#yamaguchi means mountain entrance

[howdoyoudothedew]

i finally have names for the dark hand!

Valmont Monette (i liked how stupid but also posh it sounds. Monette roughly means home or rich protection

Yamaguchi Tohru (Yamaguchi being 山口, meaning mountain entrance and Tohru being 竜, meaning dragon, imperial, mythical creature)

Phineas "Finn" Flanagon (i just liked how it sounded, but Phineas possibly means serpent's mouth in hebrew or Nubian from an egyptian name and Flanagon means descendant of Flannagán, which itself means blood red)

Andrea Giuseppe "Ratso" Santoro (huge thanks for my italian friend for just handing me this name wholesale. Andrea from Andrew which basically just means masculine, Giuseppe for Joseph, which means he will add, and Santoro meaning all saint's day)

Alonzo Chow (Alonzo meaning noble and ready. His chinese name is Kěguì, spelled 可贵 and meaning to be treasured or praiseworthy with Chow spelled 周 which is both a dynasty (Zhōu) and means to encircle)

Bonus:

Chow's little sister is Amanda, meaning loveable or worthy of love with her chinese name being Kěài, spelled 可愛 and meaning worth loving

[homingpigecns]

dude how did i just now find out that yama’s first name means loyalty and devotion, is written the same way as hachiko, and they also have the same birthday???? boiiii. thats how much furudate wanted us to kno that he is small and full of love. im crying

[jotatetsuken]

do people deserve to be forgiven?

features: kei tsukishima x f!reader

summary: she finally goes to the middle school for the reunion party, but due to certain experiences, she feels apprehensive to do so. what happens when she runs into an old friend, who helped her, but she lost touch with him?

warnings: haikyuu timeskip spoilers (mentions of jobs), heavy mentions of bullying in school, severe anxiety symptoms, exes being douches, fighting, suggestive themes, cybercrime to an extent (?) this is based on a true story, an experience from my life, so writing about it was an act of healing. please respect it.

song: cold/mess by prateek kuhad

beta reader: @saltyvanilla (thank you so much for reading this it means a lot ♥️)

tagging: @hyeque @megumischubbycheeks @cuz-like-why-not @beware-of-the-rogue @cirigiri @izu-fi @mrskenmakozume @akaashi-todorki @tiddieluvr @novaresque @sweetsbysatori @ceo-of-daichi @oyasumiares @sabyss @oikawas-milk-bread @jctaro @jellyluchi (taglist form)

number of words: 2515

This was the banner that was displayed at the school's main entrance. I started clenching one of my fists as I walked in. As a former student of Karasuno High School, later Tokyo University, and then Harvard University in the United States, I enjoyed my high school years, bonding with my volleyball friends, seeing the boys' team win, cycling up the mountain, attending different festivals, wearing different yukata, and, most importantly, finding true friends and falling in love. The last two sections, on the other hand, were extremely difficult for me. 

Why you might ask? Finding true friends was difficult for me because of the trauma I'd experienced as a result of certain people, and finding love? Because I was in love with the guy who saved me and became my friend but after high school? We lost contact... I was thus terrified of going to the party. My heart would race every time I clutched my purse. I don't want to see them all again; what if they look at me and make comments about me? All those thoughts vanished when I heard the rustling of the leaves and turned to look in the direction of the sound of footsteps, only to find Tadashi Yamaguchi and him.

The story goes that when I was in my second year of middle school, I began dating this guy named Kosuke Sakamoto. He was tall, attractive, had chubby cheeks, and was popular with women. We dated for a year, and he appeared to be nice until he wasn't. He told me it was "too precious to let the world know about us", and to keep whatever we had a secret. I did as he requested and kept it hidden while he openly flirted with the girls. Also, he almost forced me to date someone else while we were dating. On our one-year anniversary, we finally had our first kiss, and it was unforgettable. He was a great kisser, but he wanted to go further, which I declined. Rather than respecting my wishes, he spread rumors that I invited him to a hotel room to sleep with him. We were 14 at the time, bro! Why would I want to sleep with you when I explicitly stated that I didn't want to? And that's not all.

There were two girls, Pia Sanuki and Amaya Doi, who I assumed were Kosuke's childhood friends and were also close to me. Until something like this happened. When Pia and Amaya summoned me to the classroom, I was talking with Tadashi Yamaguchi. "(L/N)-chan, we need to talk," Pia said, hands on her hips. What are we hearing about you gossiping behind our backs about us? We overheard you saying that you're spreading derogatory rumors about the girls in our class." Amaya continued, "Oh, and we heard you referred to us as bimbos who exist solely to please men?" Because Miyagi is a smaller town than Tokyo, there will always be people who aren't as accepting as my family, who learned things the hard way so I wouldn't have to. I'd never say anything negative about anyone because I was raised to treat everyone with respect. However, Pia and Amaya cornered me, Pia slapped me across the face, and the other girls joined in, hurling insults at me. Everyone was calling me names, and as I was looking for Kosuke to help me, he gave me the finger with both of his hands and walked away until a certain hand landed on his shoulder to stop him, and a voice resounded in the classroom, "Oi, everyone. Losers, get the hell away from her."

Pia scowled and was about to walk towards the boy who had called out like that when he stopped her and said, "Sanuki-san, I don't know you specifically, but I know of girls like you. You believe you have the entire world on your shoulders, don't you? So, guess what? You don't deserve to be on the same level as (L/N)-san; she's in a different league than the rest of you. So, please, Doi-san," he said, looking at Kosuke, "and Sakamoto-san, and all of you, get out of my way!" "Tsukishima-kun, when did you start standing up for women?" Amaya asked. "I thought you were only interested in your studies, volleyball, and yourself?" My attention was drawn to a young man namedTsukishima. He was almost 6' tall, with blond hair and golden orbs that glistened in the light behind his glasses. "You're right, I should only care about certain things," he said to Amaya, "but you all forget that I'm someone who won't hesitate to stand up to some bullies like you, whose sole purpose is to make others feel miserable." When I heard him, tears streamed down my cheeks, accompanied by a small smile on my face. Who is this guy who appears out of nowhere to defend me? That's when I noticed a familiar freckled face peering through the classroom door. So Yamaguchi summoned him. I recall him telling me that he, too, had been bullied and that Tsukishima had unknowingly defended him.

Tsukishima then approaches me, extends his hand to me, and I place my hand in his. He picks me up and we leave the homeroom, only for me to sob at the nearest window. For a while, I had trouble breathing. I closed my eyes and pretended it was all a dream for a moment, but it wasn't. It was the truth. A harsh one, to be sure. When I felt two hands on my shoulders, I turned to face Tsukishima-san, who wiped my tears and held my hands while saying, "I usually don't do this." I'm usually very rude and mean to new people, but you deserve to be treated well. Just like a Princess. Just like a Queen." He then takes a step back, bows, and introduces himself: "My name is Tsukishima Kei, and I work from 2-4. Yamaguchi is a classmate of mine, and he appears to be a good friend of yours, so he overheard the conversation and summoned me." I returned the bow and introduced myself, "I'm (L/N) (F/N), and thank you very much, Tsukishima-san." "You can call me Kei or Kei-kun," he said, extending his hand to stop me. It's all right." Yamaguchi is visibly surprised by the interaction but smiles because his friend, whom he calls Tsukki, appears to have found another friend in me.

Days passed, and the bullying continued unabated. Pia complained about me to the homeroom teacher after one of Kousuke's friends splashed water on my uniform. She never believed Pia because she had always believed in me. By the end of the day, I'd received a text message from an unknown number saying, "We shall have our revenge." I read through the text and showed it to Tadashi-kun and Kei-kun. We shook our heads and went to Kei-place kun's to study.

When we took our first exam, however, my homeroom teacher called for me, and Kei-kun and Tadashi-kun stayed near the door to keep an eye out for me. She summoned another girl who recognised me and was one of the few who stood up for me, and she'd shown me her arms. They were soiled with belt marks. "What happened?" I asked, my eyes welling up with tears. "Who is it that did this to you?" "...my father," she replied hesitantly. "This girl here tells me, L/N-chan, that you called her under a nickname, N/N, and told her father that she was dating the valedictorian, who eventually knocked her up?" my homeroom teacher said. My heart slowed to a halt. I thought to myself, "This is ridiculous; I would never do that." Would I have been able to say anything, though? I began to sweat profusely and tried to find a way to calm down and answer without babbling until I said, "T/N-san, may I come in?" When I turned to face the door, I saw Kei-kun standing there. "Yes, Tsukishima-kun, what is it?" the teacher asked as he walked into the classroom. 

"Before you say anything to L/N-chan, I'd like to come to her defense and state that she did nothing of the sort while she was with Yamaguchi and me as we were preparing for the tests," he asserted firmly. He went on to say, "I even have the call logs to prove it," as he presented a sheet of paper with a list of numbers highlighted as the ones that called the girl and it wasn't my number."T/N-san, I believe you are aware that L/N-chan has been subjected to bullying by two girls in her classroom named Sanuki Pia and Doi Amaya, but aren't taking harsh measures to punish them," he said in response to my teacher's continuous queries. She apologized to me as she glanced down at the ground, ashamed by the circumstance. "I apologize profusely, L/N-chan. I'm hoping you-" "It's okay, ma'am," she said as she observed me take a big breath, smile, and say. People, in general, are not to be trusted, as I discovered the hard way. This, however, would not alter my opinion of you. I'm sorry you had to have doubted me in the first place." I stood up, bowed, and walked away with Kei-kun, hugging him and thanking him once more for saving me when he didn't have to. As Tadashi-kun giggled in the background, a flush formed on his cheeks.

As we grew closer, despite our constant squabbling, I discovered that Kei-behavior kun's was influenced by his older brother, Akiteru-san, who was a member of the Karasuno High School Volleyball Team and was rumored to be the team's ace. However, when we learned that he was no longer the ace or even a member of the starting lineup, but had been replaced by “The Little Giant,” Kei-kun's smile faded and bitterness crept in. Even as we started Karasuno High School, Tadashi-kun and I stood by him. Kei-kun and Tadashi-kun unexpectedly joined the volleyball team, and I joined Hitoka Yachi as the team's manager.I made new friends, shared their joys and sorrows, but I noticed a shift in my own personality, as well as Tadashi's and Kei's, and when they qualified for the nationals, I was ecstatic for them and eager to watch them...until I received a call from my family informing me that I would have to leave Japan. I was so upset that I tossed things around and saw red everywhere till Tadashi came running up to me and hugged me while Tadashi went to fetch some water to calm me down. We agreed to make an effort to communicate with one another.

Until we couldn't. Time passed, but we drifted apart; I kept a tight eye on him from afar, but we didn't maintain in touch, and I assumed I'd never find out why. Until the reunion, that is. Until I came across him.

“Y/N,” Tadashi-kun exclaimed as he ran up to me and hugged me. I couldn't remember the last time I saw them. My (E/C) gaze then fell on his golden orbs. He approached me and interrupted me by placing his lips on my cheeks, cupping my face with his hands, and closing our eyes as soon as I said, "Kei." In the midst of the crisp, freezing weather, his lips felt pleasantly warm, which contrasted with his icy demeanor. As soon as he was free of the kiss, he smiled and brushed his forehead with mine, tears streaming down his cheeks.“I've been intending to do this since you told me you were relocating from Miyagi to Tokyo and out of Japan.” I answered, “Aww, someone missed me that severely, is it?” He flinched back and enlarged his eyes for a minute, only to scowl and shift his head in another way, taken aback by my forthrightness.

I chuckle and turn to Tadashi, who rambles, “Tsukki missed you, you know? He attended college and is now employed in a museum. How about you?” I chuckled, took a deep breath, and confidently replied, “When I returned to Japan, I majored in psychology in Tokyo, then I pursued a doctorate in Psychology at Harvard University, specializing in Cognition, Brain, and Behavior, particularly in early adolescence during middle school. My goal was that whatever happened to me...” This is when Kei added, “shouldn't happen to others. That's why, with the help of Hitoka-chan and Kiyoko-san, you established an anti-bullying NGO in Tokyo, right?” I was astounded by his knowledge of my whereabouts.

"Yes, Kei-kun," I say, "but..." He comes to a halt as he holds my hand and softly says, "Please call me Kei. I love it when you call me Kei, even if it's by accident." I smiled and nodded, continuing, "Kei, Tadashi, after I moved out of Japan, I decided to go to therapy, and when I did, I unearthed this dark past that I didn't want to talk about ever again. My therapist asked,‘I want you to ask yourself if they deserve to be forgiven.’ Then I questioned whether they deserved to be forgiven. Because forgiveness is essential in our lives. Consider a seed that has been planted in order to grow into a tree. If the seed was bad, the fruit would be bad as well. Similarly, if I harbored a minor grudge, it would grow into something much larger and consume me.

So it took months and years, but I finally forgave them. The old me would have been desperate to have them back in my life; the bitter me would have sought vengeance. This me,” I say, pointing to myself, “doesn't care... She's willing to forgive for the sake of healing, which means I'd rather keep them at bay.” This made them, especially Kei, proudly smile, no, grin at me. "However," Kei inquired, "you must have been afraid to enter the party now that you're standing outside?" "I am," I said, nodding. “However, interacting with you once more made me realize that you two are the reason I was able to grow in the first place. Kei, in particular. I'd been meaning to tell you about my feelings for you, but I needed to heal first. And now that we've kissed,”we look in opposite directions, "I'm aware of your reaction." He gives a nod. "Shall we go to the party and ignore those people in favor of having fun?" "Yes, we should," I chuckled, wrapping my arm around his. "Though, Tsukki, you'd be the one mocked, and she'd have to be the one to save you," Tadashi continued.Kei rolls his eyes and says, "Shut up, Yamaguchi," to which he replies, "Sorry, Tsukki," causing us to laugh hard as we enter the party to prove to the naysayers that we've overcome them.

© Shyna 2022

[britonell]

Hello @clearwillow. Do you know how difficult it was to keep my mouth shut about being your @inusecretsanta​!?

Anywho, don’t skip the fanfic below!

Hermit’s Haven

In which one dog leads to a hermit failing to be a hermit…

...this is not my biography >.>

The dog appeared out of nowhere.

Inuyasha stared at the unexpected visitor. Against the backdrop of the untouched snow, the Akita stood out like a sore thumb.

The dog certainly didn’t belong to anyone in the village—since he was the sole inhabitant of said village. His closest ‘neighbor’ was an agricultural school on the other side of the mountain, and they weren’t the type to let a dog wander off their property.

Inuyasha watched the Akita sniff the icy bridge and then raise his head, ears perked up and beady eyes examining the half-demon, before throwing all caution to the wind and trotting up to him.

That was how the solitary half-demon ended up with a dog in his house. A dog that was currently taking up Inuyasha’s favorite spot beside the kotatsu, paws up in the air, not a care in the world.

For Inuyasha, this was odd. He wasn’t one to raise pets. He didn’t even own fish (which was why there was an empty koi pond in his backyard). He was an honest-to-goodness hermit.

Not that he had always been like this. After his father’s funeral, Izayoi and Inuyasha had been left instructions on when and how to sell some land in Hokkaido. Then the economic bubble burst happened and the land in the north ended up being their refuge.

Izayoi hadn’t been hurting for money or anything, no, she had plenty from her own inheritance. Inuyasha didn’t like to think about it much; throw in some economic woes and suddenly every city folk in Tokyo was ornery, so much so the half-breed child running around their apartment complex was now an eyesore.

The village was different. They had always been self-sufficient in their isolated community. Besides, as descendants of the Ainu people, they had their own history of being marginalized. He and Izayoi had been informed rather bluntly that they’d be welcomed as long as they didn’t get in anyone’s way—and if Inuyasha could quickly learn to ‘chase those pesky bears away’ that would be super helpful.

It all worked, for a while anyway. 

The damn dog startled awake and stared at Inuyasha, who snorted. Nothing woke the dog up except his own loud snoring.

Right. What to do with the dog. He had to be someone’s pet. Had he been abandoned? The agricultural school regularly dealt with people throwing their trash and animals on their land, but in this village? With all this snow, no one would come this far to leave an unwanted pet.

So the dog somehow wandered all the way out here. Wonderful.

Maybe the dog was chipped. He could ask Kaede at the school. The villagers had trusted her, and she did attend the funerals whenever she could. Wait, she was a veterinary instructor for only the first half of the school year. She wouldn’t be back in Hokkaido for months.

And he wasn’t going to risk visiting another vet, since…

“Guess you’re staying for a few days,” Inuyasha grumbled. 

The dog’s response was a great, big yawn.

A few days did pass. Then a few weeks. Then a few months.

They built something of a routine. Inuyasha would go out to forage and hunt, and the dog would patiently wait for him in the village. He took to calling the dog Hachi because...because he damn well felt like it, shut up. He even thought about buying some dog food in that resort town, but Hachi seemed to enjoy the game meat. That was fine. Hopefully.

It all worked, for a while anyway.

“Hachi?” Inuyasha called. Where was that damn dog? Hachi always welcomed him at the bridge next to his house. That used to bother him, since half the bridge hadn’t been refurbished to narrow the gaps between the railings, but with the ice gone he all but expected to see Hachi at the bridge, wagging his bushy tail with his stupid tongue out.

“Hachi! Hachi!” Inuyasha wasn’t panicking. He was being thorough, that’s why he was slamming the sliding doors open and entering his old neighbors’ homes. He would personally apologize to their graves later.

He found Hachi in the fifth house. Aiko used to own a Shiba Inu that she babied like her own grandchild. He cursed himself for forgetting the doggie door disguised as a tiny sliding door—he had helped her install it!

Hachi was in the bathroom, lying on his side, breathing labored and legs twitching.

There was no decision to make. Coherent thought didn’t even return until he was halfway to his destination, leaping from branch to branch with Hachi cradled in his arms.

The veterinary clinic was the first building next to the south entrance. Inuyasha shot past a group of shocked students, kicking up clouds of fallen Sakura petals, and burst into the clinic. 

Kaede wasn’t sitting at the front desk.

“Fuck.”

“Over here.”

A man with hair bound in a rat tail was holding out his hands. To his credit, his eyes were focused on Hachi and not on Inuyasha. The latter surrendered the barely conscious Akita and watched the man rush past some of the confused students and into one of the rooms.

Inuyasha stood in the lobby for a good long while, his mind too scrambled to decipher the whispers. But if he was capable of observation, he would understand; a dog-eared man had just shown up with a half-dead dog in a clinic that usually catered to farm animals. His fault for not wearing a hat.

There was a loud shush that sent a couple of people out of the lobby, then a small hand offered him a cup of water.

“Please, have a seat.”

He was ushered to an empty seat where he stayed until he was the only one in the lobby, staring at the cup until the man with the rat tail walked up to him with a clipboard.

“Yamaguchi Inuyasha, right?” The man smiled, wearing no mask of pretense. “My name is Miroku. Kaede-baa-san’s my great aunt. She told us about how you helped her prepare our clinic and barn for the typhoon. Don’t mind the students, they’re first-years. I’ll make sure to have a word with them.”

Inuyasha didn’t really understand what he was saying, half the words going in one dog ear and out the other, he just wanted to know—“How’s the dog?”

“He’s stable,” oh thank fuck, “but he needs to stay with us for a few days.” Oh fuck no.

“What happened to him?” He gripped the cup a tad too tightly.

“I was hoping you could fill in the details. Did you see him collapse?”

Somehow, talking about Hachi made it easier to get the words out. “No, I was out. He snuck into one of the houses in the village. The house had a goddamn doggie door, I fucking forgot about it, and he was in the bathroom and he was—fuck, that old woman was on a lot of drugs before she—oh fuck the medicine cabinet was open, you think he could’ve reached—fuck, he must’ve gotten into some of her meds. Fuck!”

Miroku scribbled away, unfazed by the cursing. “It’s alright, I understand. We’ll run a few more tests. What’s his name?”

And there it was. After opening and closing his mouth a few times, he began, “His...I don’t really…”

Miroku politely waited.

“He’s not my dog. I was gonna ask Kaede to scan him for a chip. I can still pay for the treatments.”

“Kaede won’t be here for another month, and she’ll return only as an advisor. I took over her position beginning this school year. If you don’t mind, I can go ahead and check for a chip.”

“Sure. Yeah, that’s fine.” It wasn’t.

“In regards to payment—”

“I can pay.”

“—there’s an account set up under the name of Yamaguchi Izayoi for the farm produce department. Ordinarily, any unused funds are forfeited at the end of the year, but I noticed an exception was made...seven times. If you’d like, we can use this account for payment?”

Inuyasha had to take a minute or two to pick his jaw up off the floor. “That’s…fine.”

“Great. We’ll use the phone number attached to the account to contact you.”

Inuyasha left the clinic with a lot of questions and nobody to ask them. He immediately busied himself back in the village, tidying the houses he broke into, visiting and apologizing to the graves of his neighbors, raking the flower petals into piles, anything to keep his mind off of Hachi. He thought about visiting the clinic, but he didn’t want to risk exciting Hachi and setting back his recovery. 

Not to mention the heavy sense of guilt that prevented him from seeing Hachi again.

A week after Hachi’s collapse his phone rang.

“Yamaguchi-san?” It was the same voice that directed him to sit in the clinic.

“Uh. Yeah.” No one had ever called him with that honorific. Ever.

“We’re happy to report that your dog is awake and alert.” Thank fucking god. “We…” he did not like that pause, “...also scanned for a chip and managed to contact his owners.” Oh. “We told them what happened, and they’re driving from Sapporo to pick him up.” How the hell did Hachi make it to the village all the way from Sapporo? “They would like to personally thank you for finding and taking—”

“No,” Inuyasha growled, then remembered to add, “thanks. Just let them know I’m paying.” 

“I know this is a little unorthodox, but they’re good people, I think you’ll like—”

He hung up.

He would go back to his routine. He would forget about Hachi. He would go back to being alone.

~*~

Little did Inuyasha know, Hachi had opened the proverbial floodgates and there was no stopping the invasion.

“Hello?” Inuyasha answered slowly. No one called him save for the automated bank calls, and he was damn sure no bank would program a call for the middle of the night.

“Listen, just hear me out before you hang up,” a familiar feminine voice spoke, tones clipped this time. “Someone dumped a litter of newborn puppies by the front entrance.”

“Wow. Asshole,” he said without thinking.

“I know! But most of the staff just left for summer break, we’re in the middle of breaking ground for a new research building and no one has the space and time. I mean, I’d foster them but my roommate already has a cat and there’s a one pet rule in my building. The nearest shelters are miles away and completely full. Miroku thinks the best option is to volunteer you for the job.”

“Oh...that’s…” He really should refuse. He was being volun-told by a stranger. “When should I pick them up?” Dammit.

“That’s the thing. Miroku’s already packed and ready to go. He’s going to drive up to your village ASAP.”

“I...umm…”

“I’m so sorry. I think Kaede-baa-san talked about you so much, it’s hard for us not to trust you, you know?”

“That’s...wait, did you say Kaede-baa—”

She hung up.

Fuck, she did that on purpose.

Less than an hour later, a pickup truck parked in front of the bridge. Inuyasha watched from his door, a strange mixture of anticipation and alarm twisting his stomach.

Miroku stepped out of the driver’s side and from the passenger’s side...Kikyo?

No, no, that’s not possible. Kaede’s granddaughter stopped dropping by with Kaede after he adamantly refused to move out of the village. He had been smitten, sure, but it was a teenage crush and this was his land, his, and she wanted a normal life, which most certainly meant not living in seclusion. Last he heard, she was studying to be a lawyer in Kyoto.

Miroku said something to the woman and she responded by smacking him upside the head. Nope, definitely not Kikyo.

“Thanks for doing this,” Miroku said once Inuyasha met them at the end of the bridge. He held up a box and inside there were five squirming black and white puppies. 

Inuyasha clamped his mouth shut. He was still upset at being volunteered against his will, yes he was.

Miroku held the box out, only to turn and hand it to the woman beside him. “You sure you got this?”

“As if I would’ve agreed to this if I wasn’t,” the woman said with the same clipped tones. Guess she was the woman on the phone. “C’mon, we need to get inside before the rain starts.”

Miroku shrugged, smiling all the same. “Alright, I’ll get the supplies from the back. Inuyasha, help me carry those in, and then I’ll be on my way.”

It was only after he dropped the last of the supplies in his living room and watched the pickup drive away in the rain did he notice one crucial detail. “Are you staying?”

The woman looked up from his favorite spot beside the kotatsu, a puppy in each hand. Inuyasha was pretty sure she was trying to look more innocent than she was. “It’s not like you know how to raise puppies. Name’s Kagome, by the way. Miroku’s my cousin, and I’m volunteering at the clinic this year. Could you get the formula? It’s time to feed the puppies.”

Well fuck.

There were five puppies and a human woman in his house. A proper hermit would kick them out and leave them out in the rain. 

He went to fetch the supplies. 

He was a terrible hermit.

“Newborn puppies need to be fed every two hours. At least.”

Inuyasha did not know this. He now knew this.

The half-demon could manage a solid week without sleep, but Kagome insisted she be awake to supervise the feeding so she readied an infuriatingly loud alarm clock and boy did he want to smash it into pieces. Then the puppies would whine and he was too distracted to stay angry.

So busy were they Inuyasha didn’t even realize they had made no proper sleeping arrangements until well after dawn. Then the puppies would whine and he was too distracted to ask Kagome.

On the third night, he returned from the bath to find Kagome sleeping in the living room sans alarm clock, presumably packed away, never to be seen again. The realization that she trusted him to feed the puppies hit him hard. It wasn’t a foreign feeling, the villagers had trusted him, but that had been years ago and the nostalgia…hurt. To top it all off, she trusted him enough to fall asleep in his house. 

The vulnerability in her unguarded expression went straight to his gut. He pondered what that meant, but then the puppies squirming around her whined and he was too distracted to ponder further.

Between the feedings, Kagome would divulge a few things about herself: She lived on a shrine in Tokyo (oh god a city girl), she took some time off after high school to work at the shrine and think about what she wanted to do with her life (now that was unusual for a Tokyo girl), she came to Hokkaido at Kaede’s suggestion (what an impulsive girl), and she could tell he was weirded out by all this from looking at his expression (uh...no, no he wasn’t).

After the seventh day, she slyly slid up to him with cell phone in hand. “You know, there’s someone who really wanted to thank you.”

“Huh?” he replied, still wiping a puppy’s paw.

She shoved the phone in his face before he could protest and there he was, wagging his bushy tail with his stupid tongue out.

“Thank you for finding our Hachi!” A little boy with a front tooth missing waved. “Grandpa and I missed him lots!”

“Thank you for keeping him safe all this time. Please drop by so we can thank you in person,” an elderly man said while bowing, a wrinkly hand holding onto a small cane.

“Yeah, I’m gonna give you my treasure! It’s a snake skin!” The little boy waved one last time before the recording stopped.

Inuyasha tried to say something, he really did. Yet the image of the elderly man with the cane shakily bowing stayed in his mind. He was too, too, too much like his late neighbors.

And holy shit the dog was named Hachi all along! Seems like he wasn’t the only uncreative pet namer in Japan.

Kagome’s warm, gentle hand pulled him out of his stupor. “C’mon, it’s feeding time.”

Of course, the puppies. Get the formula, use the dropper, get the paper towels, and repeat. This was a distraction, this was good. He just needed to think about the puppies. Formula, dropper, paper, repeat. Maybe close his eyes for a bit.

He fell asleep.

He, the damn half-demon, fell asleep.

Worse, he woke up with puppies pulling on his hair and a camera flash going off.

“Look, don’t we look adorable?” she said and flipped the camera phone to show him the photo. There he was, looking up at the camera half-awake with his hair splayed out on the tatami. Kagome was also looking up in the photo, opposite him and upside down, giving the camera a deceptively demure smile, her black hair similarly splayed out and over his silver hair. All over their contrasting hair, the black and white puppies were sitting or lying down. “I’m going to send this to my mom, if that’s okay with you.”

He groaned and threw an arm over his face. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You needed the rest. Besides, this was a picture perfect moment!” 

She was trying to kill him.

As he suspected, this was the first of many, many ‘picture perfect’ moments. Sometimes, he would have a lap full of puppies, with no way of escaping, only to hear “Cheese!” and the telltale flick of the shutter. Other times, he would be busy in the kitchen preparing the formula and out of the corner of his eye he would see her leaning on the doorframe, watching with that small little smile and her trusty Mr. Phone.

Worse, she got into the habit of wandering into the village when it was her turn to take a break and then come back with all sorts of questions.

“There’s a koi pond out back, why aren’t there any koi fish? What do you mean it’s unfinished?”

“Is that a guesthouse? That’s your shed!? It’s huge!”

“I saw a bunch of flowerpots, you should grow some flowers. Do ajisai grow around here? I loved seeing them whenever I walked home in the rain.”

“I was all the way out in the woods and I still had signal! You need to get a cell phone, you can’t rely on a landline forever! ...what do you mean there are BEARS?”

“My mom called and she said that photo of us was adorably perfect, can I post it online? I’m taking that grunt as a ‘Yes.’”

“What’s with all bank flyers on the front doors? Does the bank really own all the vacant houses?”

They built something of a routine. Luckily, this time, Inuyasha didn’t forget that she was a temporary resident.

Two weeks later, Miroku returned with the pickup truck. “Hope you two had a doggin’ good time!”

Kagome rolled her eyes as she hauled the nearly empty boxes into the back of the pickup. “Spare us, dear cousin. Sango-chan better be back today.”

“She and Shippo will be back by 3. We should have enough people until vaccination time, then we can work on finding foster homes. Speaking of the puppies, they grew fast!” Miroku said, and Inuyasha regrettably let the box of puppies go. “Thanks for all your help, my good man!”

“Yeah.” Inuyasha fidgeted, shifting from one foot to the other. He never got used to saying goodbye.

“See you around, Inuyasha!” Kagome waved, one leg already in the truck. She held a bank flyer in her other hand, probably to show off to her city friends.

He watched the truck do a U-turn and disappear from sight.

He doubted they would see each other again.

~*~

He was wrong.

“There was a fire at the shelter.”

His power of comprehension always needed a few seconds to catch up whenever she called, which was getting frequent these days. “A fire?”

“The animal shelter. There was an electrical fire.”

Leave it to Kagome to drop a bombshell on him. “Holy fuck,” he cursed. “Are the puppies—did anyone—”

“The puppies are still at school. The volunteers got all the dogs out but some of them are being treated for smoke inhalation. We’re trying to help find shelters and foster homes but it’s a mess right now. You don’t mind if Miroku—”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” he answered, unintentionally cutting her off. “Use my account to buy whatever you need.”

Miroku didn’t bring puppies this time. Inuyasha helped lead the Beagle mix, the Lab mix, and the Shiba Inu into the house. Miroku held out some papers for Inuyasha to sign, he assumed for the shelter to keep track of where their dogs went, and set about preparing their bowls and beds.

He quickly learned that the Beagle mix, Makura, was an old and heavy lap dog, and if Inuyasha sat down on the tatami, Makura would slowly but surely make his way from wherever he was in the house to rest on his favorite lap. The Lab mix, Kuriko, had a knack for sneaking into the kitchen and stealing his cookware. Why the cookware, he had no idea. The Shiba Inu, Pen-Pen, goddamn Pen-Pen, followed him. Everywhere.

Over the next few days, Miroku brought another Shiba Inu, a Chow Chow much to Inuyasha’s surprise, and a tiny little Chihuahua that wouldn’t stop shivering even on a warm autumn afternoon. The giant pile of dog food was starting to take over the living room, but he couldn’t move the kotatsu while Kuriko was sleeping on Inuyasha’s favorite spot beside the furniture.

One curious object hidden within the supplies had Inuyasha scratching his head. It was a large board with the words ‘HERMIT’S HAVEN’ etched into the wood. Stuck to it was a post-it note instructing him to hang it on the bridge for the visitors.

What visitors?

As usual, Kagome dropped the bombshell.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner. It was Miroku’s idea, I didn’t think he’d actually make you sign anything without telling me first.” Well, she sounded apologetic.

Inuyasha stared into the distance, his sanity bidding him farewell. “My house’s now a dog shelter?”

“It doesn’t have to be your house. You’re a co-owner in name. Just keep doing what you’re doing,” Kagome said, a nervous smile evident in her voice. “We’ll take care of everything else.”

Shockingly, she was right. More dogs were brought in, more dog houses were bought and built. Nothing changed. 

Except for the visitors.

They weren’t even locals. Tourists from overseas were making a day trip from the resort town to see his village. He had no idea how word got out. A young fox demon from the school dropped in one day and mentioned pictures and Kagome’s insta-something or other, but he didn’t really get it.

Inuyasha tried to make himself scarce whenever tourists showed up. ‘Tried’ being the operative word because goddamn Pen-Pen kept giving him away. The visitors would spot him in the tree, ask if he was from the pictures, he would grunt, and they would leave money and dog treats in a donation box—what the hell, who put that donation box there? 

“You’re a good man for taking care of all these dogs,” a blue-eyed man towering over everyone else spoke in perfect Japanese, offering his hand with not an ounce of hesitation. He might’ve mentioned he was from Australia. 

Inuyasha reluctantly reached for the hand, and was jerked forward into a bear hug. 

If anyone tried to kiss him on the cheek, he was diving into the stream.

~*~

“What?”

“Yeah, I didn’t think I’d be hired either! Crazy, right? But they were really short on staff and took Kaede’s recommendation seriously.”

“Uh, yeah, congrats.”

“Thank you, Inuyasha!”

He ignored the funny feeling that traveled down his spine. What was wrong with him, she only said his name! “But, err, after you said that, you said you and Miroku were moving into...”

“Weeeelllll,” there it was, that nervous smile in her voice, “you know how the bank is offering all the vacant houses for free?”

“I mean, free if you work and live here for years.”

“More than a decade, yup.”

“You’re going to...more than a decade…”

“Guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other, neighbor.”

He should be glad. Two people he could tolerate moving into his village. 

The trucks were here before he could blink. The plan was to assess for renovations before moving in.

He should be glad.

“Inuyasha?” Miroku called. He stood outside Hiro’s old house. It was Miroku’s house now.

“I...gotta take a walk. Watch the dogs.”

“Take your time.”

Inuyasha hadn’t visited the graves since the puppies.

The elderly villagers had been old-fashioned, but loneliness had made them more social, so much so that dinner had to always be a village feast. Izayoi took up remodeling and enlarging a number of houses, just because she had the time, money and encouraging neighbors. As soon as Inuyasha learned to hunt, they had no problems accepting wild game from a half-demon. Then Izayoi fell ill…

Inuyasha was self-sufficient. It was alright, he had told himself, over and over again. Reality, and age, eventually caught up. The villagers’ children and grandchildren had moved to cities like Sapporo long ago. A few of the villagers relented and joined the young in the cities, but most had refused to leave. A couple of funerals later, the village became nothing but vacant and abandoned houses, and one half-demon.

He could have finished all those renovations, built that rock garden for Masa, lay out that trail from the woods to the koi pond so everyone had access, but he hadn’t.

Now, someone else would. Someone who would never know that Hiro dreamed of having a western-style fireplace, someone who would never know just how much Yumi loved her sunflowers, someone who could never understand just how much this village meant to him—

“Inuyasha?”

He grunted, but didn’t turn around.

Kagome sat down beside him. “Are you mad?”

“Not mad,” he answered without emotion, just as he rehearsed it.

“It’s not a problem, is it? Us moving here, I mean.”

“Not a problem.” Because it most certainly was not. “The bank gave it to ya. It’s all legal.”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Kagome said quietly.

A long stretch of silence followed. Inuyasha knew he should say something, anything, and after nearly a year he thought it would be easier, but he had no words if the words weren’t about the dogs.

“Kaede-baa-san talked about you a lot,” Kagome said, mercifully. “She had a lot of friends here. And she’d always mention this one boy who'd help everyone with everything. It got hard for her, coming back here just to say goodbye to another friend. But she was most worried about the boy who refused to move out of the village.”

Kaede had asked him to move in with her. As kind as she was, he couldn’t bring himself to trust a city folk, not at the time. He would never ever admit it out loud, but hearing his apartment neighbors openly discuss if he fell under the ‘no pets rule’ had hurt.

“Kaede-baa-san is going to be at the school for a few days. You should drop by.”

“She worries too much.” 

“She likes you. I was a bit jealous for a while. You know, she kept your mom’s account at the school open just in case you wanted to use it. With the way she described you, though, I thought you’d be shy and scared of strangers. Imagine my surprise when you showed up with Hachi in your arms and leaves in your hair. Totally not what I expected.”

He tried to give a witty reply. Like how she surprised him too with her Oscar-worthy puppy dog eyes. Or how she had a bad habit of dropping bombshells, even now. Instead, all he managed was, “I should visit Hachi.”

Kagome beamed. “That’s a great idea.”

~*~

“I thought you were going back to Tokyo for Christmas.”

Kagome shrugged while peeling another tangerine. “I was too busy moving furniture and painting the walls. Totally forgot about buying the tickets.”

“Uh-huh.” Inuyasha was all too familiar with that tone. “But Miroku remembered, even though he was moving furniture and painting too.”

“I guess he’s just better at keeping track of time.”

“You’re weird for a city girl. Can’t keep track of time, wants to live in the middle of nowhere, what the hell?”

“I’m one of a kind. Now scooch over. Your trunk thighs are taking up space in the kotatsu.”

“Like I can, Makura’s on my lap and—dammit Pen-Pen, stop leaning on me!”

Kagome whistled. “Oh no, looks like I got competition. Better hide you away for bed time.”

Inuyasha muttered incoherently for a few seconds, his face turning seven different shades of red. “S-shut up.” Did she have to be so open about liking him?

But Kagome did like him. She especially liked him letting his guard down and falling asleep on the tatami with the dogs on top of him. She joined what she liked to call the ‘puppy pile’ and watched him nap, his chest slowly rising and falling despite the weight of Pen-Pen’s head.

The picture of her lying opposite Inuyasha with the black and white puppies had garnered a lot of attention. But Kagome definitely preferred lying next to him. 

Her eyelids grew heavy. Time for her to rest as well.

Flick, went the shutter. 

Kagome snickered. Send the picture to mom, and then rest.

~*~

AN: Puppy pile! 

This one shot got away from me. It was about a stray puppy bringing Inuyasha and Kagome together, and suddenly...this.

Haven’t had a fic get this out of control in a while.

[ronynz]

Kageyama / Hinata Angels & Demons hcs

Right so I got this req a long time ago, don't know who sent it but thanks. It's a continuation of my angels/demons hcs. Sorry if it sucks

Angels and demons have always been at odds wwith each other since the dawn of time.

Neither race could remotely stand each other; and both races believed themselves to be the superior race.

It is precisely for these reasons that there has never been an angel/demon couple or hybrid child. Never. At least not until a certain angel and demon came into existence.

Neither seemed like their race at first glance. And of course, it made sense that the two most unlikely angels and demons turned out to be soulmates. Soulmates. The only one in the multiverse made for you alone. Your best friend, your confidant, heck likely even your spouse.

Of course, a certain milk lover, born an angel, was soulmates with a certain redhead. Their meeting was pure chance; both having gotten lost in the endless, dreary plains of Asphodel.

Both were looking around, searching for their respective exit portals. Their wandering eyes met for a brief moment, and both instinctively began pushing through the mass of souls to get to each other.

Only to find that the other was of a different race.

"What? How can this be? Why are you here? It can't be. You can't be..." Shouyou sputtered.

"But I am. You are my soulmate." The angel replies, somewhat confused about his soulmate's reaction to him. But yet on the same time, he himself also questioned whether it was truly possible. Soulmates of the same gender? Possible but unlikely. Soulmates of the same gender and different races? Now that, was something never seen before in all of history. Never. Not once. Ever.

This was the start to what would, in the future, be one of their trademark pointless arguments.

The duo bickered. And bickered. And bickered some more. So much to the point souls around them were pleading with them to shut up and let them die in peace.

That was until another demon made his entrance. As did another angel. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? An angel picking on my spawn?" A deceptively sweet voice crooned. Every head turned to the source of the voice, only to see the demon king Sugawara.

"What do you mean my child picking on your spawn? It's clearly the other way round!" The deeper voice of the angel king boomed out in indignance.

At this, both kings turned to their respective spawns, an unspoken order for the two to explain the situation.

"I got lost and he- he" " I was lost and happened to find my soulmate"; Shouyou stutters while Tobio plainly states.

Both kings turned back to each other, understanding clear on their faces alongside a plethora of doubts.

Everyone in the two kingdoms were shocked to say the least. An angel and a demon. Soulmates. A male demon and a male angel. The very thing they were told was impossible just became a reality.

It took some time for everyone to get used to the idea of it, but their own families were more than supportive of them; after all, no one could deny soulmates their right to be close. Nishinoya and Yamaguchi especially so, both rooting for the angel/demon pair from the beginning.

Not to say that Shouyou and Tobio got along well; their arguments were a daily affair at this point. But yet the two seemed to enjoy each other's presence more and more each day. It was undeniable that the two were meant to be. The pair met daily, spending each evening together. Tobio would bring Shouyou to his kingdom for walks in the Garden of Eden; Shouyou would invite Tobio to his to join in their volleyball games.

Turns out the angel is a volleyball genius - taking to it like a duck to water, while the demon was surprisingly adept at gardening of all things.

The two had multitudes of nickname/insults for each other; and were extremely competitive. Rock, paper, scissors; running; even speed eating was a contest to them.

They grew closer day by day, confiding in each other and comforting the other. In the time it took for everyone to be acceptive and supportive of the duo, they'd already become a couple of two years.

Their wedding three more years later came as no surprise. They'd held it twice - once in heaven and the other in hell, just so everyone could attend. And each time, the respective kings gave them his blessing and wedded them.

There was not a single dry eye as the duo shared their vows. Some from laughter, others for other reasons.

"Shouyou, the day I met you, I was lost. I was lost and then I found you. Since then, you've been my sunshine. You make me happy when the skies are gray. You're a demon, but you're far from it. People have said we shouldn't be together, but with you every day gets a little sweeter. They don't know about the things we do, they don't know about our I Love You's. You're the spike to my set. You've brought so much colour into my life and now I just want to tell the world that you're mine...."

"Tobio... we've been wandering apart, a million miles apart, going nowhere for the longest time. And then I found you. I found you in my darkest hour. I found you in the pouring rain. We've been through a lot together and we will face more together. And I'll climb every mountain, and swim every ocean just to be with you. You're the ying to my yang. Thank you for the past five years, they've been awesome. Heaven knows how I love you and I can't wait for eternity with you..."

The two were gifted a house of their own as a wedding gift. Exactly on the heaven-hell border so that both would be equally close to home.

Needless to say, the two continued arguing about the mundane, continued giving everyone diabetes, continued playing volleyball, continued loving each other.

Of course, their nickname/insults still continued. Only now, it's become extremely sappy. Angel/love, darling/prince...

No one in either kingdom batted an eye when the pair announced they were going to be parents. In fact, many even commented that it was "about time", while others simply congratulated them.

They had a pair of twins, the elder a boy and the younger a girl. The boy, Haruki, was a ginger with Tobio's features. The girl, Harumi, was a bluenette with Shouyoi's features. Of course, both grew up with the love of volleyball inculcated into them. Coincidence or not, both grew to become acknowledged as the top setters of their respective genders.

Needless to say, Shouyou and Tobio were the proudest parents ever. They even made it a point to wear couple tees to their childrens matches. All of them. Heaven and hell could only watch as the twins redefined setting while the angel and demon defied all social norms.

[aja154ever]

GRANRODEO LIVE 2018 e-ZUKA Tokamachi Gaisen Rodeo Gottaku - 05/20/2018

Just a quick very personal write-up about this Sunday’s live because I’ve been sent to paradise again. I need to let my feelings out.

Set List

SEED BLASTER

SUPERNOVA

Pierrot Dancin’

Can Do

move on! イバラミチ

Y.W.F.

マジカルストーリー

Urban Sweet

Snow Pallet

HAPPY LIFE

少年の果て (Acoustic)

Deadly Drive

メモリーズ

NO PLACE LIKE A STAGE

カナリヤ

modern strange cowboy

delight song

Infinite Love (Acoustic)

The Other self

バラライ

Go For It!

And ofc special tag @ikiyou Congratulations on overcoming the culture shock of a GRANRODEO live! How about the muscle pain the day after? 😂😂

So first of all, wow. I really went all the way to Niigata prefecture this time, which took like two and a half hours by bullet train + local train + walking, just to see GRANRODEO live. Is this the start of my “I’ll follow you wherever you go, Kiiyan” love story? (But hey, Niigata is actually e-zuka-san’s home lol)

It was my first time going out of Kanto region, and thus my first time to ride a bullet train. Luckily, ikiyou was able to go with me yayyy though we both were clueless most of the time during the whole trip lol.

When we got off at Tokamachi station, we were like, “Oh.” We were literally sent in the middle of the mountains and the rice fields, “Where the hell are we?” It was nevertheless very refreshing and calming to see Mother Nature for a long time.

Tokamachi is supposedly the nearest station to the concert venue but it was still more than a kilometer away so we had to walk our way there. Because of the tight schedule, unfortunately we didn’t actually have the time to go around the town for sight-seeing or smth. So the walk from the station turned out to be our only chance to see the place. It was kind of shocking as the place looks very rural, far, far from the metropolitan that Tokyo is. There was not a single convenience store in the area (which is really weird because hey we’re in Japan) and for some reason we do not know, almost all the stores were closed. Aside from fellow Rodeo girls/boys heading to the venue, there were almost no people walking on the streets. But anyway, speaking of the streets, oh my gosh. They were playing GRANRODEO music on the town streets’ speakers. 😭😭😭

It was a wonder that a concert venue actually exists in that rural place. When we arrived at the venue, finally we got food yey. They were selling some GRANRODEO-themed food like the curry which recipe is made by e-zuka-san’s mom, crepe, and even bottled water.

So we went inside and apparently the venue was smaller than I expected so our seats which are on the far right in the 7th row turned out to be closer to the stage than I imagined.

I’ve heard most of the songs in previous live concerts, so I’m not gonna talk about each song here.

SEED BLASTER - I am still wondering why they chose this song as the entrance for the two days. I’m not complaining but I was just not expecting it. 😊

Y.W.F - e-zuka-san made us dance the YMCA steps. Takita-san and Shin-kun also joined.

マジカルストーリー - This is magical. Kiiyan was so cute the whole time I don’t even know why

Urban Sweet - Just wanna say that I always like Kiiyan’s vocals for this song

Snow Pallet - OH MY GOSH. My inner self was crying. This is one of my favorite GR songs and finally, I heard it live! And we got to dance the cute steps with them. Gosh. I didn’t really expect this dream to come true this night. Me looking at Kiiyan’s big smile and biceps as I dance along with him while listening to him singing it. “Back-up dancers” in cow kigurumi costumes came out on stage to dance with us.

HAPPY LIFE, delight song - They are indeed happy songs. Also my first time hearing them live and they do sound better live!

少年の果て - Acoustic. Tbh I’m not a fan of this song but hey, it’s acoustic. Kiiyan was definitely shimmering akin to the flicker in my eyes as I looked at the source of the most beautiful sound in the world.

Deadly Drive - Oh my oh my oh my. It’s right there. My life. Bungou Stray dogs and GRANRODEO. I’ve been blessed.

NO PLACE LIKE A STAGE, カナリヤ, modern strange cowboy - Classic favorites for live performances. Always. Also, the main cause of post-live muscle pain 😂

Infinite Love - Acoustic played and sang by e-zuka-san as requested from his birthday last February. I really like this song in acoustic but I doubt if I’d ever have the chance to hear Kiiyan sing this live, so it’s actually remarkable that I heard it instead from e-zuka-san. And wow, it was definitely good! He was shining huhuhu and he even hit the high notes yeyy

Go For It! - IGPX will always be fun. Takita-san called out the Rodeo girls, Shin-kun the Rodeo boys, Kiiyan the swimsuit girls, and e-zuka-san playing around with Tokamachi locals and people not from Tokamachi which occurred for God knows how many times. And finally, IGPX 10 times with everyone!

Other notes:

Is it just me but Kiiyan’s biceps look bigger this time?? Or maybe I just missed them wait what are you saying I was not staring that much okay don’t judge me asdfghjkl but we can talk about it all day Anyway Kiiyan appeared in a hot red coat the first time aaaaahhhhh but ofc he had to take them off after two songs because he’s it’s hot

e-zuka-san talked a lot during the MC parts. I mean, A LOT. I didn’t understand most of them because he was speaking so fast (in Japanese ofc) and at times he even forgot what was he mainly talking about since new topics continued to branch out. One of the main talks was him talking about people he knew who came from Tokamachi who also got successful in music. It got too long he even suggested for Kiiyan to go take a rest backstage for a while lol

In the morning, Kiiyan and e-zuka-san walked around the town. Kiiyan found the place to be really beautiful (as seen in the photos he uploaded on Twitter). The first time he went to Niigata was last winter for Odorodeo, so back then it seemed like everything was pretty much covered in snow. Moreover, yesterday was raining and so it was only today that the weather turned out to be the best. He was like, “Ah so there are also other colors here aside from white.”

Meanwhile, Shin-kun and Takita-san shared that they really liked the food in Tokamachi like the soba, e-zuka-san’s mom’s curry, and the fresh vegetables.

In one of the songs (om I don't remember which), e-zuka-san went around the audience area on the first floor, from left all the way to the back then to the right 😭😭😭

Kiiyan gave us a special bonus when he walked all the way on both sides of the extended stage during Go For It!. On our side, he stopped in front of the farthest right seat on the sixth row so he was almost in front of us. I couldn’t handle it, I slapped ikiyou’s back a bit too strong and maybe I was squealing way too much. 😂 I really hope he saw us because hey it’s easy to spot foreigners in the crowd. Anyway two other blessed girls got to high-five him OMGeeeeeeeeeeeee

While Kiiyan always does the last jump at the end of every live, he made e-zuka-san jump this time. Our ojisan was so cute! He was definitely the star in this live!

Photos/Posts from Official Accounts:

Oh my, I missed writing fan reports here! I did go to other events but I haven’t been feeling of writing them on tumblr. But this event is totally special being my first live outside Kanto, and also as GRANRODEO’s first full live this year. I definitely missed this feeling!! (Oh yeah including the muscle pain the morning after lol) Furthermore, venues with seats really provide a good space for a lot of movement. I am given the freedom to move and groove as much as I want compared to all-standing venues where we all squeeze and smh hurt one another, though that kind of fun is also special in its own way. But the good elevation of seat rows really gave us a good view of the stage the whole time.

Now, what’s next? Kiiyan’s birthday celebration in Yamaguchi? I absolutely want to but I still don’t know if I can afford to go there! Argh, it pains me to think about  it. Actually, it’s kinda sad that GR doesn’t seem to have a national tour this year. Anyway, no matter what, there’s still G13 in December! Time to go to Osaka yeyyy!

[miiracleboys]

may i know what fic? :eyes:

oooh i have been Dying to talk about this. i’m currently writing a welcome to night vale-inspired au. i’m mostly just cherrypicking elements from wtnv to work into the setting, but i’m having fun with it because i’ve always had a soft spot for urban fantasy-type things. i don’t know how long it’s going to take me because i have basically just the idea that prompted it, Vibes, and nothing else, but hopefully i’ll be able to put it out there eventually.

anyway! the fic itself is centered around tsukishima. he’s looking for akiteru, who had gotten kind of withdrawn and weird for a few weeks before disappearing entirely. it takes him to a small town he’s never heard of right smack in the middle of nowhere up in the mountains.

oikawa kind of takes the place of cecil here because 1) i think it’s neat and 2) i think he would love semi-omniscience. the parts that kita and his grandmother play get inspiration from old woman josie—they have a close relationship with the rest of inarizaki, who are fox spirits rather than angels in this au because i’m a sucker for folklore and canon parallels (e.g. “someone is always watching”). tsukishima ends up running into yamaguchi first, though, since yamaguchi owns a coffee shop at the edge of town right where tsukishima shows up for the first time, which was why i got excited in the last post when i found out yamaguchi means “mountain entrance.” i want to integrate kuroo and yachi into it all somehow, but i haven’t figured it out yet :)

[nyxysabyss]

LEVEL HORIZON; YEAR THREE.80 1/4; Pivotal Calamity

Chapter 27!

It’s difficult, when faced with a situation you cannot control, to admit you can do nothing. ~Lemony Snicket

~ Ten Months Later; Early Spring ~

Kenma Kozume follows Shouyou, Noya, and Yachi through the small village that sits within striking distance of one of the Karasuno rookery’s main checkpoints on their sentry scouting routes, but the outpost is silent today.

The avian city will lie empty a few more weeks yet before the murder returns from their yearly migration, and spring has offered them promising weather the last week. The thaw had spurred an impulse decision on Kuroo’s part to come to this small hamlet nestled in the mountains for their spring herald festival and Kenma has to smile.

This village’s festival some centuries back had marked the first time he and the black cat had come out of hiding and simply relaxed into the joyous atmosphere following Kuroo losing his eye and their subsequent flight. The small cat remembers their food and fireworks well amid his leveler’s quiet smiles at the decorations along the stalls. If he could go back in time, he’d tell his younger self not to worry, everything works out and he gets to keep the large black cat.

There is still some snow on the ground, but rivers are running high and the first hints of life are stirring along the edges of the drifts, but they are all distracted by the wonderful food and company. They’ve just gone through the main market and Kenma is sure they tried every stand; he’s beyond uncomfortably full. Kuroo steers them toward the local temple to give thanks for surviving another winter with a pointed glance at the ibis who stares back at him with complete disinterest. Kenma mentally smirks.

The pale winged avian had done as he’d asked and laid off Shouyou and Kuroo, opting instead to spend days in Sheru Bay running the ledger for Suga’s relatives, but he and Yamaguchi had gone for a sabbatical in the mountains the first month of winter at the whim of the freckled crow. Never mind that the ibis wasn’t adapted for winter weather, the tall blond had stalwartly decreed that he was overdue for an escape from the rest of their company so he and the freckled crow were going alone.

They’d been gone nearly two weeks and were supposed to be gone for two more when they showed back up with a half-panicking Yamaguchi shoving the taller nonplussed, yet sick avian at Kiyoko, begging her to save him. Tsukishima had been most unimpressed and had told them he just had a cold… except it had rapidly degenerated into full blown pneumonia within the week.

He’d been little more than slightly flushed when they’d stumbled back home, but he’d quickly come down with a monstrous fever that he completely denied existed because ‘if he was so warm, then why the hell did he feel like he was shivering so damn badly?’ The ibis had spent the next two months huddled in blankets and ten times as sour as normal, and the majority of winter found him inside either sulking or sleeping for his misadventure.

So it had been a surprise that he’d readily requested to join when Kuroo had mentioned the festival; even Yamaguchi had asked if he was sure. The ibis hadn’t even had to scold the freckled crow before he was apologizing. Yamaguchi had been belatedly stoked to go for an adventure, and Kenma hadn’t missed the way the ibis had quietly watched his excitement with reserved fondness.

Yachi and Kiyoko had opted to join then in the event the tall blond became ill once more. It would be good for the girls to get out as they rarely ever managed to escape the beach house— not that they minded overmuch. Nishinoya and Shouyou had been only too happy to come, their traveling itch nearly burning their feet already. But Kageyama had hesitated slightly, because with the last season turn, Shouyou had started waking in the morning, his back stiff enough that it would take him a couple hours to really get moving.

Those mornings aren’t that common but… today is a bad day, and Kenma can tell that he’s dragging. He’d risen while the sun was still grey with everyone else, but he hadn’t been as unfailingly bright or chatty; Kenma personally felt his stiff movements were probably the result of having spent the night on the hard ground which had tweaked his back. But he wasn’t sure others much noticed it, because Shouyou himself never voiced his pain; rather, the most obvious indicator that something was off was the way Kageyama hovered.

He was rarely far from his leveler, but on days like this, he didn’t leave the redhead’s side. One could argue that his clinginess was more the product of being in an unfamiliar area, but Kenma’d been on enough of these trips to know that today’s episode probably isn’t that. The crow setter is never more than two steps away and at the moment, he too, is watching the redhead chatter merrily with Noya and Yachi as they climb the steps to the village’s temple.

A few paces ahead of them, the ibis and freckled crow lead the way, oblivious to the fact that they are, in fact, heading in the wrong direction. Kenma is on the verge of saying something when Kuroo speaks for him just over his shoulder.

“Oi. Hang a right, you guys.”

The two pause and turn to look at them, the reaction like a catalyst that makes the others all do the same.

“What?” Yamaguchi asks with confusion.

“That won’t get you to the temple. You need to go right.”

The ibis glances back toward the lights and outline of the building up the hill that is just visible through the trees, it’s large entrance gate the most prominent feature on the edge of the incline. He turns back to Kuroo with a bored look.

“We can see it and there’s nothing that goes right.” He says, unimpressed.

“Yeah, but you’ve never been here before, and your sense of direction sucks.” Nishinoya points out. Kenma’s mouth twitches… because technically, Noya isn’t wrong on either count.

“Tsukki has excellent sense of direction—”

“Shut up Yamaguchi.” The ibis mutters, an eyebrow ticking slightly as he fixes on the short crow. “Why would the cobbles go left— you know, the way all the people going— if they don’t go to the temple?” He asks. Kenma smiles slightly.

“The zen garden is that way. Most of them are bringing their lunch to eat there.” He says quietly.

“The climb has only begun, Blondy. The path is to the right just around that bend. Most people make that mistake the first time they come here.” Kuroo says and Kenma can hear the smirk in his voice and mentally huffs in amusement.

“You were one of them.” He murmurs flatly and starts for the small hidden path that winds up the hill with its inlaid stone steps. Kuroo scoffs.

“Brat.” He mutters and Kenma barely keeps the smile off his face.

The others all make to follow him when he catches sharp movement as the freckled crow flinches sharply. He isn’t the only one who saw his recoil and the ibis turns to look at him critically.

“Eh, sorry Tsukki.” He says, a hand coming up behind his head as a sheepish grin creases his mouth, but the skin around his eyes is creased with tension and his pupils are dilated.

“Yamaguchi?” The ibis asks and he brings his hands up in front of himself.

“I’m fine! Really! I just thought… I don’t know what I thought.” He says, his eyes dropping to the ground before he almost visually hardens in resolve and looks back up at Tsukishima.

“We should go! If everyone is eating in the zen garden, that means it’s a great time to visit the temple because there won’t be many people there. And not many kids!” He says brightly. The ibis watches him for a long moment before letting it go, and Kenma turns to lead them toward the stairs once more.

But the crow’s sudden startle has him thinking.

There is little that can shake Yamaguchi aside from a callous word from his constant companion, Tsukishima, but it’s become apparent in the last few months that there is something that will— something that will nearly paralyze the crow with fear every time it happens. Kenma isn’t sure… he didn’t notice anything just now, but he keeps an ear cocked in the freckled crow’s direction as they start up the hill.

Yachi and Hinata start up a bubbly conversation about Natsu about how sullen the girl had been when she’d been told she had to stay home for this trip. The bald crow, Asahi and Daichi had all been recruited to assist with renovating Sheru Bay’s single multi-storied inn. As strange as it was to know that Natsu and Tanaka were levelers, no one was willing to split them up for any length of time.

Like Shouyou, she glows at night when she curls up with Tanaka, a fact that had, in no uncertain terms, freaked the bald crow out the first time he’d noticed. It had literally taken a week, and only then because Noya had taken pity on him and prodded him awake after the girl had fallen asleep in his arms once again, her head and arm flopped over his shoulder.

He’d nearly dropped her as if she’d scalded him, a pathetic strangled squeak escaping him. Even in the middle of his shock, though, he’d been loath to disturb her, and while he hadn’t found any more sleep that night, he’d made sure he hadn’t disturbed her.

Although, he’d promptly handed her off to Asahi still half asleep the next morning with a fond pat and headed into Sheru Bay seeking manual labor. He’d been recruited to help put up a barn a little ways out of town that had taken him away from the beach house for three days, during which time the rest of them had had to deal with an inconsolable Natsu.

She’d quietly remained with Asahi all of three hours before seeking out Shouyou. She’d followed him around for the next day, half whimpering and asking after Tanaka until Shouyou had volunteered to join Kageyama on a hunt in a not so subtle bid for a break. She’d cycled through each of Yamaguchi, Kiyoko and Yachi, the still injured Sugawara, Bokuto in a strangely unsurprising turn given the way Shouyou had taken to him, Lev, back to Asahi and Noya, himself, and even Kuroo over the next day.

The child had been all but lost without Tanaka around to tag along after like the older brother he totally was around her. When the bald crow had finally returned, she had barrelled out of the house at the sound of his voice and frozen at the top step, her hands behind her back and her gaze solemn. Tanaka had seen her, and apparently having come to terms with the state of the universe, had made a beeline for her.

“Hey, Munchkin! Long time, no see!” He’d said and reached for her only to jump when she’d flinched slightly, her gaze dropping.

“M’ regrèt.” She’d whispered and he’d recoiled as much at the apology as the tears that had started sliding down her cheeks as she’d whimpered out a fractured question.

“Kisa mwen fè mal?”

He’d glanced around for Shouyou, but the redhead hadn’t been in earshot.

“Hey, kiddo, what’s the matter?” He’d said, climbing the steps and crouching down beside her.

“I do bad?” She’d tried and Tanaka’s jaw had dropped.

He’d reached out, completely disregarding her shy at the motion, and collected her up on his hip in a hug despite her probably being too old for the action. She really was nearly an adolescent, but it had seemed to quell the oncoming fit of tears even if only marginally.

“You did nothing wrong, Munchkin. I had to go work for a couple days, that’s all.” She’d clung to him as the little sobs slowly subsided, her hand fisting into his shirt and head on his shoulder as he rubbed her back.

“I come with?” She’d whimpered.

“What, to work? I’d have to ask. The boss has a kid your age, I think.” He’d said with a small smile.

And that had been it. Things had returned to normal, the bald crow her de facto best friend once more. Honestly, Kenma couldn’t believe they still had a house what with some of the stunts those two had pulled along with Noya and Shouyou. They’d attempted to flatten Kageyama on more than one occasion beneath a pile of avians, had managed to tie up Bokuto with his own ropes which Akaashi found hysterical, had drizzled sand into a sleeping Kuroo’s ear until he’d woken up swinging, had cracked another egg over Daichi much to the thrush’s infinite amusement, and even doused Tsukishima with a bucket of icy water from the creek.

Even Kenma himself wasn’t immune to the pranks. Late last fall, he’d woken up surrounded by apples. She was as observant as her brother and had picked up on Kuroo’s habit of bringing him the sweet fruit… but the kid was nowhere even close to the quiet end of the sound scale, so how she’d managed to go out in the early morning to collect them and then return and place them all around him without either him or Kuroo waking, he has no clue.

There was a particularly volatile one they’d come up with just recently involving a reed packed with pine resin and black powder, no doubt procured from Bokuto off one of the ships in the bay. They’d touched it off in the grey hours of the morning just outside on the porch while most of them were still asleep; the concussive force of it had rocked the house and cracked the glass in the large front window. Everyone had had fuzzy hearing for the next day and more than one person had singed feathers or fur. Kuroo and Daichi had been most unimpressed. The black cat had been looking for a way to alleviate the apparently growing restlessness ever since.

Kenma imagines everyone might have joined this little trip if the early spring thaw hadn’t spurred the locals to restart their construction projects. Tanaka’s services had once again come into demand, but he’d offered up the assistance of anyone else interested. Natsu had been allowed to join him, and Asahi and Daichi had both taken him up on that. Koushi would, of course, always opt to stay with his leveler, and the owls still had their dock jobs. Lev and Yaku had begged out at the last moment on account of the short cat feeling guilty just leaving the others to fend for themselves after working all day.

As they crest the last few steps and cross under the temple gate, it’s beams decorated with the spring festival theme, Kenma smiles slightly. They’d spent the day in this little town some three hundred years ago and had watched their firework display from atop that gate that evening.

The temple is just how he remembers, the exterior brickwork walls and tiled roof still intact and functional. He supposes normal wear and tear is to be expected; the mortar between the blocks is perhaps crumbling slightly, the wood of its front steps has warped, and the arch across its top line eve sags a little more lending it more of an ‘ancient’ look.

Still, it’s the same as the first time he and Kuroo had seen it over three centuries before, and it had been old back then. Already having stood for four or five hundred years when they’d stumbled upon it the first time, it is probably pushing close to a thousand, and to see it still taken care of makes Kenma smile.

The open interior smells of pine and cedar overlaid with incense despite the open shoji doors that welcome in the spring air and he’s nearly overwhelmed by a sense of deja vu. Kuroo had asked him to stay beside him here three hundred years ago, as if there had ever been a question of whether he’d leave. Kenma really does like this little town.

A sharp gasp behind him comes a half second before he feels it, and he’s turning to focus on the freckled crow in an instant. The tremor he’d felt through the soles of his feet just now… it was barely noticeable at best and the only reason he probably did was because it had vibrated through the wood floor of the temple, the building breathing a light sigh as if it were merely settling.

But Yamaguchi’s eyes are wide, his mouth open slightly as he watches the rafters with a paling face. His shoulders have drawn up, his hands twist into fists, and his wings are raised in agitation but also pulled tightly against his shoulders.

“Yamaguchi?” Tsukishima is quick to ask, his voice quiet and even. The freckled crow jerks and looks at him, clearly unaware of how terrified he appears.

“Tsukki. S… Sorry.” He says looking down.

“Are you alright?” Kiyoko asks softly and Yamaguchi glances at her with surprise.

“Yeah… I’m fine.” Kenma hangs back beside the ibis and freckled crow as Yachi, Noya, and the younger level pair drift further into the temple, Kuroo just off his shoulder.

“It might have been anything, Yamaguchi.” Kenma offers, but he doubts it helps. The crow is on the verge of stressing himself into a panic attack. A temblor like the one that just occurred isn’t that uncommon and pretty much harmless, but the brunette is nearly shaking.

“I’ll be alright. Really.” He says with a weak smile and Kuroo’s eyebrow creeps up his forehead skeptically.

“There was a tea stand back in the market. Would you like me to bring you some?” Tsukishima asks calmly and Yamaguchi blinks at him uncomprehendingly for a couple moments before he smiles slightly— a real one.

“You don’t have to, Tsukki.”

“What kind would you like?” The ibis asks, completely ignoring the crow’s protest.

“Eh… jasmine?” He says and Kenma understands what’s going on.

Tsukishima knows how to redirect Yamaguchi’s impending anxiety by feeding him information completely jarring to what is going through his head. By asking him to make a decision, he’s forcing him out of his own mind and into a thought line both pointless yet meaningful. Kenma marvels silently at Tsukishima’s swift capability at combatting an incoming breakdown, quietly awed at how the blond knows exactly what to do to keep the crow calm.

Not for the first time, he wonders at how the seemingly self-centered arrogant ibis is so attuned to the shy insecure crow. But he’s grateful for his knowledge and so is Kiyoko who has a better grasp on what to do with it. The female crow fluidly picks up the threads of their conversation and immediately keeps him distracted.

“You like tea, Yamaguchi? Which is your favorite?” She asks lightly as Tsukishima departs, quick strides taking him outside in no time. The crow struggles to focus on her question, but answers nonetheless.

“Um… kukicha.” He says in a shaky voice.

“Really? I didn’t know that or I would have seen if they had some in Sheru Bay’s market.” Kiyoko says with a soft smile.

“They don’t carry it… I already tried.” Yamaguchi says with a weak attempt at a smile.

“Well, where did you last get some? Maybe we can stop on the way back.” She says.

As the crow seems to relax just enough to at least be able to hold the conversation with the black-haired girl, Kenma turns toward where his other ear is trained on the other three delinquents and Yachi.

And they are being idiots, crowding into the corner around a drum with excitement, the bunting wearing a puzzled expression. While Tsukishima was combatting Yamaguchi’s sudden terror, Kageyama thankfully managed to keep Shouyou from picking up the brushes and splattering ink beside a calligraphy table where Yachi had paused.

The bunting had shyly purchased a blank wood plaque to write on as they’d crested the hill and the others had crowded around to see what she would wish for. Kenma can’t blame them; Yachi’s handwriting is petite, measured, and graceful, her calligraphy worthy of a library scribe.

Watching her write her wishes for the year, the redhead apparently saw nothing wrong with adding his own notes to her small board, and the avian heir had whacked him across the back of the head, snatched the brush from his hand before it could mar her delicate work, and turned them away as Yachi hung the piece with a small happy smile. But that had quickly spiraled as Noya had spotted a large daiko in the corner.

“Wow, guys, look over there!” He’d said and Kageyama and Shouyou had immediately brightened with vocal agreement and an odd anticipation, Yachi trailing after them a bit bewilderedly.

Which brings them to where they are now, the three former sentries drawn to the drum like Lev is to catmint— Kenma admits that the plant is intoxicatingly alluring, but at least he has some self-control. The two crows and grounded redhead approach it with a sort of reverence, Yachi with simple interest.

“Man, Tanaka should have come!” Noya says with a grin.

“I wonder if it sounds like the ones back home. Remember Saeko at the festivals?” Shouyou says brightly and Kageyama is already grabbing the stick beside it. Kenma’s hand reaches out, his eyes widening.

“Kageyama—” He starts to say, but thanks the stars that Yachi is beside them and has the presence of mind to latch onto the crow setter’s wrist and stop his swing.

“Won’t that be noisy?” She squeaks.

Kenma lets out a half-breath in relief; they are already obnoxiously loud in the mostly empty temple without banging the drum. The monks who run the temple might kick them out if they make too much of a fuss.

“You birdbrain stooges,” Kuroo mutters, heading in their direction, “we can’t take you anywhere. Leave it be.”

Kageyama scowls darkly and releases the bachi stick back to Yachi who carefully returns it to its place. They move forward toward the altar and shrine areas with their candles that flicker in the soft breeze that drifts through the shoji doors, Kuroo within easy striking distance now in case he needs to pull rank. Kenma smirks slightly.

It’s like taking the local pack of children to the park, he thinks.

I mean, we have the kid who’s usually level but randomly has bouts where all inhibition conveniently vacates his head on the heels of a moronic impulse, the two who are always impulsive and feed off each other’s idiocy, the kid who is their only voice of reason but terrified to speak up, the kid who is scared to be outside, the kid who hates everyone in the schoolyard, and one reasonably responsible child.

It really was like packing along a daycare for a ridiculous day trip. Kenma starts at the gasp that escapes Yamaguchi behind him again, a half second before the floor legitimately lurches.

Kenma throws out his arms to keep his balance, his feet automatically shuffling under him. He straightens a little, but keeps his wider stance, because the movement doesn’t stop. The building shivers, the lanterns near the ceiling jarring enough to sway, the candles and shrine pillars rocking on their pedestals. In the flash of a glance he gets before he’s looking back at the freckled crow with concern, he sees his leveler and the other four also staggering, the avians’ wings jerking out to steady themselves while Kuroo grabs at a support beam.

And then he’s staring at Yamaguchi with anxious tension, because the freckled crow has frozen. Kiyoko shakes his arm, attempting to get him to move toward the temple exit, but Yamaguchi doesn’t budge, his dilated eyes flicking between the lanterns, to the swinging plank Yachi hung only a few minutes ago, to the swaying shrubs visible from the open shoji doors.

Kenma’s limbs leap into action as the floor surges even more, his feet stumbling him forward toward the crow who somehow keeps his balance and his feet pegged to the floor even as it continues to shift and Kiyoko tugs on him.

“Yamaguchi, let’s go outside!” She says urgently as Kenma grabs his other arm and tugs, but the crow resists it entirely, his gaze flying to the calligraphy table as the box with brushes tips with a resounding clatter, back to the altar where a shrine pillar rocks off its base and crashes to the floor with a thud. Kenma’s mind trips and he’s instantly turning back toward the others.

“Kuroo!” He barks and because it doesn’t seem like enough when his eyes land on the avians beside him, he’s yelping again. “Feathers! Noya!”

The black cat jerks and the others spin. Kageyama starts toward them immediately, tugging Shouyou along haphazardly, but the one that reaches them first is Noya. He collides with Yamaguchi who stumbles at the impact, but is for the most part, still stock still even as the ground pitches again and Kenma hears a creak.

As he and Kiyoko and Noya try shoving the crow toward the door, their own balance faltering as the rattling around them gets even worse, he sees the floorboards warp by their feet and his hair stands on end as he catches the ticking sound of splintering wood. He digs his feet in and shoves that much harder.

And then Kuroo is beside him, an arm swinging despite his wobbly footing. The black cat’s fist connects with Yamaguchi’s jaw, knocking him off his feet as the temple shakes violently. Kiyoko squeaks in surprise and both she and Noya topple to the floor as well, but Kuroo doesn’t pause. He reaches for Yamaguchi in time for Kageyama to pull beside him and grab the crow’s other arm. Noya scrambles up, Yachi pulling Kiyoko back to her feet and Shouyou stuttering beside them as they haul the crow backward out of the temple.

Yamaguchi is still rigid, but he’s still in their hands as they careen wildly through the exit and down the steps, Kenma losing his feet as the ground that meets him jars sideways. He tries to catch his fall, but his knees hit still hit the ground, and then Shouyou’s strong hand wraps around his wrist and the redhead is yanking him forward again.

They don’t stop until they are outside the temple completely, Kuroo and Kageyama setting Yamaguchi down beneath a swaying palm and Kenma glances back at the building. Dust kicks out beneath the roof tiles, the molding between the bricks crumbling across the walls as the world continues to groan.

“Where’s Tsukishima?” Kageyama asks and Yamaguchi flinches, but it’s Kuroo that answers with a hand raised and pointing down the hill.

“He was down in the market.”

“Not anymore.” Shouyou says, his wide eyes fixed over the trees just by the gate and Kenma catches a flash of cream feathers. The ibis’ pale wings vault him over the gate, his eyes wide and face set with intent as he barrels toward the shuddering temple.

“Oi, Blondy!” Noya yells, but the ibis doesn’t even glance their way, his umber eyes fixed on the entrance as he hurtles by them.

“Tsukki! Dammit!” Kuroo swears and launches after him, up the steps and into the temple on shaky legs. The golden cat’s breath catches in his lungs.

“Kuroo!” His leveler’s name flies after him, and Kenma takes one step forward, his golden eyes going wide.

He stumbles as the earth grates against itself, the vibrations coming through his feet even more violent. He hears the creak and groan of wood, knows the support beams inside the temple are being pushed to their limits.

Kuroo is in there.

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asks softly, almost inaudibly above the rattling din that resounds around and through them, and Kenma turns to look at him, his breath stuttering.

“He thought you were still inside.” Kenma says weakly, because Tsukishima isn’t the only one in there. Kuroo is his world—his future and life—and right now, he doesn’t have a clear view of it.

The crow is instantly back on his feet, heading for the temple with panic.

“Tsukki!”

Kagayama is quick on the draw and snags his arm, Noya not far behind. Shouyou and even Kiyoko grab hold to restrain him and still he pushes toward the moaning building, his voice carrying with heartbreaking terror the blond’s name over and over.

Kenma offers up a silent prayer to any celestial power above as the structure distorts, the trusses in the vaulted ceiling stretching, and the wood screeches against itself as it strains to hold out under the force of a furious mother earth. The cobbles, the trees, the gate, everything whimpers in the face of nature’s wrath as her anger peaks… and then Kenma’s heart stutters as he sees a pair of black ears and pale wings through the dusty entrance of the temple.

It gives one painful spasm as the front eve sags, the awning and rafters slipping as the temple’s front bearing wall gives way.  And it stops as he sees Kuroo bring an arm up around Tsukishima’s head as the building’s face collapses, the roof sliding to the ground while the ibis and black cat disappear behind it.

  Level Pair ; Chapter 1; Chapter 26; Chapter 28

A/N:  There was one little hint of foreshadowing in the last chapter for this one... kudos if you caught it!

Also the pranks... some of those aren't just dreamt up. I've tweaked them to fit the story, but I had five brothers and a sister. I have an ARSENAL of memories that are both hilarious and horrible. I kid you not, there was a venture with a pipe bomb that did crack one of the windows of the house I grew up in. I couldn't hear for two days.

Anyway... have another cliffhanger. I seem to be good at those.

Have to go play volleyball, have an stellar evening guys!