LikeStartledBirds | Archive of Our Own

Main Content

While we've done our best to make the core functionality of this site accessible without JavaScript, it will work better with it enabled. Please consider turning it on!

Choices

Pitch

Switch

Fandoms

Expand Fandoms List Collapse Fandoms List

Recent works

Awakening(s) by LikeStartledBirds

Fandoms: 薬屋のひとりごと - 日向夏 | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries - Hyuuga Natsu, 薬屋のひとりごと | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries (Anime), 薬屋のひとりごと | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries (Manga), 나 혼자만 레벨업 | Solo Leveling - All Media Types
03 Aug 2026
Tags
Summary

Gaoshun wakes abruptly. There is a slight weight dipping the mattress on either side of him. Three points, knees and hand, and the keen edge of a blade pressed against his throat. He freezes, casting his senses wide.
“Why does The System want you dead?”

The words, spoken in a low, rough contralto monotone, make no sense to him. An assassin? That would be understandable given his position. But what is The System? He is already capitalizing it in his mind. The. System. The words have that sort of weight.

He opens his eyes, strains to see in the dim morning light filtering through his blinds. It is a girl. A child? A woman? He does not recognize her. Small, nearly skeletal, a face full of blotchy, nearly disfiguring, freckles. Severe bangs dangling over him. She isn’t even trying to pin him down. At least not physically. Is she a mage? A true assassin would have killed him already.

“120 seconds.” There is an edge to her voice now. “Tell me, why shouldn’t I kill you?”

Language:

English

Words:

42,866

Chapters:

17/?

Comments:

23

Kudos:

79

Bookmarks:

9

Hits:

932
The dream that keeps coming back by LikeStartledBirds

Fandoms: 薬屋のひとりごと | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries (Anime), 薬屋のひとりごと - 日向夏 | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries - Hyuuga Natsu, 薬屋のひとりごと | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries (Manga)
27 May 2026
Tags
Summary

Gaoshun has just been going through the motions since his divorce. Being a detective is not what it once was, when justice does not apply to the rich and poor equally. So when his partner Jinshi (a rich boy playing at policework to escape his family's expectations) develops a fascination with a young, antisocial crime scene forensic technician named Maomao, Gaoshun cannot at first be bothered to care. But, Gaoshun can't help observing her, despite himself. Little things at first, then big things. As her sordid past reveals itself, he is finally driven to help. When he invites her into his life, unthinkingly, he has no idea what is to come. A mysterious murder, a girl without a name, and then another, a trail of clues leading through Maomao's world. Brothels, addiction, crime families, harassment and threats from Internal affairs. Gaoshun will find his sense of right and wrong shaken, as he faces her realities.

Language:

English

Words:

67,890

Chapters:

28/28

Comments:

49

Kudos:

136

Bookmarks:

24

Hits:

2,621
And the rest is silence by LikeStartledBirds for Out_Of_Custody

Fandoms: 薬屋のひとりごと - 日向夏 | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries - Hyuuga Natsu
14 Mar 2026
Tags
Summary

It is Gaoshun's duty to serve, and serve he will. Ground down by endless years, standing in the same position, in the same rooms behind Yoh or Zui, arms full of scrolls, or wielding a sword. He knows every archivist by name, knows which guards are reliable, and which are easily bought. Gaoshun knows how to school his face into the serenity of a Boddhisatva, knows the pressure points to disable an assailant painfully or painlessly, as needed. He knows the exact angle and force to behead a man with a single blow. He knows how to obey and how to protect. It is all he has ever done.
Gaoshun is so so tired, but if nothing else, he will do his duty as a proud member of the Ma Clan.
Spoilers up to the 2nd Western Capital arc.

Language:

English

Words:

2,188

Chapters:

1/1

Comments:

2

Kudos:

20

Hits:

178
The Wreck of Us by LikeStartledBirds

Fandoms: 薬屋のひとりごと - 日向夏 | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries - Hyuuga Natsu
28 Feb 2026
Tags
Summary

Jinshi has gone too far this time. Even Suiren agrees. Something has to be done before he commits to something irrevocable.
Neither she, nor Jinshi will, however, appreciate the lengths Maomao will go to slip through his amorous grasp, while still remaining his (relatively) obedient servant.
None of them can imagine the fallout her decision will have for her, for them, for Jinshi, and the court.
And Gaoshun? Gaoshun thinks Maomao would make a far better weapon, in the right hands, then she would a wife.
Spoilers! LN1-15.
This story diverges from canon immediately after LN7 but retains some plot elements through LN15.

Language:

English

Words:

99,545

Chapters:

26/?

Comments:

141

Kudos:

250

Bookmarks:

47

Hits:

8,480
A fallen star, sparkling in his hand by LikeStartledBirds

Fandoms: 薬屋のひとりごと | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries (Anime), 薬屋のひとりごと - 日向夏 | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries - Hyuuga Natsu, 薬屋のひとりごと | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries (Manga)
14 Feb 2026
Tags
Summary

Upon learning that his daughter has been purchased from the Verdigris House by Jinshi, Lakan decides he needs to do more than just harass the young prince. He needs to prove his daughter's innocence, shut down the awful rumors circulating about the Rear Palace Manager's concubine, and save Maomao from Jinshi's machinations.

Step 1 of Lakan's plan: Mandatory virginity testing.
That's the easy part, right?
Everything else?
Is going to get messy.
Because Maomao prefers ugly lies over hard truths, and Gaoshun? He wants to hold onto something he never had.

(Set midway through Season one / LN book 2)

Language:

English

Words:

33,832

Chapters:

9/?

Comments:

25

Kudos:

97

Bookmarks:

20

Hits:

2,633

Recent series