okay so awesome moot @wateryhibiscus asked in my ask game post abt whatever yzr plot i mentioned in it and so uh... here it is friend :D
it's based on see you next attack by meychan, which. if you haven't listened to that song, PLEASE DO?? IT'S SUCH AN INTERESTING LISTEN it scratches my brain a whole bunch!
Basically, it's a cautionary/yandere-ish sort of tale about Yuzuru and my sona Tsunemi... (Which. if she's mentioned I should be posting this on my sona blog. But I don't gaf. If you don't know Tsunemi, go look at my sona blog, you'll love her I promise!) They have a whole mutual love at first sight situation on the train, and on a whim, she hires him as a butler to try and fix her messy life. At first, things are normal, he's doing everything he should, cooking for her, cleaning up around her apartment... He's satisfied with just that, at the start.
But then something shifts. He starts visiting more often, even when he doesn't need to. At some points, he visits without warning, or starts coming in when she's not home. He claims its just for wellness, for his own security, but how exactly do you explain things going missing from her room, notes left behind, and the clear shift in his demeanor to something darker?
It's obsession. That's what it is. Plain and simple, but under the guise of love and care. And he's taking advantage of the closeness, the free home entry. Shit hits the fan pretty fast, there's probably a bit of Yuzuru snapping in it... the whole deal.
That's pretty much the extent of what I have for this?? I just want to see more scary freaky Yuzuru.... The world needs more Yuzuru horror and if I was more goated at art, I would love to draw him with this concept in mind (and other enstars horror based stuff w/ my sona invovled, i have a lot of other stuff in my weird brain)... But it will live on in said weird brain for the foreseeable future. Unless I maybe write it.
The TWST anime has me BACK in the Tsuneko building!!! I had to redraw them as one of the little charms from the EP 1 post-credits scene. And so here it is!
I'm so happy it came out so well too heheheh... Expect more Tsuneko content hopefully? I miss them (and Sebeko) very much...
woah new sona alert??? hi hello! uh welcome back to this dead ass blog.
anyways i remembered that touchstarved exists and now i'm selfshipping with kuras yay! my sona's name is tsukiko, an oracle who made their way to eridia and fell in love with a certain angelic doctor...
currently running w they/she pronouns for them, and currently pondering more/drawing them more... i hope you all enjoy the kintsugi theming as well... even though the curse is in their hands, i love imagining them w glowing gold cracks... very gorgous.
anyways yeah that's it! i promise i will bring this blog back to life with my own two hands at some point. for now here you all go :D
Pairing: Tsunemi Hirano/Keito Hasumi (ft. Camellia and AKATSUKI!)
Word Count: 2836I
A/N: Hello! Welcome to an unexpected Day 6! You may be wondering, "Tsun, where'd Day 5 go? What happened to Day 5?!" Well... I was super locked out. And Day 5 was also not planned out very well, much like Day 4. It's currently a WIP, and will hopefully be finished before the week is out... So please bear with me!
This is also the longest author's note yet, because I'm calling out everyone who loves KeiTsune (aka my dear shawties). You all know who you are. I hate these two so so much (/hj) and they make me miserable, so I hope you all are happy. With all that out of the way, I hope you enjoy Day 6!
Tsunemi had repeated those words to herself over and over and over, trying to stop herself from wringing her own hands out like wet rags. She could feel her fingers trembling, hell, her entire body was being wracked with shivers. Even with the thin robes the ryokan had provided her, she still felt swelteringly hot in the small room.
Today had been something straight out of her nightmares, it seemed.
ShawtyPOP!, her unit, had been lucky enough to get a job in the distant city of Kyoto, a sweet respite from their clogged schedules. The change of scenery was much needed, and with Vyse holding the home front, there seemed to be nothing getting in the way of the rest of the unit’s relaxation. Even in the summer heat, Tsunemi could at least keep a cool head and recharge while getting the job done.
That is, until something came up. Or rather, someone.
She remembered seeing that head of green hair in the entrance hall of the inn, and she felt her heart nearly leap out of her throat. Her hands gripped her luggage much tighter than she wanted, and her one and only desire at that moment was to walk back out the door, take a train back home, and never step foot in this inn again. She shrunk back behind the other three of her unitmates, trying to make herself as small as possible, to not attract his or his unit’s attention, but to no avail.
The first to notice her presence was Kuro, his eyes locking onto hers as she looked away. “Ah, heya, Little Nemi!” His voice was much too loud, probably on purpose, and the rest of AKATSUKI turned to look, much to her dismay. Even more so, her blockade of friends had slightly dispersed, leaving only Camellia standing vaguely at her side.
“A-Ah… Kuro, h-hi.” She nodded vaguely in his direction. “And Souma, too.”
“...And?” Camellia had piped up, looking at Tsunemi as if to say “Say hi to you-know-who, too.”
“...And… Mr. Hasumi.” Her voice was near-silent, keeping her head down.
Keito was already staring at her, an unreadable expression on his face. “...Hello, Hirano.”
She never liked the way her heart fluttered at the sound of her own name on his lips. She never liked any way her body reacted whenever Keito Hasumi was involved. It was almost involuntary, the way her knees began to feel weaker and weaker, as if a horrible spell had been cast upon her, or the way her eyes always had to find anything else to stare at, as if she would turn to stone if she stared at those sharp eyes of his. It was embarrassing how obviously her body reacted, but her mind shoved it away, packed it away so no one would ever know.
To everyone else, however, the signs were quite obvious. More than quite, really.
“It’s a surprise to see you and AKATSUKI here, Lotus.” Camellia continued to speak, and Tsunemi also winced at how casual her friend seemed to be with the man. “What are all you doing here?”
“We’re actually here for a job of our own nearby.” He responded, pushing up his glasses. “Nothing special for us, really, since the job required a traditional-style unit, and we’re usually the top choice for things like that. Of course, I’m still hoping we can branch out beyond that view of us one day, but… it’s something like our specialty. Nothing wrong with embracing it.”
“Work too... How funny, we’re also here on a job!” Camellia stepped towards Kuro and Souma with a small smile, staring directly at Tsunemi. “This was the closest accommodation to where our shoot’s located, so we ended up here too! Such a chance encounter, right, birdie?”
“Eh?” All eyes were on her again. “Oh, uh, y-yeah… Funny how… fate works.”
“Lady Tsunemi, are you alright?” Souma’s voice was clear, something like a welcoming sound compared to Tsunemi’s messy thoughts.
She felt herself shrink back a little more at the sound of both Camellia and Kuro’s giggling. She knew why they were laughing, the two of them knew exactly what was going on, while Souma could only stare at Tsunemi in concern, her red, sweaty face looking more like a sign of sickness to him, perhaps.
Keito could only stare at her, eyes narrowed as he stepped towards her.
“Hirano.”
“E-Eh, uhm, y-yes?”
“...We should go.”
He said it with a scary sense of finality, and grabbed her wrist. Her mind immediately blanked out at the touch, so much so that she didn’t even realize what was going on. Nothing was explained, nothing was said between them, the only telling sign being a slight tinge to Keito’s cheeks and an even scarier glare than normal.
It was a whirlwind after that, but she vaguely remembered getting a room, albeit not alone, and being dragged away from the entrance hall, her hand going numb while Keito held her wrist the whole way. Everything was blurry, her eyes completely unfocused, too focused on the proximity of the two of them and the situation they were in…
And as she sat alone in the room, waiting for Keito to change into his robes, Tsunemi came back to, and instantly began to panic.
So now, here she was, in her own robes she had changed into in a hurry to be alone, hands clammy, staring down at the tatami mats, trying to count each strand of hemp, trying not to think of anything, but thinking of everything.
They would end up sharing a room together. Her and Keito Hasumi, in the same room of the inn, spending a night together.
Absolutely no one would hear the end of this.
The door slid back open, and Keito entered the room, sitting beside her, not saying a word. She couldn’t help but stare at him in the different outfit, the way the fabric brought out the color of his eyes, how different a relaxed version of him looked. How could he be so relaxed, in the wake of a situation like this?! Sharing a room with someone was already intimate in of itself, but the two of them together, potentially sharing the same futon… She didn’t want to think about being curled up in the same bed as him, the feeling of his hands on her body, staring at his sleeping face, or him looking at her, nothing but the sound of their breathing and the natural sounds of summer in the background…
“Hirano.”
“Y-Yes?!” She could only get so flustered at the sound of his voice.
“Relax.” It was more of a command than anything else, as he scooted a bit closer to her. “Nothing’s wrong.”
If only he knew. Everything was wrong right now, everything about this was wrong, nothing here was supposed to happen! She was supposed to be rooming alone, or with literally anyone else, not… not with him. She would rather be anywhere else, with anyone else—
He let out a soft sigh, definitely noticing her skittish expression. “...I don’t understand why you’re so scared.”
“I-I’m not… scared.” She lied through her teeth. “It’s just… Y-You don’t see anything wrong with this, Mr. Hasumi?”
“No, I don’t.”
She froze at the confidence in his voice.
“S-Surely you do, right?!”
“It was my idea. So no, nothing’s wrong with this. The only thing we’re doing is sharing a room for a night. That’s not an issue, is it?”
“...W-Well, it’s just… It’s…” She muttered, trying to get her words out. “It’s… you.”
“Me?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you think so lowly of me that you couldn’t trust me for a night?”
She felt shame bubble up at his accusation, and she shook her head. “N-No, no! I know you wouldn’t… do anything like that, b-but, it’s moreso… It’s just…” It was hard to explain everything that was wrong with this. The fact that it was him was the thing that scared her most of all. It was him, the man she feared the most, the man she had never wanted to feel attracted to, sitting here beside her like nothing was wrong. And here she was, mind wandering about sharing a bed together, butterflies in her stomach. “...It’s you.”
Keito clearly didn’t understand what she meant. He didn’t push, didn’t pry, only scooted closer to her, his side rubbing up against hers. She let out a tiny squeak at the action, feeling even more embarrassed at the feeling of his hand resting atop hers.
“M-Mr. Hasumi?”
“There’s nothing to be scared of, Hirano. Look at me.”
She tried to, eyes flicking up to meet his, but as soon as they made contact, she looked back down at his hand on top of hers, no sound coming from her. She could feel his eyes on her head, feel them boring holes into her entire face as he studied her flustered expression, shy and vulnerable. It felt like he was staring for a long, long time, trying to make sense of everything going right now, trying to probe into her head and make it make sense.
“Look at me.” He repeated softly, reaching out a hand to hold her chin in place. He could hear her breathing pick up as he stared deep into her eyes, leaning in to try and make sense of whatever was going on in her brain.
Well, he had an idea, but… he wanted to at least be sure he wasn’t reading the room wrong.
Tsunemi was completely frozen as he leaned in and searched her face, lips parting to try and form words, but those words got caught in her throat, forming a lump in her throat. She tried to lean away again, get away from all this warmth and newfound… something bubbling in her chest from all this, but Keito closed the gap twice as fast, nose nearly brushing against her.
She could feel the air shift as he breathed in, and he spoke quietly, as if not trying to scare her.
“...Deep breaths.”
“H-Huh?”
“Breathe with me, Hirano.” He mumbled, beginning to breathe in and out, slowly, to try and relax her. Tsunemi followed suit, trying to relax her mind from his hand on her chin, the way his lips laid right in front of her, the closeness and warmth of his body… Her breathing only got more haggard, her eyes unfocusing again, her body swaying slightly from the definite lack of oxygen reaching her brain.
It only got worse as his hand shifted to her cheek, and he repeated quietly, “Breathe.”
The effect his voice had on her was too much. She drew away, nearly scrambling back deeper into the room, face much too hot and sweaty for her own liking. Her own eyes watered from the temperature, and Keito looked shocked at the sudden action, drawing away as well.
“S-Sorry…” She started, “I… M-Maybe I’m just not feeling well? I think I’m… ready to lay down.”
“...Already?” He stood up. “I-It is quite late. I understand, maybe we should retire.”
He was swift in pulling the futon out of the closet, fluffing it up and setting it out near the wide window in the room. Tsunemi watched his focused expression, the way his hands worked to set everything up so she could be comfortable… She had to turn away from the scene to stop her mind from wandering. It was already a mess in her own head, trying to make sense of every feeling, every tingly sensation in her body… all she wanted to do was close her eyes and rest, pretend none of this was happening, go to sleep and move on to the next day.
“It’s done.” He called out from behind her. “Come rest.”
She stood up, nearly falling over because of her weakened knees, stumbling her way over to the futon. She took a moment to stare down at the mattress, before crawling under the duvet, trying to curl up and make herself smaller, safer in the wake of all these feelings.
The lights flicked off, and she could feel herself start to relax at the lack of visibility. Not being able to see him made things feel a little better. If he was out of her sight, he could at least be a little out of her mind. If she didn’t have to look at him directly, make any contact with him, then perhaps she could sleep normally, pretend he didn’t exist, and make it all go away.
She felt him slip beside her in the futon, and her head immediately whipped around.
There he was, laying there beside her, glasses off, staring at her. He said nothing, the moonlight from the window washing his face in a soft glow, and Tsunemi felt her heart beat just that little bit faster. Her heart had been racing the whole time, and it had somehow begun to hurt with how fast and hard it was, not helping the faintness she felt.
He scooted closer, and she felt the way his legs tangle with her under the covers. She squeaked again, too nervous to even move away. She had only turned her head, not her entire body, so she quickly turned back to stare out the window at the sky, trying not to think too hard…
That plan was quickly foiled by the feeling she had been both dreading and anticipating in equal amounts: The feeling of his arms and hands wrapping around her waist, pulling her closer to him. The warmth of his hands sunk through the fabric of her own robes, reaching her already heated skin, making her gasp at the sudden contact. She didn’t want to turn around anymore, in fact, lest she see a facial expression her heart wasn’t ready to see from him. She shuddered at the touch, at the feeling of her back on his chest, and the new, sudden feeling of his head burying in her shoulder.
“M-Mr. Hasumi—?!” Tsunemi whispered, before she was shushed by him.
“Shh.”
She didn’t speak for a moment, hearing Keito’s soft breathing, feeling his arms hold her a little tighter in the dark room.
“...I’m sorry.” The first thing he did was apologize. “I… Hirano, I know.”
“E-Eh?” She could barely speak, her throat giving out on her.
“I know what’s troubling you. I… I know what you feel. About me.”
She felt the dread build up again. If he knew, and she knew, then..
“It’s okay. I… I think I understand. I understand that conveying things like that is difficult, even more so because of… how you feel about me as a person. But… But I hope that we can be closer… and you can say it one day.”
“I-I don’t know what you mean—”
“Don’t lie.”
He had a way of silencing her that made her heart flutter even more.
“It’s obvious, you know? You definitely aren’t subtle.” He could hear him softly laugh right in her ear. “But… I find that quite endearing about you, Hirano. Your honesty, no matter how much you want to hide something.”
“...S-Stop making fun of me…” She covered her face with her hands, whining a little as she felt her own heart pick up its pace.
“...I’m serious. I think every single way your body shows its attraction towards me is cute. Especially when you get all warm… it makes me want to keep holding you tight like this.”
She let out a choked little noise at his words, feeling herself heat up so much more under the covers.
“So please let me. Even if you aren’t ready to confess it just yet… I’ll hold you close, this feeling close… and wait. No matter how long it takes.” He snuggled closer to her, and she could feel his heartbeat, loud and strong against her back. “Breathe, Hirano. It’s me. I’m here.”
Tsunemi let out that deep breath, completely frozen as the two of them laid there, under the cover of night, bodies as close as they could be. She still covered her face, trying to at least close her eyes and will away everything she wanted to confess to him right there in that futon.
And when the moonlight gave way to sunlight the next morning, Tsunemi still found herself in Keito’s arms. She quickly untangled herself, her face practically never changing color from that permanent shade of red.
When both units checked out of the inn that morning, Tsunemi didn’t look or say a word to anyone. No one needed to know what happened in that room last night. But those words… The sentiment still echoed loud and clear in Tsunemi’s mind.
Perhaps she just wasn’t ready to confront it yet. But.. he’d wait. Hold the feelings close, just like he held her that night.
In which HiMERU and Tsunemi take a trip abroad, and a change of perspective opens up his world...
Pairing: Tsunemi Hirano/HiMERU
Word Count: 2603
A/N: Hello! Welcome to the hardest prompt of this week! I... really had no ideas for this, even as someone who was born and raised in America... I went the standard route of my ship going to the Big Apple, but it's... more about HiMERU as a character, I guess? This one was very unplanned and very late... but I still hope it's good! Hope you enjoy Day 4! :D
Event Ping: @enstars-selfship-season
Divider Credit: @/purefantasia
Writing below the cut!
“HiMERU still believes this is the best plan of action.”
“Really? I mean, it’s a lot of reservations, a lot to do… Do you really think we’ll make it everywhere in time?”
“If we’re efficient, then yes.”
Tsunemi looked at HiMERU’s flat face with increasing worry. “Only if we’re efficient? What if something comes up? This is my first time overseas, I don’t know how good public transport is, especially in a foreign place like this!”
“HiMERU has travelled to New York City a few times for international work.” He stated simply. “It shouldn’t be an issue for us to get where we need to go. All HiMERU asks is that… we stay focused. Please, no distractions.”
“...That’s asking a bit much.”
For Tsunemi, asking her to not get distracted in a big, new place like this was like asking a child to stay calm in a toy store. Tsunemi was born and raised in Japan, and that place was all she knew. She had been to other parts of Japan, sure, her work required her to pack her bags and take trains to different prefectures, but… outside of that, she hadn’t stepped foot off the island ever in her life.
The prospect of travelling to America for a week was first brought up professionally by a few higher-ups, as a suggestion to any idol willing to take on overseas work. Of course, that chance was snatched up extremely quickly by many different faces, some seeing it as a grand business opportunity, others using it as a quick escape from the stifling atmosphere of the workplace. Many idols packed their bags and flew across the world to get a chance at variety, which left ES a bit empty for quite some time.
Tsunemi had considered branching out and taking that chance, but felt… unequipped for a trip as large as that. There were still so many things to take care of here in Japan, and she was quite scared of heights, so she wasn’t sure how she’d fare on a plane, and she absolutely did not want to go to an all-new place by herself. She didn’t want to bother her entire unit about it either, since the summer was quite a busy season for everyone… She really wanted to take a vacation, but there seemed to be no reasonable time to fit it in her schedule.
That is, until another prospect came up, one she didn’t expect to be so on board with.
HiMERU had plans to travel to America for a foreign job. It didn’t need another person, exactly, he was completely fine and expecting to go alone, really. He was fully expecting to pack his bags and take a break from his rowdy unitmates. But at some point, there was a strange shift in the plan, one that HiMERU didn’t expect. The foreign job now had a sort of side quest attached to it, something about showcasing idols in the city, engaging in local activities and enjoying an urban vacation. Interesting in concept, HiMERU thought, but a bit uninteresting if it was him by himself.
So, he sought out someone he was relatively close with that he assumed wouldn’t cause him and the job any problems.
And with alarming swiftness, she had agreed. He didn’t exactly understand why she was so on board with going to an absolutely foreign country, language barrier and all, but the look in her eyes when he had asked definitely had something to do with it, he could tell.
He knew very well of the feelings hidden deep inside her heart, those pure eyes hiding nothing. And he wasn’t sure of his own feelings towards those feelings. But he allowed her to come with her anyway, something about the “dynamic between them” and the difference in their personalities could perhaps make for an interesting job.
And so here they were, dressed to the most casual nines they could muster, trying to make sense of HiMERU’s itinerary for things to do. He seemed to have found the most popular spots to visit, accounting for general tourism times and commute times… It was quite in depth for only a day’s worth of activities. Tsunemi wasn’t surprised, of course; From what she knew, HiMERU was a very meticulous person, always making sure things were in order before doing it, very clean and composed. That was something she liked about him, the way he was always so well-put together. Compared to her sporadic nature, he was the perfect contrast to her.
Perhaps that’s why she felt the immediate pull as they sat side by side during Ibara Lecture.
She stared at him as he walked, radiant as ever, tapping on his phone idly. Perhaps he was making sure everything was scheduled, or getting in contact with the people who were in charge of the job… She couldn’t tell. She fiddled with the camera around her neck, the one given to her in hopes of taking photos befitting of ‘idols on vacation’. She really wanted to get started already, take pictures of the naturally gorgeous man beside her, but she didn’t want to get too hasty. He’d probably get upset at her if she took pictures willy-nilly…
But that truly and honestly did not stop her from staring as she walked.
And as he turned to look back at her, she looked away.
“What? Does HiMERU have something on his face?”
“No. S-Sorry, it’s just…” She stared straight ahead, trying to navigate the slightly busy street. “...aren’t we supposed to turn here?”
“HiMERU knows that you were admiring him.” He stated it like a fact, which made her blush.
“Well, I-I mean, yeah, b-but…” She couldn’t really… deny it, when he said it like that. It was hard to ever argue with him when he said everything with such confidence. It was like he was some sort of iceberg, unmeltable by the light she shined. “...I was. S-Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. HiMERU understands.” He shook his head, before looking back down at his phone. “Yes, we’re supposed to turn here. At this rate, we’ll get to where we’re supposed to be on time.”
Tsunemi let out a small mumble at the power of his cold shoulder. He was so cool, both literally and figuratively, an ice-cold idol. This was the first time she was working with him so closely, so she still had to warm up to him, even as the sun herself. It was difficult, because she was never really sure what he was thinking at any given time. Hell, she didn’t know if he even liked her, really.
She really hoped he did. Because she liked him.
As they made their way down the street, the sky seemed to get smaller above them, shrouding them in slight shadow. The buildings seemed to loom tall overhead, although these seemed to be more residential than anything else. Plants sat outside them on stairwells or out beside doors, trees dotting the edge of the sidewalk, swaying in the summer breeze, against the lovely green and the brick of the houses. Tsunemi couldn’t help but raise her camera, trying to sneak a candid shot of HiMERU.
Of course, she was anything but subtle. And HiMERU wanted nothing but the best for this job. He stared directly into the camera and gave a smile, albeit not a full one, but one enough to pass as genuine.
She stared down at the screen at the photo, feeling the tips of her ears burn at just the sight of his smiling face. He looked so perfect, how could she not be a bit envious? He was so natural, a perfect idol. She knew that that was the face he wanted to show the world, anyway, but for what it was worth, she knew he was naturally talented.
But she knew that there were things about him underneath. Everyone in ES had their secrets, vices, and… overall eccentricities, and so she knew that HiMERU had his own too. She wanted to get closer, understand his mind, perhaps show him a little light from her own world, but he always seemed so distant. She hoped that maybe this trip could be amicable, that she could take this chance to genuinely get closer to him…
As she was lost in thought, she stumbled forward, knocking into a little chalk sign standing on the side of the sidewalk. Both of them turned to look at the sign, Tsunemi tilting her head curiously as she attempted to read it.
“...C-C… Co…ffin?” She pulled out her own phone, trying to see if she could translate it back to Japanese. It took a second to type it in, letter by letter, but after a few moments, she could make some sense of it…
“Coffee, specialty blend, house-made. $3.” Her eyes widened, her steps widening to look at the building the sign was in front of. It was a beautiful classic building, perhaps an old townhome on this street, repurposed to become a lovely, quaint cafe, the scent of coffee wafting from the cracked door. The open sign hung invitingly on the outside, the windows wide and full of plants and flowers. It was a beautiful respite, standing out from the gray, drab sidestreet, practically calling the two travelers inside.
And yet, HiMERU breezed by it, not saying a word to Tsunemi.
“Eh?! You’re…”
“Not interested, no. We have places to be.” He brushed it aside, not even sparing it a glance.
“B-But…”
He turned to look at Tsunemi, her dejected expression, the way she stared at the cracked door like a poor dog left outside by its owner. She didn’t look at HiMERU, just… staring at the building.
“But what?” He’d at least hear her out.
“I… I’ve never tried American coffee. And it’d… be nice to have a small break and pick-me-up… And I heard you liked coffee, HiMERU?”
“HiMERU does.” He replied simply, taking his turn to stare at the building. “...We have plans though.”
“Isn’t it not for a good few minutes? W-We have time for a small coffee break and conversation, don’t we?”
“...HiMERU supposes we do…”
“So we should go! I-I’m not sure how well we’d be able to order, but I really think… we should give this place a try.”
“It’s unplanned. What if it’s not as good as we expect? We can always come back here if we go this way again.”
“This is a side street! What are the chances we come back this way again during the whole trip?” Tsunemi turned to look at him. “...Even if it’s unexpected, I… have a good feeling about this place!”
HiMERU stared at Tsunemi for what seemed like forever, those pure, bright eyes betraying nothing of her feelings. He rarely understood the joys of spontaneity, but… in the face of such readable honesty and genuine want for a break… He could only sigh.
“...Fine. But we’re only going in for one cup, and not for too long. HiMERU has no issue trying new things.”
Tsunemi let out a cheer as he walked up the stairs, opening the cracked door to fully step into the cafe. It felt bigger than it looked on the outside, with a beautiful light wood and silver color scheme for the seating. A welcome mat sat right at the entrance, the counter warm and inviting, the silver tools of coffee-making shining in the faint sunlight from the large windows of the building. The plants inside seemed to stretch everywhere inside the building, hanging from the windows, small succulents on the tables, ivy (most likely fake) clinging to the light fixtures on the ceiling. The server at the front gave them a peppy ‘Welcome!’ as they stepped inside, and the two of them nodded at them respectfully.
The place was pretty, HiMERU had to admit.
After a somewhat long ordering process thanks to the intimidating language barrier, the two of them were able to secure two piping hot cups of coffee. Tsunemi, admittedly, didn’t do very well with straight coffee, and opted to get hers with creamer and sugar to lessen the blow, but HiMERU took his straight black. Tsunemi seemed impressed at the steaming cup of brown liquid as they sat by the window, the two of them the only customers in sight.
“...I don’t get how you can drink that stuff…” She mumbled.
“It’s an acquired taste. HiMERU enjoys it.”
“...To each their own, I guess?
The two of them sat in silence for a moment, before HiMERU huffed. “Well, HiMERU supposes he’ll try this coffee. It has a nice aroma, so perhaps this will be worth it.”
He wafted the steam to his face, catching the aroma once more before bringing the little ceramic mug to his mouth and sipping it slowly. Tsunemi winced at the way he was able to handle such hot drinks without flinching, but she froze as soon as he did, his eyes wide as he stared into the cup.
“Eh? What’s wrong, HiMERU?”
“This… This is high-quality coffee. Not the best HiMERU has tasted, but… this is delicious.”
“See?” Tsunemi took a sip of her own coffee, and though she winced too at the overpowering taste of coffee not covered by the sweetness of the creamer and sugar, she tried to savor it as best as she could. “It’s… good, I think.”
“HiMERU is… quite impressed. A place in the middle of nowhere in the city… serving coffee as good as this?” He took another long sip of it, holding it there in his mouth, truly trying to get a grasp of the depths of the flavor. “Bitter, but with a slight lingering sweetness that makes you want to go for another sip… Addictive.”
“...And you didn’t want to come in.” She smiled at him. “You were against it. We wouldn’t have found this amazing coffee that you enjoyed if you didn’t embrace a shift in schedule.”
“...” He didn’t say anything, looking away. “...Perhaps HiMERU was too quick to judge.”
“Perhaps. But really, I know you’re… really serious about work and doing all this efficiently and right the first time… but it’s a vacation.” She stirred her coffee idly. “You don’t have to… y’know, do all that. The best part about vacations and going to new places is little things like this. Take a break from all that stuff and just… explore, y’know?”
And perhaps she was affecting him, finally, the light breaking through and cracking the ice.
HiMERU stared at Tsunemi like the sky had opened up. She wasn’t entirely wrong. Perhaps he was going about this the wrong way. He was set in his ways, but… perhaps this was a sign of some well needed change in his life. She always seemed to take changes like this in stride, never stopping or slowing down even when things went awry or never went to plan, a stark difference from the way he managed things. He had watched her grow from the shadows, brightening further and further…
He couldn’t manage to word out the fact that maybe, just maybe, he was curious in the same way she was about him. He could only stare at her, dumbfounded, but letting her words sink deep into his heart.
With that shocked expression on his face, coffee in hand, Tsunemi snapped a quick and sneaky photo of him, the sunrays falling on him perfectly.
“See, wouldn’t this be a perfect shot for the job?” She turned to show him the picture she had taken, and HiMERU felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment, a perfect candid photo.
Summary: the growth of SSERII and Izumi's relationship, as shown through two visits to Florence, alternating between scenes of a current date and flashbacks to when SSERII first confessed. As part of @enstars-selfship-season's current summer yume event, using the Kaigai Summer prompt
Word count: 1657
Author's Note: wahhhh first time writing anything serious in awhile... I'm so glad I managed to get something out for this event even if it's only one entry. Hopefully this isn't too hard to understand for the people who aren't already familiar with my sona's lore... also, stuck to primarily he/him for sserii in this one for continuity's sake but they use he/they
Fic under the cut!
“Izumi!”
The call of his name was nearly drowned out by the wind rushing past his ears and the running water meters below his feet, but Izumi recognized the familiar voice regardless. He quickly turned around and his eyes widened when what he saw confirmed that he hadn’t merely been hallucinating his voice.
“R-rii-kun!?” Izumi yelled back. He immediately forgot about whatever he had been on his way to, backtracking to be close enough to Shay to be able to hear each other over the noises of the busy city bridge overlooking the Arno River. “What are you-” he instinctually started speaking in Italian, a habit picked up from months spent in the foreign city, but caught himself and switched back to his native language. “What are you doing here?”
-
“Rii-kun,” Izumi said, “Do you know what you want?”
Shay furrowed his brow as he stared up at the menu, written entirely in a language he barely spoke more than a few words of. Of all the languages he had at least learned basic conversational skills for, Italian was not one of them. He hummed and held tighter onto his boyfriend’s hand as he thought.
“Uh… just a regular iced coffee, I guess?”
Izumi nodded, switching to Italian to give the barista both of their orders. Shay couldn’t tell exactly what words were being said, but he had to assume he was ordering for himself the same pretentious-looking crap he always got on their coffee dates. Izumi let go of his hand momentarily to take a handful of euros out of his pocket but immediately intertwined their fingers again once the money had been exchanged.
“Hey- wait, who said you were the one payin’?” Shay said, accusatory. Izumi turned to glare down at them as the barista started on their orders.
“Do you even have euros on you?” he asked, speaking in Japanese once again. Shay scoffed.
“Well, no, but,” he stuttered. “Do they not take card, or somethin’?”
Izumi looked around. The cafe they were in was an old-fashioned one, not one of the oldest buildings in the city by a long shot, but still far older than most of the buildings that surrounded Ensemble Square. They didn’t seem to be caught up with modern technology either, and the register wasn’t equipped to take credit cards. Izumi looked back at Shay with raised eyebrows.
-
“I couldn’t wait until the next time you were back in Japan-” Shay said, taking two small steps closer to Izumi.
“Wh-what?” Izumi asked.
“And I have to do this in person-”
“Do what? What are you talking about?”
Shay closed in on himself, avoiding eye-contact and taking a deep breath. He mumbled something that Izumi couldn’t quite hear.
“What?” he asked again, taking a few more steps forward to close the distance between them in an attempt to hear him better.
Shay’s brow furrowed, eyes focused on the river below.
“I said…” he looked back up, finally making eye contact with Izumi. “I said, I owe it to you to tell you face to face, that I feel the same way about you.”
Izumi blinked at him. Once, then twice.
“...seriously?”
Shay backed up a few steps, surprised by his reaction.
“Th-the hell do you mean ‘seriously’-”
Izumi pinched the bridge of his nose. “I mean, you seriously flew to the other side of the world, just because you felt like you owed it to me!?”
-
Shay sighed.
“I’m payin’ next time I’m able to, though,” he said. “Next time you’re back home.”
Izumi hummed, not disagreeing, but deliberately not agreeing either. This didn’t pass by unnoticed, and Shay scowled up at him, but Izumi was saved from further argument when the barista handed them their finished drinks over the counter with a cordial smile.
“Grazie,” Shay said, using the simple phrase he’d asked Izumi to teach him to thank the barista before exiting the cafe together, still hand in hand.
“I don’t understand why you’re so against me paying for our dates,” Izumi said once they were sat down at a table outside.
Shay took a sip of his coffee. Bland, like he expected, but that’s what he got for not asking for any translation of the menu options.
“It’s just…” he hesitated. “I hate it when people do things for me without askin’ for anything in return. Makes me feel like I still owe ‘em.”
Izumi stared at him for a moment, exasperated.
“It’s a date. I’m taking you out on a date. We are dating,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re my boyfriend, you don’t owe me for anything.”
“I know, I just…” Shay trailed off, thinking. “I want it to be fair. Equal. All that stuff.”
Izumi sighed.
-
“You said it in person,” Shay explained. “I was… too stupid to tell you then how I felt…”
“Rii-kun-”
“I know, it's insane, but I couldn't do it any other way,” he said. “I couldn't let myself. I love you, Izumi.”
Izumi just stared at him for a moment, shocked. I love you, I love you, I love you, the words rang in his head over and over again, an echo of his own feelings, the ones he'd spoken days ago but believed would never be returned. I love you.
He closed the distance between them again and pulled Shay into a hug.
“God, Rii-kun… you came all this way just to say that…” Izumi said. “I love you, too. Even if you're an idiot.”
“Sh-shut up…” Shay said, hugging him back. He buried his face into his shoulder to hide the blush taking over his face as the embarrassment of the whole situation caught up with him. “I’m… I’m glad you didn’t change your mind after I rejected you…”
Izumi scoffed. “Change my mind? How could I? And I… expected to be rejected, anyways.”
“...huh?” Shay asked. “Why would you expect that?”
“I… didn’t think you liked me at all, honestly.”
“W-well… I didn’t at first, but…” Shay tightened his grip on Izumi. “I spent more time with you and was forced to realize that you’re not actually so bad. And I thought you didn’t like me either, by the way.”
“Me?” Izumi pulled away from the hug just far enough to look at him with a puzzled expression. “What could’ve made you think I didn’t like you?”
“Really?” Shay asked. “How could I not think that? You were always so… needlessly harsh with your critiques of my actin’ and modelin’ and stuff… I could’ve sworn you thought I was the worst.”
“I never thought that about you,” Izumi said. “I was harsh because I knew you were capable of more. And I was right.”
“You could’ve let me know sooner if you thought so highly of me…”
Izumi sighed. “Well, I hope I can make up for that by making it clear now exactly how I think of you.”
-
Izumi reached to take Shay’s hand again, holding it over the table and softly rubbing it with his thumb.
“Anyways,” he said. “How long are you in Florence this time?”
“Three days,” Shay said. “I just barely managed to negotiate that much from Vyse-kun. He said I better keep practicin’ on my own as much as I can while I’m here, though.”
Izumi raised his eyebrows. “He’s right, you know. You can’t keep neglecting your work so much to come see me.”
Shay rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, the unit will always be my number one priority. I just… I hate bein’ away from you for so long.”
“I didn’t say they should be your number one priority…” Izumi said with a slight pout.
“Shut up, as if you wouldn’t scold me if you thought they weren’t,” Shay said. “And besides, Knights is also your number one priority, right?”
“I can have two equally important priorities.”
Shay huffed out a laugh. “Fine. Then you and ShawtyPOP! are both my number one priorities, alright?”
“I can work with that,” Izumi said. “Three days, though… you should’ve given me more warning and I would’ve cleared my own schedule some more…”
“H-Hey, weren’t you just saying I shouldn’t neglect my work for you…?” Shay asked. “But, it’s fine if you’re busy durin’ the day, I can use the time to practice like Vyse asked. Or hang out with Tsukipi if he’s free…”
Izumi smiled slightly at the nickname for Leo, one he knew Shay had stolen from Ritsu.
“You came all the way to Italy and don’t even expect me to spend time with you? Who does that?”
“Eh, we’ve got today at least. And you can’t have the next couple days fully packed, right? We can at least get the evenings together, or somethin’.”
“I suppose so…” Izumi said. “Still, I’m surprised you came all the way here with so little warning. It reminds me of the first time you came to Florence…”
Shay smiled fondly at the memory.
The two of them had just finished the filming of their first job together, as co-stars in a romantic comedy. Izumi had suddenly confessed on the last day of filming before he was to head back to Florence, and Shay had rejected him without thinking, leading him to make the brash decision to catch a last-minute flight to make sure Izumi knew the feelings were mutual.
“That was pretty crazy of me, wasn’t it…” Shay laughed. “But… I don’t regret it. Not in the slightest.”
-
Izumi leaned in to kiss Shay, right on his lips. Shay gasped, but immediately kissed him back once the surprise passed. They both savoured the kiss for a few seconds, before Izumi broke it to look Shay in the eyes and repeat, for good measure, “I love you, Rii-kun.”
-
Izumi smiled softly at Shay, then suddenly brought the hand that he had been holding up to his face. He looked him in the eyes as he left a soft kiss on his knuckles. “I love you, Shay.”
A/N: Hello!!! Welcome to the long-awaited Day 3!!!! This one is the CUTEST out of the 3, I promise. ChiaNemi is my favorite of the more yearn-y selfships I have, so I hope that this sort of... encapsulates the vibe of them! Also had a lot of fun writing my friend Drew's sona and his fellas, hopefully I did them justice as this is my first time writing them too! I hope you all enjoy Day 3 :D
Event Ping: @enstars-selfship-season
Divider Credit: @/purefantasia
Writing below the cut!
“D-Do we really have to go in there? A-Aren’t there any other attractions that we could go to?!” Chiaki clung to Tsunemi’s arm at the entrance, staring at it with narrowed eyes.
On a rare off day between Shay and Tsunemi, the former suggested that they and a few partners go to the amusement park for a double date sort of scenario. Of course, at the mere mention of ‘amusement park’, Chiaki was the first to jump on it, and his schedule was clear for that day. He was expecting to ride rollercoasters and eat sweet snacks alongside Tsunemi and his dear friends from Yumenosaki.
But as the day crawled on, Shay had begun to suggest a much… darker attraction. Chiaki had tried to use his energy to keep the mood up, to keep them away from the attraction that made his heart sink and dim like the setting sun. He had kept up the facade of bravery for as long as he could, but as everyone began to agree to at least give it a shot, Chiaki felt himself deflate more and more.
And now, here they were, at the entrance to the fated haunted house, an old, rickety building with ominous music playing from some nearby speaker.
“Oh come on, Chia-kun.” Shay turned to him, raising an eyebrow at Chiaki’s terrified face. “Don’t tell me you’re too chicken for a haunted house. This is literally for babies.”
“J-Just because you’re good with horror doesn’t mean everyone is, right?! Hakaze, Sena, back me up here!” He pleaded with the two other men at Shay’s side, who seemed to be… shocked at the switch up of the hero before them. To them, Chiaki was usually bright and peppy, albeit a little airheaded in his methods. He was the beating heart of their trio whenever they hung out, so to see him shrinking away like this… It was a strange sight.
“You really seem like you’re struggling over there, Moricchi…” Kaoru piped up, tilting his head at Chiaki. “If you really don’t wanna come with us, you two can stay out here—”
“Well, what would be the point of them coming if they didn’t come with us inside?” Izumi stepped forward, hands on his hips. “Chia-kun, you seriously aren’t gonna go in? It’s not even a long haunted house.”
“B-But! What if something jumps out at us? Or snatches one of us away?! What are we supposed to do about that?!”
“Chiaki, calm down…” Tsunemi rubbed his arm, trying to soothe him. “It’s okay, it’s not real. They’re just actors, you’re not in any real danger.”
“Exactly, so just relax, Moricchi! If anything, everyone else will be here to protect you if something goes wrong! So just take a deep breath, ‘kay?”
“Uhm, excuse me, who said I would be protecting anyone?” Izumi piped up again. “I would like to get through this as quickly as possible to at least take a break. It’s summer, you know? I’m not one to spend too much time in the sun unless I absolutely have to!”
“Yeah, yeah, we know, pretty boy.” Shay nudged him, which earned a small scoff from Izumi. “Don’t worry, you won’t be out bakin’ for too long. We’ll be in and out before you know it… unless a certain someone wants to keep holdin’ us up.”
All eyes fell to Chiaki again, and he tried to stand straighter in the face of his own fear.
“R-Right! If they truly are actors, and nothing in that haunted house is real or a genuine threat… t-then surely it’s alright to go in?”
“Surely.” Shay gestured vaguely with his arm, trying to urge Chiaki inside. “Since you’re the hero, you’ll protect everyone, so I think you should go first, Chiaki.”
“W-What?!” Chiaki looked at Shay with the most worried face he could muster, his loud voice making Tsunemi flinch and squeeze his arm again. “S-Since you’re the one who suggested it, could you not go first, SSERII?”
“What? No. I’ve got a whole two people with me. Surely it’d make more sense for the group with less people to go first.”
Chiaki looked down at Tsunemi, who smiled warmly at him, as if to try and comfort him without words. He tried to give his best smile back to her, trying to at least extinguish her own fears if he couldn’t quell his. He did have someone he needed to protect, right by his side… Surely if he couldn’t do it for himself, he could do it for her, right? That’s what friends did, right?
“...I…” He swallowed down his fear, taking a deep breath. “...I’ll do it! I’ll go! A hero… A hero never falters in the face of adversity! Let’s face this trouble head-on! Fu ha ha!”
With his signature laugh, Chiaki shook off any lingering fear, shifting to hold Tsunemi’s hand instead of clinging to her arm. He thought nothing of simple intimate acts like this, since physical touch was really his thing (much to the dismay of his juniors), but… right now, in the sudden darkness of the haunted house, his heart beating just that little bit faster… he felt a bit flustered. Heroes usually never got flustered, embarrassed by small things like this, but he brushed it away. In the eerie silence of the attraction, the only thing he could hear was his shaky breathing and the sound of his heart in his chest.
“H-Hello?” He called out to no one in particular, and was met with silence.
“I’m telling you, Chiaki, there’s really nothing to be scared of.” Tsunemi’s voice soothed him as they took slow steps forward, hand in hand. “Nothing’s going to happen to us.”
“...W-Well, I trust you, Tsunemi, b-but it’s been too quiet! Surely any minute something will—GYAH!!!” A sudden round of thumping from the walls echoed around the two of them, and Chiaki flinched much harder than he would have liked. His head flicked back and forth, hoping to find the culprit or source of the sound, but there was no one there. “W-What’s going on?! Who’s there?! Stop that!!”
He began to yank Tsunemi along, trying to move faster through the haunted house in hopes of avoiding any more scares. He was sure SSERII, Kaoru, and Izumi all heard how loud he had yelped in the face of one minor scare… and he had heard nothing from the three of them, who were most likely behind them. Most likely, he thought, because there were no other sounds coming from behind them, and he tried to stop his mind from wandering. What if they hadn’t entered the haunted house at all, leaving them all alone to survive to the end?! Who were they supposed to call for help if something really did happen?
He was a hero, and even heroes needed help sometimes. But in the face of Tsunemi… he really wanted to be a real hero. He didn’t want to look all weak and uncool in front of her… for some fleeting reason that he couldn’t shake off.
“Chiaki, Chiaki, s-slow down! Nothing’s coming to get us, we can keep walking normally!” Her voice called out from behind him, and he immediately stopped speed-walking, arm shaking.
“O-Oh, my bad.” He let Tsunemi come up to his side again, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. “I-I didn’t mean to drag you. I just… my instincts, they wanted to keep you safe, and—” He could feel himself get flustered and clam up at those words, his heart squeezing a bit, but Tsunemi easily followed up with words of comfort.
“No, it’s fine. I-I understand.” She squeezed his hand a little. “J-Just… take it easy, okay? W-We’ll make it through this, a step at a time. I-I believe in you, Ryusei Red!’
At the sound of his stage name, his hero name, he felt a gust of confidence. That name gave him strength, somehow, a distant flare in the darkness. Even though he was personally terrified, hearing that someone put their hope in him gave him the power to at least try and push forward. That was one thing he liked about Tsunemi, her ability to brighten and strengthen someone as bright and strong as him. She was his own beacon of hope, sometimes, when he couldn’t manage things alone.
There were a lot more things he liked about her, too. Like her eyes, or her smile, or—
“Chiaki?”
“Ah, yeah, let’s go!” He didn’t even realize he was staring at her. He gripped her hand as tight as he could, proceeding forward with newfound courage…
…Before shrinking right back at the sight of an actor jumping out at them from a closed door. If there was one thing, the makeup they had on was hauntingly realistic, making them really look dead, pale as a ghost. So much so that it made Chiaki yell out again, louder this time. His arms flew around Tsunemi, who let out a small squeak at the sudden bear hug, and his legs tried to move at the same time to get away. He ended up dragging Tsunemi along once again, stumbling forward and falling over in the hallway with a thump. They both scrambled in the darkness, Chiaki trying to untangle himself from Tsunemi to try and get away from the ghost, the scene looking something like a comedy skit.
As he hurriedly stood up, grabbing Tsunemi’s hand again to bring her along, he didn’t stop running this time, even as Tsunemi tried to get him to slow down. He kept a hand over his eyes, trying to navigate to the exit without accidentally harming the two of them or running into anything. He really didn’t want to see anymore, this was enough—!!
A light at the end of the hallway began to get brighter and brighter, and Chiaki began to feel a sense of relief at the fact that they were almost done with this horrible nightmare! He shouldn’t have gone first after all, he should have waited for SSERII and Kaoru and Izumi to go through first, to make sure it really was safe! But now he was, scrambling to the exit like some sort of terrified little boy… He felt humiliated at himself for being such a coward, especially in front of Tsunemi.
As they neared the threshold between the outside and the haunted house, Chiaki loosened up, thankful for the respite, but not before one final scare intercepted their smooth escape, which startled Chiaki so much, he veered off to the right to avoid it, and ended up tripping and stumbling over the heel of his own sneaker.
He fell with a small ‘oof’, laying there for quite some time, struggling to stand. A very scared Tsunemi rushed to his side, squatting down to make sure he was okay after that fall right on the concrete.
“Chiaki, are you okay?!” She sounded worried sick, and he managed to roll over on his back very slowly, looking up at the bright blue sky. His face was a little beat up, scraped up by the concrete, but there was no blood, to her relief. He looked a bit worse for wear, looking away from her as he nodded.
“Y-Yes, I’m alright! This is… nothing to a hero as strong as me!” He tried to chuckle, but the blow to his chest hurt a little bit.
“Even still, y-you should still be careful! I-I don’t need anything to happen to you, and you getting seriously injured…” Tsunemi trailed off, not even wanting to think about that. Her hands touched his ankle, trying to make sure nothing was sprained or out of place, then to his hands to make sure those weren’t scraped up by the concrete…
Chiaki could feel himself flustering even more as Tsunemi did her own physical check, even beginning to tremble as she began to rub his shoulder, hoping to get his muscles to relax.
“R-Really, I’m fine—” Chiaki was suddenly interrupted as Tsunemi cupped his face, getting a good look at it to make sure nothing was wrong. She leaned in much too close for his heart, and for a moment, his own eyes widened as he thought she was going to… kiss him?
Kiss him? Really? Now? Why was that what he thought of right now?! It wasn’t like he wanted her to kiss him, it would be a bit awkward for her to do that after he just tripped, but it’s not like he would have minded it if she did. She was close, and she was really pretty, her eyes soft and full of concern for him, and he really was fond of her.
But they were friends! They surely couldn't do that! At least, not in public! They were friends, just coworkers, and he didn’t… even know if Tsunemi felt the same.
He didn’t shrink back, though. He let her lean in, as close as she wanted, letting her tilt his head back and forth, letting her hands trace over any scrapes that he may have sustained…
He half-wished she could kiss the pain away, if not just on his cheek. But friends, coworkers, associates… didn’t do that, not at all!
The two of them stayed like that for a good long while, Tsunemi checking again and again, making sure he really was okay, staring into each other’s eyes…
Before a low whistle was heard from the exit.
“Wooow, Moricchi, Nemi-chan, what are you two up to?” Kaoru’s voice was much too smooth, and it definitely sounded like he was holding back a laugh.
Tsunemi let go of Chiaki’s face like it was covered in spikes, covering her own face with an arm, leaning back to a normal distance. Chiaki felt a little… disappointed at the new lack of distance between them, looking at her like a lost puppy.
“N-Nothing! I was just… I was trying to make sure he was okay! He tripped and fell on the way out…”
“Right, and that’s the reason you two looked straight out of a romance movie?” Izumi piped up, scowling at the duo. “If you’re gonna kiss, at least do it where other people can’t catch you! You wouldn’t wanna get caught up in a scandal, right?”
“Why are you apologizing? He’s just lookin’ out for you, don’t worry about it, Chia-kun.” Shay adjusted their glasses, looking at the sight of both Tsunemi and Chiaki flustered, looking away from each other. “...It’s still so funny that nothing’s really happened between you yet.”
“Right, so when’s the really platonic marriage between you two?” Kaoru asked, approaching Chiaki and patting him on the back. “Or, y’know, it could be romantic. You two are the least subtle people on planet Earth.”
“R-Really, it’s not like that!” Tsunemi stood up fully, Shay stepping beside them to nudge her a little with their shoulder.
“Come on, we all know the truth! If you two aren’t gonna confess, then we should get moving. No use starin’ at each other with the lovey-dovey eyes, y’know?”
“Y-Yeah…” Chiaki still stared up at Tsunemi, tracing over his own face with his hands. The places her fingers traced were still warm, and he could feel himself sinking deeper in his own mind.
“Chiaki, can you stand? Walk?” Tsunemi looked back down at him, and he could feel himself get flustered all over again as her voice shocked him back into reality.
“A-Ah, yeah. Sorry, w-we should get going! I-I won’t let a simple fall stop me from having fun!” He stood up, trying to ignore the weakness in his knees as he took Tsunemi’s hand again, leaving the haunted house behind.
He tried to ignore the snickers and comments from everyone else for the rest of the day whenever he and Tsunemi stood close. His head and heart were both aflutter whenever she checked up on his condition, trying to relax him through the aftershocks of the scares, tracing those rough patches on his face again and again.
Every time she leaned a little too close, he… he wanted to close the gap. But… But not now. He wasn’t ready, his heart wasn’t ready to dive into things like that, with someone as cute and sweet and bright as her. It made his stomach flip, the thought of caving to the whispers of his heart, mushy and messy and all too loud the more they hung out. The feelings seemed to grow bigger day by day, it really was a shock that nothing had happened between them. He… He could read Tsunemi well enough too, maybe, and maybe she felt the same way… but he didn’t want to mess up and ruin everything.
She was so lovely. And he wanted her to get that close again, and kiss him for real.
In which a simple ice cream date makes Hiyori realize that love can be found in simplicity.
Pairing: Tsunemi Hirano/Hiyori Tomoe
Word Count: 2048
A/N: Ough. Hello, welcome to a very late Day 2 of this event. Writing Hiyori is... much harder than I thought, and since this is my first time writing him, this piece may be a good bit weaker than the Day 1 piece. So apologies for any OOC-ness and such in this one. I hope you all enjoy, though! :D
Event Ping: @enstars-selfship-season
Divider Credit: @/purefantasia
Writing below the cut!
“Here, here, say ahh, Tsunemi!” Hiyori cooed at Tsunemi, taking another spoonful of her ice cream and putting it near her mouth. She froze for a moment, staring at the ice cream dripping off the spoon before shakily eating it, much to Hiyori’s delight. She could hear him let out a laugh of satisfaction at the way her face lit up at the taste. This was the sweetest reward he could get from the up-and-down day that was today.
Today, Hiyori had had enough of lounging around the hotel and shopping around the main street. He had gone on excursions with Tsunemi, by himself, with his unitmates, splurging on anything and everything he could manage in the hopes that it’d be appreciated. And lounging around the hotel, while luxurious, got stale after a while. There were only so many rom-coms to watch, so much he could order from room service, so many pillow fights to have with his dear Tsunemi.
For better or worse, Hiyori was bored. Which was never a good thing.
So when on a hot summer day, Hiyori dragged Tsunemi out on the town, she was half-expecting to be on bag-carrying duty, or on fashion review for all the things Hiyori tried on in every clothing store on the street. Not… this.
Of course, Tsunemi wasn’t one to complain about more time with him. If there was one thing about Hiyori, his energy rubbed off on everyone. Even though he was fickle like nobles usually were (or at least, from what she knew of nobles), the way his laugh seemed to brighten the air around him was hard to ignore. He turned heads wherever he went, head always held high, a bundle of light that threatened to outshine even her own. Being called the sun of her unit was a fair comparison, but Hiyori was closer to that title just by presence alone. Eden was already a unit of high prestige, but Hiyori was a part of the elite, one of the members that pushed the unit up and beyond.
As they walked side by side, Hiyori didn’t say a word to Tsunemi, though. They simply walked together, Tsunemi staring confusedly at him as she was pretty much dragged along, Hiyori holding onto her wrist. It was hot, the sun beaming down on them, and the strip they were on didn’t have any awnings to hide under to protect them from the shade. Hiyori had wanted to bring an umbrella or parasol for them to share, but this urge was so sudden that he didn’t even have time to grab that before yanking Tsunemi out the door.
“Hiyorin,” Tsunemi finally piped up. “Are you alright? You… You still seem like your usual self, but you also seem…”
“Fed up?” The sound of his voice startled Tsunemi, her eyes widening at the sharpness. “Yes, I am a little fed up. I feel as if there’s absolutely nothing to do! I’ve done all the shopping I can manage, but I don’t want to stay inside! And most of all, I want to spend more time with you, as much as I can! So here we are!”
“Here we are…?”
The way he turned and stopped was perfectly timed, and he yanked Tsunemi along with him, standing right in front of a building she didn’t recognize. She had come down these streets a good few times with him, enough to know which shops were hot and trending, what restaurants were overrated or hidden gems, and where to find the best… anything, really.
But this building, with its cute pastel blue coloring, wide open windows, checkered floor… It was…
“...a diner?” She turned to look at him, a bit confused.
“No, a parlor! An ice cream parlor! The best, most luxurious one this side of the city!” He looked proud of his little secret plan, and the way Tsunemi’s eyes lit up made him all the more smug. “Come, come, order whatever you please! I’ll buy it for you!”
Tsunemi shook her head at his dramatics, opening the door for him politely as her eyes wandered the display case of ice cream, gelato, sherbert, frozen yogurt… and all the toppings she could imagine. What was such a fancy ice cream shop doing here, in the middle of the city, with barely any customers? Was this a trick, a prank or something? Tsunemi looked back at Hiyori curiously, hoping for anything, answers to all the questions she was mentally asking.
“What are you waiting for?” Hiyori asked impatiently, storming up to Tsunemi’s side with a pout. “Did you think I’d let anyone interrupt the precious time I made for just you and I? Absolutely not! This parlor’s under COSPRO, and the Tomoe Foundation had a stake in it, too! So, I rented it out for a few hours!”
Yeah, that definitely explained the emptiness. Tsunemi could feel something flare up inside her at the imagined cost of renting out a whole parlor like this for themselves… plus, the sweet treat itself. If this was a fancy place up to Hiyori’s standards, then the price for the ice cream she wanted would surely be a shock to most normal people. She wouldn’t be surprised if a scoop cost ten thousand yen or more, adding up and up and up to a number that she couldn’t even imagine having at any point in her career.
“Really? All for me?” She looked at him worriedly, as if this was a mistake.
“All for you!” In contrast, Hiyori was the perfect picture of confidence. “Come on, order already! I swear I won’t judge you for what you get!”
Tsunemi could only wordlessly nod, staring at the display case again with wide eyes. She couldn’t tell what she was feeling right now, actually. Hiyori (and everyone around her, really) knew that she adored sweet things. The sweet tooth she had was unmatched by anyone, even the Sweets Fan Club back in Ensemble Square. But on the other side.. Hiyori had quite expensive tastes. So much so, that she felt a little out of place whenever they went anywhere or did anything together. Being a noble came with its own set of problems, but for the commoners around him getting caught up in his whirlwind, it was hard to even look at the price tag of all the things he bought.
“Uhm… I’ll just get vanilla ice cream, then, in a cup.” She spoke to the employee, but also to no one in particular, really. “Chocolate syrup, brownie bites on top.”
“And I’ll have the sea salt caramel gelato, please and thank you.” The employee didn’t have to begin scooping before Hiyori tapped his card against the counter, eagerly awaiting the chance to swipe it and have everything paid for. His eyes caught Tsunemi’s, who stared at the card anxiously, wringing her hands out.
He could tell that something wasn’t right.
As their ice cream was served and paid for, the two of them made their way to a booth near the window, a chance to watch the world go by from inside the air-conditioned parlor. Hiyori took a spoonful of his gelato, staring at Tsunemi with slightly knowing eyes as she didn’t even touch the spoon of her dessert, staring idly out the window.
“Nemi?” He asked politely. “Is everything alright?’
She looked at him for a moment, a little anxious. “Eh? Oh, uh, yeah, I’m fine. It’s just…”
She didn’t know how to word it. “Hiyori, you… why do you do all this?”
“All this?” He seemed confused, looking around. “All what?”
“Y’know… renting out a whole ice cream parlor, for one.” She let out a dry laugh. “But more just like… spoiling me in general, I guess. Why?”
“Why?” He leaned back, pointing the end of his spoon at her. “Do I really need a reason why?”
“...It’d be nice to know.” Her tone was somewhat serious, and that made Hiyori sit up a little, eating another spoonful of gelato.
“Well, I spoil everyone! It’s my way of showing love! I love buying people things I think they’ll love, and seeing their smiles as I pick out something they truly appreciate! Whether that’s fancy souvenirs from my travels, or tasty snacks, or a fancy outfit if they ask it of me… if I really love someone, then they’re showered in gifts with no exception!”
“...The thing is, you… have really expensive tastes, Hiyori. And.. we’re still really different.” She mumbled. “I mean, it’s not that I don’t appreciate all the things you’ve given me, done for me, but—”
“You’re unhappy?” He finished the thought before she could even manage it. “You’re unhappy with how I show it, aren’t you? My love?”
“Well, I’m not unhappy with it… It’s more just like… there’s different ways that I’d prefer you to show it to me.”
Hiyori seemed surprised at this realization. He was always quite the material person, but he cherished the bond he had with Tsunemi. It made sense that there were other ways to show love, but the way he showed it was the most effective for most people, right? It wasn’t a be all, end all for love language, but surely it wasn’t wrong, right?
“For example, I more just… enjoy existing alongside you, Hiyori. You’re really funny, and always have something interesting to say or talk about… and I like hearing you talk, y’know?”
“Do you? Most people find me quite grating. Not that I care, really, but…”
“Well, I mean… sometimes you have a tendency to go on and on about very small gripes. But I mean, it’s okay! We both have our things we get annoyed and ramble on about. It doesn’t annoy me that much. Just… having someone to match my warmth with is enough, I think.”
“Really?” He seemed shocked at that. “I see. So it’s not material things you want. You don’t even want to be spoiled, really?”
“...Not really, no.”
“But Tsunemi, you’re so cute! The cutest girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on! You really do deserve to be spoiled, and it falls to me to do it! It’s my purpose in life to do so!”
“I’m serious, Hiyori, you don’t have to blow all your money on me to make me happy. Just sitting here, chatting, and eating ice cream with you is enough to brighten my day and make me smile.”
He stared blankly at her for a second. A beat passes as he feels a natural smile grace his face, his cheeks warm. Even in moments like these, so simple, she was still the cutest person alive in his eyes. Those words plucked at his heart making him shut his eyes in satisfaction, chuckling lowly, the sound bubbling in his chest.
“...You don’t understand how hard it is to not spoil you when you say such cute things like that!” He snapped back awake, eyes sparkling. “If my presence is all you require to make your days brighter, then let me provide it to you in full! All I ask in return is for you to continue being your absolutely adorable self!”
Tsunemi felt herself flustered at the heaps of praise welled onto her. “H-Hiyori, stop, you’re embarrassing me…”
“Embarrass you I will, if it means you keep looking all cute like that! Cute, so cute!” He hurriedly scooped up a chocolate-covered scoop of ice cream from Tsunemi’s cup, a few drops escaping from the slightly melty mess of chocolate and vanilla. “Here, here, say ahh, Tsunemi!”
She froze at the sudden gesture, before relenting to his whims, opening her mouth with a small ‘aah’, before closing her lips around the spoon. She felt herself relax at the taste of the chocolate, looking at Hiyori blissfully as he laughed again.
“Good, isn’t it! Of course it is!” The pride melted away to genuine affection as he stared at her, cupping his cheeks as he rested his elbows on the table. His love was boundless, knew no limits, and was spread unto all, a blessing to everyone he came across. Even if he had to show it in a different way, as long as he could see her smile in perfect bliss like this…
In which a late night beach walk makes a certain snake reflect on positive change, and his heart realizes something worth cherishing...
Pairing: Tsunemi Hirano/Ibara Saegusa
Word Count: 2193
A/N: Hello! Welcome to my first piece for this week! I personally decided to write for this whole event, since I don't trust myself to draw fast enough. So... expect scenes between my beloved Enstars sona and her many, many F/Os! This first one is slightly inspired by one of Ibara's summer voice lines, and I want more vulnerable, squishy Ibara. So here we are! I hope you all enjoy it!
Event Ping: @enstars-selfship-season
Divider Credit: @/purefantasia
Writing below the cut!
"Sparklers?" Ibara seemed a bit confused at Tsunemi's request. She nodded quickly as she held up the box, the sticks inside rattling around.
"Yeah! I mean, we're out here, just walking all quiet side by side!" She huffed a little. "Why not light it up a little with something? It's all dark... Isn't summer supposed to be a bright, sunny season? So let's do something nice, something to send off the day before we go back to the hotel!"
Ibara never seemed to understand Tsunemi and her penchant for the sudden. Sparklers, now? He was confused. Was this some sort of plot, a hidden tactic to get him to do or say something? Perhaps there was something she wanted him to say or do, and this was some sort of subtle manipulation of him and the situation, or maybe this was some sort of test? Was she testing him right now, for some strange reason? What significance did sparklers have right now? He knew that she loved the simple joys of life; Free samples of ice cream at the parlor they went to made her eyes light up like jewels, seeing a hermit crab scuttle across the beach made her chase after it like a child, and seeing distant fireworks across the water made her grin back at him, as if to ask if they could do it too.
Tsunemi was innocent. In an industry full of self-serving, scheming people, she was something like an angel, simple and bright like the summer sun, doing her best to help and spread hope to Ensemble Square. He never understood her, could never seem to probe her mind for any other reasons why someone so good would ever associate with someone like him. He was the farthest thing from pure and good and light, a creature far from heaven, slithering in the dark where he belonged. He had long surrendered himself to playing everyone’s villain, gaining and losing, climbing the ranks to become COSPRO’s Deputy Director… he was used to the song and dance both on and off stage, sucking up, chewing and spitting out whoever he had to.
Compared to him, Tsunemi had never even stepped out onto that dance floor. She joined what he would call a ragtag group in a different agency far away from him after her departure as a COSPRO producer, and seemed to shine brighter than ever before. Of course, being a novice idol had its difficulties, but her warmth and genuine desire to do good set her apart from everyone else.
And when they finally reunited once again, with the two of them shining on the stage as idols instead of superior and subordinate… Ibara was blinded.
Blinded by her light, by her smile, by the sun rays beginning to warm his body, his hands, his heart.
He had so much he wanted to tell her. They had always been close, or at least, quite close professionally, and before Tsunemi left his side as his coworker, she told him about her own dreams. All he could do was watch as she spoke, completely caught off guard by her sudden seriousness, watch her mouth gently move as she rambled on and on about how… unfulfilled she felt as just a producer on the sidelines. She wanted to deliver light straight to the people on stage, just like her own hero did.
He didn’t know it yet, but that night in the office, he wanted her to never leave his side.
Ibara could never understand Tsunemi. He couldn’t understand why she would want to leave in the first place when she excelled as a producer right where she was, with him.
He could never understand the feelings that welled up inside him, angry and bitter, when she held true to her word and left the job the next day. He thought that was the end for them, that he would never see her again. He was fine with that, he thought, he let the chance slip through his fingers. The poison he had seeped into her heart didn’t take effect fast enough, and so this time, he let his prey go, the bitter taste of his own poison in his mouth.
And he never understood why Tsunemi came back to his side. Got closer, closer, close enough to burn him. Maybe she cared too much, maybe she noticed something she didn’t, but being around him came naturally to her. He wasn’t exactly against Tsunemi’s presence, no, a part of him had her exactly where he wanted her, but on a rather nondescript day, she had told him something, something that made him freeze.
“I want to understand you. Because no one really seems to.”
He didn’t think there was much to understand about him. He put himself and his intentions on clear display, so he didn’t quite know what she meant. He was a self-serving workaholic with quite the sharp tongue with the instincts of a soldier, nothing else beyond that. He didn’t understand what else there was to him, perfectly content within the walls he had built up around his own heart.
But those walls crumbled bit by bit as she got closer and closer. At some point, she had asked about things he liked to do, and he had actually responded with a genuine answer. Not one about work, or information, but a genuine hobby. She had said that she never expected him to be into something as… niche as rock climbing, but Ibara had begun going on a tangent about how it was good for the occupation he was in, stuff about core and arm strength helping with dancing…
He didn’t notice how long he was talking for until the sweetest laugh left Tsunemi’s lips.
He was softening up, he knew it, Tsunemi melting away his walls so easily like ice on a hot day. He had revealed more and more of those cards he held close to his chest like it was second nature to her. Before he knew it, he was absolutely defenseless in the wake of her light, a parody of himself.
He didn’t understand how it all happened so fast. And now here they were, on a beach illuminated by nothing but the moon and stars.
He sighed, shaking his head. “I can never understand you, my lady.” His voice came out softer than he’d like, a side effect of being near her, which he disliked very much.
“Really? I’d like to think I’m kinda easy to read…” She tilted her head at him, and he mirrored her subconsciously. “I don’t really have a lot of deep reasons you all seem to have for doing things. It’s okay to just do things because you want to, or because it’d make someone happy, y’know?”
“Make someone happy?” He stopped in his tracks, the waves lapping at his feet as Tsunemi took a few steps ahead. “That’s a… very specific reason.”
“Is it? That’s why I wanted to do the sparklers.” Tsunemi turned around to face him, still holding the box like a prized treasure. “You seemed a little down in the dumps, Ibara, so I thought it’d make you feel a little better.”
Was it really that obvious? His hand went to his face, feeling the warmth of his cheek as he got a little embarrassed. He didn’t even feel his brows furrowing, the scowl on his face, and as that contemplative expression turned into a shocked one at it all, he looked up at her.
Her face was lit up by the moon, a gentle look on her face. Their eyes met, and Ibara felt himself shrink back at how soft Tsunemi looked at that moment. She looked as if she was expecting something, but also expecting nothing at all from him. The way she looked at him, with so much love… it always shook him up much more than he liked. He saw her face soften a little more as she pulled out a sparkler from the box, handing it to him.
“Here.” A small request from her.
His hand shook as he reached out, stepping up a little bit to take the thin stick from her hand. He was careful not to accidentally touch her hand (in hopes that his heart would stop racing so hard and loud in his chest, he hated that most of all), as if she wasn’t real, as if she’d disappear if he made contact.
As he held the sparkler, he continued to stare at her, and she giggled.
“You look a little lost.”
“Well, you were the one who made me take it, my lady! I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with it—”
“It’s a sparkler, Ibara.” She said, as if that made it any clearer. She swiped the small stick on the side of the box, and in an instant, the end turned into golden shimmers that faintly lit up the sand below. She held it up happily, watching the sparks for a moment before touching the end of her sparkler to his, lighting his up too.
He stared at the stick for a much longer moment, watching the sparks fly off and vanish as quickly as he could blink. The light bounced off his glasses, and his eyes widened as he leaned in closer, watching the stick fizzle and pop. How quaint, he thought, something as thin and brittle as this could let off even the faintest of lights. A marvel of invention, perhaps something like this could be something he invested in—
A distant laugh rang out from down the beach, the sound of water splashing breaking Ibara from his thoughts of work. Tsunemi was racing down the beach, sparkler in hand, watching the little light trail behind her against the darkness of the night. She traced shapes and lines around her, giddily holding it up to the sky in triumph like a magic wand, the smile on her face the brightest thing of all.
She was so childish, he thought, something like this brought her this much joy? He broke out into something like a jog to try and catch up with her, trying his best to watch his own sparkler as the sparks flew off into nothingness. He tried to clumsily copy her, tracing out circles and trying to spell his own name, and he heard another laugh from Tsunemi.
“See, isn’t it nice? They’re so small, and don’t give off much light, but they’re fun to play with!” She pointed her sparkler at him. “Woosh! A magic spell to make you smile!”
A few sparks did fly his way, and he jumped back, letting out a soft sigh at the absurdity of it all. “...I really don’t get you.”
“But it made you smile! See, you’re smiling!”
Ibara cleared his throat, looking away as he definitely did feel the corners of his mouth turn up at Tsunemi’s ‘spell’. He couldn’t help it, her own smile was infectious.
“...A-And if I am?”
“Well, my plan worked! So come on, stop thinking so hard about whatever’s going on in that head of yours,” She stepped up to him again, poked him in the forehead, and handed him another sparkler just as both their own fizzled out. “and smile with me!”
It was less of a request and more of a command to his heart. It beat once, twice, hard against his ribcage, and he felt his shoulders loosen as he struck his sparkler against the box faster than she could, snatching it from her. If that’s all she wanted to ask of him at this moment, then he would listen. If all she wanted was for him to smile and let go of his worries, then… he could do that, for her.
Tsunemi gasped as he ran off, feet sinking into the sand. He let out a laugh that echoed into the night wind, blowing his hair behind him. “If you want to light another one, you’ll have to catch me, Lady Hirano!”
“H-Hey, wait, that’s not fair, those are mine!” Tsunemi gave chase to him, letting out a laugh of her own. “Come back! Ibara!”
The sound of her worried voice behind him made him laugh again. He ran as fast as he could, feeling the wind on his face, sparks of light trailing behind him.
He could never seem to understand his dear lady, or her childishness, or any of her deeper reasons for doing anything at all. But perhaps he didn’t need to. The way she made him naturally brighter, made his heart feel light, almost weightless against the gravity of everything around him… The way she made him smile and go off running like a child again…
He didn’t need to understand to know that he found something to treasure. He didn’t need to understand to know that she was genuine, that the woman behind him was truly the spark he needed to light up his dark days.
And as he looked back at her and smiled, not a smile of schemes and planning, but one of innocent joy, Tsunemi smiled too.
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Regarding recent events - please read!
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hi! i very much returned and i come with a request.
i. i would looove to see! a rivals to lovers sebek x reader thing from you!! one where they start off on the wrong foot, clash often, maybe even spar/swordfight (and maybe maybe, even other people teasing them about liking each other when they *clearly don't!*) and then oopsies, one of them starts to fall for the other... whether that's one-sided pining or mutual like with denial is up to you!
idk i just. i love that trope. and i would love to see your take on something like this since you haven't written something like this before i think! maybe!
thank you in advance! :D
pairing: Sebek Zigvolt x Reader
tags : rivals to lover, mutual pining - denial, slow burn like glacial, emotional repression olympics, lyrical writing
a/n🍨: hallooo~ thank you so much for requesting🩷 i too love this trope! this one took me a while because im practicing my english and prose here by using classic literature as always for my writing style 🍎 was planning to make it into headcanon style but nah we need more Sebek written in this pov~ I hope you enjoyed this and thank you so much for reading my writing 🩵
To say that you and Sebek Zigvolt met under civil circumstances would be a falsehood so severe it could rupture the very stonework of Diasomnia’s northern battlements. No, you met in the manner of colliding storm fronts—loud, electric, and with an immediate declaration of war.
He had the gall—the bold, sun-blessed gall—to correct your grip before the match began, his voice a staccato of knightly contempt. “Your wrist lacks tension.” he had intoned, as though offering divine edict rather than unsolicited critique.
You responded the only way one should when their pride is called into question by a man whose hair defies gravity and whose decibel level could awaken the dead: With a smile sharp as a letter opener and the promise of utter ruin.
The duel was close. Too close. You won (technically). Emotionally, he declared victory by virtue of ‘allowing you an opening out of charitable disdain.’ You haven’t stopped reminding him since.
Though there was something in that first clash. The spark of metal? Yes. But something else too—an irritant that settled in the bloodstream and curdled into fascination.
You spar with Sebek far too often—egregiously, obscenely often. To the point that even Silver, slumped against a tree like a man who’s seen too much, once muttered through the velvety fog of exhaustion, “Do they think swordplay is foreplay?”
You both ignored him, of course paired with the practiced dignity of people who absolutely did not hear that. Both flushed with the kind of synchronized, thermonuclear embarrassment that would’ve triggered an evacuation drill at NRC, had anyone been paying attention. So you turned away like you were being pulled by magnetic shame. Sebek blushed in reverse—spine straighter, jaw tighter, voice louder, as if yelling could exorcise feelings.
He treats every duel like a divine inquisition—each swing of his blade a holy rebuke against your entire existence.
You, on the other hand, approach it like it’s the world’s most dramatic coping mechanism—why go to therapy when you can just emotionally bleed on a training field with swords and unresolved tension?
When your weapons clash in melodies only the repressed could compose. His hands, traitorous things, are always too gentle when shoving you back, like he’s afraid of bruising your pride more than your ribs. Yours, equally disloyal, linger a beat too long when helping him up, fingers brushing like they have their own subplot.
You fall? He catches you—with far too much concern for a man who calls you “insufferable wretch” between bouts.
He trips? You grab his arm and haul him upright with an intimacy that suggests a montage is about to start.
No one says anything about these moments.
Except everyone.
Constantly.
Lilia has popcorn. Silver has resigned himself to the background commentary role. Malleus has offered, twice now, to officiate “the inevitable marriage.” You’re not sure if he’s joking. You’re also not sure if you are.
Sebek’s inner monologue reads like a knight’s diary slowly succumbing to madness:
“They are reckless, chaotic, dazzlingly unorthodox. I loathe their insolence. I disdain their grin. Their hair is always in their eyes—do they not own a comb? Their footwork is distractingly elegant. I wish to see them humbled. I wish to see them succeed. I wish—no. I do not wish. I strategize.”
He often storms away from sparring matches and then broods by a window, narrating his internal agony in Elizabethan sonnet form.
You, on the other hand, are no better:
He’s the worst. He’s insufferable. He talks like he swallowed a thesaurus on fire. But when he blocks a strike meant for me, I feel—warm? No. That’s just combat fever. Not affection. Definitely not affection. He looked at me yesterday. For too long. I should punch a wall. Maybe two.
You wake up thinking of him—grumpy, green, and gallant, like your subconscious is hosting a crush-themed renaissance fair.
He trains harder because of you. He says it’s “to surpass a worthy rival,” but everyone knows that’s code for “I can’t stop thinking about their stupid face and I hate it here.”
Both of you pretend you don’t care.
Both of you care enough to write tragic ballads in the corners of your notebooks and then aggressively deny their existence when caught. His rhyme scheme is suspiciously good. Yours ends with “sword” forced to rhyme with “feelings I’ve ignored.”
Denial has never been this poetic.
The mission goes sideways, as missions often do when fate decides your emotional development needs a nudge. Blades clash. Smoke billows. Someone yells something unhelpful.
Sebek takes the hit.
A clean, heroic slash across his arm—not fatal, but dramatic enough to cue a slow-motion gasp. Blood blooms. So does your panic.
You sprint to him like a protagonist in a poorly-budgeted romance drama. “Sebek!” you shout, voice wobbling, heart lurching. “Why didn’t you dodge, you idiot?!”
You slapped a bandage on him like it's an insult and pressing too hard. Plus, also shaking and typical pretending it’s from battle adrenaline and not the mind-numbing fear that your favorite loudmouth knight might actually perish before you resolve whatever this... thing is between you.
Sebek (bless him), looks up at you with the hazy, noble daze of a man who thinks he’s about to be sainted.
“Because you were behind me...” he says, with the unwavering sincerity of someone who would die proudly and dramatically on your behalf and then lecture you about safety as a ghost.
The silence that follows is biblical. Not holy. Just really, really awkward.
You stare at him.
He stares back.
Somewhere in the background, Silver audibly sighs.
There is, undeniably, the atmosphere of a kiss. The entire battlefield feels it. Even the enemy pauses like, “Are they gonna—?”
But no.
Instead, Sebek winces like a main protagonist suppressing emotion and grunts, “Tactical body shielding is part of knightly protocol.” like that explains anything.
“I swear to the Seven if you say ‘duty’ one more time—” you nearly lose your mind on the spot.
He tries. He tries to say it again.
You hit him with the bandage roll again.
You both survive, tragically, still not dating.
Lilia has a blackboard with your name and Sebek’s written on it. Every day, he adds a new tally mark under “Still Not Kissing.” There are currently fifty-seven.
Silver has stopped trying to intervene. He just carries around tea for people who’ve witnessed your latest emotionally-loaded sparring match.
Malleus, who knows everything and nothing, once mused aloud: “Isn’t it remarkable how well they complement each other’s temperament? Like thunder and wildfire.”
You and Sebek: “WE’RE NOT COMPLEMENTING ANYTHING.”
It happens, as all catastrophes of the heart must, in the training yard—where moonlight bleeds like silver wine across the flagstones, and your breath comes short not from fatigue, but from something far more ruinous: possibility.
Sebek gleams—glows, really—with the sheen of noble exertion and catastrophic restraint, the kind that only men who scream about “honor” at 6 a.m. can manage. His hair is a mess. His tunic clings in ways your brain, traitorous organ that it is, files under archival memory: do not delete.
A misstep—perhaps yours, perhaps the gods’—and suddenly gravity conspires to write fanfiction.
Your faces are intolerably close—shared air close, bad decisions are whispering close. His breath ghosts across your cheek like an unfinished line of poetry. Both are no longer sparring. Both are performing the prelude to a scandal.
His hand finds your waist, firm and immediate, like he was born to catch you.
Your fingers, in a poetic act of betrayal, fist in the collar of his tunic as though you’re anchoring yourself to the last shred of common sense you possess. (Spoiler: you are not.)
Your lips part.
He says—blessedly hoarse, devastatingly sincere— “You’ve improved.”
“So have you.” you replied while blinking like someone who just got emotionally stabbed.
It is not flirting. It is courtship by blade. It is foreplay by tragedy. Your noses nearly touch. Your eyelashes brush.
This is it.
You are going to kiss him.
You are going to ruin everything gloriously.
And then—snap.
A branch. A singular, petty piece of wood.
Both your heads whip around.
Lilia hangs upside down from a tree like a particularly smug gargoyle, idly eating a pear with all the nonchalance of someone watching a telenovela.
“Fascinating,” he murmurs around a bite. “I was wondering which of you would cave first.”
Both of you did not scream.
Did not kiss.
Swiftly, you launch backward like startled cats, scramble away from each other as though struck by lightning and shame in equal measure. Fleeing the scene in opposite directions with the velocity of people running from emotional growth.
You do not speak for two days.
Not out of anger—oh no. Out of terror. The what if of it all haunts you both like a melodramatic ghost with excellent timing.
Sebek trains louder.
You train longer.
Silver watches it unfold like a war documentary. Lilia starts sending fruit daily, each pear labeled with unhelpful advice like “Try again, cowards.”
You remain professionally repressed.
But your eyelashes remember.
You are still not together.
You are still sparring, still arguing with the vehemence of two people who have never touched but think about it constantly. You parry his blows like you're trying to teach him tenderness through violence. He retorts with all the intensity of someone who knows if he loves you, he will ruin it by saying it aloud.
The space between your hands is shorter now.
Tragic, really—how your knuckles brush when you pass swords. How his breath hits your neck when he corrects your stance and you pretend not to shiver like some Victorian ghost-wife locked in a duel with decorum.
The insults have changed. Softer.
"You're reckless." he says, voice like a prayer that fears being answered.
"And you're insufferable." you whisper, like it's the most beautiful thing you've ever meant.
Sebek dreams of your grin and wakes up shouting into the forest, as if the trees might scrub it from his memory. They don’t. They never do.
You draw his face in the margins of your notes—again, and again, and again. "It’s anatomical," you claim. As if your hand hasn't memorized the shape of his jaw better than your own name.
The dorm holds its breath every time you're in the same room. It's become a sport. They're all tired. Someone bought confetti. It's in a drawer. Waiting.
And still—no kiss.
But the wind knows.
The swords know.
The gods know.
Your bones know.
It will not be planned, nor even permitted by either of your better natures—those poor, trembling things that have, until now, kept the floodgates intact with little more than denial and discipline. No. It will unfold with the slow horror of prophecy fulfilled, of stars finally drawing their long-promised alignment.
A duel, yes. Like so many before it. Steel ringing against steel, breath stolen from lungs already too full of unsaid things. The tension between you drawn tighter than a bowstring, vibrating with something ancient—something not born of rivalry, but of recognition.
So the blades lock and breath tangles, as the sky seems to hold itself mid-inhale— there will be a falter.
A slip, a stumble, some divine error in footwork, but it is not a mistake—it is the hand of the inevitable pressed gently to the small of your back. Thus when collision comes, it does not arrive as chaos, but as revelation.
Lips meet.
Not in hunger, nor haste, but in that stunned hush reserved for relics.
As if the moment itself had been sculpted, chiseled from marble and myth, ordained by hands that do not tremble. There is no hesitation, no softening of impact—only the terrible, tender exactness of contact that has been fated since first clash, since first glance, since the first cruelly barbed exchange beneath the training yard’s bruised light.
It is a kiss that unmakes. A kiss that knows.
But when it ends—when the breath returns and the sky resumes its spinning—you will part as though something sacred has been shattered between you. Not broken. No. Merely… too magnificent to remain in mortal hands.
Hands still clutch at tunics as if to steady the world.
When denial arrives with all the conviction of habit, but none of its former strength. Words fall between you like dulled blades, unable to wound now that truth has been glimpsed and briefly held.
Whatever existed before—the brittle pride, the righteous fury—no longer fits the shape of this new silence. Something has shifted. Not loudly, not visibly. Just enough to tip the axis of the world.
Sebek does not meet your gaze. Not out of shame, but reverence, like one who fears the sun might vanish if stared at too long. The moment lingers, impossible to dismiss. Beneath the scent of metal and sweat, something gentler has begun to bloom.
Not surrender—something far rarer. Recognition. And though the duel may resume, though steel may rise again, the air around you no longer belongs to war. It belongs to what comes after.
OK I have a hard time telling who does and doesn’t like it so reblog this if you’re a selfshipper who is ok with getting anonymous f/o messages, notes, letters, greetings, etc in your inbox
(and to anyone who likes writing them, you can use this post to find people who enjoy accepting them)
already said on main (maoisarap) but wanted to make an account, especially for it, too, for just in case reasons! (this was meant to be my imagines account, but never mind. pfft~ all copy & pasted from my main account, by the way. just in a different order!)
(#) Enstars Selfship Week 2025
Day 1 | Uniform Steals! – you steal your enstars f/o('s) outfit! can be the ordinary unit outfit, the es idol outfit, an exclusive outfit, or even the series (on globalstars) or anniversary outfits, as long as your guy(s/girlie) owns it, you take it! or~ you can do vice versa: have your f/o steal YOUR outfit!
Day 2 | Shine on the Stage! – doesn't matter if you're a producer or just an ordinary person around ensemble square, you're being invited onto the stage with your enstars f/o's to sing! or~ if not a stage, then you're singing with your f/o's in the dorms common area with whoever you like to be in the crowd!
Day 3 | Tour Day! – this one is a bit~ of a wild card. what are you and your f/o's like when going on tour for their or your song lives/"concerts" either around the country or across the globe? are you exploring new foods? tirelessly getting ready for a live? perhaps you're both/all trying to figure out what it's like to be in a tour bus for a certain amount of days, how small or big is the bus and who gets which bunk of the bunk beds?
Day 4 | Dorm Situations! – what is life like in the dorms for you both/all? are you chaotic and loud? or quiet and peaceful? has something gone wrong in the dorms and it's upto you two/lot to fix it? let's find out!
Day 5 | 「Focus!」 | it's photoshoot time! are you taking it in the usual room where these photos are taken, or are you out and about with your f/o's having it all done? what outfits are either of you wearing? or are you or your f/o's the one taking the photos~! and is there a reason behind the photos, or is it just the usual idol work business?
Day 6 | BREAKTHROUGH! | it's time for a break away from ensemble square, and you're both/all taking a day or few off from work and getting away from the area for a while. where are you going? home? to a park? anywhere! show what life is like outside of the idol/producer and etcetera area!
Day 7 | Nui Noon! – what if in ensemble square, there's a shop in the town area where you can go and request the people who own the shop to make nuis/teddies of anyone you like, and you and your f/o's go in there to ask for a nui of each other/all one another to each of your fittings? make it as silly or as adorable as you like~
note: you don't need to keep these titles, they're more so a reminder for myself as i have bad memory. hehe~
you're allowed to make:
edits!
fanart!
fanfics/oneshots/drabbles!
headcanons!
moodboards & stimboards!
collages (like the sticker-y ones)!
ETCETERA! make what you want and what you're happy in making! go wild with your creativity!
simply yap about these ideas!
this is for ~all~ people!
rules:
– the dates are from the 15th of june to the 22nd of june! (yes, upto subaru's birthday because he is the literal face of this franchise.)
- this is for ~all~ versions of selfshipping! selfship. yumeship. if you're a ficto/riako. oc×canon. kinning & canon too! the only canon×canon allowed are polyam people or if it's family/platonic/qpp! if you're strictly canon×canon enjoyer, you're allowed to spread the word but you can't join in as this is for us selfshippers and co. who need it right now~ no hate, we're just going through things!
– please don't stress yourselves with any of these ideas if you are struggling. you're allowed to skip a day and come back to the said day you're struggling with at any time.
– if you feel as though you can't follow the days that the week is set in, then take your time!! your health matters more!
– no sending negativity towards other selfshippers and co. in this! we support each other no matter the creation we come up with and who we ship with! (please, support more than just fanart. i mean it...) if you're a double, then block and ignore the others!
– you can make these for yourself and/or for other enstarries you know who selfship and co.!
– JUST HAVE FUN, YOU DUMDUMS!! (i love you. you are not a dummy. <3)
note: tag either this account and/or my main so i can reblog it to here! i want to give love to everyone for this! <3
do not interact:
proshippers/comshippers/etcetera on who enjoys illegalities (incest / adult x child / etcetera.) you make me uncomfortable, so i ask you kindly to step away from here and my stuff! thank you~
gamechangershow
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
germansingergirl
areudirty
jimmyeatworldofficial
gracieabrams
prguitarman
tangentwithtanner
romaincrisis
