#anyways yeah them. 'ts/ams is a found family show!' it sure is. one where they all call each other 'brother' and kiss like Maniacs :)

[paramountpetrichor]

meows at you. whats ur fave celestialcest ship...... and feel free to ramble abt them as much as u want I'll happily listen ☕️👀

dear god this ask has been in my inbox for So long now i am So sorry- i promise i haven't been neglecting it/this blog i've just been busy isgwigogwogq

ANYWAYS. do you know how Hard it was for me to pick a fav celestialcest ship. it was so hard i actually Couldn't and ended up tieing btwn two lmao:

who could've POSSIBLY seen this coming. ts/ams sxm my BELOVED. theyre THE otp and fucking ADORABLE- literal soulmates and each others entire world. so whipped for each other its near comical.

like ik antis would call me crazy but yall have SEEN how much these two hit on each other, right?? esp moon to sun??? whenever i watch gameplay eps and they laugh like idiots together i just go 'oughh theyre kissing So hard whenever the cameras cut istggg'

the day moon confesses to being touched starved and sun starts being more touchy to him in canon in response is the day i lose my minddd. cause i already stim like an absolute codswallop whenever they're just on screen n playing together, but if they actually show intimacy??? ohhh im DONE for

and all of that is them w/o even mentioning the story and the drama from the bs that is their lives, as well as the slightly toxic power dynamic (esp when its old moon n sun) btwn them born from suns need for moons approval and moons need to protect his personal beam of light no matter the cost and I EAT THAT THE FUCK UPPP 🤌🤌🤌

they make me INSANE and if anyone ever wants to yell about them please please PLEASE know my inbox is always open cause they make me coocoo for cocoa puffs iagosgohaoya

anyways, the only ship that rivals That one:

ignore that the image isnt rendered i got lazy igsajgajash

okay so tbch this one started as a 'im shipping this bc the cold/cynical/analytical characters are always my favs to ship together, and moon n clipse fit that role Perfectly. not to mention enemies to lovers is my fav romance trope of all time' but then it spiraled so fast the more i thought about them

its about them going from being unable to stand in the same room to tolerating each others' presence to the mourning of what they couldve been to the mutual silent agreement to try again to gentle barbs/teasing to shared laughter over stupid things to suddenly wanting to be around each other more often to actively seeking out each others' presence to spending whole nights in the lab/p&s working on tech together to inching closer and closer together until fingertips can be touched to desperate chaste kisses being traded in the middle of the night to those kisses becoming Not So Chaste to them becoming more public to 'oh no, when did i fall in love with my own worst enemy?'

^ im normal about them i promise (FUCKING LYING)

one last thing w them- they have been walked in on while making out in p&s so many times that everyone is more shocked whenever they're Not doing that. what can i say i write them as handsy mfers sigoagoaa

honestly idk if i could choose btwn these two or moon n sun. best case scenario? shove all three of em together, and Any of em can be the monkey in the middle :3c

(...but again im a multishipper so my Real solution to what my fav ship is? ...looks at my ao3 page... family-wide polyamorus blob :D)

#celestialcest #petrichors art #oh btw i saw some of yall talking about how we should try branching out into Other tags other than celestialcest #and im more than willing to- i just need yall to come up w the tag iagisggia (< is So incredibly indecisive) #anyways yeah them. 'ts/ams is a found family show!' it sure is. one where they all call each other 'brother' and kiss like Maniacs :) #sleepyanxiety #sleepystar #celestial proship #sun/moon #moon/sun #moon/eclipse #eclipse/moon #asks tag

[mareastrorum]

WIP Wednesday: TF&TS (Shopping)

Here is a scene from an early chapter of a longfic I am working on.

Fanfic Summary: Mollymauk Tealeaf survived the encounter with the Iron Shepherds, but a short time later, a spirit had begun hunting him, claiming that he stole his body. This Campaign 2 AU begins with Episode 26 and continues on from there.

This fanfic will be posted on AO3 starting hopefully by Friday 7/28.

Shopping wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t fun either. Just a chore Otis never paid much mind to beyond getting it done. The Tombtakers had usually left Tyffial and Cree to handle that; Tyffial always seemed to know where to find the good stuff, and Cree insisted on making sure that Jurrell didn’t talk Tyffial into buying a bunch of extra crap. Jurrell had always shown up with something anyway, so who knows how much there would have been if Cree hadn’t tagged along.

But shopping could be fun when money didn’t have to be spent doing it, and even better when the owner didn’t intend to give up what Otis was shopping for.

So when the Nein insisted that Otis stay in the Run while Lucien was out cold, obviously that meant that the halfling would stalk the group all the way back to Zadash. Obviously. Lucien would give them an earful otherwise. And since the Nein planned to use the Iron Shepherds’ cart and horses, that meant Otis needed a way to keep up. After getting a solid three hours of sleep and hiking back to the Run, the halfling’s first stop was checking the news on Jagoda Uttolot. That half-orc bastard was somewhere in the Savalirwood on another hunt, so that meant his collection was closed until he got back.

Otis made their way to the west side of town, then snuck into the woods to circle around the Uttolot’s menagerie. It was partially a zoo and partially a holding area for any live beasts Jagoda had caught for the family to sell. There was good money in trading the hides and flesh of Savalirwood monsters, but there was more in keeping certain beasts alive. Of course, that meant the Uttolots had spent an awful lot of money and resources on building pens to keep the monsters locked in until they were ready to be transported. Which was great, because they usually sucked at keeping thieves out.

It did not take Otis too long to sneak past the giant fence enclosing the section of forest the Uttolots had laid claim to. Most of the trees had been cleared and used to construct more fences, and the grid structure was easy to navigate. As expected, there were barely any guards. Sure, there were plenty of valuable beasts that would be worth stealing, but they were usually noisy as fuck, and most people didn’t want to risk getting caught to then risk getting eaten to then risk getting stabbed and then…

Well, yeah. Most people.

Besides, Otis wasn’t after the more expensive ones. Riding something like a hippogryph all the way to Zadash would be awesome, but there was no way they were going to sneak a flying mount out, and the halfling preferred that they be able to return to the Run and show their face eventually. Eventually.

Otis briskly wandered the enclosures, peeking in at what there was to be had. Whatever the halfling picked, it needed to be suited to travel the forest quickly and hardy enough to fend for itself if theygot in a fight. Horses were alright for the first, but shit at the second, which is why Otis was here. Also, horses were boring.

The first potential mount was a panther, though the halfling was disappointed to see it only had four legs and no tentacles. Oh, man, it would have been so cool—so cool—if it had been a displacer beast. Then again, Jagoda probably had to sell any live ones super quick because they were so difficult to contain. And Cree would probably be mad if they showed up on a panther. So nah.

Otis continued on until they found an elk of some kind, though it had an extra set of limbs and bark-like skin instead of fur. Those things were fast! Sure, they looked slow, but they had long fucking legs. And no one with any sense picked a fight with something that big. Zoran was a living example of that. But now that they thought about it, riding an elk as a halfling was going to be a challenge, no matter what barding Otis put together.

One enclosure over was an axe beak. Not as tall as the elk, but it rushed about its enclosure pretty quick. It didn’t make much noise beyond clacking it’s beak. Clack clack. It vaguely reminded Otis of Tyffial—birds were always mean. Otis would prefer not to have to kill their mount for being a jerk.

Next was a boar. It looked tame enough. Fucker was big too; taller than Otis. They vaguely recalled that Lucien and Cree had said they were more dangerous than the bears in these woods, but Otis never ran into any. Really though? It just looked like a larger, hairy pig with curved tusks that looked almost like swords.

The boar stared at the halfling with its black beady eyes. Otis stared back, baring their teeth as they giggled. It did not move, did not twitch, did not falter.

Otis shivered and moved on. Nope. Something was wrong with that thing.

Growling rumbled from the next enclosure. Otis didn’t even have to approach the barrier to see a massive, hulking wolf peeking out at them, sniffing hungrily at the air and licking its chops. Nope, nope, that was an easy no. It was definitely going to try to ea—

“HeHEheheHEH.”

Otis perked up and looked around. The same snicker sounded from the enclosure on the opposite side, so they snuck over.

Inside was a golden, spotted dog with a thick neck, humped shoulders, a fluffy tail, short black legs, and teddy bear ears. It snickered again as it paced side to side, sniffing at the gap in the gate with its tongue hanging out the side of its toothy maw. A hyena. Big brown eyes looked at Otis curiously. “HEheheHEheh.”

Otis gasped. It was perfect.

Within minutes, a giggling halfling and a snickering hyena had made off into the woods long before the next guard patrol wandered by.

“HeheHEHEheheh.”

#critical role fanfiction #wip wednesday #TF&TS #otis brunkel #the tombtakers

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

A senpai Rider/s interacting with their kouhai Rider/s, M (Battlefield by SVRCINA)?

M is for music, and “Battlefield,” by SVRCINA, can be found on Spotify and YouTube.

Restaurant Agito, a neighborhood institution for over a decade--

No. Not eye-catching enough.

Once nothing more than a well-loved neighborhood institution, Restaurant Agito has been launched to new heights with the receipt of their first Michelin star--

No, not complimentary enough, it’s a nice restaurant.

Restaurant Agito_

Transcript first. The introduction will come to me once I’m looking at the whole thing.

[New: blank document]

[Open: agitointerview.mp3]

Notes to myself: Tsugami Shouichi--friendly, big smile. Intense eye contact, felt like I was staring at the sun. Wears a lapel pin with the restaurant’s little alpha-omega logo, it’s cute. Maybe not the most handsome guy but wow what a smile, hopefully he’s making some girl very happy. Or guy, who knows, it’s 2015. Insisted on bringing out a tasting plate of some of the restaurant’s most popular dishes to snack on while we talked. We sat in the restaurant, mid-afternoon, not a lot of customers. Sous chef was handling things in the kitchen.

Begin transcript.

[Play]

--

Kido Shinji: I hope you don’t mind if I, uh, if I record?

Tsugami Shouichi: Oh, no, not at all! I wouldn’t expect you to just remember everything, right? I mean I guess you could write it down but that seems like it’d be difficult.

KS: It’s definitely not easy, that’s for sure.

*laughter*

KS: So, uh, if you don’t mind, let’s start with the basics, just so I can have them on record. I’m Kido Shinji--

TS: It’s great to meet you!

KS: Um, likewise, thanks.

Note: strong handshake, damn, I think my hand actually aches still

TS: And I’m Tsugami Shouichi.

KS: Right, wonderful--it’s spelled like--

TS: Yeah, that looks right. Although I’m not exactly the best person to ask, my spelling’s terrible.

KS: Mine too, honestly, I don’t know where I’d be without spell-check.

*more laughter*

KS: So you’re the proprietor of Restaurant Agito, correct?

TS: That’s me! Owner, head chef, uh, I actually grow most of the vegetables myself, I do a lot of stuff here.

KS: Oh wow, you have a vegetable garden?

TS: Up on the roof! I can show you after we’re done talking if you like.

KS: That’d be great, I’d love to take a few photos if you don’t mind.

TS: Oh sure! Oh, ask anyone who knows me, I love showing off my garden, it’s my pride and joy. I mean, apart from the restaurant. I had a garden before I had a restaurant, I’ve been doing that longer. Although I guess you’re not here to talk about gardening really--

KS: No no, it’s fine, I like hearing about this sort of thing, it’s, um, human interest. Everyone’s into eating local these days, right?

TS: Right!

KS: So, uh. You’ve got a Michelin-starred restaurant at--you’re 35, right? I think you mentioned that on the phone.

TS: Yeah, 35, that’s right.

KS: That’s pretty impressive, that kind of success at 35.

TS: I mean I don’t know that it’s that impressive, I’ve just, I’ve worked really hard, yeah? I don’t like to brag.

KS: No, of course not, that’s what I’m here for. I’m going to brag for you.

TS: Well, when you put it like that--here, try some of this, this is the squash quiche, it’s one of my specialties.

KS: I bet it’s from squash you grow yourself?

TS: Of course!

KS: I’m almost expecting you to say you keep the chickens too.

TS: Oh, no, uh, birds make me nervous, I went to a farm once and a rooster sort of landed on my shoulder and crowed in my ear the whole time, it was bad. Seriously, though, try a bite, please.

Note: fucking spectacular quiche, holy shit

*chewing noises*

KS: Oh wow. That is. Amazing. That might be one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.

TS: You’re making me blush.

KS: No, really, this is really really good. I could just keep eating only I don’t want to keep you, so we should--we should get back to the interview. So you’ve got a Michelin-starred restaurant at 35. When did you open it?

TS: Um, when I was 21, 22 maybe? Right out of culinary school. Well, not right out, there was a, uh, a gap, I wasn’t doing much of anything for a while.

KS: Illness?

TS: Sort of. I mean, you’re probably not going to believe this, but I had amnesia?

KS: Oh my god.

TS: Yeah, I was in a boating accident--you remember the Akatsuki-gou?

KS: Do I remember--that was the biggest news story going when I was fresh out of college, of course I remember that. You were on the Akatsuki-gou?

TS: Yeah, I was on there, and there was the, the incident, and I was pretty badly injured and lost my memory for a while. But once I got better I opened the restaurant.

KS: Wow, I’m even more impressed now.

Note: pull up some of the news stories about the Akatsuki-gou. Add some extra interest there, that’s a lot. There was some hero cop who saved everyone on there, maybe I could look him up for another article, do a retrospective.

KS: Um, what made you want to open a restaurant? After all that happened?

TS: I mean, I guess it was to honor my sister? She was the one who put me through culinary school, and she, uh, she died. Not long before the accident.

KS: Oh my god, I’m so sorry to hear that. Was she unwell?

TS: Not really? I mean. Uh. She killed herself. I’d rather not talk about it.

KS: Of, of course not, I’m so sorry. That’ll, I’ll leave that out of the article, of course.

TS: Thanks, I’d appreciate that. Anyway, uh, I mean, she died, and then I was in this accident, and kind of a lot of stuff happened, but when I’d gotten my memory back I ran into an old professor of mine from culinary school and I had money from, um, my inheritance? He’d tried running the restaurant but decided he wanted to go back to teaching, and I had the money to buy it from him. So I bought it, and, um, redecorated it and gave it the new name and everything and there you go. Restaurant Agito.

KS: That’s amazing.

TS: Thanks!

KS: Actually I’ve been meaning to ask about the name, what does Agito mean? Is it, um, is it a family name, or something personal, or--I feel like I’ve heard the word before.

TS: Oh. Oh, uh. Have you? *nervous laughter, not sure why* It’s sort of, it’s just sort of...it’s got. A personal meaning--are you all right?

KS: I’m fine, I’m fine, sorry, just--just a headache. Anyway, Agito. I remember that word, there was something years ago...did it have to do with...mirrors? I feel like I remember mirrors...

TS: Mirrors? No, nothing like that--are you sure you’re ok?

KS: I’m fine. Sorry. A personal meaning?

TS: Well, it’d be really hard to explain. It was...it’s from something a couple of friends and I did together, we had sort of a club.

Note: I think he’s hiding something here. He looked really nervous, and I’m not sure why. Need to look into that word. Agito. I’m sure I’ve heard it before.

KS: Really? A club? What did you guys do?

TS: Oh it’s--it’s complicated.

KS: I--I’m sorry, who’s that who just came in?

TS: Oh, that’s Tezuka, he’s a regular, he runs sort of a fortune-telling business near here. Nice guy. Why?

KS: I...feel like I recognize him.

TS: Well, he does get everywhere, sometimes he just sets up on the street in the weirdest places to tell fortunes. Maybe you’ve seen him before.

KS: I’m sure that’s it, yeah. So, uh, it’s always just been you? No, no business partners or co-owners or anything?

TS: Yeah, just me. Well, and Mana, she’s an old friend, she helped me out a lot when I was having those memory problems? She works here now, you met her when you came in. And there’s another old friend, Ryou, he was in that club I mentioned, he does deliveries for us sometimes when he’s in the area. But he travels a lot.

KS: He does--what? I’m sorry, could you repeat that last part? I’ve got this...ringing...in my ears, I missed the last bit.

TS: Oh, just. My friend Ryou delivers for us occasionally. He’s a great guy. *rustling* You know what, I’m going to get you a glass of water.

KS: That’s really not necess--actually, you know what, I’d appreciate a glass of water, thank you.

TS: No problem! Um, Mana, could you--

*woman’s voice in background, not loud enough to be understandable*

TS: Thanks, Mana! Look, Mr. Kido--

KS: You...you can call me Shinji, that’s fine.

TS: Ok, Shinji, are you sure you’re all right? You’re not, uh...feeling things?

KS: Feeling things? What do you mean?

Note: What a strange way of putting it. Am I feeling things. There’s definitely something going on with that guy.

TS: Oh, you know, uh, other people’s thoughts. Or like...moving stuff with your mind?

KS: No, why would I--I’m not sure what you mean, I--

*startled noise*

TS: Oh, oh, what’s wrong?

KS: I--nothing. There’s a, a mirror over there, I just saw my reflection, it startled me.

TS: It, uh, it was definitely your regular face you saw, right?

KS: No, I, uh, I’m just, not a big fan of mirrors.

TS: Oh! Then that’s, that’s all right.

*clinking glass*

KS: Thank you.

TS: Thanks so much, Mana! Anyway, uh, never mind that, forget I said any of that. But...also, if you keep getting headaches--actually, just. You should come by here to eat whenever you like, I think. If you need to talk about stuff.

KS: Um. Thanks? I’m sorry, I’ve got aspirin in my jacket, I just need this ringing to stop--you’re sure Agito doesn’t have anything to do with mirrors?

TS: Definitely sure.

*sound of someone drinking water*

Note: not sure what got into me here. My reflection startled me really badly, I guess. I don’t think “Agito” actually has anything to do with mirrors, but when I think back 14 years or so I just think, “mirrors,” not sure why, and with all that talk about the Akatsuki-gou it brought that up.

--

I should cover that mirror on the wall over there. It keeps reflecting the light from the window into my eyes.

--

KS: So, uh. On to the menu! We’ve got this amazing tasting plate, I’d love to write a bit about the food you make here.

TS: Right, yeah! So you had some of the quiche, and then this here is a vegetarian lasagna that I’ve really perfected over the past few years--

--

[Pause agitointerview.mp3]

Head hurts again. It’s probably the glare. Definitely need to cover that mirror. Wish that ringing sound would stop.

Tsugami seems like a nice guy. Wonder what he and his friends were up to that he’s so afraid to talk about.

Restaurant Agito is a well-loved neighborhood institution, entirely free of the world within the mirrors--

The world within the mirrors? What the hell?

Restaurant Agito_

Why won’t my ears stop ringing?

Click.

Click.

[Are you sure you want to delete this file permanently?]

#tsugami shouichi #kido shinji #fanfiction #anonamouse

[octothorpetopus]

Across The Universe (Aaron Hotchner x Emily Prentiss)

Hotch would have chased Emily to the ends of the earth if he had to. So he did.

A/N: I’ll be honest, this is not in any way canon compliant, and I didn’t really have a specific timeline in mind as to when this is occurring. Thanks to @agenthotchner for the idea.

Hotch wasn’t sure at what point he decided to go. He had been thinking about it for months, to the point where he had planned it out to the last detail. But then there was the matter of Jack, who he owed a trip to his aunt’s house, and that he didn’t actually know where Emily was. Every time he thought about pulling out his phone and calling her, he thought better of it, for months and months and months. And then the one time he did, he found that the number no longer belonged to her.

Then he remembered the one person he knew who could find anyone on earth if she put her mind to it, so he called her.

“Garcia?”

“Sir Hotch? It’s been a minute.” Through the phone, it was like he could hear her smile, and he smiled too.

“It’s nice to hear from you, Penelope. Listen, I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything for you. What’s up?” Hotch paused. Could he ask her to do this? Did he want to ask her to do this? And then he pictured Emily’s face, her broad, white smile, framed by pitch-black hair, her eyes that saw everything.

“I need you to find someone.” Garcia sighed.

“Hotch-“

“Please.”

“Hotch, I’ve looked for her, but she’s smart. She doesn’t want to be found.” Hotch nodded. He had expected as much.

“Thanks anyway, Garcia.”

“See you in a week for Christmas?” He chuckled.

“Yeah.”

“Hey, Hotch?”

“What’s up?”

“I love you just a little bit.”

“I know, Penelope.” He hung up and fell backwards on the sofa in his empty apartment. Oh, well. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be. In the meantime, while Jack was gone, he could get through the stuff he had to do at home. And he would start with the massive pile of junk mail that had collected on the kitchen counter.

Halfway through the stack of bills and catalogs, Hotch came across an unassuming cream-colored envelope. It was nicer, heavier paper than most mail, he noticed. And then he flipped it over and saw the scrawled, loopy handwriting he had struggled to decipher on a thousand reports, that had signed a half-dozen birthday and Christmas cards that he had received from twenty different countries. It was Emily, he saw her in her writing, in his own name and address. His hands shook as he opened the envelope and unfolded the heavy white paper.

Aaron, it read,

I haven’t heard from you in a while. Which is admittedly my fault. Anyway, I know you hate to get sappy, but I miss you. I miss everyone, but it seems like every day I see something and I think, “that would make Hotch smile”. I miss your smile, Hotch. I’m just writing to say merry Christmas, I guess, to you and Jack. I won’t be back for the holidays, so I find myself having plenty of time to write this letter (and more) in between glasses of wine alone on my fire escape. Give my love to everyone, and I’ll see you when I do. Hopefully soon, if you know me as well as I think you do. Much love from Stockholm, Emily.

Hotch read the letter, and re-read it, and then re-read it again.

“Am I reading into this?” He asked himself silently. But there was no one on earth he knew better than Emily, and there was no one who knew him better than her. He got up and practically ran to his home office. He pulled out the legal pad he had been so fond of writing notes out on in his attorney days. “If I know you as well as I think that I do.” “Much love from Stockholm.” It was a message if he had ever seen one, and he had seen dozens.

Hotch had his go bag out from under the bed and packed within five minutes. He grabbed his passport from the kitchen drawer, his car keys and wallet, and was out the door in ten. There weren’t many flights to Stockholm, but he found one, and ten hours later he stepped off the plane in Sweden. And that was when he promptly realized he didn’t know how to find Emily and he didn’t speak a word of Swedish. So he called the one person who could help him, once again.

“Garcia,” she answered, yawning. “Hotch, it’s two in the morning.”

“In Stockholm, it’s eight o’clock.”

“What does that have to do with anything? Wait, Hotch, are you in Sweden right now?”

“Yes, and as a matter of fact, so is Emily. Penelope, I need you to find her. Look for a driver’s license, employment records, whatever you can to find her address.”

“Fine. Give me twenty minutes. I’ll call you back.” She called back almost exactly twenty minutes later.

“So, Emily was working as a trauma counselor for a month or so, but her records end about a month and a half ago. I did manage to get a home address, though.” Hotch listened and scrawled down the address on his legal pad.

“Thanks, Garcia. Go back to bed.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll talk to you later. Preferably when the sun’s up.”

Hotch caught a cab to the address Penelope had given him, but when he talked to the landlord, he found-

“Sorry, she left almost two months ago,” the landlord said in strongly accented English. Hotch nodded and turned to leave, but the landlord cleared his throat. “Wait. You wouldn’t happen to be, ah, Aaron Hotchner?”

“Yes, that’s me.” The landlord nodded and reached behind the building’s front desk. He pulled out an envelope, the same heavy cream-colored paper with messy blue ink across it.

“She left this for you.” Hotch took the letter and read it in the cab back to the airport.

Aaron,

I’m sorry I missed you. I don’t know if my letter got lost in the mail or if you let it get caught up in that awful stack of mail you always let pile up in your kitchen. Either way, I’ve found that it wasn’t just DC I couldn’t stay in. I can’t seem to stay anywhere for too long. But again, you know me too well, so you know what I’m doing. See you soon, Hotch. Much love from Manila, Emily.

Hotch folded the letter and slipped it into his breast pocket, right alongside the first one. So. The Philippines. Well, Hotch had saved well from early in his life, including his airline miles, and he had always wanted to travel the world. Besides, Jack was at his aunt’s for another week.

And the more Hotch thought about it, the more he realized he would do this forever if he had to. He wouldn’t leave Jack behind, of course, but if he had to keep chasing Emily through letters and airplanes, he would do it. There was a time when he would have denied that, and when he would have denied feeling anything for Emily other than friendship and perhaps a strong sense of family. But he felt that family bond with Penelope, with Dave, with Derek, with JJ, with Spencer. With Emily, there was something more. Something he hadn’t realized until too late. And then that something had taken over him, made him sick with love and the pain of not knowing how to find it. Before Emily, he hadn’t understood the term ‘lovesick’. But there was no other word to describe the feeling he felt now, that grew with every hour on the plane. He was closer now, he felt it. And he would find her.

One seventeen hour flight later, the flight touched down in the Philippines, and once again, Hotch called Penelope.

“Where are you now?” She asked without bothering to greet him.

“Manila. What time is it there?”

“Nine o’clock. A.M. You’re good. Twenty minutes?”

“Sounds good.”

Twenty minutes passed and this time, Hotch had to call Penelope.

“Garcia? What’s taking so long?”

“It seems like Emily didn’t work for whatever amount of time she was there. I’m looking into hotel records now, and... got it!”

An hour later, Hotch found Emily’s hotel, and just like Stockholm, found her gone, with another letter in her place.

Aaron,

We have to stop meeting like this. Or rather, not meeting like this. I’ve only been here for about a week, and I don’t think I’ll stay any longer. It’s fine here, a little too hot for my tastes. If you’re reading this, I’ll see you in the next spot. Much love from Athens, Emily.

“Damn it, Emily, can’t you just date your letters?” He muttered. “Back to the airport, then.” And to Greece it was. Another fifteen hour flight. Hotch’s legs were cramping and he hadn’t had a steady sleep in almost three days now. He didn’t know what time it was in Greece or in DC when he called Garcia, but she picked up anyway.

“Where?”

“Athens. Twenty minutes?”

“Twenty minutes. Love ya.”

As Hotch walked the crowded city streets of Athens, staring up at the Parthenon, he thought about how little he had seen. He never had a chance to travel the world, he realized. That was always more Emily’s speed. He loved this, seeing the world through her eyes. It was like being with her. He could almost hear her cracking jokes and reciting facts, probably in her best imitation of Reid, which wasn’t particularly good.

This time, Hotch found just what he expected. A letter. He had grown to like the letters. Not as much as he would’ve liked to find her, but he liked the way she smudged the ink as she wrote and made the lines a little too long when she crossed her Ts. He wasn’t Reid, he knew next to nothing about handwriting analysis, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know her from her writing.

Aaron,

I stayed three weeks this time. I hoped you would get here sooner. I would have loved to show you the Acropolis and the Parthenon and taken you to all the temples and museums. I highly recommend you take some time to check them out. Of course, depending on how far behind you are, maybe you don’t have time. I hope you find me, still. Please find me, Hotch. Much love from Mumbai, Emily.

“Emily, why do you have to move across the continent?” He asked it as if she could answer. The letters were something, but they weren’t her. He had to find her, the real her, not just these damn letters. And the next step on that trip was India.

“Hotch, so help me god, please tell me you’re getting closer,” Penelope said as soon as she picked up the phone.

“I think so. At least, I hope so. I’m in Mumbai. She’s only two weeks ahead of me now, so she can’t have gone far. Check hotel records.”

“On it.” This time, Hotch didn’t even bother hanging up the phone. He was content to listen to her type and him quietly to herself. “Hey, Hotch?”

“Yeah?”

“You really love Emily, huh?” He hesitated. Because he did, didn’t he? Why else would be crossing the world to find her?

“Yes,” he said simply.

“Good. I love you both and you’re perfect for each other. Find her, and see if you can’t bring her home, eh?”

“I’ll see what I can do. What do you have for me?”

“Well, I have her address where she stayed for the last two weeks.”

“So she’s still here.” Hotch let out a sigh of relief.

“Well, maybe. She checked out this morning.” Hotch got in a cab and told the driver to step on it.

“Damn it!” Hotch restrained the urge to punch a wall. She had left two hours ago, the hotel manager told him, and handed him another letter.

Aaron,

Damn it. I thought I left enough time. I hope you see me. I hope I see you before Christmas. Although I can’t blame you if you decide to give up and go back home. If you do, I’ll see you when I do. I’ll keep this letter short, and I’m not sure how many more I’ll write if you don’t catch up soon. But I hope you know I’m not trying to abandon you, and if you find me, I’ll be the happiest I’ve been in years. Also, tell Penelope thank you. I’m sure there’s no way you’ve found me without her. Much love from, well, where would I disappear to? You know me, Aaron. You know me too well.

At that moment, Hotch knew exactly where she was. Just one more twelve-hour flight away.

Hotch had always liked Paris. Emily has always liked Paris, actually, and Hotch liked Emily. The truth was that Hotch didn’t much care about where he was.

“Penelope-“

“Paris?”

“Yes, how did you-?”

“Please. I’m not a profiler, but I know Emily. Anyway, she hasn’t been here long enough for me to know where she is-“

“That’s fine. I know. I just called to tell you she says thank you. And so do I.”

“You’re my best friends. I’d do anything for you. Go get the girl, Hotch.”

“Thanks, Pen.” Hotch knew exactly where she was. She didn’t often talk about Paris, but when she did, she talked about the view she loved, when she could see the Eiffel Tower and the Seine from the same window. He bought a map from a newsstand and sat down to mark it off. A drizzling rain had begun to fall, but he hardly noticed. He didn’t have Reid’s geographical profiling skills, but he could mark off the area that could see both the river and the tower. Then all he had to do was find the apartment buildings in that area. As a matter of fact, there were only three. Only one had Emily, or rather one of her aliases, in their records.

It was late and pouring rain by the time Hotch arrived. He scanned the buzzer in the dim, foggy light of the street lamps. She would use her own name this time. She had no reason to hide. So he found the button next to the name Prentiss and relief washed over him as he pushed it. And it was at that moment that he realized he had no idea what to say. But he didn’t have time to think about it because the intercom buzzed.

“Qu'est-ce?” It was French, but it was her. Hotch had to hold in a half-gasp-half-sob. “Qu'est-ce?” She repeated.

“It’s Hotch.” There was a pause, and then-

“Hotch? Oh my god, Hotch?”

“It’s me, Em,” he replied, and he found that he was crying just a little bit. His tears mixed with the rain that had now drenched his face, and for that matter the rest of him.

“Hold on.” Something buzzed and the door unlocked. Hotch heaved his bag over his shoulder and sprinted up the stairs, disregarding the elevator entirely. He ran up ten flights of stairs and down to the end of the hall, panting and trailing water behind him. He pounded on her door, knowing he was being too loud and frankly not caring. As he began to knock again, the door swung open and his fist hit empty air, and behind that empty air there was Emily, staring up at him in slack-jawed silence. And Hotch still didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything. He just kissed her. His hands were on her face, her hands were on his back, and he was steadily dripping rainwater onto the hardwood floors.

“You round me,” she said at last as she broke the kiss.

“I’m one of the best FBI profilers in history. Did you think I wouldn’t?” He asked, still cupping her face in his hands.

“Not for a second. Although I got a little worried there in Athens for a minute.”

“Please. Also, I had Garcia track your employment and hotel records.”

“Hmm. Very smart.” She stepped aside to allow him in. Her apartment was filled with boxes. She had arrived mere hours before him.

“I was so close to getting you in India.”

“I know. But I’m glad it was here.” She took his hand and tugged him through the near-empty apartment.

“Emily? Where are we going?”

“Fire escape.” She crawled through the open window and helped him through. The rain soaked her down in less than a minute, but she didn’t seem to mind. From the fire escape, the Eiffel Tower was lit up in a golden spire, and the reflection danced across the Seine. He could see why she liked it so much.

“Hotch-“

“Emily-“ They both laughed, and it came unbearably easily, as if they had never been apart.

“You go first.”

“I need to tell you something. I need to tell you why I came across the world to find you.” He turned around so that his back was facing her. He didn’t think he could do this if he had to look into her eyes. “Emily Prentiss, I love you. And I didn’t realize it until you were gone. Which, I’ll admit, was stupid of me. It was stupid of me to ever let you go.

“Yeah, it really was.”

“Hey, can you-? Thanks. Anyway, like I was saying before I was so very rudely interrupted, I found you, and I’ll find you ten more times if I have to because this is a few times in a lifetime type of love. And not being with you makes me feel sick. And I came across the world to fine you.”

“You said that.”

“Well, I’m running out of things to say, so can you just kiss me and shut me up please?” Emily put a hand on his shoulder and leaned over his shoulder. He had to crane his neck, but she kissed him.

“I love you, Aaron Hotchner,” she said between kisses.

“Oh, thank god.” He looked down at her positively drenched clothes. “You’re going to catch a cold.”

“So are you. Give me your bag, I’ll toss the stuff in the dryer, and you can hop in the shower.” Hotch stammered incoherently. “Please. I’m not proposing anything indecent. But you’ve been chasing me for almost four days. You need a shower.” Hotch shook his head, spraying water everywhere.

“In a minute. First, promise me you’ll have all your stuff unpacked by Christmas. You deserve Christmas.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Second... promise me you’ll let me stay for Christmas. So you’re not alone.” Emily’s bro’s furrowed.

“What about Jack and the others?”

“Hayley’s family would love to have Jack for Christmas, and he’ll survive without me for a few days.” Emily bit her lip.

“Or... what if I came home with you? What if I came back to DC and spent Christmas with you and Jack and the guys?” Hotch felt his eyes start to water again.

“You would do that? I thought you wanted to escape DC.”

“I do. Kind of. I wanted to escape because I thought there wasn’t anything for me there. But that was dumb. I have you. I have our friends. So I don’t know that I’ll be back right away, but I’ll come back for Christmas.”

Hotch threw his arms around Emily in an uncharacteristic burst of excitement. Then again, he couldn’t help it.

“Hey, Hotch?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. I never thought I’d have anyone who would cross the world to find me.”

“As long as you keep running, I’ll keep chasing.”

#hotchniss #criminal minds #emily prentiss #ssa emily prentiss #ssa aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x emily prentiss #paget brewster #thomas gibson #criminal minds fic #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds fluff

[guylty]

The great thing about missing a round-up? That is catching up with double the fun the next week! Hello and sorry for the radio silence. You know me… once out of step, Guylty finds it hard to commit to coming back. Commitment issues, yeah right. Having said that – the reason I didn’t post last weekend was a short break in Germany with all the family on the occasion of my mother’s 70th birthday. As is the custom in (Northern) Germany, it was a big affair, but semi-formal this time, as it was not an evening dinner but a lunchtime, sit-down meal of a traditional local winter dish. We started off with a little walk to my dad’s ginkgo tree where all participants (half the invited guests are older than my mum and not necessarily avid walkers anymore) were greeted with a traditional schnapps. From there it was back to the restaurant for the meal with coffee and cake in the afternoon and finally one for the road at about 7pm. It was great fun, and even though I realise that our local speciality does not look particularly attractive on the plate – plus, I won’t even tell you what it is called; its name sounds worse than it already looks – it was delicious and brought back many memories.

The ginkgo tree… not that impressive in winter

The table of presents

Flowers are always good

The meaty part of the meal

The 18th century gate house of our local castle

Anyway, sorry for the detour, you have come here for the round-up, and the round-up you shall have.

Look, Adam is already grumpy because I have waffled about non-RA stuff…

Riepu10 says “just Guy”. But listen, how could Guy ever be “just”…

For the Cats enthusiasts among you (I am looking at one person in particular), maybe this post by grumpy-jellicle-cat makes sense? I couldn’t really see RA in any of the shots, but then again…

Lip-smackingly good gifs of Adam by spensermonroe

This had never occurred to me, but peneigh-dzredfohl has a point. The curly hair is the give-away

I hadn’t seen the My Zoe trailer in English yet. And strangely, with the non-dubbed, original voices there now, it suddenly feels much more interesting and real to me. Trailer posted by deepestfirefun

I don’t think I will ever watch The Lodge, but I could look at a million screenshots of Richard drinking water. Thank you to deepestfirefun again

The stuff of a thousand fangirls’ dreams. Thank you, Riepu10

Throwback to RDC5 with this picture of RA’s signature and comment in gatissed’s signed book

Interesting reinterpretation of a much-loved scene in TS, giffed and put together by mezzmerizedbyrichard

Richardarmitagefanpage has a few new pics of RA – from TS set and last week’s Graham Norton radio show

Also by richardarmitagefanpage – cool fan art/birthday cards

Great interpretation by crazytxgradstudent of the well-known theatre picture of Astrov wet and drunk. You know what? I would love to make this a series of posts where we look at pictures and re-interpret them for a different chaRActer

This two-gif-set by riepu10 is in the same category as the one from SDCC of Richard simply breathing. Another thing that I could watch for hours 😂

Ooooh, Valentine’s Day. I totally missed it. Here’s richardarmitagefanpage’s gift for you

Nice one… Anthony Head on playing Adam’s father… And lovely Richard being as complimentary as usual. Found by richardarmitagefanpage

Riepu10’s Valentine’s cards – always good

Ride a horse with him??? *raises eyebrow* Ooookay, omgopalsapphire

Nice manip for Valentine’s Day by nellindreams

21st century Thornton? A comic sketch by skepticalfrog

If you haven’t seen it yet on Twitter – sinnaminie has plushified Astrov. This is really cute, and I am sure tempted to have this one in my collection

Mezzmerizedbyrichard has also focussed on Adam’s lips…

If I hadn’t already binged TS, mzannthropy would have completely convinced me. Convincing arguments

He’s never been in *my* home town, but I kind of understand the feeling that theliveshipparagon describes

I know, daddy!Armitage doesn’t really rock everybody’s boat, but I think mezzmerizedbyrichard’s gif set might warm a few hearts here and there

I have to admit that those family pictures from TS made me want to see a whole spin-off about the pre-drama times of the Prices… Picture posted by richardarmitagefanpage

All the official pictures from Richard’s appearance on Lorraine in one handy photo set by fullerology. Man, he looks great at the mo…

WORD! mzannthropy

Nice! Richard Armitage – or rather: Guy of Gisborne als live action Trevor Belmont. By indigoneutrino

Seeing this gif (plus comment) by yorkshirewench, I am beginning to agree with the suggestion of RA as Jackman and Siobhan Finneran as Marie Evans…

Seriously, “lose the hat, dad”! That also applies to you, Richard!!!! Gifs by riepu10

Right, 30 items? Got to be a new record here!? And I haven’t even delved in the other tags apart from #richardarmitage. Yep, as I said, sometimes it is actually a good thing when I miss a week.

Hope you have enjoyed that. Quick shout-out to everyone who has commented in the last while. I will catch up, soon, also with my e-mails. Apologies for my lack of replying. Yeah, I admit I was lazy. But then I was also completely distracted the last couple of days because RAnet had suddenly developed a major hiccup: For most of Thursday and Friday the site was stuck on a round-about. Well, or in tech terms: it was endlessly redirecting, which meant the site was not accessible. Added to the problem was that for some reason my login details suddenly did not work anymore and I was unable to re-set my password. It took several hours on live chat with my hoster’s support team to sort out the issue. But it *has* been sorted, the site is up and running again. Phew.

We all deserve a nice long weekend now!

Sonja ❤

2020 Armitage Weekly Round-up #7 The great thing about missing a round-up? That is catching up with double the fun the next week!

#Adam Price #Guy of Gisborne #Richard Armitage #The Stranger #Thorin Oakenshield #Weekly tumblr Round-up

[letsplaystarrysky]

Starry★Sky in Autumn -Hoshizuki- 10/26

Today’s a Monday and Tsukiko’s class schedule involves a lot of changing classrooms. We join her just as she’s gathering her things to hurry to her next class…

Out in the hallway, someone goes “Hey,” to catch her attention and she pauses. Turning around, Tsukiko finds it’s the woman she saw with Hoshizuki-sensei on Saturday.

“Oh good, I thought that was you!”

She then  laughs at herself and jokes about how of course it was Tsukiko, but she forgot that there was only one student in the school who was a girl. She then bemoans how the school has nothing but boys and it’s just...lacks something that way. Tsukiko can only listen, surprised at her sudden appearance and not knowing exactly what to say. She only finds her voice when Mystery Lady calls her the one flower brightening up the school, and protests that that isn’t the case, really. Mystery Lady smiles at her and chides her, saying she’s cute and should be more self-confident.

The way she says it has strong echoes of that time Hoshizuki told her the same thing...back at the Star Road…

Mystery Lady: Oh but I’m keeping you from your lesson, aren’t I? Sorry, but where’s the nurse’s office?

Tsukiko: Huh?!

Mystery Lady: (；へ；) this school is just so big I can never remember how to get anywhere.

As if she can see it written on her face that Tsukiko remembers seeing her coming out of the nurse’s office not two days ago, she explains that Kotarou came to meet her at the gate so she didn’t get lost then. He gets annoyed at the fact that she gets lost every time she comes.

Tsukiko’s not sure, but she’s finding Mystery Lady kind of adorable the longer she listens to her. And the school is kind of ridiculously large.

Mystery Lady: You think so too?! We should get Kotarou to make a map!

Tsukiko: I’m pretty sure he’d just whine that it’s a huge pain.

Mystery Lady: That’s true…

Aw, look at them bonding over discussing Hoshizuki behind his back. That’s how friendships are begun, am I right?

Tsukiko shows her the way to the nurse’s office on her way to class, and thinks to herself about how while this lady definitely looks and seems more mature than her, she still has a little bit of a childish, cute side. In that sense, she kind of reminds Tsukiko of Hoshizuki-sensei…

When the reach the hall with the nurse’s office, Mystery Lady thanks Tsukiko again and says she should get to class before all the boys get even more jealous of her for taking up her time. What? Tsukiko asks. Mystery Lady confides that she saw plenty of students stopping to look at Tsukiko as they passed. Tsukiko protests that they were most likely looking at Mystery Lady...since she’s so beautiful. Mystery Lady laughs and tells Tsukiko how she’ll gladly take the compliment from someone so cute.

That said, she still thinks the boys were looking at Tsukiko. Does she have a boyfriend?

Tsukiko: No, I don’t.

Mystery Lady: ufufu. I can see from your face that there’s someone you like, though, right?

Mystery Lady tells Tsukiko to hurry up and confess to that person, and Tsukiko feels super awkward because she still doesn’t know Mystery Lady’s relationship with Hoshizuki-sensei. Before Tsukiko can try to think of a way out of the awkward place the conversation went to, Mystery Lady spots Kanata and Suzuya looking for Tsukiko off-screen and they part ways.

Tsukiko comes away from the conversation not knowing anything new about the Mystery Lady, but well aware of the fact that she’s a warm, and friendly person. Tsukiko’s sure that around her, Hoshizuki can relax and be himself…

It occurs to her that she should have at least asked the Mystery Lady’s name.

Maybe if she stops by the nurse’s office after school she’ll still be there?

However, when Tsukiko reaches the office after school, she can hear Hoshizuki-sensei’s voice through the door.

Hoshizuki: How many times do I have to tell you, I won’t go to a matchmaking meeting!

Matchmaking?

This is followed by Mystery Lady’s voice, telling him that he’s old enough he should start thinking about these things. But Hoshizuki is firmly against the idea, and the Lady chides him sternly about being too focused on whatever happened in the past. Going on denying himself happiness like this would never have made some unnamed someone happy, he knows that right? Mystery Lady understands that he thinks he can go on by himself, but she knows that he needs someone to support him. She knows he has the bad habit of pushing himself too hard, and who is going to be by his side and hold his hand when he collapses from exhaustion?

Uh, rather heavy handed writing there, since Mystery Lady doesn’t ship Hoshizuki and Tsukiko (yet) but okay, sure.

Anyway, Hoshizuki’s not having it, and getting more belligerent by the moment. Tsukiko hovers outside the door, wondering what to do. She definitely can’t go in without making it super awkward…

Did somebody say making it super awkward?

“Hey, Tsukiko-chan, what are you just standing there for? If you want to talk to Kota-nii, just go inside.”

And before Tsukiko can stop him, he reaches around her and opens the door.

As Tsukiko predicted, Hoshizuki and Mystery Lady freeze awkwardly. For his part, Mizushima also freezes awkwardly. Tsukiko was already frozen awkwardly. It’s an awkward party.

Mystery Lady recovers first, and warmly greets “Iku” with a “long time no see,” and a comment on how much he’s grown. Mizushima smiles back and thanks her, calling her “Koharu” and finally giving us the chance to stop calling her Mystery Lady.

Tsukiko: You know each other?

Mizushima answers with a well, yeah, and turns back to Koharu, expressing that he didn’t expect to see her there. She pouts and asks if he thinks she slacks off on the job too. Mizushima laughs and theorizes that if anything Kota-nii got that bad habit from her, after all. This finally breaks Hoshizuki out of his awkward silence, he laughs and agrees. His lack of work ethic definitely came from her.

Okay, so the three of them definitely have known each other for a long time, but Tsukiko is still confused. Just what is their relationship? But then, finally it comes to light…

Mizushima: Kota-nii could never say no to you.

Koharu: Naturally, big sister knows best, right.

Wait whaaat? So the gorgeous mystery lady was Hoshizuki-sensei’s older sister?!

Koharu laughs and says that’s right, and this is when it finally occurs to her that she never introduced herself to Tsukiko. She’s Hoshizuki Koharu, the chairman of Seigetsu Gakuen. But Tsukiko’s welcome to call her Koharu-san.

Oh, okay…

Chairman?!

(Chairwoman?)

Hoshizuki explains that Koharu took over when their father stepped down… but that said, she rarely comes to the school and makes him do most of the work.

Wait.

Wait, wait.

So what he’s saying is, Hoshizuki-sensei is the son of the school’s former chairman?

Mizushima laughs. Didn’t the name of the school clue her in?

Not in English it wouldn’t so allow me to explain.

Most kanji have two basic readings, the on-yomi and the kun-yomi.

Seigetsu Gakuen’s “Seigetsu” is written with the kanji for star and moon.

Sei = Star

Getsu = Moon

And lo and behold, Hoshizuki is written the same way, but using the other readings for the star and moon kanji.

Hoshi = Star

Zuki = Moon (technically it’s ‘tsuki’ but linguistically when paired in this way the ts sound often becomes a z sound in Japanese but we’re not going to get that far into it).

So basically whoever in the family founded the nerd school for nerds named after the moon and the stars decided to use the alternate reading for the name “Hoshizuki” and gave us “Seigetsu Gakuen”. Does any of that make any sense?

Probably not.

It’s kind of convoluted anyway, but as a Japanese person in Japan seeing the same Japanese kanji all over the place to refer to both the school and the school nurse, Mizushima does kind of have a point. Did she never wonder about it before?

“Well, you’re a little slow on the uptake sometimes.”

Rude.

Anyway, Hoshizuki had never brought it up because he never saw any reason to tell the students.

Well now Tsukiko knows. Koharu asks if she’s enjoying her time at the school and if she doesn’t get lonely sometimes being the only girlperson. Tsukiko says she’s fine, and that she’s enjoying her studies. Koharu’s happy to hear it, reminding Tsukiko about how she’s just said this school needed to be brightened up a bit.

There’s a funny moment where Mizushima wholeheartedly agrees and Koharu scolds him for being a shameless flirt, telling him he needs to learn how to treat girls better.

Ain’t that the truth?

Koharu: If he tries anything with you, Tsukiko-chan, you just let me know. I’ll make him pay.

Where were you in Mizushima’s route, Koharu-san?

While she’s here in this route though, she milks Tsukiko for all the blackmail info she can get. She leans in conspiratorially and asks if Kotarou has been doing his work properly. Tsukiko kind of hedges the “properly” part in her answer and Koharu looks over at her brother disapprovingly. She asks that Tsukiko look after her useless brother for her and Tsukiko stammers out an agreement because a) what else can she say? And b) she feels awkward again because the way Koharu words it sounds the same as the stock phrase people use when they support someone’s romantic relationship.

Mizushima clues in on how friendly Koharu is with Tsukiko and asks, isn’t this their first time meeting? It comes out that they a met on Saturday (actually earlier, but Saturday is the earliest Hoshizuki knows about) and ahaha oh by the way she had to ask Tsukiko for directions again today.

“Seriously? You still don’t remember? This is your school!”

Koharu: That reminds me, can you make me a map of the school, Kotarou?

Hoshizuki: … You can handle that, Iku.

Mizushima: Why do I have to?

Koharu: (-_-) Kotarou…

Hoshizuki: Fine, fine, I’ll do it.

Seeing them talk amongst themselves like this amuses Tsukiko, who contents herself to just listen. She also admires how Koharu masterfully commands the conversation and makes the two guys seem like kids. She’s so cheerful and warm, too, Tsukiko hopes she can be like her when she gets older.

Anyway, Koharu realizes the time and says it’s time for her to be going. Hoshizuki immediately looks relieved. She points out that she wouldn’t have stayed so long if he’s just listen to what she says and Mizushima gets a kick out of this little tidbit. Tsukiko cheerily points out that Hoshizuki can be stubborn sometimes, and he tells her to leave him alone. Koharu however thinks Tsukiko has a point. She sees herself out with one last stern warning for Hoshizuki to seriously consider the matchmaking meeting.

Hoshizuki flatly tells her he refuses any matchmaking meetings. He’d also like to refuse ‘that other thing’ they talked about, if he could, because it’s too much for him.

Koharu scoffs at this, completely self-assured that she’ll get her way in the end, and heads to the door.

Tsukiko: Good-bye, I hope we can talk again soon.

Koharu: Awhn, you’re so sweet. I could just take you home with me.

Hoshizuki: Don’t abduct your own students please.*

(*translation is 100% indirectly implied)

The room is silent a moment after Koharu leaves, then…

Mizushima: You’re going to turn down the matchmaking meeting she set up?

Hoshizuki: Yeah…

Mizushima: Kota-nii, you’re not still dwelling on that, are you…?

Whatever “that” is, Hoshizuki says it has nothing to do with it, he just doesn’t feel like it. (liar) Mizushima clearly doesn’t know quite what to say, so he hands Hoshizuki what he’d been here to deliver from Haruki-sensei and makes a hasty exit.

Suddenly Tsukiko finds herself alone with Hoshizuki.

He apologizes if his sister made her uncomfortable, but Tsukiko says not to worry, she likes Koharu. Figures, Hoshizuki declares, Koharu’s nice to girls but mean to boys. Tsukiko giggles at this. So that’s why Hoshizuki-sensei and Mizushima-sensei couldn’t talk back to her.

Anyway, Tsukiko’s still a little surprised to learn he’s the son of the school’s former chairman.

He never tells anyone because it’s kind of annoying how people act when they find out. Sometimes people realize the truth from his name (unlike some Tsukikos).

Somehow this reminds Tsukiko of when she saw him coming out of the mystery room on the fifth floor and this seems like a good time to ask about it. Oh, that’s the chairman’s office, he casually informs her. He sometimes goes there to help out with his sister’s work. It only became known as the mystery room because Koharu is busy and doesn’t find time to visit the school often, so it’s locked most of the time.

Hm… Tsukiko mulls over this.

Since he’s being so amenable to answering questions, she decides to also ask about that other mystery surrounding him. Is it true he used to want to be a doctor?

She tried to ask casually, and is surprised when he stops and stares at her in surprise. For a moment she wonders if she shouldn’t have asked after all, but then he unfreezes and wonders how she knows about that. She heard a rumour from her classmates. He sighs.

It’s true, he was studying to be a doctor, but he dropped out of medical school. He hesitates, uncharacteristically looking somewhat vulnerable, then offers her a sad smile.

When he offers no reason why he dropped out, she asks, and he only tells her it’s not a very interesting story. She still wants to hear it, she says, so he sighs. She waits, thinking this might be the solution to one of the mysteries surrounding him.

“A long time ago, there was someone I wanted more than anything to save…”

He goes on to explain that when he was growing up, there was a friend of his mother’s living in the area who had two children younger than him, a boy and a girl. At first Koharu was asked to babysit the kids, but when she was in high school, she became too busy, so that job fell to Hoshizuki-sensei. (sound familiar?)

Hoshizuki: I didn’t belong to any clubs or anything when I was in school.

Tsukiko: That sounds like you.

Hoshizuki: Hey, now.

Anyway, babysitting made him realize that he actually kind of liked taking care of people. The two kids were twins, and the girl often got sick and had to go to the hospital. He’s sure Tsukiko understands what that’s like, since she’s in a similar situation with Kanata. Tsukiko thinks about it and agrees; she does know what that feels like.

As Hoshizuki and his babysitting charges grew closer and he came to think of them as family, his urge to protect them only grew. Luckily he was lazy but still from a family of smart people and had grown up with a good education, so he decided to pursue medicine and see if he couldn’t find a cure for the girl’s illness.

“But I was too late… and she died before I could become a doctor.”

His reason for studying medicine gone, Hoshizuki dropped out of med school and fell into a deep depression. He doesn’t remember much of what happened until Koharu and his father all but forced him to take up the school nurse position at Seigetsu Gakuen.

Tsukiko doesn’t know what to say. Hoshizuki tries to laugh a little and tells her to stop making such a sad face. But he does remind her to cherish the time she has with her own childhood friends.

Tsukiko apologizes for asking about something so painful. He shrugs and looks away, softly saying that it’s in the past.

Is it though?

Is it really?

I know what kind of game we’re in.

Tsukiko’s just as suspicious as I am. After all, he keeps turning down matchmaking meetings and didn’t Mizushima say something about the past when he found out? Does that mean… Hoshizuki was… in love with the childhood friend who died? And now he’s too caught up in her memory to move on?

Should… Should she ask?

“He might not want to talk about it…”

“I’m curious but I can forget about it.”

“I have to know, so I’ll ask.”

You’ve been enough of a Nosy Nancy today Tsukki, let’s leave this mystery for another time. We’re taking the considerate route with the first option.

Tsukiko knows enough about his personality that she can see asking any more about this would annoy him, so she holds in the question. He knows her just as well though and…

Hoshizuki: What are you looking at me like that for? Oh, if you’re wondering about the matchmaking meetings, no comment. He then goes on to comment anyway, complaining that he’s too young to get married and Koharu should just leave him alone.

Waaait a minute, then what about what Mizushima said? You might be wondering, but the game planned for this and sends in some off-screen soccer players to bust in the door and say there’s an emergency that needs Hoshizuki-sensei’s attention! One of them fell during practice and hurt himself.

Hoshizuki and Tsukiko go straight into work-mode, with him looking after the student and her getting him the gauze and disinfectant and things he needs. They’re so busy, they completely lose any chance to continue the conversation.

Much later, Hoshizuki realizes it’s night with mild surprise. Tsukiko’s already gone for the night, and he reflects on how the office seems so much quieter when she’s not around. He wonders to himself why he told her about the past he’d tried so hard to forget. Has he gotten so used to having her near that he’s let his guard down?

Tsukiko had answered when he asked that he wasn’t the person she liked.

As for him… he was almost at his limit…

Before he can dwell on that line of thought, he closes the curtain and obscures the stars and the moon from view.

#starry sky #sutasuka #let's play #otome game #hoshizuki kotarou #the truth comes out #koharu is awesome #fun with kanji #misunderstandings still abound #oh hoshizuki #just give in already