#there will be a funyarinpa in my family

[dcviated]

connection questions :: always open

send  anonymous  (or  not)  questions  to  my  muse  about  their  ships,  connections,  and  any  other  of  their  relationships.

Anonymous sent: How does Wylan handle disciplining Seina? Does he let Sae be the strict parent, or is he firm with her on occasion too? @psychcdelica for mention

If you can believe it, Wylan is actually a strict parent. It's just that the lines he sets are higher than normal parents and families. There's a lot he will want his children to do and experience, but when things are set as bad, they are definitively bad. Lying. Getting into fights. Disobeying her/their mother. So on and so forth.

Wylan much prefers being easygoing but he is serious about trying to (within his ability and understanding) keep another kid from uncontrollability such as what he went through. Because lets roll back for a reminder. Wylan initially doesn't want kids in a relationship. He worries about his competence as a father. And in most cases his work is preventive to... that kind of thing. Bringing up a child.

So yeah.

The whiplash of settled down Wylan is something of legend. With Seina and Sae, it's an ideal situation though. Because he's totally eschewed that previous life and has stability like never before. Even if the kid is still an 'oops'... she's invited. And given so much love and attention. Wylan does his best but man does he hate getting mad. Because there's two kinds of mad.

Play mad: like with the Funyarinpa and Bearus McClawdius stuff.

Real mad: When she misbehaves and gets into real trouble.

But that said, punishment isn't physical or fierce. It's present and understanding. Talks to her best he can, and explain things. But there's a test of his patience sometimes with that kid... she's headstrong like her mother.

[lightphieric]

Gab and Funyarinpa Big City Adventure

[zecretsanta]

To: @chabashiron

From: @juricha-art

Here’s my Zecret Santa presen for @chabashiron! Those prompts were so amazing that I decided to draw not one, but two of the prompts that can be combined in one - Klim family and Tenmyouji family celebrating and decorating together!

Here, according to my headcanon, Sigma and Diana have four biological kids of their own: the twins, Delta and Phi are the oldest (5-6 years old), then Luna (about 3-4 years old), then Kyle (about a year old), and then they have adopted Left (who is about 2-3 years old) the same year Kyle was born. And for the pets, they have Gab (of course) and the cat named Schroedinger, Shreddy for short.

As for Junpei and Akane, they also have twins (because it makes so much sense for them to have twins, you know?): Rei (the boy, whose name is both a physics and Japanese pun of ‘ray’ and ‘zero’ respectively) and Nova (the girl, who is named after the astrological phenomenon, which I felt both sounded pretty and was somewhat tied to the events of the games), who are the same age as Klims’ twins, and they have also adopted Quark around the same time Klims adopted Left (they are also about the same age). And their pet is Funyarinpa, who is a French Bulldog - Funny for short. And of course they celebrate Christmas together because in their case, Santa is real (and you can bet he loves both his niece and nephews and the Klims’ kids so much that it is a cross-family tradition now and hew wouldn’t have it any other way)!

Now to the technical part of this. It took me SO long to finish this, but I LOVE it and I kept smiling to myself the whole time I was painting it.

Materials I used: two A4 watercolor pieces of paper (linen texture - I wonder if it’s visible?), Copic Multiliner for initial linework, Pentel and White Nights watercolors for base colors, Pentel Brush pens (pink and sepia) used as ink for mixing for shading, ShinHanArt Touch Twin brush markers for refining shadows, Tombow brush pens for patterns, Rembrandt special effect watercolor and gold/silver gouache for highlights (they are barely visible in the scan, but actually look really good in person - I can try and photo/record it if anyone wants to see), went over the lines with Sakura Pima Microns, and finally added the highlights with the white Uni Posca pen and Tombow pens. Afterwards, I scanned, combined and edited them a bit (dust removal and some color correcting) in Clip Studio Paint. 

The reason why I went 200% extra on this is because 2020 wasn’t a kind year to any country or person out there. Sure, some may have had just a tad easier than others, but for most, it’s a huge mess. And since this year was uneventful and a slog at best (for me, who is now almost permanently stuck at home due to health reasons) and an absolute terrible nightmare at worst, and also Zero Escape almost frightfully coinciding with all of this, I wanted to bring some joy to at least one person this year, and, in a way, to our favorite characters as well. I wanted to show some positivity, that there’s still ways to be happy and those dark times shall pass, and then good times will come.

There’s something exciting about Secret Santa, uniting people from all over the globe like this, and I’m so happy to be a part of this exchange. From the bottom of my heart, I wish my giftee, the Zecret Santa team, the entire Zero Escape fandom and anyone reading this, happiness, health, hope, faith, love, and luck! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May the next year treat us kindly. С Новым Годом и весёлого Рождества! Всего самого наилучшего! From Russia, With Love, Juricha.

[peachrote]

some fun little clover headcanons:

she’s a bit of a weeb. look, she showed up on the ship wearing an outfit inspired by gyaru fashion... she definitely likes at least SOME japanese things. my depiction of clover will have her with an interest in anime, manga, and j-fashion.

she got really into makeup after the events of 999! she loves to watch makeup tutorials, and sometimes does her own.

those things on her face in 999? they’re stickers. just like the one she’s wearing in vlr. she really likes stickers.

her hair is naturally a dark red, but she’s given it highlights.

since 999, junpei has convinced clover that “funyarinpa” is a Real Japanese Thing.

also since 999, part of her training for SOIS wasn’t just esper stuff, but also combat training. she’s not very great at it, but she does know how to flip a guy!

noted in her bio, but she and light were raised by a single mom. their family is naturally quite well-off, which is why light dresses so fancy and how their mom was able to hire bodyguards for them after 999.

she has freckles because i said so.

my depiction of her is a bit pear shaped!

[zeiscomplex]

I need my pokemon au hcs somewhere so here we go, under the cut!

(note that while most of these are from myself, I do share a lot of the same ideas as this post by @i-demand-a-hug. it’s super good, read it too) (and thanks to deathdesu for all the brainstorming and ideas!)

Junpei -he would have a Rockruff, but he got it after the events of 999 -he probably has a Staravia because you know he’d evolve it when he becomes Emo so they match -if he had a starter, I feel like he’d have either a Cyndaquil or maybe Chespin? or maybe Mudkip

Akane -well we all know what happened with the school’s Buneary’s -she has an Espeon, which was an Eevee that was the “kitten” that she and Junpei saved from the middle school assholes -Alola Ninetails because 9 lmao (courtesy of deathdesu)

Aoi -he has a male Espurr (first nonary game)/Meowstic that was more of the family pet than solely his. It likes him the most though so -but he doesn’t use the Meowstic during 999 to avoid Snake catching onto him -he has an Absol too for sure, and maybe an Umbreon -his starter would be either Totodile or Treecko

Light -IM STILL MAD I DIDNT THINK TO GIVE HIM A MILOTIC WTF -so yeah he’d have a Milotic, and also a Growlithe. But don’t get him wrong, it’s not a seeing eye dog, it’s the family pet that’s equally loyal to him and Clover -his starter would be Snivy -when he’s put in the coffin, Aoi takes his pokemon for safekeeping so he can’t use them to escape and leaves Meowstic with him

Clover -her team is cute af but don’t underestimate her. she can wipe the floor with you -she has a Togepi she raised from an egg Light got her. It evolves between 999 and VLR -she also has a Meowth that’s 100% spoiled -her pokemon are also extremely loyal to Light ofc -Skitty counts as a starter right? because of PMD?

Lotus -hacker mom... with the hacker pokemon?? it almost seems too obvious that I want to give her different pokemon in spite -but if not then Porygon-Z definitely -I also think she would have a Togedemaru that’s obscure enough right -Oricorio (she has a bunch of the nectar at home for her flexible partner)

Seven -he’s your classic hiker jfc -Machamp and Golem are his mains; he likes to wrestle with them affectionately -he also has a Stoutland -I... would think he would be the odd one out during 999. Like, he wouldn’t have any pokemon on him maybe

Ace -YOU CANT TELL ME HE WOULDNT HAVE A PYROAR -BC HE DEFINITELY WOULD -maybe an Empoleon or Metagross?

Kubota -he’s like. the very definition of bug trainer. Nincada, Ninjask, Shedinja... -Rattata too

Sigma -in vlr, he actually wakes up without any pokemon. this is of course because his pokemon are all old like him. Zero III gives him a pokemon to use -we all know he has a shit ton of cat pokemon though -his starter was Litten

Phi -Phi is the same as Sigma in vlr, for similar reasons (her pokemon experienced ztd and thus couldn’t be used). She also gets a pokemon from Zero III -she would have... hm... you know I’m not sure rn I’ll think on it -I really want to give her a female Meowstic because 1. it fits and 2. it goes along with the joke “Aoi and Phi look related” -maybe a Munchlax and Hitmonlee? -Tsareena? -her starter would be Fennekin, which would probably be fully evolved by ztd

Luna -she actually has one of Sigma’s older pokemon, the evolved form of his starter. “oh wow that’s a funny coincidence” sigma says, unknowingly, -also a Mareep/Flaffy (coughselectricsheep) -Luxray!

Tenmyouji -....... his pokemon died during the Radical-6 societal collapse -he did get some new ones but I haven’t decided yet -he finds a Chatot at some point. he teaches it bad jokes and to say Funyarinpa -he has a Stoutland he found as a Lillipup and kept it because it reminded him of Seven

Quark -since society collapsed, pokeballs and starter pokemon are a lot more rare, so he doesn’t have one yet! Zero III gives him one to use -he loves Grandpa’s pokemon, Chatot makes him laugh and Stoutland is fun to ride

Dio -MIGHTYENA. ZANGOOSE. -Ponyta bc ringleader disguise

Clover -see 999 -her pokemon have gained a loyalty to Alice too

Alice -Sigilyph because psychic Egyptian looking pokemon -maybe a Lucario? -Nidoqueen -ALSO SEVIPER BC SOIS VS FTS

Kyle -you expect the strange huge masked man to have an equally threatening pokemon. he probably expects that as well, since he doesn’t know what he has. he let’s out the mystery pokemon... -it’s a tiny Aron -K loves it immediately -then he discovers his Cubone and falls in love all over again

Zero III looks more like a Buneary

Misc about post-apocalyptic Earth: -there’s tons of Garbodors and Muk everywhere (especially Alola Muk) -pokeballs are a rarity so most pokemon that have owners are just constantly out -most people don’t have more than one or two at most though, since it’s hard to afford to feed them and yourself -alternatives to repels are a popular item because of the aforementioned Garbodor/Muk infestation, though Tenmyouji prefers to just book it whenever Stoutland smells some nearby

Carlos -BLASTOISE BLASTOISE BLASTOISE -he also takes care of Maria’s pokemon

Junpei -his Staravia evolved into a Staraptor -he gained the Rockruff and evolved it into dusk Lycanroc

Diana -Gardevoir probably -Chansey/Blissey

Gab would be a Lillipup probably

Delta -Gab ofc -Alakazam? -HYPNO DEFINITELY -... maybe Mewtwo? because cloning -and maybe Elgyem/Beheeyem? because Aliens

Sean -MIMIKYU !!! -ROWLETT !!!

Eric -he would definitely have the ice cream pokemon ok -and also a Bidoof/Bibarel -he’s haunted by a Phantump that won’t leave him alone, it’s not his it just follows him everywhere and he can’t get rid of it (thanks deathdesu for this wonderful addition) (also Sean and his Mimikyu love it) (IT MAY OR MAY NOT BE CHRIS’ SPIRIT) (”Phantump is a child's spirit possessing a rotten tree stump, and lives in abandoned forests”)

Mira -honestly a Shuppet probably -I was also considering Espurr at one point because of its dead eye stare though -Salazzle and Carvanha

[fortheirlives]

Dear me,

I know why you’re here. You need someone to listen to you. Something very bad happened, and you don’t know how to handle it. What do you do? You write a letter to yourself. Block out all outside noise. This might be a very new thing, and you’re unsure or where to go from here. That’s alright. I’m here to lead you. Just keep typing. Things will be alright if you keep typing. It doesn’t even have to be about anything. Type to your heart’s content. It’s a little hard to see right now. It’s just a blur on the screen. Almost as strong as that one photoshop filter. Don’t worry about that. Just keep typing. I’m here to listen. Everytime you think, your heart can’t stop pounding. You have twenty-two minutes. It’s alright. That’s plenty of time. Just type type type. Your hands are shaking. Is it cold? Yeah it is. But my hands have been cold for so long that they’ve stopped shaking a long time ago. As long as you can feel the keys, you can keep typing. That’s the only thing you can feel right now. The nice, warmth of the keys. But the keys aren’t temperature controlled. They’re quite frigid actually. Now, for the letter. You’re going through a tough time right now. You have been through several. You can cope with this. What makes this different? Is it because it’s a new year? Is it because it’s been a while? You know, you used to think back at school subjects and think they were entirely different. But, they’re not. I’m not going to go into details because you already know what I’m talking about. How about we play a game? You type your normal pace, and if you catch any grammar or spelling mistakes, you get a point. There is no cap to how many points you can get, but let’s say your mood increases in this regard. I don’t even know if that previous sentence makes sense. It sounded cool in my head... It’s okay to cry every now and again. You make a really funny face when you cry. You look like a baby. Not in an insulting way but like a literal baby. For a second there, I thought “literal” was spelled with two t’s. Yeah the tears are warm. The warmth is a little capitulating. It’s as if your innards are spilling out. But as of now, that’s really the only thing you can feel. You’ve cried like this before. You big baby. Sure, it only took you a month to recover but look where you are now. Just keep pushing along, and everything is going to be a-okay. Heck, you’re crying right now. You can’t make the tears go back in. Or you can, if you’re dedicated enough. You couldn’t feel anything. And yeah, couldn’t is being used in a correct grammatical sense because I am talking about the past. But right now, you’re being stimulated by feelings left and right. It’s unbelievable. It’s kind of like a star show or something. Okay, your tears have dried up. This time, go for at least nine minutes without crying, okay? You can do it. I’m sure of it. Aw man you already lost. Really? Right as I typed that sentence. Sorry. Had to take a little break there. My hands were getting real cold. But you know what you have to look forward to? You have a big day today! Today, you have a chore. It will be the biggest event since you went numb. How about we make another wager? If you complete this chore today, I will give you $100,000,000. That sounds like a pretty good deal, don’t you think? Sure, you learned from a certain show that a family only needs around $10,000,000 to happily live out their lives but hey, look at it this way: you can make nine more families live happily as you! Doesn’t that feel good? Yeah, I’m sure it does. But why would you give the money to random families? I think your family has priority, and then your close friends, and maybe some of your not-so-close friends. Anyways, we’re going off-topic. 100 million USD if you complete today’s chore. Sure, it’s not gonna be easy, and sure your hands are going to be tired... No but. That’s what you were expecting wasn’t it? I gotcha. I still have it. If I could wink at you right now, I would. But I’m just listening. I’m sure this has cleared up somethings in that hurricane you call a brain right about now. I know it has for me. Like, I know what a funyarinpa is now. Hey, it might be a gameshow question, you don’t know! But, it was nice talking to you for this approximate half-hour. I’m sure I’ll hear from you again. Sincerely, 

me

[zecretsanta]

Fic: Christmas at the Kashiwabara's

To: @miiversian​ 

From: @bookworm-2692​

I used the following prompt: the 999 cast hanging out together again for the holidays! (sans Ace bc… obvious reasons). There’s also bonus Nona and Ennea, since Hazuki is hosting the party!

This possibly isn’t quite as happy as you were hoping for - but as we know from VLR and ZTD, post-999 Junpei isn’t in a good place, so a bit of angst snuck its way in. I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Thanks for this prompt! I love the 999 cast, so this was really fun to write. I hope you enjoy it, and I wish you a wonderful rest-of-December!

AO3 Link

Summary: After the Second Nonary Game, Hazuki Kashiwabara hosts a Christmas Party for the other participants of the Nonary Game. They try to enjoy themselves and get into the Holiday Spirit, but as they’re still processing what happened last month, this doesn’t always go to plan.

———

Hazuki places the last knife and fork on the table, and sighs. It’s mid-December, mere weeks after the ordeal in Nevada, where she had been kidnapped and made to play some sick game, all to ensure the survival of some paradoxical girl’s existence. That same game was also where she finally learnt what her daughters had gone through nine years prior, and why they had returned from those nine days as shells of their former selves.

She still wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about the other participants of the Nonary Game. Two of them had caused the original game her daughters went through – Hazuki was free to hate them unreservedly, and feel gleeful that one was in jail and the other dead, blown to smithereens. Seven was the detective who had rescued Nona from the incinerator all those years ago – for all that he was annoying and loved to rile her up, she would be forever grateful that he had saved her daughter’s life.

Clover and Light were also victims of the first Nonary Game, the same game that Nona and Ennea had been kidnapped for. Hazuki felt nothing in particular towards them, other than pity that they had been forced to go through the game twice, and relieved that they had survived. The other set of siblings during Hazuki’s game, Aoi and Akane, had also gone through Nona and Ennea’s game as well. However, while she didn’t feel much specifically towards the Fields, she felt much more strongly about the Kurashikis, even though most of those emotions were conflicting and confusing. She felt the usual pity that as children they had been forced into such a cruel game, but she also felt anger that they then staged their own version of the game, endangering a further seven people (or nine, depending on how one counted). Their game however ultimately punished the four behind the first Nonary Game, with death and life in prison, and for this Hazuki was grateful. Nine years ago, Hazuki wanted anything to punish the culprits of her daughters’ kidnapping – now she had it, and she wasn’t sure if the price was worth it.

Then there was also the question of the paradox surrounding the siblings. Surrounding Akane Kurashiki in particular. Apparently, she had died on the boat nine years ago, but Hazuki had gone with Akane (and Aoi) behind every single door during the Nonary Game. Door 4. Door 8. Door 6. One of the Door 9s. She definitely seemed real behind each of those doors, and between the doors themselves. Somehow she had died nine years ago, and also masterminded the game six weeks ago in order to save her own life when she was twelve years old. This really increased Hazuki’s anger towards the siblings – that they would put on such a dangerous game, but then not even fully explain why, or how actions now could save a life in the past. Hazuki deserved a better explanation. But she was still glad they had ultimately survived. Probably.

The final participant of the Nonary Game was Junpei. Junpei, who had been friends with Akane when they were children, before Akane had died (or something. Hazuki had resolved to not think about that part of it too much). He had apparently not seen her or even thought about her for years, and yet now he cannot stop obsessing over her. He had immediately quit school to go find her. Hazuki wishes Junpei would just let it go and get over her. She was ultimately glad that Akane had decided not to be part of their lives anymore – she just wants Junpei to join the rest of them in moving on. As it is, every time she speaks to Junpei now, he’ll either be talking non-stop about her, or otherwise moping because she hasn’t gotten in contact with him yet. He had joined Seven’s detective agency, so Hazuki hopes he will be able to keep a closer eye on Junpei, and keep him from going further over the edge.

So, despite feeling conflicted or neutral about most of the others who had been kidnapped for the Nonary Game last month alongside her, they had all decided to keep in touch, and this evening’s Christmas Party was born. Since Aoi and Akane could not be contacted, they had not been invited. Junpei was devastated when he found out, although Hazuki is privately relieved. She isn’t sure she wants to confront the Kurashiki siblings about what had happened anytime soon, so knowing they won’t be here will give her some much needed space to process those emotions. Hazuki still isn’t entirely sure why she got stuck with the hosting job – until Seven pointed out that they were the two “most adulty” adults, and thus had the most established homes out of the group, and that his was a small flat since he lived alone, whereas her house was the largest because it was where she had raised Nona and Ennea. So here she was, setting the table, and hoping that tonight would not go horribly wrong somehow.

Just then, Hazuki hears the door unlock, followed by a loud “We’re home!” in Nona’s voice, and a smaller “With Clover and Light” in Ennea’s. Hazuki looks up, and indeed sees all four of them entering.

After the Nonary Game last month, Hazuki had learnt that her daughters had been kidnapped nine years prior in order to participate in an almost-identical Nonary game. Hazuki was shocked to learn that the morphogenetic field, pseudoscience she brought up to distract Junpei from whatever his funyarinpa nonsense was, was real, and that Nona and Ennea were intimately embedded within it. More disturbing was that their abilities with the fields were the reason they, and the other sixteen children, were kidnapped for that Nonary Game. Nona had met Light during their Game, and Ennea had met Clover, although somehow (Hazuki wasn’t sure she’d ever fully understand it) they were all aware of each other through the fields.

After escaping the Game, the Egyptian woman, Alice, had directed the car to the SOIS base for questioning. Following that, SOIS had attempted to track down all 18 children from the first Nonary Game, and offered them jobs. From what Hazuki could gather, Aoi and Akane could not be found, but the other 16 young adults now, all accepted the government job. Hazuki’s daughters had been reunited with their friends from those nine hours, nine years ago, and they were all workmates now. Nona and Ennea had thus offered Clover and Light a lift back to the Christmas Party following work that day, and now they had all arrived.

“Hello, hello!” Hazuki calls out. “Welcome to my home!”

“Hello, Lotus! It’s great to see you again.” Clover ran over to give Hazuki a hug, while Light walked over more calmly, and shook her hand.

“Thank you for agreeing to host us, I’m sure your home is very beautiful.”

“I’d appreciate being called Hazuki now, rather than Lotus, but you’re quite welcome.”

After Nona and Ennea each give her a hug, Hazuki directs Clover and Light to place the Kris Kringle gifts on the coffee table, where three brightly wrapped boxes already sit.

“I’m so surprised we’re the first to arrive,” Clover comments, “since it usually takes me forever to get ready.”

“It helps that we came straight from work though,” Nona adds.

“True.”

“Even so, I would have expected Seven to be more punctual – or even early,” Light interjects, looking thoughtful.

As if on cue, Hazuki’s phone buzzes with a message from Seven. He had told the group his real name after the SOIS questioning, since by that point everyone else’s was known, and codenames no longer mattered, but then Clover had declared that he would always be “Seven” to the group, and since he hadn’t introduced himself nine years ago when he was rescuing her brother and the others, then he lost the privilege of being known by a name (or at least, it would take at least another nine years for his name to sound like a usable name). Seven just shrugged at that, and said he didn’t mind the nickname anyway, and only disclosed his name to be fair. So Seven he still was.

Seven was texting Hazuki to explain he would be late, since Junpei was more unresponsive as usual. Junpei was extremely erratic when it came into keeping in touch – he would often go a week at a time before saying anything. Seven had taken to checking on Junpei when he didn’t respond to texts, and so he was giving Junpei a lift to Hazuki’s place (even if he, quote, had to drag him kicking and screaming).

“You’re right,” Hazuki announces to the group. “Seven was intending to be right on time, but he’s picking up Junpei, and today is apparently not one of Junpei’s better days.”

Nona and Ennea glance at each other as she says this, while Clover purses her lips and looks away. It’s Light who responds.

“Well, Junpei will be coming to the right place. We’re his friends, hopefully we can distract him tonight with food and jokes.”

Noises of affirmation heard all around, Hazuki sighs with relief as the conversation smoothly continues on. As a mother to children Junpei’s age, she worries about him. He rarely seems to discuss his parents or other family, or even other friends. His focus is completely trained upon Akane, and little else seems to occupy his time. She doesn’t want to baby him, though, and does her best to treat him as a regular adult, and avoids mentioning Akane Kurashiki whenever she can.

After about twenty minutes of conversation, the ringing of the doorbell cuts through and interrupts. Hazuki excuses herself, opens the door, and finds herself face to face with a grim Seven and a sullen Junpei. Upon seeing her, Seven grins, says “Merry Christmas”, and holds out his gift for the Kris Kringle. Junpei offers a small “Hi”, and Hazuki ushers them both inside.

“Ayyyy! They’re here!” Clover calls out.

“Junpei! What are you wearing?” Light says. “The colours clash horribly – I think it’s going to blind me!”

Junpei looks down at his all black outfit and scowls at Light but doesn’t say anything. Hazuki still chalks it up as a win – he doesn’t look as listless as he did before anymore.

Nona then steps up with Ennea following. Hazuki smiles when she sees this, as it has been their dynamic ever since they were small, Nona charging up and speaking for both of them, and Ennea being quieter behind.

“Hello Seven! And you must be Junpei. I’m Nona, and this is Ennea,” Nona introduces. “Nice to finally meet you after all these years.”

“Y- years? What do you mean years?”

“Akane mentioned you nine years ago. You were the one who told her about checking if the elevator was dry, to make sure we wouldn’t drown.” Nona steps closer to Junpei. “I was one of the four who went down the elevator at first, to check on Door 2 with Ren. Because of you, we didn’t drown. Of course we’d remember your name.”

“Of course,” Ennea adds, stepping forward as well, “we didn’t imagine at the time that you’d be an adult. But it was only weeks ago for you, wasn’t it? And not years, like it was for us.”

“And what on Earth did you mean by ‘boys don’t drown’? Of course boys drown! You idiot!” Nona flicks Junpei on the nose, and giggles when he takes half a step back, eyes wide and bewilderment clear on his face.

“Wh- what? You heard all that?”

Light smirks. “We didn’t hear your conversation, but Akane certainly repeated it for the rest of us.”

Junpei groans, and drops his head into both palms, just as Clover pouts and bemoans how it’s not fair that she didn’t get to witness that conversation, and that it’s not fair that her connection to Light is not two-way, like Ennea’s is to Nona. That’s news to Hazuki. She assumed all morphogenetic field connections were two-way, since that’s what she’s witnessed for years in her daughters. Hazuki raises an eyebrow and glances at Seven, who just smiles fondly at the others.

Ice broken, they begin to move to the table. The turkey is sitting in the middle, surrounded by various dishes, including a whole leg of ham and a potato bake. There are slices of cured salmon, meatballs and lingonberry jam, roasted vegetables, halved boiled eggs, bread rolls, and frankfurter sausages. Sitting on each plate are the Christmas crackers.

Soon enough, cracks fill the air as the crackers are pulled. Brightly coloured tissue paper crowns rest atop of everyone’s heads, and terrible jokes are being shouted across the table. The plastic items inside the crackers are looked at with mild curiosity before being forgotten for the rest of the meal. Long after all the crackers are gone, Junpei, Seven, and Nona have engaged in a heated pun and dad joke war. There’s a comment shouted over that din that the terrible jokes are supposed to end when the crackers end, as everyone digs into the food.

The clatter of cutlery against the plates begins to die down as everyone finishes. Hazuki is feeling comfortably full as she looks around the table, a feeling of satisfaction at seeing almost everyone’s empty plates. Junpei’s is still mostly full of food, and it looks as though he barely touched it. Hazuki doesn’t take it as a slight against her cooking, as Junpei’s appetite has been lacking lately, and mostly feels sorry for him. She doesn’t dwell on it though, as she doesn’t want to lower the otherwise lively mood – Clover and Ennea are excitedly chatting and practicing some of the ASL that Sachiko has taught them, while Nona, Light, and Seven are chatting about what each of them got up to in the nine years since they first met.

Nona glances over at Hazuki, then looks at Ennea, and then both of them get up to start clearing the table, telling Hazuki to stay sitting. Hazuki still can’t quite believe that the “twin thing” she had joked about all those years ago was real, and not just limited to twins.

“Ah, is it Kris Kringle time?” Seven says. “I’ll grab the gifts, you four stay put”

Junpei complies – Hazuki isn’t entirely sure he was even paying attention – but Light grumbles that being blind and missing an arm doesn’t make him incapable of helping, and gets up anyway to assist Seven. Clover takes one look at her brother, and stays seated, explaining that when he’s like this, he’d rather not have help either, so it was simpler to just… let him be.

Soon enough, the table is cleared and the gifts are in a pile in the centre of the table. Ennea fetches a couple of dice and Clover takes one look at them and bursts into laughter. She points to Junpei and says “no dice”, continuing to laugh. Hazuki smiles in wry amusement and Seven chuckles at this, when the doorbell rings unexpectedly. Still standing, Ennea goes to the door and opens it, silent shock radiating from her. A shout of “No way!” from Nona, before she leaps up and runs to the door.

Curiosity piqued, Hazuki begins to rise from her seat, when Nona says, “Well don’t just stand there, let them in Ennea!”

It’s two people Hazuki was beginning to think she’d never see again. The two people who orchestrated the entire game last month.

“Aoi? Akane?”

At the mention of “Akane”, Junpei finally looks up, and sees her.

“Akane? You’re here? Why?” Junpei is just staring in shock and disbelief – which is exactly what everyone else is doing, too.

“I’m sorry for turning up uninvited,” Akane begins, but Junpei interrupts her.

“Don’t apologise for that! I’m just so glad you’re here! But… why didn’t you come find us sooner? How did you know we would all be here?”

“We couldn’t come earlier,” Aoi says sternly. “What we did was not exactly within the bounds of legality, and we couldn’t be sure you wouldn’t turn us into the police. And if you start to do so now we’re marching straight back out again. I didn’t even want to show up here and now, but Akane… she insisted. She said we had to do this.”

“Junpei, I’m so sorry. I just. I had to disappear like that.” Akane tries to be gentle but Hazuki can detect a hint of impatience in what she is saying.

“Okay so you had to leave or whatever, that’s fine,” Clover interrupts. “But like, I know Lotus wasn’t able to contact you two. Because you left. So how on Earth did you know we’d all be here? Like not to make you feel unwelcome or anything but…?”

Akane places her head in her hands, and sheepishly says “I got it from Junpei, via the Morphogentic Fields. We’re still connected.”

“Wait… you got my location via the field? Why couldn’t I get yours?”

“Well um, Junpei… I have a bit more experience with the fields…”

“What she means to say,” Aoi interrupts, “is that she’s amazing at them and your abilities are non-existent. You were only able to connect to her before because she was able to reach across the nine years and connect. You can’t do jackshit on your own. She was able to read the invitation Lotus sent you, but even if Akane was standing in a room with flashing neon lights saying ‘we are here’ you would get nothing from her, unless she chose for you to get it”

“So Akane is able to spy on Junpei whenever she likes, and he gets no say in the matter?” Light asks quietly.

Akane says nothing, and looks to the ground. Junpei glares at everyone and no one. Aoi freezes, as though he hadn’t considered it in those words before.

“No… I don’t think that’s quite right,” Ennea pipes up.

“Yeah. We’re able to block each other out if the other is annoying us too much,” Nona adds.

“So if we don’t want to be connected… then we won’t be.”

“And since we know Junpei quit uni to search for Akane, he wants to find her. He opened himself up to her. She can connect to him through the morphogenetic field because, on some level, he wants her to.”

“No!” Junpei suddenly shouts. “I don’t want her to, to, to spy on me! I just… don’t want her to disappear!”

“I can’t block Light though.” Clover turns to her brother. “Can I?”

Light looks thoughtful. “Well, I can’t say I’ve ever been aware of you blocking me. Sometimes I don’t get anything from you, but I don’t know if that was intentional on your part or just…”

“So can we only block each other because our connection is equal in each direction?” Nona asks.

“But so was ours!” Junpei bursts out. “Back in the incinerator, I could hear her, and when I spoke, she responded! It’s like we were talking in real time!”

“She’s just that much better at it then you. She can transmit and receive powerfully enough that she could simulate that. I don’t think you can block her,” Aoi says. “For what it’s worth, I don’t get a choice either. She either chooses to give me something, or get something from me, and otherwise I can’t connect to her either.”

“I don’t want to be spied on,” Junpei repeats in a quiet voice, staring at the floor.

There’s silence for a moment, as though no one knows how to respond to that.

“Well, you’re here now aren’t you? So you may as well join us and sit down, right?” Seven looks at Hazuki in confirmation, and she nods. “Have you eaten yet? Yes? That’s good, I think we pretty much demolished everything here, we were just about to get on to the Kris Kringle game. Perfect timing for you to show up, Santa Claus. What have you got in your sack of goodies?”

“My. Name. Is. Aoi.” Aoi says through gritted teeth. “Yes, we did bring gifts, but stop calling me Santa!” He holds up two wrapped boxes, a cylinder and a flat rectangle, and places them on the table sharply.

“Is that another thing you stole from my brain?” Junpei retorts.

“I mean,” Akane begins, “it is a Christmas party, is it not? So gifts were an obvious thing to bring.” Junpei’s glare doesn’t abate, and Akane sighs and adds, “Okay yes, I read that on the invitation too. Happy now?”

Before another argument could get under way, Clover picks up the dice Ennea brought over earlier, and says, “Okay forget about all that. Let’s play! I’m the youngest so I should start!”

Relieved by the distraction, Hazuki raises her eyebrow and says “Sure. Provided you don’t insist on age order for the rest of it, and settle for a simple clockwise direction.”

Clover says “Deal” at the same moment that Junpei mutters “You just don’t want it to be obvious that you’re like the oldest one here or close to.”

“Oi! Just because you’re grumpy is no excuse to turn on me young man!”

Before Hazuki could continue yelling at Junpei’s blatant disrespect (how dare he!), Clover throws the dice down onto the table, perhaps harder than necessary, where they clatter for a few seconds before turning up as a one and a three.

“Aww,” Clover whines, as she pushes the dice to her left to Nona. Nona rolls the dice less forcefully than Clover, and ends up with a three and a five. She just smiles, and passes the dice to Light, making sure they drop into his hands. He rolls, and Nona cranes over to see what he got.

“First double,” she announces. “Two ones.”

“Wait, seriously?” Clover asks, and gets out of her seat to see for herself.

“She’s right,” Seven, to Light’s left and at the head of the table, says. “Snake eyes, huh? What are the chances of that?”

Light smirks. “Clearly I chose the right name for myself six weeks ago.” He reaches out and grabs the closest gift in the pile, as Seven grabs the dice and rolls.

The game continues. Doubles on the dice are rewarded with choosing a present from the centre, until they’re all gone, and then the players are free to steal the gifts from each other. Hazuki doesn’t miss how Junpei keeps on snatching the gifts brought by the Kurashiki siblings, despite the intermittent glares he keeps on sending them.

Soon enough, the timer on Ennea’s phone goes off and the game ends. Everyone stops to take in each other’s hoards. Clover has a pleased grin on her face as she notices that she has the largest hoard, with three gifts. Light and Ennea managed to snag two each, while Aoi and Junpei each have a single gift. Hazuki, Seven, Nona, and Akane all have no gifts. Ennea immediately hands one of her gifts to Nona, seated across from her, while Light offers one of his gifts to Hazuki, seated across from him. After a beat, Clover notices everyone looking pointedly at her, sighs long-sufferingly, and gives a gift each to Seven and Aoi.

The group then opens the gifts. Hazuki unwraps the small package from Clover, and finds a deck of playing cards. Hazuki turns to Clover to thank her, but is greeted by the sight of Clover staring suspiciously at a packet of chips, and then putting one in her mouth. Almost immediately, she yells at Junpei about the chilli flavour while simultaneously offering them to everyone around her. Aoi absent-mindedly takes a chip and eats it without flinching while fiddling with the three-dimensional puzzle he received from Light, trying to pull it apart. Next to Aoi, at the end of the table, is Akane with the mini succulent that Ennea bought.

Just then, a loud shout sounds out. Nona is holding what appears to be a Pringles can, but instead of Pringles inside, is a giant stuffed snake. Nona glares at Aoi, while he just grins and offers her a thumbs up, leaning back on his chair and thoroughly enjoying himself. She stuffs the snake back inside the Pringles can, closes the lid, and throws it at Aoi. It hits him in the face, dislodging the lid, so the snake leaps out again. Aoi falls off his chair, and glares at Nona, and then at his sister when she also starts laughing.

Hazuki tears her eyes away from the sight, and looks back at Light. He received the bottle of wine she had bought, and is sniffing it to identify it. He seems to sense that she is watching him, as he turns to face her and thank her for the gift.

“A joke book!” Ennea exclaims from Hazuki’s left. “And they’re not even good jokes. They’re terrible puns and dad jokes. Almost worse than the Christmas crackers earlier! Seven, why do you wish for me to suffer in this manner?”

Seven just laughs and holds up the notebook and coloured gel pens he received from Nona. “Your sister has just granted me the means to create even more jokes, and worse ones. Just you wait for next year!”

Ennea groans, dropping her face into her arms. “Just kill me now. End my suffering, please,” she jokes.

Hazuki laughs and looks beyond Ennea to Junpei to see what he received. He’s holding yet another book, looking between it and Akane and back again.

“What’s wrong with it, Junpei?” Hazuki asks.

“It’s a Sudoku book!” Junpei exclaims. “It’s like she’s taunting me about last month!”

Clover starts laughing. “Oh man. That would’ve been terrible for any of us to receive since we’ve all been in that incinerator – but especially you!”

Junpei glares again. “Akane! Did you do this on purpose?”

“Do what?” Akane asks serenely. “I did indeed exchange money to obtain that book… but I didn’t purposely give it to you. You kept on grabbing it yourself!”

Aoi smirks. “She was pretty sure you’d go for the one from her though.”

“Hey! Don’t expose me like that!” Akane turns in her seat and playfully hits her brother, before turning back to Junpei. “I’m sorry, this wasn’t meant to cause distress. You at least don’t have a time limit for any of these.”

Junpei scowls. “I guess.”

“Junpei – you’ve been trying so hard to find Akane,” Hazuki begins. “Now that she’s here, why are you being so hostile towards her?”

“I- I don’t… she’s just confusing! Why a Sudoku book? Why does she get to disappear and then come back without warning? Why is she allowed to spy on me? I don’t understand!”

Aoi leans over to Akane, and quietly says, “I think we’ve overstayed our welcome. We should go before we make things worse.”

Akane nods and stands. “Hazuki, thank you so much for opening your home to us. It was lovely seeing you all again one last time but it’s time for us to go.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Aoi adds. “Merry Christmas, happy holidays, all that jazz.”

“Wait.” Junpei gets out of his chair. “What do you mean by ‘one last time’? Are you leaving again? Why’d you come back if you’re only going to leave again? Why are you leaving me?”

Akane just looks heartbroken as Junpei keeps on talking. Junpei’s arm reaches up, reaches for her, but stops before touching her. Akane doesn’t look at Junpei, mumbles another apology, and turns around and back towards Hazuki’s front door. Aoi offers Junpei a final, “Sorry, man, we both wish we didn’t have to do this,” before following his sister out the door. Junpei’s arm continues hanging in the air where Akane used to be, before it drops to his side. Junpei bows his head, and Hazuki can see his body shaking, while everyone else stays sitting at the table in stunned silence.

Clover is the first to break the silence. “They’re… gone. Just like that. They’re gone.”

Seven gets up, walks past Hazuki to Junpei and grips his shoulder. “Hey man. How are you holding up?”

Silent sobs continue wracking Junpei’s body as he struggles to draw breath, let alone respond. Seven draws him into a hug, enveloping him and shielding him from the stares of the others.

“I think we’ll head home now,” Seven says, not releasing his hold upon Junpei. He meets Hazuki’s eyes over the top of Junpei’s head. “Thank you so much for your hospitality. I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Thanks everyone for an enjoyable evening. Come on, Junpei.”

One arm still around Junpei, and they too leave.

“Poor Junpei,” Ennea whispers.

“How did Akane change so much?” Nona wonders. “She’s nothing like what she was nine years ago.”

“The incinerator,” Light says. “None of us can know exactly what she went through in there.”

“But… she survived, didn’t she?” Clover asks. “She’s here now, we did the Nonary Game last month to save her life. So she shut it off. So it’s just like what happened when Junpei shut it off for us last month, or when Reed solved it for Ennea’s group nine years ago, right?”

“There are infinitely many timelines where she died,” Light says. “There’s only one where she survived.”

“But that’s this timeline! She survived here!”

“I still remember her dying. I remember her screams and I remember Aoi collapsing on the floor when the door opened and all he saw was ash. I also remember Akane surviving. I imagine if I can remember Akane dying, so can she. She probably fully remembers burning to death until she no longer existed. That would change a person.”

“I remember her dying,” Ennea mumbles. “Nona remembers her surviving.”

“Y-yeah. I think I can understand how she would remember dying too,” Nona says.

Hazuki doesn’t know what to say. She didn’t even find out about the first Nonary Game until she had already been through her Nonary Game, and even during her game she didn’t have the pressure of either finding or sending information through a, a, a pseudoscience! These four had that extra pressure, as well as being actual children at the time.

The silence stretches for a moment longer, and then Light says, perhaps a little too brightly, “This was a wonderful evening, Hazuki. However, I think we need to head home now as well. It’s late.”

Clover startles out of her thoughts and agrees. “You’re a wonderful cook, Lotus! If that’s what Nona and Ennea had growing up, they’re so lucky.”

Hazuki smiles. “Thank you. Happy holidays, and get home safe.”

“We will! I’m driving!” Clover grins. “Bye Ennea! Bye Nona!”

“Bye! See you soon!” Nona and Ennea chorused.

Once the door closes behind the Field siblings, Hazuki begins chewing her lip, worried.

“Did I somehow make it worse for Junpei, doing this?” she asks her daughters.

“No, Mum,” Nona says. “I think it was good for him to actually interact with people again.”

“Besides, you couldn’t know that Akane would show up, nor that that would affect him like that,” Ennea adds.

“I suppose,” Hazuki concedes. She still isn’t entirely convinced, but it isn’t just Junpei she worries about. Everyone who has been through a Nonary Game will carry those scars for life. They just have to take this one day at a time.

She wraps her daughters up in a hug, reminding herself that they’re still here, still alive. One day, this will all get easier. They just have to get there.

[zecretsanta]

The Thoughts That Count

To: @electric016

From: @therealhousewivesofhyrule

Merry Christmas! Thank you for the lovely C-Team OT3 prompt! I went a liiiiitle off-topic I think but I hope you like it anyway! <3

(and as a bonus… here is the big plot device in all its glory.) 

——–

“What the hell is it supposed to be, though?” Aoi asks as he nurses his hot chocolate. He tilts his head to from side to side, squinting at the truly strange and horrendous sweater Junpei is holding up in front of him. “Yo, Carlos, you know black and white ain’t all that festive, right?” 

“Yeah, you should have gone for red, at least,” Akane teases. She leans over Carlos’s shoulder and pinches his cheeks. “Like mine!”  Carlos turns in his chair to look at her, and she strikes a pose, arms splayed wide to show off the baggy sleeves. Akane’s sweater is long and oversized everywhere, perfect for keeping warm on a cold day. She giggles as Carlos makes a twirling motion with his fingers, and she spins in place to show it off. The rabbits going around the sweater seem to hop around her waist as she moves.  Aoi gives a low, appreciative whistle. “I know I gave you a hard time about all the knitting you were doing,” he starts, “But damn. Didn’t know you were planning something this cool.”  Reaching up behind his head to scratch at the back of his neck, Carlos laughs sheepishly. “I don’t know if I’d call it cool…”  “No, it’s so cool!” Akane insists.  “Yeah, like you know what’s cool and what isn’t.”  “Aoi!”  “Cut it out, guys!” Carlos waves his hands to get the siblings’ attention, and it’s just enough to cut their argument short. He’s a little bit surprised that it’s Aoi ribbing his sister tonight and not Junpei, but Junpei has been abnormally quiet ever since he opened the box and pulled out the sweater. He’s still holding it up in front of him, eyes wide and… reverent? Carlos thinks that’s the word he’s looking for, but he’s not quite sure he wants to give himself that much credit. The two Kurashikis notice Carlos staring and turn their attention to Junpei as well. “Jumpy, are you okay…?”  Aoi does not have nearly as much concern for him. “Seriously, man, what is that thing?!”  Carlos laughs and rubs the back of his neck again. “Well, you know that thing Junpei keeps next to the bed?”  Aoi raises an eyebrow. “You mean that ugly dog picture?”  At that, Junpei finally lowers the sweater, and his eyes are alight with fury as he stares Aoi down. Akane sighs and buries her face in her palm. “Are you talking about the funyarinpa?” Junpei asks, voice nearly a growl. Carlos tenses and stands, ready to get between them, if he has to. This is going to go nowhere good.  “The ugly dog picture from Q? That what it called?” Aoi snorts. “That’s stupid, but yeah.”  Junpei looks like he’s about to throw the sweater on the ground, but instead he just angrily pulls it on over his clothes and stalks toward Aoi. He looks ridiculous doing it, and Carlos and Akane both exchange a look and try to stifle their giggles in their hands. “Look, I don’t care whose brother or boyfriend or whatever you are—” “Your boyfriend, for the record. Or one of them—” “But in this house, we respect the funyarinpa!” Akane sighs, but her smile is bright and happy. “Oh, God, there they go.”  With a nod, Carlos puts a hand on her shoulder and rubs it gently. “I’m sorry. I really should have thought this through a little better.”  They’ve completely tuned out of the argument Aoi and Junpei are having. Both men are standing and flailing their arms angrily, but luckily, no fists have been thrown yet. Akane giggles again and stands up on her toes to lean in and give Carlos a kiss on the cheek. “Nonsense!” she says. “It’s perfect. I can tell he really loves it.” Carlos laughs and puts his arm around her. “With the way he’s defending its honour like that? I think you might be right.”  Akane shifts in his grip to turn and face him properly. Her arms come up to wrap around Carlos’s neck, and she leans up again. Against his lips, she breathes, “And I love mine, too.”  They kiss, chaste but long and lingering, only breaking apart when they hear a thud and a yelp of pain. Akane and Carlos jump apart, and Akane immediately drops to her knees next to Junpei, who has her brother in a headlock. “Apologize!” he yells. “Apologize to the funyarinpa!” “Never!” Aoi yells back. “It’s fuckin’ stupid!”  “You bas—” “Okay, boys, that’s enough!” Akane says, and with way less effort than should be humanly possible, she yanks Junpei off of Aoi and into her arms. “Aoi, apologize to Junpei and his silly dog picture.” “Hey—” “And you, Jumpy! You apologize to Aoi. We do not tolerate roughhousing like this on Christmas, understand?”  One of her hands rubs at Junpei’s arm, and she smiles sweetly. Everyone in the room knows that what that look really means, though. There’s absolutely nothing sweet about it. “…Fine,” Aoi says. “Sorry, Junpei.” Junpei frowns and points to his sweater with both hands. Aoi rolls his eyes and adds, “Sorry, ugly dog sweater.”  “Aoi.”  “Fine! Sorry funyarinpa.” He rolls his eyes. Junpei grins smugly. “Now your turn, Junpei.” “All right.” He sighs dramatically. It’s all for show, and once again Carlos has to hide his laughter behind his hand. “Sorry for putting you in a headlock.”  “And?”  “And for yelling at you.”  “Now that’s more like it.” Aoi stands up and makes a show of dusting off his pants while Akane turns Junpei’s face to hers and kisses him deeply. They’re both smiling into it, and it makes Carlos’s heart flutter seeing his girlfriend and one of his boyfriends so happy. He only pulls his eyes away when he feels Aoi nudge him. “Guess I’m sorry for calling the sweater ugly, too. So, uh, sorry, Carlos.”  Carlos chuckles and puts an arm around Aoi’s shoulder. He squeezes him lightly. “Nah, it’s fine. The whole point was to make you guys ugly Christmas sweaters.”  With a laugh, Aoi gestures to his own sweater – light blue with snowflakes all over it. “That why all the snowflakes on this thing are uneven?” He points to one of them, particularly distorted, with one half of it much smaller than the other. At this, Carlos pushes him away lightly.  “No, that’s because no two snowflakes are the same.”  “So you’re saying this isn’t your first ever attempt at knitting sweaters?” “No, it’s not! Goodness, you are rude today.”  “You love it, though.” Aoi leans in close and steals a quick kiss, right at the same time Junpei and Akane get up off the floor. Junpei frowns and punches Carlos lightly in the arm that isn’t still holding Aoi.  “What, no love for me?”  Once again, Aoi rolls his eyes, and Carlos just leans in close and ruffles Junpei’s hair. “So needy, Jumpy.” But they both lean in and kiss Junpei, one after the other. Dork that Junpei might be, he still doesn’t quite know how to process such open affection like this, and his face blushes a furious red.  “Th-that’s not…”  “Aw, shut up.” Aoi pecks him on the forehead again, and somehow, Junpei’s face gets even more red. “You know, you’re cute when you blush like that.” “Almost as cute as my sweater,” Akane says fondly. “Almost the same colour, too,” Carlos adds. Junpei throws his arms up in the air and turns around in a vain attempt at hiding his face, but they all already know he’s nothing but a blushing mess now. Akane hugs him from behind and slowly coaxes him to turn around again, once his face is closer to its usual colour.  “Did you make one for Maria, too?” she asks. “I did,” says Carlos, smiling softly. “I was going to bring it to the hospital tomorrow. You know, like a normal Christmas morning. And I…” He takes a deep breath, and now it’s his turn for his cheeks to redden. “I was hoping you’d all come too. Make it a family thing?”  Three pairs of eyes go wide, three mouths fall open. Akane’s is the first to stretch into a smile, and she leaves Junpei to throw her arms around Carlos instead. “Oh, Carlos! Of course we will! You don’t even have to ask us!” “Yeah,” Junpei adds. “I mean, she’s your sister, right?”  “And family’s important.” Aoi crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Damn right, we’re going with you.”  Carlos’s heart swells. He pulls all three of them in for a hug, awkward as it is, and he feels three sets of arms and hands on him, pulling him close and squeezing.  They’re right. Family is important. And Carlos has never felt so loved by his family in all his life.