Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was another horribly boring day at work. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, you did work in a hospital lab after all. Less samples meant less sick kids, that was always a plus. You had just finished going through a laundry list of QC assignments you had been given when you decided it was time for a break.

“Hey Rose, what’s the OR schedule look like? Wanna go grab a bite?” You asked, swiveling your chair so that you were facing her desk.

“I’m done for the day. No more procedures, which means minimal afternoon tests.” She smiled and rolled your way. “What did you have in mind? Wanna go up to T14? I keep getting messages that the weather is nice, kinda wanna see for myself.”

Leaning back, you did a few turns in your chair. Getting out of the basement would be nice for a change. “Sure, let’s go. Did you pack, or do we need to hit the cafe on the way up?”

“Nah, I’m good. Brought the salad to end all salads.” She smiled proudly as she hopped up and made her way to the breakroom fridge, you following closely behind her.

Bags in hand you shuffled out from your basement dwelling in the R building and meandered through the empty courtyard into T. It was a quick ride up to the fourteenth floor and the view never ceased to amaze you.

The new building was currently one of the tallest in the area, and from the covered terrace on the top floor, you got an unobstructed view of downtown. Smiling, you pushed through the heavy glass door and picked a seat close to the ledge.

Not in any hurry, the two of you sat and talked. Rose about her week in the OR and your week, basically by yourself, in the lab. There were four of you in the office, each responsible for different jobs on a weekly rotation. This particular week you were on the time-sensitive and morning samples while Rose covered the procedures and study samples, meaning your schedules didn’t really align. So it was good to catch up.

“Yo! Ladies! Let you out of the underworld, I see?” Yukimura’s exclaimed as he and Sasuke pushed through the terrace doors, a giant bag of McDonald’s in hand.

“They did. Why didn’t you tell us there was gonna be a party? I’d have put in an order.” Rose joked as she pointed to their bags.

“As far as I’m concerned, anywhere the two of them are is a party.” You snickered, taking a swig of your soda.

“See, (YN) gets it.” Yuki pointed out as he and Sasuke sat in the empty chairs at the opposite end of your table.

“Of course I do.” You smiled sarcastically, hoping to change the subject. “So what’ve you guys been up to? Haven’t seen you at the Thursday Night Happy hours.”

“Technically, those are for the lab staff.” Sasuke chimed in before eating a handful of fries.

“I mean, if you want to get technical, but it’s not like you’ve been told you can’t join us.” You puzzled, “Have you?”

“Oh, no, that’s not it at all.” Sasuke’s eyes widened, just the tiniest bit to show a flustered reaction.

“We’ve just been,” Yukimura paused, drumming his fingers on the table, “busy.”

“That’s not cryptic or anything.” You felt your eyes pinch shut as you scrutinized them, looking for answers.

“Really, though, why don’t you just say you’ve been playing that new game?” Rose laughed, stealing some of Yuki’s fries.

“You mean the one you’ve been trying to talk me into joining for a month now?” You asked Rose, leaning back in your seat.

“If you’re talking about Endless Isle, then yes.” Yukimura cut in, answering before Rose had a chance to.

“Okay, so, hypothetically speaking, let’s say I agree to try the game out. What’s so great about it?” You asked, hoping at least one of your friends would answer.

“For starters, the range of play is amazing. There’s a little something for everyone, solo gamers, online gameplay, puzzles, adventure, strategy, you name it, and they’ve got it.” Yuki boasted.

“It just sounds like the developers couldn’t make up their minds.” You grimaced, thinking about the intricacies of trying to build a game like that.

“See, and that’s what I thought at first too, but it’s amazing.” Rose beamed, “The story is so immersive, and the gameplay is addicting. Makes you want to keep playing.”

“That just sounds dangerous.” You laughed thinking about all of those late weekends in college that you and Rose forwent homework and parties to stay up all night online gaming. “You’re going to have to do better than that to convince me.”

“What if I told you some of the quests result in the winning of actual money?” Sasuke spoke as he finished off his burger.

“I’m listening.” You leaned in, a little more interested in the conversation.

“At least twice a month, there are tournaments to win cash through the game. I’d be happy to help you get started.” Sasuke offered. “I’m free tomorrow night if you’d like.”

“I’ll think about it.” You rocked back in your chair, hands flailing when you nearly toppled over.

“All four on the floor, missy.” Yukimura teased. “Seriously, though, we’ve got a pretty good team assembled. I’m sure you’d be an okay addition.”

“Why doesn’t than instill me with confidence?” You sighed as you spoke, followed by a smile in Yukimura’s direction.

“I don’t know, we do a pretty bang-up job. Nearly won last week’s tournament.” Rose said.

“If only our monk hadn’t run out of healing spells.” Yukimura poked at Rose’s side, clearly making fun of her.

“Let’s see if I ever spare a spell for you again.” Rose huffed as she fiddled with her pager.

“That’s uncalled for!” Yukimura yelled, not caring as everyone else on the rooftop glared at him.

“You’ve been building your magic, use it. Or, I don’t know, get some items.” There was an indignant humpf placed at the end of her sentence as Rose crossed her arms.

“My magic is dark magic, I’d lite myself on fire before any sort of healing happened!” Yukimura was growing more exasperated as the conversation continued.

“That’s the point.” Rose snickered, jumping as her pager screamed to life.

“Aaaand, that’s our cue to head back to the lab.” You laughed quickly, gathering your trash and standing from your seat. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Sasuke, and we can get this thing started, I guess.”

“Sounds good.” His smile was subtle as you followed quickly after Rose, who had already made her way towards the elevators.

Chapter Text

You had started the downloading process earlier this morning before you left for work, in hopes that the file would be close to complete when you arrived back home. Thankfully the gods were smiling on you. After changing out of your scrubs and plugging the system into the TV, you plopped down on your couch and curled into your favorite corner with a water bottle and two sets of controllers, just in case.

Immediately upon startup, you were thrown into a magnificent CGI cutscene that you hoped would be explained a little better the further into the game you got. After you built your character and typed in your name, another scene began to roll. Your character now found herself falling until she quite literally landed in the middle of town.

Most people just kept on walking, paying no mind to the perplexed girl in the middle of the square. You had to laugh to yourself a little bit, at least you didn’t get dropped into some random field with tons of monsters like the last game Rose had talked you into joining. This game had that going for it at least. After a few well placed tutorials on movement and interacting, you gave it a go. Starting your exploration of the town.

There were plenty of shops to check out and enough NPC’s to talk to, but without any particular way to defend yourself, you were stuck picking up delivery quests for an hour until Sasuke was available. Eventually, you were rewarded after finishing a task with a questionable looking lance so you took off looking for a fight. Your item list told you it had been dubbed “training lance,” and you were sure that as far as weapons went, it was garbage. But a pokey stick was better than nothing. Besides, you were happy to see swords weren’t the game’s default, the variation definitely gave it some brownie points.

You felt your phone vibrate and laughed when Sasuke told you to meet him in the city square near the chicken leg stand. Having failed your assault mission for the fourth time meant you had nothing better to do than head over there and wait. You weren’t waiting long though; in a matter of minutes, an avatar that looked frighteningly like Sasuke wandered over as a speech bubble popped up on the bottom of your screen.

Nin-nin0217 → Hey, I’m alive. Sorry for the wait.
Np! Got some quests done. Found a lance ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → Not bad, have you used said lance yet?
Yes, lol did not go well. I’ve just hit my 5th respawn ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → I see. How about I take you to one of my favorite maps to grind on?
Why do I feel like I’m not at the appropriate level for the map you want to take me to? ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → You’re not, but I’ll be there so you should be able to get some good EXP.
Do I have a choice ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → Of course you do. It’ll just take you forever to get to the Soldier class at this rate. If you’re okay with that than I am too.
No…let’s give your way a try. ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → That’s the spirit! :D

Before you could manage to formulate a response, an event bubble popped up on your screen. *Nin-nin0217 has requested you join him on a quest. Do you accept?* After a single exasperated breath, you hit your toggle and pressed yes. Let the grinding begin.

The map itself wasn’t challenging, the terrain was neutral, and there didn’t appear to be any hazards hiding further back near enemy lines. It also helped that you were playing through it with Sasuke. As long as your character stood within a four-space vicinity, it was nearly impossible to take you out.

After nearly three hours between two maps, your magic and resources were exhausted, and your poor spear was almost broken.

I think it’s about time to call it quits. Spears about to go, and I’m not equipped for hand to hand. ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → Roger that. Are you good to finish the map? Do we need to end the mission now?
Nope, I can finish ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → Good. We’ll get you a new spear when we get back into town.
Awesome sauce! ← WildCyt0m3try

With bated breath, you finished with a single strike of your lance to spare. Thank goodness, you had been warned early on that fighting with a broken weapon was the absolute worst. Zero damage dealt, and the lower defense did not sound like your cup of tea. Especially without any healing magic or herbs at your disposal.

The town was still bustling when you got back from your map, it was nice to see people were online at all hours of the day, er well night. Your avatar followed Sasuke’s towards the market street, and you made a bee-line for the armory, making sure to cash any and all in-game currency that had dropped from the monsters you fought all evening. Your eyes nearly fell out of your head when you saw all the zeros. The shop-keeper was offering to give you how much?

On top of the absurd amount of in-game currency you had just procured, you were shocked by the list that opened up to you. Instead of just the training spear you had been granted earlier, an entirely new selection of weaponry was available. With a triumphant yell you decided to drop most of your coin on a single steel lance, and backed out of the shop to follow Sasuke towards the general merchant shop.

*Nin-nin0217 has sent you a friend request. Accept?* Laughing, you clicked ‘Yes’ and began typing something witty that was sure to be lost on your friend, when he dropped you an item. *Nin-nin0217 has sent you a gift. Accept?*

What did you just send me? ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → Open it and find out
I’m not about to open the games equivalent to a glitter bomb, am I? ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → Unfortunately, they don’t offer such gifts. This is much better I can assure you.
Fine…thx! ← WildCyt0m3try

You accepted the gift reluctantly, closing your eyes as you pressed the open command. It only took five seconds for the system to download the present and for a happy chime to play over the speaker.

*You received a Beginner Seal. Would you like to use this now or stow it in your convoy?* The game prompted you.

Am I supposed to use this now? ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → If you’ve got a prompt to use it go for it. The beginner classes are rudimentary, but you should be able to see potential stat growths for each.

As it turned out, seals were used for in-game growth. Assuming you had managed to gain enough experience points you could use one. There were different seals for different levels, and the types of stats you had grown during battle by using specific weapons narrowed down what sort of class you could grow into. You laughed and fired off another message.

I feel like an Eevee, there’s so many options! What do I pick?! How am I supposed to choose? ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → You have 4 options…?
Nin-nin0217 → Do you know what type of Master Class you’re aiming for?
Master what now? ← WildCyt0m3try
No. Am I supposed to? ← WildCyt0m3try
Crap. I guess I’ll just be a soldier. ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → An excellent choice, rationale?
I mean, I just bought a new lance, and it was hella expensive. Probably better to pick a class that can use lances. ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → We don’t have anyone in the group yet that is of suitable stats to become a Falcon Knight. It would add the perfect amount of diversity.
Lol, happy to help. I should probably hit the internet a little bit before I continue tho, I’m gonna log off for the night. ← WildCyt0m3try
Nin-nin0217 → Have a good evening. See you on Monday?
You too! G’night! Thx for the help! ← WildCyt0m3try

After bidding Sasuke a good night, you saved your progress and quickly logged off. Mentally kicking yourself for staying on until well past midnight. You had to work in the morning. That would be interesting. With a long sigh, you heaved yourself off the couch and put your controller back by the console before turning out all the lights. It was way past your bedtime.

Chapter Text

“So I hear you’re hooked.” Yukimura smirked in your direction as he shoveled a salad that may as well have been half the head of lettuce into his mouth.

“So what if I am?” You retorted, washing down your own salad with the iced tea you brewed the night before.

“Does that mean you’re joining our team?” Rose asked excitedly.

“Are you any good? Please, at least tell me you’re not using the training weapon still.” Yukimura grimaced

“Excuse me, I’m offended. Maybe I don’t want to be on your team? Maybe I’m too good for you.” You proclaimed, sticking your fork in Yukimura’s direction. “Ever think about that?”

“No.” Yuki’s face twitched as he fought to keep a straight face. “There’s no way in hell you’d be too good for the team we’ve assembled.”

“Sasuke tell’m!” You whined.

“I’m afraid I cannot, that would count as lying.” Sasuke deadpanned as you balked, and Yukimura roared with laughter. “Though you are much better than Yuki was when he started.”

“Hey!” Yuki shouted, a look of absolute betrayal crossing his face. “I wasn’t that bad!”

“I’m not bad! You’ve literally never seen me play!” You bit back, chomping on a crouton.

“Then let’s change that? (YN) you can meet us in the square tonight at seven, and we’ll go out on a mission. If you don’t die, or accidentally kill someone on the team you can join?” Rose posed the question to the entire group, looking for approval.

“I can think of one person who isn’t going to be happy with that plan.” Yukimura sighed as he leaned back in his chair and looked at Sasuke.

“I agree, but I think (YN) will be fine. He’ll open up to her eventually. Or at the very least, he won’t ignore her.”

“Who?” You asked, slightly curious.

“One of our teammates. Screen name is God of War. Goes by War. A real piece of work that one; takes the game a little too seriously if you ask me.” Yuki murmured.

“Your friend isn’t much better.” Rose spoke up from across the table. “I’ve even caught him flirting with NPCs! NPCs! Who does that?”

“Apparently him?” Your response more a question as you tried not to laugh. “I’m good to meet you guys at seven, your team sounds like a hoot.”

“It is. We’ll see you then.” Sasuke responded to you as he picked up his now empty tray and headed towards the trash conveyor belt.

“I guess we’re leaving?” Yukimura questioned as he put the lid back on his lunch and stood to follow after his friend. “See you guys!”

“Laters!” Rose called after him. “Oh my gosh (YN), you’re gonna have so much fun tonight! So tell me. What’s your class? What kind of weapon did you pick? Or did you choose magic? Ohh, I use magic, we’d have two mages.”

“Whoa, whoa, Rose! Slow down!” You laughed as she questioned you a mile a minute. “I’ve got a lance. Sasuke’s said there’s a lot of movement with that right now.”

“There is! We’ve got a few people on the team right now that use lances, but otherwise it’s a pretty even spread.” Rose tapped her finger to her chin as her face crumpled.

“Okay, so tell me more about this team. What am I getting myself into?” You asked, leaning closer and opening up your phone to take some notes.

“Dork.” Rose snickered as she pointed at your phone.

“Yea, but I’m your dork.” You wiggled your eyebrows at her, and she snickered.

“So you are.” Leaning back in her chair Rose crossed her arms and twisted one of the loose strands of her hair. “Okay, so you know Sasuke, he’s an assassin, which means he’s got strong sword and bow skills. He’s pretty handy in battles because he used to be a thief, so he picked up this really nifty swiping ability; gets us a ton of cool items without having to use any chest keys or door keys.”

“Got it, Sasuke. Assassin. Swords and bows. No need for keys. Who’s next?” You asked, quicky typing in all the information she gave.

“Well, I’m a priest, specialize in magic, specifically faith. So I’m the team’s designated healer right now. Though I do know some handy reason magic.” Rose wiggled her eyebrows playfully at her own abilities.

“What about Yuki?” You asked.

“He’s a paladin. So he’s also got a lance, but he’s a riding class which means he’s on a horse, great movement. I think he still uses a sword from time to time though.” She answered me.

“M’kay got it. Who else?” You tapped the enter button on your phone, moving to the next line of your notes.

“Alright, well, Sasuke’s friend, War, is already a master class.” She grimaced but continued. “He’s a mortal savant, so he uses swords and reason magic efficiently. The guy’s strong but a little hot-headed. Not super talkative, either.” You smiled at her as she continued to give you details about the team.

“Then there’s Yuki’s friend Tiger of Kai, and his cousin Fine as Art. Tiger’s a fortress knight, which means he’s slow as hell but carries around a giant ax that does tons of damage. He can take a hit as long as magic isn’t involved. I think he enjoys being that slow though, gives ladies a better chance at catching up with him.” Rose rolled her eyes but continued. “Art’s a mage, so he specialized in reason magic. Does a good amount of damage, knows some pretty interesting spells. I may or may not have bribed him to teach me a few. He’s chill, a bit judgy but chill.”

“Tiger, Art? Are those really their names?” You ask out loud.

“I hope not.” Rose snickers. “Though I don’t have much else to go off of other than their in-game handles. I’m sure the boys know their names, but they haven’t shared them with me.”

“Gotcha, so you don’t know them either?” You asked your friend.

“Nope, I play with strangers I met on the internet,” Rose exclaimed proudly.

“Sometimes that’s the best.” You smiled brightly, remembering the game you used to play on your desktop.

“Mmhhh, agreed.” Rose nodded enthusiastically as she began packing up her lunch tray. “Just be yourself tonight. It’ll be a blast. If Sasuke thinks you’ll be fine, then you’ll be fine.”

“Why does everyone automatically assume I’m going to be bad.” You sigh as you dropped your tray on the revolving carousel.

“That’s probably my fault and your history with FPS games. The last team event we tried to get you involved in on Halo went terribly and you know it.” Rose grimaced at the memory.

“Okay, fair, but also not. I had literally just picked up the game, and you guys had been playing for months. You can’t just throw someone into a mission like that and expect them to be able to keep up just out of the tutorial.” You argued your point, continuing your conversation well into the day and back into the lab.

Chapter Text

You logged yourself in at 6:35pm. Deciding that it would be a good idea to get all your shopping done before you were supposed to meet up with everyone. You didn’t want to be the only one unprepared. Then Yuki’d really never let you hear the end of it, and you super didn’t want to deal with that. With the flick of your joystick, you headed for the market to grab the lance you’d been eyeing for a week now. Making sure to snack between conversations with the shopkeepers.

Once your business in town was finished, you headed to your meeting point, arriving with five minutes to spare. After a few moments of fiddling around with your headset, your control began to vibrate.

*Nin-nin0217 has invited you to a group chat.*

With a smile on your face, you happily accepted.

Braves6Coins → Yo! Where you at?
Nin-nin0217 → She’s sitting over there. Near that bush.

With a smile on your face you prompted your avatar to wave. Sticking your tongue out at Yuki when he flipped you the bird.

Ur a child. ← WildCyt0m3try
TigerOfKai681 → Oho, she’s got spirit. I like it. The name suits you, Wild.
God_of_War → We’re wasting time. Let’s go
RoseW@terHeals010 → Were you seriously about to leave with out me!? Jeeze, hold your horses wouldya
God_of_War → The only one here with a horse is Brave, and you and I both know he’s got no clue how to ride it.
Braves6Coins → Hey! Wth man!
God_of_War → Are you done? Can we go?
RoseW@terHeals010 → Oh my gosh. @Brave6Coins did that hurt? Do you need ice?
Braves6Coins → Shove it!
TigerOfKai681 → Now, now. Is that any way to talk to a lady?
Fine_as_art1156 → Technically no, but how can you be so sure Rose is, in fact, a lady? Depending on stat growth, it makes more sense to play as a female character if one wishes to have access to the gremory class later on.
RoseW@terHeals010 → Now that’s just uncalled for. I’m a bonafide female. Both Brave and Nin can vouch for me there.
Brave6Coins → Who said I wanted too?
Nin-nin0217 → Rose is indeed a female.
RoseW@aterHeals010 → Thank you Nin! At least someone here wants to be healed today.
God_of_War → If you don’t plan on doing your job, why did you even bother showing up?
RoseW@terHeals010 → I came specifically to piss you off.
TigerOfKai681 → Ladies, gentlemen, War…we have a guest, we’re being very rude.
You’re being hysterical, is what you’re being. xD You guys are crazy! ← WildCyt0m3try
TigerOfKai681 → Happy we could entertain you, my lady. *bows*

You rolled your eyes at the wall of text that quickly began turning into another argument. At least this wouldn’t be boring. How did they find the time to get anything done bickering like this? You wondered as you followed them out of town and into the swap map. At least you’d get to take out a few good beasties tonight.

The group of you weren’t on the map long before you got the notification to turn your headset on.

“Is everyone here?” A voice you knew to be Sasuke’s asked over the intercom.

“Yes.” A deep baritone came through your speakers. It came out a low rumble though a bit domineering, instantly commanding your attention. Who the hell was that?

“Tiger of Kai also present.” The light tone of his voice made you smile, that certainly wasn’t what you had been expecting. At least his response narrowed down your question.

“Fine Art is here.” His voice lower, yet slightly more nasally than Tiger’s, though he spoke slower with a draw on his vowels.

“Brave checking in. I’m all good to go!” Yuki’s voice played, urgent and familiar as ever.

“Rose here, reporting for duty.” The soft soprano of your friend’s voice was in stark contrast to the voices she followed.

“Wild is present.” You spoke into your microphone, choosing to speak after everyone else had gone through the roll call, oddly nervous for them to hear your voice.

“Oh, see! Wild most certainly is a girl!” Tiger exclaimed in excitement. “No, a woman. With the voice of a goddess!”

“Uh, I think that may be a bit much.” You responded, wondering if this guy was for real. Then again, Rose had warned you at lunch he was a major flirt.

“She’s a boar is what she is,” Yukimura called out over Tiger’s ramblings.

“So you know Wild as well then?” Art questioned over the ensuing argument.

“Does it matter?” The man you assumed by now was War asked, the exasperation clear in his voice. “Can we get on with this quest? Or do you all plan to just stand around and blather all day?”

“I’m just trying to get to know my teammates,” Tiger responded defensively.

“Best not to let him get to know you too well, ladies,” Sasuke responded, sending the whole group into a tizzy. It wasn’t often that anyone got to hear him use that tone of voice.

You were so busy enjoying the conversation the group had to offer you almost missed the change in music as you pushed forward through the swamp.

“Uh guys, beasties. Twelve o’clock.” You called over the mic. Taking down a low-level monster that had come careening through the forest in your direction.

The entire group sprung into action, moving around the map to better defend yourselves and the area. It didn’t take long to take care of the surprise attack, and the intercom system came back to life quickly as everyone became less concentrated on using their unit for battle.

“So, you’re not completely useless.” War commented as you hacked at another enemy.

“Uh, thanks. I think?” You responded in near confusion as a new mission header popped up across your display.

*Mission: Defend the base for 12 turns, or defeat all of the enemies. Fail: The base falls, all units defeated.*

It looked easy enough, but that didn’t mean anything. This game was quickly becoming known for its ridiculous curveballs. With its initial success and players becoming more and more adept at defeating the challenges, the creators had become increasingly creative at taking down the higher ranking players. So it was better to watch out. Especially with someone in a Master Class on the team. The last thing you wanted to do was be smacked across the swamp by some weird-ass beast that regenerated every two turns if you couldn’t defeat it fast enough. Not on your to-do list for the evening.

As each player accepted the mission, positions were distributed, and the map was enlarged in the top left corner of your TV. So you had all been separated.

“So, what’s the plan? It looks like they divided us to the far corners, with Art being the closest to the base. Are we all bee-lining to take defensive measures, or do we just want to cut down anything we come across?” You asked wondering how your new team wanted to go about this.

“A beautiful voice and brains! Where did you find this woman?” Tiger asked in a sing-song voice.

“In a dungeon. Can we please move on?” Yukimura seethed. Technically he wasn’t wrong. You and Rose did work in the basement of the hospital, it was an apt nickname for the lab.

“I say we split the jobs.” Sasuke cut in. “Tiger, you’re not going to make it very far, so I say you do what you can and obliterate anything that’s dumb enough to get near you.”

“That I can do.” The smile was evident in Tiger’s voice.

“Art, are you okay to hold down the fort? Blow things away from a distance? We’ll send Wild in as back-up. Her movement stat is exceptional, and she can cover the most ground the fastest.” Sasuke suggested, and you preened internally at the compliment.

“I would love back-up. Wild, whenever you can get here would be wonderful.” Art spoke through his mic.

“Rose, you should work your way towards the middle of the field where that forest is. You can hide in the terrane while also healing using your wide faith magic range to your advantage.”

“Roger that,” Rose responded with enthusiasm.

“Brave, since you’re on the horse do what you can to take out as many beasts as you can before they reach Rose. Once you get there and the forest is secured for her, make your way around the field.” Sasuke suggested.

“So take down as many beasts as possible for Rose. Got it.” Yuki replied, a little too smug.

“War, please feel free to do as you always do,” Sasuke spoke, quick to interject the fight that was bound to start with Yuki and Rose.

“Of course.” His voice was drawn out, and you could sense the smile. War was going to enjoy this.

“I’ll wander the map, open up any gates and chest I see before making my way towards the base. Sound like a plan?”

“A very good one.” You replied, excited for the battle to begin. The muddled confirmation of your teammates could be heard in your headset. You couldn’t make much out with everyone talking at once, but that didn’t matter to you. This was still going to be a blast.

Chapter Text

The moment the music changed, and you got the directive to start, you advanced your character towards the base. It wasn’t a hard task; Sasuke had been correct that your movement stat was desirable to quickly get across a battlefield. So you did what you could, taking down baddie after baddie until you reached Art.

“Art, I’m on your left flank.” You notified him through the com system.

“Much obliged Wild. I’ll do what I can to cover you from a distance.” He spoke, and you watched in awe as he took down the barrier for the beast to his left. Creating the perfect opening for you.

Quickly you re-equipped and took a swing with your new lance, earning yourself a critical hit. Happily dealing 81 damage, three times more than intended, to take out the remaining health bar on the bird that had been threatening to attack the base.

“Nice kill.” You received a compliment from Art over the mic.

“Would you look at that. Wild took the first kill from War.” Tiger mused.

“She’s clearly less useless than the rest of you.” War sounded a little agitated, but he couldn’t completely hide the compliment from you either.

“I do what I can.” You snickered. “That mean I can stay?”

“Fine,” War spoke. “the rest of you better show your worth as well.”

“Too serious, you’re too serious,” Yuki spoke up following the comment.

The rest of the battle went by swimmingly. The group of you quickly out-maneuvering the beasts that flooded the field. The fight had been enlightening, Sasuke had some crazy sticky fingers. Managing to get into every chest and steal at least one item from every beast he encountered. Yuki had a vast range, and his lance skills, coupled with his high resistance, made him hard to take down. Rose’s faith magic was all-encompassing, able to heal up to half the field at the same time while still being able to deal damage with the few reason spells she knew.

War was an absolute nightmare, and you sincerely hoped you never had to fight one on one with the man, his high magic stat and might skill coupled with his already absurd sword abilities were a terrifying combination that made him nearly untouchable. Destroying everything before it even got a chance to land a hit. Tiger was so incredibly slow, but when he did catch something, or something was dumb enough to put itself in his attack range, it was basically done for. With the highest defensive stat you’d ever laid eyes on and the sheer power he put behind the swing of his ax if you weren’t a mage, you had zero chance of taking him down.

Art was incredibly masterful in his craft, his reason range nearly double that of most mages you had gotten to know over the past week. You found yourself wondering if it had to do with his level. Then again he had some of the weirdest magic you have ever seen, that coupled with high resistance to any outside magic and an abysmal defense stat, the man was a literal glass cannon. Though that did mean he needed more protection from physical attacks. That’s okay though, that’s where you came in! Exceeding in dexterity and speed, you were nearly untouchable and, with the right weapon equipped, almost always got a double hit. A deadly combination if you did say so yourself.

With the mission having been completed, the group of you warped back to town to split the earnings and divvy up the rewards earned through battle. This was where having a team came in handy, lord knew you weren’t going to use that ‘Class A battle-ax’ you had picked up after defeating that random bird monster.

“Nice job today, everyone. I’d say we made a killing. We were rewarded 15200Q to split amongst the group of us. I’ve allotted each of you 14700 with the remaining 500 being awarded to Wild who took MVP in the battle.” Sasuke spoke uninterrupted, for once, into the microphone.

“Congrats (YN), you did awesome!” Rose exclaimed through the com system.

“Way to go, numskull,” Yuki spoke up behind her.

“Ah, so Wild’s name is (YN). Quite fitting for our warrior goddess.” It wasn’t until Tiger spoke up that you had realized what Yukimura was yelling at Rose for.

She had accidentally given everyone your name.

“Does this mean we all have to introduce ourselves?” Art asked.

“You all know who I am,” Sasuke stated blatantly.

“Thanks for being helpful, Sasuke,” Yukimura replied, even more exasperated. “If anything, I’d say Rose has to tell us her name, but she already did that.”

“I was actually sort of wondering if you all knew that was her name already or if it was just called her that by chance.” You asked, not particularly perturbed that they had your name. A name was a name, it’s not like they knew your face or could identify you in person.

“Kenshin,” War spoke over the noise.

“I guess we’re doing this? I’m Yoshimoto, it’s been a pleasure fighting with most of you thus far.” You could hear the formality in his voice trying to mask his exasperation, and you tried not to giggle.

“I go by Shingen,” Tiger spoke up, following Yoshimoto’s intro.

“You all know who I am, but just in case, it’s me, Yukimura.” That introduction you laughed at. “What’s so funny!?”

“Did Rose out your name too? Or did you all know each other beforehand?” You asked through tiny gaps, trying to control your laughter.

“No! I did not!” Rose spoke up, the pout evident in her voice. “This was the first time I’ve given away anyone’s name besides my own.”

“I wish I could make fun of her for that.” Yukimura quipped, “I went to school with Shingen and Yoshi’s his cousin.”

“Yea, Yuki and I go way back,” Shingen said, clearly proud of their friendship.

“Kenshin’s pretty well known on this and a few other gaming servers. Sasuke sort of got paired with him by chance in another game, and they’ve been grouping off ever since.” Yukimura explained how the other two knew each other.

“The three of us were already playing together when Sasuke asked if he and a friend could join,” Yoshimoto explained. “Shortly after, Rose joined the group. While we knew she was a friend of both Sasuke and Yukimura, we weren’t sure exactly how they knew each one another.”

“Neither of them is particularly great with females, so we were curious to see what sort of girl our darling Rose was.” Shingen snickered as he simultaneously made fun of the boys and complemented Rose. “Thankfully, she’s a top-notch healer.”

“You’re quite the addition to this team as well (YN),” Sasuke spoke after listening to everything that was being said.

“We are well rounded.” Kenshin agreed, albeit begrudgingly. “It’s not awful.”

“Ah, see. Even Kenshin likes her.” Shingen spoke up, right as a window jumped into view on your screen.

*Fine_as_Art1156 has invited you to join his party. Will you join?*

Without a second thought, you hit accept, a smile on your face as the words “Welcome to team Kasugayama” appeared in bold across your television.

Chapter Text

You had stayed up way too late last night playing with everyone, and one look at Rose’s face as the two of you trudged through the lab said she was feeling the same way you were. Unfortunately, it was Friday, which meant the sample load would go one of two ways, and it did not look like the gods were smiling on you today.

You were halfway through the day, and you’d already managed to knock your 10,000 step goal out of the park. Running back and forth between the A and R buildings was not your cup of tea, but there were timed samples, and you didn’t trust the couriers. So what else were you gonna do?

The walk from your lab to the in-patient unit where your samples were waiting was nearly half a mile, and the added five flights of stairs had you out of breath by the fourth sample retrieval.

“Here.” You nearly jumped out of your shoes as a water bottle came flying at you from across the hallway. “Take it, I’d prefer if you didn’t topple from dehydration the next time you make your rounds.”

“Thanks, Dr. Tokugawa!” You called behind you, waving as you continued your walk back to the lab. You must really look disheveled if he was throwing water bottles at you.

“I told you I would fill up your water.” Rose scowled at you placing your own, now full, bottle down by your computer. “You didn’t have to buy one.”

“I didn’t.” You paused in gulping the rest of the water down. “Dr. Tokugawa threw it at me.”

“Dr. Tokugawa?” Rose quirked an eyebrow at you. “As in, cute, single, just got hired on as a resident Dr. Tokugawa?”

“The very same.” You snickered, chucking the empty bottle into the recycling bin before picking up your reusable one.

“Lucky, I wish a man like that would throw water at me.” She complained openly as she plopped down in her seat. “Instead, I’ve just got Yuki throwing lettuce.”

“Could be worse, he could be throwing something that stains.” You shrugged, sitting in your seat and checking your email while you waited for the samples in the centrifuge to stop spinning.

“Valid. So, how’d you do it?” Rose asked, rolling her chair closer to yours.

“Do what?” You answered her question with a question.

“Get him to acknowledge your presence!” She all but screamed, earning a dirty stare from a few of your lab mates.

“I’ve honestly got no idea what you’re talking about. I just looked rugged as hell and out of breath running back and forth between here and the unit.” You shrugged. “He probably didn’t want me dying when he was on service.”

“Fair. That would be a hassle.” Rose spun in her chair, turning her attention to the analysis program that had finally loaded on her computer.

“Exactly.” You cracked a smile. “If I die, they’d have to use the courier, and we all know how much the floor wants to do that.”

“We would literally never see another sample on time.” Rose burst into laughter before the office fell quiet, and your timer went off. I guess it was back to work.

Fortunately, the packed day meant it went by quickly. With a deep sigh, you stood at the crosswalk waiting for the light to change and enjoying the breeze. You weren’t sure what you wanted to do when you got home, but sleep and buffalo chicken came to mind, so that’s where you were going to start.

Happily wrapped in an afghan, buffalo chicken plated with a loaded baked potato and celery, you curled up in the corner of your couch and watched reruns of the Halloween baking challenge wishing you were that creative with your desserts. You burned your fingers just thinking about pulling sugar like some of these people.

With your show ending, the dishes done, and your tummy too full to even think about trying to sleep, you reached for your controller and logged yourself into Endless Isle, hoping to find something quick to distract yourself before bed.

The server wasn’t too busy, and the market was clearly more empty than usual. Without any new quests dropping through the channel, the only people you really saw wandering around were single players or people focusing on the story mode aspect of the game. Maybe you’d give that a shot tonight since it didn’t seem like any of your team was online. You were still really curious about what the opening cutscene was about after all.

Nearly four hours had passed, and you were almost two months into the game’s timeline. This was so enthralling. You showed your CPU team around one of the more straightforward battle maps trying to grind out the playable characters to match your own, exponentially higher, level. The last thing you wanted to do was to get into a paralogue that required a unit which was terribly under-leveled, defensive tactics were fun but not that fun. Dying in a side story specifically set up for rare items didn’t sound like a good way to go out.

That’s what started your single-player spree, anytime your team was unable to participate in battles meant you had the day to yourself to hammer out a good portion of the story. Now fully invested in the fantasy arc, you awaited the highly anticipated mid-game climax and the crazy looking completion badge and weapon you got at the end of the story.

It was nearly three weeks later, after another long day at work that you came home to get some of the story arc finished. You weren’t doing anything too important when you started to feel yourself drift. Finishing the in-game cooking challenge you had started you head towards a save point to back yourself to the main menu when you saw an advertisement for the single-player battle arena happening at the end of the month. Prize $500. Sold. Without a second thought, you threw your hat in the ring and entered the tournament. Now it was really time to grind.

Chapter Text

“Oh my gods, really?!?” You shrieked into your microphone. “How did none of you see the ad?”

“Are you sure you weren’t hallucinating or something after work?” Yukimura responded.

“I’m more worried (YN) may have been hacked.” Sasuke replied over Yuki’s howling. “Did you give them any personal information.”

“No!” You yelled with a little more defiance. “I’m one hundred percent certain that the banner was legit. I’ll prove you both wrong when I win some money.”

“Sure, sure. Whatever you say.” Yukimura’s voice shook with laughter as the three of you kept working through the hidden bounty map you were on.

You had been honing your skills with the help of Yoshimoto, steadily working your way towards that coveted Pegasus Knight class. Your lance skill was high enough now that the potential to pass the upgrade was over sixty percent, and your speed stat was something to be feared, but your flying ability was lacking. Seeing as you couldn’t get the pegasus without at least a “C” rank in the skill, it was hard to build. Fortunately, a few of the items you had been awarded in battles, on top of picking flying for your targeted growth skill in the story mode seemed to help you towards your goal.

“I still don’t understand how nothing seems to hit you.” Yukimura griped as he took another blow from one of the monster’s on the field.

“Speed stat.” Was all you responded with as you advanced forward out of the cover of trees.

“Are you sure it’s not some crazy high luck stat?” Yuki asked.

“Very sure. You ever noticed that even if I’m the one being attacked, I still get the first blow.” You tried not to sound irritated as you were quickly surrounded.

“Huh, I’d never realized that before.” he sounded impressed as he healed his unit and moved it in your direction.

“Really?” Sasuke asked, a little bewilderment evident in his voice. “Have you not been paying attention during our training sessions?”

“I thought I was. I’ve just never noticed that before.” Yukimura groaned as half the enemies originally surrounding you, made their way towards him.

“Hey Sasuke, how’s that loot coming?” You asked, trying to fend off as many baddies as you could. “At this rate, we’re gonna lose Yukimura.”

“You are not!” He yelled into the mic, startling you as he quickly drew his character away from the front line.

“All the chest have been successfully raided. Please feel free to dismantle the remaining enemies.”

“You got it!” The two of you said in unison, placing both of your characters well within enemy range.

You laughed. This should be quick, and it was. With only a single remaining monster after the enemy attack window, it was rapidly brought down with a swing of your lance. There was a jingle followed quickly by a buzz as a new text window popped up congratulating you on your stat growth, awarding Sasuke the title of MVP shortly after the growths disappeared.

After rearranging your convoy and placing the Blessed Lance you had been gifted from the map into your item list you bid Yukimura and Sasuke farewell, heading off towards the town center where you were supposed to meet for the single-player tournament.

“Hope you don’t get hacked!” Yukimura called to you through the mic before logging off his system.

“Seconded. Do have fun, though, if it’s legit.” Sasuke spoke up, giving you a moment to thank him before logging of himself.

*ATTENTION: Tournament start, please head to the standby portal to be ranked and matched.*

Following the instructions provided to you by the game, you accepted the challenge again, holding your breath as your friends’ warnings ran through your brain. You really hoped this didn’t fry your system. Please don’t be a hack. The game went through a brief buffering period before the screen loaded, and a colossal bracket was presented, your own username and character highlighted on the screen.

Whoa! There were so many people playing. Maybe that’s why Sasuke and Yukimura couldn’t find it? They hardly ever played single player, and this tournament was clearly at server capacity. From the looks of it, each region had two hundred and fifty entries, meaning one thousand total players were involved in this thing. It appeared to be tiered, which means you wouldn’t get creamed by a high-level player right off the bat. Though, it looked like the highest-ranked players got to sit out the first few rounds to give everyone else a fighting chance.

You scanned the list of names as quickly as you could and realized that you didn’t recognize anyone, which could be a good or a bad thing, you really weren’t sure yet. The game prompted you to organize your item bag, turning it into a timed event. Which you assumed was to keep people from holding the system up. In a minute flat, you were closed out of your bag, items equipped, and dropped into a colosseum.

You wondered if people were actually able to watch this or if the stands were filled with colorful NPCs. Vaguely aware of the countdown, you were pulled out of your idle thoughts when your controller buzzed, and you were given the first strike. After one and a half turns, the damage had been done. You were victorious. They had never seen it coming, what with your speed and dexterity so high. Not only did you get multiple blows in a single turn, they only had a thirty-five percent chance of landing their own hit. A combination you rather enjoyed.

With a smile on your face, you hunkered down in the corner of your couch. This was going to be fun.

Chapter Text

It was so late, but you couldn’t care less. You’d deal with being tired tomorrow at work if it meant you scored an extra $500 from this tournament. Sure, the chances were slim, but it wasn’t impossible, and you would hold onto that. There were only sixteen of you left; with a light at the end of the tunnel, you grew more and more giddy.

Sixteen to eight; Eight to four. This was happening, you were really in the final four of this whole thing. Hell, even if you didn’t win this, you had gained some major EXP, and when this was all said and done, you’d be able to head to the square for a class upgrade. You barked out a laugh at the thought of the look on your friends’ faces the next time you all got together for a party raid.

The tell-tale buzz of your control helped you to stifle your giggles just a tad; the battle was beginning, and for once, your opponent was charging at you. You doubted he was that fast, and when he landed a hit, you knew it had to be luck. Aggravated, you equipped your Killer Lance hoping to get a critical and end this battle quickly.

Your plan seemed to work for a little bit. From what you had gathered, this one-eyed jackwagon had won the lottery on luck stats, you never missed critical hits, but here you were, shouting at your television as he somehow managed to avoid your fourth critical swing. You could do this; taking a deep breath, you regrouped and centered your character on the field. Sure he was a higher class than you, but it shouldn’t matter too much, despite his impressive luck skill he was just another Hero with a sword.

At least that’s what you thought until your screen flashes red, and you watched your health bar tank. “What the…?” The question died on your lips at the same moment your character’s HP hit zero.

“AN AX?! WHERE IN GODS NAME DID HE GET AN AX??” Your voice echoed through your empty home as you flew into a tizzy. So close, you had been so close, and he pulled out an ax?

“Balls.” You protested, finally putting your controller down as you watched the final kill over again. There went your shot at $500. Defeated, you sank back into your couch, letting your muscles unwind from the tension you had been unknowingly carrying.

The bell chimed, and your character was grayed out on the screen, a boldface “Loser” branded over your avatar before your consolation prize money funneled into your account. It may not be real-life currency, but you’d take in-game money over nothing any day. With a sigh, you headed back into town to the blacksmith to fix all the weapons you had used in the tourney followed immediately by a stop to the armament shop to buy that Brave Lance you’d been eyeballing recently.

Weapons fixed and pocketed you headed towards the item shop to look for a new seal. You were well above the combat skill threshold for the Pegasus Knight class, and you were literally squirming in your seat as you purchased the good. This particular one was labeled as an intermediate seal, a step above the advanced on Sasuke had bought you nearly two months ago.

Quickly, you scrolled through the menu before clicking equip and use. Triumphant music played through your speakers as your avatar was quickly engulfed in bright white light that dissipated into sparkles before she emerged on a trusty new flying steed and shiny metal armor. With a smile on your face, you left the item shop and headed towards the center of town. You were planning on doing a quick item run before bed when a message bubble popped up onto your screen.

*OneEyedDrag0n has requested to be your friend. Do you accept?*

Warily you looked through his stats, wondering how you knew this person and where they had even gotten your username from. Either way, they weren’t terrible. Even had pretty decent stats, with a shrug, you hit the ‘Yes’ option on your screen and waited.

OneEyedDrag0n → Hey there, Kitten. ;) You’re a pretty good fighter, thought I’d see if you wanted to join me and some friends on a few quests.
Uh…hi? Where exactly do I know you from? ← WildCyt0m3try
OneEyedDrag0n → What?! You’re saying you don’t recognize me! I’m hurt, lass. And here I thought I’d made an impression on you earlier.

You nearly threw you controller when you saw the avatar from your most recent match march himself into the square and straight up to you.

YOU! ← WildCyt0m3try
OneEyedDrag0n → Ah, see? I knew you’d remember me! So about that offer? We could really use someone like you on our team for this quest that’s coming up. Wanna join?
Quite the charmer, aren’t you…I mean, maybe? ← WildCyt0m3try
Does everyone on your team know how to pull annoyingly strong weapons they shouldn’t have out their asses? ← WildCyt0m3try
Cuz that’s a skill I think I could use. ← WildCyt0m3try
OneEyedDrag0n → We do. If I said I could get you a bow, would that persuade you to join us?
Maybe ← WildCyt0m3try
Probably ← WildCyt0m3try
Yes… ← WildCyt0m3try
OneEyedDrag0n → Atta girl! Welcome to the team lass, happy to have you! Our first raid is tomorrow night. See you at 9 sharp!

Without even giving you a chance to say no, this new teammate of yours had logged off. You stared at your message board blankly as you processed what had just happened. With nearly nothing left to do in-game, you saved, just to be sure, and powered down your console. At least tomorrow night would prove to be interesting if nothing else.

Chapter Text

You were here, it was nine, and you were starting to get annoyed. Had you been played? Were you about to be ambushed? Jumped? Hacked? As your mind raced nearly a thousand pop up windows flooded your chat screen as you were thrown into a brand new group chat, this one titled “Team Azuchi.” Interesting.

4myLord → Seriously, though, how do you not know where they are? You just met her last night. This is horribly rude.
OneEyedDrag0n → Nope, see? I remembered her username! She’s in the group chat! @WildCyt0m3try you are in the group chat right. /;3;/ Please tell me you’re in the group chat!
Present, though, I’m not super sure where you are? You said 9 sharp but never specified where... ← WildCyt0m3try
Betrayal_is_real04→He’s as helpful as ever I see.
Your answer was equally unhelpful… ( - . - ) ← WildCyt0m3try
D3vilK1ng→ I like her @OneEyedDrag0n, she’s got spunk.
OneEyedDrag0n →Right! Almost beat me in that tournament too!
EdoPorcupine5661→Oh? No surprise there.
OneEyedDrag0n →Hey! I resent that statement
Betrayal_is_real04→You resent most of his statements.
EdoPorcupine5661→Is everyone here now? Except for @WildCyt0m3try?
4myLord→ No. We’re missing @B00kOfLife7. You can find us near the South gate @WildCyt0m3try.
Thx! I see you now! ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661→ Does it matter? Can we start without him? He’s probably reading and forgot we were supposed to meet.
4myLord→We cannot!
B00kOfLife→We cannot what?
EdoPorcupine5661→ Nevermind…
D3vilK1ng→ Glad you could join us, shall we head out now that everyone’s gathered?

In a matter of moments, your screen warped, and your character and her new teammates were whisked off towards the southern dessert. Excitement bubbled up inside of you, this was your chance to shine. Sure, you barely knew these people, but if they fought anything like OneEyedDrag0n had, you didn’t want to look incompetent. Fortunately, the battle conditions were a perfect way to showcase your stats.

The dessert terrain made it nearly impossible for anyone on foot to move, and cavalry or armored units had almost no chance at advancing more than a single space at a time. You, on the other hand, were a flier, meaning terrain that diminished that particular stat didn’t apply to you. Giving you the range to quickly traverse the battlefield and assist your allies. Which is precisely what you planned to do.

Everyone had spawned in one of two groups; truly, the game seemed to be out to get you. Both of the warlocks had been pushed together in the back corner of the map with the sniper. Everyone else in your party was in the top corner with you. Meaning all of your long-range fighters were too far away to provide any sort of backup to the poor guy on a horse and your swords.

So...this is unfortunate ← WildCyt0m3try
OneEyedDrag0n → We’ve honestly gotten worse, this ain't too bad
You’ve got to be kidding ← WildCyt0m3try
4myLord→We wish. We’ll have time for that story later. @B00kOfLife got a plan yet?
B00kOfLife→ @D3vilK1ng and @Betrayal_is_real04, please proceed towards the center of the field to become the central targets.
B00kOfLife→ @EdoPorcupine5661 and I will cover the exit point down here to the south so bandits cannot escape.
B00kOfLife→ @OneEyedDrag0n, please do your best to cover @4myLord since he doesn’t have a large range of movement. Fend off enemies as you make your way toward the center of the field.
B00kOfLife→ @WildCyt0m3try, please make quick work of the chests around the field then chase down any enemies that attempt to flee. You are quite capable of fending them off on your own, I presume?
Everything but archers, though, I’m usually good with dodging, and I’ve got plenty of herbs on standby jic. ← WildCyt0m3try
B00kOfLife→ Wonderful. Message if something should go wrong. Good luck.

With the plan out, the chat went silent. This was nothing like your other team, no microphones were used for in battle communication, not a single word was typed unless something was direly wrong. You had been provided exactly 3 chest keys to do your job, but you knew that at least three of these bandits had keys of their own, so you shouldn’t have to dip into your stock unless someone called you for backup.

Just as OneEyedDrag0n had stated last night, everyone here was a capable fighter. The plan was being executed beautifully, and you marveled at how the CPU’s seemed to go down one after the other. It was like the computer wasn’t even paying attention to the stats anymore. Why would you go after an enemy that you only had a 16% chance of doing 4 damage to when they had a 98% chance of doing 36 damage twice? It didn’t make any sense. You'd take what you were given, though.

In half an hour, all of the chests were successfully looted, the enemy had been routed, and EdoPorcupine5661 was named the MVP. You’d never seen that before, granted you hadn’t been playing that long, but it was rare for a bowed unit to take accolades like that. Being a ranged unit seemed to have its perks on terrane like this, you supposed. Prize money was divided, and the weapons and armor were awarded based on participation and usability. It didn’t make much sense to give something to someone who couldn’t make use of it. After thanking them for letting you play with them, you were about to log off and head to bed when you got a private message.

EdoPorcupine5661→ OneEyedDrag0n said you were in the market for a bow.
I am. Not sure where I’d find one this late in my game, though, sort of hard to reclass and start over. → WildCyt0metry
EdoPorcupine5661→ You fought well, and you aren’t completely annoying, so here, it was part of my loot today.
Are you sure? That’s a really nice bow! → WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661→ It is, which is why you’d be stupid not to take it. I’ve already got one. So here.
Thanks! UwU You’re the best! Now I’ve just got to get the skill up so I can use it! → WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661→ If you’re free tomorrow at 5, I can meet you for some quick tips. Don’t need you shooting yours or anyone else’s eye out.
Is that what happened to OneEyedDrag0n? Training accident lol? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661→ No. It wasn’t an accident.
Omfg, you didn’t xD ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661→I didn’t, but it’s always fun to imagine.
So 5 tomorrow? ← WildCyt0m3try
I should be down for that as long as I get off work on time. ← WildCyt0m3try
Are you going to give me any hints about where to meet you, or is that part of this team’s quirks? ← WildCyt0m3try
Make the newbie guess where you’re meeting? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661→ You know, I was going to tell you, but I’m not feeling quite as generous anymore.
Noooo! Please! I don’t like wandering around like a lost CPU! Someone tried to buy stuff from me today, you know! ← WildCyt0m3try
That’s how idle I looked waiting for you goons lol ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661→ Maybe you should evaluate the face your character is making? It’s not my fault you look like someone who sells cheap spears.
I would not sell cheap spears! Only the highest quality merchandise is sold here! ← WildCyt0metry
EdoPorcupine5661→ Whatever you say.
I’m glad you’ve come to your senses and decided to agree with me. ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661→ Sure, we’ll go with that.
Okay, well, thanks for the bow. I’ll see you tomorrow around 5. I’ve decided I actually need to get some sleep tonight! Work has been a H A U L lately. ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661→You don’t need to explain yourself to me. Just go to bed, weirdo.
Roger that, weirdo. ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661→That wasn’t a compliment.
Sure it was. Laters~ ← WildCyt0m3try

You smiled as you shut down the console and powered off your television, that had been fun. It was so different from your other team's dynamic, but it added something different to the experience beyond solo playing. Besides, you had totally just scored a kick-ass bow, and a training date tomorrow. You couldn’t wait; if you kept going at this pace, you were sure it’d be enough to push your team to the winning slot next tournament! Real-life prize money here you came!

Chapter Text

You had never been so agitated in your life. What was even happening up in the OR today? Seriously, sure it was behind, that was normal. Procedures never went on time, and the later it was on the schedule, the more likely it was to go late. You knew that, but what was that nurse’s problem? It’s like she had been toying with you all afternoon! First, she called you at one to tell you to get up there and set up, so you kindly asked if you were still going last or if they had moved your procedure ahead of the others. She got snippy and said, “Why would we do that? Are you going to come set up?” You kindly told her, no, that’d you’d wait until you were fifteen minutes from your procedure start time to come set up.

She obliged and called you just shy of four-thirty to say that you were next, and the flex bronch would be done in a little under twenty minutes. Perfect. You took your time, walked up to the OR, and changed into your surgical scrubs before heading to OR19. You waved at Dr. Tokugawa when you remembered he couldn’t see the smile under your surgical mask, he returned the gesture with a nod as he continued to scrub up at the wash station.

Once the both of you finally made it into the OR, you noticed your crash cart had been pushed up against the back wall, and a C-Arm was moving in. The poor surgical tech from radiology walked up and bowed deeply. Proclaiming how sorry they were but they had to cut ahead of your case because “Dr. Kenney was the only radiologist on the floor today and with the procedure as far behind as it was, he needed to go so he could make his next case on time.”

After a charged stare and a few snide comments, Dr. Tokugawa conceded, meaning you would likely be waiting at least another thirty minutes. Which was all dependent on how long it took to get the port in and accessed. You were perfectly okay with eating, so you shrugged it off. The straw that broke the camels back though, was when the nurse called you a fourth time to tell you that they forgot to call you and that they needed you in the OR right away.

After a mad dash to the room and you barely managing to squeeze into your gloves with your sweaty hands, you realized not only was the port not assessed yet, but your orders hadn’t been released, and nobody had even bothered to call Dr. Tokugawa again.

With a sharp look at the nurse, you pulled up the patient chart on the computer and released the orders. “I can go grab those! I’ll be right back!” A PCA squeaked as she scurried out of the room and down the hall to the main desk. Clearly trying to avoid as much conflict as possible.

With the C-arm being wheeled away, and the radiology team finishing up their final hold point it was finally your turn. Too bad nobody could do anything until your doc got here. Not like it was his fault he was behind though. So you’d get ready everything you could while you waited for him.

“Is everybody ready?” Dr. Tokugawa remarked as he stepped in through the sliding door a few minutes later and picked up the packet of sterile gloves.

“They better be.” You huffed under your breath, just finishing the last part of your tray set up.

He chuckled and turned to the other PCA, who was still in the room, gesturing towards the patient. “I’m going to need you to hold them.”

She nodded in response, and Dr. Tokugawa used that as his cue to start the timeout and begin the procedure. He was always so quick. Most of the time, it took longer to anesthetize patients than it did to do the actual procedure. He was clearly in a hurry, done with the collection in two minutes flat.

“That’s a new record.” You smiled with your eyes and finished capping your syringes. Happy that there was a light at the end of this long tunnel.

“I’ve got places to be. Since everyone insists on keeping me here all evening today, I figured I’d at least try to help my case.” Dr. Tokugawa said as he cleared the sharps from the tray and shucked his gloves.

“I feel that. I was supposed to meet a friend at five-thirty, and that’s clearly not going to happen.” You sighed as you disposed of the empty tray and wiped down your cart. “I don’t have their personal contact info either, so I feel bad cuz I’m just going to show up late. I hope they’re still there so I can at least explain myself.”

“Do you have to run those when you get back to the lab?” he lifted an eyebrow and pointed at the specimen bag in your hands.

“No. Fortunately, not.” You said as you exited the operating room and untied your surgical mask. “Our pathologist said it’s not urgent, so as long as we do it first thing in the morning, we’re good.”

“That was nice of him.” He acknowledged as both of you walked towards the main desk. “Enjoy your evening then; hopefully, your friend is understanding.”

“They don’t seem like the patient type, but you never know.” You smiled and waved before pushing into the women’s locker room to change out of your scrubs. “Enjoy your own evening Dr. Tokugawa.”

“Ieyasu.” Was all he said before the door shut behind him.

“Ieyasu.” You said to no one, in particular, a small smile on your face.

Chapter Text

You cursed to yourself as you waited in the longest drive-through line of your life. So much for fast food. At this rate, you were going to have to do something amazing for your new training buddy, assuming EdoPorcupine5661 was still even waiting for you. Rushing home, you shoveled what remained of your fries into your mouth and logged on.

One good sweep of the town seemed reasonable enough, and there was nothing to indicate that he was online still. Crap. With a heavy sigh, you signed out and turned in for the night. It had been a long day, and it didn’t seem to be getting any better. Why push your luck when you could take a bath and get lost on the multitude of forums the internet had to offer you?

You were warm, comfortable, and surrounded by the soft scent of jasmine when your phone began to ring. Smiling to yourself when you saw Rose’s name scroll across the screen, you answered and hit the speaker.

“Heeeey~” Rose’s voice echoed off the tile of your bathroom. “Pfft, am I on speaker?”

“Sup. You are. I’m in the tub.” You stated matter of factly. “If that’s a problem, I can call you back when I’m done?”

“Nah, all good. Long day?” She asked, voice full of empathy.

“Too long.” You sighed, sinking a little deeper in the water, so your shoulders were submerged.

“I think I can fix that. I know you’re taking a bath. Relaxation mode has already been engaged and all but,” Rose paused dramatically before you cut in.

“But what? Spit it out crazy.” You snickered.

“Sasuke, Yukimura, and I were gonna go out. Wanna join us?” The excitement in her voice growing.

“Where is out? How long are we gonna be out? It’s Thursday you know, we’ve all still gotta work tomorrow.” Were just a few of your most pressing questions.

“I know mom.” You could hear Rose roll her eyes. “We’re just going to the karaoke bar. You don’t have to look nice for those two. Just throw on some sweats and scream some song lyrics until you feel better.”

“And if I say no?” You asked, lifting your chin out of the water.

“Then, you’d be missing out, and we’d give you hell for it tomorrow.” Rose sounded so triumphant it was almost enough to decline the invitation, but you did feel like doing something.

“Fine. When’re we meeting?” You asked, sitting back up in the water.

“We’re already there. So just come by whenever you’re ready.” The smile in her voice was contagious, and you found yourself smiling as you unplugged the bath and reached for your towels.

“Sounds good. See you in twenty.”

In less than five minutes, you had thrown on your most comfortable pair of black sweatpants and one of your well-loved hoodies from university. It was too cold to think about wearing your slides around, so you stepped back into your gym shoes and grabbed your wallet and keys as you made your way out the front door. Rose hadn’t given you directions to the bar, so you assumed it was the one your group always went to. Fortunately, it wasn’t a long way away, so the bite in the air was semi-tolerable. At least for now.

To your surprise, the bar was crowded, which meant your outfit would earn you a few looks. Not that you minded, you were better off not sleeping with whatever random stranger was ballsy enough to wander up to you in a karaoke bar anyway. You smiled at the bartender as you placed your order, making small talk until Rose made her way out of the room your group had reserved in advance.

“When I said you could come casual, this is not how I thought you’d take it.” Rose eyed you up and down before flagging down the bartender herself.

“Then, you clearly don’t know me very well.” You raised your eyebrows at her, making sure you held eye contact as you sipped your vodka cran.

“I know you well enough to know that you’re gonna be pissed.” She whispered under her breath.

“Excuse me?” Growing suspicious, you leaned into Rose’s personal space. “What’s that supposed to mean.”

“I swear it was just the three of us when we called!” Rose blurted out.

“Did more people from work show up? Why would that tick me off? They’ve definitely seen me worse.” You snickered.

“Not exactly.” Her voice was smaller now, as she leaned away from you.

“Then, what exactly?” You asked, impatience audible in your question.

“They boys may have invited friends, technically you know them. You just don’t know them to know them.” Rose spoke a mile a minute as she reached for the drinks the bartender had set down frantically.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Your brow furrowed at her explanation, trying to put it all together.

“Kenshin and Shingen are here.” She was speaking so fast you almost missed it. Really, Rose was lucky she wasn’t wearing your drink; red didn’t come out of clothes as easily as it seemed to come out your nose.

“You let me walk all the way here looking like a hobo after two dudes I’ve never met outside of the internet show up?” You whisper screamed as your eyes blew out wide.

“Yes and no. They just showed up and saw Yuki at the bar. He invited them to the room all of two minutes ago, I swear!” Drinks down, Rose had her hands on your shoulders trying to reassure you.

“Rose, I look like I crawled out of a hobbit hole.” You whined before slamming back your drink. “You’re not gonna let me leave now, are you?”

“Wouldn’t dream of letting you off the hook, babe.” Her grip on you got tighter.

“I hate you.” You rolled your eyes as you put your empty glass on the counter.

“I’m gonna need another one of these.” After a second, you called after the bartender. “You know what? Make that a double, please.”

Chapter Text

You weren’t sure exactly why you were so jittery. You played video games with these people, how bad of an impression could you really be leaving? Technically they already knew you; they were just putting a face to a name. Crap. You made sure to glare at Rose while she pushed the door to the room open.

“Look who I found?” her voice was chipper as you both entered.

“A hobo?” Yukimura asked, only to receive a stern look from the broad-chested redhead next to him.

“Bite me.” You shot back as you walked into the darkroom.

“With pleasure. I’m sure you taste as sweet as you look.” The redhead beside Yukimura spoke up.

“Excuse me?” You asked, sharing a collective eye roll with your friends. If that wasn’t Shingen you weren’t sure what you were going to make it out of this situation.

“I said I’m sure you taste-”

“Yea, no, I heard you. I was giving you a chance to change your answer since you’ve got to be kidding.” Your eyes scrunched as you grabbed your drink and headed for the empty spot beside Sasuke.

“I would never lie about a woman’s beauty. Especially with someone as effervescent as yourself.” You caught sight of a vague hand motion and decided you were done with the conversation.

“Okay, well, thanks. Can I sit here? Is it safe to sit here?” You asked, pointing at the unoccupied spot in the booth.

“Depends.” Sasuke’s response was short, but he scooted over towards the blonde beside him anyway.

“Depends on?” You paused, hoping he would answer your question. When he didn’t, you looked towards the man beside him who gave you minimal attention. “Alrighty then. We gonna do names, or do you prefer to be identified by your hair color?”

“I’d prefer not to be identified.” The blonde spoke up as he poured himself what looked to be more sake.

“You know me as Shingen, happy to finally meet you face to face Princess.” Bingo. Shingen bowed before holding a glass of his own up in your direction in a toast before sipping his drink. “The sourpuss over there is Kenshin. Don’t mind him, he’s always like that. You already knew that though didn’t you?”

“I probably should have been able to guess who they were, shouldn’t I?” You leaned over and whispered the question into Sasuke’s ear.

“Yes, but it’s always good to clarify.” He attempted a smile, and you returned it with ease.

“So no Yoshi? You guys forget to invite him?” You wondered as you polished off another drink. Starting to feel a little less crabby. Maybe you’d eventually be happy you’d gone out.

“Unfortunately he’s at work, so he was unable to attend. He was invited, though.” Sasuke clarified.

“I’ll tell him you were asking about him.” Shingen smiled, “He’ll be happy to know a beautiful goddess like yourself was asking for him.”

“You don’t have to do that. In fact, if you’re going to phrase it like that, I’d prefer you didn’t. I can give him hell for it myself.” You cringed.

The rest of the night seemed to go by without a hitch once the introductions were over. You were pretty sure that Kenshin finished the entire bottle of sake himself, which sounds even more impressive when you account for how sober he acted. Shingen kept his beverage intake to a minimum, but the man packed more sweets away than anyone you’d ever seen before. The sheer thought of how much sugar he had consumed made your stomach roll. Rose, Yukimura, and Sasuke were sufficiently sauced, and you made a mental note to be as loud as humanly possible tomorrow morning at work, assuming they all showed up.

Either way, you smiled to yourself as you walked home. The, now definitely colder, air nipping at your skin. In a spur of the moment decision, you decided to stop by the convenience store and pick up some snacks on the way home and warm your hands up for a brief moment. A little drunker than you intended, you mumbled about the minimal selection of artisan chips while the man behind the counter just snickered at you.

Whatever, you weren’t wrong. The chip selection here sucked, how were salt and vinegar the only flavor they had beside plain? Screw it. Picking a random bag off the shelf, you stalked off towards the counter and let the bag tumble out of your hands.

“This all you gettin?” he asked an amused twinkle in his visible blue eye.

“Well, it’s really all you’ve got, so, unfortunately, yes.” Your expression still sour, the crankiness from the day rushing back in.

The young man laughed out loud, and you couldn’t hide the blush on your cheeks, mentally scolding yourself for thinking the man making fun of you at the convenience store was hot.

“What if I told you I had a secret stash?” The humor never leaving his expression.

“I’d say it sounds like a good way for me to get kidnapped, mugged, or arrested. So no thanks, I’ll stick with my garbage chip decision.” You rest your elbows on the counter wondering when he’d ring you out, if ever.

This time his laugh was contagious, and you found yourself unable to fight the smile as you handed him the two whole dollars the bag cost.

“Stop by again sometime. Maybe rethink that chip decision?” He smirked as he handed you your plastic bag and receipt.

“Maybe I will.” You smiled at him, only sort of aware you still looked like a homeless woman.

“Alright then! See you around Kitten, be safe getting home at this hour.” He called after you as you walked through the door. Fighting the urge to pause and ask him who he was, and if he happened to play Endless Isle.

No, there was no way. Kitten was a typical enough nickname, right? You shake your head at the implication of your lost train of thought and the simple pet name. Definitely too much alcohol, it was time for bed.

Chapter Text

For a Friday, work had been incredibly slow, so slow you nearly blew your door off the hinges in your rush to get home and logged onto your game. There wasn’t anything crazy exciting going on, but you didn’t want to chance missing EdoPorcupine again. You were determined to sit around and wait for him to come on-line all day if it meant you could apologize for last night.

After what felt like an eternity on the loading page, you were finally logged in. Sitting around and waiting had sounded like a good idea, but the practical application was always messier than the theory. There was no guarantee that your new friend would even log on today, and if he did, you weren’t sure he’d want to talk to you after you didn’t show up last night. Especially when you had given no warning you weren’t going to make it, not that you had any way to actually tell him you’d be late, but still. You felt bad.

Your quickly spiraling thoughts were interrupted when the list of online players to your right refreshed, and a little green bubble popped up next to EdoPorcupine5661’s name. Yes, excellent, now to jump on him before he could log off or disappear into a quest.

I’m so sorry! ← WildCyt0m3rty
EdoPorcupine5661 → What for? It’s not like I expected you to wait around for me forever.
Huh? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → I’m talking about yesterday. I stood you up.
EdoPorcupine5661 → Sort of, I had a reason.
Well damn. I actually no-showed too. ← WildCyt0m3try
Got stuck at work. ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5561 → Good. We’re even.
EdoPorcupine5561 → Shall we begin?
Yes please! ← WildCyt0m3try
Lead the way Sensei ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Only if you never call me that again
Okay! ← WildCytometry
What should I call you then? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Edo

Saying you were struggling was the understatement of the century. As promised, the monsters in this field were manageable, and you’d be able to come back on your own and train your bow skills when EdoPorcupine wasn’t able to make it. That was nice and good, but the grinding was driving you insane. On any given attack you did, at the most, five damage; That’s if you were lucky or had a weapon advantage.

The battle was literally dragging, and you felt bad that your friend was subjected to the torturously slow pace. He just kept typing, “it’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.” over and over again. At first, it had been a little off-putting, but the more it was used, the more you felt it was his way of not having to admit he was enjoying himself.

Despite his generally sour attitude, Edo, as he’d requested you call him, was a surprisingly patient teacher. Giving you pointers and items to make sure you got the most out of the maps you were being carried off to. With a bit of practice, you were sure you’d have this new weapon’s stats up to par with your lance skill.

With the monster maps all cleared out and your training bow nearly broken the both of you decided to stop the grinding and head off on a few quests with several others from Team Azuchi who had logged on throughout the evening. You were having fun and with some good back-up, were even able to use the steel bow you had picked up in an earlier raid in battle. A shining moment for you if you did say so yourself.

OneEyedDrag0n → Would you look at how Kitten purrs. Proud of yourself over there?
Of course! It was a great shot! ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → It wasn’t bad.
See! Wasn’t bad! That means I did great. ← WildCyt0m3try
4myLord → Looks like Wild’s got Edo’s sour personality down to a tee.
EdoPorcupine5661 → Sour? Who’s sour?
B00kOfLife7 → He’s not sour, that’s just how he shows his affection. Isn’t that right @EdoPorcupine5661
EdoPorcupine5661 → No, I’m sour.
OneEyedDrag0n → You’d do anything to argue with him! lol
OneEyedDrag0n → How’s that make you feel @WildCyt0m3try? Special?
Of course, then again, my mother always told me I was special. ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Something tells me that’s not what she meant.
Guess you’ll never know ← WildCyt0m3try
B00kOfLife7 → Why not? It’s an easy enough fix. You just have to ask your mother.
EdoPorcupine5661 → Except I don’t know her mother…
EdoPorcupine5661 → It’s trouble enough knowing the rest of you lot in person, the last thing I want to do is meet a stranger’s mother.
OneEyedDrag0n → What about meeting…not a strangers mother?
EdoPorcupine5661 → If she’s anything like your mother, than no thank you.
4myLord → Fair point, but I’m sure @WildCyt0m3try has a very nice family
Thanks for trying to save my ego @4myLord, unfortunately, I have to report my family is the screaming the opposite of me. ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine → Oh, so they are normal?
Terribly so. ← WildCyt0m3try

You were laughing out loud, you hadn’t had a conversation this crazy with online friends in ages. Sure the banter between Rose and Yuki was always exciting, but Kenshin or Shingen usually cut in and ended it quickly. This seemed to drag on for as long as it remained entertaining and light-hearted. From what you had gathered, everyone on Team Azuchi knew each other, having all gone to college together, the real kicker was that they had gone to the same university as you. Even crazier, you probably had seen a few of them around campus unknowingly, assuming they were your age.

The plan was to log back on after you had finished your dinner and run through a few missions with Team Kasugayama. Rose had messaged you just before you had logged off, letting you know they had made plans to get on this evening. A large part of you wondered what sort of job Yoshi held that they had to start their team quests around 11:30p every other night, but that also wasn’t any of your business.

“I’m here, are you guys ready to go?” You asked over the microphone.

“About time,” Kenshin mumbled behind a chorused yes from the rest of the group. Making you laugh.

The communication lines were quiet for a long time, nobody really talking as they played through the more challenging map. Happy with the damage your lance wrought upon your enemies, you were beaming. This was so much more satisfying than your earlier grinding kills.

“So, I see we’ve added some wings to the group?” You heard Yoshi ask through the mic.

“See, and you’d know that if you had come to karaoke last night. Though, I’m happy to report that I’ve been pleasantly busy.” The unmistakable pride in your voice carried through the otherwise quiet chat.

“Ah, I was wondering why Shingen hadn’t given me a hard time about that yet. They sent you to do the dirty work instead.” Yoshimoto laughed

“Nope. I volunteered.” You stated, drawing out the vowels in your response.

“Either way, I quite like the aesthetic it adds, not only to your character but to the team as well.” Yoshimoto complimented.

“Oh, I mean, I know I look good, but I’m happy it makes the team look equally as awesome.” You snickered into the mic realizing the two of you were in your own private chat window.

“So humble.” There was a soft tisk to his voice that he tried to use to hide his own laughter.

“And here I thought you enjoyed my confidence.” Choosing to sound wounded.

“Oh, hush, I’ll have none of that.” Yoshimoto’s was scolding before it turned serious yet soft. “Your unabashed confidence is what makes you so stunning.”

“What do you want?” You rolled your eyes knowing full well he couldn’t see you and continued to fight your way through a group of soldiers who had been hiding in a thicket off to the group’s left.

“I want to know where you got that bow.”

That explained the private chat. Yoshimoto wanted information, and he wasn’t sure he wanted everyone else to have the intel yet. It was a well-known fact in your group that you were also a registered single player and often competed by yourself, but that still wouldn’t explain how you had managed to get your hands on anything other than a training bow.

“A friend.” You answered as cryptically as possible.

“Oh? I’m a friend, I didn’t give that to you.” Yoshimoto’s tone was suspicious.

“You’re right, maybe we’re not friends after all.” You feigned surprise and tried to bite back laughter when he scoffed audibly in your ear.

“You’re something else. You know that?” He sighed as you snickered.

“I know, had a whole conversation about it today.” You couldn’t hide the amusement in your voice as you continued on.

“Oh? Yukimura picking on you again?” Yoshimoto’s voice remained light as he teased.

“Not today, I’m actually on another team. Play with them when you guys aren’t around.” You stated matter-of-factly

“Cheating on us, are you now?”

“I couldn’t help myself. If it makes you feel better, they’re definitely my side hoe.” You tried to remain as serious as possible, despite the turn in the conversation.

“Alright, that’s it.” laughter filled the speakers of your headphones, and you found yourself laughing along with him. “How is it that I’ve not yet had the pleasure of meeting you in person?”

“You work terrible hours and never show up to sing with us.” You replied.

“You don’t want to hear me sing,” Yoshimoto assured you.

“And now I do.”

“How about this? I’ve got work in a gallery late tomorrow night, stop by. I’ll see if I can pick you out of a crowd.” Yoshimoto suggested.

“Sounds like my kind of challenge.” Excited, you agreed.

Chapter Text

You turned your system off early, which had garnered a few remarks about how you were choosing to spend your Saturday evening, but you didn’t mind. It’s not like they couldn’t play without you. Though the thought of your absence being that much of a hindrance put a smile on your face.

You never usually put too much into your appearance, hobo-chique is how you were generally described on your off days; Beyond that, you were typically seen in scrubs. Life was more comfortable that way. You still fondly remember the conversation you had with your mother. She had spent your entire college career telling you that you’d have to go buy some actual business-appropriate attire and learn to do your hair when you got a “big girl job” only for you to come back and say you’d landed the career of your dreams. In a lab. Where scrubs, gym shoes, and ponytails were required. Take that!

For that reason, and that reason alone, when you did yourself up, you did it well. Hair curled into a perfect wave, eyeliner sharp enough to kill a man, and lips painted a deep burgundy to match the heels you had picked out. The only pop of color in the mostly black ensemble. You had donned a fitted turtleneck and high waisted dress pants, hopeful that the half sleeve of your shirt would be enough to keep you warm outside but cool in the crowd of people at the gallery.

After a final twirl in the mirror, you picked up your pea-coat and walked out the front door. The address Yoshimoto had sent was well within walking distance of your house, and a large part of you wondered if maybe you’d seen him around town once or twice. The street lights were all lit up, and you found your mind wandering as you walked, that is, until you slammed into someone and landed hard on the pavement.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” You apologized quickly, scrambling to stand. Blinking at the hand, thrust in your face.

“Why are you apologizing? You’re the one who fell.”

You knew that voice. Looking up to familiar green eyes, you took Ieyasu’s hand and smiled.

“Bad habit, I guess. Plus, I wasn’t exactly watching where I was going.” You replied, letting go of him as you brushed yourself off.

“You should be more careful.” There was no humor in his voice despite the tiny smirk on his face. “Can’t have you mowing me down. Preferably not here and definitely not at work.”

“You’re acting like I didn’t watch and sign for the compliance video this year.” You snickered.

“Those videos are wild and you and I both know nobody watched those.” Ieyasu rolled his eyes as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

You hummed in agreement before you gave yourself a final look in the reflective glass of a shop window. “Look okay?”

“What?” He balked

“Do I look okay? Yanno, no weird stains? Skid marks?” You asked a little too earnestly.

“Skidmarks? How fast do you think you were walking?” Ieyasu’s eyebrow went up as he appraised you.

“I wasn’t, that’s why I went flying to the ground. That’s how physics works.” You joked, smoothing out your shirt before tucking a stray hair behind your ears.

“No skid marks. Let’s walk. Where are you going?” Ieyasu started moving in the direction you had been going before you bumped into him.

“Excuse me?” Your eyes went wide as you jogged to catch up. “I’m going to Gala. Why?”

“You clearly can’t be trusted to walk by yourself on a busy street. If I don’t make sure you get around safely, you’ll just come to ask for my help at work again.” Ieyasu grumbled, turning his head away from your questioning gaze.

“I went to your office once. One time.” You argued. “I honestly thought I was in trouble when you called me back.”

“Why would you be in trouble, other than the fact that you were visibly limping? Anyone who has the guts to correct a surgical fellow for doing a procedure wrong is always welcome in my office.” Ieyasu snickered. “Why are you headed to Gala? Hot date?”

“Nope, meeting a friend. Though I’ve never met him in person, so maybe it’s a good idea I’m going with you.” You had never really thought about it, he was friends with the boys, but that still didn’t mean Yoshimoto wasn’t a crazy person.

“You’re what?” Ieyasu balked as his pace slowed.

“I’m meeting a friend from the internet for the first time.” You felt yourself blink in confusion. I mean, maybe it did sound like a bad idea when you said it out loud to someone who didn’t play games. “Don’t make that face, he’s friends with someone I work with. He can’t be that bad?”

“Your funeral.” Ieyasu shrugged as he rolled his eyes. Though you did notice, he walked just a touch closer than he had been before. “So, you play games?”

“Ugh, don’t be like that. I get it. I’m nerdy.” You waved him off, answering his question with a nod as you lamented.

“Never said it was a bad thing. Do you get tired?” Ieyasu asked as you continued your walk down the street.

“Playing? Sometimes, but that’s mostly because I have no self-control and end up staying awake longer than I should on weeknights.” You laughed at yourself as you smiled happily at him.

“Not what I was asking about, but I guess that explains last Wednesday.” He snickered, shoulders shaking as he tried to hide the laugh.

“I wasn’t that bad on Wednesday! Wait. So what were you asking about then?” Genuinely confused, you felt your head tilt, only to be pulled quickly to the side.

“Okay, danger girl, lets not wack our head on light posts.” Ieyasu sighed, clearly exasperated with your general lack of awareness.

“Why not? I like the sound the pole makes when it rattles.” You managed to respond with a completely straight face, only to break into a belly laugh when Ieyasu looked genuinely horrified. His features quickly warping into annoyance.

“You’re impossible.” His grip fell from your arm before he placed it between your shoulder blades ushering you across the street and inside the gallery.

“Not impossible, just difficult to tease.” You beamed as you skipped up the steps into the bright lights of the gallery.

Chapter Text

You hadn’t been inside long when Ieyasu saw someone he knew. You insisted that he didn’t have to follow you around all night; he walked away, mumbling something about being responsible. It made you laugh. Though he had always seemed a little callous, you were starting to realize he may mean the exact opposite of what he was saying. One of those ‘actions speak louder than words’ kind of dudes.

A smile on your face, you walked around the gallery, stopping to look at pieces that caught your attention. Making sure to stay and say hello to the artist when they were free to talk. That was always your favorite part, getting to say hello, to talk about the art. The responses you got varied, but they always intrigued you.

“Does this mean I won?” You turned on your heel and were face to face with the most brilliant pair of golden eyes you’d ever seen.

“Depends? Is there a prize?” You replied back, hoping it was who you thought it was, and you weren’t wasting your wit on a total creep.

“Only the satisfaction of knowing you won. Maybe a drink from the convenience store.” When he shrugged, his dark navy hair rolled off his shoulders, and you tried to control your breathing. Wow.

“I guess I can concede. Yoshimoto, I presume?” You lifted a brow, popping your hip as you changed your stance.

“That depends, are you (Y/N)?” He was teasing you, but you’d play along.

“For someone so sure of their victory a minute ago, I’m surprised you have to ask.” You mused, poking his shoulder hard.

“It’s safe to assume that the internet does not make you bolder.” He laughed out loud, and you were one hundred percent sure you were speaking with the right guy.

“You’d be correct.” You smiled at him extending your hand in greeting. “(Y/N), always this bold (L/N). It’s nice to meet you in person.”

“Likewise. Yoshimoto” His grip was firm as he shook your hand.

“So, I came to meet a friend and see some art. I’ve already accomplished one mission. Care to help me finish the next?” You asked.

Yoshimoto didn’t respond verbally; instead, he looped his arm through yours and escorted you around the gallery. Most of the conversations were about the art, stopping to talk to colleagues and friends of Yoshimoto’s, occasionally you’d quietly discuss a difference in artistic taste, or you’d slip into something about games.

“All I’m saying is that I would have gone with something a little more subtle.” You put your hands up defensively.

“I understand what you’re saying, I also want you to see the true artistic genius this is.” Yoshi insisted as he pointed at the bright orange portion of the canvas.

“Again, don’t disagree. Artistic genius or not, though, I’d like it more if it wasn’t so bright.” Your argument continued as you walked away from the offending painting and towards the door.

You had seen the entire gallery, stopping a little longer in front of Yoshimoto’s paintings than you had intended to, but that was okay. You had honestly enjoyed listening to him describe the art. It was interesting to see how other people saw things. You were probably the only weirdo in the world that would openly say you loved listening to other people’s opinions.

“So is your boyfriend going to come back to take you home, or should I assume you’ve been abandoned?” Yoshimoto cocked an eyebrow as he had your coat pulled from the back.

“Ieyasu? He’s not my boyfriend. I work with him. Very literally ran into him on my way here.” You shrugged, looking around to see if you could find his flash of blond anywhere.

“Ah, so you were abandoned.” Yoshimoto tisked and helped you put your coat on, lifting it so you could slip your arms in easier.

“Who knows, I would prefer not to leave without saying anything though. That feels wrong. Especially since he walked me here.” Your eyes searched the crowd a little more frantically until you felt a hand on the small of your back.

“Then don’t. Ready to go?” Ieyasu spoke up beside you, glaring a little at Yoshimoto.

“Yup, we were just about to head out. Gonna make a run to the convenience store. Want to come with?” You asked as your head swiveled so you could look at Ieyasu.

“Don’t feel obligated. I can walk my friend home. I’d hate for her to bother a co-worker who came to enjoy the art.” The bite to Yoshimoto’s comment didn’t go unnoticed by you.

The walk to and from the convenience store was one big ball of awkward silence. Nobody really said much unless they were arguing, and when someone did ask a question, the conversation died shortly after. After another five minutes of silence, you had had enough.

“Alright, well, this has been an awkward blast.” You smiled and skipped ahead of the boys. “I’m gonna go ahead and take my leave here though, see you both around.”

Without giving them a moment to respond, you rushed off down the street towards your apartment, pushing through the door as quickly as you could. You barely had your coat off when you phone buzzed wildly in your pocket, letting out a guttural laugh when the name Dr. Tokugawa popped up on the screen.

“Hello?” You asked carefully, trying to hide your giggles.

“Well, she’s alive.” Ieyasu’s voice was muffled by his breathing as he talked to who you presumed was Yoshimoto.

“That the only reason you called? To make sure I made it home?” The smile was evident in your voice.

“Don’t read into that. I can tell you’re reading into that.” Ieyasu grumbled.

“I would never.” You played back as your hand flew to your chest. Not that he could see you. “That’s sweet of you, though.”

“You’re on a few of my cases next week. I’m not fond of your back-up, that Jakob guy, that’s the only reason I need you to be alive.” Ieyasu grumbled.

“Sure, we’ll go with that.” You rolled your eyes but let him have it. You were in too good a mood to argue with him. “Anyway, I made it home, don’t get kidnapped on your way home either.”

“As if anyone would hold on to Dr. Sour over here.” You heard Yoshimoto pipe up in the background, and you laughed.

There was a huffed out-breath and a garbled response you couldn’t quite make out before the line went dead. Happy, you took off your jacket and slipped out of your shoes and headed further inside.

It had been a successful night.

Chapter Text

“WhAt!” Rose’s voice rose a decibel as she nearly spit out her salad.

“Could you maybe not scream? People are staring at us.” You winced as you glanced around the cafeteria.

“No, I think I needed to scream about that.” Rose insisted as she jammed more of her lunch into her mouth, eyes wide as she urged you for more details.

“It’s no big deal,” Your explanation stopped short when a piece of lettuce came flying off of her fork at you.

“It is, though. You were supposed to be on a date with Yoshi-”

“Not a date, just meeting.” You interrupted Rose.

“And your, not a date, was crashed by Dr. Tokugawa!? That’s a big deal!” Rose tried to whisper as best she could. Still fighting to contain her obvious excitement.

“No, look, I have no idea what happened. The way I see it, Ieyasu was just walking me there, both of them wanted to make sure I got home okay after the fact. That’s it.” You stated plainly.

Both of Rose’s eyebrows shot up at your statement; she had a terrible poker face. It didn’t help that she was actively choking on her salad now.

“What?” You asked, a little confused about what could have set her off.

“Ieyasu?” she managed to bark out between coughs. “When did you start calling each other by your first names?”

“Like, two months ago?” You rolled your eyes, feeling like it wasn’t a big deal. You called Mariko by her first name, and Rose addressed Raj by his. “He’s not the first doctor that I’m on a first-name basis with Rose.”

“No, he’s not, but he’s the first doctor you’re on a first-name basis with that you went on a date with.” Rose wiggled her eyebrows coyly at you.

“Not. A. Date. He literally let me walk around the gallery by myself. Didn’t see him until I was about to leave.” You sighed, a little exasperated.

“But how did he know you were getting ready to leave? You didn’t tell him. Which means he was watching you. So at the very minimum, he’s interested in you enough to follow you around.” There was hope in her statement.

“When you say it like that it sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Ieyasu wasn’t following me around, and he would have left if I asked him to.” You argued.

“But, you didn’t.” Rose pointed out, and you weren’t happy that she kept backing you into this corner. “Why?”

“Because-” Before you could finish your answer, the pager on your hip screamed to life.

You laughed as everyone at the surrounding tables reached for their hips and looked at their own, confirming that it wasn’t there’s going off. Waving it in Rose’s direction, you picked up your things and made a B-line for the Mian OR.

In what you would call close to record time, you were scrubbed up and present in the correct OR. With a little time to kill, you took your time setting up the sterile tray after all of the orders were released. Paying no mind to the other inhabitants of the OR, you hummed and danced as you waited for anesthesia to bring the patient back into the room.

Somewhere in your mind, you heard the swish of the automatic doors, though you had trained yourself not to look up every time it opened. Seeing patients come into the OR with crying parents was the hardest part of your job, and you tried to avoid it as much as possible. When it remained quiet, and someone breezed past you, you chanced a glance, getting yourself caught immediately by a pair of familiar green eyes.

“Two pagers? Does that mean you’re doubly important.” Ieyasu asked as he squeezed into his sterile gloves.

“No, just doubly annoyed.” You quipped back, trying not to laugh at your own joke.

“Sounds about right.” Was all he got out before the patient entered the room, and everyone swung into procedure mode.

Fortunately, it would be quick and easy, no odd orders that would drag it out unnecessarily. You were halfway through making your slides when Ieyasu barked your name over laughter.

“Huh?” You asked, dumbly. Not sure what had earned you that tone.

When you looked at him, you had to fight back your own bout of laughter. You heard about this sort of thing happening to other physicians, but you hadn’t believed your co-workers. There stood Dr. Tokugawa, Ieyasu, sterile gloves donned, an aspirate needle in hand, halfway through the procedure with his pants around his knees.

“I need you to pull them up.” His gaze was unwavering, and his voice was serious.

“What?” You asked dumbfounded. That had been the last thing you thought he would ask.

“Pull them up,” Ieyasu’s eyes saying the unspoken “please.”

“Usually I need at least one dinner before someone asks me to be this intimate, but I’d say this is an okay exception.” You snickered.

You weren’t going to be able to get under his gown, which meant you’d be able to pull his scrubs up, no problem. You just couldn’t tie them, so they wouldn’t stay up. You had other things to worry about than his pants, though, so you needed to improvise. Quickly you grabbed the tape off of the phlebotomy tray and started unrolling large strips.

“Mind your hands.” You said, attempting to remain serious now that the entire OR had fallen into some form of a giggle fit.

“You can’t seriously be considering taping my pants up.” Ieyasu deadpanned as you shimmied the dark green fabric back up over his knees.

“I did, and I am.” Was your response, as you finally situated the scrubs where they needed to be.

“You’re ridiculous.” There was a hint of laughter in his voice as you pulled the tape up and over his shoulders, creating makeshift overalls.

“And you’re the one who had his pants around his knees.” You smiled up at him. Placing the last piece of tape down. “Can I take your phone and pager out of your pocket and put them by the computer?”

“You may as well.” Ieyasu sighed but continued his work while you quickly maneuvered around your cart towards the computer station to put down Ieyasu’s electronics and glove back up.

The rest of the procedure went by without a hitch, it was easy, and Ieyasu shared the stink eye with anyone who even tried to make fun of the previous situation. Not that it deterred you any, you were starting to think maybe you liked that glare.

Chapter Text

You sigh with relief as you relax into your couch, heated blanket turned on and ready to accept you into its warmth. It had been a long month, and the influx of new leukemias had not made it any better. Sure, you were busy, and it went by fast, but it was mentally taxing, and you wanted nothing more than to forget about real life and dive headfirst into this game again in earnest.

Sure, you had been playing Endless Isle when you were free, but more often than not, you chose to spend your free time napping, eating, or relaxing in a bath. Especially with the pressure, you were starting to feel in-game. Initially, being on the two teams had been fun, something to help you use your time more efficiently. When one group couldn’t play, you’d join your other friends, if that wasn’t an option, you’d play on the single-player mode. Now that tournaments were starting back up, both groups wanted your undivided attention.

The evening had started off pretty standard, Yukimura and Rose fought until Shingen tried to break them up. This always resulted in some remark from either Sasuke or Yukimura while Rose laughed, and Kenshin scoffed. Yoshimoto would then go off on some sort of random tangent utterly unrelated to the argument, which would successfully change the subject, but always lead into another kerfuffle.

That was all you wanted out of your evening. Something familiar and happy that didn’t make you feel like the world was suddenly crashing in. Your generally peaceful evening didn’t last long though, the moment some of your other team members began logging on for the team event, it hit the fan.

You had been asked to join Team Kasugayama first, you were technically already making headway through the team challenge when you got the message from B00kOfLife7 that they were waiting for you. It should have ended when you declined the invitation, but it didn’t. After nearly an hour of dealing with sly remarks about “betrayal” from 4myLord, it escalated to a new degree on both sides when Mitsuhide outed your other team’s name in the Team Azuchi group chat.

OneEyedDrag0n → Hey, maybe give the lass a break huh? It’s not like she was supposed to know they’re assholes.
4myLord → How would she not know? She’s been playing with them!
4myLord → Beyond that though it compromises our strategies! How do we know she’s not telling them what we’ve been planning?
Maybe because that’s rude as hell? Also I’ve never told you about their plans, why would you just assume I’m shitty enough to share yours? ← WildCyt0m3try
Betrayal_is_real04 → This could work to our advantage though. Our little mouse could become a rat for us?
How about no… ← WildCyt0m3try
What the fuck you guys. It’s really not that big of a deal, I don’t know why your wigging out. ← WildCyt0m3try
D3vlK1ng → Fireball is right. As it stands we haven’t had any trouble making headway in the tournament. She’s clearly not leaked any of our tactics.
THANK YOU! Gods…at least one of you is sane ← WildCyt0m3try

Just when you felt you were making some headway, the public chat opened up to a literal storm. This was garbage. Absolutely flaming garbage and you wanted to know precisely what you had done to deserve the past month.

God_of_war → You should watch who you associate with @WildCyt0m3try
Excuse me? ← WildCyt0m3try
4myLord → Funny, I was about to say the same thing…
You were literally about to put my head on a spike @4myLord...maybe now’s not a great time to get defensive about me? ← WildCyt0m3try
TigerOfKai681 → he was threatening you Princess? Can’t have that now can we?
Braves6Coins → I knew you guys were trash, didn’t think you would stoop that low tho
OneEyedDrag0n → Not quite sure what you’re going on about? Kitten here is a fine asset to our team, we’d never hurt a hair on her head.
Fine_as_art1156 → Ah, so is this who you’ve been playing with on your downtime then? @WildCyt0m3try.
Yes, I’m not sure why it matters so much to you lot though? My free time is my free time. You both needed a pegasus so I’m not sure what the problem is… ← WilyCyt0m3try
4myLord → Beyond them being heathens nothing much
RoseW@terHeals010 → Uh, maybe we should all calm down a little?
Nin-Nin0217 → Agreed, this seems to be getting out of hand rather quickly.
Betrayal_is_real04 → @WildCyt0m3try pick one.
Uh, no? ← WildCyt0m3try
D3vlK1ng → It’s not a bad idea. It would certainly alleviate some of this stress.
TigerOfKai681 → For once that team of yours has come up with something sound.
B00kOfLife7 → My plans are always well laid out thank you.
God_of_war → This is idiocy. @WildCyt0m3try pick
RoseW@terHeals010 → Uh guys, maybe we should just leave her alone?
Fine, eat shit ← WildCyt0m3try

*Are you sure you would like to leave this team?*

Without a second thought, you clicked yes, ignoring the continued bickering and the constant vibrating of your phone. You could be an asshole too.

Betrayal_is_real04 → a traitor indeed.
Fine_as_art1156 → What are you blathering on about? She clearly chose your team?
B00kOfLife7 → she most certainly did not.
RoseW@terHeals010 → she left both teams you dickheads! I told you to stop but NOO nobody listens to the priestess.
TigerOfKai681 → I listen to everything you say my sweet healing goddess.
RoseW@terHeals010 → oh piss off for once
*RoseW@terHeals010 is offline*
Braves6Coins → hey could you maybe tone it down a bit? Now we don’t have a healer either…
Nin-nin0217 → Work should be fun tomorrow.

You logged out of the public chat, refusing any and all attempts to contact you. You felt a little agitated and way too petty to deal with any of them right now. Instead, you made your way out of the square, it was time to find some single-player missions for yourself.

Chapter Text

You were being petty. For the past month, you ignored and refused every single attempt to message or contact you in and out of the game. Rose was the only exception, as she was your co-worker and had attempted to stick up for you. After nearly a month of feeling annoyed, you thought about quitting, this was supposed to be for fun, an outlet that had turned into a constant source of fatigue.

Finally, you put your mind to a task. Story mode. Excited and your eyes on a new prize, you hammered it out, finishing the final chapter in a few weeks without a hitch. Now what? You joined in raids with unknown players, jumped into maps and quests by yourself. Most of the time, that went okay, other times you just rage quit because who designs a battle to be that infuriating?! That was it, you were logging off for the day.

Just as you had made up your mind to finish your activities and trade out your items in the shop, your message box pinged. Interesting, you had blocked everyone but Sasuke and Rose from last month’s group chat. Your eyes went wide when you saw the name pop up again across your screen.

EdoPorcupine5661 → Hi

He hadn’t been there that day! You forgot to block him! Crap!

EdoPorcupine5661 → Partner event in ten minutes. Meet me at the bridge if you want.

You waited for another message, but it never came. At least they weren’t hell-bent on harassing you, that in and within itself gave them brownie points. After thinking about it for way too long, you shrugged and rapidly transported to just outside of the bridge. You didn’t want to be tricked into an ambush by a former team. When it proved to be just Edo, you walked over and jumped into the event.

The map itself was challenging. The both of you were transported to a dungeon that was not only crawling with opponents but pressure levers and teleport points. There was a certain bit of strategy involved, and that meant being careful of your weaknesses, out-maneuvering the other challengers in the dungeon, while also praying you didn’t accidentally send yourself unguarded into a den of overpowered monsters.

Thanks for the invite ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Sure.
Do we have a plan ← Wild Cyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Don’t hit the lever next to the green teleport square. Beyond that, don’t die.
Roger that ← WildCyt0m3try

Beyond the first few messages to flush the plan out, it was silent. Edo had never really been much of a talker, and for once, you were thankful someone had nothing to say. The both of you advanced forward through the map, hitting the levers that came into view and making sure Edo was close enough that they could see when you chose to use a teleport tile on the floor.

EdoPorcupine5661 → That one. Don’t hit that switch.
Sounds good ← WildCyt0m3try
Can I ask why? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Huge monster dungeon on the other side. We’d have no chance.
No chance indeed. ← WildCyt0m3try
Do i wanna know how u know that? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine → Tried the map with OneEyedDrag0n earlier. His curiosity has me down almost 6000Q and two bows.
Well that’s a yikes, we’re just gonna avoid that one then… ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → See I knew there was a reason I liked playing with you.
I’m flattered! ← WildCyt0m3try
I’d send you a swooning emoji if I could ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine → Don’t. It’s a win-win. You’re not annoying or incompetent and it’ll annoy the living hell out of everyone else that I played with you.
Watch out, they’ll brand you as a traitor ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → You’re acting like their childish behavior bothers me.
It does. You’re literally always annoyed with them lol ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Shut up
Never ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Bye
Byeee~ ← WildCyt0m3try

You smiled as the tiny green ball by Edo’s name went dim, and the chat room suggested he may be offline. Despite the fact that you were still working through this partner event. Oh well, you wouldn’t bother him. That had been fun and engaging. The mission now successfully clear, you split the earnings and rewards and logged off. Sitting on your couch, you couldn’t help but hope he asked you to play again sometime. Until then, though, you really needed to find another team, hopefully with far less serious participants than your previous ones.

Chapter Text

It had only been a week, but something told you, you had made a grave miscalculation with these people. You could deal with dark personalities; you worked at a hospital. Not everything was sunshine and rainbows all the time, thank god for that, but these guys took things to a whole new level.

Apart from one of them being the worst troll you’d ever seen. The other two spent the entire game trying to dismantle other teams to get ahead of the curve, instead of just playing the game. It was so frustrating; you groaned when your screen lit up in the corner, letting you know the group chat was active.

Hiding_In_plain_sight44 → This one will be for all the marbles.
Hiding_In_plain_sight44 → I talked one of those pretty shop keepers into telling me what group our enemies are fighting in.
M@dMonks → Wonderful work, now those egotistical madmen will get their just desserts.
WhiteBeardless0589 → I don’t care what event raid we’re in so long as I get to mess up someone’s k/d ratio.
Do I even want to know who you’re talking about? ← WildCyt0m3try
M@dMonks → it’s nothing, you’ve joined at just the right time.
Oh? ← WildCyt0m3try
Why does that make me nervous? ← WildCyt0m3try
WhiteBeardless0589 → Good instincts kid
Gdi! Seriously, wtf are you planning now? ← WildCyt0m3try
I refuse to participate if you’re just going to terrorize a bunch of pre-teens again… ← WildCyt0m3try
Hiding_In_plain_sight44 → We’re going after a few old rivals. That’s all.
Again, why do I feel like that’s “not all?” Huh? ← WildCyt0m3try
WhiteBeardless0589 → It’s just those morons from Team’s Kasugayama and Azuchi.
WhiteBeardless0589 → They need to be taken down a peg or two anyway.
M@dMonks → Exactly, teams like that just prey on the weak with no consideration for other players.
M@dMonks → We’re going to get ourselves into their tournament group, and you’re going to help us obliterate them
Me? Obliterate? You can’t be serious… ← WildCyt0m3try
Hiding_In_plain_sight44 → We know you used to be on both their teams, it’s perfect. You’d know all their fighting styles.
No, I don’t. Besides, what if they’ve changed things around in the past two months? ← WildCyt0m3try
M@dMonks → They wont. They’re not that smart.
You’ve clearly never played with any of them… ← WildCyt0m3try
Hiding_In_plain_sight44 → If it makes you feel better, I used to play with Team Azuchi. You wouldn’t be the only double-crosser.
No, you can leave me out of this ← WildCyt0m3try

Why, why did you always end up playing video games with such ridiculous people. Your frustration began to show through when they, namely M@dMonks, began to argue and threaten you. That was a hard no, in less than two minutes you left the group and headed towards the single-player portal, only to be stopped mid-walk.

Your old teammates surrounded you, M@dMonks stood in front of the group as the rest of the team blocked you from leaving the lobby. Were they going to try and keep you from leaving? What was the point of that? It wasn’t until four Assassin class members lunged at you that you figured it out. They were going to try to take you out and loot your bag. Oh hell no.

The simple solution would have been to save and just log out, but because you were embroiled in the middle of a fight, the system’s menu was locked. Assholes. You did what you could to dodge and deflect, but it became quite clear they weren’t going to let you go.

“If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’re gonna get. You pissed off the wrong chick.” You growled openly into your mic, drawing the attention of others in the multiplayer lobby.

By the time you had cut down most of your old team, a crowd had gathered. Why wouldn’t they, though? A single lance wielding unit, ambushed by a large group of assassins headed up by a Dark Bishop and a War Master. That was definitely a spectacle. It was going okay, you still had a few more swings, and from what you knew of M@dMonks and WhiteBeardless0589’s stats, it should be enough to get you out of this situation.

What you hadn’t taken into account was Hiding_ In_plain_sight44’s theft ability. Had you really let him take all of your lances but the one you were using? Your grip on your controller tightened as your grit your teeth. That left you with a very dinky training lance and a bow, damn. You were so over this, wanting nothing more than to be done with all of these overly dramatic boys you unequipped your weapon. Bracing for the next few hits and the deep cut into your pocket, but it never came. Instead, a fire spell lit up the screan, hitting M@dMonks square in the chest.

“You really should be more careful with who you associate with.”

“That’s pretty rich coming from you.” Your voice was flat, as you responded.

“You also agreed to meet, remember?” Yoshimoto snickered as he dealt magic damage to the rest of your assailants.

“How could I forget? You and my coworker bickered the entire walk to the store.” You verbally poked back at him.

“Give me three minutes. You just want to log out, right?” Yoshimoto’s voice was serious but remained light.

“Yes, I’m so over people.” You groaned into your mic.

True to his word, after two minutes and fifty-six seconds, the battle had been completed, and your menu was unlocked. The both of you may or may not have stopped to loot the paralyzed avatars of your previous teammates turned assailants before heading into a private lobby. Any eye for an eye, served them right. Besides, you only grabbed what they took from you.

“So, what was that about? Any specific reason you were a target of the world’s largest assassin guild?” You could hear the smirk on Yoshimoto’s face as he asked.

“If you’re just going to patronize me, I’m going to leave.” You sighed.

“I would never, so tell me what happened.” Even though his voice was jovial, you could hear the concern.

“I played single-player for a while. Beat the story mode, did a few group missions here and there with some friends and some rando’s.” You paused, thinking about the past month or so. “One of those randoms invited me to join his team.”

“Oh, and who was said Random if I may ask.” Yoshimoto did nothing to hide the amusement in his voice.

“Hiding in plain sight, forty-four.” You sighed, knowing exactly what Yoshi was about to say. “You don’t have to say anything, I already know.”

“If you already knew why did you join that team?” Yoshimoto asked.

“I didn’t know when I said I would join; I just found out today.” You sighed, over the whole ordeal already. “Yanno, right as they jumped me?”

“Ah, I see. Always getting yourself into the oddest predicaments, aren’t you?” Yoshimoto laughed as he continued to question you.

“So it would seem. Anyways, thanks for the help. I appreciate it.” You said gratefully, quickly sending him a tiny bag of goodies you knew he could use to fuse more spells.

“I don’t need any of this.” He responded.

“At least let me do something to say thank you.” You tried.

“Dinner?”

The line was quiet for a little bit, had he just asked you to go back out together? Maybe Rose had been, right? Well sort of right, perhaps that night at the gallery was supposed to have been a date. A date with Yoshi.

“Or not, that’s fine too. I’ll just take these and-”

“Sure.” You interrupted him. “I could use some time to hang out with friends again.”

“Great. I’ll message you then?” Either he didn’t mind that you emphasized the word friends or he didn’t catch it, because his response was completely even.

“Deal! Thanks again for the help.” You chirped, making quick work of ending the conversation and logging out.

This would be interesting.

Chapter Text

So you had gotten there a little early, that wasn’t anxious behavior, right? Why would you be anxious? You knew Yoshimoto; this would be fine. Totally fine. The single upside to getting places early was that you were able to get a table and wait. It was the best pizza place in the city, in your opinion, and the fact that it was always full with a line out the door told you most people agreed. If you weren’t there right at four-thirty when they opened the doors, you weren’t going to get a seat until six when the first wave of patrons started clearing tables and leaving.

You sat idle, wishing you had brought something other than your phone to make the time go by faster. When nothing on the internet caught your interest, you started reading all of the material up on the walls, looking at the photos hung carefully around the tiny home owned pizzeria.

“See anything interesting up there?” Yoshimoto asked as he slid into the booth across from you.

“Not particularly, but only because I’ve already read everything a few times.” You chuckled, directing your attention to the man across from you.

“I hope you haven’t been waiting long?” He asked, thumbing at the edges of the menu.

“Not really, though it’s either wait at the table or for a table here.” You joked, stirring your drink with your straw.

“Is that why everyone at the door gave me the evil eye?” Yoshimoto’s tone was light as his eyes searched the menu. Looking up at you briefly as he finished asking his question.

“If I were you, I’d go see a witch doctor and make sure you’re not hexed.” You mused, trying to seem nonchalant.

“Excuse you; I’m a class A mage. Quite frankly, I’m offended you think silly magic like that could even affect me.” Yoshimoto held a straight face even after you burst into laughter.

“What?” Your giggles were slowing down, a smile on your face as you looked up at Yoshimoto.

“It’s just nice to hear you laugh.” Yoshimoto’s smile was sincere, albeit a little sad as he continued. “I wasn’t sure you’d ever talk to any of us again.”

“I mean, you guys were nuts if you thought I’d pick a team after all that.” Rolling your eyes as you smiled. “You’re okay though, I guess.”

Before he could answer, the waitress was over to take your order. It turns out you had spent too much time on witty banter and not enough time looking at the menu. Whoops. With an awkward smile, you ordered an appetizer and tried to focus on all the toppings.

It didn’t take long for her to come back and take your order. Decisions made, you put in your requests and took up staring awkwardly at each other while the background chatter of the restaurant filled the space.

“So…” You tried, absentmindedly tapping your fingers against the table.

“Yes?” An amused grin grace Yoshimoto’s face as he quirked an eyebrow up at you.

“Should we maybe, I don’t know,” You paused, more nervous than you thought you would be “get to know each other?”

His smirk softened into a smile that seemed to touch his eyes. “I’d like that very much.”

One basket of fried ravioli and twenty questions later, you knew that Yoshimoto was an artist and an art collector. He was distantly related to Shingen, a fact that took a bit of prodding to get out of him. He was partial to the color blue, and he agreed with you, his hair was majestic. You also knew Yoshimoto was about your age, only two years older than you, and had grown up north of Kyoto in the Shizuoka prefecture.

It was fun, getting to know somebody. It’s not like you were total strangers, but you may as well have been. You smiled up at Yoshi from across the table, nearly half a slice of pizza in your mouth, and watched as he stifled a laugh.

“Charming.” He shook his head, eyes crinkling as he smiled along with you. “Simply charming.”

Chapter Text

The day was a wash. You had always felt bad complaining about days that there was nothing to do, but it just felt wrong not to be working on something. Today, in particular, you had your feet resting on an empty box under your desk with your game system out. There was nothing for you to binge-watch right now, and the OR status board was reading blank for Bone Marrows, so you hunkered down and logged onto Endless Isle.

You were maybe thirty minutes from the end of your shift when you heard the door to the tech office open. Weird, that wasn’t a walk you recognized. You put your system down and rolled your chair into the doorway to see who had come in the lab.

“Dr. Tokugawa?” You asked, watching the blond wander the hallway between the offices and lab space.

“Thank god.” Ieyasu’s brow unfurrowed as he stalked in your direction. “I thought I told you not to call me that?”

“You never told me I couldn’t, just said I could call you Ieyasu.” You blinked up at him innocently as you rolled your seat back to your desk. Despite being given the permission, it was still weird referring to some doctor’s by their first name and other’s more formally.

“Well I’m telling you now.” He frowned, resting his hip on your desk.

“So, what’re you doing down here? Do you need something, or are you lost?” You smiled up at him, reclining in your chair.

“Why would I be lost?” Ieyasu rolled your eyes, and you snickered.

“The only reason we ever see people down here is because they’re lost. The ones who’re intentionally trying to find us never can.” You put your hands up in defense. “It wouldn’t be totally off base for me to think you were lost.”

“Incompetence.” You heard him mutter under his breath. “There are signs on the wall.”

“Doesn’t mean people read them.” You shrugged your shoulders and moved your system to your desk drawer. Noticing how he followed your actions. “So, you need something then?”

“I need a sample sent for sequencing, and the staff on the floor claims they don’t have any kits.” Ieyasu sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "So they sent me to you."

“They don’t. I won’t let them have any.” You deadpanned. That caught his attention.

“Oh?” An eyebrow quirked, Ieyasu leaned closer in interest. “Why is that?”

“You clinicians went rouge.” Smiling as you waved an accusatory hand. “Started sending off samples without notifying us. Which was problematic when the company called and asked us for information.”

“Fair.” He stood straight and pulled a sticky note out of his pocket. “General patient information. The orders are already in place, can I get a kit?”

“I can’t give you a kit, but if you tell me where the patient is at, I can walk it down to the floor and wait for it to be drawn?” You suggested, standing to head into the lab.

“I don’t need to be babysat.” Ieyasu looked mildly offended but followed you into the lab anyway.

“I know you don’t, but I don’t want nursing to send it to the main lab. They’ll take at least four hours to process it, and I won’t get it until tomorrow morning. That means it won’t be shipped out on time, and they’ll send you a qualified report.” You explained, fishing one of the sequencing kits off the shelf above your lab bench.

“They’re in the A-one clinic right now.” Ieyasu’s responded.

“Sounds good.”

That should have been the end of it. Ieyasu didn’t have to follow you back to the clinic, but here you were, walking side by side in silence with Dr. Tokugawa. Every so often, a nurse would spare you a sympathetic look, which made it harder and harder to reign in your laughter.

“What?” Ieyasu asked.

“Nothing.” You tried.

“It can’t be nothing. Your face looks stupider by the second.” Ieyasu sighed as he rolled his eyes.

“It’s nothing, I promise. Just thinking.” You offered, smiling as you continued the walk to the clinic.

“About what?” He asked. Maybe that had been a lousy excuse. Now you had to think of something to think about.

“My game. I was in the middle of a raid. I’m sure the kids I was playing with are having a fit right now.” You threw out, laughing again.

“Slow day?”

“Very, not necessarily a bad thing, though. Technically means there’s less sick kids.” a soft smile on your face as you turned the corner towards your destination.

“True.” You thought you saw him smile a little, but before you could comment on it he continued with a new line of questioning. “Playing something good then, I presume?”

“Very. It can get a little annoying at times, but I enjoy it. I’ve made a handful of good friends.” You replied truthfully.

“You and your online friends.” Ieyasu rolled his eyes, stopping when he reached the Bone Marrow Transplant team’s offices.

“They’re not so bad. I’ve only met, like, seventeen creeps on Endless Isle so far. That’s a pretty good run.” You called back over your shoulder, using your badge to enter the clinic.

“Whatever you say, danger girl.” Ieyasu smiled and leaned against the door jam, and something zipped up your spine.

She rushed into the clinic so quickly he almost missed the blush on her cheeks. Ieyasu had seen (YN) ’s game screen before she put the console into her desk, curious about the familiar setting. He was almost disappointed that it hadn’t all clicked into place sooner. They had both missed their online meeting because they were stuck in the OR. That day he ran into her on the street she was meeting up with Imagawa, a known player of Team Kasugayama, at an art event. (YN) had even stated she had previously interacted with him online. Still he had never expected to meet up with his online partner in person, but he couldn’t say he was mad that he had.

That made things more interesting.

Chapter Text

“I knew it!” Rose yelled as she shook you by the shoulders. “I knew it was a date with Yoshimoto. Oh my god, (YN), does that mean Dr. Tokugawa crashed your first date?!”

“No! How many times do I have to tell you, the gallery wasn’t a date.” You sighed, flopping back into your couch.

“Oh, so the gallery wasn’t, but this pizza thing was?” Rose wiggled her eyebrows at you suggestively.

“Stop it. You’re going to get whacked.” You threatened, brow furrowing as your cheeks burned. “I called you over here to help me, not tease me.”

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll chill out. Maybe. I don’t see what the problem is? So you went on a date with Yoshi? The only person that’s gonna be mad is Shingen, and that’s just because he’s creepy like that sometimes.” Rose shoved your shoulder gently, trying to reassure you.

“Yea, except I totally got the tingles yesterday when Ieyasu smiled.” You groaned, dropping your head in your hands.

“Wait. What?” You didn’t have to look up to know what Rose’s face looked like right now.

“The real cherry on top of the cake, though, is that as fun as it would be to have crushes on both of those real-life men, I think I’ve got a bigger crush on someone else.” You looked over at her and glared. “Drop the grin, yeah? It’s only sort of funny.”

“I don’t know what the problem is. If you know which one you like the most, ask the lucky dude out.” Rose posed.

“See, but that’s complicated.” You mumbled, a pout forming on your face.

“How? How is it complicated?” Hands-on her hips, Rose leaned towards you.

“He’s prickly, like Ieyasu levels of prickly, and I think he might explode if I asked who he was or if we could meet up in person.” You let your head fall back against your couch. “Beyond that, I enjoy playing with him and don’t wanna make that awkward.”

“Sounds to me like you’re just chicken.” Rose teased.

“Correct. Bawk-bawk” You mime flapping your wings as you looked up at Rose indignantly.

“At least you’re honest with yourself.” She rolled her eyes and waved a hand dismissively in your direction. “Let me know if you change your mind or grow a pair.”

“I don’t know why I ask you for advice.” You bemoaned.

“Because my advice is great. It’s not my problem; you’re too chicken to execute.”

Rose was right, and you hated that you knew she was right. Instead of doing anything about it, though, you turned into the world’s most awkward human. Could you go out Friday night with Yoshimoto? After a hard stutter and a weak excuse, you declined, Dr. Tokugawa needed something in the OR? Que the confused blinking and aggressive blush, that he thought was a rash at one point last week. Even suggested a cortisone cream for it. Edo wanted you to help in a partner event? You played like absolute garbage.

This was a nightmare; why were you such a mess? Flopping onto your couch, you buried your face in the cushion and wondered if all of this lamenting would get you anywhere. At least laying like this was comfortable, maybe your couch would be merciful and swallow you whole. Eyes closed, you started to drift, you were nearly asleep when your phone rang. You were so scared you almost threw it across your living room.

“Hello?” You answered, startled. You really should have checked the caller ID; you didn’t have time to deal with blood donation people today.

“(YN)?” It was Yoshimoto. “Is everything alright? You’ve been a little off lately.”

“I’m always off.” You tried, knowing he probably wouldn’t let it go.

“True, but not this off. Mind if we meet up?” Oh boy, leaving your house was the last thing you wanted to do today, if ever again.

“I don’t want to leave my house. I’ve found the world’s most comfortable spot on my couch, and I planned on becoming a potato.” You giggled a little bit, knowing he knew that wasn’t a lie.

“You’re ridiculous. Might I come over then?” Yoshimoto asked without hesitation.

“I- I don’t know.” You sighed, turning your head to get fresh air to your now rapidly heating face.

“Please, I’ve got something for you.” he was baiting you, and you hated that it was working.

“Fine. Gimme a second, yeah?” You asked, pushing yourself up off the couch.

“Of course.”

True to his word Yoshimoto had given you a few minutes to send off your address to him. Figuring you had some time, you headed towards the kitchen to grab some snacks. You hadn’t so much as opened your bag of chips and snuggled back onto the couch when the front doorbell wrang. There was no way that was him. Your phone plinking told you otherwise.

“Hi.” You blinked up at your guest, mouth full of chips.

“Hi,” His lips curved up into a smile, “may I?”

“Sure. C’mon in.” You opened the door wide and stepped off towards the right to make room for Yoshi to take his shoes off.

“What?” He asked, shrugging his coat off his shoulders.

“Present?” You held your empty hand out, trying hard not to crush the chip bag now secured under your arm.

“I’m not even three steps in the door; you’re incorrigible.” Yoshimoto sighed, but it quickly turned into a smile. “Here, I thought something might be wrong with you. It turns out you’re just turning into a hermit.”

“Told you.” Your response was indignant as the two of you turned towards your kitchen. “Water?”

“Please,” leaning over your counter, Yoshimoto placed a small plastic box beside you. “Here.”

“Oh my gods, you didn’t!” You exclaimed, clapping your hands together before shelving your earlier snack and searching for a fork.

“I did, but you have to tell me what’s been bothering you,” Yoshi said, pulling the tiny box of your favorite cheesecake out of your reach.

“First, you have to tell me how you knew this was my favorite.” You accused, waving your fork in his direction.

“I’d say a wild guess, but you and I both know that’s a lie. Yukimura stated this was a sure-fire thing.” Yoshi laughed. “Though I’m not sure I want to know how he knows that.”

“He’s got a big mouth, and he doesn’t know how to keep it shut.” You shrug, “Which is okay with me as long as he keeps bringing cheesecake.”

“That’s all well and good, but I believe you’re procrastinating.” Yoshimoto picked up the box and gestured towards your couch. “Shall we?”

“Fine.”

He let you eat in silence; you tried to keep your eyes on the beautiful slice of lemon raspberry cheesecake he’d brought, but that was harder said than done. Yoshimoto sat in the armchair across the coffee table, eyes wandering around your living room as he waited for you to speak.

Finally, finished with your dessert, you took a deep breath and let it all out.

“I have a crush.”

You weren’t exactly sure what had prompted you to blurt that out, but there it was, in the open. Why were you so good at making things so awkward? This was a horrible idea. Just as regret started to set in and a blush started to rise up from your cheeks to your ears, Yoshimoto cleared his throat and spoke.

“A crush?” He repeated.

“Well, a few actually. That’s sorta the problem.” Your voice was small as you sank into the cushions of your couch. Why exactly were you telling him this? You could have just said you had the flu.

“Ah, having trouble keeping the eggs in the basket are we?” Yoshimoto’s smile was warm and it put an unnecessary amount of butterflies in your stomach.

“Yes.” You huffed, trying not to sound as flustered as you felt.

“Is there a reason you’re having trouble deciding?” Yoshimoto leaned in. “Why not just ask one of them out and see how it goes?”

“See, I’ve got confidence but not that much confidence.” You wiped your hands on your pants trying to keep them dry.

“You? Not having confidence? I find that absurd. You must really like these fellows.” Yoshimoto tilted his head in amusement as he lifted an eyebrow.

“Now you’re just being mean. Rose told you didn’t she.” You sighed.

“Told me what?” His voice was serious but the expression on his face was one of amusement.

“That-ThatImayhaveateenytinycrushonyou.” You didn’t dare breathe, your entire confession coming out as one big word vomit.

“Is her life in danger if I tell you the truth.” Your face grew hot as he smiled brightly at you.

“Your reaction is evidence enough.” You rolled your eyes and flopped back onto your couch, maybe if you were lucky the cushions would swallow you whole.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m quite excited. Though I did want to hear you say it yourself.” Yoshimoto’s expression softened as he relaxed against the back of his chair.

“Ass.” You mumbled, trying not to smile as he laughed out loud. “If you already knew, why all the cheesecake? You could have just pulled a Rose and pestered me until I came out with it.”

“I hear I’ve got some competition.” Yoshimoto’s face grew grim, but only for a moment. “I wanted to get a head start.”

“A head start? With cake?” You puzzled.

“Yes, and a question.” When you didn’t respond he leaned forward. “Will you go out on a date with me?”

Chapter Text

You were deaf; Rose had squealed so loud when you told her about what happened after she left your place, you were sure your ears were going to be ringing for the next week.

“Could you maybe not do that? I’d take your ridiculous happy slaps over the screeching.” You grimaced, trying to put a little extra pressure on your ear.

“Whatever. When are you going? Where are you going? Oh my gosh, I’m so excited you’ll have to give me all the details.” Rose beamed as her hands drummed on the table like an overexcited toddler.

“I don’t know; I don’t know, and not if you’re going to act like that every time I tell you something.” You sighed, drinking from your water bottle.

“Boo, you’re no fun.” Rose pouted, moving to lay her head down on the table.

“Never said I was.” You snickered, patting her outstretched hand before being distracted by the seat to your left being pulled out.

“Afternoon.” Was all Ieyasu said before he began to unpack his lunch.

Startled, Rose sat up straight in her seat. You may have laughed at her, but you weren’t sure your reaction was much better. Though you’d gotten into the habit of staring at him lately, so it wasn’t entirely out of place.

“There’s no more tables.” Ieyasu was as blunt as always, and you bit back a laugh as you watched Rose swivel in her seat to look around the overcrowded cafeteria.

“Happy to have you.” Rose said, sending an evil smile in your direction.

“From the way the conversation stopped, I’m not sure I believe that.” Ieyasu sighed as he bit into his sandwich, waving a hand dismissively.

“No trust me, I didn’t want to continue that conversation.” You sighed, relaxing in your seat a little as you picked at your cheesy breadsticks.

Curious Ieyasu quirked an eyebrow up but didn’t say anything else. Instead, the three of you ate lunch in relative silence, which was only a little awkward. Idle chatter picked up between you and Rose, mostly about how Michael had gotten into the habit of not disposing of his used cuvettes in the biohazard waste.

“I can only assume talking to him hasn’t helped?” Ieyasu asked, picking at his bag of chips.

“No, he goes; Oh yeah, I’m done with those. You can throw them away.” Rose said, mocking your other co-workers’ tone. “How about no? You come to throw them away.”

“I’ve taken on a more passive-aggressive approach.” You leaned into the conversation, a smirk on your face. “I let him fill up all the racks and just leave them like that until we run out.”

“Oh? Doesn’t that mean you run out of racks?” Ieyasu wondered, leaning back in his chair.

“Nope, I clear the rack I’m using and just keep filling it when I need it. Which means Michael’s only option is to search for an unused rack before he realizes he has to clean his old stuff.” You look over at him, proud of yourself.

“The only reason that works for you is because you share a lab rotation with him. When I’m in the lab, his crap is all over, and he’s on marrow’s, so he never comes out to check.” Rose sighed, slumping in her chair.

“What about talking to your supervisor?” Ieyasu asked as if it was the obvious solution.

“She asked if I wanted to get into a fight over tubes.” You mimicked her tone. “At the time, it wasn’t as big of a deal, but now, yes, I do want to get in a fight over tubes. I’m not your mother, dude.”

“Erin told me last week he told her it was time to call for back up after she lost her second biopsy.” Ieyasu said with a headshake. “You’ve got to try at least three times before you call for someone.”

“hE dId wHaT?!” Rose screeched.

“Told a physician she needed to call for backup. Apparently, he didn’t have all day.” Ieyasu shrugged.

“Oh my god. He’s insane.” You breathed out. “Giving critique when it’s asked for is one thing. Straight up telling a physician, she needs to call someone.”

“He was the talk of the office.” Ieyasu smiled, and Rose bumped your foot with a knowing smile.

“I’m sure he was.” You barked out a laugh, nearly falling out of your seat. “What a dumbass.”

Once your laughter died down, there wasn’t much to talk about. Instead, the group of you sat in much less awkward silence.

Chapter Text

You had finally settled into the reality that you weren’t going to be able to take part in the partner competitions coming up next month. Since your usual partners were going to have to pair off with someone on their team, it was pointless asking any of them to pair off with you. You shrugged mentally and kept wandering around the open town square. With everyone at the sign-up boards, the shops were empty, which meant you’d hopefully be able to score some useful weapon upgrades.

RoseW@aterHeals010 → So @WildCyt0m3try you wouldn’t happen to be doing anything next weekend, would you?
RoseW@terHeals010 → My call weekend?
Uh, I don’t think so. ← WildCyt0m3try
Why? ← WildCyt0metry
RoseW@terHeals010 → You’ve seen the stuff about the partner events going on, right?
I can cover ← WildCyt0m3try
RoseW@terHeals010 → You’re the best! Yoshi is going to be so excited! He loves fighting with you.
Wait…what? ← WildCyt0m3try
RoseW@terHeals010 → You said you could cover the fight the week I’m on call…
I thought you wanted me to cover your call! ← WildCyt0m3try
RoseW@terHeals010 → Oh, no, I need that call money my dude. Sorry.
RoseW@terHeals010 → You’re the best! I’m off to get you registered and tell Yoshi!
Wait! Rose! What are the details!? ← WildCyt0m3try
RoseW@terHeals010 → Don’t know yet. Gotta go.
RoseW@terHeals010 → You’re the best
RoseW@terHeals010 → K byeeee~

You sat there blinking at your screen until your chat marker showed you as idle. What even was that? It was like the universe had over delivered on your wanting to participate in the tournament, despite the ‘luck’ you were suspicious. You had already gone on a date with Yoshimoto, why the hell was Rose pushing this so hard? Rolling your eyes, you wandered past the market stalls before deciding you just needed to log off and go to bed.

You spent the next two weeks wishing Rose would ask you to switch call weekends with her. It’s not like you didn’t want to participate in the event, and there was nothing wrong with playing with Yoshi, it just felt like a bizarre setup. Maybe that was only you, though? Perhaps you were making this whole thing way weirder than it needed to be. That had to be it. Right?

So when it came time for the tournament, you had bucked up and invited the man to your house. Your living room was clean; all the random papers, mail, and books that didn’t have a home now hid in the laundry room out of sight and mind. An entire pizza, soda, and more chips than either of you were going to eat decorated your coffee table as you fidgeted nervously and wondered if your outfit was too casual.

When the doorbell finally rang, you paused your thoughts, jumping straight off your couch. Maybe you shouldn’t run to the door. The last thing you wanted to do was look crazy; If only your mind would slow down to match your feet. You signed, taking a deep breath before opening the door and smiling.

“Hey, welcome.” You greeted Yoshimoto.

“Thank you for having me.” His smile was bright, and you felt your heart tumble to your stomach.

“Of course.” You nodded, maybe a little too vigorously, stepping aside to let him into your house.

“Everything alright?” Yoshi asked as he slipped out of his shoes. “You seem a little tense.”

“Just nervous.” You responded without thinking.

“That’s normal before an event such as this.” He offered, quietly following you to the couch.

“Right, the competition,” you laughed nervously, knowing he’d probably pick up on it, but you still found yourself hoping he had enough sense to leave it alone. “That totally makes sense.”

“I guess that would cause nerves as well. Though, I was referring to this being the first date in your home.” Yoshimoto shared the brightest smile, and a fire burned across your cheeks as you blushed.

“So this was a setup then?” You mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed.

“Not at all. You’re the one who invited me over, remember?” Yoshi’s smile was warmer now as he dipped his head down, placing himself in your line of sight. “Would it be so bad if it was, though?”

“I-” You paused momentarily, a smile creeping across your face as you took his outstretched hand and agreed. “I guess not.”

Just when it feels like you can relax, Yoshimoto pauses. You watch in awe as he lifts your knuckles to his lips, planting a feather-lite kiss there.

“It’s always such a pleasure fighting at your side.” He says as he lowers your hand to your side. “May we reign victorious once more today.”

It was going to be really hard to ‘reign victorious’ when all you could concentrate on was the tingling you felt all the way to your toes. You did your best, though. As predicted, it was much easier to fight when you didn’t have to worry about communication errors. Playing in the same room meant that you had a shared screen and experience, it also meant that you had to share the couch. While his hip pressed directly against yours had originally been distracting, you found the further into the tournament you got the more the world fell away.

“I’m not sure how that worked, but I’m not going to argue with it.” You mumbled after landing a hit; you only had a twenty-three percent chance of completing.

“I’m very certain it has to do with your character’s superior dexterity.” Yoshimoto offered, engaging with an enemy to the far left.

“Still doesn’t’ mean I’m any less surprised when I actually get the hit.” You giggled, nudging his side with your elbow. “It’s like when you somehow manage to make the critical even though you’ve only got a three percent chance of activating it.”

“What can I say. Clearly, I’m lucky in most aspects of life.” He turned his eyes off the TV and looked directly at you, that stupidly charming smile on his face again.

“Would you shut up and concentrate?” You blushed and gestured towards the TV. “Now is not the time to flirt.”

“If you insist, though I must know,” Yoshimoto’s smile was warm, but his eyes told you he wasn’t done teasing you yet. “when is a good time to flirt?”

Chapter Text

You were disappointed. It wasn’t like you did terrible in the tournament, but doing so well for so long just made you more certain you’d win. Then again, you were always sure of yourself when you got this far, but there was a reason other teams had made it to that point too. With a sigh, you put your controller on the coffee table and leaned back against the couch.

“It may not be a victory, but I still had a wonderful time.” Yoshimoto leaned back, offering you a smile as his arm made its way around your shoulders. Smooth.

“Same, though I would have loved to have beaten Kenshin in that last round.” You snickered, “Would have been the ultimate f-you.”

“It would have indeed.” After looking around the room, Yoshimoto heaved a sigh and moved to stand. “It’s late, though; I should head home before transit shuts down.”

Quietly you nodded and followed him towards your door, offering him a goodie bag and a soda for the road. He refused both, but only after assuring you, he was much too full even to consider eating anything else tonight. His shoes on, Yoshimoto, now took a step out of your front door and turned to face you.

“Are you free tomorrow night?” Yoshimoto asked, a gentle smile on his face.

“Yea, why? Got something in mind?” You countered, feeling a little more confident with his straightforwardness. Not that that kept you from blushing.

“I’d like to take you to dinner.” His tone remained earnest, but you couldn’t help but notice the way the moon framed his silhouette as he leaned against your door frame.

“Okay, I’m off at three-thirty. Send me the details when you’ve got them.” You smiled, starting to feel a little giddy.

“I shall.” Yoshimoto bowed politely and leaned in. The ghost of a kiss placed against your cheek before he bounded down your stairs. Leaving you to stare at the empty street while his parting words played over and over again. “Enjoy your evening. I’ll look forward to tomorrow.”

You followed his directions explicitly. After making it through work without managing to tip Rose off, you now found yourself navigating the streets of Kyoto as laid out to you by your date. Yoshimoto hadn’t sent an address, claiming it was more fun if you didn’t go the quickest path, which was way more like him than you’d ever admit to him. Though you never expected to end up at the station.

“You made it!” A proud looking Yoshimoto exclaimed as he stood from where he was seated.

“I did; you could have just told me to meet you at the station, you know.” You smirked up at him, not bothering to hide your amusement as you approached.

“I could not. Your commute is much shorter than mine, and I refuse to have you waiting for me.” He smiled sweetly as he fished in his pockets. “Besides, you mentioned you’re not from around here. Consider it an unguided tour of the lesser-known Kyoto.”

“Thanks.” A sheepish smile played across your face as you stepped closer towards your date. “So, how about now? Can you tell me where we’re going?”

“Kanazawa.” Yoshimoto offered you a train ticket. “I have some business there. I was hoping you’d accompany me as there is a restaurant I’d like to take you to.”

“That sounds good to me, though, hasn’t anyone ever warned you about mixing business and pleasure?” You cocked an eyebrow up at him as you took the ticket.

“I’m an artist (YN), that’s all I ever do.” Again, the whisper of a kiss graced your knuckles—the sensation sending a shock of pleasure up your spine. Doing your best to hide how flustered you were, you bit your lip and hid your eyes behind your hair as best as possible, quietly following Yoshimoto to the platform.

The trip to Kanazawa was a good two hours by train, which meant you had two whole hours to wish you had brought a book. Not that the scenery outside the window wasn’t gorgeous, but your gaze kept wandering between it and the unquestionably attractive man seated next to you. At this rate, you were going to die of frustration or boredom before you reached your destination, which was unfortunate since you were genuinely curious to see what Yoshimoto had planned.

“You sure you can’t give me any more hints about dinner?” You asked.

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore.” He smiled, looking away from his book and in your direction.

“What if I don’t want it to be a surprise anymore?” You countered.

“Then I’d say you’re much more impatient than I imagined.” Yoshimoto leaned in as he teased.

“I never claimed to be patient.” You took his challenge and leaned in yourself. Both of you now hovering over your shared armrest.

“Of that, I am aware, though, that doesn’t make me any more likely to tell you.” He smirked as your noses almost brushed. “I find you incredibly adorable when you pout."

There was the blush, was your face on fire? That had to be the only valid explanation for how warm your face felt right now. At a complete loss for words, you backed away and immediately moved, so you were facing the window again. How were you supposed to respond to that anyway? Gods, this was embarrassing. Unable to think of anything else to say the both of you rode in silence.

Chapter Text

You had never been to Kanazawa before, so the fact that you were on a relatively spontaneous trip on a Friday afternoon had you giddy. Most museums and parks were going to be closing by the time you arrived, but you’d never been opposed to just wandering a city at night. Maybe that’s why your mom was always so worried about you? You chuckled and swayed a little closer to Yoshimoto.

“So, where are we headed?” You asked as you left the train station for the bus stop.

“I’ve got to pick up a few things for a new project.” Yoshimoto smiled as he pointed to the Higashi Chaya District marker on the sign near the pick up point. “Then we’ll get food.”

“Sounds awesome.” You were about to say more when the bus pulled up, right on time, and the two of you shuffled in and took a seat in the back.

You knew a Chaya was a teahouse where geisha typically performed, while most of them sat on what would have been considered the outskirts of a town they were still well-loved and visited. This particular area had been trendy during the Edo period and thankfully spared in the second world war from the firebombing, meaning it still held a large part of its historic integrity. Kanazawa was supposed to have at least three of these districts, all well preserved and mostly open to the public. Maybe you were going to get some kick-ass historical tea experience.

“You look excited?” Yoshimoto wondered aloud as he leaned closer to you.

“I am.” You affirmed, nodding your head and trying to keep up. The last thing you needed was to get distracted and lost, either Yoshimoto would miss his appointment, or you were going to get left behind.

Slowly, the old wooden buildings began to change shape and color, when Yoshimoto stopped in front of a store with a rich plum-colored banner and brilliant gold lettering you froze. Hakuza?

“We’re here.” Yoshimoto smiled down at you as he walked through the entrance and bowed to the women staffing the front desk.

Hakuza wasn’t your average tea shop; that much you had gathered. The moment you walked in the door, all you saw was gold, gold leaf was everywhere. Curious, you followed Yoshi until he stopped at one of the many standing cases around the store. All manner of things were being sold here, you had your pick of jewelry, beautifully adorned dishes and artwork, statues, though you were the most intrigued by the cakes.

“Interesting is it not?” Yoshimoto asked as he leaned down to see what had caught your attention.

“Ah! Imagawa-san!” The both of you turned when you heard his named called so formally. “Welcome, welcome. Who might this be?”

“Hello Higashi-san. This is (LN)(YN); she is my date for the evening.” Yoshimoto bowed in greeting, and you matched his gesture.

“What a pleasure, (Imagawa-san I’ve got your order already for you if you’d like to come back and take a look?” The older man gestured towards the back, a friendly smile on his face.

“Of course. Thank you.” Yoshimoto walked towards the back, just before they both turned your way.

“(LN)-san, do please look around. If you have any questions, either of my daughters would be happy to help you.” Before you could respond, though, both of them disappeared into the back.

It was clear, based on the machines showcased in the back of the shop and the wares on display, Hakuza specialized in the creation and use of the gold leaf. Now, all you wanted to know what Yoshi was planning on doing with it. You hoped he showed you when whatever he was working on was finished.

“Excuse me, (LN)-san?” The older gentleman, Higashi-san as Yoshimoto had called him, peaked his head around the corner and waved a hand at you. “This way, please.”

Not a single thing could have prepared you for what you laid your eyes one when you rounded the corner. It was very clearly a room for tea ceremonies, but the entire thing was covered in gold leaf! The walls, the table, even the teapot and instruments, and utensils were gold plated, all in amazing contrast with the bright red tatami flooring. When Yoshimoto chuckled, you snapped back to reality, hoping you hadn’t caught any flies with your mouth hanging open like that.

“This is amazing.” You whispered, careful as you inched closer, trying to get a better view of the room.

“Isn’t it.” Yoshimoto’s smile was bright as his eyes crinkled. “This is a replica of the Golden Tea Room created in the 16th century by Toyotomi, Hideyoshi. Isn’t it grand?”

“Maybe a little too grand? How did anyone get anything done in that room? It’s way too shiny.” You shook your head, still unable to grasp exactly how they had managed to cover the shogi with the leaf without a single crease visible.

“Not a fan of something so lavish, my dear?” Higashi-san chuckled as the three of you began walking back towards the front of the shop.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong it’s beautiful; it just doesn’t feel like a good idea?” You offered. “Think about it, you’re just out of the warring states period, you’ve taken power and mostly unified Japan, and you’re going around bringing people into your golden tea room? There’s going to be tons of awe but also lots of jealousy. It feels like a bad idea to me.”

“I can see your point.” Yoshimoto’s brow creased as he thought about it.

“Either way, it was wonderful to meet you (LN)-san, and it’s always a pleasure doing business with you, Imagawa-san.” All of you bowed to one another before Yoshimoto and yourself exited Hakuza.

You walked in silence back down the road you had just recently traveled, so maybe that wasn’t what you were expecting, but it was still really cool anyway. Like a tiny piece of history wrapped up and disguised as a city. Unable to contain your pleasure, you smiled and skipped ahead of Yoshimoto before turning and walking backward to take a photo.

“Wait, I wasn’t ready. You should have told me you wanted a photo.” He blinked as the tiny black bag in his hand, swayed with each step.

“And you should have told me to wear a kimono, so now we’re even.” You smiled and showed him the picture you’d taken. Making sure to keep your phone just out of reach so he couldn’t delete the image.

“So it would seem.” Yoshimoto smiled at you and rocked his head to the left, gesturing towards a small looking restaurant. “What do you say we stop for some actual tea?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me. Think they’ll have that cake with the gold leaf on it.” You wondered aloud.

“I’m afraid not.” Yoshimoto smiled as he raised the banner flap for you to enter ahead of him.

“Well dang it. I guess I’ll just have to get by without it.” You joked, feigning dissatisfaction before heading in and taking your seats.

Chapter Text

Yoshimoto had taken you on a few more dates after your day-trip, and aside from the almost constant teasing from Shingen online and Yukimura at work, you were having a good time. It was still a little awkward, but you were convinced that it was because you were an awkward person; it had nothing to do with the teasing. You were an adult; you could handle being teased by your friends, right?

Either way, work was a welcomed distraction. As of July, your institutions had been ranked second in all of Japan for general pediatric care, and your Hematology/Oncology and bone marrow transplant division were awarded best in the nation. Meaning volumes had increased exponentially, and you were beyond busy.

More patients meant more procedures and more tests, and this past week had been particularly hard. You’d gotten no reading done, and your research for test development had all but been sidelined for at least the past two weeks. With a heavy sigh, you finished your last analysis of the day and made your way into the lab to clean up your bench.

“(YN) can you come here for a minute, please?” Your supervisor, Haru, asked, poking her head around the corner.

“Yea, be right there.” You turned off your aspirator and pulled off your gloves, wondering what it could be this time.

You had been on bone marrow procedures the week before, and with an average of five procedures a day, you wouldn’t be surprised if you had messed up something important. Leaving the lab, you rounded the corner and headed to your boss’s office, surprised to see Ieyasu sitting at her meeting table.

“Shut the door and have a seat and we’ll get started,” Haru stated, and you died a little inside. What exactly had you done?

Doing as you were told, you took the seat directly across from Dr. Tokugawa and waited for someone to start talking.

“I’d like to use your test.” Ieyasu started, pushing a folder in your direction.

“With?” You asked before you could stop yourself, thoughtfully thumbing through the research articles inside.

“Dr. Tokugawa and his team have been doing a great deal of research in relation to AML treatment and are looking for a reliable test for MRD,” Haru spoke. “He came to see what we had.”

“I’m looking to enroll high-risk patients on a drug’s new study arm, the results so far look promising, but the institution has to be capable of running its own MRD.” Ieyasu leaned back in the char and folded his hands together.

“I’ve been working off of split samples for almost a year now; we’re close to validation, though, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” You offered, starting to feel a little giddy.

“What do you need my team and I to do to get this thing validated?” Dr. Tokugawa asked your supervisor, turning his attention to her.

“I can go speak with our head hematopathologist and (YN) can go over the panel with you to make sure the markers are what you need,” Haru explained. “If not, we can add fluorochromes or another tube to be validated with the rest of the assay.”

“Good. (YN), I’ll send you a meeting invitation. Please bring all the relevant material.” Ieyasu smirked and bowed before heading out of the room.

“Oof, you’re going to have fun with this one.” Haru jokes, reaching for her phone to call the Hemepath.

What she didn’t know was that you might have a good time. This was going to be a challenge, a fun nerdy challenge that had you intrigued and excited. Which made sitting at your desk and waiting for the email that much harder, but in twenty minutes, what you assumed was the time it took Ieyasu to walk back to his office and log back onto his computer, the email invitation came through.

Quickly, you accepted it and wandered back into your supervisor’s office. “Noon tomorrow, I’m meeting with Dr. Tokugawa and Dr. Togo to go over my data.”

“Sounds good, need someone to go with you?” Haru asked.

“Nope, I’ll be good. If I don’t come back though, assume I’ve been eaten and help yourself to my snacks.” You joked, heading back to your desk to finish up for the day.

Chapter Text

With all of your documents now added neatly to the file Ieyasu had provided yesterday, you marched yourself from your lab towards the meeting room outside the BMT offices. Laptop in hand, you quickly set the place up and made sure your connection was excellent; the last thing you wanted was any technical difficulties.

Dr. Tokugawa and Dr. Togo arrived right on time and took seats that faced each other but were still in line with the screen. You started with a greeting that was largely ignored and kept on rolling with the critical information. A vast majority of the info Ieyasu and Mariko needed to know was about the markers being used. If even one of them were potentially affected by the drug study, you’d have to add a tube of additional markers to the assay or revise one of your tubes—neither of which you wanted to do at the moment.

“Very well done (YN),” Dr. Togo complimented, “the marker combinations work out perfectly. I especially like the addition of thirty-eight and one twenty-three to a few of the tubes.”

“I’ll agree, it’s very comprehensive and takes most of the drug studies available into account with your choice in markers.” Ieyasu followed his colleague.

“Ah, for that, you’ll have to thank the hematopathologist team. They picked the markers.” You deferred, making sure to give appropriate credits.

“Either way, that gating strategy is yours, is it not?” Ieyasu quirked an eyebrow as he stared you down.

“It is, I was trying to make the data points easier to differentiate, so I chose gates that pulled the monocyte and myeloid populations apart from each other and the rest of the lymphatic cells.” You answered.

“It’s wonderful.” Mariko smiled at you from her spot across the table. “I’m hoping you had time to read over the drug study information?”

“I did go through it last night.” You nodded, “It’s an interesting paper.”

“We’re hoping to start enrolling patients as soon as possible. How long do you think it will take to get this specific test validated?” Ieyasu pressed.

“That depends. Since we’re currently in the process of validating it, I’ve been running split samples. Could we start off by acquiring samples for me to run? I can cross-check them with the results from other institutions who’s tests are already validated.” You paused, “If we do this with each patient who has an AML diagnosis, I should get enough data for the pathologists to look at by the end of the month.”

“Sounds great, we’ll look forward to hearing from you soon then.” Mariko grinned as she made a motion to stand.

“We’ll meet back up in a month.” Ieyasu nodded in your direction, following his co-worker out of the meeting room.

You guessed that meant it was over? Breathing a sigh of relief, you sent a message to your supervisor before unhooking all your equipment and leaving the meeting room. That hadn’t taken very long, but sometimes that was a good thing. They knew what they wanted and needed, which meant you had unambiguous instructions for once. Excited, you shot off a text message to Yoshimoto and hustled back to the lab to fill Rose in.

→ Got a new work project!
→ Excited to tell you all about it :)
Wonderful news. I look forward to hearing about it. ←

The excitement faded though the more details you gave Rose, you didn’t understand why it was such a big deal that you were working with Dr. Tokugawa. Your not a date, date crasher, as Rose fondly referred to him. Markio Togo was also on the project, and you’d already had more correspondence with her than your current date’s supposed love rival. First, you’d been annoyed, but not the only thing you were worried about was that Yoshimoto would be upset? Why would he, though? Ugh!

Groaning to yourself, you took an angry sip of your water and waited for your date to arrive. This would never have been a problem if you hadn’t talked to Rose, it’s like she enjoyed pulling you out of your comfort zone. YOu were so wrapped up in thought you didn’t even notice when Yoshimoto sat down.

“I thought it was good news?” He tried, leaning towards you cautiously.

“AAHHhhHh!” you yelped, nearly spilling your drink as you apologized frantically to all of the startled dinner patrons throughout the restaurant. “Don’t do that. You scared the crap out of me.”

“I can see that.” Yoshimoto chuckled as he gently folded his hands on the table. “So, news?”

“Oh, right. So, I uh, our lab got picked to run tests for a new treatment drug.” You started.

“That’s fantastic; I assume that’s going to keep you busy at work?” Yoshimoto shared a genuine smile.

“It should. It has been. They want to use the assay I’ve been working on for the past year to look at disease levels in patients.” You explained.

“If it’s good news, why do you look so sour?” Yoshi pressed on.

“Eh, it’s just sort of weird? You spend tons of time developing a test and working on getting it validated, but when people ask to use it, or you get to see it in action doing a cool thing, it makes you feel a weird mix of pride and horror.”

“Oh, do explain.” He cocked his head to the side and listened.

“Clearly I’m smart enough to navigate my way through assay development, but sometimes you just sit there and wonder why they let you do stuff that’s as important as this. Yanno?” You posed the question, not expecting an answer.

“Well, I can assure you I’m more apt to trust something a friend recommends. I’m sure your test is magnificent.” Yoshimoto complimented. “Besides, they wouldn’t have picked it if they didn’t see some practical use for it.”

“That’s true, Dr. Togo and Tokugawa know what they’re doing. You don’t become experts in a field by poking around doing nothing all day.” You sighed, body relaxing a little after the pep talk.

Though the roles seemed to be reversed now, where you had been able to relax, Yoshimoto seemed to have been wound a bit tighter. You cursed that Rose had been right and tried to play it off. If you kept going and tried your hardest not to be awkward, it wouldn’t get awkward. Right? Wrong.

“Dr. Togo? Dr. Tokugawa? Are you going to be working with them closely on this project.” Yoshimoto asked.

“Probably, though, I don’t know why I’d see them any more than I already do, though, maybe for development updates and data review meetings.” You shrugged, sensing the weird atmosphere. “They’re a weird team, but they balance out nicely, where Ieyasu falls short in most social situations Mariko picks up the slack. Meetings are interesting, but productive.”

“Ah, I see.” Yoshimoto was short, but his tone was light as he continued to listen to what you had to say.

“I’ve been tasked with getting the test validated by the end of the month, so as long as I have enough samples, they plan to keep me busy.” You chuckled, rubbing at the back of your neck.

“A shame, I had planned to ask you to several engagements.” Yoshimoto stated.

Was he pouting? It was literally going to be a month, and it’s not like you were going to take up living in your lab while you worked on the project, so why was he acting super weird? Was it just because you had mentioned Ieyasu? Suddenly you were agitated all over again, this wouldn’t have been a problem if Rose had kept her mouth shut and hadn’t told anyone who you’d been crushing on, but you also didn’t understand why it was a big deal in the first place. You’d been going out with Yoshimoto hadn’t you?

“You can still ask me about those engagements, you know.” Your face fell, and your voice showed your agitation.

“I don’t believe it wise to get in the way of your work.” Yoshimoto sensed the change in mood and moved forward, trying to close some of the space.

“It’s not your job to decide what does and doesn’t distract me from doing my work. It’s never been a problem before, why would it be a problem now?” You asked, tone cold.

“Right you are. Shall we order then? I’ll let you know about the events as they come.” Yoshimoto smiled, but you were too over the conversation to return it.

“Whatever.” It was the last thing you remembered saying the rest of the meal.

Chapter Text

That’s how it went for at least two weeks; anytime you brought up your research, there was an issue or a casual comment made to look considerate, and you weren’t here for it. So you’d stopped answering text messages after one, particularly infuriating evening. As it stood, Yoshimoto thought you’d be ‘too busy’ to join him out, so all you were doing was proving the point he continued to keep making. No harm in being the bad guy when he’d never given you a chance not to be in the first place.

You had logged on to Endless Isle, hoping that it would help you blow off some steam. It turns out you were more frustrated than you’d given yourself credit. Work was a nightmare lately, with the new ranking, test development, and personal life all colliding. Rose wouldn’t leave you alone about Yoshimoto, which was more than a little obnoxious. If she thought he was so awesome, maybe she should date him instead.

Additionally, while the panel work was complete on your assay development, you didn’t have time to write up the review or the paper for it. The validation process had started, but for whatever reason, coming across samples, you could run in the lab was difficult. After a week of no samples, you decided to volunteer to go to the OR to make sure you got enough. That was going okay until one of the procedures went nearly three hours late, and you got in a fight with the CRNA in the room.

First, she thought you were the physician, which was wild because if she was that mouthy with an attending, you didn’t want to know how she talked to everyone else. Fortunately, you didn’t have to wait long to find out. After interrupting you numerous times, then trying to roll you right under the bus in a conversation with the actual physician you maybe, totally yelled at her. Something that amused both the physician in the room and your supervisor when you notified her of the incident.

Logging on was supposed to have helped you blow off the extra steam that had been building for the past week, but it wasn’t helping. The dungeons were either not hard enough or too difficult, making for a generally frustrating experience. Aside from that, you had marked yourself as away so nobody could see you were online and playing. The last thing you wanted to do was deal with people right now. That is until you got a gift request.

* EdoPorcupine5661 has sent you a gift. Will you accept?*

After more than a little thought, you changed your status and accepted. It wasn’t long before you were rolling with laughter. What the hell was that? That was so random.

I need an explanation ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → For?
What you just sent me. ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Though you could use it
The Secret Book? ← WildCyt0m3try
Wait ← WildCyt0m3try
I’m gonna equip it! ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Do what you want
I usually do. ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Do I really have to ask?
Ask what? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Why did I have to fish you out of the void with an item equip?
Oh, didn’t think you cared about stuff like this? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → You’re right. I don’t. Let’s go.

Before you could ask where you were going, the field warped as the game moved you out of town and into a new tactical map. You’d heard about this map, and had been meaning to get on and try it with Yoshimoto or Rose. Unfortunately, both of them were so butt hurt lately that you’d been avoiding it and them all together.

It didn’t take long for you to figure out you probably needed to stop playing these side story maps when you were frustrated. Everything was challenging, and you were the right amount of frustrated that it was hard to keep your focus. You were starting to regret not telling Edo what was going on. Maybe it would have been a good idea to vent before the match.

EdoPorcupine5661 → Clearly, this map isn’t difficult enough to soothe your frustrations.
Unfortunately, it’s difficulty may be adding to it… ← WildCyt0m3try
I’m sorry, I think I’m gonna get off ← WildCyt0m3try
No use wasting your equipment when my heads not in the game ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Or you could talk about it
I’ll think about it… ← WildCyt0m3try
The people I’d usually talk to are the one’s I don’t want to talk to ← WildCyt0m3try
So I’ll just go take a bath and wallow ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → You’re more problematic than I initially gave you credit for
Thank you lol ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Not a compliment.
Says you :P ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → At least that much is clear
I got a new project at work ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Let me guess, the person you’ve got to work with is terrible?
No! ← WildCyt0m3try
Actually, I kind of like him. ← WildCyt0m3try
That’s the problem tho ← WildCyt0m3ty
EdoPorcupine5661 → You certainly have an odd definition of the word problem
*sigh* It has nothing to do with him ← WildCyt0m3try
I told the guy I’ve been dating and he’s been short with me ← WildCyt0m3try
Worse, my friend agrees with him ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Ah, jealous boyfriend
!! ← WildCyt0m3try
Not my boyfriend, dating. ← WildCyt0m3try
There’s a difference ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661→ Is there?
Yes ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Does he know there is?
I...hope so? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Maybe you should start there?
Thanks ← WildCyt0m3try
For the record, you’re pretty alright, friend ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Can we burn that record?
Nope! ← WildCyt0m3try
I’ve got fireproof paper just for you ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → That’s problematic
Sounds like you’re the one who needs to rework their deffinitions ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Clearly
Omg I can hear you rolling your eyes! ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Stop it
EdoPorcupine5661 → Go talk to your “not boyfriend”
Yes sir! <’ (^.^) ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → What is that supposed to be?
I’m saluting you! Duh! ← WildCyt0m3try
I’m off to problem solve! ← WildCyt0m3try
Laters buddy~ ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Please don’t call me that

Chapter Text

“I just need to make sure you don’t think I’m your girlfriend.” You started, trying to keep your cool and eye contact with Yoshimoto.

“That much was apparent, especially after how many ‘not dates’ we had to go on before you admitted they were indeed dates.” Yoshimoto chuckled.

“Okay then,” you found yourself breathing a sigh of relief as you relax into your chair. “so, you’ve seen the ad for the next tournament, right?”

“I have, it looks to be a good one,” Yoshimoto remarked, picking up the menu.

“Agreed, you think we’ll have a better shot of winning this one?” You smiled as you bounced in your seat, excited by the prospect.

“Ah, about that.” Yoshimoto placed the menu silently back on the table. “Rose and I shall be participating together for this one.”

“Oh? I guess that makes sense. With her being on your team and all.” You responded, sure you were disappointed, but it made sense.

“Agreed, that plus I’d hate to pull you away from your work. I’m sure Dr. Tokugawa demands much of your attention.” You noticed the casual malice in his tone as Yoshimoto mentioned Ieyasu, and you tried not to bristle.

“Okay, I’ve told you already that time away from work isn’t an issue, so why do you insist it is unless it’s not about the work but who I’m working with?” You asked, fighting to keep your tone even.

“I can only imagine the type of scrutiny he puts your data through; even then, I am aware of your previous feelings for him, so I’d hate to get in the way of anything happening now.” Yoshimoto shrugged as he feigned being nonchalant.

“Excuse me.” Your blood boiled. “First off, my work has to be scrutinized; it’s a screening test for minimal residual disease—a major prognostic factor in survivability. Secondly, I’m literally here, with you, on a date. You’re being dismissive as hell. Thirdly,” You paused in your tangent, not sure if you wanted to finish the thought.

“Thirdly?” He pressed venom in his eyes

“I’d don’t like these nasty and baseless assumptions or being patronized. He’s not even the only doc on the project! You know what? I’m done. I’m leaving” And you did, picked your purse up and hastily handed the waitress your share for the meal you’d never eat on the way out.

After that, you didn’t speak to either of them. You were going out of your way to ignore all attempts at communication from both parties. The only real plus side to the whole situation was that not talking at work propelled your project forward all the faster. In the span of two weeks, you’d run nearly twice as many samples, and all results matched what current institutions already using the panel were putting out. If you kept up this pace, you’d be validated by the end of the month! Excited, you shot off a quick email notifying Dr. Togo and Tokugawa of your progress.

It only took a moment before the phone in the office started ringing. The caller ID didn’t give you much to go off of, and this was either a physician, a wrong number, or one of those weird collect calls trying to tell you that you’d overpaid your electric bill again. As if the hospital’s electric bill was any of your business.

“Flow lab, this is (YN).” You answered, pausing to wait out the game of phone roulette.

“(YN), hi. This is Dr. Togo. Are you and your supervisor available for a meeting this afternoon?” Markio asked.

“I know I am. I can ask Haru and see what’s on her calendar for the day.” You suggested.

“That’d be great. Here let me give you Ieyasu and my cell numbers. Just start a group conversation once you hear back from Haru, and we can plan something out.” Mariko chirped happily.

“Will do.”

You waited with a pen and a sticky note for the number, you didn’t have the heart to tell her you already had Ieyasu’s. It was a quick conversation. The only pause was you making sure to read the numbers back to her before she ended the call. As fast as you could, you left the tech office and headed out to find your manager, who was conveniently not in her office. After a quick search of the lab and a survey of your coworkers, all of whom had no idea where Haru had gone, you sent her a message.

Mariko called ←
Wants to have a meeting ←
U free this afternoon? ←
(h) → Sure
(h) → Does 2 work?

With confirmation your manager was free, you sent the first message in the group chat.

Hi, (YN) here. We’re free to meet this afternoon at 2. Will that work for you both? ←
(i) → Yes
(m) → Sounds good! Thanks (YN)
(m) → See you all then!

Jittery, you fought to hold your concentration enough to compile all your data into one document to present. Maybe it was because you had such short notice to talk about your findings or because it was always a little weird talking about your research to others? You weren’t sure, so you swallowed the lump in your throat and ignored the way your heart jumped in your chest as you and Haru rode the elevator up fourteen floors to your two o’clock meeting.

Fortunately, the room was empty when you arrived. Giving you the time you needed to set up and pass around the data you had printed out for people to look at and take notes on. The glass door creaked open behind you, and Mariko chirped a hello as Ieyasu sauntered in beside her. Your eyes met and, not knowing what else to do, you smiled in greeting. To your surprise, he smiled back.

Chapter Text

“This looks good.” Ieyasu complimented, flipping through the data booklets you had printed out for the physicians to follow along.

“It really does, have the Hemepath’s had a chance to look this over?” Mariko asked, looking between Haru and yourself curiously.

“Dr. Ikara has it in his possession. Once he’s looked it over, someone from the review board will be able to check the data and hopefully give us the green light.” Haru answered.

“That’s promising. Do you have a date that this might be completed by?” Dr. Togo pressed.

“Nothing affirmative. It depends a lot on what is on Dr. Ikara’s plate. He’s on service, so he’ll be busy with cases, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be able to look at it.” Your manager suggested.

“I know he doesn’t want to send these tests out anymore, though, so there’s an incentive to look at it sooner rather than later.” You offered.

“Good. You’ll contact us once you know the results?” Ieyasu asked.

“We will. I’ll let everyone know once I know.” Haru smiled, finishing off the meeting.

Clean up never took long, it was mostly pushing the chairs back in and making sure you only grabbed the chords you brought with you. The last thing you wanted to see was another email about meeting equipment being “borrowed.” Shaking your head, you tucked your laptop under your arm and turned to hit the light switch, only to discover you weren’t alone in the room.

“Dude!” You exclaimed, nearly dropping the computer in your possession. “Maybe cough or make a shuffling noise next time. Scared the hell outta me.”

“Dude?” Ieyasu smirked, “Is that how you address all potential threats?”

“Are you insinuating you’re a threat? Do I need to call HR?” You snickered, a hand involuntarily resting on your hip.

“By all means. While we wait for them to respond, can I ask you about this gate?” He offered the dot plot data you’d given him earlier.

“Sure. What would you like to know?” You put your laptop down and took the packet from his hands.

“Explain the gating strategy.” Ieyasu shifted until he was standing next to you.

“So, I should start by saying we’ve compiled all the data points from each tube into this plot here.” You flipped to the front page of the analysis and pointed to the forward and side scatter gates. “Once compiled, we can place a gate over all the data points in question to isolate those populations in each tube simultaneously.”

Ieyasu nodded along to your explanation. He stuck to asking a few questions here and there about markers of choice and if different markers could be available for better sample isolation. It hadn’t been a long conversation, but a group of people started to assemble outside the door.

“Think they’re next?” You asked, gesturing with your eyes towards the door.

“Probably.” Ieyasu shrugged, turning his attention back to the data. “Are you busy right now?”

“Uh, no. Not really. Why?” You wondered aloud.

“Let’s continue this talk elsewhere.” He didn’t give you time to respond before turning and walking towards the elevator.

You scurried after him, cursing the terrible cell service available inside the elevator as you attempted to notify your supervisor of where you were going. It wasn’t until you were halfway to his office that your message finally sent, and just as you were about to put your phone away, you crashed right into Ieyasu’s back, with enough force to cause you to wobble back a few steps.

“Honestly, you’re a danger to yourself and others.” Ieyasu scolded, pulling his keys from his pocket.

“When I run into poles, I expect them to ring, not reprimand me.” You joked, surprised when he smiled for the briefest of moments.

“Anything to drink?” he asked, motioning toward the little coffee machine on his desk.

“No, I don’t do coffee. Thanks, though.” You bowed your head and took the seat on the other side of his desk.

You’d never looked around Ieyasu’s office before, despite having been in here countless times. Your eyes swept the room, as they did you took note of all the books on the shelf, wondering if they are as organized as you assumed they’d be. There were a few small plants on his desk and in the window that looked out over the construction site for the hospital’s new building.

“Nice view, you got there.” You smiled, relaxing back into the chair.

“Sure.” Gently, Ieyasu set the cup down on his desk and folded his arms. “So you don’t drink coffee?”

“I don’t drink caffeine.” You shrugged. “Can’t sleep when I do. That or my heart feels like it’s going to explode.”

“You’re telling me this,” Ieyasu gestured in your direction. “is naturally occurring?”

“Precisely.” Puffing your chest up as you laughed.

“Terrifying.” His face remained even.

“Thank you. I try.” Leaning forward, you placed your papers on his desk and flipped them, so they weren’t upside down for you. “So, what do you need to know?”

Chapter Text

It had been a productive couple of weeks, excited over the recent developments you took off for home, hoping Edo would be online. Your research was going well, but you’d managed to have an intelligent conversation with the super cute doctor at work, and you had to tell someone. Sure, Edo was one hundred percent not going to enjoy the gossip, but you were sure he’d listen or at least pretend to.

With your game console turned on, you put in an order for a pizza and made your way to the couch to get comfortable. Not even five minutes had gone by before you got a rush of notifications on your phone, all thanking you for signing up for the partner’s battle tournament that was happening tomorrow. Confused and concerned, you stared at your phone, wondering if there had been a glitch, or worse, someone you were trying to avoid has signed up and listed you as their partner without saying anything.

Crap.

You couldn’t log on faster, the moment the game loaded you dove into your game’s notifications looking for clues on who could have possibly signed you up. Then your controller vibrated off of your lap.

EdoPorcupine5661 → Hope you’re free tomorrow. If not we’ll find a time to destroy my meddling friends…
Well that may solve one mystery ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → There’s more than one?
Yes actually. First question ← WildCyt0m3try
What meddling friend do I need to thank with a smack? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → OneEyedDrag0n, turned around for five minutes…
Sounds like a wonderfully chaotic friend you’ve got ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → That’s one way to put it.
Next Question! What were you going to do if I wasn’t free???? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Forfeit? That would have been the only option….any other questions…
What’s our plan? ← WildCyt0m3try

For the better part of three hours, you and Edo put together a strategy that would hopefully cover all your bases. Not that you could predict what every other player was going to do, but you had the advantage of understanding what the major contenders were going to do, which would hopefully give you both a leg up in the tournament. It wasn’t until you had logged off and were crawling into bed that you realized you’d been so concentrated on purchasing new equipment and salves, telling Edo about your week had utterly slipped your mind. Oh well, maybe you’d be able to slip it in tomorrow.

When your alarm went off the next morning, your first thoughts were those of confusion. You didn’t have to go into work, did you? Aggravated, you smacked at your phone until the noise stopped, and you rolled yourself right back over in bed. It wasn’t until your eyes were closed, and you were nearly asleep again that you remembered you had a tournament to attend. Thanking the gods you didn’t have to be anywhere physically, you shot out of bed and ran down the stairs to turn on your console. While you are waiting for the login screen to pop up, you scrounge around your kitchen, looking for anything that would suffice for a decent breakfast. Finally, settling on a comically tall glass of chocolate milk and a bowl of your favorite cereal, you settled onto the couch and readied for battle.

EdoPorcupine5661 → I was beginning to wonder if you’d show.
IM NOT THAT LATE OMG! ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Oversleep? Coffee? Boyfriend?
First off, good morning to you too sunshine ← WildCyt0m3try
Secondly, I’m not late, so even if I did oversleep we’re good ← WildCyt0m3try
Third of all. I DON’T HAVE A BOYFRIEND. ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → So you asked, and he got mad and ditched?
Has anyone ever told you how pessimistic you are? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → All the time. What about it?
As long as you know lol ← WildCyt0m3try
I’ll have you know, he said he knew we weren’t exclusive. ← WildCyt0m3try
Said with how long it took for me to agree even to date he knew better ← WildCyt0m3try
Then proceed to decide how much free time I was going to have based on work commitments ← WildCyt0m3try
I forgot my chill pills that day so yanno…haven’t spoken to him in a hot minute ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → sounds like you
What’s that supposed to me? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → That you didn’t deviate from my perceived opinions about your character
That literally sounds worse… ← WildCty0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → It isn’t, I just complimented you
Pffff, if you say so ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → I do. Now let’s get ready.
Roger that best friend ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Stop
No, you deserved that ← WildCyt0m3try
Also, I mean it <3 ← WildCyt0m3try
Now let’s kick some digital ass! I want that prize!! ← WildCyt0m3try

The tournament bracket was released early that morning. Your first battle wasn’t until round three based on their tiering system, and for that, you were grateful. Sure Edo had already come up with a pretty solid plan, but it was nice to see who you could potentially be facing. Fortunately, you knew OneEyedDrag0n wasn’t participating today, so you didn’t have to worry about being surprised by a wayward ax again. The plan was to trick people into being overly confident for as long as possible since Bow Knight and a Pegasis Knight didn’t look like a problematic duo to overcome. That’s why this was going to be fun.

After hours of competition, it boiled down to the final round. You weren’t sure if you were excited or terrified of this. Everything had gone according to plan; you had managed to keep the extensive and unexpected arsenal of weapons and magic hidden just long enough to get you through the less challenging rounds. If everything went the way you had expected it to, the two would be facing off against Kenshin and Sasuke, a formidable duo.

EdoPorcupine5661 → Ready?
I think so? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Not good enough, you’re either ready, or you’re not.
I’m ready then ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Good

When the controller vibrated, signaling the start of the battle, you sucked in a breath. Part of the tournament was about getting around the map and collecting specific items. Navigating the map was easy enough with Edo a mounted unit and yourself a flier, but you didn’t want to get too cocky. Sasuke had picked up the lockpicking skill in his previous class, meaning he’d take any treasure he could get to without fail or need for a key, and Kensin’s unit had enough brute strength if your dexterity faltered once you were a goner.

The idea was to split up and take any treasure in your immediate area, once those were in hand the both of you would mount a generally weak attack on Kenshin. Sasuke would hopefully round back after completing the collection mission, which is when Edo planned to break off and corner him—leaving you to deal with Kenshin by yourself until Edo could take out Sasuke. The entire plan hinged on Sasuke being sent to open all the treasure chests and Kenshin being too excited to fight either of you.

Fortunately, it seemed to be working. Your fingers furiously tapped at buttons, trying to will the game into cooperating with your skillful button mash. It didn’t have to be pretty right now; it just had to be a useful distraction. When Kenshin finally landed a hit, you sucked in a breath; quickly, you ran the scenario. You were stuck between healing yourself or bet on your stats and take another crack at Kenshin.

Decision made, you closed your eyes and held your breath, hoping your lance would activate its ability. You didn’t want to look, having decided you’d keep your eyes closed until the next turn you waited. It wasn’t until your phone started vibrating off the hook you thought to look around. Kenshin’s avatar was no longer visible on your screen, and the more you looked, the more you realized that nobody’s stats were available anymore.

Oh gods, had your wifi crashed in the middle of the tournament? Panic rose in your chest, but it was shut down quickly when WINNER flashed across the screen in bold. What? That couldn’t be, right?

EdoPorcupine5661 → Well done
Thanks? I honestly don’t know what happened though ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → I hit him with a long-range bow skill, and you delivered a critical hit
Oh, really? ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Don’t believe me?
Not really. ← WildCyt0m3try
I’m convinced this is a fever dream ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Who’s the pessimist now?
Still you ← WildCyt0m3try
It will always be you lol ← WildCty0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Whatever
EdoPorcupine5661 → Don’t forget to accept the prize money
I wont ← WildCyt0m3try
This was fun. It’s been a good week ← WildCyt0m3ty
EdoPorcupine5661 → I guess it has
EdoPorcupine5661 → I’m getting off now
Same, enjoy your evening! ← WildCyt0m3try
Eat something fun to celebrate :) ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Sure
EdoPorcupine5661 → you too I guess….
Awe, you do care!! ← WildCyt0m3try
EdoPorcupine5661 → Whatever

Chapter Text

Excitement washed over you as you put your controller away and turned your TV off. You were told to eat a fun snack. Since you had eaten all of your left-overs for dinner and your chips were wiped out well into the tournament, it was time to go to the store. Without a second thought, you slipped into some comfortable footwear, grabbed your keys and wallet, and headed out to hit up the local convenience store.

As predicted, it was just late enough that there weren’t hoards of people lined up inside the little store waiting for a quick and cheap ready-made dinner for the evening. You walked right in and headed straight for the snack aisle, quietly looking over all the options. After picking out your favorite candy and the least offensive flavor of gourmet chips, you grabbed a bottle of tea and walked up to the check-out counter.

“I see your terrible taste in chips hasn’t changed.” You recognized the cashier from your last potato chip adventure and laughed.

“Why is it that every time I make poor snack decisions, you’re here to give me grief?” You snickered as you put your items on the counter.

“Just doing my job. It’d be a crime if I let people go around making bad snack decisions all day.” The one-eyed brunette jokes.

“Alright then, you’ve piqued my interest.” You gestured towards the snack aisles. “What does a good snack adventure look like?”

“Depends on the situation, lass.” The young man leaned over the counter, and you got a glimpse of his name-tag, Masamune, was it?

“I didn’t realize that mattered.” You quirked an eyebrow up at him, wondering where this was going to go.

“Of course it matters!” Masamune took mock offense and slid out from behind the counter. “So tell me, what’s the occasion?”

“Celebratory; won a tournament.” You conceded, following him back to the snack aisle.

“Oh? Didn’t take you for the sporty type.” He teased

“For the record, I play a sport, emphasis on the singularity there but still. A sport is a sport,” You answered, giving him your best side-eye in the process. “Second, I need to know what gave you that impression. Third, it was a video game tournament.”

“Lass, I’ve seen you run into the bike rack outside the shop seven times. You’re either not sporty, or you’re not very observant.” Masamune finished his thought by grabbing a bag of chips off the shelf.

“Should I be concerned that you’re watching me that closely?” You wondered out loud.

“Nah, I watch everyone who walks by or comes in.” Masamune shrugged, “Free entertainment.”

“Fair.” You replied. Following him through the aisles as he put back the snacks you picked out earlier and meticulously scanned each shelf for a new set of treats.

To say you were skeptical was an understatement. The mixture of treats coupled with the oversized Slurpee who’s flavor had long been obscured by the multitude of syrup added to the cup was the furthest thing away from anything you’d pick out for yourself. You didn’t even bother to hide the question in your gaze as you followed him back to the counter.

“Don’t look so horrified; you’re in the presence of a culinary master.” Masamune wiggled his eyebrows and walked you to one of the open tables in the back. “Here.”

“Thanks, what do I owe you?” You asked, plopping down in the chair he had pulled out for you.

“Not a thing, Lass. It’s on the house.” Then he winked, er, blinked (?), and walked back behind his register.

With your evening snack now finished, you found yourself oddly satisfied and surprised. Maybe he was some sort of odd culinary wizard working part-time at the local convenience store. A smile on your face, you traveled towards the counter to thank him.

“Enjoy yourself?” Masamune teased as he leaned on his elbows.

“I did.” You teased as you finished the last few sips of your drink. “I may require your expertise another time.”

“Wonderful! Another satisfied customer.” His smile was bright as he continued. “So tell me, Lass, what game did you win?”

“Technically, I beat the game ages ago, but the tournament was hosted in the online portion of Endless Isle.”

“Ohhh! Nice! I play that game! We should do some multiplayer or something sometime.” Masamune exclaimed excitedly.

“Oh yeah? That could be fun.” You needed some more friends in-game. “Here, give me some paper, and I’ll write down my handle so you can add me later.”

Without wasting any time, Masamune pulled a piece of receipt paper and grabbed a pen. He was offering them both to you with a smile, one that faltered for a moment before his face contorted, and he let out a strangled laugh.

“What the hell? My username isn’t that weird!” Your face burned bright red as your mind began to race.

“I’m not going to be able to add you, Lass.” Masamune managed between breaths.

“Why not?” You puzzled as he began scribbling on the same piece of paper.

“You’re going to have to unblock me first.” His laughter never faltered as he held up his username ‘OneEyedDrag0n.’

“No way.” You balked before you matched his laughter. “Who would have thought the ax-wielding maniac worked at the local convenience store!”

“It’s part of my cover. I have to remain unassuming Lass.” Masamune smirked as you laughed harder.

“Oh, my gods. For the love of-” You shook your head, but the smile never left your face.

“Does this mean I’m unblocked?” Masamune asked.

“Yes,” You sighed. “On one condition.”

“Oho? What might that be?” Intrigued, Masamune humored you.

“I’m going to need you to be my personal snack picker-outer.” You beamed.

“How did you know?” Masamune threw a hand to his chest. “That’s my dream title. I’ll happily oblige!”

“Oh, don’t be an ass.” You barked out a laugh, before wishing him a good night and heading out of the store.

Waiting until she was no longer in view of the store, Masamune picked up his cell phone and made a phone call. Ieyasu didn’t answer, which was about what he had expected, so he left a voicemail.

“Yo, I just met your little online buddy. Did you know she’s your IRL crush? Can I be your wingman? I think I should be your wingman.”

Chapter Text

The first thing you had done last night after getting home from your adventure was unblocked Masamune. What were the actual odds of something like that happening, you wondered. Sure, you had known the people from Team Kasugayama, but that was because it was a group of friends who had invited their mutual friends to play. Meeting someone in person that you’d only ever encountered in an online game had to be almost entirely unheard of. With a smile on your face, you headed off to bed, you had to be at work early tomorrow, and you desperately needed to avoid Sasuke and Yukimura for as long as possible.

Fortunately, your instinct had been correct. The extra fifteen minutes had guaranteed you a spot on the early shuttle from the garage to work in near silence. It was peaceful, especially with the rain, and you were hoping for the day to stay that way.

It wasn’t busy in the lab, which meant you had time to fine-tune some of the more specific gating elements in your new test. With the day slowing down and the sample load dwindling, you put on your headphones and planned to hunker down at your desk until the end of the day.

Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned; you were so concentrated on your work that when Yukimura and Sasuke swarmed your desk, you nearly jumped out of your seat. So close, you had been so close.

“What can I do for you, boys?” You asked, granting them a side-eye as you shifted your headphones.

“We need bodyguards.” Yukimura let out, exasperated.

“Oh? Not sure why you’re telling me unless you want me to know in case you disappear?” You teased.

“This isn’t funny. It’s one thing to win a tournament. It’s another to land a hit like that on Kenshin.” Yukimura sighed. “We have to live with your life decisions, you know!”

“Not my fault he couldn’t take a well-placed hit.” You shrugged, enjoying the way Yukimura bristled.

“It was indeed. Though I might need a place to lay low for a while if you don’t mind.” Sasuke complimented you.

“You guys are acting like Kenshin is going to off you IRL. Chill out or call the cops, my dudes.” You laughed as they both shared a look.

“If we disappear, can we count on you to call in detectives?" Yukimura asked.

“All I ask is you remember us fondly,” Sasuke said with a bow.

“You guys are ridiculous. Stop.” You snickered as you continued. “I’m honestly surprised, we’ve been playing around with my luck stat, so I didn’t know if our plan would work. I was sure Edo was going to have to come to bail me out.”

“I know your speed stat has no rival, but mixing that with high luck is a dangerous combination I’d never even entertained. Well done.” Sasuke congratulated you with a pat on the shoulder.

“Why are you congratulating her? Kenshin is going to make our lives a living hell online for the next month.” Yukimura pouted.

“You act as though we’re the only ones who will be affected.” Sasuke pointed out. “YN is going to have to watch out as well.”

“Me?” You balked. “Why me? Because I beat him?”

“Precisely.” Sasuke used the dramatic pause to push his glasses up his nose before continuing. “I would be prepared for a flurry of battle requests from him.”

“Oh, is that it?” You wondered aloud. “He’s been blocked for months, remember? Just like the rest of you? He couldn’t send me requests if he wanted to.”

“AUGH!” Yukimura burst out as he slumped forward. “This just got so much worse for us.”

“I’m sure you’ll be okay; you’re both resourceful.” You consoled, swiveling in your chair to try and hide your amusement.

“She acts like she’s never played with him before!” Yukimura whined.

“I did; he liked me.” You teased, “What have you been doing the past few months that you still haven’t managed to win him over?”

“Shut it!” Yukimura’s agitation grew the more prolonged the encounter drew on, and it was showing.

“Yanno, I was down here minding my own business, not talking to anyone until you two showed up.” You pointed out, turning your attention back towards your computer.

“What do you have there?” Sasuke asked, leaning in to take a look at your computer screen.

“Validation data.” You scooted your chair over to make more room for your now curious friends.

“Ah, is this your project with Dr. Tokugawa then?” Sasuke asked as Yukimura looked on, confused.

“Sort of? It’s been my project for a while. He’s thinking about running a study that needs specific testing.” You shuffled around your plots and pulled up some data on the computer. “It just sort of happened that I was already cooking something up.”

“Interesting. What a lucky twist of fate.” Sasuke pondered.

“How so?” You mused.

“It’s not every day that you get to work with a partner in real life and a video game like that.” Sasuke continued.

“I’m not following you at all there, buddy.” You grimaced, trying to put your finger on what Sasuke was trying to say.

“Dr. Tokugawa is Edo is he not?” Sasuke tilted his head as he asked you his question.

“I don’t know who Edo is.” The confusion was evident on your face. “What makes you say it’s Ieyasu?”

“Yoshimoto told us.” Yukimura chimed in. “Didn’t he tell you?”

“No. How does he even know that?” You could feel the grimace starting.

“They have, history, yes - history.” Sasuke struggled to explain it well.

“I’m surprised he didn’t tell you.” Yukimura pointed out nonchalantly.

“Maybe he doesn’t know it’s me?” You tried to offer, knowing full well you’ve potentially told your crush some super deep things.

“While that is possible, you will never have an answer unless you ask.” Sasuke offered.

“Why would I ask? What if he doesn’t know? That’ll just make things awkward.” You could feel the anxiety rising in your chest.

“Knowing you, it’s already going to be awkward now that you know.” Yukimura chuckled as he patted your shoulder. “You’re better off just asking before you explode.”

“Why, why did you have to go and make this more complicated?” You begrudged.

“I’m sure you would have found out eventually.” Sasuke offered.

“Is that your way of trying to make me feel better?” You sighed.

“No, I’m realistic.” he fixed his glasses. “You’ve been working with him both here and online for a long time. You have feelings for the man in real life. It would have eventually come up.”

“I mean, yes, you’re right.” You glared at Sasuke, knowing he had a point. “At least that is more organic than whatever I’m about to go do now.”

“Oh, can I come to watch?” Yukimura asked, not even trying to hide the amusement in his voice.

“No.” You deadpanned.

“What if I say I’m there as emotional support?” Yukimura offered.

“Accept, we both now know you’re not?” You snickered, despite the turmoil in your brain.

“Fine, good luck and have fun, I guess?” Yukimura tossed his hand in the air. “C’mon, Sasuke, we need to get back to the floor.”

“Do we?” Sasuke wondered before checking his watch.

There wasn’t anything said after he raised his eyebrows above his frames, and both of them took off. Alone with your thoughts now, the panic started to kick into overdrive. What were you going to do? If Ieyasu was Edo, you had quite literally told the man you had a crush on him! Should you even approach this? What happened if he did find out somehow that you knew? Would he think you were using him, that it was a lie? Gods, you didn’t want that either. A string of curses flew out of your mouth, and you picked up your desk phone before you had a chance to change your mind.

“Hi, Dr. Tokugawa? Do you have a minute?”

Chapter Text

You really hoped you didn’t sound as frazzled as you felt. The conversation had been normal; you had asked if Ieyasu was busy, he said he wasn’t. You wondered if you could go down to talk. He said yes. It was normal, but this didn’t feel normal at all. You had played just about every scenario through your head on your walk over, but that still hadn’t made you feel more prepared. Figuring you had been standing outside of his office for long enough, you knocked on the door.

“What?” Ieyasu sighed, “Oh, it’s you.”

Did you imagine it, or did he sound much less enthused to see you? No, no, he was like that with everyone. You tried to stay calm and not imagine the worst-case scenario and took a seat across from him.

“You’re fidgeting.” Ieyasu pointed out. “What happened?”

“I-” Was that concern? If so, you were making this whole thing much worse than it needed to be. Chill, YN, be chill. “I think we may be partners?”

“Are you just now figuring this out?” He questioned, a small smirk on his face. “Was it the publishers calling about the paper that gave it away? Or maybe the invitation to speak at the cytometry conference with me?”

“No! Gods, I know we’re partners. For the love of-” You facepalmed and groaned before spitting it out. “Endless Isle. You’re Edo, right? I think we’re partners.”

“Oh, who told you that?” So he wasn’t going to deny it? Did he already know? How long had he known?

“A coworker.” You mumbled, unable to make eye contact.

“Ah, so it wasn’t Masamune? Looks like he can keep his mouth shut every once and awhile.” Ieyasu commented.

“Excuse me?” You asked.

“Masamune called me last night. Was overly excited about meeting you.” Ieyasu relaxed into his chair.

“Oh, so you found out from your friend last night then?” You wondered aloud.

“No, I caught you playing portable months ago. I had a feeling based on the stories you were telling in-game. I wasn’t sure, though.” He shrugged as if that wasn’t a big deal.

“Wait, what?” The confusion was evident on your face as you thought back to all those times you had been playing your game around him at work. “Were you ever going to say anything? Or just let me keep telling you my deepest personal feelings?”

“I planned to notify you if the need ever arose. I would qualify this as one of those times.” Ieyasu reached for his coffee cup and took a sip as if it wasn’t a big deal at all.

“I-” Unable to form a full sentence, you stared out the window.

Panic already setting in as you felt your face flush. Thinking back to everything you had ever told him. Sure the work stuff was generally unproblematic, and he had helped you with Yoshimoto. It was good advice, but that also meant you had openly admitted you had a crush on him directly. Oh, gods, what did that mean? Had he forgotten? Should you ask him out? Wait, what if he turned you down? What if he hadn’t said anything since you were technically working on a development project together?

You couldn’t tell if you were mad or embarrassed. It was weird; you had spent the whole day trying to figure out if you needed to say to him, wondering if you should have brought it up at all, and here it could have come up naturally in conversation. What would you have done if you were in his shoes? Maybe he felt like you needed a friend? Perhaps he didn’t know the words to say, sure he was sarcastic, but he wasn’t that much of an ass.

“Do you need help finishing that thought, or do you plan to leave me hanging all day?” Ieyasu huffed, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Sorry. I guess I just wanted to let you know? Uh, I’ll get out of your hair then. Thanks for your time!” You stood up quickly and found yourself scurrying out of his office before you could embarrass yourself anymore. Was it time to go home yet?

Ieyasu hadn’t thought anything of it when you abruptly left his office, you had been fidgeting the entire conversation, and it was clear you felt some type of way. He planned to let you work out your feelings on your own, and he’d talk to you tomorrow when the both of you usually ran quests. The problem was, you never got on.

He waited a week, thinking he’d hear something from you eventually. There were several deadlines for data publishing and a significant competitive quest that were sure to bring you in his general direction, but it didn’t work. Your supervisor dropped off the data stacks to his office, and according to the login records, you’d been AFK since your talk. He needed advice, and he only trusted one person.

“She’s avoiding me,” Ieyasu stated plainly when Masamune picked up the phone.

“I know, heard all about it from the Lass a few days ago.” Masamune chuckled on the other line.

“Oh.” Something tugged in his chest that Ieyasu didn’t like.

“No, none of that ‘Oh’ garbage.” Masamune mocked him. “She’s embarrassed, think’s she messed up, doesn’t wanna bother you.”

“I did get that impression from her the other day,” Ieyasu mentioned.

“So, what did you do about it?” Ieyasu’s friend asked him. “I can only tell the girl you’re the stupid one so many times before she stops believing me.”

“I’m not stupid,” Ieyasu exclaimed defensively, now pacing his kitchen.

“Uh, yes, you are.” Masamune barked out another laugh. “If you’re not, why are you calling me and not her genius?”

“Why would I bother her if she doesn’t want anything to do with me?” Ieyasu questioned.

“See, stupid; you’re being stupid. She’s avoiding you because she likes you. Remember, she told you as much.” Masamune offered. “Which is part of the problem; she’s been gushing to her crush for months.”

Ieyasu fell silent on the other end of the line. Thinking. If she liked him, wouldn’t she have reiterated it in their conversation? Why would she be avoiding him now?

“You’re sure about this?” Ieyasu finally asked.

“If you didn’t think, I was sure you wouldn’t have called me to start with.” Ieyasu could feel Masamune’s smirk through the phone.

“Fine. Where does she live?” Ieyasu asked.

“Uh, I don’t know. That’d be creepy. I caaaan help you set something up, though. What do you say? Wanna go on a date with the Lass?” Masamune asked jovially.

Chapter Text

You were spending way too much time at the convenience store near your house. For whatever reason, Masamune's seemingly endless jokes made it easier to ignore the pit you had in your stomach. Sure, there was probably a better way to handle whatever that situation with Ieyasu had been, but now that you had been avoiding him this long, it almost felt like you couldn't say anything. Taking a deep breath, you decided on a bag of chips you'd yet to try and turned to head to the register, only to yell out in fright.

"Would you stop doing that!" You relaxed when you realized it was just Masamune.

"Nah, it's fun to watch you jump." The man chuckled and patted you on the shoulder. "Got any plans for dinner Friday?"

"Uh, no?" You looked at him skeptically as you shifted your weight, so the things you were holding sat more comfortably in your arms.

"Cool, stop by, and I'll feed you." Without going any further, Masamune walked off towards his register.

"What's the occasion? You don't feel so sorry for me that you're trying to take me on a date to cheer me up, are you?" You scowled.

"Lass, do I seem like that kind of guy?" Masamune leaned over the counter.

"Yes, but also no?" You replied as you placed your snacks on the counter.

"I'm offended. Here I am trying to get you to try this new dish I've come up with, and you're questioning my character." Masamune threw a hand to his chest in mock offense.

"Fine, what's this new dish?" You asked, a little curious.

"Can't tell you. It's a surprise." Masamune smiled proudly down at you. "Just meet me here around seven, and we can go chill in a park."

"The park?" You cocked your head to the side.

"Trying to avoid giving you murdery vibes by not inviting you back to my house." Masamune jokes. "Since you've already questioned my character once tonight."

"I hate to break it to you, but a nighttime picnic in the park has equal amounts of murdery vibes as going to an acquaintance's house for dinner." You barked out a laugh.

"Acquaintance!? And here I thought we were good friends, but I guess you're right. Still, I wanna eat by the reservoir, though." Masamune smiled brightly as he handed you your change.

"Sounds good to me. See you Friday then, friend." You gave a little wave before heading home for the rest of the evening.

That's how you ended up staring at your closet, wondering how much effort you had to put into your outfit tonight. It was technically a picnic, but Masamune had said it was just a casual thing. You knew better than to show up in your work scrubs for multiple reasons, but you were torn between comfort and looking halfway decent. In the end, you decided on a loose pair of jeans, so your legs didn't get itchy in the grass and your favorite hoodie before walking towards the store.

When you arrived at the convenience store, Masamune was already standing outside, dressed nearly identical to you, with a picnic basket in hand.

"Hey there!" You gave a wave and jogged in his direction, "We're twins today."

"Great minds think alike. You all ready to go?" Masamune asked.

"I think so unless there's something you think I'll need." You quirked your eyebrow up at him.

"Nope, I've got everything we could ever want in this basket." Masamune lifted it, so it was right at your eye level.

"Oh? That's a pretty magical picnic basket." You snickered as you tried to grab for the latch.

"Hey, I think not." Masamune pouted as he snatched it away from your hands. "What do you not get about the word surprise?"

"Technically, if you showed it to me now, I'd still be surprised." You countered him.

"Yes, just not at the right moment. Life's all about those little moments, Lass." Masamune scolded you.

"If you say so."

"I do." Masamune encouraged me.

After that, the two of you walked up the hill towards the park in comfortable silence. You had to admit it was a nice night for a picnic, not a cloud in the sky, a gentle breeze, the temperature wasn't too hot or too cold. With a smile on your face, you helped Masamune unfold and lay down the blanket in the spot near the reservoir he had picked.

"It really is nice. Do you come up here often at night?" You wondered aloud as you took a seat.

"Eh, it depends on my mood." Masamune shrugged. "Today's too perfect to pass up, though."

"That's true. I like the way the stars reflect off the water." You admitted.

"I thought you might." Masamune gave you a wide-toothed grin. "Alright, Lass, close your eyes. No peeking."

"I thought you were trying to avoid murdery vibes tonight?" You chuckled as you did as Masamune told you.

"I am. I almost gave you a blindfold but thought better of it." Masamune snickered.

There was a shuffling noise, and you assumed it was Masamune pulling the food out of his magical basket. The familiar sound of bento boxes unclipping and the smell of something savory made you smile. You were excited; this was exciting. If Masamune was as good with actual food flavors as he was at mixing exotic chips and soda's this mean was bound to be a fabulous one.

"Alright, Lass, you can open your eyes now. Your excitement soon turned to mild horror and anxiety when you realized what was going on. This was a setup, and the one person you least expected was sitting directly across from you. When your eyes met his green ones, you saw him flush and look away.

"Told you, the basket is magic. You kids have fun!" Masamune shouted as he ran back down the hill. He was leaving you alone in the park with Ieyasu.

Chapter Text

“I would stay away from the left side of the box.” Ieyasu started as if this wasn’t the most rom-com moment you’d ever experienced. “Masamune intentionally makes my food hotter.”

“Excuse me?” You finally spoke, not truly paying attention to what had been said earlier.

“Stay away from this side of the box. It’s spicy.” Ieyasu repeated and began to serve himself.

A flash of indignance overwhelmed your consciousness and before he could stop you, you swiped one of his wontons. Regret, immediate regret washed you out of your foul mood as your eyes began to water. The cough started no sooner than after you’d swallowed the damned thing.

“Here.” Ieyasu’s voice was stern but uncertain as he held a glass filled with murky liquid out to you. “I can see the question on your face. It’s tea. It’ll help.”

After one last gentle nod, you obliged and threw back three full cups. “What is wrong with your stomach?” You grimaced.

“I did warn you.” He pointed out, pausing before lifting his own food for another bite.

“No, you told me it was spicy.” You pointed your chopsticks at him, “I like spicy, that, that was like, restaurant challenge you’re never meant to complete without bodily harm being taken levels of spicy.”

The only response you got was a quirked eyebrow as Ieyasu continued to eat his hellishly spicy food unencumbered. You relaxed a little onto the blanket that had been set out and decided to break into the other side of the box. Masamune had gone to all the trouble to put this together, and, for whatever reason, Ieyasu was here, scheme or not, seemingly unbothered, it couldn't hurt to enjoy the food and sooth your now singed tastebuds.

“Is your mouth okay?” Ieyasu questioned. You’d made it all the way through the first course and had cracked open the container with cake before anything was said between the two of you.

“Mhh, it’s fine.” You nodded and plucked a strawberry free from the icing.

An uncomfortable silence settled between the two of you, that only seemed to grow in magnitude the closer you got to finishing your picnic. Sighing you put your fork down and laid in the grass, looking up at the stars while the water of the reservoir lapped at the concrete in the distance. It was peaceful, and despite the circumstances you were enjoying yourself. Maybe you had blown the whole thing out of proportion, clearly Ieyasu had been able to maintain a professional demeanor about the whole thing.

“I can’t say I’m used to being the one chasing conversation,” he sighed “though it seems to be something I’ve been doing more and more with you.”

“Sorry,” you winced. “I’m just thinking.”

“That’s dangerous, sure that’s a good idea?” Ieyasu retorted.

“Clearly you have reason to worry, I’m sure that’s why I’m in this pickle. Too much thinking.” You smiled to yourself, trying to find a good way to bring up everything stuck in your brian.

“I’ve never understood what goes on in that head of yours.” he paused, “You do have some wonderful ideas from time to time though. Shall I help solve the problem?”

“Work problems are easy.” You turned your head, so you were looking in his direction. “This is a little different.”

“I see.” Ieyasu moved to put his utensils and the empty bento box down. Turning his full attention to me. “Are you mad?”

“No.” He visibly relaxed at your immediate response. “More embarrassed. I don’t think I would have known what to do if I would have been in your shoes. Or if I would have handled it differently?”

“Embarrassed?” He questioned; his green eyes intently set on yours.

“First, I was embarrassed when I realized I had gushed to you about so much. Then remember that’s a risk you take when you talk to people on the internet.” You shifted and turned your head back up to the sky. “Then by the way I had handled it, instead of talking I just ran off. Then I put off conversation for so long it felt like I couldn’t talk about it.”

“Mhh, that all makes sense,” He listened intently, shaking his head as you explained.

You hummed as the knot in your stomach uncoiled and the stress melted from your shoulders. He wasn’t mad and that was a relief. You did still like him. How he felt about you now thought was a different story, but if he wasn’t mad that meant you could at least still be friends.

“You’re thinking again.” Ieyasu accused.

“I am.” You confirmed as something fell and landed on your stomach.

“A token for your thoughts?” He asked as you realized he had tossed a 5Y piece your way and a flush had crept onto his ears.

“Are you blushing?” You all but screamed, rolling onto your elbows to get a better look at him.

“Your thoughts.” he seemed to be holding his breath, shifting his gaze past you. “Usually you give them freely, you seem to be hesitating now. I don’t-” he paused as a deep red color took to his cheeks. “I don’t like not knowing what you’re thinking.”

You sat stunned for a moment before picking yourself up and scooting closer. With a chuckle you handed the coin back to him, placing it in his palm, letting your fingers linger a little longer than normal.

“I thought you said it was dangerous for me to think.” You teased, feeling giddy. “You must enjoy living life on the edge. If you insist, I’ve just thought of a new problem I need your help solving.”

“I don’t like that look on your face.” Ieyasu sighed as his color returned to normal. “I’m willing to indulge you though, come on then. Out with it.”

“So impatient.” You sighed leaning back on your hands looking him directly in the eyes. “The problem is that you know how I feel about you, but I don’t know how you feel about me.”

For a moment the only sound you could here were the cicadas and the water of the reservoir, you’d think it was peaceful if you heart wasn’t about to hammer its way out of your chest. Ieyasu hadn’t moved, he wasn’t looking away, as a matter of fact you weren’t certain he was even breathing anymore.

“Yes.” He finally said.

“Yes, yes what? That is literally so vague and doesn’t answer my question at all.” You burst into a laugh before another serious silence fell over the two of you.

“Yes." Ieyasu looked up at you from where he had been burning a hole in the grass and soothed the spot on his hand you had brushed earlier with his fingers, "I like you.”

Chapter Text

You short circuited, not quite sure what to do with the information he had just given you. Sure, you had asked him how he felt about you, but ever the pessimist, you had braced yourself for rejection. If your mind was a lake your thoughts were drowning as you began to spiral. He liked you? I mean that’s what you had wanted, he was smart, witty, and despite the generally unapproachable facade he frequently utilizes to interact with strangers and acquaintances, you found he had a softer way of expressing his thoughtfulness that you really enjoyed.

“I would feel more reassured if you responded (YN),” Ieyasu sighed, “or breathed.”

At that you let out a shaky laugh “Am I dead? Did Masamune bring me up here and actually murder me? Is this real?”

“I hope so, though, that’s not really the response I was anticipating so who knows.” Ieyasu shrugged, “Maybe it’s my nightmare and you’re my new sleep paralysis demon, here to taunt me for my indecision.”

“Nightmare?” You puzzled aloud as you leaned in closer, fascinated as the color bloomed in splotches up his neck, ears, and cheeks.

“Oh, you know,” Ieyasu mumbled, “you finally get the chance to tell your person you have feelings for them only to find out you’re not wearing pants. Or that it’s an auditorium full of people and your personal admission turned into a hot mic moment so now they’re embarrassed you accidentally put them on the spot. Or they confess and you’re so surprised your soda shoots out your nose all everything, so you have to awkwardly blot it off while apologizing instead of looking cool or romantic, with the added bonus of being awkward and sticky the rest of the day.”

For the second time that evening your mind stalled as the gears ground to a halt shutting out most of Ieyasu’s nervous yet oddly specific ramble. Your voice shuddered as you breathed out, interrupting him “You think I’m your person?”

“I-I do.” His eyes met and held yours as he paused and answered with quiet certainty. “You are.”

The smile spread across your face uninhibited, a squeal leaving your lips as you pounced.

——

Ieyasu’s first thought was that your hands were cold against the seemingly permanent and unwelcome flush that had spread up from his chest. His heart hammered against his ribs at the taste of you, strawberries and cream, the dessert you had been sharing before this fateful conversation. He willed the moment to last forever before realizing he hadn’t moved, and his arms were hovering awkwardly at your sides like he was a scarecrow. Nobody wants to kiss an unresponsive mannequin, he scoffed at himself pushing away any further indecision before mirroring your movements.

He realized you must have noticed the shift because Ieyasu could feel your smile against his lips before he ventured to tease them apart. His whole body seemed to tingle with electricity at the huff of breath and hushed hum of content you exhaled from your nose all while offering the perfect counterpressure.

Your mouth was warm and inviting, in stark contrast with the chill of your skin that he now absentmindedly traced patterns against under the hem of your sweatshirt, and your soft hushed pleas for more had his mind melting. Time, Ieyasu mused, had managed to speed up and slow down all at once, and if he had his wits about him he’d have offered to study the phenomenon himself.

All the air and thoughts came rushing back into his mind all at once when you pulled away from him and flashed him a conspiratory smile. “Normally I’d mention you need to take me to dinner first but that’s sort of what this is isn’t it?”

“I can still take you to dinner another time? Or lunch?” Ieyasu noted the goosebumps that trailed his fingers on your back with unrestrained infatuation. “Though the cafeteria at work isn’t what I would consider gourmet dining.”

With a sigh you pulled away from him, despite his attempts to follow your warmth. He must have been making a face because you giggled and leaned in a final time to peck him on the cheek.

“Let’s call this paying it forward.” Smirking, you stood and brushed the dirt of your pants and straightened your hoodie. “As wonderful as this is, I’m not a fan of spectators or grass stains, what do you say to moving this party elsewhere?”

Before Ieyasu had the chance to ask about who could possibly be in the park this late at night, he was hauling himself off the ground and following you down the hill. The two of you were just past the tree line when you turned back from him and said, “Since you got a free show, and we’re currently trying to remain occupied I’ll leave the rest for you to clean.”

“Oh come on Lass! That’s not fair! I had to make sure neither of you had ended up in the reservoir.” To Ieyasu's horror, Masamune shouted and rounded towards the both of you from where he was hidden behind a thicket of trees.

“Sorry, somethings come up! Can’t stick around. Full five-star review for dinner and service though! See you later friend!” You offered a mock salute and hurried down the trail, pulling him along behind by the sleeve of his jacket.

And that’s how he ended up back at your place.

----

You wished you had cleaned up literally any part of your house before heading out tonight but pouting and wallowing didn’t bode well for your motivation. With a sheepish grin you slid off your shoes and invited Ieyasu in. You watched him take in every detail of the entryway, the shoes strewn about, the unclasped umbrella haphazardly hanging from the railing in the closet that seemed to be mostly devoid of your outdoor coats.

A silence you hoped was mostly nerves persisted as you lead him past the living room with your half-eaten bag of chips and empty soda cans. You just had to make it past the kitchen and book it towards the stairs as fast as possible then you'd be mostly in the clear. Finally resolved to do just that you picked up your pace, nearly slipping in your socks on the wood floor when you hear him break into a laugh.

“At least I know you have coats.” Ieyasu pointed to your kitchen table where each chair had a different jacket draped over the back of it.

With a blush you could feel behind your eyes you grunted, “I didn’t exactly expect company and my mind has been other places. Cleaning hasn’t really been a priority of late.”

“Do you plan on snuggling under a mountain of laundry?” Ieyaseu teased, a glint of humor in his eyes.

“Bold of you to assume it made it off of the line.” You gestured toward the patio door, where your laundry was visibly fluttering in the breeze.

He blinked at that, and you were wholly and completely sure he was ready to pack it up and leave. You were already working on the apology for the mess when the panic started to flutter up from your stomach. Just before it could take hold and seize your chest and the moment Ieyasu let out another peel of laughter and pat you on the head.

“This is the most you place I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing in my life. Sort of reminds me of your inventory shelf in the lab, just on a larger scale.” He motioned for you to continue onward and upward, without anything to add you did just that.

With a renewed pep in your step, you pulled Ieyasu up the stairs behind you. Haphazardly pointing out the single bathroom on the second floor before pulling him into your room for the rest of the night.