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damn-stark · 2 months

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Chapter 29 Birthday surprises

Chapter 29 of Sugar

A/N- One more chapter before we get to the angst 😆

Warning- Swearing, angst, talks of death and grief, FLUFF, cigarettes, spoilers!! long chapter, talks of well I don’t want to spoil it hehe….

Pairing- Choso x Gojo!fem-reader, Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader

Takes place during-

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

*SHOKO P.O.V. 11 YEARS AGO*

Perhaps she just betrayed her best friend by calling Gojo, perhaps she also just betrayed you in some way for giving away Geto’s location, but she isn’t going to sway. She isn’t going to break her head deciding who’s wrong or right, she knows what she needs to so she made her choice and if someone doesn’t like it well that’s too damn bad.

Albeit, Geto doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave to avoid being caught—not like she believes Gojo will do anything against Geto, Gojo loves his best friend too much. But Geto is still hanging around her without a cigarette in between his lips, or without another word to say about his beliefs, or about anything else actually.

He’s just beside her in silence and that raises her suspicion, but then again she doesn’t have to think too deeply about what’s keeping him there.

“She was taken by her family,” she reveals as she assumes he’s going to ask about you. “They came in the morning and took her. That’s why she probably hasn’t tried reaching you….that’s what you were going to ask about right?”

Geto sighs softly and nods. “We agreed to meet up to talk. She never got there.”

Shoko takes a drag from her cigarette and after she blows out smoke she continues to try and defend you. “Yeah, they surprised her. Used their techniques on her and took her. I haven’t heard from her since, but Satoru said she’s okay.”

Geto’s head slowly turns and his thin eyebrows slowly knit together. “He didn’t take her with him?”

Shoko scoffs. “No. He came home recently without her. Her parents probably didn’t let her come back.”

“No,” Geto quickly counters. “Even if that was it, they listen to him. He could’ve brought her back to the school if he wanted. He left her there. My guess is so she doesn’t talk to me.”

“You really think…” she trails off as she realizes the answer to her own question.

Gojo did seem to never come around to accepting Geto and you, but was it really that bad? She always looked at it as him being overbearing and overprotective for his little sister and for his best friend, but did he really dislike the idea so much as to leave you in your family home with a family that finds ways to scrutinize you when they can?

No. That can’t be it, she knew Satoru. He wouldn’t leave you just to prevent you from talking to Geto. He’s just being too overbearing, he still sees you as his little sister, not his sister who can make her own choices and conjure up her own thoughts about everything.

And this is why she’s glad she’s an only child.

“Shoko,” Geto calls out softly and pushes away from the railing to face her. “Could you do something for me?”

Without hesitation, she nods and interjects. “Depends what the favor is. I won't help you burn a village if that’s what you’re going to ask.”

Geto doesn’t find humor in her comment, so she wonders how it is that you make him laugh with your terrible puns.

“It’s about y/n,” he clarifies.

She lets out a deep breath and turns off her cigarette before stepping forward to stand before him. “Sure,” she assures her friend. “What is it?”

“It’s doubtful that she will get her phone back when she gets back to the school,” he begins to explain. “So when she goes back without her phone could you please let her borrow yours and have her call me.”

Shoko nods, but she brings up a possibility that pops into her head. “What if she doesn’t want to talk to you?”

Suguru’s eyes flicker down and an upset look flickers on his face before he faces her with nonchalance. “Then just tell me…” he trails off and reaches into his back pocket to pull out a folded paper. “And whether she wants to talk to me or not, give her this.”

Shoko takes the paper and lets curiosity take control and opens the paper, causing Geto to explain what all the words mean. “It’s her favorite poem.”

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.” She reads the title in her mind.

“It could’ve been something inappropriate,” Geto remarks.

“I need to know what I’m smuggling to her,” she shrugs him off whilst she folds the paper back before putting it away—“anything else?” She asks.

Geto’s eyes fall to the ground and he nods gently. “If you see her, if she doesn’t want to talk to me, tell her I understand. Tell her to not stay in that school, if she wants to leave then she should tell her to do everything that leads to her happiness. That’s all that matters. Her being happy…” He pauses and draws out a deep breath before meeting her gaze with a small but hurt smile.

“…she deserves to be happy. Tell her that she’s…no…just tell her that if she ever changes her mind I won’t be far, I’ll be there waiting for her. And,” he says with a sweet and adoring smile he only has reserved for two people with the same family name. You and your brother.

“Tell her I know the answer to her question.” He laughs softly.

——

*YOU. NOW*

“…we have to put a hard structure to their training. With the battle…”

You tune Utahime out and yawn into your hand. Even if you got plenty of sleep last night, meetings like these have a way of draining you. They’re so boring!

But…you have to pay attention.

This is like being back at school all over again though. When you’d have strategy meetings with your family they were never this boring. There were drinks and food! All you have here is the temptation to walk out since everyone chose to come over to your house and do anything else like, maybe take a horse ride, tend to your garden, read, or even help your daughter with some of the homework you left her.

Alas…here you are…with Satoru watching you?

You drift your gaze to the corner of your eyes and you can’t see what his eyes are pointed at because of his blindfold, but you can see that his head is slightly shifted your way, and tilted slightly down.

Is he sleeping?

You slowly churn your head his way and tilt your chin down. This makes Satoru swiftly tilt his head up to meet your gaze behind his blindfold, letting you know he is awake, and he was looking at you, so you shoot him a pointed look that conveys your sass.

“You wish,” he whispers sassily and finally looks away.

“You wish,” you mock him, and that makes him counter by pinching your arm.

“Ow,” you hiss and try to swat his hand away, but even if he’s choosing not to have his infinity on, he still swiftly pulls his hand away with a stifled snicker.

“Real mature,” you murmur and hit his thigh with your foot.

Satoru moves to react, but he’s interrupted by the woman leading this gathering, Utahime. “Are you two listening? I know this might be above you Gojo, but this is in regards to your students.”

Satoru reclines back with his hands pressed on the floor and glances between you and Utahime. “You need to use first names Utahime, there’s two of us here once again. It’s confusing,” Satoru only says all that to annoy her.

“The both of you are being scandalous,” she grumbles. “Did either of you even listen to a word I said?”

You nod. “There needs to be structure,” you repeat what she just said. “Training is too chaotic with all the students under one roof, yeah, yeah. I mean,” you sigh and fold your arms over your chest. “If only there were such a place where there was structure for teenage students.”

Utahime grinds her teeth, and Shoko interjects. “Says the high school dropout.”

“I’m surprised you remember what high school is,” Satoru bounces in and leans over. “Considering your professional career eats away at your brain by just looking pretty and letting flashes blind your eyes.”

You slowly turn to look at your brother with a threatening glare, but don’t give him the satisfaction of responding to his stupid untrue comment, you just pierce your glare at him before you look back at Utahime and address her.

“What is it that you were saying?”

Utahime lets out an exhausted breath but has no choice but to repeat herself. “Besides your own students, you will help other students in controlling their technique. You have experience and…you are good at the fluidity of your cursed technique.”

You smile at her smugly because you know she was dreading saying all that to you.

“Don’t worry,” she adds. “You’ll only need to help these students while we prepare for the battle. I’ll tell you who later.”

You respond with a nod and intend to continue listening this time, but this idea you thought of last night comes back around and you have to share it before you forget to before the group breaks apart.

“I have a suggestion,” you interject and bring the group's attention back to you once again. “Regarding the students.”

The parlor room doors open in the midst of you talking and soft patters hit the floor. Before you can see who it is, a little arm wraps around your neck, long black hair drapes over your shoulder, and a math and handwriting worksheet falls on your lap that has your daughter's name on it.

“I see that team morality could use some work, especially between Kyoto and Tokyo students, so I thought why not go on a trip,” you finish sharing before you pick up the worksheets and multitask.

“A trip?” Utahime asks unsure.

You nod and spare her a glance. “Yeah. A beach trip. I have a beach house, it should be large enough. And it’s not like we have to stay long. A day trip would be nice…it’s just to help them build trust between each other, don’t you all think?” You ask.

For a moment though the group of adults stays quiet as they think of your proposition and debate whether it’s an actually good idea, or an excuse to be lazy.

“Well,” Kusakabe is the first one to share his thoughts. “That doesn't sound like a terrible idea. We can’t just depend on them to bond on the battlefield.”

“It’s a terrible idea,” Kashimo pitches, making you look up from the math sheet to look at him with a pointed look.

“Why are you in this meeting again?” You quip.

Kashimo doesn’t get offended by your question, he in fact just meets your gaze and shrugs. He doesn’t even give a reason as to why he disagrees, he just declares it is and leaves it at that.

He’s weird.

“It would let us newer sorcerers have a chance to get to know you all more too,” Takaba shares excitedly. “I think it’s a great idea.”

You offer him a smile before you hand Satori her math sheet. “Good work,” you praise her. “You got them all right. And your handwriting can use practice, but we have time. You can go play now.”

Satori beams at you and snatches her papers to zoom off.

“Let me do your hair,” you yell after her over your shoulder.

Satori reaches the door and even if her hair gets in her eyes and all over her face as she dramatically turns her little head, she still shouts back, “No!”

You groan, but leave it be and just return your attention to the group.

“As long as all the expenses are paid then I think it’s a great plan,” Mei-Mei’s response doesn’t surprise you whatsoever. “Besides staying in one place for too long won’t do anything to help them improve either.”

“Very well then,” Utahime hesitantly gives in. “All those in favor?”

She offers a vote and no one opposes, so you win.

“Okay, then when do you want to do this?” She asks you now.

You glance at Satoru and share the rest of your idea. “December 7th? That is if you don’t mind Satoru?”

He likes to celebrate his birthday, especially if it’s with friends and those he loves. So you thought why not celebrate his birthday at the beach with his students and friends?

“No, of course not,” he assures you with a smile. “I don’t mind at all. I actually like the idea of my birthday at the beach.”

You flash him a grin and pat his shoulder. “Good,” you whisper.

And just like that a beach day on the 7th is added to everyone’s schedule. It might be winter, the air is bitter and the water is freezing, but it’s the beach! And when you’re playing sports you won’t even feel it so you won’t mind the cold then. It will feel weird going back to that beach house without your family though. Especially without the twins, and Suguru; the man who gifted that beach house to you.

Will the memories of them haunt you? You have to wonder to yourself.

But it’s not because you feel guilty for going there with a boyfriend, Suguru wants you to be happy and you’re following that. It’s just the thought of going back there with everything so different…hurts to even think about.

“Y/N!”

You slow down your pace on your trail to Choso and when you peer over your shoulder you see Shoko coming after you.

“Baby,” you greet her and halt in your tracks to wait for her. “What’s up? I thought you didn’t want to come outside.”

The moment Shoko falls by your side you continue towards Choso who should be teaching some blood manipulation techniques to Itadori.

“I forgot I needed to tell you something,” she says, piquing your interest.

“What is it? Is it about that bag I let you borrow 11 years ago? Because if so it’s yours.”

Shoko shakes her head and looks at you nonchalantly. “No, I accidentally burned a small hole through that.”

Your eye twitches and a pang hits your chest at the horrible, terrible news.

It was so cute and so expensive too.

“I will pretend you didn’t say that,” you mutter between gritted teeth before you let out a dramatic sigh and rewind to what she needed to say. “What is it, Shoko?”

Yet just as she took a breath of air to speak, you come to an immediate halt as you catch Satori letting Choso do her hair, while her friends watch.

“Look at that,” you muse happily. “She’s warming up to him again.”

And or, Satori also had enough with her hair being in her face. But does she want your help? No.

“After I told her that Choso and I were dating,” you let Shoko know as you keep admiring the way Choso is neatly braiding your daughter's hair—“Satori got sad. She doesn’t want Choso to replace her dad, so she got upset, but now look at them,” you laugh breathlessly as your smile only widens with glee and admiration.

“Hey, can you braid my hair too?” One of Satori's friends stands up and asks Choso.

“He’s doing mine first!” Satori hisses at her friend as if they were going to take him away at that exact moment.

Should you give her some advice about her not getting upset about something so small? Yes. Will you? No, no you won’t because you’re happy she’s coming around.

“Wh—what were you going to say?” You redirect your attention back to your friend. “Sorry, I got distracted.”

Shoko’s gaze drifts for a second, but you don’t follow her line of gaze since you keep your eyes fixated on her as you wait curiously.

“Oh,” she sighs. “It was just about an idea I have about giving Satoru a present together.”

Your eyes brighten and you quickly nod in agreement. “That’s a great idea. I was breaking my head over what I should buy him, but this will help. What do you have in mind?”

Shoko shakes her head and impresses you by the way she swiftly pulls out a cigarette.

“That was my first step, telling you, I’ll think of ideas,” she says, making you laugh softly.

“Well,” she adds and steps back. “I’ll let you be now. If you need me I’ll be around.”

You blink in confusion since this all seemed too abrupt, but she doesn’t let you ask any more questions before she walks off.

Then again if it was important she would have told you. You’ll talk to her about it later. For now, you turn to face your beloved with your little beloved and can’t help but grin as you catch him twisting her braids up in two buns, just the way she likes it.

It warms your heart—No, seeing that she’s not being so distant, and asking Choso for help with something she doesn’t let you help her with makes your heart feel like it’s bursting with pure bliss. You’re so enamored.

Choso catches your lovestruck gaze and his cheeks turn a soft shade of pink, making you tempted to go over there and join them to be a part of a memorable moment. But, you don’t want to ruin their little moment so, you stay where you are and grin at him with bliss and love clearly expressed in your fire-colored eyes.

Choso can’t help but smile back at you with a proud and also loving gaze, making it seem at that moment that only the two of you exist in a world full of people.

——

*A COUPLE WEEKS LATER*

“THE BEACH!” You exclaim and throw your hands out as you draw in that salty air. “Do you smell that Satori?”

“It’s cold,” she complains and hugs her jacket tighter around her. “Can I stay inside watching TV?”

Luckily it isn’t that windy today, it’s chilly, but it’s bearable. So you take your coat and shoes off before you answer your daughter as you tilt your head down to swiftly make your sunglasses fall over your face. “No. We’re all going to be out here.”

“But I can’t even play, I’m too little,” she brings up.

You peel your eyes away from the calm water ahead and see her pouting. “You can be With Ui-Ui and keep score, hm?” You try to advise her while you pull small sunglasses off your shirt and put them on your Worm that rests on Sarori’s shoulders as of now. “Looking nice buddy.”

The Worm smiles and you grin back before you refocus on your daughter and continue offering suggestions. “You can build a sandcastle, or play with your kite.”

Satori tilts her head away and groans, but she doesn’t continue to argue. You then take advantage that everyone else is slowly filtering out, and walk to the shore, but stand behind the waterline to just watch the waves roll in and darken the sand it runs over.

You look up and admire the gray-blue sky and catch winter birds diving in the water to catch food. In the distant horizon, you see an endless body of water that makes it look like you’ll reach the end of the world.

You then draw in another deep breath, but this time you can feel the water. Not on your toes or any part of your body, you feel it inside you. That’s a beautiful aspect of your technique, if you concentrate deep enough, you can feel your connection to the air all around you, the flowing water where you find it to be, the earth beneath your feet everywhere you go, and especially fire of course since you do produce it. It’s calming to feel their company. It helps you relax.

It seems that since last year you haven’t been able to find time to just relax, but now as you hear the soft crashes of the water rolling in, as you remember that you’re accompanied by those you love, you finally feel like you’re relaxed.

It's dangerous now though. Considering what has to happen in a few weeks, feeling this relaxed makes you want to live in this state forever and not attempt to fight.

But you will fight to see a future with your daughter, with Choso, and your brother. And especially to get justice for the twins who were killed by Sukuna, and justice for Suguru whose body is being used by Kenjaku. You’ll fight for that even if it means you finally stay with death and not escape its grasp.

“Y/N, please put on a long-sleeved shirt or a jacket or something,” Choso interrupts your silence.

You look back and see him carrying your jacket and shoes you discarded to run over here. “I can’t play a sport with a jacket,” you explain. “And I’ll get hot with a sweatshirt on.”

Choso knows not to argue since you won’t go anywhere, so he just throws your jacket over his shoulder and falls by your side instead, he then follows your line of gaze to the dark blue ocean.

“Your head isn’t hurting anymore is it?” He asks.

You shake your head. “No, it's gone now. I’m good, I think I was just excited.” You grin.

“It’s the third time this week you’ve had a headache,” he mumbles. “Maybe you should ask Ieiri to check on you.”

You smile at him and wrap an arm around his shoulders to swing around in front of him and hug him to bask in his warmth. “I’m fine Cho. Really.”

Your boyfriend returns your embrace and starts caressing your back. “Your brother keeps avoiding me. I tried to say happy birthday, but he never let me approach him. I thought he was fine with me, but I’ve noticed that he’s started avoiding me since a couple of weeks ago. He doesn’t like me does he?”

You rest your chin on his shoulder and glance ahead, catching the man you’re talking about playing with a ball as he talks with his students.

“Just give him some time,” you try to assure Choso. “I wish I could say more, but that’s all I can offer you.”

Choso nods softly. “No, I understand. It’s just getting worse instead of better.”

You meet Choso’s gaze and offer him a pitiful frown. You wish you could comfort him and say it will get better, but your brother is being immature about this situation and refuses to understand that Choso is a good man.

You could say you’ll talk some sense into him, but he’s quite stubborn when it comes to accepting your relationships. So you’ll just have to talk to him to tell him to at least be nice.

“Just let him be, okay?” You offer the best advice. “He doesn’t hate you. He’s just being…protective.”

Choso nods softly.

“Hey,” you smile and pull back just enough to meet his gaze. “At least Satori likes you now. That’s the only person that matters.”

A soft proud smile tugs on his lips. “That’s true,” he says.

You hum softly and raise your hand to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear before you share a quote that seems fitting for the thought that grows in your mind. “Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove, that valleys, groves, hills, and fields, woods, or steepy mountain yields.”

Choso's eyebrows knit together and you can’t help but giggle softly before you explain yourself to the poor confused guy. “It’s part of a poem. My favorite poem, it’s about a Shepherd trying to convince his lover to come live in the countryside with him.”

Choso’s eyebrows unravel but he still seems confused as to why you said it. Even if he did love the way you spoke the poem.

“I know I make all these plans for after our battle, and I do plan to see them through, but how about I add one more?” You clue him in. “How about we come live at my beach house in the summer? We’d be pretty secluded, we’d be under the gleaming hot sun, and find comfort at night by hearing the waves crashing against the sand.”

Choso glances out at the water and sighs deeply. “I suppose it is relaxing here. Even if it is cold.”

You chuckle. “Just for now. But it’s nice in the summer. The turtles hatch their eggs, so you get to see the little ones diving into the water for the first time. You get to see dolphins, and most importantly you get to see me training in the water, which can get cool.”

Choso didn't need much convincing, you just needed to share your plan and he’d be ready, but he did like hearing you try to convince him. “Well, it sounds fun. How can I say no?” He quips.

You smile brightly and press a kiss on his cheek. “Yay. Now,” you change the subject and drop your arms to your side to turn away. “Let’s go start our game!”

You run to join the others, and before Satoru can turn to look at you, you jump and slam your hand down on the soccer ball to try and shove it out of his hands. Albeit you got too cocky, he heard you approaching and gripped onto the ball, so all you do is slap your hand on the ball and throw sand everywhere when you land on your feet.

“Fucker,” you grumble and he starts to laugh manically.

“Too loud,” he teases between laughs. “You can’t outsmart me.”

You pout and roll your eyes away from him to address the group. “Everyone huddle up!”

The different conversations die down, and those who were apart from the group walk over, whilst those who were close just turn to face you.

“This is how it’s going to go, we’ve made a raffle of what game we can play and Satori here will pick one out,” you explain excitedly. “All right? So no whining over what we get. And remember these are all team sports to build our bond with each other. Especially to build the relationship between you students because we won’t win if we’re strangers and fighting a battle between each other, so…” you trail off and look around at the quiet group of students, and grow a bit bashful.

They’re all just looking at you. But you go on nevertheless.

“Chipmunk the cup please,” you tell your daughter. And even if she’s still upset that she’s on the sidelines, she walks between Satoru and you with excitement—“It’d only make sense if the birthday boy chooses, so pick the game, brother.”

Satoru holds the ball against his hip to reach into the cup and mix the pieces of paper before he pulls out the answer.

“Drum roll please, Satori,” he points to your daughter, and she happily obliges.

Satoru chooses to be overdramatic and prolongs announcing what he picked, filling the silence with Satori hitting the table.

“Come on,” Maki rushes him.

Satoru chuckles and opens the paper, causing Satori to stop and stand up on the chair to peek over.

“Volleyball!” Satoru shouts.

“Yes!” You celebrate and make the water in the distance splash up.

“Here’s the deal,” Satoru continues and throws the paper back in the cup. “We will split into teams, Students against adults.”

The students share perplexed glances before Kirara raises their hand.

“Yes, star student,” you pick on them.

“It’s a bit unfair, no?” They point out. “You’re all older and stronger.”

You scoff and share a knowing look with Satoru before assuring them. “And you have Maki and Itadori. Heavy hitters. you'll be more than fine. In any case, we might lose.”

“Impossible,” Kashimo interjects. “I won’t lose.”

You side-eye him before you ignore him and clap. “Let’s set the net up and get started.”

You turn away to pretend to be busy, and from the corner of your eyes, you see Satoru picking up the volleyball and aiming it at you.

“Think fast!” He quickly blurts and throws the ball toward your face, but you manage to catch it in time.

“You suck,” you grumble and throw it at him, but he catches it of course, getting you annoyed.

However, you quickly grow mischievous and form a ball of sand on your hand with your technique to hurl it at him.

Nevertheless, of fucking course Satoru puts up his infinity so the sandball just crumbles and sprinkles back on the ground.

“You suck,” you murmur with a glare.

Satoru snickers and drops the ball to bend his knees and put his arms out. You immediately catch what he wants to do so you start backing away.

“No,” you warn him. “Don’t you dare. You're 29.”

Satoru snickers and matches your pace, so you make a sharp turn and run toward Shoko. Satoru of course chases after you in an attempt to catch you and throw you in the water like he liked to do, but you’re faster, you reach Shoko and throw yourself on her back.

“What—”

You cut her off by spinning her around so she can face Satoru’s wrath.

“For heaven's sake,” Shoko grumbles as she picks up on Satoru’s intentions. “Have you not grown out of this?”

“It’s my birthday,” Satoru throws out as if that’s a magic excuse card.

“Don’t you dare,” you hiss at him and turn Shoko as he steps towards another side. “Stop it.”

Satoru chuckles. “Where’s your husband now?”

You gasp. “Low,” you snap at him with amusement.

Satoru digs his heels and darts for one side, but you let Shoko go and sprint away, catching the attention of the others setting up the net, and your daughter.

“Go Uncle Satoru!” Satoru exclaims.

You’re going to pretend she didn’t just root for the opponent and make another sharp to try and evade your brother.

Albeit he’s faster now and catches you at that turn

“Haha!” He taunts like a psycho and sprints toward the water.

“Satoru let go of me! Don’t you dare throw me into that water!”

Your warning though goes through one ear and comes out the other because he only seems to pick up his pace. You try to hit him, but your punches do nothing. You kick him, but he just laughs. And before you know it, without even avoiding the water himself, he turns around swiftly and throws himself back to dive into the water first before he yanks you down in the cold fucking water with him.

Cheering goes off above water and it’s not hard to guess who encourages such stupid behavior; your students and your daughter.

But whatever, you’ll get them back for encouraging him. As of now luckily he didn’t run in too deep so you manage to immediately find your footing and throw your head back after you stand to your given height.

“You fucker!” You sneer at Satoru as he can’t stop laughing. “You’re a grown man.”

Satoru flips his wet hair back with his hand and shrugs. “You’re still my little sister.”

You discreetly manipulate the water to wrap it around his ankles and yank him down before he can put up his infinity again. And even if you know that doesn’t bother him, you find pride in getting the last laugh.

“Refreshing,” he teases you when he sits up on the sand.

You roll your eyes and just slap some water on his face before you stomp out of the water. Choso being the good boyfriend he is, meets you halfway with a towel, but you find an easier way to dry yourself off; using the wind, you pick up its speed and blow it over you.

After a couple of seconds, you’re all dried up, leaving Choso impressed, and leaving you still annoyed.

“You okay?” Choso asks.

You huff as you stomp back towards the setup you have on the sand. “Peachy. I’m just seconds away from melting my brother's eyes in his sockets.”

Choso laughs softly and reaches over to rub your shoulder. “You have an odd relationship.” He pokes fun.

You groan and sulk on the chair until finally the net is set up and everyone is ready to start the game.

“Remember everyone,” you interject a lot more excited than you were seconds ago. “No techniques! If Satoru catches a whiff of it that’s an immediate out!” You grin and throw the volleyball in the air. “We can’t stop using physical ability, but besides that, it’s a normal game!” You catch the ball and hurl it back to your setter, Utahime.

“A little warning next time,” Utahime grumbles under her breath.

You turn to face your group which you now realize is very large. You’re so used to playing with your family which didn’t consist of too many people so the teams were small, but now there’s three rows on both sides to fit everyone.

“Sorry,” you tell Utahime. “I totally thought we were all coordinated. Anyway! So, how are we setting up? Just a heads up,” you smirk and turn smug. “I can hit a wicked spike.”

“Because of your technique,” Kashimo is quick to spat.

You put a hand on your hips and shoot him a glare. “Nuh-uh. Remember how I exploded the earth beneath you with fire? Well, that’s how. All that training made my swings super powerful. So I can go to the back or the front, whatever floats your boat.”

“Well,” Utahime sighs. “Obviously Satoru is in the Center since he’s the tallest. Ino you’ll be the libero since you are the youngest. Takaba and Choso will be in the middle row, and Mei-mei will be in between both. Y/N, you’re on the left so I’m trusting you.”

You shoot her a wink to assure her.

“Shoko you’ll be the right wing, and Kashimo,” Utahime continues. “You’ll be at the back, in the middle. Did I get everyone?”

You all glance at each other and when you don't see that anyone is left out you awkwardly break away to get into position.

“Good luck, lover,” you pat Choso’s back. “And if I am ever mean during this game, don’t take it personally, I enjoy winning. I’m competitive.”

Choso snickers. “All right well should I prepare to comfort you if you lose?”

You tap your bottom lip and hum. “Are you saying you’ll give your brother the game? If so then yes.” You tease and flash him a smile.

“Well that’s where I’m conflicted, should I make it easy for him or you?” He says back with a faint smile.

“Well if you let me win I can give you something,” you bribe him with a flirty smile.

Choso snickers. “You know I can’t resist you, but well, we’ll see how you play. You have a wicked spike, no?” He taunts with a smirk.

You chuckle and grab his jaw to press a big fat kiss on his cheek before you turn and run to your spot before you can spend all your game flirting with your boyfriend. But now as you face the opposing time you realize you’re really in trouble, Itadori, Hakari, and Maki are in the front. Momo, Miwa, and Inumaki are their weakest players so they’re in the middle. But another powerhouse is in the back with Kirara, the student Noritoshi Kamo, and Okkotsu.

This game could go either way, fast with how specialized everyone is, or slow for that same reason. Either way, it’ll make for a fun game. The games with your family were a lot more tame that’s for sure.

“Ready?” Utahime signals everyone before Ui-Ui blows the whistle and once and for all initiates the game!

Up first Utahime serves the ball with a loud bam. The ball flies over the net and a shadow casts over the middle.

“Miwa!” Maki exclaims so serious-like which is kind of scary. Then again she just kind of scares you. She probably—no she could win against all of you single-handedly. She’s that impressive.

Regardless, Miwa moves forward and raises her hands, but instead of hitting the ball, like a flash of lightning, Itadori and Maki zoom back, they both jump up at the same time and end up clashing together, but Itadori manages to hit the ball over the net instead.

“Y/N!” Gojo warns you. But just as the two of you jump to block it, the ball whizzes past the tip of Satoru’s fingers and hits the sand behind you so hard the sand implodes everywhere.

“Damn,” you murmur and look over at the boy completely starstruck.

That was fucking faster than you thought. They got a score in the first few seconds! And it was probably at their worst too!

“Come on birthday boy,” Shoko scolds Satoru. “Get your head in the game. You’re a giant for a reason aren't you?”

You look away from the students passing each other smiles and tease Shoko right back. “Oh someone’s getting grouchy. I forgot how bad you get when you play sports.”

“She’s also a few shots in,” Satoru whispers in your direction.

“Come on Okkotsu break these old fuckers backs,” Kusakabe cheers on the boy from the sidelines with a beer in his hand.

But you’re not even old…you’re only 28. Tsk.

Whatever…

Yuta gets the ball, he reels back his hand; and even with your conflicted feelings for him you know he’s not to be messed with, so you prepare to block. Yet the ball flies over and falls towards Takaba’s direction. He seems to panic, but he manages to smack and manages to hit it hard enough to get it across.

“Nice,” you throw over your shoulder while you keep your eyes on the ball, seeing that it gets close to Kamo.

When he jumps to meet the ball, he’s smart enough not to hit the ball with too much power behind his swing, he taps it just hard enough to get across, with hopes it’ll catch you all off guard and get them another point. However, a shadow casts over Mei-Mei, but it’s not near her range, so Kashimo runs ahead and jumps to return the ball to the other side.

Itadori receives the ball and passes it to Hakari without as much as an eye signal. They’re coordinated more than you thought, but you know Hakari more than Itadori. You know how hard he can hit and how far he can jump, so you prepare to counter.

As to not give it away though, you don’t bend your knees, but you do prepare your hands. When he hits it over, Satoru passes you a knowing look he could’ve passed on earlier, but whatever, you still catch him, and see him lazily stretch his arms out to do a fake, letting you jump over, reel your arm back, and slam the ball down with all your force.

Hakari and Itadori try to catch the ball, but it whizzes down and you hit a spike.

It’s now a tie match, but you don’t care, you still throw your fists in the air.

“Good job Mommy!” Satori exclaims from the sand a few feet away from the court.

You throw her a thankful thumbs up and focus back on the game. You wish you could say the rest of the match was smooth, that it was an easy win for the more experienced adults, but as awkward and quiet as the students were with each other, they’re strong, faster, and they don’t let your team get ahead. It’s a tie match all the way until the last minute, but now this is where it gets more intense. Even if it’s the first round, this last moment decides the first winner, this can decide how the rest of the game can go. So you focus.

You’re at the front again after some rotating. You aren’t confident about the back row as of now, but you have to make do with what you got, so you narrow your eyes. You don’t give your move away and just watch the ball fly across the net with a focused gaze. Ino and Kashimo act as decoys, while you hastily hop over, reel your hand back, and summon momentum to your palm to slap the ball with all the force you mustered. Maki tries to block it, her fingers reach for the ball. But she miscalculated her jump, she misses and the ball slams on the ground with an explosive thud that sends sand everywhere, setting your team as the winner for the first match out of five.

Which isn’t really something to celebrate over, but you still do, you throw your hands up and shout. “That’s how it’s done!” You beam and spin around to run to Choso.

Your boyfriend is unaware of your actions, but the moment he sees you running to him he prepares himself and manages to catch you when you jump on him

“Ahaha!” You laugh whilst you wrap your arms around his neck, and your legs around his waist.

“Nice game,” he doesn’t miss the chance to say while he tightens his hold around you.

“What can I say?” You gloat and slide off him to face him with a grin. “I have a wicked spike. You surprised me though. You make good serves.”

“Yes, but I can’t say I’m good at much else,” he says.

“You just need to call who you want to pass it to,” Shoko interjects as she walks over to return to her initial spot. “You’re not giving anything away so don’t worry.”

“All right.” He takes the advice and then narrows his gaze. “Ieiri I thought you gave up sports because of a man?”

You snap your eyes to Choso and shoot him a warning glare since he’s not supposed to know about that guy. She told you not to tell anyone she dated that man, especially not in front of Satoru because he’d never stop teasing her. Yet your sweet man doesn't understand.

“Oh,” Shoko laughs awkwardly and shoots you a pointed look. “Well, this is harmless fun. Besides, the guy is old news. He’s long forgotten.”

“Oh.”

“Good.” You nod slowly and ignore her shaking her head at you. “Well we still have four more rounds so let’s get going.”

Shoko turns away first so you grab Choso’s arm and pull him to you. “Choso, you weren't supposed to know that. I over-shared, so please don’t repeat it in front of anyone else, okay?”

Choso blinks in confusion but he doesn’t argue. “Oh, all right. Sorry.”

You scoff softly and flash him a smile before you let him go and return to your spot.

From then on the match's duration decreases as both teams start to get more comfortable with each other, silences fill with shouts of desperation and excitement, and laughs are born after a powerful hit, or a quick point.

Adrenaline and excitement rushes through all your veins as you’re swept up by a competitive high, (some more than others), so you all end up forgetting that it’s winter and the weather is far from friendly; especially some of the guys.

Satoru and Kashimo slip their shirts off and don’t get bothered by the cold winds embrace. You want Choso to take his shirt off, but even if he doesn’t get cold easily he just keeps on a tight short-sleeved shirt and you’re left just drooling over his abs stamped through the material, and his sweat gleaming over his face and biceps. He does take his shoes off though and wraps his feet, but that’s it. Sadly.

You will get him to take his shirt off later though. Just for you to see.

On the other team, Hakari takes his pants off to be in shorts and takes his shirt off to leave his torso bare, no one else on his team follows his lead though. His team, however, does seem to work just like you wanted; like a team, a united front. Their teamwork improves and their communication skills are speechless but tactful.

Their stars are almost always the same, Harkari, Itadori, and Maki, but they give the rest of their team a chance. They work on their mistakes and you, Satoru, and Utahime couldn’t be prouder.

Even if you aren’t a teacher, you are the mentor to some, so you get happy to see them working together. Just like it’s meant to be. Just like Suguru dreamed of.

If Suguru was here he would be proud, he’d be over the moon. Out of the many goals he had, seeing sorcerers getting along and working as a team was the most important. So even if this is a playful setting, he still would be happy. You’re proud you could see a part of his dream come true.

“Y/N!” Shoko warns, but It’s just a tactic.

You’re on the last match, just like many times before you’re neck to neck. With 3 points left on each team before the ultimate winner is decided.

You are getting increasingly more tired, but you jump and throw your hand back. Albeit the ball doesn’t reach you, with a soft but swift tap Satoru hits the ball and scores before any of the students could dive to counter.

“See!” Satoru exclaims and runs past you to fall on his knees and slide forward. “That’s how it’s done!” He shouts and throws his arms up to thrust his fists in the air.

Takaba being the man he is is the only one who celebrates with Satoru, the rest of you see that you have 2 more points to go so you wait for him.

Once he’s done he grabs your shoulder and shakes you.

“Ugh,” you groan but can’t help but smile anyway.

Satoru laughs and when he returns to his spot he bends down to put his hands on his thighs, and smugly stretches from one side and then to the other.

Now you hope you lose.

“Ready?” Utahime warns everyone before she sends the ball flying across your side toward the middle row.

Now unlike before, their weak spots are fortified. Inumaki catches the ball and passes it to Hakari, who hits hard and far. Yet Kashimo is fast, he runs back, and as he’s reaching for the ball he meets your gaze to send you a signal.

“Mine!” You give away your move and immediately hop up when Kashimo sends the ball you're way. Itadori, Harkari, and Maki get ready to block your fast hit, but you outsmart them. They thought you wouldn't go with a soft hit back-to-back, so they’re unprepared when you end up softly pushing the ball down directly behind their line of defense.

“Come on now!” You bellow happily and skip to the end of the court to high-five Kashimo.

“Not bad,” he manages to say in a not-so-grumpy tone. He tends to always sound annoyed, but that's maybe because he’s an old man in spirit.

“Careful old man you almost smiled at me,” you interject with a laugh before you twist around and run back to your spot whilst giving a high five to Choso and Takaba.

Once you’re in place Utahime hits the ball directly towards Maki’s grasp. Yet just as Shoko and Satoru prepare to counter or block, Maki drops her hands and lets the ball pass to Momo.

Now Momo might be smaller than the others, but she has a mighty swing. Once her hand hits the ball it goes flying. You move to try and block it, but first Itadori hits it with all his might. Choso and Takaba dive to try and make the team miss, but the ball carves a hole in the ground when it lands inches away from the grasp of your teammates.

“It was a nice try honey,” you assure Choso as you help him to his feet.

“Not good enough. I’ll try better,” he redirects, making you grin.

Now with the other team serving they have the advantage. And they use it. They trick you and once again tie the match by soft tapping, leading to you and your brother almost crashing together.

“We need one more point and we win,” Satoru says as he grabs your shoulders and pushes you back to your spot. “Let’s win this and show the students who’s the best!” He smirks.

You faintly mirror his gesture and roll your shoulders back.

“Come on Yuta let’s make this our last serve,” Maki interjects and bends her knees to get ready for what could lead to the winner or not. Neither of you know, but you both intend to make this the last round. All your hearts know that as they begin to pound during the anticipation. You were all sweaty too, but as you watched Okkotsu get ready to serve it’s like you feel the thick beads of sweat streaming down your face. You feel every muscle in your body burning, and your exhaustion is draining you, more than usual, but you stand your ground and glare at the opposite team to intimidate them.

The moment Okkotsu hits the ball, it flies directly toward you. Satoru can’t help you block or counter, so you summon all your strength behind your swing. And when the ball gets close enough you hit the ball with the tip of your fingers and push down.

That can be your winning point, the ball gets close to the ground. Albeit Itadori swiftly reacts and dives down to pass the ball.

“He blocked me?!” You whisper sharply and huff.

Hakari follows by jumping up to strike, but it’s a trick that Satoru and Shoko don’t fall into, they move to block Maki. But her swing is swift, hard, and powerful, you can’t even see how fast it moves until it smacks hard on the ground and you’re hit by sand.

You don’t realize you lost until Kashimo complains. “What the hell was that?! Where were your heads?!”

You slouch in defeat and watch the ball while the students on the other side shout, jump up and down, and huddle together.

“Well,” Satoru sighs in defeat. “That was a good game.”

You blink and fall on the ground to pout. And yes you should be proud, the students won with all their teamwork and blah, but you lost!

“Good game,” Choso pats your back.

You wave his hand off and sigh dramatically. “Yeah, yeah.”

Choso chuckles and tries to sit down next to you but you meet his gaze and smile at him.

“Go to Itadori, I’m just catching my breath and sulking. I’ll get over it.” You assure him.

He’s hesitant, but he presses a kiss on your head before he walks away, letting Shoko sit next to you.

“We used to be a damn good team,” you mutter in defeat. “What happened?!”

Shoko snorts. “We got old?”

You drop your head on your knees and actually try to catch your breath now as you still sulk.

“Do you need water?” Shoko asks with concern.

You nod. “Yeah, but I’ll get up in a second. I’m thinking about my life now.”

Shoko chuckles. “You’re so dramatic.”

You tilt your head up and flash her a smile, catching at that moment Satori wandering over to you.

“Maybe you can build a sandcastle or fly a kite?” She redirects what you told her. That snarky little girl.

“Ahaha,” you feign a laugh before you genuinely grin at her as you watch her walk up behind you. “Was it fun?” You ask.

Satori blows out air and wraps her arms around your neck as she presses herself on your back. “No. My tiger and I flew my kite instead.”

You narrow your eyes, but Shoko asks your question for you. “How do you fly a kite with a cursed spirit, little one?”

“Easy,” Satori answers casually. “He made himself big so I could mount his back, and he ran for me.”

You giggle and praise her critical thinking skills. “Smart.”

“Now I’m soooo bored,” she groans and slips her hands off your neck to twist around and drape her head over your shoulder.

“Ah, well since it is Satoru's birthday, why don’t you help your auntie Shoko and I bury your uncle in the sand, Hm?” You suggest, making her beam at you.

“Great idea! Let’s go!” She exclaims and pushes herself off you before she yells out for her uncle. “Uncle Satoru coming over here, quick!”

——

*LATER*

The rest of the evening everyone seemed to forget how cold it really was outside, including you. For that entire day, no one remembered the tragedy that awaits everyone on the 24th of December. And maybe that’s why no one let the cold weather bother them, because of what awaits you. Everyone wants to enjoy one day without worry.

Sure Satoru is fighting Sukuna first, he has the chance to end the fight, but you can’t plan for a hopeful outcome. As negative as it sounds, as much as you hate it and feel a pit in your stomach, you have to also plan for what if Satoru loses. You also have to plan to fight Kenjaku, which as of now the first runners-up are you, Okkotsu, and Takaba.

For now, you hope that’s enough, but time will only tell. Time knows everything that will happen. It’s wise, and it taunts you for not knowing ahead. You could wish to know the future all you want, but you can never peek ahead and know what’s going to happen, whether to celebrate a good outcome or avoid a bad one.

If you could, wouldn’t everything be different?

You don’t know that either, you only know the past and what’s happening at this very moment. Which is a gift amongst itself. You can recognize that. You’re happy—no you’re grateful to be alive and get to watch your daughter carrying out Satoru’s birthday cake. You’re proud that you get to see Satoru aging yet another year. And most importantly you are happy you’re not alone.

“Happy birthday Satoru!” You cheer and clap.

Satoru passes you a faint smile before he focuses on recording Satori bringing out his cake like a proud parent recording their child’s dance recital.

“You made it to 29!” Shoko exclaims as she helps Satori set the cake down in front of Satoru.

“Someone tell him to take his infinity so he can taste his cake,” one of the students shouts from the crowd gathered around the birthday man.

“Come on Sugar, let's take a picture together,” Satoru suggests, and your daughter happily obliges.

“But don’t do bunny ears,” Satori warns him. “You always do them.”

Satoru raises one hand. “I swear,” he assures her, but you see him crossing his fingers on his other hand under the table.

“Mommy quick take a picture before the candles melt,” Satori yells at you impatiently

“Okay, okay, I was getting ready anyway,” you comfort her with a soft laugh before you walk around the table to stand across from them. When you point your camera they both end up giving each other bunny ears without knowing. How cute.

“What about one more,” you let them know after you snap the first picture.

Neither party complains, but this time instead of just them, all of Satoru’s students jump in for the picture.

“Nice,” you muse and put the camera down, hearing them all laugh, and seeing Satoru grin softly.

“Blow the candles now!” Satori tells her uncle before she looks back at Hakari and giggles, letting you know that they’re up to no good.

“Come on make a wish,” you encourage your brother with a smile that you can’t let go of, it even starts to hurt your cheeks a bit.

“All right,” he breathes out before he flutters his eyes shut for a few seconds before he shows off those bright blue eyes of his, puckers his lips, and blows out the candles decorating his cake, causing the room to erupt in cheer.

“Yay! You’re halfway old now Uncle Satoru!”

You snort at Satoris' boldness and can’t help but laugh with everyone else while Satoru grabs his chest and acts hurt.

“Thanks, Satori for that insight.” He mutters and leans down.

Satori notices and her eyes widen with excitement. She once again looks over at her partner in crime, and he gives her a nod and offers her a thumbs up. Now you should come in between whatever they're up to, but then again what’s the harm in what they want? So instead you start recording and smile as you watch Satori put her little hand over Saroru’s head. Before he can move she slams her hand down and tries to push his face into the cake.

Satoru had noticed what her intentions were, she wasn’t really discreet even if she thought she was. So since his big fat head is heavy he actually helps her out and basically shoves himself in his own cake and gets what he wanted; Satori laughing and happy.

“Nice job little one,” Shoko praises Satori with a smirk.

Kirara and Itadori shove past you to steal a quick picture of Satoru’s face covered in frosting.

“Excuse you,” you grumble and squeeze past them.

“Now you!” Satoru exclaims and swipes some frosting off his face to wipe it on Satori’s face.

“Hey!” She chuckles. “That’s no fair!”

They both end up laughing at each other and you can’t help but tear up just a little as you watch them. Not for what you could’ve had if you reunited sooner, but over the unknown future. You don’t want Satori to lose yet someone else she loves and looks up to. She’s lost too many people already at her young age, you don’t want her to lose Satoru either. You didn’t want to lose him either.

“Okay everyone come get cake no one is serving anyone!” Shoko announces before she backs away from the gathering crowd.

You sigh and let out all your gloom and doom, instead you keep trying to make the best out of this day.

“Hey, Uncle Satoru,” you hear Satori interject. “When do you think we’ll go out and exorcise curses together?”

Satoru turns his head with his mouth full of cake and snickers, making her slowly pout.

“Don't laugh,” she says sadly. “I train. I’m strong. and my mommy says I will make a great partner. I just want to go on a mission like you and my daddy would.”

Satoru’s breath hitches softly at the mention, and you…smile down at your hands. A part of you wants to cry just thinking about it, then again you have been more emotional than usual, but that’s beside the point, you don’t cry. You feel joy hearing Satori bring that up.

“My daddy always told me cool stories,” Satori continues trying to presuede him into accepting. “I just want to have a cool story of our own.”

Satoru swallows thickly and laughs softly. “Is that so? Well, maybe after all this is over we can go on an easy mission, okay?”

Satori's face immediately changes and she beams at him now. “Yay!”

Satoru scoops up more cake with his spoon and wonders out loud. “What else would your dad say?”

Tsk. Of course, he’s going to probe her about Suguru now. He did it every chance he got.

Anyway, you let them be and find Choso in the living room talking to his brother. You put a foot forward to sit next to your boyfriend, but you’re then hit with a realization so you step back and pull your camera out.

“Uh, Itadori, Cho,” you interject and immediately gain their attention. “Would you mind if I took a picture?”

Itadori and Choso look at each other, and as nervous as Choso got out of fear his brother would reject this simple request, he answers for him and his brother. “No, not at all.”

You smile and whisper excitedly, “great!”

As you lift your camera, Itadori scoots closer to Choso and wraps his arm around his brother before he offers the camera a wide happy grin. Choso first looks over at Itadori with a smile before he shows off that same smile to the camera, letting you snap a picture that triggers the flash to go off.

“Perfect,” you say cheerfully. “Thank you boys.”

With the inability to stop smiling at Choso’s new milestone, you sit down beside him and lean into his ear. “See I told you I could get it.”

Choso looks at you with awe and interjects. “Now all we need is the Christmas portrait.”

You chuckle, making him proud that he’s getting a lot better at making you laugh with the little things he says.

“Itadori come on, we’re going to start,” Panda whisks Itadori away with the other students outside.

“Do you want to watch the fireworks with me?” You ask Choso and bat your lashes as if he isn’t going to agree right away. “Hakari and Inumaki found some in the garage and they’re going to pop them now it seems, so do you want to watch the light show with me?”

Choso watches as you press your hand on his chest and draws in a deep breath before meeting your pleading gaze and giving in without a fight. “Yes, that sounds fun.”

You grin at him and first grab a throw blanket that was on the couch, and then grab his hand to take him outside with you. Albeit you don’t go too far out where the students are, you decide you’re too old to be huddled around them, so you keep your distance, and plop Choso on the cold ground before you follow and snuggle your back against his chest.

He then grabs the throw blanket you took and hooks his arms around your neck to wrap the both of you in the warmth of the blanket. While you wait for the students to start you lay your head back on Choso’s shoulder, and watch the star-littered sky. He on the other hand sighs softly in satisfaction and watches you.

“How about tonight we do face masks together after we take a shower, hm?” You suggest and drift your eyes to meet his gaze. “Maybe we can also watch a sappy movie tonight. Do you like that idea?”

Choso nods. “Yes, I don’t mind.”

You smile at him and only lift yourself a little to give him a fleeting kiss on his chin. He offers you a soft lovestruck smile and that reminds you of something.

“Oh, and by the way the secrets I tell you, like the one about Shoko, are supposed to stay between us. You’re not supposed to know,” you remind him before you could get into trouble.

“Oh,” he gasps softly. “Sorry. I forgot.”

You laugh softly and tilt your head down. “Don’t worry about it, just remember that the gossip I tell you is not shared.”

“Right,” he mumbles whilst he rests his chin on your head. “What about the stuff I hear? Do I tell you?”

You pull away from him and twist around halfway to meet his gaze with a pressing look. “Did you hear something?” You probe.

Choso chuckles. “I suppose that’s a yes. Well when I was helping Satori build her castle out of sand, I heard your brother and Ieiri talking about uh, Mei-Mei trying to “make a move” on a Higuruma when they were on their way here.”

You gasp and turn completely to grab his arms. “What else did you hear? Because I heard she was talking all sweet to Kashimo.”

“Uh, your brother said that she has a way to scare off men.” He says.

You scoff and turn to lay back against him. “That's so not it. That’s how you know he doesn’t know her. She just figures out if they have money or not, if they don’t then they’re not worth her time.”

“Oh.”

The corner of your lips tug to a half smile. “She most likely found out that neither men have money so she just didn’t bother getting to know them.”

“Hm.” He doesn’t say much but he still absorbs everything you tell him and always recalls what you have mentioned in the past.

It’s another reason why you love him. He’s a great listener.

“You know,” you add and drop your gaze to watch Hakari finally light a small firework. “I think Kashimo is warming up to me.”

Choso drops his head and mutters quietly. Oh?”

You smirk and drop your hand to start caressing Choso’s knee. “I think he’s okay for an ancient sorcerer. He reminds me of my middle school boyfriend,” you lie and follow the firework to the sky. “Except he had red hair.”

The firework is small but it’s still loud and bright overhead. The white light lets you see Choso’s bothered pout when you glance back at him.

“And his hair was straight and shorter. He had green eyes, and he gave me good gifts,” you list things off and see Choso’s eyebrows pinch together, making his nose wrinkle all cute-like.

“And…” you roll out, and he finally glances at you, so you start to laugh—“and I was just kidding. I just wanted to see you pout my love.”

Choso sighs deeply and glances away, causing you to giggle and throw your arms around his neck to pull him down to slam your lips on his. All while another firework goes off, this one brighter and bigger, a deep red instead of white that paints both of your faces with its light.

“I was just teasing,” you coo when you pull back just an inch from his lips.

Choso holds your gaze with a hardened look for a moment longer before his face eases and a smile cracks on his face.

“I like your smile,” you make him blush. “Where else could I see a smile like yours, Cho?”

Choso scoffs and shows off a softened look full of adoration.

“You know,” he adds softly before he looks away to watch more of the light show that continues to paint the sky. “Living by the ocean isn’t bad. I…like it.”

You lift your gaze to the sky and smile softly.

“It’s calm, quiet,” he continues with a smile you immediately recognize as a timid one. “Most importantly you’re happy here. I think it’s a good place for our family.”

Family? What does he mean by that? Like for the family you already have? Or to add on to it?

You part your lips to ask but you’re interrupted by Satori calling out for you as she runs outside. “Mommy!”

“Over here,” you drop the subject for now and drop your eyes to watch your daughter run to you.

“I want to watch the fireworks too;” she says when reaches you.

Your eyes and smile brighten, and you can’t help but answer giddly. “Okay.”

You then open the blanket, and she sits herself in front of you to let you embrace her with the blanket too. When she’s all snuggled up, Choso shifts his arms and his legs away to get ready to move and give you and your daughter space, but you grab his hand and yank him back against you. Because if Satori was bothered by him cuddling with you then she would have not accepted your invitation to snuggle with you under the same blanket, she would have kept her distance, but she didn’t so she doesn’t mind, therefore he can stay.

You want him to stay so you could be sandwiched by the people you love the most, and find comfort in their warmth on such a chilly night.

Unbeknownst to you though, while you watch the fireworks paint the sky like you watch the rain with Choso, in a comfortable silence, Satoru watches the three of you from a distance. He tries to remain neutral for the sake of you, and for Satori, since he sees that she likes Choso now. He also tries to see Choso in a better light, but no matter what, he can’t come to agree or like him with you. Now more than ever.

——

*LATER*

All the rooms were occupied, so Satori had to come sleep with you for the night, making Choso decide that it would be better if he slept on the couch in the parlor room. So now you’re sneaking downstairs to sleep with him like a teenager forbidden to go out.

Albeit on your way to the parlor room you notice Satoru in the sunroom all alone watching the distant waves through the window, pondering over who knows what.

Now you’re presented with a choice, go to him, or ignore him and go to Choso.

You are tired, so you move a step forward.

However, that’s the furthest you get because then you think to yourself that you can’t actually ignore your brother all by his lonesome. If you want to mend your relationship you have to try. So what’s so wrong with staying up a bit longer?

Thus you walk over and when you reach the door you knock first out of courtesy. Once you’re walking inside nothing is spoken, the silence carries on. Not because you made it awkward and uncomfortable by interrupting him, but because you both just basked in the white noise of the waves in the distance. It was soothing.

You almost want to leave the silence as it is. You could actually fall asleep where you are, you already have so many times in the past, but Satoru is out here for a reason, and you have to be sisterly and worry.

First, though, you start off slow.

“When Suguru and I found out we were expecting,” you fill the silence and keep your eyes on the ocean reflecting the night on its clear surface—“since we didn’t want anyone to find out we were going to have a baby, we came to live here for the entirety of my pregnancy. When…” you trail off as your voice breaks and fiddle with your nails.

“When,” you sigh and continue. “I started getting bigger Suguru and I would spend a lot of our evenings here and he would read Satori books. That was his favorite thing to do.”

After being basically frozen in place, Satoru shifts in his seat and then drifts his blue eyes to you, which is hard to miss because of how bright they are.

“This is my first time coming here since he died,” you murmur and meet his gaze. “This is my first time being in this room without him.”

Satoru hums and instead of looking sad or simply bummed out by what you said, his gaze slowly starts to harden.

But you don’t take it as anything bad though, you finally ask the question you’ve been building up to. “Are you okay?”

“Besides now,” he breaks his silence and only looks at you with what appears to be conflict. “Do you ever think about Suguru?”

You blink repeatedly in confusion and fail to answer because you think he’s somehow joking. When he doesn’t say he is, or ease his glare, you draw out a deep breath and nod stiffly as you drop your gaze.

“Everyday,” you share quietly. “When I look at my daughter living day by day without her father. When we talk about Kenjaku. And those moments when it’s quiet, when it’s just me and I have something stupid to say about my day…” you pause and look at him with a sorrowful look. “Why?” You ask.

Satoru drops his gaze and swallows thickly. “Because I can’t stop thinking about him and how it hasn’t been a year yet but you’ve already moved on.”

You blink with surprise and slowly the sorrow in your eyes turns to conflict, and that sad frown curls into a scowl.

“Have you thought about that?” He throws at you sharply as if he’s the one you’re hurting.

“I think about it,” you mutter while you ball your hands to fists. “But why are you? What does it matter to you?”

Satoru’s eyes snap up and he counters back quickly. “It matters because I don’t think you know what you’re doing. I mean saying you love this new guy after what? It hasn’t even been a month since you met him. You got with him and said you loved him after like three weeks.”

You lose all the initial worry you had for him and get fueled with anger. Hot anger you had for him before you forgave him. That resentful anger you bore for years.

“I told you why I love him, I told you how it all came to be,” you argue and defend the man you love. “I gave you hundreds of reasons why it shouldn't matter how many days it’s been since we’ve known each other, and he’s given you thousands. So why does it matter how long I’ve known him for? Why is it so important for you to tell me how long it’s been since my husband died? My husband, not yours, the father of my kids, not yours, the love of my life, not yours. Tell me, Satoru, tell me,” you sneer.

“Is it because you don’t like Choso?” You don’t leave him room to respond as your anger starts to burn hotter and begins to blind you. “Because you don’t want me to be happy? You want me to be buried in my blankets grieving Suguru? Because trust me I’ve been there, I was there. I grieved Suguru, I felt like dying every day since I lost him. I wanted to stay that way for the rest of my life because living on without him felt pointless, but I stood up, I fought to live on every day. It felt so dreadful,” you spat with tears of anger and anguish filling your eyes, with every word your voice filling with more rage and sorrow. “But I kept living because my daughters needed me. I moved on because my daughters needed me, because they didn’t deserve to have an empty husk of a person as a parent, because my students brought the light back to my life.”

Tears slip down your cheeks, and you expect him to cut in to apologize or argue, but he stays quiet, letting you continue with your rageful rant.

“Or are you just saying all this because you can never be happy for me and the people I chose to be with? First, it was Suguru, and now it’s Choso. So tell me brother, why do you have that need to always act like such an asshole? And don’t give me that big brother bullshit, it works only for a little bit, but we both know you never liked Suguru and me together. So tell me,” you whisper and try to sound angry but it comes out shaky more than anything.

“I want you to be happy,” Satoru interjects with his look of conflict not lost, it’s still showing, but now you see anger too—“but I’m looking out for you too, you may not like that answer, but that’s it. We have parents and other family, but you are the only part of that family I care about…”

Your breath catches in your throat, and you feel your head hurt as you don’t know whether to stay upset or not.

“It’s always been that way,” he continues with a hint of softness in his voice. “You are my home. Suguru was my home too…that’s why…I was always hard on you when you were a couple. I didn't want my home to break apart, with you two being together, there was a risk. Do I regret being so harsh? Yes, that moment when you were saying your goodbyes last year I saw that I was wrong for being upset, and I’m sorry for that.”

Well, when he puts it that way it’s hard to stay angry at him. You understood things not wanting to change, but that doesn’t explain Choso.

“What about Choso?” You bring up with that anger lost completely now. “He isn't your best friend so why are you against him?”

Satoru clenches his jaw as he sighs deeply. He continues to stay quiet and hold your gaze for a moment before he speaks up without a hint of losing his anger. “Because of who he is. You may see him as human, but I don’t.”

Oh, and just like that your anger returns

“He’s half a curse, y/n. Please tell me you know that.”

You stiffen and respond without hesitation. “I do, but why should that matter? He’s still human too. He’s more human than some people I know. There may have been some problems with him in the beginning, but he turned himself around. Itadori can vouch for that, Satori can vouch for it, my students and Shoko can, you would see how great he is if you gave him a chance.”

Satoru scoffs and rolls his head away before he brushes his hands through his hair out of frustration. “Of course you would say that,” he mumbles. “Why should I be surprised given…” he trails off, leaving you puzzled.

“Given what?” You ask sharply.

“Don’t. I know.”

Your eyebrows furrow and your glare turns to a puzzled look. “Know what?” You quip.

Satoru’s eyes drift to you and he glares before he rolls his eyes away sassily.

“What?” You press with frustration. “What do you know?”

Satoru stands up straight and snaps his head towards you to narrow his glare on you. He has yet to answer you so you raise your eyebrows to press him.

“You don’t know…you’re pregnant?” He asks unsurely.

And without saying a thing you answer his question with a shocked gasp.

“Oh,” he whispers and sucks air through his teeth as he feels guilt for revealing that the way he did, but he doesn’t regret anything else he did say.

“I,” is all you manage to mutter as your disbelief heightens and clears your mind.

“It was faint at first,” he adds on as if that would help your shock. “I thought it was just your cursed energy since it’s like a dancing flame, but as these weeks have gone by I started to see that it wasn’t just you, I was seeing two other bundles of cursed energy growing inside you—oh, damn,” he catches what else he revealed when it’s too late.

“Twins?” Is all you can say now with a smile wanting to tug on your lips, but you still can’t believe what he said so you’re still a bit paralyzed.

But you are starting to realize that all your headaches, your erratic emotions, and your exhaustion make sense. But since these days are around the time you get your period you haven’t been given the chance to find out for yourself.

“I don’t know,” he says. “For all we know they can be curses.”

You snap out of your shock as his terrible words travel in your ears, and snap at him. “How could you say that?”

Satoru’s face contorts with frustration and he’s quick to argue back. “How could you not? That guy is half a curse, y/n, remember? For all we know those things growing inside you could be full-blooded curses that could kill you.”

You glare at him and shake your head. “No. I would know. And him being half a curse doesn't matter. He has a human body, he has human blood. He’s human, why can’t you understand that?”

“Because as long as he has any potential to hurt you and Satori, I could never forget that,” he says from the bottom of his heart. “That’s why. And if that mattered to you you would get rid of…them before they have a chance to kill you.”

You grab your belly and hear his mean words echo in your head for a moment before you finally react in anger. “You are being cruel, Satoru. I don’t want to talk to you.” You turn on your heels and storm off.

Once you’re in the hall that leads to the parlor room, and far from your brother you stop to take in what he just said. He was so mean, so negative. It all catches up to you and those emotions you’ve been trying to hold back all day finally escape you, but this time it’s not because you’re happy, or reminiscing about the past, this time it’s because of what Satoru said.

In your heart and gut, you know Satoru’s fear isn’t true, they’re babies. They're yours and Choso’s babies. You want to be happy about it, but the way Satoru spoke with so much malice found a way to ruin the moment and fill you with anguish.

You almost want to take back your forgiveness, but you don’t. You can’t. He’s just…worried. You understand. Even if it pisses you off now, you understand deep inside that he’s worried. You just need a moment to sulk in your sadness and frustration. Just a moment.

Just a moment, you repeat to yourself and take just that to wallow in your anguish before you let out a deep breath and wipe away your tears to enter the parlor room.

Perhaps you should have returned to your room given the news you were just blurted out, but the only thing that helps you feel at ease, especially in your current mood is Choso. Besides, when he sees you walk in he greets you with a smile.

“What are you doing down here?” He whispers as if he is accompanied by a third party, but it’s just him and you.

“I wanted to come sleep with you,” you tell him and thank the cover of the night because he can't notice that you were crying.

“Is that okay?” You ask as you find your way to the couch he’s on.

“Appreciated,” he assures you and lifts his blanket to welcome you to his side, which you quickly take so he won’t see your face now that you’re close.

When he wraps you with his blanket you wrap your arms under his arms and snuggle your head against his chest without saying a word. Which is a small mistake.

Choso knows you enjoy your silence, especially when it comes to falling asleep, but he can also pick up when something is wrong when you’re quiet. He has suspicions of that now because of the way you averted your gaze.

“Is everything okay?” He asks whilst he wraps his arm around your neck and cups the back of your head to massage your scalp.

“Mhm,” you hum in agreement, and in that second you want to tell him the good news you just found out, but there’s also a chance Satoru could be wrong. Those babies he saw could be spurts of erratic cursed energy, and if that’s all it is then you don’t want to get Choso excited or upset over nothing. So you’ll have Shoko double-check for you before you say anything.

Thus for now you hide your news and your sadness.

“I’m fine,” you assure him. “I just wanted to come sleep with you, that's all.”

Choso doesn’t believe you, but he also doesn’t press because if you were ready to share what was upsetting you then you would. He lets it go for now and just presses you closer against him.

“I love you,” you whisper as you try not to cry more now that you’re in the comfort of his embrace.

Choso presses a kiss on the top of your head and says it back fondly. “I love you too.”

A/N- The ending Is so twilight coded 🤩 guys we’re gonna have two little rumpelstiltskins! (Please tell me you get it 😂😭)

Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno @moonnime @kodzukein @yozora7154 @heijihattorisgf @elegantweirdorchest @natakina

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blank-house · 2 months

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Aloha!! Hope you're doing good!! One question, do you maybe have categories as to what kind of questions you allow and what not? Because so often you answer with "can't say, that's spoiler territory", so I really do not know what I am allowed to ask here EOWOERFR

Aloha! I'm doing good, hope you are too :3 Ahhh I'm sorry that a lot of our answers are tucked behind a spoiler wall, but it's the reality of it. I don't want to give everything away when we're literally at the beginning stages of Keyframes. Plus, it wouldn't be fun to play if you already knew everything, no? That being said, spoiler territory is understandably massive and it's a lot of back and forth between Lilly and I to think of what is fine to talk about and what isn't; we don't want to be a hard ass but also we literally just shouldn't talk about it. But usually (and I think I'll make a faq with this so people don't have to waste their time asking), you can expect us to dodge most things about: - The boys history that isn't directly related to each other as friends. For example, their family and any past relationships they may or may not have. As well as things that blatantly have a story behind it (I see you lot asking about Percy and fighting huuuu) - Dating behaviors; specifically ones that have potential for conversations/growth. Also just things that you'll eventually find out for yourself. - Things that we've already planned to exist in the extended demo (which you guys can't possibly know about hence why we respond to the asks with "this will be in the demo" so at least you can look forward to it!) - Anddddddd facts about our characters that are on a more personal level. Things like, what are their flaws, how would an argument with them go, any anxieties they might have. Usually, if it's our first time seeing someone ask it, we'll at least answer with a "Whoops, spoilers!" to deter more people from asking. Otherwise, we tend to gloss over them in our inbox (full disclosure, we had to delete around 20 asks last night that were spoiler related ahaaa). Lilly, despite their comments about having to hold me back, tries to give you guys some crumbs. Haha they're better at handling spoiler related content than me because all I wanna do is gush about it, but I think they have a wonderful and fun way with their answers that gives you something but ultimately nothing away either. But yeah! Hope that clarifies things for you anon! People are still welcome to try their luck with a question! Sometimes, we are lenient. ^^

#keyframes asks

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ihopesocomic · 2 months

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frustrated anon here! i think i didnt fully get my point across—i dont mean anything i said as an attack on you guys!!!! i just personally find myself getting a little frustrated because it does sometimes feel like youre getting a little short with people, or something along those lines. its definitely not a problem per se, its just something ive noticed and how the tone comes off to me personally sometimes! i fully support you guys doing whatever the hell you want here; its your comic, its your blog, etc etc, and if people dont read or want to be spoon fed or smth thats definitely on them not you guys

thats what i meant when i said i couldnt imagine one of my passion projects getting popular. sometimes people just come at you out of left field and youre free to respond to that however feels natural. like i said i just sometimes personally read some answers and go “oh come on they didnt mean anything by it”, if that makes sense! ive been a fan of this comic from nearly the start so im def not one to be saying much lol

Just to clarify: us and other folks were just speaking in general terms. Aside from that one anon that responded directly to you, what was being said is just a commentary on the weird or downright problematic asks we get sometimes. Again, us correcting anons and highlighting that some of their takes - however good intentioned - are reductive is not intended to be an attack on the anon. Some people genuinely mess up and come out with misconceptions and that's OK. We try very hard to understand that.

However, if I may be completely honest, I don't feel it's fair that anons are being given the benefit of the doubt in your ask but not us? "They didn't mean anything by it" could also apply to a TON of our responses, I feel. What you may read as us being on the attack could just be us sitting an anon down and explaining something they've got wrong. Or just politely disagreeing. I'm just sayin' that I feel that the last few instances of anons trying to say we're rubbing them off the wrong way has come off the back of answers that I feel are completely innocuous, with us kidding around about people asking spoiler questions and me explaining how people in cults actually function being the most recent examples and yeah, I agree with that one anon that it feels nitpicky.

I will also say that I feel we've come a long way with just deleting anons that we feel are either wilfully ignorant, haven't read the comic properly or just want an argument. Going any further is just going to make it appear like we don't want to engage with any anons other than the ones full of praise for us and we don't want to run that kind of blog. We hope you understand. Thank you. - RJ

#ask #ask us stuff #rj answers

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themidnightcrimson · 2 years

Text

Seeing Red Explanation.

This post contains spoilers for Seeing Red. Please read the series before you read this explanation post to avoid having the entire thing spoiled for you.

There’s been a lot of questions about what happened at the end of my Seeing Red series, so I am going to do a little bit of explaining to clear things up. Before I do, I want to clarify that I left the ending very open-ended, and there’s some answers I don’t even know myself. Without further ado:

Where is 838 Wanda?

Well, little lambs, funnily enough, the Wanda you see in Part 5 of Seeing Red is 838 Wanda. Here’s why:

As you can tell, 616 Wanda (Scarlet Witch) is not dead in Seeing Red. As you saw in the movie, there was a small explosion of magic before the castle totally collapsed. I used my hopeful and biased and maybe borderline delusional interpretation of that moment in the movie, which is that Scarlet Witch was able to teleport herself out. Afterwards, in Seeing Red, she dreamwalked into 838 Wanda, which is why her eyes were glowing red at the very end and she greeted reader with “Hello, little lamb,” which was what 616 Wanda called reader throughout the series. So, you may now be asking:

How was 616 Wanda able to dreamwalk into 838 Wanda if the Darkhold castle was destroyed?

This series does not happen exactly like the movie, obviously. In my series, Wanda actually won the battle with Strange and took Chavez’s powers. Additionally, the 616 physical copy of the Darkhold was never destroyed. We see this in Part 3 when Scarlet Witch reads from the Darkhold while reader strapwarms her (ahem, hot af, props to me for that idea). So, while the Darkhold castle may have been destroyed, the physical copy was not, and that is how 616 Wanda is able to dreamwalk into 838 Wanda. This may also lead you to a further question:

Since the life of the destroyer of any Darkhold copy must be sacrificed, how was Wanda able to escape the destruction of the Darkhold castle?

That is up to Marvel to explain in either House of Harkness or a solo Scarlet Witch film (or else I will riot). Until then, your guess is as good as mine. Wanda’s powers reach an extent I can’t even comprehend, so I have no reasonable explanation for how she managed to stay alive besides that she is the fucking Scarlet Witch.

Since Scarlet Witch has the power to travel the multiverse, why didn’t she just actually go back instead of dreamwalking?

She dreamwalked mostly for shits and gigs. Will she eventually go back? You can answer that how you want to, but it was made pretty clear at the end of the series that she regretted taking reader away from 838 Wanda and the twins. I think she has learned her lesson, and how it will go from there is open to interpretation.

Lastly, I received a question asking whether or not 838 Wanda knows about the “cheating.”

This depends on whether or not 838 Wanda is fully conscious or can remember what happens while 616 occupies her body. Could Scarlet Witch actually shield what happens when she dreamwalks from 838 Wanda’s mind? Who knows. I surely don’t.

A lot of breeding happened during the series. Is reader pregnant with the Scarlet Witch’s child?

Yes.

I know these aren’t complete answers to all the questions, but that’s how I wanted the ending to be. I just wanted to clear up the fact that the Wanda in Part 5 was not literally 616 Wanda. It was 616 Wanda dreamwalking in 838 Wanda. Both our Wandas are alive and well.

Feel free to send any additional questions to my anons and I will try to answer them the best I can <3

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heart-forge · 1 year

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zeds powers are eating me from the inside. we know they can talk to plants. we know that plants react to their emotions (?? was that a one off thing?? i'm assuming its canon) we know that plants have their own personalities. we know that zed considers themself fundementally different from the people in this world. we also know that zed (and everyone else) are 100% human. the name hybrid makes me think they are half-plant??? i'm so hyped for when i get to know (1/2)

like how come zed can communicate and everyone else can't? like these plants are obviously intelligent, they can tip rafts over for fun, and they have their own personalities, and are also EVERYWHERE, why wouldn't the remains of humanity try to understand them? are people just unaware that the plants are intelligent?? like with the vines that grab people, do people assume its just mindless, like venus flytraps????

why aren't people who are really into plants attempting to study them? even just in an arbitrary way?? why is this not humanities priority? i think it's shown a little bit with trigger, but is that distrust from the populace why zed and their family member have isolated themselves, or is their something more? is zed an experiment of some kind? were the plants an experiment of some kind?? are they alien life and zed is half-alien? but you also said that zed is fully human AHHHH and those people who were ransacking their farm, were they targeting zed and their family member because of their powers? were they just trying to survive, by scavenging in this case? i feel like it would be easier to scavenge from abandoned structures, and there should be a lot of those, so why go after a place with people in it? just seems a little fishy to me. also, where is the rest of zed's family? did they die and that is why zed's family member is wary??

sorry if any of my information is inaccurate, i played the game a little bit ago and am now going through your whole blog to feed my hyperfixation. i'm sorry if this seems like i'm nitpicking!! i really enjoyed hybrid (and bad ritual and manor hill) and zed's powers have been something i've been thinking about. i understand that you can't answer any of my questions because of spoilers, i just needed somewhere to wordvomit about your game, and what better place to do that than here?

so first off *chinhands* don't feel bad because I love every word of this, and you're right of course that I obvi I'm not going to answer directly (idt it was asked in the spirit of "please answer" anyway). I will clear some stuff up though !!

Plants do react to Zed's emotions, but they also react to everyone else's: Zed is just aware that it's happening, but it's very much canon (although I will say, they're reacting to Zed's emotions as anyone unconsciously reacts to another's emotional state—just to clarify that it's not like special plant magic with rules, it's just communication with things that don't have mouths or eyes, usually).

is Zed the only one who can do it? is no one else studying the phenomena? :) this and answers to other questions will become more apparent once Zed spends more than a nap and a bath with other people.

You're right, Zed and their guardian were super isolated, in a way that was so complete that Zed barely even noticed until it came to an end extremely abruptly and pretty violently considering the circumstances.

(jdhf I'm not being sarcastic this is my idea of a joke, ty for messaging me I'm glad anyone is thinking about my silly plant blorbos)

#talkForge #hybrid

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divorcingjimmatthews · 1 year

Text

reader x jade (reader x kenny if you squint) bullet point short story take it or leave it here goes

may contain spoilers up to S2E3 ⚠️

you've actually got history with jade

and by history i mean that he showed up stoned to your once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity job interview

still, seeing a familiar face after your first night in that nightmare outweighed any past grudges

"Jade Herrera?"

he needed a double take to realise you didn't just know him from tv

when he remembered the incident, it felt like an unread email had found him in the apocalypse

he had meant to reschedule the interview

he had meant to send an apology letter

did any of that matter now?

"Wait. Can't... why can't Mr. Herrera do it? I... I know him."

donna didn't think jade was in condition to be anyone's proxy, but kenny was also in the house, and she had twenty other people to sort before nightfall

so why not

maybe because jade said no

so kenny took you. he was so nice. everyone here was so nice. it didn't feel real

you and kenny spent the night in his living room. you were trying to process. started asking questions. what is this place? what are those things?

kenny's answers were always the same. we don't know.

you gave up and sighed. maybe it would make sense in the morning

enter idiot

jade "fixing" the janky bathroom door with a kick jumpscared the hell out of you

"What the hell is wrong with you, man? Jesus!"

kenny stood up to check the damage to the hinges, then shook his head at jade and came back to make sure you were okay

the next morning, you woke up to see jade kneeling by the door, fixing it and putting some oil on the hinges

"Looking good."

jade's puzzled look forced you to clarify

"I mean the door."

now that you were looking at the man with a clear enough head, it wasnt difficult to see that he was pretty much freefalling

but he was still fixing the door

the small sweet things he did never got past you. once you saw the kind of guy he was, it wasn't something that you could unsee

eventually he came to see you and apologised. it was genuine

you told him none of it mattered now, but he insisted. he asked if he could do something to make it up to you

you said no, and told him to forget about it. but later that night, you found yourself making your way to his room

"Hold me."

"What?"

you were trembling, almost shaking

"You wanted to know what you could do for me. Hold me. I... I don't want to be alone with those things."

somehow he knew how to not make it awkward. maybe because he probably needed that way more than you did

you had your first proper breakdown sitting on the floor of jade's room, snuggled up by his side. you finally felt safe enough to let the terror of what you'd seen in that place wash over you

his arms were around you and he was softly stroking your back. you cried and cried, and he breathed slowly, his eyes red and watery too

he had been through so much. toby was fucking dead. and then there was this place. this stupid place

you were all but strangers but you had to cling to something

jade admired you. it took guts to actually ask for help and accept it

didn't he know it

it didn't take long for you to realise that he needed your help more than you needed his

you had jade herrera for two weeks and a half and if anything happened to him youd kill each and every one of those monsters with your bare hands

he's YOUR cringefail sorta boyfriend guy and you just want him to be alright

you actually really admire his smarts but if he starts going on about how smarter he is than everyone else around him he gets hit with a gentle but firm "babe. babe, shut up"

when you hear him play the violin you gotta hand it to him though. floored. a perfect man

he hasn't told you about his visions but you can get a feeling that something's deeply wrong. you're kind of terrified that something will happen to him

hes kind of terrified that hes setting the bar too high with expectations that he won't always be able to meet

its not like you still need him like on those few first nights, he tells himself. so he calls the thing off

fine. idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot

kenny is like shaking his head in the distance at him

everyone kind of is. small town. no secrets

you're just more worried than ever for him. you both kind of keep an eye on each other, but you can see his sanity slipping away.

who could stay sane in this hell?

there has to be a way out of this fucking place

you'll find it. for you and for jade

#jade herrera x reader #jade (from) x reader #jade herrera (from)#epix from #from (epix)

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milkteamoon · 2 years

Text

Full Moon

Round 3, Jon and Daisy this time! (and maybe some werewolves...maybe)

1.6k words, s4 spoilers (read on ao3)

—

Honestly, she probably should have expected the reaction.

Maybe she’d just assumed that the whole thing being her idea would lessen the blow. Make it more palatable. Sure, it wasn’t ideal, but it was better than the alternative options involving ropes and gags and a weekend vacation in artefact storage — Basira’s suggestion, of course. Melanie’s had been more along the lines of “drive him out to the middle of nowhere and hope he doesn’t find his way back,” but she’d said it with the kind of smirk that made Daisy think that she was joking. Probably. Possibly.

Jon’s first question when she showed him the chain had been a faint, emphatic, “Are you out of your mind?”

And Daisy had snorted at that, shifted the cuffs between her hands and said, “It’s just for the week, while Basira’s away. Something...something to keep an eye on you and your diet. Keep an eye on each other.”

“So what,” he’d answered, “if one of us snaps we just......hope we kill each other before someone else stumbles across us?”

“Melanie has the key, if anything goes south. Though I don’t think dragged along your scrawny corpse behind me would do much for slowing me down, if it comes to that.”

“So we kill each other,” Jon had grumbled, then muttered something under his breath about half-assed plans and liabilities, and then he’d agreed. She hadn’t expected him not to. That’s the difference between the Jon she’d dragged out to the forest with a knife last year and the Jon that had dragged her out of the coffin weeks ago — a difference she finds in herself, most days, with the fight still packed down under several layers of cloying dirt in her chest.

Of course, Jon’s next question had been how they would handle things like showering, and Daisy had grinned when she’d told him he wasn’t the first guy she’d seen without trousers (don’t flatter yourself, Jon). He hadn’t asked any more questions after that. He hadn’t been able to say much at all, all stuttering and flushed down to his t-shirt neckline — maybe Basira had been right about him being pretty funny. Maybe she just hadn’t been listening properly before she’d gone in the coffin.

But that’d been two days ago now. Two relatively normal days, if she’s being honest, save for the chain binding them at the wrists. Jon had his...routine of typical archiving work, and Daisy had her routine of following him around and trying to stay out of the way. They slept together in document storage. They ate together in the breakroom (or rather, Daisy ate and Jon sat there quietly with his too-sweet cup of tea, unless, of course, she tried to shove a forkful of something healthy down his gullet). They went for a walk twice a day so Daisy could stretch her legs — just up to the library though, given that handcuffs weren’t exactly appropriate for a trip down to the corner store. It’s normal. It’s routine. It’s enough to make Daisy wonder how she manages to make payroll without ever really doing anything, but perhaps rich assholes like the Lukas fellow simply don’t give a shit about that type of thing.

And honestly, it’d been......a calm change of pace, if she’s being honest. No worms or mannequins or flesh...things; just Jon at his desk doing whatever Jon did, and Daisy in her office chair across minding her business. Like now, as she attempts to battle the Institute’s twenty-year outdated wi-fi system to watch a football match on her phone.

Though she doesn’t need the buffering boredom to know when he’s staring at her.

“Sims.”

“Hm?”

“Spit it out.”

He blinks, wide-eyed over the top of his laptop. “I-I’m sorry?”

“You’re looking at me like you’ve got a question,” she clarifies, watching as the phone screen jolts to life momentarily before falling back into a blurry frame, “so. Out with it.”

He clears his throat, looking the slightest bit guilty — something she should probably find funny, given that this is apparently what triggers his mess of a moral compass. “R-right. I was just...ah, wondering if you had any allergies?”

Daisy gives him a look, and Jon, somehow, wilts even further into himself. Then she lays down her phone on the desk, and answers, “Shellfish.”

“Oh. Really?”

“No,” she retorts, “that was a joke. Why do you ask?”

“O-oh! I was just um......checking...some things.........” he mutters, shuffling through a random stack of papers from the side of the desk in a very poor attempt to mask whatever else he has on his mind. Typical Sims. Never one for subtlety. “So um...no, no plants, then?”

“...Plants?”

“Like, erm. Flowers?”

Daisy leans back in her chair — an old, creaky thing that houses a menagerie of stains smudged into the cheap fabric, which would probably disgust her if she wasn’t already used to the filth of cop car bucket seats. She rubs the soft fuzz of her chin and mutters, “Don’t think so.”

“Hm.” He clicks his pen, scribbles something down on his crumpled legal pad, then asks, “What about jewelry?”

“Do I look like someone who wears jewelry?”

“W-well, no, I was just......no silver, or anything?”

“Silver?” Daisy repeats, scrunching her face in thought. “What are you on about?”

Jon looks at her. Then he looks back to his notes. Then he pulls at a strand of hair that’s come loose from the tie and twists his mouth in a myriad of unreadable knots. Thinking. Never a good sign. “I just...y-you said you’d been, I don’t know, feeling......off, the past couple of days? And well...” he lets out a half-choked, humorless laugh, “tomorrow is a full moon.”

The match on her phone roars back into motion for one brilliant, blinding moment before shutting off. Dead battery. In the black screen, her muddied expression looks back at her.

“Sims.”

“Yes?”

“You...do know I’m not a werewolf, right?”

Jon winces as if he’s been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Er, statement jar? Statement...filing cabinet. Whatever he ate from these days.

“I-I know that,” he answers quietly.

Daisy gives him a look down the bridge of her nose.

“I do!” he insists, hands tying tightly around the torso of his oversized sweater. “I was just...curious, as to how much, well, legend and reality overlapped.”

“So you did think I was a werewolf.”

“I didn’t say that,” he snaps, and Daisy can’t help but chuckle at his smoldering indignance as he folds in tighter on himself. It’s a Jon she hasn’t seen in a while — the kind that puts up a fight, even if he’s dead wrong — and it’s nice, in a way. Reminds her of old times. The proper bastard she’d come to dislike back when he couldn’t hurt her.

She wonders what that says about her, now that they’re something akin to friends.

Daisy pulls up a knee and folds her arms around it. “And besides,” she says, “wouldn’t that make you one too?”

Jon blinks. “W-what?”

She nods to his arm. He follows her gaze down to his unchained wrist where the soft skin around his veins is punctured by old teeth marks, barely noticeable amongst the rest of his scars, and he lets out a soft, “oh.” Like he’d forgotten about it. And hell, maybe he had — maybe the terror of getting his throat nearly cut out had eclipsed the part where she’d clamped down on his arm trying to pull him out of the car to do it. That was the old Jon though, the one that put up a fight. Not much of a fight, mind you, but...well. He’d tried.

“Huh.” Jon rubs his thumb idle over the marks. “I......I guess you’re right.”

Daisy rubs at her cuffed wrist, leaning back into her chair with a creak. “Probably for the best,” she muses, “don’t think you’d make a very good one.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not......scary enough,” she explains with a long inhale. “Too skittish.”

Jon lets dry laugh. “I think you could contact literally anyone who’s ever given a statement here and they’d argue differently.”

“Yeah, but it’s not the right kind of scary. You’re more like......like an overdue water bill.”

Jon looks at her for a long time. Like he’s turning over the words in his head. Like he’s sizing her up. Calculating. Hunting. And then...

And then—

And then he raises a hand to cover his mouth as he cracks into a soft laugh. Something that Daisy isn’t sure she’s ever seen him do before — hell, she’d started to wonder if he was even capable of such. Mostly he just seemed to be annoyed or scared out of his wits.

“You know,” Jon says, pitch pulled by his smile, “that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Daisy can’t help herself from smiling back. “Sure. Now come on, we’re going up to watch the match in the lobby.”

“But—”

“No ‘buts.’ I’m tired of watching you work on a Friday night. Contrary to whatever your freaky boss thinks, you’re not as interesting as football.”

Jon gives her a look, grumbling a few things about “our freaky boss” and about work before a sharp tug on the chain gets him moving, and then he quits his grumbling. He’s obedient like that, Daisy will admit. Like a dog on a leash; not much of a fighter, not much of anything to be scared of, but well.

Well.

She holds out her arm, and he takes it, for whatever reason.

Perhaps she’d been a bit too presumptuous with her earlier assessments.

#can't believe I haven't written about these two yet??? what am I doing. criminal offense #tma #magnuspod #the magnus archives #jondaisy #jaisy #my writing #tma fic

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nalyra-dreaming · 1 year

Note

Hi again. Just to clarify, I have no problem at all with you talking about the later books or answering questions honestly when asked. As I said, spoilers are no longer in effect because the books have been out for 40 years and I think anyone who comes on your blog is well aware that you talk about the entirety of the VC.

My issue is with the way Loumand shippers are constantly mocked and ridiculed for feeling the way they do about these characters when that's the way the story purposefully frames it.

Lestat is the villain of IWTV, both in the book and the show. In fact, I would argue that the show gives him a much more nuanced portrayal than the first book does. That's because IWTV is Louis's story and regardless of what he claims, that's how he portrays their relationship Lestat was the big bad vampire who seduced him to the dark side, and he was just the helpless victim/accomplice.

Obviously, we both know it's much more nuanced than that and the show does give many clues that Louis is full of shit and glossing over many details, either on purpose or because he simply forgot.

But It's not stupid or unreasonable for non-book readers to dislike Lestat and prefer Armand because again, that is how the story frames it. Show fans are simply making what is a very logical conclusion based on the information the show has provided so far.

These little snide comments about oh Loumand truther will cry and hahaha they are stupid and don't understand the real story and we are so superior because we've read the books feel very gatekeepy and unnecessary. I'm not implying you say that btw, just that you seem to agree with the anons who do.

But that's just my opinion and you can feel free to disagree.

Hey,

thank you for clarifying.

I... want to point out what I actually say:

I did point out earlier, that for show-only fans it is only logical they'd hate Lestat. And I agreed that "subverting the expectation" is likely the whole point.

At no point did I make fun of anons who come to me in all seriousness and asks.

I have had anons who ranted at me, and yelled at me, and yes, I did throw the blender gif into those answers at times.

I try to be very respectful of asks. Sometimes I may fail, I'm only human.

But I never negated the fact that with season 1 a few assumptions may be logical. You say I seem to agree though... with what.

"oh Loumand truther will cry and hahaha they are stupid and don't understand the real story and we are so superior because we've read the books"

With this? Have any of my replies really given off that vibe? Because then I would ask you to go through my asks, and find all those where I explain again and again stuff to those asking.

And if you do that please also take careful note to what I actually agree in asks, or what I address.

...

Look. I think this has hit a nerve?

And I'm sorry if it has. But the backlash on SAM this season also makes some coming from the books a bit nervous re next season, as @cbrownjc addressed earlier as well. Because... when that change comes? That whiplash change? When Armand is not who they think he is? And does the stuff he does in the books?... I REALLY DON'T WANT THEM TO HATE ON ASSAD!!!!

AND THE LAST MONTHS HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT A SHITSHOW IN REGARDS TO HATE AFTER EPISODE 5 - CAN YOU HONESTLY TELL ME THAT ANOTHER EPISODE 5, WHERE ARMAND CUTS OFF CLAUDIA'S HEAD, WILL HAVE ANY OTHER OUTCOME.

Because I think if they go there it will be mayhem. And that is only one of the things Armand does.

...

sorry for yelling.

I joke about the mayhem, and about preparing ourselves, but it's actually no joke.

And so I will reply, with what I know, respectfully and hopefully kind, to asks - but I won't hide the truth that their take might be wrong.

If I am asked.

#Anonymous #asks #amc iwtv #iwtv #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #iwtv amc #iwtv 2022 #interview with the vampire #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac #loustat #armand #loumand #future season speculation #ask nalyra

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alltimefail-sims · 1 year

Note

what made u give Erwin a sister? jw

Ooooooo okay this is a good question!

So Erwin as we know him is pretty one-dimensional. I thought maybe this was a "Johnny Zest" situation where they give him lore but it just isn't reflected in the game (not via traits, family tree, or etc.) and you have to go looking for it. But after I did some research and even searched his tag here on Tumblr, I realized there really wasn't much more to him than what we were given. This is kind of unfortunate because in my mind he's got so much potential - he's this big open canvas with unconventional traits and behaviors that are somehow paired with a "heroic" disposition through trailers with 0 explanation as to why this is. Basically, it leaves you with more questions than answers: what is his motivation? Why and how did he come to Strangerville? Why does he care about this mystery? Being a textbook overthinker when it comes to people, I figured the only way to answer these questions was to create the "before" Erwin - the Erwin pre-Strangerville. Thus, his family was born!

His sister was actually the first thing I thought of when asking "Why is he the way he is." You'll see it a lot in my story, but Maggie is really complex - she's impulsive, explosive, reclusive, and unstable. However, Maggie is also compassionate and loves her little brother - she wants Erwin to be happy even if she thinks she can't be. She has a lot of mixed feelings toward her family, but not with Erwin. His love and admiration for her kind of makes him defensive and protective of her, because she has always shown him compassion and supported him openly. She's the first person he confided in about being trans, even before he knew what being "trans" was, and although her instability scared Erwin he always tried to see past that and focus on the best of her instead. That's just the tip of the iceburg really... but needless to say, once she goes missing he feels like he owes it to her to bring her home, and unlike everyone else who is willing to believe she might have taken her own life, Erwin just feels like that's not realistic because she was doing better, she was trying to be happy, and above all she'd never leave him without saying goodbye... not willingly at least. Despite the discouragement from his well meaning parents who don't want to lose another child, he decides to take matters into his own hands anyway and move to Strangerville** after high school - now there's a motive and a reason for the motive, if that makes sense.

**On a slightly related note, I want to clarify that in my story I depict "Strangerville" as a real place in the American southwest desert. Any "sim world" that I utilize in the story will actually be a community within a bigger place as opposed to being an independent "world." For example, Erwin grew up in Brindleton Bay, which I see as a small fishing town on the American northeastern coast - it resides within a state like Maine. Different places of origin will influence each character's upbringing and serve as an additional motivator for certain "quirks" they have - in Erwin's case, this serves the purpose of explaining one reason why he "sticks out" so much in Strangerville!

TLDR; I figured that Erwin needed a compelling reason for being involved in the Strangerville mystery, along with a reason why he was considered to be such an outcast to the locals because I wasn't satisfied with the near nonexistent reasoning EA provided (people don't just get involved in a life or death circumstance because of curiosity, but that's just how I see it lol). Plus, I believe everyone has a story, and I thought giving Erwin a more "complex" family dynamic would satiate my need for a motive AND give context to who he is and why!

Thank you for this ask! I hope everything makes sense; I wanted to avoid spoilers but also give you a clear and satisfying answer because this is a great question (and I love talking about my OCs as you all know 😉).

#A long answer again I know but I thought this question needed it 💕#I love all of you who ask me about my characters!! You are amazing!#erwin pries #maggie pries #pries family #strangerville #strangerville outtakes #ts4 #the sims 4 #sims 4 #atfs ask #simblr

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tcookies777 · 2 years

Note

Can you clarify things for me? In Chapter 27, did something happen between Kakashi and Sakae in that room recently? I know that they had a sexual relationship in the past but did they do something similar to that nature now in Chapter 27. I’m trying to read between the lines and analyze whether it’s hinted/suggested that something happened and I was just left confused?

That's a wonderful question and thank you for asking.

<<SPOILERS FOR TAOL CHAPTER 27>>

The short answer? No, nothing happened other than that Kakashi and Sakae were setting up hidden cameras in the room and drinking some alcohol. It's exactly how the scene reads out.

The detailed answer? Well, let's break down that scene (or at least just the beginning of it):

The bed creaked beneath Kakashi as he laid back against the pillows and stared up at the ceiling fan. Beside him, Sakae made herself comfortable as she grabbed her own pillow to lay her head on.

Okay, so the scene starts with Kakashi laying down on bed and Sakae laying down next to him... But are they naked? It doesn't say. Are they kissing? No, they are not. Are they fondling each other? Nope, thank goodness. Are they in any way touching each other? Not at all.

So what do we know about this scene so far? Sakae is laying down next to Kakashi who is staring up at the ceiling fan.

Why are they laying down on the bed together?

Here's the explanation...

“So? Can you see it?”

“.... No,” he admitted while studying the dark blades of the fan. “You hid the camera well but... I’d fix the one in the clock,” he suggested, pointing at the digital clock sitting on the rickety nightstand.

Are they naked now? It doesn't say. Are they kissing now? No, they are not. Are they fondling each other now? Nope, thank goodness. Are they in any way touching each other at this point? Not at all.

So what are they doing here? Sakae is asking Kakashi if he can see IT in the ceiling fan. What is this IT she is asking about? The IT is the camera - which Kakashi compliments Sakae for hiding well in the fan. However, he suggests that she adjust the camera in the clock, implying that he can see the camera in there.

Now let's skip a few lines further in...

The bed squeaked harshly as he sat up and glimpsed the bright light flooding through the crack of the door down the little hallway. “Did you bug the bathroom too?”

Are they naked now? It doesn't say. Are they kissing now? No, they are not. Are they fondling each other now? Nope, thank goodness. Are they in any way touching each other? Not at all.

So what is happening now? Kakashi is sitting up on the bed to peer over at the bathroom and ask Sakae if she bugged it too.

Why is he asking these questions? Why are they on the bed studying the ceiling fan for a camera? Why is he telling her to adjust the clock's camera?

Here's the answer...

Sakae gave him a pointed look. “My guy’s a druggie. What do you think? It’s always best to err on the side of caution and I’ve been double-crossed too many times to not bug every corner of the room. If he ever thinks to sell me out then I’ll know the second he makes that call. Thanks for meeting me today, by the way,” she added after fixing the clock. “I needed someone who has experience with all this spyware shit.”

“I wasn’t exactly a spy, but happy to help anyway,” Kakashi said, watching her from the bed as she stood up to mess with the wires of the TV.

So why did Kakashi meet with Sakae in this motel room? Was it for sex or start a romance? No, he met with her because Sakae "needed someone who has experience with all this spyware shit" and Kakashi was "happy to help". Which is why Sakae says "Thanks for meeting me today"

Which is also why the scene begins with Sakae and Kakashi laying on the bed and studying the ceiling fan to make sure Sakae's hidden camera in the fan could not be seen. She's setting up hidden cameras to record the drug addict - who's the lead for her story - whom she's getting ready to interview. Because Sakae has been "double-crossed too many times to not bug every corner of the room."

There is no sex here or even any implication of there having been one between Kakashi and Sakae. Did Sakae touch Kakashi's shoulder, hand, and even nip his ear? Yes, she did do that but that's not because they just had sex; they have a sexual history together so touching hands, shoulders or even nipping an ear isn't so unusual for them when they've done plenty more than that before. So yeah, Sakae is a bit frisky with Kakashi here but it's not sex. He is simply meeting up with her in the motel room to help her set up the hidden cameras and listening devices for her upcoming meeting with the druggie.

Now, you may be wondering: but Kakashi told Sakura that he's trying to move on from her with Sakae?

Yeah, he told her that - and remember he's also told her other lies too (like how he doesn't have any feelings for her). All to discourage her from pursuing him. He wants to turn her off and even make her hate him so that she's no longer attracted to him. Sakura, as smart as she is, is still young so she cannot always catch every single lie of his, especially when she's in an emotional state.

Remember that when it comes to POV writing, you are reading from only one character's perspective. You are seeing the story from only their viewpoint - so there is going to be bias, misunderstanding, and even lies that you may not discover until we switch to another character's POV. This can create an unreliable narrator - a protagonist who is telling the story with the limited information that is given to them and, in extension, to you as the reader. In other words, you only know so much as the protagonist whose POV you are reading from.

So in this case, we were reading from Sakura's POV when Kakashi lied to her. And we did not know he was lying to her until it switched to his POV where we saw the truth: that he is not starting any romantic relationship with Sakae. He didn't even have sex with her let alone kiss her. He was just helping her bug the room she was about to interview someone in.

Anyway, I hope this breakdown answers your question and clarifies everything for you!

#cookie answers #the anatomy of love

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makeste · 3 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 306: the beginning of the WHAT

Previously on BnHA: Nana and the Gang were all, “hey Deku, we can read your thoughts and feelings so we should already know the answer to this, but for some reason we want to quiz you on whether or not you’d be down to kill Shigaraki Tomura.” Deku was all, “um okay, well tbh, probably not seeing as Saving People has been my entire thing since literally the start of the series.” The Vestiges were all, “yes that makes perfect sense and again we already knew that, but well, good for you buddy and I’m glad we had this talk. Anyway I guess we should ask these two cryptic fuckers in the corner to finally turn around now before we run out of -- ” and then the chapter ended. Because OF COURSE IT DID.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, WOULDN’T IT BE SO MUCH BETTER IF I GAVE YOU A CONFUSING CHAPTER WHERE EVERYONE FINALLY LEARNS ABOUT OFA, AND GOES BACK TO THE DORMS, AND THEN THE CHAPTER ENDS WITH DEPRESSED NOMAD DEKU STANDING ON A PRECIPICE WITH GRAN TORINO’S TATTERED CAPE FLOWING IN THE WIND.” Everyone is all, “???????????” Horikoshi is all, “also the parents are moving to the U.A. campus, and Jeanist’s neck is two and a half feet long, for everyone that was wondering.” Everyone is all, “WHERE ARE KACCHAN AND TODOROKI AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHO ARE THE SECOND AND THIRD USERS”, and Horikoshi is all, “:)” and fades away into nothingness like the fucking fae he is. Like a fucking imp who’s kept his end of the cursed bargain. What, the, fuck.

okay guys, so after the longest Thursday of my fucking life, during which I was secretly hoping that my spoiler containment net would be somehow be breached, inadvertently exposing me to theta spoiler radiation, so that I could be all “oh no... spoilers... there’s nothing I can do... I have no choice but to look” (which sadly did not happen), it is finally Friday and the chapter is finally out. so I’ve got my clown kit at the ready and other self-deprecating memes on standby, and I’m ready to go. and I should note that I’m also ready for Horikoshi to pull some absolute bullshit and be like, “oh you know what, we haven’t checked in with Rat Principal in a while have we” and spend the entire chapter on nonsense like that. I’M READY FOR FUCKING ANYTHING so bring it

(ETA: it would be nice if this man wouldn’t call my bluff every now and again.)

oh, right, we were due a color page! wow look at this

isn’t this supposed to be the future?? what’s with all of these staticky CRT TVs

anyway, so! is this the first time we’ve seen Tomura’s stylish finger prosthetic glove thingy in color?? because I didn’t expect it to be red. also, at some point you just have to give in and change your pants into cutoffs or something, Tomura. start a new trend of stylish villain capris

meanwhile Deku is dressed like he’s going on a journey into the desert to find a mystical oasis. actually this cape looks a lot like Gran Torino’s. I have to go back and see if Gran’s is all raggedy like this

(ETA: it wasn’t before but APPARENTLY IT IS NOW. I also forgot that Horikoshi had showed it sitting on a side table in the hospital a few chapters ago.)

lastly, AFO looks like someone’s thumb after they’ve been washing dishes for twenty minutes. you are just the ugliest dude in history, and as always, fuck you

HAHAHA SOB I KNEW IT

oh, Twowy McTwoface is finally starting to turn around? better CUT BACK TO DEKU’S HOSPITAL ROOM THEN. wouldn’t want to accidentally ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS or SOLVE ANY MYSTERIES, god forbid

well, whatever. whatever!! anyway so now someone’s knocking at the door. I say “someone” but we all know it’s Hawks

yep

they were actually standing outside the door for a while hoping they’d overhear another juicy plot conversation, but no such luck this time

lmaooo Jeanist wtf

acting all embarrassed, but you’re really just as curious as Hawks is. making him do all the dirty work for you huh

ARE YOU SERIOUS THIS IS AN INJUSTICE

so like two seconds after Katsuki gets dragged away you open the door for the rest of them!! well, fine!! I really want it to be a more private/personal moment between the two of them anyway so let the other kids check in on Deku first then

and in the meantime, time to see Hawks put the thumbscrews to All Might’s resolve lol

I wonder how much of it Hawks has already put together in the last five minutes. One for All is something connected to All for One that Tomura seems to want. Tomura was apparently targeting Deku. that’s more than enough to make a few deductions right there. I wonder how much Hawks knows about Deku’s quirk. he did watch the sports festival, and he ran into the kids interning under Endeavor that one time

okay well maybe he hasn’t put the rest of it together just yet, but Hawks is making a pretty reasonable pitch here to All Might

also this is a pretty spectacular view. is this a hospital or a hotel??

AHLKJLKJLKJ ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO TELL THEM

OH MY GOD HE IS?!?!

JUST LIKE WE ALL EXPECTED, THE NEXT TWO PEOPLE TO LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT OFA ARE GOING TO BE HAWKS, AND BEST FUCKING JEANIST

-- LFKLKKLDK ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS. ARE YOU --

( •��_•́ )

[sitting cross-legged on the ground pulling up little clumps of grass and letting them fall from my fingers one by one] yeah. sure. okay. fine. sure

-- OKAY, NO. NUH-UH. NO

everybody better hold tight cuz I’m about to pick up this whole chapter and yeet it into the ocean like a fucking frisbee lol

HORIKOSHI I DON’T CARE ABOUT THESE PEOPLE SITTING HERE WATCHING TV WTF

-- OH

well okay then. proceed. though lord help me if they’re about to reveal the secret of OFA to the whole fucking world skdkj

oh snap

well, there it is. pretty much what I expected, but it’s good to actually get to see this moment with him taking responsibility

though at the same time, thank you Horikoshi for not forcing us to sit through the rest of that

their fucking faces omg. okay but seriously, what nation doesn’t secretly love a good scandal

the Endeavor Pamphlets, part two. thank you for giving the country something to opine about on twitter in these trying times, Enji

so now they’re asking about Hawks and Jeanist but I cannot even focus on anything all of a sudden because what?!

is Jeanist even a real actual human being you guys?! are we sure he’s not three kids sitting on each other’s shoulders?? are you related to that one guy with the really long neck from the Jedi Council?? are you Orochimaru, bro??

so now Hawks is apologizing for the murder of Twice, and for hiding the connection with his dad

the fact that he has to give this serious formal apology and beg forgiveness for the shameful crime of Having An Abusive Father is really something else, though. just. it’s realistic, but I still hate it

moving on now to the one thing he actually does owe the public an explanation for

not to go all “Hawks did nothing wrong” on you guys yet again, but seriously. 100% facts. fandom can (and no doubt will) debate this until the end of time, but if Twice had gotten away they wouldn’t be having this press conference right now because there wouldn’t be any heroes left to give one. anyways though, I’ve already said more than enough about that in previous posts

so now some severe-looking lady with the weirdest fingers I’ve ever seen is saying that her mother was injured during Machia’s rampage

and she’s basically all “a fuck lot of good ‘I’m sorry’ does us all about now.” true true

wow she’s really getting fired up

and now Enji is basically saying that he understands that an apology isn’t enough, and what they really need now are solutions. okay, well! SO THEN WHAT IS THE PLAN THEN

hmmfsdgh

this eloquent PEZ dispenser makes a good point you guys

wait, hold up

CERTAIN citizens?? um excuse me, what??

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit

holy shit. well, this will go over well

okay! so this tells me a number of things, though

basically the minute that Hawks learned about One for All, he realized that anyone connected to Deku (e.g. Inko) would be a target for AFO. AFO wants OFA, meaning AFO wants Deku, and one of the easiest ways to get to Deku would be to target his family

Hawks therefore realized that Inko needed to be placed into protective custody

but the fact that ALL of the hero course students’ families (and is it only the U.A. hero course, or all of the hero course students across the country?) are being given protection tells me that Hawks and co. don’t want to single Deku out as being important. so then it looks like they’re not going to tell everyone about OFA (or at least not the public. which, good). so rather than drawing suspicion by saying “we’ve got to protect everyone connected with this one kid”, they’re making it seem like all the U.A. kids’ families are getting this treatment

but since the heroes are now spread so thin, they can’t just send a protective detail to each and every family, so they’re bringing all of the families to the same place instead to better keep an eye on them

so that’s all well and good, and a very smart move. except that idk how all of this is going to go over with the general public, all of whom are probably feeling unsafe at the moment, and who will probably see this as preferential treatment -- basically just the heroes looking after their own and leaving everyone else to fend for themselves

(ETA: okay so @hanashimas’ translation clarifies that U.A. is offering their services as an evacuation shelter for everyone who wants it, not just the families of the U.A. students. that’s much more appropriate so I withdraw my previous “wtf” reaction lol.)

anyway though here’s Mitsuki and Inko

can we take this as confirmation that the two of them really are friends? that’s one piece of fanon that I’ve always hoped was true, so I’m gonna go ahead and say it’s confirmed

(ETA: also this means that Hagakure’s parents (or maybe “parents” in quotation marks) will supposedly be moving in as well. sure am curious as to how that’s going to go.)

now someone in the press crowd is asking whether U.A. can provide adequate security, which is honestly the LAST thing I expected these people would be outraged about lol. shows what I know I guess

(ETA: again though, this makes sense if the “certain civilians” thing was just a translation error.)

LMAO DAMMIT ENJI

YOU CAN’T JUST ALWAYS PULL THE “JUST WATCH ME” TRICK AND EXPECT IT TO SHUT DOWN THE CONVERSATION EVERY DAMN TIME YOU ASSHOLE

-- OH MY GOD RED ALERT

TIME TO ANALYZE THIS BECAUSE OMG

WASH CAN’T BELIEVE HIS FAMILY GROUP CHAT IS STILL SENDING HIM FUCKING MEMES AT A TIME LIKE THIS. HE DOESN’T GIVE A FUCK IF THE DABI DANCE IS TRENDING ON TIKTOK, MOM!!

FOR A MINUTE I THOUGHT MT. LADY WAS HOLDING MIDNIGHT’S TORN-UP MASK, AND BY THE TIME I REALIZED THAT’S ACTUALLY HER MASK AND NOT MIDNIGHT’S, I HAD ALREADY CONSTRUCTED AN ELABORATE HEADCANON IN WHICH MT. LADY AND MIDNIGHT WERE SECRETLY DATING BUT HADN’T COME OUT TO ANYONE YET, AND THEN TRAGEDY STRUCK, AND NOW MT. LADY IS GETTING READY TO SET OUT TO SEEK VENGEANCE. AND WELL, NOW THAT THIS HEADCANON EXISTS IN THE WORLD, I’M NOT SURE IF I’M READY TO GET RID OF IT

MIRKO HAS GOTTEN HERSELF A PROSTHETIC (ROBOT??!) ARM, NOTHING ELSE THAT’S HAPPENING IN THIS CHAPTER IS EVEN SLIGHTLY IMPORTANT!!! HELLO!!!!!

AIZAWA WITH THE EYEPATCH GOOD LORD. THE WORLD ISN’T READY. HE LOOKS LIKE HE HASN’T SLEPT IN NINETY-EIGHT YEARS, BUT SOMEHOW HE MAKES IT INTO THE HOTTEST THING EVER AS PER USUAL

WHO THE FUCK IS THIS FUCKING GUY. ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW HIM? IS THIS KAMUI?? WAS THAT THING WHICH I ALWAYS ASSUMED WAS HIS HAIR ACTUALLY A HELMET OR SOMETHING WHAT

LOL AND MEANWHILE

you tell me, Dabi! weren’t you the one who said that wouldn’t be enough to kill him? what even is your endgame here. I’m starting to worry about the villain brain cell supply you guys. I feel like Compress took most of them with him when he left

OH??

“when asked about One for All, Endeavor fucking lied through his teeth.” well, well, well

SLKDFJLSKGDJLKLKGJL THE DORMS

( ⁰ ⌂ ⁰ )

SLDKJFLKJWLKJLK

WLKDJSLKJFWKELKSDJLKHGLK

HDSMFLKGKL:GDSELK

OCHAKO’S HAND IS SHAKING OH MY GOD

THERE’S YOUR KAMINARI, EVERYONE!!

RHA’S SCANLATION TEAM REALLY THREW DEKU’S HANDWRITING UNDER THE BUS HERE HUH

HE TOLD EVERYONE!?

WHY THE FUCK IS HE WRITING IT AS A LETTER

(ETA: 9. also if he really wrote every kid in his class then that means the U.A. traitor -- or Hagakure as we like to call her around these parts -- also knows about OFA, and knows that Deku has run the fuck off and isn’t at U.A. anymore. so that’s just great!)

OH HELL NO

the hell does that mean, you must leave. leave to go where. son you are not up and leaving to go power up and lead us all into a timeskip. and I swear to GOD, if you left Kacchan too...!!

MY GOD I CAN’T PROPERLY ABSORB ALL OF THESE OCHAKO FEELS RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I’M TOO TERRIFIED TO SCROLL TO THE LAST FUCKING PAGE, FUCK

I JUST GOTTA DO IT. I JUST GOTTA SUCK IT UP AND DO IT. FUCK

FUCK

WHAT. THE. FUCK

y’all I’m not even gonna waste your time with more keysmashing, JUST ASSUME THAT I AM DOING IT NONSTOP, FOREVER. and let’s just jump RIGHT IN HERE

okay so here I thought that All Might and co. had taken him away somewhere to train, but that is CLEARLY not what’s going on here. this kid is standing here in his Apocalypse Aesthetic hero costume which has CLEARLY seen better days, with Gran Torino’s cloak (GUESS THAT EXPLAINS THAT, THEN?? SO DID GRAN FUCKING DIE EXCUSE ME WTF), and a fucking backpack. this little green idiot has RUN AWAY FROM HOME. this is the absolute LAST THING ON EARTH I ever expected to happen so PARDON ME WHILE I SCREAM CONFUSEDLY INTO THE VOID

he does not look okay. you guys he doesn’t look okay at ALL. he has NEVER looked like this. this isn’t just a “I’m sad because I’m leaving all my friends behind” kind of look on his face, or even just a “Gran Torino died maybe and I’m still having emotions over it” look. this is an EXHAUSTED, dead look in his eyes. something terrible has happened

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARMS DEKU. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING DOWN WITH YOUR ARMS GODDAMMIT

love how this random building is just straight up collapsing, like that’s just a normal thing that happens every day now. lovely

APRIL MEANS IT’S NOW FULL ON SCHEDULED ALL-MIGHT-DYING-HOURS, BUT LET’S COMPLETELY IGNORE THAT THOUGH BECAUSE FUCK THAT NOISE

“THE SECOND USER? WHO KNOWS? CERTAINLY NOT ME” HORIKOSHI I SWEAR TO GOD

“BAKUGOU? NEVER HEARD OF HIM!” HORIKOSHI PLEASE

WHERE. IS. KACCHAN

did he go with Deku?? did he get a chance to talk to him before he left?? did he get his own private letter which he read and then promptly blew up in a fit of panicked rage?? is he going to go after him?? DOES HORIKOSHI KNOW WHAT HE’S DOING TO ME RIGHT NOW?? OF COURSE HE DOES, DON’T BOTHER ANSWERING THAT

omg. though actually the fact that we’ve already jumped a few weeks forward makes me hopeful that there won’t actually be another timeskip, or at least not much of one. I’m sure that’ll be the big debate of the week, but I don’t think we can jump too far forward here. for starters because of that All Might prophecy I mentioned. and also because TomurAFO isn’t just going to wait around for months. and also because I’m 100% sure that Deku’s running-away backpack is just filled ENTIRELY WITH NOTEBOOKS and this asshole cannot possibly survive more than 3 days on his own. UNLESS SOMEONE COMES TO HELP HIM THAT IS. OR SOMEONES, EVEN. OMG. omg omg omg. fuck this chapter lmao

#bnha 306 #midoriya izuku #hawks (bnha)#takami keigo #endeavor #todoroki enji #best jeanist #all might #uraraka ochako #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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danganronpadespairtime · 3 years

Text

Bonus Episodes + Other Questions

Briefly, I will open up the askbox again, because I think there may be some questions.

You can send in questions here. A Tumblr account is not needed to ask questions.

There may be chapter 1 spoilers.

Anonymous asked:

Can we get color palettes for the characters? It's hard to get the right colors from the sprites since there are so many gradients, and not every character has a CG. Sorry to inconvenience you.

I color pick from sprites, because when the gradient is removed it may make certain colors look lighter... But if that isn’t a concern for you, then I will provide flats.

Anonymous asked:

What each of the cast member’s clothing preferences? I want to do fan art of them in casual clothing, so I’m pretty curious!

Sorry, I have a bad fashion sense and it may limit my responses, but I’ll try to answer to the best of my ability

Eden: She enjoys cute fashion, but she also enjoys wearing androgynous style clothes.

J: Refuses to wear feminine things. Likes dark colors and hoodies.

Teruko: Her fashion sense diverges from what she’d actually wear. Secretly she wants to wear girly, cute things, but is unable to afford that kind of thing. She likes skirts.

Nico: Like Teruko, wants to wear girly things but doesn’t due to external factors

Hu: Wears modernized casual hanfu. She also likes long skirts

Veronika: Complicated, lolita-like fashion

Min: She cares more about practicality than looks. She wears comfortable clothing

Levi: Fashionable

Arturo: Something that appears expensive... Designer clothes, faux high fashion

Whit: A similar style to the clothes that he is current wearing

Arei: Cute,Girly

Ace: Sporty

Charles: Semi-formal, but he doesn’t care too much about appearance

David: Semi-formal. ‘professional’ and stylish look

Rose: Eccentric and colorful, and not delicate

Anonymous asked:

This question doesn’t relate to the episodes, but rather the comic: would you say that the comic is also canonic and prior to the events of drdt?

No, it was just a joke.

Anonymous asked:

Was the Ultimate contest for eminent students part of the Korean Hope’s Peak, and then Min later came to america?

Currently there is no confirmation that Korea has built a Hope’s Peak. I think there may be some assumption that because someone has a foreign name, they can’t be american nor have grown up in america. This isn’t really true.

Stated explicitly, every member of the cast is American, and has spent a significant portion of their childhood growing up in the US.

That being said, Min has always been serviced by america’s Hope’s Peak. Whenever DRDT references Hope’s Peak, it will almost always be in reference to the American ones.

Anonymous asked:

Why Xander has both eyes? What happend to his eyepatch?

Xander presumably received his eye injury shortly before the start of the the events of DRDT, so it’s not like he had it for most of his life.

Anonymous asked:

sorry im so confused... is chariton like, a country that xander is from or something?

Chariton is a fictional town in an unspecified state in the US. North C is a city that is north of Chariton, in the same state. Both receive water from Chariton River (also fictional) that flows from north to south.

There is a real town and a real river named Chariton but that is an unintended coincidence.

Anonymous asked:

Is there gonna be more Bonus episodes?

That is all there is for now. More bonus episodes may come after chapter 2.

Anonymous asked:

Is there a fully body for Xander's casual outfit in the bonus episode? I think it looks really awesome!

Anonymous asked:

Do you have a rough estimation of the next chapter release? It’s ok if you don’t!

No to both, sorry. Regarding the second thing I am so early on in the production process that I cannot even begin to fathom a release date.

Anonymous asked:

Are both "unnamed students" the same person given that they have the same voice actor? Or is it just a coincidence? Also, why is Nico called "Nico Kasabyan" in the prologue? Was that his original name?

1. Same person

2. That was a mistake

Anonymous asked:

Not exactly an important question, but did Ace’s hair turn more dull?

Yes. He is getting a little sloppy with his hair dye maintenance, and/or he stopped caring.

Anonymous asked:

What year does this take place?

I don’t want to be too specific with dates nor places lest I accidentally invoke some real-life associations. DRDT takes place 70-80 years after the events of Danganronpa, somewhere in the US. That’s about specific as it gets.

Although you’d expect things to be very different after almost a century, much of that time was devoted to rebuilding post-Tragedy, so it is about analogous to our present day.

Anonymous asked:

Will Duke Spurling be mentioned in the main story at all? The story in the side episodes intrigue me a lot, and it makes me wonder if they’ll ever cross over.

I should clarify that the bonus episodes being “not plot important” doesn’t mean that none of the content will show up in the main story, just that if any events in them are plot important, then they will be also discussed as necessary within the story themself. That is to say, you can skip them and still understand the main story.

I do realize now this may be misleading wording on my part, so I apologize. That being said, some of the people and events mentioned, particularly in the second episode, may come up in the story... sometime in the distant future... Please remain patient!

koivoid asked:

How many students were in East Class 27?

16 students, with (including) one randomly selected Ultimate Lucky Student. This is standard for all Hope’s Peak classes, with very few exceptions. In addition the classes are always “evenly split by gender” (in theory).

Anonymous asked:

are Nico's eye fades red or gray? Cause I noticed some inconsistencies between the videos and cast page. I'm not sure if it's intentional or the cast page is old and needs to be updated.

I changed them to gray after seeing that too many characters already had red eyelashes, but I haven’t updated the cast page. If there are any discrepancies within the cast pages or photos, they’re usually insignificant.

#QnA

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butterflydm · 2 years

Text

wot reread: the shadow rising (chap 46-chap 47)

spoilers through the end of the shadow rising,

1. Ah, and two paths collide, as Egeanin (who is trying to prove to her satisfaction that all sul’dam are capable of being held by the a’dam) realizes that a woman (who we know to be Nynaeve) is similar in description to one of the missing sul’dam, and so is about to be mistakenly kidnapped by the man she’s hired to find her sul’dam.

2. lol, Elayne’s veil keeps getting in her mouth because she tilts her head up too much. baby.

3. “She had strong suspicions about Faile, and if they were even half right, Faile would not settle for being a blacksmith’s wife.” As I said in the last section! Also, Elayne has noble!radar, lol. And she understands Faile much better than Perrin does, but in a way that��s a lot more delicately written than most of the “only women understand women; only men understand men” bits because it’s a personal understanding that one specific woman has about another (Nynaeve doesn’t get the same vibe, after all) and not a generalized commentary.

4. And now her meetings with Egwene in TAR are supervised by Amys, so I don’t blame Elayne for not trying to clarify the whole letter deal at that point.

5. Elayne makes the (honestly pretty reasonable) conclusion that this is a political kidnapping attempt. The fight, and Egeanin stepping in to help, is all a lot of fun tbh. Maybe because Elayne is finding it a bit exhilarating once she gets into it.

6. Egeanin is so shocked when she finds out that it’s possible for someone who does not have the spark to be able to learn how to channel. There’s so much good and interesting set-up here.

7. Thom trying to resist the urge to act fatherly towards Elayne. Aww. For some reason, I remembered only the unfortunate bits of this storyline and not the parts that are actually pretty sweet.

8. And here comes the compulsion -- Elayne and Nynaeve answer this... ah, mystery lady... all her questions, and then essentially forget about it. But they also hold onto enough of themselves that they DO only answer the questions that she asks, and don’t volunteer any information, so manage to keep several secrets. “An arrogant man who stank of piety and goodness” is her opinion of Rand (well, of Lews Therin; she finds out Rand’s name here).

9. Egeanin’s mind continues to expand as she grapples with the fact that she sat and had tea with two women who could channel and they were just... people.

10. Tower Coup time! I don’t know why I’m saying that like I’m so excited about it, it’s actually really depressing, lol.

11. Siuan trying to convince herself that Everything Is Going To Plan but actually inwardly fretting over the lack of news from Moiraine. Nothing since sending word that Rand had taken the Stone.

12. Oh, it’s tough to read all this. Not in a badly-written way. But it’s tough. And seeing Min realize that Gawyn didn’t tell her whose side he was on. That’s tough, too. Gawyn making the choice that he does here... *massive sigh*

13. Laras coming in clutch and helping Min break out Siuan and Leane. Nice.

14. The Younglings are putting heads in the front of the Tower (as a warning I assume). I... I feel like this tells us everything we need to know about the choices these young men have chosen to make. Those were their teachers. I do like here, how Min wants to run away but also knows she would never forgive herself for running away. We don’t get much Min in this book, but we see her strength. She has also talked herself into being hopelessly in love with Rand, and is so mad about it.

15. Honestly, I’m so curious about how Min’s viewings work, because she says ‘oh they just come true’ and yet she certainly seemed motivated to try to actively clear a path for herself to Rand (telling him that he had no future with Egwene; telling Elayne that she would need to share her husband). So. Yeah, I wonder sometimes. I do like that the show didn’t have her trying to break up Egwene and Rand. It gives me good vibes about how they will handle that relationship in the future.

16. Gawyn lets them go and then still goes back to continue helping Elaida. I will never understand him. He has this weird thing where he tried to stand exactly on the line between two sides and just ends up screwing both of them over? He’s like the worst and the most accidental double-agent in the world. That viewing Min has of him is just... honestly, sums him up. Like, I get that he’s traumatized but... what a baffling man.

17. Also, this is where I stole my idea for Mat having a flickering viewing for my ‘voice in the back of my head’ fic series, because honestly the idea is WAY TOO COOL for it to happen to Gawyn. sorry gawyn

18. I do love Siuan just straight-up lying to Gawyn’s face, now that she’s realized that she can probably lie again. Good for you.

19. And we add Logain to the crew, with a promise of revenge against the Red Ajah. I do wonder... hmm, I doubt they’ll do the whole ‘they look younger after being stilled’ in the show version, so I wonder if that’s part of why they had Liandrin do an in-the-field gentling of Logain, so that he could choose to go with Siuan knowing who she is, but wanting revenge against Liandrin and the Red Ajah.

#wot #wheel of time #wot reread #the shadow rising #wot book spoilers #wot spoilers

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keigoslovebird · 4 years

Text

Next Chapter

Pairing: Ushijima Wakatoshi x Reader

Warnings: Manga spoilers!! Pregnancy and references to pregnancy, you have a child (obvi), aged up characters, breeding kink, negative self image (on Toshi’s part), references to alcohol, self deprecating language, very fluffy Daddy Toshi shenanigans

Genre: Fluff, smut

Word count: 8.3k

Author’s note: I had so much fun writing soft husband Toshi, if it isn’t obvious by the word count. I just want to rub his soft belly and tell him how much I love him. Hopefully you enjoy this as much as I did writing it!

Note: Flashbacks indicated by italics

Wakatoshi Ushijima has always been a man of few emotions and even fewer words, with just one thing on his mind—volleyball.

Since he was a young child, he has always slept, eaten, breathed volleyball. Nothing came close to his fiery, burning passion for the sport, not that he had the time to care about anything else.

That all changed when he retired from professional volleyball at the ripe young age of thirty-one, the years of wear and tear on his body finally catching up to him. He knew it was time when the pain in his joints was so severe he could no longer keep up with his much younger teammates. It was a difficult, emotional decision, but he ultimately viewed it as passing the torch to the next generation of volleyball players.

The announcement of Wakatoshi’s retirement was met with great sadness from the sports community at the loss of such a talented, renowned player, but he left behind an exceptional legacy marked by achievements and historic wins.

His final game with the Schweiden Adlers concluded in a symbolic victory, this chapter of his life drawing to a close the same way it began—with Wakatoshi as an indisputable champion. Every player, coach, and audience member rose from their seats, clapping and screaming words of encouragement. Each of his teammates got on their knees, lowering themselves to press their foreheads into the floor of the stadium, bowing in an ultimate show of respect. The sight of his peers, his coaches, the entire auditorium giving him such an impassioned send off made a heavy lump form in his throat that refused to go away, no matter how many times he tried to swallow it down. Tears pricked at his eyes but he didn’t want to cry, not in front of all of these people.

The dam broke when you sprinted across the court, wrapping yourself around him in a bone crushing hug.

“You did so well Toshi. I am so proud of you,” you praised through choked sobs, pressing your tear-stained face into his neck. Your watery eyes and trembling smile shattered whatever willpower he had, his own tears streaming down his face like a waterfall. All those late night practices away from you, the excruciating injuries, the heartbreaking losses, all led up to this moment. This was the last time the Super Ace would step foot on a volleyball court as a professional player, but all good things must come to an end.

The screaming and clapping was so loud you could barely hear his quiet, trembling whisper of, “I love you.”

----

It took him awhile to adjust to what one would call a “normal” life, one that didn’t include daily flights from country to country or backbreaking practices that lasted from sunup to sundown. Sure he still went to the gym and practiced with the volleyball net strung up in your backyard, but it was nothing like his grueling schedule when he was a pro athlete. To make matters worse, the blinders he wore his entire life that blocked out anything but volleyball prevented him from finding any real hobbies of his own. This meant for the first few months, your husband followed you around the house like a lost puppy, just wanting to be a part of whatever you were doing.

You would be cooking dinner, some soup simmering on the stove, when Wakatoshi’s massive form would come up from behind you to shyly peek over your shoulder.

“What’re you doing?” he wondered, resting his head in the crook of your neck.

You could feel a smile tugging at your lips at how cute he was being, getting used to domestic life, something you never really got to experience until now. Before, you would often be sleeping when he came home at night, and still be asleep when he left in the morning. “I’m just cooking, do you want to help me?” you asked, holding a knife out to him to cut some vegetables. He nodded silently as he took the knife from you.

His chopping skills left much to be desired, but what could you really expect from a man who only ever held a volleyball?

Another time you were sitting on the couch, scrolling through Twitter on your phone. You could feel your husband staring so intensely you were afraid he’d pop a blood vessel in his head.

Looking up at him, you cleared your throat and asked, “Did you need something, Toshi?” You set your phone down and gave him a questioning look, hoping to solve whatever was troubling him.

He was pensive for a moment, his eyebrows scrunching as he figured out what he was trying to say. “No, I just… There’s nothing to do,” he answered finally.

You nearly burst out laughing at his concern for simply being bored, but you held it in. “Of course there’s something to do!” you exclaimed, “You can go on a walk, read a book, watch TV, or even just take a nap.”

His head tilted quizzically, unsure of what you were suggesting. “A… nap? Why would I sleep? It’s the middle of the afternoon,” he questioned, sounding like you had proposed he eat sand and not to take a quick snooze.

You chuckled and walked over to the chair he was sitting in, plopping yourself down into his lap. “Sometimes people sleep in the middle of the day because they’re tired, or just because they want to,” you clarified, “We can go take a nap right now if you would like.”

Suddenly Wakatoshi stood up, causing you to squeak in surprise, his arms securely carrying you bridal style.

“W-what’re you doing!?” you squealed, panicked by your sudden lack of solid ground, slightly struggling in arms.

He tilted his head again, reminiscent of a pet confused by its master’s orders. “We’re going to take a nap together, yes? I’m taking you to our room,” he said, jerking his head in the direction of your shared bedroom.

You stopped squirming once you took in his words, your belly fluttering with affection. Sighing happily, you snuggled your face against his chest, giving him a simple “mhm” in response.

That day Wakatoshi took his first nap since he was six years old and to this day, he still swears he’s never had a more restful, peaceful sleep in his life.

Those instances happened less and less often as he figured out ways to occupy his time that didn’t involve volleyball.

You adopted a dog, a commitment you didn’t want to make in the past due to both of your busy schedules, but your lives became a lot less hectic after Wakatoshi’s retirement. Your husband made it a daily ritual to take your puppy Leo out on a morning run, both of them returning tired and sweaty before promptly passing out for an hour. He took up a job at the local university to help coach their men’s volleyball team, deciding to try it out when the requests to lend his wisdom and skills kept coming in. Although, his favorite pastime now consists of him standing outside on the patio, beer in hand as he sweats over the flames of his fancy silver grill.

But perhaps the most significant change in your lives came in the form of your son, Hidetoshi.

Much like your refusal to commit to taking care of a dog, neither of you wanted to have kids while your lifestyle was so unfit to raise a child. You didn’t mind making those compromises for your husband, having known the path he would take since you started dating in high school. Frankly, you didn’t mind not having children at all, so it surprised you when he was the one to broach the subject.

“What if we did?” he inquired under the darkness of your bedroom.

You turned over to face him, reaching up to gently stroke his cheek. “What if we did what, my love?” you murmured.

His eyes flitted across your face with an uncharacteristic nervousness. “What if we decided to have a child?” The shock on your face made his stomach churn uncomfortably and he almost regretted saying anything at all, but his fears quickly vanished as your expression melted into a soft smile.

“We’d have to talk about it more but I’d love to have your children, Wakatoshi Ushijima.”

You had a deep, lengthy conversation about your wants, needs, plans for the future, and whether or not a kid would fit into them. Once all of your cards were on the table you decided to start trying to get pregnant, a mission that your husband took very seriously.

Even as a teenager Wakatoshi’s sex drive wasn’t very high, and his frequent absence and exhaustion in his adult life made it somewhat difficult for you to have sex often. You made up for it where you could, having phone sex and masturbating together over FaceTime, once you convinced him to do it. When he was bewildered as to why you would suggest such a salacious act, you explained you were a grown woman with needs and if he wasn’t there to take care of them, he’d have to help you in other ways. Once he realized how serious you were, he agreed.

But your husband as a young adult and your husband post-retirement are almost two completely different people in regards to sex. He has seemingly unlimited reserves of stamina, built up over years of rigorous, intense training, and he no longer had an outlet to expend them. So, his new outlet to test his endurance became you and your body.

He began fucking you every chance he got with the vigor and gusto of a hormonal teenager, seeking to make up for lost time. He asked for sex at all hours of the day, waking you up in the middle of the night with the insistent prodding of his arousal and lazily thrusting between your thighs in the early hours of the morning before you had to leave for work. He fucked you in every room in your house and on every surface—on the dining room table, in the shower, on the living room floor, and even on your back patio when you both got a little too drunk on some cheap rose.

You welcomed Wakatoshi’s insatiable hunger with open arms, unable to resist your strong, ridiculously handsome husband, but that, coupled with his seemingly limitless stamina, spelled trouble for your muscles and pelvis. In the first year after his departure from professional sports you had to call in sick to work seven times, too tired to function, too bruised to look presentable, and too sore to walk to the bathroom. At first he felt guilty for fucking you out of commission, but the way you begged him so sweetly to pound your needy, gushing cunt deeper, harder, faster and how you whimpered with delight when he bit bruises down your throat, he didn’t feel that bad. A baser, more primal part of Wakatoshi’s brain purred at his marks covering our body and relished in the way you limped. You were just too tempting, too irresistible not to ravage you every chance he got.

After you agreed to start trying for a baby, your partner’s already voracious sexual appetite became downright menacing now that he had a goal to strive for.

“Gonna breed you, gonna fill you so full with my cum and knock you up,” he grunted as he battered into your sore, dripping hole, your body folded in half in a mating press.

“P-please Toshi! Ah~ please,” you babbled, nonsensical and uncertain what you were even asking for. He had been fucking you for so long everything was muddled into a singular dreamy, intangible haze of pleasure and ecstasy.

Wakatoshi gave your clit a slap, hard enough to make you cry out. “Please what? Please breed you like a bitch in heat? Please stuff you full with my cum?” He leaned down to wrap his fingers around your throat, squeezing with enough force to make your head swim and forcing you to look into his wild olive eyes. “Well, what is it?” he demanded.

“W-want you to b-ah! Want you to breed mee,” you slurred, too drunk on the delicious feeling of his cock dragging against your pulsing walls to form a more coherent sentence.

His thrusts grew sloppy and uncoordinated with his impending orgasm. “G-gonna give you what you want, you cock hungry slut, I’m—” He came with a choked, shuddering groan, his warm cum flooding your awaiting womb.

You were both basking in the afterglow, exhausted and soaked in sweat and your combined fluids, when you noticed the furious blush spreading across your husband’s cheeks. “I apologize for what I said during sex. I… I don’t know what came over me,” he confessed, giving your shoulder a remorseful squeeze.

Giggling, you leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “Don’t be sorry. I really enjoyed it,” you proclaimed, “I love it when you get rough with me.”

Trying to get you pregnant gave your husband a new goal to strive for and he has never been one to do anything with less than his all.

Thanks to your husband’s dedicated efforts, you got pregnant six months after you started trying, to your shared elation and delight. Those two little lines filled you with as much excitement as they made you anxious, but as long as Wakatoshi was by your side, everything would be okay.

Seeing your little bundle of joy in a 3D ultrasound changed you, changed Wakatoshi forever. Up until then you had only seen him as a colorless little blur on a computer screen, but getting to watch his precious face scrunch and his chubby legs kick reminded you that he was a real living being. The late night sprints to the bathroom, horrible morning sickness, and miserably aching back were all worth it when you were able to hold Hidetoshi for the first time. With his olive eyes, brown hair and chubby cheeks, he was the most beautiful thing you had ever seen and to this day he still is.

Taking after his father from the start, Hidetoshi was a happy baby that rarely fussed or cried, not that you complained. He slept soundly through most nights, so soundly you slept in a chair by his crib for the first month to periodically check he was still breathing, despite your husband’s insistence the baby would be fine. Your mother-in-law had insisted that you and Wakatoshi would be exhausted for the first several months after the birth. Imagine her surprised when you and Wakatoshi looked just as well-rested as usual, better even, since you no longer had to deal with pregnancy. Many people, relatives and strangers alike, were astounded at how charming and polite your son was, even as a newborn. He was happy to just sit and play with his toys as you had lunch, smiling and waving at everyone who passed by.

A man as attractive as your husband with a boy as sweet as your son meant that, much to your irritation, women were tripping over themselves to flirt with him. To make matters worse, Wakatoshi picked up your son alone most days due to your office job preventing you from leaving early enough to go with him. This meant many of the moms at Hidetoshi’s school thought your husband was single and they weren’t shy in their pursuit.

A crowd of women surrounded Wakatoshi as he waited for school to end so your son would come running out with his arms spread wide, confident his daddy would always catch him. Most of the moms simply stared at your husband with dreamy looks in their eyes, attempting to make small talk with him.

One especially bold mother reached out and stroked his bicep, slightly squeezing to get a feel for his muscles. “My my Ushijima, you’re so handsome and strong,” she purred, batting her eyelashes at him.

“My wife thinks so as well,” he grunted as he gently but firmly removed his arm from her grasp.

The woman looked as if he had slapped her across the face and cursed her family. “Y-you’re married? But you don’t even have a wedding ring!” she spluttered, “If you have a wife then where is she everyday?”

“I do have a ring. I just don’t wear it on my finger because I’m afraid of losing it,” he clarified, lightly tugging on the chain around his neck for emphasis, his ring clinking softly against the metal. “I’m happily married to my wife who cannot be here because she is hard at work providing for our family. Do not disrespect my wife or my marriage again or we will have a problem.”

After that the other moms kept their distance, choosing to admire Wakatoshi from afar. It did not, however, stop them from staring with envy on the rare occasion you came with him to pick up your child, glowering at you with an intensity that surely wished you would drop dead. Your husband paid them no mind and neither did you because at the end of the day, you’re the one he chose to marry and have a child with. They can all flirts and look as much as they want, but they’ll never have him like you do.

----

Fast forward to present day, Wakatoshi is seven years into his retirement at the age of thirty-eight and Hidetoshi is now six.

Your husband is an assistant coach part time for the men’s volleyball team at an up and coming university, the rest of his time divided between you and taking care of your son. Hidetoshi just started kindergarten, growing far too fast for your liking. He seems to have gotten a double dose of his father’s genes as he’s already several inches taller than his classmates, though you can tell by the way he smiles and the slope of his nose that he’s yours as well. He’s the perfect combination of both of you—he has Wakatoshi’s tenacity, work ethic, and confidence and your sense of humor, intelligence, and empathy. He continues to amaze you every single day and you nor your husband couldn’t imagine a boy more wonderful than him.

These days your lives are a lot less busy than they were when your husband was still a pro, but sometimes it doesn’t feel that way. With all the playdates, school functions, and parent-teacher conferences combined with your own job, Wakatoshi’s games, and regular house chores, sometimes it feels like you’re right back where you were ten years ago. This time, however, you have your incredible husband and son helping you and you wouldn’t trade your life for anything, no matter how hectic it may be.

Today is Saturday, it’s the weekend, and you’re only awake because of the bright sunlight that’s streaming through your bedroom window and hitting you directly in the face. You rub the sleep out of your eyes with the back of your hand, yawning loudly as you stretch your tired limbs. As soon as you try to get out of bed Wakatoshi’s arm around your waist tightens, pulling you flush against his solid, muscular chest.

“Don’t leave. Don’t need to be anywhere,” he mumbles into his pillow, voice even deeper and raspier with sleep. His legs entangle themselves with your own so you’re completely enveloped in the warm, comforting embrace of your husband.

“Need to start getting ready for the party,” you sigh drowsily, but make no efforts to remove yourself from his sleepy but surprisingly strong clutches.

“Not yet,” he says simply, and that’s when you realize when he’s doing. He’s slowly, lazily grinding his morning wood on the soft curve of your ass. You’re a little more awake now.

“Oh I see what this is about,” you chuckle, wiggling yourself against him teasingly.

He groans quietly under his breath, but you can feel the sound rumble in his chest. “Want you,” he says, still groggy from just barely waking up. His fingers find the hem of your shirt and he slips them underneath it, trailing his digits lightly down your stomach, making you shiver.

“Little man will be up soon,” you halfheartedly protest, but you can feel the warmth pooling between your legs.

“He’s not up yet, we have time.” The movements of his hips become more insistent, more demanding and you have to stifle your mewls behind your hand. Wakatoshi easily maneuvers his hand into the waistband of your panties, making a satisfied hum when he discovers you’re already dripping for him.

You’re still resisting, though it’s weak and feeble. The list of all the preparations you have to make for the barbecue still manage to just barely cut through your sleepy arousal. “We have so much to d—ahh~” You try to sound firm, but it just comes out as a breathy moan when he begins rubbing your swollen clit.

He uses his other hand to push up your shirt that’s actually his shirt, tracing small circles around your nipples with his rough fingertips. You try to push your hips into his hand in hopes to gain more friction, but his arms keep you locked in place.

“No need to rush. Let’s just enjoy this,” he insists, but the finger massaging your bud gets faster, knowing just how to make you whine after all the time he’s had to learn your body. He pinches one of your nipples between two fingers and squeezes with just enough force to make you gasp.

His erection has gotten even harder at the sound of your mewls and whimpers, hot and achingly hard against your ass and your cunt clenches in anticipation. Your slick is dripping out of you in thick, syrupy strings that makes your thighs sticky, but you can’t bring yourself to care.

“Please Toshi, need you,” you beg, desperate for your husband to stuff you full just as he’s done so many times before.

Wakatoshi doesn’t respond, opting to push his pants and underwear down to his knees and you almost sigh in relief, just needing to satisfy the desire that’s threatening to burn you from the inside out. You’re so hot you feel like you’re burning and you throw the comforter off of you to try to escape the heat. He removes the hand that was in your panties, instead using it to rub his hard length along your slick folds. You’re keening and so so needy, gasping each time the head catches on the tight ring of muscle around your entrance.

“You’re so beautiful like this,” he grits out, barely able to control himself.

Your breath is coming in short, uneven pants as you try to sink yourself down onto him. “I love you so much I...”

That’s the moment when he sheaths his entire cock inside you in a singular fluid movement. You let out a strangled moan, relishing in the familiar burning as you stretch to accommodate how thick he is. Your pussy clamps down on him like a vice, molding perfectly around his length.

“It’s like you were made for me, made to take me,” Wakatoshi growls, sending another wave of arousal rippling through your body. He stays still for a moment, breathing deeply because he doesn’t want to cum and have this end so soon.

He starts moving his hips, thrusting slow and deep to reach the spongy spot inside you that makes you scream. The hand on your breast reaches around to grab your throat, stifling your moans into small, stuttering gasps. You whine each time he shoves himself deep inside you, his cock dragging deliciously against your spongy walls.

You stay like that for a while, bodies joined in the most intimate of ways as Wakatoshi moves his hips in leisurely, unhurried strokes. Your body is hot, sweaty, thrumming with the pleasure that’s so overwhelming all you can focus on is the intoxicating feeling of your husband’s cock deep inside you. The tightening in your core signals your impending orgasm, but each time you get close to the edge, it escapes your grasp over and over again. You need him to pound into you faster, harder. You need more.

“Toshi please, I-I need,” you manage to stammer out, but your words are stolen from your throat as he sharply thrusts as deep as he can, the tip of his cock smashing against your cervix with just the right amount of pressure.

“Don’t worry. I know just what you need.”

Wakatoshi is fucking you with so much force that your eyes are rolling back in your head, and all you can hear is the wet slapping sound each time he’s sucked back into your wet heat. He’s close, you can tell by the breathy groans he’s making, but so are you. You clench and spasm around him, growing impossibly tighter and bringing both of you closer to climax. His merciless pounding of your insides just gets faster and rougher, and his other hand moves down to rub your clit in tight, fast circles.

The pleasure that clouds your senses is overwhelming, just dancing on the edge between pleasure and pain and your body can’t take it anymore. Your vision goes white as you cum, cunt clamping down so hard Wakatoshi can barely move. You clamp a hand over your mouth to keep from screaming, your body shaking and trembling as you gush around him. The endless clenching of your muscles practically milks his orgasm out of him, a stifled groan leaving his lips as his thick, hot cum coats your insides. All you can do is moan softly in appreciation, too incoherent to say anything else.

Your husband presses a kiss to your sweaty neck. “Are you okay?” he asks, taking in the sight of your limp, spent body.

You haven’t caught your breath yet and your lips won’t form proper words, so you make the only noise you can, “Mmfmm.”

You whine as he slowly pulls out his softening length with an audible pop, sensitive cunt spasming at the slightest stimulation. He untangles himself from you and you want to reach out for him, but you’re too boneless to even attempt to do anything yet.

As Wakatoshi gets out of bed to get a warm washcloth, you hear the familiar sound of little footsteps making their way towards your room and you shoot up in bed, fully alert. You quickly pull the covers over your body, just in time for Hidetoshi to come bounding in.

“G’morning Mama! Where’s Daddy?” he wonders, his little head poking around the corner.

Your husband comes out of the bathroom, now fully dressed and washcloth in hand. “I’m right here, Hidetoshi.” The boy runs straight towards his father who picks him up effortlessly, swinging him around in the air as he squeals with delight. “Did you sleep well?”

Hide bobs his head enthusiastically, “Mhm! I had a dream I was a professional volleyball player just like you.”

Your loud, exaggerated sigh draws both sets of olive eyes to you, but you train your gaze on your husband. “Have you been putting ideas in his head?”

Wakatoshi shakes his head no, but the child in his arms pipes up first, “Daddy has been showing me videos of his old matches from when he was with the Schwimmy Addles.” Your husband makes a noise of surprise, a guilty look on his face now that he’s been found out.

“You two are going to be my undoing, I swear,” you chuckle as you flop back into the fluffy pillows.

Hide squirms in his father’s arms, reaching out to you, but the man recognizes the warning look in your eyes and tightens his arms around him. “We should let Mama finish waking up first. Why don’t we go downstairs and make breakfast?” he asks, tickling his sides.

The boy shrieks with laughter and wriggles even harder in Wakatoshi’s arms. “F-fine Daddy! Stooop it!” Your husband stops his tickling and hoists your son over his shoulder, gently patting his back.

He passes the washcloth to Hide. “Why don’t you give this to your mama? Then we can go have something to eat.”

Hide uses his little arms to hold the cloth out to you and you take it from him, nodding with gratitude. “Thank you sweetie, now go with your daddy.”

Your husband starts walking towards the door as a small, chubby hand waves bye to you and you blow kisses to them as they disappear into the hallway.

Using the washcloth, you clean the mess between your legs and muster the monumental effort it takes to get out of bed. You begrudgingly walk over to your dresser to put on clean pajamas and brush your hair so you’re presentable for a meal with your family. The sound of the fire alarm going off has you racing downstairs to the kitchen where Wakatoshi and your son should be.

As you slide into the kitchen and almost fall on the slippery hardwood in your haste, you realize your panic was for nothing. There’s a pan on the stove, grey smoke billowing out of it. Upon further inspection you discern that it’s eggs, you think, that are simultaneously under and overcooked. The guilty parties are sitting at the kitchen table a few feet away, a jug of milk and a couple of boxes of cereal surrounding them. Hide is shoveling spoonfuls of Cheerios into his mouth as your husband eats his own breakfast, only slightly neater in his approach.

“So… you tried to cook?” you ask, quirking an eyebrow at the large man chewing his Wheat Chex. He looks over at you and nods, mouth full with milk and cereal. “I’m guessing it didn’t go very well, judging by all the smoke,” you say slowly. Your husband simply shakes his head no, unbothered by the fact that he nearly gave you a heart attack.

Deciding it’s not worth the argument or the work to make a proper breakfast, you sit down next to Hide and pour yourself a bowl of Cheerios. He smiles at you, mouth open and full of disgusting half-chewed food, but you still return his beaming grin and ruffle his hair. The both of them are troublemakers in their own ways, but they’re your troublemakers nonetheless.

After you’ve all eaten breakfast, you lay a notepad in front of them that has a list of all the things you have to do before your guests arrive for the barbecue.

You’re standing between them, pointing at each task on the list. “I still have to sweep and vacuum the house, Toshi you need to go to the store and buy all the food, and Hide you need to pick up all your toys that are in the backyard. We have a lot to do today and everyone has to do their part, okay?” you urge, looking between the males on either side of you and they both nod emphatically.

With everyone so busy, it’s difficult to find weekends where they’re all available so this get together has been planned for months. You’ll all be seeing friends and loved ones you haven’t seen in a long time, and it’s a team effort to make sure everything is ready for tonight.

----

You finish all of the tasks on time, with an hour to spare thanks to your joint efforts.

Hide is playing in his room while you and your husband get dressed and ready for what will likely be a long night of socializing and entertaining.

As you’re doing your makeup and getting ready for the party, you notice Wakatoshi staring at himself in the mirror, shirtless. His brows are furrowed, a deep frown on his face as he scrutinizes his reflection. He pinches his belly with both hands, scowling at the softness that used to be hard muscle. Tracing a finger along the stretch marks on his stomach and arms, he sighs heavily.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” you ask from the bathroom.

Your husband walks over to lean against the wall behind you, his unreadable expression reflected in the bathroom mirror. He hesitates before answering, “I’ve let myself go.”

You set your mascara down on the counter and spin around to face him. “Wakatoshi, what in the world are you talking about?”

“I just said what. I heard a couple of my players say that I’m not as strong or as fast as I was when I was a professional.”

You loosely wrap your arms around his torso, squeezing gently. “Of course you’re not what you used to be, Toshi.” At the sight of his deepening frown you quickly add, “You’re so busy being a father, husband, and coach you don’t have the time to work out like you used to.” Getting on your tippy toes, you press a kiss to his nose, “And that’s okay.” It’s a rare occasion that he looks this vulnerable. His anxiety and self-consciousness are so clearly written in his features and it makes your heart ache for him.

“It doesn’t bother you that I don’t look like that anymore?” he asks, pointing at the framed photo of his first win with the Japan National Team that hangs on the wall.

“Why would it bother me? This is the body races my son across our backyard, helps me fix our home we bought together, and makes love to me every night. I love you just as much as I did back then, and even more now that we have Hide,” you reassure him and you mean every word of it. Sure he’s not the most romantic of husbands, but he’s your husband and you love him just the way he is, with or without muscles.

A smile tugs at the corners of his lips and he squeezes you even tighter to him. “I know I probably don’t say this as much as I should, but I love you.”

You pepper kisses all over his eyelids, lips and nose. “And I love you more than anything, Wakatoshi. More than you will ever know.”

Your hands lovingly caress his chest that’s softer now, but still sturdy and muscular, and his arms that are not as lean anymore, but are still just as powerful and capable. “For the record, I love how soft you are these days. It’s great cushioning for when we cuddle.”

“Hidetoshi says the same thing,” he recalls, smiling at the thought of your beloved son.

After giving him a knowing look, you go back to putting on your makeup. “See? I told you. That boy is just as smart as his mother.”

It’s nearing five o’clock so Wakatoshi goes to the backyard to start grilling the food for everyone, while you and Hide finish plating the fruits and vegetables you prepared earlier.

You work in comfortable silence until your son turns to you, his eyes shining with unanswered questions. “Hey Mama?”

Putting down the strawberry you were holding, you sit down on the stool next to him and hold his hands in yours. “What’s on your mind, sweetie?”

“Do you not want me to be a volleyball player like Daddy? Is that why you got mad when I told you he showed me the videos?”

You almost break your neck with how fast you shake your head in denial. “Of course not! I wasn’t mad, it’s just…” you start, trying to find a way to phrase your thoughts that he’ll understand. “Daddy’s job was very hard. His body still hurts a lot from all the times he got injured when he played volleyball. And… his job took him away from me and I missed him a whole lot.”

The look on his face is so reminiscent of his father, it’s like young Wakatoshi was frozen in time and plopped into the chair right next to you. With the way his eyebrows are scrunched up and his mouth is downturned as he thinks, he really is the spitting image of your husband. “Did it make you sad?”

Taking a deep breath, you hold your arms out to him so he can climb into your lap. “Sometimes it did. Mostly at night when I was all alone and Daddy was really far away.”

He rests his head against your shoulder, looking up at you. “Do you wish Daddy had a different job?”

You look out the window at your husband who’s starting up the grill, then look back at the sweet, round face of your boy. “No, I don’t. Daddy’s job was really important to him and it made him so happy that I grew to love it too, even if it made me sad sometimes.”

He sits up in your lap, thinking hard about what you said as he plays with your necklace. “Does Daddy still wish he could do it?”

“Probably, but it’s okay. If he hadn’t stopped, we wouldn’t have you, and you make our lives so much brighter and happier. Your Daddy and I love you so much, you couldn’t even imagine it.”

He spreads his arms out as far as he can. “This much?”

You shake your head. “Nope. Even more.”

“Wow, that’s a lot.” Hide’s eyes are wide with surprise, mouth slightly agape as he tries to imagine something so large and vast.

Laughing, you press a kiss to his head. “It sure is a lot, baby. Now why don’t we finish putting out all the food so we can go see what Daddy’s doing?”

Your son leaps out of your lap to grab handfuls of grapes and blueberries from the cartons on the counter, dropping them into the divided sections of the serving platter. “Aren’t you going to help me, Mama?”

You give him a look of mock offense before standing ramrod straight, giving him a mock salute. “As you command, Commander Ushijima.”

You carry both trays of food out to the backyard, not trusting Hide’s ability to hold them upright, while he carries a volleyball in his arms. Wakatoshi turns at the sound of footsteps, a small smile on his face as your son drops the volleyball, barreling straight into his legs with a force that makes the man grunt.

Hide looks up at his father, both arms wrapped around his legs. “Whatcha doing Daddy?” he asks.

Your husband reaches a hand down to ruffle his hair, a slight look of pain in his eyes from the boy slamming into his shins. “I’m just getting ready to start cooking the food for tonight. Do you want to help me?” He bends down to pick him up and Hide quickly hops into his arms, well practiced and effortless with how strong your husband is. The man points to different parts of the grill, explaining what they do, taking care to keep the boy far away from the flames.

Setting the plates down on the table, you inform Wakatoshi, “Hajime and Tooru should be here soon, so should Tobio and Eita. Satori called and said he might be late, something about his luggage getting lost.” At that moment the doorbell rings, signaling your first guests are here. “I’ll get it. You two stay here and get the food on the grill.”

You open the front door, greeted with the familiar faces of Hajime and Tooru. “It’s so nice to see you two! Come on inside, don’t be shy,” stepping aside, you hold your arm out to welcome them into your home.

“Mrs. Ushijima you get more and more beautiful each time I see you,” Tooru teases as you snicker in response.

“I see marriage hasn’t changed you at all, has it?” you question, more so directed at Hajime.

“I tell him people are going to get the wrong idea,” the shorter man replies, sounding exasperated.

You usher them towards the backyard before picking up various soda and beer cans. “Wakatoshi and Hide are both in the back. You two go ahead and keep them company while I bring these out.”

It takes a few trips before you join them in the backyard, handing each adult a can and a juice pouch to Hide, who’s sitting at the picnic table with Tooru while Hajime chats with your husband.

“How old are you now, little man?” the brunette asks.

Hide holds up five fingers plus his thumb as he swings his legs back and forth. “I’m six! I just started kindergarten.”

They both wave at you as you join them, sitting on the other side of the table. Tooru leans in towards you, a hand cupped around his mouth, and you tilt your ear towards him. “He’s so… polite and well-mannered. Are you sure Ushiwaka is the father?” he whispers, narrowing his eyes.

You lightly smack his head, glaring daggers in his direction. “Yes, obviously. Look at them, they’re basically twins.” Tooru looks at the boy sitting next to him then at your husband standing at the grill, then back to your son, then back to your husband. Hand on his chin, he takes in their matching olive eyes and hair and similar expressions, nodding seriously.

“I was just making sure.”

The doorbell rings a couple more times, Tobio and Eita arriving one right after the other. With almost all of your guests present, everyone is drinking and catching up, some casually passing a volleyball back and forth with Hide.

You’re in the middle of telling Tobio that Hidetoshi is too young to be thinking about his future career when the doorbell rings once more, indicating the last of your guests has arrived. You rush inside to get it, not bothering to check who’s there because you already know who it is. Swinging the door open, you pull the man into a tight hug.

“Satori! We’re so glad you made it,” you exclaim, giving his back a few hard slaps.

The redhead pulls away from you, smiling. “I’m so glad I was able to make it in time. The airport lost my luggage, then my parents forgot to leave me a key to their house so I had to wait until a neighbor could let me in. To make matters worse, I got stopped by security when I landed because of this,” he says, holding up a white box with a bow around it.

You quickly grab the box, shaking it to try to hear what’s inside and sniffing it for good measure. “Ooh la la, did you bring us some fancy French chocolates?” you ask. “Actually, don’t tell me, Hide will want to open it.” You hand the box back to him and gesture him to follow you, “Everyone’s in the back so just follow me.”

With Satori in tow, you step onto the back porch and call your son’s name. He hands the ball to Eita before running over, eyes lighting up when he sees the man standing next to you.

“Uncle Tori!” he shouts, launching himself into Satori’s arms.

“Hey there Little Toshi, how you been? Keeping your dad out of trouble?” he asks, hugging the boy tightly.

“I think so! Well… we burnt some eggs this morning and the smoke machines started beeping, but that doesn’t count, right?”

The red-haired man waves his hand dismissively. “Of course it doesn’t. Any crimes committed in the name of breakfast are excused,” he insists. Pulling the box out from behind his back, he offers it to Hide. “I brought you something all the way from France, do you know where France is?”

Hide takes the present from him, “Yeah, it’s in Europe! Daddy showed it to me on a map.” He struggles a bit with the bow before he decides to just rip it off, lifting up the lid.

Satori points to the various chocolates laid on top of wax paper. “This one is filled with something called ‘ganache,’ which is basically just more chocolate, but it’s liquidy. That one over there has caramel, and the one right next to it is a bonbon filled with strawberry jelly. I picked all the best ones just for you.”

The boy smiles, eyes wandering over the chocolates like they’re bars of gold. “Thank you Uncle Tori! I bet they’re really yummy.”

He pats Hide on the head. “I hope you enjoy them lots. Now I gotta go say hi to your daddy, where is he?” Your son points to where Wakatoshi is standing at the grill, a spatula in one hand and a beer in the other as he chats with Tobio. “Thanks Little Toshi,” he says, ruffling his hair.

Satori walks over to your husband, pulling him into a crushing bear hug before he can say anything. “Wakatoshi, it’s been too long! I sure get lonely all the way in France, have you guys ever thought about moving?”

Wakatoshi freezes for a moment before giving in, hugging the man back, though slightly stiff in his movements. “We will not be moving to France. Hidetoshi will be raised here in Japan.”

The redhead releases him, sensing his discomfort. “Well, it was worth a shot. How’s your retirement? You miss being a pro?”

“I do miss it sometimes, but it was necessary to let a better, younger player take my place. I wouldn’t trade a few more years on the court for the life I have now with my wife and my son.”

Satori lets out a loud whistle. “I never thought I would hear the day that Wakatoshi Ushijima would say he cares about anything more than volleyball.”

“Volleyball was my entire life before, but they’re my entire world.”

The shorter man just smiles, silent for a moment before pointing to the apron your husband is wearing. “I didn’t think you’d actually wear that thing, Wakatoshi!” The apron black with bright red lettering that says ‘Wakatoshi: Grill Master,’ with a drawing of a flaming steak next to it.

“It keeps my clothes clean. Why wouldn’t I wear it?” he asks, genuinely curious. The redhead just laughs and shakes his head, patting him on the shoulder.

Your husband finishes grilling the food, much to the excitement and relief of the many hungry men who have been circling him like a hawk. Everyone takes from the piles of meat and vegetables, noticeably happier now that their stomachs are full. You’re all sitting around the picnic table, laughing and enjoying each other’s company.

Hajime recalls a story from when he first signed on as the athletic trainer for the national team. Wakatoshi had approached him after practice, saying he had a serious issue that he wanted someone to take a look at. Concerned for his player’s wellbeing, naturally he took him into the locker room and Wakatoshi took off his shirt. At first, he thought he might’ve stretched one of his ligaments too far or had even torn his rotator cuff muscle. Imagine his surprise when Wakatoshi pointed to an ingrown hair on his back, saying it was inflamed and causing him pain. It was then that Hajime had to explain that he’s not that type of medical professional, and that he should make an appointment with a dermatologist.

The sun starts to set, but with the fun everyone is having they barely notice. The night begins to wind down once Hide yawns, rubbing his eyes tiredly, and it sets off a chain reaction of yawning that reaches every person at the table. Your son starts tugging on your sleeve, informing you he’d like to go to bed. Not wanting to leave him alone in the house and taking note of the exhaustion on everyone’s faces, you politely suggest to end the night early. A chorus of heads bob, indicating their desire to head home and sleep.

All three of you hug and kiss everyone goodbye, waving to them as they drive away. You sigh from exhaustion and head inside to put Hide in bed. You and your husband hold each of his hands and take him to his room, pulling back his covers so he can climb in.

He yawns again and closes his eyes, settling into his bed. “Night night Mama, Daddy. I love you.”

You stroke his cheek lovingly before placing a kiss on his forehead. “Goodnight sweetie, I love you too.”

Your husband comes up from behind you to kiss Hide as well. “Sleep well, Hidetoshi. I love you.”

With your son asleep in his own bed, all you have to do is take off your makeup and brush your teeth before you too can sleep.

You’re in the middle of washing your face when Wakatoshi comes into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

“I enjoyed tonight, I hope you did too,” he says.

You turn around to look at him and smile. “I did, it was amazing to see everyone in one place. It’s been years since we were all able to see each other.” After you finish washing your face, you stretch and yawn loudly, telling your husband, “I’m getting in bed now, join me when you’re done.”

Climbing under the sheets, you nestle yourself into the softness of your bed. You nearly doze off right then, but the shifting of the bed under Wakatoshi’s weight keeps you awake just a bit longer.

He slides in behind you so he can spoon you, an arm slung over your waist.

“Goodnight Toshi, I love you.”

“Goodnight, I love you too.”

Before he falls asleep, Wakatoshi thinks of all the things in his life that led him here, to you, his wonderful wife, and his precious son.

Leaving professional volleyball was one of the hardest decisions he’s ever had to make in his thirty-seven years of living, but the end of that chapter of his life gave him Hidetoshi.

He knows that every moment of uncertainty, suffering, and hardship was worth it because it ultimately led him to you and your son, to this life you’ve built together.

He’d do it all over again a thousand times over if it meant that your beautiful, shining face would be there to greet him in the end.

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