“Oh? Suit yourself then.” He paused, before he gave him a dubious look. “You 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 found shelter, correct?”

He gave a knowing nod. “I see. Well, I am free for the time being. Do you wish for me to walk you back to where you are staying?”

“But of course.” He gave a small nod. “Anything else eventful happen?”

“I believe in you.” he flashed a smile.

“It may take time, but that makes the reward even sweeter, yes?”

“Hey, maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll be adopted into the group as well.” He laughed a little. “John already fits in, so I’m sure once you regain trust, you will too.”

“Somewhat, I guess. I’m unsure how to explain our dynamic, really.” he shrugged. “What matters is that we all get along well nowadays.”

Ume waved a hand halfheartedly. “It does not matter. Ha… It’s somewhat funny, though. I mourned a man after he died because of my sin reporting, but now I’m friends with his ghost. He’s the alcoholic I mentioned earlier; he hates Tomio, yet he’s still apart of the friend group.”

“Ah… Well…” Ume’s frown deepened. “Normally, I do not get close to those I report on, but sometimes doing so makes the task easier. You see… When you sin, I’m supposed to report it to the gods. As punishment, they will either take some time off your life span, or make you fall ill until you+

“No, you don’t. Though, 40s isn’t that old for a human, I don’t think. I have a friend who’s 47… Though, he looks a bit older due to years of alcohol abuse.” Ume frowned a little.

“To be expected. It was a while ago, I’m sure you’ve had a lot of things happen to you since then.”

“Fascinating… How do you get there, then? Is it the same as the spirit world and only a means of finding a reflective surface?”

“Maybe you’ll remember in time.” Well… Probably not, but Ume isn’t sure how to bring up the soul tie severance… So he won’t.

“It… Definitely wasn’t a wise decision, but you are correct, you can’t take it back. You can only try to make up for it.”

“6 years is a long time…” he mused. He then smiled, almost fondly. “How sweet. You held onto hope, even if there were signs to let go… You definitely seem like a man who perseveres.”

it lives , it breathes , and it insists that it is something

Ume raised a brow at that. “You mean, the dirt?” he asked, dubious. “So, you are below even humans…” This is meant as a status symbol than anything else.

“Mm, I imagine.” Well, sort of. He’s never been in that situation before, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 he has read a few fictional romance books that depicted it. That’s all his knowledge about love and romance comes from.

Ume couldn’t help but to snicker. “Only once? My, you truly are doing better.”

Seems they’re both wording it in ways to try and not hurt the other’s feelings. What a predicament this is indeed. “That’s good. I trust you won’t do that anymore, though they definitely have more of a right to be skeptical about it than I do.”

Ume opened his mouth dumbly to speak, but absolutely nothing would come out. He quickly shut it, his embarrassment only growing. “…. Is that so now? I see.” He awkwardly scratched at his cheek with a red painted nail. He’s inexplicably torn right now. 𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 he take Alexander on a date? On one+

“My only question is what exactly is a digimon? I’ve never heard of your kind until just now. Are you some sort of talking animal…?”

“Don’t get me wrong, you are attractive, but I hadn’t intended it as anything but a friendly gesture. Maybe some other time I will take you on a proper date, but—. Ah.” Wait, that’s not picking his words carefully. Shit. That can easily be interpreted oddly.

“Urk…” He frowned and glanced away momentarily. He needs to pick his words carefully here. “I have made friends with humans before, but I have not dated any. Or… Anyone, for that matter.” He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Yes, precisely.” he gave a small nod of his head. “I do not plan on dying any time soon. I still have things I must accomplish.” Ume looked as if he was thinking on it for a moment as he stared at Saffire. “Perhaps that is true as well. Though, I look like a bug outside of this form… Most do not+

“No, we don’t. However, we just cannot die of old age. We can still die through other means.” Ume hummed weakly. “We are rather common, actually. Most of us just prefer to stay hidden due to not wanting to frighten any humans.”

“I am not the youngest of my siblings, but I am not the eldest either. I suppose I am a middle child, of sorts. But, my point is… I believe I am to be of average age? Hm… Is there such thing as an average age?”

“I—??” Oh, look at that, his face flushed. “It— it was 𝙣𝙤𝙩 my intention to take you on a date. Er, unless you want it to be one?? Wait—.” He’s digging himself into a hole here. He’s definitely yelling at Tomio for this later.

“Only for humans, yes.” He nodded, paused, then shook his head. “No. I am only 348.”

“Well, we all share a world technically, so yes. But, there is a spirit world and a human world, as well as the heavens itself. I choose to be in the human world as it is my duty to record the sins of certain individuals I am assigned to for the gods.”

“Oh? So you 𝙙𝙞𝙙 grovel?” he gave a crooked grin. “Well, like I said, it felt like a personal matter. I am not reporting your sins nor am I trying to make sure you stay in line. There was no reason for me to ease drop on a personal matter. They are fools who do not know me as well as they think.”

“Yes, that is correct. However, all shoukera look slightly different than the folklore suggests… Example being in my true form, I am a mix of a mantis and a locust.” Honey colored eyes blinked in surprise at the mention of his friends. “Yes, I know them quite well, actually.”

“Strangely?” his brows furrowed with confusion at that. “I do not believe I am behaving any stranger than I do around them. Though, I suppose it’s a good thing they weren’t mad…? Even if it was at the expense of myself…”

Ume scoffed at that. “Because I am not a human. Believe it or not, this is just a form I obtain to blend in with them. It makes my job watching them easier. I am a shoukera— I hail from the heavens.” He seems rather proud of this fact.

Ume was sitting down on a bench outside a bakery, eating what seemed to be his lunch for the day. His brows raised in surprise as he noticed Alexander walking near. With a warm smile, he held up a hand as a greeting. “Salutations, Alexander. How did it go?”

“Well, no, truthfully…” Was there? He never even noticed. He feels slightly embarrassed by that. “Then again, I do not spend my time looking at passerby’s in this realm.”

“Oh? In my opinion, I believe that even 𝙞𝙛 the world is unsafe, you should still be able to enjoy life’s luxuries such as love and happiness. Everyone should be able to, no matter the circumstances.”

Smacking an ofuda on { reader }’s back. It has the characters for “love” and “happiness” written on it. “A blessing.”

𝘊𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘮.ᐟ ㅤ whats funny to me about ume as an oc is i fucking hate bugs

𝘊𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘮.ᐟ ㅤ how tf do i untag ume from a thread. google isnt helping

𝘊𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘮.ᐟ ㅤ ume is probably the type to tell someone to do yoga about their bad mental health. im gonna throw stones at ume.

𝘊𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘮.ᐟ ㅤ i should draw shoukera form ume, but like. how do you draw bugs. fml.

📲 there’s someone out there for everyone. 📲 you just need to give it time.

𝘊𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘮.ᐟ ㅤ ume is a yapper and it annoys his sister to no end lmao i hardly ever draw ume in his exorcist outfit thing…. but his sister is a miko, so i had an excuse to lolol

📲 of course i am. 📲 you can do better, rose. 📲 you can easily find someone who ACTUALLY loves you, i’m sure.

𝘊𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘮.ᐟ ㅤ dont kill bugs around ume /silly

Reach for the sky, kneel down and pray.

gods are stubborn. so am i.

📲 was it ever love, after what he said to you??

𝘊𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘮.ᐟ ㅤ gonna shower, take my meds, and draw……… i will force myself to be productive today