#usagi: you’re the only one to ever see me cry

[k-kizkhalifa]

broys i’m bringing back an OLD one today as I start Junjou Romantica

CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT HOW INTENSE THE FIRSTTWO MOTHER FUCKING SECONDS ARE?!

i forgot tbh and lawd ya girl be mad blushing

USAGI MY BABY LOVE PLS SPARE HIM.

[usetheeauthor]

I Still Get Jealous (MDNI +18)

• Possessive!Boyfriend!Arisu Ryohei x Sub!Reader

Summary: Arisu doesn’t like the idea of you spending time with mentor and friend, Chishiya, who’s assisting you on your PhD dissertation. He develops a possessive attitude which prompts you to prove your loyalty to him.

A/N: Thank you again, @amortentiaz for the request! I’m so glad Arisu’s getting some love! This is a spicy one with a fluffy, happy ending. Hope you all enjoy!

Word Count: 3.2k+

Warnings: jealous!Arisu, angst, fluff, smut, sub/dom dynamics, daddy kink, graphic language, slight!tipsy/drunk Arisu, traffic light bdsm system, spanking, hair pulling, biting, markings/hickies, finger sucking, light degradation kink, brief nipple play, creampie, breeding kink, dacryphilia, orgasm denial/delay, p in v (unprotected), oral sex (m receiving), fingering, sex positions (full nelson, doggystyle, reverse cowgirl), lots of pet names (sugar, prince, baby and so on), fluffy aftercare/happy ending

They say there is no greater glory than love, nor any greater punishment than jealousy. Arisu’s love for you results in the consequence that he loathes seeing you with any other man aside from him.

It’s not like he’s unreasonable. He’s fine if you have guys friends…just not guys like Chishiya. It just wasn’t a fair fight. Chishiya’s really smart, a doctor, AND—the kicker— he was handsome.

And, sure, Arisu felt as if he had ‘2 out of 3’ of those things listed but what he felt really set himself apart from Chishiya was how cool Chishiya was. He didn’t have to try. Women and even men are naturally drawn to him just based on first impressions alone. Meanwhile, Arisu was an unsociable loser who would rather play video games for hours on end than strike up a conversation with a stranger.

Why did you have to choose Chishiya of all people to help you with your dissertation? And now you’re in a residency program working in close quarters with him, too?!

Arisu could see it now. He paces back and forth in the apartment the two of you shared creating hypothetical scenarios.

What if….One day, you and Chishiya are working in a room together when the two of you ‘accidentally’ touch hands. Next thing you know, the two of you are making out and ripping each other’s clothes off in a room meant for a patient needing heart surgery!

He shakes off that silly imagination. No! You wouldn’t possibly do something like that to him. You love him. You wouldn’t just cheat on him but what if….you broke up with him instead?! That way you wouldn’t feel guilty for being with Chishiya instead.

Arisu bangs his head against the island table in the kitchen when he decides to call his friends over for some drinks and very much needed advice.

“You should just tell her how you feel,” Chota begins. “You’d be surprised to recognize what you discover about yourself when you speak about your feelings with her. Shibuki and I are going strong because she taught me how to be more open.”

“No offense, Chota, but that’s pussy advice,” Karube remarks. “Whenever my girl does something I don’t like, I lay down the law. I put my foot down,” He slams his beer on the table for dramatic effect. “Works every time.”

“Is that so? Because last time I checked, she made you cry that one time she threatened to leave you. Didn’t see any laws being laid down.” Chota chuckles.

“Up yours, man.” Karube bites.

“You guys aren’t helping me feel any better,” Arisu groans. “The girl of my dreams is slipping away as we speak. For all we know, Chishiya’s already asking for her hand in marriage.”

“You could always try rebounding if she does dump you. What about Usagi?”

“No way! She’s only a friend. Y/n’s all I ever wanted. I’ve imagined my future and she’s always in it. I won’t let her go.” Arisu says, determinedly.

Chota pats his back. “Then you’ve gotta fight for that future, brother.”

Arisu nods, a lot more confident in his decision. With another shot of hard liquor, he plans out exactly how he’ll approach the situation with you soon as you step through the door.

—————

You turn the key in the door of your apartment and the first thing you’re met with is empty bottles of liquor. Arisu is sprawled out on the couch, asleep.

You smile, shaking your head, knowing that he probably was hanging out with his best friends. Removing your heels, you tiptoe over to him. Crouching down on your knees beside him, you place kisses all over his face until his eyes flutter open.

You soothe his hair, whispering a greeting. “Hello, my sleeping prince.”

Instead of being met with a smile, you were given a blank expression. “Hey.” He says, dryly, speech slurred.

“I’m sorry? Did I do something wrong?”

He sits up. “Where have you been? It’s late.”

“It’s 6:00 noon,” You giggle. “And you know I’m getting some help from Chishiya with my paper. It’s like 300 pages. I’m dying.”

“Chishiya, Chishiya. Seems like he’s all you ever talk about now,” Arisu chides. “Does he even know we’re together?”

“Where is this coming from, love?” You say, rubbing his arms with your soft, patient hands.

“You’re mine! Okay? You belong to me. We’re supposed to be happy and in love. I know I’m not this lady killer like Chishiya but I know that I can love you better.”

“Ryohei…baby,” You say, shaking your head in disappointment. “I am yours. You don’t have to compare yourself in any way to Chishiya. I don’t see him at all in the way I see you. You tilt my world off its axis whenever I’m near you. Even after two years together, I still get butterflies.”

“So you won’t leave me for him?”

“Never! You’re my sweet prince,” Still on your knees before him, you pry his legs apart to place yourself in between them. Leaning over his clothed cock, you lick a long stripe on the crotch area of his pants. “I love and serve you and you alone.”

He strokes your hair. “I wanna mark all over your body. That way when he sees them, he’ll know I’m the one responsible.”

“Please do, my prince.” You moan out.

He leans forward, capturing your lips and slips his tongue down your throat. Your fingers entangle in his dark locs, tugging him down to you when you felt like he was trying to pull away.

His hand collects your hair in a ponytail, pulling your lips away from his. “You don’t think I’ll let you off that easily, do you? I’ve been planning a punishment for you.”

“But I’ve been good.” You pout.

“Don’t pretend like you weren’t liking the attention from him? Like you weren’t trying to make me jealous,” He yanks at your hair again causing you to whine. “You like when I get like this, don’t you?”

You whine out again, squeezing your thighs together to suppress the throbbing between them.

He yanks your hair once more, growling. “I asked you a question.”

“Y-yes, I fucking love it when you punish me. Please fuck me.” You sounded absolutely wrecked and he hadn’t even begun yet.

“It’s gonna take a lot more begging than that to get what you want, sugar,” He lets go of your hair, patting his thighs. “Lay yourself across my thigh.”

You comply, lifting off your feet to crawl into his lap. Your plump ass perched up high enough for his hands to indulge.

“You remember your colors in case we need to stop, do you?” He asks while kneading your plush globes in his hands, marveling at its perfection.

You nod. “Green is a ‘yes’, yellow for ‘slow down’, and red is ‘stop’.”

“Good girl.” He purrs. Then, he pulls your panties to the side just enough to dip his longest finger into your sopping pussy.

You moan, clutching the couch cushion. “Fuck! That’s so good.”

“I don’t want to hear you.” He pulls out the glistening finger, shoving it into your mouth for you to suck on. With his other free hand, he slips two longer fingers into your core and pumps away.

You swirl your tongue around his finger, tasting yourself on it. Your eyes roll into the back of your skull as his fingers deliciously flicked against a soft trigger within you. Your muffled moans get louder.

“You’re so loud. Quiet!” Pulling the finger from your mouth, he slaps the hand over your mouth. It’s clamped tight enough to assure your sounds aren’t heard. Of course, the action would also affect your breathing but somehow the lack of oxygen heightened pleasure to the point of euphoria.

You could hear your wet pussy squelch around his fingers, juices trickling down your inner thighs, onto the couch, and his khaki pants.

His erection pokes against your belly and, with you fucking back against his fingers, it begins to increase in its size. He licks his lips, lust splayed on his features while he watches you rut desperately against his fingers.

“You look like you want to cum, sugar?” He asks, mockingly.

You nod frantically, bouncing back against his fingers with rigorous intent. He’d long removed his hand from your mouth, you could’ve spoken up but with his skillful fingers buried so deep into you that was too much a challenge.

“That’s it, love. Use my fingers to get yourself off. So pathetic and desperate for it. Bet, you’re wishing it was my cock instead.”

His fingers do the famous ‘come hither’ motion within you and your legs begin to shake. You were on the edge, a stream of drool pouring from your tongue as you pant out like a dog. Your eyes cross and just as you’re within reach of the big one, he slips out of you.

You sob and scream your frustrations into the couch cushion, biting down on the fabric to keep from hurting yourself or him.

He sucks your arousal off his fingers, looking at you from the corner of his eyes while you glare at him. When he finishes them clean off, he smirks at you. “Sorry. But that was punishment #1.”

“#1? As in…there’s more?” Your voice trembling in fear.

“Uh-huh. And we’re going straight into your next punishment,” He strikes your asscheeks hard enough for you to feel it ripple. You hiss at the sting. “You’ve got 4 more of that to go, sugar. Count for me, please.”

Smack after smack, you’d count and your hungry cunt would throb in need in anticipation of his assault. You needed to be fucked badly. You’ll remain obedient. Anything to get him to finally give in.

He lands the final smack, the hardest of bunch. Your ass is as red as he hoped for. He soothes it, massaging each globe carefully.

“For your last punishment, I want you to suck me off. If you’re good for it, I’ll make you cum on my cock right after.”

You love how filthy Arisu’s mouth gets whenever he’s in the act with you. It’s a complete parallel to his usual shy and reserved demeanor. You slide off his lap enough so that you’re laying on your stomach over the couch seat, your hands in his lap. You fondled with the buckle of his belt then his zipper.

With your hand down his pants, you carefully pull him free. The thick two-toned length was hard to wrap your whole hand around the base. You flick a tongue against the pink head, collecting the salty precum on your tongue.

He moans, moving your hair out of the way so he can watch you take himself in your eager mouth. You lower your mouth over him, swallowing around him while he hits the back of your throat. Whatever your mouth couldn’t get to, your free hand would make up for it.

His head is thrown back against the couch overhead, enjoying the warmth of your mouth. You slurp up the excess saliva from his cock, spitting it back onto the base again and jerking him off.

“Ohh, babygirl,” Arisu groans. “Your mouth feels like heaven. I almost feel bad for the bastard never getting the chance to have you.”

You moan, sending the vibrations straight to his cock. You could suck his dick all day and never get tired. You’ve actually done that before while he played his video games.

“Shiiit! I’m gonna cum down your little throat.” He whines, thrusting forcefully with his hand cupping the back of your head. Then, he stills, cock rested deep enough to cut off your air supply as his warm essence shoots down your throat. You play with his heavy balls in the process, prolonging his orgasm.

“Fuckk yess.” He groans, feeling the way the muscles in your throat flex around him, swallowing every drop.

When you remove your mouth from his twitching member, he immediately places his lips on yours not caring to taste himself on your tongue as he sucked at it. You straddle him and sit directly over his stirring cock, drenched clothed core rubbing against the hardness.

He stands on his feet and carries you in his arms, your legs wrapped around his waist. It surprises you every day the strength he possesses in such a slender body.

“We’re taking this to the bedroom so I can fuck what’s mine properly.” He says.

“Please, daddy.” You plead, head rolling back when he sucks at your neck as he leads you to the bedroom.

He throws you onto the mattress. “Take those clothes off. Then, stay on your hands and knees.”

You follow his orders, pulling off your clothes so fast you nearly tore at them in impatience. You are on your hands and knees, back facing away from the headboard.

His clothes are off and you’re given a moment to admire his physique. He does the same, circling around you as if to decide what else he planned on doing to you.

Arisu disappears from your vision and you feel the mattress dip behind you. You feel the back of his knees resting against your calves, prompting you to glance over your shoulder. Arisu was laid on his back, your ass just inches from his jutting hard cock.

“I want you to fuck back into me like this. Show me how badly you want me.” He said it in a way that he’d hoped to sound authoritative but instead it came out sounding like a whine. He couldn’t help his desperation for you, especially when you were this dripping wet for him.

Shimmying back so that your glistening pussy rested over his cock, you rubbed yourself back and forth on it. You reach a hand down beneath you, grabbing his cock to tease your entrance before you let it slip in.

The two of you groan simultaneously at the feeling of you stretching around him. “Oh, fuck! Ryohei…daddy please.”

“Go on,” He smacks your ass. “Ride me.”

You mewl, taking him in all the way so that your ass rests on his pelvic area. You start off rocking slowly against him. You can hear the familiar squish of his cock penetrating you deeper and deeper with each in and out.

Gripping the sheets beneath you, you use the leverage to slam down harder against him. He lets out a strangled cry that cuts abruptly and you look over your shoulder to see that he’s biting his lips.

“Please let me hear you, daddy. I want to know that I’m doing good for you.” You moan, sounding already so fucked out.

“You’re doing amazing, sugar. Love seeing your ass from this view. Can’t believe you’re all mine.” He praises.

“Only yours.” You added, going fucking back into his even harder and the sounds of your plump ass colliding into him is thunderous.

“Shit, I can’t take it anymore.” He says. You barely register what he said until he sits up and brings your back to his chest, ass in his lap in reverse cowgirl.

Arisu takes your ankles in his hands, spreading your legs wide open. He plants both his feet against the mattress, jackhammering into your greedy wet hole.

“Oh, god!” You squeak, bringing your hand back to cup the back of his neck.

He takes this as a sign to litter your neck with hickies and you scream and writhe against him. He was too good. Expert level as if it were an actual game and the objective was to make you dumb on his cock.

Letting one ankle go, he tweaks a hardened nipple between his fingers as he fucks up into you. You begin to feel the familiar pressure build within you again and he senses this with how hard you clenched around him.

He drops his hand down between your legs rubbing your sensitive nub back and forth. “You’re getting so tight,” He whispers in your ear, teasingly. “You gonna cum?”

You felt a sense of panic rush through you. The mocking tone in his voice can’t be good. Was he really thinking of pulling away again? You began to cry real tears, nodding your head. “I’m gonna cum! Please let me cum, daddy. I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I’ll be yours forever. Don’t punish me!”

“Aww, sugar, I wasn’t going to take this away from you,” He pounds harder and rubs tight circles on your clit. “You… deserve it.”

Arisu punctuates the end of the sentence with two hard thrusts that hit against your g-spot. Your mouth opens in a silent scream, eyes widening as you squirt your juices all over.

This surprises him as well, a guttural groan escaping his lips. He throws you onto your stomach and pummels away from above you. “Gonna fill up your tight little pussy. I’m gonna get you pregnant and full so everyone knows I did that to you.”

You both knew you were on birth control because neither of you could afford to have a child at the moment. Nonetheless, you begged him to fill you with his seed and scream out to the top of your lungs how you’ll carry his babies.

A few dizzying thrusts has you biting into the sheets and without you even expecting it, you cum for the second time that night. Arisu cums a split second after you, moaning shakily as if he’s on the verge of sobbing. He trembles from above you, jerky thrusts into your core to give you all of his cum. He stills then collapses, weight on top of you and cock still buried deep as you shook against each other.

“Ryohei?” You pant softly.

“Mhm.” He says, unable to form a sentence.

“How are you this good?” You giggle in a euphoric state.

“I’d say it’s the liquid courage. I am still a little tipsy.” He admits with a chuckle.

“No, baby…that was all you. I fucking love you.”

“I love you more.” He retorts, breathlessly.

“Not as much as me.”

“Not possible,” He laughs, kissing your shoulder before pulling off and out of you. You whine at the loss, feeling cold without his warmth. You try reaching for him. “I’ll be back, love. Just gotta get a washcloth to clean you up…and some fresh sheets.” He says looking down at the wet puddle.

Arisu returns with a washcloth and fresh sheets as promised. He carefully cleans the sticky mess between your legs, planting a kiss on your thigh when he’s complete. While he lays down the new sheet, you find one of his hoodies to dress yourself in taking in his scent around you.

Curling into his naked body as the big spoon, you littered kisses on his shoulders. Then, a realization hit you to address your feelings, too. “I get kind of jealous, too, ya know.”

“You do? He asks, dumbfounded, turning on his side to look you in your eyes

“Yeah. I mean, whenever I see you with any other girl like Usagi, Heiya, or Kuina…I feel so petty. They’re my friends, too, and I know they wouldn’t hurt me that way. But they’re all so beautiful and—“

He cuts you off, kissing you passionately. “I belong to you just as much as the other way around. Remember that. No one gets me like you.”

You rest your foreheads against one another, cradling each other’s hands. You stare into each other’s eyes and listen to the sound of the rainfall pitter-patter against your window in time with the beating of your hearts.

Arisu has his friends to thank for giving such great advice.

[rhinocio]

ROTTMNT Fanfic Recommendations

Light

You Coveted This Prison by CaveDwellers (April / Donatello - Comedy / Character Study - WIP) THE April O'Neil character study. One part excruciating (for reader and supporting cast) slow burn romance, one part introspection on being true to oneself. Rated M but only for one chapter, which can be skipped. Riddled with laugh-out-loud comedy shenanigans and heartachingly tender intimacy. Hot takes all over the place because the author wrote this with very little fandom involvement, and intentionaly chose to be contrarian in as many ways as possible. April takes down her arch-rival! Raph locks her in a freezer! Casey Junior's keeping secrets! Donatello's wall of horrible fake sciencey souveniers keeps growing and it may or may not be a sign of affection -- he's going to crunch the numbers on that. An absolute blast of a fic, cannot recommend enough.

★

Tried To Grow Up Good by Sroloc_Elbisivni (No romantic focus - Character Study - Complete)

THE Casey Jones post-movie character study. Love is stored in the found family. Casey is an accidental felon. He and Cassandra are siblings now. Anatawa hitorijaNAI let's get the entire two timeline fam in here for a reunion so I can sob myself silly. Perfection. This author's constantly pumping out new fics, and often updating multiple at a time; I've read through and greatly enjoyed Tomato Maze (there is so much serotonin in the knowledge that these idiot turtle boys will do anything for watermelon), Sorrow Is An Autumn Heart (Leo/Usagi but make it a slowburn thriller-drama set in historical Japan), and The Passionate Pools of Salamandria (a post-movie Raph/Mona bodice-ripper with an amnesiac protagonist and a B-plot where the rest of the family fight space to find their missing brother). Honestly this author has the WILDEST takes and everything they write is fascinating.

★

Give Me Something That’ll Haunt Me When You’re Not Around by Taizi (Leonardo / Yuichi - Drama / Romance - Complete)

If you've decided you're finally gonna take a dive into the leosagi crossover ship and see what all the fuss is about, do it with this fic. The author has a strong grasp on how to make a character study about characters first and relationships second, and in doing so has crafted one of THE most tender romance stories I've ever read. Starts as a character study on Yuichi Usagi and the yokai perspective on the Kraang invasion, branches into an exploration of PTSD and what it means to recover, and ends with a friends-to-lovers quickburn that says, "because of you I'm learning to love myself." Leo gets a therapy dinosaur. Yuichi gets out of his head. The character nuance and showing-not-telling is godtier. Healing starts with telling the alien invaders to go fuck themselves. Do not pass this fic up, I promise you it's worth the read. It legitimately made me cry.

★

The Old College Try by Theashemarie (No romantic focus - Action / Drama - WIP)

Donatello cloaks himself human to go to college, and drags his twin brother along. This fic masquerades as a fun, comedy-heavy action adventure story, but under the surface is a really fascinating introspection on what it means to hide your true self in order to fit in. The queer subtext is off the charts! Leo babysits Baxter Stockboy. Mikey gets eaten by a bird. One of the grad certificates is definitely going to be made out to to the wrong Hamato entirely. This fic features an autistic writer writing an autistic character, and their personal experience shines through in the excellent way Donnie's awkwardness and affection are balanced. This author knows nuance; I also highly recommend The Hibernator (apocalyptic timeline and Raph's dead........ wink) and Very Thoughtful (a Donnie-centric low empathy study).

★

Aftermath by Bronte (No romantic focus - Drama - Complete)

The boys deal with the aftermath of the movie events in whatever ways they can. Donnie gets into pina coladas. Leo harasses his brother. Look at these disaster twins bonding! There's a flippancy to all the angst that keeps these lighthearted and love-focused without skipping the rough details. I'm literally never going to recover from the belly bongos scene and will probably end up making art about it. Fantastic read, made me viscerally emotional.

★

At The Bottom Of A Duck-Shaped Crater by CaveDwellers (April / Donatello - Drama / Comedy - Complete) One part worldbuilding for the apocalyptic timeline and one part heartfelt comedy from the perspective of Miyamoto Usagi. Leonardo adopts a babysitter. Casey Junior saves the war effort from collapsing under a dick-measuring competition. April may or may not be about to kill a man. CaveDwellers is among my favourite writers for several reasons, but this fic really highlights her strength in blending several different kinds of relationships in one story and building a plot that delivers achey-breaky sentiments without having to structure everything around romance. (We're also developing projects together; keep an eye out for the "next in series" button at the bottom of the AO3 page for soft apocalyptic stories of a similar nature!)

★

Superfight by Swordfright (No romantic focus - Drama / Comedy - Complete)

An easy-reading one shot! Leo comes to terms with being a teenager, Donnie calls his disability out for what it is, and everybody plays Superfight the card game. The author writes in a very Douglas Adams-y style, resulting in a wheezing-on-the-floor-funny reading experience. If you're burnt out on fandom angst and need a pick-me-up, this is 900% the fic for you. It got me cry-laughing with just the quick refresher glance I gave it to put this recommendation together.

★

Now That's What I Call A Vacation! by WayWardWatson (No romantic focus (?) - Adventure / Crossover - WIP)

This fic's a multi-feature! It's one part infodump about Japan's culture and tourist hotspots, one part study on what it means to cloak your identity to fit into the world, and one part surprise crossover with Usagi Yojimbo. I am OBSESSED with this author's takes on Splinter as a character; several chapters are dedicated to exploring his fixation on being "human again" and trying to juggle the life he once had as a star with the life he now has as a parent of mutants. Primarily this is a feel good adventure story about the Hamato brothers getting in touch with their heritage, but it comes in swinging with several different action/adventure plot points and drama beats to keep a reader invested. Legitimately have no idea where the author's taking things, which makes me all the more excited for the ride!

★

One Step Forward, Fall Forever Back by GriffinStone (No romantic focus - Action / Mystery - Complete)

This fic is one of those slight universe alteration stories that takes a one-off thought and runs with it: what if Casey Junior died on his way through the time rift, spawned into the past as a ghost, and Leo was the only person who could see him? Promise the execution is way less daunting than it sounds -- events move along at a breezy pace and characters never spend very long lamenting the whole dead boy situation. The final battle alone is so chocked full of found family ride-or-die energy between the two protagonists that it's worth the rest of the adventure playing out pretty similarly to the movie. Definitely a treat for those of you who are big on Leo-Casey interactions.

★

A Mixed Bag by MusingWordsmith (No romantic focus - Action / Comedy - WIP)

What if I told you there was a fic where the turtles of every major tv show TMNT iteration shonen anime-style battled their way through challenges in mixed teams of four in order to defeat a team of evil overlords who may or may not know what they're doing re: evillness? Trust me when I say this story is fun -- it blends comedy and drama flawlessly, and the author totally committed to the bit in keeping each version of the turtles loyal to the genre of their individual canons. The 1987 turtles are breaking the fourth wall. The Rise kids are absolute supersoliders. 2003 Michelangelo somehow ended up as the babysitter of his particular faction and is kind of having a crisis about it. I am so beyond impressed at how well this author distinguishes each character and keeps who's who from getting too confusing, which is a common issue in TMNT crossovers. Reading this fic feels like watching literally any version of the show as a kid on a Saturday morning. It is a blast.

Medium

Young Root, Old Rock by SiryyGrey (No romantic focus - Action / Thriller - WIP)  

Shortly after the Kraang invasion a mysterious file of an unreadable format shows up on Donnie's computer, and he's driven by an intense curiosity to decipher exactly what it is and means. This author goes HARD on creating tense, muscle-tensing atmosphere, which is balanced out by extremely tender character interaction. Casey knows something he's not letting on. Donnie makes himself a robo-brain. Leo blows up his brother. You ever wanted an adventure with the blorbos that was also an ARG? Cryptic messages are sprinkled throughout the chapters for readers to decipher. Mind the tags but absolutely do not pass this fic up!

★

No Rest For The Weary by Nekotsuki (No romantic focus - Action / Adventure - WIP)

Ever thought "hey what if the movie just kept going and we found out what happened to those other kraang"? Hello and let me introduce you to THE post-movie out of frying pan and into the fire fic. I have it on good authority that this author was a big name in the 2003 TMNT fic scene, and I suspect for good reason -- this story perfectly blends heart-pounding action with A+ belly laughs and solid found family energy. Donnie hacks cute animal emails and narcs on the enemy. April fights zombies back to back with Barold Draxum of downstairs neighbour fame. Raph gets tranquilizer-darted by his brother for being too emotional. 100/10 wild ride, cannot recommend highly enough.

★

I May Be Invisible, But I Still Look Good by Dandy (No romantic focus - Adventure / Thriller - WIP)

Several TMNT AU competitions have made this fic a household name, and for good reason -- the author's come onto the scene with a bold, fun plot premise: after a battle gone wrong, Leo finds himself alive but unable to be perceived via sight, sound, or touch. Naturally, his family assumes he's dead. While it starts on the angstier side, this story's got a lot of heart and shoves tenderness into every possible crevice; the longer it goes on, the more tears are swapped out for laughter, and anguished dialogue-heavy interaction trades place with high-octane action. Worth sticking with!

★

Creation, Haunted And Holy by Greenglowsgold (No romantic focus - Drama / Thriller - Complete)

I lied about the romance it's Donnie x Technodrome with a twist. This fic reads like fascinating poetry, and does right by its source material by taking one of the fandom's favourite angst catalysts and turning it into a demonstration of the strength of love. Looking for something wildly different? GGG's got you. Would also highly recommend their outside-POV slice of life fic Midtown Mutants!

Dark

The Lemonade Leak by TurtleSoupSwimmer (No romantic focus - Horror / Thriller - WIP)

How do you explain to your family that your twin brother's possessed when you have no evidence, aren't sure if said brother is still alive somewhere inside the zombie, and revealing you know something's wrong could get everybody killed? There is no describing how completely feral I've gone for this fic - the author's technique of starting chapters with small, raw, seemingly unrelated scenes that segue into the current plot and enhance the tone or underlying message of the story is just incredible. They've given the turtles a fascinating mutation feature that adds layers of intrigue to the plot. The character interaction is heckin' tender, we got a nice scoop of self-worth issues from Leo to deal with, and the scary scenes are grip-your-phone-and-stop-blinking scary. The author promises a happy ending but that doesn't make Lemonade Leak any less of an incredibly tense ride. This is a fic I jump on the second I get the AO3 email notification.

★

The Smoking Gun: A ROTTMNT Tactical AU by AlienMadame22 (Donatello / April - Action / Adventure - Complete)

Agent Bishop of the EPF stole four turtle mutants away from their father as children and raised them as militia; dad's gotten back in contact and intends to break them free. This author absolutely took off running with the tactical AU prompt that various visual artists started up, grabbed a handful of canon concepts to mess around with, and mcguyvered together a wild ride of a story that continues to catch me off guard. Strap in for a fic riddled with emotional complexity and character nuance, and come prepared to cry. Fear not the ship tag, as the fic is primarily non-romance-focused and the ship elements are handled in an interesting, convoluted way that works to further the plot and add comedic value. Smoking Gun is a refreshing new concept in a very busy fandom tag and I have been eating it up like candy.

★

The Dawning of the Hour (Series) by Faiakishi (No romantic focus - Horror / Drama - WIP)

Donnie is captured and brainwashed by a pre-Vegeta-arc'd Baron Draxum, who subsequently starts parenting the kid out of guilt while using his talents to fuel the canonical Mutate All Humans takeover plot. It's been often called the Donatello version of Like Father Like Son, but that does its storytelling a disservice - this series goes much deeper in the psychological and physical horror direction, has an underlying political intrigue plot, and spends a generous amount of time with the secondary cast (plus a few excellent OCs) in order to really ramp up the intensity of the premise's whole situation. The first story is very whump-heavy, but does a lot of setup for fic two: The Drax-Daddening, which gives Donnie a friend in Cassandra Jones and finds more space for affection and comedy. The author's ramped up the sources of conflict several times over in the first few chapters of the series' second fic, making rescue by the Hamato feel ever more impossible. Despite being a very complex and interesting read (grey-morality my beloved) I cannot stress enough how VERY not for kids this fic is, so proceed with extreme caution!

[goodlucktai]

I'd love to see some of the events in Give Me Something That'll Haunt Me from some other perspectives, especially Leo's brothers. You're a very skilled writer so we already have some idea as to how each of them warmed up to Usagi, but it would be really cool to see their thoughts on the situation! How April thought Usagi hated Leo at first, how everyone was dealing with a mopey Leo after his breakdown with the farmbotto, Usagi winning Donnie over in like two minutes, all of that stuff!

x

They’re halfway through Legally Blonde when April gets a text that makes her frown. Her attention is fully arrested by her phone for the whole Bend and Snap scene, which attracts her most perceptive brother's attention. Leo is too sore to throw the projector remote at her himself, so he makes eye contact with Mikey. Ever-reliable Mikey snaps a quick salute and lobs the remote at her in Leo’s stead.

“Ow! Angelo!” April snaps without any real heat, returning fire with an empty cup. 

“You’re making Leon feel neglected,” Donnie supplies without looking up from his tablet, like the hypocrite he is. He’s been stubbornly nestled next to Leo for most of the evening, though, so Leo is willing to give him a pass on most things. 

“Aww, Blue, you know you’re my number one man,” she says, to an immediate chorus of “say what now?” from Mikey, Raph and Donnie. “Suna just wanted to know if I’d be able to drop by tomorrow morning,” April adds, which is not quite the truth.

Leo brightens, a sly grin curling across his face. “Is it a date?” 

“No, it’s not a date,” April says. She can’t help feeling helplessly fond when she looks at him. 

All four of her little brothers were equal parts supportive and obnoxious when she and Sunita started officially going out about a year ago, which was pretty par for the course. Splinter demanded to meet the yokai, to make sure that she was good enough for his girl, which was enough to make April tear up even as she joined the boys in giving him shit for being such a typical boring dad. 

But the most remarkable thing to come out of it was Leo approaching her right before she went home, mask tails all twisted up in his fingers in a blatantly anxious display, to say, “You’re a girl, and you like a girl. And it’s okay.”

“Yeah?” 

“So is it—would it be okay to like both?”

And April had hugged him so hard that the pattern on his scutes left faint imprints on her arms, and she kissed him all over his face until he was laughing helplessly, and said, “You can like whoever you want, baby. Whoever treats you right. And if anyone ever gives you shit for it, you come right to me, capisce?”

What April was really saying back then was that she would never let anybody hurt him. And she meant it, of course she meant it, but—god, she failed. 

Leo flung himself into that prison dimension like it was the only thing that made sense, like he wasn’t breaking everyone’s hearts in one fell swoop. The Krang brutalized him and the Leo that Mikey rescued was barely more than a broken shell. He wouldn’t come out, hidden away inside and making these awful-sounding vocalizations that had all three of his brothers in tears. 

Splinter made a hysterical phone-call to Draxum, and the goat-man met them halfway back to the lair at a flat-out run, looking more frantic than April could remember ever seeing him, including that time with the Shredder. 

Leo was put under what essentially amounted to mystic anesthesia, and only then could he be coaxed out of his damaged shell. Raph held him the whole time and made this deep rumbly noise in his chest that April vaguely recognized from the turtles’ much younger years. 

Donnie was so frightened that it looped around into fury, and he snapped at people left and right until he finally just shut down completely. Mikey hadn’t stopped crying once since he started back on Staten Island, since the big brother he so admired wouldn’t come out of his shell, even as he was chirping in distress and bleeding all over his siblings' hands. 

It took Draxum all of ten minutes to decide that the only way to save his life would be to put him into a magical healing sleep, the kind of Disney-movie shit that April didn’t have a ton of faith in. 

“He will just be asleep,” Draxum said, an uncharacteristic softness in his eyes, even if his voice sounded more or less the same as always. “He will hear your voices and know he is home. When he wakes up, all will be well.”

And he was right. The spell put Leo in something like stasis, a glorified coma, and with every day his vitals got stronger, his body inching away from “irreversibly damaged” and closer to “jesus christ what happened to you” towards the ultimate goal of “you’ll never guess where i got this scar. remember that one crazy summer?” 

When he woke up, whole weeks later, he did so with a disgruntled little stretch and a wrinkle of his beak, like he’d succumbed to one of those afternoon naps that dragged on much too long. His eyes were clear and present, if groggy and a little out of it, and when he spotted Mikey drooling on the blanket beside him, he smiled. 

That was the exact moment April could finally convince herself that her family would be okay. 

But it will be a long, long time before she forgives herself for dropping the ball so spectacularly. 

One of her precious little brothers looked death right in the eye and double-dog-dared it to do its worst, because somehow he missed the memo that he was loved and needed and worth so much more than a sacrifice play. 

Her precious little Leon, with a blackened eye and a necklace of grisly bruises and an arm so thoroughly mangled that even the healing coma couldn’t heal it completely, leaving him in a cast for much longer than any of the turtles are used to, with how quickly they usually heal. 

And his shell just broke her heart. It was a source of constant anxiety for his dads, even as they refused to outsource that worry to the kids, who knew that it was bad but not very bad. 

April is the big sister. The biggest sibling, no matter how much taller Raph gets. It’s her job to look after them. Leo almost died. And now that rude bunny waiter from Run of the Mill is bugging Sunita for Leo’s number? That guy who always stares at Leo like he’s trying to work out how it’s possible for someone like him to even exist?

Ohh, April can feel that inherited ninpo in her soul lighting up. Karai’s presence is a faraway and gentle thing most of the time, but she’s happy to lend her strength when April needs it. 

“Woah, April, you good?” Raph asks. His eyes move down to the phone clenched in her hands, and he frowns. “Did someone say something to you? Does Donnie need to doxx another internet troll?”

“Gimme,” Donnie says at once, hands out for the phone.

“Will you stop?” April swats at him. “And Raph, don’t encourage him.”

“I mean, he’s just gonna do it either way—”

“There’s no internet troll! God, I thought we were watching a movie! None of you are paying attention!”

“You started it, texting your giiiirlfriiiiend,” Mikey coos like the little menace he is, then ducks behind Raph with a cackle when April aims another empty cup at him. 

“April’s allowed to text her girlfriend whenever she wants,” Leo says, in his Fearless Leader voice, which he only ever uses to stir shit up. Sure enough, a heartbeat later, he adds smugly, “Don’t be jealous that she’s got game and none of you do.”

Protests break out like clockwork and Leo is soundly booed by everybody in the room. It’s a good thing they’ve all seen this movie roughly a billion times because it’s gonna be awhile before these guys settle down now. 

Leo meets her eyes from the twins’ comfy nest in the armchair and winks. Got your back.

All the chaos gives April a chance to respond to Sunita’s text in peace, asking her to pass this Usagi a message. 

Anyone who wants to get to April’s little brother is gonna have to go through her first. 

[girl8890]

What your personality says your AIB game speciality is ♣️♥️♠️♦️

100 Followers Special!

{ Alice in Borderland Master List }

Notes: Oh my God! Thank you all so much for getting me to 100 followers! I haven’t even really been active until just recently, even though I started on Tumblr years ago, and I wasn't expecting to even get a NOTE on any of my works. Now we're at 100 FOLLOWERS!!!!! This is so surreal... Thank you to everyone that’s been loving my works and commenting such nice things too! Even if I don’t answer to all your requests/messages I do see them and they always make me cry like a little boy. Thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart! Let’s see if we can get to 200 next XD 

Until next time, My Curious Cats! ఌ

Tags: @starjane312 @dream-escaper

*·゜ﾟ·*:.。..。.:*·'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'·*:.。. .。.:*·゜ﾟ·*

Diamonds ♦️

- People with the same speciality: Shuntarō Chishiya, Suguru Niragi, Keiichi Kuzuryū, Rizuna An, Amon Komayama, Hinako Daimon, Takashi Asuma, Benzō Yashige.

- You most likely went to college with a full ride. Got your masters or doctorate in something that not many people have the mental capacity to do themselves. 

- Always make calculated decisions and tend to only speak your mind when needed. Though, you always have an opinion and an answer to every problem.

- Doesn’t take a lot of risks, but if this risk involves showing your intelligence then your fine with taking it. If this risk involves putting other’s in danger though, you don’t care as long as you get what you needed.

- Best core subject in school were math and science.

- Even if an answer is simple you’ll go above and beyond the solution because your just that smart. Nothings ever simple in your mind.

- Prefers to be alone and hates projects that involve a lot of people. You consider yourself to be the smartest in the room, so why make it a group project when you only need one person to get it done?

- You also aren't a very physical person. You rather use your brain, not your energy. 

- Opposite speciality: Clubs 

-  Closest speciality: Hearts

Spades ♠️

- People with the same speciality: Yuzuha Usagi, Morizono Aguni, Takeru Danma, Takatora Samura, Isao Shīrabi, Akane Heiya, Takumi Maki, Gōken Kanzaki.

- Probably didn't go to college unless you needed to. Went to a trade school or went straight into working. You work in something that’s needed for more physical strangth than calculated thoughts. 

- You speak your mind most of the time, even if you know it’s not your place. If everyone thinks your opinions are wrong, you're right in your own mind and that’s enough to go with your ideas. 

- You’re always one to take risks even if it has bad consequences. 

- Best core subject in school was gym. You would rather get physical and skip any other class.

- Would rather let everyone else do the work on things, but would still be considered the leader of a group. You have a lot of opinions and usually the most strength in the group, so a lot of people would feel to intimidated by you to question your leadership. 

- Your okay with being around other people, as long as they don’t get in the way of your goals.

- Anything that involves extra brain power isn’t your favorite. Why over think things when there’s a simple answer?

- Opposite speciality: Diamonds

- Closest speciality: Clubs

Hearts ♥️

- People with the same speciality: Ryōhei Arisu, Mira Kanō, Hayato Dōdō, Ōki Yaba, Sunato Banda, Enji Matsushita. 

- Went to college for something specific. Didn't matter where it was, but they did it and graduated with the degree. Most likely a psychology or counseling degree.

- Your considered the outsider most of the time. Even if you're around a group of friends you had for years, you would still be the odd one out. Your the one that always creates crazy ideas of fun and are okay with taking risks as long as you don’t end up in danger. 

- Throwing other people under the bus your fine with too, but only to certain people you don't care for. 

- You speak your mind when you 100% know the answer, but if theres even an inkling you’ll be wrong you’ll stay quiet.

- Best core subjects were science and language arts. 

- Depends what the task is, but you would be the leader most of the time. If it involved anything too physical or tedious, you probably stay on the side lines for this one. 

- The more people around you the better, but not all the time. Sometimes doing things by yourself is just as fine as being around multiple people, but your not exactly a loner either. 

- Not everyone trusts you for past occurrences, but they also rather be by you because your intelligent in certain aspects of life. 

- Opposite speciality: Spades

- Closest speciality: Diamonds

Clubs ♣️

- People with the same speciality: Momoka Inoue, Ginji Ky��ma, Asahi Kujō, Kōdai Tatta, Yūji Mahiru, Uta Kisaragi.

- College wasn't always your priority, but if you needed to go then you did. Have a pretty simple job like in a business or anything that involves a lot of people.

- In any type of group, you fit right in. Always the charismatic and talkative one too. It's easy for you to make friends or make someone that’s considered a loner talk to you.

- You thrive in groups and hate being alone for long. Group projects were your favorite type of homework growing up.

- You're not the smartest or strongest of the group, but you try to help in any way you can. Taking risks is apart of your personality. You don't want to wait around for an answer when you can just wing it and hope for the best.

- You do speak your mind a lot, but if there was a conversation going on that strongly didn't involve you then you’ll stay quiet. Most people will be surprised that you didn’t give at least one opinion the entire time.

- Best core subjects: Lunch... because you don't learn about anything you don't care about and can be with your friends.

- You don't consider yourself a leader even if your the most talkative of the bunch. You rather be the follower or the leaders right hand man. Someone everyone trusts and wants to talk to with their problems. 

- The more people around you the happier you’ll be. You just LOVE people! You’ll always be seen around at least one person. It will be a very rare scene if you're found by yourself. 

- Opposite speciality: Hearts

- Closest speciality: Spades

[maliceinborderland]

From Here, to the Moon, and Back

Summary: A collection of moments in Niragi’s journey raising his daughter alone.

Word Count: 7,066

Warnings: brief mentions of character death(reader is deceased), mentions of depression, bit of swearing

Genre: Single Dad Niragi AU, oofc Niragi, slight angst, slice of life, fluff, some crack ig?

**oofc : out of character

A/N: this took me FOREVER to post. I wanted to make this MUCH longer and go more into detail as well as provide more dialogue but this new post restrictions are killing me. I might turn this into a mini series in which y’all give me prompts and I write more extensive scenarios depicting those situations/prompts. ALSO: the depiction of Niragi in this fic is akin to what I believe his behavior outside of the borderlands. **spoiler** he is nothing like his borderlands self in the real world, and he doesn’t even remember his action that took place there nor did they actually happen as they occurred in a different plane of existence **end of spoiler**

A soft, whimper snapped Niragi out of his slumber. He slowly sat up in bed, strands of his unruly hair falling over his eyes. The whimpering continued as he got up and walked to the crib by the window.

He stared at Tsuki as she wriggled about, her cheeks bright pink and small droplets forming at the brims of her wide eyes. She stared up at him, her lip quivering, not yet crying.

“What gives?” he said, quietly, more to himself than to her.

Niragi checked her diaper to see if she needed changing. Clean and dry.

He went to the changing station next to the dresser, fetching a clean bottle, formula, and a bottle of water. Already second nature, he prepared a bottle for her. He made his way back to the crib, nudging the bottle’s nipple against Tsuki’s mouth, to no avail.

“Come on, kid.” he mumbled. “We both need to sleep and you’re not exactly helping me out here.” He sighed and found her pacifier somewhere by her feet. Oddly enough, she suckled on it no problem.

What a weird kid, he thought, shaking his head. 

He let her lay there, hoping she’d end up falling asleep. He made his way back to his own bed, throwing himself face down onto the mattress, releasing a deep breath.

A few minutes later, having felt like seconds, Tsuki began to softly whimper again. 

Niragi groaned into his pillow. Just one night of peace and quiet. That’s all he wanted.

He debated on letting Tsuki cry it out as he had been. Deep down he knew it was wrong, but he just didn’t know how to go about this parenting business. 

Tsuki’s whimpers rose in volume, her whimpering becoming full fledged cries, and hopelessness began to overwhelm him.

Niragi crawled out of bed once again, and loomed over her crib, his breath heavy, teeth clenched. His fingers curled over the rails of the crib, his knuckles white. Tsuki’s cries continued, and Niragi felt himself starting to completely lose it. His breathing became shallow and heavy, and he felt lightheaded. 

He sunk to the floor, his back against the railing of the crib, tired out of his mind. His eyes ached and throbbed from lack of sleep, eyelids heavy, and his body felt like it was being weighed down from exhaustion.

He just wanted to rest. Just a little bit. 

He wanted to go numb. 

He wanted to feel nothing.

He wanted everything to stop.

Just a few moments of peace and quiet was all he wanted. He just wanted to sleep and forget the reality he was condemned to live in.

He didn’t know what he did to deserve this, what sins he committed that he was atoning for now.

Stop… just stop… be quiet…. he thought.

He pressed the palms of his hands against his ears, covering them.

Be quiet, he begged silently. Please just be quiet.

Tears began to threaten to fall from his own eyes.

If she was here, she’d know what to do, he thought. She should be here.

Tsuki’s cries became piercing and impossible to drown out.

Niragi stood up almost too quickly, stumbling slightly over his own feet, and leaned over the crib railing.

“What? What?! WHAT?!” He asked, a little too loudly. “You’re not messy. You’re not hungry. You won’t sleep. Just what the fuck is wrong with you?!”

Tsuki’s cries hushed, and the baby girl looked up at him eyes wide, her lip quivering.

Whether she stopped crying to listen to him or because she was afraid of him, Niragi couldn’t tell.

Tears began to spill down his face.

“I’m trying. I’m fucking trying.” He cried. “I don’t know what to do. Do you think I wanted this? No! I wasn’t even ready for kids! But your mom…” his voice broke, “your mom wanted you so bad. And I went along with what she wanted. Mommy always got what she wanted, and now look! She’s not even here! How fucked is that?!” Sobs began to bubble up from his throat. “How could she leave like that?” He rested his head against the railing, allowing himself to let it all out. He didn’t care how loudly the sobs ripped out of his throat, he just couldn’t hold back.

The whimpering began again, and he looked at the baby girl with his piercing eyes.

“What? What do you want?!” He yelled, and Tsuki became silent once more as she stared up at her father, their gazes connecting.

He looked over her. She’d grown quite a bit in the past few weeks. Her downy hair had thickened, and was nearly a full head of dark, raven colored hair. Her milky skin was tinged bright pink from her crying, especially near her eyes and cheeks. But his heartstrings tugged as he looked deep into her eyes. Your eyes. Sure, they resembled his eye shape more, but the gaze, color, lashes, and depth… that was all you. 

She stared up at him so intently and after what seemed like an eternity, Niragi felt like he understood.

“You just want someone to hold you, huh?” A stray tear fell from his right eye. Carefully, he did his best to lift Tsuki out of the crib, her whimpers shushing altogether. “That’s all you wanted, huh? It’s what you needed?” He felt a knot form in his throat again, and more tears began to fall. “Me, too.” He gingerly caressed her cheek, his scarred hands a huge contrast compared to her soft, unblemished skin.

How could he have been so careless?

He hadn’t been the only one hurting.

He wasn’t the only one who missed you.

Slowly, Niragi began to softly rock her back and forth in his arms as he paced around the room.

“You wanna know how Mommy and I met? Hm?” He asked her. “We met at a support group. There was an accident a few years ago in Shibuya, and your mommy and I got caught in the middle of it. That’s how I got all these scars, you know? Your mommy had some, too, but she was still the most beautiful person in the room. Always.” He smiled down at Tsuki, who had begun to coo quietly. “She asked me out first, too. I thought she wasn’t serious, but she was. My scars aren’t so bad right now, but they were back then. She still saw something in me, though. Something worth loving. We loved each other a lot.” Tsuki took hold of Niragi’s finger, squeezing it tightly. Niragi went on to tell her several stories of how he and you started off your relationship, your milestones as a couple, and even your wedding. “When your mom told me she was pregnant, I was scared shitless, but you know what? We loved each other. And it’s because we loved each other that you exist. You were made out of love, Tsuki.” Niragi stood by Tsuki’s crib, where moonlight from the window began to pour in.

He shifted the curtain open a bit more, the moon coming more into view. “You see the moon? That’s where mommy is, along with all the stars in the sky. And you wanna know what else? There’s a famous quote about it. ‘月が綺麗ですね(Tsuki ga kirei desu ne?).’ You know what it means? It means ‘the moon is beautiful, isn’t it?’ But you know something really cool? It’s that some people use this phrase to tell each other they love each other. Like their love is so true and obvious just like how there’s no doubt in the moon being beautiful. That’s why we named you ‘Tsuki,’ you know?” 

Tsuki cooed curiously at the repetition of her name, but her eyelids began to flutter with sleepiness. 

“For us, your mom and I, nothing was more certain than our love for each other and our love for you.” He gave her a sad smile, shifting his weight as he lay himself on the bed, with her resting on his chest. Tsuki wriggled a bit as she settled into the unfamiliar position but ultimately sighed with content. 

Niragi did his best to find a position ideal for the both of them without jostling her too much and being as gently as he could, so as to not disturb Tsuki. He looked down at her and he was met with her tired gaze. Tsuki sighed deeply, bewildering Niragi completely, because frankly, he didn’t know babies could make such deep gestures. The corner of his mouth lifted. She was a weird baby, indeed.

He felt her muzzle up against his chest, cooing quietly. He chuckled softly, his fingers twitched and he reached his hand up to place the palm of his hand over her small back, lightly patting. He’d seen people do it in movies to try and coax babies to sleep, but he’d only ever done this action when trying to burp her, so he figured he ought to give using it to put her to sleep a shot. Niragi watched Tsuki’s eyelids flutter shut with a deep exhale.

She had been tired, too.

Niragi felt his heart swell at how Tsuki looked as she slept. The way her lashes lay flat against her cheeks, how her lower lip pouted out in her sleep. If he focused hard enough, he could feel the light thrumming of heart against his chest.

This little girl was his world.

“I love you, you know? I love you so much, Tsuki.” he hummed, as he gently rubbed circles on her back. “From here, to the moon, and back.”

Niragi had done his best to figure out how to manage on his own, doing his best to limit the amount of phone calls he made to either Usagi or Arisu with panicked parenting questions.

Tsuki was a relatively easy baby to take care of. She was quiet for the most part, only becoming fussy when she was hungry or sleepy. Her sleep schedule seemed to have adjusted to Niragi’s, as he had found that the kid could only really fully fall asleep if she slept on his chest. Sometimes he took advantage of her midday nap to catch a few Zs himself.

Niragi also found that she didn’t particularly like not having him where she could see him. She was a clingy little freak. He didn’t mind having her around though, and would often sit her on his lap while he worked at his desk. Sometimes he’d offer commentary as to what he was doing to the games he was working on, or what he’d fixed to make them run smoother. He knew Tsuki didn’t understand, but when she’d gurgle or make baby noises while he talked, he almost felt like she was responding to his conversation. Whenever he’d play video games himself, he’d still keep her on his lap and he found it amusing how entranced she’d become by all the colors and flashing lights coming from the monitor. Cutely, she’d giggle and kick her feet whenever Niragi would voice his excitement in the games he was playing. Clearly she found him entertaining.

When it came to eating, there wasn’t anything Tsuki wouldn’t eat. Except peas. She really hated peas. The one time he tried feeding her pea Gerber, she ate it just fine, only to spit it all back up on one of his only white t shirts. He assumed the experience of having to eat such an atrocious mash traumatized the poor kid because when he tried feeding them to her again, she just about slapped the pack out of his hand and refused to open her mouth to accept the spoon, even if he made airplane noises. She usually got a kick out of those.

Still. Niragi learned quickly.

He had come across a baby book you had put together with spaces left blank for pictures and writing, meant to document Tsuki’s milestones. He’d made sure to keep it up to date as much as he could. He’d managed to capture pictures of the first time she tried solid food(which was really just a piece of fruit she tried sucking on), the stunned look on her face when she’d gone to get her vaccines and to his surprise she did not cry, he also captured the first time she sat up on her own, and another where she was midway to rolling on to her back, one where she was aggressively nibbling on her foot, he also included a few selfies in which he’d caught her tugging on his nose ring or one of his many ear rings. The kid liked shiny things. He knew that you’d have gone crazy trying to fill the book up, wanting to capture every moment.

At 9 months old, Tsuki learned how to crawl. The way Niragi found this out was rather unconventional.

He could have sworn he set her down in the living room. On the carpet right in front of the TV. He knew exactly. Why was there no baby there? All he’d done was leave her there for 5 minutes while he answered the door to receive and sign for a package and as soon as he’d come back she was gone. There was no one else in the house. She couldn’t have moved on her own.

Could she?

“Tsuki?” He began to call out.

Nearly tripping over his own feet, Niragi ran through the kitchen, checking under the table, inside the pantry, nothing. He continued to call out to her, staying quiet enough to try and listen for a response, but nothing ever came. His socks slid across the floor as he ran into the nursery. A few toys were laying on the floor but no baby in sight. He poked his head into the bathroom, checking behind the clothes hamper, and inside the bathtub, with no luck. He checked the laundry room, inside the clothes baskets, inside the washer and dryer, hoping she hadn’t crawled in there.

Thankfully, she did not, but still he had not found her.

“Listen, kid, your papa’s not really into hide and seek, so if you’re hiding, you best come on out before I totally lose my shit.”

He ran to his room, this time stumbling onto his knees before running into it only to see that it was perfectly empty. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and dialed.

“Hello? Niragi?” Her voice sounded tired, almost as if she was just waking up.

“KUINA! I NEED YOUR HELP!” He was beginning to panic.

“Sheesh! Not so loud, you’re gonna busy my eardrums!”

“It’s Tsuki! I can’t find her anywhere.”

“Where’d you leave her? Are you sure your mom or Yuzuha didn’t pick her up?” Her tone was a little too cavalier for his taste, especially in the situation he found himself in.

“I left her in the living room, and I left to answer the door, and when I came back she was gone! I looked everywhere! The kitchen, the bathroom, my bedroom, her bedroom, the laundry room, the fucking closets.”

“Did you leave your back door open? Could anyone have gone inside at any point?” Her voice sounded more awake, now assessing the situation.

“Yes! It’s locked and dead bolted. No one’s been in here other than me and her, so unless someone climbed through a fucking window-“

“Okay, smartass, just check the rooms again. UNDER the furniture this time. Maybe she crawled under somewhere.”

“I told you I checked everywhere!” He checked under his bed, just in case, to find nothing. He walked through the rooms again, looking under furniture, to no avail. “The kid’s gone! I’ve got to call the police and make a report-“ he got to the end of the hallway and noticed the door to his study was slightly ajar, a faint glow coming from the dark room. No...

“What are they gonna do? You said no one’s been in or out of your house. God, how irresponsible could you have been to leave a baby on her own, Niragi?”

“Kuina, I’ll call you right back.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOULL CALL ME BA-” he hung up, cutting her off.

He walked into his dimly lit office, the faint glow of the tv he kept in there lightly lighting up the room.“Tsuki?”

He heard a soft mumbling coming from the room, and as he moved further inside, he saw his daughter on standing while holding on to the couch. She turned her little head to face him, his game controller in her hands, before letting herself fall back on her behind to sit on the floor.

“Uhhuh banana pplllbt,” she mused in her baby speak. Without so much as a glance his way, she began to chomp down on the controller with her gums.

“God damn it, kid!” He groaned in frustration. And relief. He sunk to the floor, running his hands through his hair, breathing shakily. “Holy shit.”

This caught Tsuki’s attention, and she released the controller to crawl his way. Despite his racing heart and frustrations, Niragi watched in awe as his little girl crawled his way. She giggled and squealed as she did so, clearly excited that she had learned something new. As soon as she got to where his legs were, she sat up and outstretched her little arms up at him, asking to be picked up, to which Niragi obliged. He held his little girl close to him, gently combing down her unruly hair. “You really had me scared for a minute, kid.” Tsuki cooed up at him. “Yeah. How’d you learn to move around like that, huh?”

He knew she was around the right age to start moving around, but he hadn’t really mentally prepared for it to actually happen. He did his best to read all the books and guide her so that she stayed at the same pace as other babies, but he still found himself in awe when she succeeded. All of the reading in the world, however, didn’t prepare him for what she did next. She bounced on his lap, reaching up to touch her baby hands up to his face. “Paaa... paaa... baba..”

His eyes widened. She mumbled things all the time. Ma, ba, ga, goo, all sorts of noises. But that felt a little too... smart. She had looked right at him, pointed at him and everything, and said what sounded like papa. That was too much of a coincidence. “Kid, you can’t play with Papa’s emotions like that. I’m not ready.”

“Papapa?” She repeated, smacking her little hand on his face.

“Are you seriously saying what I think you’re saying? Or am I crazy? I’m crazy aren’t I?”

“Papa!” She called out, giggling.

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” He held his little girl close, doing all he could to not cry.

Niragi learned that Tsuki didn’t like strangers. She wouldn’t get too fussy, but she hid in the crook of his neck whenever they were out and she didn’t recognize the people that approached them.

She also got visibly excited when she did recognize people. Especially Kuina, or “koo” as she managed to say. Y/N had told her early on in the pregnancy that she hoped Kuina would be the baby’s godmother, and this was a role she took very seriously, always coming to visit with tons of toys and clothes. Kuina’s mother also deeply grew to love Tsuki, often sending food and side dishes with Kuina for them. Tsuki wasn’t particularly fond of her doctor, Dr. Chishiya. Matter of fact, she often kicked or smacked his hands away whenever he tried checking her, and only really let him do anything if he bribed her with candy. One time, he tried carrying her to put her on the baby scale, and pulled on his hair right at the root, causing him hand her over back to Niragi and say “I don’t need to check. She’s healthy enough,” whilst rubbing at his head.” Niragi noticed that the doctors and nurses made a point of tying their hair up whenever Tsuki was around for an appointment.

“Serves him right for prancing around with that mane of his. He reminded you of one of your dolls, didn’t he, Tsuki?” Niragi didn’t quite like him either at first, but the doctor had understood their situation and made himself available 24/7, which led to Niragi considering him as a family friend, much to the doctor’s chagrin.

“She can call me Uncle Shuntaro.” He had said whilst visiting the Niragi home after Tsuki had a late night fever. Despite her little attitude, Dr. Chishiya had developed a sort of liking to the kid. She had character, he thought.

“She can barely say Papa, and you expect her to say that mouthful, Shuntaro?” Niragi asked, incredulously.

Chishiya eyed him coldly with his feline eyes. “I said SHE could call me that. Not you.”

As Tsuki’s first birthday approached, no one really knew how to ask Niragi on whether they’d be having a birthday party for her. After all, it wasn’t just Tsuki’s birthday. It also marked the first year anniversary of you being gone. He had done his best to not think about it, even with the lack of prompting from the others, but this was something he still kept in mind. Birthdays only came once in a lifetime, but then again, so did a love like the one you and he had shared. How could he celebrate one while ignoring the other, or have a service for you and not doing anything for his daughter. He loved you both more than life itself.

He came up with a plan to try and do both. He wanted to make it a day for you both. So, Niragi had packed a bag for Tsuki and taken her on a tour of all the places the two of you frequented as a couple.

He took her to the arcade the two of you had gone on your first date, telling her of how you’d kissed his cheek when he managed to get the high score on the Alien FPS game. He took her to the cafe the two of you had often gone to during your lunch hours, and even fed her a bit of the filling from the egg sandwich you used to like so much. He found that Tsuki liked it a lot too. He took her to the botanical gardens. You had absolutely loved flowers and the two of you had gone almost every weekend. He took her to the zoo and made a point to take her to the aquatic exhibits and tell her how much you loved water animals, especially how “mama loved how cute the seals looked when they bounced all over the place.” He made sure to buy Tsuki a white seal plush at the gift store. He took her to an old video store, where the two of you often found yourselves on boring nights without much to do and had filled the void with movies. He bought copies of a few of your favorites, along with a few of his, making a mental note to watch them with Tsuki when she was old enough. Lastly, he took her to the carnival. He didn’t play any games, but he walked by them and told Tsuki all about which ones the two of you would play together. He told her about how he couldn’t explain how, but the two of you had always been drawn to this place and how free you both felt being here, almost as if you’d been there together in another life. He showed her the old swinging pirate ship and he told Tsuki about how it was your favorite ride and how one time you rode it so many times that you ended up puking cherry icee all over the side of the ride. He’d never seen so many people run away screaming. Niragi took Tsuki to the photo booth, and told her about how you had both gotten the idea to kiss each other on the cheek at the same time and ended up kissing each other for the first time on accident. The second one that came after wasn’t. He took her on a ride on the Ferris wheel, doing his best to hold her tightly and show her the view. He told her about after 3 years of dating, he had asked you to marry him at the very top.

Tsuki had smiled a lot throughout the day, notably whenever he used the words “mama” and “papa,” this didn’t go unnoticed by Niragi, and he felt partially guilty. He felt like maybe he should be talking to her about you more, but some days it was too much.

The ride home was a quiet one, other than for Tsuki’s babbling in the backseat as she tried to sing along to the faint music from the radio. He peeked at her through the rear view mirror. She was really starting to look like you. As she grew, her hair had gotten longer, and aside from his hair color, the texture resembled yours. Her eyes, although the shape resembling his, were the same color as yours. She had his nose, but her lips were yours. She was the perfect combination of you both with just the right amount of your features to ease his mind that the image of you wasn’t totally lost. He missed you. A lot. You had blessed him with a daughter, and he knew she was not meant to fill the void he had in his heart, but having her around really eased some of his pain.

As he approached the dark house, he spoke. “You know,” he began, Tsuki’s face perking up to look at him. “Back when Mama was around... I used to come home and the lights would be on.” She gurgled in response. “I’d go in and tell her I was home, and she’d always be there to welcome me. She always had dinner just about done by the time I came home from the office.” Tsuki hummed. “This is a house. But your Mama made it feel like a home.” Niragi pulled into the driveway, and with a heavy sigh gathered Tsuki out of her car seat and her souvenirs. He fumbled with his keys only to find that the door was unlocked. “That’s fucking weird,” he thought out loud. “I could have sworn I locked it...” He stepped inside, feeling the wall for the light-switch, only for his hand to touch someone else’s. Before he could react, the lights came on.

“SURPRISE!”

Niragi jumped back in shock, holding Tsuki protectively.

The room was filled with all of your close friends, all of which were wearing ridiculous party hats, and the living room was decorated with pink balloons and a sign that read “Happy Birthday Tsuki.” Dr. Chishiya aka Uncle Shuntaro. Kuina and her mother. Yuzuha and Arisu. Mr. Aguni the landlord. A few of your workplace coworkers were there too.

“What’s all of this?” He asked, stunned.

“We couldn’t let Tsuki’s birthday pass without a proper celebration.” Kuina explained. “No birthday is a birthday without a cake.”

“She’s right,” said Chishiya. “You celebrated the day your way, but we wanted to celebrate, too.”

“She’s such a precious baby, we just wanted to do something special for her.” Kuina’s mother chimed in.

“We know how much you’ve through...” Yuzuha began.

“We just wanted to show our support.” Arisu continued.

“For the both of you.” Yuzuha agreed.

“You’re both real fine kids, so all of us got together and put a little something together for ya.” said Aguni.

“I can’t... I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am to you. All of you.” Niragi began, “the past year... really hasn’t been the easiest. With Y/N gone, and having to raise Tsuki on my own, trying to get my life together for the both of us... all of you have been such a big help to me. I can’t thank you enough. I’ll never be able to repay you for all you’ve done for me and Tsuki.”

“There’s no need,” Aguni waved his hand, dismissively.

“He’s right.” Kuina smiled. “Everything we’ve done is because we wanted to.”

“You’re our friend.” nodded Yuzuha.

“You’re like family.” Arisu corrected.

And Niragi agreed. All these friends had become like an extended family of his. Always there.

His knees were shaking, a cold sweat formed on his brow. He felt queasy and on the brink of throwing up. He wasn’t ready for this. Quite frankly, he’d never be.

“You know, if you want to wait another year, I wouldn’t blame you.”

“Papa, I’m five. I gotta go to school.”

They said the first day was the hardest. Niragi had held the slightest hope that Tsuki would throw a tantrum and outright refuse to go to school, but to his disappointment she had been rather excited. She was incredibly bright for her age, already knowing how to count to one hundred, knowing her colors, as well as all the letters of the alphabet. She even knew how to write her name in Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana.

“I know you do, but still, Papa will be lonely without you.”

“But you’ve got work stuff to do.”

“But you’re my little helper.”

“I’m a kid, papa.”

“Since when are you a little smartass?”

She shrugged. “If I’m smart, that means I gotta go to school.”

“I- Now where the fu-”

“Papa, hurry up! I’m gonna be late!” Tsuki grabbed on to his hand and dragged him away from the parking lot and closer to the school gates. He could feel the eyes of others burning holes into his figure. This was another reason he worried about her coming to school. The prying eyes of others. Even though the surgeries he’d gotten had managed to make him look relatively normal, upon closer inspection, there was still visible scarring. He’d never forgive himself if he became the cause of Tsuki being bullied.

He signed in at the front desk and gathered all the paperwork for Tsuki’s schedule, class directory, and list of school supplies.

“You’ve got art class.” He mused.

“Really?” The corners of her eyes perked up in curiosity.

“I didn’t think kids could learn art.”

“Aunt Yuzuha’s kids draw on the walls. Uncle Arisu calls that art.” She said. “I think it’s messy.”

“Well aren’t you a little critic.” He chuckled.

“It’s true. What kind of dummy makes grass red?”

“Tsuki, you can’t call other kids a dummy.”

“But you call other people things, too.”

“I’m a grown up.”

“Then can i call them dummy when I’m a grown up, too?”

“For sure.”

Tsuki nodded in understanding.

The two reached her classroom and while Tsuki was led to her seat by the teacher, Niragi stood to the side with all the other parents, most of them being moms. If he was being honest, he felt awkward and out of place. Compared to the other parents, he was sure he was the youngest parent there. Chills ran down his neck, as he looked around and saw the other parents throwing side glances at him, and a soft hum of whispers surrounded him. He tried to shrug it off and focus on Tsuki, who was now chatting away with her classmates. He noticed that the other kids say something and pointed in his direction, to which Tsuki would shrug and and answer like it was no big deal. Oh no, he thought. It’s starting.

“First time?” A voice said behind him.

Niragi turned to see an older man with shaggy black hair covered in a beige fedora, his eyes hidden behind big dark sunglasses. What kind of a freak wears a hat and shades indoors? Niragi thought, but nonetheless, he nodded. The older man patted him on the back. “It’s never easy.” He said with a smile. “Which ones yours?”

“Umm, the little girl over there. The one with the silver clips in her hair.” Niragi described. “Her name is Tsuki.”

“Oh, she’s absolutely precious!” The older man gushed.

“What about you?”

“Oh, I’ve got two. The boy and the girl on either side of your girl. Twins.” He said proudly. “Nara and Naoki. Little devils, those two.”

“Is this your first time here, too?”

“Me? No. I’m an old timer. My oldest, Nanase, is a second year at the middle school nearby.” He sighed with a smile. “But just looking at your face I can tell this is your first time.”

“Really? You can tell?”

“Don’t worry about it.” He wove his hand up and down, dismissively. “We’ve all been there. Ain’t that right, Mrs. Kobayashi?” He nudged the lady next to him, who gave him nothing more than an awkward side eye. “Don’t mind her. She’s a hoot at PTA meetings.”

The teacher interrupted the parents’ chatter and asked them to bid farewell to the children so that they could commence the first day of school. Niragi panicked and looked at Tsuki who flashed him a dimply grin. He took a deep breath. She’s fine. She wants to be here. The two shared one last look before he walked out of the classroom with the other parents.

“Hey, kid.” He heard the strange man call out, causing Niragi to look back at him once more. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Niragi. Suguru. I’m Niragi Suguru.” He bowed politely.

“Nice to meet you, Niragi.” He tipped his hat in acknowledgement. “I’m Danma Takeru.”

The two chatted for a bit more and exchanged numbers with Mr. Danma, or Hatter as he liked to be called due to his profession, saying the kids just had to get together for play dates sometime.

The day passed by horribly slow, with Niragi getting virtually no work done. His thoughts consumed with how Tsuki must be doing at school. 3 o clock couldn’t come soon enough and be just about sped to the school. Tsuki waited for him by the gate, holding several papers in her hands.

“Papa!” She exclaimed, running excitedly up to her dad.

“Hey, kid!” Niragi crouched to pick her up in his arms. “How’d it go?” He asked as he walked them back to his car.

“It was kind of boring.” She admitted. “But that’s cuz I already know all the stuff.”

“Really!”

“Uh huh.” She nodded.

“Whatcha got there?”

“Oh!” She held up the papers. “I made these! Ms. Nobuo let us use paints to draw shapes! And the art teacher lady Ms. Osaki let me use pastel thingies!” She held up her work for him to see.

“Wow! You did great, kiddo.” He took the papers from her hands as he ser her into her car seat and buckled her in. As he got into his own, he looked over the papers, smiling at her work. She really had a knack for creativity. Tsuki chatted away about her day on the ride home, and Niragi felt at slightly at ease that her school experience had gone better than his.

“Oh my goodness! Papa, I almost forgot!”

“What’s up?”

“Papa, all the kids kept asking me about you.”

His eyebrows shot up, a bit concerned. “Me?”

“Uh huh. All the kids said your hair and the shiny thingies on your face make you look like a rockstar.”

“Huh.” He chuckled, dryly. “They said that?”

“Uh huh! And then all the boys went all crazy cuz I told them you work on video games and that you and Mama helped make that Borderland game.”

He smiled at her through the rear view mirror. “You told them about Mama?” He felt his heart tug a bit. Kids always said what they thought, so he could imagine what kind of responses they might have at Tsuki’s... situation.

“Yup! They think you guys are so cool and that they wished their parents were like you guys.”

“Is that so, kid?” He chuckled, relieved she had managed to get positive attention. “Did you make friends?”

“Not really... all the kids were kinda noisy... I talked a lot with these kids... what were their names? Naka and Naori!”

“You mean Nara and Naoki?” Niragi laughed.

Tsuki gasped. “How did you know?!”

“I met their dad. He’s kind of...”

“Weird?” Tsuki answered. “They’re weird, too.” She giggled.

Tsuki’s school years came and went, and she had grown quite a lot. She had become taller, and her hair had become longer and fell down to her waist. Unfortunately, she’d inherited his eyesight and needed to wear glasses, but she didn’t seem to mind. Some time in her early teens she had asked him if she could get her ears pierced, to which he was a it stunned she felt she needed to ask, since he had gotten his without permission from anyone and just cuz he’d felt like it. He agreed, and went along with her. What he didn’t expect was her wanting to get four done on each ear on the first sitting, and had been slightly proud at his daughter’s determination. However... Niragi wasn’t too happy when he found out she’d gotten her belly button pierced while on a school trip to a beach resort.

She did well in school, she participated in school clubs, and never complained about doing her chores around the house. She even had a handful of friends, for which Niragi was thankful for. On one occasion, he’d overheard one of them refer to him as a dilf, which he didn’t understand, and when he asked Tsuki about it, she became flustered and urgently changed the subject, and when he asked Kuina, she laughed in his face. He didn’t dare look up the meaning online.

They say parents are never prepared for their children’s milestones, but when Tsuki graduated high school with honors, he really couldn’t believe it. 18 years had gone by quickly right before his eyes, and the little girl 

25 years had passed in the blink of an eye. Tsuki had graduated from university, having pursued a degree as a software engineer specializing in AI development. During her internship, she’d met someone special and developed a friendship which blossomed into romance. Of all the things Niragi had never given much thought to doing, giving his daughter away was at the very top.

Tsuki had shook nervously as Niragi walked her down the aisle, whispering to him “Please, don’t let me fall, Papa.” To which he replied that even if she did, he’d be right there to pick her up. He was thankful her groom came from a large family, believing it to be a far less lonely atmosphere. Nonetheless, he was happy that he had been lucky enough to amass a good deal of close friends to accompany him on this journey.

At the reception, Kuina and Yuzuha had just about shoved Niragi on the dance floor for his father daughter dance with Tsuki, who had taken it upon herself to choose the song. With the lyrics of “When She Loved Me,” matched to the scene of Niragi and Tsuki, rest assured, there was not a single dry eye in the house.

During the dinner, somewhere within him, Niragi felt the courage to stand and tap his spoon against his champagne glass. “I’d like to say a few words. I didn’t prepare anything, but... I’d like to speak from the heart.” He announced, to which everyone in the hall suddenly hushed in respect. “The last time I went to a wedding,” Niragi began, “was about 26 years ago. And just like the bride and groom, I was marrying the love of my life.” He looked down at his glass of champagne, briefly, before continuing. “Love is a crazy thing, really. It’s having this connection with someone that you just can’t explain and you really don’t have to because they already understand. Love is scary. It’s finding someone that accepts you, flaws and all, whether they be physical, emotions, psychological, metaphorical, what have you. Love is pretending to lose at a video game you’ve cleared at least 20 times just so you can watch them be happy.” He chuckled as the crowd quietly laughed. “It’s about getting a call at three in the morning asking you if you want to go out and get donuts at the 24/7 donut shop downtown. Love is... not being able to hear anyone say your given name because no one else says it as beautifully as that one person. Love is hating rainy days all your life but learning to love them when they drag you under the rain to dance. It’s when you’re driving and she reaches out to hold your hand. It’s about holding each other after nightmares and reminding each other that none of it’s real, even when reality sometimes feels like it’s a nightmare. It’s about treasuring every single moment because you’ll never know when it will be the last.” At this point, everyone who wasn’t crying already was tearing up at the realization of Niragi’s words. “It’s about being scared together. When your plans change and suddenly you’re getting ready to bring another life into the world together. That look between the two of you when you feel your baby kick for the first time at the sound of you voice. Staying up until dawn figuring out baby names because your child deserves something totally unique. Love is when you hold your baby girl and you realize that you really can love someone just as much, if not more, than the love of your life because... she is your life. As some of you know, Y/N isn’t with us today, but I know better than anyone that she would have loved to be here, and even though we can’t see her, she’s still with us.” He smiled. “the love she and I had... I like to think of it as something that only happens once in a lifetime, because to me, there really was no one else I could see myself with that wasn’t Y/N. But the way I see you two kids with each other... this is YOUR once in a lifetime. Treasure it. Always.” He looked directly into his new son-in-law’s eyes. “My life is in your hands now.”

[parslynne]

Bonus:

Based off the fact Gojo canonically bought a ¥250000 (before tax) shirt.

____

Part 1 || Part 2 (you are here) || Extras (not ready yet deepest apologies) ||

Click on the images for crispy lines and legible text.

The main comic is split into two posts because the images were too big to fit into one! I have some extra stuff I am wanting to make, but they're not finished enough for human viewing. I've got many theories on how the siblings went from “If I go, will Tsumiki be happy? My answer depends on that.” TO “Don’t act like you’re my guardian. You gross me out.” (for reasons aside from the usual middle school phase of sibling conflict) AND I TRIED INJECTING THEM INTO THIS COMIC (which originally had a count of 9 pages but now is 13 pages + bonus content) BUT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A JOLLY ONE ABOUT MEGUMI AND TSUMIKI’S ATTEMPTS TO ENTERTAIN THEMSELVES WITHOUT ELECTRICITY. SO NO PAIN

More ranting about the comic below the cut. Spoilers for the manga!!!

This comic was stuck in my head for a while because when I got to c138 I was like OH MY GOD TSUMIKI, Gege why, and I love sibling shenanigans. There’s not much about Tsumiki and her personality just yet (she’s kind, but kind isn’t a personality), but there’s this panel here from chapter 59 that for this comic, I based her entirely on:

She just seems very fun.

Some context info for the comic:

This comic takes place a year an a half after the Hidden Inventory arc and 4 months after Gojo meets Megumi.

(random note: Megumi's age is a bit of a misnomer for me, because canon says Gojo met Megumi in his first year of elementary school in 2007. The events of the manga take place in 2018, 11 years later, when Fushiguro is 15. I'm a bit confused here because children in Japan start elementary school at age 6 (turning 7 by the time they move on to second grade in April), so Megumi should've been 6 years old when he met Gojo. In 2007 though, he should've been 4 turning 5 if he's only 15 (turning 16) in 2018. Did I misread something? For the purposes of this comic, Megumi is 7 and Tsumiki is turning 8).

In this comic, it takes a while for Gojo to gain custody of Megumi and Tsumiki due to the fact that he's still a minor (and has a few more hoops his influence has to jump through) and that he has to very carefully wheedle Megumi out of the Zen'in family's clutches. If he does it too persistently, the Zen'ins would figure out something's up and be more resistant, if not reluctant, to let him go without upping his price. Megumi's Cursed Technique is manifesting, but I think Gojo figured it out only because of his Six-Eyes. Gojo told Megumi to do his best to hide his wakening abilities (which Megumi took as being even less emotive than usual, much to Tsumiki's dismay). If the Zen'ins ever found out he had the Ten Shadows technique, Megumi's fate would've been sealed, and Gojo would have had no way of getting him out. Luckily, the clan's disdain for Toji clouds their judgement of Megumi. Megumi's also born in late December, so for the clan members who don't think he'd amount to much, this detail is easily forgotten, and when Megumi's six years old and nearing his 7th birthday, the clan members would assume he's already seven and passed the 'age limit' to manifest an inherited cursed technique. Gojo coming back to the apartment in 2008 after Megumi's 7th birthday suggests that he was successful in gaining custody of Megumi.

In the last panel of the main comic, you see there's a divine doggo on the roof top. Megumi accidentally summoned a divine dog during the spirited saga of Usa-Chan-Man, but luckily Gojo sensed it and subdued it, nullifying the exorcism ritual.

Speaking of Usa-Chan-Man, she is 1000% based on Lovely Usa-Chan Man from Oresama Teacher (same author as Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun). She's amazing. If you're interested, the manga's hilarious (even if Student-Teacher ain't your cup of tea, be rest assured----this manga is 90% humour, 8% drama, and 2% romance).

Some inaccuracies in this comic I am now aware of; please be gentle with judgement:

- The Fushiguro apartment is not a corner apartment, I know!! I just- I just didn't know okay, and I was committed to having a shot of Gojo chilling on the ledge of the roof

- SAILOR MOON STOPPED AIRING IN JAPAN IN 1997. I DIDN'T KNOW THIS. I personally watched Sailor Moon on VHS tapes. I just thought Sailor Moon would be a show that could be rerun 1203 times and people would be ok with it. I am 100% guessing that anime airs on Sundays at 9PM. I didn't research this at all. I tried to envision leaving out the Sailor Moon part, but there went my Usagi joke and that joke was originally supposed to end the comic at 9 pages. I eventually ended the comic a different way, but Usagi had to be there to create the scene transition to the ending. Just.. Sshh..

- What bills and account books look like in Japan. Yeah, I have no idea. Especially what they looked like back in 2008!! Also, how much utilities costed in Tokyo 2008.. I just went with conservative prices typical of modern day Hokkaido in the winter.

- What the weather was like in January 2008. Was it cold enough that kids were wearing winter jackets? I tried googling historical weather data, but I got nothing (it was just like 10 minutes of googling though, so I wasn't trying that hard). In Tokyo though, January is generally considered the coldest month of the year, so I hoped for the best!

- Candles are not strong enough to cast sharp enough shadows for shadow puppetry. Y...yes... But you see, this candle is really, really big and has a very large wick.

I am done. This is all for now. Thank you for reading, if you've read up till this point!!! Happy Jujutsu Friday and See y'all crying on Jujutsu Sunday.

[docholligay]

Morning Star

The planets looked like stars when looked at them in the sky. That had always seemed strange to Usagi, that you really couldn’t tell unless you looked very closely, but they were special and different. It was like her senshi, how they seemed just like other people, until you looked at them closely. 

When most people heard that sort of thing, they might have thought Usagi meant they were just like normal people, except for having the power of the planets, and it might be true that whatever in her that was Princess Serenity thought that, but it was never what Usagi thought. Usagi thought that Michiru was like a normal person until you looked at her and realized you were looking at someone who was more like a princess than anyone living in a palace. Ami was just a normal person until you saw how smart she was. Mako seemed just like everyone else until you knew that she was so strong and good and kind. They were exceptional and amazing, and Usagi thought all of these things outside of whether or not any of them yelled out for the power they were born to. 

She wondered if people knew the difference when a planet went out, and not a star. If they realized that the sky was not only dimmer, but less interesting, for the loss of that. 

There hadn’t been a lot of time to think, as they’d crossed this tundra, trying to escape, trying to bunker down until the opportune moment. Hoping that there was an opportune moment. 

Mako had been lost, just a few weeks ago. Or was it a few days? It seemed to have gone on forever. But Usagi knew the sky was a little darker for all of it. Usagi knew Mako was lost, because she had seen her fall, and it was only at that moment that she looked up to the sky and wondered if the rest of them had lived or died. 

Ami and Rei were with her. There was a comfort in that, knowing they were right there, and alive, and she would know if something happened to them. That it wouldn’t be just her staring up at the sky, wondering. 

“Do you think Mina and everyone are okay?” Usagi looked across the fire at Ami and Rei. “We haven’t heard anything.” 

Ami said nothing, simply drew the blanket tighter around herself and stared deep into the fire. She hadn’t said much, since Mako died. She hadn’t even said much when it happened. 

Rei nodded. “Mina’s smart. I bet she hasn’t said anything because the communication lines are too open. They wouldn’t capture Mina.” 

Sometimes Rei said things with so much authority that you had to believe her. Rei certainly did, at least. 

“I hope so.” Usagi continued to stare at the sky. 

“They’ll let us know when it’s safe.” Rei took a bit of food out of her pack. “You and Ami are going to go up into the mountain.”

Usagi’s brow furrowed. “And you.”

Ami and Rei shared a look between them. 

“We found a trail to the fort,” Ami offered, still not looking at Usagi, “a back way. And they’re hunting us from the south. Rei’s going to lead them off, and maybe…” She stared back into the fire, “They’ll catch us otherwise.” 

Usagi looked to Rei. “But they’ll catch you!”

“No, they won’t,” Rei jerked her head back in offense, ‘I can move faster than you two. You’re only slowing me down.”

Usagi felt tears come to her eyes. “We have to stick together!” 

“Ami can hide you! Two people can hide better than one, and without you I can snipe someone--”

“No! You can’t go! I’m the princess and I said no!” She slapped her knee with her hand. “And you have to listen!” 

“You’re the princess so we have to protect you! Don’t be stupid, Usagi, if they catch you none of this will matter! You remember what Mina said, we have to keep you safe! Just LISTEN for once, instead of always arguing with me!”

“Rei you can’t just run off--”

“I’m not running off I’m--”

“Just because you don’t want me to slow you down--”

“--doing what we’re actually trained to do, which is save YOU, and you make it so--” 

“--Well I want to be with you no matter what--” 

“--difficult to actually PROTECT you--”

Usagi got to her feet faster than she ever had before, crying over the fire, howling. 

“I want to know what happens to you!” Big tears streamed down her cheek, “I can’t--I keep looking at the sky,” she sobbed, “and the stars are going out, and I don’t know which ones are the stars and--” she gave a wracking sob, “But not you, Rei, I can’t not know with you. I can’t.” 

If Usagi had been more on top of things, she might have delighted in the fact that for once in her life, she managed to silence Rei immediately. The fire crackled and popped, sending sparks into the air like desperate messages to the stars, all fading before they reached them. 

“So you’d rather see her die?” Ami’s voice was like a thaw-sharpened icicle as it slid between them. 

“Ami!” Rei barked, and the fire rose and crackled along with her, echoes of Mars drifting into the night. 

“Yes.” Usagi said it so softly that Rei barely heard it. “I would. Then,” she sniffled, “I’d know what happened. I wouldn’t wonder. I’d be there.” She put her hands on her hips. “And so I’m not leaving! I’m staying with you, so put that in your juice box and squeeze!” 

“Usagi,” Rei shook her head, “We have to protect you.”

“So protect me,” Usagi walked over and sank down next to her, “But don’t leave me. Don’t you ever leave me. Never.” 

“I--” Rei hung her head, and placed her hand on Usagi’s, “Okay. We’ll all go up into the mountains. Okay.” 

Ami sighed and pulled herself into a tight ball on the edge of the fire. 

“I’ll help set traps!” Usagi beamed. “It’ll be hard for them to catch us in the mountains, right? The path is so narrow. You can teach me. I’ll get so good at it!” 

Rei nodded noncommittally and put her blanket around the two of them, drawing them together as Usagi looked up at the stars. 

“They’re not all going out. I bet we can see more on top of the mountain, huh? Look!” she pointed to one. That one’s so bright! Is that the north star?” 

“No the north star is to the--” She looked up at the stars, and stopped. “That one’s Venus.” she smiled. “It’s still in the sky.”

[kominum]

semoto (corpse x fem!reader)

4 times you think tuxedo mask!corpse could be yours + 1 time you learn to stop feeding your own delusions 

pt. 1 + background info can be found here! please read for context. 

basic rundown of classic!sailor moon (anime) lore ‘creatively’ used in this two-part:

sailor moon and tuxedo mask are star-crossed lovers/soulmates that faced tragedy in a previous life. 

sailor mars (aka you/reader) had a crush on tuxedo mask’s non-hero persona, darien/mamoru, for a while 

sailor moon is the moon princess and tuxedo mask is the earth prince.  

sailor moon’s non-hero persona, usagi/serena, bickered a lot with darien/mamoru.

fem!reader // tw: death mentions, bodily injury, unrequited love to the very end, some unresolved tension. 

1. “Whaddup, baby?” 

Without much reason, you and Corpse trade off calling each other whenever a new monster is defeated. You’re figuring out all of this as much as he is, but he doesn’t have much guidance besides some supernatural force within him. He’s not taking instructions from a black cat and white cat like you and the other girls are who can help fill you in on the gaps -- all he knows is that he’s pivotal to maintaining Earth’s existence, and he’s not exactly thrilled about it.

But the calls are never about the fights, never about your secret identities. In fact, you’d be willing to bet half your grocery funds that he still hasn’t made the connection between you and your Sailor Mars persona and part of you wants to keep it that way. Sometimes you’re mentally exhausted and just want to forget about the events for the day or night, which is why you usually end up calling him soon after everyone disperses or vice versa. It’s almost instinctual these days, and you wonder how long it’ll be before you accidentally crack. 

Right now, the rule of thumb seems to be, “Never trust new flashy shops that open with no warning and have too-good-to-be-true grand opening offers.” This time, some luxurious salon opened up by a famous local hairdresser had been the said attraction. All of you weren’t ignorant enough to believe the sham, but the star of the show had taken the chance to say, “Let’s go scope it out!” when really, she wanted that free haircut. You had called her out on it, but she argued that if anything happened, then perfect, you all could take care of it right then and there. Needless to say, you do not want to be attacked by a monstrous version of Edward Scissorhands ever again. Corpse had made a dark, humorous entrance, a style he’s really adapted to because he knows it pisses Sailor Moon off, 

About an hour later, you’re home and bandaging up some cuts and rubbing salve on bruises, phone on speaker and dial tone blaring through the bathroom. You’re addressing the scrape on your knee when he picks up, a low drawl of, “Whaddup, baby?” comes through and your heart stutters.

The girls call you a number of terms of endearment: sweetie, honey, love, dear, babe, queen, but the last person to address you as ‘baby’ with any amount of affection was your ex-boyfriend.

You scoff to hide how flustered you actually are, quietly hissing as you attempt to put some Neosporin on the scrape and catch onto some stray skin. “Are you drunk?” You ask jokingly, knowing full well he wasn’t. 

“Drunk? Nah. Tired? Yeah. But that’s always.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“It’s old news. But uh, what’s up? Been a while since we last talked.”

“We talked like...three days ago. You called me, remember?”

“Feels like forever. I like talking to you.” 

You wonder if it’s irony or plain, cruel fate that this man will probably be the death of you.

2. “Don’t lay a fucking hand on her.”

It’d been a bad day overall. Lack of sleep compiled on by a growing pile of assignments in addition to having to get your tires checked out for an air leak because your car said, “Not today, honey,” -- everything came together in torrential hurricane and the last thing you needed was to be caught fighting another force of evil.

You’re so tired.

Sailor Moon seems to have all the energy in the world as she dodges attacks left and right, but your muscles are screaming in agony. You’re constantly hunched over and panting, but looking for the right openings to weaken the monster. Luckily, the creature has its back towards you when it dashes over to Venus and you muster everything you have to summon a bow and arrow made of fire, pulling back and making sure your arms don’t quiver. 

But at the last second, your lack of oxygen gets the best of you and your flame sniper barely manages to graze the monster’s side and narrowly avoid Jupiter. It’s enough to cause a distraction, but the anger in its glare as it’s directed at you elicits surrender in your heart. There’s nothing left in your bones to help you run or hide, and your knees buckle painfully onto the concrete. Everything else hurts so bad that you’re not bothered by the sediments digging through your skin. Venus is running towards you but she’s not quick enough, and you feel your eyes begin to slip. If this is what death feels like, then so be it. You hope that the girls’ mourning will be short, that they can still complete the ultimate mission, and--

“Don’t lay a fucking hand on her,” an angered, frustrated baritone spits out and you’re torn between laughing or crying. In a separate romantic context, you’d like the idea of wholeheartedly leaving your life in his hands. But in this reality when either of you could die at any moment and the world be consumed in darkness, it’s something you would never wish upon anyone. It’s a different situation than your bonds with the girls. 

The pain is enough to send you in and out of consciousness for the next few minutes. But strong, warm arms sit you up, though they’re slightly trembling and keeping you awake. “Hey, you okay? What happened to you? You’re stronger than this.” 

“G-great way of telling me, fuckthathurts, that I was...shit today,” you joke, but hiss when you try to move your legs and the deep scrapes scream in agony. 

“Take it easy, ‘kay? Or your princess is gonna have my head--”

“Thanks man, but we got it from here,” said princess interjects, hoisting you up with the help of the other girls. “You can go.”

“Speak of the devil,” Corpse chuckles and helps make the transfer less painful, a lot less awkward jostling around. “Look, I saved her--”

“And I said thank you. We’ll see you around,” your stubborn friend dismisses. 

“You’re welcome, baby.”

“Not your baby, piss off!”

3. “I’m always gonna be there for you, no matter what.”

It’s soft yet sonorous, deep yet light. Twilight hours are cast high above you both, separated by walls and buildings connected over wires and unseen forces. Technology is the sharpest, double-edged sword you’ve seen and used on this planet, because Corpse has never felt so close yet so far than in this moment. Your mind deludes you further by indulging in believing he’s right there next to you, strong arms holding you much like he did when you were on the brink of unconsciousness just two weeks ago.

Wishing, hoping, wanting. Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous.

The one year anniversary of your ex-lover’s death looms over you on another sleepless, caffeine-fueled night. It’s no surprise when his custom ringtone chimes softly throughout your room during these graveyard hours, but it certainly raises your eyebrows when after a minute or two, he asks tentatively, “Are you gonna go visit him?”

There’s no question as to who or where “him” is. You haven’t been since the funeral, if you’re honest, swept up by work, classes, and your new side job. But Corpse doesn’t know that, and you know it’d be the right thing to do. Maybe it’d help settle the storm of anxiety (or guilt?) that swirls in your gut on a daily basis. 

“I think so,” you reply quietly after a moment of silent contemplation, already thinking ahead to what the drive might be like. “He deserves better.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

Charming, compassionate, thoughtful, absolutely too good for this world -- the three-letter affirmation nearly slips off your tongue without a second thought. You can’t risk him seeing you, putting two and two together, and potentially forever losing him to his long-lost princess. Selfish delusion creeps through your veins and you fight back the shiver of guilt that runs down your spine. 

“I think I’ll be okay. Might be a visit made best alone, but I really appreciate you even asking.”

“Let me know if you change your mind. You know I’m always gonna be there for you, no matter what. Right?”

Warmth. Strength. Oblivion. 

“I know. Thank you.”

4. “I don’t have anyone else but you.”

“Why are we doing this again?”

“Because we can’t sleep and have nothing better to do.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” you chuckle into your phone, free hand swirling a pot of instant ramen. “I have better things to do at 3 in the morning than watch The Poltergeist with you.” 

“Then go fucking do it,” Corpse laughs teasingly. 

“And leave you high and dry? I don’t have the heart.”

“I mean, you really don’t have to--”

“Seriously, I was awake anyways. Just giving you shit.”

“One of these days, you’re gonna fucking regret it.”

Ramen done and lamp on, you snuggle beneath your blanket and start the traditional countdown to pressing ‘play’ on the movie. Neither of you really had the technology to screen share on this Discord call (your laptop is almost on its last leg and your apartment WiFi can be spotty at times), so it seemed better this way. 

The next roughly 2 hours are filled with laughter, small jump scare yelps, and quiet yelling at the ignorance and twisted logic of horror movie characters. But towards the end of the movie (and arguably the climax), your eyelids start to droop, body succumbing to the warmth of your bed. The screaming and cheesy, orchestrated music are all background noise as your breathing evens out, shifting in and out of consciousness. Ending credits roll on screen before you know it, and the only think that rips you awake is Corpse’s gentle calling of your name. 

“Sorry, fell asleep,” you murmur tiredly and squint at your screen, languidly closing out the window and letting the Discord window take precedence. “Tells you how riveting I found this movie.”

“Should’ve just let you sleep, my bad,” he chuckles. “Thanks for staying up with me.” 

“Yeah of course -- I wanted to, just got a little sleepy. Wanna watch another one?”

“ ‘m actually gonna try to sleep. Don’t wanna bother you too much. You got work tomorrow?”

“Not ‘til noon so it’s okay. You sure?” 

“Yeah...yeah. I’ve only had like...3 hours of sleep lately. Fucking awful.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“You do enough by just letting me call at the fucking crack of dawn, seriously.”

“I’m your only option, let’s be real,” and your voice is a mix of fatigue, humor, and some bitter sardonicism. There’s no malice intended, and you really hope it’s conveyed accurately. 

“...I don’t have anyone else but you,” he all but murmurs. Your heart clenches painfully, anxiety and fear and love surging through your lungs. Those words don’t hold the connotation you desperately wish for, but what matters most is that he knows he’s not alone and you’re not the only one he’s got. You verbalize as such and he only hums back in a façade of agreement before wishing you a good night. 

And sometimes, while you do know that your girls have your back and that you love them to death and would take a bullet for them any day, there are nights where you really do feel the same.

That you have no one else but Corpse. 

5. “He was never yours.”

There’s nothing you hate more than psychological monsters. You’d probably take physical pain over mind games any day because at least, it’d heal faster to some degree, or there would be a more surefire way of minimizing symptoms. But sometimes, there are days when the egotistical chess players of hell come to wreck havoc on the world, and you get lost in their trap. It’s annoying, a pain in the ass, and affects you a lot more than it should at times. 

This particular instance makes you want to quit. It makes you, Sailor fucking Mars, guardian of the planet of fire and passion and perseverance, leave all of this behind right here and now. You’ve never hated yourself more for feeling so weak. 

You’re not sure what to call it -- altered dimension, distorted reality -- but all you know is that you and the princess are kept in separate cages hanging from an endless ceiling, labelled as baits for tuxedo mask/Corpse to come. The enemy lets you both stew in the confines of the metal, watching with glee as your partner attempts to cut through the rails with her tiara and ultimately fail. It seems they’ve thought of everything because you’re not their #1 enemy today. Or maybe you are. You’re not sure anymore, even as they launch into villainous speech. 

“Nothing brings me more joy than watching you lose all your energy to fight, both physically and mentally. I’ve seen all your dreams and wishes. Nothing’s more fickle and double-edged than love, no? We shall see who the prince really belongs to.”

Mention of the prince has you snapping your head to meet the enemy’s eyes, slowing squinting as they catch yours and begin cackling like your demise is racing at the speed of an oncoming train. Your princess looks confused, but dread is heavy mercury filling your veins because you know, you know, your best held secret is coming to fruition. 

“What the fuck are they talking about?” She hisses across the void. 

“I don’t know,” you lie through your teeth, eyes flicking toward every corner of the cage now to find a way out. This isn’t how you wanted it to happen, much less happen at all. 

“Are they talking about Corpse?”

“Is there any other prince they’re referring to?”

“Do you always have to be a smartass with me?”

“Somebody’s got to,” you allow yourself a slight reprieve of laughter. It’d be dumb to try to set fire to this thing, knowing you’d only burn yourself in the process. Your exorcism tags also have no use and you can hear the clock ticking down in your mind. 

“Think it’s pretty fucking rude to keep a couple of girls in cages, not gonna lie,” a baritone voice cuts through. It sends temporary sparks of relieve down your spine. Perhaps you’ll have a fighting chance to get out of here. 

“Welcome, welcome! I’d like to get straight to the point, but maybe we’ll up the stakes a little bit before you answer my question,” they tease cartoonishly and you want to roll your eyes.

“Is this a fucking test--”

Both you and sailor moon yelp as the cages drop into a miraculously (or not) appearing large body of water, but still hanging just above the surface so you have enough air to breathe. You look out and down to see how deep this pit is, and though it might be some elaborate illusion seemingly defying all laws of physics, you see nothing but descending darkness. You don’t even have to hear the question to know what the enemy is going for, to know that they’re trying to hit you where it hurts the most, and you loathe how cliché and goddamn unfair this whole situation has turned out to be. 

“So, dear prince. Pretend that the fate of the world depends on the princess. Before you are just two girls you know and care for, stuck, captured, and on the brink of drowning. You may only save one. Who would it be?”

It’s fucked up. Corpse seems stunned, perplexed by the question. “What the absolute fuck is this? Just let them go if you had an issue with me.”

“Quite frankly, I have an issue with allof you, so this is only fair. Now, what’s your answer?”

Corpse catches your eyes first. Is it from the water that your eyes seem to be brimming with unshed tears? Is it stubbornness or defeat in the way your hands clench around the cage bars?

And this is why, once again, you hate enemies who strictly play mind games. Confirmation that Corpse would never love you the way you do him, knowledge to the princess that she’s the source of your deepest unhappiness despite the bickering friendship, realization to Corpse that the girl he’s treasured so dearly and maybe unknowingly kept as a bit of a placeholder was doomed to love him -- pain on all of you, lashes and scars on what was once believed to be unbreakable bonds, as soon as the villain explains it all with sick glee. 

“Do I have to give you an answer?”

“If you don’t, I’ll really consider drowning them since I honestly wasn’t before.”

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

“Ah, just to make things a little more interesting -- I’m aware you and the princess speak regularly outside of all this.”

They what? This was certainly news to you. 

“And?” Corpse asks somewhat defensively. 

Don’t say it. Don’t tell him. Please don’t--

“Say Mars, don’t you enjoy those late night calls with him, too? Though I must say, meeting in a hospital while your ex-boyfriend is having life-altering emergency surgery seems rather morbid in its own respect.”

You don’t have to look at him to know and hear the gears turning in his brain, the villain allowing this brief silence to let everything sink in. There’s a disbelieving whisper of your name, your real name, but he’s cut off from saying anything more. 

“You have 10 seconds.” 

You know the stories. You know the couple’s tragic end in their previous lifetime. You know that as much as the princess denies feeling anything but annoyance towards Corpse, she looks forward to seeing him. There’s a certain softness that he treats her with, different from the platonic affection that he showers you in. You’ve lied to yourself for too long. 

The countdown has no chance to finish when Corpse spits out a name that’s not yours, your eyes squeezing shut to fight back the tears that threaten to flood over. Everything disappears and you land on your butt -- a quick sweep of your surroundings registers two things: Corpse running over to your princess and the villain standing proudly at the chaos they’ve created. It’s instinct that has brings your powers to surface, arms and fingers quickly notching a fiery arrow with pinpoint aim at the imaginary target on their head. “Move!” You yell at the two and they scramble to gather their bearings and avoid your rage. 

They don’t run or cower. The maniacal grin only grows wider and more sinister and you’re this close to screaming expletives. 

“Hurts, doesn’t it, to know that he was never yours?”

It’s the last thing they say before you release the arrow, watching with no remorse as they burn and disintegrate. When the dust disappears and the dimension shifts back to some abandoned building with an exit, you run. 

You run until your lungs burst, until they scream over the aching of your heart, until your costume dissolves and you’re finally buried under the blankets. You turn on ‘Do Not Disturb’ and only allow notifications from a select few important numbers.

And maybe you’ll keep running. Maybe you’ll go off the grid. Maybe you’ll let your voicemail inbox fill up with unheard messages, apologies that you don’t and never will deserve. 

But the love you feel and cherish will never fade. It’ll run alongside you; a bright, burning star, forever bittersweet--

Forever out of reach. 

[professortomoehater]

Hi!! This is my first fic/short little drabble that I’m actually posting on here. I love writing but I’m still a little nervous lol. Anyways here ya go!

(My grammar and punctuation is perfect sorry T-T)

Ship: ChibiTaru (Chibiusa x Hotaru)

Series: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

WC: 592 words

Genre: fluff/ comfort (slight angst)

Warnings ! :

Slight angst, nightmares , abuse mention (from parent), crying, overall just a pretty in-depth description of a bad dream. Etc

Summary: Chibiusa comforts Hotaru after a traumatic dream

It was late in the night, well depending what you consider late. Lets just say that The two lovers, Hotaru and Chibiusa, had been asleep for a few hours. Late in that sense. However, at this moment, Chibiusa was not asleep like she had been only moments prior. Chibiusa’s not a light sleeper at all but when it comes to Hotaru, it’s like her brain, soul, spirit, whatever it is, senses a bad thing and she’s promptly awoken. That was the case here.

Hotaru was having another one of her nightmares. She shuffled around making quiet and distressed sounds in her sleep. Her eyes were tear stained and Chibiusa could tell she was scared. Her heart broke seeing her precious firefly like this.

“Love? Are you having a scary dream?” Chibiusa said as she , gently, tried to wake the other girl

Hotaru jolted awake , shaking and scared

“Hey, hey, it’s alright, it’s just me, it was just a dream.”Chibiusa said as she rubbed circles on her lover’s back.

Hotaru looked at her, her deep purple eyes full of distress. She waited to say anything as she gathered herself a bit.

“ ‘m sorry for waking you dearest…” Hotaru said in her usual quiet tone

“It’s okay! I understand, I get bad dreams too sometimes and you’ve dealt with a lot. It’s completely fine.” Chibiusa reassured her, “Wanna talk about it?”

Hotaru nodded, retrieving a cup of water from the bedside table.

“It was really scary. It was back in the 20th century, when I lived with my father. He was really mad that I was making friends with you and Usagi and everyone, he thought I would tell his secret. He yelled at me and pulled me around and messed with my metal limbs and everything to the point it hurt to walk so I was stuck in bed. He tried to hurt you and everyone else and I wasn’t able to help because I couldn’t move, I just had to watch. It was so scary.”

She started sobbing, something she didn’t do very often. Sure she cries but it’s never to this extreme. She was practically trembling, she was still so shaken up. As she shakily whimpered out “sorry.”

“I don’t know why this hurt so much. Maybe because it felt so real, back then that was a possibility, that he’d make it impossible for me to help you and the others. If I wasn’t able to be of service then I failed.” She cried

Chibiusa pulled Hotaru close to her, Hotaru instinctively nuzzling into Chibiusa’s shoulder and neck as Chibiusa cuddled her and stroked her hair whilst whispering words of reassurance.

“It’s okay. It’s alright my dear. It was just a dream, it wasn’t real. He’s long gone and he can’t hurt you anymore. Even if he was still around I would do everything I could to protect you. But you don’t have to be afraid anymore, he won’t be able to hurt you. Not ever, not while I’m here. I’ve got you, you’re okay.”

Chibiusa said as she smiled softly. She placed a kiss atop Hotaru’s head causing the girl to peer back at her. She blushed, Hotaru’s eyes were so beautiful to her and adored them.

Hotaru’s shaking hand reached up to cup Chibiusa’s face.

“Thank you, I love you so much.”

Chibiusa smiled kissing her on the lips this time

“I love you too dear. Now let’s go to bed.”

She wrapped her arms around Hotaru, making sure she felt secure.

She fell asleep to Hotaru sleepily running her hands through her pink curls.

-おわり(end)

　

[rebellionbeach]

The Usami brothers and whole family as a whole are really interesting characters.  Due mostly by the fact of how different Haruhiko and Akihiko are yet similar in many ways as well.  Let’s start with rabbit boy.

Not only is this man extremely sexy but he’s also one of the most popular novelists in Japan believe it or not (not in real life guys)  Akihiko is the presumably biological son of Natsuko and Fuyuhiko and younger brother of Haruhiko Usami.  Growing up, he had always yearned for the attention of his parents, wanting to impress them and make them happy.  Haruhiko had actually been introduced to the Usami household at the age of 12 so Akihiko was 10 at the time and significant development seemed to grow from this change.  As shown from volume 21, everyone had been cheering Akihiko on as the legitimate heir of the Usami family meaning to take over the family business however he had never gotten this support from his parents before.  As a young child he had believed that if he just tried harder and became good at everything, then his parents would finally recognize him.  However, this wasn’t the case unfortunately as shown in the same volume once a young Akihiko came home from school gaining full marks on a test, eager to show his father when he caught him telling Haruhiko that he truly intended to make him the heir of the family business.  This impact was further felt once his mother, who had also witnessed this, declared that she should have never bore Fuyuhiko’s child which in the eyes of a young child must have been completely shattering.  An important seed was planted however and I believe that it was at this moment that Akihiko had started to evolve into the person he is today.  He poured all his emotion, pain, loss, suffering into his notebooks, his stories, proclaiming it to be his entire world.  Overtime we see that Akihiko grows to be very adept at the talent, being one of the top-selling authors from debut which occurred while still in high school and becoming a full-fledged novelist.  Doing this, he completely rejected his family and any connections he might have had to take over the business.  

Looking as Akihiko today it is very clear the type of individual he is, independent and self-serving, he’s his own boss and does only the things he wants to do.  From the first episode of season 2 we see this as there is a key event that takes place between the two Usami brothers in which a confrontation between two escalates into a full-out argument over Akihiko coming back to, as I assume, take over the lead of the Usami company and or serve there.  I will note later on Haruhiko’s tone and content of his language but it’s Akihiko’s response which truly stuck out to me as he stated that he had no inclination of going back to that house and if that Haruhiko truly didn’t like being there then why doesn’t he just leave as well.

This point may seem entirely irrelevant but I actually believe it highlights an essential part of Akihiko’s character that not only serves as his strength but also a blind spot in that of his independence.  Akihiko is the type of person who is able to do the things he’d like to do and encourages the people he cares about, basically Misaki, to do the same such as in episode 2 of season 3 where he is actually the one who encourages Misaki to enter into Marukawa after Misaki dismisses those thoughts as just a fantasy.  This is a thing for his relationship with Misaki as he allows the man a different perspective and in a way allows him, or at least encourages him, to be more selfish.  However this can also be seen as a flaw of his character as it can be interpreted that the only reason he has this lax and independent personality in the first place is because of his more well-off family and the fact that he’d had connections from the start.  In all honestly though, this part of Usagi-san’s personality is one of the main reasons why I actually enjoy his character, along with his thoughtful nature, as I believe that it’s a pretty unique and well-suited trait.

Let’s get into Harry Potter or the eldest brother of the Usami residence, Haruhiko.  Haruhiko isn’t Akihiko’s direct brother as stated before but rather a product of an affair that Fuyuhiko had with his mother.  For the first 12 years of his life, Haruhiko had actually been raised by his single-mother whom he loved very much.  During these times he had been seen to be much more happy despite living in poorer circumstances.  This is a large aspect that is pretty big onto why he is the way he is today.  After his mother tragically passing on, Fuyuhiko took him into to live in the Usami residence.  Now this in itself is absolutely devastating, living with a father-figure that had never truly been there for you with a new mother-in-law that despises your every existence because you’re the proof of the infidelities of her marriage and a new younger brother who seemed lifeless from the rest of this.  Top it all off with the devastation from losing the only person you truly loved and was there for you and damn I’m surprised that Haruhiko didn’t full out lose it.  

Now going back to the scene originally discussed with Akihiko’s backstory, let us switch perspective onto Haruhiko during this situation.  Your new dad just stated that the person he had truly loved in his lifetime was your dead mother and that he intended to make you, a 12 year old child, the heir of their family company that you had just learned about.  Not only this but everyone around you is your enemy as shown through all the people cheering on Akihiko to become the true heir and saying that Haruhiko stole his position.  There is basically no one there to support you, similar to Akihiko, and unlike Akihiko he actually was not used to this new circumstance making the situation even worse. 

I’d like to discuss the scene stated before during episode 1 of season 2.  Here, Haruhiko is visibly angry as Akihiko’s lack of care for his role in the Usami residence.  This is something we’ve never actually gotten to see ever since with Haruhiko barely showing any emotion at all.  However, if you take in the full context of his upbringing and circumstance to that point, you can see a fuller picture of what the man has gone through to become the stoic chosen one we know today.  Akihiko, after being hoisted by Isaka to finally start publishing his works, his entire being, finally achieved success independent from the Usami residence, marking himself finally as an individual allowing him to finally see that he only needs himself.  I think this is what caused Akihiko to cut most connection from his family, despite the occasional visits, and totally puts himself away from the idea of succeeding and become the heir of his family’s company.  This leaves Haruhiko with the burden of shouldering the entire Usami company’s future, something he never truly wanted to today with architecture being his main priority.  What he see’s in Akihiko is this lazy, selfish person who only thinks of himself, abandoning all his familial duties to a brother whom he barely batted an eye to during childhood.  This is what he hates in Akihiko, but also envies.  A very interesting point that season 2 makes with the connection between the Usami brothers is the inherent jealously Haruhiko feels toward Akihiko, with him trying to steal things from him during their upbringing together according to Akihiko.  Even Misaki finally has this revelation during episode 8 I believe when he was distracting him from Kaoruko.  I think his jealously mainly stems from the fact that Akihiko got his independence while Haruhiko is still confined to the Usami gates.  With all of Akihiko’s absent-minded behavior and to quote Haruhiko, “having the eyes of a dead fish”, Akihiko in the end still achieved that sense of independence that Haruhiko could only dream about having.  Add onto the fact that everyone around you hates that you got this position, lobbying for your younger half-brother who barely gives in the effort to succeed you, then baby that’s a recipe for childhood resentment if I’ve ever seen one.  

So what does this all mean, well nothing since this is an over-analysis on a yaoi manga but in a reality I think it comes to show the clear dynamic Haruhiko and Akihiko have on one another.  In recent chapters it is shown that Haruhiko is more and more aspiring in his own pursuits in architecture, even accepting his position as lead of the Usami household and accepting the fact that he’ll never get Misaki, wanting to stay as his ally instead (which is a lot more than I can say for a CERTAIN manga author).

I love Haruhiko AND Akihiko, they both are really great characters and I’d think it would be nice if in the future they could perhaps reconcile their relationship and kind of start to get along.  The Usami household fucked up a lot of kids but they are still going strong and who knows, maybe Haruhiko might get a lover in the future (AKA Todo)

Thank you and now I implore you to go listen to Nelson’s After the Rain album, 10/10 made me cry.

[totaltrashmammal101]

Betrayal and Love don't mix

Ok, so I don't know if I'm gonna spoil anything because I know that there is a manga, but I've never read it, but I have a feeling (hopeful thinking more) that we're not done with the militant trio, because it was left kind of...like hey maybe and I do know somebody said I guess that Niragi is still alive after the fire, idk...we'll see. No intended spoilers, if I guessed I apologize, if not... well disregard this.

SPOILERS if you haven't finished the season...I hope everyone has, because this skims over the last episodes.

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of death, blood, violence, murder, etc. Normal AIB things

××××××××××××××××××××××××

Ann's heart dropped seeing Hatter's lifeless body on the table. She stepped forward to touch the bullet wound only to have Niragi nudge her with a smirk

"Try not to touch the body too much, we all know you have a love for dissecting things." He winked at her, she sighed and rolled her eyes stepping back. She glanced at Aguni, trying to read him but he showed even less emotion than Chishiya, in public at least. The threats to vote for Aguni filled Ann with rage, how dare he do things like this, let Niragi and Last Boss threaten people. Would he have even stopped them if she or anyone voted against him?

She avoided being alone with him as they signed their names and he gave his speech. Aguni glanced at her a few times trying to read her expression, but all he noticed was her nostrils flare and she looked pissed. His mind was on repeat, kissing Ann before they went their separate ways for their games, shooting Hatter, crying, and sleeping beside her because he knew it'd be the last time she'd ever want to be near him. When Arisu was caught and Niragi and the others were in charge of him, he went to go find Ann. They got into a screaming match about Hatter and everything

"Learn to mind your own damn buisness Ann! Leave this shit alone!" He pointed at her

"This is my job and you don't tell me what to do. Not after today! What is wrong with you?"

"Just drop it!"

"He was your best friend Aguni, wouldn't you want to know who did it?!" He stormed out in a huff. She went back to work and was shocked by the bullet she found, she recognized it as one from the beach. She pushed away the truth that Aguni was the one who shot him. She knew it was him, but accepting that fact raised more questions. She was lost in thought when the tv in the kitchen kicked on, The Beach was now a game arena and to get to the lobby. Her stomach dropped and she walked out to get her phone, ten of hearts, and the game was 'witch hunt'. She yelled at everyone not to touch the knife in Momoka, the questioning began, and Niragi tried to threaten her and Asahi, but thankfully for her she could see through his antics as a scared little boy. When Aguni showed up the two stepped away from each other a bit, he declared everyone a suspect who wasn't his ally, and he could see her eyes narrow at him, her silent questioning of where she stood there. She wanted to yell at Niragi for shooting his gun off, but unaware of where she and Aguni stood she took off with the others. She hid until she could go back for the knife determined to figure it out before the Militants slaughtered the beach.

Watching Aguni hit Arisu for saying that he killed Hatter because of what he became broke Ann. She pitied him more than anything, she was still furious at him for subjecting so many people to death because of Hatter going insane. He looked so broken as he tried to piss people off so they attacked him, claiming to be the witch. They could stop now, end the game and throw Momoka's body in the fire, go their separate ways. Why continue to fight? When he gave up after Asahi revealed herself as a game dealer, there was silence for a moment and then Arisu pleaded with Aguni to stop and that he didn't want anyone else to die (I might have gotten that backwards). Aguni looked at him and then his eyes wandered over to Ann who was being held up by Kuina and he wanted to apologize, plead for her to hold him and to let him die here. He was ok with dying, he was ok with dying for Arisu and Usagi, all of them. He was the one responsible for allowing this to happen. He almost died too, but Ann's laugh woke him up

"You're a dork." She laughed and he started coughing feeling the heat of the flames, flickering closer, he looked around trying to find Niragi's body which he tackled, but the younger man was gone..He took a deep breath before going towards a door, bloody and slightly burnt. He was coughing and hacking, trying to find his way to safety. He got himself into an abandoned drugstore, collapsing against a wall behind the counter not wanting anyone to see him before he passed out again. He woke up to someone cleaning him and he saw Ann over him

"Are you real or just in my head?" He reached out to touch her, but she pulled back and shook her head

"I'm real, don't move you need to rest. I don't know how you got out without anyone seeing you, but you're sneakier than Chishiya." She let out a sigh and helped him drink a bottle of Gatorade before he passed out again. He woke up later smelling her cook food, he looked over at her from his cot seeing her in an oversized button down and shorts with boots

"Good, you're awake. " She said handing him food and he slowly sat up, taking the food reluctantly. The silence was tense on his end, not sure where to start, but when she looked at him he was met with coldness

"Why not just let me die?"

"I don't know...guess I still care." She shruged and looked at her food and continued to eat. He finished his food and walked over near her

"I don't deserve your kindness. I need you to forget about me and get out of this place." He bent down beside her

"Aguni..." He cupped her face and kissed her forehead

"Marry some good young lawyer who can give you everything I can't, make lots of babies.." He looked at her pout and then plopped down defeated, laying down in exhaustion beside her, head on her lap and arms around her waist "I'm a monster."

"You're broken...not a monster...maybe a little psycho yourself." She reluctantly rubbed his back and he sobbed into her quietly.

[saiilorstars]

Ch.4: The Mind Intruder

Chapter summary: The mind is a very tricky thing but Mamoru seems to have the right abilities to get in.

Fandom: Sailor Moon (Crystal)  – – [Rewrite of season 2, AU-ish in that there’s new OCs and the fusion of plots from the manga, crystal and the og series]

Pairings: Eventual OFC x OMC, Usagi x Mamoru

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles

{If you’d like to be added to this OC’s taglist, let me know!}

// Story Masterlist //

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 

"Miss Keena?"

"Hm?" Azula looked up to find her teacher, Miss Nano, standing impatiently in front of her desk.

Azula sheepishly hid her notes with an arm and watched as her teacher put down her last math exam. She nearly fell out of her seat when she saw the ugly red '30' at the top of the paper. "WHAT!?" she picked up the paper and nearly crushed it against her face from how close she looked at it.

Miss Nano went on to continue handing out the class exams back. Azula kept blinking as if the grade would go away in one of those. This had to be a mistake!

"Miss Nano, please!" she trailed after the tall blonde teacher around the classroom after school, begging for a second review of the exam. "I don't know what happened…" Well, actually she did know. She had been focusing on Sailor Hemera, Senka and the Shadow Crystal mystery…but Miss Nano didn't need to know about that. "I know I can do better!" Azula followed the teacher towards the door and quickly scurried outside first to block Miss Nano's way.

"Well you really should have," Miss Nano said like she really lamented having to grade the exam. She knew Azula to be a well studied student and couldn't understand what happened. "I expected better than this. I thought you understood the material-"

"-but I did!" Azula exclaimed, though she stuttered to give a reason on her poor work. "I-I just h-had a, um, a th-thing that I had to do that, um-" she gasped when the teacher returned to her classroom and shut the door. Azula blinked and stared down at her exam that really seemed to be burning her fingers the more she held it. "I don't get 30s!" she said just a tad loud for the passing students to hear.

"You got a 30? In Nano's class?"

This was truly the last thing she needed right now. She turned to Mamoru and violently pointed a finger at him, forgetting for a moment that he wasn't used to her usual behavior when she was upset."I don't need this right now from you!" she went up to the closed class door and continued to call for the teacher. "Miss Nano, please. The only way I'd get a 30 in my life is I was...dead!"

"Then I suppose you're the walking dead," Mamoru remarked smugly.

"Oh my God!" the red haired girl whirled around in his direction. "You're still here!?" Azula was very used to their old sibling-like relationship that the words and sarcasm just tumbled out of her mouth. It most certainly did not help that she was possibly at her worst moment right now.

"I was on my way out," Mamoru, surprisingly, remained calm and merely pointed at the doors at the end of the hallway. "But then I saw you shouting and I figured I'd like to see how this plays out. Heard Miss Nano can be difficult."

"You're not funny, and I'm not laughing," Azula stood with a straight face.

With such a straight face it would be impossible to feel anything. But then again not everyone was a reincarnated Earth prince.

"Usagi, c'mon, this is simple math!" Azula rubbed her face in frustration. The blonde in question had let her head fall to the table, over her math book to be precise. "Get up, c'mon!" Azula gently hit Usagi's foot with her own under the table.

Usagi slowly raised her head off the book. "Why do I need to know this again?" She was startled when Mamoru lowered himself beside her, having just entered the cafe. He put an affectionate hand on Usagi's back.

"So that business people like her-" he shot Azula a look, "-don't take advantage of you."

A sarcastic smile spread across Azula's face. They always joked Azula would end up taking over her family's business, except she didn't find it amusing. "You're not funny, and I'm not laughing."

Azula recognized that remembering face on Mamoru's face and was tempted to slip away before he came back to the present. Besides, Miss Nano would have to see her tomorrow anyways. But just as she turned away, he called out to her.

Crap! she thought with eyes shut before she turned back. "Yes?"

"Th-the blonde girl who was...who was with you the other day…?" Azula was sure that not even he knew what he wanted to say. It looked like he was still trying to process whatever he saw.

He probably means Usagi. She's the only blonde I know. And Azula severely doubted he meant Minako. Though that would make it easier...

"What was her name?" his question pulled her back to the present.

Azula cleared her throat and whispered the answer so low it almost seemed as if she didn't want to answer. "Usagi…"

"Have you ever tutored her at the Fruits Parlor Crown?" Mamoru seemed afraid to even ask the question.

"W-well, yeah…" Azula wasn't sure what the hell was going on but she knew he was starting to remember things. She had tutored Usagi on several occasions on her math in that cafe and many times Mamoru had come in to see how things were doing. Azula thought it was more to distract than to help. Usagi was all for distractions.

"Okay, I-I…" Mamoru rubbed his face, frustrated with himself. What the hell was he doing? Was he really asking a random girl about another random girl?

"Are you okay?" Azula felt the need to go check up on him. Whatever was happening to him she was sure wasn't meant to be happening. She walked up to him and reached to touch his arm. As soon as she did they both saw something.

"Here," Azula set a pink milkshake in front of Usagi and sat down right across from her. "It's exactly what Mamoru would order for you right?"

Usagi whimpered and buried her face in her hands. Azula sighed when she heard the small sniffles.

"If it's not right then I can ask Unazuki for something else, or…" but Azula trailed off knowing this wasn't the problem. She rubbed her forehead and stared at Usagi for a moment in silence before speaking up. "Look, Beryl might have taken Mamoru but he will come back, alright?"

"How do you know?" Usagi lowered her hands for a second, her sparkly blue eyes now red and glossy. "I couldn't save him…"

"Give yourself a break, Usagi, you just realized who you were in a previous life. You're not God. But you are a fighter and even though you spend half your days crying over something as petty as a broken cup, when the going gets tough...I have confidence you get tougher."

"You think I can be strong?" Usagi's lip quivered, doubt etched all over her face.

"Mamoru does," Azula said softly. "And though I like to purposely disagree with him just to annoy him, in this case he's actually right. You are a strong girl and I know you will get through this."

 Azula gasped deeply and pulled her hand off Mamoru's arm, the latter quite stunned by what they saw.

"How did I…?" but he didn't get to finish the question because Azula began to back away, and fast.

"I-I have to g-go!"

"Wait!" Mamoru called in vain. Azula was gone in a flash and all he was left with were strange feelings and new images in his mind.

~ 0 ~

"No you don't understand - he was in my mind!" Azula flopped on a park bench. Luna and Artemis hopped the bench and each rested on one side of the girl. "I-I felt him actually in my mind! I didn't even know he could do that!"

"Well, Mamoru isn't a Sailor Scout but he was the guardian of Earth and thus given powers he might not have developed yet," Luna said, rather reasonably and calm too. It was nothing to how Azula was reacting.

"He's remembering," she said, truly destroyed just by the thought. "You two said they wouldn't remember anything."

"Minako and the girls remain the same…" Artemis said thoughtfully, "...but none of them have the psychometric abilities that Mamoru does. Rei does, in a sense, but she's another story-"

"Not helping, Artemis," Azula cut him off. "So you think because of Mamoru's powers he'll be more likely to remember?"

"He's connected to the Earth because of who he was in the past and so by extension he's connected to everyone on the planet. This memory wipe works best on humans, specifically…" Luna trailed off, leaving Azula to make her own conclusion.

"Sailor Scouts," Azula finished with a small sigh. "So, basically, because Mamoru was the prince of Earth back then he's more likely to figure things out. That's just...great," she gritted her teeth together.

Luna affectionately pawed at Azula's uniform coat. "Don't fret, Azula, please. You are taking this far too serious-"

"Luna you don't understand," Azula calmed somewhat. A despondence slowly took over her facial features. "Back when Sailor Moon and the Scouts were active my only job was to look at the perimeters, stay on the computers...I couldn't help them out there. When they went off to fight Beryl and Metaria I had to stay here and just...wait. My job was to literally wait and see if they would come back alive."

"That wasn't your fault. You would have put yourself in grave danger if you accompanied Sailor Moon and the others…"

"It doesn't make me feel any better," Azula said glumly. "I was useless to them. I thought - I thought that now since everyone lost their memories and Usagi wanted to be normal...that this could be my job now. I would make sure they were all normal and safe. It's stupid, I know, but...it was my job this time to protect them." Azula paused for a full minute, her sadness overflowing. "But now Mamoru is beginning to remember and...now there's a Sailor Hemera and a stupid shadow hellbent on getting a crystal no one knows about."

"Azula," Artemis hopped off the bench and turned to look up at the girl, "Luna and I can keep an eye on the girls and certainly on Mamoru, but you can start to live your normal life as well. You shouldn't burden yourself with problems that we can solve. You just live a normal life..."

Azula snorted at the idea. "Normal? I'm at the park talking to cats - yeah, that's normal."

"Azula-" Luna began but Azula had gotten overwhelmed and rushed away.

"I'm going to go check on Minako," Artemis said after a couple of seconds. "And maybe we should patrol the other girls tonight just to see if any of them are remembering anything too."

Luna acknowledged his idea but preferred to stay back a little while longer. It was crazy to think that even now things still hadn't gone back to normal. Usagi was living her life as she wanted but outside of her blissful bubble things were beginning to get worse again. This time there were no Sailor Scouts to defend the planet from the evil trying to find the Shadow Crystal. Sure there was a Sailor Hemera but they still didn't know who she was and what her intentions were. Luna didn't know whether to feel grateful that Mamoru was remembering little by little because then that would mean he would be able to help a little...or should she be further concerned because now a second person had managed to avoid the memory wipe - it was still a grand mystery how Azula did it first.

Luna thought about this as she hopped off the bench and started her way back to Usagi's home. Usagi had been questioning lately where her dear old cat kept wandering off to and Luna didn't want to jeopardize her close position with Usagi. It was simply a challenge having to act like a true Earth cat all the time. It was why she often found Azula to keep conversation and her personal mind stimulated besides Artemis.

As Luna went off, a tall girl with long, brown and straight hair walked up to the bench where Azula and Luna had been. Her dark brown eyes glimmered golden for a second. "So you know where the Prince is…?" a smirk tugged at her pink lips.

~0~

Azula shivered as cold wind drew into her room from the open window. She went over and closed it then turned back. There were various newspaper clippings on the grounds with her own notes attached to it. Sailor Hemera and Senka needed to be stopped at all costs. Azula felt like she didn't have the luxury to get emotional. She took a seat on the floor, in the middle of the papers, and began sifting through them to reread what she already knew.

One hour later, her step-sister Keiko opened the door. "Hey, Azula, dinner's read - woah," her green eyes landed over the mess of papers around Azula. "What are you doing?"

"Homework," Azula supplied the excuse quick as she reached for another clipping.

Keiko caught site of some of the headlines and made a small whistler. "About that weird cloud thing and the Scout? What class is this for?"

"Communication - uh, intro to communications," Azula glanced at her sister with a small smile. "Journalism might be fun."

"Though you always wanted to work in something related to space, or something...?" Keiko left the door open so Azula could follow her out. "Sorry, you talk a lot sometimes and I tune it out so-"

"-Dad?" Azula blinked at the sight of her father already sitting at the kitchen table. "What are you doing here?" he was usually tied up with the business that he was rarely home for family meals. Kaito Keena was a man of business, and since he owned the Game Center Crown which was very popular in the neighborhood...he had a lot to do.

"I live here, remember?" came the black haired man's answer. His sarcasm made her playfully roll her eyes. "I'm also the one who pays the rent, so..."

"Okay, okay, I get it," Azula took her usual seat at the other end of the table. "I just didn't hear you come in, that's all."

"You never hear anything when you get into your work," Keiko pointed out.

"Oh, a lot of homework tonight?" Kaito asked.

Before Azula could answer, Keiko cut in with what she'd seen. "She was looking into that creature and the mysterious Sailor Scout who've been making appearances around the city."

Kaito's eyebrows shot upwards, making Azula dread what he would say about it. "Really? Well, makes sense since you always talk about the galaxies and whatnot. You think they're aliens, then?"

"Um..." Azula cleared her throat and put both her hands on the table. "I mean, the Scout looks humanoid. But that shadow thing probably is."

"Oh, but you know what I learned today?" Keiko excitedly asked. "It's actually funny what they name themselves. Hemera is a Goddess of day and light while Senka means 'shadow'. Can you believe that?"

"No, I...I hadn't considered the etymology of the names," Azula blinked rapidly.

"I just wonder where these aliens come from," Keiko went on, "And I'd definitely would love to know what a Shadow Crystal was."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Kaito agreed. "It would certainly help get the two out of the city before anyone gets killed."

"I should have asked that cute little fortune teller at the shrine…" Keiko said wistfully.

Azula raised an eyebrow. "What fortune teller?"

"Oh from the local shrine," Keiko leaned away from the door. "What was her name? Hino Rei? I went in to ask whether or not I'd get the school secretary job I applied to a couple days ago."

Azula blinked. Rei. How could she forget about Rei and her mind abilities? Mamoru wasn't the only one with mind tricks - Rei could sense danger! Sure Rei's mind was cleared of anything Scout-wise but her ability had come way before she awoke as Sailor Mars.

It was a stretch, but Azula would take it.

[sittingoverheredreaming]

Same Prompt Party! Usagi: New Year’s Fireworks

I told myself that I would get this done much sooner than the last minute because I’ve grown as a person since the last same prompt party, but that was a fucking lie ahaha. Here it is, though, just shy of 2,200 words!

______________________________________________________________________

Fireworks weren’t supposed to start until midnight. Everyone knew that. But when Usagi opened a groggy eye to check the time after the first roaring booms, it was barely ten. Not that she knew that right away-- the clock was still up on the nightstand, entirely out of sight from the mattress’s current position on the floor. She had to fumble around for her phone instead, as careful and quiet as she could ever be. Only then did she see that it was a touch past ten, and that she had more notifications than her phone could display, the last several of which were texts from Mina.

still time for you to come out!

lots of hot guys here tonight, what mamoru doesn’t know can’t hurt him ;) ;) ;)

kidding, of course. i miss you!

Usagi turned her phone over and curled her body back around Chibiusa. Apart from a scrunch of her little eyebrows, she seemed undisturbed by the growing ruckus outside. Usagi put a hand on her tummy anyway, just in case she needed some comfort. 

She could have gone out with everyone, even with a six month old. There was generally little they did all together that couldn’t accommodate a baby. There wouldn’t have been any fuss if she’d asked for it. Last year’s party at Haruka and Michiru’s house had even been alcohol free, just because she couldn’t drink. It had seemed like everything might have been okay then-- it was the first year they rung in in peace, Usagi was pregnant with their promised princess, and if their powers had deserted them and the crystal towers of Serenity’s palace had yet to rise, that couldn’t compare to the hope that lit up Usagi’s heart the same as the fireworks lit up the sky.

But like the fireworks, it was short lived.

Usagi shifted her arm under her head. She’d read in a book-- she’d tried very hard to read a great many books before Chibiusa was born-- that you weren’t supposed to let a baby sleep in bed with you, but she hadn’t been able to stick to it. A bed was so large if you slept alone. But she’d done what she could to be safe. No pillows. A blanket only for her feet, because even in socks they got so cold. She wore layers of sweaters to bed. Sometimes when she woke up she was drenched in sweat beneath them, but always when she woke up Chibiusa was breathing. It was a fair trade.

And she hadn’t done it the first few months. Newborn Chibiusa had slept in her crib beside the bed, though Usagi probably didn’t deserve credit for that because she’d had Mamoru in bed with her then. It had been easier-- not easy but easier-- to leave Chibiusa where she was supposed to be. It was only around the four month mark that he’d sat on the edge of that very same bed they’d shared and said “I feel like we’ve played our roles and run out of script.” His voice was so low that she almost hadn’t heard, that she knew he hadn’t meant to say it out loud at all, but it had been the end of it all the same. She’d asked him to leave. She hadn’t told the others yet. She didn’t need to give them the idea before they came to it on their own.

She ran her hand softly along Chibiusa’s face, then through her hair. Her straight, dark hair that shone red-brown in sunlight but otherwise had no hint bubblegum pink. That had been the proof. They weren’t in the future they thought they were fighting for. The future Mamoru and the others had signed on for.

There was another crackle and a bang. The room lit up for a few seconds before dropping back into its long shadows. Usagi wished they would stop. What was there to celebrate? If last year had been the first year without war, this was the first year without hope. The first year where everyone would know there was nothing keeping them tied to Usagi. The first year Usagi was bringing in alone, or very nearly.

Her phone buzzed again and she didn’t bother to look what it was. Everyone had their own things to do, and even as they made a show of trying to bring her in, they were still off doing them. And that was better. She’d never meant to trap anyone, however much she wanted them to stay. She was never like Serenity in that way. Maybe that was why she no longer was Serenity.

She tried to make herself sleep instead of thinking. It had always been such an easy thing, but even that was different now. Always exhausted, hardly able to sleep-- was she even Usagi still? Was she anything? What was left of her that hadn’t faded alongside her powers?

More bangs, one after the other, bounced against her ears to join the cacophony of thoughts between them. It took her a long moment to realize the noise was not paired with the flashing lights of more fireworks. Usagi shot up. Someone was at the door, pounding their fists against it by the sound of it. She hesitated for a moment over Chibiusa-- she was sleeping so well, even moving her over to the crib seemed cruel. She kissed her cheek and left her there, willing her with all her might to stay still.

Usagi threw a robe over her pajamas and hurried to the door as the knocking grew somehow more insistent. She didn’t yell that she was coming for fear of waking Chibiusa. Whoever was at the door didn’t seem to have the same concern.

“Usagi! I know you’re in there. I will break down this door if you don’t open it right--”

Rei stopped short as Usagi flung the front door open. “Shhh! Chibiusa is asleep.”

“Sorry, sorry. You weren’t coming.”

This was the part, Usagi knew, where she was supposed to snap back that she was, and comment about Rei’s impatience or whine about how unfair she was or make some sort of production, but she didn’t have the heart or the energy. A beat passed in silence. Rei frowned.

“I decided,” she said as she stepped inside and shrugged off her coat, “That we can’t bring in the New Year like this.”

“Like what?”

Rei looked her in the eye, still all fire even without Mars. “Don’t like what me. You’re hiding away here when you should be with me. With us, all of us.”

“I have to take care of Chibiusa.”

“So? We love her. Or let her stay with Mamoru, wherever he’s living now.”

Usagi’s stomach dropped. Rei wasn’t supposed to know, no one was supposed to know. It was her most awful secret. She didn’t know if she felt angry or sad or relieved that it was out, maybe all three, or nothing at all, or--

A soft thump from the back of the house broke her train of thought. “No, no!” she hissed, running back to the bedroom as Chibiusa began to wail. The mattress was not spectacularly thick, the fall to the ground was only a matter of inches, but still. Inches could be enough, and then Usagi would have nothing, nothing left at all. She scooped Chibiusa into her arms. The little girl quieted immediately. She looked fine, not so much as a red mark anywhere she might have hit the ground, no blood, no bruises. Startled, probably. That was all. Usagi held her tight anyway.

“What the fuck is going on in here?”

Haven’t you heard of privacy? A Usagi who no longer existed snapped from deep within the Usagi who did’s head. “It’s safer this way. If she’s not in the crib. It’s safer like this.”

She watched Rei take it in, the mattress on the floor next to the bed frame, the lack of pillows, the singular blanket, Chibiusa’s crib gathering dust in the corner. “Usagi… what are you doing?”

What does it look like? and What I have to, and What are you doing, Rei? sounded in the back of her mind, but Usagi only shrugged.

“We’ve been waiting for you to say something, anything. Mako thinks you need time, but god, Usagi, how much time could you need?” She put her hands on her hips, readying for a fight Usagi didn’t have in her. “I’m not starting a year with you lying to us.”

“I didn’t lie.”

“Like hel--” She looked at Chibiusa, face dipping towards sheepish before hardening again. “Like heck you didn’t! There have been three times you’ve said Mamoru was here when he--”

“Rei. What does it matter?”

Rei’s jack went slack. She mouthed through several silent words, through surprise and anger and emotions too quick for Usagi to catch. “We’re your friends.”

“For how much longer?”

“What?” Rei looked furious enough that she might have slapped Usagi if she weren’t holding a baby. 

Usagi held Chibiusa a little tighter. “It’s over Rei. I’m not Serenity, you don’t have to stay.”

“Have to-- after everything, you think-- over?” Rei stopped her foot and turned out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Chibiusa began wailing again.

Usagi rocked back and forth to try and calm her down, but not thirty second later Rei banged her way back in. “You’re unbelievable.”

“You’re scaring her.”

Somehow, Rei thought the correct response was to pluck Chibiusa out of Usagi’s arms. Infuriatingly, it worked. Rei bounced Chibiusa against her shoulder and Chibiusa stopped crying in favor or yanking on a hunk of Rei’s hair. “I’m not going anywhere, and neither is anyone else.” The anger in her tone was undercut with the cooing voice she took on when speaking to Chibiusa. “After everything we’ve been through--”

“After everything, this isn’t even the future you were fighting for!” Usagi felt might cry, not the big wails that used to bring her comfort but the awful, hopeless tears that left her dry and exhausted-- more exhausted-- in the aftermath. “All that, and now it’s just… this. You were promised a different world, and I couldn’t give it to you. I messed it up somehow. Of course I did. Of course, stupid Usagi... but now you don’t have to be stuck with me. You can just live your life, you don’t have to ruin it anymore.” 

“Usagi…” Rei gently placed Chibiusa in her crib and grabbed Usagi into a hug. “That’s not how it is at all.”

Usagi started crying in earnest, glad she could hide her face in Rei’s chest. “You don’t have to pretend--”

“Cut that out,” Rei barked, but she stroked Usagi’s hair with all the same tenderness she’d shown Chibiusa. “I’m not your friend because of the Moon Kingdom. That’s why we met, but that’s not why I’m here now.”

“It’s not?” Usagi hiccuped.

“I’m here for you. And god, I never wanted-- Crystal Tokyo scared the shit out of me, and I know I’m not the only one. When it started to look like things would just be normal, it was a relief.”

“But…” Usagi couldn’t think of how she wanted to protest. It didn’t sound like it could be true. Crystal Tokyo had seemed cold and severe, but it was the good future, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it what everyone wanted?

Rei pulled away to look Usagi in the eye. “If I had a choice, this is the future I’d pick. Except--” she pressed her knuckles against Usagi’s head. “I’d change it so you don’t try and hide everything.”

“I thought if you knew, you’d leave, too.” Usagi stared at the ground.

“Stupid.”

“I am.”

Rei flicked her nose. “Shut up. Help me get this mattress back where it belongs.”

Usagi helped her-- or tried to, by some measure-- hoist it back on the bed frame, and then before she could protest Rei had found pillows and blankets to pile on top of it. She climbed in and gestured for Usagi to join her.

“You’re not doing this alone, even if you want to.” Rei put her arms around her. “You’d have to move far away and change your name to get rid of us, and even then I’d probably still find you.”

Usagi laughed despite herself. “Probably.”

“Let us help you. Let me help you.” Rei brushed some hair off her face. “You look exhausted.”

“I am exhausted.”

“Go to sleep, then.”

Usagi wanted to tell Rei it wasn’t that easy, but the next thing she knew she was roused by the pop and crackle of more fireworks. Her head was still on Rei’s chest, and something warm pressed against her back. Ami curled against her on the silver of open bed space. Flashes of light illuminated Mako and Mina sprawled on the floor. Usagi swallowed a sob, but it tasted like warmth instead of despair. She closed her eyes again as the fireworks escalated to their finale outside, feeling a small sparkle of hope begin to bloom again in her chest. The new year, their whole new future, had arrived, and she wasn’t facing it on her own.

[hide-the-moonlight]

seiusa drabble

i’ve been rewatching Stars (…again…), and there is so much I’ve been noticing that I never did before, and it makes me ache only more for the two of them… for one, i feel like it’s strange that it takes so long for seiya to understand why usagi is waiting for mamoru, considering that they’re kind of experiencing the same sort of loss of someone they love.

they’re kind of two sides of the same coin for that reason, that they both have this wild capacity to believe even when all hope is lost, which is evident in that Seiya never seems to give up in singing for kakyuu, even when taiki and yaten feel doubts…

it’s so much like usagi, and thinking about this has made me imagine what else could have happened between the two of them.

I imagine that seiya being not understanding about Usagi waiting for mamoru caused them to argue about it, and they have a kind of almost-falling-out, before they realize they truly understand one another. before they understand that they need one another. 

“You don’t know what its like! To write to someone every day! To write your heart out, because you know, you believe that they are out there, however far they might be, but you will never give up screaming because what if the next time is exactly the time they will hear! Will reply!”

And this stumps Seiya, and she goes pale.

But usagi storms away, and doesn’t speak with her, maybe doesn’t show up at school the next day, and no one but seiya knows why.

And she goes to her house, rings on her doorbell, Usagi’s mom answers, and tells her she will get Usagi…who nervously pads down the stairs, and looks at seiya, sleepy, puffy eyes, something so sad radiating from the entirety of her.

And seiya feels she is about to cry.

“I’m sorry,” her voice cracks. She clears her throat, and tries again. 

“Odango - I’m so sorry. Can…we take a walk?” 

Usagi stares up at her, then moves to put her shoes on. She moves like a ghost, barely there. And Seiya feels horrible. So so horrible. 

And then they go to the park, and Seiya tries to figure out what to say, how she could even begin to explain that she knows exactly how Usagi feels, she feels the exact same way, she just never knew. 

“I…understand how you feel,” Seiya whispers, the night quiet enough that her voice carries to Usagi, who frowns ever so slightly. 

“I didn’t know I did, but I really do. I really really do.” Seiya feels clumsy. But she tries again.

“You know, the song we always sing?” She says. 

And Usagi glances over at her briefly before looking back at the twilight street in front of them, leaves turning indigo in the shadows of the night, hiding from the auburn glows of streetlamps. 

Seiya smiles faintly, “search, for your love,” she sings quietly, “sora no suishouuuuu,” and playfully swaying as if she’s performing on stage, hoping to lighten to mood. Usagi doesn’t say anything, but it feels like she’s smiling behind her eyes, and Seiya relaxes slightly. 

“The reason we sing it…is because we lost someone we love. Someone very dear to us.” She says, voice unwillingly sombre.

Usagi looks at her, expression shining with pain. Seiya swallows and continues, “we don’t know where she went, as far as we know she came here, to Japan, and we thought we could find her, but Japan might seem small when looking from above, compared to when you’re standing right in it.

“I never realized how small we were. When you’re flying over it all, it looks like you could walk from shore to shore in a day, but then you land and your feet connect with the pavement and suddenly you’re the smallest thing on the planet. The ocean is so wide, to stand in front of it, to look across it, to try and see anything except for endless blue.”

Something feels like its untying inside her, but she can’t help herself. It’s all coming out, and if she were to be spilled open in front of anyone she is glad it is Usagi, so she allows herself. 

“And you think the ocean is big, but then you turn around and you look at this land, and this island that was supposed to be so small and easy to scale, is larger than anything you could have expected. It’s so difficult to be someone unfamiliar, I never expected it would feel this way, I thought all people looked like people, but then I’ve been living here and, its like…” 

Its like living on another planet, she almost says, which makes her laugh and tilt her head to look up towards the sky. 

“I’ve seen millions of people, and it never fails to shock me that there are always more. And they’re all different. And its interesting, the world is so big and wide and full of hope, but when you’re waiting for one person, its like none of it matters,” 

Her eyes map the stars above them, and she feels like if she looks enough then maybe the sky will have mercy and swallow her whole. But it doesn’t.

“So we sing. We sing, because that’s the fastest way to get people to hear you, to write a letter to someone when you don’t know their address. And I open my heart and pour everything out, day and night, in hopes that we will be heard by the right person, all we need is a sign, any sign, that they’re out there, that they’re listening, that all of this isn’t in vain. And…we still haven’t.”

Her eyes glaze over, but she refuses to cry.

“But I believe in it. I believe that our message is reaching them, I have to believe it, because what are the other options? I know this person is out there, and if they’re not saying anything back, then there must be a good reason. Because I trust them. I know that if they’re hearing us, there’s a good reason that they’re not saying anything back. And if they still haven’t heard us, then that means we need to sing only louder.”

Her eyes refuse to stop tearing up, so she clenches them shut and furrows her brows, lowering her head, finally looking away from the stars.

But that doesn’t mean its easy, she thinks. 

“Seiya….” Usagi’s voice catches her, something new flooding through her. Again. Always. 

Seiya looks at her, eyes determined. “So I am sorry, Odango. I know how you feel, and I’m sorry that I didn’t take you seriously. I see how you believe in him, and I see that I might never be able to understand because I don’t know him, but in some way, I do understand. Because I think we feel the same way.” 

She swallows. “I’m sorry.” 

They’ve stopped walking now, and are both looking at one another with an earnestness that makes Seiya’s heart sting. 

And that doesn’t mean I can’t also love you, Seiya thinks, and this thought startles her and her eyes widen infinitesimally, and she blinks. She feels her cheeks heat up. But Usagi keeps looking at her gently, and smiles, taking her bashfulness as embarrassment for the vulnerability.

“It’s okay, Seiya.” She says. “I’m…sorry that you know how I feel.” 

After a moment, Usagi smiles a bit sheepishly, “that sounds a bit funny,” she says. 

“You never were too strong with words, Odango,” Seiya smiles back. 

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!” 

“Nothing, nothing at all,” Seiya’s smile widens. 

“I can’t think of a single thing that I don’t know, Seiya.” She huffs, and that makes Seiya laugh unexpectedly. 

“Oh Odango,  I’m not even going to reply to that,” smiling down at Usagi.

“Hmmf!” Usagi crosses her arms and looks away. 

After a beat, “Hey…” Seiya’s voice is still a bit tight with emotion, despite their joking. “Thanks,” she finishes lamely. Usagi looks down, and her arms fall to her sides. They start walking again. 

“For what?” She asks.

“Oh, umm, for hearing me out…” Seiya replies, “for giving me another chance.”

“Of course, Seiya. I believe in you. I don’t think you’re bad, and I don’t blame you for anything. I’m just glad that we understand each other, so thank you, too.”

Seiya feels something brush against her hand, and suddenly Usagi’s is sliding into her own, entwining their fingers together and squeezing, once. She doesn’t let go. 

“And…” Usagi continues, “I’m also glad that you believe. I’m glad that you still believe, after all this time, even though you haven’t heard anything back.” She sounds so sad, sounds like she’s letting something out that she’s been holding in for a long time. 

“Just because you haven’t given up, doesn’t mean its easy.” 

Seiya’s lips part in surprise and she smiles, glancing over at her. “No, it doesn’t.” She squeezes her hand back. 

They trace the starlit paths twinkling with fireflies around the open park, glad for the silence of the night. 

This feels like something they can hold together, just the two of them. They don’t speak the rest of the way, and neither feels like she needs to. A gentle seed blooms between their palms, each second growing stronger, more steady, and with every step their footfalls fall more evenly into synch. Seiya bids her goodnight once they reach her home, and falling asleep that night,  she feels like the warmth of her hand still hasn’t left her palm.

[cynthiaandsamus]

Custom Toonami Block Week 73 Rundown

Code Geass: Lelouch and co. are still stuck in China and Xingke’s flipping out because the Chinese assholes are gonna kill the Empress and go with someone less problematic for their political marriage to Britannia’s creepily overaged prince. However Lelouch pulls out a Knightmare that’s basically the Twink version of the Gawain and busts everyone up as well as pulling a Father Cornello on them and letting the people know they’re all elitst 1% assholes that don’t care about them, which I suspect all countries probably know about their leaders but it sucks to hear it in a recording so riots show up all over China and CC Geass Flashes Anya to take her out so Britannia has to back out because the Chinese Hierarchy are now the least popular people in the world. So Xingke gets to be with his Empress and joins the Black Knights but Dietard wants the Empress to marry someone on their side so they can basically do the asshole move Britannia just tried to do but for them. All the girls are like ‘hey no’ and Lelouch is like “Oh hey Tamaki buddy, let’s go talk and get me the fuck out of here” so before Lelouch actually has to give Tamaki more lines and elevate him beyond the Black Knight’s Yamacha Shirley calls and Lelouch just straight up asks Shirley about love in a weirdly forced series of circumstance. But Shirley’s like “Yeah don’t fuck with love, don’t you love anyone?” and Lelouch is like “Yeah I do, Nunally!” and I don’t think that’s at all what Shirley meant but it does mean Lelouch sees that fighting for something beyond politics is powerful and agrees to not marry off the twelve year old girl, so that’s good. Lelouch decides to return home while they hunt down the Geass cult which is in China for some reason despite that being one of the like two places on earth Britannia doesn’t control and the Geass Cult largely being a Britannian affair. Meanwhile Sayoko is basically a Lelouch Vtuber at this point with her insanely accurate Lupin III mask of Lelouch and kisses Shirley so Shirley’s a little bit more gay than she was before and is not sure how to feel about that. When she’s about to tell the real Lelouch he kisses like a girl, Anya and Gino show up because we’re retreading the whole ‘sleeping with the enemy at school’ thing from the first season except with way less interesting enemies. Also the preview for the next episode is Lelouch dramatically talking about enemies finding out he’s Zero overtop footage of Shirley and Milly absolutely naked in a batthouse scene so I think we know what kind of episode that’ll be.

Inuyasha: The Panther Demon filler concludes with everyone meeting at the site where the Panther Master is being revived behind a strong barrier, if only someone just got a barrier upgrade to their sword, oh wait. But yeah everyone manages to free the hostages so even though Kagome’s jewel shards revives the Panther Master he’s still a zombie without a sacrifice which is weird since Naraku managed to completely revive the Band of Seven with one jewel shard each from skeletons and the Panther Lord has three shards so idk the rules here but yeah he steals the souls of his own men to revive and is Wind Scar Proof because he just is. It’s pretty cool to see him shooting his claws and lightning and shit but he’s too big and slow for it to be much of an interesting fight. Sesshomaru’s about to go full demon which would be interesting since we haven’t seen his full demon form since he lost his arm but in a neat bit of character development, Tenseiga calms his rage and tells him to use it instead. You get the feeling Sesshomaru only goes full demon when he flies off the handle and forgets about speed and strategy so him opting to not repeat the mistake he made against Inuyasha is pretty cool. Anyway Tenseiga heals the souls of the Panther Demons and drains their energy from the lord so he’s back to Zombie Cat Man which Inuyasha can Wind Scar because that’s what happens to villains on this show, all Wind Scars all the time. The Panthers don’t wanna fight anymore since their boss just killed them and tell Inuyasha to tell Sesshomaru the feud is over and they’re going back to the West. Honestly this is basically the same backstory they gave Kirinmaru in Yashahime so it’s funny for them to say they’re going back to the same place Kirinmaru is from, wonder if it’ll ever come up in Yashahime since most filler seems canon there.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke and Kuwabara continue the assault on Tarukane’s compound and basically plow through the lower demons easy since they’ve been fighting minor deities up to this point. It’s always pretty cool in Shonen to just have a few rounds to show how much power creep the heroes have had where certain things just don’t bother them anymore. Toguro murders a Chimera which has an oddly similar backstory to Nina from FMA and he seems really bummed about it but he’s like “Hey we’re both monsters made by humans telling us to do shit, so sorry for killing you bro”. And Tarukane basically sees Toguro is the next boss and is like “Yup time to scam some people off of this” and he sets up a betting ring for how far Yusuke and Co will get into his compound. This is kinda neat because it puts Tarukane in the weird position of betting against his own guards and hoping Yusuke will make it all the way to Toguro and then lose after everyone else has seen how awesome Yusuke is and bets on him. And funnily enough Sakyo’s in on the betting and he’s watched anime before so he knows to bet on the plucky teenagers with weird powers. So yeah Yusuke and Kuwabara finish plowing through the demons while Hiei kinda stalks them and remembers getting his eye surgery and wanting to help his sister but it’s kind of against spirit world rules for demons to just go plow through humans even if they’re scumbag humans so now Yusuke and Kuwabara have to go fight the Triad of boss demons Toguro has under him before Hiei busts in and just murders everyone for kidnapping his bird-loving jewel-crying little flower of a sister.

Fate Zero: So Kiritsugu can break Kayneth’s Terminator 2 Gaara defenses with rib bullets that just say ‘no’ to using magic and fucks his arrogant ass up. Saber and Lancer do some combo shenanigans to stab Caster right in the book and disrupt all his hentai tentacle demons but the book heals so idk why he can’t just make more. Kirei fucks up Maiya and Iris but didn’t double tap Maiya and DID double tap iris but she’s got Saber’s bullshit healing scabbard on her which no one knows about so Saber’s like “uhhh why are you healing” and Iris can’t tell her so she’s basically “Uhh internet?” Lancer comes in to save Kayneth’s worthless ass and tells Kiritsugu to stop being a dick to Saber because she’s pretty dope. But as usual for an early Fate encounter, no one dies and nothing of terrible consequence happens despite it being teased a couple times. I’ve noticed a trend with Fate that it really doesn’t like killing characters early so you’re basically guaranteed to have the first 2-3 major battles have a zero net gain/loss. Rider in UBW was probably the subversion to that since it happened crazy fast and anticlimactic but even that wasn’t till like ten episodes in.

Konosuba: So we finally meet Wiz the big booby Lich and Kazuma learns a new skill, both fun things. Also the gang gets a house to stay in after escapades with an army of haunted dolls and the most “I need to pee” in a horror setting since Corpse Party. But yeah, good progress this time honestly, the living in a stable gag was getting kind of old so Kazuma’s a bit stronger now and they have a home base so that’s pretty cool. Also Wiz is a Demon General or some shit but no one cares cause there ain’t no money in murdering busty zombie waifus.

Sailor Moon Crystal: So turns out Minako is Princess Serenity, except everyone who knows anything about Sailor Moon or indeed plot structure knows Sailor Moon is Princess Serenity, that’s like the Luke I Am Your Father of this series. But still turns out Minako has been guiding everyone with the power of video games but also thinks the power of friendship sucks and she’s gotta go do everything alone. This makes things super awkward because Mamoru’s pretty sure he was in love with the Princess but likes Usagi, now instead of running with this interesting thread of a reincarnation falling in love with someone new we’re gonna do the reveal that Usagi’s the princess and the whole ‘till death do us part’ part of marriage was just a metaphor and you’re stuck with one person no matter how many times you reincarnate. But yeah, Minako fights the bad guy on top of the tower but he has Naraku’s Barrier now and Minako doesn’t have the Red Tessaiga upgrade yet so she needs the power of friendship but this barrier is friendship-proof and this fight is basically a bunch of kids on the playground making up increasingly stupid powers that negate the other powers the other guy just made up. Anyway Tuxedo Mask shows up and is like “Holy shit Sailor Moon I love when you kiss me and kick ass, go get em sweetie I’ll hold your flower” and they kiss and Usagi has learned that if she just pretends she got this the power of her confidence will beat the bad guy. Unfortunately she does not got this and Tuxedo Mask has to pull a Piccolo and throw himself in front of the blast.

Durarara!!:  So now that we’ve had our climax for the arc we have a six month timeskip and everyone’s just kinda living life, Mika and Seiji are being clinically insane together, there’s cops harassing Celty to the point of mental breakdown (normal cop stuff) Shinra’s dad’s in town, Namie’s become Izaya’s secretary for blackmail shit, you know, normal stuff. Also there’s a katana-wielding maniac going around slashing people and Anri’s being bullied and sexually harassed to the point of mental collapse, normal stuff.