Here’s my piece from the Offline Miya zine!

Not every day, but some days after school Miya would help Shadow at the flowershop. Initially, he hadn’t planned for it to become a fairly common thing. He’d just wanted to bother Shadow. Poke fun at him, maybe talk to that manager he’d seemed to like so much. But when he went, an older lady had assumed he worked there and didn’t even ask if he didn’t before she shoved two flowers at him and asked for his opinion. It’d thrown him off enough he actually answered. Then the manager- Arisa, he eventually learned- shoved a bouquet into his hands and he could only blink as she shoved him toward someone at the counter, apparently deciding he would be an employee that day. Later he had learned Shadow’d called in sick and she was alone. Telling her that he was Shadow’s little sibling the first time he’d come here bit him in a way he hadn’t expected, since she seemed to think he’d been sent to take Shadow’s place. (Of course, he didn’t correct her. Not that he’d really had a chance to. It was busier than he’d expect a flowershop of all things to be. She’d paid him a little after, though. Which was nice.) After that he’d just kinda… started ending up there. More and more. The flowers smelled nice and it was a nice escape from school and the professional side of skating. Especially when he was busy. And when it was empty, it was fun to heelie around the shop with the shoes he’d convinced Kojiro to get him, making random bouquets. One of which he was even able to bring home. (It was his favourite- pink carnations and white lilies and ferns and lilacs and pink hyacinth.) It was… nice. More nice than he’d ever thought it’d be, though he’d admit he hadn’t exactly expected to end up here the first time he snuck over with Reki and Langa to bug Shadow into taking them to the onsen. Or any of the other times he came over to bother Shadow. Whether alone or not. What could he say, Shadow was fun to make fun of.

“Okay you little runt,” Shadow came toward him, a large bucket of flowers in hand, “move over.”

“Isn’t there a magic word you’re supposed to use?” Miya asked. When Shadow only glared at him and moved past anyway, grumbling something about cats and always being underfoot as he went, Miya stuck his tongue out. Even without the ‘please’ he rolled enough out of the way so Shadow wouldn’t trip. If a mess was made, they’d have to clean it up. Something he learned after an unfortunate accident almost had Arisa revoke his heelie rights. Thankfully his pleading face did wonders, even if it never fazed Kaoru. He followed Shadow outside, where the older skater filled the bucket with water. There was a low, wooden fence out here that really felt like it separated the back area from the outside world. A vine traveled up it, dotted with small yellow flowers. The shop didn’t really use them. Most of what they sold were bouquets or singular flowers and they weren’t really suited for either. But they fit the atmosphere of a flower shop. Sometimes Miya would catch Shadow taking care of them. Especially after dealing with especially trying customers. Or sometimes the day after a beef that went badly. About the second time Miya caught him, he figured Arisa put them there specifically for that reason. Next to the fence was a wooden box, which Miya rested his feet on when he jumped up to sit on the fence.

Shadow looked at him from the corner of his eye. “Shop is almost closing. Do you… need me to take you home?”

Every day Miya worked there, Shadow would ask that. And every time, he’d get the same answer.

“Nah, I have my skateboard.”

There was silence, filled only by the hose in the bucket. Before Shadow could ask a second time just to make sure- something that also happened everytime. The things Miya learned about Shadow. The blackmail . If he ever had the desire to, he could probably do some serious harm to Shadow’s S reputation. … He wouldn’t . Because he at least sorta cared about Shadow. But he could- a small, almost pitiful noise filled the air. A noise that immediately had Miya’s ears peaked. Was that-? It came again.

Mr-oow.

He turned to Shadow. “Did you hear that?” The look Shadow gave him, half worried and half concerned was all the answer he needed. He jumped down, making a meowing noise of his own in the hopes the cat would answer. It did, with the slightest delay. In a call and response, Miya kept it up until he found the cat. Bright blue eyes looked up at him from a bush. A small mouth opened wide. Me-roow? With a delighted gasp, Miya lifted the kitten from the bush. Dirt clung to short black fur and its toe beans. The hose turned off and Shadow walked up behind him.

“Oh no, we are not keeping a cat.” 

Miya turned on his heel to look up at the older skater. “You’re right,” he smirked and held the kitten out to him. “ Youare.”

“What?-”

“I can’t keep it,” Miya interrupted him. “Much as I’d love to, Joe’s allergic. I’d never get it in the door.”

“Then we’ll take it to an animal shelter!”

“And leave it to fend for itself??” Miya gasped, all fake dramatic and half fake anger, as he pulled the kitten close to his chest. This was the closest he’s gotten to actually owning a cat. He was not passing up this opportunity. “Who knows what kind of people might adopt it! If it even does manage to get adopted. I can’t leave this kitten’s fate up to chance.” And he pulled out his best pleading eyes, even jutting his lower lip out in a pout.

“Why don’t you just use those on your dad?” Shadow mumbled quietly before he sighed. “Alright, alright, I’ll take the fuzzball. Just put that away already.”

Miya lit up pleasantly, just barely keeping his smile from being too smug. “Thanks, Shadow!”

“Yeah, yeah, you little monster,” Shadow said with a flat look.

Luckily they didn’t have to worry about the kitten in the shop. Arisa took one look at it and cooed. “Are you gonna take care of it?”

“Dad’s allergic so big brother said he would!” Miya quickly nodded. No backing out now.

“That’s so sweet.” Arisa smiled and petted the kitten between its ears. It let out a loud purr as she did. Miya smiled as its little chest rumbled beneath his fingertips.

For once, at the end of their shift, Miya let Shadow drive him home. After they did some shopping and stopped by Shadow’s apartment, in that order.

(“Do we even need all this stuff?”

“Of course! Have you never taken care of a cat before?”

“Have you?”

“My dad’s allergic to cats, it doesn’t count. Plus I’ve done a lot of research.”)

Shadow grumbled on his way up the two flights of stairs, carrying the litter and cat food (canned and dry). After he got this stuff inside he’d head back down for the scratching post, fluffy bed, and cat toys. Because there was no way he was going to be stupid enough to try this in two trips. In front of him, Miya jumped up the stairs carrying only the cat and the keys he’d filched. So far the kitten seemed content in Miya’s arms. It just laid there and purred. Every so often Miya would scratch between its ears and the purring would briefly increase in volume. When he unlocked and opened the door he turned slightly so the kitten could get a look at Shadow’s apartment. “This is where you’ll be living,” he said and bright blue eyes slowly blinked open. They looked around the apartment from his arms as Miya toed out of his shoes. This was actually the first time Miya’d been there, too. The apartment was smaller than his- a one bedroom-one bathroom compared to the two bedroom-two bathroom he lived in- though Miya assumed that was because Shadow lived alone. Of course that meant he’d need less space. There was a small balcony, too. Dark orange curtains were open, allowing light to enter the apartment.

“Thanks for the help.” There was a thud as something hit the ground. Probably the litter.

“Of course,” Miya said, not even looking back at Shadow. Something had caught his eye. A rectangular box outside on the floor of the balcony. Miya tilted his head and went to check it out.

It was wooden and full of dirt, with two very green, leafy plants. One of them was basically a bush and curled at least partly around a short metal stick that stuck up close to where it came out of the dirt. He was pretty sure it was a tomato plant. The second was close to the ground. This one he didn’t recognize. Both plants had very similar yellow flowers, though. Miya knelt next to it. There was a green watering can with white flowers painted onto it next to it that made Miya snort, but he didn’t touch it. “You grow vegetables?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I just didn’t expect you to be that much of a gardener.”

“I have plants at the store,” Shadow said.

“Yeah, but I figured those were just to impress Arisa. Guess that explains why none of them have died,” Miya said.

“What do you mean by that, you little brat?” Shadow grumbled. Miya ignored it.

“So what kind are they?”

“What?” The glass door slid open further.

Miya poked at one of the leaves on the assumed tomato plant since it was closest to him. It was sort of fuzzy. The kitten shifted in his arms and he adjusted his hold so it couldn’t jump out. “What kind of vegetables are they?”

“They’re tomatoes,” Shadow said from much closer than before. Miya looked up to see Shadow’s jaw. When Shadow moved, he looked down again to see him point at the second plant. “And these are zucchini.”

“Neat,” Miya said. So he was right. He moved the kitten closer so it could sniff at the flowers. As it did it opened its mouth to bite at a petal. Before it could, Shadow grabbed it and set it inside.

Despite not helping him bring anything in, Miya does help Shadow set everything up. Of course. He needed to make sure everything would be good for the kitten. And needed to make sure Shadow knew how to take care of a kitten- though, out of the group he definitely trusted Shadow the most with this. By the time Miya is ready to go, the kitten is sniffing around Shadow’s apartment and being generally nosy. Miya can understand.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you home?” Shadow asked.

“I’mfine . I have my skateboard,” Miya held it up as if to say ‘see?’ and Shadow rolled his eyes, with his arms crossed.

“Alright, fine. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you at work, big brother!” Miya chirped and left out the door before Shadow could even protest. He thought about possible kitten names on his way home.

Fanart from the fanfic called backseat

@Naoshanao (twitter)

Reki: Sorry Shadow we took your car for a ride ( ͡°ᴥ ͡° ʋ)

Shadow:ಠಗಠ

GOOD MORNING TO THE NEW SK8 OFFICIAL ART!!

WE FINALLY GOT NEW SK8 THE INFINITY ART LETS GO!!!

HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO SK8 THE INFINITY

Been dreaming of this a while thought it’s about time to write it the heck down.

Sk8 The Infinity - Monster Hunter AU

Reki - let’s start off with this dude. First of all he’s a hunter and uses sword and shield. He got into this profession though his family are not hunters, and he’s decent at what he does don’t get me wrong! But I think he’s more fitted to making traps and smithing and crafting and such. My guy can make you the best weapons provided you bring him good enough materials and knows a hell of a lot about what weapons best suit which people.

Langa - experienced young hunter!!! Grew up in a family of hunters so it’d make sense he’d be into it. Uses the insect glaive and is damn good at it. Has a palamute that looks like an Alaskan Malamute. Uses that palamute as a pillow sometimes and the dog just doesn’t care because he loves Langa unconditionally.

Hiromi - You can’t tell me he doesn’t use a hunting horn. Dude was treated like a dad/baby sitter throughout the anime so I think he’s be a good supportive mate. Probably has to always play support because nobody knows what a gosh darn potion is lmao. He use to exclusively use the hammer.

Miya - I love this baby. He’s actually a rider! His monstie is a nargacuga and he uses a bow. Not a fan of hunters obviously but he puts that past him when he becomes friends with Reki and Langa. Him and his narga are close!! They sleep together, eat together, take baths together. Don’t touch the narga!! He only likes Miya. Only Miya.

Kaoru - Wyverian man. Walking encyclopedia. His palico is Carla and she is also a walking encyclopedia. Uses a long sword. He’s professional, precise, and hella good. Man is also a glass canon. Good damage, bad defense. Sorry all you Cherry lovers but he’s gonna get hurt if someone isn’t watching his back for him.

Kojiro: uses gunlance. He’s brutal with that thing. Was thinking on giving him a ranger weapon or some other heavy weapon but this seemed like a good fit. Also the teams one and only field cook. He’s in charge of cookin the meats. I feel like as a hunter he’s really only interested in if he can eat the monster he’s hunting hahah.

Ainosuke - Drama queen in battle but able to pull off some impressive combos. Uses a charge blade and waits for it to shine red before unleashing a charged attack. Doesn’t listen to teammates, not even when they’re yelling at him to use his charge. He’s gonna tough it out so he can be the maximum dazzling.

Tadashi - I’m sorry I know very little about this baby so I have nothing on him. But briefly thought it’d be amusing is he was Adam’s palico Aaaa.

Reki: Describe your life in less than ten words.

Miya: Not gonna last long.

Reki:

[Later, to everyone]

Reki: Yeah, so just keep Miya away from sharp objects and high places for a few days, okay thanks.

Joe: Okay guys. I’m going to the store, you need anything?

Reki: My self-worth.

Miya: My will to live.

Langa: My mental stability.

Shadow: Some Oreos…You guys okay??

Langa:If I punch myself and it hurts, am I too weak or too strong?

Shadow: You’re weak.

Reki: You’re strong?

Miya: Stupid. You’re just stupid.

Miya: Cheese is just a loaf of milk.

Shadow: He’s right and I’m scared.

Reki: This implies a liquid form of bread.

Miya:Beer.

Reki:FUCK

they all (especially renga) LOOK SO FRICKIN GOOD HERE I CAN’T GET OVER IT. it could just be the brainrot speaking and the fact that it’s been a minute since ive seen sketches for them BUT MY GOODNESS. LOOK AT REKI’S LOOK. LOOK AT LANGA’S FACE. MIYA IS SO PRECIOUS. SHADOW IS SO COOL. I MISS THEM SO MUCH