#then they offered sousuke as a counter

[fisheito]

"makotolookinass"

the intersection of nu: carnival and free! fans that are all here because of our favorite green haired hunks (himbos?) is so funny

but it kinda makes sense given that both nu: carnival and free! are both at their core about caring about the people closest to you and prevailing internal struggles

dang , anonn, you really cut thru all the glamours of distraction

in brief contrast, i feel like a simple creature. one who was dragged into the intersection simply because i saw some dudes with Unlikely Physiques

[oukabarsburgblr]

drabble...

FEATURING: AITO SOUSUKE (OC), DAISUKE YUICHI (OC) x male reader

After a particularly frustrating match, (m/n) sat on the bench, his head low and eyes furiously glaring at gym floor. Sousuke staring from a distance, his eyes wandered to his teammates before stepping over to his captain.

(m/n) was still fixated in his thoughts, emotions swirling behind those blank (e/c) and he was pulled back into reality seeing a pair of neon red gym shoes coming into his peripheral vision.

"…do you need something, Sousuke?"

"…"

Sousuke didnt say anything, his own hazel eyes still lingering on the mop of (h/c), more than a second before his hand reached out to lay on (m/n)'s head.

The (h/c)'s breath paused before he tried to look up but Sousuke's rigid hand pushed down, countering his movement. "It's okay." Sousuke whispered. "…you don't…" The ace tried saying something. Something comforting.

But Aito Sousuke was never good at words. He could only act. And he was frustrated at himself because right now maybe (m/n) needed words to soothe his storming thoughts. Daisuke was better at him than this. But he didn't care about Daisuke right now. He cared about (m/n).

(m/n) didnt say anything, opting to stare at the neon red that reflected off of the gym lights. His lips pressed into a tight line and a pathetic whimper escaped his throat.

His hands went to grip his own face, a brew of frustration came out from his chest in the form of angry tears as it slipped down on his lower lashes. "Fuck…" (m/n) cursed, not expecting his composure to crack.

Sousuke hands moved to rub (m/n)'s head, playing with his hair in an attempt to soothe the (h/c) as he moved closer to the captain, standing straight in front of the sitting former. "I…I'm sorry." He knew the (h/c) was embarassed to cry in front of people, always hiding away his feelings to his own, pummelling it all in his stomach like the world was disgused to see him cry. To see him feel like a normal human being.

Sousuke wouldn't. He would accept all the good and bad (m/n) had to offer. He thought his captain was beautiful in every way.

(m/n)'s hand went to grip the ace's jersey, his hand trembling as he leaned his head on Sousuke's torso, frustratingly wiping away more of his tears as more streaked down his (s/c) cheeks.

Sousuke's hand hesitated, but went forward anyways, rubbing the (h/c)'s back with minimal pressure. In an instant, (m/n) hugged the redhead with both of his hands, sobbing into the ace's jersey, wetting it more with his tears and sweat.

At this point, they had garnered looks. One of the juniors, Nakamura Jurou, staring at his captain with a pained expression. "(m/n)-san…" Sousuke didn't look back, caring and focusing on his beloved captain.

Haru stared at the two. His eyes wide as his lips trembled. He always knew there was something wrong. Something (m/n) wouldn't tell. They were such a close pair but (m/n) would shy away no matter how much he prodded.

Daisuke, the vice captain, stepped into the gym, his eyes fixated on the clipboard he went to retrieve. "(m/n)-!" He was about to call out for his captain but Haru stopped him. His own blue eyes gazed at Haru confused before he looked to where the middle blocker was looking.

A word didn't escape his lips. His eyes taking in the sight of his crush weeping in the arms of Sousuke, someone he hated but tolerated. He didn't hesitate to step forward, towards the pair as he kneeled beside the (h/c). Haru followed suit, his anxiousness escaping him as he offered a hand of comfort to his closest friends.

The juniors trickled in, asking questions of concern as they all attempted to soothe their beloved captain. The (h/c) only muttering apologies and hiccups while still harshly wiping away his tears.

Daisuke stopped his hand as he gently swiped his thumb on his puffy cheek. "We're here for you, (m/n)." The vice captain peered, in an attempt to look at his beloved's face and was met with bloodshot eyes with furrowing eyebrows. (m/n) only nodded as he pulled away from Sousuke's body as he groaned before he was bombarded by his teammates who was worried for their beloved captain, including Haru.

The ravenette turned his head to Sousuke, glaring at him. The latter locked eyes with a nonchalant stare. (m/n) who was still being comforted by his first years, rolled his eyes seeing the pair, wiping his wet cheeks.

[END SCENE]

Afterthoughts:

I made this a while back, before I made this account, before I wrote any of the ocs aus. I've been spiraling for the past few days and it felt right to post this. I have a lot of ideas for my fics, most of them I never got to finish and i'm sad about that. I think I'll just post the summary. Please take care of yourself and reach out to a close one for anything...

[baiika]

//I don't really get why so much of fanon incorporates like... ascension & godhood to Sousuke's zanpakutou. Like the entire thing is about trickery. So I'm going to dump my headcanon on it here!

I cannot impress this strongly enough; Sousuke is a depraved human being & his zanpakutou is a reflection of it. Topics of narcissistic abuse, homicide, violence, & surrealism are explored in depth. Reader discretion is advised.

Sousuke's inner world is a wetland rife with cranes. In the center is a Torii gate rotated forty-five degrees counter-clockwise & suspended midair. It's a representation of his zanpakutou turning everything topsy-turvy via illusions. The imagery is deliberately simple because, in reality, Sousuke is simple to understand.

Kyouka Suigetsu as the entity is an animated kimono. The kimono itself is red & painted with cranes in a wetland. Her "head" is a black orb with a purple eye in the center. It seemingly turns to meet Sousuke's gaze no matter how he's positioned relative to her. For instance, he can be behind her, but the the orb will seem to be staring at him forefront.

Sousuke only needed to complete one task to obtain his zanpakutou, but because he's an asshole & a moron, it took a whopping six attempts!

First attempt: Kyouka Suigetsu presents herself to Sousuke after he coerces a classmate into having anal sex with him. Kyouka tells Sousuke the reason she presented herself is because he's a mighty warrior. Really, she just likes when people are in pain. Kyouka Suigetsu tells Sousuke that if he cuts off & eats his toe, she'll give him her powers. It takes two hours for Sousuke to get the nerve to cut off his little toe & eat it. Kyouka Suigetsu didn't want his little toe eaten, though, she wanted his big toe, but she didn't tell him that, & chastises Sousuke for being a coward. Sousuke argues he did as she wanted but Kyouka tells him that she refuses to give him so much as her release command until he proves himself fit.

Second attempt: Sousuke envies the attention his classmates are giving a handsome upperclassman after they obtain their shikai, so Sousuke seeks out Kyouka Suigetsu through meditation. Kyouka Suigetsu offers to give Sousuke her release command if he reopens the stump of his little toe & brings her one hundred freshly-excised human tongues while it free bleeds. Sousuke agrees. He enlists a peer, whose family is a retainer of the Shihouin, for reconnaissance. This classmate gives Sousuke the location of a militia holdout if Sousuke agrees to give them the credit for the assassination. Sousuke, only needing the tongues, agree. They kill the militia & Sousuke offers Kyouka Suigetsu their tongues. Sousuke is then given the release command of his zanpakutou.

Third attempt: Kyouka Suigetsu asks Sousuke to drive someone to kill themselves to be given her name. Sousuke spectacularly fails this task. Kyouka Suigetsu chastises him for being stupid. This prompts Sousuke to attack Kyouka Suigetsu. He is swarmed by cranes & his liver is eaten.

Fourth attempt: Sousuke is revived in his inner world & chastised by Kyouka Suigetsu for attacking her. Kyouka Suigetsu offers an avenue for forgiveness. If he captures one of the cranes & gives it to her, all will be forgiven, & they can resume as normal. The cranes of Sousuke's inner world are unusual. When he touches them, it's like dipping his hands into a pool of water, but they can touch him perfectly fine, which means they can easily hurt him. Sousuke tries leading one to Kyouka Suigetsu, but they leave as soon as they're close enough to her. Sousuke eventually figures out he can craft a net out of the grasses & brings Kyouka Suigetsu a crane. In the net, the crane's wings are broken & its feathers ripped off it. Kyouka Suigetsu agrees to keep going with training.

Fifth attempt: Sousuke must isolate himself in the mountains. This is cleared with the academy once Sousuke explains its purpose. Sousuke is guided to the perfect place by Kyouka Suigetsu, which is a waterfall & large lake hidden by greenery. He is told to strip naked & meditate under the waterfall & that he must not move, no matter what. The only thing he can do is open and close his eyes. The first two days are uneventful, but then Kyouka Suigetsu sics illusions on him, were the cranes are eating his liver and lungs, dreams where he's being sodomized by black hair, among other disturbing images. He manages to go a month without moving & Kyouka Suigetsu gives him the gives him the first part of her name.

Sixth attempt: Sousuke returns to the academy & is met by his classmate who helped him acquire the tongues. They make friends after sharing progress with their zanpakutou. The classmate tells Sousuke that their zanpakutou is being uncooperative & Sousuke says his zanpakutou is being demanding. They then bond over violence & exploitation of women. Kyouka Suigetsu demands Sousuke kill his classmate for the second part of her name. Sousuke wants to refuse, & then remembers the cranes attacking him, so he knows he cannot decline. Sousuke & his classmate go drinking together & after his classmate is blackout drunk, Sousuke strangles him. Kyouka Suigetsu explains that something so simple won't appease her, despite not being specific about her instructions. She tells Sousuke she'll give him the rest of her name once he decapitates his friend. Sousuke decapitates his classmate. Kyouka Suigetsu takes the head & gives Sousuke the rest of her name.

Sousuke obtains shikai after this. Kyouka Suigetsu enlists him in forty-two more trials, which are significantly less gruesome & far easier to accomplish, to master her power over the next two years. 

Sousuke alleges that he & his zanpakutou are on good terms, but in reality, Sousuke loathes Kyouka Suigetsu. Not because of the pain she inflicted on him, but because she treats him the same as he treats other people, as objects for pleasure, which embitters him. He's also displeased that a woman subjugates him.

I've been debating whether or not to detail Sousuke's bankai & its obtainment for awhile since it's something I wanna do in character, but I doubt I'll have to opportunity to, so I've decided to detail it anyway.

Kyouka Suigetsu offers to give Sousuke bankai after he sees what the Soul King really is. I will post more on that & how it shaped him as a person another time. However, it's the time Kyouka Suigetsu offers Sousuke bankai.

As is typical of Kyouka Suigetsu, Sousuke must pass a trial in order to obtain bankai. The trial is a three-day endurance test where Sousuke must maintain a massive illusory field while Kyouka sics cranes on him. It's hilarious.

Kagami Emon (mirror costume) shatters his zanpakutou. The shards resemble mirror shards & embed themselves into his skin. The shards on his head & shoulders stand taller, resembling shoulder adornments & a crown. It stands to reason their mass increases since there's not enough material in a sword to cover his entire body. The shards are still sharp & make him bleed.

[under-the-cherrytree]

Video Game Lovers❣︎

Amane x reader x Tsukasa

Warnings: none

A/n: ITS THE TWINS BIRTHDAYYY

I know this is late but bear with me please- 

I am thankful that Amane is born because I have a husband and I’m grateful that Tsukasa is born cause we would be chaotic friends-

I hope you enjoy and have a great day!!!

“Y/n!!!” Tsukasa shouted as he ran to you, hugging you tightly. 

“Ah! Tsukasa! Hey…!” You smiled at him. You only just stepped into the arcade and he was already clinging to you.

“I’m so happy you were able to make it Y/n!!” He only squeezed you tighter. 

“I’m happy to be here Tsu..” 

“Hey Y/n!” The identical older brother came over “Thank you so much for coming to our birthday party!” 

“Of course, I love to hang out with my favorite twins!” 

“Lets go to the table!! We got tokens for you!” Tsukasa said as he pushed you to the table that they claimed as theirs. 

“Hey stupid!” Mitsuba laughed at you, his normal stupid smile plastered on his face. 

“Hello Sousuke” You grinned at him. 

“The others are playing games right now but here!” Amane hands you a game card “it has 300 tokens on it, if you need more you can tell me or Tsukasa!”

“Thanks for the offer Amane… but I already bought a card and money! You should use the card on yourself!” 

“Myself…? Thank you Y/n!” He smiled softly at you, his cheeks slightly pink.

“Ew..” Mitsuba glared at you two. 

“MITSUBAAAAA” Tsukasa suddenly clinged onto the pinkie pie. “LET'S GO PLAY GAMES!!!” He dragged Mitsuba further into the arcade despite his protests. 

“I’m going to put my chips in! Be right back!” You made your way over to the counter, handing the employee the card and your 20 dollar bill. 

In boredom, you looked around the gift shop they had. Your eyes stopped wondering when you saw two big cat plushies. One cat had a red collar and a little knife charm hanging off it and the other cat had a purple collar and a little ghost charm. One cat also had a white seal and the other cat had a black seal. You were instantly reminded of the twins when seeing the cats, knowing they would love the big plushies. You looked at the price that read 1,000,000,000 tickets. 

“1,000,000,000 TICKETS-” you instantly covered your mouth as the guy in front of you gave you a weird look before handing your card back. 

“Your card now has 200 chips in it… enjoy” He said in a monotone voice, clearly not enjoying his job. 

“Alright, thank you!” You ran back to the table, seeing Amane waiting for you still. 

“Got any game you wanna play Y/n?” Amane smiled at you.

“Not really, we can walk around till we find something” You responded. 

“Alright!” Amane walked deeper into the arcade. New and old games filled the big room. You passed by driving games, horror games, and older games like pac man. 

“Y/n~ wanna play that game..” Amane pointed to a game that had a dead woman on the cover and a couple other monsters. You knew he just wanted to hear your screams of horror when a pop scare happens. 

“Yeah uh no…” You rolled your eyes at him “but what about that game” You looked over to the game centipede. You ran over to it and sat down in one of the seats, grabbing the controls in front of you.

“Centipede? I didn’t know you were interested in such an old game” Amane sat down in the other seat and played with the second joystick.

“Centipede is really fun! I played before!” You smiled as you put your card in, allowing the game to read it and start it for the two of you. The game started and soon the centipedes came from the top. You started to fire at the incoming centipedes, aming for it head, you blew them up fast. However, Amane soon died and left you by yourself. 

“You are quite good at this game!” His amber eyes stayed focused on your controller as he complimented you. 

“Yeah… I play it sometimes!” You smiled at him. You turned your attention to the game again and saw that the prize for defeating the boss was 10,000,000,000 tickets. 

“WOAH! 10,000,000,000 TICKETS?!?” You gasped as you checked if you read that right. 

“That's enough to buy any prize in the store… it must be really hard to defeat tho” Amane was shocked by this as well. 

“Yeah… any prize...” You then knew what game you would be playing until you won it. Before Amane could say anything Kou called him. 

“Oi toilet breath! Senpai and I found a space game we think you would like!” Kou smiled as he ran up to you two. 

“Really?! and stop calling me toilet names… I fall into the toilet once while cleaning and I get these jokes…?” The choppy haired boy mumbled to his blond friend, hoping you wouldn't hear. 

“Yeah that was hilarious! Let's go!!” He dragged the older twin with him. 

You frowned as he left, disappointed he couldn’t play with you anymore. You quickly flushed those feelings down a toilet (okay enough toilet jokes-) and looked back at the game with determination. 

‘I will win this!’ You thought confidentiality as you grabbed the joy stick again, using your card to start the game. 

“Okay… round one…”

-------

“Son of a bitch!” You cussed as a centipede hit you, causing you to die and the screen to say ‘game over’. You grabbed your game card and put it into the machine again only for nothing to happen. You then realized you were out of chips. 

You have been sitting at this game for almost two hours and used 200 chips. 

You stood up and walked to the front again. 

“What do you need?” He asked in the same lazy voice. 

“I would like to add more chips to my card…” You handed him the card and looked through your pockets for any extra money. You mentally cursed yourself when you couldn’t find anything, checking every pocket you had. 

“Here…” A voice said from behind you, handing the employee a 50 dollar bill. You looked back to see Tsukasa, a smirk on his face as the guy took the bill. 

“Tsukasa, you don't have to-” The said boy interrupted you when he wrapped his arms around your waist, bringing you closer to him. 

“Don’t worry about it Y/n… I don’t mind…” He whispered into your ear causing you to blush and look away from the boy. 

“Uhm… here is your card… it has 425 chips..” The employee handed you the card back, wanting the scene to stop. 

“Right… thank you!” You grabbed the card and examined it, smiling brightly. Tsukasa placed his chin on your shoulder, looking at the card as well. 

“What game do you want to play Y/n??” His golden eyes focused on your figure. 

“I was going to go back to playing centipede!” 

“But you played that game all day… play some games with me~” He made you face him as he brought his face closer to yours, your lips inches apart. Your face turned even more red by this, he was trying to distract you. 

“I have to go back to the game I was playing…! I’m about to beat the level!” You squirmed in his arms, not wanting to leave him but too stubborn not to get him the gift and win the game. 

“Fine…” Tskasa pouted. He quickly kissed your cheek before letting you go again. “See ya later! Have fun!!” He waved before walking into the arcade, meeting up with his brother. 

“Hey Tsukasa… where is Y/n?” Amane asked, not seeing you with him. 

“They went back to that stupid centipede game…!” Tsukasa crossed his arms and pouted. 

“They've been playing that game all day… I wonder why…” His voice was sad, he hadn't seen much of you so when he saw you leave that game he thought it would be a good opportunity to pull you away. 

You ran back to the game, sliding your card over it and starting the game again. You looked at the game, determined to win this time. 

Round 1… completed

Round 2… completed

Round 3… completed 

Round 4… completed 

Round 5… completed 

Round 6… completed 

Round 7… completed

Round 8… completed 

Round 9… completed 

Final round… 

You smirked as you shot at the centipedes on the screen. You continued to shoot at the stupid bugs on the screen, aming for the head first before they could split. You memorized the pattern of the game by now and knew where to shoot. You saw the last centipede come down, shooting it before it could come close to you. Once it was dead the objects on the screen faded and spelled out the words victory. 

“YES!!!” You stood up and smiled brightly, happy you have finally won the hard game. You ran to the front, throwing your card into the employee’s face. 

“I will like the two cat plushies please!!” You leaned over the counter causing him to back up. 

“Yeah sure… the two big cats..” The guy grabbed the two cats and brought them to the counter, checking your card before handing both of them to you. 

“Here you go…” He said as you quickly grabbed them from him. 

“Thank you!!” You ran into the arcade again looking for the two twins. You walked around until you heard shouting coming from the back. You made your way to see Tsukasa and Amane playing a dancing game, completely destroying it. The way they both stepped at the same time on the same spots was incredible and they clearly worked up a crowd as well. 

“Amane! Tsukasa!” You shouted as you made your way to them.

“Y/n??” Tsukasa looked back to see you “Y/N!!!” He quickly ran off the platform, causing him to lose as he hugged you tightly.

“Tsukasa-” Amane looked confused until he saw you “Oh Y/n!” He quickly got off the platform as well, hugging you as well. The crowd looked disappointed as they walked away, the twins show over now. 

“Well…” You grabbed the two plushies as you handed them to the boys. The cat with the purple collar to Tsukasa and the cat with the red collar to Amane. “I got enough tickets to get these for you two! I thought of you when I saw them so I had to get it!” Your cheeks turned pink as you admitted it. 

“Oh… that's why you were at that game for hours..” Amane mumbled, examining the big cat you gave him. 

“Y/n been playing that game for us!! Thank you so much!” Tsukasa kissed your cheek, catching you off guard. 

“Ah! Tsukasa!” You blushed hard as you looked at him. 

“Tsukasa… that's not far..” Amane glared at his brother as he kissed your other cheek “I want to kiss them too…”

“Hehehe…~ I guess this is our thank you for our gift!” Tsukasa grinned.

“Ah Tsukasa… we need to go..” Amane interrupted his brother before they can go further with ‘thanking you’. 

“Awww okay… see you later Y/n!” He smiled and waved at you. 

“Yeah, see you at school!” Amane said as he followed his brother to the exit. 

“Yeah.. see you guys” You waved back, still in shock from the kiss. 

[ezzydean]

TRICKS AND TREATS TIME! let's go withhhhhh - a classic - SouMako

come trick-or-treat in my inbox requesting ficcies and I’ll either treat you to some fluff or humor or trick you with a horribly twisted sad AU (I’ll use a random generator to pick trick or treat) send me “trick or treat” and a character(s) or ship in my inbox and I’ll write you a short little thing (I’ll be doing these all of October so send away!) so ro and I are being us and taking a list of rather fluffy sounding prompts and doing our best to twist them into our tricks. this one is “Snacking on seasoned pumpkin seeds.” and “Drinking spiced cider.“

AND???

It’s a warm day but that doesn’t mean he can’t break out the spiced cider.  He doesn’t care what anyone says about how odd it is.  Odd is subjective, after all, and Makoto has been called far worse than odd over the years.

There’s a knock at his door and he sets down his mug before he can take a sip.  He wasn’t expecting anyone but that doesn’t mean much.  There always seems to be someone willing to travel this far just to pester him about something or another.  He pushes away from his counter and pads across his cabin and answers the door.

“Sousuke?”

It’s not the last person he expects to see on his doorstep.  But it’s not entirely surprising.  Sousuke’s lack of direction is well known in these parts after all.

“Hey, Makoto.”

“What’re you doing here?”

Sousuke glances around a bit and then shrugs.  “Got bored.  Went for a walk.  Wound up here.”

“Got lost wound up here or…?”

Sousuke laughs and shakes his head.  “Nah.  I started in this direction.  Just took a little longer to get here than normal.”

He gestures Sousuke inside and then waves his hand at the hooks beside the door.  Sousuke joins him in the kitchen once he hangs his coat and scarf up.

“Cider?” he offers.  Sousuke nods and then makes a noise before going back towards the door.  He comes back moments later with a bag in his hand and a grin on his face.

“Pumpkin seeds,” Sousuke explains as he hands the bag over.  “It’s why I was heading your way in the first place.”

He hands Sousuke a big mug of cider.  “For me to eat or to use?”

“You can eat them if you want,” Sousuke says as he takes a deep breath of the cider.  “Can’t promise they won’t kill you.”  Sousuke grins.  “I dunno what kind of tolerance you’ve built up to what I’ve been using this year.”

Makoto shakes a few seeds into his palm and pops them in his mouth.  The flavor is excellent and he tells Sousuke as much as he shakes out a few more before he tucks the bag away on a shelf for later.

Sousuke coughs a couple times as he sips at his cider.

“New brew?” Sousuke asks around another cough.

“Yep.”  He smiles.  “Made it just for you.  I mean.  I enjoy it myself.  But I definitely brewed up this particular blend just for you.”

“Gee.  Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

He can feel the nerves in his fingers tingle and his hands go a little numb as he chews the pumpkin seeds.  He’s not sure if it’s the seeds themselves or they way they’re mixing with everything he put into the cider.  Either way it’s a delightful sensation.  Sousuke’s poisons coursing through his veins is one of his favorite parts of the season.

Sousuke lets out a laugh even as he clears his throat a few more times and he knows Sousuke feels the same way.

[blushinggray]

Free! The Final Stroke screeching/reaction (spoilers)

AHHHHH I JUST WATCHED THE FINAL STROKE MOVIE TODAY IN THEATERS ON PREMIER DAY AND IT WAS LAKSJDFOAIFJWOEI to summarize it all, it was Very Gay, which was to be expected but they DID NOT have to get so freaking extra with it 😩😩😩

much screaming and many spoilers ahead

FIRST OF ALL, KIRISHIMA NATSUYA: HE WAS SO FUCKING HANDSOME DAFKJOIEFJOSIDJF. SO HANDSOME. SO HANDSOME AND STUPID AND OVERLY FRIENDLY AS WE LOVE HIM TO BE ALKDSJFOAIEW.

he was in the film for a total of maybe 5 minutes altogether, which was kind of a lot bc the film kind of was just putting all the characters back in for the sake of putting them in imo? for the fans, lol. so everyone could see their faves. and in these five minutes that he appeared, our mans:

bragged about his little brother he's so proud of

got laughed at by nao for being natsuya (aka dumb and straightforward) as usual

trained with sousuke (he was hanging out in the same pool with him, nao, and makoto to train and aid in sousuke's rehab training)

got a call from ikuya after the international swimming competition in sydney!!!! in that same cafe he's always at!!!! and he was with nao at the time he got the call. casual and cool as always, being the cool big brother or whatever. he ended the call with a curt, "you got it. see you. don't catch a cold."

HE WAS HANGING OUT AT CAFE MARON WHILE THEY WAITED FOR THE SYDNEY COMPETITORS TO COME BACK TO JAPAN. HE WAS BEHIND THE COUNTER WITH ASAHI (WHO WAS HOLDING BABY TSUKIMI IN A CARRIER ON HIS CHEST!!!!!) AND HE THREW HIS ARM AROUND ASAHI AND WAS GETTING SO CLOSE LIKE ALKSDJFAOIEJAOEI. I have absolutely no clue what he was saying at the time bc i was too busy freaking out and trying to hold in the sounds bc the theater was so quiet. but his GODDAMN FACE. HE WAS SMIRKING. SO HANDSOME 😩😩😩😩😩😩😩

and of fucking course, they were all out together at a restaurant when the sydney competitors came back, and he was like, "wth no one else is drinking alcohol tonight?" and nao was like "ofc not haha" AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

HE FUCKING FALLS ASLEEP AT THE TABLE AFTER DRINKING AND EVERYONE IS SURROUNDING HIM AND PATTING HIM LIKE "dude..." and ikuya is sitting there like, omg can't believe this mess is my brother....

i thought that just might be his last scene in the film but then we show back up to the kirishima household and natsuya is eating some sort of luxury holiday(?) bento and ikuya is like "aren't you gonna save any for me?" and natsuya's like "of course not. this is for me, you gotta wait until next year xD" and then ikuya just fucking SNATCHES up several different foods and stuffs his face with all of them and natsuya starts arguing with him over them laskjdfoawiefjao where was this brotherly affection all this time?????

and then cut to a few seconds later, natsuya's bumming in his room on the floor like in s3 when ikuya comes in and tells him about his new future goals and alskdjfaoei brothers sharing their ambitions together 😩😩 WHAT IS GOING ON. EVERYONE GETS ALONG SO WELL NOW???

NEXT: we'll go back to the beginning i guess lmfao but they're preparing for some sort of university festival

we start off with an easily misunderstandable shoujo-style situation where asahi is talking to ikuya like, "i know it's your first time... you don't have to be nervous. i know you can do it." and ikuya's like "no! i can't 😣" like the tsun he is backed up against the wall. and then it turns out they're trying to make a mille feuille cake.... but everything he's made so far looked like crepes

and for some damn reason, KISUMI comes outta nowhere into the kitchen and is like "ooooh what's this? a mille feuille cake? although they all look kinda like crepes haha ^^" and then ikuya RUNS THE FUCK OUT OF THE KITCHEN, yelling, "i told you i couldn't do it!!!" like the fucking tsun he is... and asahi is yelling at kisumi like "why did you just say that!!!" and starts rubbing his knuckles into kisumi's head and kisumi's just laughing like, "oh did i do that hehe"

and for some reason... seijuurou is working at the booth in his speedo and swim team jacket. i mean i'm not complaining but sir.... PLS TAKE MY MONEY AND GIVE ME YOUR FAT OCTOPUS BALLS. (he literally started a batter mixing competition with hoshikawa inside the booth, like what are they even doing in the same booth???)

then rin and sousuke show up to ikuya, asahi, and hiyori(?)'s booth, and they're offering them the crepes and then they get into a conversation about smth that leads into them showing the embarrassing photos they have of each other?????? like ikuya has a pic of rin in his maid costume for some reason??? (tho it isn't shown) and rin shows an embarrassing pic of ikuya he has in his phone that he got from natsuya???????????? and then ikuya starts chasing after rin yelling at him to delete it lasdkjfoaei

and then haru is off to the side selling ugly ass bird mascots again lmfao. bc ofc he is. love that weirdo

BUT THE REAL KICKER HERE IS KINJOU!!!!!!!!!!!

APPARENTLY, HIS VILLAIN BACKSTORY COMES FROM HIS CHILDHOOD CRUSH (/exaggerated) ON HIYORI ALSKDJFOAIE WHAAAT. apparently he was that annoying kid in the playground who would go up to hiyori and bother him bc he wanted a friend. bb hiyori was literally like "why are you even talking to me so much?" in his sandbox. and bb kinjou is like, "well there's gotta be smth you like, right? what is it?" and hiyori's like "well i feel kinda happy when i'm swimming... :)" as images of ikuya flash into his mind, that gay ass

BUT KINJOU'S GAY ASS EYES START SPARKLING TOO AND THEN HE'S LIKE "I GOTTA LEARN WHAT THE BIG DEAL ABOUT SWIMMING IS" and he runs home, begs his brother to take him to the pool. but next time he brings his swimming stuff with him to the playground, hiyori isn't there anymore and apparently he left for america at that time (or smth). so poor baby basically got ghosted

but hiyori still knows him when they're older!!!! kinjou shows up when they're throwing out the trash after the uni festival and calls out to hiyori to taught him (which is where that bullying preview scene came from i guess) and alkfjeoiaejoaifj omfg it's like that estranged childhood friends (sorta) trope but it'll never go kinjou's way bc hiyori is and will always be in love with ikuya 😔

kinjou would make such a good yandere tho!!!! he has a feral expression on a few times throughout the movie, and during a race he gets super competitive mid-race and... ngl he was kinda sexy 😳 i'm actually kind of surprised by how taken i was with him in this movie. doesn't help that he's unfairly handsome and his hair looks fucking amazing. i MAY OR MAY NOT be exploring this man in the future..................

i also found the ending with haru pretty interesting!!!! it kind of hints at neurodivergence? smth along the lines of disassociation or multiple personalities? (guess 50% off was kinda right on that end lmfao).

he gets obsessed with beating albert wahlander, which is the most fired up i've ever seen him (to the point of almost hurting himself) and then the shadow or whatever effect albert has on haru kind of just overtakes him and pushes haru out of his own body in a way... it doesn't make sense to describe it this way, i know, but haru is literally watching himself say hurtful things to his friends while being overtaken by this... albert obsessed persona?

it's so interesting to see haru being the one obsessing over someone instead of the other way around for once!!! at the end of the movie (after all the credits) haru says the same thing he once said at the beginning of season 1? about how "at age 5, you're a prodigy. at age 15, you're a genius. at age 20(?), you're average." and this is def gonna be explored/concluded in the second part of the final stroke movie so i'm excited for that!!!! april 2022 come at me!!!!

there were SOOOOO many other things going on, plot wise and fanservice wise, and ofc kyoto animation was fucking TOP TIER SHIT. all the water effects... there was a shot where haru was looking at his reflection in the water and they make a drop fall and spread and shake his reflection in the waves and it was lafkjsefoiaeja fucking glorious. the soundtrack was lovely too. there was a RADWIMPS-esque beginning song and a sexy ass electric guitar buildup for kinjou (which may or may not be contributing to my growing obsession with him...)

AHHHH!!!! it was so good and everyone was so cute and handsome and gay and funny. we literally see every single character we've met before in some way, shape, or form lmfao. i might just go back to the theater and watch it again on one of the upcoming holidays this week.... SO GOOD. SO GOOD.

I LOVE ALL THESE GAY SWIMMING BOYS SO MUCH 😩😩😩

[chibistarlyte]

So Blooms the Soul (As Flowers on the Skin)

“Uh…Haru?” Rin said hesitantly from behind him.

“Hm?” Haruka hummed, turning around to regard his best friend, who was looking at him with an incredulous look on his face.

“Your soul mark…” Rin said, slowly raising his hand and pointing at the blade of Haruka’s right shoulder. “Did you know it’s bloomed?”

Blue eyes widened and the shock of the question was almost enough to knock Haruka into the pool.

“Wh-what?”

AHHHH HERE IT ISSSS my fic for the @nanaseharukabirthdayexchange !!! I was able to write this fic for @lonesome-writer !!!

Milo, thank you so much for including so many fun prompts in your likes list. It was an absolute joy writing this for you and I really hope you like it! ;u;

The fic in its entirety is below the cut, but you can also read it here on AO3!

It was a quiet morning in Tokyo, still early enough to where not a single soul traversed down the street where the Swim Free Flower Shop resided. The sun slowly crept into the clear glass windows of the storefront, greeting the plants inside with its friendly, caring light. The plants, in turn, welcomed the sun in like an old friend, turning to face the windows and soaking up the rays.

 Nanase Haruka loved mornings like this, when he could ready his shop for the day and bask in the peace before the city properly awoke. He breathed in the sweet, fragrant air of the shop as he watered the plants with his mackerel-shaped watering can—a joke gift he’d gotten from Nagisa that Haruka had, unfortunately, grown too fond of to get rid of.

 His effervescent employee sure wormed his way into his heart, Haruka thought with a smile. He poured the last drops of water out of the mackerel’s mouth before setting it aside and going to set up his hose with the spray nozzle to water the larger plants he had on the sales floor.

 It was still early in the summer, and as such, a lot of his perennials were beginning to bloom. The wide array of flowers he had on hand added such a rainbow of colors to his shop, brightening everything up with no effort whatsoever. But he still had some plants that hadn’t bloomed yet, that were still trying to grow their buds,like his imported phlox flowers from the United States.

 Blue eyes stared at the buds, still mostly green but with small bursts of purple and violet poking through at the top. According to his research, they wouldn’t bloom for at least another month, but that was okay. He’d take the time to nurture them and help them grow; he had no doubt they’d be a huge hit when they did bloom, especially considering their natural habitat was overseas.

 But, to be honest, the reason he’d sought them out in the first place was because they were the exact same flower as the soul mark he sported on his back.

 More specifically, his soul mark was on the blade of his right shoulder. He’d only ever seen it in the mirror or in the occasional photo, and there was no color to it whatsoever—just the solid black outlines of a flower that begged to be colored in—so it took him a long time to figure out what kind of flower bud it was.

 And the fact that it was still a bud, not a fully bloomed flower, meant that he still hadn’t met his soulmate. Which was fine by him, really. He wasn’t really concerned with finding that one person destined to be his other half; he had people in his life that he loved and trusted, and he had his shop. He didn’t really need more than that.

 A firm knock on the front door yanked Haruka out of his peaceful musings, immediately filling him with confusion. It was too early for Nagisa to show up for his shift, and several hours until the shop would be open for business. So who…?

 Haruka turned around to see a small delivery truck outside, with a tall man in a recognizable uniform waving to him with a smile from outside.

 Ah, it made sense now. Though he usually didn’t get his deliveries this early…

 Haruka turned off the hose and set it atop the water tank, drying his hands on his apron as he approached the door and turned his master key in the lock.

 “Good morning!” the delivery man greeted as Haruka opened the door, his smile warm and bright.

 Haruka was almost blinded by the genuinely kind and friendly aura he exuded. The florist felt tingles all the way from the top of his head to the tips of his toes, though he had no idea why. He just kept staring at the—much taller—man before him, going slightly lightheaded and losing himself in crystal clear peridot eyes.

 The man’s smile grew a bit uneasy at Haruka’s blatant staring and lack of response, and he tilted his head a bit. Olive brown fringe fell to cover his eyes somewhat, which Haruka found to be an absolute travesty. “Um…is there something wrong?”

 Haruka felt like his face was on fire…or, more like he felt extremely flushed. Swallowing, he choked out the only thing he could think to say: “You’re not Sousuke.”

 The man looked adorably confused for about two seconds before his smile returned in full, accompanied by a laugh that may as well have been music to Haruka’s ears. “Ah, Yamazaki-kun is driving the truck. I’m Tachibana Makoto. I’m new, you see, so he’s driving the route today and I’m taking care of the customer contact.”

 “Oh,” Haruka said intelligently. “That…makes sense.”

 Tachibana’s smile didn’t dissipate in the slightest as he held up his metal clipboard that contained a bunch of invoices in its grasp. “It says here I only have four boxes for you today…where would you like me to put them?”

 Haruka held the door open wider, kicking the rubber door stopper with his foot until it wedged between the bottom of the door and the floor. “You can just set them here,” he said, motioning to an open spot between the front window and his bouquet coolers, “and I’ll break them down as I go.”

 “Sure thing!” the newbie said, nodding his head before disappearing to his truck. Haruka heard the metallic clangs of the trailer lock, the thump of the ramp coming in contact with the asphalt. All the while he just stood in his shop like a stick in the dirt, trying to regain feeling in his limbs that still felt slightly numb and buzzing with some weird energy. He idly rubbed at his right shoulder, feeling it burn slightly under his touch.

 Tachibana came in with two boxes piled on top of each other, balanced by a dolly. He was humming quietly as he worked, carefully sliding the boxes off the dolly before heading back to the truck for the remainder of the delivery.

 Haruka fished a box cutter out of his apron, slicing the tape on the first box in one swift motion. It contained some different soils he’d ordered, and he set to unpacking the bags and carted them over to the large storage cupboard at the back of the store. When he returned to cut into the second box, Tachibana had also returned with a carton of live plants—orchids, the shipping label on the side read. The fact that he was carrying such a heavy parcel with relative ease made Haruka unconsciously sneak a glance at the man’s arms. The sleeves of his collared uniform shirt were rolled up to the elbows, and besides the rock hard muscles in his forearms, Haruka also caught a glimpse of a flower bud peeking out from under Tachibana’s left sleeve. But it was quickly hidden again by the fabric, much too quickly for Haruka to discern what kind of flower bud it was.

 So, Tachibana hadn’t met his soulmate yet either.

 “Here, I’ll take that,” Haruka said, reaching his arms out for the box of orchids.

 “Oh, no, I’ve got it!” Tachibana insisted with that ever-present smile. “Would you like me to set it elsewhere?”

 Haruka gave up the fight much quicker than he expected of himself, and pointed to the counter lining the back of the store where he typically put together arrangements. “Over there is fine.”

 Tachibana did as he was told, still humming a soft little tune as he made his way to the back of the store.

 As much as Haruka wanted to watch the delivery man, feeling some kind of strange magnetic pull to him that he had a hard time fighting down, he instead wrenched his attention away and headed to the delivery truck outside. He saw his usual delivery guy, Sousuke, sitting in the driver’s seat tapping away on his phone. Sighing, Haruka impatiently rapped on the window with his knuckle to get Sousuke’s attention.

 The dark-haired man rolled down the window and gave Haruka a friendly smirk. “Morning, Haru. What’s up?”

 “Training the new guy by making him do all the work?” Haruka questioned, raising a brow.

 Sousuke snickered and leaned back against the seat. “Relax, he’s doing fine on his own,” he assured his long-time customer and friend. “Besides, my shoulder’s been acting up today. Figured it’d be better if he did the heavy lifting, y’know?”

 Haruka nodded in understanding, fixing Sousuke with a slightly more serious look. He knew Sousuke’s old swimming injury flared up on occasion, and those days were usually when Haruka would grab his own delivery boxes from the back of the truck. But now that Sousuke had someone helping him on his route, Haruka hoped that the man would give his shoulder a break.

 “Um…Nanase-san, could you please sign this invoice?” Tachibana said from behind, and Haruka spun around to find him smiling sheepishly at him.

 “That was fast,” Haruka remarked as he grabbed for the clipboard and pen being offered to him, causing Tachibana’s handsome face to flush an attractive pink.

 “Thanks?”

 A small, unbidden smile made its way onto Haruka’s face as he scratched out a signature of sorts using only the kanji of his surname. He clicked the pen closed and set it atop the clipboard, handing it back to the still blushing Tachibana. “You can call me Haru, by the way.”

 Tachibana blinked a couple times before seeming to realize he needed to take the clipboard back. “R-really? But we’ve only just met…”

 Haruka shrugged. “If you’re going to be a regular on this route, we’re gonna get to know each other eventually. I’d rather just skip the formalities.”

 If possible, Tachibana lit up with an even brighter smile than before. “Okay. Then you can call me Makoto.”

 “Alright, you two, enough chit-chat. We have to get to our next stop,” Sousuke scolded from inside the truck, turning the key in the ignition until the vehicle whirred to life. “Rin says hi, by the way,” Sousuke said to Haruka, waving his phone which presumably had a text message conversation open with Rin—Sousuke’s boyfriend and Haruka’s best friend.

 “Ah, sorry!” Makoto apologized, hurriedly tearing off Haruka’s copy of the invoice and handing it to him. “It was very nice to meet you, Haru. See you next time?”

 Haruka nodded and hummed in the affirmative. “Yeah, see you again, Makoto.”

 Makoto gave him a little wave as he dashed around the back of the truck, hurriedly locking up the trailer before hopping in the cab next to Sousuke. With a lazy salute from Sousuke and another brilliant smile from Makoto, the two drove off towards their next destination and left Haruka standing in front of his shop. His body still tingled.

.

 Haruka was quietly changing out of his clothes into his swimsuit when Rin decided to show up, claiming the locker next to him.

 “Impatient as always, I see,” the redhead commented teasingly, shrugging off his bag and jacket.

 Haruka, on the other hand, had just pulled on his knee-length jammers and was now digging around his bag for his swim cap and goggles. He merely gave a hum in response, hearing what Rin said but not entirely processing the words, his mind elsewhere.

 “Sousuke told me you met the new guy on his route,” Rin said, his voice muffled as he pulled his t-shirt over his head.

 “Yeah,” Haruka affirmed distantly, folding up his work clothes and setting them neatly in his locker. He gently shut the door and stood idly by, waiting for Rin to change into his legskins. He didn’t offer up any more information, though just thinking about Makoto made butterflies flutter in Haruka’s stomach. He felt goosebumps all over his exposed skin, though it wasn’t cold in the locker room.

 Rin threw his own clothes into his locker and grabbed his swim cap and goggles, wearing his goggles around his neck like a necklace. He flashed a sharp-toothed smile at Haruka and stood with his hand on his hip. Haruka could just barely make out Rin’s soul mark, peeking out of his legskins at his hip—the tips of a fully colored blue delphinium stalk.

 Haruka remembered seeing Rin’s soul mark for the first time, before he’d really found his affinity for caring for flowers. It was something his late grandmother had instilled in him from a young age, but it took a while for Haruka to truly appreciate what she had taught him. He eventually followed that path, and now had a successful flower shop of his own.

 Part of that awakening of sorts had been thanks to Rin showing him his beautiful soul mark.

 Rin nodded his head to the door leading to the pool hall. “Looks like you’ve got some feelings to swim out,” he said to his best friend and they walked side-by-side out of the locker room.

 Haruka kept his gaze resolutely straight ahead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he deflected, pursing his lips somewhat.

 Rin barked out a laugh. “Haru…we’ve known each other since elementary school. I know you’re not as emotionally constipated as you used to be, but shit, you look like you’ve been in a daze since you got here.”

 Haruka couldn’t contest that. However, he did narrow his eyes and give Rin a sidelong glance to his left. “Emotionally constipated?”

 Though Rin rolled his eyes, he was still smiling. “You know what I mean.”

 Haruka just hummed again, staring forward once more. He was usually pretty aware of his own emotions, able to accurately piece together what he was feeling about most anything after a little time to mull it over. Whatever weirdness he was feeling—whatever weirdness he had been feeling since early that morning—he was sure the water would help him think it through.

 Luckily, there were only a few other people in the pool hall at this time of the evening. Haruka allowed a small smile to grace his features. At least he and Rin would be mostly undisturbed in their swimming.

 “You wanna race, or are you just gonna do laps?” Rin asked as they approached the edge of the pool, already doing some stretches to prepare for their exercise. Haruka followed suit, focusing on working out his arm muscles since his signature stroke was the front crawl.

 “I think some laps,” Haruka said, shaking out his shoulders and stepping up onto the starting block.

 “Uh…Haru?” Rin said hesitantly from behind him.

 “Hm?” Haruka hummed, turning around to regard his best friend, who was looking at him with an incredulous look on his face.

 “Your soul mark…” Rin said, slowly raising his hand and pointing at the blade of Haruka’s right shoulder. “Did you know it’s bloomed?”

 Blue eyes widened and the shock of the question was almost enough to knock Haruka into the pool.

 “Wh—what?”  

.

 Haruka stood in front of the sink, back turned, head angled to try and get a glimpse of his soul mark. He felt those familiar tingles, the numbness from earlier spreading from his chest to every bit of his body. His limbs felt light and weightless like floating in water but heavier than a ship’s anchor at the same time. He could barely feel his fingertips poking and prodding at his shoulder as he twisted every which way to see it clearly in the mirror.

 “Hey, Haru, here…” Rin said, stepping into the bathroom with his phone in hand—he’d gone to retrieve it from his locker before chasing directly after Haruka. “Lemme take a picture so you can see it better.”

 Sucking in a deep breath, Haruka complied and turned his back to Rin. He vaguely registered the shutter snap as Rin captured the photo on his phone. The slightly taller man then handed his phone to Haruka, who took it in shaking hands and stared at his soul mark on the screen.

 It was a fully bloomed phlox, but not even just one flower, which surprised Haruka enough to make his breath hitch. While the bud had only been singular, now emblazoned on his pale skin was a cluster of eight—maybe ten?—blossoms with five petals each, all rounded at the tips and flared out like an umbrella. None of them had any color whatsoever, only the black, almost inky outlines that gave the flowers their shape.

 The fact that it didn’t have any color yet meant that it was brand new…that it had only bloomed within the last day or so.

 Haruka felt the room spin around him, shadows seeping into the edges of his vision.

 “Whoa, hey! Haru!” Rin cried out as Haruka swayed on his feet. He stabilized his friend with his strong arms, guiding the raven-haired man back out to the locker room and lowering him to sit on the bench in front of their lockers. “You okay?”

 Haruka hung his head between his knees, sucking in deep breaths and holding them for a few seconds before expelling them shakily. Rin’s phone hung limply in his hand, and he couldn’t muster the strength to even lift it up to hand back to him. It didn’t make sense…it didn’t make sense. How could he have met his soulmate and not realize it? How could he have even met his soulmate if he was at work all day until now?

 Unless…it was a customer? But no, all of the customers that visited his shop today were regulars…so it couldn’t have been any of them. What if it was just some random stranger on the train he took to get to the rec center? How would he be able to track them down, then?

 “Haru, I think you should go home for tonight…you’re in no condition to swim, like this…” Rin said carefully, squatting down in front of his best friend. “I can have Sousuke bring the car ‘round so we can drive you home.”

 Words caught in his throat, Haruka swallowed hard before nodding silently. He felt Rin take his phone from his loosened grip and watched as his friend’s bare feet slapped against the tiled floor as he stepped away to call Sousuke. Haruka blew out another shaky breath, his hands coming up to grab fistfuls of his hair. The pain of pulling on the strands helped keep him grounded a little, allowed him to focus and center himself until the lightheadedness abated somewhat.

 He had never cared about meeting his soulmate, had never given it more than a passing thought for his whole life. Even watching the people around him meet their own soulmates and form unbreakable bonds with their destined persons, he never felt odd or left out because he hadn’t met his own. But now, when the moment actually came…it slipped through his fingers before he realized it. And it was too late.

.

 “What’s got you so down, Haru-chan?”

 Haruka looked up from his inventory form, peering at his employee through his dark bangs. Nagisa was looking at him with wide, earnest magenta eyes that had no business looking as worried as they did. Nagisa was supposed to be endless smiles and boundless positivity, and it irked Haruka that he was the reason for the blond’s concerned countenance.

 “It’s nothing,” he said, tapping his pen against the inventory sheet until the ink bled a puddle through the paper. He scowled and tore the sheet from the pack, dabbing up the wet ink with the already soiled paper and hoping it didn’t bleed all the way through the stack.

 “Then why do you look so gloomy?” Nagisa pressed, nuzzling his head against his boss’s shoulder, and it was obvious he wasn’t going to leave Haruka alone until he got some kind of answer. That was just how Nagisa was.

 His shoulder…

 Haruka sighed and clicked his pen closed, leaning against the counter. “Here, look at this,” he said pulling the strap of his apron over his head and tugging at the collar of his oversized shirt. He exposed as much of his right shoulder as he could to Nagisa, turning slightly to give the shorter man a better look.

 Nagisa peeked past the dark blue fabric and gasped at what he saw. “Haru-chan…your soul mark bloomed! That’s wonderful!”

 Haruka tugged his shirt back up, but left the top half of his apron still hanging down. “It’s really not,” he said dejectedly, leaning further down on the counter until his forehead was touching the soil-dusted surface. “I don’t even know who my soulmate is…”

 Haruka could feel the air shift around them with Nagisa’s sadness at his statement. “Oh, Haru-chan…”

 The jingling of the bell above the door drew both of their attention, cutting their conversation short for the time being. Haruka looked up from the counter and couldn’t help but shudder at the unexpected relief he felt when he saw who had come into the shop.

 “Good morning, Haru!” Makoto said, smiling his gentle smile and holding his hand up in a small wave as he made his way over toward Haruka and Nagisa.

 “Makoto,” Haruka acknowledged with a short nod, stepping around the counter when the strap of his apron caught on the corner. Haruka tripped at the sudden halt, but a pair of strong arms caught him before he could properly fall.

 “Are you alright?” Makoto asked, surprise still etched onto his kind face.

 Haruka hummed in response, noting the way his body was beginning to tingle again like a powerful electric current charged his blood and flowed through his veins as if they were wires.

 What the hell…?

 Makoto held onto him for a couple more seconds before almost jolting away as if he’d been stung. His bright green eyes met Haruka’s and they held each others’ gazes for what could have been seconds, minutes, hours, before Nagisa coughed none-too-subtly and gathered their attention.

 “Haru-chan, who’s this?” the blond asked with excited curiosity, leaning up to get a good look at Makoto’s face. Makoto backed away just a tad, a sheepish grin on his face.

 “This is Makoto; he’s the new delivery guy on Sousuke’s route,” Haruka explained, ducking his head to hide the blush he could feel heating his cheeks. He busied himself with fixing his apron to avoid any more…er, mishaps. Plus, as the owner of the shop, he had to look professional and presentable. A half-folded apron was neither of those things.

 “Hello,” Makoto said, holding out his hand for Nagisa to shake. “Nice to meet you…er…?”

 “I’m Nagisa!” the shorter man said brightly, taking Makoto’s hand in both of his smaller ones and shaking vigorously. “Very good to meet you, Mako-chan!”

 Makoto’s smile eased into that same gentleness as before. “I’ve got a bigger delivery for you today, Haru,” he said, turning slightly to face Haruka again while Nagisa still had a grip on his hand. “Sorry we’re a little late. Another stop ran over time by a bit.”

 “Not a problem,” Haruka said with a shake of his head. “Sousuke was usually later than this when it was just him, so don’t worry.”

 “I heard that,” Sousuke said, his deep voice drowning out the sound of bell chime on the door. He was wheeling a dolly in backwards with several boxes stacked on top of the metal lip, all labeled “FRAGILE.”

 “Oh, those must be the vases I ordered,” Haruka remarked, running over to clear a space by the coolers for Sousuke to set the boxes down. “Nagisa, could you put the door stopper down and help get the other boxes from the truck?”

 “Sure thing!” Nagisa said, practically jumping up and down in that enthusiastic way of his. Once he shoved the rubber wedge beneath the door, he bounded outside to retrieve some more of their packages.

 “Sousuke, let me take that!” Makoto said, taking the dolly from his boss before there was a chance for Sousuke to protest. The brunette followed Nagisa’s example and hurried out to the truck.

 Sousuke chuckled, rolling his shoulder. “They have way too much energy for this early in the morning.” His teal eyes then slid over to Haruka, darkening just a little with seriousness. “How are you doing after last night? You seemed…pretty shaken up, which isn’t like you.”

 Haruka looked down at his shoes, curling his toes inside. He didn’t really want to have to explain himself, especially with a near-stranger in possible earshot. Besides, he knew Sousuke had at least heard the gist of it from Rin in the car ride to Haruka’s place last night—he’d heard them whispering about it in the front seat. But he also didn’t want to leave Sousuke hanging.

 Instead, he changed topics somewhat. “How long did it take for your soul mark to start…gaining color? After you and Rin met?”

 Sousuke paused to think, tucking his hands into his pockets. It was then that Haruka realized, he’d never actually seen Sousuke’s mark. He’d only seen Rin’s, mostly when they went swimming. But it’d been in full color for as long as he could remember.

 “Well, I mean, we met in elementary school,” Sousuke said with a shrug. “And I know at least mine was in full color before he left for middle school in Australia, so…?”

 “I…see…” Haruka muttered, scratching at the back of his neck. He could feel his shoulder tingling again.

 “You didn’t have any color to yours last night, right?” Sousuke then asked.

 Haruka shook his head. “No, it…it was still just the outline…”

 “Can I see it?”

 Haruka froze, his hand at his side clenching into a fist. “I…don’t see why not?” he choked out against his better judgment. “It’s here…on my right shoulder blade…” he said, tapping at his shoulder with the hand that was already at the back of his neck. He didn’t bother taking off his apron this time, just shrugging enough of his shirt off for Sousuke to see the phlox blossoms on his skin.

 Sousuke came up beside him, tugging the shirt fabric away from Haruka’s shoulder enough to see the mark. “Uh, Haru, it’s…”

 “What?” Haruka asked, alarmed at Sousuke’s hesitance. The other man was rarely like that.

 “There’s already some color.”

 "What?”  Haruka repeated, already feeling that strange numbing sensation that he’d felt last night.

 Nagisa and Makoto were chattering away as they came back into the shop, Makoto with some more boxes on the dolly and Nagisa carrying a really tall box with aeration holes which meant that live plants were inside. They both froze at seeing Haruka’s ashen face.

 “Haru-chan, what’s the matter?” Nagisa said, setting down his box right where he stood and ran over to his boss and friend. “Do you feel sick?”

 Sick was an understatement. Haruka felt dizzy, like he was floating at the bottom of the pool and running out of air in his lungs, but his body was too heavy for him to swim to the surface. His stomach was doing flip-flops on itself and there was a deafening pounding in his ears that drowned out the concerned voices around him. Before he realized it, he was being picked up off the ground and carried in someone’s arms—where to, he had no idea. All he could do was stare up at the ceiling through hazy blue eyes, holding his breath so he didn’t puke. The tingling sensation grew much more intense, to the point where he felt needles all over his skin and his shoulder outright burned as if someone had set it aflame.

 When he came back to himself, he was lying on the small sofa in the break room at the back of the shop. Nagisa was standing above him, placing a cool, dampened washcloth to his forehead. Haruka’s palms felt sweaty and clammy, and he had a hard time curling his fingers into fists. They felt swollen.

 “Haru-chan, do you want to close the shop for the day?” Nagisa asked. “You need to rest.”

 Haruka barely managed a shake of his head. “N-no, I’ll be fine, just…go manage everything for a while until I can get up again….”

 Nagisa nodded resolutely. “You got it, Haru-chan. Mako-chan, come help me with the rest of the boxes?”

 Makoto looked up from where he stood at the end of the sofa. “Okay, sure, I can do that!”

 But before he could move, Sousuke stepped in front of him with his hand out, blocking Makoto’s path. “I’ll help Nagisa, you stay here with Haru until we’re done.”

 Hearing that made Haruka’s heart jump into his throat for some reason. He couldn’t figure out why.

 “O-okay, if you’re sure, Sousuke…” Makoto said, to which Sousuke nodded.

 “Water is in the little fridge over there if you need it,” Nagisa said, pointing to a mini-refrigerator in the corner of the small room. “We’ll hurry, okay?”

 Makoto hummed with a nod, and the two of them left to go finish getting the delivery in order.

 It was silent in the room, save for the sounds of Haruka’s slightly labored breathing. He was sweating up a storm, and he reached up with a shaky hand to press the cold cloth firmer against his forehead.

 “Um…do you…want some water, Haru? You might be dehydrated…?” Makoto asked, and damn if Haruka didn’t somehow find that nervousness adorable.

 “Sure, that might help,” Haruka rasped out, even though the thought of ingesting anything at the moment made his stomach churn. He listened to the faint sounds of Makoto shuffling over to the fridge, the opening and closing of the insulated door, the crunching of the plastic bottle in Makoto’s hand. A shadow descended over him, Makoto’s tall and broad frame blocking out the sunlight coming in from the windows.

 “Do you want to sit up? I can help you,” Makoto offered quietly.

 Haruka nodded curtly, reaching his arms out towards the gentle giant above him. As soon as Makoto’s hand circled around his wrist, Haruka felt that electrified feeling as if he’d been shot with a taser. A pained noise came from the back of his throat, alarming Makoto enough for him to let go of Haru’s wrist immediately.

 “S-sorry, I just…I’ll do it myself,” Haruka said through a wince, using whatever strength he could muster to pull himself to a sit against the arm of the sofa. When he pulled the cloth away from his face, he blinked his eyes open to see Makoto staring at him with those sunny green eyes. He was slowly flexing the fingers of his hand, forming a fist and relaxing over and over. “Are      you    alright?” Haruka asked, nodding to Makoto’s hand.

 “Hm? Oh, yeah,” Makoto assured him with a sweet smile. “My hand just got all tingly for a minute…like it feels when it falls asleep?”

 It took a second or two for the words to register, but once they did, Haruka could do nothing but stare wide-eyed at Makoto.

 So…he…Haruka wasn’t the only one who…

 “Oh, here’s your water, Haru,” Makoto said belatedly, holding the bottle out to Haruka.

 “Thanks…” Haruka said, reaching for the bottle. Their fingers brushed for only a moment, but it was enough to make Haruka’s entire arm go numb. Makoto seemed to have a similar reaction if the squint of his eye and quiet hiss through his teeth were anything to go by.

 “We’re done!” Nagisa’s voice could be heard before the man himself was seen. He came barreling into the break room with Sousuke leisurely strolling in behind him. "Oh, you're sitting up! Are you feeling any better, Haru-chan?"

 "A little," Haruka said, fumbling with numbed fingers to open the cap of the water bottle. He started out with small, slow sips.

 "Are you sure you're okay to stay at work?" Sousuke asked, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

 Haruka nodded, which was a bad move because it just made him feel dizzy again. "I'm fine, just…don't mention this to Rin. He'll be all over me about it if he finds out."

 Sousuke barked out a laugh. "You're not wrong about that." He then flicked his arm out to right the face of his wristwatch to check the time. "Well, if you're sure you're okay, Makoto and I have to make it to our next stop. We'll leave you in Nagisa's expert care."

 Nagisa stuck his tongue out at Sousuke. "You're so mean, Sou-chan."

 Haruka almost smiled at his friends' antics. Almost. He looked at Makoto, who'd remained quiet since the intrusion and actually did smile softly at the man. "Thanks for keeping an eye on me."

 Makoto flushed and offered Haruka a shy smile, scratching his cheek with his forefinger. "Ah, you're welcome. I didn't really do anything, though?"

 "You made sure Haru-chan didn't fall off the couch and die," Nagisa amended, throwing his arm around Makoto's shoulder, which was a sight in itself considering their height difference. "That's more than enough, don't you think?"

 "I-I guess…" Makoto said sheepishly.

 "Nagisa, unhand my coworker before I throw you over my shoulder and toss you into the trailer with the rest of the packages," Sousuke said. Although his tone was deadpan, his threat was clear.

 "What if we wanna keep Mako-chan here?" Nagisa asked, hanging off Makoto in some weird semblance of a hug. The taller man laughed, letting himself be jerked around by Nagisa with no complaints whatsoever. "Haru-chan likes him, right, Haru-chan?"

 Haruka blinked, looking between Nagisa and Makoto a few times before settling his gaze on Makoto. He hummed in affirmation, taking another sip of water in hopes of hiding his blush behind the bottle.

 Before anything else could be said, Sousuke manhandled Nagisa off of Makoto and began ushering his employee out the door before the little blond mayhem maker could get his hands on him again. "See you dorks tomorrow morning!" he said overly loudly, making his point.

 "See you tomorrow Nagisa, Haru!" Makoto said with a laugh, raising his arm to wave. The rolled up sleeve of his uniform shirt fell down to his elbow, revealing a cluster of black outlined flowers with slight pastel pink coloring at the tips of the petals on his forearm.

 Flowers that looked strangely like…

 But by the time Haruka thought to say anything, Sousuke and Makoto were long gone.

.

 Haruka sighed as he sank into the warm water, hunkering down until the water came up to right below his nose. The steam rising off the surface clouded around him, almost creating a bubble for him to exist in that separated him from the outside world. His bathtub wasn’t quite long enough for him to stretch out his legs completely, but even with them bent at the knee and his kneecaps poking out of the water, he could already feel his muscles relax.

 He definitely needed to relax after the last day and a half.

 Much of that time was spent in utter confusion, trying to figure out how in the world his soul mark could have bloomed without him realizing that he’d made contact with his soulmate. Not only that, but he’d apparently spent enough time with his soulmate over the past day for his mark to start coloring already.

 Then, when he’d gotten a glimpse of Makoto’s arm…well, that threw everything into extremely unfamiliar waters. And Haruka wasn’t used to being unfamiliar in any kind of water.

 Haruka sank beneath the hot water, his eyes closed. He felt the small pushes and pulls of the water, every little movement he made created tides and ripples in the small, confined area of his element. It calmed him, helped him clear his thoughts.

 When Haruka resurfaced, a decision had been made.

 He needed to ask Makoto to show him his soul mark.

.

 The next morning, when Haruka arrived at his shop at the very break of dawn, he was pleasantly surprised to see that some of his budded plants had bloomed.

 Perhaps the most pleasant and surprising ones were the garden phlox flowers, their colors soft and muted but no less beautiful for it, and when the creeping rays of the sun refracted through the glass of the windows and onto the petals, the gentle pinks and pastel purples really came to life.

 Haruka hoped that it was a good sign.

 He went about his normal morning routine of watering all the plants, enjoying the peace and calmness of the dawn. The gentle sound of the streams of water flowing from the nozzle of his mackerel watering can brought him a sense of clarity. When he moved on to the hose for the larger plants, the gentle hum of the spray nozzle lulled him into a familiar calmness. He felt ready to face the moment that could possibly change the rest of his life. He was still nervous, butterflies fluttering around in his stomach and that familiar tingling feeling in his fingers, but he had to do this. He had to.

 When he heard the gentle knock on the glass door, Haruka turned to see Makoto and felt immediately at ease.

 He turned off the hose and set it atop the tank, walking over to the door and unlocking it to let Makoto in.

 “Good morning, Haru,” Makoto said with his usual gentle smile, his head tilted slightly. “How are you feeling?”

 “Much better,” Haruka said, offering Makoto a small smile of his own.

 “I’m so glad,” Makoto sighed happily. “You really had us worried yesterday.”

 “Sorry about that…” Haruka said, averting his gaze. He felt a hand on his shoulder, then, giving it a gentle squeeze. And while the tingling and weird kind of numbing was still present, Haruka felt…warm. The kind of comforting warmth that came with cuddling in a blanket in the wintertime, or sinking into a hot bath at the end of a long day.

 “Makoto…”

 “Hm?”

 “Can…” Haruka swallowed, looking up at Makoto’s face. Blue eyes met green and Haruka gained his courage. “Can I see your soul mark?”

 A mixture of surprise and confusion crossed Makoto’s face. “My soul mark? Why?”

 Haruka sucked in a breath. He removed the top of his apron and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. He shrugged the collared top off his right shoulder, enough to where his own soul mark was visible, and turned just enough for Makoto to see it.

 “Because I need to see if it matches mine.”

 He heard Makoto gasp, but what that sharp intake of breath meant, Haruka wasn’t sure.

 Until Makoto held his arm out for Haruka to see, and Haruka blew out a breath that had been stuck in his lungs for what felt like an eternity.

 Staring up at him from a tanned forearm was a fully bloomed bunch of phlox flowers, with soft pastels fading in from the centers of the blooms.

 “I had a feeling…” Makoto said through a small laugh, though his laugh sounded a little watery around the edges. “When I got back in the truck, that first day…I noticed my mark had bloomed…and every time I saw you, I just felt…I don’t know…warm? Tingly? I can’t really describe it…”

 Haruka turned back around to face Makoto, his shirt still hanging off his shoulder. There were a couple tears gathered in the corners of Makoto’s gorgeous green eyes, and Haruka was surprised to discover that he had a very similar affliction currently. He blinked his own tears away and hesitantly reached his hand up to cup Makoto’s cheek, his thumb just barely caressing the skin beneath Makoto’s eye.

 “I felt the same…” Haruka admitted, then let out a breath of a laugh. “Though, I guess it definitely took more of a physical toll on me than it did on you.”

 “It sure did,” Makoto laughed quietly, bringing his own hand up to hold Haruka’s hand against his face.

 And there it was again…the tingling feeling. Though instead of coming in as a shock to the system, instead of making him feel sick and numb, it made Haruka’s blood sing, made his spirit flutter, made his heart slow down to a tempo that was nothing but comfort and peace.

 Why hadn’t he cared before about meeting his soulmate? If he knew it’d feel like this…

 Well. That didn’t really matter now, did it?

 Makoto leaned forward, touching his forehead to Haruka’s. Against his will, Haruka’s eyes slid shut.

 "So...now what?" Haruka whispered.

 Makoto sighed a laugh, and Haruka felt his warm breath against his face. It smelled minty, like he had brushed his teeth recently. "I'm...not really sure…" Makoto said hesitantly. "But...I suppose we'll figure it out, right?"

 Haruka smiled, leaning his head on Makoto's shoulder. "Yeah...I suppose we will."

.

 Haruka had never learned much about hanakotoba, aside from what his grandmother had taught him before she passed away. As a florist, he didn't have much use for it. All that mattered to him was how certain flowers and fillers looked together in arrangements, not so much the meanings behind them.

 But since he'd met Makoto, his curiosity had been piqued. He hadn't thought about it before, but...what if soul marks had some kind of meaning? And that meaning was relevant to the two soulmates who shared their mark?

 When he discovered what phlox meant—harmony, united souls—he knew there was no way it was just coincidence.

 So Haruka started looking into other flowers and their meanings, learning more about this hidden language embedded in nature. Once he was versed enough in certain plants and blooms, he began creating a subset of products based around hanakotoba. Just little mason jar arrangements, boutonnieres, corsages, other smaller things of such nature that had just that little extra meaning to them for customers who were looking for that sort of thing.

 He'd also taken a liking to making flower crowns, which was what he was currently working on. He had blooms of both light pastels and deep, vibrant purples on the worktable in front of him. Various tools were scattered about, as well as wiring and floral tape to hold things together. He also had some filler flowers to go along with the main flower of the crown—things like baby's breath that would nicely accent the petunias he was working with for this particular crown. It was for Makoto.

 "Haru?" a voice said, following the jingles of the bells above the front door of the shop.

 Haruka looked up from his worktable, a small smile automatically in place on his lips as soon as he saw Makoto standing at the shop front. "You're early…" he commented, tilting his head slightly. "You're never early."

 Makoto laughed at that as he made his way toward his soulmate, dropping onto the stool next to Haruka. "What are you working on?"

 Haruka's gaze turned back to the mess of flowers and leaves and stems on the table, where a full circlet of petunias sat amongst the wreckage. "Flower crown," he said, picking up his craft and tweaking some of the blooms so they sat correctly.

 "It's beautiful," Makoto said, nudging Haruka's shoulder with his own. The shoulder with his soul mark, now in full color beneath his shirt.

 "It's for you," Haruka said, reaching up with both hands and gently settling the crown atop Makoto's olive brown hair. He was right, the purple did look good on him.

 A smile that was more precious than any other lit up Makoto's face and his cheeks flushed a pretty pink. Haruka had a hard time keeping his heart from thundering in his chest at the gorgeous sight. "Thank you, Haru, I love it." Makoto reached up and gently ran his forefinger over one of the vivid violet petals. "What kind of flowers are these?"

 "Petunias," Haruka answered, fixing the crown so that it sat just slightly angled on Makoto's head, making him look even more adorable than before. "They mean gentleness, or 'your presence soothes me.'"

 Makoto ducked his head and hid his bashful expression behind his large, gentle hands. Haruka wanted nothing more to pull Makoto's hands away from his face and nuzzle their noses together.

 "You'd better make one for yourself, then, to match," Makoto said, allowing Haruka to take his hands. "Because that's exactly how you make me feel."

 Haruka fought down his own blush and swallowed the lump in his throat. "...Maybe tomorrow," he acquiesced, touching his nose to Makoto's.

 Makoto nuzzled his nose against Haruka's. "You ready to close up shop?"

 "Yeah, it's just about time, isn't it?" Haruka said, reluctantly pulling away from Makoto and getting up from his stool. He still had quite the mess leftover from his little project, and normally he made sure everything was spic and span before he left the shop for the night. But he and Makoto had planned a date of sorts and he didn't want to hold that up.

 He and Nagisa would just have to do extra cleaning in the morning.

 Haruka took off his apron and hung it on the hook by his arrangement counter, then moved to wash his hands of all the dirt and pollen. In the meantime, he heard Makoto pulling the metal gates across the front windows closed.

 As soon as the lock on the front door was clicked shut, Haruka pocketed his keys and immediately slid his hand into Makoto's and intertwined their fingers. They walked down the sidewalk at a leisurely pace, nudging each other's shoulders now and then, squeezing each other's hands in reassurance of the other's presence.

 Makoto's crown of petunias stayed on his head for the rest of the night.

[wordcubed]

Unpublished WIPs, Bleach edition

No, I wasn’t tagged in a writer meme, I just wanted to post this. I’ve gotten so back into Bleach that I’m writing for it now. Fear my multi-fandom talents!

fic #1: Orihime Saves the Goddamned World — An Orihime time travel fic. After the end of the Winter War, Orihime goes back in time to when she first got her powers, intending to fix everything. My attempt at fulfilling Orihime’s awesome potential while staying true to her wacky and kind self.

Watch! As I awkwardly try to merge the conflicting ideas of “Tatsuki is obviously lesbian for Orihime, and I wish authors did more with that” and “Orihime x Ulquiorra is my trashbag OTP”! We’ll see how that works out.

Sample:

"Sorry Tatsuki," said Orihime, "I'm just a huge slut."

Tatsuki grimaced. "Orihime, you've never even had sex."

In some alternate universe, Orihime was much more daring. In that universe, she waggled her eyebrows and said, "That you know of," suggestively.

But this was not that universe.

"Oh! You're right," Orihime said, "That was dumb of me. I meant I'm an emotional slut. It's just so easy to love people!"

Tatsuki glared at her. "You're panromantic and you have low standards."

fic #2: The Phoenix Is Stillborn — Hey, you know my massively ambitious Naruto fic, A Different World? This is that, but for Bleach. A ground-up reconstruction of Bleach, where worldbuilding and female characters actually matter.

Sample:

"The number of souls is fixed, Miss Inoue," said Aizen patiently.

"But Yoruichi told me Soul Society nobles can make new ones," Orihime said.

"A few hundred souls a year isn't nearly enough to counter the growth of Living World. The total number of souls has been just over twenty billion for a long time now."

She didn’t see what the big deal was. "There's way less than that in the Living World. I don't see what the problem—"

Aizen interrupted her. “Eight billion are in Hueco Mundo, locked within a few million hollows,” he said. “Nothing short of a devastating war will change that. Meanwhile, the Living World is projected to need twelve billion souls before century's end. Do you see the problem?"

Orihime pursed her lips, thinking. "What happens if Soul Society runs out of souls?"

Aizen favored her with a small smile. "Reality collapses. Soul Society itself will cease to exist. With no soul reapers to fight hollows or guide ghosts, hollows will be free to consume more and more until the Living World is also empty. It, too, will collapse. Only Hueco Mundo will remain."

She was horrified.

"I imagine the desert isn't your favorite, Miss Inoue?" he said, smile widening.

"So... so, what are we supposed to do?" she stammered.

You said 'we', Aizen thought. You're already on my side, you just don't want to admit it yet.

"The Head Captain has his own ideas," he answered, now frowning. "Genocide."

"What?!" she shouted. "That's awful! Why would he do that?!"

"It is awful. But think of it from his perspective—"

"I don't want to! He tried to kill Rukia, and he already killed all of Uryuu's ancestors!"

"Then you already know his perspective. Head Captain Yamamoto's dealt with existential threats through genocide before. As a soul reaper, souls are just numbers on a spreadsheet to him."

"But they're not," Orihime objected again. "He’d be erasing their memories, their personality, their feelings! If a soul is just a number on a sheet, then you've murdered everything else, all the stuff that made them, them. The same soul recycled into Soul Society isn't the same person anymore, they're a totally new person, a new life!"

"Exactly."

She blinked at him and paused, forcing herself to breathe deep and calm. "So... what are we going to do instead?"

He was smiling again. "War."

She stared at him. "How is that any better?"

"War between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society," Aizen said. "The Living world will be left alone. Try and follow, Miss Inoue."

She nodded, but still let her doubt show.

"In the short term, the many souls locked within hollows will be released as they die in battle," he explained. "That will buy us some time."

She shifted uncomfortably. On the one hand, it was technically still mass murder. On the other hand... she'd seen her brother, hollowified, and knew what his "life" as a hollow was like. They were monsters. Some were smart, and almost human, but they were all empty, twisted versions of the soul they were supposed to be. Who'd even want to hold on to those memories, that existence?

Aizen waited, reading her inner struggle on her face. He continued. "As for the long term... There are ways to birth new souls—fast enough to match Living World's growth. But they require radical new ways of living, new ways of relating, new ways of thinking about each other, across both Soul Society and Hueco Mundo."

"New ways?" she said, still the smallest bit doubtful.

"I'm offering revolution, Miss Inoue. Bringing it will be painful, there will be suffering, and both your and my friends will be hurt. But together, at the end, we will build a kinder, happier, and lasting world."

He stepped closer to her. "Will you join me, Miss Inoue? We can save the world, all of us, together." He held out his hand.

Orihime knew Sousuke Aizen was not a good person. He'd allied with the cruelest and vilest monsters. Arranged Rukia's execution, just to watch Soul Society rip itself apart. Kidnapped and imprisoned herself. He smiled at the wrong things, and built her up just to belittle her again. He cloaked war and death in kindness.

But she wanted to believe him so, so badly.

I’m not sure how I’ll juggle this with my Naruto work. I may just have to double up and write both simultaneously. I’m not sure how long finishing A Different World will take, and I’m worried that if I wait until it’s done, the already-fading Bleach fandom will be completely dead by the time I get around to it. And it’s just not any fun writing for a virtual ghost town.

Also, I don’t think my current beta @greetingsfriend has read/watched Bleach? Unless she’s willing to power through almost 700 chapters of manga and steep herself in the fandom, I may have to find a different beta for my Bleach fics.

[leofemt]

i. amusement park

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Sousuke says, eyes not leaving the screen. "Since we went to an amusement park. It might be fun, Kanae, with all the games and stuff."

Chopin pads into the room, silently, his box tucked under his arm- at the mention of games, he sets it down and takes a seat next to an armchair with seeming curiosity, content to gather information on this subject that has piqued his interest.

"See, even Chopin wants to go," Mozart whines, pouting at Kanae. "Come on, come on-"

"Fine," she grumbles, setting the broom against the wall and crossing her arms. "I guess we can go this weekend- no, not tomorrow! Sousuke and I have class," she reminds him.

3.1k words, betokanae.

on ao3.

"An amusement park?" Kanae says, cocking her head. "I haven't been to one of those since... since years ago, I think."

"It sounds so fun!" Mozart bounces on the balls of his feet, a giddy smile on his face, brandishing an advertisement of brightly colored Ferris wheels and laughing people in the air in front of her face. "Kanae, Kanae, let's go to an amusement park!"

"It's the girls, isn't it," Kanae mutters, resuming sweeping the floor.

"Aha." Mozart beams bashfully, scratching the back of his head. "You got me."

She sighs. Sousuke, laying across the couch with Pad-kun in his lap, speaks up.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" He says, eyes not leaving the screen. "Since we went to an amusement park. It might be fun, Kanae, with all the games and stuff."

Chopin pads into the room, silently, his box tucked under his arm- at the mention of games, he sets it down and takes a seat next to an armchair with seeming curiosity, content to gather information on this subject that has piqued his interest.

"See, even Chopin wants to go," Mozart whines, pouting at Kanae. "Come on, come on-"

"Fine," she grumbles, setting the broom against the wall and crossing her arms. "I guess we can go this weekend- no, not tomorrow! Sousuke and I have class," she reminds him.

Mozart beams. He skids down the hall in his roller shoes to go tell Beethoven. Chopin raises his head from where it's balanced on his knees tucked to his chest.

~~~~~~

"This is the amusement park?" Liszt says, eyes glittering with excitement. "Marvelous! I can feel the love in the air already!"

"Love?" Schubert cocks his head, his hands tucked primly in his pockets.

"The amusement park is somewhere for young couples to have dates!" Mozart grins cheekily at Schubert, folding his hands behind his hat as he walks. "There'll definitely be some really cute girls here!"

Schubert turns his nose up at him.

"Someone should monitor you at all times, you public nuisance," he hisses, and Mozart turns on a dime and sprints away.

"Catch me if you can, then!" He shouts over his shoulder, and Schubert makes a noise of affronted outrage before bolting after him, unruly curls bouncing.

The rest of the group watches them go for a moment.

"Sometimes I wonder about how willing Schubert is to get roped into Motz's schemes," Kanae sighs, pulling out her map of the park again. "Do you guys want to-"

Chopin tugs on Liszt's sleeve, and mutters something in her ear. He's wearing wraparound sunglasses and headphones in an effort to stave off his fear of strangers, but he still stays hunched over on himself, and never strays far from Liszt's elbow.

"Oh?" She says, tilting her head to listen to him, then turning her head to Kanae. "I think Cho-chan wants to go play some of the game booths. We'll be back!"

"I'm coming too!" Sousuke announces, walking to Chopin's other side. "The best part of the park is the games! They'll be great, Chopin, you'll see..."

And the three of them make off in the opposite direction Schubert and Mozart had. That leaves-

"Ah," Kanae says, staring after them. "They left."

Beethoven frowns next to her.

"Is this, too, fate?" He mutters under his breath. Kanae doesn't seem to hear.

"Beethes, did you want to go on any of the rides in particular?" She says, pointing to a spot on her map. "I've been to this one, and this one, and that one's pretty good, and my friends like this one-"

He stares at the brightly-colored map.

"That one," he decides, because it has the biggest loop in the illustrated picture and it's bright red, and he looks around to try and discern where they are. Kanae, knowing better than to leave any kind of navigation to him, pulls on his sleeve and leads him in the right direction.

10 minutes later, they're standing in line for the coaster. Beethoven shifts his weight between his feet, glancing around, taking the whole place in- Kanae stuffs her hands in her pockets and wishes she had brought sunglasses against the bright midday sunlight.

"Girl," he says abruptly, eyes tracking something with fierce intensity, "what is that?"

She turns and sees he's staring at- a young girl, holding her mother's hand, with a giant puff of pink cotton candy fluffed on a stick in her grip.

"Oh," she says, "cotton candy. We can go and get some after this ride, if you want."

He's still staring at the girl's candy enviously as she walks away with her mother, so Kanae whacks him on the shoulder.

"Don't be a creep," she says, exasperated. "I'll buy you one later. Geez, I can't believe Motz and Chopin convinced Sousuke to buy their tickets and games and stuff."

The lines are short, so they get on the ride relatively quickly, and Beethoven looks torn between puking and using his Muzik the entire time they're strapped into the seats- Kanae laughs at both his expression and with the giddy exhilaration of the ride. She's still laughing as they disembark, and Beethoven wobbles on his legs, grabbing onto Kanae's shoulder for support.

"So fast," he mutters, even though he's commanded robots and giant penguins and all kinds of other shit with his baton, and he stretches each long, gangly leg by itself before shaking his head like a soaked dog.

"That's why they're fun!" Kanae smiles, but seems to sag a little. "Though, I can say I've had enough of the flying-around-in-the-air stuff for a little while."

They're content to wander around the park for a little bit.

"Wolf and I were performers in one of those... hero shows, they're called," Beethoven says, pointing, "in an attempt to make money a while ago."

Kanae laughs. She seems to have allowed the stress of the constant landlady-ing of 5 genetically engineered classical composing legends lift from her shoulders.

"I don't know why I was the one to play the monster," he mutters, crossing his arms.

They come up on a snack stall. Beethoven freezes at the sight of the enormous clouds of cotton candy set on the ledge of the storefront. Kanae rolls her eyes, and they approach the window.

"Hi!" She says. "Can I get, uh... a cotton candy, and a popsicle?"

The man behind the counter grins at them. Beethoven points stubbornly at a pink-colored ball of cotton candy, a grin cracking his face when the man pulls it off the stand and hands it to him. He pulls a tuft off with his fingers and sets it imperiously on his tongue.

"Sweet..." he murmurs. It dissolves in his mouth. Kanae rolls her eyes, a slightly affectionate smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, and hands the man a few coins out of her wallet. He trades her for a popsicle from the freezer.

The paper crinkles as she unwraps it, pulling the wrapper around the wooden stick to catch any melted ice. She catches Beethoven eyeing it. She frowns at him.

"Hey, you have your own-"

"Is the point of this venture not to experience new things?' He huffs, and before she can do more than frown and open her mouth, he reaches over, wraps her hand in his, leans down to pull her popsicle to his own mouth, bites off a good chunk.

"B-" Kanae shrieks. "Beethes!"

Her face is flushed pink. He pulls away, and chews thoughtfully on his bite of frozen sugar, staining his tongue purple, his hand only slipping from its place around Kanae's after a moment, like an afterthought. His palm had been warm and dry against the back of her hand, Kanae realizes, and more blood floods her cheeks at the thought.

"I bought you your own for a reason," she says weakly, hating how her voice falters.

He blinks, as if only realizing the unfairness of his actions, and rips off a chunk of his own cotton candy.

"I will repay you in kind," he says, but as she reaches up to take it, he pulls just slightly away- whenever she tries to grab it, he tugs it just out of her reach.

She glares up at him.

He offers the candy again.

"You're messing with me, aren't you," she mutters. He pushes the cotton candy resolutely closer.

She leans forward- hesitates, as though arguing with herself- and takes it from his hand with her mouth.

A moment later, as the sugar is dissolving on her tongue, she whips back around, face furiously red now, and says something about going to play some of the game booths- Beethoven hurries after her, as susceptible to her wishes as always, but with a warm feeling he hardly recognizes unfolding in his chest. He takes another bite of his cotton candy and lopes after Kanae. A smile pulls at the corners of his mouth.

~~~~~~

"My kitten!" A familiarly bubbly voice calls, and Kanae spins around, looking for Liszt's curly blonde head. "Over here!"

She spots the woman in question, pulling Sousuke and Chopin behind her, and pulls on Beethoven's sleeve. He glances around.

"Ah?" Liszt coos, coming up closer. "Have you two been together this whole time?"

"Er." Kanae says, suddenly stiff at this new turn of conversation. "Yes, well-"

"Ah!" Liszt exclaims, eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks in delight, a flush rising high on her cheeks. "Is this love? It must be!"

"Liszt-san!" Kanae shouts, jerking. "Don't say things that are easily misinterpreted, please!"

Beethoven frowns.

"What are those?" He asks, pointing at the colorful parcels overflowing from Chopin's arms.. Sousuke is looking at them, slightly jealously. He clutches one stuffed hamster with a kind of pride.

Chopin looks at his items.

"Prizes," he says softly, a smile pressing onto his face. "From the game stalls."

"Oh, Chopin-san!" Kanae exclaims. "You're lucky! Sousuke and I are no good at those games."

She smiles. Sousuke exclaims in outrage at her words, but Pad-kun sets him straight, quoting his rate of acquiring prizes versus the amount of money and time he has spent on the games. Sousuke sags in dejected defeat. Pad-kun snickers mercilessly.

"Prizes." Beethoven mutters under his breath. "So there is a competitive element to this amusement park."

He grabs Kanae's hand.

"Girl!" He says. "I intend to try to play these 'game stalls'!"

"Eh?" Kanae yelps, before she's almost unceremoniously dragged off. "Beethes- Beethes! Hey, hold on! Are you listening?"

"See you soon!" Liszt calls out after them, beaming her dazzling smile.

She watches the pair of them disappear into the crowd.

"Ah," she sighs dreamily, crossing her hands on her bosom. "Love!"

~~~~~~

"Hit the cans with this laser gun!" A woman shouts, waving to gather the attention of people from the crowd. "Get a prize! Over here!"

Beethoven pulls Kanae to the center of the row of game stalls, looking around, assessing his environment. He hasn't let go of Kanae's wrist. His fingers are warm and firm against her skin.

She thinks suddenly of another time she had felt those hands around her wrists- the highlighter pink he had blushed, the swooping feeling in her own stomach, Beethoven's blanked-out expression when his hands were so tight against her- she flushes pink and casts it out of her mind. It's not important right now.

"Hmm." He murmurs, scanning the stalls with sharp eyes. "Will destiny lead me victory today?"

"Beethes," she groans. "Just pick a stall."

He picks a stall- a water-gun game- and proceeds to beg more money off her. After the first two games, which yielded nothing, she had crossed her arms and set her mouth into a firm line, but his accursed pleading eyes had resulted in a handful more coins dropped into his palm.

Damn him, Kanae thinks. She should never have given in and bought him that coffee. Now he knows what works on her.

"Uuuaaaah!" Beethoven suddenly shouts- a shout of victory, because he's finally hit enough of the cans, or whatever the game consists of. The man behind the counter hands him his prize- a stuffed purple squirrel the size of both Kanae's fists. Beethoven takes it, and after basking in his victory for one more moment, turns abruptly and pushes it into Kanae's arms.

"E-eh?" She stammers.

"It's yours," Beethoven says, folding his arms imperviously.

She blinks down at it. It's cute, sure. Soft against her fingertips. She looks up again, about to protest, but something in his eyes stops her.

"Thank you," she says instead, stroking its ear, smiling slightly. "Beethes."

~~~~~~

They meet back up with Schubert and Mozart briefly. Schubert's clothes are rumpled, his bow looking like it's been toyed with and messily re-tied, and Mozart is grinning like a beast. Kanae doesn't want to know what kind of trouble he's been causing.

"Oh, oh!" He beams. "It's Kanae and Lud-kun!"

"S-senpai!" Schubert shrieks, hastily making to tidy his coat. His efforts are ineffective at best. Beethoven doesn't even seem to notice.

"Where did you guys go?" Kanae asks, cocking her head.

Mozart grins.

"Schu-kun wanted to check out the Ferris wheel!" He laughs, and Schubert turns to him, stuttering.

"You're the one who dragged me there, you devil!" He shouts, then turns alarmingly red. "A-and-"

Kanae blinks.

"And?" She says.

Schubert coughs. Mozart looks, alarmingly, like the cat who's got the cream.

"Never mind," Schubert mutters. Mozart giggles and pats him on the shoulder.

"Okay!" He says, as upbeat as ever. "Schu-kun! You have to buy me funnel cake if you want your gloves back! Race you there!"

He bolts off, and Schubert jerks- he looks down at his hands, which are, indeed, bare- and grits his teeth.

"Mozart!" He shouts. "Get back here! You demon-"

And he races off, chasing after a pink lump of a hat weaving and bobbing in the crowd.

"Ferris... wheel?" Beethoven mutters.

Kanae sighs.

"That thing," she says, pointing at the top half of the wheel they can see over the roofs of the stalls. "It spins, and brings the people in the capsules up, and back down again."

He squints at it.

"Interesting." He declares. "Let's go."

He grabs her wrist again.

"Beethes!" Kanae shouts, but he's already off.

~~~~~~

They board the wheel without much difficulty.

"So this is the Ferris wheel," Beethoven says, face pressed against the glass. Kanae's hands are resting on the stuffed squirrel in her lap. "It goes around in a circular motion, carrying the capsules and the people within them around its circumference."

"I came here with my grandmother, once or twice," Kanae says, voice fond. Beethoven turns to look at her. "Isn't the view amazing?"

It's true. It's even higher than the roof of the mansion, Beethoven thinks, as they near the top, and it feels like they can see all of Hanamatsu, or even all of Shizuoka prefecture, from here. This would be a fine place to drink his 60-bean coffee, Beethoven thinks, taking in the sun setting over the horizon and the way its hued light bathes everything in sight in warmth.

He glances to the girl sitting across from him. Kanae is patting the stuffed animal he'd given her in her lap absently, staring out across the view with an indescribable look on her young face. Two parts nostalgia, one part contentedness, one part fondness, Beethoven observes.

"Indeed," he says, his eyes fixed on the only view he can see.

Kanae blinks and turns to face him- she catches him staring, and turns pink, not just from the sunset.

"What?" She says. "Do I have something on my face?"

Beethoven opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. He's never been good at communicating with words, he remembers, even in his previous life, preferring to present his emotions in his music.

Kanae stills. She seems to sense there's something off.

"Are you-" She starts to say, but there's a grinding screech, and the movement of the car stops.

Beethoven blinks.

"Does this usually happen on Ferris wheel rides?" He asks.

Kanae scoots to the end of her seat to try and peer down to the station in front of the wheel on the ground. There are people swarming around.

"Ahaha." She laughs nervously. "I'm sure they'll have it fixed soon..."

They sit in silence for a moment.

"Did you enjoy the park?" Kanae asks, breaking the quiet.

"I found it fascinating and educational." Beethoven says, rubbing the corner of his mouth with one hand. "

There's a pause.

"Did you enjoy it?" He asks abruptly. Kanae starts.

"Me?" She says, pressing one fingertip to her lip thoughtfully. His gaze is drawn to it unconsciously. The air in the compartment is tense, suddenly, not exactly strained, but more weighted with something unnamed. Beethoven feels it settling deep in his bones like a warm bath- all-encompassing, and permeating, and making him sweat. It hangs heavy in the air. It makes him want to reach out and take her hand again.

So he does. He's never been one for self-deprivation, or distrust of his instincts. Kanae makes a high-pitched noise, and turns an alarming shade of pink, but her eyes are wide in the fading sun and her lips part slightly, unconsciously, when she meets his gaze.

His breath stutters in his chest. He's not used to this. This is a whole new realm of anything he's ever felt, and that makes him all the more determined to persevere.

"Beethes..." Kanae says quietly, looking up at him, flushed, something seeming on the tip of her tongue. "I-"

There's a clunk, and a shudder, and the Ferris wheel starts to move again.

~~~~~~

"Ah, there they are!" Liszt waves them down. Their little group is framed in setting sunlight from afar. "My kitten!"

"Sorry!" Kanae pants, jogging up to them. "The Ferris wheel got stopped when we were in it!"

Beethoven follows close behind.

"Oh?" Mozart waggles his eyebrows at her. "Anything interesting happen?"

"Don't be crude, Wolf," Beethoven says disapprovingly, crossing his arms. "It's uncouth."

"Silence speaks louder than words, Lud-kun," Mozart snickers, laughing harder when Kanae turns red and starts to scold him. Sousuke takes a bite out of his cotton candy. Chopin shifts his bounty of game stall prizes in his arms, looking satisfied. Schubert, looking marginally more neat, makes a snarky half-statement about Mozart's crudeness. Beethoven says nothing, blushing furiously pink, arms folded across his chest. The entire scene is bathed in the warmth of a rose-tinted sunset.

"Ah," Liszt sighs, smiling in bliss, one perfectly manicured hand fluttering above her heart. "This is love!"

[shannie-writes]

Fruit with a Twist

It was a slow afternoon at the café, the short period of time after school was out and clubs were still running. Kouhai stood behind the counter, resting her head on her arms as she stared out the café window. Not a student in sight.

With a sigh, she rolled her head to glance at the pastry display, mentally taking notes on which ones would have to go, so she could sell them discounted for the students hungry after their club activities. Sousuke would be happy, the dango was included and he was sure to get some for himself and his brother.

The jingle of the bell at the door surprised Kouhai and she jumped up away from the counter, straightening out her apron.

“Oh, Touya-senpai. What can I get for you?”

Touya stepped up to the counter, making an attempt to hide his unusually grumpy expression. “Espresso, please.”

“Sure thing, senpai. Anything else? I’m discounting the pastries right now. Half off?”

“I appreciate the offer, but all I need right now is a coffee and inspiration.” He thrust his hand towards her, offering her a large bill.

“Inspiration?” Kouhai rang up the order at the register and counted out his change. Touya promptly dropped it all in her tip jar. “Is there an assignment you’re having a hard time with?”

“Unfortunately, yes. The theme is ‘Fruit with a Twist’ and I’m having a hard time of it. All I can think of is sticking potato head features on a pineapple and I don’t know why I can’t think of anything else. It’s not really me.”

Kouhai set his mug under the coffee machine to drip. “‘Fruit with a Twist’...is your teacher asking for a still life?”

“There weren’t any specific directions for style. I would prefer still life or something along the lines of realism.”

Kouhai tapped her chin with a finger as she thought, absentmindedly passing the slightly overfilled mug of coffee over the counter. Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, she came up with an plan.

“Touya-senpai, if you don’t mind waiting, I think I have an idea for you. I’ll be in the kitchen for a few minutes.”

The strain in Touya’s eyes eased as a hint of a smile touched his lips. “Kouhai, you’re the greatest. I’ll sit and wait for you.”

Kouhai skipped back through the kitchen doors before Touya had even turned around. Grabbing an apple and a paring knife, she began to slice. With efficient and practiced cuts, she dipped the apple in a small bowl of water with a dash of lemon juice. She found a cute white and red patterned plate and carefully dried and set up the slices in a way that was easy on the eyes, knowing it was just what Touya liked.

Rushing back out of the kitchen, she found Touya at one of the tables closest to the window, staring outside. Setting the plate in front of him, the sound brought him out of his thoughts and he glanced at her before looking down at the table.

Even slices of apple formed a circle, eight little rabbit-eared segments chasing after each other’s tails. It took a moment for Touya to recognize the shape, but the shining in his eyes as he gasped out loud was worth the wait.

“Kouhai, these are perfect! Making animals out of fruit, not adding things to them to make them something different. Enhancing their best features. This is brilliant. I almost don’t want to eat them.”

“They had a lemon-water bath, so they’ll stay fresh and white if you want to sketch it out first before eating them.”

“Kouhai, I could kiss you right now.” He dove into his bag and pulled out his sketchpad and pencil, flipping to an empty page and immediately putting graphite to paper. “I knew coming here would be the solution to my problem. It always is.” Touya looked over at her and smiled at her slightly flushed complexion. “You are the perfect muse.”

[zephyrthejester]

Samurai Champloo episode 04

Please click “Keep Reading” to see my thoughts on Samurai Champloo episode 04.

Well! Pretty much all my expectations for how this would resolve were thwarted. It was a satisfying ending to this mini story, indeed.

Mugen and Jin’s fight was interrupted for what must be the 200th time when the Bad Boss summoned his men to surround Jin and Sousuke. And Mugen-- the absolute madman-- started cutting through his “allies” to get at Jin. Thankfully, Jin had some smoke bombs concealed in the shamisen prop from earlier, given him and Sousuke a way out.

With everyone split up again, quite a lot happened. Mugen decided to leave town, determined that he wanted to neither rule or be ruled, comfortable in knowing that no one the Bad Boss could send would be a challenge. Fuu and the other hostage had a chat about family and why the other hostage can’t escape even if she wanted to (her father would be killed if she did). And Sousuke was a little idiot and went and killed a Bad Yakuza guardsman.

The shitstorm that arose from that action was tense, to say the least. The pact on non-violent competition was broken because of it, and yet both Yakuza leaders wanted the resolution to the conflict to be bloodless. So a deal was made... A simple gambling match. If the Bad Yakuza wins, they get Sousuke’s life. If the Good Yakuza wins... They lose their territory in exchange for Sousuke’s life.

The wily Bad Boss set up the scenario so that he would lose on purpose. After all, what use is Sousuke’s life when he could get the Good Yakuza’s territory? Unfortunately, things got out of hand when Fuu found herself as the unwitting, unplanned dice roller to determine the bet. And sure enough, she rolled the dice so that the Bad Guys won-- the exact opposite of what they wanted.

The Good Boss stepped forward to take his own life, in place of his son. What a guy, eh?

Unfortunately, the Bad Boss was a complete asshole and decided to kill Sousuke anyway and take the Good Yakuza’s territory by force. Fortunately, Mugen is an even bigger asshole and stormed in to kill everyone, because his conscious couldn’t let Fuu wither away in their clutches.

When the Bad Boss attempted to escape the chaos, he was killed by the chain-wielding samurai from earlier. A former member of the Good Yakuza, who had slowly grown disgusted by his new boss’ dishonorable ways-- and witnessing the death of his former boss was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

In the end, the episode was bittersweet. Mugen, Jin, and Fuu continue on their travels as Sousuke takes up the head of the Good Yakuza, now the only gang in town. The chain-wielding samurai was offered the chance to rejoin, but had to settle something first-- one last duel with Mugen. Well... He died with a smile on his lips, as only a Samurai could.

So yes. As I said, this episode subverted a lot of my expectations, but wrapped up neatly nonetheless. It’s a bit odd, maybe, but I think I enjoyed the prior episode a little bit more. Maybe I just liked the set-up part the most... Still, I must say that this was a fitting and satisfying end to this little story.

Okay, maybe I have an issue with the way Sousuke was handled. The kid did literally nothing but mess the fuck up through these two episodes, and by the end of it he didn’t seem any wiser or regretful... I mean, he cried when his father killed himself, but... Something tells me that when Jin and Fuu take up his offer to come back after their journey is over, they’ll find that the town is a smoking crater.

I rate Samurai Champloo episode 04 an 8/10.

I counted no historical inaccuracies, maintaining the series total at 1. (I was made aware that the giant crab sign was indeed an inaccuracy, but because I didn’t count it on my first go, I can’t retroactively add things. This counter is for what I personally notice...)

Other Observations

- I’m thinking that the Sunflower Samurai has something to do with Fuu’s family. When the other hostage lady inquired about them, Fuu froze up. Most likely, the Sunflower Samurai killed one or more of her family members... But I dunno, the ED (credits) are giving me the feeling that the Sunflower Samurai might be her father. At any rate, they show a young Fuu hanging around a father figure a lot before he... vanishes. It’s a bit odd.

- Fuu almost transformed into another person when the gambling started... It was almost scary. She should have been frightful and confused, but instead she had everyone in the room nervous due to the aura of power she was commanding. And she bounced the dice off the walls to get them to land perfectly in the vase...

- The fortune teller from earlier was the Witness to the gambling, which probably confirms my suspicion that she was part of the Bad Yakuza.

- Unfortunately, I have no frame of reference for what the talisman the Good Boss bequeathed to his son means. I can’t read Japanese, and the text on it went untranslated... It must be a cultural thing lost on me, a filthy gaijin.

[notice-mesenpai]

Baking Before Books

For our four and final fic raffle winner, @todokori-kun!!!

Yikes, what a belated fic. I did not mean to make you wait so long! I hope that now that summer’s here, I can really work on all of your requests and give you the content that you guys deserve!

Request: A reader fic for Sousuke and a bookworm Kouhai. A relaxing date that involves a lot of cuddling and reading together - with some baking shenanigans if you can find the space for it!

Sousuke stared out at the rain, watching it hit the leaves and trickle off onto the wet grass. The droplets rattled against the window, a bitter and constant reminder that his plans for the day had been ruined.

Since his tournaments had ended, he was determined to spend time with you and take you out on all the dates he had been planning. With a list written and tucked away in his room, he had plans for restaurants, theatres, gardens, and the like. He even took a couple suggestions from you, having scribbled them on if you mentioned them in conversations or in texts.

However, this time around, his plans were unsuccessful. He had wanted to take you out to the park and to a popular open-air restaurant… both of which had been spoiled by weather complications.

With a sigh, he thudded his head gently against the window, feeling the cool glass against his forehead. Slipping away into a slight daydream about how well it could have gone, Sousuke let himself wallow in his own thoughts—

When the door burst open, and caused him to spin around in shock. He was met with the sight of you, dressed up in a raincoat and shaking an umbrella off outside. A plastic grocery bag was wrapped around your wrist, and you closed the door behind you, resting the soaking wet umbrella in the rack as Sousuke stood to come help you remove your raincoat with a sigh.

“I could have come along and held the umbrella, you know.”

“We wouldn’t have both fit under it,” you replied, shrugging the colorful coat off your shoulders before holding up the bag excitedly. “Besides, it was just a quick shopping trip so we could bake like I wanted!”

“I wouldn’t have minded getting wet to hold it over you, then.” He smiled as you walked towards the kitchen, watching as you knew where everything was. Sousuke enjoyed it when you were at their house, usually offering to help make dinners, but on occasion, you baked there. The smells of sweet cakes and warm brownies filled the house, and he loved being in the same room as you worked, either to help or watch and feel the domesticity of it all for a few precious moments.

“You got cake mix instead?” He pokes through the bag to begin pulling out what you bought, and you nod.

“I wanted to be a bit faster this time, but I like that brand.”

Sousuke nods in understanding, but then comes across a small package at the bottom of the bag, taking it out to see that they’re small toothpicks. Upon a closer examination, he sees that they’re multicolored and topped with small books, and he smiles at them.

Of course you would buy this. Setting it aside, he takes out the last few things and comes alongside you at the counter, retrieving whatever you needed. If you called for a second bowl, he got that. Two butters set out to soften while you worked. A sifter, a teaspoon, the milk from the fridge… and before long, the sweet smell of cake batter filled the room, the chocolate looking delicious as you lifted the machine to check the contents.

“Hey!” You made a grab for Sousuke’s wrist as he swiped a section of the beater, tasting it. You glowered at him. “You shouldn’t eat raw batter!”

“But, it tastes good. Besides, I’ll be fine.”

“If it’s premade, I hope it does… I hope you don’t get sick. And, I’ll at least be making the frosting, if you could pour the batter into the lined tray over there.” You pointed before collecting the sugar, sifting it into a large mixing bowl, before putting in two sticks of butter.

“How much vanilla do you want in the frosting?” you asked Sousuke, and he glanced up briefly from his work to consider your question.

“Not a lot. What does the recipe call for?”

“Just a couple teaspoons.”

“I think that’s fine, then. You know I usually just prefer dark chocolate, so the less sweet you can make it—“

“The better it will be,” you finished, and Sousuke sighed.

“You know me so well.”

“You only came from your archery practice to comment on how I had accidentally given you someone’s pitcher of sweetened iced tea. While your expression was hilarious, I haven’t forgotten since. Can you get the milk back out, just in case?”

“Of course.” He finished off the last cupcake and set the bowl down, grabbing the jug from the fridge and setting it by you as you began to mix the frosting together, beating all the ingredients together. You glanced at Sousuke, who was standing close by and watching you work, eyes staring at the bowl as you blended the contents.

“…Do you want to taste-test this, too?”

“Is that all right?” His reply was quick, and watched him retrieve a spoon as you gave your approval and steal a small bit, nodding.

“I think I’ll just add a tiny bit more milk, but this should be good.” You poured in a small amount and added it to the mixture, before covering it with a paper towel. “And you’re done with your task?”

Sousuke nodded, and you got the oven mitts, crouching down as you opened the oven door and slid the tray inside.

“There we go!” You excitedly clap your hands together after closing the oven and setting a timer, turning to Sousuke with a large grin. “Those will be ready soon.”

Sousuke smiles at your giddy reaction, and leans down to give you a quick kiss. “We could pick out some books you wanted to read while they bake, if you want.”

You nod, and follow him towards the bookshelves that line the hallways of his house, and the couple that reside in his room. The stack in his arms grow as you pick out a few, in case either of you decide the book is not for you and want to read a new one without having to get up. He comments on some titles and makes recommendations, and you do the same, asking him to reach ones that are higher up before you realize the bundle in his arms is getting a little large.

“Let me take some.” You remove a section from the top and he sighs in relief.

“I know archery has arm strength involved, but my overall endurance could use some work…”

You laugh as you walk back into the living room, placing them on the coffee table before the sofa, happy to see that the rain was still going. It was less torrential now, and the pitter-patter was pleasant sounding, with no thunder or lightning flashing through the house.

“Does your family read a lot of books?”

“Well, my father always liked reading. Each time he went out on some sort of business trip, he would buy two books for the trip down, and then two for the trip back. So we always ended up accumulating novels and the like, resulting in this many shelves around our house. And yet he kept on buying more and more, encouraging us to read as avidly as he did. But I suppose we never took to it as… strongly as he did.”

“Is that why he was so excited at dinner when I said I loved reading?”

“That is exactly why he was so excited and wanted to give you a tour. Your grandmother forgave us for getting you home so late, thank goodness…”

You laughed as you began to arrange the books into your pile and his pile on the coffee table, and Sousuke made his way back into the kitchen. You hummed to yourself as you made the piles, but not for long.

“How many dishes did you end up using?” Sousuke calls from the kitchen, and you wince as you think of all the utensils that must be sitting in the sink, and hurry inside to see him standing at the counter, gathering up dishes to put them closer to the faucet.”

“Here, let me at least wash them…” Stepping over, you run the hot water and begin to scrub at the dishes, relieved that he was deciding to do them as the cupcakes finished up, as it took up the time. “Could you check the cupcakes?”

Sousuke nodded, opening the oven slightly and waving his hand as the heat hit his face. “They’re fine, the timer’s accurate.” Closing it once more, he pulled the dishtowel off the handle, coming to take the first bowl and utensils. A silence fell between you both as you focused on your tasks, the running water and splashing sounds filling it instead. Idle conversation hovered above it all, about your favorite snacks aside from desserts and about family stories.

As you got halfway through the stack, the timer went off, and you ditched your work for a few moments to pull a pair of oven mitts on, seizing a toothpick and bending down to check if they had cooked through.

“Are they done?” Sousuke asked, leaning back to see the near-end result.

“Yup!” You placed the toothpick aside and reached inside to pull out the tray, setting it on the rack to cool down a bit before you got the cupcakes out. “Let’s finish the dishes, then they should be ready to frost.”

In his excitement, Sousuke sped through his half of the work, often idly waiting for you to hand dishes to him to do more work. He had to confess that he was most likely more excited than you, eager to try your food again. He knew that at the café he could always try it, but the nature of having it made especially for him always added to the experience.

“All right, we can frost them now—“ You had barely finished talking when Sousuke hung the towel back up again, finding the frosting bags and decorating tips you had laid out. With a sigh, you scooped the buttercream frosting into your respective bags, while Sousuke pulled the cupcakes out and set the tray aside, leaving the cupcakes on the rack.

“Here you go,” you said, holding his out and moving to begin work on your cupcakes. He frowned at seeing how artfully you were able to spiral the frosting, trying to copy your movements… but to no avail. You couldn’t help a laugh and a smile at seeing his work, but he only said he would steal yours and make you eat his instead.

“Those decorations were cute,” he commented as you got them from the counter again, and you glanced at them, smiling up at him.

“You think so?”

“They were perfect for today, since you suggested we just stay inside because we could not go out. Did you go looking for them?”

“I saw them as I was leaving the baking aisle and knew I had to have them for today. We’ll put them in the ones we’re not going to eat right away, how’s that sound? Just so we get to use them.”

You both claimed the cupcakes you were going to put on your plates, and stuck the decorations in the rest of them, carrying the tray and plates out to add them to the coffee table where the books rested.

“I suppose I am glad it rained today, and that you thought of something else to do on the spot.” Sousuke settled down on the couch, and you flopped next to him, feeling him press a quick kiss to your temple. “Here, take your end of the blanket.”

You wrap the soft blanket around yourself, tugging a bit as you adjusted yourself next to Sousuke. “It will make a perfect afternoon, sitting like this together.” You grab one of your cupcakes as Sousuke picks up a book, flipping it open while you try the first bite, holding it out to him after so he can taste it as well. With glowing compliments from your boyfriend, you snuggle up against him and finish off the sweet treat, brushing your fingers off with a napkin and reaching for your own book, enjoying his warmth.

As the rain still fell outside, creating a balance with the soft glow of the lamps and the warmth of Sousuke next to you, you smiled contentedly, thinking to yourself that there was no place you would rather be.

…

You weren’t sure when you fell asleep, though. As you woke up slowly, your groggy mind tried to catch up with itself, unable to process the memory for a moment. …The last you recalled, you had been halfway through a book, before setting it down with half a mind to enjoy a second cupcake. But for some reason, you settled back against Sousuke first, resting your head on his shoulder, feeling an arm wrap about your waist.

But now you had woken up, and found your head had been on his chest, and sat up in shock, feeling the blanket fall from about your shoulders. Sousuke’s expression changed, and he raised his arms, feeling his chest as his eyes opened wide.

“Where are you—“ He sounded afraid before registering that you were sitting up before him, staring down with surprise.

“Oh, you’re awake. I’m sorry. You had fallen asleep against my shoulder.”

“…But this isn’t me against your shoulder, anymore…”

“Well, you being sleepy and dozing against my shoulder made me feel a little groggy, too. I didn’t mean to get so tired, but I put my book down and did my best to adjust you without waking up…” He smiled sleepily up at you, reaching to cup your cheek and run his thumb across, the sensation warm against your face. You stayed there a few moments, before you eased off his legs and sat back on the couch itself, looking at the tray of cupcakes and scattered books before you, thinking about how your own exhaustion had taken up part of the evening by mistake. Turning around, you looked out the window and saw the rain had stopped, with the setting sun casting a glow across all the wet leaves and flowers outdoors.

“We could go outside now, if you wanted… but it is damp.” Sousuke slowly sat back up, watching the sight outside with you. “We’re better off staying inside. Did you want to have a late dinner before we drove you home?”

“I wouldn’t mind that. What have you got around here?”

“I think we have some fish, and enough to make some salad or a vegetable side… I really don’t know, actually. Hinata’s more the chef than I am these days. I can barely make tea.”

“I think that’s because you’re comparing yourself to him. I’ve had your tea, it’s fine.” You gave him a warm smile as you stood up from the sofa, reaching out a hand to help him up. “Let’s go!”

Sousuke nodded, grabbing a cupcake to eat before following you once more into the kitchen, laughing as you tugged the blanket in with you. It rested about your shoulders like a cloak, but he made no move to comment. He only thought about how cute you were, moving to press a couple more kisses, murmuring, “I love you.”

[brickerbeetle]

Soumako, 13? For the things you said list?

#13 - things you said in the kitchen (ft. fuck buddy type relationship)

Makoto wakes up to an empty bed.

Not the most shocking of observations on most days, but today is different, because he’s pretty sure someone was here with him when he went to bed last night. The space beside him that’s smoothed out and large enough to fit another body confirms it.

Right. Sousuke spent the night over again.

He must have left, which has Makoto doubly surprised. Sousuke never leaves before Makoto’s woken up. Partly because Makoto suspects he can’t help but sleep in, and partly because there’s nothing to run from, no awkward confrontation to avoid. The understanding they’ve established on top of their friendship leaves little room for nervous conversation “the morning after.”

Oh, well. He’ll text him later.

Sighing, Makoto gets up and shambles over to the bathroom. He allows habit to dictate his movements, not entirely past the state of pissy bleariness. Once he’s out of the shower he’s a little better, at least enough so that he can fix his hair, shave, and get dressed.

Sousuke’s in his kitchen when Makoto comes out of his room.

He stands in the doorway and blinks. “Oh. Hey.”

“Hey,” Sousuke says, not looking up from his phone. A half-eaten bagel sits on the counter besides him, a centimeter away from where he’s reaching for it. He finds it eventually and brings it to his mouth, talking around a bite. “How’d you sleep?”

“Fine. You?”

“Okay. My ass hurting is what woke me up earlier than usual, so thanks for that.”

Makoto grins. “I thought you left.”

“Nope. Figured I’d wait around long enough to guilt-trip you.” Sousuke spares him a glance, looks him up and down for a split second. “What the fuck are you wearing.”

Makoto follows his gaze to the crudely-drawn print of a kangaroo wearing boxing gloves on his shirt. “Rin gave it to me. What’s wrong with it?”

“It looks like it was done by a two year old. It also looks like something only a two year old could get away with wearing.” Sousuke wrinkles his nose. It’s sort of cute, but Makoto loses appreciation for it when it’s coupled with the judgemental quirk of his brows. “You’re wearing that to work?”

“I’ll have a sweater over it,” Makoto mumbles. He accepts the last bit of bagel when Sousuke offers it to him. “Don’t be mean to me just because you’re jealous. It’s not my fault my job allows casual attire.”

“I’m not mean to you because of your job’s dress code. I’m mean to you because you actually take shirts like this one seriously. I’m trying to condition you against them.”

Makoto just rolls his eyes and moves to take two mugs from the cabinet. He holds them both out for Sousuke to choose. Sousuke goes with the plain white mug, leaving Makoto with the one that has Jiji the cat on the side. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything, but Makoto decides to interpret it as a gesture of consideration and grins to himself.

[bend-will]

Sousuke blushed darkly when the other said they acted like a married couple, his heart fluttering. Makoto was his boyfriend and he really couldn't believe it.. He finally had a significant other. Someone he could kiss and hold and talk to when he was feeling sad. He finally had someone he could share his love for Hiroki with and offer his son the experience of two involved parents.

Life was really looking up. "Of course I want you as my boyfriend." He said, soon the food was cooked. Sousuke turned off the stove and then set the spoon down, pressing Makoto against the counter and kissing his lips deeply, cupping his cheek as he kissed him with passion. Was he already in love with Makoto?

Makoto smiled as the other kissed him backed and thanked him for helping. “Of course, it’s no problem at all.” He said. “Cooking takes some time but it’s good to learn so Hiroki will think your cooking is mine.” He said. 

Makoto nodded. “I am your boyfriend, yes.” He said kissing the others cheek. “That is of course if you want me to be.” He said to the other. “We already act like a married couple it feels like.” He said. 

Which he was being honest about that. It felt like they had known each other for years. 

[embaasan-blog]

Skin Ch. 4 - Rust and Stardust (Sousuke/Kouhai Fanfic)

Fandom: Notice Me Senpai Rating: Mature Summary: Sousuke and Hinata have always been inseparable - as two halves to a whole, they have shared everything - from the grief at their mother’s disappearance to the face that belongs to them both. But the two of them are starved for attention and when their elite school opens its gates to the first female student in its history, the two of them are drawn in by her girlish charm. Now piqued against each other, Sousuke is left tormented and grappling with promises he can no longer keep, while Hinata’s virtuous facade is slipping, to reveal an increasingly warped mind. Notes: It was at this point I realized that by writing this, I had forever changed the way I look at Hinata when he arrives in my café... I swear the twins are my favourite senpai. The fifth chapter is in the queue but if you wanna skip ahead, you can find the rest here at AO3.

| Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four |

Warning: There are some potentially triggering themes in this chapter so I’d recommend you steer clear if themes of domestic violence or violence in general have an impact on your mental well-being! Look after yourselves!

Sousuke spent that night at his cousin’s house, dutifully helping his capacious aunt grate the winter radishes while Soujiro fried pieces of shrimp. The atmosphere in the kitchen was unexpectedly jovial, despite the two boys silently stewing in the knowledge what Hinata had done that day. They glanced towards each other across the kitchen with disconcerted expressions; out the window, the maple tree arched its branch accusingly in the direction of Sousuke’s own home, where the sound of chopsticks would be drowning out any meager attempts at conversation. Sousuke had swiftly removed himself from the picture, vaguely aware that there was an element of blame-dodging, of responsibility-shirking, to it. As Hinata’s twin brother - as the person who had vowed to protect him and shield him from harm - Sousuke was a failure. But Soujiro’s home was lively and loving by comparison - how could Sousuke resist?

Over the sound of sesame oil sizzling and spitting on the hob, Soujiro’s mother relayed all of the tiny melodramas that had presented itself throughout her day - how she pricked her finger while sewing an intricate pattern on a baby’s blanket and how the leaves of the maple tree had become a veritable tripping hazard on her veranda where she liked to relax. She was a seamstress by day and had a steady influx of customers who ambled into the compound, astonished at its grandeur and impressed by Soujiro’s calligraphy, which adorned every wall in the house. Conveying their bemusement to her family over dinner was one of her favourite past-times and she was delighted to have Sousuke in her audience. Despite the uneasiness that was wrecking havoc on his insides, giving him psychosomatic nausea, Sousuke laughed heartily and the hours passed uneventfully in a steady, focused stream.

Eventually, Sousuke and Soujiro descended the steps leading into the courtyard and made their way towards Sousuke’s home. His father was perched on the top step, billowing cigarette smoke into the night and surrounded by a herd of loutish middle-aged men. They were all dressed informally in yukatas, fanning themselves on the veranda and clutching cans of beer, relishing the phantom summer that had disrupted the flow of October. Drunkenly, they called out to the boys as they approached and Sousuke could have sworn he saw a glint of approval in his father’s ordinarily damning eyes at the sight of Soujiro, who, for the most part, was the pride of the compound.

Hinata was inside, in a trance-like state, completely absorbed by the steam rising from the chamomile tea he held. Untouched homework lay on the desk the boys shared. He blanched when he saw his brother enter the bedroom, and hugged the mug closer to his chest, averting his gaze towards the window. Far from hatred at this point, Sousuke felt enough pity to swallow him whole at the sight of his brother’s palpable fear. Wordlessly, he packed an overnight bag and exited the house without looking back. Soujiro was still stood, surrounded by the drunk, yukata clad men on the veranda, talking about an upcoming exhibition he was to be featured in.

While Sousuke waited for Soujiro to end the conversation, he thought about Kouhai-chan, trembling at the school gates, and consciously tried to divert the flow of sympathy he was feeling for Hinata as it began trickling back into his brain. Obsessing over someone was one thing, but spiking them was beyond redemption, he thought to himself, logically. He was so horrified by the thought of Hinata with fists full of capsules or baggies of powder, hovering above the simmering tea like an ominous cloud, that he hadn’t even considered what Hinata’s endgame might have been.

“Did he say anything?” Soujiro asked, grimacing as they walked away.

“No,” Sousuke responded honestly, shifting the bag from one shoulder to the other, “he didn’t even look at me.”

Hinata wasn’t at the café the next morning. The heat still prickled at Sousuke’s skin and even though the weather had cooled off significantly, it had still cost him another night of sleep. Despite battling drooping lids, he and Soujiro had agreed to keep an eye on the girl as she busied herself with the morning crowd, avoiding their gaze as she did so. When her customers began filtering out and she finally removed her cotton apron, twisting the sign on the door to signal the café’s closure, the pair stood up and attentively offered to walk her to her first class. She accepted, with some trepidation, and the three of them descended to the first floor where the first years took their classes.

“Thank you,” she said breathlessly, toying with her red tie as she stood at the entrance of the classroom.

“If it’s any consolation, I don’t think he’ll try anything with so many people about,” Sousuke said softly, “but we want you to know that we’re taking this seriously.”

Soujiro’s eyes glistened with unspoken devotion as he nodded in agreement. She gave them both a grateful look but her gaze lingered on Sousuke’s stoic features just a little longer, before she tenderly took his hand and squeezed it. The two boys stood there, dumbly enraptured by her gentleness and in awe of her sincerity. The feelings they knowingly shared clamped around them even tighter, unfaltering bonds that they couldn’t snake out of. Sousuke couldn’t remember if the hand that had touched him so intimately in his fantasy was as tender as the one that she extended to him now.

When his classes had ended for the day, Sousuke’s classmates stood in clusters, babbling senselessly to each other about this or that, while he gathered his things and moved stealthily towards the third year café. Sousuke was by no means isolated by his peers; he tended to stick with his own relatives for the sake of convenience, but no one clocked his swift entrance out of the doors, nor did anyone notice him trail off in the opposite direction of the archery range. This worked for him. His priorities had surpassed the act of fixing his teammate’s sloppy postures. Attendance was only mandatory on select days, so his absence was excusable albeit notable, for he was usually there every single day without fail. His father certainly wouldn't approve of him skipping, especially now that Sousuke's weekends were dedicated to vigorous studying for college entrance exams, but how would he even know?

He took what was now his usual seat in the corner of the room, which gave him the optimum view of the café floor. He knew exactly who was about to waltz in, as he was positioned directly across from the door, which had a glass frame looking out into the corridor. The only downside was that it slightly obscured his view of the girl, who stood behind the counter, absently flexing her fingers, with a gaze concentrated on the influx of customers as she waited for Hinata to emerge.

Plenty of students reluctantly took takeaway coffees and headed to their individual club meetings while the others buzzed around her like flies. Her façade was beginning to slip slightly, he noticed, as she seemed to resent the attention and brushed most of the students off with a half-smile. Her eyes were perennially glued to the door, and even as she steamed the milk, he knew she was looking over her shoulder to see who was entering and who was leaving.

For the second day in a row, he walked her home, after helping her flip the chairs over and onto the tables while she swept the floor around him. Crisp autumn leaves carried by a gentle breeze peppered the pavement where they walked parallel to each other in silence; she had her arms folded beneath her chest as always, while he left his hands in his pockets. The clouds rolled across the lilac sky in shades of dusky pink, only disrupted by a flock of unidentified birds. She watched them with faraway eyes.

“You should talk to someone if the attention bothers you,” he said, wincing as the voice that emerged from his mouth was condescending at best.

She shook her head sadly. “I just wish my grandma was still here.”

That evening, Sousuke and Hinata cooked together as usual, communicating as little as possible while their father poured over his notes on the family history. He intended to write a book on the subject, but whether or not this was feasible with his destructive appreciation for Japanese whiskies, Sousuke was unsure. He rolled up his sleeves, and began plating up the meal, trying to remember if his father had ever finished anything. His marriage had ended, he had more-or-less given up on fatherhood, and had never kept a job for very long, either. As the twins took their seats and their father began putting away the notes, Sousuke felt like he had just had an epiphany as to why his father was so adamant that he should continue with archery.

“So,” their father began, casting a critical eye over the meal he had been presented, “how was your day?”

“It was okay,” Sousuke responded noncommittally.

“Mm,” Hinata murmured, picking at his food.

“It’s your day off tomorrow so I’d like to see you boys out raking the leaves if you find the time. They’re becoming a nuisance.”

Sousuke nodded without eagerness. “I’ll tell Soujiro.”

Sousuke knew his standing with his father was flimsy at best. Although he was undoubtedly the favourite between himself and Hinata, he knew he was far from being ideal. His appearance, like Hinata’s, lacked the masculine bravado of his father’s stalwart build. The boys were cursed with grace - slender and pale like women, although Sousuke had the slightly more athletic edge. Both struggled to grow facial hair and instead had smooth, chiseled faces, translucent and sharp like moonbeams. To add insult to injury, the boys and their father existed on separate spheres: where their father demanded, the boys asked politely, and while their father blustered and roared, they were composed. While their father historically held no disdain for men like them, the betrayal of his wife made it so he criticised them more harshly, lest they turn out like her.

“How was your training today, Sousuke?” his father continued.

Sousuke paused. His lie was already calculated, he just wanted to appear natural. “It was fine. Some of the first-years are getting really good. They could be competing soon enough.”

His father nodded approvingly and began shoveling food into his mouth, but before Sousuke could breath a sigh of relief, he noticed Hinata staring at him across the table.

“You weren’t at archery practice today,” he said, solemnly.

“What?” Sousuke asked dumbly. “Yes I was.”

Hinata shook his head. “I waited for you. You weren’t there. You were with her.”

Sousuke could feel the blood draining from his face. He couldn’t look at his father; he just continued peering across the table at Hinata, whose face was mask-like and eerie. How did he know he was with her?

“Is this true, Sousuke?” his father grunted.

Sousuke put his hands on the table and looked down at them. Even when his father repeated his name, getting progressively more irate, he couldn’t bring himself to answer. How had he known? It was easy enough to gauge that he hadn’t been at training but as far as he was aware, Hinata had been at his own club meeting and nowhere near the third year café.

“Sousuke!”

Suddenly, Sousuke felt someone lift him out of his chair by the scruff of his shirt and he hit the walls of the kitchen with an almighty thud. The framed picture above him clattered noisily. Dazed, Sousuke worried that it would fall onto him and he would have to find the energy to catch it. It was one of Soujiro’s works, commissioned by the boys’ mothers when they were all in elementary school, although you could easily mistake it for something made by an adult. It simply read “prosperity”. He closed his eyes and slumped, when his father grabbed him again, this time by the collar.

“Have you been skipping archery practice?” he asked, quietly, grinding his teeth menacingly only inches away from Sousuke’s face.

Sousuke looked up with bleary, unfocused eyes. All he could do was stare ruefully into his father’s baleful, monstrous countenance and move his lips without making a sound. He must have hit his head when he was thrown. He knew that if he really attempted to vocalize, he would start coughing and spluttering. The pain in his back was beginning to fade after the collision, but he could still barely stand and was hoping to stall with a remorseful look before he needed to begin explaining himself.

That was when his father flung him back, tired of his silence. Almost as soon as he hit the floor, Sousuke’s father began pummeling him with violent kicks. And all Sousuke could think about was that damn picture on the wall, still swinging violently. With each hate-filled blow, he bit back the hapless moans that were forming in his throat. And then he heard something snap. Pain seared through his body. He couldn’t breathe. As he blacked out, he saw Hinata, pressed against the wall at the other side of the room. His eyes were frantic and he was as white as a sheet.

The world was tinged sea-green. Sousuke felt like he was underwater.

Everything was murky and grimy like the entire compound was a shipwreck. He kept rubbing his eyes to correct his vision, but the problem wasn’t his: the dream landscape was flawed and nightmarish. It wouldn’t fix itself until he woke up.

Sousuke’s fear was not because of the uncanny tranquility of the scene; he knew there was nothing lurking in the shadows, because the true horror was right in front of him. Hinata’s face was warped and distorted - hardly a face at all. He was ripping flowers from the ground at their stems and fixing them together to make a flower crown. Spread out on a picnic blanket, beneath the maple tree, were all the utensils of his twisted tea party. His guests were trembling.

At the base of the tree, to Sousuke’s right, was Kouhai-chan. Her face was so pallid that it became phosphorescent, illuminated by the dirty emerald water. When Hinata gestured to her, she bowed her head hesitantly and he placed his finished crown on top of her chestnut curls. To Sousuke’s right sat Soujiro, whose face lacked any expression but whose eyes, locked on Hinata’s contorted figure, blazed with contempt.

Hinata reached out for a teapot and poured wet sludge out into four cups. All three guests stared at the muddy concoction, paralyzed with fear. The tea ceremony had barely begun.

Sousuke was bedridden for a week and was unable to return to school for a further two more. He barely slept, either gasping for breath or writhing in pain throughout the long, agonizing nights. Whenever he did manage to catch an hour, he dreamt of that sickening underwater scene, although he was never asleep for long enough to taste the slimy substance in the teacups, which was both a blessing and a curse.

“Kyouya-sensei is driving her home after school,” Soujiro said, when he arrived home on Monday afternoon. “He doesn’t know the full story apparently but the teachers aren’t blind. They know she’s vulnerable to that sort of attention.”

The cousins were now living together. Soujiro’s mother heard the commotion as she sat on the veranda, finishing up her sewing for the day. Owing to how contained the family was, the manner was handled privately and swiftly. Sousuke was quickly removed from the household, and Hinata almost was too until Soujiro revealed everything to his parents while Sousuke rested.

His ribs were yet to fully heal by the time he returned to school, but Sousuke was adamant that he needed to return to his normal daily life if he was ever going to get out of the hole he had been flung into. His time in recovery had been mind-numbingly dull and his brain nagged him for stimulation. He had taken to sitting outside with his aunt as she sewed, but when the weather took a drastic turn for the worse, he was stuck indoors once again, watching the rain pummel the glass panels. The only times he didn’t think of the girl was when he had to focus in order to steady his breathing, which gradually became less haggard and painful as the weeks passed.

He saw her as he was putting away his shoes that morning, descending the staircase having just closed the café for the morning. She shot him a curious look and he raised his hand to wave. He half-smile he gave her was tinged with shame and his heart began throbbing painfully in his chest. The marks on his face had healed but he still felt like an open book. She looked like she was about to approach him, with her brows knotted in concern, but her own classmates hurried her onward to their classroom and she moved off, turning her head one last time as if to assure herself that he was back.

He didn’t go to the café that lunchtime, nor did he go after school, instead spending the afternoon as a spectator for the archery club.

Despite abstaining from club activities himself, Sousuke was still the last person at the archery range, polishing the school’s lackluster bows as the day faded. Streaks of orange and pink lined the sky above him with the onset of twilight. He was struggling to see what he was doing. Sighing deeply, he began putting the bows back in their respective bags and hauled them over to the storage shed, wondering what things would be like once he got back to the compound.

When he exited the shed, he found himself stealing an involuntary glance towards the third year café. Golden light emanated from the windows, creating a stark contrast with the rapidly darkening sky. That’s strange, he thought to himself, glancing at his phone to gauge the time. It was too late for the café to be open. He glanced back up at the window. It was like a beacon, calling to him. Maybe she was doing a stock check or putting away a delivery? Maybe she was behind with the cleaning up? Maybe… she was too afraid to leave?

He dodged the janitor, who was absently mopping up the hallways in time to the music emanating from his earphones, and slipped up the stairs until he reached the third floor. He chest was hurting again and a cold sweat broke out across his whole body as he approached the door. Yes: the lights were still on - Sousuke could see that same golden hue caressing the hallway through the window on the door. He was nervous and reminded of every thought he had ever had along the spectrum of the innocent and sexual, and found himself debating whether or not to approach. His father was right about him - Sousuke had no backbone. At least Hinata was trying.

Sousuke became faintly annoyed at himself. If he turned away now, it would be a missed opportunity. She would never ask him to walk her home again after his mysterious absence. She had a teacher on her side now, and they were infinitely powerful. He craved this girl, more than he had craved any film star or girl in the street, but he wanted to know her too.

Tentatively, he reached out and grasped the doorknob, but before his mind could catch up, he had moved it away in such a violent, quick motion that he felt the air swish around him. The image in front of him through the window of the third year café would become seared into the back of his eyelids but in that moment he couldn't make sense of it.

Sat up on the counter, where she was usually stood making coffees, was the girl, her feet dangling down and her head thrust upwards. Stood between her parted legs, with one hand holding her face and his lips moving up her neck, was none other than Kyouya-sensei, instantly recognizable in his dark suit. The embrace was intimate and sensual. He could hear her faint gasps and moans through the door and he watched her eyelashes flutter on her cheeks in unabashed pleasure. She had a hand on his shoulder, urgently digging her nails into him. Sousuke backed away against the wall.

Thank god, he found himself thinking, thank god Hinata isn't here to see this.

He dashed down the corridor, praying that his hurried steps wouldn't be noticed by the pair locked in their embrace in the third year café; praying that when he returned home he could reassemble his nerves and appear somewhat normal. Hinata’s face flashed in his mind, over and over again, distorted and warped, as in the underwater dream. Thank god, he repeated to himself, like a mantra, drowning out the thoughts of what Hinata might have done if he had witnessed the scene instead of Sousuke. Thank god.

[downloaddubbedanime]

5 English-Dubbed Anime to Watch This Spring 2018

Spring has come. We can at last say farewell to our winter garments. Obviously, with another season comes another clump of English-dubbed anime shows to appreciate. It's a great opportunity to perceive what sub fans have been raving about all spring. Here are the five English-dubbed anime demonstrates you should watch.

FULL METAL PANIC! Undetectable VICTORY

The English-dubbed adaptation of Full Metal Panic debuts this spring anime season. The arrangement takes after 17-year-old Sousuke Sagara, a sergeant inside the counter fear monger amass "Mithril." His most recent task assignments him with enlisting in Jindai High School to go about as a guardian for Kaname Chidori, an understudy at Jindai.

Yet, assuming the part of an understudy is dubious for Sousuke. Because of his military childhood, Sousuke needs social abilities and sees each circumstance in a military light, which makes for some abnormal and entertaining minutes. All things considered, his essential objective is to ensure Chidori and discover why she's an objective in any case.

Full Metal Panic! Imperceptible Victory gets after The Second Raid. In the most recent adjustment, Sousuke and his associates at Mithril are under savage assault from an opponent association known as "Amalgam." also that Merida Island and Mithril's lead submarine, the Tuatha de Danaan, have additionally gone under furious assault. In what manner will the individuals from Mithril vanquish these ground-breaking adversaries? English-named fans will discover on May sixth.

HINAMATSURI

In view of the manga of a similar name, Hinamatsuri takes after Nitta, an individual from the notorious Yakuza posse. While appreciating his valuable porcelain accumulation, an abnormal metal case falls on his head, stunning him. When he at last quiets sufficiently down to explore, he opens it and finds a bare young lady calling herself Hina. As though that wasn't sufficiently odd, she additionally has mystic capacities.

Nitta winds up taking her in (to shield her from breaking the greater part of his stuff). In spite of the fact that he was at first hesitant, he rapidly warms up to cultivating a father-little girl association with Hina. It additionally doesn't hurt that her forces prove to be useful for helping Nitta ascend through the positions of the group. Be that as it may, where did Hina originated from, and where did she get her clairvoyant forces?

KAKURIYO - BED and BREAKFAST FOR SPIRITS-

College understudy Aoi Tsubaki can see ayakashi, bizarre spirits that wander the human world. Aoi's granddad, who raised her, encouraged her to be watchful around these spirits. In any case, after her granddad bites the dust, she discovers that he has amassed a colossal obligation with an evil presence landlord. Sadly, for Aoi, she additionally finds that her granddad offered her submit marriage as insurance.

Presently, dragged to the soul domain's Tenjin-ya hotel, Aoi should either work or wed an alarming animal to pay off her granddad's obligation. Regardless of her choice, Aoi's will think that its difficult to dodge the ayakashi, similar animals she was educated to maintain a strategic distance from.

MY HERO ACADEMIA SEASON 3

A noteworthy discharge for Funimation this spring anime season is the activity stuffed anime, My Hero Academia. The new season adjusts the School Trip bend, which takes after the Class 1-An understudies as they wander into the timberland to take their Quirks to the following level. Be that as it may, it wouldn't be a hero anime without a few miscreants. In this way, expect the League of Villains to show up.

Other than the School Trip Arc, the trailer uncovered that the new season could likewise incorporate the Hideout Raid and Hero License Exam circular segments. Lamentably for English-named fans, Funimation didn't air the primary scene because of creations delays. Yet, fortunately, they are still on plan for naming scene 2 and past.

DOREI-KU THE ANIMATION

The anime adjustment of Shinichi Okada (story) and Hiroto Ooishi's (specialty) Slave District: 23 Slaves and Me manga debuts this spring on HIDIVE. The anime takes after 24 individuals who have the Slave Control Method (SCM), a gadget that can make someone else your slave. The principles are basic: If you win a duel, you turn into the ace. In the event that you lose, you turn into the slave.

The story centers around Eia Arakawa, who's exhausted with her standard life until the point that she meets Yuga Ohta and finds out about SCM. At to start with, SCM give Eia finds the energy she's looking, yet things soon take a startling turn. Will the members surrender to their dim motivations or will they regard the circumstance as a social investigation? Anything can happen when you're never again in charge.