#wish we knew you for longer saya

[campbluelake]

nothing but the void | kyousuke | trial 5.5 | re: oops everyone

“It’s nice to be accepted for who you are, even if who you are is awful. It’s validating in a way that you can’t ever get if you’re putting a facade up.”

“It is, yeah. Even if it was way safer the other way around. Now I gotta like, feel real emotions like an adult and not pretend to be feelin’ somethin’ else. Eugh.”

Kyousuke wishes he could go back to that moment with Saya, as they huddled for warmth and gossiped about any and everything, and take it all back. He should have kept acting, if it would end like this. Everyone else here has this thought that he has been largely genuine – and he’s learned to be.

But Saya, from the beginning, knew that they were mutual liars who were learning to navigate emotions like children. Lies were safer. Lies were comfortable. Through lies, no one could hurt you, because they didn’t know you.

He never should have done this to her.

He never should have let any of them in.

There was a story he was crafting throughout investigation. There was a scene, a stage, that he would stand on and deliver his final performance.

But every question, every word, every breath–

He rests his hands on either side of Eri’s face, and rests his forehead against hers.

“I ain’t cleanin’ up your messes. This happened ‘cause of me. I made this choice, Eri. We always knew it – one of us had to live, no matter what. Sorry for pickin’ who it was.”

He kisses her forehead, and rises to his feet.

For the first time, he faces everyone with his genuine self; a weak, despondent smile, from a man who destroyed everything with his own hands.

[♫♫♫]

“I don’t know why he left his stuff behind. I don’t know why he was there. He just was, and… Eri only acted that way 'cause of me. She carried a knife with her 'cause I told her to. She bought that weapon 'cause I told her to. It’s – what the shrapnel is from. The warhead. It had Russian on it. I looked at it after she bought it.”’

Abbie tells him not to smile, but he still gives her one. It’s the only way he can possibly convey his apologies.

The story he had crafted…

… There’s no point.

Kyousuke Ishikawa will try to feel human, before he no longer is.

“… He was alive when I found him. I… did try to help him, but – really, what d'you do when someone’s been bleedin’ out for a good 15 minutes, right? He just wanted me t'carry him to the tree, so I did, and–”

His fingernails dig into his palm. … Keep it together, if nothing else. Remember what you promised. His eyes drift downwards, before he looks back up at everyone, smile finally gone. His face is resigned.

“Max and I decided on this together. I told him it’d be easier for me if I was the culprit, and he told me to go get the ice pick. All of this – it was all 'cause neither of us wanted Eri, or Saya, or any of you to get hurt.”

Kyousuke grits his teeth. This, he mostly says to Abbie, to Jacky-Bobby, to Eri - the three he’s worried wouldn’t do as expected at a trial - but the words are tense, clear, and carry a very clear threat for everyone.

“Don’t fuck up his final wishes by votin’ for someone else. I don’t give a shit what you think of me, but this is what he picked, too. If you fuck this up, I’ll make sure there’s no waitin’ before our next trial.”

[heavenstrckarchive]

saya had always wondered what had gone wrong between them and occasionally , alex’s former wife . the one that had taken place before her . did they suffer the same fate ? lack of communication until everything fell apart ? no  — if anyone was going to outdo the complicated nature between alex and saya it was going to be his first marriage . at least she hadn’t run off with a friend of his or his god damn brother .... despite that though , none of it made her feel like a better wife . in fact , saya did not feel like she knew how it was to be that in that kind of loving haze that most married couples down in . her own self destructive behavior combined with alex’s inability to communicate had buried them six feet under before their third anniversary had even hit and yet ... she couldn’t get rid of him . ridding alex from her life was fucking impossible and a part of her was angered by the thought , wondering if she would ever be able to move on from that . 

she has half a mind to reach out for him and pull him back into bed , back into her arms where she lays nude entangled in the sheets so comfortably having spent the night basked within the warmth of his arms . a frown settles on her lips and saya tilts her head to eye at him from her laid position . “ what like ... without sex ? like some kind of ... date ? “ she lifts a brow in confusion , perhaps in hope of normalcy that she craved so desperately between them again . “ or like friends ? it’s not like we’ve exactly labeled whatever the hell this is that we are doing here . “ 

status: closed for @heavenstrck with: alex & saya

Marriage has always been complicated to Alexander. And no, it’s not because he’s bad at staying loyal or an asshole. It’s more-or-less, because the two people he married were incredibly complicated people, and so was he. Did he love them? Well, his first wife at first, yes. He loved her for a short-while, but then she ran off with his brother and the love he had for her dissipated. But Saya. Saya. Well - Alexander loved Saya. Still loved Saya. And to be fair, the only reason he wanted a divorce was because he was scared she no longer wanted him or loved him anymore, due to the lack of communication between them. 

It’s odd, but it feels like they talk – though not seriously, or really much — more now than they did the last few months of their marriage. And as much as he’s aware that it’s a dumb idea to continue seeing her, it’s a bit hard to keep away because of the fact that he still loves her and wants her. He just wished he knew what was in her head, because he wanted to talk about whatever the hell was going on between them now. This weird thing, the one where she’ll end up at his apartment or he’ll end up at hers - it’s confusing. It’s a headache, even. But what isn’t a headache, is the fact that he likes to be around his ex-wife, he just doesn’t know how to. Because, due to their lack of communication, he ruined things in the past on his end by serving her their divorce papers, when he should have just tried harder. 

“I know we haven’t done so in a while, but I wanted to know if you wanted to do something out of my apartment and away from yours? It doesn’t have to be something over the top, can it just be a movie? Or getting a coffee?” Alex expressed, after getting out of bed and putting on a shirt. It was probably a stupid idea, since they were divorced, and she might remind him of that. But whatever this was they were doing was also a stupid idea. So, he was attempting something different. Because, maybe, to him, their divorce was a mistake – even with its complications.

[myrulia]

Im a lil shy to ask in my og account so i will do it in anon! Can u do prompt 19? ( i hope im not breaking any of your rules!) your writing is delightful! 💖❤️ lots of love for u!

.｡.:*✧Prompt 19: "Are you falling in love? I have a feeling you are."

.｡.:*✧Warnings: Reverse hashira au, mentions of decapitation

╰╴⇢｡.:*✧A/N: I honestly had lots of fun with this so thank you! You deserve love as well!💜

`` The meeting shall now commence. ``

Muzan Kibutsuji, the leader of the Demon Slayer corpse, announced to the 9 hashira before him. They all kneeled in his presence out of pure respect, their heads hanging low but high enough to the point of seeing him.

`` Today we will discuss an important matter regarding our Moon pillar, `` said the male with such gentleness in his tone.

His words did cause them to raise their heads in confusion, knowing that the Moon pillar, or better known as Michikatsu Tsugikuni, was never one to involve himself too much in situations other than the purging of demons that wished to cause harm to humans. All eyes were on the spiky raven haired man for a split second before Kibutsuji spoke once more.

`` [Y/N], you may come out now. ``

You revealed yourself by coming from the shadows of the building you were inside, stepping onto the engawa just a few feet away from where Kibutsuji stood with his child close by. You fidget with your fingers out of pure nervousness, being in front of the 9 most powerful demon slayers you ever heard of in all your 19 years of living. The fact that they were in their presence alone made you want to poof out of existence.

`` This is [Y/N] [L/N], a very strong demon slayer who I believe has great potential. I wish to raise her ranking in sight of her power, so as of today, and for the rest of her time as a demon slayer, she will be a tsugoku taught under Michikatsu. ``

This brought shock to the pillars who now brought their heads up to get a better look at who you were. But the Ice pillar drew his eyes elsewhere, to Michikatsu. 

`` Our quiet Tsugikuni getting a cute tsugoku? It makes me quite jealous. ``

`` Mind your tongue around Kibutsuji, Douma, `` spoke the Shockwave pillar, or better known as Hakuji Soyama. The male always had a deep resentment towards Douma, and you had yet to learn the extent of it all. Michikatsu, who had been silent the entire time, took the chance to ponder his own thoughts and really process it all. A tsugoku? He did not have time to teach a student when he so desperately desired to get stronger to protect the weak.

Kibutsuji raised a finger to his mouth, causing the pillars to suddenly stop speaking. In your eyes, this was the utmost level of respect one can receive, truly shocking you at how much they devote their lives to this man.

`` Now then, how about we allow [Y/N] to introduce herself? ``

Your head snapped up in Kibutsuji's direction, your eyes wide with shock but all he gave you was a small nod, looking at the pillars again only to see that their eyes had locked onto yours. You cleared your throat before speaking, nervousness taking over your emotions.

`` As you have heard before, my name is [Y/N] [L/N]- but you may call me [Y/N]! My breathing style is the breath of moon, similar to Tsugikuni-san. I hope I meet your expectations of a demon slayer. ``

You bowed your head low in respect, hoping that your introduction was a decent one, but when you heard a hearty laugh erupt from the Ice pillar, worry started to set in that you made a fool of yourself.

`` She really is a cute one. Makes me upset that I do not have my own tsugoku. ``

`` That is because the last time you had a tsugoku, `` started Hantengu. `` You got the poor thing lost. ``

Lifting your head, you are met with the pillars now conversing amongst themselves, semi-arguing about the situation with Douma and his former tsugoku who apparently quit after multiple attempts of asking the latter out. You could not help but but let out a small snicker, bringing the attention back to you.

`` I was the one who made her laugh first!`` Said Douma, feeling triumphant at that moment.

`` No, it was just your stupidity, `` said a young girl with long white locks who got up and spoke with attitude in her tone, although her gaze was now directed to you. 

`` I apologize for them, I'm Ume pleasure to meet you. ``

The young girl bowed, but following right after was everyone else who also bowed in your direction. The whole ordeal painted obvious signs of shock onto your face because you always thought it was the pillars who deserved respect, not the other way around.

`` I apologize for my insolence as well, and my idiotic co-worker here, for our terrible first impression. ``

Hakuji held his head the lowest before raising it again, flashing you an attractive smile that would make any woman swoon immediately. You smiled in return at the 8 of them who decided to formally apologize, but the one who you assumed to be Michikatsu was silent and still. 

`` Now that we are all acquainted with [Y/N], the meeting will now come to a close, you are free to do as you so choose. ``

And with that, Kibutsuji went inside the building with his daughter holding his hand until they were no longer in sight, leaving you with the 9 pillars who went back to conversing with themselves, unlike another woman who you failed to truly notice. She had long brown hair, as well as long bangs covering her eyes and pale skin. You stared until suddenly you felt someone's presence behind you, a tall one at that.

Your small shriek of shock grabbed the attention of everyone still in front of you, looking to see Michikatsu appear behind you in a matter of seconds, a serious expression all over his face. 

`` How do you expect to be a good tsugoku if you scare easily? Always be on guard no matter who you are with. ``

The male left just as quickly as he appeared behind you, your nerves being left rattled and all over the place with how much he startled you. A look of concern was given to you by Hakuji, Douma, and Ume, the only three to really interact with you.

`` Dear [Y/N] got so scared, don't worry I'll protect you from Tsugikuni~ ``

`` More like he needs to be taught some manners, `` spoke Ume as she helped you up, flashing you a beautiful smile. You simply nodded, processing the turn of events. Was that same rude behavior something you'd have to endure during your time as a tsugoku?

                     ◆◇◆◇✧◇◆◇◆

Nightfall came quicker than expected, but it was much anticipated. Tonight would be the night you get to directly study under Michikatsu, following him under the moonlight as you study his movements and learn everything he teaches you.

You put on your haori, as well as sheathing your katana inside your saya and swiftly leaving your household to meet with your sensei at the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters to discuss plans for the night.

You arrived there early and ahead of time so you can make a good first impression, only to see the spiky raven haired male leaning against a tree with his arms crossed impatiently.

`` You finally arrive. Good to see you have the mindset to be early on any occasion, that is the only decent trait you have so far. ``

You approached the male with your eyebrows furrowed, having enough of his attitude, but a voice within you stopped you before you could say anything that would make the man before you have a reason to dislike you.

`` Thank you sens- ``

`` Gratitude will get you nowhere. ``

Michikatsu suddenly leaped into the tree he was previously leaning against, standing on a sturdy branch and looking down at you below him. 

`` Tonight we shall practice your speed if Kibutsuji-sama has acknowledged you. So, try to keep up with me. ``

`` Wh- ``

Before you could voice out your opinion, Michikatsu already leaped from the branch and onto another tree. Your reflexes instantly kick in, causing you to run after him and jump into the tree where he previously was, only for him to leap to another tree. The process continued of you tailing him hopelessly throughout the night until you both were well into the forest beside the headquarters.

You managed to catch up to your teacher, but just before you could land beside him the male landed in a small clearing beside a pond with koi fish swimming about freely in the clear water. He suddenly stopped to catch his breath seeing as how you both have been playing this game of cat and mouse for quite a while.

You landed beside him, catching your own breath and watching as the fish continued to swim freely, the silence taking over between you. 

`` For a fresh student, you are fast, I'll give you that. ``

That was all he said, and even though so little was said, the semi-compliment made you smile with gratitude. Michikatsu side eyed you, looking down at your smaller form since you were distracted by the pond. This gave him a chance to study your physique. You had a smaller build, but he could easily tell that you were strong, after all, Kibutsuji did say you had great potential. You may have been quiet for the most part, but the male knew that you had much more to say than you let on. He truly was perspective. 

`` Tsugikuni-san, why have we stopped at a pond? ``

Your question caught him off guard, so he tore his gaze away from you and went back to the usually stoic and blunt person he is. 

`` To catch our breath, but our break is over. Stay close in pursuit. ``

The training continued again, going on for hours throughout the night with the same cat and mouse game you started with. Leaping from branch to branch at a fast pace staying hot on the pillar's trail. Although, at the end of the day, he has had much more experience than you have, for you struggled to keep up with him this time around.

Michikatsu suddenly stopped on a random branch of a tall tree, his back facing you but his head being turned so he can face you. 

`` This is where we will stop for the night. You started to stagger and slow down 4 trees before. ``

`` No. I can continu- ``

`` As your teacher I order you to stop. ``

You flinched at his sudden command, yet you kneeled down to catch your breath nonetheless. Michikatsu suddenly appeared beside you, the same way he did so when he first pulled off the seemingly difficult trick.

`` That is all, go home, your first night of training is over. ``

                     ◆◇◆◇✧◇◆◇◆

One night turned into two, two turned into thirteen, and thirteen turned into twenty-four. You had been training your physical strength for twenty-four straight nights in a row, refusing to give yourself a break to become the type of tsugoku Michikatsu can be proud of. Despite all your efforts, he still showed little to no sign of a significant reaction that expressed if he was impressed, proud, or disappointed with your abilities.

Tonight, you planned on changing that.

By Kibutsuji himself, you both were assigned to killing a demon who was sighted near a mountain not too far from the headquarters, and you both happily accepted the mission.

So now, here you are, standing beside your teacher at the foot of the mountain where the location was said to have been.

`` Let us deal with this demon quickly so we can return to training. ``

`` Are all we ever going to do is train? `` You spoke up, freely speaking your mind for the first time since you started studying under Michikatsu. This, however, made him turn around in an instant and loom above you, intimidating you fully.

`` Are you complaining? ``

Gulping a thick string of saliva, you shake your head no, which ultimately pleases your teacher. You could have sworn you saw him smirk out of the corner of your eye, but pushing that to the side, you both trek on your adventure up the mountain.

You followed closely behind until you sensed another, foreign presence near you - except it was not just one, it was multiple. You looked up at Michikatsu only to see him completely still, yet his hand gripped onto the handle of his katana. You shifted closer towards him so that you could watch your surroundings from another angle, but before you knew it a demon was now directly in front of you. 

`` [Y/N]! ``

Michikatsu yelled your name, signaling for you to go straight into battle mode. You did so by swinging your katana instantly, only missing its neck by a hair. 

`` There are 5 of them, you take care of 2 and I will do the rest. ``

`` Yes sensei. ``

You followed his plan, following the other two demons who decided to run away in the opposite direction from where you were chasing them, but by jumping and flipping above their head, landing in front of them, you were able to catch the creature off guard and successfully behead it in a timely manner. 

`` Don't think you won just yet girly- ``

Another demon tried to surprise you from behind, but it was too late for it as well, because you already swung your katana and successfully decapitating it as well, leaving it to wither away on the ground just as the other did. 

`` Both down. ``

With your success, you internally celebrated as you ran throughout the forest in search of your teacher, only to hear the swinging of a blade not too far from you. Following that sound, you see that the three demons he followed after ganged up on him and cornered him. You arrived just in time, seeing as how one of them was just about to attack Michikatsu when he was off guard and distracted by the other 2.

`` Breath of moon, first form: dark moon, evening palace. ``

You swung your katana in the direction of the demon's neck, being only able to sever halfway through before it dodged and managed to land an attack onto your teacher's abdomen, ripping his uniform and leaving bloody claw marks on his chest. The male gritted his teeth in slight pain, but not before he got rid of the other 2 demons in one single blow, leaving you truly astonished at his power level.

Although you could not stay distracted for long in view of the fact that the demon you tried to kill now had its attention on you, healing its neck at a visibly slow pace.

`` You got in the way, so now you'll take his place of death! ``

`` I think otherwise!, `` you shouted in return, using the second form of moon breathing, pearl flower moon-gazing that successfully sliced the demon's body into multiple pieces, including his head. It fell onto the ground and started the process of withering. With that, you ran to Michikatsu who covered the scars on his chest with his hand, sheathing his blade into his saya with the other. You kneeled down, ripping off a piece of your uniform and using that to stop the bleeding instead.

`` As a pillar I should deal with this mysel- ``

`` Stop acting all high and mighty. You are clearly injured so just let me help you. ``

Your stern tone made Michikatsu stop instantly, going silent instead and moving his hand out the way so you could tend to his needs. The fabric you ripped off only did so much, so helping the raven haired male stand up slowly, you drape his arm over your shoulder and escort him to your house, which was surprisingly not that far from where your mission just was.

Entering your home, you immediately set Michikatsu onto your futon, grabbing his hand and placing it onto his chest whilst still keeping that serious gaze in your eyes. The whole ordeal left him in utter shock that he was now in your home and in your care. He was never really one to speak his mind, so whenever he had a strong emotion of some sort it always showed on his face.

`` Keep that on your scars while I prepare everything I need to clean them. You're going to have to remove your uniform top for this. ``

Your words left him in even bigger shock, so much so that he was frozen for a good few seconds until he seemingly began slipping his haori off and unbuttoning the shirt of his uniform. He removed it with ease, now being bare enough for you to clean his wounds. Before Michikatsu, you never would have had the courage to speak up to him the way you did, but now with him being injured since you were too insolent to not kill the demon right away, you felt like you had to take responsibility.

Silently, you moved over to the male who sat bare before you, moving his hand out of your way so you could wipe away any blood that seeped anywhere else onto his body and in between the grooves of his abs. Your hand brushed against his skin ever so slightly, causing him to tense up in response.

`` Sorry if I hurt you in advance, `` you said, your voice cutting through the silence. He merely hummed in response, watching you work as he leaned back to get a better view. Michikatsu himself was appalled at how good you were at treating wounds, allowing you to actually do something he would never let anyone else do. But, over the course of your training, he had taken a liking to you. 

`` Have you done this before? ``

Both of your gazes met at a close proximity before you tore yours away in slight embarrassment, continuing the process of cleaning his scars. 

`` I have, yes. Why do you ask? ``

`` You seem to be rather skilled, that's all. ``

You finally finished cleaning his scars, setting down the wet cloth you used to do so, grabbing the bandages you had prepared and began wrapping them around his upper body, covering the scars effectively thus completing your task. Your skin had made contact so much that you were not able to discern when your face slowly began to heat up each time it did, but Michikatsu on the other hand had a pretty good view of your concentrated yet flustered expression.

You shifted to get up from your sitting position, only to feel a hand grab onto your wrist and pull you back down. You turn your head in disbelief, only to see that your noses were inches away from each other at the chain of events.

`` Thank you, [Y/N]. I mean it. ``

`` Well- you're welcome sensei… ``

Your bashful expression could not be hidden this time, and neither could Michikatsu's. The ends of his ears turned a bright red, thus letting you go at the realization of this because he was all too aware of his own emotions.

Hurriedly, you put your cleaning supplies away, moving so fast that you nearly tripped yourself. You could not help how you felt in that moment. Your emotions were all over the place and the only reason was because of him. Deep down you thought that yes he was attractive but his attitude was a bother. Even then, you still suppressed those feelings.

But not tonight.

`` Be careful, you might hurt yourself. There is no rush. ``

`` I apologize.. I am not used to having guests, my teacher being one no less. ``

He then suddenly patted the space beside him, signaling for you to sit down which you followed obediently, planting your hands in your lap and keeping keeping gaze low so as to not make eye contact. 

`` Will you look at me? You seem to be heating up by the passing second. ``

`` It could just be your inagination..- ``

A finger was brought to your chin, tilting it to the side and upwards to examine your face at a better angle, although the tip of your noses brushed against each other at the close proximity. You had to admit, with the moon light shining through your window and the way the luminosity shone on Michikatsu's features, it made him look ten times more attractive than he already did. 

`` Are you falling in love? I have a feeling you are. ``

You were ultimately taken aback by his sudden boldness even though he has mentioned that expressing how he feels just was not his thing. Your eyes widened ever so slightly while his expression stayed the same. Eyes partially lidded, mouth parted as his gaze glanced from your own irises to your lips. Your lips quivered to say something until you moved forward.

`` What if I say yes? What will you do about it. ``

`` Personally, I believe actions speak louder than words so.. ``

Just like that, you felt Michikatsu's lips press against your own yet pull away just as quickly, staring into your eyes once again until this time you moved forward, pressing your softer ones against his. The eagerness you felt in that moment showed with how you kept contact much longer than he previously did, but there were no complaints from neither of you. 

A large hand moved to the small of your back, hesitantly pulling you in closer contact with his bare chest until yours was leaning into his. Pulling away at the close contact, the redness at the end of his ears spread to his cheeks just barely, and this time you visibly saw an expression other than the one he usually sports.

`` So I take that as a yes? ``

`` It was most definitely a yes Michikatsu. ``

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

[frogecstacy]

Stargazing with Lucifer Chapter 2/2

Hey y’all I hope you like this story. It took longer than expected to write so I am sorry about that but here it is. If you liked it please leave a like.

Chapter 2

It was now morning and Lucifer was awakening from his slumber, normally feeling the warm embrace of your body heat you weren’t there to wish him good morning. Remembering the argument you had with him last night made him look forward to your kiss and apology at breakfast. He went to go freshen up and wait for you at the table but you never came. 

The brothers said you had gone to walk to school with Luke, Simeon, and Solomon. This seemed to aggravate Lucifer and the mood set at the table had dropped drastically. None of the brothers seemed to want to talk about the events of what happened last night, except one. Belphie trying to get on Lucifer’s nerves had said you looked pretty down and that your eyes were puffy. This made Lucifer worry a little, had you gotten no sleep as well. This comment on your behalf was not making the chat at the table any brighter so Beel tried to change the subject asking “Hey did anyone set up that picnic area in the planetarium yesterday?” They all shook their heads in saying that they hadn't set it up. If none of the brothers had done it then it had to be MC. Why did all his thoughts have to revolve around MC. Had Lucifer fallen so deeply in love that he wasn’t aware she had him wrapped around their finger. He already missed her touch, how would he go the rest of the day not trying to give in to this petty fight of theirs. 

While the six other demons looked at their older brother, he quickly erased the negative emotion on his face and said “What are you looking at, school starts soon.” Everyone scrambling to escape Lucifer’s gaze he pulled Mammon aside. “Gah, what is it Lucifer? I haven’t even done anything yet.” He quickly shut up as he saw Lucifer’s worrisome face “Was MC really that upset last night?” Lucifer asks this in a shaky breath. The mere thought of you crying over him made him push away his pride and want to put you first. His love. His life. His beloved MC.

“Mammon, do you think you could keep MC busy for about 3 hours after RAD.” Lucifer now asking with a plan and an apology comes to mind. “I could for a price or Gah-” Mammon was quickly shut up with a flick to the back of his head “alright, alright I’ll watch MC.” Lucifer now happy already looking forward to the smile that would be on your face in a couple hours. “Tell MC to go to the planetarium after the 3 hours are up okay.” “Okay, now if you’ll excuse me I have to get to class or could this be a free pass.” Mammon now having a cheeky smile. “Get to school Mammon!”

Lucifer now planning your relaxing evening. First he would be making you a dinner and serving it in the planetarium with candles and a beautiful dinner setting, after that he will then dance with you. And for the finale he will do something so much better than stargazing, he will show you the stars up close no telescope could compare. Flying. He hadn’t stretched his wings in a while but for you he would make the exception. For you he would make any exception, who would have thought the Avatar of Pride would be so madly in love with a mere human. If you asked for a star he would try even if it killed him to see that beautiful smile of yours. 

(Sorry if when I switch POV’s it’s confusing but we are now going to MC’s POV)

RAD was a blur as you had a crap night, no breakfast as you didn’t want to face Lucifer’s harsh punishment that you were sure would come sooner or later. However most of all you missed him last night, in the morning hell you even miss now. Now having thought over the situation maybe you didn’t read the signs and should’ve taken a hint that Lucifer wasn’t in the mood. The insecurities still seeping in through your heart, does he truly think I am needy and annoying? Does he love me or was he waiting to leave and I just happened to end the process faster? All these negative emotions clouding your right of judgement until you hear “Hey! Human, you are coming out with me for a while.” Mammon now declaring his presence you are looking at him lost “Didja hear me, The Great Mammon told you we’re going out.” “Sorry Mammon I think I am just going to go home, I’m tired and I want to go back to bed.” Mammon now frantically trying to find an excuse to keep you around. If the plan failed his weekend would be spent being upside down from the staircase. “Come on MC, you want to go home? Why, Lucifer is there. You're bound to get that punishment. Why don’t you live a little and come with me.” The thought of Lucifer’s disappointing face made your spine tingle, maybe staying out for a little with Mammon wouldn’t be that bad.

You were wrong, Mammon had managed to drag you to every thrift shop and boutique in the DevilDom looking for treasures. It had been almost 3 hours and he certainly was taking his time.

(Quick headcanon I think Mammon would be great at thrift shopping because I do it myself and all the valuable treasures and finds you can get are amazing. Mammon would be like those depop sellers)

Now whining to Mammon “Mammon, can we please go. My legs hurt and now I’m not even your shopping buddy. I'm just here to golf your bags. We’ve been shopping for almost 3 hours now, don't you think it’s time to head home?” Mammon now frantically panicking, he had lost track of time and was hurrying you back to the House of Lamentation. “Ah come one MC put those human legs to some use, we have to hurry we’re about to be late.” “Late? Late for what?” now trying to keep up with Mammon’s step. “I have to be somewhere and I have to drop you off at the house. Alright no more questions, just do what I say.” Now even more confused you just going along with it. This isn’t the first time Mammon has acted strange. 

Finally arriving at the House of Lamentation Mammon takes the bags you were holding for him and rushes you to the planetarium. “Mammon why are we at the doors of the planetarium, I didn’t leave anything in there.” You fully knew you left the picnic set and didn’t want to be reminded of your rejection. “Just go in there would ya. I have to go so bye. Make sure you go in there.” 

After just being left there standing at the doors you finally decide to open them. The sight you saw caused you to gasp. A beautiful table with a dinner that reminded you that you hadn’t eaten anything as you skipped breakfast. All around the room were candles and on the table an enclosed flower. One that looked similar to the one Lucifer had gotten you for Christmas. At the thought of Lucifer you heard someone’s voice from behind you. “Hello MC” behind you was Lucifer the Avatar of Pride holding a bouquet of roses and wearing an apologetic face. “Listen MC I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. I was tired and I wasn’t listening to what you were saying so I didn’t know the whole evening you had enjoyed.” You wanted to forgive him, but the words of neediness and annoying still hung in the air for you. Now turning to him fully, you are holding yourself with your arms, Lucifer starts to approach you but you step back. Lucifer now worrying even more, had he frightened you so much that you thought he would hurt you. Had he been that harsh? “MC please, I’ve missed you. I need to feel you again. I’m terribly sorry for what I said ``''Do you even remember what you said?” You now blurt out your thoughts in a shaky voice. Lucifer now answers hesitantly as he doesn’t want to worsen the situation “Not quite my dear but I take back whatever I said.” “You can’t just take back your words Lucifer! You called me needy and annoying! Do you know how much that hurts? My whole life people have told all I am is needy and annoying and hearing it from you made it all the worse. You never told me any of the crap but I guess you never expressed your true thoughts.” Lucifer now dropping the bouquet of flowers and rushing to wipe the tears that have started to fall from your eyes. 

Believe it or not in that moment the Avatar of Pride was panicking, the strong, mighty, calm and collected brother was in a panic over a human’s state of emotional stress. Who would have thought, certainly not Lucifer. Not knowing how to react he just kisses you. He pours all the feelings he has for you, every thought of you, every single meaning he has felt for you into that kiss because words could never describe your relationship. Art could never show how much he cared for you. Hell if he could he would ask Leanardo da Vinci or Michelangelo to paint the love you share. 

You are no longer trying to get out of his grasp, you have your hands entangled in his hair and wishing the moment would never end as it was the best kiss you’ve ever received. Now letting go for air you look into his glossy eyes and Lucifer saya “MC I didn’t mean any of that and if I had known you had gone through that pain in the human world I would’ve come and kept you to myself all those years ago.” pausing to see if there was still any anger in your eyes he said “I love you.”

Being held in Lucifer’s arms was always something you loved but it felt even better as he held you tenderly, holding you as if he let you go you would walk out on him. “I love you to Luci. I understand you are busy with work but remember to take a break and take care of yourself for once. Ok?” “Will do MC, now let’s not waste any time or else our dinner will get cold.” Now looking over to your right and you see the beautiful meal still warm waiting for you. At the thought of food your stomach grumbles Lucifer chuckles “I’m guessing Mammon never took you out to anything?” Looking away shyly now you make your way over to the dinner table. And on the plate was your favourite. Not wanting to waste anytime you wait for Lucifer to sit and dig in. You ate like you hadn’t in days but Lucifer only watched with admiration and love. “Haha, here have some of mine.” Lucifer now holding his fork up to you. You were shocked to say the least, Lucifer never fed you but who were you to decline him. You took the bite with a smile on your face. 

The rest of dinner was spent chatting and talking about how much you missed each other even though it was only for a day.

(Oh to be sickly in love with Lucifer)

After dinner Lucifer had gotten up and he reached his hand out to you. Now grasping his hand he pulled you up and held you by your waist and pressed your bodies together. As soon as you two start swaying music plays and now you’re dancing. The feeling of Lucifer’s hand on your lower back makes you tingle and your mind go fuzzy but you start swaying in circles to the music. You have never danced with Lucifer properly or formally so this felt magical and meaningful, the tap of your footsteps on the marble and the feeling of Lucifer leading the dance. This feeling new, something amazing. You felt light as a feather and your imagination made you feel like you were in a ball. A masquerade ball dancing with the man across the room. As the song started to speed up as did you. Now swaying up and down in circles, feet sink, you had a huge grin plastered on your face. Looking up at Lucifer you see him looking so happy, his hand on your waist tightening and his grasp on your hand tender. “Thank you Lucifer, I know how much time this must have taken out of your day. I really appreciate it.” your love and appreciation for him grew as you now thought that's why Mammon had dragged you out of the house.  “Anything for you my love.” Lucifer now whispering so you could hear. This image, this moment felt like you were the only people left dancing on top of the world. As the music starts to slow so does your dancing. When the music comes to a stop, it’s only you and Lucifer standing. Who would have thought that love would find you this way.

And yet your evening wasn’t over yet. Now you thought it was time to retire for the night, Lucifer quickly grabbed your hand and when you turned around, there he was in his Demon form. Standing there looking so majestic, his wings fluttering open, his horns coming out and the beautiful mark on his forehead. 

(I am an utter simp for Lucifer’s demon form)

“My dear I still have one surprise left for you.” Lucifer now holds his hand out to you once more. “Oh really, you have already done so much for me, what else could you possibly have in store?” Taking his hand, you are suddenly yanked towards Lucifer and he is picking you up in bridal style. “Remember how you wanted to stargaze? Well who needs a telescope when we go see the stars ourselves.” Letting you get comfortable in his arms he asks “Are you ready?” Looking up you can’t contain your excitement so you squeal “Yes!” 

Lucifer takes off in one swift jump and suddenly you are soaring through the sky. Going higher and higher as each second passes by. As the sky got closer and the Devildom got further you looked down and the Devildom looked like the night sky now. All the cities and streets are shining beautifully. You never would have thought that demons would have such civilised lives and live almost like humans. You were certainly grateful for the kidnapping of your exchange program. As you slowly came to halt in the air, Lucifer’s wings still flapping slowly and silently. “This is as high as I can take you.” Lucifer says as he hopes this is okay. “This is gorgeous Lucifer, I wish I could see the sky this close in the human world.” your voice barely being able to hold your excitement. “Well maybe we can, I think a vacation is deserved soon. I can also use all those unused vacation days from the last 100 years.” You and Lucifer chuckle. “Yeah that sounds nice Luci” Now just floating in the sky basking in each other’s presence, Lucifer is about to open his mouth but you say “Could we stay like this just for a little longer?”

Lucifer is now holding you and hums as a sign of approval, Lucifer was thinking back to your fight and how reckless he was with his words. He vowed to himself now to be more careful in what he says and always be grateful for your love. As midnight came closer and closer Lucifer finally suggested “We should go back now, I’m sure my brother will ask where we went in the morning.” “Yeah you’re right.” A huge yawn now escaping your lips. 

Once you guys reach the House of Lamentation you guys are very quick to get ready for bed and cuddle. After you guys are ready, you get in bed and Lucifer grabs your body from behind and pulls you against his chest. He starts kissing up from your shoulder to your earlobe giving praise to you and saying how amazing you are. He then admits that last night he slept horribly and never wants that to happen again. 

“I love you MC.”

“I love you Lucifer, goodnight”

With a sweet kiss to the forehead you both fall asleep. 

[onceuponaloonatic]

“Beach!” Saya yelled as she practically sprinted out of the car. 

“Saya no!” Mina yelled as she also got out. It had been a long car ride, and Saya was seven, so it made sense she was desperate to get out, but Mina had tried to tell her not to run off already. She caught up to the child and picked her up, holding the squirming child in her arms. Saya was almost too big for being picked up, so it was a bit awkward to hold her, and she tried to use that to her advantage to run off towards the ocean. “Ka-san.” Saya whined. “You promised to help carry stuff from the car, remember Saya?” Mina asked, putting Saya down but keeping a firm grip on her arm to keep her tethered. 

“Fine.” Saya whined dramatically. “Stop being such a drama queen Saya.” Sai nodded as she got out of the car, stretching her legs. She had been trapped in a car with Saya and Saki for hours and she was just about done with Saya. Saki had been fairly quiet the entire time, playing mario kart with Sai on their Switches. Saya had joined at first, but had quickly gotten bored and began making it the rest of their problem. Sai almost wished she had been in the other car with Sae and Nico, but at the same time she knew the carsickness car was probably worse than putting up with Saya’s whining about being bored. 

“We’ve been in the car forever Unnie, I just want to get in the ocean already.” Saya pouted, following Mina to the back of the car. Saki was already there, still engaged in a mario kart race as she stood. Mina popped the trunk and handed Saya a small bag full of snacks before turning to Sai. “Can you carry something kinda big Sai?” Mina asked, the twelve year old nodding. “Of course Ka-san. I’m not a baby like these two.” “We’re not babies.” Saya pouted. “You are to me.” Sai giggled. “Saki as fun as mario kart is I need your help kiddo.” Mina turned to Saki, who sighed and put her game down. “How much further are Mom and Mama?” Sai asked as Mina put a bag with some towels in Saki’s arms. “They are already here.” Mina explained, grabbing a couple bags for her to carry. She shut the trunk and then led the kids towards the beach. “Really? How did they beat us? Mama said she was going to go slowly for Sae-chan?” Saya asked, adjusting the bag she was carrying. “We ended up taking a long time at lunch. Sae decided to not eat until we got here so she wouldn’t throw up.” Mina explained, looking around for her wives. Sana and Tzuyu had definitely gotten the easier choice. Sure Sae and Nico both got car sick, but it was better than Saya asking over and over again if they were there yet. “She’s probably pretty hungry so let’s find your Mom and Mama.” “Okay!” Saya nodded eagerly, looking around.

“Found them!” Saki yelled out when she spotted them, Mina smiling and leading them over. Sae was passed out on a beach towel, little white streaks of sunscreen still on her face as she laid in the sun. Nico was in Sana’s lap, being held by her mother while Sana attempted to read. Tzuyu was standing off to the side with Chaeyoung and Dahyun. 

“Ai Unnie!” Saya yelled when she saw Ai, throwing the snacks down and running towards Ai, who was in the shallow part of the water with most of the other kids. “Eunji!” Saki yelled when she saw her, getting her attention from where she was building a sandcastle with Daehyung. “Ka-san can I go play with Eunji?” “Sure.” Mina nodded, watching Saki run off.  Sai tossed the lawn chair she was holding down, going over to Sae and poking her. “Hey Sai.” Tzuyu smiled at Sai when she saw her. “How long has Sae been like this?” Sai asked, poking Sae again and getting no response. “Since we got here.” Tzuyu laughed. “You know she’s never liked the ocean.” “Hm…” Sana looked up when she heard Sai’s voice and smiled. “Hi Sai-chan! Hey Mitang.” Sana smiled at the two. “How was the drive?” She asked Mina as Mina moved to sit next to her on her towel. “Long.” Mina sighed. “Auntie Dahyun where is Kihyun?” Sai looked up at Dahyun, who was holding Haeun. “He’s playing with Ai in the water.” Sai nodded at the answer and ran off. “Hey Mina Unnie.” Chaeyoung greeted. “Rough drive?” Chaeyoung giggled at the other alpha’s demeanor. “Saya was bored and made it everyone's problem.” Mina sighed. “She always does that but it can be a lot when she has Saki and Sai to argue with.” “Well at least you guys got here right?” Sana giggled. “Where did you stop for lunch?” “Saya really wanted Hamburgers so we got that.” Mina explained, wrapping one arm around Sana and looking at Nico. “What about for you guys?” “It wasn’t bad. Haeun did have a little meltdown about halfway here so we had to stop for a bit but otherwise it was fine.” Dahyun explained. “Mina Unnie do you want a drink?” “Sure, what do you guys have?” Mina asked. “We have some water. Momo Unnie and Jihyo Unnie just went off to buy some more drinks and some food for the barbecue tonight.” Dahyun moved to get Mina a water. She tossed it to Mina, who happily accepted it. “Where’s Haeun?” “She went with Momo Unnie and Jihyo Unnie. She refused to be separated from Hina.” Chaeyoung explained. “Have you heard from Nayeon Unnie and Jeongyeon Unnie?” “No, but knowing them they are probably just running late.” Mina giggled. “Mom! Eunji and Saki are taking over my Sandcastle!” Daehyung yelled. “We are not!” “Should we go deal with that?” Tzuyu turned to Dahyun, putting her water bottle down on a towel. “Yeah.” Dahyun sighed. “We’ll be back.” Once they were gone Mina turned to Sana and Nico, watching Nico. “How was Nico?” “She was pretty good. She’s been eyeing the sand for a while but I’m sure it looks weird considering it’s the first time she’s seen it.” Sana giggled, closing her book. 

“I’ll take her for a bit if you need a break.” Mina offered.

“It’s okay. We’re both good here.” Sana giggled. “Hey Mina Unnie I think Saya is trying to run out into the water.” Chaeyoung spoke up, noticing the way Saya was getting deeper and deeper. “Saya!” Mina sighed, chasing after her before she got into the water too deep. Sana giggled as she watched her wife chase after Saya. It seemed her energy was just getting more and more abundant as she got older. 

“Saya has always been an energetic one.” Chaeyoung giggled, looking over to where Tzuyu and Dahyun were. It had seemed they got roped into helping the kids. “Oh yeah, especially now that it’s summer and she doesn’t have school to tire her out.” Sana giggled, adjusting Nico as the baby tried to reach for her necklace. “Haeun is similar. She may only be one and a half but she’s a ball of energy.” Chaeyoung laughed, leaning back from how she was sitting. “Dahyun’s mom says Dahyun was the same way at that age.” “I can actually imagine that perfectly. I bet little Dahyun was pretty cute.” Sana laughed. “She was. Haeun looks a lot like Dahyun did. It’s almost scary sometimes. When I told her that though she said she felt the same way with me and Dae.” Chaeyoung took a sip of her water. “Yeah we felt that way with Mina and the triplets and Sai. Well, Sae and Saya at least. Saki looks like her Mama. I think Nico looks a lot like Tzuyu, but she thinks Nico looks like me.”  Nico looked up at Sana at the mention of her name. “I think I agree with Tzu on that one. Nico does look a lot like you.” Chaeyoung smiled at Nico when the baby looked over at her. She waved at Nico’s stare, smiling at the little smile Nico gave her. “You think?” Sana giggled. “Of course.”

xx 

When Momo and Jihyo got back, Nico was no longer interested in being still in Sana’s arms. She went over to the large towel Jihyo had set out for the little ones and crawled around with Haeun and Hina, trying her best to keep up with the older babies. About that time, Saki and Eunji both began asking their parents obsessively to play beach volleyball with them. Sana and Dahyun manage to get out of it by saying they need to watch the little ones and keep an eye out for a text from Nayeon and Jeongyeon. “Mommy you are hitting it wrong.” Momo was very amused by the look on Eunji’s face. They had started playing volleyball less than a year ago, but Saki and Eunji already were better than most of the adults playing, and they were telling them. “You aren’t supposed to hit it like that.”

“You too Mama. You are hitting it wrong.” Saki told Tzuyu. Saki and Eunji were on different teams, as the others had determined that was the only thing that was fair. You are supposed to hit it like this.” “Oh sorry Saki.” Tzuyu couldn’t help the giggle from leaving her lips. Saki looked so cute like that. “I’ll hit it like that.” “Saki serve it already.” Saya rolled her eyes. “Fine!” xx 

“You guys finally made it.” Sana giggled when she saw Jeongyeon and Nayeon. Hyunjun and Seojun had run off in the direction of the volleyball game going on while Yuna held Jeongyeon’s hand, a popsicle in her other hand. 

“Sorry it took a while.” Jeongyeon sighed. “We had to make a lot of stops.” “It’s not my fault.” Nayeon defended. “Yuna why don’t you go join the others?” “No.” Yuna nodded, sitting next to Sae, how was still asleep. “Volleyball hurts my arms, plus Oppas are both so competitive.” “Okay sweetie.” Jeongyeon giggled when Seojun waved her over. Nayeon decided to stay behind and unpack the stuff they got. “My babies!” Nayeon smiled when she saw the little ones. She picked up Haeun, how immediately giggled and latched onto Nayeon. “Hi Haeunie. Have you been good?” 

“She’s been a little bit of a troublemaker recently.” Dahyun giggled. “Hina has been too from what I hear.” “Oh, the boys were like that at age as well.” Nayeon giggled, noticing how Hina wobbled over to her. Nico was still playing with a baby toy. “You three look so cute in your little swimsuits. Who's Auntie Nayeon’s favorite girls?” “You aren’t allowed to kidnap them, you know that right?” Dahyun joked. “I know.” Nayeon sighed dramatically. “Oh I forgot, I brought booze.” “Really Unnie?” Dahyun giggled. “Of course.” Nayeon looked up at the game of volleyball going. Considering the large age range the net was pretty low, but it was still pretty intense. “Alphas. So competitive.” Nayeon muttered.

“While Momo is keeping up with them pretty well.” Sana giggled. “She is super competitive for an omega. She always has been.” “Yeah especially since her and Jihyo are on opposite teams.” Dahyun pointed out. “Kihyun is like that too. A competitive omega.” “He is.” Sana giggled. “He’s cute.” “I know. He tells me he is a little intimidated being the only omega kid though.” Dahyun commented. “He hopes Sai is going to be an omega.” “She won’t.” Sana pointed out, looking at her daughter spike the ball. “She is definitely going to be an alpha.” “Yeah.” Dahyun giggled. “But he can hope, right?” “Right. Maybe some of the younger ones will be an omega.” Sana giggled. “I have a feeling this one will be.” Sana grabbed Nico and peppered kisses on her hairline. “She’s so needy and adorable. I love her so much.” “We love them all so much.”

[milasartblog]

Brother's little concern

Everyone has their daily routine that seemed like well organized and it will be like this every time. While humans tend to change their schedule due to different obstacles more often, angels are mostly stick to their routines and almost don't change it. Same for archangels, like Raphael, one of the great captains of angel soldiers. Despite him having a family, he always tries to spend some time for training, even made a schedule for it. Some time for family, and some time for training. His precious wife, Rachel, learnt his daily routine in a short period of time, so much that even little changes could be a signal for her that something happened. Just like today. She was in the kitchen, cooking lunch for a family. Arthur meanwhile was teaching Saya how to walk, a task that was more difficult than he expected.

Arthur: You're doing great, sister. Step by step.

Saya made happy noises as she held her borther's hands while trying to walk. It looked clumsy and funny, but Arthur didn't plan to give up. Rachel looked at the clock and then at the door.

Rachel: I wonder what made him stay at the training room for that long time. Hope nothing serious. Knowing how some angels react to Michael's choice, and still can't let it go, they probably disturb my husband again. Plus, sir Gabriel seems like not himself......

She looked down, but quickly looked at her children after hearing a noise of someone falling on the floor. It was Saya, who got stumbled and lost a balance. Arthur prepared just in case if she was about to cry, but surprisingly, it wasn't the case and he sighed with relief. Saya only giggled happily, clapping her tiny hands as Rachel smiled. Suddenly they heard a familiar knock on the door. Rachel could recognize it anywhere. As she went to open the door, Arthur, picking up Saya and carrying her, followed her to greet their father.

Rachel: Hello, honey. Welcome back home.

Raphael: Hey, dear. Thank you. Sorry, I got too distracted by training that almost forgot about time.

They hugged each other as Raphael looked into Rachel's eyes.

Rachel: It's okay, I just thought that something seriously happened.

Arthur: Hi, father!

Raphael: Oh, hello, my brave knight and precious princess!

With smile he hugged his children as picked them up. Saya held her father tightly as Raphael nuzzled his children's noses.

Arthur: How did the training go?

Raphael: Same as usual, just a bit longer.

Arthur: Why?

Raphael: I...needed to fix the targets. Someone forgot to do it after training.

Arthur: But are angels supposed to do it? Why not use new ones?

Raphael: In order to not waste too much materials.

Arthur: Oh, okay.

As they were talking about today, they walked to the kitchen. Despite the bright smile Raphael gave to his children, Rachel felt that something disturbed her husband. When he put children back to the ground, everyone began to set the table for lunch. What can be good than a warm rich soup after training. During lunch time, Arthur told his father about his little success of teaching Saya how to walk. Raphael smiled and patted his son's head, saying that he did a great job. After lunch time, children went to their room to play while Raphael and Rachel stayed in the kitchen, washing and drying dishes.

Rachel: Is something wrong, dear?

Raphael: What are you talking about?

Rachel: You came back home later than usual, so I thought that maybe some angels disturbed you again with that question.

Raphael: Oh, no no, it didn't happen, fortunately. I let them know that if it was my brother's choice, so be it.

Rachel: I mean, I was so stunned too when I heard about it, but with time I accepted it.

Raphael: Because you're wise and beautiful woman.

He kissed gently her cheek as she smiled.

Rachel: And you're smart and handsome man.

Raphael: Thank you, dear. The thing is...I noticed the weird behavior of Gabriel.

Rachel: Really?

Raphael: Yeah. He spends more time with Michael. Don't get me wrong, it's great thing. But seeing him suddenly getting interested in human culture, knowing that he would never even touch the human weird things, umm, how they call it.....

Rachel: You're worried that Gabriel plans something?

Raphael: Not sure. He usually tries to avoid such stuff.

Rachel: Maybe he just changed his view? Like Nicole did with demons.

Raphael: I wish to think so. But my heart tells me otherwise. Even if he did, it would take much time.

He looked down sadly at a plate he was holding to dry. A couple of minutes of silence accompanied the couple till Rachel spoke with a sigh.

Rachel: You worry that Gabriel is not like you used to know, right?

Raphael: Yeah....kinda. I mean, what could possibly made him be like this.

He dried the plate he held and put it back on its place.

Rachel: He is still your brother, honey. Same strict archangel we know. Even if something really changes in him, I'm sure that his strictness won't disappear. After all, he is one of the law abiding angel we know. Archangel we know and love.

Raphael: Yeah, I know....

They finished with the last plate as Raphael thought for a moment. Rachel knew that look and suggested him a solution, putting her hand on hid shoulder.

Rachel: If you feel like to talk with him now, it's okay. Then your concern will go away.

Raphael: Not now, dear. He is doing his duty.

Rachel: Maybe after it? Talk like brothers do.

Raphael: ...Yeah, you're right. Still, in my plans there was a paragraph "Spend time with family". And I tried my best not to miss it.

He nuzzled Rachel's nose with gentle smile as Rachel smiled too and nuzzled him back.

Rachel: Okay, if you say so. Just remember that he is still your brother no matter what. Like Michael.

Raphael: You're right, honey. It's just, I always feel like something is odd and it needs to be solved.

Rachel: You just didn't get used to sudden changes in Heaven. Well, me too, but Nicole taught me once to accept changes slowly and surely.

Raphael: Yeah, she is professional at it. Well, shall we go and check our children?

Rachel: Sure.

With the smile they finished with dishes and went to children's room where Arthur was drawing while Saya was watching him doing it. They noticed that parents came to their room as he tried to cover his drawing, saying that it's a surprise. Parents giggled kindly as they appologized for disturbing the artist and asked if it's okay to enter. Arthur thought for a moment and agreed under the condition of them not peeping. With such agreement, the rest of the time they spent together, like what most of the families do.

------------------

And that's another story for our universe^^ And the first one in this year XD Maybe not super possitive or so, but I felt a need to give some attention to this family too X) Hope you will like it^^

Raphael, Rachel, Arthur and Saya belong to @wildstarfan and @milasartblog (both me)

Okaria et Feria belongs to @wildstarfan and @captainthane

[onefineday20]

Ally [ Tanya X Mubaek ]

(A/N) : this is also available on my wattpad under the same u/n.

************

Anxious thoughts came crowding into my mind, no one is on my side here. I needed an ally who can keep taps on tagon, preferably someone already on his side. I tapped my feet under the table, raking my brain for answers. Who would be willing to betray tagon and join my side? The first name that flashed in my mind was none other than “saya". I sighed, saya is no better than tagon, they're tarred with the same brush, after all he's “the devil's spawn". I can't trust saya, he never takes sides unless there's something in it for him, he's always running after his own benefits. He didn’t hesitate to kidnap my people as hostages before, and he'd do it again if given the chance. I can't look at him without attributing his cruelty and apathy to eunseom. Oh eunseom, I wish you were here. I choked back a sob, now is not the time to drown in a stream of my own sorrows, I need to pull myself together and think rationally.

I walked into the balcony, getting some fresh air might help me gather my thoughts. I tightened my hands around the icy railing, allowing the coldness to chill my bones. The cool of the morning numbed my face to the point where I lost sense in it. I flitted my gaze skywards, in hope to get an answer from our great mother “the great white wolf".

“Who could be my ally?” as expected the sky didn’t open up and eject out a messenger carrying an answer. Disappointed, I squeezed my eyes shut. I knew that joining hands with taealha wasn’t an option either. Tagon might be oblivious to this, but taealha’s abilities makes me regard her as an even bigger threat than him. She's crafty and sharp, and not someone you can mess with.

Shivery and demoralised, I peeled my numb hands off the railing , in order to withdraw to my chamber. My gaze strayed downward, and fell on the figure of a man heading towards the temple entrance. I rejoiced seeing the face of the man who'd make an ideal ally, just the person I have been looking for. He's almost the only person who could possibly challenge tagon's authority. With the daekan's under his command, he is a fearless, and a highly respected warrior by the people. How come he never crossed my mind?

“YANGCHA!!!” not a second was wasted towards putting my plan into motion. Yangcha bulldozed in at my call “inform mubaek that I want to see him immediately” with a slight bow of his head, “tagon's spy" was gone. I grubbed for a brush, and a small pouch containing some lip paint in a small jar, and daubed it on my lips, to add a touch of life to my pale complexion. I had made up my mind, and the gentle knock on the door made me even more resolute “COME IN"

The barrel-chested, tangle-haired warrior raised a hand in greeting and bowed, always from a safe distance away “tanya niruha, you asked for me?” I can’t believe I’m about to do this, I plucked up my courage and pointed to the chair right across from me “you might want to sit down for this, I’m about to ask you to make a very tough decision”

He just stood by the door fixing me with an unblinking stare, did I overdo it with the lip paint? He finally broke the silence “I’ll be well niruha, but you have something on your teeth" oh great!!! I picked up my ornate mirror, and turned my back to him, wiping the pink smudge from my teeth. He politely waited until I was done. I presumed my authoritative aura again “what I wanted to tell you is, I’m going to strike tagon, but I’m going to an ally"

“And you want me to be that ally?” he finished off my sentence “yes, I have a plan, but I can't do it without your help, I need you"

“I need to hear your plan first, what do you have in mind?” I filled him in on my plan, and he listened intently to my every word. “We need to be chary if we don’t want tagon to find out about our plan, if we meet up too often, that'll raise his suspicions”

He stroked his beard “and what do you propose? I'm listening” I forced the words out of my mouth in a half-whisper “marry me!?”

“pardon???” “we should get married to join our powers, and dismiss any doubts in tagon" he smiled like he’d just heard a really funny joke, I knew he wouldn’t take my words seriously. I continued “isn't that what you people do here, marry for power or wealth. Asa mot and tagon did it, so why can't we?”

“Isn't it more suspicious if I marry you out of the blue?” he remarked. “Listen, I’m not asking you to love me, I’m just proposing it for the sake of our cause. I know you don't tagon to be a king either, if he seizes all power, he's going to wreak havoc in the union. As you may already know, he doesn’t trust me either. He has planted yangcha to spy on me, he'll get rid of me when I’m no longer valuable to him"

I took his hands in mine “I need to protect my people, so please think about it until tomorrow, and if you agree, meet me in front of tagon's residence"

Next afternoon right after I had my lunch and the maid cleared the table, a knock sounded on my door. I opened it and found myself face-to-face with mubaek “what are you doing here?”

“I came to escort you” I couldn’t help but smile when he held the door for me, then joined me by walking side by side all the way to tagon's residence. Our high status granted us access to the residence without raising any suspicious, and we paced the corridors awaiting tagon's arrival. I glared at yangcha who was still on our tail, and complained loud enough for him to hear “does he have nothing better to do, why is he still following us? I swear it he'd follow me to the bathroom if he could” Mubaek shook his head in laughter “he's just doing what tagon ordered him to, don't give him a hard time"

Quirking an eyebrow in yangcha's direction,I lowered my voice to a whisper “see, that's precisely why I proposed marriage as a solution, or else yangcha won't leave us alone"

With downcast eyes, he asked again “are you positive you’re making the right choice? You're still young I don't want you to regret making a rash decision later on"

I rubbed my hands together muttering “I won't"

“They're coming, think quick, how are you going to cause a scene?” he urgently demanded, I remembered what I told him yesterday about “causing a scene” To make our story more believable.

“By doing this, they'll believe we're in love" I inched closer to him, cupping his face in my hands, and despite his shell-shocked expression, I planted a kiss on his lips. His undesirous body language soon turned submissive as he played along with my ruse. Our efforts paid off when taealha’s titter rang loud enough to startle me and break our kiss. I feigned innocence like I had just been caught by my parents, doing something that I shouldn’t be doing “the high priestess and the brutish old warrior, who would’ve thought?!” She observed still giggling.

“so you two want to get married?” Tagon sought an answer from his position at the head of the long table in his work room.

I nodded “that's true" upon hearing my confirmation, saya dropped a book with a thud. I completely ignored him when he dusted it off, and gave a half-hearted apology.

Tagon did a steeple with his hand, seemingly noticing saya's reaction to the news “you know tanya, if you wanted to get married, the best candidate for you would be my son, after all you’re friends and of the same age" he gestured to saya in the far corner of the room. I gave saya a sideways glance, his expression was unreadable, marry the devil's spawn? No thanks.

“I'm into older men" I blurted out “and we're in love with each other” mubaek entwinedour hands and squeezed them, he tried his best to sound convincing, but I could tell he was cringing from embarrassment.

“I'm so envious of you two" taealha said under her breath, downing a glass, and pouring another. Tagon clapped his hands on the table, and stood up “will then it's settled, you have my blessing. Saya, you're in charge of the wedding preparations. A high priestess must have a grand wedding. I'll trust you with it son"

Saya merely nodded unwillingly. Tagon walked over to mubaek and hugged him with a broad smile “congratulations my old friend, you're finally getting married, it's right about time"

Saya wasn't pleased about any of this, I should watch him closely, in case he tries to sabotage the wedding.

I spent the following days preparing for the wedding, amid a flurry of activity, and a shower of congratulations, and wishes for a happy life from the people, the wahans, and the daekans. I saw my father when we went to the fortress of fire to ask for his blessing. He seemed particularly pleased with my match and welcomed him by heaping praises, and speaking highly of him. But when he mentioned my mother, I broke. I wish she was here with me at this time, it's a tough thing for a girl to get married without having her mother around, fussing about with the dress and the preparations.

Just a day before the wedding, I realized I was right about saya's intention in sabotaging my marriage. I was in my chamber getting my gown measurements for the last time, just in case something needs to be fixed before tomorrow. Saya loitered about not helping with anything in particular, all he did was make my blood boil. I was done with my gown, and sat before two large boxes of jewellery at my disposal, to choose from. I took a pair of dangly earrings, with a green precious stone in the centre. I was about to try it on, when saya handed me another pair of silver and sapphire blue earrings “this would go better with your gown" I tried it on and it looked perfect, he really has an eye for these stuff.

I admired the glistering jewels in the mirror, when saya's hands slid over my shoulders, kneading them “why do you want to marry that world-weary old man all of a sudden? Do you really love him?” he sneered close to my ears, giving me the shivers. I stood up and moved towards the balcony, taking my time to regain my composure, I answered with my back turned to him “yes, I love him. He has shown me nothing but kindness since I arrived here"

He tightened his arms around my waist “and what about me?” his voice cracked, is he jealous??

“I'm sorry, I don’t feel that way about you" I uttered flatly. When I turned to look him in the face, he was flushed, his lips trembled with the ghost of unspoken words, my words must’ve stung him deeply. He leaned forward, invading all body space, a dark look passed his face “does he feel the same way about you? Knowing you have cursed his brother, his only family, to death?” my hand instinctively flew to slap him across the cheek. His mad laugh echoed through the empty chamber. A moment later the dark look in his eyes softened, and he seemed to be on the verge of tears, when he clutched my hand and rubbed against the red mark on his cheek. When he spoke this time, his speech was frenzied, I realized how desperate he was to stop this marriage “it's not too late to change your mind, marry me instead , we'll take down taealha and tagon, and rule this land as king and queen. I have a better change of succeeding the throne as tagon’s son. What can that lowly warrior of a minority tribe give you that I can't?”

I couldn’t take it anymore, I pushed him away “saya, plea..se please leave, I need to rest, I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow”

I cried myself to sleep that night, part of me felt sorry for saya, and another part longed to be reunited with eunseom again.

My royal blue wedding gown greeted me first thing in the morning, I put it on with the help of four obliging priestesses. It's long sleeves satin sleeves, were veiled with a layer of delicate, thin lace. The lace covered the upper part of the gown, ending around my waist, where the velvety satire flowed all the way to the bottom.

Saya handpicked the fabrics and had it tailored for me. Speaking of saya, he waltzed in while I was busy wearing my jewellery, appearing to be oddly cheerful. He didn’t seem to have a chip in the shoulder about what happened last night. Not to mention the color of his attire matched mine, in fact our entire attires seemed to be designed for a couple. His royal blue attire was matched with a golden brocade giving him a regal look, he was always fashionable, but I couldn’t help but feel he was overdressed for a wedding that wasn’t his.

“you look beautiful” he chirped “and you'll be mine soon" his weren’t moving but I heard the last part loud and clear, because they were his thoughts. My heart lurched, has he done something to the wahans or mubaek?

The abruptness of my movement, knocked my chair over as I stood up “what are you up to?” I spat out.

“Why do you mean?” his fake friendly smile unsettled me. “niruha?” mubaek’s head peeked through the door, I heaved a sigh of relief “yes?” I tried to force a smile.

“It's time" he announced, crossing the room in a couple of strides. Saya looked between us both smirked, and took his leave.

“What's wrong?” he asked once saya was out of our way. “I think saya is up to something, ‘you'll be mine soon’ those were his thoughts. He wants me, I’m worried he'll either try to harm you or my people to get to what he wants. So before we go, I want to cast a protection spell on you”

“a protection spell?” “yes, it's just something my mother used to do when I was a child, I’m not sure if it's effective, but do you mind if I try it?”

“No I don't mind, if it puts your mind at ease" I took both his hands in mine “our great mother asa sin, the great white wolf. I tanya of wahan your direct descendant implore you with a heart rendered heavy with worry to protect this man from all evil that may befall him.

May all swords trained at his neck turn to ash

May all arrows aiming his way lose their path

May all eyes spying on him be cursed blind

May fear be instilled into the hearts of his enemies at his sight

And may all schemes of betrayal against him turn on their schemer

When I call this man my husband I tie his fate to mine" I released his hands, and slipped on my cashmere cloak, the ceremony was about to begin.

We ascended the podium hand in hand, determination burned in our eyes. I raised our interlocked hands above our heads, the crowd roared with shouts of respect and admiration. The people loved me, and now I had mubaek by my side, tagon your reign of chaos is coming to an end, on my hands.

[e-ampersand-c]

Fiesta

Author's note : I AM SO SORRY. This took longer than expected...Though it is a long chapter, so hopefully I'll be able to put up content much faster. Anyways, please enjoy :D

Ang Unang Araw

(The First Day)

"Para sa inyo po señora! Ginawa po ng mga magulang namin para sa pagpapasalamat sa inyong pamilya, na tinanggap at hindi tinalikuran ang iyong mga kapwa hanggang ngayon." Masayang sinabi ni Maya habang hinahawak ang mga kamay ng mga bunso.

Ngumiti si Maricela, alalang-alala ang totoong rason kung bakit niya kailangan manalo sa kanyang kaso, ngunit nalaglag ang puso niya sa ngiti ng tatlong bata.

English Translation:

"This is for you señora! Our parents made this to thank you and your family, who accepted us and never turned your back against your fellow people until now." Maya smiled brightly as she held the younger children's hands.

Maricela smiled, remembering the true reason why she needed to win the case, but her heart sank deeply at the innocent smiles of the 3 children.

----------------------------------------------------------

Maricela was just about to leave the house when a knock was heard. She opened the door to find the three youngest children of each of the families living on her land: Maya Dela Cruz, Theresa Santos and Ernesto Espiritu.

Maya has brought freshly picked fruit, Theresa has brought finely sown silk shawls and Ernesto brought cooked food, still warm from tender cooking to celebrate the fiesta week and to thank Maricela and her family for the kindness they have shown for the past decades. Maricela is grateful for the gifts but seeing the innocent children living a great life without knowing it might collapse should she fail, her heart sinks to depths too far down for light to reach it. She sends them off with gratitude and quickly meets up with with her friends.

Upon arriving, Maria Clara, Crisostomo and Enrique chat lightly amongst themselves. When Enrique catches a glimpse of her arriving, he can't take his mind off the fact that Maricela has glazed eyes.

He waits for her to join the group and he asks whats wrong almost immediately. Maria Clara and Crisostomo look at her and notice the look on her face as well. This catches her off guard.

"Ah este! I am just tired from not getting enough sleep last night. I was excited for the fiesta to start."

Enrique looks quizzically at her until Crisostomo speaks.

"Maricela, make sure to drink lots of water. I'm sure it will help you sleep better."

Maricela thanks him for the prescription and continues with the chattering.

Enrique did not buy the excuse however.

Ang Ikalawang Araw

(The Second Day)

Maricela took the previous night's cloudburst as a sign of misfortune. Morning however was blessed with golden gleaming sunlight, but it did nothing to calm our heroine's rattled heart as she painstakingly trekked to the town hall with Enrique to finally submit her proposal. Enrique was the only one to greet her as Maria Clara and Crisostomo went to shop at the market place. He had his leather suitcase with him that carried the proposal.

They continued with Maricela covering half of her face with her fan. Enrique followed behind her, knowing full well they are in public. A group of talebearers caught sight of the two, and insantly gossip shared among the women.

"Are they making their way to the town hall?"

"Who is the gentlemen following behind her?"

"Is he a bachelor? Such a refined mestizo that man!"

"From what I have heard, A new lawyer and Crisostomo's collegue"

"That man is at a loss, why would he take an impossible case as a first job?"

"A waste of time and resources that hellspawn the now departed possessor of the San Augustus conglomerate decided to keep around"

"How awful to make a man work aimlessly. Making the life of the man harder!"

"Desperada!"

Pondering how deafness would be a blessing in disguise at thay moment, Maricela could only sink her face further into the fan, the words playing again and again in her mind.

"Desperada?"

Enrique relayed back to the women having spun around, his mere status alone in the situation socially communicating for the group to challenge his look. They could only hide behind their fans and continue to gossip.

They arrived at the town hall and Maricela requested to wait outside. Enrique went in by himself and passed the proposal. The man at the reception looked at him questioningly, Enrique merely responding with an impatient look until the man finally placed the proposal in a neatly propped paper stack that will be passed to the mayor.

Enrique made his way out to find Maricela pacing until she saw Enrique come out of the office. She stopped and was about to approach him until a fast calesa zoomed past her, the wheels splashing her with sewage water. She tried to stumble back in shock but ended up leaning against a rickety food stall that flipped at her weight. The food went flying and landed everywhere on her. Her hand was bleeding with cuts and splinters from the stall.

The degrading sight of a woman sullied by the poor cleanliness of the community brought out only cackles and whispered affronts. The vendor of the food stall was outraged and started yelling at her to pay for the damages or she will tell the guardia civil to arrest her.

Enrique quickly put himself between the vendor and Maricela and told her he will be the one to pay for the damages. He handed the lady money from his suitcase and the vendor went on with her day contented.

He then helped the poor girl up, who was shaking from everything that had happened. Her face trained well to remain stoic but her tear ducts betrayed her, shedding enough droplets to let her eyes twinkle under the golden gleams of sunlight. Enrique quickly brought her to the side and removed the splinters from her hand. He cleaned her cuts and guided her to the market place.

They came to a humble tailor, looking for new garments among the designer clothing. Enrique chose a matching blue tapis and saya and paid for it. Maricela's eyes widened as he handed her the clothes and told her to change.

A few moments later she's changed and fresh, just having gotten out of an inn that Maricela compensated excessively, but her expression is still gloomy. They both walk out and Enrique thinks of a way to lighten her mood. An ensemble playing jovial music and a few street dancers dancing with ribbons livening an enitre crowd thickened, rather conveniently, so Enrique brings Maricela to watch. The crowd cheers on but Maricela is still emotionless. Enrique sighs and tries to leave to find something better when the street dancers come towards the both of them and drag them to the middle

"Ladies and Gentlemen! We now present the lucky two who will dance one round!" They passed their maracas adorned with ribbons to the two and the ensemble prepares their next piece.

Maricela gives a mortified face while Enrique smiles confused.

"I c-can't dance..."

Maricela lets out as the music starts.

They follow the street dancers and at first the music was calm and the two of them were surprisingly doing well with Maricela grinning little by little until the music suddenly changed to a fast speed and the street dancers were twirling and changing positions. Maricela started to lose composure until Enrique called her name.

She carefully followed his steps and it seemed that she was dancing proffesionally. In between spins and cycles of dance steps, Maricela could have sworn to have seen a familiar face next to the would be band leader smiling genuinely right at her. She started laughing and smiling and before she knew it the segment ended.

The street dancers thanked them for their participation and they both left with a smile.

Ang Ikatlong Araw

(The Third Day)

Maricela finds herself at a new spot she's frequented. Not the homes of the people on her properties, not the church she now prays to for the approval of her proposal. But at a quiet and cleaner community where her parents now lay resting.

Dead.

They were buried with memories of an unresolved argument. Their deaths couldn't have been more... inconvenient. Maricela remembers how she snapped and shot back at them, refusing to be married off so the San Augustus fortune may be passed to an inheritor chosen by her parents. She clearly recalls how she ended their final argument, shouting.

"Sana 'di na kayo bumalik!"

The process of the arranged marriage was going to be started the moment that Maricela's parents came back home from their business trip. They left the day Maricela uttered those words. Left for their business trip, and left this world leaving Maricela scrambling to secure what they couldn't bring with them.

"I wish you never come back."

She thinks a second time. Remembering those words and how empty they really were the moment they slipped out. Whoever granted that wish clearly couldn't understand. Coping with their deaths has brought out great anguish, as expected. So Maricela had them burried in this peaceful community further out from the toxicity of the town's hustle and bustle. She asked for comfort but what she really needed was to act fast, just like how she was told. Word has already got out that a large fortune is legally waiting to be claimed, many has been stammering to attain it.

Breathing in, Maricela scans the cemetary. Noticing graves of wooden crosses and tombs craved from stone. The former signifying a poor man's burial and the latter for those higher in social standings.

"Nice to see none of that matters around here." Maricela comments to herself. Did all cemetaries house the departed's graves of different backgrounds?

"I think it adds to the beauty of this resting place."

Maricela then turns to find, Enrique?

"Did you... have business here too?" Did Enrique have someone special to pay respects too? Why was he holding sampaguita garlands?

"Oh these are for you. To give to who you're here for." Enrique says handing the flowers.

"They're beautiful, thank you. But how did you know I was going to be here?" Seemed quite supspicious for him to know something quite personal.

"I-I asked around at that church. The one where we first met and I happened to actually find someone who knew you. Well apparently. They even knew I was helping you in your case." Enrique replies, assuring that he hadn't been following her.

"Oh, that's alright then. I think I have a pretty good idea of who told you." Surely it had to be Crisanto. Maricela thinks to herself.

"Did you have something to do that involves me, Enrique?"

"I wanted to check on you after yesterday's...events." Was that the right word? The first thing that came to mind was disaster but was it really?

"But I hadn't thought I would intruding on something like this. Hence the sampaguita." He says pointing at the garlands.

"Right, I should put them on then." Enrique stepped forward and offered a hand to show he wanted to help. Since he did bring the pure as white blooms, she figured she should let him. They crouched just low enough to decorate the stone graves of the San Augustus with the flowers. Their fragrance seemed to smell sweeter after.

They only stood there when the pair were done. Their silence made comfortable with the sounds of rustling leaves and shaking tree branches in the wind. Enrique tries to read Maricela's expression. She didn't seem upset but in deep thought. Looks like she still has plenty to reflect on. He decided to risk it.

"I'm sorry for your early loss, I genuinely hope you've been coping with as much support as needed"

"...You speak with experience?" Maricela breaches.

Enrique nodded, looking up towards the sky as if it held the words he was looking for. "My father was taken from me and my mother too early. The doctors say it was most likely by a heart attack...though it happened too fast infront of us. One second he was gasping in pain while clutching his chest...the next he was gone. Just like that. I was only 14 when that happened and what followed after was a mere blur in my life."

The blur he didn't want to remember vividly. The funeral, his mother grieving, and the years spent in isolation studying.

Maricela looked at Enrique, who was now staring down at the ground.

"I am...truly sorry for what has happened to your father..." Maricela slowly placed her hand on the lawyer's shoulder. Her touch snapped him out of his haze and he slowly lifted his head to meet her gaze.

"If I may...what took your parents away too soon?" Enrique asked lightly.

"It-" 'It was my fault' she truly thought.

"It...happened unexpectedly as well. They were on a business trip and along the way...they were ambushed by tulisanes...the guardia civil found them a day later. I received the news after the day they were founded..."

Enrique's eyes widened. He did not expect such grotesque deaths. He noticed the dates carved into the cold stone, both of them died on the same day. The lawyer thought it was more subtle than an assassination. Perhaps a disease or a fire. Anything but an ambush.

"I had no idea...I shouldn't have asked-"

"Oh it's alright señor," Maricela tried to smile. "It was something I had to accept..."

Enrique stayed silent. Maricela spoke up after a few minutes of quiet contemplation.

"Seems as though grief is what binds Filipinos together these days." Maricela eyebrows curved and drew closer to her eyes to show concern, despite how she initially came to the cemetary to wallow in her own grief.

"Bonding over what you would give condolences too, because somehow we can set it all aside to hear each other out."

"In our case it seems it's because we didn't have the leisure to mourn. Deprived of voicing what we want say and longing for what we want to be said to us. " Maricela shrugs.

"Well I should say my father's death wasn't as recent as your parents. But it was untimely too. My education wasn't going to wait for me to find comfort in something, and your proposal brought up from your parents' departure must have forced you to stop entertaining the same sentiment. So I suppose I'm... just reaching out to you as someone to... mutually find solace in... should anything still be unresolved, because someone like you... deserves as much" Being a lawyer Enriques' sure to be excellent in oral communication, but in that instance he faltered, at least from his usually firm and assuring tone.

"It... wasn't the most elegant of consulations. But somehow it felt like the most genuine anyone has been with me"

Her hands clasped together and a soft smile on her face were details that shouted a thanks she's been meaning to say and mean.

Ang Ika-apat na Araw

(The Fourth Day)

The return home was comfortingly silent for Maricela and Enrique after spending the fourth day of the fiesta together with Maria Clara and Crisostomo, or it was at least devoid of articulating any more bottled and unresolved heartstrings to proverbially pull and drag like a rag doll. They aired out enough of how abruptly destitute they were of their parents, confiding in each other to find the comforting finality. Disclosure to now feel closure.

The clopping of the horses' hooves and the colliding of the wheels with stray stones on the road filled in for the absence of chatter. The kalesa is ever so closely reaching Maricela's residence. It felt clingy for Enrique to "walk" Maricela home when he offered, but nonetheless here they were "walking" home this late into the night. Now that remembering that it was late, it made sense for him to have offered.

Enrique opened the door for Maricela when they stopped, the driver not leaving yet as he still needed to take Enrique back to Crisostomo's home. The pair walked closer to the San Augustus estate, and briefly resting on intricately carved benches before lighting any lanterns. The moon makes whatever attempt to illuminate the mansion, but Enrique finds himself appreciating the soft glow as the two lounge outside for a while.

"Your home is quite surreal under the weak moonlight, how much more under an actual full moon?"

A little thing to ponder over, but thinking it over it gives Maricela one more thing to repeatedly appreciate once she wins her case. The moon will shine luminously every month on HER home.

"Together, I'm sure we'll be able to ensure you may gaze on it under a bright moon whenever."

Funny how "together" will mean so much more in the end. Unknown by these two now of course.

"Together?" Enrique asks.

"Of course, or rather I hope you think of us doing this together." Maricela replies

"Pardon? O-of course I do, why would I think otherwise?" Where was this coming from all of a sudden? Enrique thinks.

"Because it always felt like our exchange has been one-sided. That I always need assurance from you for everything I seem to unload on you?" Maricela replies, her tone saddening at near the end of saying it.

"There are still notable people who I can be thankful to, less by 2 now... but nonetheless, and you've become the one I am most appreciative of. But I just can't seem to return the favor." Reclining lower on the bench she occupied, Maricela says so guiltily.

"Then what was yesterday?" Enrique only hears a questioning "hmm".

"I found comfort in you as you did to me at the cemetery right? Doesn't seem like I've shared that part of me to anyone, no?"

"I suppose not." Maricela smiles a bit. Maybe she could deepen that exchange further. "What was your father like?" She asks.

A reasonable pause passed for him to properly summarize his father.

"I like to think ideally he was far too ahead of his time, and that hopefully enough that what he was has been passed on to me." He answered quite happily.

"What do you mean?"

Another pause, ended by him saying that his father had a very rare perspective of progressiveness.

"Barriers exist between us Indios and the Spaniards but he always seemed to see pass that. He married the woman he wanted, a full blooded Indio, and from an early age he mentioned how I could do the same with his blessing. From that I figured he would never have had me engaged to anyone. So here I am left to choose who I suppose."

"I see, he was quite the man indeed." How Maricela wished it was like that for her before. "Had you ever entertained the thought of having that freedom before?"

"No, there was always something apparently. Have you?" Enrique replies.

"I like to think I would have, but another day I'll share the first time me and another mutually agreed that we mean to each other not as spouses." Maricela attempts to jest. They're opposites in that regard, the ability to choose their own partner, but both ended up as now having that choice be put aside. Enrique has seemed to distract himself all his life to avoid that part of adulthood, and Maricela has spent most of hers resisting her parents than actually socializing and paying attention to who she's interested in.

"Haha, seems like quite story. But really, has there ever been anyone you've been genuinely interested in?"

As each passing meeting with each other, Maricela's idea of an ideal man seems to shift, referring to her lawy-

"Some, but only one as of late." She's thankful she's said it so inconspicuously.

"Well I bid you and them the best of luck." Enrique then stands excusing himself to not keep the coachman any longer, and they exchange goodbyes under a brighter natural light from the sky.

[opticor]

warframe replay on a baby account! first impressions!!

i knew the new star chart (which is admittedly no longer new by any stretch of imagination) is great, but i didn’t expect that junction tasks would be so useful! they really help with the dreaded “so what am i supposed to be doing now?” issue

i was surprised to find out that Cetus completely blocks progression just a couple of missions in. i thought it would be optional at that point, though i don’t actually mind it. i always wished we would see civilians early on as a more tangible way of showing what we are even fighting for in the first place, though i am not entirely certain if it succeeds in doing that. also i would have liked a bit more hand-holding when it comes to your first syndicate. the system itself is self-explanatory enough (i think? like, once you find Konzu, if you keep taking jobs and coming back to him you are bound to level up and so on) but where’s the incentive to do that at such low level? though, in all, i guess it looks enough like any starter town/quest hub so!

that said i really disliked how crowded it was. you’ve just been woken up, i always thought it was supposed to be a lonelier journey. and less shiny, at this level, also..

i was thrilled that they let you know about scanning things with Saya’s quest, but it does nothing to introduce the codex as far as i noticed. the name itself should be enough of a hint, i guess? but with how often i’ve seen people complaining about scanning breaking the flow of the game, i’d expect a more in-your-face incentive to actually do it. by the way i’m really not a fan of the way the most readily available lore is all shoved in the Fragments section, though i personally can’t think of an obvious better way to organize the codex. also found it incredibly disappointing that Ordis doesn’t react to scanning the Cephalon Fragments one way or the other.

speaking of story and lore, bosses are still weird. you encounter Vor and Kril twice each, and still with no explanation for it. perhaps my experience on Uranus is not universal, but i didn’t get Natah till after i killed Tyl Regor -- and he is not only very much alive in that quest, but taunting you to go kill him as the final transmission. i can’t think of a solution to this past changing the quest trigger and/or locking the boss node behind quest completion but i think it’s just not right the way it is. finally, the Alad V situation is absolutely tragic. i know it’s been said many times but it’s still shocking, and it’s not even a question of messing up your own progression -- which i also did because i went to Maroo’s bazaar before i met her in her quest. ow

quest-wise, i was surprised that it only takes about 30 hours (mission time) to get to TSD, and TWW is just a few missions away from it. it’s a completely different experience when they are not months away from each other and there’s no build-up to them. it was interesting doing them when i only had my starter, though! it puts a certain weight on the warframe being harmed and then lost when you have no replacement for it. i wonder how it would’ve felt if that were my first playthrough.

once past TSD, not having any colour palettes is really painful! as always i’m just fine painting all of my stuff off-white with an orange glow, but when it comes to operator customization, the colours are lacking. i still managed a cute one, but it was a bit weird that you can’t do something as basic as brown hair? i could’ve compensated if i had logged in for the free palettes, particularly Valentine’s, but it would be very kind and helpful regardless if the entire classic palette was unlocked from the beginning, or at least available for credits. (yes i know colours are cheap but i was waiting for a discount which i only got today. would a new player know these exist? things always seem expensive to me without. maybe cause i’m poor?)

backtracking a bit, i admit that having the free Vectis from PoE launch helped me immensely with progression. is it an advantage that i got it for free? i don’t know. it’s low mastery and relatively accessible craft, and it was the first or second gun i made on my main account as well. but it is great that it came with a potato, though!

thank god it’s not clan research despite being a Tenno gun by the way. an awful lot of things are clan research. i’m not allowed in my own clan on alt, which is a bit inconvenient, but not tragic. i imagine for people who are just now starting out it could be quite frustrating once they realize how many great and useful things are clan-gated. my biggest gripe is the incubator upgrade because without it raising dogs can be very stressful and expensive. then there’s all the great guns of course

finally, from the bottom of my heart, fuck the Corpus. fuck every single sapping osprey. i only have fifteen armour please leave me alone you floating pieces of shit

[littlepurplechipmunk-blog]

500 years and 40 minutes Later

Chapter 1

So this kind of just popped in my head. It’s the meeting between Kagome and her mother 10 minutes after Kagome jumped in the Well for the last time after her and Inu’s forced 3 year seperation. It does not completely follow the canon ending but closely the little blurb I wrote awhile ago.

Warnings: Strong language, emotional trauma, tears and happy reunions

InuYasha/Kagome, Mama Higurashi, Sesshomaru/Rin, Sango/Miroku, Shippo/OC, Souta and Gramps

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any characters except the ones I created.

—————————————————————

500 years, it had been 500 years since she had last saw this place. The home she grew up in and the home she believed she would not ever see again the day she had went back to the past, back to him. Today was the day she was going to see her family again after so long and she was nervous, scared and excited. How would her mom react? She probably believed she would never see her again. Will she be mad? She wouldn’t blame her. Looking down at her watch she realized that her younger self wouldn’t be going down the well for another 10 minutes. Her mate and brother could not believe she remembered this day with such strong clarity, everything that happened right down to the minute that she jumped down the well. She even remembered the flowers that were growing right next The well house and how many were in bloom, the sadness in her mama’s eyes even though she was happy for her and the pride that was there. There was no resentment in her Mama’s eyes that day.

Looking over to her companions for this trip, she wanted to make sure they made a good first impression. She had tried to get her mate to stay home knowing he had work to do but he wasn’t having it. Saying that he would be there when she saw her mom again knowing how important this visit was to Kagome. Stating that after 4 years of believing she would never see her family again and finding out that she could and would had short circuited her brain all those years ago causing her to pass out and not truly believe it until Sesshomaru’s mother had explained that since she was not just married to her Daihanyou; she was mated to him meant that she also gained his life span. When she pointed out that hanyou don’t live as long as youkai InuKimi has laughed out right and said yes any Normal Hanyou but InuYasha was no normal Hanyou. He was a Daihanyou and as close to full youkai with out being a full youkai. He was now as strong and powerful as his brother. He had an Alpha drive and had become as his father once was, the Inu no Taisho. He had a dual mokomoko, a true form and no longer had to fight his fathers blood. This had all happened in the 3 years she was gone. Not only did he become stronger, as strong as his full blooded half brother but he acquired the same life span meaning he could live to a couple thousand years old. Basically they age maybe half a year in looks for every 100 years. Where now she was technically older then her gramps she only looked about 21 years old and her mate looked about 25 even though he was technically almost 700 years older then her. Kimi was now into her 22 century but looked no older then maybe her early 50’s and Sesshomaru was in his second century when InuYasha was born.

Fiddling with the hem of her pale pink summer dress she suddenly found her hand grasped in a larger clawed one being pulled towards her mates lips as he kissed her fingers. “Saiai relax, everything is going to be fine.” Damn that Inu nose. Looking up into his golden gaze caught by the sun that caused them to glisten like liquid gold she sighed.

“I know Koi but it’s been 500 years since I last saw her and by the time we get up there it will only have been 10 or 20 minutes for her. She let me go fully expecting to never see me again. I’m afraid her reaction might be a bit extreme. Do you think we made the right choice? And was it really smart to bring the pups with us?” Nawing at her lip with worry she started going through her purse making sure she had everything and checking on the twin toddlers with silver hair sleeping peacefully in their dual stroller. Currently the youngest of their immediate pack Saya and Shin were Silver Inu just like their papa with the same puppy ears, in fact all their pups had the same puppy ears and were Hanyou just like their father when in reality they should be more human then youkai in fact they were more the half youkai in power. They all had the same gold eyes as their papa as well but each one had different markings. Saya and Shin were the only two whose marking were near identical, both had a red crescent moon right on their left temple which was shared by all the pups proclaiming them Inu Royalty but the twins had purple slashes going from their right eyes in a lightning bolt shape and purple bands that wrapped their right arm down their shoulders, over the breast bone and down to the left hip where it circled their waists and circled a leg each. The leg was the only difference where Saya’s circled once around her waist and wrapped her left leg Shim’s circled his waist twice and wrapped his right leg. They were beautiful, happy and very smart at only 35 years looking around 2 years of age.

“You know we had talked about this Kagome. Today is Keiko’s anniversary and Sesshomaru and Rin have a lot of council stuff to do today and you said that if any of the pups were still little when the day came you were taking them to meet their baba-san. Yes we made the right choice to wait because we could not take the chance of mama slipping up and saying something to your past self and messing up the hunt. That’s why we stayed in Russia for the last 10 years and only moved back a month ago.” Running his hand through her long raven locks that she had pulled back in a high tail. A match in style for his own hair. He pulled on her lock of silvery white that hung down by her face in a reprimand to stop fretting. After all these years Kagome had grown strong and very self assured since she stepped into her role as Lady Kagome Hime of the Western lands that it was slightly surprising to see her acting like this. Checking his watch he stood up, first picking up the manilla envelope that he had to take away from his mate an hour ago afraid she was going to ruin the precious gifts that sat inside the one, he grabbed her hand with the other and pulled her up into his body. Giving her a reassuring hug he released her with quiet chuff of ‘time to go’ and pushed her toward the corner that was just a few feet from her ancestoral home.

Taking a deep breath Kagome latched on to the stroller and started walking towards the stairs that led to her childhood home. Watching as InuYasha grasped the front of the stroller they both leaped high up and landed gracefully at the top of the steps and set the stroller down. “Wish I had been able to do that when I was younger, would have saved a lot of time and pulled muscles.” Muttered Kagome. Chuckling as he walked up beside her and wrapped an arm over her shoulders he encouraged her to get walking.

“Come on wench, lets go see your haha-ue.” Following the long rememberd path to the main house, Kagome felt the stirrings of nerves like butterflies whell up in her stomach again. Turning the last corner the led to the house she stopped and stared. There was the Goshinbuko and her mother stood underneath of it with silent tears running down her face.

Walking up to the woman who encouraged her in her younger years and let her go to the man who she knew her daughter would not be able to truly live with out she spoke, “I heard a beautiful legend once about a Hanyou who was pinned to this tree by a spiteful Priestess and was later released from the eternal spell by his true-mate whom they believed was the priestess’s reincarnation. They say the girl traveled from a different time.” Shock descended the woman’s face at those words. No one knew that legend, at least not the parts after InuYasha was sealed to the tree. But that voice, she would know that voice any where. She was her mother after all. Slowly turning her head to the woman standing next to her a gasp of surprises yearning mixed with fear passed her lips. So afraid that this was just an illusion her mind made up to help cope with the loss of her only daughter. Knowing that she should be dead in this time, she fearfully spoke.

“K- K- Kagome? Are you.... are you really here?” Reaching out to the young woman next to her with a trembling hand. So afraid to touch her, that the slightest touch would cause this vision to disappear into nothing if her fingers made contact. The young woman reached up and grabbed her hand.

“Yes mama I’m really here. I’m not going anywhere. I promise I won’t disappear.” Tears tracked her face. Her mama stopped cold and as one they both collapsed into each other’s arms as tears of happiness, disbelief and relief poured from both woman’s eyes. Standing back watching the scene of the first two women to accept him for who and what he was, tears crept up into his eyes and a soft smile flirted across his lips. She had been waiting for this day for years and truthfully so had he but I would not interrupt this moment for his own selfish want of a hug from the woman who treated him like a second son, who gave him the best gift possible in his Kagome. He would wait and watch and make sure nothing interrupted this moment for the two incredible women who first showed him how to live and how to love. Ear twitching toward his pups he heard them start to stir so he started rocking the stroller to settle them knowing his mate would stop this much needed moment to care for the twins. It was getting close to their lunch but they could sleep a bit longer. They could give their mama this time. He WOULD give her this time.

_________________________________________________ Ok so originally I was going to make this another one shot but I have a lot of ideas I want to put in this and I’m getting tired. So before I go further I could use some input. Constructive Criticism is appreciated. As well as reblogging so I can get this out there for others to read. Since I am doing this on txt post and not a docs program I’m sorry if words are spelled wrong or grammar is off. Please tell me if this is something I should continue or not. It’s very hard for me to write only when inspiration hits so please inspire me if you want more! Blessed Be and InuYasha!

@tilltheendwilliwrite

@this-kitty-has-claws

@obliteratingjune

@magellan-88

[livingisthegreatestsin]

I thought you were different. I thought you’d never hurt me. It was a promise you made to me but you were hurting me all along. You were so gentle with the way you would crush me, all your cruel words and looks so sharp I didn’t notice the cuts they left behind. So subtle were the jabs you would throw that I could almost explain them away. You wrapped your hurtful ways in such pretty words that I didn’t notice myself accepting them as truths. I didn’t notice myself smothering my thoughts to make space for yours. I didn’t notice the bruises your words would leave until late at night when I couldn’t sleep and I would poke at them as if I had no idea where they’d come from.

I believed that I loved you enough that we could make it through anything. I gave so much of myself to you and you took it all greedily, still asking for more. I swallowed my pride to put on a bright happy smile around your family when you couldn’t even kiss me in front of them. I didn’t let it show how much it hurt to have you silence me whenever you’d speak to them on the phone since they didn’t know you were with me. You told me once that I wasn’t a part of your family, I guess i should have known then that you were never going to give me the chance. No matter how much I wanted to be a part of your family I could only observe from the shadows. I always treated them with respect no matter what they thought of me or how they acted towards my family and I.

Thinking back on the whole situation with your family, I’m left feeling puzzled. I honestly cannot believe that it went on for so long. That you let them have so much power over our relationship. We couldn’t hang out unless it was under a lie, we could barely ever go anywhere for more than a few hours. The few times we were able to be around each other for longer than that was because other people were involved. We hardly had time to ourselves. I can’t believe that you allowed that to be all we had. Stolen moments here and there, rushed caresses behind lies. That’s all you allowed me to be.

I let slide that you never wanted to spend time with my family or my friends. I made jokes to cope with always having to go places alone. Joy, the professional third wheel , always being asked “Where’s ________? Why isn’t he here? Why doesn’t he ever come? Does he not like us?” by my friends and family. That night of saya..... I’ll never forget the way you treated my dad. The face you made when you saw him greeting your parents, how you leaned over and said something to your sister, then the way you walked away as if you hadn’t seen him. The fact that MY FATHER had to go out of his way to look for you. He had to try to make conversation with you while you gave him your BACK. Then when I confronted you about this later your weak excuse was that you were emotional from your loss and didn’t want him to see you like that. I tried to be understanding and let it go but you know....... you know if I had done the same, it would have turned into a huge thing. You would have yelled at me, you wouldn’t have let it go.

It pisses me off to think about how much I let go, so many things I didn’t even bother to bring up because I was afraid of how you’d react or how you’d make me feel. Always finding some way to twist it to make me feel guilty. You always asked me to talk to you but how could I when talking to you was like navigating a minefield blind folded?

Towards the end I always felt like I wasn’t enough for you. Not good enough. Not pretty enough. Not educated enough. Not successful enough. I felt like you thought you were better than me, like I was beneath you. You would shame me for the things that I wanted to do just because you didn’t agree with them. You made me feel like a loser. Like I was less than. And the fucked up thing is that I internalized that. I felt like that for a long time after you. I felt like who would ever want someone like me if even you, the person I loved so much, didn’t want me. You weren’t even there anymore to tell me these things but I told myself for you. I was so blinded by you that I was too focused on what you were telling me and feeling to listen to my own voice. I didn’t allow myself to see how wrong it was, how unfair it was to me because I loved you so wholeheartedly, so blindly. With all this time away from you, I see that I had it all backwards. It’s not that I wasn’t enough. I was too much. We just weren’t meant to work. It took you hurting me the way you did for me to finally open my eyes to that truth.

I always knew it would turn out like this, somewhere deep in my heart. I always knew that you’d be the one to leave me. I loved you too much and didn’t love myself enough to let go. Too much to give up. Too much to see what was wrong with us and what wasn’t fair to me. You always told me you loved me more than I loved you but I always knew that wasn’t true. I knew you’d be ok without me. If I’m being honest with myself, after a while I think I was just convenient for you. Whenever you were sad or feeling shitty about yourself I was always there to remind you how amazing I thought you were. To remind you of how much you had grown, how happy you made me. I was always pushing you to go for the things I knew you wanted but were too scared to go for by yourself. I was your biggest cheerleader with whatever you wanted to do but when I wanted to do something you were always there with your negativity. I gave so much of my love to you I didn’t have enough left for myself.

From the day we started dating I always had the fear of you leaving me, a whisper in the back of mind. The first 2 years of our relationship you constantly made me feel like at any moment you’d walk away, always hanging that over my head. Thats why I held my tongue for so long. Thats why I let you use your words to cut me for as long as I did because I was so afraid that if I said one wrong thing then that would be the final straw that’d push you away.

What pushed you away wasn’t me though. You let so many other things get in the way of us but then blamed me and played the victim. You said one thing to me and something completely different to everyone else. I remember so many times, we were talking about how if one of us started to lose feelings for the other and catch feelings for someone else that’d we’d respect each other enough to be honest with one another. I guess you didn’t really respect me since when you were breaking up with me you used all these other excuses to cover the truth.

Remember when you were talking about how your friend was so dumb for not valuing a “woman like her” and how she was the type of woman you’d want to be with? Remember that toast you made at her birthday party, saying how she was “the most dedicated, the most hardworking, the dopest woman you know”? I had so many signs, so many red flags of what was happening. Not only things you had said about her but time you spent with her. Driving to where she worked to have lunch. I had suspicions but I trusted you so much, I trusted you to not hurt me that way but i was so wrong.

I truly thought that you respected me more than that. It was stupid of me to think that you’d love me enough to stay when you had already done so much to show that you didn’t. Not only was the break up almost completely out of the blue but barely a week before you decided you were done with me, we made love, at least that’s what i thought it was. Everything seemed so normal. I think back to that and wonder what was going through your head? I guess you just wanted one last fuck, huh? Then the day before you broke up with me, you make me feel like shit all day for choosing to spend the day celebrating my sisters birthday (a celebration you were invited to and chose not to attend) instead of going to that adobo event with you. I spent half that day stressed about how I felt like I’d upset you but that didn’t matter to you.

I thought the worst part of everything was the break up that almost came out of nowhere but the worst was everything that came after. You couldn’t even wait 2 hours to change your relationship status. While I was sobbing in my sisters arms, you were on SM, erasing me and flaunting her. While I was trying to pick up the pieces of my shattered heart you were sharing and posting things that painted me as the bad guy. Like I had wronged you. That’s why I blocked you. Not because I hate you but because I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t take seeing you disrespect me like I was nothing. I couldn’t take seeing you act so ok after ripping my heart out of my chest and throwing it in my face. I was so kind to you while you crushed my world. I comforted you while you were breaking my heart, while you were taking a piece of me away. I told you I loved you and wished you the best while you were walking away from me, from us. I treated you with kindness and respect to then be dragged by you. That was when I knew that our views on love were completely different. You don’t do what you did to me to someone you claim to “love”. You went from telling me how I’ll always have a special place in your heart to dragging me through the mud in front of everyone else.

How dare you approach me at that party? You are a special kind of fool. You have no right to speak to me so casually after everything you did. It took everything in me not to just snap and say everything I thought to your face right then and there. What made me hold myself back was knowing that it wasn’t worth it. You weren’t man enough to come clean when you broke up with me, weren’t man enough to apologize to me in person when you tried the first time, and you definitely weren’t man enough to have a sober conversation with me at that party. You’re such a coward you needed to be drunk to face me and even then you were just talking in circles. I couldn’t help but feel grateful that I no longer had anything to with you since after everything I had finally seen your true colors. I know I wasn’t perfect but I was an amazing girlfriend, I know I don’t deserve what you’ve done to me.

In the past I thought I could never imagine my life without you, I thought my world would end but I realize now it’s just begun. To start this new chapter I felt like I needed to get everything, I was too nice to say to you, off my chest. This is me letting go of all the negativity. From this point on, I’m no longer holding onto this burden. Everything that happened really helped me learn that I am worth so much more. Throwing away the rose colored glasses to see that the grass really is greener on the other side was one of the best decisions I ever made. I’m finally free.

[aryansnugraha]

Saya senang membaca dan menulis puisi tapi entah kenapa saya tidak pernah bisa menulis puisi yang bagus. Ketimbang menulis puisi mungkin saya lebih pandai menggambar pegunungan beserta sawahnya seperti yang dilakukan anak-anak sekolah dasar. Mungkin ini alasan kenapa cita-cita saya sebagai penulis tak pernah tercapai. Oleh karena itu saya memutuskan untuk menjadi pembaca saja, saya senang membaca puisi-puisi yang sentimentil sebagaimana saya tidak pernah bisa menulis puisi yang menggambarkan kegembiraan. Pernah sesekali saya melakukannya karena dipesan seorang kawan untuk diberikan kepada wanita–nya tetapi ketika saya menulis puisi tentang kebahagiaan saya merasa puisi saya tidak hidup, ia mati.

Saya cukup banyak membaca buku-buku puisi, oleh sebab itu saya ingin berbagi beberapa puisi yang pernah saya baca. Mungkin saya akan rajin mempostingnya sesuai tema dan penulis favorit saya. Berikut adalah puisi karya Aan Mansyur dan terjemahannya.

Saat menulis puisi ini, Aan Mansyur terinspirasi oleh lagu Luther Vandross.

Dance with My Father – Luther Vandross

Back when I was a child Before life removed all the innocence My father would lift me high And dance with my mother and me and then

Spin me around till I fell asleep Then up the stairs he would carry me And I knew for sure I was loved

If I could get another chance Another walk, another dance with him I’d play a song that would never, ever end How I’d love, love, love to dance with my father again

Ooh, ooh

When I and my mother would disagree To get my way I would run from her to him He’d make me laugh just to comfort me, yeah, yeah Then finally make me do just what my mama said

Later that night when I was asleep He left a dollar under my sheet Never dreamed that he Would be gone from me

If I could steal one final glance One final step, one final dance with him I’d play a song that would never, ever end ‘Cause I’d love, love, love to dance with my father again

Sometimes I’d listen outside her door And I’d hear her, mama cryin’ for him I pray for her even more than me I pray for her even more than me

I know I’m prayin’ for much too much But could You send back the only man she loved I know You don’t do it usually But Lord, she’s dyin’ to dance with my father again Every night I fall asleep And this is all I ever dream

Mencatat Ibu buat Ayah

1.

jika dia dengar buah-buah mangga di belakang rumah berjatuhan. dia selalu bertanya kepada engkau

“apakah mereka sudah matang atau tak betah bertahan di dahan?”

tapi tubuhmu sudah bertahun-tahun memilih diam dalam selembar foto, tubuhmu yang tak punya bayangan. sebab tubuhmu yang hidup pergi menjelajah tempat-tempat tanpa alamat.

tetapi dia tetap tersenyum dan yakin engkau semakin jauh masuk ke dalam jiwanya yang dipenuhi mata air.

dia tabah seperti perigi.

2.

dia akhirnya membeli telepon genggam meskipun tidak tahu berapa nomormu

dari balik kamar selalu aku dengar dia meminta kepadamu dengan bibir gemetar

“suamiku, dekatkan sedikit bibirmu ke telepon. lebih dekat. lebih dekat…”

3.

aku pikir di bulan-bulan ini hujan semata air yang bergerak vertikal ke bawah dan ke atas bergantian

mengubah halaman dan jalan-jalan menjadi laut yang compang-camping tidak ada pelayaran mampu sampai

tetapi dia tidak pernah berpaling dari keyakinannya tentang hujan: cahaya basah, matanya dan matamu yang berair. matamu yang di hulu matanya yang di hilir.

4.

setiap pagi dia selalu membangunkan aku dan menceritakan mimpinya yang sama

lautan ditumbuhi bintang-bintang dan engkau datang mengajaknya memancing ikan berdua di langit yang baru dan lapang.

5.

sebelum berangkat tidur aku selalu menatap matanya, bertanya tanpa berucap.

dan dia tahu jawaban untuk pertanyaan yang berulang-ulang aku lontarkan itu

“setia adalah pekerjaan yang baik, nak! berangkatlah…”

6.

aku menemaninya ke pantai dia berbaring di pasir seperti kerang yang terdampar. tubuhnya terbuka dan angin mencium sebiji mutiara dari dadanya yang berkilau-kilau.

katanya engkau seorang penyelam mampu bertahan di palung-palung dalam

itulah kenapa dia selalu datang ke pantai menunggu kapan engkau datang menghirup bekal menyelami hidup dari jantungnya

7.

dia memasak selalu dengan rambut wangi yang tersisir dan terikat rapi dia selalu ingat suatu malam sebulan sebelum aku lahir, engkau tumpahkan sayur dan kemarahan karena menemukan sehelai rambut terselip di daun kemangi.

dia menyajikan makanan mengenakan senyum dan pakaian berbunga-bunga. setiap hari. seolah engkau akan datang membawa dirimu yang kelaparan.

dia berdoa lalu makan pelan sambil bicara soal cuaca dan sesekali melirik ke televisi. dia selalu mengkhawatirkan kesehatan dan keselamatanmu.

8.

dia suka duduk di muka cermin membunuh wajah sendiri dengan nafas yang basah kemudian menghapusnya dengan tangan, menggantinya dengan wajah yang lebih cantik.

aku sering berdiri di belakangnya sehingga dia menemukan wajahku di hadapannya sedih dan berair

dia akan berbalik, tersenyum dan berkata: menangis adalah upaya untuk tertawa lebih lepas. sudah, menangislah!

9.

dia melingkari setiap angka di kalender seperti mengikat mereka agar tak tanggal dan di akhir tahun dia menghitungnya sebagai kekayaan. begitu caranya dia mengajari aku menabung.

tunggulah, katanya, akan tiba waktunya buat dicairkan dan kita berpesta sekeluarga.

10.

dia terus bernyanyi untuk menidurkan mata dan nadinya—dan di dalam mimpi aku menyaksikan malaikat-malaikat riang terbang dan hinggap dari nada ke nada.

aku selalu tidur mengenakan senyum karena mengetahui dia selalu jatuh cinta kepada engkau.

11.

di senja saat mendengar kabar engkau mati sepasang matanya tak berkobar bagai neraka sebab mata, katanya, surga bagi kesedihan

sementara kesedihan adalah kebahagiaan yang lembut dan lembab

ibu selalu meletakkan engkau di surga itu, ayah!

April 2010

On Mom for Dad

1.

when she heard the mangoes on the backyard are falling she always asked you

“are they ripe or they no longer wish to keep hanging?”

but your body has been, for many years, remained silent in a photograph, a body with no blood. for your living body has gone, walked to unknown towns.

but she kept smiling and was convinced the further you go the deeper you get into her soul’s filled with spring.

she is patient as a well.

2.

she finally bought a cell phone though she doesn’t have your number

behind the wall i always heard she asked you to talk with trembling lips

“my husband, bring your lips to the phone. closer. closer … ”

3.

i think in these months the rain only grains of water that move up and down.

turn the yard and streets to a ragged sea. no voyage is able to arrive.

but she never turned her belief about the rain: wet light, her watery eyes and yours. your eyes at upstream, hers at downstream.

4.

every morning she always woke me up and told her same old dream

the stars grow in the sea and you come take her fishing at the bright wide sky.

5.

before going to bed i always looked at her eyes, asking without words.

and she knows the answer to the question i keep on repeating

“waiting is a noble job, son. so, now leave…“

6.

we went to the beach. she lied on the sand like a stranded clam and the wind kissed a grain of pearl from her sparkling chest.

she said you are a diver who survived the abyss

that’s why she always came to the beach waiting for you to breathe in life from her heart.

7.

she always cooks with her fragrant hair, neatly combed and tied. she always remembers one night, a month before i was born, you spill the cook and anger for finding a string of hair got lost in a bowl of basil leaves.

she serves food wearing smile and flowery clothes. every day. as if you’ll come and hungry.

she prays and eat quietly as she spoke about the weather and glanced at the television. she always worries about your health and whereabout.

8.

she likes to sit in front of the mirror killing her own face with a wet breath then remove it by her own hand, replace it with a prettier face.

i often stand behind her so that she found my face in front of her, sad and watery.

she will turn around, smiled and said: crying is an effort to laugh harder. go on, cry!

9.

she circled each number on the calendar, bind them so as not to loose and by the end of the year she counted as treasure. that’s how she taught me to save.

be patient, she says, there would be a time to withdrawn and have a party for the whole family.

10.

she kept singing lullabies to her eyes and pulse, and in my dream i saw angels cheerfully flew and perched from tone to tone.

i always sleep wearing smile knowing that she was always in love to thee.

11.

at dusk when she heard the news of your death, pair of her eyes weren’t burning like hell. eyes, she said, is a heaven for grief

while the grief is a soft and moist joy

mother always put you in her heaven, dear father

[myrulia]

An Oiran's Sacrifice - Kokushibou x Oiran!Reader

CHAPTER 2

Oiran

Oiran (花魁) was a specific category of high ranking courtesan in Japanese history. Divided into a number of ranks within this category, oiran were considered ��� both in social terms and in the entertainment they provided – to be above common prostitutes, known as yūjo (遊女, lit. 'woman of pleasure')

Warning: Prostitution, strong language, gore (slightly)

Word count: 4037

Previous chapter ☆ Next chapter

`` Silence, Douma, `` was all the male had said before sheathing his sword once more into his saya. Kokushibou was not particularly pleased with being assigned with Douma to scout the village for a human that had crossed Lord Kibutsuji the wrong way. In fact the only way Kokushibou can really tolerate the Upper Moon Two is by showing his distaste towards him. Being the number one Upper Moon meant he had lots of responsibilities to carry, along with pleasing his Lord, yet those responsibilities felt merely meaningless the moment his 3 pairs of eyes landed on your human form.

Truth be told, Kokushibou cursed himself for letting the demon even see you in the first place. It was barely moon-rise when they arrived to locate the one they were after, and Douma being Douma was not giving the Upper Moon One an easy time with constantly asking questions relating to why he is usually the first Moon gone as soon as the moon is out. Of course, that wasn’t any of Douma’s business so Kokushibou ignored him per usual. `` Come On Kokushibou-dono!~ You always bully me one way or another and I will not stand it! `` 

Before Kokushibou knew it, Douma had already left with his head in his hands. Letting out a soft sigh, the demon who was now alone watched as you finally went inside, seeing as how demons could harm you one way or another since you were previously sitting on the engawa that wrapped around the large minka. The 6 eyed demon watched your retreating form return inside the estate, so he could rest easy knowing you were somewhat safe, but that was not all that Kokushibou came for. 

The demon then jumped from the branch he was hiding on, to a nearby roof in the span of a few seconds. Due to no living soul being out in the wake of the night knowing of the dangers, he could move about from rooftop to rooftop without drawing attention to himself. He traveled around the small village known as your home for quite some time, until he was on the roof of your very own minka. He disregarded the warm candle luminosity emitting from the small window, for that was what he had hoped. Kokushibou was no stranger to humans, he was once one himself. He understands the different emotions one goes through, or the sacrifices that must be made in order to live another day. 

Jumping from the top of the roof down onto the dirt pathway in front of your door, he holds one hand on the tsuka of his katana, while the other pushes open your surprisingly unlocked door. He steps inside the empty room and looks around for the man he was searching for, yet Kokushibou did not expect for your foolish father to try and attack him.

With one swift movement, your father's wrist is grabbed by a calloused and strong hand. The man felt shivers emit from his spine and move throughout his entire body, fear striking his heart. `` Who are you..! `` Your father hollered out in utter dread for his life.

`` Who I am is not of importance, `` Kokushibou stated, shoving the man backwards which made your father land on his bottom, hitting the tatami mat painfully. Taking slow strides to his cowering form beneath him, the Upper Moon unsheathed his katana, pointing the end at your father's neck. `` You, have sinned time and time again, thinking it is to save you and your daughter, but in the end, you are just as selfish as those who have riches. You will listen to what I have to say and answer any question asked. ``

The man before him merely nodded, since there was not much he could do in the situation, a demon, one that looked terrifying, approached him. Kokushibou took note of how easy your father gave in, which satisfied him so now sitting down, the Upper Moon sheaths his sword, yet keeping a firm grip on the tsuka. `` Why do you steal, Fujisaki? ``

Swallowing hard, Astuhashi answers as best as he can without feeling the urge to wet his hakama. `` I steal so I can provide for my daughter. To make sure she has clothes on her back, a roof over her hea- ``

`` Are those the only reasons that come to your mind? `` Kokushibou inquired in his usual stoic tone. It made your father scoot back slightly to regain himself, as well as to not scream in fear. `` There is no ot-other reason, I simply wish for her to have a better life than I did. ``

`` If you want that so desperately, then why do you get caught so frequently? By doing so, you put the two of you at risk of being beheaded publicly. One, because she is your offspring, and two, directly related to you. And if she somehow escapes being hanged beside you, she will live her life shamed by your neighbors. You have done nothing but dishonor your wife and daughter. ``

For once, Astuhashi had nothing to say. The demon who can easily kill and devour your father was indeed correct with his accusations. Kokushibou noted his silence and simply lowered his head, unsheathing his sword slowly. Your father heard the sound of a sharp blade brushing against the holder of the demon's katana and quickly began stammering for words. `` How can I continue to dishonor my wife if she has already passed on? M-My daughter knows very well that we will soon no longer have to live in such wa- ``

`` Your daughter will no longer have faith in you, `` Kokushibou growled out, his temper running short as the pitiful man before him was giving him no results of change, even after losing his daughter to a powerful man no less. `` You are just as pitiful as everyone makes you out to be. You are nothing but a selfish human who has no regard for how many times your daughter has humiliated herself just so you can live to see another day. Not once have you said thanks, instead you allow her to willingly give up her body for someone who sees her as a sex slave. ``

Just like before, Astuhashi had nothing else to say, but the bulging of his eyes once Kokushibou finally withdrew his sword completely, standing up from his sitting form and glaring down at your father who was cowering in fear at the thought of being killed. `` You do not deserve the amazing daughter you were blessed with. She works day in and day out for you, yet you continue to doom her future. ``

Kokushibou took slow strides towards the man beneath him, and all the while he moved closer, your father only pushed himself with his feet until his back hit the wall behind him. Now that Astuhashi had absolutely no where to run, the Upper Moon before him raised his sword, and in one swift swing, blood was splattered on the walls and tatami flooring. A shriek of pain rang through the ears of the demon who did so, yet he held no remorse, for it was his fate that was long overdue. 

Stepping away slowly, Kokushibou finally sheaths his sword once more, all the while glaring down at the vision-less man before him. The smell of blood did indeed overflood his senses, but Kokushibou knew that taking his life would affect you deeply, and that is not what he wanted for you since you already gave up your body to be nothing more than a yūjo. It was irritating that you allow yourself to be so quick to give up everything, just so your bitch of a father could live. The demon knew all too well of the emotional attachment you have, since Astuhashi was indeed your father and the only family left alive that you knew of.

Backing up even more, Kokushibou was about to open the wooden door to your singular room minka, but on the other side commotion was heard, unfortunately trying to figure out where the scream of combined pain and agony originated from. It was only a matter of time until they located the cause, so in natural reaction, Kokushibou fled from the apparent backdoor of the small household, climbing up the one story building onto the rooftop, making sure he was not seen.

Doing what he did previously before the somewhat conversation he had with Astuhashi Fujisaki, the Upper Moon One jumped around in the wake of the night from roof to roof, until he found himself in the foliage of the forest next to the Suzuki estate where he and Douma were standing together just an hour ago. His original mission was to eliminate a certain someone that Lord Kibutsuji was not pleased about, but that could wait. Kokushibou found a mission more seemingly important than that for it can be done later.

Now going back to his original stance on the branch that he had an annoying small talk with Douma, he watches a few other oirans walk along the hallways of the large minka that he had his eyes on for once reason and once reason only.

You.

But, Kokushibou could not stay for long. The sun is a natural enemy to demons and even thought it is hardly an hour and a half past sundown, he still is loyal to Lord Kibutsuji and does not want to suffer torture from the latter. `` You are quite the distraction.. `` the male said to no breathing soul in particular. 

Sighing out rather dramatically, he rubs his temples in deep concentration. On one part, he so dearly wishes to make sure you are safe and sound, and not doing anything you do not wish, but on the other, he has duties to fulfill as the Upper Moon One and not disappoint the demon lord who he owes his demon life to. Standing there, not knowing what to do, he mentally cursed himself for his next choice of actions, because he simply jumps atop of the Suzuki estate, the one he was sent to kill being inside.

Kokushibou knew that you were inside as well, which is why he dreaded the thought of you hearing the scream of bloody murder coming from a room not to far from the one you were most likely assigned. He knew just how much you have gone through in the span of 24 hours and adding on to that made the demon feel a sense of guilt. Something he has not felt in centuries.

Jumping down from the rooftop and onto a generally flat area, he steps onto the wrap around engawa and slowly pushes open a sliding door that revealed a sleeping man who he was after the entire time. Unsheathing his sword for what seemed like the millionth time that night, Kokushibou lifts his arm with the blade in hand, and as he does so, Kenta finally wakes up to his change of surroundings in utter shock. `` Who the hell are you and why are you in my house?! ``

The demon's eyes seemed to widen slightly. He did not expect such a casualty to present itself to him, but the Upper Moon simply shrugged. `` Ah, you are awake. I guess your scream will alert the others of your "unfortunate" death. ``

Kenta looked as if he was about to defy his upcoming death, but nothing could stop the strong arm that brought down an even stronger blade with it, beheading Kenta in the process. Another loud shriek rang through the ears of both Kokushibou, and anyone else nearby that was awake or not. Blood was splattered on the wall behind the lifeless body that dropped on the bloodied sheets that most likely had so many different unfortunate women in them. There was another tinge of pain in Kokushibou's undead heart as his mind wandered to your naked body sleeping with someone you did not want to. A sex hungry man no less.

That small pain lingering in his head would not go away as his mind drifted to you being forced to sleep with nothing but a boy who can not keep his dick in his hakama. It was infuriating to know that you had a high probability of already having sex with someone you did not wish to do so with. His face only scrunched up even more in disgust at the entire family and their way of living, his teeth gritting at how this was considered a "normal" life for them. Swinging his katana again, and again, and again, the demon only creates more of a bloody mess in the bedroom he already ruined by decapitation in the first place. 

By the end of it, there was nothing left but ruined silk sheets, soaked in red blood which came from the now mutilated and cut-to-pieces man in front of him. There was nothing left that looked remotely human, just brutally severed limbs and a head that rolled onto the tatami mat flooring beside the bed. Huffing out, Kokushibou takes a step back to get a clear view at what he had done, with little to no regret. His resentment towards the entire way the household runs was made apparent in the bloodied mess of a bedroom. Although, the male could not stay for long, for commotion was heard from a few rooms down from the one he was standing in. He simply assumed that the scream of death was heard, therefore he swiftly exited from the door he entered in, closing the wooden paneled door behind him and swiftly dashing away from the minka that he mercilessly killed in.

Now that the Upper Moon's mission was fully complete in the village, he had absolutely no reason to ever return unless it was specifically assigned to him.

Then why did he want to desire so badly? 

It was as if something was beckoning out to him, calling him back to the distraught village, but, Kokushibou had a strong will, and he did not want to lose his life to the sun. So, without falter, the demon continues to sprint away from the mountain-side village, his mind set on getting as far away as possible so that he can clear his mind of the small voice in the back of his head that keeps telling him to return. 

Just as the undead being was about to let out his anger through violently swinging his katana at the trees around him, he is suddenly transported back to the only place that really seemed recognizable. The Infinity Fortress. 

                     ◆◇◆◇✧◇◆◇◆

Your peaceful slumber was suddenly disturbed when a masculine shout echoed throughout the entire minka. Your body jolted from the futon given to you, your head trying to adjust to your dark surroundings until a warm luminescent light was seen from the door crack that led to the hallway. Hurriedly, you got out from the futon and slid on the house slippers provided by the tayū and immediately pushed open the door, only to see multiple other bodies rush to the other side of the estate. `` What is the matter? `` You asked to a fellow oiran who stopped upon seeing your confused and still drowsy state.

`` The headmaster was mutilated, that is all that has been told, `` she replied rather gently in the hopes of calming your nerves, but you felt like your heart plummeted upon hearing the terrible news. Of course you knew Kenta was the cause of you becoming a yūjo, but the fact that he was killed in such a brutal way really hurt in a sense. Following behind the small crowd of people who wanted to truly see what was happening, you only became more curious as to what was happening. Although you did not know you were going to regret such things.

Pushing past a few people who were frozen in shock, you manage to make your way to the front of the crowd, part of it standing inside the private sleeping quarters of the former owner of the Suzuki estate. You looked around at the walls that had blood splattered all over them, the horrible sight looking even more worse than what you perceived, but nothing could have truly shocked you than the sight before you that caused a hand to practically fly towards your mouth. 

Disembodied limbs.

Limbs that belonged to brutally murdered Kenta Suzuki. Your eyes wandered to one arm split in half on the bed, to the other that was not cut in half but instead handing off the bed. His legs were still somehow on the bed as well, yet still separated from each other and bare, covered in blood along with every other body part you spotted. Yet, the most gut wrenching sight before you presented itself on the floor, being Kenta's decapitated head. His eyes were left wide open from the pure shock of the event that happened. His mouth set agape with blood still dripping out which stained the floor.

`` Oh my God… `` you uttered out in pure shock of the mess before you. It was sickening to see just how much one's hatred can turn into a blood bath. Before you could get another good look at the entire scene you backed away quickly and darted out past the crowd who could not pull their own eyes away. Your chest never faltered from rising and falling at its rapid rate, trying to process what happened in so little time. Just a few minutes ago you were sleeping somewhat peacefully, but now you felt as though you could not even close your eyes without your mind wandering to the unfortunate death of Kenta. 

`` Okay everyone, we will try to figure everything out in the morning, but for now, please try to get your rest. I understand that might not be possible since the murder of my father was indeed shocking. Please, try to sleep, `` spoke the son who you still resented, Hiroto Suzuki. It was surprising how he took some charge of the situation when he was most likely in the middle of getting his dick wet. At least he tried, is what you thought to yourself once you finally made it back to your own small quarters of a bedroom. 

Not even bothering to turn on the light, you kicked off your house slippers and practically flopped onto the futon, yawning in a desperate act to get some sleep, but you knew if you closed your eyes, you would only see a head on tatami mat flooring. 

Even though you tried so desperately to fight the urge to sleep, you found yourself already drifting off back into your slumber whether you liked it or not. Your body craved rest, and so, you finally gave in. 

                      ◆◇◆◇✧◇◆◇◆

Just as quickly as you closed your eyes, you felt them opening once more to the warm lighting of the sunrise shining through the much bigger window in comparison to the one from your old living space. Sitting up slowly, you let out a dramatic yawn and stretched out your limbs, adjusting your vision to the sunlight shining through. Even though the sun was beaming, the events last night were dreadful as your mind flashed over the gore filled memory. 

Shaking it off, you got up and opened your wardrobe that you could proudly say held your own clothes, pulling out the things required in order to fully dress yourself for what you perceived to be a long day. The process still was not engraved into your memory entirely, so you still struggled with getting the entire kimono set up in general, but got it done anyways. Moving onto your hair, you decorated your bun-styled hair with the multiple ornaments provided, making yourself look presentable. 

The make-up though, you still struggled with profusely. It took a much longer process to hide your eyebags in view of the fact that they have been forming over the years that your father has committed acts of thievery during the night, and you having to stay up in order to make sure he returns alive. 

Although, those were things of the past and no longer apart of your everyday life. You had to admit, being able to escape from such things felt like a heavy weight that was no longer on your back. You finally had breathing space despite being no more than a common prostitute, and even though that was your new reality, it made you feel pretty in a sense with how you were given such beautiful jewelry that was given for free.

`` Lotus, it is time for your first sleeping experience with Young Master Hiroto! `` 

And just like that, your peace was ruined.

Your first time having sex with someone you never would have imagined you would do it with. You originally thought you would lose your virginity to the man you love, a perfect husband in the hopes of even having a child with him. But that little childish fantasy of yours was about to be ruined the second you actually undress yourself before the eyes of Hiroto Suzuki.

Exiting your bedroom and closing the door gently, you follow Sakura who told you about your fate. She had a proud smile on her face as she began explaining the situation. `` Go in there and make me proud. I just know you will, after all, you have a beautiful body that was practically made for this. Therefore, enjoy yourself. Hiroto does have a rather enjoyable cock..~ ``

It seemed as though Sakura was trying to make you feel better with the playful tone she used, but telling by your tired and more serious face she could tell that you were obviously not too pleased about the whole thing, so she clears her throat and stops in front of large double doors. `` Well this is it, Goodluck and at least try to enjoy yourself. I know this is not what you imagined your first time would be like, but, this is how it must be. So please, try not to upset him. ``

You only nodded your head since you did not have much so say about your fate. It was saddening really to know that this is out of your control, but you chose this path yourself. Opening the double doors, you step inside to see a fully bare man laying on his futon who looked as if he was waiting on you. You perceived that to be true with the way he leaned back on his shoulders and looked you up and down without shame. `` Well hello Lotus. ``

`` Hello, `` was all you said. You did not have much to say to Hiroto, because deep down you were still upset and you being you, decided to make that apparent. `` Aww come on..~ Not excited to help me get rid of that memory from last night? My dear old dad dying? ``

`` If you are going to use that as an excuse to have sex with me and make me enjoy it, you are certainly wrong. `` Even though Hiroto could quickly have you killed. You still wanted a shred of your dignity left because you at least know your self worth. `` I am here for the sake of my father, and if I have to have sex with someone who only thinks of sex, then so be it. `` 

Hiroto had nothing to say, and so since he did not, the male pulls you into his futon directly on top of his naked body. You could feel his shaft press against your stomach so you shuddered at the thought. Getting up slowly, you simply roll your eyes and begin to undress yourself until a pale hand came to grab your wrist. `` Let me undress you instead~ ``

And so, that is what you let him do. His hands did not know where to start until you guided him to the proper area where he could strip you with ease. In the middle of him beginning to untie the large bow on your lower abdomen, the wooden doors are pushed open abruptly. 

`` Young Master Hiroto, I apologize for interrupting your private time with Lotus, but she is needed at the moment. Something terrible has happened. ``

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

[sambart93]

2017.05.20 OEdo no Candy 2 Event and Movie Review!

I got a chance to go to another OEdo Candy event and I got to go to the showing of the new movie plus they had a butai aisatsu (stage greeting) from some of the cast after.

*PSST: if you just want to read about the stage greeting then Ctrl F and ‘Stage Greeting’. It’s at the bottom of the page/post.

First the MOVIE REVIEW

NON-SPOILER REVIEW

Overall: This is partly what I was expecting and partly not. I was expecting it to be fantastical and romancy、 BUT I wasn’t expecting it to be so fairy-like and lots of glittery special effects and weird colour tones and such. It definitely makes it all the more magical and luckily, isn’t too distracting. Also it wasn’t as BL-y as I was under the impression of. I wish this movie had been longer. I needed and wanted more character development. The visuals were amazing, it was very funny (which I also wasn’t expecting) and the characters were great. It’s definitely an Indie-styled movie. It’s not a clean cut, it’s not professional looking, the editor purposefully leaves in real actor mistakes that happened for comic relief. BUT it’s enjoyable, fascinating and I’m glad it ended with a ‘To Be Continued’. Rating: 7/10

---

Now for cast and spoiler section and everything:

CAST

Kurihara Rui aka Louis Aramaki Yoshihiko aka MakiChan Someya Toshiyuki aka Someyan Fujita Tom Akazawa Tomoru aka Tomorun Kamiya Riku Shiono Akihisa Asuma Kousuke Yura Achiha Hiko Robin Komina Kouji Nakamura Kaito Tokito Kishimoto Takuya aka KishiTaku Izumi Shuuhei Moriya Koji Kazuki Haru Doi Kazumi Hashimoto Zenitsu Nakajima Ken Nihira Shougo aka Shougokun Mori Issei Dairi IG Saya Onuki Yuusuke Mayama Akihiro Takahashi Hiromu Sano Shirou Fukikoshi Mitsuru Takenaka Naoto Koizumi Kyouko

That’s a fucking long list xD anyway!

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SPOILER REVIEW

I am going to go into a lot of detail about scenes and plot so you’ve been warned. Also I still haven’t seen the first movie so I many have left stuff out or not understand some parts because of that. Okay, let’s start!

The Movie Itself

Already mentioned in the non-spoiler section but: It was more Indie than I was expecting. I knew it wouldn’t be a perfect Toho cinematic-like movie because it has stage actors in and they usually have the more raw and not quite polished movies, but the director has been on Shabekuri007 and the cast is stella, top stage actors AND some HUGE TV names are in this cast, so I was expecting some professionalism but I was so wrong! It’s so, so Indie in it’s style. The cuts and edits aren’t quite so clean, the special effects are ridiculously fake but make everything look so pretty. The colouring and tone of the movie, especially when they’re in Underworld, is very obvious and like shades of green and blue rather than natural colours. So I was a little surprised at first. It’s obvious straight away that it’s Indie style, but I like this style thankfully so it didn’t bother me for long. I like this style; it’s definitely a style I enjoy but some people won’t.

Continuing on about the use of colour and sparkle effects when they were in the Underland; they were definitely creative and entertaining. For example there’s this sparkler like movement and light that goes around the characters, and at one point, love hearts are falling down around Someya and Riku when they finally meet and they realise they’re fated to be together. Just like these pics:

At first the special effects were very jarring and distracting BUT I got used to them. Although(!) it’s going to be annoying as fuck when it comes out of DVD because we ALL want to get those pretty and good shots of our favourite actors, but because the sparkles and such that just go all over their faces and everything, they aren’t going to be the best of shots. They should bring out an unfiltered version for us! They’ll make more money that way too!! xD

This movie was a lot less gay than I was expecting. Especially because on Tsutaya’s (a Japanese rental website and store) website the first OEdo movie is labelled as ‘erotica’ but like... there’s two kiss scenes, some rope scenes, and implied whipping but that’s all! But I guess Japanese censorship is more sensitive that way? I’d just say this is a PG-12, it’s really nothing too raunchy.

This movie was FUNNY! Funny as fuck! I wasn’t expecting it to be funny at all! I laughed the entire time! Either because of the stuff happening in the movie itself was funny, or because knowing the actors and their personalities it’s funny. It’s also very purposefully funny, like the editor saw a mistake and was like ‘that’s hilarious! Keep it in!'. Especially Asuma’s scene and the Masturi/Festival scene which I’ll explain later. There’s definitely scenes that happened by mistake or weren’t part of the script, but the editor and director purposefully left them in the final cut to give the audience a laugh and embarrass the actors xD

The story is simple-ish enough to understand and it’s very fun to watch, but like I said in my non-spoiler review; I wish this movie was longer so we could’ve gotten MORE plot and MORE character development and MORE comedy,. I just want MORE. Luckily at the end it said ‘To Be Continued’ however I assume the cast will change again(?) just like it did between the first and second movie, which is a shame because I’d like as much of this cast back as possible.

The Actors and Characters and Their Scenes

Kurihara Rui:

He surprised me. I’ve seen him in person and I’ve seen him on tv as himself many times and he very much has the persona of someone who is very emo-like with life and very monotone and doesn’t like to smile and is very witty but straight faced when he jokes. Even when I saw him at the first OEdo event he was like this! But in the movie, he at least had facial expressions! At first he didn’t but then we see him freaking out in the bathroom and being concerned. For the most part he stays as himself but I was surprised he could actually give SOME sort of acting performance. He is model so of course he looks damn pretty in his white outfit, and his skin looks freaking flawless as fuck in this movie. But I am very happy and surprised from the performance he did give.

Aramaki Yoshihiko:

My boy... first I have a bone to pick with you Aramaki Yoshi-always-straight-hiko!!!! (Can you tell what it is yet?)

OF COURSE MakiChan is the ONLY (no wait Asuma is too but he’s not a main character) straight person in this movie! EVERYONE else is obviously gay but oh no MakiChan just HAS to be the straight character -__- I was hoping for him and Akazawa to have a thing going on in this, instead of him denying he’s in love with his childhood female friend the entire movie -__- oh well! Least he’s somewhat gay in Honoo no Mirage... one day I’ll get my gay movie from him! I better! All stage actors have one! Also you work with Shosan a lot and he’s done quite a few! Also Baba and TakaChan! Come on Maki! GIVE ME MY GAY MAKICHAN MOVIE! I’m okay... moving on...

MakiChan’s character was chara (how would you even translate ‘chara’ in English?! ‘Playboy’? or ‘Likes to mess around’?) as fuck though. His first scene is him opening a very posh person’s door to reveal a very posh and stuck up girl and takes her through his izakaya while winking at his mates that he’s ‘gotten in there’. Then at the end of the date she pulls him slightly into the car and kisses him on the cheek. Once she’s left, he’s like ‘yes I’ve scored!’ BUT at the same time is totally adorable because he’s over the moon by just a simple kiss and can’t take his hand off his cheek where she kissed him! He was both chara and cute at the same time! Also the next day he’s with Shiono and is holding a teddy and just being so cute and child-like that he got a kiss from the most popular girl in his university xD Just adorableness galore from MakiChan! With the teddybear = adorable. Trying his hardest to join in on the (real) matsuri/festival = adorable! When he wakes up at the end = ADORABLE! 

ALSO very badass when he attacks and kills Robin in a second! Also OMG! In the beginning he sees his dad come out of the Boys Bar that’s next door to the izakaya, and he chases his dad down and is like ‘you’re not gay?!’ and his dad’s like ‘why you think your mother and I.... anyway I’m gay. You do realise I’m gay right? You might not understand but that’s how it is!’ And the next day MakiChan turns to Shiono and is like ‘my dad told me he’s gay...what the fuck?!’ xD And his dad was being played by FREAKING Takenaka Naoto! TAKENAKA NAOTO! He’s a freaking movie and TV star! He’s amazing in whatever he does and he was in this?! And with MakiChan?! AND as MakiChan’s DAD?! And being a GAY daddy?! He was fabulous and amazing (as always) in this!

Speaking of Akazawa and MakiChan. I really loved their relationship and my head thinks they were dating in it even though his character is supposed to be straight, and I think Akazawa’s character was supposed to be in love with Rui’s character in the UnderWorld. Nevertheless their relationship was great BECAUSE MakiChan’s character in the Underworld cannot speak, he’s mute, and luckily Akazawa can hear him via telepathy which was cute so Akazawa helped MakiChan out a lot.

I can confirm that for many many months even before the movie first came out, MakiChan and co were saying you can hear them say ‘facial’ instead of ‘washoi’ during the festival scene, and I can confirm that they do in fact say ‘facial’ instead of ‘washoi’ in the scene xD I was giggling quite a bit.

Little side note: In UnderWorld he is the only character who has a recollection and memories of his time in the Real World.

Finally! As disgusting as it sounds (but shouldn’t be a surprise if you know me) MakiChan’s underarm hair made a special guest appearance and it made me VERY happy <3 why am I so fucking weird...MOVING ON!

Someya Toshiyuki:

Someya is so pretty when he dresses up and has make up in a more feminine manner! He was gorgeous! I could not look away! And the kiss with Someya and Riku was perfect though! It was rather heart-racey but nothing too heart-racey (am I even getting enough oxygen to my brain right now to be able to talk about this properly?!) xD 

BUT! One moment that got me giggling though is when Someya takes like 5 minutes to cut Riku’s rope from his hands -- it really doesn’t take that long! It wasn’t that thick of a rope at all and I just cracked up the longer the scene went. I get it was a long scene so they could keep talking and so the sexual tension between them built up but it was a ridiculous amount of time.

Why did he have to die though?! Riku gets killed by Tom so then Someya kills himself with a knife in front of Tom and because Tom has essentially lost the person he loves he shoots himself in the head! ... I’ve just realised how freaking Romeo and Juliet this all is... it literally is just a movie about romance and being dramatic and everyone dying and/or killing themselves for the people they love xD what the fuck... it’s still good though!

Fujita Tom:

Surprisngly Tom’s character was pretty interesting! I don’t know why I expected him not to be because I was impressed with him in Kamen Rider Amazons and I enjoyed seeing him in person last time... 

I liked his character. He was like a warlord and looked very good upon his throne. I liked both his Real World and UnderWorld Character. His Real World character works in the freaking Boys Bar along with Someya. In fact the entire Boys Bar scene and location itself is ridiculous and hilarious! It’s this very loud, strip-bar which is right next to MakiChan’s brother’s (played by Riku) izakaya and that’s why they have conflict, because they can hear the Boys Bar’s music every night. Seriously the entire Boys Bar scene is amazing, I think I enjoyed it a bit too much xD Anyway, back to Tom; I liked both his character but was short lived, again leading back to the whole ‘I needed more from this movie’ complaint.

Akazawa Tomoru:

I remember that in the last event, the director commented (probably during the Making video) on how big Akazawa’s eyes are, and seriously, while watching this movie, they really are huge! It doesn’t help he has these blue eye contacts in that really light his face up (not in a stupid way! A natural way!) so they looked obviously bigger compared to everyone else too.

But damn Akazawa’s death scene was sad and upsetting =[ It was so quick and unexpected too! He was seriously struggling =‘[ he got his neck slit open and was on the floor in his pool of blood coughing and trying to save the others before they get killed, and he’s like ‘I’m so glad you weren’t here (when they came <-- they being Tom’s group who are after Rui because he’s some magical white fairy thing I think).

Kamiya Riku:

He is MakiChan’s brother in this! But also Someya’s fated lover. A majpr plot of the story is that until he meets Someya (again) in the real world, he doesn’t remember anything except his family. He’s a very quiet character but once he finds Someya the amount of love you can see in his eyes towards Someya and how his face completely softens when he sees Someya, it’s so adorable!

Shiono Akihisa:

Shiono is a freaking puppy! He’s in love with his and MakiChan’s childhood friend, but she’s in love with MakiChan and instead of confessing his love to her, -- although there is a hypothetical scene that plays out where he tells her to forget MakiChan and hugs her and confesses his love to her but! -- he lets her go and holds back so in the end, her and MakiChan can get together! He’s too precious for this world! He’s so sweet! He also does the Matsuri with MakiChan which is great too! It was a short time but you could easily see their long friendship shine through their scenes together.

Asuma Kousuke:

Asuma’s character had a lisp and it was fucking hilarious. Several times in the movie, the characters (to his character) were like ‘why do you say Sa Si Su Se So instead of Sa Shi Su Se So’ It was a funny bit every time, especially when he was like ‘I don’t speak weird!’ and they all laughed. His character also got slapped a lot by the other characters as another form of comic relief.

Also in his very first scene, he clearly (the actor, not the character) overhits the wooden overhead part and makes a huge noise, you can see slight pain in his face, and everyone in the room (I was in) pissed themselves laughing. It was obviously a ‘the actor accidentally did it but we thought it was hilarious so left it in the movie’ moment.

By the way, Asuma it TOO tall and TOO skinny! xD

Robin:

His visual and the metal arm armour he has is badass! He looks so good in his costume and seriously that arm is soooo amazing! Even the cast and staff commented on how nice it is and Robin was happy he got to wear such a cool looking thing. His character is like an assassin but is so easily killed by MakiChan in one swift and quick movement -- it was an awesome scene! But unfortunately it turns out MakiChan didn’t completely and successfully kill him because as MakiChan tries to help Someya get Riku, Robin comes from behind and stabs him and he dies. But it was a cool movement when MakiChan ninja-slashed him.

Nakamura Kaito:

This little cutie! Him and Tokito were like supposed to be waiting on Someya but spent most of their time being pretty dumb (in an adorable way) and playing games with each other. Especially when MakiChan turns on Tom (he uses a sleeping drug on him) and Robin, after slashing Robin, the two of them are hugging one another and going ‘please don’t kill us!’ and MakiChan lets them go. It was such an adorable moment from them. It was cut when they played Rock-Paper-Scissors together too.

Kishimoto Takuya:

His guests appearance was absolutely hilarious! So he plays the driver of car of the women who MakiChan takes to his izakaya. And once out of view of the izakaya, she tells KishiTaku to stop the car. Here she removes her shoes and puts her feet on the headrest infront of her (she’s in the back seat behind Kishi who’s driving) and her feet are either side of his face and he’s like ‘o_O’ and ‘=O’ but also super enjoying it. I’m pretty sure she ends up putting her feet ON his face and he’s goes into this like orgasmic state and enjoys it thoroughly. His character was so amusing.

Doi Kazumi and Nihira Shougo:

There were some great cameos from people like Doi Kazumi (who was a worker at the Boys Bar) and Kishimoto Takuya (seriously KishiTaku’s part was hilarious! I am not doing it justice above!), also freaking Takenaka Naoto (who I already fangirled over)!

Furthermore, I freaked during the All Boys Bar scene when for a SPLIT (literally a split, split second) when I saw my very own Shougo-kun!! It was a moment of ‘*double take* wait what?!’ when I saw him. I practically jumped out of my seat when I found him! I was so shocked and excited to see him in it because I was not expecting him! I immediately tweeted him after seeing the movie and was like ‘why didn’t I know?! But also I’m impressed at how quickly I spotted you xD’ which makes me seem super stalkery xD oh well! But I am so proud of my boy and when I saw his name in the credits and realised I was right about spotting him, I was a very happy girl ^_^

Hashimoto Zenitsu:

He ends up being MakiChan’s dad’s entertainment in the Boys Bar and they look so freaking hilarious with each other. Knowing Takenaka he was the one super into the role and being like ‘lets do this! lets really do this’ and making it look so lovey dovey and sickly and funny as possible and I imagine Zenitsu was just going along with it. It’s such a good but short scene with them two.

Sano Shirou and Fukikoshi Mitsuru:

These two HUGE tv stars guest starring in this movie. I’ve always liked both of them (and Takenaka) and I really liked Fukikoshi’s character! He was very funny! Especially towards the end when MakiChan(I think?) is trying to explain what happened in Underworld and Fukikoshi is asleep the entire time xD

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After the Movie, it was the CAST EVENT/STAGE GREETING:

It was: Aramakaki Yoshihiko (duh that’s why I went xD), Asuma Kousuke, Robin, Nakamura Kaito and Takahashi Zenitsu. 

I was second row to the right-hand side (and the row behind me and all the seats to my right were empty, so safe to say it was obvious when he was looking at me), so as soon as MakiChan came on stage, he saw me and smiled at me ^_^ Then at another point in the talk show, Asuma was talking and I was giggling silently and very hard at him, and MakiChan saw me and had to stop himself from laughing - he made that ‘holding back the smiling/laughing’ type face. I feel guilty for making him almost crack up on stage but also special because only me and him know why.

They first had a Mini-Talk but I don’t really remember what happened or what was said but I remember laughing a lot - sorry! But I do remember them talking about Robin and his cool character, so he was like ‘okay! Everyone close your eyes! The audience will clap on which one of you they want me to kill!’ Even though they were suspicious at first, they complied and they all closed their eyes and he walked around the back of each of them and waited for us to clap. Naturally Asuma and MakiChan had the biggest claps, SO Robin decided to kill both of them with his ‘air sword�� (he didn’t have one on him). To which MakiChan was like ‘that’s not how I’d kill someone!’ and Robin was alarmed at first at how serious MakiChan sounded at killing someone (xD) but then asked, ‘well how would you do it then?!’ so MakiChan said he’d show them. But before that MakiChan did the same thing as Robin and asked the audience the clap at who they wanted killed and it landed on Asuma xD so the first time he just killed Asuma with an air sword and then the second time it was MakiChan giving Asuma a drink and saying like ‘Otsukare’ and then Asuma drinks it and collapses to the floor and MakiChan is like ‘I’d poison them!’ with a smile on his face xD which is related to his character in the movie because his character does drug Fujita Tom’s drink but doesn’t kill them.

Then we had the Senshuu-Kai which is like a lottery and they picked the audience’s seats from a box and it was to win one of five signed copies of the script. Most of the people who won were on the second floor -- there were only like 20 seats on the second floor and FOUR people from there got signed copies! We were all surprised at how lucky the top floor was. 

ALSO The boys mentioned they watched the movie FROM the second floor. When the movie had ended I did see about 6 people stand up and slink backstage, so it must’ve been them! That means MakiChan was opposite me and one floor up! I wonder if he saw me the entire time! =O *dead*

Finally there was the HIGH TOUCH/FIVE on the way out!

Being technically the back row (it was set out weird. I was row N but second row on the right. Don’t ask) I was one of the first to go to the high five. The boys were lined up outside next to where the goods had been and the order was: Zenitsu, Robin, Nakamura, Asuma and finally MakiChan. I remember high-fiving Zenitsu and Nakamura completely, but I don’t remember high fiving Robin, and I barely remember Asuma, only just thinking ‘he smiles well’ and ‘DAMN HE TALL!’ xD 

With MakiChan being at the end, he got a few seconds longer with everyone as they left. He gave me this huge smile, high fived me, waved at me, said thank you and good bye, and waved me off and watched me walk away to the stairs ^_^ <3 okay I’m dead *dead* he’s always so amazing with his fans. God dammit guys... he’s so amazing... such a good person *dead*

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GOODS

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Speaking of OEdo I hit for the next butai aisatsu of this movie! AND I’M FIRST ROW! LEGIT FIRST ROW! June 24th! So hopefully I’ll have a mini report about the aisatsu and maybe some extra comments about the movie ^_^

I’m getting there! About 3 more to go! *dead*

[onceuponaloonatic]

After Sana and Saya fight, Saya sneaks out of the house, taking matters into her own hands. Satzu panic a bit, but Sana seems more sad than angry. Saya complains to her gf about the whole situation. Maybe they find out someone from their class is on a ventilator and in the ICU and suddenly things seem more real. Saya goes to the store to grab snacks and clear her head, but with every masked or coughing person she sees, it triggers her and she starts freaking out. She calls Sana in a panic. 🦄

Saya groaned as she slammed the door to her room. She was just so frustrated. She felt like her parents were prioritizing her sister over her, and that her feelings didn’t matter. She was less important than her sister. Sure Nico was a baby, so she was pretty defenseless, but still. To Saya it seemed like ever since Nico was born she was no longer as important to her parents. Their attention was directed towards the baby and keeping her safe. Saya hasn’t seen her ka-san in over a month to “keep Nico safe.” She hadn’t seen her girlfriend in over a month for the same reason. It was all Nico’s fault. She was so angry at her parents and that stupid baby. She hated that her parents were always telling her she couldn’t leave the house. If Saya got covid she would literally be fine. She was a healthy fifteen year old, she would be fine. Saya was just so fed up and angry. She decided to take matters into her own hands. 

After slamming her door Saya made sure to lock it. Normally she was never allowed to lock her door, her parents had made that rule when she was little and they first moved to their new house, fearing Saya could get into trouble and her door would be locked. Saya had never touched the lock since, afraid her parents would get mad. But now she didn’t care. They were already mad. She may as well add another thing to the long list of things for them to be angry about. 

Once her door was locked Saya threw on her favorite outfit and looked at the window. She rarely had to open the window, thankfully her parents were rich enough to not really care about ac costs. She knew her friends parents could be really strict about turning the ac on, some of them not even having it. But everyone in their family hated being hot, so the ac was turned on when it was too hot outside. But today she would open her window. It’s times like this she was happy her room was on the first floor. Saya ducked under the open window and walked to the far side of the yard. The living room had big windows and even Sana’s affinity for natural light the curtains were always open during the day. So she made sure to stick by the far side of the fence as she snuck out. Once she reached the end she opened the gate to the backyard, sighing in relief when it wasn’t locked. She really did not want to hop the fence today. 

Thankfully Yujin lived closeby to her. They lived in the same neighborhood so she just had to walk a few streets over and there would be Yujin’s house. Yujin’s family was really nice. She had one older brother who was always nice to Saya and their dog was really cute. Saya’s dogs had both been attached to Nico the day they took her home from the hospital. To Saya, it felt good to be outside of her house, to be taking a walk. The fresh air was nice. Sure they would sometimes have dinner out on the balcony or patio but it wasn’t the same. She was still at home then, that wasn’t the same as going outside. It was still too cold for the pool, and Saya hoped this whole situation was over by summer so they could have the fun pool sixteenth birthday party she had been promised. When she got to Yujin’s house she knocked on the door. SHe had sent a text to her girlfriend that she was coming over earlier. Her parents had already okayed Saya coming over a while ago. Yujin answered the door for her with a smile, pulling her inside the house. 

“My Oppa and parents are at the store.” Yujin responded, sitting between Saya’s legs on her couch. 

“Good.” Saya rested her chin on Yujin’s shoulder. “My parents are driving me crazy, and all because of that stupid baby.” “I’m sorry.” Yujin leaned against her. “Oh speaking of the baby my mom wants to give you some soup she made for your mom, it’s supposed to help keep her body healthy because she just had a baby two months ago or something. I don’t know, childbirth seems really weird.”

“I’ll take it home with me.” Sana kissed Yujin’s cheek. “It is weird. Plus my parents are absolutely insane about Nico not getting sick. Because she’s too young and too weak or something. Also she literally never sleeps, which means my parents never sleep. Why do people willingly do that to themselves?” “I don’t know.” Yujin sighed. “Hey, speaking of your parents, is your ka-san back yet?” “No. Even though she wears lots of protective gear at work she’s still insisting on staying in a hotel. She’s still worried about the baby.” Saya sighed. 

“That sucks, you know now that I think about I think it Jisoo, you know the guy from our class, is in the hospital. I’ve heard he’s in the ICU on a ventilator or something. Apparently he got the virus from going to some underground party.” Yujin looked at the ceiling as her alpha hugged her.

“Really?” Saya asked. “But isn’t he like an athlete?” “Yeah I thought it was weird too.” Yujin shrugged. “Hey I’m getting pretty hungry have you eaten yet?” “No I haven’t. I’m pretty hungry too.” Saya tightened her grip on her girlfriend. 

“We don’t really have anything here though…” “I’ll go get us some snacks if you want.” Saya volunteered. “I mean my parents should be home in like an hour-”

“No no it’s fine.” Saya nodded. “But can I borrow a facemask? My parents would murder me if they found out I didn’t wear one.” They were already going to murder her but Saya wanted to go to the outside world. She hadn’t been in the outside world in forever, and as an extravert it was terrible for her. 

“Sure. We have some extras.” Yujin gently pried Saya off of her and walked over to the kitchen, grabbing her girlfriend a facemask. “You know what I like right?” 

“Of course.” Saya leaned forward and gave her girlfriend a kiss. “One more.” “You're so needy.” Yujin rolled her eyes and pulled Saya into a longer kiss. 

“I haven’t gotten to kiss you in forever. Let me appreciate it.” 

XX

After about an hour of arguing with Saya, Sana decided she was cooled down enough for her to talk to her. She put Nico down for a nap before leaving her, their dogs laying in front of Nico’s crib protectively. Sana made sure to pat their heads before going downstairs. Saki and Tzuyu were watching tv in the living room.

“Hey mom.” Saki greeted as she walked past her. “Hi Saki, hi babe. I’m going to talk to Saya.” Sana explained as she went over to Saya’s room. 

“Good luck!” Saki called from the living room. Sana thanked her before knocking on Saya’s door. When there was no answer she tried to open the door, telling the door she was coming in. But the knob didn’t budge. 

“Saya! Open this door!” Sana yeled, panic seeping into her a bit. The kids never locked their door. Never. 

“What's wrong?” Tzuyu came over from the living room. 

“Her door is locked and she’s not answering me.” Sana explained. “Saya please open this door.” “Here I’ll pick the lock.” Saki volunteered, also wandering over from the living room. 

“You can pick locks?” Tzuyu asked in disbelief as Saki pulled out a bobby pin. 

“I saw a tik tok video on it.” Saki shrugged. She unlocked the door and her moms both thanked her when it opened. Sana ran in, fearing Saya had gotten hurt somehow and was unconscious. She was happy to find that Saya wasn’t lying on the floor, but panicked when she couldn’t find her at all. The door to the bathroom and closet were open but Sananoticed something else was open. 

“Fuck…” Tzuyu muttered when she opened it too. “We need to find her. I can’t believe her.” Sana was scared and panicked of course. Her daughter was missing. But she was also sad. She was sad she had driven Saya to this point. To the point she would run away. She wished they had noticed she was gone sooner.

XX Saya really wishes she hadn’t volunteered to do this. That story Yujin had told her about her classmate really stuck in her head. And the empty streets, the people wearing face masks and gloves, and the people coughing made her realize how serious the situation really was. Every time she heard someone cough she tensed a bit. It was like reality was finally hitting her. The reality of their situation. This virus could literally kill Nico, and it could probably put Saki in the ICU. It made her realize that yes it sucked she wasn’t allowed to go to the store or go to her girlfriend’s house but she was being so incredibly selfish. Her parents couldn’t go to the store either, and they couldn’t see their wife. And her ka-san couldn’t see their family because she was keeping them safe. She knew her ka-san was probably miserable, but she didn’t break her quarantine from them because she loved them and wanted them to be safe and healthy. She realized the outside world that she so desired to go to really was not a great place to be. And it scared her.

She didn’t make it to the store. She walked past an old man who started coughing and she ran as far as she could away. She was scared. She was so beyond scared. And she didn't know what to do. If she went home she risked getting her family infected because she had no idea if she had been exposed to the virus. She didn’t want Yujin to get hurt either, so she couldn’t go there. Saya only knew to do one thing. 

“Mom?” Saya was so relieved when Sana picked up. 

“Saya! Where are you?” Saya started crying at her mom’s voice.

“I’m so sorry mommy.” Sana instantly knew something was wrong. Saya only called her mommy when something was really really wrong. “So so sorry.” Saya sniffled and Sana realized she was crying. 

“Hey sweetheart… I’m sorry. It will be okay.” “Where am I supposed to go mommy? I don’t want to get you guys sick. I don’t want to kill Nico.” Saya sobbed. “I don’t want to hurt any of you.” “Hey shh Saya… You understand why we wanted you to stay inside now?” Sana asked. “Yes mommy.” Saya sobbed some more. “Where can I go mommy?” “I’ll take care of it. I love you so much Saya-chan and this one mistake doesn’t make me love you any less. I know you're sorry, and I’m sorry you're so stressed out. Mommy will make things all better okay baby?” “Okay.”

[womewowitch92]

ILOCOS TOUR 2019

The Ilocos Region is home to the most amazing tourist destinations in the country. I was pleasantly surprised that even up to now, this trip to Ilocos remains on my short list of my best domestic travels. Ilocos is pure love.

Each place has its element. Each place offers an intimate relationship with nature. I believes, for obvious reasons, that wind is the element of this wonderful region. the Bangui Windmills is a proof but really, when you’re in Ilocos, you’ll feel like it is a “wind realm,” not just because of its presence and power but also there’s this constant feeling of being embraced by the wind. I don’t know, the wind there seemed to welcome and entertain us.

During visit, Pagudpud is my favorite part of the tour. A well maintained and clean beach. Crystal clear blue water and white sand, Pagudpud Ilocos Norte is the Boracay of the north less crowded and less commercialized. A Great Beach Indeed! I just love the place and I wish to come back and stay longer to fully enjoy the place has to offer.

Our trip began with a meet up at the foodcourt in Robinsons Galleria, 730PM SHARP is the call time but you know the Filipino time. We were a group of 12 inlcluding My daughter, a tour guide and a driver was with us. We were able to leave the place 2 hours later. (HAHAHA! FILIPINO TIME) We had several stopovers starting at a gas station along NLEX. Truth is, I actually don’t remember much about our moments inside the van because I was sleeping most of the time. However, every time we stop (which happened 5 times so some of us could buy food, pee, buy food, and pee) I would wake up but would go back to dreamland after 2 seconds.

Day 1 :  The tour started when we arrived at ILOCOS NORTE at 4AM. Actually We expect to arrive in Ilocos at 9am . (Di ko alam kung anong nangyari, basta ang bilis.)

The next time I woke up we were on the kapurpurawan Rock formation in Burgos, Ilocos Norte.

Tucked in the coast of Burgos, Ilocos Norte, just 1.5 kilometers away from Laoag City, is a breathtaking rock formation by the beach known for its creamy white rock surface sculpted by natural phenomena.

The Kapurpurawan Rock Formation is an art of nature featuring a landscape of smooth ivory limestone produced by the natural process of sedimentation. It’s name’s root word, “puraw”, is an Ilocano word which translates to “white” because of the alabaster rock formations that the tourists would love to see.

In front of the rocks is the view of the Bangui Bay’s crystal blue waters and the visually appealing sight of the waves dramatically thumping against the limestone formations makes the scene a picture perfect moment in every way possible.

Also, the numerous towering windmills from the neighboring Burgos Wind Farm will you as you drive towards the drop-off point of the rock formation. No wonder that this has become one of Burgos’ best tourist attraction.

Kapurpurawan’s drop-off point is three kilometers away from the main highway. From the entrance, visitors have to go down a flight of stairs near the souvenir shops, then trek towards the rocky coast to reach the rock formation. The path is not too steep but take note that it can be muddy.

While trekking, you will see a statue of the Biag ni Lam-ang, an Ilocano epic poem.

For those who want to don’t want to walk, there are available horses to ride on for just Php 100 per person and Php10 If you only want to take picture.

(SOBRANG SAYA NOH! HABANG UMIIYAK YUNG KILI-KILI HAHAHA!)

It is advised to wear comfortable clothes and footwear or bring a jacket to avoid getting cold, wet, or any possible accidents while trekking. Also take note that flying of drones is not allowed in the area due to the strong winds.

It is best to visit Kapurpurawan on early mornings to avoid the harsh sun or sometimes rain showers in the afternoon, and the crowd. Other nearby attractions in Burgos that one can visit after Kapurpurawan is the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse and Bangui Windmill Farm.

the next stop..

the Bangui Windmills, I’d been longing to see these enormous electric fans since the news broke that there were plans of harnessing wind energy in the Philippines. I had seen windmills before in Pililia Rizal but ofcourse I want to see the windmill here in Ilocos.

On the way to the site, everyone got so excited because we could already see the windmills. Everyone prepared their cameras and flip flops, the girls wore their hair up. When our van finally halted, everyone stormed out of the vehicle as if it were about to explode. It was that crazy.

We didn’t expect these windmills to be that huge. Of course we knew they were big but NOT that big. It was a little difficult to find the right angle from which we could see most of the towers.

We were also expecting 15 of them but I think there were more. We counted it but now that we’re back in the city, nobody remembers how many are there exactly.

Paraiso ni Anton is one of the few stops of the Pagudpud, a local tourism project of the municipality that aims to bring visitors to Pagudpud’s top-notch destinations. Tourist take photos while locals take a sip of the waters dripping from the hill.

After then, We slowly climbed the concrete stairway after approaching the site. We chanted a little prayer in front of the Virgin Mary statuette. Then We stepped down and proceeded to the watery part of the hill. Silently, We put our palms together and fetched some drips and then sipped.

Some other locals came with containers and filled them with the water flowing from the small stream.

Witnessing all these made me wonder that these waters may uphold some sort of mystery. Then I found out that locals believe that the water that drips down to the hillside of Paraiso ni Anton contain some healing energy. They believe that drinking the water will cure their mild ailments and in some cases, even the severe ones.

There is also another story circulating among frequent travelers in the area. A white lady seemed to appear within the vicinity scaring drivers. So to pay respect, drivers slow down then blow their horns when passing Paraiso ni Anton.

Whether these stories are legend or not, as long as they don’t get harmed, there is nothing wrong about it.

Patapat Viaduct History

Patapat Viaduct is located in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. This is considered as the 4th longest bridge in the country with a total of 1.3 kilometers in length that connects the Maharlika Highway from Laoag, Ilocos Norte to the Cagayan Valley Region.

It was completed on October 1986 and has since become an important structure for motorists and travelers in the northernmost tip of Luzon.

The moment we stepped out of the van, we were all pleased with what we saw. I kind’a have an idea of what a viaduct looks like. An elevated bridge usually located on valleys. But Patapat is different. It is a coastal bridge elevated for about 31 meters above sea level. It has a beautiful view of the sea and by finding a good spot, you can have a perfect view of the entire length of the bridge.

Well, more than the value it provides to people. Patapat Viaduct is a perfect spot for any groufie or selfie. Since that time, there was just a little number of motorists that pass through the bridge, we were able to walk and explore it further.

 JUMPSHOT WITH THE GANG

Then we finally arrived in our transient house in Pagudpud. We actually arrived at the transient house around 12:30pm but we were sooo tired so we decided to had lunch in carinderia near in our transient.  I had heard so many good things about Pagudpud that I just had to see for myself. But even when we were still at the Bangui Windmills, we knew swimming at this time of the year would be quite a challenge .

Blue Lagoon is one of the many isolated beaches of Pagudpud. It is located in Maira-ira point, the northern most tip of mainland Luzon. The cove is strewn with white pebbly sand. the waters off the coast can be very gentle and still, reflecting the blue sky, earning its name.

Afterwards, we decided to just walk on the sand and bask in the sun. The sand here was not as fine as those in Bohol or Boracay. They were more like little pebbles but very rounded so they didn’t hurt our skin.

After more than an hour of swimming, we decided to head back to our room and have some snacks and dinner and went to bed for rest. 

before the day ends, We finally prepared our Surprise Birthday Party for Mamoy. the other gang took her to coffee shop and the other prepared the decorations.

 Day 2 : Our Day started earlier than 6am. With renewed energy, we were more than excited to hit the road again especially that we already had an idea on what was in store for us that day.

The Ilocos Sand Dunes Stretches encompasses the towns of Currimao through to Pasuquin in Ilocos Norte. The La Paz Sand Dunes in Laoag City is one of the more popular sand dune destinations in Ilocos Norte. But more recently, the PAOAY SAND DUNES is remarkably gaining popularity to tourists travelling up north.

For the adventurous type, We rented the 4x4 for an hour which will then include sand boarding and thrilling drops on steep sand ridges that will make you scream in excitement. Hold on to the steel bar while standing on the 4x4 for the most exciting adventure in Paoay. The sand ridges can go as high as 10-20ft at the most, while the most thrilling ride is the “rollercoaster”, where a series of sand hills will make you hold on to that bar of steel for dear life.

Ps. Sorry Mamoy insert ko tong picture na to, Ito kasi talaga yung nagdala sa tour natin na to hahahahaha Love you.

It was that much fun! The hardest and most tiring aspect of the sport? Going up again the sandy slope after sliding down, but this will not prevent you to try and try until you do it perfectly. This package will cost 2,500php.

Next in our itinerary was the Paoay Church. I must say, I had very high expectations. It was one of the places that I was really looking forward to visiting in this trip. I’d seen hundreds of pictures of this UNESCO World Heritage Site and each one of them blew me away. But boy, none of those pictures did justice to the immense beauty of this ancient religious site!

This church is beyond beautiful. It’s beyond magnificent. Its grandeur cannot be contained in pictures or described with words. It’s just impossible.

The first thing we did was take pictures, of course. It was past 11am and the sun was at its cruelest so we had to find some shade and get some rest even for a minute. Then We had our lunch near the church.

Moments later, we were walking around the church and continued taking pictures. Here are a few of them:

ARCHITECTURE AND HISTORY OF PAOAY CHURCH

Also known as the St. Augustine Church, the Paoay Church was started to be constructed in 1694 by the Augustinian friars but it was only in 1894 when it was finally completed. Fr. Antonio Estavillo led the completion of this project.

The architecture of this church is a healthy mixture of Gothic and Baroque designs with some Oriental elements in it. Its facade is somewhat Gothic but the gables are quite Chinese. The niches topping the walls make you think of Indonesia’s Borobudur Temple, revealing some Javanese influence.

One of the best parts of the church is its three-storey bell tower made of coral stone. Standing a couple of meters from the church, this belfry served as one of the observations posts for the Katipuneros in 1896 in the height of the Philippine Revolt against Spain. During the World War II, it was again used as an observation post by the Filipino guerillas.

 Some parts of the church were heavily damaged during the earthquakes in 1885 and 1865. Again and again, it was restored.

In 2000, an excavation inside Paoay Church revealed a prehistoric human skeleton and some fragmented ceramics. They are now being exhibited at the National Museum.

Afterwards, we finally got in Vigan. We explored the city particularly Calle Crisologo, had some halo-halo at the Max’s, bought a tonne of pasalubong and hit the road back to Manila.

Vigan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a museum city. Established in the 16th century, this historic city gives the new generation the best glimpse of a planned colonial town during the Spanish rule in the Philippines. It is also one of the few European trading towns in Southeast Asia that are still in exceptional condition.

Calle Crisologo is probably the most visited street in Vigan. Walking down Calle Crisologo  is like walking into the Spanish colonial era. Many of the houses here belonged to prominent families who prospered because of the Manila-Acapulco trade.  It is flanked with old heritage houses, which keep the “period” charm of the place. Most houses feature a unique mixture of Asian and European design and architecture — red-tiled roofs, large doors, massive walls, capiz shell windows.

We actually had spent some time in this beautiful city on our first day but we had very limited time to see much of it. Because we had to be back in Manila by 5pm, We only had half a day to explore the old city and buy some pasalubong for our friends and relatives back in the capital.

We only had three things in our agenda that morning — camwhore, shop, lunch. We started scouring the area for Vigan longganisa but along the way, we found ourselves buying hats, shirts, and bottles of native vinegar while taking tons of picture.

Before the Spanish arrived, Vigan was just a small village made of bamboo houses on stilts. According to UNESCO: “In 1572 the conquistador Juan de Salcedo founded a new town, which he named Villa Ferdinandina, on this site, and made it his capital when he was appointed Lieutenant Governor (Encomendero) of the entire Ilocos region. Intended as a trading centre rather than a fortress, it was the northernmost city established in the Philippines by the Spanish.

“Vigan’s architecture reflects the coming together of cultural elements from elsewhere in the Philippines, from China and from Europe, resulting in a culture and townscape that have no parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia.”

The Old Quirino Bridge will never spoil your urge. Even though you have been in this place a lot of times, a moment in this place is such a precious one to take photos.

Just before the Old Quirino Bridge at Bantay Side, you will pass crossway the new Quirino Bridge. But before going to the Old bridge, we stopped at the new bridge for pictorials.

Just before the Old Bridge again, since it has not been used lately, the forest covering the highway going there has been reborn by nature. Without the intervention of human, the forest is slowly gaining its role in this place. I was so happy!

And finally head back to MANILA..

Ilocos Weekend Trip: Summary, Itinerary and Budget

EXPENSES

Here’s the rough estimate of our expenses:

P2400 — 2-days, 1-night tour inclusive of transportation, accommodation and entrance fees.

P1500 — total food expenses including incidentals (drinks, snacks)

TOTAL: P3900

Note that this does not include pasalubong yet. That’s it. I hope this helps!

Overall, I love Ilocos. I think it’s one of the best and most gorgeous places I have visited EVER. Ilocos is just very easy to fall in love with.