#yuzu will never know the impact he has in my life

[figureskatingpenguin]

Yuzuru Hanyu: Through the Years 2.0

Once again wishing the happiest of birthdays to the figure skating GOAT! I sincerely hope that you enter this new decade of your life with the same joy and determination that you've always had to pursue your dreams.

featuring: Haru Yo Koi, Hope & Legacy, Chopin's Ballade No. 1, Parisienne Walkways, Ten to Chi to, Notte Stellata, and Seimei.

[lgbtqmanga]

New Releases Mar. 19, 2024

The Contract Between a Specter and a Servant (novel) vol. 1 by Michiru Fushino

That was the worst day of Masamichi Adachi’s life. He failed the college entrance exam again, was fired from his part-time job, and to top it all off, was fatally injured in a hit-and-run. However, just as he was resigning myself to death, a stunningly beautiful man appeared and said to become his servant. In exchange for his life, Masamichi now works for the mysterious entity that runs an antique store…

Ennead vol. 2 by Mojito

BREATH MATCH

The first of three matches for the throne of Egypt has begun! Who will last the longest underwater without breathing? Horus may be determined, but he is no god, and Seth has both cunning and divine stamina on his side. Meanwhile, Isis has plans of her own to help her son…but will they be enough to ensure his victory?

Heat × Beat: I May Be an Omega, but I'm Going to Be an Idol! by Ken Homerun

Asahi wants nothing more than to be an idol, and when he's chosen as the latest member of boyband B-Marks he's over the moon. Except for one little detail; Asahi is an omega, and one of the other members, Madoka, is an alpha. Insisting on staying unmated to remain loyal to their fanbase, Asahi agrees to a “friends with benefits” arrangement to appease their hormonal urges without commitment. At least, that's what he intends…

How Do I Turn My Best Friend Into My Girlfriend? vol. 1 by Syu Yasaka

Minami and Yuzu have been besties since…well, forever! Or at least that’s what Minami thought. But when some rando confesses to Yuzu, Minami realizes that her feelings might not be what you’d typically call “friendship” anymore. It doesn’t take long for Minami to realize she wants to change their relationship status, but will she be able to muster the courage to confess? Or will she simply be happy being by Yuzu’s side?

I Can't Say No to the Lonely Girl vol. 1 by Kashikaze

Quintessential good girl Sakurai finds herself trapped in the middle of a bribery scheme. Her teacher offers to write a recommendation letter in exchange for luring a truant student into attendance. Sakurai pins down the reclusive transfer student Honda, but there are strings attached. Honda demands that Sakurai grant one wish every day. The first wish is a kiss—and Sakurai finds herself feeling very eager to please…

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady (manga) vol. 5 by Piero Karasu and Yuri Kisaragi

Lainie, the daughter of a baron, is the mysterious girl at the center of the scandal over Euphie’s broken engagement. Anis, the reincarnated princess, can’t help but feel there’s something odd about Lainie, so she conducts a checkup on her-and comes to a shocking conclusion! At the same time, Anis's brother Algard, the prince of Palettia, takes the lead in a grand scheme that’ll impact the whole kingdom…

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady (novel) vol. 6 by Piero Karasu and Yuri Kisaragi

When Anis and Euphie learn that vampires are threatening the Kingdom of Palettia, they scramble to formulate countermeasures. Then, an urgent message comes from the East, stating that a vampire has been captured-a powerful one with great ambitions!

Minato's Laundromat (manga) vol. 2 by Yuzu Tsubaki and Sawa Kanzume

Akira Minato, an ex-office worker who now owns a shabby laundromat, doesn’t know what to do when high school hottie Shintarou Katsuki professes his feelings for him. Still troubled over a past love that he never came to terms with, Akira wants to refuse-but he can’t quite bring himself to deny Shintarou’s straightforward passion. Meanwhile, Shintarou’s classmate, Asuka Hanabusa, decides to meddle in their affairs…

Mitsuka (manga) vol. 2 by akabeko

Leo is host at a nightclub, and he always thought he had no interest in men — until he slept with Takahiro, a sex worker who introduced him to pleasures he'd never felt before. Now, sex with women doesn’t satisfy him, and after begging Takahiro to sleep with him again, they agree to a “friends with benefits” arrangement.But just when Leo thinks he may be falling in love, one of his best customers asks him to sleep with her. Takahiro catches him in the act, and things take a dark turn…

Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord (manga) vol. 2 by Yodokawa

Sharing a house with the former pop idol Miyako is going smoother than Asako ever expected! But her cohabitant might not be having such an easy time?! Miyako suddenly finds herself harboring mysterious feelings towards her manga editor roommate. It’s then that she receives shocking news-her former idol unit is coming out of hiatus! Amidst all her confusion, Asako reaches out a hand of support…but can Miyako return to being the carefree landlord she once was?!

My Love Will Last Until the End of Time (manga) by Nanako Haida

Ever since he was a child, Hiroto's had memories of his previous life: a life where he reigned as the well-respected Prince Luke and fell deeply in love with a commoner… before cruel circumstance ripped the two of them apart. For years, Hiroto has searched for his beloved Mika to no avail— until a chance encounter on his college campus brings them together.But Kou, Mika's reincarnation, does not remember the past that share… and Hiroto finds himself wondering if that might actually be for the best, even as he yearns to tell Kou the truth. Their love has stretched across lifetimes, and so has the pain of their parting. Will Hiroto and Kou be able to find their happy ending together?

Number Call (manga) by Nagisa Furuya

High schooler Eighto Tachibana has always hated his name, including all of the jokes and puns about the number 8 that have come along with it. It's as if the number has haunted him like a ghost ever since he was a child. One day, he meets a classmate named Tomoya Hatta, aka Hachi--the Japanese word for “8.” What begins as casual greetings and small talk in the hallway soon becomes something much deeper, and Eighto realizes that it's more than just a similar nickname that draws him to Hachi. Could the number that Eighto resented for so long finally bring him something he'll love--and is that someone Hachi?

The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter (manga) vol. 4 by Yatsuki Wakatsu, Kazuki Irodori and Kikka Ohashi

The expedition to clear the miasma is finally setting out-and Kondou is coming along with them! However, the depths of the forest are quite dangerous, even for the average human…Luckily, this intrepid bean counter has a handsome knight captain risking life and limb to protect him! But then, on their return journey, Captain Aresh catches him off guard with an unexpected declaration…

Rooming With My Two Lovers (manga) by Anji Seina

Atsushi's earnest and indecisive nature has gotten him into awkward situations before, but this one really takes the cake! Moving out of a bad situation and into a new living space, he somehow ends up rooming with his hot but perverted ex, Enraku, and the handsome and flirty barber, Shiki, two childhood friends and rivals who always end up falling for the same person.As the two take turns seducing him, Atsushi finds himself getting carried away with deep feelings for both men. But is it really possible for him to love Shiki and Enraku enough to keep them both?

Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection (manga) vol. 7 by Naoko Takeuchi

Features the updated translation and high page count of the Sailor Moon Eternal Edition in a more affordable, portable edition. Perfect to go wherever you or the magical guardian in your life want to take it!

Thousand Autumns: Qian Qiu (novel) vol. 4 by Meng Xi Shi and Me.Mimo

Shen Qiao is a devout Daoist priest who has spent his life honing his skills and spirit, leading his sect with martial talent, beauty beyond measure, and an earnest heart. His polar opposite, Yan Wushi, leads one of the most powerful demonic sects and is said to be unrivaled in his strength and cunning. Yan Wushi believes in the inherently selfish nature of all people—himself included—and that nobody is above committing dark deeds for their own benefit.

When a fight leaves Shen Qiao injured, blind, and with hazy memories, Yan Wushi takes in the defeated sect leader with a dark plan: test the limits of the man’s patience and faith in others to lure him onto the demonic path. Little does he know that he is about to meet the first immovable force of his life, and that two hearts can connect in unexpected ways. With the passing of a thousand autumns, who can stay eternal?

Welcome Back, Alice (manga) vol. 6 by Shuzo Oshimi

Yohei, Kei and Yui are childhood friends and things get complicated when Yohei witnesses Kei and Yui in an intimate moment. But when unexpectedly Kei moves away and returns a few years later to reunite in high school, he seems to be a bit different. How will relationships change in this latest volume?

[goldenworldsabound]

2, 6 & 10??

What is your favorite memory involving this character from their source material and why?

🦊Yuzu - yes me choosing my own OC so the source is my own head fkjdshfks but 100% coming up with the names Yuzu calls everybody and how jealously cute she acts to annoy Clayman

but it's also really important to call out how deeply meaningful she is to my SI and the impact she has on them. When Clayman dies, Wendy doesn't want to live anymore, either. But Yuzu is there, looking after them, and reminding them that there are still people in this world who care about them, and who make it worth living. Yuzu doesn't say so in as many words - but when Wendy finally realizes that Yuzu is still with them, and has been there the entire time, all these realizations come to a head, and they can finally begin to really, truly process their grief and move forward.

What do you do together on a rainy day?

🦊Snuggle up and enjoy tasty treats together!!!

If there is one thing that you want them or others to know about them or how they’ve influenced your life what would that be?

💜Vaati - Vaati is a character I've adored since Minish Cap. He is never going to get new content based on some dumb licensing shit. When I was in elementary school I made my own OC heavily inspired by Vaati and injected her into everything. I ended up injected Vaati into my botw SI's verses too - this was way back when I just got back into self ship, so i can say it was definitely the first time I pulled a character in from one thing to another setting with regards to self ship.

He's a wonderful sibling character to me - and what I've learned from all this is that you can do whatever the hell you want and bring characters in and enjoy them! There's no need to restrict yourself :D

[seobiiiiieluv]

It's been a long time I posted something on here. Ngl it's been a rough time for the past few years as both my parents had and thankfully beat cancer and also I was finally able to obtain my Masters degree (during a pandemic).

Following Yuzu's announcement I just felt it's time to share my thoughts. I'm not very eloquent with words so I'm trying to keep it rather short. I'm feeling a little emotional since I followed Yuzu's career as competitive skater for the past 8 years and I never thought this experience would have such an impact on my life. I've met fellow fans on the internet and even in real life whom I consider my friends now. I'm thankful I got to see his brilliance on and off the ice. Of course witnessing his win at WC 2017 in person will remain one of my most special memories but even though he's younger than me he taught me so much what conviction, resilliance and passion means. I saw what pain but also pure joy skating competitions brought to him. The many fans are testimony of his great spirit and ethereal skating. I'm just so thankful to have been part of this chapter in his journey. I know it's not the end of his skating but never being able to see him compete again is really bittersweet since competitions were a special place where we got to experience his passion, a thrill and growth throughout the years which we won't get to see again.

I'm just happy for him that he could end this part of his life on his own terms with a big smile on his face and seems satisfied with what he achieved (rightfully so). Finally, I sincerely wish him all the best in his new endeavours so that he can broaden his horizon and get to experience many new things which he was denied before. Looking forward to see what the future has to offer him and what he'll share with us. So Thank you Yuzuru, all the best to a bright future!!

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

Can I vent you a bit?

Now that Yuzuru retired all I can read everywhere that now FS is not the same without him, it’s dead, they won’t attend competitions, won’t watch it on TV anymore and I just feel it’s so unfair and unrespectful towards the still competing skaters. All of them work hard every day to show their best, everyone has something to show. Yes Hanyu was one of a kind, a very talented, charismatic athlete. I have to admit the reason I never had a bond towards him is mostly his fans cos they are just so LOUD, toxic&overwhelming. They created an idol/god for themselves and have the misconception that they need to protect&save him from..exactly what? He is a grown up man and can handle life I’m sure. Maybe their intentions were good but they just made everything worse so far. So long blahblah short I’m sick of this drama and can we just pleeeeeease focus on the upcoming season and cheer for the athletes of this beautiful sport? Because it’s still beautiful.

This is going to be long...and salty probably....maybe I should not answer this in a heated moment but I did anyway...

One thing is true that this season won't be the same without Yuzu. I mean Yuzu has competed for 11 years in seniors. He is 27 years old and has been in this circus for all of his life. During the years he competed he definitely had a huge impact on the sport, he technically drove the sport to others spheres, but he also always had strong rivals to fight along. His results are one of a kind and maybe he is the best male skater there ever was - I would say so. Yuzu was a skater that has drawn ppl towards the sport, so his influence is not to be underestimated. So I agree with Fanyus who say that this sport won't be the same without him because it won't be. The question is if for good or bad. I don't think you can yet say that and I am not sure you will ever be able to say so, because each aera is different. There will be ppl who don't like it and there will be new ppl who will. (look I for one could never get into the skaters or skating of the 80s or 90s though in my country it was the time the sport was widely known and most popular. In Germany if you ask about figure skaters, the skater normal ppl could name is still Katarina Witt. No one here who has no interest in the sport knows any other figure skater not even Yuzu, maybe if you follow the Olympics. Katarina Witt however is still a name present for most ppl.)

I think it's exaggerated that no one will watch the sport now. I mean I am not "no one" 😅Yuzu has a big fan base, but Yuzu is not the sport itself. Figure skating was there before Yuzu and will be there after Yuzu, that's life of a sport. In what amount it will be present we can only speculate. There have always been plenty of competitions Yuzu did never enter like Europeans for example or well Yuzu didn't compete in ladies, ice dance or pairs ever 😅There were seasons Yuzu wasn't able to compete much and still ppl watched the sport. Arenas are still full despite high prices and Yuzu not attending. Yes I don't deny that competitions with Yuzu had a higher level of attendance and tickets were sold better. The Fanyus who are only interested in Yuzu only were never a fan of the sport, but foremost of Yuzu, which is fine to each their own, but ofc those kind of ppl won't stay watching but I doubt they ever watched when Yuzu didn't compete. But a lot of Fanyus do like other skaters too and will still watch and support as many already said on their respective fan accounts. What I think is really unnecessary is that some Fanyus try to police other fans in not watching the sport anymore too. I mean what is that for? To show that you are right and the sport is really dead without Yuzu? Is this really about Yuzu then or only about yourself being right?

I think most embarrassing are the ppl who say they wouldn't want to give ISU clicks and views because of how corrupt they are but are extremely entertained by the fact that the FIFA World Cup happens during the GP series and they will rather watch this than give ISU their views...wait a moment is FIFA not a big fat company that supports human rights being treated like trash for the World Cup to build the arena, where the host was bought for a fact? Hm sure give the FIFA your money and views...how much exactly do you care for corruption then? ISU is by no means a saint but of all sport organizations you chose to throw your support behind FIFA...don't you think that's hypocritical? (yes there were tweets like this with huge amount of likes)

I don't deny that figure skating views and ratings may take a hit without Yuzu because of his amount of fans, but also one other big problem is not to be underestimated. The Russians won't compete either internationally. In Russia figure skating is just as popular as in Japan, so without their skaters and fans, ratings and views especially for ladies will drop without them. These are two effects happening at the same time. How much is Yuzu's fans missing or Russian fans missing I am not sure you can differ that. Both will have an impact, but will arenas be empty now? I don't think so.

And there is one other thing. Always after the Olympics things change. Skaters retire, fans go and new fans come. The Olympic season usually has higher ratings and more exposure in the media than the season after the Olympics. Also new skaters turn senior, new stars evolve, this needs time. So can we really compare this season with the last season?

I think all this obsession with ratings, views and numbers pretty exhausting. Yes Yuzu's videos have higher views and ratings, but are other skaters efforts less worth because they don't have the same amount of views? Are their medals less worth? I thought this is a sport not a popularity contest...Popularity contenst Yuzu is definetly the winner no one denies that.

I said it before I think it's sad that Yuzu is celebrated as a "thomb stone" for the sport, because Yuzu loves this sport so much, just see how seriously he still takes his training in the livestream and how it didn't collide with any competition or ice show of others. I think it's disrespectful towards other skaters and even Yuzu himself to want the sport to die. (some only mean the ISU but you cannot unravel the complete ISU and not destroy the life of other skaters along, when there is no sport corporation the sport is indeed dead at least internationally - ISU does need reforms I am all in for it, but don't take it out on the skaters by retreating any kind of support for something they have no influence in.)

Yuzu is for sure not the one who wants the sport to be dead.

Everyone should do what is best for them. No one is forced to remain in the sport, to watch it, whatever their reasons for leaving the sport are, it's fine. Watching this sport should be fun and if you don't enjoy it anymore, then go! Others will come, things will be different, maybe the fanbase will be smaller, maybe views will take a hit, but the sport won't disappear I promise.

I will still watch this sport and still be here. 😊 And I am all in for cheering and supporting the still competing skaters! Screw the drama and look ahead!

___

It's sad, but you're sadly not the only one who couldn't get into Yuzu because of some fans.

I have often enough tried emphasize that not every Yuzu fan is toxic and mean. Most of them are quite normal and kind and got forbid they even like other skaters and don't wish ill on anyone else. Some very vocal loud fans thrive in being toxic and I really see when you only encounter fans like that you're kinda taken aback by it. I get it, but it's sad because Yuzu is such an amazing athlete and he deserves the best in the world.

Once again how Fanyus behave is not Yuzu's fault. If you have many fans, you also have many bad apples in it. Simple as that. And sad as it is, the loudest ppl always get the most attention - negative and positive. This isn't different irl than online.

[zeravmeta]

Arc-V 7th Anniversary

Alright fellas here it is! It’s been 7 years since Yugioh Arc-V first graced our lives, and I thought I’d celebrate this by going over my personal Top 5 Duels in the series! This list is just my opinion, and you don’t have to agree/disagree or whatever, it’s just for fun. Let’s get to it!

#5: Yuya vs Barret, Synchro Arc

This duel is probably the one that no one expected to be on this list, but it’s actually a critical moment to Yuya’s growth as a character (I know some might have expected the 227 duel here but that one serves more towards narrative parallels and foreshadowing rather than actual character growth). This duel is here for one important reason: It’s the moment where Yuya truly let go of Yusho’s ideals. The Dimensional War had only began to get more chaotic as time passed, with Academia sending no shortage of goons after them, but this is the duel where Yuya is forced to choose: Yuzu’s (and his friends) life, or Smile World (the representation of his father’s ideals). Ultimately, Yuya does choose Yuzu, but this duel is also one of the most agonized we see Yuya after because Yuzu was still kidnapped anyways. To him, he threw away both of them by being forced to choose. However, it’s also what does encourage him to finally take that first step he needed, the buildup to the entire Synchro arc of finding his own words, and challenges Jack for their last rematch

#4: Tsukikage and Sora vs Obelisk Force, Synchro Arc

Ok THIS ONE is the one that no one actually expected, but I really do like it since it’s a good bit of character building for both Sora and Tsukikage (also I didn’t want this list to just be Yuya duels). Tsukikage was a surprising dark horse in Arc V because of how much he actually was developed. His design wasn’t anything special and he was legitimately just hired help by Reiji. However, in this duel we see a ton of incredible character defining moments for him: His grudge against Sora and Academia for what happened to his brother, his commitment not just to Reiji but to the Lancers, his trust in Reira but also his concern, and the tag team with Sora where he makes clear that he never intends to forgive Sora for his involvement with Academia, but he thanks him regardless. This is also the duel that firmly cements Sora as a good guy after about 50+ episodes of him being a villain from his initial heel face turn, where he finally decides that the friends he made in Standard Dimension are too important for him to turn his back on despite Academia being a literal child military. Speaking of…

#3: Shun vs Sora, Maiami Championship

The granddaddy of all tone setting duels in this series, this duel has a lot going for it, but it is phenomenal for one reason alone: how absolutely brutal it is. Yugioh has always gone out of its way to forgive all the cartoon violence in duels as just monsters looking cool, but this duel kicks it up a notch by showcasing just how brutal the Dimensional War between the Fusion and XYZ dimensions was. And mind you, at this point in the series, it was only slightly hinted, and we later see it in more brutal detail in Shun vs Dennis (Friendship Cup) and the duels in the XYZ Dimension, but this duel has another point to its favor: Sora’s heel face turn. At this point, all we knew was that Shun was going around attacking random duelists for no reason. However, it’s when Sora breaks out his own Evil Face™ that we really see the dynamic at play here: Sora is the spy sent to lower everyone’s guards, while Shun is the compassionate avenger that’s trying to prevent another dimension from falling the way his did. No other duel Shun has ever had as much impact as this one with the exception of his duel with Dennis in Synchro, but when put side by side, this is the duel that stands out because it’s when the series truly begins to take its darker turn.

#2: Yuya vs Jack, End of Synchro Arc

This one I feel is a little controversial, but I absolutely cannot understate just how important this duel is for Yuya’s character. The Synchro arc as a whole was considered a drag by many, and while there certainly are parts that it feels as such, it is undeniable that it provides very critical development for Yuya. This entire time, Yuya has thought that he could simply parrot his father’s ideals as a way to cope with his own insecurities (shirou emiya much? Lmao). However, Jack sees right through his game and completely humiliates him in their first encounter, telling Yuya that he isn’t worthy to stand against him unless Yuya can find his own words instead of the words he borrowed. After this encounter, Yuya tries to force his ideals again, but realizes that he needs to find another way to convey the message and ideals of Duels with Smiles that he wants. His duel with Shinji, Duel Chaser 227 and Crow all had Yuya learn different ways of expressing himself and further evolving his duel, up until this final confrontation. Deciding that instead of letting Academia and The Tops having their way, Yuya squares up and challenges Jack on his own terms for a final rematch. Throughout the duel, we see Yuya apply everything he’s learned so far, but Jack still tells him that he’s holding back and using borrowed words instead of his own, until Yuya finally hits his breakthrough: Pendulum was something he didn’t borrow from anyone, and it’s HIS OWN WORDS to convey his message. With that breakthrough, Jack has finally found an opponent worthy to test himself against once more, because he’s grown so strong that no one in Synchro Dimension was able to challenge him and his drive for self-improvement. Jack in general was such a clutch character to bring back because he’s the exact type of impetus that Yuya needed: A mentor who wasn’t afraid to tell him that he’s simply hiding behind what was given to him, and rather pushed him to achieve greater heights than Yuya himself thought he was capable of.

Alright before the #1 duel, let me list some honorable mentions bc while these didn’t make my top 5, I do still believe they are important and are all fantastic duels in their own right.

Honorable Mentions:

- Yuya vs Kachidoki, Maiami Cup - Yuya vs Gongenzaka, First Match - Shun vs Dennis, Friendship Cup  - Yuya vs Yuri, Academia Arc - Yuya vs Battle Beast, Academia Arc - Yuya vs Duel Chaser 227, Friendship Cup - Yugo vs Serena, Friendship Cup - Yuzu vs Masumi, Maiami Cup - Yuya vs Shingo, Yosenju deck Maiami Cup - Shun vs LDS Trio, Start of Series - Yuto-Yuya vs Kaito, Academia Arc - Yuto-Yuya vs Edo, Academia Arc - Yuya vs Reiji, Round 1

And now...

#1: Zarc vs Lancers, Academia Arc

By and far what I consider to be the pinnacle of all duels across the ENTIRE Yugioh series (even beating out Yusei vs Z-ONE), this is less of a duel and more of an all-out war, the culmination of 130+ episodes of masterful foreshadowing and incredible build-up that results in what I consider the best final boss reveal in the series. Arc V is a master of foreshadowing across the series, and kept giving us hints that something BIG was coming, that The Professor and Academia weren’t actually the endgame villains of the series, and after the cast barely manages to eek out a victory against Yuri, it’s ultimately a failure as all the pieces are in place for Yuya to finish his IMA KOSO HITOTSU NI fusion with all his dimensional counterparts. Every single character, good guys, bad guys, and everyone in-between watch as reality falls apart, and births the monster made by their own hands, that is Zarc. I need to reiterate here that the greatest strength of Arc-V is foreshadowing because throughout this duel, we see the application of the ideals that Yuya had developed on his own, as “his own words” are what reaches to the extended cast. It was Yuya’s duty to raise them up as the Pioneer of Pendulum, now it was their job to drag Yuya back from what he has been reduced to. And all throughout, we see how Zarc was made, how he was so similar to Yuya in almost every regard, and we are reminded of all the times Yuya failed but had his friends to help him up, and how Zarc was just a Yuya who had no one to help him when he failed. Zarc who hurt people because it was demanded of him, and ultimately embraced his role as a violent villain as his ultimate act of revenge, because his audience asked for it. And yet, we also see Zarc have his absolute ass dragged by SAWATARI of all characters, and we see just how much of a coward Zarc really was. The entire duel just has so much going for it: Jack-Gongenzaka tag team, Ray and Reiji calling out to Zarc and Yuya, Zarc’s continued insistence that he’s just a monster, It’s So Damn Good. I tell people to watch Yugioh anyways because Yugioh is a great series, but this duel is so good that I would unironically tell people to watch Arc V just so they can watch this duel (outside of the many reasons I recommend arc v). It’s so good, Zarc is such a fun villain, it’s the climax of Yuya’s entire character arc, and I hold it in high regard as the best duel in Arc-V.

Thanks for taking the time to look through this little retrospective on one of my all-time favorite series, here’s to Arc-V’s 7th anniversary!

[yuzusorbet]

Kikuchi-san’s book, partial translations

Akira Kikuchi is the trainer who accompanied Yuzu to many competitions in the past.  Since elementary school days, Yuzu has gone to his clinic in Sendai for therapy sessions after skate practice.  Last year (2019), Kikuchi-san published a book titled 'Strongly, beautifully, 30 Methods to train' (my translation from the Japanese title).   I read a Chinese translation of some parts.  Very interesting to see things from his perspective, and quite touching too, so I decided to translate them to share.  Not ideal to translate from another translation but I don't have the book, and usually Chinese fans' translations are pretty reliable. 

  *paraphrased means I summarised a few lines there.   *more info means I added notes for myself, and it's not from the book.

Chapter 1, part 5.  The muscles that were forged after the earthquake.

He became the World Junior champion, and also started school at Tohoku High School,  and at the age of 15, Yuzuru made his debut in senior level competition.  His 1st competition was Season 2010-11 NHK Trophy in Oct where he landed his 1st quad jump in competition and was in 4th place.   2010 Nov was Cup of Russia in Moscow, where he placed 7th. (more info: Japan nationals in Dec, he placed 4th.  Then 4CC in Feb 2011, he placed 2nd.)

At the end of his first senior season, the Great East Japan Earthquake happened.  (March 2011)

When the earthquake occurred, I was working, seeing 4 patients.  My home and clinic felt the shaking but were not damaged due to being on higher ground.  But very quickly, the electricity, water and gas were cut off.

[paraphrased:  Everyone was worried but preferred to stay on.]   I continued treating the 4 patients.  When they left, I closed the clinic temporarily.

Soon, people whose homes were washed away in the tsunami or destroyed by the quake took refuge in nearby sports halls.  When I heard about this, I brought a simple bed into the sports halls and did massages for the  people there.  That was how I spent each day.

The reason I did this was because I thought of my father that night after the earthquake.  He was a policeman and was very strict with himself.   He was upright and always thinking of the safety of others.  He lived his life for others and he is the man that I most respect.  If father was here, he would definitely go to the evacuation centres to do his best to help......

Giving a massage to people at the centre, I was just doing the only thing I could do.

Yuzuru also went through some hard days.

On the day of the earthquake, he went to his usual training rink 'Ice Rink Sendai' after school.   It was at the rink that he experienced the "shindo 6"  earthquake.  (More info: shindo 7 is the highest.  See this: robintlewis/what-is-the-japanese-seismic-intensity-shindo-scale.   On the Richter scale, this is a magnitude 9 earthquake.)

That child felt the strong shaking and I heard that he rushed out of the building wearing his skate boots.  Next to life itself, the most precious thing is his skates.  Figure skaters always put skate guards on the blades when they leave the ice, they would never let the blades be exposed.  Rushing out without his skate guards, he must have been very scared.

Staying 4 days in the gym of a school which served as an evacuation centre, he seriously thought about whether he should give up figure skating.

It was also figure skating that made him pull himself together.

His home rink was damaged in the quake and he lost his usual training place. His coach during elementary school days, Tsuzuki Shoichiro, inquired about him.  Tsuzuki-sensei is the one who gave Yuzuru his foundation in figure skating.  Before the quake, he was coaching at a rink in Yokohama.

Subsequently, Yuzuru went to Tsuzuki-sensei's rink to train.

About half a year after the quake, around October, Yuzuru who had returned to Sendai came to my clinic.  He told me about what he had been doing.

During that period, he was participating in commercial ice shows and earthquake charity ice shows all over Japan;  I knew about this.  "For the people affected by the disaster, I want to give them some encouragement," I had read his interviews in the newspapers.  In the 5 months after the earthquake, he skated in 60 ice shows throughout the  country.  "I hope that my activities can become strength for the victims"-- to have this thought, he must have pulled himself together.

"When I participated in ice shows, I could do some training if I arrived early at the venue, and the intervals between shows also became my own training time," said Yuzuru, looking straight into my eyes.  (more info: usually there are a few shows at one venue, eg. 3 shows spread over the weekend)

After such an unprecedented earthquake disaster, what had Yuzuru learned, mentally how had he changed, all these I was not sure.  But the moment I touched his leg muscles, I immediately felt his efforts and I almost cried.

Since elementary school, I had been seeing him almost everyday.  Even a small change in his body I would know.

The muscles forged after the earthquake told of days filled with harsh figure skate training, day after day.

Skating in ice shows "for the disaster areas", and practising fervently in between shows.  During the performances, he must have also put in all his efforts so as to "convey something to the people".

Moreover, the muscles developed after the quake were not only those used for jumping, they were also those for bearing the impact of landing.

Landing on the ice after a jump, the impact on the body can be a few hundred times the skater's weight.  To withstand such an impact, the muscles around the knees, the gastrocnemius muscles in the calf and the tibialis anterior muscles must be sufficiently trained.  If these parts are not strengthened, injury will happen easily.

In a short period of half a year, those muscles grew to such an extent.   How much jump practice did he do after the earthquake.  Falling down countless times and getting up again.  How on earth did he train to develop muscles like that.

Yuzuru's leg muscles are different from other athletes that come to my clinic. His muscles were not developed by specialised muscle training but were formed naturally though figure skating practice.  In other words, they are muscles that grew only for figure skating.

Until now, that child still mentions that he "does not know how to ride a bicycle".  In my opinion, I think it is because he does not want to develop muscles except those needed for figure skating.

The muscles used for cycling are the same as those for speed skating.  Speed skaters have cycling in summer training;  bulging leg muscles are necessary for them.For figure skaters, if muscles become big and bulging, the weight can be a hindrance to jumping.  But still, strong muscles are needed to do quad jumps and to bear the impact of landing. [paraphrased]

Yuzuru overcame the earthquake disaster and developed muscles for jumping quads and for bearing the landing impact in a good balance.

Those well-trained leg muscles are the external manifestation of his experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake and his determination to fight as a top skater.

- translated by me from this Chinese translation: weibo

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

Chapter 1, part 6. Overcoming pain in the hip joint

The first time I went along with Yuzuru in the team for a competition was in his 2nd year of senior level, the November 2011 Rostelecom Cup (Russia) in the Grand Prix series.  Traveling with a team to an international competition as a trainer, it was the first time for me.  Not only that, it was also my first time watching a figure skating competition up close.  What a disgraceful old man. Almost everyday I listened to Yuzuru talk about all things related to figure skating but I had never watched his competitions live at the venue.

I saw Yuzuru only at my clinic, diagnosing leg problems, applying tape to stabilise ankles, this kind of interactions, the relationship of a therapist and a patient, I felt this was enough.

I had the role of a 'sports trainer' before, but not for professional  athletes. Supporting local high school and junior high students, I was already very content.  I had served as 'team trainer' for the swimming, baseball, and track and field teams of Tohoku High and Junior High Schools where sports is very popular, and went with the athletes for competitions.

Once these children graduated, the relationship between trainer and athlete would end.  Those who wanted to continue their sports career, some would leave Sendai, some would get a professional trainer to guide them.

"Rostelecom Cup is going to start, Sensei, can you go together with me as my trainer?" Yuzuru asked me.  I answered in a relaxed manner, "Oh, alright."​

As an athlete, Yuzuru was steadily rising.

"Whether it's an international competition or the Olympics, let me be your trainer and take me along!"  This was what I said to him jokingly when he was in elementary school grade 4;  I don't know if he still remembers it.  But this kind of joke has really come true now, so I was actually feeling rather emotional.

This was also like a commendation from Yuzuru for the treatment he had received so far.  "Well, it's just doing the physiotherapy in Russia instead of the usual place in my clinic," this was how I thought at that time.

However, at that Rostelecom Cup, at the official practice, Yuzuru injured his hip joint (the joint between hip bone and thigh bone).

The injury was treated by a trainer sent specially by Japan Skate Federation.   I was just Yuzuru's private trainer.

I understood the situation fully when we were back in his hotel room.  The treatment for the injury had ended but the pain was still there.  I was very sure that it was not suitable for him to do more skating.  Even walking would be painful.

"In this situation, it's better to withdraw (from competition), isn't it?"   When he heard this, he said with absolute certainty, "Whatever happens, I will compete in Rostelecom Cup."  Actually for this competition, Yuzuru must win first place in order to qualify for the Grand Prix Final which is for only the top 6 skaters of the GP series.  He wanted to compete, no matter what.

From that moment, I felt for the first time that I have "joined forces with an extraordinary world".  Yuzuru was so focused on the competition, "want to compete", "want to win", these desires were way above any pain.  As a therapist, of course my advice was to withdraw.  But as a trainer, I had to respond to such intense wishes of the athlete.

All I could do was to take care of his hip joint.  I also taped his ankle, and then sent him off to compete.  I knew the pain of the injury was still there.

But, Yuzuru, he did it....... short programme and free skating both were ranked 2nd, but his total score of 241.66 was higher than other strong rivals like Javier Fernandez and Jeremy Abbott, and he achieved his first victory in the GP series.

At that moment, witnessing it with my own eyes, I was crying.  Even though he received treatment, his hip joint injury was quite serious.  Any jump would be very painful, especially when landing, he would feel severe  pain.  In spite of this, for the free skate, he made a mistake only for the quad jump, the other 7 jumps were all successful.

For the first time, I realised it was such a cruel world that Yuzuru was fighting in.​

In the spectator stands were many Japanese ladies and they were looking at me with a surprised expression "why is this old grandpa crying so much??"  But it did not matter anymore, I did not care how others were looking at me, I was crying my heart out.  I was so happy..... really so happy.

That Rostelecom Cup was my first experience as a trainer stepping into the figure skating world.

After this, I did not accompany Yuzuru to any more competitions.  I stayed in my clinic treating patients, and sometimes I would treat Yuzuru who came back from travels.

​After Rostelecom Cup, Yuzuru rose rapidly at an astonishing speed.

For the GP Final, he was 4th, then at 2011-12 World Championships, it was his first time at Worlds and he achieved 3rd place.  At the age of 17 years and 3 months, he broke the record for the youngest World Championship medalist in Japanese figure skating men's history and ascended to the podium.

Then, from April 2012, Yuzuru moved his training base from Sendai to Toronto, Canada.​

Before he had overseas competitions, I saw him almost everyday at my clinic.​ We had been together for the past 10 years.  So I would miss him quite a lot.

But it's for becoming stronger that he went to Canada.  For greater improvement in figure skating, he made the decision to move to Toronto.  He has already "graduated" from my place here.

"Sensei, I'm going off!"​

And just like each overseas trip, Yuzuru set off from Sendai, and started on another journey.

- translated by me from this Chinese translation: weibo

This is the book on Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/

(I will share parts from Chapter 2 soon.)

[myaekingheart]

131. Say Yes to the Dress

read the scarecrow and the bell on ao3 index | from the beginning | < previous | next >

               Rei opened and closed her fist as she made her way to the bookshop. It was a beautiful morning but not even the weather could quell her relentless panic. She only wished Toshio could be with her to ground her and remind her that everything would be okay. Even he seemed displeased that he could not join her, watching her curiously as she made her way to the front door to leave. He leapt to his feet, eager to accompany her, spotted tongue lopping out of the side of his mouth. He didn’t quite seem to understand when she lifted her palm and told him stay, tilting his head curiously as she backed up and promised him she would be home soon. As much as it pained her to leave him, it only made sense. Bridal shops were never very welcoming of dogs.

               Still, a part of her would’ve loved to see the inevitable chaos unfold. Toshio would be like a bull in a china shop, making a mess of everything. It would serve as a rare bright spot in an otherwise unappealing day.

               And truly, it wasn’t that Rei was against trying on wedding dresses. She knew it needed to happen and besides, wasn’t she desperate for the relief? Hadn’t she been manic with all that still needed to be done? With fears that she was running out of time? And really, what was more important to a wedding than a dress?

               The child in her revered the thought with starry eyes, envisioning herself decked out like a fairytale princess. Within that excitement, however, was a very adult sense of fear. Shopping was never her forte and trying on clothes was dull and excessive. She remembered the shopping sprees that Naru would drag her on, the way she would encourage Rei to give every single garment a test-run. How can you know whether or not you’ll love it if you don’t actually wear it? She would ask. While Naru always enjoyed the glamour of it, posing in front of the mirror and playing with different skirt and shirt combinations, Rei always left exhausted and unfulfilled. Nothing ever looked as good on her body as it did on a hanger, or even worse on a picture-perfect mannequin.

               Unfortunately, this sentiment could not be truer than it was now. Rei chewed her bottom lip, discretely smoothed her tunic over her stomach. She had skipped breakfast that morning just to be safe.

               The chaos of the bookshop had significantly dwindled down over the past few days—a fact that Rei was grateful for now. The plan was simple: she would retrieve her mother and then they would both meet up with Sekkachi at the bridal shop for a two hour appointment of drowning in chiffon. Or at least Rei hoped they would meet Sekkachi. A part of her wouldn’t be surprised to find her bail. Lucky bitch, Rei thought to herself.

               Hana looked up form the register as the little bell above the door chimed to signal Rei’s arrival. A young girl poked her head out from behind the sparse shelves and watched curiously. “There you are!” Hana exclaimed. She slipped out of her apron and tossed it on the stool behind the counter. “I was starting to fear that you weren’t going to show.”

               “Why?” Rei asked, cocking a brow. She checked the clock on the adjacent wall. “We’ve still got fifteen more minutes.”

               Hana shook her head in amused disdain as she slung her purse over her shoulder. “You never show up any later than thirty minutes early to these sorts of things” she corrected. Rei frowned. What was the point in showing up so early if you were bound to just wait around anyway? She didn’t see the point. If she had to spend even five more minutes than necessary in that bridal shop, she was definitely going to strangle herself with a lace garter.

               As they approached the bookshop’s exit, the young girl hiding behind the bookshelves poked her head out expectantly. “Leaving already, Mrs. Natsuki?” she asked.

               Hana nodded. “Now Yuzu, dear, are you sure you’ll be alright here on your own for a few hours?” she asked.  

               Yuzu? Rei thought to herself. She watched the girl grin and nod with utmost confidence—far more than appropriate for someone her age. She was a toothy kid, surely no older than twelve, with sandy blonde hair and thick fuschia glasses—the lenses of which magnified her sea-blue eyes much like the man at the antiques shop. She must’ve been legally blind, a sentiment only further enforced by her fashion sense. Her outfit was an obnoxious amalgamation of bright colors and mismatched patterns, childish and almost even clownish. Rei recognized the texts hugged to her chest as political memoirs.

               “Don’t you worry, Mrs. Natsuki!” Yuzu replied. “I’ll make sure to keep everything running nice and smooth while you’re gone! And if anyone tries to start trouble, I’ll remind them that the real enemy is not me but the oppressive military establishment of capitalist Konoha as a whole! I think that should set them straight.” Here, she winked and Rei’s face suddenly felt hot and tense.

               Hana nodded absently and waved her off as she exited the store, completely unaffected by this young girl’s words. Rei blinked, frozen for a solid ten seconds, before rushing off after her mother.

               “So, uh, who’s the kid?” Rei asked as they turned the corner.

               “Oh, just some extra help around the store!” Hana chirped. “Your father decided we needed an extra hand and Yuzu seemed bright and capable so we hired her!”

               Yet again, Rei caught herself blinking in disbelief. “You know, if you guys needed a hand around the shop, you could’ve just asked me” she replied. “I’m still willing to come in and help out on my days off.” After all, wasn’t this a family business? That little kid was in no way family. Or at least no family of Rei’s.

               Hana hummed and shook her head. “Well, now that you’re a captain, I figured you wouldn’t have any time for us. We all know how busy you must be” she said. She glanced to Rei with an ambiguous expression—something bordering ingenuity, or pity, or perhaps fullblown condescension. Either way, it made Rei’s blood boil.

               Pursing her lips, Rei wrapped her arms tight around her waist and quickened her pace. After all, they didn’t want to be late, did they? As she sped toward the bridal shop, she muttered sourly under her breath, “Yeah, well I think she needs to get some sense knocked into her.” She couldn’t imagine her father taking very kindly to his new employee’s stances, but that wasn’t Rei’s problem. She wasn’t responsible for ironing out the consequences of her parents’ decisions—even if Yuzu’s personal politics felt like a slap in the face to the ANBU captain.

               Much to Rei’s relief, Sekkachi was waiting dutifully for them outside the shop. A cigarette clenched between her teeth, she leaned against the otherwise spotless display window, smoke encircling her head like an ironic halo. “Well, I’m not used to being the early one around here” she jested, flicking some ash onto the ground. “Looks like Kakashi has finally rubbed off on you, huh, Rei?”

               “We’re not that late” Rei grumbled under her breath, pushing past Sekkachi and into the shop. The blue-haired kunoichi cocked a brow in surprise, eyeing Hana before a sly smile spread across her lips. Pehraps this was going to be more fun than she had expected.

               The shop itself was stark white inside and not just because of the dresses. The walls—or what was visible of them—were painted white, the carpet was white, every single piece of furniture was white. Rei felt herself begin to dissociate the moment she stepped into that godawful, colorless hell. And the entire place reeked like roses—nauseatingly so. Rei scanned the room but couldn’t find any logical source for the smell. It had to be a genjutsu—Rose Scented Give Me All Your Money no Jutsu. It seemed fitting enough.

               As Hana approached the counter, Rei began to wonder if this was place was even real, if it had ever been touched by the gritty hands of the outside world. She imagined a fullblwoon battle breaking out right in the center of the showroom: a war between two high-strung brides over the same dress. They would claw one another’s eyes out and fling their bodies against the wall like ragdolls. Blood would splatter across the inventory. At least the puffy skirts, wide and pastry-shaped, would help cushion the impact. Probably.

               Sekkachi rested a hand on Rei’s shoulder then, snapping her from her existential crisis. A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips as she nodded toward Hana, motioning for them to follow her into the belly of the beast. “I swear to fuck” Sekkachi whispered, half-joking, “I have never felt more butch in my entire life.”

               Rei clenched her fist around the hem of her shirt as they approached one of many seating areas in the boutique. Somehow the shop seemed to expand even further back than she could’ve imagined, the room stretching out in front of her with every step forward. Or perhaps in her dissociation, she was only imagining it all. Simply descending down the esophagus of a rather large beast who had no intention of ever spitting her back out. She would be stuck here forever, tangled in the delicate lace and pearly strings of a million and one wedding gowns. Not even hell itself could serve a darker fate.

               Their host was a rather angular woman in a black pencil skirt and black blazer. She was exactly what Rei would’ve expected to find in a place like this: polished and professional with an eternally robotic smile. Her name tag read Michiru.

               “I’m so delighted that that you decided to help us plan your special day!” she chirped in greeting. Rei choked back the vomit rising in the back of her throat. “So, which one of you is the blushing bride?”

               “Here she is!” Hana exclaimed. She paid no mind to her daughter’s resistance, her heels digging into the carpet, as she tugged Rei nearer. “This is my daughter, Rei! She’ll be getting married!”

               Sekkachi rolled her eyes, grumbling under her breath, “No shit, why else would we be here?” Neither Michiru nor Hana seemed to hear her—or if they did, they did not acknowledge it.

               “Wonderful to meet you, Rei” Michiru greeted. Her tone was polite but artificial. It was clear that she was eyeing Rei like a poisonous bug, looking her up and down and scrutinizing her every flaw. The scar across the bridge of Rei’s nose tingled. “So, tell me all about yourself, Rei. Let’s get acquainted!”

               “Well, I’m a shinobi” Rei began. “I do a lot of, uh…domestic work. I’ve been at this for about twenty years now, I guess? Or at least if you count the academy, but that—”

               “Oh, no, none of that!” Michiru interrupted, scrunching her face up as if someone had just released toxic gas throughout the entire building. She swatted the air with a manicured hand as if to wave off the stench of honesty. “I mean tell me the important things. When is the wedding? Who’s the lucky man? What kind of dress are we looking for? What is our budget?”

               “Oh…” Rei murmured. She wasn’t quite sure why she felt so dejected—it made sense that Michiru only be interested in matters pertaining to the wedding. Yet still, that familiar sting returned to the back of her throat. Her mother’s remark bounced around in her head. It was becoming evidently clear to her now that there was a very narrow avenue of her existence that anyone ever seemed to care about. Everything else was just a detour.

               Before Rei could formulate an answer, Sekkachi cleared her throat and raised her hand. Michiru slowly turned to her, cocking a brow in curiosity. “Yo, quick question: how do you know it’s a guy?” Sekkachi asked.

               Michiru blinked. “What do you mean?”

               “You know” Sekkachi replied, making a circular motion with her hand, “how do you know Rei isn’t gay? She could just as well be marrying a chick. You don’t know. Hell, she could be marrying me.”

               “Sekkachi, please” Hana whispered, her face turning bright red.

               “What?! It’s a valid question!” Sekkachi argued.

               Rei sighed and shook her head, recentering Michiru’s attention. “Don’t listen to her, she was dropped on her head as a baby” she excused. Sekkachi gasped in mock shock, restraining laughter. “Alright, so the wedding date is March 14th” Rei finally replied, eyes squeezed shut in concentration.

               “Oh, a wedding on White Day!” Michiru swooned. “A classic choice!” The gears in her head were already turning, filtering through their entire stock to mentally dress Rei in the perfect gown. “And what about your, erm…significant other?” she then asked.

               “It’s a guy” Rei assured. Her cheeks burned red at the thought of having to describe her fiancé. Her gaze dropped to the ground and she rubbed the back of her neck anxiously. “Well, there’s really not much to tell. He’s a jonin leader so he’s great with kids. We’ve, uh…we’ve known each other practically our entire lives. He’s sweet and talented and—”

               “And fucking famous!” Sekkachi interrupted. “You can’t forget that part, Rei.”

               “Oh?” Michiru grinned. This was one interjection that she was actually delighted with. “How famous, exactly?”—a sudden gasp— “Might this be a celebrity wedding?”

               Rei’s eyes widened as she raised her hands in surrender. “Oh god, no! Absolutely not!” she argued. “No, we’re just two very much normal shinobi looking to plan a very normal wedding.” She shot Sekkachi a fierce glare, as if threatening her to say one more word on the subject. She did not want to make a big deal out of this.

               Sekkachi flopped down on the clamshell couch in the center of the room, sprawling her legs out in front of her. ���I don’t see what the big deal is” she countered. “I mean, if I was marrying Kakashi Hatake—”

               “Kakashi Hatake?!” Michiru exclaimed, her voice rising an octave. She quickly took Rei by the shoulders, narrowed her eyes in suspicious desperation. “Do you mean to tell me that your are marrying the infamous Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan?”

               “Y-Yeah…why?” Rei asked, taken aback.

               Michiru squealed and clapped her hands together. “Oh, this is perfect!” she exclaimed. “I had heard rumors that Kakashi was engaged but I didn’t really think they were true. After all, up until a few months ago, it felt like no one even really knew he was taken but now! Now I have the honor of outfitting the bride in the wedding of the century! This will do wonders for our reputation.”

               Rei rubbed her forearms awkwardly and averted her gaze. “I mean, really, it’s not that big of a deal. We—”

               “No, no, I won’t hear another word of it!” Michiru interrupted. She grabbed Rei’s arms then and spread them out so as to stick her in a T-pose. “We need to get to work right away! What kind of dress are we looking for?”

               “I-I don’t know” Rei admitted. “I never really thought about it.”

               “Well, there are plenty of options to choose from!” Michiru grinned, motioning to their inventory with a flourish. And truly, every wall was packed with weding dresses—so much so that the wall itself was barely visible.

               Rei chewed her lower lip, surveying the sea of white. “Yeah, maybe too many options” she muttered.

               “Well let’s start with the basics” Michiru began. “Do you want something traditional or more modern? What kind of silhouette do you want? Do you like lace or crystals? Pearls would match that engagement ring perfectly! How much cleavage do you want to show? You know, you have great breasts—you should really bank on that!”

               Hana cleared her throat, cocking a brow in scrutiny. “Now, now, let’s not get too hasty” she said, stepping between Michiru and her daughter. “As a bride, she ought to look respectable.”

               “Eh, I’m gonna side with Cheery McSmilepants over here” Sekkachi countered. “I think Rei ought to flaunt what she’s got. After all, it’s not like anyone other than Kakashi is getting ahold of her. He might as well have something to excite him on the big day.”

               “Fucking hell, Sekkachi” Rei muttered under her breath.

               Sekkachi merely shrugged and reclined on the couch, propping her feet up on the clean glass coffee table before her. Hana whipped around and frowned, swatting Sekkachi’s forearm in a silent command for her to put her feet down, this was a nice establishment. Sekkachi grumbled but did as she was told.

               Furrowing her brows, Rei replied to Michiru, “I mean, I don’t want to look slutty but I am not about to wear something puritanical.”

               “Oh, yes, of course not!” Michiru nodded emphatically. Finally she felt as if she was slowly beginning to gain an understanding of what Rei had in mind, even if the vision wasn’t actually very clear in Rei’s head. “I think I know just the thing” Michiru continued, nodding as she raised an index finger in the air. “Something lavish, of course. And on trend! We can’t have Kakashi’s wife walking down the aisle in last year’s fashion.” She made a stinkface here as if the very idea made her sick to her stomach.

               “What does that matter?” Sekkachi asked. “It’s not like anyone is going to know the difference.”

               “I will know the difference” Michiru replied sharply. Without another word, she turned and began flitting around the shop like an anxious hummingbird, filing through the racks and gathering a handful of dresses into her arms. By the time she was finished, she returned with a stack thick enough to nearly cover her face.

               “How much time do you think we have?” Sekkachi jested, leaning forward to poke at the chiffon. “How many dresses did you even grab? Fifty?”

               Michiru shook her head. “Only three!” she replied. Without a single moment of hesitation, she grabbed Rei’s arm and drew her back into the dressing room. Rei glanced back at her mother and best friend over her shoulder as they went, and the look on her face was like that of a pig dragged to the slaughter: terrified and desperate.

               The thing that Rei was not prepared for when it came to wedding dresses was just how difficult they would be to get into. Michiru commandeered the entire process, reducing Rei to nothing more than a living dress-up doll. She hated the way her body was exposed like this, the way her privacy felt violated, and how she knew Michiru would note every scar and scrape and stretch mark. As Michiru tugged Rei’s shirt up over her head, however, something far more pressing entered Rei’s mind. With a gasp, she immediately clapped her hand over her right shoulder.

               “What do you think you’re doing?” Michiru asked, unamused. She craned her neck to try and get a better view of Rei’s blushed, anxious face.

               “Uh…can I ask you one thing?” Rei chuckled nervously. Michiru urged her to continue. Her impatience was almost tangible. Grinning sheepishly, Rei asked, “Do any of these dresses, by chance, have sleeves?”

               The longer Rei took in the dressing room, the more anxious Hana became. It was no secret that her daughter was not one for shopping sprees. She envisioned Rei giving Michiru a hard time, complaiing about every fluffy dress offered, perhaps even attempting to claw her way out of a window and escape. She glanced to Sekkachi, hoping that perhaps she felt the same, but instead she appeared completely unphased. Bored and unphased.

               Hana was familiar enough with Sekkachi, of course, but to say that they were experienced with spending time alone together was vastly inaccurate. Hana only knew Sekkachi in the context of Rei and nothing more. Side by side unsupervised like this was new and unnerving. Twiddling her thumbs awkwardly, Hana finally asked, “So, do you intend to find a bridesmaid dress while you’re here?”

               Sekkachi nearly choked on her own spit with laughter. “Oh god, no!” she exclaimed. “If I’m lucky, Rei will let me get by without having to wear a dress at all.” She was certain that Rei knew better than to force her into being traditional. Of all the things Sekkachi was willing to do for Rei, that was not one of them.

               Before Hana had a chance to protest, Michiru came bounding out of the dressing room with a satisfied grin upon her face. Hana straightened her back, eyes wide in expectation. And then out came Rei, head drooped and hands clasped demurely. Hana gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes brimming with tears. “Oh, Rei, sweetheart!”

               The first dress was, for lack of a better term, a marshmallow. The bodice was heavily bedazzled with blinding rhinestones, the neckline accentuating her breasts perhaps a little too much, and the chiffon skirt was so wide that Rei could barely fit through the doorway. Sekkachi’s face lit up at the ridiculousness of it all.

               “So, what do we think?” Michiru asked. It was clear that she was already full to bursting with pride.

               “You look so beautiful!” Hana enthused, restraining tears. “Just like a princess.” If she had to envision what her daughter should look like as a bride, this was pretty damn near close to it. Shimmering and shiny and ethereal.

               Michiru glanced to Sekkachi, encouraging her to express her own opinion on the gown. “I mean…” Sekkachi started. She tried her hardest not to cringe. She failed. “It’s pretty obvious Rei is uncomfortable as fuck” she admitted. Hana’s eyes widened both at the insult and the blunt delivery. “And really, this thing looks nothing like Rei. Nothing about her says ‘sparkly marshmallow.’ I give it two thumbs down.” Here, she emphasized with the appropriate hand gesture and an accompanying raspberry.

               Displeased, Michiru turned to Rei. “Well, you’re the bride. What do you think?”

               Rei paused for a moment, surveying her reflection in the mirror. “Do you want me to be honest, or do you want me to lie…?” she asked slowly. Michiru’s face fell. She pointed to the dressing room and Rei immediately gathered her skirts and wobbled back to try on the next dress.

               After four more failed attempts, the whole group was beginning to lose faith. Michiru was clearly off the mark in her understanding of Rei’s tastes, and Hana and Sekkachi’s opinions could not be further from one another.

               “My god…” Rei muttered under her breath, staring now at herself in the most ridiculous, avant-garde thing she had ever seen. She was trying so hard to find reasons to love it. She kept coming up empty. “This is going to take forever, isn’t it?” she groaned.

               Michiru pursed her lips. “Well, so far we’ve tried something flashy, we’ve tried something artistic, we’ve tried the classic and the modern, and none of them have been right” she recounted.

               “They just don’t feel like…me” Rei replied. And after all, shouldn’t a wedding gown befit the bride herself? She didn’t want to just get married in anything. It needed to feel right.

               “Well, what does feel like you?” Michiru asked.

               Rei poked at the short hem of her balloon dress, tugged at the ribbons dangling from the corset front. “I don’t know” she admitted, defeatedly so. “I know what doesn’t feel right, but I can’t put my finger on what does.”

               “Well, I think you ought to wear something sweet, like a princess” Hana interjected. “That’s what feels right to me.”

               “Oh, give me a break!” Sekkachi groaned. “No, Rei needs something edgy, you know? She’s a modern day woman. She’s a fucking badass. She needs a dress that she can kick a man’s ass in.”

               Rei tossed her head back and dug the heels of her hands into her eye sockets. If anything, her mother and Sekkachi’s commentary throughout all of this was just making things ten times worse. She was steadily reaching the end of her rope. Whipping around, she glared at them and then shouted, “Alright, then, if you think you both know me so well then why don’t you guys go pick something?!”

               Hana and Sekkachi froze, glanced to one another, turned the thought over in their heads. Before they could say anything on the matter, Michiru stepped forward with a single clap. “Well, I think that’s a stupendous idea!” she exclaimed. She rushed over to the couch, urged Hana and Sekkachi to rise to their feet. “Why don’t you all go and survey the racks and come back with three dresses each for our bride. We’ll wait here until you’re done!”

               “Oh, no you don’t” Rei then said, glaring at Michiru. “I’m joining them.”

               “But where’s the fun in that?” Michiru argued, her voice unsteady with anxiety. There was a certain fury in Rei’s eyes now that she had never seen before, not even in the most vile of bridezillas. It was a fury far removed from the world of civilians. A shinobi’s fury.

               “I’m not going to sit around and let them do all the work for me” Rei insisted. She carefully stepped down from her pedestal and began toddling toward the wall of dresses, her own a little too tight for her to walk properly. “If they get to have a hand in my fate, then I want a say, too. After all, it’s my fucking wedding day and I’m the bride.”

               Michiru watched in paralyzed fear as Rei ripped through the racks, eyes hard and focused. She didn’t even know what she was looking for but she didn’t care. She’d find something. And if all else failed, she would be more than happy to just get married naked. She didn’t care. It was no longer worth the trouble.

               Sekkachi admittedly found Rei’s frustration amusing, to say the least. It was the exact brand of chaos she needed to make this hellscape a little more tolerable. As they met in the middle of one of the racks, Sekkachi tugged one of the dresses out and grinned maniacally. “Well, doesn’t this look familiar!” she exclaimed, holding it up. The mere sight of it gave Rei post-traumatic stress. The collar was stiff and white and shaped like the plastic cones they put on dogs at the vet’s office. The sleeves were the size of blimps. Lace and tacky fake pearls covered the entire corset and hem. The same exact dress from the antiques shop.

               “I think I just threw up in my mouth a little” Rei croaked, shoving it out of the way and suppressing laughter.

               “It’s following you, Rei!” Sekkachi laughed. “It’s trying to tell you that this is the dress. It’s fate!”

               “That’s not fate, I’m being fucking haunted is what it is” Rei replied, shaking her head. She turned back to the other dresses, trying to refocus.

               Sekkachi rolled her eyes and tossed the abysmal gown to the wayside. “At least that dress has some creativity” she mused.

               “And this one doesn’t?” Rei asked, motioning to whatever she was currently wearing.

               “Hey, poodles and clowns deserve to live happily ever after, too!” Sekkachi jested. “Besides, at least it’s something. I mean, look at this shit.” Here, she pulled two dresses side by side off the racks. Both of them touted a sweetheart neckline, no straps or sleeves, and a fitted body down to a flared hem with iridescent pearl accents. “It’s like they’re not even fucking trying.”

               Rei shrugged. “I guess it’s just a popular design?”

               Sekkachi poked at the tags in the back, both of which crediting different designs. She shook her head in disdain. “I don’t get what the big deal is: they’re all the same fucking dress.”

               “That’s not entirely true!” Michiru interrupted with a restrained, closed-mouth chuckle. God, Rei was really beginning to hate this woman. She stalked nearer, lightly shoving Sekkachi out of the way as she held up both of the dresses herself. “You see, this one is glacier white with akoya pearls, while this one snow white with freshwater pearls. They couldn’t be any more different!”

               “Okay” Sekkachi scoffed, bugging her eyes out and pursing her lips incredulously. She fed Rei a look of amused insanity as she skirted around the woman to approach one of the other racks.

               By the time they were finished, Rei had a total of 12 more very different dresses to assess. Michiru insisted that Rei try on her own picks first—the styles of which were inconsistent at best and troubling at worst. The bridal consultant had hoped, at least, that this would give her a better sense of which direction she hoped to go toward.

               While each dress was beautiful in it’s own right, neither of them felt like Rei. She stared at her reflection with a look of disgust and disappointment at the third one, especially. “I really hoped that maybe this one would be it” she complained.

               “Well, what do you like about it?” Michiru asked.

               Rei shook her head. “I don’t know” she replied. “I thought maybe it would be a good fit for my body or something, but…I’m just uncomfortable.”

               Sekkachi groaned and sprawled out on the couch, shaking her head. “And here I was hoping that this would be quick and easy” she complained. Pursing her lips, she then shifted on the couch to dig around in her back pouch, producing a tiny metal flask. “Guess I’m gonna need this after all” she said, popping off the cap and taking a long swig.

               Rei whipped around, narrowing her eyes. “Hey, where the fuck did you get that from?!” she asked.

               Sekkachi wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and replied coolly, “I figured if this was going to be as torturous as I expected, I’d need a little pick-me-up.”

               Rolling her eyes, Rei turned back around, afforded one more look to the dress, then shook her head and waddled back to the dressing room.

               At least all of Hana’s dresses exhibited some sense of consistency, but their lack of variation was perhaps taken too far. Each dress was far too simple with basic ballgown silhouettes and square necklines and capped sleeves. There were no adornments or bedazzling whatsoever—only a modest hint of lace here and there.

               “What do we think?” Michiru asked, glancing to Hana. Rei’s mother sat with bated breath, her hands clasped in front of her. She was clearly pleased with her own choices.

               “I think she looks beautiful!” Hana exclaimed. “Just how I’d imagine her on her wedding day.”

               “I-I don’t know…” Rei murmured. She turned this way and that, studying the drape of the fabric and the texture of the silk. “I mean, they’re pretty but I just…I don’t know, I feel kind of…uninspired.”

               Sekkachi nodded. “I think I’m gonna have to side with Rei on this” she mentioned. “They’re just too plain.”

               “So we’re thinking something a little more creative then?” Michiru asked.

               Sekkachi and Rei nodded in unison. “You know” the blue-haired kunoichi then said, “Whoever said Rei had to wear a white wedding dress, anyway? Maybe that’s the big issue here.”

               “Why wouldn’t she wear white?” Hana countered. “She’s getting married, not going to a cocktail party. All brides wear white.”

               “I mean, for what it’s worth” Sekkachi chuckled, “Do you really think she can even get away with wearing white on her wedding day? We all know her and Kakashi have fucked.”

               Hana’s face immediately went pale at the prospect. She had never considered her daughter a sexual being up until now, regardless of her enthusiasm for grandchildren. Frankly, it was something she never wanted to consider. The thought of Kakashi’s hands on her daughter’s body, naked and sweaty and writhing together…it was just too much. In one fluid motion, Hana reached across the couch and stole the flask from Sekkachi’s hands to take a long, desperate swig herself. Rei’s eyes widened in shock. She had never seen her mother drink alcohol so enthusiastically before.

               Sighing, Michiru straightened her blazer. “Well, then! If it’s creativity we want, I think I have just the thing.” She motioned for Rei to follow her and together they departed for the dressing room yet again.

               It only took one of Michiru’s options to convince Rei that this woman was completely unqualified to dress her. This one was more garish than the last with indescribable pompoms and a short, poofy skirt that, yet again, resembled a marshmallow. Ribbons hung down sloppily from the bodice and skirt’s hem like some sort of warped, second-grade school project jellyfish. It also, unfortunately, came with a terrible wide-brimmed hat lined with the same puffy pompoms and draped with poorly-cut tulle.

               ‘Now, this dress is a couture design straight from Yumegakure” Michiru explained, motioning to Rei with an expert flourish. “It might be a little out of your price range, but I’d say it’s worth it for such a high-end brand!”

                Sekkachi nearly gagged at the sight of it, restraining ridiculous laughter. “Fuck, maybe I shouldn’t have started drinking after all” she choked out. She fished around in her back pouch for her medication, the bottle reading in large bold letters do not take with alcohol. “Just the sight of that thing I giving me indigestion” she muttered. She would just have to brave the overwhelming disgust.

               Frowning, Rei tore the hat off her head and tossed it across the room. It landed squarely atop one of the many nondescript mannequins, spinning around the head before settling crooked. “Alright, that’s it!” she shouted. She threw her hands up in surrender and grabbed Michiru’s clipboard. “I will try on one more dress, and only one more dress, and if that one doesn’t spark anything then fuck it, I’m getting married naked.” With a firm grip still on the clipboard, she dragged Michiru back to the dressing room with furious purpose. The woman chuckled at Hana and Sekkachi over her shoulder, silently certain she was about to meet her end.

               All of Sekkachi’s choices were far edgier and less traditional—a jumpsuit with a chiffon train, a form-fitting dress with a cowl-neck and thigh-high slit. The one that Rei picked out of all of them, however, was perhaps the most promising option of them all.

               After fifteen agonizing minutes, Michiru trudged out of the dressing room frazzled and fatigued and collapsed onto the couch beside Hana. “I think we’ve finally done it” she sighed. “I don’t know how, but we have.” With a lazy flourish of her hand, she signaled for Rei to step out into the light.

               The dress she wore now was simple but not plain, sexy but not slutty. It hugged Rei’s curves in all the right places and the deep sweetheart neckline accentuated her assets. It even had simple, long sleeves to perfectly mask her tattoo. Pearls dripped subtly down the bodice, flaring out into a loose, high-low skirt that was feminine but not unmanageable. For all intents and purposes, it was perfect.

               “Well?” Michiru asked anxiously. “How do you feel? Is it the one?”

               “It’s beautiful” Rei said, studying her figure in the mirror, “but…I don’t know.”

               “I think you look stunning” Hana cooed, an affectionate expression painting her face. It was not what she had dreamed of for her little girl, but she could tell that Rei wore this one well.

               Sekkachi smirked and whistled, adding, “I bet it’ll take all of Kakashi’s strength not to rip that right off of you.” Hana tried to ignore the snidely sexual remark, regardless of how uncomfortable it left her. Beaming with satisfaction, Sekkachi nudged Hana on the arm and jested, “See? I told you I knew her sense of style better than anyone else.” Hana pursed her lips and nodded slowly. If anything, perhaps this just proved how little she really did know about her daughter’s tastes. Or rather, about her daughter in general.

               Michiru seemed pleased with the positive feedback, as if she took all the credit for finding the perfect dress. “So?” she asked, turning to Rei. “Have we been successful here today? Are you saying yes to this dress?”

               Rei lingered on her reflection for a moment longer. It truly was a beautiful dress but…

               “I just…don’t feel that magic” Rei confessed slowly, sadly. Her shoulders drooped in defeat. “It’s a beautiful dress, and I love it, but…I don’t know, I just don’t have that feeling in the pit of my chest. I don’t feel like I’m going to cry. I don’t feel that magic.”

               Sekkachi cocked a brow, leaning forward. “Are you supposed to?” she asked. “Like, is that one of the requirements for this? I didn’t there was any big emotional investment involved here, just find the dress you like best and be done with it. Right?”

               “I don’t know” Rei sighed in defeat. “I always hear people talk about how they just, like, break down in tears when they find ‘the one’, you know? I thought it was supposed to be this amazing, magical moment where everything suddenly feels just right. I don’t know, maybe I’m just romanticizing everything or something, I just—”

               “No, no, you’re not romanticizing anything” Michiru interrupted. “I have outfitted thousands of brides in my career and they always find the perfect dress. Maybe you just need to try it with a veil? I’ll go get one and we’ll see what you think then!” Before Rei could protest, Michiru had ducked around a corner to ruffle through their stock of accessories. When she returned, she fixed a simple veil right at the base of Rei’s ponytail. The chiffon laid awkwardly over the fluff of her hair, trailing down the small of her back. “How about now? Do you feel anything?” Michiru asked, recoiling and motioning for Rei to view her reflection.

               Tears pricked at the back of her eyes at the sight of herself, but not out of understanding or acceptance. She still didn’t feel anything. By now, she must have exhausted the entire boutique’s stock. A sinking feeling lodged itself in the pit of her chest—this was all for nothing. Her dress, the dress she was destined for, was not here. It couldn’t be. But Rei could sense the disappointment in the air. It hung heavy, almost palpable, and a wave of guilt washed over her. She turned this way and that, shifting in the dress—which was far too tight around the waist, anyway, but she didn’t dare mention this. She was running out of options. She could settle. She could learn to love it. She could learn to fall in love with it.

               Shaking her head, Rei turned back around to her entourage and whispered, “I think I can see myself getting married in this. I think this would work just fine.” She forced a smile, smoothing the dress out over her stomach and toying with the featured pearls.

               Michiru beamed, clapping her hands together in delight. “I knew the veil would fix things! It always does!” she exclaimed, glancing to Hana and Sekkachi over her shoulder. Turning back to Rei, then, she asked with glorious purpose, “So, Rei, have you made your final decision? Are you finally saying yes to this dress?”

               Chewing her lower lip, Rei nodded slowly. “I think I am.” Her audience collectively sighed in relief, cheering at having finally found the dress. And really, if nothing else, it felt good to have finally made a decision. This was one last thing for her to worry about. The dress, a true icon of any wedding, had finally been chosen.

               Hana rose to her feet, extending her arms out for a hug from her daughter. Smiling, Rei carefully stepped down off the pedestal but as she bent down to gather her skirts, she was paralyzed. A sudden tearing sound echoed through the room. Hana’s face fell. Michiru paled. Sekkachi suppressed hysterical laughter.

               “Oh, god…” Rei whispered in horror. Her hand slowly shifted to her back, feeling for the rip in the fabric. Maybe it wasn’t that bad. Maybe it was only a little tear. Maybe it was easily fixable. Certainly this wasn’t the first time this had happened to a bride, nor would it be the last. As her fingers traced the back of her dress, however, it became all too clear that this was not fine. The dress had practically ripped apart all the way from the nape of her neck to the small of her back. Rei’s face turned beet red. Smiling sheepishly, she turnd to Michiru and croaked out, “How much did this one cost again…?”

               Michiru blinked, replying with a weak, “Seven thousand dollars.” In that exact moment, Rei immediately felt like she was going to be sick. Without a moment of hesitation, she surged forward and stole the flask from Sekkachi’s hand, knocking back the rest of her booze.

               By the time they left, the shop was already preparing to close for the day. The setting sun painted the sky in rich red and orange and pink. Mothers called their children, sweaty and red-faced, inside after a long day of play. What began as a mere two-hour appointment transformed into a five-hour catastrophe. Rei, Hana, and Sekkachi were tired and hungry and defeated. And more importantly, they did not leave with a wedding dress.

               “That’s it!”Rei exclaimed as they slipped back into Kaminoki. Yuzu had since gone home. Standing behind the register instead was none other than Grandma Teiko. The old woman arched a brow curiously as Rei fell back against one of the bookshelves and lamented, “I’m officially getting married ass naked!”

               “Rough day?” Teiko chuckled.

               Sekkachi trudged past her and made a beeline straight for the shop’s bathroom, muttering as she went, “You have no fucking clue.”

               Hana sighed and shook her head, rubbing her temples as she approached the counter. “We must have tried on every dress in Konoha and still, none of them were right” she complained. Rei had to admit her overexaggeration was not appreciated.

               “Oh?” Teiko asked. “Is that so?”

               “You know, I blame modern wedding traditions” Rei replied, a sour expression on her face. “Everyone these days either wants to look like a big, fat pastry or like a slinky lounge singer. It’s like every ounce of class has just gone right out the fucking window!”

               Sekkachi propped the bathroom door open for only a moment to shout back, “As if you know anything about class!”

               Frustrated, Rei yelled in response, “As if you do!”

               “Girls, please try to calm down” Hana begged. All of this was giving her a migraine. That sip of alcohol from earlier was not helping her case. For a moment, she even regretted ever doing this but then felt immensely guilty at the thought. She had only wanted to do something nice for her daughter. To create a bonding experience. Instead, all she received was an absolute disaster.

               Teiko hummed softly as she hobbled around the counter, reaching for Rei’s hand. Despite her confusion, Rei did not protest. “Come on, I think I have an idea” Teiko murmured. A sly smile touched her lips, a knowing twinkle glinting in her eye, as she guided Rei upstairs.

               Rei followed Teiko into her bedroom, struck by an immediate sense of nostalgia. The faint scent of lavender, the floral duvet, the various perfume bottles on the antique dresser; they all warped Rei straight back to childhood days curling up in her grandmother’s lap as she read her bedtime stories and quelled anxiety and depression alike. She watched as Teiko struggled to pull a large trunk out from under her bed. Rei knew better than to interfere and try to help. Before she unlocked it, however, Teiko glared up at Rei and commanded, “Cover your eyes, girl.” Rei hesitated for only a moment and then did as she was told.

               “Grandma, what is all of this about?” she asked. She listened close to the snap of the lock, the swish of fabrics and knock of knick-knacks as the old woman rustled around inside the case.

               Teiko pursed her lips as she worked dutifully. “Do you remember when you were a little girl, and you went to Konoha Matsuri with Kakashi?” she asked. Rei furrowed her brows as the memories came to her in hazy splotches. She was only three years old, but she remembered the colorful lights and the boom of fireworks in her chest. She remembered the little dog figurine that Kakashi had won her and the way she kept dropping her gyoza on the ground. Kakashi went back to order more dumplings for her each time, ultimately resorting to feeding her himself in an effort to prevent even more disaster. He sacrificed so that she would not miss out on her favorite food, even at the expense of his own growing cold. And then Rei remembered the dress.

               That afternoon, after lamenting that she had nothing to wear, Rei was presented with a lavish kimono, an heirloom, straight from Grandma Teiko’s trunk. The ornate fabric was sleek and soft, the colors vibrant and cool. Nostalgia aside, Teiko did not hesitate to resize the dress to perfectly fit Rei’s tiny toddler body.

               A sudden fear washed over Rei as she suddenly understood the situation at hand. “Grandma, wait, no—” she protested, nearly peeking through her fingers. Grandma Teiko caught her in an instant, slapping her forearm with her cane.

               “Not yet, girl” she snapped. “You’ll open your eyes when I tell you to.” Rei muttered a soft, despondent sorry as she tried to maintain composure. She couldn’t possibly imagine the specifics but mch like the way a rain cloud rolls across the sky, she could feel something large and unbearable growing ever nearer. Something she knew she would not be able to accept.

               And then Grandma Teiko was finished. Rei heard her slide the curtains back, saw the array of fresh light from behind her eyelids. The tapping of the old woman’s cane echoed as she stepped nearer. Grandma Teiko wrapped her shaky, wrinkled old hands around Rei’s wrists then and gently moved her hands away from her face. “Now you can open your eyes” she said.

               Rei blinked, taking a moment to adjust to the light, before comprehending what lay before her. Srpawled across the bed was a stunning white kimono, sleek and satin. Beautiful pink camellias, dainty baby’s breath, and delicate cherry blossoms danced across the fabric. It was not nearly as ornate as what the noble clans wore but what it lacked in extravagance, it made up for in both grace and sentimentality.

               “This was the kimono that I got married in so many years ago” Teiko explained. Rei gently caressed the fabric, gentle and tender as if she was afraid it might crumble beneath her touch. Teiko paused for only a moment to watch, her heart swelling. And then, smiling softly, she said, “I want you to try it on.”

               Rei’s head snapped up, eyes wide with disbelief. She searched her grandmother’s face for even the slightest hint of disingenuity, that this was all just some sick joke. When she found none, she glanced back to the kimono and shook her head. “Grandma, I can’t. That’s just…I can’t do that” she protested. She couldn’t quite understand why, but the prospect terrified her.

               Grandma Teiko, however, would not hear a word of it. “Of course you can, girl” she countered. Before Rei could say anything more, the old woman began helping her get changed. She gently tugged Rei’s shirt over her head, smoothing it out across the bed beside the kimono. She encouraged Rei to remove her pants, and she did so slowly, methodically. Procrastinating.

               Exposed before the old woman, Rei felt much like she had earlier in the dressing room with Michiru. But Teiko was not a stranger. She knew Rei deeply, knew of her scars and her struggles alike. Within that knowing came a very different sense of fear. Her stomach growled softly. Teiko arched a brow but said nothing of it. Rei wrapped her arms around her waist, attempted to shrink herself. She refused to look at herself in the mirror. The thick, anxious air weighed heavily on her shoulders.

               Grandma Teiko seemed completely unphased by all of this. She simply moved Rei’s arms out of the way here and there, as if yet again Rei was nothing more than a dress-up doll. In a way, the entire act felt almost nostalgic. She thought of when Rei was a child, too young to dress herself, and Teiko would take up the responsibility. Rei always knew exactly what she wanted to wear, or rather what she was comfortable wearing. When Hana suggested a dress, Rei chose pants and an old t-shirt. Something she could move in, something unisex and uninhibiting. Funny how even back then, Teiko saw so much of herself reflected in Rei. And that could not have been truer now.

               Time crept by slowly as Hana waited in the shop below. She needed answers. She needed to know what was going on, and that Rei had not spiralled even further into her own insanity. The toilet flushed and Sekkachi trudged out of the bathroom, face dewy with sweat. She froze when she noticed Hana, eyes manic and desperate. “What…? What is it?” Sekkachi asked.

               Hana merely wrung her hands together, glanced this way and that, and then grabbed Sekkachi’s hands and pulled her upstairs with her. Sekkachi grumbled under her breath, muttering something about how she hadn’t even washed her hands yet.

               Unsure and anxious, Hana crept steadily up the stairs to peer into the old woman’s room. It was then that Sekkachi understood the true weight of the situation. She followed suit and then they saw it: Rei.

               She stood there in the center of the room, hands clasped in front of her and head downcast. The evening sunlight poured through the windows and bathed her in an ethereal glow. Rei bit the inside of her cheek as she slowly turned to the doorway, lifted her gaze, and asked, “Well? What do you think?”

               Hana immediately clapped her hands over her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. Of all the dresses her daughter had tried on thus far, this was in an entire league of it’s own. If her ideal vision of her daughter as a bride was hazy before, seeing her now had clarified that image tenfold. “You look beautiful” Hana choked, trying to restrain herself. “Like a true bride.”

               Even Sekkachi could hardly wipe the smile off her face. “Now that looks fitting for Kakashi’s wife.”

               “You really think so?” Rei asked, tucking her long bangs back behind her ear. She glanced to Grandma Teiko for reassurance.

               The old woman gave a single nod before motioning to the full-length mirror on the other wall. “See for yourself” she said.

               As Rei turned to view her reflection, her breath hitched in her throat. She immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, muttering a muffled, “Oh my god…” Her eyes grew glossy and an incredulous little laugh bubbled up from deep within her chest. For the longest time, Rei had never considered herself bridal material. She yearned to be a wife, yes, but when she tried to envision her wedding day, when she tried to imagine herself walking down the aisle, she couldn’t see it. She couldn’t picture herself amid the flowers and lace, embodying such a traditional role. It didn’t feel fitting. She had consequently assumed that perhaps she was never really meant to be someone’s wife at all. That she had just romanticized the idea, envisioned someone else’s path rather than her own. The distance between her and Kakashi over the years only further cemented this idea in her head.

               And yet now here she was. Now her and Kakashi were in love. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, he yearned for her to become his wife. Looking at herself now, she finally saw everything slowly come together. She could see herself walking down that aisle, taking Kakashi’s hand in hers, and vowing to love one another until the end of their days. Without a doubt, this was the dress.

               Yuruganai huffed and adjusted his glasses on his face as he stepped out of his office for the first time all afternoon. The sight of Hana and Sekkachi idling in the doorway only further irked him. The hallway was far too narrow for people to loiter like this. Frustrated, he stalked forward and asked, “What’s going on here?”

               Hana simply looked back at him over her shoulder, a soft smile on her teary face. She could not restrain herself any longer. She took her husband’s hand in hers and, confused as he was, pulled him nearer. “We’ve found the dress” she croaked.

               Yuruganai arched a brow, leaning into the room to look for himself. The moment he saw his daughter, it all became clear to him. His eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape. Rei was like he had never seen her before. He was, undeniably, speechless. Teiko grinned back at him knowingly as she caught his eyes welling up, but the fear of being known was far too much for him to handle. He quickly wiped his eyes and shook away the emotion. “Well, a hand-me-down dress is going to save me lots of money on this wedding, anyway” he muttered before turning and retreating back to his office. He slammed the door rather loudly and Hana could tell that deep down, he was losing it. Perhaps he had a heart, after all.

               Teiko hobbled up behind her granddaughter and placed her hands firmly on her shoulders. “If you like it so much, Rei, then it’s yours” she smiled.

               “Oh god, Grandma, b-but I can’t!” Rei protested, turning to face the old woman. Marrying in her old wedding dress just didn’t feel right, like she was stealing a part of Teiko’s past. She could never live with the hole it would leave in her history.

               Teiko swatted at the air and made a sour face. “Nonsense, girl!” she countered. “Do I look like I have any use for it now?” She motioned to her body, old and hunched and fat, then patted Rei on the shoulder. “You wear it better than I ever could, anyway.”

               Rei afforded her reflection one last glance, smoothing the dress out over her stomach and adjusting the sleeves. Another sob caught in her throat as the reality of the situation truly settled in. A tender smile touched her lips as se reached back to take Grandma Teiko’s hand in hers, squeezing it tightly. This was it. The first day of the rest of her life was rapidly approaching. She was getting married, and she was going to be Kakashi Hatake’s wife. A soft smile touched her lips as she whispered softly, “Thank you, Grandma. For everything.”

[drblueneck]

Little Naruto is a time traveller

Naruto has been a time traveller his whole life. It just took him years to realize it...

.

.

The first time it happened, the four year old boy just tripped on his own two feet. One second he was in a backstreet, waving his arms around trying to regain his balance, the next he was in the main avenue of the village, spitting out a mouthful of dirt as he stood back up, knees bleeding from the hard impact with the ground.

The blond kid just looked around him, confused, before shrugging it off and going about his day, shoulders hunched around his head and shooting suspicious glares at the villagers who had yet to show distaste at his presence.

He ended up relaxing, mingling with the crowd and bumping into people just to see their reaction. Some scoffed and told him to look where he went, others sighed with indulgence and a small number even laughed and apologized. It was surreal. Feeling daring, he even bought an apple from the old woman who usually pretended he didn't exist. It was a good day, Naruto decided.

Then he tripped on a stone, his nose met the ground, and when he looked up, he was still in the main avenue, but there was a wide breadth around him. His sharp ears caught a mumbled sneer, "little freak, always gets in the way" and he turned around, stuck his tongue out and bellowed an insult that went along the lines of "poop face" before storming away from the market place.

So much for having a good day.

.

.

The next time was similar. He walked, tripped, and went he got back up, people were nicer -- or at least didn't mind his existence. Naruto happily went along with the weird fluke, thinking that adults were odd creatures with strange rites.

He decided to fall more often just to escape the stares.

It never worked.

.

.

He tried buying an apple from the woman. Her face kept changing one day from another. Naruto wondered if it was a cool jutsu. He asked the Old Man and he laughed, the thin skin around his eyes crinkling with mirth. "No, no, my boy. This is just a trick from life. No one escapes the mark left by the passing of time."

Naruto didn't get one word from that speech and shrugged, placing that under the "mysteries of life" mental checklist he kept.

Still. The lady kept changing faces. One day wrinkled. One day smooth.

He quickly learnt to which face he could buy his apples.

Stingy old hag. Adults were weird.

.

.

He met a boy one day. The villagers kept shouting at him, scoffing at his excuses and muttering about no good orphans causing trouble.

Naruto kept his distance -- it was a "good" day, the villagers left him alone and he got his apples plus a full bag of lemons, which was a real treat as the yellow fruit was a rarity in Konoha and always sold out fast. He definitely didn't need to attract bad attention by associating with the other troublemaker.

Nodding wisely at his decision, the blond boy munched on his green apple, enjoying the sweet-acid juice and thinking about the lemonade he'd make when he got home. Not a second later, the other boy bumped into him and his lemons spilled onto the ground.

"WAAAA!!! SORRY!!!! I DIDN'T SEE YOU!"

Almost jumping out of his skin at the screamed apologies, Naruto just stared with wide eyes and apple-filled-cheeks as the boy grew teary-eyed the longer he apologized and bowed to him.

He bowed.

Nobody ever apologized to Naruto, or bowed or even talked really. They just ignored him.

Blinking owlishly, the blond boy mumbled "it'sh okay" through the crushed apple bits he had yet to swallow in his surprise.

Immediately, the other kid beamed at him and Naruto felt his eyes prickle.

Someone was talking to him and smiling. Just for him.

"I'm Obito, by the way! I never saw you around before."

Sniffing back the snot that wanted to trickle down his nose, the four year old roughly scrubbed his eyes and tried to introduce himself after swallowing his mouthful. He took a step forward, a smile tugging at his lips, "I'm Uzu--" and promptly met the floor, right foot rolling on a forgotten lemon.

When he got up, rubbing at his smarting skull, there were no more lemons and the brown-haired kid was long gone.

There was a burning feeling in his eyes and he sniffled before slapping his cheeks. He won't cry. It didn't hurt at all.

.

.

"AH! YUZU!!"

The yell came from behind him and before he could react, a boy was draped over his back, talking a mile a minute about how he missed him and where did he go and he forgot his lemons and was it a shunshin and it was so cool he should teach him and--

"What did you call me?" Naruto asked, confused.

Surely Obito mistook him for someone else. No one missed Naruto Uzumaki, ever.

Obito looked sheepish as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Sorry, you were gone so fast I didn't quite catch your name. Then I saw the lemons and "yuzu" just stuck."

Yuzu. Huh.

Maybe it was better than telling his name. People always seemed horrified when he told them who he was. It was like a curse.

But Yuzu...

"I like it," he decided, and Obito smiled proudly.

They spent the rest of the day together, running up and down the streets, echoes of shrieking laughters the only sign of their passage.

It was a really good day.

.

.

So Naruto quickly understood that there were two Konoha. There was the one that recoiled at his name, and there was the one that didn't care about him. There was the one where he was known as Naruto Uzumaki and the one where he was simply Yuzu.

To his young mind, it was just the normal order of things. Everyone had bad days and good days. Everyone experienced cold Konoha and warm Konoha. People changed moods, changed faces, some streets even disappeared, but Naruto guessed it was normal in a ninja village -- once you witnessed a shinobi breathing fire nothing seemed strange anymore.

All in all, he only wished that he could have more good days than bad days.

And if sometimes at night he'd close his eyes and wish really hard to be Yuzu, just Yuzu... well nobody had to know, right?

He didn't realize he was so dependent on Good Days until he met with the Old Man one morning and had to clear his voice twice before talking. Nowadays, the only one he spoke with was Obito, and it'd been a month since they last met. He tried searching for the older boy, but he didn't know his last name, nor did he know where he lived. Naruto would never say it, but he often wondered if he was just "touched in the head", like he heard people say with sympathy about the old Taka-san who lived down the street. He wondered if Obito was even real, if the Good Days even existed.

"Old Man... you're real, right?" He asked as he looked up at the only person who seemed to care about Naruto Uzumaki.

They were walking down a worn out path in the forest where they first met. The Old Man had promised they'd fish.

He seemed surprised by the question but took it in stride as he pondered his answer, a large, wrinkled hand coming to pat his head.

"I'm as real as you are," he settled for as he offered his hand. Naruto grasped it, sticky fingers squeezing around calloused flesh. The Old Man squeezed back, tight enough that Naruto could almost feel his bones grinding together as he gasped in shock. "See? No illusion. Now come, I think this spot will be nice for fishing."

They sat and fished and Naruto kept quiet, unsure if he was happy or sad that this Konoha was the real one.

.

.

He started the Academy and things were good. He was learning about being a ninja! He hadn't seen Obito in months, and the stingy old hag hadn't sold him apples in months too, but it was okay, the Academy kept him busy enough to forget about his tentative friend. Maybe the other kid was a civilian and that's why he hadn't seen him at school.

Naruto didn't make any new friends, but it's not like he had been trying, to be honest. He spent much of his time trying to understand the given homework or planning a prank on some mean villager. It had nothing to do with the fact that most kids just ignored him to begin with. He didn't care one bit! So what if the blond haired girl in his class was always with the pink haired one and seemed to know every other kids but him? She clearly didn't see that Naruto was awesome, and that was her problem, not his.

With that thought in mind, he jumped over a puddle of mud and landed right into another. He blinked, confused. Either his aim was crap or he hadn't noticed the other puddle.

The blond boy shrugged, looked at his stained clothes and after a moment of reflection, decided to jump again in the puddle to see how far the splashes went. Now that his clothes were ruined, no need to be careful!

He was so absorbed by his silly game that he didn't see nor hear anyone coming.

"Yuzu?!"

At that, the boy looked up, startled. Oh, he thought, this is a Good Day then.

A smile quickly grew on his lips, genuine joy spreading in his little body as Obito ran towards him. There was a forehead protector tied above his protective glasses and Naruto shouted with delight and awe. "You're a ninja!"

Obito grinned widely and adjusted the spotless headband before gasping dramatically like he remembered something, eyes going wide as he reached for the blond boy’s shoulders and violently shook him.

"Where have you been?! I was worried ya know... I thought you died..."

The older boy quickly pushed his glasses up and rubbed at his eyes.

Naruto blinked, startled. He tilted his head on one side, then the other, as if trying to understand a complicated math problem. "Are you cryin'?"

"NO!" Obito said as he snatched a bottle from his pouch and dripped some liquid in his eyes. "There was dust or somethin' in my eyes... that's all! Uchiha don’t cry." The last sentence was recited with so much conviction that Naruto didn't have the heart to point out that the boy still had snot dangling from his nose from his dramatic crying feat, nor the fact that he had glasses that should've kept the dust away.

Instead, he went with sympathy. "Once I squeezed a lemon so hard I got juice in my eyes," he confided, pursing his lips in remembrance.

That got a snicker out of Obito who patted the younger boy on the back, still sniffling a little. "I missed you Yuzu, I'm glad I finally found you again. Say, wanna meet my team?"

.

.

PLEASE SOMEONE STOP ME I HAVE NO FUCKING LIMITS WTF WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF?? WHO NEEDS THIS STORY ANYWAY?! AAAARRRRGGGHHH

[feelingfredly]

Keep Your Friends Close (And Your Family as Far Away as Possible)

(My contribution to Kitsunegeddon 2019)

Chapter Four: Surely Not Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

It was going to be a bad day.

Ichigo scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to erase the memory, but he knew from experience that it would linger.  It always started with the dreams. Dreams of blood and screams and knowing, not just fearing but knowing, that the people he loved and cared for were dead, dead and gone, dead and gone…

In some ways it was worse than watching his mother die, because even though he’d have given his life to save her, he was nine.  He was little.  He was helpless. But watching Byakuya bleeding out, pleading for forgiveness…  Old man Yama slashed into pieces …  Kisuke…  his Kisuke…  bleeding, blind, and breathless in Askin’s Gift Ball hell, apologizing to him... apologizing to him.

And he was still fucking helpless.

Yes, it started with the dream, but today it ended… differently. He remembered his conversation with Hakuzosu. Is there something special—maybe something just beyond your reach—that I could possibly help you achieve?

An old man offering a little business advice.  A grandfather willing to give a leg up in the world to someone who did his granddaughter a service. A long lost relative grateful to find a connection in a strange place.

A kitsune offering a yokai bargain.

Ichigo rubbed at his face again.  No. Even if Kisuke was right and there were yokai in Karakura Town, there was no way his mother had been part kitsune.  No way that he could be.  That Yuzu and Karin….

And of course, there was no way he was a human/Shinigami/Quincy/Hollow, either.

What if he’d said yes?  Would the old man have sprouted tails and teeth and four furry legs and given him some mystic ability to save everyone he loved?  No.  He’d said something about not being able to help Masaki— her ties to us were weak enough that even we could do nothing to save her—so, no matter what the connection, it wasn’t enough.

Nothing would ever be enough.

You can’t save everyone, Ichigo.

He grabbed the little glowing ball off the top of his dresser and squeezed it tightly, comforted by its warmth. 

But I can try.

He grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, throwing them on as he punched a familiar number into his phone.

“Hey Grimmjow,” he said, running down the stairs. “Meet me at Kisuke’s.  You owe me a rematch from last week.”

A dark laugh echoed through the line and he could just imagine the grin on Grimmjow’s face. “Just can’t get enough, can you Kurosaki?”

Ichigo snorted. “You wish.  Just get your ass over there.  Oh, and don’t bother with a gigai.  I need to stretch a little this time.”

There was a surprised pause. “You serious?”

They hadn’t fought with Ichigo in his Shinigami form in weeks and Grimmjow had been getting impatient for a real fight.  “You ever hear me offer a real fight when I wasn’t serious?”

There was another heartbeat of silence.  “I’ll be there in five minutes.  Don’t make me wait, Kurosaki.”

Ichigo cracked his neck as he slipped into his shoes, just catching sight of his father coming down the stairs.

“Hey, Goat Face,” he said, opening the door, “I’m heading out.  Feeling a little tense, so I asked Grimmjow to spar.”

His father shook his head.  “One of these days that Arrancar is going to bring you home in a basket for me to patch up.”

Ichigo shook his head. “Nah, if it comes to that, I’ll just have him drag the pieces straight to Orihime.  She’s seen it before, and she doesn’t leave scars, unlike some people I know.”

A sudden flashback to his dream, to Kisuke’s bloody face stitched up with Benihime’s horrific handiwork, left him breathless.  Isshin noticed, but just nodded.

“Scars just let us know we’re alive,” he said, waving him away. “Now go on, before I decide to help the panther turn you into a cat toy.”

Ichigo nodded, thankful that Isshin didn’t start the whole You know, Ryuuken might be a Quincy but he’s a good doctor and could help you with your PTSD conversation.  He didn’t need to talk about what was bothering him.  He just needed to keep himself in shape so he could face the next threat, because if he’d learned one thing from the Shinigami, it was that there was always another threat.

***

“Watch your back, Kurosaki,” Grimm shouted as he swung Pantera wide. “Getsuga isn’t going to do you any good if someone slices out your spine!”

Ichigo ducked and rolled to the side, instinctively turning away from the swing of Grimmjow’s blade.

“Yeah, well, announcing your shot isn’t going to win you any points, dumbass.” He raised the trench knife as he slid to the side, barely nicking Grimm’s side as they rolled apart. “I thought you were going to take this seriously.”

The bloody dreams were still riding him, and he could feel the helpless frustration like an itch under his skin.

Grimmjow stared across the rocky expanse, weighing something. “Didn’t think you meant it.”

Ichigo growled. “I fucking meant it.  Now, stop pussyfooting around or I’ll call Orihime to fight me.  At least she doesn’t hold back anymore.”

The big man snorted and sonidoed away, only to appear in a flash right behind him again.

“Maybe it’s because she can put you back together after she takes you apart,” Grimmjow’s comment was laced with just enough sexual suggestion to make Ichigo laugh as he stabbed back at the leg he could reach, forcing Grimmjow to dodge instead of attack.

“Yeah, you need to work on your fantasies if you’re thinking Orihime and I are getting hot and heavy down here.  First, ugh, she’s like my sister, and second…  ugh, she’s like my sister.”

Grimmjow shrugged. “I’m not going to judge.  The Princess has wanted you for years.  Even rocks wear down over time.”

Ichigo shuddered at the idea.  “She’s traded in her crush on me for something a little more emo and a lot more irritating.”

“More irritating that you?” Grimmjow snorted. “Don’t think it’s possible.”

“Don’t tell me there aren’t any mirrors in Hueco Mundo?” Ichigo saw an opening and made a three-point shunpo pass, targeting first an ankle, then a shoulder, and then, just as he forced the bigger man to shift to where he wanted him…  he flashed forward and stabbed into his shoulder, the long blade of Zangetsu piercing him like a paper target, or a butterfly on a pin.

In a real fight Ichigo knew Grimmjow would simply jerk himself free regardless of damage, but it would be a crippling blow, and that was their standard cue to call the fight.  He stepped back to pull his blade free, but Grimm was faster, throwing himself away from the point, the tip forced down and further through the pectoral muscle, with an almost manic laugh.

“Fuck me, Kurosaki,” he said, grinning wildly, “you do actually mean it.  I thought something was different when you showed up.  Something wild about you that I haven’t seen since Aizen.”

He spun, blood whipping away from his shoulder in a dark red parabola. “Show me what you got, pretty boy.”

As quick as that Ichigo was jerked from thinking the fight was over, to realizing it had just begun.

His muscles burned, stretched and pushed farther than they’d been in months, and he could hear the beating of his heart over everything.  Move. Move. MOVE. Grimmjow was a blue-haired blur, the white of his jacket flickering around the boulders of the training ground, and he imagined he could hear the high-pitched cry of Pantera as she yowled for blood, for vengeance, for pain.

Through Zangetsu he’d always known what his opponents were feeling during battle, but Grimmjow had never sounded like this. 

“Looks like I’m not the only one who needed a good fight.”  Ichigo grinned meanly.  “Nel refusing to scratch your itches these days?”

Grimmjow just shook his head. “Nope. She’s still willing to throw down any time, anywhere.” A tiny red cero was forming in his off hand and Ichigo pretended not to notice. “Fighting her is different, though. Like you and the Princess.”

The red bolt shot through the empty space, and Ichigo smelled the ozone as it burned through the sleeve of his shihakusho. He understood.  Fighting your sister was weird.

No words were spoken for a while, all their attention focused on attack, retreat, regroup, until they were both bleeding and breathless.

But, not helpless, Ichigo thought.

Every successful strike eased the worry in his soul.  Each bloodied slash that he walked away from proved that he could. He could hold off an Arrancar.  He could…

Then Grimmjow feinted, his sonido carrying him too close, too fast.  There was no way Ichigo was going to be able to dodge.  He needed more time, just two inches of clearance, but he didn’t have them.  He wished, not for the first time, that he’d had just a little more of a sense of self-preservation, but he didn’t, so he just braced for the impact.  It was going to suck, but hopefully Grimm wouldn’t actually slice him in two.

He breathed, imagining a different outcome, and braced himself for a pain that never came.

“Oi!  Kurosaki!”  Grimmjow howled across the training ground, Pantera shrieking her displeasure at having her prey stolen from her at the last second. “Where’d you fucking go?”

Ichigo took a step forward and looked around.  He was behind the boulder that marked the center of the basement, the one that protected the main kidō support.

The one that was fifty feet away from where he’d just been.

“Over here, dumbass,” he said, trying not to sound as shaken as he felt.

He hadn’t shunpoed.  He hadn’t run.  He hadn’t moved at all as far as he could remember.  So… how did he get here?

Grimmjow covered the territory between them in a blink. “The fuck was that?  One minute you were there, and the next you were just fucking gone.”

Ichigo wasn’t about to start theorizing about it.

“You’re just slow.” He tried not to think about how his legs were shaking. “You’re losing your touch, Arrancar.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Shinigami,” Grimmjow spat back. “That wasn’t you just being fast. Your reiatsu, your everything, was just not there. I couldn’t even sense you with pesquisa! Then you popped back up over here.”

There was a high-pitched sound scratching against Ichigo’s eardrums.  Pantera was hissing, howling, angry.  She sounded like a cornered cat.

“Tell your sword to chill,” he said, trying to block out the noise. “She sounds like she wants to scratch my eyes out.”

Grimmjow tilted his head. “My sword?”

Ichigo jerked his chin at the curved blade resting against his leg. “Yeah.  I’ve always been able to feel you through Zangetsu, but today it’s been crazy, listening to her on top of it all.  She’s as nuts as you are.  I mean, I knew her name, but she’s never really been…”

Grimmjow grabbed the front of his shihakusho and yanked him up onto tiptoes. “You can hear Pantera?”

“Yes,” he said. “Can’t you?” There was a stillness about the big man that made Ichigo pause.

“Sure,” Grimmjow shifted a little from foot to foot, letting his death grip on Ichigo’s clothes loose. “I mean, a little.  Sometimes.”

Ichigo cocked an eyebrow and waited. Grimmjow wasn’t the silent, stoic type, so it didn’t take long.

“Usually have to be really calm to hear her.  You can imagine it doesn’t happen all that often.”  He shrugged a big shoulder. “Doesn’t explain why you can hear her, though.”

It really didn’t.

“Or that smell?” Grimmjow made a face, nose all twisted up.

“I don’t smell anything,” Ichigo said, sniffing.

“That’s ‘cause it’s you that stinks, idiot.” The Arrancar had never been one for social niceties. “You’ve smelled strange since you got here. Maybe that’s what set Pantera off--she’s looking for her Strawberry and thinks you’re some kind of imposter. She hates that. Reminds her of Aizen and his tricks.”

The blue-haired head tilted to one side and Ichigo had to force himself not to shift uncomfortably under the scrutiny. Her Strawberry? Made a strange sort of sense that Grimmjow’s sword was just as much of a possessive freak as he was. It was nice, in a serial killer stalker kind of way. “Is Kisuke screwing around with that tanuki again?”

Ichigo groaned, a new kind of discomfort replacing the old. “You know about the tanuki?  How come I’m the last to know?”

Grimmjow snorted, sheathing Pantera. “You’re always the last to know.  Haven’t you figured that out yet? But no… this doesn’t smell like the raccoon guy. He always smells like sake and leaves. This smells bitter—like old smoke, and magic.”

Old smoke and magic.  Hakuzosu.  Ichigo looked over to where his body was propped against the wall, the hoshi no tama was still in his pocket.  He could feel its warmth from across the room. Not having it with him felt like being cut off from Zangetsu.  Like he was missing a part of himself.

It’s a part of me, he thought, the words echoing in his head but feeling terrifyingly right as he accepted them.

Suddenly it was like all the cells in his body shifted a nanometer to the left and settled into a new form. His spirit stretched and popped and relaxed back into place, loose and comfortable and ready to fight again, and he turned a sharp smile on Grimmjow.

Grimm’s eyes narrowed a fraction and Ichigo knew he was smelling something new.  Something dangerous. 

He was okay with that.

“Kitsune.” The word was a whisper in the open air of the bunker, and Ichigo shrugged. Grimmjow’s eyes sparkled and he pulled Pantera from her sheath, her screaming now a deep dark thrum of hunger, and Ichigo could almost hear her chanting mine, mine, mine.

“Hell yeah,” he said, Grimm’s voice was almost reverent. “Better than fucking Christmas.  You better hope the Princess is ready to put you back together, because I am going to take you apart.”

Ichigo bared his teeth in a feral grin, blinked out of existence, and reappeared halfway across the bunker.  He laughed, settled in himself in a way he hadn't been in forever.  "You have to catch me first!”

[blueeyeswhitegarden]

Arc V Anniversary Day 16

Day 16: Most angsty headcanons

I usually don't go for angst with my headcanons, but I can think of a few of them for this prompt. Yuto and Ruri's parents, or the people who they believed were their parents, died well before the Heartland Invasion. Yuto, Shun and Ruri were quite young when it happened so they don't have a lot of memories of their parents. They remember some feelings and can recall hazy images of their parents from when they were little kids, but they barely remember them. They grew up in different foster homes in Heartland. Yuto's foster parents weren't perfect, but they were pretty nice and that was a big reason why Zarc's influence didn't have a stronger hold on Yuto despite how he didn't meet Ruri until they were teenagers. Shun and Ruri's foster parents were a bit more difficult by comparison, especially for Shun. Ruri got along with them just fine, but Shun's increasingly angry attitude got him into some intense arguments with his foster parents, which only just intensified his attitude problem. They all passed on shortly before the Heartland Invasion as well. Because of the stress and trauma of fighting against Academia for about a year, they weren't able to properly grieve for their foster parents until after the events of the series.

Yuri and Serena's brief meeting as children did have a lingering impact on them. Despite how Leo kept them separated, they remembered each other for quite awhile. There wouldn't have been enough time for an instant connection like what happened with Yuto and Ruri, especially when Academia wasn't the most ideal environment for any child to grow up in, but there was a spark between them that they couldn't quite explain. They remembered each other's faces for a long time before the memories faded away. Even the feeling they had upon their brief meeting disappeared over time, which is one reason why Yuri had no problem kidnapping the other Bracelet Girls, why he didn't react differently when he tried to capture Serena in the Synchro Dimension and why Serena didn't recognize Yuya as Yuri when she first met him.

Since Reira wasn't split into four pieces from using the En Cards like what happened to Zarc and Ray, she pretty much has all of her memories of what was basically her previous life. Sometimes she'll have dreams where she remembers her time with the Lancers, bonding with Yuya and especially her strong connection with Reiji. But sometimes she'll have nightmares where she remembers the war she was in prior to being adopted by Himika. The images become a bit hazy, but the feelings of tread are extremely strong whenever she has these nightmares. Fortunately, Reiji is always close by and he gives Reira a new teddy bear in order to help her sleep better at night. It will get easier for Reira to process these memories as she gets older and Yuya helps out as another big brother for Reira as well to help her smile, but those nightmares can get pretty intense for infant Reira.

Just as Yuya eventually regains his memories as Zarc, Yuzu regains more of her memories as Ray over time. It starts off with remembering her duels against other professional duelists and then defeating Zarc, but soon she remembers her relationship with Leo. Yuzu fully acknowledges that Shuzo is her father and he becomes even an even more devoted father after the events of the series. He can be a bit overprotective given that he almost lost his precious daughter, but Yuzu knows that it's out of love and they spend more time together as a result. But Yuzu remembers that Ray and Leo had a good relationship too. She remembers just how happy they were together, how often they'd talk in-between Ray's duels and Leo's scientific research and why Ray took the En Cards in the first place. Leo wanted to atone for his mistake by sacrificing himself, but Ray couldn't bare the thought of living in a world without her father. Ray never knew her mother, so losing Leo was too much for her to bare in a world that was already in ruins. Yuzu deeply empathizes with these memories since she would do the same thing for Shuzo. These feelings are intense and she has tried to talk to Leo about these memories, even though everyone else, especially Yuya and Shuzo, are always worried when she makes these attempts, but Leo refuses. After everything he did as the leader of Academia, he recognizes that he doesn't deserve to talk to Yuzu. That would potentially offer more closure for him, but Leo knows that he has to deal with losing Ray on his own and not find another instant solution.

Much like Yuya, Yuzu accepts that she is Ray and Yuzu at the same time, so she does accept these memories as her own. She just has a mixed view on Leo. He was the man who kidnapped her, forced her to merge with her counterparts and whose actions nearly destroyed the world twice, but he is also the man who was a loving, caring and devoted father in another life. Reiji sympathizes with Yuzu since he had to deal with similar mixed feelings after his father abandoned him. Reiji has let go of his anger towards his father, but thinking about the man who started the dimensional war was the same man who he respected as his father was difficult to deal with. Even after the events of the series, knowing that his father abandoned him and his mother to chase after the ghost of a half sister Reiji never knew about stings for him. Despite Leo's refusal to meet with Yuzu, she still makes the efforts in the hope that he’ll finally have the courage to talk to her and start moving forward just as she does by living as Yuzu.

[yuzuruspoohsan]

When Yuzu said he had given up happiness, i think maybe he had someone he really liked/loved and chose skating over couple... what you think? He's handsome, smart and funny.... i'm sure some girls were interested on him.....

As a good friend who has taken great strides to teach me would say: “that’s a very amatonormative thing to assume.”

Now he may or may not had to do that (who can tell), but he definitely given up on a numbeerrrr of happinesses.

Happiness comes in forms more than one. To assume that he given up “love” and that is the happiness he spoke of is actually a huge stretch. Why?Because happiness comes from a multi-clasm of things and aspects of the tangible and intangible. People can find happiness in so many things.   

But the media, social media, society, and cultural values often instill the idea of amatonormativity, which is that “love rules above all else.” (And boy....have I been educating myself about all the different kinds love other than “romantic love.” So many! Some more appealing to me than thiss so called “romaannttiiccc lovee.”) 

In truth, while love is often advertised as “the should be” and the “greatest” desire and thing you ought to and will ever have, is not the case for everyone. And we should not always assume that everyone desires or to be in a romantic relationship.

(If you think about it, amatonormativity can be hurtful and give rise to some socio-societal issues…..but I am not the best person to turn to for that kind of juicy read Q w Q. I would love to take a course on it or study it….but I was not blessed with financial leisure.) 

When Yuzu said happiness, I do not think he meant something specific such as just a romantic relationship, and if I remember correctly, I think he said he given up a number of things, “many happinesses.” 

You need to take into account that he could’ve retired after Sochi or any other years in the past. He could’ve retired and went back to living a normal life, going to college (like physically going to campus, not online courses), hanging out with his friends on a daily basis, or checking off things on his bucket list, but he didn’t choose that life. 

He pushed doing what he wanted to get better at, figure skating. And now he’s a rock star in Japan, but being super famous also has some major downsides. He can’t even go on public transit without the paparazzi finding him or the other passengers gagaing over him. (It must be a terrifying thought for him….hence why he must shuttle around in a car.)

He is ever vigilant that his privacy and the details of those close to him would be compromised. A little while back, there was even a huge rumor he was getting married, which turned out to be false and he needed to go so far to make a public announcement that it was not true and you could see on his face that he was very very upset (I saw the video awhile back and you can take my word for it.) 

These are all things you must take into account what he meant by happiness. 

Now, I don’t want you to think I’m rejecting your idea at all. I am just stating my own opinion on the thought. I personally feel that he had given up on some things that are more important than just “someone he liked” (which we don’t know anything about and shouldn’t push the idea). You don’t know what you’ve lost until you’re in that situation. I, for one, would hate to lose my independence and privacy.

Like I lovvveee food. I would hate to be that person who cannot hang out with her girl friends to eat at a cute cafe or restaurant because I cannot be seen in public without a horde of people trying to take a photo of me. I would never in a million years ever want that to happen. I would neverrrr give up the life I have and all the joys I receive in my normal life. 

And heyyy, I admit I thought he might’ve had a crush here or there or that he may have liked someone in the past, but at the end of the day – who cares! I don’t know him. He’s not my friend. If he got married the next day (I would be damn shocked) it would not have any impact on my life at all (unlike politics…..sighhh, that’s a mess of its own.)

[seimeiyuzu]

Yuzuru Hanyu- How popular he is in Japan?

David Fieldman

(Yuzu is popular all over the world, right?)

This text is touching and interesting: 

“Japan's hero Yuzuru Hanyu has two Olympic golds - and eight bodyguards

Bishōnen is a popular term in Japanese anime, meaning a beautiful young man whose appeal is universal. In PyeongChang, a bishōnen returned to the ice rink with grace and made history by sweeping the gold in men’s figure skating in back-to-back Olympics, reenacting a feat achieved 66 years ago.

The beautiful young man from a “different dimensional world,” also a term from Japanese anime, was Yuzuru Hanyu. At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Hanyu, considered the prince of figure skating, rose to the stature of king. And in the PyeongChang Winter Games, Hanyu, despite the obstacles placed in his path and is close to becoming a legend.

This is a Tencent Sports exclusive on the behind-the-scenes life of the “figure skating prince” who resurrected a 66-year history in PyeongChang. The charismatic Hanyu, who was instrumental in the upsurge in the popularity of figure skating in Japan, was undoubtedly one of the the saviors of the box office of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, as well as the ‘cash cow’ of Japan’s sports sector.

Recreating a legend

The place was the Gangneung Ice Arena, the date February 17.

The ice was like a silver plate, giving off a bedazzling shine. Yuzuru Hanyu gracefully slid to the center of the silver plate, making the thousands of spectators at the site, together with his fans watching him perform on TV, catch their breath.

This was PyeongChang. The winner of the gold in men’s singles figure skating in the Sochi 2014 Winter Games was here to go for the second Olympic gold he had been long dreaming of. If he succeeded, he would reenact history after 66 years, becoming the sport’s first two-time men’s champion at the Winter Games since Richard Button of the United States in 1952.

Hanyu’s PyeongChang tour had a smooth start. In the short program on February 16, he stunned the audience by perfectly gliding to Chopin’s Ballade No.1. The zero-error performance fetched him a high score of 111.68, approaching his season’s best, 112.72.

After the event, Hanyu was deluged by Winnie-the-Pooh plush toys rained down on him by cheering fans. The number “111.68” instantly became the most searched word online in Japan. Figure skating fans across the world began to look forward to the birth of a legend. On February 17, when the free skating event would be held, would Hanyu make history?

In the free skating event, Yuzuru Hanyu chose classic Japanese music Seimei, the soundtrack from the film Onmyoji. It was a decision that he had made two seasons ago. Skating to Seimei, in every move that he made, even in every breath, Hanyu no doubt identified himself with the protagonist of the story, 10th-century astronomer Abe no Seimei, a character who was wise, valiant and ready to protect others.

“I am the onmyoji,” went the music, onmyoji literally meaning an embalmer. “If not me, who would be Seimei protecting the dead from evil spirits?”

When the music played, Hanyu’s delicate performance at the center of the silver plate was sheer magic, casting a spell on his audience.

He started with a quad Salchow, steadily landing on the ice on his right blade. It triggered a volley of applause. Most spectators did not realize that it was only one month ago that he had resumed training on ice and just three months since injuring his right ankle while preparing for the NHK Trophy.

A faultless quad toe loop followed. Then he made a triple Axel jump, which was also a success. After that, he reeled slightly while landing a quad toe loop but immediately steadied himself with competence, smiling.

After his final spin, Hanyu landed at the center of the silver plate and stood still. This was it! Then he clutched his fists, bent his head toward the ground and bowed to the stand. The judges showed their appreciation of his performance by awarding him a high score of 317.85.

Once the score of the last skater Shoma Uno was given, Hanyu clinched his championship with the highest tally. The brave but quiet young man burst into tears, murmuring “Thank you” in Japanese at the cameras.

‘A big heart under a lissome figure’

“In the past, I went through a lot, becoming almost like an amine book character that gets injured again and again. Even three month before the Olympics, I had a serious foot injury. I am a human being, not god. It was incredible how so much misfortune happened to me.”

At the press conference after the award ceremony, Yuzuru Hanyu said he had turned his own life into a passionate anime.

Born in Sendai in Japan, he still remembered the painful impact of the horrifying tsunami and earthquake that hit northeast Japan. Even on that joyful night when he successfully defended his championship in PyeongChang, he remembered the trauma.

“There was no water, electricity or gas,” he recalled.

What devastated him was the loss of the ice rink in Sendai. To a figure skater, losing his training ground means losing everything.

He had no choice but to turn to his primary school teacher in Yokohama. When he left Sendai, he cried and told his teacher: “I am tired. Is it possible for me to continue my career as a figure skater?” Since then, his teacher began taking him to compete in every game across the country to provide him with training opportunities. It was the support of the audience and ice rink operators that made him succeed in Sochi.

In Sochi, Hanyu realized his dream of winning an Olympic gold in figure skating. After that, he claimed two silvers in the World Championships in 2015 and 2016. In the 2017 World Championships, he stunned the world once again.

“A lonely king.” That was how Hanyu was seen among the global figure skating community before the 2017-2018 Olympic season.

However, fate never allows superheroes an easy and straight path to success.

During a practice session for the NHK Trophy on November 9, 2017, Yuzuru Hanyu injured his right ankle while attempting a quad Lutz.

On November 10, 2017, Hanyu missed the NHK Trophy. December 14 was the day he was supposed to return to practice on the ice. However, it was announced that the skater was suffering from inflammation of his Achilles tendon and ankle bone.

On December 24, the Japanese Olympic Committee released the list of figure skaters for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games. Yuzuru Hanyu had made it to the list with his impeccable performance. The others chosen along with him were Shoma Uno and Keiji Tanaka.

When Hanyu became injured, his fans across Japan went to the Go’o Shrine in Kyoto, a poplar shrine in Japan for those seeking good health or to ward off bad luck, to pray for his recovery.

Finally on January 16, 2018, the good news that Hanyu had resumed practice on ice came from Toronto, Canada, where Hanyu lives and practices. It was less than a month before the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games on February 9.

On January 13, Hanyu did his first practice on the official ice rink after arriving in Gangneung. During the 40-minute session, he made 21 jumps, eight of which were quads including the toe loop and Salchow. But he could execute only five of them successfully. On January 15, he did his free skating item to the accompaniment of the Seimei soundtrack. This was the first time he did a quad in front of the world media after the NHK Trophy accident.

Until 8:30 a.m. on February 17 when the free skating competition was held, he had not decided on the final composition and whether he should perform his best but the most difficult move, the quad loop. In five hours, he performed his full set of free skating moves, which included three kinds of quads for safety reasons, changing the quad loop planned in the beginning to a quad Salchow.

Even though he won, his right foot had not fully recovered. When jumping on the podium, he carefully avoided landing on his right foot. At the press conference, he expressed his appreciation of the people who had extended a helping hand to him over the past years. However, he didn’t say whether he would try to be the figure skating champion three times in a row by taking part in the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.

“I will have surgery and get my injured foot treated,” he said.

A perfectionist’s regrets

“I love that powerful heart under his enchanting appearance,” Japan’s Sankei Shimbun’s figure skating correspondent told Tencent Sports in PyeongChang. Yuzuru Hanyu is “a real different figure from a different dimensional world,” the journalist said.

“NO MISS!” “111.68 points!” “Perfect!” On February 16, after the men’s singles short program, these entries made their way in quick succession to the list of Japanese hot words on Yahoo. After the free skating, Hanyu had been saying repeatedly that he had failed to come up with a zero-error performance. “I still have too many shortcomings,” he said with regret.

But within 24 hours of February 16, his performance was described by the Japanese media as being “zero error,” “perfect,” and even “top-ranking,” which must have been the perfectionist’s revenge for his lapses in Sochi four years ago.

“I know the taste of the Olympics.” “I’m going to avenge myself for the Sochi Winter Olympics tomorrow,” Hanyu said animatedly many times during interviews after the men’s short program.

The 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games saw the 19-year-old crowned in his Olympic debut. He performed gracefully and calmly, garnering the highest score in the men’s singles short program at the Winter Games (101.45). However, in free skating, he was slightly nervous and made some mistakes. So his performance could not be described as perfect. Though he finally defeated Canadian Patrick Chan, who had bagged three consecutive world championships, Hanyu said after the Games that he was not satisfied about his performance, even “very depressed.”

The night at Sochi revealed Hanyu’s perfection complex. He admitted that he wanted to know “the taste of being a real champion.” “No matter when and where in the future, I will have a perfect interpretation with zero error like Evgeni Plushenko did.”

After the Sochi Olympics, Hanyu published his autobiography Blue Flames II, in which he further explained his “ideal.” The reason why he held Plushenko as his idol and hero was that the Russian never lost in any contingency or won on the basis of a miraculous one-time victory. Hanyu was obsessed with being supreme and invincible.

In this book, Hanyu shared a rarely shown old photograph. It was of him standing before a Christmas tree, a personable young boy with a touch of melancholy in his eyes.

That was the winter of 2004. The nine-year-old was obsessed with Plushenko, showing his admiration by even having a retro mushroom haircut like the Russian’s.

The young boy was fascinated by the idol’s performance in the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympic Games though at that time, Hanyu was only seven years old. Five years later, when he took part in the Japan Junior Figure Skating Championships, he looked to carry himself in the graceful style of Plushenko.

Hanyu moved up to the seniors at the age of 17. Whenever he met the Russian emperor of figure skating, Hanyu would quietly consult Plushenko on the secrets of the quad jump or the Biellmann spin. Plushenko always encouraged Hanyu, saying, “Beat me!” “Overtake me!” In Sochi, Plushenko was injured in an accident before the short program, but he accidentally witnessed the rise of the Japanese figure skater.

“Perhaps I used to be his idol, but now, Hanyu is my idol. He is a genius!” Plushenko remarked.

On hearing that Hanyu was injured before the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, Plushenko, by then a loyal Hanyu fan, rooted for him, firmly believing Hanyu could retain his title.

After Hanyu succeeded in defending his title, Plushenko, who won the Olympic gold medals twice but could not defend his championship, sent his best wishes, saying, “I am proud of Hanyu! He is amazing.” When Hanyu was asked at the press conference whether he had finally overtaken his idol, he replied modestly, “I am still far behind.”

Winnie-the-Pooh

To what extent can a sports star’s popularity impact certain events and the development of the related economy? Hanyu is a sterling example.

In PyeongChang, Hanyu was undoubtedly the hottest and most sought-after name.

Figure skating has a tradition of the audience throwing plush toys at the end of a skate. After his performance on February 16, his favorite cartoon character Winnie the Pooh began to rain down on him.

“This is not rain, it is hail! A storm!” It almost turned the Gangneung Ice Arena into a sea of plush toys, making even veteran sports journalists from all over the world speechless.

Hanyu, Asia’s first Winter Olympic champion in men’s singles figure skating as well as the youngest Olympic gold medalist in that category, won the title of “Japan’s most favorite male athlete” in 2017 by virtue of his formidable strength, winsome appearance and the support of his large number of fans worldwide.

On February 11, Hanyu was mobbed by a large number of fans as soon as he arrived at Incheon International Airport. The next day, during his first official public training, Hanyu stayed at the ice rink for only 15 minutes, but attracted more than 100 reporters. Half an hour before the training, more than 50 cameras from 15 television stations from around the world were in place, and the latecomers didn’t even have a place to stand.

On the third day, Hanyu held a press conference. The conference hall, which could accommodate 100 people, was crammed with more than 150 media outlets, and the crowd spilled over into the corridor. Such spectacular scenes have long been a commonplace for the Japanese media. In the summer of 2017, Hanyu’s new season programs disclosure conference held at his perennial training base in Toronto, Canada, attracted dozens of Japanese media outlets all the way from the other side of the globe.

In the short program on February 16, Hanyu made his official appearance for the first time since disappearing from the public for 100 days due to his injury. His fans from Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam and Japan turned the stadium into his home court and showcased a magnificent cosplay.

“Hanyu has fans all over Japan, and even the world, from all genders and ages. There are also spontaneously formed fan clubs in countries like Italy and Russia,” a loyal fan of Hanyu said.

In PyeongChang, there was a feeling of family solidarity among his fans though they came from all over the world.

On the day of the short program, a girl from Taiwan got up at 3 a.m., left her hotel at 4, and began to line up to see Hanyu’s official training from 5. During the break, she got a surprise gift - a Winnie the Pooh plush toy, given by Hanyu’s fans from the Chinese mainland.

After the special press conference, journalists from the BBC, Japanese television stations and Chinese media outlets began to interview each another, turning the conference to a “global fans (journalists) meeting.” In order to interview Hanyu, media outlets worldwide, including the BBC and Reuters, sent Japanese-speaking journalists.

Entourage

On February 17, when the press conference for the gold, silver and bronze winners was held, after the 30-minute question answer round, it was finally time for the photo session. As photographers flocked to the champions, Hanyu swiftly pushed aside the nameplates and water bottles in front of them, then put his arms around Shoma Uno and bronze winner Javier Fernandez of Spain, flashing his signature ingenuous smile.

It was not just removing the nameplates and water bottles for photographers’ cameras; it was the manifestation of his natural character, unpretentious and spontaneous.

He doesn’t regard himself as someone special, even though crowned double Olympic champion.

How does Yuzuru Hanyu win so many fans across the world? One small gesture may hold the answer.

While 1,000 readers may have 1,000 interpretations of Hamlet, Yuzuru Hanyu has one universal evaluation. The Hanyu reporters met in PyeongChang was an icon who regarded himself as an ordinary person, a heartthrob who was humble and polite.

After the short program on February 16, a photograph taken by the Japanese media went viral among Chinese online users, who exclaimed, “Hanyu is so wonderful!” It was during the interview of Hanyu’s fellow skater Shoma Uno. Hanyu sought to avoid taking away the limelight from Uno and to avoid the cameras, the Sochi gold medalist, the most shining star on that day, bent down and literally crept away from the stage, smiling shyly when he stood up finally.

And in another gesture, after the short program, Hanyu gently picked up a strawberry cake from the sea of Winnie the Pooh bears. “I will eat well, save energy and prepare for the free skating tomorrow,” he said. At the press conference, he considerately looked after Shoma Uno, who sat next to him, quietly telling him, “Don’t be nervous.” From time to time, he also helped Uno adjust his headphones which was relaying the simultaneous interpretation.

Every time Hanyu attended a press conference after a competition, he would always show consideration for the reporters who had been waiting for a long time and rush to meet them. “Please give me a minute,” he would say, bending down to remove the blades still attached to his boots. Then he would look at the media with a smile, and begin to answer every question seriously and sincerely.

“I cannot compare myself with Plushenko or Uno,” Hanyu said, calmly responding to the overwhelming applause he received after winning his second Olympic gold.

“Uno is three years younger. It seems I am in a slightly awkward position. Rather than competing, I would like to enjoy skating for as long as possible and hope other top skaters come up with more perfect performances,” he added.

His clear vision and crystal-transparent soul has won him numerous fans.

Unlike other athletes, Yuzuru Hanyu came to PyeongChang flanked by eight bodyguards. To ensure Hanyu’s safety, the Japanese Skating Federation had specifically requested the Japanese Olympic Committee to accord him “the highest Olympic privileges.”

Yuzuru Hanyu was the only athlete who came to PyeongChang with bodyguards. When his flight landed, he himself was taken aback by the treatment. As some foreign media commented, it was like escorting some invaluable gem.

Besides bodyguards, the Japanese Olympic Committee also arranged a press officer and a professional nutritionist team exclusively for Hanyu. The nutritionist team was formed in 2012 with professionals from the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences to ensure Hanyu took sufficient nutrients to be able to undertake the high-energy practice sessions. To the best of this writer’s knowledge, Yuzuru Hanyu is the only winter sports athlete who enjoys the privilege of having a press officer exclusively for him. Previously, only Kosuke Hagino, Japan’s competitive swimmer, had such a press officer. Even the famous Japanese footballers Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa did not have such a privilege.

His popularity is also reflected in The New York Times. After the short program, a New York Times reporter grabbed the opportunity to interview Hanyu at the media section. In an unprecedented move, the media officer of the Japanese delegation permitted the reporter to ask two questions.

It was not the first time that Yuzuru Hanyu made headlines in The New York Times. The first time was in the Sochi 2014 Winter Games when the 19-year-old won the gold in men’s figure skating, creating a sensation among his fans worldwide. Later, the magazine hailed him as “Michael Jackson on the Ice.”

Box office hit

After Yuzuru Hanyu won his second Olympic gold, Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) immediately put up an advertisement featuring him on Japan’s largest website Yahoo, saying there must be some reason for his power, like the reason ANA was the ideal airline for everyone.

When Yuzuru Hanyu claimed the gold in the Sochi 2014 Winter Games, he signed up with ANA as his sponsor, and endorsed Procter & Gamble products and Sendai Tourism. His fee for shooting a single advertisement rose to 50 million yen ($470,000) and recently, to 80 million yen ($752,000), equaling the fee of famous Japanese female figure skater Mao Asada.

On 2017 New Year’s Eve, Yuzuru Hanyu debuted on television as the judge of the 66th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, or Japan’s New Year singing contest. This further increased Hanyu’s popularity in Japan, giving him the potential to overtake Japanese tennis player Kei Nishikori in popularity in the future.

The charismatic Hanyu is not only the cash cow of Japan’s sports sector, but also the savior of the box office of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games.

As a result of his overwhelming popularity, anything he does not only affects the mood of his fans around the world, but also impacts the organizers, sponsors and suppliers of every major figure skating event. Hanyu’s withdrawal from the NHK Trophy, the ISU Grand Prix and Japanese national championships because of his ankle injury caused direct losses for these events.

Within 48 hours of his withdrawal, the rating of NHK Trophy’s prime time broadcast dropped sharply. The average rating declined to 6.7 percent from the 16 percent in the previous year, when Hanyu was the champion. In December that year, the ISU Grand Prix held without Hanyu also witnessed a decline in rating from 17.6 percent in the previous year to 14 percent. The sales of the sport’s derivatives also suffered.

Under such circumstances, Hanyu’s fans, eager to watch the brilliance of the figure skating maestro again, could only pin their hopes on the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games.

Since the beginning of 2018, the South Korean media had been reporting that Yuzuru Hanyu may not compete in the group games or the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games revenues may face a bleak prospect as a result. However, the International Olympic Committee answered this by presenting a clip, titled Yuzuru Hanyu, who is your opponent? on its official television station, which was well-received. Obviously, the purpose was to increase the revenue of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games.

According to previous reports by Lanxiong Sports, a Chinese online sports industry services provider, only 61 percent of Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games tickets -- or 655,000 -- had been sold by the end of December 2017. However, the organizing committee said tickets for figure skating sold out as early as March 2017, bringing in revenue of 680 million South Korean won ($637,800).

During the Pyeongchang Games, over 10,000 Hanyu fans came to Gangneung, where the figure skating events were held. The 2,000 tickets sold out within hours of being up for sale.

“Hanyu’s remuneration is expected to rise by 1.5 times at least, if not be doubled, after he won the gold in PyeongChang,” a journalist from Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s largest daily newspapers, told Tencent Sports.

Although new figure skaters will come to the fore one after another, the emergence of the next Yuzuru Hanyu is still a distant possibility. Will Yuzuru Hanyu take part in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games? It depends on whether his injured right ankle fully recovers in the coming years.”

www.quora.com

[juunedai]

despite me loving arc-v with all my heart, objectively, arc-v is NOT the best ygo series.

OKAY this was written at first as a reply to someone who said that a lot of yugioh fans are blinded by nostalgia and that arc-v was the best yugioh series and although i LOVE arc-v i really really disagree with that opinion so i replied with my two cents in a brief youtube comment about why i thought arc v had a lot of bad writing but honestly like 5 seconds later i decided that i would never be able to get my point across that way so here’s my expanded mini-essay on why arc-v sucks

huge arc-v spoilers and tiny 5ds spoilers under the cut

honestly arc v's pacing was really bad and the synchro arc went on for too long, causing everything afterwards to be rushed. most of the characters were turned into plot devices instead of people (see: bracelet girls. serena and yuzu had tons of potential but in the end serena’s whole personality was erased and all yuzu did was yell “yuya” like her life centered around him or something - like she wasn’t affected by the ordeal personally at all. the other two had like. only a little personality and were overall kind of boring and it sucked too because i had high hopes for rin and ruri)

yuya actually sorta became a mary-sue near the end of the show (the world warps around him, everyone cares about him even when most have no reason) (see: shun kurosaki, in the end he literally said yuya’s name and talked about yuya more than his own damn sister, who was his entire mission, he just kept talking about how great yuya was despite having no emotional connection, and i get that its supposed to show how much of an impact dueling in peace can have on people, but it just didnt Work) 

in arc-v everyone was super one-dimensional?? we never really saw different sides to their characters (well, minus yuya, the only one whose character was like. properly properly developed). everyone else either had a super-rushed, underdeveloped character or was a plot device (see: edo phoenix, a character canonically shown to be stubborn, magically changed by the Great Yuya in one duel. i know his heart was “swaying” and all that but even afterwards you would still have doubt in your newly joined side, especially when you’ve been so stubborn and so brainwashed by authority for so long). everyone else is a plot device pretty much

 nobody was... “bad”. nobody paid for any crimes unjustly commited. (see again, edo phoenix, one of my favorite characters in the entire series but he was literally a military commander who ordered soldiers to card tons of innocent people). i think this is another branch of that “peaceful dueling” thing, and how dueling should induce peace and smiles and violence is bad, etc. etc., but this isnt very effective when people who have literally committed war crimes go unpunished because “oohh peace there shouldn’t be violence”. 

and they tried to be deep??? they tried?? with their whole “don’t be afraid, don’t cry, just smile and move on!” or like. saying that everything can be solved with peace and happiness and smiles like. nice thought but. hmm idk. and just holding back your tears and smiling and ignoring it and moving on is kinda... bad for you like it’s gonna come back to bite you in the butt later

like!! there were good things!!! i love the show because it had a goldmine of potential. 4 dimensions? 4 yuyas? yuya dealing with losing yuzu? the synchro dimension showed great character for yuya and yuzu honestly, and sora’s whole arc about switching sides was awesome and like. well paced. reira/layra’s whole character was so intriguing to me, and his relationship with reiji and the whole thing was just. awesome. and like, yuto and the xyz kids having to deal with their home being ravaged... i dunno the whole show was just. ugh. so much potential and that was what dragged me in but they WAY dragged out the synchro arc thinking they had time for the rest and that was their mistake. 

 in my opinion 5ds is probably the best one, as it actually has a consistent plotline/character development, strong female characters (they're doing good with aki so far, but i haven't finished the series so im not sure yet), and they're not scared to deal with real-world issues, like classism, poverty, etc, the main characters are all literally criminals, but they're still portrayed as people, and thats what's important. and 5ds actually has some pretty insane moments and quotes!! like. despite being a “dark” show it’s hilarious with their humor and although characters are portrayed as hurting or sad you get to also see their funny side, or their happy side! the characters actually have substance and there are some pretty good quotes and moments from it too. like

these are all genuinely hilarious/heartfelt moments that show the different sides of the characters!!

basically arc-v was so filled with potential but it is FAR from the best series. if you ask for my ranking, from best series to worst series it goes like this (keep in mind zexal will not be included because i haven’t watched it):

- yugioh s0 (toei version) (one day i’ll write an essay on this its SO good)

- yugioh dm, yugioh gx, yugioh 5ds (they’re all on the same level because they’re the Original 3 and it’d be doing them injustice if i tried to rank them)

- yugioh arc-v (:D)

- yugioh vrains (this series is actually good and i reccommend watching it it’s only ranked lowest here because it’s not finished yet)

anyway thanks for coming to my ted talk.. and goodnight

[lronbear]

An anon asked me what my favorite aspects of Yuzu’s personality were, so I went off a little under the cut. Uh...sorry. All thoughts are my own.

Oh man. I'll answer this a bit differently than I usually would because I think a lot about how he has characteristics that /could/ generally be considered character flaws, but actually make him much more interesting and fascinating in my eyes. So I’ll skip some of the usual obvious reasons to love Mr. Extra, and dive a ‘lil deeper. 

1. (This is very biased since I don’t pay attention to other athletes as much as I do Yuzuru (yet), soz) His hyper-competitive, hyper-focused nature. Obviously you could argue that every athlete possesses it, but I feel like Hanyu takes it to a different level, very often. The headspace he gets into during 6 min warm up, (or the stance he takes when the final 6 skaters line up on the ice and his name gets announced, him raising his arms to the crowd with his head held high, but seemingly unaffected by the deafening cheers, eyes serious and even  dangerous in a way, out for nothing less than the gold), could be considered pretty scary, or to some (youtube comment sections are a gold mine) even rude and unnecessary. To me, those are some of the most intriguing and incredible moments to watch him, because that’s him, playing everyone, probably even himself, by creating an air of confidence that you cannot help but absolutely believe in. This unwillingness to show vulnerability or weakness, even if he may well be very vulnerable at that one moment or another, depending on whichever competition he's doing, because we all know better lol. He has an armor of steel and he knows exactly how to play his cards, he’s psychologically intimidating, as if all he has to do is flip a single switch in his head, whenever the situation demands it (rip dima who accidentally caught his eye at CoR lol poor bb). 

2. That brings me to my next point. His utter level of calculation and strategic thinking. I have a huge laugh everytime people, especially antis, underestimate him, physically but especially intellectually. Sometimes you look at him goofing off at practices or galas or him falling on his butt for absolutely no reason off ice, he’s our fave meme lord after all, but if you watch a single interview, you get reminded again what's really stored in that noggin of his. And it's astonishing if you consider this is a 23-you kid, and also that he's always been like this, on one level or another. It's pretty mindblowing how far ahead he is for his age, just on a human emotional scale, and how he takes time to gather his thoughts, to consider every side and aspect of a topic in his mind before he answers questions, how he tackles being the center of the media and an idol (he’s an athlete first, I am aware, but at this point it is undeniable that his public significance and position is exactly that of an idol/megastar) for an entire nation. That takes some nerves and endurance, i don’t know how he does it. As Javi said, his brain is pretty good. 

3. I love how unashamed he is about wanting and needing to be on top of his sport. He doesn't down-play it either. He will lift his finger into the air after a good skate and declare right then and there that he's won, even if he hasn't even seen his score yet. He is, in a way, a narcissist. And he loves it, too. He knows he is the best and he will be undefeated no matter what, if he delivers the skills he has trained so hard to possess over the course of his life, with all the obstacles that were and keep getting in his way. He will tell you to your face that he's better than you and will beat you next time if you beat him at a competition (rip pchiddy). He doesn't even hesitate. And people could and probably will call this arrogant or him being full of himself, but. That's never it. It's oddly, very humble and truthful, in my opinion. There is no actual hot-headed arrogance or greedy superiority there. It's simply a matter of fact. He can be a cocky bastard sometimes, oh yeah he can, don't get me wrong, but he Gets to be one. He’s earned it. And I actively celebrate when he is being a brat like that, not even gonna lie. He deserves to be. Where with most people this aura would probably bother me, with him, it makes him just more fascinating as the multi-layered person he is.

4. So then, in direct contrast to this, you also have the exact opposite of that  personality trait? The constant need to mention the masses of people that support him at all times. The fact he never forgets to mention that without the people watching, supporting and also competing alongside him, he would not be here, where he is right now. His soft tone when he speaks about Javier's influence on him, or when he literally had never ending face spasms and a skin breakout from nerves when Pl*shy praised him at CiONTU lol. The fact he doesn't neglect talking about the fans that cannot afford to see him live, including his international fans, everyone who supports him from home, he knows it and he publicly acknowledges it, because he cares. His deep, deep adoration for other athletes, or just people in general that try their best and work hard. His reverence, utter sadness and respect when he talks about 3/11 and how it impacted everything in his life, the ridiculously amazing amount of money and awareness he’s raised for the victims, the battle within himself afterwards, questioning if he’s “allowed” to keep chasing his own dream under the aspect of disaster striking so many people. His heartbreaking dedication to the sport itself, but also what he wants to express by skating (i.e. Requiem). The fact that he’s always stayed with both feet on the ground, and how he’s (outside of “competition-mode” on ice) always very soft, humble and grateful to others, and never ever acts superior or above others. His sportsmanship in general. The fact he cares so much about people. He overcomes obstacles that would have finished me 100 times over. He is so, so inspirational. His heart is golden. He claps his own thigh when he’s made an awful joke. He can’t walk properly when he’s off the ice. He’s obnoxiously perfectionist, which is so relatable. He’s a big old softie, that loves bear hugging like, everyone. His complete awareness of every single thing that carries meaning in his life and what got him to the place he is now, his will to overcome every hardship and come out stronger. So, so many aspects, so many layers. I love he.

[musettas]

At last, Brian Orser is back behind the boards, after missing the last two Grand Prix events, Cup of China and NHK Trophy. Orser was kind enough to answer icenetwork's questions about his two most famous protégés, Javier Fernández and Yuzuru Hanyu, after the two tough weeks they experienced.

Icenetwork: How do you feel now?

Orser: Much better. The season didn't start exactly as I had planned. First, with the surgery I had to go through. I had my gullbladder taken away. I had to stay at the hospital, and I couldn't go with Javi to Cup of China, and it didn't turn out so good (Fernández finished sixth in Beijing). And then I couldn't go to NHK, and that didn't turn good either (Hanyu withdrew after injuring his ankle in practice). That's how unpredictable skating can be. You'd never want that to happen, especially in an Olympic season.

Icenetwork: That must have been so frustrating!

Orser: It was frustrating! It kind of shows how much [the skaters] rely on their coach, which is a good thing. Of course, we work as a team, but I'm always the one at rinkside with them, the one to lift them when they need a lift. But you know, last season Javier won both his Grand Prix and then everything started to go in the wrong direction, so this season might be different!

Icenetwork: Can you give us some news about Yuzuru?

Orser: As you know, Yuzu sprained his ankle. He sprained it, but it was not broken. From what I hear, it will take about 10 days until he can step back onto the ice, so he should be coming back to Toronto soon. We'll have to start back slow and kind of regroup from then on. He won't be doing the [Grand Prix] Final for sure now. Neither Javi or Yuzu will, actually. That must actually be the first time none of my skaters do a Grand Prix Final since I've been a coach! That's too bad. Finals are always fun; they are such good events, with just the best skaters of the world.

Icenetwork: How do you see Yuzu's and Javi's chances this season?

Orser: This year, Yuzu landed his quad lutz. He had been working on it for some time. He landed it the first time he showed it in competition, at Rostelecom (Cup). That was a big checkpoint. Mission accomplished!

Icenetwork: Will he do quad flip?

Orser: No, he won't be doing quad flip. He has quad loop and quad lutz, and he has enough on his plate. I even feel that the quad lutz is not necessary to him, because of all the other skills he has: the (quad) toe and sal and loop, all done with such high quality, his spins, his steps. I believe Yuzu is in a class -- with Javi! (laughs).

Icenetwork: What about Javier?

Orser: Javi is 26 years old. At this stage of his life and skating career, I don't think that the turmoil of learning a new skill would be the best thing. If Javi had had to add another quad to his repertoire, it would have been a quad loop, but that would have created so much stress on the season. With the quads he does and the way he does them, the toe and the sal, the transitions, the choreography...those are enough. Javi agrees with this strategy.

I have other kids (at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, where Orser teaches) who work other quads. I have a 12-year-old who lands all the quads. That's the new generation. That's where the sport is going, definitely. Quad lutz and flip are very recent; they are a sign of this time. They will just become a part of the younger ones' repertoire. Yuzu has been working on them for the last couple of years. He is young, so it's still part of his development. Plus, he is very competitive.

Icenetwork: Javier has different strong points, though.

Orser: Javi's short program is brilliant; it is as good as last year's in terms of components. I did the math: When he performs all the elements well, it's worth 109 to 110 points. Javi has great choreography. You have to be clever when you put a short program together. Transitions, choreography, interpretation, spins make so much difference. The elements are the same for everybody, but you need to be a great spinner. Yuzu has a clear advantage there, as he gets +3 GOE for most of his spins. You have to have a step sequence that is musical and impactful. A step sequence is not a check mark, something you can say "done;" you have 40 seconds to work with your music and choreography. Javier has to be perfect on them, and we need to help him be the best there.

We design the programs for our skaters to win, but at the end of the day, they still have to do the job. Missing elements will impact component scores.

Icenetwork: Is it not too difficult for a skater like Javier to keep his confidence when he sees the world changing like this?

Orser: Actually, it's something we've had to work with him (on). As a former athlete myself, I would imagine that it would play upon your confidence. You know, at the 1984 Olympics, I was a bit like the Nathan Chens and the Shoma Unos of the time, as I was landing the triple axel. Scott Hamilton didn't have a triple axel, but he nonetheless won the Olympic gold.

At a certain point in your career, you have to step back and tell yourself that you are going to do what you can do. Either you go one direction and do it, or you just give up. You need to be confident in what you do, and don't let yourself down because of what others do.

Tracy [Wilson] and I are confident that judges and audience know how to recognize a champion when the time comes. They like what Javi and Yuzu are presenting.

Icenetwork: How did you manage to keep Javier's confidence up then?

Orser: It's been sorting itself out. What will the press be talking of this year? Of course, of all those quads. We need to reassure him as coaches, and tell him that he has a lot of great things in what he does. Plus, results speak for themselves. He was the world champion not so long ago! He won at Japan Open, beating Chen and Uno handily. It's not that they fell and he didn't; all of them made mistakes. At the Autumn Classic, he beat Yuzu. That should give him confidence.

Icenetwork: Have you worked with him since?

Orser: Oh, yes. We decided that Javier would stay in Madrid this week to acclimate to the European time zone and avoid two more tiring trips to and back from Toronto. Tracy came several days ago to work with him, and I joined a few days ago as well, so we could work one on one with him to make everything feel good again. Javier should be approaching this Grand Prix in a different way.

Icenetwork: Yuzuru's confidence is not at stake?

Orser: Yuzu came back to Toronto at the end of June. He was like on a mission. By mid-July, he was ready to compete. He was training so hard, but he was a little too early. It's hard to hold them back. So sometimes you get circumstances to force them to pull back. In a way, Yuzu's ankle problem may prove to be a good thing.