Some Toy Pokemon Doodles I Worked On A While Ago (including The Rough Draft Of My Slinky Shinx I Uploaded

mushishi/蟲師

Mushi-shi x Mitski

<3

I started making this earlier but got distracted and forgot but this was the first thing that popped up in my mind LMAO. Killer is not paid enough to deal with this poor guy

Opposites of Attraction, Chapter 2

18+ MDNI | on Ao3

The other chapter

Thank you to @nocturnalrorobin and @limitlesstildil for beta-ing this work!!

Your POV

“ - and so this Squirt is comin’ on board. Any problems and I’ll dump her overboard,” Kid yelled out to the assembled crew. He’d finally released you from his arm and demagnetized your lips now that the ship was sailing on the open water.

“No you won’t,” you said with disinterest, looking around at the ship past the assembled crew. You were familiar with some of them from wanted posters - Wire, Heat, Quincy, Emma, as well as some others you thought you recognized but weren’t sure. 

“Heh, don’t tell me what I will or won’t do. I’m the Captain here -”

“You gave yourself the nickname ‘Captain,’ doesn’t make you one,” you said dryly, now walking away from Kid and towards the mast for further inspection. Kid went red up to the tips of his ears.

“It’s not a nickname you fuckin’ bitch! This is my ship-”

“Then why’s it in quotes on your wanted posters and no one else's? Eustass ‘Captain’ Kid?” you smirked at him, making air quotes. You weren’t looking at him anymore though, you were more interested with the metal on the ship. You reached out to touch the steel-plated mast. Shitty quality , you thought to yourself. Now Kid’s chest was red too. You wondered if you could turn him red from the top of his ears down to his feet. Maybe he’d run out of blood before then and die - it was a theory you’d like to test.

“Besides, you can’t throw me overboard. I would fuck your shit up before you got the chance,” you said, now touching the shitty iron. Damn, what did they pry this off of? A kid's sandbox?

“Yeah, and how? I control -” 

“You control magnets but I control the metal,” you said with a grin, flipping him off with one hand. Still touching the metal on the mast, you added significantly more (and better quality) steel to what was already there. You used your power and a little creativity to shape it into a giant sized hand giving Kid the middle finger.

“Good likeness,” Killer said, giving you a thumbs up.

“Thanks Killer! I’m okay with sculptures, but -”

“You like it so much, you can fuckin’ stay there!” Kid yelled, probably annoyed he was already forgotten due to your awesome statue. Without warning you were jerked backward so the entirety of your body was stuck against the mast. You hit the mast hard, the air pushed out of your lungs with the unexpected movement. Kid stormed off to another area of the ship, boots stomping all the way. You rolled your eyes and molded the steel you’d added back around the mast, giving yourself a metal chair to be magnetized to. You couldn’t leave the mast but you could make it nicer for yourself. The crew broke apart to go back to work but a few came up to you as you stayed put. You watched Quincy stand up from the crate she was sitting on and hold onto it for a few moments while bent over before she righted herself. You’d always liked the looks of her from her posters but unfortunately, she left and the Commanders came over.

“You’re Wire, right?” you asked, looking the tall man up and down as he came to introduce himself.

“You know that’s right. You heard about me, Babe?” he said, leaning over you onto his forearm and giving you a wink. Did that actually work on anyone?

“Smallest dick on the seas, that’s what they say,” you deadpanned as the Commander’s face soured. Killer and another Commander laughed heartily as Wire gave you a scowl and stomped away, much like his Captain. You weren’t sure how they’d made it this long with such fragile egos - you’d make it your personal mission to deflate them.

“I’m Heat, nice to meet you,” the blue-haired man said to you, extending his hand.

“Nice to make your acquaintance but your fuckface of a Captain magnetized my hands to the mast so I can’t shake your hand,” you said with an overly saccharine tone. 

“Ah, right. Well, I’ll see you around I guess?” Heat said, a faint blush rising to his cheeks.

“I’ll be here until he gets the stick out of his ass, which seems like it may never happen. Feel free to stop by,” you replied. You hoped Kid remembered to give you water to drink otherwise you’d die on his stupid ass fish ship. 

Kid’s POV

Kid was burning off steam in his workshop, welding tiny pieces of metal together to make a metal hawk. He'd felt the iron you created - it was better than almost all of the stuff on board. Creating was a great way to relieve Kid’s stress - after he’d already used the axe-throwing room and decimated the wooden target board. Kid wasn’t one to doubt his decisions but you were already a huge pain in his ass. You hadn’t been on the ship for 12 hours and he wanted to throttle you. Who the fuck did you think you were, flipping him off with his own ship? Talkin’ to him like he was some street rat in front of his crew? He didn’t like your attitude and the more he thought about your interactions, the angrier he became. He was the Captain, you worked for him, that’s all there was to it. You thought you were some tough, hot shit mercenary but Kid knew better. He’d break you and you’d regret ever fucking with him.

Killer popped his head in the workshop, the only person who could do so and keep it attached to their body.

“Dinner’s ready,” he said, hiking his thumb backward to indicate the galley. Kid put down his welding equipment, ready to destroy some food. The delicious smell wafting in from the kitchen told him it was spaghetti and meatballs, Killer’s favorite dish. A passing thought came to him as he stood up from his workbench.

“Make a plate for our guest,” he ordered, his painted mouth splitting his face wide. 

A few minutes later, after Killer prepared and gave the Captain what he asked for, Kid sauntered up to the main deck. Of course, you were exactly where he’d left you, though you’d molded yourself some kind of chair to sit on. Clever. Kid felt a raindrop on his skin - looked like a cloudy night.

“Did you finally remember humans need food and water to survive?” you mouthed off to him. Even with your high and mighty attitude, you were exactly where he left you, unable to move. Really you should be thanking him for his mercy in allowing you to open your mouth and eyelids.

“Tch. You'll survive. Humans need water every what? 4 days?”

“Oh my fucking gods. No, humans die before then. Are you - who's the doctor on the ship?” You asked, trying to look around. Kid's eye twitched with your continued sass.

“You want this food or not?” Kid grunted, holding up the plate of spaghetti while ignoring your question. You narrowed your eyes at the food but your stomach gave off a loud grumble.

“I could eat,” you said offhandedly. Kid laughed.

“Then beg me for it,” Kid sneered. Your mouth set in a way that told him your answer before you said it.

“I'd rather eat shit, Eustass,” the venom in your tone was belied by the continued growling of your stomach.

“Ah well, that's too bad,” Kid said with false sincerity. He pulled the plate back and used the fork to twirl a large amount of spaghetti onto it. Your mouth dropped open as Kid shoved it all into his own. He felt a few more raindrops on his skin but paid it no mind.

“If you feel like eating, or yanno, leaving the mast again slurp , you know what to do,” Kid said with an exaggerated shrug, already turned away with the food in his hands. You didn’t say anything but he did smile as he repulsed a wave of iron coming at him back to you. 

Your POV

It was a bitterly cold night at sea, something you were well used to. One of the many perks of being a Logia fruit user was that you didn’t feel differences in temperature as you could always turn into your iron form. Sure, it was less comfortable to stay as a solid piece of iron than laying in a bed but the benefit of being able to sleep literally anywhere outweighed a night spent with a fluffy pillow. You hadn’t lost a wink of sleep since the day you’d eaten your fruit.

Except when you were completely wet.  

And you were right now due to the raging rainstorm outside. You weren’t able to use your powers anymore and you felt like complete shit but lucky for you whatever intrinsic nature your devil fruit had given you left you still magnetized to the mast. So you were freezing to death and couldn’t make yourself immune to the cold, but also couldn’t move from where Fuckstass had left you. Your teeth were chattering together and you had lost sensation in your toes and fingers as the rain pounded you relentlessly.

The clothes you wore weren’t waterproof or meant for the cold - you had long stopped buying clothes and made your own out of finely woven iron mesh. From afar it was indistinguishable from other textiles but had the additional benefit of providing some protection against attacks. It was not, however, meant to get wet and cold and stick to your freezing body like a second skin. You were hungry, tired, wet, losing the will to live, and freezing.

If the Captain was trying to kill you, he was doing a passable job. If the rainstorm kept up and you caught a severe enough cold, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that you could die. It figured, you led a life as an infamous mercenary and what would take you out was being left out in the rain. You closed your eyes, trying to gather up the scraps of your will that remained. You had come to terms with the fact that water took away your power and ability to swim but the loss of will to live always upset you the most. Shivering as the wind whipped your hair into your face, you tried to steel yourself for the rest of the night. Morning would eventually come and hopefully, the rain would abate soon.

Kid POV

Kid was feeling a little better now that he’d tormented you over dinner. He wasn’t planning on starving you to death, he wanted your abilities for his own gain. He had touched the kind of iron you made for yourself and it was higher quality even than the steel he used for his arm. So luckily for you, he’d give you food and water or whatever after you dropped your bratty attitude. He was absorbed in making the feathers for the hawk when he felt Killer’s gaze at his back. 

“What,” Kid said, not breaking eye contact with his project.

“ ‘S raining hard out there. Coupla hours now,” Killer said, leaning against the doorframe.

“Yeah, buckets. Cold as shit too. No big storm though. Need me on deck?” Kid was unsure where Killer was going with this but Killer never interrupted without reason.

“Squirt’s still stuck to the mast,” Killer said with a shrug.

“Fuckin’ dammit, ” Kid yelled, slamming down his blow torch onto the table. He picked up what Killer was saying - you wouldn’t be able to turn into iron and avoid the cold with all the water but also couldn’t leave where he’d put you. Killer moved out of the way as Kid stomped back up to the deck, his coat billowing behind him. 

Of course, you were right where he left you. You were huddled up as much as you could, shaking uncontrollably. You were wet and shivering and your skin looked blue - Kid almost felt bad for you. You deserved it for pissing him off too much but it was probably not good, he ultimately decided. Grunting, he demagnetized you and removed his red coat as he moved onto the deck. Walking into the rain made him feel shitty in seconds, you probably felt worse.

Kid stormed up to you, wrapped you in his coat and picked you up off the deck, carrying you over his shoulder. You didn’t protest or even say anything back to him, just hung off his shoulder like a sack of grain as water fell off you in rivulets. Killer was watching from the doorway as Kid brought you inside the ship.

“Needs a warm bath, she got too cold,” Killer supplied. Kid growled and gnashed his teeth but stomped his way over to his quarters. There was hot water in the shared bathroom but someone was already in there and you needed the bath now. Easier and faster to just get it done in his own room. He set you down on the floor, his coat now just as wet as you were. Another fucking annoyance he’d have to deal with later. After turning on the spigots in his bathroom, Kid faced you. You weren’t magnetized or anything but you weren’t moving either.

“Strip,” Kid commanded, already reaching to remove his coat from your body.

“Hh- nn-no?” you answered, your tone making it seem more like a question. You were really out of it, Kid thought. He didn’t bother asking again, just started ripping off your clothes. Normally clothes shredded without him even trying but these had a little more strength to them. Holding up one of your socks, he realized it was made of steel so fine it looked like gossamer.

“The fuck…is this chainmail?” Kid grumbled as he tore the steel. He set your clothes aside, he wanted to smelt them down later. Maybe you were worth the trouble, this was good shit.

“ ‘S not chainmail, just mesh,” you mumbled, kicking off your pants. Kid was secretly pleased you weren’t protesting him taking off your clothes. He wasn’t shy about being naked and preferred when others weren’t either. His crew had seen each other naked so many times it was almost surprising when all of them were clothed. Between the two of you, you were naked in a matter of seconds. Kid picked you up around the middle with his flesh hand, noting how light you were when you weren’t being a brat and turning yourself to metal. Kid did try to not stare at your naked body but it was challenging. Your tits were just the right size and he wanted to sink his teeth into your thighs. Kid dumped you into the bath and you hissed at the sensation, recoiling from the water. Kid rolled his eyes but didn’t remark on your pain.

“Get warm then come out,” Kid grunted, leaving his towel on top of the counter for you. Your teeth were still chattering and your body was wracked with chills as he turned to leave the bathroom. You started to lean over towards the side of the tub and Kid had to move quickly to right you again. Water overload maybe - you’d been in the rain and now the bath. Too much water wouldn’t kill you but it wouldn’t feel great either. Killer would be mad if Kid left you in the bath alone since it was maybe Kid’s fault you were in this position to begin with.

“Fuckin’ brat,” Kid huffed as he used his hands to pour the tepid water over your back and head. You still weren’t talking and your eyes kept sliding shut. After a few moments, your head dropped down to your chest as you nodded out. 

“Alright, s’enough of that,” Kid said, picking you up. Getting you warm from the bath didn’t seem to be helping, you were ragdolling as he wrapped you in his oversized towel and carried you to the bed.

“You really couldn’t be more fuckin’ irritating,” Kid said while setting you on the bed. He dried you off roughly, ignoring the way the moving towel had your tits jiggling under his hand. Drying you off quickly, he grabbed one of his shirts off the floor. It was clean enough, it wasn’t like you had open wounds or anything and would mind the oil. 

“Put this on Squirt,” Kid ordered, throwing it at you. You blinked but caught it with a hand, starting to dress yourself robotically. Kid frowned, what the fuck was wrong with you? He’d given you a bath and dried you off, weren’t you better now?

“Can make my clothes,” you muttered, lifting up your hand. 

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare. Do that shit tomorrow. Put my shirt on pipsqueak,” Kid yelled at you. You looked up at him like you were surprised he was still there.

“You still cold?” Kid asked, hanging up his soaking jacket on the coat rack.

“Yeah,” you said, hugging your knees with a yawn. “When the rain goes away I’ll go back outside,” you mumbled into your legs. A soft knock at the door told Kid Killer had stopped by. Opening the door, Kid saw Killer with a steaming mug of tea and a warm plate of food left over from dinner. 

“For Squirt,” Killer said pointedly. Kid rolled his eyes. He ate Mosh’s food once like a year ago and Killer never let him forget it. 

“Gave ‘er a bath. She’s being weird,” Kid huffed to Killer.

“Hypothermia, dummy. ‘S makin’ me tired and groggy and can’t kick your ass right now,” Kid heard you grouse from the bed. 

“Looks like she’s doing better,” Killer said, nodding along with your assessment. “She’s gonna crash soon. Needs a warm place and lotsa blankets to sleep under. Want me to take her to the ladies?” Killer offered, handing the food and mug over to Kid. When the ship was first built, the whole crew lived together in the bunks below deck but Emma and Quincy quickly demanded their own space. They said the men were gross, smelly, and snored too loud which wasn’t far from the truth. So Kid repurposed a stock room into the women’s quarters and they’d made the place much nicer than the men’s. Looking over, he saw you’d curled up in his bed and were already asleep under his heavy blanket. 

“Lemme know,” Killer offered before he sauntered away like the instigator he was. Kid huffed and set the food down on his nightstand. 

“Drink the tea, brat,” Kid said, shaking you with his metal arm. You groaned and rolled over, wrapping yourself up further in his blankets. You looked kind of…pathetic. Kid was sure that come the morning your sass would be back and you’d be spewing all kinds of nonsense but even he wasn’t completely heartless. Shoving you over to the side of his bed, Kid kicked off his boots and laid down next to you on the bed.

“Don’t get used to it Squirt. Tomorrow you’re back in the dog house,” Kid groused at your sleeping form. You exhaled sharply through your nose, annoyed with him even in your sleep. The feeling was mutual, Kid thought as he detached his metal arm and set it on the floor by his bed. He could sleep with it on but it wasn’t very comfortable and his stump appreciated the relief. 

He yanked some covers away from you but not that much. Kid ran warm all the time and even though it was freezing outside, tonight was no exception. He leaned back against his pillows, shoving his hand behind his head. He was pondering what the fuck he was going to do with you when he felt you roll into his side. 

“Oi, Squirt. What’re you up to?” Kid said quietly, not wanting to disrupt your sleep. Even though you were annoying as fuck, he didn’t like seeing you so out of it. He wanted you to be back to your bratty, sassy, irritating self so if you needed sleep, he’d let you have it. 

“Warm,” was all you said as you buried your cold nose into his side and frozen feet on his legs.

“Oi! Warn me before you do that again, what’re you made of ice?” 

“Not gonna happen yawn again. Just tonight. You tried to kill me s’os it’s ok,” you said into his side. You were wrapping yourself around him and it didn’t escape Kid’s notice that your unbound tits were pressed against him. He reacted as anyone else would - he got hard. 

“Didn’t try to kill you,” Kid muttered. 

“Did,” you replied, your arms wrapping around him. Kid was about to retort again but you sighed in contentment as you heated your body with his own. Whatever. Having a sexy (but pesky) woman cuddling up to him wasn’t the worst way he’d gone to bed, he thought as he fell asleep, willing his cock to do the same.

Taglist: @mfreedomstuff

worlds slowest fanfic author tries really really hard

It’s while you’re playing with dinosaurs on the floor that something comes crashing into your grand fight seen. You boggle a moment, caught off guard by the sleek white train that’s now knocked onto its side thanks to your mighty Tyrantrum. But you pick it up, and glance around the room to see who lost their toy.

All the other children are playing on their own. You can see a gaggle playing house, the father loudly scolding the “dog” for peeing in the house, thus sending the rest of the “family” into heaps of giggles. There are a few reading, buried in blankets and pillows as they smile at their picture books. And then there’s a lone boy, stood over by the corner, away from most everyone.

He stares at you, eyes flickering between your face and the train you hold. His smile is tight and looks painful.

You stand, and stride over to him. The boy jumps, head ducking away from your returned stare, only to jolt once more when you offer him the train back.

“Here!” You chirp, happy to have helped. “Your cool train ran into my Tyrantrum and had a big crash! But I’m super cool and smart, so I was able to fix it!”

Shaky hands take the train from you, and your grin wavers at the sight of the boy slowly turning a deep pink. You grow a little nervous, especially with his silence.

“Um, okay!” You say, false cheeriness lacing your words. “Bye!”

You race back to your own toys, shouting at Kevin when he tries to steal your Aerodactyl.

You don’t talk with the boy again, but whenever you glance his way, you can see him staring at you still. Weird! But you try not to mind it.

▽

You’re outside today, which is always super fun. You get to dig your hands into the dirt, piling it up into castles and towers that your imagination can fill with wizards and royalty to have drama amongst themselves. You’re so lost in your little dirt world that you almost don’t notice the shadow that falls over you.

You do notice, though, and glance up to see that same boy. His smile is still tight, but he’s holding something behind his back, the toe of his foot tracing shapes in the dirt.

“Hi!” You greet. “Whatcha got there?”

The boy flushes, but shows you what he’s holding. A small Venipede squirms around in his grip, barely bigger than his hands, so that means-!

“A baby!” You squeal, shocking the boy as you immediately begin to coo at the bug. “Hello! Hello! You’re so cute!”

The boy wobbles on his feet, but eventually sets the Venipede down for you to pet. The bug chitters and whines, leaning into your dirty palms. It makes you squirm with happiness, and you look up to thank the boy for showing you his find, only to see he’s gone.

“Oh.” You say, a little disappointed. But you don’t stay that way for long, as the boy soon runs up, skidding to a stop before you with his hands behind his back once more. “Oh! Yay! You’re back!”

The boy gives a jerking nod, then shoves his hands forward. You tumble back some, surprised to see the small white flower he clutches. It smells sweet, despite being so small.

“For me?” You ask breathily. The boy nods again, so pink you’re worried he’s given himself a fever. But you take the flower from him, smiling as he curls in on himself, fiddling with his own fingers. “Thank you!”

You plant a kiss to his cheek.

“Now we’re married!” You chirp.

The boy faints.

“Oh no!”

▽

You eye the man in the kitchen, chattering away with his brother as they fight over what’s for dinner. Sometimes you miss how cute and shy he used to be, but at the same time, it’s nice to see him grow into someone confident and happy.

Sighing, you close the book on the Venipede entry, safely encasing the tiny white flower pressed between the pages to be looked at another time.

Me while writing: oh hell yes this is such a good sentence I'm the master of poetic imagery

The writing when I go back to edit:

Let's Go Fishing!

Adashino x reader x Ginko (can be read as platonic or romantic)

You and the boys take a dip in the river. When you're half yokai and have inhuman reflexes, a few fishes aren't a problem for you.

Summer heat was the worst heat.

Second only to the heat of drought-dried reeds going up in flames and the burning tinder of beloved houses, the summer heat pressed down upon everything, rendering the far-off mountain tops into hazy, quivering mirages. Your yukata stuck to your skin uncomfortably as you shifted from your spot on the wooden floor. The rhythmic pounding of Ginko’s mortar and pestle sounded through the air and you groaned, turning your head to look at him.

“How can you stand to work in this heat?”

“‘M used to it,” he grunted. “One time I went with a guy to chase down a rainbow. This was during that heatwave we had a while ago so we had to travel during the hottest time of the day to catch up to the rainclouds.”

“Yikes,” you muttered. “Can’t imagine doing that at all.”

Ginko tilted his head, one single emerald eye looking at you through the haze of his cigarette smoke. “Then what’d you do during the heatwave then?”

You grinned lazily at him, swiping the sweaty baby hairs off your forehead. “Why I slept, of course! I’d find some river bank, a nice shady tree, and I’d sleep in its branches.”

“Wish all of us would have that luxury,” he grunted, lifting the pestle and tapping it against the side of the marble pestle. Fine golden grains shifted around as he tilted it into a vial, carefully scraping the powder into it with a stiff reed. Once done, he plugged it up with a cork and searched for something around him. Spotting your lazy form sprawled out where you were, he pointed to a stack of labels next to you.

Ginko pointed at them. “Hey, can you hand me those?”

A flick of your fingers summoned a gust of wind, sending the paper fluttering past you and toward the Mushishi. They danced around his form and he deftly plucked them from the air, swiping a brush and ink from his cabinet and popping the ink bottle open. With a deft hand, the mystery vial soon received a label as he wrote it on the paper you sent.

“What’s that?” You hummed.

“Pollen from flowers that the Usobuki frequent,” Ginko hummed. The familiar name was that of the butterfly mushi he told you about, one that would make those afflicted by it fall asleep with it until a false spring started. 

It was the same one responsible for the summer and spring that he went missing in when you search until your feet bled and your voice gave out from yelling his name. So hearing that he was dealing with it again made your hackles raise, a dangerous look on your face.

Ginko didn’t notice, too busy tucking the bottom away into his little medicine cabinet. “The mushi itself puts people to sleep but I discovered that if a small dose of the flower pollen is taken with water, it could be an effective sleep remedy, especially for mushi-related problems.”

“I see.” The thought of a sleeping draught sounded appealing because, despite all the jokes you make about naps, any semblance of sleep for you was haunted by memories you’d rather forget. You opened your mouth, almost tempted to ask him for a bit but hesitated.

Ginko glanced at you, a verdant eye picking up the expression on your face. “Hm?”

“I–”

The shoji door slammed open, Adashino behind it using his foot to move the screen. “Drinks here.”

You did a complete shift, hiding your turmoil as you cheered and flipped over to your front, thin yukata riding up to what would’ve been an indecent length if you were an upstanding citizen in society. Adashino didn’t say anything but groaned as he set down the tray and sat next to you. Ginko snuffed out the cigarette, allowing the smoke to waft away so it wouldn’t bother you before shuffling closer. Though it still lingered on his person as he sat down with you and Adashino, it thankfully didn’t bother you like usual.

The dark-haired man took off his lens and began polishing the circle of glass.“I knew it would get hot so I put some amazake in to chill in the icebox. There’s also ice in there too.”

“Thanks, Adashino! Maybe we can have some cold soba later then.” Propping your head up in one arm, you reached for the cups filled with the fermented rice liquid as the other did too. The creamy, sweet taste of the drink filled your mouth as you took a sip and you sighed happily. “Ahh, Ginko, what’s the use of going at each other’s throats about who’s doing what in the heat when it’s Adashino who’s the privileged one? He’s got a nice big house and an icebox of all things.”

“Being a doctor, and living by the waterfronts has its perks,” Adashino replied dryly. “I do say that you two are always welcomed to stay here.”

Ginko simply took a pointed, obnoxious sip of his rice drink, letting the noise draw out in the hazy air. You snorted and Adashino shot a dirty look at you both. Quiet filled the hot air as everyone settled down to enjoy their drinks, accompanied by the sounds of nature around you all. Every breath you took filled your lungs with uncomfortable warmth and you cursed the neverending sun.

The calmness of the summer day brought back long-faded memories of your mother teaching you how to fish in the stream, helping fight off the heat and simultaneously bringing food home for the day. The thought of cooling down made you give a wistful sigh as you finally sat up. “I could go for a dip right now…”

Then the thought hit you and you gasped, sitting up straigh and making the other two look at you with startled–if not slightly irritated–expressions.

You pushed your sweaty hair back from your face, eyes alight in excitement. “The fishermen should be done for the day, right? Then we won’t be bothering anybody if we go to the river to cool off then. You also said you wanted to get some fish for later so I can catch some too.”

Ginko raised his eyebrow. “We don’t have a boat though.”

“I can swim,” you volunteered excitedly. “I would love to be in the water right now.”

Adashino leaned back on his arms, a thoughtful look on his face. “Hmmm… I think that’ll be alright. Besides, I won’t mind spending a little time in the water.”

You popped to your feet excitedly, eagerness overtaking the sluggish haze of the heat.

“Come on! My mom–I was taught how to fish when I was younger. With the fish that the Suiko’s body brought in, I can promise we’ll have fish in no time.”

“The river is calm this time of year…” Adashino agreed. “I wouldn’t mind soaking my feet for a while.”

Both of you turned your expectant gaze onto Ginko, who gave a long-suffering sigh and knocked back the last dredges of his drink before slamming the wooden cup back down onto the tray. “Never say I don’t do anything for you two.”

Cheering, you swooped down to gather up the cups into the tray to whisk them away, prancing ahead of the males as they slowly got up from their spots. The sun beat down upon you again as you moved to the front of the house to wait for them. Thankfully, you stood under the engawa so most of the heat was kept off as you fixed your yukata.

“Hurry up, you two!!!”

“Coming.”

In a few short moments, both Ginko and Adashino joined you, the latter with a woven straw hat on his head as he handed a shallow basket to the white-haired man. The three of you made your way down the path to Adashino’s residence, greeting the occasional villagers who passed by. It wasn’t a long walk to the beach, but the three of you opted for a detour to a more secluded area by the river deeper into the forest. But that meant that by the time you reached your destination, sweat had begun to stain your dark yukata. Maroon was not a good color in the heat, no matter how much you liked the color.

“At last,” you sighed, flopping down on the grass beneath a dappled shade of a tree.

“Tell me why we like to go here when we have a perfectly good beach at a much shorter distance?” Ginko sighed as he set down the basket.

“We’d roast alive if we went out there in this sun,” Adashino replied.

You sat up, sharp eyes scanning the water and spotting the almost imperceptible flickers of scales underneath the surface. A sharp grin spread over your face as you stood up, pulling up your sleeves and rolling them back. “Water’s shallower here and the fishes like to stay in the coverage. I can catch them easier.”

Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath, sighing out deeply as your fingers came up to press over the lids of your eyes. The telltale smell of ozone filled the air as your magic activated. For a moment, your full visage was revealed and you heard Ginko and Adashino shifting behind you. Black fox ears flashed into existence, hung low on either side of your head, a flicker of unearthliness surrounding you. Then they disappeared. With any other person you would not have allowed the thought of letting your true appearance show, but your trust in the two males was unshakable. You knew there was nothing that would make them betray your trust out of their own free will.

A moment passed and then you took your fingers away from your eyes, turning around to blink at the two as the golden glow faded away from your eyes. 

“Everyone okay?”

“What did you use your magic for?” Ginko asked.

You kicked your sandals off. “To keep the debris out of my eyes.”

Keeping an eye on the river in front of you, you began stepping into the cool flowing waters. Before you can get far, your shoulder was grabbed and you jolted.

“Wait.”

Ginko had walked in after you, his face serious. A single, piercing green eye looked into yours.

You tilted your head. “Yes?”

“How are you sure it’s safe?”

Realizing his concern for what it was, you relaxed and gave him an easy smile, hand raising up to pat the one on your shoulder. “I’ve gone into this part of the river before during worse conditions. In fact, this part is one of the safest areas of the river, I made sure of it before showing it to you guys.”

You had met a local river yokai around here to help it save some of the members of its family. A grateful family, a game of stone skipping, and a favor later ensured that this area would be in their blessing and be safe for you and those you brought with you.

Despite your reassurances, his eyes roved over the still surface behind you. “Hm.”

“I’ll be fine, Ginko. I’m a very good swimmer,” you said, patient with him as you shared a look with Adashino. Though you weren’t there for the event itself, you had arrived just days after the event with the Suiko had gone down and had heard Io’s story in its entirety. The race to catch a girl who swam with the swamp and bountiful fish that lasted till this day. You were also there in the aftermath with Adashino, seeing Ginko’s haunted looks as he regarded the waters around him.

No matter how hard he tried, he could not hide his demons from one who was considered a half-demon too.

“If anything happens, I’ll shout for you alright? I won’t go far.”

“We can stick in the shallows, Ginko. Just in case,” Adashino said from his spot leaning up against the tree. “There isn’t anything large in these waters so we’ll be the most dangerous fish around.”

Ginko finally let go of you, sighing. “Be careful.”

You short him a reassuring grin, turning to wade deeper into the water. Your dark yukata spread out around you, wine red against the sparkling water. Behind you, you heard the two splashing around against the shore, but they did not follow you. Slowly, the water rose to waist level, and then a bit more. You went out until you reached the middle of the river, treading water as you turned around.

“I’m going down now. Get the basket ready!”

There was an affirmative call and you waited until you saw Adashino fetch the item, giving you a nod from across the bank. Giving the two males a wave, you took a deep breath and dove under the water.

The world silenced, cutting away into the dull, muffled noise of water rushing overhead. You drifted in the peace for a moment before opening your eyes.

Another world greeted you, blue-tinted and sparkling with sunbeams filtering down from above. It fluttered with the creatures down here, a dance of life.

You wondered if this was what Ginko saw when he talked of the Koumyaku, the glittering, living river of light.

A silver streak flashed by the corner of your vision and you snapped your head to it. A school of fish, unaware of the danger now within their mist. A slow grin stretched across your face, teeth losing their human flatness as your heart picked up in anticipation of the hunt. 

Thank you for this offering.

Like the silt of the river, your illusion slipped away in the flowing streams of the water. Your dark form sliced through the water, chasing after the fish. Nails, too sharp to belong to a normal human, swiped at glittering, silver-scaled bodies and snatched them up faster than they could react. Once you hand a handful of squirming fish by the tails, you shot off towards the bank. Surfacing with a gasp and a splash, you waved at them with the fish dangling from your grip.

“Hey! I got them!”

“Bring them in!”

You began kicking off towards the pair, slower now that you had to rely mostly on your legs. Adashino and Ginko began wading out to meet you too and a brilliant idea hit you. As your toes touched the bottom of the river, you reared back a fish in hand as the remainings were moved to your other one.

“Catch!”

Adashino’s eyes widened as the fish went sailing through the air. He yelped, lunging forward with his basket to let the fish flop down into it. Thankfully, Ginko’s hand snapped out to grab him by the back of Adashino’s yukata and his quick action prevented the dark-haired man and the fish from toppling down into the water. But unfortunately, that still soaked the entire front of his clothes

Adashino glared at you, front of his blue yukata now dripping. “Hey!”

“Oops–Sorry!” You laughed, totally unrepentant as you waded closer. The rest of the fish–thankfully–was gently placed into the basket. You faced both of them, hands on your hips as you regarded the pair. “It’s only a bit of water, y’know. It’ll help you cool off more if anything.” 

A drop of water trailed down your face from your dripping wet hair right after that statement.

“Yeah, yeah,” Adashino grumbled as he moved to hang the basket from the branches so it could trail in the water. That freed up his hands to fix his water-laden yukata, futilely wringing the fabric.

“Heh, heh. You can’t deny it does feel nicer though…” You turned to Ginko, who immediately picked up the shift in your person.

His lidded eye widened, taking a step back.

You launched at him, hands outstretched and water spraying out behind you as you splashed toward the male.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey leave me alone—”

“Adashino catch him! He’s the driest out of all of us!!”

“Adashino don’t you dare.”

Your bright laughter and splashing filled the air as the three off you ran around the quiet alcove meant just for you three and you were grateful to have another day like this with them.

happy october! here’s some seasonally appropriate goth family

Parts of a Whole

Ok I regret starting a new writing blog during what's probably one of the busiest periods of my life but yolo

Adashino x reader x Ginko (Platonic/romantic friendly)

For as close as you are to someone, sometimes there are some minor hiccups.

If someone were to ask you, you would say that Adashino was the day and Ginko was the night.

Someone less familiar with hem would look at their physical features and say otherwise, but you knew differently.

Adashino was the ever-reliable sun, a constant never wavering and never changing. His medicine may have felt too warm at times, but it burned off the sick. Ginko was the soothing balm of the moonlight’s hand caressing your cheek. Sometimes his medicine nipped at you with a biting cold, but it chased away the crawling maladies and kept them away.

Either way, you don’t think you would have been the same without them by your side. Conversely to the laws of nature, your world revolved around them, even though they might not know it. Kitsunes were known to be solitary Yokais, but to them, family was one of the most important things. That was a trait that you shared in both of your bloodlines, the trait that your parents imparted to you before their passing. And Adashino and Ginko were your family, even though you never told them so. And that put them on a pedestal far above anybody else.

(There wasn’t anybody else, but you were terrified to admit it, terrified of the implications of that.)

That’s why you let them get away with too much, sometimes.

Like smoking cigarettes that were mildly toxic to you. Mildly. Supposedly.

But based on the wracking coughs hitting you now, and the arrays of other symptoms, whatever the seller put into this new blend was a little more than mildly toxic.

“Ginko,” you managed through your growing headache, suppressing a dry heave. “Put that thing out right now or–hrk–you’re going to be cleaning up my sick from all over our sleeping spot.”

“Hm?” Ginko’s half-lidded gaze locked onto your sweaty face and his eyes widened, immediately leaning forward to stub out his smoke in the tray. “Oh.”

Adashino stepped into the room at that moment, arms full of bedding. He took a moment to sniff the air. “I know that smell anywhere. Why is it worse than usual??”

His voice sent a pulse of pain through your head and you wince, exhaling slowly as a wheeze rattled your chest.

Your white-haired friend silently draped a rag over the ashtray, stifling the smoldering embers despite the smoke already in the air. “I tried this new tobacco blend.”

“I-It’s bad.” You tried to get to your feet, only managing to get to your knees before the nausea stopped you.

Adashino gave a long-suffering sigh. “Oh for goodness’s sake, I thought I told you–Wait there.”

He stepped back out of sight for a few moments and then returned, arms empty of the bedding, presumably to keep the smoke from seeping into it. Raking a hand through his hair, he kneeled down to help you to your feet as you struggled to take a full breath. 

Ginko was as apologetic as you’ve ever seen him, hand reaching out to you before he caught himself and pulled back. Already, you could see him withdrawing from you, pulling away from everyone and preparing to flee.  “I didn’t realize how much more potent this new blend was. If I knew I wouldn’t have used it.”

No…

“I told you to stop testing them out inside and before bed,” Adashino grumbled, sharper than intended as he focused on trying to get you to your feet without throwing up dinner.

Please don’t fight…

“Stop it,” you mumbled. 

Adashino realized that the other man was closing himself up and quickly acted to amend things before he could physically run away. “Ginko stay there, I’ll be right back.”

With his help, you managed to hobble your way outside to the cool night air without making a mess all over Adashino’s wooden floors. The man gingerly sat you down on the engawa and–after a moment of double-checking–moved back inside. There was a dull mutter in the background as you focused on taking deep breaths, closing your eyes to try to ease the headache. Now in the open, the clear air did wonders for your symptoms, lungs able to work fully without the smoke wrapping around them. The sliding door was left open but thankfully you were settled far enough to be unaffected as the room aired out. 

It was no sooner that your symptoms subsded when Adashino reappeared. He offered an arm that you eagerly latched onto, still a bit shaky. His presence brought back the warmth into your body that you didn’t realize had seeped out of you body.

“Futon’s ready,” he said airily. “I forced Ginko to beat the smoke out of the sheets, change his clothes, and get new sheets. The room’s been aired too.”

“Did you two make up?” You asked hoarsely.

The man paused, taking off his monocle to wipe it down. “Yeah. I didn’t mean to be so harsh with him. We talked it out though. Safe to say there will be no more smoking inside the house. And all the sheets were changed.”

True to Adashino’s earlier words, three new futons were rolled out in the middle of the floor, pushed closer to the doors than where they usually were. Thanks to the fact that the three of you were spreading out over the large front room of him adobe, there was plenty of space to go around instead of the bedrooms. You gratefully plopped into the nearest one and pulled the blanket up into your lap while Adashino went to move the lit lantern away.

(You don’t know when it started being a regular thing, the three of your piling together in Adashino’s large greeting room, waking up in the morning to find one person or another sprawled all over the place. But what you did know that you slept easier with them by your side when you were here.)

As Ginko stepped back into the room in a pair of Adashino’s sleep clothes instead of his, the fringes of his bangs weightened down by water and dripping onto the clothes. He paused upon seeing you and Adashino, remaining right by the doorway.

Adashino was the first to speak. “Ginko you’re back–why is your hair wet?”

“I washed myself.”

You frowned. “But I thought we used up all the heated water?”

“We did. I just used our regular water.”

You could hear Adashino’s patience getting ready to snap. “I-It’s cold! You might get sick!”

“If I have to end up taking care of the both of you for being ill, I will break out the most bitter blend I have to treat you,” the doctor grumbled, putting out the lantern and walking over to drag Ginko to the futons by the collar of the man’s borrowed shirt.

You yawned placidly and shuffled over as Ginko settled into the futon next to yours. “Are you feeling better now?” The man murmured.

“Yep,” you replied, easing back on your back as your friend was too. “Thankfully, my symptoms cleared up pretty quickly after the smoke got cleared out.”

Adashino pulled the sliding doors closed, shutting out the moonlight. In the darkness, your sharp eyes saw him gingerly picking his way over to the last futon on your other side. You closed your eyes, fox ears flicking as you heard him get into bed and lie down.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Ginko murmured.

“I know,” you replied. “You didn’t hurt me.”

“I won’t smoke inside again.”

“I know,” Adashino said. “There are no hard feelings. Go to sleep you two,”

You burrowed deeper into your sheets, banked on either side by the safety of the two you knew best. A final yawn left you as sleepiness finally seeped back in to your body.

“Good night you two,” you mumbled.

“Good night.”

“Night.”

A sleepy smile stretched over your lips and it remained there as rest finally claimed you. Yes, Adashino was your day and Ginko your night, and life wouldn’t be whole without them by your side.

finally. y/n lore