#you can see the shock on ryuuji's face at that

[everyryuujisuguro]

[tonguetiedraven]

prompt: accidental consumption of a temporary love potion ;)

Double prompt fill! (And I'm so glad you enjoy my writing <3<3<3)

I've enlisted the help of the fantastical @marble-wolf to play Rin in this one <3<3

-- -- -- -- --

Ryuuji had in all honesty, never actually done this before. Or at least not from this side. He was worried the cherry trees might be a bit too much, but they made him think of the grove right outside his home and gave him a bit of courage as he quietly guided Rin towards the spot. Rin’s quick ‘sure!’ when Ryuuji had asked if he had a moment and would mind following him had helped boost his confidence some, but it still felt incredibly harrowing to turn and face Rin’s big eyes.

“Uh,” he started, and mentally berated himself for not planning this out better. “I was wondering…” 

How had he never taken any notes when someone had asked him out somewhere? His mind was entirely blank out side of Rin’s pretty eyes and the urge to take Rin’s hand and he couldn’t think of the words he needed to express himself. To explain that he admired Rin. That he was drawn to his bold spirit and his constant strive to be more than just strong, to be kind as well. By his endless determination even when others snubbed him or belittled him. And that Rin was quite possibly the most handsome man he’d ever met.

(He’d even take a tip from one of Shima’s romance mangas right now. Anything to give him some kind of idea how to word this.)

“There’s a meteor shower tomorrow night,” he explained, and told himself to breathe when his voice came out a bit hoarse. “And there are a few trails and parks around here that are staying open late so people can view it. I was wondering if you’d like to go view it with me.”

Rin immediately brightened, giving Suguro a grin and excited nod, "sure! That sounds like fun!" He would never give up a chance to see Suguro, though there were times that it made his heart ache a little.  

Ryuuji’s breath whooshed out in immediate shock, and he had been blushing the entire time, but now he could feel his cheeks go even warmer as he nodded.

“Right. Good. We, uh… We could meet around seven? Get some dinner before we head up the trails? The showers won’t start until after nine, and it’s about an hour hike.”

Was that too long? He should have thought this out a bit better. At least it was cool enough that they wouldn’t be sweaty and hot from the hike.

Rin tilted his head at the redness on Suguro's cheeks, wondering if he was hot. Rin's tail lifted in a wide wag, and he hopped on his heels. 

"Yeah!" Rin cheered. (Dinner… that almost sounded like a da— no he couldn't think about that. If he did he would blush and get all stuttery and embarrass himself.)  

“Okay,” Ryuuji said, nodding again. “Seven. By the fountains?” He followed Rin’s nod with his eyes, felt himself blush even warmer as a few cherry petals fell down on Rin’s cheeks, and bowed, because he knew he was supposed to do that.

“Thank you.” His voice was a bit hoarse again and he tried to swallow that away. “I’ll see you later?”

He straightened without waiting for an answer and took a step back. He lifted his hand to give a little wave, promptly felt stupid, and had to hurry away before he did something else embarrassing like try to take Rin’s hand or ramble about how pretty his eyes were or how much he loved fighting along side Rin. 

He was still entirely red, and there was absolutely no way he was going to hide the way his lips were quirking up, but he figured he could allow himself the silly smile.

Rin watched him go, feeling something shy stirring in his chest and he was completely helpless as he watched Ryuuji leave. 

He pulled his phone out to tell Yukio to fend for himself for dinner and he prayed he didn't embarrass himself or worse. Let out the feelings he had so carefully hidden away.  

Rin was excited, hurrying through the halls to get home and get ready for his date… wait! No, not a date. Ryuuji just… wants to go watch the meteor shower. With him. No biggie. They'd probably meet up with Konekomaru and Shima but Rin didn't want to. He wanted to just be the two of them…

But not for a date. 

Because this wasn't a—

The sudden call of his name had him startling and it was how his name was said that told him who it was. There was only one person Rin knew with an accent like that. Only one person that pronounced Rin's name in such a way that had made Rin wonder if it was his name. 

But there was Lewin Light, waving at him and running with a bounce in his step. 

“Rin!” He called again, skidding to a stop and causing his hat to tip over a bit. “Just who I was hoping to see! You’re gonna help me with a box. Put that demonic strength to work.” 

Then, with a curious tilt of his head, “you’re stronger than Ryuuji, right? Do you know what your max lift weight is?”

"Uh… yes, but I don't know what my limit is." Rin answered, squinting at the man and wondering why he was asking Rin for help. "Where's Ryuuji?"  

Lightning’s nose wrinkled in confusion. “Shouldn’t you know? He said he had plans with you.” Lightning wiggled his eyebrow and gave the confused halfing a broad smile.

(He was mostly surprised his apprentice had actually asked. These two had been dancing around each other since he got here.)

Wait. “Why are you here?”

"I was just going back to the dorm…" Rin wanted to follow up with "why are you here?" but decided against it. "Help you with a box? It's not going to eat me, right?"  

Lightning shrugged. “The box won’t.” 

He turned on his heel with an energetic motion and waved for Rin to follow him as he started to march towards his office.

Rin trotted after him. "Nothing is gonna eat me. I've got plans tonight and I am not missing it 'cause something ate me."

Lightning spared him a mischievous glance. “Then maybe don’t poke in the box.” 

(So he did have plans tonight. Then why was he asking about Ryuuji? Lightning was missing something.)

He pushed the door to his office open, waving away a few stray coal tars and motioning for Rin to go in first, raising his eyebrow when Rin frowned and strolling in himself.

“This box,” he declared with a dramatic wave of his arms in the direction of a solitary box in the center of his room. “Needs to be over there.” He motioned towards a stack of boxes in the corner next to a shelf of snacks and drinks.

Rin raised an eyebrow at the box and then at Lightning. ("How did you get the box right here?") 

"Okay…" Rin hurried over, hoping this didn't make him wait and hefted up the box. His eyes widened and he paused as he lifted it. "The hell do you have in here?!" 

Rin managed to lift it, though it was heavy. "Bariyons?!" 

He lugged the box over to the indicated spot and went to set it down, but as he did, the box seemed to double in weight, throwing him off balance and sailing head first into the shelf. He dropped the box with a loud bang and managed, just barely, to catch himself on the shelf. 

His hand hit the shelf, making it sway and a glass bottle tipped and fell, colliding with his forehead and shattering (thankfully not cutting him.) The pale pink fluid soaked his hair and his clothes, seeping in an oddly hot trickle down his spine. 

"Fuck!" Rin cried.  

Lightning eyes went huge as he hurried across the room. He snatched up his travel poncho and tossed it over Rin's head, blocking the halfling from seeing him as he looked at the bottle and confirmed his fears.

Well, at least he could see how it worked on demons—no! Ryuuji was going to kill him and leave him with a messy office and no burgers.

"Rin," he hurried, "did you get any of that in your mouth, and did you see me?"

(If Rin did, Ryuuji was going to murder Lightning. Or at least subject him to a bath.)

Rin squawked, flapping his arms and squirming but the Arch Knight's hold was firm. 

"What?! I— I don't think so? I don't see anything right now… you need to wash this thing." Rin called.  

"Nah, I won't have to do that. That stuff'll be ineffective by tomorrow. Go ahead and wipe it off your face and don't get it in your mouth."

But Rin didn't know, which was kind of a problem.

"You getting any weird feelings listening to me?"

Rin stilled, listening and just trying to figure out what he did feel. There was a tingling in his body but he didn't think it was linked to Light. 

"You should wash it, it's stinky!" Rin whined, wiping off his face and finding his hair almost oily from the stuff. "I don't know! I feel… okay?"  

Lightning tilted his head like a curious dog. "And what if I say Ryuuji? That give any weird sensations?"

Rin blushed, feeling the weird warmth of whatever that seemed to grow hotter and his entire face felt like it went bright red. 

"Ryuuji? Wh— no! That's none of your business!" Rin stumbled over his words. (There was definitely a "weird sensation".)  

“Oh, well that’s good.” Lightning leaned forward and plucked the poncho off. “You didn’t get any in your mouth.” He beamed at Rin like that was the best news he could possibly give Rin. (It was the best news he could give Rin in this situation.)

"Was it poison?!" Rin asked. "Why would you have that there?"  

“Nah, not poison,” Lightning reassured as he tossed the poncho towards the rest of his clothes to be bothered with later. “Just a love potion.”

"Love?!" Rin shrieked. "What happens now?" 

(Love potion?! Like… love? But he felt no different towards Lightning (thank God.))  

“Don’t really know since you’re a halfling. Should just amplify a crush or love you already got. We’re lucky! If it had gotten in your mouth, you’da fallen hard for the first person you saw.”

"Lucky?! But… I have a… I have to go hang out with Ryuuji tonight!" Rin scrambled for his phone and checked the time, heart thumping harder in his chest. "I've got less than an hour! Fix it!"

Amplify a crush… his crush was Ryuuji. Ryuuji, who wanted to hang out.  

Lightning leaned back a little. “Why’s that a problem?” Ryuuji had skipped out on helping Lightning today to get ready for that date.

Though…

His grin turned mischievous. “You getting weird sensations over there?”

"Because… he wants to hang out and—" Rin's eyes narrowed at the last bit and he could feel flickers of fire starting to sprout in his hair. "Maybe but that's not the point. The point is you gotta have an antibiotic for this!"  

“It’s probably got some weird antidote like true love’s kiss or something, but it’ll wear off in a few hours. Probably around—” he lifted his arm and squinted at his watch “—nine?” He shrugged. 

“It’s gonna make you want to gush. More than you usually do. And probably touch? I don’t know. Crush stuff.” 

Ryuuji was going to spend the entire date blushing. Lightning was a bit disappointed he wasn’t going to see any of it. It would be hilarious to watch Ryuuji flounder with a flirty Rin.

Nine! Rin put his head in his hands and sighed. He would have to miss hanging out with Ryuuji tonight… he would die of embarrassment if he flirted and touched Ryuuji. 

"You were no help." Rin said and moved to storm out.  

“It’ll only activate if you see him!” Lightning called, nudging the bariyon box a bit further with his foot.

Rin fled down the hall and out of the Cram school, nearly running as he did so. He managed to get to the dorm without any mishaps and it was only when he was rushing up the stairs and trying to pull his phone out… to apologize and back out of the da— hanging out only to discover his phone dead. 

Great. Now his options were to stand Ryuuji up (how horrible?! He could never…) or go find him and do it in person. 

Rin sighed and hurried through changing (his hands automatically grabbed for his cleanest and best punk-ish clothes), rinsing off his hair and skin (why did he style his hair?) and flying past Yukio and jumping over Kuro. He slid to a stop just outside the area they had agreed to meet and stared at his feet as he shuffled the short distance towards the fountain.

Ryuuji’s heart leapt to his throat as he saw Rin approaching. He had on a white jacket over an old, dark hoodie, ripped jeans, chains, combat boots, and he’d styled his hair so it was swept to the side and not falling in his eyes, and Ryuuji had to take a moment to swallow and remember how to walk because it was an incredible look.

“Rin!” He called, blushing as his voice cracked. He hurried across the space between them and towards his date, hardly believing it was actually happening.

(He could hardly believe he’d actually asked.)

Rin's eyes wanted to look. He needed to see Ryuuji as if something was physically tugging at him, but he couldn't. 

(He had to tell Ryuuji he couldn't go…) 

"Ryuuji, hi!" Rin managed.  

“You, uh, ready? I didn’t get a text on your preferences, so was the deli okay?” 

It wasn’t the nicest option, but Ryuuji couldn’t afford the nicest options. Plus, he knew Rin liked what they served there. 

(Why wasn’t Rin looking at him? Nervous? Ryuuji certainly was.)

"Uh…" Rin opened his mouth to say, "I'm sorry, I can't go," but what came out instead was, "let's go!"

(He wanted to look at Ryuuji. He was certain Ryuuji looked gorgeous and his voice was like a song, coaxing Rin to just… look up.)  

Ryuuji stared for a moment longer, and finally decided Rin wasn't going to look up.  He nodded again, realized Rin couldn't see it and awkwardly stuffed his hand in his pocket, leaving one out in case Rin wanted to grab it. (Or he got the courage to grab Rin's.)

"This way." 

He took a step forward, glancing back at Rin and making sure he was being followed. 

(He'd somehow imagined them walking side by side, but maybe he'd misthought? Maybe they weren't there yet, though he walked side by side with Rin all the time.)

"Have a good day?" He asked a bit lamely as they walked up the steps to the deli.

"Yeah, pretty good," except your master got me into a mess and now I can't look at your beautiful face or else I'll tell you how beautiful it is. 

"Did you?" Rin asked, watching each step as if it were fascinating.  

I hardly noticed because I kept thinking about the fact that you said yes. “Busy but good.” 

Ryuuji held the door open for Rin, watched as he shuffled his way inside, and let it close behind them.

Find out how the date goes (and the full story, lol) here!

[rinusagitora]

You’re in all my dreams.

Fandom: Bleach

Characters: Karin Kurosaki, Toushirou Hitsugaya, Momo Hinamori, OC- Mae Izumi

Pairings: HitsuKarin

Words: 2.2k

Summary: Shinigami!Karin AU. For HitsuKarin Week 2021. WARNINGS- mentions of suicide, dysfunctional families; Karin graduates Shin'ou and shares her dreams with Toushirou.

AO3

For the last six years, Karin dreamed of the day she’d graduating from cadet to officer and don the shihakusho like everyone she ever admired.

It was an anxious future filled with wonder and promise she never knew back in the World of the Living. Going from cadet to captain of a small force was going to be quite the culture shock, perhaps even more than the cold water of the river where she drowned. But she made it, and it made her much more confident in her ability. Officers were chosen from a pool of graduates and turnover was infrequent since few officers passed away in peacetime. It made competition fierce and even rarer that a graduate obtained a seated position out of the gate.

She was equal parts nervous and excited. For the time being, all Karin wanted to do was enjoy the graduation bonfire.

Mae toppled onto the log, sloshing rice wine onto Karin’s lap. She laughed. “I’m sorry! I’m sooo hammered.”

“No worries. I think I’ve puked on you more times than you’ve spilled on me.”

“Indeed, we swapped roles tonight.” Mae tapped Karin’s nose. “Tonight, of all nights, you choose to be reserved. Why?”

Karin hummed and swirled beer. “I’m nervous, I think.”

“It’s a big change.” Mae looked over the crowd. “Where are Hinamori-fukutaichou and Hitsugaya-taichou? I expected them, of all people, to be here.”

Karin’s reikaku grazed the crowd. Momo was there, just chaperoning. Keeping firelight between bodies like a puritan. Perhaps rightfully so. They were the new faces of the Seireitei. It was better not to romp in the woods right over poison ivy before recruitment day. Pussy itch was a different kind of awful. The kind of awful where Karin, who was once impaled, ended up curling up on the floor crying while Izuru healed her crotch and Shuuhei and Renji laughed in the next room.

The crowd parted for Momo like river water around stones. She stopped before Karin, and Karin smiled at her mentor. “Hi, Momo-senpai.”

Mae nodded. "Hinamori-sama."

"Izumi-chan, I hope you're enjoying the festivities."

"Oddly enough. It's strange letting loose… but I see where Karin-chan's alcoholism comes from. Dancing while intoxicated is liberating."

"Indeed." Nonetheless, Momo cocked her head and curiously looked over Karin. Karin knew the jig was up from there. She and Ryuuji were normally in the center of the action, and Karin hadn't so much as howled or toasted once that evening.

“Leave us, Izumi-chan.”

Mae managed to right herself and bowed to excuse herself. Gracefully, Momo took a seat beside Karin as she cursed internally. She didn't want to talk about it, but Momo always dragged out her bad feelings and laid them in the open.

“It’s odd you’re not out enjoying the festivities. This is your… thing.”

“It’s just really hitting me that I’m going to be a shinigami,” Karin told Momo. “I’ve been working toward this goal for six years. What do I do from here?”

Momo laughed. “Six years is a blink of an eye for the majority of us.” She held Karin’s shoulders. “There will be plenty to do, Karin-chan.”

“I can’t believe we’re all in a squad just after graduation, though.”

“Who? Izumi and Kawashima?” Karin hummed affirmatively in response to Momo, who then grinned. “Believe it or not, Iba-taichou wanted Watanabe. I think Watanabe is in for a reality check.”

“You are far too happy over that.” Karin couldn’t help but share Momo’s thrill, however. Chousuke Watanabe was a thorn in her side for six years, being her friend Ryuuji’s tormentor. Tetsuzaemon would straighten him out. The very picture of manhood and chivalry according to Momo. It was far too rewarding imagining Chousuke getting reamed by a six-foot wall of meat and battle scars.

"Bias is something I never shied away from. It's been a driving force in my life, for better or worse." Momo kissed Karin's forehead. "For best, in your case. You've been family since the moment I laid eyes on you, Karin-chan. My own in many ways. Every obstacle you've faced, you've overcome, and are better for it. I am so proud of how far you've come, and I'm so glad to have played a part in it."

Karin smiled bashfully. At least she had Momo.

Momo lovingly jostled Karin. There it was. Momo buttered up Karin just enough and was about to get her to bust open a can of worms. "What's on your mind?"

"I just… I thought Toushirou would be here. I haven't seen him all day today."

"I'm not supposed to tell you, but," Momo whispered, grinning, "he's preparing something special. Be patient."

Her heart pattered. "Oh." Of course he was. She was a little ashamed that hadn't occurred to her earlier as if they hadn't developed years of trust and affection, or at least a solid friendship. Nonetheless, Momo stroked Karin's hair, reminding her she was only human, that something so little wouldn't ruin everything.

Speaking of… Karin picked up on a familiar, icy reiatsu approaching. It was Toushirou, still in uniform. She smiled and Momo tapped her on her nose.

"See?"

"Not yet, but he's coming." Momo only rolled her eyes in response to Karin's lame joke.

"I'll leave you now. Enjoy your night, Karin-chan."

"Thanks, Senpai. I love you."

"And I love you."

Toushirou was still in uniform with his hands tucked into his sleeves. As he passed, Karin's fellow cadets parted and bowed to him. He ignored the attention, however, instead sporting a smile as he found Karin on her log.

He'd undergone hormone therapy in recent years to trigger a growth spurt. And he'd grown up to be a handsome young man, with looks rivaling stars in the World of the Living with access to renowned surgeons.

"I hope you've been enjoying yourself," he said. He took a seat next to her. He smelled like flowers. "I never attended these things, truthfully."

"Did you want to try dancing?" Karin asked.

"Well… I don't know," he said. Toushirou pulled a modest bouquet of daffodils from his sleeve, tied off with a turquoise ribbon. "It's not a big gift, I know, but I hope it reminds you that you're always welcome in juubantai."

Gingerly, Karin took his bouquet and smelled them. They smelled like spring. "I love them," she said. "Thank you."

She pressed a kiss against Toushirou's cheek, and he happily hummed. "I'm glad you like them. It's hard buying gifts for you."

"As if."

"It's true," he replied. "All Matsumoto wants is a day off, Hinamori loves spices and tobacco, and the boys are happy with some sake. You, on the other hand, easily get your hands on sake and tobacco, and hate downtime." Toushirou crossed his legs. "I should've consulted my sister."

Karin frowned. "But I like them…"

"The flowers? But they're such a lazy gift," he scoffed.

"I like everything you give me." She smiled. "Really, thank you. I love them."

He laughed bashfully. "Well, I'm glad."

Together they sat amid drums and singing and firelight, swaying with it, until Toushirou asked, "I don't want to take you from your friends, but I’m not enjoying myself here. Do you mind going elsewhere?"

"We can leave," Karin said. "Where do you want to go?"

"Someplace quiet where we can see the stars."

Her cheeks were warm at the idea. How romantic.

Karin bashfully followed behind Toushirou, holding his hand as he guided her away from the bonfire. When it was dark, he illuminated the way with kidou, assured in every step. A gorgeous man. He'd grown into his looks. His cheekbones were high, his shoulders broad. She could swoon until early morning over his handsome shape.

Up a hill, through a grove, and up a steep path, until they reached the peak of a sheer cliff. The stars above looked like a river of life. They didn't twinkle but were a steady pathway carved in the sky. Karin fell onto the grass and marveled. "Wow. When did you find this, Toushirou?"

"Not long ago. I wouldn't keep this from you  without a good reason." He smiled at her. Sitting, he said, "Do you like it?"

"Yes!" Karin nigh tackled Toushirou and kissed his cheek. "It's beautiful."

"I should've brought wine."

"This is perfect." Karin laid her head on Toushirou's shoulder. Together they stared into the stars. She searched for constellations but found none she recognized. "Do you think the World of the Living and the Soul Society have different stars?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. No one spends time looking up in the Soul Society. Those who do, don't seem to have the technology contributing to significant findings," Toushirou replied. "I'm not much of an astronomer either."

"You're a man of the law."

He laughed bashfully. "Aye."

Karin drew pictures in the stars herself. Birds, men, kitchenware, like she remembered from her human life not so long ago. Six years was nothing compared to how long her peers lived, was it? Not Momo, who was approaching a century and a half. Not even Toushirou, well into his seventies by that point. But Karin couldn’t remember the names of the stars or where to find them in the sky. How much longer did she have until she overwrote their patterns with other things? How much longer until her sad mortal history was forgotten in a sea of everything else?

There weren’t immediate answers to her questions, but Karin was fine with that. She said, "I remember hoping a rope would drop from the sky and drag me by the neck. Put me out of my misery."

"Understandable," Toushirou replied.

"I'm so much happier here. It's not always easy, but..."

"Slow and steady?"

"Yeah. Slow and steady wins the race. And I'm glad to be with you for it."

"So," Toushirou said, "no more sky-ropes to hang you until you're dead?"

She giggled. "Not anymore. I don't fancy myself a pirate, anyway."

He hummed. "I had a dream some time ago. Similar to yours... although I remember it being less grizzly," Toushirou confessed. She pulled her gaze from the starlight and saw him cloaked in darkness. Still, his eyes shined with wonder. Adoration. "A dream that assured me you're the love of my life."

"Go on," she said.

"I was being puppeteered by the sky. Dragged around day in and day out. And I saw the strings on you, into the sky as far as my eyes could see. And yet despite time, and fate, and all the horridness that plagued life for some time, we fought to be together." He clasped her hand. "Our strings became tangled and pink like cherry blossoms in spring. Like sunset. And... and I never want those strings freed." His blue-green eyes met hers. They made her melt like her body was hot wax in a leather bag. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Karin."

It felt like forever before she caught her breath. She asked, "Are you proposing?"

"If that's all it takes to spend the rest of my life by your side, and you at my side, I'll fetch a ring now. Propose properly in front of as many people as you like.”

Karin giggled. Picturing Toushirou hopping onto a bar counter, sake raised high, and screaming how deeply he was in love with Karin to their loved ones and peers, was quite a sight to behold! Yet, as anxious as he was to do so, she replied with, "Not at all. But let's make plans down the road. When I'm settled in."

"Of course." Toushirou sighed happily. They kissed. "I'm so in love with you, Karin."

"And I love you."

"I could stay here forever."

Karin hummed. “We have forever to do that…”

He turned to meet her gaze. “But?”

“I want to do more.” She sat up. “We work because we’re more than just lovers. We’re friends, confidants, partners. Warriors and artists and scholars.”

“Of course,” he agreed, propping himself on his palm.

“I want to be married, and I want forever with you, as much as I want-”

Toushirou said, completing Karin’s statement, “More.” He held her hand then. “It’s one of the reasons I love you. My recruitment was necessary. Yours is nothing but-”

“Desire.” She gazed into the stars, searching for divination in the blanket covering a slowly rotating plane.

“Then what more do you want?”

“To give justice and safety to those who have been and yet to be hurt. No one should suffer as I, and we have. I want to tear down the caste system here. Hold nobility responsible for their actions and give power back to the people, and eradicate the symbols of fascism and cruelty. I want to reconnect families. To make the Rukongai safe, so no one’s starving or resorting to crime to survive. And…” Karin turned to Toushirou, her breath stilling as she saw his eyes swimming with adoration. “And I want to mold the next generation to dream as I now dream, and to better the world. And I want to do all of it with you beside me, Toushirou. As equals.”

Toushirou cupped her cheek. He kissed her, and she held his sleeve. “Let’s do it. Together,” he said. Their foreheads touched. “Together always.”

[nothingbutfanfiction]

It’s OK If You Forget Me (Future Chapter)

I’m still stuck on Chapter 4 of It’s OK If You Forget Me.  While that’s frustrating, I’ve gone ahead and started working on future chapters, hoping it’ll help to unlock chapter 4.  So, here’s a future chapter snippet.  Enjoy!

Time seemed to stand still as the sound of Kurikara breaking in half rang out around them.  Sunlight glinted off the shattered blade as it was cleaved in two, Rin’s shocked expression morphing into fear.  Mephisto had told him that his demon heart was sealed within Kurikara. To harm the blade made it easy to harm him in turn.

 ***************

The phone rang and Mephisto apologized to Yukio as he went to answer it. Whatever was being said wasn’t good news, given how the demon king’s complexion seemed to pale even further.  “Do whatever you need to do to assist him.  Kirikagure-san and I will be there as soon as we can.”  He hung up the phone, his expression closed.  “I’m sorry, Okumura-kun, but there’s a pressing matter that needs both mine and Shura-san’s attention.  We’ll have to postpone this meeting until a better time.”

Yukio knew without a doubt that the conversation had centered around Rin. “Sir Pheles, was that call about Rin?  Please…I need to know if he’s okay.  I’m aware he probably still hates us, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t stopped trying to get back in his good graces.”

Mephisto eyed the young Exorcist, sensing the emotions that Yukio wasn’t showing.  Looking away, he replied, “Yes.  Kushina-san just called me.  The situation is bad, Okumura-kun.  They were on a mission and…Kurikara was snapped in half by the demon they were fighting.  I need to go now and help them with Rin.  It’s a matter of life or death now and we can only hope that Rin is strong enough to endure it.”  He rushed past Yukio, Shura’s voice calling for him as they met outside his office.

Yukio could only stand there, unmoving, as his superior’s words rang inside his head.  His teal eyes could only close in despair, already imagining the reaction he’d receive when he told the students what had happened.  To know that they may never get the chance to fully reconcile with Rin…that he could die without them being there for him.  His body lost the ability to stand upright as he sank to his knees on the plush carpeting.  For so long, he’d trained himself to show no outward display of his emotions. Now?  Tears fell from his eyes as he realized his older brother could die. Rin, who had always been the stronger of the twins, always bouncing back from his injuries.  But this?  This was on an entirely different playing field.  Rising shakily to his feet, Yukio tried to compose himself.  It was a futile attempt.  He knew the minute they saw his face that they would suspect something was wrong.  Sending a quick text to his students, he notified them of an emergency meeting. That brief window of time would allow him to gather his emotions back under his tight control.  He couldn’t break down in front of his students. They would need his support once they learned of what had happened to Rin.

The noise of the room died down as he entered, the eyes of his students focused on him.  He swallowed to wet his dry throat, trying to find the words he needed.  “I know it was sudden of me to call this meeting, but there’s…there’s something you need to know.”

“It’s about Okumura, isn’t it?”  Ryuuji’s voice spoke up.  “What’s happened?”

“Sir Pheles received a call from Kushina-san. Rin was on a mission when Kurikara was broken by the demon they were fighting.”

Ryuuji paled at Yukio’s words.  Knowing that Rin’s demonic side was sealed within Kurikara, he knew it would be bad for the half-demon.  “Okumura – is he okay?!  How exactly does the sword breaking affect him?”

“Rin’s demon heart was sealed within Kurikara at his birth.  Unsheathing Kurikara restored his demonic nature and powers, at least partially.  A demon’s heart is the source of its powers and when displaying it, allows one to draw out their true power.  But when Kurikara is unsheathed, it leaves Rin vulnerable, due to his heart being sealed in the blade.  Destroying the blade could…”  His voice wavers slightly, before continuing, “It could kill him.” Stunned silence greets him as he lifts his head up to see his students’ reactions.  Shock is written across their faces with tears streaming down Shiemi’s face.

Ryuuji couldn’t believe what he’d heard.  At this very moment, Rin could be… He didn’t want to finish that thought.

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Dragon Dancer IV: The Shrine

From the front seat of the sports car, Lu Mingfei tucked his hands behind his head. “They’re not even following us. They must really think I’m going to kill you. You’re that valuable huh?”

I stared silently out the window, heartache roiling in my chest. Ru’Yi lay against me, eyes closed, drooling into my shirt.

Crow had painted me as a valuable hostage used as a bargaining chip to prompt the surrender of Lu Mingfei into the hands of Hydra to be turned over to Cassell College as traitors to the cause of dragonslaying.

When we came out of the internet café where he and Nono had been hanging out, Crow looked badly beaten, I was limp in the arms of a third unknown person, and Nono was waving a submachine gun around while carrying my baby.

Crow decided to add even more drama, desperately calling out for his snipers to open fire on him to keep from being taken captive, but the bewildered and concerned Hydra Crane group were reluctant to do so. A bold and stupid move on his part, but it showed how much he knew his people.

Once I was in the car, Lu Mingfei shocked me again. He stood up straight and ordered all the people in the street into a windowless room of the Internet Cafe where Nono trapped them all inside.

When he came back, I was staring at him in open-mouthed shock. Who was this Mingfei? Since when did he have this much of a take charge attitude? I knew he had training for a year in South Korea, but this was nothing like the Mingfei I recalled returning from there.

What had happened to make him like this?

Crow answered Mingfei’s question with proud gusto. “Yes, I’m no longer the simple lackey Crow. Look at my clothes! They’re designed by one of the best clothiers in Tokyo! Look at this car! Do you think a low-level has stuff like this? don’t call me Crow any more. I’m Saeki Ryuuji!”

I turned to where Johann Chu was sitting. He was leaning against the window, deeply asleep. The Johann Chu I knew wouldn’t be sleeping right now or if he was, I imagined him sitting up, one eye open and ready for anything.

I turned to Nono who was staring at me. “You really are in love with him. You know for a while, I thought Lu Mingfei was schizophrenic myself I hadn’t seen too much evidence of Johann Chu. Not even my profiling ability led anywhere.”

“Where have you guys been?” I asked.

“Johann and I grew up together in the same hometown and went to the same school. We figured that was the best place to find any remaining clues about his disappearance. Instead, when I went to my school, I found out that there was never any Johann there and that I was the top student at Shilan High. I was even the captain of the basketball team.”

I laughed. “But that’s impossible.”

“Girls were falling all over him.” Nono smirked, waggling her eyebrows.. 

I looked between Mingfei and Nono in disbelief. “But that’s... that can’t be right...”

Mingfei lifted his eyes to the rearview mirror. “What do you mean?”

"How does Johann disappearing make you suddenly great at basketball? That is not how things work! If Nono disappears does that mean I get to marry Caesar? Or that I’d even want to?”

Nono poked me sharply, making me yelp. “Or that he would want to marry you?” She shot back. She folded her arms over her chest, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. “I could actually see that happening, given your S-rank. But I see your point. You’d still have to agree with it. My not being there wouldn’t play a factor.”

Mingfei became quiet and pensive. “Let’s talk about this later, Carli.”

We arrived in the mountains outside Tokyo. Drizzle shrouded the dark ancient buildings, but I knew where I was. This was the shrine where Chisei had given away his rights as patriarch and where he had hidden Chime and Erii before they were sent to South Korea.

A young man in priestly robes led us from the car through the wooden corridors of the complex with Crow hanging back behind us. I glanced at him. “Hey, where are Chime and Erii right now?” I asked quietly.

He looked down at me. “I can’t tell you that. I can only assure you that they are alright.”

I nodded twice and faced forward.

Moss covered the stone ground. A large lamp lit up an ancient buddha statue that was worn and blackened by age. The priest stopped, lit a match and put the flame to a kerosene lamp on the wall before opening a hidden door there. Behind the door was an open walled in courtyard that hid a small Japanese style cottage. 

“You guys can stay here.” Crow took the key from the priest and tossed to Mingfei.

“What is this place?”

“White Feather Shrine. It’s the Hydra Cemetery.”

The priest left us while we entered. Furniture was limited to a table and three chairs but Crow went to a closet to pull out a few mattresses.

“You’ll be safe here. The Family business doesn’t extend to the cemetery. This is not a place we keep monitored. We don’t even direct the priests. It’s a sacred space. Plus, they liked Chisei here.” Crow glanced at me. “No place is one hundred percent secure, but this is far better than Tokyo.”

“There’s no cell signal here. When Chisei was around, he would come here to hide from his responsibilities. Not even Tachibana could locate him here.”

Mingfei chuckled at that.

Nono mumbled, looking around, no doubt using her profiling skill to verify his claims. “Are you telling me that you prepared a safe house just for us?”

He chuckled. “You’re always doubting me! Anyway, Carli, I’ll have the priests bring the rest of your supplies here.” 

He walked over to me, leaning over the sleeping Ru’Yi. “I just want a picture of her! But right now its too risky!” He sighed wistfully.

“Well, hopefully when all this is over...” 

He gave me a smile and a thumbs up before turning and walking out of the building. As soon as he got outside, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, taking a long draw. I watched him go, unaware that he smoked.

Without a doubt, he held back from smoking around me and the baby.

Nono finished patrolling all the rooms. She still looked dissatisfied, pursing her lips. “I guess it’s safe, we should rest for now.”

“Alright, you and Carli get the left bedroom. Zihang and I will stay in the right.” Mingfei reached over for Chu Zihang, whose eyes widened as he backed away.

“Chu Zihang stays with me.” Nono said.

“I don’t think so!” My hackles immediately rose on the back of my neck.

“Yeah... he’s a ... he’s a man...” Mingfei trailed off, not wanting to so openly state the obvious.

“First of all, not in his mind he’s not and second of all, he doesn’t remember marrying you, Carli.” She crossed her arms and smirked. “So please don’t get jealous.”

My jaw dropped. “Excuse me! That doesn’t me you c-”

“Thirdly, his mental state is unstable and I don’t want you two freaking him out with your memories of the other Chu Zihang!” She snapped at me.

I watched, heartbroken, as Zihang quickly moved to stand behind Nono. He looked at me, eyes wide and shook his head.

I thought I had endured pain up until now. However, this simple, silent rejection cut deeper than a sword. I turned my back and walked away, face frozen, breathing shallow. 

The cottage had a wrap around porch. I sat on the steps facing the back garden, staring out into the dark, shivering in the chilly damp air.

Footsteps came behind me and stopped. I was aware of Lu Mingfei standing at the corner of the porch. Was he surprised I wasn’t crying? It hurt to much to cry.

Ru’Yi stirred in my arms, seeking comfort from the chill. Mingfei approached and wrapped a blanket over my shoulders, settling next to me.

“I’m sorry. I was going to get this figured out before you two met each other again. I didn’t want you to see him like this.” He said quietly.

The house was old and the soundproofing wasn’t very good. I could hear Nono instructing Johann. “The shampoo and the shower gel and in this wooden bucket. I put your clothes next to the door.”

Ru’Yi was pulling at my shirt. I sighed deeply. “I have to feed her.” I said.

Lu Mingfei looked away when I lifted my shirt and pulled my bra down. Ru’Yi latched on immediately and I covered her with a blanket.

“Did Johann ever tell you about Odin?” He asked.

[bproimagines]

Yandere headcanons for Mikado, Ryuji, or Hikaru? You can do just one or all three if you want! It's up to you, thanks for making this blog! Have a good 2019! 🎊🎉

AAAA THIS TOOK SO LONG IM SO SORRY!!! I love yandere headcanons so they’re a bit long,,, I hope you enjoy and please have a good 2019 as well !!

WARNING!!! THESE ARE NOT HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS DEPICTED!! IF YOURE UNCOMFORTABLE AT ANY POINT PLEASE STOP READING!!!!

Mikado

• Despite your wishes to go somewhere else, your friend dragged you to a convention and then, after buying you something to drink as an apology, abandoned you for the various stalls for merchandise

• Now you’re wandering the convention hall, lost, bored, and trying to find somewhere to rest

• That is, until you hear a screech coming from behind you

• “YOU LOOK JUST LIKE KURURI!”

• After many compliments about your outfit and hair, you realize that he’s talking about a character and he realizes that you’re not cosplaying Kururi

• As an apology, he buys you a drink from the vending machine and the two of you start talking. You discover that he’s not the weirdo you once thought he was, he’s actually very kind

• Eventually, the two of you become friends and then something more

• Your relationship with him is good, it’s great! Except…

• Except he still calls you Kururi…

• At first you didn’t think much of it, he did think you were cosplaying Kururi when you first met and he only did it once or twice, but recently he even criticizes the things you talk about because “It’s not something Kururi would say!”

• However, whenever you bring it up to him, he reassures you, “Of course I love you! I love you just the way you are! I’ll never say something like that again!”

• His words and affections convince you to ignore the feeling in your gut that tells you to run away

• Soon, the way you speak, the way you eat, the way you do your hair, even the way you walk is unfamiliar and practiced. You don’t feel like yourself anymore

• You can’t remember the clothes that you used to wear or the life you used to live before Kururi’s

Ryuuji

• When you started your relationship with Ryuuji, you knew that he was a bit possessive, but lately he’s acting a bit distant towards you

• At first you assume that he wants his space or that he’s tired, but now you’re starting to worry

• After all, he still texts and calls for hours at a time. You don’t know who and, at first, you assumed that it was Tomohisa, but what if it’s not? Who could be so important that he would ignore you for them?

• You need to be sure

• It starts innocently enough. You have nothing better to do and Ryuuji has an interview, so you ask if you could tag along, just to make sure he was actually going to an interview

• To your relief, he doesn’t meet with anyone else and he didn’t lie to you

• After the interview, Ryuuji seems to have gone back to normal, holding your hand and cuddling with you later that day and you realize that you were worried for nothing

• However, after what felt to you like no time at all, you find yourself doubting his feelings once again

• You follow him to a photo shoot this time, again telling yourself that you’re just making sure

• And, just like last time, you realize you had nothing to worry about

• Soon, it’s almost like a ritual to you

• Assuring Ryuuji’s loyalty becomes your obsession, something you need to constantly chase before it runs away

• And you’d do anything to make sure he’s loyal to only you, going behind his back, following him around, sabotaging friendships, whatever it takes

• You’ll never know how dependent on your obsession he’s become

Hikaru

• You have met Hikaru a total of three times

• The first time, you noticed that he dropped a container of pills and, assuming those pills were expensive or at least important, you picked them up and chased after him to give them back

• As soon as your hands touched, he felt his heart flutter and was sure that you felt it too

• He asked for your name and if he could buy you coffee or something as a thank you

• You gave him your name, but declined his offer. It was what anyone would do if they noticed, after all

• He was convinced that you were an angel and that he had falle in love

• The second time, he was at your door, flowers in hand

• You just assumed he got the wrong addrsss

• Apologizing, you were about to close the door when he grabbed the handle and forced it opened

• “You dont remember me? I thought we had something special!”

• The anger on his face melted away when he saw the fear in your eyes and he immediately went quiet

• He murmured a soft “Sorry” as he left you standing shocked in your doorway

• Something special…? Were you forgetting something? You could barely even remember meeting him

• Shaken, you decided to change your locks and look into moving

• It had been months and it was the end of a normal day when you came back to your new home, ready to relax and have dinner or maybe some snacks

• You would have never expected Hikaru to be already having a nap on your couch

• You nearly screamed, but you managed to hold it in and sneak away to a safe place where you could call the police

• The most vivid thing you remembered of that day was his betrayed face as he tried to break free of the polices’ grip and his voice proclaiming his love for you

• That was the last time you saw him, but you felt like could never let your guard down. What if he was around the corner? Who could help you if he was in your house again? These thoughts constantly put you on edge

• You truly hoped that that was the last time you would ever see him…

[voatsiperifery]

free! dive to the future ep. 10: i am so proud of my boys i want to cry

this is probably one of my favorite episodes this season! it had everything i love about this show (this is going to be so long i’m not sorry)

FIRST AND FOREMOST: SOURIN FUCKING HEART EYES EVERYWHERE!!!!! THAT SCENE IN THE CAFE WAS THE MOST ADORABLE THING!!

THE FUCKING SHIRT HELPPPPPPPPPP

ALSO YOU CAN’T FUCKING TELL ME THIS WASN’T A FUCKING CONFESSION SCENE (i mean i know it’s about sousuke’s surgery, but like imagine this for a sec)

it’s like that scene where the guy is about to confess his undying love for his childhood best friend but he’s getting kinda shy but his friend is totally on the same page and is looking at him SO FUCKING SOFTLY (like fuck sousuke, stop that! jk don’t you’re so fucking adorable every time you look at this handsome shark) and he ends up just saying what the guy should have said 5 minutes ago aka “I feel the same way”

and you get the guy’s reaction - first it’s shock

and then the best friend continues “I love you too” so you get this ADORABLE FACE

and then he starts to cry from happiness and they’re both happy the end

anyway, the world is fucking right again BECAUSE SOUSUKE IS HAPPY AND HEALTHY AND HE’S RECOVERED AND HE’S GOING TO GO SO FAR IN HIS CAREER AND THAT FUCKING SHOULDER AIN’T STOPPING HIM EVER!!

look at this face!!!! crying rin is so damn cute!!!

ALSO I FUCKING CALLED THIS I AM SO EXCITED FOR MAKOTO AND NAO BEING LEGIT COACHES WITH THEIR BOYFRIENDS!!!!!

mama-nao ur so pretty (but also i’m curious, he mentioned a friend who helped him see the coaching side of swimming and whatever, was he talking about natsuya? but then why not mention his name to makoto? so is that a different friend? WHO IS IT???????????)

MY IWATOBI BABIES!!! also NAGISA BRAGGING ABOUT REI TO MAKOTO AND PRAISING HIM AND BEING SO PROUD EVEN THOUGH HE’S ALSO GOING TO NATIONALS LIKE #COUPLEGOALS OMG

and then look at these two being cute at the aquarium and then looking like this after talking about sousuke!!! (ALSO MY SOUMAKO SENSES WERE FUCKING ON FIRE AFTER HEARING MAKOTO SAY HIS NAME IN THAT SOFT, CONCERNED TONE AHHHHHH!!!)

lol way to break it to him makoto

MAKOTO SHOWING DOMINANCE OVER RYUUJI YES GIVE ME THIS!!! bahahahaha i can still see yandere!makoto whenever they interact

RINHARU REUNION!!!!!

BONUS: BOW DOWN TO GOU, QUEEN OF FANSERVICE!!!

ALSO BURY ME WITH THIS!!! LOOK AT TATTOO!MAKOTO I’M CRYING!!!! IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!

EPISODE 11 PREVIEW: ASAHI AND REI BETTER FUCKING TALK TO EACH OTHER!!!

[sage-nebula]

Hey, I've been offline for a while so I'm a little behind on your MM posts, but I see that you said Anime Otogi is like Zen but Manga Otogi isn't? But I'm not really sure how the two differ that much so if you could shed some light on that please? I know you're really into MM right now so I hope it's not too out of your way to answer a non-MM ask lol

Haha, well, I have also been really into Pokémon and Voltron: Legendary Defender recently, but I still answer the YGO questions that get sent my way even though I’m not super into YGO right now, so it’s fine.

There is a world of differences between manga!Otogi and anime!Otogi. Otogi is one of the three characters Studio Gallop fucked over the most when they made their anime adaptation (the other two being Jounouchi and Bakura Ryou), and so honestly it’d be easier to make a condensed list of things they have in common versus differences between them. Really, about the only similarity is their name and appearance. That’s … that’s really it. (Oh, and the fact he created Dungeon Dice Monsters in both versions. That, too.) Otherwise, it’s like manga!Otogi is a lake while anime!Otogi is a mop puddle. The differences are that stark.

But for a more in-depth explanation:

Manga Otogi:

In the manga, Otogi Ryuuji is the son of a wizened former apprentice of Sugoroku’s, back when Sugoroku was still acting as a master of games. About Years ago pre-canon, Otogi’s father (Mr Crown) challenged Sugoroku to a Shadow Game over ownership of the Millennium Puzzle. At the time, Mr Crown was still young. However, the Shadow Game he challenged Sugoroku to was a game called the Devil’s Board Game, in which players bet years of their life. At the end of the game, the loser would age according to the number of years they had bet. Mr Crown had bet fifty years, and so when he lost, he aged fifty years in a single night.

As a result of this, Mr Crown became obsessed with seeking revenge against Sugoroku. In order to accomplish this he had a son, Otogi, who would be able to carry out his revenge for him. (And yes, you read that correctly: In the manga, Otogi was born solely to seek revenge against Sugoroku; he would not have been conceived otherwise. And to be honest, I have doubts that Mr Crown is his biological father at all, but that’s just speculation.) Due to being raised for the sole purpose of revenge, Otogi was sheltered, tutored, and trained in the art of gaming, and was not allowed to socialize until he was sixteen and it was time to get revenge on Sugoroku by Otogi playing Yuugi in Dungeon Dice Monsters over ownership of the Millennium Puzzle.

As a result of this, manga!Otogi …

… is quite serious in terms of personality. Otogi is a rather sincere, but also rather serious, person. Due to the abusive environment he was raised in (and Mr Crown was quite abusive to him, even in the present day), Otogi tends to take most things in life seriously, regarding everything with a scrutinizing eye and honest judgment. While it’s not impossible for him to smile, he really doesn’t have genuine smiles very often, and he lacks the comic relief spawning flippancy the anime gave him. That said, he’s not stoic; Otogi can actually be rather emotional, and there are times when he …

… is quite tsundere. Otogi is an honest-to-god tsundere in the manga when it comes to joining the friend squad. In the manga, Otogi gets involved in the Battle City arc when he decides to tag along with Honda to go pick up Shizuka from the hospital after her eye surgery. When Honda pokes fun at the fact that Otogi made up an excuse to do this, Otogi responds in the most tsundere way possible:

“I-It’s not like I like you, or anything!!” is classic tsundere, and Otogi uses it here to mask the fact that he’s actually tagging along with Honda to the hospital because he wants to get closer to the friend squad. This is a far cry from the anime, where he just happened to stumble across Honda and Shizuka when they were fleeing from the Ghouls, and decided to tag along after that because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . In fact, to that end, manga!Otogi …

… wants to learn about the power of unity, and specifically wants to learn what it means to gain strength from bonds formed with other people. Unlike in the anime, where Otogi’s character during Battle City is entire wrapped up in a love triangle between himself, Honda, and Shizuka (which does not exist in the manga; neither Honda nor Otogi have feelings for Shizuka in the manga, as well they shouldn’t give that they are in their second year of high school and she is a junior high student, very much a kid to them), Otogi has his own character arc in the manga that focuses on his desire to find out what it’s like to have friends and companions to rely on, and what it’s like to draw strength from them, given that this was something denied to him as a result of his upbringing. In fact, this is the entire reason why he decides to join the friend squad in Battle City:

As you can see, Otogi is not only quite serious and focused on this question he wants an answer to (rather than gushing over how cute Shizuka is, like in the anime), but it actually is a question he wants an answer to, and an actual character arc in comparison to the comic relief he was reduced to in the anime. Otogi never had friends growing up, in the manga; he was never allowed to have them. Now that his father has disowned him and he fulfilled his “purpose” of revenge, he’s free to seek out friendships and learn what it truly means to gain courage and strength from the bonds he forms with others. But on that note, in the manga, Otogi …

… is not a womanizer, even a little bit. Whereas in the anime he had cheerleaders following him around and gushing over him, in the manga, Otogi doesn’t care about that at all. While the girls at school still do fawn over him for being attractive (much as they did Bakura when he transferred in), Otogi doesn’t pay them too much mind, instead focusing his attentions on Yuugi and Jounouchi. Furthermore, when he plays Dungeon Dice Monsters with Yuugi, they are alone; the only audience for this match is Mr Crown (who watches in secret for the first half), and later the Spirit of the Ring (since he senses that the Puzzle is in danger). Otogi is confident in his gaming skills, but he doesn’t have the massive narcissistic streak in the manga that he has in the anime. He certainly never spends time thinking about how suave, smooth, or good-looking he is, and it actually seems like talking himself up is very far from his mind in the manga. Additionally, while he was raised for revenge against Sugoroku (by defeating Yuugi), and while he is confident in his gaming skills, Otogi …

… does not hate Yuugi, and is actually quite kind. He really is not a jerk in the manga, at least not to an extravagant amount. He does come off as something of one when he is first introduced (and acts like a bit of one throughout the DDM match due to the pressure that is on him to win), but when Mr Crown shatters the Millennium Puzzle partway through the match, Otogi stops the match to help Yuugi pick up the pieces, apologizes to Yuugi for the fact that his father broke it, and then declares that he’s going to continue to play the game honorably. He begs Mr Crown to stop lashing out about vengeance once the match is through (even though this gets him disowned), and as I said, really wants to understand what friendship and companionship are as the manga goes on. And as far as not hating Yuugi goes, even before they became friends (and in fact, even before they had played Dungeon Dice Monsters at all!) Otogi felt positively about Yuugi, simply because of the card games they had played in the classroom:

(Note: This leads Mr Crown to demand if Otogi had lost against Yuugi, and when Otogi stammered his response (“Uh, well—”) Mr Crown realized that he had. As a result, he struck Otogi across the face with that riding crop he’s carrying and screamed at him for losing. So yeah, having a rare genuine smile and talking about how amazing Yuugi was got Otogi punished pretty harshly. I was not exaggerating when I said Mr Crown abused him.) Otogi genuinely likes Yuugi, even before they play DDM, though he tries to repress it while they play because he knows it is his duty to get revenge on his father’s behalf. So while he does have his moments of being a jerk when first introduced (particularly toward Jounouchi, given that he wanted to take Jounouchi away from Yuugi as a start on the revenge), overall Otogi is a kind person who is not full of himself in the manga, and certainly not to the playboy extent he is in the anime. And actually, at times he …

… is quite sensitive. This ties into how I mentioned that he’s emotional and kind up above, but Otogi is actually quite sensitive to the feelings of others. Part of why he’s so bent on revenge for his father’s sake is because he legitimately feels bad and uncomfortable with how disfigured Mr Crown is due to the Devil’s Board Game. Straight up, he has a difficult time even looking at Mr Crown’s true face as a result of this: 

And, as stated, felt bad when Mr Crown shattered the Puzzle and made Yuugi cry (from shock, anger, and hurt) during the DDM match:

He’s also very forgiving his father, despite how Mr Crown disowns him and tells him he no longer has reasons for living now that he failed to carry out revenge as planned. Otogi is quite emotional and sensitive, perceptive to other’s feelings. He’s quite conscious of it.

I could probably go on, but all in all, Otogi is not the selfish, borderline narcissistic twit that he is in the anime. He’s actually a serious character with depth and a true character arc in the manga, and though he only has a small role, I’d say that he’s still very good. By contrast …

Anime Otogi:

In the anime, Otogi Ryuuji appears to be the sole owner of the Black Crown game shop, given that his father, Mr Crown, apparently does not exist. Some time shortly before Duelist Kingdom, Otogi developed Dungeon Dice Monsters because he felt like it. He contacted Industrial Illusions for assistance with getting his game created, and after a meeting with Pegasus (whom Otogi idolized), it seemed as if his dream was going to come true and the partnership was going to go through successfully. However, Pegasus disappeared after the events of Duelist Kingdom (because he went into a coma in the anime, whereas he was outright murdered in the manga), and as a result the partnership between the Black Crown game shop and Industrial Illusions fell through. Enraged that he was never going to get Dungeon Dice Monsters published now, and feeling that Yuugi must have cheated somehow to defeat Pegasus, Otogi enrolled at Domino High so that he could challenge Yuugi to Dungeon Dice Monsters, a game Yuugi had never played before, because somehow beating Yuugi at Dungeon Dice Monsters would prove that Yuugi had cheated during his Duel Monsters match with Pegasus. OK.

As a result of this, in the anime, Otogi …

… is petty, selfish, and self-absorbed. Whereas he was raised as an instrument for his father’s revenge in the manga (and was therefore acting not out of his own desires, but rather for his father’s desires, and any personal feelings he had were simply feelings to make his father happy), in the anime he seeks out revenge against Yuugi because he’s mad that his partnership with Pegasus fell through as a result of Duelist Kingdom. It’s petty, because although it’s disappointing to have a business deal fall through, it’s not as if there aren’t other ways to get that game published. It’s something trivial to seek out revenge for, and makes him seem like a less dangerous Kaiba rather than his own character. He’s also rather selfish and self-absorbed, because not only is he seeking revenge over an inconvenience and injustice he feels he faced, but he feels that he faced that injustice because, in his mind, the world seems to revolve around him. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to socialize, but rather that he doesn’t care to because he’s so wrapped up in his own little world and sense of self-importance and genius. And on that note, he …

… is fully aware of how cool and good looking he is, and relishes the attention. The girls fawn over him in the anime, too, but this time he actively encourages it. He brings cheerleaders to the matches at Black Crown, and broadcasts the Dungeon Dice Monsters game on huge screens outside the game shop so that everyone can see him defeat Yuugi. During the Battle City arc, he’s constantly flaunting himself and bragging to try and impress Shizuka, and is still willing to denigrate others (namely Honda) in order to make himself look better. This behavior is not present at all in the manga, particularly because (as I said) Otogi ignores the girls in the manga and plays Dungeon Dice Monsters privately with Yuugi in a very secluded back room. And speaking of the girls, in the anime, Otogi is …

… a womanizer. The cheerleaders aside, Otogi’s entire “arc” in Battle City in the anime is the love triangle going on between himself, Honda, and Shizuka. His entire reason for being there is because he wants to get into a thirteen-year-old’s pants. He seems to have no other thoughts or concerns on his mind, aside from occasionally having commentary to add about the duels going on.

And that, honestly, is the most that can be said about him in the anime. He’s flippant and full of himself, but he has about as much depth as a mop puddle compared to his manga counterpart. He’s one of three characters the anime treated the most horribly, with Jounouchi and Bakura Ryou (so, not the spirit, but actual Bakura) being the other two. It’s sad, but it is what it is. Hopefully someday the anime can be rebooted and actually done right.

[sj4iy]

Translation: “Ao no Exorcist” Chapter 88 Translation Summary (SPOILERS!)

So, I do this with Noragami every month, but this may or may not become a monthly thing depending on my schedule.  Anyway, I did it this month, so I figured I’d throw it up here.  If there are mistakes or typos, my bad, I type this up as I read it.  Spoilers, obviously:

The title is “Happy (Merry Christmas) Birthday! Eve”

Rin is upset about Shiemi’s decision to quit being an exorcist.  There’s a flashback to her suggestion about a big birthday party for everyone.  Yukio tells them to have fun but Shiemi says “No, you are going, too!  That’s obvious, right!?”  Yukio gives in, and Rin says that’s the first time Shiemi’s ever been so forceful with Yukio and the others agree.  Rin says “this just occurred to me, but... could she be dying…?”  The others stare at him, but Izumo says “I also thought that”, and Bon says it, too.  Izumo says “I’m serious, isn’t it strange that she would suddenly do that!?  She was fixated on becoming an exorcist, and she worried about being opposed!”  She keeps going until Yukio tells them to calm down.  He says it’s not very probable because her health examination was excellent, and everyone calms down.  Rin decides he’ll ask her directly, and Yukio and Izumo hold him back and tell him it’s a their secret.

Shiemi gives everyone their assignments for the part (Rin and Miwa on food, decorations Yukio and Suguro, and cake is Shima and Izumo).  She takes on the tree duty.  Rin tries to bring it up again and Yukio grabs him and they leave.  Afterwards, the group is discussing it again and Yukio says there’s no way she’s dying, but there’s a high possibiity that something else happened. Konekomaru thinks it might be a hopeless situation instead.  They think of some really…strange…reasons, and Shima laughs and says “she just wasn’t suited for this and wanted to do something else, and maybe she just wanted to have fun with everyone at the party.”  Yukio agrees, and then we see them go on their separate ways.

Izumo and Shima are together (in the Cake Team).  Izumo wonders why she’s stuck with him, and he says “Let’s have some fun.”  She replies that she’s worried about Shiemi, and asks “Do you know something!?” but he replies that he’s not a spy like that and that he doesn’t know anything.  They come to the cake shop, but there’s a really long line out the door.  Shima balks, but Izumo says there’s no many opportunities to buy a whole cake, and that if he wants to go home, he can.  He says he won’t because it’s his chance at a date with her.  They fight about him being a spy some more, and she says that she never thought she’d do thinks like stand in like for christmas cake or worry about Shiemi Moriyama.  Shima says Izumo is different from him now, and she says they are the same.  They get into the shop and she is very girly over the cake while Shima calls her “cute”.

The Decoration Team, Yukio and Suguro, are shopping.  Yukio says he’ll leave it to Suguro since he’s not good at this sort of thing, and Suguro tells him that if he’s busy or still too hurt, Yukio can go home and just come to the party the next day.  Yukio refuses, and he says Suguro must also be busy, and Suguro agrees.  Yukio realizes that he was mistaken about who invited him…that the other party is the Arch Knight Lightning, and there’s no way to refuse him.  Yukio says “I heard that Lightning is taking you around everywhere, it must be tough”, and Suguro says he he likes it.

Rin and Konekomaru are on the Food Team, and they are pricing out Turkey (and wow, it IS really expensive - $200), and they decide on karaage and chirashi (yum yum) instead.

Back with Suguro, he’s going through documents while Lightning sleeps on the couch.  He says “Lightning has slept straight since then” and as he starts going through the clone paperwork, he sees the name “Shiro” for number 004.  When he looks at the picture, he’s shocked because it’s Shiro Fujimoto, the former Paladin.  He was Azazel’s clone.  He then notices that the experiment record for 005 is missing.  Lightning wakes up and asks him what he’s doing, and he says “005 is probably Satan” and asks to take out more materials on it.  He then says “Furthermore, Shiro Fujimoto is Azazel’s clone, so does that mean the Okumura brothers inherited the blood of Azazel’s nephilim…?”  Lightning tells him “You should get a little rest, Ryuuji”, and to leave it to him.  Suguro gets mad because all he’s done since coming back from Azazel is sleep, eat, sleep and sleep.  Suguro wonders what this world is, and what Gehenna is.  He then asks lightning what Satan is, and Lightning says that’s something he also wants to find out, but they have to find the Illuminati’s headquarters first.  Lightning says Mephisto isn’t reliable on that, and that he sleeps when he reaches an impasse.  Suguro asks to go to the party the next day and Lightning says yes.  Lightning tells him “Listen, if I give you an order, it’s not like you have to abide by it” because he’ll go crazy if faced with ‘that kind of thing’ directly.  Suguro says “I understand, now let me sleep” and tucks Lightning back in.

Elsewhere, Shura tells Yukio he can go to the party, too (she’s drinking juice, btw).  Yukio says “Honestly, if you could give me a mission, it would help me out.  I don’t really know what to do at parties.”  She tells him that he needs to have fun with people his own age sometimes, and he says he’ll trade places with her.  She says she’s busy for the next 24 hours, and he asks if it’s a date.  She says it’s a dating party because she wanted to start looking for a lifelong partner after she got back from Aomori.  He says she’s changed, and she says that she has a longer lifespan, so she’s even watching her health (wow).  He says he’ll pray for her happiness, and she notices something off screen (but we don’t see what).

We see Rin and Shima celebrating as the semester has ended.  Shiemi has found this magnificent tree, and Suguro and Yukio start decorations.  Suguro thinks that Yukio’s arm is still too broken to make decorations, but he says that he’s just always been bad at arts and crafts.  Yukio says “But it brings back memories…we had to do this kind of thing when I was little, this time of year the monostary was busy with this event” (Obvioiusly, it’s Christmas).  He says that he and his brother were clumsy and made awful stuff, but their father didn’t care and would use them to decorate anyway. “Quantity over quality” he would say, but they didn’t improve at all.  Yukio stops when he sees Suguro’s face, and asks him what’s wrong.  Suguro says “It-it’s nothing, I was just thinking that’s a nice story, let’s finish decorating.”

Yukio says “Forgive me…” “-ther” and we see a flashback.  Little Yukio asks where their real parents are and what they are like.  Shiro asks “Do you really want to know?” and Yukio says yes, and Shiro says he knew this day would come.  He says he found them on a cold morning under a bridge on Dec. 27th, and that he doesn’t know who their real parents are.  He says that they don’t need to worry since he found them, and to eat, brush their teeth and get in bed, because Santa (not Satan, for once) is coming.  Little Yukio thinks “he’s lying” and says “He definitely knows!  Why does he hide it?” and Rin says “if he says he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know” and “I’m fine with not knowing.”  Little Yukio asks “Why?” I don’t know think Rin wants to know.  Then older Yukio thinks “I want to know.”

And that’s it.  There’s a little extra story after, but I’m not going to bother with that right now.  Enjoy!

[tonguetiedraven]

Seeing that adult bonrin fanart sent me feral, can you possibly write something where Rin and Suguro grew apart a little after highschool, like they got busy with their own careers or something like that, and when they finally meet again after a while bc they collab on an exorcism or smth Rin just starts hitting on Suguro HARD.

The fantastic @marble-wolf helped me write this one <3 It's a little long, so only part of its going here but you can check the link at the bottom for the full story! We tweaked the prompts some but I hope it fits any way :)

(Also, you can check out my for here I am standing here loving you for more aged up bonrin stories)

— — — — — —

The mission report was handed to Ryuuji by Lightning, and the Arch Knight didn’t even pause to act like there was anything unusual in it, so when Ryuuji opened it up to peer at his newest assignment, he got a double shock.

The first was that he was leading a team on resealing Ix Chel, a goddess, so that she didn’t go on a bloody and destructive rampage.

He hadn’t led a mission against such a powerful demon before. And shouldn’t Osceola be handing this mission out? Why had Lightning—

Flipping the page to the list of his team members answered the question of why Lightning. The head of his defense was the one and only Rin Okumura.

Ryuuji stared at the picture for a moment, snickering a little at the wide-eyed shit! You’re snapping the picture now?! Sort of expression on Rin’s face, and felt a swell of emotions that were a tangle of too many things to possibly name.

Working with Rin Okumura on an actual mission. Not a text or a call or a group chat or an email or a note left in an office when they’d missed each other (again.) Not a picture from his ma saying “we missed you!” because everyone always went to her ryokan for their vacations and so she got to physically see his friends more often than he did.

An actual mission where they could catch a meal together and talk and do one of those back breaking hugs Rin always gave, and stay up way too late and get into a competition they absolutely shouldn’t because they were adults now, and just see each other.

Nirvana, he missed Rin. They talked but it wasn’t like school had been. They couldn’t just take a short jog across campus and crash in the other’s dorm and spend hours talking about everything and nothing or just sitting in silence together. Just being together, uncomplicated and right and peaceful and fun and hard and too many things to possibly ever describe, all of them vital and all of them something he’d wanted back and could only hope to find a way to get back someday. (He was so close to being able to settle down at Joukhai-ji and lead the Myodha from there. So close to having the resources they needed and being done with this endless travel and someplace different to spend every night.)

But he’d get to see Rin in a handful of days. They’d fight a goddess together. (Maybe finally get the promotion to Arch Knight. He had to beat Rin to that one. It was the final challenge before he tapped out. He had no interest in Paladin.)

He finished the report, buzzing a little with excitement and got up from his desk, snatching his phone up to type on his way to the library to start on his research for sealing the demon goddess. 

He typed the message up as he walked, sending it to Rin with a toothy smile he didn’t notice.

[Ryuuji: Get your new assignment yet?]

[Rin: Not yet 👀 why?]  

Ryuuji just smiled.

— — — — —

Rin stepped over the threshold into hot and humid misery which wasn't a surprise because even he knew that Cozumel was going to be hot. But that didn't stop it from being utter misery. 

The sky was cloudless, the air hot and the floor under his feet rolled gently with the gentle sound of ocean waves splashing against the sides. The yacht was obviously Mephisto's, with a pink floor and everything was sparkly and shiny which was painful to look at with the heaviness of the sun. The yacht pitched slightly, making a soft bumping noise and a rumble and Rin abruptly flinched at the realization that the yacht was most definitely alive and a demon. 

Rin squeaked an apology and ran off the yacht as quickly as he could, sighing in relief as his feet landed with a thump against the wooden bridge. The demon yacht had a figurehead of a rather Mephisto-like statue that nodded his way and tipped a solid gold hat before beginning to move. 

Rin caught a glimpse of horribly long fangs sticking out of the water and sharp fins on the sides and forced himself to look away. No. He learned long ago to not question Mephisto and his entourage of demons. 

Rin didn't let the weather or his weird arrival get him down though, because he was going on a mission with Ryuuji Suguro for the first time since they graduated and that knowledge made it easy to push past all that and start off down the bridge, searching hopefully for a familiar face. 

When he had been given the mission, he had been skeptical at first. They somehow hadn't gotten a mission together since they graduated and he had wondered "why now" but then he decided he didn't care about that and he was excited to see the Aria after years apart. 

And just thinking about the man made his cheeks go red, but he could play it off as the heat. And even without that, the heat was way too much anyway and he paused, setting his duffle bag down with a thud and scrambled to remove his coat. (Why did no one tell him to change? At least Yukio who has seen him off, should have said something.) 

The heavy black wool coat was off, leaving behind just a sleeveless shirt that he wanted to shed as well and he made up for the lack of uniform by keeping the True Cross emblem on his necklace with his keys. (He should have found something like what Osceola wears.)

Rin moved to continue his quest to find Suguro and made it another couple feet (why was the bridge so long?), his thought on Suguro and seeing him again but then he was seeing the shine of the sun on the water. He rarely got a mission on an island like this and he wanted to see if the water was nice. 

(Nice enough to maybe swim in with Suguro but he wouldn't admit that outloud.)  

It took Ryuuji all of a second to spot Rin. The halfling had never blended in when they were younger, and he still wasn’t blending in now. 

He’d gotten a bit taller since Ryuuji had last seen him. Broader too. Handsome as always, but he’d grown into the wild looks. He was in the standard True Cross Unifor, and either no one had bothered to tell him there was a hot weather version, or he’d forgotten to bring it. The boy was already covered in sweat, flushed from heat, and hanging over the edge of the bridge like he wanted to flop into the water. 

(Ryuuji had no doubts he did. Rin was always the first into the ocean.) 

“Oi, Rin!” Ryuuji called, drawing Rin’s attention before tossing a bottle of sunscreen at him. “Put that on. We gotta get you changed into the other uniform before you pass out. It’s hot and bright here.” Not that the bright would bother them too much. They were here for a moon goddess after all.

His own shirt was long sleeved to help fight the sun (and bugs), loose, fast drying, light enough that he barely felt it, and with a few vents he’d already opened up. He had a hat to block some of the sun, but he’d also left his hair loose to block some of his neck. The cargo style pants had enough pockets to make up for the lost coat. 

His sunglasses didn’t do anything to block the first real sight of Rin, and it had his heart squeezing. It really was Rin. A couple of years hadn’t changed those eyes, and Ryuuji would know them anywhere.

The water was every bit as cool as Rin had hoped and it felt great but then Rin's name was being called and then he couldn't breathe. Suguro was talking to him, tossing something at him that bounced off Rin's hip and landed at his crouched feet and Rin couldn't hear a word he said, just heard the low familiar voice that had somehow gotten deeper as he blatantly stared. 

His eyes looked Suguro up and down, appreciating the proper clothes he wore and the fact that the shirt was blowing in the soft breeze and showing off Suguro's muscled arms. Suguro's eyes were hidden by the sunglasses and his hair, partially hidden by his hat, was a longer version of his high school undercut that Rin immediately wanted to touch. 

Suguro had gotten taller and he was standing more confidently, as if he had settled into his role and enjoyed it. 

"Suguro!" Rin cried, scrambling to stand and he bounded forward to tackle his old friend in a squeezing hug, lifting him off the ground a little with Rin's delight.  

“Woah!” Ryuuji yelped, and then broke into a laugh as his arms wrapped around Rin. Still just as much of a monkey as he had always been.  (And just as dizzyingly strong.)

He hugged him back, not caring that he was already a sweaty mess (it was hot as hell here and everything was a sweaty mess) and just stayed there for a moment, registering some of the differences and feeling like he was stepping back into a dusty old dorm as Rin’s scent of campfire smoke and something a little spicy filled his lungs. It had him holding tighter for just a moment, and then swallowing a bit too thickly and letting Rin go, settling back on his feet and giving Rin’s arm a light punch.

“Didn’t anyone tell ya it was gonna be hot? You’re dressed like this is another arctic mission.”

"I didn't think it was gonna be this hot! But Yukio watched me leave, so it's his fault." Rin returned the punch and leaned back to look Suguro up and down. 

"You're looking great!" Rin exclaimed, moving to pick up his duffle bag, discarded coat and sunscreen. "Mature. Hot."  

“Probably not as bad as you,” Ryuuji said, moving to help with the luggage. “I actually realized we were going to a sub tropical place and planned.” He gave his head a fond shake. “Was that all you brought? I got some spare stuff you can wear, but it’s gonna be baggy on you. Even if you have grown.”

He paused, tilting his head and taking in the difference. He didn’t have to look down quite so much. “When did you get taller?”

Rin gasped and jabbed Suguro with his finger. "I did know! I just didn't expect it to be so tropically."

He stood straighter, beaming. "I don't know when it happened but I think I'd look great in your clothes." (He had brought other clothes. Just not exorcist clothes.)  

“Probably feel great too.” Ryuuji motioned towards the other side of the dock. “The hotel we got is over there. The air condition isn’t great ‘cause True Cross is still cheap as hell, but it’s better than that shithole dorm was.” 

Didn’t expect it to be so tropically. Rin was an utter nut and Ryuuji was so happy to see him. 

“Did you actually read the report?” He asked, lifting one of the supply bags and leading the way, tempted to snag one of the handles of Rin’s duffle bag to keep him from getting distracted and wandering away. “Know what we’re doing here?”

(Aside from hopefully catching up with more than typed messages.)

"Yuck, so a shit hotel and hot as hell." Rin grumbled before answering Suguro's question. 

"We're here for the Itchy god demon." Rin told Suguro. He had read the report but only understood a part of it. 

"Oh! Look at the bird! It's green!" Rin gasped and turned completely around to watch the bird fly.  

Ryuuji gave into his earlier urge and snagged one of the handles on Rin’s bag. He’d lose him otherwise. Then he let his gaze follow Rin’s to see what had caught his attention. 

“Parrot,” he supplied, grinning himself. It was a beautiful bird.  He’d never seen one outside of a cage. 

(A benefit of hanging with Rin that he used to see as an annoyance. Rin always saw and got distracted by the things Ryuuji didn’t see.)

Satisfied with that answer, Rin turned back to get to the hotel. If nothing else, he hoped it had cold water. 

"But yeah! We're going to hang out and then we're going to catch Itchy and…" he paused and looked over at his old friend. "Seal? Exorcize?" 

Rin was enjoying how they had fallen into their old roles but it was different now. Easier and something was softer, and Rin was sure it was from the years they had spent apart. (And Rin needed to not fall victim to the urge to flirt continuously. His earlier efforts had been… Well, Bon seemed oblivious to them.)  

“Seal. There isn’t a known exorcism method and she’s a lot to try and kill. We’re gonna try and put her back to sleep. Apparently it was last done around five hundred years ago.” He gave Rin a teasing grin. “Which you would know if you had read the report.” 

Looking back ahead, he led Rin towards the beach path to their motel. It was away from the bigger tourist spot, which was probably just as well. 

Confident Rin had his footing, he let himself give Rin a poke. “You’re still skipping out on homework.” 

"I read it! Skimmed but I still read it!" Rin corrected, swatting away Suguro's hand and his fingers brushed the prayer beads on Suguro's wrist. 

"Some things never change! That means you will be writing the reports." Rin said. 

Ryuuji looked ahead, feeling his cheeks go a little warm at Rin’s fingers on his wrist. (Stupid reaction to have over what could barely even be called a brush.)

“Guess that means your chicken scratch hasn’t changed either?” 

Rin was getting sweatier by the second. Ryuuji was actually starting to worry about that. Rin really wasn’t equipped for this kind of weather.

Ryuuji pulled his sun hat off and plopped it down on Rin’s head. The wide brim blocked some of the sun from hitting his shoulders as well as shading his face and neck. It also was too big for his head and sank down a little, drawing another laugh from Ryuuji. 

Rin looked up at Suguro with a grin, making the hat sit crooked. "Thanks Suguro! This will help! I was tempted to just start taking stuff off." 

It was so gross under his shirt and he hated the sticky humidity. 

"My writing has gotten better!" Rin told him before humming as he thought over the mission. "Five hundred years… so we're going to kick her ass and make her take a longer nap!"  

“She’s a goddess of destruction. We’re gonna try and keep her asleep and get everything done before she wakes up properly.” 

Ryuuji started up the steps to their hotel and pulled the door open. A weak puff of cooler air washed over them as he did, and he motioned for Rin to go inside, closing the door behind them and waving off the desk staff because he already had Rin’s key. 

“We don’t know what all she controls on this island. The exorcists from five hundred years didn’t really take good notes. We know she’s powerful and that they felt the effects of whatever she was doing on the mainland.” 

The elevator wasn’t working, so it was the stairs. “We’re on the third floor, by the way.”

Rin nodded and walked towards the stairs, already mourning his cool apartment. "On the bright side, the exorcists in the future will have your notes and you do take good notes!" 

Rin took off the hat and put it back on Suguro's head, following it up with a bump of his tail against Suguro's side. 

"And I would complain about this hotel to Mephisto but then he'd put us somewhere worse next time!"  

“A tent.” Ryuuji decided, and found himself falling into memories again. He hadn’t gotten bumped or tickled or poked or whacked by Rin’s tail in years. It was weird how much he immediately adjusted his weight to anticipate the sway from the poke. 

Honestly, they’d probably end up in a tent before the end. Ryuuji had a twelve hour aria he was going to have to perform with only a few drinking breaks. He might not have a voice at the end of this.

“This is you.” Ryuuji stuck the key in the door and unlocked it, shoving the door open and sweeping his arm in a ‘tada’ motion. 

It wasn’t anything to write home about, but it was much cleaner than Ryuuji had anticipated. 

He motioned to the room across from Rin’s. “I’m there, and I will be getting you up in the morning.” 

"Awe, you didn't get us one room?! No sleepovers?" Rin teased. "I wouldn't mind sleeping with you." 

The words were out before he had time to think them over (never did anyway) and it made him bark a laugh.  

“Yeah?” Ryuuji asked, dropping one of the bags on the bed. “‘Cause I get up at four-thirty now.” He gave Rin a wink, trying not to think of sharing a room with Rin. (A bed with Rin. Rin who knew Ryuuji’s preferences on that sort of thing. One of the few people who did.)

“A.M.” He added, just so it was clear. High school Rin had slept in until noon when he could get away with it, and Ryuuji rarely got a text before ten in whatever time zone Rin was in at the time. He was pretty sure Rin would try and burn him if he got up and did things at four-thirty in the morning and woke Rin up.

Rin scrunched his nose and rolled his eyes. He leaned against the doorframe, dropping his duffel bag in the room with a careless toss. "Why would you do that? Shouldn't you be sleeping later with this mission anyway? All that moon stuff? Princesses need their beauty sleep. Not that you need it."  

Ryuuji shrugged. “I like mornings.” 

And what did Rin mean by that? That he didn’t need the sleep? Was he saying that it wouldn’t help or that he didn’t need it? 

He was blushing a little more. “Hang on a sec and I’ll get ya some stuff to change into that won’t make you melt.” He set the key down on Rin’s dresser and moved to his own room, opening it up and going to his suitcase, pulling out one of the spare uniforms, an extra hat, a spray bottle, and some bug spray. He came back to the room and set it all on Rin’s bed.

“They’ve got a ‘conference’ room downstairs we’re gonna meet in. It’s not a conference room, but it’ll work?” He paused, not quite wanting to leave, but not wanting to overstay his welcome. “Still like strawberry tea?”

Rin sighed in relief at the lighter uniform and immediately began shedding his thicker one. "Yeah, still like to drown yourself in green tea?" 

He tossed his clothes on top of his duffle bag and delayed putting on the other uniform, not wanting anything on when it was so goddamn hot.  

Ryuuji tried not to look, but there was a lot to look at. And he had always found Rin attractive as hell and time had been kind to him. It wasn’t quite fair that he’d filled out in all the right places and —

“Is that a tattoo?”

When had Rin gotten that?

Rin gave a gasp and whipped around to fully face Suguro. 

"Oh yeah! I haven't gotten to show you!" Rin trotted over, and showed off the reddish orange tiger on his chest. It stretched down to just below his belly button, the twin tails curled and the back angle of the tiger showed off the intricate design of the stripes. The tiger's face was turned to the side, a fierce snarl on it's face and it's eyes a vibrant shade of blue. 

"Pretty cool, huh?" Rin proudly asked.  

Ryuuji stared (and tried to do so respectfully) and was fairly certain he was nodding. It was a fantastically done piece of ink, and the details were intricate and the double tails were an obvious nod to Kuro (and the tiger itself had him remembering too many things and Nirvana, he was going to just be stuck in memories this entire week.)

His hand had moved when he wasn’t paying attention to it to hover over the eyes. “Cool,” he agreed, “Same color eyes as yours,” he said, and dropped his hands back to hang against his side. 

Meeting Rin’s eyes, he gave him a smile. “That’s a summoning tattoo? That where Kurikara is?” He’d noticed the bag missing, and if it was, that was a relief. Ryuuji had stressed about that sword. Rin always seemed a fraction of a second from losing it from that old bag.)

"Yeah! I should've gotten it in school. It's handy!" Rin said, tracing a hand down the tiger's back before he beckoned to the bed. "Wanna sit down? It's been way too long."  

Ryuuji was too old to be blushing like this.

“Sure,” Ryuuji said, still staring at Rin’s very bare chest before lifting his eyes towards the boring ceiling. He was not going to stare. He was not. 

Sitting down on the bed, he took the hat off, setting his glasses and the spare key down in it and turning a little to face Rin. (And it had to be an attention drawing bright orange reddish tiger.)

Rin got the pants on, tugging them up and laughing a little at the looser waistband. He looked over at Suguro as the hat came off and he grinned, reaching over to satisfy his curiosity and flicked the longer and wavy, nearly curly hair. It was as soft as it looked, a little frizzy from the humidity and the hat. 

"I like your hair! You look so cool!"  

Ryuuji grinned, feeling a bit embarrassed about his hat hair, but mostly trying not to stare at Rin’s chest and shoulders that were now way too close.

“Gotta keep up with you—” And he cut himself off before the tiger could escape him. That was probably too much. 

“Besides, it’s easier to manage. Kinda curling like my ma’s.” He brushed some out of his eyes and shifted on the slightly lumpy bed. “Probably gonna regret the length here.” 

Pushing that aside, he fixed his gaze on Rin’s face, taking in the freckles and frowning at something else. 

“Hey,” he brushed his fingers over a scar on Rin’s cheek. “When’d ya get this?” And why hadn’t he been told? He’d told Rin about his new scars. (Not that he had a lot. Just a few close calls he didn’t want Rin hearing about from any of the other people they knew.)

Rin's hand lifted to cover Suguro's fingers and the scar. He could see the concern on his face and Rin tilted his face so Suguro could peer at the scar if he wanted to. He could feel a flicker of shyness at the soft tone Suguro was using and the gentle touch.

"'Bout a year ago. Just a fast demon, was all. Nothing bad." Rin comforted, and his hand was still covering Suguro's fingers but he didn't want to move yet. "I missed having my favorite mother rooster to fix 'em up though."  

“It’d be a mother hen,” Ryuuji corrected, even though he’d been a rooster since he’d met Rin. He couldn’t decide if he believed that it was just a fast demon or not. Whoever had tended to it hadn’t done a good job if it had been. It frustrated him that he hadn’t gotten the chance to help. It wouldn’t have scarred.

He brushed his thumb over the spot again, met Rin’s eyes, realized that was a bit of a mistake with how close Rin was, and let his hand fall.

He smiled, and tried to ignore how it didn’t quite feel right. It was a little too soft. “I’ll make sure you don’t get any here.”

But it wasn’t going to be that long of a mission. A week and then Rin would be running off somewhere else and getting hits and doctors would be doing shitty jobs on him. (And he was willing to be Yukio chewed whoever did that shitty job out.)

Rin lifted his hand to brush back Suguro's hair, humming, "rooster." 

"And I'll make sure you don't get any either!" Rin returned, "I'll keep ya safe!" 

Satisfied, he turned back to throw the rest of the uniform on with a groan. "I'd rather go in my underwear everywhere. Still hot." 

But not deadly hot like the goddamn coat. 

"Know what? I bet I know why Yukio didn't correct me." Rin realized abruptly. He snapped his fingers and felt the urge to go bitch at his brother. "I… may have picked up a demon on my last mission. And I asked him to take care of her while I'm gone. She's just a Kotobuki! Harmless!"  

“Harmless?” Ryuuji cackled. “You’re lucky he didn’t threaten to shoot you. Tell me it’s at your place.”

Apparently Rin picking up strays was never going to change. 

“And keep that on. The uv rays here will get ya and I don’t know if your regenerative stuff will help against that kind of damage. If you go around with out anything, you’ll need to be putting sunscreen on every five minutes.” 

"She is at my place but she gets lonely and Kuro doesn't like her much. She's… different." 

That was putting it lightly. Rin flapped his shirt, scrunching his nose at Suguro. "This is going to suck, isn't it?" Then he continued before Suguro could answer. "But I mean… we could go swimming."  

“It’s the year of the rabbit. Kuro probably knows she’s going to get wild.” 

Ryuuji reached up and started to pull his hair back into a pony tail, stretching his arms a little as he gathered most of it up. There were a few strands that fell around to frame his face no matter what he did. 

“Yeah, it’s gonna suck, but most of the real work should be at night. She’s a moon goddess after all.” His nose wrinkled. “A bit of a weird one. Destruction, death, weaving, childbirth,” then with a blush because he was still on Rin’s bed, “physical love.” He shrugged. “No telling how she’ll respond if she wakes up.”

It was a lot of responsibility for his first entirely solo leading experience. This was a far cry from his usual job of following Lightning and cleaning up whatever messes were made.

Rin paused in his clothes fussing (it was quite large on him but he liked it… it smelled like Suguro. Suguro was talking about a god with physical love in their domain. That could be a problem.) "Oh. But aren't these— what is she, Mayan?— gods all complicated like that?" 

Any demon that was considered a god was a lot harder than the typical demon. (Rin did not let himself slip into the past as a certain demon declared himself god.) 

"Destruction, death, fucking, birth and… while she does all that she weaves?" Rin laughed a little, unable to come up with a better response.  

“Yep. Or fucks with weavers—not in that way. Maybe she gets frustrated with it and goes off on a rampage.”

Ryuuji exhaled tiredly. “Ready for the debrief? We’ll have a couple of hours free after that, if you want to, uh, get dinner.” 

Rin groaned and threw himself on the bed next to Suguro before sitting up with a grumble. "Lumpy bed… yeah, I guess we can get that over with." 

"Then, we can absolutely get dinner."  

Find the rest of the fic here! (Rated T)

[nanami314]

Toradora Discussion Episode 5: Ami Kawashima

Ami Kawashima. Aka, “The Bitch” according to Taiga. Our fifth and final main character has finally arrived, and boy is she something. One minutes she’s all cute and nice, the next she’s, well, a bitch. I wasn’t too much of a fan of Ami when I first watched the series. Like Kitamura described her, she’s spoiled, selfish, and bossy. However, much like many characters in this show, there’s more to Ami than meets the eye. I’ll go over her a bit more in today’s spoiler section, but even there I don’t want to say too much about what’s to come. For now, though, let’s jump in!

First big scene of the episode happens at Johnny’s, where unfortunately for Ryuuji, Minorin was not working today. Taiga’s glancing at some sort of fashion magazine, and on cue, the same model that was in the magazine she was looking at just so happens to walk through the door. As if they’re not already surprised by that, Kitamura walks in behind her. Of course he spots them and heads over, the model, Ami, following him. What’s even more surprising is the fact she called him Yuusaku, his first name. Are we done? Are there any more shocking revelations? No? Okay.

Ami and Kitamura have been friends since they were kids, which would explain the name. Ami’s really cute, and she seems to be nice, too. Until Kitamura leaves the table, Ryuuji follows him, where she then shows her true nature. You can tell by the way she’s talking that she’s just trying to push Taiga’s buttons. Unfortunately for her, she doesn’t know who she’s messing with. Once Taiga’s heard enough, SLAP!. Right in the face. I love the attention to detail here. Taiga claims there was a fly on her face. Look at her hand, and you’ll see a tiny black dot, representative of said fly.

Back at the Takasu House, Taiga’s not happy about Ami, and clearly hates her. But, like she said, it’s not like she’ll ever see her again, right?

Wellll, about that. Ami transferred to their school, and is in their class. Great, I’m sure that’s exactly what Taiga wanted to hear.

Ryuuji runs into her by the vending machines, and she’s still got her act up. Also, practically everyone in the class is fawning over her. Makes sense considering she is a model and all. Also, how many times are we gonna hear the word airhead in this episode. From Ami, from the girls, from Ryuuji, seriously it’s all over the place! Also, Ami tells Ryuuji that she must’ve “accidentally upset Taiga” at the restaurant. That could not have been any farther away from being an accident.

Back in the classroom, notes are getting passed around. I haven’t spoke about her yet this episode, but I absolutely love Minorin’s cute face that’s on the screen while Ryuuji’s reading her note. In fact, Minorin is what makes this scene. She goes from a cute face on the note to a not so cute face that had everyone staring. I also like how the teacher has absolutely no idea what’s going on, and his monotone voice in the dub makes it even more perfect.

After school, Ami finds Taiga sitting in a classroom waiting for Ryuuji. This is where Ami takes her bitchiness up a level, as if she wasn’t already enouch as it is. If there’s anything at all I can compliment Ami for, it’s this: She’s insanely good at what she does. While talking to Taiga, she’s really trying to strike a nerve, you can tell by the things she’s saying. And the face she makes when she figures it out. Once she found out how to push her buttons, she went at it. Thankfully, Taiga retaliated this time. But not before Ami told her that Kitamura hated her for what happened at the restaurant.Thankfully,Ryuuji was able to clear up the misunderstanding.

SPOILER SECTION

Spoilers for Toradora Episode 6 only beyond this point.

Ami. Ami, Ami, Ami. Quite the first impression to her character, wasn’t it. I was originally going to have a lot more here about her character, but I think I’ll save that for tomorrow after she confronts her stalker. Speaking of which, when Taiga mentioned the word stalker in this episode, Ami had quite a reaction to it, of course hinting at the fact that she has a stalker following her. I love little details like that that you can pick up on a rewatch. I look forward to tomorrow and talking about Ami’s “true nature”.

END SPOILER SECTION

That’s gonna wrap it up for me. All 5 of the main characters have been introduced, but it seems like there’s at least one more episode of Ami before we get into the meat of the series. Wonder what’s up with her. Guess we’ll have to wait and find out.

[tonguetiedraven]

Ever since you reposted that picture that was like "do not meddle in the affairs of dragons. Its rude. They've got stuff going on. Its none of your business" all I can picture is like a fantasy au where ryuuji is like a dragon shifter and Rin's tryna keep people away to give Ryuuji private time

Thank you so much for this. I love the idea <3<3<3

-- -- -- -- --

Ryuuji nosed through his pile until he found the new one, and gently nudged it over to the corner to be read in a moment. He made the rest of the pile neat again, and hurried back to his book. Settling down with a happy noise and a puff of smoke, he flipped to the first page and bent his head to get lost in the story.

“Master Suguro!”

Ryuuji hissed, curling up tighter and hoping he could just disappear behind his hoard, but also worried about letting anyone see it. There were all of four people he let get close to his hoard, and only one of them ever called him master.

He gave his book a last mournful look and climbed over his hoard to get out of the main room of the abandoned temple. It was a tight fit in his dragon form, but easy to pass through in his human form.

But only a few people got to (knowingly) see that.

The villager was nervous – they were always nervous to see him –and wide eyed as he approached them.

“Oh,” the villager, a slim man with short black hair and fine clothes, bent down in a quick bow. “Master, we need help.”

“What sort of help?”

“The Impure King is attacking!”

Of course.

It always happened like that. The moment he managed to escape notice long enough to read, he’d no sooner open a book than he would get called away for some kind of duty, whether that was protection, prayer, mediation, or teaching. It was his duty as guardian of the mountain, but he longed for moments alone to just read.

What was the point of having such a wonderful hoard of books if you could never enjoy it?

Ryuuji huffed out a breath and nodded. The frightened villager went back to wherever he had come from, and Ryuuji stomped back to his hoard. He carefully closed the book, gave it a small, sad pat with his tail, and stomped back to his door. He spoke the magical spells to conceal and protect it, and left his old temple to beat the demon back. (Again.) It was impossible to burn away every single spore, and the bastard kept regenerating himself. Ryuuji would find out where he hid himself one of these days, and he would destroy every last bit of the foul miasmic demon on that day.

He flew to the foot of the mountain, and had the extreme shock of seeing someone already fighting the enormous demon. The villagers he defended rarely confronted the demon. They’d summon fire and create barriers, but they left the brute of the assault to him. The disease the demon spread would kill them if left unchecked, and it only took a single spore to get in their lungs and spread.

But there was a knight throwing himself into the fray, laughing as he slashed at the white fluffy mass of the demon. 

Ryuuji landed on the ground with an enormous thud and breathed out an immediate roar of fire on the mochi shaped demon. The knight sprang back with a delighted noise and proceeded to clap his hands together with excitement. 

Ryuuji chose to ignore the strange display and concentrated on decimating as much of the menacing demon as he possibly could. The knight watched for a few more minutes, and then dove into the fight. His sword was on fire, and it made the fight go much faster than when Ryuuji fought the Impure King alone. 

They quickly dispatched the demon (and now Ryuuji could understand why so many dragons swore by knights) and Ryuuji turned to face the new comer.

“You’re a dragon!” He cheered.

And that was how Ryuuji met Rin Okumura. 

...

Rin had moved in over the last few days, and apparently he had opened a restaurant in the village. (Konekomaru said the food was delicious.) He liked to fight as well as cook, and dove into any fight he saw.

Ryuuji wasn’t entirely sure what to make of him.

He was talkative for one thing, capable of going off into a lengthy ramble about anything, and the topics seldom seemed to be connected in any way. He had a lot of opinions about what was cool (dragos were one of the things he found cool) and he dreamed of flying. He was around a lot, asking questions and inching closer and closer each time he wandered to Ryuuji’s old temple. 

Shima told him that Rin had volunteered for border watch, and sure enough, after a week or so, the halfling (Ryuuji had only met a few people with demon and human blood) showed up at his temple. He came inside all curiously, spreading mud all over Ryuuji’s freshly cleaned floors, and brought news about a giant chuchi harassing the villagers.

“But I can handle it!” He promised. Ryuuji went anyway. He wasn’t sure he trusted Rin Okumura yet.

...

Rin showed up with food and Konekomaru was right. It was delicious. 

...

Rin was a good fighter, and despite talking a bit too much, Ryuuji found himself appreciating the knight’s company. 

He hadn’t realized he’d been lonely, but having back up in a fight made it easier to think and quicker to eliminate the threats. He started planning strategies involving Rin, and that worried him a little. It didn’t seem like a good idea to get attached to a knight that could leave.

More worrying, he found himself sneaking down to the village in his human form and dining at Rin’s restaurant. His curry was to die for, and Ryuuji was only so strong of a dragon.

After the fifth trip, he squirreled away a menu when Rin wasn’t looking, and added it to his hoard without looking too closely about why he wanted to. 

The next day he found a book outside his temple. A beautiful leather bound volume of arias and sutras, and he promptly carried it inside, only to get a call to fight before he could even read the first page.

There was another book when he got back. A mystery book.

...

Ryuuji snuggled into his blanket and turned another page. It had been hours, and Ryuuji had nearly finished the book. He was a little concerned. He’d never gotten such a long reading time. 

He had found multiple books outside his temple, and he wasn’t certain who was leaving them, but they were good stories and he had fun trying to figure out the mysteries before he finished them. 

After another hour of reading, Ryuuji got up, worried without quite knowing why, and carefully picked his way out of is hoard, nosing a few books back into place and dusting away a cobweb from the top corner. He left his cozy room and looked around, finding Konekomaru in the garden.

“Yeah, there was an attack a few hours ago. A spirit train. Rin took care of it.”

Ryuuji frowned and returned to his hoard nervously. 

He wasn’t sure what to make of that.

...

Two weeks later, and he was sure what to make of that.

“You’re trying to replace me!” He snarled, hurt and blowing angry smoke from his nose. He had trusted Rin and the halfling had been going behind his back to fight off demons by himself. Demons Ryuuji should have been taking care of. He was the guardian of this mountain, not Rin. (He’d hoped Rin would be his knight, but apparently he didn’t want that job. He wanted Ryuuji’s.)

“Am not!”

“Yes you are!”

“No! I’m trying to give ya reading time!” Rin yelped, and then he went very pink, blinked twice, and covered his face with his hands.

“What?” Ryuuji sputtered. Reading time?! No one was supposed to know he liked to read!

Rin shook his head. “I—”

Ryuuji dared to get a little closer to the handsome knight. “What?” He demanded. Had the halfling seen his hoard? How did he know Ryuuji liked to read? And what did he mean give ya reading time?

Rin turned a bit more red, flickered with flames, and finally dropped his hands from his face in some kind of resolve. “Just what I said. I know you like reading and you don’t get to do it a lot, and you look so happy when you get to, I just wanted to help so you could. The books I left didn’t seem to work, so I thought maybe if you got to read them and like them—”

“Books you left?” Ryuuji interrupted, blushing himself though it wasn’t obvious with his scales. 

Rin nodded and jutted his chin out definitely. “Yeah! I left you four or five.”

The books hadn’t just appeared. Rin had left them. Rin had given him the wonderful mystery books and the pretty book of verses. 

Smoke started to curl from Ryuuji’s nostrils as he grew all the more red with a flattered sort of embarrassment. Rin couldn’t have realized it, but that was a courting gift. Bringing something for a dragon’s favorite part of their hoard was as much of an I’m interested in you! declaration as you could get.

Rin, not looking at Ryuuji, kicked at the ground awkwardly. “I wanted to getcha something you’d like. You didn’t seem to react to my gifts, so I thought I’d try the time thing, but that didn’t work either, so…” Rin lifted his head, clenched his hands in fist, and yelled the next words defiantly like he was in the middle of a fight. “I LIKE YOU!”

Ryuuji released a small burst of shocked flames and surprised smoke. He drew back at the volume, tail going straight into the air in surprise.

“There!” Rin added. “I said it.”

“You like me?”

Rin nodded. 

Ryuuji’s form shimmered and he took a small shuffling sort of step forward. “Oh.” Well that changed everything then.

Rin blinked and his eyes went very wide as Ryuuji shrank into his human form. 

“I loved them all,” Ryuuji said, blush obvious now as he marched towards Rin. “I appreciated the time to read,” another few steps and he was directly in front of Rin. “And,” he swallowed, gathered his draconic courage, and took Rin’s hand. “I accept your offer of courtship.”

Rin’s tail went straight up and gave an excited little tremble. “You—you do?!”

Ryuuji nodded, and without any warning, Rin made an excited noise and his arms were suddenly around Ryuuji’s neck in a tight hug and Rin’s body was pressed against his own, and his arms were around Rin’s middle, hugging him close as he took the knight’s weight.

...

So Ryuuji had a boyfriend now, and he was a genuine knight in shining armor. (Or at least he was when Ryuuji polished his armor.) He liked to cook and made stupid jokes and he couldn’t really read, but that was okay because he liked to cuddle against Ryuuji’s side and listen as Ryuuji read stories, and he was incredible at finding new books for Ryuuji’s ever growing hoard.

There would never be enough time for cuddling and reading, but there was shared meals and fighting together and flying together, and it was all a lot more fun with Rin, even if the knight would never remember to wipe his feet before entering Ryuuji’s temple. 

And, well… If he started to add a few cooking utensils to his hoard, and he snagged any cool swords he saw… well, it was normal for dragon hoards to grow in interest and Rin’s smile was so big when he saw his portion of the hoard, that Ryuuji couldn’t be embarrassed. (At least not enough to stop.)

He could trust Rin to keep his mountain safe when he needed some alone time, and he was more than capable of guarding it when Rin wanted some cooking time.

Though, they would probably need a bigger temple to house their combined hoard soon, but that was a problem for the future. In the mean time, there were cuddles to be had and mysteries to be read over warm curry.

Ryuuji was the happiest of dragons.

[tonguetiedraven]

Ooh for the prompt post: bonrin mutual pining, hurt/comfort and/or humor (not sure if we can double up) body swap, and no au!

Sorry for the delay on this one! I think I finally figured out a good story for this one. I got several requests for a similiar story, so I'm going to make this a multi-parter and link you all together :)

Thank you for the ask, and I hope you enjoy the first part!

Summary: After fighting off the Impure Baron in Lightning's cursed Aria deck, Bon tries to free Rin, only for something to go horribly wrong.

Can they find their ways back into their own bodies? And can Bon keep quiet about his crush while they try? (Not if Lightning has anything to say about it.)

Part: One (you're here.), two

— — — — — — —

Bon knew something had gone wrong when he scrambled to his feet, still hacking on the residual miasma in the air, and stumbled towards the chest. He didn’t have time to be upset with himself. Not when Rin was trapped and in pain. It was Bon’s fault Rin was even here, and Bon’s fault he hadn’t been freed quicker.

“No—” Lightning started, only to cut the word off mid-sentence. Bon ignored the half formed sentence and scrambled to Rin who was now cursing a string of expletives, half of which he somehow managed to pronounce wrong. Because some things about Rin never changed, and that was part of why Bon liked him so much. (Not that he’d ever say that.)

“Hold on,” he grunted, wrapping his hands around the lid and shoving up hard. There was a strange buzz, almost like when you touched something ungrounded, and it was followed by a pop and a shock that had him snatching his hand back as the lid flopped over. Rin sprang upright, everything went entirely white, and Bon fell backwards.

— — — — — — — — — —

Bon woke up with a groan, and a strange buzzing feeling over his entire body. His groan rattled around in his head loud as hell, and he was laying on his side. Huffing out an agonized breath, he rolled over onto his back.

All grogginess was immediately gone as a wave of utter agony shot through his entire body, made his back arch and his mouth fall open in a gasp. He was too shocked and immediately hurt to even scream, despite how much he wanted to. Rin’s tail whipped through the air, whacking him on the leg, and all he could think to do was shift back over to try and relieve the pain that seemed to be rolling in hot, agonizing waves through his entire body.

“Ugh,” someone near him said as Bon tried to suck in a breath.

“You two up?” Lightning asked as something shifted near the other end of the room. Bon sucked in a breath successfully, and promptly gagged at the overwhelming stench. Shoving his tongue forward, he felt a sharp pain in his tongue followed with the metallic tang of blood.

“What—” he couldn’t finish the question. His mouth didn’t feel right. And not in a just woke up or dentist way. Nothing seemed to be in quite the right spot.

Blinking his eyes open, his vision swam a bit before he managed to blink it back into focus. He expected to see Rin laying across from him, or possibly Lightning. He didn’t. What he did see was himself.

For a moment he was certain he was still unconscious or spaced out or looking into some kind of reflection.

Except the eyes blinked at him, and his face was talking when Bon most certainly was not.

Bon yelped in pure shock and panic, and everything around him promptly went very horrifyingly blue as a strange heat burned over his skin and through his gut.

“Agh!”

“Suguro!” Lightning snapped. “Calm down!”

Bon was not the one that needed to calm down. Rin was the one currently lighting half the room on fire. Besides, he was still staring at himself, and that was terrifying.

“Suguro—Ryuuji!” Lightning strode across the room in a few short and sharp steps. His hand sliced through the air with a mumble of latin words and something shimmered over Bon’s head. He glanced up (why were his bangs black?) just in time to see a basin of water tilting over his head.

The spiritual liquid poured out over him, completely soaking him through the uniform, the blue flames extinguished, and he cried out in immediate pain. It was like sticking your hand in water that was too hot. It burned over him, boiling and agonizing as he tried to suck in a breath and scramble away, only to slip on the water and fall backwards. Rin’s tail whipped across his vision, and Lightning reached him.

“Ryuuji—it is Ryuuji, right?”

Bon nodded at the bizarre question and tried to wipe his hand off on his soaked coat.

“What’s going on?” A gruff voice that sounded a little like his father asked from a few feet away.

“Hang on,” Lightning muttered, still holding Bon’s gaze. “I gotta make sure he’s calm first. You okay? Just keep breathing. Do that meditating thing you like. Keep your breathing under control and I promise it’ll be okay.” Lightning muttered the next part under his breath, but it was still easily loud enough to hear. “Probably.”

Bon tried, filling his lungs up as much as he could and holding the breath, but even that didn’t quite feel right.

“Good. Okay. Alright.” Lightning raised a hand and ran it through his hair. “Sure. I can fix this. I don’t have to fix this. It’ll fix itself? Yeah.” He clapped his hands together, suddenly seeming excited. “Perfect. We’re all gonna go on a few field trips. I can’t exactly let ya roam around like this. I mean. I shouldn’t. Not… Huh.”

“You’re not making any sense,” Bon tried to growl, annoyed and still crawling with anxiety and pain. Only, it didn’t sound like himself at all. His voice was higher in his head, and he actually managed a growl. Like an actual growl and not the human equivalent.

“Huh?” Lightning blinked and seemed to realize they were still there. “Oh. Right. Sorry. What were you asking? Never mind,” he laughed to himself. “It’s simple, really. You both just switched bodies.”

“What?!” Not him squeaked. Bon yelped an equally shocked ‘heh?!’

“The chest. You didn’t deactivate it properly. So Okumura switched bodies with the first person he touched. You. Surprise!”

“I—what?” Something was moving behind Bon. Glancing over his shoulder showed it to be Rin’s tail.

“You are now in Okumura’s body, and he is in your body.”

“Put us back!” Rin yelped with Bon’s voice. It didn’t sound quite right. It was lower than he thought he sounded, and his face didn’t quite look right, but then he’d only ever seen it in a reflection or picture. It would be mirrored in the reflection.

It was a strange thing to get caught up on, but his mind was struggling to work through the other part of the statement.

He looked back down at his hands again. They weren’t his hands. They were Rin’s hands. He’d spent too much time looking at them recently. He’d wanted to try holding them, and now he was them.

“I can’t put you back. It’ll switch on its own. Probably.”

“Whaddya mean, probably?” he growled again, snapping his gaze up to Lightning. The horrible twisting heat was building in his gut again, and he didn’t know how to make that go away. If he was Rin (fuck, he was Rin!) they’d be flames, and they were dangerous!

Lightning shrugged. “I haven’t tried it on a nephilim. It might not work the same. Though, it seemed to switch you normally. So that’s good.”

There was something sparkling on Lightning’s wall. Bon had never noticed that before. Why was it sparkling? (That didn’t matter. Why was he looking?)

“Might not work?!” Rin scrambled to his feet. Bon got his hands under himself and promptly winced when it brought him in contact with more of the holy water. That shit hurt. How did Rin handle this on the battle field? Yukio used the holy water grenades all the time. The spray got everywhere. It had to get on him and hurt.

Rin reached for him, and Bon had the weird experience of being hauled to his feet by his own hand.

He was suddenly a lot shorter. He had noticed Rin was shorter than him (he’d had a few daydreams of using that difference to his advantage that he’d never admit to. Unless Rin did.) but being the one that shorter was immediately disorienting. Everything was in the wrong spot. The room looked different, Lightning was too tall (and Mara’s temptations, the stench rolling off him was horrible) and even his balance felt awkward. He was tilting, and didn’t know why. (It was a tail. He had a tail.)

“Holy shit,” Rin muttered. His eyes were brown, and it was so weird looking up at himself.

Rin was in his body. Rin was standing in front of him in his body, blinking and staring and how the hell had this happened?

The twist of panicked heat in his gut seemed to get worse. His entire body was tingling, and he didn’t know how to make that stop. This wasn’t his body. This was Rin and it felt invasive and he didn’t understand, and he could hear everything. The air overhead was humming, Lightning’s breathing sounded like it was being done directly in his ear, there was someone walking outside, his own heart was hammering in his head, he could hear Rin’s heart beating — it was racing as much as his was — and there were too many smells to sort through.

There was a scent in the air over it all that he hated. It was turning his stomach, and he didn’t know what it was, but it was everywhere and making his skin crawl.

(He was in Rin’s body. Holy shit. He was in Rin’s body. How.)

“If it goes like usual, it’ll just be today. You’ll both go to sleep and wake up in your own bodies again. Good as new.”

“Sleep?” Rin asked, turning his eyes from Bon to look at Lightning. Rin was still holding his hand, and Bon’s entire body was now shivering with something he didn’t understand. He felt a bit sick. The churning heat in his gut was building more with every second. He couldn’t seem to catch his breath.

“We can turn back with sleep? Why not just—”

“No, it’s a time period thing. I’m saying you should be turned back tomorrow morning.” Lightning shrugged. “I mean, you can go ahead and take a nap if you want. I don’t know how much Suguro sleeps. Maybe he’s tired.”

“If it doesn’t?” Bon asked, hearing the unspoken statement in that question and twisting to face Lightning. He caught a glimpse of his tail in his peripherals and startled.

“Then… probably the day after.”

Bon met Rin’s equally horrified gaze. Lightning had no idea, did he? This…

They could be trapped like this for much longer than a weekend.

[tonguetiedraven]

can you do something like bullying or rin getting into a fight? any ship if you like, im not sure if you r comfortable with that topic gkdnckd

I hope this fits? It's the fight more than the bullying, and mostly it's Rin getting really (justifiably) mad.

No ships. Just broship and friendship, lol.

TW/CW: for some mentions of blood and broken noses

— — — — —

Rin spotted Yukio at the top of the staircase and waved to get his twin’s attention. They had lunch together today, and he’d been looking forward to it all morning. And not only because his pork had smelled really good last night when he was preparing the week’s food. Yukio was smiling more, and it seemed like things might finally be getting better for Yukio. He knew the cheerfulness could evaporate again, but he really hoped it stayed around for longer this time. Yukio deserved to always be happy.

Yukio spot his waving hand, looked in his direction, and smiled in his soft way. It was a real smile though, not the polite one he wore for everyone else.

Rin’s chest went happily tight and he started to move through the crowd to meet him at the stairs.

It was probably his demonic senses that let him hear the quiet and shocked ‘oh!’ Yukio released, but it might have been something he heard anyway because it was Yukio and Rin’s ears always seemed to hear him clearest.

He glanced up in time to see a flash of gray hair, and Yukio’s body suddenly moving through the air. Rin sucked in a horrified breath, Yukio seemed to hang suspended mid-motion forever, and then he was crashing to the earth. Rin ran, shoving people aside, possibly trampling them, and screamed his twin’s name as he moved.

Despite all his supernatural speed, he wasn’t fast enough to catch his twin. Yukio collided with the concrete with a deafening thud, and a sickening crunch.

(His glasses or his nose? What had crunched?!)

Rin reached his side an infinite second later, skidding to his own knees, not caring that he ripped the knees of his uniform slacks, and reached for Yukio’s shoulders.

“Yukio?! Oh my god—” what if he was broken? You weren’t supposed to move really hurt people — “Can you— fuck, they—” Someone had pushed his twin. He’d seen gray, spiky hair. Who was it? He’d kill them. But— “Yuki, can you hear—”

Yukio shifted the slightest bit. Just enough that Rin could see his blinking eyes. His glasses were smashed and his nose was bleeding and looked like it was already swelling somehow. His cheeks were scraped, and his teeth were coated with blood. The sharp metallic scent of blood and fear coated his nostrils and Rin needed to find who had done this.

“Rin?” Yukio’s voice was scratchy, shocked, and a bit disoriented. His head had probably been hurt. He needed to get to the doctor—

Rin’s ear twitched at the faint sound of a laugh. People were pushing in around them, worried voices were rising up everywhere in concern for his twin, and there was someone laughing.

“Yukio—” Ryuuji and Shiemi’s voice cut through the cacophony, and that was all Rin needed. He could see Ryuuji forcing his way forward with Renzou, and if they were near Yukio would be safe and Rin could take care of the person who had dared to touch his twin.

He waited just long enough for Shiemi to break through — she had the advantage of being small and capable of slipping between people — before he jumped to his feet and ran to the top of the stairs. Anyone in his way was shoved out of it, he bolted over several steps, and he reached the crest of the stairs right as Shiratori tried to dart away. The cacophony of shouts and shrieks faded to the background, the taste of blood was still heavy in his mouth, and the red of rage flooded his vision as he jerked Shiratori around to face him.

“Hey!” Shiratori snapped, “hand’s off—”

Rin didn’t give him a chance to finish the statement. He brought his fist around and clocked Shiratori across his ugly jaw, not minding at all that the spike Shiratori had on his lip tore at Rin’s knuckles. Before the boy could get away, Rin caught him by the collar and hit him higher on the face, taking an intense satisfaction at the crunch of his nose.

Even when they had fought in middle school, Shiratori hadn’t been good. He’d had a lot of lackeys, and that was the only reason Rin had ever struggled against him. Numbers always made up for a lack of talent. Now that he was alone, he couldn’t have fended off Rin’s attacks even if he didn’t have the demonic strength and speed.

Rin did have those, and they were making everything a little red as his pulse pounded in his ears. He tackled Shiratori to the ground, shoved away his flailing hands, and punched him in the stomach. The boy doubled over with a hack, and it wasn’t nearly enough. Yukio was bleeding and hurt, and this bastard had done it. Rin had let him go after everything that happened because it wasn’t really his fault. Being possessed had meant he wasn’t in control of his actions, but this…

Rin swung with abandoned. A small part of his mind stopped him from covering himself in flames, and a voice that sounded like Yukio in his head kept him from using all his strength.

“Rin!” He ignored the call of his name and threw another punch at Shiratori. He continued to ignore the shouts until Ryuuji was coming up to him from behind and curling his arms over Rin’s to haul him back and away from Shiratori.

“Shima! Get—agh!”

Rin clocked Ryuuji against the side of the face (mostly unintentionally) as he scrambled to get back at Shiratori. Shima and Izumo both collided into him, and more arms wrapped around him to haul him back as one voice broke through the din and furious roaring in his ears.

“Rin! STOP!”

Yukio.

Rin twisted in Ryuuji’s hold and peered over the aria’s shoulder to see Yukio standing with Shiemi and Konekomaru’s help.

Blinking, he realized that Ryuuji, Izumo, Renzou, Godaiin, and Paku, had all gathered to try and subdue him. Shiratori was bleeding and curled up on his side in an attempt to protect himself from Rin’s attack, and there were a lot of people around staring at them.

Forget all of them.

“Don’t you ever fucking touch him again,” Rin snarled, forcing his flames down as he glared and struggled against everyone’s grip. “I don’t care what your fucking beef with me is. I will kil—” The word strangled out in his throat as Ryuuji pulled on his tail.

“Shut up, you moron.” Ryuuji tugged him backwards and the entire group followed. “Don’t threaten a student like that! There’ll be serious consequences—”

“I don’t care who hears! No one messes with Yukio!”

“Rin,” Yukio called again, struggling his way up the steps. Shura had shown up when Rin wasn’t looking and was taking most of Yukio’s weight now. Had he broken more than his nose? “Settle down. Godaiin, would you and Paku mind fetching Mr. Light for me? He’ll handle… this.”

Ryuuji dragged Rin back another step.

“Rin, we’re going to the nurse. Suguro, would you and Miwa stay and explain?”

Yukio reached them, Shura passed Yukio’s weight off to Rin, Ryuuji released him and put himself between Rin and Shiratori, and more staff gathered around as Rin looped his arm around Yukio’s waist.

“Sure thing.”

Rin gave Shiratori one final glare before Ryuuji shifted so he couldn’t see the bastard any longer. He didn’t care if there were going to be consequences. No one was going to mess with his baby brother. No one was going to mess with any of the people he cared about. Not while he could stop it.

[tonguetiedraven]

can you do something with the prom of the cram school kids going to the monastery yukio and rin were raised for a mission? like lets pretend lighting never went or smth

Thanks for the prompt! I'm sorry it took me a while to answer it. It took me a while to think of a good story to go with it.

I'm not quite sure this is the sort of thing you were wanting (feel free to let me know if you wanted something a little different), but it's the cram group getting an assignment to go to the Monastery, and Rin working through some things (not particularly well) and dealing with having to see the place Shirou died again.

Angst, Hurt/Comfort, and mentions of Shirou's death. No ships, but could be bonrin if you want it.

————— “Nagatomo will be your lead.” Tsubaki snapped his file shut, gave his head a short nod, and turned to exit the room.

“Uh,” Yukio stepped forward, stopping Tsubaki’s exit. Rin watched him in mild confusion, not understanding Yukio looked so tense. It was just a report of a few lowly dog ghouls. It was something they could easily handle. Honestly, it was probably a bit beneath their current skills.

“Did you say Nagatomo?”

Tsubaki nodded. Yukio adjusted his glasses and nodded. “Of the Southern Cross Monastery?”

Rin’s tail abruptly went straight in the air as he realized the glaringly obvious. Of course they were part of True Cross. Of course that was the Nagatomo that they were talking about. Of course it was the group having a problem with ghoul dogs. Rin had been attacked by dozens of those things on his dash back to the Monastery with Shirou.

“Yes. Is… is that going to be a problem?”

“No, sir. Not at all.” Yukio held his and out for the file with the politest of smiles. Rin could feel the other exwires, all of their friends, watching Yukio, and he could feel his own expression was one of utter shock.

Tsubaki left and Rin moved up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Yukio so he could peer at the file.

A picture of the Monastery they’d grown up in decorated the front of the report. Rin raised his eyes and shared a thoroughly concerned look with his twin.

“Right,” Yukio swallowed, forced a smile, and regarded the rest of the exwires, “everyone, gather your gear. We’ll be leaving in an hour.”

Ryuuji, unsurprisingly, was the one that asked the question. “Everything okay?”

Yukio’s smile widened, and looked all the crazier for the motion. “Of course. We’ll meet by the front gates.”

A beat passed, and then another, but finally the exwires left them alone. Yukio’s smile vanished as his eyes dropped back to the file.

“They’re okay?”

“Probably. They’re high enough in the order that ghouls of any sort wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Good. Then… it’s not like they’ll need to see the whole place. They probably won’t need to go past the offices. Hell, they may not even hafta go in at all.”

“Of course,” Yukio murmured. He didn’t look at all convinced.

—————

It wasn’t that Rin didn’t want his friends to know about the place he was raised it was just… well, a lot of things.

He hadn’t seen any of them since he left for True Cross. Since the funeral and every horrible thing around it. His friends didn’t know a lot about his childhood, and most of those memories were embarrassing or bittersweet.

He’d sworn he wouldn’t go back until he’d defeated Satan. He’d promised himself he would avenge his father, and only then would he be able to go back without drowning in guilt.

But… mostly, he didn’t want to face the sanctuary again. They’d have repaired it by now, but it wouldn’t erase the memory of what it was.

Going back now would feel like a failure.

Rin didn’t know if Yukio felt the same way, but he did know Yukio did not like the idea of the exwires seeing where they grew up. It was the same reason he still went tense when they had a shared meal together. Yukio would probably always feel the need to stay at least a little apart from all of them.

It still meant they were both sitting at the front of the car, shoulder to shoulder, quietly murmuring about the ‘plan’ when they arrived.

“I’ll handle the introductions. If we’re formal, they should follow that lead. They know we’re all professionals.”

“Yeah,” Rin was not convinced, but he could feel Ryuuji, Renzou, and Konekomaru watching them like hawks. Shiemi had Izumo distracted, or they’d be staring too.

“We’ll get the information we need, and we’ll leave.”

At least Shura wasn’t here so she couldn’t out rank him and draw the whole thing out. Because she absolutely would if she thought Yukio was embarrassed.

“Just don’t act odd.”

“We’re already acting odd.”

Yukio immediately glared at him. Rin grinned, and tried to remind himself that the last thing Nagatomo had said to him was that he was always welcomed back. He was stronger than when he left. Maybe… maybe they’d be waiting outside and he wouldn’t have to go in. Maybe… maybe he could keep his promise to himself.

—————

They were all out front. Nagatomo, as the head priest, was the only one they had to meet. The others should be going about their business, but they weren’t. They were waiting for them to arrive.

“Rin! Yukio!” They were immediately waiving like wild as if Rin or Yukio might miss them. It made him immediately blush and duck his head. Tadashi ran the fastest and grabbed them both in a hug before they could even reach the gate.

“Hey,” Rin choked as Naoya joined the hug. Izumi and Maruta stood in the doorway to the Sanctuary, both laughing as Naoya messed up their hair.

“Stop!” Yukio sputtered. “We’re here on business!”

Rin could hear someone snickering behind them.

“Let them breathe,” Seishiro called with his own laugh. “And at least introduce yourself the others.” He tugged the gate open, walked past Rin and Yukio with an affectionate pat to their shoulders, and moved on towards the rest of the exwires. He introduced himself and asked for their names in turn.

Rin finally broke free and stepped back as Seishiro motioned for them to go up to the monastery.

“Uh,” he sputtered, suddenly terrified, “shouldn’t we just, uh, go to the office? Get the info and stuff?” He could see into the sanctuary from the open door, not clearly enough to make the details out, but enough to feel like he was going to throw up the sandwich he’d eaten on the way over.

Tadashi let Yukio go. “Would the kitchen be more comfortable? We have coffee and tea?”

Rin could get to the kitchen without going through the sanctuary. He could just go in the side entrance.

“That will be acceptable.” Yukio, having also freed himself, fixed his glasses and tie, “we’ll convene inside. The report mentioned ghouls?”

Seishiro nodded as Yukio started up the steps. Rin took a nervous step back, and bumped right into Ryuuij.

Rin forced a huge smile, stepped away from Ryuuji, and almost bumped Shiemi. “Kitchen?” he managed hoarsley, “right.” Without waiting or saying anything else, he dashed like an entirely crazy person and ran for the side entrance. He reached it a moment later, tugged the door open (it wasn’t locked, why wasn’t it locked?) and stepped into the hall.

It still smelled the same, and Rin hadn’t even realized the place had a smell, but it hit him, like a brick to the face. It was enveloping, familiar, and it was enough to instantly make his throat thick.

“Yes, uh, we can go this way?” Rin jumped, just a little, as Seishiro came up behind him with the rest of the exwires. Yukio shoved his way to the front and stepped in next to Rin.

“Why the hallway?” Yukio muttered as he continued past him towards the kitchen. Rin, too thrown off by the scent of home and the sounds (had it always been this noisy? He could hear pipes, creaking, the hissing of all those candles, things settling, and the quiet shuffle of familiars at the other side of the Monastery.)

Rin didn’t get what he meant until Shiemi had shuffled past him as well and gasped. “Oh! Look how little you two were!”

Izumo and Renzou immediately joined her to peer at the pictures lining the wall. Konekomaru and Ryuuji did as well, at a far less eager pace. Yukio’s eyes went wide and shot to Rin like he was the reason they were seeing them.

Rin didn’t care about the pictures. He cared a lot about the door at the left of the hall.

It was just a picture of their first school year. He could see Shirou kneeling next to him, and they were all smiling. They were happy and together.

The crackling of the candles seemed to get louder.

“Did you make the lunches?” Ryuuji motioned towards the photo and grinned back at him.

Rin squinted, and yeah, he’d made their lunches for that day with only a little help from Shirou, and he’d been super proud of himself. Probably why he was holding his bento box with a huge smile and looked like he thought it was the most impressive thing ever.

“Yep!”

Ryuuji gave his head a fond shake. “Course ya did.”

The pictures were helpful in that they at least distracted everyone from the sanctuary and whatever else might have happened here. Rin was able to laugh about the numerous pictures, he got to see Yukio blush, the priests all grin and laugh as they pointed out the most embarrassing photos, and he got to urge them towards the kitchen without seeming weird. He could just act embarrassed about the pictures.

There was indeed tea and coffee set out, and a few cookies. Rin gave it a look over and tried not to stare too hard at the actual kitchen. It didn’t look right without Shirou leaning on the counter, trying to steal bites and teasing him about his lack of a social life.

He had one now. Shirou would still have been teasing him about them. He’d have given them one look and probably beamed, punched Rin’s shoulder, and asked him something embarrassing.

Rin grabbed one of the teas — the coffee was too bitter for his demonic taste buds — and added a generous helping of sugar before taking a seat at the table. Shiemi sat next to him (coffee with more cream than coffee), and Ryuuji did as well (tea, no sugar.)

“They’re coming at night, obviously,” Seishiro explained once everyone was sitting comfortably. “They haven’t done anything violent, yet, but we suspect that’s because they can’t actually get in. The ghouls in and of themselves would be a problem, we’re capable of dispelling them. No, the problem is the quantity. They’re gaining at least five a night.”

“At least?” Yukio asked, “What’s the largest increase you’ve seen?”

“Twelve.”

“The neighborhood pets are starting to disappear as well.” Tadashi added.

“Pet’s? It ain’t just dogs?” That seemed weird.

Seishiro nodded. Izumo and Konekomaru covered their mouth and Rin felt grateful he’d left Kuro at home. Better to be safe.

“Where are they attacking?”

Rin stared down at his cup as the others continued to talk, and tried not to think about how wrong their voices all sounded without Shirou’s mingled in. Even the tea didn’t quite look right. Shirou always over steeped it. He insisted he got more caffeine that way.

Ryuuji poked his arm. It was subtle enough of a motion that no one else would notice it. Rin blinked, offered a smile, and took too big of a drink of his tea.

Yukio was staring at him with a worried frown. Rin didn’t look at Ryuuji or the others. He was pretty sure Yukio wasn’t the only one staring.

—————

Rin actually did a pretty bang up job of avoiding the whole thing for most of the day. There were plenty of little things to distract the others with whenever the sanctuary or childhood was brought up. Despite how nosey his friends could be, they also knew some of the story and were kind enough not to poke at that particular and obvious wound. No one knew just how Shirou had died, but they knew he’d died here, and that Rin had seen it happen.

So Rin avoided the sanctuary, he volunteered to patrol the front yard at night, and he changed the subject whenever it seemed like he might have to leave the kitchen.

The others could tell something was up. Yukio had probably known the minute he got to the gate, the Ryuuji by the time they were drinking tea, Shiemi when he told her to go explore by herself, and the others after he refused to leave the kitchen after the third time it was brought up.

It came to a head when Tadashi started on dinner.

“You don’t need any help?” Yukio asked in a falsely polite way that let Rin immediately know he had soemthing else in mind than dinner.

Tadashi confirmed he didn’t need help.

“Wonderful, we’ll just check the seals around the windows then.” Yukio snagged his elbow. “Rin?”

“Nah, I think I’mma stay and —”

“Rin,” Yukio’s pitch lowered into an order, “we have to—” he tugged Rom towards the sanctuary door, and it wasn’t like Yukio could make him move, but the panic of it happening surged up his throat, choking him until he couldn’t breathe past it.

The flames came unbidden. They surged over his entire body until all he could see were flames. Someone yelled, and Rin jerked free. He stumbled back, dousing the flames, blinking the bright spot in his vision away.

The priests looked terrified.

Rin turned on his heel and ran.

—————

It took ten or so minutes for someone to find him. He wasn’t that surprised it happened, but he was surprised it was Ryuuji.

Ryuuji sat on the swing next to him without a word and passed him a marble soda.

“How’d ya find me?”

He smiled a little. “I asked Yukio. He gave me a few suggestions. We split them down the middle. Figured this one made the most sense so I started with it.” He typed something out as he spoke. Probably a message to Yukio.

Rin popped his top and took a long swig. He didn’t really know why Ryuuji would seek him out. Especially after he’d flamed up like an idiot.

Ryuuji sent the message and stuffed his phone in his pocket. “You’re upset?”

“Gee,” Rin muttered, “What gave it away? The flames?”

Ryuuji rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna let that go ‘cause you’re upset. But watch it.” He opened his own drink and took a sip. “Did you make a promise?”

Rin swallowed the soda and found his mouth felt dryer than it had before he drank the soda. “Huh?”

Ryuuji pushed back in the swing to stretch his long legs. “After everything went down, did you make a promise to yourself?”

Rin fiddled with his bottle. “Why?”

“‘Cause I did. With Kyoto? Swore I wouldn’t go back until I’d proved them wrong. Until I was strong enough to fight and lead and rebuild it all.”

Oh. Wow. He hadn’t known that. It made sense, but he’d never thought of it. The first time at Kyoto had mostly been a tense blur. Everyone had been so tense, but…

He probably wasn’t the only reason for that. He’d been too stuck in his own head to consider that they might be upset about other things. They’d had a lot to be upset about.

Rin took another drink. “No matter you were so pissed.”

Ryuuji almost smiled as he rocked forward on the swing. “Yeah, it was a shitty couple of weeks.”

“Sorry about that.”

“It worked out,” Ryuuji stated. Rin gave him a long look. “Eventually,” he conceded with a poorly hidden smile.

Rin didn’t hide his own smile. He just leaned back in his own swing and stared up at the clouds. Ryuuji didn’t try to continue the conversation. He simply continued to swing and sip his tea until Rin broke the silence again.

“It happened here.” Rin’s hands tightened around the chains. “In the sanctuary.”

Ryuuji kept swinging, and Rin was grateful for that. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. It wrecked the entire thing. The first guy tore through the seals and gate, and then Satan just… fucked up the Sanctuary. Opened a gate. Right in the middle of the crossing. Broke the lectern and pulpit. Ripped up the floor and smashed most of the pews.”

Rin tried very hard not to remember the way it had looked, and failed entirely. He could smell the blood and hear the cracking of the wood as it had burned. The memory consumed him as his swing stilled.

Ryuuji reached across the space between them and pinched his wrist. Hard.

“Ow! What the hell?!”

���Looked like you were remembering some shit.” Ryuuji shrugged. “That kinda memory isn’t gonna do you any favors.”

“Forgetting it seems like a bad idea.”

“I didn’t say forget it, but you shouldn’t just dwell on it. You’ll get caught up in the memory and miss the now.”

Rin stopped swinging and crossed his arms over his chest. “Will not.”

“Then why are we out here when they’re serving dinner?” Ryuuji kept swinging and staring at the monastery’s windows in the distance. The stained-glass was glowing from the inside lights and just looked like a colorful blur. A warm, colorful blur. Welcoming. It always had been. Even after everything he’d done.

“I swore I wouldn’t come back until I killed him.”

Ryuuji’s swing stilled.

“I swore I’d make him pay, and then I’d come back. And now I’m back, and he’s still out there. Still ruining lives.” The tears pricked at his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. “I promised and I failed.” Just like he had that night. He always failed.

“You didn’t fail. You’re not coming back. Not really.”

“But I did. And I just…” Rin shook his head with frustration at himself. “I failed that night, and I failed now. I haven’t gotten any closer to killing that bastard.” The angry tears were getting harder to hold in. They were threatening to spill over at any moment and he didn’t want to cry in front of Ryuuji.

“That’s not even remotely true.”

“And every time I go in there, I just, all I can see is the gate and —”

“Then don’t go back in.”

“What?”

“There’s a lot of the monastery. Don’t go back in the Sanctuary. We don’t all have to go in there. There isn’t any reason for that. We’ll be able to finish the ghouls tonight. We’ll go home tomorrow, and we’ll keep getting stronger. Then when you come back, and I mean really come back, you can come back the way you want.”

Ryuuji got up off the swing as he spoke, determination making him look almost angry, though anger seemed to be what his expression defaulted to. He turned on Rin, suddenly shoving his hand forward and motioning for Rin to take it. “Come on,” he added, “we’re gonna get our dinner, keep a wide berth to the sanctuary, and we’re gonna go over the ghoul information Yukio kept trying to tell you about on the train.”

Rin, with an overly dramatic groan, accepted the hand and let Ryuuji pull him out of the swing. “Fine, but I ain’t promisin’ I’ll remember any of it.”

Ryuuji laughed and shoved him towards the monastery. “That’s why I’m on the team. You’re just here to burn and stab shit.”

“Hey!”

With another laugh, Ryuuji dashed towards the building, and Rin followed after him, feeling almost like he could laugh himself.

One day he’d come back here for real, but in the meantime, he was grateful for the people he’d brought with him.

[thecosmickight]

I'm putting this under a readmore because of angst and the length. Hope this is some what close to what you are looking for.

The sword would not budge. Rin pulled, tugged, he even banged the end on the ground several times and the blade still refuses to move.

The surge of hope and confidence that had flared to life at Ryuuji's words was sputtering out like a flame at the end of a wick now. Rin looked up at the Impure king. The demons castle was finished forming now. Miasma clogged the air while large piles of fungus grew against the barrier walls searching for even the smallest of openings.

Ryuuji was still kneeling with his finger to the earth. Sweat soaked his clothes as he strained to keep the barrier up. He could barely make out the shapes and colors around him. White took up the majority of his vision. Red splotches filtered in and out around the edges and a dark blur was moving towards him. One second the blur was far away the next second Rin's dark blue eyes are all he can see. This close Ryuuji can just make out the red tint in Rin's pupils. The dark blue over shadows it as the colors shimmer with unshed tears.

Rin places his hands on the side of Ryuuji's face, he does his best to block the sight of the approaching demon. His crush is nearly limp in his hold. Glazed brown eyes blink slowly at him

"Rin?" His name is slurred out. A gentle hand wipes away fallen tears.

"what's wrong?"

Everything, the halfling wants to scream. This was not how this fight was supposed to end. Ryuuji and he were supposed to defeat the impure king. They were supposed to head back to the inn and in the morning go see Kyoto. They were going to finish school. Defeat Satan together and the maybe Rin would have the courage to finally ask this attractive boy out on a date finally. Instead....

Instead....

"Nothing princes." He choked out.

"I just wanted to make sure you were going to keep your promise." The top of the Impure kings shadow started to creep over them.

"You still going to show me around Kyoto right?" Rin let out a quiet sob as the shadow grew larger. Ryuuji blinked at him a couple of times, his eyes staring behind Rin, before a soft smile spread across his face.

"Of course. It'll be a like a date." Rin's heart soared and shattered at those words. He had no idea if Ryuuji meant what he said nor would he ever find out but he couldn't stop his mind from imagining what they could do on future dates. What it might be like to hold Ryuuji's hand or just lie together after school.

Ryuuji leaned forward then closing the small distance to brush his lips against Rin's.

"I'm sorry Rin." Ryuuji whispered as he wrapped the halfling in his arms. The barrier around the castle disappearing slowly.

----

The Clearing was silent as the last of the monks and exorcist watched the medical team remove the bodies of Rin and Ryuuji. The two had been placed on a larger stretcher as the medics could not safely remove the boy's from each other's dead embrace.

Shock chocked the voices of the clean up crew as their tears watered the dead earth around them and their minds tried to process the events of that night. They followed the medical team down the mountain and to the entrance of the inn. When they arrived the stretcher was held in front of the exwires, Yukio, and Torako, who had all been waiting for the group to arrive.

The monks and exorcist moved past without a glance leaving behind Yaozou and Shura.

Torako was the first to react. She fell to her knees as loud sobs escaped from her trembling hands, Yaozou dashed to her side pulling her to his chest as she screamed.

It was a domino effect from there.

Konekomaru stumbled back as tears ran down his face. Renzou's K'rik fell to the ground as he turned from the covered bodies of his friends to looked at his father with pleading eyes. Shiemi and Izumo were too in shock to move or make a sound. Yukio walked over to the stretcher. He reached out to pull the cover off when a hand stopped his.

"Yukio.... don't." Shura's tear stained face watched him as he pulled her hand with his as he removed the sheet. His legs gave out once he saw his brother's face.

Can you do a bonrin Kyoto arc alternative ending where Rin actually can't open the sword so him and Ryuuji die from the Impure King together? Then when It's all finally over, everyone finds their bodies clinging to each other. Becuase they died the exorcists have to go and tell everyone else, which makes it even harder to deal with. I know it's depressing, ok! I just got the idea and I'm a horrible writer so I want a professional to do it instead.

I’m afraid this isn’t something I can write, but I’ve got some fantastic writer friends on the Ao No Exorcist Writer’s Discord (link in my pinned post) who are excited to pick it up and write something for you!

If there is anyone else out there who would like to give this prompt a try, please reblog this with the story so we can all see it too :D