Latest Posts by star-spacer - Page 9

I thought of a blurb that’s basically just reader asleep on top of Hobie when the gang (Miles, Gwen, and Pavitr) show up and are noisy asf and Hobie shushes them all but they’re confused cause they can’t see reader who’s under the blankets, until she wakes up and peeks her head out from under the blanket and everyone’s like :0 I was thinking they have like a non-public relationship so everyone in the room is shocked lmao😭 No pressure at all and no hard feelings if you can’t! Love your writing and hope you’re doing well!

You are literally just the sweetest, I appreciate everytime you come into my inbox and compliment me and the fact that you put 'love' in bold and italics? 🥰💞💞💞

Here you go, my love.

Likkle Sleepy Darling

Hobie Brown X F!Reader

Hobie Brown was normally a pretty stoic guy—straight-faced with nothing more than a smug twitch of his lips to give away any sort of expression—but, if he was being completely honest, that all fell apart when it came to you.

You, who was the beam of hope in the dark, despair-filled streets of London he inhabited. You, whose smile shined so bright, you could take out a whole army of shadows with just the stretch of your lips. You, who fit ontop of him so perfectly, you almost resembled (no, a hundred percent did resemble—) the last, missing puzzle piece to his heart as you laid against his chest, lids shut and lips parted just enough to allow air through.

His lips tugged up. You were just so cute, he couldn't resist the urge to tighten his grip around your waist and pull you further into him, allowing the blanket on top of you both to further cascade over your head—completely obscuring your sleeping form.

The moment was perfect—

"That. Was. AWESOME!"

"I know right?! We went in and destroyed doc, I almost felt bad for her."

"You know her friends call her Liv?"

—until, of course, it wasn't.

In came the rowdy group of youngens Hobie somehow ended up befriending—half-suited up as they screamed to each other in the loudest voices they just had to muster up the one time you felt comfortable enough to sleep in his arms.

Allow it, he wasn't having it.

"Ayo, you man—" his whisper came out harsh, and whatever conversation they were having halted just like that, "—'low it, shut up."

They all blinked in unison. "Huh?"

Then, Miles piped up, "what do you—?"

He stopped speaking at the same time Hobie felt pressure being pushed onto his chest from two different parts.

Looking down, the man with multiple piercings was fond to find your squinting eyes peering up at him, half-dazed in that cute, little way that screamed the love of his life like no other.

"Likkle sleepy, aren't you, love?"

A nod.

And then, a chorus of gasps all at once—all followed by—

"Huuuuuuhhhhh?"

My friend went on vacation and bought this for me so i finally have some natsume merch ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )

Writing a natsume fic that is so goofy and silly

Natsume Week Prompts Decided!

Hi everyone! We are super excited to announce the prompts for Natsume Week 2023, running from Monday the 3rd of July to Sunday the 9th in UTC+9 (Tokyo Time):

Monday 3rd July: Sun / Moon Tuesday 4th July: Keepsakes / New Meetings Wednesday 5th July: Kindness / Cruelty Thursday 6th July: Calling / Answering Friday 7th July: Healing / Forgiveness Saturday 8th July: Home / Travel (to your country*) Sunday 9th July: Handmade / Non-traditional Media**

*Only if you’re comfortable showing the characters travelling to your home country — otherwise, it’s up to your imagination.

**Crafting, knitting, scrapbooking, music, games, collage, mosaic, calligraphy — if you’re used to digital drawing, painting or writing, how about trying something new?

As always, interpret the prompts however you'd like and follow them as closely or loosely as you want! If you need a refresher on the rules they can be found here, or you can always send us an ask or message in the Natsume Week discord server.

We're looking forward to seeing your wonderful creations!

NATSUME YUUJINCHOU SEASON 7 ANNOUNCED!!! animation production: shuka

(Staring at the word doc) yeah big things coming. Just you wait.

♡ I LOVE NATSUME YUUJINCHOU WITH ALL MY HEART ♡

this anime makes me really happy and really sad at the same time :((( i love natsume sm!!

Satoru has never gotten into your bed gently; has never sunk into the mattress without a bounce, without jostling the plush surface with an audible oof and pulling you from the depths of sleep. Never. Not once.

And tonight is no different.

It’s an impossible task for him, it seems. Like trying to breathe underwater or pick something to watch on TV. And the worst part of it all is that you know he’s doing it on purpose. No matter how hard you may try to will yourself to sleep through it or how much you may complain when he finally settles beside you, the man is unrelenting. A pain in the ass, even at one in the morning. It’d be impressive if it wasn’t so damn annoying.

“Satoru,” you warn, though it’s not as threatening as you hope it would be. You blink over at him with heavy lids, tone dripping with exhaustion. “Must you do that every time you get into bed late?”

He has the audacity to think about it. “Mm, well I suppose I don’t have to,” he coos, voice low like he’s trying to lull you back to sleep. “But what kind of man would I be if I didn’t wake up my little sweetheart to give them a goodnight kiss when I got home?”

“A better one?”

Your eyes slip closed as if shutting them will make him disappear (or shut up). It doesn’t. Instead, it only serves to spur the sorcerer on. Now, Satoru crowds your space, wrapping you into a tight bundle and pulling you so close your nose squishes against his cheek.

He’s entirely scandalized by your rebuttal, gasping in your ear as if you’ve just told him the most offensive insult imaginable. “I can’t believe you’d say that about your dashing boyfriend.” As if to prove his point, Satoru pulls you away only to drag you back in to plant multiple exaggerated pecks against your cheek, a sappy muah sound accompanying each one.

They leave wet lip prints in their wake that you’re too tired to rub away. Eyes still closed, you furrow your brows, accepting your fate as you cuddle into the curve of his throat – right beneath his chin.

“My dashing boyfriend who can’t do anything quietly to save his life.”

“Hey,” he whines into your hair. “I can be quiet!”

“Oh yeah? Then let’s play the quiet game.”

You can feel him hum somewhere deep in his chest as he thinks it over. “What do I get if I win?”

Your limbs feel heavy as you rest your arm across his stomach, curling your hand around the hem of his shirt. You can only muster enough energy to mumble, “Winner gets breakfast in bed tomorrow.”

“Ooo, okay,” Satoru presses a kiss to the top of your head. “Be prepared to make me a huge stack of pancakes tomorrow, baby.”

“Mhm, fine. 

“With extra chocolate chips.”

“’kay.”

“And,” A hand ruffles your hair. “A lil extra love, maybe?”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Without opening your eyes, you can tell there’s a retort brewing in Satoru’s, and you stop it before it has the chance to fill the air. “Quiet game starts now.”

The room immediately falls into silence, only broken by the soft sound of your combined breathing. Satoru’s warmth and the steady movement of his chest as he breathes — up, down, up, down — bring you right back to sleep’s door, as if Satoru hadn’t woken you up at all. Maybe the quiet game had been the answer this whole time. You kick yourself for not thinking of it sooner.

You nuzzle closer, nose brushing against his collar bone as you feel yourself drift off, but right before you completely fall into the clutches of exhaustion, you hear a tiny voice mumble, “Love you.”

It’s punctuated with another kiss to the crown of your head and a warm palm gliding up and down your back, and you can only bring yourself to tighten your hold on his shirt before you fall asleep.

The next morning, you awake to an empty bed and the sweet smell of pancakes and freshly brewed coffee wafting through the air.

I'm Glad You're Safe (Jotaro x Reader)

You groaned, your eyes peeping open. There was a loud clang coming from a pan right in front of you, and a thin silhouette holding the pan. “Wake up, everyone,” Kakyoin said. “I made breakfast. Eat it while it’s still hot.”

“You really didn’t have to wake us up like that, Kakyoin,” Jotaro grunted. “There are much quieter ways to do it.”

“You two wouldn’t have woken up if I was quiet about it,” Kakyoin chuckled. “Come on, don’t let it cool down, now.”

You rolled to your side, preparing to step out of your cushiony shell. That’s when you noticed Jotaro laying right beside you, facing away.

“You weren’t that close to me when we fell asleep,” you murmured.

“Well, it got cold,” Jotaro murmured back. “What else was I supposed to do?”

Jotaro was right. You couldn’t quite pin it down, but you knew for a fact it was cold. After all, in your dream, you…

What happened in your dream last night?

You paused for a few moments, trying to rack your brain of any memory of a dream. Nothing came to mind. Usually, that shouldn’t be a bad thing, but for some reason all sorts of alarms were going off in your head.

You kept thinking and trying to remember, lost in your own head, until a large, sturdy hand fell upon your shoulder. You suddenly snapped out of your thoughts and looked at the hand. It was Jotaro’s, for sure.

“Hey,” Jotaro said, “don’t think so hard early in the morning. It’s not good for you.”

You gave a slight nod while gazing into his eyes. It was always hard to tell what exactly Jotaro thought, or why he did things, but his eyes did give a few things away. Right now, his eyes were softer than usual. His advice to you was not in ill will, or he would have had a harsher look to them.

“This might be a strange question, but did you have a bad dream last night, too?” Jotaro asked. “You looked like you were trying to remember something, and I can’t remember my dream last night, either.”

“Yeah, actually,” you murmured. “I don’t know why, but it feels like that dream was special, or important. It’s as if forgetting that dream will lead to something bad happening.”

“Well, unless you suddenly became an oracle, I wouldn’t worry about it.” Jotaro sat up and unzipped himself from the sleeping bag. “And even if something bad happens, we can take care of it, right?”

You couldn’t help but smile a bit. “I guess so,” you said. “But I’m still worried about why we both had nightmares we can’t remember. Kakyoin and Polnareff had the same thing just yesterday.”

Now, it seemed like Jotaro was actually concerned about something. “You know, actually, speaking of Kakyoin, didn’t it seem like he was normal this morning? Last night he was basically going insane. Has… has anyone seen the baby?”

“You mean this cute little thing?” Kakyoin said as he walked past the two of you. In his hands was the small child that the group boarded the plane with. “He’s doing just fine. I was just about to go feed him.”

“You’re okay, Kakyoin?” you asked. “Last night you were going on about how the baby was a Stand user and everything.”

“Everything’s fine now,” Kakyoin chuckled. “You all were right. I just needed a good night’s sleep.”

Jotaro gave Kakyoin a side-eye, but quickly hid his eyes behind his hat. “Whatever. So long as you don’t try to kill the baby again.”

As Kakyoin left again, Jotaro looked back at you. “Look, I know that apart from the crash, nothing too bad has happened, but I just want to say… I’m glad you’re safe.” He turned his face away after that last sentence.

You turned away as well, to hide your blush. “I’m glad you’re safe, too,” you told him.

“Hey, aren’t you two going to eat breakfast?” Joseph asked. “We need to leave as soon as possible!”

“Coming!” you shouted, then beckoned for Jotaro to follow you. “Let’s go, before the food gets cold.”

Jotaro nodded his head, walking by your side.Once this whole trip is over, maybe I’ll ask him out, you thought to yourself. For now, I’ll just make sure he stays safe.

i feel like. bakugou didn't have any siblings and has always been a rough-houser, so by the time he's comfortable in his relationship with you, he's SO ANNOYING.

he comes back from his early morning run to find you still in bed and he just lays his entire body weight on you. he'll put you in a headlock for NO REASON. does the thing in the kitchen with a damp dish towel and it hurts omg, he's really good at it. like aiming for your ass EVERY TIME. i love that hc about him being too wound up if he doesn't expend enough energy at work, and you're trying to lay down and go to sleep and he's yanking the blankets off you or scooching too close or trying to poke and prod at you, so you lean over and WHACK HIM ONCE and it's like over for you. it's 10pm and he's ready to wrestle.

Just a reminder for fanfic authors:

Fanfiction will ALWAYS be superior to character.ai

Please don't ever stop writing!!

Has this been made before? 

Some Natsume Yuujinchou sketches I did. This show every now and then creeps into my brain and starts wrecking havoc but in a very quiet and warm way. Much like how the story is itself. I also started the manga so I'm excited to re-meet these people!

old art from 2021 that i still like! this is a comfort series for me

finally. y/n lore

(Ginko, the brooding but compassionate protagonist from the manga/anime Mushishi, is probably one of my favorite fictional characters. If you have a chance to read or watch it, do eeet. )

You know those anime meta posts along the lines of “I was born with pink hair. The doctors told my parents I was a Main Character and ever since my life has not known peace from demons/spirits/sports competitions/harems who find me”

Well I see that, and I raise you this:

An anime boy whose appearance is, by absolutely anyone’s account, completely and utterly average. Mundane hair. Mundane eyes. Not even glasses to set him the tiniest bit apart. A simple, unmemorable, unrecognizable civilian among a backdrop of millions.

And he has a lot of passions, and a lot of ambitions, which he hones every chance he gets. He’s dabbled in sports and archery and cooking and just about anything you could wrap a competition around. And he’s competed in many of these. Every chance he gets. With all of his passion and all of his might.

He’s crushed by the competition every single time.

Until one day–one day something clicks for him. Something that should have seemed obvious from the start and yet never was–as though everyone, including himself, was unwittingly blind to it. It clicks, when he realizes every kid who’s beaten him in competition, every kid who’s gone on to fame and glory and acclaim, has been some candy-haired gel-spiked ridiculously-dressed fucker. 

There’s some trend there that this Main Character boy can’t explain and can’t understand but he decides, this one time, fuck it. He’ll play along too. He’s got a model train competition in four days, and he’s got nothing more to lose. He hits up the department store, buys the pinkest, noxious-est, fruitiest hair dye he can find, the spikiest hair gel available, and the gaudiest clothes on the thrift rack. He enters the model train competition looking like a bubble gum gijinka.

And he wins.

Suddenly, the other candy-haired contestants notice him. They talk to him. They pledge rivalries. Girls notice him. Judges applaud him. Acclaimed model train aficionados offer him internships across the world. He’s hit on something. 

The main cast expands to cover just about every candy-hair cliche in the book: from the mostly-normal-looking demure school girl with the blue hair to the Naruto-est, yelling-est boy with the red-and-green spiked hair. The cool megane senpais, the purple haired tsunderes, suddenly everyone is interested in him. They’re prodigies and upstarts and underdogs and they truly believe that this main character boy is one of them.

So the main character boy maintains his ruse. He touches up his roots at dawn every morning and carefully attends to his gelled spikes and tells absolutely no one about this great, uncanny, unfathomable secret he’s stumbled upon. He wins his competitions left and right. He racks up the acclaim. He’s hailed as a prodigy of all trades, just now bursting onto the scene, and boils to the top of all his candy-haired peers.

He’s rising up, his every dream within his grasp. Until one day he gets a note under his door, taped to an old picture of his Normal Boring self from middle school, that says “You don’t belong”

I think that more fanfiction should be written with the aim to tackle the original meaning of hanahaki. Because when the concept of hanahaki disease was originally created, it was intended to be a metaphor for suppressing one’s feelings.

Your feelings are this beautiful garden of flora inside of your chest. When you express how you feel honestly, you allow for it to grow freely. But when you hide how you feel out of fear of rejection, and try to make it smaller and smaller, the flowers become cramped inside of you, until you choke on your own feelings. Every flower you cough up is something you’ve felt, but refused to say.

The whole “dying” thing is intended to be more symbolic especially. You’re killing off bits and pieces of yourself and how you feel, because you’re afraid to express yourself.

It’s not really supposed to be, “The one I love doesn’t love me back, and I’m dying from it.” Rather, it’s more along the lines of, “Repressing your emotions is bad for you, and it’s better and healthier to express them freely, even when it’s scary.”

Which is to say that, one, the cure for the disease should be telling the person that you are in love with how you feel. How the other person feels about the person afflicted should have nothing to do with it, as the trope is meant to be about feeling your emotions unapologetically.

And that, two, it’s not an inherently romantic trope. Obviously, it has romantic applications, but it can be written for any situation where a character is hiding how they truly feel. This can include a refusal to address a specific trauma, a desire to indulge in something that they’re ashamed of, and even really practical things, like wanting to ask one’s boss for a higher position.

Although (as an aromantic person myself) I don’t agree with this conclusion about the trope, this application would also avoid people calling it arophobic. When the thing killing the character is a refusal to be honest with themselves, rather than an unrequited love, it’s on nobody’s hands but their own to save their life.

There are a ton of ways that this interpretation of the hanahaki disease could be applied in new and interesting ways in fanfiction, and I’d love to read what things people could come up with!

It's Mushishi Monday

a gojo wedding would either be the biggest event ever or you’ll get married in secret and wait for the others to figure it out

(Okay... I have many, many, many thoughts about a huge, over the top wedding with Satoru but it’ll take another ask to unpack because I’ve got my own analysis as to why he’d do that even though he knows he doesn’t have to, but thinks he should anyway—IN SHORT: yes, extravagant wedding can totally be a thing with him, but some element of intimacy is retained, likely in the form of your guest list. It could be a destination wedding, with a 10-course dress rehearsal dinner on a yacht, private helicopter rides, and enough flowers to fill a small island, but there’ll be, at most, fifteen people involved, and we can talk about it later BECAUSE FOR ONCE I have thoughts about existing in the jjk verse LMFAO)

Now, secrecy seems the most plausible for a canonverse au. There’s precisely four people who know you and Satoru are married: Nanami, because he served as your witness, best man, and maid of honor all in one; Shoko, because Satoru asked her if she thought you’d even say yes (she told him he was crazy, and that you’d be crazier to say yes; when she finds out to two are wed, she offers you a celebratory cigarette and a warning that obstetrics was one of the curricula she’d grazed past when cheating); Megumi, who was angry when he found out because he found out after the fact and his pre-teen heart was a little hurt that his new guardians wouldn’t include him in such a thing—though he never voices any of this out loud (he is happy, when his emotions settle down, happiness is what he feels; he hopes that, hopefully under different circumstances, he too, can have that); and, Yuuta, who Satoru entrusts this information to after finding out about his situation with Rika, in an attempt to gain his trust and following to Jujutsu High.  

It’s easy to hide because nobody expects it—a fact that serves as a safety blanket, but, truthfully, makes Satoru a little sad. He knows he doesn’t deserve to feel that kind of remorse; nobody should expect him to be married, to find someone to want to be with him—and he’s built a façade and a career with the intention of swaying suspicion—but there’s a part of him that wishes that people saw him as someone that somebody would want. Not for his strength or power or position or influence; just, to have.

So, it’s nice, when occasionally Nanami comes over for dinner; when Shoko lures you into sharing one of her cigarettes and Satoru scolds you both; when Megumi will ask for you, will call you when he needs you; when Yuuta asks to meet you, because he wants to understand the love you two have for each other. It’s nice, and Satoru is reminded that he is not singularly alone in this world, that there is you, and your friends, and a small community of people who would not be in complete disbelief to remember that he is human, after all.

If Kokushibo were your father

N/A: English is not my first language, i apologize for any translation errors.

• Kokushibo found you in an abandoned village. It was a cold night and you were curled up in a thin blanket.

• He gets closer to your small figure. You just stared at him quietly. At that moment, any other child would have run away when they saw the six eyes.

• Kokushibo left, only to return a few minutes later with some snacks. He handed the food into your hands, looking at you with his many eyes.

• You found it strange that a demon was feeding instead of devouring you. Did he want to fatten you up a little first? Anyway, you hadn't eaten anything for days and soon devoured everything he brought you.

• Kokushibo was just feeling sorry for you, it wasn't his plan to start taking care of you.

• You lived together now. At first he thought you weren't normal. When he was tired, you would lay your head on his chest and ask him to sleep together. He took it quietly, but what human child would feel so safe around a demon?

• You once asked if he was going to eat you. He joked that he would wait for you to get really chubby. You started crying and he hugged you apologizing.

• If you are a restless child, Kokushibo would try to tire you out by telling you about old stories. Samurai of his time and anything kids found boring.

• You like to play face-to-face with Kokushibo. The first one to blink would lose. You never beat him.

• Of course, to take care of a child, he would need money. A lot of money.

• He often asked Doma for money. Kokushibo didn't want the other moons and Muzan to find out about you, but Doma wouldn't give that much money until Kokushibo explained what he would do with it.

• So Kokushibo spoke the truth. He regreted.

• Now Doma would visit you at least once a week. He always brought you candy and toys. You're his new niece and Kokushibo can't do anything about it.

• Kokushibo threatened Doma not to tell anyone about you. Doma promised he wouldn't, but he told Akaza.

• Obviously Akaza didn't believe it. First, it was Doma. Second, Kokushibo was an oni with the sole purpose of getting stronger. It makes no sense for him to adopt a child.

• So Akaza saw you and Kokushibo playing in the forest.

• When you weren't with Kokushibo, Akaza followed him around and didn't stop asking questions. What was the point of protecting such a weak being? If it was any other demon he wouldn't even care. But we are talking about the upper moon one.

• Akaza decided to visit you with Doma to find out what was so special about you. Now you have two demon uncles visiting you every week.

• Kokushibo was pissed off, but at least he could trust Akaza to take care of you when you were away. Doma would only be called if he had no choice.

• When you turned twelve, Kokushibo would start training you and teach you moon breathing. He even gave you a nichirin sword. This is treason since he is teaching you to kill demons. But man, he didn't care, as long as you were safe, he might even fight Muzan.

• If you decide to join the demon slayer corps, Kokushibo would stick around for your first few missions, just to make sure you're okay.

• He may not show it with words, but Kokushibo loves you so much.

what if there is a dating sim(creature ver.)

It’s so funny how in Mushishi everyone wears traditional kimonos and then there’s Ginko in a polo shirt

Natsume Week Prompts Decided!

Hi everyone! We are super excited to announce the prompts for Natsume Week 2023, running from Monday the 3rd of July to Sunday the 9th in UTC+9 (Tokyo Time):

Monday 3rd July: Sun / Moon Tuesday 4th July: Keepsakes / New Meetings Wednesday 5th July: Kindness / Cruelty Thursday 6th July: Calling / Answering Friday 7th July: Healing / Forgiveness Saturday 8th July: Home / Travel (to your country*) Sunday 9th July: Handmade / Non-traditional Media**

*Only if you’re comfortable showing the characters travelling to your home country — otherwise, it’s up to your imagination.

**Crafting, knitting, scrapbooking, music, games, collage, mosaic, calligraphy — if you’re used to digital drawing, painting or writing, how about trying something new?

As always, interpret the prompts however you'd like and follow them as closely or loosely as you want! If you need a refresher on the rules they can be found here, or you can always send us an ask or message in the Natsume Week discord server.

We're looking forward to seeing your wonderful creations!

What fanfic writers say vs what they mean. Btw.

Green with Envy

Adashino x reader x Ginko (can be read as platonic or romantic)

Oh dear half-child, how do you feel? Does your sharp teeth scare away mortals with softer features? Is your too-human face too unlike that of your spirit friends? Oh if only you knew how loved you were.

Yokai and humans.

They were both different.

       Though you spent a fair amount of time among the yokai, intrinsically familiar with the customs of a world that laid parallel to the human world, the daily company you kept cemented you deeply into the world of mortals. So long spent among them made you maintain a constant front, dulling down yourself to appear palatable. Thus, it wasn’t hard to forget that you were not fully human.

But then there’d be inevitable moments that remind you of what you were and what you weren’t. Claws not fit to be on a normal person that would leave scratches on Adashino’s precious dark wood doorways. A stamina level surpassing even that of Ginko, the ever-wandering man asking to take a break long before the effects of traveling hit you. But nothing reminded you of your otherness as much as watching Adashino and Ginko interact with others.

Sometimes you loved to punish yourself by forcing yourself to watch things as they unfold.

(Because that was what you did, ever since you were a kid.)

(Watch. All you knew was how to watch)

(Even as your family house went up in smoke and flames and your mother died protecting your father in front of you, all her Yokai glory forever stained by dirt and blood.)

(Even as your father perished, too, at the hands of the village he called his own when trying to get her body back.)

Your throat itched with the sensation of phantom smoke and screaming and you knew that today would be a bad day. A day without words as they would stay locked up tight in your throat no matter how much you tried. Bad days like these used to be common, back when wounds were fresher. But since the arrival of two humans in your life, they’d become few and far in between.

(Few but not gone. And today was going to be one of them.)

The sounds of brass bells being rung and cheers rising up from the streets drew your attention from the dark musings of your thoughts and outwards. From your viewpoint up in the trees and surrounded by their foliage, you had a bird’s eye view of the bustling town market from where you sat. A small festival, that’s what it was. A child had just won a prize for successfully scooping up a turtle with his net. Now the parents cheered as the vendor gave the child a sewn turtle animal. Your gaze stayed locked on the idyllic scene, of a precious family moment.

Oh, how you envied them.

If anybody were to look up at your hiding spot at the moment, they would have seen the golden gleam of slit-like eyes and a dark, blurry shadow among the leaves and nothing more. The weak illusion spell that you managed to cast ensured that they couldn’t see you, despite being so near to others. Festivals like these were rare, the village too small to host frequent ones so when they happened it was a special treat. Both you and Ginko had traveled back for this occasion to be able to help out the townsfolks and enjoy it too. But as the days approached it only got busier and busier. You, when not helping out with the village these past few days, had taken up the mantle of talking to the local forest Yokai. A few liked to mingle among humans during this time, taking in the sights and sounds, and a few appreciated the warnings of more frequent traffic occurring in their zones and it was your job to let them know. 

On the other hand, Adashino, being the doctor and honorary member of the village council, was pulled in all sorts of directions. Budgeting, setup, deliveries form the incoming boats. Even now, he was off helping oversee any problems and keep the peace. And Ginko—

Ginko was passing right in front of your line of sight, deep in conversation with Io.

Ah, Io, the girl who swam with the Suiko. The girl who was saved by the collective efforts of the village. You remembered seeking out the Yokai remedies in the forest to help reverse the effects. A kind, kind girl. Sometimes a bit too selfless, but always eager to help. She had felt indebted to you all, even though all of you had seeked no payment except for her good health and happiness. Despite Ginko’s insistence that he didn't want to take anything from her, she still stopped by Adashino’s to occasionally drop off catches of fish when she had some to spare.

Your eyes tracked the pair as they stopped in front of a stall, Ginko helping Io lift up a case of ice. The slick surface of stray ice under his feet made him slip, almost sending him tumbling down, case and all. His limbs flailed for a moment before he steadied himself. The sight of the usually composed man flustered made Io and some of the locals break into well-natured laughter. Ginko ducked his head, rubbing the nape of his neck in embarrassment as he chuckled.

An ugly feeling flared within your chest at the joyous scene, the longing for closeness making your chest ache. On a normal day, you would’ve been down there already, flitting among the stalls and indulging in the treats. But the work the last few days had forced you to expend more magic than you realized. It didn’t hit you how bad it was until this morning when you nearly ripped a crate apart after getting spooked. Thankfully, only Adashino noticed before you quickly excused yourself to slink away before you could hurt anybody. Even now, as you had dropped the exhausting human mirage in favor of the much easier hiding spell, it still made you twitchy and tired.

Such was your hand deal in life, not enough Yokai blood to wield magic extensively like your brethren but with just enough in you to irreversibly put you apart from all mortal men.

The sounds of goodbyes rose up and you watched Ginko and Io depart back to where they came from. Your feet itched to hop down and pursue them, to join the streams of people moving through the village.

But you were tired.

Tired tired tired.

***

Sometimes, Adashino regretted stepping into such an influential position in the village. Despite there being the officials and the elders who made the major decisions, many of them relied on him for aid. Especially with big events such as these when all he wanted was to spend some time in his archives and organize his collections with Ginko, listening to you chattering their ears off with your tales. 

Don’t get him wrong, he loved where he was now, and if given the chance, he would have done it all over again. He loved being able to contribute his knowledge to the people and help them with everything he could. But he just wished they didn’t make him out to be such an important figure. He was just a humble doctor who liked to collect the unusual, after all.

Well–compared to you and Ginko, he wasn’t exactly humble. But he tried to live an honest life. A life that his parents would be proud of too. It was why he moved out to this village in the first place.

(A desperate fisherman coming to the family apothecary. The village was just beginning to pop up then and was hoping to be able to have a physician who could manage the sickness that had fallen over the town)

His mother had encouraged him to go. Sent him off with a small fortune in his hands left behind by his father. She had reassured him she’d be alright. His father’s time as the most successful physician in their town ensured that landed the family with good graces and good fortune, covering for his wife and two sons even after his death.

(Even now, she continued to send parcels, bigger than before ever since he started mentioning two other individuals in his mail.)

But the responsibilities heaped upon him made it impossible to seek you out after he saw what occurred that morning. It happened so quickly, not even the roughhousing boys who crashed into you realized it, but for a second Adashino’s sharper eyes caught the flicker in your appearance as it slipped to reveal snapping teeth and slitted eyes. He saw the way the crate in your hands began to splinter but as soon as it happened you had shut everything down under tight lock and key, expression freezing over like ice over a winter pond. Nobody noticed as you finished, laughing a laugh with no joy in it towards a joke before you slipped away.

Nobody except him.

And he wasn’t able to grasp a moment with you before you slipped away like mist through his fingers.

A voice called out for him and Adashino cursed his altruistic nature, wishing he had his tobacco pipe in hand. “Coming!”

“....ut it here, Ginko. Thank you for your help, I don’t what I’d have done without you.”

“Anytime.”

The familiar tenor made Adashino stop in his tracks, heading whipping back to seek out its owner. Seeing the white mop of hair, the doctor quickly adverted his course and headed straight for the Mushishi. He skidded to a stop in front of him, monocle nearly falling off. “Ginko! There you are. Please tell me you have a moment.”

Ginko tilted his head, blinking slowly through the haze of his cigarette smoke. “Sure do.”

“Okay good, good. Have you seen–” His eyes flitted to the left as he thought he saw you, uttering your name. “–anywhere?”

“Can’t say I have. Why? Dodging responsibilities?”

Adashino shook his head, worry surging back to the forefront of his mind. Why were you not there? Usually, you’d be among the streets already; if not, Ginko should’ve spotted you in the crowd. But to not see hide nor hair of you this entire time? 

It must have shown on his face because Ginko stepped forward. “Is something wrong?”

Despite the responsibilities weighing down his shoulders, he grabbed the man’s arm and began dragging him to the side. “Come on give me a moment and I’ll explain to you. Can you do me a favor?”

***

Ginko was troubled.

The worried look on Adashino’s face as he left the doctor to resume his responsibilities stuck with the white-haired man as he set off to take a lap around the town, looking for you. Now that the doctor brought up his concerns about you, Ginko couldn’t help but re-analyze the entire day so far, recalling a very distinct lack of your sharp laughter and crimson kimono that you loved to wear for festivals. The entire time he attributed your absence to you being busy helping Adashino but when the doctor had asked him if he had seen you it threw him for a loop. And then the short explanation that entailed, Adashino’s concerns about your appearance–which you usually kept under lock and key–nearly being shown in the middle of the market.

So there he was, trying to seek out a flighty little half-spirit like the way he seeked out Mushi. It reminded him of the first time he met you when you both were younger and less experienced in life. It was a Mushi report that turned out to be a Yokai, one that you were also in the region to deal with, and he had accidentally tracked you down instead of the actual issue. Luckily, you were agreeable enough to aid him in finding the Yokai, and your help was crucial in asking it to move out from the river the village used. The rest was history.

Through the length of time that the three of you have known each other, there were things that were shared among you three that no outsiders knew. Moments reserved only for each other and no one else. You had seen him at his worst and he had seen you at yours and thus he was adept at spotting when you were running yourself ragged.

Usually.

Ginko muttered a curse under his breath as he thought about you in the past few days. The ozone smell of your magic fluctuating wildly when you three spent time with each other at home, how your appetite had waned despite it usually increasing when you used a lot of powers, the way you were tenser around open fires lately. But because of the work occupying you all, he had missed all the signs.

His feet picked up the pace as he scanned the area around him. He knew you were smart and capable enough to care for yourself but he didn’t want you to spend your time alone with your thoughts.

(And Adashino would have his sorry hide if Ginko didn’t find you before the end of today.)

An inquiry from a local made him stop as they roped him into a conversation and he tried his best to entertain it without drawing it on for too long. Thankfully his practice in patience paid off and they soon excused themself to send him on his way. Pulling a cigarette out, he lit it up and inhaled the calming smoke. While the festival was entertaining, he couldn’t wait until it was over so he could actually spend some time with you and Adashino beyond hurried conversations as you guys carried stuff past each other on the street.

(Though he lamented that he’d have to leave very soon after the festival, lest he attracts any unsavory Mushi close to people he held so dear.)

With a sigh, the man took another drag and moved on. 

Now… If he was his sneaky little fox spirit, where would he hide?

***

The sun had shifted to shine directly on your face in the time you woke up from your daze and now your skin felt flushed and tacky. Hot and feverish with heat. Despite your state, you still managed to pick up the sounds of a throat clearing at the base of your tree. You shifted, an eye peering down through the fringes of your hair.

“You’ve been here the whole time?” Ginko asked, hands tucked in his pocket and face upturned to smile at you in his small, signature smile. “How long have you been up there, huh? ‘Shino’s been searching around for you.”

You didn’t answer–couldn’t answer as words refuse to give way–but a deliberate shift making the leaves around you rustle was enough of an answer for the man as he let out a good-natured sigh, stepping up to under where you were sitting and extending his arms out to beckon you.

Ginko called your nickname, short and sweet as it fell from his mouth, arms beckoning you. “C’mere. Let’s go back before it gets dark and Adashino decides to lock us in his shed. I’ll catch you.”

There was hesitation in your actions as you began to untuck from the ball that you’d curled up into, but the endless patience in Ginko’s face and his calm demeanor reassured you. As one leg dangled over the branch, you peered down at him with tired eyes.

“As scrawny as I may seem, I’m stronger than I look. I won’t drop you. Don’t you trust me?”

You did.

Gravity swept you down toward him as you pushed off, clenching your eyes shut in anticipation. Lithe arms caught you with a grunt and you let out a quiet wheeze at the impact. Miraculously, the man didn’t topple under the weight and force of your landing. You clambered off him, ready to head back but the moment your feet touched the ground the consequences of perching in a tree the whole day caught up to you. Ginko saw you toppling and quickly went to support you. 

“Don’t think you can make it back to Adashino’s, huh?”

You pursed your lips, shaking your head. To your surprise, Ginko began pulling away from you. There was a moment of panic as you thought he was leaving you before he crouched down in front of you.

“Up you go.”

A moment passed as you stared at him in confusion. Ginko glanced back at you as he raised an eyebrow after seeing you still standing there.

“Come on. You’re really gonna walk all the way home and up the hill?”

That question helped you make up your mind. Quickly, you clambered up, locking your arms around his shoulders and he grabbed the underside of your thighs.

“You’ll be my medicine cabinet for today,” Ginko said as he stood up. “A bigger, livelier one.”

You gently pat him on top of his head, messing with the hair there.

“I’ll drop you if you don’t stop that,” Ginkgo warned, jostling you jokingly.

A small amused huff escaped you at that, knowing full well that he wouldn't do that, and resting your chin on his shoulder. The walk back was peaceful, with Ginko pointing out a few of the harmless Mushi floating around and remarking on some of the Yokai visitors he saw arrive today.

(Some of them, he told you, asked after your wellbeing.)

With his presence came the feeling of your soul settling down, your skin feeling more right on your body. You weren’t like them, but that didn’t matter. There was still a place for you in their world and them in yours.

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