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alison-anonymous · 3 years

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I Want to Write a Mikayuu Series

Okay.

So um.

If you're reading this, HELLO. All of you long time ONS fans probably don't know me, but I'm Alison and I'm a hardcore Mikayuu, Mitsunoa, Gureshin, etc shipper. I've been in the ONS fandom for almost a year and dear god. The amount of people telling me that Mikayuu is queerbait is just making me really sad 😅 I'm a writer, and I'm the type of person who honestly feels like the author of a series should have the ability to choose how a story ends without influence of their readers. I mean, if it's their story, then it should be their ending, right? However, I also do have some qualms when it comes to how this "love triangle" between Yu, Mika, and Shinoa is being portrayed. This is entirely my personal opinion, but I feel like Shinoa seems to be forcing herself to love Yu. I honestly don't think she cares for him in a romantic way, but more of a very deep-rooted admiration or even envy that she's trying to convince herself to be romantic love. And Yu has said multiple times that he values Mika's life above his own, that he doesn't know what he would do without him if he were to die again (I mean the fact that he suffered seeing his best friend and potential lover die a first time was definitely scarring enough, PLEASE STOP TORTURING OUR POOR BABIES). And it's basically confirmed by now that when Mika said I love you in the manga, it was in the romantic sense. Even though I wish, I hope, I dream, and I pray that Mikayuu will become canon, I honestly can't say for certain what I think will happen. I think it could sway any way, with Mikayuu becoming canon, Yu and Shinoa becoming canon, or it being one of those ambiguous endings where it's heavily implied but nothing actually happens. And in order to make myself feel better when stuff like this happens, I tend to rewrite the entire story with the ending that I would have liked to see ;)

You're probably wondering where the hell this stranger is going with this. Well, I want to write a book. A series, actually.

One that's inspired by Seraph of the End.

Now, if you're interested in hearing me out, then feel free to keep reading. But if not, continue on with your scrolling, no hard feelings. But if you do, and I really hope that you do, give me a chance to explain.

I want to write a series inspired by Seraph of the End called Bloodsucker (working title, obviously). And this series is going to be a reimagination of ONS with an ending that I would have loved to see in the anime and manga. I plan to have three main characters (please keep in mind that I'm going to have name changes): Yuichiro, Mikaela, and a brand new character, Epic.

Now, I would begin this series a bit before the anime and I'm assuming the manga begins. I'd start with introducing our main three characters as they meet in the orphanage (yes, Epic would be a part of this orphanage as well) and how Epic and Yu try to make moves to run away only to be stopped by Mika and Akane.

I plan to include a scene between Epic and Akane where Epic tries to run out in the middle of the night only to be stopped by Akane, and this is what caused Epic to develop a crush on her (Epic is a girl btw). Then I would begin the whole shit with the vampires and how they set the world on fire and shit, but instead of the apocolypse, I'd make it so that most of the adults died in the fire while the kids were taken alive (because young blood is better and whatnot). This includes our little Hyakuya family. The directors would have tried to trade the kids lives for their own, and due to their selfishness, the vamps killed them and took the kids anyway.

This would begin my first story arc: the prewar.

Epic, Akane, Mika, and Yu would all be living under the vampires at this point along with the rest of the kids in their orphanage. I plan to include lots of moments of bonding that heavily imply Epic loves Akane even though she doesn't know it yet and Mika loves Yu, but Yu is fucking oblivious. The four begin to plot their escape, but while Mika and Akane (yes Akane too) are making deals with the vampires to help out with their family, Epic is constantly finding herself getting dragged along to visit Queen Krul. The pink haired vamp has a soft spot for her for some reason and often tells her that Epic and her family are "special" or sum shit. And she's super confused and semi grossed out. But none of the vamps ever dare to hurt her so she thinks it's fine. Then one day they all plot their escape and it's much more planned out and lengthy and less rushed than it is in the anime. Things almost seem to work out until the vampires stop them

And Mika and Akane DIE.

I know. I'm horrid.

Epic is standing here in shock as she watches the love of her life die before her and Mika BEGS for Yu to take Epic and run while they can. So while in the series only Yu survives, he obeys Mika and both him and Epic survive this. They're found by Guren (a new character I haven't come up with yet lol) and Yu is super protective over Epic, not wanting anyone to take the only piece of his family he has left (he's a fucking mess without Mika let's just be honest) and Guren ends up taking them under his wing.

Now we hit the second arc. Still with me?

The War.

Hold onto your hats everyone because this is where shit is about to get complicated. So I do plan to have a bit of a time skip into the current spot where Yu and Epic are attending school with Guren as their father figure and they've become very close. So close that Yu refuses to work with anyone else but her. They end up getting onto Shinoa Squad (obviously going to be completely different in my version) and they get put onto the battlefield. But here's the catch. Well, two catches.

Yu and Epic do have demon weapons. I do plan to try to incorporate that into this. BUT the backstory is different. I plan to make it so that the vampires obviously see the humans as fies. Insignificant things that are more playthings than threats. And they didn't want to have to deal with killing all of them, so they sent demons in their place to handle it. But the humans were able to form deals or "contracts" with the demons and therefore turned the vampires' own secret weapon against them.

Now, catch no. 2

So, Epic, Mika, and Yu aren't seraphs in this. But they are something else. I'm going to try to explain this as simply as I can, but each of them (besides Mika since he doesn't have a demon) have 3 souls inside their body:

Soul 1 is their current soul, the one that identifies as Mika or Epic or Yu.

Soul 2 is their demon soul, like what Asuramaru is to Yu.

And soul 3 is their archangel soul (I might change that name later on).

So I'm just going to come right out and say it. In this series, Epic is the villain.

Yes.

You read that right.

Epic is the villain. But she doesn't know that she is. These Soul 3s were reincarnated into the current bodies of Mika, Epic, and Ari (and I know that's not exactly how it works but screw logic this is just a fucking concept) from their lives centuries ago.

These souls existed way before vampires existed and Epic (or Essie) was very close friends with Yu (or Aytigin). Aytigin was in love with Haru (Mika) but for one reason or another, they couldn't be together. Essie wanted to do something, willing to do anything to make the two of them happy. So she made a deal that brought the vampires into creation so that Haru and Aytigin could be happy. She was willing to sacrifice everything that they stood for so that the two of them could be in love together.

She had good intentions, but of course Haru and Aytigin were furious because now the vampires were turning against the humans and they all basically died. Until they were reborn respectively, but unknowingly.

Now picking back up in the present, Yu and Epic are fighting in one of the main battles and the two are very confused when the vampires make a very deliberate attempt not to hurt Epic. They're unsure as to why, but Guren tells them not to worry about it.

Suspicious bastard.

Anyway, it's revealed finally that MIKA IS ALIVE

BUT HE'S ALSO DEAD

Yes he is a vampire. And Yu falls in love all over again upon seeing him, and after a bunch of struggling, Epic gets kidnapped. At first she gets strangled by Lacus and then she gets kidnapped by Ferid who doesn't kill her surprisingly.

Oh and uh... Ferid is nice in this. He's still a fucking creep, but he's a lot nicer than he is in the series. I plan to make Queen Krul or whoever I turn her into be the villain.

Anyway, they take Epic back to the vampire palace or whatever and Queen Krul and Epic are reunited! And Krul is the one who reveals to Epic exactly who she, Mika, and Yu are and this is what sparks Epic's fall to insanity.

I mean, she's the killer. She's the one who brought them into this world. She's responsible for every death the vampires cause.

I would go crazy too.

So, she manages to escape (partially thanks to Mika) and the two join Yu and the others again and it's revealed a second time exactly what is going on. And while no one actually blames Epic on the Shinoa Squad, that doesn't stop people like Kureto and even herself from blaming.

And this causes her demon to go haywire.

She begins losing her marbles, almost killing her teammates and trying to kill herself, all while the three begin to experience dreams or visions of their Soul 3s.

While all this shit is going on, there's heavy romance between Mika and Yu because these two lovers just got reunited and FUCK did they have glow ups but yes -

Oh. And there is another spark for Epic, even though she doesn't think she's worthy of love.

Okay. I'm just gonna say it.

Lacus falls in love with Epic. Yes. You read that correctly too.

I plan to make the two of them get trapped together at some point and they have to work together to escape. It's during this time that Epic realizes he's not all that bad and has some form of self control and he realizes that she's the most interesting thing he's ever met in this disgusting and boring life and damn do her eyes look pretty-

But yes. She forms a permanent alliance with him that he jokes about as marriage and they meet on other occassions too, but lol yes.

Anyway, blah blah blah, more fall to insanity, the Soul 3s take over their bodies on multiple occasions and there's a lot of bonding and fighting and Epic and Mika somehow manage to get some of the vampires on the human side.

And in the end, Epic and Yu basically sacifice themselves to save the human race and kill Queen Krul. It's a very rough ending I haven't quite perfected yet, but Yu has a moment like he did with the King of Salt. But though he inflicted a lot of damage, it's not enough. So while the team is worried about him, Epic takes this opportunity to fix her and Essie's mistakes.

She allows both Essie and her demon to take control of her body and dies on the battlefield. Queen Krul is eliminated. Most of the vampires are gone. The humans won.

Horray.

Epic is dead.

Kinda. Yu and Mika take her back home and this is the preview to the last arc where everyone's in the hospital and Epic's in a coma. Mika and Yu barely ever leave her side and it's only when Lacus of all people comes to visit that she fucking wakes up.

Okay. Are you still with me? Now come with me to the final arc.

The Post-War.

No my friend. It doesn't end there. Because Mika and Lacus are still vamps and life still sucks and I drank too much coffee this morning.

No it's not over yet.

So flash forward a couple years and Kureto and Crew are working as the heads of this city. Stuff is being rebuilt, people are settling down in homes, Lacus and some of the other "good" vampires find jobs, and Mika, Yu, and Epic get a house together (in case I didn't mention before, Epic is pansexual. She loved Akane dearly and I plan to include scenes where she sees her in her mind and dreams like Mikayuu so she's never truly gone, but she falls for Lacus too when he's not being a sadistic asshole). Things are going strangely when

BAM. Epic and Yu come up with a cure for vampirism.

How, you may ask? I don't fucking know, I haven't read about it in the manga yet but before we come up with an idea for it, imma say they came up with it through a spell. They share their findings with Guren and soon all vampires are being cured, most notably Mika, Lacus, and even Rene.

BUT and there's always a but, Kureto passes a new law claiming all vampires to be property. That any vampire or previous vampire or even vampire supporter/owner that tries to disobey these new laws is to be killed immediately. Now Epic and Yu are in jeopardy because their ex-vampires are in danger (Epic and Lacus have been hanging out a lot more and he's proven himself to be a decent guy. Contrary to popular belief, I headcanon him as not really knowing what to do when he actually cares about someone since he's been a heartless vamp for so long. So when he turns to Mika and begrudgingly asks him for LOVE ADVICE of all fucking things, Mika is ready to die). So basically, Mika and Lacus end up getting locked up along with the other ex-vamps (including Ferid which was a pain in the ass) and did I forget to mention that there's a proposal?

Oh yeah, Yu proposes to Mika and the blond still has yet to give him an actual answer because poor baby is still having a hard time accepting that Yu can love a "monster" like him.

But anyways, now Epic and Yu are furious and SHINOA SQUAD IS BACK IN BUSINESS. With the help of Guren and Shinya and everyone, they form a sort of rebellion and blah blah blah they manage to get Mika and Lacus and everyone out and blah blah blah they all get separated and Lacus begins to get INSANELY protective of Epic and ends up confessing his feelings to her before he nearly dies and blah blah blah did I forget to mention that I'm making Mitsunnoa and Kimizuki x Yoichi canon and blah blah blah.

Epic kisses Lacus as an instinct. Lacus kisses her again. Mika accepts Yu's proposal then almost dies AGAIN. I kill off some characters for emotional tugs and after a ton of more fighting and revenge and psychological breakings later, Kureto is killed. And Guren (or someone else haven't decided yet) is the new head of their city.

Epic, Mika, and Yu finally let Akane and the kids go. There's a lot of Shinoa Squad bonding but this is a summary so I haven't included much besides the main three. Epic and Lacus becomes canon. Mika and Yu get married. Guren and Shinya get married. Shinoa gets pregnant.

And everyone gets the FUCKING HAPPY ENDING THAT THEY ALL FUCKING DESERVE BECAUSE FUCK

I do plan to be slightly ruthless like the creator and include a lot of heartbreaking scenes, but it's going to be much different than ONS but I still want it to hold on to some core relationships.

I just want them to be happy. And I just want to make other people happy because fuck I JUST WANT TO BE HAPPY

So. Yeah.

That's Bloodsucker...

So my question to you is... if I wrote this shit.

If I sat down and typed about 30 books roughly inspired by Seraph of the End and Mikayuu and Mitsunnoa and shit...

Would anyone read it?

♡ a.a.

#mikayuu #yuumika #mika x yuu #yuu x mika #owari no seraph #owari no straights #owari no serafu #seraph of the end #seraph of the gay #Mitsunnoa #i wanna write a book #reimagination #fml #send halp #lacus #new character #akane #what am i doing with my life

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transsexualhamlet · 4 years

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*slams fists on table* CATASTROPHE ANIME

yeah this is just my long ranting hypothetical post about “omg what if there was an anime for catastrophe at 16″ because I’m like that @autpunk-godling feel free to add on because we just yell about this for hours on end

I have also now brought it up in the discord server just bc i wanna yell about it

This is the recording of all the shit we came up with screaming about it

-it could only possible like after the manga is finished and translated officially plus resurrection novels probably finished or close to but like,,, we can hope, we can dream, please-

-people coming to it and seeing the trailers and shit would probably see the school and the cherry blossoms and go “oh it’s ouran high school host club but like with swords” and then everyone fucking dies and the fans are like I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS???

-everyone new would know the spoilers for the end by like episode 2 bc manga fans wouldn’t be able to shut up cause someone would just like post a screencap of guren saying “i’m gonna save the world” with a pensive emoji under it some anime only would see it and by the end of the day everyone knows how it ends

-gureshin exposure and seeing it on screen like just imagine how fucking gay it’ll look like I swear this would become the new mikayuu like imagine,,, the beginning when he’s leaning over guren’s desk, the love hotel scene, love hotel 2 electric boogaloo, when they fight over who gets to top omg “become my subordinate” “no u” and every time shinya LOOKS at guren, the part where he comes back to guren’s house and goes “uwu you were looking at my phone”, the motorcycle scene, the *thinks about shinya while taking a bath* the entire part where guren goes demon and shinya saves him and holds him and i,,, and well the entire end

-guren’s va in the last episode would be DEAD lemme tell you the SCREAMING I WANT TO HEAR IT

-Hypothetically this would probably cover 2 seasons, the first season covering books 1-3 and 2nd season covering 4-7, and then like. No one’s gonna want to end it at *guren sticks sword in slot* so like uh resurrection’s gonna need to be a thing unless it gets cancelled which uh fuck i hope not

-more appreciation for characters, THERE WOULD BE PEOPLE ACTUALLY PAYING ATTENTION TO MITO, GOSHI, SHIGURE, AND SAYURI, guren antis would actually just shut up because they’d see him being a fucking softie, and uh well kureto stans would have something to answer for

-the MEME possibility just THINK of the MEMES

-i want to see the trailers,,, i want to see them,,, i want to-

-the levels of horniness compared to vampire reign omg like they’re the same age as yu squad and they like all wanna fuck like how will that translate to anime like

-the. the last episode i. omg it would be so intense I can’t it would be so epic there would be so much blood oh god

-this would cause more exposure for the manga too because 1. the old anime-onlys would come back, 2. everyone already in the manga fandom will be revived for any kind of content, 3. the fans who’ve dropped off will probably watch it, 4. new fans who liked WIT studio shit will be like :eyes emoji:, fans who looked at the trailer and went that sounds kinda gay will watch it, actual shonen fans and people who like high school anime and liked the vampire reign school arc would watch it, like it would have a pretty good base

-like bro there would be actual diversity in ships kjhghjkj like people would actually pay attention to the characters omg please i just want some content like yes of course gureshin but like also the other characters please CATASTROPHE CONTENT OMG I NEED IT C A T A S T R O P H E C O N T E N T

-you know how the dub for the vampire reign anime is like 80 percent gayer than the sub with the “girlfriend or boyf-” “or a lover” etc uh how can they possibly make some of the shit in ca16 gayer but they WOULD like uh some of the stuff shinya already says in canon is like so fucking gay like the “you’ll never get a husband if you don’t let me clean your wound haha”, the misunderstanding in the love hotel, the “uwu people will think we’re a couple” on the motorcycle, all of that, there’s more, literally every time someone makes a joke about being in love with guren fucking-

-it would actually be good bc new anime tends to be Shit so yeah people would watch it I swear I think it would get even better ratings than vampire reign because it has a comprehensible plot and the ending and shit is already decided, I think different people would like it

-ok but like the problem is there’s a different beginning in the manga and the light novels of ca16. And like, the manga’s beginning would be a really bad thing to go with. In the light novel, the book starts right off with Guren going into first shibuya high school with sayuri and shigure, explaining the situation with the ichinoses and the hiragis. That’s a good beginning, it gives a good idea of what the story’s gonna be like, it doesn’t give away what’s going to happen. Whereas in the manga, they decided to shoot in before that a bullshit chapter that’s straight out of fucking tokyo babylon. I don’t even,,, it was really bad, and it doesn’t even seem to be canon. There’s no indication that’s anything but like crossover fanfic because the gist of that chapter was Guren, Sayuri, and Shigure like,,, exorcising a bitch which is like so not the vibe of this story. It makes no sense?? That’s not even what Guren did in middle school? What???? There’s also a bunch of really offputting shit in there, if you’ve ever seen it. That’s gonna get rid of so many potential fans. It’s a really bad idea. Also at the end it literally gives away the fact that Guren’s gonna end the world which is just. shit. it’s shit. Like everyone’s gonna know anyway just don’t give it away in canon!!! It was a bad idea in the manga and it would be a terrible decision to do in a potential anime.

-what would it even be rated omg like it’s. So much hornier than vampire reign so like I don’t even fucking know like, there is sex,,, with fucking m a h i r u, i don’t like that, and i mean other than that every other word out of someone’s mouth is wanna fuck like that’s fine in a light novel but on screen uh

-!!!!!! THE OP AND ED !!!!!!!!! the SHIT that would be FORESHADOWED in the ENDING i sWEAR TO GOD I JUST WANT TO S E E I T like even if they just reused scapegoat and xu it would still be fucking amazing LIKE OK. KAGAMI FORESHADOWED CHAPTER 94 WITH THE ORIGINAL ED WHAT THE F U C K KIND OF FORESHADOWING WOULD GO ON WITH CA16

I just really really really want another song to vibe to ok and I want to see the images i want to see them fighting I want to see them in front of cherry blossoms uuuuuuuuuuu please like I want to see Mahiru like posing with two swords or some shit please omg please mahiru don’t turn into a demon you’re so sexy ahaha

like broooo I really just want to see it like anime ops are just so amazing and epic and the eds are all kinda sad and foreshadowy and UH FOR CATASTROPHE THAT’S LIKE A L O T LIKE THE IMAGES THAT PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE ARE JUST GONNA SEE AND GO “F U C K” like just imagine the ed having like. like guren’s sword in a slot in a white room or like a flash forward to the world after it’s ended

-we can see on screen, colored: NOYA, SAITO, (ferid with green hair???), I want to see all of them omg also maybe they can decide for sure what aoi’s eye color is

-THE ELEVATOR FIGHT WITH GUREN AND SAITO GHHHGHGHGHGH I JUST WANNA S E E IT

-we get to see them actually fight with magic and not like jumping off of buildings abilities and shit

-Guren going demon omg omg omg

-BABY YU BABY YU BABY YU BABY MIKA BABY MIKA BABY SHINOA BABY SHINOA

-I think the anime wouldn’t want to have it end with Guren sticking the sword in the slot so I think they’re probably pull a vampire reign episode 1 and after the sword thing just like,,, fast forward to a quick ambiguous shot of Guren at 24 standing in a broken world in his demon army uniform uuuh like OW I WANNA SEE IT I WANT TO SEE IT I WANT TO oH MY GOD THE CINEMATOGRAPHY-

-in conclusion *mails kagami 12 dollars* pwease mw kagami

#owari no seraph #ca16 #gureshin #long ass post

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justanotherdraft · 6 years

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Fandom: Owari no Seraph Title: (B)eware A (N)ice (G)uy in the Shadows Ship: Gureshin and Mikayuu Characters: Guren, Shinya, the Hiiragi family, Mika, Yuu, Mitsuba, Krul, Ferid, Mahiru (is still alive), Byakkomaru, Crowley Rating: M Tags: Fluff, Domestic fluff, Angst, Murder investigation, Murder mystery, TeaCeremonyMaster!Shinya, Detective!Guren, Hurt/Comfort, Snuggling &Cuddling, Established Relationship, Living Together, Kidnapping,Sharing a Bed, Mentions of Blood, Sexual Content, Married Couple, Secret identities

A hush fell over the group as Mito slowly nodded, “It doesn’t matter if they are kidnappers or killers, they’ll both be sentenced to a life behind bars. We will get the hostages back.”

Sayuri turned from the group, “Yes, but first we need to gather more evidence.” Guren knew that in order to ensure that Krul landed behind bars they needed to gather evidence, but he felt like all they were doing was gathering evidence. Until they figured out how everything was connected they couldn’t do anything. Guren grinded his teeth as everyone turned back to their work. Without hesitation Mito grabbed Shigure’s arm and beckoned her out of the art studio.

The two stood in silence for a moment until Mito asked, “Could you take Ichinose out and look for witnesses. I doubt two suspects with vibrant characteristics could slip out of here with the body of a fully grown man without being seen by at least one person.”

Shigure nodded, “I’ll take him with me once he’s done saving Shinya’s pictures.”

“And,” Mito pulled Shigure close, “Please keep an eye on him.”

Shigure offered a weak smile, “I will.” As Mito turned away Shigure grabbed her arm, “But first I want you tell me what you’ll be doing.”

#ao3fic #owari no seraph #ons #gureshin #guren x shinya #Yuumika #mikayuu #mika x yuu #BANG #fic update

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tang-wei · 6 years

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Thank you, thank you thank you for translating the Guren's LN!! Really you are a blessing to this fandom!! Really wished I could donate some money to help you but for now is impossible for me :/ So at least I wanted to thank you for doing this. I've just read the first chapter of the new ones and my poor heart. Poor Guren he go trough a lot, and also the Gureshin moments were so beautiful but at the same time so painful. But I loved it! Thank again and hope you have a nice day!

Oh anon please don’t ever feel bad for not being able to donate! It’s a totally optional perk and I totally understand that my reader’s circumstances may not be ideal for them to donate to me. If this is the case please go and keep the money for yourself, my monetary situation has improved greatly this month already! Thanks like these are enough for me! I’m glad I’m able to do this for the fandom!!!!

The sad thing about the gureshin moments,,,is that shinya was unconcious,,,,and he almost died...... which is not exactly the best mood of romance........bUT I TAKE WHAT I CAN GET KAGAMI YOU MISS ME WITH THAT HETRONORMATIVE BS

#i respect all ships but sometimes when i see some of the 'canon' parings my face looks like someone slapped me with a kimchi #they all had some good premise but the way kagami does it #i just #no #perfectly amazing poeple #gureshin #anonymous #asks

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swanfrcst · 7 years

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between the moonbeams

fandom: owari no seraph | gureshin | ~4k words

summary: the hiiragi’s reign must end – and this duty rests in guren’s hands.

a/n: late entry for @onsshipsweek day one: the past & royalty & falling into darkness ||| this is a vague royalty/assassination plot au...give me the gureshin angst

content warnings for: character death (lol)

(this will be posted on ao3 after it’s beta-d and fixed up a bit but i wanted to get it out for the week before it was SUPER late...)

NOW:

“Are you ready?” Shigure asks quietly, carefully.

Guren cannot see her face behind the thick black mask she wears, but her tone carries her worry well. Worry about too many things to properly articulate in the sharp, curt way Shigure often does.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Guren responds. He slips on his own mask, securing the straps behind his ears. One last check of the knives hidden in the folds of his clothes, the homemade bombs strapped snugly to his waist, the sword sheathed tightly to his side.

A quick glance to the four people standing beside him reveals that they are all standing at attention, waiting for Guren to give the command. There is tension between them, borne from urgency and determination. Guren inhales and wonders if he will be sending all his friends to their deaths.

“Operation Namanari, begin.”

Inside the castle, the hallways burst with light and cheer. Hiiragi Tenri’s party is bustling with exotic foods and upbeat music, nobles dressed in rich silks and gleaming gems coasting room to room. Shinya keeps his smile bright throughout the entire evening, making small talk with various men and women and bowing politely whenever he passes one of his older brothers.

It’s not until Mahiru appears at his side, beautiful silver dress trailing behind her like swan feathers, does Shinya realize how tired he is.

“You look a little worse for wear, brother,” Mahiru says. And what a hypocrite she is, Shinya thinks, for Mahiru’s still got her royalty smile painted prettily on her lips, even when she is talking to him.

“Well,” Shinya replies, letting himself relax for the first time that night, carefully rolling a glass of sparkling wine between his fingertips, “I’m not the best people pleaser in the royal family.”

Mahiru cocks her head, considering Shinya first and then the crowd around them. There is no one paying any attention to them, and there was still some time until the planned speeches and banquet party. Humming lightly, Mahiru daintily places a gloved hand on Shinya arm, smile shifting into something more organic, more real.

“Shinya,” she says, “Won’t you accompany me to the courtyards? It looks like both of us could use some fresh air.”

Immediately recognizing the spark of adventure in her eyes, Shinya barks out in laughter. “It would be my honor.”

BEFORE:

Shinya sticks his face through the gilded iron bars of the fence and says, “You know that commoners aren’t allowed this close to the castle without permission, right? You should leave before my father catches you.”

There is a startled cry and the boy who had been furtively crouching behind a bush raises his head above it.

“What’s it to you?” he snaps defensively, and Shinya notes with curiosity the smudges of dirt and mud on the boy’s cheeks and the way leaves and sticks have become matted in his dark hair.

“I’m a prince, duh,” Shinya replies. “And you’re trespassing on my house.”

The only reason Shinya is at the castle’s back gate is because he is awfully bored after having escaped the pesky private tutor. Besides, Shinya is practically last in line for the throne anyways, and all his siblings know he couldn’t really care less about being a king. In the end, it’s up to Kureto and Mahiru can fight it out. But for now, Shinya is too young to understand what exactly it all means.

Shinya also hasn’t seen anyone outside of his family or the castle staff before, which is why he decides to stay and talk to this strange boy instead of running away and alerting a guard.

Surprisingly, the boy doesn’t cower in fear or run away. Instead, he glances around quickly before stepping out of the bushes with an angry glower. Shinya supposes it is meant to be menacing, but as someone who has lived with Hiiragi Tenri for eight years, the boy’s expression is simply amusing.

“Listen, you,” the boy hisses in a quiet rage, “I don’t need a stupid prince to tell me what to do! I can go where ever I want and do whatever I want and you can’t stop me!”

What is his problem, Shinya wonders, and falls into silence, staring at this strange boy who spouts strange things and is somehow not afraid of anything.

The boy snarls in response to Shinya’s silence and raises his face to glare at Shinya. His eyes are dark and alight with passion, but it is markedly different from the ambition often reflected in brother Kureto’s gaze. Shinya immediately decides that he’s made a new friend.

With this epiphany in mind, Shinya smiles and waves at the boy, who stops growling in confusion. “Wait here,” Shinya says, and runs off before the boy can respond.

Shinya heads straight for the pathway hidden behind a ring of large stone sculptures and a thick grove of trees. There’s a hole in the wall blocked by a big rock, the hole big enough for Shinya to squeeze through. As long as he’s not gone for too long, this secret should stay with him for years to come.

For now, he just wants to meet his new friend. So Shinya squeezes his eyes shut to prevent bugs from getting on his face and painstakingly shimmies through the hole, carefully pushing the rock back as much as he can once he crawls out. The strange boy watches him this entire time, tense but anticipating.

Brushing off the dirt on his knees and elbows, Shinya confidently marches toward the boy, who quickly turns around, making sure his back isn’t facing Shinya – a motion Shinya takes note of. But these mysteries he can solve later. After all, Shinya’s got all the time in the world.

“Hello,” Shinya says, putting on his brightest, most charming smile. The roughness in the boy’s expression fades a little, as if he’s letting his guard down.

“My name is Hiiragi Shinya.” he continues, “Would you like to be my friend?”

NOW:

Guren glances up at the full moon, frowning. Perhaps it would have been better to wait until there was less moonlight – less chance of them being seen. But Hiiragi parties were a rare, exclusive event, and Guren did not have limitless patience. By this point, it was now or never.

At his side, Goshi reaches out and taps his shoulder twice before flashing Guren a thumbs up and slipping away into the shadows. Shigure and Mito had already left earlier, each of them fulfilling their part of the plan.

After Goshi leaves, Guren presses his back against the rough, tall wall surrounding the Hiiragi castle and counts his breaths, marking the seconds that pass by. Accompanied by nothing but the moonlight and the white noise of crickets singing, Guren manages to still his movements and let his thoughts wander. All at once, the sword by his side seems heavier than normal, as if reminding him of the weight his actions will carry.

( There was once a time where Guren had stood next to the youngest Hiiragi prince as an equal, kissed his scrapes and bruises until the young boy had shed tears from laughter rather than pain, held his hand under the midday sun and the starlight from a new moon. There still are times when Guren wakes up to the memory of a warmth pressed against his side, the echoes of kisses fading from his cheeks, his neck. Once, he wakes up with tears in his eyes and a name on the tip of his tongue. )

But of course, duty outweighs love, and Guren has had years of practice shutting away his heart.

On their way to the courtyard, they pass by a lone servant carrying a tray of food through the hallway. Her dark blonde hair is tucked neatly into a small braid, and when she sees them approaches, immediately begins to kneel.

“No, no,” Shinya cries, a little flustered, although the serving girl seems more affected, judging from the way she trembles, “it’s quite alright, please stand.”

“Mahiru-sama, Shinya-sama,” she whispers, “Please excuse me.”

Mahiru, however, has stilled, carefully watching the girl as she slowly rises to her feet, head bent and eyes averted.

“What’s your name?” Mahiru calls out. The servant flinches.

“S-Sayuri, my lady,” she says, still refusing to meet Mahiru’s eyes.

“Mahiru,” Shinya asks, “What in the world are you doing?”, because Mahiru’s got that look in her eye that spells nothing but trouble.

“Oh, nothing you need to worry about,” the princess says, brushing off Shinya’s concerns with a wave of her hand before turning back to the servant. “Sayuri, darling, won’t you accompany Shinya and I? Just bring that tray of snacks with you, it’ll be appreciated.”

Of course, the serving girl can’t refuse, so she bows and follows Shinya and Mahiru into one of the Hiiragi family’s many courtyards. This one has a curved koi pond in the middle of the grassy space, a cobblestoned path winding through the trees planted against the wall.

Humming cheerfully, Mahiru carefully gathers her dress and walks along the edge of the pond, peering at the fish that flit about. The moon reflects on the surface, casting glowing silver ripples across the dark water.

The courtyard is far quieter than the commotion inside, and Shinya sighs deeply, stretching his arms out. “Finally,” he says, laughing, “I have escaped.”

Mahiru scoffs. “If only.”

(There is a rustle in the treetops, and a startled bird squawks and takes flight. “A squirrel?” Shinya asks carelessly, following Mahiru around the pond. She shrugs. Both of them ignore Sayuri, who has fixed a sharp look onto what seems to be empty space.)

The two siblings stand before one of the stone benches lining the pond, Shinya brushing away the dust and grass before gesturing for Mahiru to sit down. She smiles sweetly at him, waving Sayuri over and plucking a small pastry from the plate. Shinya sits next to her, stretching his legs out in a manner very unbefitting of royalty. The two let the blessed silence wash over them, basking in the moonlight.

“Say,” Mahiru muses suddenly, breaking the silence. She carefully smooths out some wrinkles in her dress, flicking away imaginary lint. “This would be a perfect night for an assassination, wouldn’t it?”

Shinya, who has just taken a bite of a small slice of pie, chokes. It takes a bit of sputtering and sipping from a glass of water offered by Sayuri for him to recover. Meanwhile, Mahiru still wears the same amused expression, as if she is in on some secret Shinya doesn’t know.

Perhaps she is – Shinya wouldn’t be surprised.

“You shouldn’t speak like that, sister,” Shinya says, although it is more of a reflexive response than anything.

Mahiru coughs softly, and Sayuri says gently, “Is there anything you need, Mahiru-sama?”

“Oh,” the princess says, “I’d like one of the specialty rolls brother Seishirou has been raving about. Get some for Shinya as well.”

Sayuri sets her platter of food down and bows deeply before quickly walking away. Watching this quaint exchange, and observing Mahiru’s nonchalant demeanor, Shinya suddenly has a very bad feeling about what the rest of the night holds.

THEN:

“Guren, where have you been all day? I already told you that today we were going to meet an important ally, how could you forget?!”

As Guren steps through the foyer of the safe house, he rubs his face and does his best to ignore Mito’s snarls grating at his eardrums. She is standing in front of him, arms crossed and brow furrowed, but Guren realizes he barely has the energy to care.

“Something important,” Guren says flippantly, pushing past Mito and walking toward the kitchen. “Narumi and his men can wait.”

“They’ve been waiting!” Mito screeches, pivoting sharply and storming after Guren. “You realize they are the only viable providers of the materials we need? Do you want to throw our entire operation into jeopardy?”

Guren ignores Mito’s ranting and goes straight to the bedroom, locks the door behind him. Eventually, she falls silent and leaves, no doubt to fume some more elsewhere. If it were at any other time, Guren would feel guilty and irresponsible – but –

Shinya finds him in their regular meeting spot: a small, hidden alcove about a mile from the castle. He’s smiling ear to ear, a cloth bag in one hand and a wine bottle in the other.

“You’re extra smiley today,” Guren notes, swinging down from his comfortable position wedged on the branches of a tree. “What’s the occasion?”

“Well,” Shinya says, gesturing for Guren to come closer, “it’s not every day that you ask me to meet you, so I thought I’d celebrate you finally deciding to take the next step in our relationship!”

He is joking, Guren knows, but Guren’s throat still closes with the knowledge of what he is about to do. But he is careful to let none of it show and playfully hits Shinya’s arm instead.

“What relationship?” Guren says with a small smile, “I only keep you for the food you bring me.”

Shinya nods knowingly. “Of course. Who knows what kind of food you commoners eat every day? It’s about time you treat yourself.”

Saying so, Shinya waves the bag in Guren’s face and sits, placing the bottle of wine next to him as he opens the bag and begins to carefully take out the prepackaged snacks inside. Guren, however, stays standing, even when Shinya looks up expectantly.

“What’s wrong?” Shinya asks, “Are you ok?”

Guren is so, so careful to make sure that his expression stays neutral, as if he didn’t quite care about what he would be saying next.

“Shinya,” he begins, watching as Shinya recognizes the change in atmosphere and sets the package in his hands down. “We should end this.”

“End this? Are you afraid of being caught?”

“No, it’s just – there is no point in us meeting any more. In fact, there was no point in the first place. It’s time to move on.”

A lie, a lie, a lie, but who is Guren to tell?

NOW:

Guren hears “I’d like one of the specialty rolls – “ and immediately tips his head up and left, waiting for the visual signal. Already, the palms of his hands are sweating, almost soaking through his gloves. In the corner of his eye, a shadow shifts; one of Shigure’s throwing knives streaks silently through the air and lands snugly in the dirt next to his feet.

Bending down to pocket the knife, Guren flashes a hand signal in Shigure’s general direction. Then, he sets his shoulders and begins to climb the wall. The rough stone digs into his hands, and even his gloves aren’t thick enough to stop the chill from slipping past the fabric. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending how he looks at it), the climb is longer than expected and he has the time to really stop the slight tremors in his arms that aren’t caused by physical exertion.

He reaches a dip in the wall, where the surface has been smoothed out by wind and rain, and swears under his breath. Now he has to carefully shift to the side, searching for a better path. Even in the darkness, Guren can feel Shigure’s eyes on him, tracking his movement, ready to provide assistance if needed.

But Guren knows that if he does not climb over this wall himself, he will never be able to carry out the task he has been assigned. So he grits his teeth and pulls himself over the final stretch of concrete and stone.

Once his vertigo settles, Guren takes in the courtyard below him. There is a grove of trees in front of him, effectively shielding him from Shinya and Mahiru who are sitting in a stone bench facing away from him and toward a small fish pond, idly chatting about kingdom affairs.

Guren can’t see Shigure, but he knows she is positioned to his right, knives and wire traps at the ready. Behind him is Mito, crouched on top of the wall with a quiver slung over her shoulder and a taunt bow ready to fire. She’s got a bottle of oil and a flint stone by her side as well, along with sheets of flammable cloth.

This is for the greater good, Guren repeats in his mind. This is for the greater good –

A flash of silver whistles through the night, moonlight catching off the polished metal of Shigure’s knives as they shoot past Shinya and Mahiru. Six, seven, eight of them find spots in the dirt, in the cracks of the stone path, in the barks of trees. Another flick of the wrist, another five, six, seven slip out of the trees, and this time, the razor-thin wires attached to each knife flash in the moonlight.

Shinya’s eyes grow wide, and he leaps to his feet, ready to flee (or fight? he doesn’t know).

“Mahiru,” he says urgently, “Mahiru, what – “

Sayuri closes the courtyard door behind her and peaks down the hallway, listening for footsteps. When she hears none, she quietly bolts the door shut and wedges a block of wood in the gap between the lock.

Then, she pats down her dress and quickly walks away. The blades hidden in the sleeves of her uniform press against her skin – a reminder.

THEN:

The talk of the city is this: Mahiru is getting married.

A political marriage from the looks of it, betrothed to a prince of a neighboring country, a country with access to certain natural resources that the Hiiragi kingdom lacked.

But when the Hiiragis do their annual parade around the capitol to celebrate King Hiiragi’s birthday, Mahiru sits upon her carriage dressed in lavish robes and with a satisfied smile dancing on her lips. Guren stands among the gathered crowd, watching along with the rest of the city as the Hiiragi royal family passes through.

Curiously, the moment Mahiru turns her head in Guren’s direction is the moment when the sun sparks off the edge of the carriage, momentarily blinding Guren. He curses silently and brings his hand up to shade his eyes, but when his vision clears, Mahiru is looking away and the carriage has passed.

No matter. Guren has gotten what he came for, and quietly slips away through the crowd.

A few days later, Hiiragi Mahiru knocks on the door of the safehouse listed on the letter she’d received. The door swings open to reveal a timid-looking girl who bows when she sees the visitor.

“Come in,” Sayuri says, “Guren has been expecting you.”

Mahiru stays for less than half an hour. When Guren walks out into the living room, Mahiru, dressed in a simple cloak and body void of any makeup or jewelry, seizes him up and smiles unkindly.

“So you’re the man who has my brother in the depths of misery,” she says, voice carefully flat.

“It was a mistake,” Guren replies with just as much emotion. “And I think we both know that duty comes first.”

After this exchange, Mahiru listens carefully to Guren’s plan and agrees to it with little resistance. Before she leaves, she turns to Sayuri and says, “I will be seeing you soon, then.”

Sayuri simply bows and the door closes behind Mahiru, her footsteps fading away into the night.

NOW:

Mahiru sits on the stone bench and does not move, even as a knife flashes right in front of her face, narrowly missing her nose, even as Shinya jumps up and cuts his arm on a taunt wire stretched through the air. She is calm, eyes fixed on a point in the distance.

“Shinya,” she finally says, “If I were you, I wouldn’t move.”

And Shinya freezes because this is the voice Mahiru uses when she is deadly serious, when she expects complete compliance and nothing else. But why?

Suddenly, Shinya feels something shift underneath his feet, and a tremor shakes the earth. Shinya leans down to steady himself against the bench, swearing under his breath as the invisible wires leave cuts on his cheeks, his arms, his shoulders. Then – there is an ear shattering explosion and part of the castle goes up in flames.

“What is going on?” Shinya screams, planting his feet firmly into the ground as another explosion rattles the earth. Ash has begun to float from the interior of the castle where the explosions had gone off, the wind dusting black flakes of burnt material onto the grass.

Still, Mahiru sits calmly, hands folded neatly in her lap, hair still pinned perfectly with not a strand out of place. This image is so unbearable wrong, and dread begins to pile low in his stomach. Shinya ignores the fact that there are razor sharp wires hovering by him that could kill him in an instant and steps forward to grab Mahiru roughly by the shoulders.

“Mahiru,” he hisses, and Mahiru slowly meets his eyes. “Explain.”

A flicker of weariness reflects in her eyes. “I am sorry, Shinya,” she says quietly, even as another explosion echoes through the night. “But this is for the best.”

“For the best? What best? Why is this happening?”

But before Mahiru can answer, and arrow streaks out from the shadows, lodging itself neatly into Shinya’s shoulder. He yells in pain, stumbling backwards, even as another knife sparks through the air, a warning.

An assassination, Shinya thinks through the haze. But why? Who?

And why does Mahiru not care at all?

Through the crackle of flames and the chaos from the castle in front of him, Shinya hears the soft tap of something – someone – landing on the grass behind him. Mahiru turns her head, eyes widening a fraction, but Shinya doesn’t notice. Instead, he turns around, slowly, as carefully as he can with an arrow in his shoulder.

There is a person, dressed in all black, face covered with a mask that is flat and dull and catches no light at all. The person lifts their head up, seemingly glancing over Mahiru first, then Shinya, and just as Shinya is about to open his mouth to speak, another explosion drowns out his words.

The last thing Shinya sees the masked figure, framed by the light of the full moon, and the silver glint of a blade as it swings down, down, down.

AFTER:

Guren stumbles out of the smoke, into the streets of a city that was far too active for this early in the morning. But it’s to be expected – the Hiiragi castle is in flames and no one knows why.

Turn left, pass three alleyways, another left – into a small medicine store and down the staircase into the storage cellar he runs, pushing open the hidden door and finally coming to rest before a group of people gathered in the secret room. Standing at the end of a wooden table is a man, tall and slim, with pale white skin and an unsettling smile. He watches Guren as he catches his breath.

Sayuri and Goshi immediately come to his side, checking for injuries. Guren knows that Mito and Shigure will be here soon as well.

“You did it,” the man says. “I didn’t think you could, considering – “

Guren barks out a peal of laughter, rough around the edges and sharp in the middle. He pulls off his mask, peeling off his gloves. Sayuri quickly takes them.

“It hardly matters now, does it?” Guren sneers. “We’ve completed our part of the mission, and that is the end of our association with your rebel group.”

The man only smiles, hands clasped behind his back, unperturbed. “So be it,” he says, “I wish you luck in your future endeavors, Ichinose.”

Behind Guren, the door swings open, and Mito and Shigure step into the room. They do not close the door behind them. Guren takes a deep breath, straightens his back.

“Let’s go,” he says, and leads the way out into the darkness.

#onsshipsweek #owari no seraph #ichinose guren #hiiragi shinya #gureshin #guren squad #hiiragi mahiru #swankitty writes #this is like...the least shippy thing ever i am so sorry hey i tried #also this entry was not SUPPOSED to be this late but then again it wasn't supposed to be more than 1.5k SO...rest in pieces

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