Hashi High

I hope you like it here. Profile art by @warmmilkdraws on Instagram  Consider supporting me on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/thegreatsinnamonroll or buying me a Ko-Fi:  https://ko-fi.com/thegreatsinnamonroll

[jenivi]

i didn’t realize i needed frog yosuke in my life until now

[sinmenon]

Persona 4 Manga - Volume VI

My favorite thing about the P4 Manga is that Naoki’s Social Link became a Yosuke subplot, and it makes far more sense than being P4kun. It’s beautiful and so satisfying. 

[outofcontextdiscord]

[outofcontextdiscord]

[welcometohashihigh]

World of Smooches

Smooch. 

“Hey!” Ryuji whirled around as he felt a gentle pair of lips meet with his cheek. He managed to catch a glimpse of the long legs running around a corner, prompting the blond to scramble up from his seat and chase after the thief. As soon as he rounded the corner though, Akira was nowhere in sight, and Ryuji could feel his leg start to ache a bit. He scowled before returning back to what he was doing, a very noticeable blush in his cheeks. 

Peck. 

A rather timid kiss was pressed to Ryuji’s temple, a soft hand resting on the top of his head. The blond flinched a little. Those weren’t Akira’s lips. He turned his head to see Ann, a rather sweet smile on her face. She stuck her tongue out at him, her smile turning into a smirk. 

“That’s from Akira.” She snickered before turning away, walking back to her room and leaving Ryuji absolutely baffled. He thought about getting up and going after her to demand answers, but for some reason he stayed planted in his chair. 

Blow. 

Ryuji felt a small shiver go up his back. Sitting in class often led him to daydream, or fidget, or anything other than paying attention. However, the small breath of air that dusted his neck brought him back to reality, the blond turning around to look at Yusuke. The artist had a very kind smile on his face, leaning forward to whisper to Ryuji. 

“Akira asked me to deliver that to you.” Ryuji’s face went bright red, whirling back around to look at the black haired teen. Akira was busy with his school work, but the blond was sure he was smirking. 

Mush. 

Ryuji’s hand hovered over his paper, dumbfounded as he watched Makoto press a kiss to the top of his notes. She handed them back, the blond shakily taking them back. Before he could ask why, the girl spoke up softly. 

“Akira asked me to send you a kiss from him. Your notes look good.” Ryuji blushed, both from the delivered kiss and Makoto’s praise. “I can tell you’re working hard.” The blond was looking like some tomato with how brightly he was blushing. It was hard to focus for the rest of the study session. 

Smack. 

Futaba tackled Ryuji’s shoulders, wrapping her arms around his neck and clattering her mask against his head as she kissed his neck. He stumbled forward a bit, not that Oracle was heavy, just that she caught him off guard. She dropped off him, bouncing around to face him. She was giggling, the sound of mischief. 

“Mwehehe! That was a kiss from Joker, he wanted to heal ya a bit!” Futaba ran over to where the thief in question was talking to the other two leaders, leaving Ryuji to realize that the kiss had in fact replenished his health a bit. 

Lip. 

Haru laid a gentle kiss across Ryuji’s dirty knuckles, causing him to almost drop the scissors he was holding. He had gone over to her room today to help with her plants, and ended up busying himself with a cute little bonsai by her window. Haru giggled softly at Ryuji’s expression. 

“Thank you for helping me out. That was from Akira, by the way.” Ryuji shook his head and smiled as he turned back to the bonsai tree, carefully snipping leaves away. He watched them lazily fall to the windowsill before Haru spoke again. “He asked us all to give you kisses throughout today from him, as a way to show you how much we appreciate you.” Ryuji felt himself burn hot, almost cutting himself on the scissors as he set them down to run out of the room. 

Kiss. 

Ryuji threw Haru’s door open just to be met with a smooth pair of lips crushing against his own. He recognized them instantly, having kissed them time and time again. He melted, arms slithering to wrap around Akira’s shoulders and pulling him closer, deeper into the kiss. Right when he would have taken the kiss further, Akira pulled away with the sweetest smile. 

“Hey there Ryuji. Did you have a good day?” 

“Of course I did, ya dork. Getting your kisses all day? Am I supposed to complain about that?” Ryuji kissed Akira again. “Thanks. I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

So I know I haven’t been active over here as of late and am now very behind on Hashi BUT in honor of Kiss Ryuji Day, here’s this lovely boy getting all the smooches. 

[thegreatsinnamonroll]

Whether or not you follow me for my shitposts or writing, please hear me out for just a moment. I'm a writer, as you know, and I publish my work across many platforms, including AO3.

AO3 is a fantastic place for my, and other people's, work, a place where we can interact with our fandoms and fanbases and give back to the communities we love so much. Not just that, the hundreds upon thousands of readers who support the writers and improve the communities. It's a place where readers can enjoy free works, works that writers make to spread their ideas and concepts.

As I was recently informed by @theschemist (thanks btw), there is an app that is pulling, no, stealing works from the platform. The app is called Fanfic Pocket Archive Library, and it is MONETIZED. That's right, people are paying money to read FREE WORKS.

The three works I've published on AO3, including one work I uploaded TWICE are all up there, keeping up to date with all the stats. I was not asked if I would let my work be up there, or if it was ok to monetize it. All of the money from the ads go straight to the creator of the app, not the writers who have put so much time and effort into their work.

Please, if you are a writer or a reader, reblog and share this around. Go bomb the app, report it, flag it, take it down. We don't do this for profit, we do this for everyone else.

We did not ask to be monetized.

[welcometohashihigh]

Dear readers,

I am so sorry to say this.

Because of this app, I will be putting Hashi uploads on hold. I can't bear to upload when I know my hard work is being used to get someone else money without my permission.

So please, help us win this fight.

We only wish to be able to give back to the communities we love so much.

We did not ask to be monetized.

We are not for sale.

[welcometohashihigh]

Tohru Adachi: Yu

Yu gazed up at the ominous tower in front of him. The three groups had decided to come the next day after they found out about Nishi, hoping that they could clear the tower before it was too late. Luckily he had enough time after school to change out of the stiff dark blue blazer and opted to just wear the gray undershirt with his sword holster. 

Arisato’s team was nearby, waiting for the signal to head in. Yu didn’t particularly like working with the blue haired boy, but the rest of S.E.E.S. was rather endearing. Especially Amada, who was fencing with Iori at the moment. Yu had to admire the child’s speed and strength. He wanted to talk to Amada before they went in, but Arisato spoke up, sending a small flash of annoyance through Yu. 

“I think everyone’s here now.” Arisato rested the flat of his blade on his right shoulder, absentmindedly tapping his foot against the ground. “S.E.E.S., we’re going to break a path for the other two groups to follow behind. Stay on guard.” He swung his sword into the doors barring them from the dark temple, breaking them off their hinges. Yu shivered as the three leaders stepped inside. This place had such a different feel from the rest of the Chaos Realm, almost heavier and more dense. 

The area lit up as the rest of the teams flooded in, looking oddly like some kind of storage room for a store. They wandered about, looking for Hokori. Yu wondered why some cultist would build their temple to resemble something like this, but before he could think too long, two people in identical black robes walked up to them. Their hoods were pulled over their eyes so it was hard to make out their facial features. Upon noticing the Persona users they got into fighting poses. 

“How did you get in here? Who are you?” One had a rather feminine voice. These aren’t the normal cult robes. Who are they? 

The other quickly shushed them. “Be quiet! Those are the god slayers the Acolyte was talking about! We have to get rid of them!” This one had a deeper voice, and was slightly taller than the girl. “Come to me! Shadow of the Soul!” Dark energy swirled around the cultist as a shadowy monster rose from them. Is that a Persona?  

“Watch out!” Yamagishi’s voice echoed in his head. “He just summoned a Shadow from himself. It’s a lot different than a Persona, so stay on guard!” Yu nodded and pulled his sword from its sheath and pulled it smoothly into his palm. With his weapon firmly in his hands, he turned to watch as the girl also summoned a Shadow. He glanced from Arisato to Kurusu, both of whom had pulled their weapons forth. The two cultists sent their Shadows forward, and Yu ran forward to meet them. 

The girl’s Shadow was a humanoid creature with an axe, and it swung the weapon as Yu swung his. There was a loud clang as metal hit metal, and Yu could feel the impact travel up his arms. The two broke away for a moment before clashing back together. This happened a few times before he started noticing the attack patterns. It’s so unpracticed, only swinging to try and hit me. No elegance or skill at all. Only power. And that was fine, he could deal with power. 

Yu planted his feet in preparation for the next strike. This time when the axe hit his blade he poured his strength into a parry, knocking the Shadow backwards. It stumbled a bit before falling to the ground, apparently not used to such skill. Now that he had time to take a short breather he was aware of Iori and Amada beside him, weapons drawn. He looked at both of them, thankful for their help.

“I’ll give you support from Nemesis!” Amada shot his gun through his chest, the Persona rising from him to join the fight. Yu clenched his fingers around his sword, turning his attention back on the Shadow, who was back on its feet and rather angry. It charged forward as Amada sent blades of light to intercept it. The Shadow didn’t show any signs of stopping, but the magic certainly slowed it down. 

“It has no skill. We’ll be able to take it down with ease.” Yu was ready to parry its attack again, and hopefully Iori would follow up with a strong strike. His blade met the axe, slamming the Shadow backwards, and thankfully Iori slashed through its body with a heavy attack. That paired with more of Amada’s magic sent the Shadow into dust, with a high pitched scream from the girl. 

There was a screech from the boy, and Yu looked over to see that the other Shadow had been taken care of. The two cultists collapsed to the floor, unmoving. Are they just knocked out? He nudged the boy with his foot, a low groan escaping them. Oh good. He turned back to Kurusu and Arisato. “We should-” 

“Oh very well done!” An oddly familiar voice oozed through the area. Yu could feel his muscles clench in retaliation, something about the voice set all of his instincts on edge. He looked around for the source, eventually seeing that same man who had kidnapped Nishi earlier. Hokori. “You dispatched my Followers with such ease. Just what I would expect from you God Slayers. Good thing I’ve been preparing myself and gathering strength.” Hokori started laughing, and Yu could feel power radiating from him. He braced himself, anticipating some sort of attack. “See how powerful I really am!” 

There was a sharp pain in Yu’s head. He gripped his forehead hard, trying to ride out the pain as Hokori laughed. When it finally subsided, he wasn’t in the same place as before. Instead, he was deeper in the storage room, with Kurusu and Arisato on either side of him. 

“What the hell?”

Yu whirled around to come face to face with the Investigation Team. I thought they were left behind to follow S.E.E.S.! “What are you guys-” Yosuke cut Yu off with a shout, pointing past him. 

“Is that… Adachi?” 

Before Yu could turn around that sickeningly familiar voice rang out through the corridor. “Oh, so you remember me.” He faced the dark haired man, his fists clenching hard. No. “Come here, Yu, you missed me, I know you did.” Yu gritted his teeth hard. Adachi’s twisted smile made his gut wrench, his head spinning as suddenly he was thrown into his memories of the past school year. 

“Don’t you remember how we first met, Narukami?” Yu could see the police station, Yosuke and Chie on either side of him. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but he recalled that Adachi had been saying that Yukiko was the murderer. He felt his stomach lurch and twist in pain. All this time you were covering your own crimes. 

“And eating dinner with me, and Dojima-san, and Nanako?” He was taken into another memory, sitting cross-legged on the floor of his uncle’s house. Seeing Nanako across from him made his heart leap with joy, but Adachi on his right sent his head reeling again. Yu struggled to breathe with the memories being pulled out of him. Leave me alone, get out of my head!

“Of course don’t forget when we fought, our Personas so alike in every way. You battling that fog, and I battling against you.” A deep chuckle. “You won of course.” Yu could feel the pain in his body from the fight, his own Persona struggling against Adachi. Shut up, shut up! He felt like crying angry tears, his fingers digging into his palms. 

“And don’t you forget when Nanako died.” Yu resisted the urge to vomit. His throat burned with fire as his memory opened up of seeing his cousin’s hospital bed. Her hands cold and lungs empty. He remembered the horrible anguish that had filled himself and his friends at seeing her lifeless. “Wasn’t that fun.” 

Yu felt something in him stir. Something that sent chills through him. His gray eyes rose to meet Adachi’s, his body shaking. Fun? “You shouldn’t have beaten me, you idiotic, empty boy. I’ll kill you this time!” No. You’re not the real Adachi. 

“You’re not real. The real Adachi cared for Nanako, and he knew that my bonds were far from empty!” The fire in his chest blazed forward, pulling him from the depths of his mind. The Chaos Realm flooded back into his vision, the screams of his friends begging him to stop rushing into his ears. In front of him was that fake Adachi, holding its hand out for Yu’s sword. He realized he had been handing the weapon over to the strange Shadow thing, and now that he was awake, his fingers clenched around the hilt tighter. 

“Get out of my face!” He slammed his fist into the side of Adachi’s head, knocking the person backwards. The Investigation Team cheered for him, and Hokori’s voice rang out in disbelief. 

“How? You weren’t supposed to be able to get rid of my control that easily! What on earth are you? You were supposed to be weak!” 

Yu rolled his shoulders around. Silently, he cursed himself for even giving into the mind control, but now wasn’t the time to lament the state of his head. Testing the confidence of his arm, he tapped the tip of his sword against the floor. “I’ll show you true power!” He ran forward to the Shadow, the white lights glinting off the sharp blade. With a scream he slashed towards Adachi’s body, his blade clanging off the Shadow’s own weapon. So that’s how it is. 

He fought with fury and anger in every strike, but every swing was calculated. He was wearing the Shadow down, sapping its strength with powerful strikes and jabs. Adachi was stumbling, barely able to keep up with the boy’s intense movements. Now! Yu caught Adachi’s blade with a hard thrust, knocking him back. Quick as a flash he pulled his sword back and jabbed it through the Shadow’s chest. There was a sickening sound of the blade tearing through flesh and bone, blood spurting around the sword. Yu felt fire threatening to rise in his throat, but he swallowed it down. What kind of Shadow has blood? 

He didn’t give himself too much time to think. With an angry cry he pulled his blade free, holding it firmly in his left hand. Drops flew through the air, landing upon his arms. His limbs shook upon seeing the crimson there, but he fought against the gut wrenching feeling. Time to end this. “Izanagi!” With a cry he crushed the tarot card between his fingers, power blazing to life within him. Static flooded the air as his Persona rose to life, staring down at the Shadow-Adachi, who was clutching the deep sword wound. 

“You don’t have the guts to kill people.”

Yu’s face didn’t change as electricity sparked all around him. “Good thing you’re not a person.” The hairs on the back of his neck rose as Izanagi shot a white hot bolt from his hands, slamming the electricity into the fake Adachi. There was a screech from the Shadow before being cut off as it disintegrated. Yu retracted Izanagi and turned his attention to Hokori. 

“Very well done. I should not have underestimated the power you God Slayers have.” Hokori stood on the shelf he was perched on and clapped. Yu looked away, not wanting to give the cultist his attention. The blood that covered his sword dripped to the floor rather rhythmically, though looking at the red made his gut churn. “But I’m not done with you yet.” 

There was another sharp pain in his head, lights swimming over his vision. He clenched his eyes shut until the pain subsided. Upon opening them he saw a different section of the storage room. The Investigation Team had disappeared, instead, the Phantom Thieves were standing nearby. The hell? Hokori laughed, and Yu looked up to see the robed man sitting on another shelf. A Shadow appeared on the ground, sporting long brown hair and yellow eyes. 

“Who is that?”

There was a snarl from Kurusu. “Goro Akechi.”

[welcometohashihigh]

The Rescue Mission: Ken

Ken clenched his fingers around the grip of his spear. Minato had given them all a few minutes to prepare themselves, insisting on holding a strategy meeting with the other two leaders. He turned to look at Aigis, who seemed to never take her eyes off of Minato. He sighed. Aigis would always be the same. 

Mitsuru was fencing with Junpei, practicing moves against each other. Ken admitted that his strikes were probably weaker than before, but he had been trying to keep up with his strength between school years. Even so, he cautiously practiced strikes and slashes with his spear through the air, daring any Shadows to come near. 

“Hey Ken.” Yukari had walked close to him. “What do you think of those two?” He followed where she pointed to Narukami and Kurusu. 

Ken drove the point of his spear into the ground as he thought a moment. “Narukami is pretty big, but he seems nice. His friends like him.” He thought that the gray haired boy gave off a big brother vibe, though he would be cautious about trusting someone like that. “Kurusu is friendly too, and he seems so cool.” Ken admired the other two leaders, but Minato was always the best in his opinion. 

“S.E.E.S.! It’s time to get started.” Minato walked back over, so Ken pulled his spear from the ground and unclipped the snap over his Evoker. “From what we’ve seen, this place is just an open area. There’s more hallways ahead, filled with Shadows.” His gray eye locked on to Fuuka, who was talking to the other navis. “We’ll be counting on you three for navigation.” 

With that, Minato pointed his sword down the hallway in front of the group, Kurusu and Narukami on either side of him. Ken took a deep breath. He was ready to fight any Shadow that came across his path. 

“Take that!” Ken dived down, thrusting his spear through the body of the Shadow beneath him. It dissolved into dust, and he let out a breath of relief. The Shadows hadn’t been too bad here, but there had been a lot. He wasn’t worn out yet, but was rather glad Kurusu and Narukami were with them. The two boys were frighteningly strong, with Narukami being able to take out Shadows in a single swing and Kurusu being so fast Shadows were dead before Ken could even blink. 

They had been making considerable progress through the Realm, especially with the help of all three Navis. Ken stretched his shoulder out a little, ready to continue on. 

“Good job guys, but be careful! There’s a ton of of strong Shadows up ahead.” Fuuka’s voice echoed around them. “But we think you guys are getting really close to a new area.” 

“Let’s go then.” Minato nodded in the direction of the hallway. Ken twirled his spear in his hand and ran after everyone, silently cursing his short stature. He was so distracted that he failed to see the large Shadow lunging at him until it was right in front of him. Ken let out a shriek and whirled his spear around, aiming for the neck but missed, the blade piercing the beast’s shoulder. It tackled him despite the injury and Ken had to push hard on his spear to keep the monster’s snapping jaws away from his face. Panic shot through him. 

A long blade sank deep into the Shadow’s side, knocking it off Ken. He shot up, yanking his spear from its shoulder. Narukami pulled his sword from the Shadow before stabbing it right through again. The Shadow writhed, so Ken pulled his Evoker out and held it to his chest. 

“Nemesis!” He pulled the trigger, his Persona rising into the air. “Kouha!” Light flew from his Persona and stabbed through the Shadow, effectively killing it. Ken retracted his Persona and nodded to Narukami, who threw himself back into the fray. 

The Shadows around them were big and ferocious, and the whole of S.E.E.S. was struggling to fight them off, even with the aid of Narukami and Kurusu. Ken gritted his teeth and flung himself at a Shadow that was sparring with Junpei. With a shout, he stabbed the beast through the back, letting Junpei recover enough to summon Trismegestus and defeat the Shadow. Ken helped him up, and together the two charged forward to assist anyone else. A Shadow lunged for him, but two swift slashes from Kurusu were enough to stop it in its tracks. The thief pulled off his mask to summon that winged demon, Arsene. Ken watched as Kurusu attempted to kill the Shadow with Eiha, but it bounced off its shell. 

“Kurusu!” A crazy idea popped into Ken’s head, and he hoped it would work as he wanted it to. “Use Eiha on my spear!” The thief didn’t protest, and dark energy wrapped around the sharp blade. “Go down!” He rushed forward, stabbing his spear through the center of the Shadow. The magic attack exploded outwards, destroying the beast. Ken planted his feet, the dark magic making him feel a little weak. Once it was done, he shook himself off, turning back to look at Kurusu, who smiled proudly at him. Ken felt warmth spread through him. 

He looked around, glad to see that the other Shadows had been killed. Minato stabbed his sword down into one repeatedly, making sure it was dead. S.E.E.S. had won this fight, but it was clear it had been taxing. Ken felt pain spark across his left arm. He winced as he looked at it, seeing where a Shadow’s claws had cut his skin. His armband had avoided getting torn, but his sweater would need to be sewn later. He inspected his other pained spots, only finding bruises and scrapes. The cut would need to be treated soon. 

Yukari had been going around, looking at everyone’s wounds. She came up to Ken and looked at his arm. “You’ll be ok. Here.” She carefully wrapped the wound despite Ken wincing at her touch. “There. Minato wants to keep going a little farther. He wants to know about the new area Fuuka was talking about. Do you think you can keep going?” He rolled his right arm around. His muscles would be sore tomorrow if he kept going, but he should be ok otherwise.

“I’ll be ok. If Minato wants to keep going, I can keep up.” Ken held his spear across his shoulders and walked after Minato, who had started leading the group onward. He had to jog to keep up thanks to being significantly shorter than anyone here. Eventually the hallway opened up into a wide open space where an eerily large building loomed before them. 

“So this is the new area, as Fuuka had mentioned.” Minato’s gaze swept up the tower as he spoke. “As much as I want to go on, S.E.E.S. needs to rest. That last group of Shadows was hard to fight. Fuuka, can you guys tell anything about this tower?” 

“It’s not too high or big, but we can tell that it has a very different feel than what you’ve been dealing with so far. You should find a way back so you can rest.” Ken looked around at the black and white walls, eventually noticing movement by the door of the building. 

“Minato-” 

“I see them.” Minato held up his hand to keep S.E.E.S. to show he would look by himself. Kurusu and Narukami joined him, and even from here Ken could feel the prickliness radiating from his leader. Wow, Minato doesn’t like them, but I don’t know why. Ken watched as the three approached the Shadowy figure. Even from here, the thing’s voice carried. 

“Y-You’re back! He was right, you God Slayers are dangerous.” God Slayers? Is it talking about us? There was some scuffling and Ken could see that the thing was actually a person, a person with something in their arms. He wanted to step forward to help, but the voice stopped him. “Come any closer and I’ll kill her on the spot.”

“Minato! He’s not bluffing!” Fuuka’s voice was filled with desperation. Ken shook, unable to decide what to do. “That man is much stronger than you and S.E.E.S. could defeat.” 

The man laughed. “If you want to beat me, come to the top of my Temple. Better do it before she dies!” He slid into the building, shutting the door behind him with a solid click. Everyone stood silently, struggling to process what just happened. Ken could see Minato’s arms shaking by his side. After a few more silent moments, Kurusu exploded. 

“What the hell are you standing there for? We have to go save her!” Kurusu slammed his foot into the door, but it didn’t budge. Ken flinched at the sound, but turned to look at Minato. “Arisato, these are your people. We have to go.” He looked at the blue haired man with an accusatory glare. 

“Kurusu. Look at them, they’re battered and bruised. They can’t continue on at this rate. We’ll head back and figure out what to do next, and don’t you dare try to argue with me.” Minato glared back. “S.E.E.S. needs to rest. We’ll return for now.” 

“Minato?” Fuuka’s voice rose to life around them. “We’ve found another entrance to this place nearby you guys. It should be over to your right.” Ken turned in the direction that Fuuka had mentioned, and he noticed a wavering light blue square on the wall. He approached it, seeing that same strange circular symbol that was on Hanamura’s window. 

“Ken, be careful. We don’t know what’s on the other side.” Mitsuru walked up behind him, gazing into the window. He thought he could almost see into it, the room beyond looking kind of like the dorms at Hashi. “Leader, will you go on through first?” 

Minato walked up to the window and just glared at it before poking his head through. After a moment he came back out with a huff of relief. “Thank god, it’s Ken’s room.” Why my room? “That means we can use this window as a way to get back here to this place.”

“Didn’t that weirdo call this place a temple? Does that mean he’s part of those cultists of rumor?” Narukami had walked over, sheathing his sword on his back. He folded his arms. “What are these windows anyway? Why the windows of our rooms?” 

Minato shook his head. “I’m too tired to think about it right now. Come on, we should go rest for now. Let’s meet up later in the planning room.” He leapt through the window and was gone. 

“Here, Amada.” Narukami was standing behind him with a small smile. “I’ll help you through.” He knelt down and offered a boost to the child. While normally Ken would have scoffed and walked away, he felt warmth spreading through him at the gray haired boy’s kindness. It was quickly followed by a sharp pang in his chest, but he swallowed the feeling. 

“Th-thank you.” He graciously took the assistance and stepped through the window and tumbled into the floor. Minato helped him up, though Ken could feel his arms shaking. They were all out of it. “Minato, are you ok?” 

“I’ll be fine. It’s been a while since I’ve fought, so I’m just sore. Is your arm ok?” Minato gently brushed his fingers on the bandage. Ken felt a prick of pain from the pressure, but otherwise it was ok. He nodded. “Good.” The rest of S.E.E.S. had begun coming through the window. “Take your time resting.” With that Minato left his room.

Everyone had long since left his room, leaving Ken to relax by himself. He had been working on school work when the chime of his phone rang out through his room. He picked it up and checked it, seeing a message from Minato. 

<< Ken, we’ve gotten a message from Mishima. Please come to the planning room.

Ken stacked his work together neatly before standing up. He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there, but his legs were stiff. He walked out anyway, as the planning room was a bit far. He’d stretch out his legs by walking. When he made it to the room, a lot of people were already there, including Narukami and Kurusu. He made his way to a seat near the front and sat down. 

Once everyone else was in there, Kurusu spoke of the message. It made sense that Mishima would have texted him first, considering how close friends they were. Despite that, Ken did wonder why Kurusu only called Mishima by his honorific.

“Mishima messaged us just a few minutes earlier. He said that a girl from his class named Nishi went missing. Her friends claimed she was last seen working at the same convenience store that Hokori manages.” Kurusu’s eyes were so dark and piercing, Ken fought to keep looking at the dark haired teen. “I think it’s rather safe to assume that Hokori dragged her into that big building thing we saw in the Chaos Realm.”

“So we’ve decided to take him out, topple that wretched temple of his, and save Nishi.” Minato’s gray eyes swept over everyone in the room, though it was clear the warmth in his glare was only for S.E.E.S. Ken felt excitement shoot through his chest, spreading across his entire body. A new mission. He stared down at his hands, clenching his fingers closed. It wasn’t vengeance that was driving him this time. No. 

This time I want to save people.

[welcometohashihigh]

A Solid Plan: Minato

Minato really liked this Mishima kid. When Narukami or Kurusu snapped at him, it was so irritating, but there was something about Mishima that reminded Minato of himself. He could understand why Kurusu trusted him so much, especially if he could get his hands on such important information. Though Minato was confused as to what Mishima had meant, what with the mentions of how he saw things that no one else did. 

“I like you, Yuuki.” 

Mishima blushed a bit at being called by his given name. “It’s ok, y-you can call me by my last name. I’m used to it.” He chuckled nervously. The aggression and passion in his voice was gone. “I just want to be your informant, if you’re going to try and solve these murders.” Akira had a prideful smirk on his face, and it took almost all of Minato’s will to not smack that smirk off. He hated how high and mighty Akira was. 

“Thanks for the help, but if the media is covering everything up, how will you get us information?” Shirogane’s question was a genuine one, clearly not trying to be patronizing. “What I mean is that I’d like you to prove yourself.” 

“I can tell you the name of the person I suspect the most.” A determined gleam lit up his eyes as he glared out upon the people. Minato had to admire it, especially the suggestion of getting information about someone who was part of this whole case. “As well as tell you more about that world behind the window.” 

“Have you been there?” Wow, Shirogane really is a detective.

“No, but after I talked to some people about it, I found it’s apparently called the Chaos Realm.” Good lord, this kid must have some crazy connections. “And the person who I believe to be killing people is a manager at a local convenience store named Jiga Hokori. I’ve heard rumors that people start working there only to disappear later. That’s all I know so far. I only started looking into this because Akira asked me to, so I don’t have that much yet.” 

Minato couldn’t deny that he was impressed. Getting information like that in such a short time must have taken some serious handiwork. He smiled slightly, though he wasn’t sure why Mishima had that effect on him. 

Shirogane bowed their head. “Thank you very much, Yuuki. You’ve been very helpful today.” Mishima blushed a little, then started to walk out. “Wait just a moment, please. We should all be able to get into contact with you in case of emergencies.” Shirogane glanced at Narukami who nodded his head in some sort of approval. “I think you should exchange contact with our leaders.” 

Mishima turned around, fumbling with his phone a bit. “R-right of course. Here…” He walked over to Minato, who also had his phone out. The two exchanged numbers, then Mishima went to get Narukami’s number. Once he was done with that, he excused himself and walked out. 

“I want to go back through the window.” Minato stood up, casting his glare around the room. He hated the Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves, but his better judgement told him the three groups had to do this together somehow. Luckily for him, everyone else seemed to agree with him. Hanamura stood up and stretched backwards, an excited smile on his face. 

“Come on then, let’s go back to my room!” 

Minato couldn’t deny that Hanamura’s excitement was rubbing off on him. He’d never admit it openly though. He followed the Investigation Team out the door, motioning for S.E.E.S. to follow as well. Ever since he awakened again, Minato had started carrying his Evoker everywhere with him. He felt safer with the gun at his hip, and found that when he got lost in thought, he’d unclip and clip the snap on the holster. The sound made him feel at ease. 

By the time Minato had reached Hanamura’s room, the window portal was already open. He pulled his short sword from his coat, ready to take on whatever is beyond that portal. The Investigation Team went through first before Minato lead his team after them. Once again in the strange world, what did Mishima call it, the Chaos Realm? He had to shake his head to compose himself. The light of the place hurt his eyes. 

“How should we go about this? We know close to nothing about this place…” Mitsuru thought out loud, glancing at all the teens in this new place. “I think instead of trying to explore this place all together, we should split up into our normal teams. A group this big can’t move quietly or efficiently. Narukami, Kurusu, I’d like to ask you what your groups excel at when you traversed those strange worlds.” 

“We rescued people from the TV world, so I suppose that we were good at rescue.” Shirogane mused, answering for Narukami. “According to Mishima, this Chaos Realm is rather common knowledge. I can only assume the people who are murdering others are using this place. In that case, the Investigation Team can help rescue anyone who doesn’t belong here.” How intelligent. 

“The Phantom Thieves stole the desires of those who had Palaces, however, those desires tended to make them transform into horrible beasts that we had to defeat.” Kurusu turned his dark gray eyes on the others. “They were rather hard to defeat, but it was necessary.” 

“You could say we’re really good at defeating bosses!” Sakura piped up eagerly. This girl constantly thinks in video games. 

“In that case, S.E.E.S. had to traverse a massive tower called Tartarus. It was long and winding, and we had to stay sharp to not get lost.” Minato thought to himself. “We know nothing about this place and it’s layout, but we can work at creating a map of this place. We had to constantly map out Tartarus so we could make our way higher every time we were there.” The less I have to be around these losers the better. 

“Then it’s easy.” Mitsuru set the point of her rapier into the ground. “We will make headway here, the Investigation Team will focus on rescue, and the Phantom Thieves will handle any strong enemies we face. Normal Shadows can be taken care of by anyone.” 

Minato found himself agreeing with Mitsuru, and thankfully the other groups found it unnecessary to argue this. His hand gripped tighter around his sword hilt as he gazed at Narukami and Kurusu. As much as he hated them, a thought crossed his mind. He approached them rather cautiously all the same. 

“If your groups are going to hang back, I want both of you up with me.” He couldn’t describe the power that they had, but figured it was best for the three leaders to work together to lead the way. “You don’t have to lead S.E.E.S., I just think having a little more firepower would be nice.” Minato hoped they wouldn’t try to get upset at him.  

“I wanted to be up front anyway, so I have no problem with it.” Narukami rested the backside of his long blade on his shoulder. The sword looked heavy and hard to wield, but after seeing the tall boy smash a Shadow into the ground with it, Minato had decided to let him handle heavy weaponry like that. 

Kurusu mulled it over a little more, but eventually shrugged. “Sure. You’ll need my strength anyway.” He twirled the dagger in his hand, his fingers sliding so effortlessly across the metal. Kurusu was stronger than Minato, but the long knife he wielded always seemed more suited to fast, agile strikes. Minato didn’t want to admit that the lanky boy scared him with how fast he could move. 

Minato nodded at the two then turned to look at S.E.E.S. His friends brandished their weapons and determination sparkled in their eyes. It was time to make their mark on Tokyo. “We have a new mission, S.E.E.S.” He raised his sword into the air in a salute. “Let’s tear this place up!” The resounding cheer that rose from his friends made warmth spread through his chest. And maybe I won’t die this time.

[welcometohashihigh]

Yet Another Blue Haired Character: Naoto

Naoto always thought the city was too hectic for them to focus, especially with how chaotic the Phantom Thieves were. They had to admit that they were rather endearing though, just like how the Investigation Team is. They forced a smile down as they thought about their close friends. 

“Mishima tends to hang out here, so we’ll just wait for him.” Kurusu stopped in front of a set of game machines in the Akihabara district. Naoto looked around at the buildings and the people, falling into that habit of gathering information. The rest of the Thieves chatted amongst themselves, some of them talking about this informant. Mishima. Naoto wondered why this person hadn’t been a part of the exchange program, but thought it would be rather rude to ask. However, they wondered how they knew this Mishima if he wasn’t a Persona user like the rest. 

“Kurusu. I don’t mean to be rude, but is this Mishima a Persona user like the rest of us?”

Kurusu broke away from his conversation to address Naoto with a smile. “No, though I wish he was. He’s very smart, and the reason he’s our informant while Futaba is our Navi is because he, and no offense Futaba, but Mishima is a lot less socially inept.” Sakura stomped her foot almost angrily, but she had a teasing tone. 

“Hey, ‘Kira! I can talk to people!” 

“Futaba we literally had to trash your Palace before you would even let us address you by name.” Akira rested his arm on Sakura’s head, the tiny girl batting his arm away in protest. Before she could retort, a soft, boyish voice rang out. 

“Akira! Ryuji!” Naoto looked up as a boy with blue-black hair came running over to the group. He was shorter than Kurusu and Sakamoto, and while he was small in stature, there was a strange weight to his legs. “How’s Hashi High?” 

“It’s been interesting, and it’s only been one day. How are you dealing with Shujin by yourself?” Kurusu had a habit of making small talk with whoever he met. Naoto found it a bit endearing and like fresh air compared to the Investigation Team’s bluntness. They did wonder how this Mishima had become their informant if he wasn’t a part of the Phantom Thieves. 

“Oh it’s been really fine. A little lonely without you guys I guess, but with the documentary I’ve never been bored. So, you needed information?” Mishima seemed equally soft as well as excitable, though when he saw Naoto he struggled to contain his excitement. “Who’s that?”

“My apologies for not introducing myself.” Naoto stepped forward and bowed their head. “My name is Shirogane Naoto. I’m part of the exchange program at Hashi High. Mishima, is it? I heard you were the Phantom Thieves’ informant.”

Mishima swelled with pride. “You like the Phantom Thieves too?”

Naoto couldn’t help but stifle a smile at the boy’s enthusiasm. They nodded and looked at Kurusu for approval to ask about the incidents in Shibuya. When he nodded, Naoto turned back to Mishima. “We’d like to ask you-”

“Naoto!” They turned to see Yu and the Investigation Team walking towards them. Naoto waved them over, intending to introduce them to Mishima. Yu had this weird air of pride about him, and Naoto assumed it was probably because they had up and left with the Phantom Thieves to get information. While normally they would feel bad, they knew that Yu hadn’t been in the right mind ever since yesterday. 

“Guys, this is Mishima, the informant for the Phantom Thieves. Mishima, this is the Investigation Team.” Mishima looked a bit overwhelmed from the sudden influx of new faces. Naoto tried to explain without giving away too much. “We all came from a town called Inaba for the exchange program.”

“It...it’s very nice to meet you all!” Does anything throw this kid off? “So what did you want to ask me?” Naoto looked up at Yu, who’s expression had changed from stony to warm as soon as Mishima spoke. They suppressed the urge to smirk at the change in demeanor. They adjusted their cap and fix Mishima with their iconic stare.

“We heard about the murders here. Not just in Shibuya but all of Tokyo. With the media struggling to recover after the Phantom Thieves incident.” They couldn’t help the intense cool that came over them as they interrogated Mishima. 

“The murders?” Mishima thought for a moment before looking at Kurusu. “Don’t tell me that you plan on solving them!” He shook a bit. Whatever was involved in this case scared Mishima. “They mostly target teenagers, especially highschoolers. Apparently they convince them to perform crimes before they’re gone for a few weeks. Then the bodies are found. Wrapped in these black and white robes with a snake symbol burned into their chest.”

Yu staggered back, bumping into Naoto a bit. He held his fingers to his temple, and when Naoto could see his face, there was bright fear in his eyes. They stepped closer, holding a hand out to try and steady Yu. “Yu, are you-”

“Sorry, Naoto.” He cleared his throat and shook his head. “I just got a weird feeling.” He didn’t elaborate, and Naoto didn’t press further. Instead they turned their eyes back onto Mishima, who had looked at Yu in worry. With a nod from Yu, the blue haired boy continued. 

“I’ve heard lots of rumors of people suddenly getting these weird powers. After that, then they vanish, and either turn up dead or seen in those black and white robes.” Mishima looked around at the surrounding people before stepping closer as if to whisper. “People say it’s the Phantom Thieves doing again, and some of those powerful people are saying that they were the Thieves. But it’s not true!” Naoto admired the boy for being so upstanding amid such rumours. But they could understand why Mishima had wanted to whisper to the groups. People around them were starting to look at the large group with some suspicious looks, so Naoto took the lead in the conversation.

“Let’s go back to the dorms for now.” They cast a glance at both Akira and Yu, hoping the two would agree that this wasn’t a good place to talk. “It’d be better if we could talk in private. Mishima, you come along too.” Thankfully the two boys agreed for once, and the Phantom Thieves and the Investigation Team started to make their way back to the Hashi High dorm building. 

Naoto had gone ahead and messaged Mitsuru about meeting up in the planning room in a few minutes. They knew that Yu wouldn’t do it himself, what, with his stupid pride and all. Luckily Naoto was willing to get their hands dirty for this case. 

Once they had reached the planning room, S.E.E.S. was already waiting for the other two groups to show up. Mitsuru gave Naoto a small smile when the two groups walked in, though when she saw Mishima, her face went back to it’s stoic state. Naoto leaned up against the wall near the front, knowing that they’d probably need to calm everyone down eventually. Mishima joined them, albeit dragged along by Kurusu. It was clear he didn’t like being up in front of all these people. Naoto decided it would be best to help him along. 

“This is Mishima….” Damn, I don’t know his given name! 

“Oh, uh, it’s Yuuki, but you can just call me Mishima.” His eyes had been a bit glazed over, and his stance swayed a little. He shook his head to right himself. Is he ok? Naoto didn’t pay too much mind to it though, since Mishima seemed to be ok.

“Right, Mishima Yuuki. He was the informant for the Thieves, and has some important information for us regarding the murders in Tokyo.”

They could see that Mishima was shaking a bit, but Kurusu smiled at him in a comforting way. Mishim took a deep breath before beginning. 

“The media has been covering up the murders in an attempt to make it seem like the government isn’t corrupt or something.” There was a snicker from Sakamoto before Niijima shushed him. “According to what I’ve seen though, there are these cultists that wear black and white robes that have been targeting teenagers, promising them loads of power. They do crimes before suddenly vanishing, then turn up a few days later dead.” 

“Black and white robes? Like the ones we saw on that guy behind the window?” Iori looked at Mishima, and Naoto felt a bit of panic well up inside them. Mishima doesn’t know about the world behind the window!

“Junpei, hush. We shouldn’t tell a stranger-”

“I’m not new to this kind of thing!” Mishima fixed Arisato with a fierce glare. Naoto was surprised at the aggression from the otherwise timid boy. “I was right there when blood rained down on Tokyo, I saw it when no one else did, and I felt the only people in this corrupt world that I looked up to vanish!” How admirable, standing up for himself like this. Mishima clearly deserved to be a part of this, even if he wasn’t a Persona user. Naoto turned their gaze to look at Arisato, who seemed to have gotten over his shock at being yelled at.

“I like you, Yuuki.”

[welcometohashihigh]

What I Fear Most: Yu

“Oh, so you all do have Personas. Our master was right.” A gruff voice echoed through the place, bringing Yu back from gawking at Arisato and the Persona summoned with the gun in his hands. They all turned to the new person who had just appeared while they were summoning. Kurusu pulled his mask off his face, his gray eyes threatening. The new person was tall and build strongly, wearing a cloak of black and white squares layered atop each other in a chaotic pattern. His face was covered in a flat black mask with an odd oval symbol across the front. “Our master does hate to be disappointed.”

“Who the hell are you?” Sakamoto glared at the newcomer, clutching his bat. Yu hefted his long sword, the white lights glinting threateningly onto the man. The man laughed, the monsters at his feet surging back to life. Yu instantly bent into a fighting stance, his grip tightening on the sword hilt. As he looked around, he saw that everyone else was ready to fight. 

“You’re all so angry. Just give in to our master’s will and everything will be fine.” The man’s eyes almost glowed behind the mask. The monsters at his feet lunged forward, taking the forms of three feline like creatures. “Just let these Shadows absorb you and we’ll be on our way.”

“Like that’ll happen. Arsene!” That Persona of Kusuru’s blazed to life in a grand flourish. What a showoff. Yu lunged forward too, Izanagi raising his polearm to slash through the Shadows. Arisato popped himself in the head again, his Persona Orpheus ready to unleash a hellstorm upon their enemies. 

“Izanagi!” A white hot bolt of lightning slammed into the Shadow closest to Yu, arcs of electricity crackling over its body. Yu didn’t wait to see if it would get back up or if the other two were dealing with the other Shadows, instead racing forward and slashing through the knocked down Shadow. It dissolved into nothing, filling Yu with satisfaction. He turned to see the other two Shadows dissolve under the weapons of Arisato and Kurusu. The cloaked man stumbled backwards, though his voice was angry instead of fearful.

“You’ll regret not giving in when you had the chance!” The man stumbled away, vanishing into the black and white lights. Yu sighed as Izanagi returned to him, sheathing his sword away. He wanted to run after the man but he wasn’t as used to his Persona as before. His swing was weak too, as he hadn’t been working out as much ever since the last case of the Investigation Team. 

“That was close. You guys all need to practice more, I could feel how weak all your swings were from here.” Yu turned to see what was making the irritating noise and ended up face to face with a strange cat-monster. 

“I’ll show you how strong my swing really is, you monster.” Arisato walked up next to Yu and glared at the thing in front of them. Kurusu rolled his eyes and crouched next to the thing, placing his hand upon its head. 

“I know he doesn’t look like it, but this is Morgana. It’s good to know you’ll be able to understand him in the real world too.” Sarcasm edged Kurusu’s voice, along with some kind of hostility. Yu narrowed his eyes at Morgana, who returned the glare right back. “I’m surprised his cognitive form is what shows up here though.”

“Cognitive?” 

Kurusu stood back up and tucked his hands into his pockets. “It’s hard to explain. I think we should leave for today and come back later. It’s clear we aren’t-”

“I don’t think you should be telling us what to do.” Yu fixed his gaze on Kurusu, who returned the piercing stare from behind his mask. He didn’t want to admit that he also thought they should rest, but the way Kurusu was so commanding angered him. “The Investigation Team takes orders from me. So we’ll be heading back through that window.” Yosuke muttered out a “sorry” as he walked by the Phantom Thieves, following Yu as he walked back to the window. 

Once back inside Yosuke’s room, Yu slumped against the wall. Why do I feel so weak? His muscles ached and his head was pounding with vehemence. He held his hand up over his eyes. Yu was so focused on his headache that he didn’t pay mind to the Phantom Thieves and S.E.E.S. slipping back through the window. There were a few words exchanged, but after that all that was left in the room was the Investigation Team. 

“Yu, partner, you ok?” Yosuke rested a hand on Yu’s shoulder. His head had stopped pounding and gone down to a dull ache, but there was still soreness in his limbs. “Jeez, I didn’t even do much and I feel exhausted. I think I got Jiraiya back though.” 

Yu looked up at Yosuke. He smiled softly despite his exhaustion. “Yeah. Yosuke, I think I’m going to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that he went to his room and flopped down onto his bed, exhausted. His gray eyes swept over the dark city through the window, the bright lights so innocent and free. How amusing. Yu chuckled to himself. No one down there knew about the window, the world behind it, or the three groups and their terrifying power. There was someone out there, someone who was filled with malicious intent to kill. 

He rolled over onto his back, gazing up at the ceiling. Makoto had apologized for Kurusu, but the way he acted like he was in charge… it didn’t quite sit well with him. And Arisato was so rude and headstrong… He didn’t like them, either of them. But he was stuck here anyway. 

Yu didn’t remember when he went to sleep, but when he woke up, the day was bright. The tall buildings of Shibuya soared on either side of him, almost too tall. How did I get here? He started walking down the street, people around him making way for the tall boy. A strange force pulled him towards a shadowy part of the street, the bustling crowd thinning out as he got closer and closer. The lights got dimmer and dimmer, though his eyes were adjusting to the bleak light. There was no one near him.  

Something brushed against his leg. Yu looked down to see a black and white object right next to him, and as he looked at it, it became clear that the thing was wrapped in the same cloak that the person from the window world was wearing. A cold chill raced down his spine as he nudged the thing over. It was bare chested, and that same oval symbol that was on the window looked like it had been branded there. Yu started shaking. Oh god no. The hood was pulled over the face, and while Yu didn’t want to pull it off he reached down and yanked it free. 

He couldn’t stop shaking as his eyes frantically searched the face and its agonizingly familiar features. Oh god no. 

The light brown hair was messy and a little burnt, but Yu recognized the color easily. Only one eye was open, and despite how it was glazed over, the dark brown was so familiar. Yu fell to his knees, panic lashing across every single nerve. His hands shook as he reached out to grab the large black and orange headphones from around Yosuke’s neck. The corpse’s other eye opened as many many voices all spoke as one. 

“We’ll all die…. It’s your fault.You could have saved us. But you can’t. We’ll all, we’ll all, we’re dead and it’s your fault Yu Narukami!” 

Yu sat bolt upright in his bed, a shout leaving him as he resurfaced from the nightmare. “Yosuke!” He panted, the voice of dead Yosuke still fresh in his mind. He was shivering feverishly, despite how warm he felt. What the hell was that nightmare? He had a lot of nightmares after dealing with Ameno-Sagiri and Izanami, but this was so different from those, especially with the robes and the symbol. 

“Yu?” There was a knock at the door. He breathed a sigh of relief at hearing Yosuke’s voice. He slowly got out of bed and opened the door. “Yu, dude, you look like hell. I heard you scream my name.”

“Ah, yeah. I had a bad dream. I’m fine, I promise.” He wasn’t sure if that was the entire truth though, considering how shaken he still was. It’s just my nerves. I’ll be fine later. Yu gave Yosuke a reassuring smile. “We were given the day off today, right?” A part of him wanted to meet with S.E.E.S. and the Phantom Thieves, but his pride didn’t want to admit the Investigation Team needed help. 

Yosuke nodded. “Yeah…” He looked a little sheepish. “Yu, after you left, Ryuji, er, Sakamoto came by my room. He was asking if you were ok. I told him you were tired and we ended up talking.” Yu couldn’t deny the spark of animosity towards Kurusu’s partner, though he knew it wasn’t Sakamoto’s fault. “He said that Sakura looked more into the murders and talked to Naoto and Kirijo. Apparently they always have that symbol we saw on the window. The snake.”

Yu frowned. He wanted to solve this thing himself, but if even Naoto was talking with the others he guessed he had to as well. “We should probably meet up in that room and talk. I’ll apologize for just up and leaving…” 

Yosuke shook his head. “The Thieves have already left to go find their informant in Shibuya. Ryuji invited me along but I said that I’d wait for you. Naoto went with them.” Yu chewed on the inside of his lip. It made perfect sense that they’d have an informant, though he thought that Sakura would have been the provider. 

“Fine. We can go scope out Shibuya.”

[welcometohashihigh]

Day 20: Kiss

It had been so long since Minato had kissed Death. In fact, the last time he had kissed Death was when his life was being taken, his soul used as the Great Seal. ANd he could remember it quite well. How softly lips had caressed his skin, how he could feel the love the two shared, how he could taste the tears that bled into the kiss. It was a feeling that never left him, even if everything else did. 

And it was a feeling he was reminded of now. 

Ryoji had stolen him away for a moment, seemingly unable to hold himself back from loving Minato in any way, shape, or form. And yet, when they got to one of the roofs in Tatsumi Port, they just sat there, looking out on the black and white city. Ryoji seemed content like this, swaying his legs off the edge. Minato hated being this close to the edge, but Ryoji had absolutely insisted on it. 

“So the world is about to end, and you want to come up to a random building, and just sway your feet in the wind?” Minato teased in his usual way, and thankfully, Ryoji chuckled softly. It was so different, so so different to see Ryoji in this way. This halfway point, between human and Death, there was something even more ethereal about him. Something that reminded Minato of the last time they kissed. 

“We’d been fighting your friends all day. I figured you might want to take a break for a moment to sit with someone you don’t have to fight.” 

Minato couldn’t deny the appeal in the idea. He managed to scoot himself a little closer to Death, who responded by wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Heights made Minato sick, but Ryoji loved them so much, and after being stuck inside Minato for yet another year, being free must feel great. 

“I missed being able to touch you like this.”

“Shut the hell up Mochizuki.” 

He wanted to kiss Death again. 

Oh god, Minato wanted to kiss Death again. He stewed in this emotion, this desire, until he couldn’t stand it any longer. He turned his body to Ryoji and grabbed his shirt. Before the boy could even thing, Minato’s lips had crashed into his. 

It was even better than before. It was full of Life and Death, the taste of the World and the Universe. Minato pressed into the kiss, remembering the love that nothing could come between. Ryoji was in shock at first, then slowly extended those raven black wings to surround the two of them. 

Hiding their passion from the city and the gods who looked down on them. 

Minato didn’t mind at all. He wanted to keep Ryoji all to himself, to have this form of Death for his own. And even so, the kiss was broken too soon, leaving him wanting more. But time wasn’t on their side, not with the world rapidly approaching its end. 

“I missed that.”

“I did too.” 

But it’s ok. Minato is used to waiting.

Remember how I said I wouldn’t get behind? So I’m a liar, and it’s because of my big dumb death brain. So this is my final submission to the festival, at least I think. It was a lot of fun when I did it though! Also I know I also said I wasn’t going to post spoilers for Hashi, but I really really wanted to write these two kissing before they save the world. 

Big thanks to @nemirutami for this festival, I had fun with what I did do. 

[welcometohashihigh]

Are you going to post your au on any other sites? Such as AO3 or something of that nature? Also, great work!

Oh yeah! It's up under the same name on Wattpad, AO3, and Fanfiction.net. Feel free to check it out there while I still work on the Festival here!

[welcometohashihigh]

Music

“Ryoji, what’s your favorite thing about this world?” 

The black haired boy liked to sit on the windowsill of Minato’s dorm room, often gazing out over the brightly lit city. He wasn’t exactly real, or at the very least he wasn’t corporeal. Ryoji was once again inhabiting Minato’s body, though this time Minato was much more open to hosting Death. 

“Hmm? You mean besides you?” 

Minato couldn’t stand it when Ryoji did that. Being flirted with upset him, but only because he was so easily flustered. Even at something a simple as that, his face was bright red. He had to resist the urge to hide in his shirt. 

“W-well, yeah, I do mean besides me…” 

Ryoji snickered at the strawberry-faced boy before turning back to look out of the window. There was a small silence where Minato could only assume he was thinking about his answer. 

“I don’t really know.” 

Minato kind of left it at that. He had known Ryoji for only a few months, but he knew his Shadow boyfriend well enough to tell when he was done with a conversation. His curiosity wasn’t satisfied, but he could live with not knowing. 

Or at least he thought. 

For whatever reason, as the days went by, Minato felt his curiosity burning brighter and brighter. It was getting so bad that he started asking Ryoji every night, and he was absolutely sure Yu and Haru could hear him begging some spirit to tell him what on this dumb, boring earth made him want to come back. Not just come back, but return from eternal sleep out in the cosmos to reinhabit an apathetic teen’s body for the rest of his life. 

And every time, Ryoji would answer the same way. An “I don’t know” and then returning to look out the window as if he was thinking about it. 

And every time, Minato would sink deeper in his desire to find out what it was. 

Until one day, as he was begrudgingly walking through Shibuya with his hands deep in his pockets and headphones drowning out the noise that Yu and Akira may or may not have been making, Minato got his answer. He felt a very light tap on his shoulder, the hand of someone who wasn’t really there. Ryoji was walking next to him, ignoring the people around them and instead looking up at the sky. 

“There’s a lot of things I like about this world.” His voice was airy, melding with the smooth beats of Minato’s music. “I like the sky at all times, especially when I get to walk with you.” Minato felt his face instantly blush brightly. 

“Ryoji, that’s not-”

“And I like the hum of the city. The warmth of life.” Death turned his head down and smiled softly at Minato, who felt himself grow even hotter under the boy’s stare. “But most importantly, my absolute favorite thing about this world is music.” 

That did it. Minato blushed so much at once that he was sure the people around him could feel the warmth radiating off him. Akira and Yu turned back to look at him with confusion. He looked from the other wild cards to Ryoji and panicked. He desperately tried to hide his blush, but it was too late. 

“Are you ok Minato? Your face is a little red.” 

“Shut up! Both of you!” It was impossible for Minato to get even redder at this point, though if he could, Ryoji’s snickering beside him would have made it worse. “Leave me alone, ok!” 

The two turned back away, though it was obvious they were laughing. Minato just angrily swore to himself and turned his music back up, much to the enjoyment of Death who was humming along. 

I know I’m posting this really early but as I said before I’m attending a con today and wasn’t sure if I was going to have time. Anyway, writing Minato getting flustered is now one of my favorite things in the world.

Festival was done by @nemirutami

[welcometohashihigh]

Nostalgia

Ding.

Minato scrunched up his face as he slowly awoke. He squinted through tired eyes before they suddenly flew open at once. The blue walls of the Velvet Room rose on either side of him, though it was clear that the elevator wasn’t moving anymore. An odd unease settled around him, as he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to be here anymore. 

Minato got up from the chair he was seated in. He walked around the three walls, fingers grazing over the details. He remembered coming here often, the irritation he felt at Igor and Elizabeth’s vague answers to the endless questions he had, and despite that, the loneliness when the elevator reached the top, when his journey was finally done. 

So why was he here again?

When he reached the door, they rumbled to life and slowly slid open. There was more blue beyond them, as well as a stupidly long nose. Minato couldn’t keep his scowl off his face. He walked out of the elevator anyway, knowing that Igor had called him for a reason. 

“The hell do you want now?”

“You have returned at last, wild card. Your abilities are needed in the world once again.” 

The new Velvet Room was bigger than before. Igor was sitting at what appeared to be a concierge desk, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the wood. There were two other doors, not unlike the one he just came through. The more Minato looked, the more it was obvious that this Velvet Room was a hotel lobby. He turned his attention back to Igor. 

“My abilities? You mean the power of the wild card? Where is Elizabeth?” 

“All of my attendants are out at the moment. They are busy with various tasks, but will be back later to help you once again.” 

Minato grumbled a bit. Sure, he was fine with being a wild card, but he was still tired from saving the world just a few months ago. There was no denying Igor though, and considering the fact that he was back in the Velvet Room meant that the world was probably in danger again. Of course, he didn’t have to be pleased with it. 

“Whatever. I’ll do it.” 

“Excellent, wild card. Be warned, what threatens the world this time is a far greater power than even the one you handled a few months ago. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from those around you.”

Minato’s gaze travelled to the other two doors, curiosity sparking through him. “Wait, do you mean there are other wild cards?” 

Igor simply chuckled. “I wish you luck in the coming year.” 

The room started to fade as Minato lost consciousness, his mind screaming for more answers before he blinked awake in his own bed. He was panting a bit, a small bout of panic shooting through him at the thought of yet another power threatening the world. Not only that, but the thought of more wild cards only gave him more questions. 

“What the hell have I gotten into now?”

This is me, trying to establish that the wild cards are still wild cards. UGH I don’t know why I did this to myself, but here’s day five! The next three days might be a little late, as I’m attending a con this weekend, but here’s hoping I get these out on time!

Festival was made by @nemirutami

[welcometohashihigh]

Snowy Days

Minato was screaming, an extremely unbecoming sound for the tiny blue haired boy. Considering that both Akira and Yu were attempting to drag this screeching blue cat outside though, his screams were valid. 

“I HATE the cold and the snow and you can’t make me partake in your stupid snowball fight or whatever the hell you losers are trying to do with that hellish white substance.” 

Roughly about five minutes later, Minato ended up waist deep in the snow while the rest of the transfers students hurtled snowballs at each other. To say he was furious was a severe understatement, in fact he was so mad he could feel Orpheus’ power melting the snow closest to him. His face was in a permanent scowl. 

Yu leaned onto Minato’s shoulder heavily, forcing the scowl to deepen. “Come on Minato! We’re all having fun, even Akira!” He wore a big, dumb grin, and Minato wondered how anyone had fallen for this total idiot. 

Akira slammed into his other side, grabbing his arm. Minato tried to lean away but that just forced him into Yu more and while he hated to admit it, both boys wer quite warm. It worsened his mood. “Get over here you emo. Throw one snowball and bam, now you’re having fun.” 

Before Minato could retort, Aigis was in front of them. Her glittering blue eyes showed no emotion like normal. “Minato, is this how you have fun in the snow?” His heart felt shallow. Clearly Aigis misunderstood, as she held her arms up and blew a huge gust of snow all over the three wild cards. 

Minato was a sneeze away from a full explosion. 

“Man, even Aigis is having fun.” Yu’s muffled voice sounded from beside him. “Can’t believe you wont even take a step past where we threw you.” 

Minato left Yu and Akira face down and up to their asses in the snow and ice. He marched back towards the dorm, steam rising off his shoulders. 

“Shut the hell up Narukami.”

If you thought Hashi was nothing but seriousness and angst, you’re wrong because the protags are all like five. As I said before, I hope this puts me back on track and I don’t get sick again!

Festival was done by @nemirutami

[welcometohashihigh]

Heartfelt Gift

“Oh it’s really no problem, Mitsuru!” 

Haru had both hands wrapped around her steaming coffee mug. It was still early in the year, so she tended to get cold. She had gone to see Mitsuru after school today to offer a cup of her own coffee. The red haired woman reminded her of Makoto in so many ways. 

“It’s...really good coffee, Haru.” There was a small smile on Mitsuru’s face as she sipped the warm drink. “Did Kurusu help you brew it? I often see him in the kitchen making it.” 

Haru nodded. “Akira is so helpful, he’s such a good leader!” To say that he was just helpful was quite the understatement. Haru didn’t know the full extent of his kindness, other than he often dropped everything to help her with her garden. “I don’t know where I would be without him.” 

“I understand what you mean.” Mitsuru looked out the window, her gaze sweeping over the city. “Minato doesn’t show it, but he would stop whatever he’s doing to help me or any of the other members.” The smile grew a bit. “He helped me with my family’s problems, even though I never asked him to.” 

Haru had never had friends before the Thieves, but she often dreamed about what having friends and chatting with them was like. Listening to Mitsuru, sipping coffee, looking out on the city and its lights, it wasn’t exactly what she had imagined, but she certainly wasn’t complaining. 

“Thank you again for the coffee, Haru. It really was a nice gift. I’ll repay it back later, you have my word.”

“Oh no! You don’t need to do that, Mitsuru. I get happiness from sharing my crops with people.” Haru stared at her cup, a very soft blush tinging her cheeks. “Besides, you already got me a gift in return.” 

“Oh? And what was that?” 

“Your friendship.”

Sorry that this one is short and late, I spent most of yesterday sick AF. I’ll post both day 3 and 4 today, and HOPEFULLY I’ll remain on schedule. 

Thanks again to @nemirutami for this festival!