#where is this going hoshino

[graysodacan]

IM GONNA MAKE SO MUCH FANART TO FEED THE MIU404 COMMUNITY HERE ON TUMBLR- JUST U WAIT !! IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DRAMA TO GAIN RECOGNITION OVERSEAS AAAAAAAA

[yuseirra]

I can’t bear to live when I know you’ve gone away! I would surely give up everything, no matter what it takes! What’s left in my heart is a hole your love had made What the hell am I supposed to use to fill up that space?

[redge]

This has been on my draft since September, wayback when I did not know how Oshi no Ko's story will progress. So the setting of this story is after chapter 159.

While other OnK readers absolutely believe that Aqua likes Kana or that them ending up together is endgame, I am one who won't believe anything unless the character says it himself or until the story is concluded. It's just that, I've seen this built-up chemistry for so many times, a short-haired-not-main-character girl falling for the main character, but never ending up together. I don't write stories, but if my favourite OnK character will end up in an "unrequited" love, here's my prompt. It's somehow inspired by them.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Scenario: Ruby successfully had a solo tour concluded at Tokyo Dome. A congratulatory party is being held and former members of B-Komachi were invited, Kana included. Amidst the busy party, Kana finds herself at the balcony, Aqua approaches.

Kana: Isn't this familiar?

Aqua: What is?

Kana: When we were preparing for JIF, we were also at the balcony. Only difference is you're here as you are and not disguising as Pieyon.

Aqua: You're right.

Kana: I briefly remember you telling me all sort of things I haven't said to anyone about and that you were my fan. Were you, Aqua?

Aqua: I am still a fan.

Kana: That feels nice, finally hearing it without a mask.

Aqua: ...

*Kana drops her keys*

*Aqua kneels down and picks it up*

Kana: Haha! This also looks familiar! Remember how you knelt down at the playground and persuaded me to become an idol?

*Aqua stands up, keys still in his hand*

Aqua: That sure feels like ages ago.

Kana: My logic was telling me back then that "no" was the only possible answer to that offer but I saw potential on Ruby right there and then. Come to think of it, I even thought of her having similarities with Ai-san, even without knowing yet that she's your mother.

*Kana gazes at Ruby as she is being surrounded by influential people from the industry congratulating her on the success of her solo tour*

Kana: Ruby is really meant to be an idol.

Aqua: It was her dream, and Ai's dream for her.

Kana: What about your dream? How is medical school going?

Aqua: I'm now a resident in the nearby hospital.

Kana: Really?! Good for you, Aqua! Never once doubted you! I was sure you'll be able to fulfill your dream of being a doctor.

Aqua: ... By the way, I saw your latest movie.

Kana: You did? I was good right?

Aqua: You've always been good at acting.

*Kana laughs proudly*

Aqua: ... In the end, I was not able to watch your graduation concert last time. I'm sorry.

Kana: I noticed. But don't worry about it. There were so many things that happened that time. It can't be helped. I'm just glad we were able to conclude that tour without trouble.

Aqua: But if I did, I would have...

*Aqua gets cut by a guy who approached Kana*

Kana: Is it time already?

*the guy nods*

Kana: I'm sorry, Aqua. We have to go.

*Aqua lost in his own thoughts*

Kana: Hey, would you mind handing me my keys?

*Aqua forgot that he's still holding the keys. When he opened his hand, he noticed the keychains were a glove catching a ball, and the word "dream"*

And in a split second, everything flashed in his mind. That first catch ball with Kana. The second time where they talked about their future plans and dreams.

Kana: Aqua?

Aqua: I'm sorry. Here you go.

Kana: Thank you. It was nice catching up with you.

*Kana walks a way, her hand being held by the guy*

Memcho passed by as Kana was leaving. Kana said her goodbye as they had other commitment to attend to. Memcho approached Aqua at the balcony.

Memcho: Kana left already.

Aqua: "Ah-kun". It's funny. I never cared for it too much, but it's a bittersweet feeling to hear Arima call me as Aqua. Just Aqua.

Memcho remembered how happy Kana was when she started calling Aqua "Ah-kun". It was something that belonged to Kana and Aqua, and now it's gone.

Memcho places her arm in Aqua's shoulder, leaning her head towards Aqua and silently comforting him. Kana and Aqua are two dear friends she watched closely. Memcho knows that Kana likes Aqua from the time they went home after JIF. And she knows that Aqua cares a lot for Kana which is why he distanced himself from Kana in order to protect her. So many things could have been said but it's too late.

The party ended and they went home. Aqua headed to his room. He sat on his bed, sitting idly, staring at the corner of his room. He then noticed the luggage that he and Kana bought. He pulled out the luggage, opened it, and brought out what's inside, one by one.

The script to "I'll Go With Sweet Today" where in he got to act with Kana again. A stack of books with trivial contents, the same books Kana likes to read. The umbrella that Kana placed over him when he was drenched in the rain, after accidentally hurting Kana. The hat that Kana left on the street as she was running away from the reporter. Kana's white glowstick. He picks up the glowstick and thought of that concert that he missed. He would have waved this glowstick for Kana. Her dream was for him to look at her not knowing that her dream already came true. But it's too late now. That time is gone and he already lost the opportunity to say anything. He returns everything inside the luggage, slowly closing it down and kept it again in the corner of his room, just as how he kept his feelings in the corner of his heart.

***

Kana: That was nostalgic.

The guy: Are you still...towards Aqua...

Kana: Oh no, not anymore! Though I won't deny the fact that a huge part of my youth was seriously in love with him.

Kana picks up her keys from her purse, and caught a glimpse of her keychains- a glove catching a ball, and the word "dream".

Kana: Ah-kun was my dream. But some dreams were just not meant to be realized.

☆ ☆ ☆ end ☆ ☆ ☆

[autumnmobile12]

What I really wanted to see with the Pro Heroes in MHA was less about them apprehending dangerous criminals and more dealing with ordinary hooligans doing some petty misdemeanors and shit.

Like more of what was going on with Mr. Smiley and Gentle Criminal, just a bunch a peeps clearly in it for the sole purpose of their own amusement and sticking it to the man. Villains who just caused minor inconveniences and served maybe a couple months of jail time and then went right back to it.

I wanted to see Best Jeanist just yelling at a random villain, “Dammit, Hoshino, when did they let you out?!”

Endeavor having to break up a college party in an abandoned building where people were drunk and Quirk usage started happening and got out of hand.

Eraserhead and Present Mic doing a coin flip over who was gonna deal with some guy shooting calligraphy ink out of his fingertips.

Just stuff that would make anyone put their head in their hands at the end of the day and repeat, "I need my job," over and over.

[yoiisa]

Hii!!! just wanted to say I love the way you write and have been binge reading all your blogs recently (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤

Also, I'd like to request a windbreaker x reader whereby the reader acts like Emu Otori from pjsekai. Imagine Sakura trying to handle all the attention, it'd be such a cute dynamic. Any character is fine btw, I'll leave it up to your creativity!

Thankss and have a good rest of your day/night/afternoon (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤

ahhh thank you sweetie!! there was a request in my inbox for an Ai Hoshino reader as well, but I accidentally deleted it (i'm sorry!!). I'm going to combine that a little into this as (at least from my understand of pjsekai) they're both singing shows!!

for this i'll do the main trio, so sakura, suo, and nirei

➜ sakura haruka would get incredibly flustered by your constant optimism and high energy ➜ he has trouble keeping up with relatively positive people as it is, so to be around someone who's the sun reincarnate is a little draining ➜ despite this, the one thing he absolutely loves about you is how you never give up on him despite his cold and rough demeanor. you keep coming back to give him a little energy boost and he loves you for it

Sakura and you are on a date. Just a normal date. Nothing weird going on at all . . . except for the fact that your smile is glowing brighter than the sun. Sakura's hand is laced in yours and he swears as the two of you walk down the street, you're literally causing plants to photosynthesize. "Seriously, how do you smile so much?" he asks, more to himself than anything else. "What'd you say Haru?" you ask, looking over to him. "Huh? Oh, nothing," he mutters, looking away. The two of your fall into a comfortable silence, and you get a little closer to him. "Where do you wanna eat?" you ask. "Hmm, I don't really care. I'm down for whatever," he responds, unable to meet your eyes. He thinks if he does, his head might blow up. "Okay, should we go to the restaurant district," you ask, your shoulder brushing his, "or Pothos? Or there was that place in Roppon-" "[name]," Sakura grits out. "Too. Close." "Huh? Oh!" you laugh and back up. "Sorry, sorry!" Sakura whips his head to look at you, his face a furious red as he glares at you. "Seriously, learn some sense of personal space, plea-" His voice dies in his throat. Your eyes are glowing, the beads of light looking like little stars embedded into your irises. "Haruka?" you ask, poking his cheek, "are you okay?" Sakura snaps out of his trance and shakes his head a little. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Let's just go to Roppongi and get some bar food." "Okay!"

➜ suo hayato is the one person who will never underestimate you ➜ he admires how bubbly and positive you are, but unlike others, he never writes you off as airheaded because of it ➜ he's pretty quiet around you and is content to let you just ramble and go off with your positivity ➜ he is pretty protective of you though; he doesn't want people to take advantage of you

The two of you are at your house, sitting on the couch and watching TV. A singing competition is running right now and you sigh. "I'd love to sing like that one day," you say and Suo chuckles. "You have a good voice," he says. "You should try out for one one day." "Maybe," you grin and look over at him. "You think I'm pretty enough to be an idol?" Suo studies your face for a while, his smile turning softer by the second. Of course he thinks you're pretty enough to be an idol, but there's more to it than just that. You radiate this energy that just attracts people to you. Suo reaches up to your face and pinch your cheek. You squeal and he laughs, "You're like a flower that makes all the little bees come buzzing." "Is that good?" you ask, swatting his hand away. Suo nods and pulls you into his chest. Your back is against his chest and he rests his head on your shoulder. He kisses the skin exposed by your sweater drooping off your shoulder. "Yes, just don't let them sting you," he says, his hands caressing your skin. "How could I?" you respond, nuzzling his cheek. Your smile never wanes as you say, "I have the best guard in the world."

➜ you are nirei akihiko's type point blank period ➜ someone who is smart, kind, determined, and positive? oh yeah, he was a goner the minute he met you ➜ he pines heavy for you, with his friends laugh while watching his poor little puppy brain try to keep up with you ➜ when he finally confesses, he's so scared, but one look in your eyes and he knows he's set

"I think you should just confess to her," Kiryu says, resting his chin on the table of the booth. "What's the worst that could happen?" "She rejects him," Sakura says. Nirei tenses as Suo whacks Sakura on the back of his head. "Don't say such mean things Sakura," he admonishes with a perfectly pleasant voice. Suo turns to Nirei and smiles, patting him on the back. "Just do exactly as we told you, and everything will be fine." "Besides," Tsugeura interjects, "these flowers are pretty as hell. Every pretty girl loves pretty flowers, no?" "Y-yeah!" Nirei nods, wiping his hands on his pants. "She'll love them . . . right?" He looks around at his friends, who all nod in support. Nirei takes a deep breath just as the door to Pothos opens, the bell jingling. He glances over his shoulder and watches you walk in, taking a seat at the bar counter. "Is it just me or did the room get brighter when she walked in, like a TV show?" Kiryu asks, genuinely confused. Well of course it would. Your a ball of light, like a star plucked right out of the sky just for Nirei's enjoyment- or rather, torment. Everytime he sees you, he swears his heart will just up and give out. Suddenly, you turn around and wave at him. Every boy at the table freezes as you do, and Nirei turns red so suddenly, before immediately going pale white. "Nirei, she's waving you over," Suo whispers. "Go." Nirei takes a deep breath and stands on shaky legs. He's about to grab the flowers, but a longer look into your eyes and he decides to just leave them. He hears Sakura's breath hitch as he just walks over to you and sits next to you. "H-hi," Nirei says. "Hey," you reply with a bright grin and Nirei feels . . . comfortable, for once.

a/n: writing fluffy fics with videos about human experimentation playing in the background is my favorite hobby

[skania]

Final Akane + AquaKane Thoughts

There are so many things to say that I don't even know how to start organizing my thoughts lol I'll also be including my final thoughts about the "love triangle" while I'm at it, so this is probably going to get long!

I've written quite a bit about Aqua/Akane this past year, so I won't be going into detail into any of the things I've already discussed up to now. Instead, I'll just focus on my thoughts on this final set of chapters, as well as my overall thoughts now that the manga is over.

I'll start with the (few) things I liked:

The Good

I mentioned before that I'm a sucker for parallels, and that Aqua/Akane having so many is one of the reasons why I couldn't help but ship them. We somehow got some very good ones in these last few chapters. We even got a scene at the Aqua/Akane bridge, the one where Akane's relationship with Aqua began and ended.

Aqua saved her life at that bridge, without any ulterior motives. And it's that very bridge that is pictured as Akane says that she has decided to live on. The imagery is poignant and pays its respects to not only Akane's arc as a character, but also to the Aqua/Akane relationship.

More than that, the parallels we got confirm things that Akane and Aqua/Akane fans like me have been saying all along:

Through it all, Akane saw him as he is and embraced the broken him. Each time, she willingly chose to get closer to him. When Aqua tells Akane that he has been saved ever since he met her, I get it. I have no doubt that for Aqua, who has been desperately fighting alone for so long, being seen and understood and loved despite all his self-perceived flaws and the darkness in him must have felt like salvation.

Akane is the one who knows Aqua the best, the one who knows him the most, the one who sees him exactly as he is and who loves all of him. Akane doesn't romanticize Aqua's flaws and his self-sacrificial nature, and neither does she idealize his virtues. She just accepts him and does her best to support and understand him through it all.

Akane being the only one who can see through Aqua's plan is enough to prove this, but it's actually not the most meaningful way in which Aka confirmed it. The most meaningful way was actually this:

Usually, whenever Akane thinks about Aqua, she calls him Aqua-kun. However, throughout her entire monologue in the last three chapters, Akane never addresses him by name. She just calls him "You". The same "You" (君) that Aka emphasized in Chapter 63.

The "You" that encapsulates everything Aqua Hoshino was: both the Goro and the Aqua.

This was a very, very deliberate narrative choice that tells you that throughout the manga, Akane was the one who loved Aqua Hoshino exactly as he was.

Aka also uses another parallel to confirm that Akane was indeed lying to Kana when she claimed that she was over Aqua.

When she finally breaks down, Aka allows Akane to be honest about her feelings, and the parallel to the Aqua/Akane break-up tells us everything we need to know.

Akane never stopped loving Aqua. She has been in love with him all along.

Ever since they broke up, Akane has been sacrificing her feelings for Aqua in order to do what she thinks is best for him. Akane's priority has always been to see Aqua happy. She is willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish that. Back when she thought that Aqua needed to kill Kamiki, Akane was willing to shoulder that sin with him just so he wouldn't have to carry it on his own. When she realized that what Aqua truly wanted was to be free from his revenge, Akane was ready to deal with Kamiki on her own just so that Aqua wouldn't get his hands dirty. Then, when Aqua pushes Akane away, Akane becomes determined to stop him from killing Kamiki because she knows revenge is not what Aqua truly wants or needs.

But that's not all there is to it. Akane wants to be with Aqua, because she loves him. And it's precisely because she loves him, and because she thinks her love failed to save him, that she keeps her feelings to herself and is even willing to help another girl get close to him in her place.

So this chapter confirmed that the one who has been making the sacrificial play, the one who truly loved Aqua, was Akane. It is, essentially, the counterpart to Chapters 148 and 149.

It's no wonder, then, that Akane's feelings and her grief are the ones we follow immediately after Aqua's death. She goes to mourn him in the place he actually died, and when she's around his family, she keeps her pain to herself in order to not worsen their burden. We see her piece together what happened, we see her break, and then we see Akane put herself together and find some solace in knowing that Aqua kept her away to protect her.

Aqua is gone, and Akane is the only one to know Aqua's truth.

A lot of people spent the entire manga trying to downplay Aqua's relationship with Akane; claiming that it was a lie, a manipulation, or what-have-you. Now that the manga is over, we can say those claims were never proven.

At the contrary, until the very end, Aqua's thoughts & actions in regard to Akane were shown to back-up everything he said about her during their relationship.

Aqua could've lived if he had asked Akane for help in killing Kamiki, but he didn't want Akane to get her hands dirty for him. He broke up with her to not bring her down to hell with him, and when the options were to either die alone or make Akane bear the weight of a sin with him, the choice was quickly made.

At the end, he's even shown wanting the same thing Akane wanted: an equal relationship with her.

Unlike his thoughts about Kana (more on that later), which are just a 'might', this is something Aqua is purposeful about. It's something he is sure he wants. It's even the last thing he thinks of before wanting to see Ruby at the dome, which we all know was his dearest wish.

This also fits the panels chosen to be shown in the "romance" part of Aqua's montage: the moment he doesn't catch Kana's ball (symbolizing that their feelings don't connect) vs the moment where he chooses to kiss and date Akane for real.

Which brings us back to the moment they broke up. That chapter was titled "Going Astray" and we now saw where that wrong turn led Aqua: to his death.

So chapter 98, the Aqua/Akane break-up, is pretty much officially the chapter that leads us to the ending we got.

Which means that what I said back in this post still applies. If Aqua and Akane had been honest with each other during that phone-call in Chapter 97, things could've been different. But truth is, it's nearly pointless to think about it, because what this all comes down to is that Aka wanted this ending and he wanted it at all costs.

So nothing could have happened any other way, because Aka didn't want Aqua to be saved. He wanted Aqua to die so he could have his forced "bittersweet" ending.

This is why Aqua and Akane had to break up, it's why Akane is practically not allowed to interact with Aqua again after their break-up, and it's also why Akane never found out about Aqua being Goro's reincarnation.

Aqua was never meant to be saved, and Akane more than anyone could have saved him. So, of course, Aka couldn't allow her to do so. It's forced writing at its finest.

This is also why Akane isn't involved in Aqua's fatidic confrontation with Kamiki. While there is Aka's typical contrived writing involved in Akane leaving Aqua to his own devices at the most crucial moment, I do think it makes sense.

I've mentioned before that from the very beginning, Aqua and Akane's relationship has been based on trust and on choices.

Aqua once gave Akane a choice, trusting that she'd be able to choose what was best for herself. After Akane made her choice, Aqua did everything in his power to help her accomplish her goal.

Ever since, Akane has been trying to do the same for Aqua.

Akane wants Aqua to choose what's right for himself. She will always respect whatever it is that he chooses, as long as it is a true reflection of what he wants and needs. This is why Akane was eager to stop his plan to kill Kamiki, she could tell that Aqua was ready to sacrifice his own future to accomplish it.

That's why, once Aqua chooses to let Kamiki live, Akane is reassured.

Something has changed in Aqua. Akane notices this and believes that Aqua has, finally, chosen to not throw his life away just to deal with Kamiki. She trusts that he has.

Personally, I'd like to believe that Akane was right. Problem was that once Aqua knew for sure that Kamiki couldn't be saved, he switched back to his original plan. Something Akane couldn't have foreseen without knowing that Aqua was the reincarnation of a dude whose issues made him suicidal... which is yet another reason why Aka could have never let Akane find out about the whole reincarnation business.

So all in all, Aqua/Akane-wise, this is all well and good. On paper.

When it comes to the execution however, it leaves a lot to be desired, because Aqua/Akane is sadly majorly brought down by the spectacular way in which Aqua's character was (mis)handled during the second half of the manga.

The Bad

Goro has always been someone who thinks his life has no worth, and this belief is deeply ingrained into Aqua. That's why I could tell that his revenge plan likely involved killing himself and making it look like Kamiki did it.

I just didn't think that he would actually succeed, because it kind of goes without saying that the suicidal character getting to kill himself is far from being a satisfying ending. Even less so when said character has shown time and time again that he actually wants to live, he is just too broken by his guilt complex to believe he has that right.

For a while there, it even looks like Aqua will make it. That he has once again started to embrace that this is a life that he wants to live.

Sadly, once Aqua realizes that Kamiki can't be saved and that he poses a danger to Ruby, all of that flies off the window and "Goro" takes over. And by "Goro" I don't mean Goro the character, I mean all the bad habits that Aqua has due to his guilt-complex and survivor's guilt.

So Aqua goes and executes his original plan, killing himself instead of looking for a better solution. Which means he started off like this:

Only to end the manga pretty much the same way, except you can switch "If Ai's gone, this world isn't-" for "As long as Ruby can live on in this world."

Though, actually, it's even worse than that, because Aqua realizes that he was wrong — dying would bother him — only when it's too late.

It leaves a bad taste in my mouth because it's like Aqua had no development through the entire manga. Cut everything after his break-up with Akane and nearly nothing changes, except the motive behind Aqua throwing his life away: protecting Ruby (Sarina) instead of revenge.

It all feels even more pointless because Aqua's death rings hollow due to how badly his character was mishandled in the second half of the manga. After the break-up, Aqua becomes a "..." bot. His character isn't allowed to grow and neither is he allowed to explore his feelings in any meaningful way, to the point that he dies confused and not knowing who he was.

Pardon my bluntness, but how pathetic is this? 160+ chapters and literally none of this guy's issues were ever solved. His character goes nowhere, only so he can be sacrificed to make the ending bittersweet for Ruby. Though for me it wasn't even bittersweet; the ending fell flat on its face precisely because Aqua's character never goes anywhere, so it's hard to feel anything other than vague frustration and disbelief at how forced the writing is.

Even the Kami/Ai - Aqua/Akane parallels were wasted because both ships ended up in the exact same way: Akane and Ai both unable to save Aqua and Kamiki. I wouldn't even be surprised if those parallels are something Aka came up with on the spot while writing the Ai DVD.

I'm sure some Aqua/Akane truthers will say "all Aqua and Kamiki needed to be saved was to be with Akane and Ai, and Akane and Ai didn't realize that" and leaving aside my issues with that kind of co-dependency, once again, that's all well and good — on paper.

Sure, those of us who ship Aqua and Akane could see it that way if we wanted to, but... did Aka make a point of clearly stating this? No, he left it to the reader's imagination, which means it's just another blank to be filled with headcanon.

Personally, I'm pretty tired of doing that, because everything there is to like about the manga may as well just be the headcanons we have filled all those blanks with.

I always say that I prefer showing and not telling, but there's a limit to everything. Truth of the matter is, if this was supposed to be the case — and especially if it was supposed to be important — then showing isn't enough. Because the majority of readers aren't going to spend hours breaking down every single Aqua/Akane interaction to draw those parallels and reach that conclusion.

Aqua dying soothed by a song by his favorite idol (Ruby/Sarina) doesn't really do it any favors either, because fact of the matter is that people who were never invested in the Aqua/Akane relationship will just assume Aqua never loved Akane back. They'll be more distracted by Kana's tropey, shallow shoujo romance, and this is something Aka allowed in his manga right up to the very end.

Aqua and Akane were the only relationship in the entire manga that got mutual, gradual, organic, continuous development. But this all came to a halt when they broke up, so at the end of the day, they're mostly left up to interpretation.

It's underwhelming.

Most of all, if you ask me, it was a terrible move, because Aqua and Akane could've been the heart of this manga. If their feelings had been properly explored after their break up, if Aqua had been allowed to think of Akane in his last moments, if all this blank-filling had been actual text, they'd have been a tragic love-story for the ages.

But Aka didn't want it to be the heart of the manga, because he had already decided from the beginning that role should go to Aqua and Ruby. Alas, he completely failed at developing that, too, because to the very end there's only Goro and Sarina. That is the entire basis of the Aqua/Ruby relationship and dynamic, and it gets one single chapter where it's explored beyond that, only to immediately focus back on Goro and Sarina as Aqua lies dying.

Goro couldn't save Sarina in his first life, so he wastes his second to do it. He jumped at the chance to free himself of the burden of that guilt without even bothering to think of how much his death would hurt the very person he wanted to protect.

Which takes me to...

The Ugly

Turns out Kana was pretty much just a mixture between Fujiwara and Maki, after all. Except that unlike Maki, she never grows (Aqua literally has to die for her to do so) and unlike Fujiwara, she's overused instead of underused.

Aqua and Kana are portrayed as shallow to the end, and I'd even go as far as saying that the narrative pokes fun at Kana for it. Even during the funeral, she puts on a hat that's reserved for family members and it literally falls off her head when Miyako slaps her lmao

Since this is a manga and not real life, the way Kana's outburst was handled in that chapter is likely meant to be contrasted with the way Akane's own grief was handled, because it pretty much embodies all the differences between both of their relationships with Aqua through the manga.

Kana is focused on herself and on her pain. She thinks Aqua was murdered, but she still irrationally blames him for it, too blinded by her own pain. Aqua was murdered, but not being able to confess to him properly is still at the top of her list of grievances. She is also shown overplaying that one conversation she had with Aqua about Aqua having a death-wish, as if Aqua somehow agreeing to not say that he wants to die was some vital promise that he broke.

Meanwhile, Akane focuses on Aqua. On what Aqua felt, on why he did what he did, and on what he would have wanted. Even her wish to be by Aqua's side is expressed through Akane saying that she'd have been willing to shoulder his burdens with him, no matter where that led them. It is also Akane's understanding of Aqua that helps her to find some solace and to overcome his death.

Kana always looked at Aqua from the outside-in, idealizing and romanticizing him, while Akane was Aqua's partner in every sense of the word. That's why Akane gets all the insightful narration about Aqua while Kana just gets to make a fool of herself at his funeral.

So to the very end, the dichotomy between "Ai" and "Koi" does perfectly illustrates the contrast between the two sides of the Aqua love triangle.

Kana was infatuated with the Aqua that she built up in her head, and focused on what she wanted Aqua to do for her (support her unconditionally), and what she wanted to be for him (his only idol), rather than on Aqua himself as a person.

As for Aqua, during his last moments, most Aqua can say about Kana is that it might be good to respond to her feelings. Might. He spends the entire story knowing Kana is at his beck and call, he even makes fun of her for it (you're so easy to manipulate, yadda yadda), yet when the opportunity to date her presents itself, most he can say is essentially "it could be cool I guess." He even pictures her pulling on his arm to get his attention, while with Akane, he pictures himself facing her and looking straight at her.

So to Aqua, Kana was at most a teenage crush. His feelings for her weren't deep or relevant enough to have any sort of impact on his character, while he outright called the year he spent dating Akane his happy days. An entire year that he spent without Kana even being in his life, mind you. Meanwhile Kana was out there living an entire shoujo where she's the heroine and Aqua is the male lead 😂

That said, I still think Aqua, who I'm sure must've broken a record at being bad at understanding his own feelings, was likely mistaking admiration for romantic attraction, and that he would've realized this pretty early into dating Kana.

The anime is even clearer about this because Aqua's reactions to Kana are paralleled to Akane's who is, quite literally, a fan of Kana.

But even if he wasn't, it doesn't really matter, because it's shown very clearly that Aqua deeply values being understood (to him, it feels like salvation) and that Kana doesn't really understand him. So had they dated, Aqua would've had fun at first, sure, but his emotional needs wouldn't have been met; instead his job would've been to meet Kana's. It just would've never worked in the long term.

Now that the dust has settled, I can say for certain that if Aqua had been allowed to have a happy ending, it'd have been with Akane.

So once more, this is all fine on paper. The problem is that Aka takes it too far. The whole Kana business takes too much panel time for no discernible reason other than to... bait readers? I've even seen some say that Aka intended to mock them.

But even if that were the case, considering that those same readers are likely going to walk out of the story thinking Aqua and Kana are a tragic ship that loved each other because of all the bait, who's really the butt of the joke? Them or Aka himself?

Conclusion

I've always been pretty clear about being an Akane fan first and foremost. Despite all my Aqua/Akane meta, I had no emotional investment in whether she ended up with Aqua or not, as long as she got a satisfying ending. That said, by principle, I most definitely didn't want Aqua to end up with Kana, because that'd be like rewarding Kana for all her crying and whining when she never even tried to understand who Aqua was as a person and I've already gone through that in Naruto, thank you very much.

So the two silver-linings about this ending are that Akane stayed amazing to the end, and that Kana didn't have Aqua handed to her on a silver platter. But considering just how much panel time Kana's meaningless crush takes up in the narrative and how side-lined Akane got after the break-up, it feels like a pyrrhic victory lol

Akane is still the best thing about the manga, and I'd say that she got by far the best ending of the bunch. I'm not sure if I'd call it satisfying, because Akane's one goal was always to save Aqua and she didn't get to accomplish that. But at the very least, she got a good ending, all things considered. She got to protect what Aqua entrusted to her, and she got to show just how emotionally strong she is.

As for Aqua and Akane, AquaKane could've been incredible if only Aka had done them justice, but he didn't. I joked before that the Aqua/Akane development was so good that it's like it wrote itself, and I actually think that's exactly what happened. Aka made things up as he went along, and he allowed Aqua and Akane to develop together in ways he didn't necessarily plan nor foresee. But as soon as he started strong-arming the manga towards the ending he envisioned, he dropped the ship, likely because he had already established everything that would be relevant about them by then (he knew the ship would literally go nowhere because Aqua needed to die), and then proceed to leave a lot of it to the discretion of the readers.

While I'm sure that'll be enough for some, I'm afraid it's not really enough for me. If you were to ask me if I'm satisfied with the way they were handled, my answer would be: not really, but it certainly could've been worse lol

In my opinion, they're the biggest wasted potential in the manga (which is saying something, because the entire manga is wasted potential), and their potential was wasted simply because they're the ones who could've actually led us to a happy ending.

Aka didn't want that ending, though. He cared for his vision more than about his characters, and his vision was literally just an ending where poor Ruby would be a star that shines brighter "the darkest things get". Nothing else mattered. LMAO. As if Ruby hadn't already gone through enough!

Oh well, at least we're finally free!

[eriace]

the art of improvisation ; aquamarine hoshino

oneshot & fluff ↪ in which, aquamarine hoshino and l/n y/n, an actress known for improvising, are told to write their own scene— but the lines they create feel a little too real. ↷ aqumarine hoshino ; oshi no ko

THE FIRST TIME Hoshino Aqua met the actress known as the queen of ad-libs, L/n Y/n— she was late.

Not dramatically late nor the kind that screams diva…just five minutes past call time, slipping in with a half-apology and a drink in hand.

Anyway, he didn’t like her.

“You’re late,” Aqua said, flat, detached, already flipping through the script.

She only blinked at him, unhurried, and tilted her head with that same small, infuriating smile. “You’re pretty uptight for someone playing a guy in love.”

He didn’t reply. Just watched as she took her place across the table, crossing one leg over the other as the first script reading began.

Their chemistry on screen was undeniable. On paper, they were magnetic. The director said it was rare—how easily they bounced lines off each other, how the air grew thick every time they stood in the same frame. But off-screen?

It was friction. Fire against ice.

And maybe that was what acting really was— turning tension into desire and pretending the sparks didn’t burn.

Y/n laughed too easily. She cracked jokes when the director was dead serious. She never, ever said her lines the same way twice.

After one rehearsal where she ad-libbed her entire emotional confession scene, Aqua approached her, tone low and clipped.

“Stick to the script.”

Y/n tilted her head at him, curious rather than defensive.

“Why?” she asked. “It was better, wasn’t it?”

He didn’t respond. But she saw the way his eyes lingered on her during the next take. Just a second too long.

A WEEK LATER, the director had had enough.

“You two are impossible,” he groaned, massaging his temple. “I’ve never seen a pair argue so much and still look like they’re in love on camera. Fine. If you can’t agree on how to play the final act, then write the damn scene yourselves.”

This made aqua blink while y/n grinned like a child on the idea.

“One page,” the director said, wagging a finger. “One night. Surprise me.”

They met after hours in the rehearsal room, lights dimmed low, the echo of distant conversations fading behind thick walls. A notebook lay between them. Aqua sat with his back straight, pen in hand. Y/n sat cross-legged, elbow on her knee, watching him like she was watching a puzzle solve itself.

The first lines came easy.

A setting. A room with soft lighting. Two lovers standing inches apart after years of distance. Tension like static in the air, finally breaking.

Aqua’s pen moved quickly, his focus razor-sharp. She watched his brows furrow, his fingers tighten around the pen as he jotted down the dialogue like he was exorcising something he couldn’t say out loud.

“Why do you act like this doesn’t affect you?” she asked quietly, voice just above a whisper.

He didn’t look up. “Because it’s not real.”

“Does it ever feel real?”

The pen stopped.

“Sometimes,” Aqua said, almost inaudible. “With you, sometimes it does.”

Her chest tightened. Something in the air shifted. She picked up the pen and wrote the next line without hesitation.

“I don’t know when I started loving you. I just know I never stopped.”

Aqua stared at it for a long moment. Then he wrote underneath it:

“And I don’t know how to stop pretending I don’t.”

Their hands brushed as they passed the notebook back and forth, fingertips grazing, tension building not just in the pages but between them.

The writing slowed. Not out of confusion, but caution. Every word carried weight now. Every sentence started to feel more like confession than fiction.

“If we do this, we can’t go back.”

“I never wanted to go back.”

Y/n exhaled, shaky. Her voice was softer now, like she was afraid of breaking something.

“You okay?” Aqua asked, finally looking up, eyes were unreadable.

“Yeah,” she murmured. “Just... wondering if we’re writing a scene or confessing something.”

“Maybe both.”

THEY PERFORMED IT the next day. Y/n stepped forward under the lights, the notebook’s final scene burned into memory. Her eyes shimmered—not with fake tears, but something far more dangerous.

“I don’t know when I started loving you,” she said, her voice trembling just enough. “I just know I never stopped.”

Aqua’s fists were clenched at his sides. His jaw locked, eyes flickering with something unspoken, “And I don’t know how to stop pretending I don’t.”

Their eyes locked.

“If we do this,” he breathed, “we can’t go back.”

She moved closer. Slow, deliberate. Their foreheads nearly touched.

“I never wanted to go back.”

The silence stretched. Then, without warning— he kissed her.

It wasn’t staged. It wasn’t choreographed. It just happened—quiet, sudden, real.

The director yelled “Cut!” The crew broke into stunned applause.

Aqua pulled away like he’d snapped awake. His eyes were wide. Shocked. Maybe even afraid. Y/n stared at him, lips parted, still tasting him.

“That… wasn’t in the script,” she whispered.

“No,” he said. “It wasn’t. But don’t you love ad-libs?”

Y/n’s face turned red as she watched his back walking away from the scene, “Idiot.”

© eriace in tumblr ; don’t repost my works.

[tvangelique]

i saw you reblogging the asks game and HELLO HELLO i'm so up.

🌽 ⊹ ࣪ ˖ meet cute corn : how did you meet? through friends, maybe work… or did you bump into them on the street? how long until you became friends?

🫒 ⊹ ࣪ ˖ delightful olive : what’s a little thing they do that always makes you happy? is it a quirk? or is it an act of service done for your favor? is it done intentionally?

͏͏ 𖥔 the asks game . . or something like that . ͏͏ ͏͏ ❜͟

𓉳̸ my book dr ( or ashes of saint mercy ) . . 💭

( hi EMM, thank you for the ask 💗💗 )

🌽 ⊹ ࣪ ˖ meet cute corn : how did you meet? through friends, maybe work… or did you bump into them on the street? how long until you became friends?

okay. so. i met my friends in. wouldn’t you guess it? school. of course, we were the oddest bunch, a collection of people that shouldn’t work, but do. at first, it was me and this girl named dalila, a pretty lady from the deserts of khemoria ( which would be today’s egypt ), the first thing that drew me towards her was her energy. she’s so beautiful, on the outside & inside—but she’s possible to miss if you don’t pay more attention because she’s so quiet. i think soft spoken is a better way at putting it. definitely not someone you expect at a military academy. ( IN A GOOD WAY !! )

me and her became close at the start of the semester, while the others . . took awhile to get used to. jikiina was a PROBLEMM. a prestige girl who emerged from the hoshino clan, daughter of a shogun, really stereotypical because she didn’t know any better ( especially towards dalila, poking fun at her native culture, muttering sly words about a foreign going to the school. it was awful. ) she only comes around after the war really starts to develop and she’s forced to choose between her mother, who wants to upstage the main clan * cough * cult * cough * running the country or us, and that’s where she becomes a revolutionary.

kaju. this man was a DICK. throughout school and up to the war, you can just hear this agitating voice going on and on about neutrality. yeah, well, you CANNOT be neutral when there’s oppression involved, i don’t care how deep your ideologies from home go, that doesn’t make it a fair war. ( he figured this out the hard way ) now. you’ll be asking. “solana! how did you two become close, then???” remember what i said about him learning the hard way? yeah. it comes at the cost of his boyfriend, whom i think is a jerk anyway ( i wouldn’t say this to his face )

lastly. the man himself. i don’t have an exact time i can pinpoint for when me and nakahara become “ friends? ” he just stopped wanting to kill me one day, and here we are, making quiet, berated promises to each other while i’m patching his wounds. a bunch of life saving and ya-di-da! i’m in his bed! ( we’re just insanely. codependent when it comes to each other. long story. )

🫒 ⊹ ࣪ ˖ delightful olive : what’s a little thing they do that always makes you happy? is it a quirk? or is it an act of service done for your favor? is it done intentionally?

✷ dalila sahu ── everytime we come back from a battle of some sort, she’s always there to dress our wounds and provide comfort. she’s nowhere near to be a therapist, but she’s close, and it’s always appreciated.

✷ kaju akiita ── the fact that his loyalties shift means he’ll do anything in his power to make sure you know he’s in it for the long run. if he’s truly on your side, you’ll know, he’s less likely to leave you to die than others. ( mostly joking with this one )

✷ hoshino jikiina ── so, i’ve talked about her becoming a revolutionary, but i wanna go into ( slight ) detail about how that changed her. you can genuinely see an improvement as her ideologies shift, and she’s a real gift giver. i’ve come across her paintings before, stashed away until she’s ready to give them out. she pays excruciating detail to a person.

✷ nakahara akuma ── he’s also really perceptive, but in a different way. akuma has the tendency to pry a person’s life open like a book, if there’s something he remembers, he’ll make sure you know. he’s not afraid to correct someone on a single detail, but gets really surprised when another person does the same, so this seems to be unintentional. or the more disappointing option, he doesn’t think he’s that important to be looked at in the same light. too bad for him, i do it anyway.

[deathbxnny]

helloo, platonic aventurine, sunday and jing yuan with a teen!reader like ai hoshino?

(reader is a talented and captivating idol/singer, but outside of their idol persona they are sort of empty, trying to understand love and often doing self-destructive things while doing so)

Hey there, Anon! Thank you for your request, and I'm sorry this took so long! Life sucks as usual, lol. Anyways, I hope you'll like this!<33

Content: Hurt/comfort, angst, platonic relationships, potential mentions of depression and themes surrounding that, sfw

Reader has no set pronouns!!

((Not proofread))

》SUNDAY

Sunday already knew alot about the life of an idol through his own sister being one. But this also meant that he could look right through you with ease. Hiding your true feelings from him was impossible, but that also meant that he wouldn't confront you about it immideately. He simply observes your downfall in this suffocating and fast lifestyle before finally pulling you aside to see what the real issue is.

He sympathises with you deeply, mainly due to your young age and him knowing how hard it is to uphold a perfect appearance all the time. He keeps an eye on you closely, not letting you drown in your self-destructive methods, no matter how hard you fight him on the matter. He knows there is only just so much you can take before you break completely, after all.

Sunday eventually forces you to take a break from everything, where he takes you under his wing and essentially nurses you back into a healthy mental space. Whether he uses his abilities or not is really up to how well you respond to this, but he won't let you return to your life as an idol until he's convinced of your improvement.

》AVENTURINE

Aventurine could also easily see through your facade, mainly because, in a way, he very much related to you. You were young, forced into this fast life as an idol that seemed to only spiral downwards until you were barely able to keep up your perfectly strained smile. He understood you. He really did, which is why he wanted to help you in the first place. But he knew it wouldn't be an easy task at all.

You were hellbent on concealing your self-destructive ways, the question of what truly meant and felt like always hanging over your head, heavy on your young shoulders. He'd reach his hand out for you, offering to help you out of this hole life has unfairly dug for you, promising that it won't hurt your idol life. Unless escaping is what you wanted.

He becomes somewhat of a mentor/big brother figure to you, someone you can come to when the days get too dark and you need a bit of light to guide you back to the exit. He knows that with time, you'd eventually be able to deal with things on your own. But for now, he'll be there for you, just the way he wished someone would've been there for him all those years ago.

》JING YUAN

Jing Yuan is rather sly, yet at the same time, very stern with his approach to your obvious self-destructive demise. He knew from the start that your life as an idol would be plagued with uncertainties and sadness that a young teen like you could never handle on your own for long. But he waits for you to come to him first, like you knew you could. He didn't want to assume wrong and anger you, after all.

He doesn't have to wait for long, however, as you eventually break and come to him with the near ashamed plea of wanting to take a break and get help from everything that has been plaguing your young mind. The life of an idol wasn't easy, and he knew that, which is why he simply obliged and announced to the Luofu that you'd be taking an indefinite break from everything. Your happy-go-lucky attitude had been completely demolished by then, the guilt killing you, and yet he still didn't let you slip through his fingers and sink any further.

It doesn't matter how long it takes. You'll eventually come back to singing in much better health than ever before one way or another, him cheering you on quietly with a content smile from afar.

Alright, Anon... I'm sorry if this isn't good, I've been super busy with everything lately, so I hope this is alright!! Thank you again for the request!!<33

[graysodacan]

MIU404 in weezer

(i honestly dont know either)

[yuseirra]

If Kamiki's inspired by this particular god, you can see how Fatal's lyrics are like, "I would sacrifice anything for you" because that's him, he gave up a lot to be with his wife(depending on how you interpret the myths, to the extent of it being his own life too)

Amenouzume has the title: "The Great Persuader". If she was there, he'd have definitely listened to her because that's the lore of those two gods, her husband relents only after she comes and speaks to him so it should have worked out

[silvermoon424]

Katy, I ended up watching a video that talked about the rise and fall of Oshi no Ko, which I remember you loving a while back and at the end of it I was like

I am so sorry this happened to a series you loved.

BESTIE I THINK WE SAW THE SAME VIDEO!! It's a really good, thorough recap of the series and why and how it drove off a fucking cliff, lol.

But yeah, the series was already on a steady decline for, like, a year and a half before it finally ended. But it was very much salvageable until Akasaka pulled "the father of the twins created a serial killer cult and Aqua had to do a murder-suicide with him to protect Ruby's career for some reason" out of his ass.

A lot of people (myself included) have pointed out that it feels like Akasaka originally planned the ending as "Aqua and Hikaru die together in the ocean as part of Aqua's revenge plot" and remained totally married to the idea even after Oshi no Ko grew into something else.

In the ACTUAL story, Aqua learns to let go of vengeance and decides to prioritize living for his friends and family (and because, well, life itself is worth sticking around for). His "revenge" on his father is non-violent; he first destroys Hikaru's reputation, then as the coup de grace reveals that Ai (whom he's been obsessed with and hung up over for YEARS) truly did love and care about him all along; he just didn't understand her. This seems to have a profound impact on Hikaru, to the point where he says he'll turn himself in for his crimes.

BUT PSYCH!!!! It turns out that he's actually an evil serial killer who is working with a member of Ai's old idol group who was obsessed with her, and they're going to keep trying to kill Ruby so she can't surpass Ai as the Most Perfect Idol Ever. So Aqua CLEARLY has no other choice than to commit suicide while also murdering his father to save... Ruby's career? He explicitly kills Hikaru AND himself to make it look like HE was murdered bc he doesn't want Ruby to be known as the sister of a murderer, which would ruin her career.

And then Ruby becomes Ai 2.0, lies and all. And earlier on the series made sure to emphasize that being an idol is a very ephemeral career with a hard expiration date, so Ruby will have like... a decade at most of being an idol before the industry finishes chewing her up. I'm totally sure she would rather have that than her brother!!!!

I can literally go on for a novella-length time about how utterly dogshit this ending is, lmao. If it were framed as a tragedy that would be one thing, but there's this really uncomfortable tone throughout that paints Aqua killing himself for his sister's career as beautiful and noble and I'm just like 👁️👄👁️

Ai Hoshino is still best girl tho 🩷

[jangwanl]

Guys... this is insane

I’m begging you, read this theory—if it doesn’t blow your mind like it did mine, it’ll at least make you laugh.

Do you remember the song from the ending of the first season of *SPY x FAMILY*?

It’s Gen Hoshino’s *Comedy*.

If you haven’t seen the music video yet, you should definitely check it out [here].

I really love this song, and today I decided to rewatch the video.

I’ve always wondered why, in this clip—which references Loid, Yor, and Anya, and their lives—Loid ends up meeting aliens. And I think YOU CAN GUESS WHERE I’M GOING WITH THIS (especially considering the latest manga chapters about Melinda and Desmond).

Notice how, at the beginning of the clip, the singer is dressed as Loid in a green suit. Later, two aliens approach him: one with long ears resembling Yor’s hair, and another with horns like Anya’s...

Then, at the end of the clip, another alien shows up at their house...

Could that be Bond?

If Anya and Bond have been experimented on, and we can assume they’re «aliens» does that mean Yor might have been experimented on too? 😭😭😭

I know it’s a wild theory based on the music video, but my mind is completely blown.

Then again, maybe this is just Endo’s way of hinting that, to us, every other person can feel like an alien—someone we struggle to connect with. Or perhaps it’s simply a nod to how hard it is for a super spy like Loid to truly understand the people around him 😂😂😂

I don’t know, but this theory really struck me as interesting, and I wanted to share it with you all.

Also, forgive me if there are any mistakes—English isn’t my first language🙏🙏

[project-sekai-news]

Project Sekai News

Welcome to Project Sekai News! We are a non-profit organization that reports on events occurring around the Sekais. Our main goal is to tell everyone about ongoing circumstances and to keep everyday people informed.

PJSK News' main and only reporter is me, Hoshino Ichika, a 16-year-old high school girl. The journalist is Tenma Saki, an aspiring writer. The photographer is Azusawa Kohane, who doubles as a street singer. Lastly, the newspaper editor is Akiyama Mizuki, who has lots of expertise in the field of editing.

Don't forget to visit our website at www.projectsekainews.com! There, we write articles based on the events mentioned here!

We report on events every Sunday, with newspaper articles published shortly after, so don't miss out! Project Sekai News signing out!

—————————————————————————

Ichi, that was great! People will definitely hear about us!

You think so? Thanks, Saki!

Yeah, Ichika! You cooked!

You were amazing!

Thank you everyone! Let’s do our best on this news channel!

Yeah!

In this blog I make up stories about Project Sekai characters and write articles about them. They’re mostly stupid and silly :33

I apologize if I offend anyone or am ignorant while writing these !! I try not to write about anything derogatory, but if an article is, please tell me and I’ll take it down.

The website mentioned above is basically where the actual articles are written down. While on tumblr, posts are of Ichika and the others live, and the website is where Ichika (or me) actually write an article on the event.

Reports (tumblr posts) go up every Sunday (at no specific time, PST), along with their respective articles (though those usually come out a little later)! The date might change sometimes according to my schedule, but I should usually get them up by then. (Though on that note, I have a wonderful procrastination problem).

Tags:

#project sekai news - reports (tumblr posts)

#feedback - asks

#news mod - when the mod speaks

#news reblog - reblogged posts

#project sekai weather report - shizuku's weather reports

Tags will be added and changed if needed!

[thoughtspresso]

Oshi No Ko was about Arima Kana all along.

And I think there’s a real possibility she may die at the end.

Or be placed in the way of grave danger.

I was reading some AquKane shippers say something about how they don’t understand AquaKana, and why the writers and directors keep clearly pushing Kana towards Aqua when they barely share any chemistry. Whereas, in their belief, his relationship with Akane is more honest, deeper, whatever. I’m not here to argue about that. But I get where they’re coming from. And the simple explanation is this:

It’s because this whole story was written for Arima Kana.

I’ve seen some Youtubers talk about how this whole story was meant to be fulfillment for Ruby/Sarina’s dream to become the next great Idol, something about Amaterasu favoring her.

And that’s near what I thought of it. But I really think if the God of Entertainment wanted to bless a child with cancer a second life as the world’s great idol, they’d also give her a great singing voice, y’know?

Spoilers for the manga, of course as we go along on this explanation. So anime onlies, get caught up before you start reading me ramble.

Here we go:

1. Arima Kana is the embodiment of Amaterasu, not Ruby.

Or at least, Amaterasu’s appointed representative, or her favorite daughter.

To give you a run-down of some of the core Shinto/Japanese Mythology that is important for the story, the Creator God Izanaki had three children:

Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun.

Tsukuyomi, the Moon.

Susanoo, the Storm.

The story goes that Amaterasu and Susanoo had a competition about who could create better gods. So Amaterasu took Susanoo’s Totsuka-no-Tsurugi* (longsword) and split it into three, from which she birthed the three Munakata goddesses.

And woncha knowit, there are three great actresses born in that year?

*A reminder that Kana plays the character Tsurugi, which literally just means Sword. And Akane’s character Saya-hime just literally means Sheath or Scabbard Princess.

In this bet, Amaterasu got clever with the rules and won on a technicality. Susanoo went on a rampage, destroyed Amaterasu’s ricefield, and flayed Amaterasu’s favorite divine horse*, and then threw its body at her loom.

*The name Arima is spelled with the Kanji of Horse & Exist/Live. 

Amaterasu, in her grief, flees into a cave, believed to be Amano Iwato cave, right in the town of Takachiho, Amamiya Gorou’s hometown, and the death place of  Tendouji Sarina.

The being that draws Amaterasu out of there was the Goddess of the Dawn, known also as the Goddess of the Revelry & Arts, a being that Aqua says he knows well, and believes there’s a grain of truth to:

And how does Ame-no-Uzume draw Amaterasu out of her grief?

By throwing an absolute rager, and dancing really wildly that it catches her attention and makes all the gods around them laugh so hard. Just like:

Ame-no-Uzume will later on marry a diety who tried to block her passage before, Sarutohiko, who in Ise is worshipped as the god who illuminates the world.

That’s some divinity-level AquaKana shipping right there.

Just like how Aka Akasaka wrote the story of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War about two lovers who couldn’t be together just like in the myth of Kaguya, but having his characters overcome all odds to defy divine fate, I do believe that apart from the parallels to the mythology like he did in Kaguya-sama, there is very literal divine intervention this time in Oshi No Ko.

I think what’s happening is that the gods, particularly Amaterasu and Susanoo are quarelling again about who could create better gods, just like before, but now more of whose favored child will shine the brightest and be worshipped by the most humans. But just like last time, Susanoo may have been enraged, especially at the sexual assault of his chosen Hikaru Kamiki, that he possessed him with a corrupting force that urges him to destroy shining stars before they reach their peak, hence the murders of Himekawa Airi, Hoshino Ai**, and Katayose Yura.

Which by the way, the name Hikaru means Radiant Light!

And Hoshino means Field of Stars!

Whether it’s because Amaterasu is angry that every daughter she sends to earth is slaughtered by Susanoo’s chosen, or just because she wants to win their competition, she appoints Ame-no-Uzume to assist in safeguarding her new favored one from Kamiki’s clutches. Her new favored one being Arima Kana.

And therefore, Ame-no-Uzume takes the souls of two motherless humans who had passed before they could shine and sent them to become Hoshino Ai’s twin children. It was all anyway happening in her territory of Takachiho at the most opportune time.

Ame-no-Uzume is also known as The Goddess of Dance, as well as The Great Pursuader. And wouldn’t you know, that’s exactly the gifts that the Hoshino Twins received.

An energetic performer who takes the stage with dance:

And a deceptive, persuasive, extremely believable actor, who:

fooled his own sister into believing she had been rejected from an audition

pretended to scout an idol from a competing agency to research them

get Director Gotanda to raise him and train him

make Akane not just date him, but follow him down a destructive path

convince Kana and Mem to join IchigoPro

impersonate Pieyon for several days straight

Anyway, I truly, truly believe that unbeknownst to Aqua, his true mission is just to keep drawing Kana out of her darkness until she shines the brightest. Which is what he keeps doing anyway:

2. The Timing of the whole Oshi No Ko plot is aligned with Arima Kana’s rise to unprecedented stardom.

The story of Ai Hoshino’s pregnancy and meeting of Gorou Amamiya in a quaint hospital occurs at the beginning of Arima Kana’s life, just after she is born.

She meets Aqua Hoshino around age 4, already talented, and already extremely arrogant which could have easily been the demise of her career. But meeting Aqua and seeing his acting was a necessary wake-up call for her, that it brings her to tears. She never forgets this experience that she brought that lesson with her to her adulthood: that she can’t be satisfied and keep working harder, and to be a better communicator with her colleagues. At their first point of contact, Aqua already becomes the reason why Arima Kana’s acting career survives the slump.

They meet again in high school, when Arima Kana has one acting job in a lackluster production of Sweet Today. The ratings had plummeted, if not for the fact that Aqua came onto the set to draw out the best acting Arima Kana could deliver. After this, Arima receives much more respect and recognition from her colleagues in the industry beyond just being cast to bring some legitimacy to their production.

It’s because of Aqua and Ruby that Kana joins IchigoPro’s Idol Division, and her career is reborn anew. Such that, even after quitting B-Komachi, Arima states she never regretted the decision to join, because otherwise the career of Arima Kana would have been already over. 

It’s because of Aqua’s presence that Arima trains to become better and better as an idol. Aqua kept drawing out the light from Kana’s eyes, to the point that it catches the attention of the crowd who previously had no interest in her.

It’s because of her experience as an idol that she regains the confidence and sense of greed necessary to grab the attention of the audience when on stage, such that even Akane recognizes this change in her when Arima takes the stage as Tsurugi for the 2.5 Adadptation of Tokyo Blade.

And it’s because of all of these that she captures the attention of award-winning Director Masanori Shima, who lines up some roles for her when her acting schedule had dried up. It’s once again because of Kana’s dedication towards Aqua that Shima D finds her so interesting that he was most willing to promise her the best role possible.

It was as if Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto appointed Aqua and Ruby to come draw Arima Kana out of her Cave, and bring the Sun out again, just like how the deity drew out Amaterasu.

If you think about the title of the show, Oshi No Ko, it literally means The Favorite Child. God’s favored child. Arima Kana had been born chosen by Amaterasu from the very beginning. And Ame-no-Uzume is sending Aqua and Ruby to aid on this quest.

Which explains why it seems like there had been a mission communicated to Aqua from the very beginning. And why Ai was never going to be reincarnated at all.

You would think that if The Crow Girl, which we assume is the divine guide Yatagarasu, was communicating with Aqua about his revenge plan or helping him find Kamiki, that Aqua would hold a more favorable relationship with The Crow whenever it appears to give advice, no?

But it’s exactly the opposite. Because The Crow is guiding him into something that is different from his personal goal that Aqua doesn’t understand.

And this is where I think Arima Kana could be put in danger.

3. Arima Kana is Hikaru Kamiki’s next target.

There were earlier theories that thought Kurokawa Akane was the one to die next, because of what people have now learned of Kamiki’s serial murderer profile targeting big celebrities before their peak, and because Akane had received a bouquet of white roses from him when she won an award.

The chapter when it was expected to happen was a fake-out from Aka Akasaka, and some people think it’s still possible that she’s the target. In fact, I keep seeing recent theory videos who discount Kana and say she’s “the safest”. Hah! If only!

The scenes with Shima D weren’t just a mere plot point to bring scandal to Arima’s name, and threaten her career and life enough that it pushes Aqua to reveal his mother’s secret in exchange. But it’s there because this is the upward path for Arima Kana. So far, the only people who have witnessed her dazzling star power have been fans of the Sweet Today manga, idol otakus, and people who attended Tokyo Blade. That’s not really masterpiece-of-the-century, performing-at-the-dome level. None of these gigs have placed her center stage in what could be Film of the Year, and a Best Actress spot. Now, the chance is here, and it’s real:

I think, The 15-Year-Lie will attempt to draw out Hikaru Kamiki, or that Aqua intends to reveal himself in the movie looking like him, and reveal the identity of his father.

But I also think what would happen is that they would be unsuccessful at taking him down completely. Instead, from the movie, he would be interested in Arima Kana, and target her through the course of her Shima D movie, and plan to kill her before an important awards night.

Alternatively, now that Kana is changing her focus to film, she may consider moving agencies, and ask Frill Shiranui about her agent. And if we’re right, she is likely represented by Kamiki Productions.

Either way, Kamiki will pay attention to her and try to kill her just before she reaches her highest.

But I don’t think Arima Kana will die. I think instead of being saved by Aqua, it’ll be Kana who takes Kamiki down. Echoing back to her getting mad at Aqua for thinking that avoiding her was protecting her, and Aqua believing that Kana doesn’t need help since she’s strong enough to take care of herself.

And then maybe, it’s Arima Kana who draws Aqua out of the darkness too.

And, just like with Kaguya and Shirogane Miyuki, Aka Akasaka is once again writing a story about two people who will defy a fate of divine tragedy, and come out of it being more truthful with each other than they’ve been with themselves all along.

[seungrem]

tomie!enha (sunghoon) x (no pronouns)!reader

The Curse of Sunghoon

masterlist ~*+ - part 1 ~*+ - part 2 of ??

summary: It seemed everyone had become lost in their flawed tendencies since the arrival of the new student. His enigmatic spirit and flawless features made him impossible to miss- enchanting students and teachers alike. Uncanny in many ways, the boy’s name was Sunghoon, and for reader, it seemed his presence was nothing other than ill-fated.

( overview: please see warnings. no pronouns mentioned excluding occasional ‘em’s, student!sunghoon & reader & jungwon & heeseung, part 2 but it’s kinda just part 1.5 )

( warnings: mentions of blood, weapons, threats, fighting/physical aggression, death, not gross & not detailed gore, arrests/police, gangs/mob groups, manipulation, and stalkerish/obsessive behavior )

emoji code:

🌿 ( long story/series )

🧸 ( fluff crumbs )

🪐 ( Junji Ito - Tomie AU )

☁️ ( stands for y/n )

likes, comments, & reblogs r appreciated ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

“Your absence has been problematic..”

Rough gusts of wind brushed against ☁️’s skin. The sky was still cloudy from the morning’s rain.

“..Even more than your presence had been. Why’d your curse only now come around?”

Looking over the bridge’s stone guardrail, the student rested heavy arms down. The stream’s water rushed steadily under the structure, though not nearly as harsh as it had been a week prior.

“Why’re you over here sulking? Shouldn’t you be at school?”

☁️ turned to see Heeseung, his mahogany hair floating lightly as he stepped onto the bridge. Approaching ☁️, he stopped a few feet away and leaned against the guardrail as well.

“The school day ended four hours ago. Why’re you here and still in your school uniform?”

“I had a feeling that you’d be here.”

Eyebrows furrowed, ☁️ remained with a forward gaze. “So.. what do you want?”

“Now that Sunghoon’s gone and this place is “problematic” as you say, somebody needs to watch over you.”

“Oh.. I’ll be fine. I know who to look out for.”

“This a lot different than you think it is, ☁️.”

“I need to be alone right now, Heeseung. You can watch me from a distance, can’t you?”

“Well, people are usually dying to be this close to me-“

☁️ looked over to the boy to see a grin slowly growing along his face.

“Oh.. sorry. Too soon..?”

“Leave.”

“Why aren’t you drawn to me? Don’t you think I’m everything you want and more? Am I not handsome?”

“Are you serious?” ☁️ responded in an aggressive tone.

“You can’t reject me.. and I don’t take rejection very well.” Heeseung muttered between gritting teeth. He was shaking, which worried ☁️ slightly. “Wait.. you must still like Sunghoon. It can’t be a me problem..”

“Clearly.. I’m just not in the position to be interested in anyone. Now, I would like to sulk in peace, please.”

Heeseung stopped shaking, and took a deep breath. “Mhm. I’ll see you Monday.”

“I hope not.” ☁️ muttered, earning a scoff from Heeseung as he walked away.

I can’t believe that guy. He’s such a weirdo.. and his ego problems are a lot worse than Sunghoon’s.

Returning a gaze to the trees and flowing stream, ☁️ continued his thoughts out loud.

Now where was I?

After school, ☁️ would go over to the bridge and talk about all that went on throughout the day. Like how rumors of the archery teacher going insane were spread rampant after he didn’t show up to class the entire week. Other students stated that they’ve seen him creeping around on campus, but who knew of that was true. Rika also didn’t show up for the first half of the week. It seemed she hadn’t been sleeping, as she had bags under her eyes and didn’t say a word to anyone. ☁️ recalled that she still only had one bow in her hair. Both her and Hoshino have been on edge, but in contrast to Rika, Hoshino became meaner. As ☁️ would stand on the bridge every evening, one or two of Hoshino’s goons would pass by. It became so frequent that ☁️ would greet them on a first-name basis. On Thursday, accusations against Hoshino came about, with more rumors saying that he was the cause of Sunghoon’s disappearance. That was also the day that the young teacher (whose name ☁️ still didn’t know), confronted ☁️ in private. The teacher explained that he couldn’t remember when or how, but he remembers ☁️ being associated with missing items from his classroom. After pretending not to understand, ☁️ was on borrowed time. It obviously wasn’t good that the teacher’s memories were coming back, and ☁️ could tell that he was thoroughly investigating Sunghoon’s situation, which made the student anxious.

☁️’s trance was broken as footsteps echoed from the left side of the bridge. It was an older man, who looked at ☁️ and nodded.

“Be careful around here. The kids are reporting stories of ghosts.” The man muttered as he passed the student.

“Really? I’ve visited this bridge everyday and haven’t seen anything.” ☁️ responded.

The old man looked over the edge and pointed at the water below. Then, he turned, continuing his trudge down the bridge and onto the dirt path. ☁️ struggled it off.

Today was Friday, and rumors of Rika framing Hoshino for Sunghoon’s disappearance were passed around in ☁️’s first class. Both had been the subjects of much discussion, aside from one of the new students- Jungwon. Hours later, as ☁️ sat alone at lunch, police officers entered the cafeteria. Hoshino was apparently taken into police custody, but released later that day for unknown reasons.

After lunch, ☁️ attended the archery course, expecting to sit around as the students had been doing since Monday. To their surprise, the teacher was back, and extremely disoriented. His short, gray hair basically stood upright, and he stood hunched over with a cane. He, too, had noticeable eyebags and a disturbed expression. The old teacher was silent for a while before asking the students to turn themselves in for the murder of Sunghoon, as he was planning to do. You’ve could’ve guessed that the students, Hoshino especially, didn’t like this request. ☁️ felt the group’s hostility rise as the students shouted and eventually chased the old man out of the gym and into the forested area. For a man with a cane, it seemed he was perfectly capable of moving without it as he bolted out the back doors. ☁️ understood what they might do, and why they would do it- fear, anger, states of craze or madness, desensitization. ☁️ didn’t participate this time, and instead watched everyone run out of the room, with four or five students having been left behind. One student asked if they were actually going to turn themselves in, which everyone agreed not to.

☁️ heard that Rika had skipped this archery class to target the young teacher. She seemed to mistakenly think that the man was framing her, and he was the reason she was being accused of Hoshino’s arrest. ☁️ recalled Sunghoon’s interaction with Rika the week prior, when he was still alive. He handed Rika a bag full of papers and files, and then she was on her way. Sunghoon had never clarified what his scheme consisted of, and part of ☁️ wish that he had. From what ☁️ heard from teachers’ gossip, the young teacher had a few stab wounds but was still alive.

☁️ flinched at the sound of footsteps once again. It was Hoshino- who looked as if he was ready to fall asleep standing up.

“☁️.”

☁️ took a step back.. expecting the worst. “Y-yes?”

“Have you seen Smiley? It’s been hours since he’s came through here.”

Smiley was one of Hoshino’s goons who ☁️ saw regularly, and earlier today, ☁️ walked from the school to the bridge with him. ☁️ remembered waving goodbye before Smily walked deeper into the forested area. Ironically, Smiley wasn’t very amiable- or smiley. He was nice to ☁️, though, thus the two interacted often.

“Yes, but it’s been a while since he walked down that path. I haven’t seen him walk back.”

“Shit.” Hoshino muttered as he hurried past ☁️ across the bridge.

“Let me come with you. It’s getting dark.” ☁️ blurted out impulsively. Hoshino appeared confused, but nodded hesitantly in agreement.

The two walked side by side off of the dirt path and into the forest.

“Where are we going?” ☁️ asked, looking around.

“To where we.. scattered.. Sunghoon.”

☁️ exhaled.

“Sorry. How have you been holding up?”

Baffled, ☁️ looked over to Hoshino. “I’ve been okay. I have my thoughts, but I’m sure you have yours, too.”

Hoshino nodded.

“Can I ask you a question, though?” ☁️ continued.

Hoshino nodded again. The sky was fading into an orange hue as the two walked.

“What happened today? How’d you end up in police custody, and how’d you get out?”

“I don’t know who said what, but that crazy bitch Rika was how I got out. One of my guys caught her burning clothes and documents in this forest yesterday. She wasn’t burning evidence for me, though. She was doing it for herself. I don’t think she anticipated sparing me. I’m confused about it all myself. I don’t know what she’s doing- I don’t know anything. It’s really pissing me off.”

☁️ raised an eyebrow. Hoshino had eyes and ears everywhere, so to hear that he was clueless was scary in itself. ☁️ still didn’t understand how he ended up becoming accused, though. The two stopped upon seeing a body lying on the floor in the distance.

“That’s gotta be Smiley.” Hoshino ran over to the body with ☁️ close behind. “Shit, shit, shit. That’s him.”

☁️ leaned down to feel the boy’s pulse. Placing two fingers under his jawline, ☁️ felt Smiley’s cold skin touch his own.

“He’s dead, Hoshino. What happened?”

“It’s getting dark, I’ll take you home.”

-

“I really wish we met under better circumstances. I’m sorry for putting you through all this.” Hoshino shook his head, and then ran a hand through his fluffy black hair.

“Don’t worry about me. What happened to Smiley?”

“I think- no, I know it’s the old teacher. Everybody’s been saying that he’s been lurking in the woods since what happened last week. It only makes sense.”

“How’s that old man gonna take Smiley out, though? I thought you guys took care of him when you chased him.”

“The others beat him pretty bad. I didn’t think anything of it.. He’s unpredictable right now.”

“An old person said that there were ghosts in the area. Maybe that has some correlation?”

“You haven’t seen what’s under the bridge yet?”

With a head tilted to the side, ☁️ squinted.

“What do you mean?”

“Make sure you have no plans tomorrow. I’ll pick you up here.”

☁️ remained silent and nodded.

“Are you okay being here alone tonight? If you need me to, I can stay.” Avoiding eye contact, Hoshino gestured to ☁️’s home- which they stood right in front of. It was a tiny apartment complex ☁️ was renting out while attending school in the countryside.

“I have someone watching over me, so I’ll be okay. But.. are you gonna be okay? You don’t look good. At all.”

“It’s been a rough week... I never wanted any of this.”

“I know. But it’s still going to be here tomorrow. Go home and get some rest.”

Hoshino nodded. “Does twelve-thirty work?”

☁️ sighed and nodded.

“Have a goodnight.” Hoshino muttered before turning around and walking home in the darkness. ☁️ waited until Hoshino was out of sight to turn around.

Walking to the front door, ☁️ heard a familiar voice whisper out. Heeseung was nearby.

“☁️~”

☁️ carefully turned around and walked back over to the sidewalk, where Heeseung now stood.

“How do you know where I live?”

“I watch over you, remember?”

“Right.. what do you want?”

“I’m going to join you two tomorrow. Also, no more of this walking through the forest when it’s nighttime. Not with everything going on.”

☁️ nodded. “I’ll see you at twelve-thirty.”

“Who’s this?” Hoshino muttered, pointing to the tall boy waving from across the stream. Another boy accompanied him, though ☁️ very faintly recognized him.

“His name is Heeseung. I don’t know who the other guy is.”

“Why’s he wearing a school uniform on a Saturday?”

“I don’t know. It’s kinda his thing.”

The two approached Hoshino and ☁️ with flashy smiles.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Heeseung nodded to ☁️ and then looked at Hoshino. “This is my friend Jungwon. He’ll be joining us today.”

“Uh, I’m sorry?” Hoshino grimaced. “What do you mean “joining us?” Neither of you were invited.”

“Now, now. Let’s not get worked up. We’re all here for the same thing.” Jungwon spoke, rather irregularly. His tone was crisp and elegant, as if he wasn’t from this century. Unlike Heeseung, he wore normal clothing- a black hoodie and grey corduroy straight pants.

“What.. thing?” ☁️ asked, raising an eyebrow.

Heeseung gestured to Hoshino, who walked off of the bridge and down the tiny hill in which its side stood exposed- it was where ☁️ had left Sunghoon’s organs. The stream’s water continued its pace as ☁️ shuffled behind the others. ☁️’s stomach dropped upon seeing a skeletal structure growing from the stone abutment. Short pieces of skin draped off each bone and fluttered in the wind as if it were cloth. The body’s brain could be seen through the eye sockets, and the ribcage pierced through the heart. There were no legs, and the pelvis bones seemed to grow straight out of the stone structure. Whatever it was, it still had parts of organs and muscle along the body.

Feeling queasy, ☁️ sat on the ground and looked away.

“What the fuck is that.”

“The ghost everyone has been talking about.” Hoshino replied, sitting next down beside ‘em.

“This is where you left Sunghoon’s heart. Is it not?” Heeseung asked, looked down at ☁️.

“Yes… Is this him?” ☁️ asked, feeling even more sick.

“Somewhat. Do you know what he is?” Jungwon replied. Heeseung shot the boy beside him a concerned look.

“What do you mean?” Hoshino asked.

“It’s okay. I need to speak with Heeseung.” Jungwon replied, walking back up to the bridge’s path with Heeseung following behind him.

“How long have you known about this?” ☁️ looked over to Hoshino.

“A few days. I didn’t know it was of Sunghoon’s body parts, though. Only weird ass person would do some shit like this… I still think it’s that teacher.”

“If those two know about this, do you think they could help us figure out what happened to Smiley?” ☁️ whispered, pointing at the bridge above.

“They know. Heeseung.. brought Smiley back to life. I don’t know how, but that guy said he saved Smiley’s life the night that we found him. He’s recovering at home.”

“Oh, that’s great.” ☁️ sighed, relieved. Quickly glancing at the ghostly figure in front of the two, the student wrapped an arm around the knee. “Why are his organs in such good condition after a week? His heart is still.. beating. There’s no blood pumping through it.”

“I don’t know. This is really weird, though.”

Hoshino muttered before ☁️ nodded in agreement. “Let’s get outta here.”

Hoshino stood up first, him then helping ☁️ up. It was then that ☁️ noticed the scar along the side of Hoshino’s face- it stretched from his left ear to the end of his eyebrow. The two made their way to where Heeseung and Jungwon stood, them seemingly bickering.

“Everything okay?” Hoshino interrupted before they turned their attention to ☁️.

“Yes. That’s all I’ve needed. I’ll see you two in class.” Jungwon nodded to Hoshino and ☁️, and then turned around after glancing at Heeseung.

“Ready to head home?” Heeseung smiled, motioning ☁️ forward.

“Actually, I was going to take ☁️ home.” Hoshino responded, looking from ☁️ to Heeseung.

“There’s no need if I’m around. We should get going. It’s not safe around here-“ Heeseung took a step forward and lightly grasped ☁️’s arm, leading the student away from Hoshino. ☁️ turned around to face the boy.

“I’ll see you on Monday.” ☁️ called out, attempting a smile before practically being dragged by Heeseung.

“Yeah. Right.” ☁️ heard Hoshino mutter.

“I didn’t know that you were off of the market.” Hoshino teased after catching up to ☁️. The two walked to school under the trees’ pink archway- them only four or five blocks away.

“What do you mean?” ☁️ responded, half surprised to see the boy next to him.

“Heeseung… You know, you could’ve just told me.”

“We’re not dating.”

“Does he know that?”

“I think so.”

The walk was quiet for a minute before Hoshino cleared his throat.

“So..” He began. “I told you that I owe you for what happened. You need anything?”

☁️ sighed. “I.. don’t need anything. But, I do think it’s a good idea for you to lay low for a while.”

“Right...”

“As in keep to yourself. Don’t talk to teachers or other students. And don’t pick on other people.”

“I don’t pick on other people.”

☁️ looked over at Hoshino with rolled eyes.

“I just need to keep everyone in line.”

“Just a suggestion.”

“And I’ll take your suggestion seriously.”

☁️ looked over to Hoshino again.

“I never see you talk to anybody like this. Not even your goons..”

“And you’re going to ask why I’m talking to you, right?”

☁️ nodded.

“Well, I’m not sure. You have such a genuineness to you. You’re always so.. calm and composed and grounded. It’s intriguing.”

Unsure of the compliment, ☁️ nodded.

“You probably just haven’t spent much time around me, in honesty.”

“Well, I’ve been trying. Your friends seem to plot against me, though.”

☁️ nodded again, seeming to grasp what Hoshino was trying to say.

“I don’t need more rumors, so I’ll see you later.” Hoshino whispered, him then walking away from ☁️ as the two approached the campus.

☁️ walked into the building to find there wasn’t much traffic in the hallways. Checking the time, the student had a few seconds to get to class.

“Shit.”

-

The teacher walked into the classroom later than she usually had- a few minutes after the bell had rung. ☁️ slouched against the wall, awaiting her usual spiel. As she opened her mouth to speak, she was interrupted by the sliding door’s abrupt opening. Jungwon walked in with straight shoulders and a pair of clear-framed glasses. He turned his attention to ☁️, and then to the teacher as he ran a hand through his straight, black hair.

“Hello, I believe my schedule has been changed.”

“Oh right, please come and introduce yourself.”

“Hello, everyone. I’m Jungwon. I just moved here earlier this week.” Jungwon’s voice was much more bubbly than ☁️ remembered.

“Very nice to have you join us. You can choose any seat that isn’t currently taken.” The teacher responded, with an obvious uninterested tone.

Jungwon scanned the room, eventually locking eyes with ☁️. He walked over to the empty seat beside ☁️, the one Sunghoon used to sit in, and gently placed himself in it. The teacher opened her mouth to speak again, but the sliding door slammed open once more. This time, Sunghoon walked in. He looked as he usually did- black hair neat while still swaying as he moved, shoulders straight, and skin fair and flawless. The only difference were the sunglasses he wore on the tip of his nose. Upon his entrance, the entirety of the class had a reaction.

“Su-Sunghoon?” The teacher asked after freezing in place. She shook slightly, eyes locked on the boy before falling to the ground. ☁️ gasped and held a hand over the mouth at the sight of him. A student in the back of the classroom threw up beside their desk. It seemed everyone else was wide-eyed or frozen in place. Sunghoon smiled at the students’ response and approached Jungwon.

“I’d like my seat back.” Sunghoon teased, his eyes (despite them being blocking by the sunglasses) seeming to pierce through Jungwon.

“This one’s taken. There’s another over there.” Jungwon replied with a far different tone, his eyes not leaving Sunghoon’s.

“Then why don’t you go sit in it?” Sunghoon instructed, gripping Jungwon’s shoulder as he spoke. Jungwon smiled- probably out of anger, and nodded slowly while pursing his lips. He reluctantly stood up and threw his bag around his shoulder, walking to the other side of the classroom and sitting in an empty seat. The class then sat in silence, aside from the one student who began crying softly as the teacher remained on the ground.

-

Sitting across from Sunghoon and beside Jungwon, ☁️‘s stomach was left in the first classroom. The cafeteria wasn’t nearly as loud as it would be any other day, and ☁️ couldn’t eat anything. ☁️ also couldn’t tell if Sunghoon was staring at ‘em, or if it was just the sunglasses. Eventually, Sunghoon broke silence between the three.

“So, ☁️.”

☁️ froze, slowly raising his gaze from the table to Sunghoon’s face.

“I heard that the old archery teacher was still stalking students on campus. Is that true?”

A lump in ☁️’s throat, the student struggled to get words out. “I’m not sure..”

“So he hasn’t overstepped his bounds with you?”

“I haven’t actually seen him.. I’m not sure if that rumor is true.”

Sunghoon nodded after licking his lips.

“So, Jungwon.” He continued, though his next words were nothing less than pure audacity and snide. “What’re you doing here?”

Jungwon slammed his fists onto the table and slowly looked at Sunghoon.

“Well, you see. There’s this thing that continuously causes problems in this specific area. I have to make sure that every problem is resolved before I can finally get rid of that thing. Sound familiar?”

“I truly wish you the best of luck with that. You’ll really need it.”

If ☁️ didn’t know any better, ☁️ would say that they were threatening each other. Deciding it was best not to get involved, the student remained silent for the rest of the period.

As the three stood from their table upon hearing their bell, Sunghoon motioned ☁️ to follow him.

“I have to pay someone another visit.”

Despite wanting to say no, and wanting to stay away from the dead boy standing in front of him, ☁️ was too scared to oppose.

The two walked side by side away from the crowd of other students, down a separate hallway and then up a staircase. Eventually, Sunghoon and ☁️ stood outside of a classroom. After knocking lightly, Sunghoon swung the door open. The lights were off and a small lamp on the teacher’s desk was on, illuminating a corner of the dim room. ☁️ recognized the young teacher- though today, he had bandages wrapped around his neck and arms. The sleeves of his white button up were rolled up above his elbows, displaying the white wraps. He seemed to be talking to another woman, presumably another teacher.

“Could you excuse us, please?” Sunghoon asked, stepping inside of the room.

“Oh, h-hello.”

“Do you have a moment?”

“Sure..” The two teachers glanced at each other, the man clearing his throat shortly after. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind conversing in front of another teacher, right?”

Sunghoon raised an eyebrow. “I do mind. We need to speak in private, Mr. Achigai.”

Exhaling, Mr. Achigai pursued his lips and nodded, signaling the woman to leave the room.

“☁️, why don’t you keep her some company?” Sunghoon looked over his shoulder, his eyes directing ☁️ out of the room as well. The student nodded and stepped out after the teacher, sliding the door shut. ☁️ eventually turned to the woman- who seemed to be middle aged. The two looked at each other for a few seconds before the woman cleared her throat.

“Have you heard the rumors surrounding that boy in there? About why he was missing?” She whispered, it almost sounding like a croak. ☁️ nodded.

“A boy doesn’t just come back to life after getting killed. You should be really careful around him.”

☁️ grimaced at her words, whispering back, “How do you know that he died?”

“When the kids talk, the staff hears about it. An accidental death in the gym isn’t something that can be covered up.”

☁️ took a few second to ponder. “If you knew about it, why hasn’t anybody reported it?”

The woman looked around. “It isn’t in our authority. We can’t just accuse an entire class, and with no evidence but what others are saying.” She paused, looking at the closed door beside the two of them. “We got lucky when someone was able to get the ringleader “arrested,” but something weird happened.”

“It was a lack of evidence, right?” ☁️ interrupted.

“Well, technically. Mr. Achigai knew a student stole some personal documents from him a week or two ago. He thinks that this student was trying to plant evidence on that ringleader, which led to the arrest.”

“And did he mention who did this to him..” Pointing to the neck and arms, ☁️ awaited a response.

“I’m sorry, it’d be inappropriate for me to name names.. but-“

“Rika, right?”

The teacher looked around and shook her head. “I’ve already told you too much.. and you’re a student. Our classes are coming back soon and I need to-”

“Wait, wait.” Holding a hand up to stop the teacher from leaving, ☁️ continued. “Rika was caught burning paper and clothes in the woods. She was trying to remove herself from the situation she was put in, but saved the ringleader in the process.”

“What situation?”

The door was abruptly swung open, and Sunghoon gazed expectantly at ☁️ and the teacher.

“Excuse the intrusion.” Sunghoon said as he faced the woman. The woman nodded, stepping aside to let Sunghoon walk out of the classroom. ☁️ turned around to see Mr. Achigai leaning against his desk, arms folded. Sunghoon motioned ☁️ to walk beside him as the woman slipped back into the classroom. As she did, her eyes met ☁️'s in a silent exchange, the two conveying a message to the other: "Use this information wisely." ☁️ caught up to Sunghoon as a bell rung.

“What did you and Mr…”

“Achigai.”

“..Mr. Achigai talk about?” ☁️ looked up at Sunghoon as students began walking down the hallway in the opposite direction. The crowd split into two as they passed ☁️ and Sunghoon, the two receiving nervous glances as they moved.

“I asked him if he knew the whereabouts of the archery teacher. I also asked if he was aware of what he was doing.”

“What’s he doing?”

Sunghoon didn’t answer until they reached the stairwell, and all of the children had passed.

“Killing students in the forest. Collecting body parts. Following me wherever I go.”

“Hoshino was right, then.”

“Speaking of. What’s your relationship with him? Seems you two have gotten awfully close.” Sunghoon looked over at ☁️ with an expressionless glare.

“I wouldn’t consider him a friend.. more of an acquaintance. Seems I’m on his good side.”

“Yeah, well. He’s not on mine.” Sunghoon mumbled as he began descending the stairs.

“Hey, Sunghoon.” ☁️ called out, making the boy stop in his tracks. He turned around, and locked eyes with ☁️. “Are we going to talk about.. you. And why you’re here?”

“I’m a gift, and you’re luck enough to have received me twice. Lucky you!” Sunghoon laughed manically as he began walking into the hallway. ☁️ flew down the steps and jogged to catch up to him, but he was nowhere to be found.

-

“Sunghoon!”

☁️ lightly jogged to catch Sunghoon down the school’s stone driveway. The boy looked over his shoulder and began walking a bit slower, allowing ☁️ to catch up.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you since you disappeared.”

“Oh, sorry. I forgot that I agreed to meet someone around that time.”

☁️ nodded.

“Ready to talk now?” Sunghoon turned his head to face ☁️, an eyebrow raised.

“Mhm.”

Stepping onto pink petals scattered across the stone beneath them, Sunghoon and ☁️ entered the cherry blossom archway- reviving their daily routine.

“Last week, Rika told us that she was following us home. The wind blew one of the bows in her hair over to our direction, and I picked it up before she could retrieve it. Later that week, I left the bow in Mr. Achigai’s room so that he suspected her of stealing from him. From what we’ve both gathered, my plan was successful. Only one person wears those bows daily, so I knew that Mr. Achigai would figure it out. I told Rika to plant the documents on Hoshino somehow, and I’m sure she would have if I didn’t get impaled by arrows. From what you’ve told me, I think she got scared, and decided to discard everything.”

“I didn’t tell you that..” ☁️ faltered.

“I’ll get to that. But last week, on my phone, I had a message to the local authorities scheduled to be sent. It was targeting Hoshino, and with the planted evidence, and the information I was providing them, he would’ve been taken care of. He’d be in despair instead of having his blood shed.”

“That’s.. a lot.”

“I thought you’d be proud of me for doing such an ethical thing.”

“I am.. but can you get to how you’re here right now?” ☁️ huffed, still curious and confused.

“All that glitters is not gold, but perhaps it’s diamond. Think of me as the diamond.“

“I’m.. still not following.”

“I won’t say anything more, but I will say that I heard everything. When I was gone and you stood on the bridge. I heard it all. That’s the only reason I can actually relay this information to you.”

“So that ghost skeleton was actually you?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t have ears when I spoke, though. And I’m still confused.”

“You’re going to be, and that’s okay. I’m back now. That’s all you have to worry about.”

The two remained silent for a moment.

“Oh, I recall hearing that you’ve met Heeseung and Jungwon, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, you’re not allowed to be near them anymore. No matter the situation.”

☁️ stopped walking with furrowed eyebrows. “What? Why?”

“They’re not normal, and they’re not friendly.” Sunghoon explained, stopping as well.

“Heeseung said he watched over me while you were gone. How’s that not friendly?”

“He only did so because you didn’t pay him mind. Also because he knew I was coming back, and if anything happened to you, then there’d be a lot for him to clean up. Jungwon isn’t friendly, no matter how bubbly his voice or how much he smiles.”

☁️ nodded, and the two continued their stroll.

“So you three know each other? Where from?”

“We’re pretty much brothers. Not literally but figuratively and.. biologically.”

“I think that statement is a bit conflicting..” ☁️ mumbled.

“All you have to know is that they’re not nice. They’re biologically not capable of sympathy or compassion. You cannot be near them.”

“So are you capable of that?”

“I’m not sure.”

“So why can I be near you and not them?”

“Because you’re apart of my purpose, now. I moved here to see what would happen. And then I met you.”

“Oh..” ☁️ sighed with rolled eyes. The two began walking again. “.. And why am I apart of your purpose?”

“Well, you’re the first person who hasn’t fallen for me upon my pursuit. You can’t be manipulated or forced to do anything you don’t want to. It’s intriguing. And I want to know why.”

“That’s how it normally goes.. you can’t force-“

“That’s not what I mean. It’s okay, you won’t understand. You’ll know one day. Or you won’t.”

The two remained silent again as ☁️’s turn came about, causing the duo to slow down to a halt. The student turned to face Sunghoon, but heard the nearby bushes rustling. Noticing ☁️’s change in gaze, Sunghoon quickly turned around and scanned the area.

“I’m taking you home.”

-

“I’m also spending the night.”

“Who said you could?”

“I have a stalker now. That means you have a stalker, too. It’ll be taken care of soon, though.”

“The way you talk is so insane.. and scary.”

With pajamas on, ☁️ walked over from the bathroom to the bed and sat down. Sunghoon pulled the curtains shut as the sky became darker.

“I’m simply being honest. It’s not like anything would happen to you, though.” Sunghoon stated, pointing to himself as a way to say “I’m right here!”

“Right..” ☁️ nodded. “I have a couch you can sleep on. I’ll give you one of my pillows and blankets, too.”

“I’ll take the bed, actually.”

“Um.. no? Go over to the living room. I’ll bring the stuff out.”

“Either I sleep in the bed or we both sleep in the bed.”

☁️ stared at Sunghoon, who was unwaveringly dead set on sleeping on the bed. Sunghoon walked over to where ☁️ sat and crossed his arms.

“Fine dead boy, it’s all yours.”

“The point was to get you to lay down with me.”

Grabbing a blanket and pillow from the bed, ☁️ walked past Sunghoon.

“I know. Have a good night.”

BONUS:

☁️ awoke to being lifted from the couch bridal style. With the blanket still wrapped around ‘em, ☁️ rubbed the eyes and opened them to see Sunghoon.

“What’re you doing?” ☁️ mumbled.

“Taking you to your bed.” Sunghoon whispered back as he softly laid ☁️ onto the bed and draped the covers over ‘em. “Goodnight.”

a/n: 2 months late don’t kill me pls :,)

likes, comments, & reblogs r appreciated ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚