#those too are steadily being purchased by developers

[spikebit]

in calgary (one of the examples in the last pic) we've destroyed almost all of our heritage buildings and replaced them with boring cookie-cutter apartments and office towers. this city had so little history to begin with & now the only buildings we have are monuments to the 80's oil boom

Perhaps minimalist design is so prevalent because we no longer have anything to say.

The Cultural Tutor

[nayatarot777]

do you view this person clearly? (preview to extended patreon reading)

if you’d like a personal reading, then please check out my pinned post 💚✨

• pile one •

how do you view this person?

you view this person as someone who’s “prickly” in some way. someone who’s hard to reach. but at the same time, you see something that’s extremely precious in them. you may assume that this is why they have the type of demeanour or energy that repels people - as a method of protecting the preciousness that they have inside. you view this person who’s worth spending time on to develop something practical with. although it seems like it’s difficult to progress your connection with this person. it may be slow because they’re very slow to open up. you view them as someone who’s quite practical and grounded. someone who’s focused on steadily working on what they’re building for themselves in their practical life. there’s something about a prickly demeanour that hides a soft inside. you view them as someone who’s either very emotionally confusing or someone who’s very emotionally overwhelmed. i don’t think that this person speaks about their feelings that much. they prefer to keep them a secret. but there’s a lot that you pick up on about this person’s emotions in an intuitive way. this person also stands out compared to many other people who aren’t really what you’re looking for. people who you have hit a dead end with or who you know that you would. this person is majorly different to anyone else that you’ve met so far. they stand out the most. there’s something about them being golden. being very healing too. there’s some type of innocence and goodness that you view in them. this person shines bright to you.

you view them as someone who’s very abundant physically (they could have a lot of money). there’s an elegance about this person - maybe even a chivalrous type of character - and you could definitely view them as an earth angel of some sort. you’re someone who has high standards and you see this person potentially being the one person who could live up to them. you feel like they could possibly be the one to be on your level in a connection, a friendship, a business partnership - whatever this is. there’s a repetitive message about this person just being golden in your eyes. one of a kind. you see that this person is deeply connected to their inner child. no matter how self-protective their demeanour is, their inner personality shines through. their inner child shines bright. they’re extremely authentic to you and they’re someone who elicits happiness and growth towards those around him. they have the energy of warm sunlight to you. they have an energy that many people need in their lives. you view them as very self-sufficient and very confident in their abilities to gain their goals and achieve their aspirations. they seem like they don’t need anyone for their own happiness. they’re self-sufficient in their physical life as well as in their ability to make themselves happy and content. and that may be the difference that you see in this person compared to everyone else. they’re someone who doesn’t rely on or use other people to give them something that they can’t give themselves. they don’t rely on others as a source of energy to siphon positive energy from. they’re someone who naturally has that for themselves - and therefore they have that for everyone else.

if this has resonated with you and you’d like to see if the way that you view this person is accurate + how they view you, find the extended reading on my patreon here OR on kofi (to purchase this extended reading individually)! 💚✨

• pile two •

how do you view this person?

you view this person as someone who’s extremely giving. extremely charitable. either with their money or their time. this person is extremely charming to you. you believe that they love to help people who are less fortunate than them. people who are in need of help. specifically younger people for some of these people. they just seem to really care about others and always want to be of help or of service. you also view this person as extremely focused. one-track minded in some way. they’re very perceptive too. and you might see this person enduring a lot of pressure in their life. this major focus and pressure is either towards helping other people (could be their family, their friends, people who they work with - especially if it’s children or vulnerable people etc.) or it’s towards their work and their finances in general. you view them as someone who was raised right. that’s what i’m really feeling. this person really has a lot of chivalry or respect or just a lot of manners for people. so therefore they attract that back to themselves too. this person could prioritise being very helpful towards women too - which is where this energy of chivalry and being a prince charming is coming - regardless of gender. they’re just someone who likes to be a protector or helper of some sort towards people who they believe should be cherished and cared for, from your perspective.

i feel like you view this person as someone who always wants to help people who are struggling emotionally too. people who are grieving and people who are going through emotional loss. you may pick up the energy of emotional grief from this person at times too, and therefore you assume that they have a lot of empathy towards the people who they want to help. you may know about a new financial opportunity that this person is going after and you can tell that they’re extremely focused on this. this could also be someone who gives people new opportunities in their life. new financial or work opportunities to build a stable life for themselves. this could also be very valuable advice. i feel like you view them as extremely abundant themselves, but someone who’s constantly looking for more opportunities in life to go after. someone who’s very ambitious when it comes to their personal goals. and i feel like for a lot of you, you can tell that this person’s personal goals revolve around helping people in the world in some way.

if this has resonated with you and you’d like to see if the way that you view this person is accurate + how they view you, find the extended reading on my patreon here OR on kofi (to purchase this extended reading individually)! 💚✨

• pile three •

how do you view this person?

you view this person as someone who you have a very strong emotional connection to. you feel like they’re your equal emotionally. like the emotions that you have for them are equally reciprocated back to you. you could definitely already be in a relationship or a friendship or some sort of connection with this person. and you view them as someone who you have pure, genuine love and care for that’s reciprocated. someone who’s your emotional comfort as you are for them. you feel like you’re on the same page, and that you’re both moving towards the same place in life together. you view them as someone who greatly helps you with your direction in life. someone who helps you to gain control over your life in some way. you view them as someone who really inspires you. someone who finds new excitement or new inspiration to exert their energy towards too. for some of you, you can see that this person is trying to start a new chapter of their life - perhaps with better morals and values than before. this person could have a bit of a dark past in some way, but you can see their effort to use this as energy and motivation to propel themselves forward onto a new path.

aw, this person really gives you a lot of happiness, pile three. they light you up because both of your inner-children can be authentic and be themselves around each other. there’s also something about this person shining an awareness on your emotions. on your ability to emotionally connect with another which is something that you may have really struggled to do before. you view this person as your vitality in a way. they give you something that you need to grow and evolve. and again, i’m seeing that you view this as an equal effort on both of your parts for each other. you view this person who you are going to build an EXTREMELY happy and stable life with. 10 of pentacles is out here. you view this person as someone who you can move towards building a very happy family with, for those of you who are in a relationship with this person. if not, then this is just someone who you view as someone who you’ll be with for the long-haul, building a life together. going back to this person’s past that they’re trying to move away from, i am seeing that you feel like they have A LOT of regrets about this. their past could keep them up at night because of this. someone who maybe even sheds tears because of the past that they’re trying to build a new life from.

if this has resonated with you and you’d like to see if the way that you view this person is accurate + how they view you, find the extended reading on my patreon here OR on kofi (to purchase this extended reading individually)! 💚✨

[ecosmining]

What Equipment to Use for Mining Bitcoin Profitably After the Halving?

In April 2024, the next Bitcoin halving took place. The reward for mining one block was reduced by 50% and is now 3.125 BTC. Due to this, some may begin to doubt mining — will this activity continue to bring in a decent income? Based on our extensive experience, we can confidently say that mining can and should remain profitable even after the halving. In this article, we will discuss how to organize Bitcoin mining most rationally and what equipment to choose for this.

Bitcoin Price Will Definitely Rise After the Halving

Since the launch of the first cryptocurrency, its halving has occurred approximately every four years. In 2024, this happened for the fifth time. Throughout all these years, the price of BTC, its market capitalization, and audience have steadily increased. The popularity of mining is also growing, and new technologies are being developed to increase its efficiency.

The person or team behind Bitcoin came up with halving to control inflation and maintain demand for the coin. Halving benefits Bitcoin and in no way deprives miners of their well-deserved reward. The rarer the asset, the higher its value — this rule works after each halving. That’s why starting mining right now is an excellent idea.

Three Secrets to Keep Mining Profitable

To make money mining BTC after its halving in 2024, you need to:

Buy or rent the latest generation equipment

Reduce expenses

Find a reliable hosting provider

Let’s take a closer look at all these points.

Today, one of the best ASICs for mining Bitcoin is the Antminer 21 series. It stands out for its high hashing power combined with relatively modest energy consumption. The Antminer 21 significantly outperforms miners of previous generations. The manufacturer of this series, Bitmain, is one of the most well-known in the industry. This is a reliable brand with a very strong team, extremely popular among crypto professionals.

To increase revenue, you can purchase multiple devices and combine them into a mining farm. However, this may require too high initial costs. Additionally, you will need to find a place to host the equipment. It not only consumes a lot of energy but also makes a lot of noise. To reduce the noise level, you can buy ASICs with a water cooling system — but they are more expensive than regular ones.

To cut costs, you can rent a miner instead of buying it. Remote providers can afford the most modern ASICs. You will be able to choose one or several machines with suitable characteristics. The provider will take care of the installation, maintenance, and repair of the equipment. Their staff has all the necessary knowledge and skills. Your involvement in mining will be minimal, and you will be able to receive truly passive income.

Another option is to try cloud mining, a more modern and accessible alternative. You will be renting not an ASIC but hashing power. First, you will purchase a contract on the most comfortable terms for you. After that, your task will be reduced to regularly transferring the commission to the provider — and they will take care of everything else. You will start receiving income on the rise in the price of Bitcoin. If you want to increase your profits, you can buy multiple contracts.

Each halving forces mining providers to rethink their strategies and optimize their activities. Some of those who cannot cope with these tasks close down. That’s why it’s important to check the provider’s history — the longer they have been in business, the better.

The second important parameter is customer reviews. It’s not a problem if some of them are negative — the main thing is that the majority are positive. The contract terms of a good provider are detailed and transparent. The support service is polite, informed, and responds promptly to customer inquiries.

ECOS meets all the criteria of a first-class provider for remote mining. This company is located in the free economic zone of Armenia, where cryptocurrencies are legal, and miners are exempt from taxes for 25 years. The Razdan power plant provides stable access to cheap energy. The security of the territory where the equipment is located is guaranteed by armed guards. The equipment downtime is close to zero. If an ASIC breaks down, it will be promptly repaired on-site, without wasting time sending it to the manufacturer’s service center.

ECOS clients can choose a cloud mining contract from existing options or create their own, individual one. The selection of equipment rental or purchase options is also very large. Clients appreciate ECOS for its transparent terms, reasonable prices, and quality service. This is an ideal provider for beginner miners who are just taking their first steps in the industry. Experienced miners note the exceptional reliability of ECOS, honesty, and timely payment of rewards.

ECOS Client Case

To confirm the above theory, let’s consider a real case of one of the ECOS clients. Let’s denote him by the nickname anto******duate.org.

Immediately after the previous halving in 2020, he bought an Antminer T17 for $699. The hashing speed of this miner was 38 terahashes per second. Four years ago, this model was considered advanced, one of the best on the market.

From November 25, 2020, to November 1, 2021, anto******duate.org earned 0.08026213 BTC with his Antminer T17, which in fiat currency amounted to $5,327. Hosting and miner maintenance costs were only $1,080. The client received a net profit of $3,548. Mining turned out to be a more profitable activity for him than buying bitcoins. If he had bought bitcoins, his profit would have been only $2,900.

To estimate your upcoming expenses and profits, you can use the calculator on the ECOS website. We hope that with the help of this tool, you will see that mining BTC can still be profitable even after the halving!

[dustedmagazine]

James Brandon Lewis/Red Lily Quartet — For Mahalia, with Love (Tao Forms)

Photo by Henri Selmer

For Mahalia, With Love by James Brandon Lewis / Red Lily Quintet

James Brandon Lewis reconvenes the Red Lily Quintet—with Kurt Knuffke on cornet, Chris Hoffman on cello, William Parker on bass, and Chad Taylor on drums—for a set inspired by songs associated with Mahalia Jackson, the towering figure in gospel music in the previous century. The group develops the brief melodies of these traditional devotional tunes into vehicles for improvisation and exploration, creating a joyful noise that celebrates Jackson and also recalls the exploration of themes associated with the Black church by Charles Mingus, Albert Ayler and Roland Kirk.

In some cases, such as “Swing Low” and “Wade in the Water,” the source material is readily apparent while in others it is less so. The set begins appropriately and gently with Lewis’s adaptation of one of Jackson’s signature songs, “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” which provided the name for a radio show that she hosted in the 1950s and with which she wowed the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. Lewis’s phrasing well captures Jackson’s meditation on a tune that, like the rest of those here, is beautiful in its simplicity rather than showy.

The quintet was rock-solid on its first outing, Jesup Wagon (2021), and is even more together this time around. Parker is, predictably, outstanding here, delving deep into the music whether soloing, as on “Go Down Moses” and the first minute of “Elijah Rock,” or providing bedrock support throughout. Hoffman’s cello often blends with Parker’s bass, somewhat like the dynamic between the two bassists in some of Coltrane’s bands. Knuffke once more serves as the perfect foil for Lewis as they alternately trade leads and blend their voices. His solo on “Deep River” well exemplifies his approach, building on the foundation established by Lewis before him, he ranges from flutters to searching cries consistent with the funereal theme of the song. Taylor, along with Parker, holds everything together, being equally effective in delivering frantic rolls, as on “Were You There,” and hand percussion, as on “Calvary,” and there are numerous satisfying moments when he and Parker lock in, such as the last couple minutes of “Elijah Rock”

Lewis’s ever-deepening mastery of the tenor is naturally on full display here. His playing, like this recording, delves into the history of jazz without ever sounding formulaic with a tone that is simultaneously ancient and cutting-edge. Here, his horn transforms into the voice of the great gospel singer, channeling as well the voices that she was influenced by and that influenced her.

Those who purchase the CD or vinyl versions can hear Lewis’s playing in a different context on a live recording of his composition for sax and strings with the Lutoslawski Quartet. Titled These Are Soulful Days, the piece interweaves themes from the spirituals and thus serves as a companion to the Red Lily Quartet recording. This fresh context for Lewis’s vision unfolds through the tranquil and plaintive “Prologue – Humility” and four movements to “Epilogue – Resilience.” The movements interweave more and less recognizable phrases from the gospel songs, particularly the dramatic eruption of “Wade in the Water” in Movement III, while “Epilogue” gets fairly noisy and atonal. An encore concludes the set in the form of a lyrical solo sax performance of “Take Me to the Water.”

For Mahalia, with Love, like Jesup Wagon and Lewis’s “Molecular” releases, is fairly high-concept, but the music is spunky and easy to enjoy, with plenty of groove and intensity. The bare nature of the source melodies is well-suited to jazz exploration (as successive generations of musicians have discovered). Lewis is still too young to be considered a jazz elder statesman (and national treasure), but he is steadily building a body of work and a perspective commensurate with that status.

Jim Marks

[parasparivaar]

The Paras Parivaar Charitable Trust Promotes Technological Education.

Paras Parivaar Charitable Trust:

From the bottom of our hearts, we extend a warm welcome to you into the Paras Parivaar Charitable Trust family. In our Sanatan Dharm, this Parivaar was founded and is now being maintained by our Mahant Shri Paras Bhai Ji of Sanatan Dharm to contribute to the welfare of the underprivileged and needy people. Because he consistently states, “happiness of maa is behind their smile.” This idea of Mahant Shri Paras Bhai Ji has become the focus of our family’s daily activities.

The Paras Parivaar Charitable Trust works 365 days a year to lug our Paras Guru’s vision forward. We have helped more than 10 lakh Needy, and thanks to Maa and our Mahant Shri Paras Bhai Ji of Sanatan Dharm, this number is steadily rising. And it is the grandeur of Sanatan Dharm that we strive to assist those who cannot afford to pay for their education or who are food insecure.

Because we usually hear the quote “Unity is Strength” in everyday life, the Paras Parivaar Charitable Trust would like for you to join our family. We are certain that if we all work together as a single family, we will be stronger and more committed to helping more people in need. Serving an increasing number of individuals in need will enable us to carve out a large place in the heart of our Maa. So, join the Paras Parivaar now for the chance of a lifetime to make the poor and needy smile widely.

Working hard to boost the lives of the poor and needy would also help us reduce the rate of poverty and increase the rate of education in our nation. In addition to providing aid to those in need, our Mahant Shri Paras Bhai Ji wants to educate them so that they may become self-sufficient and contribute to the cause. join our Paras Parivaar Charitable Trust and aid those in need and destitute with what they need for food, shelter, and education.

The Value of Education in Technology

In today’s digital environment, technology education is not just advantageous; it is required. For India, a country with a fast rising youth population, providing easy access to technology education has the potential to unleash huge potential, boosting innovation, economic growth, and social mobility. Despite the huge growth of the ed-tech sector, significant barriers persist that restrict equitable access to technology education across the country.

Technology education equips students with essential skills that are increasingly in demand in the global labor market. From coding and data analysis to digital marketing and artificial intelligence, a solid Paras Parivaar technological foundation may help young people pursue successful careers and contribute to India’s digital economy. Furthermore, technology education fosters critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills, all of which are needed in today’s complex world.

The state of technology education in India today

India’s education technology industry has grown significantly, with numerous startups and established organizations providing online courses, coding boot camps, and skill development programs. However, socioeconomic restrictions frequently impede access to these resources. Many low-income students lack the necessary infrastructure, such as reliable internet access and digital devices, to participate in online education.

Barriers to Access

Economic Disparities: Low-income families may find technical education too pricey. While some platforms offer free resources, many high-quality courses are for purchase, dividing those who can afford them from others who cannot.

Geographical Difficulties: Rural areas can have restricted internet access and fewer educational opportunities. This digital barrier exacerbates existing imbalances by putting rural students at a disadvantage.

Lack of Awareness: Many families, particularly those in rural and semi-urban areas, may be ignorant of the available technology education resources. This lack of understanding can deter students from seeking opportunities to develop their skills.

Methods for Improving Technology Education Access

Several methods can be implemented to bridge the gap and make technology education more accessible to everyone:

Government Initiatives: The Indian government has initiated a number of programs, including the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which seeks to democratize education and promote digital learning. Continued investment in digital infrastructure, particularly in rural regions, is critical to sustaining these programs.

Affordable Ed-Tech Solutions: Local communities have the potential to make significant contributions to the advancement of technology education. Awareness campaigns and workshops can help families understand the importance of technology skills and the tools available to them.

Partnerships with Private Sector: Collaborations between educational technology companies and educational institutions can improve students’ access to high-quality content. Public-private partnerships can help lower expenses and provide scholarships to Low-Income Students.

Focus on Regional Languages: Developing educational content in regional languages can help make technology education more accessible to a larger audience. This strategy not only enhances knowledge but also encourages participation from students who may struggle with the English language.

India Still Fight for Education:

To fully achieve the potential of its youth, India must address the issue of simple access to technology education. By eliminating economic, geographic, and awareness barriers, India can create an inclusive environment in which all students may thrive in the digital age. As the ed-tech industry grows, stakeholders — government, business, and communities — must collaborate to ensure that technology education is not a privilege but a right for all. This collaborative endeavor will pave the way for a highly skilled workforce, promoting innovation and economic growth throughout the country.

[meaganproperty]

Dreaming of a Home in Jimboomba? Your FAQs Answered Here

Are you dreaming of a home in Jimboomba? You're not alone. Nestled in the heart of Queensland, Jimboomba is a sought-after destination for those looking to combine the tranquility of rural living with the conveniences of modern life. If you’re considering a move to this vibrant area, you likely have some questions. Here, we answer the most frequently asked questions about Jimboomba real estate to help you make an informed decision.

Why Choose Jimboomba?

Jimboomba offers a unique blend of rural charm and urban amenities. It’s an ideal location for families, professionals, and retirees. Here’s why:

Community Spirit: Jimboomba boasts a strong sense of community with various local events and activities.

Natural Beauty: Surrounded by lush greenery and scenic landscapes, it’s perfect for outdoor enthusiasts.

Amenities: Despite its rural feel, Jimboomba is well-equipped with schools, shopping centers, medical facilities, and more.

Proximity: Just a short drive from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, you get the best of both worlds.

What Types of Properties Are Available?

Jimboomba real estate offers a wide range of property types to suit various preferences and budgets:

Acreage Properties: Ideal for those seeking space and privacy. These properties often come with large gardens, paddocks, and even horse stables.

Residential Homes: From modern houses in new developments to charming older homes, there’s something for everyone.

Lifestyle Blocks: Perfect for hobby farmers or those wanting to embrace a semi-rural lifestyle without being too far from town amenities.

How is the Real Estate Market in Jimboomba?

The Jimboomba real estate market has been growing steadily. With increasing demand for spacious and affordable living options, property values have seen a healthy appreciation. Whether you’re looking to buy or invest, Jimboomba presents a promising opportunity.

What Should I Consider Before Buying a Home in Jimboomba?

When looking at Jimboomba real estate, consider the following:

Location: Proximity to schools, work, and amenities can significantly impact your daily life. Choose a location that suits your lifestyle.

Property Size: Think about how much space you need now and in the future. Acreage properties might offer room to grow, while residential homes might be more manageable.

Community: Visit the area and get a feel for the community. Attend local events or talk to residents to gauge if it’s the right fit for you.

Budget: Ensure that you have a clear budget in mind. Factor in not just the purchase price but also ongoing costs like maintenance, utilities, and property taxes.

How Can I Find the Right Property?

Finding the perfect Jimboomba real estate requires thorough research and, often, the help of professionals. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Define Your Needs: List your must-haves and nice-to-haves. This will help you narrow down your options.

Research Online: Use real estate websites to get an idea of what’s available and the price ranges.

Engage a Real Estate Agent: A local agent can provide invaluable insights and guide you through the process.

Visit Properties: Schedule visits to potential homes to see them firsthand.

Check Market Trends: Stay informed about market conditions to make a competitive offer.

What Are the Benefits of Living in Jimboomba?

Living in Jimboomba comes with several advantages:

Peaceful Environment: Escape the hustle and bustle of city life.

Community Activities: Engage in various local events, sports, and clubs.

Outdoor Lifestyle: Enjoy activities like hiking, horseback riding, and gardening.

Growth Potential: As a growing suburb, property values are likely to appreciate, making it a good investment.

Conclusion

Choosing to invest in Jimboomba real estate could be one of the best decisions you make. With its appealing mix of rural charm and modern conveniences, it offers a fantastic quality of life. Whether you’re looking for a spacious acreage or a cozy family home, Jimboomba has something to suit every taste and budget. Take your time, do your research, and you’ll soon find your dream home in this wonderful community.

[levaajemsan]

Online Billing Software Program

Upgrade the monetary management of your business with a financial administration software program. Get auto-generated financial reports for forecasting business stability and performance. Our financial reporting software program helps to download 15+ enterprise reviews, including profit and loss, gross sales, product, stock, expense, accounts receivable, etc. Hence, enterprise owners and freelancers like you'll have the ability to simplify enterprise management using financial statements - Best Restaurant Billing Software.

Overall, an optimized online bill creation process can lead to higher monetary administration and development for companies. With our bill maker, you can easily add the invoice due date, or it mechanically takes 30 days to owe from the bill created date if not counted. Ideally, purchasers will pay the bill as quickly as you ship them the invoice. Automatically track client-wise invoices, and payments, and maintain additional details. Schedule and gather membership fees with recurring invoices. Secure new initiatives with detailed estimates to purchasers. Streamline initiatives with milestone-based payment schedules. Display particular tax charges and charges applied to purchased items and companies. Provide prospects with a detailed record of the objects, providers, or portions delivered - restaurant pos software.

Select the initiatives you want to invoice for and click Add Projects. You can set default hourly charges and bill terms for every shopper, too, and save any necessary billing notes like your consumer's billing address or e mail for invoices. Once you sign up for an account, creating a new bill is so simple as clicking Invoice within the list of accessible documents on the top of the web page. The app provides a ton of highly designed document templates, and you'll add your logo to make it your own.

They’ve been in business for just about a decade, and are responsible for revolutionizing POS techniques. When you join to make use of Square for your corporation, you’re utilizing something tried and true. All of those options will allow your corporation to function extra powerfully. This could be achieved through the software itself, or the company offering it. While on-premise choices are still viable, they are steadily being outpaced by cloud-based level-of-sale platforms. The software program is designed for smaller companies and solo users who want a scaled answer that’s customizable and inexpensive. This tool consists of project management instruments, expense monitoring, recurring billing, and more. For more information, please visit our site https://billingsoftwareindia.in/restaurant-billing-software/

[ayejayque]

The Real Estate Markets in China, Japan, & the USA

The Real Estate Market in China The Chinese real estate market has undergone a real transformation. In the not-too-distant past, Chinese workers were guaranteed secure housing by their communist administration. The new drift in Chinese real estate has made real estate too expensive even for the highly-paid middle-class workers making it a different ball game altogether. This is a complete shift from socialism to capitalism. Communism The Chinese real estate market is a tale of the rise of staunch free enterprise in a communist state. In 1978, Chinese real estate had zero prices. This was because the land of China was possessed by the government. The Chinese constitution banned private proprietorship and transfer of land. All buy or sell transactions were forbidden. All the workers were government employees. They were entitled to housing on the basis of their seniority, number of years of service, and size of their household among other aspects. It was impossible to predict that China would one day, become one of the main real estate markets in the world. It would end up being a major case used in discussions relating to real estate bubbles. Denationalization takes over Things began to alter in socialist China. The economy no longer remained communist in 1988 when the constitution was revised. Laws that did not permit private possession of land now stood modified. The latest laws separated the land into 2 classes: - One category was for lower-income households. These houses were to be sold on a cost-plus foundation. Also, the administration would keep a firm check on the expenses incurred in constructing these houses. Developers who created and implemented these plans without any glitches would get tax credits. Ideally, these houses were sold at 5% above the cost price to low-income households. There were obstructive conditions that made it hard to meet the requirements for such a home. Also, selling your own home was prohibited by the government for a period of at least 5 years after its acquisition. - The other category of houses being sold was commodity housing. This real estate market was driven by the markets i.e., investors could easily purchase and sell their properties at whatever prices they liked. One could also rent out these properties. The rent control act of 1994 finished the transformation of a part of the Chinese property market from socialistic to capitalistic. Property prosperity The next 20 years witnessed property booms the likes of which, the world never saw. The government-controlled affordable homes in the economy had steadily declined. They were replaced by commodity housing. The prices and the supply of commodity houses have greatly increased across China. The average price rise over 20 years has been in double digits each year. This is an 8-fold price increase over 2 decades. In some cities, the means have been as high as 26% compounded annual growth rate! This can be one of the biggest and longest-lasting bull runs in any property market worldwide. Expensive prices made real estate go beyond the reach of the working-class population. This encouraged the Chinese government to once again endorse firmer laws. Firm laws on 2nd and 3rd home The Chinese government has passed firm laws to control the acquisition of second and third homes in most cities. These laws were passed to guarantee that poor first-home debtors were not facing rivalry from wealthy second or third-home debtors. The laws necessitate those individuals buying their second home to make a down payment of at least 60% of their property value. If the person is buying a third home, they would be given no financing and would be required to pay the whole sum in cash. This law had serious consequences on housing sales in tier-1 and tier-2 towns. The quickly rising house prices swiftly saw an improvement. China witnessed its first real estate bust in these times! Stimulus Package In 2008, a stimulus package to revive the banking sector and encourage lending was awarded in China. This increased real estate prices, which the government tried for so long, to subdue. The banks were full of cash and real estate developers wanted loans. As such, a lot of cash was lent to them at a wild pace. For some time, the bust became a boom, which was extremely short-lived. Misallocation The Chinese developers constructed huge gated societies and towns. These were built for the higher-class people. But the elite class has not bought these communities. China now has uninhabited new ghost towns which have never been lived in. They are one of the largest misallocations of capital in the history of the centrally managed Chinese economy. Presently, some Chinese cities are seeing a slump in their property prices while the prices have deteriorated in some other towns. If the market sentiment is to be believed China is bound to see a rectification of real estate values. The Real Estate Market in Japan The Japanese real estate tale is significant as well as unique. These stories include mentions of periods of booms and busts. The property market downwards for a few years only to mend a few years in the future. This Japanese story is very different. The Japanese market saw a bull run never seen earlier. This continued till 1991. Then came the slump! Since 1991, Japan has seen a collapse of epic magnitude. The property estimates have fallen and have stayed there for 20 years despite the wild hard work of the Japanese administration to recover them. The 30-year-long economic miracle After WW2, the Japanese economy was practically wrecked. They had been fighting for years and as such their economy had hurt a lot. Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been bombed by the United States. The worker morale was at an all-time low.  The Japanese economy post-war experienced an economic boom. Japanese businesses started making major progress in the electronics and automobile marketplaces of the world. This led to increased success in the economy. The high success created jobs for many Japanese workers. Japanese companies consider workers to be a part of their family. They never fire them. This gave rise to augmented buying power. By the late 70s and early 80s, Japan had become the second-largest economy in the world. It was slowly moving closer to the United States. To many economic observers, this was an economic miracle that Japan had pulled off in 30 years. During this time the Japanese real estate market saw a stable upward boom. The prices were being driven up at around the rate of economic growth and no one anticipated any sort of bubble being formed. Tax Laws improved In the 1980s, Japan decided to relax its previously traditional property markets. The Japanese property markets had a draconian tax system regime that prohibited any modification in the possession of properties. If a property was sold in under 2 years after its purchase, taxes we over 90% of the capital appreciation! If the same property was sold between 2-5 years after its purchase, around 75% of the capital gains made by the stakeholders were due to the Japanese government as tax. If the stakeholders sold the property after 5 years, 50% of the capital appreciation was due as tax. The transaction costs of the Japanese real estate market made it useless for anyone else except genuine home buyers to buy a house. Come the 80s and the Japanese government revoked a lot of these rules to fashion an open real estate market to suit the requirements of the open Japanese economy. Stock Market & Real Estate Market Because of ease in the rules and laws, a circumstance was shaped wherein the real estate and the stock market started feeding off one another. Many people ended up selling highly valued stocks to acquire real estate. This shaped a demand for real estate that was increasing in value. Many real estate investors would liquidate and once again buy stocks and shares of Japanese businesses. Both these asset classes were outperforming every other investment there is. As such, they attracted more and more money. The value of both these asset classes went sky-high! By 1991, real estate estimates in Tokyo were several times higher than rival valuations in more wealthy cities like New York and London. The Real Estate crash of the 90s The 90s saw the end of the real estate market in Japan. The Bank of Japan raised interest rates. This was done to control the inflation that was triggered by the loose fiscal policy that it had followed for years. The money supply in the market became tight. The mortgages became more expensive to deal with. The Japanese real estate rapidly went down. This created the ultimate downward spiral. Property prices ended up plummeting more than 64% in Japan in just 10 years. Stakeholders and homeowners, who were highly leveraged, lost a noteworthy portion of their funds as prices constantly crumbled. Worth Half the Price in 2015 By 2015, the Japanese housing market had still not improved. The Japanese held its interest rates near 0% for many years on end. They have also had a quantitative easing program. That too, has been ineffective in raising the prices of the real estate market again. Compared to 1991, the present value of today is 50% of its value. If you had participated in Japanese real estate in 1985 and wanted to cash out after 30 years, you would have ZERO capital increase!  The Real Estate Market in the USA The USA is one of the most advanced countries in the world. It has the most see-through market system in the world. Most world economies are entangled with the US economy. This means that a small movement in the USA markets sends ripples worldwide. In 2007, a local real estate crisis in the US markets became a catastrophe of global magnitudes and endangered the financial system of the world! In this section, I will describe the two major boom-bust cycles that the US real estate sector has seen since the 1980s. Phase 1: The Bust The American real estate market was seeing a bust from the 1980s onwards. This was formed by the Savings and Loan disaster that was existing in the markets during this time. Before the 1980s, most of the homes being bought in the US were being bought as a result of money on loan from these Savings and Loans establishments. In the 1980s the Fed understood that price rises were slipping out of control. The interest rates were then increased by a staggering 20%! This interest rate hike almost wiped out the savings and credit industry. They could not attract new capital at these rates. The number of people who afford this rate to buy a home went down significantly. It brought a crash in the real estate market in the US. The savings and loans catastrophe were one of the lowest points in the history of US real estate. Even then, no one could predict what was to follow. Phase 2: The Manmade Boom The 90s saw the recovery from the savings and loan catastrophe. These institutions had become bankrupt. Some other financial organizations were also under severe monetary pressure. The lending was at an all-time low. The government passed many laws to raise lending and in particular, lending to the real estate segment. Soon, the radical motive of satisfying the so-called “America Dream” took over all wisdom. The legislators were inflexible in creating rules that would allow more people to purchase homes. The long-term consequences of these rules were simply not understood. One of the largest boom periods in American history followed. This was enabled by the 1% interest rate that was prevalent in the Us then. Banks were instructed by law to lower their loaning standards to confirm that they book as many loans as is probable! The Real Estate market was swamped with buyers who had a lot of money. They were willing to buy properties that appreciated in value making their proprietors rich. This lasted from the late 1990s to 2007. It was manmade. It was the rest of the US policies. It is often referred to as the manufactured boom. Phase 3: The Crisis 2007, saw perhaps the biggest financial crisis that the world had ever seen. It originated from the US real estate industry. The manufactured boom soon became a manufactured catastrophe. The interest rates in the economy were raised again. This increase created an extraordinary disaster called the subprime mortgage crisis. The increased interest rates caused the once-a-month payments of loans to go up. Many homeowners could not afford an increased mortgage. The houses had to be foreclosed. The declining value of the houses created an excess supply in which the prices were diminishing even more. During this atrocity, almost most worldwide markets were badly affected. The US real estate market lost almost half of its value. It was the worst hit. Phase 4: The Market Beyond the Crisis The US real estate market has been healing post-2008. This has been a slow process. The severe drops that were seen by the real estate market are now being swapped by a stable rise. This time, government intervention in the market is negligible. This moderate growth is not being driven by insanely low-interest rates. Some pundits see the Quantitative Easing policies being followed in the US as the main culprit. However, nothing can be overwhelmingly said till now. The US real estate sector has had its ups and downs. Real estate is not the safest investment as people this it is. It is as risky as any other investment, if not more.    Read the full article

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[ketoexcelgummiesmaggiebeer]

Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer Australia [Fake Exposed] Where to Buy & Is Chrissie Swan Weight Loss Scam Or Trusted Works?

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Regardless of how cautiously you have controlled your food, it is sensible to assume that you have not had the option to shed pounds effectively. The issue of fat development and the persistent stoutness that it produces requires the disclosure of a drawn out reply at the earliest conceivable date.

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A few light on the numerous likely historical underpinnings

Regardless of whether you eat steadily more often than not, it might in any case be challenging for you to keep a sound weight in the event that you don't get sufficient rest, don't practice consistently, have specific acquired qualities, utilize a few meds, or lead a stationary way of life. These contemporary events are associated with heftiness, which is characterized as the collection of an extreme measure of fat all through the body. The trademark component of weight is an unnecessary collection of fat.

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Various medicines have been made all through the years with an end goal to diminish this continuous uneasiness

There is nobody method that has arisen as the highest quality level for keeping away from weight gain or decrease; rather, the answer for this issue relies upon the specific prerequisites and inclinations of the person who is being thought of. You are presumably not shocked to discover that the eating regimen and wellness business is a truly beneficial one. There are various fat-consuming arrangements accessible available today, and a considerable lot of these things guarantee to be the most effective decision at present on offer. With respect to issue, there is certainly not a lone fitting reaction that can be advertised. Truly, do you believe that they are great?

Conceivable pursuing a choice on the best way to continue right presently appears to be testing. In the accompanying passages, I'll carefully describe our item, Maggie Lager Chewy candies, which has won a few honors and is held in extremely high regard.

Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer are an enjoyable toffee fabricated from plants that assists people with consuming fat and make do with the difficulties that are connected with being overweight. The sweet shop organization that makes these treats makes the bold case that eating them might assist individuals with keeping a sound weight. At the point when you whittle down one of these delectable toffees, you won't actually think about the quantity of calories that you're missing.

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Individuals who are now overweight or stout are the ones in particular who will not be unfavorably affected by taking these prescriptions, hence they are the ones in particular who get an opportunity of conceivably profiting from them. They are the ones in particular who have a chance of truly utilizing those things, consequently you ought to give them need. This shows that no other person gets an opportunity of benefitting from them and that they are the ones in particular who can do as such.

In the present society, individuals of any age have a shared objective: they need to look and feel too as they can, however some of them might require additional assets to assist them with accomplishing this objective. Thus, a ton of people choose to connect with fitness coaches in the assumption that the mentors would have the option to accelerate the cycle and help them in achieving their goal. In spite of the way that it is trying to gain and keep a sound weight, perhaps of the most regular issue individuals face is the daunting task of attempting to keep a solid load consistently.

Because of the way that our occupations need such a great deal our significant investment, most of us struggle with dealing with our wellbeing overall. The unfortunate eating schedules that most of us have taken up might be considered for the most part liable for the current state where we track down ourselves. An eating routine that is low in fundamental supplements is in many cases liable for the improvement of additional fat, otherwise called corpulence. There will constantly be certain individuals who experience difficulty creating and keeping up with advantageous propensities, regardless of whether the incredible larger part might find success. Your endeavors to get more fit might profit from expanding the times each week that you participate in actual work. Numerous people simply don't have the monetary means to stand by the necessary timeframe prior to setting their procedure in motion.

Know More About Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer Australia!

Whatever amount of we might need for it, life doesn't necessarily in every case work out the manner in which we expect it would. Ketogenic slims down are frequently proposed with the end goal of weight decrease. Following a ketogenic diet might require as long as a month, during which time an individual is at a much expanded chance of creating serious medical conditions. Taking into account the dangers implied with such conduct in contrast with the upsides of fast weight decrease, it is unreasonable to accept that it would be worthwhile. Ketosis-actuating enhancements might be helpful in the administration of this condition.

By utilizing Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer, you might get more fit rapidly and without any problem. You might get thinner without starving yourself or practicing unnecessarily for extensive stretches of time. In any case, this nutrient doesn't influence real physiology similarly as the others do. Having been given the all-reasonable by the FDA, the item may now be made accessible for buy by the overall population. This promptly accessible substance can possibly help the fight against the development of exorbitant fat. The maker of these chewy candies declares that eating them will provide you with the strength of body and psyche to face the hardship of commotion welcomed on by any significant life progress.

It's not difficult to carry out, and it will not have any negative results on your wellbeing, so it's an incredible strategy for killing overabundance fat.

It assists you with getting in shape by expanding your metabolic rate and working on mental clearness. The way that it is made completely from natural materials likewise assists it with gainfully affecting the planet. One of the main advances is figuring out how to successfully invest to utilize the effort delivered by fat breakdown. Since it is now so obvious how it helps weight reduction, we can take a gander at the other potential advantages it gives.

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Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer get their BHB content from a wide assortment of plants. It poses a flavor like treats and seems to be a sticky bear, two things that are promptly engaging. These Keto Excel Gummies Maggie BeerAustralia go to work rapidly, and standard use for just one month might prompt a decline in how much fat that has developed over your body. These chewy desserts' extraordinary piece helps with weight reduction and muscle improvement. It is astounding that you have figured out how to upgrade your bulk while diminishing your caloric admission.

By focusing on stomach fat, which is famously difficult to annihilate with additional customary ways, these tablets might work with weight reduction in districts like the arms, legs, and chest. You ought to take these dietary enhancements, and you might have the option to accelerate the aftereffects of your weight decrease in the event that you take them notwithstanding your customary activity program. Specialists have shown that the regular nutrient that advances weight reduction affects the cerebrum, which might add to expanded efficiency.

How could it be utilized flawlessly?

Ordinary utilization of these pills might work on your body's capacity to flush out destructive toxins from the general climate. On the off chance that everything goes as expected, a decent hot shower will place their kidneys and livers in a superior condition of preparation to complete their essential obligations. Assuming the liver can't produce sufficient ketone bodies, it won't work typically. These ketone bodies might be utilized to produce energy, or they might influence the body's previous fat stores. These pills might further develop absorption and mitigate acid reflux side effects including indigestion and swelling. The spot to get them is here.

In the event that you are on a ketogenic diet yet need to fulfill your gum-biting desires, Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer might be a decent decision. These desserts were figured out with an emphasis on getting quick take-up into the circulatory system. They might begin to cause fast weight reduction in a solid way when they arrive at the course.

These sweet treats work on individuals' satisfaction and energy, however they additionally help in weight reduction, which has a few medical advantages. Assuming you consume them, you might have the option to decrease your general muscle to fat ratio, which could work on both your wellbeing and appearance. In the event that your muscle to fat ratio is as of now somewhat high, this turns into a significantly more essential component to consider.

Get the Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beerwith Apple Juice Vinegar for you now.

End

Since keto chewy candies have been demonstrated to be protected and viable in clinical preliminaries, they have been given the go-ahead by specialists and researchers. Our thorough testing uncovered that they are dependable. Besides, they will work in a strategy that is sure to meet the determinations that are well defined for your situation.

"Official Site" https://healthcare24hrs.com/keto-excel-gummies-maggie-beer-au/

[ketoexcelgummiesmaggiebeera]

Keto Excel Gummies Australia Reviews – Scam Exposed Excel Keto Gummies AU How to Use & Where to Buy ?

Regardless of how cautiously you have controlled your food, it is sensible to assume that you have not had the option to shed pounds effectively. The issue of fat development and the persistent stoutness that it produces requires the disclosure of a drawn out reply at the earliest conceivable date.

VISIT Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer OFFICIAL Site

A few light on the numerous likely historical underpinnings

Regardless of whether you eat steadily more often than not, it might in any case be challenging for you to keep a sound weight in the event that you don't get sufficient rest, don't practice consistently, have specific acquired qualities, utilize a few meds, or lead a stationary way of life. These contemporary events are associated with heftiness, which is characterized as the collection of an extreme measure of fat all through the body. The trademark component of weight is an unnecessary collection of fat.

Request Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer FROM True Site HERE

Various medicines have been made all through the years with an end goal to diminish this continuous uneasiness

There is nobody method that has arisen as the highest quality level for keeping away from weight gain or decrease; rather, the answer for this issue relies upon the specific prerequisites and inclinations of the person who is being thought of. You are presumably not shocked to discover that the eating regimen and wellness business is a truly beneficial one. There are various fat-consuming arrangements accessible available today, and a considerable lot of these things guarantee to be the most effective decision at present on offer. With respect to issue, there is certainly not a lone fitting reaction that can be advertised. Truly, do you believe that they are great?

Conceivable pursuing a choice on the best way to continue right presently appears to be testing. In the accompanying passages, I'll carefully describe our item, Maggie Lager Chewy candies, which has won a few honors and is held in extremely high regard.

Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer are an enjoyable toffee fabricated from plants that assists people with consuming fat and make do with the difficulties that are connected with being overweight. The sweet shop organization that makes these treats makes the bold case that eating them might assist individuals with keeping a sound weight. At the point when you whittle down one of these delectable toffees, you won't actually think about the quantity of calories that you're missing.

Snap to Purchase Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beerwith ACV from True Site

Individuals who are now overweight or stout are the ones in particular who will not be unfavorably affected by taking these prescriptions, hence they are the ones in particular who get an opportunity of conceivably profiting from them. They are the ones in particular who have a chance of truly utilizing those things, consequently you ought to give them need. This shows that no other person gets an opportunity of benefitting from them and that they are the ones in particular who can do as such.

In the present society, individuals of any age have a shared objective: they need to look and feel too as they can, however some of them might require additional assets to assist them with accomplishing this objective. Thus, a ton of people choose to connect with fitness coaches in the assumption that the mentors would have the option to accelerate the cycle and help them in achieving their goal. In spite of the way that it is trying to gain and keep a sound weight, perhaps of the most regular issue individuals face is the daunting task of attempting to keep a solid load consistently.

Because of the way that our occupations need such a great deal our significant investment, most of us struggle with dealing with our wellbeing overall. The unfortunate eating schedules that most of us have taken up might be considered for the most part liable for the current state where we track down ourselves. An eating routine that is low in fundamental supplements is in many cases liable for the improvement of additional fat, otherwise called corpulence. There will constantly be certain individuals who experience difficulty creating and keeping up with advantageous propensities, regardless of whether the incredible larger part might find success. Your endeavors to get more fit might profit from expanding the times each week that you participate in actual work. Numerous people simply don't have the monetary means to stand by the necessary timeframe prior to setting their procedure in motion.

Whatever amount of we might need for it, life doesn't necessarily in every case work out the manner in which we expect it would. Ketogenic slims down are frequently proposed with the end goal of weight decrease. Following a ketogenic diet might require as long as a month, during which time an individual is at a much expanded chance of creating serious medical conditions. Taking into account the dangers implied with such conduct in contrast with the upsides of fast weight decrease, it is unreasonable to accept that it would be worthwhile. Ketosis-actuating enhancements might be helpful in the administration of this condition.

By utilizing Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer, you might get more fit rapidly and without any problem. You might get thinner without starving yourself or practicing unnecessarily for extensive stretches of time. In any case, this nutrient doesn't influence real physiology similarly as the others do. Having been given the all-reasonable by the FDA, the item may now be made accessible for buy by the overall population. This promptly accessible substance can possibly help the fight against the development of exorbitant fat. The maker of these chewy candies declares that eating them will provide you with the strength of body and psyche to face the hardship of commotion welcomed on by any significant life progress.

It's not difficult to carry out, and it will not have any negative results on your wellbeing, so it's an incredible strategy for killing overabundance fat.

It assists you with getting in shape by expanding your metabolic rate and working on mental clearness. The way that it is made completely from natural materials likewise assists it with gainfully affecting the planet. One of the main advances is figuring out how to successfully invest to utilize the effort delivered by fat breakdown. Since it is now so obvious how it helps weight reduction, we can take a gander at the other potential advantages it gives.

Is it true or not that you are interested about the aftereffects of utilizing Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer?

Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer get their BHB content from a wide assortment of plants. It poses a flavor like treats and seems to be a sticky bear, two things that are promptly engaging. These Keto Excel Gummies Maggie BeerAustralia go to work rapidly, and standard use for just one month might prompt a decline in how much fat that has developed over your body. These chewy desserts' extraordinary piece helps with weight reduction and muscle improvement. It is astounding that you have figured out how to upgrade your bulk while diminishing your caloric admission.

By focusing on stomach fat, which is famously difficult to annihilate with additional customary ways, these tablets might work with weight reduction in districts like the arms, legs, and chest. You ought to take these dietary enhancements, and you might have the option to accelerate the aftereffects of your weight decrease in the event that you take them notwithstanding your customary activity program. Specialists have shown that the regular nutrient that advances weight reduction affects the cerebrum, which might add to expanded efficiency.

How could it be utilized flawlessly?

Ordinary utilization of these pills might work on your body's capacity to flush out destructive toxins from the general climate. On the off chance that everything goes as expected, a decent hot shower will place their kidneys and livers in a superior condition of preparation to complete their essential obligations. Assuming the liver can't produce sufficient ketone bodies, it won't work typically. These ketone bodies might be utilized to produce energy, or they might influence the body's previous fat stores. These pills might further develop absorption and mitigate acid reflux side effects including indigestion and swelling. The spot to get them is here.

In the event that you are on a ketogenic diet yet need to fulfill your gum-biting desires, Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beer might be a decent decision. These desserts were figured out with an emphasis on getting quick take-up into the circulatory system. They might begin to cause fast weight reduction in a solid way when they arrive at the course.

These sweet treats work on individuals' satisfaction and energy, however they additionally help in weight reduction, which has a few medical advantages. Assuming you consume them, you might have the option to decrease your general muscle to fat ratio, which could work on both your wellbeing and appearance. In the event that your muscle to fat ratio is as of now somewhat high, this turns into a significantly more essential component to consider.

Gains in psychological well-being, weight reduction, hunger the executives, and metabolic rate have all been connected to keto chewy candies, a sort of low-carb candy. [Footnote required] A gigantic corpus of examination by regarded specialists in the field upholds these benefits. Among the numerous expected advantages of keto chewy candies is their utilization in the treatment of mental problems. These desserts are unprecedented in light of the fact that they might reduce hunger, accelerate recuperation from the outcomes of stoutness, and backing the upkeep of good wellbeing.

End

Since keto chewy candies have been demonstrated to be protected and viable in clinical preliminaries, they have been given the go-ahead by specialists and researchers. Our thorough testing uncovered that they are dependable. Besides, they will work in a strategy that is sure to meet the determinations that are well defined for your situation.

Get the Keto Excel Gummies Maggie Beerwith Apple Juice Vinegar for you now.

[violettelueur]

— FUSHIGURO MEGUMI || LET’S NOT LOSE EACH OTHER

↳ featuring : fushiguro megumi from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : mention of blood, mention of death and grammar issues

↳ form : imagine

↳ published : 04 february

↳ pronouns : non specified in imagine

↳ word count : 1.2k

↳ synopsis : during a mission, you had unconsciously made the choice to take a hit for fushiguro leading you get injured during the process, what will fushiguro’s reaction towards your reckless actions be like?

↳ request : I love your writing 🥺 can I request a Fushiguro imagine or hc where maybe the reader takes a hit for him and gets hurt?, (Angst ending in fluff)

↳ barista’s notes : here is another imagine for you all and it is fushiguro megumi’s turn ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ and yes, those manga books were worth the purchase, ariana grande said retail therapy right? i hope you enjoy your cup of classic black coffee (jujutsu kaisen request!) and please don’t be shy to order again soon ʕ￫ᴥ￩　ʔ

“What the hell was that Y/N!?” Fushiguro shouted in anger as he ran up to you completely in panic, struggling somewhat from the pain he was experiencing on the side of his body after finally managing to defeat the curse he was facing.

Right now, you were leaning against a cliff wall where there was a large crack in the middle due to the impact that it had endured when your body hit the solid rock. Of course, you were in pain, probably had a few bruises in the process, but the agonising feeling was going numb at this point since you knew the boy who was in front of you right now was okay.

From what you could recall, you and Fushiguro were on a mission together that was set by your teacher Gojo Satoru. Unexpectedly, during the middle you and him were suddenly ambushed by two high-level curses, forcing you both to split up to face on at the time. Fortunately, you had managed to exorcise the curse you were facing despite the grade you predicted to be, yet the same couldn’t be said for your boyfriend who seemed to be struggling. However, after that, it became completely hazy.

All you could remember was Fushiguro laying on the ground for a split second, then the illuminating light of magenta from your curse spell to create a shield to protect him as well as you, to the act of the back of your body to hit the cliff you were against now.

‘Did I take the hit for him?’

Shifting your eyes to the side, you suddenly noticed how bloody your left arm was. Numb. Have you broken it? You wouldn’t be surprised if it was, that was the usual hand you used to support the layering shield you casted, but the curse somehow broke the last layer resulting in you taking most of the damage compared to your counterpart.

“Y/N?” Fushiguro quietly muttered, as he kneeled down next to your body leading your eyes to shift back to your partner, who now expressed a face of pure concern as well as vexation combined causing you to come to the realisation that you were going to have a lecture at this moment in time.

‘I swear, sometimes he could be my dad rather than my boyfriend’

“What the hell was that? You shouldn’t have been so reckless!” Fushiguro yelled in frustration, causing you to look at the stoic sorcerer with sharpened eyes with a warning glare pending. In his defence, you completely understood why he was irritated at you, you threw yourself out there in front of an attack that you probably knew you couldn’t completely cover since the shield wouldn’t develop fully due to the small space of time you have. However, in your defence, Fushiguro was completely vulnerable at that moment and if he took the attack head-on, you knew he wouldn’t be standing right now or probably worse.

“You were on the ground, what else could I have done?” you questioned in a whisper tone, knowing if you had shouted at the shikigami user, you would either feel the pain of your injuries again and Fushiguro will yell at you more for being ‘irresponsible’ while also feeling the pain of his injuries that he had also sustained before you protected him.

“You didn’t have to jump in front of me like that! Are you stupid?” Fushiguro angrily asked while unable to hide the crack in his voice, leading you to slowly but carefully lift up your right hand to gently wipe away the stray tear that was slowly breaking down his composure. 

Since the start of your relationship, you never once saw Fushiguro tear up in front of your very eyes. You have seen his mind swim through guilt and pain, every jujutsu sorcerer has once or maybe twice in their career. However, tears were a whole nother thing for you. There was no point in arguing with him now.

“I’m so sorry,” you apologised to him while cradling his face with the same hand you used to wipe the clear tear away. “sorcerers rarely die without regrets, and if I didn’t protect you, I will regret that with my whole being Megumi,” you explained, knowing it wouldn’t get to him but it was nice to voice out your opinion, “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

“I can’t lose you Y/N! I nearly lost my sister but she’s not waking up, I can’t lose you in the process!” Fushiguro screamed, leading to his agony to echo throughout the open area you both were currently located leading to some of the birds, who were looking down upon the scene, to fly away in fright while the stream that was near couldn’t conceal any hint of pain in his voice.

Tenderly, you moved your hand from his cheek to the back of his head before pulling him in to rest his forehead on your shoulder, knowing right now that Fushiguro didn’t want the world to see his helpless state even if there was no one but you to witness it. Leaning your head on his, you felt his erratic but soft locks brush against your cheek while his face buried further into the crook of your neck causing you to feel the sensation of damp tears seeping through your white dress shirt.

Steadily, Fushiguro's position dropped causing him to lean on your body slightly but made sure he didn’t make any contact with your left arm in any way as he began to relax in your hold. Even though Fushiguro wanted to prove himself that what you did was rash and heedless, there was a purpose to it. If you hadn’t moved yourself or put that protective spell in front of him, he would have either been in a worse condition than you were in right now or worse as you had hinted in your reasoning.

“Even though you tell me that you can’t lose me, I can’t lose you too Megumi, even if I die, I can’t make the world lose you,” you informed him as your use your hand to brush the bottom of his hair as you bit your lip to hold the tears that were threatening to pour down your face. “Besides, you look like you're not in good shape as well,” you joked with him in a humorous tone, trying to make the tense and suffocating atmosphere lighter - even that comment made Fushiguro’s lips tilt upward slightly knowing what you were trying to do.

“That’s not shocking, you’ve seen me injured many times,” Fushiguro commented back, causing you to giggle slightly before wincing as a shock of pain travelled up your spine leading you to come to the conclusion that you might have also gained some bruised ribs as well. Fushiguro quickly moved away from your body much to your disapproval, before taking your hand from the back of his head to his, as he began to interlock your fingers together as he then looked down at your connecting hands as a way to confirm that you were really here with him, savouring the warmth that was travelling through your hand to his.

“Let’s not lose each other, okay?” he asked in a whispered tone, knowing in some way it was possible for the promise to come true even when the chances were extremely slim.

“Yeah, let’s not lose each other”

[notathingjustthere]

Not This Time

A/N: Honestly this feels incomplete and dry but I got frustrated arguing with myself lol. I wanted to post something today, because if I keep pushing it off I will never post anything so here it is. I’m trying.  

Pairing: Ransom Drysdale x Reader

Word Count: 3525

Summary: Ransom oversteps a boundary and cannot seem to accept the consequence of you ignoring him permanently.

The rude interruption that graced your morning, would leave drained for the rest of your day. Your blurred eyes slowly zeroed in on the small scraps of confetti that would eventually cover the floors of your bedroom. The popping sound had woken you up in alarm, and the frown that graced your face said enough. 

The evil faces that turned up in your bedroom were painted in glee, whiles they wished you a happy birthday in unison. “And who’s cleaning that up?” you groaned, naturally reaching for the phone on your bedside table and squinting when the brightness assaults your eyes.

It was only 9:23 in the morning, the alarm was usually set for 11:30 on your weekdays, but you tended to snooze till 12:15. You weren't a morning person and your friend Lizzie knew this when she pleaded on your behalf, arguing that 10:00 was a far more reasonable time to wake you up. Mila, your other friend had disregarded the input of course. 

As of late your weekends were more often than not reserved for sleep, this one being no different. Monday would be a holiday so the next 72 hours were intended to be spent alone in your house, at least that had been the plan. You had been feeling more dull than usual, and even your restocked liquor cabinet failed to excite you. 

The brunch set up in your backyard was very much up to par with your tastes.  It felt pointless to change so you still wore your pajamas, after washing your face and complaining about the time. Your friends had gone all out for the small gathering, hiring quite the eye candy of servers. Each one waited at the table, ready to help you girls to your seats. 

Your eyes lingered on one of the men a bit longer than intended, and the unexpected wink sent your way forced your eyes to look elsewhere. Mila jerked at your elbow, before wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at you. You had rolled your eyes before bursting out in laughter, enjoying the rest of your late morning meal with your two best girlies. It had been a while since you saw your friends, so you were glad, to say the least

Unlike you, Lizzie and Mila grew up accustomed to a lifestyle that only old money could provide. They didn't work as often as you did, which made it harder to fit into each other's schedules during the week. You did not grow up poor per se, but when compared to your friends, you could have been perceived that way. Your mother was a professor at Brown University, a fairly successful woman you thought. 

You had found your own definition for success, living comfortably and content with yourself,  as you often described it. Working in a high-level position for a growing green energy company, you took pride in your resilience. Many of your years were filled with uncertainties but finally, you had made something of yourself. The full ride to Harvard was where you met Lizzie and Mila, never expecting to develop a long-lasting relationship.

The cell you kept for personal use remained ignored after Lizzie dragged you out of bed that morning. The ringer was often placed on silent, resulting in poor communication habits with your friends. It was noon before you thought to check your device, the notification centre being flooded with messages and alerts. 

Most you assumed were birthday wishes from people you hardly talked to anymore and some that you were only associated with because of status. They meant very little to you, but the sham thankful replies you sent were only to keep face. 

A particular contact had occupied your thoughts for the past two weeks. The spam of messages you left open yet unread grew steadily. You were intent on ignoring him for as long as you felt necessary. He was not important enough to ruin your mood this weekend, or so you thought.

The last bits of sparkling wine settled nicely in your stomach, your chest feeling warm and tingly. You appreciated the quality time spent with your friends but it was time to resume back to your initial plan for the weekend. Lizzie and Mila had their own plans and intended to make your day as lively as possible. On any other day, you’d be down for a good time, but as of late you felt out the mix.

For gifts, Mila had opted for this beautiful emerald green bag from Bulgar. The serpent’s head-shaped clasp suited your corporate persona, which she admired. Lizzie gifted you a pair of Prada boots that she felt were suitable to your tastes. 

It was 6 pm when the two informed you of the private room they reserved at a club. Lizzie’s boyfriend would attend, including two other guests, you were well acquainted with. You weren’t interested at first but eventually caved in at the last minute thought of letting loose and having some fun. 

Your ringer silenced another phone call, it was his 86th one since last Friday. You were impressed with his persistence, figuring he would have given up by now. Newer messages had poured in, none of which you spared a glance until the last message he sent in.

“Fine, if this is how you wanna play it” you read. 

The spat you had gotten into with Ransom, had been your last straw. He was quite the specimen, but a prick at that. The trust fund baby had been spoiled his whole life, and couldn’t seem to handle not having his way for once. 

The relationship that brewed between you both could only be described as complicated. It had taken a lot to manage and handle the baggage he brought with him, but you both had balanced each other for a period of time. Now, you were bent on moving on, trying to convince yourself that you were over him, as he also tried to.

It was at Mila’s charity event that you would officially meet the douche, having only heard of him before. The free champagne helped soothe your nerves that night, as you often would be riddled in anxiety. It was an art exhibition, and you’d gotten roped into a conversation with the famous Harlan Thrombey, discussing a painting you knew a thing or two about. 

That was when Ransom had walked in, interrupting the conversation. You had turned away, fiddling with your glass as you patiently waited for them to finish whatever it was they were briefly discussing. Harlan turned to you, and introduced Ransom, before announcing that he would have to leave you shortly to give a speech. 

At the time Ransom didn't really catch your eye, you avoided making eye contact as you usually would with new people and had missed the way he looked at you. He wanted you in his bed for the night, and you had indulged him likewise. You were gone by morning that day, never being one to wait for the usual awkward boot out. 

Maybe you didn't notice it at first, but his face had begun popping up at your usual spots more and more. You’d run into him at a coffee shop where you often scheduled meetings with prospective clients. There were a couple more hookups here and there before he asked you out to dinner five months down the line. That was almost three years ago. 

Neither one of you talked about making the relationship official until you initiated the conversation. You had been on multiple dates, including the occasional family dinners his family hosted. You never did like attending them, but Ransom had wanted you at his side. You both spent a lot of time at each other's homes, and soon enough it wasn't just for the sex. 

He’d thought of you as his home and maybe you did too. On most days you preferred to have your space, but as of late you missed his not-so-subtle touches whenever he’d pass by you in the kitchen. 

That didn't seem to matter now, because you would never admit it out loud or to yourself. Ransom on the other hand loved being in close contact most of the time. As much as he denied the fact, you’d let him pretend the cuddling sessions during movie nights were due to the lack of space on the couch. 

You never got accustomed to Ransom’s lavish tastes. He’d been quite the spender on gifts and more times than not you insisted that he return most of his purchases. You could appreciate expensive things, but much rather make those purchases yourself. 

He only ever did demand that you keep a particular gift, one you’d almost given back after learning of its monetary value. The personalised bracelet with his and your initials on it had been your favourite. Not once did you ever take it off, and even now you still wore it after two weeks of ignoring him. 

It all started when your boss confronted you about an offer he didn’t expect you to decline so quickly. He insisted that you take your time to reconsider, and you had been confused, having never heard anything about it. You were suspicious of Ransom, almost immediately, but thought to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

At times he could be controlling, something you’d catch once in a while when you paid attention. There would be discussions about it, but oftentimes things got brushed aside as petty jealousy or mindless over-protectiveness. This time, you couldn’t and wouldn't let it slide. 

It was at dinner time when you decided to break out your thoughts and bring something up. You wanted to avoid confrontation, knowing he’d probably try to lie to your face or react in a way you were not ready to handle. He asked about your day as he usually would, and you took the chance to talk about what your boss mentioned, unaccusing of course. 

He played along with your confusion for a while, looking unimpressed as you went on. The contract would require your stay in China for two years, assisting in project management at the company’s main plant. Two years seemed long, and you could understand why the news was not exactly exciting. You had merely mentioned that you were considering the offer when he cut you off.  

“Well that's stupid, is this some kind of joke?” Ransom's response was expected but you had hoped he would show remorse more if anything. You frowned, arms folded when asking him to elaborate on how he was feeling

“I mean, you're gonna leave me for two years? What am I supposed to do, just wait for you?” 

“I would hope so, considering all that we have been through to make this work?”

“Come on, really?” he chuckled darkly, “You think I would wait?” 

“Why are you acting like this? I thought at the very least you'd pretend to be happy for me before reacting this way” you moved your hands in a way that emphasised your point. 

“Oh like you don't know that I declined the offer.”

The sigh you let out was deep. There it was, the confession you wanted out of him. You hated being lied to more than anything and were very disappointed he played along with your little act for even just a little bit. 

“I mean, but what did you expect? That I wouldn't find out about something as important to me as this?” 

“So what, I’m not as important?” he tried changing the topic.

“You know that's not what I mean, and you don't get to play the victim here. I-i don't get it with you, I’m always understanding, so why can't you return the favour”

He turned silent, which you thought was disappointing considering he had so much to say before. The anger you were trying so hard to settle down began to rear its ugly head.  It was a couple more minutes of silence before he opened his mouth to say something.

“You didn't think I’d find it suspicious that your boss was transferring with you?”

Your brows furrowed in confusion at that. Jonathan had not mentioned anything like that and you knew Ransom didn't like him, especially after a particular encounter at your office. 

He had shown up at your job unannounced a year ago to surprise you for your birthday when he saw the arrangements of flowers that decorated your office. Ransom did not look impressed at the scene, and knowing he would never partake in such a gesture you ruled him out. It wasn't until you noticed the card attached to one of the flowers that read out your boss's name.

“Great Job closing that deal, and a happy birthday! - Jonathan.”  

As if on queue the head of the department walked in with smiles, asking if you enjoyed his gifts. He rambled on about not knowing what you would like, so figured he’d get a little bit of everything.  

“She hates flowers,” Ransom had cut in without hesitation, your eyes widening at his remark. Leave it to him to make the inappropriate gesture from your boss even more awkward. 

“He’s not wrong, but I really do appreciate the sentiment. Thank you” you had given him a kind smile, trying to save face. You couldn't remember what happened after that except Jonathan leaving and your boyfriend silently fuming as he walked over to your window. 

You turned your attention to him, raising an eyebrow as if to question his behaviour. You were not angry with him, this was a rare moment where you actually appreciated his blunt tongue. Hopefully, your boss would now relent in his not-so-subtle advances. 

But that was a long time ago, and frankly, it didn't matter because he was focused on the wrong thing at hand. He had invaded your privacy then lied about it by not saying anything. 

“First of all I got this promotion because I worked my fucking ass off, I don't know what Johnathan has to do with anything.” you decided to defend yourself. Whatever it was that he was insinuating didn't matter because you weren't having it.

“Yeah, you fucking worked your ass off alright. You've got him so whipped that he even gets you flowers” 

You gasped, and it wasn't so much that the words hurt you, but rather the fact that he’d been clearly harbouring this since that day. There was not much you could do about unsolicited gifts that you never accepted in the first place. Besides, after Ransom’s visit, your boss had ceased all efforts. 

“Do you actually hear how insane that sounds? What the fuck was I supposed to do about that?” You reasoned, the calmness in your voice was long gone. 

“Quit” he was so arrogant and entitled. 

You scoffed,  “Well I’m sorry, but some of us actually have to work, to earn a living” the tone you took to, spoke well for you.

“I can take care of you, you know that” 

“That sounds nice and all, but I can’t depend on a man who’s never worked a day in his life.” There it was again, the silence.  

“You don't even seem sorry, and you've yet to apologize” the disappointment was evident on your face. 

He rubbed his hands over his face, his nose flaring up in annoyance, “I did what was best for us”  

“No, you did what was best for you” you started but had lost your train of thought. 

“You still don't fucking get it, do you? It's one thing to not want me to leave, but it's completely different when you think that you get to make decisions for me.” the words spewed out. 

“I'm tired of trying to reason with you Ransom, okay? We are done”

It wasn't even a second after, before he grabbed your arm, tightening his hold on you and yanking you towards him. “We are not done until I say we are” 

For a moment there he scared you, he had never put his hands on you like that, at least not outside the bedroom. Your stance did not falter when you yanked your arm away from him “Don't you ever put your hands on me again.”  

The initial shock had long subsided when you decided to speak for the last time. “Let me remind you, that you're that one that begs me back every single time! But not this time, I'm tired of you. T-tired of your shit, the jealousy, childishness, everything!” Those were your last words before your tearducts gave up. 

It was the first time he had ever seen you actually cry. Occasionally he would witness you shed a tear or two, like when you’d receive a wrong order of what you wanted, or something equally as petty.

 He tried to come closer in an attempt to comfort you, but you pushed him aside then turned away. He decided to walk out then and there, leaving you to deal with your own sorrows. 

You remember that day so vividly, and each time the memory replayed you did something to distract yourself. Much like you were doing right now at the club with your friends. The boost that alcohol gave you, left you chatty but numb. 

The buzz had you going for a while, completely indulged in a game of pool with Mila who was effortlessly schooling you. She could not let you win, not even on your birthday. It was the commotion at the door that drew your attention to Ransom arguing with the security guard and Lizzie's boyfriend, Dan. 

“Look dude, she doesn't want you here. Come on don't make this difficult” you didn't realise it but you had made your way towards Dan’s voice, not really processing what was going on. It was the sound of Ransom's knuckles punching Dan in his nose that woke you up from your little daze.  

“I said get out of my way” Ransom tried to push his way through.

“Ransom” you yelled out.

His head turned towards you rushing to Dan who held his nose up in pain. You apologised profusely as you checked his injury, thankful that nothing was broken or bleeding. You turned to your ex-boyfriend annoyed, ready to talk his ear off until you remembered you didn't care anymore.

“If you think this is how to get me to talk to you in good grace, then I don't know what to tell you,” you said, pointing behind you at Dan and Lizzie.

“What do you want? ”You sighed frustrated, after signalling the security guard off. He really wasn't making this easy for you. His hands had twitched before when you held Dan’s face to inspect his nose. He knew better than to make things any worse than it already was. 

“Look, so maybe, I have stuff to work on, and maybe we can both work on this”

“Mmm, you think so?” you asked rhetorically. It took him two weeks to come to this conclusion, and you noted how he did not start with apologies. He wanted to skip out on the guilt, but you wouldn't let him.

He tried to get closer to you, wanting to feel you against him and to reminisce in the sweet warmth he missed so much. You allowed him to, and for a moment you revelled in his familiar body heat as well, ignoring everything else around you. You let go of him after a while, distancing yourself to make it easier on you.

It took a lot to keep your composure, a part of you wanting him back but knew much wouldn’t change if you did. You took a deep breath, mentally preparing yourself to relay whatever decision you had made. You were right about one thing, Ransom would always beg you back. Never-ending the cycle of broken boundaries, possessiveness, and jealousy. 

“Look Ransom, I couldn’t give you another chance even if I wanted to” you sighed loudly. “I-it goes against my principles, and that's all I have right now. So please, just leave.” you pleaded.

Ransom’s eyes hardened, he wouldn’t back down. This time you noticed the speck of regret in his eyes, but to damn with his jealousy. He didn't want this to end, and he hadn’t meant for it to. 

“Come on, don't be so stubborn, Y/N. I love you, is that what you want me to say? I’ll do anything just say the word” 

You smiled with hurt in your eyes as you looked at him. The words didn't mean much to you when his actions suggested otherwise. It was the insincere note in his tone that made it easier, but maybe he had meant it. His eyes were much more expressive than his words could be, not that it changed anything.

You simply shook your head no, looking down at your hands and playing with your fingers. 

“No, you don't” 

The cheap trick at making amends, would not coax your forgiveness, not this time.

Thank you for reading :) 

A/N: My  sister requested that I put her in the credits for her lil two cents in some of the dialogue, so here she goes. 

[jerardeusebio]

When I say “workout,” I really do mean all physical exercises other than running. Before this coronavirus pandemic, I’ve mostly worked out at home. Yes, I’ve availed of a gym membership and found enjoyment in going to one, but this has happened only twice. And these two occasions, they were brief and far between. To illustrate: the first time I had ever set foot in a gym was right after college, around 2009. I went to that gym for about five months and then stopped. The next time would be nine years later, when I moved back home to begin my life as a UPLB academic. But this time, I’d only go to the same gym for three months.

While I did and still do appreciate the equipment variety and quality, the cool temperature, and the very idea of carving out time and headspace to exercise, which most gyms are able to offer its clients, I’ve always found it difficult to buy into the lifestyle. And over the course of the last ten years, I’ve wondered long and hard as to why. Today, I’m attempting to narrow it down to three things:

Running. I often tell my friends that running has saved my life. I don’t mean to be hyperbolic about it. This, on a biological level, is accurate. As someone who’s had to manage anxiety disorders since childhood, I know this to be a fair statement. Running regularly has allowed me to traverse the high wire that life is. And sure, it was on a treadmill that I started running (and liking it), but it was never going to be where I’d stay running. It’s like how cyclers don’t reinstall their training wheels. The whole point of getting them in the first place is to be able do without them later on. The treadmill acted as my training wheels. I hopped on determined to eventually be off of it. Since running became my exercise, the one sport that I had, with great purpose, weaved into the fabric of my identity, the gym and all its other equipment soon felt peripheral. And I wasn’t going to keep paying money for something that I’d, time and again, view as peripheral. 

Money. My 2009 gym membership was paid for by mother as a college graduation gift. I was grateful, but I knew it wasn’t going to be forever. There was some expectation, as I was fresh out of college at this point, that I would eventually earn to pay my keep. And while I knew good physical health was necessary and important, I quickly realized that gyms weren’t. Not necessarily. They were means to an end, and costly means they were. So, when I could no longer swallow my pride, I stopped going. I shifted my focus on running, which at that point I was already falling in love with. I made UPLB campus my gym. I landed a job, eventually. And gym fees would never again fit into my budget. As I invested some money, little by little, on things like dumbbells, jumping ropes, and running clothes and shoes, it became crystal clear that I could do without gym access because (1) I really don’t need it and (2) I couldn’t afford it. Even when I found myself working in the Metro, many years later, and would pass all these posh gyms on my way home, I never ended up seriously considering them. Other things would always come up as more important.

Philosophy. On the first night that I got to hang with Dylan’s friends in Manila, we walked past this construction site on the way to SaGuijo. It was after dinnertime and the construction workers were preparing to retire. One of them had his shirt off and was displaying his chiseled body, cuts illumined by the fluorescent bulb above him. I remember being tagged by Dylan, cued by the sight of this hot construction worker, to share with his friends my ideas about gym-going. I told them what I had told Dylan earlier, that I found it quite ironic that many construction workers get paid to do manual labor and, as a consequence, get to exercise and develop a nice physique, while white collar workers (who go to the gym) have to pay to exercise and be healthy, and, if they’re really determined, develop a nice physique. This was something that I had thought about in my first few months, that time already half a decade ago, at my gym. It hadn’t taken long for me to begin wondering about what I was doing, and why only rich (and/or connected) people went to the gym with me. The more I thought about it, the more I found it ridiculous that I had to pay in order to be healthy and physically active. While for laborers, the work was to lift sacks of cement to build something, the office workers pay to lift iron discs to use what would otherwise be unused muscles. If my job, diet, and lifestyle were so great, then why was I overweight? Why was I struggling? Why was it a good job if it kept me glued to a chair seven hours a day? This to me said so much about how we’ve evolved to define “work” the way we do today, and why manual and physical labor is often frowned upon as menial and low-paying. This also makes sense when I think about physical education classes being excluded from grades computations. Why? Are cerebral tasks necessarily more important than being physically fit? Aren’t those things tied? It also says so much about how we’ve capitalized on these gaps. Again, it seems absurd—if one were to sit down and really think about it—to be working so hard to be able to pay for gym fees and medical care once our health deteriorates because of the kind of inert work that most of us are taught to value and have to do. It is with this philosophy that I decide, each time I get the opportunity to, to not to be part of this culture and commit to making the most of home workouts.

To my friends, I advocate working out at home. I do feel it’s the most compatible for many, if not all of them. But I would understand if they find going to the gym the best choice that they have. I’m sure some of them have thought about it as much as I have, maybe even more. Still, in general, the incentive system to be healthy in our current setup is not that great. Those who have more means, who enjoy more privileges are more likely to be fitter. Even I, just by having ample space for home workouts, already outprivilege so many. Unfortunately, the incentive system is similar for food. Eating more healthy (organic, vegan, whole) is seen as more expensive. Less healthy choices like highly processed foods are relatively cheaper and more accessible. Not to mention education, which allows us to make better food choices. This is were some of our healthy construction workers would lose. In this scenario, as in too many others, it is those with less that are disadvantaged. I digress, I know. I’m afraid more of this must be for another sad and sobering blog entry.

I’ll maintain, though, that if one wants to be fit, going to the gym is not the only option and certainly not the cheapest. The first few months of the pandemic have proven this, as most of my friends went on to do their exercises at home. 

I can’t speak for them, but me—I’m relieved I no longer have to shower before working out, to commute, to find a nearby parking space, to wait for an equipment to free up, to suffer feeling looked at and judged. Mostly, though, I'm glad I don't have to pay to be motivated to move about. And I guess this setup has been working out well for me because exercise has always been a solitary thing for me, like how I prefer running by myself because it gives me a chance to hear my own thoughts, count my own breath, and communicate with my body.

Over the years—and there have been many—the equipment count at home has steadily increased. Just a few months ago, a stationary bike and a pull-up bar were added to my arsenal, thanks to my brother’s efforts. Last week, I purchased the very first pair of training shoes I’ve ever owned. They’re sure to give my running shoes (the wrong pair for lateral movements during HIIT) a nice break from indoor exercises. And these new kicks have been so far great, and I’m looking forward to working out with them for years, in the comfort of my own home.

[dennou-translations]

K SIDE:GREEN – Chapter 1 (Part 2)

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“‘Electricity’, activate!” Letting out a resonant voice, Hikotarou raised his PDA up high.

Isn’t this guy reading too much manga? Should I stop looking up to him after all? Sukuna thought, hands buried inside his pockets, yet the PDA’s screen started glowing green before his eyes.

“Eh?”

As if to sneer at his foolish reaction, a green shine burst from within the terminal. Drawing a zigzag track in the empty air, the green lightning pierced a PET bottle about five meters away. A chemical-like smell of melted plastic drifted from it.

Sukuna approached the burned PET bottle, and as if to say that he was acting without thinking, he touched it.

“Hot!”

Instantly, he flung it away. The PET bottle made a loud noise as it hit the ground. White smoke dissipated in the wind. A blistering appeared on Sukuna’s hand.

“What’re you doing?” Hikotarou cackled a laugh.

With his back turned to that laughter, Sukuna was looking down at his hand, forgetting to even blink.

That was real. It was neither magic nor a trick. A real supernatural power.

He had never even imagined that something like it existed in this world. Games were games, not reality. It was exactly because he usually played many of them that Sukuna was perfectly aware of this much – or at least he intended to be.

However, the words that Hikotarou had said to him one day came back vividly. A video game that one could play in the real world. That was most certainly a fact, not a metaphor or anything of the sort.

Sukuna heard an unfamiliar noise. A steadily pulsating beat. That was something Sukuna could hear from nowhere other than his own chest. A fragment of a world that had only ever exited within fiction and fantasy was unmistakably floating before his eyes – this truth was making Sukuna’s heart beat loudly.

“How’s that? It was true, wasn’t it? You believe what I said now?”

It was a wholly different story that Sukuna was annoyed at Hikotarou, who, in a stark contrast with him, was smirking proudly and pushing his PDA against Sukuna’s cheek. He gave quite some thought to knocking down the device, but that would be lashing out while being in the wrong, which was pathetic. After reflecting a little, he decided to attack from a different opening.

“You said you’d bought this thing, right? How much was it?”

When asked, Hikotarou quickly averted his eyes and said in a low voice, “1k.”

“So expensive! Ain’t that the same amount as the promotion points!?”

1k was a short for 1000. In order to rank up within JUNGLE, the points had to be consumed, and the points required when an E-rank was promoted to an L-rank were exactly a thousand. When thinking about earning that many points in an honest manner, it would likely take almost a month.

“Also, didn’t you say this was disposable or something? Don’t tell me this is the end.”

“O-Of course not! I said it was disposable ‘cause there’s a frequency limit! We can still use it!”

“How many times more?”

“Four...”

Meaning that item cost 1000JP for five times of use. Unfair overcharging was an understatement for it. And out of all things, Hikotarou had spent a valuable opportunity to make fair use of those 200JP on a PET bottle. Most likely with the sole purpose of showing Sukuna something nice.

The moment he thought this, something welled up within him.

“Fufu,” he snorted as if about to burst out, a roar of laughter following suit. “Ahahahahaha! What’s with that? Such a waste! Aren’t you an idiot!?”

“Sh-Shut up! It’s fine! Those are my points after all!”

“Even so, you—for something like that—”

“It’s ‘cause you wouldn’t believe what I said if I didn’t do something like this!”

A worked-up Hikotarou was so amusing that Sukuna laughed even louder. If his classmates saw him now, they would be wide-eyed and shocked. Sukuna himself had just found out for the first time that he could laugh with such a strident voice.

“Damn, it ain’t something to laugh so much for. You’re always making such a sour face too,” Hikotarou said with a strained smile. It was apparently influenced by Sukuna’s burst of laughter.

And so, for a while, the two players laughed together.

“But how does this thing work?” After laughing for some time, Sukuna scanned Hikotarou’s terminal with his eyes. “Doesn’t seem like there’s any mechanism planted in your PDA. It’s the same model as mine.”

“Yeah. Everything is apparently thanks to JUNGLE’s personal use app. Everybody calls it ‘ESP app’.”

If one could use psychic powers upon signing in, then there was indeed no social media more revolutionary than this one. It was about enough to become explosively viral, but it had its own reasons to remain as underground.

According to Hikotarou—

“There are these two types, the ‘skill’ and ‘item’, in the ESP app.”

“Skill” referred to powers that could be used constantly. If people called something a “psychic ability” in JUNGLE, it normally indicated one thing. That when rising to G rank and above, they could choose only one power and use it limitlessly. From among many abilities, they would select just one that matched them and nurture it in their desired direction.

On the other hand, any player could use an “item”. However, it was disposable – as Hikotarou had just showed, one had to spend copious amounts of points for each time of use. In exchange, it could be used in combination with skills to develop various strategies.

“You can clear high-level missions by combining those two – that’s what the upper-rankers are doing, it seems. Well, this is just what I heard, since I’m still in a low rank.”

“Huun. Sounds like you can do a lot, depending on the combination.” Looking through JUNGLE’s store, Sukuna nodded as if impressed.

“Yeah. Sukuna, you should think now about which you’re gonna pick when you turn into a G.”

“That so? I can also use it?”

Up until the present, Sukuna had lived a life where “things that he could not do” did not exist. Which was why he had never once thought that he wanted superhuman powers like those from mangas or movies.

The reason for Sukuna to have butterflies in his chest when he saw the “ESP app” was that JUNGLE had destroyed his world.

It was such a wholly different world that it could completely overturn the things imposed on him until now – the tedious common sense and reality – by his parents and the people at school. Coming in contact with a power none of them could imagine and racing to a place their hands could never reach – how thrilling that was!

When he realized, Sukuna was gripping his PDA strongly. This was neither him fleeing from suffocation nor rebelling against parents. Sukuna had just now come to know the true appeal of JUNGLE.

“Right. Aah, that’s right! I’ll rise too! Then, I’ll use even more amazing powers and accomplish bigger missions!”

“Yeah! That’s the spirit!” Hikotarou nodded, laughing.

Sukuna was also grateful that he existed. Hikotarou was the one who had told him about JUNGLE and showed him its real charm – it was all thanks to him.

If he could one day clear up all sorts of missions using various kinds of psychic abilities with Hikotarou, it would surely be extremely, tremendously fun.

It was Sukuna’s first time being excited ever since he was born.

◆

“Well, see ya tomorrow,” Hikotarou said at the three-way junction on the way home that day, waving his hand.

Sukuna stopped walking involuntarily, as their talk had been at the most interesting part. They had looked into the JUNGLE store list, discussed about this and that combination and just as he figured out the best combo, he had started talking about it.

Sukuna’s house was on the right side of a Y-shaped three-way junction. Hikotarou was about to walk toward the left side. Wordlessly, Sukuna went to Hikotarou’s side.

“Sukuna?”

At Hikotarou’s surprised look, Sukuna pouted and turned away. “It’s fine to go the long way around sometimes, ain’t it?”

Hikotarou blinked repeatedly. That gaze was annoying. Enough to make him almost unwittingly forget the invisible combo that he had finally come up with.

“That so? Then hang out with me for a bit.”

Hikotarou did not try to tease him for it. His countenance surly, Sukuna replied with nothing but a “fine by me” to that grinning face.

And so, Hikotarou took a detour. The place he stopped by was a drugstore in front of the station and what he bought was cat food.

As Hikotarou held two one-kilogram dry food packages with both arms, Sukuna asked as if skeptical, “You had a cat?”

Hikotarou averted his eyes with a rather subtle expression. “It’s not like I’m keeping it.”

Through that single sentence, Sukuna was somewhat able to understand the situation. He followed behind Hikotarou, who was walking mutely.

Eventually, the two arrived at a vacant lot on the outskirts of town. In a corner of said vacant lot, where weeds grew boundlessly, there was a cardboard box. Cries of “mew, mew” that seemed to beg for something could be heard coming from inside the box.

“They were four at first,” crouching down and opening the food package, Hikotarou whispered as though talking to himself. “One was the mother and the others were kitties. But one day, the mother was gone, and when I came to see them after a while, the two other than this one were dead.

Sukuna looked around. On a spot at a short distance from there, he could see two small stones lined up beside the block wall.

“This guy here was about to die too, but I did a bit of research, and after I gave him milk and brought him something warm, he managed to recover one way or another.”

“Won’t you try to take it home?”

Still crouched, Hikotarou looked up at Sukuna. He had on a weak smile. “We can’t have pets at my place. My da—my father hates this kinda stuff.”

“Then—I know; how about you use JUNGLE? Send out a mission to find him a foster parent.”

Hikotarou laughed dryly, “I think whoever takes it on will probably just take the points and send the cat off to a health center.”

Sukuna went silent, crouching down.

The little cat was dirty. Its fur and skin were muddy, its tail bent. It was engrossed in eating the food, but once it looked up, its eyes had hardened mucus on them.

Hikotarou took out a tissue and gently wiped it off. “Wanna pet it?”

“That okay?”

Hikotarou raised his voice as he laughed at the dumbfounded question. With a sour face, Sukuna reached out a hand and touched the kitten. Perhaps thinking that he was food, the kitten thrust its nose onto his palm and sniffed it incessantly. It was ticklish. His mouth distorting, Sukuna endured the sensation. Finally, the kitten pushed its body onto Sukuna’s hand and its sleeping breath began to ensue.

As if not to disrupt the revolving, throaty sound, Sukuna complained in a low voice, “Hey. What do I do about this? I can’t move.”

“Won’t it be fine if you don’t move?”

“You!” He let his anger show, but the kitten might awaken if he moved recklessly. As if having bitten into a bitter-tasting bug, Sukuna looked down at the kitten. “Does it have a name?”

“Yeah. He’s also Nine.”

That was Hikotarou’s handle name. Sukuna stared at him with a look that said, “Don’t give it such a confusing name”, yet Hikotarou was gazing down at “Nine” and laughing.

“I’m glad it’s summer right now. A parentless kitty wouldn’t survive if it were winter. Even then, many dangerous things will likely happen to him, but if he grows up just a bit more, he’ll get by on his own—”

“I’ll,” Sukuna opened his mouth before thinking of anything. “I’ll keep it.”

Hikotarou looked at Sukuna with wide eyes.

“My parents probably won’t allow it, but even so, I’ll keep it. I think I can do it. My house is big. I can think of lots of places that neither my parents’ nor the servants’ eyes could reach.”

“Sukuna—”

“That should be better for this guy than here. I can put up a box, a blanket and things like that in our unused warehouse, and a toilet too, I guess. I don’t know about that stuff, but I’ll look it up later. You can also come over when you feel like seeing him.”

As if angry, Sukuna was making a surly face. Hikotarou looked at that expression of his with rounded eyes. Unable to bear the gaze, Sukuna stared down at the little cat once again.

“Of course, only if you’re okay with it.”

Hikotarou replied to Sukuna’s mumbled words, which sounded like an excuse, with a smile that seemed to shine, “It is! I’m counting on you, Sukuna!”

Sukuna laughed sheepishly. The kitten’s sleeping breath ensued windingly from within his hand. While feeling its body temperature on his palm, Sukuna inferred his opinion by muttering a few words, “By the way, can’t you change the name Nine?”

“Nope.”

◆

The home of Nine the kitten was soon found.

There was a wooden shack in a corner of the Gojou estate. Originally used as the gardener’s warehouse, it was now abandoned as the garden tools had been moved to a storehouse in the main residence. The shack, which Sukuna’s parents obviously did not go anywhere near and neither did the servants, was perfect for his purpose. He had arranged the kitten’s needs in a corner of the cramped and dim shack.

He could not possibly bring that cardboard box home, so he had laid a blanket over a basket woven from wood, making it into an improvised bed. The kitten Nine had raised its voice in protest against being moved from its former location, but it soon quieted down after being tossed into the blanket.

He had left it with a box of food, a water bowl and litter for its toilet. He could not take it outside, so he would have to raise it there for a while.

Looking around the small shack, Sukuna had nodded to himself. The kitten would surely be okay there. Nobody would find out. Convincing himself of this, Sukuna had cautiously left the shack and returned to the main house.

Today was the day to eat dinner with his mother.

“How was school, Sukuna?” such words came out of her red lips.

His knife, which had been carefully cutting the meat, stopped moving completely.

Sukuna looked at her with upturned eyes. The appearance of his mother enjoying an elegant dinner on the other end of the pure white tablecloth and silver candlesticks, with two servants at her left and right sides, was almost like the queen of a nation.

“Just normal.”

“‘It was’.”

“It was normal.”

His mother titled her neck a little. With a slight movement from her gaze, one of the servants moved soundlessly and poured wine into her glass.

“Have you been getting along with your friends? Your face has been bright lately. Are you having fun?”

Sukuna was silent.

If she was asking if he was having fun playing with a friend, the answer was yes. But not with the friends she had provided for him – Ninomiya and his former followers. It was with a smart and lively boy named Kue Hikotarou.

What would his mother do if she found out about Hikotarou?

She did not approve of anything that did not act in accordance with her will approaching him. Needless to recall the matter with Ninomiya, if his mother knew about Hikotarou, she would certainly try to keep him away. He could not think that she would be appreciative of things like JUNGLE.

Hikotarou might have to transfer schools because of him. As this possibility crossed his mind, Sukuna was horrified.

After thinking a little, Sukuna answered, “Yes, I am having fun, Mother.”

So you have nothing to worry about. So don’t meddle in anything and leave it as that. Leave me alone—

His mother drank a sip of wine, smiling. “Is that so? Then I’m glad. Your happiness is my happiness—”

Suddenly, the smile disappeared.

She stood up from the chair as if kicking it away. The glass collapsed with a smashing sound, the wine spilling and dyeing the tablecloth red. Approaching the frozen Sukuna with big steps, she firmly grabbed the hand that was still holding a knife and raised it with force.

A raspy voice came out of her lips, which were once tightened into a thing line, “What is this?”

Stock-still, Sukuna looked at it. He had a burn on his right hand. It was the wound that he had earned himself right after school today, when Hikotarou showed him the ESP app.

It had happened due to his own carelessness, and until just now, Sukuna had even forgotten that he had a burn. After all, it did not particularly hurt and he thought it would heal soon.

But his mother was different.

“Explain, Sukuna.”

Sukuna’s mother thought of him as a treasure. He was her property, like gemstones and rings. Of course his mother would be angry if said property was damaged. Whatever the property itself thought did not matter.

Sukuna spoke with a voice that sounded like a gasp, “It—is nothing, Mother. This is just—”

“‘Just’ what?”

“I was eating something hot during lunch and... I touched the food with my fingers...”

It was a painful excuse if he were to say so himself, but he could not think of anything else. Talking about Hikotarou was out of question. If he said he had borne it in class, there was no mistaking that she would check with the school for confirmation. If the lie were exposed, Sukuna’s mother would thoroughly investigate his surroundings.

If this happened, Hikotarou’s existence would definitely be revealed. And if she found out about Hikotarou, farewell would be waiting in the not-too-distant future.

Sukuna’s mother stayed dead-silent, peeking at his face fixatedly. Halting his breath, Sukuna accepted her gaze.

“Is that so?” muttering these few words, the mother let go of Sukuna’s hand.

Sukuna pulled his hand to his chest as if stealing it back. His heart was beating with strong thumps.

As a Crescent Moon-like smile once again crept on his mother’s red lips, she reached her hand out to caress his head. “Mother has an urgent matter to take care of. I will be going now, but you can eat dinner by yourself, right?”

Swallowing saliva as if swallowing lead, Sukuna answered, “Yes.”

“Really? You are a good child, Sukuna.”

Stroking Sukuna’s head in a noticeably rough manner, his mother turned on her heels. The way that the wine splashed on the back of her skirt looked like a spurt of blood was forever seared into Sukuna’s eyes.

◆

Five: You there?

Nine: I am. Got any business with me?

Five: Nothing that you can call “business” in particular.

Nine: Then what is it? Can’t sleep?

Five: Hey. Didn’t anything happen to you?

Nine: I don’t get what you mean.

Five: I mean, like...

Five: Didn’t anyone, like your parents or people from school, say anything to you?

Nine: Aah, I get it. Is it about JUNGLE?

Nine: I told you, didn’t I? That the level of anonymity is super high in JUNGLE. You can change the app icon anytime so nobody can tell who you are just by looking, and you can also hide that you installed it if you feel like it. You’re scared of being found out ‘cause you’re from a good family, right?

Five: No! That’s not it!

Nine: Then what is it?

Five: Like I said...

Five: It’s nothing.

Nine: What’s up with you?

Five: I said it’s nothing!

Five: Just, if anything happens at school, make sure to tell me. ‘Cause I might be able to do something about it.

Nine: Don’t say such creepy things out of nowhere... What, you mean something’s gonna happen to me?

Five: I don’t know. But this is a what-if.

Nine: Yes, yes, thank you for your kindness.

Five: I’m serious!

Nine: Then I’ll answer seriously; I won’t rely on you even if that happens. JUNGLE players are independent by default. No matter if they have friends, they don’t do that kinda thing. Aren’t you the same?

Nine: ......

Nine: Sukuna? You awake?

Five: I am.

Five: I get it. It’s just like you said. Forget about that.

Nine: Ah, that so? Then are you done? I ain’t done with tomorrow’s homework yet.

Five: Haa? You should finish homework the moment you get it.

Nine: Shaddap! G’night!

Five: G’night.

◆

The next day and the one after, Hikotarou did not show up at school.

Sukuna was fretting about all sorts of things, yet it was not as if he could do anything. Hikotarou had said that in the chatroom, but if Sukuna’s mother attempted to keep him away, there was surprisingly little that Sukuna could do.

Sukuna’s mother loved him and tried giving him whatever he wanted. However, it was completely impossible to change her opinions through his. Plead as he might, his mother would do as she willed. His voice would not reach her.

But that did not mean he could fold his arms and watch.

He was the first and only friend that Sukuna could respect ever since he had been born. Just thinking about this friend having to go somewhere far away because of him made chills run through his spine.

Until now, he had never experienced so much fear and anxiety. Although he did feel suffocated and disturbed by his mother’s actions, he had never felt dread.

Before he realized, Sukuna had sneaked out of his room and headed to the shack. He opened the door gently. Relying on the light of his PDA, he found the basket he had left in a corner. Wrapped in its blanket, the kitten Nine had been sleeping soundly.

However, perhaps noticing Sukuna, Nine looked up at him with its round eyes. Raising a sweet cry of “mew, mew”, it scrambled its way up the basket, crawled out and ended up rolling down to the floor with a thump.

“Ah, h-hey—”

He frantically picked Nine up, but this time, it climbed up his arm. As he let it do as it pleased out of not knowing what to do, Nine reached Sukuna’s shoulder, rubbed its head against his neck and curled up on the spot. It was warm and ticklish.

Sukuna’s cheeks slackened. Supporting Nine with one hand, he made sure it would not fall. Sitting down in a corner of the shack, he whispered in pauses, “I gotta protect him, huh.”

As if to respond to his talking to himself, Nine cried out a “mew, mew”.

◆

Even though he had consolidated his determination, on the very next day, Hikotarou popped up in front of Sukuna as he was getting ready to go home.

“Hey, Sukuna. Have you become an L ranker ye—ouch, owowowowow!”

As Hikotarou waved his hand lightly with the same bright smile as usual, Sukuna forcibly grabbed his wrist and went out to the corridor.

Hikotarou raised his voice in protest, “Wh-What’re you doing?! That hurts!”

“Shut up! Why did you take days off!?”

While Hikotarou was not coming to school, Sukuna had imagined all sorts of bad things. Such as, he could be preparing to be transferred or his parents could have told him to stay away from Sukuna. That was why he was awfully irritated by Hikotarou’s carefree smile.

However, Hikotarou, who had no idea about that, said while cackling a laugh, “My bad, my bad. I was just a bit busy with missions lately.”

Apparently, Hikotarou had been absent from school due to fake illness. As he said that he had been running around town while pretending he was at school in order to accomplish JUNGLE missions, Sukuna was flabbergasted.

Feeling spent, Sukuna leaned against the wall. He gave Hikotarou a sharp gaze. Fretting had made him look like an idiot.

At that moment, he realized something. Hikotarou’s forehead was just slightly swollen above his right eye.

“What’s that?”

As Sukuna pointed at it, Hikotarou raised his voice with an “aah” and said, “I hit it in the middle of a mission. Nothing to worry about.”

“Nobody’s worried.”

“Thought so. That aside, wanna go on a mission now?”

At Hikotarou’s shining eyes, Sukuna asked curiously, “Missions can be done in duos?”

“What, you didn’t know? There’s an urgent mission coming out now!”

“‘Urgent mission’?”

Despite finding the unfamiliar term strange, Sukuna tapped on JUNGLE and opened the “mission” tab. As he did so, the words “urgent mission” were indeed dancing over the top row. Unlike the other missions, a large red font was used for it.

The title was “Urgent Mission: Uwagami Town Survey”.

“Activating urgent mission. The mission content is a survey around Uwagami Town. Please record the cityscape and roads of Uwagami Town in photos and videos and upload them. For the photos, the reward is 5 JP each, and for the videos, 50 JP per minute. We will pay double the reward for videos near Uwagami First Street. Details are as follows─”

Sukuna dry-swallowed. “This is around here?”

“Yeah! So it’s a chance! It was activated just now, so most of the players haven’t noticed!”

Hikotarou was excited. Of course he was. Uwagami Town – moreover, the First Street – was precisely the surroundings of Uwagami Elementary, which Sukuna and Hikotarou had to pass through. Meaning that they would earn JPs just by taking pictures of this area. It was as if dirt had turned into gold.

“All right! Let’s go!” Squeezing his PDA, Sukuna gave a broad nod. As if he were infected by Hikotarou’s enthusiasm, his chest started throbbing.

◆

Uwagami Town was a high-class residential area located in the heart of the city center. The adjacent Shimogami Town was a government district where governmental facilities were concentrated, and many people who belonged to government agencies lived in it. In particular, there were police officers stationed in front of mansions where important people lived, watching for suspicious figures.

To start off, Sukuna took a picture of one of said police officers. The police officer merely squinted without saying anything.

“First, 5JP!”

“Let’s go steady! Steady!”

Talking loudly to each other, the two took pictures one after another. A two-lane main street that ran from east to west through Uwagami Town, an enormous building under construction, a vast parking lot, commercial buildings lined up as if to jostle one another, a spacious park and the children playing tag in it.

Upon a more careful look, there were countless other people taking pictures like Sukuna and Hikotarou. Salary men, high school girls, housewives and even elders who, no matter how one looked at it, were over 70 were positioning their PDAs to photograph and record the streets. Amongst them, there were also those who were being interrogated by police officers due to taking pictures too unreservedly. They indeed looked suspicious.

The chances that Sukuna and Hikotarou would be questioned were slim, but they somewhat did not want to be regarded as the same as those people, so they started moving to less popular locations.

“Let’s go, Sukuna!”

“Ah, wait!”

The main street of Uwagami Town stretched through a beautifully maintained city, but when one entered one of the back streets, an old townscape spread out. The back alleys, so narrow that it seemed people would have a hard time just passing each other in them, had branches and leaves hanging over them as if they were tents. Hikotarou and Sukuna sprinted under the sunlight coming through the gaps between the leaves, storing everything that caught their eyes in pictures.

At the veranda of a wooden house, an old woman was napping with a cat on her lap. Just beside the gutter stood an outdated red post. In front of a mysterious shop, there were three lined-up statues of tanuki. Sukuna photographed them all with refreshing surprise.

“It might be my first time coming to a place like this.”

Hearing the whisper that leaked from Sukuna while taking pictures, Hikotarou made a skeptical face. “Your house is around here, ain’t it? Never went exploring?”

Sukuna shook his head. The only part of Uwagami Town he knew was the main street up to the school and its surroundings. He had never made side-trips or eaten outside – he was never given the choice to go “exploring”.

Because by no means would his mother allow such a “vulgar” conduct.

Head tilted, Hikotarou said with a nonchalant voice, “Hu~n... Welp, that’s okay. Then, I’ll be your guide!”

“You know much about it?”

“This area’s my backyard!” Hikotarou said, full of confidence and grinning.

With just a step, they jumped over a stream fortified with concrete. As an unknown dog barked at them, Sukuna laughed at Hikotarou for dropping his PDA. They hopped onto the block walls and rushed through as if to sew the gaps between the houses.

All of it was a new world that Sukuna did not know about. Every time he took cuts of said world, his JP went up. He was accumulating the power to open novel worlds. Absorbed in it, Sukuna pressed the shutter over and over.

Eventually, by the time that this unfamiliar world began to dye itself in the colors of sunset, an electronic sound suddenly echoed from the PDA.

“Urgent mission concluded! The cumulative JUNGLE Points will be calculated now. Please note that any subsequent shooting will not be converted into points!”

As the end of the mission was announced, Sukuna and Hikotarou looked at each other’s faces at the same time.

“How many did you take?”

“About 200, I guess. I’ll probably rank up with this!”

As Sukuna said so, Hikotarou grinned. “Then let’s celebrate!”

Hikotarou turned around, going back the way they had come from. Sukuna followed behind him.

Two arrived at the shop with the tanuki statues that they had seen on the way. The sign that the tanuki were holding had the words “snacks shop” on it.

Sukuna stared at it in puzzlement. “What’s a snack?”

“For real?! No, well, that’s right. You’re a rich kid.”

Sukuna was offended by the disbelief in the way he spoke. However, Hikotarou opened the glass door unconcernedly and stepped into the store.

It was small and dim. The objects tightly crammed into the cupboards and baskets were all things that Sukuna did not get very well.

When he picked one up and inspected it, he found that it was a bag with richly colored gummy-like things inside. It looked like some new type of poison, but he could not rule out the possibility that it was food.

“Sukuna, you’re taking that? Then me too,” Hikotarou said, stealing it from Sukuna’s hands.

“No, hum—”

“Granny~, I’m leaving the money here~.”

“Aight~.”

Ignoring Sukuna’s voice, Hikotarou put money on the front edge of the unattended entranceway and then took cider from the refrigerator. Without time to do as much as be surprised at this innovative system, in which the owner of the shop did not have to even show her face, Sukuna was taken outside by Hikotarou and the two sat down next to the tanuki.

“My treat. We’re celebrating your raising of status!”

Being handed the colorful gummies bag, Sukuna stared fixatedly at it and opened his mouth in hesitation, “Hey, is this...”

“Edible?” was what he intended to ask, yet Hikotarou was devouring them without paying him any mind. Apparently, it was really food.

He opened the seal. If his mother knew Sukuna was eating something that had any foreign substance in it, his mother would probably pass out. That was why Sukuna closed his eyes, readied himself and threw it into his mouth.

“How is it? Good?”

As Hikotarou asked innocently, Sukuna said with an indescribable facial expression, “Tastes like chemicals.”

“That’s what’s good about it. Feel like you’re gonna get addicted to it one of these days?”

“Don’t wanna be.”

Sukuna washed his throat with the cider. Heaving a breath, he looked at the tanuki statues beside him.

“I didn’t know this kind of store existed at all.”

“Told ya that this area was my backyard, didn’t I? There’s lots of other places like this one!”

Earnestly impressed with an “eeeh”, he casually asked, “So your house is around here?”

Hikotarou’s smile instantly thinned. “Hm, well, kinda like that.”

Hikotarou’s complex facial expression caused Sukuna to hesitate asking any further, so he kept his mouth shut. It might be that he did not want to talk about his home circumstances. It was not as if Sukuna wanted to pry either.

Hikotarou was completely different from his “school friends” of until now. He knew Sukuna was a member of the Gojou family, but was not swayed by that. He saw Sukuna for what he was.

So his home circumstances did not matter.

“I see,” Sukuna replied with a mutter, looking up at the sky.

A large airship was crossing the sky, which was painted in sunset colors.

As he ate the mysterious gummy candy and drank the cider, a question left Sukuna’s mouth out of the blue, “By the way, what was so urgent in that urgent mission?”

“Eh?”

“Well, ain’t it kinda weird to make a survey of the city into an emergency? Just what’s the reason to investigate the city in such a hurry?”

Folding his arms, Hikotarou began to think. “Now that you mentioned, it’s indeed suspicious. The reward’s too high in the first place.”

“For starters, who issued that mission? I’d never heard of an urgent mission until now, y’know?”

Sukuna opened his PDA, which was in the middle of charging, tapping the “mission” tab. Even if a mission had already ended, one could check the details from the history category.

Hikotarou explained while doing the same as him, “Just like the name says, urgent missions are missions with a high level of urgency. They’re easy to spot ‘cause they come from the top of the list, but they charge a lot, so not many people issue them. To begin with, only upper rankers can activate these. Well, the one who issued it was—”

“H. N”.

That was the name of the player who had triggered the urgent mission. Apparently formed of just initials, the handle name was tasteless and dull. Even as they tried jumping to the user page, most of the information was private. There was no doubt that this was a top ranker, but they found out nothing more.

Staring in a daze at H. N.’s user page, Sukuna opened his mouth, “Since we’re at it, let’s try to guess. This guy’s objective, I mean.”

“I’m in.”

Meaning that, just as when Hikotarou’s mission and Sukuna’s JP gains had been speculated about, they would try to conclude what goal this H. N. person had that warranted issuing an urgent mission.

“It told us to take pics of the city. Is he a cameraman or something?”

“There’s no way a pro would use photos taken by amateurs. He’s better off doing it himself on that matter.”

“So, in any case, he just needed a big amount of them? He used lots of users for it ‘cause he wouldn’t be able to handle it on his own?”

“If he were taking a bunch of pics alone, he might be warned off by the police. But if it’s done in large numbers, he’d get the pics even if one or two people were caught. Besides—” Sukuna pointed to a sentence in the mission details. “Here says, ‘back alleys that aren’t on the map will give you bonuses’. So he wants info on backstreets, secret paths and the like?”

“For what?”

“The only thing that comes to mind right off the bat is, well – a preliminary investigation, I guess.”

“Of what?”

“Let’s see; some kind of data—”

“Like an escape route?”

The duo’s smiles disappeared at this casual phrase.

Those were disturbing words. As they could not grasp the whole picture, their imaginations were awfully agitated. Pulling their faces close to each other’s, the two continued the “speculation”.

“Escape route for who?”

“If he gotta run, he must be a criminal.”

“Like, say, a robber?”

“There’s government buildings here, so ain’t it more possible that he’s a terrorist?”

Silence.

The “caw, caw” cry of the crows echoed comically. The two burst into laughter at the same time.

“N-No way! There’s no chance that’d be it!”

“Y-Yeah! None, none! No way there’d be terrorists in Japan!”

While laughing, they were aware there a somewhat dry ring was mixed in it. Indeed, something of that sort was, first of all, probably impossible. However, it was not as if it did not exist.

Most importantly, there was nothing they could do now. They had already submitted the photos. No matter what H. N. was scheming, they could do nothing about it.

Even so, unable to erase the vague fear he had once acquired, Sukuna peeked at his PDA. In that moment, a fanfare-like sound played from the PDA. A holographic image of a deformed parrot character – Jumpy – appeared, dancing around Sukuna and Hikotarou’s general area.

“Urgent mission accomplished! 2745 points added to your JUNGLE Points! Rank up! Five has been promoted to JUNGLE L-ranker. Congratulations.”

Just like dates changed, the rank display in his own page was replaced with a flashing noise. From E-ranker to L-ranker. Along with that, the functions that had been restricted until now were unlocked as well. New rank mission ordering rights, mission activation rights, AR function usage rights—

Sukuna felt that his world had expanded yet again.

When he looked to the side, Hikotarou was raising his cider bottle with a cheerful smile.

“Congrats on your promotion, Sukuna!”

“Thanks.”

As Sukuna gave a lopsided smile, he and Hikotarou had a toast with their cider bottles.

Yeah, that’s right.

JUNGLE was the source of Sukuna’s power. It was a window that showed a new world to someone like him, who was bound hand and foot by his parents and simply made to walk the rails that had been decided for him.

No matter how shady it was, he could not think of losing it. That was about as terrifying as losing Hikotarou.

“Hey? Sukuna?”

He came to his senses. It seemed Hikotarou was calling him.

“A-Aah. What is it?”

“Just wondering how the cat Nine is going.”

“Aah, he’s so well that it’s a problem. He climbed on my shoulder a while ago—”

“Eh~, what’s up with that? He’s never done that with me!”

Laughing at Hikotarou’s sullen face, Sukuna said, “Then come see him next time. He’ll be happy too, for sure!”

“Yeah, true. One of these days.” Hikotarou laughed faintly, filling his mouth with cider.

◆

He woke up early that day.

“6AM?” as he whispered, a yawn came out. Sukuna turned off his PDA, put it in his sleepwear’s pocket and got up from his bed.

He had to wake up earlier than usual ever since bringing Nine in. That was the expected, as he was the only one looking after it. He had to set up a time to take care of Nine before going to and after returning from school.

He quietly slipped out of his bedroom and headed to the first floor, sneaking out through the window of an unused guest room. He had secured this “escape route” by making use of Grass Root. He picked places where the servants would not be and times when they would not be around, rushing within the stipulated period.

Therefore, he was at ease. He had made sure that by no means would anyone find out about it.

Upon opening the door, Sukuna learned that this was nothing but an assumption.

Nine had disappeared from the shack.

His heart resounded with a strong thump.

He wondered if it was hiding somewhere. It was a kitten. It might have crawled into a spot that would not cross his mind.

However, he could not find such a breach anywhere in the shack. Neither could he hear its voice. It would always come crying loudly and cling to Sukuna whenever he arrived.

There was only an empty basket and a blanket that had grown cold in there.

He peeked into the bowl that he had filled to the brim with water. It had not decreased in the slightest. Was it not going thirsty or hungry, wherever it was? For starters, where had it even gone? His own expression full of anxiety was reflected over the water in the bowl.

As he looked at himself in blank amazement, a sweet voice coiled around him from behind, “Sukuna.”

His body trembled with a start.

As he turned around with eyes wide-open, his mother was standing at the shack’s entrance. Her red lips were forming a smile. Both her arms were holding a basket with a pure-white kitten on it.

“If you want something, you can just tell your mother.”

Grinning at him while he was motionless as if frozen, Sukuna’s mother left the basket with the white kitten by his feet. Not making the littlest movement, the white kitten stared fixatedly ahead, as if already disciplined to do so.

Words finally spilled from his dry mouth, “Where’s Nine?”

His mother tilted her head, but after catching on, she at last said, “If you mean that filthy one, it has been disposed of.” She spoke while smiling, “You wanted a cat, right, Sukuna? If so, you should purchase a proper one.”

Her hand caressed Sukuna’s hair. As though she were admiring a treasure.

“You mustn’t touch such a dirty stray cat like that one. What if you were scratched and contracted some disease? My dear Sukuna, I can’t let you do that.”

Sukuna looked down at the white kitten. It was well-manneredly, quietly sitting in the basket. There was a luxury accessory, adorned with a golden chain and red ribbon, fitted around its neck.

It was a choker.

While he was looking down at the kitten, a dark emotion gushed forth within Sukuna. It was a sensation that he had tasted countless times until now. When those people had tried to provide him friends. When he found out that those people were watching his room. That was the feeling that welled up inside.

He had managed to swallow it down until now. He had been able to control it. Because he was aware, somewhere in his heart, that there would be no going back once he laid it bare.

But he believed that, if he gulped it down now, something within him would definitely end up broken.

Therefore, Sukuna reached out and took the bowl full of water in his hand. As he glared at his mother, the smile disappeared from her red lips. Fear did not surge even as he saw this. More strongly than that, the dark emotion – “hatred” – was filling Sukuna from the inside.

“WHO—” He swung up the water bowl. “—SAID I WANTED A CAT?!!”

Sukuna slammed it at the kitten.

The bowl did not hit it directly. It collided with the nearby wall, bouncing off a big splash. Struck by said splash, the kitten let out a cry and jumped off the basket. It ran to a corner of the shack and gazed up at Sukuna as if scared of him.

When he saw that look, the dark feeling was gone like a retracting tide.

The kitten was not at fault for anything. It was simply brought here unknowing of anything and made into a replacement for some stranger. It was shameful and pathetic of him to take his anger out on it. He felt like he had become the same kind of person as his mother. Sukuna sensed that his own hatred was aimed at himself.

On the other hand—

Any facial expression had vanished from his mother’s face. She was as expressionless as a Noh mask. Lips sewed into a thin line, she stared intently at Sukuna.

Sukuna did not return the gaze. However, he did not attempt to explain himself either. It was not that he feared doing so. But because he was repulsed of even speaking to her.

After a moment of silence that could be deemed as an eternity, his mother muttered in a few words, “Really? I see.” She then turned on her heels, exiting the dim shack.

Left behind, Sukuna did nothing. He crouched on the spot, burying his face in-between his knees. Recalling Nine’s voice whenever it called for him, the softness of its fur whenever it snuck up to him and the ticklishness of its breath whenever it sniffed him, Sukuna cried with his shoulders shaking.

The white kitten was observing Sukuna.

◆

The next day, Sukuna found the collar that the white kitten had been wearing inside his residence’s trashcan.

That was what happened to the things Sukuna said he did not want.

◆

What should he say to Hikotarou? Lying on his bed, that was all Sukuna could think about.

The answer did not come to him. There was no way it would. The one who had offered to take in the kitten Nine, which Hikotarou found and had been taking care of, was Sukuna himself. There was no way he could tell him that his parents had found out about it and gotten rid of it.

Ever since losing Nine, Sukuna had secluded himself in his room, refusing to go to school or even eat, thinking about this all the while. His parents had knocked on his door and spoken words mixed with persuasion, and every time he heard their voices, he desperately had to overcome the urge to clear them away using the ESP App.

What should he say to Hikotarou? This question without an answer occurred to him whenever he opened JUNGLE and saw messages from Hikotarou piling up.

Amidst his spiraling thoughts, Sukuna became someone who did nothing but fiddle with his PDA. After all, he was able to escape from this reality just by staring at the several lined-up missions in JUNGLE.

The reality was catching up quickly.

It was no coincidence that Sukuna had activated Grass Root at that moment. He was wary of his parents perhaps trying to force him out of the room if he kept shutting himself in it.

Only the security surveillance cameras of the lowest floor could be viewed on Grass Root, but it could detect if someone were to break through the door of his room. He had not decided what to do when that happened, but he imagined that he would likely have to use an item from the ESP App.

However, that did not happen.

The one projected in the surveillance camera was not the robust guard-man. It was a man clad in a wrinkly suit and a boy who he was bringing with him.

“Hikotarou? Why...?”

With the words that he had whispered in a daze, Sukuna awoke at once. There was no “why”. It was because his parents had found out that Hikotarou existed.

Sukuna felt goosebumps. He jumped out of bed and rushed to the door of his bedroom, but gave up on opening it.

There were lookouts on the other side. His mother had arranged a sleepless watch so that she could deal with Sukuna whenever he came out. If he came out, he would quickly be caught and transferred somewhere else. And then, he would never get to see Hikotarou again.

The door’s no good. I need a different means of escape—

He looked back. Outside the window, he could see the trunk of a garden tree about three meters away. Even if one jumped off the windowsill, they would not be able to reach it.

That was the case for ordinary humans. However, Sukuna was a JUNGLE player.

Taking out his PDA, he opened it without hesitation. He activated the item “physical strengthening”, which was within the power of L-rankers.

Instantaneously, a green electric current burst out from the PDA, ran through Sukuna’s whole body and then disappeared into thin air. However, that strength remained within Sukuna. Each time his heart struck a beat, a force that was not his own circulated his blood vessels, his muscles absorbing it.

A countdown appeared on his PDA. He did not know the reasoning behind it, but once this period was over, his power would be gone as well.

In short, he had no time to waste.

Sukuna opened the window and jumped up. The unbelievable jumping power more than compensated for the three meters. The momentum was so strong that he almost missed the tree trunk, spiraling around it when he reached out and clung to it. His eyes spinning from the gymnast-like maneuver, Sukuna jumped from branch to branch and landed as if rolling down.

Sukuna broke into a run barefoot.

It was not as if he could do anything by running. Sukuna’s parents would not listen to his opinions. Rather, they may consider Hikotarou even more dangerous as a cause of his rebellion against them.

However, he had a feeling that he would resent it for the rest of his life if he just watched the current situation with a finger in his mouth.

From the position of the surveillance cameras, he calculated the place where Hikotarou would be at right now. It was one of the normally unused reception rooms. He ran along the outer walls, taking a wide turn around the mansion. Holding onto the reception room’s window, he quietly peeked inside.

And so, Sukuna experienced a lifelong regret.

“Good job on your report,” his father said, sitting on an extravagant chair.

The middle-aged man and Hikotarou were standing opposite to him, on the other side of the office desk. The middle-aged man was giving his father a toadying smile. Hikotarou, standing next to him, was merely staring at his toes with a mask-like expressionless face.

Sukuna’s heart began to beat copiously fast. If he kept looking at this scene, he would lose something important. Even though he knew this, he was unable to take his eyes off it.

“You might be poor, but since you have enough brains to be able to talk to him as an equal, we have selected you to be his friend as a special case.”

Sukuna’s breath caught. The conversation he was hearing through the window was as vague as a nightmare, with no sense of reality to it.

“Make sure to do your job modest and humbly. I have already transferred this month’s payment.”

“Thank you very much! Hey, you show gratitude too.”

While bowing repeatedly, the middle-aged man put his hand on the back of Hikotarou’s head and squeezed it with force. Unresisting, Hikotarou let himself be handled and bowed his head. He weakly muttered incoherent words.

He was extending his gratitude. To Sukuna’s father. To the power of the Gojou household.

His father leaned his body against the backrest and looked down at the two. “However, your interactions seem to be going too far lately. My wife is worried that Sukuna might have become defiant due to bad influence from you.”

The face of the middle-aged man quickly turned pale.

“Who was it that put in word so that someone from the fallen Kue family could somehow attend that school? I would like you to be a bit more aware of that.”

“M-My deepest apologies! Hey, you!”

The middle-aged man grabbed Hikotarou’s head violently. Hikotarou let him do as he pleased. He was mumbling something – perhaps apologizing?

Enough already. I don’t wanna see any more of this.

He did not want to see Hikotarou – his friend – like that. Still, in the end, that “friend” was also nothing more than something those people had arranged for him.

After watching Hikotarou receive punishment for a moment, his father raised his hand. “Do that somewhere my eyes can’t reach.”

“Yes! I-I always—”

“Enough of that. Sukuna is what matters now.”

Hearing the name, Hikotarou sluggishly raised his head.

“He has been confining himself in his bedroom all the time lately. I called you here to convince Sukuna. Talk him into it and bring him out of his room.”

“O-Of course! Hiko! Get ready at once!”

“Hum.” At that moment, Hikotarou’s voice sounded clear for the first time. “Sukuna has been absent from school all this time... Is he sick or something like that?”

Snorting, Sukuna’s father narrowed his eyes as if to poke fun at Hikotarou. “There seems to be no problem with his health. Apparently, he had picked a stray cat recently. By the looks of it, he got angry because we disposed of it. Honestly, children are so...”

Hikotarou went stiff. His small hands balled into fists.

“If he wants a replacement, we can provide anything he wishes. So hurry and do something about this. It will be bad for our reputation if the current situation continues as it is.”

Hearing the words of his father, who thought of no one but himself, Sukuna slammed the windowsill with his hand, reinforced by JUNGLE’s superhuman abilities. The only one who noticed the sound was Hikotarou. His eyes alone moved, taking in Sukuna’s figure. Their gazes met for just an instant. Yet Sukuna would probably never forget those wide-open eyes.

Sukuna peeled his body away from the window. He had lost all reason to stay in that place.

The “physical strengthening” was still within its effect time. Making full use of that power, he ran. Tears spilled as he rushed through the estate’s garden.

That was the first friend he had made ever since he was born. For the first time ever since being born, he had admired someone and thought of him as even cooler than himself. He had taught Sukuna about many things. Such as the enormous power that he had never even imagined and a new world that he had never so much as noticed, even though it was lying right next to him. He deemed the memories of breathing in the air of freedom and of playing around shoulder-to-shoulder with him as brightly sparkling jewels.

However, they were not jewels but glass marbles arranged for him by the adults.

He had nothing. The resounding beating of his heart, the new world that shone so vividly – everything had disappeared. Right now, the all that surrounded Sukuna were adults so filthy they made him want to throw up, as well as the fakes they had provided for him—

No.

“That’s not true,” Sukuna muttered little by little.

At the same time, an electronic voice echoed from the PDA in his hand, “The effect time of item ‘Physical Strengthening’ has expired. If you wish to extend the effect time, please add extra JUNGLE Points—”

“Extend effect.”

“Voiceprint authentication confirmed. Consuming JUNGLE Points in order to maintain effect duration.”

Hikotarou was a fake. A fake that his parents had prepared for him. Whenever he was with Sukuna or whenever he laughed, he had been probably making a fool out of Sukuna deep down.

Nevertheless, it was not as if everything was fake.

Only this power, JUNGLE, was real. True strength. A tangible world. Beyond that window, a new world was spreading out. That was the sole truth.

And right now, having wiped the tears away, Sukuna was seeing yet another world.

In that world, Sukuna was free. Sukuna was lonely. Having lost his only friend, Sukuna figured that there was no longer anything chaining him to that place now. The exciting world that he had once had a glimpse of together with Hikotarou was lost forever, and the only thing spreading out before Sukuna was a desolated, perishing world.

Yet he had no options anymore but to jump into it.

Strengthening this resolve, Sukuna set forth while gritting his back teeth.

◆

On the day that Sukuna used JUNGLE’s superhuman abilities to the fullest, stealing everything he could take and vanishing from the Gojou house, a large number of thieves attacked Uwagami Town.

Multiple government officials’ homes were raided at the same time. After suppressing the police officers guarding them as if it were nothing, the thieves robbed all houses of information related to secrets of the state and disappeared into the back streets and alleys of Uwagami Town.

The Metropolitan Police Department identified the case as a large-scale beta case due to the clear criminal techniques and the testimony of police officers describing them as “physical abilities that would usually be impossible”. The command of the investigation was transferred to Scepter 4.

Sukuna only came to know about it much later.

[razieltwelve]

Stabilise (Final Rose x Game of Thrones)

When Averia had been reborn as Lyara, she had immediately done her best to grasp her new situation. The North was vast, but the more she learned about it, the more her concerns grew. Despite its size, the North seemed to have little in the way of natural resources, and it had to import much of its food simply to survive. The former seemed to be at least partially due to how little her new world understood the ideas behind prospecting and geology whilst the latter was likely due to the relative primitiveness of the farming techniques available and the reliance on manual labour.

She had already dealt somewhat with the lack of mineral wealth in the North. Her theories regarding possible locations for mines had been proven mostly correct although her strike rate left much to be desired. However, without better maps and survey data, there was only so much she could do. She was fortunate too in that her father, Eddard Stark was a good ruler and father who actually listened to his children and subordinates, provided they could justify themselves. He wouldn’t have sent men to check for mines on a mere whim, but he had done so after reading her proposal and examining her reasoning for flaws.

With the North’s wealth set to improve, Averia turned her sights back to one of her more long-term projects: improving crop yields and increasing the area under plough. The two best methods for improving crop yields were to introduce better crop rotation and to identify or breed crops better suited to the harsh North. Given how devastating a mistake could be, she knew her father would never agree to any large-scale changes without ample data.

And that was were Maester Luwin came in. The man was highly intelligent, incredibly loyal, and quite open minded. He had listened carefully as she explained her ideas, and he had agreed that they would need proof before her father agreed to anything. With his help and with her father’s aid, she had been given several formerly unploughed areas to work with. If something went wrong, then it would be no great loss, but if she was successful, the whole North would reap the benefits.

Most importantly, she would be able to accumulate years of data with which to convince her father. The new fields would also give her a chance to test better farming equipment. She might not be Diana when it came to inventing things, but she was brilliant in her own right, and she had lived an entire life in Arendelle, a place whose wintry climate was a match for the North’s.

X     X     X

Maester Luwin looked over the numbers once again. The proof was incontrovertible. The crop rotation methods that Lyara had proposed had greatly increased the yield in the fields she had been given. Her theory regarding the ‘draining of soil’ by certain crops and its replenishment by others seemed to be correct. 

With retrospect, it seemed obvious. The soil provided nourishment for plants. Just as food contained different things that people needed to live, so too did the soil contain different things for plants. Likewise, just as different animals required different feed, so too might different plants draw different things from the soil to survive. Plant the same crop in one place too often, and it was no surprise that it would drain that area of nourishment, leading to failure. But if the crops were moved such that each subsequent crop demanded different things of the soil, then the soil would never be exhausted and in fact might be replenished over time.

Simple but brilliant and insightful - like so many of Lyara’s other ideas.

With this latest season of proof, he was confident that they could now approach Lord Stark and suggest a change in farming practices. Of course, Lord Stark would not likely force the changes upon his vassals. He was not the sort of lord to do that. Instead, he would try it in his own lands first. Should it prove fruitful - and Luwin was certain it would - then his vassals would undoubtedly follow suit. In the harsh North, only a fool would ignore the chance to grow more food.

Yet it was Lyara’s development of mechanical devices to aid in farming that were likely to be adopt most quickly. The North - and Westeros - had used the same plough or something quite similar for countless years. Yet she had designed a better one that could be pulled far more easily using far less livestock. Likewise the seed drill she had invented was a marvel, vastly speeding up how quickly seeds could be planted while reducing how many were lost to vermin. She even had plans on a horse or ox-drawn reaping device and other more advanced devices too.

Of course, finding someone to build these things was not easy. To that end, she and Luwin had sought out the most skilled smiths in the North, and they had moved steadily from mere designs and ideas to real implementations that had proven their worth in the fields she had been given to test her ideas on.

“It is time,” Lyara said. She had been reading through the numbers as well. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

Luwin nodded solemnly. “I think so, my lady. Let us speak to your father.”

X     X     X

Ned Stark listened carefully as Luwin and Lyara explained what they had been doing and what their findings had been. Their words were accompanied by carefully kept records regarding crop yields and other information. Although Ned was no maester, he was still the Lord Paramount of the North. He was well educated in many things related to farming due to how important food was to the North. Every year, they spent much of their money to import food from the more fertile south, and every year, they struggled to equal the harvests of previous years only to find themselves coming up short.

For the first time, the reasons for their struggles were laid bare in words as simple as they were powerful. Likewise, an answer to their struggles was also presented. For a long time, he said nothing. Instead, he stared at the numbers on the page and at the designs on the parchment.

Finally, he spoke. “Who else knows of this?”

“Only Luwin and I know the full details,” Lyara said. “And the smiths involved in making the devices have all be sworn to secrecy. They are loyal men, father. They will say nothing until you give the order.”

“I see.” He smiled. “You have done well. This... I thought you finding those mines was a miracle beyond miracles, but it seems you’ve outdone yourself yet again. With these new techniques and devices...” He took a deep breath. “The money we could save on importing food alone...”

“I know, father.” Lyara’s gaze was calm as if she hadn’t just upended his world yet again. “As the words of our House say, Winter is coming, and I intend for us to be as prepared as possible.”

“Aye, you have the right of it.” Ned stood. “I fear I have neglected this project of yours.” He grinned and shook his head. “In truth, I wasn’t sure if you could create another miracle. I should stop underestimating you, daughter of mine. I wish to see these devices in person.”

The trip to the fields did not take long, and as Ned watched the strange devices his daughter had created get to work, he felt a pang of emotion that he couldn’t quite place. It was part awe, certainly, but there was also wistfulness too. How often he had heard his father mourn the lack of food in the North. Good men and women forced to all but starve when winter came. Had he seen these things, he would have wept at the possibilities. 

“Keep all of this secret,” Ned said once they had finished their demonstration. “We must be careful with this information.” He knew of many in the south who would seek to sabotage them to keep the North reliant on their food. Robert, of course, would send him whatever aid he could, but Ned did not trust the Reach or the West any further than he could throw their rulers. “If we are to build these devices, then we must build them ourselves, using only solid, reliable people of the North.”

“Yes, father.”

“Luwin?”

“My loyalty is to you, Lord Stark,” the maester said. “I will write nothing to my order until you give me leave to do so.”

“Good.” Ned considered the fields thoughtfully. They were bustling with produce. “Still, it may not be easy to convince others to follow your new methods, daughter. We will try them on our lands first. When others see our success, then we will share with them our knowledge.”

“Will you ask a price for it?” Lyara asked.

Ned paused, deep in thought. It would be easy. Men in the North would kill for the knowledge and devices his daughter had developed. Yet, he was Lord of the North. His actions must always be for the good of the North. “Not exactly,” he said eventually. “We will share the knowledge of crops freely with loyal folk from the North, provided they swear not to share it with anyone else. As for the devices, we will keep secret how to make them, but we will sell them at a reasonable price to those from the North who wish to purchase them.”

“A wise decision, my lord,” Luwin praised.

“Aye.” Ned could see it now. He could hoard this knowledge and the devices all for himself and his family, but what then? The other lords would grow bitter and resentful. They would grow to hate him for withholding what they needed to aid their people. By sharing willingly, he won their gratitude, and there was still plenty of profit to be made by selling the devices. Moreover, if people did not have to spend so much importing food from the south, then that was more money they could spend on things from the North. “Make this your top priority,” he ordered Luwin. “And, my daughter, I’m afraid I must ask you to focus on this for the time being.”

“Of course.”

Ned’s lips twitched. “I know that expression on your face, daughter. What else are you thinking about?”

“Roads, father,” Lyara said. “And how to build better ones, ones suited for the North, ones that will work all year round and last long after we are but dust.”

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

Lyara (Averia) has identified weaknesses in the North, and she’s set about fixing them. With more money soon to be coming in from the mines, food is her next objective. Roads are after that since they’re expensive. But her intention is to have the North as self-sufficient as possible, to turn it from a net importer to a net exporter of goods and services. She’s also looking to expand trade, which may well bring her representatives into contact with merchants and sailors from Braavos...

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