disclaimer: Servamp is the property of Tanaka STRIKE.
general summary: Alternatively titled: Servamp: The Lion, The Witch and the shenanigans these two idiots pull out of their asses as they try to quell an immortal's hissy fit while trying to live their god forsaken lives like normal everyday creatures of lore.
chapter summary: Shirota Mahiru; a simple fifteen-year-old witch boy who lives with his pun-loving uncle, is best friends with an artificial vampire and a pair of humans, and whose life revolves around side-quests.
Sleepy Ash of Sloth | The Silent Demise; the Truth of Indolence, eldest of "seven" servant vampires, a self-proclaimed soothing cat who finds the act of crawling out of bed "to be a chore" in his words.
Two radically different creatures meet. The result?
It becomes a hostage situation. (Sort of)
WARNINGS!: alarmingly inhumane behaviour(?)-he doesn't mean to be though he just turned out that way, freeform magic, minor surrealism, ooc-ish, minor swearing-if it's less than five swear words, it's minor
Mahiru recognizes Sakuya for who he is at a glance. Beneath emerald tresses the color of spring leaves and a pair of freshly picked apples for eyes awaited a starving beast of the night; born unto dusk, hunter of pulse, walking under the light of sun like any other human?
The tawny haired teen cocked his head, intrigued.
Not to sound hypocritical, but Sakuya was no less human than him - in fact it was quite the contrary. Where as Mahiru would play the part of a human as he was taught to do so, this one has it easier for he's been born and raised human... No, that wasn't right. He's being unfair towards the young oddity. A vampire like him is made. Who's to say Sakuya had a choice in the matter. Certainly not Mahiru.
Being yourself ought to be a simple matter but it's not. Mahiru is lucky to have found a pair of wonderful friends who certainly didn't mind his eccentricities.
Curiosity piqued! So the fourteen-year-old tucked the ball under his arm and dallied his way over to the spring haired youth, bracelets and charms clicking and jingling with every step. Meetings with fellow denizens from beyond the veil were rare, few and in between. Mahiru would liken it to a game of Hide-n'-Seek.
"Oi! Mahiru! Where are you going?" Behind Ryūsei, classmates and kōhai alike were scattered about the field. Merciless as always that one. (Would he have him any other way?)
"I'll be right back! Take a break or something!"
"Or something. These guys barely worked up a sweat."
Terrifying. Ryūsei was terrifying. Koyuki will be quite put out to hear that the small blond had been tor-bull-picking on their classmates for not offering him a proper challenge.
(In a town far, far away, free from the constraints of time and space, a boy with eyes not unlike an apex predator sniffles before heading off for the hunt.)
Mayhaps this new friend will suffice?
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stars on the tip of your tongue
THE FOOL
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01: "Stranger-Friend"
(part a.)
"Little girls, this seems to say,
Never stop upon your way,
Never trust a stranger-friend;
No one knows how it will end.
As you're pretty, so be wise;
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As all good stories go, one must always start. Anywhere can be the beginning. From the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end. From top or bottom. To the finish line back, from the starting line forward. Hence the words, "Once upon a time".
Where upon a time? Once upon when? That's the fun of it. Limitless potential, a myriad of outcomes, woven together to create the fine fabric of the universe. "Fine" is subjective in this case. "Fine" is harrowing shadows, flowers weeping hoarfrost, stars crumpling beneath the touch of zephyrs. "Fine" is fragmentation, collapse and unsnarling strands of fate. This is "fine". Everything is "fine".
The end of the world? "Fine".
Because this is where he begins.
...
Enter Shirota Mahiru, fifteen-years old.
It is not his name, the same way day is not night. He was not presented this name the way a child on Christmas morning might receive gifts, rather, he chose the name for himself like one might choose an outfit to wear. Shirota is the family name binding him to his mother, father and uncle because they are family and family is expected to share such things. Mahiru is, in truth, a small nod to his True Name for the best lies told carry a grain of truth.
("Sakuya detests liars" Shirota admonishes.
"Sakuya lied first." Mahiru snipes back. Shirota quiets.)
He is a simple sort of person from a distance. Odd but simple. "It adds to his charm!", girls would titter back and forth sneaking glances towards his person. His favorite color is orange, of the dying sunset variety, his favorite hobbies range from chores to the artistically inclined, from bracelets woven out of beads and string to sewing colorful patches onto people's clothing or experimenting in the culinary arts. Sakuya, that wild mischievous bastard, jokes that one of his many hobbies include "mothering people to death". Mahiru threatened to never make him charabens ever again. Sakuya never spoke of it again. (Though the occasional jab here and there resulted in confiscated snacks and piling favors. "Ryū-chan! Mama grounded me! "That's what you get, stupid." "So cold~")
He begins.
"You're going home?"
It was considered odd for Mahiru to head straight home without some task or chore in mind. In the eyes of students' and teachers' alike, it made him responsible and reliable. And for a price, all of your menial tasks are viable in the hands of the witch.
Odd but not uncommon, Mahiru did have a life of his own to live. Sort of.
"That's great! That means we can go karaoke-ing!" A break from preparations would be nice. Besides, with Mahiru cooking, their booth would be a success!
"Pass."
"What! Don't tell me you already have plans? Mahiru, how could you pull a one-eighty on me! That's my shtick!" The brunet in question laughed at his best friend's dramatics as they walked away from school. "Sorry, sorry. But I do have plans: Taking care of my cat." Koyuki cooed, "Kitty!"
"They're just so adorable with their little paws and tiny noses and - Mahiru, I want to meet your kitty." Koyuki's eyes were glittering at this point. The witch pretended to consider it, making a show of tapping his chin. Sakuya snickered beside him while Ryūsei curiously peered at him. Such simple actions had warmth blooming from within Mahiru's chest. It suffused him, a suffocating emotion that threatened to spill over.
"I don't see why not." He smiled and Koyuki cheered.
"But not tomorrow - Next week if possible." He'd found the creature curled up in an alleyway seemingly frail and malnourished to the human eye, but Mahiru was not human in the ways that truly mattered. The teen knew better than to believe the cat was a cat at first glance.
So why did he pick him up?
Koyuki accepted his answer and the rest of the walk consisted of menial and inane chatter ranging from the upcoming cultural festival to Sakuya's warning of vampires. The irony was not lost on the witch. He... didn't know whether to be touched or insulted. To this day, the boy still couldn't recognize Mahiru for what he truly was and had made zero means of revealing his true nature to any of them. Their human friends already suspected Mahiru was more than he appeared - Ryūsei more than Koyuki - yet they remained patient. For him. Did it bother him that the spring-haired immortal had attempted to rewrite his memories? No. Did he mind when he did the same to Koyuki and Ryūsei? A little, but no harm was done so he let it pass. For all the claims that Sakuya made of loving them it seemed apparent that he could not trust them. The brunet would understand not trusting their human friends, they were not of their world after all and humans, unless trained, were rather susceptible to the whims of their kind. Mahiru would not wish such terrible fates upon them.
But the fact he did not trust Mahiru hurt.
And the sad part is: Mahiru still trusted him. Still believed in him the way he believed the sun would rise after every night.
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"A cat."
Mahiru blinked, curiosity glittering in twin topazes, before nodding sharply.
"A cat."
Ryūsei took a deep shuddering breath. Sakuya had ran off earlier and Koyuki was waiting for him up ahead. His scars began to itch; they burned, they ached, but the blond did not once reach for them. He was certain that Mahiru appreciated his restraint.
"...What kind of cat?", He hedged.
The amber-eyed teen hummed.
"Black."
"Black?"
"A black cat." Ryūsei didn't even have words for that.
"Is it a cat...?"
"It looks like a cat."
Of course it does.
"Just... Don't bite off more than you can chew, okay?" He gave the taller teen's shoulder a gentle squeeze. Something within him smoothed over at the sight of the lofty smile drawing back to reveal something smaller; a little chastised, a touch wistful, but equally brimming with gratitude.
Much better.
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Did he even try? He could hear the TV all the way from the front door and he certainly wasn't quiet when he entered the apartment. To be frank, he wasn't sure what he should be expecting. Yet what he found is beyond shocking: it's underwhelming.
The first thing that caught his eye is not the mess of candy wrappers, empty soda cans and ramen cups, or the half-eaten bag of chips strewn about. It wasn't the curtains drawn shut, the light of the TV emphasizing the shadows of the living room, writhing and whispering. It wasn't even the figure hunched over, slurping noddles, face glued to the screen, even with manga books splayed out before his feet. No, what caught the young witch's eyes is that the back of figure's coat read "Don't Wake Me Up".
It's been a long time since he last felt the violent urge of punching someone.
All it takes is a twirl of his finger for his house to enter lock-down and the sound of locks clicking shut, along with the jingling of his bracelets, bring the vampire's attention towards him. Now don't get him wrong Mahiru has no intention of engaging the vampire into combat because that's what the man before certainly is, a vampire not unlike Sakuya but of a different flavor.
(That didn't mean he would let the man go so easily. That was his food, dammit. Everyone knows not to eat the food of a- Unless he didn't know-)
Watanuki Sakuya is-
cherry blossoms budding through the cracks, frost glittering beneath sunshine, the murmur of jagged stars unheard in the distance, the chipped mask of a fox, blistering ichor pulsing mineminemine through stilled veins in the presence of Mah-
This man is nothing like Sakuya.
This man is-
He's-
the void between the stars(iamnothing[idonotexist]), the weight of a crown crushing your skull(slumberingking[thefirstoffirsts]), briars in place of bones(iamsloth[mercifulindolence]), untouched by the sands of time(eternalblessing[immortalcurse]), broken lullabies in place of sinew(letmesootheyourworries[letmedieinpeace]), an endless ocean of darkness(seaofpenitence[floodofblood]), a sharpened guillotine pressed against your jugular(vampire[parasite])
Sweet Vesta, he'd never met anyone with such an oppressing aura that made him want to crawl into a hole and die. Yes, those were the exact words he used to describe the suffocating feeling the vampire emanated. Mahiru never imagined that those words could be put into feeling, but lo and behold, the man before him seems to embody those feeling to a T.
"So!", with a clap of his hands and clicking of charms he plastered his best smile expressing his displeasure and disappointment while doing his best to seem nonthreatening. In the back of his mind, he shrugged off the heavy aura with little success. That's going to get annoying fast. "Mind explaining why you nearly ate me out of my house and home?"
Silence.
"Well?"
The vampire stared back with his flat red eyes. This was beginning to devolve into a staring contest - two could play at that game. After what seemed like hours, which were in fact ten minutes, the vampire responded by slurping the rest of the remaining noodles. Mahiru strangled the urge to comment on his lack of decorum. Sakuya will have a field-day once he catches wind of this. Oh, the guys would find this amusing too but they had the decency to not make any mention of it to his face. The spring-haired teen had none of that.
"I got hungry."
The urge to punch is back - with vengeance.
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Wolves may lurk in every guise.
Handsome they may be, and kind,
Gay, and charming-never mind!
Now, as then, 'tis simple truth:
Sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth!"
-Little Red Riding Hood, Charles Perrault
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• kyaraben: kyaraben or charaben (キャラ弁), a shortened form of character bento (キャラクター弁当 kyarakutā bentō), is a style of elaborately arranged bento (japanese boxed lunch) which features food decorated to look like people, characters from popular media, animals, and plants.
• the fool: (upright) The Fool is a card of new beginnings, opportunity and potential. Even though you don't know exactly where you are going, you are being called to trust yourself and follow your heart, no matter how crazy this leap of faith might seem to you. This is a time when you need to truly have faith and believe in where the Universe is taking you.
- (reversed) The Fool reversed suggests that you have conceived of a new project but aren't ready to 'birth' it into the world just yet. You may be worried that you are not ready or that you don't have all the tools, skills and resources you need to make this project a success. Or perhaps you have a sense that the timing just isn't right. You may fear the unknown, thinking "What am I getting myself into?". As a result, you have come to a standstill, worried about taking any kind of action where you don't know the outcome. (-biddytarot)
[a/n: begs the question, who is the fool in this arc?]
...
word count: 1,921
start: 16/8/2018
completed & published: 31/8/2018
note: welcome to stars on the tip of your tongue, please, stay for the tea and cookies. not a fan of tea, you say? me neither, have some coffee or milk if that suits your fancy.
my first non-self insert fanfic? it's less likely than you think. i've been meaning to do something like this for a long time now but i never got the chance or inspiration to do so. so! to get inspired, i read up on a lot of fanfics that involved mythical creatures, magic, world building and junk. it was awesome. (can't forget wikipedia)
besides, i think we can all agree that mahiru has a witch motif. i just made it literal. what would you even call this au?
(why has no one done this before! i mean, it's right there!)