And So We Get The Very Last Endcard. I'm Going To Miss The Anime So Much. I Hope They Announce A Second

And so we get the very last endcard. I'm going to miss the anime so much. I hope they announce a second season someday.

Source: Yatagarasu anime's official account (drawn by Natsuki-sensei).

Hua Chongus. he's melting

The desperate kingdom of love

Written once again for @flashfictionfridayofficial using the prompt #FFF269 living weapon as a prompt. Thank you for this.

—

Fandom: Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master

Characters: Wakamiya/Nazukihiko/Crown Prince/the Golden Raven, Hamayū, mention of Yukiya

Word count: 727

ONE spring night, Hamayū saw Nazukihiko standing at the terrace of the Main Shrine of the Sunrise Palace alone. He was gazing at the horizon toward the Northern Territory. His face was serious, no, it was etched with melancholy and a dash of uncertainty.

“So, Masuho-no-Susuki was right. She told me that I could find you here,” Hamayū greeted her husband, smiled at him, and followed the direction where he was looking. Nazukihiko did not spare her a single glance. He kept his hands under the sleeves of his kimono, a purple chiton decorated in wisteria and butterflies covered his back. He began to speak.

“It was in the border between the edge of the mountain and the temple where I first found Yukiya and his little brother Yukichi. In front of them was the ghost lights. It was the reason they lost their footing and fell off the cliff. Yukiya became nauseous, but seeing his brother lost his consciousness, he was prepared to beg for any deity to exchange his life for his brother,” Nazukihiko recalled the fateful day.

He then continued. “I was 13 years old at that time, patching the holes, making them anew. They started to show up in the corners of the Northern Territory. One of the decisive moments before I left to study in the outside world. I walked up to Yukiya. Petrified, he wondered who the older boy was, me, standing in front of him, who materialised out of nowhere telling him to forget me, of what he had seen. I put my hand on his forehead. And then I started to have a vision.” He bent his head, placed his hands on the handrail and stretched them as if reaching for someone.

Hamayū stepped closer. She already knew what happened after that. In fact, she heard this story countless times before. As soon as Nazukihiko found out the boy’s lineage he was adamant to bring him to his side. Yukiya would one day be Nazukihiko’s living weapon. Since then, he had asked his brother Lord Natsuka to watch Yukiya closely. If it were customary for the Kin’u to also marry a boy, he would insist to make him his consort despite Yukiya’s defiance to not bask in the superiority of his bloodline. Maybe in the outside world, in the galaxies far far away, or a parallel universe, it would be possible.

But lately, Yukiya refused to see His Highness in person. Using his assistant to relay messages to him irked Nazukihiko. Especially when he found out that Yukiya was enjoying the company of his second in command, Shigemaru, a young man from the North.

“You are always following him, Nazukihiko,” Hamayū made him see the truth of his obsession toward the younger man. Aching to hold his right arm, she kept her hands in front of her instead.

Nazukihiko did not answer nor react.

“You have me, is that not enough?” Hamayū insisted. There was no pain nor disappointment in her voice. She learned to live with this fact as it was part of her husband’s choices in life.

“Mm-hmm,” Wakamiya replied. He turned to look at her. And finally, he reached for her. As soon as he held her hands, he put his arms around her so tight as if he did not want to let her go.

“I knew that I made the right choice when I married you,” replied Nazukihiko. He did. It was the imagination of him that the other candidates had loved. Asebi turned out to be a scheming liar and Masuho-no-Susuki became her best friend and chief attendant after realising that there was no love she felt toward the prince.

And yet something was not enough.

“But Yukiya will complete you, isn’t it, Nazukihiko?”

“He is my sword. His destiny is my destiny. That is what I see in my vision.”

Hamayū did not know how to answer that.

“Have you come to fetch me?” The Crown Prince asked, whose countenance had changed. It was harder and difficult to parse.

“I missed you. I have not seen you in a couple of days,” Hamayū told her husband.

“Then let’s head back,” the Crown Prince said as if nothing had happened.

Nazukihiko took her hand and together they descended the stairs. Peaceful for now.

tbc

Let's celebrate that it finally got its searchable tag!

(although it doesn't acknowledge that there are novels and manga, too).

same.

Fu Shen: "Gege?"

"It’s okay." Yan Xiaohan lowered his head to watch him, sighing silently in his heart with a slight bow on his lips. "Call me that again and I can just give up the darkness and turn to the light for you".

✨ this quote is from book Golden Stage by Cang Wu Bin Bai

📌 official illustration for the Golden Stage audio drama