Electra Rose

honestly i didn't notice the vampire thing but maybe i should have (part 2 of 3)

Everything she ate was making her sick. Claire spent the last two days of her vacation barely conscious, sleeping like the dead for 14 hours a day. When she was awake, she had absolutely no energy. It was insane and totally unlike her. Being tired all the time was typical, but not to that extreme. And she usually struggled to manage 7 hours of sleep a day.

It was bad to the point where she went to a doctor and had some blood tests done to satisfy the doctor’s theory that she had low sodium a...

honestly i didnt notice the vampire thing but maybe i should have (part 1 of 3)

Her phone beeped while she was finishing buying tomorrow’s movie tickets.

It’s gonna be a while. Mom decided to go through the drive through two miles away for a drink. And then we’re going to get gas. Need anything?

Claire pursed her lips. So much for ‘We’ll wait in the parking lot, hurry up.’ 

No, she responded. I’m good. ETA?

She switched her phone onto silent mode and avoided looking at the line of “<...

Other Utakata drabble (AIC)

“Aiko.”

Utakata stood in the doorway. If Aiko was a more romantic person, she’d say that he looked very handsome and dramatic. The warm daylight lit up his face perfectly, made his perfectly quaffed hair glimmer like gold, and his silks shone like jewels. 

So obviously, he’d planned it that way. Out of the corner of her eye, Aiko could see it was the time that he’d mentioned providing the most flattering lighting possible. 

What a shinobi would normally do with ...

Great Lakes and Expectations Chapter 8

It took two days for her to understand why Tsunade had agreed to stay. The women returned and grimly waited for a delivery, which turned out to be formal wear, various accessories, and boxes of papers.

The first dress on top of the pile was...alarming. It was a red slip of a thing with a low neckline and about 2 inches of skirt. But Tsunade made a disgusted sound and reached out. She held up the dress and casually ripped it in half. So clearly it was not going to be a problem.

Als...

Great Lakes and Expectations Chapter 7

Regina finished writing her her report in English and hoped that Tomiko-san would be able to read it. She would definitely answer questions, but…. Her understanding of Japanese wasn’t really suited to this kind of situation. 

Obviously, that meant she needed to study more. But it was unlikely that she was going to run into more situations involving mutiny and cannibalism. Or maybe not? This place was hella weird. And it wasn’t like this kind of situation never happened in hum...

Great Lakes and Expectations Chapter 6

Osafune came into the room at a high clip, openly stressed.  

Regina lowered her pen from her notes and eyed him cautiously. This was new, and she did not like it.

He gestured for her to get up and follow him, not even bothering to speak. He went back the way that he had come.

It seemed important, so she moved quickly to follow him into the receiving room. Two women were waiting there. One looked absolutely pleasant and demure, in a dark yukata. 

She had a sw...

Yasukuni Shrine

The contentious shrine memorializing Japanese war dead (including war criminals) that members of the Japanese government can't avoid visiting for some reason. But also, there's a great dog statue. 

Did not give them money for their omamori or for a shrine wish. 

Inaka View

Onogorojima or Kamitategamiwa "God Rock"

In the Japanese creation myths, Izanami and Izanagi created this rock first (this is contentious, as the Onogorojima is debated between a couple of rocks/islands) before creating Awaji Island, and then the rest of the islands of Japan. 

Heian Shrine in Kyoto

Riverside view in Kochi Prefecture

coyote pt 3

She jerked awake and leaned over her bed to pat at her phone. The sound cut off. She didn’t know if she’d hit ‘off’ or ‘snooze’, but it didn’t matter much. She had a backup alarm.  

Reina stared miserably up at the ceiling, wondering why it had to have that weird pokey texture. It didn’t look good, and it was going to be a nightmare to repaint. She didn’t want to think about the fact that her day needed to start, and soon. Her alarm had been scheduled...

coyote pt 2 (rewrite)

After the last of the customers had finally gotten the memo that they had long been closed and left, Reina took the opportunity to change back into a regular shirt. They had to wipe everything down and have it ready for opening tomorrow, but she hardly had to wear the hideous stifling work shirt to do that.   

Especially since Dave had finally left- he’d taken the evening off for himself. He didn’t trust anyone to have done a decent job, so he was coming in early the...

aic 37 wip

Ch 37

Gradually, he realized that something wasn't right. It was about the time that Tsunade sobered up enough to push him away. Jiraiya frowned, feeling unease in his stomach. He leaned over to check the sun to gauge the time. First half of the afternoon, still.  

He didn't actually know what time it had been when Aiko had left him- and now he felt guilty about that, shit- but it had probably been at least two hours. Had something gone wrong in Kirigakure? Why wouldn't...

Nethe, Chapter 1

After she found clothes, she wandered the streets for hours. Nethe felt impossibly lost and small. The human's tall, bleak buildings glared down at her, threatening to fall at any moment. Human-made machines rushed through the streets with a terrible stench and clamor of sound. She did like looking in the windows. Sometimes they showed a quiet little place to sit and eat- how exotic!- and sometimes they showed bright treasures. She lingered at one longingly- small jewels, in bracelets wit...

AIC 36

Jiraiya had a better plan than Aiko did.

...At least, he promised that it was. “Tsunade and I can do it,” Jiraiya swore. His face was locked in the same grimace it had been for the last hour. Debating the best way to kill a former teammate did not seem pleasant. “If we can get her on board, we can do this. We'll take down Orochimaru, while you run interference on his people.”  

“Can we get her on board?” Aiko asked dully. She rubbed her thumbs against her cold...

chapter preview

“It's always better to have fewer people angry with you,” Jiraiya said philosophically. “It's much easier to figure out who is trying to kill you when there's less than 20 suspects.”

Aiko gave him a disbelieving look. She sincerely doubted there had been a 2-day period in the last 30 years when less than 20 people had been actively trying to kill him.  

He did not seem to notice her doubt. “Should we go to Suna now, then?”

...how was he still al...

drabble, utakata's perspective

“The Mizukage would like to see you.”

The chuunin messenger was gone as soon as he'd looked up. No doubt she had been sitting in the office doing usual business for three hours, and then had suddenly been assaulted with fifteen errands that needed to be done right now in such a way that errands 2 and 10 could be benefited from in 8 minutes. That was how Aiko tended to conduct business, after all.  

Utakata huffed a fond laugh. She barely seemed aware that other peop...

aic drabble, set during Jiraiya and Aiko's discussion in the Konoha diplomatic suite

Jiraiya grimaced. “Charming.”

“I live to please.” Aiko perked up as Raidou returned, carrying drinks. “Caffeine?”

He gave her a wary look. “Your security said not to give you any at this hour. It's juice.” His face seemed to twitch. “Very healthy juice. We put spinach in this.” The glass he put in front of her with a clink held something thick and green.

She blinked.

That… seemed like an initiative that came from Nishikawa. He did not want h...

Shrine in Biwako

A capybara I met

Daigo Zakura

One of the most famous sakura trees in Japan- nestled high in the mountains of Okayama Prefecture. It's more than a thousand years old, and named after Emperor Go-Daigo, who stopped to rest there and blessed the tree. 

Sunset on an Awaji beach

Why Me, Coyote pt. 2

After the last of the customers had finally gotten the memo that they had long been closed and left, Reina took the opportunity to change back into a regular shirt. They had to wipe everything down and have it ready for opening tomorrow, but she hardly had to wear the hideous stifling work shirt to do that. 

Especially since Dave had finally left- he’d taken the evening off for himself. He didn’t trust anyone to have done a decent job, so he was coming in early the ...

AiC Snoopfrog Edition

Jiraiya stared into his barley tea, and grimaced at his reflection in it. 

He didn’t even like barley tea. It was a poor replacement for good sencha, or his real preference- sake. 

But Mist was basically a barley tea town. It seemed to be dry, in the sense that there appeared to be no alcohol around whatsoever. It wasn’t terribly beautiful- though it was obvious that some effort was going towards that. 

He lifted his tea and stared contemplativ...

Nethe

The human child was squalling again, wet little mouth stretched wide open and skin flushed red with tempter. Nethe anxiously bounced it in her arms. It refused to be soothed. Of course it did, it was an infant human. The older ones were hardly more agreeable.

“Khalitas,” she cursed. It was hard to listen for pursuers over the horrible sounds of crying. She looked down at the child. “Hush. Don't you want to see your parents again?” She didn't recognize the flips her voice made into what...

Anything goes

When in class:

"You have to write a noun. Any noun. Noun demo ii, yo (nan demo ii, yo)."

For the one person in the back (I love you)

I long to be back under my friendly skies

Vision unimpeded by obstruction

For miles, and miles

Skies as far as the world

It dips at the end of the earth 

That I feel beneath my bare feet

Soft prairie grasses swaying

Fields of soy rolling like the ocean

As a backdrop to the people I love so dearly

Who speak to me of faraway places

I can see at the end of my skies

And show me their worlds

We share underneat...

Hanami in Okayama Botanical Gardens

Japan forest- ancient rock markers