BEE AND IVY MENTIONED IN HYMN FOR THE VISCOUS??! I hope we get interactions with them and Uri, I love those girls š„¹ I feel like Ivy and Uri could become good friends later on because of their association with the Uchiha maybeā¦BUT BEE AND IVY MENTION!! (I miss Bee)
AAAAAAAAAA YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! These novels all take place simultaneously, give or take a few years here and there, but within the same period and context, so everyone ends up crossing paths. Since you mentioned missing Bee... yeah, I miss her too. Thatās actually why Iām completely rewriting her story with Izuna. Iām not going as dark this time: I want Izuna to have the chance to be a dad. Hereās a little sneak peek of a scene I wrote yesterday for their novel, just to show how deeply intertwined the Uchihasā stories are in this universe.
Indra and Ivy's mansion was too quiet for a house that had once echoed with power.
Outside, the evening light dripped cold across the marble floor, gold suffocating against stone. Inside, Raizenās small footsteps padded aimlessly through the living room, dragging a toy car across the coffee table like he wasnāt the heir to an empire currently bleeding from its throat.
Ivy sat curled in the armchair. The collar of her t-shirt slid off her shoulder, revealing skin too clean for the amount of rage she carried. Her silence had teeth now. Not the fragile kind. The patient, carnivorous kind.
Izuna leaned against the edge of the low console table, arms crossed over his chest, watching the boy.
Shisui sat with his legs thrown over the arm of the couch, chewing on a lollipop like it might distract him from the tension wrapped around Ivyās jaw.
None of them said anything for a long time. That was how it was now. The whole compound felt stuck between a heartbeat and a loaded gun.
When Ivy finally did speak, it cracked the air open like a bad omen.
-He hasnāt called. Not once.
Shisui pulled the candy from his mouth. -You want honesty or comfort?-
-Neither.- Her voice was low. Final. -I want Indra to come home and raise his fucking son.-
Izuna watched Raizen crawl halfway under the table to retrieve his toy.
-You know how he gets,- Shisui murmured, voice still light but loaded. "XXXXX" dies, and Indra throws himself into the abyss like grief makes him holy.-
Izuna finally exhaled. -Itās not about "XXXX". Itās about what "XXXXX's" death means.-
-I saw the list of names Obito pulled,- Shisui said. -The ones who celebrated too fast after "XXXXX" dropped. Theyāll be handled.-
She looked away. -By who? Indraās gone. Obito's stretched thin. And you two...- her mouth twisted, -canāt even go a week without making headlines.-
-Donāt lump me in with this degenerate,- Shisui muttered.
-Youāre the worst of this family,- Ivy snapped.
-Best,- he corrected, mock wounded. -Iām the best dressed, best temperedā
His grin was lazy, but there was something sharper beneath it. -Only when it counts.-
Raizen climbed up to Izunaās side without asking, holding a broken toy in his hand like an offering. Izuna crouched, took it silently, and began fixing it. His hands moved like a craftsmanās, precise, careful, detached.
-Iām holding this together with duct tape and threats,- Ivy said, finally letting her voice crack. -Indra left without saying goodbye. Raizen cries in his sleep. I havenāt eaten in three days, and... he fucking died. One of ours fucking died.-
-Youāre doing fine, Ivy- Izuna said.
Ivyās gaze landed on him, sharp as razors, mad. -What the fuck have you been doing? Why are you so chill out of nowhere?-
He didnāt answer right away. Finished snapping the toyās wheel back into place and handed it back to the boy, who accepted it wordlessly and wandered back to the corner.
-Youāre never just working.
Shisui chuckled under his breath, tossing a pillow across the couch to rest his head on. -Heās got a new toy.-
Ivy leaned forward. -Youāre fucking another bartender, are you?-
-Fucking? Many,- Izuna said. -The one I want... she won't let me.-
-Oh,- Shisui drawled, half-laughing now. -So itās that kind of fixation.-
-Sheās skittish,- Izuna muttered, scratching the edge of his jaw, bored, restless. -Like a bird someone broke but didnāt kill. Canāt decide if she wants to fly or bite.-
-Doesnāt sound like your type,- Ivy said dryly. -You like the ones that cry when you choke them.-
Shisui snorted. -He likes the ones that beg him to.-
Izuna gave them nothing. He just picked up one of Raizenās other toys and began spinning it in his hand, slow and mechanical. -She quit the bar,- he said. -Disappeared. I didnāt push.-
Shisui gave him a look like he already knew all of that. -And now?-
Ivy stood up and walked to the window, arms wrapped tightly around her middle. -You shouldnāt get attached to civilians. Youāre all fucked up enough. Don't fuck her life up.-
-No oneās attached,- Izuna said coolly.
Shisui looked at him like he knew it was a lie. -Youāre obsessed.-
Izunaās lip curled. -Takes one to know one.-
Shisui smiled, slow and serpent-like. -True. But Iām honest about mine.-
She stood there, back lit by the darkening sky, fingers digging into her own ribs like she could hold herself together if she just pressed hard enough.
-This girl's quiet,- Izuna said, eyes still on Raizen. -Doesnāt belong in places like ours.-
-So why drag her in?- Ivy asked.
Izuna looked up at her then, expression blank. -She walked out. I let her.-
Shisui laughed softly, shaking his head. -So fucking romantic.-
-She doesnāt like you? Leave it alone.- Ivy warned. -Youāre going to scare her worse than you already have. Let the girl live a normal life.-
-Scare? Doesn't like me??? None of that stops her from looking back at me, every single time.
That silence was different.
It wasnāt judgment. It wasnāt pity. It was recognition.
Ivy looked at him for a long moment before turning away again, muttering more to herself than to either of them.
And that was the real problem.