Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was lonely, painfully lonely, so bad that sometimes he couldn’t keep the tears from coming, lay awake with a throbbing headache from crying.

He had to keep it to himself now, this pain, because even though he wanted someone to know, like that would help, he couldn’t burden them anymore. Seeing their worry at his condition hurt more than the ache of his ruined body.

He could keep it to himself. He could be strong. He had to.

Nico swallowed the sadness like a great, cold, bitter pill and bit his knuckles to keep from making a single sound.

Chapter Text

“It doesn’t matter.” He found himself saying that more often now.

He asked for space and they gave him space, which he appreciated, but…well, it wasn’t like he expected this feeling to wear off easily.

As he sat, pretending to doze but actually watching them, he wondered how they saw him. He wondered how they couldn’t see what he was like inside. This THING, this raging, monstrous thing right behind his forehead should be plain.

He was still a monster. Control didn’t change that.

Jyugo suppressed the urge to ram his head into the wall and instead shut his eyes.

Chapter Text

“Death sounds kind of nice right now.”

“You sound kind of like a freaking moron right now.”

It was official: Jyugo needed cheering up. Badly.

As Uno looked at his friend who was leaned against the wall the same way he’d been for the past few hours, he made up his mind. Enough hoping that Jyugo would be able to regain his spirits alone. Time to get serious.

Jyugo didn’t even see it coming. As Uno tackled him and began mercilessly tickling him, he found himself laughing even though he still felt like crap.

“Stop it! Hahaha-stop!”

“Rock, Nico, c'mon!”

Chapter Text

“I heard you scream. Nightmares again?”

Nico, still trembling violently, turned his blurry gaze on his friend’s muscular frame, unsure if this was just another part of the horrible dream.

“I screamed?”

“Yeah, pretty darn loud too. You okay?”

“Yes…” Nico suddenly, spontaneously dissolved into tears and began sobbing hysterically. He was awake, he was okay, but he wasn’t really, and his heart hurt every time he remembered THAT.

FEAR-PAIN-CUTTING-NEEDLES-PRESSING-BURNING-STOP-AFRAID-HURTING

Rock folded an arm around him, spoke soothingly, but it would be a while before Nico was alright. “Hey, hey, you’re alright, buddy.”

Maybe saying it would make it true.

Chapter Text

“Look at this stuff, isn’t it neat?”

This had been going on for the past hour and Hajime was FED UP.

“Wouldn’t you think I’m a girl, a girl who has everything?”

“Nico, you’re a boy.”

Ignoring all criticism, Nico sang his heart out to the Little Mermaid soundtrack while tripping around the room.

Hajime would have made a contract with the sea witch just to make #25 stop.

“But who cares? No big deal…I want MORE!” As his voice cracked on an ambitious vibrato, so did Hajime’s patience.

“No. 25, YOU ARE GONNA BE ONE POOR UNFORTUNATE SOUL IF YOU DON’T SHUT UP!”

The outburst bought him 15 minutes of silence.

Chapter Text

Make it stop.

Please.

The sounds out there blurred together.

Uno screaming, shaking the bars, cursing sharply, totally helpless.

Jyugo’s trembling voice, begging Rock to stop, gurgling, wet coughs, spattering as blood hit the ground.

No sound from Rock. Not a single sound.

Nico felt like he was drowning. He shut his eyes and stumbled to the far wall, pressing his hands over his ears, trying to block it all out.

Please stop, stop, stop it…

The impact of Rock’s punches shuddered through the cell. It was like a nightmare, a nightmare where Nico couldn’t wake up.

Stop, stop, stop…

Chapter Text

In that split second, he’d changed.

He stood in front of her in a protective stance even though she outweighed him by 20 pounds.

The voice that came from his throat was totally unfamiliar.

“Leave us alone if you wanna keep breathing.”

They laughed at the challenge of such a scrawny, sickly kid. The bald one whipped his chain at the two children.

Nico grabbed it out of the air and jerked the man to the ground.

He fought like an animal. Biting, tearing, swift movements almost too quick for the eye to follow.

Within seconds, they were running for their lives, Nico was stained with blood, and she was stunned silent.

Chapter Text

Every time she caught his eye, she got butterflies in her stomach.

And every time he caught hers, it was like his guts went through a blender.

Hyakushiki listened to Hajime’s report, hoping that her face looked normal. Was she blushing? No, not possible, because he looked the same as always.

Unbelievably HOT.

Hajime managed tocontinue reading the report under the force of the Warden’s glare. A drop of sweat crept down his neck. She looked the same as always.

Positively MURDEROUS.

After he left, Hyakushiki cupped her face in her hands and sighed. He never stayed long enough.

 Hajime hurried back to his office, pressing a fist to his burning stomach. The reports always lasted too long.

Chapter Text

Jyugo cupped his hands to the glass and peered inside. “Uno, it’s definitely closed.”

“I KNOW that! Just open the door, I need to get my bag.”

“I’m not breaking into that shop.”

“It’s not breaking in, you’re just opening the lock. Anyways, you already broke into the mall.”

“That’s different. I’m not breaking into an actual shop.”

“Come on, my Ray-Ban sunglasses are in there!”

“Who pays $500 for sunglasses anyways? It’s your own fault. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Jyugo, I’m BEGGING you!” Uno dropped to his knees, clasping his hands in the air. “Save. My. Sunglasses. PLEASE.”

Nobody knew how to embarrass Jyugo like Uno. Getting caught by a guard would be bad enough but he couldn’t live with anyone seeing this overdramatic scene. “Alright, fine, fine! Just get up before somebody comes by,” he relented, his face red.

Uno jumped up with a big grin. “Thank you! Now do your stuff.”

Jyugo shook his head but opened the lock. “There. Now hurry up before a cop comes or something. I am NOT going back to prison over your man-purse.”

Uno winked and slipped inside, silent as a cat. When he’d been here this morning, he noticed all of the security devices, and was careful not to trip any of them.

The bag was right there. Right…there…

Suddenly an alarm went off, bright lights flashed, and sirens screamed. To say that Uno was startled would be an understatement. He felt like he’d been struck by lightning. Grabbing the bag, he dashed back outside where Jyugo was ducking around the corner and demanded “What was that?! What just happened?”

“Somebody busted the shop right next to us!” Jyugo gasped out as they began running.

“Geez, what are the odds of that?”

“You’re the odds guy! You tell me!”

“Let’s just get outta here before—”

“THERE THEY ARE! STOP THEM!” Of course the mall guards noticed THEM and not the actual thieves. Uno pushed Jyugo’s back, urging him to go faster, and said “Time to go!” He put on a burst of speed and sprinted down the still escalator, catching a pole and sliding easily into a lingerie shop.

Jyugo caught up after a moment. He looked around and frowned. “Really?” He panted, out of breath even after such a short run. “Only you…would pick…a panty shop…to hide in.”

“So, I have good taste. And we’re not hiding.” Uno beckoned him through the darkened store. “Do as I do, and you’ll have no problems. Step like this, turn – don’t bump into that! – another step, sidestep, and…back door!”

Uno had to guide Jyugo’s hand up to open the back door. Finally the latch clicked and they ran out into the cool night.

They went a few blocks before it seemed safe to slow down. It was mostly Jyugo’s fault. Uno turned and looked derisively at the out-of-shape teen. “Seriously? We’ve hardly been running at all.”

“Shut. Up.” Jyugo reeled and leaned against a wall, struggling to get air into his aching lungs.

Uno looked around and shrugged. “Oh well, they’re probably not coming here anyways.” He swung his bag off his shoulder and looked inside. The look of dismay on his face was unmistakable, even in the dim light. Jyguo caught it and stiffened. “What’s wrong? You snatch the wrong bag?”

The gambler shook his head slowly, eyes wide. “No…worse…” He reached inside and pulled out a small, dark object. It looked like…yes, it was a pair of sunglasses – neatly split down the middle and swinging by a thread.

“They got BROKEN in the chase!” Uno wailed. “My BABIES!”

Jyugo couldn’t decide if he wanted to laugh at or strangle his friend.

Chapter Text

Yamato came noisily down the hall and paused in front of Cell 13, jogging in place. “Ah, nice to see you all here! This isn’t Building 5, is it?”

“Nope.” Jyugo replied dully. Yamato laughed at his mistake. “Ha-ha-ha! I must have taken a wrong turn. See you later!” With that, he started off.

Uno looked up from his magazine. “Hey, was that Yamato just now?”

“Yeah.”

“Wasn’t he here five minutes ago?”

“Yeah.”

Uno snickered. “He’s lost, isn’t he? Where’s he trying to go?”

“Building 5.”

Then, minutes later – “Aha! Here I am again! This is most interesting, ha-ha-ha!”

Chapter Text

What does a ninja even DO?

He would have dropped this façade long ago if he could. It reminded him of her too much.

But he’d created an ideal that was the inspiration for so many people and it felt like it would be wrong to let them all down.

He was bad at it. This combat stuff. It was a miracle that the actual fighters like Liang and Samon hadn’t called him out on it yet. Whatever a ninja did, he wasn’t doing it.

Tsukumo looked at his face in the mirror long and hard, but couldn’t see HIMSELF.

Chapter Text

“Oh dear…they’ve gone and undone all of our hard work.”

Musashi jolted out of a sound sleep and sat up. Who was speaking? It sounded familiar and yet…

“We’ll have to start over from the beginning.”

The blind inmate pressed his fingertips to the wall to feel for identifying vibrations. “Who’s there?”

“Honestly, have you forgotten already? You’re as bad as the other one.”

An uncharacteristic chill ran through him at the words.

“Maybe you do remember?” The person chuckled. “I’m flattered.”

Musashi scrambled for the call button, pressed it desperately.

By the time Kenshirou arrived, the intruder was gone.

Chapter Text

Don’t ever change. Please don’t ever change.

Jyugo watched Nico fanboy over the newest season of that anime, the one with the funky bald guy and the robot, Uno shuffling through magazines in the corner while Rock drooled over a cookbook.

In that moment, it was like the life was sucked out of the scene, like he was just looking at an old, old photograph. Like hundreds of years had passed and they’d all died and he had this one picture to remind him.

A warm ache swelled up in his chest, painfully heavy.

Let it stay this way forever.

Chapter Text

How do you destroy a monster without becoming one?

It was a question a great man had asked himself years and years ago. He hadn’t yet found the answer.

It was a question Jyugo asked himself in the brief silence as he gazed on that loathsome face.

He wasn’t about to give up easily. Never again. Regardless of what Elf had done to him, this was HIS body, and he WOULD find a way to reclaim it and kill Elf forever.

But considering that both of them carried the monster’s influence inside them, maybe there wasn’t a way after all.

Chapter Text

“I taught you how to pick locks, and THIS is how you use that skill?”

Nico looked at him oh-so-innocently over the stack of papers he was hugging to his chest and explained “I just wanted to see his file. And I didn’t make a mess or anything. I’ll return it later today.”

Jyugo sighed, rubbing his forehead. “You know he’s going to kill us, right?”

“But I just borrowed it!”

“BORROWING things is how I GOT into prison! People aren’t generally understanding about that kind of stuff!”

“Fine, I’ll return it now.”

“IIIIINMAAAATES!!!”

The two froze. “Yup, we’re dead.”

Chapter Text

Upon seeing the state of the bathroom – WHY is there a deck of cards in the bathtub? – you finally realize a horrifying thing.

“This isn’t my apartment…”

Behind you the door opens, and someone says “OH!” He jerks back a step and you take in yards and YARDS of heavily dyed, braided hair and piercing blue eyes and for whatever reason you keep standing there like an idiot.

“Well, hello! Can I help you?” Instead of looking outraged, he’s…is he FLIRTING with you?!

“I…I’m sorry, wrong room!” You squeak, running past him and another guy with weird eyes who barely gives you a glance and leaving the apartment before they start yelling or anything.

Back there you can hear someone ask “Uno, was that another girlfriend?”

“…I’d say she’s a work in progress.”

Your face is burning with embarrassment at yourself and that guy’s attitude. Hopefully your paths will never cross again.

Chapter Text

Uno had tried to stay away from anime after Attack on Titan, but he had to admit, when blood and guts weren’t flying, anime was pretty cool. Emphasis on PRETTY – anime had enough hot babes to keep him satisfied for hours.

Until the blood and guts started flying around again.

This time though, it looked like Nico had picked a fairly innocent anime to watch. Uno couldn’t pronounce the name to save his life. It was some weird mix of Japanese and Latin. He decided to watch it, feeling certain that such a cutesy magical girl anime would not menace his sensitive stomach.

As good as Uno was at predicting things, he was clueless when it came to anime.

Four episodes in and Uno couldn’t take it anymore.

“WHY is a show about middle-schoolers in cute suits worse than Devilman Crybaby?!?!?!?!”

“Uno, don’t spoil it!”

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

“Why…is he running like that?”

“I think he saw it in an anime once.”

Upa stared in disbelief at no.25’s ridiculously dangerous running form. “With his arms behind his back, he’ll have no way to break his fall should he trip.”

“I know.” Uno sighed. “I keep telling him that. Well, he hasn’t fallen yet.”

Even with the ball and chain on his ankle, Nico was pretty fast, and rounded the track beside Jyugo and said “Hurry up! You should run like me, it’s faster!”

“No, you’re gonna break your nose or something.”

“I’ll be fine! You’re so lazy, though…like the protagonist of Ta**ka-kun is Always Li**less!”

“Oi, stop making work for—OOF!” Though he hadn’t been running very fast, no. 15 managed to execute a rather impressive faceplant and skidded forward a good few feet on his nose before stopping.

“Jyugo!”

“Jyugo-chan, are you okay?!”

“…So, you got distracted by trying to censor him and tripped up?” Otogi Okina made sure he understood what Jyugo had said, and shook his head with deep disappointment. “That is the stupidest reason for injury I ever heard. Maybe if you exercised more…”

“Yeah, you should run like me!”

His voice muffled by the bandages on his face, Jyugo groaned “Shut up.”

Chapter Text

Nico gave the scruffy little cat a final pet on the head and stood back up. “I’ve gotta get back to work. See ya later!”

The cat obviously wanted more attention, and Nico wanted to keep playing with it, but the Boss hated when he was late, so he’d have to cut the visit short. As he turned to leave, a tickle attacked his nostrils and he sneezed violently. “Ka-CHOO! Umph…” He rubbed his nose to try and get rid of the itch, which worked for a moment, and then it started itching again. And his eye too – burning and itching like he’d gotten dust in it. He sneezed a few more times before he’d even left the alley.

The boy arrived at the rundown housing complex, knowing that he was tardy but unable to do a thing about it. Even now, walking in a straight line was tough because for some reason he just kept sneezing. It’d seem pretty funny if not for the fact that he was about to face the Boss in this state. He gave his nose a final, harder rub and willed himself not to start up the sneezing again and walked inside.

“You’re late, little bastard.” The Boss declared in a rumbling voice, the junky cigarette in his mouth adding to the foul stench of the room. Nico’s nose was so stuffed up that this time he was spared the effect of the odor. “Sorry!” Nico got out right before another sneeze, which he tried to muffle by burying his face in his arm. “Sorry again.”

“You got the stuff okay, right?”

“Yep!” He held out the tattered satchel with both hands and walked over to the Boss. “It’s all right here. I didn’t let them play any games.”

The Boss swore absently but not unkindly. He reached out to take the bag, forcefully grasping over Nico’s hands and pulling it toward him. He looked into the contents and nodded approvingly. Meanwhile, Nico rubbed his irritated eye and sneezed four times.

The Boss looked back up at him, the cigarette dangling from his lip, and raised a scraggly eyebrow. “What you kicking up for? You take your meds alright?”

“Uh-huh.” Another sneeze and – horrors – his nose threatened to start running like a faucet. “I dunno what’s wrong…maybe I got into some dust.”

“Whatever, just stop making that noise. It’s annoying,” he cursed again as a matter of course and closed the satchel, turning to an unwashed lackey slouching beside him. “You got the next load ready for…what you staring at?” he cut himself off and snapped at the younger man.

The lackey’s mouth had fallen open and he looked rather like a fish out of water. “Your…your ears, Boss…”

“What you talking about meow?” The Boss seemed unaware of his feline turn of phrase – and the unusually cute cat ears that had mysteriously appeared on his head. When the ears twitched up to follow a sound, the Boss finally noticed them and his eyes went wide. He cursed softly and raised his hand and it came in contact with a fuzzy shape remarkably like the ear of a cat...

What followed was a string of incoherent expletives and incredulous screaming mixed with involuntary catlike noises.

Nico, meanwhile, had slunk away before the phenomenon was attributed to him. Such things usually led to beatings.

All that aside, this was definitely the funniest disease he’d spread around so far.

"Ka-CHOO!"

Chapter Text

“Hey, kid.”

A painfully thin child with ragged clothing and long, matted hair looked up, turned a wary eye on the young man who’d called to him.

“Yeah, I’m talkin to you.” He continued, a wolfish, untrustworthy grin across his unshaven face. “Come on over here, huh?”

The child stared at him for a moment and then, apparently realizing that he probably couldn’t outrun the pack of ruffians should he attempt a quick escape, reluctantly shuffled out of the shadows and over to their little circle.

The young man had three companions with him, all in a similar state of griminess. There was a paper bag open at their feet, and glass bottles laying around. One of them poured an unknown white powder from a little plastic bag into a palm and inhaled it quickly. He wondered what it was. The guys were dirty and looked to be drunk to some degree, but the boy didn’t think they intended to harm him – yet. He’d have to be alert.

“What’s your name, kid?”

He hesitated a moment and then replied in a high, sort of rusty murmur, “Nico.”

“Okay, Nico. You want something nice?” The young man proffered the plastic bag he’d been holding with the same deceitful grin from before. His companions laughed roughly and added “Yeah kid, it’s real nice. Try some.”

Nico took a tentative step back. He didn’t like the look of these guys. Besides, what was so nice about white powder? That wouldn’t fill his stomach. “No thanks.”

“Come on, Nico. It’s yummy, like candy. You like candy?” He reached out again, insistently, and said “Try it. It’ll make you feel happy.”

He still didn’t trust them, but what if the powder really was like candy? It had been so long since he’d had anything sweet. Maybe it was worth the risk. Nico eyed the bunch carefully once more. They looked unsteady. He decided that if they made a move to hurt him, they might be too drunk to catch him when he ran. Slowly, like a wild animal creeping into the light while watching for any sign of danger, Nico stepped closer and held out his non-bandaged hand. A tablespoon of the white powder was dumped into the boy’s skeletal palm and the man urged “Go on, try it.”

Unsure what to do with the substance, Nico touched the tip of his tongue to it. There was no flavor. The young man shook his head and said “No, no, just toss it back. Eat it, it’s good.”

Against his better judgment, Nico obeyed, mainly because he really hoped it would taste like candy. He dumped the powder into his mouth in a swift motion—

--and gagged as dusty, bitter, spiky flavors attacked his tongue, coated his throat, and this really did NOT taste at all like candy.

“KA-KAFF!” He half-coughed, half-spit the choking mouthful out in a white cloud, already turning to run as the gang exploded in laughter – with the exception of the young man Nico had just coated in spitty crack.

He ran as fast as his stunted legs would take him, clawing at the remains of awful bitterness on his tongue. His heart beat wildly. Were they chasing him? Were they gonna hurt him? Maybe they were too drunk to keep up. Yeah, he didn’t hear anything behind him, so maybe it was alright. Nico gradually slowed and eventually came to a stop, gasping for air as quietly as he could in case somebody bad was around.

Time passed, and it looked like the coast was clear. Nico looked around once more, and then made his way back to his hut on the west side, where he immediately fell into a deep sleep, overcome by sudden drowsiness.

Meanwhile, the young men finished their mysterious powder, laughing and carrying on in dangerous highs and speculating on the drug’s effect on that tiny kid. Most likely, they reasoned, he’d be flippin high for the rest of the night, an image that they apparently found very amusing.

Nico awoke late in the next day and reasoned that bad white powder made him sleepy, so he’d better not have any more of it. Anyways, it was bitter.

Chapter Text

I know what moonlight sounds like.

It’s another of the millions of things I can never tell anybody.

Lying here on the roof, it’s quiet. It’s nice. Where I live, it’s hardly ever quiet. Everybody’s always moving around and moving and moving and yelling and hitting and moving and I kinda just slink out of the way. Gets noisier at night, always. I thought it was always. But here, in this part of the pile town, it’s quiet at night.

So I come here and enjoy it.

That’s when I learned about lots of things! I learned about how nice silence is when nobody else wanted to learn it. I learned about how pretty the stars are when nobody else wanted to learn it. I learned about the stars and the clouds and the rain and the lights like stars on skyscrapers far, far away like mountains. It’s pretty.

I’ve seen the moon a lot too, but this time I learned about it. And now I know what moonlight sounds like.

It sounds like the music that lady with the boat and four children plays on the record machine. It’s high and light and soft and pretty. Well, you know, you don’t hear it like that…not with your ears. I don’t know how to explain it. You just…KNOW it’s there. It’s really pretty.

You can hear things in silence. I like it.

It sounds like a dream where everything is very nice. It sounds like a soft, happy dream that is sad to leave behind. Those kinds of dreams always leave an ache in your chest, don’t they? Moonlight is the same, but it’s nice. Even though I hate hurting, this ache is nice, somehow.

But nobody wants to know about this sort of stuff. I can’t tell them. They don’t want to hear it.

I don’t understand.

Why wouldn’t they want to see the stars like this?

Why wouldn’t they want to hear this silence?

Why wouldn’t they want to learn about the song of the moon?

I don’t understand.

I just want…

…somebody to share this song with.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, everything looked a little unreal, more like a memory and less like a life he was actively living. It felt sad, a little bit, but he treasured it, because who knew if one day this was all he’d have left? Just a memory of this day?

His memory sucked, so he’d better try really hard to keep this image. To be alone someday without even a memory of them would be a worse nightmare than any dream he’d come out of screaming.

Jyugo watched them, happiness and sadness mingling in a warm ache in his chest.

I wish it could stay like this forever.

I wish we’d never ever have to change.

“Eh? What’s up, Jyugo?” Uno looked up at his friend, who was standing somewhat awkwardly in the center of the room. The heterochromatic boy didn’t seem to hear him at all, just stared at a vague point off somewhere with an odd look in his eyes.

Nico was still celebrating the season premier, unaware of Jyugo’s attention, and spun in a giddy circle. “I can’t wait until it airs! Isn’t it great? Oops!” His spin smacked him against Jyugo, but instead of pulling away he stood there and wrapped his arms around the quirky otaku. Since Jyugo didn’t seem to care about the impact, Nico flung his arms around him too and went on. “Isn’t it great, Jyugo? I’m so happy! Aren’t you happy?”

“Yeah…yeah, I’m happy…” he murmured, but Nico felt a hitch in Jyugo’s breathing as he leaned in, burying his face in Nico’s tangled jungle of a hairdo.

I’ll remember this…I won’t forget, even if everything changes…

“Jyugo-kun?” Nico squeaked as Jyugo tightened his embrace.

“Don’t squish the kid, he’s our favorite pet!” Rock joked, ambling over with Uno. “What’s gotten into you anyways, Jyugo?”

Jyugo blindly reached out and hooked them into the impromptu hug as well. The other three were a little surprised, but went with it, letting Jyugo pull them in close.

I’ll remember this too…forever… and even if everything changes you’ll always seem just the way you are now…

Uno…

Rock…

Nico…

Please don’t ever change.

I don’t ever wanna be alone…

Even though he didn’t like it, he couldn’t help crying by now. It was nice, though, to know that they were okay with it. Okay with all of his weird, unexplainable emotional nonsense.

Because…that’s what friends did, right?

Jyugo sniffed noisily and just kept holding on.

He couldn’t do it forever.

He couldn’t hug them like this forever.

When he had to let go, he knew he’d have the memories forever.

But until then…

…enjoy this…as if it really could last forever.

Chapter Text

Hey ma bois, just wanna throw something out there.

You got drabble ideas? Scenarios you wanna see become reality? Random thoughts and funny stuff for the guys at Cell 13?

Hit. Me. UP!

I'm open for suggestions, so just comment away. The more specific the better.

Oh, that's right. Rules. Just a few.

• No NSFW/porn nonsense. Hajime doesn't approve of such things in his prison.
• If there's romance, F/M only. Again, Hajime is watching you.
• No genderbending. We like our boys to remain boys!
• No black magic. Qigong and such is okay, tho.

Okay, that's about all the rules. Painless, right? Just stick to 'em. If you don't, you might find yourself in Nanba...

Kidding! Maybe? Wouldn't it be nice to go to Nanba for a little while? umm....whatever!

Anyways, leave requests for me and I'll write 'em. Thanks as always.

      ~Camellia

Chapter Text

It wasn’t often that he found himself unable to sleep, which was good. His dreams always involved anime and wonderful superheroes and were too good to miss out on.

Tonight, however, was a sleepless one. Nico gave up on trying to force himself into slumber. He sat up against the wall, bundling the comfy blanket around himself and sinking into it like he was a turtle going into a fluffy shell.

It’s nice to have all of them around him too, Nico muses, looking at the sleeping forms of his friends.

Rock hopelessly tangled in his sheets.

Uno lying on his front, hair strewn every which way.

Jyugo huddled with his pillow jammed over his ears.

He liked having them around.

And yet…

A chill descended on his chest suddenly and his mouth went dry.

It was nice having them around, but seeing them sleeping was suddenly really, really scary…

Why?

It wasn’t like tonight was any different from usual…why was his heart pounding with terror…his ears ringing, tears pooling in his eyes and a scream fighting to escape from his mind…

Why?

Oh, right…

Remembered something from back then…

He hated memories.

When he’d come over to play that day, she was sleeping on a cot outside. He had decided to wait until she woke up, and then they’d play. After all, she looked tired, and all pale and white.

Nico had sat down beside her and waited.

He waited.

The sun crawled by and beat down on them both and he waited.

Flies buzzed around her thin, pretty face and he waved them away and waited some more.

The sun began to set and he was impatient. Nico sighed and turned to her. “Psst…aren’t you gonna wake up? Aren’t we gonna play again? Hey…” he poked her gently, but got no response. “Hey, wake up.”

Her lips seemed an odd color. In fact, all of her body did. She was rosy, usually, but now she looked white and blue like a china plate. Some unknown sensation struck his heart. His eyes widened.

“Please…wake up, will you?”

Moving her shoulder still did nothing. Her arm fell back down limply, heavily. The impact was a soft sound, but Nico jumped like a shot had gone off.

“Hey…w…wake up…”

He tried again, desperately, a fear he couldn’t even put a name to growing and filling up his entire being. He kept pushing on her, and shaking, and begging her to wake up.

She never made a single move.

He didn’t understand…

No, he did, but still…

After that he couldn’t bear to see anyone sleeping.

Because it was impossible to tell if they were sleeping.

Nico tried to cram the horrible memory back down into the dark oblivion it’d come from. Just…just forget it already, forget it again…it hurt…

“Hey, Nico…”

He poked his head out of the blanket to see Jyugo crouched before him, dark circles under his rainbow-colored eyes. It took a moment for the sight to sink in. Nico tried a smile, but it came out crooked and shaky, threatening to dissolve into tears. “Jyugo-kun?”

“What’re you doing out of bed so late?”

“Um…couldn’t sleep.”

“Huh.”

“Jyugo-kun, actually…um…”

“What?”

Nico shimmied a hand out of the blanket mess and pointed it at Uno and Rock. “Are they…” he swallowed hard. “I mean, are they sleeping?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Uh, yeah? I mean, they look like it. Hey, you’re shaking a lot…”

“You’re sure they’re asleep?”

“Definitely. Ugh, there goes Uno again,” Jyugo added with a grimace as the gambler began unconsciously grinding his teeth. “Geez, he’s loud. No wonder you can’t sleep with a noise like that.”

“Yeah…” Nico ducked his head into the blankets, brushing tears off and trying to release the tension from his body.

“Sure you’re okay?” Jyugo lifted some of the blanket off him, peering in with concern. “You’re all trembly.”

“I’m fine,” he insisted. “I…I’m going back to bed now.”

“Me too.” They both went back to their futons and lay down again.

Jyugo had just closed his eyes when he felt a weight against his back. “What…” He turned, blinking blearily, and saw Nico wrapped in his blanket like a giant snail, looking at him strangely.

“Jyugo-kun…is it okay if I stay here?” he asked in a tiny, shaky voice.

Something seemed off, but he was too tired to try and understand it. “Sure, fine…just lemme sleep.”

Nico settled down, his back against Jyugo’s, and the panic slowly began to fade. He sighed softly and relaxed.

It was okay…they really were just sleeping…he didn’t have to worry about such things anymore.

After a while, the sound of Jyugo’s steady breathing lulled him to sleep.

Chapter Text

“I wanna eat the things you guys eat!”

“You can’t, because you have a weak stoma—PUT the taco down!!”

“No!” GLOMP

“Hey Rock, did you take all the hot sauce?”

“No, it’s EMPTY because THIS little PSYCHO thought it’d be a good idea to fill up on the spiciest food he could grab!”

“Nico, seriously?”

“It won’t make me sick this time, promise!”

“Really.”

“Yeah! I don’t even feel sick at all, so it’s fine. Can I have some of that?”

“Uh, no…first let’s see how you handle that ¼ cup of Tabasco sauce and those 9 tacos.”

“I told you, I’m fine!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure…just don’t get too far away from a bathroom for a while.”

LATER

“Nico?”

“Uurggh…my tummy feels weird…”

“I told you it’d make you sick.”

“’m not sick…”

“You are curled up in a ball rejecting your favorite manga and sweating buckets. I’d say you’re sick.”

“Nooo…I’m not sick…HRK!”

“Okay that’s it, get in the bathroom right NOW!”

Chapter Text

“Honestly, how can you just eat it plain like that?”

“Huh?” Rock paused with half of the lemon slice still in his hand. “Well, I like sour stuff, and there’s no reason to waste a good lemon.”

“That’s like eating the parsley garnish on the side of your plate…”

“What, isn’t that normal?” The big man popped the citron into his mouth and chewed like it was actually edible. Uno shuddered at the sight. “You’re out of your mind. You’d never catch me torturing my mouth like that.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

“I bet a week of magazine privileges that you can’t eat an entire lemon in under two minutes.”

A long silence followed. Uno slowly looked up, adjusting his cap with two fingers. “So it’s a bet, is it?”

“You heard me right!”

A wild grin touched the gambler’s lips. “You, my friend, are on.”

He never lost bets. But there were times that he regretted winning. Today was one of those times.

“Wow…I didn’t think you’d really do it.”

Uno slammed down the glass of water he’d been drinking to try and repair his poor tongue. He glared at Rock and muttered “Magazine privileges are not nearly enough restitution for this pain…”

Chapter Text

Therapist: What do you see here?

Elf: A knife.

Therapist: And this?

Elf: A knife.

Therapist: And this?

Elf: Knife.

Therapist: This one? (Hold up an obvious picture of Hatsune Miku)

Elf: Kniiiiifffeee.

Therapist: What about this?

Elf: ……..BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Therapist: What do you see?

Elf: HAHAHAHA…HAHAHA…J…Jyugo in a blender! HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAA!!

Therapist: ……………………okay we’re done here.

Chapter Text

Elf: Watch this. I can ruin Nico’s life with just three words.

Elf: Hey kid!

Nico: Huh?

Elf: ……Boku no Pic---

Jyugo: NO. *smashes Elf’s face in*

Chapter Text

“Man, he looks gloomy,” Uno remarked quietly. He looked at Rock and said “Don’t you think so? I wonder what’s wrong.”

Rock grunted in agreement, an odd look on his face.

“What?”

“…Uno, did you hear anything weird?” Rock finally asked.

“No. Why?”

Rock’s gaze was still fixed on an uncertain point near Jyugo. “Just wondered.”

Eventually, Jyugo sighed and stood. “I’m going for a walk,” he announced in a dull voice as he headed for the door.

“’kaaaay,” the others chorused absently. Before the door swung shut, Uno looked up and asked “Hey, can you leave it unlocked? I’ve got a game with Cell 9 in a few minutes.”

“Sure.” Jyugo closed the door but didn’t latch it.

As he left, Uno sighed. “Always walking off when he looks like that. I’m definitely gonna talk to him when he comes back. Where’re you going?” he added as Rock stood and walked to the door.

“Out.” Was all Rock would say. Then he was gone.

“Soo, where are we going today?”

“Shut up.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t care about me. I can read you like a book, you know.’

“Shut UP.”

“On the topic of this nice little stroll, though…how about we head up to the roof? We’ve had some lovely times there together.”

Jyugo did his best to ignore the nagging specter.

“Not in the mood for a rooftop visit? Doesn’t really matter where you go, actually. I’m just glad to see my specimen fifteen getting some exercise. Get nice and fit so my boss will be pleased when I take you home for the next phase. You are rather weak, you know. Except when you’re using those gifts. I’d like to see them again, shall we?”

Elf grinned malevolently and pressed his influence into Jyugo’s consciousness. The compulsion struck him like a heavy weight in his head, heat pooling in his hands and urging the cursed cuffs to activate.

But they didn’t.

Jyugo took a deep breath and shattered that control even more easily than he’d expected. “Leave me alone!”

“Don’t get snippy. I just wanted to see the blades. Oh well, it can wait. Maybe I can play with them once you’re back among friends. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

He clamped his hands over his ears, trembling with fear and rage. “No. That’s not going to happen.”

“You can’t fight it forever. Maybe when you’re just dropping off to sleep, I’ll…”

“No. No, no, no!” Jyugo screwed his eyes shut, wishing he could block out that horrible voice. “Just shut up! Shut UP, Elf!”

Amazingly, he shut up. For a moment Jyugo was relieved.

Then he glanced back and noticed Elf walking right behind him, hands in his pockets, an unsettling leer on his face.

Jyugo turned back without a word, the relief he’d felt already gone. Elf being silent didn’t make much difference when he was still stalking him like that.

Maybe it was even worse.

After a while, he heard footsteps behind him. Didn’t sound like Hajime, though. Whoever was there wore light shoes, not heavy boots like the supervisor.

Rock rounded the corner, his features drawn into a deep scowl. He stopped when he saw Jyugo.

“What are you doing here?” Rock demanded, his voice hard and cold.

Surprised, Jyugo began to respond. “I…what do you—”

“Not you.” Rock raised a hand, pointing at what the others had seen as empty space. Pointing directly at the one Jyugo thought only he was aware of.

Pointing at Elf.

“What…are YOU doing here?”

Chapter Text

Elf: Hey, remember how Inori was kinda intimidating?
Man with the Scar: No.
Elf: Well, he's not a problem anymore. He's unarmed now.
Man with the Scar: ......you have GOT to find solutions to problems that don't involve dismemberment.
Elf: I didn't DO it this time!
Man with the Scar: Were you possessing whoever did it?
Elf: Maaaaaaybe...

Chapter Text

Uno took great pride in his unerring intuition. His hunches were always correct. Usually that was a good thing.

Today though, he wished he’d been wrong about the terrible turn the weather would take.

Uno and Nico huddled in the relative shelter of a bus stop, one little umbrella propped in front of their shivering forms. When they’d gotten here, the wind was blowing against the back of the structure, but the wind wasn’t satisfied to blow in one direction, and within minutes the bitterly cold gale was whipping right into their face.

The tall gambler groaned and pulled his knees up against his chest. “Geez, this is awful. It’s barely September. Since when do we get sleet in September?”

“Rock says t…t…the weather is just c...c...c…crazy around here,” Nico murmured, teeth chattering noisily.

“Crazy is right. It was 65 degrees a few days ago!” Uno hunched himself down lower as another gust of wind attacked them head-on, blowing icy rain into the shelter. He considered himself the most cheerful of the bunch – well, maybe except for Nico – but this was more than he could laugh off. He was wet, cold, tired, hungry, and annoyed with Rock’s blunder that had started this whole mess. Honestly, if it wasn’t for him and that guy who’d called the cops, they would be in a nice, dry home by now, maybe watching some TV or playing a quick hand before going to sleep.

He sighed and tilted his head up, gazing through the smudged plastic at the stubborn gray clouds milling overhead. It didn’t look like the storm was going to let up anytime soon, and while he hated the idea of staying here any longer, he wasn’t quite ready to go out into THAT without a good raincoat.

Which, conveniently, was on Jyugo at the moment, wherever he and Rock were.

Splitting up had seemed like a good idea at the time. But only now did Uno realize that Rock had their funds, Uno’s new shoes, and their dinner – or did he drop the bag of takeout when they’d started running? Maybe. Knowing Rock, he might go back to pick it up. Anyways, those two had all the important things!

Count your blessings, Uno. They have all that…and a raincoat…but you’ve got an umbrella and the kid’s meds, which is…pretty good?

Uno glanced over at the young otaku and was immediately concerned. It was difficult to tell, Nico’s skin being so dark, but he looked like he was freezing.

“You okay, Nico?”

Nico kept his thin body hunched in his equally thin clothes, shivering hard, and didn’t look up at Uno. “I’m really cold…” he got out between oddly-colored lips.

“No kidding.” Uno frowned with worry. Considering that his own ears felt ready to turn to ice and drop off, he could only imagine how the cold was affecting the sickly teen.

As frozen as he was, seeing Nico like that awoke old, old memories. Back in the day, he’d been just as bad off. It was like looking into a mirror, kinda. Didn’t seem like that long ago that he was just an underweight kid shivering in the house his father never remembered to heat up.

He’d have given a lot, during those dark nights, to know that there was somebody who cared about him…

Uno shrugged off his jacket, exposing his tattooed skin to the unforgiving wind, and wrapped the jacket around Nico’s trembling shoulders.

“Put this on. It’s warm.”

Nico looked up at him with surprise in his one exposed eye. “Oh…t…t…thanks! Won’t you be c…cold, though?” He asked, already drawing the oversized clothing over himself.

“Ehh, it’s not too bad,” Uno lied with a smile, like he always did. In reality, he was already chilled to the bone. “You need it more than I do. Anyways, I think the storm’s letting up.”

“That’s good.” Nico shuffled his arms deep into the too-long sleeves and ducked his head down so only a little of his green hair peeked out under the cloth, like a pineapple’s top. Uno leaned back against the glass, shifting the umbrella to his other hand, chuckling at the comparison between Nico and a pineapple.

“What’s funny, Uno-kun?”

“Ah, I just thought of something weird, that’s all.” He smiled and watched the wind whip a little decorative tree forward and backward and waited for the deluge to die down.

“Yes, the rain stopped! Let’s go, Nico. I think we only have 5 minutes before it starts up again.”

“Okay! I know where Rock’s place is. If we run we can make it before the rain comes back!”

Nico led the way, still wearing Uno’s jacket. It was way too big, and he was just about swimming in it, but he seemed warmer, running so energetically with those sleeves flopping over his tiny hands.

He looked rather like an octopus, Uno thought with another secret chuckle.

Chapter Text

“Hey Uno, do you like Star Trek?”

“Huh?”

“Star Trek. You ever heard of it?” Nico asked excitedly.  “I think it’s really cool! Do you like Star Trek?”

Uno thought it over for a moment, then grinned and snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah, Star Trek! The science fiction thing. Yeah, I really like it. When he goes all ‘I am your father’ and the other guy goes ‘oh heck no,’ right?”

The look on Nico’s face after that was priceless.

And kinda terrifying.

But worth it.

“Uno, don’t break the kid…”

“What? All I did was talk about Star Trek!”

Chapter Text

“You’re too tough to cry, huh?”

“Yep. That’s just the way I am.”

“I see…” Uno gazed at Jyugo a moment longer, his expression unreadable, then turned to Nico. “Play THAT anime.”

“THAT anime?!” Nico gasped. “But it’s so powerful! You think he can handle it?”

“We’ll soon find out,” Uno replied seriously.

Nico shook his head, uncertain, but did as he was told. Soon the strains of sweet music filled the cell.

‘Chiisana te ni mo itsukara ka bokura oikoshiteku tsuyosa…’

“Wha—Seitarou, dry your face off! Why are you crying this time? And what’s the weird noise coming from Cell 13?!”

“Sir…it’s…this anime no.25 is watching!” Seitarou sobbed. “It’s…it’s too sad!”

“Are you out of your m…YAMATO, YOU TOO??!”

“A more tragic tragedy has never been seen before!” Yamato sounded as if he was trying to laugh through the tears. “Truly sir, such an anime is too strong even for me!”

Hajime rubbed his forehead, suppressing the urge to punch both of them. “This is utterly idiotic,” he snapped as he made his way to the cell in question.

There he witnessed a sight that would stay with him for months after.

All four of the Cell 13 inmates were wrapped in a disorganized group hug, wailing like a flock of sick sheep, weeping enough tears to make a swimming pool.

“UUUUUUUUUSHIOOOOOOOO!!!”

“NAAAAAGISAAAAAAA!!”

“WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?????!!!”

After trying – and failing – to compose his face, Seitarou went back to the door to Cell 13 where Hajime stood, apparently secretly watching that anime. “Don’t you think it’s just too beautiful and too heartbreaking, sir?”

“Of course not! It’s just a TV show, after all.”

“S…sir, are you CRYING?!”

“NO! I just got some dust in my eye.”

Chapter Text

“Hey Rock, are these dango?”

“No, they’re mochi.”

“Oh good, I was worried they were dango.”

“What’s the difference between dango and mochi?”

“Well, one of them is for eating, and one of them is for crying over while your soul withers away inside your body crushed by unfathomable tragedy to the most beautiful family in existence.”

“Uhhhhh….”

“It’s an anime thing.”

Chapter Text

I like to headcanon that Elf is terrified of cats and hates it when Kuu follows him around. He also hates it when Jyugo holds Kuu because their link puts Elf way too close to the cat. Jyugo kinda torments Elf that way sometimes.

Chapter Text

• Upa is a unicorn. A very, very short unicorn.
• Nico is a Pegasus that cannot fly. (cutie mark is two lollipop with 2 and 5 on them.)
• Rock is an earth brony.
• So's Jyugo. Clumsy earth brony. (no cutie mark, LOL)
• Momoko is an alicorn, of course!
• Uno is a dashing unicorn.
• Qi is earth brony.
• Liang might be a kirin.
• Hajime is super-powerful earth brony.
• Seitarou is unicorn.
• Enki is an alicorn (a male alicorn?!!?!)
• Tsukumo is faking being a unicorn. He's an earth brony.
• Inori is not any kind of pony. He might just be a boar.
• Elf is something hideous like those bug things(changeling i guess?) Except he can look good when he needs to.
• Yamato - goofball wingless dragon! (because japan)
• Kiji is a unicorn.
• Mitsuru is a Pegasus. A very noisy Pegasus. (cutie mark is a microphone)
• Musashi is an earth brony with superpowers!
• Kenshirou is an earth brony too. And he's so cute and tall! Fab mane and tail!
• Noriko is an alicorn but can't use her wings. (too weak)
• Mao is a tiger.
• samon is an earth brony, but he made jetpack boots so that he can fly!
• Ruka is a merbrony that can function on land but prefers not to. (i hate ruka)

Chapter Text

“Mmmm…” Uno hummed with appreciation, savoring the muted sweetness of the chocolaty dessert. “These biscuits are amazing!”

“Huh?” Rock paused with a cookie halfway to his mouth. “They’re not biscuits.”

“Yes, they are.” Uno replied, reaching for another one. “Best chocolate biscuits I ever tasted.”

“No, no, what we had for breakfast yesterday with sausage…THOSE were biscuits.”

“Muffiks,” he mumbled through another mouthful of cookie. When he saw that Rock didn’t understand what he’d said, he swallowed and repeated himself. “Muffins. Those were muffins.”

Now Rock looked annoyed. “You’re kidding. Muffins have blueberries. Those were BISCUITS.”

“Biscuits are dessert!”

“Only when you put strawberries on ‘em!”

“No, that’d be weird!”

“Hey guys, guys…” Jyugo intervened. “It’s just that cookies are called biscuits in England. And muffins in England are kinda like biscuits in America.”

They stared at him for a minute. Then Rock huffed with annoyance. “That’s just weird! Why don’t you call it a cookie or a muffin like everybody else?”

With that, they got back to arguing – quietly, so Shiro wouldn’t smack them around – and Jyugo resigned himself to the situation, snagging another cookie. Only those two could fight over something like this.

Chapter Text

The words spilled from his lips after that rough beginning. He couldn’t hold them back anymore. He could hear himself, as if from far away, speaking quickly, sharply, burning his throat raw and tight until his eyes stung with tears but he couldn’t stop talking.

Like being in a dream. Like talking to a hallucination. Uno standing there, looking at him with – what was it in his eyes? Cold and distant and impossibly confusing. Being unable to divine his thoughts was the most terrifying thing Jyugo had ever felt.

Just say something, just stop me, just please, do something…

His hands shook, he pressed them to his chest and unconsciously dug dark nails into the fabric, scraping skin into red furrows, and still his mouth kept talking. The floodgates were open and he couldn’t, just COULDN’T hold all this in anymore. He couldn’t force these words back.

Words.

Words were powerful, he’d learned that a long time ago, and he was terrified that he couldn’t control them.

Being unable to control something of himself was terrifying.

It was almost like THAT PERSON was telling the whole story.

He wasn’t even sure what he was saying anymore.

And then his voice faltered, and he realized he was done, he’d gotten it off his chest, but in its place was an even greater burden.

Still Uno stood, listening, inscrutable, terrifying in his focus.

Now you know what a monster I am. Now you can throw me away. That thought made a horrible heat grow in his painful chest, and he hated it. He hated that he was automatically steeling himself, killing his heart before it could be broken.

Now you know, but please…

PLEASE…

Uno leaned forward and grasped Jyugo’s hand in a swift motion. Before the heterochromatic boy could respond, Uno was pulling him along, running down the corridor with him in tow just the way they used to.

“Hey, Jyugo…” Uno whipped his long braid out of the way to turn back and look at him with that familiar grin.

“It’ll be okay.”

Just that.

With that smile like he meant it. No, like he BELIEVED it.

Even after Jyugo had explained everything, Uno had that smile like a man who’d conquered the world for the fun of it.

I want…

I want to see the light that you see, because all I see right now is darkness.

I want the optimism you always had.

I want to believe that it’ll be okay.

With that smile…because it’s you…I’ll try to believe it too.

Chapter Text

Something like that was nothing he’d ever get, and he knew it, knew it so well that it didn’t even hurt anymore. Or if it did, he didn’t feel it enough to care.

It was a nice place he lived in now. Nicer, maybe. A room to himself where he could sleep whenever he had a spare moment. He could even bar the door if he felt like it. Usually he didn’t. The Boss ruled his turf with an iron fist, so Nico didn’t have to worry about protecting himself so often these days.

He had some books left from the junkpile that had come in a few weeks ago. Smuggled in like contraband in this place where intelligence was a curse. They were there, under a tile in the corner, and he would flip through them often even though he couldn’t read. The pictures held him enthralled during those days where his work wasn’t required.

Today he looked again at his favorite book, the one with the smiling family on the cover, and reverently turned pages, feasting his eyes on the colored illustrations inside. The mother had dark, luscious hair, and the father had glasses and a nice smile, and the children were smiling too, wearing fancy clothes and playing fancy games and they looked really happy.

A while ago this kind of thing had disturbed him. As far back as he could remember, there had never been anybody who’d taken care of him. No mother or father figure to give him the necessities of life, much less affection. Watching those lucky kids who had a mother or father who seemed to take decent care of them used to pain him. Just like this hideous crust on his right arm would never heal and he’d never be able to survive without his medicine, he’d never have a family like those lucky people, and he’d learned to live with it.

After learning to live with it, he enjoyed looking at mothers and fathers, in pictures and in real life. And sometimes when he was alone, he’d pretend that he actually had a family.

He leaned against the wall and shut his eyes with a tired smile, summoning with the power of his imagination the form of a kind woman with a kind smile who sat with a book in her hands as he leaned against her. Yes, he could just feel her, so clearly. She was warm and soft and breathing and…and she would smell like candy, and maybe she’d give him some.

In the pictures, the mother would sometimes put her hand on the child’s head. It looked sweet and made Nico feel both good and bad to see it.

With his eyes still closed, he reached a hand up and put it on his own head, managing, if even for a moment, to believe that it was a mother’s caress.

It felt nice.

Chapter Text

Uno: Jyugo, you need to work on expressing emotion.

Jyugo: I express it fine.

Uno: Yeah right. I bet you never said ‘I love you’ to anyone in your life.

Jyugo: That’s not…uh…maybe it is true actually.

Uno: See what I mean?

Jyugo: But that doesn’t mean I can’t express emotion!

Uno: Okay, let’s have a bet. I bet all my magazines that you can’t say ‘I love you’ to everybody you see for one whole day.

Jyugo: That’s too easy. I’ll call your bluff. Beginning now: I love you!

Uno: That’s better!

Jyugo continues to say ‘I love you’ to everybody he sees with mixed results such as joy from Nico, anger from Hajime, confusion from Seitarou and horror from Honey.

Until…

Elf: Heeeeeey speeecimeeeen!!!

Jyugo: ……………

Later…

Jyugo: I couldn’t do it. You win the bet.

Chapter Text

“Truth or Dare Monopoly?”

“Yep! When you draw the Truth card from the deck, you have to tell everybody your deepest darkest secret,” Uno announced dramatically. “Of course, you can flip it over and opt for Dare instead, but I’ll probably just dare you to tell a secret anyways. If ya wanna refuse to Truth or Dare, you can pay your way out with a $300 Monopoly money fee to each player.”

“Can’t we just go to Jail if we don’t have the money?” Jyugo asked, looking a little anxious at Uno’s new rules.

“Jyugo, we’re already IN jail. I don’t think it’ll have the right impact,” Uno winked. “Now, shall we play?” His friends sighed. They had agreed to play a game with him, so there wasn’t much they could do.

“Fine…let’s get going already,” Rock rumbled. “I’m not gonna tell any of my secrets, anyways.”

“I probably told my secrets already!” Nico realized. “I talk in my sleep all the time, so…”

“Nah, all you talk about is anime stuff. Last night I think you were roleplaying in your sleep.”

“Really? Who was I playing?”

“No idea. You kept yelling at someone named Chibodee…”

“Wow, that’s cool! Maybe I—”

“Guys.” Uno cut that short. “Can we just play the game now?”

Reluctantly, the three turned back to the gambler and resigned themselves to their fate.

Next time, though, they would be sure to suggest a game that didn’t involve cards…

Surprisingly, Uno was the first to be hit with his own weapon. Rock cheered as he saw his friend lift up the Truth or Dare card. “Yessss! Tell us your deepest darkest secret, Uno! You can’t refuse!”

“Are you kidding?” Uno fanned himself with the stacks of money he’d mysteriously acquired. “I think I’ll pay my way out, thanks.”

“WHERE DID YOU GET THAT CASH?!”

“From the bank.” As they stared, he began laughing. “So I stole from the bank! What are you going to do, send me to PRISON?” he began cracking up, unaware of the looks his cellmates were giving him.

Seconds later Rock pinned him to the ground and made him beg for mercy.

“OKAY OKAY OKAY, I WON’T STEAL ANYMORE!! GET OFF!”

He sat back up as Rock released him, feeling like he’d been smashed flat. “I’ll take the Dare,” Uno said when he could get his breath back.

Jyugo raised a finger with a wicked grin. “I dare you to cut your hair!”

“Uhh…Truth, then.”

“Most embarrassing thing you ever did?” Rock was the one to propose this question.

Uno’s left eyebrow twitched and he glanced away, obviously remembering something wonderfully awkward. The three leaned forward, anticipating his confession.

“Well…there was this one time I with this girl. I was really tired – stayed up all night – but I wanted to squeeze one last date in before I left town. There was a pretty snazzy restaurant we went to. But I was so out of it that I spent like a full minute wrestling the wrong door…with everybody in the restaurant looking at us. So, yeah, that happened.” He got it out quickly and then clamped his mouth shut. “Happy now?”

“Absolutely,” Jyugo snickered. Uno huffed and tried to ignore him.

Nico was the next one to pull out the fatal card. His eye widened, and he wailed melodramatically. “Noooo! Now I’ll have to embarrass myself or do something dumb!”

“Do you want truth or dare?”

“Truth, I guess.”

“Okay…” Uno thought it over. He didn’t really want to force Nico into talking about something too bad. Finally, he said “Tell us a secret that you’ve never told anybody before!”

Nico hummed a little as he thought it over, turning his gaze to the ceiling. “Oh, I know! I snuck out to go to Building 5 last night but I got lost.”

“That’s not a secret!”

“Yeah, WE were the ones who had to come get you!”

“Oh…” Nico’s face fell. “I don’t know about other secrets. It seems like we all know everything about each other. Maybe this one is a secret? Back when we lived in Nevada, I painted faces on all of Rock’s socks.”

“So that was you all along?!” Rock bellowed, turning on the small inmate. “I could never figure it out! I thought I was going nuts because you said you hadn’t done it!”

Nico laughed nervously, leaning away from Rock’s wrath. “I…uh, yeah…sorry?”

“Well, let’s just keep playing,” Uno put in, hoping to avoid having Rock overturn the board and exact punishment from Nico. As he glanced at the playing pieces, he paused with surprise. “Hey, Nico…you’re aware you had the cash to opt out of the truth card, right?”

“I DID?!” He looked at his stash and realization sank in. “Nooooo! I take my secret back!”

Uno drew another penalty card, but this time he had enough money to opt out.

When Rock drew the card, he looked up and said very seriously “If the dare has anything to do with insulting Shiro’s food, I am going to clobber you.”

“Truth, then. What do you regret doing?” Uno asked.

“Other than playing this game?” he chuckled, then grew thoughtful and quiet. “Well…now that I think about it, I kinda regret doing all those fight shows,” he admitted. “Some of the guys nearly died. I mean, we all understood what we were getting into, but…without killing ‘em, I messed ‘em up so badly I basically ended their lives anyways.”

That was rather dark, more than any of them were expecting. A long silence fell. Uno made a mental note to phrase further questions to be more lighthearted than that.

Jyugo drew a truth or dare card and sighed. “You might as well get it over with, guys,” he grumbled.

“I’ve got a dare for you!” Uno announced. “I dare you to break into Hajime’s office and steal his hat!”

“Are you kidding?! There’s no way I can get close to that!” Jyugo protested. “Seriously. I choose the truth side.”

“Who’s your favorite in this room?” Nico beat the others to the question and left them wondering why on earth he’d ask something like that. Mirth danced in his exposed eye. He knew this question was bound to stir up some fun.

“Uhh…” Jyugo looked at him with confusion, brow furrowed. It would be impossible to choose which of his friends he valued the most. Right? Then the answer came to him and he smiled.

“…me, of course.”

That received a lot of shouting, a few smacks on the head and helpless laughter.

Soon after this, Uno predictably drove his opponents into bankruptcy and declared himself the Monopoly champion of the universe.

Hajime had hoped the game would go on longer. This was about the longest the inmates of Cell 13 had gone without troubling him.

Chapter Text

Day four in the infirmary. He was awake, finally, and visitors were allowed again.

He looked very tired, kinda out of it, but smiled when he saw Rock. They talked a little bit.

“Rock…do you think dead people are lonely?”

“Uh…maybe? I guess they might be sometimes.”

“Hm.”

Soon after that random question, visiting hours were over.

Day five, hooked up to even more machines and cables and weird devices, Nico barely looked any better. It was still nice to chat with him.

“Rock?”

“What?”

“Do you really have the power to see spirits?”

“I don’t know.” He laughed, a little uncomfortable. “I really can’t tell, but sometimes I see someone that nobody else can see.”

“Oh.” He smiled a small, dry-lipped, thoughtful smile and dozed off.

On day 6, Rock brought a plushie they’d pressured Seitarou into making. Nico beamed when he saw it. It was nice to see him smile, but smiling also stretched his skin too tight over the bones of his face and made him look like a little skeleton.

After talking for a while, Nico folded his arms around the plush toy and sighed. “Rock?”

“What’s up, kiddo?”

“Spirits can’t touch things really, can they?”

“I don’t think so. Wait, some of them can. But not always. Why do you ask?”

No reply. Nico was asleep by then.

It didn’t look like a restful sleep.

Ragged, shallow breathing, twitching arms and odd coloring of the face.

Rock went for Okina.

Visiting hours were cut short.

He saw Nico on day 10 only because Jyugo had agreed to break him out.

Slipping into the infirmary, he was relieved to see that Okina wasn’t around.

He wasn’t relieved by Nico’s condition.

There was an oxygen mask on his face and multiple IVs piercing his off-color skin. His hair was lusterless and tangled. He looked even thinner than before.

But Nico was conscious, and his face melted into a smile when he saw Rock.

Rock sat beside him and told him about the dumb things Jyugo had done and the bets Uno had won and the things Shiro had cooked. He talked about everything he could think of.

Nico’s ruby-red eye shone at all the news, but his smile was never really there.

His smile had always been happy.

Today it was sad.

“Rock.” His voice was rusty, cracking.

“Yeah?”

“Since you can see spirits…” he murmured slowly, his gaze roving from his friend’s face. “C…can you keep me company if I die?”

“You’re not gonna die! Sheesh, what kinda question is that?!” Rock exploded, feeling like his heart had also exploded. “Don’t talk like that, kiddo.”

“If I can’t touch things and people can’t hear me once I’m dead…” his lip quivered and his closed his eye, gathering his thoughts and controlling his emotion. “Then I’d be too lonely unless you talked to me sometimes, you know?”

Rock folded his hand over Nico’s. He tried to speak, but nothing came out.

Nico pressed on.

“Maybe you could flip the pages of manga for me, if I couldn’t touch em. Or change the TV channel sometimes. And just…just talk, like we do now. Maybe it’ll feel like nothing changed. That’d be nice, I think.”

“You’re not gonna die, Nico. You’re not! You’re gonna get better and we’ll go and break out and have fun again soon. Got that?” He leaned forward intensely. “You’re gonna get better soon!”

Maybe Nico didn’t hear him. “I just don’t wanna…be alone…” Tears slid down his pale face, darkening the pillow under him. His breathing sounded awful again.

With tears escaping down his own face, Rock went to ask Okina to look in on Nico, and then submitted to a guard escorting him back to his cell.

He didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want to ever leave Nico’s side again.

No matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, he was terrified.

Every moment was precious.

Every moment could be the last.

He was fragile, so fragile, and none of Rock’s boundless strength would ever be sufficient to keep him.

Day 11.

Hajime brought the news in the night, and escorted them all to the infirmary to see him.

Chapter Text

okay so seitarou is super sweet and shy and pathetic but WHAT IF he was secretly a yandere?

Eh?

EH?

WHAT IF?

Chapter Text

They ran out into the open and Uno cursed as he saw the guards lined up, guns aimed at them.

The guns made a cacophony of deadly sound and Nico didn’t hesitate. “Look out!” He yelled, diving into Jyugo and pushing him to the floor.

Which left Nico in their sights.

It didn’t hurt as much as he thought a bullet should. It was just…surprising. Like for a split second, all the colors around him switched up and burned into his eyes as the shock resonated through his body. A muted, choking cry broke from his throat. It still didn’t hurt, but his legs crumpled beneath him and he saw the ground rise up to meet him…

“NICO!” Jyugo screamed it, dashed over. He totally ignored the guns that were trained on him. The only thing he could see was Nico’s inert body – and the slow spread of a garish red stain over the back of his jumpsuit.

Uno and Rock rushed to Nico’s side and the guards closed in around them. Now that they were distracted, it would be easy to apprehend them.

With trembling hands, Jyugo grabbed Nico and turned him over, propping him up in his lap. Blood flowed profusely from the young inmate’s mouth and he nearly choked on it.

“Nico…”

He took in a shuddering breath. It still didn’t hurt. Odd, though…he was getting tired. “Now…my debt from that time in Macau Prison is…” He forced himself to smile, because Jyugo looked so worried. He shouldn’t worry. It didn’t hurt. “…is repaid, r…right?”

Tired and dizzy, so he let his eyes fall shut.

Nico’s body went limp in Jyugo’s arms.

“No, no, Nico…” He tried to revive him, lifted him up, but Nico’s head lolled back impossibly far and he didn’t respond.

Jyugo’s despairing yell was all but drowned out by the guards barking orders. As loud as they were, no sounds seemed to reach his ears.

A roaring noise started deep in his head, spilled out and pierced his eardrums until he could hear nothing else. Feel nothing else but…

KILL THEM.

He moved Nico’s body off his arms and turned to the guards. He felt dead himself. Dead and dark and heavy inside. There was a flicker of something, though…a raging, dangerous fire that he no longer had any reason to repress.

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

They were shocked by the formerly slow and weak inmate who screamed at them. His rainbow eyes changed, settling on a dull red, and he flung his arms out from his body. Instantly his hands changed into giant blades.

“Stop! Stand down!”

“Jyugo, no!”

Many people yelling at him. He didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop.

Everything is all over and I don’t care what happens anymore. I don’t care if I die. I can kill you all but that’s not enough! Not even close to enough!

The guns fired again and his body moved instinctively. A quick slash, fast as light. Two halves of a lead bullet fell at his feet.

Then he charged.

KILL THEM ALL.

The sun rose with a good portion of the prison reduced to rubble and dozens of guards and inmates alike dead.

It was fitting that the son of 610 was directly responsible for the biggest incident ever to hit Nanba Prison…

Chapter Text

“Hmmm…”

Upa had been trying to pretend he couldn’t feel no. 25’s gaze on him, but he couldn’t ignore it anymore. “What? What are you staring at me for?”

Nico’s eyes glinted with interest as he looked his hero over. “You’re pretty short, aren’t you, master?”

“WHAA?! Shut up!”

“I just mean…” Nico’s face lit up in a wide, sunny smile. “You’re so small it looks like I could pick you up and walk away! That’s so cute!”

“I am NOT small, and you could NOT pick me up, and it is NOT cute!” Upa screeched with a red face.

Chapter Text

“This is the third time I’ve had to put you back in the bed. Why the heck do you want to lie on the floor so bad?”

“’S comfier.”

“It’s also dirtier. Just stay in bed, okay?”

“Nnnnn.” It sounded like an affirmative groan, so Rock accepted it and walked out. There were a few things he had to grab from the store. He hoped that Nico would sleep until he returned.

Rock returned home to what looked like a sentient blanket slogging across the floor.

“Nico.”

“Nnnnn?”

“Bed. Now.”

When Nico slunk back to the floor an hour later Rock gave up on keeping him in bed.

Chapter Text

Nico, disinterested in eating the same kind of mild soup he had every day, leaned back and let his gaze rove around the mess hall. It was quiet as usual today, mainly because those new guys from last month had learned the hard way not to stir up trouble with Shiro around. His thoughts drifted lazily without direction. It would be nice if he could have slept in. He then looked at the lights overhead and dimly wondered what was on TV right now.

“Aren’t you gonna eat, Nico?” Rock asked, a forkful of pancakes halfway to his mouth. Part of Nico gazed with longing at that lovely, syrupy pancake with melty butter and strawberry slices, but the other part shuddered inwardly as he remembered what had happened last time he tried eating something like that.

“Soup is boring,” Nico complained by way of response, going back to spinning slowly around on the bench. Rock shrugged and left him alone – they all knew that Nico would get around to eating eventually.

The young otaku looked all around, trying to see who he could recognize in the sea of convicts seated around the room. There weren’t too many people he knew in Building 13 other than his cellmates. The others were usually boring or noisy and didn’t know anything about anime.

A flash of pink hair caught his eye and Nico’s mood lit up. “Hey, that’s Mr. Japanese Ninja over there!” he squealed.

“Really? Tsukumo? It’s been a while since I’ve seen him,” Jyugo commented.

“Let’s go over and sit with him! I wanna ask him about more Japanese techniques!” Uno suggested enthusiastically, already heading over with his tray.

Tsukumo looked a little surprised to see them. “Oh…good morning, everyone,” he greeted them with quiet formality.

“Morning! How are you liking the pancakes? Ninjas eat that, right?” Rock asked, sitting down opposite the actor.

“Yes, though I admit I prefer rice. However, I have not yet tasted any of these yet,” Tsukumo replied. He was uncomfortable with all the company.

“Hey, you’ll have to take your mask off to eat, right?” Nico asked. “I mean, I never heard of a ninjitsu that lets you eat through cloth…”

“Come to think of it, I’ve never seen you without your mask!” Rock put in, causing Tsukumo’s shoulders to stiffen with nervousness. “You must wear it all the time, huh? That’s Japanese dedication for ya!”

“Oi, could you tone down the generalization a little?” grumbled Jyugo. His fanboying friends ignored him and kept pressing closer to Tsukumo.

“Anyways, Tsukumo,” Nico went on. “Are you gonna take your mask off to eat?”

“Maybe he can’t take it off at all,” Uno suggested. “Shinobis are super-secret! Wow Japanese!”

Jyugo cringed at Uno’s words. The gambler couldn’t have pronounced that worse if he’d tried.

Tsukumo passed over the weaboo phrases like the practiced actor he was. “I…Indeed! As a shinobi, I live among the shadows in order to become as a shadow,” he declared. “Everything I do, I do in secret. I walk in shadow, sleep in shadow, and eat in shadow. My techniques mask me from the prying eyes of the world! Behold!”

In a flurry of white cloth, a large sheet suddenly appeared where Tsukumo had been sitting. Emblazoned on it was a crimson Japanese circle and the words CONCEALMENT.

Jyugo facepalmed.

Everybody else applauded.

“Amazing!”

“So cool!”

“How’d he vanish like that!”

“You guys do realize he’s just under the table, right?”

Tsukumo had hoped to finish his meal under the table where nobody could recognize him without the mask.

But Shiro, noticing the commotion, had lumbered over and dragged the shinobi out and made him sit back down like a normal person.

“Ehh? Tsukumo, why didn’t you just use a cool technique on him?”

“W…well, that would not suit my ninja’s honor. This is his territory, after all…it is the code of shinobi to honor the law of the territory…”

Chapter Text

GUYS! This is random but last night I met Enki in a dream and hugged him and I am ecstatic and heartbroken at the same time.

Oh yeah, Elf was there too, being...Elf...so that killed the mood, among other things...   ノಠ_ಠノ

BUT ENKI!

I LOVE YOU!

WE ALL LOVE YOU!

RIP DUDE!  (TдT)

Chapter Text

He was so different from his brother, and it aggravated him.

He wore his bright hair in a shaggy braid down his back just like Aniki. It never got as long as Enki’s, but it was close.

He stood straight and tall just like Aniki, though he was still a good three feet shorter than his brother, but sometimes he felt like he was almost close.

He worked like Aniki, worked under him in the same prisons no matter where they went. He was content like that, and never felt closer.

They were the best team. Just Enki and Samon, the unstoppable Gokuu brothers.

Then his hero’s face was spattered with red, and Samon couldn’t move even when his mind screamed at him.

After that he chopped the shaggy braid off and never looked back.

He stopped standing like a soldier at attention.

When he worked, he worked as if he was his own person, not some wannabe clone of that man.

But it wasn’t enough.

He was so similar to his brother, and it aggravated him.

Chapter Text

A busy day at Building 5 was beginning to wind down. This morning, a large shipment of supplies had come in, and Samon immediately put his guards and inmates to work sorting and storing everything.

It was a fine day for outdoor work, too – not too hot, not too cold, not too damp. One of those rare and delicious days in early spring with a cloudless sky and gentle breeze. It was pleasant work to transport the boxes across the courtyard and arrange them in their places around the building.

Maybe it was the way his job had been going, or maybe it was the fine weather, but Samon was in a remarkably good mood. When they’d finished putting all the boxes away, he brought out his stash of popsicles and handed them out to everyone as a thank-you for their help.

Upa took his strawberry popsicle and started to open it. “These are only for people who’ve worked very hard, so Qi probably doesn’t need one,” he mentioned.

Qi protested “I actually did my fair share this time, though…”

“But you complained, so it hardly counts.”

As Samon looked around, he realized someone was missing. “Hey…where’s Liang?”

“Hm?” Inori glanced up. “That’s right…come to think of it, I haven’t seen him recently. He was working really hard before. Wonder where he vanished to.”

Samon frowned and took a bite of his ice cream. It wasn’t like Liang to drop out of sight like this. He was a very diligent person. It would make sense if Qi went missing, but Liang’s absence was deeply puzzling. The supervisor headed off to find his inmate.

As troubling as a missing prisoner would be in a normal situation, Samon trusted Liang completely. On top of that, it was such a lovely day that he couldn’t really worry about anything. The flowers in the new garden were blooming, trees dripped their vibrant and lush leaves over the pathways, and clear waterfalls danced into glassy pools.

“No.02!” He called. No response. Samon walked a little more and tried calling again. “No.02! Liang, where are you?”

He nearly tripped over him.

Samon caught himself with the agility of a cat. He stepped back from Liang’s legs and stared down on him, one eyebrow raised.

Liang had apparently fallen asleep against one of the willow trees. He was dozing peacefully, his dark hair sticking to his face. A red butterfly hovered curiously near his hand.

The supervisor nearly yelled to wake him up, but thought better of it at the last moment. Liang had seemed pretty tired lately. He had probably been overworking himself with training again. And he had worked hard today, doing almost as much as the three Daisen brothers combined.

Samon bent over and silently placed an ice pop on the ground near Liang’s hand, and then walked back to the group.

Chapter Text

He’d never considered himself a very brave person. Heck, probably nobody else saw him that way, either.

Because he wasn’t brave. Not really.

His legs went shaky when he got scared and he’d close his eyes even though that only made things worse. Hiding behind the largest person in the room – sometimes Rock, sometimes poor Jyugo – and just hoping the threat would somehow go away. These were not things that a brave person should even think of doing. But it was his normal.

If he’d been asked to stand up in this kind of disaster, he’d have flatly refused. After all, what good could someone like him do? He’d probably faint or throw up or something and just make trouble for everyone else without even meaning to.

When that…that thing…turned its gaze on Uno, the gambler was overcome with terror.

But when it swung to look at Nico, all of his fear vanished quicker than thought.

His body moved instinctively – not away from the fight this time, but directly into the fray.

And in that moment he knew he’d die before he let any harm come to his friends.

Chapter Text

I don't know why but I think that Nico would be the worst photobomber ever.

Like, Uno's trying to take selfies and Nico gets in the way saying "Hey, what are you doing?" like a clueless cutie.

It makes them mad and he has to run.

Nico also ends up in photos with random people somehow...

...and he steals Uno's phone to take pics of random things like his thumb, his eyebrow, a pebble, a bird (but he just got the sky in the shot) et cetera.

Chapter Text

Elf: Hahahaahaha!

Scarman: What are you laughing at?

Elf: This comedy film I rented. It's too funny!

Scarman: Oh? What's the title?

Elf: Grave of the Fireflies.

Scarman: ......................

Scarman has left the chat.

Chapter Text

“You’re really a serious foodie, huh Rock?”

Completely occupied with Shiro’s latest culinary masterpiece, the only response Rock gave was a short nod.

Nico rested his chin on his hand and hummed thoughtfully. “If you were a zombie, you’d be super picky about which people you ate, right?”

“Eh?!” Uno nearly choked on his drink. “What the heck, Nico! That’s just gross!”

“But I was thinking…” he explained his logic. “Since meat tastes different based on what the animal’s been eating, wouldn’t people be the same way? So maybe somebody who ate a lot of fatty stuff would taste better.”

“It’s not always that simple,” Rock put in – to Uno’s horror, the man was actually going to converse with Nico about something so disgusting! “Even if the person ate the best foods for meat development, most of his muscles would be overused and kinda tough.”

“Ohh, so if you were a zombie you’d go after a lazy guy?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“But since you’d be a zombie, would you even be able to tell who’d taste best? Zombies can’t think much, after all.”

“Hah, definitely! I can tell a good meal in my sleep.”

“Stop…” Uno begged, unable to stomach his meal anymore and torn between covering his ears and covering his mouth. “This is SO not table talk!”

But to his dismay, they were too interested in hypothetical zombie situations, and the conversation lasted until they’d been returned to their cell.

Hajime was deeply worried by the reports of his inmates discussing cannibalism…

Chapter Text

“Apparently there are a lot of interesting people in your vicinity, you see.”

Who would Elf be likely to snatch for his research? Sadly, it seems there’s quite a long list.

Rock’s body is immensely strong and durable, making him an ideal subject for experimentation.

But as useful as he would be, Nico might be even better. Hachiman himself mentioned that Nico could be used as a reusable test subject since his body is immune to drugs and returns to normal rather quickly. Elf would probably find a way to manipulate the alternate personality as well.

Uno is basically like a normal human, but there might be something special about his uncanny intuition and ability to read people. The Executives might be able to augment his gift into a kind of telepathy to finally lay hands on not only the bodies but the minds of whoever they chose.

Hajime’s strength – and possible evil energy? – would be useful to Elf, but good luck kidnapping the great gorilla! Honestly, he’s the last person we need to worry about.

Yamato – again, ridiculous strength.

Upa’s power is below Enki and Noriko’s, but who knows what he is capable of without the inhibiting talisman. He would make a very good specimen.

Liang may have a highly regenerative body, evidenced by the full recovery he made after being mutilated by Hachiman and, much later, thrown across the arena in the tournament.

I know that Elf currently has his sights set on another person entirely, but it’s rather disconcerting to know that there are so many possible choices for him in Nanba Prison…

Chapter Text

Tanabata Seitarou entered the break room and stopped short as he saw something that would normally be terrifying – a smile on Hajime’s face.

“Ah…uh, supervisor, you’re in a good mood…?” He half-stated, half-questioned in trepidation.

“That’s right, because it’s a good day.” Hajime leaned back with obvious satisfaction, releasing a placid circlet of cigarette smoke into the air.

Seitarou began to relax, assured that Hajime’s smile wasn’t a dangerous one this time, and sat down opposite from his supervisor. “I see. So, what happened today, sir?”

“Number 15 dropped a bucket of mop water on his foot and broke a few bones.” Hajime explained.

Oh…so it was a scary smile after all. Seitarou cringed a little. “Oh my! Isn’t that a bad thing? It sounds like he was badly hurt!”

“Ee-yup.” Hajime wasn’t having the sympathetic response Seitarou had hoped for. “Which means the little brat won’t be jailbreaking anytime soon.”

“D…don’t you think you should at least be a little worried for him? Breaking a foot is a big deal, and 15 is pretty young…”

“Ha! If he hadn’t dropped that bucket I probably would’ve broken his feet anyways.”

Startled into silence, Seitarou tried to focus on his sewing while sitting in the same room with the devil…

Later that night, an urgent call from Seitarou reached Hajime. “What’s going on?”

“Sir! There’s been a break out!”

It wasn’t possible that it was Cell 13…even so, a feeling of dread began to settle over Hajime. He fairly ran to the security room where Seitarou bent over a monitor. “So who’s escaping?”

“C…cell 13, sir…”

Seitarou thought his supervisor would have a stroke as the members of Cell 13 dashed by a security camera…

…with Jyugo held securely in number 69’s arms.

“Ha haha! I never thought we’d get out with your leg like that.”

“You just don’t quit, huh Jyugo?”

“Heh, like a busted foot would ever stop me. Rock, go to that door so I can unlock it!”

“You got it!”

Chapter Text

nanbaka isekai au is online!

it's called Anima: Storm Rising Open Beta!

Read it ^ω^

Chapter Text

i don't even really like kiji but some new info changed everything.

so Kiji's name can apparently translate to 'abandoned child' and I don't know what to do with that info...

I mean, I know what to do but...I don't like what I have to do...

Now I headcanon that Kiji was once an abused/ignored/abandoned child much like Uno but broke free of his toxic family and overcame old patterns to believe in his real value and beauty, and wants to do the same for others.

scream with me now.

GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

time to write sad fics I guess? LOL

Chapter Text

He’d never have come up here again if he had his way, but the others had insisted.

After noticing a guard talking about work on the roof terrace, Jyugo’s cellmates demanded a trip there.

“It’s pretty much the only place in the whole prison we haven’t checked out yet,” Uno pointed out.

“We need to go! What if the Charlotte comet passes by? We can’t miss that!” Nico added.

“Since this is so far from the city, the stars must be fabulous,” Rock put in pensively.

They were really insistent, and it was difficult for Jyugo to tell them why he’d be happy if he never went to the roof ever again.

Because HE could be there

Because HE is all I could think about

Because I’m scared

Even though I know there’s nothing to be scared of anymore

So he relented, and one night they slipped out of their cell and headed for the roof.

Going up the stairs, he didn’t notice himself slowing down until Rock complained “Come on, Jyugo, hurry it up a little!”

“Well, I’m kinda tired…”

“For an escape artist you’ve got pretty trash stamina,” Uno needled.

“Knock it off. You need me to unlock the door up there, right?”

He swung the door open, and a rush of fresh sea air billowed into the close passageway.

“Ah!” Nico breathed deeply in bliss. “It smells so good!”

“It’s been a while since we got a taste of night air. Remember last time, Jyugo? When we brok…hey, what’s wrong?” Rock had put a hand on Jyugo’s shoulder but removed it when the teen flinched away suddenly.

“N…nothing.” Even in the dark night, the troubled light in his eyes was unmistakable. “You just startled me, that’s all.”

“Whoa! Come and look at the view!” Uno called out, grasping Jyugo’s hand and pulling him to the far ledge.

The night sky stretched out endlessly above them, like an overturned bowl studded with tiny diamonds, and below the ocean splashed and undulated and caught flickers of the moon in its waves.

Nico and Rock followed the two and had a look around. “Sugoi!” Nico exclaimed. “I’ve never seen the moon so bright before!”

Uno chuckled and shook Jyugo’s shoulder playfully. “You sneak, how come you never brought us here before?”

He laughed with them and felt his apprehension melt away. He didn’t think it was possible, but he was actually enjoying himself up here.

With them beside him, their smiles instead of that hated one…

…it was like the night transformed and became a place where nothing bad could ever happen again.

Chapter Text

The stone slid aside slowly, creaking and crackling against the grit of ages and grip of spreading vines.

The taste of water and decay swept from the cavern to the chamber where Upa stood. Dust left unmoved for years floated down to the pitted ground.

The noise he’d made drifted away, and another sound formed. Soft, hesitant sounds. Movement.

A child’s face appeared and stared at him out of the inky blackness. One eye wide and wondering, the other half-closed, badly wounded and crusted over. His tiny, painfully thin body was swathed in masses of thick hair that nearly resembled fur. He stared in mystification at the person who had opened his dungeon – so mystified it was as if he’d never seen a human being before.

Upa held the lantern higher, casting unsteady light into the darkness to better see the unexpected figure “Hello?” For the moment at least, he was too surprised by the discovery to say anything else.

He’d come here to find a long-lost secret, not a skeletal boy.

…And yet perhaps this boy could be part of the secret after all.

The look in the child’s eyes reminded him so much of his own when that man had freed him so many years ago.

Wonder, confusion, fear, hope.

The dark world had become full of light once more and he’d remembered what life meant.

When the boy reached out a trembling hand, Upa took it in his own with a warm smile. Unbidden, the words that man had spoken formed on his lips.

“I’m so glad I found you…”

And the boy smiled, and it was like the sun.

Chapter Text

The boy he’d found sat in the same place he’d been since he arrived. Even though it was Qi who had treated and dressed his bad eye and given him food, the boy had eyes only for Upa.

It was…unsettling.

To be stared at in such an intense way…to see a child sitting with a smile like a docile pet, just looking you in the face without saying a word… it made Upa nervous and somewhat irritable. He sat at the low table mending his spear, trying to ignore the gaze he still felt boring into his back.

Unsettling indeed.

Qi took it all in stride. He smiled wistfully, resting his head in the palm of his hand. “He looks at you just the way you looked at me when I picked you up.”

“I never did such a thing,” Upa retorted imperiously.

“You were…” Qi pressed on, held two fingers a marginally small space apart. “…the tiniest little thing, a little white shrimp. Ate everything in the house when I took you home.” He laughed. “I’ll have to find a job again or you two will have me starve before the season is out.”

“Perhaps a little hunger will sharpen your work ethic,” Upa needled absently, picking the spearhead up and looking at it critically.

Then he nearly dropped it as he saw the intense face he’d tried to avoid right beside him.

The child’s thin fingers gripped the table as he rested on his knees, looking at the array of tools with obvious amazement.

“Wh…what are you doing?” Upa asked, even though he knew as he spoke that the boy didn’t understand his speech.

At his voice, the boy turned to him with a shy smile. He reached a hand tentatively across the table, toward the blue lamp of Qi’s own invention, and looked back at Upa as if asking permission for something.

“You want…” Upa slid the tiny lamp over to the boy’s hand. “…this, right?”

He grasped the proffered light with excitement. Crouching back, he carefully held the glass globe in his hands and grinned happily. The luminous concoction inside swirled and glowed, casting shimmers of light on his dark skin, and he pressed the globe to his cheek.

For some reason, it made Upa smile to see it.

Light was a wonderful thing after living in darkness for so long…

Chapter Text

“A customer?” He hadn’t meant to sound so incredulous – it just kind of slipped out.

“People DO have interest in my work,” Qi returned, settling his ‘business’ cap on his head. “Now head upstairs with Nico, will you? I won’t be long.”

“Alright.” Upa grabbed the younger boy’s hand and led him to the loft as Qi strode to the main room again. It was normal for Upa to leave the room when Qi was conducting business. Being shooed away was far better than being mistaken for a vampire, as had happened far too many times before.

There was a chink in the wall where Upa could still have a decent view of the events downstairs, and he immediately went to this point. Nico naturally settled down beside him.

Qi opened the door to a tall, plainly-dressed young man. “Greetings, good sir. Please come in.”

The young man stepped inside and removed his hat, hesitating as he did so. “I have heard you are a crafter of potions…”

“Indeed, and the finest in the land, if I say so myself.” Qi spread his arms wide in a dramatic gesture. “What might you be looking for, good sir?”

With his hat off, striking magenta eyes and sleek black hair were revealed, denoting the customer as someone from a distant country. Now that Upa thought about it, the man’s speech and bearing were unusual as well.

He recognized something with startling suddenness and wished Qi would turn the customer away though they were desperate for wage.

“Have you a good sleeping potion?” The young man asked evenly.

“Of course, plenty to choose from. Short sleeps, long sleeps, slow-acting potions, gases and flavored drops.” Qi pulled out a case of vials of varying sizes and shapes. “What purpose do you have, exactly, for the potion you seek?”

He answered quite readily. “The potion I need must cover a wide range in a short amount of time and last at least a few hours. Something which acts swiftly. Have you such a potion?”

Qi drew a set of bulbous vials from the case. “These should suit your needs nicely. To activate the potion, dash the vials against the ground. Take care not to breathe the fumes yourself.”

The young man drew a handful of coins from a pouch hidden inside his tunic. He paid and took the potions without another word.

After he had left, Upa came back down, looking carefully out the door after him. “Qi, that man was an assassin.”

“Hm? What?” Qi turned – but to Upa’s annoyance, he didn’t look surprised.

“An assassin. You’ve done business with a killer.” He couldn’t have explained how he knew the customer’s occupation. Something in the way he carried himself, the tone of speech, the sharpness of those odd eyes.

After all, he’d seen enough of those people to know at a glance.

Qi shrugged nonchalantly. “And what of it? I’ve sold him no poison. What he does with those potions is his business, not mine.”

“You shrug off responsibility with such ease, it sickens me.”

“We’ve got to eat, right?” Qi put the coins away. “It’s not as if I’ve killed someone simply by taking his gold. The lives of my customers aren’t my responsibility.”

Which was true to a degree, but that transaction didn’t sit well with Upa.

And that was not the last they would see of the mysterious young assassin.

Chapter Text

When not dealing with inmates, Hajime usually found it easy to keep his temper in check.

But today, his patience was nearing a breaking point.

“What do you mean, I have to look after him?” He demanded, hoping he’d heard Nanba’s physician incorrectly.

“Just that. You’ll be looking after him for a while. It’s just a little stomach bug, after all. Nothing too serious,” Otogi replied gruffly. “Besides, the infirmary’s all filled up. Some fiasco at Building 5. I don’t have the space to hold an inmate who’ll recover in a couple of days.”

And that was how Hajime got stuck with doctor duty for Jyugo. It wasn’t anything very difficult – make sure he drank plenty of water and look in every now and then in case Jyugo’s condition suddenly got worse – but it was still a pain. Maybe on the off chance that Jyugo’s condition actually did worsen, Hajime wouldn’t have to babysit him like this.

On the plus side, considering that Jyugo had just been lying in bed groaning all day, it looked like he wouldn’t be escaping any time soon.

Hajime glanced up from his paperwork at the cheap clock on the wall. “Tanabata!”

“Yes, supervisor?”

He handed the guard a water bottle. “Take this to #15, will you? And make sure he drinks it.”

“Oh…is he still sick?” Seitarou took the bottle with a worried expression. “Shouldn’t he be in the infirmary, then?”

“Apparently he’s not sick enough to warrant that,” Hajime replied. “But he’s still sick enough to need someone to check up on him. Like I don’t have enough disruptions to my work.”

Unsure how to reply to that, Seitarou began to leave. “O…okay, sir. I’ll take it to him.”

Moments later, the door opened and Seitarou peeked back inside. “Uh…sir?”

“What is it? You couldn’t have made sure he drank it already.”

“N...number 15 isn’t in his cell, sir.”

After a long search, Hajime discovered his missing inmate sleeping in the night guard room. The boy was curled into a tight ball on the cot, tangled in the thin sheets, a slight frown on his face.

“NUMBER 15!”

Jyugo jolted awake and looked up at Hajime, defiance flashing briefly in his eyes before that expression wilted and fell away under a wave of pain. “Mph…what is it?”

“Don’t give me that ‘what is it’ crap!! Don’t you ever stop making trouble for me? What are you doing out of your cell, huh?”

The boy’s eyes slipped half-shut and he mumbled “I wanted to sleep…the others are too noisy. Won’t stop bouncing around and talking and shaking the floor…makes me feel like I’m gonna barf.”

“That doesn’t excuse you escaping your cell!” Hajime retorted out of habit. In all honesty, he couldn’t feel too angry with Jyugo at the moment. Having roommates while being sick was one of the worst things possible, and he could completely relate to the inmate’s situation. On the other hand, escaping was escaping, and he was just lucky that nobody had noticed Jyugo sneak in here.

“Geez…now I’ve gotta make up a reason for you to be here. I could probably just say that I wanted to keep an eye on you because of your condition…dangit, can’t you ever make life easy for me, 15?”

“I guess not,” he whispered tightly, trying to be cocky even as he grimaced at the rolling pain in his abdomen.

“I’m too busy to move you back right now, so just stay put for a while.” Hajime thrust the bottle into his hands. “And drink this. It’s bad enough having you escape, but if you collapse I’ll really be in hot water.”

Jyugo took a few grudging sips before burrowing under the blankets again.

“Still not feeling well, Jyugo?” Rock asked with concern upon seeing Jyugo stare listlessly at his meal.

“Eh, not really.” He muttered in response, resting his head on his hand.

“You should eat something at least,” Rock urged him. “It’s not good to starve yourself, especially when you’re sick.”

“Maybe if you had soup like me!” Nico suggested perkily. “It’s easy to eat. Would that be good, Jyugo?”

Eating was the very last thing he wanted to do. He was only in the mess hall because Hajime had given him a dark glare. Even though the heavy smell of food here was horrible, Jyugo just didn’t feel up to messing with the gorilla right now. All he wanted to do was go back to bed.

But maybe this tightness in his stomach actually signaled hunger? He honestly couldn’t tell anymore, but he knew Rock was right – he should probably try to eat something.

“Alright, I guess I’ll try some soup.” He relented with a sigh.

After eating it, however, he immediately regretted it.

Hajime came by their table later. “69, move it along. This isn’t a 7-course meal.”

“I’m almost done,” Rock replied, his voice muffled by his fourth serving of fried rice.

The supervisor glanced at Jyugo next. The boy was slumped on the table like a limp towel. “Oi, 15. Did you eat anything?”

Jyugo responded, but nobody could hear his tiny whisper. He was trying to speak as quietly as possible so that he didn’t aggravate his stomach any further. If he just stayed as still as possible, maybe he could avoid disaster…

“15, I’m talking to you.”

“Oh, yeah, Jyugo ate a little. Maybe he’s asleep now, though.” Rock replied for him, though Hajime wasn’t satisfied with that. He leaned on the table, jostling Jyugo slightly, and demanded again “15, I asked you if you ate anything!”

The slight movement was devastating. A bitter taste filled Jyugo’s mouth and his neck tightened. Crap, he couldn’t fight it…crap crap crap crap, right here in the mess hall too…

Hajime saw Jyugo’s face and instantly understood. He couldn’t explain it – something about the paleness or his desperate eyes, perhaps – but he knew that Jyugo was moments from losing his lunch.

Afterwards Jyugo couldn’t remember it clearly. Hajime must have picked him up and actually carried him to the men’s room on the other side of the mess hall. It was all blurry, and all he knew was that his outraged stomach was going to turn on him again.

Even though he’d fairly run to the bathroom, Hajime only just got Jyugo there in time. He’d scarcely put the kid down against the row of sinks when Jyugo started throwing up.

Hajime waited there beside him until he was done – which took a pretty long time. Finally Jyugo stopped and coughed and spat the foul taste out of his mouth and slumped against the counter, barely able to stand upright. Crap, that was awful. It would be a long time before he could stand the sight of fried rice again.

“You okay?”

Jyugo didn’t respond and Hajime didn’t force him to this time. He filled a paper cup with water and handed it to Jyugo. “Wash your mouth out.”

Jyugo obeyed and dazedly took the paper towel that Hajime handed him to wipe up with.

Without another word, Hajime escorted 69 to his cell and 15 to the night guard room. Jyugo collapsed in bed and Hajime put a basin and a sweet sports drink beside him.

“Rest, try to drink something. If you’re in trouble, call me – but only if something serious happens, got it?”

The first two days were the worst – for Jyugo.

After that, he began to recover, which meant he returned to being the punk he’d been before, and Hajime regretted ever showing the brat any consideration.

“Hey Hajime, don’t you have any more sports drinks?” Jyugo leaned into the office, dangling the empty last bottle from Hajime’s stash.

“Don’t come barging in like that! And if you can walk around, you can drink plain water!”

“Aren’t you supposed to take care of me? I’m sick, after all.”

“How sick can you be if you’re talking like that? Don’t bother me anymore or I’ll give you a reason to go to the infirmary!”

Chapter Text

There is a magical feeling about playing video games all by yourself at 2 AM with the lights off. It was a little like having a secret treasure chamber. On this sleepless night, Nico sat on his futon with a blanket pulled over his head and booted up the mini game console in the confines of his private tent. Nostalgic 8-bit music played, and after taking a moment to scroll down the list, Nico selected a game.

It was always better to play games with friends, but sometimes they weren’t around to play with him. Having them in the cell was good enough, even though they were asleep. It was just nice to have them nearby.

The thing Nico liked most about Nanba was that he always had friends around him. No dark, secluded cells where the days and nights dragged on and on and weeks could pass without anyone saying a word to him. Here, he wasn’t alone, and his world was full of joy.

So he really couldn’t complain about not having someone to hang out with right now.

Still, as he played, his mind kept wandering to imagine his friend’s interactions with the game.

Jyugo would forget which keys did what, and Nico would have to remind him.

Rock would tell Nico to click on every villager they passed to see what they said. He was a maniac for side quests.

Uno would ooh and ah over the graphics and then hide his eyes whenever a gnome boss or other monster appeared onscreen.

He could almost hear them now…

“What’re you playing?”

A puff of cool air gusted into Nico’s makeshift tent as someone lifted the corner. He saw Jyugo’s face in the sparse light of the console, and he smiled.

“It’s Veldcraft. Wanna see? I just unlocked a new segment of the island.”

“Sure.” Jyugo scooted into the small space, leaning against Nico to see the small screen. And Nico talked about the aspects of the game, excitedly whispering about new achievements and gear he’d acquired, and the two of them played until they couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer and drifted off to sleep.

There is a magical feeling about playing video games all by yourself at 2 AM with the lights off, but doing it with someone else is even better.

Chapter Text

I randomly thought of connecting Musashi with Frozen stuff

BEAR WITH ME

and he's just running around shooting flames everywhere while screaming "LET IT GOOOOO! LET IT GOOOO! CAN'T HOLD IT BACK ANYMOOOOORE!"

and Kenshirou is like "please stop"

i didn't even watch Frozen (and don't ever want to) but i'm always up for Frozen jokes.

i'm sorry for this randomness.

NOT

Chapter Text

“You took your medicine, right?”

No reply.

Rock groaned. “Nico, did you take your medicine?”

“No…” Nico murmured, fidgeting with the worn backing on the sofa.

“I TOLD you to take it every day. Hurry up and take it now.”

He made a face. “I don’t like this medicine. It’s yucky.”

Rock sighed wearily but didn’t even move an inch. “Just take it. I had to jump through so many freakin’ hoops to get it for you.”

Nico looked at the pill bottle, seeing it in a new light. That’s right…Rock left every night and got himself bruised and came home with bloody hands and so tired he could barely eat dinner so that Nico could have medicine.

He put a pill on his tongue and worked to swallow it, enduring the spreading bitterness that nearly made him gag.

Rock endured the pain, so the least Nico could do was follow his example.

Chapter Text

‘Go die, pretty boy.’ That’s what they said.

They’re not the first to say it, either.

I wonder…I wonder what you’d do if I really did die.

Would you call me a coward? I guess I am.

Would you say good riddance? Maybe that’s true.

Would you even notice? I don’t see why.

For someone who cries so much, nobody has ever shed a tear over me.

I don’t have much use. I’m too weak. I can’t do anything without help, really.

You’re right, I’m weak. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

Maybe if I didn’t wake up tomorrow…

You’d be happier.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t that he was angry or even sad. He just…felt totally empty.

Didn’t have the energy to try and shake his mood up. If left to himself, he could have just stayed in bed for hours. Days. Letting his foggy mind go blank and stop tormenting him.

But he wasn’t left to himself, and the voices of well-meaning friends jarred him. They were trying to cheer him up, and that felt bad. Because they couldn’t break through his fog, and he was sorry for that. They were trying to help but he wasn’t letting them.

Why?

Please stop trying…

Chapter Text

random headcanon here again

I headcanon that Nico is no longer allowed to have konpeito

because the last time they gave him some, they came across him snorting the crushed candy.

he's not allowed to have hard candy unsupervised anymore.

i'm sorry, i don't know why i had this weird idea

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you’re not a vampire?”

“Shut up.” Upa grumbled, trying to move his lips as little as possible.

Qi smiled wryly and dipped his hand into a little jar he held, bringing up a generous daub of some light blue cream. “It’s a fair question. This intense sunburn, for instance…”

Upa jumped as a shock of pain went through him with Qi’s touch. He forced himself to hold still and let the alchemist apply the healing cream. “It’s just a sunburn.”

“Well, also you got sick after eating that garlic stew I worked so hard on.”

“I’m allergic to garlic.” Upa glared at Qi out of one eye. “Don’t draw such stupid conclusions.”

Qi went back for more cream and kept talking. “And then that time you couldn’t look at the crucifix pendant I made.”

“Because it was tacky! Honestly, it looked like a pig had made it.”

“And your night habits, pale face, sharp little teeth…” Qi put on a face of mock concern. “You’re sure you’re not a vampire?”

Upa sat up, ignoring the fiery pain from his burned skin. He fixed his gray eyes on Qi and threatened “Alright then, how about I bite you to make you shut up?”

Qi laughed out loud. “I think I’ll pass, thanks. Now lie down before you hurt yourself.”

Chapter Text

Nanbaka fantasy AU! In the territory of Sabor, a Veldland province, a tentative truce is struck between humans and forysters, the wild denizens of the woods. Chief Hyakushiki, the barbaric leader of the human faction, rules her men with an iron fist and keeps the peace by violence as much as strategy. There would be little trouble in the towns if not for foryster Jyugo and his band of hooligans, who manage to make Hunter Hajime’s life a living nightmare.

Forysters are humanoids with beastlike features. Most have large, fur-tipped ears, hard nails, long teeth and a tail. Others have light fur all over the body or an elongated face resembling a snout. Forysters are actually just as human as everyone else – their mutation is the result of a recessed gene that has been bred into a stronger form in certain isolated tribes. Or is there a more sinister origin to their appearance?

-Hunter Kenshirou is madly in love with their barbaric ruler, though she has eyes for only Hajime.

-Hunter Hajime is devoted to his work and will stop at nothing to put an end to the shenanigans of the four troublemakers. If Chief Hyakushiki finds out how many times Hajime has failed, he’s done for!

-Hunter Kiji works with employing forysters as workers in the human community. It’s slow-going, but he’s fallen in love with their gorgeous fur and tails and will never give up on finding a place for them.

-Hunter Samon does his work well, keeps a suspicious eye on Hajime, and still has time to care for a neglected bunch of forysters from the east.

-Mitsuru is a foryster who is in Hyakushiki’s band as their messenger. His loud voice can be heard all over the region.

-Mao the foryster betrayed his tribe for money and is always looking for an opportunity to corrupt Hyakushiki’s band.

-Tomato the foryster takes in orphaned children, human and fory, often with Samon’s assistance. He adores cute things.

-Uno is considered a disgrace as he woos humans and forysters alike. While he seems cheerful, he harbors a hatred for humans.

-Rock is the son of a foryster chief who left his evil father and became a vagrant. He adores animals – as pets or as meals.

-Nico is an orphan foryster, probably the runt of the litter. He usually distrusts humans because of abuse he suffered as a pup. Though Nico was a runt, he proved to be one of the finest specimens of a foryster; a pure case of the mutation and highly valuable. He was captured and subjected to all manner of inhumane tortures in the form of experimentation before escaping. The people in Hyakushiki’s band are the only humans Nico feels comfortable around.

-Jyugo is a foryster, but considered a discredit to his race. He possesses none of the remarkable agility and strength forysters are supposed to be born with. He cannot run fast, swim, fight, or attract a mate. He can’t even find food on his own. Despite his flaws, his friends would die for him.

-Tsukumo is remarkably good at imitating foryster mannerisms and spent much of his life raised as a foryster before abandoning them to live with other humans. He is shunned, however, and finds sanctuary with Jyugo’s bunch.

-Musashi is a blind foryster with a remarkable ability to generate flames. He’s known as the phoenix in many parts of the land.

Chapter Text

“So, that rabbit with the broken leg you took in…how’s it doing these days?” Jyugo asked nonchalantly, not noticing Uno’s warning gestures.

Rock didn’t turn from the pot he was stirring. “It died.”

Ah, now Jyugo understood the weird movements Uno was doing. His ears dropped and he backpedaled quickly. “Oh, uh…I…I didn’t—”

But Nico piped up with a big smile and waving tail “Rock cooked it with garlic and it was the best dinner ever!”

“Yeah, it’s too bad you weren’t here to try it!” Rock turned to face them, surprising Uno and Jyugo with his unexpected mood. “I’ve had garlic before but it was just spectacular with rabbit meat! I tried it boiled and roasted, and both ways were amazing. Broiling made the meat smoky and crispy and boiling it made it rich and hearty…”

“Wow…his love of animals is overcome only by his love of food,” Uno commented in an undertone. Jyugo nodded.

Uno listed Jyugo’s shortcomings, counting on his fingers. “You can’t outrun a child, you’re hopeless at hunting, you’ve got the stamina of a turtle, you could drown in a puddle…you don’t even have enough musk to woo a squirrel!”

“Musk isn’t the only important thing!” Jyugo protested. “I’ll have you know, I’ve got plenty of good qualities that’ll land me a mate in no time.”

“Oh really?” Uno raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. “Such as.”

Jyugo grinned and twitched his ears up jauntily. “I have very little body hair AND my nipples are pink!”

“Since when are those are good qualities?! A fory without body hair is just plain sad!”

After several alarming incidents, Rock was obliged to teach young Nico about the birds and the bees. Specifically, why one was good to eat but the other hurt very much. It took a few more stings to the mouth before Nico gave up trying to consume the pretty insects and focused his efforts on more substantial meat.

A disgruntled housewife came to the Band to report a suspicious foryster in her henhouse. Hunter Hajime didn’t have to think too hard to guess who the intruder might be. He took a chain with him instead of a rope, certain that this time the prisoner wouldn’t be able to gnaw through his bonds and get free.

Just as he’d suspected, Hajime found Jyugo asleep in the henhouse, chickens milling about him in mild agitation. The boy had his tail curled round him comfortably and slept without knowing Hajime had even arrived. From the mess on his hands and broken shells around, Hajime guessed that the fory hadn’t just slept here – he’d eaten a fair amount of the eggs, too.

“WAKE UP!”

The bellow roused Jyugo instantly. He shot to a sitting position and immediately fell back down, clutching his head that he’d just knocked against the ceiling. He bared his teeth and hissed at Hajime, who scoffed. “Don’t try to start a fight you can’t win, you punk. Out. Now.”

Jyugo sullenly slunk out, brushing hay from his hair and clothes. “Don’t you have anything better to do than bother me?”

“Shut up. That’s my line,” Hajime snapped. He grabbed Jyugo by the scruff of his neck and held him still to put the chains on. “You’re paying for the eggs you ate, by the way.”

“Aw, it wasn’t that many…I mean, eggs? What eggs? I didn’t eat any.”

Hajime gritted his teeth as he dumped Jyugo into the cart. The kid was hopeless.

When he got back to the palisade, he learned that Jyugo could indeed gnaw through metal.

Hajime returned to his post with nothing but a ruined chain and a foul mood.

On bad nights, Jyugo would gnaw at the thick rings on his wrists. Just absently chewing on the impossibly hard black material like he could actually remove it with his teeth. And then nipping and pulling at the skin near the hated shackles. It left long, red scrapes and scratches that took days to go away. It was a bad habit and he knew it, but he couldn’t help himself.

Uno met him one morning, saw the raw marks on the fory’s arms, and immediately decided it was time to take Jyugo exploring.

It was a relief that they’d trained him to stop howling every time the moon appeared, but his tendency to do it around once or twice a month was still a problem.

“At your age, you don’t even have enough musk to warrant howling,” Uno told him. “You’re going to insult someone if you keep it up, and then what’ll we do?”

“Also it’s making the Band angry,” Rock put in.

Nico pouted. “It’s not like I’m hurting people! I just wanna sing. It’s so much fun, and I don’t do it often.”

“I know, I get it, but it’s like an open challenge to other forysters. Can’t you, I don’t know…sing quietly?”

And Nico did his best to suppress the song that was always bubbling to the surface on beautiful, moonlit nights, until the smile they loved was nearly gone and his usually-perky ears went limp. So Rock and Uno and Jyugo told Nico to howl as much as he desired – they’d take care of anyone he happened to offend. After that, Nico’s smile returned.

What was a little trouble for Nico’s smile, after all?

Chapter Text

After the meal was over, Uno said “Alright Nico, here are three buns. If you can guess which one has medicine inside, you don’t have to take it, but if you guess wrong, you have to eat it. Deal?”

Nico immediately flattened his ears back. “No.”

“Come on, Nico…”

“No medicine.” He crouched down, glaring at them as he lashed his tail back and forth. He looked seconds away from taking to the trees. “You can’t make me take it this time.”

“Come on, just try guessing.”

It took some coaxing, but Nico finally slunk over to look at the three sugar-coated buns. He regarded them for a while, sniffing carefully, and reached out slowly to point at the one on the far left. “I choose this one.”

Uno’s face fell. “Ah, that doesn’t have medicine in it. Looks like you win this time, Nico.”

A quick sniff assured Nico that the bun was indeed devoid of medication, and he quickly ate it, reveling in his victory.

His friends felt victorious, too – the medicine had actually been in the meat Nico had enjoyed just minutes before. Not that they’d ever tell him that.

Rock looked thoughtful that day. “Hey, guys…have you ever petted a frog?”

“Ew, no.” Uno replied shortly. The other two replied in the negative as well.

“It’s pretty cool. They’re cuter than you’d think.” Then Rock extended his hands, revealing a little green frog cupped inside. “You wanna try petting it?”

Uno bristled and shrieked, jerking away from the repulsive amphibian. “Get that thing away from me! I’ll get warts if I touch it!”

Jyugo touched the animal’s head tentatively and decided that, while it wasn’t gross, it wasn’t all that pleasant either. Nico seemed to enjoy it more. To everyone’s relief, he didn’t put the animal in his mouth this time. He held it carefully and stared into the little bulging eyes, watching the delicate body expand and shrink in tiny breaths.

“Pretty cool, right?” Rock grinned.

The peace didn’t last long, however…

“Rock, it’s making water!”

“Gross, it pissed all over Nico!”

“KYEEEEH! That’s disgusting!”

“How can all this come from one frog?”

“Nico, don’t THROW it!!”

Hunter Hajime met Rock at the gate one morning. “Come pick up your friend before you start work,” he ordered.

“Huh?”

“Hurry up; I haven’t got all day.”

As it turned out, Nico had slept in the laundry shed again. Rock found him sitting up in a nest of unwashed clothing, looking very content.

“Nico, c’mon…you know you’re not supposed to be here.”

From the smile on his face, he was obviously unrepentant. “I like it here.”

“Yeah, I know.” It was a mystery to his friends why wild little Nico felt so comfortable with the Band but shied away from every other human with his fangs bared. “If you haven’t got a place, you should always check my den first. Don’t bother the Band like this.”

“Kay,” Nico yawned.

As they were leaving the grounds, they passed Hajime again. The Hunter gave a brusque greeting but reached out to tousle Nico’s hair.

If Nico’s trust of the man was odd, still odder was Hajime’s apparent fondness for him.

They had a number of rules regarding Jyugo. After an educational excursion to the river, a new one had to be made. It was, quite simply: DO NOT GO FISHING WITH JYUGO. Giving the fory mouth-to-mouth after he’d managed to drown himself was something that Uno never wanted to have to do again.

Chapter Text

“Eh?” Uno turned to him, an eyebrow raised. “You mean you’re actually through wandering?”

“I don’t know. But this place is pretty comfortable.” Jyugo set his coil of rope aside and started on the next one. “Plenty of room, no monsters, and food’s pretty easy to come by. I don’t see a reason to leave yet, I guess.”

“Yeah, same here.” Uno smiled and sighed with contentment. “Letting the Band attend to our needs is a heck of a lot easier than woods life. We’ll be like a big family, poaching off the Band for as long as we like.”

Rock nodded. “I always kinda thought of you as my brother, anyways.”

“And what about me?” Nico asked, a grin on his face. Rock rested a large hand on the fory’s head and replied promptly “You’re our faithful pet.”

Nico didn’t seem too pleased about that.

It was easy enough to forget his past, but every now and then it came back to light. A chance scent, a sudden fright, and all of Nico’s hair would bristle and his thin, brown body would tense and his one healthy eye showed only bestial rage, alight with incomprehensible bloodlust – and then it would drop away as he realized he was safe, and the familiar smile returned to his face, erasing all traces of the ferocity only Rock and Jyugo had seen in full force before.