#KURITA IS SO CUTE

[eyeshields]

Some initial impressions: look at this shoujo-ass panel. Hiruma dramatically chucks his blackmail book right before this happens. I know Sena's manfully challenging Hiruma here but it looks like he's confessing he's always liked senpai.

Also the height difference seems to have multiplied. Sena forever shorty.

UNDERCUT KURITA CONFIRMED I WAS AHEAD OF THE CURVE BABY.

:3

#kuritas so cute. panther is also cute #its really really really weird to see them in muratas modern style. except kurita he pretty much looks the same #Brain x Brave #eyeshield 21

[beansterpie]

ES21 japanese volumes - part 1/??

part 2 >>

Sooooo I recently got my hands on the complete Eyeshield 21 manga series in Japanese and as someone who's only ever read the story through fan-translations on dodgy websites online, I wanted to go through and "live" blog about it, so to speak. I thought it would be interesting to see the changes between the languages and where the fan-translations likely fail with mistranslations. (No shade btw, I think fan-translations are great both as a hobby and the fact that they're doing their work for free, but it's also a reality that the vast majority of fan-translators are amateurs, many of whom don't fluently speak the language they're translating, so there's bound to be mistakes!) Also, I wanna know what they're originally saying because I’m nosey <3

I know the official English translation by VIS is allegedly pretty decent, bar the toning down of some things (like Hiruma's language lol) so if you've had the chance to read the official version, feel free to chime in on differences with the fan-translation that I'll be referencing, or potential differences between the Japanese version too!

And finally, while I am half Japanese and grew up there, tragically my language skills are imperfect. I speak it, but my vocabulary isn't very robust, so I do look up the definitions for a lot of words and kanji, as well as more nuanced connotations or references that may go over my head. Bilingual problems <3 But again, it's good practice for me and I think it'll be kind of fun!

Right off the bat, this page. What it’s saying is essentially, “You better come out and play (in the) American Football match!” But because Japanese syntax is different from English, it’s structured like “American Football Match you better play!!” The translator was confused by the final line, because in Japanese a way to say ‘participating in a match’ is by using 出る which means to ‘go out’— sort of like ‘go out (into) the match’. Maybe a better option would have been ‘get the fuck out and play!!” or just “you better fucking play!!”. It still keeps the overall sentence structure which sounds awkward in English, but at least it gets the meaning across.

(I’m not gonna get into every little mistranslation btw, because that would take forever, but I felt that was a good way to explain how frequently there are little mistakes like this.)

Putting the rest under a cut because I imagine this will get long

Look at our boy <3 So as you know, we start our story with Sena Kobayakawa timidly seeing if he passed his high school entrance exam into Deimon High School, with his childhood friend/older sister figure, Mamori Anezaki lending moral support.

In the third panel, what Sena says is actually “I feel like I’ve been praised for the first time in 10 years—” (maybe they changed it because that was too pathetic 😭) Then in the fourth panel, what Mamori says is more along the lines of “And to think you were a total mess in math and English… It’s all thanks to Mamori-sensei!”

Also I want to point out that Mamori is a little cheekier in the first few chapters. Like obviously still kind and nurturing in personality (her name is literally ‘to protect’), but she teases Sena and feels more like an older sister than like, an overprotective mom lol. Miss that for her 😔

Then along comes our kind senpai to accost our clueless protag...

There’s no mistranslation, but I just wanted to mention that the way Hiruma talks in Japanese is so funny? Like in panel 1, he’s speaking with a dramatic affect, he sounds like some sort of npc in a jrpg giving the protag a quest. And then in panel 2, his ‘of course!’ is this shortened, slang version of the word that sounds almost cute and very modern after the previous line. Hiruma uses a lot of slang in general, though I can’t say if any of it is like, common or used by teenagers (of the time, anyway) or if it’s just Hiruma-isms.

(Look at Kurita doing the sign of the cross in panel 3 😂)

I can’t believe Hiruma managed to physically emulate the experience of contracting some shady internet virus…..

Something that’s done with Hiruma’s dialogue a lot (it’s done w/ other characters too, but most often with Hiruma) is where there’ll be a word/term in kanji that means one thing and pronounced in a certain way, but then the furigana (so the phonetic pronounciation, basically) next to it says something different. Now, in some stories (like Berserk for my pals out there), this is used to create poignant, layered meanings in the text. In ES21 however, it’s mostly used for sports manga flavor. For example, in the above page in Hiruma’s spam fax message, he uses the word 作戦, which means tactics or strategy, and is pronounced: “sa - ku - se - nn” さ-く-せ-ん. But the furigana next to that word reads タクティクス which is quite literally just the English word ‘tactics’ spelled phonetically in Japanese lol (aka a loanword).

He does this A LOT, most frequently with sports terminology, where the kanji are pretty dense, technical terms, and the furigana a loanword version of the same meaning. (though now that I think about it, it might also be because while パワー (power) and スピード (speed) are frequently used and well known loanwords to the average Japanese person, タクティクス (tactics) might be more obscure, so the kanji is there to like, clarify the meaning? 🤔)

Also I love all the early 2000’s tech we see in the early chapters— flip phones and fax machines galore! Even within the later segments of the series, the flip phones start to magically get more advanced, but in my heart ES21 takes place in like, 2003. If they ever do a remake of the anime (which is unlikely to say the least) I’d want them to maintain the early 00’s vibes. It just wouldn’t be the same if everyone had smart phones.

Skipping ahead a few pages, I remember this bit never really made sense, but I got enough of the general gist that I kind of shrugged and moved along. But!! the translation is just making stuff up here?

So for context: it’s Sena’s first day at Deimon, and Mamori (who’s a grade above him) advises him to make proper friends this year, since he has a history of only ‘hanging out’ with shitty bullies who used him as an errand boy.

In the English translation, Sena seems to get a text from a mystery number, telling him to pay up for a bet we never saw happening. He goes to meet up with the texter, who we assume at this point is a previous aquaintence, since he had Sena's number? Maybe one of those bullies that Sena hung out with from middle school? They make Sena go and get them an unspecified thing, but because Sena ran there and back so quickly, they don't believe that Sena actually went, and is lying when he says they were sold out. They drag Sena to a small shed to beat him up, and in the last panel of the third page, Sena says that he's been their errand boy since kindergarden?

So for a number of years I was under the impression that the Ha-ha brothers knew Sena from before the series, even though that never seemed to come up in the rest of the story.

But in the original version, Sena is actually getting a text from Mamori-- which makes sense because it was established earlier that his cell phone is brand new and he only has Mamori's number in his contacts. Mamori's text says: "If someone tries to make you run their errands, tell them 'let's decide by rock-paper-scissors!'" Sena is understandably kind of embarrassed by this, and mutters to himself that he's not a kid anymore.

Then it cuts to Sena being picked on to be an errand boy lmao. Presumably this is because Sena just looks like an easy target to bullies, not because of any previous aquaintence rip. The blond bully tells Sena to go buy them bread (which might sound weird, but Japan has a lot of tasty snack breads that they sell everywhere). In panels 2+3 of the second page, Sena timidly tries to bring up the rock-paper-scissors thing, but is intimidated into giving up and just doing what he's told.

Again, they don't believe that Sena actually went all the way to the school store and back with how quick he was, so they decide to beat him up in the shed. As he's being dragged, Sena says, "It really was sold out! I've gotten used to being an errand boy since kindergarden, so I've just gotten fast--!"

So yeah, if there were any other people who've only read fan-translations and were confused by this bit, there you go.

oh you just know it smelled like ass in here.....

(I never noticed the shotgun propped against the desk on the right before lol, idk why I'm surprised, but Hiruma really just left his Actual Guns lying around huh?)

(2nd pic - Kurita: "New club applicants!!?")

There he is!! Our boy Kurita!! I do miss when he occassionally had like, more human features lol. As much as I love his big ol' smiley face, it does rub me the wrong way when the fat characters (because Komusubi falls into this too) are the only ones with anpanman faces.

(anpanman, for the uninitiated)

(Kurita: "To literally clash with the opponent in order to pursue a goal together with everyone-- that moment is exhilerating!")

Aw look at Sena feeling inspired! Honestly I really love how Kurita is Sena's first friend he makes in the series, and that vibe in the early chapters where it's just Sena, Kurita and Hiruma is so much fun <3

(P1: Kurita: "Way to go Sena!" Imaginary Coach: "It's thanks to you that we could participate in the Christmas Bowl!" Mamori: "You're so cool Sena!"

P2: Mamori: "You have to make the first move!" Sena: "U-um!"

P3: Sena: "Can I... be the team shumu*?" Kurita: "WHAAATT!? O-OF-OF COURSE!")

*Ok soooo I don't fully understand what a shumu is lol, or how you'd translate it to English. The word itself apparently means 'person in charge' so? The fan-translation just calls it the manager, but based on something Hiruma says later, I get the impression that the shumu and the manager are technically different roles? But when Mamori becomes the manager later, she takes on a lot of what are allegedly 'shumu tasks', along with Hiruma, so idk. If anyone's read the official VIS translation, feel free to chime in on how they did it, because I'd be curious to know!

That being said, adorable of Sena to think he could have handled that responsiblity at all 😂 our boy has many talents, but being smart and organized is not among them.

Ok fun feelings are over, it's time for pain.

(Sena looking at his contact list, having just added Kurita's number, then wham D: )

The three bullies from before were waiting to get revenge. The dialogue is a bit different in the original. Juumonji (the blond one) actually says: "That fatso a friend of yours, Sena? Tell me his contact info-- if you do that, we'll let you go." To which Sena timidly and reluctantly agrees. Then Kuroki (the dark haired one) says: "But do you think one bat will be enough? With that brute strength..." In the final panel, Juumonji says: "It's better with just one, since we're gonna call the police beforehand." Togano (with the glasses): "The police?"

Juumonji: "As long as we get him wrapped up in the fight, it'll be fine. We'll say we got these wounds from being assaulted by the fatso with the bat -- We'll get him disqualified from the American Football tournament." One of the others: "Ooohh, smart!"

I guess the overall sentiment isn't that different, but knowing that the initial demand was for Sena to hand over Kurita's contact info with the promise that they would spare him if he obeyed-- and that at first he agreed-- makes his change of heart feel even more significant.

(Sena: "IF YOU'RE GONNA HIT ME, THEN HIT ME!!! I'LL NEVER TELL YOU (Kurita's info)!!!")

Tell 'em Sena!! A part of me sort of wishes the story maintained this serious story beat instead of undercutting it with humor in the next panel (not shown here) but at the same time, ES21 is overall a more lighthearted, comedic story which I love it for, so I don't think I'd like it getting too angsty. I'll always have Berserk in my corner if I want some actual angst lol.

(1st pic: various sounds of surprise or pain, and in the last panel: "Oi, don't let him get away!"

2nd pic: Sena -- "No way!!!" Hiruma: "Hm? Oh it's that guy" )

Lol I do love the little details Murata included, like Kuroki taking a swing at Sena as he's biting Juumonji's hand but then totally missing in the fourth panel because Sena's so fast. Also I'm always on the lookout for the kinds of stuff Hiruma buys, snack wise. We know he loves sugarless gum, obv, and drinks coke based on that one time he bought some for himself, Kurita & Sena, but what else are in those bags? I want to know!!

--------

And lol apparently I'm only allowed 30 images per post rip, so I guess I'll end this here. I guess I can.... reblog and continue? Or I might just make another post for the next part 🤔 Besides this got way too long, so I'll have to be more brief in future posts lol.

I'm honestly not expecting more than like, five people to interact with this lol, but if anyone is interested in specific points of the story they want me to look at, please feel free to ask!

#eyeshield 21 #es21 #yeah this is not meta it's just.... stream of consciousness #as i ramble about eyeshield lmfao #and japanese practice that I'm inflicting on others #eyeshield 21 japanese readalong #is what i'm gonna tag it for my own sake #i guess #excuse any typos. *gun emoji* you didn't see any

[nonbayanary]

ok consider this, my bros: hirusena neighbors AU

———

sena lives with his parents, and with his calico cat pitt

hiruma lives with cerberus, and his bros musashi and kurita

the maou trio split the household expenses (electricity, water, groceries) among themselves

the kobayakawas just live across from the maou trio.

sena earns the minimum wage at his job, and his parents give him shit for earning so little

sena trained pitt so that she eats outside on the front porch, since his parents don’t want her making a mess inside the house.

everyday at 5 in the morning, sena goes out to the front yard to feed pitt some breakfast (a mix of wet and dry cat food), and then sena waters the plants while he waits for pitt to finish eating.

hiruma, meanwhile, leaves the house at 5 in the morning to commute to work.

so sometimes, sena and hiruma come across each other. sena awkwardly waves whenever their eyes meet. 

hiruma’s greetings, however, vary according to his mood. sometimes, he just grunts. sometimes, he inclines his head. sometimes, he nods in solemn greeting. sometimes, he just raises his brows, in the bare minimum effort of acknowledgement.

at nighttime, they come across each other too. when sena’s walking home from work, he reaches his home at about 7 or 8 in the evening. 

at that time of the night, hiruma’s already gotten home long before sena. and whenever sena passes by, hiruma’s either playing with cerberus, or tapping away on his laptop.

again, sena awkwardly waves to hiruma when he’s caught watching them. and again, hiruma’s greetings vary.

and so, it becomes a routine for them to encounter each other. 

sena knows hiruma as the “grumpy dog dude.” 

and hiruma knows sena as the “cat chibi.”

before long, they become comfy with each other, from a distance. 

they don’t talk, but there’s a strange sort of intimacy in always encountering each other, always knowing that the other is present in the background while they go on with their lives.

———

basically, sena’s parents, kobayakawa shuuma and mihae, are verbally and emotionally abusive

if times were normal, sena would almost always be out of the house to escape from his parents temporarily. either that, or he’d only be home when he knows his parents aren’t there. 

but since covid-19 struck (yes, covid exists in this AU), sena’s been quarantined at home with his parents. and their abuse is even harsher now, because they’re all stuck in the house 24/7.

sena takes solace in the presence of his pet cat, pitt. she’s a one-year-old calico cat, and sena practically considers her as his daughter.

sena talks to his closest friend, mamori, about pitt. 

mamori is working abroad in the united states, but she makes sure to videocall sena every other day. 

mamori is like the older sister sena never had, and she knows how abusive his parents are. it’s why she checks up on him often.

once, in a late-night call, sena realizes something.

sena, hushed: nee-san, ohmygod... i’m a cat dad now!

mamori, agreeing: awww that’s so cute! my otouto is a DILF now!

sena, facepalming: ugh, nee-san!

(”otouto” means “younger brother” in Japanese)

since the neighborhood is pretty crowded, the street separating the two houses is pretty narrow.

which means the closer neighbors can hear when the kobayakawas are screaming at their son, or when hiruma’s cackling and making a loud ruckus with cerberus.

sena doesn’t really try to socialize with his more gossipy neighbors anymore. it humiliates him, knowing they can hear when his parents yell at him. 

he knows, because sometimes, when he passes by a group of elderly neighbors, their voices drop to a whisper as they steal glances at him. a few times, he’s even heard snatches of their conversation. 

“that’s the kobayakawa’s son, isn’t he?”

“that’s the guy. i heard his mother calling him a ‘pathetic excuse for a son,’ the other night. you heard that, right?”

“aiya, the whole damn street could hear it. of course i did!”

after sena hears that, he becomes more reserved than ever. when he passes by his neighbors, he keeps his head down, and his mouth shut.

as the civilians are confined to their homes for a longer period of time due to covid, sena's mental health gets worse.

when he tells mamori, her worries worsen. in her alarm, her childhood nickname for sena slips out.

mamori: oh sen-sen, you need a break. ummm okay, let me think of something... OH! I KNOW! why don’t you come visit me?

sena: what?

mamori: apply for a U.S. tourist visa! come visit me here in the states! i’ll sponsor your trip and everything! you really deserve a break, hon. i’ll help you fill out the online application form, and i’ll even help you practice for the U.S. embassy’s interview! you got this, sena!

at first, sena has his doubts. he doesn’t think he’ll be granted a visa. but mamori manages to convince him. (aka, she gently and lovingly pulverizes sena’s self-destructive intrusive thoughts.) and after two weeks of discussion, sena finally agrees.

it’s a good thing, having something else to focus on. it means that he can internally escape from his parents’ bullshit, since his mind is working on the visa applications.

mamori now calls sena every night. sena shares his screen in videocalls when he’s filling out his online application form. and afterwards, mamori pretends to interview sena.

———

despite all the help sena’s getting, it doesn’t mean he isn’t nervous about all this too. applying for a tourist visa is one of the big changes in his life, and the unknown scares him. 

however, he doesn’t share this with his mamori-neesan, though. she’s been so excited since they started his applications, and he doesn’t want to rain on her parade. 

since sena started his visa applications, he’s been a lot more anxious as of late. at first, he couldn’t understand why it was getting hard to breathe sometimes. he’s always had anxiety—how could he not, with how his parents treat him? 

but his chest would hurt out of nowhere, and his head would spin.

it’s been happening for weeks now, and sena starts wondering what the hell is happening to him, until one night, it gets real bad.

that’s the night when sena finally tells his parents that he’s applying for a U.S. tourist visa.

the whole night explodes into screams filled with profanities, and the whole neighborhood can hear the shit going down. to sena, his parent’s voices are fucking deafening.

sena wilts, and he can feel himself shaking beneath the weight of his parents’ words.

“Do you think they’d be stupid enough to give you a visa, huh?! You’re broke as shit! Do you own any properties? NO! You can’t even afford a fucking plane ticket, because your shitass job doesn’t pay you enough!”

sena doesn’t even know whether to laugh or to cry anymore. he’s present, but at the same time, he’s not present. he feels like his world has shifted a bit, like he’s not in control of his body at the moment.

if sena’s body were a car, then he’d usually be at the driver’s seat. but right this moment, in the midst of all the screaming, sena feels as if he’s at the backseat, piloting his body from a distance.

sena idly wonders, “is this how it feels to dissociate? hmmm, i feel a little numb. this is pretty rad. i wish i could do this on command.”

and yet, sena can still distantly feel the fear choking his throat, the quivering of his shoulders. his hands fist at his sides, so his parents don’t see his fingers shake.

even as the screaming continues for ten minutes, sena desperately clings to memories of his nee-san in their videocalls. his nee-san, practically feral with excitement. his nee-san, laughing when she finds out that eating at an american diner is on sena’s bucket list. his nee-san, putting him back together again when he breaks down after a fight with his parents.

“i just want to try applying,” sena repeats to his parents, again and again. “it won’t hurt to try.” 

it feels like sena’s said this ten times already. he isn’t great when it comes to arguing back, so he can only stick with these two sentences. 

it’s as if his brain is frozen. already, it feels like his memories of the past few minutes are slipping away from him. what did his parents say again?

and yet, sena knows that even if he forgets the words, the visuals of this scene will be seared into his mind forever. his parents on the couch, the golden light of the living room, the flashing screen of the television, the trembling in sena’s own body. these things he will not forget.

finally, after what feels like an eternity, the tirade ends. sena’s father screams, “GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! JUST GET THE FUCK OUT!”

so sena goes. his body moves, and he gradually comes out of his dissociative state to feel the bite of the cold, metal lawn chair against his skin.

“oh,” sena thinks. “i’m on the front porch?” 

well, it’s as good a choice as any. despite the dissociation, he remembers coming out here, at least. it’s far enough from his parents that he doesn’t hear them anymore. 

sena blinks, and comes back to himself as pitt the cat jumps into his lap. the surprising warmth of the cat is enough to pin him to this plane of reality.

but suddenly, sena becomes aware of the building discomfort in his chest. uhhh okay, that’s not good. his breaths come in short gasps. his ribcage curls into itself, crushing him.

sena can’t breathe. he can’t breathe. his limbs are tingling, and his lips are too. is the ground tilting a little? that’s weird. 

sena splays onto the lawn chair, uncaring whether his neighbors see him or not. he can’t fucking breathe, and he could give less of a shit about what other people say right now.

sena’s heartbeat is raging in his ears, and his body feels warm. too warm. the night is cold, so why is he sweating like hell?

his breaths come out loud and short, and his chest really fucking hurts now. tears stream down his face, and belatedly, he thinks that if the neighbors see, then at least his parents don’t.

sena is too focused on his own turbulent state to notice that while all of this has been happening, apparently, someone’s been watching him.

hiruma’s been on the front porch of his home this whole time, trying to hack into a company’s security systems.

he’s covered by some of the garden’s trees and bushes, so not even people passing by can see him. 

hiruma’s got some beer bottles beside him on a bench. one bottle is open and three-quarter filled, while the three other bottles are still sealed. 

they’re all bottles of Smirnoff Mule, a mix of ginger beer and vodka. he’s always wanted to try some. hiruma had brought them home earlier, thinking musashi and kurita would be home. 

however, since both kurita and musashi texted him that they’d be home late, hiruma had said, “fuck it, i’m drinking these motherfuckers myself.”

anyways, back to the present

for awhile now, hiruma’s been wearing headphones. the goddamn neighbors, the kobayakawas, are at it again, screaming their heads off. 

hiruma heard some snippets here and there from their yells. words like “visa,” and “piece of shit,” and “shitass job.” by that point, hiruma, growling in annoyance, had stuffed some headphones on.

now, however, movement at the front porch of the kobayakawa household catches hiruma’s eye.

feeling a little pissed off at all the noise, hiruma thinks, “oh, it’s finally over? damn these noisy motherfuckers—”

hiruma’s thoughts come to a screeching halt when he sees the guy he’s labelled as “cat chibi” on the kobayakawa’s front porch.

it’s strange. cat chibi doesn’t usually come out at this time of the night. and even rarer is the guy seen sprawled on a lawn chair.

hiruma peers at the guy, wondering what the hell is going on. the cat chibi’s chest is heaving, and he’s breathing faster than normal. the fucker seems as if he’s trying to gulp in air, but even as he breathes and breathes, it never seems to be enough.

and then, tears start to fall on the guy’s face.

and it clicks in hiruma’s mind. “oh... shit. fucker’s having a panic attack.”

“shit,” hiruma thinks. “oh, shit. oh, fuck.”

for all the gossip hiruma’s heard about the kobayakawas and how they treat their son, he’s never actually seen cat chibi guy crying.

hiruma’s always wondered how cat chibi could stomach his parents treating him like shit. whenever hiruma saw sena, there had always been a bone-deep exhaustion in his eyes. 

it’s as if sena’s weary of the world. a cross between a youngster and an ancient, exhausted being, who has seen all the darkness of the world, and is tired of existing.

and yet, hiruma’s still seen the guy smile on multiple occassions, especially whenever it concerns his cat. 

hiruma’s always admired how sena could smile even in his shitty circumstances. it’s like seeing a seedling grow in the cracks between concrete. 

but now, hiruma finally sees sena break. he finally sees sena’s flimsy mask cracking, revealing all the wailing despair behind it.

and now that hiruma’s seeing it, he can’t ignore it. so he thinks fast. 

hiruma looks around, searching for any sort of distraction. he sees his laptop, cerberus sleeping on the grass, the beer bottles—

THE BEER BOTTLES! 

hiruma’s got an idea.

he takes on of the sealed bottles in his hand, then stands at the gate, watching sena. then, he softly clinks the beer bottle against the gate’s metal.

clink. hiruma touches the bottle to the gate after every four seconds, to mimic the technique of box-breathing. 

clink. then silence. clink. silence again. clink. 

it takes sena a minute or two to notice the new sound. unconsciously, he starts breathing slower in tune with the sound.

clink.

sena, not knowing what the box-breathing technique is, just breathes in for four seconds, then breathes out after four counts.

but it’s enough. 

clink. clink. clink. clink.

a little while later, sena is breathing a little easier, even if his chest is still clenching. 

clink.

sena’s head turns, finally searching for the source of the noise. the sound is strange, soft but heavy. as if it’s glass against metal or something.

clink.

sena turns this way and that, wiping the tears from his eyes. “hey pitt,” he calls to his cat, his own voice a little ragged. “you hear that?”

clink.

sena notices how pitt is strangely still, peering at something outside of the gate. sena turns his head too and his eyes meet—

“oh,” sena thinks. “it’s grumpy dog dude.”

clink. 

the grumpy dog dude is leaning casually against the gate, his side profile barely lit in the dim garden lights. 

clink. the bottle touches the gate again, and sena finally understands what the sound is, and where it’s coming from.

inwardly, sena reluctantly admits to himself that grumpy dog dude actually kinda does look cool.

sena startles when grumpy dog dude turns to look at him, their eyes meeting. automatically, sena’s hand raises in another awkward wave. he inwardly facepalms at his own cringey movement, but his thoughts screech to a halt.

because the grumpy dog dude, hiruma, is not following the script.

usually hiruma would grunt, or nod his head, or raise his eyebrows, or something else, but now—

hiruma’s beckoning sena with a finger. and with every beckoning movement, the bottle touches the gate.

clink. clink. clink.

sena’s eyes widen. he looks around, but there’s no one else hiruma could be speaking to. 

sena points to himself, his voice barely a whisper. “do you mean... me?”

he knows hiruma can’t hear him. sena barely heard himself. 

but maybe hiruma can read lips or something, because he nods.

sena can’t help gaping. this is definitely a change in routine. they’ve never talked before. they’ve never spent time together before. 

clink. clink. hiruma catches sena’s attention again, then waggles the bottle in his fingers. he nods his head in a beckoning gesture, as if to say, “come drink with me.”

sena, a little mystified, nods uncertainly. the invitation is a little strange, but grumpy dog dude doesn’t seem like a bad guy. 

sena pushes his home’s gate open, and startles when pitt darts out into the street, and jumps between the bars of hiruma’s gate into the garden

sena, remembering hiruma has a fucking dog, barely locks his own home’s gate before he’s bolting to the house across.

but as sena nears hiruma’s house, he’s even more shocked because—

pitt is curling up next to cerberus, nuzzling her head against his fur. cerberus—who looks scary as fuck, by the way—just cracks an eye open, then goes back to sleep.

sena pauses in confusion, just before the neighbor’s gate. he turns, and finds hiruma’s already opened the gate, and is looking right at him.

“um...” sena says, quite intelligently. “...hi?”

“come on, fucking chibi,” hiruma says, jerking his chin towards their pets.

"chibi?” sena repeats, ducking his head as he walks in. he mutters, “i’m not that short.”

hiruma snorts. “try telling me that when you’ve grown taller.” he closes the gate, then suddenly throws the beer bottle in the air. 

hiruma grins. “catch.”

sena squawks, and almost doesn’t catch it in time. “holy shit, dude!” the bottle slips in his hands, and sena’s surprised at the weight of it. he clutches it against his chest, finally securing it. he sighs in relief.

hiruma throws his head back and cackles. “didn’t take you for a swearing kinda guy.”

“what?” sena snorts out a laugh. “i didn’t take you for some lunatic who throws bottles at strangers.”

“not strangers,” hiruma’s eyes crinkle as jerks his chin to the garden, beckoning sena to follow him. “not anymore, at least.”

sena trails after hiruma, a little smile adorning his face. “thanks for having me here. i’m kobakayawa sena. it’s nice to finally speak to you.”

hiruma waves it away. “bah, formalities! fuck that shit! how about this then—” he cracks a smile. “you can learn my name when you finish a bottle.”

a laugh bubbles out of sena. “what?”

hiruma leads sena to the hidden benches in between the garden trees and bushes. he jerks his chin to the remaining beer bottles on the bench. “two bottles, precisely. if you finish the first, you get my surname. if you finish the second, you get my first name, chibi.”

eyes wide and unsure, sena asks, “is it... is it okay with you that i have some?”

hiruma’s first instinct is to give a mean retort and to roll his eyes. but then he remembers what a fucking shit day sena just had. he can even see the faint tear tracks running down sena’s face in the dim garden lights.

so hiruma cuts the guy some slack. 

“it’s on the house,” hiruma says instead, with the ghost of a fanged smile. he plops down on the bench, and hands another sealed bottle to sena. 

sena takes a seat beside hiruma as he clutches his own two bottles. hiruma, meanwhile, claims the last two bottles left. a sealed one and his own previously-opened bottle. 

hiruma takes a swig, and continues, “that is, if you can finish two measly beer bottles.”

that startles a laugh out of sena. “if?” he echoes.

“if,” hiruma agrees with a smirk. “what’s the matter, chibi? are you fucking chicken?”

sena’s bright grin could rival the moon. “aw, what? oh man, it is on!”

———

(yes, y’all can definitely use this prompt!!!  /srs)

#based on my own awkward experiences w my neighbors and on my own experiences w my father's abuse #panic attack #panic attacks #emotional abuse #verbal abuse #abuse #parental abuse #is this what's been going on w me? yes yes it is #domestic abuse #domestic violence #senahiru #hirusena #i also wrote this bcs i had smirnoff mule yesterday and it numbed my pain ngl #is this hirusena prompt sponsored by smirnoff mule? probably #everybody say thank you smirnoff mule! #hiruma yoichi #hiruma #yoichi hiruma #prompts #hirusena prompts #hirusena prompt #i wrote this instead of working lmao #prompt #hiruma x sena #sena x hiruma #hiruma youichi #youichi hiruma #eyeshield 21 #eyeshield21 #es21

[devonares]

Grrrrrrrrrrrr I remember in the Indonesian translation of eyeshield 21 they call all the seniors with "kak" like "kak hiruma, kak kurita, kak musashi" like GHHHHH THAT'S SO DAMN CUTE

#I was a lil kid too so truly felt like they're big brothers 😭😭 #We don't translate like this anymore do we #Idk i don't buy manga anymore...

[blc5ir]

🗣️🌐 Emojis Speak Louder Than Words: The Rise of Visual Language! 😄🔤 Hey there, language enthusiasts! 🌍💬 Let's embark on a colorful journey into the world of emojis and how these tiny symbols have transformed modern communication! From simple smileys to elaborate expressions, emojis have become more than just fun additions to our texts; they've evolved into a universal language of emotion and connection. Let's explore their impact together! 🚀🗣️ 🌟 From Humble Beginnings: Emojis first emerged in Japan during the late 1990s, thanks to the genius of Shigetaka Kurita. Initially intended to add a bit of flair to pager messages, these early emojis were simple and limited in variety. Little did anyone know that these cute characters would soon conquer the world of communication! 😍📟 🎉 The Emoji Revolution: Fast forward to today, and emojis have become an essential part of how we express ourselves digitally. Whether it's a thumbs up 👍 to show approval or a laughing face 😄 to share humor, emojis provide a powerful way to convey emotions that words alone sometimes can't capture. It's a revolution that's crossed linguistic and cultural barriers! 🌐🗺️ 💬 Beyond Language Barriers: One of the most remarkable aspects of emojis is their ability to transcend language barriers. They offer a universal language of expression, enabling people from different backgrounds to communicate and connect effortlessly. Emojis allow us to share joy, love, sadness, and excitement without the need for translation. Emojis truly speak a language understood by all! 🌈🔠 🌌 A Window to Emotions: In our fast-paced digital world, emojis add depth and context to our written words. They add a touch of humanity to virtual conversations and help us connect on a more emotional level. From birthday wishes 🎂 to heartfelt apologies ❤️, emojis enhance the tone and intent of our messages, creating a richer and more meaningful exchange. 💌😊 🚀 Emojis in Pop Culture: Emojis have become more than just a part of our daily chats; they're now ingrained in popular culture! Movies, fashion, and even art have all been influenced by these expressive symbols. We've seen emojis grace the big screen, become fashion statements, and inspire creative art installations worldwide. Who knew tiny icons could have such a huge impact? 🎬👗🎨 So, let's celebrate the rise of visual language! 😄🔤 Emojis have revolutionized how we communicate, offering us an expressive and universal way to connect with others across the globe. Next time you text or tweet, don't forget to add a splash of emoji flair to your words! Let's keep the emoji conversation alive! 💬📲

#EmojisSpeakLouder #VisualLanguage #ConnectWithEmojis

[revengeromance]

anyway the bonus content is now available to all so here are my favorite parts:

-they called roxy mx. lalonde !!! 

-dad crocker is gay for diamonds droog

-jasprose said “owo whats this?”

-jasprose called jake a himbo

-no one told jake what neoliberal means

-imode uses they/them pronouns

-avril is sooo cute 

-hussie’s conversation with ult dirk

#overall it was so cute pls so read the hs2 bonus content #homestuck #homestuck2 #roxy lalonde #dad crocker #diamonds droog #jasprosesprite^2 #jake english #imode kurita #avril thorpe #andrew hussie #dirk strider

[mamohiru]

kurita ryokan being adorable as always

#es21 #eyeshield 21 #kurita ryokan #mine #is posting manga icons the only thing i can do to fill up the tag of an inactive fandom? maybe #but there were in my folder and they're so cute... especially the third one

[aishirudonijuuichi]

i live for their friendship

#this has been me tuning in on my iconing journey #kurita ryokan #kurita #Hiruma Yoichi #Hiruma #'he's the best' #kurita is so wonderful so trusting #i'm so happy for him getting to live his dream #hiruma and kurita's friendship is so cute and mutual; so good for both of them

[steamedcake]

Cosmos Troup "Yumechidori" distribution

https://kageki.hankyu.co.jp/revue/2021/yumechidori/index.html

Directed and written by Yuka Kurita (This is her first work)

Cast: 

Yujiro Shirasawa (Film director)/ Yumeji Takehisa (Painter): Sora Kazuki

Rena Akabane (Actress) / Takamki (Yumeji’s wife): Mineri Amairo

Hikono (A pure student who falls in love with Yumeji) :Hibari Yamabuki

Oyo (Model) :Shiho Mizune

Minato Saijo (An actor)/ Seiji Togo (A student who cares and loves Tamaki): Yuse Anon

Story:

The time is Showa era in Japan. A famous film director Yujiro Shirasawa (Sora Kazuki) and an actress Rena Akabane (Mineri Amairo) are married but without registration.

Shirasawa is trying to create a new film to make Yumeji Takehisa(Sora Kazuki) the subject matter. Yumeji Takehisa is a famous painter in Taisho era in Japan, who had numerous romances with a lot of women.

Yumeji was married with Tamaki(Mineri Amairo), a spirited woman who is senior to Yumeji, however, he fell in love with a pure student Hikono (Hibari Yamabuki).

As Shirasawa shot the film, he gradually immerses in Yumeji’s life...

My report:)

This is a really impressive “film”, rather than a musical. I can’t believe that this is Ms. Yuka Kurita’s first work in Takarazuka! She understands Sora Kazuki and Mineri Amairo’s strength, and also what musical we fan would like to see with Sora!

Every member played very well, but the heroin Mineri-chan was the best actress in this act for me. She played two roles- One is Shirasawa’s wife without resisration. The other is Tamaki, who is a key role of this stage.

Tamaki is not a typical musumeyaku character in Takarazuka. There’s something about her that’s just plain sexy with a black kimono and vivid red lips...

Her love to Yumeji is much more like “mad”. The relationship between Yumeji and Tamaki is a mixture of “love and hate”.

Yumeji violates her when they quarrel (unfortunately this is the era which husbands have “power” in family). Surprisingly he kisses her just after he hit her! This is why I express their love “mad” and “love and hate”... Their act in this scene was quite convincing...

Furthermore, Tamaki’s love becomes much mad while Yumeji falls in love with a pure student Hikono, who wants to learn arts under Yumeji. Actually she never felt jealousy to anyone even her husband made romances with other women (at least I felt so) because she knew that she is the only model of Yumeji’s work and believed that Yumeji could create nothing wihout her.  However, she finally noticed that he drew a portrait of a woman whose model is Hikono...

Mineri-chan is a typical cute musumeyaku, however, she surprised us with her act as Tamaki in this play. It was very nice to hear her beautiful singings:)

There are three women of destiny for Yumeji: Tamaki, Hikono, and Oyo. All of them have different features. Tamaki is a wife who had a baby with him. She’s really a spirited lady who could build a relationship pf equality with Yumeji. Hikono has a completely opposite nature to Hikono. Yumeji never violates and even quarrels with Hikono, and shows relaxing face... Oyo is expressed as uneducated but a beautiful model. How nice it is that various musumeyaku have their impressive scenes!

Other than musumeyaku, I really love otokoyaku who can play middle aged guys well! In this play, Ritsu Wakato plays the father of Hikono...You may not believe she is in the 9th year in Takarazuka! She is enough dignified and looks completely senior to Sora Kazuki (actually she’s 3 years younger than Sora) lol Of course she has a commanding presence in the play, but also shows affection to his daughter;( 

Oh I should not forget to refer to the finale!! It’s full of “typical gorgeous Takarazuka show”!! I’m sure all audience get moved with Sora and Mineri’s beautiful songs and dance!!

I can’t believe that there will not be Blu-ray sold. All the audiences cannot wait to the broadcast on Skystage. I can’t wait to watch the next stage of Soragumi<3

Good news! From May 12th, Takarazuka’s performances will start again!

FYI:

Yumeji’s works: https://pl.pinterest.com/japanesemasters/takehisa-yumeji-1884-1934/

Kurofuneya (One of the most important work by Yumeji. It’s said that the model Oyo): http://yumeji.or.jp/kurofuneya.html

#takarazuka #soragumi #kazuki sora #amairo mineri #cosmos troupe

[anunconnectedmarketeer]

What better way to start this blog off with a vtuber-sona that I am just now realizing is a glorified fursona but ironically with way less production value put into it?

I would joke that “God has not stayed my sinful hand,” with my lacking art skills, but now I realize that the result of my hubris will be my punishment.

“If you’re a god cultivating hope through myths, then I’m a tanuki.” “Good, we needed one of those.”

Well, as per the purpose of this blog, they exist outside of my fleeting consciousness now. Though, I was only able to visualize it in an SD format, and ideally there would also be a “nijisanji hot guy” avatar. 

So, the goal in making a vtuber was to get me to love aspects of myself that I have instead of romanticizing aspects of myself that I don’t have. The original idea was a vampire with a physique reminiscent of Eyeshield 21′s Kurita, a plain dress shirt adorned with blood and coffee stains, and messy hair that eclipsed their eyes.

However, that’s fairly plain, and I don’t quite have the Je ne sais quoi to even joke about being a count. This is a character that is supposed to be like looking into a mirror and that’s not really possible with the vampire design.

So I repurposed an old OC that only existed as a thought - a salaryman smelling of cigarettes and coffee that claims to be a tanuki, but is really just a lying human. Because I myself am American - whatever that means - I decided that while the story is the same, the design should invoke more raccoon than racoon dog. Also, I don’t smoke.

Anyway, within the hopemythos, an offhand lie causes him to be in too deep on the lie, as no one else can really tell he’s not a tanuki, and gets signed onto a myth-based talent agency.

Complications besides my own artistic limitations involve the association of raccoons with trash and potential self depreciation, and the inability to give a character with blinding bangs the racoon eyeshadow. There’s also the issue of having to convey emotion with just a mouth, but I think my obtuse solution still has a cute element.

Notes:

#E5B970 - What I presume the skin tone will be in hexcode. I will not pretend to know how to work with fleshy tones, so this is mostly for ballparking.

A - Hair poofs outwards and then curls inwards. Towards the neck from the sides, towards the eyes from the front. Many layers, very messy, stray cowlicks, etc. Color is light black with grey highlights. Eyes are perpetually hidden.

B - On the chibi, these are just racoon ears. Chestnut shaped, aim for distinction with racoon dog/tanuki ears. On the real avatar, they are clearly attached to a hairband. Since the haircolor is black, the hairband should be brown for visual clarity. On the real avatar, maybe the tip of a human ear is visible through the hair? What’s nice about static avatars is that this hairband can just be a transparent .png, and can just be replaced with alternates to create a “transform!!” effect - such as an Arknight’s Manticore hairband because vamp headwings-

C - Grey Dress shirt is the basic. But again, static avatars means alts are possible, and in this design space I am bound only by my limited imagination. Hawaiian Shirt Alt. “My eyes are... uhhhhh” T-shirt Alt. Raincoat Alt. The more important note is that - chibi or not - the character should be wide. No skinny bitches, the character should be fat - even with Neco Arc noodle limbs space needs to be conveyed. And not like, “dense” or “short stack,” I am committing, which I why I am grateful tanuki are fat and have fat-

D - Blue Jeans.

E - Dress shoes with LARGE platforms. Why not. No one will see them. Rain-boots alt. because I made the shirt too large and I like it too much to change it.

So yeah, all I need to do is to uncompress this mental image into a nijisanji hot guy. Because the chibi doesn’t exist. The vtuber doesn’t actually see themselves as a chibi. It’s just a hairband. What do you mean you see a chibi, that’s impossible, the vtuber can’t actually transform-

#Biz #and #Biz-dess #(the real fake vtuber and the chibi fake vtuber) #But since my funds are limited for commisions ironically (intentionally) I might only be able to afford the chibi #Height? The chibi is 'large enough to bully mascot characters' but 'small enough to be used as a throwable weapon'

[eyeshields]

THOUGHTS:

This looks like it's gonna be so good. Suzuna is so cute!! The Devilbat Ghost looks so baller!! They've got an entire team working on this plus individual voice actors so I'm thinking(/hoping) that this will be pretty long?

Admittedly a little disappointed that no, it appears we aren't getting an entire remake. HOWEVER I still think (maybe delusionally) that there could be one if there's a really good response (which there has been so far, people on Twitter are Losing Their Minds)

Somehow I managed to post the news to my blog before Japanese news outlets managed to tweet about it which I think is very very funny

Also hoping that this will finally result in a Hiruma nendoroid. C'mon Good Smile you've made one for every other obscure ass character I've been WAITING FOREVER. (I also desperately want a Kurita nendo but I think Hiruma is more realistic.)

I think I need to learn how to make gifs

#text

[beansterpie]

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the es21 brainxbrave special, but here’s a list of things I DID like.

@deabruarenjarraitzaileaya-ha pointed this out to me, but LOVE that Unsui is now wearing the #2 jersey in the Enma Fires. It nicely fits into where his arc left off in the epilogue— he’s now fully living his own life and on a level playing field with his brother, rather than living in Agon’s shadow as he silently supports him, so they both wear the #2 jersey! Also the double #2 just has an extra level of twin-ness to it which is always fun.

Hiruma terrorizing people with his little custom drone 😂 cute and extremely on brand. I still prefer es21 and their college years being set in mid-late 00’s, but fun!

As many have already pointed out, Kurita’s >:3 face as he tackles Hiruma 😭💖

Hiruma and Agon knowing each other well enough that Hiruma can rely on Agon understanding his thought process without even discussing it beforehand 🤭 and in general, Agon sort of being framed as Hiruma’s trump card!

I felt like the overall premise of the one shot was pretty contrived and was clearly just there to justify the chapter focusing so much Sena and Hiruma’s teams (rip Musashi and the Devilbats) and to raise the stakes of the match, BUT I do think the conversation the two of them have after the meeting with Don was quite nice actually. (Idk abt Hiruma throwing out his blackmail book lol, but the gesture was fun)

I’ll admit, I liked the black sleeves on the Wizards uniforms. Still not a fan of the primarily white designs, but the sleeves were good. I may be incorporating that into my own wizards uniform designs hfhfhf

#that’s about it I guess #for things that I liked without caveats #eyeshield 21 #es21 #brain x brave #bean talking into the void

[persona-dee]

Third Person Point of View, A HiruMamo Fanfic

Hiruma Youichi was the incarnation of the devil, while Anezaki Mamori was the embodiment of the angel. Due to their differences, people believed the two of them wouldn’t even want to get ten meters near each other.

The Deimon Devil Bats team believed it too once upon a time. However, seeing the two’s interactions over time made them not so sure anymore. They started pondering: were they actually dating?

Part III: Takekura Gen/Musashi’s point of view

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

Musashi could make a long list of adjectives that could be applied to describe Hiruma. Devilishly smart, cunning, ambitious, and so on. Most people would probably say he was evil and cunning, not that he would argue with them, but every single soul who had the luck (or bad luck?) of meeting Hiruma would agree that there was no way to tell what his friend was thinking or what he would do next.

To put it in simple terms, his friend was unpredictable.

That was exactly why Musashi found it odd that Hiruma had fallen into a perfect, albeit slightly peculiar, rhythm with Mamori. As far as Musashi knew, Mamori had become the club's manager only for a few months, and in the first few weeks, all they did was get into arguments. Only God (and them) knew what happened to make them become this familiar with each other after those weeks.

Another thing Musashi found odd (and slightly amusing) was that Hiruma seemed to love teasing their manager. He would seize every chance he could get to annoy the hell out of her.

This afternoon, it seemed, was one of the times where Hiruma was in the mood for some light bickering with her.

"How long do you plan to eat without permission, fucking manager?"

Mamori jerked. With cheeks redden and crumbs stuck on her lips, she slowly turned her head to Hiruma. The evidence of her crime (a box of pretzel) she still held with one of her hands.

"Je-jeez, you're talking like that again. I don't need permission from you to eat! Besides, I did my job measuring your speed properly."

Hiruma cackled. Musashi's eyes might be playing tricks on him, but he was quite sure he saw a mischievous and amused glint in his friend's eyes. He seemed to enjoy every second of it. "Still, you're the greedy manager who likes to steal food to eat!"

Her brows furrowed slightly at that. Defensively she replied, "Whe-when did I steal food? I don't remember!"

Hiruma continued to cackle, but he left the embarrassed manager alone after that.

This scene, with the exact same topic, took place almost every single day to the point he could even tell everyone on the team about even the smallest detail of it with eyes closed.

Hiruma would squeeze some time from their daily practice to tease her about eating and the way she ate stealthily, and then she would defensively reply to his teasing.

Hiruma teasing people wasn't odd. He teased Kurita almost regularly, after all. What fascinated Musashi about this was the fact that he teased a girl, and that he did it on a daily basis.

He had never even seen Hiruma talked so happily to girls before. Honestly,  he even thought his friend was asexual since he never showed any interest in both boys and girls. Since the day they started hanging out with each other, he had set his eyes on victory only.

Several hours later, when it was already late in the evening, Deimon Devil Bat's practice ended. After putting their practice equipment back into place, the team changed back into their school uniform, and one by one began going home until he, Hiruma, and Mamori were left. If he wasn't mistaken, the captain and the manager stayed late to devise a new suitable strategy for their upcoming match with Shinryuuji Naga.

When he got out of the locker room, however, he only saw Mamori in the club room. "Where is Hiruma?"

Mamori snapped her head to him. With a small smile, she replied, "Good work for today, Musashi-kun! Hiruma-kun said he is going to the convenience store for a bit. It seems he runs out of sugar-free gum."

He nodded. The club room fell into a comfortable silence. He wasn't a talkative person in the first place, and she didn't seem to mind since she needed to concentrate on the data laid out at the table in front of her.

He was buttoning up the last button of his shirt when the club room's door slid open. At the next moment, Hiruma came in with a plastic bag on one hand. He closed the door the same way he opened it, with his foot.

"Fucking manager, catch."

Before he finished saying it, he already tossed a small box toward Mamori. Fortunately, she successfully caught the box even though she fumbled with it at first.

It took a couple of seconds for her to notice the word "Kariya Creampuff" on one side of the box. When she did, a smile bloomed on her face. "Thank you, Hiruma-kun."

"Yeah," Hiruma replied nonchalantly. "Are you done arranging the data as I asked?"

Hiruma slid to the seat next to her, and they began reviewing the data together. They were so engrossed in their discussion to the point it made him feel like a mere dot on the background.

He smiled at the sight, though.

That was another one of their routines. Even though Hiruma teased her a lot about eating, he always bought her favorite snacks, like creampuffs, when he went out to the convenience store.

And then, there was this change in his manner of speaking to her when they were alone. Well, they weren't alone at the moment since he was there, but he wasn't the type to pry into other people's business (unlike some of their teammates) even if he noticed such details, so maybe that was why Hiruma didn't mind his presence.

There was still a little teasing here and there when they were alone (or when there were only the three of them). However, Hiruma would make no snide remarks, nor were there any mocking sarcasm in his words.

Musashi never thought there would come a day when he thought Hiruma was cute, but today was that day. He wouldn't say it in Hiruma's face, of course, but he thought his friend almost seemed like a grade-schooler who teased his crush endlessly but still cared for her in the end.

Now that he thought about it that way, he wondered if his friend did have a crush on the manager and whether the two of them were dating.

#my fic #Hirumamo #Hiruma Yoichi #anezaki mamori #musashi #takekura gen #eyeshield 21

[saikiyuuki]

Tsukista Review

Story-

The story is simple this time it is about Reina and Tsubaki crossing over to the idol world and trying to find what happiness is. The ending is sweet and I will leave no more spoilers for the plot.

Songs During Stage Play Part

Kimi ni Karei naru -Laila-

A different take on the middles. This was sexy on the final show Akiba accidentally lifted his shirt.

I love the part where Yoru and You holds hands and their fingers entwined.

Arata and Aoi had a scene where they used the chair and switched positions before leaning close. That was really sensual.

Another part was when Yoru and You was sitting, Yoru was as if he took a taste with his finger but You took it.

Welcome to Wonderland

The nenchou was really cute here and was used after a scene where they interacted. Kai and Haru looking so smug when they said uchi no ko was cute.

The dance was simple and cute which was surprising but fitting. Honestly 2019 casual clothes really fit the new cast as they have really long legs.

Kimi to Step

Another of the cute songs and not only dances it also has the part where all the cast interracted.

Kai being dragged with Diablo for example and the middles and just interacting. They really made good use of the songs.

Shiawase Sagashi

Its an emotionally charged song that summarizes Reina and Tsubaki’s adventure. The dances was amazing too. It was elegant and the use of less lighting here really seta the mood.

Shiawase Awase

It has one of the simplest dances but the meaning of the song is the important part here. First half of the song is just running as the scenes play out.

The characters switches partners with mostly being Procella and Gravi pair so that was interesting. Also some parts are sung by their season group. So that was fresh.

New Cast

Arata - He is like a copy of Ryohei honestly. Acting is good and is also very good at dancing. I have high hopes

Koi - Cute period. So so cute. Acting wise and also the dances too. Still very childish but is closer to canon compared to Lui as he has a more natural childishness. Instead of the act.

Kakeru - Cute too. Period. And sounds similar to Ryuu. The dances are cute. I love his tsukkomi w

Hajime - Has the softer Hajime of the later settings down pat and shows the more playful side when with other seniors. Dances well but is more elegant compared to Menjo. Menjo is more forceful. But honestly gives a more elegant take. Mutsubi no Tsuki was eroi w

You - Kurita hands down has the attitude of You down pat. Down to the walk. He dances surprisingly well for someone who says he is too old for this.

Kai - I don’t know where to start... Honestly the expression and dance was amazing. I like Doi but he does have a blank expression while dancing. Hirai has reached a point he can act and smile as he dance. Like a grin so its very Kai like and also has parts where he adlibs.

Megami

Reina - Reina was plain cute. Like really really cute and lovely. Her voice is similar to the actors the way she acts on stage hides the fact that it was her second stage.

Tsubaki - Literally Tsubaki coming alive. The elegant part and the fangirling part is accurate. The fangirling is just as crazy as Shun.

Tsukista Set List

Chikoku no Uta

Back Dancer - Hajime and Shun

It is really cute and really works for Kakeru dance wise. Honestly, Hajime and Shun looks awkward there. The adlibs before they start is amazing.

Mutsubi no Tsuki

Back Dancer - Kakeru and Koi

The scene opens with Shun and they all wear and uchikake. Agata as Hajime was erotic. The movement was more elegant. Added bonus, Agata has his shirt down open to the collar. And when he tosses and catches the fan was amazing.

Sore ha Kitto Koi

Back Dancer - Hajime and Haru

The use of the flag was cute. With Koi tossing the flag and catching it. Sorry not much to say as I was too focused on Gaku and Agata. They danced really well. And its strange seeing seniors dancing cute songs.

Aqua Refrain

Back Dancer - Arata and Koi

They used an umbrella for prop and the dance was really emotional for the lack of better words. It fits Haru’s more emotionally charged songs.

Yozakura ni Sasowarete

Back Dancer - Aoi and Haru

Honestly, the use of the two hand fan and lighting was really moody. It makes the song seem darker. The new Arata is way too good at dancing.

YES!

Back Dancer - Arata and Rui

Its actually a dance heavy song and I was surprised at how much Tatsuki improved.

Oh... Yes!

Back Dancer - Kai and Aoi

The song is back dance heavy. Yuusaku is as emotional as always. And Hirai was amazing here. Really really good. Shows how well he performa when compared to how emotional Toumei Lullaby is.

Toumei Lullaby

Back Dancer - Rui and You

I love the use of the cloth for the dance but kept to the other non-character back dancer and Kai. The movements are more emotional and shows that Hirai is really good with emotional songs and his expression was amazing.

Manatsu no Surprise

Back Dancer - Yoru and Kai

Hirai too was amazing here and kept smiling honestly. Akiba improved so much I’m surprised. Kurita is as flirty as Shuuto when acting as You. Dance wise I don’t even believe he is a new cast.

Yumemiru Mikaduki

Back Dancer - You and Iku

Another back dance heavy music but Akiba was so good at the small actions which makes the song even more emotional.

Next Stage

Back Dancer - Yoru and Shun

This really shows how much Akiba improved dancing wise. Ryoki was cute here and Taka really is an idol.

November Star

Back Dancer - Iku and Kakeru

The two juniors did amazing for back dancing as its back dance heavy. The addition of a mantle for Shun fits the music. And Taka really gave an amazing performance that shows the more serious side of Shun.

Sugar Sugar Magic

Back Dancer - Procella

Yuri was plain amazing as Reina. The dance down to the expression. Procella bowing down except for Shun was cute too. Dance wise everyone did amazing. Hirai and Taka was cute here.

Troyca -White Witch Mix-

Back Dancer - Gravi

Kanako as Tsubaki was so elegant, it was as if Tsubaki really was there. As stated the dance was made to seem like a merry-go-round and it emulated that perfectly. Gravi as back dancer was a good choice so Tsubaki stood out.

Gravitic Love

Agata was erotic for the ah part. Honestly it was cohesive and so much improvement between the first and final show. It was really Gravi there... Gaku is amazing at dancing I don’t feel a need to comment there.

LOVL - Lots of Love -

They are also cohesive and everything is done on time. There was no one being slower or faster. They improved so much too. Hirai was amazing as Kai.

One Chance

They matched the dance to MMF and it was plain amazing. Taka here really did well and everyone worked as a group. Hirai really was Kai at the Yari Kirenai One Chance line. Everyone added their own take of the character to the dance. Like Hirai giving the motion for the crowds to get louder.

Gravity

There are a few parts changed and seeing the interactions between the pair really showed their growth. Agata finally got comfortable by the 5th show and the improvements were amazing.

Tsukinouta

This was amazing, everyone really are in character. It was really like seeing them live. Their take is different than the original cast but it seems everyone is taking the original work as reference and trying to be the character completely. I applaud the new casts for the amazing performance.

Jokes

Harumagedon - Its funny because they tried to reenact a movie that was modified. It was meant to be a sad movie but having all med try to play it made it ridiculous. Please don’t go too crazy on the prop next time Hirai... And don’t say Donki on curtain call it will get censored.

Shitsuren Red - Final show and really I am not even sure. It got worse. SALMON PINK AND PINK IS NOT RED DAMN IT.

Kami - Really the god joke was so funny and morbid. Yuusaku no crossdressing please.

Curtain Call

Nenchou Version -

Really Gaku is as talkative as ever. And Hirai giving thanks to all the staff was amazing. Agata really got bullied but out of the four he was the one that gave the most proper greeting. He gets easily flustered too.

Everyone -

Honestly I feel bad for Kanako, I bet she had it hard that she cried on stage. The two megami cast are hoping for a megami stage.

The others are a mess and really Hirai is terrible with jokes but Taka is dying of laughter so its fine?

#tsukiuta #tsukista #shimotsuki shun #mutsuki hajime #yayoi haru #fuduki kai #shiwasu kakeru #kisaragi koi #kannaduki iku #minaduki rui #haduki you #nagatsuki yoru #satsuki aoi #uduki arata #saiki review

[gus-dix]

eyeshield 21 fanart... again! because i still love the characters! specially Kurita... my beautiful boy... he’s so nice and cute i wanna cry!

do not erase the caption, use or rePOST my art (reblog ok)

#my art #fan art #eyeshield 21 #manga #sport manga #kurita #ryokan kurita #i'm not... gonna tag the rest of the characters #cause don't feel like googling their names #we do favoritism in this house #ok but raise your hands if you think mamoru deserved better #she's a good person let her be happyyyyyy #when started coloring this i thought their school uniform was drak blue #looked for ref and... it's actually weird green? that doesn't happen often #also at first asked google for ref... then remembered i own the manga hhhh

[thegreatpikminzx789]

Yggdrasil’s Nexus: Prologue (Chapter 3) - Etrian Odyssey Nexus Fanfiction

Wattpad|Ao3|Fanfiction.net

Summary: Korey and the Refulgent Guild have one last night in Tharsis, as the Highlander decides to give the Refulgent Guild a head start on meeting some old guild members of Korey's...

Previous Chapter|Next Chapter

Drayce (mentioned) belongs to @theshatteredrose

"Honestly, does Korey love having to up and vanish on us all the time? It feels like an eternity just looking for him..." Wufan sighed, doing her best to remain balanced on the table as scanned the area in front of her, hoping for a sign of the Highlander.

Kibagami turned to face the Vessel upon hearing her worry. "Oh relax, Wufan. I'm sure Korey has a reason to be so late."

"There must be. Everyone's all made their decision, and yet, he's the only one who hasn't made one." Wufan noted, before her pointed ears twitched, as if perking up from a familiar noise.

Kibagami tilted his head at first, before quickly gazing to where Wufan faced. Boy, he was surprised to see quite a group Korey had with him. Apart from Shirota and Baldur, the others were unrecognizable. He raised his hand and waved it, as if signaling for the Highlander.

Korey and his group soon reached the Sentinel and Vessel without issue, seeing the latter help the Vessel get down from the table. "Sorry I'm late, I had some business to take care of with the Count regarding the Maginia." Korey sighed, feeling a bit of needless worry from Wufan's glare.

Kibagami simply patted Korey's shoulder, as if he expected that apology. "No need for the apology, lad. Though might I ask who the others behind you, Baldur, and Shirota?"

Before Korey could muster a single word, Baldur stepped up to the Sentinel. "We'll introduce them to the others at dinner." He declared, not in a commanding way, but in a reassuring way.

"It'll save us time than just one-on-one introductions." Baldur added, beating Wufan to the punch before she could ask her question. Wufan's surprised expression slowly changed to a small smile- one that wasn't easily recognizable except for those in the guild she found herself in.

She gave Baldur a nod, followed shortly by Kibagami giving his word on the matter. "Then, let's get some chairs for our guests. I'm sure they must be hungry." Wufan insisted, turning to face the door as Korey, Baldur, and Kibagami started grabbing the chairs near the tables on the porch, slowly but surely making sure things were easy for them to carry them inside.

Korey could hear the sounds of conversation a few rooms back. Seems like they made it back in time for dinner.

Once he entered the guild house, he turned his head to motion for his group of memorable friends to follow shortly behind him. Kibagami and Baldur scoot some of the empty chairs closer to the others, before placing a new pair of seats where they originally were. Anai soon spotted Korey adding a chair he had been carrying for some time beside his chair.

"Uuuuuh, why are you placing more chairs here?" Anai couldn't help but ask the trio, but found her question quickly falling on deaf ears as the Imperial Prince and the tall Sentinel sat across the table.

Korey took a deep sigh, taking a bell off of the wall and shook it around,  slowly catching the attention of his other guild members. "Please take a seat, everyone. I have an announcement to make before we eat."

As the people who were standing made their way to the table and took a seat, Korey hesitated between wanting to put it in his pocket, or place it back in its place. It always worked in case he ever had announcements to make, but he felt like he would miss it if it wasn't with him at all times.

It was a gift from a guild member from Armoroad; made by someone with black and white hair. She would've insisted that he kept it with him at all times. Undecided for the time being, he brought it with him to the table, placing it near his seat.

"Why the announcement, Mr. Korey? I want to eat noooow..." Kurita sighed, getting some unneeded reassurance from Yukina, who patted her shoulder, causing the Runemaster to shift her attention for a few seconds.

Yukina's smile was enough to get her message across, even if she didn't directly speak her words. "First off, regarding my decision to come aboard the Maginia and to travel to where it will take us..." Korey's voice soon caught Kurita's attention, as she and Yukina turned their heads to face the brown haired Highlander.

"I am going to the Maginia. Though this decision wasn't simply made on a whim..." Korey continued as he made his voice loud and clear to the friends and guild members he had traveled with.

Silvius tilted his head in confusion. "If it wasn't through a whim, then how did you come to that conclusion?"

Korey grinned at Silvius' question, which made the white-skinned Vessel question him even more. "It was more so made out of a reunion I've had outside this very guild house. And I want to introduce them to all of you."

He raised his right arm and made a motion with his fingers, as if beckoning someone to approach. Korey turned his head as he heard footsteps approach him, hearing his some of his guild members gasp at Hilda, while others sat there, astonished at her appearance.

Karim and Shreya were next, easily catching most of the guild's attention, as they gave Korey a hug for the heck of it, before he took Karim up in his arms, leaving Hilda picking up Shreya. Anai just sat there, mouth agape with surprise. She was the first to connect the dots, but was still rather clueless about the names of the three people she saw before her.

Misaki, Kyo, and Lola made themselves known to the others, as the green haired girl eagerly waved at the people sitting at the table, taking a seat close to Baldur. Kyo and Misaki sat next to Elma, who honestly didn't mind the extra company.

As Korey placed Karim on the seat next to his, Hibiki, Simon, Ayako, and Ion entered shortly behind Kyo, taking seats in the remaining open spots. Hilda placed Shreya in the chair next to hers, as she sat on the chair Korey had placed for her.

"Everyone, these are previous guild members I have traveled with in the past. And this is my wife, Hilda." Korey wasted no time with introductions as he sat down, relieved to have his legs get some more rest.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Hilda hummed, giving her most humble smile to the others, who slowly smiled in return.

Hilda made a motion for Ion to go, who quickly blinked on what to do, before calming himself within a couple of seconds. "Ion is... Ion. Pleased to meet friends of Korey."

The black and yellow haired Pugilist smiled once it was his turn to introduce himself. "The name's Ayako; caring father to every guild member I come across!"

Kurita couldn't help but blink several times. She was already confused by Ayako's sudden proclamation. "B-But me and my sisters already have a dad..."

Korey sighed, shaking the bell to get Kurita's attention quickly before the topic was swiftly changed. "Listen, Ayako's just that caring, whether or not they had parents. It's for the best that you just go along with it." Korey insisted, not wanting to dwell on the argument, before Lola eagerly hummed, as she gazed at everyone to her right.

"I'm Lola~ Pleased to meet you!" Lola greeted, waving her hand again because she felt like it. It kind of just added to her cuteness factor.

Hibiki spoke up next, followed by Misaki, Kyo, Karim, and Shreya, leaving Simon Yorke the last one to be introduced. "And I'm Simon Yorke, resident of the Midgard Library." Anai gasped as she turned her attention to the gray haired Medic.

"Wait, the Simon Yorke?" Anai inquired, getting a confident nod from Simon himself. She let out a heavenly sigh as she sat back in her chair.

"Oooooh, I feel like I'm dreaming!" Logre couldn't help but chuckle at Anai, fan-girling over another person she has heard of before. It was adorable just seeing her smile...

Though honestly, he couldn't help but smirk to himself when an idea came to his head. "Want me to wake you up by pinching you?" He commented, quickly snapping Anai out of her fan-girl mode.

"N-No, please don't!" Anai begged, getting quite the response by Logre and Korey as she heard them chuckle. Heck, she also heard Simon chuckle a little, too! Talk about embarrassing...

Wufan broke the silence that occurred once everyone had introduced themselves to their guests. "I must ask something real quick; Hilda, what kind of species are you, exactly? I've never seen someone as foreign as you before..."

Hilda's eyes glanced down to the table, almost hesitant to speak up. "I'm from... the Arken." She finally spoke, after taking a couple of seconds to calm herself down. No need to get worked up over a simple question...

"The Arken? Where they part of your group or something?" Jayla asked, clueless as hell about the species Hilda belonged to.

Hilda perked her head up to converse with Jayla. "They were residents of our Yggdrasil tree in Arcania. I used to live in that Yggdrasil tree until I was banished." She sighed, before placing her hand around Korey's, intertwining her fingers with his as she turned to face her beloved.

"If anything, I'm so glad to have such a wonderful man like Korey." Hilda divulged from the question, feeling fine with how she answered Jayla's question. "He's taught me so much, and he's just the best person I can ever be around. I love him so much..." She hummed, nuzzling her head against Korey's head for a bit before he returned the favor by doing the same thing.

"D'aaaaawwwww..." Kurita, Jacinda, and Anai couldn't help but coo at the sight before them. It was everyone's first look at seeing Korey be truly happy, without him gazing down at the ring on his hand just to reassure himself.

"That's just adorable..." Shira beamed as she stared at the lovely couple before them all. Even when the nuzzling couple was being looked at by everyone in the table, nobody dared to interrupt the moment.

"It sure is..." Sakuma concurred with Shira. "We haven't seen him smile that much ever since that kidnapping incident, so this is a nice change of pace." She added, feeling relieved to see the Highlander smile without regret...

"If we're done with the chatting, then let's eat already." Silvius reminded everyone, feeling like if they went on any longer, the food will get cold. Korey and Hilda separated their heads and sat upright.

"Then dig in, everyone. This will be our final night in Tharsis, so be sure to pack up everything once you've had your full!" Korey declared, getting several nods as they finally dug into the food.

Seeing Kurita chow down on the food after having to sit through what felt like an hour of introductions put a smile on Jayla's face. Though it's been barely a month since the day she, Kurita, and Jacinda were reunited in the Hall of Darkness, she felt glad to be alive, hoping to be there for her little sisters for as long as she was still breathing.

Baldur turned his head to the green haired girl sitting beside him, moving her head from side to side as she hummed and moving her legs back and forth. There wasn't really anything in front of her to eat or drink.

"Lola, aren't you going to eat?" He asked, getting the girl's attention as she looked up to meet him face to face. "I'm fine, Mr. Baldur." She responded, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Besides," Lola continued, placing her hand on her chest. "Yggdroids can't do those things anyway."

Baldur raised an eyebrow upon hearing Yggdroids. Though he quickly understood the connection real quick. "Oh, so you're a robot? Who were you made by?" Baldur inquired, getting a nod from the Yggdroid girl.

"We Yggdroids were created by King Seyfried of the Deep City." Lola answered truthfully. She was positive she'll find the time to introduce Seyfried to Baldur when they find him.

"Interesting. And here I thought the technology we Imperials had was impressive enough. Perhaps he and I would be fast friends." Baldur hummed, hoping to meet this Seyfried person Lola spoke of.

Hiraku gulped down the food in his mouth as he turned to face Ion. "Isn't Korey great leader? He so kind and friendly." The red haired Sentinel asked, seeing Ion's beaming smile as the Celestrian looked at him.

"Indeed. Ion likes Korey because Korey saved Ion from an attack on our first encounter." Ion spoke fondly of Korey, as the two of them got lost in conversing great things about Korey. Korey could tell that they were fast friends.

"You seem to have great trust in Korey. Although it took me some time to fully trust humans..." Wufan sighed as she conversed with Hibiki.

"Forsooth. It's only natural to has't complete faith in someone once thee ope up to those folk." The Forest girl reassured, as she took a bite into the food.

The familiarity of the situation felt wholesome to Korey, recalling the first dinner with his guildmates with an old guild he acquainted himself with... He had hoped to see Drayce and his guild once they board the Maginia.

................................................................

The guild house was filled with chatter, as everyone focused on preparing themselves for the upcoming journey. "Have you gotten everything packed, Shirota?" Shira asked, placing several items into a bag.

"Almost, mother. Just have to pack a few more things to pack." Shirota responded without hesitation, her attention all but focused on the task set before her.

In a way, it was like the day she first went to Tharsis with Anai beside her. They encountered Sakuma and Kurita along the way, and all of them were excited to explore the Yggdrasil. And now, this felt exactly like that very first day. It filled her with excitement and the joy of having another adventure.

"Pack this, pack that..." Anai spoke aloud, packing books from the shelves in one huge bag.

Eliza looked over to see Anai's urgent rush to take the most important of books from the shelves. "Sis, do you really need that many books?" The purple haired Landsknecht sighed as she walked towards her younger sister.

"Of course!" Anai confirmed her sister's question, reaching to take another book from the shelf before her. "It never hurts to have this many, in case we come across familiar items and materials at our upcoming destination."

Although the amount was far too many, Eliza couldn't help but sigh, stopping her sister before she could place another book in the bag. "I understand that, but our monster codex and our book of materials will be enough to bring with us. Unless you're planning to read all of those books out of boredom..." Eliza started to tease Anai, causing the latter to try and deny the obvious fact, leaving the older sister to laugh out loud.

Elma looked at the black haired Imperial, who was making sure his bow and scythe were in top condition. "Aren't you going to pack, Akhos?" The white haired Nightseeker asked.

"I've already packed minutes before dinner." Akhos replied as his eyes soon gazed at Elma as she approached him. "Though I must say, traveling to whatever this new land sounds holds quite the promise, doesn't it?"

"I suppose it does. It'll be a new experience for all of us..." Elma could only agree with the person she had worked with prior to being part of Korey's guild. I wonder where the Maginia will take us to.

Baldur took one last look at the nightly air of Tharsis. Though he wasn't the most insistent person to call Tharsis a second home, the pain of leaving this place still weighed him down a bit. Logre was the first to notice that air around him, and went out to converse with him.

"What's wrong, your highness?" The gray haired man inquired. "It's just..." Baldur sighed as he turned to face his loyal Imperial.

"I'll miss Tharsis in the time we'll be gone. Will it even be here when we come back?" He uttered, feeling Logre's hand be placed on his shoulder.

"I can't speak for everyone," Logre began, looking at the night stars that now light the sky. "I have faith that any newcomers to Tharsis will keep this place safe for us. Tharsis will be alright."

Logre's smile was as confident as always. He hasn't had a chance to smile for some time, but being able to see him be happy was something everyone in the Refulgent Guild wanted. Baldur soon turned to look at the sky, choosing to believe Logre's words on the matter.

"Come back here!" Kurita yelled, chasing Shreya as she ran around the couch, giggling like an energetic child. "You'll never catch the daughter of the Arken!" Shreya confidently replied, continuing the wild goose chase.

Jacinda was trying to catch Karim, though the white haired child had much more agility to his steps than the blond haired Medic. "Stop running so I can catch you!" Jacinda groaned, feeling like she was nearly out of energy.

"Never!" Karim chuckled, running past Korey and Hilda as Jacinda struggled to follow Karim. Korey couldn't help but chuckle at how much his children are having fun with the others, slowly turning his head to face his beloved Hilda, who sat with him on the couch.

The brown haired Highlander let out a sigh as he gazes into Hilda's eyes. "I've missed being by your side, Hilda. I really want to make up for the days I haven't been beside you." He insisted, placing a hand on her cheek, feeling her nuzzle up against it and letting out a hum.

"I appreciate the thought, honey," Hilda began. "But if that's how you feel, then I don't want to stay any further from you. Just that alone will more than make up for the times you've been gone." She explained, which ended up getting a chuckle out of Korey.

The two gazed at each other before leaning their heads together, letting their noses touch each other. He felt her calm and soothing aura once more, feeling like it's pulling him back into a calm and soothing place, almost akin to the Petal Bridge... Despite her extraterrestrial look, his heart knew that it was still the same Hilda that was with him ever since she was a part of his guild; a heart that has passed the trials of vengeance and into the tending care of a loving family.

And he was proud to be back with her.

"Not that I hate to intervene with a reunited couple, but I suggest you two get to bed." Simon's voice snapped Korey out of the trance-like state he was in, turning his head to face the Medic who stood behind the couch. "Once the explorers come aboard Maginia, it'll be some time until we reach our destination. That goes the same for you kids as well."

Karim, Shreya, Kurita, and Jacinda stopped what they were doing once Simon called them out. "Awwww, do we have to? We were just getting to the good part!" Karim questioned, a bit sad that their fun was getting interrupted.

"There's always tomorrow, you two. You can have fun with the others when we get on the Maginia." Hilda assured them, who gave out an 'okaaaay' as Kurita and Jacinda went to prepare to pack their belongings.

Simon wasn't quite done with his business, so he proceeded to ask a question for the Highlander. "Is there any vacant rooms that we can borrow for the night? I don't want to risk potentially losing the kids in the dark where monsters could get them."

Korey nodded at Simon's question. "I believe there should be enough to house all of you." He replied as Simon made his way around the couch. "Just make sure Karim and Shreya are on the second floor; I'd like to have their room next to mine in case they can't sleep or something." Korey added, as the gray haired Medic nodded in return. It never hurts to have the children be near their parents, after all.

Korey and Hilda's children walked up to them, and gave them a hug and kiss their cheeks. "Night papa. Night mama." They said, almost in sync with their goodnight messages.

"Goodnight, you two. Love you." Korey chirped, moving his hand through Karim's hair as he let out a chuckle.

"Love you too, papa." Karim and Shreya replied simultaneously, before they followed Simon up the stairs. Korey stretches his arms as he let out a yawn of his own, before quickly picking Hilda up from the couch, surprising her as her cheeks gained a hint of dark blue.

"O-Oh... We're doing this now, aren't we?" Hilda exclaimed, blushing at the sudden surprise pick up.

Korey let out a sigh as his eyes focused on her cyan eyes. "Come on, I haven't held you in my arms ever since I went missing. Just let me have this moment." He argued, hearing Hilda giggle a bit as she placed her arms around him.

"I'm just giving you a hard time, dear..." She explained, at least able to give Korey a sigh of relief, before treading carefully up the stairs and past an open room, briefly catching a glance of Simon tucking Karim and Shreya into bed. He placed Hilda down as they reached the door, letting the white and blue haired wife enter the room, closing the door behind him.

"Nice room, Korey... Almost reminds me of our room back at in Iorys." Hilda praised, looking around the room. Hell, one could say it was almost an exact replica.

She slowly turned to face Korey, who had sat down on the bed. Not wasting a moment, she sat down next to him and placed her hand on his cheek, slowly bringing him in for a kiss as their lips collided. Korey followed suit, not wanting to rush the moment between them. It had been at least two years since they last kissed, there was no need to rush back into things.

Korey brought his arms around her, keeping her close to him. He allowed her tongue to dance with his, as if two lovers were slowly going practicing a dance after many years of being unable to recite it well. Hilda wanted to assure him through time and patience, and she was alright with that.

They kept it up for quite a while, relishing in the other's touch as they made out on the bed. Eventually, they separated from the kiss, gazing into each others' eyes as they brought their heads close to each other, letting their noses touch once more.

"I love you, Hilda." Korey sighed heavenly, as his hands slowly made their way to Hilda's hands, feeling the smoothness of her velvet arms as their fingers intertwined once more. "I love you too, Korey." She replied, with the same caring and mother-like tone in her voice.

They laid on the bed, making themselves comfortable as Korey places the sheets over them, bringing an arm around her as he stared at her. "I can't wait to explore with you and the others once more." Korey yawned, trying his best to stay awake, but clearly failing before his beloved's eyes.

"Me too, honey..." Hilda concurred, giggling a little bit upon seeing him yawn. Having been away from him for so long, it was more than a welcome change of pace from the past two years.

She didn't want to let him go again. Ever since those two years, she was worried that she would never see him again, worried that he might have died and have lost someone who cared for her that much. That was something she was never going to let happen ever again...

"Goodnight, my love." Korey sighed, closing his eyes and giving Hilda a comforting smile. She smiled in return, and closed her eyes and shifted her body closer to her beloved husband.

"Goodnight, Korey." Hilda replied, wrapping an arm around Korey and rested her head near his. She was glad to be back with him, and she wasn't going to let anything separate him from her this time around.

#Etrian Odyssey #eon #etrian odyssey nexus #writing