She smiled pleasantly whilst Mikage stood awkwardly in the doorframe. The receptionist from the front counter let them be and Mikage came in. Still, she didn’t know where to stand - or if she ought to sit. Aki’s office wasn’t overly small but it wasn’t exactly large: a skinny bed to the side, where Aki was sitting now at her desk, and then two chairs across from her to discuss things with patients. Unsurprisingly, it was all very clinical and Mikage didn’t know where her friendliness ought to exist in such a sanitary space.
Still, Aki welcomed her - and the bouquet of flowers in her huddled in her arms. Aki beckoned Mikage to sit down, so she did.
“What brings you to my office?” Aki asked. “Seems more like a courtesy call than a check up.”
“Y-Yes,” Mikage stuttered out, “I heard that you had been taken on board here in your first role as a physician, I thought I would bring you flowers as congratulations. I know you worked really hard to get here... so. From one acquaintance to another, congratulations.”
“Thank you, Sagiri-san, that means a lot to me.” Aki said.
Mikage nodded and she handed over the flowers. Aki was gentle with them as she received them from the exchange. She nursed them with a glowing look on her face. They looked good in her arm; the pale pink petals of the lilies complimented the dark magenta of Aki’s hair. Mikage praised herself for such a good colour choice before wondering if it hadn’t been too obvious of a choice for Aki. She glanced around the room. It appeared she had been the first of their company to bring flowers, unless Aki had moved them elsewhere or, more dourly, if she had been the last to come to congratulate her on her first job out of medical school.
Mikage’s lips twitched. “Please, don’t be too formal with me, I don’t mind.” she said. “Mikage is fine, you know.”
“Thank you, that would be nice.” Aki replied. “I didn’t realise that we were so close, my apologies. I always felt a touch distant from you…”
“I, the same, but…” Mikage averted her gaze as her cheeks reddened slightly, “but you inspired me to re-evaluate myself.”
Aki blinked. “I did?” she murmured, a touch perplexed by such an admission.
“Yes, you did,” Mikage affirmed, “I thought we were alike, just two different ends of the spectrum. I, for no good reason, and you for too many. A little bit meek, always one step from doing the wrong thing - or maybe too many steps already in that direction. Seeing you try to change yourself for the better, getting a grapple on your powers, not letting Divine or your parents keep you down. If someone worse off than me could do that, what was stopping me? Why was I letting my bosses trample over me and why was I saying socially awkward things in ways that made people feel bad?”
“O-oh.” Aki murmured.
Mikage shrank in on herself. “And I’ve gone and done it again, haven’t I? Old habits die hard.”
“N-No, it's not like that.” Aki stuttered, blushing. “I just didn’t realise that I’d had quite such a ripple effect. It’s flattering.”
“Bold but do no harm.” Mikage stated. “That’s what I saw in your resolve and I wanted to imitate that.”
“I’m glad I could do such a thing for you.” Aki replied.
“You did.” Mikage said. “I finally rejected Tetsuo’s advances; I was flattered but uninterested. In doing so, that helped prepare me for when Jack inevitably said the same thing unto me. I haven’t had much interest in anyone lately but… but I’m hoping the inspiration and catalyst could be the start of something else. If you would have me? My treat, that is, we could go out for dinner.”
Aki’s heart fluttered. “I, um, that’s so sudden, Mikage.”
“You can wait on it.” Mikage said. “Or turn me down. I’m happy just to have said my piece.”
Aki took a deep breath. She looked so at ease in her white doctor’s jacket as she kept holding onto the bouquet; it nestled against her breast and her eyes softened.
“I’d like that.” Aki said on her exhale. “It’s sudden, yes, but where is the harm in it? It could be fun and, perhaps, it could be my turn to take inspiration or the like from you.”
Mikage’s heart skipped a beat. She didn’t realise how romantic of a line she had used until it had come out of Aki’s mouth but she smiled, resisting the urge to hide behind her hands or otherwise succumb to the social awkwardness that she had spent years trying to amend all, more or less, for this moment right now.
“So, should I pick the venue?” Mikage asked.
“I’d like that.” Aki said. “I like being surprised.”
Art by @tophyart, commissioned by VoicesOfChaos. She added a level of depth and polish to my idea that really made the artwork pop! I’m impressed with how much emotions her figures project. Please check out and support her work!
For Alit, every match is a rough battle that involves getting hit a lot and taking a lot of pain. But as long as he has his angels, Yuma and Kotori, in his corner he can endure it. Their love heals any wound and gives him the strength to stand again. He fights on to protect his precious loved ones.
Ok, yeah sure, Nasch. That one was a given, but nowadays? Alit was really gunning for the title of 'annoying asshole'.
Warnings: Post canon
Pairings: One-sided Alit/Yuma; One-sided Alit/Kotori; One-sided Vector/Yuma; Alit/Vector if you squint
Read it here on AO3!
Commission info here!
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Vector groaned at the sound of hurried feet made its way across the upper floor of the mansion yet again, this having been the 5th time it'd happened in the past 20 minutes while he was trying to watch his damned tv show. The ginger was trying to be good, and not go upstairs and put a stop to the noise itself, but as the sound occurred again for the 6th time in a row, Vector clenched his fist and exhaled heavily through his nose.
You know who was real fucking annoying?
Ok, sure, Nasch yeah. That one was a given, but nowadays? Alit was really gunning for the title of 'annoying asshole'.
Sure, Alit joined him sometimes when pulling pranks around the mansion, especially ones against Mizael and Durbe, but nowadays he'd been particularly irritating. And it was usually before he'd gone and done something stupid like hang out with Yu--
"Hey, Vec!"
Vector slowly turned his head at the sound of Alit's voice coming from the entryway of the mansion's living room, glaring daggers at the tanned teen cuz honestly, why couldn't he be left to watch his tv show in piece? But Alit either didn't notice the death glare or just flat out didn't care, because he continued to speak.
"Does this outfit look alright?"
Alit was dressed in a dark blue sleeveless workout shirt that was just the slightest bit tight looking, showing off the muscles on his arms, as well as his chest thanks to that slight tightness. He was also wearing a pair of black jeans that were also the slightest bit tight. When Vector failed to answer, - instead giving Alit a pointed look of unamusement which again the brunet seemed to either not notice or not care about - Alit slowly turned, showing off the outfit from all sides. There was a thick stripe of white on the sides of the shirt, under the arms, that reached the edge of the shirt. When Alit moved, the back of the shirt also helped to accentuate the tonedness of his back, and his pants (jesus christ above why did Vector need to see this) helped show off his ass, the slight tightness to the jeans showing off some curvature.
"Why ask me?" Vector growled, turning his attention back to the tv, trying to focus on it. "Why not ask Gilag?"
"Cuz!" Alit said, his hands curling into excited fists as he lifted up and down on the balls of his feet, "Gil's at the gym!"
"Then ask Merag, Durbe, literally someone other than me!"
Alit huffed and stopped moving excitedly, folding his arms. "Rio and Ryoga are in their rooms! Durbe's at his college and Mizael is probably with him, helping him study. And c'mon, its been like, almost 7 years, you can at least call Nasch and Merag 'Ryoga' and 'Rio' now."
"Nope." They'd always be Nasch and Merag to him. They'd never complained or made him try to call them anything different, so why should he bother catering to their newer, modern names? "Also, you look like shit. Leave me alone." With that, Vector raised the volume on the tv, hoping that was the end of the conversation.
Unfortunately for him, it wasn't.
Alit groaned and walked over, yanking the remote from Vector's hand, the ginger giving a "Hey!" of contempt. He then paused the tv show and looked to Vector, putting his hands on his hips. "C'mon, just be honest, alright? Unless that's too hard for you."
"Why would I bother feeding you a compliment, you idiot?" Vector tried to swipe the remote back from the hand at Alit's hip, but the ex-gladiator was too quick, and effortlessly moved his hand back, out of Vector's reach.
"A compliment, huh? So I do look good?" Alit flashed Vector a toothy grin then, and Vector growled, standing up from his spot on the couch to try and get the remote back.
"I said you look like shit, you asshole, now give me the remote!" Vector tried again to swipe the remote from Alit's hand by lurching towards the hand holding it, but Alit tossed the remote up in the air, sidestepping so that Vector's lurching caused him to fall forward, falling face first into the floor. Alit then caught the remote as it fell, whistling a single note as he took in the sight of Vector flat on the ground.
"Wow." Alit clicked his tongue, and playfully tossed the remote up and down, catching it repeatedly. "You really wanna watch this show, huh?"
Vector seethed as he pulled himself into a sitting position, only to look up and be met with Alit's gaze, a single emerald green eye positively glowing with mischievousness. At that, Vector pulled himself up, and stomped to Alit, who quit tossing the remote into the air. They were in each other's faces for the most part, Vector being an inch or so taller than Alit, and he sighed. "Fine, you look like half-way decent shit."
"I'll take it." Alit said with a grin, handing the remote back to Vector, who snatched it up angrily. "See? A little honesty can do you some good."
"Fuck you."
"Maybe later," Alit chuckled, "if I'm not dating an angel by then."
At that, Vector groaned, his head rolling back as he closed his eyes. "Not this shit again."
Alit pouted. "What shit?"
Vector looked pointedly at Alit then, before plopping back onto the couch. "This 'angel' shit. It's always 'Yuma, Yuma, Yuma' with you, or 'Kotori, Kotori, Kotori'. Just give up." He then turned his attention back to the tv. "Like you said, it's been almost 7 years. If they don't want you by now they're not gonna."
"You don't know that for sure, though." Alit said with a smile, clearly not fazed by Vector's words.
"Yuma's waiting for Astral to come back." Vector said, looking at Alit for what he hoped would be the last time for this conversation. "That's why he hasn't given you the time of day. I don't care about Kotori, nor do I want to, but there's bound to be some reason she doesn't want you either." With that, Vector unpaused the program, and resumed watching the television.
Alit was silent, and for a few moments, Vector was convinced the conversation was indeed, over. But from the corner of his eye, he watched as Alit stayed out, the ex-gladiator's arms folding as he smiled knowingly.
"At least I'm honest with myself about my feelings."
What?
Vector paused the program once more, looking to Alit unamusedly. "What?"
"I'm just sayin'." Alit continued, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke. "I'm honest with people and myself when it comes to my feelings for them." That knowing smile was still plastered on Alit's face, and he spoke once more. "Too bad you can't say the same thing about yourself and Yuma."
What.
Violet eyes bore into Alit then, Vector trying to fight the heat rising to his lightly freckled face. But no such luck was on his side, as Alit began laughing and pointing a finger at Vector's blushing. Alit's laughter promptly stopped, however, the second Vector suddenly lunged at him and knocked him down to the ground.
Vector landed a solid punch to the side of Alit's face, though his pride at landing a blow to the younger male was short lived as he felt himself being lifted and knocked into the wall of the living room, pain blossoming through his back as he made contact with the wall. A punch to his gut knocked the wind out of him, and he choked on air, his hands flying to his stomach as he lurched forward from the pain. Alit had been knelt in front of Vector when he'd delivered the blow, but as Vector was hunched over in pain, he stood up, wiping his hands against each other and beginning to walk away.
He hadn't expected Vector to recover so quickly, nor had he expected the ginger to have grabbed him by the ankle, causing him to fall forward into the floor. With a 'thud!, Alit landed on the ground, and he felt Vector climb over him and turn him over, the ginger going for another punch to the face. Alit however, moved his head in time, Vector's fist pulling back after coming into contact with the carpet and not flesh, and Alit used that to grab Vector by the shoulders and roll him over. Vector mimicked the action, and attempted to roll over again so that he could be above Alit instead of below him, and the two fought for the position, rolling into the wall more than once.
"What the hell is going on down here?!"
Even at the sound of Rio's voice, the two young adults kept fighting, and it wasn't until pairs of hands pulled them away from each other that they stopped.
"What the fuck are you two fighting about?" Ryoga spoke this time, holding Alit from behind, his arms going under Alit's, and wrapping back upwards to hold at his shoulders.
Both males were silent at the question, each struggling against their fellow ex-Barian's holds. Vector growled and tried to yank himself away from Rio, but she was alot stronger than she looked, and was able to keep him locked in place.
"I'm not gonna ask again," Ryoga said threateningly, "What are you two fucking fighting about?!"
"Ryoga," Rio spoke up, looking over Vector's shoulder at her twin, "The last thing I need is you fighting too. Now," Rio looked at Alit. "Who threw the first punch?"
Alit pointed at Vector as best he could from Ryoga's hold. "Vector."
"Of course he did." Ryoga muttered with disdain, glaring at the ginger.
"Shut the fuck up, Nasch."
Rio tightened her hold on Vector at that. "Why'd you punch him?"
Vector turned his head to look at her. "Because he was being a fucking asshole!"
"I was just talking to him about the importance of honesty!" Alit said all too innocently, which got him looks from both Rio and Ryoga. "Then I was going to go see Yuma and Kotori!"
With dual sighs, the twins let both their captives go, though Ryoga was quick to grab onto Vector when he lunged for Alit again. "Nope. Not happening."
"You do realize Alit can beat the shit out of you if he wanted to, right, Vector?" Rio asked, he hands on her hips as she walked to the ginger, looking him in the eyes.
... Oh yeah. That was right. He was on a wrestling scholarship. ...Maybe he shouldn't have thrown that first punch.
"Whatever, I can kick his ass!" Vector yelled as he struggled against Ryoga's hold.
Alit merely laughed, beginning to walk out of the living room and towards the foyer so he could reach the front door. "Sorry we bugged you guys." Alit apologized to the twins, giving them a small wave before he disappeared into the foyer, and the remaining three inhabitants in the house heard the front door close.
At that, Ryoga let go of Vector, who scoffed and dusted himself off. The two shared a look of mutual loathing, before folding their arms and looking away from each other.
"Maybe we should have let Alit beat the shit out of him."
"Ryoga." Rio chided.
The three young adults' heads turned towards the foyer at the sound of the door opening up again, and after a few seconds, Alit's head and part of his upper body popped into view from the entryway point of the living room.
"Oh, just remember, Vector." He said, amusement dancing in his gaze before speaking again. "A little honesty can do you some good."
Ryoga had to restrain Vector once more, as Alit left again, walking out the door laughing.
Kaito is using the sleep; Haruto wanted to watch the fireworks on TV but Kaito passed out about two hours ago and now he’s sleeping with his head on Mizael’s lap and Mizael is just kinda absently playing with his hair while Haruto claps and cheers at the festivities on the tv
Judai, Johan, and Yubel are watching variety shows, Johan made Too Much Udon and Yubel is eating most of it. Judai’s drifting off already and Johan and Yubel have decided that if he falls asleep they are mutually going to ignore any of his sleepy protests and drag him off to bed to cuddle
Alit is getting really REALLY hyped and he didn’t know that Vector spiked the punch so he is super drunk. He’s been flirting with Kotori all night which is fine because they are totally already dating but he asked if she was single and then cried when she said she wasn’t. Kotori took pity on him and let him fall asleep with his head in her lap.
#project hail mary
#lana del rey
#photography
#quotes
