#<- (because will wears / wore brown shit so my brain is like. yes my limited knowledge on 70s means brown clothes???)

[bitterlyromantic]

my macden playlist music choices are mainly based on either punk or 80s (in general but specifically new wave) . i'm sure this says something other than the fact that those are the genres i listen to the most........

[btxtreads]

💌 The Story of Us 💌

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: SPARKS FLY

↳ Pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Reader

↳ word count: 2.5k words

↳ rating: G

↳ genre: fluff

↳ warnings: drunk yeonjun, some insistent guy trying to hook up

As she sat in the car, donning a white crop top and sitting next to an excited Hueningkai, she convinced herself that no. Y/N told herself that she went to the party because she was concerned about Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyung and Kai—who have expressed their desire to be shit-faced drunk for the night. She nodded to herself as she thought that the only reason why she wore her white crop top was because she looked cute in it.

Not because of Yeonjun.

She hates Yeonjun.

Yet, as Taehyun turned back to the back seat to smile at her and Kai, waving his phone to show the videos and photos Beomgyu sent him about the party, she can’t help but peek into her phone and pull up that photo of Yeonjun in his instagram account—with pink hair and a white crop top just like he said he would wear.

No, she’s not here because of him.

Yet, as she steps out of the car and walked inside the dorm building, knocking on the door of Beomgyu’s apartment—she can’t help but wonder why her heart sped up when Yeonjun appeared with a smirk.

“You’re here!” Soobin gasped behind him, popping up and shoving a red solo cup in her hands. “Here, take this.”

“I thought you had something to do?” Yeonjun teased as Taehyun and Kai entered the dorm to help finish setting up.

“Oh, right.” Soobin nodded along to his hyung, looking over at the girl in concern. “I hope you didn’t abandon that just for the party. You seemed so concerned over it.”

“No, no. I finished it early.” Y/N smiled over at Soobin before sending an amused Yeonjun her sharpest glare. “Thanks for the concern, Yeonjun.”

“No problem, m’lady.” Yeonjun snorted, crossing his arms as Soobin walked towards Kai. “You matched me, huh?”

“I had no more good clothes.” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Besides, don’t I look cute?”

“Not really Soobin’s type,” Yeonjun chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows. “More like mine, though.”

“Fuck you.”

“When and where, babe?”

Y/N growled under her breath as the doorbell sounded, prompting her to open the door to a few curious teens.

“Is this Choi Beomgyu’s party?” A girl asked curiously, fidgeting with the hem of her leather jacket.

As Y/N raised her eyebrow, about to question whether the girl even knew who Choi Beomgyu was, Yeonjun popped up behind her—a hand slung over her shoulder.

“You came to the right place—the booze is right this way!”

The bass boomed over head as college kids chugged down as much alcohol as their livers allowed for the night. Freshmen were slumped over the couch, passed out within the first minute. Most of the older kids goofed around on their own, surrounded by their own groups of friends.

Y/N blinked in disdain as she watched Yeonjun saunter around the place. His lips tilted up to a smirk, shooting her a wink as he took a swig from the soju bottle in his hands. Yeonjun took a quick glance at the girls flanking behind him before scoffing and striding over to a group of friends playing cards in a corner. Y/N rolled her eyes and turned towards the kitchen, where Soobin and Beomgyu conversed while replenishing their own cups of alcohol.

“Hey, have you guys seen Taehyun and Kai?” She asked, as she squeezed herself in between the two boys to fix herself a cup.

“Uh, they were here earlier—they stole my nacho bowl.” Beomgyu shrugged, offering the cup in his hand. “Taste?”

“What is it?” Y/N raised her eyebrow, hands enclosing around the glass.

“Vodka with a little extra stuff. Beomgyu special.”

“Okay, Gyuu. This better be good.” Y/N chuckled, tossing the back and downing it in one go. She winced as she felt the burn of the alcohol, much to the amusement of the two boys.

“Good party, by the way.” Y/N snorted as Soobin laughed, slinging an arm around the girl.

“I told you he throws the best parties.”

“God, where were you in freshman year?” Y/N mumbled, causing Beomgyu to laugh and wave the vodka bottle in her face.

“Want more?”

“God yes.”

The group laughed as Beomgyu set off to make the girl another cup, mouth opening to talk through his process.

“Oh, Soobin-hyung,” Beomgyu said, looking up as he unceremoniously dumped a copius amount of vodka into the cup. “I just remembered—didn’t you ask me if I knew someone from the student council for you to interview?”

“Yeah,” Soobin shrugged, turning to Y/N to explain. “I need it for a paper in campus politics.”

“Ah, hate it when that happens.”

Soobin chuckled as Beomgyu handed Y/N the cup and pointed over to another boy drinking beer by the couch.

“That’s Mark Lee, he’s the secretary. I can talk to him for you if you want, hyung.”

“Oh, yeah, I know him. He’d be great.” Soobin nodded, turning over to Y/N. “We’re gonna go talk to Mark, wanna come with?”

“Nah, I’ll just stay here.” Y/N hummed as she finished her cup and took Beomgyu’s current cup out of his hands—making the boy snort.

“Calm down on the vodka, my mix is pretty strong.” Beomgyu reminded her before pulling Soobin away.

“I can handle my alcohol!” Y/N called afterwards, chuckling as she wandered away—brain slightly foggy as she downed her cup in her hands once more.

Y/N winced slightly, eyes scanning the table as she tried to remember what Beomgyu picked up to create his vodka mix. Behind her, a drunk freshman slinked into the kitchen and wobbled to the loud music as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Hey, hotstuff.” He greeted, smiling as Y/N spared his a quick glance and pushed his hand off her waist. “Don’t be like that.”

“I don’t know you.”

“Well, I’d like to know you.” the boy slurred, leaning closer. “What do you say you and I find some place more quieter to, ah, get to know each other a little better.”

“No, thank you.” Y/N rolled her eyes in irritation. “Not interested.”

“Come on, babe—“

“No,” Y/N scrunched her face up, eyeing the kitchen doorway as she clutched the bottle of vodka in her hands. “I have a boyfriend.”

“You do?” The boy replied. “I don’t see him anywhere.

Her eyes darted out to the living room where Soobin and Beomgyu were too busy talking to Mark Lee. Taehyun and Kai were still nowhere to be found. The freshman started to inch closer and closer.

Before he could take another step closer, a figure strides over and wraps a hand around her waist. Yeonjun brushed his hair back and placed his gin bottle on the kitchen counter. Y/N frowned as she noted this—wasn’t he drinking soju earlier? How many bottles has he been through? Yeonjun brushed the back of his hand across his lips before smirking over at the freshman.

“Sorry, man. Off limits.” Yeonjun shrugged, a slight slur to his words as he tightened his grip on the girl. “This one’s mine.”

“Oh,” The boy raised his eyebrows, challenging. “Is she?”

“Mhm,” Yeonjun grinned impishly as he felt Y/N relax in his arms. “Prettiest, smartest, sexiest girlfriend ever—sorry. Better luck next time.”

The freshman, grumbling to himself, shoots both of them a glare and stalks away towards the crowd in the living room. Y/N bit her lip, cheeks burning red at Yeonjun’s words. As soon as the boy was out of sight, Yeonjun turned to take his gin bottle and take a large swig.

“Yeah, okay,” Y/N shook her head, taking the bottle away. “How many has it been?”

Yeonjun shrugged, grinning as he tightened his grip on the girl.

“I think I deserve a thanks for saving you.” Yeonjun raised his eyebrows expectantly, tilting his head at the girl.

“You’re right, you do.” Y/N sighed, smiling softly. “Thank you for saving me from the kid, I guess.”

Yeonjun laughed, releasing the girl from his grip as he nodded.

“It’s no problem. You can call for me anytime,” he hummed, shrugging. “You know, because you’re mine.”

“Uh, the guys isn’t here anymore. You can dropped the act.” Y/N said, gesturing to the space around them.

Yeonjun only smiled, giggling to himself.

“You’re my girl.” He giggled, eyes narrowing to slits as he smiled to himself. “Mine—My girlfriend. You shouldn’t forget that!”

“I’m not your girlfriend.”

Yeonjun’s eyes snapped open, a surprised expression on his face.

“Oh okay. You still love me, though. Right, Y/N-ie?”

Y/N’s eyes widened, blinking in surprise as Yeonjun looked down at her in genuine confusion. The girl ran a hand through her hair—tipsy brain working in full capacity.

“Okay, I think you’re drunk. We should go home.”

“No, I’m not!” Yeonjun argued, waving his arms. “I’m like… just a little!”

“Tipsy.”

“Yeah!”

“We’re going home, Yeonjun.”

“No!” Yeonjun whined as he pulled on the girl’s hands.

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows in concern as Yeonjun pouted and grumbled. Her eyes fell back down to the empty bottle of gin he was drinking.

“I’ve never seen you like this before.” Y/N commented, hesitating before allowing her hand to run through his hair. “How many bottles has it been?”

Yeonjun closed his eyes and hummed happily as he felt her brush his hair back.

“Like three—I swear I’m still okay.” Yeonjun replied, furrowed his eyebrows. “I can still think—I think.”

“You think?” Y/N raised an eyebrow, scoffing.

Yeonjun hummed, smiling down at the girl before cupping her face in his hands. Y/N yelped as she felt his cold hands on her cheeks—eyes locking with his warm brown orbs. She slowly raised her hands to cover his on her face.

“What are you doing, you idiot?”

“Nothing.” Yeonjun hummed. “You just look so beautiful. I want to kiss you. Can I?”

Y/N blinked gulping as Yeonjun furrowed his eyebrows. Her heart warmed at the thought that despite the haze of his thoughts because of the alcohol he consumed—he still asked. Should this be any other day, Y/N might have remembered that day in high school when she saw him pin Yerim with kisses against the lockers. Maybe she would’ve remembered that she’d been pretending to have hated him—to have lost her love for him—all this time, and that it was an act she’s still trying to uphold. But right here, right now, with alcohol in her brain and confidence running through her system—she finally released her inhibitions as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.

Y/N felt his hands fall to her waist, head tilting slightly as Yeonjun allowed his soft lips to glide smoothly against hers. She loosely wrapped her hands around his neck, lightly playing with the hair at the back of his neck. With a soft groan, Yeonjun turned her around and helped her sit on the kitchen counter. He settled himself between her legs as he deepened the kiss—moving towards her neck with a soft sigh.

“God, Yeonjun.” Y/N whimpered when she felt him suck on the junction between her neck and shoulder.

Her head fell on his shoulders, groaning softly as she allowed the boy to press more hickies on her neck. Yeonjun’s hands climbed up her shirt—staying still on her waist as he moved his lips back to hers to mumble his thoughts.

“I’m so in love with you, Y/N.”

At this, her eyes flew wide open. Her brain registered the current situation as she pushed his away, jumping off the counter as she waved her arms around and stepped away from him.

“What the fuck—What the fuck is happening?”

“What do you mean?” Yeonjun asked, confused. “Why did you pull away?”

“Why not? I’m not supposed to be kissing you—I hate you!”

Yeonjun blinked, a small frown on his shoulders as he looked down.

“Do you love Soobin more than me?”

“I-I don’t—“

“I-I missed you so much,” He started to sniffle. “I loved you so much, but you never loved me back.”

“What are you talking about?” Y/N asked, voice raising in pitch as she blinked at the boy. “Are you crying?”

“I’m allowed to have feelings,” Yeonjun sniffed, wiping his eyes. “I dated Yerim because you told me I was your best friend forever—I knew you didn’t like me. Why would you? Then Yerim came up to me and asked me for a date—I figured why not? I wanted to get over you as soon as I could, anyway.”

Y/N gaped as the boy’s eyes regarded her with the fondest look as he stepped forward. He hands flew to her hair, grushing it behind her ear as he spoke in the softest voice she hasn’t heard from him in years.

“But I don’t think I ever did. That whole thing in the hallway happened with you and I was so devastated—I think my heart broke to pieces that day, but I still didn’t understand why I was still so in love with you, and why I stayed in love with you all these years until now.” Yeonjun mumbled, pouring his heart out to her.

Y/N froze, eyes tearing up as Yeonjun sniffled and slowly wrapped his arms around her waist. His head rested on her shoulder, closing his eyes as he felt her arms encircle his torso.

“Why did you leave me?” Yeonjun whimpered softly.

“I don’t know.” Y/N answered softly. “I was hurt you didn’t love me.”

“But I did.”

“I didn’t know, Junie.” Y/N replied softly, hands running down his back in comfort as he stopped sniffling. “I really didn’t.”

“Please don’t date Soobin.” He whispered quietly. “Stay with me. Don’t leave me—I still love you.”

“Yeonjun, I think I still love you too.” Y/N smiled to herself, biting her lip.

Yeonjun’s hands loosened around her waist and his head felt heavy on her shoulder. She could feel Yeonjun’s body slumping forward on her. Y/N raised an eyebrow, turning her head towards his.

“Are you seriously sleeping right now?”

There was no reply, only the soft snores of the boy in her ear.

Y/N smiled, running a hand through his hair.

“Night, Junie.” She whispered into his ear, smiling as Soobin and Beomgyu finally finished their conversation and bounded back into the kitchen with Kai and Taehyun in tow.

Soobin smiled as Beomgyu, with the help of Kai and Taehyun, lugged the sleeping boy towards his bedroom. He couldn’t help but notice how she looked after the figure of the sleeping boy, even after he was settled in and safely tucked into Beomgyu’s bed and sealed behind a locked door. He couldn’t help but see how she softly ran her fingers across her lips with a smile, cheeks burning bright red as she continued to stare off at the locked bedroom door.

She couldn’t help but think how her pulse ran so fast whenever she was around that boy with the pink and blonde hair and the confident smirk—and how she felt sparks fly when she kissed him for the very first time.

[f33itan]

5, 16, 22, 28, 58, 59 lmaooo is it too many? :3

Oh no, it isn’t many at all!! Glad you requested pastel :] If anything I’m just warning you that this might be long

5: is there anyone who can always make you smile?

Unless I’m in a super SUPER utterly terrible mood, it would be my Mother. Yes I love my Dad to bits as well, but my mom and I have that extra special mother-daughter connection yk? Usually when I’m upset or weary about something my mom can take one good look at me and read me like a book.

Nat: Literally doing NOTHING

Mum: Nati.

Nat: Yes?

Mum: What’s wrong?

Nat: Nothing, why?

-Silence and avoiding eye contact-

Nat: Okay so maybe there might be a teeny tiinnyy thing-

16. have you ever wanted to tell someone something but you didn’t?                  

I can’t even TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES THIS HAS HAPPENED OMG BAHAHAH but for now I’ll just give a recent time. Okay so me, my cousin and a daughter of one of my dad’s friends (she’s my age dw we good) were in my room chilling on this massive beanbag going from ranting about daddy levi to getting in our feels, and it got to the point that around 3 am my cousin left to the living room to play beat saber ad I was left with the girl. Not too long before this i was in my feels about how ive been rejected on valentine’s day, called ugly by my crush (which hurted, do not attempt) and called clingy for comforting a friend etc and me and the girl plopped on the bean bag in a position that, uh, how do i say this... hmm. . . ILL JUST DRAW AND ADD A PHOTO SO IT MAKES SENSE LMAO

((PLEASE WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS I DREW IT ON MY LAPTOP WITH MY FINGERS AND CLICK PAD THINGY IM SO SORRY IT SUCKS, AND SHES PAN SAME AS ME SO I WAS IN PANICC at the disco also different fonts so you can tell all of the different thoughts apart))

But anyways yeah we were in that position, and my thoughts were...

-Pan panic- -holy shit im in contact with a person like this thats not my family- -should i turn to cuddle her? no she might think its weird- -wtf nat you literally just met her earlier today- -i know but shes super nice and we relate on a lot of thingsss- -NO- -What would feitan say to this?- -Know your limits brain.-

22. description of crush. 

R we talking 2D or 3D because uh... lets just do both!

3D: literally every alt, goth, emo peep on tiktok, they all look so pretty and for what??

2D: A man way older than me.. Hair up to about his lower neck.. On the short side.. Beautiful shiny purple eyes... Hair that I thought was black but when sampling the color from official art from hxh creators and shit found out its a really dark green.. Murderous, Sadist, and most likely Masochist tendencies.. Hot well toned body.. Chinese.. *Insert Ayesha Erotica’s Emo Boy song*

28. i’ll love you if…

you buy me dark chocolate

If you are able to deal with my constant switch of “I wanna be clingy, cuddly, affectionate and sweet” to “Lets scream lyrics to a song, eat random food and not come in contact with each other unless its play fighting” and a bonus, “Leave me the fuck alone and let me play my video games by myself”

If you tolerate my attitude, and the fact that all I can really cook without getting scared for the most part is scrambles eggs, toast and bagels, re heating a meal (does that even count), and brownies.

Accepting me for who I am, and not just the silly playful cover I share with most people, you can be a shoulder to cry on for me as in almost all situations I’m the shoulder for others, being able to comfort each other and talk about weird and embarrassing things we’ve done in the passed and not get a nasty looked or shamed for it, keeping me from buying really pointless things, dealing with the fact that Im a massive chicken when it comes to roller coasters, yet put me on literally ANY OTHER DANGEROUS THING and I’ll be as happy as a child in a candy store. Swimming with sharks? Fuck yeah! Ziplining over alligators? YES! (Ive done that actually when I was 7 or 8) Go swimming through dark and light ruins of underground passage ways in Cancun? YESSIR!! (Which Ive done as well) Roller coasters? Get the hell away from me.

And simply deal with me, myself. and I

58. description of my best friend

I have multiple so I picked one teehee

Tall, skinny as a stick, for whatever reason can carry me with simply two arms extended out, light brown hair that she always wears in a ponytail (but wore it down for me on my birthday), started out introverted but with me hugging her at school everyday became a big time ambivert, usually the one who keeps me from 1. lashing out at classmates and 2. getting into trouble most of the time, can joke around a lot but speaks rather quietly so sometimes she has to repeat herself for my deaf ass lmao, if there’s inclement weather at school, during our break in class either she or I make a bee line for each other’s desk and start cackling immediately afterwards, random times in class one of us will throw a cringy smirk at the other and it becomes this stupid war of who get the last smirk in, whenever were walking around campus one of us will be holding onto the other’s sleeve loosely, (most of the time its me, but she’s done it too), We have had this thing for years now that when she has her hands on her hips I tried to stick my head through that opening, and for years on end I couldn’t do it, and when I did it was the best day ever

59. why i joined tumblr

Simple reason really, Feitan. Whenever I looked up “feitan fluff” before I went to bed to end the day nicely, it would always bring me to some tumblr page, so I decided to make an account and, well, here we are. ⛹️‍♀️

[purplepersnicketywrites]

Purbbbbb what about a quirk accident fic. E.g. one of them is hit by a truth quirk, or a mindreading quirk, or theyre turned to a kid so babysitting ensues. Cliche-ish but you write the cutest things so itd be fun to read lzhxhxuf

MAPLE!!! Yes!!

hhhhhhh truth quirk hhhhh

Eijirou felt like he had been punched in the stomach. Or, uh, maybe he had? Everything was a little hazy. Kinda vague. Was his vision cloudy? He blinked a couple of times and it began to clear. Augh, his stomach was killing him.

Someone shook his shoulder, roughly. Who was it? Eijirou looked up and saw a blob of mostly black. Whoever it was had blond hair, though.

“Oi, Kirishima! Hey! Are you okay?”

Huh, the voice coming from the blob sounded familiar? Eijirou shook his head. “Feel sick. Stomach bad. Can’t see well.”

Some of his nausea lightened as he spoke - he guessed that having something to focus on was helping?

“Ah, shit. He got you, didn’t he?”

“I don’t remember,” Eijirou said, squeezing his eyes shut. “And I’m not totally sure who you are?”

“Fuuuck, okay,” said the person, kneeling down in front of him. “Do you know your name?”

“Kirishima Eijirou,” Eijirou said. He was pretty sure of that.

“Good. How old are you?”

“Um, sixteen?”

“Yep, right. What school do you go to?”

Eijirou thought about that. “Yuuei.”

“Okay, do you know the names of your classmates?”

Eijirou squinted at the blob-person again. His vision was getting better, and he made out a pair of bright red eyes, staring at him with a concern that didn’t normally occupy them.

“Oh,” Eijirou said. “Bakugou!”

Bakugou grinned at him. “There ya go. Dumbass.”

“Ugh, I feel awful,” Eijirou said. “I still don’t remember what happened. Feel like I got punched! But my quirk should’ve stopped that, right?”

“Idiot, we got briefed on this,” Bakugou said, standing up and hauling Eijirou to his feet. “The guy we were after has a contact-activated quirk. Doesn’t matter if you were hardened or not - you’re still gonna be affected by it.”

“Oh, so, was this a brain-mush quirk?” Eijirou asked.

Bakugou shook his head. “The fucker has a kind of speech quirk. If you don’t say enough true things, it fucks with you.”

“True things? Like, the sky is blue? Grass is green?” Eijirou felt the haze over his thoughts lifting even as he said the words. “Oh, it’s working.”

“Yeah. Better get you back to Fat Gum and Suneater,” Bakugou said. His hand was around Eijirou’s elbow, and he pulled Eijirou along with him as he started walking.

“But what about the guy we were supposed to, uh,” Eijirou blinked. “Oranges are orange. Lemons are yellow. Bananas are yellow. Aha! We were supposed to catch the guy, weren’t we?”

“Yeah, but who the fuck knows where he went after he got you, at this point,” Bakugou said, fingers tightening just a tad. “It’s whatever.“

Eijirou squinted at his friend. “Strawberries are red, raspberries are pink.”

“Why are you obsessed with fruit?” Bakugou asked.

“Hush, I’m just trying to find easy true things to say,” Eijirou said, and that was true, too. His memory of the morning was trickling back as he spoke. “Lettuce is green, cabbage is green, celery is green, uh, leaves are green, my hair is red, um, blueberries are blue!”

Aha!

“Hey!” Eijirou cried. “You were there! You were just behind the corner of the building! You could’ve gone after him!”

“What, and I shoulda left your sorry ass on the ground for anyone to find?” Bakugou scoffed. “The pros can handle the villain. Or what are they fucking for?”

“Wow,” Eijirou said. “That’s surprisingly mature and attractive of you.”

Wait.

Bakugou stopped.

Wait, no-

“What?”

“Uh,” Eijirou said, faced with a Bakugou with one of his eyebrows arched like that. “I said you were being mature?”

“And the other part?” Bakugou asked, voice as flat as a sheet of paper.

Eijirou said nothing, and then winced as he stomach started hurting again.

Bakugou must have noticed, because he scowled and used his grip on Eijirou to tug him closer. “Say it again.”

“It,” Eijirou said, matching Bakugou’s scowl at the word. “Don’t use this quirk against me, man.”

Bakugou let go of his arm and took a step backwards.

“That’s not-” he began. Eijirou watched his frown morph into frustration. “Let’s just go. Can you walk by yourself?”

“I don’t know,” Eijirou said, honestly. The pain in his stomach subsided. Alright, so this quirk was officially Annoying.

Bakugou growled and seized his elbow again.

Eijirou sat at the edge of the bed in the school hospital wing, kicking his legs back and forth and glaring at the floor. Fat Gum had sent him back to Yuuei, and Recovery Girl had inspected him thoroughly. “Apples can be different colours. Apples can be red, apples can be green, apples can be yellow.”

He heaved a great sigh. There wasn’t really anything that anyone could do about this quirk until it wore off. Eijirou had asked if there was a truth-compulsion aspect to it - something to explain why exactly he’d said what he’d said to Bakugou earlier - but it wasn’t on the villain’s records. That didn’t necessarily mean that there wasn’t, only that it hadn’t been noticed in other victims.

“Ah, Kirishima! You may return to your dorm room,” Recovery Girl said, walking into the room from her office. “Though come back at any time should you feel like the effects of this quirk are overwhelming you.”

“I will!” Eijirou said. “Thank you.”

“I believe that a friend of yours is waiting outside for you as well,” Recovery Girl said.

Oh?

Eijirou thanked the old woman again and walked out into the hallway. Ah. Bakugou. He was leaning on the wall across from the nurse’s office and scowling into the middle-distance, though he looked up at the sound of the door. Eijirou’s stomach flipped, though maybe not entirely because of the quirk.

“Hey,” Eijirou said. He wasn’t sure of Bakugou was going to bring up that thing he’d said earlier or not.

Bakugou nodded at him. and turned to start walking down the hall. “You got the all-clear?”

“Yeah, as long as I keep saying true stuff!” Eijirou said, jogging a couple of steps to catch up to him. “I’m thinking that I’ll load up Wikipedia and just, like, read it aloud as needed until the quirk wears off.”

“Huh,” Bakugou said. “Smart.”

Eijirou felt himself flushing. “Ah, not really.”

Bakugou eyed him, and then his expression turned furious. “You actually believe that you- Ugh. Coming up with that shit is fucking clever. Don’t sell yourself short like that.”

“Uh,” Eijirou said. “Um. Thanks.”

“Whatever,” Bakugou scoffed. They continued walking in silence after that, Eijirou’s heart pounding far too wildly in his chest.

They stopped outside Eijirou’s door, but before Eijirou could open it, Bakugou put a hand on his chest to stop him. Eijirou turned and he knew his eyes were probably too wide, but Bakugou’s hand was warm even through his t-shirt.

“Hey, leave your door unlocked,” Bakugou said. What? “Don’t look at me like that!”

“Like what?!” Eijirou’s voice squeaked out half an octave higher than usual, ah fuck.

“Just- Forget it. I don’t know what time limit is on this stupid quirk bullshit, but you’re gonna need to sleep,” Bakugou said. “And if it turns your brain to mush again while you’re sleeping then someone’s gonna have to go in and talk you into clarity.”

Eijirou hadn’t thought about that. “Oh. Makes sense.”

“Mm,” Bakugou said, his fingers splaying a little on Eijirou’s chest before he pulled his hand away. “So shout if you need me, Kirishima.”

Bakugou flashed him a grin - a grin - and twisted away to his own room. Eijirou was left standing there, unsure if the butterflies in his stomach were quirk induced or not.

“Bakugou is so cool,” Eijirou whispered. Not the quirk, then.

“Hey! Hey, can you speak?”

“Nn… Yes.”

“Good. Do you know your name?”

“Uh…”

“Fuck, okay, how are you feeling?”

“Bad. Real bad. Hurts.”

“When we catch this fuck I’m gonna kill him.”

“Bakugou?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

There was something heavy on each of his shoulders. Eijirou groaned and felt himself fall forward onto something warm. “I got hit by a quirk.”

“That’s right.”

“I gotta say things that are true,” Eijirou said, pressing his face into the warm thing.

“Or your brain shorts out worse than Dunce Face, yeah,” Bakugou said. Weird, the warm thing had rumbled along with his words.

…

Eijirou opened his eyes. Huh, yeah, his face was currently buried in the crook of Bakugou’s neck. It was Bakugou’s hands he could feel on his shoulders. Eijirou took a moment to assess the whole situation as best he could. The light in his bedroom was on, but he had no idea what the time was. He was sitting up, well, slouched forwards a little. Bakugou was kneeling over his legs on top of the duvet.

“Uhhh,” Eijirou said. “What are you doing?”

“There you are,” Bakugou said from somewhere just above Eijirou’s ear. Eijirou let Bakugou push him backwards. “You were screaming, so I come in to stop you.”

Eijirou couldn’t say anything for a moment, distracted by Bakugou’s eyes roving his warming face. “Augh, I don’t remember. What time is it?”

“Like, four or some shit.”

Eijirou groaned.

“Tell me some more fruit colours,” Bakugou said. “Until you’re completely here.”

“It’s four in the morning, I’m not gonna be completely here,” Eijirou grumbled. Bakugou just looked at him. “Fine, uh, Limes are green, pineapples are yellow on the inside and brown on the outside, dragonfruit are pink with white flesh.”

“Good. Go back to sleep,” Bakugou said. He was still sitting on Eijirou’s legs.

Eijirou pressed his hands into his eyes. “This sucks.”

“I’m staying here,” announced Bakugou, finally rolling off Eijirou’s legs and coming to rest between Eijirou and the wall. Wait, what? “I’ll be closer to head this thing off before you get bad again.”

“You don’t have to,” Eijirou began, watching Bakugou slide himself under the covers with a feeling of dumbfoundment. “Do… That…”

Bakugou snorted. “This shit is stressing me out, so I’d rather be here than anywhere else.”

Eijirou had no idea how to take that, so he tried to joke about it instead. “Aw, Blasty, are you worried about me?”

“Yeah,” Bakugou said, without hesitation. Eijirou felt himself go red - redder. Well, there went Eijirou’s last chance at retaining his composure. “Stop thinkin’ so hard and go the fuck to sleep.”

Bakugou rolled over to face the wall, back to Eijirou. Okay. Okay. Without Bakugou’s eyes on him he could probably manage to sleep. Yeah. Only now he could hear Bakugou breathing, and the heat radiating off of him was stronger than Eijirou had imagined.

Maybe he’d imagined this a little too much.

“I can hear your brain whirring,” Bakugou grunted. “Don’t strain yourself.”

“You’re warm,” Eijirou said, without thinking. Whoops. Maybe it was the speech quirk.

Eijirou imagined that Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Hah? ‘Course I am, it’s part of my quirk.”

“I, uh,” Eijirou swallowed. “I never noticed before.”

“Is it too warm for you to sleep?” Bakugou asked.

Eijirou thought about that for a few moments. “No.”

“Then what’s your fuckin’ problem?”

Eijirou shook his head, even if Bakugou couldn’t see him. “No problem, man. I’m just overthinking.”

“Yeah,” Bakugou snorted, and reached behind to elbow Eijirou’s chest. “Like I said. Go to sleep.”

“Alright,” Eijirou said, though he wasn’t sure if his racing heartbeat would help with that or not. He suspected the latter. “Night, Bakugou.”

“Night, Kirishima.”

Eijirou had sort of been hoping to wake up and see Bakugou still sleeping next to him. The early morning sun would have been shining, enough so that a sunbeam shone through a chink in the curtains and turned Bakugou’s hair into a halo of gold. Eijirou would have drawn in a gasp at the sight of it, and Bakugou’s eyes would have fluttered open and met his. Bakugou would have been soft with sleep for a moment, and Eijirou would have given him a shy smile and a ‘good morning’. Eijirou had been picturing it for quite some time now.

Instead of all that, however, Eijirou woke up to a cold bed and a blinding headache.

It was sort of how he imagined waking up to a hangover must feel like. He groaned, one hand flying to his forehead. “Ow, fuck.”

There was a sound from across the room, and Eijirou squinted over to see Bakugou just turning to look at him from Eijirou’s desk chair. Oh! He was still sort of here! Maybe he’d woken up early and got bored? Had he been doing work while Eijirou was asleep? How long had Bakugou been up?

“The sky is blue, grass is green,” Eijirou said to try and clear the headache away. He glanced at the clock. “Wh- It’s eleven! I overslept! We’re late to class!”

“Nah,” Bakugou said, and Eijirou paused in his mad scramble to get out from under his duvet.

“Huh?”

“You’ve been pulled out of classes for a few days until this quir wears off. You need to say stuff out loud too often and it could be ‘disruptive’,” Bakugou said, with a derisive snort.

“Right,” Eijirou said. That made sense. However… “Why are you still here, then?”

“Someone needs to babysit you,” Bakugou said, turning back to what he was working on and moving some of the paper around. He stood. “Aizawa gave me the worksheets for today, if you’re up for it.”

“What, now?” Eijirou blinked.

Bakugou snorted and made for the door. “No, dumbass. You need to get dressed and eat something first.”

“Oh,” Eijirou said. He couldn’t tell if his brain was frazzled from the quirk, from just waking up, or the way Bakugou smirked at him when he left through the door.

He left through the door.

Eijirou lurched upwards and staggered towards his door. He wrenched it open, a ‘wait’ building on his lips, only to be met by one of Bakugou’s raised eyebrows and a pair of crossed arms.

“I said get dressed,” Bakugou said, sounding a little amused. “Once you are, come downstairs.”

“Uh huh,” Eijirou said. He stood there, staring at Bakugou for a few more moments.

Bakugou rolled his eyes, grabbed Eijirou’s shoulders, and twisted him around to face his room again. Bakugou shoved him - not hard - and Eijirou walked back into his room.

“Clothes, Kirishima,” Bakugou said. Eijirou looked down at his Crimson Riot pyjamas. “And say some true stuff!”

“I’m screwed,” Eijirou whispered to himself as he heard Bakugou’s stomping footsteps fade towards the lift.

Eijirou was pretty sure that he’d like, fallen into an alternate universe or something, because the universe itself was catering to his whims. Maybe this was some sort of karmic reward for having to go through this speech quirk. Maybe it was all a happy accident.

Eijirou wanted to spend time with Bakugou? Well, here, have a few days of his undivided attention where he cooks you meals and tutors you and your knees and arms keep brushing. Here, he’s now taken to sleeping in your bed so you don’t go through a brain mush attack. Here, he’s even sticking around when the rest of your friends bundle into your room after classes, where normally he’d wrinkle up his nose and leave them all to be loud.

Why Bakugou hadn’t thrown up any complaints about missing classes was a question that weighed a little on Eijirou’s mind, but, well. He hadn’t. Eijirou had tried to ask him about it, but Bakugou had deflected by saying that he didn’t care, and that they could catch up with after-school lessons, and that Eijirou’s brain function was a little more important than a grade. So. Eijirou just had to assume that this was the full-throttle version of Bakugou’s worry about him.

It was fantastic, and really sweet actually, but Eijirou’s poor gay heart was suffering. It was working overtime, all the time. And… Eijirou was beginning to suspect that a lot of this was intentional on Bakugou’s part.

Ever since Eijirou had slipped and called Bakugou attractive, it almost sort of seemed like Bakugou was being, well, flirty. It was a word that Eijirou hesitated to use, because it was Bakugou, and flirty was not a word Eijirou ever would have associated with him.

Like, right now, Eijirou was in his room and sat on his bed. Bakugou was next to him, leaning on the headboard with his legs stretched out next to Eijirou’s with a book in his hands. Kaminari was at the foot of the bed, sitting with his legs crossed and chattering away about what had happened in lessons today. The only problem Eijirou had with this was that he couldn’t concentrate on what Kaminari was saying.

Bakugou’s foot was moving. Against Eijirou’s ankle. It was the kind of movement that might be unconscious on his friend’s part, but it was also Bakugou’s foot on his ankle. Well, Bakugou was wearing socks - black ones with a gaudy flame pattern that Eijirou had bought for him - but that only added to the sensation. The soft fabric was lighting up part of Eijirou’s Good Feeling section in his brain.

Eijirou watched Kaminari explain something Iida said, mimicking the class president’s unique hand motions, but none of the words managed to slide into his ears. Or if they did, they didn’t linger much. Bakugou’s foot kept moving, rhythmic, in slow circles. Eijirou was pretty sure he was gonna die.

Nausea curled though his gut. At least he’d figured out that he could just say the same true thing over and over again to stave off the steadily-dwindling effects of the quirk. “The sky is blue, ah, sorry Kaminari! Keep going.”

“No prob, man,” Kaminari said, continuing his spiel. Eijirou tried his best to listen this time. “Uh, so. I said it probably wasn’t possible, y’know? But the Prez said it again and he sounded all sure of stuff so now I think I’m gonna sign up for classes at least? Maybe not now, but, at some point. Maybe I’ll turn out as good as you once I get some practice in!”

Eijirou blinked. “As good as me for what?”

Kaminari raised an eyebrow. “Man, you’re really out of it, huh? Art, man! I doodle stuff but I’ve never been serious about it. You’re like, hella good at that stuff.”

Eijirou tried not to notice Bakugou nodding to that.

“Ah, I mean, I don’t think I’m that good,” Eijirou said, rubbing at the back of his neck with one hand.

Bakugou grumbled something under his breath that Eijirou didn’t catch. Kaminari’s eyes widened slightly. Had he heard what Bakugou had said? Eijirou opened his mouth to ask, but Kaminari began speaking too soon.

“Naw, your stuff’s great! You’ve obviously put work into it,” Kaminari said. He pulled a face. “You agree with me, right Bakugou?”

Bakugou looked up from his book and eyed the other blond. Eijirou almost laughed at the twist of emotions on his face - and they were there, if you really looked. Bakugou wanted to refute Kaminari’s claims - the idea of actively being called to agree with anyone else on anything rankled at him constantly. On the other hand, he knew Bakugou had a Thing about Eijirou putting himself down and approved of trying to fix that by offering compliments.

“Ugh, I guess,” Bakugou said, eventually. He glanced at Eijirou and Eijirou’s heart fluttered. “If you put that much fucking intent into revision, you’d be top of the class.”

Eijirou updated his mental Cause of Death form with ‘cute boy told me I was clever in a roundabout way’. It was one of the frequent offenders. “Aww, thanks dude! Ah, both of you!“

Kaminari snorted. “Oh, I’m used to the favouritism you two have for each other by now.”

Eijirou felt himself turn red. Bakugou’s foot didn’t stop.

“Ooh, and I have homework to catch up on!” Kaminari said, winking. Winking? Really? “So I’ll leave you two alone, yeah?”

Eijirou didn’t even have time to bluster weakly before Kaminari was out of the room. “Uh.”

“He thinks we’re dating,” Bakugou said, in the most conversational tone that Eijirou had ever heard from him.

WAIT WHAT?

“He- He what?” Eijirou sputtered. “Where- What?”

“I said,” Bakugou was speaking slowly now and fixing Eijirou with a strange, challenging glare. “Pikachu thinks that we’re dating.”

“Dating?” Eijirou breathed. “B- Uh.”

Bakugou looked back down at his book. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

Eijirou’s brain came to a screeching halt, and he just gaped at his friend. His friend whose foot was still drawing circles on his ankle. This- This was definitely flirting, right? Bakugou was flirting with him? What was he supposed to do? Flirt back? Ask him out? Did Bakugou want to date him or was this, uh, something else?

“We’re not dating, but,” Eijirou said, pausing for a moment to swallow. Bakugou’s eyes flicked back up to his. “Would you wanna fix that?”

Bakugou closed his book and threw it off the side of the bed. “You askin’ me out?”

Eijirou nodded, not trusting himself to speak out loud.

“Then yeah,” Bakugou said, glancing away for a moment and looking back at Eijirou. “That’d be good.”

Eijirou felt kind of like a hot-air balloon. He felt warm all over, and something in his chest was expanding and growing lighter than air. He felt like he could soar, and float above the world, and he would want for nothing but to rise higher and higher with the roar of Bakugou’s fire being all that he needed.

He twisted from where he sat, grabbing at Bakugou’s shirt and bringing their foreheads together. He couldn’t fight the smile off his face - not that he wanted to - and it seemed like Bakugou was in the same boat.

“Can I kiss you?” Eijirou asked, and he knew his voice was a little too breathy but he really didn’t care.

“On one condition,” Bakugou said, reaching up to hold either side of Eijirou’s face. “I get to kiss you first.”

Eijirou was about to remark that, yeah, that’s kind of how kissing worked, but then all thoughts fled from his mind as Bakugou’s lips brushed the corner of his mouth. Oh. Eijirou’s eyes fluttered closed as Bakugou laid his kiss there. It was so soft, so sweet, so tender, and the balloon of joy in his chest swelled and swelled. He was pretty sure he’d hit the upper atmosphere by now, because his breath had been well and truly stolen.

Eijirou opened his eyes when Bakugou pulled back, and they stared at each other for a few long moments. Then Eijirou tugged on Bakugou’s shirt and pulled him into the kiss he’d been dreaming of for months.

A few days after that, and the speech quirk had worn off completely. It was a relief. The relief was doubled when Fat Gum texted Eijirou to let him know that the villain had been apprehended. Eijirou would have to attend court as a witness during the judiciary process, but that was all part and parcel of hero work anyway. It’d be interesting to get that sort of experience.

Eijirou was, however, already worried about how he was going to wear his hair for such formal proceedings.

Telling their friends and the rest of their classmates that Eijirou and Katsuki were now dating had gone smoothly. Well, it hadn’t so much been telling anyone as it had been that Katsuki was as unconcerned with onlookers as ever. He had no qualms about PDA, and had kissed Eijirou at the end of a class hero exercise where they had been teamed up together and won.

So, that was one way to get the message across.

Eijirou curled his fingers into Katsuki’s as they sat down for lunch outside under one of the trees. Katsuki squeezed Eijirou’s fingers back and left their hands linked as he tucked into his food.

Eijirou smiled.

[peppusae]

[kth] lavender honey ch. 3

note: this fanfic has more than one part, so pls look forward for more!

lavender honey: kim taehyung x reader

genre: fluff, crack, college au, smut(?)

word count: 3k

💫

lavender honey

ch 3: in which taehyung despises knowing the sexual orientation of dead ‘literists’

"Hey, Taehyung, do you think Shakespeare is gay?" You ask, slipping into the seat beside him at the counter the next week.

Honestly, you're ready to change your dissertation topic from 'Kim Taehyung's various facial features' to 'William Shakespeare's sexuality' now, and you feel a surge of pride as you lean against the swivel chair and exhale in content at your new discovery.

It's a warm Tuesday evening, and the library is lined with dozens of students, most of them having their laptops turned on and typing like crazy. Perhaps they were those students who had an assignment due midnight, and you smile, glad that you had actually handed your work in a little earlier this time. Good job, you're actually patting yourself for a job well done as you take your seat.

Taehyung, however, does not smile.

In fact, his face scrunches up a bit as he stares at you with a questioning look.

"What sort of black magic are you doing again to twist my otherwise perfectly normal life, [Name]?"

Black magic. Apparently, Taehyung watches way too many movies.

"No, I'm serious. Am I the only one who thinks this way?" You wonder out loud, reaching for the thick paperback inside your backpack. "Look at this."

Taehyung moves a little closer to you in his chair, the rolling of the wheels making a few heads look up from their laptops and stare at him. The male hurries to give a sheepish smile, waving it off before he turns back to look at the book on your lap.

Look, this is what double standards are like. If you'd done the same, you swear the girls who are seated at the desks would have glared daggers at your fragile being, but it's Taehyung, and Taehyung's a hot dude.

Hot dudes always have it easy aka girls giggling like they've just discovered the kind of boxer briefs Jungkook wears.

Not that you've ever considered this before.

Anyways, back to the issue in hand-

"'Shakespeare's sonnets'? What's a sonnet, and what about it?" Taehyung wants to know, taking it in his hands and flipping through a couple of pages.

You kinda wanna punch him for being uncultured enough to not know what a sonnet is, but the fact that he asked what it is makes you forgive him (it's not his confused expression that looks so cute that forgives him, nope).

"A sonnet is a form of poetry which has fourteen lines," you explain, "It usually has like ten syllables per line, but I don't think that matters to you-"

"I'm surprised that you're actually using that brain of yours, for once." Taehyung muses, and you poke him in the waist, which in turn makes him chuckle and turn back to the whitish-yellow pages of the poem book. "Because you're right, it doesn't matter to me."

"Rude." You hiss. "So you see. Good ol' Shakeypakey here wrote 154 sonnets, okay? So, it was split into two parts based on-"

"Wait, did you just call a dead literist 'Shakeypakey'?" He asks, horrified.

"There is no word in the dictionary called literist. You can, instead, use-"

"That is beyond the point here, [Name]!"

"Listen," you hiss, snatching the book back from his clutches, "He has written 126 sonnets about a young man - a very fucking attractive man - and the other 28 sonnets are about a woman. Literally, he wrote at least 5 times more sonnets about the pretty dude."

"...So?"

Oh my god, there's a limit to beings freaking clueless but Taehyung likes climbing higher pedestals. Even The Himalayas would be ashamed. You shake your head in frustration.

"So! Why else would he be so obsessed with writing like 82 percent of his sonnet book about the man if he's not gay?"

Taehyung blinks at you in shock for a long moment, not moving a single muscle. You wonder if he was actually contemplating your reasoning, but then again... Taehyung was Taehyung, after all.

"Did you... do that math... just to..."

"Yes I did the math, so what? It makes so much sense. Maybe he's not gay, maybe he's like bisexual? Because even the sonnets about the Dark Lady was kinda kinky too so I think he has a lot of heterosexual shades too. Who knows."

"This is information I could live without, [Name]." Taehyung finally sighs, moving away from you and sighing. You watch as he begins to clear up his desk space, appalled that he wouldn't understand your very detailed reasoning.

If this is his reaction to your newfound discovery of Shakespeare's sexuality, then you sincerely hope Taehyung will never see your browser history with multiple search tabs of 'kinky Shakespeare'.

Plus that one meme you found of the poet's face cropped out and stuck to the ass of-

"I'm going to go put the books away." Taehyung announces, interrupting your fraying thoughts by picking up the handful of books that have been returned earlier.

Oh no you don't-

"Shakespeare was probably from a Victorian-ish era, you know? Those times when ladies wore metal frills on their skirts to make them more poofy and shit." You hurry to say. "His mama might have stabbed one of the metal frill shit into his ear if he said he was gay. Maybe he was in a polyamorous relationship, maybe he was the one who invented the idea-"

"Oh my fuck, shut the hell up." Taehyung hisses, standing up and stomping away. You blink at him as he takes the trolley of books, quickly making his way to the shelves and starting to put the books away.

Talk about being narrow-minded.

>

"So, your brother is Namjoon, right?" Taehyung asks the next day, slipping by your seat during lunch.

The cafeteria is excessively crowded, the jet line filled with students seeking a second helping of the ice-cream sandwiches they're handing out for free. According to Jimin, it's on occasion of Ice-cream Day, which you think is the stupidest invention that ever exists.

"Yes, but," you warn between gritted teeth, "Stop talking about it. I'd rather most people don't know. I'm not gonna be that one sister that the girls suck up to so that I'd help them get brownie points with Joon, like back in high school."

"You have a good point... It must have been hard for you, right?"

This makes you soften up a little, nodding back at the male who frowns sadly at you. So, even if Taehyung enjoys annoying you, he can be nice if he wants to.

"Oh, there's Jungkookie! Yah, Kook-ah, come here and sit with your Noona!" Taehyung yells from beside you, and the said brown-haired male's eyes widen as he pauses in his tracks, blinking at you two in surprise and his face going very pink.

You can't blame him, you must be at least two shades redder than he is.

You take it back, Taehyung is not nice at all.

"Over here, Kookie!" Jimin greets, patting the seat beside him. Yoongi lets out a small grunt beside you, and you sigh, giving your best smile to the freshman and motioning for him to join you lot.

Jungkook looks hesitant, quietly nodding and taking a seat right in front of you. Taehyung is paying for this later. Wait till you hide his library card. He's gonna suffer. And you're gonna be the one ugly giggling inside.

"So, Kookie, we were talking about how we can help Joon-hyung and Jin-hyung get together. Do you have any ideas?"

"Ah, so they do like each other. I always thought that too." Jungkook blinks in surprise.

"Even the kid knows. Why is it that those two little shits are the only ones who don't know how they feel about each other?" Yoongi lets out an exasperated sigh. "If they got together, Namjoon might stop writing depressing songs and start working on more brighter songs."

"Maybe they can go to a carnival. Seokjin-hyung has a thing for alpacas, right?" Jimin asks.

"That's a weird animal to have a kink for, but I'm not judging-"

"Shut up." You hiss, elbowing Taehyung, and the male doubles over, laughing and being proud enough to have elicited out a reaction from you. Jungkook watches the exchange in silence, and when you meet eyes with him, he looks away, turning to Jimin instantly and saying 'So? What about alpacas?'

Weird.

"Well, they can go to a carnival, Namjoon-hyung can play one of those dart games, or those ball-throwing games. He wins an alpaca plushie, and he gives it to Seokjin-hyung and tells him how he feels."

"That's like an unarmed battle with a bunch of sirens. Joon can't win no matter what he tries, he's not the most athletic nut in the world." You state.

"Si... Sirens?" Taehyung chokes, an eyebrow raises in confusion.

"Yeah? You know, those pretty fucked-looking female sea creatures that try to seduce idiots like you to get you into the sea and st-"

"I know what a siren is, you dolt," Taehyung sighs, "I took five weeks of Greek Mythology in my freshman year. I remember writing 'Sirens' in Google search and having nightmares."

"Then, why are you looking at me with that face?"

"... What face?"

"It looks like a fuck face minus the innuendo-inducing expression that you use. It's that face you make when you're confused to the level where you don't even know what speaking is, and you look like you accidentally ate ruined kimchi from a ripoff Korean-wannabe shop."

"I do not. And that's really specific, has that ever happened to you?"

"Down at Lindsay's Korean Meals stand a few blocks from the library. I had food poisoning for days."

"That's kinda sad. Was it recent?"

"Nah. I missed like four classes of Advanced Psychology classes near the start of the semester, remember?"

"Oh, then?"

"Yeah. Food poisoning is sad."

"Yeah. Please take care when you eat out, okay, [Name]?" Taehyung smiles at you, and the gesture is so soft that it makes you smile back like an idiot until you hear the sound of throat clearing.

And that's when you remember that Jungkook is staring at you two, and his expression is hard to read, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed a little as if... as if...

Wow, you really shouldn't be a language major after all, if you can't describe something as basic as an expression.

Another, more defensive side of you pipes in, claiming that it's fine, reading expressions are the tasks of psychology majors, which you clearly aren't.

It's while you have this debate, that Taehyung - who seems to have noticed the way Jungkook is playing around with the bowl of grapes in his tray - coos 'Kookieeeee, what's wrong?' in a sing-song voice.

Jungkook does not respond, eyes hard and now looking at you, and both the angel and devil on your shoulder that's having the language vs psychology war together stops, making you gulp.

"The heck is this tension here? Let me do some mood-making here with my funny humour that no one can get enough of." A loud voice has to say, and all three of you look up and see Seokjin holding his tray proudly, a smiling Namjoon beside him.

"No thanks, Hyung." Yoongi speaks, picking up his almost-empty tray of food and standing up. Jimin, seeing this action, scarfs down the rest of his kimchi and rice, following the older male a couple steps behind after saying a hard-to-decipher 'bye guys!'

"Well, it's okay. Jimin might get offended if he was here to witness this amazing question that I have for all you earthlings."

"But Hyung, you're an earthling too. Or, are you an alien?" Taehyung has to butt in, and you hush him, glancing at Seokjin so that he would say whatever he has to say and get it over with. Namjoon takes the now-free seat beside you, and all eyes are on Seokjin who plops his tray beside Jungkook's, hands on his hips and puffs his chest out with a big smile.

"If Jiminie eats a mochi, does that count as cannibalism?"

"Oh my god, please stop, Hyung." Taehyung mumbles, while, beside you, Namjoon is cracking up like the loser that he is.

You think you hear Hani and Hyojin giggling, while Jungkook just stares at Seokjin as if he couldn't believe what the male had said.

"This story won't be fun without my jokes-"

"YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THAT OUT LOUD."

>

You're in charge of putting away the books for today, and the trolly is lugged to the side while you look up barcode numbers and do your job in peace.

But there's a being that taps your shoulder, and no one should really blame you for being scared and starting to scream. The light above the philosophy aisle is dimmer than the other isles, so it makes you wary of beings other than human.

But there's a hand that covers your mouth, muffling your scream. God. What a sucky way to die. It's kinda kinky if you think about it, but why is a stranger making you die at the philosophy aisle, at least let you move over to the language aisle, it's literally only three rows away for crying out loud-

"Noona, it's only me." The voice says, and you turn around, seeing Jungkook smiling at you with a fond expression, looking highly amused when you hide your face in embarrassment.

"Kookie, what are you doing?!" You hiss, punching his arm and taking a couple steps back - the kid was standing way too close for comfort.

"I wanted to say hello." He shrugs, watching as you pick up a book and place it back on the shelf. "Extra-credit, right?"

You give him a nod, waving the cardholder you have around your neck. The picture of yours had come out good, you had every right to show it off to the hot freshman, okay?

Jungkook takes hold of the card, smiling down at your beaming picture, and - wait a second, his finger just touched your left boob, rip virginity - he comes so close to you that it makes you slightly intimidated as you nervously look up at the male.

And wow, this must be what interactions with angels feel like; you can see the scar on his left cheek, his pretty doe eyes, and the slightly chapped lips of his from this close, and he-

"Noona, do you want to go out with me sometime?"

"Sure, I- Wait..."

"To see a movie and eat and stuff. You're majoring in language, right? I'm sure we can have a lot of discussions about the movie after it's over."

Wait wait wait pause rewind-

Hey, now that you think about it, dissecting a movie and over-analysing it sounds like fun...

"I mean, well, of course I wouldn't mind going with you, Kookie, but do you mean..."

A platonic going out, or-

"Definitely not a platonic going out."

Shit, did you say that out loud?

"Yes you did, Noona."

"Oh."

"This is probably selfish of me to ask, but, remember that really boxy white shirt you wore once with that blue skinny jeans? Do you think you can wear it for our first date? I really liked it, but for some reason, you didn't wear it after that one day."

Yes, because Namjoon accidentally splashed ketchup all over it when you both had gone to KFC for chicken and fries later that day.

But you aren't going to tell Jungkook that, of course.

"Um. Sure, okay, I'm good to go." You tell him, and you can feel your cheeks flushing in embarrassment while you aggressively take a stack of books and stuff them back on the shelf.

"I'll message you, then?"

You give him a thumbs up, too flustered to look at his face, and Jungkook responds with a small laugh, hands clutching on the hanging straps of his backpack before he quickly runs away. And only after he does so, are you able to let out a huge breath you weren't aware you were holding.

Dragging the now empty trolly, you make your way to the reception desk. Taehyung's laptop's lid is closed now, and he has his chin rested on his hand as he watches you make your way back to the desk and take a seat.

Wordlessly, he reaches a hand out and presses his hand on your cheek. You are about to protest, when he moves his hand back and raises an eyebrow at you.

"You're quite obvious, Ms. Kim."

"Shut up. I just accidentally bumped into Kookie when I was putting the books away, that's all."

"I know."

You expect him to tease you, but he doesn't. Even when you finish up work and Namjoon is waiting to pick you both up and drive you home, he says nothing to your brother.

"Hey, Joonie?"

"Yes, my dearest little sister to whom I will share half my food, half my world, half my milky way, and half of everything I have to offer?"

"You're buying me the same exact white shirt you poured ketchup over. I have a date and I need it."

"Oooh, did the freshman kid finally make a move on you?"

"Shut up. We're driving to the mall and spending half of your allowance. You'll do that for your dearest little sister for whom you said you would give half of everything to offer, right?"

Namjoon has nothing to say while he digs in to see how much cash he has on himself.

Serves him right.

And you find it oddly uncharacteristic, the way Taehyung wordlessly waves goodbye to the two of you and leaves, when Namjoon stops by the younger male's apartment.

read next: ch 4

[wordsaremybestfriends]

Didn’t Ask For This: Chapter 2

Hey friends! Here’s a chapter as long as my current list of responsibilities that I am always avoiding. Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Cursing, child abuse, vocal abuse, violence, *TELL ME IF YOU FIND ANYTHING ELSE*

**something went wonky when i copied and pasted it here, so i apologize in advance for any errors!

The sound of a key scratching it’s way into the lock instantly perked Dustin up. His sister’s mostly exhausted form slumped through the front door, her characteristic purple and gray cardigan slightly falling off her shoulders, and her bag dragging behind her. The jeans she was wearing were smeared with ink and her brunette curls were mostly falling out of her bun atop her head. With a tired sigh, she noticed Dustin sitting on the couch, obviously waiting for her return home. A groan escaped her lips as she shuffled inside, locking the door behind her. “Dusty, it’s midnight. You should be in bed, you’ve got school tomorrow.” 

“I know, I know, but Em, I found something while I was out trick-or-treating-”

“How was that?” She asked, a smile on her face. She let her exhausted body slip onto the couch beside him, tossing her feet onto his lap. “Did you get a lot of three musketeers?”

He shook his head, the curls bouncing atop his head. “Yes, but that’s besides the point! I found something in the trash, and I don’t know what it is, and I want you to help me!” 

Emma rolled her eyes. “Dustin, I just spent six hours in a silent library reading about the left and right brain. My fingers are covered with glue from trying to repair old books, and I think my head might explode in the next five minutes if I don’t take a shower and sleep. Can’t it wait till the morning?”

“You are not going to want to wait until morning,” Her younger brother said, tossing her feet away to stand off the couch. “Please Emma, it’ll only take five minutes!”

Her brown eyes locked on her brother’s, and instead of the typical toothless smile he had mostly grown up with, his eyes were sad and lip jutted out. The pure pitiful look of him was enough to make Emma’s heart fall. He was her weakness, and he knew it.

“Well…” She murmured. “Let me shower first, okay? I smell like Mrs. White’s old perfume.”

“Perfect!” The boy almost shouted as he ran into his room, slamming the door shut. It was a miracle their mother hadn’t woken up yet, but Emma could do without her mother’s prying questions tonight. 

Only twenty minutes had passed before Emma emerged from the bathroom, hair clean and skin moisturized. She wore an oversized shirt from a thrift store run a few months ago, with a pair of long pajama pants. With her rambunctious brunette waves tied in a bun atop her head, she knocked on Dustin’s door quietly. 

As soon as the door opened, her younger brother started spouting out words like ‘amphibian’ and ‘reptilian’, latching his mostly sweaty hand onto his older sister’s arm, pulling her through the doorway, and straight into his bedroom, where his terrarium was empty, the turtle he had taken care of missing. Instead, a small, slug-like creature was in it’s place, hiding underneath a small overhang of fake rock. An empty three musketeers was a few inches in front of him, void of any crumbs. 

It didn’t look normal, with it’s odd, closed-flower like face and slippery body. There were no eyes on it’s body, and though it was only a few inches big, it seemed to be ferociously upset by Emma’s presence. 

“Where the hell did you find this??” She asked, pressing her face to the glass, the slug-like creature hissing and growling at her. “It looks insanely different than anything in Hawkins, or North America-” “Or Africa, or Europe!” Dustin exclaimed, pulling out an old book on different reptiles that he had stolen from Emma’s bookshelf. “I’ve already looked up a dozen different kinds of species, and Dart doesn’t match any of them.”

“You named him Dart?” Emma deadpanned, studying the hissing creature silently. “I feel like he looks more like a Jeffrey, to be honest.”

Dustin frowned, rolling his eyes. “When you find a new species, you can name them whatever you want.” 

He approached the glass, catching the small creature’s attention. It instantly calmed, and cooed quietly. The heat lamp had been turned off and shrouded the entire glass tank in darkness. Gently, Dustin reached in to grab him. Emma’s hand shot out, stopping him instead, a frightened look in her eyes. “Dusty, we don’t know what this even is! We shouldn’t be touching it, let alone trying to keep it in this tank!”

“It’s fine,” Her brother replied, reaching in the last few inches and gently picking up the slug, still cooing quietly. “He likes me, cause I rescued him. And he likes nougat, so that’s cool.”

Without the glass barrier, Emma looked at the creature, it’s slimy skin reminiscent of a certain being that she hadn’t seen in about a year. The curiously flower-like head of the slug was opened slightly, and a fear started to grow in the pit of her stomach as she noticed the similarities of the gray, green and brown being.

“You know, it kinda looks like a demogorgon…” She murmured, staring a bit closer at the slug that was relaxing easily in her brother’s palm. “I mean, a baby one, but still.”

“There are no more demogorgons, Em,” He said with a roll of his eyes. “El took them back to the upside down when she left us.” 

“I don’t know!” She shrugged, straightening her back. “It doesn’t look like a regular animal from here, it looks… different.”

The two fell into a shared silence, watching the slug breathe slowly, until Dustin slowly pushed it off his hand and back into the tank, and replaced the lid. Emma watched him warily as he washed his hands, and started to put away some of the books he borrowed, until a thought came to her mind. 

“We never really know what’s going on in that lab anymore,” Emma mumbled as she gazed at the slug. “I mean, if they’re trying to go back in there…” 

The siblings shared a look of unease as the October winds blew outside, sounding more like a howl than a scream now. The story that had started last year might have ended back then, but both knew that there was a deeper idea, a stronger plan in the works, and the sheer thought of it starting over again brought a new gloom upon their small town. And not just a frightening one this time. It was an evil one. 

The silent alarm Emma woke to the next morning was somehow the start to one of the worst four hours past her usual morning, bringing her awake to the bright red number of 10:45.

“Shit, shit, shit!!!” She screeched through the empty house, as she jolted herself out of bed, murmuring quickly to herself. 

Thanks to her exhaustion last night from the library and Dustin’s new pet, her fingers had accidentally forgot to press the button that would set off her alarm. She had slept straight through two class, and about half of third period. If she hurried, she might just make it by the tail end of class, able to disappear into the fray of students trying to make it to class on time. With her scooter, she’d be able to make it to school quick enough and head straight to the office, if she didn’t get pulled over by Hopper because she was trying to rival the speed of light instead of following the speed limit.

Her hair was wildly untamed, half in a bun on the top of her head and half falling out against her neck. She wore a grey top and a pair of tight jeans, throwing on a cardigan and jacket over the top before rushing to the kitchen to grab the lunch her mother had made, and straight out the door. 

Thankfully, the janitors were cleaning up the glass at the front entrance, and she could easily bolt through the doors like a bullet, headed straight for her locker. She had already missed calculus and government and politics as well as trigonometry. If she hurried, she could make it to English only a little bit late, even though Mr. Murphy loved her work no matter what. 

“Lady Macbeth makes everything go wrong,” She murmured to herself as she jogged through the halls, her locker close. “Then Lord Macbeth went to go duel the guy and he lost, so they lost everything, and basically it’s…”

Her words trailed off as she found Steve Harrington, the king of the school and head of the popular crowd, pushing his newest flavor of the week against her locker, a blonde girl a few inches taller than Emma, with a shirt barely long enough to cover her ass, and enough Lip-Smackers stuck in her pocket to qualify as a shareholder. It was Natalie Green, a sophomore who had gone starry eyed for Steve since the first day of school. She’d heard through the grapevine that the two were hooking up, though it didn’t matter much to her. Their utterly revolting snogging was an even worse beginning to her day. His hands were God knows where, and another pair were on his ass, fingers delicately slipping through the jean waistband.

 She wanted to vomit. 

“Hey!” She yelled, and suddenly, the two figures darted away from each other. 

Of course, except for the fact that Steve’s hand had still been stuck up the girl’s shirt, gripping her overly padded bra with eyes wide in embarrassment. 

“Fuck,” Steve said, pulling his hand out of the powder pink shirt and wiping it against his own jeans. His cheeks were bright pink, and lips swollen, but Emma wasn’t sure if it was from the kissing or the strawberry-flavored lip gloss that was all over their faces. Natalie wasn’t much better, pale face holding at least six different shades of scarlet as she tried to quell her breathing. 

“You couldn’t have gone to the library?” Emma asked aloud as she went to open her locker, shaking her head. “Or like, wait 45 minutes until class let out and you wouldn’t have to skip to see each other?” 

“Well,” The high pitched squeak of Natalie replied. Without turning her head, she knew that she was wearing a smug lip on her face, ‘fuck me’ eyes still wide and trained on Steve. “When you have a guy like Steve, you better make the most of your time. Right, sweetheart?” Steve waved her off. His voice was bored as he replied. “She’s right. You should get back to Chemistry.” “It’s Home Ec,” She amended, shrugging her shoulders. “But I’ll let that slide until lunchtime, baby.” She blew him a sticky, sloppy kiss from her hand before hopping off down the hallway, and out of sight as Emma rummaged through her locker, looking for her copy of Macbeth. 

“God, I can not thank you enough, Henderson,” Steve murmured, picking his shirt up to wipe away the lip gloss smears and spit across his face. His foul face tried to hastily swipe his face clean, then going to arrange the rest of his outfit. “I wasn’t sure if I could make it another five minutes with her on me.” 

“But you wanted to date her,” Emma pointed out in a monotone voice. 

His brown eyes were narrowed as he hastily sputtered out his words. “But, I just, I didn’t know she was so, so-”

“Clingy?” Emma suggested as she tossed her lunch inside the locker. “Attached? Bonded?” 

“When you say it like that,” Steve began, a sheepish grin beginning to grow on his face. “It kinda makes me sound like a bad person.” 

For a mere second, the girl pulled her head out of her locker to stare back at him, eyebrow raised. “That’s exactly what I’m trying to say, idiot.” 

Steve pinned his eyebrows down, crossing his arms as he leaned against the lockers, glaring right at Emma with a sour expression on his face. “I’m not a bad person, Henderson. I went out on a date with her, right?”

She tried not to laugh as she shook her head in her locker. It was rich to think that the ‘king of the school’ didn’t realize how much of a complete dick he had grown to become. If you were breathing, had boobs, decent looks, and you attended any school in Hawkins, Steve Harrington was sure to pass through your radar at one point. He was the biggest womanizer in school, known for going on one or two dates with a girl before calling it quits. There was never a real period of time that she knew he was single, and since his longest relationship only lasted about a week and a half, it was safe to say he was known quite well by many girls in Hawkins. It was somewhat disturbing how many girls came to Emma to vent about the boy, as if they wanted her to do something about it. It was even more disturbing to think of the boy that they always complained about was trying to have a real conversation with her about girls and the ‘woes of dating a bad kisser’. 

“I would bet ten dollars you didn’t plan for that relationship to go anywhere else than where it did after the first date,” She smirked. “You’ve got a serious track record to not notice that.”

Emma slammed her locker shut, and began walking down the hall, Steve hot on her trail. “You’re kidding me, right? I’ve never led a girl to think I actually wanted a relationship with her!”

The teenaged girl slowed her sneakers, pausing in her walk to turn back and almost laugh at the pathetic popular boy behind her. “Really?” 

“Really!” Steve exclaimed, shaking his head. He looked like a mother, arms crossed and an skeptical look on his face. “I have never done that!” 

“Harrington, you do that with every girl you’ve ever gotten to fall under your spell,” Emma said slowly, making sure that the boy understood every word he said. “Almost every single girl you’ve dated has found me, three days after you tell her that you’re ‘not looking to get tied down’ in tears because they thought that just maybe, this time they could be the one for the magnificent, magical Steve Harrington.”

His face was stony, eyes still connected with Emma. He was more of a statue in the middle of the hallway than a teenage boy, being told that the legacy he’s led throughout his entire high school career was really tormenting the young girls around him with his dating habits. Words were trying to find their way to his mouth as the girl sighed and began to walk farther down the hall towards Calculus. She was tired of entertaining Steve and trying to make him see his mistakes when he was supposed to be in whatever class he had.

 She didn’t look back as she left the boy, deep in thought, and turned her attention to her academics instead of the perils of a socially blinded popular boy.

TAG LIST: @lillie-writes @luv2reade16 @kararanae23

[yokailovesugar]

Unexpected Part 18

This is an Ulquihime fanfic I wrote. This is Part 18

Enjoy!

More chapters will be on the way for this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or it’s amazing characters that all belongs to Kubo Tite.

*I also do not own the Japanese historical figures that appear in this fanfic or actual Kyoto Sightseeing places* I don’t any of the artists, songs mentioned in this fanfic,

Ulquiorra Cifer and Orihime Inoue and other Bleach Characters © Kubo Tite

More Bleach Characters will be appearing as this story continues.

PART 18

LOCATION: Uzumasa eigamura (Toei Kyoto Studio Park)Kyoto, Japan

Orihime is using crutches.

[ORIHIME]

We have made it Ulquiorra-kun!

Ulquiorra glares at Orihime.

[ORIHIME]

I mean Ulquiorra, gomen bad habit!

[GRIMMJOW]

Ahh, quit being a sourpuss Cuatro. I should be the one pissed since you been keeping the Princess locked up in your room.

[ORIHIME]

I wasn’t locked up! And it was OUR room.

[GRIMMJOW]

What naughty things did you do to our flower Vice Commander?

Grimmjow puts his arm around Ulquiorra and Orihime.

[ULQUIORRA]

Need I remind you I outrank you, so remove that arm before you lose it.

Grimmjow’s blue eyes glare at Ulquiorra.

[GRIMMJOW]

I’m game if you are?

[ORIHIME]

NO FIGHTING!

[TIER]

Inoue is right this not the time nor the place for your shenanigans.

[GRIMMJOW]

WOAH WOAH! I AIN’T TAKING HEAT FOR THIS! IT WAS ALL HIS FAULT!

[MAN IN THE FOX MASK]

Everyone, it’s time to change.

[ULQUIORRA]

I thought this was a trip for two? In times like these, I wish I had my powers. I get rid of the blue-haired insect. Ulquiorra thinks to himself.

[ORIHIME]

I’ll see you later.

[ULQUIORRA]

Onna, where do you think you are going?

[ORIHIME]

Aren’t we changing into our costumes?

[ULQUIORRA]

………………………………………………………

[ORIHIME]

You promised and it’s Tanabata day.

Orihime smile turns into a frown.

[ULQUIORRA]

Understood.

Orihime smiles and hugs Ulquiorra

[ULQUIORRA]

Onna, you are going to fall!

Orihime giggles taking something out of Ulquiorra’s pocket and sticking it into hers.

[ORIHIME]

See you later Vice Commander.

Orihime walks off with her crutches.

[GRIMMJOW]

Hey, let’s get ready for Halloweenie!

Ulquiorra frowns.

[ULQUIORRA]

It’s Halloween and Today is July 7th it is Tanabata. Halloween is in October but Tokyo is the only place in Japan that celebrates that holiday but if you want to look like a fool in Kyoto be my guest.

[GRIMMJOW]

Damn no treats then and I was going to be an Espada for ole time sakes.

Ulquiorra frowns.

[GRIMMJOW]

Hey, How many months till Halloween though? Gotta plan my costume heh heh.

Ulquiorra walks off not answering Grimmjow.

[GRIMMJOW]

So Tokyo is where the Halloween party’s at hmm… OWW!

Grimmjow looks up and sees the man with the fox mask has hit him with a fan.

[GRIMMJOW]

Boss?

[MAN WITH MASK]

Grimmjow, we don’t have all day change into your costume or I’ll let Tier deal with you.

Tier cracks her knuckles.

[GRIMMJOW]

Damn, she reminds me more and more of the Commander it’s freaky. Grimmjow thinks to himself.

[GRIMMJOW]

Yes Sir.

Grimmjow leaves to change into his costume.

LOCATION: In a Dressing room.

Ulquiorra is tying his Shinsengumi forehead protector with the character of honor on it.

[ULQUIORRA]

I thought I never wear this uniform again.

Ulquiorra stares at his reflection in the mirror dressed in the Shinsengumi uniform he once wore.

Ulquiorra’s phone ringer goes off in his jean pocket.

[RINGTONE]

Baby Dracula.

[ULQUIORRA]

That’s not my ringtone.

Ulquiorra digs his phone out of his jean pocket.

Ulquiorra sees the caller ID on his phone screen is himself.

[ULQUIORRA]

Why am I calling myself?

Ulquiorra’s green eyes narrow.

[ULQUIORRA]

She switched our phones.

Ulquiorra frowns.

Ulquiorra thumb slides the answer button.

[ULQUIORRA]

Onna.

{ORIHIME]

Ulquiorra, how did you know it was me?

[ULQUIORRA]

Onna, why did you switch our phones and why didn’t you change that ringtone like I asked?

[ORIHIME]

I like that ringtone and anyway, that’s not important come outside. We’re all waiting.

[ULQUIORRA]

Fine.

Ulquiorra sighs and hangs up the phone.

Ulquiorra comes out dressed in his Shinsengumi uniform.

Grimmjow and Tier and the masked man are wearing Shinsengumi uniforms as well.

[GRIMMJOW]

Takes you back doesn’t it Hijikata ha ha.

[ULQUIORRA]

Yes,  a time I wish to forget.

[ORIHIME]

Oh, don’t be like that Ulquiorra.

Orihime grabs Ulquiorra’s arms.

Ulquiorra sees Orihime is dressed in the Shinsengumi uniform.

Ulquiorra’s green eyes widen.

[ORIHIME]

Surprised? I love when you make that face ha ha ha.

Orihime laughs.

Ulquiorra frowns.

[ORIHIME]

See, we look like a couple dressed the same just like we did in the Espada.

Ulquiorra clicks his tongue.

[ULQUIORRA]

They were uniforms, Onna. Everyone was assigned a uniform. There was nothing romantic about it.

[ORIHIME]

Why do you have to crush my fantasies?

[ULQUIORRA]

Because it’s not reality. Why would lies comfort you?

[ORIHIME]

…………………………………………………………………..

[GRIMMJOW]

Hey Princess, you look good in those clothes.

[ORIHIME]

At least someone thinks I do.

Orihime holds tighter to her crutches.

Ulquiorra bites his lip.

[GRIMMJOW]

Yeah, had you been the Inoue of our group the Shinsengumi had been happy!

Orihime blushes.

Ulquiorra’s green eyes glare at Grimmjow.

[GRIMMJOW]

Who are you kidding Vice Commander? Had she been there you wouldn’t have been a Womanizing manwhore now would ya?

Grimmjow smiles at Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra swings his sword at  Grimmjow. 

Grimmjow catches his Ulquiorra’s blade with his own sword.

[GRIMMJOW]

What? I hurt your Pretty boy pride Hijikata.

[ULQUIORRA]

One.. more… word Harada and I swear  I’ll make you remember the old times.

[BOY]

MOM, Look They are having a sword fight.

[BOY’S MOTHER]

Yes, very realistic.

A crowd gathers around.

People taking pictures with their smartphones.

[GRIMMJOW]

Hey, let’s give them a show.

Ulquiorra puts his sword away.

[GRIMMJOW]

What are you doing?

[ULQUIORRA]

Come, Onna.

Suddenly carriage Horse takes off and runs straight into the street where a child is running into.

[ORIHIME]

Soten Kisshun!

The Horse Carriage goes backward and the child with a broken body is unharmed and back with their parents.

Suddenly there is a turbulent wind.

Screaming is heard.

[VOICE 1]

Aww, so this is the power of the Hand of God?

[VOICE 2 ]

Mmmmm these souls were tasty ha ha ha ha ha.

Once the mist clears people are on the ground drained of their very life force.

Two men who look like Arrancar are revealed once the mist dissipates.

  One man has large fangs and the other wearing glasses surround Orihime.

[ULQUIORRA]

So, they’re behind the mysterious homicides in Japan, Kurosaki was investigating. Ulquiorra thinks to himself.

[ORIHIME]

Ulquiorra, check for survivors.

Orihime takes a defensive pose.

[MAN WITH FANGS}

I, think Princess you should be worrying about yourself instead ha ha ha ha ha.

Orihime glares at the man.

The man with glasses sneaks up behind Orihime and holds the point of his sword up against Orihime’s throat.

Ulquiorra’s green eyes widen.

[MAN IN THE MASK]

So your the ones causing panic across Japan?

[MAN WITH GLASSES]

And you are Mask Man?

Tier gets in front of the masked man wearing the fox mask.

[TIER]

Why have you come here?

Grimmjow looks at the people on the ground who are now drained of their life force.

[GRIMMJOW]

Holy shit it’s like a graveyard here these people totally sucked dry.

[MAN WITH THE GLASSES]

My Master needs the hand of God, I don’t have time to play with you.

[ORIHIME]

ULQUIORRA GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE!

[ULQUIORRA]

I refuse.

[ORIHIME]

Please save everyone, don’t worry about me!

[ULQUIORRA]

We just reunited and you expect us to separate again?

Orihime brown eyes are full of tears.

[MAN WITH GLASSES]

So, your Hijikata’s woman!

[ULQUIORRA]

Who are you?

Ulquiorra points his sword at the man with glasses.

[MAN]

Ahh, I’m hurt Hijikata you forgot me?

[ULQUIORRA]

I don’t remember insignificant trash like yourself now release Orihime!

The man with glasses glares pushing the sword harder against Orihime’s throat.

Orihime stands strong despite the sharpness of the blade.

Ulquiorra starts to move toward them.

[MAN WITH GLASSES]

If you don’t want her hurt I suggest you stay where you are.

[MAN IN THE MASK]

I’m afraid you didn’t answer our question, Sir who are you?

[MAN]

Does the name Chosu ring a bell?

[GRIMMJOW]

Chosu?!, Why the hell you bastards Arrancar ?!

[MAN]

Harada, I see you still don’t have brains.

[GRIMMJOW]

Yeah, but at least when I was Arrancar I didn’t look like shit like you!

[MAN]

We’re here on orders so our time here is limited.

[ULQUIORRA]

Whose orders?

[MAN]

The only man who your Commander humiliated.

Ulquiorra’s green eyes widen.

[MAN]

Are time is up here. 

A pit of black shields the men holding Orihime.

[GRIMMJOW]

LET'S TAKE HIM OUT, CUATRO!

Ulquiorra pulls out his sword and runs straight for the men holding Orihime.

Ulquiorra leaps into the air and brings his sword down on the men.

Grimmjow pulls out his sword and runs swiftly aiming for the man with fangs.

Grimmjow hits the shield with his sword the shield repels his blade.

[GRIMMJOW]

FUCK! WHAT IS THIS THING?!

Grimmjow standing on top of the dark shield hits the shield again with his sword.

The black shield deflects Ulquiorra’s blade when he hits it.

Ulquiorra hits the shield again but only damages his sword.

Ulquiorra’s green eyes narrow.

[GRIMMJOW]

TIER ANY BRIGHT IDEAS?!

A vortex of darkness starts pulling Orihime toward it.

Grimmjow jumps down from the shield.

The Dark shield force throws Ulquiorra off of it.

[ORIHIME]

ULQUIORRAHHHH!

Orihime's hand reaches out for Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra runs quickly to reach Orihime.

Ulquiorra reaches out for her.

Both their hands reach out for each other.

The vortex of darkness force pulls Orihime and two men inside the black hole.

[ORIHIME]

ULQUIORRAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[MAN WITH GLASSES]

It’s time to return to the past, Princess.

[MAN IN THE MASK]

The past?

Orihime disappears with the men into the vortex of darkness.

Ulquiorra is hand is left still reaching out.

Ulquiorra drops to his knees and slams his fist into the ground.

[ULQUIORRA]

If I only had my powers this could have been prevented!

The Masked Man rest his hand on Ulquiorra shoulder.

[MASKED MAN]

Don’t worry, We’ll get her back.

[ULQUIORRA, GRIMMJOW & TIER]

Boss?

[MASKED MAN]

I’ve got a plan but you all have got to trust me?

They all nod.

The Masked Man removes his fox mask.

Ulquiorra’s green eyes widen.

[GRIMMJOW]

HOLY SHIT, YOU’RE VICE COMMANDER YAMANAMI KEISUKE!

[KEISUKE]

Though in this world Harada I go by Urahara Keisuke.

[TIER]

Sir, was it wise to reveal your identity?

[KEISUKE]

Desperate time call for Desperate measures, Tier.

Keisuke puts on his striped hat.

[KEISUKE]

The curtain has been drawn now it’s time for us to take the stage again.

[GRIMMJOW]

Stage?

[KEISUKE]

The Past.

Keisuke snaps open his folding fan.

End of Part 18

To Be Continued in Part 19

[daggerzine]

Back down to earth...Photon Band’s head time traveler Art DiFuria opens up.

Art DiFuria first came in to my radar in the mid-80’s when I saw him in a band called Tons of Nuns on stage at the Kennel Club in Philly. He seemed kinda like me, a “normal” punk (no mohawk, leather jacket, etc.) but I noticed his choice of footwear was cool. He had slippers on which I thought was about the most punk rock thing you could do (I wore mine in public a few times after that and got some odd looks/comments). A few years later I saw him in Uptown Bones and remember him being the same guy in Tons of Nuns and made a mental note. Fast forward a few years (early-mid 90’s by now) and I had left  the east coast for the west coast and began hearing rumblings of a band called Photon Band who began releasing singles in 1995-ish (yes the Lilys, who Art played with for a time, have a record called Eccsame the Photon Band and as far as who inspired who well……read below).

 The stuff I’d heard by Photon Band seemed to be a real inspired stew of whatever was/is in Art’s head at the time. A wiggy blend of psychedelic rawk with illegal u-turns all over the place. The stuff is good. On paper it could seem like the workings of a shot-out guy whose brain was addled by Clorox and Pop Rocks who lives in his mother’s basement and jams for jams sake, but no. These are honest to goodness songs by a truly talented songwriter and regarding Photon Band there’s more to come (again see below).

 I shot Art some questions and he was more than happy to spill the beans on his childhood as well as what Philly band should’ve made it (also what was more hardcore, the Ardmore, PA or Exton, PA scene). Thanks so much to Art for really making this interview come to life (or “Pop!” as the kids say). Take it away….

 photo by Jonathan Valania 

Where did you grow up? Was it in the city of Philly or a suburb?

 I grew up in a place that was basically “nowhere,” culturally speaking: Exton PA. Its redeeming quality was that there were endless woods and creeks out there. It wasn’t as developed as it is now and so you could get on your bike and just ride or walk forever, and just think and dream.

 Did your parents or any siblings influence musically?

 There was always all kinds of music playing in our house. We had this gigantic TV / Stereo system with this posh turntable and huge speakers. On Sundays, after church and before the Eagles games, my dad played a lot of Perry Como, Al Martino, and of course Sinatra. Hearing those big, fluffy recordings on a deluxe stereo was mesmerizing, even though the music wasn’t really my thing. My mom could play the piano, too. We had one in our house (which is now in my house!). But my sisters were the biggest influence. They would eventually take over the stereo from my dad by whining about the old goombah music and they’d put some Beatles on. Of course, in my little kid mind I was like “holy SHIT, what is THIS?” That was all a huge influence. My sisters are older than me by 7 and 10 years and they could both play guitar. The one closer to me in age majored in music in college, so she was always talking about music all through junior high and high school. It was the early 70s, so it was a very folky thing that she and my oldest sister were into, that whole heaviness-with-an-acoustic-guitar scene was very big then. And our local Catholic church, trying to be hip, dispensed with the organ and had a “guitar group” play the hymns. 10 or so teenagers looking wholesome on the outside but seeming a bit fiendish below the surface, as all teenagers do, was really cool to me. I was really little and hated going to church already, but I did like the sound of the guitars being tuned as we walked into the church. In my little kid mind I associated the big crucifix over the altar with the sound of guitars being tuned. It seemed ominous, like there was something profound about to happen. My sisters also had the first three Monkees albums, which made an indelible impression on me.

photo by Mary Garito 

Do you remember the first record you ever bought with your own money?

 Well, my folks were giving me records from an early age. They gave me “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” in 1973 and I had my own little turntable to play it on. I wore the grooves out on “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” by Jim Croce and also the Raspberry’s “Go All the Way.” My first purchase, I remember very well because it pissed off my dad. I bought “The Who Sing My Generation.” I had become obsessed with them because I had seen footage of Townshend smashing his guitar and Keith Moon going nuts on drums. I had just seen the commercial for The Kids are Alright on TV on a Friday night and was supposed to do some yard work for my dad on that Saturday. He gave me the money in advance of the work because he had some errands to run. Then my sister invited me to go to the mall with her. Of course, I ditched the yard work and went to the mall and spent the money without having done any of the work. When I came back with the album my dad was waiting for me. Man, the tongue lashing that followed was intense.

 Where was your first punk show? Love Hall? Somewhere else? Who played and what year was it?

 We could get to Philly pretty easily on the R5 and by the early 80s, we were taking it upon ourselves to do so. The “other” record store at the mall, called Grand Records, was way better than the establishment one, Sam Goody’s. Grand Records actually carried the SST catalog, which was my entre into punk. I had Land Speed Record and The Punch Line because of that store. You could buy buttons and patches there that said “The Jam!” and “Fuck Art, Let’s Dance!” on them. They also had a little bulletin board with show posters and flyers. It was mostly new wave stuff, all pink and day-glo, about shows at the old Latin Casino, which had been renamed Emerald City. But one day, there was this black and white “xerox” flyer for a show at Love Hall with Hüsker Dü and the Minutemen. I had to go! It said that Love Hall was on Broad and South so I knew I could find it easily. I went by myself. I was scared shitless, this 16 year old kid with a new buzz cut so as to not look lame, wearing a white t-shirt, jeans, and combat boots just purchased from I.Goldberg’s. I scuffed them up on purpose right after I got them so they didn’t look too shiny and new. I was a LONG way from home. Once I got there, I didn’t talk to anyone. I just made myself invisible and watched the whole thing happen. Those bands were way better than I could have ever imagined. I left that show with a whole new concept of music. I think I went to see the Born Again era Black Sabbath that same fall and there was no contest in my mind as to which show was the real thing. But there was nobody at my high school that could relate to my Love Hall experience. They were all either wishing John Bonham hadn’t died, or to decide whether or not Rush’s Signals was a betrayal or a master stroke. Those are valid pursuits, too, and I didn’t become a punk overnight, or ever, really; becoming one narrow thing seemed dumb to me. But I did become a huge fan of it because of those bands.

photo by Jonathan Valania

I first saw you in Tons of Nuns in 1985 or maybe ’86. Was that your first band?

 I had played in cover bands in Exton, which is how I learned to play “live” instead of just playing along with records at home. But yep, the Nuns was my first real band. It started as Bernadette Rappold on guitar, Brian Sussman on drums, and Mike Logan (aka Spayce Mann, who currently plays with Brother JT) on bass. Then Mike decided to bail and Bern switched to bass. That sort of became our identity, that trio. And that was how I learned to play guitar in a trio: trust the other two.  

 What was next, Uptown Bones? How long did that last?

Between Tons of Nuns and Uptown Bones, there was Holy Smoke. Tons of Nuns started to feel too kooky, too gimmicky. I could’ve stayed in it and slowly changed that, but I had my head up my ass. It started to feel like it wasn’t growing, but that’s probably because I wasn’t willing to give it a chance. So I told those guys I wanted out. They stayed together and got Bill Rudolph to play guitar. He later founded Rotgut and then Rear Admiral. They also got a really great guitarist named Dan who could play circles around me. Brian and Bern turned the Nuns into a much better band after I left. I think my leaving gave them a burst of energy, like “we’ll show him!!” And it was probably a lot more fun for them without this pain-in-the-ass brooding perfectionist around who wanted things to be more serious. When Mike Logan heard I left the Nuns, he wanted to jam again. We were very tight buds and quickly got songs together with a drummer named Jay Jurina who was also in Sky Grits. We felt like Holy Smoke had no limits; we used to do long instrumentals, ballads, really fast stuff, heavy Sabbath sounding tunes, you name it. And we had a lot of gigs in a really short time during the spring and summer of 87. But then Mike left Philly without really explaining why. Jay and I tried to keep the band going, but I was really thrown for a loop. I had lost my best friend and didn’t know why. I sort of blamed myself and thought, “well, all I’ve really done is start this kooky band that got better after I left, and then started this other one that wasn’t good enough for its co-founder. I must suck at this.” So I decided to lay low and not be a front man. I went to see the Uptown Bones whenever they played. They were guys who came to Temple a year after I did. They were a spunky little band with super spazzy energy. Plus, they were tight with Eric DeJesus (the Raw Pogo on the Scaffold / Easy Pop Art guy, and eventual best man at my wedding) who had been showing me his poems and stories which were so fucking excellent I couldn’t believe it. They were, in my mind, a “real rock band.” And I could see right away that Rich Fravel, the singer, was probably the best front man I’d ever get to play with. We all sort of spoke a language that nobody else understood. We were like a little scene of our own, wherever we went. When their original bassist Scooter drifted away from them, I stepped in. We started to click right away. That momentum lasted from the spring of ’88 through to our last tour in France in the summer of 93; two full length albums, three tours, and a bunch of singles. But then, we grew tired of each other and could see that it wasn’t going anywhere. We opted out.

 Tell me about your involvement in the Lilys? Had you known Kurt previously? How long was your tenure in the band?

 I had been messing around with this totally spontaneous band called the Psychic Enemies. It was me, Wayne Hamilton from Suffacox, and Simon Nagle, future Photon Band drummer. We purposefully avoided writing songs. We would jam for hours and never repeat a riff. We’d show up at gigs and do the same. But after awhile, we just couldn’t sustain it. Somehow, all that freedom felt like a dead end. So I was sort of putting word out there that I was looking for a gig. I had my hand inside a turkey on Thanksgiving eve 1993 and Bryan Dilworth and Mike Lenert came up the stairs of my warehouse and said “you’re playing in the Lilys.” I had heard In the Presence of Nothing and Amazing Letdowns and was pretty impressed. And I loved Bryan and Mike. So I said “yes.” We had a gig in DC like a week later. I didn’t know Kurt when I joined, but we instantly got along and had all sorts of things to talk about. I thought the Lilys were set up to do a lot more than we did. We had three songwriters and access to two cool recording studios in Philadelphia because I had my own 16-track and the drummer, Dave Frank (who had been in the Wishniaks) was co-owner of Studio Red with Adam Lasus. I figured we would just be recording our White Album for the next 15 years or so, you know? At least, that’s how I wanted it to work. But it wasn’t my band, and so I respected Kurt’s way of doing it which was to stay true to whatever his inner ear told him to do with his songs. That usually didn’t involve us.

 from a You Tube video posted by dstarfreestar 

Am I missing any bands in between? Did you do a stint in Robert Hazard & the Heroes that we don’t know about?

Ha...never hung with Hazard or the A’s or the Hooters, heaven help us. But I did play with a lot of other bands. I can’t remember them all, but here are the main things: I played with Baby Flamehead, which was such a breath of fresh air for me, such a pleasure. From about 94 to 2010 when I moved to Savannah, I also played either guitar, bass, or drums in a bunch of John Terlesky’s projects: Suffacox, Vibrolux, Brother JT, and even late period Original Sins. In the mid-2000s, I also played drums for We Have Heaven (Eric DeJesus’s band) and Ex Reverie. The latter is Gillian Chadwick’s prog vehicle. I loved those drumming gigs so much. I was sad to have to bow out of Ex Rev especially, because I had too many other commitments.

 How/when did the Photon Band come about? Did you have a vision for it?

Even though I pulled back from being “the guy” after Tons of Nuns, I couldn’t stop the flow of ideas for songs. It seemed to be on the increase. Sometimes, they were so complete when I’d hear them in my head or dream them that I thought it was a cosmic phenomenon of some sort, like there are songs flying around out there in the ether and they choose people. And for some reason I was receiving more and more songs. I had been amassing cassette tapes of song ideas. At the same time, I’m really into astrology because my mother had been into that when I was a kid and it fascinated me. So I picked up this astrology magazine and there was an article in it by a woman named Barbara Hand Clow stating that since around 1962, the earth had gradually been entering into this band of photonic matter that would ultimately encompass our world and blow consciousness wide open. It made sense to me because I felt like that was happening to me. “Photon Band!” I thought. “If I ever start a band, that’s what I’ll call it and anything I write or record will go under that name. Its identity will be that it encompasses all the variety that comes out of me.” At the time, I was in the Lilys and my hopes for that band to become a vehicle for me and Mike Lenert as well as Kurt was dissipating. I left in late ’94 and told Kurt I wanted to start my own band under the name Photon Band. It was an amicable parting. He named the next Lilys album to honor that idea. That Lilys album, Eccsam the Photon Band and the first Photon Band single, “Sitting on the Sunn” came out at around the same time.  

 I know in the Photon Band you play all or most of the instruments. Did you learn all of those as a kid or pick them up along the way?

 I taught myself guitar. Bass wasn’t hard to do after that. And drums came together just by sneaking behind the kit before practice, during break, and after practice and getting a few minutes in here and there. I love playing drums but man, if I don’t keep practicing, the next time I sit down, the drop off is more severe than it is with either bass or guitar. And whether it’s live or in the studio, I really need Jeff Tanner there. His ear understands where I’m trying to go better than anyone I know. His approach to playing bass is really important. And when we were a four piece, what he was doing on guitar was starting to take on its own identity that was re-shaping the songs. As far as drumming goes, Simon, Brendan, and Patrick have done all the best drum parts on our records. It’s only very occasionally that whatever I’m able to do on drums has worked better than them. I’m lucky to have had those guys as willing foils.

 photo by Lisa Schaffer

Is Photon Band still going? If so what’s next?

 Yes. Since I moved to Savannah, I still record, and we still gig, though much less frequently. Pure Photonic Matter Volume 1 came out in 2013 and Songs of Rapture and Hatred came out in 2015, thanks to Nod and Smile Records. We did release shows for both and a few gigs before and after. In fact, from the fall of 15 through the fall of 16, we played three gigs. I think those three gigs were the most we played over a single year’s span since I left for Savannah. But then I had to finish this book I’ve been working on for quite some time. The publisher was getting antsy, so I had to put the music aside. The next thing will be two albums; one will be the next installment in the Pure Photonic Matter series. Another, probably done around the same time, will be an album of very long songs, sloppy, poppy, noisy, and primitive, with lots of jamming (think White Light White Heat). I’m also putting together a live album from all of the recordings I’ve got from over the years. And I’m going through all of the old DATS and cassettes. There are a number of songs that I’ve earmarked for another album of singles, comp tracks, and outtakes album: Our Own ESP Driven Scene: part II, I suppose. But I’ve also discovered a huge number of tunes that are either finished or nearly finished that I never released, plus also totally different versions of some of the songs that have come out. So over the next few years, I’m going to release an archive of sorts, probably on Soundcloud and Bandcamp.

  How did you land in Savannah, GA? Are you involved in any kind of music/art scene down there?

 I’m an art historian. I was teaching at Moore College of Art and Design in Philly but started looking around for a better gig. The money there wasn’t great and there was quite a bit of dysfunction and acrimony between faculty and administration. I got a very good offer from Savannah College of Art and Design and off we went. The job, raising two kids, and going forward with my plan to publish the work I had been doing on a sixteenth-century Netherlandish artist named Maarten van Heemskerck have effectively kept me from getting out and involving myself in the scene down here. But now, I have basically taken care of Maarten (that’s the book I mentioned above). I feel like there will come a time soon when I can start saying “ya know any good drummers?” or “ya need a guitar player?” I’d like to get something together down here, another three-piece, sort of a Photon Band South. But what I’d also really like to do even more is just become the guitarist for a really good, no nonsense rock and roll band where I don’t write the songs.

 Who are some of your favorite current bands?

Weeding through the shit to get to the good stuff requires time, doesn’t it? It’s good that there are some nice places to hang out here in Savannah that let their younger staff choose the music, otherwise I might have no idea. Some of the Ariel Pink I’ve heard, I really like. The Dear Hunter has made some albums I like and so has Ty Segall. But those are by now, pretty old, right? I like bands that do interesting things with guitars, so I really loved the first Garden State album, also pretty old by now. I haven’t heard anything by them since then that suggests that they’re still committed to weaving together guitar lines the way they did on that first album. Sheer Mag’s guitarists do that really well! On Dead Waves have some good songs, and I like everything I’ve heard by Bass Drum of Death. I really like that song called La La La by Hoops, too. It’s a never-ending quest, isn’t it?  There are plenty more bands who have a song or two that blow my mind: the Wavves, the Panic Buttons, Suzi Chunk, Eagulls, to name a few.

 photo by Mary Garito 

What are your top 10 desert island discs?

 Oh shit! Okay…

 Neil Young: Time Fades Away

John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band

Stones: Beggars Banquet

Stooges: Fun House

The Who: Live at Leeds (the expanded version, because it has more tunes on it)

Stereolab: ABC Music

Flying Burrito Brothers: Gilded Palace of Sin

MC5: High Time

Rites of Spring

That’s nine. Then I’d lay the following four albums on the floor, have someone mix them up, and pick one blindfolded:

 Sun Ra: We Travel the Spaceways from Planet to Planet

Mr. Airplane Man: Come on DJ

The new Ty Segall album

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Pig Lib.

  Any final thoughts?  Closing comments? Anything you wanted to mention that I didn’t ask?

 Hmmmm…well, to close the loop on the Mike Logan / Spayce Mann story, all these years later, he came into JT’s orbit and now he has the role that I once had in JT’s band. We’ve reconnected and it feels so good to have that whole thing come full circle in such a cosmic way. It’s not just that we understand each other. We reconnected because he’s playing music with someone whose music is dear to us both. That’s our shared musical DNA, the stuff that resonates with our souls, determining our paths and bringing us in contact with the right people. That’s cosmic.  

 BONUS QUESTION; What is one Philly band that really shoud’ve made it?

 I know the popular answers are Ruin and the Electric Love Muffin, and that’s definitely true, especially the latter. The Muffin were so important for a lot of people, especially me, and they were as good as, or better than, any of their contemporaries. But in a better world, the real answer is either the early period of the Original Sins, or F.O.D. There’s no question that of all the bands of my lifetime that the industry missed, they sure did blow it with the Sins. JT should have a huge audience. If the industry was less shallow, either the Sins or JT would’ve “made it.” And to me, F.O.D. are the Experience, the Who, the Minutemen, the Sex Pistols, and Sun Ra’s Arkestra all in one brilliant three piece. I don’t think there’s a live band that can touch them.

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