Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A step left, and a world so different…

Or perhaps, simply a few years back.

Music thrived in the time left behind, a song sung by both of them but written by him, by Mika. Now there was nothing…

He wanted to seek him out, seek them both out, and do better by Nazuna this time.

Tomorrow would be his “first” day at Yumenosaki. His second chance.

It was time to try again.

Chapter Text

There was something really fun about playing the villain, and he didn’t quite know what it was.

It wasn’t like being a doll, pretty and perfect.

It wasn’t like being a good boy, one that always did the right thing.

It felt… freeing, to let loose and be the villain.

Knight Killers were villains. But… even if it meant having to spend time with Eichi Tenshouin, Nazuna enjoyed it.

Every story needed a good villain, and there was something intoxicating about filling that role.

Chapter Text

…Why did his boyfriends keep turning into bunny rabbits?

This is not a question that most normal people would have to ask. It was, however, a question that Shu Itsuki had to ask.

At least Mika hadn’t broken up with him when it happened…?

No, no, that was - that was putting too fine a point on Shu’s relationship with Nazuna. They were never really… together, no matter how much Shu wanted them to have been. To be currently.

Pastel rabbit ears flopped about on Mika’s head, and Shu smiled.

When he finally looked away, he saw a flash of blond hair leaving the auditorium, despite there being other acts following this one.

Chapter Text

The sound of shattering glass marked their return. Shattering glass, and a staircase down from the metaphorical heavens.

Gaisenka was one of their favored opening numbers. Gaisenka, which let them enter the stage in an appropriately dramatic fashion. Some of their lives opened with Gaisenka, the rest generally opened with Eternal Weaving. Both let Valkyrie descend onto the stage with appropriate apalm.

Valkyrie had always been dramatic. Valkyrie had always had an undercurrent of affection and love.

Valkyrie was perfect.

Chapter Text

Family was important. Nazuna saw the younger members of Ra*bits as his family, his younger brothers. They were precious to him. He would take care of them.

Family was more than a blood connection, to that, Nazuna could attest. How many times had he seen his parents since he began University? He hadn’t. Anytime he wasn’t studying, he was with his little bunnies.

Nazuna’s relationship with his blood family was strained, withered, forgotten. But his little brothers were his family that mattered.

Chapter Text

Mika almost didn’t register that something was wrong at first.

He woke up in his bed at Shu’s house, and that was just fine, really. Except…

Hadn’t he gone to bed in the dorm last night? Why was he at Shu’s house?

He sat up quickly now, confused. He scanned the room, and spotted his belongings, his school uniform… Yeah, this was his room alright.

But why was his tie red? That couldn’t be right. He wasn’t a first year anymore.

…Except that looking at his phone told him that he’d somehow gone back in time two whole years.

Shit.

Chapter Text

Nazuna was going to punch him. He was actually, seriously going to punch him.

In theory, he understood where Shu was coming from. In theory. In practice, he was being a too-careful, overprotective dickweed, and Nazuna was going to punch him.

Nazuna wasn’t going to break from a kiss. He wasn’t going to shatter to pieces on a date. He understood why Shu was concerned, but he was sick of it.

He was going to need to make a statement. Now, how to go about that…?

Chapter Text

Yellow scars on marbled pink-and-green clay.

A green-furred teddy bear with arms torn off and then stitched back on with pink thread.

An antique doll in modern dress, pink with green accents.

Yellow scars on marbled pink-and-green clay.

That was Valkyrie.

Chapter Text

He didn’t know that they understood, but that was okay.

He could outrun his feelings, again and again. He could always outrun his feelings.

But for once, he wanted to slow down. He wanted them to understand. That squashed box of chocolates, specially prepared for them - it was meant in that way.

But if they didn’t get it today, he could always try again, right? That’s what Nii-chan would say.

Even if Nii-chan didn’t really try for the people he liked, anyway.

But it was okay. Mitsuru could always outrun his feelings.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, Nazuna would just stop in the courtyard.

This was where everything had started. Where Shu had first appeared, leaping down from above like some sort of strange god.

Sometimes, Nazuna would just stop in the courtyard. He would look up, almost expecting to see Shu again -

And there would be nothing.

Shu wasn’t there.

Shu had shut down, and Nazuna was alone again. Drifting through life without a goal.

Chapter Text

The morning was bright, the sun was shining. Outside in the garden, flowers, herbs, and vegetables grew.

In the dorms, everything was calm. Everything was nice. Every morning, Hajime felt like it was going to be a good day.

Maybe that was just the shine of it all, but it made Hajime smile nonetheless.

Chapter Text

Kanata bought goldfish for his Goldfish. He thought it was cute and adorable.

Hiyori now had more goldfish than he could count. He didn’t know where to even put them all.

Kanata made the decision to open a new exhibit in his aquarium, full of goldfish, just for Hiyori.

For the love they had shared as Floyd Leech and Riddle Rosehearts, and the love that they still shared now, as Kanata Shinkai and Hiyori Tomoe.

The exhibit was called “For the Love of a Goldfish”.

Maybe other people wouldn’t know what it meant, but they did, and that was the important part.

Chapter Text

Yumenosaki. It was a school. And Suzu hated it.

Okay, well, she didn’t really hate Yumenosaki, but it was easier to hate another school for taking Anzu away than it was to hate the people at Kimisaki for kicking her out. Suzu was still at Kimisaki after all.

So Suzu hated and hated, and pretended that her brother’s school deserved the hate at all.

Chapter Text

“I don’t think this is a good idea, Usagi…”

“It’s a great idea, Audette, hush,” Usagi Itsuki hushed her youngest sister.

“We are messing with the fabric of reality,” Lapia, their middle sister, pointed out, “It is pretty risky.”

“Father won’t be happy we messed with Professor Sakasaki’s stuff…” Audette nervously twined her fingers into her messy dark green hair.

“Why are you more nervous about Father’s reaction than Professor Sakasaki’s?” Usagi grinned as she continued the preparations.

“We don’t live with Professor Sakasaki,” Audette pointed out.

“Fair point,” Usagi conceded, “But this is a great opportunity. No backing out now, sisters of mine!”

“I wasn’t going to back out,” Lapia scoffed, “I’m not scared.”

“I am,” Audette admitted easily, “Please, Usagi, let's not…”

“Too late to back out now!” Usagi grinned manically as she pulled a lever, causing the floor beneath the girls to glow ominously purple-pink, “Let’s go see what our parents were like when they were my age, shall we?”

Audette yelped, but the glow rose to engulf them, and but a moment later, when their parents burst in… Professor Sakasaki’s lab was empty. The girls were gone.

The girls hadn’t been sure where they were going to end up, but they had somewhat expected to just be moved in time, and to still end up in what would become Professor Sakasaki’s lab, just twenty years earlier. However, they had instead ended up outside somewhere, and it was hideously bright.

“This was a mistake!” Audette teared up, all of her eight years not sufficient to help her keep her composure.

“This is an adventure,” Usagi corrected her sister, using her thumb to wipe the tears away, “Let’s go explore!”

“The people here sure are wearing funny clothes…” Lapia said, drawing the attention of both her sisters, “Usagi, I think we may be further from home than simply in the past…”

“What do you mean?” Usagi asked, blonde curls bouncing as she stood to look around, “How oddly dressed could they… be…”

A few boys were staring at the girls, and all of them were wearing what looked like short dinner jackets in cyan, with oddly Electrite-styled pants and cravats that were tied oddly and hung far too long. The single girl among them wore the same strange dinner jacket and long cravat, but with a scandalously short Electrite-styled skirt in place of the pants.

For the first time since the idea had popped into her head, Usagi wondered if perhaps Audette was right when she said it was a bad one.

Chapter Text

“Man,” Tsukasa could be heard saying as Shinobu entered the room, “I wish frogs were real.”

Shinobu, owner of two frogs, froze. “What?”

Chapter Text

A little four-person marching band, whimsical yet grand -

The leader spins his baton, the leader of the little four-person marching band.

Next was a boy playing a flute, playing a flute in a little four-person marching band.

Next was a boy playing the trumpet, playing a trumpet in that little four-person marching band.

Finally there was a boy playing the drums, playing the drums in a little four-person marching band.

A little four-person marching band, whimsical yet grand.

Chapter Text

The precedent for this had been a very long time ago, so long that most people no longer remembered that magic really existed. And, to be fair, it wasn’t native to this world.

When a dimension collapsed, sometimes the souls of the people who anchored that dimension would be cast to a new dimension, and reborn as persons there. These reborn souls would retain fantastic abilities, and sometimes introduce new species to a world. Natsume knew this, knew his family’s history well.

And now it was happening again. Natsume knew this, because he could remember another life in an unfamiliar world - a life as Filia Medici.

This was far more dangerous than a magical bloodline. Far, far more dangerous. If the skullheart was introduced to this world, that would be an unmitigated disaster. He had to hope that it wouldn’t be, but…

He was already preparing a statement to the press, just in case.

Chapter Text

When Mitsuru remembered being the Ultimate Detective, he decided to investigate some of the killings in the city. Just… because. He could. He didn’t make a big deal out of it, because, if he was honest, he would probably help protect the killer if they were someone he cared about. He’d always had a strong sense of loyalty.

Choosing not to say anything turned out to have been a good choice, because when he found the killers, still standing over their latest victim, he watched as Mika Kagehira painted Nazuna Nito’s - Mitsuru’s Nii-chan’s - lips red with a stranger’s blood before kissing him.

It was a little gross but… for now at least… Mitsuru wouldn’t tell a soul.

Chapter Text

“Hey Eichi what do you have?”

“A knife!”

“NO!”

“Oh my god.”

“A knife why does he have a knife?”

Chapter Text

Shu Itsuki, Prince of Valkyrie, readied himself for war.

War with himself, that is. He was in love - he was in love twice over, and neither of his beloveds would be approved as his husband, of that he was certain.

There was the cute servant boy, the one who could sew, with mismatched eyes and the most charming smile. But as a servant, he could not be Shu’s spouse. It would never be allowed.

But on the other hand, there was General Nazuna Nito of the Ra*bits army. Oh, if he was a General of Valkyrie’s army perhaps it could have been made to work, but a foreign General? It was not to be.

But how he wished for it to be! He lie awake at night, thinking of the both of them, and wanting… wanting…

Something would have to be done.

Chapter Text

Most people did not realize that Tsumugi was a master manipulator. He seemed too affable, too unassuming.

His last life, he had also been named Tsumugi. She had been a master manipulator, and hardly anyone realized. She had seemed too affable, too unassuming.

Not much had really changed, except what kind of performance he was putting on. People in this world liked idols who sang and danced, not death games. So he sang and danced, and didn’t kill anyone…

Yet.

Chapter Text

The past is like another country - they do things differently there.

There were fewer units. Valkyrie stood out in part because there were three of them, all working in sync.

Shu stood in the courtyard and looked around, and saw vice. It was wrong, but he would not allow it to be cleansed at his expense the way it had been last time. He would not let Valkyrie and the Five Eccentrics take the fall.

Not this time.

Chapter Text

Nazuna could not believe Rory’s foolishness. Nor could he believe that Frankincense thought that their marriage would at all go smoothly. Frankincense wanted to change too much about Rory, really, and while that was noble, that was not the job of the spouse, and they would likely come to resent each-other in no small amount of time.

Naturally, the marriage must be broken off at once.

Nazuna would see that it was.

Chapter Text

Suzu didn’t know what to make of it all.

Suzu had been friends with Seira for a long time - the longest of anyone Suzu felt she could still trust - and as such she had been to visit Seira in the hospital many a time. As such, she had met many of the other people in the hospital, including the very wealthy Eichi Tenshouin.

When they were little kids, she hadn’t talked to him much ‘cause he was a boy, but he’d seemed fine, if a little bit odd. But things changed.

Things changed, like Suzu learning that she had a twin brother that not only had her parents not also adopted, but they had kept him secret from her! She’d had to find out on her own!

Things changed, like Anzu being forced to change schools, leaving Suzu behind.

Things changed, like Anzu’s little brother joining Kimisaki as their first male student.

And Suzu learned that Eichi, the nice but weird kid from Seira’s hospital stays, had torn down her brother and people he held dear with vicious glee. That he had stood opposite to Anzu and told her to capitulate.

Suzu was not a forgiving person, and Eichi Tenshouin was now on her shit list.

Chapter Text

Descending a staircase in full view of the audience always felt so elegant.

Triumphant feelings swirled within. Memories of elegance and fame abounded.

But they weren’t just memories. They were current. They were lasting.

Things changed, but they persisted, and he descended the stairs.

Chapter Text

For an idol, youth was a precious commodity. Aging even slightly could mean the end of your career, especially for idols styled on their cuteness, like Ra*bits. In that sense, the spate of reincarnation was more than a simple boon - it was a lifeline.

When out of the public eye, they could assume a different form, and thusly their aging would instead be borne by that other form.

Backstage after a live, the dressing-rooms were oft full of individuals that looked nothing like those who had just performed, and indeed, they looked like small children. According to Natsume, this was a defense mechanism of the process, because their other forms were in some ways newborns, but because they were pinned to people oft old enough to not wish to be helpless, they would appear about five years of age until they had spent five full years in that form, at which point it would begin to age.

The production staff had been read-in on the situation as necessitated. They knew which forms belonged to who and how to address them as was needed.

They knew that they were not to restrict the movements of the children too much, lest they have to deal with very angry idols.

Eventually, their agelessness would draw eyes, speculation. For now, however, they revealed in a sense of delightful freedom.

Valkyrie stepped off the stage, and away from prying eyes, they lost feet of height. Pink hair faded to white, green-black hair brightened to purple-brown. They were no longer Shu-and-Mika but instead Angie-and-Toko, ready to slip away and take a nap.

Their bodies might be five already to give them reason to slip into them, but they were still little babies deep down.

Chapter Text

The smell of blood was the first thing that people noticed. The stench of it, filthy and rotten, and far from concealed. And yet, none of them could find where it was coming from…

The second thing that they noticed was the absence of Eichi. This was not entirely abnormal, he often was bedridden due to his illness, but this time he was not in bed. Besides that, he had just yesterday been healthy and able to argue the finer points of doctrine for multiple hours with Shu.

Then it dripped.

Just one drop, then two and three, one of them landing on Tomoya’s hand as he walked into the chapel. Red liquid, staining the back of his hand.

He looked up. He screamed.

Eichi hung from the ceiling, dead and dead and dead as could be. Following Tomoya’s gaze, more of them soon began to scream, their chapel defiled.

But Nazuna did not scream. Afterall, he was not surprised.

He was the one who put Eichi there.

Chapter Text

Subaru was one of the odd ones out. His past life, what he had remembered, the form he had regained… Flesh was replaced with metal and wires. Eternally teenaged, when he was Kiibo he was often tasked with “watching” the others so that they could go out.

Sitting on a playground bench with Ortho, he watched them enjoy the second (third, forth…) childhoods that they had been granted. Many of them had bodycounts that Kiibo didn’t want to think about. He knew that Junko’s body count was so high even she had lost count.

How strange. Junko Enoshima had been a specter over his life for some time… but now she was a little child, bright red hair tied back with a white ribbon, laughing and shouting and playing tag with the people who, when they stepped back into their adult lives, would be his boyfriends.

It would soon be a year since people had begun to remember… perhaps they should throw a party…

Chapter Text

The world collapsing around you was a hard thing to live through, but Mika (Jackie, Squigly, Epel, Natasha…) had lived through it multiple times.

Each time was different, but all of them felt like nothingness. Like things just petered out and stopped in a moment. There was no buildup.

She didn’t defeat the Skullgirl.

He didn’t graduate, or even become a second-year.

Belabog was still on the mend, with no definite end-point in sight.

It had just been one more day with her wife, nothing special about it.

One by one, their memories slotted into Mika. One by one, he gained Jackie, Epel, and Natasha’s childlike forms. He gained too, Squigly’s slightly rotted corpse, still housing her soul within.

Sometimes, Squigly would sit outside, and watch how people reacted to her. So far, no-one seemed to realize she was a zombie… disappointing, but probably for the better.

Chapter Text

The snow was cold.

Well, the snow had always been cold, but somehow it felt so much more so now that they had set out, looking for somewhere new to reside.

“I don’t think all of us will end up in the same place,” Nazuna admitted as they walked, taking turns pulling the sleds with the family belongings upon them.

“What do you mean?” Natsumi asked, her hair fluttering about in the cold wind.

“I think some people will settle down sooner,” Nazuna explained, “Eichi and Seira especially… rather than try to find somewhere where we can prosper, they’ll just take someplace where they can live.”

“Seira…” Suzu sighed, glancing back at her ill friend, “I hope she makes it…”

“Of course she will,” Anzu smiled as she squeezed her girlfriend’s hand with confidence she did not feel.

Out here now, danger lurked around every corner. Soon, it wouldn’t be just Eichi and Seira on death’s doorstep.

Chapter Text

The realm of dreams was a familiar, terrifying place.

Oh, it could be kind sometimes, but it always felt so weird and unnerving here… even in the minds of those he knew.

Bagpipes sounded through the imaginary landscape. Brambles swirled around his feet, threatening to keep him dreaming forever.

“...Hello, father. It’s good to see you again.”

Chapter Text

Morning on a business day… time to wake up.

They didn’t have a lot of time for sleeping, really. When Mike was here was the only time they had to themselves, to be themselves, so they wouldn’t waste it sleeping. And unfortunately, not all of them could be fully nocturnal.

Melody shifted her bulky, metal form uncomfortably. Being Bonnie was a pain. And it hurt, too! Bits of metal stabbed through her real limbs, giving her as much control over this form as she had over the form she considered her real, her true form.

She didn’t want to perform today, or any other day. She wanted to be herself, to be Melody Harris once more. She wanted her mother to sleep through the night. She wanted Willow to stop burying herself in every book she could get her hands on, every tv show she could watch. She wanted to let them know she was there but she couldn’t, because she wasn’t fully human anymore.

Vicky called them fused, but most of the others said cyborg. Melody just thought them all freaks.

Melody had sometimes wondered how her human body looked when she was in Bonnie-form, or if it was even there at all. Did bloody tissues connect the different parts of her body that she could feel, or was all the pain imagined? Merely a memory?

Mother was here, with Willow trailing behind, nose stuck in a book. With her, she carried also a notebook and pen.

Soon, the doors would open, and children would flood in. Melody and Katie and Adrick would sing for them, and they would enjoy themselves, unaware of the tragedies of this place. They would eat and eat and throw away what was left, unknowing of those performing without a break for a bite to eat.

They were supposed to just be robots, but they weren’t.

They weren’t supposed to need to eat, but they did. If the kitchen staff were the ones taking the fall for their nightly meals being made of company ingredients, that wasn’t their problem.

They only ate two meals a day, both late at night. One around midnight, just as Mike arrived. One around 6am, just as Mike left. Sometimes Mike brought them food from outside, when she could afford it.

As for hygiene, the situation was awful. The bathrooms weren’t fitted to provide them a place to bathe, but eventually Vicky had figured out how to break one of the sinks just so to turn it into a shower. Mother kept calling in plumbers to fix it, but Vicky kept breaking it. They still didn’t have anything but hand-soap to wash with… unless Mike brought them shampoo, but they would go through it in a single day, between them.

Laundry was actually easier, minus the fact that they didn’t have any clothing to change into. Well, they had a few spare oversized uniform polos they’d stolen, but other than that, nothing to change into. But the laundry machines meant for mop-heads and wipe-rags worked just as well for their clothes.

Today, Melody wanted to cry and cry forever - Last night, Mike had told her and Lotte that their parents divorce had been finalized. She knew that it had been coming, but that didn’t make it hurt less.

Daddy had always blamed Mother and Uncle William for Melody and Lotte’s disappearance.

Chapter Text

Tapestry weaving was a difficult art, and one hardly practiced anymore. Not literally, anyway. Mika couldn’t figure it out, nor could he find someone to teach him.

So he turned to embroidery, to show the image he held so in his mind. To show his journey - their journey.

The ‘tapestry’ held four scenes within, each one carefully designed, perhaps with too much rosy fondness.

The alluring stage that had called to Mika, that had changed his life.

Shu standing between two overstuffed armchairs, with Mika in one and Nazuna in the other.

The tanabata festival where Shu had reclaimed his dignity.

Shu and Mika standing together in their Valkyrie uniforms, about to perform just another concert.

His journey. Their journey. Valkyrie’s journey, soon to be stitched up for all to see.

Chapter Text

A man stood in the snow, a puppet dangling on strings from each hand.

The puppet hanging from his right hand was unconventional. Unkempt hair, mismatched eyes, and strings too loose to really control him well. But this puppet smiled and smiled, happy as could be.

The puppet hanging from his left hand was beautiful at a glance. Hair made of thread-of-gold, eyes made from bright rubies - at first, he looked perfect.

Until you notice that the puppet on the left is bleeding.

Chapter Text

Here on the island of misfit toys… none were left to rot.

There was no need for an isle of misfit toys when there were people who would take care of them and fix them up.

Mika Kagehira had a habit of picking up things that other people claimed were trash.

Chapter Text

The best way to convince Valkyrie to do stupid things was to convince Mika to do the stupid thing, and then count on him to convince Shu that it wasn’t that stupid actually.

Which was how Nazuna managed to convince them to record a Valkyrie cover of “Barbie Girl”.

Chapter Text

Few people could hope to emulate the chaotic energy of the students of Yumenosaki, Rei had once thought. Now, though, he wasn’t sure that it was their school that had fostered that chaos.

The students themselves - no, the idols that now formed the basis of Ensemble Square - they were the source of that chaos. They were interesting. They were the stabilizers of reality, if Natsume knew what he was talking about (and he probably did).

They had stabilized this world, and made themselves so stable that they had called those who had once stabilized worlds that now were collapsing.

Many histories made themselves at home in the bodies of only a few. The stars fell to the Earth in the form of people making their way through life, extending the lifespans of the idols, keeping this world safe.

Well, safe from the apocalypse. Safe in other terms… that was debatable at best.

Chapter Text

Natsume tried and tried, but his efforts only made things more complicated… until there was no turning back.

The Great Goddess Pytha split the world between her loyal followers, giving them the responsibility to continue things once she passed on.

Left at home without his husband, Shu Itsuki found himself falling in love once more.

Trapped in a place outside of space, forced to watch the so-called future, the Five Eccentrics tried to make the best of things.

Natsume really should stop using magic to solve other people’s relationship problems.

The Hutts obtain two young twi’leks… but they don’t keep them (thank the Force).

One-hundred-and-twenty young persons set out for Oregon from Independence - not all of them will make it there.

Shu Itsuki walks out into the rain.

Nazuna is given a myriad of gifts.

The date is October 30th - and Nazuna Nito doesn’t know what to do.

They said “Speak now,” and so he did.

The worst thing about stepping away is that you want to step right back.

No-one really expects celebrities to have a body-count. Especially not idols.

Nazuna doesn’t think that silence has ever been as loud as the silence between him and Shu.

Usagi Itsuki really is a lucky girl, isn’t she?

He doesn’t know how they’ll meet again, but he knows that he wants to - more than anything.

Fault is the one thing that Shu refuses to accept.

After a very awkward meeting with Suzu’s adoptive parents, Mika breaks down. Now it’s Shu’s turn to pick up the pieces.

The light has vanished from Nazuna’s eyes, and Shu would do anything to get it back.

The shorts rip, and for some reason, Nazuna just cannot handle it.

One-hundred-and-twenty-two young persons must make their way across a dangerous landscape filled with dragons, looking for someplace to call home.

Revenge killings might be frowned upon in modern society, but Mika Kagehira doesn’t care about that at all.

Being a superhero is hard. Being a superhero’s boyfriend? Well, Shu wouldn’t say it’s harder, but it’s certainly not easy.

The lights come up on a stage all produced by Mika.

Nazuna Nito is the most desirable idol (according to other idols), and he doesn’t understand why.

Shu doesn’t understand why Nazuna joined Ra*bits - so he’s going to make him understand. By seducing him.

Prince Shu Itsuki of Valkyrie’s heart is torn - between two people that he cannot have.

Shu won’t ever look at Mika if Nazuna’s there…

The winter came, and most of them starved. The winter came, and it took Sarah’s husband from her.

Worlds collapse, but that does not mean that the people who inhabited them do not live on.

Chapter Text

Young bunnies learn many things from their older brother.

They learn to sing.

They learn to dance.

They learn anger and bloodlust.

Chapter Text

Mika finds it relatable to listen to songs like this. He too, is in love with his creator.

Memories of a time before Shu were faint, and grew fainter all the time, but that was okay. Shu was his guiding light. Shu was the love of his life.

If he could stay by Shu’s side forever, then everything would turn out okay.

Chapter Text

Shu was of the opinion that this was stupid.

“It’s an important experience” his rear, what was making coffee for people supposed to teach him about the world? That people were entitled brats?

His coworkers were… They were. Some of them were better than others. But they were mostly fine.

The customers, on the other hand, mostly stank, except for two.

One was a cute boy that he realized was a friend of a friend - his childhood friend Kuro’s friend from school. This boy was so beautiful that Shu got flustered merely looking at him. If only he could speak properly, he could ask the boy out…

The other was a boy who stumbled over his words and only ever got his coffee black, despite making a face at every sip. He had mis-matched eyes and a thick accent - and he was extremely alluring. However, every time Shu attempted to talk to him, he ended up insulting him somehow!

Oh, this was terrible. He was never going to be able to ask either of them out…

Chapter Text

“Boobs boobs boobs boobs breasts tits tits.” - definitely Shu Itsuki

Chapter Text

He remembered deciding to kill Kokichi.

He remembered that it failed, and that she died instead, but that decision still remained.

Maybe that was why he didn’t really care that much when he heard that some of the other idols were killing civilians. As long as he stayed safe…

That was almost certainly a bad mindset to have. But honestly? Who cared? He certainly didn’t. Not anymore.

And if a few civilian deaths prevented another killing game, then that was alright by him.

Chapter Text

The airship was, in Shu’s opinion, the finest way to travel. It was simply a shame that this was likely to be the last time he could travel. Tonight, Rei was going to present him before the Hive Queen. By this time tomorrow, Shu would either be a vampire or dead.

Either way, he would never board an airship again.

He hoped that he survived. Mika would cry so if he did not.

Chapter Text

He was so tired. Was that a side effect of all the extra memories in his head? Or was it because it was late at night?

Well… it wasn’t that late. Late enough he couldn’t bake or do laundry, but not that late, really.

Just late enough to lean over his sketchbook and yawn.

Chapter Text

Kanata had grown up believing that he was a fish, and not a human. But then… then Chiaki had shown him that he was human.

And then he remembered being Floyd Leech and knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was an eel.

Natsume was the one who knew the most about this kind of thing. He helped Kanata become an eel all the time - helped him create the potions he now needed to walk on land.

He was not a God. He was no mere fish, either. He was an eel merman, with two jaws full of razor-sharp teeth, and a long tail when he dove into the water.

Chapter Text

Dining was a social activity.

Even eating alone - in truth, you are simply eating with yourself.

Unit dinners, circle dinners, dinner dates - dining filled their social calendars.

Foods came to associate with the people who liked them most.

And that was the way it was supposed to go.

Chapter Text

Green, green, green was the color of refusal, of refusing to let yourself be pushed aside as long as you can.

Pink was the color of the overambitious pursuit - good while it lasted, but the end was disastrous - so don’t let it end.

Deep blue was the color of knowing you would be tossed aside, but loving and loving and loving anyway, until it all ends and you are left alone and alone and alone.

Light blue was the color of fun, of parties, of life lived freely.

Red was the color of unknowing, of naivety, of being taken advantage of, and then - discarded.

Navy blue was the color of perseverance, of survival, of outlasting all that could be outlasted.

Pale yellow was the color of the King.

Chapter Text

Nazuna had not smiled in a long time. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time that he had smiled.

He didn’t know how this school would work out. Idols were supposed to be bright, smiling, right? He didn’t know that he could summon up a smile.

He was here because his choir leader told his parents he was the best singer in the choir. He was here because his parents said that he should be here. He didn’t know that he wanted to be here. He didn’t know that he wanted to be anywhere.

And then -

And then -

There was a noise, and Nazuna looked up.

There was someone jumping down towards him - a boy trailing fluttering fabric, a boy who looked more than human.

A boy more beautiful than Nazuna felt he could ever hope to be.

Chapter Text

Shining, shining - they all shone like stars.

The little bunnies that he had raised.