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#takeru: have been for the past year but thanks for noticing
writingbymoonlight · 2 years
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For @heichoe/@givesyouapieceofimaginarycake! Thanks again for joining my 100 follower event!
ft.: iwaizumi x reader
trope: friends to lovers
lyrics: i don’t wanna be your friend, i wanna kiss your neck from "fallingforyou" by the 1975 (this reminded me to go back and listen to the 1975 more lol)
word count: ~850 words
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Iwaizumi is in a predicament.
When a bored Oikawa called him to ask if he wanted to go see a movie this afternoon, he agreed. When Oikawa had asked if it was alright if he invited some other people, Iwaizumi agreed to this as well and assumed that it would just be Hanamaki and Matsukawa.
What Oikawa had failed to mention is that, in addition to inviting his teammates, he had also invited you. 
And this is how Iwaizumi ended up sitting beside you in the dark theater.
See, over the course of your three years at Aoba Johsai, you managed to become friends with the third-years on the school’s volleyball team. But, lately, the way Iwaizumi looked at you started to change. 
A few weeks ago, on a random Monday, the ace thought you looked particularly cute. Immediately, Iwaizumi commenced panicking over the fact that he thought you, his friend, were cute. This led to a downward spiral and Iwaizumi eventually came to the conclusion that he had developed a crush on you. And this realization resulted in him acting bashfully whenever you are in the vicinity, which Oikawa has unfortunately picked up on. 
As he sits shoulder-to-shoulder with you, he cannot help, but glance over at you every few minutes and each time he sees how entranced you are by the film. Your eyebrows are scrunched together, and your soft-looking lips are slightly parted. Iwaizumi begins to wonder how your lips would feel against his. How it would feel like to leave a trail of kisses across your jaw down to your neck…
As soon as this thought enters his head, Iwaizumi can sense his face growing red and he is grateful that the room’s dim lighting would prevent you from noticing this if you happened to look over at him. 
After the movie finishes, you all head outside and the sun is shining brightly, a stark contrast to where you have all been sitting for the past two hours.
“Hey, a new cafe opened up a few streets over,” you remark as your group loiters at the entrance of the cinema. “Do you guys want to check it out?”
“Sorry, I can’t. I have plans,” Oikawa responds without hesitation as his eyes briefly flicker between you and Iwaizumi.
“I thought you didn’t have any plans for today?” you point out with a narrowed look.
“Well…” Oikawa trails off, seemingly at a loss for words. Then he suddenly snaps his fingers and proclaims, “It turns out that my sister needs someone to babysit Takeru in like an hour, so I volunteered.”
You shrug at the captain’s excuse before turning to face the others. “Are the rest of you free?”
“Actually, Matsu and Makki are helping me babysit,” Oikawa blurts out, throwing his arms over the shoulders of his fellow third-years.
“All three of you are babysitting one kid?” Iwaizumi inquires, his knowing glare directed at his childhood friend. 
“Yes?” Makki says, but his response sounds more like a question than a definitive answer. 
“Kids…”  Matsukawa chimes in, though he looks somewhat confused. “Just one can be a handful.”
“I know that Iwaizumi doesn’t have any plans, Y/N. Why don’t you go together?!
You cast your gaze over at the wing spiker and quirk an eyebrow at him, as if silently asking if he is fine with this.
“Y-yeah, I’m free to go with you, Y/N,” Iwaizumi affirms, trying to come off as calm and collected as possible. It seems like forever since he last hung out with you one-on-one, and the prospect of spending some alone time with you excites him. 
“Alright! You two have fun on your date!” Oikawa loudly exclaims with a roguish smirk. Before Iwaizumi can chastise the setter for his comment, he quickly scurries away, while simultaneously dragging Hanamaki and Matsukawa with him.
Iwaizumi watches the receding figures of his so-called friends, and he cannot believe they would do this to him. Well, that’s not true. A plot like this is obviously something Oikawa would scheme. And Makki and Matsu occasionally enjoy witnessing Iwa lose his cool. But this doesn’t prevent Iwaizumi from feeling betrayed right now.
How can they call this a date in front of you and then ditch him? Don’t they understand how awkward they’ve made this moment for him?
Fortunately, your light laughter pulls Iwaizumi back to reality and he gawks at your reaction.
“So, are you ready for our date?” you say with a playful gleam in your eye, which causes his heart rate to rapidly increase. 
Your friend doesn’t know how to reply to this, so he ends up shyly answering your question with a question, “Is it a date?”
“Do you want it to be a date?”
Iwaizumi can assert with certainty that he wasn’t expecting the words coming out of your mouth to be accompanied by a scarlet blush and it gives him a glimmer of hope. He has been so scared to confess to you these past few weeks, but it seems that perhaps his feelings for you are reciprocated. 
Therefore, despite still being a little nervous about doing so, he finds the courage to firmly state: “Yes.”
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hinataxsunshine · 7 months
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1.07 — a fathers rage
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Fire. Guns. Chaos. Death.
It was all so much for Hinata. Once second he was trying to process the death of one friend and the rise to power of another— and the next thing he knew there was a announcement on the TVs saying that the Beach had become the 10 of hearts
Phone in hand, Hinata had stood there with everyone— staring at Aguni who had just deemed everyone to their doom. Deemed Hinata, to his doom. This wasn’t his friend— had power changed him as well, like it did Takeru? He couldn’t think much of it first.. but then Niragi and his stupid fucking Gun started causing chaos. The Beach members started running past him, but he froze. He really should start moving, running from the insane militants who started shooting the beach members but he couldn’t. Gods, this stupid fe-
Then he felt a hand grab his wrist and pull him back, forcing him to run from the scene. After they got far enough, he turned to see who had saved him. Usagi. She was one of the few people to figure out his fear early on.
“Thank you” he chokes out, and she nodded. She then asked if he knew where Arisu was, or if he would help them look.
He didn’t, but suggested maybe looking on the fourth floor. It was away from everyone and there were a lot of empty rooms. Usagi thanked him and left. Now, Hinata had to find Aguni again, maybe he could get some answers. Or find Senshi..
No. Maybe he shouldn’t. Although he was confident Senshi wouldn’t shoot him, he wasn’t sure they would be alone. They could be with other Militant..
Would Aguni be with the militants? Fuck. He could still be in the main lobby. And Hinata didn’t want to risk going there.
Hinata really shouldn’t have been lost in thought. As he ran through the halls, he didn’t even notice the Militant standing infront of him. He ran into him, and stumbled back. Fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fu-
The militant tried shooting him first. But it seemed he had wasted too many bullets, and Hinata could see a couple of bodies lying behind the Militant. Members he knew, not close enough or well known— but knew enouth that he felt sadness for them. Guilt. Taking this opportunity, the militant branded a knife and swiped for him.
Thankfully, the militant was worse with a knife than he was with a gun.
The bad part? He managed to hit his eye, slicing it deep across his left eye. Searing hot pain shot through his head as he stumbled again and fell backwards. Hinata could feel blood dripping down the side of his face, as a hand went up to cover it. Ow. Fuck. He was going to die here. Maybe then, he could be reunited with Take-
“Get away from him” An English accent, a voice he was extremely familiar with. The Militant furrowed his eyebrow, “The American. Still can’t understand what the fuck your saying” He hissed out, but stepped forward, “But I’m going to have pleasure in—“
Before he could get another word in, the American foreigner grabbed his gun— one that he always carried even though he wasn’t allowed.. and let loose on the militant. Hinata just shut his eyes— his eye as he heard the gunshots fire right behind him.
Then they stopped. A body fell to the floor but Hinata kept his eyes shut. He could hear a shuffle walk towards him, and stand infront of them.
Screams and gunfire could still be heard in the distance, but all of it quieted down as soon as he felt a hand rest gently on his shoulder. “Hinata” Max whispered gently, and Hinata opened his eyes. He hadn’t even realized he had started crying before he sniffles and tackled the older male into a hug.
“You’re okay. I’ve got you now” he whispered. Hinata was thankful that he had spent all those years studying English, had spent a few months in America.. because knowing the comforting words from the American man calmed him down. “You’ll be safe with me. Okay?”
“I need to find Aguni” he whispered out, taking a moment to find the right words. He felt Max’s grip tightened. He knew what that meant. Max didn’t approve of his love for his friends. But Max just pulled away, standing up and holding out his hand. “Let’s go. I doubt your.. friend will be willing to talk. But I can protect you along the way” he said
Hinata stared up at him. The American man who had came to Japan for a school field trip, and was unlucky enough to have the same fate as the rest of them. The Man who became a legend amongst the people and lost his daughter figure to a game.
The man who had found the beach, and at first stayed close to Hinata because he was one of the few people who could understand him.. The man who in the end— became one of the most important figures in Hinata’s life. A father figure.
He knew what Max was telling him.
‘I will be your weapon, and protect you from harms way’
Soon. Soon Hinata would figure out a way to repay him. But for now, he would accept the unspoken words, and figure out what the hell was going on.
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dominicsorel · 2 years
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You, what do you have to do with Hikari-chan? Huh? What do you mean? Daisuke-kun, you’re so funny!
Digimon Adventure 02 | Daisuke Motomiya and Takeru Takaishi
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ashxketchum · 3 years
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oof did i come in late? can i have "do you want a hug" with either mimato or taiora? whichever you prefer! :D
I know you sent this ask eons ago, and I’m so sorry I never got around to writing something for this prompt!
I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo today and well this seemed like a good place to start, and luckily I was able to include both Taiora and Mimato, though the latter should be read with a comical lens.
The setting is a filler episode in the reboot where Taichi and Agumon end up doing their own thing and the other kids rush after them to help them as things get out of hand, but Yamato is the only one who reaches him on time and even he has his hands full and isn’t able to rescue Taichi from an explosion, so this is what happens after that ⬇️
Sora’s eyes sought him, in between all the dust and the rubble, his brown, unruly hair easily distinguishable. She drew in a sharp breath as the dust started to clear gradually and the rest of him came into view as well. Moving faster than the others, she was by his side in an instant, swiftly navigating her way around the debris, she stretched out her hand the minute she reached him and even despite his eyes looking out of focus and his vision disoriented, Taichi immediately grabbed onto her hand and with all her remaining strength Sora pulled him to his feet. He staggered as he rose slowly, but she reacted instantly and supported him by putting his arm around her shoulder and letting him lean onto her frame. The other kids, and their Digimon, were probably watching them, but right now the embarrassment of being so close to Taichi did not matter to Sora, since the guilt of not being able to protect him in time was gnawing on her insides at a ferocious speed.
“Are you okay, Taichi? Where does it hurt the most? There must be a first aide kit in Jou’s getaway bag, I’ll treat your wounds right away!” She spoke as quickly as possible as they dragged their feet along the ground, there was no time to waste after all, she had to make up for the delay in their arrival.
“Sora...Agumon, where is he? And Yamato, is he okay?” He replied with his own questions, his voice was slow and drained and when she turned to glance at his face, she saw that he could barely keep his eyes open.
As much as Sora wanted to get started on his upkeep, she knew Taichi wouldn’t sit still and only damage his wounds further till he knew everyone was okay, so she quickly scanned the debris again, in her rush to be by Taichi’s side she had completely forgotten about Agumon, but to her relief, she saw Piyomon and Tailmon had already pulled him out of the rubble and were attending to him along with Koushiro and Hikari.
“Agumon’s okay too, look!” She said, pointing with her free hand in the Digimon’s direction, but it took Taichi some time to lift his head and follow her gaze, “And Yamato’s perfectly okay, MetalGarurumon was able to fly him out of the explosion just in time.”
“That’s great.” Taichi whispered with whatever remaining strength he had, with his heart soothed, he relaxed further into Sora’s hold, leaning towards her more heavily than he had at first, with his eyes half-closed he murmured an apology to her.
“You need to worry about yourself for now,” Sora muttered to herself under her breath, but heard Taichi let out a chuckle, and she couldn’t help but send a frown his way, how could he be reckless with his own self and still have the heart to care about others’ well being first?
“Coming from you…” Taichi chuckled, and attempted to form a grin but could barely manage half a smile and the whole attempt ended up with his face looking contorted out of pain.
“This isn’t the time to joke around, Taichi,” Sora gritted her teeth as anger flashed through her ember eyes and they came to a halt, she turned her body slightly to face him, her voice cracking slightly and eyes shining with latent tears, “You could’ve seriously hurt yourself back there, and Agumon too! Just because you got a lucky break doesn’t make what you did okay.”
Taichi remained silent, out of exhaustion or because of a lack of excuse, Sora didn’t know, but she did know that the kids had spent the past hour in a wild chase attempt to find him and help him after he had rushed out on his own while they had been asleep. She didn’t know what would’ve happened if Gabumon hadn’t been woken up by Agumon’s voice and alerted the others, she didn’t know what would’ve happened if Yamato hadn’t sped up ahead from the rest of them to lend Taichi a hand, she didn’t know what she would’ve done if they’d arrived just a moment later.
“I’m sorry I made you worry, I thought I was doing the right thing…” He trailed off as the hand that had been wrapped around Sora’s neck slid down suddenly, “Thank you, Sora.” His voice was just above a faint whisper and before she knew it, Taichi had both his hands around her neck and his head resting on her shoulders as he let out a deep, relieved sigh that made Sora’s whole body freeze on the spot.
Out of all the time and places in their lives did Taichi really need to pick right now to give her a hug, Sora screamed inside her head, as she felt her face heat up under the watchful gaze of all their friends and their Digimon, she turned her head in an attempt to tell Taichi to back off a little bit so she could help him out of the debris and onto plainer ground and finally begin looking after his wounds, but she saw that his eyes were now comfortably shut with a small smile playing on his lips as he took deep, routinely breaths that made Sora realise that he had fallen asleep in her arms. She struggled to keep him upright, as he was heavier than he looked and had no choice but to put her own hands on his shoulders to steady him, making their position look more and more suspicious to the spectators surrounding them and her cheeks turn redder at the thought of all the misunderstandings that this might cause.
“Taichi, you idiot!” She cried out, embarrassed by his actions and frustrated that she could barely move a muscle and yet no one else come forward to help her, “Jou, a little help please! He has completely passed out!” Sora called out, she couldn’t see where the rest of the kids were because Taichi’s big hair was blocking her view, but she could trust in her senior to jump into action if asked to.
And sure enough, the navy haired senior was at her side in a moment, helping undo Taichi’s hold on her frame, when she sneaked a look at him in the process, Taichi’s face looked peaceful and content, and displayed no signs of being caught in an explosion and being stuck under heavy debris up until a few minutes ago. And while Sora was grateful to know that he was happy and healthy, and most of all, safe, she decided she would still hold him accountable for his sudden and intimate actions when he woke up, whether he’d done it intentionally or not, was something she didn’t wish to ponder on.
~
Mimi quietly watched the scene unfold in front of her, she’d always thought that Taichi and Sora had been a little too upfront with all the smiles and deep gazes they sent each other’s way on a daily basis, but hugging in plain sight was a little out of bounds even by her standards, they were still only 10 years old after all. It did however, manage to perk up everyone’s attention as the recent events had left everyone tired and exhausted, both mentally and physically. So it was a bit relieving and exciting, when Taichi suddenly wrapped his arms around Sora’s necks and grabbed everyone’s attention, even Koushiro and Hikari, who had been concentrating hard on getting Agumon to regain his energy, stopped their attempts to turn and pass a surprised look in the couple’s direction. Next to Mimi, Jou’s mouth fell wide open and their Digimons, Palmon and Gomamon, let out surprised squeals.
Yamato, who had been sitting crossed legged with nothing but exhaustion filling his azure eyes as he stared blankly at the sky, while Takeru and Patamon consoled Gabumon with compliments over his quick rescue next to him, straightened up and turned his attention towards Taichi and Sora, which made Mimi want to turn to the blond instead, because she hadn’t ever seen him this interested in his surroundings right after a battle and that piqued her interest.
She studied his face carefully, there was a flicker of emotion in his eyes, which went away as quickly as it appeared and left Mimi with no choice but to speculate about what it had meant. Was Yamato annoyed by what was happening in front of him, did he too disapprove of this bold move from Taichi, or was he jealous that his friend had beaten him to the task? Mimi just couldn’t come up with a correct answer, no matter how much she peered at Yamato’s deadpan face. And then Sora cried out for help and Jou rushed over to assist her, and soon Taichi was being carried over towards them on Jou’s back as Sora trailed behind them, her bright red cheeks and ears visible to anyone with a decent eyesight.
So Mimi once again turned her attention towards the seated blond, this time she even lowered herself to level her gaze with him for a clearer look, and noticed that while his face was still as devoid of expression as ever, there was a sense of dissatisfaction in the blankness, as he watched the trio make their way towards them. Sensing her presence however, Yamato leaned back as he noticed that Mimi was sitting down quite close to him, immediately his face was taken over by an annoyed expression while his eyes darkened as he put his guard up.
“Can I help you with something?” He asked her, his voice agitated but also a little anxious, and Mimi wasn’t sure what to attribute the latter to.
“No, I was just wondering.”
“Well can you do that from a bit far away?” He demanded, a pinkish tint settling on his ears as he did so, making Mimi more confused about what was causing the blond, who was usually so adept at keeping his cool, to get so fidgety.
So of course she leaned in further towards him, in an attempt to study him even him more carefully, and immediately he leaned back and the tinge around his ears deepened. His whole body was radiating exhaustion which made Mimi feel a bit guilty about not being able to assist him enough during the battle, she was grateful however, that Yamato and Gabumon had given their all to make it to Taichi and Agumon on time and that both the duos had managed to come out of this safe and sound, with some injuries to boot in the latter’s case. So she smiled brightly at him, hoping to convey that she appreciated his efforts, but it seemed to make him even more flustered than before, and Mimi was taken aback by his expression, she’d thought Yamato was as smart as Koushiro and yet he was acting extremely dumbfounded and peculiar right now.
Then it clicked, the content look which had been visible on Taichi’s face after the hug, the one that made it seem like all the fatigue and weariness of the battle had disappeared from him, that could be what the blond was pining for too, to feel relived and refreshed after a hard day of work.
Satisfied with her conclusion, Mimi grinned as she tilted her head and met Yamato’s panicked gaze with a cheerful one of her own, “Do you want a hug too?”
And before she knew it, Yamato’s whole face turned a deep shade of red as his eyes went out of focus and he passed out in front of her.
x
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recurring-polynya · 3 years
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Tokusatsu Au where Rukia plays the lead actress in a superhero action show. Renji plays one of the villains and they are The most popular ship in the fandom. Bonus points if Orihime plays the main villain and loves every second of it.
This was the very first prompt I got, and I fell in love. Unfortunately, aside from a brief period of being grotesquely fascinated with Power Rangers as teen, I know almost nothing about tokusatsu. I did as much research as I could and I attempted to watch an episode of Kamen Rider, but my eyes glazed over halfway through. Anyway, please forgive my inaccuracies, I wrote this with my heart.
ao3 | ff.net
🏍    ⚡   🎬
“Uh, looks like we’re almost out of time,” the panel moderator for “High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe!: A Sneak Peak at Season 5” declared, “but would you be willing to take just a few audience questions?”
Head Screenwriter Kurosaki Ichigo glanced at Leading Actress Kuchiki Rukia out of the corner of his eye, and she gave a tiny nod.
“Yeah, sure!” he replied.
There was already a young woman waiting at the microphone, practically vibrating with anxiety. She was wearing a t-shirt that had ZabiTo4Ever!! handwritten in marker on it. Rukia knew, deep down in her bones, what the question was going to be.
“Hi, yes, hello, big fan of your work! My question is: are Tomoe and Zabimaru going to kiss this season?”
“No,” Rukia started to say.
“As you probably know,” Ichigo said loudly on top of her, “the show holds close to the core plot points of Kuna-sensei’s manga, although, because of her minimalist style, we do expand a lot of the dialogue and filler scenes. She has said in several interviews that High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe! is not a romance manga, so the odds of Tomoe and Zabimaru ever kissing on screen are very, very low.”
The young woman stared at Ichigo grumpily. “Does this also count Zabimaru’s secret college student identity, Satonako Takeru?”
Ichigo stared back at her. “Yes. It does.”
The next question came from a person wearing a full suit of HellKnight’s plasma armor made out of overlapping plates of cardboard. Rukia was kind of impressed by it. She wondered if he could sit down.
“Hi, Kurosaki-sensei, I am a huge fan of your work,” a voice emanated from deep within the cardboard. “I was wondering if you are influenced at all by fanworks, and if Episode 73: Pride is on the Line!: The Bake Sale Must Go On! was based in any way on the classic fanfiction, ‘Tell Me All Your Best Lies’? It’s the top story by kudos in the ZabiTo tag, which I might point out is the most popular shipping category on AO3.”
Ichigo cleared his throat gently. “I am contractually not allowed to read fanfiction, although I do enjoy fanart! There are some incredibly talented artists in the fandom, although for some reason, no one ever wants to draw pictures of Lead Screenwriters.”
“I’ll draw you, sleeping on the set like you always do,” Rukia offered, and that got a pretty big laugh. Rukia’s Tumblr of behind-the-scenes doodle comics was beloved among the fandom.
The next question was from a nonbinary person wearing a big poufy skirt and a hairstyle that would make their make-up and hair guru, Yumichika, sit up and take notice. “Hi, this is a question for Kuchiki-san! If the show is going to roughly keep pace with the manga, as it has done up until now, you should be shooting the storyline where Tomoe and Queen Bloodbuzz switch bodies later this year. I was wondering if you could comment on how you feel about filming that storyline?”
Finally! A good one! “Yes!” Rukia nodded eagerly. “I don’t usually like to speak for my fellow cast members, but Orihime and I are beyond excited about playing each other. We’ve been studying each other’s mannerisms and practicing already! Does anyone want to hear my Queen Bloodbuzz cackle?” She wagged her eyebrows as the audience cheered. “Here goes-- bwaHaHaHaHAHAHAHAAHAAAHAAAAAAAA!”
“Bonechilling,” Ichigo commented dryly as the audience erupted.
“Amazing, Kuchiki-san!” the moderator exclaimed. “I think there is time for one more, but this will be the last question!”
A tall girl in a full set of High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe motorcycle leathers stepped to the microphone. She was holding a notebook. “Hello!” she warbled. “In a 2020 interview with the Psychics and Sidekicks podcast, Abarai Renji was asked about his opinion on ZabiTo as a ship, and he replied,” she consulted her notebook, “‘Tomoe is such a cool lady and talented Battle Clairvoyant, and she always follows her heart and stays true to herself. I think that Zabimaru can’t help but be impressed with her, even though they’re enemies, and I always try to roll that into our on-screen interactions.’ I know that in the past you’ve refused to comment on the ship, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts on, y’know, his thoughts?”
“Well, he’s correct, of course, Tomoe is very cool and admirable,” Rukia replied, which drew a few laughs, although it seemed like the audience was leaning forward in anticipation of her answer. “Like I said, I don’t like to speak for other cast members. I’ll be doing a big cast panel with Abarai and Inoue and Matsumoto and Ukitake tomorrow afternoon, and I hope you all can make it! See you then!”
The moderator thanked them enthusiastically, and then Ichigo and Rukia slipped out the back guest entrance.
“Evasive as always, Kuchiki,” Ichigo teased.
“Whatever,” Rukia sniffed. “The higher ups say we’re not supposed to comment on stuff like that, and I was not commenting. By the way, how many secret fanfic accounts are you up to? Four?”
“It’s only three!” Ichigo paused. “I wrote that fanfic the guy brought up.”
“Of course you did,” Rukia sighed. “I do blame you personally for the popularity of the damn ship.”
“Me? Blame Kuna for making up two such sexy, emotionally constipated dumbasses!” Ichigo defended.
“Also, it’s not Ichigo’s fault that you and Abarai have insane chemistry.”
Rukia spun around, grinning. “Orihime!”
Rukia’s two co-stars, Inoue Orihime and Abarai Renji, the portrayers of Tomoe’s demonic archnemeses, stood in the hallway behind them.
“We sat in on your panel!” Orihime beamed. “You two were brilliant!”
“Don’t worry,” Renji added. “We were incognito.”
“Incognito” was relative, Rukia supposed, when you were at Tokyo’s biggest tokusatsu
convention.
Orihime was wearing a Zabimaru outfit so detailed that she probably could have won a prize down at the cosplay hall. She had the gravity-defying ponytail, the eyeliner, the insane widow's peak (complete with forehead tatts), the fangs, the motorcycle boots. The paper mache snake skull helmet was a little lopsided, but it was charming. She had her top zipped a little higher than canon, but that was forgivable, too.
Renji had taken the opposite tack of looking as much like a normal person-- or at least a normal Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe superfan-- as possible. Relaxed fit jeans and an oversized hoodie de-emphasized his ultra-fit physique. He was wearing a t-shirt with a very dramatic rendering of Orihime that said “Queen Bloodbuzz can step on me!” and a ball cap with the logo of Seireitei University, the fictional college Tomoe and Takeru attended.
“You think you’re in disguise,” Rukia pointed out, “but there are thousands of teen girls in this place with entire Tumblrs dedicated to your stupid face when you’re out of costume.”
Renji cocked an eyebrow at her. “You underestimate me, Rukia. I have bought… new sunglasses.” With a flourish, he whipped out a pair of the dorkiest wayfarers she’d ever seen, and flipped them onto his face. “I’ve disappeared! Who am I? Where am I?”
“You look really great, Orihime,” Ichigo said, his cheeks coloring a little bit. “Did you get Uryuu or Yumichika to help you with that costume?” In his continuing theme of doing things he wasn’t supposed to, Ichigo had finally started dating Orihime on the downlow around the time they finished up filming last season. It had done absolutely nothing for how shy he still got around her. They were, in Rukia’s opinion, cute as hell.
“Oh, no, that would be cheating!” Orihime replied, wagging a finger at him. “Well…maybe I did cheat, just a tiny bit. Renji helped me make the helmet and he held up references for me while I was painting on the tattoos.”
“Only the forehead ones,” Renji quickly added.
“He wouldn’t even offer feedback on my booby tattoos!” Orihime frowned. She leaned forward. “Rukia, how do they look?”
Ichigo turned even redder.
“Perfect, as in all you do!” Rukia replied loftily.
“What’s everyone got coming up next?” Renji asked. “I was thinking of slipping out and trying to pick up some real coffee.”
“I’m judging a villainess-themed cosplay competition,” Orihime chirped. “But I’m dying for a blueberry caramel iced latte. Renji, my henchman, pleeeeease!”
“Of course, my liege,” Renji replied in his Zabimaru voice.
It’s not like it had been a hard decision to accept the role of the motorcycle-riding, badass heroine of one of the most popular manga of the last decade, but it had turned out to be one of the best decisions of Rukia’s life. not just her career. Aside from a few of the money-obsessed executives, she liked nearly everyone in the cast and crew, but the fact that the fact that the ruthless, homicidal, literally Hell-spawned villains of the show were played by the two sweetest marshmallow people she had ever met just took the cake. Renji and Orihime had already known each other from some voicework they had done previously, and their excitement at working together on a live-action project had infected the entire cast from the start. Rukia wasn’t sure, but she strongly suspected that Renji was the one who had hyped Orihime up to ask Ichigo out.
“I have a writers’ workshop I’m moderating this afternoon, and I wanted to review the writing samples people sent in,” Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head. “I’d love to stop by that cosplay contest, though, at least for a few minutes.”
“You’ll be needing caffeine, too, then, eh?” Renji offered. “Hot, black, and in the largest cup they make, as usual?”
“Ugh, you’re the best,” Ichigo groaned. “You wanna power-up this season? Costume update? You know what? Maybe I’ll just have you defeat Tomoe once and for all, no one likes her anyway.”
“C’mon, you know I’m the world’s number one Tomoe simp, don’t do that!” Renji laughed.
Rukia rolled her eyes. “I’m free and I could use some fresh air. Besides, it’s going to take all your dumb muscles just to carry Kurosaki’s vat of coffee back here.”
“Cool!” Renji proclaimed. “We’ll be back soon!”
“Thanks, Renjiiiii!” Orihime waved.
“You need to stop off and put on a disguise?” Renji asked.
“No point in it, I always get recognized,” Rukia sighed, pulling her sunglasses out of her purse anyway.
“Here,” Renji said, plunking his hat on her head. “Maybe this will help.”
“Thanks,” Rukia replied, and then did a double take. “Whaaaaaat is on your head?”
“Shut up!” Renji laughed. He usually shaved his head when they were filming, because it made it easier to deal with the make-up and wigs, but since they were between seasons, he’d grown his hair out into a short, tousled mop of reddish-brown waves. He looked, for the lack of a better word, dreamy. “I shot a movie over the summer, and they wanted me to look softer.”
Rukia looked at him over the top of her sunglasses. “You didn’t tell me you were doing a movie!”
“Oh, it was just a little indy romcom thing. I wasn’t sure it was gonna pan out, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”
“You were in a romcom? You’re kidding me!” They ducked out of a side door of the convention center into the bright sunshine.
“Yeah, it’s about a guy who goes to the gym to try to get ripped to impress a girl, and makes friends with me, this nice, already ripped dude who gives him lifting tips and encourages him a bunch. By the end of the movie, it turns out we have crushes on each other.”
“Oh, no, that sounds really cute, actually!”
“It was written by a woman who graduated from one of Ichigo’s writing workshops. The script was really snappy and Ichigo thought having someone like me as the gym guy would give it just a bit of campy cachet. You know what a good sense he’s got for stuff like that.”
“That was cool of you to go out on a limb a little,” Rukia replied.
Renji rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d been wanting to try something like that for a while, actually.”
Rukia blinked. “You aren’t… you aren’t thinking of leaving the show, are you?”
“Huh? No. No! No, the show means the world to me, I would never. But… it’s not gonna run forever, y’know?”
“I would have guessed you’d want to be a big action star or something!” Rukia said, throwing a few air punches. “That’s my dream!”
Renji stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “Yeah, that’s what I thought I wanted when I first got into acting. I’d read the Tomoe manga, and I thought playing Zabimaru would be a good jumping-off point, besides just being a cool character overall.”
“Is that… not true?” Rukia frowned.
“Oh, I mean, I guess so! I didn’t really know about the fandom, though and… to be honest, I’m kinda into the idea that there are all these fans who think I’m complex and redeemable?”
Rukia regarded him out of the corner of her eye. “They just want to fix you.”
“Maybe! Ichigo made me read this one fanfic that was eight thousand words of the reader getting sick and Zabimaru making them soup? And feeding them the soup? I still haven’t decided how I feel about it.”
“How does he have time to find these things? Does he even sleep?”
“Anyway, it doesn’t hurt to be well-rounded and it was fun. I’m still mostly an action guy, but I wouldn’t mind doin’ something with a romantic subplot. A period drama or something like that. I look pretty good in hakama, you know.”
“I bet you do,” Rukia laughed. She squinted at him, but his expression was unreadable behind the shades. Renji didn’t have the classic leading man looks, not like her ridiculously famous older brother, but she could definitely see him as the best friend, the B-plot romance, with his cute, messy hair and that big doofy grin.
“By the way, I’m sorry you had to field that question about me spilling my romantic sensibilities on that podcast.”
Rukia laughed. “You didn’t even answer the question, either! These people are relentless!”
Renji stopped at a street corner and peered down the various possible directions they could go. “Which way feels like it might have a coffee shop?”
“You didn’t have one in mind before we left? I thought you knew where we were going!”
“Nah, I just like to go out and see what there is.”
“I can look up a map,” Rukia said, reaching in her bag for her phone.
“Let’s just go this way,” Renji said, stepping out into the street in the direction that had the WALK light. Rukia sighed and had to scramble to catch up with him.
“So, what do you think about it?”
“Huh?” Rukia asked. “Think about what?”
“Our ship. ZabiTo.”
“I can’t believe you just said that word out loud. And you know we’re not supposed to give our opinion on it!”
“Aw, c’mon, we’re not supposed to give public statements on our opinions. I don’t think there’s any harm in talking between ourselves. We’re in disguise, even.”
“‘Disguise’,” Rukia sniffed.
“You don’t like it, I can tell.”
“He’s a bad guy! Everyone always talks about chemistry, and that may be true, but I just don’t think that Tomoe could ever get over his acts of violence and cruelty.”
“Queen Bloodbuzz is cruel. Zabimaru is not cruel.”
“Okay, that’s fair, but still. He’s kidnapped just about all of Tomoe’s friends and or turned them into monsters at one time or another. He’s always setting Karakura Town on fire or flooding it with magic lizard goo. He ruined the sports festival.”
“Maybe the sports festival deserved to be ruined,” Renji muttered under his breath.
“Okay, you’ve got a point on that one,” Rukia admitted.
“It’s really clear though, that he’s got some agenda beyond just simping for Queen Bloodbuzz--”
“The simping for Queen Bloodbuzz is the most relatable thing about him, to be honest.”
“Granted. But, what if he’s got a good reason for everything he does, actually? What if he’s doing all of this against his own moral code as a means of infiltrating Hell itself and getting himself into a position of trust so that he can bring down the Lords of Hell from the inside?”
Rukia slipped her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose. “Does Kuna give you Zabimaru spoilers?” The reclusive creator High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe! was only barely involved with the television show, but she did privately meet with each of the cast members about once a year. Most of Rukia’s meetings consisted of Kuna giving her constructive criticism on her battle poses.
“No, mostly we practice sneering,” Renji replied. “But I gotta play the guy, so I gotta think about this, you know, what motivates him? I mean, you’re probably right, it would never work out. But unlike Tomoe, whose principles would call for her to ignore any attraction she has to him, Zabimaru has the freedom to pine for her, perhaps because his love is futile and he doesn’t think he deserves it anyway.”
“That’s kinda dark, dude,” Rukia frowned.
“Yes, well, that is the kind of character acting that netted me the 2019 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Best Villain Award, Foreign Language Category.”
“That’s literally what’s going through your head when you’re shouting that if I can’t make some sick motorcycle jump, you’ll turn all my friends into stuffed animal versions of themselves?”
“No, of course not! At those times I’m thinking about how much I love my job. OH! and what is that I see!” Renji struck an extremely Zabimaru pose. “A MISTER DONUT!”
“My hero!” Rukia exclaimed, unable to resist an opportunity to shout dramatically. “I’m sorry I doubted you!”
“I think we should get some donuts, too. Orihime loves donuts,” Renji declared.
“Oh, for sure,” Rukia agreed. She was thoughtful for a moment. It would be easy to move on to a different subject, the subject being donuts, but she wasn’t happy with leaving the last conversation hanging. “Look, Renji, just because I don’t like the dumb ship, you know that’s not a reflection on you, right?”
“Huh?” Renji replied. “You mean you don’t mind if I like it?”
“Well… I mean, I don’t, I guess, but what I really meant was, er… we joke a lot, but Tomoe and Zabimaru are just parts, y’know? Just because I don’t think Zabimaru isn’t good boyfriend material doesn’t mean I…” Rukia trailed off, suddenly realizing what she was saying. “Um. What I mean is. You’re very nice and probably one of my favorite people I’ve ever worked with and if someone I knew wanted to ask you out, I would definitely encourage them to, A+ guy, I’d say, probably would make a great boyfriend.”
Renji pushed his sunglasses up onto his forehead and regarded her for a long moment. “For the record, Kuchiki, I think that both you and Tomoe would make excellent girlfriend material.” While Rukia stood there and gaped like a fish, he turned and pushed open the door to the coffee shop. “Ichigo likes crullers and Orihime always wants the most colorful thing they’ve got. Do you know what you want?”
“I need to think about it,” Rukia squeaked. She wasn’t talking about donuts.
🏍    ⚡   🎬 
Bonus: Here are my notes from when I was making up the show. I hope this wasn’t too confusing!
High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe!
based on a manga by reclusive mangaka Kuna Mashiro
Head Screenwriter: Kurosaki Ichigo
🌟 Starring: 🌟
Kuchiki Rukia as Yukimura Tomoe, a spunky college student who can see ghosts and fights demons from Hell! She rides a motorcycle!
Inoue Orihime as Queen Bloodbuzz, a Lady of Hell, who seeks to gather energy from the Living Realm so that she can become the Supreme Ruler of Hell. Very aesthetic. Much bees.
Abarai Renji as Zabimaru, Queen Bloodbuzz’s ruthless henchman. He leads a double life as fierce-looking, but gentle-hearted college student Satonaka Takeru! What is his long game??
15 notes · View notes
polite-pandemonium · 3 years
Text
Digimon fic I will never finish
Writing has absolutely taken a back burner to the endless strategies, recommendations, reports, and presentations I’ve had to put together for work since October. I miss writing and feeling creative.
Since I still don’t have time to write (I’m currently procrastinating on putting together a deck for a talk I’m doing Wednesday morning by compiling this), in a bid to feel slightly creative, here’s some unedited scenes from various Digimon fics I will probably never finish. I have written thousands of words for this fandom that will never see the light of day, so may as well give them their time in the sun. Usual ships you’d expect from me - Sora/Yamato, Taichi/Mimi, and Takeru/Hikari, but I have labelled which scenes feature which ships below, cause this got long. 
(also, for some reason, almost ALL of these are sad? am I okay???) 
I am easy to find - taichi/mimi we’ve got something (kind of funny) - yamato/sora (taichi is there, too)  somewhere in her smile, she knows - takeru/hikari  to be so lonely - yamato/sora/jyou  combustible - yamato/sora  everyone’s gotta lean (sometime) - taichi/meiko, yamato/sora  you already know - takeru/hikari
I am easy to find taichi/mimi
in which Taichi and Mimi reunite for the first time in years at a party in New York.
“Are you?” Mimi broached the topic slowly. Something about the way he said her name made Mimi feel like she should proceed with caution. “Still with Meiko, I mean?”
Taichi was quiet for a moment, peeling at the label on his beer bottle. “Uh, no,” he responded, his tone tight. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “We haven’t been together in a while.” He peered up at Mimi then, curiously. “Didn’t you know that? You guys were close, weren’t you?”
Mimi felt her stomach twist. “We were,” she looked down, “but life happens. We fell out of touch. I try to keep up with Facebook and Instagram, but even that can be difficult, especially with my job. With the exception of Jyou and Sora — and I guess Yamato, by extension — I don’t really talk to anyone these days.”
“Yeah,” Taichi said quietly. “We noticed.”
Stomach twisting even further, Mimi kept her gaze fixed to the ground. “I’m sorry. It’s hard. With the time difference and stuff; it got harder as we got older. And I speak mostly English here, so my Japanese has gotten kind of rusty, so I am sometimes nervous about picking up the phone. You must be able to tell; I sound like I’m out of practice.”
Shrugging, Taichi propped himself straighter up against the wall. “Yeah, a little, maybe,” he conceded. “Still. A long time ago, it would have been strange to think of a universe where you’re weren’t close with Meiko. You guys were tight as hell in high school...and yet here we are. I can’t believe you don’t talk enough for her to tell you something like this.” His tone sounded equal parts confused and judgemental, and Mimi felt herself bristle.
“I could say the same thing for you,” she raised her beer and took a long swig, the taste bitter on her tongue, pointing her finger at him accusingly. “I mean, you were dating her. Why didn’t she tell you that we fell out of touch? What, did she not talk to you enough for her to tell you that we weren’t close?”
Taichi chuckled softly. “Yeah, actually,” he lifted his gaze to hers and Mimi paused at the look of hurt in them. She hadn’t seen that look in more years than she could count. “That was kind of the problem. She didn’t talk to me about anything.”
Averting her eyes from his, Mimi took another drink of beer. How awkward. “Oh,” she mustered up. “I um...I’m sorry to hear that.”
Shrugging, he pushed himself off the wall. “Whatever,” he said, “Like you said, life happens. Sometimes you can only go so far with a person. Sometimes there’s places within them that you can’t reach. It...it happens.” 
“I guess so,” Mimi frowned. She couldn’t say she could exactly relate, could understand how he was feeling. Something about that made her feel unsettled in a way she couldn’t quite place her finger on. “How long ago did you break up?”
Raising his eyebrows, Taichi laughed. “Wow, cool, thanks Mimi,” he ran a hand through his hair, “haven’t seen you in six years, but sure, let’s rehash the details of my failed love life and arguably one of the most painful relationships in my existence to date. After we’re done with me, shall we run through your recent dating adventures?” 
“Sorry,” Mimi said quickly, flushing. She hadn’t thought of it that way at all; that it was too much, too soon. She was just trying to fill in the gaps. “There’s just…a lot I missed. A lot to catch up on.”
Taichi was silent for a moment; so quiet, she swore she could hear his breathing. “Yeah, I guess you’re right about that. It has been a while.” He paused. “I can’t believe it’s been eight years.”
Sensing a moment to break the tension, Mimi grinned cheekily. “Did you miss me, Taichi-san? Did you miss me this whole time we weren’t together? Are you stunned by how attractive and put together I have become?”
Rolling his eyes, Taichi polished off his beer. “Wow. Glad to see you haven’t changed.”
“What?!” Mimi exclaimed, “Of course I have! My hair isn’t even pink anymore; it’s rose gold!” 
––––––––––––––––––––––––––
we’ve got something (kind of funny)  sora/yamato, taichi/mimi
in which Taichi unexpectedly runs into Sora. 
Taichi arrived at Yamato’s apartment just as Sora was leaving. 
“Oh, Taichi,” she said awkwardly in the doorway. “Hi.”
A grin spread across Taichi’s face. “Hi, Sora,” he said, looking her up and down. Her usually neat hair was pulled back in a messy braid and she was wearing an oversized red plaid shirt that he was 95% sure was not hers. “Whatcha doin’ here?” 
Sora smiled back stiffly. “I was just stopping by,” she hitched her bag on her shoulder. “And now I’m just leaving.”
“Just stopping by, huh?” Taichi’s grin grew wider. “Pretty early in the morning to be just stopping by.”
“Says the person who is also just stopping by at 9 in the morning,” Sora said pointedly, stepping past Taichi to enter the hallway. “You and Yamato have something you want to tell me?” 
Taichi’s face fell. “Goodbye, Sora!”
“Goodbye, Taichi!” she called over her shoulder. “Have a good day!”
Glancing back at Yamato’s open door, Taichi saw the blonde leaning against the wall, arms folded, an annoyed expression on his face. He was still in his pyjamas. 
“This is why people don’t just drop by anymore,” he scowled, “you should have texted first.”
“Sorry,” Taichi said, not sounding sorry at all. He stepped into Yamato’s apartment, closing the door behind him as he bent down to take off his shoes in the genkan. “I was hopped up after my flight last night and couldn’t really sleep.”
Pushing himself off the wall, Yamato shrugged. “Whatever. You want coffee?”
“Sure,” Taichi flopped down on Yamato’s living room couch, stretching out. “So, you and Sora, huh?”
Yamato set a mug down on his counter, loudly, before responding. “What about me and Sora?”
Watching as his best friend picked up a French press, Taichi grinned mischievously. “You guys back together?”
Yamato’s eyes flicked up to him, his head still bent over their coffee. “I’m not answering that.”
“Okay,” Taichi conceded, “you guys sleeping together again then?”
“I’m not answering that either.”
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
somewhere in her smile, she knows  takeru/hikari
in which Hikari pesters Takeru about who he is taking to her brother’s wedding.
“I know,” she agrees, “it’s way too much. But it’s what Mimi wants and if it’s what Mimi wants, then it’s what Taichi wants,” she sighs. “Have you really not given the wedding date thing any real thought, though?”
He turns to her to answer and stops, feeling himself get distracted at the sight of a bead of sweat making its way down her neck. Just a little bit further and it would slip underneath her shirt, down to skin he could not see and could not touch. 
Despite the temperature, he finds himself feeling chilly.
“Takeru!” Hikari snaps, her features looking slightly annoyed. “Are you listening to me at all?”
“No,” he admits, biting into his ice cream. The wafer had gone soggy by now, the whole thing basically mush. “Not really.”
Whacking him on the arm, Hikari rolls her eyes. “Typical. Why do I even bother?”
Takeru grins. She’s so easy to rile up, even after all these years. “What’s wrong? You want my undivided attention, Hikari-chan?” he slips the honorific onto the end of her name, long abandoned since their early 20s, whenever he’s trying to be cute. Whenever he’s really trying to rile her up.
“No,” she says stiffly. “I just am trying to have a normal conversation with you and you’re barely even listening.”
Sighing, Takeru crumbles up the wrapper his ice cream had been in and leans down to grab his bag from its place on the ground. “It’s not that I’m not listening, but I just haven’t thought about this, so I don’t really have an answer. I’ll probably just ask Mizuki or Himawari from work, one of the girls I can have fun with without too much commitment.”
Hikari scrunches her nose. “Mizuki or Himawari? Those aren’t dates, those are just your drinking buddies.”
“Exactly,” Takeru says, pocketing the wrapper in his bag and setting it back down. “If I take a girl I have been on a few dates with or something, then she’ll think that this means more than it is and I do not want that.”
“Of course not,” Hikari rolls her eyes, folding her arms. “God forbid a woman think you’re actually interested in her.”
“Yes,” Takeru agrees. “God forbid.” 
Hikari shakes her head, sets down her ice cream cup. She hadn’t finished it, it’s soupy consistency now looking far less than appealing. “You know what I think you should do?”
“What, Hikari?” He leans forward, resting his hand on the railing between them. “What does my lovely, grumbly best friend think I should do?”
“I think,” she begins matter of factly, “that for the wedding, you should bring someone you like.”
He nods slowly. “Got it. Okay. I’ll bring Patamon then.”
“Idiot!” Hikari whacks him in the arm again. “No, I think you should bring someone you like. Someone you really, really like.”
The words stumble out of Takeru’s mouth before he can stop them. He’s not even sure he thinks about it before speaking. “Well, I really like you. So why don’t we go together?”
A beat passes between them.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
to be so lonely  yamato/sora/jyou
in which Jyou has a realization.
“You know, I never even felt a reason to be jealous,” Jyou says quietly, fingers pressed to his lips. “I never felt even the slightest need to. Yamato was a part of your past and I was a part of your present and that was enough for me. I trusted you so much, that just knowing I was yours was enough for me. But clearly I was foolish. Clearly, I was foolish enough to think that what we had really mattered.”
“No, Jyou,” Sora raises a hand, tears running down her cheeks. “It’s not like that.”
“Then what is it like, Sora?” Jyou snaps. “Because I’m having a really hard time trying to compute what any of this is, never mind what’s it not.”
“It’s just...it’s Yamato,” Sora chokes out. 
Jyou lets out a laugh. “Yeah,” he swallows. “That’s what I thought.”
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
combustible yamato/sora
in which Yamato and Sora break up in Paris, during Fashion Week.
They stare up at the Notre Dame, or what’s left of it rather, covered up in scaffolding and tarps. It makes Sora sad to see the sight of it. The last time they were here, the cathedral had been strong, beautiful, and whole. After the fire had ripped through it, even with repairs, she could feel that it was never going to be the same. 
Much like them.
“Yamato,” she turns to speak to him. “This isn’t working.”
He’s quiet for a moment before replying. “What isn’t?”
Sora swallows. “You know, Yamato.”
He doesn’t look at her and that’s how she knows she’s right. His eyes drop to the ground instead.
“Yeah,” he agrees, “it’s not.”
Sora feels something well up in her. “It’s not that I don’t want it to work. It’s just not anymore and it breaks my heart.”
He nods. “I feel the same. But we can’t keep denying it anymore. It’s been years since it’s been working.”
This stings Sora, the implication from him that things have been bad for far longer than either of them acknowledged. While she can admit it to herself, to hear him say it hurts. 
“It hasn’t been that bad,” she folds her arms, feeling cold.
Yamato glances at her then and she feels a shiver run down her spine, for reasons she can’t quite explain. “No,” he looks back up at Notre Dame, “but it hasn’t been good either.”
A silence settles over them, both unsure of how to fill the space that has appeared between them.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
everyone’s gotta learn (sometime)  taichi/meiko, yamato/sora
in which Taichi turns to Yamato and Sora following his break up with Meiko.
Meiko left him on a Tuesday and he had seen it coming a mile away. Things between them had been crumbling for months — probably even years — so it wasn’t a surprise to him when he stepped inside their (his?) apartment in Kichijoji after a long shift at work to find every trace of her completely gone. 
Well, that was partially a lie. He had expected Meiko to leave — but he hadn’t expected her to be so dramatic about it, just up and go in the middle of the day. 
He runs a hand through his hair, letting out an exasperated sigh, before pulling out his cell phone. 
Yamato answers on the second ring.
“Hi,” he says slowly, and Taichi already knows he knows exactly what happened; Meiko must have gotten to Sora first. “What’s up?”
“Meiko left,” Taichi leans again his counter, pinching the bridge of his nose. He can feel a headache coming on, strong. “I just got home and there’s nothing of hers here.”
Yamato inhales sharply on the other side, a little bit too convincingly. He definitely knew. “Fuck,” he swears, “Taichi, I—”
“If Sora already told you, don’t sweat it,” Taichi lets out another sigh. “I would say it sucks that everyone knew before me, but it’s not like I didn’t know this was coming.”
Yamato exhales. “Fuck, shit, Taichi, I am so sorry,” he says, and he sounds it, “Sora just found out maybe ten, fifteen minutes ago? And the two of us have been sick waiting for this call. I’m so sorry, I feel like an ass.”
“Don’t,” Taichi interjects, chuckling darkly. “It’s not on you that she thought it would be nice to tell my friends before she even told me.”
A beat passes between them. That wasn’t fair of him; Yamato and Sora were as much Meiko’s friends as they were his. Taichi cringes, wondering how awkward he made it for Yamato.
If he’s phased, Yamato doesn’t show it in his voice. “Do you want to come over? I’ll cook and Sora will go get beer.”
“Yes,” Taichi says without a heartbeat, picking up his keys off the counter. “Yes, I do.”
He shuts the door to his practically empty apartment. He’ll deal with it later. 
x x x
He goes to Yamato and Sora’s and tries to ignore the signs of their domesticity that he normally wouldn’t notice. The same signs that were all over his own apartment until meer hours ago. 
He never feels like a third wheel with Yamato and Sora. He never feels like three’s company. But something about that night, with them trying as hard as they could to make him feel even a little better, he feels it, intensely.
He drinks to make the feeling go away. 
He gets drunk, horribly drunk, and calls his sister, who doesn’t answer. Koushiro and Mimi are in Seoul. The chances of Jyou answering are slim to none, and if Hikari didn’t answer, Takeru wouldn’t either. He doesn’t want to talk to any of the others. 
He passes out on the couch and an hour later, finds himself leaning over the toilet, throwing up while Sora rubs his back. Yamato brings him water. 
He’s not sure if it’s how well they work as a unit or the unconditional kindness they show him time and time again, but something about it all breaks him, and he starts to weep on their bathroom floor. 
The tile is cold against his skin.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
you already know  takeru/hikari
in which Takeru and Hikari reach a breaking point.
“Sometimes I look at you,” he says softly, watching the tears fall down her face, “and the years between us stack up. They stack up and up and it’s like, none of it matters. Sometimes I look at you and all I feel is the weight of things unsaid and all of the places I can’t reach. Sometimes I look at you and I feel like I don’t know you at all.”
Hikari winces, clearly stung. Something dark passes over her face. “Can you ever speak like a normal person?”
Takeru narrows his eyes. “What?”
“Speak like a normal person,” Hikari says slowly, punctuating each word. “Just say things the way a person normally word instead of making everything sound like a declaration in a novel. I get it, Takeru, you’re a writer. We all get it.”
Chuckling, Takeru shakes his head. “Wow. After all that, after everything I just said, that’s what you cling to? My verbiage?”
“Do you know why, Takeru?” Hikari snaps, her voice raising, “because you talk like that and it makes me feel like you think we’re characters in one of your books. Like you’re just projecting all of these things on to me, all these ideas of me and you and what we’re supposed to be. You tell me that you look and me and all you can feel is the weight of things unsaid? Who talks like that, Takeru? Who talks like that when you’re apparently sharing the deepest of your feelings?”
“Characters in a novel?” Takeru gapes, “are you serious right now? I am a writer, Hikari, it does make my feelings more verbose, but it doesn’t mean that I am projecting things onto you.”
“Oh yeah?” Hikari begins to pace, “cause you talk like that in moments like this and you call my lingerie exquisite and you tell me time stops when you’re with me and all I can think is you think we’re part of this grand, sweeping story when the reality is we’re just two fucked up people who had to go through some fucked up stuff when we were kids. We’re not anything special, you and I, Takeru. Not really. And it’s hard to take anything seriously when you act like we are cause it makes me feel like you’re right, you don’t really know me at all.”
Takeru is quiet. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that maybe you just like the idea of me,” she says quiet, her voice still brimming with anger, “that you like the idea of being in love with your childhood sweetheart. That you think this codepency we’ve bred together is romantic and incomparable. That you refuse to take me as I am — a flawed human being who — and instead take me as your other half because of some ridiculous personality traits forced onto us when we were eight. Nothing you have ever said to me during all of this has ever felt like you were really saying it to me.”
Takeru feels like she shot him. “That’s because I can’t talk to you, Hikari,” he steps closer to her, “because everytime I do, you clam up and go somewhere I can’t reach. I’ve tried talking to you about this Hikari. I’ve tried practically our whole lives. And every time I get close, I stop, because I know it would hurt you and you’d go even further away from me. I’ve wanted to tell you what this feels like for years.”
“Yeah?” Hikari raises her chin, definitely. “What does it feel like?”
“It feels like I am being ripped in half,” Takeru shouts. “Every time we’re together, every time we sleep together, I feel like I am cracking open. I feel like I am cracking open in a bid to get you to finally see me, finally get closer and you just ignore it! There’s no way you haven’t known how I felt, Hikari, no way at all. And yet you still have been fucking me for years now. Years. And it is killing me and I know you knew that and you still went along with it anyway.”
Hikari is silent. 
“And I can’t figure out why,” his voice sounds desperate even to him, “I can’t figure out why you would do that. In the beginning, it was fine, but we were younger and I didn’t think it was going to go on forever without something changing. But nothing’s changed, Hikari. And it’s getting too hard. It hurts way too much. I can’t figure out how we got here and I can’t…” he swallows, “I can’t figure out why you’re okay with it. Why you want things to go on this way.”
“I think you should go,” Hikari says.
Takeru nods too, throat tight. “I think I should, too.”
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jinkicake · 4 years
Text
Seeing Them After A Breakup
Running into Oikawa/Tendou/Kuroo/Ushijima after a breakup.
I am president of the post-breakup company, the amount of iwaoi fics I have read with this trope is more than all of my current textbooks combined. 
Also. Please stay safe wherever you are! I hope you’re alright! </3
WC - 2,213
~~~
“Oikawa?” A soft voice Oikawa keeps hearing in his dreams calls out to him and he nearly trips on his face as he turns around to face you. His light eyes nearly pop out of his head when he sees you actually standing in front of him, looking as timid as the day he met you. The sour thought that it shouldn’t be like this runs through his brain and he smiles at you to try and hide the hurt he is facing. 
“What are you doing here?” You ask quietly, gripping the bags in your hands tightly. Oikawa looks down and notices the grocery bags in your hands, making the realization you must’ve come back from shopping after school, it truly is a small town.
“Just dropping Takeru off at practice.” His voice comes out hard and you slightly flinch. Oikawa mentally slaps himself at how cold his tone sounds and he notices you twirl a strand of hair around your finger, something you always did when you were nervous. It shouldn’t be like this.
“Oh, you’re not watching his practice today?” Your voice keeps drawing Oikawa back from his thoughts and he reaches to take the heavy bags out of your hands, surprised that you actually let him. 
“No, I was going to go and practice by myself.” Oikawa has had the problem of pushing himself lately, he puts his all into volleyball practice and when he’s not actually practicing he’s thinking about practice. If he stops to think about anything else then his thoughts will drift back to you and that won’t end well for the setter. Guilt fills his chest when he hears your disappointed sigh and he notices your stare on his knee, his injured one. He can tell by your irritated expression that you want to tell him off and he is internally begging you to do so, one last time for his sake. 
“Y-you shouldn’t push yourself so hard To-“ Your eyes fall to the ground and you quickly correct yourself. “You shouldn’t push yourself so hard Oikawa.” Crossing your arms over your chest you look away from him, embarrassed at your slip up. Even at the utter of his name the boy nearly collapses begging you to take him back, if only he could be so selfish. Baby steps, he tells himself. 
“(Y/N) can I walk you home?” The handsome boy asks you and you feel your heart flutter in your chest, holding onto hope that something will rekindle between the two of you. That idea is stupid and you keep telling yourself that but, with a bright smile you nod and take Oikawa’s extended hand in yours. 
~
Tendou drags himself into the convenience store, looking for something to fill his after-practice monster appetite. His eyes lower to the shelf of hot meals and his long taped fingers reach out to place two different meals in his basket before turning around to the ice cream cooler. He fails to notice the girl on the other side of the cooler, just as she fails to notice him. 
Tendou reaches out to grab the last chocolate ice cream and instead of grabbing the cool plastic he meets a smaller hand. With an annoyed sigh, the middle-blocker rolls his shoulders back, standing up to his true height to try and scare whoever is in front of him into giving him the treat. When his red eyes finally lay on your shocked face they widen and he has the same level of shock twinkling in his eyes. A deep pang settles in his chest when you shyly laugh at the ground, clutching your skirt in your fist before holding the ice cream out for him.
“Here, it’s your favorite anyway. I was only getting it because-“ Confusion etches onto the boy's face when he notices your smile falling and your eyes dropping back to the ground. Because I was thinking of you, you wanted to say but, how weird is that to say to your ex-boyfriend.
“Oh, thanks.” You visibly flinch when his taped fingers brush against yours to take the now, probably, unfrozen ice cream cone. 
“Volleyball isn’t treating you any better huh?” You finally look back up at the redhead and give him a smile, hoping to hear his laugh one more time. 
Tendou only looks at his fingers before looking back at your face as he lets out a shaky laugh. God he is pathetic, the boy scolds himself. Despite all the negative thoughts flooding into his mind just telling him to leave, to leave you alone, he can’t help but need to have you in his arms again. 
“You can’t get any more injured, it’ll be a pretty boring game if you’re not on the court.” You tell him, trying to mask the pride you feel for him during his matches, as you wave and walk towards the counter. Tendou only stands frozen as you walk away from him and he feels his mind slowing down as he can only focus on one thing. He notices the rice ball and drink in your hands and his eyes shine bright. 
“Do you want to eat together?” His voice surprised you and you can’t help the smile that breaks onto your face when you notice him holding up his basket way too high. With a more than necessary nod you finish paying and wait for him to do the same. 
~
The warm spring air kisses Kuroo’s bare skin as he walks towards the train station. How he got roped into hanging out with Yamamoto in the city, he doesn’t know. The night is still young and the stars are starting to brighten as the moon lifts higher into the sky. Kuroo releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he looks up at the night sky, something you used to make him do all the time. He lets out a low laugh because once again for the umpth time that day you stormed into his mind unannounced. It's been like this for two weeks, he just can’t get you off his mind. 
“Yes, mom I’ll be home in like thirty minutes.” Kuroo saw you before he heard you, your small frame brushing past him like he was another stranger amongst the crowd. “Yes, I was hanging out after school with friends. What were we doing? Mom we were studying.” Kuroo can hear the irritation in your voice, your mom always had to ask more questions than necessary. “No mom he was not there.” He watches with curious eyes as your shoulders fall and you practically slouch over. 
“No mom I am not going to invite him over because you want to see him, we broke up!” Kuroo knows for a fact you’re talking about him, he almost feels bad for eavesdropping but that doesn’t stop him from blending into the busy train station. “Huh? Yes, mom, I do miss him but,” You let out a sigh and shake your head. “Whatever it doesn’t matter, I’ll be home in thirty.” 
Kuroo can’t help the laugh slip out as he watches you violently hang up and throw your phone into your bag. The small smile etches onto his face as he stares at your back and thinks about the relationship the two of you shared. It seems impossible but every day Kuroo knows he falls in love with you more and more, even broken up. Despite his cool head, he can practically feel his heart jumping in his throat as the train approaches. Remain cool, remain cool. He tells himself over and over as the crowd moves into the packed train. 
An elbow is shoved into his side and he lets out an annoyed sigh to glance down at the drunk old man jumping off the train at the last minute. Kuroo looks around the train car again to try and find you but he loses you, if he doesn’t feel like a complete idiot right now. Rolling his eyes the tall boy leans against the door of the train, failing to notice your small frame already there. 
“Hey!” You squeak out pushing away his side that is crushing you against the door. Your glare falls when you meet Kuroo’s eyes and a blush paints over your cheeks. Nervously you drop your gaze to the floor and grimace at your shoes. 
“Sorry you’re so small I didn’t even see you.” The teasing tone causes your eyes to narrow as you try to hide the smile on your face. Kuroo nearly kicks himself but your smile is worth it, it will always be. You cross your arms over your chest and let out a sigh, knowing that your eyes show the exhaustion you’re facing. “Rough day?” Kuroo has to ask, drag the conversation along no matter how stupid he will look. His shoulders drop in relief when you laugh and shake your head.
“One like you wouldn’t believe.” You run your fingers through your messy hair, freezing when your fingers get caught in the knots. Subtly you try to release your hand from your hair but it doesn’t go unnoticed by Kuroo. He tries to mask his laughter as he gingerly untangles your fingers out of your hair and you give him a pointed look. “Don’t say anything when your hair looks like that.” The teasing nature surrounds the two of you in a close bubble, and your heart starts to relax at the comfort. Kuroo wraps his hand around your own and you raise an eyebrow at him.
“Do you wanna, maybe, look at the stars?” His question causes an embarrassed flush to spread across your face as you recall your first efforts to try and ask him out. Instead of instantly hitting his arm like you normally would, all you can do is smile and nod.
“I’d like that Kuroo.” 
~
With an annoyed sigh, you drop the heavy bag to the floor, ignoring the empty water bottles clashing around inside of it. Sakunami comes up beside you and grabs the bag, hiking it over his own shoulder.
“Sakunami, it’s okay, give it to me.” You try to get the bag back from the first year but he only shakes his head. Sakunami was always helping you out whenever you needed it, he picked up on most things the other players didn’t when it came to you since you were closest to him on the team. 
“Manager let me help.” He stubbornly yanks the bag from your reach causing a sigh to drop from your mouth as you let out a soft ‘fine’. Sakunami wanted to press and ask if the reason you were upset today was because of your ex-boyfriend. Before he gets the chance to ask you, a tall figure looms over both of you. The tiny first-year instantly steps in front of you protectively and looks completely stupid trying to take on Ushijima. The ace only stares down at you, waiting for you to look back at him but your eyes remain glued to the ground. “Manager I can-“ Sakunami tries to stand up for you but is instantly shot down by the bigger player. 
“Leave.” Ushijima wasn’t going to ask twice and his glare pierced the first year on the spot. The tone of his voice causes you to look up at him, an anger in your eyes that is rivaling his own.
“Don’t be such an ass Ushiwaka.” You practically spit before lightly placing your hand on Sakunami’s elbow. “It’s okay, I’ll meet you out front in a few minutes.” The first year looks between the older pair and his eyes filled with worry. “Don’t worry.” You softly consult him and he walks away, but not without another glance back at the two of you. 
“What do you want, Ushijima?” Crossing your arms over your chest you stand defensively, not wanting to hear anything come out of his mouth. It’s hard looking him in the eye so you resort to looking back down at the ground.  
“I’m sorry.” His apology is crystal clear and your eyes widen in shock slightly but remain to stare at the floor. “I never meant to neglect you the way I did. I let you down.” Disappointment is heavy in his voice and you bite the inside of your cheek, slowly raising your gaze to look up at him. Ushijima has the same rest face full of intimidation but his eyes hold regret, hurt swirling around his olive eyes. 
It’d be a lie to say that Ushijima treated you as his top priority last month, things began to slip and he treated you like a background figure. When you finally dumped his ass he took it hard. “I hate having you mad at me.” His low voice turns soft and your frown deepens, itching to reach out and grab his hand. 
“Ushijima.” The sigh leaves your mouth and you’re biting the inside of your cheek, wondering what to say next. “I accept your apology. I miss you.” His eyes widen as a flush paints over your cheeks. Gently his hand scoops up your own and you smile softly at the action of his skin brushing against yours. “You should call me later tonight Wakatoshi.”
858 notes · View notes
writeiolite · 4 years
Text
curiosity killed the cat — [ WTF U! 18 ]
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❝ You’re close to your dream life: early graduation and big-city opportunities. A one night stand with Oikawa turned into two, which turned to three, which somehow turned into two little lines on a plastic stick. It was nice being able to live your dreams, but suddenly it’s time for you both to wake the fuck up and start being parents. ❞
wc: 2,027
WTF U!: m.list . 18 . 19
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There’s that saying about butter and a knife and tension, right? That would’ve been a dream these past couple days. Instead, Tooru wasn’t sure if there’s any blade that could cut through the heavy weight between his brother and sister-in-law. Whatever caused them to storm out of his game had nothing to do with him, but it was affecting him enough to not want to stick around any longer. Even the pleading looks from Takeru could never convince him to stay — if anything, he wants to take him too.
Neither of the two adults is passive-aggressive by any means, but Tooru definitely heard the hushed arguments from their bedroom and watched how Tarou would sometimes clench his jaw during meal conversations. There was no denying the tired, faux smile on Akiko’s face when she’d see Tooru after work, but there was also no confronting it. He’s not going to butt into their relationship, but he’ll wish them the best of luck from afar. It’s surprising to see them fight, especially to such a degree in a short amount of time, but that’s exactly why he wants to stay out of it.
“If things between Y/N and I can improve, then there’s hope,” he cheekily teases Akiko in the doorway, his duffle bag hanging on his shoulder. “Thank you for letting me stay this long. Tell Tarou I said thanks too when he gets home.”
Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes. “I will! I hope that means things between you two are getting better.”
He nods proudly. Sure, he messed up in the end, but that call felt like progress back to where you two once were. Just getting to hear your voice in a casual setting, without expectations, made his heart lighter. It’s been so long since he felt that with you, but he’s never forgotten the feeling. Behind the smile, he’s sporting are thoughts and memories of you as he drives back to his apartment.
He didn’t ask what you had been up to when he called and that only means his mind wanders now. Months ago, you two were strangers to each other, last names and formalities, and your job was the only thing tying you together. Now it’s what pulled you apart and he can’t seem to balance the bitterness with the longing he has for you.
Do you miss him too? Do you despise him too? Part of him wants to see you just so he can yell at you again, to lecture you and dig his words in with a knife and bury his heart with a shovel. And the other part of him wants to visit so he can hold your hand. Just that. Right now, all he wants is the simplicity of holding your hand again because that was something consistent for the two of you when the road got rocky.
As for you, your inner turmoil is still muted, but maybe that call did something. It’s clear that the two of you bond over nostalgic thoughts, which only serves to make you more conflicted about the call. If he called just to make you feel something again then it worked, but you don’t want to feel anything.
You just want to work. Right now, that’s the only thing you can do best.
“Y/N…”
You look up from your computer at the sound of Dayoung’s soft voice, alarm causing your eyebrows to lift. She looks worried. You might have to retract that earlier statement.
“Yes?”
Her neatly manicured hand waves a paper with a small swish. “Is everything okay? I noticed you requested some days off in December and quite a few next year as well.”
How do I say “Your ex knocked me up and those are my maternity appointments?”
Hesitation grabs hold of your lips, especially when Dayoung furrows her brows at you.
“I’m fine!” You hold up your hands in reassurance. “I just have a few appointments and some fam- guests might be coming to see me.”
Now one neat brow comes up. “Ohh, family? Liiikkeeeee a boyfriend?”
Pfft, who is she? Rina?
“Something like that…! How’d you and your husband meet?” You need to change the topic before she drags out the f-word again. Hearing the word come out of your mouth surprised you more than her, for sure. And since when have you started referring to things as _-word?! How does that infuriating man still have an impact on you?
She doesn’t spare a breath before she’s pouring out the words like a memorized speech, much to your relief.
“We met through an ex-boyfriend of mine, actually. He and Paulo were volleyball teammates in Argentina but my ex wanted to go Olympic while I wanted to settle down. Things didn’t work out, Paulo ended up helping me start up this business, and then the rest was history!” There’s an uncharacteristically dreamy look in her eyes when she talks about it, but somehow it makes your stomach flutter with butterflies and… surprise.
So much for not having feelings. But how can you not? She met her husband through Oikawa? Is that why he’s so fragile now? Maybe the swirling in your gut isn’t the fuzzing feeling of romance but the churning of stomach acid right before you puke.
The resemblance of the two scenarios is too uncanny, but you can’t tell which is worse, honestly. All you know is suddenly your lungs aren’t as big as you thought they were when you think about Oikawa going through this twice on different ends of the spectrum. Shouldn’t this mean he understands where you’re coming from to some degree? Right now, you can barely swallow down everything Dayoung has spilled to you.
Yet you want to know more.
“Did you hold it against your ex?” you gulp out, not meeting her eyes. “Prioritizing his job over settling down? Does he hold it against you?”
“No, I could never,” she immediately tells you with a rosy smile that comforts and confuses you. “He may still be hurt because I couldn’t wait to get married, but I think it just shows that we weren’t meant to be anyway. We had different goals. I heard through the grapevine that he’s doing really well now and I… I’m happy for him…”
The small pause that follows is due to the look on Dayoung’s face. Her eyes are far from dull and a reminiscent curve plays on her glossy lips. Maybe the hint of pink on her cheeks is from her makeup… or maybe it’s not.
It doesn’t hurt to see that expression on her beautiful face, but rather you wish you had the same look. You wish Oikawa would think about the future and be okay with your choice because, truly, your heart is aching now when you think about raising this baby with financial stability and no present father figure. It may be wrong, but Dayoung has something you want.
She has a flower garden for smiles when Paulo comes around while you have vines and weeds around your heart. Maybe you were misguided in leaving, but what other choice did you have?!
“I believe your résumé said you worked at the athletic club he trains at so you might know him. Small world isn’t it?” She rips you away from your noxious thoughts with a direct smile at you, this smile much different than the one she had for Oikawa.
“Yeah,” you push out with a nervous laugh. “Small world. But I’ll probably never go back there. I think I’m at home here.”
And home you are, a few hours after that, at least. Somehow the rest of your workday was complete hell. All you could think about was Dayoung, her husband, and Oikawa. Just a few days ago you were sighing dreamily over her marriage but now you feel like there’s something off about it.
And the call from Oikawa? What exactly did he need from you? Why did you let him talk for so long? Ripping out your hair and scratching your head isn’t going to dig up the answers, but a little snooping might…
Even after the long hours at your office computers, you still manage to keep your eyes trained on your laptop when you pull up Dayoung’s Facebook. Online stalking your boss is definitely not the way to go, but you want to look at someone else’s drama for once.
Shared post.
Scroll.
Tagged in a photo.
Scroll.
Timehop.
Scroll.
Happy photo with a younger Oikawa.
Scroll.
Boring.
The iced tea beside you is watering down the longer you sit there, without any progress, but you can’t bring yourself to do anything but drink in the words on the screen. Especially when you type in her fiancé’s name on her profile, hoping for results.
Vacation post in Dubai.
Photos of their dog.
Tagged in a post.
Each one dates farther back until you finally find something of importance: an engagement post.
Wait-
There’s no way this can be right. You swore you just saw a similar date on a previous post… And now I have to scroll all the way through again- Oh.
No, you don’t. As luck would have it, in her fickle form, you don’t have to scroll too far. You went back to her home page and scrolled right back to where you were, finding the engagement post with sickening ease, posted just mere weeks after that happy photo with a certain volleyball player.
Your vision blurs a little, lungs closing up, and fingers freezing as you try to fool yourself into thinking you’re wrong. There’s no way she got engaged so soon after the two of them broke up. Nothing could convince you to believe that! She just looked so enamored with Oikawa hours ago, why would she c-
You don’t know the whole truth, you don’t know the whole truth.
Your small lungs expand as you ground yourself with a big breath of a reality check. Even then, you’re met with the familiar churning in your stomach. All you wanted was to do a little snooping on Dayoung and figure out why she’s so… elusive. But now you understand why people say curiosity killed the cat.
Too bad they have nine lives.
“Hey, Aki!”
“Y/N, hi! How are you?”
Just great! Found out my boss might be a cheater and- Fuck.
You freeze up again, realization hitting you much harder now because this is Akiko you’re talking to about your boss and Oikawa’s ex. The same Akiko that once said she doesn’t know Dayoung Silva… But wouldn’t she know his-
You gasp sharply before you even realize it, bringing your hand to your mouth as if to swallow the sound — or your suspicions — back up.
“Y/N? What’s wrong?”
“H-hey uh,” your mind fails you, “what else do you know about Oikawa’s ex?”
“Like what?”
“Like uh… Why they broke up?”
“He wasn’t ready for marriage but she was and his parents wanted him to be. So they ended up splitting. Why do you ask?”
Of course, what else could you expect? She’s been lying to you this whole time about not knowing- no. No, no, no, it could be a coincidence. She may not know about Dayoung’s marriage.
“I was just wondering,” you mumble out, not completely convinced. But what choice do you have? Aki’s your closest friend right now that knows about the pregnancy — your only friend that knows. If you’re going to believe in anybody, it has to be her.
She may not know.
“Do you think that’s what’s happening with us right now? Except the roles are reversed?”
You don’t hear the sigh of relief Akiko lets out, nor do you see the glare Tarou gives her. “Yeah, but it’s still a little different. You shouldn’t compare the two situations.”
“I know, but…” Dayoung is his ex and I just realized you told me you didn’t know her, and history is repeating itself and I don’t know how to feel about the situation because I just want it all to go away.
“I guess I’m just paranoid.”
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304 notes · View notes
merryfortune · 3 years
Text
Day 5 / Awkward Hugs
Social Interactionism 2021
Event: @hugsaku
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains
Ship: Wisteriashipping | Spectre/Yusaku
Word Count: 1.8k
Tags: Developing Relationship, Bittersweet, Fluff with a Sad Ending
AN: since today’s Hugsaku prompt overlaps with my birthday, it was only natural for me to write Spectre/Yusaku as a birthday treat to myself (hence why, no spoilers), they can hug twice in this fic as a treat
  Yusaku’s plan, like they usually did, involved three steps. There might be more steps or issues within those three, broad ideas but so be it. That’s also how it usually was.
  One. He would apologise to Spectre.
  Two. He would find the Earth Ignis.
  Three. He would reunite Spectre and the Earth Ignis.
  He wasn’t sure if the steps to his plan were in descending order or difficulty or not, but he would abide by these three steps to the best of his ability. Of course, coaxing Spectre out into the open, one on one, was going to be difficult and it was part of step one. Yusaku could have just sent a letter addressed for Spectre or even an e-mail but he thought that was impersonal. He wanted it to mean something big and something dear because when he wanted to apologise, he wanted to do something more than just create a clean slate between them. He wanted to earn Spectre’s trust and maybe even affection as the third step in Yusaku’s plan would likely hinge on that.
  However, Yusaku thought that Spectre was even more hermetic than him which was saying something. Yet for all that agonising, just sending a summons for Spectre and Spectre alone at the usual spot for his and his team’s encounters with the Knights of Hanoi, though mainly Ryoken, was enough.
  Quite honestly, Yusaku was expecting to be stood up when he waited by the Stardust Road. He stood with his hands laced over the rail and he stared out to sea. All around him, dusk descended with orange skies and indigo clouds; it dyed the sea that lapped at the rocks and cement below a very, very dark colour and just as Yusaku thought that Spectre might not appear, a familiar stranger dejectedly stood beside him, leaning over the rail with him.
  “I didn’t even hear you.” Yusaku murmured.
  Spectre snickered. “Most people usually don’t. If I’m not careful, if I’m not making a fuss, most people won’t notice me at all.”
  “But Ryoken does?” Yusaku guessed.
  “Yes.” Spectre replied with a bitter smile.
  There was a moment of silence between them. It was uneasy but not necessarily uncompanionable. It was just there to acclimatize them between greetings and the actual conversation, of which, Yusaku initiated it and very boldly at that.
  “I’m sorry.” he said.
  Spectre harrumphed. “Whatever for?”
  “For tricking you into destroying your field when we duelled. That was a cruel thing to do.” Yusaku said. “I can tell you have a very genuine affection for your Sunavalon cards. So, I’m sorry.”
  “That’s water under the bridge,” Spectre said, “but thank you. I appreciate the sentiments.”
  “I’m glad. Because, well, I felt bad about that.” Yusaku stated.
  “You shouldn’t though… I goaded you into, remember, I wanted you to do something cruel and I ought to be impressed that you exceeded expectations.” Spectre replied.
  “Well, now I’m trying to do kind things.” Yusaku said.
  Spectre’s pupils dilated at that – and Yusaku noticed even if it was a small quirk of his body language.
  “No, don’t tell me…” Spectre said, realising where this conversation was going, he had thought it was strange that Yusaku would call him out of the blue like this but he figured he would indulge it, he was his master’s servant after all, so he assumed – hoped – it was eventually going to funnel to him.
  “Yeah,” Yusaku murmured, “I am. I want to bring back the Earth Ignis, or just, um, Earth as he’s called.”
  Spectre shook his head. He wanted to chastise Yusaku, but he couldn’t find his words. He just looked stiff instead.
  “I was hoping you would help but I don’t want to force you.” Yusaku added.
  “I’ll allow it to happen,” Spectre elected to reply, “but I won’t help.”
  “Thank you.” Yusaku said.
  Yusaku was expecting the conversation to end there. He was right. It did. But not how he thought it would. Spectre, slovenly, pushed himself off the railing, ready to return to the marina and retire to the yacht for the night because dealing with Yusaku was exhausting but not quite.
  Yusaku was somewhat surprised as Spectre gave him an unexpected hug. He blinked and he felt Spectre’s arms surge around him. His hug was tight and Yusaku wasn’t sure what to do as he felt Spectre’s head beneath the crook of his chin and his arms on his waist. Yusaku swallowed and he half-heartedly tried to push Spectre off him. He didn’t feel in danger, even if Spectre was a peculiar and oftentimes unpleasant person, but he did feel… Awkward being hugged by him.
  “What are you doing…?” Yusaku asked, blushing.
  Spectre got the hint that now was the time to stop and it seemed he didn’t appreciate being rejected like that. He straightened up his coat and looked mildly annoyed. His brows furrowed and his eyes fixated on some weedy flower growing between the pavers on the ground.
  “I thought it was appropriate. It’s a kind thing, isn’t it?” Spectre asked. “You apologised and now you have yet another channel for your sense of justice so. I thought it was the least I could do.”
  “O-oh, well then,” Yusaku murmured, “thank you.”
  “Well, good luck, I might not want to be involved in whatever it is you plan to do to bring back my Other Self but good luck. I will make sure we don’t… intervene on whatever basis we can find to prevent further resurrections of the Ignis.” Spectre said.
  Yusaku hazarded a small smile. He appreciated it but he didn’t know how to say it beyond words. He figured there were other actions that he could take – and he did take them.
  Steadily over the next few weeks, Yusaku with the help of Kusanagi and Ai, he began to piece together the data belonging to Earth. It was getting much, much easier after all the practice that he had gotten with Ai and then applied that to bring Flame back to Takeru and Aqua back to both Miyu and Aoi. Though, that didn’t make the finding of the pieces all that easier, just the putting them back together and Earth was in plenty of pieces but as Playmaker, Yusaku found them all.
  He restored Earth back to form and Earth was overjoyed to see his good friend Ai once more. They had a hug or two with Ai crying and screaming that he was so glad that yet another of his friends was back; just two more to go. Playmaker was fond as he watched Ai jump and down with Earth in his arms, it was quite the sight to behold given the fact that Earth was much bigger and much heavier than Ai.
  But in the midst of that jubilation, Earth looked up with sorrowful eyes at Playmaker. It seemed he knew where this was heading. Even if he and Spectre hadn’t been all that close previously, there was a disappointment to what Earth had in mind for if he came back.
  “I didn’t remember Aqua first,” Earth began to explain as Playmaker, atop his D-Board, made a beeline for where he could hope to find Spectre, either alone or with Revolver, “I remembered him.”
  Ai nodded. It had been the same for him. He had remembered his dear Yusaku before he remembered anything else or any of the others. It was bittersweet.
  “There he is.” Playmaker commented quietly and he saw Spectre on his lonesome.
  He was standing in the shade of a tree. It was wiry with white bark; its beet purple foliage moved slowly on the breeze. That appeared to be the most natural place for him to reside, he was staring out into the distance of the sort of asteroid field-like area on the hinterlands of the Neo Link VRAINS. The roots of the were spilling out the bottom of the rock platform that it and Spectre was planted on.
  Playmaker drew in closer and Spectre looked up at him. He had a morose look on his face. He took a breath.
  “You fulfilled your goal, I presume?” Spectre asked.
  Playmaker nodded and he made a hand gesture. He allowed Earth to follow through on it and Spectre’s eyes widened. For a moment, he looked completely and utterly happy. Childishly happy. But then he flinched.
  Earth lifted his hand and he didn’t know what to say.
  So, Spectre decided to say it for him.
  “It is good to meet you,” he said, “but I don’t believe our continued meeting is advised.”
  Playmaker inhaled sharply. He was surprised – almost offended – to hear that.
  Spectre came closer to the edge, came closer to Earth and he reached up to where Earth floated against gravity. Gingerly, Spectre pet the top of Earth’s head and he liked how the Ignis’s skin felt on his fingertip. There was a muted joy to Spectre’s expression.
  “I did my best,” Spectre said, recalling the Incident, “for my Mother, she would want me happy and proud, so I duelled my best for you. But when I was told, the new goal of the Hanoi was to destroy the Ignis, I accepted that whole-heartedly. So, I did my best. I endeavoured to eliminate the Ignis if it meant I was useful. I – I don’t believe I can go over the past ten years of that goal so easily, to say nothing of the others, Revolver-sama and the Lieutenants, and even if we are neutral, trying to atone. I want to be my best self for you, Earth. Until then, I don’t believe it to be advisable for you to remain with me.”
  Ai made a strange expression, but it was the same that Playmaker was making. A certain defensiveness which had become unguarded as Spectre explained himself.
  Earth nodded. “That makes sense. I can accept that decision, Partner, but when you are ready, I will be too.”
  “Thank you.” Spectre said and he turned to Playmaker. “Can I ask something selfish of you?”
  “I think I know what it is, but it’s not selfish, Spectre.” Playmaker replied.
  “Can you please home him, please? Keep him safe?” Spectre asked.
  Playmaker nodded. “I can do that for you, yes.”
  “Thank you.” Spectre said.
  Playmaker let his D-Board drop a few more levels and once they were at a mismatched but even height, Spectre hugged him again. Playmaker stiffened but this time, he hugged back as he felt one of Spectre’s hands close to his neck and the other round his waist. Gratitude emanated from Spectre’s hug and though Playmaker felt awkward, he wasn’t a hugger, he didn’t think himself good at it, he still tried to return Spectre’s sentiments. He mimicked back and he could hear a repressed sob in Spectre’s breathing as they held each other in this embrace.
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settersprouts · 3 years
Text
꒦ ikanaide : chapter four ! ꒦
半神
. . : oikawa is the son of athena, while iwaizumi is the son of ares. both godly parents are known to be rivals, but what does that mean for their children ?
or, hq + percy jackson au, where oikawa is not the son of aphrodite for once, but people still think he is because he's pretty, and he's flattered and confused.
. . : okay hear me out, oikawa is known to be strategic and analytical, which is perfect for a descendant of athena. that is my reasoning for this alr dont attack me pls also, vv sorry this was late, i was feeling like shit all week and couldn't finish m sorry :((( hopefully you guys didn't wait too long :((
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iwaizumi's about had enough of his bullshit.
his fists were shaking as he stood in front of his divine cabin, the front door ajar and an absolutely horrid smell wafting out from the cabin. he stepped closer to the cabin, stiffening even more as he pushed the door open the rest of the way. the whole place was absolutely trashed- both his and his other roommates' clothes mixed together in many piles on the floor. he could tell just from the strategically placed items all around the room that the place was definitely rigged with mediocre traps. nothing would kill him, but it would most likely maim him.
the demigod growled, stepping over the tripwires on the floor and grabbing his khopesh. it was charged with electricity, thanks to yū nishinoya from cabin one. in exchange for the many weapons the son of ares' crafted, the son of zeus would help charge a select few and give them back to him.
the added energy would definitely be helpful for when he beat the absolute shit of a certain demigod.
he was seething with bloodlust as he stepped out of his cabin, walking towards the beach, where he knew the person he was looking for would be.
and there he was. sitting in one of the little tide pools, talking with one of the sea nymphs. she was way too close to him, but oikawa didn't look like he minded in the slightest. or he didn't notice, one of the two.
she bent down to whisper in his ear, his pupils growing smaller in his brown eyes, and he let out a laugh. it was really melodic, which was common for a son of aphrodite. their beauty was immaculate, and they were practically irresistible to everyone, unless you had a decent sense of self control. iwaizumi knew that oikawa had the whole camp under his fingertips. except for him.
iwaizumi let out a groan, clenching his fists. fuck morales. he knew that his father and oikawa's mother were on really good terms, but he couldn't help but feel attracted to the absolute need to punch the brunette in the face. with a concrete slab. or choke him with aphrodite's famous scarf. one of the two.
he let out an animalistic growl, drawing the attention of oikawa and the unnamed sea nymph. oikawa blinked at him, unimpressed, while the nymph shrieked and dove back into the ocean with a splash. oikawa glanced at the bubbles where the nymph had disappeared, and let out an unamused sigh.
`oh, well, she was kind of boring anyways,` he said nonchalant, stepping out of the pool, buck-naked, without a care in the world. iwaizumi's eyes widened as he turned away almost immediately, his face flushing completely.
`what the hell do you think you're doing?` he seethed, his usual bark lacking no bite, since oikawa really couldn't see his facial expression.
the latter let out a chuckle. `calm down, you can turn around, now. i'm decent.`
forest-green eyes slowly darted back to the brunette's figure, pupils growing bigger in relief, as he realized that he really was decent. he was dressed in the atrociously bright orange camp half-blood shirt, and bleached denim jeans, rolled up to just above his ankles. his bead necklace was still wrapped around his neck snugly. it was extremely tighter than iwaizumi's, which hung down just over the scar on his left pec. he must've tightened it like a choker. it was kind of smart- usually, monsters with half a brain used those necklaces to pull demigods towards them if they couldn't grab their limbs. this tactic limited the amount of things they could grab on him.
iwaizumi would've never thought of that.
`so,` oikawa mused, folding his now damp towel. he must have used it to dry himself off while iwaizumi was looking away from him. `what do you need from me?`
the other demigod blinked, mouth forming an 'o' once he realized his reason for being there. he totally didn't forget that he wanted to sock oikawa in the face just because he saw him naked. `right. i have a bone to pick with you, oikawa.`
`oh? is that so?` the brunette smiled sweetly at him, his eyebrows furrowed in an act of confusion and innocence. disgusting.
iwaizumi stepped forward, whipping out the khopesh he had stuffed in his pocket. with a simple flick of his wrist, it extended. the contraption was thanks to someone in cabin number six, with the help of cabin nine- apparently, iwaizumi had saved someone dear to them, and he was given the khopesh as a thank you. however, the person never did reveal themself to iwaizumi. it was an athena cabin secret.
oikawa's brown eyes widened at the sight of the weapon, but that expression was quickly replaced with an amused sneer. `oh, what's this? you want to fight?`
`no, you're going to let me maim you in silence, i refuse to fight someone as weak as you.` iwaizumi retorted, fists clenching. the brunette gawked, his mouth agape in a silent shout.
`weak? excuse me? i'm far from weak. just because you come from cabin five, doesn't mean you're higher than everyone else.` he replied, sticking his nose high up in the air. `i'll have you know, i've won many tournaments against your cabin.`
iwaizumi rolled his eyes. `yeah, because you always cheat and sneak over to athena's group.`
`i don't cheat! and i don't have to sneak over to athena's group, i have a place there you know!` oikawa shrieked, whipping out a dagger and pointing it at iwaizumi threateningly. however, the latter remained unphased, which pissed the brunette off even more.
`yeah. sure, and what's that?` iwaizumi said, letting one of his eyebrows raise. if rules served him correctly, there was no teaming allowed in any game at camp half-blood, unless stated otherwise. however, he always saw oikawa with athena's group, but he let it slide, thinking the ares' cabin would win anyways. he was, unfortunately, very wrong.
oikawa blinked. `are you stupid? athena's my mother.`
`huh?` the son of ares' stepped back a bit, glaring at the other. `you- athena's son? but- you're-`
`pretty? yeah, i get that a lot.` oikawa sheathed his dagger, stretching out his muscles. `people mistake me for the son of aphrodite way too much. it's kind of annoying, actually. there's a lot more to me than my face,` he mused, glaring at iwaizumi. `looks like you're no different from the rest of them. shame. i actually took a liking to you.`
the other stood there, unmoving, confusion lining every forehead wrinkle. `what are you saying? there's no way-`
oikawa sighed. `i should've known you were going to be hard to convince. look, i'm the son of athena, and the current ruler of the cabin. if you don't believe me, ask my cabin mates. they'll tell you.`
`then who the hell's trashing my cabin?` iwaizumi seethed, still not convinced by oikawa's truths.
the latter let out a melodic laugh. `i thought that was obvious. i saw some of hermes' cabin sneak out to yours during lunch. makes sense, they're always trying to pull pranks on everyone and see their reactions. yours was most likely the best one of them all.` oikawa smiled, his eyes twinkling as he walked away. `well, while it was fun talking to you, i have to go. it's getting dark, and i'd rather not get caught being out past curfew.`
iwaizumi looked up to the sky to find out that he was, in fact, right. the sky was slowly darkening, the sun almost disappearing at the horizon. the green-eyed demigod let out a sigh, turning to glare at oikawa, to find out he was long gone.
`..damn it!`
⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝
`can you believe he's even athena's cabin ruler?` takahiro hanamaki muttered lowly to his fellow cabin mate, issei matsukawa, who also stood in front of a very emotional toorū oikawa. he had been ranting about how he was sick of everyone mistaking him for a son of aphrodite, and when his cabin mate shigeru yahaba said it could've been a compliment, the hysterics had gotten even worse.
fortunately, the 18-year-old had tired himself out, and was now resorting to laying on his bed and blinking the tears out of his eyes.
matsukawa sighed. `no. i can't. not when he's like this.`
`i can hear you, 'ya know.` oikawa muttered, tear-filled chocolate brown eyes turning to them accusingly. `you can't even act like you're tired of me, you just got here.`
`true,` hanamaki replied, kneeling down next to his dear friend. `but according to yahaba, you've been complaining about this for the past forty-five minutes. don't you think that's a tad bit excessive?`
oikawa sat up abruptly. `no! well- maybe. but it's so stupid!` he exclaimed, fists furrowing in his fluffy brown locks. `i don't act like aphrodite at all! i don't even look like her, but i'm pretty and that's the only reason people need to lump me in with that cabin. i actually liked iwa. of course, he's just like the rest.`
`oh.` matsukawa snapped his fingers, pointing at oikawa. `he's the guy who rescued kiyo and takeru, right?`
the brunette shuddered. `right. that memory just gives me chills.` he thought back to that day, where a gorgon had came across oikawa while he was taking his sister and nephew shopping. the gorgon smelled him, and realized he was a son of athena, and attacked the group, leaving oikawa bruised and bloodied while he took kiyo and takeru as prisoners. however, a group of demigods from camp half-blood on a quest sensed the violence occurring, and rushed to the scene as quick as possible. iwaizumi was amongst the group, but he had taken off after the gorgon, and didn't get a good look at oikawa's face.
when the group returned to camp, oikawa had made the khopesh iwaizumi had sported, and left it on his bed while he was out training with his cabin mates. he also left a thank-you note, but didn't sign it, hoping to leave his identity anonymous.
`yeah, why don't you just tell him that you're a relative to kiyo and takeru? the whole camp knows about that quest, so if iwaizumi knows your identity, everyone else will too. people won't mistake you for a descendant of aphrodite anymore,` hanamaki supplied, reaching into the tupperware of ambrosia oikawa was given (he had started a fight with kyōtani from ares' cabin to relieve his stress- both parties sporting the same amount of cuts and bruises) and popping a bit into his mouth.
oikawa shrugged, snatching back the tupperware before hanamaki could steal any more. if a demigod ate too much of the sweet, healing treat, they could get extremely sick. `yeah, maybe. but,` oikawa grinned, turning to his two friends that stood by his bedside, `beating him at capture-the-flag tomorrow sounds way more fun.`
the two boys sighed, smiling at the sight of their best friend with a much happier mood. capture-the-flag with demigods was always a very violent and extreme sport, but all cabins ended up having a lot of fun playing the game. and, no matter what side the athena cabin was on, they always ended up winning. no one could remember a time where they lost.
beating the ares' cabin was going to be a piece of cake for oikawa.
⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝
`you seem on edge, iwaizumi.` ushijima had muttered to the demigod, taking a seat beside the other. they were currently stationed in the middle of the forest, with the job of guarding the red flag. `do you want to talk about it?`
iwaizumi glanced at his companion. under the absolutely atrocious battle helmet was a look of concern and worry for his friend. the dark-haired demigod let out a sigh, nodding slightly. `yeah. i'm just.. shaken up, i guess.`
`how so?`
`well..` iwaizumi pondered, trying to figure out the best words and phrases to lay his point across. `i pissed off one of the sons' of aphrodite here, because apparently, he's the son of athena, and not aphrodite. like, what the fuck? the dude even acts like the deviled spawn of her, so i don't understand why he's so pressed.`
ushijima nodded, listening intently. `you mean toorū oikawa, right?`
iwaizumi gaped. `how the hell did you know that?`
`i made the same mistake you did, thinking he was a descendant of aphrodite.` ushijima mused, looking up to the sky. the clouds reflected in his olive-coloured eyes, but were less noticeable than the clouds reflecting in oikawa's eyes. `when he had first came to camp half-blood, he was called weak by one of our cabin-mates. he challenged him to a duel and won. i then told him he should have been a descendant of ares, not one of aphrodite. he would have a rightful place here, with us.`
`oh? what'd he say, then?`
the olive-haired demigod shuddered. `he slapped me. very hard. and then yelled at me, saying he was a son of athena, not aphrodite. he apparently doesn't like being addressed as a child of aphrodite.`
a sharp wolf-whistle came from the trees. ushijima and iwaizumi stood up, quickly switching to a fighting stance. iwaizumi clenched his khopesh as the figure who was listening to their whole conversation emerged from the trees.
and of course, it was fucking oikawa.
`y-you?` iwaizumi shouted, almost dropping his weapon. `how long were you there?`
the brunette stretched, calm despite the fact that a sword and a khopesh were both aiming at his chest. `i heard the whole conversation. i've been watching you two for quite some time, now.`
ushijima stepped forward as to greet oikawa, but faltered. his eyes widened, and he turned around. leaning on the flag they were supposed to protect was a silver-haired male holding a celestial-bronze axe. his honey-brown eyes met ushijima's olive-green ones, and a corrupt smile split his face. `finally. you noticed me. i was wondering how to get your attention.`
iwaizumi turned around to see the second attacker, letting out an almost animalistic growl. `it's a fucking ambush.`
`correct~` oikawa mused, taking out his dagger and smiling at the other. `however, suga-chan isn't allowed to touch you. i wanted to do all the dirty work myself.`
the silver-haired demigod nodded. `my only purpose here is to take the flag once oikawa defeats you. he requested to fight you both at the same time.`
oikawa nodded, flicking a little switch on his dagger iwaizumi hadn't noticed before. as soon as he did so, he dropped the dagger, and it extended into a much longer weapon. the other demigod scanned it, recognizing the weapon to be a scythe. 'suga-chan' smiled at the sight, meeting iwaizumi's questioning eyes. `you guys better be prepared. he hasn't lost a duel since he came here.`
the brunette nodded, pointing at ushijima with a smile before lunging at the demigod. before the latter could even react, oikawa had connected his foot with ushijima's abdomen, sending the demigod flying. he landed on his back with a gasp, having the air knocked out of him. iwaizumi's eyes widened- he hadn't even been able to react either. that was how fast oikawa was.
ushijima sat up quickly, blocking oikawa's attack with his sword. the other demigod smiled sweetly, twisting the scythe and yanking ushijima's sword out of his hand. it landed in the dirt a couple yards away.
iwaizumi growled, running at oikawa with his khopesh up high. the brunette turned around, unamused, sidestepping iwaizumi's attack and tapping at the end of his weapon. the khopesh hissed and groaned, a net pooling out from the back end, trapping iwaizumi in the knots. the demigod gasped, writhing around in the trap. `wh-what the hell?`
`you seem to be confused. could it be,` oikawa laughed, `that you didn't even know that was there?`
`s-shut up! how the hell did you know anyways?`
oikawa deadpanned. `i made the stupid thing. i think i would know every little thing there is to know about it.`
the dark-haired son of ares stared at his attacker, watching as he stalked over to suga and ripped the flag out of the ground. the brunette turned and smiled sweetly at his victims, waving. `well, see you.`
the two demigods sprinted off, laughing at the shouts coming from behind them.
⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝
`i can't believe him!` iwaizumi kicked the boulder, ignoring the pain from doing so. `he's so fucking insufferable! but i can't even do anything about it, because apparently he made this stupid weapon-` he waved the khopesh in the air, `-and i have to be grateful, but he's making it so goddamn hard!`
kyōtani glanced at the demigod, popping another piece of ambrosia in his mouth. he was still recovering from his fight with oikawa earlier. `you didn't know he made that for you? i thought it was obvious.`
the other glared at his cabin mate, confusion in his eyes. `what do you mean?`
`well,` kyōtani chewed the left over ambrosia in his mouth and swallowed, before continuing. `i'm pretty sure he has a crush on you, or something. he's been watching your duels ever since he came back with your group.`
`what group?`
`the quest you had a while ago.` kyōtani muttered under his breath, probably ridiculing iwaizumi. `you saved his sister and nephew from a gorgon. remember that?`
iwaizumi deadpanned, the memories all but flooding back to him now. `that was him?`
`that was him.`
`so he really is a son of athena?`
kyōtani nodded.
`..fuck, i'm an idiot.`
`i know.`
─── demigods.
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uniarycode · 4 years
Text
Takari Week, Day 4 - Grown Up
Hikari feels a bit nervous when confronting her future Mother in law, written as part of @takariweek
 This wasn’t supposed to be so hard.
They’d known each other for sixteen years.  Or maybe thirteen, while Hikari knew who she was sixteen years ago, she couldn’t remember if she’d as much as introduced herself at the time.
Either way, it was a long time to know a person, and their fates had been intertwined ever since.
“There’s coffee in the kitchen, if you’d like something to drink.”
Short, formal, concise.  It wasn’t cold per se, but somehow distant, as if a piece of her was always on guard.
“We’ll pass mom.” Takeru cut in.
He had assured her that this was not meant as disrespect.  Takeru’s mother was a busy person, needing to make a living in the media while also raising her son.  She prioritized formality and sensibility out of necessity.
Hikari’s entire family was relatively intimate, showing their bonds with many hugs, laughs and emotional displays.  Takeru fit right in, but Hikari felt such gestures inappropriate around Natsuko.
If that weren’t bad enough, Ms. Takashi was a reporter, and it was impossible for Hikari to spend prolonged amounts of time with her without feeling like she was being investigated, studied somehow.
Takeru told her it was all in her head.
Maybe it was.
She and Takeru had been living together ever since they started college.  Obviously they should have had time by now to get used to each other’s families.  Takeru had been a little wary of Tachi after they first started dating, but otherwise he’d fit into the Yagami’s seamlessly.
But perhaps that was another difference.  When her mother had learned that Takeru was going home to a TV dinner or reheated leftovers roughly three times a week, she had generously offered for the blond to stay and have dinner with them instead. This predated Hikari’s official relationship with the blond.  He was practically one of the family already.
On the other hand, because Natsuko was so busy, Hikari rarely saw her before she’d started dating Takeru.  Which meant they’d been potential family first, as opposed to Takeru, who was practically family first.
Perhaps that had always tinted the lens with which they viewed each other.
A nudge from her boyfriend snapped her out of her rambling thoughts.
With one hand Hiakri brushed a strand of hair out of her face.  She had asked to do this, requested to be the one to tell the woman, perhaps in the vain hope it might bring them closer together.  Takeru had no problem telling her family, in the charming and grandiose style he’d become accustomed too.
“So to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Nastuko asked. “Anything important I should know about?”
Hikari took a deep breath, folding her hands together, it was a perfect opportunity.  “It’s uh....WE’RE ENGAGED.” She blurted.
Natusko leant in a and game her a quick hug, shoulders only.  “Congratulations” she said simply, before moving to Takeru and repeating.  “Have you picked a date yet?” the older woman asked as she pulled apart from her son.
“August third.” Takeru responded. “The day we met.”
“You don’t seem all that surprised.” Hiakri observed.
“You’ve been dating for years; it was either this or a baby.” Natusko said simply “And that diamond isn’t exactly invisible my dear.”
Comments like that one were precisely whey Hikari felt so uneasy around her future mother in law.  It was hard to dismiss her nerves as paranoia when Natsuko was studying her as closely as to identify an engagement ring.
Natsuko interrogated them further, did they have a venue, were their any showers, was ther anything she could do to help?  Once her round of questioning was done, she asked Hiakri to help her in the kitchen.
Takeru did the lion’s share of the cooking, his job was more flexible. He’d learned how to out of necessity in high school anyway, despite her own mother’s generous invitations.  With how practical Natusko was, it was odd that she was asking the worst chef of the group to help her in the kitchen.
It was clearly an excuse to get her alone.
As expected, Natsuko didn’t actually request Hikari’s help with anything.  The second the two of them were out of Takeru’s earshot she spoke.  “You really are special, you know that?  And not in some ‘prophesy’ or ‘chosen one’ sense.  I mean like right here.”
“Thanks?” Hikari said. Unsure where this was going.
“Part of me feels like I should apologize.  I don’t think Hiroki and I realized just how long it would sit with them.”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh come now.  Sora and Yamato have been dating for almost twice as long, and he hasn’t popped the question yet.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why.  Maybe things would have been better if we’d never divorced.”
“Don’t say that.” Hikari said quickly.  “It’s no use worrying about the past.  Would they really have been happier raised in such an unhappy household.”
“They would have at least been together.” Natsuko dismissed. “But that’s neither here nor there.  The important thing is you managed to get my son to commit in less than half the time Sora did.  That shows how special you are.”
Hikari felt her cheeks turn red. “It was nothing.”
“It’s everything.”  Natusko insisted. “I know this is a big step for the two of you.  You always got quiet or changed the topic whenever marriage was brought up before.  It scares you, both of you.”
That stunned her into silence; her friends, her mother all of them had identified Takeru’s hesitancy, in connection with his parent’s divorce.  But this was the first time someone had noticed her fear.
“I’m just…” she wasn’t sure what to say. “I don’t want to mess it up.”
“No one does.  But Hiroki and I, we were together only a few months before we got married.  No more than a fling stretchered too far, then stretched further with a pair of babies.  But you and Takeru, you’ve already known each other far longer than when he and I split up. You’ll be able to make it, I’m sure. I’ve been sure of that for sixteen years.”
Hikari protested. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I didn’t say I knew.  I said I was sure.  He could have been gay, or you could have been.  It can be hard to tell at that age.  But when he first got home, you were the person he talked about most.  More than Yamato even.”
Natsuko took a short pause, sizing her up. “And I’ve watched him grow since, watched you as well.  You two are not Hiroaki and myself, you are already far closer than we ever were.  You don’t need to be so afraid, you two are going to live together happily.”
It was like a magic spell had been cast, and a weight was lifted.  
Perhaps having someone like Natsuko as a mother in law, so observant and analytical, would be a good thing after all.
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jippy-kandi · 4 years
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Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna Movie Review
I've seen the film. It was pretty good! Spoilers under the cut.
So, before I watched it, I did read a few bits and pieces of random spoilers. However, I did NOT read the novel – because I wanted to judge the film on its own merits and not be thinking about “what the novel did better”. But I knew things like most characters were sidelined, who the villain was, and how the movie ends. I still have not read the novel.
This is not a “proper” review of the movie -- because what’s the fun in that? You can google actual reviews of the movie by anime websites, if that’s what you’re after. These are just my personal thoughts, impressions and fangirl ramblings (I bias Yamato hard). Plus, a few comments from two others I went to the screening with for a different perspective.
It was like nerd city at the movie theatre, LOL. So. Many. Nerds. Some people even brought Digimon plush toys to the screening! I’ve never witnessed that before. It was great though, being surrounded by so many Digimon fans. I think the cinema was more than half full -- and this was an 800-seat cinema! 400+ Digimon fans? Whoa! I actually thought like only 20 people would show up, LOL.
I tried to put the following thoughts in “order” but some of it isn’t due to the nature of what they’re about . . . plus, I couldn’t 100% remember what order the scenes were in.
Screen time distribution (most to least): Taichi/Yamato, Koushirou, the 02 kids (roughly: Takeru, Hikari, Daisuke, Miyako, Ken, Iori), Mimi, Jou, a hamburger, a whistle, a beer, Sora. (Sora got shafted hard.)
Taichi was exactly just Taichi, which is 1000x better than tri. Taichi. He really did seem like a 22-year-old version of Adventure Taichi, beer-drinking and porn-watching and all. Thank you, Toei. Please don’t fuck him up in the reboot. (Although maybe that’s the idea?)
Yamato is the coolest motherfucker on a motorcycle. He looked SO DAMN GOOD in this movie. There were even a few gratuitous shots of his arse for no apparent reason, LOL. Or maybe that’s just me thinking, whenever he’s bending over or his back’s to us, “That’s a nice arse.” XD (HE IS THE ONLY 2D CHARACTER I THIRST FOR, I PROMISE. I’m actually engaged to Jungkook of BTS.)
Koushirou was the same old Koushirou we all know and love, doing smart stuff and generally being useful. He has no pointed interest in clothes or girls (Koumi began and died in tri., you guys). When it was shown that he was a company president, some people in the audience laughed, lol.
Takeru was pretty bland. I guess tri. Takeru will always be the definitive Takeru to me. This Takeru definitely evolved straight from 02 Takeru (who was also bland AF). But he was fine? I miss overly confident, charming Takeru. Also, where was your crush on your big bro??? lol
Hikari . . . was also fine? I don’t have much to say about her. I like tri. Hikari better (because she was cute? *shallow*). This Hikari was just serviceable. I think because everyone really is just playing second fiddle to Taichi and Yamato, they didn’t really add charms to the other characters. They just . . . serve the plot. And it seemed, at the beginning of the movie, that Takeru and Hikari were going to be in it a lot -- but they have most of their scenes in the first third-ish of the movie before disappearing until the end.
Daisuke was also exactly the same. But I’ve never been a fan of him, nor do I hate him (though he did get on my nerves in 02 sometimes . . .). I just don’t care about him, or any of the 02 kids, personally. :P
I don’t think Ken had a personality in this movie, LOL. He was fine, though. Serviceable. I’m sorry I lack opinions here, but there really wasn’t much to go on. He has no Kaiser issues or anything, he just seems like a normal, well-adjusted kid . . . with no personality, lol.
Iori didn’t have a personality either -- but everyone has always known that. Ha! XP He is just an extra reading lines. I found it odd that he seems so short though? I kept thinking he was still a 9-year-old because of the height difference between him and the others . . . I think Toei forgot that HE IS 17 AND THUS SHOULD BE VERY CLOSE TO FULL ADULT HEIGHT. Puberty is amazing, Toei! (Yeah, he can just be a really short person, I know. I wouldn’t have made that design choice, though. Especially when he’s short compared to Daisuke . . . who is short compared to Yamato . . . and Iori really is a midget.)
Miyako . . . it’s probably due to her voice actress, but she was SO LOUD. And I found her annoying because of it. In fact, she was the only annoying character in the movie to me. Loud people can be charming . . . but I didn’t find her charming. Sorry, Miyako fans. =\
Mimi has an e-commerce startup at 21, lol. OK, you go girl. She was definitely shafted, but she was in it a bit more than Jou I think, and definitely more than poor Sora. Probably a few minutes? Yeah, not a lot, especially compared to Taichi and Yamato. In one of her (four?) scenes, she loses consciousness and ends up in the hospital -- and Taichi, Koushirou and Jou are in her hospital room when Yamato bursts in and goes, “Jou!” You know, instead of acknowledging Mimi, THE COMATOSE FRIEND IN THE HOSPITAL BED. I just found it funny that’s how they chose to frame that scene. :P
Jou only had a few lines, but he was still in it more than Sora. But he is really just a doctor here. He could’ve been an extra hired for a doctor role and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, lol. Oh, Toei, please give all the characters almost-equal screen time in the reboot? Please???
Sora had like four lines and thirty seconds of screen time, TOTAL. I think the decision to hold her back from THE ENTIRE PLOT was SOLELY to have the scene where she reacts to Taichi blowing the whistle, so you know that the sound is going out of Neverland and reaching the real world (or whatever dramatic effect they were going for). I really think that’s it. That, or her voice actress did something terrible to Toei and they’re punishing her. :P
The movie basically opens up with Parrotmon attacking. Takeru was the first to be shown, then Hikari, then Taichi. Taichi is wearing those special goggles Koushirou made for him and he looked goofy AF lol. At one point, Greymon tackles Parrotmon into a building where you see some people inside running away from the rubble. My sister said (without knowing anything about tri.): “Does Tai not care that his digimon definitely just killed some people in that building?” I chuckled because . . . well. ;)
Yamato enters the scene COOL AS FUCK on his motorcycle (most of his entrance is shown in a clip that Toei released) and thank you Toei for doing that for him. He deserves a showy entrance. :) Although I do find it funny that he’s obsessed with motorcycles, given I still remember giggling as a kid at him NOT liking riding on the back of some guy’s scooter in Digimon: The Movie.
The music was nice and nostalgic and I have no complaints.
There is a quick scene of Yamato seeing a kid in a music store getting a harmonica, and watching a street performer singing. Obviously he’s thinking about his passion for music as a kid/teen (and his childhood in general?) and it was a nice touch. I think by the end of the movie you would’ve understood that Yamato was letting go of his past (childhood) and heading towards the future (adulthood).
A friend of Yamato’s makes a comment to him that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces are going to recruit him into the military due to his experience as a Chosen Child. Yamato replies, “that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard”. BUT . . . this is Kizuna telling you EXACTLY what is going to happen, lol. I actually “predicted” Yamato’s career path years ago -- but it wasn’t hard, as there is really only two ways it could’ve gone, lol. Military test pilot or commercial air pilot -- which one, especially given the context Kizuna just gave us, is more likely? ;)
Yamato is shown wearing GLASSES in class (looking nerd-hot AF). Toei Animation must not have researched Yamato’s astronaut career as intensively as I did, and therefore did not know that astronauts need 20/20 vision lol. Oh well, he can get it corrected. :p (Or, he doesn’t actually need glasses but WEARS THEM AS A FASHION STATEMENT. Because I can believe that. XD)
I think Yamato had about three different outfits in the movie? And he looked good in all of them. Are there people out there who think he’s not fashionable? I'd find that opinion strange, given the fact that the staff behind 02 and tri. were actively designing him as the well-dressed cool guy of the group. He wears exactly the kind of clothes the well-dressed cool guys at my high school/university wore. Sure, sometimes they force green tops on him purely for nostalgic reasons and it therefore clashes -- there is only so much you can do with a green top -- but overall, he is supposed to come across as someone who cares about his appearance. If you don’t think so, you’re either not into fashion or you aren’t aware of 2005-2010 fashion as a teen/young adult. (If Yamato was a millionaire, I’m sure he’d dress identical to BTS with super expensive clothes lol. But he dresses very well for a “normal” person. :p)
Taichi was shown with two of his friends who were asking him about his aspirations or something, and the guy looked like an unattractive nerd. My sister said: “I didn’t like how they showed Tai with sloppy friends, but showed Matt with good-looking people.” LOL. Her favourite as a kid was Taichi, BTW. XD;
Menoa and Imura were . . . OK characters. Menoa seemed likeable enough at first, but when her real intentions were revealed she turned into a typical, crazy, possessed villain. Imura was really just there to service the plot, like a necessary extra on set. There was nothing more to him.
Menoa’s English is terrible. And it’s very noticeable because she inserts random English words into her Japanese sentences, lol. I laughed when Koushirou told her that her Japanese is very good (because SHE IS ACTUALLY FLUENT IN JAPANESE . . . and not so much in English). Yes, I know it’s because it’s a Japanese voice actress -- but it was still funny every time she spoke heavily accented English, followed by fluent Japanese. :P
Menoa’s partner digimon, Morphomon, was cute in design. Eosmon was the villain digimon and was Menoa’s attempt at recreating Morphomon, who disappeared on her. Does this sound kind of familiar? lol
Omegamon devolves into Koromon and Tsunomon when fighting against Eosmon. Back in Koushirou’s office, Menoa explains that you only have a limited amount of time with your digimon before they disappear and that fighting accelerates it. Taichi has a circle of lights on his digivice that lose a bar of light every time he fights with Agumon. When the lights all disappear, Agumon will disappear. Koushirou and Takeru look at their digivices to check if they’ve got it – they don’t, and they are relieved. Yamato then checks his and . . . well. He has it. His eyes start watering and he storms out of the room saying something along the lines of his bond with Gabumon will not be broken. I FUCKING LOVED THIS SCENE. Top 3 in the movie for me, personally. We all have weaknesses. Emo Yamato is mine, lol. I like it when he gets so emotional he cries in front of other people. :3
The “porn stash” scene with Agumon at Taichi’s apartment was HILARIOUS. The funniest scene of the movie. Everyone in the cinema laughed so hard. It was Taichi’s reaction that sold it -- it was BRILLIANT. The magazines actually had girls on the cover wearing bikinis, so, at least Agumon kept his innocence! lol
Gennai randomly appears in Taichi’s apartment to confirm the thing everyone should’ve always known (but that they just made up for Kizuna and which DEFINITELY led to “creative differences” with Digimon series director Hiroyuki Kakudou). This, of course, would be the whole idea that the more you “grow up”, the more your bond with your partner digimon breaks until, eventually, they disappear. Does the idea have problems? Yep. Menoa lost her partner digimon Morphomon at age 14 because she decided to accelerate her learning and go to university . . . meanwhile, Koushirou is the president of his own freaking company and still has Tentomon by his side. Yeah, OK, Kizuna. And, sure, you can argue that it’s about BECOMING AN ADULT -- but I think you’d just be drawing lines where YOU want to draw them. How mature is 14-year-old Menoa to be an “adult”? Is Koushirou really not mature enough at 21? And what about Jou, who I definitely think is an adult in all sense of the word? And so on. So arguments about this I think are valid, but at the same time . . . it’s Digimon. I think it’s a flawed idea but I also just shrug and accept it as it is, lol.
I “love” how Gennai just pops in when it’s convenient to the plot. Hello Gennai, what’s dark Gennai up to? Have you seen him around licking underaged girls anywhere? No? You’re just popping by to confirm shit to Taichi? OK, cool. See you in the tri. sequel, never. (He actually does give Taichi a reasonable answer as to why the growth/bond thing was never brought up before: that it’s like talking about how long you have to live. I bought it.)
Yamato is basically the reason the 02 kids are even in the movie, lol. He asks them to investigate Imura and Menoa for him and they do so. They contact him later on with info and they ask that he take them out for okonomiyaki (which is awful by the way, lol) as thanks and he smiles and says he can do that. This is just a nice exchange between them. :)
Yamato eventually confronts Imura (or is it the other way around, lol) and Imura HAS A GUN. Which was surprising to me because I remember that in the English dub, Puppetmon’s gun was censored, so seeing a gun in a Digimon movie was a little surprising. Anyway, Yamato doesn’t seem concerned by the fact that this dude can just shoot him dead, lol. Gabumon is with him, but still. Imura can still kill you before Gabumon kills him, you know. XD But it’s all good because Imura turns out to be an undercover FBI agent who wants to arrest Menoa, THE REAL VILLAIN. I was spoiled with this so no surprise.
There is a scene where Yamato has his hand tenderly on Takeru’s face because he lost consciousness. It was sweet, but I would’ve liked it more if Takeru had more of a personality in the film so I could actually care about him, lol. Yamato’s such a caring big brother, though. :)
Yamato was perfect in this movie. PERFECT. I had a few issues with his characterisation in tri. (I think he was, overall, about 80% Yamato), but he was ALL YAMATO, ALL THE TIME here. He is my favourite fictional character of all time, so DEAL WITH THE BIAS. I love him and, honestly, Yamato>Taichi all day, every day. I totally understand you, Sora. DON’T @ ME TAICHI STANS. XP
The ONLY minor quibble I had was that Yamato asks Taichi if they should really try to save the other kids, because fighting means it speeds up their bonds breaking. My quibble is: YAMATO IS NOT FUCKING SELFISH. He’s SO selfless. He would fight to save the other kids NO QUESTIONS, even if it meant he’s accelerating the destruction of his bond with Gabumon. But I give this scene a huge pass because it basically had to go like that, because ONE person out of Taichi/Yamato had to be reluctant so that the OTHER person pushes forward and has a “hero” moment. And who’s going to get that “hero” moment? The actual hero and MAIN CHARACTER of Digimon, Taichi, of course. SO I GET IT. I even agree and would’ve written it that way too, for Taichi to be the leader and reassure Yamato that this is what they’re doing (unlike in tri. where Yamato 1000% deserved the mantle of LEADER and Taichi could’ve whinged off the edge of a cliff and I. WOULD. NOT. CARE.). BUT I will still rant about this 30 second scene in my blog and scream to the universe that Yamato Ishida is the most selfless fictional being on the face of the planet and you better fucking know it. :)
Menoa is Maki 2.0. As soon as Menoa is revealed as being behind the evil stuff, she is instantly psychotic. So Maki 2.0 she definitely is. But . . . I don’t really care. Could Toei have been more original? Yes. But I can’t be bothered to criticise them for recycling a plot, because I’d rather criticise tri. for doing it in the first place, LOL. OK, honestly? At least Menoa’s plot had an actual resolution, instead of Maki being revealed and then . . . fucking off out of the entire series so abruptly. Like??? Kizuna followed through with it, tri. did not. That’s why I’m OK with the rehash, because Kizuna did tri.’s plot better. (Maki’s plot would’ve been good if the tri. writers didn’t get lazy AF at the end and just . . . didn’t . . . finish it.) I might also be giving Kizuna a huge pass because it made me feel things, lol.
The movie really picks up after Menoa reveals her intentions and they end up in Neverland (a place she created in the Digital World?) where she claims all the Chosen Children can stay as children with their partner digimon forever. It became a lot more interesting after that. But that’s also near the climax, lol.
In Neverland, all the kids who have lost consciousness are in their child forms (from the first season) and are basically Menoa’s puppets. This was really cool; it not only gave you nostalgic feels to see them like that, but it was also pretty creepy to see them with glowing red eyes. The Chosen Children, as kids, attack Taichi and Yamato. I laughed when Patamon attacked Yamato’s face and Tentomon tackled Taichi, lol. But I have to say though that Sora’s absence was VERY glaring here. Because . . . everyone was there, but her. :(
Other Chosen Children from the past are present in Neverland too. I FREAKING SAW MICHAEL, MIMI’S AMERICAN FRIEND, STANDING BEHIND HER. I was so surprised at his appearance that I didn’t catch anyone else. There were definitely others, but I didn’t make them out at all because I was so caught off-guard with Michael. XD; (I DON’T EVEN GIVE A SHIT ABOUT HIM, LOL.)
Someone said that Taichi called out Meiko’s name in the movie . . . well, I’m pretty sure that Yamato does, and he calls her by her last name, “Mochizuki”. This is when they’re in Neverland and Menoa shows them her “collection” of Chosen Children. Meiko pops up for one second. It was like Kizuna went, “Oh! Hey, tri. existed by the way. Now let’s move on.” lol
While being attacked by the Chosen “puppets” in Neverland, Taichi manages to reach his hand out and grab Hikari’s whistle and blow it -- effectively “waking” them all up from their puppet states. Everyone in the cinema got hit with audible FEELS, because when Taichi blew Hikari’s whistle the screen flashbacked to that scene from the first movie. I found the collective audience reaction more powerful than the scene itself, lol. But I really liked it, too. :)
So while everyone else is in Neverland . . . SORA IS IN HER APARTMENT HUGGING PIYOMON. Thanks, Sora, you’re a real friend. *cough* After Taichi’s whistle blow, she intuitively knows what’s going on and says she believes in everyone . . . THANKS AGAIN, SORA, YOU CHEERLEADER. OK, look: I do think it is pretty selfish of Sora to choose not to fight. I understand all the reasoning behind it, I even think SHE DESERVES TO BE SELFISH FOR ONCE etc., and I am fine with it -- but I still think it’s selfish. Because it is. And that’s OK, nobody is perfect, and people are selfish from time to time. If only it wasn’t glaringly obvious that her selfishness happened only because Toei just wanted her out of the way for most of the film . . . her absence, as stated before, really was noticeable in scenes where literally everyone else was included but her. (I’d also just like to point out that her voice actress was STILL CREDITED THIRD after Taichi and Yamato in the ending credits. LOLing forever -- such little contribution, such big recognition. XD)
But don’t get me wrong, I love Sora. I really fucking do. Taichi used to be my second favourite character in Digimon for a long, long time -- but Sora managed to dethrone him from second place (fucking Yamato probably helped, LOL). I think, screen time-wise, Kizuna did her a bigger disservice than Our War Game did. Yes, let that sink in. Remember how little she was in that movie? It’s worse in Kizuna. But story-wise and character-wise? Kizuna probably did better, because Sora was angry over a hairclip in Our War Game lmao. If you haven’t already, check out her memorial story short “To Sora” that Toei Animation released online. It’s six minutes of Sora . . . which is 5 and a half more minutes than in Kizuna! XD;
There’s a scene where Agumon and Gabumon tell Taichi and Yamato that they like watching them grow up. It was very touching, but also very brief. It was one of my favourite moments though. It made me have quick flashbacks in my mind of itty bitty Taichi and Yamato growing up into who they are now. The enormity of everything they had been through since the first season. THE HISTORY. THE GROWTH. It hit me right in the feels.
Taichi and Yamato’s homoerotic-ness was actually toned down a lot, especially compared to tri.. They don’t have forced disputes where they get angry at each other and the gay sexual tension shoots through the roof. They’re just . . . friends. Two dudes who drink beer together and moan about their lives. The partnership between them and their digimon were the focus of the movie, more so than the friendship between them. I actually liked this, and I usually care more about the human connections over the human-digimon ones.
“Shipping moments” – if you squint hard enough. Takari: At the start, Takeru shields Hikari from harm. Sorato: While Taichi informs Yamato about the lives of some of the other Chosen Children, Yamato lets Taichi know what Sora is up to -- that she’s seriously studying flower arranging. Kenyako: Ken asks Miyako, and only Miyako, if she’s OK (when Daisuke is right next to her). Taiora: Sora says Taichi’s name when he blows the whistle in Neverland and she hears it all the way in the real world. (My sister legit whispered to me: “SHE DIDN’T SAY MATT’S NAME.” BITCH, he ain’t the one whistling! XP) Now, Digimon Adventure tri. shipbaited hard -- but Kizuna did not do this. All of these very small moments felt very organic and passed as if they were a natural part to the story, instead of something shoehorned in with the explicit purpose of shipbaiting. I really liked this approach. The Sorato one in particular (surprise, surprise) said a lot about Yamato’s relationship to Sora without being explicit about it. He knows what she’s up to when her childhood best friend doesn’t? Yeah, those two are definitely hooking up after classes. :P (I jest. But it does tell you with one sentence that Yamato and Sora keep in touch, which I appreciated. You gotta do that if you’re having babies together within the decade, you know?)
There were next to NO evolution sequences. I might remember it happening once or twice? Max. And . . . that was a REALLY lame choice. Especially when Agumon and Gabumon evolve to their newest forms; Taichi and Yamato are just floating with them up into the air and then, poof, the new evolutions are shown. Google tells me they’re just called Agumon -Bond of Courage- and Gabumon -Bond of Friendship- respectively . . . they were not named in the movie. Here’s the thing: I don’t really care about digimon and evolutions. But it was so underwhelming; they really should’ve amped it up with an evolution sequence to be like HERE BE THESE NEW AWESOME FUCKING DIGIMON ‘bout to kick your arse. It seems like such a no-brainer that I really don’t know who would sign off on a evolution sequence not happening. Oh well. As for the designs? They are OK, but definitely could’ve been better. I think “cool AF” when I see Omegamon and all his forms. I don’t think that of these new evolutions lol. (But my sister liked them and thought they looked cool, so . . .)
Also . . . the fighting scenes in this movie were pretty bad. Very underwhelming. Our War Game and Diablomon Strikes Back did a lot better. I both like and dislike the animation style in Kizuna. I do actually like the art of it, like how it looks. But I kinda dislike how it’s actually animated, because it doesn’t really look like they’re moving fluidly enough. It’s a bit too choppy. I just expected the fighting/action scenes to be more exciting (I was hoping Our War Game-level) and of a higher standard. But they are not, unfortunately.
Everyone in the cinema audibly GASPED when Taichi and Yamato were just talking to Agumon and Gabumon after the final battle, and then they turned around and they . . . just . . . disappeared. And then Taichi and Yamato CRIED. SO. HARD. And I actually started repeating in my head, DO NOT CRY, DO NOT CRY, lol. I didn’t cry! Almost, though. :p I really loved this scene. And I really think, narratively, it would’ve worked A LOT better for the movie to end on this scene. The actual ending scene that comes after it felt a little too out of place and tacked on to me. More on that later.
There was a small smattering of applause at the end of the movie, lol. But I did not clap, because I find that weird. :p (Even though I clapped, alone in my house, when Parasite won Best Picture at the Oscars LOL.)
The ending credits showed different photos of the kids. Unfortunately, I . . . don’t really remember most of them. XD; I think I saw Sora arranging flowers? And maybe Daisuke and Ken having dinner? I definitely saw Iori doing kendo, because I thought it was cool. And the one photo I definitely remember for sure: Yamato standing in front of a space shuttle. I stan astronaut!Yamato so hard, you guys have no idea how happy it made me that he’s pursuing his dream omfg my little baby boy. XD;
This is definitely Taichi and Yamato’s movie. Everyone else is just playing supporting/cameo roles -- some more than others, as outlined way above. (Well, except Menoa I suppose . . . and Koushirou to the extent that he’s just needed to be the Digi IQ.) But if you’re NOT a fan of either Taichi or Yamato? I think, though you’ll probably love all the nostalgia bits, you’ll also be really disappointed -- especially considering this is supposed to be the final instalment of the original Adventure continuity. It’s a great “love letter” to Taichi and Yamato specifically, but not for the other characters, sadly.
I saw the movie with my sister (a non-fan who used to like it as a kid) and a friend (a casual fan now, but she used to like it a lot years ago). I’ll refer to them as “S”(ister) and “F”(riend), respectively.
After the movie ended:
S: “Did you cry? Because two guys beside me were literally sobbing. SOBBING.” *Judging.* (LMAO.)
What was our favourite part of the movie?
Top 3 scenes for me were Yamato storming off with his eyes watering when he realises his bond with Gabumon has an expiry; the brief “speech” Agumon and Gabumon give to Taichi and Yamato about wanting to see them grow up; and Taichi and Yamato crying at Agumon and Gabumon vanishing. EMO EMO EMO.
S: “Sora doing fuck-all.” (LMAO.) F: “Yeah! What was up with that? It’s like they forgot she even existed.” S: “Sora is just a cunt.” (Note: S has a dry sense of humour and isn’t really being malicious. BUT . . . I do think most viewers watching Kizuna would have a poor opinion of Sora in this movie . . .)
F: “I liked the 02 kids. I guess it was mostly Davis. And I liked when Veemon was riding on Armadillomon’s back and Wormmon was trailing behind. It was just this random thing but it was funny. Maybe I just like making fun of Wormmon.”
About the idea that growing up affects your bond with your digimon:
S: “What I took from it was that you shouldn’t grow up too fast. Cherish your childhood, cherish your memories. But, eventually, you do need to grow up.”
F: “I don’t understand how this whole “Digimon disappear when you grow up” thing wasn’t known. Weren’t there older people with Digimon before? You’d think they could have made a more specific threat that was just affecting their digimon, not be like, “Yeah this happens to everyone, it’s just a fact of life that we’ve never addressed before.” It felt a bit like they were telling the audience to grow up and get over Digimon.”
What would we rate the film?
I probably have to watch it again to give a definitive score, but at the moment, I give it about a 7/10. It was good, but not great. The last half was pretty great though -- it definitely started out slow (there was a lot of exposition via Menoa vomiting words). Is it better than tri.? Chapter 3: Confession, no. Confession is better, I think, but I also haven’t seen it in years. But the rest of tri.? Probably. Especially the pile of shit that was Chapter 6: Our Future. *cough*
S: “4/10.″ (LOL.)
F: “It was better than tri.. I guess a 7/10 too.”
Sequel?
I think it’s definitely a possibility. I feel like the very last scene of the movie was slapped on just to be like, “Well, if we don’t do a sequel, you know that Taichi and Yamato are definitely going to reunite with their partners eventually for the 02 epilogue to happen.” The scene is of Taichi and Yamato saying something along the lines of meeting Agumon and Gabumon again one day.
And while it’s an uplifting ending, I actually think the movie would’ve ended better with the scene before that -- with the digimon disappearing and Taichi and Yamato crying. It would’ve made a bigger emotional impact and raised the movie up just a notch higher to end on such a ballsy note. But, of course, it would’ve meant a sequel definitely had to happen. So the actual final scene was added on so that a sequel doesn’t need to be made -- but that it leads to the 02 epilogue “off-camera”, in case they really don’t do a sequel.
I think there’s a 50/50 chance of a sequel. The movie actually does close the Adventure story pretty well -- it has all the ingredients to lead to the 02 epilogue without actually taking you there. But it also keeps the possibility of a sequel open, where they can show you exactly how Taichi and Yamato reunite with their digimon.
And, honestly, the only “barrier” I see to a sequel happening is that the reboot is airing next month -- and it’ll be confusing for the next generation of kids to follow one continuity, and then have a movie released with characters they recognise, but in an entirely different continuity. Unless, of course, the sequel comes out in another two years and the reboot has finished after one season (though there’s always a possibility it goes on beyond one season).
S: “Yes, I think there’ll be a sequel.”
F: “It seemed quite final. But obviously if the 02 epilogue is accurate that can’t be the end. Unless Matt finds Gabumon again on the moon I guess. “Oh hey yeah we don’t really disappear, we just go to space!” Yeah, it could go either way. Maybe they are saving Sora’s big part for the sequel!” (XD)
And that’s a wrap! I’ll probably read the novelisation of the movie eventually . . . and it’ll probably be like 95% the same, lol.
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digitalworldbound · 4 years
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Takari Week, Day Two: First Kiss
Hello, again! This was the first fanfiction I ever wrote in middle school, around the age of thirteen (eight years ago!). I found it the other day, and thought it would be cute to post. It’s not the best, but has a cute sentiment . @takariweek 💖
Title: First Kiss
Characters: Takeru x Hikari
We arrived at Daisuke’s house when the party was in full swing. From the overflow of cars in the driveway, it appeared that everybody from the soccer team, dance squad, and student council were there.
“Hey, Takaishi-san!” Daisuke sauntered over and did that guy hand-slap/chest-bump combination that he must have picked up from my brother. “Welcome, welcome, all!” He looked me up and down, and I gave him the stare that made it clear I wasn’t the least bit interested in anything he was looking for. Not all men mature after middle school.
“Hey, man.” Saeki, my boyfriend, said. He side stepped me, putting his body between Daisuke and myself. “Thanks for the invite.” Daisuke grinned wider, sizing Saeki up. Both boys had a competitive streak, something that I wished they left on the soccer field.
“Oh, right, you two are together. See, I keep forgetting that since she’s always with him.” He pointed a grimy finger to a clearly annoyed Takeru.
“Daisuke-san, I don’t believe that you’ve met Nagai-san yet.” Takeru gestured in his girlfriend’s direction. Her glittery eyes popped underneath her smoky eyeshadow, and I absentmindedly wished I had taken the time to apply some.
Our whole lives, people always assumed that Takeru and I were an item. In their defense, most of our time was spent together, and we even had this weird twin-telepathy thing that let us know how the other one was feeling. It wasn’t until high school arrived that our close bond was placed underneath scrutiny.
For whatever reason, Daisuke laughed. “Okay, I get it, I get it.” He reached into a cooler and pulled out some cans of soda.  “I’d say go long, Takaishi-san, but I don’t think my mom would appreciate getting soda on the carpet.” He laughed. I quirked an eyebrow at his jab. “Wow, Daisuke-san, that’s fresh coming from the kid that wore a pair of hand-me-down goggles for over half of his life.”
Saeki stifled a laugh at my outburst, but Takeru remained stoic. The four of us each took a can and made our way over to the corner of the kitchen.
“Don’t let him get to you.” I said to Takeru.
“But he’s right. I can’t seem to catch anything… except grief.” He shook his head. With the basketball season starting up, Takeru hadn’t had as much time to practice as he did in years previous. He game had gotten weaker; a detail that hadn’t slipped even Daisuke’s notice.
I turned my back to Nagai and Saeki. I knew how embarrassed Takeru could get about his skills. He always valued the opinions of others more than his own. “You’re getting much better. The other day, Nii-chan was telling me you catch a ball nearly half-way down the court.”
“I guess.” His voice was faint. “But it is so humiliating sitting on the bench every game.”
“I thought you only wanted to play basketball to make friends and to fit in. Remember? You said that you were more focused on becoming a writer.”
He shrugged. “But it doesn’t mean I don’t want to play.”
“I know but look around. You’re at a party and Daisuke-san of all people invited you.”
“He invited everybody.” Takeru’s huff of annoyance ruffled his golden locks, and I pretended that the movement didn’t distract me.
“But at least you’re here. And he’s making fun of you. Isn’t that ‘the bro’ way of being friendly?”
“’The bro way.’” He laughed.
“You know, how guys show affection. Or mark their turf. Kind of like how my cat Miko pees on something to let you know it’s hers.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re talking about?” A grin teased its way onto his face, and I silently rejoiced at the small victory.
“Of course not,” I admitted. “But does it at least make you feel a little bit better?”
“Yeah, just a little.”
I elbowed him playfully. “Well, that will not do. Clearly my job here is not done. Let me count the ways you are a stud.”
“Wait, wait.” Takeru laughed and pulled out his phone. “I need to record this. I may even make it my new ringtone.” His eyebrows wiggled suggestively.
I grabbed his phone and spoke directly into the mic. “I, Yagami Hikari, do hereby swear the Takaishi Takeru is a total manly man, the ultimate bro. Reason number one, he can quote the entire My Neighbor Totoro movie at the drop of a hat. Reason number two, he knows to always compliment a lady’s photography skills. Um, reason number three. Um…”
“Nice,” he grabbed his phone back. “You can’t even come up with three reasons?”
“See, there are just too many reasons, my poor brain is on overload.”
“Good save.”
“Phew!” I wiped my brow dramatically.
“Hey!” Miyako approached us. “I didn’t see you guys come in. But then I saw your dates outside and figured you were doing that thing you do.” I almost didn’t recognize her with her long hair pulled all the way back. Her face looked more angular, more grown-up.
The best part about Miyako, however, was that she could read the nonverbal exchange Takeru and I shared. “Let me guess. You didn’t realize your dates left.”
I grimaced.
She shook her head, shiny purple hair flowing behind her. “You guys are too much.”
“Clearly,” Takeru and I said in unison.
“Well, may I suggest that you take your party outside and keep your dates company?”
“Thank you so much!” I gave Miyako a quick hug before she returned to her student council friends.
Takeru and I went to the glass patio door and saw Nagai and Saeki leaning against the deck railing. Saeki, all cheekbones and full lips, was telling some story that made Nagai giggle like a little schoolgirl. Her cheeks were rosy against her white camisole, short cropped hair caught on a breeze. ‘Takeru-kun looks at that every day.’ I shut down that train of thought as soon as it arrived. Now was not the time to be jealous.
“Well, at least they’re having a good time.” Takeru remarked. “In fact, it looks like they’re having a better time now than they have all night.”
“Takeru-kun,” I stopped his hand from opening up the door. “I think that maybe it’s not the best idea for us to go on double dates.”
He nodded, letting his palm linger a second too long. “I know. It’s just hard to throw anybody into our mix. I really don’t want to mess things up with Nagai-san.”
“You and I will still hang out; you’re bound to me by the laws of friendship. I’m only saying that maybe date night should just be date night. No forcing our dates to put up with the two of us.”
Takeru’s gaze was fixed straight ahead. His jaw was tightly clenched, blue eyes narrowed to fine points.
“Takeru-kun?” When he didn’t respond, I followed his stare. Saeki moved closer to Nagai and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She blushed further but leaned into him. He put his arm around her, pulling her closer. His jacket dangled from her shoulders as Nagai tucked herself into the warmth.
“Are they flirting?” I gasped out. There was no way this was happening.
Takeru and I remained frozen in place as we watched Saeki and Nagai lean in closer and closer. He said something else that made her laugh. Her giggles bounded off the glass door and shot straight into my heart. She twirled a piece of auburn hair around her finger, the action enticing Saeki lean even further into her. Her smile dropped. They were studying each other. Intensely.
I recognized the look on Saeki’s face. He tilted his head and put his index finger up to her chin. This was not happening.
“I can’t…” The pain etched in Takeru’s voice snapped me into action.
“How could you?” I found myself in front of Nagai. I know I should have been more upset with Saeki, but at that moment I was furious with the green-eyed beauty. Takeru had been on a few dates with her, he’d even asked her to come hang out with his friends and go to a party he was invited to, and this is how she repaid him?
Nagai shrank away from me, but Saeki stepped closer. “Are you being serious right now?” I’d never seen him so mad before. His hands, clenched into fists at his side, were trembling.
“Are you being serious right now?” I threw back.
He looked at me with disgust. “Do you realize how messed up this is? You’re mad at Nagai-san? Do you even care about me? You know what – you don’t even need to answer that. It’s clear that your only concern is Takaishi-san, not your boyfriend. No, wait, your former boyfriend.”
“Let me make sure I’m getting this straight.”  My mind was trying to keep pup with every that had happened in the past few minutes. “You were flirting with another girl. If I hadn’t stepped in, you were probably going to kiss another girl. You were going to cheat on me. Yet you’re mad at me? And you’re breaking up with me?”
“Do you have any idea how much this hurts me?” Saeki’s voice cracked, and I could tell it was completely genuine. I felt awful; maybe I had hurt him. But I certainly knew I didn’t do anything that justified cheating.
“How are you putting this on me?” Confusion swirled around in my head. Saeki and I had never fought; not once. We were talking about traveling to Kyoto for our one-year anniversary. And now he was breaking up with me? “Have you been drinking?”
“You know I don’t drink.” He snapped at me. “Maybe I did this on purpose, for you to see what it’s like to have your boyfriend give another girl all your attention. I really like you, Hikari-chan, but I can’t sit here and play second best to Takaishi-san anymore.”
“You wouldn’t think any of this if he were a girl.” Tears trailed down my cheeks, but I let them fall. I wanted him to see the pain he was causing me.
“But he’s not, and that’s the problem. Why don’t you two just go out already?”
That is what it always came down to. The perception that there was no way Takeru and I could be legitimately best friends and only friends. Nobody seemed to understand it. Mostly because those people never had a best friend of the opposite sex.
Or maybe it was more appropriate to say that none of them have had Takeru as a best friend.
“If you’ve had such a problem with it, why are you only saying something now?”
He groaned. “Because I figured the closer you and I got, the less I would have to deal with him?”
“Deal with him?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t.”
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard Takeru’s voice say, “I’m so sorry.” I had forgotten that he and Nagai were there. In fact, a whole crowd had started gathering around the door.
Nagai was hunched over in the corner in an attempt to disappear. “I should go,” she said quietly.
“I’ll drive you home.” Saeki walked into the group of observers while Nagai following close behind him.
I heard some clapping. “Dudes,” Daisuke called out, emerging from the crowd. “I know I can always count on you two to bring the entertainment. If only I had some popcorn! That was insane.”
“Really, Motimiya-san?” I asked. Something in my voice must have stopped him.
“Oh, man, I’m sorry, Hikari-chan.”
I stood there waiting for him to make a sarcastic follow up comment, but he had a look of actual sympathy on his face. It made me feel even worse. If Daisuke felt bad for you, you knew your life must be pathetic.
“Let’s get out of here.” I grabbed Takeru by the arm and led us out of the crowded house.
“Um, our ride left,” Takeru said with quiet resignation.
“We’ll figure something out.” I opened the front door and started walking. “I think the fresh air might do us some good.”
Takeru stayed uncharacteristically silent for several minutes. I left him alone with is thoughts, as I had a plethora of my own to muddle through.  Mostly, what had just happened? Maybe I was missing some signals. I racked my brain for signs that Saeki had been unhappy. He’d made lots of jabs at how much time I spent with Takeru and usually pretended to gag whenever I would talk about him. But he was a guy. I’d thought he was teasing me.
Regardless of what I’d done, it didn’t give him any excuse to flirt the second my back was turned. But what made me the most upset was that it had been Takeru’s girlfriend. I would have thought Saeki, of all people, would’ve wanted Takeru to have a girlfriend.
“Is any of this making sense to you?” I asked Takeru. The night air caressed his cheeks, coloring them the shade of rose petals. He shook his head and kept walking. This was bad.
We found ourselves walking to the same place. We didn’t discuss our destination; we just lead each other to the shores of Odaiba Beach. Silently, we strolled towards the abandoned swing set. Carefully, I sat in the middle swing while Takeru occupied the swing to my left. This is how we always sat on the way home in middle school, back when growing up wasn’t so messy.
I started rocking my swing back and forth.
“So, I’ve been thinking,” Takeru announced, remaining motionless in his swing. “I think you’re right. We shouldn’t go on anymore double dates.”
I looked over and saw a slight smile pulling at the edges of his lips. “Are you making a joke?”
“Well, it’s either that, or accept the fact that I’ve been cheated on twice.” He was referring to his girlfriend from middle school. At the girl’s New Year’s Eve party, she snuck away to make out with Daisuke while Takeru was visiting his family in France. I was the one that found them in a tangle of limbs on a butterfly comforter. I was also the one that had to break the news to my best friend when he got off the plane six days later.
“Well, if it helps, Nagai-san didn’t technically cheat.”
He clicked his tongue. “Yeah, only because you stopped it.”
“We don’t know what was going to happen.” Truthfully, I didn’t believe the words as they came out of my mouth. I tried to lighten the mood. “I guess I really need to stop going to parties where your girlfriends are. And where there are doors.”
“Tell me about it.” He got up and went behind to push me. I closed my eyes and let the swing take me higher and higher. His hands pressed lightly on my back, and I relished in the comfort while it lasted.
We stayed like that for nearly an hour before I glanced down at my watch. “We either need to start walking home or call one of our parents.”
We decided that it was best to call Takeru’s mom for a ride.  My father and Onii-chan were very protective of me, so I didn’t think they would take it lightly that I’d been essentially abandoned at a party. Although I was with Takeru, which would have made them both feel a bit better. They both really liked Saeki, so I knew they’d be disappointed to hear that it was over.
Over. It was so strange to think about it.
Takeru and I sat on the curb while we waited on his mother to pick us up. He averted his eyes, picking at the toe of his sneaker.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Not really.” He wrapped his arms around his legs. “I don’t know, I’m wondering if there is something wrong with me.” A cheek was pressed against his knee, facing in my direction.
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” I assured him. His eyes, a stormy gray, refused to meet mine.
“But why do girls keep cheating on me?”
“You’ve had one girl cheat on you, and another to make a bad decision.”
He sighed, his breath shakily blowing his hair out of his eyes. “Maybe I’m a bad kisser.”
“I’m sure it’s not that.”
“How would you know?” He got me there. “Let’s think about it. My first girlfriend was away from me for ten days and sucking face with a guy who was supposed to be my friend the second she was alone with him. Tonight, my girlfriend was away from me for like two seconds before she about to make out with a guy that was already taken. The problem is clearly me.”
“You’re being silly.” I insisted. It hurt me to think that my best friend thought so lowly of himself. He was loyal, kind, and everything a girl could ever need.
“I don’t think I am.” That was all it took for Takeru to become opposite of silent. He spent the next five minutes battling the crickets for his voice to be heard. He went on and on about how it must be that he was a terrible kisser and that he would never be able to keep a girlfriend because of how lousy of a person he was. How he was never going to date another girl because he wouldn’t be able to trust them. How pathetic he must be that every girl jumped at the chance to be with someone the second his back was turned.
It was grinding on my last nerve.
Takeru was usually pretty laid back about most things, so I wasn’t accustomed to him being so hard on himself about some girl.
I kept trying to tell him that it wasn’t about him. It was about how the first girlfriend likes to flirt and couldn’t be “girlfriend material” with how she preferred to play the field. And who knew about Nagai? She was younger than we were. She had made a mistake.
But that wasn’t enough. I was getting so frustrated with Takeru. Part of me wanted to smack him, but I knew he would only keep complaining.
“Nope, that’s it. I’m a horrible kisser. And it’s going to spread around the school and no girl will ever give me a chance.”
“For the love of the gods, Takeru-kun!”
And before I really could register what I was doing, I grabbed his cheeks and pulled his lips to mine. The chilly air had chapped them, and but his face was warm underneath my hands. He was tense, probably from shock, but I forced my eyes shut so that I wouldn’t see any looks of disgust he could give me.  I tried to ingrain the scent of the sea and sandalwood and something uniquely him. Then, his shoulders loosened. His arms wrapped around my middle as he eased his body into mine. My fingers twitched, threatening to caress his hair.
I pulled away and Takeru struggled for breath. “Wh-wh-what …” He stammered, ears pink from excitement.
Ignoring my own rapid heartrate, I discretely tried to catch my breath. “You’re fine. You are not a bad kisser. It has been verified. Moving on.”
His eyes were shiny and wide, mouth agape and speechless. For the first, I cursed myself for leaving my camera at home.
I loved that he was so flustered. The fact that I could have that effect on him was exhilarating.
From across the street, we could see his mom’s headlights approaching. I stood up while he remained seated on the curb. I reached out my hand to help him up, but it took him a second to process it. He got up on his feet, completely stunned.
“So, that’s one thing that I have on all of your basketball friends and your other ‘bros’” I said to him, flashing him the smile I reserved for quiet moments like these. He returned a blank stare.
I laughed and playfully punched him in the shoulder. “I don’t think any of them would’ve had the nerve to prove to you that you’re not a bad kisser. You’re welcome, by the way.”
He stayed mostly silent on the ride back to my house. Every so often, his finger would reach up to brush across his lips, and I had to stop myself from doing the same. ‘Remember, you’re better off as friends.’
I laughed silently to myself while my thigh was pressed against his in the backseat. All it really takes to fluster a guy is a simple kiss.
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JyoumiChallenge 2020
November 3rd – Cooking...Favourite Version of Jou
Rating: General Audiences Words: 992
This is (not) a disaster
“Minasan konbanwa – Welcome my lovely cooking community to another episode of Cuisine With Mimi! My name is Mimi Tachikawa and today we wanna have a look into a rather magnifique way of cooking – namely the French one! But I won’t be alone on my quest of discovering this interesting and wildly varied cuisine and conquering some of the more challenging recipes. My guest today is Jou Kido, an extraordinary doctor who happens to be my boyfriend!”
  The smile Mimi gives him when the camera swings over to broadcast his by nervousness red-patched face is meant to be encouraging but Jou hardly notices. He feels about to be strangled and gulps heavily, his adam’s apple quivering. A glance over to the monitor lets him nearly wince. His forehead is way too glossy, there’s a strand of hair that’s decided to ditch the laws of physics and stands at a 90° degree angle, and he’d rather not think about the aforementioned uneven red patches all over his cheeks. 
  When the camera light goes out and the directive assistant indicates a short video that’ll give an overview of croissants, snails, and baguettes, as well as some lesser known specialities, Jou turns to Mimi and asks in defeat “Why haven’t you invited Yamato or Takeru? They are half-french and Yamato can actually cook. My experience hardly extends the various versions of ramen.”
   “All that’s true. But France is the country of romance and Yamato is not my boyfriend.”
   Unbeatable Mimi logic. Nothing that Jou can argue over.
   The two are now ushered behind the huge kitchen counter of the studio, it’s as big as his bedroom in the small apartment opposite the hospital he works at. He and Mimi haven’t moved in together yet because she’s always on tour, giving cooking classes all over the world, while he basically lives in the hospital. It’s rather surprising that he has the day off to film the show but probably Mimi has used her irresistible powers of persuasion on his boss. He suspects she’s a big fan of Mimi’s show, at least judging by the complementary cook book that he’s seen wedged between all those medical handbooks in her office.
   “And we’re back in three, two, one!”
   The camera pans over to them and Mimi says “Today’s recipes I’m very curious about because they’ve become essentials around the world and are also well-loved here in Japan. But! Most of the time people buy them in stores even though, with a few tips and tricks, they can be made at home just as easily. We will start with the croissant dough because that has to be refrigerated for two hours.”
   She spreads her hands to showcase the ingredients needed. “Jou, would you be so kind to attach the dough hook to the stand mixer and switch it on?”
   Sweat pearls on Jou’s forehead. Where he can basically do surgeries in the dark and still find the right instruments, he is helpless when it comes to kitchen equipment (and, to be honest, any other tool outside the operating theatre).
   Mimi seems to notice. A tiny nod to the right, and the camera zooms in on her assembling the dry ingredients in an extra bowl. That step is actually unnecessary but it gives the assistant the chance to point out what a dough hook is and how to attach it to the mixer. Jou nods frantically as a thank you, but then the focus is back on him.
   “Here we will stir together the yeast and the water which needs to be warmed to about 46 degrees. Then we’ll let it sit for about ten minutes. In the meantime…”
   Thankfully, for most of the show, Mimi handles the spotlight. He is tasked with small aids, such as washing the lamb’s lettuce or putting oil in a pan and switching on the hob. Whenever he is out of shot he just watches Mimi.
   This is the perfect platform for her. She can present herself in frilly aprons and matching dresses, ramble about the food and everything else that comes to her mind, and in general just enjoy the Mimi Show as much as the viewers do.
   Ratings have soared in the past two years since the show is on, climbing with every new season even higher. She’s started in the afternoon program on weekends, then moved to the early evenings on weekdays, then once a week during primetime, and now the show has garnered so much acclaim that it’s the major Saturday evening show, the highlight of every month. Usually her guests are much more illustrious. Other famous TV personalities have cooked with her, first just of national, then also of international renown. Even the prime minister has chopped vegetables with Mimi.
   But, as she freely admits in many an interview, she likes to cook with none other more than her long-time childhood friend and now partner. So fans have started a hashtag, #cookingwithkido, where they have been begging Mimi to finally show them the both totally unknown and yet internet-famous Jou Kido. They have tried to unearth his identity but Jou is completely inactive on the world wide web. No social media presence, nothing. And miraculously, none of his patients has so far posted a picture with a caption “Mimi Tachikawa is not the only one Dr Jou Kido lays his gentle hands on”. Which Jou is very thankful for.
   Still, he has caved in to Mimi’s plea to appear on the show, and it didn’t even need a lot of doe eyes from her side. That’s just how it is. Mimi asks, Jou gives. But he never feels drained, or taken advantage of. That’s a concept far out of Mimi’s personality. Her abundant joy, her careless view on the world that she has kept regardless of all the perilous events in the Digital World and the show business alike, make up for everything she wants from him. And he doesn’t want to have it any other way.
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sworntolight-a · 4 years
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Title: Five Times Kissed
Ships: Entrust (KikuxTakeru), Solarflare (Mako(oc)xTakeru), Fireflower (MakoxTakeruxKiku)
Summary: Five kisses. Five moments. Five of thousands, likely more - All shared across a lifetime spent bound together by the phoenix’s flames.
A drabble set for @soulburnings of our trio of fluffy, loving dorks - Happy birthday, Kasa! <3333
This way. Kiku wasn't sure why she hadn't expected a shortcut down an alley, honey glancing about their surroundings. Wasn't he always telling her not to go near them, always reminding her how dangerous they were with the Mizunuma brothers and their gang lurking around any and every corner? “Takeru, are you sure?”
“You said you didn't want to be seen.”
That was true, and she was thankful for his slowing to a stop and look back to her, first to meet her gaze, then down to the mess staining her blouse. She hadn't wanted to wander through the shopping district where everyone could see her, not when she'd slipped and fallen in a pile of fish guts just an hour earlier; who would with tendrils of fish skin, scales, and various parts making their clothes and hair stick to them? The smell was bad enough, but to be seen would be twice as bard – Especially with the next day being sunday and most of their classmates out for the evening!
All the same, she hadn't expected him to take her concerns to heart, either. Takeru rarely cared what anyone thought of him, and he'd made his thoughts on her needing to look pretty and presentable known more than once. She looked fine, he'd always remind her. Her scarf might have been askew, or her hair frizzy, but he'd always say she looked fine... Except for now, she noted. Now there were no promises of looking 'fine', no comments on her skirt or braid being a bit off, no teases – Just a concerned light in his eyes and free hand reaching out, thumb gently brushing a scale off her cheek.
He rarely cared what others thought, and yet he was all too willing to lead her through back alleys by the hand just so she could rest assured nobody had seen her looking like a whale had exploded.
He didn't have to, didn't have to care, and he was.
For her.
Slowly, Kiku stepped closer, rocking onto her toes and laying her hand against his chest. Despite the fish stuck to her and the awkwardness of it all, she couldn't stop herself from tilting her head towards him... Or her lips from brushing against his, instant coloring her cheeks a vibrant pink, and, she'd find as she pulled back, his bright red, sky-colored eyes wide in surprise and hand tightened around hers. But why... Was her heart pounding so hard against her ribs, now? Why had that felt so... Good? “Thank you, Takeru.”
“Uh...”
“Did you forget how to breathe?”
Gods knew she had.
~~
“You haven't seen my shirt, have you?”
“...What's a shirt?”
Mako didn't have to look to know Takeru's stare had turned blunt, let alone pinned on her. Not when she'd gone and parked herself on top of the shirt in question, casually continuing to scroll through settings in her 3DS game without so much as cracking a smile – No matter how much she wanted to. What was the worst he could do, anyway? Flip her off it? “Never heard of this 'shirt', Takeru. Sorry.”
“I can see it under you,” came his reply, closer than before – Yet she still wouldn't look up. In her opinion, there was no point; they'd been living together for two months, sharing her bedroom for at least one, and aside from some heated playfighting, there was little reason to think her boyfriend would do anything aside from order her off his shirt. And why would she want to do that when keeping it for herself meant he'd have to join her without one?
Yet before she could get out another sound, she'd find her game plucked from her hands, replaced with her phoenix's smirking expression. A smirk that made her own lips curl into a smile; he was looking for a playfight, wasn't he? “It's my shirt.”
“You're mine,” Takeru countered, though Mako could read between the lines: You're my girlfriend, so that makes you AND the shirt mine, doesn't it? “Give it to me.”
“Depends on what this it is.”
“Mako. I want to go to bed.”
“No you don't.”
“I want to sleep.”
No he didn't, not with that look on his face, but she'd not point that out a second time. Instead, she'd simply lift a hand to cup his cheek, guiding Takeru closer for their lips to meet in a soft, loving kiss – A gesture laced in fire and desire. It'd only been a month of sharing a room, and yet, she still caught herself melting far too easily underneath his advance, melting into her pillows like pure putty under his shift to lean over her. “Mmm... God, I love you-”
“You too-”
She'd still never give him back that shirt though.
~~
Gentle touches had always been her favorite, Kiku decided. Even a year, two years earlier, when he'd been little more than a thug and she clueless to the ways of the world, his touch across her hand and cheek had always been enough to lay her every trouble to rest. The rest of the universe seemed to melt away with each soft pass of skin on skin – All that was left was them, in a world all their own.
“I missed you.” She didn't trust her voice above the whisper it'd come out as, fingers curling into his sweatshirt. I missed you. Three words she shouldn't have been so wary to say, but he'd been gone for a reason, too, and she didn't want him to think she hadn't been supporting him the entire time. But now... He was real, right?
She didn't have to ask that question, Takeru's nose nudging hers a second later with a whisper of 'you too'. She'd never thought his return would make a moment like this... Nor had she ever expected she'd spend the day after her birthday hidden away in his bedroom, wrapped up in his arms as the sun slowly sank bellow the horizon outside. He was real, and she was finding that out in the best way possible, snuggling herself against her best friend – Her boyfriend. The boy she'd loved for so long, and nearly lost.
The boy who'd protected her for as long as she could remember.
The boy who made her heart skip a beat with every touch and every smile.
The boy who owned her heart, always.
And for the first time, her lean in was met halfway by a nervous yet eager Takeru, lips barely brushing before bravery took over and met for a far more solid, loving kiss. Their first as a couple... It was enough to send a shiver down her spine, pulled closer the second he noticed. If he thought she was cold, she wasn't sure, but she wasn't about to complain – Let alone pull away from the fire.
Let it consume me – There's no better birthday gift than to be surrounded by him, always.
~~
Takeru's heavy sigh and flop onto their shared bed was more than enough to make Mako laugh, slow fingers undoing the floppy bow tying her hair back into a loose bun. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him nervous; tests when they lived in the city had done this to him, too, as had every mention of ever talking to her parents, but actually meeting them in person as he had seemed to have been her fiance's breaking point. Not that she could tell by the unamused stare he pinned on her a second later, of course! “You survived, didn't you? And I told you they'd like you.”
“Your father talked about the ancient rights of cows,” Takeru reminded, peeling his mouth from the pillow he'd shoved it into. “That's not liking me, Mako, that's- ...What is he?”
“Mom and I have been asking that for a long time.” Hair flopping down against her back and ribbon set aside, she wasted no time in crawling onto the bed and over him, welcoming his quick roll onto his back and arms snaking around her middle. Being on their best behavior, on top of his nervousness all through dinner, had meant touches were kept to a bare minimum – And being pulled down to lay against his far more solid form, warmth almost seeming to wrap around her like the heat from a fireplace, easily drew a content sigh from her lips. No matter how awkward the day, or how bad, laying with him always made it seem like it'd never happened... “They loved you, you know.”
“Mmm...”
“I know that hum.”
Slowly, his head lifted off his pillow, a light kiss connecting them for but a moment. “It's a tired hum.”
“I'm sure.” That was an I hope so, Mako decided, biting the words off the tip of her tongue in favor of another soft kiss, shuddering under the hands slipping under the back of her blouse for a skim of careful fingertips against her skin. Even if she'd wanted to point it out, his touch alone kept her voice from moving past her throat – And made it all to easy for her to 'steal' a third kiss, gently nipping at his lower lip along with it.
It didn't matter if they liked him or not, she reminded herself. It didn't matter if the world did, or what anyone thought of their relationship – Not when- “I love you, Takeru.”
“Love you too, Mako-chan-”
Not when he owned her with such a simple, soft smile.
“Always.”
~~
“It's not like him to sleep this late,” Kiku sighed out, looking away from the living room's wall clock at the sound of a cup clicking against the nearby coffee table. “He's usually up by now, even on bad days. Did he say anything to you?”
Mako shrugged, plopping herself down beside her partner as carefully – and yet as ungracefully – as possible. The infant in her arms had only just stopped fussing no more than a few minutes earlier, and the last thing she wanted to do was set off another crying fit so soon. “It's how things like this go, you know. Sometimes it takes longer to come back from.”
“It's ten, Mako.”
“Mental illness sucks, Kiku.”
Though her lips parted to reply, Kiku quickly pressed them back together. Mako wasn't wrong, and they both knew it – But it wasn't like their household to be so quiet so late into the evening on a bad day, either. Sure, Takeru had spent days on end avoiding most everything on a bad day before, but he'd also made himself known to them all by 8, 9 the latest, too. Knowing it was nearly their eldest child's bedtime and he still wasn't out of bed yet worried her, something Mako quickly picked up on and countered with a soft smile.
“He'll be fine,” she offered, reaching up to brush a strand of raven hair behind Kiku's ear as Hiko crawled up to settle between them, Sumi instantly turning her attention to her brother from her mother's arms. “I promise. We'll just find him in the kitchen before us in the morning, that's all. Hope you didn’t want to keep those muffins for a rainy day.”
“I don't eat that much.”
Unlike the pure relief on Kiku's face at the sound, Takeru's voice only made Mako laugh, reaching out to catch their husband's hands the moment he was close enough to the couch. To the untrained eye, he looked content enough; dressed in sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt, he looked like he'd just rolled out of bed, breaking into a smile the moment Mako gave his hands a light squeeze and Hiko scooted to the side for him to sit with them. Of course, Hiko wouldn't stay there long, either, scooped onto his father's lap half a second later, hugged tight against the elder's middle with giggles galore.
But to his wives, the wear was more than obvious. Bright blue eyes had gone dim, equally as vibrant smile still warm, yet nowhere near as wide. Even his posture was more slouched than normal, and despite his chuckle over Hiko's laughter and Sumi's gurgling in his direction, a finger offered for the baby to grab at, he'd clearly not recovered enough from his 'bad day' to stay up for long. “...Sorry.”
Sorry I worried you. Sorry I was in bed all day. Sorry I haven't been out here. Sorry you had to take care of the kids all day alone- The meanings behind his apology were endless, Kiku leaning in to silence him with a sweet kiss before another could slip free. He had nothing to apologize for, after all, relishing in the faint smile he let work its way into the gesture. “Did you sleep well?”
“Mm-mm.” Once more, he didn't need to elaborate, leaning back into the couch, welcoming both women's snuggle into his sides. Sleep rarely came easy when his PTSD decided to make a reappearance, but after ten years of marriage and twice as long of friendship, even he knew he didn't need to explain himself. “...Mind if I stay here?”
Mako let out a light laugh, fingertips tracing over his jawline, guiding his head to tilt to the side for her own kiss to find his lips, soft and loving. “You make it sound like we'd let you go,” she reminded right after, expression softening as his smile grew a little more. “You're stuck with us, for the rest of your life. Hope you like scratches and cuddles.”
“Love them.”
“Good...”
“'Cause we've never letting you go. Ever.”
Five kisses, five moments... Just five of thousands across a lifetime shared together. No matter what the world tries to throw their way, there's nothing they can't beat-
Not when they can face it as a family, forever bound by the flames.
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