t affecting my health in any way.”

“Yet.”

This time it’s Sakura who scowls. “Need I remind you of your history of overreacting?”

Which Sasuke can’t exactly argue with, and so he settles on beleaguered silence while they set up the remainder of the traps.

She sighs to herself and wonders if there’s a point to keeping him updating about her dreams if he’s just going to get so upset about them. And she definitely doesn’t want to admit to him that the longer these dreams continue, and the more often she has them, the more she feels as if she’s living a completely different life.

“Sasuke…I know there’s no way to be one-hundred percent sure about all of this, but…would it be so bad?” He stares at her, askance. “If this actually was my past life. It would just mean that I’ve care for you longer than be both thought.”

“You know it would mean more than that. You know that it’s a story that doesn’t end happily.”

“We don’t know if that’s completely true.”

“He broke everything he touched,” her husband says darkly. “He had everything, and just…” He cuts off, making a disgusted sound. “Because of him, my family… because of him I did the same. Might still do the same. What if this is a reminder, a warning, that I’m going to break this too?”

The question is so soft, so distressingly uncertain that for a moment Sakura doesn’t have an answer.

Sasuke very rarely shows any type of vulnerability, and to this day she is certain she is the only one alive who has ever seen that part of him. What makes this particular display so heartbreaking is that she knows he isn’t even asking it for his own sake, but for their child’s.

Tears fill her eyes, but she holds them back. Crying right now will do nothing to help him; she swore long ago that when he was struggling, she would support him. And if that means shrugging off her puzzling dreams, so be it.

“I never thought you were the superstitious type,” she says, trying to break the tensions with levity.

Sasuke scowls. “It’s hard not to be when your past life decides to haunt your wife’s dreams.”

She smiles. The fact that he sounds so waspish is a good sign.

“Come here,” she says, and without giving him opportunity to resist, she presses his hand above her womb. “Listen to me: you are not going to break this.” He opens his mouth, and she drowns him out. “No – listen. You are not going to break this. I don’t break easy, and you can summon a giant chakra monster to protect yourself. This child? Half you, half me. Definitely not breakable.”

He still doesn’t look entirely reassured, but the tense set to his shoulders fades somewhat.

眠り

Lord Indra becomes a guest in their kingdom, permitted to walk among the people and seek students. He accepts any who come to him, man or woman, and weeds out the weak. Many of them die – strangely enough, it’s usually the soldiers that Father sends who are unable to succeed – and yet still more continue to seek him out.

He is the only one who knows this strange, magical teaching. He calls it ninshu, yet when he says it there is a sneer in his voice, as the very name offends him.

She finds this odd, but Father doesn’t care. As he sees it, his kingdom will soon grow to rule over all the rest, if only he can convince Lord Indra to remain here instead of moving on. Older Sister preens and poses, trying to entice a smile from the sullen faced stranger, and taking it out on Shachi when he doesn’t.

No…I’m…Sakura?

That name seems so distant to her when she is here, when she is Shachi. Though she knows this is but a dream, she feels tethered to it as much as if it were real.

She watches Lord Indra from the sidelines. Although drawn to him, longing for him to acknowledge her again, or at least thank her for saving his life, she feels safer in the shadows. Sometimes, he is apparently alone, training or meditating by himself, and yet when she makes a move to approach him, she imagines she hears someone speaking to him. Whenever this happens, she hurries away. After all, their last encounter up-close is fresh in her mind, and as compelled as she is to seek him out, she is also afraid of him.

And so she keeps away, watching his training sessions from the protection of the forest.

Sometimes she is caught, receiving a reprimand or a beating from her father, but these days both are more an afterthought; Father only cares about her whereabouts when someone reminds him, and Older Sister, only if she notices her. For the most part, she is free to watch the stranger as she wishes.

Lord Indra teaches with brutal efficiency. He never raises his voice above a murmur, yet retains perfect control over his students. He can make a simple nod feel as if he has fallen to his knees in praise, and a derisive glare make a man want to fall on his sword to avoid dishonour.

Several do.

Only once he is satisfied with their ability to maintain discipline and control does he teach them the new abilities. Shachi watches as men learn to bend water in their hands, or call up mounds of earth like fangs from the ground. Some command the wind and others turn blades of grass into needles. With a flash of his red eyes he instructs them all, precise instructions, having them repeat them over and over, making motions with his hands as he does.

She mouths along his words, trying to capture the sound of his voice in her mind. When he speaks normally – not threatening her life as he did that day on the beach – his voice is pleasant, inviting. Despite the danger he represents, he makes her feel safe, and that is something she isn’t used to feeling.

From her place in the shadows, she makes the hand gestures as well, arranging her fingers until she can do it perfectly. Soon she does it without noticing, can allow herself to just listen to the sound of his voice as he instructs. One day, his words seem closer to her than usual, even though he is so far away, and she closes her eyes, imagines that he is watching her, not his students, is telling her –

You build up chakra, stop it once it collects between the mouth and the chest area. Once you have enough, you release it all at once.

She inhales deeply, focussing on the warmth in her chest, and then breathes out.

To her absolute shock and horror, flames spew from between her lips and incinerate the tree in front of her.

She stumbles backward in shock and fear, unable to believe what just happened. She takes a split second to look around, to see if anyone saw her, and then takes off at a run, pulling her cumbersome skirts to her knees and stumbling back through the forest.

In the distance, she hears people calling out, confused shouting, demands for water. Commotion as students try to put out the flames with buckets, or with their new chakra wielding talents, she isn’t sure, because she keeps on running –

Only to find her way blocked by Lord Indra.

His eyes blaze at her and she recoils, dropping to her knees and bowing her forehead to the ground.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to – I didn’t even realise I was – please don’t tell me father, I – I’ll never do it again –”

“How long did it take you?” he interrupts.

She blinks at that, chancing a glance up at him. “M-my lord?”

“You have been watching for weeks but you have never attempted anything before,” he informs her, earnings a small squeak of surprise. “Today you tried. How long did it take you.”

“I-I… not long. I just… I listened to what you said, and I tried it.”

 “Hm.”

He gives her an inscrutable look, like he’s considering something he hadn’t before, and she bows her head again. “I didn’t meant to hurt anyone or cause trouble.”

She is aware of the sound of feet near her ear, and when she looks up he has begun to walk away, back to the training grounds. She isn’t sure if she imagines it or not when he mutter, “Next time don’t stand next to a tree.”

夢

“You forgot again, didn’t you?”

Sakura scowls at the gash in Sasuke’s leg, the product of a stray flail and misguided intentions. The villagers in this part of the country are so wary of strangers, they attacked before letting Sakura explain herself. Sasuke, of course, instinctively pushed her out of the way, but ended up with another limb nearly being severed.

“Forgot what?” he grumbles, observing as her fingers glow green over the skin there.

“That you don’t have to protect me,” she chides him. “Even if I didn’t have a basic capacity to dodge, a flail isn’t going to hurt me.”

“Maybe not, but as far as I know, your regenerative abilities don’t apply to the baby,” he reminds her. “You’re not as invincible as you’re used to being.”

Sakura blinks at this, surprise waylaying the retort on her lips.

He’s right.

For a minute, she did forget.

It’s all so new – the changes in her body, the adjustments she’s had to make. No more chakra suppressors, she can’t drink coffee anymore, she’s tired more often – it sometimes feel so disconnected to her. Some days she is completely aware of the new life within her, unable to stop thinking about it, and other days, when everything gets so busy and confusing – like today – she forgets. Even looking in the mirror is deceptive – she doesn’t look pregnant at all, even with her clothes off.

There is movement to the left, and she glances up as two young girls carry in buckets of water; she smiles at them gratefully, earning half-awed, half-shy expressions in return, and then they hurry off.

The villagers backed off when she sent a crushing blow to the ground, forcing them to retreat if they didn’t want to fall into the broken earth. Upon watching her lean down to heal him before he bled out, they finally realised that she was a healer and spent the rest of the evening apologising profusely. They even insisted on putting her and Sasuke up for as long as they wanted to stay, hence the small apartment where they are currently staying.

They even carried Sasuke back here on a litter so she could preserve her healing abilities. He nearly threw a fit at that (he still hates appearing weak in any way) but the people felt so terribly about it, Sakura insisted they go along with it.

Somewhat out of deference to this, she decides to relent a bit.

“I’m sorry,” she tells him, checking the progression of closing skin. “I’ll try to be more careful in the future.”

“Hm.”

“I’m just not used to hanging back. It’s been a while since I had to stay out of the direct line of danger.”

“I know.”

He finally relaxes, however, allowing his eyes to close and breath to even out. As if he didn’t expect her to take it easy until she said the words.

Ridiculous man…

She shakes her head, considering the calm picture he provides. It reminds her of those first few dreams she had, of healing Indra on that beach.

Sasuke’s former incarnation is starkly different than he is, she realises that now. He watched her – watched Shachi – with the distrustful gaze of someone who expected her to be incompetent or treacherous. Sasuke’s attention is intent, but in a different sense – watchful and wary for the sake of he health, not his.

As if being pregnant made her breakable.

She’s forgotten what it’s like to need to be protected. It makes her nightly sojourns in the life and mind of Shachi all the more confusing.

The other woman is such a stark contrast from her. Docile, obedient, hesitant – all of these are qualities she either never possessed or grew out of in her early childhood. Their very nature is utterly opposite.

In fact, even their ability to use chakra is completely different, judging from the way they learned to use it. Shachi’s first act was so powerful, charged enough to destroy an entire tree. Sakura remembers the first time she used ninjutsu, she had to try her hardest just to manage a passable substitution.

And that’s another thing. It’s not just their different temperaments. Why does Sakura have an affinity for water, when Shachi is clearly more suited to fire? Isn’t that the type of thing that should carry over?

“Not necessarily.”

Sakura jumps, realising suddenly that she has been musing out loud the hold time. Sasuke is frowning at her thoughtfully.

“The goal of reincarnation is to be reborn as a better self. Perhaps it means stronger, as well. Water is superior to fire.”

“Oh.”

“I take it you’re dreaming of him again then?” he asks, voice entirely too casual.

Sakura looks away, caught out. She’s been trying to avoid bringing it up because she knows it upsets him. “Only recently. Only last night, really. It’s a little confusing, so I didn’t say anything until I could get my thoughts in order.”

“I’m not going anywhere for the next little while,” he reminds her, nodding to his leg. It’s completely healed by now, and she shoots him an amused look. He raises an eyebrow, as if challenging her to call him on it. “Tell me what you dreamed.”

“As long as you don’t get upset every time I talk about Indra.”

His jaw clenches but he nods. “Fine.”

眠り

Eventually Father grows tired of Lord Indra skirting the issue. He wants to ensure everlasting loyalty, wants someone who will train and preside over his army in perpetuity.

In front of the whole court, he offers a permanent, eternal bond between them.

“My daughter, Shibasuri,” he declares proudly, gesturing to Older Sister. “She will make a fine wife, and through her, your children will be the heirs of my land.”

Every other man in the court seethes at this, because Lord Indra may be strong, but he is a foreigner. And more than a few covet Older Sister for themselves.

But the solemn stranger shows no interest in either offering.

“I have no interest in possessing this land,” he says quietly, his words easily audible in the stunned silence. “And I have no need of a woman who revels in her looks and is ignorant to the world. A creature whose body is starved to uselessness in pursuit of fashion, who will never be fatted with child.”

Older Sister makes a noise born of incandescent fury, and Father turns scarlet in anger.

“You dare – !”

But Lord Indra has turned away from both, and instead his gaze falls upon the crowd.

Upon her as she stand with her guardians.

“I will take this one instead,” he declares imperiously. “On that condition I will remain here.”

She gasps, because this makes no sense. He has never, ever given any indication of seeing her, let alone –

“Shachi?” Father inquires, confusion dampening his anger. “Why would you…? She is of lower status, not of any importance – ”

“I will hear her answer,” Indra interrupts. “And if she has no wish for wedlock, I will take my leave with any disciple that will follow.”

There’s a stunned silence then, a dangerous note of expectation in this, and then the whispering begins. Already the members of the court are wagging their tongues, expressing surprise and glee at this turn of events. They imagine blackmail, a play for power from a younger daughter, a secret love –

It is none of these things. From her weeks observing him, she knows that Lord Indra has his own mind, his own plans that he follows. If he prefers her over her beautiful older sister, there is a reason, and not one as basic and superfluous as caring for her.

Older Sister glowers at her, as if Shachi has indeed done something to organise all of this, and Father frowns at her with a look in his eye that promises a lifetime of broken bones if she doesn’t accept.

He needn’t bother, because she knew the instant that Lord Indra spoke, what her answer was going to be.

Even so, it feels as if she is signing the death warrant of her fate when she whispers, “I accept.”

夢

Sakura stretches a hand over her head, making a high-pitched, purring noise at the back of her throat, and then relaxes once more, head pillowed on Sasuke’s blanket-clad inner thigh. They lie head-to-foot, naked and sated, the smell of sex still lingering in the air.

Sasuke is on his side, his face pressed against one side of her abdomen, his hand curved around the other. His eyes are closed, and his mouth is pulled into a not-quite-smile of tranquility. It’s far too early for any kind of kicking to be felt – for anything to be heard – but it doesn’t seem to matter to Sasuke. Sakura’s own smile is gentle as she reaches forward, brushing his hair back from his face. He cracks his right eye open and there’s that brief look – soft, content and happy – and then he closes it again.

It’s a look that’s reserved only for her and, she knows, their future child, and which encompasses everything. Even though he rarely says it – only when she has him reduced to panting, overwhelmed gasps as she did minutes earlier – she feels the unquestionable love he has for her. Seeing it fills her with warmth from the inside, because it’s something she never truly believed she would experience.

It makes her feel guilty for asking him, once, if the only reason he wanted to be with her was to repopulate his clan. Sasuke was, by then, a changed man.

Such a difference from the man in her dreams.

She wonders about him. His temperament, his motives, his relationship with Shachi…

“Why do you think he chose her?”

“Hm?” Sasuke’s voice is low and rough from sleep.

“Indra,” Sakura clarifies dimly, gazing up at the wooden ceiling. “He washes up in this strange land, tries to kill her, disappears, then comes back. And her father offers him practically the world, anything a guy back then would want, and he throws it back in his face over Shachi. A girl he barely even spoke a hundred words to.” She shakes her head in confusion. “That’s something a person does for the one they love, but I don’t…do you think he was even capable of it at that point?”

“Capable of?”

“Love.”

Sasuke is silent for a long moment, leaving her wondering if he intends to answer the question. Then he says, “I don’t think it was possible in the way you understand it.”

“Meaning?”

“After being betrayed – or rather, after deciding he had been betrayed – by Hagoromo and Ashura, he would have been more guarded than ever. He wouldn’t have been capable of feeling for her what…” He trails off here, his voice becoming more quiet, more furtive, “For what I feel for you.”

She doesn’t acknowledge the admission beyond a soft smile – he gets defensive and grumpy if she makes a big deal out of moments like this.

Instead, she returns to the topic. “So why choose her?”

“She did help him. He may have seen it as repaying a debt.”

“But he also said she reminded him of being weak. And she was weak. Wouldn’t the likelier choice have been the older sister? The one with status?”

“A man like him would chose a bride more suited to his purposes. You told me she had the ability to use chakra – which she learned just by observing his teachings,” Sasuke points out. “To members of my clan, Shachi would be the more sought-after candidate.”

Sakura considers this, and then nods. “That make sense.”

“I don’t believe it was the whole reason though.”

She shoots him a confused look.

“He might have seen her as a parallel of himself,” Sasuke continues, thoughtful. “A child mistreated by family. In his view, he was betrayed by his; this girl, she’s the scapegoat of her own kin – and for an utterly underserved reason, based on what you’ve told me.”

“But in that case, wouldn’t it make more sense to kill her family? Why agree to a marriage with her? An actual link to these people?”

“I have no doubt he had some kind of long-term motive. However…I suspect it may have been different than anything he actively planned.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s entirely possible, she provided him with something he didn’t even realise he was missing,” Sasuke tells her, staring off into the distance. “As far gone as he was, he needed something to ground him. When Indra first awakened his abilities, he was strong because he was protecting someone precious. His brother. And he remained strong, even as he became more drawn to the darkness, because he always thought he had the support of his father and brother. When that was gone – when Hagoromo named Ashura as his successor – for the first time in his life, he was truly alone. When you have as much power as he did, and as much hatred, you need something to justify your actions – some goal that makes everything else you do worthwhile.”

She knows now that he is speaking of himself, and not Indra. Of how his love for his brother drove him to commit horrible acts.

“Then he meets this girl, and she’s obviously drawn to him, and she helps him,” Sakura suggests. “And he keeps seeing her, and he knows she’s in a bad situation, so he starts to feel what it’s like to have someone trust in him again.”

It sounds far too plausible, and Sakura shivers. She doesn’t like the idea of Indra using Shachi’s misfortune for himself, but at the same time, she knows that the other woman – this shrinking violet – would see it as an opportunity to escape. In a way, the two are saving each other, even if they don’t know it.

“Hm.” Sasuke nods here. “She is someone who will be utterly loyal to him – both because of who she is as a person, and because as a wife, it is her duty to be subservient to his will.”

Sakura lifts her head and shoots him a sardonic smirk. “Oh, so I have to be subservient to you now?”

“…I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I may incriminate myself.”

“Damn right,” she nods, falling back, and then squeaks indignantly when he tweaks her left nipple in retribution. She slaps his hand away and then jabs a finger in his general direction. “Don’t start something if you don’t intend to follow through.”

Sasuke snorts. “Who said I didn’t intend to follow through?”

眠り

The wedding approaches, and for the first time in her entire life, Shachi finds herself treated according to her station.

She is bathed in scented waters and anointed with rich oils, adorned in silks and jewels, and fed the finest foods that her servants tease will ensure she bears healthy children.

Older Sister lingers resentfully in the background, while father busies himself with the preparations. Whatever he felt for her in the past, whatever he feels for her now, his greed for the power Lord Indra can provide has increased tenfold since seeing what the young man can do. He pretends like he has never resented her, calls her his “beloved child” and introduces her to visiting dignitaries.

The wedding is meant to be lavish, a way of showcasing Father’s current wealth, and offer hint of what it might become. In this, he is able to stand up to Lord Indra’s more frugal nature. For his part, the prospective bridegroom is nowhere to be found and makes no effort to involve himself in the affair; he continues to train in the courtyards up until the day of the ceremony.

That morning, she is woken at dawn and bathed. Her handmaidens draw long black ribbons of henna across her forehead and face, crisscrossing around her neck and again above her breasts, winding down her arms and legs as if she has been encircled by a snake. Her hair is braided with freshly picked cherry blossoms, and golden rings are fitted around her wrists, neck, fingers and even one through her nose. It all feels heavy and cumbersome but she knows better than to complain. The bridal gown is of red silk, the only garment she has ever worn that was not one of her sister’s castoffs, and the final touch is a purple, rhombus-shaped jewel set in the centre of her forehead.

Father walks her down the aisle at a quick pace, as if worried that the longer he takes, the sooner his future son-in-law may change his mind. Older Sister holds her veil for her, and as she goes to sit at her place, sneers quietly, “Do not think your life will be without hardship.”

Lord Indra stands at the front of the assembled guests, bored and irritated, and he doesn’t even acknowledge her when she is beside him. The high priest begins the ceremony, raising the sacred marriage cup before them, his words washing over her.

Shachi’s mind is strangely blank at this, either from disbelief or fear for the future, and Sakura feels more present in the moment than she has in months. The marriage ritual is very different from any she has ever seen, from her own wedding to Sasuke, and while she is uneasy about the circumstances, she can’t help being fascinated.

The priest places a smooth, obsidian rock – taken from the sacred river of their land – and wishes them an enduring and lasting union. He pours wine and honey as well, wishing fertility and health, and then takes their hands, lightly pricking their palms over the rim of the cup, to signify the mingling of their blood now and in the future. Then, he passes it first to Lord Indra, who will be master of the union.

Her bridegroom takes a tip – barely wets his lips – and passes it back. His expression never changes, and he still doesn’t look at her.

Then the cup is in front of her face, the priest reminds her of her duties as wife now. She begins to lift the cup to her lips as well –

Lord Indra chokes suddenly, and doubles over.

There is stunned silence all around, the high priest stares in wide-eyed horror, and there are gasps from the other guest.

“My lord?” she whispers, reaching for him. “Are you…?”

His eyes snap toward her, flickering red and black and she gasps. But it isn’t the Sharingan that have her shocked. Instead, she rapidly takes in the sight of his features – pupils dilated, mouth slackening, a bluish tint around his lips.

“Poison!” she cries, because she can’t do anything else here. “He’s been poisoned!” Her head whips around, looking for someone who might help. “Fetch a healer!”

Father appears shell-shocked, slow to realise what is happening, and Older Sister –

She stands to one side, smirking and with a look in her eyes that is all-too-knowing.

“You…” Sakura – Shachi? – realises. “Why would you – ?”

Indra begins to convulse, and the answer never comes. Instead, she falls to her knees, trying to hold his flailing arms as he convulses. Shachi is terrified, that fear returning her to full control, pushing Sakura’s awareness down again, but she refuses to allow this.

You can stay out of this right now, or he’s going to die!

She focusses her attention – sees the cup dropped by the priest, liquid spilling out. The sacred rock as rolled a few inches away as well, leaving a strange, chalky residue.

So that’s what it was. Poison in the marriage cup.  Indra wasn’t the only intended victim.

Her mind flips through a mental catalogue of poisons, all while calculating the amount of time it will take before he dies. Given how fast he reacted, the chalky nature, the blue veins on the mouth

“Ainu,” she determines. It’s a relative of aconite, albeit much more potent. There isn’t much out there that can save him, and in the limited time she has, she doubt’s she’ll be able to find –

Then she freezes, remembering herself.

No way. No way could it be that much of a coincidence.

Her hands fly to her hair, tugging out the delicate blossoms there. Cherry blossoms have some healing properties, but aren’t used very often in antidotes –

Except in cases of ainu poisoning.

She doesn’t pause to dwell on the improbability of it all. Instead, she begins to crush up the petals – in her fingers at first, then an idea occurs to her and she puts them in her mouth, chewing them into a pulp and leaning forward to press her lips against his. As she pushes the petal paste into his mouth, she wills her chakra into him as well, calling up every bit of her concentration to do so. She visualises her energy moving into him, chasing the poison through his veins and overtaking it.

She doesn’t find out if she succeeds or not, because that’s when she suddenly loses her control. All of her concentration, all of her focus in helping him, recoils like an elastic band. She is once more, no more than a passenger, and Indra gives one last violent tremor, and then goes still.

Someone emits of a moan of grief.

It takes a stunned second for Sakura to realise the sound came from her. To understand that her dream self is weeping, throwing herself over Indra’s chest. This man, who she saved, who in demanding her hand offered her a future away from the abuses of her blood kin, and now he has left her before there was even a chance.

Tears streaming from her eyes, she looks up as Father demands of Older Sister, “What were you thinking? You’ve ruined it all!”

“I have done nothing but save you from a charlatan,” she replies airily. “He had no interest in becoming your right hand, Father, he would have taken his students and left you with ease. And if he truly intended to honour your wishes, he would have accepted the bride you offered, not that.” She tosses her hair. “Now, we have men who have sworn oaths of loyalty to you, who know of his teachings, and they won’t tempted to disappear with their wandering master.”

Father’s expression becomes thoughtful at this, and he nods slowly.

“Besides,” Older Sister goes on, a cruel set to her mouth. “He gave me insult, in public, and that is something that cannot be abided. How dare – ”

But her words are quickly and brutally cut short.

A bolt of lightning rips through the ceremonial hall, through her shoulder and out her heart, leaving a bloodied and black hole in its place. Shachi screams in horror, staring at the shocked expression on Older Sisters face as her body crumples to the ground. Father’s bellow of surprise turns to terror, and she understands why, because Indra is alive.

He shrugs her off and stands, moving like the lightening that just passed through her sister’s body, and grabbing Father by the throat.

“Those who break oaths are scum. Those who betray their own blood are worse than scum,” he growls. “And that cup was meant for her as much as it was for me.” It’s the only warning he gives before twisting his fingers, snapping the man’s neck. “A man who makes a move against me makes a proclamation that he is my enemy. And I will not allow my enemies to live and take a second opportunity to weaken men.”

Eyes still blazing red fire, he turns to the stunned guests.

“Your lord is dead. Either rise up and avenge him, or flee. One of those choices will lead to a swift death, so choice wisely.”

As he takes a few steps down the procession toward the door, there is a flurry of movement. Guests and members of the court scatter, tripping over each other in their finery. She is left on her knees, gaping at his back, unsure what just happened.

Then, as he did before, he turn to face her once more.

“You have saved my life twice,” he tells her coolly. “And so I will offer you a choice. An opportunity. Save yourself. Forget this farce of a ceremony and ties you agreed to for their sake. Leave this place and seek a happier future, with a man who will offer you the respect and fondness you desire. Or –” his eyes darken back to black here, “come with.”

Her mouth parts in surprise at this.

“If you do, know that from this moment, you will be completely mine. And I am not a patient man. I am neither gentle nor kind, and your life will be one of duty. You will bring forth children to whom I can pass on my legacy. So long as you are loyal and obedient, I can make you a goddess by my side, but if you falter I will make their deaths look enviable.”

Terror and confusion make it hard to understand what he is saying to her. For several seconds, she can only stare from his intent face down to the corpses of her father and sister, turning over his words in her head.

And then it makes sense.

He is giving her a choice.

She has never, in her entire life, known what it is to make a decision that is not based on the will or needs of another. For the first time, she is free. She gets to decide what her destiny will be.

The gesture brings tears to her eyes, because she knows he is not a man who operates in choice. There is his will and death, but here he is, offering her the chance to leave that behind. And with the same certainty that he could stand against any of her father’s vassals who would challenge him, she knows he would let her walk away to a better life if she chose.

She wonders, as she takes his hand, if he realises how terrifyingly easy it is to make her decision.

__________________________________

つづく

To be continued in another prompt :)

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クリ