#would be a very caring exchange for teru. if not for both of them | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

x-chubby-reader · 4 years ago

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Hey, how about hcs Ushijima,Terushima, Bokuto and Kuroo getting jealous when their chubby s/o being hitting on right before their eyes 🥴 what would they do? Might as well do nsfw a lil' bit? 🥺

Thank you! I love your works ❤🥰

Jealous Haikyuu Boys + !NSFW!

Ushijima, Terushima, Bokuto, and Kurro x Plus size reader

A/N - Hope I brought this to justice. I loved this idea a lot but I think they might have made them a little toxic- Also sorry for this being very overdue with writing, but as most of you know my motivation for lots of thing is shit. Also Thanks to @livieeee for basically helping to edit and give ideas for this. I also may add to the other characters NSFW as I accidentally gave Bokuto the most detailed part

Lowercase intended

Not proof read

NSFW included

Cursing

The Characters are all aged up for this Headcannon

Ushijima

we are all very aware about how blunt he is with things

not one to bottle things up

if he doesn't like something, he will voice his opinion

ushijimas blunt ass will sat whatever he wants if he deems that its true

doesn't everyone want to know the truth about things?

he also isn’t one to be easily jealous over things too

his confident ass knows that he’s got you in the long run anyways

he has complete trust in you, your his rock

ushi knows that you wouldn’t go off to flirt with some douche just for the fun of it

the first time that he had ever found himself jealous was when you had dragged him out to your friends birthday party in college

he wouldn’t of even gone if you hadn't forced him out to be social and to make some friends with people his own age and should get out of the house for something other than practicing with the volleyball team he was on

since the party had been for your friend finally becoming of legal drinking age, of course there had been alcohol

oh i wonder how this liquid luck could get you into a predicament?

you had needed to go to the bathroom, so you gave your boyfriend a little wave before leaving

it should of only taken you about five minutes, and ushi knew that

so when you took over twenty he decided to go looking for you

while he was searching for your thicker frame, you had been quite preocupied with something else

there was this guy, completely drunk off of his ass, who wouldn’t leave you along

“are you lightning? because your my mc-queen”

just really icky and shitty pick up lines

homeboy was so touchy too omfg like back up ass hat

you hadn't even noticed the amount of time that had passed until you felt a strong hand on your shoulder

boy did that make you jump

and he looked pissed

~Nsfw~

homeboy really said posessive~

ushi literally ripped you away into the bathroom as you had been stuck in the hallways for god knows how long

for once his touch wasn’t gentle with you, it was more rough and less caring

he’s so rough with you right now oml

to make the story short, you won’t be walking easily later

he wants to make you yell out, to show everyone in the premis know that you are his

“how about you let everyone know who you belong to, sweetheart~”

his buff ass literally is holding you up, just fucking railing into you

only stops when he deems that you are done

he even apologizes if he hurt you too badly

cleans the both of you up with one of the guest towels hanging, before walking you ever so gently out to grab a cab and make your way home

Terushima

while the two of you had been out shopping for god know what, you happened to spot an old friend

he was ole of those guy friends that were overly touchy, but you never had really minded it since he was just being nice

your friend had been very high energy and affectionate, but they always meant well

so your boyfriend, terushima, had just smacked a smile on his face and acted as friendly as could be

But he was jealous of all the attention you were giving him

hey you couldn’t help it, you haven’t seen the guy in years

hello? teru is your boyfriend, not this guy!

the look on his face when you exchanged numbers to meet up later

you would of thought that you had just shot his puppy dear lord

he was so god damn sad

“he’s totally trying to get into your pants y/n!”

“no he isn’t teru, he’s just being nice”

“y/n, no-”

your so oblivious to it

terushima has two levels jealously

he goes from pout-y little kid to complete asshole in a matter of seconds

homeboy is black and white with his personality, there is no gray area with him

even though he isn’t one to keep quiet about something he doesn't like, he did it anyways for your sake

though he glared holes into him

eventually when he had left ho boy did terushima give you an earful

you heard even more when he found about how you made plans with before mentioned friend to have dinner

it was just so the two of you could catch up after the many years that you haddn’t seen each other

“its just dinner”

“y/n its like he’s trying to date you

“can you chill out?”

“no! what? are you dating him now???”

okay he can be a little high strung sometimes, but its something you can tolerate

~NSFW~

remember how you had given him your phone number?

yeah, that may be important

while you had been getting ready for your little ‘dinner date’ with your friend, teru had still been glaring at the back of your head

you could see his annoyed look from the mirror, but you payed him no mind

hey, he would get over it sooner or later

your phone decides to start ringing, and its the guy

teru looks at it, then at you, then back at the phone

he hits answer before handing the phone to you

you decide to start talking, everything is in a friendly tone

and then he decides to play around a bit

a little nip here and there, nothing more nothing less

just to see what his little doll face can handle

then soon he escalates it more and more

soon lurking hands become groping and nips became hickeys

though you had to pretend that everything was hunky dory on your side of the phone

homeboy on the other line didn’t even think anything of it

“hey are you okay?” he had asked once when you particularly couldn’t handle his stimulation

“y-yeah i’m great right now...”

his hand would slip and dip into places that you had forgotten about until now

just the smooth and slick friction would bring heat to your face, though

that’s when teru had taken the phone back

“screw off your asshat, never call her again!”

and he never did, even if you say him in public, he would walk the other direction

Bokuto

the two of you had just been out window shopping and peaking into stores on a saturday

when a store employee had started talking about a popular television show that had aired yesterday, you hadn't thought anything of it

in your mind it would of been rude to ignore them completely,

what if they were just having a bad day and you little small talk and brightened it just a little?

you didn’t want to have something like that on your consensus

bo had been standing beside you the entire time, and you hadn’t even noticed the way he had stiffened and almost seemed to puff up, like an owl

there had been one person who did notice bokuto’s uneasiness

baby boy had thought that the two of you had been flirting when he walked by

omg he looked so sad

he went from being all perky and happy to looking like a deflated balloon

it was pretty pathetic

sooner or later the worker had felt so awkaward that he left, that’s when you had noticed his discomfort

he had waved if off until the two of you had gotten home, then you finally cornered him and asked

“whats wrong?”

he just rolled his eyes to himself, “you should know!”

yeah just the buffering circle above your head for that one

you really had no idea

“i seriously don’t bo...”

“yes you do, in the store that worker was totally flirting with you!” he had finally spoke out

oh...

that had made sense you guessed

even though you had apologized to him, he had still been down, even needy

~NSFW~

bo had just been clinging on you for the past hour

if your standing, he’s right behind you, just looming

he became a shadow or a lost puppy, following you everywhere

his arms always found their way to your generous waist, holding onto you as if you would be blown away if a gust of wind decided to make its way though your home

as you had tried to walk down the short hallway that connected your bedroom to the living room, bokuto had stopped the both of you

he looked down to you before grabbing your wrist

bokuto half dragged and half lead you to the shared room you both shared since you moved in together

he had pushed you, not carefully may I add, onto the futon bed

koutarou soon climbed on top of your plush frame, his face lightly dusted in a red hue

one of his hands wandered down towards the plush button that resided between your thick thighs

the other had cradled the back of your head, pulling you back lightly so he could have more access to your neck and collarbones

bokuto lightly kissed your skin, it didn’t matter if imperfections or not

now this would have been more of a sweet moment if you hadn’t noticed the almost mocking circles you felt at your core

“am i good enough for you now baby owl?”

you would of answered him if you were able to form words, but the amount of stimulation that he was able to give you simply from the tips of his fingers was astonishing

damn boy he got magic hands

you had opened your mouth but no words came out

that had made the two toned haired boy let out a laugh

the only thing that you thought to do was to wrap your arms around his broad back

“speechless, huh” he had taunted you, a smirk on his face

he just kept up his happy little circles, the stimulation bringing a warm, almost butterfly like feeling to your abdomen

it was if he filled an empty part of you, and you needed him to survive

the tightness in your core had started to bubble, feeling as if you were going to top off the edge and boil over

your former speachless self was soon a babbling mess, telling bo how much you did need him

and even after you had reached and passed your high, he hadn't stopped, he loved the way your words flowed from your mouth in light, breathless pleas

oh he wasn’t even done

play nice you two

Kuroo

out of the two of you, kuroo had always been the more jealous one

baby boy is passive aggressive about it too

he doesn't do the keeping it to himself kind of bullshit

just completely straight to the point

he dosent often become jealous either

kuroo trusts that you wont get flirty or ‘advance’ on anyone else, because you have him for that

why would you need anyone else when he’s right there?

he has the confidence that all of us are jealous of

you and i know that this boy gives little insults to almost everyone

just in a joking and playful way, because that’s just how he communicates to people

but if someone decides to push it

ho boy

mr. rooster man slowly gets more and more passive aggressive

literally they turn into thinly veiled threats

you could practically see the steam coming out of his ears

so imagine his reaction when the waiter at a restaurant had decided to get a little too cozy with interacting with you

kuroo had been sitting right across from you, a pissed off look slapped over his face

who was this asshole and why the fuck was he going after his little kitten?

he had kept his mouth shut but raised an eyebrow at your plush form

it was as if he was asking if you were going to let this guy keep his shitty advances up

you just thought he was being friendly, but according to kuroo he wasn’t

when he had figured that you weren't going to stop him, he spoke up

“lay off dickwad” his voice had been laced with the utmost hate, you had never heard him ever use that tone before

with that, he had grabbed you by the arm before leaving, not paying for the two glasses

~NSFW~

the two of you had gone home in his car

no words had been exchanged between kuroo or you

“you were so into that, weren't you y/n” the bed-head boy had muttered to you, almost in a mocking way

you couldn’t think of a reason on why he was acting like that, so you had just kept your mouth shut until he would drop you off at your apartment

his hand that usually resided on your plush thigh while he was driving was currently white knuckled on the the steering wheel

even though he was looking at the road, he looked completely pissed

no plea for him to talk to you would make him speak up, it was as if he was stuck in thought

even when he had dropped you off at your flat, he seemed to still loom over you

when you took out your keys, he took them from your hand and opened the door himself as if you were suddenly incompetent of doing anything for yourself

“need someone to do everything for you huh? just too dumb in the brain to do anything...” kuroo had sneered to himself

“okay what the fuck is your problem you asshole?” you had finally spoken up, really what was this jerks deal with you?

homeboy had glared at you before pinning you against the wall in your own home as if he owned the place, “oh so now you talk, you were so fine with that guy in the restaurant huh? completely preoccupied with him to forget that i was there...”

suddenly everything is making sense right now, the puzzel pieces are fitting together

homeboy was jealous and you had no idea, you just though he was being pissy for no reason

he just sighed, putting his head in the crook of your neck, “idiot...”

kuroo had finally turned his head to look up to you, a slightly sad look on his face

oh you felt like complete shit, homeboy looked so down that your heart hurt

you leaned your head slightly down so you could give the top of his head a lil kiss kiss

homeboy almost seemed to purr from the affection

he slung his arms over your shoulders, it was as if he was leading you into the minimal living room that you had

the two of somehow ended up on the crappy couch you had, him on top humming happily down below at you

sandwiched happily together

“i’m still disappointed in you...” he muttered, looking down at you

“oh bite me” though you paused before thinking, “how about i make it up to you?”

kuroo had smirked, “and how are you going to do that?” he questioned you

it was as if you had suddenly forgotten how to speak, a burning heat spreading from your cheeps to the bridge of your nose

lets just say that you did not expect that answer from him in the slightest-

his slender hand ran up the side of your torso, as if he was memoriizing the peaks and valleys of your figure

“i’m the only one who can make you feel like this,” kuroo had muttered cockily, staring into your eyes

he had no shame making comments like these, why should he?

his fingers snuck under the elastic material of the underthings you had currently been wearing, teasingly testing the waters and rubbing fether-like circles over your sensitive bits that were located on your chest

“are you ready?”

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thekagepro24 · 5 years ago

Text

Can we appreciate Kou as a character?

MAJOR MANGA SPOILERS UNDER READ MORE

Usually in these kind of series with a trio, one person inevitably gets less spotlight, but JSHK makes sure to give Kou lots of depth. And in a way, I see him as more of a main character at times. With Young Exorcist arc, we see him blindly aspire to be just like his older brother, but he gains the independence and courage to tell Teru off for trying to exorcise Hanako before he's had a chance to prove himself.

With this being a supernatural series, having one of the main trio be an exorcist puts a great spin on things. And not just in a lighthearted sense.

Kou resolves to do his best as an exorcist and make his own decisions as to what is best to do. Afterwards he's set up with one of, if not the biggest challenge. After reuniting with Mitsuba, Tsukasa quickly steals that happiness away from him. A mysterious supernatural out of nowhere that turns his best friend into a husk of his former self.

This proves to Kou that pure resolve isn't enough to be an amazing exorcist. Resolve didn't save Mitsuba from turning into that, and resolve didn't save him from almost being killed just then.

But Hanako's appearance in this scene is very interesting. Instead of scolding Kou for lack of strength, Hanako doesn't even consider it. Through all of the hardships Hanako had faced during his life, and his now constant routine of having to get rid of spirits that become corrupted, Hanako feels like nothing can be done, and tells Kou just that.

"There was nothing that could have been done, this was for the best."

But Kou rejects that. He's not the type to take this kind of thing sitting down, which is very very resilient of him! After seeing all of that happen to Mitsuba and having flashbacks to human Mitsuba dying, he still says, through a tear-filled face, that this WASN'T for the best. That something COULD'VE been done. He just needs to find it.

We'd assume that whatever Hanako says must be true, as he is the most knowledgeable of the trio, but this scene proves that even Hanako is flawed and has something to learn from Kou, the sobbing mess gripping onto an old camera.

Next is Clock keepers. When the reveal is made about Yashiro, Kou confronts Hanako only to be told the same thing. "It can't be helped." Hanako had known what would happen to Yashiro and had been keeping quiet, believing there was no changing her fate, and thus, wanted to make do with the short time left.

Hanako informs him that with the time reset, Kou will forget all about learning this. He rejects this as well. He doesn't want to just go along with forgetting and inevitably losing Yashiro. Something had to be done. He had lost Mitsuba, what good would losing another close friend do?

In Hell of Mirrors, Kou is met with the grave reality that Tsukasa has stolen his best friends' memories and made him into a school wonder, all for his sick idea of fun. Mitsuba has no idea who he is, but calls him the same nickname. He's still Mitsuba, after all, even down to the funny nicknames. Kou gives Mitsuba the gardening book with photography done by Mitsuba himself. And along with that, he tells Mitsuba his name again. "I'm Kou Minamoto! Remember it, girly-face!"

And finally (so far) is Picture Perfect. Kou has to find out the meaning behind this fake world with Yashiro, and is told to kill Mitsuba.

He talks to Mitsuba, who's caught up in insecurities and learned helplessness. Kou himself is even taken aback when Mitsuba projects his past self on the window. Mitsuba breaks the window, claiming that even Kou doesn't care about him, only longing for the past Mitsuba. He breaks down, claiming no one else except Tsukasa could grant his wish.

Kou is faced with a big problem. He had resolved to save Mitsuba, to get him back, to help him out, but things have turned out this bad. His best friend is stuck here crying, helpless, and alone. No wonder he'd love this world. How else would he be able to live out the normal life both of them had lost to the distant past?

Mitsuba stares him dead in the eyes and makes the offer to Kou. "Let's stay here! You can save the friend that you lost, and we can just stay here! It'll be like Mitsuba never died!" He extends a trembling hand.

Kou can't accept this. But not in the same way as the two previous instances. This time, he has to know what to do and what to say on the spot.

After exchanging blows due to Mitsuba attacking in self-defense, Kou is able to recall Mitsuba's previous words, and brings them up as a rebuttal. "You didn't want to become 'Mitsuba', you wanted to become a human in the real world!"

Mitsuba tells him he's wrong, but that's a lie. Mitsuba knows full well Kou is right, but again retreats into helplessness, claiming to be alone.

And so, Kou leaps with Mitsuba. I think a lot of people misread this scene as Kou suddenly resolving to end it all, but Kou himself claims that's untrue. He resolves to return to the human world alongside Mitsuba and to stay by his side. (Remember that Kou had not yet learned the other way to leave the fake world. He believed the only way out was to kill Mitsuba, so he lept with Mitsuba as a means of going together instead of just pushing Mitsuba.) The leap was a means of proving to Mitsuba that he was serious about staying together. Even though only Mitsuba and Hanako had to be killed to return to reality, Kou leaps with Mitsuba.

Mitsuba stops this, worried about Kou's safety, and after some light bickering, they come to an understanding. For the first time since Young Exorcist, Kou has proven himself as dependable, and Mitsuba stays by Kou's side for the remainder of the arc as they find another way out of the fictional world.

Having a strong contrast to Hanako's all-knowing sort of aura, a great dynamic with figuring out all of this spirit stuff alongside Yashiro, and a strong drive to save Mitsuba from his misfortune, Kou is a very dynamic character that is amazing all-around. I ended up writing so much, but Kou deserves it. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

#hey kous pretty neat with how dynamic he as a character #kou minamoto #jshk spoilers #hanako kun manga spoilers #jshk manga spoilers #I WROTE SO MUCH #I ONLY MEANT FOR IT TO BE A TINY THING LIKE #OOPS #my rambling

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2n2n · 2 years ago

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continuing on this line of thinking, i.e. "how could we interpret Tsukasa's clothing diegetically, how could it be explained in the narrative", but alternate routes my brain takes. Another gooooo~~!

I'm sure some day we'll understand more about the Minamoto clan and what on earth is up with their bloodline... Yorimitsu certainly does, something, to Hakubo, while declaring him as a shikigami under Minamoto ownership.

it can't have a strictly symbolic purpose though, because Teru does a very similar action to open up a doorway to the living world, from the far shore. Minamoto blood has some... property, to it, that can effect otherworldly things.

It doesn't take long for Kunishige to sus out that something is strange about Tsukasa, though they do not act immediately. After a few years though, who really knows....

I guess another thought is: Tsukasa, somewhere along the line, becomes a shosei style household laborer in exchange for lodging with the Minamoto clan, who officiate him in some ritual as their property, but within the legal (public) bounds, via a formally agreed upon system of simply staying and doing chores for the shrine.

I don't know-- maybe their mom is too hysterical or upset to function, maybe dad caring for the twins on his own and their mother is under too much pressure, functionally a single parent, and maybe Tsukasa is offloaded to another residence after school, while Amane, of course, is not, as he can assist his dad at home with mom. The Minamoto clan definitely maintain a more 'traditional' aesthetic sense into the modern day, so them placing Tsukasa into a uniform like this wouldn't be nonsensical, to me....? Eh, throwing it out there. Maybe the radio would be something Amane gifts Tsukasa, to make his residence in the barren Minamoto lodgings more tolerable...?

This thought though sort of intrigues me, at least for what it could offer for Amane's psyche, and the significance of the boundary of the schoolgrounds; he would only see Tsukasa at school, and they would part ways after the bell. Amane would sleep alone, at home, Tsukasa would sleep alone, at a local Minamoto residence, or some room adjacent to the shrine. Separation... individual chores tying them up every evening (chores for the Minamotos, and chores at home caring for his dad and mom)....

If Amane could only see Tsukasa at school, that'd be a good reason for him to skip class.... to spend more time with Tsukasa, playing hookie on the roof. Or in abandoned or empty classrooms (the broadcast club....?)

becoming 'bound' to both Tsukasa, and the school, could be emblematic of their entire bond, then.

and sort of intriguingly... if Amane was being physically roughed up by Tsukasa at school, he could play dumb and difficult about the source of his wounds, even to his parents. He could maintain utter secrecy and isolation about what he's doing with Tsukasa, and they could be at a loss for interfering, or even just annoyed at Amane for choosing to isolate and refuse to admit anything. Maybe after all they've done, they sort of 'give up' on Amane ceasing what they see as self-harmful actions, placing himself in danger ...

After all, when Nene finds Amane crying amongst ripped-up papers at school, he appears to be freshly bleeding, as if his wounds were inflicted at the school.... ? recently....?

With the roof's potential significance, it acting as a sortof haven for the Yugi for some time is always my favored lore I'm waiting to drop.... of course, this illustration of Amane takes places at the iconic rooftop fencing, despite this chapter having nothing to do with the roof as a location:

and for what its worth, this illustration of Amane on the roof also appears during the Red House reveals in Volume 16 (why such a smug Hanako...? why paired with the Red House?).

... lots of potential then for a lot of parallelism with Nene-chan, and Hanako's sadness, watching her leave, and the emotions he experiences whenever Nene is shrinking from his access. He can only see her at school, and eventually ... when she leaves school, that will be it, for their relationship.

food for thought--!!!

While Tsukasa's clothing could just be a fun stylistic choice ... I guess that'd be really weird for Jibaku Shounen, right? So far ... it's not as if Yako, Hakubo, Sumire, Katakuri, Kunishige, anyone, just wears 'whatever looks cool'; characters clothes signify the era they were existing in ... or something to do with their obligations, circumstances, etc. When we meet Hanako, we don't know why he's in a gakuran, but we do learn the era he was from makes sense with it, and see him wearing it normally in his living life ... it just remains to be seen if Tsukasa's clothes were something he wore in life, too ... and, why.

Even for my thoughts here, though ... why would Amane want to remember Tsukasa in those clothes, in his shrine? How often would he even see him in such garb, if Tsukasa wears a normal uniform at school? What kind of feelings would they evoke? So far I'm just like, "maybe he thought Tsukasa looked beautiful in them lol". It's interesting to imagine Amane lurking about the Minamoto shrine to spy on Tsukasa scrubbing floors and sweeping in his get-up ... and, this visage living in his heart forever, maybe as a uniquely inaccessible Tsukasa he cannot touch. Dunno~~! Having fun out here (: with my brain....

anyway....

well, lol

if i were at all right, it'd qualify as a fetish =.=

I was doing some very unpleasant and grueling chores this morning, and somehow it made me contemplate Tsukasa. Having fun thinking about possibilities fitting within the boundaries of established canon + within the general themes of JSHK… its a flight of fancy, but it was so fun and distinct I want to try to summarize and describe it (: its fun to think "what if" ....

Tsukasa's outfit is so specific… we've got no idea where the get up originates from diegetically-- is this something Tsukasa wore in life, at all, or is it an invention, of Amane's boundary, something symbolic from Amane's heart? Why is it…. a meiji/taisho era, circumstantial uniform, not an era Amane himself would have lived through… ?

I guess I thought to myself, "well, their mom is very traditional (especially contrasting their very suit-wearing western-styled dad), and she would have ~ a little experienced the taisho era vibes possibly, depending on her age and family's upbringing… " if we say, imagine she's ~25 years old when she has her twins (the boys were born in 1955), that places her at sortof experiencing the ending of taisho era, where the look Tsukasa sports could be organically extant in her lifetime...

But… then, in what context would Tsukasa even be made to wear a … taisho era laborer's uniform? (from what I've read, that's what this specific fashion is seen doing? Errors possible... there aren't tons of sources accessible to me;;)

Doing my terrible chores, I thought, well, if Tsukasa isn't her 'son' anymore, what is he to her? If he's replaced with something 'different' and he can't be 'exorcised', maybe he can be recontextualized as a servant of the family, and be treated as that, by her (and I don't know, maybe dad is detached and checked out once mom is ~off her rocker, and can't be bothered to correct anything, and doesn't want her placed into a position to be institutionalized, if resistance escalates her). Allowed to stay in their household, but no longer seen/treated as her own child, but, an interloper, something lodging here.

It's a weird thought! But I guess, thematically with Jibaku Shounen, it tickled my brain to think of Tsukasa's transfiguration into a kaii, coming with soon being entered into servitude, and dehumanized, objectified. Much like Hakubo, who could only be allowed to exist if he was a slave to the Minamoto clan. At the whims of humans…

But you know. It's not as if Tsukasa was, beaten with a burlap sack filled with rocks daily or something (neither was Hakubo!), he's allowed to attend Tanabata with Amane, and he's even initially allowed to attend school with his brother, as we see them enter middle school together. I think being treated as a lesser, interloper, in the home, by mom, isn't incongruous with that. Or even, being pulled from school at a later point in the timeline.

I was thinking about Iro's love for fairy tales… he reimagines Snow White and, completely and utterly tears it asunder, flipping all of its symbols on their heads (Neige or Rasphard in certain routes are analogous to 'poisoning old hag', and it's Neige's step sister who is in fact kind and virtuous, while Neige is vain and cruel... and so much farther do we step from any of that in later routes!), and essentially the only thing kept in-tact is, this, poison motif. Jibaku Shounen touches on the Little Mermaid playfully, but in the most threadbare sense, much like Snow White. Little more than, some little bits and baubles borrowed.

For a moment I thought of Tsukasa as a 'Cinderella' figure, but, flipped on its head … a biological child reduced and othered into 'not my child' and deprived from mother's love. The 'true child', Amane, allied and in love with his deprived brother... not an enemy allied with mom.

Tsukasa reduced to a servant is tantalizing to imagine, and Amane continuing to enshroud him in this imagery in his heart (despite killing him in his school uniform) would be symbolically powerful; having stolen and overbeared on Tsukasa's autonomy, made him his property, taken him all for his own. Still a servant, to someone else… now Amane's source of power, in his boundary. 'Seeing him' as this, still... while Tsukasa, exists in a loaded get-up, keenly aware of its purpose in his life, and aware Amane 'sees him' or 'wants him' like this. Dying in his uniform, and reawakening in this garb, there would be plenty to dwell on...

While for Amane, Tsukasa back in a gakuran for vol4 and out of the laborer's uniform Amane had (SUBCONCIOUSLY???) imposed on him, I can't imagine what that would 'say' to him, on the roof. (but maybe they wore their gakuran, in the cold seasons, during some essential rooftop memory, and Tsukasa wanted to recall it visually....?)

Maybe Amane had pressures placed on him to support their family, to become the breadwinner, to make up for Tsukasa's faults, to become educated and live to support them in turn… taking care of your parents as they age is definitely a traditionalist mindset, and, Tsukasa certainly would not be trusted with it...

It's interesting to think of an Amane stuck in this position, placating the whole family, but desperate to prove his loyalty to Tsukasa, only Tsukasa… the only person he really cares about.

Sigh. With it all, even thinking of the rooftop of the school's significance, where Tsukasa chooses to reunite with his brother, where Amane goes to brood, where Amane wishes to recite his Antares speech, where Nene told him she liked him, and later, asked him to run away with her-- I always wonder, did Tsukasa ask Amane to run away with him, too? Is that a deja vu moment, for Amane? Is the roof significant between them? Did Amane fail to, at that moment, double down on only Tsukasa? Or did he promise something he couldn't commit to? Maybe he lied, or, maybe he didn't take Tsukasa seriously ... something....

Tsukasa's radio intrigues me. I always think, that perhaps he was in a position of being deprived of entertainment or resources, and in such a space, he only had the radio to listen to, so it became something precious to him, or influential... holding a place as important to him as Amane's knife. It must play some role....

He is fond enough of it to cuddle it as he naps, and give it its own plate of food at Mitsuba's party…

In a 'Cinderella' narrative, I enjoyed the mental image of Tsukasa in a laborer's uniform as enforced in the home by his mother, cordoned into a smaller, more barren room apart from Amane (their old toyroom?), with only his radio as company, if Amane was not present. Not allowed to leave the house on his own, perhaps ... perhaps Amane as his protector, always with him outside of the house, shepherding him, Tsukasa his ward in these moments.

And it's interesting to imagine Amane offering himself bound in ropes (自縛 lol) to a Tsukasa in such a state as a show of loyalty or passivity or acceptance, alright! What a visage it would be… and, I think the aesthetic of a hakama + kimono would have such a different impression and atmosphere to Amane, than it has to his mother, who would have her own upbringing influencing her.... Maybe to Amane, it, just, looked beautiful. Much like he sees the 'bottom of the middle' Yashiro as breathtakingly beautiful ... the camellia of modest beauty, etc...

... there is such an intriguing thing in JSHK, where both Amane (and by extension, Tsukasa) and Nene are ah, er, confirmed as unattractive by conventional canon beauty standards. Amane is a bug-eyed short scrawny boy, as far from handsome, tall, icey-eyed Teru or even fairly nice-with-it Natsuhiko as you can get. While Nene is scarcely given a second glance by anyone, gets no chocolates or love letters or even charitable rejections.... considered weirdly shaped and frumpy ... it's , then, really, charming how much Amane can fall into a starry-eyed tizzy seeing Nene or Tsukasa, at times, captivated by them. He's rude and defensive, but in his heart, he has some reverent feeling for them both. They are silly and clumsy and goober-y and fundamentally 'weird' ... but to Amane, everything, dangerous to stare at, scary to want so badly.

I kindof think a Cinderella thing would be so cute with all of that ... wwww... and I think Amane deserves two princesses... oh yeah, and 'wishes' and 'pure of heart/gracious' or, what have you, are 'Cinderella things' that fold nicely into Tsukasa's thing....

Maybe doing chores is a good and fun thing! How would I ever have all of these thoughts without lugging the compost through the snow...

#avvy's JSHK

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currentlyreadingmanga · 4 years ago

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Toilet-bound Hanako-kun Chapter 21: The Tea Party (Part 1)

Previously: we went on a very stressful and very emotional trip. We finally learned Hanako’s brother’s name: Tsukasa and he continued to unsettled me like he does every single time he appears. Mitsuba actually passed away, this time for good, it seemed and it made me tear up a bit ngl. After that, the chapter decided I hadn’t suffered enough so it punched me while I was down and showed us how Hanako feels about the existence of the dead as ghosts in general and how that reflects in his own sense of self. We also got another glimpse of the mermaid and she said some real ominous shit :)))) if anything happens to Nene istg :)))))) Sigh And last but not least, Natsuhiko went to see Nene at her classroom and I’m,,,,concerned,,,,

Now onto the next chapter!

Personal update for the 50 (holy shit?) of you that still follow this blog: Well…..hi there, it’s been a while ^^;; Looking back on it, quarantine really hit me like a bag of bricks and burned me out. It’s not the first time that has happened, and what it means to me is that I just can’t bring myself to consume new content; I might have loved it so far but my brain is like “nope, we’re not doing that today” and well, this time it happened for almost two months. Also, one of my cats went missing for a little over a week (he’s home now, thankfully) and that just added to the general distress I was feeling. But over the last week I actually wrote small fics for another fandom and it finally pushed me back into a creative state, so I went back to re-read the last couple of recaps I did for JSHK and it made me realise that I miss my babies and I really want to know where the story goes, so here I am c:

Ohhhh that’s right, we’re starting a new volume with this chapter! Our main trio is front and center and judging by the colorful pastries and the tea, it is a reference to the tea party that was alluded to in the preview of the last chapter. Also, I see the ropes are back again, but this time Kou also has some around him! Nene and Hanako seem to be tied together with pink, blue and yellow ropes, Nene and Kou seem to be tied together with an orange rope and both Hanako and Kou seem to have another rope each that it’s not connected to neither Nene nor each other. Hanako’s is red and considering the way in which we’ve seen him tied up before, I would guess this represents his connection to Tsukasa. Kou’s is pink and considering everything that just happened, could his rope represent his connection with Mitsuba? Like, I know he’s dead dead now and their actual friendship was short-lived but I would also like to think that even though he’s gone, his memory will live forever with Kou, hence the rope. But I’m speculating and I already went on a long enough tangent for the cover page so let’s move on.

The next color page has the main trio again as the central focus in what seems to be the inside of a place that has a clockwork-like mechanism. On the corners of the page we have who I assume will be important character during the following arc(s): Aoi, Akane, Yamabuki and Teru (the latter one worries me slightly ngl).

Ohhhh okay, the content page says that one of the arcs is called “the three clock keepers” so the art on that page now makes more sense.

……….I really don’t trust him hhhhh please be careful, Nene, please don’t let your weakness for pretty boys cloud your judgement.

Ohhh it could be because of Nene’s dress and the bunny ears (and the twins) but the title page gives me strong Alice in Wonderland vibes. It’s a cute picture but Tsukasa is there and Nene is tearing up so I’m,,,concerned

Okay so Nene followed Natsuhiko outside and

Are you reciting her your dating profile or something? also “call me Natsuhiko-senpai ♡” omfg he’s one of those, huh? Like, it could all be an act but he’s looking less and less threatening by the minute lol

Nene, bless her, has the common sense of asking him why he wanted to talk to her all of the sudden and he says it’s because “someone wants to meet her”. Gee, I wonder who that could be :)))))

…………….oh, oh no. Nene, sweetie, I need you to run and to run fast because this boy is up to no good and you’re not gonna like what’s gonna happen. (Edit note: also this brings up a question: how did the chaotic trio know that Nene turns into a fish when she touches water? Like, I know they had been keeping tracks on her and Hanako for some time, so maybe they found out that way? Oh, maybe they use the Mokke? Because the Mokke were there in Yako’s boundary when Hanako pushed Nene down the waterfall)

Hhhhhhh and to the surprise of no one, there’s Tsukasa here to make Nene’s day more difficult.

asdasgdjash please do not make my daughter share the same fate as the puffer fish, she doesn’t deserve it (ﾟдﾟ；) (ﾟдﾟ；)

Nene fainted (can’t say I blame her jfc) and now she’s waking up in what seems to be the tea party and the floor is wet! so she thinks she could be on another boundary. Interesting, I wonder which number would this one be? Because the boundaries are assigned to the seven mysteries, right? So one of them should be in control of this place. Could Tsukasa be in control of this one? But that wouldn’t make much sense because he managed to get his “physical” form only recently, right? However, Hanako also spoke of a traitor that was changing rumors and we know that these three are responsible, so if they’re not the owners of the boundary maybe they somehow managed to manipulate the mystery that does control it? Oooor it could also be that there’s another boundary that managed to go under the radar and in turn the other mysteries don’t know about it.

sjdgjjasd she’s so done with them lol I know I call them the chaotic trio but it’s really the chaotic duo + Sakura. I’m so curious about how this whole *gestures wildly towards them* arrangement came to be.

Ohhhh this great! So Sakura got everything under control and from her introduction to Nene we now know that she’s a third year and we have confirmation that she became Tsukasa’s assistant in the same way that Nene did, in exchange for a wish. B U T, again, that brings up even more questions because Tsukasa said that while Amane granted the wishes of the living, he granted the wishes of the dead. So like (⚆.⚆) what’s up with that?? Is she an exception? Is she dead? Another supernatural? Or, maybe, even though it should be impossible considering what we know so far, could her wish have something to do with her being ‘alive’ in the school right now? Mhmmmm…...suspicious.

Okay but like, I actually really want to know how he fits in all of this because okay, Sakura and Tsukasa are linked together by the wish she made, but why is Natsuhiko here? Who is he? How did he end up working with these two? He seems silly and completely whipped for Sakura, so maybe they knew each other before she made her “contract” with Tsukasa? Hhhhh idk let’s keep reading.

Sakura says that she wanted to meet Nene because they’re in similar positions and she thought they could be good friends. And like, that’s a fair point…...but I don’t trust like that, no sir. Even if she didn’t want the boys to be so rough when they brought Nene here, the fact remains that they still kidnapped her so if this was just a friendly meeting, why would they need to do it in such a convoluted way?

Okay good, Nene is suspicious because of their methods and the amount of knowledge they have about her.

………………...sigh, I shouldn’t be surprised but bby no please don’t trust them so easily. She’s venting to Sakura about Hanako’s unpredictable behaviour and Sakura says that she can empathize with most of her struggles while Tsukasa is sitting on top of her shoulders and wrapping his arms and legs around here…...I can definitely see why she said he was cat-like because my cats do things like that when I’m sit down to write at my desk. But again, I know he’s technically a kid but I really need him to stop acting so cute because it unsettles me a lot.

Even he can see the romantic chemistry between those two. Well, thinking about it, that’s probably why they dragged her here, because she’s important to Hanako.

(;;⚆.⚆) NOPE, no, no thank you, I need you to back tf up please jfc

Nene snaps out of it and realizes that she let herself be drawn in by girl talk. She thankfully knows it was a stupid thing to do but she was just relieved and happy to have found someone who seems to understand what she’s going through, so I’ll cut her some slack. And she mentions that they don’t look like bad people but like I did, if they had innocent intentions, they wouldn’t have had to bring her by force.

………………...I feel like I’ve mentioned this before but I really hate it when either of them does this fucking face, it’s so creepy >n< also, Nene, sweetie, once again I’m asking you to run, run far and don’t look back because that look doesn’t spell anything good, especially paired with Sakura’s scared/resinged look (which makes me think that maybe her own intentions had been more innocent that I had originally given her credit for)

Hmmm. This is concerning; like, yes, Nene has to help Hanako with whatever he needs as his assistant as part of their deal and he does threaten to turn her into a fish when she pouts but I never got the feeling that it was malicious. On the other hand, Sakura’s wording (especially calling Tsukasa “Master” and saying she “can’t” disobey) and the look Tsukasa gave her make it seem like her punishment for not following his orders would be much more severe. hhhhh I really don’t like where this is going

Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||) Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||) Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||) WHAT THE HELL THIS THAT THING WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK OH MY GO D

“We’re gonna have you disappear now” okay so, yeah, he’s doing this specifically to upset his brother. the room is fucking sinking though and omfg what even is this room?? is it really a boundary? Since this happened at this very moment, it looks like they do control it so my questions from before remain, the biggest one being “how”. Also I’ve just noticed that the eyes all over the place are very similar to the ones in the broadcasting room and now this tells me that those weren’t an artistic choice and that is terrifying.

…………………..excuse me, w h a t??? why? hello??? “she’s like this sometimes” ????? Sakura what???? I have….so many questions, the main one being why do you let her treat you like this??

……………………………………...oh…..y’know, I hate the term simp with a passion because I feel like it’s been memed to death but wow.

Hhhhhhhh it looks like she can’t stop sinking and that (and the fucking eyes) tell me that this is not normal water (since she would have turned into a fish already). She’s yelling out for Hanako and that’s how the chapter ends. I’m still :)))))) concerned :))))))))

#toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shounen hanako kun #jshk spoilers #jshk #tbhk #live blogging

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hanideyumeron · 5 years ago

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tsuki roze x minamoto teru ~ quarantine gift exchange

this is for @jshk-oneshots uwu i’m pretty sure i wrote this at 2:00 am after feeling a very big urge to write cause i remember writing none of this yet here it is ._. i feel teru is a bit ooc, so please forgive me ;-;

The Tsuki and Minamoto family had been rivals since what seems like the dawn of time.

Each year, the eldest of each family would battle to see which one is superior; the Tsuki family or the Minamoto family. But as times modernised, battling with swords or guns became abnormal, so, unfortunately, the battling had to modernise just like the world.

How did they do this? Why by getting the best grades of course.

The eldest of the Tsuki family was no other than Roze who, like her name suggested, was as beautiful as the rose. She could bewitch anyone with her big brown eyes that looked as smooth as milk chocolate. Unlike the many people before her, she hated the ‘battling’ she had to do. Whenever she thought about it, she just wanted to stuff her head into her pillows and groan.

Recently, Akane had been constantly objected to these bursts of anger and groans as Roze poured her heart out; saying how unfair it was to her that she had to beat Minamoto Teru of all people in grades. It was no use, however, as Teru was older than both of them, and would probably tie them upside down if they tried to do anything. She knew it was impossible, there was no use! What was worse was Teru loved to tease.

“Mmm, that’s sad Tsuki-san,” he said leaning over her desk. She could feel his eyes boring holes into her head. She even felt the urge to rub the spot where he was glaring at. All Teru was doing was looking at her. Then, he took her test and smiled down at her again. That same grin that she wanted to rub off so badly. “I got a higher score than you,” he said with a hint of cockiness. His smug smirk was still on his face as he hovered over Roze who, at the moment, really didn’t care about her scores.

“Oh that’s a shame,” she mumbled looking at her score as well. It wasn’t bad, my goodness, anything but that. But if she wanted to beat Teru, my god she'd need to do better. Looking up to Teru for a second proved to be a bit stupid because as soon as she did, Teru let her see his icy blue eyes which sent shivers down her spine. She could feel what they meant. They were screaming ‘I dare you to actually try, wimp’. Ouch, her ego hurt a bit. “Too bad I don’t actually care,” she mumbled before looking away.

Teru looked at her in confusion.

That lunch, he decided to confront her about it since she usually ate alone on the rooftop. When he got there, he saw her sitting on one of the benches. Her hair was the same brown colour, indicating she hadn’t fought any supernaturals yet that day. She wasn’t facing him, meaning she wasn’t aware that he was currently up on the rooftop as well. Teru, being the secretly playful teen he is, decided to scare the girl. Yes, the two of them may have been rivals, but behind all that he liked to think him and Roze were good friends, although the rivalry did get in the way in those things.

“Booarch nemeses?” The question made Rose look up and blink. This time she was the one to filet her head.

“Eh? I-I was joking!” She blurted out “W-We’re…I guess friends,” Why did it hurt when she said friends like that. It felt unnatural but it was there, almost as if it was like it was a bone that refused the crack and continued to hurt.

“Friends…,” Teru mumbled, looking off to the distance. He thought back to when they were in the classroom, where the switch flicked on and they were rivals once more. He remembered what she said back there “Too bad, I don’t actually care,” It was no lie that Roze hated fighting Teru. Honestly, Teru hated fighting Roze. They were in the same class, sure, but all this competing sure got old and frustrating real quick. “You don’t actually see me as a rival, do you, Roze?”

The statement made Roze spit out her rice and choke on her spit before she looked straight in Teru’s eyes “EH? OF COURSE, WE ARE! Y-YOU WANT TO FIGHT RIGHT NOW, I SWEAR I WILL-,”

Before she could bring out her sword, Teru had already reached over the table to cover her mouth. He lightly shushed her, looking to the sides to see that people were indeed looking at the pair. He awkwardly smiled and pulled Roze out of the canteen, and to an abandoned hall. “Hey, I haven’t even eaten yet!” She grumbled angrily, which made Teru look back at her. Raking a hand through his hair, he sighed and looked down at the girl.

“What were you thinking? You were really going to take out your sword in a canteen of all places,” he bent down when a thought went through his head “Don’t tell me, are you sick? Did that meal make you sick? Don’t tell me I have to-,”

“I’m not sick! Jeez, stop babying me, I’m not Kou,” Roze swatted Teru’s hands away and looked off to the distance. There was no sound. No people. Nothing. Just...them and the silence.

“I don’t like being rivals,”

The confirmation made Teru’s eyes widen a fraction before softening again as the girl fiddled with her hands. Small and dainty, that’s what they were. Rose knew she knew for a fact, that she shouldn’t pour her feelings out to Teru, the boy she was supposed to be battling until their families’ had their fill.

“I-I don’t like comparing test scores, competing in sports competitions, seeing who can be the most liked by people,” a laugh came from her throat, but it was agonising to listen to. It sounded like a broken record “Don’t you hate it too?”

Honestly, Teru did. Roze was in the class below her, and frankly, he didn’t like battling with someone younger than him. It felt as if he was constantly a level higher than she was. And it wasn’t fair. None of it was. He didn’t mind being an exorcist. Being one was one of his prides and joys. But upholding a grudge that his family had for generations, a grudge he personally didn’t have. It felt like a lie.

And how could he lie to someone he genuinely loved.

The only way he knew how to express love, was to use blunt words and small affectionate gestures. So with that in mind, Teru reached out she patted Roze’s hair, not knowing what on earth he was doing. This wasn’t Kou. This was Tiara. This was Roze. And he couldn’t treat her like them.

With wide eyes, she gazed up at Teru, who awkwardly smiled back. “No...I don’t like it,” he mumbled sighing. Then, he decided to hug her, which made Roze feel more comfortable. “I have a plan,” he said briefly “How about...I tutor you and help you get the same scores as me. That way both of us win,”

The plan made Roze laugh wholeheartedly, pulling away a bit to look at Teru “That would be awesome! We could meet at the library so we won’t see our parents oh oh and-,”

Teru just listened to her rant about the upcoming plan. Honestly, for some unknown reason, Roze’s voice was calming. The two of them will end their pretend rivalry they made up for their parents and become allies. And maybe, end their families centuries-old quarrel officially someday.

,”

The sudden jolt that was inflicted onto Roze’s shoulders made her shriek, making her drop her lunch on the floor. The bento landed with a sad splat on the ground which affected the two that the lunch was practically ruined. Rose whipped her head around, wanting to know who was the culprit that made her freak out. All she saw was a laughing Teru who thought that her shriek was hilarious and nothing short of amazing. He was holding his stomach from laughter and soon it began to hurt from laughing too much. “Hey, it’s not funny!” She yelled, pointing pathetically at her lunch. She groaned in frustration and pushed Teru back from her. She hated the way his laugh made her head all fuzzy and her thoughts turn to honey. It was a troubling feeling but a feeling she could get used to.

“You owe me a lunch you prick!” Roze yelled. Normally she wouldn’t act like this, but because this situation involved spoiled lunch, especially her lunch, drastic measures needed to be taken. Namely guilt-trip-and-make-the-person-by-me- another-lunch drastic measures.

Teru calmed down and looked down at the girl before smiling again, his princely charm glowing off him. “Fine, fine,” he said “Come on, I’ll buy you lunch. I need to talk to you anyways,” with that he started walking back to the doors of the rooftops.

‘Talk to me?’ Roze grumbled, hesitating to follow him. Her gaze went back to the ruined lunch she was about to enjoy and then her mind angrily settled. If he was going to give her free food then she’d take it. Picking up her stuff, she caught up to Teru who was calmly making her way downstairs.

When Teru bought her lunch, the two settled in the canteen of the school. Roze could feel the glares of fangirls hurt her back like arrows each time another one would look at her and Teru. Why couldn’t they mind their own business, jeez, Teru is a human being as well. Despite the glares, Roze just looked at her lunch and started to eat it. “So, what does the almighty Teru want to talk about to his arch-nemesis?” Roze said jokingly as she ate. Teru tilted his head and blinked.

“Is that what we are now?” He asked with a chuckle, scratching a bit on his cheek “Are we arch nemeses?” The question made Rose look up and blink. This time she was the one to filet her head.

“Eh? I-I was joking!” She blurted out “W-We’re…I guess friends,” Why did it hurt when she said friends like that. It felt unnatural but it was there, almost as if it was like it was a bike that refused the crack and continued to hurt.

The statement made Roze spit out her rice and choke on her spit before she looked straight in Teru’s eyes “EH? OF COURSE, WE ARE! Y-YOU WANT TO FIGHT RIGHT NOW, I SWEAR I WILL-,”

“I’m not sick! Jeez, stop babying me, I’m not Kou,” Roze swatted Teru’s hands away and looked off to the distance. There was no sound. No people. Nothing. Just...them and the silence.

“I don’t like being rivals,”

And how could he lie to someone he genuinely loved.

The plan made Roze laugh wholeheartedly, pulling away a bit to look at Teru “That would be awesome! We could meet at the library so we won’t see our parents oh oh and-,”

#teru minamoto #minamoto #teru #tbhk #jshk #toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shounen hanako kun #tbhk x oc #jshk x oc

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grandmasterreigen · 6 years ago

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Well while we are on the topic. How would you define Reigen and Teru's father/son dynamic? What do they share in common, what could they learn from each other, and what would they argue and differ on? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I hope you wanted an essay because that’s what you’regetting. Anyone who knows me well will know that I can talk about stuff likethis for ages, so thank you, anon, for giving me the excuse!

In a lot of ways Isee their relationship in canon to be similar to the one Reigen and Mob have. Teruis shown to have a lot of respect for Reigen throughout the series, almostright from the start. In some ways he almost seems to have elevated Reigen ontothis pedestal (“if he’s Kageyama’s master, he must be amazing!”) and regularlyfollows Reigen’s lead in most of their subsequent exchanges. It’s notsurprising – Teru doesn’t have a lot of adult figures in his life that he looksup to, and with Reigen already acting kind of like a guardian over this groupof teens I’d be more surprised ifTeru didn’t start looking up to him. There aren’t a lot of scenes where they’reinteracting to refer to, unfortunately, but one of my favorites when it comesto Reigen and Teru is the summervacation omake.

Reigen’s promptness in making up “cases” as an excuse totake the kids out to have some summer fun shows, to me at least, a genuinedesire to help relieve some of Teru’s loneliness. He’s not the type to comestraight out and say it, at least not at first, but he clearly cares aboutTeru’s wellbeing, even though he’s not especially close to him. Whether it’s aparent/son or just a mentor/student dynamic is up to interpretation, but givenI’m a huge dad!Reigen fan (which is no secret if you follow my blog or read myfic lol) you can probably guess how I like to take it.

I think they have a lot in common, too! While the manga wasstill ongoing, I was constantly hoping Teru would join the Spirits & Suchteam on a more regular basis, because I think he’d fit in perfectly. Both heand Reigen have a real flair for the dramatic and the charisma to pull it off.Half of running a client-centered business like Reigen’s is the impression theygive to their customers, after all. And this, again, depends on yourinterpretation, but I see both Reigen and Teru as having estrangedrelationships with their parents. Getting into all that would take way too muchtime (if anyone wants to know my thoughts on it in more detail feel free tosend an ask), but suffice to say, they’ve got parental issues and very limitedsupport networks in their daily lives. They also have very similar displays ofself-confidence (genuine or not) and are both natural-born leaders.

What can they learn from each other? I automatically think of Reigen teaching Teru how to be a kid again. Teru had to grow up way too fast in canon (he’s fourteen and said he’s been living alone for a few years) and based off the summer vacation omake, doesn’t seem to have much of an idea of how to spend his free time like a normal teenager. Even in canon Reigen’s taking steps to try to help remedy that! So that’s one of the big things for me at least.

When it comes to things they would differ on/argue about,the first thing that comes to mind is psychic powers, or more specifically howthey’re used. Teru has been shown to use his abilities against other peoplenumerous times (both before and after his reformation) and he doesn’t seem tohave any problem with it. He may not be actively aggressive anymore, but heshows very little remorse for any pain he causes (which is… troubling, but notsurprising given what we can infer of his background – again, send an ask ifyou want me to expand on that). Most of the people he uses his psychic powersagainst may not be good people, but I can see Reigen having a pretty bigproblem with it outside of dire circumstances. Reigen has expressed multipletimes his conviction that kids their age shouldn’t be getting involved withfights (especially against adults) and has made attempts to keep them out ofthe line of fire whenever possible. The WD arc is a good example of this.Reigen instructed Teru and the others not to fight, but Teru was unwilling tofollow that plan.

There’s a lot more I could say, but this is already waylonger than I’d planned on making it so I’m going to leave it at that for now.This is focused on canon, so if you were hoping for something centered aroundthe dynamics portrayed in my fic Permanency then feel free to send another ask, since that’s somewhat different based off changing events.I’m a huge fan of the dynamic between Reigen and Teru! They’re both suchcompelling characters and I’d love to see more stuff centered around them.Hopefully this gives you an idea of my thoughts on them!

#mp100 #mob psycho 100 #hanazawa teruki #reigen arataka #reigen #teru #mp100 meta #i could go on about this stuff forever #i love these two so much #asks #anonymous #aeru.stuff

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serenlyss · 5 years ago

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For the Sake of a Smile Chapter 5

Rating: G Relationship: terumob, teru&reigen, teru&ritsu, shigeo&ritsu Chapter Summary: "A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness." — Elsa Schiaparelli Crossposted to AO3: Chapter 5

Chapter 4 // Chapter 6

---

Teru’s first shift is with Shigeo, which he appreciates, because the amount of work Reigen has for him to do on the first day is overwhelming, to say the least.

The diner itself is, at the very least, clean, but it’s hard to tell when everything is strewn about as haphazardly as it is. Even the kitchen is in a state of semi-organized chaos, to the point that Teru is quickly developing a slightly irrational fear that one of the cabinets he peeks into will result in an avalanche of empty tupperware containers falling on his head and creating even more mess for him to organize.

He and Shigeo start with the parlor. There isn’t much to be done, but Teru is insistent on getting the boxes out of sight of potential customers. “They’re eyesores, and no one wants to see a bunch of junk sitting around when they’re trying to relax and eat,” he’d told Shigeo with a scoff, and had immediately begun to move them into Reigen’s personal office. The owner himself is out on a supply run for the next half hour or so, which leaves Teru and Shigeo to rearrange things however they see fit. Which ends up being however Teru sees fit, since Shigeo seems to have little to no opinion on how the parlor is laid out.

“Push those square tables up against the wall, under the windows,” Teru instructs, nudging a larger circular table toward the center of the room from where it had been banished to the lonely corner of the diner. “They’re much better for pairs, so we should use the space in the middle for larger groups.” He wonders how Reigen had managed to run this place at all with how badly organized it seems to be, but, well, the important part is getting it back into working order.

Shigeo follows the order without any fuss, sliding the little square tables up against the wall of the parlor. “Oh, that makes a lot of sense,” he comments, moving to fetch the chairs he’d left behind so he can set them up on either side of the relocated tables. “You know a lot about this.”

Teru snorts, waving his hand noncommittally. “It’s really just common sense, once you get down to it. A lot of restaurants are set up this way, since it’s space-efficient and easy to map out as a waiter or manager,” he replies, sliding the first of six chairs into place around the circular table he’d been working on. “This will at least make a better first impression that the disorganized mess it was earlier.”

“Reigen never seemed to mind how the tables were set up earlier, so I never bothered to change the layout,” Shigeo admits. “I always figured that if he wanted to change things up, he’d tell me.”

Teru bites his tongue on what he wants to say, that Reigen had fallen out of love with this place a long time ago and wasn’t exactly passionate about improving, and instead just says, “He’s definitely going to like this layout much better. Just look at it, it’s feeling more inviting already!”

He and Shigeo stand side-by-side at the kitchen door, looking out at the new parlor. With the eyesore of Reigen’s boxes of junk removed and the tables rearranged to fit the newly-opened space, the parlor really does look a whole lot cleaner and more professional. “There’s still lots of work to be done in the kitchen and on the outside, but I think this place has real promise,” Teru comments, placing a hand thoughtfully on his chin as he surveys the new space.

“You’re right, it does look nicer,” Shigeo agrees with a smile. He glances up at the clock hanging over the front door, blinking in surprise. “Oh, it’s almost lunch time already! Ritsu will be here soon, I should hurry.” He turns on his heel and steps into the kitchen, flipping on the coffee machine and retrieving a paper coffee cup from a stack in the corner of the store.

Teru follows him, blinking in surprise. “Ritsu comes here?” he echoes, watching as Shigeo measures out cream and sugar from memory. He must do this quite often, to be able to follow the process so effortlessly.

Shigeo nods his head, flashing Teru a small smile. “Most days, whenever I’m here working,” he confirms. “He doesn’t like the food here, but he usually comes by to get a coffee before his student council meeting. Reigen always messes it up, though, so he only comes when I’m scheduled to work.”

Teru fights the urge to snort in amusement at the thought of Reigen messing up a simple coffee order (Did the guy even know how to cook? Teru had never seen him make anything.) and leans his back against the edge of the counter as Shigeo works. “Just coffee? And he was concerned about my eating habits,” he says, half-teasing and half-serious.

Shigeo shrugs. “He usually brings a snack to eat, at least, but he doesn’t always get to it before lunchtime,” he explains. As he speaks, the bell hanging over the diner door chimes, signaling Ritsu’s arrival. “Oh, that’s him! Teru, will you go greet him?”

“Oh, sure,” Teru replies, reaching up to adjust his uniform apron as he heads toward the door leading out of the kitchen.

Ritsu is already inside, and the door falls closed behind him with a gentle puff of air as he casts his eyes around the new parlor. He looks confused and a little surprised, his bag slung over one shoulder as he stands just inside the doorway. He meets Teru’s gaze across the parlor. “Looks like you two have been busy,” he comments, expression falling back into careful neutrality. “How’d you get Reigen to move all of his crap?”

Teru grins mischievously. “We didn’t ask permission,” he replies with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Shigeo’s working on your drink already, it should be done soon.”

He sees the brief flash of something cross Ritsu’s face--he looks amused, or maybe even impressed--and then he gives a nod of his head. “It looks good,” he says, the closest thing to a compliment that Teru’s ever heard from him. Then he lifts his hand and tugs at his sleeve, glancing down at a watch hidden beneath his uniform blazer.

Shigeo emerges from the kitchen as he’s checking the time, a steaming cup held in his hands. “Ritsu! You’re just in time,” he greets with a little smile, his eyes crinkling every-so-slightly in their corners the way he does when he’s especially happy. “How long are you staying today?”

“I’ll sit down for a bit, but I don’t have much time to hang around before my next class,” Ritsu explains, pulling out a chair at one of the tables near the front door and slipping into it. Shigeo joins him, pulling up a seat on the other side of his brother.

Teru frowns; it’s the lunch hour, but neither of them are eating anything. “Shigeo, didn’t you bring a lunch?” he asks. He’d eaten before his shift himself, but Shigeo had been working since before the lunch hour had begun.

Shigeo shakes his head. “Ah, no. I work during the whole lunch hour a few days a week, so on those days I usually just survive off of snacks in between classes and then eat dinner at home,” he explains with a somewhat sheepish smile. “I’d get in trouble if I ate in class, though, so I usually just eat on my way out of work.”

Teru falls quiet after this, and Shigeo is quick to divert his attention back to Ritsu, asking him about his student council meeting and what other classes he has left before the club activities after school hours. It’s not healthy to skip meals like that, even if it’s only sometimes, he thinks to himself, but I guess they both have pretty busy schedules. It’s hard to find time when you’re trying so hard to do everything. He runs a hand through his hair, brushing his bangs from his face briefly before they fall back into place.

“What’s your favorite fruit?” he asks suddenly, cutting off whatever explanation Ritsu is currently in the middle of giving as he’s struck by a sudden idea.

Two pairs of eyes turn to look at him abruptly, Shigeo’s wide with surprise while Ritsu looks almost offended to have been interrupted. “Our favorite fruit?” Shigeo echoes, blinking repeatedly. Teru can practically hear him trying to figure out where in the world the sudden question came from. He exchanges a glance with Ritsu, then answers, “Um, strawberries, I guess?” he says after a moment of quiet, his words slow and hesitant.

Ritsu furrows his brow with clear suspicion on his face, but hesitantly answers, “I like peaches. Why?”

Teru grins, pleased, and points a finger in the pair’s direction. “Come back after your club activities tonight, okay? I’m going to have something special prepared,” he commands, leaving little room for argument with the authoritative tone he takes. “Think of it as a ‘grand re-opening’ surprise”

Shigeo still looks confused, mumbling a soft, “But we were never closed,” under his breath, but doesn’t reject Teru’s proposition. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to drop by after clubs. Are you going to cook something, Teru?”

Teru flashes Shigeo a cheeky wink. “You’ll just have to come and see,” he replies teasingly, turning toward the kitchen once more. “Don’t forget, okay?”

He nearly misses the way Ritsu rolls his eyes as he and Shigeo gather their things in preparation to leave. “Okay, then. See you later, Teru,” he concedes with a small smile, still looking a little bewildered. That was alright, though, it would be more fun if he showed up to be surprised.

Teru listens until he can hear the door falling closed behind the retreating brothers, then rolls up his sleeves and gets to work digging through Reigen’s pantries.

---

Even with his prep work and the extra little surprise he’d decided to prepare, Teru still finds himself with a lack of work to do as the afternoon wears on. Reigen returns not long after Ritsu and Shigeo leave, hoisting bags of groceries, and Teru is quick to delve into the new stock in anticipation for his little surprise. He doesn’t even let Reigen in on it, even when the man asks; he’s surprisingly lax for someone who’s meant to be Teru’s boss, and he doesn’t seem to mind Teru taking charge of the kitchen at times while he sits back and observes from afar.

“You make me go out of my way to buy fresh fruit and then don’t even tell me what it’s for?” Reigen complains, attempting to crane his neck to better see what it is that Teru’s been working on. It’s evident that his curiosity is killing him, but Teru isn’t about to reveal his secret just yet.

“Just wait until Shigeo and Ritsu get here, okay? There’s one for you, too,” he chides, a spoon gripped in one hand, which he uses to beat together a pinkish mixture he’s blending in a small mixing bowl. He has the bowl settled in the crook of his elbow, and once he’s satisfied with the mixture’s consistency, he lifts the spoon to his mouth for a quick taste. He hums, pondering for a second, then reaches for a glass jar filled with sugar.

Reigen leans his elbow on the counter from where he’s sitting on a bar stool in the corner of the kitchen and lets his chin rest in his open palm, observing Teru with curious eyes and a slightly furrowed brow as he spoons sugar into the bowl and beats it in. “You move around the kitchen like you were born in it. Honestly, it’s kind of hard to believe that you’re self-taught,” he admits, and there’s a familiar sort of glint in his boss’s eye that reminds him of the contemplative way Ritsu sometimes regards him.

Teru shrugs, tipping the bowl so that the mixture can be poured evenly into four identical champagne flutes. “I’ve told you before, I’ve done this since I was just a little kid,” he replies, the same answer he gives Reigen every time he brings up Teru’s comfort in the kitchen. “Is it really so odd?”

Reigen cracks a smile and shakes his head. “Not at all,” he replies flippantly, pushing himself to his feet as Teru sets the flutes in the fridge to cool and set. He checks the kitchen’s clock. “Club activities get out in half an hour. Is that going to be enough time for you to finish?”

Teru nods, flashing Reigen a confident grin. “Oh, that’s plenty of time.” It just needs to sit for now, so he goes to the sink and busies himself washing and drying dishes until he hears the telltale ring of the front door’s bell signalling Ritsu and Shigeo’s arrival.

Reigen goes out to meet them while Teru puts the finishing touches on his surprise, and Teru catches bits and pieces of their conversation from beyond the kitchen wall. It’s mostly polite, typical stuff, but Ritsu sounds more on edge than usual in response to Reigen’s presence; he’s not terribly fond of the diner’s owner, and he’s made his opinion of Reigen explicitly clear in the few days Teru’s known him. Then again, Ritsu doesn’t seem terribly fond of anyone other than Shigeo.

Brushing a strand of blond hair from his eyes, Teru sets the champagne flutes on a serving tray and sweeps dramatically out of the kitchen, making his way over to the table where the three of them have taken up residence.

Shigeo is the first to look over at him, his eyes meeting Teru’s for a moment before flicking down to the treat he’s brought with him. “Is this the thing you wanted us to come try?” he asks.

“Yup! There’s one for each of us,” Teru replies with a smile, plucking the tall, thin glasses from his tray and sliding one in the direction of each of the people gathered around the table. Then he sits down in the seat opposite Shigeo. In front of him is the promised treat, a champagne flute through which he can see layers of colorful gelatin. “I call it “rainbow jelly”. Each layer is a different flavor, and there’s a bit of mint mixed in for a little extra freshness,” he explains. “It’s made with real fruit, so it has a lot of vitamins in it, but it’s small enough and easy enough to eat that you can eat it even when you don’t have a lot of time, like in between class periods or meetings.”

Shigeo blinks, looking down at the glass and tugging out the little spoon stuck in the top of it. “Is that why you wanted to know our favorite fruits?” he asks.

Teru nods his head enthusiastically. “Give it a try!” he urges, eager to see how his dessert is taken.

“Well then, let’s see what you’re capable of, kid,” Reigen hums, and takes the initiative of taking the first bite at the table. Shigeo and Ritsu follow closely behind, metal spoons clinking against the glasses’ surfaces, and Teru dips his own spoon in, breaking the top layer of strawberry jelly as he expectantly watches the faces of his companions.

“It’s good,” Shigeo and Ritsu say, nearly simultaneously.

They look up at each other with wide eyes, surprised, and then Shigeo softly giggles, covering his mouth with his hand. “I thought you didn’t like sweet things,” he says, eyes crinkling in amusement. “You used to tell mom that sweets were for babies when she’d try to give you any kind of dessert.”

Ritsu flushes pink at the accusation, sputtering. “That was when I was like, five!” he argues. “I don’t hate desserts, I just don’t always want to eat sweet things.”

Reigen laughs aloud, leaning over the table to toss playful jabs in Ritsu’s direction, and Teru lets a smile of his own bloom on his face for a moment. There’s a warmth in his chest that he hasn’t felt since leaving home, the kind he only used to feel when he’d cook something new for his siblings back home. He leans his head on his hand and props his elbow up on the table, and watches the scene unfold from the sidelines. It really does feel different when you eat with someone important to you, he thinks to himself, watching the way the tension leaves Ritsu’s shoulders as he banters with his brother and bickers with Reigen. Even the typically stiff Shigeo seems to be relaxing at last, an easy smile coming to his face that’s brighter and more unwithheld than the ones he gives to his classmates at school. It’s nice to see him unwind like this.

Teru lets himself relax as well, chuckling softly alongside the table’s conversation, and lets himself think for just a moment that maybe, this could be a place where he could belong.

#mob psycho 100 #mp100 #mp100 fanfic #terumob #hanazawa teruki #kageyama shigeo #serendipitousfics #reigen arataka #kageyama ritsu

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lawlight-week · 8 years ago

Text

Lawlight Week Exchange

Title: Hear, Heart, the Beat of Goodnight

Name of creator: @silvia-aivlis

Created for: @mr-frog-man

Prompt: Coffee shop banter (This turns out to be an AU involving coffee shops and proceeds from bickering to banter… eventually. :p)

Characters: Main - Light Yagami, L Lawliet; secondary - Touta Matsuda, Hideki Ide; more making an appearance or being mentioned

Rating, warnings and no. of words (for fics): General; no warning unless you count s l o o o o w buildup; 7048

Hear, Heart, the Beat of Goodnight

‘Here’s hope that tomorrow you’ll realise coffee-making is a human art. Someone who just relies on a cheap, lifeless machine cannot become a real coffee master.’

‘Mind how you talk about My Wammy’s invention. He made a name with his coffee in London long before your father was born. I’ve been learning from the best since the age of ten.’

No one could explain why the two cafés at the twelve-level Heartbeat shopping mall were both located on the same floor with less than five metres distance between them. Nor did anyone know why there had to be two open cafés selling coffees and muffins when there was not even a proper restaurant in the shopping complex.

The arrangement simply did not sound reasonable business-wise, but it must be said that the owners of Kira Kira Café and Wammy’s Coffee Corner were very kind people and had always wished the other café the best form of peace.

‘Rest in peace’.

Their wishes gained a new fervour when Investigation, the town’s best-selling newspaper, published the following article:

EXCLUSIVE:

Heartbeat revamp post-Yotsuba purchase

Add bistro, cut café

Kira Kira Café and Wammy’s Coffee Corner have long been the only choices for hungry shoppers at the labyrinth that is Heartbeat. The lack of diversity has been the complaint of many. NOT ANYMORE! Your faithful Investigators, Shuichi Aizawa and Kanzo Mogi, are able to confirm the upcoming addition of a gourmet restaurant in the town’s largest shopping mall. Yotsuba Corporation, the new owner of Heartbeat, has plans to improve…

… ‘We don’t want two similar cafés. One is perfectly enough and the other will be replaced by Yotsuba Gourmet, which will provide more seats and a larger variety of food choices with increased space and investment.’ Arayoshi Hatori, Yotsuba’s Vice President of Marketing, claimed the land owner will decide which café needs to say goodbye in the next month. ‘Quality and popularity are essential criteria for consideration when we make plans for any premises under Yotsuba’s wing.’

Who will stay and who will fade? Our fellow Investigators will be checking on the ‘quality’ and ‘popularity’ of Kira Kira Café and Wammy’s Coffee Corner in this upcoming month. The battle is on. Stay tuned to see who will survive!

‘Worthless paper. As if they actually had any influence on Yotsuba’s decision.’ At Kira Kira Café, Teru Mikami closed his issue of Investigation muttered contemptuously.

‘Light, what should we do?’ Misa Amane asked.

With hearts in their eyes, she and Kiyomi Takada (the newest of the four full-time workers) watched Light Yagami, the handsome owner of Kira Kira Café in his late twenties, rest his chin on the back of one hand while contemplating an answer. ‘A newspaper may not influence Yotsuba directly, but it can influence the public, and consumers’ opinion may affect our business and shape Yotsuba’s opinion.’ Light reasoned. ‘I wonder how Investigation is planning to do this ‘checking’. Anyhow, we have to…’

‘A wise business decision. I’ve always thought there’s no need for two coffee shops so close to each other.’ On the other side of Heartbeat 3/F, Nate River of Wammy’s Coffee Corner offered his very sensible comment regarding the Yotsuba Corporation’s business plan.

‘And that’s all you have to say? That it’s good we’re facing a survival crisis right now?’

Nate took a little time to play his hair (which, for some reason, was white despite his young age) before responding, ‘… there won’t be a crisis if we win, Mihael.’

Mihael Keehl sprang up and Mail Jeevas, who was sitting next to him, yelped in pain when Mihael’s left shoulder haphazardly bumped into his right arm.

But before Mihael could open his mouth, the last and eldest participant in this conversation spoke. ‘We should make Wammy’s as popular as possible, serving the best coffee and snacks we can. Let the reporters and other people “check on” us and attest to our superiority over Kira Kira. Anyhow, we have to…’ The dark bags under his eyes might have made another person look exhausted, but they totally failed to hide the sharpness in L Lawliet’s gaze towards the ‘enemy’s territory’.

Neither café had walls and L’s unfriendly regard soon met its rival in Light’s intense glare. Neither person bothered to greet or acknowledge the other’s existence in any way.

‘… we have to send them packing.’

‘I saw that Mrs Yagami was very interested in Wammy’s seven types of latte this afternoon, but was too polite to actually ask.’

‘She was just interested in the drawings on your banner. And that wasn’t even your own doing. You just asked that Linda girl whom River knows to draw for you.’

‘But can’t Master Kira Kira actually keep mama’s attention with his own coffee?’

‘She just happened to look around when I talked with my sister. And I should mention that Sayu doesn’t drink coffee except those that I make. She hates everything that’s on sale elsewhere but begs me to make her café au lait every day in high school. That’s why I began making coffee and getting better day by day at such a young age.’

Same as many people who visited Heartbeat for the first time, the two men ogled at Kira Kira Café on their left and Wammy’s Coffee Corner on their right, seemingly unsure which way they should head for.

‘Hey, since these two cafés have to kill the other if they want to stay after the revamp, what d’you think they’ll do? Maybe wage a price war?’ The slightly taller man wore his large rucksack in the front instead of at the back, and although he was busy searching for something inside the bag’s main pocket, it did not hinder his passion for gossip.

The other man, shorter but with shoulders a little broader, did not carry a bag but had a digital camera around his neck—a tourist?—and he was quick at dismissal. ‘No, that’d just look desperate… What are you looking for?’

Staggering as he dug into the rucksack aggressively, the taller man collided with two other walkers (who entered Kira Kira and Wammy’s, respectively) before answering, ‘I can’t find my pen… where is it?’

‘Mind you don’t drop anything or bump into more people.’

The banal exchange would have completely escaped everyone’s attention—no one would have cared enough to question why a tourist would need a pen in the middle of a shopping mall—but all was changed when a 91 mm × 55 mm piece of paper chose this exact moment to leap out of the rucksack. Its spectacular consecutive somersaults would put most Olympic gymnasts to shame, but what truly captured the audience’s attention was the large, red logo blazoned on it. When it finally landed on the corridor between the two coffee shops, there was no mistaking what it was.

The signature magnifying glass printed on every issue of Investigation.

Reacting as quickly as he could, its owner stooped and covered the logo with one palm. He then cautiously picked it up, confirmed that the name Touta Matsuda was still attached to the other side of the card (as if it could run away), and slipped it back into his rucksack.

When he stood up, Matsuda gave a tentative thump-up to his fellow Investigator, but Hideki Ide rolled his eyes and muttered, ‘Fool, you immediately trying to cover the logo just makes us more suspicious! If anyone has seen it, we can’t even pretend to have just received the business card from a random reporter!’

Matsuda shuddered. ‘But we’re supposed to be “secret customers”… well, no one has been looking, right?’

If anyone had really been looking, it would have been easy to recognise the card’s prominent logo—the corridor was very narrow and there was nothing between it and either café, after all. Gulping at the dangerous prospect, Matsuda looked around nervously.

A bespectacled, stern-looking waiter in Kira Kira was busy talking to a customer (answering queries?), while a lanky boy wearing a pair of goggles and looking like he had just entered adulthood was cleaning a desk in Wammy’s. None of them had actually noticed his business card giving a gymnastic performance, right?

‘Let’s hope so. Anyway we should start. Which one should we try first? And I still have no idea how we’re going to visit two coffee shops in one afternoon without arousing suspicion.’

‘Don’t worry about looking suspicious all the time, or you’ll look even more suspicious!’

‘And who just did the most suspicious thing not a minute ago?’

‘Ahem.’ Both Matsuda and Ide jumped. Amid their whispered argument, they had not noticed the approach of the goggled waiter from Wammy’s. ‘Sorry. Is there anything I can help? Maybe you’d like a cuppa coffee? We’ve got excellent cappuccino.’

One hand gesturing towards Wammy’s invitingly, Mail put his other hand on Matsuda’s shoulder and began leading the two ‘tourists’ to the entrance.

Matsuda and Ide had no choice but to walk in. They missed Mail feigning holding a magnifying glass at their back, but certainly could not miss the barista who looked like he had not slept for a year, who had seen Mail’s signal and who then proceeded to recommend Wammy’s various kinds of espresso to the two undercover reporters.

They ordered the recommended cappuccino and were seated at a pair of black and white single seater sofas. The drinks arrived quickly, but the coffee mugs had not even touched their lips when a chirpy female voice reached their table.

‘What’s so special about cold brew coffee, then?’

Matsuda and Ide’s attention was immediately caught by Misa who, though wearing a waitress uniform, was sitting on a red plush chair just next to the entrance of Kira Kira Café, with a glass of cold coffee in her hand. She asked her question in a raised voice, ensuring that everyone at Wammy’s could hear her every word clearly.

So did the person who replied to Misa. ‘Cold brew coffee is made by steeping coffee ground in cold water. Compared to iced coffee which is just hot coffee cooled down, cold brew coffee is sweeter, less bitter and more mellow on the stomach. Since it doesn’t need ice to cool the coffee, it is also less watery. This is another important factor why cold brew tastes so good!’

L narrowed his eyes at the sight of Light Yagami answering Misa Amane’s (undoubtedly staged) question with a smug smile on his face. The young owner of Kira Kira Café had stepped out of his usual spot behind the barista table, leaving Teru Mikami (who had finished his conversation with the customer) to perform pouring some precious cold brew into glasses as ostentatiously as possible.

‘Cold brew takes a long time to prepare. That’s why it’s usually more rare and expensive, but Kira Kira Café has developed its own unique way to make cold brew coffee efficiently and at a low cost. It is the only place in the entire Heartbeat plaza where you can taste this delicacy!’ With a grandiose arm movement, Light concluded his pompous speech, drawing applause from Misa, all other women and a couple of men in Kira Kira and—to L’s annoyance—one of the Investigation reporters at the other side of the aisle.

‘Matsuda, what’re you doing?’ Even Ide could not suppress a grimace.

‘He’s such a good speaker! I wish I could speak that well too!’ Matsuda finally tasted the cappuccino in front of him, but his unfocused gaze suggested cold brew fantasies. L just wished he could steep the reporter (and the entire Kira Kira Café) in Antarctica for a cup of cold brew malignance.

Taking after Light’s example (not that L would admit it), L slid out of Wammy’s barista station and made his way towards Matsuda and Ide. Nate caught on immediately, exchanged a high five with L and went to fill in.

It took less than five seconds for L to reach the reporters’ table. ‘Actually you can make cold brew at home as well. What you need is just time, not any elaborate equipment. It’s not that difficult. There’re plenty of recipes on the Internet you can google.’ He spoke in a low voice because unlike someone, he did not need to be heard by people in the opposite shop.

He took a second to smile innocently at The Someone (earning a death glare in return). Then, to the shock of his audience, he shook his shoes off and stepped onto a grey single seater. Crouching in his seat, he placed the objects in his hand (which Nate had just given him in their high five) on the table—a few coffee beans and a miniature coffee machine.

‘A lot of coffee tastes bitter due to a lack of precision in grinding and brewing. Coffee making is about science, especially in the case of espressos. The mixture of coffee beans and the exact time to grind them—you don’t want to grind for ten seconds too short or too long because that may destroy the beans’ flavour and aroma.’ L dangled two coffee beans right in front of Matsuda and Ide, the faint chocolatey smell getting stronger as he waved his fingers slightly. ‘But Wammy’s has long perfected the best formula for that. The heat and pressure to exert through an espresso machine also requires deliberate calculation, but thanks to the innovation of Wammy’s founder, Mr Quillsh Wammy…’

L droned on. Though perhaps not as charming as Kira Kira’s young and handsome boss, he successfully caught Matsuda’s attention with the semi-functional miniature espresso machine, and the reporter’s eyes shone with wonder when the tiny buttons clicked and buzzed under L’s command. Ide, who had been grumpy from the beginning, hid his face with one hand. He did not want to look at his naïve companion.

‘Feel free to ask me any questions.’ L concluded his demonstration with a small smile. ‘I don’t mind providing whatever information you’ll need for writing your article. There’s no point in pretending you’re not from Investigation any longer, I think.’

Ide added another hand. He did not want to look at this world.

‘Don’t talk when you know nothing! Kira Kira Café is so much more than “an amateur playhouse”. Since the day I was old enough to board a plane on my own, I’ve travelled with every penny I owned to learn about different coffees around the world!’

‘Weren’t you hospitalised for “drinking too much coffee” one day in Paris? I’m sure that’s quintessential professionalism.’

‘That was not for drinking too much coffee. That was for drinking poorly-made, unhygienic coffee! And you can bet I’ve put all the lesson I learnt into Kira Kira’s operation. Unlike you, who couldn’t even properly remember when you’ve heard the other day.’

‘The mall is going to close in fifteen minutes. Mind the time, Yagami-san!’

‘Thank you, sir. Leaving soon!’

‘The mall is going to close in fifteen minutes. Mind the time, Lawliet-san!’

‘Thanks.’

The security guard walked away while Light wiped the last water droplet off the coffee funnel. After placing both the cloth and the funnel back to their usual places, he took off his apron and grabbed his belongings, preparing to leave.

Save for the very rare days when he enjoyed a holiday, he was always the last to leave. The third floor of the Heartbeat shopping mall was almost totally silent and empty.

Except for The Enemy, the perpetual pest, of course.

Though L was acting strange. He strode out of Wammy’s, walking quickly but also deliberately keeping quiet, eyes scanning for something. He kept putting a hand behind one of his ears while circulating Wammy’s, but Light did not understand what he could be listening for—they were the only two people on the third floor now, and the faint rustling sounds they made certainly did not deserve special attention.

Apparently L did not find what he wanted to, because when he emerged from the back of Wammy’s again, he was actually heading for the other coffee shop, a most suspicious expression on his face.

Light hastened to block him when he was deemed too near Kira Kira Café. ‘What do you want?’ Light asked, clearly not welcoming the trespasser.

L blinked at the question. After looking around and then trying to stare behind Light (who tried his best to prevent that), he finally spoke. ‘Didn’t you hear anything?’

Despite looking somewhat serious, this guy was utterly full of crap. ‘I only heard whatever sounds you’ve been making.’ Light folded his arms and straightened himself, hoping he came off as intimidating. ‘And?’

L stared and looked around again, but to no avail. ‘Nothing.’ He finally deadpanned and returned to Wammy’s.

Now it was Light’s turn to become suspicious. He paid extra attention to L’s movement at the same time as he prepared to leave, but nothing happened.

L was also leaving. He usually left at the same time as Light—just before the security guard locked the mall entrances. Light had the nagging suspicion that L sometimes hid and slept in the mall at night, but he never had any proof. He just did his best to make sure L could not break into Kira Kira without him finding out (which was a difficult task because both cafés did not have doors or walls, but he had many tricks in his pocket).

L leaving the building meant Light did not have to worry about being sabotaged, but it did not automatically make his way home more enjoyable.

Even today, he still could not fathom what unkind deity could possibly make him and L Lawliet not just operate competing businesses next to each other, but also live on the same floor in the same building. Exasperation at divine nastiness was a loyal buddy when they boarded the same orange and green one-decker every night and day, throughout their three-year tenures in Heartbeat.

The two baristas always sat at the back row, one occupying the left-most seat and the other the right-most. The ride was quiet save for the sound of motion. Only a handful of other passengers scattered in the front while an awkward silence filled the air. Light never talked to L and vice versa, each preferring to look at the neon lights and street lights that forced insomnia onto the city.

The ride took less than fifteen minutes. Silence followed their steps off the bus, at the lobby and in the lift. As the door to the lift opened, they walked towards their respective apartment along the narrow and straight corridor, salmon pink ceramic tiles dull and fatigued under pale lighting.

Light stopped in front of the second closest door to the lift, opening his bag for the keys. L passed him without saying a word.

‘Hope you sleep well tonight…’ Light’s murmur was soft and sudden, but certainly loud enough to be heard.

L looked over his shoulders.

‘…so that you won’t hallucinate non-existent voices again. Watching you do that pains me so.’ Light made sure L was looking at him before flashing a scornful smile.

‘Or maybe you’ll develop better sensitivity overnight. Difficult task, I know, but senses are essential for making passable coffee. Unlike pain, which you seem partial to but is actually useless.’ The retort was quick and L did not even put up an expression. Instead, a staring match was declared and sharp, pitch-black eyes were fixed on dark brown, almond ones.

The match was intense but short-lived. A few seconds later, Light plucked out his keys and proceeded to open the door, while L resumed the way to his apartment. Both knew to preserve their strength for the next contest because their rivalry had lasted day and night and stretched from Heartbeat to home.

If they did not win this round of sparring, there would always be another one the next night. After that, they would always board the earliest bus tomorrow and continue fighting with every cup of coffee they made. The feud had trained them well and added flavour—an unorthodox but refreshing spark of spice tinting caffeinated lives with crimson. Every night they closed their eyes to rest, they had the vision of defeating each other next day to look forward to.

But they would not be looking forward to that a month from now. Competition was now not just a game in their daily routine, but a battle of survival.

‘You know what? As much as you boast your knowledge of coffee to every customer, you only ever serve yourself affogato. It’s like you’re just going after the ice cream instead of the coffee. You even went for a second scoop today without the drink.’

No response was unforthcoming, only a stare.

‘I just find it hypocritical that you open a café, yet you seem not very interested in your own coffee. Skills can’t make a barista great without passion. Why don’t you open an ice cream parlour instead?’

‘It sounds like you live off coffee alone. I thought one’d die with that, but I’m obviously ignorant of alien biology.’

‘Who…’

‘And your observation skills are simply excellent. We’ve just been neighbours for three days and you already conclude that I like ice cream more than coffee. In fact, I’m just experimenting making ice cream with Wammy’s own coffee. I haven’t even eaten anything except affogato these days.’

‘…’

‘Coffee to you is just coffee, but to me it can live in anything. Revise your slogan. Passion can’t make a barista great without imagination.’

Under the enthusiasm (read: pressure) of the two café owners, Matsuda and Ide visited two more times and acquired more than enough materials to write in the Life section of Investigation a series of articles which, spinning the angle of competition, were actually just introducing Kira Kira Café and Wammy’s Coffee Corner to the readership. Though unskilled in masquerading themselves, the pair proved to be proficient journalists. Their appeal to ‘visit the cafés and choose the winner yourself, dear reader’ worked—three weeks saw a noteworthy increase in the customer toll of both shops.

The scythe awaited the losing shop in one week’s time, and tension and anxiety shrouded all staff members of both sides. Even without prompting, all full-time staff had opted to take no leave before they could be certain of their café’s fate. Light began to have bizarre dreams of first-class Robusta coffee beans seeking a job in employment agencies or begging for money with a coffee cup on the street.

He wondered whether his arch-enemy from Wammy’s was as dedicated to the welfare of coffee beans in his dreams, but L might not even have time for sleep these days. The number of nights Light suspected L of staying at the mall overnight had increased drastically. For nearly every day in the last two weeks, L would disappear right after the security guard’s cue call and not be seen in the last bus at night. He would also mysteriously appear at a very early time next morning without having been in the first bus, the size of his eye bags suggesting that he had slept very little or not at all. Was he hiding at Wammy’s at night, using the time when no one was in Heartbeat to invent some ‘secret weapon’ recipe?

Last night was another one like this and Light’s solitary journey to and from home was imbued with the apprehension of not knowing what L was up to. The feeling did not abate while Light, arriving at Kira Kira in the next morning just five minutes after the mall was unlocked, found L already hunched up in one of Wammy’s sofas, inspecting something tiny between his thumb and index finger.

Apprehension turned to dread as Light neared the barista station that he covered with a red cloth before leaving. One look sufficed to tell him that the creases on the cloth were different. Different from what he especially arranged every night before leaving, and different in a way that could only be caused by a human. Dread burst into scorching rage at the implication, pushing an incensed Light into Wammy’s Coffee Corner without thinking.

It was so early in the morning and no one except L was at the café, so Light found himself standing in the middle of enemy territory in no time.

L seemed to take no offense at his nemesis butting in without invitation, which in Light’s eyes confirmed his guilt. But when Light tried to grab his white, round necked T-shirt in a fit of anger, he slapped the hand away and growled threateningly.

‘I don’t know how you know, but you clearly deduced that someone has entered your shop last night after you left.’ L said, standing up and moving defensively while Light scuttled left and right for a chance to strike again. ‘And you’ve somehow decided that it was me.’

Light took two more small steps, and then halted. ‘And you’re going to deny it like the liar you are, saying that I have no proof.’ The venom in his voice might be alarming, but Light did not motion further because what he just said was technically true. That L had stayed overnight was his suspicion. Though the older barista definitely had motivation to sabotage Kira Kira, he obviously would not be stupid enough to give himself away, and Light would have to find out on his own what the other man had done. ‘You better not let me find the proof, then. Sorry for disturbing.’ Light turned away tensely, without meaning his apology.

‘The culprit did not have time to do anything, because I chased him away before he could.’

Light swung back angrily at the implication of L’s words. ‘So you admit you were here last night!’

‘And why do you think I’m admitting this to you?’

‘You somehow want to win my trust, but fabricating a trespasser is hardly believable enough to achieve what you want.’

‘Ah, but there’s not an ounce of trust in you. You’re as pressed out as the coffee beans in an espresso machine.’

Light began indignantly but L continued despite that. ‘I wouldn’t fabricate an unbelievable tale because I know it wouldn’t work. I’m only saying this because it’s the truth. I have two more things to say. The second thing is that I invite you to stay behind, starting tonight. I believe the person may come back within this week, maybe on this very night.’

‘… What? And you said “second”?’

‘The first thing is that I invite you to look at this.’ L handed Light what he was keeping in his palm all this while.

‘I don’t know whether I should wish that you and Keehl would make peace or wish you be rid of him. I’ve never had this problem so I don’t really understand the hardship when even your staff doesn’t agree with the way you make coffee.’

‘I don’t really understand the happiness of having to running a bunch of drooling puppets around oneself either. But I guess some people just need constant admiration from blind followers.’

‘Will you lose your voice without spitting insult on innocent people? Everyone now working full-time at Kira Kira has all been my faithful customers at one time! My staff admire me because they appreciate my coffee! Yours can’t even be paid to praise your lousy drinks.’

‘Well, if you must know, all of my full-time staff have actually been Mr Wammy’s protégés and I’m training them to open their own coffee shops one day, to spread Mr Wammy’s coffee philosophy post-mortem. Dissonance is encouraged because it helps them learn and I don’t need the world to revolve around me. And anyway, once they give their idea more thought and taste, they’ll finally realise that I’m right.’

‘… you don’t need the world to revolve around you but “they’ll finally realise that I’m right”… very convincing, absolutely inspirational…’

‘… pot calling kettle black…’

Light’s feet trembled slightly as they touched the vinyl flooring without the protection of shoe soles. Wearing just socks in a public area made Light feel more exposed than he actually was, and he could not help but doubt his decision to stay at the mall overnight with L.

‘Don’t give me that face. We need to be as quiet as possible as we move and your boots are too loud. Wear shoes with rubber soles next time.’

As if he could have predicted this when he chose his footwear in the morning. And as if there would be a next time.

L had studied the blind spots of the mall’s surveillance cameras and the security guard’s routines very well. Working together, the two men successfully stole two spare keys from the large set in the security office and hid in the female restroom opposite it (they knew no female guard was on duty today and decided that it was the best strategic position).

Technically, they only had to wait until all security guards locked and left the building. Guards were only stationed outside the mall at night, and when the morning came, nobody would have the interest to check the surveillance feed inside unless there was any complaint about unexplained lost or damage of property.

But something was clearly different tonight.

‘You’re right.’ Light hardly believed that such words could come out from his own mouth. Opening the restroom door very slightly, Light observed the movement—or lack thereof—outside. ‘The last guard should have left already, but he didn’t. What’s he doing in the security office?’

‘Bidding for time. And if I assume correctly, he’ll probably switch off all surveillance cameras soon. Maybe he already did, so as not to leave any evidence of his activity. I’m pretty sure the feed was switched off last night, or he would have known it was me who scared him away with those card boxes near the boutique, but he didn’t pay attention to me today, and was just generally jumpy instead. He probably thinks that “accidentally” switching off the feed for one or two nights is a much less serious crime than there being evidence of him actually sabotaging Heartbeat’s shops.’

‘But why would he do that? So now you’re not totally lying, but I still don’t see why a security guard would have motive to harm a coffee shop.’

‘Two coffee shops, I believe.’

‘Whatever. If your theory is true then it’s just…’

‘We’ll find out when we catch him in action.’

L gripped at the cufflink in his palm—the same one that he asked Light to inspect in the morning. According to L, since the time he heard odd noises before the mall closed, he had tried to stay inside at night as often as he could, hiding in a restroom from which he could detect suspicious movement around the café area, certain that Light Yagami and his cronies were plotting to strike when no one was watching over Wammy’s. Last night was not any different.

Light first scoffed at the idea that he might do something underhanded at night (how distrustful must L have been to suspect such a baseless theory?), then balked when he heard about L hiding in a restroom, and was now trying hard to ignore the irony of himself doing the exact same thing.

L’s wait had not been fruitless, but he was surprised to recognise the outline of the security uniform under the dim moonlight from the window, and even more so when the approaching person did not enter Wammy’s Coffee Corner but Kira Kira Café.

In Light’s opinion, the most dubious part in L’s story was that L, upon the ‘instinct that the trespasser was up to no good’, decided to distract the security guard by overthrowing a pile of card boxes just outside the restroom. L claimed that he assumed the guard would come to inspect what happened and planned to ambush him then, but the man was frightened away instead, and did not emerge to tidy up the card boxes until Heartbeat was ‘officially open’ again. Near a chair in Kira Kira, L discovered a cufflink that belonged to a security uniform, confirming the identity of the trespasser who had nearly tripped at the exact same spot when he ran away.

‘The good news is, if he’s that weak-kneed and clumsy, it probably won’t be that difficult to get the truth out of him, once we catch him guilty on spot.’ L concluded when he finished his tale.

Light remembered being unsure whether he should believe L. ‘… let’s say that you’re telling the truth and that he’ll really try whatever he wanted to try again tonight… why would you “invite” me?’

But for some inexplicable reason, he remembered the answer that followed even more.

‘Because you’re already making a fuss.’ L continued before Light could complain. ‘Because you’re actually not the enemy this time. And because I know you would care and work with me to stop the ploy. Because you don’t make coffee for your little sister every day and get sick in France for a security guard to harm Kira Kira Café.’

Light remembered being speechless at this explanation.

Though, at the same time, he was not that surprised. Just as L picked up on who Light Yagami was from their nightly bickering, Light also understood why L would react so drastically towards any possible threat to Heartbeat’s cafés. Because L needed coffee to honour the man who raised him. Because he cockily believed that his coffee was the embodiment of perfection (like Light). And because he had devoted his life, spirit and soul to his café (also like Light).

Light understood perfectly.

He was brought back to reality by the opening of the security office’s door. He signalled to L and the game was back on.

EXCLUSIVE:

HEARTBEAT CONSPIRACY

Why is the Yotsuba Corporation poisoning everyone’s favourite coffee shops?

Loyal readers of Investigation would have been aware of the ongoing epic battle between Kira Kira Café and Wammy’s Coffee Corner in the Heartbeat shopping complex—the war where only one can survive! Everyone in the city all have our idea of which café should stay after Heartbeat’s revamp, and are eagerly awaiting the Yotsuba Corporation to announce the final winner!

But what if Yotsuba does not intend there to be a winner at all?

In a bold midnight excursion, the owners of the two popular coffee shops uncovered the corporate giant’s egregious attempt to disgrace and oust both shops from the mall without incurring public backlash! Through employing a security guard!

Shocking? Yes! Preposterous? Well, we may not have believed it ourselves if we haven’t been there and seen it with our own eyes! Luckily, the café owners are as brilliant as the espressos and cold brews they make, and have actually asked us to be witnesses beforehand!

So this is it! The revelation of the Yotsuba Conspiracy! Brought to you first-hand by your faithful Investigators, Touta Matsuda and Hideki Ide!

…

Receiving Lawliet-san’s signal, we evaded the outside guards (who, unlike the inside one, were innocent, as far as we know!) and entered Heartbeat. One of the locked entrances was already opened for us, and we soon stationed at a safe spot on the third floor.

…

And it began! Unaware that everything he did was observed by FOUR pair of scrutinising eyes, the security guard unscrewed the pipe connecting to Wammy’s Coffee Corner’s espresso machine, pulled out a small packet and began to pour the content into the pipe!

Having the evidence of crime safely recorded by the Investigators’ superb night vision camera, it was time to reveal ourselves! Look at the security guard’s face when he saw light coming out from two other torches, and the two coffee shop heroes standing right behind it!

…

It took little to persuade the culprit to tell the truth. According to him, the Yotsuba Corporation regretted its announcement to keep one café operating and wanted its new bistro, which would be directly run by Yotsuba and was considered a project of utmost importance, to be the sole premise offering food and drinks in Heartbeat.

But by that time, Kira Kira vs. Wammy’s had already attracted much public attention thanks to Investigation, and the management thought it unwise to disclose its intention without a better excuse. Therefore, they bribed the security guard to taint both coffee shops’ water. When coffee lovers complained of food poisoning, Yotsuba would have the best reason in the world to expel Kira Kira and Wammy’s from Heartbeat!

In tears, Kurou Otoharada said he regretted accepting Yotsuba’s bribe and kneeled in front of Lawliet-san and Yagami-san to ask for their forgiveness. (Though Yagami-san was too busy putting on his shoes back to reply.) Otoharada also claimed to possess evidence that would prove Yotsuba’s guilt.

…

The Yotsuba Corporation had declined comment as of publication.

Weeks after Matsuda and Ide’s article scandalised the whole town, Light and L boarded the bus with satisfaction under a clear night sky. They had just ended a negotiation with the Yotsuba management and would soon see a considerable sum of money deposited in their bank accounts. They had agreed to settle out of court since they considered the damage to Yotsuba’s public reputation brought by Investigation’s report as sufficient revenge. The money would also allow each of them to open a bigger coffee shop at a better location.

Both Kira Kira Café and Wammy’s Coffee Corner were going to leave Heartbeat once and for all.

Light had been extremely amused during the negotiation, when one of Yotsuba’s men in suit offered a permanent waiver of rent as part of their compensation.

‘You really thought I’d been fighting this hard because I was scared of leaving your dingy mall?’ He snorted. ‘Kira Kira could have opened and succeeded brilliantly anywhere, anytime. I just couldn’t stand the thought of losing.’

Losing to Wammy’s when they had been rivals for three long and hard years had been unacceptable. But the contest had ended abruptly, without either of them becoming a clear winner or loser.

The funny thing was that they seemed to have learnt and understood a great deal about each other during their rivalry. His cold brew recipe was still a top business secret, while L’s espresso machine was still non-replicable, but otherwise their competitiveness had brought them close.

If they would look at each other’s way, the distance between the one-decker’s left most and right-most seats was in fact minimal. They would have been able to see the all of each other clearly.

But even tonight, the journey on the bus still ended in familiar silence. The wait in the lobby and in the lift was equally reticent. L and Light walked shoulder-to-shoulder, mutely, on the corridor until the latter stopped at the second door nearest the lift.

Light remained quiet. They probably would not open a coffee shop next to each other anymore. They would not compete anymore. There was no point in throwing verbal jabs anymore. Dedicated to their work as they were, they might not even see each other in this corridor often from now.

Something always disappeared along with the end of one of life’s chapters, did it not?

But he made the wrong decision of wearing his bag on the left shoulder tonight, so when he turned left, he could not help but include L in his vision, and the strangely receptive man immediately glimpsed back.

Now this was awkward. Did they really have to talk? Why did he choose to wear his bag on the left?

Silence pervaded as Light chose his words carefully, but L was one step ahead.

‘Now can I finally get a taste of that cold brew? Maybe I’ll finally figure out how to make it after tasting.’

Light did not expect that. ‘What?’ His first reply was not very sophisticated, and he quickly remedied that by adding, ‘I’m sure my cold brew isn’t something you can “figure out” just by tasting it. I’m interested in why you’d ask that, though. Oh!’ His voice became a little loftier. ‘Maybe it’s because your espresso tastes like metal and can help me work out the secret of your magic machine?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. My espresso doesn’t make people think of machines.’

‘As far as I’m concerned, you’re the dense one who just made an absurd proposal.’

‘I just tried to say something different now that the situation has changed. Do you prefer that we be rude to each other even now? After resolving our rivalry and even going through a semi-alliance?’

‘But what you said is still rude. Try again.’

Light found it easy slip into the familiar rhythm of banter, but he was also curious what L would do next. It was even a little amusing to watch L looking challenged by the task of saying something ‘not rude’.

Finally, L blinked and his expression cleared. ‘Goodnight, then.’

He actually seemed proud of what he came up with, and Light could not resist laughter any longer. His voice exploded in the quietude of the night. He tried to stop, but ‘… lame…’ was all he managed to say before mirth took control.

‘Now who is rude?’

‘… Well… haha… well… I guess I’m sorry, then.’ L was not at all convinced when Light still could not erase the wicked smile throughout his ‘apology’.

Light took a deep breath. For some reason, even though the day had mostly gone well for him, he only felt the most relaxed now. The unexpected shot of cheeriness lifted his heart and made him fly.

When he spoke again, his smile was softer, more sincere. ‘Indeed, we’ve been rude to each other for so long, and even the most normal greeting sounds like an improvement.’

Maybe they would board the bus together again. Or the train. Or a taxi? Or they could just invite each other for coffee, if they wanted to.

Coffee never made itself. It needed great baristas like Light Yagami and L Lawliet.

‘Goodnight.’

—Hear, Heart, the Beat of Goodnight—

#lawlightweek2k17 #exchange #silvia-aivlis #mr-frog-man #fanfic #death note #lawlight #submission

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amaranthinecanicular · 8 years ago

Text

Mob receives a love letter. It’s the duty of the Body Improvement Club to support him.

[Happy belated Valentine’s Day, folks. Originally written for the MP100 Valentine’s Week but not finished in time because of course.

Alternative title card: that one profile pic of Musashi, which reveals that he is a zero at love but a hero at nosiness.]

Gouda Musashi’s lovelife is, to be frank, nonexistent.

This is fine. More than fine. There are other things to focus on, more important things. The club, and the members that compose it. Muscles. Not flunking out of high school. Squats. Justice. Leg day, which is every day. Even if by some chance he did wish to engage in a teenage romance, there was no one he wanted to receive his affections. Spring of youth or no, Musashi knows that his time is well spent.

That is not to say that he has no interest in love whatsoever. “Musashi!”

Onigawara jogs up beside him. This is a surprise; Musashi dismissed the club ten minutes ago, and though he elected to run for a while longer, he could have sworn Onigawara had retired with the rest of them. Maybe he did–he’s still in his work out clothes, but he’s heaving for breath like he just sprinted to the club room and back. Musashi thinks to slow down for him, but there’s no need; in Onigawara’s eyes is a spark of fierce determination that never dies, and he keeps pace.

More important things, Musashi thinks. In spite of all his demons, in spite of all the cards and boulders and mountains stacked against him, perhaps just in spite and nothing else, Onigawara has persevered. It’s been two years since he joined the club, and even though he’s all but stopped getting into fights, he never really stops fighting. The things he fights are just different now–he fights to improve and he fights to overcome, and these days Musashi can’t look at him without feeling a pang of admiration. More important things. Onigawara is one of them.

He asks what’s up, and waits patiently while Onigawara pants out an answer.

“Shadow… leader,” he says, a nickname of Mob’s he never kicked the habit of using, “got a… he got a… love letter,”

This draws Musashi up short. Jogging in place counts as drawing up short. “A love letter?”

“Yeah. Someone–someone stuck it in his gym locker. Real fancy paper, too, nice handwriting. Asked him to meet behind the school tomorrow, after club ends.”

“Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day,” Musashi says, and if he’s pointing out the obvious it’s only because he’s so shocked. Onigawara doesn’t mention it. The surprise fades; secondhand joy sets in. The hard lines of Musashi's face are not naturally given to smiling but he smiles all the same. It must be a fearsome sight because Onigawara’s gaze barely touches him before it skitters away again. He coughs into a fist like he tried to regain his breath too fast, and Musashi wipes his face clean and channels his positive energy into lifting his knees higher. He doesn’t mention it either.

Instead he says, “Kageyama deserves congratulations,” and Onigawara meets his eyes again to nod.

“Figured you’d say that. That’s why when everyone else was patting Shadow leader’s back, I came to get you.”

He’s smirking–it matches well with the way he finally stands straight and puffs out his chest. Musashi is touched by Onigawara’s thoughtfulness, but before he can thank him a thought occurs: Mob has not received a love letter since middle school The first one was a trick played by Onigawara; the second was a trick played by a girl called Emi. Musashi frets. What if it’s another trick? What if it isn’t? Will Mob know what to do? Over the years he’s seen Mob grow, exponentially and in more ways than one, but he has never had the best luck with romance. And tomorrow is Valentine’s Day—surely that makes preparation all the more complex. Which doesn’t even touch the question of who.

“We should help him,” he says, and Onigawara blinks his eyes into twice their size. He grins, tells Musashi it’s a great idea, and then, remembering he’s meant to be scowling, grumbles, “It’s alright, I mean.” He looks embarrassed to have been caught out being sincere. Musashi doesn’t mention it.

The others are waiting in the clubroom to fill Musashi in; apparently, despite Onigawara’s efforts, they missed Mob by a handful of minutes, so the club extended Musashi’s congratulations for him. In return Musashi tells them about the plan to help out Kageyama out tomorrow. They are… less enthusiastic than he thought they’d be.

He crosses his arms over his pecs and flexes. “I’m sensing some reservations. Care to tell me why?”

Kumagawa runs one hand through his mohawk and says, “Isn’t it Kageyama’s business?”

“Yes, and as his fellow club members it’s our business too.”

They exchange glances. Musashi realizes he’s missing something. “What?”

“Well,” says Shimura, who elbows Yamamura, who elbows Kumagawa, who elbows Sagawa, who says, “You can be kind of nosy, Captain,”

He says it very gently, like he’s breaking the news of some great secret, which is absurd. Musashi doesn’t say that it’s absurd because that would not be befitting of a captain, but he does correct him, exactly as stern and patient as does befit a captain.

“I’m not nosy. I’m attentive. The wellbeing of every member of this club is my responsibility.”

“Even of their love lives?” says Yamamura.

“Especially their love lives,” Musashi wants to say, except he doesn’t, because Yamamura’s dubious tone makes him suspect that would be unwise. Instead he says, “Kageyama is an invaluable member of this team. It’s our job to support him.”

No one looks particularly convinced. No one except Onigawara, who bulls his way to Musashi’s side and thrusts his brow down and his shoulders forward. Suddenly it’s two against four instead of one against the world.

“I’m with Musashi,” he says. “Shadow leader’s putting his heart on the line and you losers want to let him go into battle alone? How the hell does not having his back make any sense?”

He challenges them with his scowl. He doesn’t need to—Musashi can see as his words take effect, begin to turn the minds of the club one by one. Yes, Mob had always been there for them in his soft and steadfast way, had always given all of his effort, and he would be more than willing to lend his hand, powers, and friendship during a romantic crisis of theirs, wouldn’t he?

This time the level of enthusiasm meets what Musashi originally expected. Onigawara flashes him a private grin, there and gone, and he swells with pride, and stands a little taller.

“You want to help me?”

Mob’s surprise shows in little ways, the slight uptick of both brows and the slackening of his mouth. He stands in the club room dressed in his work out clothes and still clutching the letter, which Musashi can now confirm is, yes, tucked into a very nice envelope with very nice handwriting. He wonders if Mob has let it go since yesterday.

“To formulate a plan of attack,” clarifies Onigawara, which isn’t the phrasing Musashi would have chosen but works just as well. Mob considers it. Into the silence filters the white noise of other clubs getting started: band practice in the music room down the hall, whistles blowing from the track and fields outside. The sounds are cheerier, the rooms seem to glow–a result of adolescents in the throes of Valentine’s Day, Musashi knows, though he has never empathized. The overall feeling he’s gotten all day is pink: pink roses passed from boys to girls, pink hearts exchanged and received, pink in the sky, even, as the sun begins to sink. It’s there in Mob’s cheeks, a faint rosy hue as he comes to a decision.

“Thank you all for thinking of me,” he says, sincerity shown through his crinkled eyes if not his smile. “That’s very nice of you. But I think I can handle it.”

Musashi manages not to show his disappointment. “If you’re certain,” he says, and thinks that It’s too bad Onigawara’s work to bring the club around will go to waste. But even he can admit that if Mob doesn’t want their help then it would be wrong to push it.

Mob is still talking, thoughtfully. “I think so. It’s not first time I’ve been confessed to, so I think I know what to say. Though, I guess the first time was just a trick by Onigawara-senpai.” Onigawara slouches even closer to the floor, which is a feat. He slouches a lot. “But the second time—well, I guess that was a trick also, because Emi lost a bet. Um. B-But I made a friend that time, too, so, um. So.” Now the flush is making him look vaguely ill. He’s certainly sweating like he’s ill. “Maybe. Maybe I could use some help.”

Musashi nods once and tries not to look too glad of it. He turns to the club: they square up, crack their knuckles, bright eyed and ready to help. “All right, boys. We need ideas for what Kageyama will do if he decides to accept or decline his admirer’s affections. Do you have any idea who this person might be, Kageyama? Not that you have to tell us if you’re uncomfortable. We respect your privacy, of course,” he adds, not at all hastily and not at all because he’s nosy. He can feel the club side-eyeing him and refuses to look at any of them.

Mob does look a little uncomfortable, but also like he’s panicking, and eager for help. That side wins out. “I think… I think it might be Teru,”

The name rings familiar, but not familiar enough for Musashi to place it. The rest of the club seems to be feeling the same. Mob is too busy twiddling his thumbs to elaborate. Onigawara is busy gaping.

“Teru?” he squawks. “As in Black Vinegar High’s shadow leader, Hanazawa Teruki?”

“Ex-shadow leader,” Mob corrects, seemingly on instinct. Then he blushes. “And yes, that Teru.”

The grainy image in Musashi’s mind snaps into clarity: a lithe boy in the bruisey colors of Black Vinegar Mid, blond and blue-eyed, with incredible strength that belied his appearance. He could never forget such exceptional musculature.

“You walk home with him sometimes,” says Shimura, and yes, Musashi remembers that now too. The neutral lines of Mob’s expression seemed to soften, just a little, whenever he met Hanazawa at the school gates. They’re softened now. This would explain why.

“Oh my god,” says Onigawara. “Oh my god. You two would be the ultimate power couple—you could rule the whole prefecture. Oh my god.” Musashi coughs pointedly, and Onigawara remembers that he is no longer a delinquent. He still looks a little starstruck.

“He’s very special,” Mob agrees. He’s smiling–really smiling, with his mouth and not just his eyes. Musashi doesn’t think he knows he’s doing it. “I care about him a lot. I don’t want to screw this up.”

Not on Musashi’s watch. “You won’t. We’re here to support you and make sure of that.”

So they start spitballing ideas. Yamamura suggests Mob sing a song to express his feelings. Kumagawa suggests he make chocolates and a card, to show that Hanazawa is worth the effort. Shimura suggests he draw a puppy on the card, because puppies are the best. Sagawa suggests just speaking from the heart. This is seconded by Onigawara. But Mob has no talent for art, no time to make chocolates, and the likelihood of him freezing up in the middle of a song is too high. In the end, after much debate, Sagawa’s idea is the one that sticks. (Personally, Musashi likes the puppy option, but he is willing to concede that he is less than an expert in the field of romance.) Composing the most eloquent way for Mob to express his feelings is harder, and the gentlest way to let the confessor down if it turns out not to be Hanazawa is harder still, but they manage. For optimal productivity, they lift weights at the same time.

In no time at all club hours are over. The shadows have grown long with the setting sun and Mob, armed with two separate speeches jotted on flash cards, a storebought box of chocolates (courtesy of Shimura, who dashed down to the nearest convenience store and back and sacrificed the perfect coiffe of his hair in the process), the original letter and six pillars of support, he sets out to meet his mystery admirer. By the wobble of his knees and the sweat clinging to his brow Musashi would say he still looks like a man on his way to the gallows. But there are other tells too–the perpetual color in his cheeks, the brightness of his eyes–and Musashi thinks, mostly, he just looks excited. Happy.

Out of the school, around to the back. Kumagawa sees him first, being the tallest among them, and points him out to the rest. Hanazawa is exactly where he said he’d be: framed by the school on one side and the treeline on the other, backlit by the sky. He catches sight of them–of Mob–only seconds later, and the friendly smile he’s sporting visibly brightens into something genuine. Mob makes a very particular sound to see it, something between a pleased hum and the dying croak of a bullfrog. Musashi thinks he can hear the frantic hummingbird-patter of his poor heart making a break for it.

Mob trips his way up to Hanazawa while the Body Improvement club pretends to walk away and then piles together behind a tree. Who’s nosy now, Musashi thinks, but doesn’t say. He’s straining to hear what’s going on as it is.

“Hello, Hanazawa-kun,” Mob says, his voice crackling over each word, and Hanazawa says it back–oh, his voice broke too, that’s actually precious.

“Hello, Kageyama-kun,” Hanazawa says again, looking only mildly mortified, and this time manages to keep his tone even. “Are you surprised to see me?”

“Not really. I thought maybe you liked me for a while, but I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it. I guess I wasn’t,”

Hanazawa’s pride takes a visible hit at Mob’s bluntness–Musashi feels a sympathetic wince ripple all through their party–but he rolls with it admirably. More than admirably. The expression on his face is too raw for admiration, too tender. “I shouldn’t have expected you to be. You really are amazing. Here.”

They exchange chocolates, Hanazawa smoothly and Mob fumbling. Hanazawa says he’ll cherish it, tucks it away, and then holds out his hand—a question. Mob, looking confused, drops the letter into his palm in answer, and Hanazawa chuckles, reaches out with his other hand to weave their fingers together as clarification. Mob stares down at the delicate knot made of their hands, and Musashi can no longer see his expression.

“Kageyama-kun,” Hanazawa starts, “I—”

“Yes.”

Hanazawa chokes on his tongue. The Body Improvement Club collectively chokes on each of theirs. Mob’s brain catches up with the breathless intensity of one word that fell out of his mouth.

“Ah, wait, I did it all out of order. I had. I had things prepared to say, and so did you, and I interrupted you. Oh no. I’m sorry. Um. Do you—do you want to start over? I didn’t ruin it, did I?”

“Did you say yes?”

Hanazawa’s tone of awe makes Mob duck his head, and the duck becomes a nod. He says, almost too quiet to hear, “Yes. Um. Are you saying yes?”

“Yes. Yes, of course, yes,”

“Then—then are we…?”

“I think so. Are we?”

“Yes. Can we…?”

“Yes,”

Mob kisses him, a quick and earnest press of lips, and Onigawara whoops. Four sets of hands slap over his face at once. Mob and Hanazawa take no notice; the kiss has ended but their foreheads are still pressed together, they’re levitating an inch or two off the ground, they’re giggling and they’re smiling—Musashi thinks they’re smiling, but his vision is too blurry to tell. He’s surrounded by suspicious sniffling, though, so he doesn’t feel particularly bad about it.

The okay for cheering is given when they touch back down. Mob whispers something into Hanazawa’s ear; Hanazawa laughs, nods, kisses Mob’s cheek, then starts to make his way round to the front of the school; there’s a definite spring in his step. Mob watches him go with a tender look that melts back into shyness when he turns to the club and gives a little thumbs up.

They explode from behind the tree, tripping over their own feet and each other to dogpile Mob, take turns ruffling his hair and lifting him into hugs and slapping him on the back.

“I’m sorry I forgot all of your advice,” Mob says between jostles, “I got nervous and eager and confused and I didn’t know what to do-”

“You did great,” Musashi says, to a fervent chorus of agreement. He knows his face isn’t the kind for smiling but he honestly can’t help it. “Where did Hanazawa go?”

“I told him I’d meet him at the front gates, after I was done speaking to you.”

Some playful coos. Sagawa might be crying. “Then we’ll walk you to the gates and he can walk you the rest of the way. Come on.”

The parade starts again. Shimura and Yawamura lift Mob onto their shoulders, and Musashi is just thinking that this might be the most successful Valentine’s Day he’s ever experienced when Onigawara calls his name.

“Can you hang back a minute? I’ve got something to say to you.”

He looks unhappy–or maybe not unhappy. Maybe anxious. He didn’t a minute ago, and why should he? The plan went off without a hitch–minor hitches, inconsequential hitches–but here he is, chin jutting out and cutting down, hands shoved deep in his pockets, shadows carving deep pockets beneath his eyes. Concern bubbles up in Musashi’s gut, and all thoughts of romance flee his mind. There are more important things.

He sends off the rest of the club without them and ignores their curious eyes. And they called him nosy. “Is something the matter?”

“No, nothing’s the matter. Why would something be the matter? Can’t a guy just wanna talk to another guy? What’s the matter with that, huh?” He cuts himself off at Musashi’s raised brow, screws up his face, screws up the words in his mouth. “Ugh, sorry, that’s not what I meant to say.”

He takes a breath–Musashi breathes too–and says what he means to say.

“There was a girl, back during all that recorder crap. She told me–when we were kids, she told me she was gonna marry me. I thought if anyone would believe me it would be her. But it wasn’t. It was you.”

“You’ve, uh, you’ve done a lot for me the past two years, even when I was being an ungrateful little shit and didn’t deserve it,”

Musashi blinks. This… isn’t what he expected this to be about. “Don’t sell yourself short. You were the one who chose to change and followed through, and you were never once ungrateful.”

Onigawara looks furious, and maybe embarrassed. “Oh my god, shut up. Do you have to be so–so fucking you all the time?”

Definitely embarrassed. Musashi’s mouth twitches. “I think I always have to be me, yes.”

“No, nope, shut up, I was talking and I don’t need your once-in-a-blue-moon sense of humor fucking this up. I was saying. I was saying, that I used to be an ungrateful little shit–do not interrupt me, I swear to god–and I don’t want you to think I’m still the same ungrateful shit I was back then, so. Fuck. So, here.”

He pulls one hand from his pocket and shoves a box into Musashi’s chest. Resting on the pink tissue paper within are slightly misshapen, undoubtedly homemade, and undeniably heart-shaped chocolates. His brain short circuits. “I–Onigawara, is this–?”

“Tenga,” Onigawara says. “Call me that from now on. If you fuckin’ want to, I guess.”

Pink rises into Onigawara’s cheeks like the dawn, and Musashi remembers, very suddenly and very unhelpfully, that they are both only sixteen. He has no idea what the hell he’s doing.

“Thank you,” he says, because he’s a fucking idiot. If looks could kill Onigawara would be a murderer. Musashi wants death. “I mean. I mean thank you for the chocolates, and yes, I will call you that.”

They stare at each other. Onigawara’s face is practically glowing, with sweat and anger and with–happiness? Is that happiness? If Mob’s heart was a hummingbird then Musashi’s is a sledgehammer, pounding away in his throat, and he thinks he might look the exact same. Does that mean he’s happy too?

He thinks that’s what that means, so he says so, and Onigawara’s eyes go wide, and then he punches him.

It’s almost a relief. This is much more along the lines of what he expects from Onigawara, except no, he was mistaken, it’s not a punch at all. It feels like a punch because everything about Onigawara feels like a punch–he’s so brutally passionate about everything he does, Musashi has never seen anything like him, he barrels forward and never looks back, with a glare like an uppercut and a smile like a left hook and a kiss like a haymaker. Because that’s what he’s doing now, kissing Musashi’s cheek with bruising force, and ding ding ding Musashi is down for the count. KO. Match over.

Onigawara shoves him away, almost gently, and immediately turns and stalks off. Musashi would say it’s more of a dead sprint if he had the capacity to think at all, let alone identify exercise techniques.

“I like you,” he blurts out after him. Onigawara—Tenga—stops, turns, and smiles. Left hook, utterly devastating. How unfair to hit a man while he’s down.

Tenga says, “You damn well better,” and then he does run. As soon as he’s out of sight the rest of the Body Improvement Club spills out from where they’d been eavesdropping behind a tree, while Musashi is left trying to blink stars from his eyes. They don’t want to go.

“Way to go, Captain,” says Kumagawa, and “Looking good, Captain,” says Shimura. Yawamura says something similar and Sagawa doesn’t say anything because he’s crying a little. Mob nudges him.

“Congratulations, Captain,” he murmurs. His smile is a soft curve on his face, except for right there at the very corner, which is just a little sly. Musashi has no idea what the fuck is going on or what the fuck just happened, but he thinks, maybe, his love life is not as dead as he thought it was. Not by a long shot, apparently.

And that’s–that’s fine. Musashi thinks he might have some dopey expression on his face and he doesn’t care. The club is still clapping him on the back, punching him on the shoulder, congratulating, smiling. The stars are still in his eyes and the chocolate is still in his hands and the whole world is dyed pink. It’s more than fine.

(“Am I really that nosy?” he asks, not too many days later. He’s appreciating the new pages of the manga Tenga has been sketching in his free time, though he loses his place in favor of nursing his pride at the answer.

“Duh. You could give that damn student council a run for their money.”

Musashi wilts; Tenga barks a laugh. But he adds, “Besides, if you weren’t so nosy I would’ve never joined your stupid club at all.” And Musashi thinks, well. Well, in that case, being nosy isn’t all that bad.)

#mob psycho 100 #ran's writing #terumob #tengouda #is that their ship name?#mob #kageyama shigeo #hanazawa teruki #musashi gouda #onigawara tenga #body improvement club #happy valentine's day folks #mp100 fic #mp100 valentines week #mob psycho 100 fanfic

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