#yoshida be confessing and pushing

[smilemuse]

HIS REACTION IS SOMETHING THAT HE DOESN'T QUITE EXPECT CONSIDERING DENJI USUALLY WELCOMES HIS ADVANCES. he wonders if their time apart had really done that, but a part of him really can't forget. he likes these sides of denji even if he knows people would question him on his taste. but for him, denji is a lot like TIME, there's no value to it but it's measured in life. life is limited, often taken for granted & he doesn't want to take what denji's worth is to him. he is priceless & even if he's unsure how long they would have at this moment, yoshida would cherish every second of it. however, there's still a smile on his lips as he takes another spoonful of the porridge that he's cooked. the fact of the matter is, he would never let anyone take care of him.

❛ what's different about it? ❜ he decides to humor him because even in the haze of his fever, he knows this doesn't make much sense. ❛ if you were sick, you know i'd take care of you. so what then? is that different?❜ he counters the other before he takes another bite of his spoon-fed soup. yoshida gives denji's hand another squeeze wondering if he can feel the radiating heat off just his hand. he wonders if he's uncomfortable, but the blonde makes no motion to let go. instead they stay connected as they always were, as they should have been.

yoshida listens & he feels himself melt like chocolate tempered to be made into a truffle. if he wasn't sick he knows what kind of emboldened move he would make, but he should be patient on that front. he can feel his heart rattling in it's cage once more, the roar of it telling him to act on emotions rather than his brain. he disliked seeing that look on denji's face, chewed & spit out by him like he was nothing more than discarded trash. he shakes his head now, ❛ i shouldn't have shut you out. i'm sorry, denji. were you thinking about me on the way here?❜ he should know the answer to this question, but he wants that validation. ❛ i'm not perfect, but those things don't stress me out. what stressed me out was...❜ he trails off feeling like he can admit it now.

❛ you kissed reze in the classroom awhile back, right? i saw and i just assumed you two were a thing. i mean...you are, right? ❜ he doesn't know if denji is piecing everything together, but yoshida was jealous. he knew he'd never get his attention since he didn't have the female anatomy. he also wasn't the type of person who sought these relationships most teenagers loved to talk about whether it was bragging about being in one or hallway gossip. yoshida would reject it in any way that he could. ❛ denji, i was jealous because i only wanted your eyes to be on me and that's selfish. ❜ he looks up at him now, a worry-worn smile on his mouth wondering if yoshida could get away with implying it, but he might have to admit it:

I LIKE YOU.

it's just that he didn't want to admit it while he was in this state. this awful shape where denji has to take care of him. yoshida feels like bullet holes on a target sheet, he was bare & ripped by pieces of metal. denji would be able to see the parts of him that weren't the image he purported at school, but he also understands that he had let denji see him fully as he was. he can feel the sudden perspiration forming in his back & he knows is fever is in full force. he wonders how much of this conversation he can keep before sleep abruptly grasps him.

denji flinches a little at his question, swears that the embarrassment of being caught increases the flush, but he still manages to somewhat look at yoshida as he guides the spoon into his mouth. he'd belatedly thought about blowing on the food in case it was too hot, but it seemed like yoshida could handle it at least. as he prepares another spoonful, he feels a warm hand enveloping his own. finally, denji looks at yoshida and he wonders what he's supposed to see or what he looks like to him right now. his brief recollection of sharing food with yoshida crops up in his brain, causing him to frown.

“it's not the same,” denji attempts to justify. he doesn't know what he's trying to justify, but he's trying to. “it's because you're sharing your food with me. i'm just feeding you because you can't feed yourself.” denji huffs and finds that he misses those times. an image of yoshida turning the spoon on him just to get a taste of what his food is like sits heavy on his mind for some reason. he doesn't get why it does suddenly; his skin feels scalding hot. taking another spoon to yoshida's mouth, he pauses, wondering just how he knew what he could be thinking.

denji sets the spoon back in the bowl, taking a moment to think of the right words to say. he felt like a different kind of expression in his chest, coupled with his confusion. last time he and yoshida spoke it ended in disaster, and denji heated that yoshida wouldn't open up to him. denji knows he sort of has him now, but there are still so many things he's confused about. he takes a baited breath, hand unconsciously squeezing yoshida's. “o'course i missed you,” denji began in a low voice, weeks of longing laced in the undertones of his confession.

“i thought a lot about... i thought a lotta bout ya. even though we were arguin'. iunno why, yer almost perfect n' stuff. but i wondered if ya fangirls were bein' too much for ya... if student council work was stressin' ya out... stuff like that. before i knew it I started lookin' fer ya after class, just... i knew where you'd be; you'd wait for me in the library for tutorin'... but 't's kinda awkward ta go back to somethin' normal after that. iunno why i couldn't face ya. 'm sorry, yoshida.” denji wonders if his rambling made any kind of sense to the other, as saying it out loud didn't do any of his thoughts proper justice, he feels. another squeeze to his hand ought to convey just how badly denji truly missed yoshida's presence and he was currently drinking up every bit of his attention he could get before things get awkward again.

it would suck even worse, as summer vacation were soon coming up upon them. he would be away for an entire month, unable to see yoshida, worried about their standing as friends. he wanted to invite him, but as things are now he's not so sure.

[anzulvr]

What do you think Karma would be like with a calm/chill reader who's easygoing and effortlessly charming personality sometimes turns completely 180 when they feel strong emotions? Like they can go from sweetly comforting Nagisa to yelling oddly detailed threats at Terasaka while chasing him with a metal bottle for eating her food. (Maybe mix in some passive aggressive sarcastic sass when Korosensei's being annoying?)

Karma x Chill(..but actually really passive aggressive) reader 🤗🤗 Ty for the request!! (Sorry took long)

— You don’t argue often and you are also very good at listening to everyones perspective and ideas even if they’re different from you. People view you as very understanding so seeing you actually getting into a heated fight it’s surprising at first.

— Karma is so surprised when he sees you angry for the first time like he didn’t know you had it in you to say the things you did.

— He TRIES to get you pissed off just to see you react, since you know he’s kidding and dating him gives you a soft spot for him it’s basically just him failing to annoy you.

— This one time Karma scribbled over your paper to bother you and all you did was frown for a second and erase / re do anything he messed up. (He felt bad and helped you when he realized you weren’t going to fight 😭)

— then in a group project with Yoshida (also Isogai and Rinka) Yoshida scribbled a little bit on your notes (not nearly as much damage as Karma made) but it pissed you off so badly you grabbed a marker and started scribbling on his face

“I’ve been working on those notes for days you actual dumbass”

“Hey- I’m sorry!! I’ll rewrite them— get off me your using permanent marker it’ll be hard to take off!!”

“GOOD.”

— “Damn [name] that mad?” When you hear Karma mention how you reacted you stop so fast

“I wasn’t actually mad. We we’re just playing right Yoshida?”

Only out of fear he agrees “Right..”

— You’re tolerance for everything is way higher for Karma because you like him too much to get mad, that doesn’t mean you never get mad at him it just takes a little more to.

— Some of the things you respond with are shady in the way people expect Karma and it’s just so confusing cause it feels so out of character for you.

— but it’s definitely one of the things Karma likes the most about you because 1. It’s funny 2. Hes glad to see you stand up for yourself once in a while because he’s usually the one telling people off for you.

— passive aggressiveness would come whenever Korosensei or really E class is too pushy about certain topics.

For example before Karma confessed to you theyd push you to do it first and come up with crazy plans to make things happen.

— they full on locked you in a room together and instead of waiting it out you found a way to break the doorknob (together #romanceisreal)

Angry you and happy Karma is a mix end class fears because he’ll be constantly hyping it up😭

Like you’ll be be hitting Terasaka with a notebook because he said something stupid and Karma will go:

“[Name] wait— Use this one it’s way thicker!!”

(took inspo for ur original request lollol)

Karma will support anything you try and honestly rile you up more to see what you do

Angry you and Angry Karma is definitely the worst mix of all

hell on earth

! but it hardly happens since you usually reel each other in

Just tell him to chill tf out😭

Having strong emotions isn’t all bad, you’re empathetic, kind and care for everyone in class— even Terasaka no matter how much of a pain he can be.

mom friend-ish?? (Awe yeah Mom friend definitely)

They don’t actually mind it and are grateful for the times you stand up for them bc they know you love them

Especially Karma even though you’re prone to getting into arguments like all couples do it’ll work out fine because you both care to much about eachother.

If you’re the type to remind people you love them after arguing it’s another thing he loves about you, since he himself has trouble saying he’s wrong first it’s helped him swallow his pride and apologize faster.

(Literally so cute my fave relationship dynamic)

[darkcircles4lyfe]

I've given it some thought--

Now, if you've read any of my posts and you've read 430, you know there are a lot of ways it falls short of what I wanted. On the other hand, I can respect an open ending, one where we are allowed and encouraged to dream. All things considered, I'm not satisfied or disappointed, but a secret third thing... bear with me.

For a lot of storylines, I can fill in the blanks how I want.

I'm heartbroken over Himiko's fate, but there's no denying that the lack of camera footage leaves open the possibility of her simply disappearing. Perhaps she is waiting in hiding for the world to change, just like Lady Nagant.

Dr. Yoshida is described as someone who can cure the incurable. That may be referring to Katsuki, but the doctor himself said it's a complete mystery how he survived, all Katsuki's own doing. Maybe he cured someone else in those 8 years... someone like Touya?

Honestly I got nothing on Tenko but who knows. Who knows! Something something OFA connection. Izuku having vestige visions. Idk.

As for the manner in which society is changing, I'm drawn to Shouji's speech: "I'm dedicating the honor to those who joined the uprising eight years ago. All I've done is stand atop the resolve that they demonstrated to the world, nothing more." That at least tells me his earlier judgment of the other heteromorphs "setting them back" was a narrow point of view Shouji was supposed to grow out of, rather than a way of Horikoshi trying to criticize revolutionaries. In general, just because a character says something doesn't mean we're supposed to take it as gospel. That's lit crit 101, people.

Then there's Izuku. Once again I am feeling this pretty close to home. I keep coming back to the fact that the class is 24/25 now and I'm 25, man. On top of that, anyone else who was 14/15 ten years ago when the manga started gets to feel like we've all grown up together. I wanted catharsis for Izuku's trauma so badly. I wanted words. But I can't deny that the way Izuku is shown attempting to make the best of things and be content with a humbler life resonates with me, as painful as it is, as much as I know deep down he's kidding himself. It doesn't surprise me that he kept his walls up all this time and continued to shun his "selfishness."

I almost feel like there's an all-encompassing narrative theme being expressed here, in the fact that Izuku was trying to push past his pain and focus on the next generation, but surprise, his story's not over yet. I think the implied message there is that more can be done in the here and now, and maybe other stories that seem to be over, aren't.

With these things in mind, I can take the ending in stride, even if this is all the more we get from Horikoshi. However. There's one thing that is jolting me out of my peace every time I start to get comfortable here. It's actually related to the storyline that got the most closure.

I've seen a lot of fellow bkdk enjoyers calling their conclusion the best part of the ending, and I agree with that. They got a truly full circle moment, and a way of communicating to the reader that they're together, they have their forever, in a way that is personal to them. It's not "canon" in the way a kiss or a confession is, but I've said it before--this makes sense for them. And Horikoshi also did something legitimately interesting and groundbreaking by not making Ochako confess, not showing her future being tied to the main character as a love interest.

No, the thing that's bugging me is a seemingly small detail: why does Izuku and Katsuki holding hands at the end, of all things, have to be implied? Lots of things about 430 make sense in the context of the interview Horikoshi recently gave where he expressed being content with what he has drawn, and what he has left to the imagination. But not this. You can't convince me he didn't want to draw this. It's a motherfucking story about hands. This is the one thing I was 110% certain would happen. It's been teased for forever. Katsuki clearly wanted it so bad. So many other characters got to hold Izuku's hand in-frame. What the hell. Why.

Idk. I will be thinking about it for the foreseeable future.

[sugar-grigri]

Neither Denji, Yoshida nor their author can achieve normalcy

Let's look at Chainsaw Man as a narrative whole. There's no point in an author dealing with a subject that's already been dealt with, except to say something additional: so what does this chapter tell us?

Entitled "Normal Life", the chapter refers directly to Denji's previous dream: a normal life became Yoshida's offer to push him to stop being Chainsaw Man.

Fujimoto knows that you've understood that Denji intends to go beyond normality. This is something we learned from the whole of Part 1: normality had already been used by Makima to manipulate Denji. Here, things seem redundant, as Yoshida follows in the footsteps of the former antagonist. On top of that, while Denji was communicating and showing a certain emotional vulnerability, he's being sexually assaulted?

Why this chapter? Why tell it like it is? Fujimoto doesn't seem to initiate anything new, worse, erases his own developments.

The answer is easy, and Fujimoto gives it to us: this chapter is frustrating because it consciously shows you that he's incapable of writing and describing a normal life.

The first few pages serve to show that Denji is incapable of living anonymously and incognito when his environment permanently gravitates around the figure of Chainsaw Man. Denji literally finds himself in a fight to his detriment, and is punched in the face in the name of his heroic identity. Back in the face.

The second page serves to show that Denji can't achieve this so-called normativity by his past, by who he is, but above all by the way he's perceived by society and his guardians. He doesn't have a normal past, so how can he achieve a normal present? The others don't see him as lambda, so how can he become one?

The third thing that will prevent Denji from achieving this normal life is the man who intends to offer it to him: Yoshida. In his equally unconventional present as a demon hunter. He tells him explicitly: he has no idea what a normal high-school student does. Normal he isn't, since a normal high-school student is a professional cover for him.

Denji and Yoshida perceive a normal schoolgirl, that is, the ordinary life of a schoolboy, as something projected and unattainable. Just like the love of a hug is unattainable for Denji and Makima. Yoshida and Denji are distanced from it by this abnormality embedded in their daily lives: a demon.

Yoshida's assertion that the world won't end without Chainsaw Man also loses its meaning. Granted, Chainsaw Man isn't the only one to eradicate demons. But who will save the world?

How can a boy whose family includes a demonic little sister, and a demonic dog who is both his heart and his family, find his way in this normal life other than by being isolated?

In this empty room, doesn't it seem more like Chainsaw Man is deliberately isolated? Trapped in this normal life he can't quite fit into. Whether it's because of his identity as Chainsaw Man, as Denji, whether it's because Yoshida offers him this girl who looks like a demon who literally followed orders to sleep with him, this sex-obsessed boy?

Why abruptly cut off Denji's realization that he's in a bad way? With this demon-like girl sexually assaulting him? Why does this ending seem so abrupt?

Because what Fujimoto is indicating is that he's not capable of writing a normal life for Denji either, that his writing will never be gentle, that his character will never be able to give himself up in appropriate, normal circumstances: that a trauma will always resurface.

Whether it's the demon that prevents him from accessing the life projected before him, or the demon that brutally cuts him off from his confessions by attacking him. Fujimoto confronts his own hero, who no longer knows what to do?

Make love? In a world populated by demons? In a world crawling with Chainsaw Man? With an author unable to depict a normal life without brutally interrupting it, frustrating his own reader?

The normal life we'd all like Denji to have: neither he, nor the man who offers it, nor the man who writes it, will give it to us.

[iridescentscarecrow]

Weapons and War: The Chainsaw Man as a Produced Image

i've been building this theme analysis up for a while with a variety of posts but csm 146 actually entirely validated what i Think the narrative of csm part 2 is trying to do, so i'm attempting to collate the main thread of my thoughts in one post.

iconography in part 2:

the symbol of chainsaw man appears throughout part 2 in various instances. it's so ubiquitous. a lot of the story has denji attempting to claim this identity for himself:

this identity which found its origins in part one but really comes into its own in part 2.

the commercial use and the production of this image is what is poignant here. from the symbolic use of CSM related products, to the church's more actively malicious utilisation of this image to aid their own activity, to barem's confession in this chapter which underlines

how and why this icon is being produced as a separate entity. devils strengthen themselves off fear, off their perception and a molding of that perception Means things.

the role of the protagonist: asa and denji

what's more interesting here is how the story's narrative hinges on dispossessing denji from his identity as chainsaw man. you see him grapple with this identity at various points. you see yoshida actively attempt to turn him away from it.

it's a little meta, in how the role of the protagonist transfers from denji to asa simultaneously as denji's presence in the story dissolves into what chainsaw man is. his disenfranchisement collides with asa's occupying of the protagonist role.

the weapon hybrids being brought back is relevant here. asa / yoru's power is quite literally turning people into weapons. denji's image represented form is as a weapon. the infamous promotional art has asa wielding a chainsaw.

both denji and asa parallel each other in wonderful ways but war situates itself on How it uses its tools, its people in systems to propogate this violent reality. one which pushes what seems to be an Ideal outcome. that sounds familiar, doesn't it? (psst. it's fami's plan)

fami and yoshida

war thus functions as a mechanism which weaponises the chainsaw, or the icon of the chainsaw. war is the stage upon which weapons are utilised, and weapons further emphasise a state of war.

that's fami's plan as of csm 146. that's its literal quality (and fjmt loves literal metaphors in his stories. think the darkness devil and its arc's theme of ignorance).

meanwhile yoshida's actions here are ones opposing asa's (his personal ideologies are interesting too but in this chapter he functions as an agent, as the actor of Another force). his targeting of asa's limbs is purposeful on both an in-world level (functionally disabling her from making weapons) and a narrative level (arms = weapons. he's disarming her.)

yeagh. excellent chapter and i feel very very validated.

links to a few of my older thoughts:

iconography re: denji and asa

denji's struggle with this image of himself / more of the same thing but in context with part one

more asa and denji parallels, this time re: their desires and the metaphor of the screen

some thoughts on the first hints of this as in yoshida's suggestions to denji

EDIT (25/10): long meta on part one's metanarrative which seems relevant here

i am so, so ill actually.

[tzviaariella]

Meant to Be

(Originally a Twitter threadfic; crossposting here to preserve it.)

"Everything will go back to the way it was meant to be. There are no exceptions."

You try to accept it. You do. But when you wake up on Christmas morning, you are in Leblanc, and Akechi is in an interrogation room.

Maruki gave him his freedom, not his life.

It should be a relief. It isn't. For all of Akechi's many (so very many) crimes, your heart is the only jail you ever wanted him in. But when Sae gets you a visit, when you apologize, his laugh could cut through bone:

"Don't flatter yourself, Joker. I'm not doing this for you."

You're not? Stop being an idiot. I don't understand.

"I sacrificed everything--everything--to be the one to drag my father down. Then YOU changed his heart. All I have left is to tell the world everything we did together and force him to acknowledge me as his son in court. I'll be damned before I let you take that from me, too."

He has confessed to crimes enough to lock him up forever, yet you are the one who feels guilt. He seems to enjoy that. The bulletproof glass of the visiting area is another door slammed shut between you, but this time, you know he's still alive.

You can reach him.

You must.

He refuses any help from Sae. He refuses any help from you. As far as the Phantom Thieves are concerned, this is the appropriate outcome.

"He's alive," they tell you. "Just because he was hurt doesn't mean he shouldn't face consequences. That's why we changed hearts, isn't it?"

You think about changing Akechi's heart, forcing him to see how stupid he's being. You're stronger than him, after all. You always were. But the Meta-Nav and the Velvet Room are gone. The Phantom Thieves are over. The only place you remain Joker is in your dreams.

So you sleep.

You dream of the Metaverse, again and again, and every night you push the dream further. You push until you find the boundaries, and then you tear through them. When you do, you find yourself in the Velvet Room, but it isn't a jail.

Akechi is a prisoner. You are something else.

You find yourself in a courtroom. Reasonable enough. You've been on trial for most of the past year, with varying degrees of literalness. But Igor's seat at the judge's bench is empty, and Lavenza looks alarmed.

"You should not be here. Things are how they were meant to be."

Are you sure? Bullshit. I don't care.

You summon Satanael in all his enormity, and she has no choice but to retreat. That's fine. She wasn't helpful, anyway. On a whim, you seat yourself on the judge's bench.

It feels wrong.

But not very.

You have your way into the Metaverse now, and you use it whenever you can. You skip school. You lie to Sojiro. You leave your friends' texts unread. They weren't helpful, anyway, none of them. You'll have to do this yourself.

Akechi always did. And you're stronger.

You find the prosecutor's shadow. The judge's. The warden's. One by one, you win them to your side. You've always been personable, persuasive, and this is no different. It's persuasion, nothing more. You find Ohya's--she can help. Yoshida's. Others.

You persuade them all.

You win Akechi's release, but he doesn't come to Leblanc. Doesn't contact you at all. You send him text after text with no reply, text your friends for the first time in two months. No one responds to you. But on February 3rd, they all come through your courtroom door.

You're confused. None of them should be in here. You rise from your judge's bench to greet them and see that their faces are all grim.

"You know what we're here for, Joker," Akechi says. "This isn't you."

You don't understand. And then...you do.

You explain yourself--the actions you've taken, your triumphs, your reasons. You've always been personable, persuasive, and these are your friends. They ought to support you. You can't understand why they don't.

You'll just have to persuade them.

The battle should be easy. You've always been stronger. But Akechi fights like you've never seen him fight before, and the rest--your friends, your teammates--hold nothing back. Neither do you. You can't even hate them for hurting you. In a strange way, you feel proud.

You lose.

"It was risky, coming in without a calling card," Akechi says coldly. "But I thought the date would do. If ever you would fear losing everything, it's today, calling card or not."

He has beaten you at your strongest. That's what he wanted. He should look happier.

Do you hate me? You're making a huge mistake. This isn't how things were meant to be.

You see Akechi's face soften, just for a moment. Then he laughs, and his laugh is hard. "No," he agrees. "No, it isn't."

The courtroom is crumbling around you, but you can't persuade yourself to move. Your heart hasn't changed. Your heart has broken.

Everything hurts.

You don't remember him lifting you, or the form his Velvet Room takes when he carries you through the door. You remember none of the past few months at all. But when you wake up on February 4, you are in prison, and Akechi is dead.

Just as things were always meant to be.

[lesbianhidemi]

yumi, ayumi and minerva glass for the ask game ;D -cikha

yumi:

who? | only know their name | loathe | ugh | overrated | indifferent | dead | alive | just okay | cute | badass | my baby | hot | want to marry | favorite

ayumi:

who? | only know their name | loathe | ugh | overrated | indifferent | dead | alive | just okay | cute | badass | my a literal baby🤧 | hot | want to marry | favorite

minerva glass:

who? | only know their name | loathe | ugh | overrated | indifferent | dead | alive | just okay | cute | badass | my baby | hot | want to marry | favorite

send me a detective conan character and i'll rate them!

[pretty-setter-bois]

sure thing

requests; none! i’ve had this in my head for a while and decided to write it out.

summary; red apples apples and hard rain lead to sugawara’s long awaited confession.

word count; 1179™

warnings; smoking.

     “YOU’RE GOING TO have to tell her, suga.” daichi quips, arms crossed.

the third years have stayed later than usual after practice today, preparing for the upcoming game.

“daichi has a point. graduation’s coming up soon, you know.” asahi adds on.

“i know.” suga sighs.

he’s liked you for years. since first year, actually. he’d been seated behind you in math class, and the banter with the classmate beside you made him chuckle more times than he’d remembered.

the three of you were later paired up for a group project, and you soon became friends after that.

“it’s getting late,” daichi points out. “but i recommend you do something about it soon.” daichi waves goodbye. “later.”

“see you tomorrow, suga.” asahi takes off, leaving the setter in the clubroom.

suga glances out the small window, noticing the rain has gotten heavier than before. he’ll have to get home quick.

changing into his uniform, he grabs his bag and begins sprinting towards coach ukai’s store. maybe he’ll have an umbrella.

he opens the door, to which coach ukai groans.

“ugh, which one of you mischeif-makers is here now…” he rolls his eyes. “oh, it’s just you suga. come in.”

“thanks.” suga offers a polite nod, trekking around the store in hopes of finding a cheap umbrella he could just this once.

he looks at his two options; a childish umbrella which i too small for him, or an unbrella that he does not quite have enough money on him for.

he chooses none, giving up trying to stay dry as he had already gotten wet on the way here. he thanks coach ukai again, leaving the store.

he walks with his hands in his pocket, hoping his thoughts would catch up with him at his slow pace.

suga really values your friendship. bursting into his class to scold him for leaving practice early the day before, constantly reminding him that he would have his chance on the court, and the banter you’d indulge in with him.

he loves it all, and he isn’t sure if he wants to risk it. what would happen if you begin dating? your future pathway is surely different than his, meaning you’ll be going to different universities.

maybe even living in different countries. will long distance even work? and that’s if you returned his feelings.

he’s lost in his thoughts, so much that he hasn’t even noticed the small apple rolling towards him.

“sorry!” a familiar voice shouts.

he picks up the apple, looking up to face whomever dropped it.

you stand in front of him, nervous smile and hair drenched. a bag of apples rests in your hands, and he hands you the one in his.

“thanks.”

“yeah… no problem.” he answers.

he stands in front of you, staring in awe. who would’ve thought?

“um… i’m going to get going now?” you clutch the bag in your hands — tighter this time, so they won’t fall.

“yeah, i should too.” he nods, and the two of you go about your seperate ways.

he’s even deeper in thought now, thinking of your encounter. sugawara is never one for impulsiveness, always calculating his next move precisely — whether it be in volleyball or school.

you are an exception.

“(Y/N)!” he shouts, turning around to face you.

“huh?” you mutter to yourself, turning around to face sugawara. “yeah?”

he stands still for a moment, and the rain continues to pour over your heads.

“i like you! i’ve liked you since first year, ever since you pushed yoshida’s chair and made him fall on his ass! i like you so, so much that i’m standing here in the rain and shouting out a half-assed confession, because i like you!”

the rain is still pouring, but he doesn’t seem to care. his eyes focus on you, amidst the droplets of water.

“are you serious?” you shout back. “why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

what a turn of events.

“huh?!” he shouts.

it was his turn to be confused.

“i like you too, dumbass! all you had to do was tell me!”

he jogs up to you, hoping that whatever he hears isn’t from the water in his ears.

“could you possibly repeat that?”

you slide the bag up to your elbows, cupping your hands around your mouth. “i. like. you.”

“oh.” sugawara nods. “oh.”

“yeah, since i watched your first volleyball game. you weren’t on court, but i could tell you were amazing. your passion for the team and selflessness for the game was a good start-”

“can i kiss you?”

“don’t interrupt me when i’m speaking.” you glare up at him, despite your warm cheeks.

“can i kiss you?” he repeats again.

“fine, but you’re going to have to listen to me after.” you playfully roll your eyes.

he doesn’t care. he’ll listen to you for all the hours in the world and about whatever you speak, as long as you kiss him now.

he leans in, lingering his fingers around your waist as a way to ask for consent to rest them there, as he really doesn’t want to move his lips from their current position.

you move his hands closer to your waist, and he intertwines them behind your back. the bag of apples is long forgotten, but this time you don’t care.

you’re kissing sugawara koushi, for goodness sake, and placing your arms around his neck makes it seem all the more real.

the rain continues, but neither of you pay it any mind. not when your lips are on each others, not when you hold on to each other, and certainly not when your feelings are finally confessed.

“oi, if you two want to suck off each others faces, do it somewhere else. this is a reputable store and i have a reputation to uphold!” ukai scolds, broom in one hand and cigarette in the other. “now get out of this rain before you catch a cold. you won’t be able to get on court if you’re sick, suga.”

“sorry, sir!” suga offers a short bow, one of his hands still tangled with yours.

the two of you begin to walk, as you scramble for your bag of groceries once more.

“damnit.” you mumble, spotting them faraway.

the bag as still intact, thank goodness.

you hold it in your spare hand, and begin to make your way home.

ukai chuckles, watching you and sugawara jog hand-in-hand. although he hasn’t been at karasuno for too long, he was quick to sense the feelings between you and suga.

“finally.” he grumbles, putting out his cigarette and walking back inside the store.

“isn’t your house the other way?” you raise an eyebrow at your boyfriend-of-three-minutes.

“yeah, it is.” he turns to face you, squeezing your hand. “but what kind of boyfriend would i be if i let you go home alone after confessing?”

“wow. it’s hard to believe that we’re finally dating.” you smile. “does this mean i get special privileges?”

“you’ve always had special privileges, (Y/N).”

“let’s hope i’m the only one.”

“that’s a sure thing.”

NOTES ♕❣⁂ღ

i can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write for my first haikyuu crush heh.

i hope this makes up for my inactivity, but i’m sad to say that school is starting up soon and i’ll only be more inactive :(

[hopeless-ultimates]

“Hello Again My Sweetest Fans~!” (Promo)

A saccharine voice greeted, their giggle attracting the glances of passerbys. A girl was holding her phone high, its screen facing her and the group behind her.

“I can already hear you guys going ‘Essie?! But you already did a livestream today!”. And you’re totally not wrong.” Essie giggled at the thousands upon thousands of comments that flooded her chat, ranging from mundane conversations among viewers to confessions of love for their livestreaming queen. 

“Buuut~! By super popular demand, I think it’s about time I introduce my crew to you guys! What do you think?” She paused, basking in the silent roaring of her digital audience. “Alrighty then!”

Stepping aside, her crew became more apparent. 16 other teens her age, all gathered what looked like to be the outskirts of Hope’s Peak Academy. “Hey guys! Come introduce yourself to my chat! Name and everything!”

They all glanced at each other, a few shrugged. What was the harm in introducing themselves?

“Hello everyone!! I hope you are having a good day! I’m Keiko Oshiro, the Ultimate Beautician!”

“Former.”

“Oh! Right-! The Former Ultimate Beautician,” she corrected with an even brighter smile. 

“Hunter Kurihara, the Former Ultimate Hunter.”

“Ha-Haruka.. Haruka Hirano.. Former Ultimate Mascot..”

“Hideki Okumura, Former Ultimate Billards Player.”

“Goro Iwai! Pleasure to meet you all, little brothers and sisters!”

“Hisai Sane the Former Ultimate Matchmaker at your romantic service!”

Before another could continue, the camera feed started to violently shake as a short girl started to grab at the phone.

“Lemme see..!”

“No, Sora I’m streaming-”

“Lemme see it!! I want to say hi myself!” The shorter girl named Sora whimpered more. She pouted childishly, reaching higher to grab at the phone only for Essie to hold it higher.

“Piss off! Before I introduce you myself!”

“Lemme se-” Essie turned the camera to Sora. “This little goober is Sora Azuma-” “Noo-” “The Former Ultimate Demolitionist!”

She pushed her away from view before turning the camera back to the others. “Keep it rollin’ guys!”

“My name is Michiko Fujioka, I am the founder and main contributor of the Troinbansi exhibit in the Saraya Museum. But now, I am the Former Ultimate Archaeologist.”

“Akira Yoshida. I’m wasn’t an ultimate. I was a reserve student. But my brother here.”

The boy flinched at being pointed at.

“That’s Shinya Kojima. He’s was the Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist.”

“Greetings friends! I am Hitomi Sonoda, the Oracle of the gods!”

“Kobashigawa Shouta. The Ultimate Hermatologist.”

“...”

“Hmph. Erika Hagane. Former Ultimate Supermodel.”

“Hydropic,” mumbled the girl on her knees. She was focused on the small handheld console in her hands. Her eyes flickered back and forth as she pressed harshly against the buttons on either side of the screen. 

“Real names Setsuko!!” 

“... Oh...”

“...”

“...”

“Former Ultimate E-sports gamer... Setsuko.. Haruyama.”

And beside her was the shortest of the group. He tried to hide behind the gamer and away from the camera’s intense glare. Though his gas mask made him stand out a lot more than wanted.

“Oh.. That’s Moniker. He’s... something!” 

“But anyway, that’s pretty much everyone! They’re all super chill so if you guys have anything you want to ask or tell anyone, or me of course, now’s a really great time to do so!”

__Tag Dump Below! Feel free to Interact even if not tagged Or just Ignore__

@ask-despair-ultimate @the-ultimate-spaceboy @ask-the-ultimate-recluse @ask-a-gremlin @ask-miu-iruma @cooking-with-despair @supreme-leaders-lies @ask-theshadowcyborg@dr-passionate-production @ask-hiyoko @daydreamer-and-hypnotist @dream-poison @ask-shslpianist @false-mastermind @ultimate-waifu-bait​ @ultimate-roommates @ask-a-fatigued-liar @yandere-v1rus @castleofdeceit @shsl-lolita @ask-the-ultimate-housewife @ultimate-aikido-master @askthe-journalist-andthe-broker @askmikan-tsumiki​ @shsl-twin-brothers​ @ask-the-ultimateknifethrower​ @shsl-soldier-mukuro-ikusaba​ @ask-ultimate-pyrologist​ @ask-ultimate-mailman​ @class-79​ @ouranswer​ @show-goes-on​ @ask-ultimate-gardener​ @concealed-encryption​ @depths-of-hope-and-despair​ @pansexual-sobbing-mess​ @ask-monokuma​

[heycoyotegirl]

Safe to Shore

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24252283 Relationships: Paxton Hall-Yoshida/Devi Vishwakumar Additional Tags: Pre-Relationship, Panic Attacks, paxton is a soft boy and i will die on this hill, no beta we die like non-honors students, Mutual Pining Summary: Devi has a panic attack after falling into the pool. Paxton helps her through it. A/N: This is my first NHIE fic, so let me know if I got their voices right! It’s also unbetad, so please point out any mistakes.

Paxton was leading her somewhere. She wasn’t quite sure where. He’d said something—about clothes, maybe—but her ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton. And the party continued to rage around them. The bass of too loud music thumped through her body, shaking her bones and forcing her heartbeat to match the racing tempo.

The breeze against her damp skin made her shiver. Made her keep shivering. Hadn’t they just been inside? Why was there a breeze? Where—

Paxton’s hand left her lower back, and she found herself suddenly swaying on her feet. She hadn’t even realized that his hand had been there until its support was gone. What was happening to her that she hadn’t realized that Paxton was touching her? Was she dying? Her chest hurt with every inhale. The air stabbing into her lungs, trying to cut her to ribbons. Her heart was pounding, about to break free from her ribcage. And the world around her seemed muted and muffled and blurry. Weirdly distorted like she was—

Underwater.

Oh, God.

“Woah!”

She felt distant hands grab at her. Pulling her out of the water? Or pushing her deeper? The breeze was ice against her skin. Her pulse thudded in her ears, everything else drowned out by its roar. She had to find the surface, but her legs were numb, useless, paralyzed. Her lungs were caving in—or, no, filled with water. The pressure unbearable. Ribs cracking under the strain. Her throat tightened. She was choking. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t breathe and—

“Devi! Devi, hey, can you hear me? I’m right here. I’ve got you.”

Paxton. Paxton’s hand in her’s. Paxton’s face in her field of view. His eyebrows drawn together, lips tight with worry. Worry—for her?

She managed to nod her head, motions jerky. The motion unbalanced her. Set her head spinning. The rip current threatening to drag her deeper.

Paxton squeezed her hand. A lifebuoy. “Ok, can you name five things you can see for me?”

The world was still swimming. She felt disconnected, trapped at the bottom of a pool while everyone watched impassively from above. She was still shaking. Why couldn’t she stop shaking?

“Devi?” Paxton prompted, voice so soft it made her ache.

“Right.” Forcing that single word out through the water in her lungs was exhausting. But she couldn’t let Paxton down. Couldn’t disappoint him. The last person still in her life. Five things. “Um. Your eyes. Your jacket. The ground. My dress.” With each word spoken, the next came a little easier. But still, she hesitated for a second. Her voice dropped, nearly whispering, “Your lips.”

Said lips curved into a small smile. “Good. Now, what are four things you can feel?”

Her breath hitched, and her vision abruptly went blurry. Her eyes stung—chlorine? She blinked rapidly. Her hand darted to her leg, pinching her skin roughly, nails digging in hard enough to draw blood. “My—my legs. I can’t—I can’t feel—”

Paxton caught her hand, gently prying it away from her leg. He replaced it with his own, palm burning her skin like a brand. “I got you. I promise, your legs still work. Do you think you can tell me four things you feel?”

Devi managed another approximation of a nod. His thumb started to rub little circles by her knee, the repetitive motion soothing enough that she managed to take a deep—shuddering and painful—breath. Still, progress.

“Your hand—hands,” she said. Paxton’s grip on her tightened for a second. She met his gaze and found herself shuddering for a new reason. “Uh, the breeze. The pavement. My awful, wet dress.” She was starting to settle back into herself. Unfortunately, that meant she was all too aware of the way the damp fabric clung to her.

“Good. You’re almost done, and then we’ll get you out of that wet dress. What are three things you can hear?”

Devi stared at him silently for a moment, but if he realized what he said, he didn’t show it. Perhaps she was still more out of it than she’d thought. Eventually, she answered, “Your voice. The music. My heart.” The last, she said softly, like it was a confession. Maybe it was. The fear was receding, leaving bone deep fatigue in its place, but her heart continued to race.

Paxton smiled at her. Had he been that close a second ago? “Two things you can smell.”

“Chlorine and…”—her nose wrinkled—“chlorine.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I’ll give you that one. It really covers everything up.”

Devi smiled back at him. They were still holding hands. Could he feel her pulse fluttering like a hummingbird’s wings? She hoped her hand wasn’t too clammy.

“Last one: One thing you can taste. Or would like to taste.”

You. “Chlorine, again,” she said, sticking her tongue out in feigned disgust.

Paxton chuckled softly, the sound punching her straight in the gut. They were both silent for a moment. His breathing was slow and deep, and Devi found herself unconsciously matching him. He was the metronome, demanding her to keep time. Her lungs twinged as they expanded fully, but when Paxton paused for a beat between inhale and exhale, she mimicked him, relishing in the ache after the suffocating feeling from before.

His voice was quiet as he asked, “Are you feeling better?”

She glanced away, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah. Thank you for that.”

“Of course.” His gaze was heavy when she looked up, and she nearly held her breath in anticipation. But she couldn’t afford to screw this up and lose yet another person. She slipped her hand out of his, making a futile attempt—mostly for show—to squeeze some of the water out of the hem of her dress.

“You said something about clothes?” Getting her out of that wet dress, to be specific. She pushed the thought away; she had to focus on being a good friend, not pining away hopelessly.

“Right.” He sounded—disappointed? Her head whipped up. He didn’t look disappointed. Wishful thinking, then. This “being a good friend” thing might be tougher than she’d thought. He gave her thigh one last squeeze—how had she missed the fact that his hand was still on her leg?—and stood, offering a hand to help her up. “I have some extra sweats in the car that you can wear.”

The thought of wearing Paxton’s clothes would have sent her into a tizzy any other day. Today, she was bone-deep exhausted. Which she realized when she stood and nearly face planted into Paxton’s chest. Her knees buckling threatened to send her spiraling again, but she could still feel them, feel the lead weights in all of her muscles and the throbbing from her ill-advised pinch.

Plus, Paxton’s hands were on her waist, saving her from breaking her nose on his sternum or tipping over backwards to crack her skull on his car. He was murmuring at her, not really saying anything, but tone and cadence soothing. It reminded her of someone talking to an injured wild animal they were trying to catch. These days, she often felt like a wild animal, cornered and scared and lashing out at the people trying to help her.

“Devi?”

She shook the thoughts off, starting slightly as she realized that Paxton’s hands were still on her waist and her hands were clutching his forearms. “Sorry,” she said, not moving her hands. “I kind of got lost in thought there.”

Paxton shrugged. “No worries. I should’ve realized that your blood sugar would be low. I’ve got snacks in the car. Think you can lean against the car and stay upright long enough for me to grab them?”

She nodded, albeit reluctantly. But only because his hands were warm and she was cold. Definitely not because standing like that made it very easy to fantasize about kissing him. She half listened to Paxton rattle off an implausibly long list of choices—was he running some sort of strange convenience store out of the back of his jeep?—eventually just letting him decide.

He’d returned quickly, snacks and sweats in hand and watched her like a hawk as she carefully lowered herself to sit leaning against the car’s tire. And thus, she found herself sitting on the ground outside Ben’s house—outside the biggest party of the year—in a wet dress, drinking a juice box and eating banana bread with Paxton Hall-Yoshida, the hottest guy in school. If her thigh didn’t still hurt, she’d be tempted to pinch herself again.

She was on her second slice—Paxton was on what seemed to be his second loaf—when the wind blew sharply, reminding her of the fact that she was still soaked. She shivered violently, and Paxton was on his feet instantly. “You should get changed,” he said, stepping around to the other side of the car. “Wouldn’t want to go to the hospital for hypothermia.”

She nodded and pulled his sweatshirt over her head so that she could maintain some amount of dignity while wiggling out of the clingy fabric. “Thanks for letting me borrow your sweats. This is so embarrassing; you keep having to rescue me at parties.”

“It’s not embarrassing for me.” He shot her a slight smile. “I always come out of it looking cool.”

[eleutheramina]

Jack Atlas Analysis - Part 2

Who is FC arc Jack?

How about DS arc Jack? - here

How could the DS arc have done better with regards to Jack?

Part 2: How about DS arc Jack?

DS!Jack is certainly in a much different situation that FC!Jack, and I think the line between character derailment and character development can be hard to draw sometimes. There are some who would argue that the change of lead from Tomioka to Yoshida does change him into a different character, but again, I don’t wholly agree with that. I actually am pretty fine with his characterization for most of the arc. I’m not going to touch on Team Satisfaction and how that retroactively affects Jack’s character because that’s a whole can of worms I don’t care to open. 

So who is DS!Jack? Well, he no longer holds his King title, he is definitely not unbeatable, and his Satellite origins are revealed to the public. He spends the first couple of the episodes unconscious, the third in the hospital with a broken arm. FC!Jack would probably think DS!Jack is pathetic and a disgrace. 

Less of Jack’s Internal Monologue More than how he’s characterized himself, I think one of the more subtle but significant differences about DS!Jack is how his personality is conveyed to the audience. Whereas FC!Jack has a decent amount of moments of internal monologue, I feel like there’s relatively little of Jack’s internal monologue for most of the DS arc. This, I think, contributes to why DS!Jack feels different than FC!Jack even right off the bat. Not to say FC!Jack doesn’t also convey a lot about Jack through his body language, actions, or dialogue, but I think how DS!Jack is characterized relies on it more heavily.

For instance, we don’t get much (or really, any) internal monologue about Jack’s feelings about his loss. Jack’s first action in the DS arc is to knock down a vase in anger because of his Satellite background being revealed; he also reacts similarly angrily when it makes the headlines in episode 31, paired with a flashback of his defeat and Yusei’s words about his pride of being a King, as well as when he hears his fans’ cheers and imagines Yusei’s face very heterosexually in the fountain. 

Both the reason for and the impact of not knowing a lot of Jack’s thoughts regarding his loss is, I think, that the audience mainly has Carly’s perspective on him, especially in episode 31. I think this contributes to the foreignness of DS!Jack--after all, Carly did not exist in the FC arc and we as an audience are not used to her perspective on Jack being the primary way we know him. I don’t say this as necessarily a good or bad thing, just to be clear. 

Right at the beginning of the DS arc, Carly is introduced and given an amount of protagonist-like focus to rival Yusei’s, especially notable since she does not initially have any clear connections with any of the other established characters (unlike Crow, who gets a comparable amount of focus but is retconned into being revealed to have been friends with Yusei and Jack). 

Unlike Jack, Carly does get both internal and external monologues, and the amusement park plot of episode 31 is primarily from Carly’s perspective. She doesn’t know where Jack is trying to go or what Jack’s intentions are for 90% of the episode, and so neither does the audience, and only when she figures it out do we know that he’s heading to the tower. We don’t get to hear Jack mourn his loss of his Kingship when he’s staring at the fountain; it’s Carly who narrates his hurt for us. 

This is especially clear with this shot:

Carly is literally looking at the audience during her internal monologue, suggesting she’s talking to us. Also lowkey this line is funny in hindsight because like she does melt his heart later. 

Even while they’re watching Kiryu and Yusei’s duel, or even in episode 37, we basically don’t get anything about what Jack thinks. We only get what he says to Carly or Mikage (most of which is exposition about Zero Reverse or Team Satisfaction), or Carly’s perception of him. 

Jack’s Relationship with Carly Jack’s initial interactions with Carly feel fairly in-character to me. He’s pretty indifferent to her initially, but if Jack is someone who evaluates people based on their merit, I think the moment when Carly defends him from a blast is when she overcomes the threshold to be worthy of some respect by Jack. And even then, he continues to seem either indifferent or annoyed by her--he initially leaves her apartment without any notice, he gets fed up with her antics to get a scoop from him, and he leaves her at the park and does what he’d originally set out to do. Even after the scene at the tower at the end of 31, he continues to not show much warmth to her at all for the remainder of their interactions before she becomes a DS. 

The impact of the scarcity of internal monologues for DS!Jack is that the development of Jack’s feelings for Carly is kept under wraps for most of the arc. FC!Jack has copious monologues about his being King, etc. As for DS!Jack? Well at one point, he thinks, “What I need to protect” when staring at Carly’s glasses. . . and that’s basically it as far as what Jack thinks about Carly.

The rest is conveyed through Jack staring at her glasses a lot--often paired with or commented on by Mikage, which helps put what he’s doing in a more explicitly romantic light--and conversations with Mikage. Indeed, we only fully understand his motivation when Mikage asks him directly why he’s going to Satellite. Contrast with FC!Jack whose motivation is clear from the beginning and which we hear from his own words. 

Now, I think having Jack’s feelings be mostly beneath the surface is a smart move; in hindsight, it’s pretty clear that he has feelings for Carly, but because they are not overstated, Jack doesn’t seem too lovesick or sentimental in a way that would definitely feel out of character. Rushed Relationship Development Even the most ardent of Scoopshippers can probably agree that the leap Jack and Carly’s relationship takes is a large one. In their duel, it is beyond clear that Jack is extremely in love with her, extremely considerate of her wellbeing, her feelings, her desires, and willing to die with her, and Carly’s feelings are of similar intensity. 

Now, I do think we see that Carly as a character understands and pushes Jack in ways other characters don’t, and in a way that I can imagine Jack eventually also comes to reciprocate. 

But ultimately the relationship itself is quite rushed and the two lack actual quality time together on screen. The scene where Carly is imagining Jack in her apartment and crying about things he took from her helps in creating the illusion that they spent a lot of time together and were able to get close--but ultimately, we don’t get to see much of that on screen, and I think that’s probably the biggest weakness of this subplot. Suggested interactions don’t make up for onscreen interactions, especially when it comes to moving characters from feeling lukewarm about one another to the passion and commitment that Jack and Carly display in their duel. The scenes from episode 29 and episode 31 get references in flashbacks a lot later in the arc--and while they’re certainly shiptastic, they don’t feel commensurate to the intensity of their feelings for one another later.  

Of course, I imagine part of this is because, at its core, YGO is not a romance anime, and the DS arc just really needed to move the plot along. Kiryu and Yusei’s duel, and Jack’s subsequent leaving of Carly, starts in the episode right after the tower scene. The writers needed Jack/Carly’s relationship to go from point A to point B as efficiently as possible. 

Part of the drama/mystery of the Jack/Carly plot is that the audience isn’t fully sure what Jack feels until the duel itself, even though it’s hinted that he cares for her; Jack’s confession of love comes as somewhat of a surprise. But I think this also meant that we did not get to see a lot of the moments of them caring about each other on screen. And I also think that it’s possible to increase their onscreen interactions and make their bonding more obvious without sacrificing too much of the mystery surrounding Jack’s real feelings. Continuity With FC!Jack One thing I do think the DS arc does well is articulating Jack’s FC character pretty accurately and continuing his arc with similar themes/ideas. “Change Destiny” is a really heavy-handed card, but I do think that the idea of Jack believing he is destined to be King or walk on the path of the King, and then abandoning that concept entirely for a path he makes himself, is consistent with FC!Jack’s doggedness in being King and the way Godwin/Jaeger talk about it as something he’s meant to be.

Although the execution was not great, I think the idea of Jack being tempted by the idea of being a Dark King - one who “needs not friends, bonds,” and rules over the whole world turned into hell, is an extreme version of the loner king who abandons friends for something better, as Jack did

Similarly, the idea of a real King that Carly hopes Jack will become in episode 59, though cheesy, does expand on the idea of him being a King in a way that is also consistent with not being a loner/gaining bonds. When Jack calls himself “a person who would never give a thought to others... willing enough to betray and hurt [his] friends, sacrificing any and all for [his] own ambitions” — I think that’s spot on who Jack is in the FC arc. 

And Godwin and Jack’s dramatic exchange during their duel at the end of episode 63 about the only way to being a King is being alone, about how Jack abandoned bonds — that’s pretty congruent with FC Jack. And having Jack say that he also abandoned being the King, when his attachment to being the King was the cornerstone of his character before, is an effective move in terms of rounding out his character arc. The other biggest flaw with Jack in the DS arc is that we don’t see him struggle more with abandoning that identity.

In fact, DS!Jack spends a lot less time angsting talking about being the King--which again, makes some sense because he lost the FC and the focus of the story shifts/expands to be more about the Signer vs Dark Signer conflict. If it is brought up, it’s mostly to emphasize that he’s not the King anymore, such as when he corrects Mikage about calling him King in episode 32, or when he calls that man “a different person” to Godwin in episode 42. 

Jack feels notably less condescending and egoistical in the DS arc, even from the very beginning. Part of this can be explained away by the fact that he is no longer in the settings in which his ego can shine the most--the Duel Stadium, or his mansion--and therefore doesn’t really have that many people to look down on anymore. I also think part of it is because, due to the lack of internal monologue (and the use of Carly as a viewpoint character), we don’t hear his thoughts as often, disparaging or not. 

The most we see of the condescending Jack is probably in episode 43, when he beats up Yusei when he’s upset about having to fight Kiryu. It’s also the main time we see Jack talk about how he feels about losing his title - he says Yusei “dragged [him] off his throne and gave [him] such disgrace.” Here we see how this aspect of Jack, rather than mostly serving to make him look cruel as it had in the FC arc, actually helps to challenge Yusei’s character. Indeed, in general we see Jack is more supportive of Yusei. We also see a bit of Jack’s old boastfulness when he says that “Your Earthbound Gods aren’t so great” and saves Martha’s kids in episode 46. 

Jack also doesn’t push other people away as much in the DS arc, though he definitely still does at some points. When Mikage tries to draw closer to him, he ultimately rebuffs her. Even Carly initially leaves without much thought and brushes her off when she first tries to talk to him. When Yusei’s talking about his nakama in episode 45, it’s Jack who says he’s not anyone’s friend. Jack is also arguably the most closed off from the other Signers. No one knows who he’s dueling, and he’s the only Signer to not have anyone watching his duel. 

Yet he also more openly cares about other people. Yusei’s injury in episode 35 gives him great concern for him that honestly he doesn’t show Yusei much during the FC. We are shown Jack’s old caregiver, Martha, whom he clearly cares for. And of course, there’s Carly. 

Finally, Jack has more moments of generic heroism in the DS arc, whereas in the FC he basically has none. He goes into the crumbling Arcadia Movement to save Aki, and he also dramatically saves the orphans from being sacrificed to the Earthbound God Uru. Whereas Jack could be said to be one of the antagonists of the FC arc, he certainly is portrayed as more of a protagonist in the DS arc, when the grander Signer-Dark Signer conflict plays out. 

[neko-tokyo]

Tokyo Mew Mew New Prologue! Part Two: Recap

November 12, 2020 marked the release of part two of the Tokyo Mew Mew New Prologue series, an online documentary showing us a look behind-the-scenes into the audition process and casting of Ichigo Momomiya in the new animation project, “Tokyo Mew Mew New”, announced on April 2, 2020 for Nakayoshi’s 65th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of Tokyo Mew Mew.

The documentary is narrated by Saki Nakajima, the voice of Ichigo in the original 2002 animation and subsequent video games.

This episode focused on three more of the twelve audition finalists, picked by judges and by fans on the “mysta” app out of the 57 entries that made it through all three stages of the screening process to attend the Event Screening. According to the documentary, there were some 3,000+ applicants in total!

The Event Screening consisted of two parts: reading lines on stage and singing and dancing to the new song “bitter sweet darling”. Judges for the event included opera singer and vocal director Sugai Hidenori, dancer and choreographer SA.KANA, director of audiography Kameyama Toshiki, editor-in-chief of Nakayoshi magazine Suda Shukuko and Yoshida Takeshi, a representative on behalf of Pony Canyon/Swallow.

Highlighted this episode were:

Entry 2766: Ai Aisa. “This audition brought back the memory of my childhood watching Tokyo Mew Mew. That inspired me like ‘this is it!’ and I applied.” She admitted that her favorite character was Mint. The first entrant to appear in the audition stream, Ai Aisa said that she wants to be a “voice actor who cheers up children” and that Tamura Yukari is a voice actress she admires. “I’m excited to perform on the stage. With many thanks to all of you who gave me this opportunity, I wish to perform my best.” She spoke about how she really enjoys singing, and like many of the other girls, had begun taking voice lessons in addition to singing and acting. She also bought a posture correction belt to help her stand straight on stage.

Despite giving her best performance, Sugai Hidenori was quick to criticize her for focusing too much on scales and not enough on the lyrics themselves. “When you sing a song, you sing the words not just the sound,” he stated. “Emotion that cannot be covered by words will spill over and be expressed by the sound. That’s what I believe.”

Entry 1699: Futaba Nana. “Ichigo-chan cares about her friends so much, and acts first to help them without forethought. I like that kind of thing about her.” She spoke about how she has always loved girls’ comics and that she wants to be like one of the tough, cute girls she’s admired. Her idol is Morizono Wakana from “Pretty Rhythm” and she credited her for bringing her here. “My ideal heroine doesn’t run away from anything and makes people smile. I really want to be a cute, cool and tough heroine. I cannot stumble now and I cannot fail here. I’ll do my best today.” She confessed that sometimes her face gets stiff on stage. To help her smile naturally, her mother gave her a cue to laugh.

SA.KANA encouraged her and another entrant to find a better balance between dancing and singing, saying that her dancing stood out too much.

The episode took a short break to show some footage of the girls practicing backstage before moving on to the third entrant.

Entry 2332: kanN. “Since I could get here, I’m going to push my way forward towards Ichigo-chan.” According to kanN, she has always wanted to be a voice actor. “To make my dream come true, I took this chance,” she said. The support she received from family, friends, fans, and a jury award helped to boost her confidence, but she said that a challenge has been not being able to talk to her friends. “I talked to only one - my best friend,” she said. “She cheered me up. That helped me a lot. It reminds me of the importance of friends like Ichigo-chan.” Her approach was to figure out what sorts of things Ichigo would do, and she even filled out a profile paper as the character to understand her better. She explained, “I acted like Ichigo-chan rather than just studying for the role.”

Kameyama Toshiki complimented her on how genuine her delivery was. “You spoke straightforwardly,” he said. “It didn’t sound like you lied, and that was great.”

The next episode will be released on November 22, 2020. With new episodes appearing on the 2nd, 12th, and 22nd of every month. We can expect the next two episodes to feature the remaining six finalists. The winner of the audition will be announced in a later program, perhaps sometime in December? We’ll have to keep watching to find out!

The Tokyo Mew Mew New twitter account is continuing to encourage feedback from fans outside of Japan, and just like part one, part two is also available with English subtitles. The video can be found here.

Tokyo Mew Mew was first released as a manga in Nakayoshi magazine, appearing in issues from 2000-2003, and Tokyo Mew Mew a la mode through 2004.

[recentanimenews]

Higehiro – 07 – What Then?

It’s telegraphed from the beginning of the episode: someone who knows Sayu (or is working for them) has found her. There’s no other reason a suspicious black car would keep showing up at the konbini where she works, and Sayu is right to be weary. After all, she’s committed to working towards a future for herself, but hasn’t had enough time to figure out what that might be. Simply going home now would solve nothing.

This week marks the return of Mishima, whom I castigated for literally stalking Yoshida the last time we saw her, but the more I think about it, the more she’s the most realistic of the bunch. She invites herself to lunch with Gotou to express her frustration with her supervisor’s boss: if she’s in love with Yoshida, why is she just sitting around when Sayu could “take” Yoshida from them any day?

Gotou says she simply doesn’t see the point of artificially forcing anything with her and Yoshida. If it happens, it happens, but she’s not going to pretend she can control the feelings of others. Mishima says flat out that Gotou is simply scared to stick her neck out, while she’s far more scared of losing what she could’ve had because she didn’t do anything.

Neither Mishima nor Gotou are presented as the person with the “correct” philosophy…and that’s okay! Anybody who says they have all the answers is trying to sell you something. But Mishima is determined to try her way, and so asks, nay, demands Yoshida’s contact info. Yoshida is taken aback, because he doesn’t consider himself “attractive enough” to be worth giving his contact info for no special reason.

At this Mishima snaps at him for deciding everything by his standards, including his own appeal. She says he has a bad habit of doing what he wants to do while convincing himself its for the sake of others. Then she confesses her love for him (“a little”) and texts him a request to go out for a movie when Sayu isn’t making something special for dinner. He texts back a sheepish “sure”, which lifts Mishima’s spirits.

The next day when Yoshida is off work, he’s just kind of sitting around while Sayu cleans around him. He offers to help, and she pushes him into his bed, tripping in the process and landing on him. Their resulting position is lovingly drawn and lit the way a romantic scene would, and Sayu lingers there before Yoshida asks her to take the wet rag off his shoulder.

After this awkward scene that appears to play right into Mishima’s worst fear —that Sayu has the inside track on winning Yoshida’s heart—Sayu decides to go through a box of stuff in his closet (with his okay…but it’s still hella random!) and finds his high school yearbook, along with a photo of him and his gorgeous senpai girlfriend.

I for one am willing to give both parties the benefit of the doubt regarding the bed incident, but then Yoshida starts talking about how that girlfriend called him “clingy” and that she didn’t want somebody who cared about him so much. Again his standards come through, as he tells Sayu it’s only natural to care about someone, to want them to smile and be happy, and to be the one who makes that happen. Sayu mutters “what about me?”, but Yoshida doesn’t hear (naturally).

Back at work at the konbini, Sayu ends up sharing a shift with her former attempted rapist, which is never something you want. When the mysterious guy in the black Lexus comes in and reveals he’s Sayu’s big brother (and clearly loaded), Yaguchi tells Sayu to hide in the break room and then covers for her.

While I appreciate the show’s dedication to showing the good and bad in people, I really didn’t need this guy performing a remotely redemptive act, and it frankly sours the whole scene, especially when Sayu thanks him. Now, if he actually owned up to what he actually did and earnestly apologized, maybe I’d feel a bit different…but probably not!

As for Ogiwara Kazuto, well…it’s interesting that this President and CEO of Ogiwara Foods is Sayu’s brother and not a parent. I’d also guess he’s about Yoshida’s age. The look on Sayu’s face when she realizes who he was was, and then upon realizing that she may not get to decide when she goes home, is heartbreaking. I’m hoping Kazuto is reasonable and doesn’t just drag her into the car, but Sayu ran far, far away from these people, so all bets are off.

By: sesameacrylic

[auncyen]

Salty

Ren's been working too hard. Ann's determined to find out why. Time management is never easy, but it's especially hard when you're trying to keep secrets from your friends, too.

Technically, both Ren and Morgana had been idiots. Morgana hadn't had any reservations about buying the so-called "Holy Stone" either, after all. But Morgana was currently stuck as a cat and had amnesia; he couldn't really be expected to have money sense. (He arguably had more than Yusuke, and that just made Ren worry about the artist.) That left Ren solely responsible for wasting 100,000 yen, which was probably just as well, since Morgana couldn't exactly help out with earning it back. Sure,the smallest Phantom Thief made a habit of picking up coins and bills that people dropped around Yongen-Jaya, but he reserved actual thievery for shadows only, so all he had gathered between April and July was about 3,000, an amount Ren could earn in a single shift at any of his jobs. No, it wasn't fair in any sense to try to put the responsibility for this on Morgana. Ren still kind of wished he could blame the other thief, though, if only to avoid some of Ann's disappointment. The blonde was currently eyeing him, tweaking the straw of her milkshake cup. There was a vase of flowers carefully settled on the booth seat besides her; she'd come back to the mall around 6:30 and asked him for "the best bouquet he could make", adding in "I want to give it to Shiho at the hospital tomorrow!" If she'd meant to put him under too much pressure to be thinking of excuses, she'd succeeded. This being Ann, though, he was pretty sure she'd just impulsively decided that she should get flowers for someone if she was going to a flower shop anyway. The purple vase held pink lilies, yellow carnations, roses of both colors, and lavender chrysanthemums. He hadn't been able to get to know Shiho in that first week of school, but he remembered the colorful hair ties and clips she'd worn the few times he'd seen her, and Ann had confirmed that her best friend loved bright colors. Hopefully she'd like the arrangement, and it would keep her spirits up. "So." Ann's voice drew Ren's attention away from the nagging worry of if the best friend of one of his closest friends would be unimpressed by his choice in flowers and back to the worry of said close friend being absolutely disappointed and/or infuriated by his lack of common sense. "Morgana had to stretch his legs, huh? I wouldn't have minded him tagging along." Yeah, she wouldn't have minded him coming along so she could try pumping him for answers. "He gets antsy in the bag after a few hours," Ren said, which was completely true, and Ann gave a little hum as she accepted that. It was also true that Ren had suggested Morgana take a walk around Shibuya before Ann came back. The not-cat had taken the hint, even if he'd grumbled at Ren that he really should come clean to "Lady Ann" if she was getting suspicious. ...He'd barely saved 40,000 so far, after what he had to spend on his and Morgana's personal care... If he'd already made up most of the money, maybe it'd be easier to confess, but he wasn't even halfway. "Okay, Ren. You have five jobs. What's going on?" Ren took a bite out of his burger and chewed slowly, biding his time. Om nom nom. "Like I said earlier, I'm saving up." "Yeah, sure, perfectly reasonable." Ann nodded. Her milkshake cup plunked down on the table. "Except you're juggling three paying jobs with two that don't pay. Plus whatever you do for our first aid. Plus our 'club activities'. ...Also, you've been helping out a politician?" She sounded genuinely confused on that last part. "He's teaching me how to negotiate." "Okay, guess that makes sense." Her tone implied that she considered it to make about as much sense as anything related to their phantom thievery ever did. "You haven't been able to hang out with me or Ryuji or Yusuke for nearly a month now." "It--" Ren stumbled, casting his mind over the past few weeks and several apologies he'd had to make. "It hasn't been a month." When had he last hung out with one of them? "Maybe--three weeks?" "Ren, what's three weeks?" "...Nearly a month." "Uh-huh." Ann eyed him with disbelief. "And you score higher than me on exams." He didn't have a good comeback for that, a little appalled with himself. He needed to make good on the yen he'd wasted, and it seemed risky to neglect his deals with Iwai, Takemi or Boss. Yoshida's coaching seemed like it would come in really handy in the future, and Ohya's articles and insight into the news and media would likely be important if they were going to keep increasing their reputation to both encourage more people and delve deeper into Mementos. He even had a deal with the fortune teller who had scammed him, Chihaya Mifune, and he had to keep that up for her useful fortune-telling abilities. (Plus, he wanted to convince her to stop scamming people.) "Somehow you didn't think any of us would realize you were suddenly never available?" He shook his head quickly. "It's not that I thought you wouldn't realize," he said. "I just didn't think it'd be a big deal." Not compared to the matter of 100,000 yen. He was only one of their friends. Ann hung out with every other Phantom Thief too, even Makoto, which Ren was grateful for. Ann also had Shiho to visit, now with a bouquet. But if she felt like he'd been ignoring her--and Ryuji and Yusuke probably felt the same, maybe even worse--he'd been so worried about not neglecting the deals he'd made with adults while he earned back the yen that he'd neglected friendships instead. Great. "Sorry. I didn't mean it's not important--sorry. I'll make more time for everyone." Even if that begged the question of what he'd need to neglect in turn. ...Yoshida didn't seem the impatient type. Maybe it'd be safe to turn down his invitations for a time? He was getting a lot of unimpressed looks from Ann today, and Ren remembered that even if she was a lousy liar herself, Ann could also pick up on other's lies quickly, had probably caught the uncertainty in his voice. "No. We're not mad, we're--okay,let me tell you about a conversation Ryuji and I had the other day." She tweaked the straw in her hand, bending its head under her finger, and picked up the paper wrapper the straw had come in with her other hand, positioning it similarly. Straw and wrapper faced each other. "'Aw, man,'" Ann said in a bad mimicry of Ryuji as she crinkled the wrapper. Ren took another bite of his burger, bemused by the sudden show. "'Ren's too busy to hang out again--that beef bowl manager's an effin' slave driver.'" Now she put on something close to her normal voice, bending the straw as she answered wrapper-Ryuji. "'What? He doesn't work at a restaurant, Ryuji, he works at 777. He rang my stuff up when they were having that make-up sale.'" The wrapper started moving again, energetically this time. "'Forreal? But I know he's working at the beef bowl place on the same street, I've seen him running around in there when the place was packed!'" Ann-straw. "'That can't be right. He's got a job at the flower shop in the mall too, and three part-time jobs is just too much..." Wrapper-Ryuji. "'Wait, it ain't just three, 'cause he works at the airsoft shop too, he told me. And I saw him at beef bowl just last week, so it ain't like he got fired...'" "'Four jobs? No, five, if you count him helping Boss...'" Straw and wrapper went quiet for a moment, and Ren opened his mouth to ask if the little performance was done--he guessed that did answer how Ann knew about all his jobs--but Ann silenced him with a hard look as wrapper-Ryuji's head slowly turned to Ren. He shut his mouth around the straw for his soda instead, taking a long sip as wrapper-Ryuji spoke. "'Hey, Ann. Like, the Phantom Thieves just took care of that Kaneshiro guy, but he's not the only crappy adult out there. You don't think Ren's in trouble, do you...?'" The soda he'd been sipping on went down wrong, and Ren hastily turned his head away as he coughed. "That," he said between coughs, "is not how Ryuji said it," because he needed to stall a few seconds to reevaulate this conversation. And to get the soda out of his throat. Ann gave him a light kick under the table. "Duh. I'm not going to repeat how Ryuji actually said it in public." Okay. Okay. He'd stopped coughing. "You two thought I was being extorted?" "Let's see," Ann said. "Shujin students getting blackmailed has been a pretty big deal lately. You suddenly act like you're hard-up for cash, and you still won't tell me what that's about. Can you blame us for thinking something's fishy?" His burger sat heavy in his stomach. They'd been seriously worried about him. Were worried about him. Morgana was right. Time to face the music. "You're going to be mad." "Try me." He sighed, casting his eyes up to the ceiling of Big Bang Burger, as though it might open to a burger-shaped UFO that would carry him away from this world. "I'm not being extorted. I did fall for a stupid scam. Wasted a hundred thousand yen. I was trying to earn it back." "Oh my god." He winced and braced himself. "We had a hundred thousand yen? How much do we have now?" ...Ann sounded more astounded than angry, and he wondered if she and Ryuji had ever kept track of how much yen passed through the Phantom Thieves' hands. Then again, they didn't really need to, since he was the one who handled all the supplies. "Not quite sixty-thousand? It was most of our money, and I've only earned about forty-thousand back so far." "'Only'. 'Only' forty-thousand." Ann shook her head and took a long sip of her milkshake, eventually sucking up all the liquid along the bottom. "Okay, so...did you ever learn the name of the person who scammed you? Because if not, we should have started investigating yesterday. This sounds like a Mementos target waiting to happen." Ren shook his head and flipped his phone on the table, tapping the red and black icon in a familiar movement. "Chihaya Mifune, Mementos." "Candidate not found." Just as he'd known it would say. Finding Chihaya's shadow in Mementos had occurred to both him and Morgana the same night they'd realized the Holy Stone was phony, but it wasn't that easy. Ann frowned at the negative result. "A fake name...?" "I don't think so. People only turn up in the app if they have distorted desires, but she seems to honestly believe she's helping people somehow." He explained the scam in more detail from there. Chihaya's uncannily accurate and specific predictions of the future, with the unexpected allowance from Boss as the example that had initially convinced Morgana and him, and the Holy Stones she hawked to people with potential misfortune on the horizon. "So, what did she say to you, that you thought you needed one of those?" "...It's been a few weeks, so I don't remember all the details--" "Ren. No. Do not bullshit me on this." Ann leaned forward on the table, resting her weight on her elbows. "She convinced you and Morgana that spending a hundred thousand yen on a rock was a good idea. Don't tell me you forgot what she said. I'm not angry that you fell for a scam. I will be angry if you keep lying to me. And then I'll get the truth from Mona anyway." ...Yeah, fair enough. He'd been treading on thin ice this whole time. He just really wasn't sure how she would react to the prediction Chihaya had made. "She predicted that I'm going to die." "WHAAAAAT?" Ren immediately became aware of every single set of eyes in the restaurant, currently resting on their table. On the blonde who'd shot to her feet and was staring down at him. "Ann," he said, trying best for a level voice. "It's okay. Some of the fates she's read have already changed. Mine will too." It had to. Ann stared at him for a few seconds longer before scoffing. "Oh, yeah. It's okay. She just told you you'd die. No big deal, right?" She pushed away from the table, stepping away from the booth. Paused for a second and turned back around to pick up the vase and set it in front of Ren. "Hold my bouquet for me. I'll get it from you tomorrow." He settled his hands on it uncertainly. "Tomorrow? Where are you going now?" "Shinjuku. She's a real fortune teller? Then I hope the cards warned her about me, because I am going to wreck her--" If they were in the Metaverse, she would be radiating heat waves right now. Her hands were gripped tight as if itching for her whip. "Wait, Ann--" He'd thought she'd maybe be shocked or afraid at the morbid fortune, or maybe just be skeptical and disbelieving. Instant rage had not been one of the expected reactions. "--threatening people so she can scam them--" "--that's not how it is, I told you--" He could see why she was thinking of it that way, but Chihaya honestly believed in the Holy Stones, that was part of the problem. And Ann was no longer listening to him, already stalking out of the restaurant while being given a wide berth by other patrons. He took Shiho's intended bouquet into his arms, cradling it as carefully as possible while also hurrying after his friend to catch her before the Phantom Thieves ended up having two members with assault records. "Ann!"

[owlsshadows]

OiSuga Week Day 1 - aug 20th: after school / role swap

Convince Me (part 1)

When Oikawa suddenly appears at Karasuno after school to ask Sugawara out, the latter has one condition: Oikawa has to convince him of the sincerity of his feelings.

Read on AO3 or down below (Part 2 | Part 3)

“So because of a dispute you had with your ace, you came all over to Karasuno?” Sugawara asks, standing in the hallway connecting the gym to the school facilities.

On the surface he’s infuriated – deep down however he enjoys the panicked expression that spreads across Oikawa’s face. He could never beat the Grand King one-on-one, not in a face-off between setters. But standing outside the gym in the chilly late November afternoon, as two high school kids, Sugawara has the advantage, even if Oikawa is half a head taller. He had his fair share of dealing with troublesome idiots to master his strict, calculating voice that could render Asahi meek and Kageyama docile.

An off-court Oikawa Tooru, he could eat for breakfast.

“You could sum it up like this too, but…” Oikawa starts, losing his drive the moment his eyes meet with Sugawara’s.

“You’re asking me out in order to save face in front of your team, am I right?” Sugawara presses more, a victorious little grin threatening his composed act in the corner of his lips treacherously. “Let me ask you one thing, Oikawa. What do I seem to you?”

Oikawa winces, giving out an ever subtle squealing sound as he searches for reasons to save his argument. From the way he bites his lip in frustration, it is clear that he has realized just how arrogant his initial approach was. He walked in enemy territory like a king, haughtily asking for the audience of the setter of a rival team, only to claim that he was about to take Sugawara out on a date, as Iwaizumi would simply not believe that he had interest in Mr. Refreshing…

It was certainly a terrible idea, but somehow Oikawa left all of his tact back at Aoba Jousai this afternoon.

“I’m asking you out on a date,” he says, hands motioning vaguely between them.

“And? What’s in it for me?” Sugawara asks back sharply. “I get it you came up with some blatant lies in front of your team and now you need to save face, but why would I go along with your plan?”

“It’s not to save face,” Oikawa rebuts, walking up close to Sugawara. “I want for us to date for real.”

“Please don’t expect me to buy your story about your little interest in me. If you were really liking me somehow, you wouldn’t have started your confession with talking about that ace of yours.”

“True, okay, I give in,” Oikawa raises his hand in surrender. “Indeed, I’m only here because my team taunted me about how much of a chicken I’ve become since my last girlfriend dumped me. But!” he raises his voice. “It’s also true that I like you, Mr. Refreshing. And I’m not a coward, I just wanted to make sure that I’m not making a fool out of myself, after all you might have something going on with that pretty manager of yours…”

“Shimizu?” Sugawara asks, lifting a brow in surprise.

“I mean, she was holding your hand during the Shiratorizawa match and all,” Oikawa adds bashfully, and it’s not the November cold that tints his ears red as he continues. “I watched the match, you know, and I’ve been thoroughly impressed by your play in the fifth set.”

“Thanks,” Sugawara deadpans. He himself is not sure whether to smack Oikawa back to normalcy, or to pinch his own cheeks to check whether he’s dreaming. The Oikawa in front of him seems strange, if not surreal. Not that he would not enjoy this if it was a dream, he would even tease the Dream-Oikawa to see how far his subconscious dares to go…

But if this is reality, he is quite unsure how to proceed.

“I mean it!” Oikawa grabs his hands at this point, accidentally scratching Sugawara’s wrists along the way. The pain, though negligible, is real.

“Is that so?” Sugawara asks, shimmying out of the touch.

“Yeah,” Oikawa replies dumbly, hands frozen mid-air. “I find you interesting. Intriguing even.”

“And you think that’s enough to hop on a bus and come here, demanding a date from me just because your friends were teasing you a little?”

Ruthless, Sugawara is, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone pranked him, and he is not willing to believe in Oikawa’s words just yet; not when he remembers still so clear how dejected he got when Yoshida from the soccer club revealed that he only asked him out on a date to gain advantage over the volleyball club in the sports festival team relay.

Plus, he didn’t even particularly fancy Yoshida.

Not quite how he fancies Oikawa anyway.

It’s not only his pride, but his heart at stake. He’s not willing to give in to this surreal scene, not when it’s not a dream he could rewrite as many times as he wanted.

Not when the boy he has a crush on stands in front of him with a forlorn, lost expression, with his idiotic cowlicks framing his stupid pretty face.

“I’m sorry,” Oikawa says then, bowing deeply.

It’s the third time he manages to surprise Sugawara this day – starting with his first appearance, followed by his sudden confession, and now he bows so deep Sugawara could kick him in the face with his knee.

For a split second he actually considers it.

Then Oikawa opens his mouth again.

“Please, allow me to start again from the beginning.”

It’s not even the thing he says, or the tone he says it… it’s that vibrant red that started off his ears and now creeps down his neck. It’s adorable and Sugawara is weak.

“Alright,” he says, pulling his shoulders up in an exaggerated shrug. “But don’t think I will forget about how arrogant you were.”

Oikawa, still bowing, tilts his head, glancing up from between his fringe. His eyes glimmer with something akin joy, challenge, hope.

Sugawara needs to harden his defenses not to fall for the bastard on spot.

“Sugawara Koushi,” Oikawa starts, “I’ve taken a liking to you. Would you go out with me?”

“Not necessarily,” Sugawara squints. “I mean, would you believe if you were the average guy, and suddenly got confessed to by Oikawa Tooru?”

“I can hardly imagine confessing to myself,” Oikawa complains, inciting a hearty laugh from Sugawara.

“Even though you seem to love yourself more than anyone else…”

“I tend to have a misleading attitude,” he admits, motioning vaguely around himself. “I mean, yes, that’s me too, but it’s more like… my social persona? And then there’s me, failing big time in this confession now…”

“Indeed,” Sugawara nods, circling Oikawa with lazy steps, until he is backed against the corridor wall. Sugawara crosses his arms, tilting his head back just so to look straight into the eyes of the superstar setter. Oikawa gulps, looking amply bewildered. “You’re not very convincing.”

“Ugh,” Oikawa groans, scratching the wall beside him. He looks like some wild animal, cornered, eyes filled with something dangerous.

Oikawa Tooru, a boy childish enough to make a tug of war out of a simple situation where he reached for a ball at the same time as his fated kouhai… he’s not the one to give up or give in easily, certainly not when on the court, but possibly off court either. And Sugawara feels fired up by the shine in his eyes, fueled to go a bit further, provoke him a little more.

“Look, you don’t have to believe in me,” Oikawa starts.

“But I want to,” Sugawara cuts in. Hit it until it breaks, he remembers, smile spreading slowly across his face. “I want to believe you, Oikawa. It’s you who’s not trying very hard at making me believe. What gave you the impression that I will go along with your little plan, if you yourself didn’t have the resolve to try to convince me?”

“I…” Oikawa starts, embarrassment flushing across his face. “I’m not saying that I’m head over heels in love with you or anything. I just say that I find you to be a really interesting guy, and I would like to get to know you better…”

“But your feelings are wishy-washy, aren’t they?” Sugawara asks, inching closer, until his elbows dig into the sides of Oikawa. “You won’t get all heartbroken if I reject you now, will you?”

“Look,” Oikawa replies, this time clearly defensive, pushing his arms just against the elbows of Sugawara. His eyes narrow, his pretty face scrunches, tiny wrinkles appear across his nose and Sugawara makes a mental note to himself that they are adorable. “You caught my eye, but precisely because I couldn’t take my eyes off of you, I’ve seen your manager holding your hand, and because you could be in a relationship, I was trying my best to refrain from falling in love.”

“Respectable self-control,” Sugawara mocks him.

“So. Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“In a relationship.”

“With Shimizu?”

“With anyone!” Oikawa snaps, and when he catches Sugawara’s smile, he adds: “God, you’re infuriating!”

“Thanks,” Sugawara smirks. “And no. I’m not in a relationship.”

“Good.”

“Is it?”

“Oh, shut up.”

“No, I’m really interested now. Thanks to the teasing of your friends you are here after all, so why don’t you tell me how your feelings would change after getting to know that I’m sexy free and single?”

Sugawara somewhat expects Oikawa to recoil or at least cringe at the shady wink accompanies to his words – but never in his wildest dreams would’ve he fantasized about Oikawa visibly deflating and melting into the wall with a soft sigh, as he does in real life upon seeing that awkward wink of Sugawara’s.

“You’re so not cute,” Oikawa chuckles, eyes shining as he glances at Sugawara. “Dork,” he adds adoringly, and Sugawara’s defenses crumble as if they were thoroughly undermined.

“I thought I was refreshing?” he asks, tone mocking but heart in his throat, trying hard to regain his inner composure.

Oikawa replies with a laugh, lifting his hand to Sugawara’s face and brushing over his birth mark.

“Such a pretty dork,” he repeats. “I really like you.”

Sugawara takes a sharp inhale, unfolding his arms to shoo away Oikawa’s hand from his face.

He might have found Oikawa’s serving form beautiful. He might have even found his stupidly pretty face charming.

But gosh, no one could prepare him for a confession like this.

“Yeah. Great,” Sugawara says, blinking away his awe. “Prove it.”

“Will you go out with me then?” Oikawa asks with a renewed fire in his eyes that sends chills down Sugawara’s spine, chills that are not quite unpleasant.

“If you convince me.”

“I will.”

[b3crew]

REVIEW | "The Transcendent One-Sided Love Of Yoshida The Catch" - Vol. 1 | B3 - Boston Bastard Brigade

At the office, Hibiki Yoshida is as cool as a cucumber. He gets things done, pushes his employees to be their absolute best, and is more punctual than a pin cushion. But what he does outside of the office is a mystery to his coworkers, as every offer to grab a bite, a drink, or even a date is shot down immediately. Oh, if they only could see what Yoshida was attempting to do when he’s not in business mode…

A new series from debut author Shizuki Fujisawa, The Transcendent One-Sided Love of Yoshida the Catch showcases what our titular character does after he leaves the office. For you see, when he’s not working the office, he’s helping his childhood friend Sena Shimakaze with her manga series. Whether it’s inking or cooking for the assistants, Yoshida does it all, even without pay. His reason: he’s been in love with Shimakaze for a very long time, and it’s the only thing he can do to support her.

Some may be asking why Yoshida doesn’t just confess his feelings for Shimakaze. Well, on top of that making the story ridiculously short, it’s also because Shimakaze — master storyteller that she is — couldn’t read a romantic signal if it shot her in the face! Thus Yoshida struggles with Shimakaze’s needs and lazy mannerisms in order to keep her manga running without failure. And all of the assistants — including newcomer Rin Hanamori — just want to see Yoshida happy.

A lot of unpacking is needed when reading the first volume of The Transcendent One-Sided Love of Yoshida the Catch. On top of Shimakaze’s crazy weekly schedule, there’s every length that Yoshida goes in order to make sure she and the assistants get the job done without overdoing it. But it’s easier said than done when it comes to workers’ moral, as his regular job keeps him from the manga work until the evening. By that time, Maki, Takeshi, and Ryoya are already at their limit.

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