Warning: very teeth-rotting, self indulgent stuff. :p
Mana
"...rin?"
"Hmm…"
"Iorin?"
"Hmmwhat…"
"Come on, Iorin. Wake up."
"Hmmmnah…"
Gentle but firm hands forced Iori to turn and lay on his back, sunlight suddenly hitting his eyes. Squinting, he tried to focus on what was in front of him.
"You awake, finally?"
Iori squinted again.
Chizuru's beautiful features finally appeared, and had Iori been a romantic in the most stereotypical way, he would have said something about how her pretty smile was brighter than the sun. But he wasn't that kind of romantic, he hated those cliché lines and, most importantly, it was so damn early in the morning and he was barely able to properly function, let alone put together such a complex sentence. And still not sure as to why he had been awoken.
Iori squeezed his eyes shut.
"Why are you… it's not even eight!" he grimaced, trying to roll on his side. "I don't have rehearsal today, let me sleep…"
"It's half past nine, actually" she ignored his complaints. "And I have a very good reason to kick you out of the bed."
"And what would that be?"
"It's your birthday."
…oh.
"You're Iori Yagami, it's March 25 and you're officially thirty-one."
Iori blinked.
Thirty-one.
Slowly, he got up and sat on the bed, his back against the headboard. Chizuru leaned forward and kissed him.
"Happy birthday, Iorin."
For once, those words didn't sound like a death sentence.
Iori Yagami actually managed to live past his thirty years and beat his curse.
And that happened thanks to the woman in front of him.
"Daddyyyy! Daddyyyy!"
The sound of tiny footsteps stumbling in the corridor, fast approaching the bedroom.
"DADDY!"
Here she was, Maki. His and Chizuru's daughter.
With the help of her mom, the tiny girl climbed on the bed and immediately launched herself between Iori's arms.
"Happy birthdayyyy" she sang, after days of endlessly repeating that line until she managed to pronounce it. At one year and half it was honestly impressive, considering she still mangled some longer sentences.
Iori smiled and kissed her head.
"Thank you, princess… wait, is that a new tooth?"
Maki vigorously nodded and smiled, flashing all of her now eight teeth.
"We have a brand new molar" Chizuru confirmed. "I already told the tooth fairy to not bring his usual gifts."
Iori let out a chuckle, knowing very well that her advice had surely fallen on deaf ears.
"Speaking of"' she said while getting up, "he'll be there in a bit. Meanwhile, want to come downstairs for some coffee?"
"Yeah, I need that" he stifled a yawn, finally getting out of the bed. "Just let me go to the bathroom first."
Chizuru smiled back and nodded, then left the room with Maki in her arms still giggling and repeating her "Happy birthday" line again and again.
Stretching, Iori finally took his glasses and phone and headed to the bathroom, where his tired reflection greeted him from the mirror.
Despite the eyebags - the result of various sleepless nights due to band rehearsal and working on their new album - he didn't look bad at all: Iori took good care of his face with a rigorous skincare routine, to avoid the damage done by the harsh stage lights, and it paid off as now he looked as he didn't age much in the last ten years. This, and also the Yagami's good genes, the only positive thing he got from his bloodline.
A buzz from his phone prompted him to briefly check it and find various texts wishing him happy birthday, the first one being, of course, from his twin sister Mitsuru.
Iori smiled fondly while reading it, as she was ecstatic knowing her brother had beaten the Orochi curse and was alive and well: it had haunted their lives since they were born, and to finally be able to celebrate their day without fearing it could have been the last one with both of them alive… it was like he took the heaviest weight ever off his shoulders.
His band's group chat was already flooded with texts from his bandmates, making his phone buzzing like crazy, not to mention all the notifications from his official social media accounts. Fans were probably already celebrating the day making hashtags trending.
Taking a mental note to check all of them and answer later, Iori put his glasses on his head to keep his hair away from his face, and removed his wedding ring until he was done with his morning routine.
He and Chizuru had been married for four years now, and to Iori it was still an incredible thing: his curse always loomed over his head, keeping him on the edge, tainting all his relationship, and with Chizuru hadn't been different.
Leaving her was the only thing Iori had been able to do to ensure her safety, the fear of going Riot on her and not even remembering it stronger than his desire to not be alone anymore.
But Chizuru was so damn stubborn, way more than him.
For her, finding a way to free Iori from his curse has always been a priority, and they spent countless nights in her family's archive in the hope to find some clues.
Even when they broke up, she often hinted at the idea of resuming their research, going as far as suggesting Iori to not retrieve his magatama, back when Ash Crimson stole both their treasures.
Iori had paid her a visit one night, promising her he would have got the Yata mirror back, and she suggested him to live his life free from his curse, even if that meant compromising their mission.
As tempting as it was, Iori couldn't do that.
He ended up taking his duties as a member of the Three Sacred Treasures very seriously, and his desire to live a long life was less important than keeping Orochi sealed.
And so, he took back her mirror but also his family jewel, quietly resigned to his impending demise.
But that night, he also had the proof that his feeling for Chizuru never faltered, so never did hers.
Their moon was still beautiful.
After that, they started seeing each other again almost regularly, at first with the excuse of "commemorating" the end of the whole Ash Crimson debacle, but it quickly became just a nice habit to look forward to – a night out and a beer with someone who understood him, despite everything.
Until one of those nights they kissed in front of Chizuru's door, the light of a crescent moon shining on them.
Their moon has always been beautiful.
Blinking, Iori looked for his face towel.
It had been just bliss since.
His fear of succumbing to Orochi's will never really faded, but Chizuru refused to let him fall into despair once again: she immediately resumed their research about the curse, this time also managing to scouring the Yagami's family archive and, later on, the Kusanagi ones.
And in a surprising turn of events, the priestess managed to find a possible solution.
According to her idea, the Hakkeshu that 660 years ago made a pact with the Yasakani ancestor cursed the magatama and tied their flames to it: that way, its user would have been forced to use the jewel in order to obtain the flames, but in doing so they were destined to die within thirty years.
She came to this conclusion thinking about when Iori had been left without his flames by Ash, but not affected by the curse's side effects like it would have usually happened: that had to mean the curse was on the magatama, not on the Yagami bloodline itself.
It was an interesting theory that opened a new whole scenario with a glint of hope at the end.
And so after a while Iori agreed to give the jewel to Chizuru, who was determined to try to purify it, and it had been in her hands since, but with the promise of giving it back in case of danger.
Luckily the latest years had been more or less uneventful, without real need for Iori to use his flames, therefore leaving it to Chizuru to do her job: when she first started, the Yata mirror showed them what couldn't be seen to human eyes, a tangled mass of dark, seemingly living threads covering the magatama in its entirety. Freeing it would have been a hard task, but nothing that would scare the priestess away.
Having done with his morning rituals, Iori put some clean clothes on and his wedding ring back on his hand. Gently caressing it, he couldn't help but think how lucky he was.
Resuming his relationship with Chizuru had been the best decision he ever took in his life, since he now had a whole life in front of him.
"Daddy! Finally!"
And the most adorable daughter in existence.
Maki smiled at him from down the stairs and then ran into the kitchen.
Iori smiled too.
Hadn't been for Chizuru and her idea of purifying his family jewel, Maki wouldn't have been there. When Chizuru discovered she was pregnant, Iori had been without his magatama for almost three years, therefore she was sure that not only she would have survived the birth, but also that their child would have been free from the curse.
That hadn't been enough to ease Iori's anxiety of course, who spent nine months following his wife everywhere like a watchdog and keep a close eye on her, trying to reassure himself that she was okay, to the point she ended up yelling at him that "NO I DON'T HEAR OROCHI IN MY HEAD, BUT I HEAR YOU WHISPERING LIKE A CREEP IN MY EAR AT 3AM ASKING IF I'M FEELING FINE AND IT'S BECOMING ANNOYING!".
The birth itself had also been an event that surely entertained the whole hospital, with Chizuru screaming like a banshee against Iori "THIS IS THE MOST TERRIBLE PAIN I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED AND IT'S ALL YOUR AND YOUR STUPID BIG DICK'S FAULT!" and destroying his hand in the process.
To which Iori was able to answer with just a pitiful "We're SO SORRY!".
The nurses probably were still laughing.
But it was totally worth it since both Chizuru and Maki were alive and healthy, and the little girl showed no sign of the Orochi curse except for her big, blue eyes. Maybe that and the red hair were now part of the Yagami genetics and not just a side effect anymore.
Aside from that, Maki was her mom's little clone - sporting the name of her gone-but-not-forgotten aunt - and a tiny bundle of joy.
"You're finally here, you ass! Took you long enough to make yourself look decent."
Iori smirked.
"Happy birthday you old fart!"
Sitting on one of the kitchen aisle's stools, Kyo Kusanagi was lazily smirking back at him with Maki on his lap.
"Should I remind you we are the same age? If I'm an old fart, so are you" he answered, joining them in the kitchen and taking a seat next to him. "Thank you, by the way."
"Could you two stopping talking like that before Maki-"
"Fart!"
"-repeats those words… well, thank you."
Chizuru looked with annoyance at Iori and Kyo, causing both men to burst into laughter.
"This is giving me a horrible deja-vu" she said, making Kyo laugh more.
"Just like good ol' time!" he joked, then took something from one of his jacket pockets and threw it at Iori.
"Here's your gift, you're welcome!"
Curiously looking at the small package, the red-head removed the colored paper and uncovered a small, cylindrical bottle with a black and white label on it: Get Salty.
Iori raised a brow, thinking it was just a dumb joke about his personality, until he read the smaller text.
"Whiskey flavored e-liquid?"
"What can I say, I know my ex rival's tastes" Kyo smirked. "I looked for that flavor thinking something like that couldn't exist, but the internet surprised me. And the reviews were great, so I had to order it."
Iori smiled, sincerely surprised.
"My e-cig is still full, but I'll let you know if those reviews are true once I'll recharge it. Thank you."
Switching to vaping had been Chizuru's idea. Iori had been a chainsmoker for years, and miraculously never suffered any of its terrible side effects probably thanks to Orochi's intervention – he may have been destined to a short lifespan, but until then the annoying snake needed him in good shape, apparently.
But once Iori gave Chizuru his magatama, she forced him to quit smoking for good. They weren't sure if he could have been subject to any side effects all of sudden, even though all the medical exams he did came out clean, but she didn't want to risk losing him because of lung cancer. And so he accepted switching to an e-cig.
Iori still wasn't fond of it, as according to him "If I have to suck a thing this hard I should just date it", but if it was to assure himself a longer life with the loves of his life, well…
"Daaad! Waaant!"
One of them was currently trying to grab the e-liquid bottle, probably attracted by the label. Iori moved it away from her, knowing Maki would have tried to chew it.
"Sorry princess, this is for dad only."
Her little pouty face almost made him feel like a monster, but luckily his now ex-rival was ready to help.
"Don't worry Maki-chan, you think Uncle Kyo wouldn't have something for you too?"
Kyo took something else from his pocket, and her eyes lightened up immediately.
"Kyo! What did I say about that?"
"Aw, come on Chi, it's just some very innocuous cookies that mom made! They won't do any harm, really!" he said, ignoring the priestess' complaints as he did for years. "Gotta keep my role as the most handsome tooth fairy, no?"
"A tooth fairy who managed to understand his role wrong" Chizuru said, pouring some coffee for everyone. "The tooth fairy brings money after the kid's teeth fall, not when they're still growing it. Money, not cookies."
Kyo just clicked his tongue.
"Rest assured I'll keep my role even in the future. Though I hope Maki will stick to sweet treats" he grumbled, looking at the little girl happily munching her cookies. "And I just want to spoil my adorable niece here, Yuki will never let me do that, ya know."
"How long until the birth?" Iori asked, lowkey enjoying the scared expression on the other man's face.
"Two weeks, more or less. I'm stressed as hell!"
"Pretty sure Yuki is way more stressed than you" Chizuru smirked. "Remember to take care of her once the baby is born-"
"-because everyone will be focused on the newborn forgetting the mom. Yes, I know. I already looked up for someone to help us" Kyo nodded, reassuring the priestess.
She and Iori had experienced first hand how often a new mom becomes neglected by family and people who come just to see the child and forget her. And while Iori's clan surprisingly hadn't been an issue - unlike Mitsuru, who was genuinely happy for them and her new role as aunt, his clan members just acknowledged Maki's existence and therefore a possible new heir, and that was it - the Kagura clan had been… well. Let's just say Iori had to remind them quite often to greet Chizuru too.
It was clear that some of them still considered her deceased twin sister the rightful heir, not deeming Chizuru worthy of that role.
Iori knew that feeling very well, as his own clan reminded him for years they thought of him as a failure because Kyo was still alive.
Fuck them, honestly.
He however did whatever he could to help Chizuru with the baby, giving her time to sleep and rest, and also just being there for her: she had always been there for him over the years, during both their relationship and the break up, and Iori finally felt he could really repay her for good.
And surprisingly, he enjoyed his dad role a whole lot.
Maki was seriously a source of happiness, and beside the countless sleepless nights she put them through, she was the most adorable little girl ever…
"Weeeeh!"
…a little girl that was now dangling upside down from Kyo's lap. Iori's eyes twitched.
"Can you please hold her like a normal person?!"
Kyo lifted Maki and put her back on his knees. "Don't be a spoilsport, I know what I'm doing!"
"You don't."
"Yes I know! Thanks to Maki I'll be ready to be the best dad ever."
"If I was Yuki, I'd never let you with your child unsupervised."
"Ooooh that's-"
"Kids, please."
Chizuru had to intervene once again and stop their bantering.
"I thought we were over the Firebois' Kindergarten stage."
"Hey!"
"Besides, now I have a real toddler to take care of, I can't also keep an eye on you two."
"Come on, Chi-"
"Atcho!"
Maki sneezed.
And at least fifty other Maki filled the spacious kitchen-diner of the Kagura household.
Kyo snorted. "Well, at least you're sure it's your daughter."
His expression must have been particularly funny to Maki, who bursted into laughter. She and all her copies.
"...okay, this is terrifying. Like, seriously."
"Hope you'll never have to hear it in the middle of the night" Iori said. "That's really nightmare fuel."
Chizuru shook her head. "Big babies. Hey, Maki-chan, look at mommy" she said, catching the attention of her child and all her clones. "What should we do when you sneeze and your copies appear?"
The little girl smiled and lightly pinched her cheek, causing her copies to disappear.
"Good girl" Chizuru smiled, gently caressing her child's head. Maki giggled, then turned to look at Kyo and tugged his shirt.
"Uncle Kyo!"
Iori couldn't suppress a smirk, noticing how his ex-rival would melt every time Maki called him 'uncle'.
"Yes, darling, tell me."
The little girl made him lean over and whispered something in his ear. Kyo's eyes widened and nodded.
"Oh, of course" he said, putting Maki down and letting her grab his hand, and walked toward the veranda.
Iori immediately jumped on his feet and tried to follow them. "Hey, where do you-"
"NO!"
He stopped immediately, as Maki angrily stared at him. Both Kyo and Chizuru snorted, and Iori ended up following suit.
"Sorry. Dad won't move."
Maki nodded, seeming satisfied, then resumed her slightly unsteady walk.
"What did she tell you?" Iori asked Kyo, who just shrugged.
"Hell if I know, it was all gibberish. 'Daddy' it's all I understood, but you never say no to a kid who grabs your hand."
Iori smiled and shook his head, watching Kyo and his daughter disappearing in the garden. Chizuru, behind him, failed to suppress a laugh. He sat back on his stool and smirked.
"You know what they're planning."
"Me? No."
"You're a terrible liar."
Chizuru just smirked back at him. "Say the pot to the kettle."
Iori opened his mouth but closed it immediately, not knowing what to answer. His wife chuckled, sipping her coffee, and he did the same, a bit upset by her ability to read him so well. She wasn't wrong though.
Iori was able to hide his emotions and real intentions behind a poker face really well, but to those who were able to look past his mask he was an open book.
That's why Chizuru had been the only one to notice a shift in Iori's attitude when he realized he didn't hate Kyo, years ago.
Those memories were still vivid in his mind, the fear of Kyo discovering it and the pain all that caused him.
Because how could Iori have admitted he was tired of their rivalry, that he just spent years obeying his clan's brainwash, that he just… wanted a friend?
How could he have said that, knowing he made Kyo's life hell by following him everywhere and screaming death threats at the top of his lungs?
Sure, Iori mellowed down a lot during all those years, especially after accepting these new feelings, giving up the obsessive stalking and showing up only during tournaments. But he doubted that would have been enough for Kyo to forgive him.
Yet, during the last tournament they joined as a team, Iori decided to be honest for once.
He took Kyo aside and told him everything. He was so tired of faking hate, so he just gave up and took the risk. What will be will be.
And boy… to say Kyo's reaction had been angry would have been the understatement of the century.
"You stalked me FOR YEARS, shouted death threats every time you saw me around, AND NOW YOU HAVE THE BALLS TO ASK ME TO BE YOUR FRIEND?! ARE YOU REALLY THIS CRAZY?!"
It had been incredibly painful to hear, but Iori endured it. He was well aware of his wrongdoings, and that their talk had no real chance to end well. It didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell, though.
But Iori accepted it in silence, and disappeared from Kyo's life for good.
He even went as far as dropping the fighting scene entirely, officially retiring from the tournament: it was an idea that had been in his mind for some time, and when he'd lost the only reason he had to join the tournament, there had been no point in going on with it.
Chizuru knew it and agreed with him, thinking that focusing on his life and himself would have been a positive change: Iori assured her that, should the risk of Orochi awakening become real once again, he would have been there booking a room in the same hotel the tournament would have been held, but without joining it. And that's what he did a couple of times, when Chizuru sensed some weird shifting in the seal's energy but luckily without real consequences, and each time he did his best to avoid Kyo. It was still painful, but Iori was a man of his word.
During the subsequent years Iori just focused on his life and his music career, made his relationship with Chizuru official and started planning their wedding – that ended up being just the two of them flying to Hawaii and marrying there, enjoying two weeks of peace in a beautiful paradise.
Then one day Kyo showed up.
It happened five or six years ago, after a private concert for their fan club that Lunar Project, his band, held in a live house: Iori and his bandmates were exiting the club, it was 1AM in the morning and they were about to follow their manager to the car when Iori noticed his rival.
"Hey."
Kyo was standing near the entrance, hands in his pockets and his bike parked behind him.
Iori stared at him in disbelief. That was definitely the last thing he'd expected to see at the end of a concert. But he managed to find a bit of courage and walk toward Kyo, grabbing the shoulder strap of his guitar case so tight his knuckles became white.
"Hey" he replied, stopping a few steps away from him.
"It's been a while, isn't it?"
"Years, I'd say."
"Yeah… listen, you have a few minutes to spare? I know it's late and you're probably tired but…" Kyo said, averting his eyes, He didn't finish his phrase but instead he showed him a small grocery bag with two beers inside, and what seemed to be some snacks.
Did Kyo want to… talk?
The red-head blinked, taken by surprise. "Ah… my manager was going to give us a ride back home."
"I promise it won't take long" Kyo insisted. "And I can give you a ride after, if you trust my driving skills."
He doubted Kyo's driving could be more terrifying than Chizuru's, so that wasn't an issue. Speaking of, he wondered if his old rival was there because of her, or if he asked her where he could find Iori. Granted, the whole of Osaka was plastered in flyers of their concerts and their site and social media accounts would provide all the infos needed… not to mention, Kyo knew Iori moved in with Chizuru at her estate a year prior. He'd been there for a briefing related to Orochi, and even on that occasion they barely greeted each other.
But part of him never stopped hoping that, one day, he could have the chance to fix things with Kyo. Saying 'no' now wasn't an option. So he just walked back to his manager and bandmates and told them he suddenly had other plans.
It had been amusing to see all of them suspiciously looking at Kyo, especially his bandmates: they knew, to a certain extent, what kind of relationship he and Kyo had and how Iori managed to ruin it, but they were also so damn protective of him, so the dude who hurt their Iorin had to be kept an eye on.
Even if their beloved Iorin was at fault.
Having done that he bid farewell to the group and went back to Kyo.
"Told them I have a ride for later."
His rival nodded, and then started walking to a bench nearby, gesturing to Iori to come and sit. He did as he'd been told to, getting handed one of the beers that was surprisingly still cold. Kyo started talking, asking things like "How have you been?", "I saw you held a concert at the Tokyo Dome, that's cool!" or "And so you and Kagura are officially engaged, are you already planning to marry?"
Just small talk.
At one point Iori stopped him.
"Kyo… why are you here?"
The other man sighed and looked away, probably trying to find the right words. After a minute or so, he spoke again.
"It's… listen, things between us have never been easy. And while you have your faults… I never really tried to make them better."
"You had all the rights to be mad at me-"
"Let me talk, okay? I'm not good with these things, and being so… honest, I guess, so just let me finish."
Iori nodded.
"Okay, so… yes, I had all the rights to be mad at you, you're right. And I was. You made my life hell. But" Kyo sighed "I've also been a shit head. To you, and Kagura too. I've never been a good teammate. And… I could have tried to talk to you at least once, to understand why you were so obsessed with me. You weren't the only moron."
Kyo gave him a small smile that Iori reciprocated.
"You know, I thought about you and all of this a lot during these years. Hell, I've even found myself thinking I kinda missed our random fights 'round the city" he laughed. "And wondered what would have happened if, well… if I really tried to talk to you about it, see if things could be fixed…"
Iori raised his brows. He thought for so long he was the only one wanting that, but he was now so happy to have been proved wrong.
His expression must have been really eloquent since Kyo just looked away and sighed.
"Listen, I think we're definitely over that dumb rivalry. I know you've been for a while now, guess I needed some time to realize that myself. Can we just… start over?"
Iori smiled, this time genuinely.
Kyo never left his side since.
Some had the guts to say they weren't sure if friendship was the right word for them. But then again, everything they did after that - from Iori being present at Kyo's wedding and even helping him with his speech, to Kyo becoming Maki's favorite uncle and also the most fervent Lunar Project fan (he'd never admit it out loud, but Iori had access to his fanclub members' list…) - was the true definition of friendship.
And honestly, after all this time, he didn't want to pretend anymore. If people wanted a rivalry, the tournament offered plenty of those.
Yagami and Kusanagi were finally past that.
"Daddyyy! Look!"
Maki's high pitched voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
He watched her return inside the kitchen with Kyo and… a plate?
"Happy birthday daddyyy!"
Iori walked over to them, highly suspicious of Kyo's smirk and Chizuru chuckling like crazy.
"Thank you again, princess, what did you… bring…?"
The plate she was holding contained four or five small piles of what seemed to be… mud and dirt?
Maki tiptoed and pushed the plate toward Iori.
"Eat!"
"What?"
Both Kyo and Chizuru bursted into laughter.
"Maki made… cupcakes for dad…" his ex rival said, between a laugh and another.
"...cupcakes?"
His child nodded, offering him the piles of mud once again. Iori could clearly see leaves and roots of who knows which plant from their garden, and even saw some ants and… was that a living worm?
"Thank... thank you, princess."
"EAT!"
Iori grimaced.
"You can't say no to your little spawn" Kyo grinned, but luckily Chizuru spared him the unwanted snack.
"Give this to mom, so I can put the candles on it" she winked at Iori while grabbing the plate and quickly disappearing behind the kitchen aisle. A few moments later, a plate with actual chocolate cupcakes appeared.
"Of course you knew it."
"Come on, she really wanted to make a cake for her daddy, couldn't refuse that" she chuckled, putting two candles shaped like the numbers three and one over one of the cupcakes. "But I would have never let you eat mud, don't worry."
"How thoughtful of you" he joked, taking Maki in his arms since she was aggressively tugging his hand, and let her sit on the aisle.
"Wait, where the lighter is…"
Chizuru was frantically looking around the kitchen, a thing that made Kyo raise a brow.
"You have a living lighter just right here, you remember that?" he joked and took the cupcake with the candles on it, ready to light those but Maki cupped them with her hand.
And produced a small, red flame.
Iori widened his eyes.
"What…"
Both him and Chizuru briefly looked at Kyo, who immediately shook his head.
"Don't look at me, I didn't do anything. It was her."
It couldn't be… right?
Iori turned to Maki. "Hey, princess. Can you do that again for dad?" he said, pointing at the candles. The little girl nodded and showed him her little hand, producing another flame.
A red flame, just like Kyo's.
Just like the Yasakani flames, before their fall.
"Maybe…"
Both him and Kyo looked at Chizuru, arms crossed over her chest and a pensive expression on her face.
"Maybe what?" he asked.
"I was wondering if the rituals I'm using on the magatama, all those threads untangling… maybe they're starting to have some effects on it."
Iori frowned. "How so?"
"Well, from what we learned from our research, your family jewel and the Kusanagi sword used to work in the same way, granting the use of flames to every clan member, not only to the owners of the treasures" she explained. "This is why both Kyo and his father are able to use their flames, as well as other members of their clan. In your case you lost your flames because the curse tied them to the jewel."
"Therefore leaving me flameless when Ash stole my magatama" he nodded. They were still unsure as to why his sister and other clan members were still able to produce purple flames during that time though, but Chizuru thought it could have been another side effect of the curse, where non-heirs could still use a very weakened flame that would have led them to a short lifespan and pain while using it, slowly killing the whole clan.
It was still a theory though, but the only one that seemed to explain how the Orochi curse modified his family treasure to its advantage.
"Okay but what all of this has to do with Maki producing flames?"
Kyo had a point, but Chizuru just smiled.
"It means my plan is working, because the original Yasakani flames seem to be resurfacing… and Maki is in part a descendant of this clan."
Iori quietly pondered about what all that meant for him before asking his wife a question.
"Do you think that I…"
"Why don't you try it?"
It's been so long since Iori used his flames, but it wasn't different from muscle memory. It was just as natural as breathing.
So he raised his left hand and flexed his slender fingers, trying to recall them.
At first nothing happened. But a few seconds later, he felt a familiar ticklish sensation that usually would have been followed by a wave of pain.
Instead, a red flame appeared.
Iori immediately closed his hand making the flame disappear, too shocked to properly think. Too afraid it was just one time happening.
But when he tried again the flame reappeared, obeying to its rightful owner. It was small and weaker compared to his purple ones, but… it was there.
Real.
Chizuru smiled. "It's really working…"
"That's… that's the Yasakani flame?!"
Kyo was shocked, as well as Iori. Rightfully so.
To regain the Yasakani's flames… he never thought it could have been possible. He was so sure he would have died within thirty years, in an extremely slow and painful way, losing his mind and succumbing to Orochi's will. Just like it happened to his father. Iori had watched him slowly going crazy - even more than he already was - until he finally ran away from the estate and never looked back.
But now… now it wasn't just a wish anymore.
Now it was a possibility, a real one.
Iori felt his head spinning. Talking and thinking seemed like impossible tasks, so the only thing he managed to do was to launch himself between Chizuru's arms and passionately kiss her.
Chizuru laughed against his lips and Iori held her so tight as if his life would depend on her.
And in a way, that was true.
"Yeah, don't mind me and little Maki watching you two doing mom and dad things, please go on."
Both snorted at Kyo's joke.
For the first time in his life, Iori had hope.
He lived past thirty years, possibly had beaten his curse and maybe, just maybe, he would have been able to restore his clan's name and the mistake of 660 years ago.
"Really, I don't want to be a cockblocker here, but those red flames are something that deserve a toast!" Kyo insisted. "And knowing you two, I'm sure there's alcohol somewhere in your kitchen, and no, I don't care if it's early morning! We have more than one reason to party!"
Iori laughed, genuinely.
"Really, Iori, where's your secret stash of beers?!"
Well, Kyo was right.
That day, they had more than one reason to party.
Notes:
…told ya it was teeth rotting stuff, didn'tI?
Anyway!
*I've always been weirdly fond of fanon kids (despite not being particularly fond of kids IRL), and this was bound to happen. Little Maki had been lived in my mind rent-free for ages, and I didn't thought I'd ever write about her since fanon kids are most of the time considered a cheesy, dumb trope.
But you know what, I'm old and I don't care, lol. My ship(s) are already niche, I can at least make the most of it and have fun, right? Plus, Maki was the perfect excuse to further explore the possible fix for Iori's curse (that I've already explained better in Heaven is a place on heart, it's just a few clicks away).
*I've introduced Mitsuru, my fanon Iori's twin sister, in the Child games (Hide and Seek, Paper Planes, Truth or Dare) series.
*That bit about Chizuru's experience with pregnancy came from an article I read a while ago, about how often new moms are neglected by family and everyone else because they're too busy caring for the baby only. It was very sad to read.
*I never thought I'd ever expanded Nirvana enough to make a "verse" (now renamed Kagami, a nod to Chizuru's mirror and the mix of her and Iori's last names), but since it happened and it shares a lot with Mikrokosmos (the IoriChiKyo "verse") I thought I'd add a brief explanation: everything that happens before and during Nirvana is shared in both verses – childhood and teen events, relationship, you name it. Everything until Nirvana is the same. After that story, things splits into two parallel verses, à la Sliding Doors: one is Mikrokosmos, the OT3 verse, where Kyo happens and the poly triad is formed, the other one is this one, Kagami, where Iori and Chizuru are the main couple. But Kyo is still present and as you can see manages to make his relationship with Iori more healthy and normal, just like the brotp we deserve but SNK doesn't want to give us (and also that's why now Kyo calls Iori by first name.)
Maybe no one cares about these explanations, but I thought it might be needed, sorry 'bout that!
*Therefore Iori is bisexual in every verse, hence the e-cig joke. Just wanted to be clear about it, his sexuality doesn't change according to what I'm writing. He's bi, period. Funnily enough, his TvTrope page addresses him as "Ambiguosuly bisexual" because of his obsession for Kyo, but… bruh, nothing abiguous about it lol. He definitely is. XD
*The e-liquid brand is Get Salty and the product name is Bourbon Stained.
*I always said this, but Iori's band is a major. And since they're now been active for more than ten years, they're pretty much considered among the biggest bands by now. I'm not totally sure if Iori having access to the fanclub member list makes sense, but I can see it happening when they were rookies and the fanclub was still small, and he just kept checking it from time to time. And one day he discovered Kyo was a VIP member…
**Also, Iori dropping off the tournament is a headcanon I've had for quite a while: whether Iori retires because he's just tired of pursuing this life since nothing will ever change with Kyo, therefore just focusing on his career, or just like in this case where he tried to fix things with Kyo, but failed and so decided to disappear from his life, it's something I can totally see happening at one point.
*In this household we love and cherish Yuki. I really don't get why this poor girl is so hated just because she exists (barely I'd say, since her biggest cameo was in KoF: Kyo back in the days). I like her, she's ready to keep Kyo's terrible attitude in place, girl has balls of steel! So I'll always do my best to portray her positively, no matter what kind of story (one where she's still with Kyo like here, or the OT3) she will be in.
*Uncle Kyo/Soon-to-be-dad!Kyo gives me life, okay? Both firebois being dads give me life. For the record, Kyo's son will be called Yamato, a nod to the KoF Gaiden manga.
*"The moon is beautiful, isn't it": Author Natsumi Soseki, when he was teaching English, saw one of his students translate "I love you" quite literally (ware kimi no aisu). Soseki suggested instead that he could translate it as "The moon is beautiful, isn't it?", because of japanese people being very reserved at the time and expressed their feelings less directly. It has since become a common way of saying "I love you", which is usually answered with "it always has been".
When I read it I immediately thought of Iori, with his obsession for the moon this screamed perfection.3
If you've read this far (without dental caries forming), thank you! Hope you've enjoyed it!
Mana
