#''hm. perhaps I should tell them what will happen if I die'' like yeah okay fair thank you for the heads up as we go into a dungeon

[revvethasmythh]

my favorite running bit of this play through has been that every single time I enter an enemy's stronghold or something and I'm all prepped and ready to go into a fight, I look over and Gale's like "!" and I'm like okay this doesn't seem like the time to talk but who am I to put this off. and then he inevitably is like "I need to eat some gloves. also I think now is a splendid time to drop 15 minutes of backstory and maybe a tender moment, and also tell you about my goddess ex-lover, but most importantly this story about Karsus and then also about the bomb in my chest." and I'm just like. dude. we are IN the hag's lair. we are doing this TEN feet from the hag. you are sluttily kneeling in front of me, putting my hand on your chest and she is like ONE room away

[strawberrymilkgeorge]

Part Fourteen. There's No Way.

word count: 5k (not including pictures) warnings: swearing

behind the screen (irl dream x f!reader) series masterlist ultimate masterlist

a/n: yeeeeee very excited about this chapter!! we're getting so close to some good stuff!!!! hope you like it!!! (also, if you understand the reference to bug’s second tweet about mr clean, you’re a real one) 

______

Y/n laughed as she tucked her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on top as she stared at her computer monitor. "Yeah, okay, Gogy."

Quackity's laugh sounded through her headphones, cackling loudly and gasping for air as George defended himself in their voice channel. None of them were streaming, which allowed them to tease each other relentlessly without worrying about leaking real things. Currently, the target of the teasing was Y/n. Her guilty crime: Dream’s nickname for her. "She got his ass!"

"Oh shut up, Big Q," Y/n quickly spat back. "At least neither of us has a nickname that lies about our size. Short boy."

Quackity stopped laughing and pulled out his defensive card. "Okay, that's literally not funny. That's messed up of you to say, actually."

"Waaah," Y/n mocked.

"Okay, Bugsy, but no one seriously calls me Gogy, it's just as a joke," George defended himself. "I was only saying that I think it's cute how Dream calls you Bug!"

"Shut up," she mumbled with embarrassment. She loved the nickname and especially how everyone seemed to agree it was reserved for him. She wondered if he noticed that too, how everyone else, including most fans, called her Bugsy, leaving Dream as the only online friend who used the nickname.

"She's embarrassed," Quackity giggled. "Awww. Is the Buggy Wuggy embarrassed of having a crush?"

“I don’t have a crush,” she lied convincingly. 

“You better not. The title of your affection deservingly goes to me,” he said proudly, as if there was any shred of truth in his words.

“Get over yourself, Quackity,” George laughed, “before Dream tells you off again about being too short for Bugsy.”

“HEY!”

"I'm back," Sapnap announced as he unmuted in Discord. "What did I miss?"

"They're still bullying me," Y/n exaggerated.

“No, they’re bullying me!” Quackity scoffed.

“Sapnap, make them stop,” Y/n begged playfully. Usually Sapnap was on her side.

"It’s for a good reason though," Sapnap teased. "I mean, we'll stop bullying you if you admit to liking him," he lowered his voice slightly, probably since he lived in the same house as the man they were talking about.

Y/n smiled to herself and hid it behind her hoodie sleeve as if they could see her anyway. She kinda liked that she hadn't told Quackity or Sapnap about her official crush, enjoying having a secret like that. Well, a secret that George, Karl, and Naomi knew too.

"Then I guess I'll be bullied until the day that I die," she sighed. She swore she heard George cover a laugh with a cough and she sent his icon a death glare. He seemed to enjoy knowing her secret a little too much. 

"Is anyone going to actually stream today?" Sapnap asked. "I wanna do something."

"I'm thinking about doing Jackbox later," Quackity admitted. "Do you guys wanna join if I do?"

"Yes! Please," Sapnap whined. "I'm so bored."

"Sure, I'll play. Karl is spending the night so I can make him play too."

"Sleepover?" George asked. " Can I come?"

"Hm, no."

"That's messed up!"

"Can you join, George?" Quackity asked. "I need you in my title."

George hummed contemplatively and his voice turned mischievous, if only for a moment. "Yeah, if you get Dream to play."

Yeah, he definitely enjoyed knowing her secret too much.

"Right, you only play when your boyfriend plays too," Quackity groaned. "Cancel Dreamnotfound, I believe in Dreamsy supremacy."

"Says the man who asks me to marry him every day," Y/n scoffed.

"Actually, you're right! Bugity supremacy," he said.

"I swear it's become more frequent since I said you could flirt with me online again."

"It has, I'm making up for lost time."

Y/n rolled her eyes and Sapnap laughed. "I'll get Dream to play," Sapnap offered.

"So you'll play, George? I need you to commit," Quackity said.

"Yeah, why not," George agreed before adding with a giggle, "I wanna see Dream try to flirt with Bugsy."

"I hate you all,” specifically you, George, she thought. “I'm not playing anymore."

"NO, YOU ALREADY SAID YOU WOULD!" Quackity shouted.

"FINE," she groaned, a small laugh escaping her lips and completely exposing that she wasn't actually mad. "Speaking of Karl sleeping over, he's coming over in a bit so I'm gonna get off."

"Booo," Sapnap protested lightly. "Have fun with Karl."

"Let me know if he's going to play Jackbox with us. He better," Quackity threatened with no real substance.

"I'll make him," Y/n promised. "Bye guys!"

"Bye!" George and Sapnap shouted together before she disconnected the call.

Y/n stood up from her desk, stretching softly before looking around her room. She had a laundry basket in the corner, overflowing with clean, and now probably wrinkled, clothes waiting to be folded. She decided to use her time to clean up before Karl got there, even though they were probably going to sleep on the couches if at all.

She dumped the clean clothes onto her bed, tossing the things that needed to be hung to the side and neatly folded the rest. When she put her hoodies and sweaters on hangers, she noticed how much of her friends' merch she had. She had two GeorgeNotFound hoodies, a Sapnap shirt and hoodie, and even a Quackity hoodie. Karl didn't have any merch, but she did have a few of his personal hoodies that she had stolen from him over time and considered those her own exclusive merch, even though some of them had the Mr. Beast logo on them. She decided she needed Dream's merch.

For some unknown reason, perhaps it was because of how much she liked him, her face grew warm at the thought of wearing a Dream hoodie, even though it wouldn't have belonged to him. The idea made her nervous, like that would somehow give away that she had a crush on him if she bought some of his merch, even though she bought some of her friends' and even had Karl's actual hoodies. Despite the reasons that that was stupid of her to think, her brain said owning one Dream hoodie would be a dead giveaway of her crush, so she put off buying any. In reality, he'd probably laugh in his cute way when he heard that she bought one, or maybe go "whAT!" in surprise and happiness.

She desperately wanted to tell him things like that, tell him how happy his laugh made her and how adorable he was, or how she got butterflies every time he talked about anything at all. Since she couldn’t just call him up and tell him she hated stopped thinking about him, she decided to do something bold and subtweeted him, even adding a picture of herself with her face covered, hoping he would know it was about him, but that no one else would. She turned off comments for good measure, in case the stans made assumptions. Now that she threw away the "no flirting" rule for all her friends, she could do things like this. Worst case scenario is he thinks it’s weird, she tells him it was only a joke, and they go on their merry ways. Her heart would be broken, but nevertheless her ego would be somewhat saved. Harmless. 

Nervously ― plagued with the thoughts of possible consequences of posting something so bold and, to her, so obvious — she made her way to the kitchen and got a glass of water. He would know it was about him, right? And that's what she wanted? It was so forward of her to say to the world, especially since she hadn't tagged him in it. Leaving it up to interpretation almost made it like she was trying to hide it from him, which wasn't the case or she wouldn't have hit, Tweet.

She waited for him to tweet something vague about her as a response, or maybe even text her, before realizing it had the potential to make him uncomfortable. Maybe he would pretend to not see it so he didn't embarrass her, or didn't even know it was about him. Or maybe he's asleep and hasn't been on his phone. She looked at her clock. Dream asleep at 3:30pm? Unlikely.

As Y/n fell on her bed, contemplating whether she should delete the post and pretend like it never happened, she felt her phone vibrate and quickly swiped the screen to read it.

Y/n had to literally set her phone down to scream into her pillow. He was killing her. Stabbing her in the heart and twisting the knife with his sweet compliments and smooth delivery. He had to know what he was doing, the way he was talking to her like that. No one said "prove it" in that context without having something more behind it.

Why couldn't he just like her? Why did he have to be so nice and flirty towards all his friends? Why couldn’t she be the exception?

She picked her phone back up and left the messaging app, finding her camera roll and swiping through it in search for something to catch her eye. Food pic, meme, Karl’s cat, meme, picture of Naomi nearly falling off a sidewalk... where were her pictures of her face? Did she really not have any of herself? The seemingly endless scrolling stopped when she found one from when she first moved into the apartment. Naomi had taken pictures of every room to show her parents and asked Y/n if she could show her parents the streamers room as well. Y/n cheerfully agreed, and actually wanted to be in the photo because she loved Naomi’s parents like they were her own, so she jumped on her bed and smiled for the picture.

It was cute, the comforter she sat on was messy and looked comfy, and she liked the way she was posed, cross-legged and beaming at the camera with her dying plant on the windowsill in the background and fairy lights around the room. It was also back when her room was clean and presentable. Y/n thought it was a good photo and even would have posted it if not for the whole her being a faceless streamer thing.

She held her breath, contemplating if she should just send the image to Dream. She wanted to, she really did. But that fear of how he perceived her still nagged in the back of her mind.

Y/n must have been mulling it over for a while because as she decided to not send it, Dream followed up on his last text, clearly worried that he was pressuring her. She wanted to change the subject as soon as possible before she changed her mind and face revealed to him.

Y/n took a deep breath at the thought of how close she was to sending that picture to Dream. It wasn't the first time she genuinely considered it, nor would it be the last, but that was the first time she actually looked through her camera roll for options. She so desperately wanted to. Wanted to show him what she looked like. Wanted to hear what he thought of her. Wanted to hear him say, "I like you, Bug" after finally seeing what she looked like. Wanted to let him know how much she trusted him by showing him her biggest fear. It would be so easy to just rip off the Band-Aid; only a few clicks and he could see her face. See her.

But then there was the possibility of none of her fantasies happening. What if she sent him a picture saying, "here is me!" and all he says is, "nice", not finding her pretty or ugly? What if he thought it was just like... seeing a picture of a friend. He and I are just friends, Y/n scolded herself. But him seeing her opened up the opportunity for him to like her.

It was scarier the longer she put it off, almost like the more she postponed it, the more she had to prove. If Dream knew what she looked like from the beginning, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. But since she had waited so long to show him, she felt like she had to make it worth the wait.

Was she worth the wait?

Y/n's bedroom door swung open, ripping her out of her thoughts and letting her know that Karl had arrived. He smiled at her and she laughed in response.

"Hello, Karl. Ever heard of knocking?"

"Nope!" he responded as he set down a cupholder with three drinks on her nightstand. "How are you?"

"Good." Daydreaming out about Dream... again. "How are you?"

"I'm so excited!" He dropped his backpack on the floor and turned to her, pulling her off her bed and giving her a hug. "I've missed you!"

"You saw me, like, a couple of days ago," she laughed as she hugged him back.

"A couple of days too long," he sighed dramatically, rocking back and forth into the hug before Y/n lightly pulled away from him. "Where's Naomi?"

"Uh... in her room I'm guessing?"

"I'm going to go give this to her," he explained grabbing one of the drinks and walking out. "Don't miss me too much!"

Y/n laughed and shook her head, laying back down on her bed with her phone in hand. She reread some of the texts between her and Dream and couldn't help the large smile that plastered itself on her face.

When Karl came back in, he jumped on the bed, wrapping his arms around her stomach and snuggling into her side. "Hello."

She laughed but pushed him away slightly, trying to ignore the pout on his face at her actions. "Hi."

"Oh, happy December!"

"Already? Geesh."

"Yeah, only 27 days until the lake!!!!"

Nervous and excited butterflies festered in the pit of Y/n's stomach. "What drink did you get me?"

"Your faaavorite," he sang as he grabbed the drink letting her sit up and lean against the headboard before handing it to her.

"Thank you very much," she said as she took a sip. "Oh, hey, so Quackity wants to do a Jackbox stream tonight and I said you'd join."

Karl groaned and laid back on Y/n, careful not to knock her drink out of her hand. "Noooo...."

"You don't wanna play?" she asked genuinely, patting his hair lightly as his head rested on her legs.

"I just want to hang out with you. It's been so long since we had Karl and Y/n time."

She sighed. "I know, but it will be fun. We'll play for like an hour and a half and then we can hang out for the rest of the night and all day tomorrow until you have to go to Jimmy’s house," she bargained like she was talking a four-year-old into eating some vegetables.

"Hmph. Fine," Karl pouted. "Is Dream playing?"

She shrugged. "I think so?"

"That's why you want to play so bad."

"What? No! I agreed to play before Sapnap said he would ask him."

"Mmmhm. So that Tweet earlier wasn't about him?"

"The... Tweet?" she played dumb but her face warmed up.

"Or was it about me?" he joked. "Have you just been blown away ever since we met and you're still thinking about how cute I am?"

"Shut up," she lightly pushed Karl's head off her lap as her face grew hotter. "Am I wrong though?"

"I don't know!" he said as he sat up and looked at her. "I've never seen the man!!"

"Oh, really?" she asked. "I didn't want to post it because I didn't want people to think I was bragging about knowing what he looks like..." she sighed.

"Then why did you?"

"Because... I also really wanted him to see it," she said with a shy giggle.

Karl face lit up as he cackled at her. "Look at you, trying to flirt!! Let's gooo!!!"

Y/n buried her face in her sweatshirt collar and laughed.

"Oh my gosh? Y/n subtweeting and flirting at the same time?? What on Earth?"

"It only counts if it works."

"Did it?” Karl asked as he leaned back and played with his rings. “You turned off comments and I didn't see him subtweet you back."

"That's because he... texted me... instead."

"WHAT? What did he say?"

Y/n laughed. "He said I wasn't allowed to tweet something like that and then turn off comments so he can't tell everyone it was about him."

Karl cackled again. "HAHAH! So true though!"

"Whatever. I'm not telling you anything else about our conversation."

"Why, was it spicy?"

"No. But— this is weird to talk about!"

Karl frowned. "You don't have to tell me... I just think it's so cute. But if you ever do want to talk about how much you wuv Dweam, I'm all ears. Tell me everything."

Y/n rolled her eyes fondly. "Okay Kawl."

"What time is Quackity streaming?" Karl changed the subject, understanding that Y/n actually didn't want to talk about Dream.

"I don't know. Ask him. Also, tell him you're joining so he knows." She took another long sip from her drink as Karl pulled out his phone and texted Quackity.

Her fingers itched to make another Tweet about Dream and she finally succumbed, but decided to outright tease him instead of flirt, not hiding the identity of her target this time. Really, it was just an excuse for her to try to get his attention like she couldn't just text him and have it right away.

_____

"Sapnap!" Bugsy cheered as he joined the Discord, Quackity off talking to his chat while the others slowly joined. So far, the only people there were Sapnap, Bugsy, and Karl.

"Bugsy!" he called back with a giggle. "Hi! Is Karl coming?"

"I'm here, Sapnap!" Karl announced. "Bugsy and I are just using the same mic."

"Am I not good enough for you?" she teased Sapnap and he laughed.

"Well you're going to ignore me to talk to Dream once he gets here, so I need a backup so I'm not lonely."

Y/n rolled her eyes with a smile and Karl laughed.

"We can talk while they flirt," Karl promised.

"Both of you shut up," she scolded softly.

Pretty soon, the others joined. In the end, Quackity had convinced Bad, Punz, and Wilbur to play, as well as all the feral boys.

"You could only get nine people to play, Quackity?" George asked once Quackity unmuted. "Wow, you must not have friends."

"Hey! I have friends, George! I do."

"Then where's the tenth person, Big Q?" Wilbur countered.

"LOOK! It was last minute! Where's Drea– that man is always late, I swear to—"

"I'm here!" Dream said quickly, joining the voice channel. "I'm here! Hello, everyone. Hi, Bug."

Karl smacked his hand over his mouth to cover his laugh, which escaped anyway, as he nudged Y/n. She had immediately buried her face in her hands and Karl had to turn away from the mic so no one could hear him laugh at Dream's direct greeting.

She pinched Karl's side before greeting Dream. "Hi, Dream."

"Are you guys ready to play?" Quackity asked.

"Wait, no, we're going to have to have Gene! Can't you get anyone else?" Punz asked.

"Everyone I've asked has said no!" Quackity groaned. "I'm out of people. Deal with Gene."

Y/n and Karl looked at each other at the same time, thinking the same thing. Naomi had been talking about wanting to play Jackbox sometime but that she never has anyone to play with other than Karl and Y/n. She'd be meeting most of these people on vacation in a couple of weeks anyway, why not see if she wants to play?

"What about my roommate?" Y/n spoke up as Quackity sent the code to the Discord.

"Who?" he asked.

"You literally met her when you visited," Karl laughed. "Naomi."

"Oh, yeah! She's cool."

"Invite her to play," George said, making Dream laugh lightly and Y/n smile because they knew they had been talking a lot.

"Yeah, give me a second, don't start yet," Y/n said before sliding off her headphones and making her way to Naomi's room. Before Y/n could even knock, Naomi swung open her door quickly, phone open to the Twitch app in her hand.

"I heard everything," she rushed out, eyes wide and hopeful. "C-can I play?"

"Yeah, you want to?"

"PLEASE."

"There are currently 130,000 people watching, just so you know."

"That's fine, I'm cool under pressure." That was very true. Y/n wouldn’t have let Naomi join if she thought her friend couldn’t handle the attention. She thrived in it. "Should I come to your room?"

"Yeah, come on." Y/n led the way and pulled up a third chair to her desk. Karl offered to listen to the Discord on his phone so Naomi could use the second pair of headphones to listen to everyone. All three of them still used Y/n's mic, Karl muted on his phone. "Okay, kinda scuffed set up, but we're all here. Everyone, this is Naomi."

"Hello!" Naomi said happily. "Nice to meet you all!"

Everyone greeted her and Y/n noted the redness on Naomi's cheeks as George greeted her with a soft, "Nice to talk to you again, Naomi."

Karl giggled again and slapped his hand over his mouth; Y/n had a feeling he'd have to do that a lot this stream.

"Can we all agree to not pander?" Bad asked, earning a few approvals.

"What if we play one game where we only pander?" Dream asked. "Like pander as much as possible for every answer."

"Wait, yeah, let's do that so everyone can get it out of their system," Wilbur agreed.

"But Naomi doesn't know us well enough to pander yet," Sapnap countered.

"Yes I do," she said with a laugh. "I've watched enough streams and lore videos to know exactly how to get votes."

"Damn, okay then," Sapnap mumbled.

"Yeah, she'll be fine," George promise and Naomi blushed again, making Y/n laugh. Naomi joined the lobby on her phone and the round began.

Pandering being the goal was both annoying and hilarious because people used the same jokes, but it was funny to see how hard people were trying to get the audience votes.

"Something you would take with you on a deserted island," Quackity read out loud as the prompt showed up. "An iPad full of downloaded skephalo fanfiction, HAHAH, or dreamnotfound fanart." Everyone laughed and Y/n could hear George scoff at one answer in particular.

"Aw, I love Skeppy!" Bad said innocently.

"Was that your answer then, Badboyhalo?" Wilbur teased as everyone voted on their favorite. Y/n, of course, cast her vote towards skephalo, but still pretended like the other answer didn't make her jealous. The player votes were split, but the audience made Sapnap's answer win in a landslide.

"Okay, the most disappointing thing to hear from a friend," Wilbur read the next one out loud. "Dreamsy is real, and you don't have a shot with BugsyGames."

"What the hell?" Y/n laughed loudly at the similarity between the two responses. Dream was laughing so hard, wheezing like he would never stop, and the sound brought a large grin to Y/n's face.

Everyone's laughs overlapped and mingled with each other and it was such a happy sound, distracting everyone's attention from Y/n a little.

"That would be the worst thing to hear!" Quackity yelled. "Good thing Bugity is real."

Dream stopped laughing abruptly and instead yelled, "WHAT?" which only made everyone laugh harder.

"Vote!!" Bad reminded.

"Wait, Quackity, what did you just say?" Dream asked.

"Well, I've seen her face, so... I think she loves me more," he said, just trying to get a rise out of the other, which seemed to be working.

Y/n thought again about how close she was to sending a picture of herself to Dream earlier. He probably would have immediately used it against Quackity, but she didn't think she would have minded because it was funny to see Dream jealous, real or not.

"Only because you flew out to hang out with Karl!" Dream yelled. "I'd fly just to see her."

"Then do it," Y/n challenged before she could think and her heart stopped at her own words.

Dream went silent and it was Naomi's turn to cover her laugh with her hand, Karl's eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

"Why are you so defensive, huh, Dream?" Punz asked.

"Uh, you-you have to be when fighting for Bug's love and attention," he joked finally, and Y/n's heart resumed beating, a little fast at the implication of his words. Why did she say that? He probably thought she was so weird. "It's every person for themselves." Then again, so was he.

The votes were pretty split since they said the same thing, but the surprising thing was who said what. She expected one of them to be from Quackity, but she didn't know who wrote the second one about not having a shot. Sapnap maybe? Karl? They all joke around so who put it?

"DREAM?" Sapnap laughed. "You wrote that?"

"Well, yeah, I mean..." he trailed off with a laugh and Y/n's face caught fire. Did he really think he didn't have a shot? Because reality check: he’s the only one with arrows and the target is wide open. Was he joking or stupid or was she just not as obvious as she previously thought?

"Okay, okay, next one," Quackity laughed. "If cats were political leaders, everyone’s favorite president would be: Patches, okay," he paused as Dream cheered loudly, "and Bingus."

"Corpse isn't even here! Wrong audience!" Karl said.

"Bingus is for all audiences," Y/n mumbled, making Naomi laugh.

"Uh-oh, another faceless man stealing Bugsy's heart—?" Sapnap joked, immediately cut off by Dream's stern, "no."

"Naomi, you put Patches?" Wilbur laughed as the votes went towards the girl on Y/n's left. "Okay, she does know more than we thought."

"Oh, I know everything," she said evilly, double-meaning evident in her voice. Y/n gave her a look and Naomi just smiled innocently.

The pandering got so intense that Y/n almost cried tears of joy when the first Quiplash game was over and the no-pandering rule got put back into play.

"What, you don't like your name being every other answer?" Wilbur joked and Y/n shook her head.

"No. But certain ones were okay..."

"Yeah, the Bugity ones," Quackity joked.

Dream hummed out a soft, "Okay, Quackity," and the next game began.

The games went on as usual and Y/n had a blast. It was so fun to see her best friend interact with all her online friends for the first time and it warmed her heart how inclusive they were, making sure Naomi wasn't left out of jokes. It helped that Naomi's sense of humor was similar and that she already knew a lot about the streamers, but Y/n was still grateful for all the efforts put forth by her friends.

It also helped that George and Naomi clearly liked each other.

"Is anyone going to stream?" Quackity asked as he started wrapping up.

"I will if no one else is," Punz said. "I'm going to play Valorant."

"Oh, can I play?" Sapnap asked.

"Yeah, definitely, dude."

"Okay, I'll raid you." Quackity muted after thanking everyone for playing and Y/n left the call.

"Dude, that was SO FUN!" Naomi stood up and yelled. She sat down on the end of Y/n's bed, hands balled up in excitement.

Karl laughed as he fell on top of the bed next to where Naomi sat. "I'm so glad you guys all got along!"

"Yeah, I almost started crying when everyone was laughing at your jokes," Y/n laughed, swiveling in her chair to look at them. "That made me so happy."

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much for letting me play. I had so much fun. And they're all so nice and funny and I was worried they'd make me feel left out but they didn't at all."

"I'm so glad you had fun," Y/n said. "We'll invite you again if you want."

"Please do. Only if everyone's okay with it though!"

"I'm sure they would be."

“The lake is going to be so fun,” she sighed whimsically. 

“Because George?” Karl teased, causing Naomi to punch his arm. 

A Discord notification sounded on Y/n's computer and she turned to look at the screen, smiling when she saw Dream's name.

Dream: You left the vc so quick :( Bugsy: I have two goons to hang out with :( Dream: :(((( Dream: I wanna be the only goon you hang out with Dream: I was right, I don't have a chance with you Dream: Karl is the only focus of Bugs attention Bugsy: ?? Bugsy: lies detected Dream: wait really Bugsy: ... Bugsy: do I need to remind you of the tweet I posted earlier Dream: bug don't say things like that to me Bugsy: why not Dream: can you kick Karl back to his house so we can ft or call :( Bugsy: no <3 Bugsy: we can tomorrow after Karl leaves Dream: promise? Dream: don't get my hopes up bug Bugsy: yeah I promise :) Dream: :D

"Pay attention to me!" Karl whined. Y/n turned back around and saw that Naomi had left the room and Karl was laying upside down, close to falling off the bed with his head dangling dangerously close to the ground.

She laughed and typed one last message to Dream.

Bugsy: bye bye dream :) Dream: goodnight bug :] sleep well

"Okay," she huffed jokingly, turning back to Karl. "You have my full, undivided attention."

_____

PREVIOUS | NEXT

_____

taglist: CLOSED

@hydrate-tion​ @loraleiix​ @tinaswagbd @charsdummb @jeyyes @1ghoste1 @cerberus-hellhound @gaysludge @queestionmark @carnations-red​ @letsloveimagines​ @the-fictionwriters-hairdo​ @boiled-onionrings @a-cryptic @fee-btheweeb​ @erwinss​ @just-a-stan​ @axths​ @kayleigh2703 @furiouspockettoad @sometimeseverythingsucks @powerpuffyn @tinyegg​ @millavalntyne @automaticcomputerpaper @nikkineeky @fivedicksinatrenchcoat @sprucekot @bellomi-clarke @possiblyanxioushuman @crybabyjabby @mae-musicbitch @hungoverhellhound @dreamyteam @kuroo-icedtea @stuffforreferences @menacingaesthetic @sapphic-soot @fangeekkk @haseulreturns @queenwastaken @peteysgf @losingvienna @bi-narystars @zero-nightshade @erinitoburrito @sparklykeylime @youhyakuya @danny-devitowo @clubfairy @loser-keiji @oi-itsemily @alm334 @the-katastrophe @wreny24 @applecakeradio @unicornblood4ever @aha-red @brendalopez99 @spacecluster @justonemoreepisode @strawbrinkofdeath​ @aikochan4859​ @chaotic-tieflings​ @dreamsofficialwife​ @where-thesundoesntshine​ @jamiealenaa​ @unstableye​ @kageyamama-hinatatata​ @officiallyunofficialperson​ @secretly-a-weeb​ @localsimp​ @loxbbg​ @rhymeorreason1​ @flubblubbb​ @kiritokunuwu​ @sylum​ @raining13lemonade​ @aiyncel @ghostfacefricker6969​ @avengemepercy​ @modyoonie​ @sapnapsupremaci​ @donttellaweirdweakling​ @dreamiewrites​ @misfortunatem00n​ @mayempress @strang-ersclub​ @panic-at-space-camp​ @netheriteaxes​ @kaqinq​ @momo-has-a-gun​ @lunelicmoone​ @beller-18 @bluechocolatemint​ @mythicalamphitrite​ @crypticcandi​ @80sfeel​ @asianfrustration13​ @justanunknown​ @libbynotfound​ @osculatcr​ @bindythedemon​ @haikyall​ @hyuckslytherin​ @thatonearieschild​ @the-perfect-gemini​ @ialexabsuniverse​ @sleepingalaska​ @renjunniex​ @misfortunatem00n​ @rebellionburnsthemup​ @moonchildwildx​ @sarcasticmichelle​ @carat-eri​ @ravennightingaleandavatempus​ @isthatyouritalian​ @sunf10w3r-f31ld​ @suwunarin​ @bxsmentchildxx​  @sunbunniie​ @mintchip17 @vincent-stargogh​ @jules-skye​ @askgeoff​ @d-fendyr​ @diedestress​ @idiotinnit​ @gabbysblogthingy​ @call-me-soap​ @fujiapfel @stxrryb1tch​ @onlynarry​ @squarky-sheep​ @ecaos​ @ok-honey​ @saltishima-rex​ @kodzukatcore​ @gwendolyn02 @kiwismoothies​ @flippyninja​ @xfihvru @anqelanqel @letkeefeswear​ @cantaloupe-draws​ @what-is-the-creature-oh-glob @theboywhocriedlupin​

[missnight0wl]

Everything wrong with Y7Ch39 AKA “Meet Peregrine”

So, do we have a new worst chapter? I’m not sure about it, to be honest – but it’s easily in the top five worst chapters. That being said, let’s move on to more elaborated commentary, shall we?

Part 1

NOOO... YOU DON’T SAY?! WHO WOULD’VE THOUGHT! 😲

You don’t understand how much it annoys me that after seven years, MC is still surprised that Dumbledore simply knows things.

Well, that’s not really true. Merula got obsessed about it only in Y7Ch38, so I can’t say that she “was always telling” that. 

By the way, now that I think about it, the fact that Merula got fixated on it so suddenly might be another proof that we were supposed to learn the name: “Verucca Buckthorn” before Corey’s kidnapping. Perhaps Rakepick would tell us that in Azkaban, in Y7Ch37? And that’s what made Merula so nervous that we might find out Verucca’s connection to the Snyde family?

To be completely honest, I think that Merula should be not only expelled but also put in Azkaban. Not for a lifetime, of course, but a couple of months wouldn’t hurt her. I mean, I’m sorry, but it was proven that she’s involved with a criminal organisation AND she kidnapped a student. Hagrid was arrested because of a suspicion that he freed Slytherin’s monster. Besides, Merula seemed to be very upset when she couldn’t join us in Azkaban. She should be happy about another chance to visit :)

Part 2

So, like... it’s basically the same as the previous part? Cool.

Alright, but do you realise it means that Shiratori would know about Corey’s kidnapping, like... three chapters before it happened? Maybe even earlier than that, if we assume that he wasn’t getting instructions from R while already in Azkaban.

I’ll come back to this particular point a bit later.

When Shiratori said his line about sleepwalking, I was like: “Hey, look! Jam City remembered that there was something about sleepwalking in Y4 and decided to use the same word!”. And look at that! They actually did it intentionally. And they probably think they’re so clever!

Yeah...

Part 3

I’m not gonna lie, it’s rather sad that there are multiple Aurors searching for Corey, but we didn’t even mention any investigation after Rowan’s death.

How the hell MC became so fucking dumb? When they were younger, any Black Quill was a clear sign to be highly alarmed. MC knew what it means: bad news. But now?

Can MC just die already? Please? Pretty please?

Oh my fucking god... Of course MC fell for it...

Can MC just die already, please??

Part 4

First things first: why the hell the Portkey took us to the Whomping Willow instead of directly to the Shrieking Shack? I doubt it’s magically protected from that. Sure, it’s protected in general, but we’re talking about a Portkey - it shouldn’t have any limitations. 

I mean, we wouldn’t be wasting time if you’re stupid Portkey took me directly to the Shrieking Shack...

I’m sorry, but that whole part with Merula was totally pointless, so I’m just confused. And even if JC really wanted us to have a little chat, it still could’ve happened at the Shrieking Shack. Just put us in a different room than where Verucca was. We could join her later.

Here’s a crazy idea, though. Did you consider putting the Black Quill somewhere with no Aurors, to begin with? Hm? *sigh*

And... that’s why Shiratori gave me that clue about sleepwalking before Corey started investigating the Director?

HMMMMM...

You literally told me nothing, but okay.

Part 5

Alright, so I was right about it: Verucca was suspicious on purpose. However, here’s the difference. In the Rogues theory, Verucca doesn’t work for R, and she exposed Merula as “a punishment” for exposing Rakepick - who’s basically a double agent. You can read the whole theory HERE. But anyway, it does make sense to me. 

If Verucca works for R though, what was the point of exposing Merula? Like, let’s move on a little bit...

First of all, how the hell could MC come to them willingly? R knows that MC doesn’t think of them too kindly, and they did absolutely nothing to change it.

And back to Merula... Does... does Verucca simply hate her niece so much that she exposed her only to make her life harder? Because look. Merula’s job was to bring MC, right? But by showing MC that Merula joined R (so The Bad Guys™), they only made MC more distrustful towards her. I mean, that’s what would happen if MC wasn’t an idiot...

Were they testing Merula? Did they want to see if she’d be able to complete her mission when they made it harder for her? But they want MC to be a leader - shouldn’t bringing them be more important than testing Merula?

Or did they simply want to confirm that MC is an idiot who would fall for Merula’s lies anyway? I mean, MC being an idiot is good for R: they’ll be easier to manipulate. Ergo, we can assume that R wants a puppet, not a leader. It does make some sense, but in general, it’s still stupid.

*heavy sigh*

“... and I had to remove my hat to prove my words because otherwise, it wouldn’t be dramatic enough!”

Seriously, when you think about it, Verucca’s orange streak is pretty pointless and stupid.

Yeah... Go fuck yourself.

So... what was R’s plan, exactly?

Alright, let’s try to summarise all of that. And just to make it simpler, I’ll focus on a part of the plan which led to the situation in Y7Ch39. Starting with...

1. Get Shiratori sentenced to Azkaban.

2. Arrange a robbery at Gringotts, so MC could investigate it and decide on a private meeting with Shiratori.

3. Have Shiratori pull MC into his mind (or whatever he did) and tell MC about sleepwalking.

4. Have Merula do something which would make MC want to find her. I’m not sure if she was always supposed to kidnap Corey, but she had to use some bait anyway.

5. Have Merula reference Shiratori’s words before her disappearance.

6. Make the Portkey. Turn it into the Black Quill. Place it near the Forest Vault where MC would be led thanks to Shiratori’s clue.

7. Take care of the Aurors who witnessed MC’s disappearance.

8. Have Merula take MC from the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack.

Am I missing something? I think I got the most crucial elements of their plan... And now that I look at it, I have to say...

Let’s try to fix it!

As usual, I don’t want to only criticise, so I tried to come up with some alternatives. Now, I admit it’s a little convoluted, and perhaps an average player would have a little hard time following it, but... I think it really does make sense in the end. Just bear with me, please!

Alright, so Shiratori could still be sentenced to Azkaban. I mean, this whole trial was a hot mess, so I’d love to remove it from existence, but it’s not really relevant here, to be honest. Either way, there is no robbery at Gringotts, so MC doesn’t have to go to Azkaban to meet Shiratori again.

One day, Merula tells MC that she wants to meet to talk in some private place. It could even be the Whomping Willow, or the Artefact Room or whatever. She talks about literally anything. For example, she talks about how her relationship with MC gets tense, and that’s probably because they’re all stressed out by the whole situation with R, yada yada yada. Eventually, she gives us something. It could be a book that inspired her or something, and now she wants to share it with MC as a peace offering. Maybe she doesn’t want to let it go right away, MC gets confused, but Merula tries to distract them with more talking, and then... BOOM! It turns out that the book was a Portkey that takes them straight to the Shrieking Shack where they meet Verucca!

I know, pretty crazy! But apparently, I like crazy ideas!

[lavishedinjimin]

all the good girls go to hell

— synopsis: The Angels made a deal with Jeon Jungkook, the son of Lucifer, to help them bring Y/n back to her good, prim and proper self. Even though Jungkook grants the atrocious plan, he leaves a lesson that no one should give their trust to a wicked devil like him.

↳ pairing: jungkook x f. reader

↳ genre: smut, very slight angst if you squint hard enough

↳ rating: m/18+

↳ word count: 10k

↳ warnings: religious themes, heaven and hell, angels, devils (this fic is not a correct representation of these figures and is purely fictional), alcohol intake, cursing, hard dom jk, daddy! jk, fingering, multiple orgasms, orgasm denial, squirting, unprotected sex, breathplay, spanking, face fucking, filthy dirty talk, rough sex, jungkook and his demon cock ehe

a/n: title is inspired by billie eilish’s song all the good girls go to hell. her title inspired me to write this fic! please ignore if you find any errors <3

“You’re not good enough.” 

“You look so pathetic, really.”

“Can you at least try to look hot?” 

“This is why no one likes you.” 

These words will forever haunt you until the day you die. 

It wasn’t your fault that you were raised very strictly, your overly-protective parents treating you like some kind of rare treasure that no one, no man, can touch. The fact that your parents still had to drive you home from school even at an age like this always irritated you to the brim of your existence. So now you can’t even have the freedom, the life of a normal young girl can have. 

Being raised strictly with a heavy-handed family – not to mention religious, too – has taken a toll on your mental health. There’s always the feeling of pressure wherever you go and whatever you do. The fear of not succeeding and disappointing your mom and dad is the worst feeling, like the Devil punching your gut repeatedly, as many times as he likes. 

Plus, some students at your school know you for your lack of “personality”, the boring one, the killjoy. You can’t even refute because it was all true. You never experienced fun, parties, how to have interesting conversations, how to interact with a large crowd, all because of your parents being so uptight in you. 

“Y/n!” The high-pitched voice of your mother calls from downstairs, and you were quick to scurry outside your room and find where she was sitting on the couch. “Yes, mom?” You say. 

She was dressed in a royal-blue dress that goes up to her knees, her hair fixed perfectly and the hairspray is clearly doing a great job of keeping her updo in place. She grabs her purse while your dad walks into view, dressed up in a neat suit. “We’re leaving for our business trip, Y/n. Didn’t I tell you that?” 

“Ah.” You sort of forgot about that. 

Quickly nodding your head, you force a fake smile that you know all too well, “Yes.” 

She gives you a weird glance before she fixes her makeup in a mirror, and your dad decides to continue for her. “We’ve hired a nanny to look after you, so that you won’t go out and about going behind our backs—”

“But dad! I really don’t need someone to babysit me,” You scoff. You weren’t a child anymore, what are they thinking! “I’m an adult. I can handle myself. Don’t you trust me?” 

Trust. Something they don’t have with you, whether they admit it or not. 

Your dad just sighs deeply and starts to walk closer to you. He places a hand on your shoulder as he looks straight into your eyes, giving you an authoritarian look. “Y/n, just do as you’re told and be a good daughter.” 

“I’ve always been one,” you scorn. 

“A good daughter doesn’t talk back.” Your mother retorts. 

This is why you can never argue with them. They never let you speak your own opinion or have your own voice. 

Your parents left exactly at 5 PM as they went on their flight to Madrid, leaving the house all to yourself only for tonight.

It was the next day, and you were sitting on the dining table, eating your cereal peacefully as you watched Netflix on your phone – until the doorbell rings. 

You stand up and quickly make your way to the front door, pouting when you already know that it is the person that was supposed to look after you. 

This is ridiculous. 

“Hello!” A bright, short middle aged woman appears standing on the doorway, her bright energy startling you. “Y/n! I’m May, nice to meet you!” She lifts her hand in front for a handshake, and you chuckle nervously, accepting it. “I’m here to look after you for ten days, hm?” 

“Uh, ah, yeah. C-Come in!” You tried to sound as positive and energized as you could to match her own energy, but you couldn’t. You step aside to let her in, pulling her luggage with her and she immediately takes up the design of the house. She was nodding her head, her arms crossed together while you accompanied her little journeys throughout the whole ground floor. You found her weird. 

“Uh, come follow me, my dad says you’ll be staying here at the guest room —” 

“Wonderful! I thought I was sleeping on the couch!” She claps her hands, excited that she has her own room. 

You look at her with big, shocked eyes, yet you can’t say anything. 

“O-Okay…” you mumbled, “Here,” you helped her open the door and she immediately set her things up. “May?” 

“Yes, my dear?” She stops unpacking her bags to look up at you. “I’ll be at the kitchen, okay? If y-you wanna ask anything, I’m right over there.” 

“Ah, that’s okay, Y/n. Your mother told me everything I need to know. Your bedtime is at eight and no midnight snacks!” 

Your heart drops down to the floor as you immediately encountered a wave of emotions. Why did it matter?! Why did your mom had to apply all these stupid rules when she’s not even around? You thought at the start that you’ll have some kind of freedom when your parents aren’t here, thinking that your nanny might be easier, but perhaps not. 

“Okay.” You say simply. 

How else can you prove to people that you can be better? You're sick of everyone seeing you as the boring one, but your parents were the only thing that was keeping you from having fun. So you decide to be a little risky. 

Step one: Sneak out the house. 

Isn't that what people your age do? Usually they sneak out to party, to go hang out with their friends and have the time of their life. But you had none, no ‘best friend’, but a couple of lunch friends here and there. 

“I should try clubbing.” You mumble to yourself as you sit down on the plush comfort of your mattress. Until you hear your phone chimes, signalling a text. You grab your phone from the bedside table and frown when you see who the text was from. 

Mom: Remember to go to church later, Y/n. 

You didn't reply, instead, it got you thinking. 

Nothing will happen if you skip church, right? You've always attended Mass every Sunday with your parents, so there's absolutely nothing wrong with skipping at least once.

Besides, you need to plot your plans for tonight!

~

“What is this girl doing?” Armaros says in a deep whisper, his well-shaped eyebrows furrowing deeply while he watches Y/n on her phone, laying down on her bed as if church isn't just five minutes away from starting. 

Armaros rushes to the other side of the room to get a better view of her human who lays on her stomach, a white wisp of smoke trailing behind him. He shakes his head, crossing his arms together in front of his chest. “Y/n, Y/n,” he tuts, “What are you doing?!” 

He decides to step forward and reaches forward for his hand to caress the crown of your head. He chuckles when he sees your eyes expand in a quick second, your body abruptly sitting up straight from the tingling feeling in your neck. Your hairs stand up, a chill running down your spine. 

This was Armaros’ way of mustering his presence onto you. Your dad always taught that whenever you suddenly feel a chilling sensation out of nowhere, it means that your guardian angel is there with you and trying to send you a message. 

And you clearly know what he's trying to say. 

There was a slight feeling of guilt – uneasiness, even. But no. You've already decided that you weren't going to follow your old routine. 

Armaros’ jaw drops when you don't move from your position on the bed, only making yourself comfortable even further. ”Don’t you dare skip church...” he slowly whispers to himself. But he quickly shakes his head side to side, trying to be optimistic, “It's just one time. Just one time.” 

Time passes by faster than you think, you sink your teeth down on your bottom lip, chewing on it as you try to Google clubs near you. It was ridiculous, feeling so overwhelmed from all of the options the Internet is showing you. 

There was a generous list of bars and clubs with different ratings. It was a humane decision to choose the best one, right? So you went for a nightclub called ‘Soap Seoul’. Although, you feel your stomach churn when you scroll through the images attached to it; seeing all of the strange blue and red LED lights, big and tight crowds, and an HD picture of their bar. The bar was long and almost occupied the width of the whole club. You don't even know if you can stand such a place like that. 

But no. You can't back out now! You had to show yourself and to others that you can have some fun too. 

~ 

The club opens tonight at 8 pm, letting yourself have two hours to prepare. Rummaging through your garments of clothing, you try to find an appropriate outfit.

“I have nothing!” you whined, eyebrows furrowing in dismay. All you had were simple t-shirts and countless skinny jeans and leggings. Your dresses were almost knee-length and suitable for church – not for a nightclub! 

Armaros stands at a distance, shaking his head at you. 

Until, you heard a loud knock on the door, “Y/n!” May's voice shouts from the other side of the room, “Dinner's ready!” 

Oh no. 

Quickly opening the door, you stared at her with big, worried eyes. “May! I-uhh, I-I’m not gonna stay for dinner…” you mumbled, looking at the ground. 

“Oh, why is that?” she asks, a faint sad tone in her voice. You felt so sad and regretful that you didn't say anything to her because she already cooked your dinner. 

“I-I have plans for tonight,” you hold your hands behind your back, slightly getting embarrassed. 

“Are you going out with your friends?”

“Y-Yeah!” You lie. You've never lied before. 

“Ah, I understand. Have you told your mom?” 

She doesn't have to know. 

“Yup.” 

And there it was again, the chills in your neck appeared while your arm and leg hairs stood up. Armaros touches your scalp, desperate to seek your attention and bring you back to your old, good self. The angel didn't like that you were lying, for he was perpetually accustomed to your good deeds. It was making him anxious for what's about to come. 

But you ignored his message. May nods when you told her that she can have the food to herself. 

You feel a pang of guilt rush through your body when you shut the door behind you, your heartbeat suddenly racing faster. The nervousness in you made your head hurt. Is this the right thing to do? No. It wasn't. But you had to show people that you can be different. Will it be worth it? Of course. 

Thankfully, you spot a white dress that you've never worn before. It was a gift from your cousins that was supposed to be another addition to your collection of church dresses but it was too short for your liking. 

“Hm, maybe this will work…” you quietly mumble to yourself.

You tried the piece of clothing on, carefully examining your reflection in the full-length mirror. The hem of the skirt falls right above your mid-thigh, too high for your usual comfort but for the sake of dressing up for a nightclub — there was no problem. The dress was snug, hugging your body so that it accentuates your curves.

The dress was plain white and was relatively simple. You don't really know what people usually wear for nightclubs but you were certain that dresses were a part of the code. 

You looked for your black three-inch heel that you last wore during your highschool graduation, slipping it in carefully. Doing a little bit of makeup and applying a thin layer of lip gloss, you grabbed a purse and walked out of your room. 

“May, please don't wait for me, okay?” you say after walking past her. 

“W-Wait, I'm supposed to–”

“It's okay. I'll be okay.”

“She's not gonna be okay!” Armaros declares, kneeling on one knee before Archangel Michael – the protector and the spiritual warrior, as he mentions Y/n's recent mischiefs.

After you've been to the nightclub the first day, you've never stopped. You became addicted. 

Sometimes you don't even tell May that you're going out, you just sneak out of the window and let May worry about you. You've happened to know how to drink as you get wasted every single night, hanging around with people that you don't know, people that are a bad influence on your good side. These past few days had you acting up like you’ve never before. You longed for alcohol and the feeling of it numbing your nerves, and there’s not a day where you didn’t get drunk.

Armaros’ power wasn't enough to stop you. Every single day he's been drying his best to send signals, to make you feel certain ways and speak to your consciousness that what you are doing is by far dangerous and wrong. But you never listened. 

You've skipped church, stopped talking to God, ignoring your parents’ phone calls, not doing your homework just because you're busy either getting drunk or making out with someone at the club. It's like you have been addicted to misbehaving. 

But for you, you thought you’re doing the right thing. 

“Armaros, are you doubting your powers?” Archangel Michael replies, running his fingertips along the sharp blade of his sword. 

“N-No, but, nothing seems to work. She's been ignoring my calls for almost two weeks. I just want the best for her.” Armaros’ voice fades at the end of his sentence. He was speaking with such sincerity because he really cares for Y/n. He truly loves her. “Why is she doing this?” He asks for help.

“Because, my dear, she's trying to prove something she's not for other people.”

“What?” 

Archangel Michael laughs quietly, staring at him endearingly. He points his sword at him, “She obviously tries to be immoral to fit in. She's rarely praying to God like she used to, rarely respecting the people around her. Ever since humans bullied Y/n for being herself – she starts to change. But the question is…”

He walks around Armaros, his eyes never leaving his. “Is this making her happy?” 

Armaros lowers his head and shakes his head. “I don’t know.” 

The Archangel grins and returns his sword back on the scabbard attached to his belt. 

“If I can't warn her to stop, then who else can?” The angel asks. 

Michael lifts an eyebrow up, crossing his arms together as he stands right in front of him. His mouth draws into a slow smirk, a hint of playfulness in his eyes as if a lightbulb appeared on top of his head. 

“You wanna have some fun, Armaros?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Stand up, stand up.” Armaros quickly obeys his superior’s command. The Archangel places a hand on his right shoulder, preparing to speak. 

“I have an idea. We call Jeon Jungkook up and–” 

“No! Absolutely not! I will not allow Y/n to come face to face with the son of Lucifer!” Armaros bellows, instinctively pushes Michael's hand away from him. 

“Armaros! It's just an idea!” Michael chuckles, spreading his arms to the side as he shakes his head. “And besides, I have to ask permission from our Highness anyway.” 

“And what will he do? Taunt her? Provoke Y/n to be more sinful?” Y/n's guardian angel asks, referring to Jungkook. “We both know how manipulative and cunning he can be!”

“No, no. We'll make a deal with him, of course! No devil will do anything without receiving something in return.” 

“This idea of yours, not to be rude, but is really out of this world.”

Archangel Michael snorts from the out of the blue pun. 

“Do not be afraid. If our Lord agrees to our plan, I'll be watching. I always will. Give me your trust, Armaros.”

Armaros sighs deeply, yet smiles up at him right after. “Okay, I trust you.” 

“May, stop it,” you mutter angrily, pulling your arm away from her hold. May tries to block your way from going outside the house but you abruptly push her to the side. 

“Y/n! Your mom told you that–” 

“Told me what?! That I’m being independent? Unruly? That I should just stay home? I don’t give a fuck anymore, May. I’d rather hang out with friends than stay here and do nothing!” You bark at her. She was smaller than you and you were definitely giving off that intimidating vibes that you wanted to show. She isn’t the one wearing the pants in this house. You are. 

“Y/n, I will not tolerate this behavior!” May snaps, eyes glaring at you with her hands balled up into fists on her sides. 

Rolling your eyes, you let out a sour chuckle, “You sound like my mom.” 

May sighs deeply, the tiredness in her voice evident, “I’m just trying to keep you safe, Y/n. Just listen to me.” 

“I’m an adult. I can keep myself safe. Now, let me go and don’t wait for me.” 

“Y/n!” 

“Bye May! Have a nice sleep!” 

“Y/n! Where the fuck are you?!” Emilia, one of the new friends you've met no longer than three days ago shouts through the phone as loud, blazing music muffled her voice. “Sophia and I are waiting for you! Get your ass over here!”

“I'm almost there, save me a drink already!” you giggle, looking out from the taxi’s window. 

Sophia snatches the phone out of Emilia’s hand to speak to you, “Y/n, you still remember the bet we made, right?” 

“Of course! It's not a huge deal, c'mon now.” You roll your eyes, faking a laugh. 

“We'll see!” Emilia giggles. 

The driver drops you in front of the nightclub and you throw him a couple of dollars. Stepping out of the car, your high heels clicking on the cement. Upon entering the place, you were immediately greeted with your friends. They were both wearing a tight dress – glittery red and silver – whilst you wore a black one that reached down to your middle thigh. You bought the dress only a day ago, special thanks to your Amazon Prime account . 

“Hey! Here, drink this,” Sophia hands you a single malt whiskey and you swiftly drown it down your throat without any problem. You reminisce back to your first day where you can’t even take a sip of beer without gagging. Now look where you are. 

“Ahh fuck, that tastes good,” you mumble through gritted teeth. 

“Why are you late tonight, Y/n?” Emilia asks as she leads you to the bar to order more alcohol. Her high pitched voice mixing with the loud music,”You know it's always 9 PM. Sharp.” 

You breathe out heavily as you watch Sophia pour three shots of straight vodka into a shot glass. She distributes the beverage to the two of you. 

“Well, uh–” 

“What?” Emilia snaps.

“I couldn't find a goddamn cab, that's why!” you hide your falseness with laughter, hoping they won't sense your lie. 

“Alright anyway, let’s go get wasted and you, Y/n – will be our first player.” Emilia smirks as she crosses her arms together. She analyzes your body, eyeing you up and down. You didn’t like it, and you felt worried. 

Your eyebrows furrow, confused and slightly offended, “What, why me?” You take a sip of your newly-ordered beer, trying to get comfortable on the plush-covered stool. 

“Because,” Sophia answers for her, “we need to know your… capacities.” 

You snort, “Capacities of what? My capacity of having to get into a m-man’s bed? Pffft… easy!” 

Sophia’s forehead furrows, glancing at Emilia with a knowing look before focusing her attention back to you. “Sure. Anyway, let’s have fun first and then…” she leans closer to you, her face inches away from yours. You feel your face redden in embarrassment, “And then you can choose your man.” 

It wasn’t that bad. It isn’t bad dancing around the dance floor, beer in hand, as you danced all your worries away. Emilia and Sophia were out there – somewhere, but you didn’t care about them at this moment. You let your body go with the beat of the loud EDM music, holding your hands up in the air as you whipped your head left to right. You had a huge smile on your face, the alcohol kicking in like it was meant for your body to consume. 

Sweaty bodies were bumping each other from left and right, and you for sure stepped on someone’s toe with your pumps. Nevertheless, you didn’t care. You were having your fun. 

It was until the song changed from upbeat to a more sensual, heart-pumping song from the loud bass. As if there was a switch inside you, you turned into a sultry mess. 

Wasted. You were wasted like hell. 

Your eyes turn into little slits as you look around the dance floor to try and find someone to play with. Taking a huge sip of your drink, your throat burns yet you tried to ignore it. 

“Ah-hah!” you giggle, walking – or should we say, stumbling – towards a guy with black hair parted in the middle, nicely dressed in a black button up tucked in some skinny jeans. The man locks eyes with you, licking his plump lips as his eyes rake your body. 

“Hey there, gorgeous,” he smirks, making you blush in red as he holds your waist and tugs you closer to him. The song in the background was helping you a lot to get into that seductive, sexy mood that you planned to have. 

“Hey,” you smile up at him, “I’m Y/n.” 

“What a pretty name for a pretty lady.” He starts swaying your body to the beat, going along with you. “I’m Seokjin. Nice to meet you.” 

Seokjin tugs your body closer until he holds the back of your head with one hand, making you look deep into his dark eyes. “Y-You’re a new face,” you slur, “You don’t belong here.” 

Unexpectedly, your eyes grow big when Seokjin throws his head back as he laughs almost hysterically. “What?” you question. 

The man slightly leans down until his face draws near to yours, and you can immediately smell the alcohol in his breath. You didn’t judge though, you probably had beer-breath too. 

“Baby girl…” Seokjin suddenly speaks deeply, making your heart jump from the sudden change in his voice. There was a sultry look in his eyes that made it hard for you to keep eye contact. “Baby it’s you who doesn’t seem to belong. You don’t know who I am.” 

“Well y-you don’t know me e-either!” You try to retaliate, although it was messed up with your embarrassing stuttering.  

“You really wanna know?” he whispers, his lips right against your lips, almost touching yours. You couldn’t breathe properly, wanting to pull away but his intoxicating scent was forcing you to him. 

You nod your head, not trusting your voice. 

“I own this place, baby.” 

You almost tossed your cup right across the room from his sudden confession, totally not expecting such a young-looking man to own such a place like this. Your eyes expand, body staying still. 

’Wait! Be sexy… be sexy…’ you thought to yourself after an awkward five seconds of silence. 

You decide to chuckle, biting your bottom lip slowly as you draw yourself nearer to him. He lifts a brow up in surprise, wrapping his arms around your hips and he closes the distance between the two of you. 

“Really? Well then,” you mutter, “I want you to own me too.” 

“Oh, finally. Someone straightforward.” 

“Well I – oh!” Seokjin takes you by surprise when he quickly tugs your arm and leads you to the second floor of the club. You haven’t been in this area before, looking so luxurious and well decorated. Although what shocks you is the series of doors that passes through a long, wide hallway. 

“Seok...Seokjin,” you whisper, but he looks at you with a smirk, a playful glint in his eyes. 

“C’mon baby,” he opens a door and walks you inside, locking it behind him. “Let’s have a little fun.” 

Let’s have a little fun. 

Yeah. I should. 

This is fun, right? 

Before you can even process things, Seokjin shoves your body to a wall as his hands start to wander down your sides. With flushed cheeks, you look at him like you’ve just seen a ghost but he clearly doesn’t mind, grinding his hips into yours. 

“Mmm, what a cute babe I have in front of me,” he groans, leaning forward to pepper wet, gentle kisses all over your neck and down to your shoulders. 

Something feels off. 

“Y/n, right?” he asks, his forehead furrows and you nod. “Can I kiss you?”

Your heart starts to rapidly pump inside your chest, feeling as if it’ll burst at any minute. An uncomfortable feeling starts to overwhelm your system, sensing your palms getting sweaty. You can’t look at his eyes, looking anywhere but him. 

“Uh, o-okay,” you straighten your back as you try your best to look confident. 

This is the perfect opportunity to tell your friends. Having sex with someone like him will absolutely impress Emilia and Sophia. 

Seokjin chuckles, shrugging, “Alright then.” And without any warning, he throws you on the bed and he quickly hovers above your body. 

“Mmph–!” he immediately presses his lips into yours before you can even react to everything that had just happened. He caresses your cheeks with both hands, his lips moving softly with yours. You try your best to keep up with him and his pace, but you can’t. There was something stopping you from giving him your all. Seokjin grunts nevertheless, humping you. 

Seokjin’s right hand snakes down to grab the hem of your dress as he teasingly pulls the fabric up, then lets it snap back down. There was a weird feeling inside your stomach, and it did not feel good at all. 

His hand slowly starts creeping up your leg, and that’s where you couldn’t hold it back. 

“Mmm, n-no,” you mewl, pushing him away from you. Seokjin stares down at you with a frown, head tilted to the side. 

“Y/n?” 

Rapid heart rate, the back of your neck sweating, and chills all over your body occur all at the same time. You were panicking. 

“I-I…” immediately you stand up from the bed, hiking your stupid short dress down as much as you can. “S-Sorry,” furiously shaking your head from side to side, you stumble your way to the door. 

“Y/n, wait!” Seokjin yells, confused yet he felt sorry at the same time. “Let’s talk about it!” 

“No,” you whisper. You can’t do this anymore. There was no energy left in your body to talk, to process what just happened, to stand in this fucking club. Home. All you were thinking about was going home. 

You twist the doorknob open, trying to catch your breath as much as you can but you feel like you were going to pass out any minute. Making your way down the stairs, you run as fast as you can towards the exit of the nightclub yet a person catches your arm. 

“Y/n!” Your eyes widen when Emilia and Sophia stop you, observing your state. “What’s wrong with you?” 

“No…” you breathe tirelessly, “c-can’t do it…” 

“You failed?” Emilia snaps as she leans her body on one hip, resting her hands there. She looks at you with disgust, “But we saw the guy that you’re with! He was hot!” 

Sophia snorts, smirking as she stares at you sourly, “Proves our point. You’re nothing, Y/n. You had such an easy job, the guy’s already all over you and you just had to throw him? Where is he, let me get with him myself.” Sophia struts away, heels clicking as she flips her long hair over her shoulder, leaving you with Emilia. 

“What can I say, Y/n,” she smiles menacingly, the corners of her eyes crinkling, “You can never be like us.” 

Your whole body felt heavy, heavy like you were carrying a boulder behind your back. This isn’t what you had planned at all, everything was going so well until this! Your eyes started welling up with tears, blurring your sight. You had to go. 

Without saying a word, you quickly run away to the exit, ignoring Emilia’s insensitive laugh. 

What went wrong? Why did you feel that way? Negative thoughts were clouding your mind as you cried and cried to your poor, soaked pillow. 

Maybe you are just not enough. Perhaps you’re not meant to be like this. 

It was fun the first time around, and you were actually enjoying yourself. But the days passed and you sadly weren't doing this for your own pleasure anymore, but for the validation of other people. 

You should’ve stopped Seokjin from touching you when it clearly made you uncomfortable. There was a line and he crossed it, but you erased that line so you can finally say that you’ve slept with someone. But you guessed it wasn’t that easy. 

Grabbing your phone, you ignored all of the rude messages Emilia has sent you, blocking her and Sophia’s number. You turned off your phone, throwing it somewhere on the ground without care before you switched off your lamp. There was never a time that you’ve cried yourself to sleep, but tonight was your first. 

“And what do I get in return for this deal?” Jeon Jungkook purrs with a low, dark tone, crossing his legs together as he sits on his father’s fire-blazing throne. Even though he has his own throne for himself, thrones on fire were way cooler. He scans the frightened angel from head to toe through the strands that fell in front of his eyes. 

“The A-Archangel says you will obtain a soul. A soul that is longing for hell.” Armaros stutters as he tries to keep eye contact with the devil’s hard glare. 

Jungkook chuckles, hanging his head low. “You mean to tell me…” he starts to stand up and walks towards the angel. Armaros tries his best to keep his guard up and stand as tall as possible. 

Jungkook circles around him, arms crossed while his right hand plays with his bottom lip, “That I should convince this little girl to prevent doing bad, bad things to stop her from going to hell?” He laughs hysterically. “That’s quite… an unnatural job for a devil, isn’t it? It’s completely the opposite of what i’m supposed to do. Tell Michael that his plan is utter bullshit.”

Armaros takes a deep sigh, closing his eyes for a brief second before replying. “Firstly, Y/n is not a little girl. And second, this job is easy. You have the skill to persuade humans to sin – what’s hard with doing the opposite? Besides, you’ll obtain a soul either way.” 

His words made Jungkook ponder and deliberate with himself. He stops in front of Armaros and shows him his signature imposing smile. “I can have my way with the girl, right?” He bites his lip, “Anyway I want?” 

This made Armaros’ eyes go wide, mouth opening but no words seem to come out properly, “I-I… w-well, um… yes? Yes? P-Perhaps? Just don’t do anything bad to her.” 

Jungkook scoffs, running his long tongue over his teeth as he smirks, “Define bad, Mr. Angel.” 

“You know… hurt her.” He gulps.

The devil squints his eyes, absolutely loving Armaros’ reactions. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not gonna kill her, if that’s what you mean.” 

“I’m done with this conversation.” Armaros quickly chirps as he unfolds his large, white wings. “Remember what your main goal is, Jungkook. I’m counting on you.” 

Jungkook stops him before he flies back up. “Armaros…” he says, dragging his name long in his tongue. Armaros looks at him, eyes impatient, arms crossed together. 

“You know I’m a devil, right?” 

The angel chuckles, scoffing, “Oh, I know that alright.” He scorns, eyeing Jungkook up and down. Although the devil in front of him looks intimidating and his eyes are jet black, Armaros keeps his calm. “I’m only following orders. I didn’t agree with The Archangel in the first place.” 

“Do you know what devils do to… humans?” 

Armaros nods fully. 

“And what I might do to… that precious little girl?” Jungkook growls deeply, walking closer to him. He tilts his head down, looking at him through his lashes, “There’s a huge chance that I might not control myself when I see her.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Suddenly, black smoke appears from Jungkook’s right hand, summoning something beside him. The smoke appears to subside and at once, Y/n’s appearance can be seen through the thin air. Jungkook rests his hips on one side, twirling his hand so that her image spins around. 

“This is Y/n, right?” Jungkook studies your face, watching you read a book inside your room. “I’ve never seen someone so beautiful before.” 

“Jeon Jungkook!” Armaros bellows, his tone loud yet sprinkled with fear. 

“I’m just saying, Angel. You can’t stop me from trying to do devilish things to her.” Jungkook smirks, prodding his tongue on the inside of his cheek. “You might have to reconsider this deal of yours if you don’t want me to have my way with that pretty little girl,” He taunts, already warning Armaros.

“Jungkook,” Armaros’ nerves seem to heat up, slowly getting irritated although he tries to calm himself. He looks down, shaking his head as he pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “There’s no point in doing that. You think she wants to have an affair with someone like you?” 

The devil laughs loudly as he twirls his hand until your image disappears. This conversation further proves Jungkook’s argument that angels are actually dumber than they realize. 

“If you want me to help you, I will have my way with her. My job, my rules. Understand?”

Armaros feels defeated, but he can’t say anything but nod and agree to him. He can’t fight him anyway. Jungkook dismisses him, and with that, the angel ascends back up to earth. 

Jungkook can’t wait to have his fun. 

~

Prancing around, making friends, getting to know each other – Jungkook doesn’t want to do that. Instead, he’s very straightforward, saying words that he probably shouldn’t, he likes to say what he thinks no matter how bad it’ll probably hurt. 

That’s what he plans to do with you. 

If he gets his point clear, make you frightened, scare the shit out of you, then the job would be complete. 

Easy! 

You were currently on your laptop, scrolling through your pinterest tabs until you hear loud and frantic knocks on your door. “Y/n!” May shrieks, her voice quivering. “Someone’s at the door!” 

Oh no, you thought. 

Immediately hopping out of bed, you went out to see who it was with May following behind you. You peak out through the windows and suddenly, you inhale sharply from the man that you see. 

He was unfamiliar. Thankfully, it wasn’t Seokjin or Sophia nor Emilia, but rather tall, might you say handsome looking man waiting outside your doorstep. He was dressed in all black, his hair covering his eyes. 

“Do you know him?” May asks quietly. You shake your head slowly, “N-No.” 

“Y/n… I think you should just leave him.” 

“May, I can handle it. You can go now.” You say softly to her. 

“Are you sure—”

“Yes.” You spat a little harshly, blazing your eyes at her. May nods, sighing as she walks away to her room. 

Gathering the courage to open the door, you took a deep inhale and exhale, calming your nerves. 

Once you open the door, your eyes immediately fly to his dark ones. Your whole body suddenly shivers, the air around the place somewhat getting cold as if it was winter. 

You can't take your eyes off of the man. You have never met him before but it felt like you've known him for too long. There was a strange aura surrounding the two of you that you can't explain. 

“Hello.” He speaks first, giving you a sly smile. 

His voice. You've never heard such a dark and menacing timbre before. 

“Hi,” you gulp, “Who are you?” 

“May I come in?” Jungkook snaps, ignoring your question. He doesn't want to waste any time, that's for sure. 

You furrow your brows as you shake your head, “Answer my question first.” You blurt, blocking the entrance by placing your hands on either side of the doorway. 

“Hm,” Jungkook slowly shows you a deadly smirk, eyeing your body up and down. “You really wanna know?” 

What kind of a question is that? 

You quickly got annoyed, looking at him with a scorn. “Obviously!”

Feisty, Jungkook thought. 

“I'm the devil.”

There was a long pause, silence filling the air. This man is too handsome to be this dumb. You laugh hysterically, bending over as you hold your aching stomach. “A-Are you… oh my god… please tell me you're fucking joking!” you say with creased eyes. 

Jungkook already expected this reaction, and he only rolls his eyes without you noticing. 

“Mhm. You don't believe me?” he slowly pronounces his words, voice deep and sinister. 

“Nah,” you shake your head, giggling. 

“Aren't you religious?” Jungkook pushes you to the side without hesitation and enters, your eyes expanding slowly as his body suddenly comes in contact with yours. “Don't you believe in your God? You believe in angels, right?” He backs your body up and shuts the door loudly behind him. 

You felt a series of chills erupt from your system, his gaze locked on yours. You wanted to look away from his intimidating gaze, but you can't, for some strange reason. “Huh, Y/n?”

You gasp. “Wait, h-how do you know my name!?” 

Jungkook smirks at you, tilting his head to the side as he ignores your question again. 

Your body seems to move by itself, like you can't control your own limbs. The air thickens around the two of you as you feel your body submit to the man in front of you. 

Sighing, with a shaky voice you answer. “I do. I do believe in them.”

Although what shocks you is the way his eyes suddenly turn a bright shade of red. From deep black to red, his irises glow. 

“What the fuck–” you quickly back away, body shivering in fear until your back hits a wall. You rub your eyes, trying to see if your mind was only playing tricks with you. 

Jungkook grins and chuckles darkly, clicking his tongue. “Then…” he draws, walking closer to your frightened figure, “Can this convince you enough?” 

“S-Stop… stop playing games with me!” you whimper, feeling your palms get sweaty. “Your eyes are red!” 

“Hmm, I wonder why,” Jungkook snarls, forehead creasing, “Maybe because I'm the fucking devil?” 

And in a flash, Jungkook’s appearance changes from a tall, handsome boy into a dark red figure. Black, bat-like wings sprout from his back, long horns appearing from his forehead, a spear-like tail behind him. His lips and the area around his eyes were tinted in black while his fingers grew longer, sharper. 

You almost fainted then and there. 

“Oh— p-please,” your eyes turn watery as tears start to fall down your cheek, lifting your hands up to your mouth in shock, “please d-don't kill me!” Shutting your eyes to avoid the frightening image in front of you, your knees drop down to the floor with a loud thud. “I'm sorry, please f-forgive me! Don't k-kill me! Please!” 

“Oh, what a cute pretty girl you are,” the devil grins, his voice more gravelly now. He looks down at your frail self, amused. “I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to teach you a lesson.” 

You start to sob as your body shakes, “No! Please d-don't…”  

“Do you believe me now?”

“Yes! Yes I do!” you quickly reply, voice cracking. “I’m sorry s-sir, don’t hurt me!” 

Jungkook, satisfied with your reaction, morphs back to his normal human look within a few seconds. “Look at me.”

Slowly, afraid to anger the devil in front of you, you obey his words. You sigh in relief when he finally looks normal again, but you can't look at him the same way. 

“Stand up.”

You do so with wobbly legs. You felt so weak with your energy quickly drained so quickly. Wiping your tear-stained cheeks, you try your best to keep your composure. 

“Anyway, I'm Jungkook,” he gives you an award-winning smile, “I'm sent here to supposedly warn you from doing bad things.” He cringes, shaking his head. “Which, honestly speaking, I think is atrocious.”

He scans your body, biting his lip right after. “A good looking girl like you should have her fun.” 

You try to regain your senses back. A devil — a real devil appeared right in front of you. You can't seem to shake the thought away while he’s there looking so handsome in his human form. 

With a shaky breath, you ask him, “J-Jungkook? I'm really sorry. I don't know what I'm doing.” 

He snorts. Brushing his black hair away from his face. “Wrong. You know what you're doing.” 

“W-What?” 

Something in the air changes when Jungkook snaps his fingers. A thick, black smoke appears, capsuling the both of you in. “What is this?!” you question, terror overtaking your face. You watch your surroundings getting blurry, blackness covering the area. 

“Oh nothing,” he gives you a lopsided grin, “just making sure that your little angels can't see us.” 

Jungkook's eyes shine and his pupils enlarge, smiling as you notice how his teeth grow sharper. There were veins popping out in his neck, grimacing at you in pure excitement.  

“We can't afford your poor, guardian angel to stop us now, can't we? I don't want him to see us…playing.” 

“Playing?!” You gasp, eyes expanding in shock.. 

“Yes, baby. Angels are so fucking dumb, aren't they? Asking a devil to do their own work? Isn't that pathetic.”

You were locked to him like a magnet as your body seems to fill with utter desire in such a quick time. 

Was he doing something to you?!

A series of pleasurable chills erupt from your body, mouth getting dry as you look up at Jungkook with big eyes. 

His hand suddenly touches your bare arm, making you silently mewl from his chilling touch. He smirks at your reaction, “How dumb of them to trust the son of Lucifer himself.”

“Y-You… you're…” your voice fades, trying to process his words. 

“Mhm. Aren't you excited to play with me?” 

Maybe he's doing tricks to your mind, controlling your body – or maybe you’re just fucked up. Either way, you want him. 

You lust for him. 

“Yes.”

Jungkook draws his lower lip between his teeth, his hands finding its way to your waist, holding you firmly until he unexpectedly pulls you to his body. He lifts a single eyebrow up, “Really?” 

Your heartbeat quickens. 

“I've… I’ve never been more sure.” Words seem to spill out of your mouth without your consent, as if it wasn’t you who’s speaking. But you don’t try to take your words back.  

Jungkook laughs and starts to lift you up without struggle, finding his way to your bedroom while the smoke follows the two of you. “Bad, bad girl you are.” He lowers you down on the mattress, sending you a seductive wink, “I'm so fucking proud.” 

He preps himself on his knees, capturing your thighs in between. His eyes run down your body, chills running down your spine from how hot he looks. His figure was so big and muscular, making you feel like he can destroy your frail self. 

“Look at this, you look so fucking delicious baby.” 

His hand suddenly flies down to your armpits, roughly handling you as he carries you up as he sits down on the bed, his back pressed against the headboard, as he places you in between his legs. 

You hold back a whimper as he pushes your body closer to him. Hearing him growl deeply made your cunt throb, feeling a strange wet feeling down there. 

“Demons can't help humans,” he mutters lowly, his lips right against the shell of your ear. “They want you to sin and sin and sin until the day you fucking die.” 

His hands play with your shirt until in a quick flash, he rips the cotton material in half, your body shivering as it has been exposed to the cold air. “Ohh,” you whimper, covering your body with your arms. 

“Nu-uh,” Jungkook grins behind you, “Don't do that, baby.” He leans down and starts pressing wet and sloppy kisses all over your shoulders, running his mouth up to your neck. “Don't try to hide away from me.”

He sucks on the soft skin of your neck, his big dick throbbing in his pants from the way you were constantly squirming. You were so sensitive, and it made him so horny. He hums, marking your skin in bright red and purple bruises. 

“Ahh, Jungkook,” you moan, throwing your head back until it rests right against his shoulder. 

His hands suddenly fly to your breasts, his long and slender fingers pinching and twisting your hardened nipples. You bite your bottom lip as you can't seem to open your eyes from the feeling. It was until Jungkook suddenly digs his nails into your nipples, pinching them roughly that made you jolt right up. 

“Oh, t-that hurts,” you cry, the stinging feeling of his sharp nails pinching your buds. Jungkook watches your face contort, digging his nails even harder. He feels your body twitch, hearing your gentle whines and mewls. 

“Ohhh you don't like it baby, does it hurt too much for your sensitive, precious body?” he mocks a concerned tone. “Hm?” 

He was playing games with you, that's for sure. You nod your head up and down, trying to push his hands away. “Mhm…” 

Thankfully, he does stop but he quickly cups your breasts with both hands. He feels your rock-hard nipples pushing against his rough palms, kneading your boobs until he finally lets go. 

“Take these off,” he instructs you to pull your shorts down, and you do so. With trembling hands, you swiftly tug them off of your legs. 

“Mmm, fuck,” he grunts behind you, his right hand lowering down from your stomach until it reaches the destination right against your clothed pussy. His fingers slowly trace down your slick, feeling how wet you are through your panties. 

He smirks cockily, “You're fucking drenched, baby. Are you this horny?” he rubs your clit in slow, circular motions with just the right amount of pressure with the tips of his two fingers, your legs shivering. “Want something to stuff that little hole of yours?” 

He pulls your underwear down to your thighs, and you instantly shake it off with your legs. Jungkook pushes your legs apart, forcing your knees up with your feet flat on the mattress. Your cunt flutters around air from the exposure. You whine when his left arm possessively wraps around your stomach, his biceps flexing when he holds you tightly. 

“Stay fucking still,” he growls, his warm hand cupping your bare cunt. He chuckles, prodding his tongue against his cheek as he plays with your folds. He uses two slender fingers to spread your labia apart and you can feel your glistening arousal drip from your hole down to your ass. 

Jungkook hums in satisfaction, spreading your lips wider, making you emit a moan. “Jungkook—”

“No. I want you to call me something…” he elongates the pause in his sentence to suddenly insert the tip of his middle finger in your pussy, causing you to jump. “Something else, baby.” 

“Ah-ahh, what?” your legs couldn't stop trembling as he pushes his finger deeper, your walls sucking it in deliciously. 

You can feel him smirk against the skin of your neck, he snickers, “Starts with the letter D.” 

Your eyes squint in confusion, tilting your head up to look at him. Jungkook, with his glowing red eyes, scans your face with a quirked eyebrow expectantly. 

“Devil?” 

Jungkook scoffs loudly and instantly pushes the rest of his finger in your cunt, immediately pumping in and out at a rapid pace. Your hands quickly hold onto his arm that was wrapped around you, mouth agape from the sudden thrusts. “Ohhh!” your body shakes, leaning your head against him. Electric waves of pleasure run through your body, being new to the sensation. 

He growls as he removes his finger out to slap your pussy harshly, hitting your sensitive clit. “Wrong.” 

“Oww…” you mewl, your hips bucking up from the sting. He does this again, and again, and again, making your eyes watery. He tightens his hold on you, stopping you from squirming too much. 

“Daddy.” He purrs. 

Your body instantly feel a series of shivers. 

“Call me daddy.” Jungkook bites your neck roughly while he inserts his digits back, this time using his middle and ring finger. You hiss in pleasure, eyes tempting to roll back when he brushes the sponge-like texture inside your pussy. 

“Shit, right there daddy,” you curse, rolling your hips against his hand for more. “Right there!” 

Jungkook feels his cock harden even more, precum dripping down his tip as it twitches against his clothes. The way you pronounce that certain word drove him crazy. Jungkook loves how your body easily crumbles beneath him as you allow him to have all the control. He pounds your pussy faster with his hand, putting his bicep to good use. 

You were about to cum, the feeling of a tightness inside your tummy, a ball about to burst at any second. You warn Jungkook, “Daddy, i-i think… I think I'm gonna c-cum,” you sob. 

“I know.” He says simply, fucking you harder. Suddenly, he pushes his index finger in, three digits stretching your walls out. You cry loudly, thrashing around him as high-pitched moans carelessly leave your mouth. “Shiiiiit, d-daddy!” 

“Need to stretch this little pussy out for my cock” he purrs, “cuz’ we don’t want that tiny hole of yours to split into two, right baby?” 

Your toes curl, nails digging into the skin of his arm as you fail to warn him that you're gonna cum any second now. Although he can feel the way your pussy was pulsing around his long fingers. He angled his hand until your clit was brushing against his palm, “Daddy! Ohh fuck, just l-like that!”

Until it all stops. 

All of the pleasure stops when Jungkook pulls his fingers out. 

“Fuuuuuuuck!” you yell, never been more frustrated before as he denies your orgasm. You were about to cum so hard. Your legs shake uncontrollably, scratching his arms as your body shudders. Your poor cunt pulsates rapidly from the sour loss. You were a whimpering, sobbing mess. 

Laughing dryly behind you was Jungkook, licking his fingers clean as he watches your dignity wash away right in front of his eyes. 

“Fuck you,” you scowl, pushing away his arms and turning to face him. “Fuck. You.” 

But he wasn't bothered at all, of course. He was the devil after all. He had no remorse.

Before you know it, Jungkook wraps his hand around your throat and swiftly pulls you close to his face. You gulp, terrified from the intimidating look in his eyes. 

Jungkook thinks that he can easily kill you then and there. If it were a different person, he wouldn't hesitate to snap their neck like a stick. Usually he would feel tempted to physically hurt a person in this kind of situation. But no. He likes you. He likes you too much to kill.

“Take my cock out.”

Even though you hate him for denying your orgasm so brutally like that, you nod your head. Jungkook removes his shirt as you scoot down. You were careful to unbutton his pants, heart rate going faster from the thought of seeing his cock right in front of your face. By the look of the large tent evident, he was gonna be huge. Jungkook watches you with heavy eyes, running his hand through your hair softly. 

You pull the garment down and your mouth visibly waters from the sight. The outline of his cock was evident from his briefs, long and thick and was certainly rock hard. You were so afraid to even touch it as you let your hands sit right on his thighs. 

“Haven't done this before?” he asks, rubbing your cheek with one hand. You shake your head, afraid to look at his glaring eyes. 

Jungkook chortles, quickly pulling his underwear down by himself.

His cock immediately springs out and rests on his abdomen. With wide, surprised eyes, you notice his red tip leaking so much precum, dripping down his abs. You involuntarily whine and wiggle your hips in need, your wetness dripping down your thigh. 

“Take it in your mouth.” He orders, voice strict and demanding. 

“But—” 

“Did I stutter?” 

“No daddy.” You whisper, looking away and finally gathering the courage to wrap your hands around his girth. You clench your thighs together when you feel him against your palm – warm and heavy, yet the skin was soft at the same time. When you stroke his shaft up and down watching how his precum pours down to your hands, providing you lubrication as it coats his cock. 

Jungkook throws his head back as he smiles down at you, feeling so good. He bucks his hips up repeatedly, meeting your timid strokes. 

His patience runs out and slaps your hand away, gripping his cock tightly. Suddenly, he slaps his dick on your cheek, making lewd and wet sounds. “Open your fuckin’ mouth.” 

Obeying his command, you wrap your lips around his leaking tip. You taste the saltiness of his seed on your tongue, trying your best to take more of him. His thick girth was making it hard for you as your jaw immediately feels sore. 

His hand flies to grip your hair, making you whine around his cock, causing vibrations. “Look at that pretty little mouth tryna’ take this cock,” he smirks, “Go deeper baby. Gag around my cock if you don't wanna be punished.” 

Your hips swivel in need from his words, pussy soaking like a river. You slack your jaw as you sink down on his cock, trying to ignore the harsh gags when his tip hits the back of your throat. Jungkook growls loudly above you, seeing that the corners of your mouth were dripping in saliva. 

He uses both of his hands to force you deeper. Your eyes start to water when you swallow just half of his big dick, already being too much for you. The harsh and wet gagging sounds were music to Jungkook's ear, loving to see you struggle. “Mhm, fuck yes,” he grunts, “Choke on that big dick.” 

He keeps you down there, feeling sinister as his devilish instincts get the best of him. He ignores your cries and pleads, only focusing on the feeling of the sweet vibrations whenever you moaned around him. Or whenever your throat closes around his shaft when you choked, it was all too good for him. 

You immediately tapped on his thighs furiously when you can't take it anymore, but what did he do? He starts fucking your mouth with sharp thrusts of his hips. You whimper, closing your eyes tight as your nails dig into the skin of his thighs. He grabs you by your head as he uses your poor mouth for pleasure. 

Trying to breathe through your nose, you ignore the burning sensation in your mouth yet it feels too good. “Ahhhh holy fucking shit,” he grunts, feeling your throat tighten, “Look at that – fuck. Bad little girl aren't you? Mhm? You're my bad, naughty girl.” Jungkook mocks, watching the stream of tears drip down your cheeks. 

Finally, he pulled out and there were thick strings of saliva connecting your lips to his cock. He groans loudly, his cock twitching as it lays back on his stomach. 

“Ohh, c'mere baby girl, come here.” Jungkook whispers and pulls your body close to him. You straddle his lap, feeling his cock beneath your folds that made you hiss. He wraps his strong arms around you, his face inches close to yours. You try not to be intimidated by his menacing eyes, but he notices this and clutches your throat with one hand, squeezing it again that made you inhale sharply. Jungkook sees your pout, your lips bruised from your numerous bites, and he chuckles. 

He tugs you until his lips are right upon your ear. “You wanna cum, baby?” 

Your body shivers from how deep and alluring his voice was, although you nod your head. “Please, daddy.” 

“Oh but do you deserve it? Do you even deserve a cock like mine?” 

You hate how frustrated he can make you. You punch your hands down on his chest, whining, “I-I do…” 

Jungkook quirks a brow up, immediately forcing your hands behind your back. He roughly grasps your wrists together with one hand, surely leaving a red bruise. He bites his lip, “You do?” He swiftly lands a spank on your right ass cheek, making you moan. “Then sink down on my cock.” 

With a puff of your breath, Jungkook helps you align his dick to your sopping entrance. You couldn’t breathe properly, anticipating what will happen as soon as you slowly sink yourself on his thick tip. 

“Ohhh daddy!” Your walls stretch out as you take his tip in, making you feel a harsh, stinging sensation as he rips your walls. If it wasn’t with his impressive girth, it probably wouldn’t hurt as much. Jungkook grunts, his cock throbbing from the feeling of your cunt fluttering around him. 

“Fuck yeah,” he watches your pussy take him further, your juices coating his shaft. He tightens his hold on your wrists, slightly bucking his hips up. Jungkook lands another hard, loud spank. 

“Daddy you're so b-big,” you moan, almost halfway down his dick but you can't take more of him anymore. Jungkook gets turned on from the sweet tone of your voice, the thought of tainting such a girl like you made him chuckle. 

Jungkook feeds himself from the idea of corrupting you, letting you know how it feels to truly rebel. Who the fuck cares about what your parents think? Humans are all going to die anyway, there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun. 

You start to bounce up and down slowly, your pussy rubbing against him, feeling the thick protruding veins upon your walls. You dig your nails onto your palm, eyes closed shut as you prop yourself up to your feet. 

“That's it, baby. Ride daddy's cock,” he insinuates, watching your face contort in pleasure. With your eyebrows knitted together, eyes shut and mouth wide open, Jungkook’s cock throbs inside of you.

“Look at that fucking face, cant take it?” he snickers. 

“I can, I can,” you pant tirelessly, legs getting sore. Your brows drew deeper as you concentrated on the feeling of his cock hitting your sensitive nerves so good, already so close to an orgasm from how big he is. 

But Jungkook wanted more. He wants it harder, rougher. He wants to shoot his hot cum so hard and deep inside your fresh womb, filling you up. He wants to wreck your body until you break. 

So he releases your hands free and instead grabs a hold of your waist firmly, keeping you still. He plants his feet on the bed and starts to thrust his hips up like crazy. 

Your jaw drops into an ‘o’ shape and you release a particular loud squeal. Your hands hold onto his broad shoulder, throwing your head back as he continues to drill your abused cunt. His balls slap against your ass, creating lewd slapping noises. 

“Dadddyyyyy!” you shriek, eyes expanding so wide from the unexpected bliss of electric currents shooting down your spine. You can't handle it, your orgasm snapping in a quick second. “I'm—!” 

Jungkook groans loudly when your pussy squirts your cum all over his dick and gushes all over his stomach. He fucks you through your mind-blowing orgasm, your eyes rolling back to your head as your legs shake from the unexpecting feeling. Your mind seems to cloud in lust as he doesn’t stop fucking you. 

“Shit,” he laughs, “look at this poor little girl.” Jungkook caresses your ass before he spanks it roughly, emitting a whimper from your mouth, kneading the bruised flesh right after. “Squirting all over daddy. You love my big cock so much, huh? You horny, desperate little slut.” 

Before you can even process what he just said, he flips you over until you lay down flat on your stomach. He hovers on top of you, keeping his dick in without pulling out. You yelp as he wraps his big hand around your throat, tightly squeezing your jugular without mercy. 

“A-ahhh oh—” you choke, letting your forehead down to rest on the sheets as he continues to pound you from behind. 

He had absolutely no mercy, using you as his little fucktoy for his pleasure, abusing your pussy like it was made for his demon cock. He chokes you harder, almost making you see stars. 

Your cunt throbs once again, signalling that another orgasm is coming near. “Ohhhh fuck fuck fuck fuck!” you moan, heavy puffs of breath coming out of your mouth every time he thrusts into you. 

Jungkook feels his nerves getting hotter and hotter, his cock aching to cum. He doesn't think of anything else but the way your walls clench so tightly around him. “Gonna break this motherfucking pussy of yours,” he growls, leaning down until his chest presses against your sweaty back. “I'm gonna fucking paint your walls with my cum, baby. You're gonna take all of it, you're gonna take all of daddy's cum in that tight cunt.”

Your legs squirm, hands closing into fists as you hit the bed over and over from how sensitive you become. Your hands claw the sheets tightly, back arching from the breathtaking pleasure. 

“Ahhhh daddy! Ohh my fucking— ahhh yes, yes yes!” your body crumbles, mouth wide open as you scream while you cum for the second time. Your pussy pulses so harshly around his dick, coating it with your juices, making it more wet for him. 

He groans, removing his hand from your throat and slaps your ass again. “Naughty little shit right here.” It was so messy, just how he likes it. His cum covered in your glistening arousal, fucking you through your high. 

He immediately flips you around again, making you face him. He smirks cockily from your flushed chest and face, noticing that you were having trouble opening your eyes. 

He leans down and rests his forearms beside your head, “Take it baby, take it.” he murmurs roughly, his balls getting heavier. “Take my fucking dick.”

Your legs never seem to stop quivering, everything around you seems blurry besides Jungkook's face. How does he still look so handsome and perfect? His black hair falls down his forehead, swaying with every hard thrust, his deep dimples peeking through when he bites his lower lip slowly while he savors the feeling of your warm, wet pussy. 

“Gonna cum in you baby,” he pants, holding your cheek in one hand. “Daddy’s gonna cum so fuckin’ hard for you.” You notice a dark, sinister forming his lips as he looks down at you. There it was again, that intimidating, almost teasing look. 

He growls roughly, hips staying still inside you as he dips down to gnaw at your shoulder. You hiss, whimpering when he sinks his teeth so harshly into your delicate skin, leaving an ugly mark. “Ah-ahh, daddy!” His cock spurts out warm strings of his seed, filling you up to the brim. 

“Mmm, mmm, fuck yeah,” he moans, “take it, Y/n.” 

When he pulls his cock out, his pupils enlarge as he sees your arousal dripping out of your cunt and onto your bed. He chuckles, stroking his cock a couple of times to milk himself furthermore, not wasting any of his sperm.

The two of you were breathless, breathing heavily. Your legs feel so sore and you can't feel them either, your ass stinging from his numerous rough spanks. 

“Clean yourself up, Y/n.” Jungkook suddenly throws you a wet towel, about to ask him where it came from, although he just stares at you blankly with a quirked brow. 

Gulping, you nod and start wiping yourself clean. 

~

He can't leave now. Not after all of this. 

There was something that attracted yourself to him. You can't seem to grasp what it is – but whenever Jungkook looks at you in the eyes, you feel like submitting. 

It was like your body doesn't belong to you anymore. He possesses your body now. 

“Crawl to me, my love.” He whispers, and you were easily drawn to his beautiful eyes. 

Still naked, you do as you're told and crawl towards the edge of the bed where he stands. He wears his pants, thankfully covering his goods. 

He sighs and softly caresses your cheek with a warm hand, making you flutter your eyes shut whilst leaning against his palm. He hums delightfully, smirking. 

“Surrender.” He purrs, eyes drooping down as he looks at you with such gentleness, almost with care. He leans down until your faces are mere inches away from each other. “Surrender to me, my love. And I’ll take you to somewhere you belong.”

Your eyes shimmer, batting your eyelashes as you gawk up at him with eagerness. “W-Where I belong?” you repeat in question.

“Yes, Y/n.” He smiles, showing you his perfect teeth. “Where no one will judge you, no one will criticize you for you. You can be whoever you want, you can do whatever you want. Isn’t that exciting, baby?”

Mouth getting dry, your nerves heat up once again, feeling nothing but anticipation. “Yes.”

Jungkook holds your face in two hands, compelling you to stare unswervingly at his red eyes. “Submit to me, Y/n, and you’ll never worry about this earth’s dreadful problems.” His voice gravelly yet dark, somehow different to his normal human speaking voice. 

You didn’t know what he really means by ‘submit’, or where he was supposed to take you. But your mind was telling you to go. Your consciousness speaks to you like someone was whispering in your ear what to do. You kneel before him, still keeping eye-contact. The air around the two of your shifts and it suddenly grows warm as your body starts to sweat.

“Where are…” your voice was breathy, “Where are you taking me?”

Jungkook starts to chuckle, brushing your hair back with his fingers. Suddenly, your heart races when he presses a tender, wet kiss on your forehead. Your eyes widen, heart beating out of your chest when he continues to kiss you down to the bridge of your nose, until it stops right upon your lips. He hovers his mouth right against yours, feeling his warm breath.

He whispers the words so ominously that goosebumps appear all over your arms and legs. “I’m gonna take you down to hell.” 

Jungkook watches your face go pale, all the blood leaving your face as you gaze at him with such big, surprised eyes. Without warning, he presses his lips against yours. You can’t keep up with him, his kiss rough and dominating. You whimper when his hand goes to wrap itself around your throat, pulling you closer. His tongue easily slips in your mouth, causing you to gasp. Jungkook smirks through the kiss as he controls the way your mouth moves. The two muscles dance together with such need and passion, hands getting sweaty. 

He bites your bottom lip, chewing on the soft flesh while he gently rolls it against his teeth. Jungkook growls, eyebrows furrowing. He can’t seem to get enough of you, wanting you all for himself. He’s addicted to you; your scent, your beautiful eyes, your body, he doesn’t want to leave this earth without you. 

He needs you down with him. 

Jungkook pulls out as he watches your flushed face, all out of breath. There was nothing else that you could do but whine about the loss of his lips. You were craving more of him. You pout, hoping that he’ll give in but Jungkook just shakes his head with a smirk. 

“Answer me, baby. Go down with me, and I’ll treat you so good.” He insinuates, “I’ll treat you like my own fucking queen. Don’t you want that?” 

You nod your head furiously, “I do want that,” you say softly. 

He clicks his tongue, “Tch, louder.” 

“I want it, please. Bring me with you.” Jungkook watches your pupils dilate, growing bigger as you speak. “Please.” 

Jungkook smiles. And within a flash, the black smoke that was encircling the two of you all this time thickens and starts to wash over the two of you. You cough uncontrollably yet Jungkook just stands there and watches. The smoke fills your lungs until you lose consciousness. 

~

Sounds of the crackling fire fills your eardrums, and your body tries to accommodate the scorching heat of your surroundings. 

Opening your eyes, you see that you’re nowhere in your room, or in the overworld. All that your eyes can see was miles and miles of dark red and black hills, huge torches of fire everywhere, scattered all over the place. There were girls and boys dressed in all black outfits, walking around the place with blank faces, eyes having stripped off of their emotions.

You look down on yourself and thankfully, you were wearing clothes. A tight red dress that hugs your body perfectly, enhancing your curves.

“Y/n.”

A soft voice calls out your name, and you whip around to see Jungkook in his demon form, smiling at you as he sits on his throne. You feel a warm, familiar feeling in your heart as if coming home and going to bed from a long trip. His blazing eyes lead you to a trance.

He beckons you to him for he lifts his right hand out to you. He eyes your body up and down, fixing his posture whilst he runs his tongue along his bottom lip. The way your hips gently sways as you make your way towards him – not losing eye contact – and how your irises burn in desire, it was all that Jungkook asks for.

Your legs move without your permission, leading you up the stone steps to his throne.

His hand was warm when you grasp it, although it was rough and almost hard unlike his human skin, you touch as if there was no difference. You weren’t afraid anymore. Jungkook signals you to sit on his lap, and you gladly obey. With legs on either side of his thigh, you straddle him.

“You’re mine, baby.” Jungkook snarls, “This is your place now.”

“I…” you speak for the first time, “I can’t see my friends and family anymore?”

He shakes his head no with a sly grin.

You exhale, a big smile painting your face. You’ve never felt so content and happy in your entire life.

“Then I love it here.”  

Jungkook makes sure that your angels can’t and won’t look for you anymore. He swears that he’ll protect you in every way possible, promising to shield you from anything that will hurt you. Jungkook looks at your beautiful red eyes, feeling your arms wrap around his neck as you pull him close. 

The last thing anyone should do is trust a devil — and that goes for your foolish angels. 

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers DARK FATE ー Laito Maniac [Prologue]

ー The scene starts in the living room of the Tsukinami Manor

Carla: ーー I doubt I need to remind you, but we are keeping an eye on you two at all times.

If you try anything funny, or fail to carry out the plan on time.

My Familiars will have no mercy ripping both you and that woman apart as per my command.

Laito: Yeah, yeah, you don’t need to tell me a million times.

I thought you said yourself that I’m not an idiot, remember?

Carla: That is exactly why.

Laito: Eh?

Carla: Fools do not even think. However, you are different.

In other words, I realize that there is always the possibility that you will change your mind.

Laito: ...Hmー Well, thank you for the compliment. Although I think you might just be giving me a bit too much credit.

ーー Shall we get going, Bitch-chan?

Yui: Yeah...

( Is this really the best decision...? )

*TIMESKIP*

Shin: Nii-san, why didn’t you have him leave the woman behind with us?

Didn’t we need her as a hostage?

Carla: He is serious.

Shin: ...Aren’t you putting a little too much faith in him?

Carla: Think about what might happen after he kills Karlheinz...

Shin: ...

Carla: That woman might be our way to put a stop to it then. (1)

Shin: I see...

Carla: Either way, the Familiars are keeping a watch on them.

If an unforeseen situation arises, we can easily deal with it.

Shin: I trust you. However, I’ll head to the Demon World as well, just in case.

You should return to Banmaden, okay?

Carla: Yes, very well.

Shin: Well then, I’ll move with haste. I’ll lend you a few Familiars just in case something happens.

Carla: ...

ー The scene shifts to the forest in the Demon World

Laito: I didn’t think we’d find ourselves coming here, out of all places...

Yui: Laito-kun, where are we...?

Laito: It’s Richter’s castle.

Yui: Richter...He’s you guys’ uncle, right?

( If I recall correctly, he’s Karlheinz-san’s younger brother... )

Why would Carla and Shin tell us to come here...?

Laito: I assume that he’s working with the two of them.

He absolutely loathes that man after all.

Yui: Right...

Laito: My family is a mess, don’t you think? Fufufu.

Well, no point in standing here talking forever. I’m not too thrilled about this, but I guess we should head inside?

ー They enter the manor

Richter: ーー Welcome to my castle.

Laito: Thank you for having us, Uncle.

Yui: Pardon the intrusion...

Richter: I heard you will be staying for a while. You haven’t been in the Demon World for quite some time, haven’t you? Take it easy.

Laito: Heeh. You’re being rather kind.

Richter: I’m generous towards those who share the same objective as me.

Yui: ...

( Objective...Does that mean he’s out to kill Karlheinz-san as well...? )

Laito: Oh geez~ You gave me goosebumps just now. Please don’t get the wrong idea.

I’ll kill him for my sake, you know? Not for yours, or for that woman’s.

Richter: Do not refer to your own mother as ‘that woman’!

Laito: Fufufu, my ‘mother’, huh? I’m not quite sure when she ever acted as one though.

Yui: L-Laito-kun!

Laito: Ah, sorry, sorry! I can’t help myself in front of this guy, you see?

Richter: I’ve heard enough. Get to your room.

Laito: Good idea. That’d probably be best for both of us...

Let’s go, Bitch-chan.

Yui: Yeah...

Laito: ーー Aah, there’s one thing I forgot to ask.

Richter: ...What?

Laito: Are you sure you don’t want to do it yourself?

Richter: Do what?

Laito: You hate him, don’t you?

Richter: ...One cannot kill a fellow Vampire out of hatred. You know so as well, don’t you?

Laito: I see. You’re scared, huh?

Richter: ...!!

Laito: Sorry, sorry~ Slip of the tongue, you see?

Yui: ( Haah... Will things be okay like this...? )

ー The scene shifts to the bedroom

Yui: ...Laito-kun. Richter-san is letting us stay at his house, so you shouldn’t provoke him like that.

Laito: Haah, I’m sorry, okay? I just end up recalling memories I’d rather forget when I see him...

Yui: ( ...Laito-kun... )

However, I’m worried the two of you will get into a fight.

Laito: You’re right. I should have just punched him across the face instead of beating around the bush.

Yui: Y-You can’t...!

Laito: Ahー ...My bad. I honestly just got irritated...

I wonder if it’s because of the lunar eclipse? That woman’s face keeps on flickering through my mind...

Yui: I see...

ー She embraces him

Laito: Bitch-chan...?

Yui: ( I wrapped my arms around him without thinking... )

I was hoping I could soothe your anger even just a little.

Laito: ...If anything, it has triggered a little something inside of me...Nfu~

Yui: ...!?

*Thud*

On certain CGs, little black roses will appear on the screen. If you click on them, you get an extra line of dialogue.

“You really are a ‘Bitch-chan’, pulling me into a hug like that.”

“Say...You don’t mind, do you? Of course you don’t. I ‘love’ you after all...”

Laito: Woah there, you’re not getting away~

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyah!

Laito: You’re the one who enticed me, so you can’t back out now.

Yui: B-But...Right now is...

Laito: Nfu~ Is that a no? But just look at how much I love you...

Yui: ...!!

Laito: I want your blood. Right now...Please...?

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: Laito-kun, sto...

Laito: Bitch-chan...I love you...

Yui: ( This ‘I love you’ is different...He’s only saying it to silence me. )

( Just when I thought we were finally on the same page. )

( I don’t want him to take out his frustrations on me like this... )

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: Stopーー

Laito: Don’t・want・to!

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: ...! I’m serious, cut it out!

*THUD*

Laito: Wawah...!!

Yui: Ah...!!

( Oh no...I pushed him a little too hard by accident... )

I-I’m sorry, I acted on instinct...

Laito: ...

Yui: A-Are you alright?

Laito: Haah...I’m the one who should apologize.

It’d be fine if you were just pretending to dislike it as part of the fetish, but you were serious just now, weren’t you?

Yui: I...I truly am sorry...

Laito: Don’t sweat it. More importantly, why did you oppose me that strongly?

You have a reason, don’t you?

Yui: Well...

Laito: Tell me.

Yui: ...To me, it appears as if you’ve become desperate.

Laito: Desperate...? In regard to what?

Yui: Well...Yourself...

Laito: I see...

I see...That’s how it comes across, huh? Is that why you refused me?

Yui: I don’t want you to try and cover up a serious matter...By acting like your usual self.

Laito: I’m not covering anything up. Besides, what do you mean with ‘a serious matter’?

Yui: T-The thing about Karlheinz-san. Are you actually...going to kill him?

Laito: Good grief, you’re saying that now as well?

While it may come across as overly desperate because I decided it on the spot.

However, I’m calm. I will kill him because that’s what I want to do.

Yui: Uu...

Laito: There’s nothing desperate about it.

Yui: You’re lying...

Laito: ...I’m not.

Yui: I can tell...That you’re afraid of losing me...

That’s why you’re willingly going to face Karlheinz-san...

You’re hoping that...You’ll lose your life in the process, don’t you?

Because that’d be easier on you...

Because it’d liberate you from your suffering...

Laito: ...

Yui: That’s exactly why I’m saying you’ve become desperate...!

Don’t run away, Laito-kun...!

Laito: Haah...I’ve lost my touch.

Yui: ...

Laito: I didn’t think you’d ever be able to read me so well...

Yui: Laito-kun...

Laito: Bitch-chan, you see...I just want everything to end.

I don’t want to lose another person I hold dear.

Yui: ...Uu...

Laito: Of course, I won’t deny that the love I felt for that woman was nothing but lies and fables, that didn’t get rid of the sense of loss I felt when she passed.

I’m terrified...of experiencing that same feeling again.

The reality that one day you will pass and leave me behind by myself...It scares me.

Yui: Is that why you say you want to die...?

Laito: Exactly. I’m weak. Because I know that,

I’ve always lived in denial of love, never letting myself grow attached to anything or anyone.

...I figured it’d be easier on me...If I never had loved ones to begin with. I wouldn’t have found myself in this current situation either.

However, then you were thrown at me.

I’m stuck in your thorns... (2)

Yui: ...Laito-kun...

Laito: I wonder if I should just kill you instead...?

By doing so...I might be able to escape this fear...?

Aah, but when I think about what will happen to me by doing so, I feel like I’m about to go crazy.

I don’t want to lose you...Yet I’m contemplating killing you myself...

I realize it’s contradicting, but that’s just how much I feel driven up a wall.

Of course, I realize you might not understand as the one who would leave me behind...

ー He embraces her

*Rustle*

Yui: ...What should I do?

Laito: You don’t need to do anything. This is my issue, remember?

Everything will be resolved once I’m gone. If I die...No, I want to die.

Yui: Don’t say that...

Besides, I don’t want you to die. What will happen to me...? I’ll be left behind as well, you know...?

Laito: ...

Yui: ( Why won’t he answer my question...? )

You’re being selfish...

Laito: Yeah, you’re right.

Yui: ...I would never leave you though...

Laito: Fufu...

Yui: Why do you laugh?

Laito: I mean, that’s...Right.

ーー You liar...

Yui: Uu...

Laito: Fufufu...

Yui: ( Why would he say that...? )

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー 

Translation notes

(1) Carla says that Yui might become a ‘checkmate’. I’m not 100% certain on what is meant with this line, but perhaps Carla knows that Laito could inherit Karlheinz’ powers upon killing him and plans to use Yui as a back-up plan then.

(2) I found this line to be quite tricky. Literally he says that he can no longer escape the ‘thorn’ (いばら) being Yui/the MC.

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

<- [ Dark Epilogue ] [ Maniac 01 ] ->

[youreobsessedwithtoomanyfandoms]

Hanahaki Disease AU

Word Count:1656

Warnings: kinda bad writing, sorry

You can tell where I originally had it start

Main Masterlist

MCU Masterlist

Y/N smiled at her friend. He had just got married to the one he loved. It hurt her because she loved him, but she could never tell him. She could never tell him and hurt her. She was happy for him though. He was happy so she was happy. But she felt bad because she had felt sick as of late and a bad cough. Speaking of having a bad cough, she grabbed a napkin and coughed into it. Freezing when she saw the red petals. 

No way could this be happening to her. No. She didn’t like him that much. There was no way she could have gotten it. No way she would even let herself get that far with her feelings. There was no way.

--------

Of course her saying there was no way would make it true. It was just her luck. “Now, you have two options here, tell whoever you have these feelings for and hope they return them, and let the flowers go away naturally or have the surgery and never tell him. Of course there is the chance of you telling him and he doesn’t share the feelings, meaning the surgery would still need to happen.”

“What if I do neither?”

“Then the flowers won’t stop growing and it will fill your lungs, causing you to suffocate.”

“How long does it last?”

“2 or 3 months is the average time. However, it can kill you within a few weeks.”

She nodded, “Okay, thank you.”

“Hey, listen, I get a lot of people a day about this, it’s more common than you’d think. So I’m gonna tell you what I tell everyone else, the surgery is painless, the more painful part is for your friends and family.”

“What do you mean?”

Her doctor sighed, “Most of the time, they change. That love that was once there, when it’s gone, it’s like a part of them is gone. They may not realize but everyone else does. It’s worse when they have the side affect that causes all memories of the person to fade away. All of those precious memories, instead of how they felt being seen as platonic feelings, aren’t even there.”

“Well, what do you suggest?”

“I suggest to tell the person you love them. If not that, then tell someone you trust that you have this and see what they would have you do. It’s better to go through this with someone you trust than without anyone.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Of course, come back if you decide to have the surgery and I’ll set it up.”

“Got it.”

--------

Y/N knocked on the door of Natasha Romanoff’s room. “Nat?”

“Hm?”

“Can I talk to you?”

“Yeah?” She pushed the folders and papers to the side, “What’s up?”

Y/N sighed as she sat down, “You know I went to the doctors today, right?”

“Yeah, what’s going on? Was that cough anything bad?”

“Yeah, yeah it was.”

“What is it?”

“I have Hanahaki Disease.”

Natasha’s hand lifted to her mouth, “What?”

“I had been coughing up petals so I wasn’t surprised.”

“How long has it been happening?”

“About 2 weeks. Since the wedding.”

“Tony’s?” Y/N nodded, “You love Tony?”

“Yeah.”

“How long?”

“Years.”

“You gonna tell him?”

“How could I? Nat, he just got married! I won’t do that!”

“I would.”

“Of course you would.”

“All that I’m saying is that you should tell him, you never know.”

“I know my luck and with it, he won’t--doesn’t like me like that.”

“You really think so?”

“Yes Natasha, I do.”

“Fine. So, what’re you gonna do about it?”

“I have no idea yet.”

“It’s either tell him, have the surgery, or die. I personally wouldn’t want that last one to happen. I don’t think anyone would.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” She sighed and dropped back on her friends bed, “I’ll figure it out before that happens, I promise.”

“You better.”

--------

She watched as he held his arm around her. It hurt. Knowing how much she loved him, but that he could never find out because he was with her. She didn’t even want to be there, but her and Tony grew up together. They were best friends and she always stuck by his side. Perhaps that was why the feelings were there. She had helped him through everything and they never faded.

She coughed some, some of those oh-so-familiar petals appearing in her mouth. She spit them into the trashcan next to her and went back to watching the newly married couple. The petals had been happening for the past month. Since he and Pepper got married. Y/N had chose to ignore them. The only one person knowing about them being Natasha. “Y/N, are you okay?” 

She looked at the girl and smiled, “I’m fine Nat. It wasn’t like it was a flower or anything.”

Natasha wrapped her arm around Y/N, “You should just tell him. You never know, he may feel the same.”

Y/N scoffed, “Yeah right, he married Pepper. Why would he share my feelings?”

“You never know.”

She sighed, “I could always get them removed.”

“And loose your feelings and possibly memories of him?”

She shrugged, “If that’s what it takes to get rid of this silly crush, then yeah.”

“Y/N, I love you, but even I have to admit, that’s crazy. And I know crazy.”

“Natasha, what if I do tell him and he does return the feeling. Then what about Pepper? What would happen with her?”

“What do you mean, “what about Pepper”, Y/N?”

Y/N looked at Tony and smiled, “Nothing, honestly.”

“Okay? Well, I was wondering if you’re okay. You look a little sick.”

“Oh! I’m fine! Just caught a small cold. I’ll get over it.”

And maybe it was just her mind tricking her, but it seemed as if he didn’t want to believe her, but it looked at if he didn’t believe her. “Alright, um, I’m gonna go back to Pepper.”

She nodded, “Of course! She’s your wife! It makes sense!” He nodded and walked back over to girl she believed he loved more. “See Nat, if I was to tell him, it would just mess everything up!”

“But maybe you have too--”

“No Natasha. I don’t have to. I never will have to because I can’t.”

“Fine, but I’m telling you, you’re making a mistake doing this.”

Y/N just shrugged, “You always think I’m making a mistake so.”

--------

As the weeks progressed, it only got worse. It was as if everything she did caused an issue. She couldn’t stop coughing up the petals, it had gotten to the point where she threw them up. She barely could breath and it took everything in her to do a simple task. Everyone was getting worried for her, including Tony. That was why he went to Natasha. If he didn’t know something about Y/N, then she did.

--------

“Listen, Tony, I can’t say anything. I promised her.”

“So something is wrong?”

Natasha placed the folder she had been holding onto the coffee table, “Yes Tony, there is. But I made a promise to her not to tell and as much as I want to, I won’t tell you”

“Is it something with me?”

“Yes. Only you can help her.”

“How can I be the only one to help her? And how is she so sick because of me?”

“Oh my gods, Tony, use your fucking brain! For fucks sake! Our friend is dying because of you and for some reason you can’t figure out what is happening?”

“There’s only one thing it could be, but that’s impossible!”

“Maybe it’s not! You never know!”

“Natasha, tell me, does she like me like that.” Natasha didn’t speak which gave him his answer. “Why didn’t she tell me?!”

“Because she saw how happy you are with Pepper! She didn’t want to tell you and hurt her if you did have feelings!”

“Of course! That sounds just like her. Thinking of others before herself.” He sighed, “How long has it been going on?”

“About 2 and a half months, she’s planning on getting the surgery next week.”

“2 and a half months?” He shook his head, that was how long it had been since he and Pepper had gotten married. “Where is she?”

“Probably at her house.” And as soon as Natasha said that, he booked it to Y/N’s house.

--------

Y/N shakily held her head over the toilet. She was barely able to breathe. She knew she shouldn’t have procrastinated on this and just got the surgery. But no, she kept telling herself that she was gonna tell him. Her idiot self kept telling herself she would do something she never would. 

She faintly heard her door opening and she just assumed it was Natasha. But she was surprised when she heard the familiar voice of Tony Stark. “Oh my god, Y/N.”

She slowly looked at him, “T-ony?” Her voice barely at a whisper.

“Hey, I’m here.”

“H-how?”

“How what?”

“You’re here.”

“Yeah. Nat told me.”

“S-she did?”

“Yeah, she told me it all.”

“She pr-promised me she wouldn’t.”

“There was one thin he didn’t. But Y/N, I want to hear that from your voice.”

“I don-don’t wanna h-hurt Pep-per.”

“I don’t care. Please, just tell me.”

“Tony, I l-love y-you.”

He pulled her closer to him, not caring about the blood he was getting on his shirt. “I love you too, Y/N. More than you even know.”

She gasped as she suddenly felt a gust of air go through her. She coughed for a while before it vanished, as if it was never there. She looked up at Tony, “You really like me?”

He smiled at her, “I always have. I’m just sorry it took so long for me to tell you that.”

“But what about Pepper?”

“Let me deal with Pepper later, but for now, let’s just celebrate the fact that you didn’t just die.”

She laughed lightly, “I can live with that.”

[five-rivers]

Oh God, imagine the social media reaction to tinyMight, the feral adorable badass. Imagine his bullies and unfortunate small-time villains from 40+ years ago finding out who they tried to beat up. Imagine those few who have seen Yagi but don't know he's All Might wondering if skeleton man is All Might's twin or something. Imagine the shenanigans if the de-aging takes longer to undo. Interactions with Gran, Izuku, the other teachers.

Sequel to this.

.

Toshinori felt his smile grow progressively more fixed the longer the detective stared at him with that haunted expression. Was he in some kind of trouble? It sounded as if the villain had swapped him for another rookie hero, one named All Might (cool name!), but that shouldn't be Toshinori's responsibility. Maybe the quirk also linked them, somehow? That would explain why the villains had been trying to kill him, and why the banana hero- Present Mic didn't want him to leave. On the other hand...

Oh, he should just ask. That would be easier.

He opened his mouth to do just that when the detective spoke instead.

"This is going to be so much paperwork," he said.

"I'm sorry?" said Toshinori.

"Yagi," continued the detective, "I love you like a brother, but ever since I met you, my paperwork load has tripled. Tripled."

"I've only just met you?"

If possible, the detective looked even more haunted.

Luckily, at this point, Present Mic opened the door to the car and slid into the seat next to the detective. "Thanks for coming, Detective Tsukauchi," he said. "Anyway, we have confirmation on the quirk that did this to you, and, well. It isn't time travel."

"Thank god," said Detective Tsukauchi.

"Um. I thought it was teleportation...?"

"You've been de-aged by about forty years," said Present Mic, all in a rush.

What. What?

The car started up in the silence.

"Are you telling me that I'm in the future? Oh my gosh, that's an amazing quirk."

"No, no, you're in the present. You're not-- It isn't going to send you back to the past when it wears off. You'll just, you know, go back to your normal age."

"Wow. That's still a really cool quirk. Does it have to be forty years, or can he adjust the amount of time? Like, he could use it on people with degenerative mental diseases, give their families one last time with them. Or, or for witness statements! It would be pretty good for a hero, too, you could de-age villains into kids and then they couldn't fight anymore... but maybe it'd be a little unethical... Hmm..."

"You don't seem very, uh, alarmed?" said Present Mic.

"What would I be alarmed about?"

"All of your friends and family being forty years older?" suggested Present Mic.

"Haha, I don't have any of those," said Toshinori, smiling as large as he could and giving the hero two thumbs up.

Present Mic and Detective Tsukauchi just stared at him.

Then Tsukauch turned to Present Mic. "You said it'll wear off? When?"

"Uh. The quirk registry wasn't entirely clear about that. But it does wear off."

"The press is going to be a nightmare," said Tsukauchi, rubbing his face.

"Why?" asked Toshinori.

The hero and detective exchanged another glance. Toshinori could practically hear them mentally screaming you tell him, no, you tell him at each other.

Tsukauchi coughed into his fist. "Well, Toshi- excuse me, Yagi-kun, you're... You've realized those two were trying to kill you?"

"It was... sort of hard not to, honestly," said Toshinori. "Is it because I'm a hero or something?"

"How did you-?"

Toshinori silently pinched the fabric of the overlarge jumpsuit leg between his fingers and raised an eyebrow.

"Right. Well. You're the Number One hero."

"Wow," said Toshinori. It seemed to be something he kept saying, today. "How did I do that without a quirk?"

"What?"

"He's a late bloomer," said Tsukauchi, quickly. "A late bloomer. You're a late bloomer."

"Uh. Okay?"

.

"UA is so cool," said Toshinori, shielding his eyes against the sun as he looked up at the building.

"Haha, yeah," said Tsukauchi.

"Did I really go to school here?"

"You teach here, too!" said Present Mic.

"That's so cool," said Toshinori. "I can't believe I'm going to be a hero for over thirty years. That's like, the longest any hero has ever served."

"There are a couple who've served for longer, now, actually," said Present Mic. "Like Yoroi Musha, Recovery Girl, and Gran Torino."

"Yoroi Musha is still a hero?" asked Toshnori. "Like, actively? That's so long."

The gate behind them beeped, and Toshinori turned around just in time to take the bottom of a boot straight to the face. Needless to say, he fell over.

"Gran Torino!"

"Holy crap! I thought he'd dodge! Toshinori, you idiot, are you alright?"

"Ow," said Toshinori, trying and failing to recognize the voice that was referring to him so familiarly.

"Gran Torino, you really can't go around kicking people like that."

"Yagi-kun? Are you okay? Should we get Recovery Girl?"

Toshinori raised a shaking hand, thumb up. "I think I have a concussion."

.

When they got to the infirmary, it was already occupied by a couple students and... a strange homeless-looking man, but that didn't make sense. Maybe an undercover hero was stopping here for some reason? But why?

The students, one small and green, other with a mix of red and white hair, stared at him openly.

"Oops, sorry," said Present Mic. "Didn't think that anyone would be here before noon."

The homeless man sighed deeply. "Neither did I," he said, "and yet..." He fixed a baleful glare on the two students.

"I-I'm sorry, Aizawa-sensei," squeaked the green one. "I tried to get out of the way of the door, but I didn't want to run into Todoroki-kun, and-"

"It isn't your fault, problem child," said Aizawa with a sigh heavy enough to crush an elephant, who... was a teacher, evidently. Man. Standards for teachers' dress had really fallen in forty years, hadn't they? "The first year support class shouldn't have been doing anything with explosives of that caliber. Anyway, who's-"

"Are you Midoriya-kun's secret brother?" asked the red and white student.

"Who?" asked Toshinori.

"Todoroki-kun! You can't just ask people that!"

"You have to admit, he looks just like your father-"

"All Might is not my father."

"Riiiiiight," said Present Mic, guiding Toshinori to a bed with a hand on his back. "Now, why don't you just relax here while I go get Recovery Girl?"

"Coward," whispered Tsukauchi.

Present Mic shrugged and disappeared.

"So," said Aizawa, exhibiting a well-practiced air of boredom. "Are you related to All Might?"

"Eraserhead-san," said Tsukauchi, through clenched teeth, "may I introduce you to Yagi Toshinori? Yagi-kun, this is Aizawa-san. He's in charge of class 1-A."

Aizawa went pale. "Please tell me it isn't time travel."

"If it was time travel, we would be in an underground bunker or something," said Tsukauchi. "No, it was an age-regression quirk."

The green student inhaled sharply, then let off a small, "Oh."

"Wait," said the red and white student- Todoroki?- narrowing his eyes.

"Don't say it," urged the green haired boy.

"What do you think about quirks, Yagi-san?"

"Quirks are great!" said Toshinori. "I sure wish I-"

"Had a note book to write about them in!" interrupted Tsukauchi, loudly.

Toshinori frowned up at him, confused. What did he say?

Todoroki rubbed his chin with a finger. "To... analyze the quirks in?" he asked.

"Um," said Toshinori. "Yes?"

"See, Midoriya-kun?" said Todoroki, turning to the other boy. "He's just like you. You're the same." He touched his pointer fingers together.

Midoriya, for his part, looked extremely flustered.

"The same," repeated Todoroki. He looked back at Toshinori. "Do you happen to have a brother? A twin, perhaps?"

"Uh, I don't think so? But, then, I was a doorstop baby, so..."

Todoroki nodded sagely. "So you must have reunited with your long lost brother, the skeleton man, later in life-"

"Stop calling him that!" hissed Midoriya, yanking on his friend's uniform jacket.

"I wouldn't have to, if you'd just tell me your uncle's name-"

"He isn't my uncle."

Both Aizawa and Tsukauchi looked like they wanted to die. Or at least be somewhere else.

"Uh," said Toshinori, wanting to change the subject even with his concussion. "What are your quirks, anyway?"

"My quirk is called Half-Hot, Half-Cold," said Todoroki. He raised his hands. "It allows me to make fire from my left side, and ice from my right."

"Oh, neat," said Toshinori. "There must be so many applications like that! I mean, combat is obvious, but it might be even better for rescue work- Lots of casualties in natural disasters are because of exposure, you'd be ideal to counteract that in any weather. Or if a victim is going into shock! Plus, it'd be useful to have in everyday life, if they ever change the public quirk usage law- Did they change that?"

"No," said Aizawa.

"Actually, yes," said Tsukauchi, "but probably not in the way you're thinking..."

"Don't use your quirk in public," said Aizawa.

"You don't have to worry about that, because-"

"Don't use your quirk in public," said Tsukauchi, interrupting again. "Please."

"He does have a hero license, though, so technically-"

"Problem child."

"Sorry."

"Oh, oh, and what's your quirk?"

"Please do not fall out of the bed, To- Yagi-kun," said Tsukauchi.

"I'm not going to," said Toshinori.

"Well," said Midoriya, who had a very complicated expression on his face, "my quirk is, uh, a strength enhancer..."

"Just like yours," said Todoroki, as if he had just made an irrefutable point.

Oh, yeah. Toshinori's older self had a quirk. Maybe that's what Tsukauchi was trying to keep him from talking about? He wished they had told him beforehand if it was some kind of secret.

Also: was Todoroki implying that Midoriya was Toshinori's son? That'd be, like... Wow. If this was forty years in the future, and Midoriya was about the same age as him, that meant he'd had Midoriya when he was forty? Hm. He wasn't sure how to feel about that...

Luckily, before he could start in on a spiral about whether the idea of himself at forty or the idea that he had kids was the thought that was bothering him, Present Mic came back with a little old woman who was, apparently, Recovery Girl.

Wow. Yeah. That was sure a change in... everything. Yep. Really driving home the whole 'forty years in the future' thing. It sure was.

Recovery Girl sighed deeply. "What did you get yourself into this time, Toshinori?"

"Gran Torino kicked him in the head," said Tsukauchi.

"I'm going to skin that man alive one of these days," said Recovery Girl. "But I was talking about the other thing. Although, I suppose that's rather obvious. Do you mind if I heal you, dear? It will probably knock you out for a little bit."

"Sure," said Toshinori, who was beginning to strongly desire an escape from the increasingly awkward conversations around him. "Knock me out. Please."

"Alright, then."

And then she did.

[cobaltusami]

BOO!

Hey hi hello! back at It again with another t word fic~

This time, It's actually a Sakuraoi fic, It's not as long as my usual fics, but I hope you enjoy It regardless! In this fic, Hina tries all day to scare her girlfriend, and when she does, Sakura decides to get payback.

Characters: Lee!Hina, Ler!Sakura

Word count: 1290

Hina had many favorite pastimes, swimming, eating donuts, hanging around friends…

But her favorite thing around this time of year Is spooking her friends, and currently, she Is locked on to her next victim… Her girlfriend.

Only thing Is, It seems virtually impossible to scare her. But when has a challenge ever stopped Hina before?

“BOO!” Hina shouted, suddenly jumping out from around the corner.

Sakura looked at her with a blank expression, not even the slightest bit fazed by her antics. “Hello Hina.”

Aoi grumbled and trudged off, dejected.

Later she made her next attempt while Sakura was meditating. She found a halloween mask In the crate of decorations Monokuma had provided, and she quietly crept up on the white haired girl whilst wearing It.

She sat down directly In front of her and waited for her to open her eyes, but Hina ended up waiting a good ten minutes before that happened.

Sakura opened her eyes and was staring directly Into Hina’s.

She didn’t even flinch. She just casually reached forward and lifted the mask off of her and tossed It aside. “Much better. If you wanted to try a new look, I wouldn’t go with the Michael Myers look. Maybe something less… disturbing?” She teased.

Hina pouted. “Is there seriously nothing that scares you?”

“Not In the sense you’re referring to.”

The brunette huffed and crossed her arms childishly, racking her brain for her next tactic.

Sakura leaned forward, planting a soft kiss against her cheek. “Face It, Hina… I’m unscareable.”

“If you think I’m gonna give up, you’re wrong!” She smiled with a newfound determination.

The martial artist rolled her eyes, smiling fondly at her girlfriend. “Very well then.”

Hina ran off to the kitchen to get some donuts and think about her next plan, she found she did her best thinking with a donut in her hand… or so she claimed.

She probably just used that as an excuse to get some donuts.

Let’s see… She could wait until night time and make an attempt to spook her, but how would she do that? Nah. What If she pretended to drown? No… One that would be too far, and two, Sakura would never fall for that.

“Not In the sense I’m referring to…” She repeated her words quietly, staring intently at her jelly filled donut.

Hmm…

A few minutes later Sakura walked Into the dining hall. She was going to go make some tea but she paused when she saw Hina lying on the floor. “Oh no, whatever could have happened to my Hina now?” she asked, feigning surprise as she approached her. She could tell she was breathing so she wasn’t worried.

And Hina wasn’t trying to appear as though she wasn’t.

Sakura got down on the floor next to her and turned her over onto her back so she could inevitably jump up and yell ‘boo’ at her again, but… that’s not exactly what happened.

“W-What the…”

She noticed a red substance on Hina’s head, as If she fell or something. Immediately she was thrown into concerned girlfriend mode. “H-Hina?”

She leaned closer to get a better look at what she presumed was her head wound, when Hina opened her eyes and shot up. “BOO!”

Sakura took a sharp intake of breath, jerking backwards to avoid knocking heads with her. She closed her eyes and tried to shake off the fact that Hina had, in fact, scared her.

Hina giggled deviously, pointing her finger at Sakura. “I got you! I finally got you!”

Sakura opened her eyes again, now able to tell that the red substance was jelly. “No, I got you. Come here.” She scooped up the swimmer with a surprised squeak, setting her in her lap. “Hina, I thought you fell and hurt yourself.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” She asked, blinking in surprise.

Sakura gently wiped the jelly off of her forehead and showed It to her. “This, Is what I’m talking about.”

Hina giggled sheepishly. “Oohh… Sorry Sakura, I didn’t know It was there. You know how intense I get when I eat jelly donuts.”

She sighed softly. Whatever was she going to do with this devious swimmer of hers?

She was silent as an idea came to mind.

“Sakura? Why are you looking at me like that?” Aoi asked after a minute of silence.

“Since you thought It was so funny to scare me, perhaps I should give you something to laugh about.”

Hina smiled nervously, trying to squirm her way out of her girlfriend’s hold. “W-Wait a minute, Sakura come on… I’ve been trying to spook you all day, I earned it!”

“Oh, You certainly earned something alright.” She murmured, scribbling her fingers into the brunette’s side.

Hina squealed and wriggled around under her gentle touch. “Sahahahahkura!”

“Yes, Hina? What Is it?”

“Ihihihit tickles!”

“I would be more concerned If it didn’t.” She hummed in response, tickling lightly along her belly and sides.

Hina fell back against Sakura as more bubbly laughter slipped past her lips.

“Are you ready to apologize?”

“Fohohohohor whahahahat??”

“For scaring me, you mean mean girlfriend.”

“Nohohohoho wahahahay!” She stuck her tongue out at Sakura In an act of defiance. “I don’t hahahahahahave anything to apologize for!”

Sakura raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? Well, I’m sorry you feel that way…”

Aoi foolishly thought she was just going to give up and stop tickling her, Oh you sweet summer child. Imagine her surprise when she felt her neck under attack next.

She squealed girlishly as Sakura began to press gentle but hella ticklish kisses into her neck. “Nahahahahohoho! Thahahat’s nohohot fahahair!”

“I’m sorry, I’m failing to see how It Isn’t fair… Can you educate me?” She asked obliviously into her skin, smirking when Hina squealed even louder.

“Myhyhyhyhy neheheheck Is toohohoho ticklish!” She snorted as Sakura began squeezing her sides whilst attacking her neck.

“Hmm… I still fail to see how It Is unfair. Besides, you haven’t asked me to stop, so I know you’re not In any distress.”

Damn that woman and her observations. Hina’s cheeks turned pink as she whined. “Sahahahakura!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, was I not supposed to notice that? I do apologize… truly out of line on my part.” Sakura rolled her eyes playfully.

“Ihihihihit was!” Aoi shot back. Apparently homegirl Is determined to die today.

Sakura wordlessly latched onto Hina’s thighs and began squeezing them, and as she did this she also blew a raspberry against the swimmer's neck.

The result was immediate.

“AAH! NAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SAHAHAHAHAHAHAKURAAHAHA!” She cackled, trying to bring her shoulders up to block her access, but she was unable to do so.

After another minute of excruciating tickles, Hina folded. “IHIHIHIH GIHIHIHIVE UP! YOUUHUHUHUHU WIN!”

“Hm? Did you say something?”

“IHIHIHI’M SORRY! PLEHEHEHEASE!”

Sakura, sensing Hina has had enough, relented. She pulled back and switched from trapping her girlfriend In her arms to carefully holding her while she calmed down.

“Thank you. Now can you stop trying to scare me? I don’t want to have to worry about whether you're hurt or just messing with me.”

Hina nodded, still giggling softly. “Yeah… I really am sorry for making you worry, I would never do something like that intentionally.”

“It’s okay.” Sakura smiled softly at the brunette. “I know you didn’t mean to do it on purpose, but--”

“But It still happened. I know.” Hina hooked her arms around Sakura’s neck and planted a kiss on her lips. “I promise I won’t scare you anymore… I’ll just tickle you Instead.”

“Good I-- Wait… What did you just say?”

“Starting right now! REVENGE!”

“H-Hina wahahahahait!”

Sakura wasn’t sure If she preferred the tickles or the spooks… maybe she should have just let Hina have her victory.

[knight-queen]

Lunatic Parade Reiji Sakamaki– (Chapter 01)

Lunatic Parade Masterlist (Complete)

Yui: (I must have to take my heart back no matter what…!)

Place: Inside Mountain / 山中

Reiji: Bernstein Caste...Let’s see. I will not take that much time from here on.

Yui: Oh I see.

Reiji: Yeah, we are about to pass through the main street, and you will hear the hassle of the parade right there.

Yui: (Oh...That place will be lively for sure.)

(There may be so many booths full of sweet smells out there just like the carnival was.)

Reiji: ...I shall expose all of the thoughts you are having now.

Yui: Yes?

Reiji: You are thinking 一what kind of special sweets could be piled up in the parade, right?

Yui: H- how did you catch it?

Reiji: Such a simple deal, it’s entirely obvious if I see this dummy loosen face of yours.

Yui: I am sorry…

Reiji: No need to feel sorry. Since the parade is entertaining, we should join this  just like the carnival.

However…

*Reiji gets closer + Screen vibrates*

Yui: Kyaa!

Reiji: Before going there, we need preparations.

We do not want to regret facing problematic things like we faced during carnival after all...alright then.

Yui: (Bottle…? It smells so lovely.)

Reiji: Front neck...and wrists. Nextly you can apply wherever you prefer.

Yui: Umm, what is this for…

Reiji: Nice smell, yes? It was a hard time for me to have the ingredients adjust the fragrance that way.

Yui: Ingredients you say?

Reiji: Right, I have purified the vampire phenomenon at an extremely high concentration.

If you apply this then it will basically create no difference between you and vampires.

Yui: So…?

Reiji: Oh my goodness, your consideration is dull as always….In short, you will not be noticed by others that you are a human.

With this, vampires who get seduced by your blood-scent will not drag onto you.

Yui: Th- thank you very much…!

Reiji: Sure...you are welcome.

Yui: (Huh? I see he is wrinkling his eyebrows…)

Err, does anything happen?

Reiji: Perhaps you did not notice yet but I am smelling same as my spiece from you….to be honest, it is an odd feeling.

I never had gotten along with a vampire like this so….it is truly a displeasure.

Yui: (Oh I get it...I can’t possibly smell it simply having a floral frangrame on me.)

(But I’ve broken down a little for getting him to make such a face…)

Reiji: Well then, now that we have tidied up preparations, let us move on.

Yui: Sure….

Reiji: What is wrong? If there is something you want to say, say it please.

Yui: (Guess all of my thoughts are visible to Reiji san...let’s try to be honest about it.)

That is...I am so happy that you have made that fragrance for me.

But I was a little shocked to think that you will get displeased as I will be walking by your side all the way….

Reiji: ...Get it. Well it is very simplistic of you to take it this way.

However, the point is that you are typically concerned about me, so I do not mind.

It will mean I am having objections if I say you are a hopeless person granting that.

But一 一

*Reiji gets closer*

Reiji: I’m thinking about such a cute thing that you’ve put on the fragrance that I have prepared while thinking about you.

There is no way I am displeased for you.

Yui: Kh...that’s…

Reiji: Pay attention to my words till the very end.

It is bothersome to bring a human like you to the Demon World but,

I am simply doing all of these because I love you who is a human….It is also very obvious to say it.

I want you to walk on being by my side all the way, you know?

Yui: Kh!

Reiji: What are you being embarrassed for? ...It was you to say it though? “ I Want to walk on by your side.”

Yui: I did not say “I want to”...I said “Since I will be walking.”

Reiji: Kukuh, these are the same thing...Yui, I will let you walk by my side all the way.

Like this...closely touching each other.

Yui: ...Yes.

(Uuh...it’s so embarrassing but I am rather happy that he said it.)

Reiji: Well, I shall be done with teasing you and let us get to the castle town.

*He backs off*

Reiji: Stay close to me in such a way that I can smell the fragrance alright….get it?

Place: Glimmer Main Street / グリンマーストリート表通り

Yui: Wah…! This place is so crowded!

Reiji: Yeah, as you would expect in the parade. Anyway, how shall we get started?

Yui: Are not we going to Bernstein Castle?

Reiji: Oh my...do you think we will have any chance of accomplishment if we simply rush in being unarmed and clueless?

Yui: Ah...it is true.

Reiji: First of all, we should come up with specific future measures.

We can go around the prominent places in order to gather important information.

Since the fragrance is doing a great job just as I had expected.

Yui: True. All thanks to you!

Reiji: This result was very obvious from me….Well, for starters一

Hm…?

Yui: (Oh? He is looking behind me but for what reason…)

Reiji: Stay as you are now...You must not turn over.

Yui: Eh?

Reiji: And also...try not to get away from my sight as much as possible.

Yui: But why is that?

*Reiji gets closer*

Reiji: ...I feel like someone is following us.

Yui: What?

Reiji: There will not be any problem if they do not abduct you away but...this situation is no good I think.

I do not know what is going on but...let me hold your hand.

Yui: Kh!

Reiji: We are going to be dismissed from here...as fast as we can.

Yui: (Either ways, I cannot let go of his hand by any means!)

Place: Glimmer Main Street, Front of Wagon

Yui: (There is a huge crowd around here so we will be alright if we get puzzled to them….but who knows the outcome.)

(More than that...I’m about to be out of breath as he was walking way too fast.)

Reiji: Oof...guess it will be okay if we reduce our walking speed little by little.

However, this place is one of the territories of the Earl Walter so we must avoid being inattentive.

Yui: Yes...by the way, what kind of person is the Earl?

Reiji: Despite gathering so much information, I can say that he does not really show up his appearance.

Yui: Oh no…

Reiji: There is also one fact I had gathered from all the people.

They said “There is no way he will give stolen things back”...So he is not a  un-straightforward person who possesses unique aesthetics and philosophy.

...It is absolutely hilarious to hear all the people are having complaints about such awful facts.

Yui: It is...unforgivable.

But it surely sounds extremely difficult work to accomplish our goal. If we….

(Don’t get my heart back then perhaps I will die….what can I do?)

Reiji: ...No need to get worried about that.

Yui: Eh…?

Reiji: You will be good since I am with you. Or...you cannot have faith in me?

Yui: It is not like that! But…

Reiji: I understand your depression. But….

I will surely save you from these.

Yui: Reiji san…!

Reiji: Good grief, do not show such a pathetic face. Or I will end up punishing you at this rate, right?

Yui: Fufuh...I am sorry.

Reiji: Haah, I get sick seeing you that you do not understand anything unless you are told….try always to put on a cheerful face.

Yui: ...Yes!

*They go away*

???: …………

Place: Tart • TatanーGlimmer Street Stores 

Yui: (Phew...It’s good that we find seats right away. I was so exhausted from walking here and there.)

(I ordered some pastry cakes since he told me I can get whatever I like but, it’s like a bang on our wallet.)

(There are also inedible fruits put onto these but these have great tastes.)

Reiji: The tea of this shop is unbelievably outstanding for having an aromatic blend in it. What about your cake?

Yui: It is super yummy. Umm...what about having a bite for tasting?

Reiji: Oh goodness...do you not think it is vulgar if two of us stick our mouth on this cake in front of the public?

Yui: Uhh...I thought this cake was preferred to your taste so I asked you.

(Haah...right, I should just eat it alone.)

Reiji: ...Nevertheless, if you want me to eat it so bad and I shall give it a thought.

Yui: But, I do not want to force you…

Reiji: Just give me that cake at once. However there is only one fork so it is troublesome.

Yui: If you are good with it then you can use my one.

Reiji: Haah, whose fork could you expect from me to use instead of yours in this situation? ...I will borrow this.

Mnm….I see. It is fastidious, very much suits my taste type.

Yui: Is that so? I am glad then…

Reiji: Yeah but...it is your cake so I am fine just by having a single bite.

Please enjoy eating this to your utmost.

Yui: Yeah.

Reiji: Now then I wanted to talk about how to get...back your heart.

Yui: Do you have any kind of precautions?

Reiji: I do….If we just ask him to give heart back like a stubborn then he will not listen to us.

We shall at least exchange something with him...something which is more valuable than your heart.

Yui: Eeh? But how…

(I wonder if it will work for our opponent who easily snatched my heart away in the first place?)

(If we do not do it smoothly then we are going to lose both of those…)

Reiji: Ofcourse there is a doubt that it will go everything as planned. We are not even in the mid-way of our progress.

What a grief...what you are thinking now is showing off in your face.

For showing up different facial expressions one after another...what an amusing person you are.

Yui: My sincere apologies….

(Uuh...what a shame on me.)

Reiji: Well then, as the continuation of our strategies follows. We will approach proposing negotiations and then we will enter in the caste from it’s frontage.

We will manage to pass through an opportunity and then we will creep in the treasure house and sharply steal the heart. 

Yui: (For some reasons, I don’t feel like this plan is made by Reiji san.)

….Will we really be able to pass it following this strategy…?

Reiji: For someone like you who is thoughtless may find it a little timidity.

But the only thing we can do now is to lead that strategy to go well.

Plus fortunately, we have so many treasures which are worthy to catch Earl’s interest.

Yui: Eh?

Reiji: The pocket watch of demise...The Earl will also love to hang out with us if we show this.

Yui: (His father...Karl-heinz gave him this watch which can tell one the end of time.)

(It is very enormous but this watch is very precious as it is full of important concepts…!)

Reiji: All now left is to...seek through an opportunity and find out the place where your heart is kept off.

Yui: But you cannot use this watch...as a bargaining tool...no way you can!

Reiji: Oh seriously, you are unbelievable...face at me.

Yui: Yes?

Reiji: Listen attentively...there is no other thing to me which is more important than your heart.

Yui: Kh!

Reiji: ...Will you still not believe my words even if I say it straightforwardly looking at your eyes?

Yui: No...you are actually misunderstanding...you words have made me so happy.

Reiji: Likewise, it is my privilege to have you consider it.

It was worthwhile continuing to train forcibly a silly person like you.

Yui: Oh come on...it is a rude way of saying.

Reiji: Heh...well then, let us move onto the next step.

Place: Saint Nore Park / サントノレパーク通り

Reiji: Umm...we are going to ride that one.

Yui: Eh? The ferris wheel?

Reiji: Why are you being so astonished?

Yui: Well…

(It makes me awfully surprised that he brings me to an amusement park to begin with….)

Reiji: What’s wrong? You are making an unconvinced face.

But...is it not very natural for me to want the two of us to spend time together?

Yui: (Kh...he said it while I was staring at him...so embarrassing...!)

Reiji: What are you thinking about...while flushing your cheeks? How awkward.

Fuh...I will deepen the red color of your face even more once two of us get inside that small-spaced closed room.

We shall get going….

Place: 観覧車 / Ferris Wheel

Yui: (We get in but...I was already tired of getting teased by him while lining up.)

(Certainly I am happy to spend time with the two of us but….all Reiji san doing for a while is just comparing the scenery with some kind of paper.)

Umm, what on the Earth you are watching?

Reiji: This is a sketch of the Bernstein Castle.

Yui: Eh? When did you get it?

Reiji: I had obtained it with an absolute secret route. First of all, in order to have a conversation with him, we have to gather information.

Yui: (Incredible...as you would expect from him.)

Reiji: So, that looks like this castle. For getting a better lookー

Yui: (He’s taking out something from his chest-pocket again. But what could it be this time?)

Reiji: Yeah, here it is. For looking far away, you will need a telescope of better quality.

Yui: (W- wow...I was freaked seeing anything coming out from his pocket.)

Reiji: Oh...there is not even a single sign of people surrounding the castle. I wonder if it is covered by any barriers.

...Aah, it has ascended to a perfect height. I wanted to view it from this angle.

By the way, this castle is built up with refined details….

Yui: (It looks a very splendid castle even if I see it with my bare eyes. I also want to have a good look.)

→Selection

I want you to show me later / あとで見せてほしい 

I want you to show me now / 今すぐ見せてほしい (+correct)

Yui: Umm...would you mind showing me too?

Reiji: Fine. But is it not okay if I show you later?

Yui: I thought...we can discover more if two of us observe instead of only one of us…

Reiji: ...Oh seriously. Your self-consciousness is very high. Alright then.

If you request that far, then I shall have you give me some valuable information for me instead of just staring at that.

Yui: Eeeh!?

Reiji: Kukuh...okay then, come here.

*Reiji gets closer*

Yui: (Wha...I was just wrapped around by arms...will I have to watch like this?)

Reiji: I shall fix you so that you will not mess up with finding the proper place. You can start to have a good view now.

Yui: Y- yes...excuse me.

(Uuh...I am feeling thumping inside but I must concentrate to find out something…!)

(Let’s see…)

ーAh! The one who is bringing the tea-set to his terrace...he is the butler san, isn’t he?

Reiji: Butler? Let me see it too….move your head to the sideway very carefully so that the telescope will not move from its current position.

Yui: S- sure!

(The more I try to not move this telescope... the less distance it becomes between Reiji san and I….how embarrassing.)

Reiji: Umm...so that person is the butler of that castle huh.

Reiji: Yui, you really figured out a great thing. It will give us a huge hint.

Yui: I am glad…!

*Sound as the ferris wheel vibrates*

Yui: Kyaaa!? Wh- what…?

*Reiji backs off*

Reiji: Hm? The ferris wheel stops moving. Is it an accident?

Yui: I- I guess so….

(What, we are stopped being hanged having pretty much a high distance from the ground...huh?)

R- Reiji san!! There is a ch-child stucked into the frame overthere!!

Reiji: Child? ...Oh, you are right. Well, there are times when some vampires start doing reckless things.

Yui: But if he falls...that boy will be able to fly up, right?

Reiji: It is impossible. Because vampires around that age and yet to be able to float in the air.

Yui: Eeeh!? Then we must help him!

Reiji: His parents will of course be out there. Someone like you who is rather a human does not have to over-worry for that.

Yui: But...ah!

(He did not fall...for getting unbalanced this time but, I can’t see that child like this!)

*Opens the door*

Reiji: Wha- wait, do not tell me you are up to help him….did you listen to what I just said?

Yui: I did...if that child cannot fly properly then I must have to save him…!

(If it’s from here, then by ignoring looking down, I may get caught up with where that child is by following this frame….)

Reiji: Good grief, I want to refrain that child...from behaving reckless this time!

*Reiji gets closer*

Yui: Eh?

Reiji: Listen, you stay here. Once I will fly out from here, you must close the door immediately. Got it?

Kh…! *Flies*

Yui: (Ah! He just flies to save that child…!)

Monologue

As soon as he reached the kid, Reiji san embraced the child and flew again.

And they safely alighted to the ground.

As Reiji san told me, I hurried up and closed the door of the ferris wheel.

Thereupon, the ferris wheel started to move. Perhaps it had stopped because that child was stuck into the framework.

Anyways, I must gotta thank Reiji san right after I get off here.

END of Monologue

Place: Saint Nore Park / サントノレパーク通り

Yui: (...Ah, Reiji san!)

Reiji: Therefore, it is very idiotic to think you will be able to fly since your parents can do it! Be ashamed of yourself!!

And must not bother other people as well….Get it?

Vampire Child A: Yes….I am so sorry….

Reiji: Good grief...If you have learned from this experience then make sure not to make the same mistake again. Understood?

Vampire Child A: Gotcha...thanks a lot, uncle. Bye bye!

Reiji: Wha-! U- uncle…!?

Yui: (...Looks like Reiji san has strictly disciplined the child but, as I thought children are really liberized.)

Reiji san.

Reiji: Oh it’s you.

Yui: Thank you so much. Back then...sorry for doing absurd things by any chance.

Reiji: Haa...not to mention it is not the first time that you are showing your nice-soul to me. I am already getting used to your these apologies.

I want to be aware that you are being kept endured long for having this kleinod inside you.

Yui: Ah…

Reiji: Since we are having an usual situation, therefore I want you to refrain stepping forward into dangerous things.

Yui: Yes...I am sorry.

Reiji: It is good if you have regrets for this…anyways, our investigation for the castle is complete.

Yui: Eh? We are done?

Reiji: We have collected enough information from the outside of the ferris wheel….what shall we do now?

Yui: Well…

Reiji: If you would want to then let us enjoy the parade...or return back to the hotel at once.

Yui: I- I want to go to the parade!!!

Reiji: Heh...I can hear you even if you do not say so desperately...let us move on then.

Yui: Yes!

(It made me so happy that Reiji san has offered me…!)

Place: Saint Nore Park / サントノレパーク通り

Reiji: Every single visitor is festiving out here….if you become so slow then then you are going to stray away from me.

Yui: Yes, I will be careful.

Reiji: Good grief. I cannot simply be relieved just by hearing these words...Let me hold your hand.

*Reiji gets closer*

Yui: Th- thank you very much….

Reiji: Nope...well if good to do this once in a while.

Yui: (Somehow it looks like a dream to walk so close to him in such a thrilling place.)

Reiji: ...We cannot get fussed over this crowded place. Let us move onto a preferable place.

Yui: Sure, then what about going to the game center right there?

Reiji: I would never go there unless they are really offering a great opportunity but...if you want to then I will go.

Place: Game Center / ゲームセンター

Yui: (I thought it won’t be that enthusiastic but…)

Reiji: Ha! ...Haah!

Yui: (Unbelievably he is enjoying here, that’s good. Plus I am also happy to see his unusual sides….)

Ah! Look, only one point then it’s my victory!

Reiji: What you just say…?

Oh well, it is a game of hitting the bats. I do not quite understand the reason for playing such a barbaric game.

Let us do a match of one kind of brain game...I just found something perfect out here.

Yui: Concentration game…?

Reiji: Yeah. Although this graded game is very insufficient for me, you can challenge it.

Yui: Y- yes! I will do my best!

(Alright, let’s show my best to Reiji san!)

→Game

Words he says一

Alright then, we can start the game.

Oh my goodness.

That was amazing.

The game ends here. I am now curious about your score.

*If you win*

Yui: Oh yeesss! Reiji san, you saw it?

Reiji: I didn. You really did well.

Yui: (Glad that I did it well! ...Hm? Something comes out…?)

Reiji: Guess you get...a prize. These are bathing tickets for the Spa in the Onyx Tower.

Yui: Waah! I am so happy. Would you mind going there together, Reiji san?

Reiji: Of course I will go.

...Fuh, you are being in high-spirit just for merely a game, are you not?

Yui: But, I am so happy that...I did itttt!

Reiji: Honestly, you are looking like a child as you are raising your hand up for being overjoyed. However….

*Fades to CG*

*High five*

Yui: Eh?

(No way right...Reiji san just did it)

Reiji: I ended up doing this seeing you so overjoyed...it was not appropriate to do this though.

Yui: N- no! You made me happy!

Reiji: ...Well, it is not bad if it is with you.

*CG fades*

Reiji: If we get this opportunity next time and then I will do this again. *blushing*

Yui: ...Yup!

Reiji: Ooh, I feel so hot. Guess the air-conditioner is damaged?

Yui: (Fufu, it feels good to see his rare sides.)

Reiji: So, shall we go to the spa?

Yui: Okay!

Reiji: I got sweaty for unnecessary reasons. I shall wash out everything and relax out there.

Place: スパ / Spa

Yui: (We were supposed to meet here once we’re done changing clothes.)

Reiji: Yui

Yui: Reiji san! Sorry, did I make you wait?

Reiji: No, you are good. More importantly hurry up and get into the hot water.

Yui: A- alright….

Reiji: No matter how slim your body is, I will not want to show it to other people.

Yui: What!?

Reiji: ...Nothing really. *Flushed*

*gets into the water*

Yui: (Phew. This warming feeling is so good. I feel luxurious as it is a large bath, unusual from everyday life.)

Reiji: Kukuh...Do not make such a lifeless face which seemed to be invited to heaven.

Yui: Uuh, but it felt so good that…

Reiji: It is okay though. Plus bathing while viewing the starry sky is not bad.

Yui: Yes. It is very charming.

(But, I wonder if it is really okay to be so carefree like this…?)

Reiji: 一It is okay.

Yui: Yes?

(Have I mistakenly spelled those words from my mouth?)

Reiji: Fuh...I can watch through everything you are imagining in your head.

Yui: Oh...you are right.

Reiji: It is okay to be carefreely relaxed down like this but...we also need to do some thrills in a while.

*He gets closer*

Reiji: Certainly this situation feels extraordinary but I cannot solve it even if it gets problematic.

Therefore, please think everything like nothing wrong is going on...muwah

Yui: Hhh!?

(I didn’t imagine he would ki- kiss me in...this place…!)

Reiji: Could it be you are already starting to feel dizzy? In that case, we must get out right away…

Yui: I- I wasn’t feeling dizzy, it’s because you have just….

Reiji: Kukuh...is that so? Then let us stay like this for a while then.

Yui: (Uhh...I am just being teased. But Is it really okay to stay here like this.)

...We must get back my heart right? But if we fail…

Reiji: Rest assured. No matter what happens, I am by your side after all.

I will definitely take your heart back safely.

Yui: ...Yes.

(That’s right. Reiji san will be with me so I will of course be alright.)

(That’s why...I will believe these words.)

Reiji: ...It is great to believe in me but I do not mind if you speak that out to me, you know?

Yui: Ah, y- you are right…

(But it is very embarrassing to say it facing toward him being in this state.)

Reiji: But it will be okay now. That will be a great problem if I really get you half-conscious.

After we get back to the hotel, I shall make you speak up your imagining words one by one.

You are not allowed to disappoint me there, okay?

Yui: Kh, I- I will do my best…!

(We had a lot of fun today...feel like I’m about sleepy.)

(And also he will be by my side all the time.)

ーThe END of Chapter O1

[thearvariblues]

The Power of a Bard’s Love

Geralt opens the door and sneaks into their shared room in an inn, expecting Jaskier to be fast asleep. It’s the middle of the night, after all. To be honest, he desperately wants Jaskier to be fast asleep. He doesn’t have the energy to explain… certain things to him.

Which, of course, means that the second he closes the door, he hears the rustle of a blanket and sees Jaskier sit up in the darkness.

“Oh, thank fuck,” the bard mutters. “I was getting really afraid. Where the hell have you been so long? You said it was an easy contract!”

“I thought it would be,” Geralt sighs, letting his sword fall from his shoulder. “Wasn’t.”

“Damn. What happened?” Jaskier asks as Geralt starts undressing. “Are you injured?”

“No. Just…” Geralt bites his lower lip.

“Just what?” Jaskier says and Geralt can almost hear him frown. “Geralt. Talk.”

“Cursed,” Geralt murmurs.

“Excuse me? You know, some of us don’t have supernaturally good hearing, could you say it a little louder?”

“I’m cursed, damn you!” Geralt growls.

“Oh. I mean… Wait, what? How? What’s happening to you? How do we break it?”

“We don’t. It’s…” Geralt sits down on the bed and closes his eyes. His limbs feel heavy, so heavy that he doesn’t even know if he’ll ever be able to stand back up.

He feels Jaskier’s hand on the small of his back and relaxes into the touch.

“Talk to me, Geralt, please.”

“I have one year to find and kiss my one true love,” Geralt chuckles.

“Your… What? What if you don’t?”

“Jaskier.”

“Geralt.”

The bard starts to remove his armor and Geralt sighs, glad that he doesn’t have to do it himself. He never thought he’d trust another person enough to let them undress him, and yet, here he is, melting into his friend’s familiar touch.

“I die,” he whispers after a while. “If I don’t find my true love, I die.”

“Mhm,” Jaskier hums. “You have any idea where she is?”

“She?” Geralt blinks.

“Yennefer, of course. Let’s face it, there is no way she isn’t your only one. She’s probably not gonna forgive you as easily as I did, I mean, after the whole mountain incident, but I suppose you could convince her to give you a single kiss, at least. A kiss can’t hurt, right?”

“You’re babbling, Jaskier.”

“Am I? I’m so sorry, but you just told me you’re about to die if we don’t find your angry ex as soon as possible–”

“In a year. We have time. Calm down. Please. You’re making me nervous.”

“I’m just trying to–”

“I know. But we can come up with a plan tomorrow. I don’t want to think about it today. I want to sleep.”

“Right,” Jaskier nodded. “But don’t you think you can run away from this like you run away from everything. You can’t.”

“Yes, Jaskier. I know.”

*

It takes them precisely two weeks and five days to find Yennefer. It’s actually Jaskier who finds her, and Geralt doesn’t have any idea how he did it. Even if the Witcher tried, he couldn’t find her so fast.

But here they were, standing at her doorstep in a town so small Geralt didn’t even bother to remember its name.

Jaskier takes the lead before Geralt can open his mouth, explains the whole situation to the momentarily stunned mage and basically ushers the two of them together into the bedroom before either of them manages to say a single word of protest.

“Hm,” Geralt hums as the key turns in the keyhole from the outside.

“Was this your idea? Or his?” Yennefer asks with a slight incline of her head towards the door.

“I know you’re not my true love,” Geralt shrugs.

“Why not stop him then?”

“I’d rather try stopping an avalanche,” he smirks and sits on the bed. “Besides, can’t hurt to try.”

“And you think that after everything you’ve done, I’m just gonna let you fuck me?” she asks, lifting an eyebrow.

“Jaskier thinks that all I need to do is apologize. Honestly, I think it’s bullshit, but…”

“Well,” she says and crosses her arms. “It can’t hurt to try.”

*

“It’s not that I don’t love you,” Geralt murmurs sleepily as they lay naked on the bed together. “I do. It’s just…”

“True love requires free will,” Yennefer nods. “And I think we’ll be much better off as friends who occasionally like to fuck.”

“Could you check? Just in case.”

She reaches out, touches his temple and shuts her eyes briefly.

“Cursed. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. To be honest, it’s nice to have a notice this long. Much better than to die in some monster’s claws during a hunt gone wrong.”

“You’re not planning on trying to find… the one?”

“No,” Geralt sighs. “Don’t tell Jaskier, though. I’ll tell him that it worked. That I’m saved.”

“Only to drop dead in a year’s time? You know I don’t particularly like the bard, but he doesn’t deserve this.”

“He won’t be with me when I… He won’t be with me.”

“It’s not fair, Geralt.”

“Yeah. Life isn’t exactly fair, Yen. I thought you knew.”

*

It seems to Geralt that time flies much faster now that he knows he only has limited amount of it. The curse thing happened in spring, and before Geralt knows, it’s nearly winter and he’s on his way to Kaer Morhen. He was tempted to invite Jaskier to spend the winter with him, but the bard would immediately know something was wrong – and that’s the last thing Geralt wants.

He arrives last, greets his brothers…

He’s not planning on telling them the truth, but things rarely go according to his plans. And so he blurts it out one evening and Lambert nearly chokes on his cheap vodka.

“You’re gonna what?!” he wheezes.

Geralt shrugs.

“What are you doing here, then?” Eskel frowns. “You should be searching for that… true love.”

“Searching?” Lambert snorts. “The fucker doesn’t need to search, he just needs to grow some balls and fuck his true love into oblivion!”

“It’s not Yennefer,” Geralt murmurs. “I’ve tried that.”

“No shit. We both know it’s that bard of yours.”

“It’s not,” Geralt says, taking the bottle of vodka from Lambert’s hand. “He doesn’t love me back. He never will.”

“Has he told you that?” Eskel asks.

“Didn’t need to. Witchers don’t get to love. And if we do, we are never loved back. It’s just how things are.”

“That’s utter bullshit, dear Geralt,” Lambert chuckles. “Aiden and I–”

“Who?” Geralt blinks. “Who the fuck is Aiden?”

“Oh,” Lambert mutters, stealing the bottle back. “Shit.”

*

“And of course it lifted the curse. Of fucking course!” Jaskier mumbles drunkenly, resting his chin on his hand.

The dark-haired woman sitting opposite him nods solemnly and orders more drinks.

“Weird,” she murmurs. “I could have sworn you were his true love.”

“Bollocks. Pure bollocks,” Jaskier sighs. “He’s mine, but I’m not his.”

“That’s not how this works, though.”

“And what do you know about true love, Valdo?”

“Enough to know… Thank you, dear,” she smiles at the barmaid and winks. Jaskier groans.

“Could you not flirt with every woman you meet?!”

“Better than you flirting with every person you meet, human or not.”

“True love, Valdo. Speak.”

“The thing is,” Valdo says, tilting her head, “that true love is recep… reco… Fuck. He must always love you back. Ergo, if the curse was lifted by him sleeping with the mage, he is not your true love. And if he is, then you are his, and then the curse wasn’t lifted.”

“Hmm,” Jaskier hums.

“Hmm? My dear, are you turning into that Witcher of yours?” Valdo laughs.

“No,” Jaskier sighs, downing his drink. “Ugh. Just thinking where the hell am I going to find another true love.”

“Oh, dear,” Val says and shakes her head. “Well, I know where I am going to find my true love for tonight. If you’ll excuse me…”

“Sure, sure!” Jaskier shouts when Valdo rises to her feet, not even waiting for his answer. “Please leave me. I love drinking alone! Oh, shit, what did I do to deserve such horrible friends…”

*

The winter without Jaskier seemed to drag on forever. Geralt missed his bard – missed him more than he would ever had thought.

That’s why, when the spring comes, he finds himself on his way to their usual meeting spot, even though during winter he promised himself time and time again that he wouldn’t, that he would just take some other route and never see his bard again.

He will, inevitably, die in a few weeks, he tells himself even as he passes the first houses of a tiny town where Jaskier is undoubtedly already waiting. He should just turn Roach around and leave. Spare Jaskier’s feelings. The bard will hate him for not coming, of course. But perhaps… Perhaps it won’t hurt as much when he hears about Geralt’s death, then.

And Geralt, of course, won’t have to explain to him why he lied about being cured.

The dilemma is solved within a few seconds when Geralt sees the bard himself running towards him at high speed, his lute case and his bag swinging on his shoulder, his hair ruffled and his doublet and chemise undone.

He beams when he sees Geralt, comes to a stop by his side and thrusts the bag and the lute case into the Witcher’s hand.

“Oh, Geralt, thank the gods,” he mutters, already scrambling up behind the Witcher. “We need to leave. Right now. Don’t ask any questions.”

Just then, Geralt sees several armed men heading towards them, shouting.

“Let me guess,” he chuckles. “The mayor’s daughter?”

“And his son,” Jaskier says, takes his bags back and wraps his arms around Geralt’s torso. “Nice to see you, by the way.”

“Hm,” Geralt smiles as he turns Roach around. “Nice to see you too, bard.”

*

It takes Geralt a few days, but in the end, he does tell Jaskier the truth. He does it because he finds the alternative – quietly sneaking away to die while the bard’s asleep – unbearable.

Jaskier… Doesn’t take it well. There is a lot of yelling involved. And a lot of swearing. Geralt doesn’t even try to keep count of how many times the word ‘idiot’ is used. It’s… well, a lot.

“How much time do we have left, then?” Jaskier asks when he finally calms down.

“Thirty-seven days,” Geralt sighs. “On the final day, I have until the sun sets.”

“Okay,” Jaskier nods. “I want to go to the coast.”

“The coast? But… why?”

“You don’t need to know. You owe me, Geralt. For all the lies. So we’re going.”

Geralt just nods. He knows Jaskier is right.

And if this is the very last thing the Witcher can do for him… then so be it.

*

Just as it did last year, the time flies when Geralt’s with Jaskier. The bard is mad at him, Geralt knows, but he never lets it show. He does his best to make Geralt’s final weeks as good as possible – and he succeeds. They travel together, laugh together, and, when they finally reach the coast, they even live together, in a tiny house Jaskier buys with all the money he earned during the winter.

It’s good. It’s great. And way, way too soon… it’s over.

Before the Witcher knows, his final day has arrived.

They are sitting on a cliff, side by side, and the sun is just beginning to set over the sea.

“Perhaps…” Jaskier whispers. “Perhaps you’re wrong. Perhaps the curse is already broken.”

“It isn’t,” Geralt mutters, staring at the sun. “I can feel it. It’s like… the sand in an hourglass. I can feel it running out.”

The sky is bright red. It would have been beautiful – if it didn’t herald the very last moments of the Witcher’s life.

“You’re just… so stupid,” Jaskier says, clearly frustrated. “You should have said something. We could have…”

“What? Fucked our way through all the brothels of the Continent in search of someone who would be willing to love me back?” Geralt smirks. “That’s why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want that.”

“We could have tried!” Jaskier groans.

“I just wanted everything to be… normal. You. Me. The Path. Monsters. You singing in taverns. Running away from cuckolded husbands. And wives,” he chuckles. “I wanted to spend my last year with you.”

Jaskier sighs, tears his eyes away from the sunset and looks at Geralt instead.

“Are you scared?” he asks.

“Not scared,” Geralt says. “But I wish I had more time.”

“If it helps, I also wish you had more time.”

Geralt turns his head and his eyes meet Jaskier’s.

“I know,” he whispers.

“Why did you say no when I…” Jaskier takes a deep breath and his eyes flit to Geralt’s lips. “When I said we could go to the town and find you a whore you could fuck before you drop dead? Surely it would have been much more pleasant than sitting here with me and counting the seconds you have left.”

“I…” Geralt says, almost inaudibly. From the corner of his eyes, he sees the sun’s almost down. “I don’t want some random whore. I want you. Always you.”

He hears the words leave his mouth but he doesn’t regret what he said, even as he sees Jaskier’s eyes go wide and hears the bard’s breath hitch in his throat. He is already almost dead. He won’t have to deal with Jaskier’s inevitable rejection.

And then he feels Jaskier’s lips press against his in a passionate kiss. Geralt moans, wraps his arm around Jaskier’s waist and kisses him back, just as passionately.

His heart is beating faster than it has been in years, perhaps decades. He can feel his own hands trembling.

Oh, yes, he thinks as he is being lowered to the ground until his back touch the grass and Jaskier is all over him. This is it. This is how I want to die.

The moment stretches on and on, as if time itself decided to slow down so Geralt could truly enjoy the thing he’s been waiting for… well, since he met the bard all those years ago, probably.

But then Jaskier pulls away, way, way too soon, and he stares at Geralt with his eyes wide, breathing heavily, before he turns his head towards the horizon.

The very, very dark horizon.

“Geralt,” he whispers. “The sun is down.”

It takes a few seconds before Geralt fully registers his words.

The sun is down, there is no doubt about it. The sun is down. He is alive. The horrible feeling of sand in his hourglass running out is… gone.

The curse is lifted. He’s sure of it.

And there is only one explanation.

“Oh,” he says then. “Oh, fuck. Lambert will never let me hear the end of this.”

Jaskier buries his face in his shoulder and groans.

“Tell me about it. Valdo Marx is gonna write a play about us. And her plays are horrible, Geralt!”

“Fantastic,” says a woman’s voice behind them. “I can’t wait to see it.”

They both turn their heads towards the owner of the voice. A little magical light flares up, but neither of the men needs it. They’d know her anywhere.

“Yen,” Geralt murmurs. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, you were supposed to be dead already,” the mage smiles. “I came to give the bard some moral support. And help him bury your body.”

“That’s… nice?” Geralt frowns.

“I was going to dump your stupid ass into the sea,” she shrugs.

“Not very nice,” Jaskier remarks. “But I would have helped.”

“Hey!” Geralt frowns. “I’m right here, you know? Alive.”

Jaskier, who’s still lying on top of the Witcher, looks down into a pair of yellow eyes and smiles. “Don’t worry, love. I’m aware. But you lied to me about the curse being lifted. No nice funerals for naughty Witchers.”

“You’re telling me you wouldn’t have mourned?”

“I would have, of course. Right after kicking your lifeless body down from the cliff.”

“Oh, Jaskier,” Yennefer laughs. “I’m starting to like you more and more.”

“And I’m starting to like this whole situation less and less,” Geralt growls. “Yen, as you can see, I’m alive, Jaskier doesn’t need any moral support, so could you just, you know… Leave? Because I’ve got a bard to fuck.”

“If you think he’s going to let you be on top,” she smirks, already opening a portal, “I believe you will find that you are sorely mistaken.”

“Correct,” Jaskier giggles, pressing his lips against Geralt’s throat.

“See?” Yennefer smiles. “Enjoy your night, Geralt. And see you around. Both of you.”

“Wait! What do you mean–“ Geralt starts, but the portal is already closing behind the mage.

And when Geralt feels Jaskier’s teeth gently dig into the skin just above his collarbone, he can’t bring himself to care about anything else.

*

A red-haired Witcher is sitting on the wall of Kaer Morhen, staring at the snow-covered trail below him. He has been sitting like this for quite a few hours, much to the dismay of another Witcher – a slim, blond and extremely bored one.

“Lambs,” the blond sighs. “I hate to tell you, but I don’t think he’s coming.”

“Shut up, Aiden,” Lambert murmurs. “And don’t fucking call me Lambs.”

“Sorry, honey.”

Lambert only hums, which means he absolutely isn’t listening – ha hates being called honey even more than being called Lambs.

Aiden looks down at the courtyard and stays quiet. There are times when trying to talk to Lambert is useless – and this is one of them. All he needs to do is wait until the ginger starts talking himself.

Which he does, a little while later.

“If he’s alive, he’s coming,” he says quietly. “The snow came early this year, but I’m sure he’s gonna get here somehow.”

“Is that why Vesemir’s nowhere to be found and Eskel has been trying to drink himself into oblivion ever since the morning?”

“They don’t think he’s alive. I do,” Lambert shrugs.

“You heard what people say. A Witcher and a bard went to the coast and never came back.”

“Yeah, but nobody said one of them died there,” Lambert growls.

“That doesn’t make sense, love.”

“I know. But he’s my brother. I’m not trying to make sense, I just… hope.”

“Right. Of course,” Aiden nods. Lambert is still staring at the path towards Kaer Morhen, but nothing is moving there.

Aiden bites his lower lip, looks back at the courtyard… And blinks.

“Uhm… Lambs?” he says.

“What did I just say?!” Lambert growls.

“Lamby,” Aiden says, a little more urgently.

“Don’t even fucking think about it.”

“Melitele’s tits,” Aiden smirks. “Should I just call you Your Royal Majesty or something?”

“Lambert is enough, you know.”

“Fine. Lambert,” Aiden says, rolling his eyes.

“What?” Lambert asks.

“You said your brother had white hair, right?”

“Yeah. Something about mutations gone wrong.”

“And he had a mage and a bard?”

“A bard traveled with him and he slept with a mage, right.”

“Black clothes?”

“Why are you asking all those questions?”

Aiden shrugs, still looking down at the courtyard.

“And it seems that he really, really hates portals?” the blond grins.

Lambert’s eyes go wide as he moves closer to Aiden to take a look.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me…”

*

The first thing Geralt does when he stumbles through the portal is checking that he still owns two legs. Then two hands. One neck. One head.

He knows he probably wouldn’t be checking anything if he didn’t have a head, but that doesn’t stop him.

“You forgot your cock,” Jaskier’s highly amused voice says. “You see, I’m fine with you being one-legged, but cockless? Never.”

“Don’t worry, bard, I took extra care to bring his cock along,” Yennefer replies. “It would truly be a terrible shame to lose it.”

“You think you’re so amusing, don’t you?” Geralt sighs before he drops to his knees and kisses the ground. “But I’m safe. Thank Melitele, I’m fucking safe.”

“And they say I am dramatic,” Jaskier says. “And you should be thanking Yen, not Melitele.”

“Fuck off, bard!” Geralt growls.

“So grumpy,” Jaskier snorts. “It’s not my fault that the winter came a bit early this year, is it?”

Geralt raises his head to glower at his lover.

“And who felt the need to go to Oxenfurt and brag to Valdo Marx about getting his Witcher? And who then decided to stay for three weeks to see the first showing of her new play The Power of a Bard’s Love?”

“Come on, she managed to write and rehearse it in those three weeks, just for me!”

“It could have been two, if you hadn’t spent a week trying to cast a perfect Geralt.”

“It was Gerard, actually. And the actors she picked simply weren’t able to convey your brooding grumpiness. I had to step in!”

“I agree,” Yennefer smiles. “That Gerard was spot on.”

“I hate you. Both of you.”

“No, you don’t,” she winks. “All right, boys. I will be on my way. Enjoy the winter in a drafty old castle. Geralt, no excessive drinking. Jaskier, do try not to spread your legs for everyone here.”

“Can’t make any promises,” Jaskier shrugs.

“Take care of Roach,” Geralt grunts.

“Of course I will, you idiot,” she rolls her eyes, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll be seeing you in spring.”

Geralt hums as Jaskier steps closer, grins and presses his lips against the mage’s.

“I do hope you’ll stop by during the winter, too,” he murmurs. “We’re gonna miss you.”

“I’m sure you will,” she smiles and opens a portal. “Goodbye, boys.”

She steps in and the portal closes right behind her. Geralt sighs, wraps his arm around Jaskier’s waist a pulls the bard closer.

“Just the two of us, then,” he says. “Welcome to Kaer Morhen, bard. I hope the reality is even worse than you imagined. Please do remember that I told you to stay in Oxenfurt.”

“Without you? Never, love,” Jaskier says, pressing his lips against Geralt’s throat. “It would have been a terribly long winter.”

Just as Geralt is about to reply, they hear a yell from above them that is a perfectly equal mix between angry and delighted.

“You fucking piece of selkiemore shit! Don’t you dare move! I’m coming for you and I’m gonna fucking kill you!”

“That was my brother Lambert,” Geralt notes without even bothering to look up.

“I see,” Jaskier nods. “So it is going to be a long winter…”

[swordgayist]

book 3 ty lee and zuko

consider an alternate universe where, instead of maiko, zuko and ty lee develop a strong friendship while mai and azula’s close friendship (that might be peppered with some lesbianism) slowly degrades over time. allow me to elaborate.

zuko and ty lee start bonding on the journey back to the fire nation because ty lee is the only one among the people surrounding zuko who doesn’t bully and/or abuse him regularly, and vice versa.

TY LEE: aren’t you cold? what are you doing out here?

ZUKO: i’ve got a lot on my mind. it’s been so long, over three years since i was home. i wonder what’s changed. i wonder how i’ve changed

TY LEE: hm.

TY LEE: we all missed you.

(just getting the ball rolling here)

they talk more when they get to the fire nation, and the usual topic is azula, and how she treats them. they bond over the mean shit she’d do to them when they were kids because that’s easier to laugh at. it’d probably get a little more real sometimes too.

but the thing is, when it gets real, ty lee’s relationship with azula doesn’t sound a lot like zuko’s relationship with azula.

see with zuko, he isn’t actively afraid of her or subordinate to her. he is just competitive with her and she wins, and she also manipulates him a lot.

when it comes to ty lee and azula, everything is subtle. both ty lee and azula know that there is a power dynamic, but neither of them say anything about it. azula clearly hurts ty lee regularly, but they both brush it off afterwards. azula’s abuse of ty lee is just normalized, ty lee doesn’t say anything and the power dynamic continues.

the more zuko hears about it the more it sounds like how his father treats him rather than how azula treats him. 

meanwhile on the mai and azula side of things, mai’s character is going to be done much much differently. because i hate how she’s written on the show so i will change her until i like her who’s gonna stop me

basically, instead of this extremely disjointed idea that mai ...... likes to do villainy things ? but still somehow she only does them because she’s scared of azula ?? we’re gonna scrap that. mai loves doing cruel shit to other people.

we’re scrapping everything about her backstory too. her parents are just two ordinary fire nation politicians who love hearing about people who are lesser than them suffering (not just people from other nations, but people who are less privileged than them etc).

we’re also scrapping the part of her character where she complains all the time because it doesn’t add anything to her story and it’s annoying.

that classism aspect of mai’s character (”you know what’ll make you feel better? ordering some servants around!” for example) is gonna be expanded upon a lot. coming from a rich, politician family, mai is extremely blasé about other people’s suffering and believes very strongly that she just matters more than them and that bothering herself with them is below her. she sees how her parents interact with their servants and how they laugh about what happens in the earth kingdom colonies and the water tribes and she picks up the cruelty they display. 

because of that, her and azula get along well. usually when azula is mean to zuko or ty lee, mai just kinda laughs about it on the side. when she’s helping azula she relishes the distress she causes the people she attacks. she always sees it as fun and games. it provides a stark contrast between mai and ty lee as azula’s friends where mai joins azula out of apathy and love for cruelty, while ty lee joins azula out of fear.

(once again this is already kinda there on the show but then they just ??? ignore it and say that mai followed her out of fear too ??? which makes no sense ??)

then in the beach episode, the conflicts go a little like this:

zuko and ty lee are annoyed at mai for being so cruel and apathetic, mai and ty lee are annoyed at zuko for having all these emotional outbursts, and zuko is annoyed at ty lee for being so at ease and complacent in her maltreatment, while mai is just kinda slut shaming her. azula, like in the og beach episode, is too busy dealing with her own problems to be annoyed by other people.

we finally get a better extended version of this interaction between zuko and ty lee at the end of the beach:

TY LEE: what’re you doing?

ZUKO: what does it look like i’m doing?

TY LEE: but..... it’s a painting of your family.

ZUKO: do you think i care?!

TY LEE: i think you do.

ZUKO: you don’t know me. so why don’t you just mind your own business!

TY LEE: *sighs* i know you.

ZUKO: no you don’t! you’re stuck in your little ty lee world where everything’s great all the time!

ZUKO: ‘i’m so pretty, look at me, i can walk on my hands! whoo!’

ZUKO: circus freak.

zuko is annoyed that ty lee is so reluctant to stand up for herself and instead pretends everything is okay (this really comes out when after everything between them ty lee helps azula flirt), while ty lee is annoyed that zuko sees complaining about it and being angry all the time as “doing something about it”.

meanwhile the beach episode is the first time mai has actually been presented with the idea that ty lee (and also zuko) is not happy with how she’s treated. ty lee tries to hide it as much as possible out of fear for azula, but mai still kind of picks it up. and mai is also developing a little thing for ty lee (also peppered with some gayism).

but anyways, at the end of the beach and in later episodes zuko and ty lee repair their friendship. zuko finally starts to understand some things, and ty lee contributes to that a lot. zuko’s already realizing that he’s not happy, even as crown prince and as a hero to the fire nation. he’s starting to realize that the way his father treats him isn’t okay or loving in any way. finally in nightmares and daydreams he realizes that sitting quiet while injustice is planned right in front of him isn’t who he is. and because of his argument with ty lee in the beach, he realizes that he can’t just know it, he needs to do something about it.

and on the day of black sun he leaves the fire nation ayeeee

but that means he leaves ty lee alone. he was kind of a safe place for her while she was around azula, and by leaving he kind of took that safety away from her. he of course didn’t take her along to protect her, but yeah.

so in the boiling rock, ty lee sneaks away from azula and mai to talk to zuko. she gets mad that he left her behind, and when zuko tells her he did it to protect her, she’s conflicted on whether she would prefer to commit treason and be an enemy to the fire nation or just stay in the fire nation and let it all happen like she always has.

but she sees zuko, she sees how much healthier and more energetic he looks after confronting his abuser and leaving the fire nation (she finds it ironic that he looks happier and healthier as a fugitive in ratty prison clothes than he ever did as a prince in royal robes). and she can’t help but feel like maybe she could too.

and because of this, at the end of the boiling rock, while mai and azula are trying to stop zuko, sokka, suki and company, ty lee comes up to the landing platform and starts taking out all the guards before they can cut the cable holding the gondola up.

PRISON GUARD: what are you doing?!

TY LEE: saving my best friend.

(yknow instead of ‘saving the jerk who dumped me’)

zuko pleads that they should go back and save ty lee, but sokka remorsefully tells him that they can’t because if they don’t take this way out, they might not be able to escape at all. so all zuko can do is pray. rip.

so azula confronts ty lee. azula is confused and angry that ty lee betrayed her because she was sure she had ty lee under her thumb. but ty lee drops *the line*:

TY LEE: i love zuko more than i fear you.

and so azula gets ready to attack ty lee and ty lee gets ready as well.

and this is where mai starts to realize that it was indeed *not* all fun and games. 

mai picked up cruelty but with azula ...... it was built into her. she was taught it, it was all she knew. and in this moment she was actually going to kill ty lee. so in that moment mai had to make a decision. because it wasn’t just ty lee who was in danger, it was her, if she were to let ty lee die ty lee’s blood would be on her hands, because she will have let azula kill someone she loves. she needs to save herself from going too deep and becoming like azula (keep in mind this is *her* mindset, not necessarily reality).

so she steps in, and she uses her knives to pin azula to the wall. 

now, azula isn’t just angry and confused, she’s broken. because she knew ty lee followed her out of fear, but she thought mai actually saw her as a friend. yet even mai betrayed her, reinforcing the idea that trust is for fools because in the end, no one loved her enough not to betray her. and now with ty lee’s betrayal, it seems like no one fears her enough not to either.

the guards come before mai and ty lee can get away, and they are put in prison.

after the day of sozin’s comet, zuko orders for them to be released, and ty lee finally reunites with her best friend again. 

meanwhile, after a lot of introspection and conversations with ty lee, mai starts to see some of the errors in her ways. she doesn’t know exactly how to make up for it, but her first step is to humbly approach suki and ask if she can join the kyoshi warriors.

(also perhaps while they’re in prison mai confesses to ty lee, and ty lee tells her that she could never fall in love with the person mai was before they were thrown into prison, and that if mai changed her ways ty lee might be ready later in the future.)

after having spent a lot of time with the kyoshi warriors and better learning how to empathize with other people, mai is able to help zuko and the gaang with azula’s healing process.

+ty lee starts to see how mai’s changed and they start talking and whoo pansexualism (officially headcanoning ty lee as a pansexual)

and so on and so forth, this is the basic gist of it this is terribly written but whatever

[moonyandsaturn]

this love

What if Sirius escaped from Azkaban sooner... you can also read this oneshot here

Remus could remember it clearly. It wasn’t all that long ago. A year or 2, maybe? It’s hard to keep track.

James and Lily died and Sirius went to Azkaban. Peter was dead too, but he could care less.

It had been darkening skies for what seemed like eternity. Not just for himself, Remus was sure of it, everyone could feel it. The war was just simmering down, but could that really be the end of it? Trust was a fickle thing. You can’t bet your life on it, or anyone else's. Truth was in the same boat. Lies were a swirl of black and white with no signals to guide you.

But the truth, the truest of truths, was that the feeling never dimmed. And it was as heartbreaking as it was fulfilling. Did he believe that Sirius killed them? No, but everyone else did. And Remus would be just as doomed to express that.

--

“Moony, look,” Sirius had nudged him slightly. The two were splayed on the grass, under the shade of a kindred oak tree. The Summer holidays were coming up and Spring was livid.

“Hm?” He bent his next up sleepily to see what it was. A little butterfly was perched upon Sirius’ knee where he sat. Remus smiled. “I think it likes you.”

It was his turn to smile now. Sirius hummed in agreement. “Did you know,” he started and Remus sat up next to him. “That butterflies represent hope?”

“No, where’d you get that?” He aimlessly picked at the grass in front of him as Sirius continued.

“A book?”

“A book?”

“Yes, I’m sure you know what that is, Moony.” He smirked.

“Ha, Ha,” he deadpanned. “What a load of useless knowledge you are.” Remus leaned to the side so that he was leaning on Sirius’ side with his shoulder to rest his own head on.

“Useless! I’ll have you know this might come in handy!”

“And when could that be?” He laughed.

“I don't know,” Sirius admitted. “Sometime.”

“Sometime?”

“Yeah.”

“You aren’t very convincing.” Remus teased.

“Sirius grinned. “You still love me though.”

He pressed a kiss on his cheek. “Yeah, but that didn’t take any convincing.”

“No hope either?”

He laughed. “Unless you’re talking about my mum then no, I don't think so, love.”

“Maybe some other time then.” Sirius leaned his head on top of his.

“If you say so,” Remus smiled. He looked back ahead and the butterfly was gone.

--

Remus tried to convince Dumbledore into letting him take care of Harry. It didn’t work, obviously. His condition wasn’t suitable for raising a child. He couldn’t disagree. But, Harry was now stuck with some of Lily’s muggle relatives. The Dursleys if he remembered right. Not that Remus had anything against muggles. His mum was one so how could he? But for Harry to grow up without knowing anything about James and Lily? Well, that was the problem. Dumbledore seemed not to care. Perhaps he had other things to do rather than taking care of the next generation of wizards.

He visited them once, the Dursleys. Petunia was a thin little woman with pouty lips. There weren’t many similarities to Lily in her, but Remus could recognize one: her eyes. They were the very same as Lilys, and the very same as Harry’s. She wouldn’t let him in to see Harry. He didn’t even see a peek into the house to look at any other people living there. Petunia claimed to know him from “The Pictures”.

It was well known that Lily loved to take photos. She had an old polaroid camera, the muggle kind. It would print out photos right as you’re taking them. James, Peter and Sirius were obviously very fascinated. She took it everywhere. It hung from a strap around her neck. Remus could recall a few of the photos she took.

There was one of all of them sleeping on the Common Room couch after falling asleep while trying to study. Another Lily charmed to move like the painting they had in the castle. It was one of James and Lily dancing. James had just proposed as Lily, of course, said yes. Remus, Sirius, and Peter were hidden by a nearby tree to watch the outcome. Lily loved dancing. It was quite honestly, the perfect moment. Remus never figured out where that photograph went.

He had the teary-eyed job of cleaning their home after the Potter’s death. But he could never figure out where the specific photo disappeared to.

--

“Wait, wait hold on!” Remus could see Lily grinning as she released herself from James’ embrace. They didn’t know him, Peter, and Sirius were standing behind three separate trees watching them. James finally got the courage to ask Lily to marry him. He bought the ring 3 months prior but was much too nervous. In these times, he wanted to make sure to keep time precious. Who knew how long they had left? So, he decided he wanted to spend however long they had left with Lily. And they were destined to be together anyway, it didn’t even feel rushed.

“What are you doing?” James let go and watched her. Lily took her camera from the strap around her neck and placed it on top of the dull brick wall to their right. It was this small alcove area near Hogwarts. James thought it to be sentimental to propose where they met so many years ago. Remus thought it was sweet.

She scrambled to get her wand out of her back pocket and casted a quick charm on the top of the camera. They couldn't hear the murmur that escaped her lips as she did it. She walked back toward James with a smile on her face.

“So, what was that?” He placed a quick kiss on her cheek.

“When I press the button to snap a photo on that,” she pointed to the camera. “It should come out like one of those live photos they have in Hogwarts. Even though it’s muggle made.”

James laughed. Like, really laughed.

“What?” She hit him lightly with her wand.

“I just proposed to you but It looks like I’m marrying you and you’re captured memories.” He smiled softly down at her.

Lily reached up and adjusted his glasses to sit right on his nose. “You certainly are.”

They started swinging in tune to an imaginary song together and the wind hummed the melody. James spun her around, under his arm before continuing the dance. Lily quickly reached her hand out to press record.

The two danced and held each other softly.

Remus turned his head when he heard a sigh. He looked to his right to see Sirius looking at him.

“I forgot the cloak, how do we get out of her without them seeing?” He whispered.

Remus shrugged. “Run for it?” He moved his head back to see Peter two trees away and he nodded in agreement.

Sirius made a look that said ‘if you say so’ and motioned for Remus to come over quickly.

“What if we just waited for them to leave? James is gonna freak when he sees us here after telling us not to follow him.” Peter said, closer to the two of them now.

“Um, I don't think waiting here with them slobbering over each other is going to be very fun for us.”

All three of them looked over at the couple. Who was now simply talking to each other.

“Ew, heteros,” Sirius grimaced. Remus laughed quietly.

“Okay,”Peter started. “Count of three we go east, toward the lake, and then, hope James doesn't catch us.”

Sounded like a good plan.

“Right then, One, two, and three!”

Sirius, being as forgetful as he is, might have mixed up easts and wests. Luckily there were more trees scattered to hide where he was. Unfortunately, there was not enough sound to cover Peter’s yells.

“YOUR OTHER EAST, PADS!” He yelled at him, hands cupping his lips.

“Peter, shut up! They’re gonna hear us.” Remus scolded.

“We already did!” Lily replied coolly and out of vision. Peter and himself poked their head out from behind the tree.

“OH FUCK, YOU SAID EAST NOT WEST DIDN’T YOU?” Another yell came from a few yards away.

Remus held in a muffled laugh but relaxed when he heard James and Lily.

They walked over.

“You know I literally saw you all follow me, right?” James said, leaning against the wall.

“Obviously not,” Remus replied.

“Oooo, group picture!” Lily grinned and turned around to prop up that stupid camera once again.

The last thing Remus could remember laughing at was when Sirius came running back saing, “GET MY GOOD SIDE!”

--

Remus got in bed late into the night. He stumbled around the nearly pitch-black room and crawled into the warmth of countless quilts and pillows. The dreams he silently screamed in the night were the most comforting that he’s felt in a while. It was still hard to sleep alone. Or with anyone else for that matter, but that didn’t happen often.

He once dreamt that these past few years had just been a sinking ship. Some people caught in a rainstorm. A curse planted by thieves. He woke up thinking that it had all been imaginary. That it was in his head. Remus could basically hear Sirius' voice in his ear. “Don't worry, Moony. It’ll turn out alright. We’ve swam together and we’ll sink together, right?” What a surprise it was when he was wrong.

Most people would be wishing for it to all be a joke. For everything to go back to normal. Remus was much too realistic to think that way. He had to keep in mind his condition. Maybe it was for the best. He knew he’d be the first to die if it were by natural causes. The moons weaken his body month by month. It’s a wonder he hadn’t passed already. And for someone to be bitten at such a young age? Unthinkable that they’d live past 30. He was to be 24 in March, time drew faster than he could keep up with.

He’s been able to stay in his and Sirius’ old muggle flat. Sirius paid it off before going to Azkaban and it was similar to staying there. Not that he wanted to. Every corner had some sort of sentiment tied to it. Yet Remus could never bear to take anything down. For the past 2 years the same photos have been getting dusty, the magnets on the fridge have been losing grip, the couch had some new found stains, and the coffee table had prints of mugs scattered like freckles.

It was the ground floor which was unfortunate. The upstairs neighbor didn’t enjoy being quiet. Plus, it felt more invading. All the people on the street could simply just look through the window or put their ear against the wall and hear whatever was going on. Not much, usually. Remus didn’t have a lot of people over. Just himself. He didn’t want to go back to any wizarding towns. No, that was too disgraceful.

There were always two responses when people saw him. It’s one or the other, neither being very pleasant to hear. The first was sympathy: “Oh, you were the one whose friends died. I’m so sorry, dear. Oh and one was sent to Azkaban for the murder of them! My, how horrible. I’m very sorry for your loss.” The second was worse: “So where were you when the Potter’s died? Did you not try to protect them? What about that other one, who gave up his inheritance for a sinful life? Oh, he’s gone to Azkaban. Hmm, I’m glad you were the one who got away…Somehow… ”

And so he gave up going out to places with people he knew. Loneliness was better than being ridiculed.

Sleep was a tedious project that crept up when unwanted and hid itself when needed. Remus pulled the covers tighter and over his ears.

A warm light flickered outside. A fire?

Muggles normally didn’t use candles or anything while walking down a street. That's what the sidewalk lamps were for.

The light burned and flickered.

He saw someone walking on the sidewalk. Young, he thought, maybe in use of a good washing, though.

Remus thought nothing of it.

When morning came a note could be found on his doorstep, not even in his mailbox. Which was weird because there was a code to get into the apartment building.

Harry’s alright, I hope you are too.

At the bottom of the torn letter was a familiar paw print of a love he once knew.

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers DARK FATE ー Ayato Ecstasy [06]

Monologue

ーー During the days which followed,

both me and Ayato-kun continued to care for Cordelia together.

She was steadily heading towards recovery.

While Ayato-kun,

would throw nasty remarks at her once in a while,

he would not scorn like he did up till now.

Cordelia-san seemed to have picked up on that as well.

Of course, it would be difficult for the gap which has formed between them,

to be filled right away.

However, if they take it one step at a time.

And thenーー

Yui: ( The flowers in the garden...It’s fine if I pluck one of them, right? )

( I hope Cordelia will feel a little better after seeing this. )

*Knock knock*

Yui: ーー I’m coming in.

ー Yui enters Cordelia’s guest room

Cordelia: Oh dear...You’re finally here. A little late, no?

Yui: Y-You shouldn’t be up and moving yet...!

Cordelia: I can handle this much. Please do not underestimate me.

Yui: ( Hm...I’m worried though... )

A-Anyway, what were you doing? There’s a bunch of dresses laid out on the bed...

Cordelia: Aah...This is...

I was choosing a new dress. ーー For you, that is.

Yui: F-For me!?

Cordelia: Exactly.

This has been on my mind for quite some time, you see. You...Why don’t you wear something a little more alluring? Like me.

Yui: Um...

Cordelia: Listen...You’re no child anymore (1), so you have to become a little more assertive.

When I was around your age, I could already no longer count all the guys I had made fall for me on the fingers of both hands, you know?

Or perhaps you do have a guy or two? You just can’t admit it in front of Ayato...?

Yui: I-I don’t!

Cordelia: Oh, what a shame. Your face is not half bad, but I suppose guys just have no spine nowadays.

Nfu~ If you doll yourself up a little, I’m sure they will come flocking to you in no time.

Good shoes make you want to go to good places, no?

And so, you are brought a little closer...Until one day, you suddenly run into each other.

You shouldn’t let that chance slide.

Yui: B-But, I already have Ayato-kuーー

Cordelia: That doesn’t matter. Go ahead and have some fun with other guys? A secret or two only adds to a woman’s beauty after all.

Yui: Wha...!?

Cordelia: Nfufu~ Oh come on, don’t blush over something like that.

Either way...Nnー Let’s see...Seems like you really are a Chichinashi, so we should go for something which can cover that up a little...

Yui: ( Uu...Now even Cordelia is calling me that... )

( ...However...It’s safe to say we’ve grown a little closer, right...? )

( Also, speaking of which... )

( Ayato-kun picked a dress for me the other day as well, didn’t he...? )

Cordelia: ...? What’s so funny?

Yui: U-Um...It’s nothing.

Cordelia: Oh well. More importantly...What’s that flower in your hand?

Yui: This is...I wanted to show it to you.

Cordelia: To me? ...Hm...

Well, unfortunately for you, I happen to be more fond of myself, finding my own appearance to far exceed any flower’s beauty.

Therefore, that flower...Here.

*Rustle*

Yui: ( Wah! She put it in my hair... )

Cordelia: Nfu~ It fits you rather well, you know?

Yui: T-Thank you very much...

( ...She complimented me... )

Ayato: Oi, whatcha doin’?

You shitty hag! Don’t be messin’ with her hair by puttin’ junk in it!

Yui: ( J-Junk!? )

Cordelia: Haah, I guess it does not matter how nicely you dress up when the guy is incapable of appreciating it?

Ayato: Aahn!?

Yui: C-Come on, you two!

( They still get into an argument every time they meet but...This kind of banter should be fine, right? )

Cordelia: ーー Ayato.

Ayato: ...? W-What?

Cordelia: You should learn how to praise a lady.

Ayato: ...Shut up...

Cordelia: Listen to me. I do not intend to play the perfect mother at this point, but I will tell you one thing.

Yui: ( Cordelia...? )

Cordelia: Ever since you were little...I’ve always told you to become the very best, right?

Ayato: Yeah. So much so I’ve grown tired of hearin’ it.

Cordelia: But, I will say it once more. Aim for the top.

Ayato: ...Tsk.

Cordelia: Make her the happiest girl on earth.

I shall have you be the number one in the whole world.

Ayato: You...

Cordelia: Well, I’m pretty sure reaching Karlheinz’ level is simply out of your league?

Ayato: Fuck offー...

ーー I’m gonna surpass the shitty Old Man in no time.

Yui: ( Guys... )

Cordelia: ...I’m relieved to hear that.

Ayato: What? Why do you say that as if you’re ‘bout to die soon?

Cordelia: ...

Yui: U-Um...?

Cordelia: Exactly, I will disappear sooner or later.

Yui: Wha...?

Ayato: ...What do you mean?

Cordelia: Fufu, that’s nothing to be surprised about, is it? In fact, it is much stranger that I am standing here alive right now.

My physical body only exists due to that despicable man’s...Due to Carla’s powers.

Ayato: His...

Cordelia: Exactly. Therefore, he can decide over my life and death.

However...I can feel myself weakening day by day.

I would not be surprised if I were to vanish any moment now.

Yui: ...No way...

I...don’t want that...I mean, we finally...

Cordelia: ...

Ayato: ...I’ll do somethin’ ‘bout it.

Cordelia: Oh? Hearing those kind of heartwarming words from a child to their parent makes me sick, so please say no more.

Furthermore...It’s no use. You can’t stop him.

Above all...I’m not afraid of disappearing in the slightest.

Death is considered a blessing to Vampires, is it not?

Yui: ( But...! )

Cordelia: ーー Yui. More importantly, would you please pour me a cup of tea?

I want to spend my time elegantly, till I take my final breath.

Yui: ...

Cordelia: Well then, I’ll be counting on you. Make it mind-blowingly delicious, okay?

Yui: ...Yes...

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the entrance hall

Ayato: ...

Yui: ( Ayato-kun... )

Selection

→ Stand in silence

Yui: ( I don’t know what to say to him... )

Ayato: ...Tsk.

→ Gently embrace him (♡)

Yui: ( Embracing him is about the only thing I can do but... )

*Rustle*

Ayato: ...Ugh.

...It’s so lame but for some reason...I really needed this right now.

Ayato: Yui. Listen, I...

I actually...

...Tsk. Why did...?

Yui: ...

Richter: Cordelia! What are you doing...!? 

Cordelia: Shut...up!!

Yui: ( W-What!? It’s coming from outside...! )

Ayato: ...Let’s go, Yui!

Yui: Y-Yeah!

ー The two of them run outside into the garden

Yui: Hey!! What is going on over here!?

Cordelia: ...Uu.

Haah...Richter. We got discovered because you were taking forever.

Ayato: Oi! What are you tryin’ to do!?

Cordelia: What, you ask? Like I said...I’m trying to part with this world.

But...

However!

If I’m going to vanish...I want to...see Karlheinz...

And then...I want to know...the truth...!

If he truly only married me for my blood...

Or if he actually loved me!?

Yui: ( Cordelia... )

Cordelia: Come on, Richter...This is my final request.

If you love me...Take me to Karlheinz.

Yui: Y-You can’t! Not in your current condition...!!

Cordelia: Silence!!

Yui: ...Ugh.

Cordelia: ...I’m begging you...Richter...You really...are the only person I can rely on still...

Richter: Cordelia...

Cordelia: Please...

Richter: ...As you wish. If that is what you desire.

Yui: Don’t go...!

ー Richter and Cordelia leave

Yui: Ah...!

Ayato: Fuck...We’re goin’ after them!!

Yui: Yeah...! But...Where could Karlheinz-san be...?

Ayato: ーー Eden.

We’ll find him there.

Monologue

Eden.

It is said that at this place named ‘Paradise’ (楽園),

Karlheinz-san resides.

I wonder what kind of place it is?

I was too terrified to even imagine (想像) it.

Even so...I have to go.

I internally scolded myself,

as I could nearly feel my body tremble from fear,

before taking a large step forward. 

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

Translation notes

(1) Literally she says that Yui is around the right age, implying that she’s ready to start engaging in relationships with the opposite sex.

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

<- [ Ecstasy 05 ] [ Ecstasy 07 ] ->

[ga-yuu]

~Kurama~Main Story Chapter 14~

Chapter 13

*

*

*

--------Part 1--------

Kurama: “Yoshino. I’m reassessing your value. Apparently, you have a strength that I don’t know about.”

(Ah....)

Kurama’s warm fingertips touch my cheeks, and I slowly slide my face into his palm.

Kurama: “....I’m proud of you.”

(This...sounds like a huge compliment, coming from Kurama's mouth.)

I was surprised to find out that my heart was getting warmer.

Yoshino: "Are you...perhaps....do you want me to take that statement as a 'Thank you."

Kurama: "...............Think of it however you want."

I couldn't help but giggle when he so sounded out of tune.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. You're stubborn...

2. You're strange...(+4/+4)

3. That's very much like Kurama...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoshino: "Hehe, you're strange..."

Kurama: "I could say the same for you.....And how long are you going to stand there and laugh? Let's go home already."

While I was still laughing, he pulled my arm forcing me to start walking, but----

Even his movements seemed slower and gentler than usual and I felt a small tingle in my chest.

..................

When we returned to the Rebels' mansion----

Kurama: "....? Why is everyone so noisy?"

Yoshino: "Yeah, why?"

(What happened?)

There are a few soldiers running around in a panic.

Rebel soldier 1: "Ah! There she is."

Rebel soldier 2: "...! I'll report to Benkei-sama!"

Yoshino: "Hm?"

As soon as one of the soldiers found me, a few of the other soldiers surrounded me quickly.

(Did I do something? or were they looking for me..!?)

Kurama: "What's going on?"

Rebel soldier 3: "Eeermm....were you with, Kurama-sama?"

And then----

Benkei: "Yoshino!! Where the hell did you run off too, huh?"

Yoshino: "I ran off?"

Hearing the unexpected words coming from Benkei's mouth, I looked up at Kurama.

Yoshino: "You didn't tell anyone, before taking me...?"

Kurama: "No. It was an emergency."

Yoshino: "So that's why...."

Benkei looked at both of us and sighed.

Benkei: "....So you were hanging out with Kurama?"

Kurama: "Yes. So correct your men, Benkei. This woman didn't run away. I forced her to run away with me."

Yoshino: "That sounds....wrong out of context."

Benkei: "That's right."

Benkei looks back at his men, awkwardly.

Benkei: "I apologize for bothering everyone. Apparently, her escape turned out to be a misunderstanding. Everyone, dismiss!"

Rebel soldiers: "YES!"

(I'm glad you believed in us...)

Kurama: "Thanks for the welcome but my main priority is putting this woman to bed."

---------Part 2---------

Kurama: "Thanks for the welcome but my main priority is putting this woman to bed."

Benkei: "HUH?"

Kurama: "I made her work for me today. Humans are fragile and I don't her to die from overwork."

Yoshino: "Eeehhh!!"

(Does that mean I and Heikichiro-san are the same for Kurama?)

(I know he's got the wrong idea, but Kurama is caring for us in his own way....so I don't want to stop him.)

Benkei: "What are you talking about Kurama? Tell me in detail."

Kurama: "Stop pulling my arm."

Benkei: "Shut up. You and I have are going to have a long chat about these problematic issues. But more importantly, Yoshino, come with us. Since you're involved with Kurama..."

Yoshino: "Oh, okay."

After that, we all went to Yoshitsune-sama to clear out the misunderstanding.

..........

And after that night------

Yoshitsune: "We're grateful for what you did, Yoshino. Thanks to you, one of Hiraizumi's people's lives has been saved. As a way of saying our thank you, today's party is in your honor."

Yoshino: "Thank you!"

(I'm surprised you're all doing this much for me.)

In front of me, were plates filled with delicious food and drinks.

Benkei: "I'm sorry about last night too. I didn't want you to be surrounded by soldiers."

Yoshino: "No, no, no. It's only natural if anyone's in your position."

Kurama: "Reflect on it, Benkei."

Benkei: "You should also apologize for taking her without telling us."

Yoichi: "Can we ignore all that and start taking out the sake, already?"

With that said, everyone took their seats.

Yoshitsune-sama raised his sake cup, which was already full.

Yoshitsune: "It's a toast to Yoshino."

Benkei and Yoichi: "Thank you!"

Kurama: "................"

Kurama also gently raises his cup without saying anything.

(.....I feel happy.)

(Even though what I did was only a part of my job, I'm happy that they're acknowledging me like this.)

I sipped the sake from my cup and a delicious sweet taste spreads my mouth.

Yoshino: "Mm, delicious."

Yoichi: "Isn't it? Here, have another one. If you like sake, I'll bring you to your room, every night."

Benkei: "Don't go drinking every night like this guy, Yoshino. Here, have some snacks too."

Yoshino: "Yes. Thank you."

Benkei's big hands started sorting snacks for me on a separate plate. Then he hands it to me.

Yoshino: "Yum. This is delicious too."

Yoshitsune: "It sure is...because Benkei was the one who made it."

-------Part 3--------

Yoshitsune: "It sure is....because Benkei was the one who made it."

Yoshino: "Really!?"

Benkei: "What's wrong? Can't picture me as a chef?

I looked at the Benkei, then I looked at the plates in his hands, and then I looked back at him again.

Yoshino: "Benkei that's cool!"

Benkei: "It's not that cool."

Yoshino: "No, no. It certainly is. It's nice that you have a talent for making something so elaborate. I could eat this every day."

Benkei: "........really?"

Yoichi: "Look, you made Benkei shy."

Benkei: "No, I'm not. This is just my way of saying thank you."

(I never thought, there will be a day, where I would have a peaceful conversation with the Rebels like this.)

I felt a pang of guilt when I suddenly thought about my Shogunate friends, but more than that, the warmth of the evening enveloped me.

Yoshitsune: "As Benkei said, I too felt that this party would be an awkward way to thank you. .....So I want to give you something else. Is there anything you desire? Yoshino."

(Anything, I desire...)

I looked back at Yoshitsune-sama while I was feeling confused.

Yoshino: "Actually, Kurama was the one who brought me there and I feel guilty for getting too much credit.....

Kurama: "Yoshino."

Yoshino: "Yes?"

Suddenly I hear my name being called by Kurama who blocked my words.

Kurama: "Don't make any snarky remarks at my liquor table."

Yoshino: "Ermm?"

Kurama: "The power of demons, that specializes in destroying things, is not suited to heal others. I wasn't able to save that old man, but you did. With your medical knowledge and skills. That is something you should be proud of."

(...! I never thought that Kurama would say so much about me.)

His words melted my heart.

Yoshitsune: "Kurama is right."

Yoichi: "I agree too."

Benkei: "Me too. I'm also happy that Kurama is starting to be respectful..." ← Proud mom

(.....Benkei smiling like a proud mom.)

Like that, everyone encourages me to think again.

Yoshino: "Then, I have one request, regarding Heikichiro-san, the silversmith. Will you hear me out?"

Yoshitsune: "I'm all ears."

Yoshino: "Like I said earlier, Heikichiro-san has a chronic illness. So, I'd like to make regular house calls and prescribe medication, if you will allow me."

Benkei and Yoichi: "!!"

Kurama: "........"

Yoshitsune: "......is that what you desire?"

--------Part 4-------

Yoshitsune: "......is that what you desire?"

Yoshino: "Yes. As for the rest, I am more than well provided for as a prisoner, both in clothing and food."

(What I wanted the most is freedom. But I can't really hope for that, can I?)

Yoichi: "Yoshino, you're such a softie."

Benkei: "......Idiot. It's called being kindhearted."

Benkei then stood up with a sake bottle, comes and sits in front of me.

(Benkei?)

Benkei: "Show me your cup."

Yoshino: "Ah, yes!"

Benkei slowly fills my sake cup while staring straight at me.

Benkei: "From now on I will respect you more and treat you not as a prisoner, but as a guest. If you will, I'll take care of you myself, okay?"

Yoshino(blushing): "Ummm...."

Yoichi: "Me too, me too. (Yoichi speaks in the third person and it's really cool and cute at the same time. I don't think I can bring the same amount of cuteness in my translations as much as the writer and his voice actor does.)

Yoichi-san also smiles and sits next to me with a sake cup.

Yoichi: "Leave the entertainment to us. Whether it's Sugoroku or taking a nap. You can ask us anything you want and live here freely."

Yoshino(blushing): "I'm happy...that you two think of me like that. Thank you very much."

Yoshitsune-sama was silent, but he was also staring and nodding at us as if to show he's agreeing with them.

(Looks like, the life of each one of the townspeople is more important to the Rebels than I thought.)

Kurama: "Yoshino." ← He's jealous.

Yoshino: "Hm?"

Kurama calls my name and I turn back to look at him.

Benkei: "Come on, Kurama. Don't just sit there, silent. Don't you have anything to say?"

Kurama: "Okay."

(What is he gonna say.....?)

Kurama: "Yoshino. If you're done talking, come here and pour me a drink."

Benkei: "Hey!" ← Not so proud mom.

Benkei's smile disappeared as if he was embarrassed by his child's remarks.

(Hehe...Kurama. As always, he's unreasonable.)

I was amazed how he stepped back from all this celebration as if it was all troublesome.

Benkei: "Can't you be a little nice and show some gratitude? Or at least give her a hug?"

Yoshino: "No, I'm fine....I'm okay with him like this..."

Yoichi: "But if you think about it, Kurama letting a woman pour him a drink is kinda....not normal, don't you think?"

Yoshitsune: "That's true. I have never seen Kurama asking someone to pour him a drink."

(Really!?)

Kurama: "You're all free to treat this woman as a guest or whatever. But don't forget that I was the one who brought her to Hiraizumi and since then I haven't given her ownership to anyone."

Kurama looks at me with his glowing red eyes and talks in a casual tone.

Kurama: "Come."

--------Part 5-------

Kurama: "Come."

(.......!)

Just that one word was enough to shake my heart so much.

(Oh, I see. I'm sure it doesn't mean anything profound to Kurama....)

(But you make it sound like I belong to you.)

Before I knew it, I was already moving towards Kurama as if I was drawn to him.

Yoshino(blushing): "Is this fine?"

I carefully poured the sake into his empty cup.

Kurama: "Yeah."

Kurama smiles in satisfaction and I blush even more.

Kurama: "....? Are you drunk too?"

Yoshino(tomato red): "Hm?"

His cool hand faintly touches my cheek.

Kurama: "Your face is completely red."

Yoshino(tomato red): "Ah! Mm...Maybe I am a little drunk..."

Kurama(smiling): "Heh, you're so lightweight."

(Mm....don't touch me like that...)

It really makes my heart beat faster.

While Kurama and Yoshino were in their own world. Yoshitsune and others were like-----

Yoshitsune: "I've never seen Kurama smiling like that."

Yoichi: "He doesn't seem to be aware of it at all."

Benkei: "Well, I hope he doesn't give Yoshino a hard time later...."

I didn't even know what they were talking about and the lively night went on.....

......................

Yoshitsune: "It's a good time to stop. I'm afraid we'll have to call it a night."

The party ends at Yoshitsune-sama's words.

(That was quick!)

Benkei: "Yoshino, you were drinking a lot. Are you okay?"

Yoshino(drunk): "Mm."

(He's right. I don't think I can walk straight....)

Yoichi: "Okay Kurama. You were the one giving her drink after drink, so you're responsible for helping her walk to her room."

Kurama: "Why?"

Yoshino(drunk): "No it's okay....I can walk by myself....."

I smiled at Kurama who instead looks down at me with a face that was screaming 'Why should I do everything?'

(I wish I could have said something more clever, but my mind is a bit foggy.)

Kurama: ".....Fine. I'll take her."

Yoshino(drunk): "Hm?"

(Now he's okay with it? But why?)

.......................

After leaving the party hall, Kurama and I walk down the corridor together.

Yoshino(drunk): "Why did you change your mind all of a sudden?"

Kurama: "............................Because you're making that dangerous face."

(Dangerous face? What do you mean?)

Kurama: "That dangerous face."

Yoshino(drunk): "W-What?"

Kurama walks and stops in front of me. His both hands moved to hold my face.

(So close....!)

I instantly looked away from his beautiful face.

Kurama: "You're cheeks are red and eyes are moist...Don't you realize that this is the same face you make when I play with you?"

(.......Mm.)

Yoshino(drunk): "Anyone who is weak to alcohol looks like this....it doesn't have anything to do with....what you just told..."

Kurama: "I'm talking about you now. That's all I'm interested in at the moment."

His deep voice tickles my ears and my body heats up in excitement.

(Maybe I'm too drunk....that I can't think properly...)

I became more sensitive to Kurama's touch and his words.

Yoshino(drunk): "Let..go..."

When I started feeling impatient, I tried to push his hand back.

(Woahhh)

My legs were wobbly and I almost lost my footing.

Kurama: ".....What the hell are you even trying to do?"

Yoshino(drunk): "Sorry..."

He quickly supports my body instead of moving away and held me close to his chest.

(Please don't hear my heartbeat....Please don't hear my heartbeat....PLEASE!!)

Kurama: "You're so annoying."

When I looked up at Kurama----

(.......!)

Yoshino(blushing): "Wait! What are you....?"

One hand was slipped under my knees and the other hand held my back, picking me up.

Kurama: "No more waiting."

Then, Kurama started walking.

Yoshino(blushing): "Ah...umm...am I not heavy? You can put me down...."

(Actually, I'm embarrassed. So please put me down!)

Kurama: "It's not the first time I've held you. So just shut up and let me take care of you."

Yoshino(blushing): "Yes..."

......................

Kurama: "We're here."

Yoshino(blushing): "Thank you..."

(He carried me to my room without complaining at all.)

I thanked him in a quiet voice as he lowered me into the bed with unexpected politeness.

Kurama: "Now, drink this."

Yoshino(blushing): "Yes."

I received a glass of water and quietly sipped it.

(I can't believe he's doing this all for me.)

Yoshino(blushing): "......Are you also drunk? Kurama."

Kurama: "What?"

Yoshino: "No. It's just....you're being surprisingly kind to me. You never were before..."

Kurama: "Did you get drunk so much that you're seeing things now? How do any of these things I did counts as kindness? I was just----"

Yoshino: "Just?"

Kurama: ".....making sure that my things don't break."

He takes the glass from my hand and places it on the nearby shelf.

Yoshino(blushing): "But."

Kurama: "Shut up now."

He gently combed my messy bangs and then, his neat face slowly approaches.....

(Ah.....)

He drops a kiss on my forehead and my heart skips a beat.

Kurama: "Humans are annoying. But, you make me do the strangest things. Like listening to idle talking, watching out for weak people and offering them a hand."

Chapter 15

[maddiefriendlovesbilly]

Back by literally zero request:

Once More, This Time With Feeling: Pt. 2

Rating: PG13 for violence and graphic descriptions, SFW

Ship: Ghost/Spooker

Warnings: Graphic Descriptions of intense panic attacks and dissociation, derealization, depersonalization, implied traumatic events, similarities to alters switching (Jimmy and Gregory, not intentional but is still there due to the nature of the scene), Graphic Descriptions of violence, Major Character Death (temporary) and probably more (please tell me if there is anything else that needs to be tagged!)

Summary: Ghost learns that watching someone die in front of you is a very quick way to find out how much you actually care about them - even if you're not quite ready to admit it just yet. (Contains lots of fluff with a decent amount of angst mixed in! Could be considered hurt/comfort)

Wordcount: 2634

Nothing can be compared to the sound of an axe splitting a head clean open. Ghost can’t move. He can’t think. This can’t be happening. He’s gonna wake up now...Now...Now.

But nothing happens.

He glances down, numbly, at Spooker’s lifeless body on the ground. Blood spills from the crevice in his skull. Ghost’s stomach lurches, so he looks back up at the doorway, wondering if he’s next. It barely registers that there is no enemy. Just an axe swinging gently back and forth on a rope attached to the ceiling. A trap. It was a trap all along, and they fell for it. Distantly, he wonders if brains can be repaired once they’re split open like that. He thinks, Probably not.

Ghost feels like his world is sinking, crashing, burning. Why isn’t he getting up? Billy’s powers should still hold up here - they’re well within range of the Acachalla house, so why?

He realizes he’s been staring vacantly at Spooker for the past who knows how long, and when he looks up Katrina is standing in front of him, staring at him from behind her mane. She gurgles, sounding somehow both sympathetic and smug despite saying no actual words, and Ghost wavers between collapsing to the ground and sobbing, and strangling her on the spot. Something twitches inside of him, vile and immoral, waiting for its moment to strike. He considers indulging it just this once; doesn’t get the chance to decide whether he really will because Katrina pounces, claws digging into his ribcage like she’s searching for something - and in his last moments of consciousness, he watches something pulse in her hand, once, before all goes dark.

Even in death, it seems he’s not allowed to rest.

As soon as his eyes close, they blink open. He can’t see anything, but he feels a doorknob under his hand and feels his mouth finishing the words, “--what about the others?”

Behind him, Spooker’s voice replies, without a hint of caution or worry, “No luck over he-Woah!”

The door hits the wall and Ghost’s eyes widen with fear. He hears himself stutter out, “H-Hey, you good?”

He mouths the words as Spooker says them, glad at least that the room is too dark for Spooker to see it. “Yeah...yeah, I’m alright, just caught me off guard. Let’s go.” He pivots, lunging blindly for where Spooker’s voice came from, tackling him. Something sharp nicks his cheek, and he feels a slight breeze pass overhead. They hit the ground hard, but Ghost decides he prefers that over the alternative.

“Ghost! Wh-What was that for?”

He fumbles for his emergency batteries and reloads his flashlight as fast as he can, knowing Katrina could appear any second. He shines his light towards the doorway, where the axe takes a final swing inwards, before disappearing behind the door for good.

“Holy crap Ghost, how...how did you know that was there?”

“Instincts or something, I guess…” He pants, out of breath.

His mind buzzes and whirs, and he can hardly think through it, but he can’t just lay on top of Spooker forever, so he forces himself to stand, peeking around the corner cautiously.

Katrina is nowhere in sight. His chest aches with how coiled his muscles are - ready to spring at any moment.

Spooker dusts himself off and peeks over Ghost’s shoulder, searching the room and finding the exact same thing Ghost did — nothing. Ghost just barely restrains himself from putting a protective arm between Spooker and the empty room.

Cautiously, he steps inside, Spooker close behind. The only sound is that of their boots clicking against the tile floor. Despite everything, he finds time to thank any gods watching that Spooker has been too distracted by the new surroundings to baby him about the second cut across his cheek. It’s only a matter of time though, he knows.

Glancing around cautiously, Ghost takes in the decrepit machinery dominating the room’s layout. Most of it has decayed beyond recognition. In the far right corner sits a row of industrial shelves containing what at first looks to be scrap metal and wires, but as they approach them, turns out to be an assortment of batteries and other miscellaneous electronics.

“Score!!” Spooker shouts, and by some miracle Ghost quells his roaring panic into a tense, “Spooker, be careful, we don’t know if the entity is nearby.”

Spooker appears duly contrite, so he lets it go this once, if only because he doesn’t fully grasp the peril they are in. Hell, even Ghost’s not sure what the bigger picture is. If that entity is truly Katrina, then what are her motives? And if it isn’t, did the others see someone else?

Spooker is currently loading some new batteries into his flashlight, so Ghost feigns at inspecting some old flip phones on one of the shelves near Spooker and asks hesitantly, “That girl earlier, you saw her too right?”

“The one with the sharp claws and hair all in her eyes? Yeah, why?”

“Hm. Interesting,” is all he can say.

So if it’s something pretending to be her to toy with him, why did everyone see Katrina, instead of their own illusions? Is it just another layer to the deception? Why bother?

What is the point?

“Is that Nokia particularly thought-provoking, or are you gonna tell me what you’re thinking about?” Spooker had apparently appeared over his shoulder sometime while he was lost in thought, and Ghost jerks around, slamming into the shelf of Nokias, now behind him.

A loud CLANG resonates throughout the room, reverberating off the surrounding machinery in ways that seem almost staged -- it’s hauntingly ethereal.

Spooker’s hands fly out to steady him immediately, a look of concern clearly written on his face. For some reason, despite all logic, the first thing he notices is how close they are to each other. The second is the pain in his back. He hisses.

Spooker’s hands flit about nervously, from Ghost’s shoulder to his face before he curls his fists at his sides, nails digging into his palms. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that -- okay maybe a little but-” Ghost’s mouth twitches upwards in amusement involuntarily. “-I didn’t think you’d startle that badly! Really! I’m so so sorry-”

Ghost realizes that Spooker could probably apologize all day if allowed to, so he cuts in, “I’m fine Spooker.” it’s mostly the truth, he’ll probably bruise like hell tomorrow morning, but other than that he’s okay. He’s been through much worse on a mission, so he tries to seem sincere when he smiles slightly and says, “Seriously, it’s nothing to worry about, I’m alright.”

Spooker seems placated for all of two seconds before he suddenly squints at Ghost with heavy suspicion. “Are you saying that because you’re actually fine, or because your pain-rating scale only has the options of ‘not bleeding out or missing limbs, so doing fine,’ and ‘currently bleeding out or missing limbs, might need assistance if the situation is truly dire?’”

Ghost glances away, he’s not exactly wrong - not that he’ll admit that. “It’s actually fine, just a small bruise.”

“Uh huh.” He doesn’t sound convinced. “Turn around, let me see it.”

“Wha-Why? I told you it’s fine!” He is not whining right now, that would be childish. He’s just...objecting loudly. Yes.

“Yeah, and I totally believe you. Turn around.”

Ghost eyes the space under Spooker’s arm, calculating possible escapes. “We have much more important things to do than play doctor Spooker. Like finding a way out of here perhaps? You can swaddle me in bubble wrap when we get out of here for all I care, but right now I’d like to keep moving forward.”

Spooker seems to debate this for a few moments before blinking a few times and replying, “Fine, but if you start struggling to keep up I’m not going to be so nice.” He moves back, letting Ghost slide past him and out from between the shelves. Ghost has to push aside the very strong feeling that he’s had that conversation before.

Ghost ignores the inexplicable heat in his cheeks and starts scanning the room for an exit. For some reason it feels like the temperature has risen quite a bit since they entered, maybe the next room will be cooler. It could be some sort of elaborate trap to slowly boil them to death without them noticing. Who really knows with ghosts.

The walls around the machines are solid grey concrete, smooth and uniform. Ghost searches for some sort of inconsistency, a flaw somewhere, and eventually he finds a small notch in the otherwise perfect walls, and moves to investigate.

As he starts to approach it the sound of something metal hitting the floor ricochets from behind the shelves. “S-Sorry! My...My bad....”

“You alright?”

“Fine! Fine! Everything is fine!” Spookers voice is an octave too high to be deemed truly fine, but Ghost chalks it up to being startled by the loud noise. He looks back at the notch in the wall. Suddenly, he realizes that engraved just above the notch is a long string of symbols he’s never seen before. He wonders how he didn’t notice the intricate carvings until now.

“ᚱᛖᛋᛏ ᛁᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚨᚱᛗᛋ ᛟᚠ ᚹᚺᛖᚱᛖ ᛃᛟᚢᚱ ᛋᛟᚢᛚ ᛁᛋ ᚱᛟᛟᛏᛖᛞ. ᛒᚱᛖᚨᛏᚺᛖ ᛁᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚨᚢᚱᚨ ᛏᚺᚨᛏ ᛃᛟᚢ ᛋᚺᚨᚱᛖ. ᛟᚾᚲᛖ ᛏᚺᛖᛋᛖ ᚲᛟᚾᛞᛁᛏᛁᛟᚾᛋ ᚺᚨᚹᛖ ᛒᛖᛖᚾ ᛗᛖᛏ, ᛏᚺᛖ ᛈᚨᛏᚺ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᛟᛈᛖᚾ.”

Squinting at it, he decides to call Spooker over. Spooker scampers up, yet again hovering just over his left shoulder. Ghost is starting to think he just likes being there. For some reason this doesn’t bother him. He doesn’t know why.

Spooker looks at the symbols for a few seconds like they’re familiar, before finally he exclaims, “Oh! I know what those are - Those are Nordic Runes - specifically Elder Futhark!”

“You just...knew that?”

“I’ve always been into occult stuff, y’know? Apparently people still use these for divination today! But it’s also a language - like right here...” He points at one that looks like a fancy M over Ghost’s shoulder, and he’s beaming so brightly that Ghost is pretty sure he’s found the reason it’s so hot in this room - the warmth in his smile as he talks could rival the sun. Spooker keeps talking, explaining what different runes mean and their individual names, and Ghost realizes he’s been staring at Spooker’s face instead of paying attention, so he looks back at the runes and hopes he hadn’t noticed. Spooker doesn’t mention it if he does, just keeps talking about runes and their meanings, and it settles a part of Ghost he hadn’t even realized was jittery until now.

Something in the notched section of wall clicks twice, and not a second later does the wall slide open in one smooth motion. Behind it lies a rather dull looking corridor, with plain, dark walls, and a sharp turn about twenty feet ahead. They both jump slightly at the sudden change, but just as quickly steel themselves and enter, unwilling to test how long it would remain open. “Do you know what opened it?”

Spooker’s eyes flick side to side like he’s debating with himself. “Well, the clue was really vague...So I’m not really sure..” He scratches his chin. He’s pretty sure Spooker is hiding something, but asking what the clue was when he probably said it earlier is practically announcing that he wasn’t actually paying attention, so instead he just replies, “Huh, weird. Well as long as we’re making progress it can’t be a bad thing. Let’s go.”

Spooker, for one reason or another, stays silent.

Oh. It seems he forgot where he was.

As they round the corner they are met with the one and only Katrina - or whatever it is that’s pretending to be her - standing about thirty feet down the hallway. Ghost could swear she’s smiling under her mop of hair. He wants to run, or scream, or just, at the very least, move, preferably somewhere where the blood red eyes piercing through her veil of hair can’t follow him. But he can’t. He’s stuck to the spot, like he’s been sautered to the floor. He feels a presence behind him - and it can’t be her because he’s staring right at her; so it must be Spooker hovering just over his left shoulder, just like always, and if he wasn’t frozen in place he might have cried with relief. He manages to drag a shaking hand backwards until it meets Spooker’s, intertwining their fingers with a bruising grip. Katrina observes this, before nodding her head in what looks like approval. She turns on her heel and shambles back the way she presumably came.

“Wh-” His voice cracks, forcing him to pause and gather himself. “What was that. Why did she-I don’t, I don’t understand. Why-Why would…I don’t understand-” The jittery fragment grows restless, feeding off of his panic. He doesn’t understand what it is, he doesn’t understand what just happened, he doesn’t understand anything at all.

The fragment is growing agitated now. He doesn’t know why or how or what it is. It’s hungry. It’s so hungry. How did he end up on the ground? When did he start laughing? There’s someone talking somewhere. They feel familiar, safe. Who were they again? He’s still holding their hand. A face has come into view, or maybe they lifted his head. He feels like he’s watching through a window. The face - so so familiar, yet completely unrecognizable - wipes tears from his cheeks. Is he crying? They look worried; it looks wrong on their face. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong--

It’s all wrong.

This isn’t happening. It can’t be. It’s not real.

Spooker - that’s his name - looks at him with a frantic, desperate, fearful look in his eyes. He’s still laughing, he realizes.

“I saw you die,” falls from his mouth, unbidden. He doesn’t know why. “The axe. It killed you.” He giggles hysterically, but it’s choked off by more tears.

“I know,” Spooker says in a soothing voice, like he’s talking to a caged animal, “I know, I’m sorry.” They’re still holding hands, even after all of this. He looks down to see that his nails have dug deep enough into Spooker’s hand to draw blood. He starts to pull away, but Spooker catches his wrist. “Hey, it’s okay. I’ll be fine. You can hold on for as long as you need, okay?”

“Okay. Okay.” Everything is still so foggy, but the red haze is gone. “What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong with you okay?”

“But, normal....normal people don’t.” He swallows thickly. “Don’t do this.”

“No, no they don’t,” Spooker agrees.

“So why am I?”

“We’re gonna figure it out, okay? We’ll figure it out together.”

“Okay.” He feels very small. Vulnerable. Scared. He finds himself longing for a mansion he’s never seen before; tall and green and empty, so empty. Home.

He suddenly feels exhausted. “I-I can’t,” he blinks rapidly, trying to stem the drooping of his eyelids.

“It’s okay, you can rest. I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

“Alright…”

The next time his eyes close, he drifts off into a dreamless sleep.

[kanawuts]

The Girl Who Loved Fairy Tales

Inspired by this post by @panncakes

I haven’t written anything in years, so apologies if this is terrible. This is set in alternate universe where Jane doesn’t die and none of the characters are involved in sex trafficking. 

Part 1

“Wait, you know him?”

Tan’s voice cut through Jane’s thoughts and she glanced up from her phone. “Hm?”

“Did you just say that you know the doctor?” He leaned closer to her, eyes wide and eager.

“Oh, yeah,” she said, tucking her phone back into her purse. Pued was calling her. Again. And she was ignoring him. Again. “He used to live here when we were kids. We were best friends.”

She and Tan had been holed up in the back corner of the only coffee shop in Viangpha Mork for the last twenty minutes, under the guise of “grading papers,” but so far neither of them had gotten much work done. Tan had seemed distracted since the arrived, fiddling with his pen and shuffling papers around and not saying much at all, until suddenly he’d looked up and said, “Did you hear that the hospital hired a new doctor? I saw him at The Mist last night.”

“Of course,” she said, wondering why he was bringing this up. “Bunn and I go way back. He—”

She was cut off by her phone screen lighting up, alerting her to yet another phone call from Pued. What was it? The fifth one today? Why hadn’t she blocked his number yet? She really needed to block his number.

Pushing her ex to the back of her mind and refocusing on the conversation at hand, she watched as Tan’s eyes seemed to grow brighter with excitement as she explained the childhood connection she and Bunn shared.

“No shit? You guys are friends? That’s great!”

She squinted at him suspiciously. “And why is that?”

Tan paused, considering his words. “He…kissed me. Last night at The Mist. He was absolutely wasted and he stumbled into me and…he kissed me.”

“Oh?” said Jane, raising an eyebrow. She’d always had her suspicions about Bunn’s sexuality. He’d never seemed interested in girls back in their middle and high school days, but she’d never asked him about it and then he’d moved away and they’d lost contact. “And how did you feel about that?”

“Um, have you seen him?” Tan asked. “How do you think I felt about it?”

She tilted her head, considering this. “I didn’t know you liked boys.”

Now it was his turn to raise an eyebrow. “You got a problem with that?”

“No!” she exclaimed. “No, of course not.”

Tan was a bit of an enigma. Despite the fact that they had been friends for several years now, sometimes she felt like she knew close to nothing about him. He never talked about his personal life. And then there was way he could shift from an earnest, almost innocent sweetness into someone downright intimidating and dangerous – she didn’t fully know what to make of him most of the time.

“Okay, great,” Tan said, leaning back in his seat. “So it’s settled then.”

“Huh? What’s settled?”

“You’ll introduce me to him! Officially.”

“I don’t remember saying I would do that.”

If it was possible for a person to actually make the pleading face emoji expression in real life, Tan was currently doing so.

“Jaaaaaane,” he whined. “Please. I really think he might be my soulmate.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “Your what?”

“I know that sounds crazy but hear me out. I’ve met him before. Well, not really ‘met,’ per se, but…had a run-in with. It was like eight years ago, back in college. He dropped some papers and I helped him pick them up and then he hurried off before I could introduce myself or get his name or anything and I’ve always been pissed at myself for not chasing him down. We had this connection, Jane, I swear we did. I can’t explain it, but I saw him and something…clicked. That sounds stupid, I know. But I’ve never been able to get him out of my mind. I’ll be having sex with someone and I’ll close my eyes and I’ll see his face. That has to mean something, right? A guy I said three words to years ago having that much of an impact on me? It has to mean something.”

Jane stared at him, completely caught off guard. He’d never opened up to her about something so personal before.

He buried his face in his hands and groaned. “God, why am I even telling you all this? You probably think I’m crazy.”

She reached out, taking one of his hands in her own and pulling it away from his face. “I don’t think you’re crazy,” she said, though that wasn’t exactly true. She quickly racked her brain for something positive to say about the situation. “I think…I think you have good taste. Bunn is the best person I know. I’m not surprised someone would spend eight years pining for him.”

Tan smiled slightly at that. “He’s really handsome,” he murmured.

Jane shook her head in disbelief. She had never seen him like this. “Well, I assume he’ll be at the party tomorrow night. I can introduce you there.”

“The party?”

“The hospital director’s birthday party! Tan, don’t tell me you forgot. You promised you’d be my date.

“Oh…right…”

He had definitely forgotten.

“Don’t even try to back out. You brother is going to be there. And my sister. I cannot face them alone, Tan. I really can’t.”

If there was one memory Jane wished she could erase from her mind forever, it was the sight of Pued and Rungtiva, together in bed. Even now, thinking about it, she felt sick to her stomach. But she couldn’t stop replaying the events in her head. Finishing up work early and deciding to go to Pued’s place to surprise him. Walking in on them. Letting out a shocked scream. Watching them spring apart. The look on Rung’s face, slightly smug, as she dressed and slipped out the door without a word to Jane. Pued’s tears and frantic apologies. “Jane, I’m sorry. I can explain. Please. Just listen to me. I’m so sorry. I love you. Please don’t leave.”

But she had left.

She sent him a text later. “We’re done,” was all it said. He hadn’t stopped calling her and texting her since. She really needed to block his number. Why couldn’t she bring herself to block his number?

Deep down, she knew why. Because he was the boy she’d loved for nearly her entire life. Her childhood friend who had finally turned into something more a year ago. She had truly believed she would spend the rest of her life with him, had truly believed he loved her and only her. But he had betrayed her. Tan thought that Bunn was his soulmate? What the hell did that mean anyway? Soulmate? Pued was her soulmate and he’d fucked her sister. It seemed to her that the whole concept was overrated and meaningless.

Wow. So there it was. She, Janejira Sookyod, the girl who loved fairy tales, the girl who cried watching cheesy rom-coms, the girl whose favorite holiday was Valentine’s Day, had become cynical and jaded.

“I’ll be there,” Tan said, pulling her from her thoughts.  He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “And I’ll kick Pued’s ass if he comes anywhere near you.”

**

Tan had stayed true to his word on that one. And unfortunately, he had to walk away from a conversation with Bunn to do so.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Tan,” she said quietly, as he drove her home. “You should have kept talking to Bunn. I can handle Pued on my own.”

Tan stared straight ahead, jaw clenched, hands gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly. “He hit you, Jane. You think I was just going to stand by and let him treat you like that?”

“I said some hurtful things to him,” she muttered.

Tan turned his head, the disbelief evident in his eyes. “He slept with your sister. Of course you said some hurtful things to him. Anyone would. That doesn’t excuse him putting his hands on you like that. Are you seriously defending him?”

“No, no, I just…” She trailed off, her head spinning. All she wanted was to change out of this dress into her comfiest pajamas, burrow under the covers of her bed, and stay there the rest of the weekend. “I just never thought he’d do something like that.”

“I’m really sorry this happened to you, Jane,” Tan said softly, seeming to recognize that she wasn’t in the mood to say anything else on the matter.

They drove the rest of the way home in silence.

**

Over the next week, Jane did her best to avoid thinking about Pued at all costs. Luckily, his attempts to contact her had stopped, besides one text he’d sent her the morning after the party that simply said “sorry.”

Sorry.

One word.

As if one word could possibly be enough to make up for what he had done.

She shook her head, as if she could shake the thought of him right out of her mind. This wasn’t what she needed to be focusing on right now. She was heading to the hospital to have lunch with Bunn and she was taking Tan with her. Mostly because he’d begged her to when she’d mentioned her lunch plans. But maybe this could prove to be a good distraction for her. Her own love life was in complete shambles, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t help out her friends with theirs.

She watched as Tan’s eyes lit up as soon as Bunn rounded the corner, and she smiled, really smiled, for the first time since the incident at the party.

Perhaps she hadn’t become completely jaded and cynical.

“I thought you were coming alone,” Bunn said, as he reached out to hug her.

“I was going to, but Tan was desperate to see you,” she murmured in his ear as he pulled her close, hopefully quietly enough that Tan couldn’t hear her.

Bunn pulled away, and she a saw a small, pleased smile dance at the corner of his lips before he cleared his throat and rearranged his features into an expression of disinterest, as if anyone was going to buy that. He was the one who’d kissed Tan, after all.

She grinned. The two of them were going to make the cutest couple.

**

An hour later, she and Tan were heading back to her car when she heard someone shout her name.

They both turned, and Jane was surprised to see a doctor running towards them. She recognized her, but she didn’t know her name. How did the doctor know hers?

“Sorry,” the doctor said, coming to a stop in front of them. “I hope I didn’t startle you. Your Ariel keychain fell off your bag.”

Jane let out a little gasp. “Oh my god, thank you so much!” she exclaimed, as the doctor handed the keychain over. “I would have been devastated to lose her.”

“It’s really cute. I love the Little Mermaid,” the doctor said with a smile. “I’m Fai, by the way.”

To be continued...

Part 2