#and yet he’s still so sweet. he’s still so polite. he’s still just. ryou | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ladyyatexel · 2 years

Text

"Strange Shapes" - YuGiOh Offering

In gratitude for donations and commissions, here is one of many pieces of content I'm offering as emotional sacrifice to my benefactors.

Malik Ishtar drifting a bit post-canon and trying to figure out Ryou Bakura.

Most common descriptors from others who have seen it in the rabbit holes I dig myself on Discord to share it with 2.5 people are 'sweet, sad, strange, soft'. Primarily talking, no warnings or such.

This is very much raw snippets with pieces held back as I'm actively working on this currently and want to post the whole thing properly. It's, uh, 17K in the document right now? So this is a preview I offer on the altar of angstshipping and not getting kicked out of my apartment. Between snips is filled in with [...].

It's not the full thing, @sturionic, and you've seen what's here, I'm sure, but you did tell me to tag you once!

I hope it's enough to enjoy and get a feel for what's happening!

Malik makes his way as casually as possible out to the edge of the friend group where Bakura - the real one, the only one who was supposed to be there - is watching with a small, but real, smile.

"Can I talk to you?" Malik touches his arm slightly, just to try to indicate this conversation should be even further from the others.

"Me?" Bakura blinks, confused.

"Yeah. The real you."

"Ah, yes." The smile becomes a bit awkward and he rubs his arm where Malik had just brushed it. A sick feeling flashes through him as he realizes the spot is also where Bakura had been slashed in the midst of Malik's deals with the Bakura from the Millennium Ring. He tries not to wince too much and presses on.

"I don't want to bother you. Just a few minutes."

Bakura shakes his head, awkward seemingly gone. "It's okay. I don't mind."

Malik suggests a seat along the wall. No way for someone to sneak up to interrupt, still visible, hopefully feels safe.

Even with just this little, Bakura is already different. He moves differently, smiles differently. His voice is technically the same, just like his features, his hands, and the color of his hair, yet it's all completely someone else.

"I've done a lot I can't undo," Malik says when they're comfortably seated out of easy earshot. "But I at least want to apologize to people who give me the chance to. Especially to you. About everything, not just your arm."

"It wasn't you that did that, was it?"

"No, it wasn't even my idea, but - I was with him, I gave him the motivation, I guess. I thought I could use him for what I thought I wanted. I went along with it."

"Mmm." He nods. "I see."

"Didn't you know?"

"Oh, I could guess," Bakura says. "I even assumed. It's happened before, see?" He holds out his left hand, unprompted, and shows off a healed but still present scar in his palm and one between two bones on the other side. "But I didn't know. He kept me in the dark a lot. And when he didn't, I think my subconscious did. There are a lot of blank spaces in my memory, so there are things I’m just used to not being sure of." He smiles. It's kind, and polite, and pretty, and feels just as completely wrong as it does appropriate.

"I'm sorry," Malik says. "About that, about you getting hurt, about using the Rod to manipulate you, your friends… all of it."

"I understand." Not an 'okay' or anything about forgiveness or forgetting, but understanding.

“I hope we can be okay?”

Bakura shrugs and retains his sweet polite smile. “Sure.”

The response is so casual it throws Malik a little off balance. Bakura looks and sounds like Malik cut him off in traffic at worst.

Admittedly, many of his apologies to Yuugi’s friends have been similar. Yuugi himself had needed nothing beyond their last meeting when Malik completed his family’s purpose. Malik had said he hoped they could be friends while trying to hold onto some sense of dignity and that had evidently been enough for Yuugi.

Yuugi's group hadn’t brought the blonde woman, Mai, with them. Malik is still considering sending Yuugi back with an apology for her that includes a message that he is having nightmares about her, too. There are many people he hurt who want him to suffer as payment. Mai might be one of them.

Bakura, though, seemingly isn’t.

"How has it been for you since… everything?" This might be invasive or taking more time and consideration than he's owed, but if the quiet Bakura wearing scars he didn't earn was willing to talk, Malik wanted to hear what he said.

"Don't worry,” Bakura says. “I'm not going to hurt anyone."

"That's not - I didn't mean that. I just wanted to know how you felt."

Bakura pauses and the smile shifts. Maybe it's more genuine, or maybe it's a specially constructed layer for just this question.

"No one's really asked me that."

"Really?"

"I think they might be a little afraid to mention it." He looks almost like he's on the verge of laughing about it. "It's okay. I don't blame them. It's nice to still have friends."

"... and how you feel? What about that?"

He looks away from the others and properly at Malik for the first time since sitting down with him. "I don't know. I think I have feelings that aren't supposed to exist at the same time."

Bakura does understand.

"I think I have the same thing."

"I thought you might."

"Is it always like this? You away from everyone?" Malik wouldn't have to worry about this himself if he simply went home, stayed close to his siblings, replaced everyone he'd ever known with someone new and just avoided a few countries all together. But the connection right here, with the only other people who'd had something like his own experience? It scared him to lose it while it was still acceptable to touch.

"Not always."

"Are you lonely?"

Bakura laughs, though it is quiet and soft. "Not always."

"I'm sorry."

"You understand it too, don't you?" He looked at Malik wearing a tired resigned smile. “You wonder about the space between being told you’re someone’s friend and whether they actually trust you. It's why you're talking to me, isn't it?"

The longer he sits with the real Bakura, the more what he thought he’d find before meeting him gets hazy, but whatever that was, Malik is pretty sure this wasn’t it.

“It's not - I just wanted to apologize,” Malik says, though he doesn’t even sound convincing to himself.

“We’re the ones sitting out here, though.” Bakura tilts his head toward the rest of the group, engrossed in their game.

“They’ve all known each other a long time. They’re close.” It's an excuse. On several levels.

Bakura looks off at the group, almost through them. “I read somewhere once that you can’t get closer to someone than you do by killing them.”

More Malik wasn’t ready for.

“...I think I once employed a guy who said the same thing.”

“It’s okay. I told you; I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“I don’t think I thought you wanted to. I was just surprised.”

“I just meant maybe being close and being friends is different sometimes. Or maybe being close comes in strange shapes. Something like that."

Malik has spent less than an hour talking to Bakura, but already a link he hadn't totally expected tugs at things inside him he hadn't planned on being reachable.

“Strange shapes sounds right.”

[...]

“What do you do now?” Bakura asks. “Now that you can just have a life if you want it?”

‘If you want it’ rings strangely in Malik’s head.

“Mostly, we talk to a lot of researchers. Rishid and Isis too. After everything, I thought -- well, I wasn’t eager to tell people or get weighed down with officials and government, but it looked like the way to do the most good with...” He tries to motion over his shoulder to indicate his back as a stand in for everything.

“What are they researching?”

“What aren’t they? Us existing just detonated a giant bomb in the entire Egyptology field. I guess people out here have been trying to figure out how to pronounce the language we all learned as babies for a few hundred years, so we’ve been seeing a lot of linguists. But archaeologists want to talk to us, psychologists, general historians, people yelling things about aliens… I don’t understand some of it, to be honest.”

He wouldn’t normally have admitted that last part, but Bakura feels like someone he can trust with it.

“I haven’t heard about any of this.” It’s not a challenge, more an expression of wonder.

“They aren’t releasing most of the information to public channels, yet. It’s too big, too drastic. They want to make sure we’re real first.”

“Did they find you after the tournament?”

Malik twitches at just the thought of the experience. “Yeah. Several people did. I probably owe being able to live normally to being scientifically significant. Otherwise, I don’t know, I’d be …” He shakes his head. “Locked up? Being hunted for sport somewhere? I don’t know. In the end, it’s probably because of my sister or Kaiba that I’m not constantly in danger of being arrested.”

“Are people afraid?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” He pauses, considers everything that happened as it plays out in flashes in his head. “Probably.”

“Hmm.”

Bakura stays quiet but for the small thoughtful sound.

“Are you afraid of me?” Malik asks.

Bakura laughs. It’s cute and soft and almost insulting. “No. But don’t you think my answer would be the same either way?”

“I was kind of hoping we were being honest, given the circumstances.”

“I am.” He smiles serenely, like he’s meditating or enjoying a breeze. “You’ll just have to trust me when I say that.”

“I can do that.”

“Good.” Bakura looks at him as though they’ve finalized a contract. “I’m not afraid of you. And I’m glad you’re just a scientific curiosity, and not in prison.”

He had to laugh, even at his own weird traumatic situation. Bakura laughed with him, proving either a true lack of fear or a surprisingly iron resolve. Either one made him fascinating.

[...]

"Would it be okay if we kept talking after this?" Malik takes his phone (admittedly still one he didn't obtain through the cleanest of channels) out of his pocket.

"Oh, yes! Here!" Bakura enthusiastically takes the phone and immediately begins entering information. "I'll give you my number." He smiles so much he nearly sparkles as he saves the number and hits the call button, which sets off a soft tone near his hip. "Now I have yours, too."

It is just the number to a definitely, totally, in no way illegally obtained cell phone, but the eagerness Bakura shows to have it is more comforting than any words Malik has heard from anyone else in a long time.

[...]

“Well? What did you think?”

“Um, I had my eyes closed the whole time,” Bakura admits.

“Oh, come on.”

“Sorry! Maybe I’ll do better next time.”

“‘Next time’?” He sounds hopeful and he’s not sure he meant to. When would there realistically be a next time? The next time Bakura casually takes a quick vacation halfway across the world to say goodbye to a supernatural member of his friend group?

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to assume anything!”

“No, no, it’s okay! You can come with me anytime!”

"Wow, thank you! I'd love to!"

This feels unreal and kind of like being adrift. Are they both just pretending they live across the plaza from each other and can visit whenever they want?

"What are you all doing tomorrow?"

"Oh, the museum! Aren't you coming with us?"

"No, I wasn't invited. I don't want -"

"Then I'm inviting you!"

"I - Okay?"

"I'll find out when we're leaving and let you know." His cheerfulness waned somewhat. "Sorry. Unless you don't want to go; I'm sure you've seen it all more than enough."

"No, no, I really want to! I might have a different perspective on them now." He might. Bakura may be providing that perspective. Malik may mostly be interested in spending more time talking, whether it takes place in a cesspool of tourists on a backdrop of his childhood or not.

"Then I'm looking forward to having you with us again. Sorry I kept you so late."

"You really didn't. It was me too." He grabs his helmet to try to force himself to not stay even later. "Do you know you apologize a lot?"

"I do, don't I?" Bakura smiles, his eyes almost squeezing shut. This is either sincerely a little self mockery or a dodge of some kind, but Bakura's arsenal of smiles is so large that one night has not been enough for Malik to learn them all.

The only right response seems to be laughing, an impulse Bakura seems to share.

Malik gets on his bike with a lingering feeling that he’s been snagged on something.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

“Yes!”

Bakura smiles. It looks sweet, happy, and genuine. Or maybe Malik just hopes it does.

[... ...]

“You didn’t have to come with us.”

“What?” Malik startles when he hears Bakura’s voice so close.

“You just look uncomfortable,” Bakura says.

Malik shakes his head and refocuses on reality. “I’m okay.”

“Good. I’m glad you came.” This isn’t the same smile Bakura used on Jonouchi. “Do you want to go to the next room with me?”

Truthfully, he doesn't particularly want to go into any of the rooms, he just wants to figure out more of Bakura, but the answer is still the same.

“Sure.”

The next room rounds a bit of a corner and a colossal broken head of a pharaoh sits against a center column to welcome them to the next display. Bakura looks as closely as he can at the polished stone, as though he’s being pulled in.

“How do you feel?”

At first, Malik thinks he’s asking the stone, but then there’s a pause and Bakura turns to him, head tilted. “Oh,” Malik says, “you mean me.”

“Of course you.”

“I don’t know, you felt kind of like the type to talk to statues.”

“Were you just going to stand there and let me?”

“What would I have said? We’ve both seen weirder things, right?”

Bakura smiles brightly and nearly laughs. “True.”

The smile is different even from just in the other room. He’s still joking and still cute, just like he was with Jounouchi, but joking about being a guy who talks to rocks seems to make Bakura’s smile more sincere than the manufacture of mummies.

“So?” Bakura prompts.

“Oh, yeah. How I feel.”

“Unless you want to wait for him to answer.” Bakura points at the giant stone face.

“I feel... “

Veneration of a world he was raised to serve covers every surface around him. There’s not a single room that isn’t about it. If he thinks about how much there is and how it’s wrapped around him in every direction, whatever emotion the thoughts conjure tries to compress his lungs. He might as well be buried in it.

He lets out a long breath to make sure he's still able to.

“I feel a little overwhelmed, I think.”

#angstshipping #fanfic #yugioh #ryou bakura #malik ishtar #you need to understand there is 17K of this

66 notes · View notes

hergan416 · 3 years

Text

Katakuri Challenge

Continuation after this post in my Seek and Ye Shall Find universe. Written for @straycrayoncrypt's Katakuri-day challenge in the MF discord server.

The main fic is rated M, but this segment is rated T.

Some notes not apparent in this text: time in Domino and time in One Piece's world do not travel at the same rate. It has been much less time for Katakuri by the time this happens, than it has been for Yugi and Ryou.

Featuring questioning Katakuri, and a bit of light pain re: Kata's relationship with the Big Mom Pirates (as seen from an outside perspective.)

Read more under the cut:

Life in Domino had mostly returned to normal since Katakuri’s sudden disappearance. It had only lasted a few days, but the city was shaken by the upstir. Pegasus was amused, Yugi was curious, Kaiba furious. Yugi chose to put the mirror Katakuri had left behind on his desk in his room for safekeeping

Jounouchi was understandably hostile towards the man, considering the damage that had been done to Seto, and the fact that he had to defeat the man himself. He refused to go in Yugi’s room with the mirror, knowing that was how Katakuri seemed to appear. Yugi didn’t necessarily blame him, even as he tried to reason with Jou that his room was too small, and Katakuri appearing through it was highly unlikely.

“He went back through it though,” Jou would say. “What if he’s spying on you?”

“You sound like Seto,” Yugi replied.

“Sometimes, Seto is right,” Jou defended, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jou wasn’t wrong per se. Yugi had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind after the whole incident that just because it was over didn’t mean it was resolved. Yugi felt like keeping the mirror around was the key to everything, so he kept it, whatever Jou felt.

Ryou seemed even more curious about Katakuri than Yugi, almost as though Katakuri was finally proof that others could see that the supernatural existed. Ryou was excited about the encounter with the oversized man, and on more than one occasion offered to take the mirror off Yugi’s hands. Yugi had declined, if only because Katakuri had handed the mirror to him. As illogical as it was, he felt that he had been handed the mirror for a reason, much like he had been given the millennium puzzle, although he did not voice those feelings to Ryou. (Ryou’s experience with the millennium items had, of course, been much different than Yugi’s.)

Instead, Yugi regularly asked Ryou to visit the mirror in Yuig’s room. It wasn’t as though having his partner over was out of the ordinary, but their activities over the past few months had begun to include a routine of performing various rituals and experiments on the mirror. Sometimes Ryou would experiment alone while Yugi watched, sometimes they’d try something together. Regardless of who was in charge, however, it seemed that all of their experiments had been a bust.

This was certainly true of their most recent one, involving lighting copious amounts of incense, and chanting various chants that Ryou explained were meant to be summoning spells.

“It doesn’t seem responsive to us,” Ryou said at the end of all of it. “We can’t summon anything. I thought I saw the shade of an old lady walk past the mirror, but I must have been mistaken. She didn’t seem anything like Katakuri, and you never saw her.”

Yugi nodded along, furrowing his brow, his mind wandering to ponder whether he’d ever find out how Katakuri’s mother had liked the sweets they had picked out.

By the time Black Friday rolled around, Yugi had forgotten the mirror’s existence entirely. Ryou was out of experiments, and work had picked up, leaving little time to deal with the mirror anyway. He plodded up the stairs to his room, exhausted from a long day at work. The game they were beta-ing was not his own design, and there were a number of balancing issues before the game would be ready for release. Unfortunately, the small company he worked for seemed keen on releasing the game “in time for Christmas,” so it was all hands on deck and mandatory overtime until then.

He paced to his closet, intent on changing out of the stuffy suit that he had worn to the office, walking past his desk as he trekked towards comfort. A tapping noise from the area to his right stopped him.

Tap tap, tah-tap tap, TAP TAP!

He turned towards the desk, concerned, eyes widening when he saw Katakuri’s head and one of his arms sticking through the mirror, gaze trained on Yugi. His hand tapped the pattern out on the pile of binders full of Yugi’s work notes that now covered the desk’s surface and nearly obscured the mirror.

“Hello,” Yugi greeted nervously, moderately concerned that Jounouchi had been right.

“Hello,” Katakuri returned politely.

Yugi softened his startled expression upon hearing Katakuri’s tone. “What can I do for you?” he asked, approaching the mirror quietly. “Do you need me to put you outside?”

“Not yet,” Katakuri replied, his eyes looking thoughtful to Yugi. “I wanted to ask you some questions.”

Yugi nodded carefully. “Sure thing! We can talk!”

“Your friend, Ryou,” Katakuri asked carefully, eyebrows furrowing uncharacteristically. “What makes them a them?”

Yugi blinked. That had not been the turn of conversation that he had been expecting.

“Ryou is just a them,” Yugi explained, a bit defensively. “They are non-binary, so they don’t identify with either gender.”

Katakuri nodded, his eyes betraying that he was having a hard time processing the information. “Do you need... any specific parts to be a them? I’m supposed to be a he according to my family but…”

Yugi smiled widely, suddenly realizing why Katakuri was asking. “You don’t need to be born any specific way to be a them, no,” he explained. “Would you want to talk to Ryou about this? They might be able to give you better information.”

Katakuri seemed to swallow, the scarf around their neck moving up and down. “I … don’t know. I don’t have a lot of time to keep talking about it.”

Yugi nodded in response. “Well, you can be a they over here, if that helps, even if you can’t wherever you are right now,” he suggested, and Katakuri’s eyes widened. “Or a she,” Yugi continued. “Experiment here, and figure it out, see what makes you happiest.”

Katakuri nodded, looking thoughtful. “Do ‘theys’ still have to be big brothers?” he asked, voice quiet.

Yugi picked up on a lot of pain in that statement, and he wondered exactly what kind of world Katakuri came from, to elicit such a response. “Your gender doesn’t make you have to be anything. You’re a big sibling if you choose to take care of your family,” Yugi replied, trying to be helpful. “But you don’t have to be called a brother if you don’t want to. I bet your siblings will understand.”

Katakuri’s eyes looked pained, like he wanted to believe Yugi, but couldn’t.

“Did your mom like the candy?” Yugi asked, trying to change the subject, thinking the conversation would be more light hearted.

Worry crossed Katakuri’s face instead, plain as day. Then he nodded. “Yes, she liked it a lot.” His eyes looked like they were trying to smile, but it was forced, and Yugi wondered once more about the man’s strange situation.

“That’s good to hear,” Yugi replied uncertainly. Maybe it was better to stick to the topic Katakuri had breached. “If you have more time later, maybe I can work out a time for Ryou to talk to you?”

Katakuri nodded, but the action was distracted, like he was listening to something else. “Sure. But I have to go now. Could you do me a favor, and get some more of those dragon-shaped cookies? Maybe… five dozen? Bring them to the mirror as quickly as possible, it’s a bit of an emergency.”

Yugi nodded, eyes clouding with confusion, but willing to help anyway. What would make cookies an emergency?

“Sure! Should I charge Pegasus for these ones too?” he teased, hoping to get more information about where he was supposed to get the money for the cookies. But, Katakuri’s head had already started to slip back into the mirror, and disappeared by the time he was done with the phrase.

Yugi exhaled, confused, slumping against the desk chair. If this mirror had come to him for a reason, he sure hoped he’d find it out quick.

#seek and ye shall find #my writing #op #ygo #katakuri #yugi #ryou #jounouchi #mentions:#seto kaiba #pegasus #questioning gender #nonbinary #crossover

1 note · View note

pastthevaulteddoors · 4 years

Text

Yugioh/Stardew Valley euroshipping drabble. I don’t think I’ll actually finish/edit this but wanted to at least share the idea.

Everyone was always excited to meet the new neighbors in Pelican Town. Elliott was still getting curious glances and he’d been living in his shack on the beach for over a year now. Ryou could still remember when he first arrived; Abigail had taken a keen interest in his work in the mines, and Penny instantly offered up her spot in the library for his studies.

It was like a small town welcome wagon and all the singles in town needed to have a peek at the new guy. Although, that was over five years ago and Ryou remained rooted in the single territory. He was far more interested in the dig sites in the mountainside than spending time gossiping with Pam and Gus at the tavern every Friday.

Professor Ryou Bakura liked his isolation at the dig site and only came to town once a month to resupply his cabin and maybe collect his latest intern. The old human burial grounds kept most of the villagers at bay, and gave Ryou a lot to do all on his own.

Heading to Pierre’s Store was a bit of a chore, and Ryou was always polite if distant to the locals. The interns never lasted long, so lugging all his supplies for the month wasn’t the most pleasant thing to look forward to. The town was so small all the roads were beaten down dirt paths that hardly no one owned a car and relied on the bus to swing through every few days.

“Welcome to Pierre’s!” said Pierre as Ryou came into the shop. Ryou smiled and waved politely before turning right to start loading up with essentials; canned vegetables and spam. Eh, who ever said the life of a archaeologist was glamorous?

“Did you hear about the new farmer in town?” Caroline asked casually as she stocked a shelf nearby. “He came in last month just after your last supply run.”

“I haven’t heard,” Ryou said, again with his sweet politeness that hadn’t waned over the years in the dirt and isolation. “I hope they make good use of the fertile soil.”

“Oh, the new guy?” Leah’s voice came from the isle over and she peaked her head around the corner. Her basket was full of fresh veggies and a goat cheese. “Ha! You should have seen him and Elliott go at it last time we went to visit,” the red head grinned wickedly. “It was an epic pissing match; I couldn’t tell if they were going to kiss each other or punch each other.”

Ryou smiled to himself. It took him awhile to get past the arrogant flare of Elliott’s vocabulary, unlike Leah, who was far easier to chat with if she weren’t zoned in on her latest art piece.

“Leah! That’s not a very polite thing to say,” Caroline chide the artist. Leah in turn shrugged and walked with Ryou to the check out counter.

“Going to stay down in the valley tonight and meet him?” Leah asked, setting her basket of leafy greens next to Ryou’s pathetic display of canned and preserved foodstuffs. “He likes to huff at the tavern on the weekends.”

“I really should get back to my work...” Ryou tried to decline politely.

“You can always stay in our spare room if you want to hang out at the bar tonight,” Pierre got into the conversation as he rang him up. “Instead of heading up the mountainside in the dead of night. I know Abby would happy to catch up and see what you’ve excavated recently.”

Ryou waved his hands, trying to decline yet again. It felt like high school all over again, except instead of fawning girls it was parents and friends trying to hook him up with someone. “I’d really rather get back to my-”

Just then the door opened, filling the otherwise dull shop with a cheerful jingle of a bell. Ryou turned quickly, hoping that whomever entered could be his escape to get them to lay off when he suddenly felt like he was punched in the stomach and all the air whooshed out of his lungs.

It had been over ten years since they saw each other in person, and otherwise Ryou had only caught clippings of articles about Duel Monsters and KC’s expanding empire. And yet...

And yet the Seto Kaiba he knew then was nothing that he saw now. Standing in the dusty doorway, yellow light holding up a halo of unkempt brown hair. His eyes weren’t easy to forget; hard and blue and guarded, but his pristine aura of steely white suits and perfection built from hard work and tragedy was gone. Kaiba was, well, absolutely filthy!

The holes in his jeans weren’t designer made, and his tshirt had pit stains. Kaiba had certainly remained as strong as before, as Ryou eyed his bare arms and the deep curves of his muscles and veins, and yet he had filled out. He wasn’t as thin as when he was at seventeen, screaming at Yugi across an arena.

As Seto approached, looking off to the side at a line of seeds for sale, Ryou noticed the mud stuck under his fingernails, the smudge of dirt across the bridge of his nose, and the pink of a too much late spring sun on his cheeks. Ryou felt suddenly very self-conscious of his own appearance, which was a very odd thing to feel. He reached up and grabbed at the split ends of his hair--it was growing past his ears again and he couldn’t remember the last time he had it cut--and wondered if the trek down the mountainside left him smelling of BO.

Because, despite how absolutely filthy Kaiba appeared, he was ten times more handsome that Ryou remembered. The rugged farmer look cloaked him in a masculinity that sent a pleasant shiver down Ryou’s spine.

“Perfect timing!” Caroline’s voice sounded far away.

“We were just talking about you,” Leah chimed in, smiling wide at Ryou for some reason. “We’re trying to convince the Professor here to stick around tonight for a drink to meet the new farmer boy.”

Kaiba finally turned his attention to the townsfolk with a look of vague familiarity, until those stunning blue eyes landed on Ryou. He froze, and Ryou was sure that was a flash of panic before he schooled his expression. Then, he grunt in greeting.

“Don’t be a grump,” Pierre leaned on the counter, beaming happily at Seto like he were an old friend. It was bizarre seeing the Great Seto Kaiba, Prodigy and CEO of the one of biggest companies in the world being addressed so casually. Even Yugi couldn’t coax a casual conversation out of him. “Seto, meet Professor Ryou Bakura, he’s the one living up by the mines working at the excavation site I told you about.”

“Professor?” Kaiba said, his guard still up with a muttered question.

“Mmhm, and Professor, this is Seto Isono, the new farmer,” Leah chimed in, something excited buzzing in her voice.

Isono?

Kaiba said nothing but stared openly at Ryou. It was almost a pleading look behind all the hard exterior, until Ryou realized it was actually a warning. There was no negotiations here about playing along with the false name.

“Right,” Ryou finally said, slowly with a little nod. “Seto Isono.”

Silence fell that could only be called awkward. Ryou wasn’t sure how to move forward, he hadn’t a clue what Kaiba... Isono was playing at and remained quiet to let the other take the lead. If anything, at least Ryou understood the need for privacy.

“You two, ah, know each other?” Caroline piped up, breaking the silence that lingered. She looked between the two with a curious gaze.

Still Seto remained quiet, his glare set in stone, so Ryou began speaking slowly... carefully. “We, ah, went to high school together,” he said. “Isono and I were in the same class.”

Seto seemed to appreciate that answer and grunt in agreement.

“What a small world we live in,” Pierre said.

“That’s perfect then!” Leah piped up, slapping a hand on Ryou’s shoulder, jostling him out of the staring contest. “Then you have to stay the night to catch up.” A grin turned to Seto then. “I’ll tell Elliott to come by the tavern. I’m sure he’ll want to hear all your high school hi-jink!”

A withering look was turned her way, the first non-Kaiba expression Ryou had seen him make.

“I’ll have Abby make up the spare room,” Caroline said as she trot away to find her daughter.

Ryou felt himself deflate. Great, he had no idea what Seto ISONO’s deal was, and what they could possibly ‘catch up’ on? Aside a few death-defying duels and that one time he was trapped from the Plana, he wasn’t sure that Seto even knew who he was.

#euroshipping #seto kaiba #ryou bakura #yugioh

15 notes · View notes

terriblesportsimagines · 5 years

Note

Hello there! If you have time, I’d really like a scenario with Ryousuke (DnA), Akashi (KnB) and Makoto (Free!) and their s/o participating (probably as the class event) in a maid cafe. How do you think they’d react if they were hit on? Thank you in advance and make sure to take care of yourself! I positively adore your writing! :)

Thank you doll!

Kominato Ryousuke

It was to be expected that you would draw attention. He’d known from the moment you told him thatyour class had decided on a maid café. You were, of course, gorgeous, and in costume? How was anyone supposed to survive looking atyou?

That didn’t mean he liked it, or liked watching others leerat you. The dress you were wearing putyour legs fully on display, and the stockings that encased your legs tomid-thigh made everything worse. Still,he staked out a table and refused to leave. He knew you would feel better with him there, and his presence mightkeep the worst offenders at bay.

You looked edible though, and it made it difficult toconcentrate on anything. All sorts offantasies played through his mind as he sat there, forcing the cake and teayou’d brought down his throat, even though he didn’t like sweets as a generalrule. He wondered if you would bewilling to humor him later…

His presence was enough to discourage those that would hiton you, especially when he sent them his sharpest smile. When one or two of them got a little too bold, ignoring his threat, he slidinto the space behind you and took you by the waist. “You’re needed over here, little one,” hesaid, pulling you away from the leering group.

“Ryou!” You hissed as he dragged you away. “I’m trying to work!”

“You will be working,” Ryou replied mildly. “You’ll be serving me, and isn’t that even more important?”

You sighed. “You arethe worst, it doesn’t mean anything!”

“Of course it doesn’t,” and it didn’t, he knew that. Still, “It’s not in my nature to relinquishso easily. Besides, I’m a payingcustomer, shouldn’t I get the same attention?”

“Or all my attention,” you muttered, reaching his table.

“What was that?”

Slapping a bright smile on your face, “Nothing, mylord. How may I serve you today?”

Ryousuke smirked. Hedid like it when you sparked at him.

Akashi Seijuro

Crimson eyes tracked your deliciously clad form as youscurried around the makeshift maid café. The dress did wonders for you, but he liked the black ribbon around yourthroat the most. It conjured other images that had his bloodstirring.

One thing was clear, however. He was going to have to do something aboutthe fawning. He wasn’t the only one thatnoticed how lovely you looked in your costume, and the fantasy setting made thepatrons of the café bold in their attention. He wasn’t about to watch you slap a hand away yet again.

Luckily, this problem was easily solved.

“____, you’ve been specially requested.”

You blinked in confusion. Requested? Could people actually do that? “What?”

“He’s paid for you to serve him until closing,” your classrepresentative and nominal manager of the café said dryly. “Absurd, if you ask me, but it means we’llprobably earn the most money of the festival, which makes us look goodright? Off you go.”

You didn’t need to turn to find out who had done such aridiculous thing. Truly, there was onlyone person with enough money, power, and an vested interest to make you hissole maid. “Sei-chan,” you grumbled,trudging over to the table he’d decided was his. “This was unnecessary.”

Your boyfriend only smiled his worst smile and tilted hishead. “Oh? Do you call all your guests so familiarly?”

So it was like that, was it? There was no getting out of it. Once he got an idea in his mind, he was stubborn – or, as he used tosay, he was absolute. “My apologies, master. How may I serve you today?”

His eyes widened with excitement and something dark and notappropriate at all moved throughthem. “Now that is a proper greeting.”

Tachibana Makoto

“Oh, look, there’s ____-chan!”

Makoto looked up from the ground he was studying at Nagisa’scall. When his eyes landed on you, hiswhole being seized. You were so… He hadto bite his lip to keep his reaction inside. It was very hard. You lookedwonderful and it made him want to run his hands over you. But this was not the place for that, and youhad a job to do. He didn’t want tointerrupt…

Unfortunately, Nagisa would not be gainsaid and dragged theall three of them into the café to find an empty table. They had to wait awhile for you to come totheir table, and when you did you were all smiles. “Good afternoon, masters! What can I get for you today?”

“____-chan looks super cute!” Nagisa greeted with a grin,“Ne, Mako-chan?”

You did, but he didn’t want to embarrass you too much, so hejust nodded and sent you a gentle smile.

You still blushed, but looked happy, so he didn’t mind. “I want mackerel,” Haru said, blinkingslowly, not even looking at the small menu on the table.

“I’m sorry, master, we have only cake, cookies coffee andtea on the menu. Can I get you any ofthose things?”

Haru nearly pouted, but agreed to eat cake with the rest ofthem. You bowed politely and scurriedaway. “Ne, Mako-chan, doesn’t it botheryou, that all these other people are hitting on ____-chan?”

Makoto wasn’t sure what he meant at first. Then he looked around and realized that youwere dodging your fair share of amorous intent. He felt bad for you, because he knew you didn’t like the attention, butalso knew that it was inevitable. “No, Itrust ____.”

Nagisa laughed. “Mako-chan is a good boyfriend~”

Well, he tried to be.

#daiya no ace #kuroko no basket #free!#kominato ryousuke #akashi seijuro #tachibana makoto #scenarios

108 notes · View notes

zukadiary · 5 years

Text

Hoshigumi Small Theaters ~ Spring 2019

I am five entire shows behind on reviews and I hate it!!

But I finally make it to Kansai!! I conveniently managed to see these guys on back to back days upstairs and downstairs in the same building. If nothing else I think I am 500% more educated on Hoshigumi after this trip.

Man from Algiers / Estrellas 2.0

Man from Algiers ticks all the National Tour buttons—old, done many times, ambiguous time period (useful for traveling costume recycling, i.e. why not just use the rainbow sports jackets we need for Estrellas anyway!)—and while I’m not surprised that Coto can make just about anything good, I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed the show itself (this was the first time I’d seen it at all, which was a blessing as the surprise ending was my favorite part).

I can definitely envision it in all its original 70s glory, and it made me wonder if they really just wanted to exploit a West Side Story aesthetic’s swoon-inducing abilities and came up with the plot later; the opening looks and choreography were awfully familiar. Am I saying it didn’t work?

No I am not saying that.

(And the resulting prologue number was really cool).

The story, while dated, was simple and easy to follow, and does a great job of making sure you understand each character’s motivation with minimal info (difficult AND clutch for one-acts). There’s a good summary on the wiki, I’m including spoilers not mentioned there.

Team National Tour is definitely the lighter side of the troupe split, especially with regard to upperclassmen, but I thought Algiers was a good fit for this particular arrangement of members, and everyone really nailed their characters. Most notable:

Julien is a despicable person, and it’s a testament to Coto’s pure heart and brimming talent that she made him a totally valid protagonist, complete with moments that made my heart lurch a little (when his old friends are bullying him in his cute little chauffeur outfit; how quickly he abandons everything to stand by Sabine when everything goes to hell at the end).

It was very weird first not to see Aichan in Ocean’s and then to see her hanging out with a percentage of Hoshigumi, but this cast needed her. Her Jacques (albeit very reminiscent of her Bernardo) was a good balance for Coto; they both played unsavory people, but Aichan playing bad has kind of a darker streak that suits the more evil friend well, whereas Coto playing bad still has an undercurrent of goodness that gets you fully on board with his journey to reform.

Otoha Minori as Sabine was a good choice not only for her abs in the gold night club bikini dress, but for her maturity, which lended sincerity to Sabine’s fantasy-level selflessness in her concern for Julien and her desire to watch over him. When she shoots Jacques in her dressing room to get him out of the way so he can’t interfere with Julien’s new life, I was so impressed that it read as an act of sacrifice (however excessive and stupid) purely out of love and desire to see Julien continue to grow and succeed, instead of “look at what I did for you, come back to me!”

Asamizu Ryou played Bollinger, the dude who takes Julien in and grooms him for upper-crust success, opposite not just Coto (her senpai) but Shirotae Natsu (her mega-senpai), and she did it with a surprising amount of gravitas. She’s got that face which definitely helps, but she was a little scary and exuded a lot of authority. Shirotae Natsu was hilarious as the extraordinarily airheaded wife, and her interjections may have even been singlehandedly responsible for keeping the pacing of the show brisk and entertaining.

Sakuraba Mai played the Bollingers’ daughter Elizabeth. She was detestable, but in the way that indicates a great acting job. She’s at that awkward spot where it looks like she’s getting almost heroine weight roles in small theaters and disappearing in grand theaters. I hope they keep pushing her because she’s very strong.

Number one heartbreaker Kozakura Honoka (voice of an angel!) played blind Annabel, daughter of Kumichou/a very influential duchess. She mostly stays inside alone, and then Julien woos her with the intention of climbing the social/political ladder (while developing feelings for Elizabeth and also really never getting over Sabine). Annabel overhears Julien confessing his feelings to Elizabeth and asks her attendant Andre (Kiwami Shin, in love with Annabel) to let her kill herself. Honoka apparently put an immense amount of time and research into acting blind and it showed.

Fellow American Sayaka Rin had probably the most lines she’s had yet, in a role formerly held by both Takashio Tomoe and Hyuuga Kaoru <3

My personal MVPs of this show were Shidou Ryuu and Kiwami Shin, Shidou not even for doing anything particularly spectacular, but just just for having grown so much since I first became aware of her existence via the Koumori shinko 3+ years ago. She’s always going to be on the cute side rather than the devastating side IMO, but she’s developed enough confidence and control in her acting that she’s become a really lovable best friend/brother type; her character’s relationship with Julien and secret-but-obvious admiration of his far superior coolness was really adorable. Andre (Shin) isn’t a super juicy role until the very end, but the way Shin did Andre’s quiet breakdown when Annabel was explaining she didn’t want to live anymore, and then her poise when Andre came out of nowhere and shot Julien just as he and Sabine were trying to run away from shooting Jacques (?!??!) was like, my jaw actually dropped. Granted she’s still super young, but Shin isn’t someone who has thus far impressed me proportionately to the amount they’re pushing her, so this mini breakout was nice to see.

Estrellas (a revue that I loved!), like all tour revues with less than half the cast and no staircase, felt quite small, at least from the B-seki side box. But in the smallness, normally unseen people get to shine, and there were moments that had me bouncing in my chair. Amato Kanon is going to grow up dangerous (if Tennis Daughter doesn’t just consume all the otokoyaku below 98th); in the opening with everyone else beaming she was smoldering. Aichan and Anru took Kai’s medley (with different songs) and made it a very cute douki thing. Sazanami Reira needs to dance closer to the front more often. Ruri Hanaka (who, bless her heart, cannot sing, at least not like a musumeyaku) somehow snagged Airi’s part in Tonight is What it Means to be Young, and despite the singing, absolutely killed it; that girl can DANCE and she’s got sass and arm muscles for days and a look in her eye like she’ll superglue you to your makeup table if you cross her.

And boy, Coto looks good in that top position. The talent is really stupid, but on top of that she has such warmth. I’m really excited for her Hoshigumi.

Kamatari

Kamatari accomplished a feat, because admittedly I went in having already biased myself against it; I thought Beni and Airi getting a weird nihonmono for their last small theater was dumb and just about as NOT THEM as you can get.

But I take it back! It was lovely!

For starters it was visually stunning, which feels like the thing you say when you’re trying to convince yourself that you liked a nihonmono you didn’t actually understand a word of... but in this case, it really was just a bonus. The story (summary here) is not actually all that complicated, and the dialogue was even on the friendly side for nihonmono—no weird dialects (beyond what it always takes to decipher Beni), no 12th level keigo.

Act 1 introduces Kamatari (Beni) and Soga no Iruka (Hanagata Hikaru) meeting as youths in school and developing a friendship, and then takes us, as far as I can tell, fairly historically accurately through the events leading up to and including the Isshi Incident. Act 2 was a little harder for me to follow; but it seems to be just a progression of Kamatari’s struggles living under the new post-incident emperor Naka no Oe (Seocchi), with whom he’d conspired to eliminate Soga no Iruka, and the former empress/Naka no Oe’s mother (Kuracchi), who wants to see Kamatari suffer, because she both loved Iruka and couldn’t side against her son.

Most of the roles were pretty small so there are fewer standouts, but here they are:

This was the third in a progression of Hoshi shows I saw live (the other two being Another World and Elbe) that really helped cement my respect for Beni and Airi’s brand of chemistry. At the beginning of her top run, I was skeptical about Beni’s ability to generate romantic chemistry with anyone at all (Scarlet Pimpernel didn’t really help me with that, and I haven’t seen anything between that and Another World). They definitely don’t have sizzling hot chemistry, and they don’t have that cute newlywed chemistry either, but I noticed watching Kamatari that in the last few Hoshi things I’ve seen, I’ve found it very easy to believe how deeply Beni loves Airi in whatever world they’re portraying. They have like, comfortable old married couple chemistry (yes, even when they’re playing love at first sight). Their moments in Kamatari were very tender, but in a wholesome “aw, she cooked for him” kind of way. Yoshiko (Airi) also had a lovely part at the end, where the two of them are old, and Kamatari’s health is failing, and they go back to the spot where they met, and she says their life wasn’t always easy, and they suffered, and they struggled, but in the end she can honestly say she had fun, and she’s truly happy. I teared up! It was sweet and meta! That alone convinced me it wasn’t a bad last small theater for them.

Hanagata Hikaru was SO much the star of Act 1 that it had me wondering if this was gonna turn out to be HER taidan present (but then she died and didn’t appear in Act 2 at all). I can’t complain because she kicked ass. I feel like I said this exact thing re: Another World, but Mitsuru is normally about as vanilla as it gets for me, but she blew me away. The pompous genius school kid to the idealistic young man to the uncertainty that comes with the reality of seizing power to the change to tyranny mixed with love for the empress and complicated feelings for his childhood friend all flowed seamlessly.

Not that I’ve watched a ton of Hoshi recently, but this was the best role Tenju Mitsuki has gotten in GOD I can’t even remember how long. Esaka is in service of the (state? empire?) as a historical record keeper, and serves kind of as a narrator as well (along with Itsuki Chihiro). I don’t even know how to describe how she characterized him... he’s odd? Maybe a little off? Regardless, she was brilliant. Watch it.

Arisa Hitomi has that empress energy for sure. I read up on the history of the events afterwards, and the explanation of why she had to give up the throne after witnessing such violence (the idea back then that an empress couldn’t be sullied by such things), and that made the sensitivity with which Kuracchi portrayed her feel even more poignant the more I sat with it afterwards.

This was the first show where to me Seocchi felt like she belonged up there with Beni and Mitsuru. She definitely put some weight behind Naka no Oe and was very princely. NOW I wanna see her tackle a more interesting/challenging (and tbh more Hoshigumi) role from up in this spot.

All in all now I’m a little sad I won’t be around for God of Stars.

#takarazuka #reviews #hoshigumi #man from algiers #kamatari #am i 東宝組 now 19

31 notes · View notes

thiefcat-niao · 5 years

Text

Snowflake Cookies

A very late Secret Santa gift @yugiohsecretsantaevent for @setokaibaisgxtra!! I’m so sorry this took so long, and I do hope you enjoy it!! (Ryou is a fave of mine, too, and we can always do with more friendship fics. <3)

Ships/Characters: Ryou-centric, plus Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Atem (brief puzzleshipping in the background) Rating: G Length: 1100 words

Life felt strangely lonely without the Spirit—Ryou had grown used to that. When the holidays rolled around, he went through the motions, putting up garland and stringing lights around the little artificial tree in the corner of his apartment. He whistled holiday songs to himself whenever they got stuck in his head.

Christmas itself was a quiet day. He had no plans, and that didn’t worry him; he hadn’t expected to. He enjoyed the peace, besides, and figured the solitude was better than having to worry about what mischief the Spirit might try to get up to. He still went through the trouble of getting out of bed. There was a chill in the air, and Ryou bundled up in his softest robe. By the time the afternoon rolled around, he had decided to make cookies, and had just put the first tray into the oven when his phone rang. He was surprised to see Yugi’s name and cheerful picture on the screen, but a pale flicker of happiness appeared in his chest.

“Ryou!” came Yugi's cheerful greeting. Ryou could hear voices in the background. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, Yugi,” Ryou replied, warmed that his friend had cared enough to call. He balanced the phone on his shoulder, readying the next tray of snowflake-shaped sugar cookies. “How’s your holiday been so far?”

“It’s been really good! Listen, most of us have finished up with our families by now, so we’re all getting together at Tristan’s apartment! Can you come? I don’t know if you have anything planned...”

Ryou’s hands froze above the baking tray; hovered there. He wondered if he should lie, or if he should politely decline without giving a reason. He couldn’t imagine saying yes.

“What’d he say, Yuge?!” came Joey’s indistinct voice. “Is he coming?!”

“I don’t—“ Yugi began, then squeaked, and there was a frantic scuffle on the other end of the line. "H-Hey!"

Joey’s voice was clear when he spoke again. “Ryou! Man, you got plans? ‘Cause we’d love to have you, if you’re free!”

Ryou's heart beat faster, and he wondered why the back of his throat had begun, suddenly, to ache. Before he realized it, he heard himself say, “I’ll bring... cookies.”

... ... ...

When Ryou appeared at Tristan’s door, he was greeted first by the over-excited Blankey, who was quickly corralled by his owner and shooed back into the house. Then Téa and Joey appeared to usher in Ryou, who was clutching a plastic-wrapped plate of cookies like a security blanket.

“Ryou!” Yugi sprang up off the couch where he sat with Atem; Atem rose and waved a far calmer greeting. Ryou set the cookies down hurriedly as Yugi moved in for a hug. It was a tighter embrace than Ryou had expected, and Yugi was warm. “Merry Christmas! I’m so glad you could come!”

“Man, these cookies look fantastic!” Joey exclaimed.

“I was just going to make cocoa!” Téa exclaimed. “They’ll go great! Do you like marshmallows in yours, Ryou?”

Ryou nodded, bewildered, then looked around. The atmosphere was relaxed, casual, but he didn’t know what he should say; if he should sit, or stay standing; how he should properly thank his friends for inviting him, or if trying to thank them at all would be odd.

No one seemed to notice his uncertainty. Yugi, though he’d pulled back from the hug, kept a gentle hold on Ryou’s hands, pulling him towards the couch. “We were just about to put on a movie. Have you got a favorite holiday movie?”

All that came to Ryou’s mind were slasher movies. He thought that might not be exactly what his friends had in mind, so he just shook his head. While Joey and Tristan argued about the selection, Téa returned with a tray of mugs and Yugi got Ryou situated next to him on the couch.

“Are you cold?” Atem leaned over Yugi to offer one end of a plush, holly-pattered throw blanket. Ryou wasn’t, particularly, but the blanket was too snugly to turn down. Téa made the rounds with hot chocolate.

“Dude, you made these?!” Joey had unwrapped the plate of cookies, by then, and asked the question with crumbs falling from his mouth. "They're amazing!"

“I-It wasn’t...” Ryou began, then changed his mind; took a breath, and said, "Thank you! They took a lot of work. I'm glad you like them!"

The cocoa was warm and rich; Ryou hummed as he sipped at it. The marshmallows were delightfully melted, sweet goo that clung to his upper lip. Eventually a decision was reached—Téa put on Anna and the Apocalypse, then turned the lights off. Beneath the movie's dialogue and musical numbers, there was only the crunch of cookies and occasional whispers of conversation.

Though Yugi spent the first half of the movie on Atem's lap, eventually he slipped off and pressed himself against Ryou's side. All three of them were still snuggled beneath the throw blanket. "I'm glad you came over today," Yugi murmured, and Ryou made a curious sound. "You've been sort of distant, lately."

"Distant...?" Ryou echoed vaguely. "I didn't... notice."

"You're our friend, Ryou," Yugi said, taking Ryou's hand. "We all miss seeing you so often, now."

Ryou nearly laughed. "You only saw me so often because..." He trailed off, reluctant to mention the Spirit. He still felt responsible for not being able to control it, time and time again, although everyone had made it through alive. He had kept the Ring despite the danger it placed his friends in every day. There was an edge of guilt, too, that Atem had been able to linger in the modern world with the help of his friends, yet Ryou had been unable to offer the Spirit similar salvation.

"We saw you so often because you're our precious friend," Yugi murmured, squeezing Ryou's hand. The cast of the movie broke into an upbeat musical number. "No other reason. And that's why we'd like to keep seeing you, as often as possible."

Ryou was glad of the darkened room; he wasn't quite sure what kind of expression his face was making. Emotion made it hard to speak, but he managed a calm, "If... you guys want... I suppose..."

It was more than the blanket and the cocoa that warmed Ryou; Yugi kept hold of his hand for the rest of the movie, and Ryou was grateful for the casual touch. When Joey and Tristan started to scuffle over a cookie—bumping into the TV stand and setting it to a dangerous rocking, which made Téa spring up to intercede—Ryou found himself laughing honestly. There was still a slight flavoring of sadness to it, but Ryou imagined, for the first time, that that might one day disappear. He swore, then, not to surrender the friends he'd fought so hard to keep. Like Atem, he would carry on living in the present—it was a fine life, after all, and he had the best friends this side of the afterlife.

#yugiohsecretsantaevent #ryou #ryou bakura #friendship fic! <3 #niao writes things #ygo #yu gi oh #yugi

16 notes · View notes

cannibalmariku · 5 years

Text

Untitled. ( ‘Deathshipping’ )

What a lovely sight...

Crimson droplets dotting a concrete floor and along the edge of a frozen ‘work’ table. Beads sinking into the wood over already caked and worn stains of burgundy. There were so many, the tables original surface color hardly visible anymore beneath them all through years of heavy use and splintering.

Lilac eyes trailing along upwards to his most recent object of affection.

A sacrifice, but it always was, for the better. Well, the better for himself. Such a noble and generous end, to be able to die and sustain a walking work of art. They were never forgotten. This one was a bit different, however... Slightly yellowed page already prepared and opened in his book that sat near the bottom of the work table. A fresh Polaroid centered but not yet attached. Little scrawling of notes and a trimmed lock of white tapped to the page with care.

The image of a terrified and wide eyed boy who’s reflection laid before him, motionless and silent. He looked so lively in the captured memory, chained to the wall and bare. Perhaps mere moments before his life’s end. Contrast more evident from his current state of pre-rigor mortis. The sheer terror and panic drained away from his pale skin to leave a lovely little husk.

They always looked so gorgeous like this, but especially him. A breath of beauty in life, it would only make sense that he was just as stunning in death. Soft white tresses flowing around his head like a mangled halo and stained with his own blood. Once warm brown eyes now dull and unfocused, dark circles becoming more noticeable around the under eyes and slightly sunken in features.

It must have been such a relief... Such a welcome blessing through a terrible end. How funny, that some would hope for death, but be banished to a fate worse than Mariku’s torture once they finally felt sweet release. Being lost and thrown into the jaws of a monstrous demon with unforgiving cruelty to dwarf the cannibal’s own. Something that he found especially amusing... Considering the one that lay on the table. He had adored such morbid and dark things... He wondered if he was so keen to it now where he was. Or perhaps, he was regretting all those years of fumbling through occult literature and dipping his toes into such forbidden texts and rituals.

Black clawed digits laid themselves over the deceased cheek and gently stroked it, almost lovingly. Tilting his head a bit to take him in further, like an artist admiring their masterpiece. Fingertips moving south, tracing along his jugular where deep purple bruises adorned flesh and past his collar bone. They came to a halt just above an enormous flayed cut down the boys midsection that stopped at the top of his ribs. Skin peeled back and trimmed in places to give easier access to precious organs. Deep red and brown shiny sacks with blood coating the surface of them all. Each one clearly identifiable to his trained eye after so many years and so many difference specimens. It was like looking at a very detailed, exquisite diagram in a doctors office. So healthy... So ripe and perfect. Not a single sign of disease.

Though he was gone, he could feel heat still near the boys core, however it was escaping quickly. Letting his hand hover over his stomach and delicately stroking the organs surface with his middle finger. Entranced and far off look in lilac eyes as he took his hand away to lap at the wet digit. Basking in the moment. One he had anticipated for so long.

He had been a delight, really. At first, He wasn’t sure what he was planning for this one. This, Ryou Bakura... It was such an off chance, he hadn’t expected to see that face again or even recognize it for the brief time he had had to look him over in his other half's mind. However he supposed it made sense, He had fought that little leech clinging onto his body and banished him after all, certainly much stronger than one might assume. He really had thought nothing of him in that time other then a burden that carried an annoying inconvenience to his plan. He had thought nothing at all, until the moment when he saw him again and was sure it was the one from his past...

Something about him was so alluring. Whether it was his face or his silent, careful nature, It peeked his interest and he was so delighted to find... He did not recognize him, or at least for what he truly was. The poor thing assumed him to be Malik. How fortunate for the beast, though the thought alone made him cringe and force a smile when called that name. Of course, Ryou still showed hesitation, Why wouldn’t he for someone that controlled his mind? But like that fool Yugi and his friends, seemed willing to give another shot at being friends... Or at least agreed with an unsure smile when Mariku suggested perhaps they do some catching up. Such a polite boy... Even if he didn’t seem to thrilled initially. Wringing his hands together and chewing on his lower lip. He was certainly smarter than the others for that.

Their little coffee date had went well despite it all, especially when the cannibal had mentioned the odd books the boy Held. Occult philosophy... Ceremonial magic... Necro...nomi....con...? It took a moment to make out the words that were slightly covered by the boys arm. This seemed to perk up his ears and get him talking to the blond more openly, at least somewhat. He seemed... Lonely? Or at least surprised anyone would take interest in his own readings. Mariku was all to familiar with demons, after all.

It took a lot of work.. a lot of acting, a lot of overly thoughtful gestures, A lot of ‘opening up’ and feigned reformed behavior. Inviting the other to visit him or texting him. Overtime, the wall he had put up seemed to be coming down brick by brick though not entirely... Just enough for the beast to plot the proper moment. Months upon months of planning. God, he’d spent so many days just gazing, longing... Entertaining the images internally of what he wanted to do to that poor boy.

He would plan the boy’s demise sitting across from him in the midst of small talk. Imagining him in agonizing or uncomfortable circumstances face to face... Looking into his eyes and smiling as his mind run rampant with uncontrollable urges to maim and tear into this boy with unprejudiced brutality. How he longed to see him cry... Scream... Beg. Even with all of this, there was something inside the man that nagged him. A bit of adoration? No, it was more like... An obsessive need. A need to keep him forever, A need to have him as part of himself. A need to feel him as intimately as possible, hands shoved in his chest cavity and fingers coated in his blood as he ripped out the boys heart. A need to claim this life for himself. He was just begging for it with those soft brown eyes... He knew damn well how tantalizing he was!

.....DId he? It didn’t matter anyway.

That is what he had wanted.... And now, Mariku stood over his prize and a feeling of satisfactory like none he’d ever known flooded him in euphoria. Pleasure beyond any he’d felt for the destruction of a life he was familiar with. It wasn’t a stranger, it was a ‘friend’. Someone he knew and had seen time and time again, alive in normal situations. Smiling, laughing... Hurt from the past and the damage his other half had done. How he would tell Mariku about his readings and his dioramas and what he was planning to make next. How this poor boy actually though he’d found a friend. How perhaps he’d thought he wouldn’t need to be alone in this world anymore. How Mariku had done his best to come off overly enthusiastic about it all for him.

Only there would be no new projects... No more occult books or regrets or the slight flushing of the others cheek when Mariku would brush their hands together, or cast the boy a wink with only slightly suggestive words. He really was so cute... So delicious. Enticing.

Filthy whore...

Disgusting!

Pathetic. Little. Wretch!

Filthy, fucking pig.

But this was how Mariku saw all humans....

He deserved it, every moment of it. Even second his heart pumped frantically and every sensation of pure agony. To feel those strong, clawed hands around his throat and feel the life leaving his body in his dying moments. How the last thing he’d ever see was the face of a mad man, smiling in perverse, malicious glee as he took his final breaths. How this new friend turned out to be his demise after so many years of suffering. So much suffering without a happy ending of any sort, even after the spirit was gone. What a miserable end.

Some souls were meant to suffer.

Mariku thought himself like an angel nearly in that moment... How gracious... How merciful... How delicious. The boy would no longer have to feel remorse or regret, only agony where he was now.

Long tongue tracing his upper lip as he shifted to dig through one of the bins beneath his table, pulling out a small saw. Though is wasn’t very large, the object still held a menacing air around it along with the reddish stains that clung to the blade. He places it against where the boys ribs met in the center at the bottom of his chest. Saw held at an angle so the blade sat against bone rather than straight up and down, carefully beginning to saw at the obstetrical in his way. An unsettling cracking and scraping noise echoed off concrete walls as he worked. He could feel himself drooling, doing his best to contain himself and the heavy pants that left his lips. Feeling obvious stiffness in his lower region from all the excitement.

Muscle sat in the way between bones of his view, but what he desired laid right beneath, he would have it soon. Soon... The boys body being jostled with his movements and the forcefulness of his blade. Being careful not to damage anything under his ribs. He needed it all perfectly in tact.

All at once a sharp, loud SNAP could be heard as he pulled back. His victims ribs flew open as pressure was released with the final cut. The sheer force once holding them together creating the loud sound that met his ears like music. A sound he was all to familiar with. A sound that sent a shiver of delight through his being. All his upper organs on display to him now, glistening in raw beauty before his eyes.

“Gorgeous...” The word left him softly, exasperated and without any real recognition that he had spoken aloud. It was everything he had hoped for in this boy and perhaps one of the finest he had had in a very long time. Fuck he would be so delicious... Every ounce of him. He’d have to carefully plan out each meal just for him. Whatever was in the freezer be damned. Normally he would go in order of dates to keep the cycle going, but he’d make an exception for this one.

Mariku couldn’t help himself, panting shakily as he dropped the saw into one of the bins and a loud clatter followed in its wake. His hands shifting up to cup both sides of the cannibals own face. Staring in admiration at his prize. The mad man practically had hearts in his eyes with brows furrowed. A normal human being would never make such a face at the sight before him, A look like that was reserved for puppies and babies... Not the mutilated corpse of an innocent boy, innards on display from his brutality. A normal person should not have a very intense erection in this situation.

There was a need... One he couldn’t ignore. One that screamed at him in carnal tongues and he leaned over the boys body, a hand on either side of him as he places his tongue against the jagged edge of the boys rib cage. Bone and blood meeting his taste buds as he hummed, dragging his tongue along the edge and nipping at the exposed muscle. He didn’t do this often, even with his strengthened stomach it still wasn't wise to consume raw meat. But how could he deny such a lovely sight?

Lilac eyes shutting as he savored the moment. Biting down between the bones and tearing away a small bit of the flesh with sharp canines. The action was so barbaric and nothing at all like his act he would put on for others. No gentlemen to be seen or elegant stranger. Only an animal in his natural state with blood coating his jaw. A perverse monster who consumed his fellow man and received nothing but the greatest pleasure in doing so. He chewed the piece thoughtfully, indulging in the taste of the others contribution before swallowing it greedily.

A prize well worth the wait.

His precious book was shut with the boys image inside along with the writing and the hair. Set aside to keep it safe from damage that might befall it while he got to work.

“I think, perhaps.... I’ll take off your head first. What do you think Ryou?” He grinned to himself, narrowed eyes looking to the dead boys face as if waiting for an answer. There was none, of course not... Just the empty look of glazed over eyes and lips parted where blood had begun to trickle out from the corners.

“Exactly, so you can watch me work~. And I can see your pretty face a little longer, Just before I take your eyes out... And your tongue... And your teeth.... And...”

He trailed off, already pulling a cleaver off the the wall to sharpen it.

#drabble #gore #death #tw #mutilation #cannibalism #long post #deathshipping #ryou bakura #mariku #yami marik #murder #basement #bakura #yugioh

6 notes · View notes

higuchimon · 5 years

Text

[fanfic] Rebirth of Kaiser: chapter 27

Something isn’t right here. Yuusuke stood beside Ryou, watching as the Hail Cyber army and their allies got sorted out to observe Tesni’s duel. Sunrise wasn’t that far away and Tesni prepared her deck a short distance away, fully decked out in her armor and paying little attention to anything else. She barely even looked up when Shine Angel stepped up, whispering to her. Yuusuke thought he saw a card being passed over, but he had no idea of what it was or why Shine Angel would do that.

He glanced at Ryou, whose own gaze kept dropping to the deck in his hands. While he couldn’t hear the Cybers in there, Yuusuke could still feel their presence. He’d gotten more and more used to being able to do that over the years. He wasn’t sure if it was because of learning to be a shadow mage or what, but it certainly helped.

“This isn’t the end,” Ryou murmured and Yuusuke shifted in surprise. Ryou looked up to meet his eyes. “Even if she defeats Ruin, there’s something else going on. There always has been.”

Yuusuke pressed his lips together, thinking. Ryou wasn’t wrong; that tied into his own feelings about all of this. He wasn’t sure about it all but none of it felt entirely right. He lifted his head.

“Then we deal with things when we know what they are.” What else could they do? Whatever wasn't right wasn’t going to politely ignore them, however this duel turned out.

Ryou very seldom smiled and when he did, it tended to be the sort of smile that terrified people. Yuusuke found it soothing, though. Ryou – Cyber Hell Paladin – would do whatever he needed to do. He always had.

Between one moment and the next the army of the Knights and all of their allies stood there. Ruin stood at the head of them, with another person beside her. This wasn’t someone Yuusuke recognized, but Ryou tensed the moment that his eyes fell on the stranger.

“That’s War God Gaap,” Ryou murmured. “I-I remember him. From somewhere.” He shook his head; even though more of his memories flickered in day by day, not all of them were there yet. Yuusuke could only hope that these weren’t memories that would be needed right now.

Ruin strode forward, Gaap at her heels, and smiled winningly at Tesni. “Such a pleasure to see you.”

“Are you ready to duel?” Tesni snapped her words out, her Duel Disk a breath from activation. Ruin tsked softly.

“You are so impatient. Let me introduce you to someone.” Ruin gestured to Gaap. “War God Gaap. My chief servant, my right hand, and-” She took a visible pleasure in her next words, “the champion of the Knights.”

Tesni froze. Ruin’s smile never wavered. “I didn’t say that you would duel me, my dear. I specified our champions. You could have chosen anyone you liked. Perhaps that young Duel Spirit there.” Her gaze shifted over to Ryou. “Though I must say that there’s someone else who seeks your blood.”

Ryou took a step forward. “Who are you talking about?”

“Now, now, it wouldn’t be a surprise if I just told you. But I’ll offer this: should Tesni win the duel, she’ll be awarded the army of the Knights and all of their strongholds and treasure. You on the other hand, I can give the name of the one who wants to kill you.” Ruin tapped one long finger against her chin. “Unless, of course, you’d care to duel someone for the information?”

Yuusuke kept his attention on Ryou the whole time. He could see the way that Ryou's breath quickened and his eyes brightened at the mere mention of a duel.

He hasn’t dueled in years. He has a new deck that he needs to get to know.

“He won’t.” Yuusuke stated flatly. “But I will. If you insist on trial by champion, then I’ll be his.”

He could see Ryou’s eyes turn to him, lips turned ever so faintly downward. He would explain his reasons later. For now, he wanted to make certain that Ryou fought as the true Hell Kaiser, Cyber Hell Paladin, as himself and he couldn’t do that right now.

Ruin’s laugh was a sound of crafted beauty. “So be it then, shadow mage. Regardless of who wins this duel, you will duel someone of my choosing who is also in my service. Victory in that duel will win you the information of who seeks to kill Cyber Hell Paladin. Are we agreed?”

“Yes.” Yuusuke nodded, taking a step back as Tesni moved forward. “Good luck, Captain Tesni.”

Tesni acknowledged it with a nod, turning her gaze onto War God Gaap. Gaap stood there, broad wings spread out, every inch of him crafted of bone and sinew and a mocking glare of evil. With a gesture his Duel Disk appeared, deck already settled into it.

“I will take the first turn,” he declared, his voice not the demonic rasp that Yuusuke would have expected. It could have won him a career as a musician, if he’d wanted that. “Unless you object, captain.”

Tesni barely twitched. “Go right ahead.”

The two of them stared at one another, then Gaap began, drawing five cards from his deck. He cast a quick glance over them before he selected a card. “I summon Daemon’s Soldier!”

In front of him there appeared a tall blue scaled demon, swirling a long brown cape around himself. His attention seared across the battlefield, resting on Tesni, who didn’t look all that impressed.

“Daemon’s Solder is only a Normal Monster, but his attack makes up for any other failings,” Gaap announced as he slid another card between his fingers. “And this will make it even better: I equip Daemon’s Soldier with Daemon’s Axe, adding another thousand points to make it twenty-nine thousand!”

Yuusuke mentally winced. At least Gaap couldn’t attack on this turn. That would have left Tesni with a bare eleven hundred already. But he didn’t doubt this would cause trouble in the near future.

“Now, I set one card and end my turn.”

It wasn’t the best first turn that Yuusuke had ever seen in his life but it didn’t bode well for the rest of the duel. He looked forward to seeing what Tesni had in store for them.

“I draw!” Tesni added the card to her hand and made her decisions. “I set this card face-down!” It settled into her monster zone; Yuusuke suspected it was a Flip Effect since there weren’t many other monsters it made sense to put face down.

But no sooner had she stated that then Gaap struck, gesturing towards his own face down card. “I activate Sulfuric-Acid-Filled Pitfall! I target one face-down defense position monster on your field and if it’s defense is two thousand or less, then it’s destroyed!”

There was a small squawk from Tesni’s Hail Cybers. But Yuusuke caught a glimpse of a smile on Tesni's’ face before she flipped her monster upward, causing a blue-skinned, red-haired and red-winged fairy to appear before them. “Illusion Fairy. She has only two hundred defense points, I’m afraid, so she’s destroyed.”

Acid bubbled up from beneath Illusion Fairy, long streaks of it reaching upwards to wrap all around her and pulling her out of sight with a horrific scream. Tesni bore onward though.

If she doesn’t do something about that, then next turn she’ll take almost three thousand damage. If not more! It wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility for Gaap to summon another monster on his next turn and be able to finish her off.

But Tesni didn’t flinch. “I thought you would do something like that. It’s clear who taught you how to duel.” Her gaze shifted to Ruin, then back again. “So this is my counter. I remove Illusion Fairy from the graveyard to summon Diana the Light Spirit!”

Swirling upward in a column of pure white light – much more pleasant than some white lights Yuusuke could name – there stood a maiden who could have been crafted from the light itself. Every inch of her – hair and eyes and gown – gleamed as if fashioned from freshly fallen snow. Her sweet smile warmed many of the hearts there.

“She might not be as powerful as your monster, but on every one of your End Phases, I gain a thousand life points.” Tesni pointed out. “Now, this.” Another card flicked between her fingers. “Five hundred points of direct damage to you, courtesy of Fire Ball!”

A flaming sphere appeared overhead, hovering for a few seconds before it slammed into Gaap and sent him stumbling back two or three paces. He growled, the sound no longer rich or mellow or sweet, straightening himself out and sending Tesni a glare fit to shatter bone and rend flesh as she set one card from her hand and ended her turn.

“I draw,” he snapped, eyes dropping down to the three cards now in his hand. His lips twisted into the foulest of smirks as he summoned a second monster. “Daemon’s Calvary!” This red armored warrior demon held the same attack as Daemon’s Soldier did before being equipped with that axe. It stared right at Tesni and her single monster, weapon lowered and ready to attack, black stallion neighing in anticipation.

Yuusuke did the math. Unless that face down card could do something about it, then Tesni would take thirty-one hundred damage and lose her only monster.

“Daemon’s Calvary! Attack Diana the Light Spirit!” Gaap declared. His fighter roared in rage and galloped towards Diana, lance lowered. A breath before contact would be made, Tesni made her counter move.

“I activate Emissaries of Reconciliation! I take no battle damage at all this turn and no monsters of mine are destroyed, either!” Tesni’s grin glowed almost as bright as Diana did. “Was there anything else that you wanted to do?”

Gaap growled, eyes hovering briefly over his hand before he shook his head. “I end my turn.”

“Yes, I thought you would. Now, Diana.” At Tesni’s words, Diana spread her arms outward and a wash of warm white light fell over her, increasing her life points by a thousand. Tesni drew her next card, a slight hint of a frown touching her lips now.

Ruin tilted her head. “You aren’t having problems, are you, my dear? You’re really only defending yourself, you know. And your defenses won’t last forever.”

“They don’t have to last forever. They just have to last long enough so I can win.” Tesni pulled out one of her cards. “I activate Treasure Cards From Heaven! I remove the Sealing Chain in my hand from the game in order to draw two cards!”

Yuusuke knew something wasn’t entirely right just from the look that flickered over Tesni’s face. She hid it well, however, and took out one of her newly drawn cards. “Thanks for the help, Diana, but now things have to change. I activate Black Hole, destroying every monster on both sides of the field!”

In the center of the field black energy swirled without warning, sucking all three of the monsters down into it. All of them screamed and flailed, Daemon’s Calvary’s horse neighing in terror for a few heart-stopping moments before silence fell. Potential options for what could happen next darted through everyone’s minds.

Few suspected the route that Tesni did take.

“I set one monster face-down and end my turn.”

Yuusuke and Ryou exchanged glances again. Whatever Tesni’s monster was, there had to be a reason for her to summon it in defense mode. A zero attack with an effect that wouldn’t function under these circumstances? A flip effect that would be more useful long-term than just attacking right away?

Or perhaps an effect similar to what she’d used with Diana and Illusion Fairy, where she needed more monsters in her graveyard? Too many questions and not enough answers.

Gaap took a step closer, fingers closing and opening as if he wanted to close them around her throat. Then he drew himself up, cast a glance at Ruin, and drew his own card for the turn. No sooner had he glanced at it than he smiled, almost as bright as Diana had once shone on the field.

“Hand Obliteration. We both discard our hands to the graveyard and draw that same number of cards.” He tossed all the necessary cards into his graveyard and drew two more, his smile growing even brighter as he did. “I summon Lancer Daemon! Lancer Daemon, attack!” His eyes glinted with pleasure. “And Lancer Daemon possesses a piercing effect as well.”

To Be Continued

Notes: I do hope you enjoy this. Ryou won’t duel until the sequel. He needs more of his memories back before he can truly be himself again.

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #ygo gx #marufuji ryou #fujiwara yuusuke #chapters: rebirth of kaiser

1 note · View note

orsa2014 · 7 years

Photo

Let me say this, whether you’re a fan or not! This is a must see movie!! It’s so enjoyable.. you don’t want it to end!!! It’s a well balanced movie with comedy, action, history & tragedy all labeled under a great message!! Though it’s a series subject the director wanted to convey, he didn’t present it in a depressing way, like most Japanese movie directors do!!! This is the best action movie I’ve seen since Rurouni Kenshin liveaction!!

Here’s my rambling and opinion of the movie –which I saw 5 times- whistles, and still miss watching it!! Waiting for the BR release every day!!

WARNING: BIG FAT LONG SPOILERS ahead, so don’t read If you hadn’t watched it yet!!!

I went to Japan this summer with family members, and cause Japan is hot in summer we decided to visit Sapporo first!! And guess what!! Ohno Satoshi with the director visited the cinema near my hotel!! I knew about it one week before the trip, and of course no way to buy a ticket –which I tried-!!! I was there that day, but I didn’t see him :( and I went there before 10 but the movie was sold out until 6pm show!!!

Like I said before, I didn’t read the manga, cause I wanted to get my first impression of the story from the movie, and because the script writer was the writer of the original novel himself Wada Ryou, I had hopes for a good original script!! So here’s my preview and opinion, maybe a too honest one about the movie:

Maybe the first and last Japanese movie I’ll see in the cinemas?! Luckily it wasn’t boring at all!! About 98% of the Japanese movies I saw were either boring, or had to stop at the middle and have a break!! I don’t know why the movies are boring while I can see a drama 11 ep nonstop for a whole day!!! And for Shinobi, before going to the cinema, I was wondering what will I do if that was the case too, sitting in a cinema with a boring movie!!!

BUT.. it was fun.. though the first time I saw it I understood little of the conversation!! It was packed with comedy, events, characters and action!! It feels like anyone can watch this movie, beside it being a Samurai vs Ninja movie which appeals to many.. boys will love this, I’m sure!! My brother tagged along for the first time, and though he only watches j anime & American movies and doesn’t know much Japanese; he admitted he enjoyed it.. he even tagged along for a second and third time.. lol..

I also noticed that a lot of the viewers were old people, and I’m talking about really old people. My two times in Tokyo, the cinema was almost all old people, one of the viewers was so old with a bend back and a walking stick, she came alone to watch the movie.. I thought how cute!! I don’t see this in my country.. I was wondering if she was a fan, or if she likes historic movies..

The second and third time were fun. And on my fourth watch I almost understood all the conversations but for little details and vocabulary.. which made me happy, cause the Samurai language is too difficult!! The fifth time was to watch it all while understanding the whole story.. lol.. I might have gone more if my trip was longer, or hadn’t responsibilities with my family who travelled with me..

Many people talked about the politic side in the story, I’m not gonna do that.. :P let’s just talk about the movie and actors, the entertainment side of the movie, you kids gets the lessons on your own from the movie.

Ohno Satoshi as Mumon.. at first it looked awkward, his Mumon, like he said in the promotion, “you would think it’s Ohno not Mumon, but it’s Mumon”.. but watching this movie few times and understanding the story.. I understood Mumon; he was an empty, playful, lazy person with no emotions but love for his wife (which I think he didn’t give it much thought but that he’s attracted to her)!!.. honestly I didn’t know what to think of him at the start.. but after many events.. you start to see emotions from Mumon, gradually he’ll start to feel pity and anger.. And that’s when he’s the coolest, and you cannot have enough of him.. but then the movie ENDs!!! Lol.. That’s maybe why I can’t have enough of this movie.. give me part 2!! - Maybe watching it the second time while knowing Mumon will make you enjoy the movie more? Hmmm-… like ahh, here comes the lazy ninja!! Cause I definitely enjoyed it the second time more than the first, and my seat was better too.

The reason behind Mumon’s change of character must be his wife Okuni and Heibe.. though I think Okuni had a bigger effect, unlike some manga fans think!! Of course I did read the manga after I saw the movie, and it worked!! –my theory- Lol.. cause I like the movie version better, even though it had lesser details and characters!! Why? Mainly because of Mumon’s character.. I liked Mumon in the movie more.. Mumon in the manga was darker –and it may make the movie too!! Ohno’s Mumon, though he didn’t care much for people’s life, he had an innocent aura to him, like this is how he was brought up and thought it’s normal, he doesn’t know another lifestyle. While he fought others he had a smile on his face which felt that he’s just playing around with the weak ppl who are fighting him!! Like when he fought at the start with the Ninjas and Jirobe.. It was interesting to see he didn’t use much strength, but was playfully fighting, even pulling his ears and distracting him.. lol.. but as soon as he heard the name, money flashed infront of him and changed mood immediately!!!

It could be me, but though he was smiling, his eyes were sad or pitying!? I hadn’t seen Ohno with a face like that before!! So to me he wasn’t dark, he was a lost soul!! Especially when the princess committed suicide, I didn’t like Mumon’s reaction in the manga!!

Also Mumon in the movie ended taking the boy Nezumi with him, it felt like even though he’s not his son, but Okuni cared about the boy so he decided to take care of him for dear Okuni!! Loved that last scene, makes you smile though you were just in tears moments ago!! Instead manga’s Mumon kept grieving over Okuni, it ended up in a sad and negative way!! -Although the origin is the novel, which I hadn’t read!!- I don’t know how different the novel is from the manga and the movie!!

I had a feeling she and/or Mumon would die.. but I still had a slight ray of hope until Ohno spoiled everything in one of his interviews and said Mumon will lose his wife!!! :( NANDEEEEEEEEEEEEE ) ?? >_< BAKA! Oh, and Tsunagu, the credit music by Arashi, had a hint too that these two will get separated.. ;__;

I thought before watching the movie, if Okuni dies, I would hate the ending and get depressed!! But even though it was sad, and I teared up at this scene (2-5 watch; first time I was shocked)!! But it wasn’t that depressing!! Maybe cause it was by the end of the movie!? Or because the director didn’t show us any sweet scenes between the couples, so I wasn’t attached enough to them!!! But really, when she says you poor thing to Mumon.. ;__; I would think you poor thing to Okuni herself!!

She was so unfortunate.. though she followed Mumon cause she loved him deep down!! He didn’t keep his promise -___- and she lived in poverty!! She was isolated in Iga!! And died by Mumon’s ppl in the end!! Nothing good happened to her.. poor thing ;__; Mumon BAKA! Really I was sad for both!!

And Mumon’s reaction!! Though he was extremely angry, and his people and comrades just killed his beloved wife!! The natural thing was to kill 2 dozens of them and leave!! Instead he walked away carrying his love, suddenly too tired to argue with hopeless people!! This was more effective and sad!!

And the baby Mumon <3 cute little button <3 <3 <3 chouuuu Kawaaiiiiii..

Come to think of it, every main character had a sad/tragic life or past!!!

As for his fight with Daizen!! It was so much fun and unpredicted.. lol.. I didn’t expect the wood character!! It’s so anime like, but I didn’t hate it.. it was surprising and fun!! I wished his fight with Daizen was abit longer :p yeah, I wish half the movie would be action scenes..

Mumon’s fight with Heibe was the best part!! But honestly, I feel it was short!! >__< I love action scenes.. and here too i preferred it over the manga!! In the manga the fight was so short, with not much feelings –at least this is how I felt-, but in the movie it was an important scene, and you really feel sorry for a character like Heibe to die!!!

T__T And when you think that’s all, Okuni has to die too soon after.. whyyyyyyyy..

Heibe’s story was tragic too, with a father like that -__-; I don’t know for what he sacrificed his two sons for!!? Miserable old man!!! But I felt alittle sorry for that old fool when Heibe left him at the battle scene!!

The last fight with Mumon was shot beautifully & skillfully, and showed how desperate he was to fight Mumon!! Mumon probably never fought like this before with anyone, and was moved by Heibe.. until the last strike, he was fighting seriously.. I was surprised that he gave him killing blows even though he was almost dead!! Mumon’s eyes and experession said a lot in this scene (Anger, respect, acknowledgement, realization, focus..), I couldn’t but watch this silently.. unlike the excitement in other action scenes!!

As for Nabukatsu, I think Chinen did really well playing the role!! He was spot on with the brat character!! I’m surprised this guy stayed alive.. lol.. This is my first time seeing Chinen acting..

All other actors were good!! The minute this movie starts all the action burst!! It’s really a shame that the director cut off some of the last fight scene!! I would have liked to see more of it!! I hope he’ll include the cut scenes in the DVD/Bray release!! Onegai!!

The only down side was that the actions in some scenes were not top notch!! Though enjoyable, the movie would have been perfect if the action scenes were more worked on!! Not the sword scenes.. but the high jumps using the action wires, and Mumon’s fight/play with the soldiers.. this scene though he did great acrobatic stunts.. I think it could have been directed better.. honestly my least favorite scene.. but did not disturb the movie much cause it’s filled with events..

To be more picky, some sword fights too needed to look rougher!! Gomen ne.. my eyes are sharp at flaws!! Lol.. can’t help with big screens. I give this movie 9.5 out of 10! It only had to have more better directed action scenes and it’s perfect (and maybe Okuni being saved <3)!! Everything else is good, the music, the story, the history, the comedy and this strange not so goody main character Mumon!!!

I can’t wait to see this subbed by fans when it comes out, because we rarely get subbed dvds!! But I’ll definitely buy Shinobi no Kuni B-Ray!!! Can’t wait for the release!!

On another side note, I give credit to the director for this fun movie!! Actually after Mumon, I watched several of his other movies, and they are all above average good!! I avoided the horror ones though!! And what I like about his movies that they don’t leave you depressed; there’s a ray of hope in his movies even if it’s sad!! From now on I’ll look forward to his works!!

I even seen his Magnificent Nine in the airplane, but I only watched one hour of it : ( I can’t concentrate on planes!! I really want to see the second half of the movie!! Someone sub it please!!

I’m looking forward to him working with Ohno again.. lol.. as he said in Toronto, he want to give him a dark role!! Lol, good luck Mr. Nakamura!!

14 notes · View notes

gastricpierrot · 7 years

Text

Title: When Stars Align

Series: Daiya no Ace

Pairing: KuraRyou

Rating: T

Summary: Nothing good ever comes out of an intimate relationship between a human and a youkai, Ryousuke knows. He’s heard more than enough stories on betrayal, on disasters, on families being shunned. And being an onmyouji, he knows better than anyone else.

And yet, he lets himself fall.

Warning: what is flow omf

Also on AO3

[Ch.1]

[Ch.2]

Youichi does start getting used to it, eventually.

He learns how to maintain his barrier subconsciously, how to sense when he’s got people visiting his shrine so he can return from his daily wandering, and how to abuse his quick flight to zip back in time and hear the important parts of their prayers. He does feel a little bad at times, though. Pleas for safety and bountiful crops, he can handle; but prayers for a quick or miraculous recovery of a health condition? Not really. Not at all, in fact. It’s outside his specialisation and the villagers should know that already. Mountain tengu are protectors and fighters, but never healers. Yet they go to him, desperate for a salvation he can’t grant.

Sympathizing too much with humans is dangerous, he remembers being warned multiple times over his training. Even a deity is not omnipotent, and to be affected by the struggles of humans would distract them from doing what they can do. It affects their judgements, shakes their resolve to remain impartial. Youichi sighs. This really is difficult.

He turns his attention downwards when he feels a presence approaching his shrine, and nearly falls off his tree when he sees a familiar head of pink hair. What’s Ryousuke doing here this time of the day? Is he here to nag him about something again because Youichi’s sure he’s been doing well so far and he doesn’t exactly need criticism at the moment. But wait—Youichi fights back his instinctive unease and makes himself look properly. His visitor may creepily resemble Ryousuke to a T at first glance, but there’s something about them that’s different. They’re a little… slighter than Ryousuke is, perhaps even younger. Even the air they carry is less prickly, more calming.

“Harucchi! I see him up there!!”

Youichi winces at the loud voice, immediately glaring at the source bounding alongside Ryousuke’s lookalike. He’s considering jumping down to give him a good roundhouse kick on the ass and shut him up until he does a double-take because isn’t he a…?

“Eijun-kun, shhh!” ‘Harucchi’ chides, a finger on his lips. Youichi’s raises his eyebrows. He can see them too? “You’re disturbing the youkai here.”

“He’s glaring at me now!! Harucchi!!” Eijun protests, stabbing a finger at Youichi’s direction. At this point, Youichi is already rolling up his sleeves because god, this kid is annoying. He pauses when Haruichi proceeds to clamp his hand behind Eijun’s head, turns to Youichi’s direction, and drags Eijun into a bow with him. And yeah, definitely Ryousuke’s brother, Youichi thinks. Not many others have the hair, sight, presence and unexpected violence like they do.

“We apologize for the commotion, Youichi-sama,” Haruichi says, ignoring Eijun’s complaints. Well. At least this Kominato has more manners. Also, Youichi can see his eyes, which is a nice contrast to facing his elder brother. It makes him easier to read this way, unlike Ryousuke who always remains so closed off and enigmatic.

“You’re Ryou-san’s brother?” Youichi drops from his perch, landing on the ground with barely a thud. Haruichi straightens, and nods.

“Yes, my name’s Haruichi.” Haruichi doesn’t seem fazed by the recognition at all, as well as the fact that a tengu refers to his brother by honorific. He gestures to his companion next. “And this is Eijun-kun. It’s an honour to finally meet you in person, Youichi-sama.”

Eijun keeps his gaze averted, apparently still grumpy from Haruichi’s rough handling. He crosses his arms tighter across his chest, and mumbles a barely coherent “Hey.”

Youichi sees no reason to hold back with this one. With a high-pitched cackle, he tackles Eijun to the ground, pinning him on his stomach. He then straddles his lower back, and twists his legs back until he begs for mercy.

“Is that how you greet someone of a higher rank than you, huh? Little brat!” Youichi says, though he notices how his words lack bite to them. Eijun makes a string of strangled noises, reaching for Haruichi.

“Harucchi h-help—legs—fal—off— “

And Haruichi, no doubt inheriting the savage Kominato traits, pretends to be extremely interested in a nearby bush.

“Hm? What’s that? You want me to let go?” Youichi asks smugly, leaning closer to Eijun’s head while using his weight to keep him in place. Eijun struggles for a second more before finally going still and submitting to his fate. Youichi, who prides himself in not being as much of a sadist as a certain Ryousuke is, releases him and gets off.

“So.” Youichi straightens his robes and addresses Haruichi. “What brings you here?”

“Ah, right!” Haruichi seems to suddenly remember the basket in his hands. “I brought you some offerings, Youichi-sama. I hope you’d like some steamed buns and oranges.”

His gaze is earnest, his amber eyes bright and perhaps a little bit naive. Youichi catches himself wondering if Ryousuke’s eyes were the same colour. Probably not. He seems to be the kind who’d have the red eyes of a demon.

“S-Sure,” he clears his throat. “I appreciate it, Haruichi.”

Haruichi smiles with so much sweetness that all Youichi can think is how. He’s still baffled over his and Ryou-san’s relation when Haruichi walks over to the still-fallen Eijun and offers a hand.

“Harucchi hates me,” Eijun whines into the dirt, unmoving.

“To be honest, you asked for that,” Haruichi states and okay, maybe the only difference between him and Ryousuke is that Haruichi learnt to be more polite to strangers and elders. Forget Ryou-san’s threat; Youichi has enough self-love to put a healthy amount of distance between him and Haruichi before he ends up being roasted twice the amount.

Eijun’s quick to recover, though, springing upright from his position on the ground with an unnecessary roar after a minute of gentle persuasion from Haruichi’s part. Despite his earlier irritation, Youichi feels a pang of inexplicable fondness in his chest as he watches the two of them interact—maybe even a bit of wistfulness. Must be nice to be so youthful and carefree.

“Huh? Wanna go at it again?” Youichi challenges when Eijun turns to glower at him once more, teeth bared in a sneer. Eijun’s frown deepens as the seconds stretch on, but he doesn’t yell his words when he speaks next.

“I’m sorry,” is all he mumbles before turning back to his companion and ushering him towards the shrine. “Now let’s go and put those on the altar, Harucchi. The sooner we can go back, the better!”

“Ehh, but I want to talk to Youichi-sama for a bit first,” Haruichi protests, letting Eijun drag him by the arm nonetheless. Youichi takes a moment to recover from his stunned daze resulting from Eijun’s apology before moving to join them under the shade of the shrine.

“I’m telling you, this is a terrible idea,” Eijun insists as Haruichi arranges the food across the altar, stealing scowls at Youichi every now and then. He hides behind him as though someone shorter than him by an entire head would be able to defend him from any kind of physical attack. Then again, this is Ryousuke’s sibling they’re talking about, so Youichi figures maybe it’s not all impossible. “You saw how violent he was with me! One wrong word and he’ll probably break your neck or something!”

“Eijun-kun, you’re being loud again,” Haruichi points out with the patience of a saint. He neatly folds the piece of cloth he’s holding and places it in his now-empty basket. “You can just stay behind me if you’re that afraid of him.”

“I’m not afraid of him!”

“Yes, yes.” Haruichi reaches to ruffle his hair. Youichi’s part amused and part intimidated by how perfectly Haruichi has Eijun wrapped around his finger. It takes conscious effort for him to resist flinching when Haruichi turns back to him, though the remorseful look he’s wearing makes him lower his defences once more. “My brother has been really harsh on you, hasn’t he, Youichi-sama?”

Taken by surprise, Youichi nearly stammers. “Well…”

“Even after I asked him to hold back,” Haruichi sighs, mostly to himself. “Aniki sure is a stubborn one.”

“Oh, tell me about it,” Youichi grumbles, rolling his eyes. He crosses his legs, rests an elbow on the side of his knee, and balances his chin with an upturned palm. “I know what he says is mostly true, but is it really necessary to be so blunt? I am still a tengu, geez.”

“How unbecoming of a mountain guardian to be laying his woes to a human,” Eijun whispers conspiringly into Haruichi’s ear, putting little effort into lowering his voice enough to actually make it sound like one. He hisses and shirks further behind Haruichi when Youichi shoots him a death stare.

“Aniki might not sugar-coat his words, but he usually means well,” Haruichi says with a sheepish laugh, holding up his hands in hopes to placate the situation. “Usually.”

“That’s not convincing and you know it,” Youichi points out, feeling much less bitter than he lets on. He’s eventually come to grudgingly admit that Ryousuke was right on a lot of things, and that being told straight out about his mistakes would definitely be more productive. Also, with how things are playing out he’s realized that perhaps the only way to shut up types like him is to go out there and prove him wrong. He appreciates Haruichi for not making any apologies on his brother’s behalf because really, there’s no need for him to do that. Youichi would very much prefer to hear the words from Ryousuke’s own mouth, if anything. Though he knows that’s about as likely as the sun rising from the west, hah.

“Something wrong?” Youichi asks when Haruichi looks at him strangely. In response, Haruichi only shakes his head.

“You don’t seem to dislike him as much I expected, and I’m really glad,” he admits. Then much to Youichi’s horror, he adds, “the two of you might even end up getting along well at this rate.”

“I would prefer not to,” Youichi declares with evident disgust, and Haruichi—the nerve!—only laughs at his expense.

“That’s a shame,” he says, his gaze softening. “Aniki seems to have taken some kind of liking to you, Youichi-sama.”

“Which part of constant verbal abuse proves that he likes me?” Youichi demands, quite unable to process even the slightest possibility of Ryousuke harbouring any kind of fondness towards him. Haruichi shrugs helplessly, like he’s yet to believe what he just said, either.

“Maybe it’s because onii-san’s finally found someone masochistic enough to bear with h—ow!” Eijun’s casual (and unnecessary) suggestion was cut short by a flying orange at his face. Youichi forces himself to take a deep breath as he lowers his hand, refusing to get excessively worked up over this particular matter. For some cursed reason he can’t comprehend, he feels his ears burning from Eijun’s stupid comment.

“Ah, he’s blushing.” Eijun has to be the one to notice first. Before Youichi could think of a way to possibly silence him forever, Haruichi stands up abruptly, making an uncharacteristically loud comment about how it’s getting dark and that they should really stop disturbing Youichi and go back. He then says something to Eijun about reaching home before Aniki scolds him for slacking off, his undertone obvious enough for even Eijun to understand shortly.

“Thank you so much for your company today, Youichi-sama,” Haruichi manages to remember his manners even in his haste to flee before his friend really gets smitten. “We’ll come by again when we can.”

And with that, he drags Eijun away with him, their voices quickly drowned out by the usual noises of the forest as they make their way along the path downhill. Youichi waits to lose sight of them behind the foliage before flopping face-first onto his shrine’s wooden flooring, wishing he could disappear after that mortifying display. He might as well have announced aloud that he’s indeed a masochist.

He really hopes those two are merciful enough to keep it a secret between them.

xXx

Ryousuke stares at the alignment of symbols on his divination board, unease settling in the base of his stomach like dense tar.

Things do not look good. He’s redone the process five times just to be absolutely sure, but he keeps coming to the same conclusion. Some great calamity is about to happen. Ryousuke can’t say for sure what the calamity actually is, but he foresees waves and waves darkness, negativity. Prying into the future has never yielded to much; information is always vague, facts uncertain. Even Ryousuke’s predictions skew at times; what he’s seeing now could simply be another false alarm.

He relies on his instincts when it comes to cases like this. He could sense something bad happening soon—but what and when? Is a high-level youkai going to run rampant and leave a path of destruction in its wake? Will the seal of an entrance to the Other world be broken and unleash Hell’s own forces into his own? Will there be a plague? An uprising? Will something go horribly wrong in the upcoming Hyakki Yagyō? It’s difficult to tell if he can ever predict that far before the event happens. Should he issue a warning now or later? Should he issue one at all? It’s a tough call to make.

“You’re unusually quiet today,” Ryousuke point out without looking, addressing the figure lingering around the door of his office. It shimmers, its form flitting in the shadows as it moves.

“It’s my first time seeing you this unsettled, Ryousuke. Is it really that bad?”

Ryousuke takes his time replying to that, gazing thoughtfully at the inscriptions carved into his divination board. “I can’t say for certain at the moment,” he admits in the end. Then putting some edge into his voice, he turns toward the ghost and adds, “don’t be quick to go around spreading rumours now, Jun.”

“That was one time,” Jun says defensively. When Ryousuke raises an eyebrow at him, he reluctantly confesses, “Fine. That was a lot of times. Heck, you should try being stuck in the same place for a few hundred years with only small insignificant creatures to talk to!”

“Do I have to seal your voice again?” Ryousuke suggests offhandedly, a paper talisman already between his fingers. Jun immediately backs up several steps—or at least it would be several steps if his legs aren’t completely vapour from the knees down.

“Not a single word of this from me will make it out of this room, I promise!” Jun swears with a volume of voice that can probably be heard all the way down the corridor. Ryousuke would really like him to realize that it’s his loudness that usually starts the rumours, but no such luck again today, unfortunately. Jun exhales in obvious relief when Ryousuke tucks his talisman away; he’s lucky Ryousuke’s dealt with Eijun enough to be so lenient. When he speaks again, his tone is grave. “But an event that can worry even you like that…I wonder what could it be?”

“We have no other choice but to wait and see at this point.” Concern creeps into Ryousuke’s voice despite his efforts to sound neutral. It’s his first time coming across an omen as terrible as this; he genuinely hopes he’s being paranoid this time. If something of a huge scale is to happen, lots of damage might be done before it can be stopped.

“Guess so.” Jun crosses his arms, immersed in his own thoughts. Ryousuke shifts to stand up, gathering his tools in his arms.

“Wouldn’t you be glad if it’s something that involves you spirits as well, though?” he says before their silence could take weigh, pushing some scrolls aside in a shelf compartment to make space. He doesn’t want to dwell on the prediction. “Maybe you’ll finally be able to move on if you get eaten, haha.”

“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that??” Jun argues, but the quaver in his voice betrays his worries. Ryousuke hums, sounding indifferent to the outcome either way. “And it’s not like I want to move on. You’d be surprised at how fun it is to watch humans do stupid things almost every single day.”

“As I remember correctly, you were a human once too,” Ryousuke reminds him, giving no signs of being affected by Jun’s general comment. “What’s more, a member of the esteemed Isashiki clan dying because the curse you were trying to break rebounded on you? That’s pathetic.”

“That’s exactly why I can’t move on!” Jun protests, realizing the rise in volume of his voice only when he sees the slight twitch of Ryousuke’s lips. He hastily fixes his tone to a grumble, “everyone I knew should be dead by now and they’ll surely tease me if we meet in the afterlife.”

“Wouldn’t want my fun taken from me,” Ryousuke agrees, promptly coercing a sound of protest from the spirit.

“Which reminds me,” Jun pointedly shifts the focus as he lets Ryousuke walk right through him without as much as a flinch, “I saw the new tengu wandering around the other day. He sure looks like a delinquent, doesn’t he? He even glared at me the moment he saw me! The disrespect!”

“I’m sure that’s your own fault somehow or another,” Ryousuke says, being all-too familiar with Jun’s tendency to yell rude remarks as a show of amiability. You’d think someone who’s around for so long would have learnt to take a hint. “However,” Ryousuke pauses for a second before continuing, “I have to agree that Youichi looks to be quite an unruly one at first glance.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve already tamed him, too.” Jun stares at him incredulously. Ryousuke only smiles.

“Who knows,” he replies airily, pulling out a paper fan to counter the summer heat that assaults his skin the moment he’s out from shade. Jun drifts by his side, expecting an elaboration he isn’t giving. Eventually accepting that he won’t be getting any more out of the onmyouji, Jun loses interest and mutters some excuse to go somewhere else. Ryousuke doesn’t stop him, merely making his way towards the Head Officer’s room to report his findings—or, the less frightening parts of them, at least.

Summer’s a busy period for the Bureau of Onmyou Arts, being the most active season for youkai. Ryousuke has to work extra to prepare for the Hyakki Yagyō that’s expected to pass their village in less than a week’s time, going the lengths to make sure a minimum number of reckless idiots would be spirited away or generally traumatized because they fail to heed his warnings of staying indoors from sundown to sunrise on the particular day. It falls within his responsibility to guide lost spirits as well (which, there are plenty over the months,) sightings of them reported to him by the smaller, harmless youkai that roam the streets.

And sometimes when things get too serious, he’s summoned to the main branch of the Bureau in the Capital City to provide support.

Ryousuke doesn’t want to complain, really. He’d prefer an occasional two-day journey to the Capital over staying there permanently any day. One of the perks of being powerful is that he managed to used that to his favour when fighting for permission to remain in the village where he grew up instead of residing in the Capital like most other onmyouji of his calibre. That place is even more infested with youkai than Youichi’s mountain, and a significant number of them hostile, to boot. As much as Ryousuke loves a good challenge, even he has to draw a line somewhere. Not to mention there are a handful of arrogant deities stationed there whom he doesn’t exactly get along well with. A small number of visits to the Capital was enough to make Ryousuke sick of the place.

But going back to the bit on his summer workload—at least Youichi’s been doing a marginally better job recently. He’s finally starting to produce the impression of a tengu and not an infant youkai stumbling around trying to grasp the workings of the world. Ryousuke also figures that despite all that talk about his duty to keep a firm watch over the mountain especially after sunset, Youichi’s simply not the type to stay still for long when there’s something going on. Twice already Ryousuke has stopped halfway to a scene because he sensed interference from a presence that could only be Youichi’s. He can’t say he didn’t appreciate the help, but he’d be grateful if he could at least give him a heads up before he wastes energy rushing out just to discover an intruder’s already been dealt with. He would very much prefer to save whatever energy he has left by the end of the day for situations where he seriously needs it.

“I think it’d be wise for us to decide on a system,” Ryousuke takes the initiative to suggest when he meets Youichi the next day after yet another night of wasted rushing. He bites back the urge to click his tongue when all he does is look at him in confusion.

“What are you ta— “then realization seems to suddenly hit him— “Oh. That.”

“I don’t suppose you understand how trying it is to have to deliberately leave the house in the middle of the night just to have to turn back midway,” Ryousuke says, edge creeping into his voice. Youichi, to his credit, doesn’t look too intimidated. In fact, he actually looks…defiant.

“But you weren’t fast enough, Ryou-san,” is all he says, his gaze steady.

“You should be aware that you’re the one with the abnormal speed, Youichi,” Ryousuke reminds him, though he couldn’t help feeling slightly satisfied by how Youichi’s standing his ground. He’d genuinely be disappointed if the local guardian turns out to be a spineless wimp. “Look, I know how strong those youkai were and I understand that you’re only playing your role as a protector, but— “

“You can’t expect me to just stay back and wait while things like those are about to storm into your village,” Youichi says, spreading an arm as though gesturing to a living specimen of said “thing” to emphasize his point. He dislodges a couple of feathers along with the movement.

“I expect you to be there if I ever fail,” Ryousuke shoots back calmly. “Or do you lack that much faith in my abilities?”

“I was just worried, alright?” Youichi scratches the back of his neck, seemingly embarrassed by the admission. He ends up mumbling the latter part of what he says. “I was worried that if I’d waited for you, there might not have been anything left for me to protect.”

“I know.” Youichi yelps when Ryousuke lands a sharp chop on his head. “And I don’t expect you to stop feeling so anytime soon, which is why I’m having this conversation with you in the first place.”

“You mean,” Youichi begins reluctantly as he nurses the tender spot Ryousuke just assaulted, “you’re not pissed at me for messing with your job?”

“Frankly, I am getting rather annoyed,” Ryousuke admits, resuming his habit of linking his hands behind his back when he’s idle. Youichi blanches. “But since you’re genuinely thinking about guarding the village in this case, I suppose I shouldn’t make too many comments.”

“Uh, thanks, I guess?”

Ryousuke hums with half-hearted acknowledgement. “As I was saying, I was thinking maybe we should agree on an arrangement of some sort. It’ll be more efficient for the both of us that way.”

Youichi lowers his arms, nodding in full attention. “I’m listening.”

“I’ve placed my own barriers around the outskirts in addition to yours,” Ryousuke goes on, “depending on how strong the intruding youkai is, they should hold for around ten to twenty minutes. I can usually reach the location by then, but if I don’t or there more than three of them trying to break in simultaneously, you’re free to make your move. How does that sound?”

Youichi shrugs. “I can work with that. Though,” he knits his brow, “what happened to that bit on me being the last line of defence that you were so adamant about?”

Ryousuke purses his lips, contemplating if he should tell him. It’ll be a problem if the masses are to know about his prediction, that’s for certain. News of certain disaster will bound to cause widespread panic. But it’s Youichi he’s speaking to now. Ryousuke supposes he of all people has the right to know and prepare for the worst, being the local guardian.

“There might be a time soon where it wouldn’t even matter anymore if we can’t stop them before they reach the people,” he begins after a taking a moment to make sure there aren’t any youkai who’s eavesdropping nearby, careful to voice his words clearly. Taking note of the way Youichi stares at him in utter bafflement, he forges on, “I saw a really disturbing sign earlier today when divining. I can’t be sure what it’ll be, but something terrible is about to happen soon. It’s best that we brace ourselves.”

Youichi’s speechless for the next minute, which is understandable given the bombshell Ryousuke just casually dropped. Ryousuke feels a familiar weight in his chest; talking aloud about his premonition only made his unease well up again. He inhales, forcing the pressure back. He’s grown used to spontaneously handling sudden realizations of negative predictions throughout his career, but none of them have admittedly been as concerning as this.

“…Ryou-san?”

At the tentative call of his name, Ryousuke glances up. “What is it?”

“Are you okay?”

He blinks, taken aback. It’s not something he’s asked often, not by anyone besides Haruichi and occasionally Eijun. In fact, he can’t say he fancies hearing it from anyone other than those two. He’s too used to taking the phrase as belittling, patronizing. Those were words uttered too often by people who saw his struggles as futile, who doubted he could become who he is now even when he gave his all and more. Who laughed at him for trying and trying when they did not even bother.

“What makes you th— “Ryousuke breaks off, and takes another deep breath to calm his abrupt flare of temper. He’s not them, he reminds himself. Youichi isn’t the people of his past. “I’m fine,” he ends up biting out, more than anything.

It’s not like him to lose his cool so easily.

“Hey, it’s pretty normal to be nervous in a situation like this,” Youichi says, raising his hands defensively when Ryousuke stiffens. He’s a surprisingly sharp one. He then laughs a sheepish laugh as though to alleviate the increasingly stifling air around them, reaching to scratch his cheek. “And honestly? Even my palms are sweating like crazy right now after what you said.”

“Didn’t take you for the type who knows how to perceive fear,” Ryousuke confesses, a wayward smile sneaking its way to his lips with unexpected ease when Youichi shoots him a baleful look.

“Didn’t know you’d be the type who knows how to ask for help, either,” he remarks in return, to which Ryousuke finds he’s unable to argue. Youichi grins viciously at his loss of words, evidently triumphant to be able to out-snark him for once. Ryousuke decides to let him bask in his victory this time; he must admit Youichi’s earned it.

“But really—I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it if it’s the two of us,” Youichi continues even after Ryousuke lapses into silence. It’s difficult to tell from his tone if he’s trying to reassure Ryousuke or himself. Or maybe even both. Ryousuke wonders if he too, is able to sense something big happening soon.

“Just don’t hold me back,” he chooses to say in the end. Youichi laughs then; a confident two-toned laugh that befits the avian part of his image.

“You can count on that,” he assures, cracking his knuckles for emphasis. Ryousuke huffs, half weary, half something else he can’t quite put a name to.

“I don’t think I have much of a choice.”

#kuraryou #kominato ryousuke #kuramochi youichi #diamond no ace #daiya no ace #did i mention i love sawaharu because i do i really do #theyre the purest??? and eijun calling ryousan oniisan will never fail to murder me im so weak #also eijun has ryousuke's number???? thats so??? aaaAAAAA #fanfiction

1 note · View note