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sanemislittledemon · 1 month

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Wind and Water

Giyuu X plus size reader X Sanemi

Having two hashira lust over you? YES PLEASE

NSFW

It’s a normal day in the demon slayer corp, I’m coming back from a kakushi clean up this time it was the clean up of the carnage of a hashira and an upper rank, I’m told it was upper rank 4 or whatever. The two hashiras that were in the battle thankfully survived, I sigh ‘ because them two idiots survived that means they can keep bugging me ‘ hashiras Giyuu Tomioka and Sanemi Shinazugawa two men that I love dearly but they are pains in my ass too

For some reason those two hashira like someone like me, I was introduced to them by my childhood friend Tengen Uzui knowing the hashira was a pain for different reasons but that being said the two men have been all over me lately. ‘ I swear me being sent to help this clean up is some sick joke by the master ‘ I pout I love those men but there little competition they have for my love is getting up my nerves. I like the both of them, I don’t see what difference it makes Tengen has three wives for gods sake!

Thankfully it didn’t take us Kakushi long to clean up their mess and the two men weren’t seriously injured, hell Sanemi was raging the entire way back that he could’ve taken another one the block head, that men is only good for two things demon slaying and being loud I sigh but on the other one was quiet the entire time, stealing glances at me when he thought I wasn’t looking, Giyuu is a men of few words but is sweet and genuine I don’t know why the other hashira doesn’t like him plus I heard ( very relevantly ) from Tengen that the water hashira is packing. Blushing I think ‘ that man sticking his nose into business that isn’t his ‘ I finally made it back home after an all day job of cleaning their mess, I shut the door behind me and go to change out of my uniform my day is finished for now at least. I change into a flower kimono one of my favorites actually, it hugs my curves perfectly which I’m thankful for. I’m putting my uniform away when I hear a loud knock at my door “ HEY OPEN UP “ I hear a booming voice from the outside. I knew it I sigh

I open the door to a man with short white hair adorned with a bandage wrapped around it, uniform top unbuttoned to show of his wide pecs that are covered in deep scars some new and others old. Scars are covering most of his body, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t extremely attractive “ what do you want Sanemi ? “ I asked clearly flushed but doing my best to hide it the man in front of me grins and says “ what can’t I come visit you without a reason? “

“ Sanemi you need to go to see a doctor not me “ I sigh Sanemi flexes and replies “ did and I’m fine so is that damned Tomioka “ I look at him unimpressed before stepping aside and letting him in, making a mental note to kill Tengen for tell them where I live. I love these men but I just want somewhere safe from their fighting. Sanemi walks in with a smug expression, damn these hashira but I am one of the only ones that can put them in their place without actually doing anything I don’t know why, the insect hashira Shinobu Kocho calls it female rage I mentally shrug.

“ Sanemi why are you invading my house? “

The man turns back towards me his obsidian eyes looking right passed me and into my soul it makes me shudder “ why can’t I come see my gorgeous girl “Sanemi replied his eyes scanning the lines of my body making me blush “ I-I didn’t say that “ I said in a whisper. Sanemi slowly walks up to stand in front of me, leaning in and growling in my ear “ would you rather Tomioka were here? “He licks along my ear lobe “ you know I can please you better but you still keep him around “ I felt chills shoot up my spine at the promise in his voice. I felt a hard chest behind me and a calm but deadly voice saying “ what nonsense are you talking? “ I turn my head and come face to face with a rock hard chest and a half-half haori “ what the hell do you think you’re doing?! “ Sanemi yells right into my ear I might add. I try to wiggle my out of but they’ve caged me in then I felt hands on my plush hips, I’m not sure who’s they are but it’s making me flustered nonetheless

“ I came to see my girl “ Giyuu replies

I could see the anger radiating from the man in front of me while the man behind me was as calm as a stream. Gods I don’t want to die from being in the middle of their fighting “ Oi Tomioka who do you think you are?! “ Sanemi just kept getting closer, his chest now so close to mine that my breasts are pressed against him. Fuck I need to get out of here, these two meat heads are going to kill me but to my surprise nothing happens and I see fluffy black hair coming closer in the corner of my vision, Giyuus head is so close I can feel his breath on my skin. Giyuu then pulls completely away letting me out of the cage they had me in. I turn around to see the beautifully tragic man that was once behind me. Black hair in his signature low ponytail and his ocean blue eyes that are so serene that it calms me every time I look into them. He’s so gorgeous it’s almost painful but he always has that sad air to him, it makes me just want to comfort him.

“ I came to see if you would be interested in going to lunch with me “ he says with his calming voice that never fails to make me melt “ Oi Tomioka! I was here first “ Sanemi growls voice so rough it sends a shudder through my entire body. I sigh and reply “ I would like that Giyuu but only if Sanemi can come since he was here first “ I was half expecting to be shut down but to my surprise Giyuu nodded

The restaurant is ran by the demon slayer corps so it’s safe and luckily it isn’t far away from my house. Holding hands with TWO hashira is so embarrassing! I’m so embarrassed I think I’m going to die ! I wonder what those people are thinking? They are probably wondering how two hashira would be with someone like me. I know master Ubuyashiki gave his blessing but these stares are almost too much for me. I’m not insecure but seeing their judgmental faces makes me sweat, I hope they don’t feel it through my palms “ eetheart “ “ sweetheart “ Giyuus voice snaps me back to reality and I look upwards seeing a worried expression on his face “ are you okay? You’ve been zoned out for awhile now “

“ I’m fine Giyuu ! “ I say trying to control my thoughts as I pulled the two of them inside the restaurant. We were taken to a private room that’s reserved for hashira, of course I was put in the middle with Giyuu to my right and Sanemi to my left. Back feeling caged again between these two giants of muscle. When the waiter came Giyuu and I both ordered sake daikon while Sanemi ordered ohagi. Giyuu and I ate him a comfortable silence but I could feel Sanemis rage without even looking at the other man. It probably has something to do with Giyuus hand on my thigh, rubbing smoothing circles in the skin there. He’s obviously still worried but he’s not the type to show his emotions well unlike Sanemi who shows his emotions too much. As soon as he notices Giyuus hand Sanemi puts his chopsticks in his left hand and puts his right hand on my other thigh. I look over at him questioningly as he starts to try and eat with his left hand, I giggled it’s actually kind of cute “ the hell are you laughing at?! “ he barks shooting a scary look at me but I just smile at him and pat his head “ you’re so cute Sanemi “ I say but I immediately regret that because I feel a possessive squeeze on my other thigh oh no I forgot about Giyuu

I felt a strong hand grab my wrist and pull me from my right side and lips roughly met mine, shooting a cold glare at the other man. A look that I don’t have the pleasure of seeing often, he kept Sanemis eyes as he made a show of putting his tongue into my mouth. He licked my teeth before deepening the kiss, running his tongue over mine and rubbing all of my sweet spots that he knew so well. He finally pulled back, a string of saliva connecting our mouths. But before I could react Giyuu turns away and resumes eating, I’m so flustered I can’t think straight and before I collected my thoughts my face was grabbed and my lips were covered roughly with another pair of lips. Sanemi bites my lower lip then puts his tongue into my mouth, licking every inch of my mouth before taking my tongue into his mouth and sucking on it. What he was doing couldn’t even be called kissing. he’s usually rough but this is something else, it’s desperate. Thankfully he pulls away, shooting Giyuu a glare before going back to eating. My face is on fire right now, to do something like this in a restaurant but even so I can feel the slick between my thighs. I wiggle in my seat and I know they noticed I’m not sure I’ll survive tonight, I’m sorry Tengen your best friend isn’t going to make it.

They finish eating in silence the only disturbance being the hands on my thighs that are dangerously close to my heat. “ I’ll go settle the bill, you two go wait outside “ Giyuu says getting up and walking out. Sanemi stands up before stretching a hand out to me “ come on let’s go “ he helped me up and straightened my kimono for me before grabbing my hand and leading me outside. We waited outside the restaurant, Sanemi giving threats to anyone that even looked at us wrong “ Sanemi please stop “ I whisper to the man.

Without turning his head away from the crowd he looked at me out of the corner of his eye as he asked “ this was why you were upset when we first got here, right “ my eyes widened conforming what he already knew. Sanemi looked back the the crowd while he said to me in the calmest voice I’ve heard from him “ you shouldn’t worry about what they think, they aren’t worth it “ just then the door to the restaurant opened and Giyuu walks out as calm as ever but he looks at us immediately knowing something was wrong “ did something happened while I was gone “ I tense up at the his voice but Sanemi grabs my hand and pulls me along “ nothing “ is the only word he says to the other man. The three of us walked back in silence but I could still tell Giyuu was throwing me worried glances, we finally got back to my house and we went inside closing the door behind us. Before I got the chance to do anything Sanemi pulls me to his chest, he wrapped his arms around me pulling me as close as possible “ it’s okay baby “ he whispers in my ear.

“ what’s going on Shinazugawa? “ Giyuu asked with a hint of anger to his voice Sanemi looks up at the other man, covering my ears with his hands and says something I couldn’t hear. I look up at Sanemi with a confused face which causes him to gently push my head back down against his chest with him resting his chin on top of my head. I blushed deeply at my head being against his exposed scared chest, my body tenses and I couldn't stop my thighs from moving together. I know he feels it while he's having his conversation with Giyuu I feel Sanemis fingers teasing along the sensitive skin below my ears. it wasn't too much longer until he let go of my ears but he still kept my head to his chest " baby why were you moving like that? " Sanemi said with a smirk to his voice. my breath catches in my throat when I felt the man behind me press his chest into my back, I felt a hand moving slowly down my plush thigh squeezing it before forcing them apart. the hand moved to cup my mound, fingers rubbing against my soaked underwear " fuck baby, we haven't even touched you yet and you're already this wet? " Sanemi growled

a blush spread through me at his words, I leaned back against Giyuu as the other man worked my covered heat with his fingers.it wasn't long before I felt another pair of hands slowly removing my kimono and putting it somewhere I couldn't see. I quickly moved to cover my body from their view ' what the hell do you think you're doing? " Sanemi asks in an annoyed tone. " I-It's embarrassing! " I snap before he had the chance to respond I felt something being thrown over my shoulders when I looked down I saw Giyuus haori draped over me, it was big even on me. " the hell Tomioka? " Sanemi cursed Giyuu didn't reply to him and just helped me put my arms into his haori but he whispered in my ear " it looks good on you "

the fabric was big enough to cover my nipples so my breasts weren't completely exposed, Giyuu knew how embarrassed I was in that moment. Sanemi growled to draw my attention back to him before he reached down and picked me up into his arms " Sanemi! put me down, I'm too heavy! " I screamed at the scared man. he turned his head to give me a look of challenge " you think a hashira can't lift you? " he asks in a dark tone before walking to my bedroom, kicking the door open and setting me down on my futon. the man crouches down in front of me " I'm not like those other pussy lower rank demon slayers " he says with a bite to his voice. Giyuu appears behind him with his uniform unbuttoned his hard body on full display with his long black hair pulled out of his ponytail, he's so gorgeous I cant take my eyes off of him and the other hashira notices " eyes on me " Sanemi says voice low

my eyes snap to the other man but I get pushed down on the futon " fuck you've already got the bedding dirty" he says while licking his lips. I saw an idea flash before the mans eyes before he shoots Giyuu a look as the other man was sitting down beside him, Sanemi looks back to me as he says " first I want to watch you play with yourself for us " my eyes widen I can’t possibly do something so embarrassing in front of them but I felt Giyuus comforting fingers moving across my leg. " o-okay " is the only word I could muster before I slowly spread my thighs both men groan at the sight of the wet spot in my underwear. my hand trembles as I reach down to my mound where my clit is under the fabric, my fingers rub slowly over that spot, I let out a moan at the feeling. my clit is hard from how worked up I am and their gazes burning into me with every passing moment. I eyes flutter closed at the feeling building low in my stomach, but they shoot open again when I felt a tug on my underwear then a snap " fuck that's better " Sanemi says while he's pulling the fabric away. I look up to see their flushed faces staring at my wet heat, Giyuu moves down and starts leaving kisses on my knee while looking up into my eyes, a pleading look that one wouldn't expect from the water hashira.

I felt my heat throb at that look and I know they saw it too, I reach back down to my hard clit rubbing it slowly. I let out a loud moan at the feeling of touching my clit without a barrier, I could see their self-control break. Giyuu was the first to move going in between my legs, grabbing my hand to stop me then licking up my heat. my back arches and a moan is ripped from my throat at the feeling of his tongue " Giyuu! " I scream his name as I cum quicker than I ever have. That didn't stop him through as he wouldn't move away as I was trying to push his head away from my heat Sanemi grabbed my hands and pinned them to the futon and Giyuu kept my legs from closing his big hands gripping my plush thighs, squeezing the flesh so hard it might bruise in the morning. the dark haired man took my clit into his mouth and gave it a hard suck, making my back arch and tears to fall from my cheeks just for them to be licked up by the white haired man, clearly enjoying watching me cum for them.

" fuck baby, I'm so hard " Sanemi says while using the hand that isn't binding me to palm the bulge that was straining the front of his pants. he then unzips his pants and his cock springs out, his tip red and angry " you want a taste? " he askes as he gets to his knees beside my head, rubbing the tip over my mouth asking for entry. I slowly part my mouth and he wastes no time pushing it deep into my mouth with a low groan. he brings my hands to rest on his thighs has he leans forward and slowly thrusts into my mouth, its almost too much having my heat devoured and my mouth used like this but I didn't expect Giyuu to thrust two of his fingers into my heat ripping another orgasm from me. I choked on Sanemis cock causing him to groan and pull back for a second to let me breath before thrusting back in.

Giyuu knew my body and my weak spots too well, it didn't take long before his added a third finger and I tightened too much at the stretch. the man rubbed my thighs in an attempt to soothe me, he finally pulled back from my heat to gently kiss along my thighs as he pumped his fingers into me " it will feel better soon, my love" he reassured me. it didnt take long for the burn to subside and was replaced with pleasure, I started moaning around Sanemis cock " good girl " he groaned throwing his head back in pleasure while thrusting his hips into my mouth deeper " fuck I'm going to cum " he growls as Giyuu slides a forth finger into me making me moan loudly around Sanemis cock and that sends the man over the edge making him cum deep down my throat. he quickly pulls his cock out of my mouth, letting me swallow his cum " fuckkk " he moans moving to crush his lips to my swollen ones, forcing his tongue into my mouth and moaning at the taste of himself. I moan in disappointment when I felt Giyuus fingers leave my heat, the other man pulls back from my mouth " She ready Tomioka? " he asks Giyuus only reply was a nod then Sanemi is quickly grabbing me moving me until he's the one laying on the futon and I'm straddling his pelvis with Giyuu behind me cock pressed to my ass

My heart is pounding in my chest at the thought of what they are going to do but my thoughts were cut short when Sanemi grabs my hips and pushes his cock into me in one swift movement. His cock isn’t as long as Giyuus but it’s the thicker of the two, I throw my head back on Giyuus chest as I moan “ b-big “ Sanemi smirks as he says “ if you can’t take me how are you going to take both of us, baby “ my eyes widen “ you’ll break me I can’t possibly take both of you! “ I yell at them. The dark haired man soothes a hand over my thighs in apology while he whispers sweet nothings in my ear while he helps move me on the other mans cock preparing me for what they plan to do next. Sanemi groans underneath me “ fuck so tight baby “

Sanemi slams up into me hitting my sweet spot with every thrust, I’m losing my mind as pleasure takes over my body but that is short lived as the other man is pushing me over to lay on Sanemis chest as I feel a second cock probing at my heat, Giyuu leans forward mouth next to my ear " relax " he whispers before slowly pushing the tip into me. tears well in my eyes from the stretch, I felt a hand patting my head in an attempt to comfort me. I open my eyes to see the scared man laying below me panting and chest heaving but still trying to make sure I was okay. the man behind me stops when the head is fully settled inside giving me time to adjust, his hot breath in my ear and his hands squeezing my hips hard enough to bruise. " are you okay baby? " Giyuu asks before moving further

" y-yes " I reply the man squeezes my plush hips harder before moving his cock in slowly until his hips are against my ass. Sanemis eyes snapped shut tightly " so fucking tight " he groans then the man behind me lets out a whimper and I feel both of them twitch inside of me. They don’t move until they are sure I’m not in pain, I gave Sanemi a begging look. He is the first to move thrusting up into my heat making all three of us moan, the stretch is almost too much but the way Sanemis cock is curved he easily finds all of my sweet spots. A loud moan is ripped from my throat and my walls clinch tightly around their cocks as Sanemi hits my sweet spot particularly hard. The other man is panting behind me, slowly pulls out before slamming his cock back in hitting the deepest parts of me. Giyuu moans into my ear “ warm “ he pants

I don’t get a moment to breathe when Sanemi pulls out, Giyuu is slamming his cock into me. Broken moans and begs feel the room “ p-please, it’s too much! “ and “ IM GOING TO BREAK” I scream at them as they keep their abusing pace. Sanemi huffs out a breathless laugh at me says “ but your pretty little hole is taking us so well “ he smirks up at me and grabs my waist before slamming my hips to mine.

Sanemis cock hitting hard against my sweet spot “ now take our cocks like the good little slut you are “ he groans out though clinched teeth. Giyuus releases my hips to start roaming up my body to my full breasts that are pressed against Sanemis scared chest pinching my hard nipples making my tighten around them “ I-I’M “ I start to say before a loud scream left my lips as my climax hit me, both men grunt at my walls squeezing around their cocks. “ that’s a good fucking girl, cumming on our cocks “ Sanemi moaned as he grabbed my hips harder and slamming me down on their cocks “ fuck baby I’m going to cum “ he says in a breathless voice but it was Giyuu that said “ take it “ as the both of them thrusted into me as their orgasms hit. Both cocks throbbing inside me making my heat quiver as I came for the second time around their cocks. The men rode out their orgasms making sure I took every bit of them.

We stayed like that for quite some time the three of us too fucked out to move. when I could open my eyes Sanemis face came into my view, his face flushed and sweat dripping from his scared body. Giyuu was the first to move he slowly pulled his cock out of me, making both Sanemi and I moan. he helped me off the other man’s cock before laying me next to the scared man on the futon. This is the first time seeing Giyuus fucked out expression, he’s so beautiful he has the uniform shirt unbuttoned and his sleeves pulled up showing off his hard sweat glistening body, his black hair stuck to his face. “ let me clean you up “ he says before turning and leaving the room

Sanemi wraps his arm around me pulling me to him “ are you hurt anywhere? “ he asks sounding concerned but I shook my head “ I’m fine Sanemi I liked it “ I say in response that made him smile before kissing the tip of my nose, making me giggle. The sound of the door opening gets our attention as Giyuu walks back into the room carrying a basin of water, he’s now fully clothed which is greatly to my disappointment the scared man laughed when he noticed my eyes change “ you still turned on baby? “ he asks with a touch of humor to his voice my face was bright red at his question “ Shut up Sanemi! “ I yell at the man

Giyuu crouches in front of me “ may I? “ he asks I nod for him to take care of me. He spreads my legs again, I cover my face with my arms at the embarrassment before I feel a warm cloth glide over my heat and thighs cleaning away the remnants of what we just did. a small moan leaves my throat when he accidentally brushes over my abused clit “ easy Tomioka! “ Sanemi barks but the other man doesn’t pay him any mind, he kisses my knee in a silent apology before he finishes cleaning me “ what about me Tomioka? “ Sanemi asks in a teasing tone

Giyuu stands up and replies “ do it yourself “ before taking the water to dispose of leaving Sanemi and I alone again. The man looks over to me petting my cheek with his hand “ you’re so beautiful and I’ll end anyone that thinks otherwise “ he promises Giyuu comes back before I get the chance to respond walking in and laying beside me on the futon “ rest my love “ he says to me stoking my hair while Sanemi kisses around my plumb cheeks. I love these men and now I know that they love me too. I give a silent thanks to Tengen before closing my eyes and letting sleep take me.

#chubby reader #x chubby reader #demon slayer #kny #sanemi x reader #giyuu x reader #kny sanemi #kny giyuu

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gabessquishytum · 11 months

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Foaming at the mouth for the young Dream who's Death's little brother

What if, when Hob first learnt that Death had a younger brother she was sort of raising, he assumed Dream wouldn't be THAT young? Like, sure, maybe a couple of years, but he takes it more as "young professional living with his older sister" rather than "older sister being the legal guardian because he's still a minor"-young

It doesn't help that when Hob meets him for the first time it's in passing because Dream is on his way out to meet some friends and all Hob sees is a goth twink in heels too high to walk in and a lot of sultry makeup, sticking his head through the doorway to say by to Death

So he thinks, sure, he's a bit young but damn if Hob doesn't like pretty goth twinks...

And then he meets him properly for the first time and nearly dies because jfc Dream's a kid. Literally! Sure, he's already at uni (which Hob knew) but that's because he skipped a couple of grades because he's insanely smart. Still, time to stop fantasizing about him then

but Dream makes it soooo hard (pun intended) for poor Hob. When he starts somewhat following Hob around, Death initially jokes that he's imprinted like a duckling. He grew up without a healthy relationship with a male role model, you know how it goes.

But of course, it's totally different. Hob knows it. Dream knows it. Hob just can't bring himself to tell Death because that's her little brother. Hob's sure she doesn't want to know what Dream's done now. And what he's done...

Sure, he brings Hob coffee to his office on campus and claims it's because he was in the area and he wanted to say hi and maybe have a chat, but then why doesn't he sit in the chair across Hob's desk? Why does he sit ON TOP of Hob's desk, impossibly long legs crossed so that they fit right between Hob's legs?

(No, he can't wheel his chair back. There's a window. Though throwing himself out the window might be the only way to make these images stop where he just grabs Dream's thighs and spreads them. The images are especially horrible on the day Dream showed up wearing a goddamn skirt that rode up along his thighs so far, that Hob's sure, Dream's not wearing anything underneath.)

And he asks all these questions... They're in between innocent questions about Hob and uni and "were the last essays better than the ones you complained about at the beginning of term?" but they are there. And maybe he does ask because he's lacked a male role model so far, so Hob answers, but it's truly not helping when Dream asks if he's weird for liking if his partner chokes him during sex.

The moment either of them has class (or the occasional student drops by, whom Hob intends to award a couple extra points just for the break they're giving him) should be a blessing, but it's so much worse than the questions and the innocent looks from under very long eyelashes. Hob's a physical kinda guy, but the way Dream clings to him-

He's basically dry-humping him while a student's waiting right outside Hob's door, or while Death is in the kitchen when Hob comes round for dinner! Dream's pressing his entire body against Hobs, basically grinding against him, shuddering and sighing with pleasure when he buries his nose in the crook of Hob's neck and it's just a lot. It's too much. How's Hob supposed to survive this?

And it's going on and on and on. The years pass and Dream doesn't let up. The outfits get more and more revealing (once, which was thankfully at Death's place and not in public, he opened the door in a satin kimono that was basically see-through), the innuendoes less ambiguous, the looks Dream throws Hob more and more pointed. Dream talks about the guys he hooks up with on the weekends and how he wished they would just throw him around a little- Hob has to cut office hours short and rush home so he can have a wank in the shower before he suffers permanent damage from being blue balled all the time.

Fuck, but he gets a semi every time he hears Dream's heels click on the cheep floor of the hallway his office is situated in.

The smartest solution would be to just tell Dream they can't meet anymore, but Hob can't bring himself to do it. Dream's just so lovely and their interests align so perfectly and, really, they seem to make each other better people. And he's halfway in love with him, which feels like the ultimate betrayal of Death but Hob can't stop himself.

Anyway, that turns out to be a non-issue, so when Dream visits him at the office the next time (not even pretending it's for coffee) Hob get's to lock the door and dive beneath Dream's skirt like he's imagined for a good while now.

This is sooo good honestly I can't find a single way to improve it!!!! I'm obsessed with Hob going through mental torment as he looks at Dream and tries to remind himself that that is a 16 year old. He's such a perv for wanting a teenager, he's a terrible person... He tries to stay away, but Dream keeps popping up in his life... and suddenly he's 18 and wagging his arse in Hob’s face. He practically taunts Hob for missing out on being the one to take his virginity.

But also, they get on well?? They’re practically best friends by the time Dream is 20. Hob feels weird again for it but tells himself it's fine, he's never been inappropriate with Dream. They can be friends, even if Hob is 20 years older than him. It's nice, they argue about literature and music and Hob goes thrifting with Dream to find fun new outfits for him to show off in.

He's mad at the universe because it they'd been the same age, they could have been dating for years and be getting married by now. Instead Hob can't date anyone else because he's in love with his friend's little brother. And all he can think about is Dream in a slutty goth wedding dress, lifting up his skirts for Hob to go down on him...

#the sandman #dreamling #nsft #cw age gap

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3mutantsinatrenchcoat · 9 months

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It takes a village to raise a family part 7

Part 6 , part 8

This amazing au is made by the amazing @angelpuns

This is the continued day from the previous part, we have two more parts to seal this 24 hour long segment and then we will be back to our regularly scheduled dibble dabbles because hooooo boy...this is going hammy ham

We started cooking a few hours before we would be there, he cooked what sides we could find in the cabinets. I started on a pie at the table.

"now don't go burning it this time darling" he looked over his shoulder, stirring the pot.

I glanced over at him, rolling my eyes. His smile lit up the room as we got back to work on our food. "It was only that one time, and I never cooked a pie before"

"uh-uh- there was another!" He grins, waving his spoon around. "You nearly burnt down the house!"

"hey! I'm old! I am nearly in my-...huh..." I looked down at the pastry I was making, I couldn't remember my own age..and it seemed he picked up on it because he burst out in a fit of laughter. "Oh hush!" I turned to look at him as he hunched over. If he was any younger he might have fallen dramatically on the floor.

"shush! Get to cooking we have to get this ready-" I couldn't help but laugh. His laugh was.. infectious. I couldn't have asked for anyone different than him. He is truly the love of my life.

We managed to finish with 2 hours to spare, the food put in bowls and placed in a basket with a cloth to cover them. I turned to look up at my husband only to be met with laughter. "You are covered in flour my dear" he wiped his hand across my face, showing his hand. I couldn't help but laugh and took his hand gently. "My dear, your fur is white..I can't see it" I smiled at him, watching his face shift to embarrassment.

"let's go ahead and head over, I want to see the boys" I pulled away and gathered the basket.

"um...darling, you might want to at least change into something cleaner" he ruffled my fur on the top of my head before planting a kiss down.

Once I got changed we left the house, I rarely got to wear my handmade items but I couldn't resist the lovely red fabric of my hakama, especially when paired to the kimono that my husband had bought for our 20th anniversary.

We talked and joked all the way to Splinter's home. As soon as we reached where he lived I could see one of the boys in the window.

"alright game plan" my husband turned to me. "I'll help finish up dinner and you-"

"I'll deal with the munchkins" I smiled back at him.

We knocked as we went inside, my husband went to the kitchen while I went for the boys. I found them all watching me from the living room. I smiled as I got closer, the smile turning into something sinister the boys all picked up on except for Mikey.

And that's when I struck, I ran and snatched up Mikey "RAAAAA!! THE EVIL WOOD GRASS CLOUD DONNIE HAS RETURNED!!" and with that I ran as all the boys shrieked and scrambled after.

I turned into the hallway, booking it away from little Leo and his wooden sword who was accompanied by Donnie and his trusty stick he found outside. Raph turned into the hall, blocking me in.

"sur-..uh- sure-nder-" Leo struggled before raising his sword "evil monsta!"

I couldn't help but giggle before turning to face them. "Oh you fool!" I tickled Mikey earning a shriek and a laugh, the initial shriek causing the boys to charge giving me an opening to escape around them as Leo and Donnie crashed into each other.

I turned to make sure they were okay before I took off, leading the 3 back into the living room. "Leo get him!" Donnie shouts as Leo pushed past him into the living room, Mikey giggling the entire time. I climbed over the couch and ran across it as the boys tried to run after on both sides. I jumped over the end and ran up the stairs, the three followed. As I ran around the upstairs, raph chased after there was a rather dramatic moment at the top of the stairs.

A wooden sword struck in between Leo's left arm and his side, he let out a dramatic gasp before turning to face Donnie. "Don?.."

"an act of betrayal leon-" there was slight hesitation before Donnie reenacted from a play recently held in the village and pushed him.

"Leo!" I ran and fell on my side with a thump, twisting so mikey wouldn't get hurt and caught Leo before he hit the stairs, holding him above them before I pulled him close to me.

I let out a shakey breath before looking at the boys, all of them wide eyed. Donnie with regret in his. "Hey, hey it's okay- it's okay-" I sat up, setting mikey down before I scooped Donnie onto my lap with Leo, leaning against the stair banister.

"i-i coulda hurt em-!" Donnie had tears building up fast, Leo was starting to cry as well.

"but you didn't, you didn't Donnie, and you realized it's wrong. You are okay, you both are look-" I spoke softly, wiping both of their faces. "Leo isn't hurt, just startled"

The two sniffled and looked at each other. "It's okay, you are okay"

"is everything okay?" My dear rounded the corner out of the kitchen and looked up at us. "Heard a noise-? Sounded bad?'

"it's alright!" I smiled at him "just kids learning the power of betrayal-"

He gave me a scrunches up confused look, smiling still. "Alright, well why don't you all come down for dinner?"

It was like nothing had happened at all, all 4 of them screamed for food and raced down the stairs. My husband went around them and climbed the stairs up to me, holding his hand out to me "darling, would you like to go have dinner with me?"

I couldn't help but laugh at him, taking his hand "are you asking me on a date?"

"it would be the greatest honor" he smiles and pulled me to my feet, escorting us down the stairs and to the table.

We sat down beside each other, the boys wanted to sit together.

"so, what was that noise?" Splinter looked up from his food.

I turned to look at the boys who didn't know how to respond so I spoke up. "The great and terrifying wood grass cloud Donnie corrupted the great and POWERFUL Donatello, but he wasnt strong enough! The brotherly love was too much!"

My husband laughed as I made grand gestures, the kids beaming.

After dinner I took the boys to their beds, splinter and my dear gathered the dirty dishes. Donnie and Leo shared the bed for the night, Mikey joined in as well and of course Raph wasn't going to let anything happen to them so he had to join to. "alright, who wants a bedtime story?" I sat down beside them.

Once the boys fell asleep I went to meet the two, overhearing part of their conversation as I walked into the kitchen.

"we can do what we can for the boys while you are gone, the village will be here you know that-" my husband turned to me, I could feel the unease in the room, it was like a rotted flower blooming and draining.

"...I guess it's about time we talked about this..." He turned to Splinter before looking at me.

Splinter spoke up "I'm going back to fight"

"....what-"

#rise au #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #threewrites #rottmnt rural au #rural au #ruralau #grandpa flint #turtle tots #it takes a village to raise a family

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otomegema · 2 years

Text

Title: Convergence Theory

Fandom: Jujutsu Kaisen

Rating: M

Summary: Years after a botched engagement meeting, your path once again converges with one Gojo Satoru’s. And this time, the scheme is of his own design.

Notes: Reader is a jujutsu sorcerer and a lower member of the Gojo family through her great grandmother. She has the limitless ability. The only set physical trait are two patches of white hair that grows out near her temples (Aka Rogue from X-men style).

—

August, 2005.

That summer had been oppressively warm, a layer of heat trapped beneath a layer of moisture that made even the light fabric of your kimono stick to your sides. It was the kind of weather that made your body beg for relief, to lay shivering and sweltering under the barest breath of cool air.

Your mother had opened the outside screens in the room, letting you sit on the porch overlooking the small garden at the center of the expansive, traditional home. The view was lovely, overlooking a manicured garden, a small koi pond bubbling pleasantly even as the night air chirped with the sounds of insects.

The main house was equipped with air conditioners in some of the rooms— just like your parent’s own home, only a short distance away, but somehow so far removed from the atmosphere of this place it felt miles away. Centuries. The clock on the wall seemed suspended in time, halted too by the weight that fell over this place.

There was nothing to be done. When the head of the Gojo family called, even the smallest vine, hanging from the tiniest branch, curled in. Your great grandmother had bore the Gojo name before she married, a detail of minor significance that had not effected your own family until your birth. You had often heard your parents discussing the main family in hushed voices when they thought you were not listening. First with excitement and eagerness and then with worry.

There had been a phone call, an order disguised as invitation.

Gojo Satoru, heir to the name, barer of the Six Eyes, was turning sixteen in December, a scant four months away.

Six Eyes.

Two words that managed to leave the bitterest taste of bile in your throat.

It had been thought the next Six Eyes would be born in your generation, your parents hopeful at one point that you were the one so blessed. A hundred years of waiting ended by the birth of another child, honored above all other sorcerers. You had been born with the Limitless technique, that much was certain and an extra unnaturally keen ability of foresight… the signs were there. The possibility that the the massive potential of the Limitless was within your grasp if you could only prove to possess the fabled Six Eyes…

You were hailed for a short time as possibly a true child of the Gojo blood, a blessing. A boon. And then not even a short year later that boy was tested. No two Six Eyes could exist and it was him, not you, who was truly blessed.

You ran your hands up the back of your neck, dislodging the hair stuck your heated skin.

And worse yet, now you would suffer the indignity of being paraded around with every other eligible girl with a single drop of Gojo blood diluted enough to be proper for marriage.

Gojo Satoru needed a betrothed and only the best would do, naturally.

You were to be polite, courteous and docile. Laugh at his jokes, bat your eyes. Play the role of the pursued for the pursuer.

Did you even want to be selected? Once hailed as the promised child, now degraded to probable broodmare?

You sucked your teeth, holding back a feral shriek somewhere deep in your throat. There was a knock on the wooden frame of the room, lazy and slow. The door slid open before your mother could get you to return inside to the low tables and too hot tea laid out.

You were all but deaf to the sounds of stilted, forced polite conversation, but could not ignore the sudden presence of a young man who came to sit down hard at your side.

Gojo Satoru was not an unattractive young man. He had the signature Gojo coloring, his eyelashes even as pale as driven snow. You yourself had even inherited two streaks of white in your hair, framed near your face and standing in contrast against the rest.

But that handsomeness was hard to enjoy when his expression was one of such utter indifference. He did not even bother to remove the dark glasses that shaded over his eyes, but you hardly were offended. It would have been all the worse to have to look at the very thing you coveted most in this world. Taunting you. Dismissing you.

How many girls had he been forced to sit with today? Judging by his bored expression, too many.

“This is the part where you tell me your name.” He said, voice amused, yet slightly condescending. Behind you both, his father spoke with your parents, but that too was part of the charade. All eyes were on you. All ears tuned to your words.

“You know my name.” You said with a thinly veiled sigh. His attention shifted just a fraction and you noticed with an indignant flush he was wearing his school uniform. Shirt untucked, jacket unbuttoned. You had been forced to spend hours getting ready for this meet-up. Forced to wear a kimono in this hot weather.

He tilted down his glasses to give you a halfway appraising look and you turned away.

“Goin’ for the aloof angle then? Some other girls tried it too. As if you pretend hard enough that you aren’t interested somehow I will be.”

How fucking arrogant.

Your fists clenched in your lap.

“It won’t work.”

“I’m not working any ‘angle’.” You grumbled, “I was told to be here so I’m here. That’s all.”

“You expect me to believe that, huh?”

“I don’t care what you believe.” You spat back, turning to shoot him a piercing glare.

There was silence then, even the voices behind you seeming to falter and lower as if worried they were missing out on some secret hushed conversation.

“Ohhh, wait. I remember now! I do know your name.” Gojo continued, taking off his sunglasses and wiping off some smudge or dust from the lens, “Aren’t you that girl they thought was gonna have the Six Eyes in her?”

Your fist clenched tighter.

“I get it now. Sour grapes and all. Tell ya what…” he spoke softer and leaned in until you felt his breath against your ear, “If you ask me really nicely, for one night, you still could."

The only sound that came after that was the harsh strike of skin against skin. The contact of your palm connecting to his cheek stunned not just the adults inside, but you.

No self respecting sorcerer with the Limitless ability would have been taken by surprise and yet here you sat, having successfully struck the heir to the Gojo name right across his smug face.

You drew your hand back. His cheek had turned a throbbing red so quickly, his smirk raised as his glasses slid down the bridge of his nose and revealed how his blue eyes danced with open amusement.

—

September, 2017.

The uproar that followed that moment twelve years ago had been profound. Your parents had spent the remainder of the visit profusely apologizing and demanding explanations… and the entire time Gojo had stared only at you. Blue eyes wide and engulfing, a smirk etched in the corner of his mouth even as he got up and strode out without another word.

You remembered he had whistled as he went. As if it were all according to plan.

No betrothal was agreed to that night nor any night since. You were never summoned to the main house again.

It had been the most freeing moment of your young life, opening the world from the one pinpointed hope you’d be born with the Six Eyes or wed to the one who had it into a kaleidoscope of possibility.

You attended Jujutsu Tech’s Kyoto branch, keeping far out of the way of the rising star of the Gojo clan.

Well.

Sorta.

—

The problem with having an inherited technique that allowed you to “see” curses and cursed energy users from great distances? Gojo Satoru. The man was such an expansive supernova of energy that when you opened your mind and utilized your gift of telemetry to try and pinpoint targets you had to navigate around his massive, dominating aura.

It was like counting stars against a sunlit sky. The ability, that should have been astronomically useful, rendered inert if Gojo Satoru was on the field.

You tried not to have your own missions line up with his. Which meant keeping tabs on him. Which meant having to live with this gnat, this buzzing fly of cursed bullshit constantly humming in the background when you used your gifts.

You wished everyday you had swatted him harder.

Missions in Tokyo were the worst, but you accepted them without complaint. The fact you’d even managed to rise to second grade despite your public humiliation of the main family’s golden child was a miracle in itself and not one you would squander.

The task was simply. There was a cursed entity that was utilizing the signal within electric devices of all things to move from device to device, rapid as an electrical pulse. It had already killed five non-sorcerers in surge related house-fires in two days. The risk of it causing a massive firestorm in any district rising.

The air had begun to cool in Tokyo, the heat of the summer giving way to fall. You sat on a bench, wireless com already clipped to your ear, the only sound so far the faint static of the open radio and the sound of your breath. The air had that crispness already, the bare cusp of autumn. You steadied your thoughts and began to shut down your senses.

The cursed energy of the young sorcerer students around you began to glow in your mind’s eye, the rest of the world fading into shades of imperceptible grey. Blurring. Distorting.

If you had the Six Eyes, you would be able to see it all. But instead, you blinded yourself to everything but the cursed when you utilized your skill.

You shut your eyes and with a soft breath you whispered, “Cursed technique— Limitless Telemetry: Grey.”

The city revealed itself to your five senses like a massive overflowing of information. Had you not taken the time to adjust, quickly shutting down your hearing, sight, taste, smell and touch in order to compensate, the mental load would have stunned you into a comatose state for several hours. Another thing a Six Eyes user would never need to do. You mentally chastised yourself for allowing the distraction of a deprecating thought, and focused instead upon your sixth sense. The one that tracked beyond the physical.

You were effectively helpless in this state, but within your mind you breezed through the city like a thumb pressed over the pages of a book. Flipping at your leisure as you focused in upon the fastest moving pulse of cursed energy.

In your “peripheral vision” or what acted like a sort of peripheral vision, you could sense the constant presence of Gojo. It was far away, diluted. You wondered if perhaps he was overseas for the barest moment until your senses snapped together and fell upon your target.

You spoke. Your words falling on your own deaf ears as you gave the location into the com. You perceived the movement of the three students. Good kids, fast learners. One boy was even a scion of another great house and the one girl among them possessed a cursed technique of extreme value. The other boy, the pink haired one, you had yet to understand, but his cursed energy output was impressive.

The entity moved. You adjusted, giving new instructions. The curse had not yet caught on to the fact it was being tracked, a fact you would use to your advantage as long as possible. If the curse sensed you, it could easily close the distance and attempt to seek you out… which was why sitting in a park, far from any electrical devices other than your battery powered radio was the safest place you could be.

And if worse came to worse, at least it would be drawn out in the open.

The entity jumped again, following the planned route the three had decided upon to box it further and further into a section of the city that they had already prepared to shut down. Without power, the curse would have to break free of its hiding place within the electric current.

How did a curse even get into the power grid? Too many lost football games on TV? You chuckled a bit to yourself without thinking, providing the newest coordinates as you watched, like an omnipresent spectator as the energies of the curse and the students moved.

This is why I score the highest at Pac-Man…

Everything was going according to plan. You had begun to even let your thoughts wonder, your focus softening just the barest fraction as the students rounded the final corner and blocked the curse into the chosen spot.

And now here comes the switch…

You braced for the surge of cursed energy you expected to feel from it’s ejection…but the power stayed on. You had to stifle the sensation of panic that sparked through your heart, your cursed energy rising a fraction.

And there it was. You felt the shift, the sudden adjusting of the entity. The students flared bright, attacking to try and ward off its escape, but without the power shut off they were waiting for, the curse easily vanished, pulsing through the city and heading now straight ahead… to you.

It’s fine. Fine. Nothing electric by me, so no fast travel.

It couldn’t pass through the coms. It would need to branch off into another grounded circuit and then physically come out to face you in the empty park.

You could hold unto the technique a little longer. Guide the students a little longer. You snapped information in quick short terms. Watching the cursed energy approach closer and closer until it reached the last building at the far end of the park.

And then, inexplicably, it jumped again.

The force in which you were propelled did not immediately register to your mind as your senses flickered and began to come back on line one by one.

The first was touch.

And thus pain.

Your muscles contracted, shot full with an electrical pulse. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, the strike coming indirectly as if someone had forced the curse away. Something blinding and bright exploding over the far-reaching vision of your Limitless technique before your ability snapped off like a cut thread.

Your hearing came back first from sheer force of will. Sight returning in blurry, slowly filling shapes. You forced yourself up from the ground, feeling scrapes biting along your palms.

“You fucking dick.” You managed to hiss, your vision returning just in time to witness the exorcism of the curse by none other than Gojo Satoru.

—

“You used me as bait!”

Your voice reverberated off the hallway walls, your mild injuries tended to but your grievances still in desperate need of airing.

You were only comforted by the fact his students had not been involved in the deception, having also thought Gojo was away while they worked under her guidance in the meanwhile. You were no teacher, but you had taken enough students through missions to be adequate at “babysitting”.

Gojo grinned easily, eyes hidden behind his blind fold as he ran a hand up his neck, feigning a bashfulness you knew had not an ounce of genuineness to it.

The bastard had quietly set up a god damn daisy chain of extension cables into the park, ending plugged into a cheap TV set… right next to you. And he’d done it only after you’d entered your Limitless, taking advantage of your lack of senses to literally bait you like a god damn fish hook and then swoop in to destroy the curse.

His students had been a distraction. A means to force the curse into seeking you out and getting into the open where it could not easily run again. It was the most convoluted, infuriatingly, ridiculous brilliant bullshit you had heard in a long while.

“Pretty clever, yeah? I’ve been practicing my multi-layer tactics.”

“That wasn’t a tactic, it was a gamble and a shitty one at that!”

“Yeah, yeah, but did you die?” Gojo asked, tilting his head to the side. His voice was tinged with amusement and you wondered for a moment if he even remembered you and this was some elaborate “gotcha” twelve years in the making… or if this kind of backhanded backstabbing was common place for him.

“It was interesting to see your technique in action. I could probably give you some tips on how to make it more effective, but they’d be pretty useless to— well. You. So I figure I’ll just make the tweaks and practice it myself!”

You stayed silent.

“What did ya call it? Limitless Telemetry?”

You turned and walked in the opposite direction.

“Whoa— hold on.”

Your exit was cut off, the grinning face you wanted nothing more than to connect your fist into coming back into view.

“I’m kidding. Don’t run off and cry now, we got some other business I wanna discuss.”

“If you’re planning on pitching another mission to me, I pass.”

“Nope. Well— yes. But not like this one.”

You sighed, side stepped, and continued around him again.

“I’ll buy you lunch!”

You stopped.

“And maybe even some kakigōriiiiiiii—“ he continued, his voice lifting to a sing-song tone as he stretched out the word. Your stomach twisted and grumbled in response. Using your Limitless always took so much out of you… a side effect you wondered if he experienced to.

You turned to look back at the man who hadn’t so much as glanced your way in years and wondered again if he was so stupid he didn’t remember who you were or if he was hatching some new plot.

He smiled in what you assumed he thought was a disarming and charming way.

“Fine.”

—

You had settled for a sweet plum flavor, dipping your small wooden spoon into the shaved ice and enjoying the way it melted across your tongue. Flavors always felt more pronounced after you used your Limitless, smells more intense. The sights sharper. It was probably just a placebo effect from being without them, even for a short amount of time, but regardless you enjoyed the sweet flavor and the fruity smell of the different syrups… most of which were coming from Gojo’s own cup.

He had gotten every flavor. The shaved ice in his cup a rainbow of color and tastes as he scooped several together at a time.

The lunch he promised had yet to come, but the treat was enough for now as the sugar helped give a little more pep to your body and your mood. The amount of calories you expended using your gifts was another thing entirely.

The two of you walked a ways in silence, giving you time to observe him for the first time in over a decade.

He had changed, that much you could tell. There was something less harsh in his general demeanor and he had grown considerably since he was fifteen. The boyishness of his face had sharpened, the man overtaking his features. He was broader, less lanky than his teenage self and while his easygoing and devil-may-care attitude was still present, there was something less— edged about it. Less angry.

“Your hair is shorter now,” Gojo said suddenly, “And your chest is bigger.”

You immediately frowned. A look of open disgust flashing over your face. Gojo laughed.

“Thought I forgot about ya, didn’t you?” He slid a thumb over his cheek, the gesture making you flush at the memory of what it felt like to slap the smirk off his face.

“Honestly? Yes.” you answered shortly, taking another bite of your ice.

“Nah. I remember, just figured there was no point in makin’ nice. You seem to be doing fine on your own these days. Second grade, yeah?”

“Yes.”

“As short worded as ever.”

He strode off, forcing you to match his pace. He found a park bench and sat down, sprawling out lazily. You sat next to him at his insistence, knocking your knee into his own until he closed his thighs a bit more with a chuckle.

“Thought you’d be a first grade by now.”

“I have not been recommended.”

He snorted, “Bet you know why.”

You clenched your teeth, holding back a sharp word and an even sharper desire to toss your kakigōri right in his face. Arrogant as ever. Some things, you guessed, did not get better with age.

“The great and fabled Six Eyes holding a grudge over a love tap? How trite.” you said, trying to keep your words indifferent.

“Is that what it was? I had a bruise ya know.”

“You could have stopped my hand before it ever even touched you. You wanted me to slap you so you could get out of having to do anymore meetings.”

His laugh was all the confirmation you needed.

“Is that what you’ve thought all this time?”

“It’s what I know.”

Gojo turned his attention back to his shaved ice, the two of you sitting in silence long enough for the weight of it to become uncomfortable for you. Finally you shifted and scrapped your spoon down the ice, leaving trails of melting syrup.

“What is it that you want?”

Because that was what this was about wasn’t it? He wanted something. The main family never disdained to speak to the lower members without a need and Gojo Satoru was not about to be the exception.

“I’m going to recommend you for first-grade sorcerer status.”

You scrapped your spoon through so harshly a chunk of colored ice fumbled down the side of the paper cup and down your hand. You dodged just in time to avoid it landing with a wet smack on your pants.

You gaped openly at him, but Gojo kept his attention fixed on his ice, happily stirring it up into a soupy, syrupy mess.

“… and yet again I ask, what is it that you want?”

Gojo leaned back, tilting his face towards you with an easy grin. You wondered if he saw the world the way you did with your Limitless with his eyes shaded. Seeing only the impressions of energy and sensation. Could he see your expression? The confusion in the downturn of your mouth or the suspicion in the narrowness of your eyes?

“Nothing too crazy! Just need a fiancée.”

The breath punched out of your lungs.

—

You waited outside the small convenience store across the street, feeling your cheeks beginning to lessen in redness from both anger and embarrassment at your sudden outburst.

When Gojo returned from inside, his hair was still wet… and there was still some redness from the syrup stuck to the strands. You hadn’t been able to control the impulse to throw your kakigōri at him, the breaking of your composure having flowed directly down your arm. It could have been worse, you supposed. You could have punched him.

He had needed to rinse off his blindfold, the fabric now folded and tucked into his back pocket. He had replaced it with the dark glasses you recognized from his youth, giving you a glimpse of the bright blueness of his eyes every once and awhile.

Gojo sighed and tossed a damp paper towel into a bin and turned to you expectantly. You gingerly handed him back his own dessert, having minded it for him while he went into the men’s room to clean up. It was practically soup now and you winced when he lifted it to his lips and drank it.

“As I was saying—“ he began with a smack of his lips.

“No—”

“—it’s a pretend engagement.”

Your mouth hung open, half ready to utter another refusal, which you swallowed back in as he waited expectantly for you to cease interrupting him.

“You let me take you on a few dates, we put on a show of my courting a potential betrothed and in exchange I green light your promotion.”

You narrowed your eyes, biting the corner of your lip into your mouth in obvious consideration.

“For how long?”

Your directness didn’t seem to offend him. Quite the opposite actually. Every time you curtly dropped a single or few word sentence he seemed to only smile brighter.

Gojo shrugged, “A few months. Maybe more. Until I figure out a permanent solution.”

“Your parents want you to get married?”

“The whole clan wants me to get married, sweetheart. I am the strongest.”

And now came the obvious question.

“Why me?”

Gojo shrugged, “You were one of their first picks to start with, so they’ll approve. And there isn’t a risk of you falling for me…”

His lips upturned into a sly grin, “… too quickly.”

You scoffed.

“Family will back off. I get a bit of peace until I have to kick you to the curb, and you get to be a first-class sorcerer. Everyone wins.”

“I’m not going to fall for you.”

Gojo gave a sad little nod, like he was agreeing with a deluded person in order to keep them calm and reasonable.

Granted, you did just effectively hurl a slushy at him a few minutes prior.

“This seems a bit extreme, even for you. Why do you think I’d even say yes? You know exactly why you got slapped. Can I expect that same level of charm from our future ‘dates’?” you asked, kicking yourself for having implied in your words you knew him well enough to even know what was extreme for him. The comment did not go unnoticed, even with his half expression hidden you could tell his interest was piqued. The last thing you wanted to do was to explain to this insufferable man how his very presence was as constant as the sun. Always nagging in the back of your mind and in your abilities.

You wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“That was awhile ago. Most girls find me pretty charming these days. As to why you’d say yes— given it is probably your best chance at getting to first grade sorcerer status, I can’t think of a reason you wouldn’t.”

You bit the inside of your cheek. Fifteen year old you would be outraged, furious. She would not have considered this offer for a second. She would have stamped her foot and told him exactly where he could stick his offer.

But twenty-eight year old you had learned that very often principles were made to be damned.

“And the fact I can tell you are just dying to say yes.”

There was that arrogance again.

“You still buying me lunch?” you countered and the smile he gave you was a bit different than the ones before.

“Wow. No one will even question how I could have been charmed by such a talented freeloader.”

“I am exceedingly charming.”

“And what an arm. You play softball or you just start a lot of food fights as a kid?”

“I want sushi.” You said, the finality of your voice inarguable. You thought he might have rolled his eyes, but nevertheless you got your lunch and even managed to bargain a single day to think about the offer.

Read the rest on ao3!

#fic; convergence theory #ConvTheory #gojo x you #gojo x reader #gojo satoru x you #gojo satoru x reader #jujustu kaisen fanfiction #jujutsu kaisen fanfic #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #gojo satoru #chapter one #the fic is posted in it’s completed entirety on ao3 #I’m just cross posting so folks can reblog to share with others!

205 notes · View notes

mod-kyoko · 9 months

Note

May I request the goodbye despair’s cast reaction to a random dude who’s a student at hope’s peak YEETING hiyoko in a pool with all her clothes on for talking too much shit, as she usually does.

this is hella funny thank you for this request

goodbye despair cast reacting to hiyoko being thrown in a pool

fandom: danganronpa

type: crack fic

♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧

hiyoko saionji

as the person who was thrown in the pool, she is pretty upset. her kimono was ruined, her hair came undone, her makeup is now running down her face, but not just from the water in the pool. the whole class was watching her climb out of the pool and do the walk of shame all the way to the bathroom. usually she likes to guilt people by sobbing loudly, but she was too humiliated to do anything but sniffle, wiping her tears with her soaking kimono sleeve.

ibuki mioda

silly ibuki thought it was a game at first, and that the guy would jump in right after hiyoko or something. she cackled. then when she saw everyone pointing and laughing, she quickly realized it wasn't a laughing with hiyoko type of situation, but rather a laughing at hiyoko situation. after that, she sort of just chuckled uncomfortably, and walked away, not wanting to be part of the taunting.

mahiru koizumi

being hiyoko's only true friend, she ran after her, but not before chewing EVERYONE the fuck out until they felt as bad as hiyoko did. mahiru was disgusted by the behavior and went to great lengths to comfort her friend. getting her dry clothes, buying her favorite brand of gummies.

sonia nevermind

like ibuki, she thought it was a fun game at first, and even clapped. but a frown quickly warped her features when she saw hiyoko's face scrunched in pain. if mahiru hadn't yelled at everyone, sonia would have. she didn't exactly like hiyoko, but a mature and refined person should not throw someone else in a pool with the intention of embarrassing them. she thought they should have handled her differently.

chiaki nanami

also the type to help hiyoko if mahiru hadn't. from the start, chiaki had a look of disapproval on her face. she knew immediately it wasn't a game or joke, it was done out of malice. she pitied hiyoko, and everyone else involved, for being so immature. once mahiru left to go comfort hiyoko, chiaki made sure to shoo everyone away.

mikan tsumiki

she was scared. scared of hiyoko's wrath. scared she was next. surprised hiyoko didn't unleash her wrath afterward. for some reason, she was feeling sad for her bully, but she didn't speak up, she just shrank away into the corner.

peko pekoyama

peko could give less of a fuck about the whole situation, she was above all of it. all of it was pretty immature. she didn't really have a reaction to it, she didn't stick around long enough. but she knew hiyoko had it coming, and so she felt no pity.

akane owari

almost jumped in the damn pool to join in on the fun, but decided against it when she saw everyone tormenting hiyoko. she was torn by inner conflict, one half of her felt bad for hiyoko, bit the other half felt that what the guy did was fair. it was the only way to get hiyoko to shut up. so, she didn't participate in the taunting, but she didn't do anything to stop it.

hajime hinata

literally did not know what to do. he thought hiyoko was incredibly annoying, but he never wished anything like this on her. he stuck around in the back to see the entire situation play out, and almost joined mahiru and chiaki when they were defending hiyoko, but didn't want to get involved.

nekomaru nidai

also very disappointed in everyone who was involved. he had an incredible patience when it came to hiyoko's antics, and never felt any animosity towards her. once hiyoko had run away, he made sure the people around him heard his passive aggressive remarks about the immaturity of throwing someone into a pool instead of voicing your concerns.

gundham tanaka

pities every single person in this situation, even the bystanders. but it's the kind of pity that means he's looking down on them. hiyoko definitely had it coming, in fact, she's lucky the devas weren't the ones who snapped at her annoying behavior. gundham wouldn't laugh or point, but he did stand there with his arms crossed and shook his head.

teruteru hanamura

bro is definitely chuckling, i mean she deserved it. maybe now she will learn her lesson. if the other guy hadn't thrown her in the pool, he would've.

kazuichi soda

he is one of the people pointing and laughing to be honest. god he is laughing his head off. he only stops after mahiru screams at him, but he grumbles about how she deserved it anyway, and why is mahiru defending her, and blah blah blah.

fuyuhiko kuzuryu

a little dumbfounded at first, but goes back to his conversation with peko right away. like her, he is also above this nonsense. yeah, hiyoko was annoying as he'll, and he'd be lying if he said it wasn't at least a tad bit satisfying to see her get what she deserves. his lips turned up into a smirk.

nagito komaeda

doesn't necessarily feel bad for hiyoko, but it is truly an annoying situation. he looks down on the guy who threw her into the pool. not very hopeful of him to do. when he sees hiyoko around later he'll be walking on eggshells, even more than he already does around her.

ultimate imposter

also is torn by inner conflict. he sort of feels bad, but she was really annoying. he chooses not to get involved, and instead slinks away while everyone is laughing.

♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧

my bad for posting this months after you requested it 💀

-mod kyoko

#mod kyoko #danganronpa imagines #danganronpa headcanons #danganronpa #hiyoko saionji #nagito komaeda

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bakuhoes-posts · 1 year

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Dangerous Elysium: Character descriptions

~Personality~

What you went through in the past has made you tougher mentally and physically, but it hasn't made you see the world any differently you have a very bubbly personality and get along with everyone. You like to make jokes and you're very determined when it comes to taking down a villain. You don't take any shit from anyone (that's one of the reasons bakugou likes you) and you stick up for your friends. Physically you're a very good fighter knowing everything ranging from karate, to boxing, to judo. You learned from the best after all (your father). Although you can be a bit dumb at times.

~Quirks~

Summoning:create sturdy armor, blades, whips, swords,spears, and powerful weapons for its host's use.

Pyrokinesis: create and project fire from your palms.

You'll have multiple other quirks by the end of this book. Drawbacks of your quirk is unknown.

y/n

h/c

e/c

Father: Akujin Yamaguchi

"Come with me right now or I'll slaughter every one that you love".

-Your father is a demon making you half human half demon

-his quirk is pyrokinesis along with some other quirks that you will obtain throughout the story

-he's determined when it comes to getting what he wants he will stop at nothing to succeed

-he's also a little bit unhinged

Mother: Hanako Suzuki (formally known as Yamaguchi) after going into hiding you had to change your last names

“Y/n do what makes you happy, I'll always be here to catch you when you fall".

-your mother is very sweet she always tries her best to make you happy

-she's always there when you need her

-her quirk is summoning

#bakugou x y/n #katsuki bakugo x y/n #mha x reader #bakugou imagine #bnha bakugo katsuki #katsukibakugou #katsuki fluff #original character #character description #mha #mha imagines

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mastermojo98 · 1 year

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Zhane & Vitani Chapter 2

Today was August 25th, the first day of school, Zhane was waiting for Vitani to finish making breakfast.

"Come on Vitani is breakfast ready yet? The bus we be here in 20 minutes!", exclaimed Zhane.

Zhane who usually took his bike to go to school and was a stickler for being on time, hated waiting on his sister who would often procrastinate when getting ready.

"Why yes master! Your wish is my command!", yelled Vitani.

Zhane thought to himself. "The female species such an enigma!"

Vitani rushed out with two paper plates in her hands and placed one on the table for Zhane.

"What is up with these pancakes?" asked Zhane.

"What's the problem?", Vitani replied.

"There's still batter coming from them".

"They're buttermilk pancakes."

"Well, there's more milk than butter; and how come you have more bacon?"

"One I'm the one who cooked and two I'm the oldest, so I get more."

The twins mother walked into kitchen preparing to leave for work.

"Now Zhane your sister went through all this trouble to make breakfast the least you can do is give it a chance".

Zhane stared at his sister intensely.

"Trust me Vee, bacon is the last thing you need".

Vitani frowned at Zhane.

"I know you didn't just call me fat! While you're worried about my size you need to eat for someone so small!"

"Oh, ha ha, real funny", said Zhane.

"Hush, both of you!", said Mom. I gotta go to work don't miss the bus okay."

"Yes ma'am", said the twins.

Then both of them heard this bus coming and hurried out the door.

"See ya Mom", both of them exclaimed.

Zhane and Vitani got on the bus and headed off to school.

Vitani was greeted by her best friend Ruby, who was Native American.

"Hey Vitani. Are you ready for 7th grade?", asked Ruby.

"Definitely, I love my brother, but a whole summer with him is like getting gum out of your hair. I cooked breakfast this morning and all he did was make fun of it" replied Vitani.

Ooh, well at least you don't have to deal with him at school too much".

"That's the truth, we're officially out of the newbie stage of middle school so let's make the best of it".

The school bus arrived at Franklin Roosevelt Middle School, and before the kids entered the school Vitani approached Zhane.

"Hey bro I got something to tell you!", yelled Vitani.

Zhane turned and Vitani gave him a big slap.

"OW! What was that for?!", he yelled.

"That's for calling me fat", she replied.

Vitani and Ruby walked into their homeroom class that had three-person seating arranged by her new teacher Mr. Simmons who hadn't shown up yet. The two covered their spot with one seat available.

"Hey, we have homeroom together sweet", said Vitani.

"Well, we're already off to an awesome start", Ruby replied.

Soon a relatively tall Asian girl who was listening to music on her headphones walked in and approached two other girls at one of the tables.

" Kon'nichiwa (Hello), I'm Kimiko mind if I sit here?", she asked.

The two girls glanced at each other confusingly and the brunette spoke.

"Kon'nichiwa? This is America, we speak English here girl. Besides we're saving that seat for a friend, and we don't need a giant taking up all of our space."

"That's not even the worst part Rachel. Her hair and fashion sense need some serious work", said Brianna.

"I know you're not talking with all that nasty weave your hair Brianna!", yelled Vitani.

"They're lame anyway Vee. If they had better jokes, then maybe everyone would laugh", said Ruby.

"OOOOHHHH", yell everyone in class.

Rachel and Serena shamefully sat in silence as the class mocked them.

"How about you mind your own business Pocahontas", said Brianna.

"Kimiko, right? You're good to sit with us", said Vitani.

Kimiko's face lit up with happiness.

"Thanks"

Rachel frowned at the three girls.

"Maybe now she can teach you how to use chop sticks and wear ugly kimanas", mocked Rachel.

Kimiko turned around and glared at Rachel.

"It's called a kimono, and you better watch your mouth about my culture you freaking retard!", yelled Kimiko.

Rachel rose from her seat and spat in Kimiko's face.

"Aaahhh gross", she screamed in disgust.

Ooh, you got her good," shrieked Brianna laughing.

The whole class watched in shock, and Ruby gave some sanitizing wipes to Kimiko clean the spit off her face. Vitani walked up to Rachel.

"That's not cool Rachel, you need to your sor--"

Rachel grabbed Vitani's face shoved her away.

"Shut up", she yelled.

Vitani's face was filled with rage as she gave a strong push to Rachel that caused the brunette to crash into the desks.

Before Rachel could react, the class heard footsteps in the hallway and the disgruntled girls scrambled to their seats to avoid suspicion.

Vitani and Ruby comforted their new friend.

"Are you okay Kimiko?", asked Ruby.

"Yeah, that girl is gonna pay for spitting in my face and calling me a giant", Kimiko replied.

"Don't worry about Rachel, her ponytail is pulled to tight. Her and Brianna are just a bunch of skanks don't know anything; but we got your back," said Vitani.

Kimiko smiled with gratitude as Mr. Simmons walked into the class and greeted everyone, while Rachel coldly stared a hole in Vitani's head.

"Are you really gonna let her get away with pushing you into the desks Rachel?", Brianna asked.

"Are you kidding? No one embarrasses me like that Bree. I'm gonna make Vitani's life miserable."

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lovelyyandereaddictionpoint · 2 years

Note

Since position is illegal in Japan somewhere in the 40 - 50ish

I think is because Exsotica turn down a proposal for the them prince of the country

Just a inner joke

I hope I understand you, right

So if Exotica was on the official timeline of Japan something they do now will affect the rules of the future?

It would be mighty Interesting if high officials were scared off of taking such a jewel from the entertainment district in the first place

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Exotica | Turning Down A Prince

It would be like any other appointment at first

Nothing out of the ordinary

But that would change the moment the head wife was supposed to dismiss the patron

He revealed he was actually a prince under the emperor Taishō

He more or less demanded that within the next day that you be packed up and ready to go

You would have talked his selfish, pompous, butt into the ground if it weren’t for the head wife’s calming grip of your hand

When she was able to get you away from him, she explained how he actually did have the power to run the house into the ground

Even if you did refuse it would mean nothing because either you’d be forcefully taken or the house would suffer anyway at his wrath

Unfortunately he seemed like the type to choose the former

You almost scheduled an appointment with Warabihime

But you stopped yourself

Maybe this was what was supposed to happen, I mean in the story the only other Oiran was Koinatsu (who was a lovely woman by the way)

But you weren’t even an Oiran!

Heck you were in a category of your own: not sticking to one house, actually providing financial advice, betterin the economy with modern insight

You weren’t supposed to be here anyway so why fight this

You sadly spent your day being with this arrogant prince who only let you be alone when it was time to rest

being sure to comment about how much of a pig sty your home was

To commemorate your leaving you took a trip back to your found-family’s home

The family cried, sharing hugs, old times, and gifts to remember them by

They allow you to take one of the side rooms so that you can unwind

Just starting to take off all your garments you were visited by all the women from each house who had taken rounds and some had snuck out to see you

More tears from the girls and head wives alike wet the remains of your kimono

But when all was quiet and you were left alone to look at the moon you began to cry

Being the leading horse in a battle was much easier, than being one on a trip to a rapid river:

As you cried, curling into yourself you failed to notice the observant presence in the corner

“What’s the problem, (Y/n)?”

Your crying stopped immediately when you turned from the window to come face to face with a kneeling Muzan. Shocked, you stop crying immediately, picking up your jaw to answer properly.

“I’m set to marry a prince. I have to leave tomorrow.”

The air grew heavy with the glare you were sure he had on. Not directed at you but at the idea that’d you’d actually be taken out of his reach. A pale hand reached to hold your neck, not too tight, and rubbed the ball of your throat. He just caressed it, seemingly enamored with how little your neck was in comparison to his hand.

“Which house?”

You didn’t want to say but the cold feel of his hand was more of a threat than an action of endearment.

“Tokito House.”

You expected to feel the delayed breeze of the demon lord speeding away but instead feeling the push against the back of your head into the shoulder. You smelt the crisp coldness of his suit as you relaxed into him. For a second you wanted to just forget this but if it wasn’t him then who? You? All the houses? It just had to be him. You went for the hug, pushing down the fear you had and silently crying on the shoulder of Muzan Kibitsuji.

Needless to say the next morning you were no longer betrothed and there was barely a body left.

#yanderes #yandere x reader #yandere #yandere x you #yanderexrea #yandere demon slayer #yandere kny #yandere harem #yandere boy #yandere male #yandere muzan x reader #yandere muzan #muzan x y/n #demon slayer #yandere muzan kibitsuji #Exotica #Demon Slayer Exotica #yandere kimetsu no yaiba

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rhaenyratargeryn · 3 years

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So I wrote an entire Gojo x Reader multichap fic in the space of like a month?? And it’s the first multichap fic I have ever completed.

Title: Convergence Theory

Fandom: Jujutsu Kaisen

Pairing: Gojo Satoru x Reader (oc)

Tropes: Fake Engagement, Idiots in Love, Canon Divergence, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Porn with Feelings (after ch. 13)

Summary: An on-going and haphazardly updated series of works where you, the reader, are a sorcerer and Limitless user in a not all-together fake engagement/relationship with one Gojo Satoru.

Status: chapters 22/22 ✅

Ao3 Link

Excerpt:

August, 2005.

There had been a phone call, an order disguised as invitation.

Gojo Satoru, heir to the name, barer of the Six Eyes, was turning sixteen in December, a scant four months away.

Six Eyes.

Two words that managed to leave the bitterest taste of bile in your throat.

You ran your hands up the back of your neck, dislodging the hair stuck your heated skin.

And worse yet, now you would suffer the indignity of being paraded around with every other eligible girl with a single drop of Gojo blood diluted enough to be proper for marriage.

Gojo Satoru needed a betrothed and only the best would do, naturally.

You were to be polite, courteous and docile. Laugh at his jokes, bat your eyes. Play the role of the pursued for the pursuer.

Did you even want to be selected? Once hailed as the promised child, now degraded to probable broodmare ?

You were all but deaf to the sounds of stilted, forced polite conversation, but could not ignore the sudden presence of a young man who came to sit down hard at your side.

How many girls had he been forced to sit with today? Judging by his bored expression, too many.

“This is the part where you tell me your name.” He said, voice amused, yet slightly condescending. Behind you both, his parents spoke with your own, but that too was part of the charade. All eyes were on you. All ears tuned to your words.

He tilted down his glasses to give you a halfway appraising look and you turned away.

“Goin’ for the aloof angle then? Some other girls tried it too. As if you pretend hard enough that you aren’t interested somehow I will be.”

How fucking arrogant.

Your fists clenched in your lap.

“It won’t work.”

“I’m not working any ‘angle’.” You grumbled, “I was told to be here so I’m here. That’s all.”

“You expect me to believe that, huh?”

“I don’t care what you believe.” You spat back, turning to shoot him a piercing glare.

There was silence then, even the voices behind you seeming to falter and lower as if worried they were missing out on some secret hushed conversation.

Your fist clenched tighter.

“I get it now. Sour grapes and all. Tell ya what…” he spoke softer and leaned in until you felt his breath against your ear, “If you ask me really nicely, for one night, you still could."

The only sound that came after that was the harsh strike of skin against skin. The contact of your palm connecting to his cheek stunned not just the adults inside, but you.

No self respecting sorcerer with the Limitless ability would have been taken by surprise and yet here you sat, having successfully struck the heir to the Gojo name right across his smug face.

You drew your hand back. His cheek had turned a throbbing red so quickly, his smirk raised as his glasses slid down the bridge of his nose and revealed how his blue eyes danced with open amusement.

#jujutsu kaisen #gojo satoru x you #gojo satoru fanfic #gojo satoru x oc #gojo satoru x reader #ao3 #jjk fanfic #jjk fanfiction #gojo satoru #THE BRAIN ROT WAS HOW BAD???#80k+ WORDS BAD #reader insert

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everythingsinred · 3 years

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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 13)

Oh no... 13 is an unlucky number! Oh, well.

Up to this point we've seen Natsume fall in love with Mikan. This next arc is all about discovering Natsume, however, and we've pretty much already talked about that so maybe my analysis for his perspective will leave some things to be desired, which is fine, because Mikan's will come in due time! That being said, there's plenty of stuff in this arc, especially at the start of it, to analyze for Natsume as well.

Chapter Fifty-Three

Takahashi-san has dressed all the Elementary children in their New Year’s kimonos and they are now ready to celebrate the holiday together. They eat a New Year’s feast in the dorms lounge, a rare day where the children don’t have to eat according to their star rank.

It just so happens that New Year’s Day is also Mikan’s birthday. Everyone pretends like they don’t know, because Hotaru told them to leave it a surprise. Mikan is trying to let everyone know about the special day, but the New Year’s cards come in and everyone gets immediately and understandably distracted.

Of particular interest to everyone is Ruka’s card from his mother, who references Natsume and Aoi in her letter. Now everyone is in Ruka’s business and teasing him, so Natsume steps in to help, taking the card from Mikan, returning it to Ruka, and making a very good point that she shouldn’t go looking at other people’s cards without their permission. Mikan is uncomfortable, so she decides to change the subject by asking Natsume how many cards he got this year.

With that, Natsume goes cold and leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.

He didn't want to sit around watching them all gush about their dumb cards anyway!

The truth is Natsume has never gotten any letters or cards, no matter what time of year or holiday it is, and he never will. We can think back to when he told Mikan that the academy would never send her letters to her grandpa. He’d said that the school would never, under any circumstances, allow them to contact the outside. Turns out, the only person who can 100% count on that is Natsume. Sure, he and Mikan are similarly targeted in strange and unfair ways, but he will always be just a little more targeted, because he’s strictly not allowed to have fun or be happy. It would make him happy to hear from his father, to know that he’s safe. The school can’t have anything like that, so they have Natsume sit in the same room as all the other kids, watching them excitedly gush about how many cards they get, while he knows very well he will receive zero each year without fail.

Natsume wants some time to himself, understandably upset about his situation. He’s thinking about Aoi and probably beating himself up because he tends to do that when it comes to his sister and his past. He genuinely has no idea where Aoi is, or if she’s safe, and the school likes to keep it that way, so they can hold it over his head. Aoi is always one of the people they threaten, somebody he works tirelessly to protect despite the fact that he hasn’t seen her in years, doesn’t know where she is, and probably won��t ever see her again.

Natsume looks out the window, sitting on his own, and sees Mikan crying to Narumi because of her guilt and because nobody remembered her birthday. We can see pretty immediately that he isn’t actually upset with Mikan, just with his own situation. He watches her, always lovelorn. Then we see him put his hand on a little bag with a holly decoration. Because of the holly, there’s an instant relation to Christmas. We can’t know what’s in the bag yet, but eventually we will discover that it’s an alice stone.

He's just been carrying this around since Christmas at the latest. How embarrassing.

Natsume made this stone at some point. I would assume it was after his birthday party, before Christmas. Because of the bag, my guess is that he had wrapped it to be a Christmas present but had never given it. That’s understandable. He’s not supposed to woo her, after all, and giving a girl an alice stone would be pretty romantic, even if she has no idea what it means. We will see this stone time and time again, because he likes carrying it around in his pocket. Perhaps he likes imagining that he could give it to her, but never actually goes through with it. Just like today, on her birthday, he will not give the stone, but he’s still carrying it because he’d like to.

The alice stone is proof of at least one thing: Natsume is very much in love with Mikan and he knows it.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Mikan is happily celebrating her birthday. Natsume has returned to the lounge, but he hasn’t said anything, so she’s still feeling awkward about what happened.

The class decides to make mochi once Tsubasa and Misaki arrive. Tsubasa tries to greet Natsume but Natsume responds coldly, with a thumbs down. Now properly irritated, Tsubasa has decided to pull a prank.

Natsume does not make mochi. He sits on his own, napping with manga over his face like always. Once the class is finished, Permy quickly offers her mochi to him, but his attention is immediately on Mikan, who is giving her mochi for him to eat. She tries to apologize, but can’t get the words out, so she leaves the bowl on the table. Natsume can tell that she’s still feeling guilty, even though he isn’t really mad at her. She was thinking of him, so it’s no surprise that he ends up eating the soup, even if it is disgusting.

It doesn't matter if it's disgusting. He's gonna eat it anyway. Because she made it. Zoe and I joke that Natsume would eat all her food (out of his unending love, of course) and eventually get used to the bizarre combinations she puts together. He might even start liking them, who can say.

Hotaru has been invited to the Hana Hime den to be a flower princess, a girl hand-picked by the middle school principal and who carries a heavy amount of prestige and status. Misaki mentions some rumors about the MSP, namely that she locks up her favorite girls in a dungeon, and that immediately gets Natsume’s attention. He’s struck, and to a first-time reader, this might seem odd. He’s strangely intrigued by a girly flower party where guys aren’t even allowed. But he’s not interested for himself. Natsume can guess based on this new information that if Aoi is anywhere on the Alice Academy campus, it’s in the Hana Hime den dungeon.

There’s always an extra invitation ball that is given to a random girl each year, so she can also attend the prestigious party, but the chances that it would land in the hands of an Elementary student are very low.

The Class B girls look for one anyway, but their search doesn’t get too far because suddenly the kids are flying across the room, sticking to each other, like Hotaru and Youichi to Ruka, Anna to Nonoko, Koko to Kitsu, and even Natsume to Mikan.

Turns out Tsubasa’s payback scheme for Natsume giving him the cold shoulder was to put sticky mochi flour into their mochi as a prank, which will keep all the children stuck to the people who ate the same mochi for a full hour.

He was counting on her never finding out he ate it, but alas.

Mikan then realizes that since she’s stuck to Natsume, that he must have eaten her mochi. He can’t argue that he didn’t, but he turns quickly to insults to distract from how sweet of a moment that could potentially be. He says he choked it down, which might very well be true, but it leaves the question of why he’d put himself through the trouble of choking it down if it didn’t mean anything to him. Hmm. Check mate, Natsume.

Then, Mikan finds out that she’s the recipient of the prize jewel, and has thus been invited to the Hana Hime party. There’s something quite fishy about Mikan being the recipient. It’s too much of a coincidence, and it isn’t one. This is all an elaborate trick to trap Natsume in the dungeon forever, and it’s not by the MSP.

Most of the groups have become unstuck, except for Hotaru, Youichi, and Ruka. Tsubasa reads the packet and discovers that some people may be stuck for two or three days as a possible side effect. Mikan and Natsume can become unstuck, but Natsume grabs her hand and keeps her still.

He's not going to miss this opportunity, even if it puts him on the spot and is kind of embarrassing. To be honest, this could possibly unravel all the work he's been doing to downplay how much he likes Mikan. What if she starts thinking he has feelings for her? It's all so risky, but he's willing to do anything for Aoi.

He’s going to do everything he can to go to that party and possibly find his sister. Getting stuck to Mikan and then her being invited to the Hana Hime den is all just too good of a chance to miss. If she can somehow still go while attached to him, it gives him an in to check out the palace and try to find the dungeon.

Chapter Fifty-Five

Natsume is adamant about keeping up the charade that he and Mikan are still stuck. It’s important to him and he’s desperate. He would do anything to save his sister, so if it means threatening Mikan a little, he’s willing to do it. It doesn’t matter that Mikan has no idea what’s going on, what matters is even the chance of going.

Narumi returns to say there’s not a good probability that Hotaru and Mikan would still be allowed to attend the party, because boys aren’t allowed and they are firmly attached to three of them. Mikan has more and more reason to not want to be stuck when she realizes that going to the bathroom and sleeping will be tricky business. Natsume is obviously not a huge fan of it either. He’s usually cold and snippy, even when bickering with Mikan, but this time he’s yelling just like she is. He’s uncomfortable too, but it’s something he’s willing to sacrifice for Aoi.

Mikan only gets more and more upset, screaming about how much she hates Natsume. He doesn’t seem to take it very seriously until Koko, who is reading her mind, asks Mikan if she likes Ruka better than Natsume, and she responds that she does.

Natsume is hurt, but sadly it’s not anything he can’t eventually come to terms with, like every other disappointment in his ceaselessly disappointing life. For now, he’s bitter, but this is great news for Ruka, isn’t it?

It’s time for sleep, and they’re standing in Natsume’s fancy special star room. At her discomfort, he offers that they can sleep in her tiny room if she’d prefer it, but the venue isn’t exactly her problem. He proceeds to be unpleasant, saying that he’s not interested in sleeping with her either, since she probably kicks a lot and talks in her sleep. But then he’s serious, still bitter when he tells her “Sorry for not being Ruka,” and promises that the whole charade would be over tomorrow.

It's on rare occasions like this that Natsume can express even the tiniest fraction of what he's really feeling, in this case jealousy and hurt.

He really never would have done this to himself if Aoi’s safety wasn’t potentially at stake. Having Mikan be so angry at him, hearing her say she much prefers Ruka to him, having to share his bed with her--it’s all stuff he doesn’t want to do! Further, he’ll probably be in serious trouble tomorrow if he does manage to find and rescue Aoi. There’s nothing fun going on in Natsume’s brain, just worry and the skeleton of a desperately laid-out plan to save his sister.

Sleeping with Mikan is something he doesn’t want to do, no doubt, but not because she probably talks and kicks in her sleep. That wouldn’t actually bother him so much. Natsume usually waits until he’s alone in his room at night to let himself be sick. According to the chapter where Tsubasa found out about his condition, Natsume sometimes wakes up in a coughing fit until he coughs up blood. He suffers and struggles and is in pain when he sleeps, and Mikan will be there this time, up close to possibly see it.

How soft his eyes get, just looking at her. It's interesting whenever he drops his facade, like now in a state of half-awakeness, and we can see just how affectionate he'd be if he wasn't always sacrificing his happiness.

But Natsume falls asleep first anyway, and pretty quickly starts having a nightmare. He’s breathing heavily and struggling, having a PTSD flashback nightmare about Aoi. But Mikan wakes him up, sitting up, concerned for him. Natsume is barely awake, but his eyes turn soft. She saves him from his nightmares in more ways than one, like walking-talking serotonin. He reaches for her, in a state of half-consciousness, because his nights are usually awful but the time he spends with Mikan usually isn’t. Maybe combining them is the way to sleep peacefully for a change. So he snuggles her. She starts freaking out, embarrassed, but Natsume tries to reason with her, and maybe with himself too, half-asleep as he is. No, no, it’s just for tonight, just for now. It’ll be like it never happened tomorrow, it’s fine. She can go right back to Ruka tomorrow, since she prefers him anyway, and it won’t be a big deal. He just wants this for now, just for a little bit. Just while he can.

It’s sad that Natsume always thinks of these moments with Mikan as aberrations. They’re little moments that he borrows or steals just to have them for now, thinking they’re meaningless to her, but carrying them like they’re precious to him. He doesn’t think they belong to him, or that he has the right to want anything from her. He holds her during the SA class’s RPG as a joke. He tells her he likes her hair down after fighting with her. He dances with her, knowing that she’s danced with lots of other people and it won’t matter as much to add him to the list. He kisses her after he assumes Ruka already has, just so he can have keep it in his memories. And he cuddles with her now, even though she’s freaking out, because he needs some comfort, even though it isn’t his place to be hugging her. He always has to reason himself into these situations, like he’s convincing himself that he’s allowed to do this one selfish thing, just as long as she doesn’t understand how much it means to him, just as long as it won’t mean anything to her, just as long as he can get away with it.

And because he’s borrowing, the next morning he acts as though her holding him is some kind of bother. He acts all irritated and pretends like nothing happened, because he was borrowing the moment to begin with. It wasn’t his right to take it, and she can’t know it meant something. It also could be that he genuinely can’t remember the last night that clearly. People do all sorts of crazy things in between sleep that they can’t remember. Maybe his lack of sense and restraint helped him get the courage to hug her in the first place, and now that he’s fully awake he can hardly remember. If this is the case, then he's probably scolding his sleepy self for being so ridiculous.

It's up to you to decide if he really can't remember or if he's pretending. Both are possible and neither would really surprise me tbh.

It’s possible, but knowing Natsume, it’s also possible he’s pretending like he doesn’t remember. Either way, he has to do damage control, because she absolutely cannot get the wrong right idea and think that he has affection for her.

The morning brings good news as well, because Natsume, Ruka, and Youichi are allowed to accompany Mikan and Hotaru, as long as they’re dressed as girls.

It’s all working out a bit too conveniently. This is Persona’s scheme to trap Natsume, so of course it would all work out in order that he could make his way to the dungeon. Natsume might be relieved that his plan is working, but it won’t go so smoothly once they’re actually in the Hana Hime den.

Conclusion

The most interesting scenes to analyze from Natsume's perspective are the ones where he chooses to be selfish just once in a while. They're such silly things to call selfish, but they are to him. Being sweet or affectionate to the girl you love should be second-nature, not something to deny yourself, but it's what he's trying to accustom himself to. We also see just how desperate he can be in trying to protect people important to him, like Aoi. The lengths he goes to in order to find her are impressive and show just how determined he is. Going forward, we'll only see more of this kind of determination.

My sister (Zoe) and I made three playlists for NatsuMikan, just like I'm making three essays. One playlist for Natsume's POV, one for Mikan's, and one general playlist for their relationship. I've been listening to the Natsume one while writing these and it's been a lot of fun! This is my long-winded way of plugging Love Song Requiem. Good bye.

<- Previous Next ->

#gakuen alice #alice academy #hyuuga natsume #natsume hyuuga #natsumikan #sakura mikan #mikan sakura #my meta #ga #mine #ga meta #ga meta: nm #ga meta: manga #ga meta: manga nm #let's talk about natsumikan #let's talk about natsumikan: natsume #go listen to trading yesterday and maybe youll understand the pain and selflessness involved in unrequited love with a girl made of sun #also im nervous abt this arc. it really might be underwhelming in this essay.#currently i just finished analyzing the sports festival arc and i had some trouble extrapolating in a fresh way #this arc is really hard bc natsume is absent for so much of it and then after a while he's not quite as active in it #whatever! hopefully itll be fun to read anyway #i always try my best #ANOTHER SONG particularly for this essay!!!#is the run and go by twenty one pilots #hehehehe its cute

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aceofspadegrass · 3 years

Text

Now It's an Entire Swap

Characters: Niragi Suguru, Chishiya Shuntaro, Kuina Hikari, Mira Kano (Briefly), Hatter, Morizono Aguni

Genre: Crack. Somehow even worse (better?) than the last one. They're really going for it now.

1.4k words

AKA Part 2 of Hair Day. It's just gotten way more weirder than ever, and it was just on my mind the entire time. Just.... ' How far would these two get?'

Well apparently it meant stealing each other's clothes and being them for a day. There were probably a whole lot more interactions I could have done for the day, but alas.

Niragi watches as Chishiya approaches him, carrying a bag in his left hand. Since two days ago, Niragi’s been keeping an eye on the man as Chishiya went around with his old hairstyle, his own still delightfully bleached blond and kept in the same style as Chishiya’s usual hair. People still did double takes upon seeing him, and maybe it held true for Chishiya as well, but Niragi didn’t care what anyone thought of the sudden change. All he cared about was making sure Chishiya didn’t go ahead and re-dye his hair so soon, keeping a careful eye on him.

Sure, it was a little stalkerish, but it was for a good reason.

Chishiya dumps the bag at Niragi’s feet, Niragi looking down to look at the small opening the bag allowed. “ What’s this?”

“ Well if you’re going to steal my hair, I might as well steal your life for a day.” Chishiya briefly explains, and he walks away without any further explanation, Niragi raising an eyebrow. He kneels down and opens the opaque bag some more, his lips curling at the white mass chilling inside.

“ Is this a joke…?” Niragi reaches in and pulls out the outfit, recognizing it as Chishiya’s favourite jacket, or at the very least copy of it, as well as swimming shorts that matched Chishiya’s. Niragi looks back towards where Chishiya had disappeared towards, and scoffs. “ So be it then.”

He puts the clothes back inside the bag and stands up, taking it and heading back up to his room. He starts stripping once he gets inside, unbuttoning his shirt and tossing it aside. Next came his shoes and pants, and he pulls out the two articles of clothing back out of the bag. There were sandals included inside, Niragi leaving those for last as he slips on the shorts. They were somehow a perfect fit on him, not at all as small as Niragi was expecting them to be. “ So the mayo man got me accurately fitting clothing, hm?” Niragi pulls on the jacket and quickly retracts his earlier statement, staring at his exposed wrist. Curse him for not bothering to get a proper jacket for him.

Still, Niragi wasn’t about to back down from the supposed life swap challenge, slipping on the other sleeve and zipping it up. It definitely was just some spare jacket, the bottom barely meeting with the shorts with his arms extending outwards. Niragi drops his arms and tugs the jacket down as far as he could before moving to the sandals and sliding them on. They were also about the correct size, if not just slightly smaller but still manageable. Humming, Niragi walks around to make sure, catching sight of his rifle.

“ Well…. as much as I’d like to….” Niragi sighs, and tucks the thing into his bed. “ If Chishiya wants whatever this weird role-play shit, then he’s gonna get it.”

Niragi spots Chishiya by the militants a few minutes later, a few loudly questioning and gesturing to Chishiya. Or, from the back, a much smaller him. Niragi couldn’t help but snort at the obvious sheer size of his shirt on Chishiya’s much smaller frame, or the fact that Chishiya was toting around a massive super soaker instead of the real deal, as if he was still semi-aware that he could be killed despite taking on Niragi’s aesthetics.

Niragi didn’t think this was much of a punishment for his hair thievery in the slightest, sauntering away. Just his face still kept people from coming too close, and the talk about him was near pleasurable for him. His reputation continues to precede him at least.

“ Hey! You, slow down, geez-“ A female voice catches Niragi’s attention, and he turns his head to see that lady Chishiya was occasionally by every so often, although Niragi didn’t bother with her too much, down to her name. She catches up to him, her eyes quickly scanning him before she lets out a sigh. “ I really can’t believe you agreed.”

“ Yeah? What’s it to you, huh?”

The lady folds her arms, letting out a sigh and chews on the stick hanging out of her mouth for a bit. Niragi was about to turn and leave her there when her hand reaches out and grabs him by the shoulder, Niragi whipping around and slapping the hand off. She recoils, but otherwise was unperturbed, looking at him with a hint of displeasure. “ Okay listen. Chishiya told me that since you stole his hair he was going to….. apparently take over a day of just being you, saying that…” She pauses. “ Well, that’s not important right now. What is important is to ’sell’ this, is that I have to follow you.”

Niragi blinks, raising his eyebrow and unconsciously flicking his tongue across his lips, leaning onto one leg. “ Why, does the toilet bowl not trust me?”

“ I wouldn’t trust you with a barrel of green tea left in your care, so you can figure out what Chishiya’s opinion is. Look, we can do this peacefully, no violence required, okay?” She extends a hand as if it were a peace offering, Niragi staring down at the hand.

“ Yeah, uh….. no. I do what I want, cinnamon stick.” He turns and walks away, said cinnamon stick’s footsteps coming up behind him.

“ Rude, but I really can’t expect anything else from you, wig snatcher.”

Niragi ignores her, although he didn’t bother to push her away today either. She was at least mindful of their positions, and kept her distance as she should.

It wasn’t long until she invited him to at least watch a movie with her, Niragi agreeing since he was technically absolved from doing his patrols for the day.

( Niragi wasn’t allowed to in any way touch her, and the one time he tried he got his toes crushed by her foot, so he had to behave the rest of the movie. Not worth it, in his opinion.)

Even at the meeting nobody really mentioned the sudden switch, although Niragi swore he thought he saw Mira’s smile become a little wider, and her eyes glitter in interest at the two. Hatter had to do a double take at the two, before sidetracking into what they were up to this time. Chishiya, surprisingly enough, just sticks his tongue out at Hatter like Niragi would’ve done, and Niragi had to suppress a laugh when he caught a glimpse of a stain on Chishiya’s tongue.

“ Oh my fucking goodness, did you seriously eat a fruit roll-up with those tongue tattoos before this?!” Niragi howls, bursting into uncontrolled laughter. Chishiya slips his tongue back in and just smirks. Aguni shakes his head slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose, Hatter just watching and waiting with amusement.

It takes a while before Niragi finally reins in his laugh, and that was only because one of Hatter’s pretty boy kimono men handed him water to calm the fuck down. Hatter grins, clapping his hands together.

“ Well, either way, this is an absolute rollercoaster that we’re all seeing today, aren’t we. One day I’m greeted with a hair swap, and the next you two are becoming each other! Aren’t you just… two peas in a pod?”

“ Tch, no. I’d rather burn.”

Chishiya glances at Niragi for a second, his lips curling ever so slightly in disgust. “ Not to be rude, but I decline that as well. I’d rather be shot instead. This is merely payback.”

“… How though.” Aguni questions. Chishiya turns his attention to the man, and leans back casually.

“ Because it leaves him practically defenceless in order to be me. Me, on the other hand….” Chishiya gestures to the super soaker lain on the table. “ Have temporary access. Even if this is merely a substitute.”

“ I will strangle you in your sleep anyways, you naked chicken nugget.”

Chishiya doesn’t react to the threat, Niragi glaring at him. Hatter looks between the two of them, then smacks his hand against the table a few times to get the meeting back to focus on him.

“ Like I said last time, grab a martini or something you two. Now, as much as I love a good drama and an enemies to lovers trope, we have to get back to real matters-“

Niragi huffs, leaning back slightly as Hatter starts his usual spiel. His glances couldn’t help but look towards Chishiya every so often, just glaring him down. Occasionally he’d lock eyes with him, Niragi smirking and miming random ways that Niragi could murder him with his bare hands.

If anyone else was watching their little act, they certainly didn’t bring it up. At the very least it kept Niragi occupied long enough.

The moment it was done, Hatter simply watches the two leave the meeting with a little more haste than he’s ever seen, and he leans towards Aguni. “ Think they’re gonna fuck it out with a nice martini?”

“…. Beats me.”

#aib #alice in borderland #aib fanfic #alice in borderland fanfic #niragi suguru #chishiya shuntaro #kuina hikari #hatter #takeru danma #mira kano #morizono aguni #sorry kuina you don't even get a name in this #that last interaction sentence is ness' fault you got me thinking about them doing the do #yes somehow hair swap evolved into a whole outfit swap it's just how it progressed #everyone just has to roll with whatever bullshit happens there every day this is tame really-#yes they specifically are wearing each others tops the other pieces are sized up correctly to a point but the shirt and jacket? Swapped.#yes chishiya ate one of those candies that stained his tongue just to mock niragi's tongue piercing #he also stuck rhinestones on his face I just don't mention them

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snowflake-of-destruction · 3 years

Note

Matchablossom, 22

The vast majority of onlookers were greatly amused by the five year old screaming, "The cake is plastic!" like it was his burden to warn the entire reception hall that they were about to be poisoned. The real trouble was the passionate declaration of, "I don't want to be here! You have to take me home!" as he pulled away from his mother's grip, throwing his entire body into the gesture so he immediately fell to the floor as soon as he broke her hold on his arm.

Eri Nanjo was thoroughly shamed, not just by Kojiro's behavior and how she knew it reflected on her, but by knowing that not everyone would be easily fooled into thinking the next words her son shouted as he threw his flailing temper tantrum, "You don't want to be here either! We're going to grab the most expensive gift from the catalog and get out!" were just something he'd made up with the wild imagination of youth and not some tasteless, glib comment that had first come from her.

Eri tried to calm Kojiro down, quietly, calmly, not causing more of a scene, wishing Kazuhiku was there to play disciplinarian, but the small boy was having none of it. His shirt was strangling him. His mother had told him there was going to be karaoke later, but he wasn't supposed to participate in the singing. Now, he had discovered the pretty cake in the corner with all the decorations was plastic except for a piece for the bride and groom. He was sure he was oppressed. He'd heard his father use that word before. Oppression was a Very Serious Issue, but when Kojiro talked about it, he wasn't taken seriously.

Finally, Kojiro was picked up around the middle with a deep groan and a frustrated tone of, "If you're going to act like a baby, I suppose I'll have to treat you like a baby. We will talk about your behavior at home, and when your father is back from his trip, there will be consequences."

Kojiro could have twisted around more, kicked, made his mother drop him, even gone completely limp and turned himself into dead weight. He didn't. He tensed at first in shock, but then, perhaps just working on automatic instinct while he regained his bearings and plotted his next move, he helped right himself into an easier hold as his mother balanced him against her hip like he was a baby again, and wrapped his arms around her neck. He didn't even keep screaming, stupefied into silence by the indignity of it all (Lying on the floor hadn't been undignified. That was an organized protest from the oppressed).

"They have a plastic cake," he found the words of his best defense after a long moment, softened voice scratching from the previous wailing, begging his mother to consider the dire circumstances that had led him to madness. It would have been anyone's final straw. He wiped not just his nose but his entire face with the back of his sleeve, creating yet another etiquette error. "My hair is crunchy and it makes my brains crunchy too." Eri had put some gooey stuff in his hair to make it smooth instead of sticking up or curling at the back like it liked to. Kojiro was not the biggest fan. "Sorry, Mommy."

He wasn't sure his apology was enough. His mother was smiling again, but it was the type of smile she usually gave really slow cashiers at the store and people with big dogs they met on walks. That was a problem for future Kojiro though. "Your hair looks pretty, Mommy."

"Thank you." Eri patted it with her free hand to make sure the style really was still all in the right place. She wasn't sure how much of a mess she looked after struggling with Kojiro. Her most pressing worry in the moment was his shoes leaving dark marks on her kimono, however--though it was doubtful anything could embarrass her more. "And the cake is plastic so it can be a fancy centerpiece. We'll be served real cake from the kitchen after the bride and groom cut their piece. There's no reason to be upset."

"You should have said," Kojiro replied, regretful, still not for the tantrum, but for the trouble later that could have been avoided. Poor future Kojiro. And poor present Kojiro who was sat down in an uncomfortable chair at a table full of boring looking adults and not only no cake but no food in sight.

There was one other non-adult at the table. Kojiro hadn't seen him at first because he was slumped down in his chair as low as he could go, making it look empty, but then a pretty lady with flowers in her hair had ordered, "Say hello, Kaoru," and a tuft of bright pink hair and a pair of eyes covered by glasses much larger than should have been allowed on such a small face appeared over the edge of the table.

"Hello, Kaoru," the mumbled defiance came from the general direction of the eyes.

The pretty lady apologized, though to Kojiro's mother rather than to him, which adults were always doing.

"You look like a bug," Kojiro informed the eyes, conversationally.

"You look like a dumb monkey," the eyes shot back.

More rebukes and apologies came from the mothers, though the man seated to the left of the eyes let out a warm, booming laugh and pronounced that, "They're making friends! They're boys!"

"He's not a boy. He's a gorilla," the eyes retorted, beating Kojiro before he could call him a bug again.

"Did you make your hair pink to match the cake?" Kojiro swung his legs out as far as they would go, but couldn't reach to kick pink bug boy under the table.

"Yes," Kaoru said, suddenly serious, though only for a moment before he giggled. He scooted up in his chair a bit--possibly because Kojiro was getting closer to kicking him--revealing a lopsided smile that Kojiro found himself returning, even though he had been ready to swear pink bug boy his enemy not even a moment ago.

"Nuh uh," Kojiro shot back. "I know you. You're in my class. You always had pink hair."

"No way! I dyed it," Kaoru insisted. "I don't even go to kindergarten."

"Do too! You always take the best paint set when we do art."

"I need to practice. I'm going to be a famous artist." Kaoru pushed his giant glasses up his nose. "Or an astronaut. Or a robot."

"You can't be a robot when you grow up," Kojiro scoffed. "You build a robot."

"I'm going to build a robot and make it be my friend so I always have one." Kaoru turned serious once more, though this time it seemed a more serious kind of serious to Kojiro, not the joking, lying straight-faced kind of serious--and that made Kojiro's chest hurt for some reason. Kaoru was just a stupid bug boy with pink gum hair, but he should have a human friend. Kaoru's mom did that pursed lip and watery-eyed look adults did when you said something that made them sad, but she didn't say anything to Kaoru, instead talking to Kojiro's mom about "troubles with the move."

"A robot isn't a friend, dummy," Kojiro explained patiently, continuing before the red blotches that rose on Kaoru's bug face could turn into Kaoru yelling at him, and them both getting in trouble, "I can be a friend though. I'll be your best friend. I have two best friends already, but you can be one too."

"You want to be my friend?" Kaoru blinked incredulously.

"That's what I said. Do you have trouble hearing?" Kojiro tried one last time to kick Kaoru, who tucked his legs up on the chair and stuck his tongue out.

"What if I don't want to be your friend?"

The nerve of some bug-people. "I can do five jumping jacks and almost a cartwheel," Kojiro explained his most praiseworthy qualities. "And I am a really good frog catcher."

Kaoru's eyes lit up behind his glasses. "Do you have a pet frog? I have a pet frog. Her name is Carla."

"You should have brought her to the wedding!" Kojiro gasped, sitting up straighter.

"I tried!" Kaoru waved his hands in animated distress. "I wasn't allowed."

"That's dumb," Kojiro commiserated. He bet it was Kaoru's mom that said no. She wasn't as pretty now that he knew she was racist against frogs.

"You're dumb," Kaoru shot back, smiling through the unnecessary insult.

"No, you're dumb," Kojiro retorted, though it was just for the purposes of completing the conversation. Kaoru was cool for a paint stealer with stupid glasses. He had a pet frog. "Look! They have fire!" Kojiro shouted, all at once distracted as he caught sight of the bride and groom going from table to table, lighting candles all over the reception hall.

Kaoru rose up on his knees to see better, craning his neck and answering in an awed voice, "Fire is my very favorite thing in the world." His mother tried to interrupt with a bid for him to sit back down properly, but he didn't listen.

"No, it's robots," Kojiro volleyed back without a pause. "You want a robot best friend. You want to marry a robot."

"No, I want you for a best friend." Kaoru had another one of his weird, serious moments.

"Do you want to marry me too?" Kojiro tried to counteract his pink haired new friend's gravity.

"Can we have a lot more candles?" Kaoru asked.

Kojiro had expected to be called dumb again or for Kaoru to declare the idea gross, but this was better. He'd rather marry Kaoru and his pet frog than a girl. "Yeah! And a cake that isn't plastic!"

"The cake is plastic?" Kaoru stopped twisting around in his seat in order to scrunch his nose in distaste in Kojiro's direction. "They should go to jail."

And then was when Kojiro really knew they belonged together.

#matchablossom #kid fic #snippets #kojiro nanjo #kaoru sakurayashiki #matcha blossom #kojiro x kaoru #nanjo kojiro #sakurayashiki kaoru

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betawooper · 3 years

Text

rating every demon fight in kny bc i can

non-biased, completely objective rating (more or less) of every significant demon fight in kny based on a number of factors, including:

cleverness of fighting tactics

placement in the story’s timeline

integration of character backstories

cohesive themes between characters

etc

by non-biased and objective i mean i’m not skewing the rating if a death felt fair or whatever

everything past where the anime ended will be under a read more so anime onlys who havent watched mugen train, youre safe lol

oh and i reread the manga like 20+ times (reread the latter arcs at least 40 times, haha hyperfixations am i right?) so be rest assured im not pulling these ratings out of my ass

also ill randomly be bolding certain phrases just to improve readability

anyways let’s gooooo

VS NEZUKO

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou and Nezuko. Tanjirou is fending her off by putting the axe handle in her mouth, keeping her from eating him. End Image Description.]

10/10

i like how realistic it is, because yeah tanjirou would react the way to he did with zero fighting skills against a demon

very clear why tanjirou is fighting nezuko and shows a bit of worldbuilding on how normal people react to their family becoming demons

always nice to see worldbuilding

giyuu is the perfect example of a seasoned demon slayer who’s good at his job, and he juxtaposes tanjirou very well in that aspect

my only complaint is not directly in this fight itself but how nezuko is handled throughout the story as a whole

like bro, it is literally never explained why nezuko is different from demons

could have been easily explained if maybe her family’s ghosts like slapped her hand every time she wanted to eat a person but nope

she’s just built different lol

so yeah youll see future ratings get points docked off bc nezuko unlocks some secret power with no prior explanation other than she angy >:3

VS TEMPLE DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a demon. The demon has a sharp-nailed hand over his neck and there are four text bubbles around him saying “But a wound like this... will heal in no time! See? The bleeding already stopped!” End Image Description.]

10/10

may be more forgettable compared to like rui but still good

tanjirou did exceptionally well in this fight and his ability to think on his feet is once again beautifully illustrated here (trapping this dude’s head against the tree trunk with the axe)

very clever

again, establishes more demon worldbuilding regarding regeneration and still being able to move without their head

and the demons burning in the sunlight thing since nezuko wasn’t able to show that

the ending where tanjirou hesitates to kill the demon also serves to show his sympathetic nature towards demons that will last throughout the entirety of the first 60-ish chapters

we’ll talk about what the hell happens to tanjirou after that

or not, it could honestly be its own post

VS HAND DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a many-handed demon. He has six hands around him, three of them covering his mouth while he chuckles, two of them grabbing his cheeks, and one holding on to the top of his head. There are two text bubbles saying “That’s how many of Urokodaki’s students I have eaten! I’ve decided to kill all of his students!” End Image Description.]

10/10

ooooh probably the first big fight against a demon in the series

oh yeah not doing the two random demons tanjirou one shot in a single blow bc eh

anyways hand demon’s pretty goddamn scary, considering the fact that this is the 5th demon or whatever tanjirou has had to face so far

very nice way to show us how much tanjirou’s innate intuition and all his other random abilities (sense of smell, hard forehead) can come together and help him decapitate this guy

i liked the mini history with urokodaki this dude had and why he had beef with our favorite mentor figure, it establishes that urokodaki was in fact a super good demon slayer and its cool to see that actually shown

i also liked that small moment of compassion tanjirou gave this demon, staying consistent with tanjirou’s established kindness

the demon’s sad tale with killing his own brother very much humanizes him when all the reader has seen up to this point is that this guy is a monster who eats people

sets up the theme of demons just being humans but being victims of circumstance that unfortunately doesn’t hold up as well in arcs past mugen train

VS SWAMP DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou fighting off three horned demons as they appear from below. There is a spiky text bubble saying “Three of them!!!” End Image Description.]

10/10

not my most favorite fight but it still portrays everything alright and im not allowed to let my personal opinions mess with the rating so

i like how tanjirou mentioned the fact that he trained in conditions similar to the bog and explains how he pulled off the whirlpool form

using past experiences to aid him in the present, nice nice

tanjirou and nezuko dont quite work together very well but its yknow the first mission so ill chalk it up to simple inexperience

also the way the muzan curse thingie was hinted at here? fantastic way of showing that little bit of demon worldbuilding

...

oh god, it mentions nezuko being stronger than normal demons

ok its not a problem here per say since i can still suspend my disbelief, but later on it just becomes a glaring problem that gets worse over time

VS SUSAMARU AND YAHABA

[Image Description: Manga panels of Susamaru and Yahaba. The first one is a joyful Susamaru about to throw a temari ball. There is floating text saying “Is she one of Kibutsuji’s minions?!” The second image is an annoyed Yahaba, holding one of his eye-hands to cover himself. There are two text bubbles around him saying “My kimono got all dusty. Tch!” End Image Description.]

9/10

why dont these bitches have a good looking panel together dammit

anyways amazing entrance, the way yahaba used his hand eyes to track down tanjirou is really neat

the synergy yahaba and susamaru have is incredible, its awesome dude, they work extremely well together and it shows

tanjirou actually mixing his water breathing forms together is a god tier move and i absolutely love how he can show off his ability to think on his feet once again

establishing how yushiro’s bda works early on is really well done

establishing tamayo as a fugitive this early on is also super well done

not to get into spoiler territory but both these things pay off

how tamayo ended up defeating susamaru is literally awesome in so many ways

shows off both how smart she is by exploiting the muzan curse

and speaking of the muzan curse, we actually get to see what happens to demons who even say his name, back when it was hinted with the swamp demon

tamayo is amazing dude, and we get some real evidence of the horrible suffering demons go through if they even accidentally attempt to betray muzan :D

...

now heres what keeps this fight from being perfect

nezuko somehow grew stronger against susamaru’s temari

with no explanation

which could have been easily explained if tamayo was like “oh yeah the drug also boosts a demon’s strength temporarily”

but nope

god, i just dont like how gotouge handles nezuko’s power boosts throughout the series bc like i said before

no explanation is given anywhere

this is a huge issue, this isnt a pokemon game, you cant just kill demons and get exp at the end of every battle, level up, get some sweet stat bonuses and move on

(actually if gotouge established that this is how nezuko grew in power, than all my complaints about this would be gone, im not even joking)

anyways i get that nezuko is supposed to be “special” but thats too vague of a descriptor

how the hell is she special? ya gotta be more specific and stick with that explanation or that suspension of disbelief is going to disappear

VS TONGUE DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a four-eyed demon with horns and a long tongue. He is crawling in an awkward position, one foot in front of his tilted head. There are two text bubbles around him saying “Heh, heh! I’ll slurpy slurp your brains out through you ear!” End Image Description.]

10/10

not much to say, showcases zenitsu’s true abilities really well

nicely done

VS HORNED DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a big, single-horned demon. There are three text bubbles saying “You dodged! You’re awfully lively for a human! It’ll be a treat to carve away your flesh!” End Image Description.]

10/10

would have ignored this fight if not for the fact we havent seen inosuke fight before

it definitely shows how very fast-paced and wild inosuke is

no complaints here lol

VS KYOGAI

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kyogai, a demon with tsuzumi drums attached to his shoulders. There are four text bubbles around him saying “Why?! Why does everyone keep sneaking through my house? It’s so aggravating. It’s my prey! It’s my prey! Found in my territory!” End Image Description.]

10/10

establishes marechi blood pretty early on, once again expanding the worldbuilding of kny which is always cool

interesting terrain where it’s always shifting, tanjirou once again proves his ability to adapt really quickly by altering one of his forms to work with the turning room

(man, i wish the form mixing/form modification thing carried on throughout the rest of the story, but it really didnt which is just a shame)

the injuries tanjirou had prior to this mission actually affecting him was a nice touch

oh yeah, kyogai gives us more worldbuilding (which is always nice) regarding the 12 kizuki, and the aspect of him being cast out due to being weak shows a lot about muzan’s indifference towards his own demons if they arent strong

his backstory being a failed writer once again humanizes kyogai as a former human being and not just a monster

tanjirou shows his sympathy and compassion again by not stepping on his written work and complimenting his bda

well, tbh tanjirou’s actions kinda came out of nowhere but its a very minor thing and not enough to dock a point off, like it didnt affect the outcome of the fight that much if at all

(so if you see future battles where points are docked off for things not logically making sense, its bc whatever nonsensical concepts were integrated into the fight actually turned the tide of the battle and thats a big no-no)

very good fight and if you remember how kinda bad tanjirou was at accurately slicing the swamp demon, you can see that he’s already improved leaps and bounds

im so proud of him

VS MOTHER SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou and the Mother Spider Demon. There is a light shining down from the top right on to the demon as Tanjirou slices her head off, rain following in his wake. There is floating text saying “Water Breathing: Fifth Form - Blessed Rain After the Drought!” around them. End Image Description.]

10/10

i mean does anyone disagree?

all the demon slayers getting their necks snapped by her threads was pretty horrific, probably more horrifying than anything else we have seen in the entire series if im gonna be honest

the death scene is probably the most beautiful one in the series

it reveals a water breathing form that we havent seen before thats the 5th form

as far as i know, no other breathing style has this merciful sword stroke so it shows a lot about the original water breather and what they might have been like

but enough about them, really the focus is on tanjirou bc this is like the best example by far of how kind and sympathetic he is to demons

dunno what else to say, its perfect

VS SON SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Agatsuma Zenitsu performing Thunder Breathing 1st Form: Sixfold on a spider-like demon. Zenitsu is crashing through the roof of a shed, and a zig-zag path is left behind. There are sound effects all over the panel, saying “Bam!” in large font. End Image Description.]

10/10

chose a picture without a huge spider on it bc i would like to not scare myself half to death

anyways extremely amazing fight, showcases zenitsu’s immense talent and skill, adapting the 1st form of thunder breathing to be a more versatile move

theres a moment where his backstory with kuwajima and kaigaku were revealed and his hidden insecurities are out in the open which is super nice and further develops a character weve only considered as comedic relief until now

the anime made the backstory scenes and the killing scene so much cooler

while there is no thematic connection between zenitsu and the demon, it really isnt necessary to keep this fight interesting

anyways another pretty much perfect fight

VS FATHER SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou and Inosuke slashing at the Father Spider Demon. The demon has blocked Tanjirou’s sword with his arm, and Inosuke is slamming both his blades down on the demon’s other hand. End Image Description.]

10/10

again, not my most favorite fight but it does everything right

i do have to say it was excellent how gotouge hyped up the father spider demon to be the big bad, only just so the plot twist later takes the readers by surprise

nicely done

VS DAUGHTER SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kochou Shinobu and the Daughter Spider Demon. Shinobu’s back is seen and her haori looks like a butterfly’s wings keeping her afloat as she holds her stinger blade out to the side. The demon looks surprised as blood gushes from her side, arm, shoulder, chest, neck, and forehead. There is floating text on the panel, saying “Insect Breathing - Butterfly Dance - Caprice!” End Image Description.]

10/10

first time weve seen shinobu and her fighting style

what i love most about this is how much it shows her true character, appearing as a carefree and naive individual so she seems underwhelming

then bam, reveals exactly how dangerous and uncaring she is of demons, listing out the specific ways she would torture the daughter spider demon in grotesque detail

her using poison to take demons by surprise is also super clever and brings back the worldbuilding established way earlier about wisteria being poisonous to demons

amazing integration of that concept

anyways this fight really encapsulates who shinobu is as a character and thats why it gets a perfect score

VS RUI

[Image Description: Manga panel of Rui holding his hand out directly towards the viewer. There are two text bubbles around him, saying “Give me your sister. If you hand her over quietly, I’ll spare your life.” End Image Description.]

8/10

not only is it a super scary fight but there is a deeper conflict between rui and tanjirou, what it means to be family

they are opposites in the sense that while tanjirou believes love is what makes a family, rui’s subconscious desperation for an unbreakable bond drives him to use fear to keep his “family” together

excellent juxtaposition of their values, and this is only further emphasized when rui expresses out loud what he was going to do to nezuko

i also like the symbolism regarding rui’s bda, how he uses threads or the “familial” bonds to cut up his fake family with it if they act out of turn or annoy him

super neat detail

alright what i dont like about this fight is nezuko (again)

mostly her unlocking her bda to turn the tide of the battle bc her mom was like “yo, wake up, your brother is going to be killed”

feels... forced ig

her bda in general is confusing and not consistent

man, i wish i could make a stronger argument for this but i do believe the problem stems from the fact that we dont ever know what nezuko is thinking, and what she thinks of tanjirou specifically

if she even cares for him as a sibling or if shes only going along with what her family is saying to her, things like that which would have been fixed if gotouge actually gave her thoughts some screen time

so the action feels pretty shallow

im also conflicted over tanjirou somehow remembering how dance of the fire god works

on one hand, hes using past information and applying it in the current setting so he doesnt die, which is understandable

but on the other hand, this was a teeny bit random?

i think what could have fixed this is if there was a scene in the beginning of the series where tanjirou was performing it himself, like practicing before he actually had to do it for new years

so that when the rui fight rolls around, it would have felt less like throwing dry spaghetti at a wall

but yeah

overall super good fight, giyuu ending up having to kill rui instead of tanjirou was super good in that tanjirou didnt become a pillar this early in the series and to show how strong giyuu is

there are some odd bits regarding the ultimate “beheading” of rui using nezuko and tanjirous supposed bonds but it doesnt kill the fight entirely so it deserves its pretty high score

***under read more is manga-only fights so beware***

VS ENMU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Enmu holding his hand out directly at the viewer, with a mouth on the back of it. There is floating text to the top right of Enmu that says “Whispers of Forced Unconscious Hypnosis!” End Image Description.]

9/10

id say this fight is definitely overshadowed by the dream stuff prior to this but its pretty good in its own right

enmu fusing with the train was kinda confusing, like when was it established that demons could fuse with objects?

this worldbuilding element doesnt even appear again so yeah thats why it loses a point

how the kmbk gang end up defeating enmu is pretty sweet though, tanjirou using dance of the fire god to sever the neck bone was really nice and shows that him using the breathing style in the rui fight wasnt a one time thing

while kyojuro’s role was smaller in this part, the next part makes up for it so i cant complain

anyways ye, almost perfect score but its pretty good

VS AKAZA (MUGEN TRAIN)

[Image Description: Manga panel of Akaza holding his hand out to the viewer’s left. There is a text bubble saying “Why don’t you become a demon?” End Image Description.]

10/10

this encounter is literally amazing okay?

after the crew kills the big bad, it seems like everything is fine

but plot twist, upper moon 3 appears out of nowhere

this is the first time the reader has seen an upper moon, let alone the 3rd/4th strongest demon in existence and the way gotouge handled this twist is fucking amazing

kyojuro’s death scene really shows just how human even the strongest pillars are against demons with incredible power

its just

amazing

VS OBI DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panels of the obi-like demon. The first image shows the obi hung in the air and strung over each other like decorations, with women-shaped patterns in its folds. The second image is Hashibira Inosuke fighting the Obi demon which now has lips and eyes. There is floating text in that panel saying “Breath of the Beast: Sixth Fang - Jagged Gnaw!!” End Image Description.]

10/10

on to red light district

this fight is admittedly super forgettable and not very interesting at least compared to the main fight with daki and gyutaro

but it wraps up the sub plot of the women and uzui’s wives going missing so it gets a perfect score for not messing that up

oh and it establishes the stretchy neck thing daki has going on which is very good

VS DAKI AND GYUTARO

[Image Description: Manga panel of Daki and Gyutaro. Daki is sitting on Gyutaro’s shoulders. There is a text bubble on the top right that says “The two of us are one, after all.” as well as floating text that reads “The power of the irregular siblings...!? Next issue lead color and the fight reaches its climax!!” End Image Description.]

8/10

love how this battle challenges tanjirou’s sympathy and kindness towards demons, just simply bc daki and gyutaro are horrible people

(too bad nothing came of this, which ill explain in the hantengu portion)

daki and gyutaro are very good villains and kept this fight super interesting from start to finish

uzui acting as a foil to gyutaro is nicely integrated and properly shown with how jealous gyutaro gets over seeing uzui’s perfect form and stature

tanjirou not only mixes forms but mixes breathing styles as well, which is so fucking awesome

(too bad it was only used like once throughout the entire series, its quite unfortunate)

the super high tension right after inosuke gets stabbed and tanjirou wakes up was expertly portrayed and handled, it felt like the kmbk gang and uzui were actually going to lose

super awesome

the tanjirou and gyutaro parallels are expertly portrayed, with how gyutaro taunts tanjirou over failing to protect his little sister, and the more visual thing where tanjirou imagined his own neck underneath his blade, that was super duper nice

the ending is extremely tense and emotionally gripping, gotouge did a really good job with that artistically too

the demon mark acquisition scene was surprisingly not frustrating, considering that it wasnt really explained prior to the battle

i do think it has to do with how it was explained later just exactly how they worked so its not just some random thing gotouge pulled out of their ass

so pretty good

what i dont like is nezuko and her full power demon form

first of all where the fuck did that come from? she just got angry and suddenly shes as powerful as an upper moon

how?

that doesnt make sense???

her extremely quick regeneration makes no sense

her ability to manipulate her blood’s properties makes no sense

and it doesnt even appear again so what was the point of that existing

none of this is even explained later which annoys me

that one part where tanjirou sings a lullaby to her to calm her down was alright ig but nezuko in this fight makes me extremely irritated and frustrated

just ugh

VS HANTENGU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Hantengu opening a shoji door. He is crawling inside, his hand in a gnarled, unnatural position. There is a text bubble saying “Eeeeeeek.” End Image Description.]

1/10

swordsmith village

this fight can go fuck itself /j

no but seriously it has so many problems that it would be shorter to name its redeeming qualities (which ill do later)

first off, the nezuko full power form thing again

i hate it so much with a passion

again, where did her ability to regenerate instantly even come from???? this is never explained, ever

and why did she cut herself on tanjirou’s sword anyway

did she somehow know that it was going to turn red if she burned it?

gotouge what the fuck, there is literally no reason why nezuko would do that and we cant even read her mind to see her thought process

gotouge hates nezuko, i swear

remember when i said uzui is meant to be a foil to gyutaro in the rld fight? its pretty obvious that those two are opposites, it was nicely done

... what the hell does mitsuri’s insecurities about strength have to do with whatever the fuck hantengu has going on (which is basically nothing)?

so no meaningful connection between mitsuri and hantengu

theres no meaningful connection between tanjirou and hantengu other than tanjirou getting pissed off for like the second time

also tanjirou’s thing with being kind and sympathetic to demons was entirely dropped at this point

but instead of it leading up to a corruption arc of some sorts, it just doesnt

like honestly if something actually came of that anger he exhibited in this arc and from red light district from this point forward story-wise, i would have counted this as an amazing writing decision

but it literally doesnt so who cares

(god, i really start to hate what happened to his character after this )

and genya’s revealed motivation also doesnt fit at all with hantengu’s thing, he’s not a foil, not a parallel, nothing, there is nothing

tanjirou being the catharsis for development for mitsuri and muichirou, who he has only talked to like twice

theres definitely a better way to handle those two’s developments without his help

like gotouge, you have a big cast of characters, use them lol

i want to kick hantengu in the face for being boring as fuck (at least his clones have cool looking weapons)

doesnt even have a proper backstory, just a single spread of him being blamed for shit as a human

like... thats it? this is upper moon 4 what the hell

theres no clever form mixing here at all (regarding tanjirou) which probably would have helped with foreshadowing the 13th form for dance of the fire god/sun breathing better

also gotouge established that as tanjirou’s thing and now he doesnt do that stuff anymore which sucks

oh hey remember when tanjirou actually learned how to do zenitsu’s speed boost thing?

if you didnt, i dont blame you bc it literally doesnt appear again, ever

you could argue that he adapted it into his “waltz flash” technique or whatever the fuck that is but the way it was integrated into this fight was like throwing dry spaghetti at a wall

which is just a shame bc its meant to be representative of how tanjirou and zenitsu are good pals but the way it was utilized is forgettable as hell

i absolutely loathe the crimson blade concept as a whole and im mentioning this now bc its going to come into play why future instances where this goddamn thing comes up again causes points to be lost

its inconsistent as fuck ill tell you that

at least some yoriichi stuff appeared here and not shoved into the final battle with everything else

so the yoriichi stuff later didnt come out of absolute nowhere

genya and mitsuri’s unique fighting styles expand the kny worldbuilding just a little more which is always nice

tanjirou got a cool sword out of this which would have been cooler if him and yoriichi had a deeper connection that was actually explored

but we didnt get shit so whatever

other people getting demon marks being revealed here is also okay so that again, the final battle isnt filled with absolutely everyone getting their marks at once

demon marks have their own slew of problems but its not as bad as the fucking crimson sword shit

god i hate the crimson sword shit

...

dude this section needs a tldr, even i cant sit and read through my shit

TL;DR - this fight sucks and crimson swords are bullshit (more on this later)

VS GYOKKO

[Image Description: Manga panel of Tokitou Muichirou and Gyokko. Muichirou is looking to the left while Gyokko is looking to the right, both with their backs to each other. There are mist clouds billowing in the foreground and background, as well as a slash mark going across Gyokko’s neck. End Image Description.]

7/10

this fight suffers from the same lack of cohesive themes through characters like the hantengu battle bc the antagonist is given nothing

but its better

we havent actually seen mui fight before so theres no consistencies that the reader has to keep track of for now

and there arent like 10 characters in the fight so this fight gets a lot of points just for being a lot more coherent

i do like that this fight shows just how good mui is that he can defeat an upper moon by himself

mui’s backstory is neat

gyokko’s bda is very interesting too

... thats pretty much it lol

ye, anyways not the best fight but not the worst fight either

VS KAIGAKU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kaigaku holding the hilt of his blade with one hand. There is two text bubbles around him, saying “...As usual, you’re still shabby. It’s been a while, Zenitsu.” End Image Description.]

9/10

alright on to final battle arc

theres some good fights and then some really sucky ones, but this one was pretty incredible and very emotionally charged

theres a clear reason why zenitsu and kaigaku are battling each other (kai betrayed the corps and inadvertantly caused the only parental figure in zenitsu’s life to die, and zenitsu is rightfully pissed off about that)

the visual yin-yang symbolism is awesome too

zenitsu winning due to using the 7th form he created himself (which i have reason to believe was inspired by tanjirou) was the perfect ending to the fight, really couldnt ask for anything better and is a perfect example of how much of an effect tanjirou has had on zenitsu

the 7th form is what tanjirou’s waltz flash should have been lol

what keeps this fight from being absolutely perfect is lack of development prior to this conflict

(since the final battle arc is basically a culmination of all the hinted developments through the series, im going to actually factor in how much and how well these conflicts were foreshadowed)

anyways if we had actually seen zenitsu, kaigaku, and kuwajima actually interacting with each other and showing how they were essentially a family (not just through flashbacks), it would have made zenitsu placing the responsibility of killing kai onto himself a lot more tragic

but like, apart from brief flashbacks where zenitsu actually met kaigaku off screen and that one thing all the way back in natagumo where both kuwajima and kai were introduced, thats pretty much it in terms of thunder family development

so yeah its underdeveloped for sure

also one random thought, i personally think zenitsu should have gotten his demon mark in this fight, it would have been cool to see

VS AKAZA (INFINITY FORTRESS)

[Image Description: Manga panel of Akaza’s face. There are two text bubbles around him, saying “Okay, let’s get started. It’s time for the feast.” There is also floating text saying “The inspection of the strong has begun...” as well as a simple box on the lower left, denoting its the end of chapter 147. End Image Description.]

6/10

oh god please dont hate me for this

ill list the good things first how about that

this conflict was foreshadowed perfectly in mugen train, you bet the readers were expecting a tanjirou vs akaza battle after the death of kyojuro and gotouge delivered

akaza’s power is shown extremely well with how many close calls tanjirou and giyuu had while fighting him

akaza eventually giving up on his own volition was really nice and fit into the context of the battle very very well, like sure tanjirou and giyuu wouldnt understand why he gave up but us readers do know

akaza is a really good character and a good villain

now notice how im only mentioning akaza and not giyuu or tanjirou in the good aspects

bc those two are eh

no form mixing at all from either tanjirou and giyuu

i know i said form mixing was kind of tanjirou’s thing but you’d think giyuu would have gotten more creative with his moves once akaza said that he was getting predictable

(well he said he “ran out of water breathing forms” but same thing)

so its kinda bland lol

speaking of giyuu, his whole thing with his insecurities of being weak wasnt handled well (it was sort of immediately brushed off in pillar training, and its unclear what part of his character arc he was in)

like sure him announcing that he’s going to protect tanjirou is cool but it feels like he was haphazardly dropped into the tanjirou and akaza conflict

isnt he supposed to be both their foils? that wasnt really explored that well in this fight and theres no deep meaning behind him even being here just analyzing what he did in it

he could have been handled better or even given more focus is what im saying

the anatta state came out of nowhere, im sorry okay? just bc inosuke like barely hinted at not being able to sense grandma hisa bc she had no fighting spirit and tanjurou magically taught his son how to achieve this state doesnt mean it was properly integrated into the fight

if the anatta state was actually explored prior to this battle, i would have given it a pass but it just feels like a cheap and poorly developed trick to get around akaza’s technique development (which is overpowered as fuck might i add)

gotouge should have just given akaza a plausible weakness to his technique development instead, especially since they dont use or even mention the anatta state after this

the transparent world shit makes no sense but ill elaborate on that in the koku battle analysis

oh and this thing doesnt affect the score but why wasnt there a “yoriichi visage overlapping” moment when tanjirou was fighting akaza? hes an upper moon, he should have gotten those visions but he didnt

for some reason

anyways this battle was alright and has good set up but the middle and end parts didnt hold up as well bc random concepts were thrown at us without prior explanation or development

VS DOUMA

[Image Description: Manga panel of Douma licking Shinobu’s butterfly pin. There are two text bubbles around him saying “Anyway, tonight is a good night. Such fine feasts keep showing up one after another.” End Image Description.]

9/10

damn, such an amazing fight

the build up to this was properly foreshadowed

shinobu finally showing her true anger after hiding it for so long is amazing

douma is a super interesting character and fantastic villain

shinobu showing off her true power and determination against douma was sooooo nice

shinobu’s poisonous body plan is so clever and so interesting

if i was to rate the shinobu part of the fight alone, it would have gotten a 10/10 no question

the reason why its knocked down a point is because of the kanao and inosuke part

dont get me wrong, the way kanao is able to hold her own against douma by herself is pretty cool, how shes meant to parallel douma with their similar struggles surrounding human emotions and demonstrate how she has grown as a person, how she regains the ability to cry

that shit is cool, inosuke also getting in touch with his emotions after learning what happened to his mom was super neat as well

however

bc this battle takes place in the final arc with everything else, there wasnt proper build up regarding many things, the kotoha reveal especially

so inosuke feels kinda forced into the kanao shinobu and douma conflict, similar to how giyuu felt forced into the tanjirou and akaza conflict

its quite unfortunate bc if the kotoha stuff was actually explored prior to the confrontation, this “forced” feeling would have disappeared

i know some people have suggested that the douma fight should have just been its own arc, and i very much agree, it would have certainly helped fix this problem regarding inosuke and kotoha

last random thought, i wish shinobu, kanao, and inosuke got their demon marks

VS KOKUSHIBOU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kokushibou looking directly at the viewer, holding the hilt of his blade as if he’s going to pull it out. There are text boxes around him saying “This... is Upper Moon One... He’s so different compared to the other Upper Moons. He looks so dignified and majestic.” The text boxes are narrated by Tokitou Muichirou. End Image Description.]

5/10

this fight is... mediocre

at least theres a more tangible connection between muichirou and kokushibou

even though that was handled kinda poorly

tbh there really was no point to revealing that mui is koku’s descendant like at all, it just had no significant bearing to the plot of the fight

sanemi’s backstory being here is... okay ig?

idk the whole shinazugawa conflict has fundamental problems that i just cant think of any other place to put it without changing the entirety of canon

the marechi blood concept coming back was nice though

genya is there

him getting his bda was cool and helped turn the tide of the battle in a satisfying way (before kicking the bucket but thats not the focus here)

gyomei is a hollow husk of a character who barely got anything at all

but his fighting style is extremely cool and conveys his immense power very well

oh and him and sanemi are amazing at working together, like better than giyuu and tanjirou, and better than kanao and inosuke

theyre that good yet pretty much nobody acknowledges it which is sad

koku himself is pretty interesting and pretty tragic, very nice villain

but everyone together?

gonna be honest but this is such a random collection of characters, there was basically no foreshadowing that these four were going to go up again kokushibou, they are not that connected very well

i know there was this one post that focused on the theme of family that was common in all 5 characters in the fight but its just not enough

it would have been more cohesive if gotouge emphasized gyomei, mui, sanemi, and genya being like different aspects of yoriichi coming together to kill kokushibou hundreds of years after yoriichi failed to kill him

lmao its not like the 4 of them defeated koku with the power of family or friendship, they just smacked him over and over with a flail, shot him with magical bullets, and stabbed a crimson sword into his abdomen

wouldnt have been too hard to switch over to koku’s pov and go “damn these bitches are like my stupid brother”

...

speaking of crimson swords

i fucking hate the crimson sword concept oh my god can i complain about it now? im gonna complain about it now

unlike demon marks, the crimson blades werent even given any proper conditions, you just hold the stupid thing hard enough and it somehow imbues it with magical properties with no logic behind those properties

what part of crimson swords completely destroys a demon’s body in an instant? even muzan didnt go through that process when he was almost killed by yoriichi so where in the goddamn fuck did it come from

it could be explained bc the sword was left in the same spot for a long time but this tactic doesnt even appear again in a meaningful way (didnt kill muzan when tanjirou and giyuu held the sword together) so what the fuck was the point of having this even exist

its so underdeveloped and confusing and i hate it

the transparent world stuff is also confusing as shit and its pretty much never explained how they work aside from the vague “close your mind” advice, like why did it exist, it did nothing to help the present day demon slayers

its just so... poorly integrated

yeah anyways this is around the same rating as the akaza fight but a little worse bc there wasnt that strong set up beforehand

VS KOKUSHIBOU (SENGOKU ERA)

[Image Description: Manga panel of a bag getting ripped open, pieces of a wooden flute tumbling out. End Image Description.]

10/10

easily 10/10

this fight shows the tragedy of kokushibou giving in to his envy and hatred, when yoriichi cries over seeing his own family commit terrible attrocities against the people he wanted to protect

and yoriichi dies, now carrying the fact that he couldnt even save his own brother from the influence of muzan on his conscious forever

what a sad ending for yoriichi

and after koku angrily slashes apart yoriichi’s corpse, having him find and keep the flute he gave to him when they were kids to the present day gives him a small shred of humanity in the midst of his monstrous anger

VS NAKIME

[Image Description: Manga panels of Nakime. The first one shows a low quality version of her playing her biwa. The second one is a close up of her eye. There are spiky text bubbles saying “It’s Upper Rank... 4!” End Image Description.]

0/10

no nakime backstory

not even a goddamn fight

forgettable

useless

VS MUZAN

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kibutsuji Muzan in his white-haired, mouth-covered form. There are text bubbles around him saying “Not a single one was of use to me. I will crush the demon hunters tonight. I’ll massacre them all right now.” End Image Description.]

1/10

._.

i have many complaints but ill try my best to not make this another hantengu rant section lol

first off, obanai deserved better

im serious, this poor dude was forgotten until pretty much the end when we finally get a backstory out of him

and then he died

what a waste of a potentially amazing character

mitsuri getting taken out early was ehhh

pretty sure someone else made a post about her supposedly being extremely strong but she was nerfed in this battle which i agree with

literally none of the pillars work together very well, like remember how i praised sanemi and gyomei for being super coordinated? lmao that doesnt exist anymore

you could say this is caused by desperation though and you wouldnt be wrong, its just boring to sit through

that causes issues bc this now basically requires the crimson sword and transparent world concepts to be there to spice things up

but in this fight, they do nothing in the long run (except for tanjirou using the crimson sword at the very very end)

youve already heard me talk about why those two things are super shittily integrated and i cant be bothered repeating myself so moving on

kanao, inosuke, and zenitsu

they... exist? they didnt do much tbh, which i guess is the point but like, now its boring again

nezuko could have been used as a potential way to raise the stakes and make things interesting again (like “ah shit, muzan might actually be unkillable if he gets nezuko but its okay bc shes not here- oh fuck shes here this is not good”)

but nothing came of her running off except confirmation that she became human again so whatever

uzui and shinjuro are useless, why werent they at the fight?

like they could have followed nezuko and contributed to the battle even a little but they just didnt and now theres literally no point to them appearing in this arc at all

wasted potential

tanjirou

i wish him going absolutely apeshit had actual substance behind it, like it being a part of his character arc or something

i remember having this one theory that he had a corruption arc (due to dropping his kindness thing towards demons) and i wanted this to be true so badly

but it doesnt exist

not with how the series ended

god

the only thing that saves this fight from being complete trash is tamayo’s poison thing being amazingly executed

and the part where everyone got blasted away, losing limbs and shit, that made things a little more interesting again

but thats it

VS MUZAN (SENGOKU ERA)

[Image Description: Manga panels of Kibutsuji Muzan, Tamayo, and Tsugikuni Yoriichi. The first one has Muzan and Tamayo, while the second one has Yoriichi pulling out his sword. There are text boxes saying “And the moment I met him, I understood that I was born into this world to defeat this man.” End Image Description.]

9/10

finally something good again

while short, that’s just the nature of all of yoriichi’s battles with demons

anyways pretty nice, theres a clear reason why this battle exists (shows the scenario that made the original breather get super close to defeating muzan in detail)

adding tamayo here was a nice touch

my only complaint is that it seemed extremely coincidental that yoriichi somehow developed a breathing style specifically countering muzan’s multiple organs without even knowing prior that he had all those brains and hearts floating around freely in his body

like thats kind of ridiculous, even for yoriichi whos supposed to be “blessed by the gods”

could just be me though

VS TANJIROU

[Image Description: Manga panels of Kamado Tanjirou in his demon form. The first image has his eyes closed. The second image has his eyes opened and the tumor on his face almost completely faded. There are text boxes around him saying “You will destroy the demon hunters in my stead.” End Image Description.]

1/10

hoo boy

ok first off, demon tanjirou lasted for 2 chapters

thats it

2 chapters

so thats already a problem

i am aware its meant to parallel the beginning of the series but also its ridiculous how completely vague and rushed this entire thing was

nezuko doesnt do shit through not just this battle but this entire arc which i already explained so not gonna go into it further

kanao magically having a demon cure on her made very little sense

the scene where tanjirou leaves muzan in purgatory is pretty but if you look at it in the context of everything else, its ambiguous and confusing

(if someone could explain it and see how it connects to the original theme of “demons just being victims of circumstance,” i would love to hear it)

actually you know what makes me so mad about this “fight” as a whole? there was so much potential to do more with this concept

and im not talking about him escaping and nezuko becoming a demon slayer roleswap au (even though its a pretty cool concept)

him becoming a demon could have been a metaphor for his lost kindness and sympathy towards demons halfway through the series

it could have been a punishment for letting his anger towards muzan cloud his judgement

it could have symbolized literally anything about him losing his humanity as he got stronger

but those three things are just scenarios from my head, they dont exist in this series just based off of what weve seen from these two chapters

its disappointing

the only thing keeping this from getting a 0 is the one part where inosuke couldnt chop off tanjirou’s head bc he cared about him too much

that at least shows inosuke had grown as a character

everything else is just meaningless and convoluted garbage and “convoluted” is not what you should be aiming for if this is supposed to be the ending of your series

IN SUMMARY

early kny is very good, later kny is questionable and the ending is just a mess of wasted potential and disappointment

i get why gotouge had to have the transparent world ability, crimson blade ability, and the demon marks appear before they all appeared on yoriichi but theyre all just so underdeveloped and terribly handled in the battles they are used, it makes me want to kick a wall

like lmao, i could literally think of so many ways they could have been properly integrated, hell, im even writing a whole goddamn rewrite using my ideas for these three things (link to that is in my pinned)

just, god

if you want to debate over these ratings, my ask box is open ig? idk

#kny #kimetsu no yaiba #kny meta #demon slayer #my writing #long post

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princess-of-inarizaki · 3 years

Note

this is so random but can you do a fluff headcanon of seeing his s/o in a kimono for Sakusa, Suna, and Atsumu. And maybe kuroo, komori, and kita too I watch this todomomo CD drama the other day where the two saw each other in festival and they're like so cute frickin' cute todoroki compliment Momo, being kinda open towards her, and Momo just being really soft and cute makes me giggle and smile.

AHHH that is just such a good idea. I'm always so soft when they see each other wearing yukata's or kimono's at festivals. I only wish they had that sorta stuff where I live too 😭🤚💕💕💕✨

And omg yghhhh todomomo is such a cute ship, like I genuinely adore them both so much >:(

The boys seeing their cute s/o in a kimono

Characters: Atsumu, Kita, Suna, Kuroo, Sakusa

Warnings: none

Atsumu

Okay so Atsumu would definitely be extremely smooth. like he's internally freaking out and thinking you look so adorable!! but on the outside he's just trying to play it cool so you don't catch on.

His eyes would literally not leave you and he's just taking in how you look the entire time.

“yer ready ta go babe?” with this hot ass smirk on his face.

You're just blushing and you nod and follow him, your geta making sounds beneath you.

When you reach there, you're buying takoyaki, and you ask him if he wants some.

He ends up eating almost everything, like what the heck, man?

Apologizes and buys you more.

Would definitely try to show off and win you stuff at the festival to prove how manly™ he is, and also hopes he impresses you in the process.

“hey babe, watch me win this for you” and he's having a full-fledged war with the kid he's competing with.

He ends up winning and sticking his tongue out at the kid. Because it's basically canon that his mental age drops to 5 when he's competitive about things.

You just ruffle his hair and congratulate him.

Would definitely do the whole yawning and bringing you closer to him thing, when you've decided to take a break and rest.

He's trying to be slick, please don't call him out.

Your friends text you, telling you about the firecracker show and you ask Tsumu if he'd be okay to stay for that.

He practically jumps!! at the chance!! I mean, more time spent with you is always good :]

Asks if he can have your first kiss under the firecrackers. He's a consensual king

After you say yes, he'd just gently cup your face and lean down (WE LIVE FOR MFING HEIGHT DIFFERENCES!!) and kiss your lips gently at first, as the sky is filled with bursts of colour.

Y'all definitely end up making out but that's a different story

Walks you home after everything is over, and tells you how much he liked spending time with you on the way home.

“ya looked beautiful today, y/n-chan” and he has the shyest look on his face.

You kiss his nose and walk inside, leaving him flustered on your doorstep.

Kita

Plans this weeks in advance, after hearing about the festival, and musters up the courage to ask you to go with him.

You jump at the chance. At first you think the whole team is coming along, until a flustered Kita says “i hope it would just be the two of us.”

Your eyes widen and you're both just blushing messes looking at the ground.

You both arrive early, and laugh, seeing how you had the same idea to come a bit earlier.

He looks at you in the kimono and takes a few deep breaths before genuinely complimenting you in the most poetic way possible?

“your beauty is unrivalled, y/n-san. Even the brightest lamp is nothing when compared to the radiance you emit.”

And you're just so Mcfreaking flustered™?????? Like where did he learn how to make your heart go doki doki like that omg

You guys would probably be very rational about making your way around the festival.

Food first, and maybe we'll play some games later?

He definitely pays for everything ugh, such a gentleman, eventho you told him it was okay.

And old lady at one of the stalls flusters the two of you by saying he has such a pretty girlfriend.

And he just smiles, with flushed cheeks. Neither of you disagree.

It starts drizzling and the two of you find shelter under a tree.

You're a bit sad about how your kimono got a bit ruined after slipping in some mud, and he gently helps your roll the area up and wipes it with a tissue.

He also smiles and tries to crack a joke by saying “the clouds thought you were so beautiful, they started crying” as he gestured to the rain.

Although the fireworks show was cancelled, Kita wrapped his arms around you and kept you warm, as you talked so many things, whilst waiting for the rain to stop.

Maybe it was a blessing in disguise :)

He gently holds your hand at some point too, and plays with your fingers, pressing a small kiss to the back of your hand.

The rain finally stops and he walks you home, thanking you for spending time with him.

You take a deep breath and kiss him before entering your house, and he smiles through the kiss.

“i've always wanted to do that” he says softly, after kissing you gently again and waving goodbye.

Suna

Going out with Suna was definitely an impromtu plan of some sort. Like he just randomly texts you, asking if you want to go and you agree.

Definitely sends you a few memes about how he can't wait and begins to get ready.

You guys meet there and both of you are just so shocked at how the other looks.

Suna thinks you look gorgeous, and he tries to tell you in a teasing way. Much like Atsumu, he's trying to play it down when he's actually so flustered.

“hey dork, you don't look too bad”

You're not good at hiding your thoughts though, and you blurt out a rushed “Suna were you always this hot?” gesturing to his Yukata.

Y/n-chan I think you broke Suna.

He's just a flustered mess and he doesn't reply, instead saying he's hungry and buying something to eat. He buys one for you too, and suggests you guys walk and eat at the same time.

Definitely shows you memes and takes videos of you as the night progresses and the two of you loosen up and start doing dumb stuff.

Takes lots of pictures of you so he can document how pretty you look and keep it with him.

You pose for some, whilst some are just totally candid, with absolutely no pretense, your beauty in its natural glory.

Suna is just so whipped, and he knows he'll regret it if he doesn't tell you honestly, so he wipes some sauce off from the side of your lip and kisses you gently.

It's a quick peck, but it took lots of courage.

“i mean to tell you earlier, y/n, but you look beautiful in this kimono”

You smile, and he's just so super happy he got over his nerves.

“thank you Suna. I think you look amazing in your yukata” you say softly, as you run your fingers along the hem of it, feeling the soft material beneath your fingers.

The fireworks are just streaking bursts of colour across the sky, and you're looking into each others' eyes with so much adoration.

“just now's kiss was too short” you murmur softly as you capture him in a passionate kiss.

It gets really late, and you guys go home. He makes sure you're walking back with your friends before heading home himself.

Calls you after he reaches home and tells you he had an amazing night.

He definitely looks over all the pictures he took of you and makes one of them his lockscreen

Kuroo

I actually mean this if I could date any of the hq boys I would date Kuroo. He's such a sweetheart and I adore him to bits and pieces.

So Kuroo asks you to the festival with a bet. He's like “if Nekoma wins this match, you'll go on a date with me to the festival, kitten.”

And he has the hottest smirk on his face. Like stfu and leave some pretty for other men >:(

You're so flustered but you eventually agree.

No surprise that Nekoma wins both sets and it's mainly because Kuroo didn't let a single ball go past him, he was literally on fire.

So he's smiling and tells you he'll pick you up at 8.00.

I'm pretty sure Kuroo is a total gentlemen, so he meets your parents they totally love him and he's just waiting for you to come down when he sees how lovely you look in a kimono, and he's the literal embodiment of the 😍 emoji.

Like he can't tear his eyes off of you and you're getting so flustered, so you just drag him out of the house and to the festival.

“Such a dom, aren't you kitten?”

When you're at the festival he tries playing a game. He wants to win you something, so he's pretty serious and focused.

He ends up winning and he's all like “so I got reward for you. Do I get a reward from you?” and he's just lowering his face to meet yours.

So you grudgingly kiss his cheek but you definitely loved it, ok?

He definitely buys food and will not eat any of it unless you feed him.

Feeds you too, and takes cute selfies to post on his Instagram.

You guys end up taking a lot of selfies together and trying out all the cute filters. Kuroo's favourite picture is one of you looking at him whilst talking to him, your eyes super bright, and he's just smiling for the camera, but his eyes are on you.

Makes it his phone wallpaper on the spot, to your delight.

Informs you of a fireworks show happening in a little while, and settles down to find an empty place to enjoy it.

Wraps as arm around you because it's apparently "cold" and "your kimono won't keep you warm like his arms will"

You complain but secretly love it.

He then goes full-on nerd more and explains the science behind fireworks, whilst the colours are filling the night sky.

But he soon goes quiet after seeing the colours reflected in your eyes. He's so shy, and he literally can't help himself, he kisses your lips softly.

You guys totally smile into the kiss ugh this is so cute.

Takes you home responsibly and thanks you and your parents before leaving.

Sends you a thank you text before falling asleep, dubbing the night he saw you in a kimono "the best night of his life, to date"

I'm gonna cry Kuroo is so important to me, I love him so much.

Sakusa

Okay in my opinion, you'll have to be the one asking Sakusa out. He'll be super moody about it, but internally, he's dying to go.

You arrive at his doorstep to pick him up and he's just blushing at how cute you look in the kimono.

Like wow aight thank God I'm wearing a mask because this blush is fresh as heck +_+

Silently passes you a tube of hand sanitizer and you're so confused.

“if you put this on, we'll be able to hold hands.”

You're close to dying, no one has ever been able to touch Sakusa's hands, or hand sanitizer before. So you eagerly put it on, and intertwine your soft hands with his.

He's just so touch starved, so he holds your hand tighter as you guys make your way to the festival.

Sakusa hates it there. He waits for you to buy food before finding a secluded area to get away from the crowds.

You're also kinda glad you'll get to spend some time alone with him, so you aren't complaining.

You guys talk about lots of things, you definitely being the more flirty one in the conversation.

You suddenly muster up the guys to tug his mask down softly, seeing his pink cheeks and soft smile.

“can I kiss you?” you ask gently, eyes fixated on his lips.

“yes” he breathlessly replies, as your lips make your way to his, the sky is lit with fireworks, but the two of you hardly notice.

Your hand is tangled in his soft curly hair, and you're both blushing messes.

He walks you back, this time, and thanks you for spending a wonderful night out with him.

Low-key feels bad that you didn't get to enjoy the festival properly, so he tries to make it up to you by buying you lunch the next day. Very wholesome 10/10

[Ari's note: AHHHHH This was such a whirlwind to write it actually took me so long so I hope you enjoy this <3]

Taglist: @k-sakusa-old

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thebakingqueen5 · 3 years

Text

KW 2021: Missing Scenes

Day 3 for Kataang Week 2021 hosted by @kataang-week with the prompt Missing Scenes!

This was arguably the most obvious way to go about this prompt but I wanted to write it anyways because if there’s one missing scene that should’ve been included in the series, it’s something to bridge the gap between EIP and Sozin’s Comet.

Links: AO3 | FF.net

Summary: Another year, another summer, another week of prompts celebrating our favorite couple. Kataang Week 2021 Day 3: Missing Scenes. Bridging the gap between the Ember Island Players and Sozin’s Comet Series Finale.

Word Count: 2.8K

It was another cool night on Ember Island. The moon was beginning to rise and was lighting up the corridors and central courtyard while the Gaang got some food to replenish themselves after a long day of training and preparations.

Sozin’s Comet was a mere few days away, and tensions were higher than ever. Earlier that day, the true plans of the Firelord had been revealed: that he was planning to use the comet to wipe out the Earth Kingdom entirely, which meant that Aang had to face him on the doomsday itself at the latest. It was a challenge he felt none too prepared for.

He thought that he was going to get more time to master his earth and firebending, but with this newest revelation, it was pretty clear this was not the case, and the stress was beginning to get to the young airbender.

The practice battle against Toph posing as the Melonlord had Aang’s stomach tied in knots. Before today, the final fight seemed so distant, almost inconceivable, something that he would only have to do when he was absolutely ready for it. But now? It was coming, and it was coming fast, and Aang had no idea how to handle it.

The boy hadn’t really thought about what he would do when he finally faced Ozai. He assumed that by the time he mastered all four elements, the solution would be obvious, but it wasn’t. Everyone else seemed convinced that killing him was the only option, but that went against everything Aang had been taught by the monks. It didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like him. How was he supposed to do something so drastic when he didn’t even believe in it? There had to be another way, something he was missing, there just had to be!

“I have a surprise for everyone!” Katara called as she walked into the clearing, immediately snapping Aang out of his intense thoughts. He briefly glanced up from the plate of food in front of him as everyone’s eyes turned to the crimson-clad waterbender, a rolled up tan scroll in her hands.

“I knew it!” Toph exclaimed. She grinned devilishly as she looked up from her wooden bowl of rice. “You did have a secret thing with Haru!”

Sokka, Suki, Zuko, and Katara all blinked at her in confusion and gave the blind earthbender a bewildered look, unsure of where her supposed epiphany came from.

“Uh…” the waterbender responded slowly as the others returned to their meals. “No. I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this.”

She unfurled the parchment in her hands, making a slight swish noise.

“Look at baby Zuko,” she cooed. “Isn’t he cute?”

The paper in her hands was in fact a painting showing a happy, bright-eyed cherub of a baby laughing as he played on the beach. He looked to be quite young, having only a tiny topknot on his head and a mere two teeth in his small mouth while a tiny shovel and sandcastle lay on the ground next to him.

Everyone except for Zuko laughed and “aww”d at the adorable picture while the firebender stared at the others gravely.

“Oh, lighten up,” Katara admonished when she noticed his lack of response. “I’m just teasing.”

“That’s not me,” the firebender said, opening his eyes to look at her. “It’s my father.”

The Gaang looked on in shock as Katara rolled the scroll back up. They were all wondering the same thing- how could such a precious baby have become the most cruel man on the planet?

“But he looks so sweet and innocent,” Suki frowned, her voice faltering.

“Well, that sweet little kid grew up to be a monster,” Zuko spat. “And the worst father in the history of fathers.”

“But he’s still a human being.”

Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice. Aang’s back was hunched over his tray of rice and beans a few feet away from them, and a deep frown rested on his normally cheery features.

“You’re going to defend him?” Zuko questioned.

“No,” Aang clarified. “I agree with you.”

“Firelord Ozai is a horrible person, and the world would probably be better off without him,” he said as he stood up and turned around to face them, “but there’s gotta be another way.”

“Like what?” Zuko deadpanned.

“I don’t know,” Aang shrugged. He turned his gaze down and away from the others, eyebrows tilted upwards in concentration, when an idea came to him.

“Maybe we can make some big pots of glue, and then I can use gluebending to stick his arms and legs together so he can’t bend anymore!” he said excitedly.

Zuko smiled sarcastically. “Yeah, then you can show him his baby pictures, and all those happy memories will make him good again.”

“Do you really think that would work?” Aang asked eagerly, oblivious to Sokka and Suki snickering behind the firebender.

“No!”

Aang sighed heavily and hung his head in defeat. He needed to find another solution, think out of the box somehow. He stared at the ground for a few moments in exasperation before hopping down the stone steps to pace under a hanging orange lamp in the courtyard.

“This goes against everything I learned from the monks,” he said, walking back and forth. “I can’t just go around wiping out people I don’t like!”

“Sure you can!” Sokka interjected from the sidelines. “You’re the Avatar! If it’s in the name of keeping balance I’m pretty sure the universe will forgive you.”

Aang’s arms and slumped upper body shook violently with rage.

“This isn’t a joke, Sokka!” he shouted. “None of you understand the position I’m in!”

How could they, after all? They hadn’t been at the Air Temples a century ago. They hadn’t been raised by the Nomads to be peaceful and treat every life as sacred. He was the last of his people, and somehow none of them could see that. To them it was the simplest decision in the world- just get it over with and save the world, but it wasn’t to Aang. It wasn’t as cut and dry as that.

“Aang, we do understand,” the waterbender frowned. “It’s just-”

“Just what, Katara? What?”

“We’re trying to help!” she said angrily, her temper also rising.

“Then, when you figure out a way for me to beat the Fire Lord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!”

Aang raised his arms in frustration with the last few words and stormed off in the direction of his room, feet stomping loudly against the stone floor.

“Aang, don’t walk away from this,” Katara began as she made a movement to follow him.

Zuko put a hand on her shoulder, and the waterbender faltered, turning towards him.

“Let him go,” he said quietly. “He needs time to sort it out by himself.”

The waterbender huffed in indignation and began walking towards her own room.

“I’m going to turn in early tonight,” she muttered, arms wrapped around her torso. “Good night, guys.”

“Good night,” the rest of them mumbled back, all but Zuko turning their attention back to dinner. The firebender scrutinized her receding figure as Katara turned the corner and went down the left hall to her room. He knew she was likely going to talk with him anyways that night, but the least he could do was make sure she gave the airbender enough space to cool down.

After a few minutes of glaring at the corridor, Zuko turned back to the ragtag team of misfits and their lively voices. Though he had been traveling with Team Avatar for some time now, the way they managed to turn the subject of conversation to the Earth King’s bear Bosco in such a short amount of time would forever be a mystery to him, but nevertheless he listened attentively and heard from them all the latest exploits of what went on beyond Fire Nation borders.

Meanwhile, true to her word, Katara went back to her room and attempted to sleep, but it was an effort in vain. The last few days had been weighing heavily on her- she and Aang had never experienced such a tumultuous period in their friendship before, and between the kiss during the play and the past ten minutes, it was safe to say there was some tension.

She closed her eyes and groaned, tossing and turning to try and find a comfortable position to no avail. She just couldn’t take her mind off it. Katara stared at the ceiling and let out a short huff before sitting back up with a new fire in her eyes. She wasn’t going to sit around, no, she was going to face her problems head on like a rock!

“Toph would be so proud,” Katara chuckled as she wrapped her kimono on over her bindings.

With as much stealth as she could muster, Katara carefully opened the door from her room and crept down the hallway until she was facing the entrance to Aang’s.

She stared at the block of wood intently. It almost seemed like a cruel metaphor- the barrier between her and Aang not only physically, but emotionally as well.

Nevertheless, Katara was here to get things done.

The waterbender didn’t want to knock and alert everyone else of what she was doing, but she also didn’t want to show up unannounced and startle Aang. After a few minutes of careful consideration, Katara concluded that the latter was the lesser of the two evils, and she slowly pushed the handle and entered his room.

In the very back, she saw Aang’s silhouette in the partially open paper divider splitting the balcony from the main room. Katara walked closer to him, and she sat down silently at the opening of the divider when she saw him in deep concentration. He had been meditating with four small candles, some water, and some rice buns on a wooden board in front of him. The dim light of the candles highlighted Aang’s tense features, contorted in frustration.

“I know you’re there, Katara,” the airbender said after a few moments, apparently not as concentrated as she thought. “I could hear your footsteps from a mile away.”

The girl blushed furiously in embarrassment and promptly decided the floor was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Katara apologized. “I just wanted to talk but I get if you’re busy-”

Aang sighed and bowed his head in reverence to the spirits before opening his eyes and turning to look at her with a kind expression.

“It’s alright. Meditating wasn’t really getting me anywhere anyways,” he said sheepishly. “What did you want to talk about?”

Katara twisted a lock of hair around her finger and scooted closer to him.

“I’m not here to lecture you or anything. I’m not here to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do because ultimately it’s up to you and only you. You’re under a lot of stress right now, and I get that. I just don’t want, well, us,” she gestured between them, “to be a part of that stress.”

The airbender laughed nervously and looked at the trees around them to avoid her gaze. He subtly wiped his growingly sweaty hands on his cotton shirt, praying to all the spirits that she wasn’t talking about what he thought she was talking about.

“W-w-what do you mean? You, me, we’re f-friends! Good friends! Th-that’s all there is to it, right?”

“I’m talking about last night at the play,” Katara responded quietly, fingers fidgeting around in her lap. “We should talk about it.”

“Thanks a lot, spirits,” Aang groaned internally. He sighed and tucked his knees into his body.

“I think we both made it pretty clear that we want different things, Katara. It’s alright, really,” he said with a sad smile. “I made a mistake kissing you, especially after you already said you were confused, and I’m sorry. You don’t have to worry about me- I’ll get over it. I just don’t want to lose your friendship. I’d rather we just pretend like it never happened.”

The regret in his eyes was as clear as a full moon against the backdrop of a cloudless night sky, and it killed Katara from within to see it.

“We both said a lot of things that night, Aang,” she frowned. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot the last day, and I didn’t explain myself very well.”

Aang looked at her hesitantly, silently pleading with her to continue. The waterbender tried her hardest not to grin when she saw his unintentional yet extremely endearing puppy dog eyes and instead threw her head back to look at the stars above them.

“I don’t want to lose your friendship either, Aang,” Katara murmured, gazing up at the sky. “You’re the first person I’ve known from outside my tribe, the first other bender I’ve met- you showed me the world. You were my first real friend, and... also my first kiss, first three actually.”

Heat rushed up to their cheeks while Aang became very invested in the wooden flooring, eyes fully concentrated on the patterns of the boards .

“...but more than that,” Katara continued, “you’re the first person I’ve cared for this much, and my brain, my heart, really, doesn’t quite know how to feel about that.”

She tilted her head to the side to look at the boy next to her, who was now also staring at her with newfound hope.

“So yeah,” she exhaled loudly, “I’m confused. But I don’t want to pretend like none of that night ever happened, because if I’m being honest, a part of me wanted all of the… all of our kisses to happen.”

The two sat in silence for a few moments while Aang tried to process her words and formulate his own response.

“So…” Aang trailed off. “Does that mean this, us, still has a chance?”

Katara looked at their intertwined hands and gave him a sad smile.

“Maybe, but that’s just it, Aang. We can’t, not right now.”

The airbender’s cautious smile immediately dropped and was replaced by a frown as he broke eye contact.

“We’re in a war,” she murmured apologetically. “No one, especially not us, can afford to do anything differently. In three days, you’re going to be facing the Firelord, which means in three days, one way or another, this war will be over, and sacrifices will probably be made.”

“Katara, you’re not saying-”

She shook her head. “I’m not saying that, but war means making hard decisions, and in that moment, with that decision, we can’t let emotions cloud our judgement. No matter what sacrifices might be made, we have to end this before it’s too late.”

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t come to that,” Aang said firmly. “I don’t care what it takes.”

Katara smiled at him and leaned in to gently press a kiss to his cheek.

“I know you won’t. I also know that whatever happens with the Firelord, you’ll do the right thing. Not because you’re the Avatar and you have to, but because you’re Aang. Because you’re my Aang, and my Aang always does the right thing.”

The airbender let out a breath of relief, heart practically glowing at her faith in him, and enveloped her in an embrace.

“Thank you, Katara. For everything. For being here for me the last few months, for getting me out of that iceberg, for coming here tonight telling me what I really needed to hear. It means a lot.”

Katara happily returned the hug and squeezed him tight. “Of course, Aang.”

She furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed the circles under his eyes as they broke apart.

“It’s getting late,” Katara whispered, her fingertips lightly tracing his cheeks.

“I’ll leave you to all this-” she gestured to the candles and food, staring quizzically at the contents of the board. “-Avatar business and whatnot. I wish you the best of luck.”

“Thanks, I’ll try my best,” Aang laughed softly as the girl stood up and began walking back to her room. “Good night, Katara. Sweet dreams.”

“I know you will, Aang. Good night and don’t stay up too late- you’ll need your rest.”

The waterbender quietly exited and Aang released a heavy sigh as the door closed with a soft thud.

The airbender turned back to his spread, closed his eyes once more, and resumed his meditation, hoping that somehow, by some miracle, there was another way waiting for him.

“I sure hope you’re right, Katara. I’ll need that luck.”

#kataang #kataang week 2021 #kataang week #kataangtag #aang x katara #ember island #wrote this way later than I should've

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