#tomonori x shiki

[waifuoftomonori]

Tomonori with his arm wrapped around Shiki’s shoulders at the end of his route if you get the Good Ending, the evening before their wedding. Both of them have content smiles on their faces, and Shiki has her hands clasped to her heart like she’s all snug and secure in his embrace, and it’s just aaaa so cute I can’t stand it <3 (I have since expanded the scope of my fanfiction / headcanon to include Akifusa in this relationship as well, but there’s only two CGs that also include him and neither one will fit neatly in a square box.)

hello I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. The anonymity of tumblr means that I associate my idea/image of you with your icon and sometimes I look at people’s icons and I’m like ‘hmmm….what is that and why?’ 

so pls reblog this and comment in the tags the meaning behind your icon and why you chose it. this is a social experiment. do it for science pls.

[waifuoftomonori]

Aki After Tentacles: Chapter 1 - Fever (rough draft)

Story Summary: After defending the Princess from a tentacled Void-like monster, Akifusa wakes up biologically female. The only way for him to regain his former body (and hopefully get over his newfound attraction to his male best friend, who also happens to be Shiki’s husband) is to become pregnant. Or: In which I put poor Aki-kun through the wringer once again. *** [Foreword: I’ve been working on this fanfiction for a few months now— since August or so, I believe. It’s currently over 50k words, making it my longest fanfiction so far; I’m typing it up on Google Docs as well— scared to publish any of it on AO3 until I know I’m able to finish it, given my current track record, and it probably needs some editing and revision, but things are looking all right so far. The plot is progressing— yes, it actually has plot, I’m proud of myself. I still enjoy writing it, although some days I find it more difficult to write than others. I’ve reached the point in my writing where I’m willing to embrace dumb or unoriginal ideas instead of shy away from them. I think. I’m still a little shy about sharing this fic, in all honesty, although I had fun writing it. Anyway: thank you for reading this somewhat sloppy rough draft of a guilty-pleasure-slash-crack-fic-slash-smut fic that has spiraled into either porn with plot or just a really kinky, unconventional romance. (First chapter’s tame, though.) I appreciate it.] *** Chapter 1: Fever

The Princess parried a slash from a shapeless shadow-being, her heels churning up dirt from the force of the blow. They’d been fighting in these woods for hours with no reprieve. Their enemies were nearly impossible to track, their forms amorphous even in light, and the slivers of sky darkening through the crooked lattice of branches overhead spared them no mercy. An attempt to retreat would have resulted in massacre. 

And in turning to fend off one of the horde, the Princess exposed her flank to another. Akifusa was the only one close enough to see a gruesome appendage, writhing with eerie eldritch energy, lash toward her from the black haze.

Instinct and years of rigorous training kicked in. With a warning shout, he sprang between the Princess and her attacker, muscles convulsing as his form shifted.

The last thing he was aware of, before Tokoyo-gami took over and eliminated conscious thought, was a wave of overwhelming heat as the tenebrous tentacle wrapped around him.

***

The ceiling, at least, was familiar. 

Or maybe it was the bitter herbal smell that gave it away. That was probably it. The ceiling looked like most ceilings— which was still reassuring. At least the shrine hadn’t burned down. Blinking fuzzily, Akifusa turned his head. They’d put him in Toshi Temple: not the training area where he regularly honed his sword skills, but the adjacent, rarely-used medical room. Poultices, bandages, and healing talismans lined the wooden shelves; two rows of nondescript futons were arranged against the walls (all but his unoccupied, he noted with relief).

But although he recognized his surroundings, his own body felt… strange, in a way that went beyond simple pain.

He heard a door sliding open, followed by soft footfalls approaching over tatami, and then the Princess’s face appeared overhead. Her breath caught when she found him conscious. “Akifusa…” She blinked quickly, but her eyes still glittered with unshed tears. “You were out for so long… I was worried.”

He wanted to throw his arms around her and reassure her he was fine, the mere sight of her in good health had revitalized him, but his muscles protested. Still, his lips twisted in a feeble smile before forming the word: “Princess…”

He paused. That had sounded off, although he couldn’t place why. Did he have a cold or something? Could you catch a cold while you were unconscious?

“Oh. Um, Akifusa? There’s something you should know.”

***

The Princess had told all of them about Akifusa’s transformation, and they’d all agreed not to say or do anything to humiliate the poor guy… or maybe girl any further. After all, it was thanks to Akifusa that all of them were still alive; even Kuso knew this, beneath his arrogant sneers. And his current predicament sounded unsettling, they could all agree on that much. (Gentoka didn’t see any reason for embarrassment, and Furutsugu’s first reaction was that it sounded kinky, but they both admitted— eventually— that it would take some adjustment.) They could resist the urge to tease him for a day or two.

But none of them had been prepared for the uncomfortable possibility that female Akifusa would be hot.

Of all the guys, in fact, Akifusa had seemed the least likely to provoke that particular problem if subjected to a sex swap. Not that this was something they (except Furutsugu, who had a very active imagination and no sense of shame) thought about often, of course. (Highest on Furutsugu’s list were Kodonomae, Kuso, and himself— he didn’t believe in false modesty. Gentoka and Tomonori would still be attractive, but more cute than sexually appealing, though he’d be intrigued to hear the Princess’s thoughts on the latter. The only person he’d ranked lower than Akifusa was the Princess, and he was willing to admit that was probably influenced by his personal bias toward women.)

But when the Princess appeared in the doorway with a blushing brunette at her side, shifting from foot to foot and avoiding everyone’s eyes, the whole room sucked in a breath.

Akifusa’s profile was a bit softer now— chin a bit smaller, cheekbones less square— but mostly the same as it had always been. Choppy layers of straight dark hair tumbled to his waist, restrained from his eyes by only a simple red ribbon. Although he lacked the Princess’s more delicate beauty, all of the men had to admit to themselves, after the initial mental adjustment, that the end result certainly wasn’t repulsive. Anyone seeing Akifusa for the first time would have never guessed he hadn’t always been… well, a girl. (No one was quite sure on this point; none of them knew much about the powers of shadowy tentacle demons, making it hard to gauge the specifics of Akifusa’s transformation while he— or she?— had been unconscious.)

But the face wasn’t the part of Akifusa they had trouble dealing with. It was everything below the face that was the issue.

***

Akifusa’s cheeks blazed as he took a seat in his usual place, feeling his cumbersome breasts jiggle in the process; what was worse, the movement immediately drew all of the guys’ eyes, even though they all hastily looked away a second later. “Stop staring!” he snapped in that frustratingly high-pitched voice that had replaced his own. “Perverts!”

“Calm down, Aki,” the Princess said gently, sitting beside him. “They’re just not used to seeing you like this. Give it a few days.” There was a noticeable gap on her left; her husband must have been working late. That was too bad. Other than the Princess, Tomonori was probably the one person Aki could trust not to drool over his new figure.

He lowered his voice so the others wouldn’t hear. “But what if they don’t stop after a few days?”

“Then we’ll deal with it from there. But for now, could you try to give them the benefit of the doubt? They’ve been worried about you as well, in their various ways. …And high levels of stress aren’t healthy, especially when your body’s still recovering.”

“…Fine.” Akifusa bit his lip, shifting position. With every slight motion he made, he was reminded that the body he occupied was female, and judging by the expressions of everyone else in the room, they were equally aware of this fact.

“For what it’s worth, I think it’s an improvement,” Furutsugu said, flashing Akifusa a flirtatious smile uncomfortably like the ones he usually saved for the Princess. Akifusa shot him a death glare.

Kodonomae cleared his throat. “Good to see you’re alive.” He raised a hand as if to slap Akifusa on the back but stopped halfway there, an odd look crossing his face. His massive palm hung in the air for an awkward moment before falling aside.

“Uh. Thanks.” At least he was trying. Still, did he have to act so weird about the whole thing? True, Akifusa was smaller now (it felt strange being shorter than the Princess, even though it was only by an inch or two), and his body was softer in a few places and slimmer in others, but it wasn’t like a single back slap would kill him.

“Kuso,” the Princess said, sitting up straighter as if anxious to change the subject, “were you able to learn anything from your trip to the spirit world?”

There was a long silence. Akifusa’s eyes wandered to Kuso and found the Crow purposefully averting his gaze, his cheeks vermillion.

“Nothing of value,” he muttered eventually, crossing his arms. “There were several accounts of similar transformations, but none this… noticeable, and all of the recorded instances wore off after one to five days. For further information, I’ll need to examine the b—” He broke off, face coloring even more violently; Akifusa gritted his teeth. He’d hated it when Kuso insisted on calling him “boy” in the past, but the god’s inability to say the word now felt like even more of a slight.

Gentoka, who’d been silently eating until now, spoke up. “I tried becoming a woman once, a long time ago.”

All of them stared at him.

He shrugged, reaching for another piece of fish with his chopsticks. “I thought if Aterui had a child to look after, it would give him something to live for besides vengeance. It didn’t work, though.”

Kodonomae recovered first. “The transformation, or…” 

“No, that part was easy, but he didn’t want to mate with me in the new body, so I changed back. …This salmon is quite tasty. We should have it more often.”

Furutsugu smothered a laugh. More uncomfortable silence ensued.

“So… if it’s so easy, can you change me back?” Akifusa asked hopefully, but the fox god shook his head.

“I only know how to change my own form. I thought that was obvious.”

“Then why’d you bring it up in the first place?!”

Gentoka frowned, golden eye fixing on him with complete innocence. “I was just making conversation. Not everything is about you.”

With a scowl, Akifusa lowered his gaze. “I know that,” he muttered, ears growing hot.

“Do you want me to say something about you?”

“No, that’s—”

“It’s impressive you can stand with breasts that large, especially with your current height. I only made mine about a third that size when I tried. Your back must be killing you.”

Beside him, Akifusa saw the Princess wince, but he was already surging to his feet, blood boiling, ignoring the stab of agony in his ribcage. “I’ve had enough! You’re all acting like I’m a different person, just because— just because I grew these stupid breasts that I never even wanted in the first place! There’s more to me than just my body, so… so stop panting and knock it off already!”

He glowered at each of them in turn, eyes watering as he clutched his bandaged ribs, but no one seemed able to meet his gaze. Cowards.

And then a quiet, familiar voice ruptured the silence. “For once, Akifusa, I completely agree: they’re idiots, and you’re clearly the same reckless fool you’ve always been. Now sit back down before you break any more bones. Shiki worked very hard to heal you.”

Relief crashed over him as he turned toward the doorway. “Tomo—!”

Blood-red eyes met his own, and his breath shattered inside of him.

No. Oh no. He was dying.

He was dying, and that was why Tomonori’s features stood out to him in such luscious detail: the lurid crimson of his hair and eyes, the smooth curve of his cheek, those… those soft pouty lips. Akifusa’s mind was clinging to this precious image, knowing it would be his last; he was beginning to feel feverish, heart pounding a million miles a minute.

“Is everything all right, Akifusa?”

“Y-yes, Princess.” He hastily turned away and sat again. No need to worry her on his behalf. After all, as long as she stayed alive, he had a duty to protect her; Akifusa refused to let himself die yet.

“Akifusa.” Tomonori’s soft voice caught his attention again as he took a seat beside his wife. A small, sincere smile darted over his lips, eyes clinging to Akifusa’s for just a beat longer than necessary. “Thank you for saving Shiki. I’m glad you survived.”

Crap. His fever was coming back. *** Hope you enjoyed. There’s a lot more written; I’m not sure yet how much of it to share on here. It’s hard when I have no idea how many people are reading this to begin with. Thanks for reading, though. :)

[waifuoftomonori]

What I spent an embarrassing portion of my day doing

More image-less Scarlet Fate character alignment charts for your perusal. <3 Tomorrow I should probably get back to, y’know, actually writing. Look, my dog was sick and I wanted something lighthearted to take my mind off of things.

[waifuoftomonori]

Aki After Tentacles: Chapter 6 - Complex (Part 1)

[Story Summary: After defending the Princess from a tentacled Void-like monster, Akifusa wakes up biologically female. The only way for him to regain his former body (and hopefully get over his newfound attraction to his male best friend, who also happens to be Shiki’s husband) is to become pregnant. Or: Tomonori remains unconvinced that he deserves nice things.

A/N: This one needs a lot of trimming. Sorry in advance.] *** “I’m having troubles with my wife, Kotokura-dono.”

Tomonori tried to keep his eyebrows from shooting up as he paused in organizing the papers on his makeshift workstation in Shinetsu Temple and lifted his gaze. “Your wife?”

The speaker— one of the lower-ranking civil servants, Nishina no Takeshi— flinched at the eye contact but took a faltering step forward, lowering his voice. “I’m sorry to bother you— I know you’re probably busy, and it’s a personal matter— but I don’t know who else to ask. And everyone says you’re… proficient in this area.” His face reddened. “Any advice you can give would be appreciated.”

A suspicion tugged at the back of Tomonori’s mind, causing his own cheeks to prickle for a moment, but he swiftly dismissed it and summoned a smile. “I can spare a few moments. Go on.” Maintaining proper barriers between one’s personal and professional life was important, but so was securing the trust of one’s subordinates, and it was the first time Takeshi had ever approached him with an issue unrelated to work.

And surely he was just being paranoid about the precise nature of these marital troubles. His mind had only traveled in that direction because of his own precarious situation. Takeshi was a publicly reserved man; it seemed reasonable that merely raising the subject of his marriage, especially to admit difficulties, would fluster him. His question probably pertained to an argument about chores or balancing work and romance or perhaps a lack of sensitivity on his end concerning his wife’s biological cycles. (Despite Tomonori’s best efforts, an appalling number of men in Kifu persisted in believing that monthly bleeding was somehow evidence of moral impurity in the female body— though most of them knew better by now than to mention this theory in his or Shiki’s presence.)

But the instant Takeshi opened his mouth again, a shiver of premonition rippled icily down Tomonori’s spine. “Suzume doesn’t react the way she once did when we kiss or… or do more than that. She doesn’t protest, but she no longer seems enthusiastic; her body is going through the motions, but her mind is obviously elsewhere.”

Tomonori kept his expression carefully neutral, despite the blush he could feel creeping back up his neck. “I see.”

Takeshi failed miserably to take the hint. “It wasn’t always like this. On our first night together, she—”

“Why are you telling me this?” he cut in, before Takeshi could embarrass his poor, dissatisfied wife any further. Perhaps she’d like you better if you tried respecting her privacy for a change, Nishina-san.

“I… I just wanted to give you as much information as possible. For context.”

Tomonori drew a slow, deep breath and managed to retain his composure. “Very well. Let me rephrase that. Why are you asking me, in particular, for help with this matter? I’m honored that you value my opinion, but I’ve been married less than a year—” He stopped. Takeshi’s face was coloring again. “Surely not everyone is saying I’m proficient at… at that.”

The other man gave a helpless shrug. “Probably not everyone.” His tone indicated it was still quite a few people.

Tomonori suppressed a groan, settling instead for a brief rub of his brow. He had a feeling he knew who was to blame for this sudden development— unless of course it wasn’t sudden, and Shiki had been gushing behind his back. (His emotions were thoroughly mixed about this possibility.) Either way, there would have to be words… not that they mattered at this point. The damage had most likely already been done.

“Regardless,” he said, meeting Takeshi’s gaze again, “this is hardly my area of expertise. Furutsugu-dono has much more practical experience—”

“I can’t possibly go to Furutsugu with this. I mean, Furutsugu-dono.” Takeshi shifted uncomfortably. “There are… some unsavory rumors about him. I would rather not let him know that my relationship with my wife isn’t as strong as it could be.”

Tomonori sighed. “I see your point.” Despite himself, his eyes flickered back to the papers on the desk. Autumn was rapidly approaching— harvest season, the busiest of the year. So far, the tsuchigumo refugees had transitioned smoothly to daily life in Kifu, but most of them came from nomadic tribes with no agricultural experience. They would learn through practice, but the budget would have to account for—

“So what do you think I should do differently? Are there any techniques you’d suggest, or…”

“Perhaps this is a discussion you should be having with Suzume and not me. I can’t answer your question, because I don’t know her, but I can assure you she probably knows her own preferences perfectly well.” Only long years of practice masking his emotions kept him from snapping the words. “Talk to her,” he added, to soften the blow a little. “Listen to what she has to say. That applies to other areas of your marriage as well.”

Takeshi stared at him with wide eyes as if the simple idea of direct communication with his wife had never before crossed his mind. “I… I’ll try that,” he eventually said, dropping into a bow. “Thank you for the advice, Kotokura-dono.”

“It’s no bother,” he lied, smiling.

As soon as Takeshi had disappeared, he rolled up the papers for ease of transport, scooped them into his arms, and briskly departed for the sanctity of his private study. Usually Tomonori liked to spend half the day (sometimes the morning, sometimes the afternoon) either working in one of the shrine’s more public areas, as he’d intended today, or walking around the village to check that everything was running smoothly and to make any necessary modifications if it wasn’t. He also used the time to chat with the villagers and encouraged them to come to him with any problems, which he worked to resolve as efficiently as possible and brought to Shiki’s attention as needed. Although the bulk of his work still took place on paper, his shoulders hunched over his desk, he recognized the importance of staying in touch with reality.

He’d planned to spend the afternoon in his study, but already he could feel a headache throbbing behind his temples. Somehow he suspected that a fairly large proportion of the concerns villagers brought to him today would be similar to Takeshi’s.

Why did Akifusa have to be so loud?

Shiki was loud too, sometimes, but that was different. She had spent years suffering in silence, determined to face her fate with courage and a minimum of complaint. She deserved to be loud now. He rejoiced in every moan, every cry, every gasp and plea and sigh his touch wrested from her lips— especially the ones that happened to take the form of his name, though he had to admit “Master” had grown on him— and he wouldn’t be ashamed if everyone from Kifu to the capital to the distant lands across the Western sea heard her. (Embarrassed, perhaps, but not ashamed.) Sometimes he wished they would.

Most of the time, though, Tomonori had no desire for the entire village to know the inner workings of his personal life, nor did he wish to know the sordid details of theirs— especially given the level of ignorant brutality he already knew a fair number of the men possessed regarding the female body.

He couldn’t think about that now. Dwelling on it would only agitate him further. He paused to collect his breath before continuing across the courtyard.

He didn’t want a reputation for this, especially since word of Furutsugu’s dalliances with unhappy housewives had begun to spread. The thought of cultivating similar rumors about himself, even if only via careful deception, made Tomonori ill, and it would be cruel to Shiki besides, even if she was fully aware of the lie. Perhaps he should start planting favorable gossip about someone else— Kodonomae? he seemed like he’d take it in stride— to draw some of the attention off himself for a while. Then again, that could raise the question of how he knew about Kodonomae’s bedroom prowess—

“Tomonori!” A high, breathless, discomfitingly loud voice rang out behind him, intruding on his scheming as per usual.

Reluctantly, he slowed his pace, allowing Akifusa to catch up. “You’ve made things very difficult for me this morning,” Tomonori said, shooting him a cursory glance before fixing his gaze forward again. At least they’d almost reached his study.

He heard Akifusa gulp. “This morning? I… I don’t know what I did this morning.”

“Of course you don’t.” Predictably, Akifusa bristled in his peripheral vision; Tomonori allowed himself a quick smirk before concluding, “Because you didn’t do anything.”

“Huh? But you said—”

“I’m talking about your inability to keep your voice down when discussing sensitive matters. Get the door for me, will you? My arms are full.”

Of course, he was more than capable of shifting some scrolls under his arm and opening the door for himself, but he enjoyed watching Akifusa’s ears redden as he hastened to obey. “Thank you, Akifusa,” he said quietly as he slipped past, stifling a laugh as they flushed even redder.

Once inside, he deposited the papers on his desk and turned to find Akifusa still hovering outside the doorway, gaze lowered to his feet as if he worried he’d trigger an avalanche of books and scrolls just by looking at the racks too long. Evidently he had taken to heart Tomonori’s repeated injunction to avoid setting foot in his study without his express permission. Tomonori was momentarily tempted to shut the door in his face— he just wanted some peace this morning so he could immerse himself in work and mentally prepare for the barrage of covert stares and explicit questions he would suffer in the village later, and the idea of Akifusa’s outraged arousal at the reminder of who wielded the power held a certain appeal— but he stifled the urge with a sigh. “Are you going to come in or keep standing in the door looking like a scolded puppy?”

“I can come in?”

“That was implied, yes. Just don’t touch anything.”

“I won’t,” Akifusa said solemnly, hesitating one final moment before crossing the threshold. His storm-gray eyes widened as they scanned the walls, a tinge of pink entering his cheeks; it took him a moment to recover enough to close the door. “Th-thank you for honoring me with this privilege, Tomonori.”

“I pulled you in here just a few days ago,” he pointed out, biting back a smile despite himself. Once again, Akifusa was tossing him the reins without even realizing it, thrusting control into his hands without even a semblance of a struggle. Poor, helpless, naive Aki-kun, trembling before he’d even been touched. Why did he always have to do this?

He needed to be taught a lesson.

But that could wait. There were one or two things they needed to address first.

Akifusa had gone back to gazing around the room, lips parted and chest heaving in a way that suggested panting— panting? how was he this excited already?— so Tomonori stepped forward and tugged his chin into place, holding his stare for a moment before letting him go. “Was there a reason you wanted to talk to me?” It was probably best to get that out of the way first, before unfulfilled desire overrode Akifusa’s ability to make coherent statements. Although Tomonori liked him best when Akifusa’s vocabulary was reduced to Tomo, more, and please, along with an assortment of whines and whimpers, he had to admit this state wasn’t conducive to actual conversation.

“Yes.” Akifusa straightened, a glimmer of clarity returning to his expression. “There are two reasons.”

“You’re not getting more than one kiss this morning, no matter how much you beg,” he said dryly, provoking a deeper flush.

“Th-that’s not what I was going to ask! Well, one of them was, but not both.” Akifusa paused, eyes flickering to Tomonori’s mouth; a small lump slid down his throat. “Please—”

“We’ll get to that. What’s your other question?”

Akifusa peeled his gaze back up and took a deep breath. “When can we try again?” His blush darkened to the usual vibrant vermillion, but he didn’t look away.

Tomonori stared at him, unable to keep his eyebrows from rising. “You want to try again already?” It had barely been twelve hours. Considering how things had ended last night, he’d been fully prepared to give Akifusa space for a few days to sort out his conflicting, no-doubt-complicated feelings about his own body, Tomonori’s body, and the situation as a whole.

He supposed he should have known better. None of Akifusa’s feelings were ever complicated. It was a quality Tomonori envied as much as he pitied.

Akifusa nodded rapidly. The comparison to a puppy had been apt; Tomonori could practically hear his tail wagging. (Maybe that also explained why his head made such a tempting target for pats these days, now that Tomonori no longer needed to wait until he was sitting or else stretch his arm up to deliver them.) “Whenever you’re ready. Whatever night. Well, the night would work better, but day too—”

“I haven’t even had a chance to talk to Shiki yet,” he interrupted. It wasn’t exactly true; she’d been awake when he’d returned to their room last night. She’d given him a curious look as he slid into bed beside her, but she hadn’t pressed the matter, and they hadn’t discussed it while they snuggled this morning, either. He had no intention of avoiding the subject entirely— he’d planned to bring it up today at some point—  but he’d wanted a chance to calm down and collect his thoughts first.

Besides, recently it felt like every other conversation they had related to Akifusa in some way. Some of that was probably unavoidable, and she kept insisting she wasn’t jealous, but Tomonori still felt the need to preserve what the two of them had— to carve out some time each day for Shiki alone, to leave some areas of their relationship untouched by Akifusa’s shadow. Mentioning Akifusa in a sexual context while the two of them lay curled in each other’s arms on the futon they’d shared every night since their marriage would have felt like a violation of those unspoken boundaries— especially after all of Akifusa’s little noises, all of his blushes and shivers and begging, had left Tomonori uncomfortably aroused even by the time he’d slipped under the covers.

“Oh.” Akifusa’s shoulders slumped, but he didn’t protest. “I understand.”

Tomonori sighed, relenting a little. “I’ll have an answer for you by dinnertime. It’ll probably be sometime within the next week.”

“The next week?”

“You’ll survive.” Akifusa looked uncertain but nodded; Tomonori pressed his lips together to avoid laughing. “I can’t promise anything more specific until I’ve spoken with Shiki.”

“All right.” Akifusa paused, forehead wrinkling as his blush renewed its efforts; he appeared to be having a serious internal debate, emotions flickering one at a time over those guileless gray-blue eyes. From the shifts in his expression alone, Tomonori was forming a pretty clear picture of how the argument was unfolding. The temptation to laugh intensified. Eventually, Akifusa drew in a deep, unsteady breath and looked up, cheeks a boiling crimson. “I… I liked the blindfold. Even though it didn’t work like you said it would.”

Tomonori blinked. He hadn’t been expecting that, exactly. Or, rather, he hadn’t expected Akifusa to admit it so readily. “You liked it, or your body did?”

“I… B-both of us did. You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

A smile tickled his lips. “Never.” Not until Akifusa gave in and admitted that it was an embarrassingly transparent excuse to deny all responsibility for having more-than-platonic feelings for his best friend, anyway. Maybe he was right and he hadn’t felt a grain of attraction to Tomonori until his transformation; maybe it had amplified feelings that were merely lying dormant. Either way, refusing to examine it in any more detail seemed like a cheap way out. “You enjoyed being blindfolded, though?”

In defiance of reason, which suggested there couldn’t possibly be any more blood in Akifusa’s body that hadn’t rushed to his head by this point, his blush found a way to deepen. “Y-yes. In fact, I… I wouldn’t mind doing it again. If you wanted.”

Tomonori’s breath quickened a little. He couldn’t help it.

He’d enjoyed the blindfolding too— even though it hadn’t gone quite the way he imagined it, and not just because it had ended early. In truth, he’d been more prepared for Akifusa to call it off than he’d been for his own perplexing reaction to having Akifusa blind and even more helpless than usual, completely at his mercy.

It had excited him; of course it had excited him. Part of him had wanted nothing more than to mock Akifusa endlessly, to force him to grovel and weep and admit his own weakness and worthlessness and the fact that Shiki would never love him the way she loved Tomonori before granting him anything remotely resembling relief. (He wasn’t entirely sure, now, how long he could have continued along this route before his pesky conscience got the better of him, but the fantasy had definitely crossed his mind.)

But something had curled in his chest as the full extent of Akifusa’s vulnerability sank in. Akifusa had been blind. Akifusa had no sexual experience beyond kissing and a single clothed chest fondle. Akifusa was stuck in a body that made him intensely uncomfortable, and the longer they went on, the harder it would be for either of them to ignore. Akifusa was smaller and weaker than him— and Tomonori wasn’t exactly large or strong to start with.

Akifusa trusted him, enough to beg him to do his worst. Akifusa needed him.

(There was also the fact, Tomonori was forced to concede, that Shiki had chosen him over Akifusa. He hadn’t thought of it at the time, but he supposed the lack of present competition for her love might also be a factor.)

In short: Akifusa had been so helpless last night that Tomonori had been struck with the ridiculous and completely unprecedented desire to protect him.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, shaking off the thought.

“Or you could do other things, too,” Akifusa offered, squirming a little but holding his gaze steadily. “Anything you want. You don’t have to hold back.”

This, of course, was the problem with feeling protective of Akifusa: the two greatest threats to Akifusa’s safety were his lack of self-preservation instinct and Tomonori himself.

Then again, Tomonori hadn’t wanted to harm him last night, and he’d been able to stop at the word “Sword”. Perhaps— just perhaps— Shiki was right about his “villain complex” getting in the way of his own pleasure, just a little.

“You would really let me do anything,” he said quietly, more statement than question. Akifusa nodded anyway. (It was the twelfth time he’d promised “anything”, Tomonori noted automatically.) “I’m starting to believe you, Akifusa.”

“Only starting?! I wouldn’t—”

“I know you wouldn’t intentionally lie. Keep your voice down.” Tomonori sighed, gathering his composure once again. “I’d meant to talk to you about that, actually. Has anyone asked you any… personal questions today?”

“Personal questions?” Akifusa’s forehead wrinkled. “Other than you?”

“Yes, other than me, you dolt.”

Akifusa shook his head. “I haven’t talked to anyone else this morning. I’ve just been doing sword reps.”

“All right.” That was a small comfort. “Apparently people heard us last night, and there’s at least one rumor going around.”

“What’s the rumor?”

“First of all, it’s worth noting that everyone probably assumes we had sex.” He paused: Akifusa was wriggling again, eyes glazing slightly. “Are you paying attention?”

“Uh-huh.” It emerged as two barely audible puffs of air, recognizable as assent only by the accompanying tiny nod. To test his theory, Tomonori took a step forward. The squirms multiplied, Akifusa’s thighs rubbing frantically.

“Akifusa…” He could feel the corners of his mouth twitching, threatening to rise despite himself. He had the vague sense that he should be more exasperated by Akifusa’s inability to focus on an issue that had been weighing on Tomonori’s mind since he’d found out— an issue that involved Akifusa as well— than he was. Maybe once he would have been. He stepped forward again, sliding a hand over Akifusa’s cheek; unsurprisingly, it was hot to the touch. “Will it help you focus if I kiss you now?” he murmured, eyes fixed on the wide blue-gray pair before him. Despite all of Akifusa’s recent physical changes, his eyes were exactly the same as they’d always been, large and vulnerable and painfully sincere. Akifusa leaned forward, but Tomonori was prepared; he withdrew just a few inches, clicking his tongue admonishingly. “You’re always so impatient. Answer the question.”

“Um.” Akifusa swallowed. “M-maybe?” He was too honest even to say yes. Tomonori’s smirk widened.

He knew he needed to concentrate, since Akifusa clearly wasn’t going to do it for him. He needed to end this conversation, give Akifusa his kiss, and get back to work. If only Akifusa could be a little less entertaining to tease for just a minute or two.

Rallying, he pulled back a bit farther. “The specific rumor doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are multiple. You need to be quieter, both in and out of the bedroom. It’s possible no one would have identified me as the one responsible for all of your moans if you hadn’t called my name so many times last night. I admit, I didn’t protest at the time because I found it endearing, so perhaps some of the responsibility for this falls on my shoulders as well— but if you had kept your mouth shut to begin with, I wouldn’t have needed to say anything.” He patted Akifusa’s cheek to take away some of the sting, though he wasn’t sure it mattered at this point, judging by the dazed look in those eyes. Hopefully Akifusa was at least aware enough to get the gist of what he was saying; it was always a mild annoyance when Tomonori had to repeat things for his sake. “Also, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t spread any information about our time together, or me in particular.”

“Huh?” Akifusa blinked. “But what if I hear any rumors that aren’t true?”

It was a fair point. It was also likely, given Akifusa’s unwavering code of honor and complete absence of subtlety, that his intervention would do more damage than he’d intended to prevent. The whole village would wind up learning every detail of every interaction the two of them had ever shared, innocuous or otherwise— and gossip would undoubtedly center on the “otherwise”. Perhaps Shiki’s name would come up as well. “If you hear any lies, tell me, but don’t correct them,” Tomonori said, after a moment’s consideration. “Adding fuel to the fire won’t help. If someone asks you a direct question, just say you’re not comfortable answering, and repeat that until they move on.”

Akifusa shuffled his feet a little but ultimately nodded. It was probably the best response Tomonori could hope for: letting a falsehood stand uncorrected, especially one that potentially involved either or both of his closest friends, had to be only a few notches above lying in Akifusa’s books. Hopefully it wouldn’t become a serious concern, and the village would lose interest in a week or two.

All the same, it couldn’t hurt to start concocting those counter-rumors as a backup plan. Once he’d finished with his other work today, he would have to sit down and brainstorm.

“A-about that kiss…”

Tomonori kept his face blank, stepping back with an inquisitive lift of his eyebrows. “What kiss would this be?”

“The…” Even at a distance, he could hear Akifusa’s swallow. “The one to help me focus.”

“I’ve told you everything I needed to, so I don’t see why that would be necessary any longer,” he replied innocently. “You’re free to go if you wish.” He stifled a laugh as Akifusa’s eyes widened. Poor Akifusa. He hadn’t really thought Tomonori would just hand over the kiss that easily after Akifusa’s moans had drawn so much unwanted attention, had he?

“No, I don’t want that! Not yet. You told me I could have it… Don’t do this to me, Tomonori, please.” His voice quivered, climbing to a near-squeak; the blood in his cheeks brought out the blue in his eyes.

Tomonori gave a noncommittal hum, pretending to check his fingernails as a means of concealing his smirk. After the first please slipped out, Akifusa usually required much less encouragement; soon enough he’d start running entirely on momentum.

“I-I still have training today! I need to focus for that! Please, Tomo, it doesn’t have to be a long one— I mean, I-I’d like it better if it was, but if you want to get back to work early or you’re still mad about how loud I was— but I couldn’t help it, you were kissing me all over and it felt really good, it felt better than anything I’ve felt in my life— but if you’re angry about it, I understand. I swear I won’t make a peep next time—”

“You’re really willing to swear to that?”

Akifusa hesitated, plainly torn between integrity and desire. “No,” he finally mumbled, only to straighten a moment later. “But I can try! I swear I’ll try, Tomonori, you have my word that I’ll try. I’ll try so hard if you just kiss me right now, please, please, just one kiss, I’ll beg as much as you want—”

“Move a step to your left,” he cut in, calmly. Akifusa snapped his mouth shut and obeyed. “Back up.” Again, the command was met with speechless compliance; there wasn’t even a flicker of uncertainty in those earnest, puppyish features, big eyes silently pleading for praise. “Keep going,” Tomonori said instead. “Don’t stop until you reach the wall.” He didn’t need to raise his voice or alter his tone or expression in any way; he didn’t need to make threats or promise rewards; he certainly didn’t need to invoke the Power of Words. Akifusa would do anything he asked regardless.

Only when Akifusa’s back was pressed flat against the wall did Tomonori permit himself a smile. He stepped casually forward, maintaining eye contact: while Akifusa’s new body held no special allure for him (other than the frequency with which those nipples stiffened and those ample thighs rubbed together in an obvious attempt to contain his excitement— and, fine, Tomonori liked being the stronger one for a change), his facial reactions were precious. “Arms on either side of your head.” Akifusa’s cheeks flushed as he slowly lifted his hands, and Tomonori knew he was remembering the previous wall-pin with perfect clarity. “Good,” he said quietly, closing the remaining distance in two swift strides and wrapping his fingers firmly around those delicate wrists. Skin shivered in his grasp, Akifusa’s pulse accelerating at the brush of his thumb; Tomonori’s own heart kept pace easily as he stared into those wide, unguarded gray irises and felt that intoxicating sense of control stir, dangerous and tempting, within him.

He could say or do almost anything at this moment— kiss Akifusa, refuse to kiss him, call him a fool, bite his nose, twist his wrists, apologize gently for hurting him, do it again— and as long as it didn’t directly involve a specific part of Akifusa’s anatomy, Akifusa would enjoy it.

But that thought sloped down steeply into dark and far-too-tantalizing tunnels, as usual, so Tomonori squelched it with a quick squeeze of the wrists and a soft, deliberate kiss, savoring every second of Akifusa’s squirming.

“We’ll talk after dinner,” he murmured when he drew back. Flushed and breathless, Akifusa nodded rapidly; Tomonori held him in place for a few more urgent heartbeats before releasing him with a beatific smile and letting him scramble away in one piece.

***

“Most of what I’ve heard hasn’t been that bad, and I’ve made sure to correct the most common misconceptions. I think you’re underestimating how much people like us.” Smiling, Shiki bumped his shoulder with her own. “They’re definitely talking about it, though. You may have to get used to the occasional uncomfortable question, at least for a while.”

Tomonori winced. He’d told her about Takeshi’s intrusion, though he hadn’t mentioned any names. The two of them were resting together beneath one of the maple trees in the shrine courtyard; the brief midday breaks, in addition to the back massages and shorter working hours, were one of several changes to his daily routine that he’d made at Shiki’s request since they’d defeated the Sword. “I just wish the whole village didn’t know,” he said.

She shrugged. “It was probably inevitable that people would find out about you and Akifusa at some point. You know he’s incapable of keeping a secret.”

“That’s true,” he said, studying her features; the small, content smile on her lips as she turned to face him softened something in his heart, as it always did. “How do you feel about it?” he asked her anyway, gently.

“About you and Akifusa, or the fact that people are talking?”

“Let’s start with ‘me and Akifusa’.”

Her smile faltered for a second, almost imperceptibly; someone less trained in observing every minute twitch of Shiki’s expression might not have noticed it. “I know it’s necessary,” she began.

“In other words, you’re still jealous,” he said, poking her knee.

She blushed. “Not all the time. I was fine for a while, after Akifusa told me there was nothing romantic between the two of you.”

“There’s not.”

“And I didn’t mind the idea of you sleeping with him— I don’t mind it, still,” she added, lifting her eyebrows meaningfully. “Since you didn’t complete the act last night, I imagine you’ll probably need to try again.”

“How do you know we—” He halted as the answer occurred to him an instant before her gaze darted discreetly down his body, drawing a wave of heat to his own cheeks. “Ah.”

Shiki’s smile returned in full, now with a mischievous edge that made him want to grab her by the back of her head and kiss her breathless. “It’s cute how you get so shy about these things in public, Tomo-kun.” She leaned in a little, lowering her voice. “Next time it happens, you can ask me for help, you know.”

“Would you be all right if there was a next time, then?” Despite the persistent warmth tingling through his pores, Tomonori wasn’t about to let her evade the topic that easily. (He’d just mark the teasing down once their break ended so he could plot his retribution for this evening.)

Her face grew serious once more. “Yes. My feelings are more complicated than I expected at first, but… yes, I would. I trust you, and I want the best for Akifusa as well.” She swallowed, looking almost reluctant to continue, but went on. “And I think… even if there is no deeper connection, you’ll take better care of him than anyone else would.”

Tomonori blinked at her, stunned— and then thought about it. Sadistic fantasies aside, he’d offered to help Akifusa evaluate the candidates for taking his virginity because it seemed unlikely that any man interested in sleeping with someone he barely knew (or didn’t know at all) was considering anything beyond physical gratification. In other words, they would only want Akifusa for his body, and that would just trigger Aki’s insecurities and make the experience miserable for him. Maybe there was no way of completely avoiding discomfort, but Tomonori knew Akifusa well enough that he could at least try. And he hadn’t actually harmed him yet.

“Perhaps you’re right,” he replied at last.

“Only perhaps?” Shiki peered at him suspiciously, drawing a rueful half-smile to his mouth.

“Is it really a complex if a lot of my thoughts are genuinely cruel?”

“Yes, because most of them aren’t. We’ve been over this.” She lifted a finger toward his cheek as if intending to poke or pinch it, but he caught her hand and tugged her in for a kiss instead. Her lips parted softly for him, inviting him to linger; if they weren’t in one of the more exposed areas of the shrine during the middle of the day, he would have been sorely tempted to press further. Shiki smelled pleasant and summery, with just a hint of wildflower sweetness; it was refreshing after the several hours he’d spent cloistered in his study.

“I appreciate your faith in my good intentions,” he said after he pulled back, but this time it was playful, as was the wry look she gave him afterward, betrayed by her tiny, flickering smile.

“Have you talked to Akifusa about these ‘cruel’ desires of yours?”

“Once or twice, perhaps. At one point I threatened to bite off his tongue and cook it for him—”

“But then he wouldn’t be able to taste it.” Shiki’s cheeks promptly pinkened, as if she hadn’t quite intended for that to be her first response; it was rather gratifying that some things still had the power to fluster her.

“I told him it would be a fun challenge.” He couldn’t help but smirk at the memory.

“Do you remember how he reacted?”

“He begged me to do it.”

Shiki gave him a purposeful look, raising her eyebrows. He sighed.

“Yes, I see your point, but that’s not the problem. He’s too quick to ask for things like that, things that could leave even him seriously injured if I ever decided to act on that permission.”

“But you won’t, because deep down you know you care about him. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a problem in the first place.”

“That’s—”

“And you just said you only brought it up once or twice, and one time was just a joke. Have you shared with him any of your specific… tastes, other than the blindfold?”

“Well, no,” he admitted.

“You told the man who came to you for help that he should talk to his wife, because she knows what she enjoys. I think you should take your own advice with Akifusa. Not that you should bite off his tongue just because he asks,” she added quickly, as if anticipating this argument. “But, well… you could try making a serious suggestion next time and see how he reacts. And if he agrees, and it goes well, then you can build up from there. If it continues, I mean.”

Tomonori stared at her for a moment, lost for words.

She bit her lip, gaze falling to the grass. “I’m sorry if it’s not my place to—”

His mouth smothered the rest of her thoroughly unneeded apology, corners curling into a smile.

Two of the things he treasured most about Shiki were her ability to spot his hypocrisies and her willingness to challenge them. She was right, of course, as usual: although he’d done his best to listen to Akifusa’s concerns, for the most part Tomonori had avoided sharing his own desires, after Akifusa had reacted with baffled outrage to the confession that Tomonori enjoyed hearing him beg (and, to be fair, he should have clarified). Perhaps it was time to change that.

“It’s absolutely your place to say something,” he whispered after they drew apart. “You’re affected by this as well. And you’re right. I’ve been making this more complicated than it needs to be.”

“More complex, you mean?”

He faked a scowl, making her laugh. “If you insist.”

“I do.” She paused, amusement fading from her features, voice quieting slightly. “Will you be trying again tonight?” He heard her straining for neutrality.

“No.” Tomonori smiled, reaching for her hand. “Akifusa’s not my first priority. You are.” He had no intention of spending more time with Akifusa than with her, even if she claimed she wouldn’t mind, even if Akifusa fell to his knees and pleaded.

Wisteria eyes widened, a light blush dusting her cheeks— and then she returned the smile, slender fingers nestling into the gaps between his own. “It’s nice to hear you say that,” she said quietly. He gave her hand a squeeze in answer. “So… when do you think you’ll try next?”

“I’d meant to ask you, actually. I was thinking once or twice a week until we succeed, so probably in three or four days, but I’d like to hear your opinion as well.” He was somewhat relieved she’d brought up the subject so he didn’t have to figure out how to tactfully ease into it.

“That’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I know it’s important to him.”

“It is, but I’m sure he’d understand if you’d prefer—”

This time she was the one to silence him with a kiss. “Thank you for worrying about me,” she said once it ended, softly yet firmly. “I really do appreciate it. But I knew it would probably take multiple tries from the moment I proposed this to Akifusa.”

“Why did you suggest it, anyway?” He tried to sound innocent, although by this point he was quite confident her motive had been anything but.

Her blush deepened.

Smirking, he poked her cheek. “I thought as much.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“Your face did.”

For a moment, she hesitated, and it seemed as though she might yield— before she said, “Read my face now, Tomo-kun,” and stuck out her tongue at him. A startled chuckle escaped him, though he hastily swallowed the rest of the laugh and managed a few reproving tuts in her general direction.

“Is that how a Princess should comport herself in public?”

“Your Princess will comport herself however she pleases, in public or otherwise.”

“Of course. And who was it who gave you the freedom to live however you please, Princess?” He inched closer. “Who was fully prepared to give his life to ensure you would be free to stick out your tongue in full view of as many onlookers as you desired or perform any other ridiculous acts that popped into your head? Refresh my memory, please.”

“He was prepared to give his life without my permission— in fact, entirely against my wishes— and if he truly cares about my happiness as much as he claims, he’ll never try anything like it again. Also, I seem to recall him taking a number of rather shocking liberties with his mistress…” Her eyes gleamed with wild mischief, daring him to defy her; his pulse quickened at the challenge. Suddenly their “public” location no longer seemed quite as relevant.

“Liberties she gave every sign of enjoying,” he murmured, despite his rising blush, “and now requests on a regular basis.”

Shiki’s breath hitched. He raised his free hand to cup her cheek, invitingly warm and smooth, echoing the softness of more intimate areas of that long-forbidden, surprisingly delicate body his fingers had now committed flawlessly to memory, to the satisfaction of them both.

“If you’d like me to stop taking so many liberties, Shiki”— he relished her shiver at the casual use of her name, another taboo demolished with the Sword— “you need only ask.”

“Of course I don’t want you to stop,” she whispered.

“Are you sure?” He wrinkled his forehead, affecting concern. “It might help with some of the rumors—”

“I like the rumors.”

The words startled him into drawing back. Flushed but sincere, she met his gaze.

“They’re a little embarrassing,” she admitted after a pause, “and I had to clarify the situation to a few people who came up to me earlier to ask if I knew you were sleeping with another woman. I didn’t like that they would even consider the possibility that you might cheat on me… but word must have spread quickly, because people stopped asking about that soon enough.”

“How much did you tell them, exactly?” He fought to keep his voice level.

“Nothing too personal. I knew that would make you uncomfortable, and probably Akifusa as well.” She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “I said I’d encouraged it to happen, and the circumstances were highly unusual but had nothing to do with any problems in our relationship, and the third person knew this and still consented to it. I didn’t even mention Akifusa by name.”

He would probably have answered similarly. Shoulders relaxing, Tomonori nodded at her to continue.

“But after that… I ran into some women from the village, a few of the housewives, talking as they did their laundry. They were mostly complaining about their husbands, from what I could tell—”

“All of the other women were complaining? Not you?”

“Well, they stopped when they noticed me.”

“I’m sure they did,” he said lightly.

She gave him a long, searching look; it was difficult to keep the smile off his face. Eventually, she sighed and said, “I’m not entirely sure if you’re joking, but you should know that if I did have any complaints, I would tell you directly instead of badmouthing you behind your back and then lying about it.”

Chuckling, he pecked her forehead. “You’re right, I was joking. But go on. What happened once they saw you?”

“They went quiet for a moment, and then…” She bit her lip. “One of them asked if a certain rumor about you was true.”

“What rumor?” Somehow he already knew which one, unless it had more specific variants.

“The one that you’re, um, good in bed.”

He winced and nodded.

Again, her teeth sank lightly into her lower lip, but now he glimpsed a sneaky sparkle in her eye. “I didn’t want to lie.”

“You didn’t—?”

“I didn’t say anything,” she rushed to add. “But apparently my face told them as much as it told you. The others chimed in to tease me, but not in a mean way; it was all very light and playful. I promise I didn’t give them any details— I know that would embarrass you, and I like that there’s a side of you only I know about… and Akifusa now too, I suppose.” Her gaze flitted away briefly, a small wrinkle appearing in her brow, but she resumed talking before he could offer any words of comfort. “But it felt nice to be included in that conversation for once. No one from the village has ever mentioned sex around me before, not even since our wedding. And there’ve been times when everyone stopped talking as soon as I showed up, and I can tell I’ve made things awkward somehow, even though no one’s ever been rude about it.” She shrugged, leaning against his shoulder. “It just felt nice. That’s all.”

Absently, Tomonori stroked her hair as he considered her words. The people had always liked Shiki; her decisions as a leader had always been sensible, with Kifu’s best interests firmly in mind. But for years following the Inheritance Ritual, her mischievous spirit had suffocated under the weight of self-loathing and solemn duty. Not many of the villagers had known the exact truth of those awful rituals— of the sin and suffering foisted upon Shiki’s shoulders— but after her mother’s death, sorrow had shrouded her wherever she went. Everyone had treated her more gently after that, but also more formally, as if she’d shatter at the first hint of intimacy. They should have known it would take more than that to shatter their Princess. Shiki was the strongest person Tomonori had ever known.

“I’m sure they’re only acting that way now out of habit,” he said softly, “but I understand.”

On his reluctant journey toward the village a few minutes later, he heard a brusque voice call, “Boy.”

Tomonori turned, forcing a smile as his gaze landed on an extraordinarily red-faced Kuso-no-mikoto. “May I help you, Kuso-dono?” The god’s blush made him uneasy, but at least Kuso was prideful enough not to consider turning to a mere mortal for help under the vast majority of circumstances, especially personal issues. Right?

With typical bluntness, the Crow thrust a handful of paper charms in his direction, keeping his gaze locked on a nearby patch of grass. “Take them,” he muttered.

Since Kuso seemed unlikely to approach any closer, Tomonori gave an internal sigh and walked the rest of the distance himself, peering at the intricately runed talismans. He knew a bit of magical script from his shrine work— mostly glyphs of warding, cleansing, and of course sealing— but the purpose of these charms eluded him. “These are the kinds of talismans Furutsugu-dono uses for his spells, aren’t they?”

Kuso didn’t react visibly to the mention of Furutsugu— a promising sign. “He didn’t make these ones,” he said tersely. “I did. I don’t personally need to depend on material props for my magic, but binding the required energy to paper is a simple process with the relevant arrangement of runes—”

“I understand the basics of how magic works,” Tomonori cut in, masking his impatience with a pleasant smile, “but what do these charms do?”

“Once activated? Noise suppression.” Kuso grimaced, meeting his eyes for half a second. “Sound will be confined to a certain radius of the charm and avoid flowing out past those limits.”

“So no one outside the area will be able to hear noises from within it?” Tomonori studied the charms with renewed interest. “How large is the radius?”

“Twenty feet in each direction, though I included a means of reducing it as necessary. Such customized spell modification was no trouble for a member of the proud Yatagarasu clan. Restricting the affected area to a single room should pose no difficulty, even for a mere mortal without magical training.”

When Tomonori looked up, Kuso’s stare had retreated determinedly grassward once again. Something occurred to him. “How sensitive is your hearing usually, Kuso?”

The Crow’s deepening scowl answered the question for him.

“Ah. I see.” Warmth prickled at the base of his neck; Tomonori resisted the urge to avert his own gaze. “You could have mentioned it earlier,” he said quietly.

“It was unpleasant previously, but… tolerable.” Kuso hefted an irritable sigh. “Just take the charms, boy.”

He did so, tucking them discreetly up a sleeve. “Thank you. I’ll put them to use.”

“See that you do,” the god muttered before stalking off.

Tomonori wondered idly if it were possible for a humble non-magically-trained mortal such as himself to reduce the radius of one of these talismans even further than the size of a typical bedroom— to mute one specific individual, for instance. (And if Kuso’s almighty spellcraft wasn’t up to the task, the Power of Words could probably handle it easily.) He’d have to figure out another way for Akifusa to signal when the proceedings grew uncomfortable for him— maybe by touch?— but that didn’t seem too difficult. (He had no desire to silence Shiki; he cherished both their banter and her eventual moans too much for that.) Perhaps some experimentation was in order. A tiny smirk bloomed over his lips as he left the shrine grounds. *** [A/N: I was thinking of swapping out the talismans Kuso gives Tomonori for feathers, since there’s canon precedence for gods’ body parts conveying magical properties. If anyone’s played Kuso’s route and has a deeper understanding of his lore, hit me up; I know he’s one of the more popular characters in the game, and even though I’m taking liberties with him— as I am with all the characters— I want to make sure my portrayal of both him and his magic isn’t too far out of left field. The intent is to provide a caricature, not an entirely different character. Also, one of my intended historical research topics is what exactly Tomonori’s daily work would consist of— and another is whether he would use a desk at all, or simply a writing box. When I was doing basic research earlier, I couldn’t find any information on desks during the Heian era, but I found a few articles about this thing called a writing box that seems like it would function similarly to a miniature desk. If you have any instructive articles on this topic, please share the link, I’d love to know. (Yes, this is a smutty crack fic treated semi-seriously for an obscure fandom, and yes, the setting has fantasy elements that suggest strict historical accuracy is not the top priority, but having more info would help me form a clearer image of the relevant scenes while remaining somewhat assured that what I’ve written isn’t too implausible.) Hope you’re enjoying Tomonori’s PoV for some longer scenes! Part 2 of this chapter coming soon. Thanks again for reading— please, if you’re enjoying this story so far, as crude and unfinished as it is, don’t feel shy to let me know. A like would be enough to bring a smile to my face; a reblog would make me giddy; a comment (or private message if you prefer!) would instantly make you one of my favorite people in the universe.]

[waifuoftomonori]

Aki After Tentacles: Chapter 5 (Part 1)

[Hello, people, I’m back. This chapter’s another long one, so I’m splitting it up just like the previous. The second half will almost certainly be marked Mature—this one I think is fine, although sex is still discussed in general terms (and the dynamic is still a little kinky). Story Summary: After defending the Princess from a tentacled Void-like monster, Akifusa wakes up biologically female. The only way for him to regain his former body (and hopefully get over his newfound attraction to his male best friend, who also happens to be Shiki’s husband) is to become pregnant. Or: How Akifusa learned to stop worrying and love being dommed. (Has this pun been made before? Probably, but who cares.)] ***

His muscles remembered, but the rest of his body didn’t.

Everything was just a little too slow, a little too weak. On the first day back, he stumbled over his own feet a few times from the unexpected weight of those damn breasts and hips. He missed blows he should have blocked, and his own slashes were parried with discouraging frequency. By the end of the day, his whole body ached more than it had from a workout in years.

But Oki no Akifusa was no quitter, especially when the Princess’s safety was concerned. He was weak now— that made sense; he’d spent ten days in a coma, and this new body wasn’t used to combat. What did that matter? He would become stronger. For most of his life, the Princess had destroyed him in every single one of their training duels, and one of the most promising new recruits (though Akifusa firmly believed that everyone was promising if they practiced hard and put their heart into it) was a seventeen-year-old girl from one of the tsuchigumo tribes. Being a woman didn’t mean he had to resign himself to helpless fragility! (Except in Tomonori’s hands.)

He resumed his old routine, welcoming the strain of his muscles after each workout, sparring individually with each of the troops, slowly regaining strength and stamina— not as much as he’d had before, and too slowly for his liking, but making progress. Training gave him a purpose again, even if a few of the men under his command gave him lingering looks which he did his best to ignore. With a sword in his hand and adrenaline thrumming through his veins, Akifusa felt useful again, less like a burden on the people who cared about him and more like he might actually be capable of protecting them.

But then breakfast or dinner would roll around, or he’d be training outside and catch a glimpse of crimson or hear a composed, authoritative voice calmly issuing orders, and all of his newfound confidence and resolve would melt into hopeless, heart-pounding heat.

He might try to resist for a day or two, or even just a few hours, but inevitably, Akifusa would find himself in front of Tomonori once again, stammering out a request for a kiss.

Tomonori always granted it, but sometimes more generously than others.

After a couple weeks of this, Akifusa started to notice a few trends. Nothing was set in stone; that was typical for Tomonori. Some days he made it clear he was prioritizing the Princess (though at least they had the courtesy to avoid keeping Akifusa up all night again); other days it felt like he was holding back just to watch Akifusa suffer. But there were a couple of general patterns.

The more flustered he was when he asked for the kiss— the hotter his face got, the more he stumbled over his words— the more likely it was that Tomonori would tease him about it. And the longer the teasing went on, and the more Akifusa squirmed and blushed and stuttered like a fool, the more Tomonori tended to reward him in the end, sometimes still smirking as their mouths connected.

He also seemed to like it when Akifusa begged, though he never mentioned it again after that first night. On the few occasions when urgency overrode Akifusa’s sense of shame and he found himself blurting out a torrent of desperate requests, promising Tomonori anything in the world for just one quick smooch to get him through the day or night or the rest of training, groveling for mercy like the addict he was until his voice cracked and his skin was doused in flame— then Tomonori would release a sigh that never quite disguised his smile before tugging Akifusa close and thoroughly satisfying his cravings once more (at least for a few minutes).

“You place far too much value on my kisses, dimwit,” he said lightly after one of these instances, poking Akifusa’s forehead as he pulled back. “That’s the ninth ‘anything’ you’ve promised me, not counting the one that you’ll owe if you seek out Furutsugu’s advice again.”

“You’ve been keeping track?”

Tomonori’s lips curved in a devious smile, autumn eyes dancing. “I’m saving them for a rainy day— you never mentioned an expiration date on any of those offers. And I know you. You wouldn’t do something as dishonorable as going back on your word… would you, Akifusa?”

“No,” he mumbled, lowering his gaze. But in spite of himself, a little shiver echoed down his spine at the  thought of Tomonori storing up all those promises (most of which just flew out without Akifusa’s permission) and then cashing them in all at once, on some day in the distant future when Akifusa least expected it.

Hopefully at least one of them would be for something more than just a kiss.

Tomonori’s kisses were magical— sometimes teasing and feather-light, sometimes deep enough to drown the universe. Just thinking of his sinfully soft lips or his deft, versatile tongue was enough to make Akifusa pant like a wolf in heat. Tomonori never seemed to enjoy them quite as much as he did, but that only made his rare hums of contentment, the quiet snags of his breath, the times when his hands would suddenly tighten on Akifusa’s chin or cheeks or shoulders to lock him in place while his tongue dove deeper all the more valuable, easily worth the preceding torment and more. Even when Tomonori remained unflustered and seemed patiently, ruthlessly determined to coax out every last one of Akifusa’s high-pitched, humiliating moans and sighs until Akifusa was reduced to a trembling mess, the kisses were worth it, worth promising anything for in a fraction of a frantic heartbeat. Someone could build a shrine dedicated to Tomonori’s kisses— why not? they deserved it more than the Sword by a long shot— and Akifusa would gladly leave offerings, as many pickled plums and cryptic poems as Tomonori wanted. (He’d find someone else to write the poems.)

But kisses weren’t enough to quench the heat that assaulted him in Tomonori’s presence. In all honesty, they made it worse.

Since the evening Tomonori had caught him in that skimpy red kimono and massaged his nipples through the silk, his hands hadn’t wandered back to Akifusa’s chest once. For the most part, they’d stayed strictly above the collarbone. While their lips were locked, he allowed Akifusa to grab his shoulders on occasion, but any lower and he’d take Akifusa’s hands in his now-larger pair and hold them firmly in place, sometimes with an emphatic squeeze that just made Akifusa squirm even harder.

Maybe it was the training that gave Akifusa the courage to finally bring it up one morning, after receiving his usual post-breakfast peck (Tomonori usually— though not always— saved the steamier kisses for the evenings). “Hey, Tomonori?”

“Hm?”

“I just want you to know… whenever you want to try again, I’m ready.” It was impossible not to blush saying the words, but he kept his eyes fixed on Tomonori’s garnet pair even as his heart threatened to climb into his throat. “With, you know, the whole ‘getting me pregnant’ thing.”

Tomonori’s pupils contracted like a cat’s.

“I-I mean, I understand if you’re still not ready,” he said hastily. “I know that was, er, part of the problem last time. But, well, you seem to like it when we kiss, sometimes. Maybe. Or at least you usually don’t complain, and sometimes you’re smiling when you pull away. And, well… if you didn’t like it at all, you probably wouldn’t do it this much… right?” The last word rose to a squeak.

Tomonori’s gaze fell for just a moment, then flickered back, unfathomable as ever. “Do you even realize what you’re asking?”

Akifusa bristled. “Of course I do! Just because I don’t read as many books as you doesn’t mean I don’t know how things like— like babies happen!”

“That’s not what I meant… although now that you mention it, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had some misguided notions about that as well.”

“Maybe you’re the one with misguided notions! The Princess still hasn’t—” He cut himself off at the last second, ears flaming, just as Tomonori’s expression sharpened.

“You weren’t going to say anything improper about Shiki, were you, Akifusa?” Maybe Akifusa was imagining the subtle emphasis Tomonori placed on his wife’s name, casually laying claim, but it still made him shiver.

“N-no.” His insides twisted strangely for a moment. Tomonori had never acted possessive of him like that. “Sorry,” he mumbled, doing his best to shake off that feeling and whatever it might mean.

“It’s fine, I’m just teasing.” Tomonori’s voice lost its edge. “We decided to wait for a while— we wanted a chance to enjoy each other’s company without the Sword hanging over us. There are herbs that can prevent it, you know. But back to the topic at hand.” His eyes glittered as he took a small step forward, bringing his face breathtakingly close. “You’re asking if we can sleep together.”

Heart spurred to a sprint, Akifusa nodded.

“Because you want your old body back?”

He nodded again, hopefully with convincing nonchalance. “Y-yes.”

“It has nothing to do with me as a person. You just want me to perform a role for you.”

“Huh?” Akifusa shifted a little, growing uneasy. “I mean, it has a little to do with you… just that we’re, you know, friends and all that. I-I don’t want to do something like this with someone I barely know.” He still couldn’t read Tomonori’s expression.

“Why not? I would think that would be easiest. Once it was over, you wouldn’t even need to talk to the person afterward, and you wouldn’t risk damaging your friendship.”

His head ached, trying to understand Tomonori’s point. “Are you saying… you wouldn’t want to be friends anymore if we did it?”

Tomonori sighed, rubbing his brow before fixing Akifusa in a startling direct stare. “No. I’m just asking you to think about the consequences of your decisions.”

“What’s that supposed to—?”

Tomonori’s palm shot toward the wall beside his head— and Akifusa grabbed it.

He felt a momentary burst of pride that the practice duels had been paying off until Tomonori leaned in closer, smoky incense filling Akifusa’s nose and tingling in his veins— and his other hand hit the wall instead, silk sleeve brushing Akifusa’s ear and igniting his cheeks. Tomonori’s mouth twitched before his features grew serious once more. “Try to understand the risks you’re taking,” he murmured, his voice just a note deeper than usual. “I’ve already explained how I owe you for saving Shiki, and I’m willing to fulfill this request if it’s really what you want. But think about it first. For instance: what’s going to happen if you return to your old body and no longer feel this way toward me? Are you sure you won’t regret it?”

The proximity of those arresting russet eyes, scanning his features intently as if for murder clues, made it difficult to think clearly. So did his current position— boxed in on one side by Tomonori’s arm, one of his own hands restrained in Tomonori’s warm grip. “I… I don’t know.”

“Exactly. You also seem to be forgetting something important.” The hand that held his fingers suddenly thrust forward, pushing them back against the wall; Akifusa almost gasped at the unexpected force behind the motion. “I have desires of my own. And although you’re clearly recovering, at this point I’m still stronger than you. Basically, Akifusa… I’m a man.” He said it without aggression, as a matter of fact, but dark heat flared briefly in his garnet irises, provoking more delicious tremors down Akifusa’s legs.

“I know. If I didn’t know that, why would I come to you for help with this in the first place? Besides, it’s pretty obvious. I might be dumb, but I���m not that dumb.” And there was the fact that this body in particular seemed hyper-sensitive to Tomonori’s many masculine qualities, but he wasn’t about to say that part out loud.

Tomonori didn’t reply.

“A-and don’t worry about your ‘desires’. Whatever makes it easier for you, I’m… I’m willing to try it.” Tomonori’s breath hitched quietly, deepening Akifusa’s blush. “I’m not worried about the strength stuff, either,” he rushed on, forcing his mind away from all the possibilities that scarcely audible gasp suggested. “I can still defend myself. And I know you wouldn’t really hurt me, or not over something like this, anyway. Or if you did, you’d stop if I asked, and… and if that’s what you need to get through this, maybe I wouldn’t ask at all.”

Tomonori’s eyes seared into his skull. “You would let me hurt you if I enjoyed it?”

Akifusa swallowed thickly and nodded.

Tomonori fell silent for a moment before sighing and drawing back an inch. “This is exactly what I was talking about. You need to think before you say these things, Akifusa.”

“But I mean it!”

Tomonori’s eyebrows shot upward. Akifusa could feel every ragged thud of his heart, pounding like a demented drumbeat throughout his entire body. He had no idea what would fly out of his mouth the next time he opened it, and he didn’t care; he just needed Tomonori to see how he felt.

“You can do whatever it takes, whatever you need to do to me. Even if that includes hurting me, I don’t mind. Don’t tell me I need to think about it more— I can’t get it out of my head, dammit! And… and maybe you’re right that I’ll be embarrassed about it later, when I stop feeling this way about you. But we’ll push through it! We’ve been through a lot worse together, haven’t we?”

“That’s hardly—”

“Please, Tomo, please. I-I’ll beg if I have to!” That silenced Tomonori, a hint of pink staining his cheeks. “I can deal with whatever you throw at me! I might be smaller now, and— and weaker, but that doesn’t matter! Do your worst, Tomonori, I dare you! A-Anything other than this… this constant teasing!”

Outside, he could hear the sudden papery rustle of wings as a flock of sparrows took flight. Tomonori pressed his lips together, looking like someone who was trying very hard to scowl, but the corners of his mouth kept flickering. Without a word, he dropped his arms and began to pull Akifusa rapidly across the shrine grounds; it wasn’t until they were safely enclosed in his private study, surrounded by tidily organized scroll racks and writing implements, that he spoke.

“I admit, it’s good to see you acting like yourself again… even if your usual ‘self’ feels the need to broadcast every remotely private conversation to all corners of the shrine. But I’ll overlook it this time.” Tomonori paused before adopting a strangely distant tone. “I’m afraid I can’t honor your request, Akifusa.”

His mouth dropped. “But you said you would—”

“Teasing is a requirement for me. If you’re unable to endure even a little, this simply won’t work.”

“Oh.” Akifusa relaxed slightly, though his heart was still going crazy— he could count the number of times Tomonori had allowed him into his sanctum before on one hand, and that was more than anyone else in Kifu except the Princess. “Well… maybe I can put up with some teasing, then. Just not all the time.”

Tomonori considered for a moment and then nodded. “That’s acceptable.” He paused again, brow creasing. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. How many more times are you going to make me say it?”

“Just that once will do. I know how stubborn you can be once you’ve made up your mind.” Crimson eyes flitted thoughtfully aside. “Very well. I’ll talk to Shiki and see if I can clear some space in my schedule within the next few days. What time would be more convenient for you, morning or evening?”

Was he joking? Akifusa was pretty sure he was joking. “Uh. Evening. Night would probably be best.”

Tomonori nodded, his expression giving nothing away. “I’ll be in touch. Now shoo, I have actual work to do.”

***

“You’re tense.” Shiki’s hands paused between his shoulder blades.

“As usual,” he pointed out, twisting his neck around to shoot her a dry look.

She bit her lip, but her eyes sparkled briefly with the laugh suppressed. It was a frequent comment she made during these massages. “Does it have anything to do with Akifusa, by any chance?”

This time, Tomonori felt his back clench. “You heard his outburst earlier?”

“I think everyone did.”

He sighed.

Shiki’s voice softened as her thumbs pressed into the top of his spine once more. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Once, he would have refused on the grounds of not wanting to burden her with his own problems, but now he knew better. Not telling her would only worry her more— and she deserved to hear his thoughts, especially since this concerned her as well. Tomonori closed his eyes for a moment, muscles relaxing into the rhythm of her touch, before speaking. “He wants us to sleep together.”

She gave no sign of surprise; she’d probably pieced that much together from Akifusa’s shouts earlier.

“I knew it would happen eventually. I can’t keep stalling him with kisses forever, and although his mood seems to be improving, it’s obvious he’d prefer to be back in his own skin. And I owe him for saving you… and he made it pretty clear that he doesn’t want to do it with anyone but me. I can’t think of a way of convincing him otherwise that wouldn’t risk— ah.” A low moan escaped him as her fingers kneaded just a bit harder, working diligently at the knots of tension along his shoulders and back. (He’d denied the first few massages she’d offered, not wanting to be selfish, but after her repeated assurances that she enjoyed taking care of him, he’d caved— and now his only regret was not doing so sooner.)

“So what’s making you so tense?” she asked softly, after a few moments of blissful silence.

“What if…” He hesitated. The question sounded absurd even in his head, but maybe dismantling it aloud would help. His voice came out softer than he’d expected. “What if he hates me after?”

Shiki didn’t say anything.

“He would have every right. Not that I plan on hurting him— I probably couldn’t if I tried, and I have tried in the past, you know that— and I know he won’t complain whatever I do in the moment. He’ll probably enjoy it. But he’s vulnerable now in a way he’s never been. And if I’m being honest, that weakness— the discomfort in his own body, his complete lack of self-control, his humiliation after the fact— is exactly what excites me about him.” He paused. “I’m sorry—”

“You don’t have to apologize, Tomo-kun. I knew that already.” Her hands and voice were as tender as before, kinder than he deserved. (She would probably correct him if she knew he still had thoughts like that on occasion, but he didn’t feel worthy of her comfort yet.) “And after talking to Akifusa, I don’t feel as jealous as before.”

He couldn’t detect any hint of insincerity in her voice. “That’s good.” Tomonori released a sigh, feeling a bit more of his tension depart.

She made a quiet noise of assent, hands drifting downward; he grimaced when she pressed into his back at first, but the pain melted away soon enough. “I don’t think Akifusa has a bone of hate anywhere in his body,” she said eventually. “Especially not for you.”

He swiveled his head back toward her, raising his eyebrows; she met his stare evenly, not pausing in her ministrations. “You’re sure you’re not jealous?”

She just smiled. “I’m not, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were dodging the subject.”

Maybe he was. Another sigh escaped him. “You’re right. He’s probably not capable of true hate, but— but this feels like crossing a line. When he gets back to normal and his current obsession with me fades, when he remembers everything he agreed to so willingly in this state just to please me— it was bad enough when he followed Furutsugu’s advice, but now, when I’m the one telling him what to do…” The words sent a light shiver through him. He wished they wouldn’t.

“Do you know what I think?” Shiki asked quietly. “I think you’re not giving him enough credit. Or yourself, for that matter.”

“What do you mean?”

“Akifusa knows what he wants, and he doesn’t hold grudges. He would never resent you for doing something he asked. Even if it ended up embarrassing him, he’d bounce back.” She poked his bun. “As for you, Tomo-kun… you really need to get over this villain complex of yours.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at that, guiltily.

“I’m serious. You are a kind, compassionate person.”

“I’m—”

“Don’t try to deny it.” He shut his mouth. “I know you won’t hurt Akifusa— not just because he’s resilient, but because you’d stop yourself if you thought it was getting close to that point. Someone truly selfish wouldn’t be this concerned about him. And you’re very good at taking care of me, even when you tease me or order me around… and I think Akifusa would enjoy those things, too. You have nothing to worry about.”

Tomonori felt his cheeks prickle with a blush. “He does seem to like it when I take charge,” he admitted. “And… perhaps you have a point about the other things as well.”

She squeezed his shoulders lightly before her hands glided back to their previous location. “I definitely have a point.”

“Yes, all right, no need to rub it in.” He shot her an exaggerated pout over his shoulder, which of course only made her laugh.

“I don’t know about that. You seem to enjoy it when I rub things in.” To demonstrate, her thumbs dug into a particularly sore space between his ribs, startling another moan from him. “Is that to your satisfaction, Master?” she asked innocently.

“Now you’re just asking for payback… A little to the left.”

“Yes, Master. Anything you ask.”

Cheeks scalding, he made a private note to add “punish Shiki” to tomorrow morning’s agenda before closing his eyes and letting her small, sword-callused hands knead away all of his stress. *** [What do you think about the second scene? I was thinking of cutting it and/or placing it later in the fic, but not entirely sure yet. Admittedly, I haven’t shared the full context of the story yet, but nonetheless. Thanks for reading! Part 2 will probably be posted soon-ish, I won’t leave you hanging like I did with Chapter 4 (assuming there is someone who was reading and left hanging by it). Also, yes, this chapter is as yet unnamed— I have a few ideas, but they’re all very generic. If you have suggestions, let me know, although I’ll probably base it off something in the second half.]

[waifuoftomonori]

Probably confused trying to figure out the mechanics of operating two people at once. On the bright side, I get to make them kiss and stuff like I normally do in my fanfics anyway. Downside, I now have to run a village with only Akifusa and some weirdos who are all obsessed with one-half of me to help me. And we’re in 11th-century Japan, which is a fun setting to write about but I wouldn’t want to live there. If we ever swapped back, my life would probably be a lot more productive (Tomo and Shiki would work out a system for sharing / swapping control pretty quickly), but the combined weight of their trauma would make people even more worried about me. (Being crammed into one body the day before they were supposed to get married probably wouldn’t help much on that front, either.) They’d get access to modern meds and therapy during their time in my body, though, so good for them.

idc if it's not a person. if your icon is a sunrise, you're a sunrise now.

poll about swapping with prev's icon here

[waifuoftomonori]

Tomonori could benefit from half of these, to be honest. - Talk about your feelings. I get that you can't discuss them with most people, but before you decide to off yourself for the woman you love, maybe tell her how you feel about her potential death, and ask her how she feels about yours. That seems like a conversation that should happen. - Stop being a dick. To Akifusa specifically. ...Okay, fine, maybe just be a little less of a dick sometimes. - You need to stay with Shiki and Aki (i.e. not take your own life) - General trauma healing - Please stop killing / injuring yourself every five seconds - Just sit down and have a good cry. It won't fix everything, but you might feel a little better after. You keep everything so bottled up. Akifusa - Just have him take an "Am I Gay?" quiz, give him ten minutes to adjust, and he'll be the paragon of mental health Shiki - See: all of Tomonori's except "stop being a dick"

Probably missed a key one, but whatever

[waifuoftomonori]

Aki After Tentacles: Chapter 2 - Thirty Percent

Story Summary: After defending the Princess from a tentacled Void-like monster, Akifusa wakes up biologically female. The only way for him to regain his former body (and hopefully get over his newfound attraction to his male best friend, who also happens to be Shiki’s husband) is to become pregnant. Or: In which I decide to no longer care that the English fanfiction-reading world no longer cares about these characters, if it ever did, nor to fear that I am besmirching them with my infatuation (which occasionally takes filthy forms), and to continue pursuing the greatest, unlikeliest source of inspiration I’ve encountered in the last five years. …Okay, that’s a blatant lie, I still care. Sorry for the salt. If you’re reading this, I appreciate you. ***

Kuso’s “examination” the following morning, while most people were still finishing up breakfast, wasn’t as bad as Akifusa had feared. The only body part inspected was his hand. The Crow muttered some words, there was some wind, Akifusa’s palm tingled before sprouting a bunch of glowing green runes— pretty basic magic stuff. (Or at least no one else seemed to find it strange.)

“My hypothesis,” Kuso said, after scowling at the glyphs for a minute as if they’d personally offended him and all of the Yatagarasu clan (which was how his face looked most of the time anyway), “is that the Oki bloodline’s latent transformative properties have exponentially amplified the base alteration magic. Normally this effect would disappear on its own within a few days, but… in this case, the only plausible method of reversion is for a male of the same species to plant his seed in the womb of the afflicted.”

Akifusa’s brow wrinkled as he tried to keep up. “What does planting seeds have to do with it?” And why couldn’t Kuso just talk like a normal person?

“Allow me, Kuso.” Furutsugu’s eyes crinkled with a smile that sent a shudder down Akifusa’s spine. “The only way to undo this and return to your own body starts with a man getting you pregnant, Akifusa. You have to bear him a child. And,” he held up a hand, already anticipating Akifusa’s natural urge to protest, “as I understand the situation, it really must be a man, I’m afraid. As opposed to a god. And since Tomonori is married to our lovely Princess…”

Silence gripped the room in claws of steel. Wait, was he suggesting…? Color raced to Akifusa’s cheeks, mouth hanging open as he fought for words. Furutsugu’s eyes flickered down to his newly sizable chest, squished in and straining against its tight cloth bindings, and his smile widened.

“It would be my pleasure to assist you, Aki-chan. As many times as you need.”

”You—” Akifusa shot to his feet, rapidly regaining his senses; his sword flew out, pointed directly at the diviner’s throat. For once, no one moved to stop him. “You perverted, filthy bas— give me one good reason not to cut you down where you stand!” Furutsugu just winked at him. “Gladly. Let us adjourn to the nearest bedchamber.”

After a second, Kodonomae heaved an exasperated sigh. “You may want to work on the timing of your jokes.”

“Actually,” Kuso said, grimacing as he dismissed the runes with a flick of his fingers, “lascivious commentary aside, his analysis is largely accurate. At this stage, it’s not clear whether full gestation and childbirth are needed or if fertilization would suffice, but a transformation this potent requires severe measures to—”

“I’m not sleeping with Furutsugu! No way! If that’s the price I have to pay, I… I’d rather just stay a woman!” Akifusa couldn’t stop himself from blurting out. No— now it would be herself, wouldn’t it? Might as well get used to it at this rate, find a way to cope with the lecherous looks they all kept throwing him (her?) when they thought he (she?) wasn’t paying attention, and Furutsugu was worst of all, he didn’t even seem ashamed of it—

Well, he silently amended, gaze wandering from the despicable diviner as his mental corrections screeched to a halt, it wasn’t exactly true that all of the men had been leering. His roving eyes came to a stop directly on Tomonori, who lifted his head from the scroll he was studying without any pretense of rush. Tomonori’s expression didn’t even twitch as they made eye contact— honestly, as much as Akifusa appreciated the absence of ogling,  it was kind of a blow to the ego that his best friend needed so little effort to adjust to the sight of him as a woman.

But it was worse than that: the strange heat crackling throughout his veins in Tomonori’s presence hadn’t gone away since dinner. He was starting to think it wasn’t a medical concern. He didn’t want to feel like this— and not for Tomonori, of all people— but try as he might, he couldn’t seem to fight it. His idiotic heart kept pounding around Tomonori, drawing his attention to little details like the way his crimson eyes glowed coppery in sunlight or the alluring wisps of sandalwood and parchment that teased his nose as Tomonori brushed past when they’d left the dining area last night.

Dammit! How the hell did the Princess manage being married to the guy without constantly swooning or touching herself or— or begging him to shove her against a wall and have his way with her?

As if Akifusa had summoned the Princess by thinking of her, suddenly her breath tickled his ear. “Tomo’s very handsome, isn’t he, Aki-kun?” Knowing laughter echoed in her voice.

Akifusa’s blush deepened; he hastily dropped his gaze. “Princess! I’m sorry, I wasn’t— I didn’t mean—”

“He’s fantastic in bed, too,” she whispered. “You know Tomonori. He’s always been good at learning new skills… and good with his tongue.” Akifusa squirmed, risking another furtive glance upwards at that exquisite profile, now turned away once more. “Haven’t you ever thought about it, Akifusa?”

“N-not when I was… you know…” He paused before admitting uncomfortably, “Well, okay, maybe once or twice— just a few dreams, I couldn’t help it— but don’t tell him that, Princess, please…”

“I won’t,” she promised, only to pause. “You know, if you really don’t want to sleep with Furutsugu—”

“Princess!” he gasped again, causing several heads to turn their way— but not Tomonori’s. The redhead seemed to be quite pointedly feigning disinterest in their whispered conversation, in fact; his gaze had returned to the parchment before him, a few crimson tresses slipping forward to shield his expression from view.

“It’s still up to you, of course,” the Princess murmured. “There are other men in the village; it’s not as if you only have two choices in the world, whatever Furutsugu says. But, well… I’d be okay with it, at least until you got pregnant. And I think if you were to ask Tomo in the right way, and if you were willing to put up with a bit of teasing, he would accept. He really is very good. I know I’m biased, but…”

“No, he probably is.” Growing up, Tomonori had been better than him at pretty much everything except their sword training (which he’d found excuses to skip whenever he could anyway— until, Akifusa suspected, he’d realized how much alone time Akifusa was spending with the Princess as a result and suddenly started showing up every day, mostly to heckle Aki for his missteps). It had been frustrating at the time— he’d gotten sick of teachers and village elders telling him he should try to be “more like that Kotokura boy” (especially when the Kotokura boy in question routinely faked ankle injuries just so the Princess would fuss over him, making Akifusa look like a jerk in the process)— but now Akifusa couldn’t help but wonder about everything Tomonori might have learned over the course of his marriage.

“Come to our room this evening, after dinner,” the Princess whispered. “If you’re interested.” ***

Tomonori was waiting for them in a plain black yukata, silky hair freed from its usual chignon to graze the tips of his shoulders. He opted to remain seated as they approached but favored Akifusa with a small smile that caused his stupid heart to somersault. “So you’ve decided you’d prefer me to Furutsugu? I don’t blame you. Have a seat.”

Akifusa sank awkwardly to his knees, trying to keep a safe distance away— not that it mattered, really; he didn’t have to be sitting right next to Tomonori to notice how damn handsome he was, all disheveled like this. He’d seen Tomonori out of his kimono before, obviously, during village festivals and occasional awkward run-ins in the shrine baths (during which Akifusa had always kept his eyes studiously to himself), but it was the first time his heart had pounded at the prospect, the first time his fingers had itched to comb those blood-red tresses that framed Tomonori’s cheekbones so beautifully. Akifusa swallowed, shifting his weight— and reddened when he felt the fleshy squish of his newly soft, ample thighs, squeezing together in a way that only stoked the warmth building between them. Hastily, he forced his gaze elsewhere.

The Princess sat by her husband’s side, her whole body curving subtly into his in a way that would have caused a scandal back when she’d still been the sacred guardian of the Sword, and Tomonori had his arm wrapped snugly around her waist, fingers playing with the ends of her hair. She noticed Akifusa looking and quickly straightened, blushing a little. “Do you want me to leave, Akifusa?”

Had she been thinking of staying? The blood in his cheeks swelled to boiling temperatures. For a moment he was bizarrely tempted, but male pride won out in the end. “I’m sorry, Princess,” he said, swallowing. “Maybe that would be best.” It was bad enough that Tomonori was going to get up close and personal with this distressingly feminine figure; he at least wanted the Princess to continue seeing him as a man.

She nodded, lifting her head slowly from Tomo’s shoulder. “I understand. I’ll be training in Toshi Temple when you’re done.” Before she could rise, Tomonori tugged her face back to his and claimed a swift kiss, then murmured something that made her blush and nod before letting her go. The door slid open and shut once more.

Akifusa’s pulse sped in the spreading silence, lodging in his throat. After a moment, he summoned the courage to meet Tomonori’s gaze; in the dimness, his eyes gleamed like a cat’s. “Thanks. For agreeing to do this.” The words came out uncomfortably high and breathless; he winced, cheeks flushing even hotter.

“You’re in this predicament because you saved Shiki’s life.” Tomonori’s voice, in contrast, was as steady as ever. “I know you didn’t do it for my sake, but I’m grateful. Truly.” His forehead creased as he muttered, “I should have been the one to protect her.”

Akifusa searched his jumbled memories of that fateful battle. “Huh? But you were helping the villagers evacuate. How could you have known?”

“I couldn’t. Even if I had been there, perhaps I couldn’t have saved her. I’m not as strong as you, nor as fast, and even if I had somehow blocked the blow, I’m certain I wouldn’t have survived the fight. And Shiki’s made me promise not to sacrifice myself again, no matter the cause. She’s made it very clear that she doesn’t want me to die on her behalf.” Tomonori took a deep breath. “I know all of that, and I know I shouldn’t blame myself. The important thing is that she’s alive now, and Kifu is safe. But all the same… I wish I could have done more.”

“Trust me, I get it. But you can’t keep dwelling on these things. You had your own job to do, and she’s safe now, like you said.”

“That’s true.” Tomonori shook his head, as if clearing it. “Nonetheless, there’s no need to thank me. I owe you for defending Shiki, and I mean to repay that debt now. You’d do the same if our positions were reversed.”

Akifusa’s mouth fell open. He hadn’t imagined that scenario. If Tomonori were a woman… Even in this form, which seemed so powerfully attracted to everything that was male in Tomonori, his heart pounded strangely at the thought. “R-right,” he managed. “Of course I would.”

Tomonori nodded and studied him for a moment— not his curvaceous figure, which had drawn so many stares from the others throughout the day, but his face. “You’ve never done this before, have you, Akifusa?” He didn’t say it as a criticism, but Akifusa still squirmed self-consciously.

“No. Never.” There was only one person he’d even considered doing it with— though he’d tried not to entertain such thoughts, given how unworthy he was of her love, and she’d been strictly off-limits for a number of reasons. Not least of which was the fact that Tomonori loved her too.

“That’s understandable,” Tomonori said quietly, as if his thoughts had been following the same lines. He shifted a little closer. “And I understand if this is awkward for you, too. If you want to stop at any point, just tell me.”

“That won’t happen. I want to get back to normal, believe me.” The sooner he could get out of this… this uncomfortably soft body and back into his old one, the sooner he could shake off these weird thoughts and stop feeling these fiery shivers down his spine whenever Tomonori said his name or smiled at him, the better. “I don’t care what it takes,” he said, lifting his chin. “You can do whatever you want to me.”

Tomonori blinked, drawing back. “You make it sound like I’m going to torture you or something. I’ll keep this brief, I promise.” He shot Akifusa a quick, sly glance through his bangs. “Unless you were hoping for more?”

Akifusa’s cheeks flamed. “I wasn’t…” Dammit, was it that obvious? Tomonori angled his body closer, a subtle smirk toying with his lips; Akifusa clenched his thighs together and fought for self-control. “Of course not! I just want to get this over with, just like you!” The shrill, girlish edge to his voice just added to his embarrassment.

Tomonori sighed, tucking a loose strand of Aki’s hair behind his ear. “You stubborn fool, Akifusa.” His tone was strangely tender, his brow furrowing slightly. Caught off guard, Akifusa stared, heart hammering against all reason— but in the next moment Tomonori’s smile returned. “I’m kidding. That’s fine. Although…” He paused, gaze flitting momentarily aside; he seemed to be contemplating the best way to phrase something. “I’m not ready yet,” he said eventually. “In a physical sense.”

“Huh?”

Another pause followed. “I’m saying that your body just doesn’t appeal to me, as a man. Which could make ‘getting it over with’ more difficult.”

Akifusa was still lost. “So… you don’t want to do it after all?”

Tomonori inspected him in silence for a moment and then expelled a soft, frustrated sigh. “No, I’m willing to try. But… I might need to build up to the act, even if you don’t. Just a little.”

“Build up to…?” Flames reignited in Akifusa’s chest, escalating at an alarming rate.

“You said I could do anything I wanted,” Tomonori pointed out. “I don’t especially want to do this, but does that principle still apply?” His expression remained serious, autumn-colored eyes locked onto Akifusa’s own. He wasn’t trying to twist this situation to his advantage… but knowing this didn’t cool Akifusa’s feverish blush in the slightest.

“Yeah.” His voice squeaked. What exactly would Tomonori need to do to “build up to it”? For some reason, Akifusa recalled a brisk winter morning on which his friend had bound his wrists and ankles with rope, so tightly he couldn’t move. At the time, he’d protested, but now the prospect of being restrained by Tomonori sent a little shockwave of excitement down his spine.

A hand cradled his chin, tilting it up, holding it precisely in place. “In that case,” Tomonori murmured, the words skimming Akifusa’s lips, “we’ll start small. Just a simple kiss.” His meaning didn’t fully register until his mouth bridged the last sliver of distance and smoothly claimed Akifusa’s own.

Tomonori’s lips were the softest things he’d ever experienced. It was obscene how soft they were, how good they felt pressed firmly against his own; Akifusa felt like he was spiraling into a fiery abyss, and all he could do was open his mouth, dizzily, for more. A high, breathy noise escaped him when Tomonori accepted the invitation with a few teasing brushes of the tongue, and Akifusa didn’t even have time to feel embarrassed before those fantastically supple lips and the long, skillful fingers guiding his chin wiped every other thought from his brain.

Abruptly, Tomonori broke away. “It’s not working.”

“Huh?”

“To be honest, I was trying to pretend you were Shiki, but I can’t. You’re just too different.” He lowered his gaze, brows knitting in a frown.

Akifusa’s heart slammed against his ribs as he stared at his friend, knocked speechless. Tomonori hadn’t even enjoyed that kiss? That seemed painfully unfair. All of Akifusa’s muscles had completely melted into mush; some mysterious force kept him close, panting, hanging on Tomonori’s every word.

“You look a bit flushed, Akifusa,” he said quietly, which of course made Akifusa blush even deeper.

What the heck was he drawing attention to that for? As usual, his neutral voice and expressionless heart-shaped face gave no clues; Tomonori could be as blank as a clean sheet of parchment when he wanted to be. Blank, and yet so damn handsome. “I’m fine. Just needed to…  catch my breath.”

“I see.” Tomonori studied him for a long moment without saying anything else. Those russet eyes felt like they were drilling straight into Akifusa’s brain, stripping him bare. “That was your first kiss, wasn’t it?” he asked eventually.

“Uh. Y-yes. Do they always feel like—” Akifusa stopped himself. Like you’re going to melt into a puddle of steaming goo or maybe die from a heart attack, but somehow you want more even if it kills you, even if you’d die of shame afterward, because everything feels amazing and you would leave this world with a smile on your lips?

“What was that?”

“N-nothing.”

Tomonori’s eyes narrowed, but he let it slide. “At any rate,” he said, “your technique was sloppy. You need more practice.” His mouth reclaimed Akifusa’s, and the fiery vortex swallowed him whole once more.

Tomonori’s fingers glided down his neck, provoking a flurry of violent shivers; in a matter of seconds two warm, equally dexterous hands had captured Akifusa’s newly slender waist, squeezing him closer. His breasts were squashed against Tomonori’s chest, their tips suddenly stiff and sensitive, bristling with want. He was powerless to stop them, powerless to stop his own ragged gasps between kisses, powerless to stop his fingers from scrabbling for purchase on Tomonori’s shoulders— such broad, firm shoulders, broader than his slim torso would suggest, Akifusa knew he’d started working out since their trip to the hot springs but the effects had never been visible under that damn proper kimono he always wore— and ultimately powerless to stop the surge of melting warmth in that new, unthinkable place between his legs.

Tomonori pulled back an inch, breathing hard, a lock of hair slipping forward over an angular cheekbone— Akifusa fought the urge to stare, heart throbbing at the sight. “That was a slight improvement,” he murmured, lips approaching Akifusa’s ear. Each word was carried on a current of soft, steaming breath that made it impossible not to squirm. “But something’s still missing. It feels… wrong, to be honest.”

“Wrong?” Akifusa’s head spun. He couldn’t imagine how any part of that could have felt more deliciously right. He didn’t want to feel this way toward the person who’d subjected him to countless pranks and taunts and assorted minor humiliations (especially in the Princess’s presence), but the way his blood sang at every little touch couldn’t be denied.

With a frustrated sigh, Tomonori withdrew farther, hands falling from Akifusa’s waist. “You’re not acting like yourself, which is a little unnerving, and I don’t want to take advantage—”

“What do you mean, ‘not acting like myself’?”

Tomonori looked him dead in the eye and said flatly, “You’ve been wildly aroused all day. Did you really think you could hide it?”

Akifusa’s mind blanked with sheer shock, then reeled for an excuse. Somehow, telling Tomonori the arousal had only taken place around him didn’t seem like it would do the trick.  “H-how would you— that’s not— I wasn’t—”

“You were. I would have to be blind not to notice. But that’s not the point.” Tomonori closed his eyes briefly as if collecting his thoughts; a small crease appeared in his brow as he opened them again. “You’re not thinking clearly,” he finally said, “and for once I don’t mean that as a criticism of your general idiocy. Your emotions have gotten the better of you more times than I can count, but this is the first time you’ve ever expressed the desire to do this kind of thing with me. Doesn’t it seem strange to you?”

“I guess,” Akifusa mumbled, sheepishly dropping his gaze. “It’s not like I ever felt like this before…” Except in dreams, a voice in his head added.

“Exactly. I don’t know if it’s a magical effect or if you just need time to… adjust to the new body, but you’re obviously in no state of mind to make these decisions tonight.” His tone quieted, growing solemn. “If I allowed this to happen now, I’d be no better than Doman. I would be manipulating you in your moment of weakness. You would be my puppet, stripped of all ability to resist.”

The words startled Akifusa into whipping his head up, an excited tremor rippling down the knobs of his spine, but Tomonori continued without pause.

“I think it’s best if we wait a few days, just to see if whatever it is calms down or if there might be more sinister forces at work. Then, once you’ve had a chance to clear your mind, we can revisit this possibility if we need to— if you’re still willing.”

They weren’t going to do it tonight. Relief battled disappointment in Akifusa’s gut. He wasn’t emotionally prepared for this, for the mounting heat of all these kisses and caresses and Tomonori’s maddening composure, but the thought of leaving and abstaining from Tomonori for— for who knew how long, his body didn’t feel like it was going to “calm down” anytime soon… that seemed just as agonizing. He swallowed thickly and nodded, lurching to his feet. “All right. Yeah. That seems like a good idea.” He couldn’t meet Tomonori’s eyes. “You know best, as always…”

A soft sigh reached his ears, followed by the faint rustle of Tomonori’s yukata. “Look at me, Akifusa.” Reluctantly, he obeyed. Tomonori stood before him in the dimness, half his face veiled in shadow, wearing a rueful pinch in his brow and a resigned smile on his lips. “Do you want another kiss?”

Akifusa’s body reacted with alarming speed, nipples tingling against the cool silk of his own robes. “I thought you said…”

“We’ve already kissed twice; I don’t see what harm a third can do.” Tomonori approached slowly, deliberately, the soft aroma of sandalwood and parchment following his every step. “Besides, I am grateful you saved Shiki… and you seem so pathetic right now. I can’t send you off like this.”

“I— Pathetic?” Akifusa snapped to attention, irritation flaring through arousal like a scab flicked off an old wound— but when Tomonori’s fingers curled under his chin, tilting it up, and those sharp russet eyes filled his field of vision, the breath rushed from his lungs.

“Unless you don’t want it?” Tomonori murmured.

 “I never said that!” The words flew out, his own eyes widening. His senses were hopelessly attuned to Tomonori— to every gentle breath against his lips, to the warmth and quiet strength pulsing from that deceptively slight torso angling toward his own. “Please, Tomonori, I— I do want it, very much! Kiss me, Tomonori, please, please kiss me, I really want it, please—”

A dark, intense something flickered across Tomonori’s features. Akifusa’s breath seized— but then the expression vanished, and Tomonori’s mouth brushed chastely against his own. Shivering, Akifusa reached for his shoulders again, but this time he was rebuffed; Tomonori caught his hands and pressed them, gently but firmly, back to his chest as he withdrew. “Thank you for saving Shiki.”

Akifusa blinked rapidly, struggling to make sense of what had just happened. “Of course.”

Tomonori took a moment to gather his breath before shooting Akifusa a faint, enigmatic smile and letting him go. “Since you’re leaving, can you stop by Toshi Temple and tell her we’re done?”

Akifusa mumbled in agreement before fleeing out into the night, lips still tingling, blushing exactly like the fool Tomonori had accused him of being before their first kiss.

When the Princess spotted him in the doorway of the training hall, her eyes widened, the wooden sword in her hands freezing halfway through a flawless undercut. “You’re finished already?”

He coughed, avoiding her gaze. “Er. Yeah. Something like that.”

“I see.” Akifusa could feel her inspecting him, fueling his blush; her tentative steps bridged the distance between them. “Akifusa, are you all right?”

“Yes, Princess, I’m fine.” There was no good in worrying her over something so trivial, something he didn’t even understand fully. Tomonori’s explanation for sending him away made perfect sense. Akifusa would have done the same thing in his place. And yet—

“You don’t seem fine.”

He swallowed hard and looked up. The Princess’s eyes were soft with concern, her brow crinkling when he didn’t answer immediately. Dammit. Was he really that transparent? “Really, it’s nothing to worry about, Princess…”

Her eyebrows pulled tighter downwards, but she didn’t say anything as she put the sword away. “Walk me back to my room,” she said when she returned.

Akifusa hesitated.

Light fingers touched his bicep. “I would feel much safer with you there to protect me, Akifusa,” she said, gazing at him with those soulful lavender eyes. Her bottom lip formed a gentle pout. “Please?”

Dammit, dammit. How was it that he could feel so attracted to Tomonori in this new body and yet also be powerless to disobey that sweet, trembling voice? He knew it was a ruse, but the idea that she’d go to such lengths to protect his pride out of worry for him—!

“All right,” he managed, and she beamed.

Sure enough, the moment they were outside she said, “You know Tomonori can be harsh sometimes, but he doesn’t mean everything he says. And he does care about you, even if he’d never admit it.”

“It wasn’t like that.” If anything, Tomonori had been weirdly considerate. He’d only called Akifusa a fool once. Well, maybe twice: he’d mentioned something about “general idiocy”.

The Princess fell quiet for a few steps.

“We didn’t do it,” Akifusa blurted out, the silence growing too much for him to bear. He wanted to die when her stare fixed on him, but he pushed on. “I wanted to, I really wanted to, I’m sorry, I know you guys are married—”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“—but he said he couldn’t— couldn’t do it physically, and then he kissed me— twice— to try to fix that, but I guess it still wasn’t working, and in the end he said it was wrong anyway because I might be mind-controlled or something, but then he asked if I wanted a third kiss, and I said yes, but that one wasn’t as long, and then he said ‘thank you for saving Shiki’ and told me to go fetch you.” He collected his breath. “So really, I’m fine.”

The Princess didn’t reply immediately, her features creased and ruminative. They stepped out into the courtyard, moonlit grass brushing their ankles, before she spoke again. “I’m sorry it didn’t go the way you hoped.”

“You don’t need to cheer me up, Princess.” He forced a weak smile. “I know he was right to send me away.”

She tipped her head to the side. “Did it seem like Tomonori was… teasing you at all?”

Akifusa blinked a couple times, trying to think back. “Well, now that you mention it… no. That’s pretty weird, actually. Usually he’s always making fun of me.”

“That’s not quite what I meant.” They entered the corridor that held the Princess’s bedroom. She paused, biting her lip thoughtfully, but when Akifusa turned back she flashed a brief smile and caught up with him. “So what will you do now? Do you think you’ll go to Furutsugu?”

He shuddered. “Definitely not. I, uh, think we’ll try again in a few days.” Akifusa tried to sound casual, as if his heart weren’t pounding at the idea of placing himself in Tomonori’s thrall once again, of letting those searing eyes and quiet voice and quick, confident fingers dictate his every move. He’d heard once that the House of Kotokura had some kind of spell to make people do their bidding— was this how it worked? Why the heck did that possibility excite him?

“I see.” Again, she hesitated, as if deciding whether to tell him something, but in the end she shook her head and said, “Well, if you ever want to talk about it, or if you need help adjusting to things, you can always come to me. I hope you know that.”

Akifusa swallowed, meeting her sincere gaze as they reached the bedroom door. A billion thoughts clamored for representation on his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to voice any of them now. “I know. Thank you, Princess.”

She smiled and slipped inside. He hovered there a moment longer, vaguely disoriented, until he heard the soft murmurs of conversation within and took his cue to leave. ***

“I was only partially teasing. Only about thirty percent.” Tomonori flashed her a look of wounded reproach, bottom lip protruding in an adorable pout.

Shiki sighed, but she couldn’t quite conceal her smile. “And the other seventy percent?” she asked, tugging her pillow more comfortably into position.

His fingers traced the curve of her cheek as he considered the question. “It changed over time. I was sincerely worried about going too far, though.”

“Maybe he wouldn’t have minded that,” she pointed out, prompting a tiny, fleeting smile.

“It still wouldn’t have been right. You know how Akifusa is. Beneath all his blustering, he’s so naïve, so utterly helpless to resist—”

Suppressing a laugh, she poked his cheek. “And that’s exciting to you.”

He shot her a playful scowl, wrapping an arm snugly around her waist. “That’s not the point. I was trying to be respectful.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’m sure he appreciated it.” She snuggled closer, savoring the rhythm of his heart; his embrace tightened, gentle fingers raking through her hair.

“Are you jealous?” he asked softly.

“Jealous? No. Honestly… more than anything else, I feel guilty. Kuso mentioned magic like that normally goes away on its own within a few days. If Akifusa hadn’t leapt in front of me…”

“Then he might not have transformed into Tokoyo-gami, and it’s possible none of us would have survived. Besides, you didn’t know at the time. Even if you did, do you really think he would have stopped?”

“Probably not, but…” She bit her lip.

“There’s no use feeling guilty, Shiki. We all have regrets from that night, even those of us who weren’t involved in the fighting, but we owe it to ourselves and those we lost to keep moving forward. …Akifusa reminded me of that.” *** [A/N: Thank you again for being my invisible, literate guinea pig(s). Starting with the next chapter, I might need to start splitting them into two posts (the chapters have been getting longer as I continue writing), but I’ll try to keep updating once-ish (maybe twice, don’t know yet) every week. The next chapter might also be when I have to start labeling posts for mature content (and maybe including a content warning or two, if only out of paranoia), so don’t be alarmed if that’s the case. The average burn pace remains adagio for erotica, probably closer to moderato for romance as a whole. I think. Who decides how fast or slow-burning a given work of fiction is, anyway? I apologize if my portrayals of the minor characters (minor in relation to this fic, other love interests in relation to the otome) are slightly off; I haven’t played most of their routes, so I’m operating mostly off of general vibes (and exaggerating certain traits for comedic effect). Then again, I do the same thing with the Kifu OGs at times as well, so maybe it balances out. Stay tuned for the next thrilling installment. Resident Tomosexual signing off.]

[waifuoftomonori]

most recent one: She tugged the blanket closer; Akifusa surrendered it without a fight. longfic I am temporarily stuck on: He stretched forward— Tomonori stepped aside— and lowered his chest until it grazed his knees. (I think I might be stuck on this because I was struck with self-consciousness that this is not how actual people participating in petplay would respond to the command “down”. I tried on my own floor and this ended up happening, and Akifusa has a bigger chest than mine in this fic, but yeah.)

Writers, reblog this with the last sentence you wrote from your WIP

[waifuoftomonori]

Fanfiction Masterlist (and other stuff)

Please note that most of these fics have not been edited, or seen minimal editing. I may edit them later; I may or may not update them on Tumblr to reflect these edits.

Heed the tags for content warnings. If you come across something you think I should warn for that I haven’t, I deeply apologize; please let me know so I can add appropriate tags or warnings for others. Also, let me know if any of the links don’t work. Hope you enjoy :)

Aki After Tentacles (the tentacle gender-swap fic)

Chapter 1: Fever Chapter 2: Thirty Percent Chapter 3: Vulture (Part One) Chapter 3: Vulture (Part Two) Chapter 4: Tongue (Part One) Chapter 4: Tongue (Part Two) Chapter 5 (Part One) Chapter 5 (Part Two) Chapter 6: Complex (Part One) Chapter 6: Complex (Part Two) (posted Jan. 8, 2025)

Other Fics on Tumblr

Blindfold-Bondage Threesome (unfinished) Brat Game (Part One)

AO3 Fics

[Note: These fics came from my early days of writing about the Kifu gang— even the one I posted most recently— and I don’t think they’re very good for several reasons. If you decide to read them anyway, heed the tags.]

Role Reversal (Shiki and Tomo roleplay a scenario where Shiki is Tomo’s servant) Taming of the Ox (Tomo x Aki— be warned that Tomonori is OOC and kind of a prick in this (more than I write him now) Black and White and Red all Over (Shiki and Tomo play Go and it gets out of hand in a sexy way) Truth or Dare: Summer Festival Edition (exactly what it says on the tin; even though I uploaded this one most recently, don’t be fooled, I wrote it ages ago, I just wanted to post something I wrote earlier to feel more productive as a writer, but now it’s out there and I’m not taking it down)

Headcanons, Brainstorming, Charts, and Notable Blorbo Question Responses that Got Out of Hand

The moment of blorbo-ization Stranger: “My marriage is over. I told my wife about us.” The answer is yes. Yes, this man is depressed. (NSFW) Crying during/after sex Meeting his own clone (NSFW) Roles in bed Abandoned puppy in basket (NSFW) Deepthroating (NSFW) Degradation kink (NSFW) Do they swallow? Guide to deciphering Tomonori’s moods based on how he’s acting toward Akifusa Last-minute gifts Tomonori for president 2028 ”I want to think about my blorbo instead of whatever I should be doing” chart OT3 Get to Know My Ship Template (Part 1, unsure if I’ll do Part 2) Wild West AU Idea (inspired by poll) Brothel Fanfic Idea(s)

Other Fan Stuff

The Three Stages of every Tomo x Aki NSFW scene I’ve ever written I find this piece of Tomo x Shiki fan art really hot (I did not make it) Tomonori’s canon and semi-canon punishments Look at this man, he’s so pretty <3 Sixth Tomoversary post (2024) “Many dumb fictional men”, including Akifusa

Non-Fanfic (or Fanfic-Adjacent) Stuff

My mixed feelings about not proofreading my fics Facing my judgmental 12-year-old self Thoughts on various AO3 tags Taking all 3 items Tomonori helps me get my life in gear Good smut advice (well, sometimes) (depending on the scene and the vibe) (sometimes it’s better to just write “cock” and stop worrying over whether you’re overusing it)

[waifuoftomonori]

Back-ish

It makes me too sad not engaging with any other potential or actual fans of the game that’s haunted my dreams and waking thoughts for the past 5 years. Even though Scarlet Fate is gone from the App Store, it will always remain in my heart. I probably won’t share any lengthier scenes from my fanfic again (the first draft of Aki After Tentacles— I low-key hate the working title because tentacles make such a brief appearance at the beginning, but whatever— is now over 100k words!), or any of my other WIPs (which mostly revolve around Tomonori with either or both Shiki and Akifusa; I’ve tried to write Shiki x Aki on their own and I just… can’t) for two main reasons: 1. they haven’t been edited or even planned much at all, and I’m self-conscious about the quality, and 2. most of them get… pretty steamy (and kinky) pretty quickly, and I don’t want to share anything I shouldn’t. However, I might still pop in from time to time with random sentences or paragraphs I feel proud of (or at least amused by). AAT has spiraled from “smutty crackfic” into “long smutty crackfic with romance (possibly heading toward some kind of poly arrangement?), drama, and more elements of BDSM than I originally planned (it might just be a TPE at this point)”, and I’ve been stoked to share some parts of it. Even if no one reads them. (To be fair, I’m probably supposed to be reposting and sharing more things than I am to increase visibility; I still feel new to this Tumblr stuff; I just don’t want to have anything not related to Tomonori on this blog thing.) Because honestly, how else am I supposed to find people who are into the same characters I am and/or the romantic and kinky shenanigans they could get into? So yeah, I’ll try to stop by and share random sentences or fic ideas or paragraphs once or twice a week. Look forward to it. :)

[waifuoftomonori]

AO3 Account (for my fanfiction): Korlisyn_Valanthe

Yes, I write fanfiction, a lot of it about Tomonori and Shiki (of "Hiiro no Kakera 4: Shirahana no Ori", a.k.a. "Scarlet Fate: Fragments of the past" and "Scarlet Fate 2: Seasons of Love")-- and Akifusa sometimes, but mostly only when the other two are present. Basically, Shiki x Tomo is my OTP, but Shiki x Tomo x Aki is my OT3. (Aki's good for adding variety, and then when I want to get back to exploring the relationship between Shiki and Tomo in more depth, I cut him out of the next one. It's working well for me so far.)

Recently I've started posting (sometimes after minor edits) some of it on Archive of Our Own, under the pen name Korlisyn_Valanthe. I only have two stories up there now, one of which I'm not finished typing up yet (and I'm still working on the last scene I have planned), but that'll change. I've seen people on AO3 mention cross-posting stories on Tumblr, which is something I might also do-- I'm trying to get better at this self-promotion thing. (I don't have a very good handle on Tumblr yet, though, in case it's not obvious. :P)

Link to my works: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Korlisyn_Valanthe/works

Please note the ratings on my stories. (No, E is not short for "Everyone" in the AO3 rating system.) The ones I have posted (and, fine, most of the ones I write) are indeed erotica, or at least my idea of erotica. It may also behoove you (I like that word) to read some of the tags I've attached to each story so you don't stumble into anything that makes you uncomfortable. (Yes, I know. I went a bit crazy with the story tags.)

[waifuoftomonori]

Something else: he wouldn’t have one. Canon Tomonori doesn’t know what a camera is because they don’t exist yet. Modern-AU Tomonori is still too shy for that type of exhibition-y stuff, even if it were just for his partners (or intended to be). It’s one of his weak points, and has garnered much light-hearted teasing from Shiki, who is (slightly) less modest in this area. I think the most intimate/personal pics he’d have would be of him sleeping, if that. Modern-AU Akifusa would have a panic attack, then get defensive and assume literally everyone who said hi or smiled at him for the next week knew about the leaked images/videos. He’d move on eventually though. Modern-AU Shiki would be flustered at first and probably contact the appropriate authorities to investigate. I imagine both Tomo and Aki rushing to her defense in their various ways— Tomonori would do everything in his power to remove the clips from the Internet via persuasion and possibly hacking skills (I could see him dabbling in hacking in modern AU, don’t ask), and Akifusa would just loudly threaten to beat up anyone who spread the images or videos— whereas she would be embarrassed but not devastated. Eventually it would get sorted out.

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[waifuoftomonori]

I started out only writing monogamous ships, and I think that was my biggest obstacle to writing Tomonori x Akifusa for so long, because a universe in which Tomonori is not with Shiki, no matter the reason, is too heart-wrenchingly awful to contemplate. It took me a while to make the transition to “maybe Aki’s here for a one-off threesome”, then to “maybe Shiki gets with Akifusa as well” (which was doomed to fail because, as I’ve mentioned many times, I don’t see the chemistry between those two to begin with, so I couldn’t get into those scenes), then to “maybe they all get together”, and finally to “maybe Tomonori is the middle link and not Shiki”— my favorite rendition of their relationship so far. Chronologically ordered list for your (and my own) convenience: 1. Shiki / Tomonori (Akifusa alone) 2. Shiki / Tomonori (Akifusa participating in sex once) 3. Akifusa / Shiki; Shiki / Tomonori 4. Akifusa / Shiki / Tomonori 5. Akifusa / Tomonori; Shiki / Tomonori (I’m monogamous in real life, to the best of my intuition.)

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[waifuoftomonori]

I’m going with 8/10, which is the same as I think he’d rate “straight” sex. Enjoyable with the right partner(s), which he has, when everyone is in the right mood and communicating openly, and fun to explore new things/kinks with them, but nothing worth basing your entire life around on its own, and not pleasurable with just anyone. Love, gay or straight, would be Tomonori’s 10/10.

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[waifuoftomonori]

Uh, let’s see. Childhood trauma, check. No Internet, check. No meds for emotional disorders or ADHD, check. No inhaler, check. I have a highly demanding job which IRL I probably don’t understand and which requires me to interact with people, check. Best-case scenario, it’s after canon and I’m married to a woman, who is at least equally depressed and traumatized (possibly more— I don’t want to get into how one would measure trauma, though); my best friend is super-loud and probably the kind of guy who’d frequently interrupt my writing to encourage me to take jogs. Check and check.

Actually, I suppose the real best-case scenario would be in one of my smuttier, lighter fanfics, and still no, because I’m a hetero female (thus wouldn’t work with Shiki) who prefers being dominated to doing the dominating (thus wouldn’t work with Aki, although it would be adorable to see him try). I’d also still have the job in politics and/or covert operations.

…The weird thing is, if you asked me if I wanted to swap with Shiki, the appeal of being married to Tomonori and have him there to comfort me in my depression would make me at least unsure. But because you’re asking if I want to swap places with Tomo, absolutely not.

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