#but then Yata's real and wants to save him and hug him and take care of him ;^;

[ridiasfangirlings]

Fushimi has always had a terrible life and his happy place is in his dreams where he would play with this kid named Misaki and where life is okay. He thinks Misaki is just an imaginary friend from his dreams so he does stuff he normally wouldn't do with him and even tell Misaki his problems. He find out in middle school that Misaki does exists but think it's a coincidence and keeps avoiding the other cause he's sorta embarrassed but truth is that they'd been sharing dreams this entire time.

That's called 'destiny,' Saru XD So imagine poor miserable little kid Fushimi, with no friends and terrible parents and he basically has no one he can confide in at all. He's pretty much resigned to always being miserable and then maybe one day shortly after Niki destroys his anthill Fushimi has this dream, that he's sitting in an empty playground on the swings all alone. He just sits there, swinging a little bit, when all of a sudden this small red haired kid comes flying over and just slams onto the swing next to him, laughing and smiling. Fushimi looks at him coldly, like what's wrong with you, but the kid just smiles back at him and introduces himself as 'Yata Misaki.' Fushimi calls him 'Misaki' and Yata gets mad, and somehow it's funny and makes Fushimi want to call him that more. Yata doesn't know how they got here but he's glad Fushimi is here too. Fushimi says this is his dream and Yata says he must have cool dreams then, like look how high we can go on the swings. They end up playing a game of who can swing higher and when Fushimi wakes up he actually feels this moment of happiness, like for a minute he was enjoying a game with a friend, before he remembers that it was just a dream and he's still all alone.

After that he dreams about Yata a lot, especially when something bad or painful has happened and he's feeling particularly lonely, he'll go to bed wishing Misaki was there to hold his hand and find himself in the park again and Misaki always comes running to see him. Since it's just a dream Fushimi's able to be more open and honest too, like he doesn't need to hide beyond the whole facade of being a cold jerk who doesn't want anyone near him because after all a dream can't reject him, it's his dream. Even though he's a dream sometimes Yata will act in ways Fushimi doesn't expect, zero or a hundred points, and that's another one of the things he likes about Yata, that almost makes Yata feel real. Fushimi tells Yata a lot about his terrible home life and Yata always says one day he'll find Fushimi and save him from all that and Fushimi knows it won't happen because this is just his mind wishing it could, but still sometimes when he's sick or alone he finds himself looking out his window and wishing Misaki was real and could come save him.

Then Fushimi starts middle school and he's sitting in his seat when a very familiar looking redhead walks in. Fushimi tells himself that it's just a coincidence but then when everyone's introducing themselves to the class he hears the name 'Yata Misaki' and Fushimi's just shocked, like Misaki really is real. Fushimi had been hoping for that all this time but now that it's true it's like the worst thing because if Misaki is real Misaki can reject him too and hasn't Fushimi been showing him the most embarrassing sides of himself all this time, all those secrets that Fushimi never wanted anyone to know that he confided in Yata. Fushimi thinks Yata probably pities him or thinks he's pathetic, a crybaby leaning on a person in a dream, and even though he's aware of Yata constantly staring at him through class Fushimi refuses to look at him.

Fushimi manages to successfully avoid Yata for a few days before Yata finally catches up to him after school. Fushimi acts all cold to him, like how do you know my name anyway and Yata's all nervous as he's like 'so, this probably sounds stupid okay, but I've been having these dreams for years...'. Fushimi clicks his tongue and tries to act like he has no idea what Yata's talking about but Yata won't give in that easily, like even if Fushimi doesn't remember any of those dreams Yata remembers them all, his best friend who he's never seen when he was awake...until now. And then Yata says that he meant every word he said in those dreams too and he knows it took a while but he's here now, and he's going to save Fushimi from every terrible thing that ever tries to hurt him, he's going to make sure Fushimi's never alone again, because now that he knows it's real he finally has a chance to help the most important person in the world to him.

#sarumi #Talking K #trying to imagine this as like a low key soulmate type thing too #like no one knows how you meet your soulmate it's a secret #sharing dreams is just one way and Fushimi assumes he's making this up bc he would never have a real soulmate #but then Yata's real and wants to save him and hug him and take care of him ;^;

[ridiasfangirlings]

(1/2) Have you done an Erased au yet? Yata as Satoru who has the power to time-travel to a point where he could prevent a disaster gets transported to the past after his mom gets killed. It's the year where several kids got murdered. One of them Fushimi. Yata wasn't really friends with him then but regrets not doing anything to help him as he did notice the kid alone and lonely so this time he tdecides to save him from the kidnapper and from his abusive family. Took him multiple times but after

Is there any better time to confess your feelings than when your childhood boyfriend has just woken up from his decade long coma and you've just caught a murderer :D So say Yata's in his early twenties, working a bunch of dead end part time jobs to make ends meet. The ony interesting thing about his life is he has this secret power that he can't tell anyone about, where he can sometimes time travel back to the past for just a brief moment, right before something bad happens. Yata hasn't told anyone about this power but he uses it to do small good deeds and it makes him feel like maybe he's a bit of a superhero. One day as he's headed home from his part time job in the snow he uses the power to like save a kid from being hit by a bus and he's feeling pretty good about himself, which is when he happens to glance over at the nearby park. That reminds Yata of something from his past, how he once saw this skinny gloomy kid standing there in a winter coat wearing a scarf staring off at nothing, and how Yata almost called out to him. Yata can't recall the kid's name but he does remember that the kid was in his class and this was the last time anyone saw him alive, he was murdered by this serial child killer who never was caught. Remembering that makes Yata feel momentarily down, like even though he'd put it in the back of his mind really part of his playing 'superhero' with his powers was always because Yata felt guilty for not calling out that time.

As he's about to enter his apartment Yata runs into someone who seems to be leaving the building. The guy is wearing a strange fox mask and somehow Yata thinks that looks vaguely familiar but he can't recall where. As he reaches the apartment he realizes that his door is open and he runs inside to find that a friend of his from the neighborhood, Totsuka Tatara, is lying shot dead in Yata's apartment. Yata suddenly remembers the fox mask man and tries to run after him, there's the sound of police sirens though and Yata realizes that somehow something awful's happened. He's freaking out about what to do when he feels dizzy and realizes that his power is activating, Yata thinks he just needs to go back in time to save Totsuka but at the same time his mind travels back for just a moment to that kid standing in the park in the snow, the person he couldn't save.

When Yata opens his eyes again he's standing in the snow still but he's not at his apartment. Instead he's standing in front of an elementary school, Yata looks down and realizes that he's like turned into a kid. As he's trying to figure out what happened passing middle schooler Totsuka greets him and tells him he'll be late for school, Yata's all 'you're alive!' and almost hugs him (Totsuka totally takes it in stride like yup still alive while his friends Kusanagi and Mikoto exchange glances and shrug). Yata asks what year it is and he's told that it's like ten years prior, when he was in elementary school. Yata realizes that this is like right before those murders happened and that he's been given a chance to save all the people he couldn't, determined to really be a hero this time.

He heads into class, passing by one of the teachers who's an elegant-looking guy with long silver hair. When Yata gets to class he listens closely to the attendance roster, eyes fixed on the gloomy kid seated near the head of the class and memorizing the name 'Fushimi Saruhiko.' That evening Yata uses his memories of the past to figure out when Fushimi was orginally killed and makes a plan to become Fushimi's friend before that can happen. This is obviously easier said than done, Fushimi's prickly and gloomy and doesn't want to be friends with anyone. In trying to get close to him Yata ends up finding out about how Fushimi's dad is abusive and his mom never comes home, Yata wondering if maybe Niki was the killer all along. One day when Fushimi doesn't come to class Yata finds an excuse to bring printouts to him at home and ends up nursing a sick Fushimi, after which Fushimi slowly starts to warm up to him. On the night when Fushimi was murdered in the previous timeline Yata encounters him at the park again and this time he calls out, taking Fushimi by the hand and making Fushimi come home with him instead.

Yata feels like he must have finally saved Fushimi but then several days later Fushimi stops coming to school. Yata goes to Fushimi's house and runs into Niki, who taunts him and makes comments about 'a monkey accidentally falling down the stairs,' Yata is totally despairing and manages to use his power again in order to go back a few weeks. From this point on he's totally focused on saving Fushimi from his terrible parents but then at the same time Yata realizes that the culprit might not be Niki after all. Soon Yata's trying to figure out who the real murderer is but he's not exactly a genius and it occurs to him that he's going to need help to solve this – and there's only one amazing person he can think of, who will believe Yata's wild story and who might be smart enough to figure out who the real murderer is.

Yata hesitantly confides in Fushimi, maybe not admitting the whole time travel thing but saying that he found out there's someone in town trying to kidnap and murder kids and that he was afraid that Fushimi was a target. Fushimi's skeptical at first but Yata's so unexpectedly serious that he finds himself believing it, like Misaki wouldn't lie to him. They decide to work together to find the culprit, becoming a team and saving several other kids who were potential victims. Fushimi feels like they're getting closer to finding the culprit, like he's just missing one more clue, and Yata's like this is it we're gonna solve this, there's nothing we can't do together. The next day though Yata is pulled unconscious from a half-submerged car, with no clues as to who did it besides a mysterious fox mask in the driver's seat.

Fast forward ten years or so and Yata awakens from his coma, with no memories of anything past saying good night to Fushimi the evening before he was found. He realizes that the killer must have gotten to him and he suddenly worries about Fushimi, like what could have happened to Fushimi while Yata was in a coma, what if the killer went after him next. He's told that a police officer has arrived to talk to Yata about the incident, Yata's shocked when that 'officer' turns out to be Fushimi. Yata stares at him, it slowly dawning on him who he's seeing and then he just totally bursts into tears, so relieved that Saruhiko survived and was able to grow up (and unknown to him after Niki died Fushimi inherited his money and was using it to help Yata's mom pay for round the clock best in class care for Yata). Fushimi agrees that they need to catch the culprit for good this time, because he hasn't waited years for Yata just for the person who harmed him to make a clean getaway.

#sarumi #Talking K #and the culprit turns out to be this guy who worked at the school and is now a politician #who calls himself Colorless #Yata and Fushimi stage an elaborate sting to catch him #and then when they head back to Yata's room Fushimi's suddenly all awkward #bc now it's feelings time and he doesn't know how to admit how important Yata is to him

[ridiasfangirlings]

So I've seen all the LSW movie now and I have Thoughts and it's been a while since I did any kind of anime review so I just had to type this up.

(Note 1: No, I'm not sharing any links to where to find it. I know there's a less-than-legal link floating around that you can find on Tumblr in the tag if you look around. I actually used Google Chrome and a VPN to rent LSW for 500 yen for two days from the official Bandai Channel site linked here.)

(Note 2: The entire thing has not been subbed yet as far as I know. My knowledge of Japanese is spotty at best especially when it comes to listening rather than reading, but I've read the novel translations and the manga enough that even without subs I have a pretty good idea of what's going on.)

-We open on Fushimi's rainy Scepter 4 induction ceremony that was shown in the trailer. I suddenly remember how in the novel it's mentioned that the raindrops don't hit Munakata because of his King powers and it makes the part in MK where he has Awashima holding an umbrella for him while everyone else gets soaked that much more peak troll.

-There's this weird computer-y thing as Fushimi closes his eyes and I don't know if it quite works for me? This isn't jungle guys, the Blues can just be fancy in the rain, it's cool.

-Fushimi takes the sword and they totally cut out Saru snarking back at Munakata about the whole 'pride and pledge and such isn't really necessary.' I wanted to see Fushimi being a little shit why do you deny me.

-They also cut out Fushimi seeing Yata's hand reaching for the sword, instead we only have Fushimi taking it as he voiceovers the whole 'The first King said take this hand. The second King said take this sword.' The background also gets all computer-y again and it looks a little cheap and weird? This is not the first strange decision this movie will be making.

-Then that weird kid from the sixth movie promo material who looks like he escaped from Handshakers and has pokeballs for eyes says something profound-ish, etc etc TIME FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL BABIES.

-We cut to Yata on the toilet. Not what it sounds like I swear.

-Middle school Misaki so cute and dissatisfied as he hides in the bathroom. He spots something in the next stall and climbs up to look, like Romeo ascending Juliet's toilet balcony or somesuch.

-Fushimi is also on the toilet. Also not what it sounds like.

-Flirting ensues, with Yata being cute and enthusiastic and Fushimi playing hard to get by yelling at him to go away. Ah, young love.

-Yata mentions his phone has been getting weird messages due to jungle. That's called spam, Yata-chan, and you're probably too young to be reading anything that has a lot of xs in the subject line.

-Triumphant video game music plays as Fushimi's voice gets all excited and he lets Yata come over to watch him, which is when we see poor baby has a bruise from being beaten up by upperclassmen. (I'd say that's what happens without Yata there to save him but he probably ended up getting beaten less in the movie than the novel precisely because of that XD)

-They've known each other for like two minutes and already Yata wants to beat people up to defend Fushimi's honor.

-Fushimi proceeds to beat his opponent in jcube while Yata yells about how amazing it is and we get that 'this guy is scary...but amazing' moment, aka the actual exact moment where Yata falls totally in love.

-Fushimi's triumphant smile gives me life.

-Cue Yata walking to school. We don't really get any exact passage of time indications here but I like to assume this was at least a few days later – Fushimi's still a bit standoffish but Yata has clearly already officially adopted him as New Best Friend.

-Yata gets Aya's letter in his locker and proceeds to show us all that yes, he can get even cuter than he already was.

-He goes running after Fushimi and there's this weird slo-mo thing for a moment? I feel like if we're going for that there should be like romantic music playing or something.

-Other students stare at them, wondering if these two are really going continue to be this gay in public. (Spoiler alert: yes. Yes they are.)

-And then Aya tackle-hugs Yata. I really like her voice, it sounds super cutesy in just the right affected way, and even the big anime eyes work well for her character (since I get the impression from the novel she's supposed to look young). Also that 'Mi-sa-ki-pyuun!' is so cute.

-'You know what would be completely gratuitous?' 'What?' 'If instead of Aya wearing pumpkin pants like she explicitly says she is in the novel, we put in a middle schooler pantyshot.' 'Great idea!' -Gora, probably.

-Yata hides behind Fushimi because he too has had enough of this fanservice.

-Yata tries to use Fushimi as his totally heterosexual excuse to get away from the scary girl and Aya's voice becomes noticeably less high pitched and cutesy as she talks to Fushimi. I think they did a good job with showing the shift in the way she talks to Fushimi versus how she speaks to Yata.

-Aya tells Yata about the jungle mission and then shows him all the hateful messages she received. Yata looks away and we see his own phone, with the mean chat messages his 'friends' exchanged about him. The former Yata team still sucks and are not even worthy of showing up in this movie.

-Yata adorably clings to Fushimi and have I mentioned he is adorable because I'm dying here.

-So our trio heads out to summon the airship. Aya shows Yata the program she created to decode jungle's hints and Fushimi noticeably sighs and walks away when Yata calls it 'cool.' Someone's jealous~

-Aya's mom calls and Yata takes the opportunity to go talk with Fushimi. This part is really abbreviated from the novel, with Fushimi only confirming that Aya's his cousin before Aya breaks in to ask Yata to talk to her mom, so we don't get any of the family talk between them. I get that there was no way the movie could fit everything in but I think it's an unfortunate loss that will pretty much continue throughout the movie – Yata's backstory gets really shafted here, continuing the trend of LSW tending to be more about Fushimi than about both Fushimi and Yata as it should be.

-Yata's face as he starts his girl impersonation, I can't. Fukujun's female voice sounds like an old woman, Aya is cracking up and so am I, this is beautiful.

-And Fushimi laughs. I think I like how the manga did this one better, in the movie it seems more like mocking laughter than real happy laughter that I think it's supposed to be, and it felt more like he was trying to suppress it. Basically even though Aya's like 'Fushimi's laughing?' I don't get the impression that this is supposed to be a rare event, which I think the novel was intending and which for me the manga managed to convey.

-They spot the airship in the distance and Fushimi starts recalculating the position as Yata stares in awe and Aya gets annoyed. No smiley face like in the novel though, alas.

-Fushimi's ready to give up on chasing the airship but of course Yata's fired up now, and the bicycle built for three kicks off in hot pursuit. Yata strains to peddle even though you know Aya and Fushimi combined probably weigh like barely anything.

-Of course they still can't catch up and we get that 'If we'd gotten on...would anything change?' I feel like the visuals let this moment down a little – the manga was more dynamic here – but Mamoru Miyano's voice acting almost makes up for it, with just a slight undercurrent of longing underneath the tone.

-'A different world?' Yes Yata, you would have seen a different world where an immortal man has an airship complete with its own Real Doll or whatever that thing Colorless was dancing with in S1 was. Maybe it's better they missed the airship.

-Another cut straight to Yata in front of Fushimi's house. Again this makes sense to cut everything before it to streamline things, but I'm sad to lose Aya's comments on Fushimi's family and the mention of him being home when the house got robbed.

-Precious sick baby Saru coughing as he works on what is clearly meant to be Yata's watch. Someone's already got a crush.

-We get the whole 'Yata taking care of sick Fushimi' part and I love everything this scene chooses to be, Fushimi is just so precious and confused as to why Yata's there taking care of him. Also huge props to Mamoru Miyano because the voice acting in this scene is adorable, every little 'Yataaa' makes my heart go doki doki.

-The last time Yata goes back to check on him and Fushimi is sitting up and looking so shocked and amazed because Yata came when he called and he's being loved and taken care of and no one has ever done that before someone hold me my heart can't take this.

-Yata makes Fushimi food and then falls asleep and it's all so wonderful and sweet gosh I hope a raging asshole doesn't show up to ruin it all.

-'Who are you?' One raging asshole, right on time.

-Niki's voice...isn't really what I was expecting? It's a bit deep in a way that I'm not sure works for me... I mean, he does sound like he needs to be punched in the face so that's spot on. As far as Nikis go though I think I give stage play Niki the edge as far as how I imagined him sounding.

-Niki threatens to stuff a mantis in Yata's mouth and we hear the sounds of poor sick baby Fushimi stumbling his way through the giant house as fast as he can go, likely falling over things and breathing hard and just terrified because he needs to get Yata away from his asshole trash king father now.

-And Fushimi absolutely screams at Niki to shut up and it's beautiful and painful and this entire scene just makes me want to kidnap him and save him from his terrible dad.

-Niki's laugh is just kinda there too, like anime!Niki doesn't quite manage that distinctive 'gyahaha' that stage play Niki did so well.

-Fushimi outside with Yata and again the voice acting is so good, that desperate little 'Yata!' and then the hesitant, stumbling attempts at thanking Yata when Fushimi's never thanked anyone before. My heart.

-Yata says he'll see Fushimi at school and Fushimi smiles and I just...precious baby. Must protect.

-Of course this beauty couldn't last forever and Fushimi's face falls as he has to go back inside to face the piece of unburnable trash sitting on the stairs. This is the one place Niki's voice 100% worked for me – that 'Saruhiko! Asoboze~' was just chilling.

-And we begin part two, with Yata and Fushimi hanging out on the street where they'll shortly meet Mikoto. Yata mom gets cheated out of not just a name but a cameo animated appearance too, why this Gora.

-They use a mix of old and new animation for this part – Yata drinking and then throwing the drink is clearly the exact animation from S1 but Mikoto catching it has been newly animated. That's probably for the best – the bigger eyes work well enough with Fushimi and Yata, since they're supposed to be kids, but there would be a pretty obvious difference between the old and new styles with Mikoto. (I think Mikoto looking back at them might be from S1 though...honestly this just makes me miss the S1 animation style again.)

-Cut to Fushimi getting yelled at for having his phone out in class. Fushimi of course gives no fucks and walks right out, and Yata runs after him while their teacher is completely done with this level of gay.

-I don't really like how those last two scenes went flow-wise, it feels kinda abrupt? The scene with Sarumi meeting Homra continues to feel shoved in and awkwardly out of place even in its own movie, and having nothing to really indicate the passing of time between Yata visiting Fushimi at his home to the two of them on the street and then back to class makes things feel choppy to me here. I assume they rearranged things from the novel for time reasons but it definitely feels shuffled around.

-Yata asks if Fushimi's going home and says he'll go too, and Fushimi has this little '...sorry' moment that's adorable, especially when Yata proceeds to put a hand on his shoulder and smiles and I think this movie is as in love with Yata as Fushimi is, every scene of him smiling is so bright.

-Yata mentions that they're third years already, finally giving some indication of how time moves in this movie thank you Yata.

-Fushimi pulls up jungle, showing Yata pictures that jungle's managed to take of various Homra members as part of a mission. I'm just concerned that someone is stalking Kusanagi.

-They discuss the rumors of the 'Red Monster' as images of Mikoto looking scary cross the screen. My favorite part of this is when they show Mikoto and the Homra members in silhouette with glowing red eyes looking all ominous, except one of the silhouettes is clearly Totsuka and I'm pretty sure the worst he's gonna do to you guys is ask if you want to help him with a hobby.

-We also get a close up of glowing eyes Fujishima. Did someone kick a dog in his presence, or...?

-Yata proposes to Fushimi talks about how they should get a place together and we get a quick flash of Niki looking like an asshole, which is his specialty. 'You don't need a home like that.'

-Yata says their place should have a helicopter pad and suddenly we're in Yata vision with an adorable cartoony plane rising up from a hidden door and just when you thought Yata couldn't be cuter.

-...Followed by Fushimi vision which is basically a mad science lab featuring human-like organisms in glowing pods. The chuunibyou is strong.

-The two of them walk off discussing plans and being in love as Aya stares down from the window, wondering why she's even in this movie again.

-Back to the Fushimi House of Shitty Parents, with Kisa making her cameo. Her character design is just way too....soft, I think, for my tastes. I feel like the manga did the better job of portraying a beautiful but cold and professional woman. Also she's got a hedgehog on her shoulder (or it's some kind of fluffy necklace thing, idk, it's weird why is it there why isn't she in her party dress like she should be).

-Her voice feels a little too pleasant for me too, though it does shift slightly colder when she gets off the phone and starts talking to Fushimi.

-Also while on the one hand the front of the house being wide and empty fits, since we know they don't keep anything valuable where people can see, the background here feels a bit...off? Like at one point we see these huge open doorways behind Fushimi and Kisa and it looks like they live in a fucking museum or something, like there's 'rich person's house' and 'no one actually has a house that looks like this.'

-Kisa tells Fushimi his dad is in the hospital and leaves, her cameo appearance over for the day. She still got more screentime than Yata's mom.

-Fushimi thinks about Niki's illness and then smiles and laughs, as we all should.

-Back to school, and Aya is pissed at Fushimi only being in 45th place in exams and that he isn't competing with her, because once again Fushimi gives no fucks he's moving in with his boyfriend and doesn't need no education.

-Aya mentions getting into Tsubakigahara high school and Fushimi cleans his glasses, reminding me that I wish we'd gotten to see Aya in her glasses animated.

-'Have you ever listened to me with your eyes sparkling and saying 'amazing'?' And Fushimi walks right past her because he doesn't want a rival, he wants someone who will look at him as he is and think that he's worth something, that he's amazing from the point of view beyond just what society expects.

-And Aya scores a direct hit with her backpack! Throwing things at people must run in the Fushimi family.

-Fushimi says he doesn't hate Aya and for a moment she stares at him with romance in her eyes....and then he kicks her backpack right back in her face. Such a smooth talker. At least they resisted the urge to put in another pantyshot there.

-Cut to the Sarumi Apartment of Love. The quick pan up the building makes it feel like they should be on the top floor even though we know from the novel it's a first floor apartment. Also the building looks a bit too fancy for me, considering their apartment's supposed to be cheap and purchased via an underworld-type realtor.

-Yata shows off his skateboard tricks and Fushimi is not interested. He's just playing hard to get again.

-Yata and Fushimi plan their attack on the surprise party and are so cute and hopeful and it's depressing knowing this is really the beginning of the end of their sense of invincibility.

-KNUCKLE BUMP!

-Also please note Fushimi's loft is big enough that Yata can like climb right up there with him and there's plenty of room for things like for example making out if the two of them wanted to do such things you know just saying.

-The night of the surprise party. Dewa and Chitose get to make appearances trying to disperse the crowd as Yata waits on top of the roof and Fushimi runs the computers while wearing a cute stripey blanket.

-They discuss the plan as tiny CGI people hang out around Homra. It looks like the bar is being attacked by rogue escapees from a Sims game (new plan: Yata leads them to the nearest pool and Fushimi removes the ladder).

-Fushimi is still wearing a stripey blanket on his head, and he is adorable. Just to make note of the important things.

-Fushimi begins the hacking mission as everyone puts on freaky-ass masks. Did Hisui have a coupon for the local freaky mask shop or something? Was this a wholesale deal?

-The jungle kids start shooting off party poppers. Sensing a threat to his bar counter, Kusanagi finally makes an appearance.

-Fushimi sends out a fake mail to indicate jungle's having server issues and we see Aya in the crowd, which makes you think her presence here is going to be important. Spoiler alert: unlike in the novel, her presence has no payoff and means nothing.

-Yata dons his own freaky mask and skateboards into the fray. His acting is slightly less bad than I expected it to be but Fushimi still facepalms over it.

-Fushimi's terminal sparks green and a tiny avatar appears in the corner. I think I liked the manga interpretation of Hisui's avatar guy better, there he was just a faceless completely unassuming avatar and here it's a little guy in a suit and glasses who looks more distinctive. I do like the way his voice is computerized but still obviously Hisui under it, which gets more pronounced the more he talks.

-At the end when the avatar goes all demony, I think this is another point for the manga which actually looked scary, businessman-avatar looks a bit more on the silly side. Though for Fushimi it was probably creepy either way (also it makes me wonder about Hisui on the other end of that transmission turning his avatar into a scary demon while his parrot eats his hair).

-Fushimi pulls the plug on his computer and then is off and running, yelling Yata's name over and over again, just so desperate to be sure Yata's all right.

-”Saruhiko!” “Misaki!” My heart.

-Yata drags Fushimi into a corner and Fushimi has that 'it's our—my loss' moment before they suddenly get attacked by party poppers again. One hits close to Fushimi's eye but it's just a random hit, which makes me wonder why they bothered even showing Aya before.

-I love Fushimi dragging Yata away here – he sounds just so harried, like here he's lost and he wasn't superior at all, and even worse he's put Misaki in danger and he just has no idea what to do.

-More fireworks come flying at them as Mikoto makes his grand appearance at last, in a giant ball of flame.

-I feel like the blocking of this scene was really weird, it seems like Fushimi and Yata should have been being swarmed by masked people but in order to save animation budget they just had random firecrackers flying around and then all of a sudden Saru's being dragged off by fangirls enemies. I wish it had been a little more frantic.

-Yata running towards Mikoto while yelling at him to save Saruhiko was perfect though, he's just so terrified for Fushimi's sake.

-I really loved the whole scene of Mikoto saving Fushimi, the way Fushimi looks up as the fire rains down and then Totsuka coming up behind him and holding him as lovely music plays, the atmosphere was so lovely (….though it kinda made me suddenly want some TotsuFushi. Just a little).

-Totsuka keeps hugging Fushimi, doing what we all wish we could.

-And we finally get a proper Sarumi hug! If nothing else at least the anime didn't punk out with a leg hug, we got a real hug this time.

-Fushimi and Yata head home in failure. Fushimi clenches his fist and you can see bruises on his fingers, my poor child.

-Back to the hospital where ding dong the dick is dead. The manga only implied that Kisa was a terrible mother who made her middle school age son collect his dead dad's body, the anime nicely confirms it by having her call Fushimi and tell him to do it.

-The manga was a little more abrupt and creepy with this scene, where Fushimi briefly sees Niki sitting up and mocking him. Even dead Niki is punchable.

-Also I like how even dead Niki's hair is perfectly styled. Are those bangs natural or what?

-Fushimi loses it and starts yelling at a corpse. It's almost like making your traumatized and abused middle schooler son retrieve his dad's dead body was a bad idea or something.

-A rubix cube falls from Niki's hand and--

-And--

-H E L P M E

-HE'S SO CUTE

-L O O K A T H I M

-HE HAS A TINY BOWTIE AND LITTLE NERD GLASSES LOOK AT HIS SMOL HANDS I LOVE HIM

-Only a true piece of utter trash could upset such a pure baby

-D I E

-Okay, things that aren't baby Saru, right, there's still movie left.

-Yata and Aya talk in the rain, I'm mostly distracted by how cute Yata looks in a poncho.

-It feels a little depressing that the last we see of Aya is her sobbing in the rain. I don't think the novel's resolution for her was the best either but at least there was something like closure.

-'The first King said take this hand. The second King said take this sword.' Fushimi voiceovers once again as Yata and Fushimi stand side by side in front of Mikoto at Bar Homra. They reach for Mikoto's flaming hands and...roll credits. Wait, roll credits?

-So yeah the entire back half of the novel isn't in the movie, it ends with Sarumi joining Homra. I wonder how this plays to people who haven't read the novel, because to me it very much feels like this is a narrative without an actual ending. I think they tried to make a parallel with the 'take this hand/take this sword' part but without the latter half of the novel the opening scene actually feels somewhat out of place to me, like it has no real relation to the rest of the movie (I almost feel like since they were messing with the novel anyway they should have started the movie with Yata and Fushimi reaching for Mikoto's hand, then backtracking to how we got to this point and finally jumping forward just as Fushimi's hand is about to take Mikoto's and suddenly have him reaching for the sword instead, looking to the side as Yata's phantom hand next to him fades away).

-I think they were in somewhat of a difficult position with LSW because the novel's too long for the movie they were making so some things had to be cut – and to be fair I have no idea how I would get the whole novel into a movie of this length either – but I can't deny it doesn't suffer for losing that back half. LSW is the story of how Yata and Fushimi met and then how they broke apart, and the movie to me feels like it's building towards a resolution that doesn't happen. In that sense starting the movie with the Homra installation rather than S4 might have worked better, restructuring the source material so it's more focused around how the two of them became friends and joined Homra with only the hovering specter of future betrayal at the end.

-Similarly, as far as dropped plot threads go, I liked seeing Aya animated but she feels somewhat... extraneous in the movie as it is. Her presence is mainly necessary for kickstarting the airship plot but as the movie stands that's it, and her arc feels rushed with a lot of pointless moments – having her be at the surprise party, for example, but not having her attack Fushimi and then cutting out the two of them speaking at Niki's funeral and Aya talking about being Fushimi's enemy, all of which ultimately makes her appearance there in the movie be without any real payoff. It also means her final interaction in the movie is with Yata rather than Fushimi, even though her character is more of a foil for Fushimi than Yata and her relationship with him more complex.

-Other things they cut I didn't like: no anthill? Seeing babu Saru with the rubix cube was fine enough and I do think the movie made it pretty clear that Fushimi was being abused, but the anthill is so essential to Fushimi's worldview that I feel losing it downplays some of his trauma a bit. As sad as poor upset Fushimi's face was when Niki destroyed the rubix cube it really doesn't carry the punch that this image does:

-Also this was a weakness in the novel too but once again, Yata gets really shafted by LSW. In the novel he at least has some presence in the first part of the novel but the movie completely removes everything about feeling left out of his family and even the part where he finds out his 'friends' hate him is a lot more downplayed than in the novel. A lot of what we see of Yata feels like it's from Fushimi's view, all those dazzling smiles, and it's wonderful from that perspective but I wish we'd gotten a little more of Yata's inner life here.

-On the good end, I am glad we at least got what we did of animated LSW. Middle school Yata is an utter gem of adorableness and I am so thankful to have him. The voice acting was also really great, Fukujun and Mamo knocked it out of the part (best in show probably goes to Mamo's 'Yataaa' during the scene where he's sick in bed, that was absolutely precious). Niki was complete trash in just the right way and I think the movie did a good job in conveying the dread and fear Fushimi feels towards him. If I had to rank adaptations I would probably put the anime last after the manga and the stage play but it's still a good watch and I'm looking forward to actually being able to, y'know, watch a nice legal stream with subs and then actually be able to buy it on disc some time in the next decade whenever Viz finally stops being jerks and give people who can't go running across the country to random cons on half a week's notice a chance to watch.

#k project #Sarumi #Talking K #episode review #okay it's not really an episode per se but just for tagging purposes #I haven't done one of these in a while this was fun #please don't ask me where to watch the less than legal stream it's in the tag if you look #no judging those who watched it tho Viz has given us little choice #seriously just put up a legal US stream already you bastards at least announce a date for it or something #throw us a bone here

[ridiasfangirlings]

In the AU where Yata's body was hijacked instead of Hieda's, how would be Fushimi's attitude to Neko being all touchy to Yata's body and Shiro flirting with Kuroh in Yata's body and Shiro being in YATA'S BODY in general

This would actually be really interesting in general because doesthat mean Colorless also kills Totsuka in Yata’s body? And thenHomra’s trying to hunt Yata down and no one knows if Yata somehow gotinfected by a Strain or if becoming Colorless King drove him roundthe bend or what, it’s a whole mess as Homra tries to figure out howto avenge Totsuka’s death while also not wanting to kill Yata if theydon’t have to. Fushimi meanwhile is working with Scepter 4 in tryingto find out what happened to Yata himself, who’s gone MIA after thevideo of him killing Totsuka surfaced, and even though he acts likeit’s just because it’s his job actually Fushimi’s working twice ashard to find Yata because Misaki. So meanwhile ‘Isana Yashiro’is living at the school island and everything like usual except ofcourse in this case Shiro’s in Yata’s body and has no idea (and nowI’m imagining Yata in a school uniform with his hair a little cleanedup and no beanie cap on and just looking cute and innocent). He meetsNeko in the same way as before and everyone keeps calling him Shiro,he’s totally clueless as to what’s happened until he’s confrontedby some distraught Homra members on the streets and 'saved’ by Kuroh,who then tries to kill him.

So then the rest of the season goes about as before with Shiro slowlybonding with Kuroh and Neko but in this case I don’t think Fushimiwould sit idly by in the vans when Scepter 4 finally corners Shiro atthe stadium. Maybe in this AU Fushimi’s waiting outside the stadiumwhen the Silvers make their escape, they try to run from him andFushimi throws some knives while demanding to know what the hell iswrong with Yata. Shiro kinda stops for a moment wondering who'Misaki’ is but Kuroh is able to keep Fushimi at bay and they allstill escape, leaving Fushimi frustrated and confused behind them.From that point on Fushimi keeps trying to track Yata down, when thebig Homra versus Scepter 4 matchup happens at the school islandFushimi ends up chasing after the Silvers instead of fighting andmaybe he gets to see Colorless!Kukuri stab 'Misaki.’ He immediatelyyells Yata’s name and throws a knife at Kukuri, which Kuroh justmanages to intercept. Fushimi’s about to start a fight again whenShiro stands up glowing silver and reveals his name and all that andFushimi just does not care, he would like Misaki back now.

There would probably be some discussion after that as to what to do,since Fushimi’s presence makes it a bit more immediate that if Shirouses the same plan as in canon to kill Colorless he may well bekilling Yata too and Fushimi’s not going to let that happen, even ifhe rationalizes it as trying to take down the 'real’ criminal. Andmeanwhile as they’re talking Neko keeps hugging Shiro’s arm andShiro’s low key flirting with Kuroh and Fushimi would probably be soannoyed (and the very fact that he’s annoyed is making him extraannoyed). I can see him just watching and gritting his teeth,probably trying not to think about how Yata’s body in that schooluniform with that carefree smile immediately makes him think ofmiddle school Misaki. I also think he’d be irritated that they keepacting as if the person they are talking to really is 'Shiro’ and notthe Silver King in Yata Misaki’s stolen body, like no one’s reallybringing up any ideas as to how to get Shiro out of Yata’s body orbehaving as if that body’s not going back to its real ownereventually (and no way is Fushimi allowing otherwise). Though if hefinds out that Neko was always hugging Shiro while naked I could seehim being more amused than annoyed, like wait until Misaki finds outhow close he got to a naked girl he’ll die.

#Fushimi Saruhiko #Talking K #okay but this is an interesting AU idea to me #imagine how this changes ROK too #and MK for that matter #would Fushimi be trying to find Shiro too in order to make sure Yata's body is okay #would Mikoto still vaporize Colorless if it meant killing Yata for that matter #and then ROK and Fushimi being the only one who keeps making pointed remarks about Shiro being a bodysnatcher

[ridiasfangirlings]

Instead of Saru getting better, he gradually gets worse. He hears niki's voice in his head constantly and it causes him to be really paranoid and upset. Maybe he accidentally attacks one of his coworkers with a knife when he's particularly agitated one day, having thought it was Niki. He gets placed in an institution and it makes him worse with all the lights and noise and just overwhelmed with people and can't escape in his PDA. Misaki and Muna visiting? Reaction to shattered Saruhiko?

Maybe this is like some side effect of his time in jungle, likeFushimi’s PDA gets infected with all sorts of viruses when he hacksinto jungle in order to open the door and by the time he’s broughtout Fushimi’s seeing hallucinations everywhere. No one realizes whatthe issue is at first, jungle’s been defeated and Hisui’s dead so theidea that the virus might still work seems unlikely. Eventuallythough Munakata has his suspicions and destroys the PDA, at first itseems like things will get better after that but the damage has beendone. Fushimi is released from the hospital and assured thateverything he was seeing and hearing was just the effects of a virus.Except as he’s limping through the halls of Scepter 4 Fushimi can seeNiki staring at him from nearby, laughing as he says that oh look,the monkey comes home in disgrace, taunting Fushimi for being atraitor to Scepter 4 and how no one believes it was a secret mission,they all think Munakata just took pity on him and let him returnbecause he had nowhere else to go. From there the hallucinationsgradually worsen and Fushimi doggedly tries to ignore them, like heacts as though everything’s fine and he’s healing, he goes back onregular duty once his leg heals and he meets Yata for drinks and theytalk and to everyone else it looks like Fushimi’s only gettingbetter. But at night Fushimi returns to the dorm and spends half thenight curled up with his hands over his ears, quietly whispering atNiki to go away as Niki’s voice echoes in his ears, taunting him. Atone point Fushimi throws his alarm clock at the ghost and the clockbreaks against the wall, some of the other alphabet boys run inworried that Fushimi’s been attacked and he just blows it off aswaking up too quickly and knocking the clock off the nightstand.

Finally things are starting to get so bad that other people arebeginning to notice, Fushimi’s barely getting any sleep and he hashorrible bags under his eyes and he’s just constantly on edge andsnappish, his whole body wound tight like a spring, like a mousetrapthat’s going to snap at the slightest movement. One day he’s chasingdown a Strain with some of the alphabet boys when he hears Nikilaughing at him, telling him that he’s gotten slow and he’s going tofail and Fushimi just yells at Niki to shut up as he throws a bunchof knives at him. Niki keeps laughing and floats over like a ghost,hugging Fushimi around the neck as he whispers in Fushimi’s ear thathe’ll never be rid of Niki’s ghost. A moment later Niki fades awayand Fushimi finds himself staring down horrified at a bloody Akiyama,who walked over to ask if Fushimi was okay after seeing him godeathly pale, and who Fushimi himself stabbed with his knives.Fushimi can’t even make an excuse, Munakata comes to see him laterand finds Fushimi curled up in his room muttering almost to himselfbut really talking to Niki. Munakata still wonders if this is someoutside intervention, like is Hisui’s virus still working even afterhis death and even with the old PDA destroyed, but it’s quicklybecoming clear that whatever the sickness is it’s in Fushimi andthere’s no way to drive it out so easily.

So then Fushimi gets sent to an institution and maybe it’s againstMunakata’s will, like Fushimi accidentally attacks an associate ofthe Prime Minister and since Scepter 4 doesn’t have the influence itonce did when the Slate was still around even Munakata can’t stopFushimi from being dragged out in a straitjacket, writhing andyelling at nothing the entire time. Yata obviously is pissed when hefinds out about this, angry that Munakata just let Fushimi be takenaway like that and didn’t stop them or save him. Munakata notes thathis own hands were tied but he doesn’t intend to simply abandonFushimi and states that he knows where Fushimi is. Munakata offers tohave Yata accompany him to pay Fushimi a visit, Yata’s hopeful thatmaybe the institution place was able to help Saruhiko. His hope isdashed the moment they step inside, the place is terrible and full ofdead-eyed patients, everyone’s kept on heavy sedation and Yata’sterrified that he won’t even recognize Fushimi when they see him.

Hisworst fears are realized when they find a Fushimi who’s just a totalmess, half-sedated and dazed and talking to himself when he’s notscreaming, when Yata walks in Fushimi looks right through him asthough he’s not even there. I think Yata would be really devastatedby that too, like he can’t believe this because Saruhiko was gettingbetter and they were friends again and how could things end up thisway. Munakata would be definitely displeased by this too, I thinkthere’s no way he’d just leave Fushimi in that place without tryingas many legal avenues as possible to get him out. While Yata I thinkwould be trying to tell himself that there’s a way Fushimi can be‘fixed’ Munakata takes a more realistic approach, that getting back aFushimi who’s totally free of mental illness is likely impossible atthis point but he believes that Fushimi should have the opportunityto heal as much as he can, to be taken care of in a way where he canstill remain himself even if he’ll never be 'normal’ again. Ithink Munakata would be pulling out all his remaining resources totry and get Fushimi given back into the hands of Scepter 4, so theycan at least get him to a psychiatric facility that would actuallyhelp him rather than keeping him in a stupor, because as far asMunakata’s concerned there is still some of the real Fushimi left inthat shattered and broken mind and Munakata wants to hold onto thosepieces as much as he can, to bring back as much of Fushimi as ifpossible.

#Fushimi Saruhiko #Talking K #tw: mental illness #poor Saru #I can't see Munakata leaving him in a shitty institution though #he didn't pay an exorbitant amount to save his child just to leave him somewhere shitty #Muna would want to send Saru somewhere that's healing instead #Yata would be so sad they finally fixed things but Saru's still not fixed and maybe never will be

[ridiasfangirlings]

How about a Chobits AU? Like Yata finds persocom!Fushimi in the trash one night and brings him home and takes care of him and stuff. Munakata, the landlord just so happens to have all these cute costumes that are Fushimi's size, how lucky!

So maybe in this AU Niki was like a robotics engineer who worked fora giant tech company and designed persocoms in general but he foundmost models boring, like he thought it was amusing how many peoplegot attached to them as if they were normal people but they can’treally have emotions or show reactions the way a regular person can.Since Niki’s wife Kisa is too busy working to want to bother with achild Niki decides to make his own kid just for kicks, and just forfun he can do some experimenting on this program he’s been wanting totry so that he can make his robot child feel real emotions. It worksbetter than expected and Fushimi ends up having real human emotionsthat Niki can toy with freely. Fushimi is never allowed out of Niki’slab and as a result all of the painful emotions he’s going throughact almost like a computer virus to the point Fushimi’s starting toshut down. In the meantime though maybe Niki falls sick and ends upin the hospital, his workplace sends one of their other topscientists, Munakata, to check on Niki’s home and see if there areany corporate secrets that were left lying around. Munakata findsFushimi on the verge of shutdown and feels pity for the poor guy,while also being fascinated at this robot that can feel. He ends uppartially erasing Fushimi’s current memories, saving them in a cornerof Fushimi’s programming, and then shuts him down for the time being.Munakata then looks through Niki’s research and finds all this stuffabout being able to make persocoms feel emotion and he’s fascinatedbut at the same time Munakata can see that there are ways this couldbe abused and other persocoms could end up like Fushimi. He decidesto leave the decision in Fushimi’s hands, if other persocoms shouldbe able to love, and leaves the program sleeping inside Fushimi’sbody before dumping the deactivated Fushimi in the garbage andwaiting to see who will find him, if that person will be the one whocan teach Fushimi the real way to love without all the pain Nikiinflicted on him.

Yata meanwhile is this NEET who works a bunch of part time jobs inorder to afford rent at his apartment building that just so happensto be owned by Munakata. Yata’s on his way back from his job workingat Bar Homra when he comes across Fushimi lying abandoned in thetrash and he thinks he’s hit the jackpot, like Yata can’t afford afancy persocom and he’s not great with computers anyway so he figuredhe’d never be able to have one of his own and here he just ran acrossone abandoned in the trash. Yata drags Fushimi home and is all readyto wake him up and start using him, as soon as he finds Fushimi’s onswitch which I guess Niki put somewhere really embarrassing as a joke(wait if this is like Chobits with the ‘sex will trigger a reset’thing does this mean his on switch has to be in his ass XD). Yatapresses the switch and Fushimi’s eyes slowly open, he stares at Yatafor a long moment before clicking his tongue and asking who themidget is. Yata’s immediately like who are you calling a midget youfucking bag of circuits and aren’t persocoms supposed to obey theirowners. Yata quickly finds out that Fushimi is not like otherpersocoms and has a mind of his own, he’s constantly refusing to doanything for Yata and spends half his time just hanging around theapartment complaining. He also refuses to cook or clean but he’salways watching Yata do everything with weirdly intent eyes, likehe’s never seen anyone do this before. At first Yata thinks hesomehow got the world’s only asshole persocom but he slowly startswarming up to Fushimi too, like when Yata says that he doesn’t knowwhat model Fushimi is Fushimi admits that he doesn’t know himself andmakes a post to some persocom forum all on his own with all his specsand everything. Also maybe one day Yata takes Fushimi along with himto his part time job and one the way back Yata almost gets mugged,the guys want to grab Yata’s fancy persocom too but Fushimi glares atthem and the two of them end up fighting back together, Yata’s alsonever heard of a normal persocom who fights and beyond that they’reperfectly in sync, him and Saruhiko (Yata gives Fushimi his namebecause Fushimi’s only program that comes up when he’s turned on isunder the name 'MONKEY’).

Yata slowly finds himself getting used to his roommate/persocom, tothe point that his friends at Homra are getting concerned becauseFushimi’s just a persocom after all but Yata keeps talking like hehas real emotions. Yata’s certain that Fushimi does though, like heknows persocoms are only supposed to do what they’re programmed tobut Yata swears that Fushimi has a mind of his own and can feel, andthat sometimes Yata feels like Fushimi’s hurting and he’s not surewhy. Plus maybe Fushimi has flashes every now and again, especiallyif someone tries to hack into his programming where he turns reallybitter and nasty, laughing evilly as he threatens anyone who comesnear him. Yata’s boss Kusanagi sends Yata to talk to one of hisfriends, Totsuka, whose persocom Mikoto died saving his life and whoagrees with Yata that persocoms might have emotions and that hethinks if Fushimi and Yata start to understand each other that may bea start. Meanwhile Yata feels like Fushimi should at least be helpingout with the rent but Fushimi initially refuses to work because hedoesn’t feel like it, that’s when Yata’s landlord Munakata shows upfor an unexpected visit and is all 'oh, Yata-kun, you have aroommate, that’s extra you know.’ Yata states that a persocom doesn’tcount as a roommate and Munakata agrees to waive the extra fee ifFushimi helps him out with some programming work and oh as it just sohappens he has a bunch of cute clothes in just Fushimi’s size thatYata may now outfit his new persocom in. Fushimi glares at Munakataall 'I hate you’ while Munakata just smiles back.

So then one day Yata’s at his job when Fushimi gets kidnapped by somemen from the syndicate known as jungle, who are interested in rarepersocoms and saw the post Fushimi made wondering about his model.Jungle initially contracted Niki out about making a persocom thatcould feel and they want to take Fushimi apart and find the program.This activates Fushimi’s hidden memories and he goes all episode 5Saru, attacking them all with these knives that he has built in tohis body. All the persocoms in the city start sparking on and off andYata’s worried because he just knows that this is because of Fushimiand that Fushimi’s hurting somewhere, despite what everyone saysabout persocoms not being able to feel. That’s when Munakata tellsYata the truth about Fushimi’s programming, that he can feel emotionsand that maybe there are two programs locked away inside his heart,one that can bestow the ability to love on persocoms and one thatwill only give them negative emotions like fear and hate and ifFushimi feels betrayed or upset he’ll activate the latter one, onlyby meeting his soulmate and feeling love himself will he be able toactivate the good program. Yata runs to where Fushimi’s being heldand he finds Fushimi like suspended in the air by hundreds of cables,glaring down at him with cold eyes and asking what Yata wants. Yatadramatically declares that he think Fushimi’s an asshole sometimesand he’s picky and he never does what Yata asks him to…butFushimi’s also amazing and can do so many things and when he smilesit makes Yata’s heart skip a beat, and that Yata doesn’t care ifFushimi’s a machine or if they can’t ever have a 'normal’relationship, he still wants to be with Saruhiko forever. Fushimi’sbody suddenly drops to the ground into Yata’s arms as all thepersocoms begin to reboot themselves with the new program installed,all of them now able to feel real emotions like love and affection.Yata just holds Fushimi close and says he loves Fushimi and wantsSaruhiko, his Saruhiko back. Fushimi’s dull eyes sputter tolife and suddenly he’s looking up into Yata’s tear-stained facewondering what the hell Misaki is crying about this time and Yatajust yells his name and hugs him, repeating over and over again thathe loves Fushimi and isn’t ever letting him go again.

#sarumi #Talking K #yesss Chobits AU #Fushimi with Chobit ears *^* #he would look so cute #Munakata bought all those outfits as soon as he spotted Yata saving Fushimi from the trash #like yes now I will dote on him while waiting for him to hook up with his boyfriend #Fushimi is so grumpy but so cute in a million different outfits #even Yata's kinda into it bc he can't stop staring at his hot robot boyfriend

[ridiasfangirlings]

What would happen if a strain temporarily made Fushimi forget (all the bad things) about his past?

I wonder would that mean he just has these big gaps in his memory?Like maybe he doesn’t even realize it at first that he’s missingsomething because his mind suddenly has all these odd gaps andmissing spaces that he can’t quite recall what was there before. Saythis happens post-ROK and Fushimi’s slowly healing but he has hisgood days and his bad days. He’s out chasing a Strain with thealphabet squad one day when he gets hit by the Strain power and it’sone of those where no one quite knows what the power actually is.After being hit Fushimi doesn’t feel any different or at least hedoesn’t think he does, the alphabet boys can’t help but notice thatthere’s something slightly ‘off’ about him. He’s still a bit grumpyand not the most talkative person but he’s a lot more blandlypleasant, like when Akiyama asks him if he’s okay immediately afterbeing hit Fushimi gives him this thin but real smile as he says thathe’s fine and thanks for worrying about me. On the one hand it’s nicebecause they all want Fushimi to be friendlier with all of them andif he’s smiling that’s a good thing but on the other there just feelssomething not quite right about his attitude, it’s like he’smimicking the motions of someone who knows how to be happy andwell-adjusted without actually feeling those emotions himself.Meanwhile Fushimi keeps running into things that confuse him, like hecatches his reflection in the mirror and suddenly realizes that hecan’t remember why he started styling his hair this way and when hegoes to take a bath he sees the burned tattoo on his chest and has noidea why that scar is there or how he got it.

So then maybe later after patrol he’s actually meeting Yata fordinner and at first Fushimi’s excited because they haven’t really satand talked together like this for a while but then he feels confusedagain because why hasn’t he sat and talked with Yata, they’rebest friends after all. And the more he thinks about it the moreFushimi realizes that he has very few memories of Yata from the lastfew years, like he remembers Yata saving him in jungle and beingreally surprised by that but he isn’t sure why he would be because ofcourse his good friend Yata would save him. He’s still trying toremember when he reaches the restaurant where he’s meeting Yata andYata’s a bit on edge but trying to keep up an upbeat attitude becausehe really is happy that he and Fushimi are together again. Yatanotices right away that there seems to be something up with Saruhiko,like Fushimi smiles and waves back when Yata calls to him but there’ssomething very stiff and un-Saruhiko-like in those movements. As theyeat Yata’s just chatting about his day and how Scepter 4 needs tostop going after Strains in Homra’s territory and at some point maybehe makes reference to how it’s nice that they’re not enemies anymore.Fushimi’s all confused by that because since when were they enemies.Yata’s like 'huh?You know, the last few years and all?’ Fushimi triesto grasp that but he can’t and Yata says that Fushimi’s acting reallyweird, wondering if he’s sick or something. Yata also mentions thattime in middle school when he took care of sick Fushimi and Fushimirecalls Yata taking care of him but then Yata looks troubled as hesays that it was good until 'that guy’ came home and ruined it andFushimi’s like 'that guy?’ He suddenly realizes that he can’t recallwhy it was Yata taking care of him, like where were hisparents and why doesn’t he remember any of that.

Yata can tell that Fushimi’s getting upset about something but hedoesn’t know what and finally Fushimi tugs the collar of his shirtdown and asks Yata about the Homra mark, how it got burned. Yatalooks really confused and a little pained by the memory as he saysthat Fushimi did it himself, Fushimi sucks in a sharp breath and putsa hand to his head as he admits that he can’t remember, he can’tremember that or a lot of other things – why he joined Scepter 4,most of his childhood, why he and Yata moved in together and why hedoesn’t have any memories of Yata between joining Homra and beingsaved in jungle. Fushimi can feel that it’s something painful he’sforgetting too and even though part of him almost doesn’t wantto remember he’s also kinda like 'fuck that’ because they’re stillhis memories and he wants them back. Yata meanwhile is reallyconcerned when he hears that and Fushimi wonders isn’t this betterfor Yata, if they did have a falling out wouldn’t it be better forthem both if Fushimi couldn’t remember it. Yata’s totally againstthat though, because Fushimi’s painful past is part of what makes himhimself and Yata wants to see him overcome it properly and reallyheal, not just bandage it over and always have it hovering in thecorner of his mind, things that happened that he can’t quite remember(and maybe in accepting that he does want to recall even the painfulthings Fushimi’s able to reverse the effects of the Strain power andsuddenly all these painful sad memories come flooding back at once,overwhelming him and his eyes fill with tears as Yata grabs him andhugs him, pressing Fushimi’s head against his shoulder and justletting Saruhiko finally have that good cry he really needs).

#sarumi #Talking K #did I just turn this into an excuse for Saru to cry in Yata's arms? #you're damn right I did ^^ #but I think he would be kinda 'off' without his memories #like they aren't replaced by good ones that teach him how to emotion properly #they're just these big gaps and he still doesn't understand how to deal with his own emotions or with other people #and he's not the same without the bad memories #so even if it's painful he wants them back