#this took me HOURS and akira is not yet burned so if you like it give it some appreciation thank you <3<3<3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[seonghwacore]

THE WORLD EP.2 : OUTLAW

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Chapter 4 - A Vet's Nightmare

For once in so very long, Kisara woke up feeling like sunshine and daisies - Everything in life was beautiful, inside and outside of the house - What a lovely time to be alive!  She stretched like a Disney princess before hopping off the bed to get ready and enjoy her day. Her first destination was the cafe nearby, to start the day with the sweetest caramel cappuccino and a warm panini, before going shopping for some self-care items and meal ingredients. 

In the evening, after a long yet highly relaxing day, she took out the music player and put on the rock songs playlist while taking a hot bubble bath, surrounded by scented candles. Everything was so perfect, so calming and soothing, that for that time, all worries and nervousness about ghosts and stupid people were completely erased. This was her day off, and she was truly happy - She deserved it, after all!

Well...

So much for a day off though, as a call forcefully brought her out of her reverie, just as she was brushing her hair by the vanity. Her few hours of vacation were over, and it was time to start a new episode of Ghost Adventures... And a rather messed up one, while at it.

"Doctor Mashita Kisara speaking, how may I help you?" Kisara spoke her usual intro absent-mindedly, not bothering to look at the caller ID as she started curling her long, silky hair. "Perhaps a date would make me feel better after the new ghost rumours I was forced to hear just now." Seiji's playful tone rang smoothly through the phone, and from the background, Kisara could hear some giggles and groans. "Kakuya visited Akira again?" she asked in a somber voice, stopping myself while curling my hair. "Awww, come one, Kisara, don't make that the main focus. Why don't you meet us at the Kissouji Station? We're heading there right now. It will be like a double date." he chuckled, making the girl shake her head in amusement, only to drop the curler with a hiss of pain as she managed to accidentally burn her skin. Now she's going to get asked if she's got a hickey. The age-old highschool excuse. "God damn it... I burnt myself. Yeah, sure, I'll be there, hope I won't be late. Can you tell me the basics of the rumours, if you know any?" she picked up the blasted curler, finishing her hair, though the tingling of her skin kept bothering her.  "It... May be a bit sensitive. I think I'd rather tell you in person, so it won't shock you too much." Seiji hesitated, his voice going a bit more serious. "I'm 21, not 11. After everything I went through, I don't think there's anything that could potentially trigger me or make me uncomfortable in any way." she reminded him again, which only earned a sigh of defeat and remorse. "It is related to animal abuse. Considering your profession, which SOME people are rather insensitive enough to forget, I believe you wouldn't quite like it." he explained, putting emphasis on that word, making Kaoru protest in the background. Still, Kisara was silent. "Kisara...? Are you okay?" no, she wasn't okay. She was furious. "... I'll be there." she hung up quickly, putting on a plaid green shirt, rolling up her sleeves, then her black jeans, with a pair of boots, the usual silver rings and a silver paw necklace, and she bolted out of the house.

Thankfully enough, there was no traffic, so the taxi dropped her by the Station in a jiffy, and even more, she got there earlier than the rest - Either that, or they left without her, which hopefully, isn't the case. Being a bit bored, she went to lean on a light pole, then took out the pocket mirror from her bag and started fixing the loose curls of her hair, not noticing when the others arrived, until she heard a whistle.

"You truly outdid yourself today, Miss Kisara. You look even more radiant than the Sun. If you ever wear a red dress, you're going to look even more stunning than Jessica Rabbit." Seiji flashed the beautiful lady a charming smile, kissing the back of her hand. "You should hear me sing, then." the girl hummed cutely. "Now, tell me about this new ghost we're dealing with and where are we going." she asked more seriously, and before Seiji could explain, Kaoru chimed in. "There's been some dog beheadings in Kintoki, and we suspect this new ghost, Kubitarou of Kintoki, is the reason behind them." she said, which made Kisara's eye twitch, and look seemingly unresponsive. "Kisara... Are you alright?" Seiji asked gingerly. "No." her reply came deadpan. "Let's get this over with." 

Leaving Kaoru behind, the trio walk towards Kintoki, a region surprisingly close to Kissouji; The night was calm and warm, and Kisara felt rather peaceful. Somehow, she wasn't feeling yet any of the nervousness before encountering a new ghost and learning of their death-stories, and even with the dog situation, she kept her mind closed. She spoke no word the whole time, absent-mindedly daydreaming and gazing fondly at the clear starry sky... How beautiful nature can be, she thought, feeling peaceful, for as long as she can, before running head-first into yet another supernatural mess. Seiji's hand brushed against her own every so often, and with each soft touch, she felt her own fingers gravitating towards his own, as if pulled by a magnetic force that wanted to hold his hand and never let go.

Though she wasn't sure when they arrived in Kintoki already, her zoning-out got snapped to reality by a dog barking; Due to her animal-affinity, she stopped in her tracks and went towards the adorable source of the noise, jumping on the fence. Looking down, she noticed the cutest little puppy, wagging its tail as it tried to jump up the gate to reach her.

"Aww, aren't you the most adorable little thing in the world?" she cooed at the puppy, reaching down a little too far, to give it kisses and play with it.

"If you lean any more down, you'll fall on your head." Akira mocked, seeing the otherwise impassive girl bent down in half down the fence, just to appeal to a dog.

Giving the puppy one last kiss, Kisara hopped off the fence, and back on the ground, stumbling a bit as she lost balance trying to hide the blush of embarrassment painting her face. "I... Refuse to comment on that." "I bet you're that kind of weirdo who yells DOG or CAT whenever they see one, and goes to pet it, even if it has an owner." Akira smirked at her, and she could only chuckle awkwardly at him. "...Oopsy Daisy, I got busted." was her only excuse, as it made both boys huff in amusement. "As much as that was adorable, I wanted to ask.. .Don't you think security has been a lot more lax than expected?" Seiji asked casually. "Why would security be on some random alleys around a peaceful neighbourhood like this one?" the girl looked at them confused. "Supposedly, the police were concerned by all the... Animal abuse happening, to put it lightly. In the end, them not being here works well for us, we don't have to sneak around and worry... Though you have to wonder if they can really keep the peace like this." he explained, as if nothing of interest happened. "Says the guy who disrupts the peace." Akira jabbed his friend. "Haha, what are you talking about? It's thanks to people like me that they even have jobs. It's an arrangement that's mutually beneficial." Seiji retorted with just as much spunk. "What a terrible world we live in." Akira smirked right back. "Now just who made it like this?" Seiji chuckled darkly.

Their conversation was unfortunately interrupted; The Yakuza Prince ended up jinxing them, as a policeman, scared out of his mind, spotted them out of nowhere, making them tense up and look at each other, thinking of ways of escaping. Based on his clear nervousness, he must have knowledge of the rumours - And in spite of his fears, he still had to do his job... Somehow.

"What are you doing here so late?" the cop asked in an almost shaky voice. "Oh, uhm, we just..." Akira tried to say something, but stuttered.  "There's been a rash of dangerous, disturbing cases lately, you shouldn't wander about. I've seen the recent crime scene myself... It was gruesome. Mind if I ask you a few things? And I'd like to see some form of ID, just as a precaution. A lot of people are reporting crazy supernatural things to the station for some reason. Seriously, the police aren't shamans. We don't deal with ghosts and the like. Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you cooperate." he said, obviously talkative because of his nervousness.

"Here you go." Kisara stepped in front of the boys, rummaging through her purse and offering the ID card to the policeman. "Mashita Kisara, 21 years old, resident of H city, currently studying Veterinary Medicine at the University of Kyoto." she spoke in such a confident and professional voice that Seiji couldn't help but gaze at her in adoration; At the same time, despite the dark of the night, he noticed the faint blush on the policeman's face, as he handed the ID back to the very attractive lady. "Since we are on vacation, we decided to do some leisure strolling - This Summer night is especially warm and beautiful, don't you think?" she hummed, wearing a little, sultry smile.

"Ergh... Yes, it's a fine weather we are having... I suppose." the policeman cleared his throat. "Anyway, as I said, it's unadvisable to walk at this hour, considering how many disturbing cases of animal killings happened recently. You should go home soon and choose better times to hang out."

"You will keep us safe, won't you, Mr. Officer...?" Seiji was almost shocked at how well Kisara could seduce a man like that; Pouting her lips a little, batting those long lashes, pitching her voice just a little bit, shifting the curves of her lovely body just right - It definitely wasn't the first time she's done it, because it was working flawlessly. "Now that we know those scary rumours... Well, I am a little afraid. What if we encounter a ghost on our way back to the station? I... I am really scared, Mr. Officer." "O-Oh, uhm... I... The station is very close to our location. There's no way any criminal could slide past me, miss! Now please, go home and make sure you stay on alert. "  he stuttered, his eyes shifting left and right - His confidence game was absolute shit. Talk about Law & Order. The police force was absolutely useless, both boys internally scoffed. "You are so brave, Mr. Policeman! I feel so safe, knowing you are protecting us!" she giggled sweetly. "But... You see... There is something that has been bothering me for the past few minutes..." she stepped closer to the man, hearing the soft gulped of nervousness as she approached. "If you look behind you, right there, behind that pole, something that resembles the silhouette of a very scary dog has been staring dead at us." she whined cutely, one hand trailing up his biceps, as the other was pointing towards the dark corner of an alleyway. "It is making me feel very much afraid, and I don't think I'll have the courage to go home knowing that such a big, frightening dog could be coming after us. Would you be so brave as to please check it out, Mr. Policeman?" Kisara asked in a worried voice, which made him bite his lip and nod vigorously. What a yes-man. "Yes, ma'am, right away! Some mangy mutt won't scare away the citizens while I'm around!" he tried to play the hero, rushing in that direction. "What a doofus." Kisara giggled, jogging away from there. "Well, that went well. Thankfully, Miss Kisara was here to save the day with her incredible charm." Seiji chuckled, putting his arm around the girl. "I wonder, where could you have possibly have learnt that, you little seductress." he teased the girl, only to end up laughing together.

"My brother was a police man, and a lot of pretty girls would try to flirt their way out of getting in trouble. Needless to say, my brother is unaffected by things like this, and would always end up mocking them to hell and back. I figured it wouldn't be a problem with that guy though."  she hummed, smirking in victory - Such a dazzling smile that she shone brighter than the stars. "Not only am I impressed, but I am also very intrigued by this brother of yours. You two must be close." the girl did the cutest kitten smile, nodding in approval.

Their conversation was cut short as echoing footsteps got them on high alert - Was the cop on their back? Could he have followed them?  Thankfully, that wasn't the case, and instead, it was Maruhashi bringing them a whole bag of Kintoki Manju, and telling them how to get to the Kintoki Tower - In fact, the biker guided them there.

All the way to the location, they found an old, sealed well and a mini-shrine that had quite the interesting history - It was said that a Sacred Tree called 'Kintoki Cedar' used to be in place of the shrine, and it had a counter part in another spot in the neighbourhood, and each tree was named after a pair of brothers, Jirou and Tarou. Maruhashi proceeded in telling the trio some urban legends he heard growing up, as Akira gave a Manju offering to the shrine... Unfortunately, nothing of note happened.

That is, until Kisara felt a weird sensation tingling, similar to a burning gaze on the back of her neck - It, however, went away as the boys started praying, and she snapped back to reality, eagerly telling them they should really go back home and investigate on the morrow. Her intuition was telling her to retreat soon.

Only Maruhashi's voice was heard as they walked back to the station - Alas, just as they reached the intersection where they got stopped by the policeman, a blood-curling shriek of pure agony and fright pierced their ears, echoing throughout the town, startling the group. Opposite of what any sane person would do, the four rushed in the direction of the screech - Once arrived, they spotted the cop on the ground, letting out strangled screams, hollering out of his wits....

And up there, hanging with rope from a light post, was the source of his terror... The headless, bloody corpse of a white dog, dangling with the wind.

Kisara felt the air from her lungs being punched harshly, her whole world was spinning like vertigo and her knees weakened dramatically; Were it not for Seiji brushing away his shock to quickly catch the girl in his embrace, she would have fallen to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Kisara, breathe, take it easy, look at me, calm down." Seiji tried his best to keep her grounded. His hands were cupping her soft cheeks, forcing her to look at him, rather than the grotesque imagery of the poor, butchered dog. He knew very well dogs were her favourite pets, and he was in agreement with that notion; Seeing a dog being so ruthlessly massacred... What kind of monster will they be facing anyway?! And why the hell would a ghost want to kill a dog, of all things?! "A-Axe... Head... C-Can't... Have mine..." the man tried to stuttered, but he couldn't keep his gaze away from the gruesome sight in front of him.

"Hey, did you see Kubitarou?!" Akira grabbed the man by his shoulders, shaking him back to reality. "An axe... Large man... T-T-Took... The head... Went to... The transmission tower..." he managed to say, before letting out another shrill scream, which made the girl tsk in annoyance. "It should have been you, not the dog." Kisara glared at the pathetic man, barely keeping herself from kicking him down. "The police will forever be useless and let down the people they're supposed to protect." although she went ahead to get the boys back to the Tower... The Yakuza boy couldn't help but wonder... If her brother was a policeman, why was she trashing the whole police force so badly? Her words sounded so targeted and personal. She couldn't have gotten let down by them, could she? Although... Who DOESN'T the police force disappoint, anyway? Was it related to the way the justice system failed her in the stalker-situation?

Akira sprinted there like his life depended on it, letting the rest of the group in the dust until they too arrived, panting for oxygen and complaining about him being too fast for his own good... Or theirs, rather. Unfortunately, even despite him being some human Speedy Gonzales, he wasn't able to catch even a glimpse of the ghost...

Although, there was something definitely off.

"I don't want to alarm you, since I'm not sure how good my sense of smell is after all the formalin I had to sniff, but... Doesn't it smell a bit like... Blood?" Kisara asked, feeling a bit uneasy. "I was about to point out the same thing." Akira said with a frown. "Huh? Really? I don't really smell anything." Maruhashi blinked in confusion. "I place full trust in this guy's senses. He's like a superman, at least physically. Besides, Kisara is a doctor, she's used to this smell. We've checked that place earlier, but there's no harm in looking one more time. Things are gonna start moving fast soon after because of that dog thing... We don't have much time, so hurry." Seiji pointed out sensibly. "Akira... Does it seem to you like the smell is coming from the well?" the girl muttered, earning a nod as she crouched by the well, touching it... Until she felt a slimy sensation, and before even realising that it was blood, a vertigo feeling struck her down, and her cursed ability sent her to yet another vision.

Everything was black, and she still felt dizzy; She felt awfully scared - Was she blindfolded, she wondered? Why couldn't she see anything at all? She was tragically reminded of the trauma she suffered at the imaginary men from her vision, during the Little Red Hood case. Bound and blindfolded... And very much at the mercy of your perverted captors.

All around her resounded a single noise - The echoing sound of a children's song, blending the faint whimpering of a dog.

"Head to the Great Tarou Kintoki... On the 15th night... Off to the Great Tarou Kintoki... To make Dad feel be-" the voice sang in what seemed like a joyful voice, and yet, a vibe of sorrow tingled at her skin.

As soon as the song ended, the swishing sound of a rapid blade coming down was heard, and the last thing she saw amidst the blackness was a faint light... Which indicated the end of the vision. Finally come back to her senses, Kisara tried to recollect what just happened, forcing herself to hum the very same song she heard, while putting her hands on her neck, gulping. It really stung, even now.

"We have to check what this song is about... I heard it as well. It seemed like a children's song... But the dog growling... I bet this blood belonged to the dog we just saw." Akira thought it over out loud. "Must be some custom of people praying on the 15th night. Who knows, but we have to get out of here before the cop sees us again and we get in trouble." Seiji warned the group.

"If I see that guy again, I will bark at him, and he'll run back to his mum." Kisara scoffed dryly. "Still... This is going to be one hell of a case to solve." they started walking towards the station. "Kisara, are you okay? You seem to be more on the edge than with the Urashima woman." Seiji put his arm around her shoulder casually, pulling her closer to him.

"Humans can die for all I care, but this is the first time I see an animal killed in front of me, and frankly, I am not a fan of being emotionally abused like this." she sighed, relaxing in his embrace. "I though seeing mangled corpses of dead animals while studying anatomy and doing necropsies would have toughened me up a little - I was insensitive to death - I mean, they were already dead, not much else to do there... But this was fresh. i cannot imagine what kind of beef this stupid ghost has with dogs, of all things, but so far, our little vengeful spirit is doing nothing to earn sympathy points from me." "It's normal to be shocked and uneasy when things like this happen in front of you. Don't blame yourself, it was inevitable." he tried to pacify the girl, but she could only sigh. "You don't have to sympathise with the ghost - As long as it's gone, no more killings will happen, right?" she nodded. "Then let's get this over with quickly. Innocent dogs are depending on us." "I suppose. I'm going to research this song or whatever it is, and hopefully, I'll find something useful." she said thoughtlessly. "... Can you promise me you'll keep an eye on Yuki when you go home? I know Kubitarou can't go to your home, and Yuki is a house puppy... But this whole thing is making me very uneasy."

"Of course. I promise."

With that, they returned in silence to the station, where they explained everything to Kaoru and went back home; Of course, Seiji walked her home and, as usual, told her to take care of herself and to have sweet dreams, and should she get scared sleeping all by herself, to call him with any occasion - All that, as he kissed her forehead and bid her good night.

Just as he predicted, Kisara's night was a most frightful one; Not only was the song stuck in her head the whole time, but in the morning, as she opened the curtains of her balcony door, she noticed one terrifying wake-up call. On the glass door was taped a single sheet of paper, and in the middle of it, there was writing in crimson red. 

DID YOU MISS ME?

What a terrifying reality she had to live in. She needn't any ghost to scare her off, nor any horror movie. People were, by far, the scariest monsters she's ever experienced in her lifetime.

Though inconsolable, Kisara settled for chatting with her brother and making sure all windows and the front door was tightly locked; Yet a question still stood - How did he manage to get on the outer part of her balcony, considering she lives on the third floor?  She was so confused - What was she supposed to do now? Where was she supposed to go? Should she drop every supernatural investigation and bolt off back to her brother's home? She was sure that bastard could track her Kyoto apartment regardless, so living alone was off-limits. Who knows what is in his head, what he is capable of... He's been stalking her for years now. He was dangerous.

She did nothing but stare blankly at the war in front of her for hours throughout the day, until she was snapped back to the world of the living as her phone rung like crazy, giving her a sheer heart attack. Answering, she found out it was Seiji, informing her that Ban invited them to the Shinza Station for whatever reason, and specifically requested all three of them to be present. 

Perfect. Not only did she want to get out of the house and feel safe, but she had some beef to settle with Ban - She had to aggressively scare the truth out of him - Surely, he couldn't be the one who told her of her address, could he? If he went out of his way to warn her... He wouldn't, even for money.... He might be a cutthroat, but he's not evil... Right?

Quickly, she got ready and ordered a taxi to get her by the bridge, where she leaned idly on the railing, admiring the lights from the gorgeous Moon tower, still absent-mindedly humming that sickening song under her breath.

The intrusive thoughts causing her anxieties and worries over her being too late, or in the wrong place kind of flew by her as she was all too lost in her own mind, in her own reasonings and ideas, so much so that she didn't realise when Seiji and Akira came over, greeting her.

"Hey." she nodded at them, not taking her eyes away from the tower. "Did he contact you because of the ghost thing? He seemed to be weirdly interested in that topic the last time we saw him." she asked emptily. "He seemed surprisingly concerned about what we were doing at Yamato Shrine." Seiji responded in amusement. "Let's hope he tells us the right things. If it comes down to it, I'll just beat it out of him." Akira threatened, which earned the response of the man in cause, who appeared before them, like the mysterious villain of an old movie. "Jeez, so violent, runt. You should study how adults handle things... Don't you agree, undefeated champion of the UG Match, Akira Kijima?" Ban gave a knowing smirk.

"Are you going to play down all your cards and speak out Akira's whole life now, just to prove you have info on him as well? Spare us the trivialities, we believe you, so why don't we cut to the chase and speak about the true matters at hand?" Seiji spoke in a cold, passive tone, making the journalist bark a cackle.

"If you know my reputation, you should know you won't leave without telling us what we need to know." Akira cracked his knuckles, glaring menacingly at the man, who only looked at the silhouette of the girl who hadn't even bothered to greet or look at him.

"You should know how to train your puppies better, Vet girl." he chuckled, walking towards her, wanting to get a reaction out of her.

"And you should learn how to keep your associates under a tighter leash, you money-hungry maniac." Kisara turned to face him in a twirling flash of carmine red, marching in front of him with the threatening paper in cause. 

"You're angry at the wrong person. I have nothing to do with your stalker anymore, I already told you I cut him loose. I may be unhinged, but I am above being the direct cause of a deliberate murder." the deep stare into each other's eyes was enough to verify the validity of his words. Ban snatched the paper in his hands, folding it neatly before putting it in his back pocket. "Whatever situation you've got yourself into, blame it on your beauty, not on me." "I heard you seemed especially bothered about our activity at Yamato shrine. I wonder, Ban, whatever traumatic experience could have happened to you that it made you want to pursue such a dangerous path like ghost hunting? Surely, whoever met an almost-death experience would try to run away from anything related... Are you trying to get revenge on something... Or... Someone, perhaps?" she provoked him, her arms folded over her chest, and looking up with such a look of condescension in her gorgeous jade green eyes, like the jewellery of the Divine Empress, that it stirred a fire of excitement in the nihilistic man, who hadn't felt alive in so long. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Miss Kisara, if that is what you want to be called now, however, I do believe you have a rather... Problematic taste in men. For a woman as mature and intelligent as you, I would believe older men would be much better for the needs of someone in need of constant intelligence-stimulating." he walked in front of her, clearly avoiding the subject.  "I surely hope you wouldn't be referring to yourself, Ban. I wouldn't want to become a widow by the time I'm 40... After all, I wouldn't have any fortune to inherit. As far as I'm concerned, I earn in a month more than you earn in 10 years, with this lame job as a 'Freelancer Journalist' as you name yourself, and yet, all you're doing is threatening kids and running after some will'o'wisps. Furthermore, you seem the type to be wasting even the last bit of money you have on useless things such as alcohol, cigarettes and gambling... Am I wrong in anything I said?" she tilted her head to the side, taunting him, staring at him dead in the eyes with a challenging look. "Then you mean to tell me you enjoyed running around, playing with ghosts, Crimson Knight? Or having your ex stalking you is your new way of keeping yourself busy when you're having too many thoughts that are killing you?" he provoked in a rather aggressive way. "Or would you rather him kill you, then? He's been waiting patiently for the privilege of claiming his most desired prize, after all. How long do you think you can deny him, especially without the official protection of the police, or your brother's custody over you?" not only he knew how harsh he was with everything he said, but he was greatly enjoying the way he could clearly see how the gears of her mind worked flawlessly to come up with words that would hurt him tenfold - And her ruthlessness succeeded. His constant state of hurting was overcome by the fun and whatever firey emotions were being stirred up aggressively in his heart.

On the other hand, Seiji could only stare with a frown at the exchange of verbal blows being delivered between the two - Not only did he want to rip Ban apart for the way he was treating his crush - But this whole thing about her dangerous stalker finding her... That was a priority as important as lifting Akira's curse and finding Ami, and the Prince was going to make sure all three were going to have a most positive outcome. "Was it your fault? Whoever died close to you... You seem to be rather set on getting your revenge, no matter how dirty the trick. Who did you kill, Ban? Was it your sister? Your brother?... You couldn't possibly have a wife with that attitude, can you? Or even a child?" she sneered at him, which made him glare at her with rage in his eyes. How dare she bring up his treasured family, of all things? This got awfully personal very quickly, and he was the cause of all this.  "Don't poke your nose where it doesn't concern you!" he growled at her, which made her smirk like she was a kitsune, true to the name she was born with, ready to feed on his soul out and burn his prison of flesh where he stood. "Oh, did I hit a nerve? Don't you know, dear Ban, that the first rule in diplomacy is to never get angry? Clearly, you are failing at even the most basic of things... Is that how you failed them as well?" she let out a hum of arrogant victory, as she realised she easily won.

It was clear Ban hadn't learnt his lesson the first time, for he attempted to grab her shoulders - In return, Kisara quickly took out her scalpel, dragging him down to her level as she tugged on his tie, putting her blade to his artery. "I never claimed to be a good diplomat. And I'm only 40, goddamn it, stop calling me old! No need to attack me like that, you ruthless vixen. Is that why your ex whined so much about you hurting him? You broke up with him, didn't you?" he quickly calmed down, realising that his words made her disgusted enough to let go of him.

"In his dreams, perhaps." she confirmed what he was already suspecting.

"You were never together." Ban earned a nod. " All you need to know is that he is a mentally deranged psychopath who wants to do bad things to me - Again - And I suggest you keep away from him." she huffed, putting back the scalpel in her pocket. "I don't see you running away from ghosts. In fact, it seems like you love hanging around and playing the good samaritan, don't you?" he shot right back.

"Ghosts and stalkers can both kill you - But I, at least, have a way to deal with spirits." she sneered at the man. "And I don't go out of my way chasing ghosts like you, Ban. I was cursed the first time, along with my brother, and we had to find a way to... Not die. After that, we had to help the guy who helped us back then. And now... I just came home, met these guys... And I couldn't possibly let some kids stumble blindly and get killed, when I have the right experience, could I?" she scoffed, shaking her head. "Unlike you, I still have a dose of humanity intact." "You are, by far, the best person to have a light conversation with. Nothing has gotten me this excited in a long while. No wonder you attract all the wrong, dangerous folk, you fox-fire girl, but be careful not the get burnt yourself. I did, and the damage is irreparable." he warned her, making her raise her eyebrow.

"Blaming the victim is cheap, Ban. Fire will never burn a Kitsune, after all." she offered an empty smile. "Besides, the Vermillion Bird has no concern, nor interest in common rodents - She only soars the Celestial Skies with her Golden Dragon." whether she was intentionally posing like the biggest mean girl narcissist, or her overflowing arrogance was doing the work for her, mattered little, for Kisara looked like a merciless Empress for those surrounding her. 

"Where the hell do you get this arrogance from, anyway? Comparing yourself to an Empress - How haughty of someone who pretends to be nothing but a ghost in the crowd." he scoffed, watching her sickening grin, as if she was ready to torture him to death - Mentally and physically.

"A spider's web goes unnoticed, and the birds' song is unremarked on a daily basis. You, of all people, should know that." she hummed lowly. "My friend can kill you, I can get rid of any evidence, and my boyfriend can save me from any legal trouble. Therefore, pray tell, give me a reason why I should NOT be conceited, when it comes to a lowlife scum, such as yourself? Even if you did prove to be a nuisance, I would only have to do this -" she playfully snapped her fingers. "- And my problem - You - Will disappear, like I am Houdini."

"You're one scary woman, Miss Kisara. Gotta condemn your confidence and wit. People like you get far in life." he chuckled softly. "But information on ghosts doesn't put food on the table." he nodded, despite his sneer. "Neither does you wasting your money on gambling, and yet, you're still addicted, aren't you?" she gave him a mocking smile. "I want to know everything you have on the spirit named Kakuya or Kaguya." she demanded regally. "How did you even know those things? Have you been stalking me?" he asked with an irritated, yet curious face. "Goodness, no, you think I don't have anything better to do? I just threw a lot of random accusations at you and clearly, by the way you got so worked up, you assumed I knew the truth, which was the only confirmation I needed. You got played in your own game, Ban. But nice try, better luck next time, but not with me. Clearly, you cannot compete with someone vastly superior to you in both intelligence and wit." she taunted him, which seemed to make him grow on the edge. "I absolutely hate having to deal with you." he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"If you did, you wouldn't have gone out of your way to provoke me." she chuckled light-hearted. "But keep lying to yourself, if it helps you sleep at night."

Thus, Akira explained everything that has been going on since his curse, which in turn, had Ban thinking things over, before mentioning he will only tell whatever he knows after he investigates some loose ends and rumours he's heard on the go. He advised them to focus on Kubitarou for the moment, instead of Kakuya, to keep things on a tight leash and solve them one by one. Kakuya is definitely the end boss of their game. Of course, Seiji had to add in his pleasantries as well, pointing out that Ban is unusually generous, but their group will keep their end of the deal.

"Hey, Amanome kid, spirits and the Prince of Threats are different matter. I have other suspect rumours on you. I won't be generous with those." Ban sneered at him. "We can get into that another time. I expect the Kubitarou info soon. If my friend were to die... By my family name of Amanome, I WILL chase you down." Seiji threatened him with a wicked smile. "What a scary brat you are, threatening adults." Ban noted with disgust, his eyes shifting from the Prince, to the Knight. "Yeah, nevermind, you're perfect for each other. How disgustingly troublesome." "Anything that disturbs the Heavenly Dance of the Phoenix and the Dragon shall be obliterated, Ban, so I advise you don't meddle in our lives any longer... That is, if you value that little lifespan you have left, that is." she chuckled, which only made him growl under his breath and stomp away. "That went well." Akira muttered simply. "What a simple man. Although, I have to say, he is fun to mess around with. I'm sure we are going to get interesting information from him."  Kisara laughed cheerfully for the first time in a while. "He will be helpful for the most part. Clearly, your influence is rather impressive, Kisara. He seemed more threatened by your words than my power, and that says a lot. You would be an incredible Mafia Don, I am sure of that." Seiji said not so subtly. "I would much rather stand by your side, than take your place." she smiled cutely. "Anyway, this served as fantastic entertainment. I can't wait for tomorrow's investigation." Seiji shuddered lightly, calling his men to tell them to back off. The realisation that the Prince brought his guards amused Kisara to hell and back. Wonderful precautions.

After some more friendly banters between Seiji and Akira, they return back home, ready to settle in for the night. Kisara, also, took a shower and plopped in bed, keeping her nightstand lamp lit up, too uneasy to fall asleep, all by herself, in this abyss darkness, especially considering she has a stalker on her back, and she is waiting for the ghost to be added to the count soon. However, despite the unexpected excitement from earlier, she still couldn't get to sleep as easily as she hoped, still having everything that happened today engraved deep in her mind... And yet, when she was half-asleep... Or maybe I was truly dreaming? She started hearing the faint sound of a dog's bark, which made her smile unconsciously...

Suddenly, from the balcony window, two loud, simultaneous taps disturbed the silence of her bedroom and her almost-asleep trance state, only for it to be followed by  a low, threatening, monstrous voice blaring through her ears, which made the girl jolt awake with a screech, her heart beating with fear like crazy. Gulping, she got up on shaky legs, and biting her lip, counting to three, she pulled away the curtains... Unsure if she should expect her stalker or Kubitarou.

Thankfully, she found none - Only two giant, bloody palm stains on the window glass. As expected, Kubitarou went by the bad example of the Urashima Woman, and followed her home, ready to haunt and kill her in her sleep.

Goodbye sleep forever, I suppose.

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[narrators-journal]

Homecoming part 2

Holy hot fucking hell I’ve been staring at this for SO long, it doesn’t even make sense to me anymore lol. But, I am super happy with how it turned out and I hope you all enjoy the story 💕

I suggest you read part 1 first for full context!

        "Hello?" Akira's mother's voice asked from his phone, the surprise ringing in her voice like a bell, making his insides freeze over to the point that he had to force his words out through suddenly uncooperative vocal cords,      "Uh, h-hi mom...Just...just wanted to tell you I made it back. And that I'm...at the station." He croaked out, the silence that followed holding a potent question he couldn't even answer himself.

Why did you come back? And with one glance Akira instantly knew Akechi had caught that as well. He could tell from the way his warm brown eyes were glowing with the same questions he saw in Morgana's.        "Oh! Akira, dear. I-I'm so sorry, I must've forgotten the date. I'll be there in an hour to get you!" With that, she hung up, leaving the glasses-wearing teen under the weight of Akechi and Mona's stares.        "Um...Joker?" Morgana asked gently, his paw pressing comfortingly on his shoulder while the cat's sapphire eyes stared into him, but the teen just stroked his ebony fur, wordlessly telling him he was okay.        "Your mother sure does seem...forgetful." Akechi hummed next, the protective layer of social politeness doing little to hide the barbs he had just below the surface But the teen simply shrugged and, before Akechi could try to pry further, turned and went to get his things before heading out of the station to find a bench to wait for his mother while the last few rays of the sun painted the barely-populated edge of town its last warm hues for the day. Thankfully, Akechi took the hint and didn't try to pry into him for the hour that they sat in the cooling evening air. However, his family troubles still sat between them on the bench like a third commuter. I should've told him no. Akira thought while scrolling through the messages his friends had sent over the train ride, What did I think would happen though? I shouldn't have even come home in the first place. He added to himself, recalling the lack of contact he'd had with his parents all year. It was a pretty clear message on its own, and yet there the phantom thief was, seemingly hoping it wasn't true.

For the umpteenth time that day, the glasses-clad delinquent bit back the burn of tears. He stubbornly refused to cry. Especially not in front of his crush and rival. He'd know the likelihood of this occurrence, he had no right to break down right now. So, he instead made himself let out a slow, steadying breath and just focused back in on reading his messages. Pretending he didn't feel Akechi's gaze burning into his soul and the heavy dread in his stomach until he heard the crunch of the asphalt drawing closer.         "Are you sure that you're okay with this? Are your mom and dad awful?" Morgana whispered from his school bag as the car came to a stop in front of them, but he went ignored as a small moment passed before a woman with long, chestnut hair that cascaded down her back in the same wild waves as Akira's stepped out,      "Akira! Sweetie!" she sang a bit too brightly, coming over to throw her arms around him a bit too tightly, but also letting go a moment too early. "I'm so sorry for being late, dear. I've been so busy today, I should've double-checked your return date." She hummed as she stepped back and gave him a warm smile, but the boy saw the discomfort and remorse just beneath it. Silence. Akira wasn't a stranger to the quiet, no one in his family was a big conversationalist. But this bout of silence had him struggling to breathe while his mother just stood in front of him. scanning over his boxes and counting them as an excuse to avoid looking at him until Akechi finally stepped in to break the surface tension.         "Well, Akira? Aren't you gonna introduce me to this lovely lady?" He asked lightly in that masterfully crafted TV voice of his, making the brunette look at him, stunned for a moment at the sheer thought of her son bringing somebody back with him before she gave an awkward giggle,       "Oh, I'm sorry, are you his probation officer?" She asked,      "What? No, I'm his friend," Akechi chuckled, shaking the woman's hand with a sweet smile that the muted boy would've found angelic if he hadn't faced the Goro Akechi hidden behind that mask, "I'm Goro Akechi, ma'am, it's lovely to meet you at last. Your son has talked you up a fair bit." That last sugar-coated barb got the detective a sharp glare, but the phantom thief's look went ignored by his companion and unnoticed by his mother, who just smiled and apologized for the mix-up before changing the subject,          "Well! I-it's getting late, we better get home. Come on, dear, before you worry your father anymore." Akira nodded at that and set about moving his things into her car as fast as he could without letting on his tension. Don't you dare cry yet. He told himself when that sickly familiar burn returned to his charcoal-colored eyes yet again, Just a few more minutes. Let mom get out of sight of Akechi. Just don't cry in front of him. He coached, taking a moment to lean against the box he'd just loaded into the backseat of the car, blinking and taking deep breaths to curb the ache in his heart and the thorny dread and fear that were causing this latest threat to his stability. While he was duct-taping his composure back together, the dark-haired teen listened to Akechi and his mother's conversation,       "Oh! ma'am, I know this is a tad weird, but do you think I could ride back into town with you? Just so I don't have to walk and hunt for a hotel all night," Akechi asked, Akira's mom humming indecisively for a moment before caving under that small-town pressure of hospitality. It wasn't polite to send a visiting friend to stay in the hotel, but the phantom thief could see the despair glowing in his mother's eyes as she made the polite offer,       "Oh don't bother with a hotel! You're a friend of Akira's, you can stay with us for the night," She assured in a voice that was so forced, Akira was surprised his mother's jaw didn't break from the movement. Guess that plan's out the window. He thought darkly, letting the fresh wave of frustration act as a bit of plaster over his festering emotions so he could pack the rest of his things away and return to the casual conversation at the side of the road. Watching the brunette smoothly wrap the reluctant woman around his finger made Akira's stomach twist a bit. Not particularly because Akechi was manipulating his mother, but because it showed how easy it must have been for the man to do the same thing to the phantom thief, and that still hurt a little bit. This isn't a surprise. You already knew he was a master manipulator. He told himself, shaking his head, No. I have to remember what Akechi's done. He's still not trustworthy. With that, he double-checked that all of his boxes were put away and Morgana was at his shoulder, signaling to his mother that it was time to face the music.        "Well, come on boys, let's get back into town before it gets too late." She chirped, climbing back into the car and leaving the two of them to follow. Once settled in, she pulled away from the station, Akira watching out the window as the scenery zipped by them on the drive back to his childhood home. Predictably, the ride back into the main portion of the tiny town was steeped in tension and discomfort that seemed to grow when his mother flicked on the radio to fill the quiet. The music was nothing but a failed distraction from what both of them knew was waiting ahead. His father. Thinking back on his father's reaction to his arrest was something Akira had done in the days leading up to his departure from Tokyo. His father was a quiet man, like himself, and while he wasn't a very emotionally present father, the teen's false accusation had seemingly hurt him the most between him and the boy's mother. He'd been furious, not so much as looking at his son since he'd been hauled in on those false charges. It was like he couldn't bring himself to face the fact that Akira had supposedly hurt someone. Though at the same time, Akira couldn't help but feel like that wasn't the real reason for his father shunning him. It might have been the reason given, but the dark-haired teen could tell. His father simply couldn't stand to face the confirmation of his worst fears. To face that his son might have hurt someone, that he truly was as messed up as the kids and all of their parents had whispered since kindergarten. Akira's dad didn't need to say the truth because he'd already made his disdain clear.         "Alright, we're home." His mother chirped as she pulled into a familiar driveway and shut the car off in front of a small, but cute house that should've filled the phantom thief's soul to the brim with relief and joy to see, but instead only pinned the dark-haired teen to his seat with the weight of the dread boulder growing in his gut. His mother must've felt the same way because she didn't seem that keen on going inside either. So, they sat there for what felt like an eternity, silently daring each other to be the first one to approach the house. Though the game ended when Akechi cleared his throat,        "Uh, would you like me to help you bring your stuff in, Akira?" He asked, the teen's neck as stiff as a rebar pole as he nodded, but his mother spoke up when the detective went to finally get out,        "Oh don't worry about that right now boys! I-I'm sure Akira and his dad can get it tomorrow." She assured, her voice full of too much sugar and sunshine for such a dark hour, something that Akira saw made Akechi's reddish-brown eyes narrow briefly. However, the selective mute couldn't seem to force his frozen vocal cords to function, so he had to resort to sending the brunette psychic pleas to keep his mouth shut and not start a fight. How much Akira simply wished to get this night done with as little drama as possible. Which, the man thankfully seemed to get, because instead of outright calling the woman out for her behavior, all he did was tilt his head in innocent confusion,         "It'd be of no problem to me, ma'am, and I'm sure your son would like to at least have his blankets and clothes inside for tomorrow," but his mother got out and just laughed it off,         "He's got plenty of blankets and clothes left inside, he'll be fine for a night." She promised though the dark-haired teen could see his hollow room staring down at him like some sick taunt. Maybe that's why he still sat in the car. Letting his mother dissuade Akechi from bringing anything of his in at this hour. Stewing in anxiety with the weight of how unwelcome he was gluing him to the car seat. However, before the burn of tears he'd still miraculously not shed could pounce on that moment of weakness, a knock at the window made him and Morgana both jump. When he looked though, it was simply Akechi, looking through the glass with even more questions and annoyance swimming in his eyes. Though, for once, not aimed at him. For now, though, the thief pushed those thoughts aside and just forced his stiff body to get out of the car, keeping his school bag with him so he'd have Morgana close by as he walked with Akechi up to the porch where his mother waited, the woman giving the teen one more bone-crushing hug before smiling at Akechi,     "Forgive the mess, I've been a little busy today and didn't think my son would bring a friend home," With that, she opened the door and led them inside. What Akira saw inside was another familiar sight. His dad, a tall, dark-haired man with the same charcoal eyes as the phantom thief leader sat in a patchy recliner, focused on a book while a radio in the kitchen filled the silence until his mother spoke,        "Honey! Akira's home and he has a friend with him, so try to be nice and not scare him." She chirped as she flitted off to the kitchen to start dinner, deftly avoiding the way her husband tore his dark eyes away from her to narrow them at their child, the dark-haired boy not needing to look up from where his gaze was fixed on the hardwood flooring to see the venomous question in his father's look. Why are you back.          "I'm sorry sir, is Akira not welcome?" The detective almost spat, his own potent venom finally slipping into his curt tone, making the dark-haired persona user grab onto his arm and pull at him until the brunette turned the evil look he was giving his parent onto him and could see his desperate pleas in his rivals dark gray eyes. PLEASE stop. Don't start a fight right now, PLEASE. The teen was begging, praying Akechi had turned over a new leaf enough to not lash out any further than he already had. Which, at first, it seemed he had done, as he simply pulled his arm away from his rival and asked his mother in that polite facade he'd briefly dropped, "Ma'am, when's dinner expected to be done? I think I'm going to have Akira give me a small tour so I can get a feel for this place, and I'd hate for him to miss a homecooked meal." making the woman almost jumped when acknowledged, but she was quick to give them an estimation of an hour. Watching with her son as the brunette spun on his heel, grabbed Akira by the wrist, and pulled him back out into the quiet night once more. Once the front door had clicked shut though, Akira took the lead and silently walked down the road, not giving Akechi a chance to pry into him at long last. There was no point to it, Akira knew what the detective was going to say. So, instead of letting his rival confront him with things he was already well aware of, the wild card simply marched down the road. Passing by familiar homes and cars while wishing that one of them would pull out of their driveway and run him over so he could escape the thick cloud of hostility his companion gave off on his behalf. Don't be silly, the rational voice in his head said, Akechi'd just bring you back to life to get answers. And it was right, he had learned the painful way that Akechi was as determined as a pitbull in his goals. No matter how self-destructive or cruel. However, that didn't make it any easier to lead his companion to the main road where most of the town's shops were lined up and asleep for the night feeling the anger radiating off of him while a brutally sharp question sat notched in Akechi's bow. On the other hand, though, Akira knew he couldn't avoid the topic forever. Akechi would find out somehow, and it wouldn't be a pretty sight if the boy let the vengeful brunette confront his parents. So, the dark-haired phantom thief let out a sigh and pressed Morgana a bit closer to his side while he searched for the park his mother used to take him to when he was little and reluctantly plopped down on a weathered bench at the edge of the little plot of land, keeping his charcoal-colored eyes focused on the moonlight-painted grass while listening to Akechi's footsteps slowing down and finally stopping beside him before the brunette sat down beside him. Akechi gave him enough time to reach into his school bag and bring Morgana out to send the cat off to explore before taking a deep breath and speaking in such a jarringly understanding, gentle voice that the phantom thief winched,       "Did your parents think you were dead?" He asked, almost offering the excuse, but all Akira could do without letting the tears welling into his eyes fall was shake his head at the question, keeping his eyes on the ground as they lapsed into another suffocating silence. Akechi let it stretch out for a few torturous moments before he dealt another blow to the phantom thief.         "They didn't want you to come home from probation, did they?" The question was asked with such a sickeningly soft familiarity and understanding. He hated how perceptive Akechi was. He hated how he put into words the silent message his parent sent by not acknowledging his birthday. Akira hated how having that fact finally verbalized provided the hairline fracture the emotions needed to get through the dam he had been holding up with duct tape all day. But it wasn't just the way Akechi had been so aware of the issues Akira had never spoken of in his year with him that had him doubled over with his head almost between his knees and his arms over his head as hot tears poured down his cheeks and sobs shook his whole world. The final blow was the fact that the man who had betrayed Akira and his friends, had tried to murder the quiet boy twice, had voiced the truth so delicately. The same man who had been determined to end him for merely existing was sitting there in the cool, quiet darkness of the night, talking to him with nothing but empathy. Akira wanted to rip into his old enemy. He wanted to scream at the man and blow up at him, but the only thing he could do was let out an agonized, melancholy scream through his clenched teeth, his nails digging into the back of his head in some feeble attempt to staunch the ugly, childish sobs torn from his sore throat, but the pain didn't save the black-haired thief from being swept away in the heavy tsunami of anger, loss, homesickness, and a potent pain that he'd let pull him apart like fork-tender roast beef all day. So, instead of verbalizing his anger at Akechi for daring to be so nice to him after his earlier actions, Akira relied on physical attacks. Only to find that at some point in his haze, the detective had pulled him into a hug, letting the dark-haired leader of the phantom thieves dig his nails into his arm and bite him like a toddler throwing a violent tantrum until he seemed to tire himself out. After that, the thief just let his rival hold him while he continued to sob uncontrollably. Neither spoke. They didn't need to speak. All they did was sit in the silent park, Morgana wordlessly pressed to Akira's leg as he sobbed, and Akechi silently held him even after his distraught wails had lessened.

[m-y-fandoms]

COMMISSION: Joker/Akira/Ren x Reader Part 1

Thank you to the client for commissioning me! This is gonna be a long one! I love Joker and Persona 5 is my second favorite fandom after Danganronpa! Exctied to be working on this.

Around 2.6k words, SFW, SLOW BURN romance friends to lovers, gender neutral reader, anyone can enjoy it and place themselves as the reader! - Admin Myah

Shujin Academy could be silent as the grave in the earliest hours of the morning, and yet seem so deafening. It was almost guaranteed that at least thirty new rumors were spreading throughout the student body at any given time, and the overwhelmingly hostile environment that created made the air heavy. With all the teenage angst, hormones, hatred, circles of venomous malice, it was no wonder so many loners could be spotted on academy grounds. That’s just how it was at Shujin: you either had a clique, or you had no one. It was no surprise, then, that you simply kept your head down, minded your business, and got to know no one. Miraculously, though, gossip abound about you still, at least two or three preposterous examples of hearsay and stories. But hey, what could you do? That was in all actuality, pretty low for a single Shujin student. God help the students who actually did make their opinions known, express themselves through clothing and cosmetics, and dared to swim against the current.

You shuffled through the first floor, the absolute blandness of that April morning perpetuating your usual routine: arrive at Shujin, check your locker, scribble down any notes and ideas that came to you in your dreams last night to put into your next short story, and of course check for new posts in the group chat, where your only friends resided. You wouldn’t be caught dead associating with anyone here at the school, it would simply be mental and social suicide, and quite frankly, you didn’t have the constitution for that.

Peeking up for a split second to avoid any collisions, you quickly slid to the left and ducked into a nearby alcove, successfully escaping the gaze of the oncoming wall of muscle and testosterone that was Coach Kamoshida, the plague of Shujin Academy. It was the best case scenario that Kamoshida remained ignorant to one’s very existence, for even those on his good side suffered the consequences. He strode by, shoulders wide and chest puffed out, scanning the halls for girls to harass or boys to intimidate, and once the coast was clear and he was a safe distance away, his back facing you, you dipped back out of the rather dusty corridor and back into the light, immediately slipping back into an almost mechanical daily ritual. It took mere seconds: phone screen unlocked, group chat opened, notebook slipped snuggly back under armpit.

“C’mon, man!” An obnoxiously loud voice rang out above the typical tinnitus-like buzz of the hallway, and suddenly your shoulder was thrust forward, body flying to the ground with a forceful shove on the shoulder.

“Aaagh!” Your voice cracked as your knees buckled and you collided roughly with the wooden panels below, your smartphone soaring out of your grip and clinking against the floor. Thank goodness your notebook was safe, at the very least. People gasped and turned to look at the spectacle, including Kamoshida himself, who’d just reached the end of the hall.

“Sakamoto! I see you running in the halls again, I’ll write you up!” He just always had to say something, let the general student body know he was in charge. He cared far more about sounding rough and tough than making sure the student who was just steam-rolled was uninjured. He pointed directly at you and the student that had just dashed by, effectively pummeling you to the ground with a shoulder check. You looked up and just ahead of you, Ryuji Sakamoto was pivoting on one foot, ignoring Kamoshida’s threat entirely to catch his breath and look down at his victim, splayed across the floor.

Ryuji Sakamoto, now that was one of those students mentioned earlier, the kind that dyed his hair, customized his uniform, and didn’t take shit from anyone. He was a pariah, pretty much the opposite of the teacher’s pet… teacher’s pest more like. Sakamoto was the subject of many falsehoods and conjectures, and he was sure to be trouble for anyone associated…

You looked him up and down, halting your unflattering and socially-altered thoughts in their tracks. Didn’t wanna become the very thing you hated. There was no reason to judge Ryuji without first-hand proof.

“Woah! My bad, sorry dude!” He held up one hand submissively, but unfortunately, just as with Kamoshida,  it seemed that you were not his main concern either. Huffing and puffing from the sprint, he looked past you to another male student who was hot on his trail, but this one looked… different.

You’d gone to Shujin Academy for all of your high-school career. It was your third and final year before graduation, and you knew of Sakamoto well enough, but this kid was a mystery… was he new here? He must’ve been. You knew at least the face of every student here in some way or another just through Shujin’s own little eternal game of telephone, and not by any choice of your own. You actively removed yourself from the local goings-on. Was it his first day here, you wondered. Why hadn’t you heard gossip about him yet, especially looking the way he did?

Beauty was a curse - much like any other feature that stood out - at Shujin Academy. If you were too pretty or handsome, you must be sexually promiscuous. On the other hand, if you were too ugly, too nerdy, too quiet, you probably picked your nose and read hentai on the train. There was no winning in this soul-crushing wasteland. Unfortunately for this new-comer, he was outrageously gorgeous.

“Gah, sorry about that…” he sighed, slowing his pace as he passed you by, plucking your phone up from the ground and offering you his hand. You took it and stood with his help. A quick tug and you were to your feet, dusting off your uniform and thanking him for his assistance. “Yeah, no problem… Ryuji’s just… a bit eager I suppose” he chuckled. “Luckily, no cracks!” He turned your phone around in his hand before placing it back into yours.

“Isn’t that the transfer student??? I heard he nearly killed a man!” One random NPC-esque shithead whispered from behind.

“Oh God, figures that freak would gravitate to the new freak…” another responded.

Ah…  and there it was. Why did fate hate you so much that it chose you as Sakamoto’s door mat on this day? You truly must have been fortune’s fool.

“Yeah, good thing…” You eyed the boy before you, taking in what you could of the new student before the short exchange was over, from his face to the delicate yet thick veins protruding from his lithe hands.

He was tall and thin, and would even be considered lanky if not for the lean muscle that lined his frame. He seemed to be better off than the average teen, sporting almost no blemishes or imperfections on his smooth skin. A black, messy mop of hair that looked soft to the touch sat upon his head, falling into his eyes and over the dark frames of his distinct spectacles. These spectacles did nothing to hide the true elegance that gleamed in the eyes behind them. They were a muted, soft grey that was beautifully simple and clean. His uniform was neat and tidy - as opposed to his blonde and brash acquaintance’s - with his pristine white turtleneck gently blanketing a quite prominent Adam’s apple and his school jacket buttoned and ironed perfectly. Lower down, his plaid slacks concealed thighs that strained against the fabric and long legs that ran down into some very - yet again - flawless dress shoes. Yep, that was a brand new uniform, sure enough.

And a brand new student… he just might make a good subject, a new inspiration for your writing, an aura unmarred by the stain this place put on one’s soul. Your opinion of him was fresh, it was new, unaltered, unbiased, and he really was quite beautiful… your mind played with the thought.

“Ah… sorry about this,” he spoke, taking in the whispers all around you, “I probably just ruined your reputation, what with being seen with me an’ all,” he sighed and laughed breathily, a hint of exhaustion in his voice. He must’ve been keen to the ways of Shujin already, which was super sad in its own right. “I��m Akira by the way,” he held out a hand, and you shook it hesitantly.

“Eh, doesn’t really bother me. It’s (Y/N), nice to meet you. Sorry you’re feeling the Shujin warm welcome.” That first part was only partly true, but the last half was genuine.

“Anyway…” his voice shook you back out of your contemplative reverie, and you came back to reality to find him also looking you over. Oh right… you were new to him as well… “I gotta go, Ryuji is kind of impatient, I’ve found.”

“Hey! Am not!” Ryuji retorted, brows furrowing before he ran off. Akira’s eyes rolled playfully, before he smiled, waved, and sped off.

You nodded, and quickly pulled out your phone, rushing to the glass doors leading to the courtyard. Anything to get out of the spotlight and harsh crowd of stares, plus, you had a sparkling new idea filling up your cranium, and artistic inspiration could not be wasted. Finding one of the benches placed for student recreation, you set down your school bag and impatiently scrambled for your favorite pen, throwing open your notebook.

“Oh, shoot!” You’d gotten ahead of yourself in all the excitement. Placing the moleskin down, you picked up your phone, hands trembling just a bit, and messaged you friends before anything else. They just had to hear about this.

 ＊

 (Y/N) 9:55 am: Guys guys guys!!!

 Itsuki 9:56 am: What do you want?

 Rin 9:56 am: ???

 Megumi 9:57 am: Shouldn’t you be in class?

 (Y/N) 9:57 am: Shut up I have a free period just listen

You know how I’ve been having writer’s block?

 Rin 9:58 am: Ya

 (Y/N) 9:58 am: Well I just met this new kid, and ideas just started FLOWING.

 Itsuki 9:59 am: Yeah

 Megumi 9:59 am: Yeah we remember nerd

Oh that’s great!

Wait what do you mean?

New kid?

Only we can have you 😭 Don’ go switching up on us. Shujin is

toxic anyway.

 (Y/N) 10:01 am: No no no It’s not like we’re friends, I just met him is all

You know you’re my one and only bby 😘

 Itsuki 10:01 am: New kid???

 Megumi 10:01 am: 😎

 Itsuki 10:02 am: Gross

Also what about me!!!!

 Rin 10:02 am: Me too 😡😡😡

 (Y/N) 10:03 am: You two know you’re included in that???? 🤔🙄

Anyway just listen

I think he may be good inspo for my main character!!!

I was stuck looking for a unique look or face claim or something

But he seems nice enough and he’s good looking!

 Itsuki 10:05 am: You got a crush? Awww I’m telling 😏😏😏😏

 (Y/N) 10:05 am: I swear it’s like we haven’t been friends for years…

You know me, PLEASE don’t be gross

Writing purposes ONLY

 Megumi 10:06 am: I thought you were stuck on the CONTENT, not characters and shit

 (Y/N) 10:06 am: Both!!!! But he’s perfect for the look of my protag

 Itsuki 10:06 am: 😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏

 Megumi 10:07 am: Well I’m happy for you

STOP

 Itsuki 10:07 am: 😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏

 Rin 10:07 am: 😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏

 (Y/N) 10:08 am: I can see this conversation isn’t going to be productive 

LMAO you’re assholes

＊

 You tucked your phone into your pocket and once again picked up your notebook. Scrawling down some of the details you knew about Akria: his looks, the sound of his voice, the way he carried himself, you quickly became aware that you knew far too little… or rather

 You wanted to know more.

 Standing, you packed your things and set out to find him again…

 Not in the creepy way! You thought to yourself, trying to justify this uncharacteristic choice of yours to actually reach out to someone in real life, to maybe… try to make… friends? You stood there, brows furrowed and a small frown on your face, pondering your options.

“Oh well, all artists must suffer for their work!” You resolved a little too promptly to try to force another encounter with the new kid. He seemed to be special, unique. He seemed to be well aware of the social hierarchy of Shujin, and have a distaste of it at least. Maybe he wouldn’t be… so bad?

Making up your mind, you spent your free period not writing of romance and rebellious characters, but searching for that fluffy-headed newfound hero to your story, however ghoulish and greasy that made you appear. You truly were becoming that “reads-hentai-on-the-train” and stalks cute boys freak your peers thought people like you were, weren’t you?

To your surprise (though maybe it shouldn’t have been surprising with the volume of Sakamoto’s voice) you soon found the gaggle of second-years, model-status beauty Ann Takamaki now added to their number, standing next to the stairs on the third floor, looking quite conspicuous to boot. Noting the suspicious air around the three, you pulled back, hiding behind the corner leading down the next hall. They seemed on edge... maybe now wasn’t the best time to make friends…?

You felt something thump in your chest. Your shoulders sank subconsciously. It felt a little disappointing, disheartening in a way you couldn’t explain. It was a bit intimidating: Ryuji the loudmouth with a temper, the hottest girl in the school, and the cute new kid. You sighed, this was why you never tried to make friends in the first place. Why had you even gotten your hopes up?

These irrational feelings of self-doubt clouded your heart, your head knowing better of course. It was hard to fight thoughts like these, especially for someone like you. On the precipice of making up your mind, deciding to give up and scrap the new novel idea altogether, you were jolted to attention by the sound of shoes scuffling and scrambling up the stairs.

Students aren’t really allowed on the rooftop during school hours unless accompanied by a teacher or given express permission, your thoughts swarmed. Maybe they didn’t know? No, there’s no way. There’s a possibility Akira didn’t know, but Ann and Ryuji had been here for two years... What were they up to?

Your nosiness was regrettably getting the better of you, and you slithered over, careful to pad your steps and tread softly. You didn’t even know what you’d do once you’d cornered the trio on the roof, didn’t know what you’d say. What was there to say? You were never too good with words, that is those not written on paper. Your heart beating out of your chest, you climbed the narrow stairwell and threw open the doors to the roof.

“Huh?” You looked around, dumbfounded. “Hello?” The rooftop area was not that large, all parts of it visible from the door.

There was no one to be found.

“What the hell?” You step forward, thinking you must have been the subject of some prank, but no, upon looking around, all three students were gone without a trace. No school bags, no lunch boxes, no uniform pieces, nothing. Akira, Ryuji, and Ann, all vanished into thin air. There were no hiding spots, none big enough for three people at least. It was dead silent, and only the door you currently guarded provided an exit off of the roof. Your mind wanted to wander to darker places, but if they’d have jumped, there surely would’ve been a commotion either during or shortly after. Frantically, you looked around, feeling like you were going crazy.

“What the fuck?” You pressed the palm of one hand to your forehead, sitting on the ground and crossing your legs.

[cakers-2000]

~Persona 5 boys when you randomly kiss them~

Yes I call the protagonist Ren I’m sorry I watched the anime before I even knew about the manga and most of the fanbase killing him Akira I’M SORRY

I keep posting things from my Wattpad I’m sorry but a lot of the things I’ll be posting are from my Wattpad until I can get a few more things finished!

But enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ren: Honestly Ren wasn’t a big fan of PDA. Sure he’d hold your hand if requested and he’d occasionally wrap an arm around your shoulders to keep you close when crowds got big but that was about as far as he went.

You, on the other hand, loved PDA, so it was a common occurence to surprise and embarrass him with random kisses. Today you had gone to Leblanc’s to get some help on your Math work but Sojiro had asked Ren to pick up a couple of bags of coffee beans as the store was running low and he wasn’t going to get another shipment in until next week.

And of course Ren agreed.

Now you were standing in the middle of the department store, bored out of your mind as Ren surveyed the shelves.

“Reeeeeen, I want to go baaaaaaccckkkkk.”

He chuckled at you but didn’t even give you a glance. “Just a sec.”

You moved to stand directly behind him and wrapped your arms around his waist, resting your cheek on his back. “Didn’t he give you the name of the coffee beans to grab?”

“Yeah but…” He picked up a bag of beans and you attempted to look over his shoulder though he was too tall for you to see. “This one says that it’s a lot healthier… If Sojiro advertises for both healthy coffee and the regular coffee that’s made Leblanc famous he could really rack up business…”

You sighed and nuzzled your face into his back, trying to get him to hurry along. “Ren, sweetie, you’re mumbling again.”

“Right…”

“Just grab the one Mr. Sakura told you to grab and you can talk with him about the other one later.” You gently grabbed his hands and pushed them back towards the shelf. “You know I can’t spend another night, we have to get back soon so you can help me out.”

The boy nodded, not saying a word and grabbed the correct bag before turning back to face you. He looked a bit disappointed and you couldn’t help but giggle.

“Ren you act like I’m putting you through torture. I told you to just talk about it with Mr. Sakura later.”

“But-”

You laughed more and grabbed the collar of his jacket, pulling him down to your level before placing a sweet kiss on his lips to keep him quiet. You stifled your laughter as you saw the blush on his cheeks, something he rarely ever held and the shocked look in his eyes. You piled a few bags into your cart and smiled at the boy before grabbing his hand. He didn’t say anything more to you, only continuing to hold your hand and push the cart.

You smiled in triumph, knowing that you had won and could return back to his home.

Though you most likely weren’t going to be doing all that much work.

Yusuke: “Yusuke how much longer am I gonna have to stand like this?”

You tried your hardest to remain still and composed for Yusuke as he drew you as he did almost every day (including lots of times when you weren’t even aware). He smiled at the canvas though you knew it was directed at you.

“Maybe a few more hours or so.”

“Yusukkkkkke.” You let out a groan and craned your neck as it was sore and he rested the paintbrush down on the eisel.

“How about we take a little drink break?”

“Yes!” You jumped at the opportunity to finally move and rushed towards the kitchen, stretching out your arms and legs as you prepared two cups of tea as you knew he loved drinking tea while he was working.

You continued to stretch yourself out as best you could before the tea was finished and brought the cups back to Yusuke who was currently staring at his work.

“Here.” You handed him the drink and he smiled before kissing the side of your head.

“Thank you Mon Amour.”

You smiled and nodded before glancing over at his work. You nearly spit out your drink as you saw his work. It was breathtaking. You honestly couldn’t believe that the women in his painting was you.

He noticed you staring and laughed a little sheepishly. “I know, it’s not quite done yet. I still haven’t nailed your features and I have yet to capture your beauty and poise between-”

He hadn’t finished his sentence as you set down your cup of tea and threw yourself at him, attacking him in a hug. He instantly hugged you back and smiled down at your small form.

You stood in content silence for a bit before you squeezed your arms around him.

“Yusuke…”

You moved your head to look up at him and he tilted his head, questioning your sudden interruption, his hair falling into his face as he did so and you laughed. You quickly reached up and put it back where it belonged before grabbing his shirt and pulling him to your level. You lightly kissed his lips, slightly afraid that he wouldn’t reciprocate but when you went to pull away he kept you in place until he was satisfied.

You held a blush on your cheeks and you buried your face in his shirt, not allowing him to see your burning cheeks but he only laughed and rested his head atop your own.

He really had you wrapped around his finger.

Akechi: Lately it had been nothing but busy days for the Detective Prince Goro Akechi. It was interview after interview about the infamous Phantom Thieves and if you had to be honest you rather missed his presence. Because of his busy schedule he had been excused from most classes, you hadn’t seen him in or out of school in several weeks. You had tried setting something up, to study together so that he could still have a chance of succeeding in his education but he always had to cancel on you. It was rather disappointing and you were practically starved. Hell at this point you just missed hearing his voice, he hadn’t even been able to call you as of late the poor boy was exhausted.

But finally, after nearly a month of not seeing him or hearing his voice he was granted a free day to focus on his studies. And you were able to see each other again.

The second you heard the knock on your door you had attacked him in a hug, refusing to let go of him for a good 10 minutes.

And he didn’t even try to fight against your affection. He held you back just as tightly, enjoying your presence. Truth be told he missed you just as much.

And when you were finally forced to pull away from him you got started on your work, helping the boy study all of the lectures and lessons he had missed from his classes.

But after a few hours you were starting to feel the tiredness creep in and knew that you had to grab something to keep yourself awake.

Your hand held onto his free hand as he took notes from your book into his notebook and you squeezed it lightly. “I’m gonna go grab some coffee, you want anything?”

His eyes didn’t move from his paper but you could see the smile on his face. “Some coffee would be nice.”

You nodded and quickly scurried off to the kitchen so you could resume your work quickly. Once it was prepared you slowly walked by, trying your best not to spill the coffee in his mug and set it down in front of him.

He seemed to be completely engrossed in his work. He hadn’t even noticed you put the coffee down in front of him. You smiled to yourself and placed your own cup beside him before draping your arms loosely around his neck. He still had no sort of reaction whatsoever to you and you could only chuckle.

You gently pushed his head to the side much to his confusion before pressing a sweet kiss to his lips.

He may have been confused, but he wasn’t letting the opportunity slide by him. He instantly kissed you back before pulling away from you, a smirk playing on his lips as he rested his cheek in his hand.

“Well now, what was that for?”

You smiled more and sat down in your chair beside him, resting your head on his shoulder. “I’m really proud of all the work you’ve done and how far you’ve come in your career but… I missed you.”

A flash of guilt covered his eyes but it quickly fell as a warm smile fell onto his lips. He grasped your hand in his own and rested his own head on top of yours. “I know, I’m sorry. I missed you too.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s your job. I’m just glad you could come over today for once.”

He stayed in silence for a few seconds before he quickly hopped up out of his seat. You pouted up at him as you had nearly fallen but he only smiled more and held his hand out to you. “Let’s go out.”

“Huh? But we still have so much left to do and I just made coffee…”

“It’ll be here when we get back, please (Y/N). I’ll call the limo so we don’t have to walk.”

“But-”

He grabbed your hand and pulled you rather roughly upwards and squished you against his chest as he hugged you tightly. “Pllleeeaassseee it’ll only take a few minutes.”

Something told you that it wouldn’t take a few minutes, but you knew that there was no winning against Akechi when he was like this and so, with a muffled voice as he still wouldn’t let you move, you gave in. “Fine, okay.”

“Yes!” He drew his phone out of his pocket at hearing you were in agreement before speaking towards you. “We can stop at the bookstore or something before we come home, alright?”

Your eyes were practically shining as you frantically shook your head. He knew fully well about your love of all things literature “You know just what to say don’t you?”

He nuzzled your nose with his own before quickly kissing your forehead. “That’s cause I love you.”

“I love you too Akechi.”

Ryuji: You had been walking through the halls of Shujin Academy, on your way to the art room to work on your project when you heard some whispers coming from the hallway right in front of the art room door. A small crowd was standing there, whispering amongst each other. As you got closer you could make out what a few of them were saying.

“Oh wow I didn’t think he cared about anything, let alone art.”

“Wasn’t he on the track team? I thought that was the only thing he cared about.”

“Isn’t he a delinquent? What’s he doing in front of the art room? Scary…”

You tilted your head in slight confusion as you pushed your way through the students. “Um, excuse me.”

“(Y/N)!”

You smiled when you made it to the front and could clearly see your boyfriend Ryuji waiting there for you.

“Ryuji? What are you doing here? You aren’t hanging out with Ren today?”

You were teasing him but you did partially mean it. Those two boys spent an awful lot of time together.

“Nah, he’s hangin with Ann.”

“So what do you want with me?”

“I wanna do some training in the courtyard. You wanna come with? It helps me focus if I train with someone else.”

“Ryuji I told you, for the next couple weeks I have to dedicate my time to my art project I can’t just-”

He took a step forward, his hands clasping over your own as he mustered up the biggest puppy dog eyes he could.

“Pllleeeaassseeee.”

You couldn’t help the blush on your cheeks due to the close proximity between the two of you but you smiled through it and moved your face so that it was inches from his own.

“Fine, but you better not expect me to do any of your training. I’ll be watching.”

You could still hear the whispers from the crowd, it seemed to be getting louder.

“Are they dating?”

“I thought (Y/N) was a straight A student, why would she wanna get involved with Sakamoto-kun?”

“Is he blackmailing her or something? This doesn’t make sense.”

His smile slightly fell at the accusations of the crowd and you pulled on his hand, attempting to pull him down the staircase not too far from the two of you. “You wanna get started right away yeah?”

His face broke into a smile and he nodded, hurrying his pace so that he could walk beside you.

“Yeah!”

“Holy shit I haven’t run that fast in ages!”

You couldn’t help but giggle as you watched the boy jump and dance around in front of you. He was truly improving and you couldn’t have been more proud of him.

“Good job hun.”

He let out a satisfied hum before placing his hands on either side of your waist, his face inches from your own once more. You were currently sitting on the fence of the walkway, stopwatch in hand as you were timing him. He stared at you, in complete silence and you laughed awkwardly.

“Ryuji? You good?”

“Yeah… No… I don’t think so.”

You slightly tilted your head in confusion and he elaborated more. “I just haven’t been able to stop thinking about what those people said…”

“Ryuji…” You grabbed onto his cheeks with your hands before placing a rather rough kiss to his lips. He didn’t hesitate on kissing you back and you stayed like that for a while until he eventually pulled away from you for air.

“Wow, okay (Y/N).”

He was slightly taken aback by your sudden actions. You could see the small blush on his cheeks.

You giggled more and ran your hands through his hair. “Fuck what they say. That’s what you always told me. Learn to take your own advice.”

You stuck your tongue out at him and he only laughed at your childish antics before his hands wrapped around your waist and he lifted you into the air with ease. “Don’t go gettin all mouthy you little shit.”

“Ryuji put me down! Right now!”

You struggled in his tight grip but that only made him laugh more as he flopped backwards, laying on the cool grass with you on top of him. He nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck and mumbled to you. “Thank you for always being here (Y/N).”

You nodded and placed your hands on top of his own, a content smile on your features. “Of course Ryuji, and I’ll always be here for you whether you like it or not.”

He only chuckled in response. He truly was lucky enough to call you his and he didn’t know what he would do without you by his side.

[erismerald]

𝓐𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓵 (Ryo Asuka x plus size reader) 𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓮 2

Part one

And finally here is the second chapter of my new ryo fanfic, I hope you like it and enjoy it, soon I will bring the third chapter. I LOVE YOU IMMENSELY <3<3<3<3

𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 : none maybe fluff 

✥——————-✥——————-✥                ✥——————-✥——————-✥

Some weeks passed and you, Akira and Ryo spent hours investigating demons, it was scary to think that anyone could be a demon and you didn’t know, however it was funny to be you taking care of Akira or Ryo whenever they got hurt, you felt like you were still 8 years old.

You left school and it was already dark, it was raining a lot ‘I love the rain but it could stop raining a little until I got home’ you thought while you opened your backpack looking for the umbrella.

You opened it and walked putting the earphones and opening in the spotify, the street was calm, it was relaxing to see the rain fall and to see the reflection of the light in the water pools, but it was still scary.

Lost in your thoughts you didn’t notice that a car had stopped right next to you, distracted you looked and scared when you saw the door opening next to you, you looked inside the car and recognized the white coat and the cigarette smell.

“Ryo? What are you doing here?” you asked confused because you saw him there, you looked at the back of the car, but he wasn’t there.

“Akira asked me to pick you up, he won’t be home tonight and we have work to do” Ryo said with one expression would be

“O-oh I get it” you got in the car putting the bag in the back seat, and you noticed a black sports bag “What’s in there?” you asked

“Clothes for you, let’s spend the night out, let’s go to the coast area, I have information of strange activity there” he said not taking his eyes off the road

“But I didn’t warn Miki-” you said picking up the phone but you were interrupted

“She knows you’re with me, she said you went to spend the weekend with a friend and forgot to tell her,” Ryo said taking the vape pen.

“You really should stop smoking that thing, it’s not good for you” you said leaning your head on your arm looking out for the lights and for rain hitting the window

“Want to try it out?” Ryo said stretching the pen in your direction you could see his smile even though you didn’t look directly at him “Okay, but that’s only because I never expressed anything like that,” you said, picking up the pen by putting it in your mouth, inhaling and feeling the smoke going down your throat, choking on feeling the smoke coming out your nose.

Ryo laughed when he saw your reaction, he took the pen out of your hand and made the same movement you had made, he was used to it so it wasn’t strange to him nor did he make you choke.

“Don’t mock me! arghh” you protested about his reaction

“Don’t worry, I will teach you not to choke,” he said, breathing out the smoke through his lips.

At that moment your heart stopped, the street light, the wind entering the car through the window, the sound of rain, the smoke coming out of his mouth, his serious look concentrated on the road…this sensation made your heart accelerate, you felt your face burn…he was hypnotizing.

“What was it?” he asked softly

“N-nothing” you said by looking away and continuing to look at the lights, feeling your body relax and fall asleep

𝓡𝔂𝓸 𝓟𝓸𝓿

It was very calm, I looked to the side and saw her sleepy face, I pulled the car to the side of the road and put my coat over her…In so few weeks I got to know her again, it was strange to have her around at the beginning, but now…. Now I feel that I need her by our side, I touched her face with my fingers, she looked tired, I don’t blame her after so long spending nights awake studying and investigating more about demons it’s natural that her body needs to relax.

I got out of the car and leaned on the hood, took a cigarette out of my pocket and took the opportunity to smoke before continuing the trip, I don’t want the smoke to wake her up.

In a few minutes I got in the car and continued traveling, I could already smell the sea nearby, we should be almost there, I looked at her at a glance and felt my heart accelerate her hands were grabbing my coat pulling it closer to her.

I ignored this feeling and fixed my eyes on the road… it was the first time I felt like this because I saw her do that, am I gaining weaknesses?

“Fuck Y/n what are you doing to me” I sighed

𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓟𝓸𝓿

It was all dark, the only thing you can remember was a silhouette, with several wings, blond hair and two crystalline blue eyes? you saw the silhouette walking towards you, when it was close enough it raised its hand to your face, its touch was soft and sweet like an angel? you closed your eyes and felt tears fall on your face.

“Y/n…” his voice, you recognized that voice…

You woke up in shock, you looked at the window and saw the immense ocean illuminated by the moon, you looked around you and saw Ryo sitting on the hood of the car, you could see the smoke coming out of his mouth, in just one gesture he threw his cigarette to the ground and put it out with his foot.

He turned around and saw your face awake:

“I was going to wake you up, come on, we’re here” he said, opening the trunk of the car and removing a suitcase similar to yours, and a larger bag, to be honest it seemed a little suspicious, but good we’re talking about Ryo, surely he brings weapons in there.

You got out of the car and you walked and you removed your suitcase following him to the hotel entrance. It was a small hotel, it was more a hostel than a hotel, it was right by the beach, and it had a fantastic view, it seemed cozy, but why would a demon choose a place like this to attack?

They entered the reception of the small hostel and were soon received by a lady with black hair, her clothes were traditional, she looked at us and smiled:

“Good evening, how can I help you tonight?” she asked, her voice was soft as a bird’s song

“Good evening” Ryo smiled and said “We wanted a room” You looked around the place, you had a small sale of souvenirs and postcards, you looked again at ryo who was still talking to the lady, you approached to listen better “Yes a double room please” DOUBLE?! you felt your face burning “Ahm…we don’t have rooms with separate beds I apologize” she said looking at the computer screen, 'Please ma'am can you check again’ you yelled internally

“Don’t worry, we’ll take the room anyway” Ryo said smiling and stretching his hand to get the room key, the lady smiled and opened the drawer taking the room key and handing it over

“Have a nice stay,” she said before we retired to our room “We stayed in room 306 is on the top floor” He said walking, and opening the elevator, you remain silent feeling your face warm and your breath accelerated, Ryo looks at you at a glance and smirks “I promised Akira I wouldn’t let you out of my sight for a second, he’ll be here by the end of the afternoon” The elevator stopped and opened on the floor of your room.

the rest of the way to the room was quiet, why were you feeling nervous after all? For him you were just a childhood friend, there was no reason to be nervous, still lost in your thoughts you two had reached the room.

Ryo opened the door and the room was really cozy, it was rustic style, there was a bed in the center of the room on the wall,  a balcony that you could see the ocean, there was a small bathroom, it wasn’t a luxurious room but it was a perfect room to sleep in.

You put your bags down and walked to the window that led to the small balcony, it was still raining but the view was fantastic.

“You stay here, if you feel like it, I’ll take a look at the area, try to go to bed early please” Ryo said taking something from inside the bag, and without being able to answer he had already left the room.

You took a deep breath and looked once more through the window before you walked towards the suitcase and picked up some clothes and towels to go to bath.You turned on the light and opened the hot water and let the bathtub fill up while you undressed… you looked at your body in the mirror…  "It’s natural that no one wants to look at me differently, no one finds someone like me attractive" you said, looking at your body… you were always very insecure, you were always ashamed of how inferior you felt to other girls, for not having a big breasts or an angelic body, you looked down to your thighs… you could still see some scars from some cuts you had made months ago, something that no one knew and would never know….

Your body trembled as you felt the hot water covering you, it felt good to have a moment to rest, in the midst of all that demon-hunting, you threw your head backwards feeling your muscles relaxing because of the hot water.

“Why did I have to have these feelings for him…” You sighed

Minutes passed by, you got out of the water and wrapped your body in the towel leaving your wet hair to dry naturally, you opened the door carefully, Ryo hadn’t arrived yet, you took advantage of that moment to let your body fall into the bed, you faced the ceiling, you still felt your heart jumping because you knew you were going to sleep in the same bed as Ryo, of course for him it made no difference but for you it was something you never thought you would do with him.

You put on a hoddie and some shorts and opened the balcony, you leaned your body against the parapet and watched the reflection of the moon in the ocean was enchanting, you thought about your dream earlier, who would that person be?

𝓡𝔂𝓸 𝓟𝓸𝓿

It was almost midnight, I managed to find some traces of demons in that area, tomorrow morning I’ll investigate a little more, I entered the hotel and everything was very calm.

I opened the bedroom door, it was all dark, I looked at the bed waiting to find Y/n sleeping, but her body wasn’t there, I looked around the room… until I saw her silhouette on the balcony, her wet hair, her body just covered by the hoddie she was wearing, without intention my gaze traveled through her body the way she was leaving my body tense, she seemed hypnotized by the moon, I walked without making much noise and put myself beside her

“The sea is more beautiful this time of year” She was frightened by my comment

“R-ryo, I didn’t realize you had arrived” she said with a slightly embarrassed smile, her hand was resting on her chest, my eyes went through her body, but something called my attention… scars… She noticed what my eyes had seen and turned forward pulling the hoddie down. “So how did the investigation go?” she asked before I could talk about the scars that marked her body

“It went well… I found out that there really are traces of demons here, tomorrow morning we’ll take the chance to investigate a little more” I said by taking a cigarette out of my pocket and putting it in my mouth

“Oh of course…” she said turning her gaze forward, I looked at her discreetly, a sudden urge to touch her invaded my body… I can’t do it, I can’t do it at all, it will just distract me from my main goal. but for some reason I can’t control my body, I try to control myself but I can’t anymore…

𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓟𝓸𝓿

You felt the sea breeze, the waves crashing against the rocks, it was a sound that left you calm, you closed your eyes to feel a little more of this peace, when you opened your eyes again, you turned to Ryo but his gaze was already turned to you without you knowing.

“R-ryo?” His body approached yours, his hand touched your face lightly, putting a lock of hair behind your ear, his fingers ran across your face until you reached your jawline, his eyes intertwined with yours, you felt your heart beating fast, it was like a dream, his fingers wandered around your neck, down to your shoulder.

“Turn around” he whispered in your ear, you were hypnotized by him and without thinking twice your body reacted of its own accord, you turned your body leaving your back to him.

His hands continued to go down your body to your waist hugging you from behind, his head landed on your shoulder, raised his hand dragging your hair to the side. Without realizing it, you closed your eyes until you felt his lips on your neck, making you shiver at his touch. His kisses kept going up until your ear came up.

“I don’t know what you’re doing to me, but I wasn’t supposed to have these reactions towards you” he stopped “let me hold you tonight, I… I just want to feel you close to me” you couldn’t say anything just nodded and turned to him.

He took you in his lap and took you to bed, where he laid you down carefully as if you were made of glass, he lay down beside you pulling you close to him, you put your head on his chest, feeling his heart, his arms wrapped you, in a short time you felt your gaze getting heavy and finally you fell asleep.

You felt the sun hitting your face, you opened your eyes with difficulty due to the clarity in the room, you looked away and didn’t see anyone, in a flash your memory remembered the events of last night, you blushed violently looking up.

“Why did he do that?”

[books-and-dragons]

pegoryu (pre-established) post-interrogation hurt/comfort fic. has mentions of nightmares, trauma, and implied physical assault. unedited and for that i big apologise in advance

___________

okay!!! so this fic has been sitting in my drafts for months (lol what else is knew i know, shush i’m getting to the point) and i was supposed to post it on ao3 at the same time as i did a couple of others, however never got around to it bc it needed editing and im too lazy for that

likelihood is, i will edit and post to ao3 at some point, but it needs some BIG rennovations and i just can’t be arsed atm

so yeah, apologies for the shoddy writing in advance xoxo

but for now, i wanted to post it on here. today. as a sign of goodwill for the year to come. (ie. i own p5r, still havent played it, need to play it, and hope posting this will kick me into gear)

so, hope you enjoy!! and lmao if not it’ll just get buried as i start to revive this blog so,...win win?

In the first few nights since the interrogation, Ryuji stayed awake, listening to the fragile shudders of Akira’s breath in the night. So sensitive to every breath of air restricted by broken ribs, Ryuji hadn’t needed to look across the room, to gaze at the beaten figure on the bed, to know how his face was contorted in pain- unmasked in sleep.

He refused to so much as close his eyes until Akira’s breathing levelled out, still shuddering and restricted by pain, but deep enough to assure him that Akira was asleep. Only then, Ryuji allowed himself to rest.

Nobody else stayed the night. They lingered until the last train, crowded around the attic bedroom, gaze worriedly resting on Akira until the final second, where they’d leave with the accompanying chime of Leblanc’s door closing. But not Ryuji.

Ryuji, who had refused to leave Akira’s side since the moment he’d returned to their arms, beaten and drugged up, hardly coherent, but so relievingly and perfectly alive.

Akira hadn’t been alone since, Ryuji ensured that much. Torn over so much as going across the road for a bath, he couldn’t leave the other boy alone- something pulled at him to never let that happen, a pit of fear in the bottom of his stomach that pulled at his every nerve.

Maybe it had something to do with the nightmares, the visions of Akira lying broken on cold tile, at the mercilessly unrelenting hands of the police, the images of Akira lying dead, blood pooling from his head, the way the images seemed to haunt him even when awake- but there was no point reading into it. It wasn’t important, especially not now.

What mattered was that when he woke up, breath haggard and skin shining with sweat under the light of outdoor streetlamps, Akira never woke. Wasn’t even perturbed. 

Ryuji tried to be thankful for it, tried not to think about why Akira was suddenly such a deep sleeper. Ignored the puncture wounds on his neck, the bottle of painkillers by his bedside. Akira was resting, and that was enough.

Even if it didn’t make sense that, when morning rose, the dark circles under Akira’s eyes had grown. That he tried to muffle pained yawns behind bandaged hands, and begged for more coffee- even though Takemi had put him on a temporary ban.

Because Ryuji had seen him sleeping, watched the rise and fall of his chest as Ryuji reminded himself that Akira was alive and safe, it was the sight that lulled him back to sleep from a nightmare. So why did Akira always look so tired?

He tried not to let his growing concern show, there was already so much to be worried about, he didn’t want to add another. Especially not when it could be nothing but his own annoying thoughts.

It wasn’t until the next night, after a particularly painful and thorough visit from Takemi earlier that day, that Ryuji started to reconsider.

Blearily opening his eyes to the dark lighting of the attic, Ryuji didn’t need a clock to know it was well into the middle of the night, and that he’d been woken up from his sleep, again.

But it was weird. There was none of the usual constricting fear, the blind panic- he’d hardly even started seeing the figure of a beaten Akira surrounded by shadow, let alone begun imagining the worst. 

About to blame it on the lumpy and painful springs of the couch and try to fall back asleep, Ryuji caught it. Quiet, as if muffled by something, but just loud enough to penetrate through the silence in the attic and reach Ryuji: crying.

No. Not crying.

Sobbing.

Ice burning in his stomach, he carefully lifted the blanket and rose, wary of creaking springs and the sound of rustling fabric, towards the shaking figure on the bed.

His voice was barely above a whisper, carrying clearly and softly through the silence as he carefully extended an arm, not touching, only hovering, “Akira?”

The responding flinch broke Ryuji’s heart all the more, as a head rose from under the covers, bloodshot eyes wide and darting around the room in panic, hair wildly askew. 

Moving as slowly as he dared, Ryuji sat at the side of the bed, “Hey, it’s okay, it’s only me.”

As the mattress shifted under him, Akira froze. Muscles tight and unyielding, back as ramrod straight as his broken ribs would allow, the entire body braced for something Ryuji didn’t even want to think about. His gaze was distant, somewhere far away from Leblanc, from the blond sat right beside him.

It reminded Ryuji of his Ma, in the months after the divorce. Curled up together on the dingy bed, they’d cling to each other so tight even in sleep, waking up in the morning sweaty and sometimes a little uncomfortable, never minding because they woke feeling completely safe. But there were the nights when his Ma’s screams would wake him in the early hours, recoiling and shaking even in her sleep. Ryuji would sit upright and watch over her until sunrise, would try to pull her from the memories he knew haunted her. Haunted them both.

Looking at Akira, the striking familiarity of the situation made him want to hurl.

He didn’t move, no matter how strong the urge was to reach out and console his hurting best friend. Instead, he kept his voice quiet, just audible above the laboured sobs, and waited.

“You’re okay, Akira. You’re safe, I’m not goin’ anywhere, alright? You’ve got me, it’s okay-”

Slowly, the frantic scanning of the room stopped. Staring at the artificial yellow light that bathed Leblanc’s street, following it into the shadows of the attic, where dark figures seemed to fade away. The flash of blond in his vision, perfectly still, aside from the hushed mutterings leaving chapped lips.

Akira focused on that sound. It felt safe.

As Ryuji uttered soft words of reassurance, he watched the tension slowly leave Akira’s body. Shoulders slightly slouched, jaw unclenched, his lip was bleeding- but he could worry about that later. All that mattered was the softening of Akira’s lines, as he slowly came back to Ryuji.

Delicately as he dared, he reached out. Hand brushing against bruised skin, careful not to as much as press on the marred areas. For a moment, there was no response. He waited, watching the panic continue to leave until, slightly trembling, Akira’s hand interlaced with his own.

“Ryuji?” The hazed look in his eyes was clearing, staring at Ryuji with a newly discovered relief, which was quickly overtaken by shame, “Shit- I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up, just go back to sleep I’m fine-”

“Hey no, no man it’s okay, really-” Feeling Akira begin to pull away, Ryuji let his thumb run over the back of his hand, determinedly meeting Akira’s gaze, “I don’t mind.”

Akira opened his mouth, ready to retort and insist, but found himself silenced by the look in the other boy’s eyes. Ryuji’s hand was warm, and for a moment Akira forgot there were even any injuries there at all, thumb tracing over them with such a delicate touch he hadn’t known the blond to have possessed.

Staring into Ryuji’s eyes, he wondered at how they were always so open and unguarded, never with anything to hide- a true reflection of his best friend, passionate and honest to a fault. It was something Akira had often envied, that ability to always be his true self, to freely display his emotions. 

He almost took that back now, staring back into deep brown eyes. Eyes which so clearly reflected hurt and worry.

The raw concern so honestly displayed to him that, just in this moment, Akira decided he would allow himself to be vulnerable. Just this one time. Knowing that, as they had done for each other so many times before, Ryuji would never judge.

Hesitantly, Akira pulled his hand out of Ryuji’s and, ignoring the concerned look he got in return, allowed his hand to trace higher, around his forearm, pulling him closer with a silent plea.

As always, Ryuji understood.

Carefully reaching out, Ryuji wrapped his arms around Akira, pulling him to his chest. His touch is firm, but cautious of the bruising and bandages decorating Akira’s abdomen. Even then, careful as he was, the occasional shift sent twinges of pain up Akira’s spine. And yet, he found he didn’t mind- not when he was so surrounded by warmth and comfort and the steady beat of Ryuji’s heart just audible through his chest, that for a minute Akira feels like he can just forget-

Somehow, Ryuji shifts so they’re leaning against the back wall, Akira’s head resting high on Ryuji’s chest, ear pressed to his left side. Logically, Ryuji supposed now would be a good time to ask about what just happened, about the dark circles under Akira’s eyes and the fear still lingering when he caught sight of shadows in the room- but there would be other opportunities. When Akira wasn’t so damn exhausted and clinging to Ryuji like he’s the final lifeline holding Akira together. When neither of them would be waking up in the middle of the night, a frenzied mess, and worrying about suspicious strangers in public and carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Yeah, there would be other times to talk. But for now, Ryuji would stay with Akira and listen as his breathing mellowed out into deep breaths, as his grip on the blond weakened and he cuddled closer still, lost to the throes of sleep.

Ryuji will stay with him until the sun rises.

Neither of them were plagued by nightmares for the rest of the night.

[shadow-scenarios]

*kicks down the door* This sounds like fun idea for a an amazing milestone, so hopefully I make it! How about our pal Joker, fluff, and “In the End” by Marcus Warner?

My door... :(

Thank you for the request though!! I like writing Joker fluff. Very good song choice as well, though it took me a while to find!

Post Writing Note: I know this is shorter than I promised but I honestly really love the way this turned out!! Felt as though adding anything would’ve ruined it. This is probably my favourite piece I’ve written so far.

- Nexus.

In The End

Trigger Warnings:

None.

Genre:

Fluff.

Description:

A late night date with Akira. Though he is often busy, moments like these are a reminder that love is not fading.

Even as the sun began to set, there was life & activity within LeBlanc. Tuscany illuminated the windows ever so slightly & the natural light refracted from the glasses Akira was cleaning, specs of rainbow light flickering whenever he moved. It was entirely peaceful as closing hours drew near, less than half an hour left. So when his silence was interrupted by the swing of the door alongside a chiming bell to welcome the guest in, he smiled at the figure. There they were, a little early but at least they could make conversation.

Coffee wafted through the air as Akira made their usual order autonomously, a scent which they were used to. Despite his best attempts to disassociate himself with it, the smell clung to his clothing. Watching the way they blew on their drink was soothing & he took a moment to relish in the finer details of his significant other. It was a Sunday, which meant their usual uniform was swapped for casual attire. Sunlight was fast fading so the coat they had on was more than appropriate for their outing.

“ So... Where is it that you want to take me? ” was all they asked as they took a sip of the hot beverage, careful as to ensure they would not burn themselves. Akira had claimed that they had a special surprise this evening & to come to the café. Although they were patient enough to wait, their curiosity was peaked.

“ You’ll see soon. Futaba is looking after Mona, so it’ll be just the two of us, ” he smugly replied.

The conversation soon turned to their day as they finished their drink & Akira closed up shop. Ann had been raving about some of the local crepes so they had taken the opportunity to try them out on this particular day off. Surprisingly, she always hit the nail when it came to good recommendations & they were rather delectable. He listened with a soft smile on his face, happy to just be able to talk to someone about having a normal life.

Hand in hand, the two walked into the train station. Tokyo was busy even during the evening hours but it was more bearable than a commute to school in the rush hours. Inokashira Park came up & Akira swiftly pulled them off the train line.

During nighttime, the park was breath-taking. Not in the way that the sight was fantastical but it was clear that the moonlight’s sheen touched the area tenderly. Streetlights were present but casted very little light in comparison to its usual sunny disposition. The trees lolled half-heartedly in the cool breeze & they could see the foggy white cloud that was their breath. It was cold but not bitter.

Very casually, Akira retrieved a blanket from a bag that they had yet to notice & gestured for them to sit. Obliging, they did so. What came next was an assortment of foods that had clearly been handmade, as they were placed in containers they could have sworn they saw in LeBlanc. As they ate their first bite, he silently watched.

“ This is... Really good! Did you make it yourself? ”

“ Yeah. I’m just glad you like it, ” Akira replied, pulling out some of his own food before speaking once again, “ There’s something else I want to show you after we’ve eaten. ”

The meal was some of the best food they had eaten. Perhaps because he was such a good chef or maybe it was the idea that someone cooked specifically for them. After cleaning up together, Akira took their hand & began to lead them down a path that they had walked before but it seemed all that more mystical in the dark. With no summer heat to beat down on the two of them, it was soothing to be surrounded by nature.

So when the path led upwards into a tiny little alcove, they audibly gasped. There were the stars & the moon, in perfect view. The architecture was out of the way, dismissed as a second thought as they stared into the endless abyss of the sky. Not even the planetarium could compare. Sombre hues of a galaxy intertwined with specs of stardust which illumined the midnight violets; the periwinkle blue and the carnation pink.

Akira jumped them out of their stupor as he wrapped his arms around them, basking in the beauty of both the sky & his significant other. There was nothing for him to do but smile as a singular thought crossed his mind: In the end, they were everything.

Word Count: 700

Publish Date: 28.10.20

[akirakurusuimagines]

The Reaper’s Game

@p5auweek​ day five: Crossover with another fandom AU (The World Ends With You)

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. 

Akira looked up at the figure he once partially considered an ally, his vision hazy, head spinning, and body numb, the combination of drugs, exhaustion, and failure weighing heavily on the boy who stood up against fate. He had barely processed the muffled gunshot that Akechi fired at the guard who let him in and the subsequent thud on the floor of the corpse, much less the way that the same gun was aimed at him, ready to take his own. 

Akechi spoke, but Akira could barely hear him. His blood was pounding in his ears, arms trembling ever-so-slightly. He didn’t want to die… but he had failed, and this was the consequence of his hubris. Memories of a blue butterfly’s words rang in his head: this is truly an unjust game; your chances of winning are almost none. Where did things go wrong? 

“Case closed,” Akira finally processed the words, his eyes widening as the barrel hovered right over his forehead, the smoking gun ready to fire once more. “This is how your ‘justice’ ends.” 

Akira felt an electrifying shock of pain followed by the sound of the muffled gunfire, and then...nothing. 

Only darkness. 

Emptiness. 

The leader of the Phantom Thieves that took the nation by storm was dead. 

“Nngh…” the bustling sounds of Shibuya crossing made Akira’s ears ache. It took him several moments to come to complete consciousness, feeling the rough texture of concrete against his face. He slowly sat up, dizzy, surprised to see where he was⁠— why was he here? Was this some sort of sick joke? He died, he knew he did! And yet, there he was, a familiar spot in Tokyo, full of people of all ages who ignored him, simply walking on the striped lines, aiming for a destination he couldn’t possibly guess.

Akira felt queasy thinking about his own death, not wanting to remember the strange sensation of having his brains blown out. Akira’s shaky hand came up and pressed against his forehead, trying to feel for where the bullet went through, but searched as he might, he found nothing. It was just his fluffy black hair and his smooth skin. He sighed in relief, honestly unsure of what he would’ve done if it turned out that he did have the wound on his face. This was all too confusing. Was it a dream? Akira wasn’t sure, but he figured nothing would change if he just sat there all day. 

He stood up, but the unmistakable gentle clink of something dropping caught his attention. A pin? He didn’t recognize it, but figured it must’ve been on his person. Akira looked around for a moment to see if anyone was searching for it before he knelt down and took it in his hand, tossing it up in the air and catching it, only to feel a strangely familiar sensation. My third eye? He was astonished with how it activated without his prompting, and clutched the strangely designed pin in his hand once more, noting the way it dissipated. 

“What the hell is going on…?” Akira mumbled, shoving the pin in the blazer’s pocket of his school uniform and fishing around for his phone or any other interesting things he had for some odd reason or another. He wondered if he’d even have it, considering the police confiscated it when he was arrested. The sudden weight in his front pocket accompanied by his ringtone made Akira nearly jump out of his skin, and he scrambled to retrieve it.

Reach 109. 

You have 60 minutes. 

Fail, and face erasure. 

The Reapers 

Akira stared at the message for several seconds, wondering if he should take it seriously. He made note of the time, just in case, but began to scroll through his phone in hopes that he would be able to contact someone⁠. His phone did say that he had full signal, so he didn’t think it would be a problem, until he realized that he couldn’t back out of the message. 

“What?” Akira tried and tried again, each time resulting in failure, no matter what he did or what he tried. Not even the small hacks Futaba had taught him were useless. “Ouch⁠—!” a sudden sting of pain erupted in his left hand, as if he had been burned with a branding iron. He turned it over, eyes widening as he watched as a timer ticked away on his hand, something he believed should be impossible, yet it made the threat on his phone much more terrifying. Erasure… what did that even mean?

He didn’t have time to ponder anything as strange symbols began to float in his peripheral vision, every nerve in his body screaming for him to run. But he couldn’t. Akira’s feet were frozen in place as he watched the symbols manifest into creatures that oddly resembled shadows, clearly intent on swarming him. “This isn’t the Metaverse, what the hell is going on?!” he was frustrated, and rightfully so, barely dodging a swipe from something that seemed like a bear, if not for the colors and painted-on appearance of its arms.

“Damn it⁠—” Akira seethed, looking for a way out. Luckily, even if it wasn’t the Metaverse, his experience from being Joker was a great advantage he had under his belt. Spotting an opening, Akira ducked under the monster’s swing, feeling rather light, and made a bolt for the crowd, breathing heavily as he continued to run, only stopping when he was sure he lost sight of them. 

“Somebody! Anybody!” Akira yelled out, the strange pit of despair welling up in his stomach as he slowly came to the realization that no one was intentionally ignoring him⁠— they couldn’t see him. Nor those creatures, apparently. Was he in some sort of hell? He never thought it would be like this when he died. Maybe if he was a little more religious, he could’ve avoided this. 

Akira noticed he had run all the way towards Hachiko, right next to the train station. He should be able to get to Yongen from there, but remembering the message on his phone made his skin crawl. 109 was his destination— it was better to figure out what was going on first, especially with that ominous threat.

“Aaaahhh!!” A series of shrill shrieks snatched Akira’s attention, and he watched in horror as those very same monsters he believed he had outrun were attacking those he thought to be civilians. In a matter of seconds, several people disappeared from the crowd as if they were never there to begin with. 

He stumbled back, watching the shadow-esque creatures approach him. They… they were erased. It made sense to him now, but that didn’t solve the problem of how he was going to escape these things. He could only run for so long, and they seemed relentless. Still⁠— he didn’t have much of a choice. Akira took one last look at the impending doom before sprinting away, only to collide with you, causing you both to tumble, with him landing on top of you. 

“I’m so sorry, I have to go⁠—!” Akira exclaimed, just barely figuring out the fact that he could touch you, and his shock only increased when you cupped his cheeks out of the blue, not moving to push him off of you or anything. 

“There’s no time, make a pact with me! Now!” 

He thought you were a little crazy, being so bold and then suddenly asking for a pact? “What?” 

“Just agree! We’ll both be erased if you don’t! Hurry!” 

Akira took one look over his shoulders and shuddered, seeing them approach. “A-Alright,” he nodded, adrenaline pulsing through his veins. “I accept⁠—” 

No sooner than he uttered those words did a wave of light wash over you two, and a strange feeling not unlike the one he felt as he created new bonds secured your fate with his.

“Look out!” somehow, you seemed to know what you were doing, hastily apologizing before kicking him off of you, barely dodging yourself as one of those large beasts slammed its fist down on the ground where you two were just laying, standing up and getting into an offensive position. “Can you fight?”

“I⁠ don’t—” 

“Just try!” 

Akira looked skeptical as he rose, though he figured that considering the Metaverse and personas existed, there must be a way to fight. It couldn’t hurt to try and call on Arsène somehow. He wondered if he would be able to, stuck in his school uniform, no mask to rip off, but the rebellious fire in his soul never diminished. Akira was Arsène, and Arsène was Akira just the same. “Come, Arsène!” Akira extended a hand outward, momentarily stunned seeing the familiar red arm and black claws mimicking his movement. 

“Holy shit⁠,” he heard your voice from behind him, clearly surprised seeing him summon Arsène. Not a second later watched as you lit the assailant on fire, inexplicably hovering over the ground for a split second. “But I’ve got a couple tricks up my sleeve too.” 

Akira was silently grateful for the hours of torture he put himself through in the gym as he spun around and kicked, watching as Arsène’s heel sliced through one of them, erasing them in the same manner they had erased the others.

He heard static and watched as you dusted your hands and shirt off, before rushing over to him. Akira had to admit he thought you might’ve been aiming to punch him, but when you threw your arms around his neck, cheering, he couldn’t help but smile. You two had survived for now— but it wasn’t going to be enough. You had to keep moving, especially because more of those damn things were going to come after you. 

“We did it! I can’t believe we did it⁠! I can’t believe I found a partner, and a powerful one at that, I⁠—” 

“There’s no time to relax,” Akira gently pulled you off of him, confusion written all over his face. “You know what’s going on, right?” he looked at his left palm, wincing as the timer read 30:28, “Can you explain… all of this? But we should probably keep moving, those monsters are going to come after us again.” 

 “No, we’re safe now,” you explained, still grinning out of relief. “They won’t attack us out of the blue now that we have a pact. Anyways, sorry for before. I should introduce myself,” you stuck out your hand for him to shake, telling him your name. “I hope we get along! We have a long week ahead of us.” 

Choosing to ignore the words that only made him more confused, Akira took your hand and gave it a firm shake. “I’m Akira Kurusu, nice to make your acquaintance,” he cleared his throat and shoved his hand in his pocket quickly after, looking away, up towards the skyline where he saw the brim of 109. “What the hell is all of this?” 

“I think it’s the reaper’s game.” 

“The what now?” 

You rubbed the back of your neck sheepishly, “you might not believe me, but it’s true. I’m… something of a casual occultist? I just enjoy reading those types of stories. Anyways, I’ll explain while we head to ten-nine.” 

“You got the message too?” 

“Every player did. You have a timer on your hand, right? We don’t have time to waste, let’s go,” you declared, marching forward with confidence now that you had a partner to help you battle against the creatures. 

Akira had to jog to catch up to your quick speed. “Slow down! I still don’t understand what’s going on!” He was starting to wish that you were Morgana with how you were unintentionally dodging his questions. A sudden, nauseating swarm of emptiness overtook Akira at the thought of his roommate who was most certainly not a cat, and subsequently, the other Phantom Thieves. How were they all? Were they stuck in this hellscape too? He was worried, and rather stunned to have seen no news about him or the Phantom Thieves at all, not even as he passed by hundreds of people. 

Even so, he didn’t have much of a choice of what to do. Akira simply had to trust you, and trust you he would. If it meant the both of you surviving until the end of this week, he’ll do anything. 

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Dragon Dancer III: Tokyo Love Story

“Fantasy Hotel Room 308A.” That was the text he got from Lu MIngfei, known as Akira to Hydras, when he inquired of Erii’s location. He sighed loudly with annoyance. That was a Lover’s Hotel! And a well-known one at that.

He stilled his temper. It accelerated his breath and pulled against his stitches. That guy was getting bolder and bolder.

He kept to muted colors under his trenchcoat. A ball cap and sunglasses hid his identity on the street. When he arrived at the hotel is was during the day and no one was checking in so the front desk clerk was watching TV and didn’t even notice when he walked in. He took the elevator to the third floor and knocked on the door to the suite.

As Akira opened, he removed his sunglasses to aim the full force of his cold-eyed stare down at his Shatei.

Akira flinched. “It’s not what it looks like! This was the only-”

Chisei shoved his way inside. “Erii?”

She was sitting on the tatami in front of a TV that displayed a paused game of Street Thug, dressed in only a T-shirt and shorts. There were shopping bags everywhere and a variety of outfits strewn about the room. The trash bin was lined with bags from food delivery and filled with empty boxes of fried rice.

She grinned at him. “Big Brother!” She signed at him.

“How are you feeling?” He walked past Akira, giving him a slightly less intimidating glare. 

She gave him a thumbs up and popped up from the floor with the wireless controller which she shoved into his hands.

“I heard about what happened to our headquarters. What are we going to do now?” asked Akira

“Let me worry about that.” He turned back to Erii who had picked up her controller. He looked around at the clothing. There was also some jewelry and toys.

She was scrawling on the notepad and then showed him. “Akira bought me tickets to the six flags! They’re discounted because we go close to closing time! Brother come too? Please.”

He looked into her crimson eyes. He held out his hand and accepted the notepad and pen from her and wrote. “Okay. I’ll come.”

Akira, suddenly mindful of  the mess the room, gathered the clothes in a pile and started putting them away only to have Erii seize his arm and shove the notepad in his face.

“Erii wha... oh... oh! I uh... I guess I need to buy another ticket!” He looked up at Chisei and his face turned a little red. “It’s not what it looks like.”

Chisei’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Finish cleaning up.”

He returned to the video game. He wasn’t nearly as good as Akira but Akira played for hours at a time. He understood why.

When he first found Lu Mingfei without his memories and assigned him his staff to care for him and explain his presence, he didn’t notice the purchases that staff was making. Only a few days later, Erii had become more obsessed with online Street Thug. Particularly certain times of the day when she HAD to play online.

Usually, she was after him to play all the time, but he was suddenly free of her presence. She confessed to him that there was someone she enjoyed playing with because she actually had to try to win and sometimes she even lost.

Once it was clear that Mingfei was not going to get better any time soon, he brought him into the fold of the Hydras and they met for the first time. It wasn’t long before they realized. The moment she invited him to play as his knew underling, they recognized each other’s user names. They pointed at each other in recognition.

He had no idea all this was going on. They were joined at the hip after that. He took over her Pokemon Go! account, they started playing a larger variety of games, first as competitors, then as coop teammates, dominating Starcraft and League of Legends, and Call of Duty.

As High Patriarch he didn’t have time to monitor this and, at first, he approved of it. After all, he didn’t have time to play with her.

Now, here in the hotel, she beat him handily again and again. He couldn’t help but smile. When was the last time they played like this? He put one arm around her and hugged her close. “When are you going to let me win one, huh?” 

She held her hand in a sign of ‘never’. He glanced behind him and Akira ducked away around the corner where he was sitting next to a window. He took her notebook and wrote down. “Did he do anything inappropriate?”

She tilted her head. 

Chisei pursed his lips. How to explain?

She took the notepad and started writing and writing... and writing.... He blinked and then he waited.

She handed him the notebook.

“Akira took me out of home because he was worried that I might get lost because we were moving. I saw a store and I wanted to shop. He watched me shop. He said I looked pretty. He helped me get jewelry and then he helped me pay for it. I forgot how to cross the street and he told me how to cross the street. And then I got some shoes. I went to the toy store and I played the claw game. He spent all his change and didn’t get anything. It was funny but he got mad so we got more coins until we can win. I got a toy dog.”

“Then I saw the ferris wheel and I thought it was pretty so he got me the tickets.  And then we went to the hotel. He was upset about the fire. He took me to the hotel because he thought the street might be danger. Then we played video games. Then after that we woke up and played more games and I got fried rice.”

“I’m sorry if  any of that was inappropriate. He didn’t mean it. Can we still go to the six flags?”

Chisei gazed at the notebook for several seconds. He handed it back to her and nodded.

Erii wanted to soak before the trip to the amusement park. Chisei spent the time staring out the window of the hotel. The past twenty four hours was nothing but brutality, destruction, death and disillusionment. He saw more darkness on the horizon. And yet...

He glanced at Akira, who was fidgeting in the corner. “Thank you. I’m in your debt.”

“I... didn’t really do anything. She just dragged me around the city...” He laughed nervously.

“Just take it, Akira.”

He stopped chuckling, though he kept that strained smile on his face. “Oh... Alright.” The smile faded. “Did... something happen?”

“Let’s... not talk about it yet.”

The bathroom door opened. 

Erii walked up in a trendy, avant-garde dress with no sleeves or shoulders or back, black and white and red, with an elaborately patterned skirt.

He huffed a laugh at Akira’s stunned expression. She was very, very beautiful. “Alright. Let’s go.”

They got a taxi to the amusement park. Many families were leaving. There was almost no wait on the rides and it was full of young people who had lots of time and energy with little supervision.

He hung back at a slight distance and watched her drag him around. She had the map and didn’t always tell him where she wanted to go. He just followed her. First, was the rollercoaster because of course it was. He shook his head when she invited him. He was nervous about his fresh wounds and made a lame excuse about needing to use the bathroom while they got on board.

Erii was dying. How was he going to tell him? How was he going to tell her? Their relationship was doomed from the very beginning.

Akira was sick after the ride and they had to take a break while he lay on a bench.

The stars were coming out and the lights were coming on. The place would close in about an hour and a half but there was plenty to do... if only Akira could get up...

“Hey! You!” He turned as someone shouted at him. 

A man in clown make up was sitting in a glass box over a pool of water. 

“Oh... its this thing.” Chisei turned back around, ignoring him.

“Yeah you! You think you’re some sort of secret agent? What’s with those sunglasses? Trying to hide your crossed-eyes?” The man cackled like that was the biggest burn ever.

“Who wears sunglasses in the dark! What are you blind? If you’re not, you sure are now! MORON!”

He chuckled until Erii walked forward, arms stiff at her sides. 

“Woah! Heyheyhey!’ He grabbed her arm. “No... Erii...”

“Want a piece of this, little girl!” The clown taunted. “I bet you couldn’t dunk me! What you gonna do? Huh?”

“Erii!” Chisei barked. He pulled her away. “This is ... he’s paid to do this!”

The Clown continued. “Hey! You gonna let that girl stick up for you? Who’s the real pussy here? Eh?!” The clown, smelling blood and money, in the water turned up the heat. 

Chisei tensed. Okay, the guy was pushing his buttons now.

Akira sat bolt upright. He looked at Erii’s furious expression and Chisei’s desperate attempts to keep her from ending this carnival employee’s life.

He got up, still slightly dizzy. “HEY! You can’t talk to her that way!”

The clown got more excited. “What are you gonna do huh! Come here! Bring it! Your skinny arms probably can’t even hit the target! Hahahah!” He cackled as Akira came closer. “Come here and show her who’s the biggest loser tonight!”

Chisei clapped his hand over Erii’s mouth. Her eyes had gone completely yellow and she was furiously fighting him. Chisei was panicking as he saw all these people becoming curious about the spectacle and walking over. They were all in danger!

“Akira... you’d better...” He growled through clenched teeth. He watched as he paid the operator and received a single ball and was led to the to a line where he was to throw it.

The clown leaned forward. “Hey everyone come and watch this chick! Yeah, the only balls you got is the one in your hand!”

Akira tossed the ball up in the air and caught it and then turned and walked away.

“What are you doing? Chickening out already? Come back here!” 

Akira took about seven paces away, turned, lifted one knee and hurled it. The ball zoomed straight like a rocket, hit the target, pushed back the lever and shattered it.

The clown’s screech perfectly cut when he hit the water. 

The crowd that had gathered around whooped and hollered with glee. As Akira turned around, there was a flash of gold in his eyes.

Hot-shot. Just a little bit. He was skinny, a bit of a nervous wreck in normal circumstances. Anime fan, gamer and all around geek.

But now, he was acting like dunking a carnival clown was as much a serious thing as executing a criminal. It was the most ridiculous situation Chisei had been in in a while, but if you looked at Akira now, it was like he had slain a dragon. 

Chisei let out short laugh and looked down at his sister to see if she had the same opinion and his smile vanished.

The gold in her eyes was replaced by her usual color, but her eyes were wide and fixed on him, oblivious of anyone else, including him. Color rose in her cheeks. 

The carnival operator approached Akira with a large bear which he was surprised to accept.

Chisei watched as Akira came to her with the bear. She lifted her arms and accepted it. Not taking her eyes off his face.

Chisei was the last of his clan. His sole responsibility was running the Hydras. He thought he would be able to run away to France and sell sunscreen. Tachibana had promised him that if he defeated the Devil Clan and protected the family secrets, he would take over as High Patriarch and Chisei would be free. 

But now he just found himself on that same treadmill of responsibility. Defeating the Devil Clan, caring for his dying sister, and making sure that Cassell girl didn’t make it off the island.

Akira was from Cassell. Eventually, he would have to return there, by will or by force. This Akira persona was just that... a persona. It wasn’t real any more than her video games were real. He’d be naive to set that aside. That’s why he tried to keep him away from her for so long. But there was no way for him to completely do that so long as he let them play together and he didn’t stop letting them play together. How could he?

Erii would never understand even if he explained but she would obey him. He knew her. She trusted him. If he told her now to walk away from Akira, never talk to him again, she’d comply. She’d say okay and it would be a lie. Just like Akira’s okay at the tattoo parlor had been a lie. It would damage their relationship. Her life would be lonelier and emptier and it would be the last days of her life!

He walked up to Akira. “Good job. Now... I think we need to go to that Ferris Wheel before it closes.”

[twilightknight17]

Goodbyes! Endings! Fish! Yelling!

This ending wraps up better than the original, but still leaves some things.

There is so much in this game that one loop is absolutely not enough to see and do it all.

Where last we left our intrepid idiot, he was buying flowers for his White Day dinner date.

Surely I will be allowed to leave the mall and sell my stuff and visit the Velvet Room. After all, what if I spent every last yen on items to use against the final boss? I would have no money for flowers!

But no. I am imprisoned in the mall and Morgana somehow pays for the flowers. Hanasaki has no comment on this except to wish me luck on my date. Wow.

Sojiro, who the heck do you know that your name got us a table at a fully booked formal restaurant??

Okay so this isn’t the Skytree restaurant, but SOJIRO??

....yep. That’s me. Even when someone else’s wishes mean destroying my heart. Probably hypocritical to say that while I’m on a date, though.

So it feels like there’s more people you can talk to on the last walkaround. Not just your confidants, but random people in the street, and other named characters. Mika’s at Seaside Park, Takakura, from Haru’s social link, is in Kichijoji, Dietman Matsushita is in the Scramble, the little girl from Takemi’s social link is in Yongen with her dad...

.......you’re so poetic, Yusuke. That’s lovely.

Finally, an ad perfectly tailored to me.

Maruki’s friend is in Kichijoji, and wants to know if we’ve heard from him. We have not. We are not friends. But apparently he’s still alive, which... hm.

I’m tired of his crazy stuff, sir. I just want to see my friends and go on a roadtrip in peace, thank you.

I’d never noticed before that Morgana’s eyes glow if you use third eye.

.......

So if you go to the jazz bar, you can basically have the conversation with the manager from Proof of Justice.

He’s surprised when Akira says he doesn’t know, because he never saw Goro with anyone else. He’s also worried, because he hasn’t seen Goro in a while, and wants Akira to tell him to stop by. Akira is briefly melancholy, thinking to himself, “But Akechi is already...” But then he finds Goro’s glove, still safely in his pocket, and reminds himself that their fight isn’t over yet. The jazz manager says he’s looking forward to seeing you both come in together again.

It is, Morgana! I really want this sofa. This is my sofa. It was made for me; just look at it!

ARSENE. IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, I’M SORRY FOR FORGETTING YOU IN LOCKDOWN. IT WOULD TAKE TEN HOURS TO REVERT TO A PRIOR SAVE AND COME BACK. LAVENZA GAVE ME A KEY AS A GIFT BUT WON’T LET ME IN. IT’S NOT MY FAULT.

....is this why Ryoji’s Arcana is Fortune? XD

So you can talk to a random idol singer from a Mementos mission in Akihabara and

what the fuck is this. what bonus does this give me?

Sumire is not present for the final walkaround, which is...weird. No relationship trinket? That’s disappointing. Especially considering I got a gift from some random idol.

And now it’s time for the ending. The kids are worried about being watched/pursued by the suspicious black car, which honestly, I’ve had enough suspicious black cars in relation to Persona to know that whoever this is, is not good news, police or not. ;)

But instead of sabotaging their car, don’t worry, a taxi is here to take Akira to the train station while his friends distract the men in black!

......did you dye your hair??

Anyway Akira has no sense of self-preservation because here he goes getting in a car alone with this guy.

We are not friends. I am not fistbumping you.

He does drop Akira off safely. Akira’s friends swing by for one last speedy goodbye and then are off again on a merry chase, and Akira goes home alone except for Morgana, which I have...several feelings about. The game goes out of its way to demonstrate that Goro is still alive even if Akira misses seeing him, because the whole world is based on what each person sees and feels, and Akira fucking feels in his heart that Goro is still alive and will come back to him one day.

Time to open up the other save and burn two weeks to see the Palace failure condition!

...I still sort of want to do this over and rescue Arsene. It’s not like I have much else to do these days. I just want my unholy powerhouse Arsene for NG+...

Heck.

Anyway, I’ve also learned that having two weeks to burn with no other responsibilities is great for grinding stuff for the awards. I spent like a week straight at the fishing pond and have become a Fishing God. Did you know that there’s an even bigger fish than the Guardian? Fishing pond guy was like, “In this weather, you might see...him.”

Look at this ridiculous fucking fish. XDDDD

I also went to the batting cages and I still suck at batting, but I made it eventually. The home run award is terrifying.

Okay, still a few days left, lets go play billiards, since I never went and did that during the game. I guess I’ll pick up this billiards book this guy recommends, too. I dunno why I need to be better at billiards, though, it just gives everybody social link poi--

....what the fuck is this??? This only unlocks after you read the book? You can guarantee a knockdown if you have max technical rank?? You need at least four days, 2 books, and a really expensive pool cue for this??? Akechi’s only response to you pulling off some ridiculous curved shot is, “That was pretty good”???? I made it through the whole game thinking billiards was just some way to increase everyone’s social link at once????? Aaaaaaaah??????

Morgana gets very upset the closer you get to the deadline. “We HAVE to go to the Palace tomorrow!” Okay, but have you considered...going to the temple for meditation?

...oops. He’s already mad. X’D Meditation?

Now, now, honey, don’t worry, we can technically still go tomorrow afternoon and just send the calling card when we get back. It’s fine. Today I’m gonna hang out with Shinya. Everything is under control.

....Akira, NO.

Anyway, for all of Goro’s grumpiness, he doesn’t turn down an invitation to the jazz club. Hey, it’s only fair, darling, you took me out for drinks the night before the interrogation room.

It’s only right that I return the favor the night before I betray you in return.

You showed me this place, dingus. XD

...I am. Sorry, Goro.

Akira goes to sleep the evening of 2/2 wondering if he made the right decision. That’s the problem, ‘Kira, you didn’t make a decision at all.

“I wanted you to accept my reality of your own free will.”

DON’T LIKE THAT.

Lavenza trying to reach him and just...fading away is painful.

I will say without hesitation that this is the worst ending. To copy-paste what I said elsewhere:

Akira's sleeping in the attic. Presumably for months, given the cobwebs. Where are his friends? Fallen back into their own dreams? Did they just give in without him, forget about him, never wonder where he went, because they have what they wanted? And Goro didn't even have a dream, so he's presumably left alone in a world that he can't stand but can't do anything about because it's permanent now. Maruki can't even give him Akira, because Akira's asleep, and Goro probably feels betrayed anyway. Akira's going to sleep forever, forgotten by everyone who was supposed to care about him. Even if he regrets choosing the dream world in that ending, at least he's there.

I think what's throwing me off is Maruki's absolute insistence on not changing Akira and Goro's cognition without their consent. Putting Akira to sleep feels like a loophole, but if he really believes that Goro is just a creation of his power, maybe Akira's consent is the only one that actually matters to him.

He's only ever really concerned with asking Akira. He even says on 2/2 that he knows Goro's not going to be fazed by the idea of his life being in danger. But if Akira agrees to stay in the fake reality, Goro's happy along with the rest of them, even though there's no way he agreed with Akira's decision. Maybe Maruki's willing to alter Goro to match Akira's wishes because he thinks he's not the real one. As long as Akira wants the real Goro, he doesn't have to worry about being overwritten. But if Akira's sleeping...

Maruki’s so kind, isn’t he?

The true ending feels so much more like it would lead into Scramble than vanilla. Still being chased by the police? Yeah. Everyone splitting up and therefore being out of touch for months? Yep. Seeing Joker in the window? Meta-space is still there and ready to warp into a Jail at the slightest nudge. I don’t understand Atlus’s writing decisions.

That whole thing with Goro does mean they owe us an actual sequel. The game literally says their fight isn’t over.

Beating the game means everyone is in the Thieves Den now, so we get some lovely interactions like Sojiro contemplating the Mona copter, and Makoto warning Ann not to tell Goro that she thinks Loki looks like a zebra.

Also that idol CD is some kind of ridiculous bubblegum idol pop song on my music player now. For one coin. Oh my god.

So... I guess the last thing I want to mention is Maruki. Because he’s a great character. I want to punch him more than I got to. But, and I’ve talked about this with a friend, I cannot wrap my head around how powerful he is. Takuto Maruki is a human being with a persona, just like the Thieves, and there is no explanation for how he got that strong. Yes, his persona is an elder god that evolves into some kind of creation deity, but it’s still just his persona. It’s not like Nyarlathotep acting as someone’s persona while still being a separate, ridiculously powerful entity. There’s no indication here that Azathoth or Adam are independent from their user. So I’m expected to believe that this man awoke to his persona and was able to use a power on-par with the God of Control...just from himself? No deity or monster backing him up? Really? I know he made a career studying cognitive psience, but this is...a little much. Having Nyar around would have cleared that up just from his general presence. XD

Anyway, I loved it. I loved absolutely all of it even if Okumura’s boss fight was a bitch. I think I’ve unfortunately made the decision to go back for Arsene, so I’m definitely going to play NG+ after I take a break to play something else first.

There’s three bonus bosses and the Reaper left to fight, after all. ;)

[protezioni]

✔ Celes/Ace, ✘ AkiRi

Of course!! It has been a while since I wrote but I hope it is still good!!

Also Akira belongs to my good friend Emi and he will appear iN THE BEST BOY COMIC, STAN @zetacomic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Under read more because pretty lengthy! 

Celes/Ace 

✔ - to carry my muse bridal style

Quite the unlikely situation, he admitted. Even if it had a slim chances of happening, the princess which he met only some years ago had her leg injured… A large opened wound which was only covered by cloth. “Miss Celes.” He called out to her once he gave his final punch to mark the mission was over. “You seem… broken.” 

His voice was different from usual, and this wasn’t pushed away from the thoughts of the female. “You sound quite odd.” Her voice still the same, soft yet stoic. There was no pain in her eyes, but there was pain in his. It felt like it was burning with hate. Burning with anger. “It s unusual of you to sound like such.” She tried to get up, ignoring the pain.

“Quit that.” He raised his voice. “You don’t need to stand up, Miss Celes.” He moved closer, cursing under his breath as he blew his bangs off his face. “You should repay me for being such a kind man, yes?” A little grin began to form as he scooted in closer. “You’re hurt, so I have no choice!” He brought in his usual act and her expression softened.

“You seem more hurt than me, hooligan.”

A chuckle, a light one— was the only thing that escaped from his lips. “Perhaps I am. Hurt at the sight, possibly. Princesses don’t usually get hurt, yet here you are… Your skin is as thin as paper, yet you’re not fragile. Your eyes may appear so light, but it is filled with power. Surprising that you may be actually stronger than me.” He only brought himself to his knee before positioning properly to carry her.  “So continue being pretty and alive, I won’t let you fall.”

She didn’t know what was running through her head at that time, but she felt the intense heart beat in her chest. No, she shouldn’t let this hit her. It was just flatter… Right. “Of course I act like no princess…” She reassured that it wasn’t her time yet… it was just an injury. Not even a major one compared to the rest. “Because I’m a queen.”

The eyes of Ace widened for a bit but he felt a lump on his throat. He felt like he was choking on his own words. “If you were a queen, I’ll gladly serve you.” He winked at her, trying to bring back his usual self… But she only leaned on his chest, signalling that she was ready to get lifted up.

After a few seconds, he lifted her up without any kind of hesitation. “Oh, I hope you know I won’t repay you with anything. This is your job as a fellow member of Protezioni.” She brought this up and he began to chuckle, but before he could reply— “But I am not saying the next words as a member, but as me— Thank you, Ace.”

Suddenly, nothing but the smile on the prettiest face in his eyes was blurred… All their surroundings became nothing but static… He hated how he felt like they were the only two people in the world for that moment… Yet instead of giving her a tease, he said something else…He couldn’t say anything else.

“… You’re welcome, Miss Celes.”

AkiRi

✘ - to wipe tears away from my muses eyes

There were days where she can’t hold back her tears… But she made sure no member of hers would see it. Memories suddenly flashing in her head because of the boss meeting hours ago. Of course it would happen. It happens every year. Every time she sat on the table, she only remembered how her father was much different… She didn’t match him at all— she was no boss compared to him.

God, comparing yourself to another person isn’t always the best idea— it could cause emotions and—��

“Rika?”

That voice… It was him. It couldn’t be anyone else. “Akira?” She turned her head slowly to spot one of the people who she trusted most- one of the people who she loved most. She quickly brought her hands to her face to wipe away her tears. “Oh gosh, I am sorry… You shouldn’t have seen that! You don’t need to worry!” She did not want to worry him, but he could see right through her.

“I will worry.” He approached her before holding her hands which was covering her face. “You don’t… need to hide this side from me.” He hoped that it didn’t sound weird and he wished it was the correct words to say during that moment… She was better with words than him— Well, at least in his opinion. He felt her hands clutch his as a trembling smile appeared on her face.

“I-I know… But…” She tried to look for an explanation, but tears only formed more. “I don’t want to… Burden you…” Her voice got much more quiet as she said the last part, but she felt his hands now on her face- cupping it with his hands. His fingers traced on her face, wiping away her tears. Somehow, this calmed her down… She felt her chest getting light once he began to speak up again.

“You’re not a burden, and you never will be.” He continued to wipe her tears away and she only found herself trapped in his eyes. She understood him well, and she knew he meant those words. “So if ever you do feel like this again, you don’t need to feel bad for anything.” There was no reply for several seconds. Shit, did he say the wrong words? “Sorry if I said it wrong, I meant-”

“No, No… I was trying to arrange the words properly in my head… You don’t need to apologize for anything…” She explained why it took time before she spoke. “But to summarize the thoughts in my head… All I want to say is… Thank you for everything you do for me… Even if I can’t repay you enough.” She smiled brightly at him, her tears being replaced with a sparkle in her eyes.

“I-” His face was now heating up… God, those words always made him die internally… “I… I-I care about you.” He couldn’t say… They weren’t even together… But he almost did… “But you do give me enough, more than what I deserve.” He pauses once again, as he felt her get closer to give him a hug. His heart beating twice as fast, but he didn’t know why he felt the urge to bring her closer… Yet he decided to do so.

She buried her face on him, a laugh escaping her lips, yet something slipped out of her mouth…

“I love you.”

[maddiesmt-morphina]

7 minutes in heaven - Chapter 11: About absences and flowers

##FIRST OF ALL, Don't kill me before reading the final notes.##

#

Erina had forgotten how enjoyable it was to spend time with her best friend and her cousin. Her laughter flowed easily as tension seamed to fade away from her body. The girls spent the afternoon plotting the best way to respond to Soma's bold message and encouraging Erina to invite him out on a date. The blonde was in the middle of a laughing contest with her cousin when they were interrupted by knocks on her door.

Erina got up to answer and ran up against one of the security guards assigned to Alice.

"Forgive me for the disruption, Erina-sama. But Mr. Kurokiba asked me, and I must say, very insistently, that I should deliver this tea to Miss Alice."

Erina turned away and looked at Alice with arched eyebrows.

"Seriously, Alice?"

"Oh my! Is tea time already?" The girl ran to collect what had been left to her. Feeling the comfort of the boy's presence in his actions.

"And Miss Arato, he also asked me to give you this."

"Hm? A note?"

It wasn't long before Hisako discovered that the note was actually an extremely detailed list full of things that Alice liked to do during the day. A schedule full of pampering and whimsy that she would perform without even blinking. Even because, Kurokiba had signed with trembling letters and possibly broken the pen in the process, since she could see the ink stain leaked.

"Kurokiba is very detailed, isn't he?"

"Hm ... I don't know what you're talking about. He only pays a lot of attention on his chores"

"He pays a lot of attention on you, doesn't He, Alice?" Erina can't help to notice.

"But of course! He is my aide".

"Sure"

"And this wouldn't be happening if you hadn't made this stupid dare, Hisoko!" Alice stopped halfway from taste her tea. She looked at her cousin's best friend and smiled wickedly. "But why we're talking about me? We need to talk about what Hisoko will wear! After all, you'll meet Hayama in what? two hours from now?"

"Oh my God! I completely forgot!"

"Hisako, did he give you any clue where he was going to take you?"

"Not exactly. But he mentioned that we would cook together again so I suppose he's thinking of something like that"

Alice rested her cup on the saucer and shot a critical look in the girl's direction. "This is not romantic at all. I expected more from Hayama"

Arato was extremely nervous about the comment. Her cheeks exploded in several shades of red and she could not make a decent response.

"No ... romance ... what? ... no ...I mean...what?"

Erina looked at her suspiciously. She had never seen her friend blush like that.

"I think what Hisako means is that the meeting between them doesn't have that purpose."

The girl who couldn't speak only shook her head several times. Her heart trying to regain its normal rhythm and a grateful smile began to form on her lips.

"However, this is no excuse for not getting dressed up for the event, isn't it, Hisako?"

"I ... I ... I suppose so, Erina-sama"

"Then let's begin this makeover!"

"MAKEOVER? Miss Alice, I don't think ..."

"Mou Hisoko! You're really want to go on a date with one of the hottest guy in Totsuki with this leggings and that hoodie of yours ?!

Alice felt the force of the two girls' gaze pierce her with curiosity and embarrassment.

"What is this all about? Where did you get that, Alice?"

"Oh my dear cousin, the list goes out every six months in the school newspaper. Just look at the gossip section.

"Ah, of course, the insignificant part"

"I wouldn't say that, because your beloved Yukihira is always in the top 10"

"WHAT?"

"Ah, but you don't wanna know about that ... it's very insignificant"

"ALICE!"

"Hm ... I think I've read this list once ... and if I remember correctly, Kurokiba was also on the list, wasn't he, Miss Alice?

"Of course he was. He always is. He is my aide! I didn't expect less."

"You seem proud of it, Miss Alice."

"Of course I do. Ryo's achievements are my achievements as well."

"But doesn't that worry you, Alice?"

"And why should I?"

"Well, having admirers of Ryo around shouldn't be easy. And he may well get interested in one of them"

"He would never do that."

"You never know, Alice."

"What do you want with this, Erina? Are you curious how to deal with Yukihira fans?"

"As if! I still think it's a miracle he's on that dumb list"

Alice even opened her mouth to retaliate, but the sound of an incoming message made the girls shut up and quickly check their phones.

Erina felt her lung fail. It seemed that the oxygen had been erased form earth.

Alice practically jumped off the bed, chasing the cell phone in her jeans pockets.

But it was Hisako who blushed as she found out that she had received a message from an unknown number.

UNKNOWN [4:20 p.m]

Arato, I hope you don't mind that I got your number with Kurokiba. I just wanted to confirm our date today. I'll be at the mansion at the appointed time.

Erina was still learning how to breathe again when she heard a startled sigh from her friend. Alice, who was clearly disappointed, also noticed the girl's behavior change.

"Has something happened, Hisako?"

"No Erina-sama, it's just Hayama confirming our date"

"And will you answer?"

"Oh yes, sure..."

"Tell him you can't wait for him to take you in his arms and ..."

"ALICE!"

"Miss Alice!" Don't misunderstand things! There is nothing between us"

"YET"

Hisako just rolled her eyes as Erina and Alice re-entered into a discussion about some subject that the girl honestly didn't pay attention to.

Arato Hisako [ 4:21 p.m]

Don't worry Hayama. I'll be waiting at the agreed time. If you don't mind, I'll also save your number i case we need to talk. Is there something specific that I should get ready for? Dress code perhaps?

Hayama Akira [4:22 p.m]

Nothing specific. Casual maybe. Be sure to bring a jacket. Maybe it gets chilly later

Arato Hisako [4:22 p.m]

Duly noted.

Hisako could spend the whole day looking at her cell phone screen and sighing unconsciously if it weren't for Alice's voice pulling her out of her peaceful moment.

"Hey, Hisoko! Did you find out where he's going to take you?"

"No. But he mentioned something about being casual"

"So casual it will be!"

The girls then headed to Hisako's room. Where they were helping the girl to dress up.

Erina felt light headed. Maybe she needed to spend time with them to forget the tightness in her chest. The one she felt every time she remembered him. She still hadn't reply the message. She already knew what to say ... she just lacked courage to do so.

It wasn't long before Hisako came out of the bathroom with her coral pantacourt adorned with white flowers on the bars, a white slim but not transparent blouse, and a jeans jacket on her shoulders. The color of the look mixed with the colors of the girl's hair and eyes formed a cheerful but elegant palette of colors. Her shoes weren't high but they were enough to shape her legs.

"WOW Hisoko! I won't blame Hayama if he turns out speechless! You are hot!

"Miss Alice!"

"She's not wrong, Hisako. But I wouldn't choose such vulgar words. You look beautiful."

"Thank you, Erina-sama." the girl blushed deeply.

The ringing of the mansion's bell announced Hayama's arrival.

Hisako took a deep breath and after another glance in the mirror the secretary went off to her arranged date.

#

Hayama was ready for everything. He had checked the weather, knew exactly where to take the girl who would accompany him out on this date, quickly searched the memory for the step-by-step schedule he had planned and thought nothing would get him off the track. It was then that the door opened and he felt lost. At that moment, Hayama discovered that he was ready for almost everything, except for the sight of Hisako perfectly tidied up in front of him.

Hisako's rosy eyes stared at the floor, her cheeks seemed to compete with the tonality of her hair and judging by the time he stared at her, she also seemed to be well aware of his presence. Hayama woke up from his own reverie when he heard her sweet voice asking if everything was all right.

"Ahh yes .. forgive me Arato is just that you ..." He looked into her eyes and felt his cheeks burn. She was beautiful and he was going to comment about it, but he chose to keep his opinions to himself. It was too early to rush that way anyway "Nevermind, shall we?"

She just smiled and walked with him. They talked about everything and nothing on the way to the place. Superficial subjects, own likes, complex themes. Akira was fascinated by Hisako's knowledge and her altruistic personality intrigued him. The truth is that throughout his whole life, Hayama had learned only the worst of people. Living on the outskirts of India, the boy became accustomed to seeing only two kinds of people: the pure evil and the indifferent. He was invisible in the eyes of the last and main target of the first, until he met Jun and then he came to consider the existence of a third type of person: gentle people. Coexistence with colleagues also made him wonder that that kind of people wasn't as rare as he thought it was. But never, at any moment in his life, Hayama came across with a person like Hisako. And that made her a new and rare type of person: the purely good one.

The thought made him smile. Discovering new types of people made him believe that the world that had hurt him so much had been left behind.

Her smile came off easily and he found himself wanting to be the motive behind it.

It wasn't long before they reached the garden at the back of Professor Shiomi's lab.

Hisako froze as she watched the totally tidy environment for a picnic. The checkered tablecloth that covered the floor and promised to protect them from the dampness of the earth and the grass, the basket full with fruit and types of breads, tea cups, a small teapot, and some kitchen utensils like spatulas and frying pans. Beside it was a small heap of wood. The promise of a bonfire that would soon protect them from the chill of the night.

"Hayama ..." She was surprised, but she couldn't control the small laugh as she realized that he had taken the promise, that they would cook again seriously. "You weren't joking when you said we would cook again"

He looked at her seriously. And she almost regretted what she said, were it not for the little curl of his lips, claiming that she had enjoyed the comment.

"I don't make promises I don't intend to keep, Arato"

His voice was heavy and calm enough for the girl to be able to fix her gaze for a long time on his lips. The boy offered her his hand and they both sat in the area destined for them.

#

The room was quiet. Nor did it seem that the two people who inhabited it had almost destroyed it a few hours ago.

"How it must be going Hisako and Hayama's date?" Alice asked aloud, not even taking her eyes off the fashion magazine she was flipping through.

"I think ..." Erina, who was reading an article about a new gastronomic technique, was interrupted by the gentle melody that now enveloped the room.

"Who else is playing the piano at this hour?"

Slowly, the notes began to make sense in the memory of one of them. And Erina watched her cousin drop the magazine as if it was on fire.

Alice swallowed hard when she recognized the piece that had so cradled her in the past.

"It's Ryo," she said with a sigh.

"What? How can you be so sure of that?"

"I know ... because this is my song." The voice seemed to be choked up, and it didn't resemble the strong, determined, and often stubborn girl she was.

" No, it is not. This is "Amore" from Ryuichi Sakamoto"

Alice just closed her eyes, shook her head in negative, and smiled at her cousin's innocence.

"When ..." She bit her lip. She didn't know if she should really share such personal memory with anyone else. She looked again into her cousin's purple eyes too curious to deviate from hers and resolved that she wouldn't deprive her of any detail of her life. She scratched her throat and continued, "When I was ten, I got really obsessed with learning ballet and to keep me company, Ryo always went to the balet classes with me. Despite hating dance he for some reason never complained about having to attend classes with me. During the disastrous 6 months of my attempt to learn ballet, Ryo never missed a single day. He was always on the side of the pianist who accompanied the teacher. And the day I gave my first pirouette he was there ... and that was the song the pianist was playing. I know because I got addicted to this song. It became my victory hymn that day."

The blonde watched the cousin's hands clench under the bed sheets.

"I think..." Alice let a small smile decorate her face and the tears hung at the edge of her gaze. "No. I'm sure. I'm sure he's trying to talk to me now. He's playing for me."

Erina felt her chest inflate. She was really thrilled with the story. And even more to witness a moment of vulnerability of her cousin. Something she thought didn't even exist.

"I don't get it Erina!" Alice's voice seemed to break through the sobs and the tears that now became frequent. "Why I miss him so much? Why did his absence hurts me so much?"

"Oh Alice ..."

Erina didn't know exactly what to do, but when she saw her cousin fall apart in a painful cry in front of her, she followed her instinct and hugged her tightly, letting the girl soak her sweater with salty tears as they listened to the painful melody reach her summit in a clear statement of affection and resilience.

#

Hisako had already lost count of how many French toasts they had made. She also couldn't remember the last time she'd had fun and learned so much. Hayama always surprised her, either by adding cardamom to the jasmine tea she prepared, or by teaching her the right way to grind black pepper, or even the simple act of looking into her eyes without ever leaving them.

She lost the track of time, he didn't. And when his watch signaled that the show would begin soon, he stood up and, again, offered her his hand. Hisako accepted willingly and noticed that this time he didn't seem to want to let her go. And so, hand in hand, they headed for the most hidden interior of the garden. Amidst several exotic plants, there was one that stood out and they stood right in front of it. It looked like a flower, still in its bud state.

"It must begin at any moment now"

Hisako didn't have time to ask, soon enougth a delicate scent began to spread through the place. The girl turned her attention to the plant and stared, astonished, as the flower that was once a bud, blossoming right in front of her eyes. The moon's rays made the white petals appear to shine, and gradually the flower revealed its beauty in a hypnotic and elegant dance. The fragrance became more and more evident and when the flower finally bloomed completely, Hisako couldn't help but notice the size of it. It bordered almost a foot, easily. She had never seen anything like it. It was the most exotic and beautiful thing she had ever seen. Well, actually, the second since the first one was currently holding her hand with a care never before felt by her.

"Hylocereus undatus, also known as the Night-blooming cereus, is a plant native from America. We received this species a few months ago. The fruit is extremely tasty, but what fascinate me the most is its flower"

"She's ... really magical."

"She reminds me of you.

"Hm?"

"The Night-Blooming only blossoms at night, and remains so until the first rays of the sun. She doesn't seem to want to compete with the other flowers. I suppose she knows that because she is extremely fragrant, larger than normal and more beautiful, she ends up threatening the existence of other flowers. What bird wouldn't want the pollen of this majestic creature? I think that's why she picks herself up in the morning. It gives space and leaves the opportuinity to bloom for those whose don't have half its beauty. And in the dead of night, when there is nobody to see it, it blooms. Beautiful, lonely, unique."

Hisako swallowed and shook the boy's hand. Tears filled her eyes. At last she understood what he meant by all that. After he belittle her a the autumn elections without even knowing her, after judging her by her altruistic personality, now he finally seemed to recognize her for what she really was. And in the end she just murmured as she smiled and met his eyes.

"Thank you"

#

#FINAL NOTES#

After 398420 years, here I am! I'm not going to apologize this time because I think you're tired of listening to my apologies ... hahahaha ... the truth is that somethings happened ... end of the year, travel, schedules, I kind of got married (Actually my boyfriend moved in) ...these things ... and also I'm a bit crushed by the manga (it's been 1 MONTH since the last time we saw Erina! THAT ABSURD TSUKUDA!) and this has me a little messed up at the time of writing ... (and also because I discovered a new shippe and now I can't get out of this life of reading todomomo (my hero academia) fanfics ... SOMEBODY SAVE ME!). But finally ... don't worry ... I don't plan to abandon this fic ... I already have some chapters planned and I really hope to post soon enougth ... meanwhile we're praying for Tsukuda to have mercy and toast us with better chapters in the future ... so I can get good chapter writing .. hahaha .. That's it people ! Thank you all for supporting me and for keep reading this. I wish everyone an amazing 2019 and don't forget to tell me what you think of fic! Reviews are always welcome!

See you guys next time!

p.s: I know that we didn't have much sorina in this chap but I needed to give a space to those beautiful shippes that are RyoAli and Akisako to shine .. I promise to make it up to you Sorina shippers and Takumegu shippers.

[merryfortune]

Vrains Rare Pair Week - Day 2

Day 2 / Dec 24 - Fairy Tales / Horror Stories

·         Ship: Takeru/Aoi

  Once upon a time, there was a young king. To call him egotistical would be improper but he was self-absorbed. The King was a man named Akira and he was a man of peace and mind. He did not war monger but, his life was not without strife. Though, much of it was self-imposed.

  One way in which most his strife was self-impose can be best demonstrated by how, one day, he became intrigued by how much the women in his life loved him. Thus, he posed them a question.

  He had his wife and sister heralded to his throne room where he welcomed them with the guise of a game. His wife, the mischievous Queen Ema, and his sister, the near hermitic Princess Aoi, awaited them. Both were eager to bond. It felt like their darling King never paid any attention to either of them due to his tenuous work as king.

  Akira looked down upon them and then asked: “How much do you two love me?”

  Such a question elicited a look between Ema and Aoi which was incredulous to say the least, but they relented. They played along nonetheless. Ema sighed and smiled.

  “You are the apple of my eye, the love of my life.” she replied in due earnestness.

  Aoi shifted. “I love you as much as the salt on my food…” she murmured.

  Ema glanced at her sister-in-law and then unto her husband. She blinked. She smiled and was intrigued by such a statement.

  King Akira, however, was not as benevolent in reaction. In fact, far from it. He was enraged by the response his sister had given him. His wife had doused him in fair praise, but his sister seemed to have little response. His brow knitted together.

  “Ema, my love, for your reply, I want you to go find the royal seamstress immediately and have her make a new gown for you.” Akira said and then his sharp eyes fell over to Aoi. “However, Aoi, because of your response, I want you stripped of your privileges as princess for a whole year. In this year, I want you to live as a peasant. I have spoiled you too much if you feel it fit to bite the hand which feeds you. I want you to repent for your lack of love for me, your elder brother.”

  Aoi attempted to protest but, as it was said – so it was done.

  She was escorted out by one of the royal knights and taken to her chambers. She gathered what she could. She took a few of her finer dresses and some of her jewellery. Once she had made her selections of what possessions she would take with her in the big, wide world she had been spurned onto, she was then banished from the castle.

  She was taken to the edge of the capital and told to live as she pleased so long as it was under the guise of being a common woman and not a princess. Aoi obeyed. She traded in some of her clothes and jewels for money. However, there was one thing Aoi would never sell and that was her signet ring with a four-leaf clover design. That ring was far too precious to ever go without. With that money, she purchased more common clothes as she realised someone might be more willing to take her as a board if she looked like she could do the hard yards.

  So, for a few days, she flitted from building to building in search of work. Each day, the clothes she wore grew dirtier and dirtier despite her best efforts to keep clean. It was on the end of her second week as a supposed peasant girl that she found work. A cheery shepherd and his quiet son took her on as a watcher of their fields.

  There, Aoi grew accustomed to her new life as a shepherdess. She was awkward, and they were awkward with her but soon, they grew. She came to understand them as people. Their names were Shoichi and Yusaku; Yusaku had a job in the town as a baker and thus, was no longer interested in taking shifts in the field with his assumed father. They were good people though. They didn’t pry and gave her the space she needed. They didn’t even ask why such an improvised girl as her would be in possession of such a marvellous signet ring as hers. Thus, it was a quiet household that was often without gossip or event. But, it was nice. Aoi preferred it that way, to be honest.

  Time passed quicker than Aoi thought it would. Before she knew it, she had been working with Shoichi and Yusaku for about six months. Her days as a princess now seemed a life time away and yet, her days resuming as such seemed so close. After all, another six months and she would be permitted to re-joining her family at the castle.

  But, it was at this mid-point that Aoi found herself nostalgic for the fine silks and makeup that she used to wear. She sighed. But, as she fell deeper into these feelings, she came to a conclusion. Yusaku was at work with the bakers and Shoichi had taken some stock to market to sell. She would have a few hours to herself and thus, her mind wandered, and ideas bloomed.

  Rather than don the guise of the peasant girl, Aoi decided to bedeck herself in her decadent dresses. She chose the powdery blue one with white accents. She twirled around the house in it, content with herself. But, alas, she looked out the window and saw that the troublesome poddy lamb – Ai – had gotten loose again; likely in search of his favourite companion, Yusaku.

  Without enough time to get changed, Aoi resolved to simply fulfil her duties in a ballgown rather than anything practical. So, she charged out – high heels and all – into the field. She dragged Ai by the scruff of his neck before he could get too far down the road and tied him up again.

  Ai brayed at her, whining. Aoi stuck her tongue out back. Ai was full of personality. She then went inside and tried to fix Ai something to drink; some milk. She came back and fed him as is. Then, once she finished feeding Ai, she felt too exhausted to get changed again. So, she sighed and relented.

  Today, she would simply wear what she desired for her work. So, for a few hours, she tended the fields in her stunning, powder blue dress with angelic motifs. It was kind of fun. More fun than wearing her drab brown uniform.

  As Aoi tended the fields, she thought alone, she was completely unaware that someone had spotted her in her dress.

  The young and vivacious Prince Takeru had come to visit. He and his carriage and all his men passed by the field in which Aoi tended, completely unaware. He had come on royal duties as he was from a seaside kingdom faraway, nothing like the landlocked capital of Sol Vrains, Den City. He wanted to discuss treaties with King Akira, among other things such as see the sights.

  And the sights he saw! He never thought he would ever see such a beautiful shepherdess. He fell in love with the sight of her and all her sheep as they mowed around her and her gorgeous gown. Immediately, Prince Takeru was struck with the arrow of love.

  However, being of the temperament he was – which was to say outlandish and ridiculous – his love burned so hard that it robbed him of his energy. He had always been of a peculiar constitution; sometimes, he was frail and other times he was seemingly indestructible. No one could ever predict his health, and no one could have predicted how the beautiful shepherdess he had fallen in love with had impacted him.

  As he passed by and into the city, he grew sick with yearning and love for the girl he didn’t even know. He was ailed so harshly by this infatuation that his body grew weak and he failed to meet with Prince Akira at the time they had appointed for conversations of the princely and kingly duties.

  His royal doctor, and childhood friend, Kiku attempted to heal him but none of her remedies worked. Thus, Takeru took her hand and smiled.

  “Kiku, the only cure for my sickness is to eat a loaf of bread prepared by the beautiful shepherdess from the field.” he told her with a quivering voice.

  Kiku sighed and realised that if his illness was emotional, then there was nothing she could do with herb and spell.  She wished desperately that she could chastise her Prince for being so ridiculous but as his friend, she decided not to lest he become wounded. So, she relented. Kiku organised a search party. She and Takeru’s men scoured all of Den City in search of the shepherdess who tended her sheep in such an impractical yet gorgeous outfit.

  They asked and asked but no one knew the girl they spoke of. But, with Takeru’s health growing dire, Kiku decided to resort to drastic measures. Instead, she returned to the farm that they had passed by – the one where they saw the girl.

  “I come in the name of Prince Takeru,” she told Shoichi and Yusaku, “and our prince is gravely ill with love. Does a woman live here?”

  “Yeah, we’ve got a girl boarding with us.” Shoichi replied.

  “Does she know how to bake?” Kiku asked.

  “Yeah.” Yusaku replied.

  “Excellent. Now, is by any chance, you would be interested in what might constitute as treason? I desire to con my Prince into think he’s eating the bread made by his fictitious love. I mean, what sort of shepherdess wears a ball gown whilst with her sheep?”

  “What?” Aoi piped up as she came down stairs to see what the fuss was. Her eyes widened.

 “Regardless, I think that if Prince Takeru thinks that he’s eating bread made by such a woman, he will be cured of his ridiculous infatuation.” Kiku finished.

  “Oh look, speak of the devil,” Shoichi said and he ushered Aoi closer, “here’s the girl you’re looking for. Our blue rose in this den of men.”

  “You flatter me, Shoichi.” Aoi replied awkwardly.

  “So, would you be willing? Just one loaf of bread.”

  “Very well then…” Aoi murmured.

  Kiku stayed a while. Aoi, in the meantime, baked the bread – with some input from Yusaku. He always found it strange that things as simple as baking bread sometimes seemed a touch beyond Aoi’s skill set. Regardless, come the eventide, Kiku was sent off with a warm loaf of bread.

  And Aoi realised something awful. As she washed her hands, she realised that her signet ring – the one her parents gave her before their untimely demise – had disappeared. She tore apart the house in search of it but quickly came to a grim conclusion: she had accidentally baked it into the loaf of bread.

  A conclusion that soon proved correct.

  Kiku arrived at the castle and was quickly whisked up to Prince Takeru’s guest room. She handed over the bread, still warm, and Prince Takeru serenely unwound the cloth that covered it. He smiled. He broke off a piece and began eating it. Already his flushed cheeks paled, and his clammy complexion improved. Kiku smiled.

  But then, Prince Takeru bit into the ring. He removed it from his mouth and his eyes widened. They glittered and Kiku’s heart dropped.

  “The beautiful shepherdess,” he began breathlessly, “she must requite me. Hence why this is in the bread she gave me. Did you swear you to secrecy?”

  Kiku, unable to respond, merely nodded.

  Prince Takeru put aside the bread and forced himself to his feet. He was as unsteady as a foal. He grabbed his coat, a burning crimson, and he grinned.

  “Take me to this girl at once, I want to be married to her!” he announced.

  Kiku was flabbergasted and there was nothing she could do. Her Prince Takeru bore onwards and was soon, by demand, taken to the cottage at the edge of town – to the inelegant surprise of the men who lived there.

  “I am Prince Takeru!” he said as he banged on the door. “And I wish to become the betrothed of the shepherdess who lives here!”

  Ai cooed from his yard, intrigued.

  Shoichi opened the door to Prince Takeru. “The girl who lives here doesn’t even know how to bake bread properly. You don’t want to marry her.”

  “Fiend, you must want her for yourself.” Prince Takeru spat.

  “I can assure you otherwise.” Shoichi countered.

  He hazarded a look over his shoulder, “Yusaku, where’s Aoi?”

  Yusaku shrugged.

  “I’m here.” Aoi said.

  And, again, she descended down the stairs of the two-tier cottage and all eyes widened. She wore a pastel blue dress with white, angel-themed decals.

  “So, I hear you found my ring.” Aoi said.

  Prince Takeru barged past Shoichi and Yusaku. It seemed there was little they could do to stop him. Though, Kiku apologised profusely in lieu of the prince.

  Aoi stepped off the final ledge. “It’s good to meet you, Prince Takeru. I’ve heard of you. I’m Princess Aoi of Sol Vrains.”

  “You’re WHO?” Shoichi yelled.

  “I am the hermit princess, Aoi of Sol Vrains: my brother, Akira, is the king.” Princess Aoi said.

  “It’s lovely to meet you, Princess Aoi.” Prince Takeru said.

  “By the gods…” Kiku gasped.

  “We had a princess living with us this whole goddamn time?” Shoichi snapped at Yusaku.

  “Apparently.” Yusaku shrugged back.

  “Now, Princess Aoi,” Prince Takeru said as he readied the four-leaf clover ring, “I would like to ask for your hand in marriage. As immediately as possible.”

  “I accept. On two conditions.” Princess Aoi replied.

  “Whatever you ask. No feat is too herculean.” Prince Takeru replied.

  “The first of which is that I want my brother to be in attendance and to have a seat of honour. The second of my conditions is that I shall be the one to prepare your meal our wedding.” Princess Aoi said.

  “…Huh?” Shoichi exclaimed; still too dazed by the whole situation to realise that two of royal blood had just gotten engaged under his roof.

  “Easy.” Prince Takeru beamed. “I look forward to your cooking, Aoi.”

  And thus, a wedding was held in Den City and what a grand wedding it was. Folks from all walks of life got together for it. From those held in esteem in the country Prince Takeru represented to the likes of Shoichi and Yusaku, as well as their poddy lamb Ai. With, of course, King Akira and Queen Ema in attendance.

  The ceremony was grandiose and the kiss that sealed it was warm. The dinner party that ensued in the castle simmered. Plates upon plates of food. All of it was beautiful and well made. Everyone, bar Prince Takeru, was soon given something to eat and to say grace before.

  As in accordance with her conditions, it was Princess Aoi who brought out the final plate. She held it closely. Compared to that of the professional chefs, it was meagre and even ugly looking but from afar, Prince Takeru eyed it with eagerness. Princess Aoi smiled. Her heart fluttered upon such a look.

  “Here you go, my husband.” she said. “Now, you are not allowed to change a single thing about it. You will eat it as I have prepared it.”

  “With pleasure, my wife.” Prince Takeru replied.

  King Akira, sitting adjacent to such a lovey-dovey scene harrumphed to the amusement of his wife.

  Princess Aoi took her seat beside her husband her brother.

  “Thank you for this meal.” Prince Takeru exclaimed.

  He then took arms against his food. He ate it with great vigour. Princess Aoi smiled but then, Prince Takeru placed his knife and fork down.

  “It needs… salt.” Prince Takeru said.

  “Like I said, you must eat it as I have prepared it. Even if it requires salt, like you believe.” Princess Aoi replied, very seriously.

  “But its really, really good – I didn’t mean any offence.” Prince Takeru hastily added.

  “I know, my love,” Prince Aoi glanced at her brother, “I know.”

  And thus, in that moment, King Akira had a moment of thunderstruck disbelief. When he had asked his sister – in the game – how much did she love him? He had misunderstood.

[zendozebra]

All the Time in the World Chapter 14

Really? Some shitty warehouse? This is where Akira set up shop? Majima had thought he’d set up in somewhere a bit more classy, like a highrise or something. Either way, he was just glad he finally managed to find this place. It had taken him a week or two, as well as many late nights spent trying to deal with Giran’s specific brand of bullshit, but he’d finally managed to steal enough intel that led him to some doctor’s office in Musutafu. Sneaking in to that guy’s office was easy, and after hours of looking through his files and scouring through his computer, Majima was able to find some receipts for high-end medical equipment that were shipped to some warehouse in Kamino. When this whole thing is over, he’s treating himself to a vacation. He’d been off the grid for far too long, and it’s gotten to the point where the school isn’t answering his calls anymore.

He’d called in for some back-up, as soon as he’d realized that this was the place, but he’d only gotten static. That’d been weird, shouldn’t the staff at school be free this week? All of the students supposedly left for that training camp thing a day or two ago, so he doesn’t know why Yamada or Nezu weren’t answering their phones. Even Yagi wasn’t picking up, but he might still be a bit upset at Majima for calling him Skeletor that one time. But the others didn’t make sense, was something going on that he wasn’t aware of? Whatever, he’d found this place, and that was that. Now all he had to do was find Akira in this maze of dark hallways and Nomu cont-

What?

He got closer to the containers that he’s been walking past for a while and took a look inside. Bulging eyes, exposed brains. Yep, these were Nomu. They certainly fit the description that Yagi had given him. Fuck, Akira, what are you doing? This ain’t right, in any sense of the word. He’s gotta walk away, these things were starting to creep him the fuck out. With one last shiver of disgust, he continued down the hallways, checking inside of every room he came across, but he couldn’t find Akira. This is bullshit, he knows that Akira was here. The supply list called for respirators and morphine, and while the Nomu have their eyes glazed over, Majima doubted that Akira was giving them the courtesy of painkillers.

He walked into yet another room, this one looked more like a security room, which was stupid for a warehouse. Why would you need this many cameras for a shitty wa-

“Come to confess your sins, old friend?” He had to try with all of his might not to jump in surprise when he heard that voice. Akira sounded older than Majima could ever remember. He must have spent quite some time before getting that longevity quirk. Maybe he can rub that in a bit, it might be a sore spot for him. He walked around, trying to catch a glimpse of the man’s face. Or, as it would seem, his lack thereof.

“Don’t know, you planning to kill those too?” Wow, that came out much more bitter than he’d thought it would. Even Akira seemed surprised by that. Er, he thinks? “Eugh. Speaking of sins, the fuck happened to your face?”

“Yagi Toshinori happened.”

“Gotta buy him a drink next time I see him.”

“Oh? So you’ve met our ‘glorious symbol of piece’, is that right?”

“Something like that.”

They stared each other down for a few minutes, before Akira gestured to a glass of something on the table in front of him. He picked it up and held it out for Majima, “Would you like a drink, old friend? I feel that you might like it, when you hear my next question.”

“I’m going sober for the time being, guy.”

“Oh? The Majima Kokiri I knew would have never passed on a free drink.”

“There’s a lot of things the Majima Kokiri you knew would do that I won’t.”

“Do you remember what happened the night before, Kokiri?”

Oh shit, he was right, just hearing that question made him want to blackout. Majima looked at the glass that the man was offering him, taking it with a growl and a reluctant nod of thanks, whether he could see it or not. He downed it, feeling that all-too-familiar burn in his throat. Johnnie Walker. Akira had remembered his favorite brand. Ain’t that bittersweet. “We cut our hands, all four of us. We all bled into the glass, and then we all took a sip. I don’t remember anything after that, but we were making a promise in blood, right? We promised we were going to build a better world.”

“A world where we would reign as gods.”

“I didn’t think the qualification for godhood was fratricide.”

Akira laughed at him. “Look who did their homework. Did you memorize a script for our bicentennial reunion? Did that little Nezu help you look through the dictionary?”

“I’ve had 200 years to think about the shit you pulled, buddy. I’ve been sitting on this shit for a long, long time.”

“Is that so? Because you seem to be forgetting one little detail of that night. Jin said something that would change everything, but none of us knew it then. Do you remember?”

“I don’t fuckin… He said something to Aimi. Don’t remember what it was. Memory is too far gone.”

Akira leaned forward, “Jin told her, ‘If I could, I’d give you my quirk. I know you want to help out, but without a quirk, you’re safer if you stay back.’ And what happened a few months later?”

“Aimi developed a quirk, so what?”

Akira made a gesture that looked like he would be pinching the bridge of his nose,“Oh for god’s sake, use your head for once, Kokiri! Quirks are a genetic trait, that’s why families have similar quirks. I can take and give quirks at will, so why the hell would Jin only have a stockpile quirk? I gave him that quirk, but I didn’t give it to Aimi. So what does that tell you?”

Oh, shit. “I guess you’re telling me that Jin found a way to give his quirk to Aimi? But that doesn’t make sense, why her? I get it, they were dating and all, but wouldn’t someone else make better use of it? Someone who was already trained, one of hero friends, that would make far more sense.”

“That’s why I believe that the transfer was unintentional. I’d like to explain some things for you, would you like to sit down?” He gestured to the chair across from him.

Majima sighed, “Fine, legs are getting tired, anyway.”

“The power that Jin transferred was the antithesis to my own, and was called One for All for that ver-”

“That’s… Kind of a lame name.”

“Coming from the man who calls himself, ‘The Watcher’, that’s pretty rich. And just what are you wearing, anyway? A cloak? Are those even in style anymore? As I was saying, One for All can only be transferred through the consumption of genetic material, as well as with the desire for it to be passed on.”

Majima tried to ignore that little hit to his codename, “I hear enough shit from my students when it comes to my fashion sense, so shut it. So, this ‘desire’ bit of it, you think that’s why Aimi got it, instead of us? Jin only wanted for her to get it?”

“It would seem that way. I lost track of One for All for quite some time after that, but I found it again when a hero by the name of Shimura Nana began to hunt me down, quickly followed by Yagi Toshinori when I killed her off.”

“It must have went from Aimi to Okoye the Brave, then to Ultraman, then to Wilfre. If you’re telling me they used a series of successors, then that’s who had it after Aimi died. Okoye was quirkless, back when she was Kori’s babysitter, but after a while, she started training with Aimi. Her quirk manifested shortly before UA opened for it’s first classes. Hell, Aimi had even called herself One for All, but I thought that was a stupid callback to Jin’s old catchphrase. You’re telling me that Aimi tried to carry on Jin’s dream through a whole lineage of heroes?”

“Oh no, that was only a side project. Besides achieving my brother’s admittedly childish dream, that whole line of heroes have been molded and trained to kill me. And if my research is correct, then I believe that All Might has already passed on One for All to the next successor.”

“Well, I’ve thought that Izuku’s strength quirk was kind of weird.”

If Akira still had eyebrows, he’d probably be raising them. “Izuku? Now that’s a name I’ve heard quite a bit about, recently.”

Aw shit. “I- I didn’t mean to say that.”

“If I’m remembering correctly, my Tomura will often begin ranting and raving about a boy named Midoriya Izuku. Would they happen to be one in the same?”

“I really shouldn’t have said tha- Y’know what, might not be the appropriate time to ask this, but do you mind doing your old friend Kokiri a solid and not sharing that information with anyone. Or acting upon that information at all. I didn’t say shit, okay?”

“Hmm…”

“Akira! Let’s just- What were we talking about? Let’s go back to that, yeah? One for All, line of successors, trained to kill you.”

“Oh yes, that’s right, almost did just that when Yagi had his chance, but I left quite the lasting mark on him in return.”

“Oh shit, you’re the one who tore a hole in his stomach? He never said anything, but I could have sworn that was Toxic Chainsaw.”

“Toxic Chainsaw? That’s one I haven’t heard before. What was he like, do you know?”

“Some crazy, murderous dipshit who didn’t know that killing people wasn’t how you get by in the world. Kind of reminds me of a certain faceless asshole I know!”

“Oh, get off of your high horse, Kokiri! Don’t act like you’re a saint. Remind me, just how close did you get to Aimi after my brother died, huh? Closer than Jin ever did, isn’t that right?”

“We were scared, and angry, and grieving. We’d just lost you, and Jin was gone for good! We didn’t mean for it to happen, but I don’t regret a single day of it.”

“But you’d had your eye on her long before my brother got what he deserved! Stop acting like you were innocent in all of this!”

“Unlike you, I only ended lives, I didn’t fucking ruin them! Everyone who’s quirk you stole would have been better off dead, and that goes double for all of those poor fuckers you forced a quirk into!”

They were both breathing heavily. They’d been arguing with each other for quite a while at this point, and they were getting out of breath. They couldn’t keep doing this forever, Majima was smart enough to realize that. He had to find a way to end this.

He held out his hand.

A tilt of the head and a scoff from Akira was the response he got.”I’m not taking your hand, Kokiri. That’s not how this works, and you’ve seem to have forgotten that. You take my hand, not the other way around. Now, if you want to bow to me like you did all those years ago, then maybe we ca-”

“Give them back.”

He didn’t have eyes, but Majima could still feel them boring into him. He never did like being interrupted. “What did I take from you? You don’t have anything for me to give back. You never did. The only reason these people even keep you around, is because you have first-hand experience of a history that’s been forgotten. I already have that, so why would I need you? You have nothing- You are nothing. So what am I supposed to be giving-”

“My friends!” He’d never yelled, truly screamed, at Akira before, but once he’d started he couldn’t stop, like a floodgate, “Give me back my friends, and my family, and my daughter! I want you to give me back every black day I’ve ever known you! Every lie you’ve ever told me!” Majima hated it when he yelled and got angry, his breathing would get messed up. He’d sound all airy and winded, and he would start to stutter if he went on for too long, like a child throwing a tantrum. “Give me Kori, and Aimi! Arai, Ueno, Iwata, Ono, Harada, Tamura, Nakayama! Give them back! Then, once you’ve given back everything you’ve ever taken from anyone, you can talk to me like you’re anything other than an abomination!”

“Look at you, trying to blame all of your problems on me. You seem to be forgetting all of those terrible things you’ve done in my name. Despite your age, you still act like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, refusing to take responsibility for all of the things you have done. I still have the records I kept of all our dealings in the past. Shall we take a look at everything I’ve paid you to do?”

With a scream of anger, Majima threw a punch at Akira, knocking him off of his chair and to the ground. “How the fuck do you feel now, bitch! Ain’t nothin’ if you can’t take my quirk!”

Akira, with a speed that Majima didn’t see coming, jumped to his feet and slammed his fist into Majima’s stomach, following up with a barrage of punches. He threw his arms up in front of his face, trying to block what he could. He had to focus if he wanted to use desync, but Akira wasn’t giving him a chance!  throwing the time stopper across the room and into the wall, knocking over a ton of vials and beakers. They fell to the ground, shattering while Majima was finally able to activate desync, his body glowing a bright white. “Factor of 5!” He sped towards Akira like a rocket, so you can imagine his surprise when the no-faced bastard sidestepped his attack.

He can’t focus on that, has to keep going. With that in mind, he kept attacking, trying to use the speed that desync gave him to find an opening, but whatever quirks Akira had made him far too fast. The idea that he was matching Factor of 5 was insane! He pumped it up to 30, and was finally able to get a hit in. A good hook to his right jaw had Akira reeling back, but the monster was able to catch his follow up, holding his fist in a tight hold that he couldn’t break away from. His next punch met a similar fate, and the two were left pushing against each other, trying gain the upper hand. Majima dug his feet into the concrete beneath them, feeling it crumble into nothing beneath the power of the two behemoths’ rampage.

Majima felt his eyes go wide when Akira’s arms started to puff up, like they were inflating. He tried to pull away, but he was too weak. Fearsome black lightning filled his vision as a powerful blast of air hit him full force, sending him through a wall or two. He heard something break, but he didn’t know if it was a bone or something he landed on. He tried to stand up-

Knives were plunged into his chest, and he screamed. His throat was raw, and he could feel tears streaking down his face. He glanced a look down, and he saw that Akira had plunged red and black fingers deep into his chest. He was pulling on something, and Majima felt like he was dying. “No, no, it’ll destroy you! You can’t!”

“I’m nothing if I can’t take your quirk, that’s what you said, wasn’t it? Why don’t I rectify that, old friend? Maybe once it’s gone from your body, you’ll crumble to dust, like all corpses do.”

Majima screamed, feeling the fingers digging into his chest, twisting around his organs. “Akira, listen to me, you don’t want my quirk, it’ll kill All for One!” Majima felt it stop pulling, giving him a second to breath and calm his racing heart. Akira stood over him, and as stupid as it looked, from where Majima was sitting, that mask was terrifying. Akira used his other hand to wrap the fingers around Majima’s right arm, and started to twist, breaking it, tearing muscles and ligaments, until he just tore it off. He threw it away, like it was a piece of garbage, before grabbing the other arm.

“Explain that little line for me, or I’ll tear off the other one too.” If that wasn’t a good threat, than he doesn’t know what is. Should probably cut to the chase.

“Time Stop locks you in your prime physical condition, and it will reset you back to that condition every 24 hours. If you mix it with All for One, it will recognize your quirk as a parasite, and will decide on the form you had before it developed. You’ll be trapped as a child, unable to use All for One, and I know you, Akira. All for One is everything to you, and you would rather die than lose it, but if you take Time Stop, you won’t be able to even die! You won’t be able to gain a mastery of it and stop time, and any desync factor higher than 5 will tear your body apart whenever you use it!” He felt Akira pull those damn fingers away from him like he was just burned, and he guessed he didn’t have a lie detection quirk. That’s what Majima thought would happen if he took Time Stop, and he’d bet everything that he was right, but there was no way to be sure. He didn’t want to fuck with time any more than he already does, so he couldn’t mess around and find out.

He could feel Akira’s eyes on him, filled with hatred. He wanted to laugh at the irony of it, but the whole building suddenly shook, and they could see down the long dark corridor that a giant chunk of the warehouse had been collapsed. “So they’re finally here?” Akira turned back to Majima, and the time stopper watched as the palm of his hand opened up. A bone-like spear shot out and impaled his chest, right in the center. A few more followed the first, spearing through his stomach, legs, and his last remaining arm, and pinning him to the wall. One last spear pierced his throat, taking away his ability to call for help.“I’ll be back for you when this is over. It looks like the heroes have come to play. I sure do hope that Tomura is handling everything well on his end of things.”

Akira walked away without a second thought, not even looking back as blood pooled around Majima’s trapped body. A few wet, bloody gurgles was the only sound he could make. He had to hold on, his reset should only be a few hours away. He just has to not die until then. Fuck, his shoulder hurt. Well, everything hurt, but between stab wounds and a lack of an arm, he’s gonna have to say that the arm takes it for worse injury. The most fucked up part is that Akira didn’t even throw his arm far, he can still see it. It’s starting to crumble into that blue dust stuff his body seems to love so much. That shit appears from nowhere, fills up all the holes in his body, leaves him good as new. Shame he can’t reset himself at will.

The building is rocked by another explosion, and part of the roof collapses, blocking off Majima’s view of the corridor. Great, now he’s broken and bored. This is gonna take a while, isn’t it. Fuck it, he’ll just let himself die, they’ll have probably found him by the time he wakes up. Either way, his arm will be back when he wakes up, so he’ll just pull the spears out by himself if he has to. He really didn’t want to though, that seems like it’d hurt.

[danganphobia]

Some Ryokira with 24? Thank you :3

Send me a prompt and I’ll write you a drabble for ryokira

24. “Somebody’s cranky.” “Somebody needs to shut up.”

Late night stakeouts brought consequences, as the two of them were supposed to take turns having “shifts” on demon-watch for every couple hours.

However, Ryo insisted that he could stand by the window - of the cheap, crappy hotel of last minute choosing, to add on - for as long as he needed to.

Sometimes Akira liked to believe Ryo overworked himself because he thought it was necessary, though, a good time rest doesn’t mean slacking off. It’s what the body needs, then again, when did Ryo ever fucking sleep?

It’s evident in the early morning, barely even five a.m - Akira arose from his nap, and it doesn’t surprise him when he climbed up to the rooftop with a cup of coffee, easy to access with a room booked on the top floor - to see Ryo intensely peering through the pair of binoculars.

He casually sat down, cross-legged, catching a glimpse of the reddening circles forming under Ryo’s eyes.

“Still no sign of demons?”

“No.” Ryo muttered. “How long will they hide for? I doubt that they know we are watching us, otherwise by now they would have come out already.”

“Maybe the bastards changed locations and snuck off.”

“They aren’t that perceptive, or that knowledgeable of the matter. I’ve been watching them for approximately twenty seven hours and not a single unwilling victim has walked into the premise. It isn’t that difficult to show yourself.”

“I think you should try blinking since I doubt you have.” Akira said, presumably, “And take a five minute break, I could take over.”

“Haven’t you finished devouring all the snacks we’ve bought?” Ryo mumbled, “I’m not seeing things. If the demon managed to flee, I’d know, Akira.”

Akira clicked his tongue. “Somebody’s cranky.”

“Somebody needs to shut up.”

“It was only a suggestion. You haven’t slept in a while.” Akira handed over the cup of coffee, “I made this for you. Just how you like it. Need some of the energy before you get one of those migraines again or happen to pass out, or some shit.”

It stunned Ryo a little, blue eyes blinking wide at the offer - an almost affectionate gesture when Akira nudged his shoulder. Ryo takes the coffee, setting down the binoculars.

“We will probably have to wait until night time anyway.” He huffed, sipping as if it were his lifeline. Jeez, Akira recoiled. “Most demons won’t dare to walk in broad daylight.”

Akira took away the binoculars, all he needed was the signal they would show and strike another innocent human being and he’d be off, making sure Ryo stayed behind to rest while he took care of the demon. It’d only take a couple seconds, but keeping under surveillance is important. They needed to be careful and Akira understood that.

He wrapped an arm around Ryo’s shoulder, taking off his leather jacket to drape over Ryo’s shoulders.

“You’ve been outside since last night, don’t wanna catch a cold.”

“I’m fine.” Ryo clutched the mug closer to him, unconsciously leaning closer to Akira’s frame. The flush on his cheeks are adorable.

And yet, Akira could feel Ryo shivering slightly.

“Lets rest for a bit, alright?” He said quietly.

At first, no response makes Akira think that Ryo silently agreed. But sometime after, when he takes the binoculars and decides that maybe he’ll watch for a bit himself -- he noticed how Ryo was completely unresponsive.

There’s quiet breathing, the slight heaving Akira felt against his chest. He turned to see that Ryo’s eyes were fluttered shut, and he’s still holding the coffee in his hands, fast asleep.

Akira sighed, knowing that eventually - this would happen sooner or later.

He takes the mug before it spilled on them, it’s not as hot as it was before, but relief washed over him that a messy situation like that was avoided.

Ryo’s head slowly rested against Akira’s shoulder, and he pressed his body closer. Akira hoped that the sound of his pounding heartbeat wouldn’t startle Ryo into waking up.

Instinctively, he held Ryo firmly by the waist - with an urge that burned fiercely in his chest to protect. He’d have to stay awake to see through the rest of the night and handle this alone.

For now... though, ever so lightly, his lips touched the crown of Ryo’s forehead. Causing the other’s eyebrows to furrow, stirring, just a little, before melting further into Akira’s hold.

Akira found himself smiling, a corner of his lip quirked up. His tender gaze grew along with his desire, but painfully, he holds back. Cradling Ryo’s sleeping frame to him, delicately. 

“Sleep well, beautiful.” He murmured.