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thestarwrites · 4 years ago

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All Right, All Might: Ch. 7

Word Count: 3,128

Rating: PG

Painting: Toshinori Yagi X FemOC

The UA Guidance Counselor, a quirk user with Pathokenesis, is shocked to find out her personal hero All Might is coming to be a teacher. The road they walk as a parallel starts to merge and there’s no telling what could happen. With the attack at the USJ over, what becomes of the friendship between Patho and All Might?

CHAPTER SEVEN: Don’t push your limits, Toshinori

“Hello miss, I’m Naomasa Tsukauchi,” he held out his hand to the woman, “its nice to meet you in person, Patho, but I wish it were under better circumstances.”

The woman shook his hand, “You… know of me?”

“Well of course I do, you’re a pro hero - not to mention Toshinori is my best friend.”

She blinked a few times, “Best friend— ah- listen, I don’t mean to be… but what about the kids?”

He nodded, “The rest of the force is heading over to the USJ now, but I wanted to ask you to accompany me to the USJ, I know you’re the guidance counselor. And I have some questions since you’re here.”

“Sure- sure of course Detective,” She blinked a few times again, walking with him to his cruiser and getting into the passenger seat - how could Toshinori have a best friend on the police force and not tell her?

He smiled warmly, trying to put her at ease, holding a hand to her arm, “Please, call me Tsukauchi.”

She nodded again, “What do you need to know, Tsukauchi?”

They started speeding toward the USJ campus, “How much do you know about what happened?”

“Not much, I was with Toshinori this morning- he was late to work, he — ah, he was…”

Tsukauchi gave a small smile, “I know about him, and One for All - you can talk freely with me, Keri.”

“O-oh,” she wet her lips and blushed, “He used too much of his strength, and Nezu had come into my office to give him a lecture. He was supposed to be at the USJ earlier… when I went wandering around wasting time I went out for a walk and that’s when young Tenya Ida ran up and alerted me to the situation. I didn’t get much out of him it all happened too fast.” Turning her head she saw a few ambulances rush by, eyebrows knitting together in panic.

“I wanted you to accompany me to bring some comfort to the kids.”

“Of course,” She watched as another ambulance sped by, “Do you know anything yet?”

“Not yet.”

She nodded, wringing her hands together, trying to compose herself.

The car skidded up to the USJ and both adults got out of the car. Keri ran over to where the kids had been gathered, her forehead and body already glowing, “Are you all alright!?” She called out.

“Miss Chairo!” Ochaco gasped, “Y-yeah we’re mostly all okay—“

“Where’s Tenya?” She said softly. Ochaco pointed, he looked to be fine, he was talking to Tsukauchi at the moment she sighed, “I’m the one who found Tenya first, I wanted to know he made it back here alright with the teachers.”

Keri made her rounds with the students, giving them all supportive touches and kind words — well, all except to Katsuki who she told he did a great job instead. But she could tell even he was shaken up, he didn’t use his usual insults.

Tsukauchi finally came over with the list of students, going over each one, “Everyone seems to be here, and uninjured.”

“What about Mister Aizawa?!” The girl named Tsu jumped forward.

“And Thirteen!?” Mina, stood forward to ask as well.

“And Deku!?”

“Yes— Midoriya—“ Ida chimed in.

Keri looked up at Tsukauchi, wanting to know the answers as well.

“Aizawa is in the hospital now, no brain damage apparent, but his bones in his arms are splintered and one of his eye-sockets is also shattered… we don’t know how his vision will heal in his recovery. As for Thirteen - apart from some lacerations on her back, she’ll make a full recovery,” the detective paused a moment, “Oh— Izuku, he is in Recovery Girl’s office, that should be all the care he needs, and he’ll be good as new.”

“What about All Might?” Keri’s voice cooed gently.

Tsukauchi smiled a little, “He’s in the nurses office as well, he’ll be fine.” The kids all breathed a sigh of relief, “Now, I’m going to head to the main campus, I want to speak with All Might — Patho, can you handle everything here?”

She nodded, “Of course, Tsukauchi.” Turning to all of the kids she gave a small smile, “Come on, lets all get back on the bus and head back to the school, I’m sure you’re all exhausted and ready to call it a day…��

—————

Toshinori clutched his fist and smiled, “Mark my words, these kids are going to be GREAT heroes...”

Deku beamed, wiping his eyes on his arm, he was about to say something else to the detective, until…

“Toshi!?” A woman’s voice, full of concern rang through the doorway as it almost burst open. Tears streamed down her face as she stood there looking in at her coworker covered in bandages, she was finally able at the end of this long day to come and see him. She had been so worried- even though she knew he was alright. She had been distracted with taking charge of the kids and the end of the school day to seek him out yet.

Recovery Girl looked up, “Keri—! Come now- there’s no need to burst in here like that! Keep your voice down please,” She sighed, shaking her head. She knew she would be seeing Patho sooner or later, All Might was here, and injured after all.

There was no stopping her, she rushed to his bedside and under the surprised glances of the three others in the room, Keri sobbed as she collapsed by the side of him, crying in his lap, “Oh Toshinori— thank god you’re okay!! I was so worried!”

For a moment he was floored- no one had ever acted like this for him before. He felt the familiar nagging feeling bubble up in his chest as he gently pulled up her chin, ‘Hey.. hey… come here,” He helped her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her crying form. She was so warm, so kind, so concerned- just for him. With her, he could always find a reason to smile, “Hey now...” he lifted her chin once more and wiped tears from her cheek with his other hand, “What’s with the waterworks now, Ree? This old man’s just fine...”

She looked at him with a trembling lip, “I-I’m sorry I— Tsukauchi said you were here and you were injured... I got here as soon as I possibly could!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay Keri I promise.” He pulled her into another hug, “I’m alright, I’m right here. You can’t get rid of me that easy.”

Recovery Girl cleared her throat, Tsukauchi turned to speak to her in the other room, but Deku, who was bed-bound for the time being, watched as the two people he trusted most, embraced. His eyebrows knitted for a moment as he realized that All Might was gingerly stroking her hair and whispering in her ear. As the two adults shared in this intimate moment, he realized that their bond was more than friendship.

All Might, his mentor, whether he knew it or not- loved the woman in his arms.

Izuku’s highly logical skills of observation had finally put the pieces together. All Might kept insisting they were friends. Yet, he always had his hands on her, or his body tilted toward her. She knew everything about him, they were often together. They ate lunch together during break. Whenever his phone rang, and it was her, he grinned. He always remembered to bring her little snacks she liked to school. These were all the behaviors of a devoted boyfriend in Izuku’s mind.

The boy stared at Patho and All Might as they continued to embrace. He hummed gently and looked out the window, had they been secretly together all this time?

“Ree... I know you’re worried, but shouldn’t you be consoling the kids? They need it more than I do—“

She shook her head, “I’ve been substituting for Aizawa for the rest of the day, helping the kids and getting them set to change and get some food and get home. I told Nezu I’m going to start their counseling tomorrow, besides I— I couldn’t focus anymore on anything without seeing you Toshi.”

All Might blushed fiercely and he pushed her hair back, “I don’t deserve how much you care...”

Keri frowned, “You deserve it more than most. Besides... you’re my— best friend.” Izuku noticed there was a hesitation in her voice— she had to love All Might.

Sighing he smiled in defeat and wiped her cheeks again, “You’re my best friend too, but I’m gonna need you to pull it together okay? Young Midoriya shouldn’t see his guidance counselor crying.” He smirked, deflecting.

Blushing she swatted All Might’s hands away as she wiped her face and went over to Deku’s bed, “How are you doing, Izuku?? I’m so so happy you’re alright.” She smiled and Deku immediately felt a calming warmth over him.

“Im okay Miss Chairo, promise.” He gave a sleepy smile, “Don’t worry about us, we’re heroes! Right, All Might??”

“That’s right, young Midoriya!” He grinned.

Patho let out an exasperated sigh and stroked Deku’s hair back, “You two are going to give me a nervous breakdown, you know that? You’ve been doing it for months now, and with your track record, it will probably get worse.”

The three of them laughed and carried on for a while longer before Patho was told she needed to let Deku get some rest so he could go home in a bit. She kissed Izuku on the top of his head and as she left, he saw her and All Might brush fingers.

Patho spoke quietly to Recovery Girl and then left with Tsukauchi.

All might watched her leave before laying back down with a grunt.

——

Tsukauchi looked over to her once they were outside, and he took a deep breath, “So… how long have you been in love with Toshinori?”

Her cheeks flushed a bright red, her body glowing pink instantly as she looked up, “Tsukauchi—! W-we just met— That’s a really forward question!”

He shrugged, “He’s my best friend, and he’s never talked to me to a woman before you. I see the way you look at him and tend after him. He even talks about how you make sure he eats and sleeps regularly - and how you are trying to make him realize his weaker form is beautiful as it is…” He wet his lips, “Something is going on.”

“So what is this conversation exactly…? A dissuasion?”

He chuckled, “No of course not… Toshinori needs someone to make him take care of himself, and to care for him the way he cares for others… no matter what comes of you two, I’m thankful you’ve been looking out for our number one hero, Keri.”

She nodded and smiled, “I’ve been in love with him since the day I first saw him when I was six years old… but a lot of people love him.”

“You know… I didn’t expect such deflection from a therapist.” Tsukauchi smirked.

Keri rolled her eyes, blushing, “Fine. He asked me to dinner the second day we met, and he’s just… he’s so much more than All Might. Not that All Might isn’t amazing! But… Toshinori… he’s so,” she paused for a second and felt her throat tighten, “He’s warm, and he’s generous, and he believes in a better future. Even when he’s melancholy he still has a childlike wonder! I even think it’s funny how much he loves American movies and TV…”

Tsukauchi smiled brighter, “Yep. He needs someone like you.”

Keri looked up and just smiled a little, “Don’t say anything to Toshi?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not a tattletale.” He laughed and sighed, “He’ll probably be coming down soon, maybe he’ll need a calming presence when he does.” He winked and walked off toward his car with a wave, “Take care Keri.”

“Bye, Tsukauchi! Take care!” She waved and took a deep breath, pushing her long hair back, looking up to where the recovery office was before taking a seat on the front steps of the school.

——

Deku looked over and bit his lip, “All Might?” When he looked over, Deku cleared his throat, “Um... are you and.... Miss Chairo- dating?”

“Huh?!” The pro shot back up, “No— no? No! No...” he exhausted tones of voice before blushing and coughing up some blood, “She’s my friend! That’s all, young Modoriya. She’s a really, really good friend.”

He swallowed, “Oh… well okay, it’s just, you two are always together, and when you aren’t you’re always in contact. And you... introduced me to her before the entry exam…”

“BECAUSE SHE’S A GREAT ALLY IZUKU.” His cheeks were redder.

“No I know she is! She’s a great person! When we talk she’s always kind and helpful. I just.... the way you are together, and how she knows your secret, and about me… I just thought maybe it was a secret relationship?”

He pushed his hair back, “A-ah yes, well— No- no we’re friends! Besides I’m old enough to be her father so that’s just… ridiculous.” He laughed it off.

“All Might?” Recovery Girl came back into the room, “You should be healed enough to head home and rest- Izuku, it’ll be a couple more hours for your legs, dear.”

Toshinori nodded and slowly got out of bed, giving a manly thumbs up to Deku before he returned it with a smile. He took a deep breath, all the students should be gone by now.

Walking out of the front door in his small might form, he looked up at the sunset in the sky, the echo of Midoriya’s words in his ears; are you and Miss Chairo dating? He had not been the first to ask him a question like that. Maybe… maybe there could be something.

“Hey,” A familiar female voice called out softly, “Taking a risk walking out here looking like that, huh?”

Toshinori turned abruptly and then smiled in surprise, “Hey, Ree. Can’t be helped, I got an empty tank… What are you doing here?”

“I stuck around in case you got released,” she blushed, “I needed to be with you.”

Without thinking, he crossed to her and pulled her close, a sigh of relief leaving his lips, “I need to be with you right now, too.” He whispered.

“Come home with me tonight, you need to sleep in a real bed instead of that horrible futon you own for some God forsaken reason. Besides, then I can make sure you’re actually taking care of yourself instead of eating junk food and overdoing it.” She huffed.

Grinning he took a moment to cherish this. Maybe... maybe he did sort of love her. Not sort of. He did. He loved her.

Keri buried her face into his small but firm chest. Her heart ached to be like this always. The strangest thing was that, after today, she was even more attracted to him when he was small might. His heroic qualities shined through his blue eyes, his voice was like rough silk, so unsure of himself and sure about everything at once, “Gonna answer me?”

Toshinori smiled, “I accept.”

——

The walk back to her apartment near campus was a quiet one. After a few blocks she cleared her throat, “Toshi… you know that you— can’t keep going like this.”

He knit his brows together and looked over, there was a pit in his stomach, “What? Going like what?”

“You’re not strong enough to keep jumping in front of everyone like this anymore! First this morning draining all your energy - then, God, Toshi, this afternoon?”

“Keri, come on now,” His tone was soft and he turned his body to face her.

“No! You have to listen to me!” She stopped on the sidewalk and her hands flew up to her eyes, she was desperately trying to hide her tears from him, rub them away, she’d already cried too much today, “Your heart has never faltered, never, not once! You are good, and kind, and honest, and true- but your body, Toshi, your body is faltering!” She let out a choked sob, “I can’t lose you!” She blurted out.

“Hey, hey—“ he swiftly came to her and wrapped his bandaged limbs around her, holding her close, he felt terribly that he was causing her so much pain. This reminded him exactly why he never got married or into a committed relationship. Stroking her hair she cried into his baggy shirt, his own eyes pricked with tears as she began to glow pink. He could feel her sorrow, “Please- please, baby, don’t cry...” he cooed softly. The pet name failing to reach either person’s brain, “I’m just fine... I promise..”

“THIS time,” she looked up at him, cheeks red, long hair sticking to her tear stained face, “THIS time you’re fine! What about next time! Or, or the time after that!”

All Might took a deep breath, “Listen to me Keri. Please? I need to do what I’m meant to do. You need to understand that, you need to. To /know/ that I /need/ to be this,” Pushing her hair aside he caught her chin to tilt her to look at him, “I was like Midoriya,” he admitted, “I was born without a quirk. And eventually the power I passed down /will/ leave me. And I /will/ be a quirkless, scrawny, old man. You gotta understand, I /gotta/ be All Might for as long as I’m able to be. I have to protect those kids, I have to protect Japan, I have to protect you, Keri. Until Izuku is ready,” He took a shaky breath, “Do you understand?”

The light of the setting sun danced across his features. He looked like a towering sunflower in the wind. She thought about what she had admitted to his friend Tsukauchi. She couldn’t be selfish enough to try to derail his life’s passion for her feelings. Taking her own shaking breath she nodded, “I understand.”

“Things will be different one day,” he started, “And when they are— when they are we can talk about it then.” He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it tenderly.

Keri wasn’t sure what that meant, but it was enough. She gave him a nod and took his large hand in her own, holding it to her cheek, a thumb came to brush a tear from her cheek. Turning into his touch she kissed his palm, “Come on, let’s go home, I’ll cook something for you.”

“Home. That sounds, really nice.” When she pulled his hand from her face, he held firm to her hand as they continued the final few blocks to her apartment, lacing their fingers together.

#toshinori yagi x oc #all might x oc #my hero academia #mha fanfiction #yagi toshinori #all might

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shutupandshipit · 4 years ago

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Cold Feet - Oneshot

Summary: There was only eight people in the vast hallway of the church, but the noise they produced was almost suffocating. The light streaming in through stained glass windows was all too bright, bouncing off the white stone and smudge free mirrors that seemed to be everywhere. No matter where he looked, he could see himself, pale and shaking and nervous to the point of nausea.

He was a hero. He could stand up to villains ten times his size, but the thought of walking down the aisle?

He ducked his head between his knees, breathing into the small, warm space.

"Deku?" Ochako's petite hand rested lightly between his shoulder blades. "How are you doing? Excited? Nervous?"

.....

Or where Izuku runs away the first time leaving his groom at the altar, but doesn't the second time.

Pairing: Bakudeku

Rating: T (just for language mostly)

There was only eight people in the vast hallway of the church, but the noise they produced was almost suffocating. The light streaming in through stained glass windows was all too bright, bouncing off the white stone and smudge free mirrors that seemed to be everywhere. No matter where he looked, he could see himself, pale and shaking and nervous to the point of nausea.

He was a hero. He could stand up to villains ten times his size, but the thought of walking down the aisle?

He ducked his head between his knees, breathing into the small, warm space.

"Deku?" Ochako's petite hand rested lightly between his shoulder blades. "How are you doing? Excited? Nervous?"

.....

3 YEARS EARLIER

"Deku, are you excited?" Ochako squealed, nearly vibrating in the doorway from the still dark Bridal Party changing room. No one else had started to show up just yet, and so only the dim vanity light was on.

Izuku smiled at her weakly through the dim trying not to think about the deep circles beneath his eyes and the tears he'd had to mop up only two hours before that the makeup artist was going to have to work with. Two hours before had found him at three in the morning in a hotel room by himself having a panic attack after he knew his bridemaids wouldn't hear him through the thin walls. Now, it was five in the morning as he waited for the makeup artist, and he hadn't slept a wink and wasn't bound to in the near future. He'd barely been holding himself together for days, and his brain running ahead of him wasn't helping.

After the makeup artist left, the hairstylist was supposed to show up. Then, he had the manicures and pedicures his mother had insisted on for himself and his bridesmaids and the groomsmen who wanted to join. Once they got back, he had to get dressed and finish with touch-ups before checking with the planner to make sure everything was in place. Granted, that was supposed to be his Maid of Honor's job, but he didn't want to trouble Katsuki with such a menial task.

Even after all that was done, the wedding wasn't supposed to start until ten.

It felt too far away and way to close all at the same time.

He forced a wide grin onto his face, hoisting up his fist. All he could see was the scared flesh, and a sick flush of nausea assaulted him. "Yeah, I'm really excited. This is going to be a great day. I can't wait." He wanted to vomit.

Katsuki slipped in around Ochako holding a tray of take-away cups and a grease stained bag, hip checking her so that she stumbled into the room and grumbled at him. Setting everything down, he removed one of the cups only to press the warm side against Izuku's cheek. "Stop thinking. I could hear your brain running a mile a minute from the car. You're going to freak yourself out."

Izuku could only stare up at him with his fresh face and bright red eyes and neutral mouth. There was red rimmed around his eyes, and he wondered if Katsuki cried when other people couldn't see him. The cup pressed harder into his face until he took it.

"Coffee. Drink it. You look like hell warmed over, idiot," he said as Izuku set the cup down on the creamy stone vanity, "Do you want a donut or a boring ass bagel?"

Mouth filling with saliva, all Izuku could do was stare at him with eyes the size of saucers. He hadn't had a donut in over a year since he'd begun planning the wedding.

"Why would you even ask him that? You know he'd been watching what he eats," Ochako chided as she lifted her own cup, already smeared with the mauve matte lipstick she favored.

Katsuki turned to glare at her. "Hah? That's why I got that stupid fucking bagel like you told me to, but what the fuck does it matter anyway? It's his wedding day. He should be able to eat whatever the fuck he wants. Isn't he supposed to enjoy the day, not tiptoe around during it? It's not like one donut is going to make his suit fit any differently." He turned his glare onto Izuku. "Eat a fucking donut if you want to. You look half dead as it is. Did you even sleep? I have half a mind to make you take a nap."

Ochako laughed brightly, flipping on the overhead lights. "You're such a mom friend, Kat."

"Who the fuck's a mom friend?"

Ignoring the way his eyes stung at the sudden lights, Izuku shook his head in answer and reached for his coffee cup instead of Katsuki like he wanted to. They'd gotten closer after their first year at UA and then closer still when they were scouted by the same agency, but they'd never been friends who casually touched. Not like Katsuki and Kirishima, or Izuku and Ochako. Izuku stopped hoping for anything more when Katsuki and Ochako got together, though their relationship seemed to be the same as it ever was. They didn't act like Izuku thought a couple should. Then again, he and Todoroki had never really acted like he thought a couple should either, even in high school. "I'll just take the bagel," he muttered around the rim of the cup, "No one is going to want it anyway."

Katsuki growled above him before shoving a sweet, maple flavored donut against his lips. "Just eat it, you stubborn ass. I could see you salivating as soon as I said 'donut', so just eat it."

Opening his mouth and sinking his teeth into the soft dough, Izuku nodded shortly and ducked his head to side as tears beginning to fill his eyes.

"He doesn't have to eat it if he doesn't want to, Kat! Don't force him. It's his wedding day!"

He wished she'd stop saying that. It only made him feel sicker every time he heard it.

Spinning away, Katsuki left Izuku to his donut while he yelled, "He's eating it, ain't he? Leave it be, Cheeks! Don't we have shit in the car we still need to get?" As he passed, headed for the door, he ruffled Izuku's hair.

"Right~" Ochako sang, and called over her shoulder as Katsuki herded her out, "We'll be back in a moment. I'll text you if I see the makeup artist. She should be here soon."

He waited until the door had closed to let the tears slip down his cheeks. No, they weren't touchy friends, but sometimes... sometimes Katsuki would touch him at the moments he needed human contact most. That only made Izuku want him more each time. It was excruciating, and yet, he still hadn't told him. Enduring in silence was easier than Katsuki hating him again.

He made his way through one donut then another, crying silently the entire time.

.....

~Present~

"All of the above?" izuku asked in a voice with in increasing octave. "Scared. But, like, a good scared. I'm feeling so much it's making me sick."

Ochako hummed soothingly, rubbing at his back. "Once you see him standing at the altar, all of that will go away. You'll never believe how handsome he looks. He really pulled out all the stops today. And you want to know a secret?"

The smile was so obvious in her voice that Izuku couldn't help, but peak at her. "What?"

"I think he's more nervous than you are, right now. Eijirou had to go run damage control to calm him down. He was worried he was just going to have to give him a shot of vodka or something. That's how you know it's serious." She was grinning so widely it was almost more blinding then the rest of the hall.

"Really?"

She nodded, and as if to corroborate her story, Kirishima bustled back around the corner. He was panting, but smiling as he adjusted his tie and slipped back into his suit jacket. "Oh man, he is a wreck right now, but he'll be fine. Are we about to line up? Is it time yet?"

Mina stepped into his space, smiling from ear to ear as she fixed his tie better and straightened his vest. "Nearly. We're trying to calm down the other groom too. We have to wait for Mr. Aizawa and Mirio to bring Eri and Kota anyway, they're running a little late. There was a villain attack on the way, I guess, but they're almost here. Can't have a wedding without the ring bearers, right?" She turned a wide smile on Izuku, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"We're here. We're here!" Eri called in her high, clear voice as she came running down the hallway with Kota, Aizawa, Mirio and Shinsou on her heels.

They were all dressed sharply in suits and ties. Aizawa and Shinsou had even pulled their hair back into identical ponytails for the occasion.

"Mirio, finally!" Hagakure called from where she was starting to herd people into place. Izuku had picked her as his wedding planner this time around since she'd finally gotten her side business on its feet. He didn't know how she had time to do anything. "Get over here! I thought Ashido was going to have to walk by herself during the procession. The rest of you, get to your seats! Eri, Kota, over here! We've got ten minutes left everyone. Ochako, Eiji, front and center. Mirio, Ashido, behind them. Tenya, Kyouka, after them. Tsu, Sero, next. Melissa, Denki, you're pulling up the rear." She turned on Izuku, gloved hands clasping her clipboard tightly. "Nearly ready, sweetie?"

He smiled, and didn't lie when he said, "I'm starting to calm down. I'll be fine when the time comes."

.....

3 YEARS EARLIER

Mina squealed as she ran around the corner where the guest entrance was and threw her arms around him. Her very round, very pregnant belly pressed into him. "Oh my god, you look amazing!" she gushed, grinning as she held him at arms length, "Shouto's really a lucky guy! I'd be jealous if I didn't have one of my own."

"M-M-Mina, how did you get back here? The ceremony is about to start. Only the Bridal Party is supposed to be over here," Izuku stammered, staring at her with wide eyes. Her appearance was a shock to say the very least.

"I brought some others too," she said conspiratorially, jerking a thumb over her shoulder to show Kirishima, Sero, Denki and Katsuki behind her. Katsuki's eyes were averted, staring down at where Todoroki's sister, Fuyumi, was prattling on nervously beside him. "Kat let us over. He said you were nervous and might need some cheering up while the others are occupied. So, here we are! How are you doing, honey?"

Kirishima pulled him into a hug that crushed all the air from his lungs. "Yeah, bro, how are you doing? It's okay to be nervous. I puked for an hour before. Once the ceremony is done though, you'll feel like a whole new person. I promise."

"Yeah, I don't know anything about that," Denki said as he laughed despite the plain gold engagement ring Shinsou had bestowed upon him glinted on his hand. He pulled Izuku in next. "But you're going to do great! This is what you've been looking forward to for months, right? Granted, Todoroki was the last person I was expecting you to go off and marry, but to each his own. I took you to be more drawn to the emotional type. Anyway, I'll be coming to you for pointers after your honeymoon." He was grinning wide as the sun when he pulled back, as if what he said hadn't ripped a hole right through Izuku's resolve.

"You're talking too much, Denki," Sero reprimanded, slapping the blond upside the back of his head.

"Thanks, guys," Izuku said sincerely even though the occasion didn't feel like one for sincerity. Not with how big of a secret he was clutching to his chest. He was terrified, and that terror curdled in his stomach, burning any butterflies he may have still had to ashes. Burning the hole in his chest only larger. He forced his smile back onto his lips. He was good at pretending. He could get through this. Right? After this was over, he wouldn't have to pretend so hard. Right? "I really appreciate it."

Heat prickled at the back of his eyes. 'Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry,' he chanted silently.

"Alright, dumbasses, get to your seats. We need to get ready back here," Katsuki commanded, easily sliding between Izuku and their friends to defuse the tension and redirect their attention.

Mina darted around Katsuki for one last hard squeeze. "You really do look amazing, hon. I'm so happy for you." She pressed a kiss to his cheek before joining the other three again and sliding her arm through Kirishima's.

"We'll be in the front row with your mom cheering you on!" Denki called over his shoulder, and Sero shushed him louder, turning him back around.

Katsuki waved a hand at them. "Get gone, extras. You'll see him soon enough."

"Right!" they called back jovially, bustling off.

.....

~Present~

"Mama Midoriya, Mama Bakugou, the ceremony is about to start!" Hagakure called as Inko turned the corner with Mitsuki on her heels, smiling widely as tears blurred her big green eyes. "I can only give you a few minutes before you need to head back, okay?"

"I only need one," Inko reassured her, heading Izuku's way.

Izuku straightened, standing shakily. "Mom, you're going to freak the groom out," he joked, grinning wanly as she cupped his face in both her hands and pressed a kiss to each cheek.

"He'll be fine," Mitsuki said, "He's already puked, and that redhead slipped him some little bottles of something so he's calmed down a little. Don't be surprised if the big baby faints though. He looks close enough to it." She laughed uproariously, and the butterflies in his stomach fluttered harder.

"She's right. He'll be fine," Inko said, and he looked back at her tear streaked face, "I just wanted to say that I am so, so proud of you for following your heart. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mom," Izuku whispered, throat tight with the beginning of his own tears.

"Don't hug him, Inko, or you'll stain his suit with tears. And you're about to start making him cry," Mitsuki cautioned, pulling her away gently, "You can smother him with all your tear stained glory at the end, alright?" She took Inko's place though, pulling Izuku into her smaller body to squeeze him tightly. "We've been waiting for this day for a long time. You two are going to make each other very happy. I already know it. Because you're both dummies." When she pulled back, she slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

Izuku chuckled, sniffling as he dabbed lightly at the bottom of his eyes for any stray moisture. "Yeah. Yeah we are."

"Five minutes!" Hagakure called from the procession.

"Alright! We've got to scram! We'll see you inside," Mitsuki said, wrapping an arm around Inko's heaving shoulders to guide her back inside.

Closing his eyes, Izuku breathed in deeply and let out a long sigh of nervousness.

.....

3 YEARS EARLIER

In their wake was Inko, teary eyed and smiling. "Just another moment before you line up," she murmured, and Katsuki wandered off again with a glance over his shoulder to find Fuyumi for the procession. Inko cupped his cheek as she stepped close, tears tracking down her face. "You look so beautiful. I'm so proud of you." She inhaled deeply, and something stabbed deep into his guts. She shouldn't be, not for this. Because this was probably the most dishonest he'd ever been in his life. She shouldn't be proud of a son who was living a lie. Who was marrying someone he didn't even love because he couldn't get over the one he did love.

Bracketing in his face with both hands, she stared directly into his eyes and whispered very softly, "I know you're doing what you think is right, but I want to make sure you're sure about this. It's okay to say no. It's okay to say yes. In the end, as long as you're happy, I'll be happy." Like it was her second quirk, she seemed to have read the thoughts right out of his head like she often did, and his throat was tighter than he could believe. He could barely breathe. "But I can tell when you're being truthful and when you're lying to yourself, baby. I'll support you no matter what decision you make."

"I..." He trailed off unable to string his words together, breath trembling as he inhaled deeply in an effort to calm himself. When he smiled it was more fragile than any of the others he'd worn that day. "Thanks, Mom. I love you."

Her smile was small and fragile, a mirror of his own. "I love you too, baby," she whispered, hugging him one last time before heading off to her seat.

.....

~Present~

Toshinori pressed a chaste kiss to Aizawa's lips -a development none of them had seen coming as most of the class had placed bets on either Aizawa and Present Mic or Toshinori and Inko- before finding his way to Izuku's side. "Are you ready, my boy?" he asked, smiling as he placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder, calm and grounding and very much appreciated.

Mutely, Izuku nodded, smile a jagged wobbly line across his lips. "Since I was a kid," he admitted, smile widening and solidifying when Toshinori laughed. "I'm really-" He hiccupped, pressing the heel of his hand beneath one of his eyes to try and stem the flow of tears. He really, really didn't want to look like a soggy mess when Katsuki saw him for the first time in two days. "I'm really, really happy that you agreed to walk me again. I remember what you said last time, and I never got to reply. When you said that to me, I wanted to tell you that I'm the same. My dad has never been around. I haven't even seen him since I was really little. Honestly, I don't remember a thing about him except for his quirk. I wanted to say that no matter what any document says, you're actually my dad. And I'm so grateful for that. And grateful that you're here sharing this important moment with me."

The smile that broke across Toshinori's face was blinding. He pulled Izuku in against his chest, arms strong around his shoulders. He was still far taller than Izuku could ever hope to be, but instead of coming to the middle of his chest like he used to, Izuku could press his forehead to his collarbone now.

So he did.

"It's all still true, and I'm glad you asked me again." They stood in each other's arms until Hagakure bustled over and began to fuss over them.

"Enough of that! You're going to ruin your face! The others are about to walk, and you need to line up!"

Pulling apart, they smiled up at each other. "Okay," Izuku said firmly, still smiling, "I'm ready."

.....

3 YEARS EARLIER

While Izuku had been speaking with his mother, the planner had herded everyone into line, leaving Izuku and Toshinori as the very back where they would be until she called for them again. They watched silently as the others linked arms and carefully shifted red skirts and yanked down black suit jackets. With Katsuki and Yaoyorozu at the front of the procession, he didn't get another chance to catch Katsuki's eye.

To remind himself of why he was doing this in the first place.

The music started, low and sonorous and familiar. A reminder of hours upon hours of wedding videos and multiple bottles of wine, curled up on the couch with Katsuki, Ochako, Yaoyorozu and Fuyumi. Nausea curled thickly in his stomach.

The doors opened. The procession disappeared into the room ahead. The doors closed again.

The silence was peculiar in that way that only muffled silence can be.

Shifting his bouquet of ivy and white roses from one hand to the other, Izuku wiped his palms on his slacks.

"Izuku," Toshinori started, and Izuku startled, looking up with wide green eyes.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to say..." Toshinori paused to clear his throat. "I wanted to say that I know I'm not your father and I'm only standing in for him on this important day, but I wanted to let you know that I am as proud as a father. I'm honored to be giving you away to someone that you love today. I don't have any biological children of my own, but you are the closest thing to a son I'll ever have. I'm so very proud of you, my boy."

Izuku had been close to tears all day, right on the very precipice of bursting, but that was the tipping point. One tear slipped out followed closely by another, and he said, "All Might, I-"

The doors opened before them, and spread out in front of him was miles of white fabric and white pews and blinding white light filtering in from outside. There were all of his friends and family tucked into the pews, turned in their seats to look at him with excited, expectant eyes. So much expectation, just like always. There was Yaoyorozu and Fuyumi in floor length red dresses and Natsuo in a black tux with a red shirt and bowtie. On the other side, there was Katsuki in the bottle green suit he'd insisted on and Iida in a black tux that he looked far less comfortable in. Ochako stood between them in an identical dress to Yaoyorozu and Fuyumi. Then there was Todoroki standing next to Yaoyorozu in a black suit with red accents throughout with as blank an expression as ever, but his eyes were shining.

.....

~Present~

"It's time!" Hagakure sang, and the entire wedding party startled into stillness. Shoulders straightened. Arms tightened against each other. The silence was deafening. "Come on, people! The grooms are supposed to be nervous, not the wedding party! Smile, you're killing me!" The unobtrusive sound of a camera shutter was the only sound of a moment before Ochako started to laugh all the way at the front of the procession.

The others followed suit, letting nervous laughter fall from their lips, shuffling in their dresses and suits, sighing through their noses.

Hagakure set her clipboard off to the side. "Okay, Kota, Eri. We're going to go right before Izuku. Get creative with those flower petals, alright! We're going to put on a show to present Izuku, got it?"

"Right!" the pair shouted together, and there were the smiles that had been missing from everyone's faces.

As the music began and before the procession started to move, Izuku crouched to tap Kota and Eri on the shoulders. They turned, and he couldn't help but to pull them in against him. "I'm so happy you two could be here." When he pulled back, they were beaming. "You two look amazing." Eri wore a dress she'd gotten to pick out herself, a knee length princess dress with a blown out skirt in pale red with a pastel green sash across her waist and red sunflowers woven into her braid. Kota was her counterpart in pastel green shorts and suit jacket with a pale red button up and eucalyptus pinned to his lapel.

Eri smiled, leaning forward to press a kiss to his cheek. "You're the pretty one, Deku."

They turned as the doors opened.

.....

3 YEARS AGO

Izuku stalled at the door, breathless and sick to his stomach. God, he was actually going to vomit. He could feel it. The curdling in his stomach. The bile burning the back of his throat. Distress grew exponentially in his chest, and he gripped Toshinori's arm tightly. 'I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't.'

Everyone was smiling, grinning, waving, bouncing. Excitement and happiness radiated through the room, pressing against him.

He was hyperventilating.

The only person not smiling or looking particularly happy to be there was Katsuki, stoic and still, waiting to take Izuku's bouquet. When he caught Izuku's eye though, a smirk quirked at the corner of his mouth.

Izuku didn't want to be there. He didn't want to be doing this. He didn't want Katsuki to watch him get married to someone else.

"Izuku?" Toshinori whispered when he tried to take a step forward, but couldn't. He glanced down at Izuku.

Before they could take a single step, Izuku ripped away from him and bolted down the hall.

There was a collective gasp. A squealing of pew feet against stone. Someone's footsteps dashing after him. "Stay! I'll get him!"

He ran faster, faster, faster. He wasn't going to be dragged back, couldn't be. He wasn't going to be told that it was just nerves, that he was just getting cold feet. He couldn't marry Todoroki. He wouldn't make him live a lie, and he didn't want to live one either. That would make them both miserable in the end. So, he ran. He ran harder and faster than he had in his life, chest heaving and feet pounding against stone.

They were deep within the church, but just like anywhere else, he knew every exit and possible escape route. It took only moments before he was out in open air, sucking in greedy lungfuls of hot summer air, gasping out a sob as the sunlight hit his face. He flagged, just for the barest of moments, but sped back up when he heard whoever had come after him running down the hall he'd taken.

"Dammit, Deku, stop running, you idiot!"

He couldn't, wouldn't, and instead launched himself onto the top of a building to prove that point. He had to run. Run. Run. Run! If he was fast, he was sure he could make it to the airport in time for the next flight overseas. He should know. He'd been checking times and availability every day for months. He could leave and never turn back, disappear from Japan so no one would ever have to be hurt by him again. Because surely, Todoroki would be hurt by this. There was no doubt in his mind.

"Deku! Fucking Izuku, just stop!" The voice was right in his ear, and he was yanked so forcefully that his shoes skidded and pain rocketed up through his shoulder. "Izuku, stop, just stop. Where are you going?"

"Let me go, Kacchan," he bit out, turning to glare at Katsuki through a haze of tears. His face must have looked like a ruin.

They were both panting harshly, and Katsuki had discarded or lost his suit jacket in the process. The sleeves of his button-up were smoking, but seemingly intact. "No. What are you doing? Where are you going running like that? You're just going to leave Icy-hot at the altar like that? Isn't this what you've wanted?"

Izuku broke. His sobs came in quick, rolling waves, and he strained against Katsuki's ironclad grip without much effect. "No! No, I don't want this! I don't want to marry Shouto, I never did! I don't want to marry him!"

Katsuki blinked, his grip loosening, but not enough for Izuku to slip free. "Then what the fuck was all this? Why did you get all the way to this point before getting cold feet? Don't you-" He stopped, swallowing loud enough for Izuku to hear the dry ticking of his throat. "Shit, don't you fucking love Icy-Hot?"

"No!"

"Then what?" Katsuki exploded. "Fucking explain it to me!"

"I love you! I want to marry you! I don't want to be marrying Shouto or anybody else! I thought that if I just continued since he loved me, then I could make myself love him back, but I couldn't! I couldn't make myself stop loving you, or start loving him. I thought if I continued with it, then when it came to the day, I would realize or I wouldn't be able to turn back. I'd finally be able to do it. But I can't! I've only ever wanted to be with you! I still love you! I'm sorry!" His voice broke around another sob, and he scrubbed at his eyes viciously, ruining all the hard work his make-up artist had put into coverup his sleep deprivation and smearing black across his suit sleeve. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You were with Chako- And I- I couldn't- I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, just let me go. I'm sorry." He slowly started to sink to his knees, but Katsuki kept him off the ground.

"You're going to fuck up your suit more. It's white. Everything makes it dirty."

"I don't care."

Katsuki inhaled deeply before asking, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You're with Chako," Izuku whispered desperately, feeling like an idiot for opening his mouth instead of just turning and attacking Katsuki. If he'd caught him off guard, he might have been able to get free. It was too late now. "I wanted you to be happy."

Katsuki huffed in irritation, yanking Izuku to his feet and against his chest. "You really are such a moron. Cheeks and I are together out of convenience so we could get out careers off the ground without the media being up our asses. It's a farce that our agencies agreed on. We only did it because you were already with Icy-Hot and figured neither of us had a chance."

Izuku clutched at the back of Katsuki's shirt desperately, confused and hopeful at the same time. "I-I don't understand."

"I'm the same, dumbass. I've only ever wanted to be with you, but figured you would never look at me the same way because of what I did to you when we were kids."

Sobbing harder, Izuku pressed his sopping face into Katsuku's chest. "I forgave you for that a long time ago! Stupid, stupid, stupid Kacchan!"

"Yeah, well, you're not so smart yourself, shitty nerd." They stood there for several long moments until Izuku calmed down enough to stand without assistance, staring down at his feet. "There's a whole church of people waiting for us to get back."

Izuku shook his head. "I can't go back," he whispered, fidgeting with the edge of his suit jacket, "I can't face any of them."

"Where were you running to, then?"

Heat flushed across Izuku's face. "The airport." Shame boiled in his gut. It had been cowardly what he'd been doing. Katsuki would hate that, would hate him, but he pushed on. "I put in a package for work in America. I got the acceptance back last week. I... I haven't told anyone. I figured I could just go, and then no one would have to see me again."

"That's a pretty shitty thing to do. Running away from your problems like that." Izuku nodded, but didn't look up, and Katsuki let out another long sigh. "Are there planes leaving today?"

"Yes. Several. I'll miss the soonest at this rate though."

"When's the next?"

"Three."

A pause, and then Katsuki said, "Let's go."

"What?" Izuku shot back, still unable to look him in the eye even as he began to spew all the things wrong with that plan. About acceptance letters and apartments.

Katsuki wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, effectively bringing his rambling to a halt. "Look at me." When he complied, he found the ever-present impenetrable smirk twisting Katsuki's lips. "Good thing I got my acceptance letter too. You're not the only one who runs from their problems. So, let's go. Let's elope. I'll call Cheeks, and she'll help deal with everything we leave behind. So, let's go. We can stop and pack a suitcase or two before I call her. If we hurry, we'll make the next flight."

Izuku couldn't believe his ears, mouth gaping open. "R-really? R-right now?"

"What? You don't believe me? Think I'm going to cart you back to Icy-Hot to face the music? You need proof or something?"

"No, that's not what I meant! I-" Katsuki kissed him, and Izuku's heart had never soared higher in his life. When Katsuki prodded questioningly at his lips with his tongue, Izuku opened his mouth and greedily devoured everything Katsuki had to offer him.

When they pulled back, panting and desperate, Katsuki asked, "Enough proof?"

"Just one more." Izuku dragged him back down, and Katsuki went without a fuss.

....

~Present~

The wedding party made their slow march inside, and the doors closed for what felt like a century. Izuku knew that his impatience was getting to him. His fingers tightened around Toshinori's arm and his bouquet of vibrant red sunflowers and eucalyptus. He had to keep himself from fidgeting as they waited and waited. And waited... And waited...

He'd been holding himself so still that he jumped when the doors finally opened. The scene was eerily reminiscent of the first time he'd been standing at the end of an aisle, but also, nothing like it at all. Again, his friends and family all smiled widely, turned to face him in their seats. A pearly white train leading up to the podium. White pews.

This time though, there was color everywhere. Red sunflowers and eucalyptus were threaded with gauzy red and green fabric around an arch, and the same could be found strung between the pews. Red petals like drops of wine guided the way to the podium. Off to one side, Ochako, Melissa and Tsu stood in off the shoulder mid-thigh dresses of pastel green with red accents while Mirio and Iida wore suits in the same color scheme. On the other side, Mina and Jirou wore floor length pale red dresses with green accents while Kirishima, Sero and Denki matched them in their suits. Eri held Ochako's hand and Kota stood with his hands shoved in his pockets in front of Kirishima. They all beamed at him.

The biggest difference was the person waiting at the end for him.

Todoroki sat in a pew behind Inko with Yaoyorozu, his mother, father and siblings this time, smiling gently if a little sadly at him. After Izuku had apologized, they hadn't spoken for the better part of a year. Their relationship was still strained, but it was still there. He hadn't expected Todoroki to even show up, but he was happy that he had.

At the podium and beside Kirishima, Katsuki looked like he was making an effort to keep his hands clasped in front of him. His face was white as a sheet, lips set in a jagged nervous line, a muscle ticking in his jaw. He wore an immaculate white suit, the twin to Izuku's, and he looked so handsome.

Izuku couldn't help the smile that burst across his face when their eyes locked, and only when he and Toshinori took the first step through the doors did Katsuki's expression transform to match Izuku's, color returning to his face and imbedding in his cheeks.

As he walked, he saw Kirishima shake Katsuki's shoulder aggressively, whispering in his ear. Izuku's smile only grew wider.

In his head, he heard Katsuki's words from two days before flow through his mind like a whisper because they had been whispered, right against his ear, 'Don't go running this time, nerd. I'll never forgive you.' But Izuku wasn't even imagining that scenario, not right on the edge of everything he'd ever wanted. This time, there were only butterflies in his stomach.

Toshinori hugged him tightly at the podium, and then his hand was clutched in Katsuki's sweaty fingers. There were tears on his cheeks and a smile on his face. "Hi," Izuku whispered when Katsuki pressed a kiss to his forehead and dabbed away his tears with a handkerchief he'd had at the ready.

"Not gonna run this time?" Katsuki whispered back as the priest began the ceremony.

"No. Never." There was no possible way he'd run this time.

Izuku cried through Katsuki's vows, turning his face from the onlookers with a scarred first pressed to his mouth. When Izuku gave his, Katsuki pressed his forehead to their clasped hands to hide his face.

And when they finally pressed together to kiss fervently, their guests screams echoing through the hall, it was the happiest Izuku had ever been in his life.

#my hero academia #mha #bakudeku #dekubaku #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #wedding fic #here have a thing #i love it so much #my writing #one shot #cold feet

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obsessedforever · 5 years ago

Text

English Translation: Brother’s Conflict Short Stories: Side: Ukyou and Natsume: Where the Ownership Lies

(Will that person be happy?)

After checking again that the ROM is in my pocket, I enter the lobby of the apartment building.

“Um, so the version of this game that Natsume-san’s company is making, is it confirmed?”

About 1 week ago, she asked me about an American action game that I was working on.

Apparently it’s a popular topic online. The name of the game also sounded familiar to me.

I don’t know if our company is making the game, but the lucky thing is, I have a colleague who just so happened to have this game. After playing for a bit he set it aside due because It was too difficult. Therefore, I was easily able to borrow it.

(Is it that hard…? Whatever, if it’s the level of gaming that person is much better than my colleague.)

After getting on the elevator I check my phone, its just past 8pm.

(At this time she’s probably in her room already. No, she might be in the living room.)

Going straight to her room is too sudden, I go to the fifth floor.

Passing the entrance, I make my way down the corridor. The kitchen door is open.

---Suddenly:

Wataru: “Aah, Natsume, please help!”

Wataru who suddenly appeared at my feet is pulling at my sleeves and messing up my clothes.

Natsume: “Oi, oi. What’s happening?”

Tsubaki: “Just now, Natsume? Oh….Natsume!”

Tsubaki suddenly jumps up from the kitchen table.

Tsubaki: “Amazing timing! Was my telepathy effective?”

Natsume: “Haah?”

I don’t understand.

Then Wataru suddenly started talking.

Wataru: “That, that, we almost died!”

Natsume: “Huh?”

I’m getting more and more confused.

Tsubaki: “That’s right that’s right, we were almost done for.”

The two of them started bombarding me one after the other.

Wataru: “This afternoon’s lunch was really sparse.”

Tsubaki: “Today was super busy, there wasn’t even time to eat!”

Wataru: “But onee-chan isn’t here.”

Tsubaki: “And in the fridge there’s nothing which is ready to eat.”

Wataru: “And then my stomach was grumbling so much.”

Tsubaki: “Honestly I really thought we were about to die.”

Natsume: “…”

So these guys are just hungry.

Tsubaki: “So”

He’s staring at me

Tsubaki: “Natsume, cook for us.”

I feel dumbfounded by this.

Natsume: “Isn’t there a convenience store close by? Won’t it be fine if you just go buy something.”

Wataru: “That’s no good!”

Tsubaki: “If it’s just that I would have done it a long time ago! But Kyou-nii is so mean!”

Natsume: “Kyou-nii?”

Why did he suddenly bring up Kyou-nii?

Wataru: “Kyou-nii said, “If she’s not here then I will cook”.”

Tsubaki: “Not bad not bad! Wataru your imitation is not bad, do you want to be a seiyuu in the future?”

Wataru: “Ha? Really Tsu-chan? I want to be a seiyuu! I wanna, I wanna!”

Natsume: “…that kind of thing, do what you want.”

I interrupted

Natsume: “So in short, if you just have Kyou-nii cook isn’t it fixed?”

Tsubaki: “Hmph, you’re too naïve Natsume.”

Wataru: “Yeah, you’re too naïve, too naïve Nacchan.”

Tsubaki: “Things aren’t so simple. Whatever, look at that.”

I follow Tsubaki’s finger which is pointing towards the sink.

(Ah?)

It’s really not your average sight.

Vegetables that have been half cut and meat that has been put to the side. Spices scattered. The meat is half-defrosted in a bowl.

Natsume: “What happened here?”

Wataru: “Puah!!!”

Suddenly Wataru falls onto the couch.

Tsubaki: “No good, its not similar at all. 25 points”

Wataru: “Hmph! It was just like this!”

Tsubakui: “It’s not alike!”

Wataru: “It is!”

Tsubaki: “It’s not.”

(These guys are getting along well today.)

Tsubaki: “But did Kyou-nii just fall like that? First was the knee…”

Wataru: “Oh…that’s right.”

Natsume: “Eh!? Wait a minute, Tsubaki.”

I hurriedly interrupted

Natsume: “Kyou-nii fainted?”

Tsubaki: “Yeah, seems his body is unwell.”

Natsume: “Oi oi, then how is he now?”

Tsubaki points to the living room. Kyou-nii’s figure can be seen on the couch.

His face is red and his forehead is covered in sweat. Looks like he’s caught a cold.

Natsume: “So this is what happened.”

I look at Tsubaki again.

Natsume: “Tsubaki and Wataru were hungry, Kyou-nii came and started making you food. But in the middle he suddenly fainted.”

Tsubaki: “Ah, yep that’s right, you’re so smart Natsume.”

Wataru: “Nacchan you’re a genius! [Clap clap clap clap] Applause!”

I really don’t know what to say.

Originally I just came to give this game but it seems she’s not here, there’s no helping it.

But putting aside the messy kitchen, there’s still two hungry little brothers.

(Ah…)

I really think I’m too nice.

(Despite everything, I can’t go home just yet.”

Natsume: “…I understand. I’ll cook.”

Tsubaki and Wataru start to shout.

Tsubaki: “Uoh!! Indeed it’s Natsume!!”

Wataru: “Yah! Natsume, you’re the best!”

…but what was Kyou-nii initially making?

Let’s just look at the kitchen first.

Meat and sauce and other ingredients are there. Probably something like hamburger steak.

(But if it’s Kyou-nii, it’s impossible that he only planned to make hamburger steak and nothing else.”

Besides, I can’t make such a complicated dish.

Boiling, roasting and frying. Those are my 3 cooking principles.

(Basically, if you can add fire to make it hot, it’s impossible not to be able to eat.”

Even though I feel sorry for Kyou-nii, I’ll just use my own methods to cook here.

While thinking like this, I reach for the frying pan.

Ukyou: “First cut the onions.”

Unexpectedly I hear Kyou-nii’s voice.

Ukyou: “Don’t worry, Natsume you can definitely do it.”

From the couch I hear Kyou-nii coughing.

Ukyou: “Come on, pick up the knife, Natsume.”

Not just because of his fever, but Kyou-nii seems a little weird.

(But… he seems to want to teach me, then I’ll just listen to what he says.”

I open the cupboard under the sink and take out the kitchen knife.

Natsume: “I got the knife Kyou-nii.”

Ukyou: “You can slice vegetables thinly right?”

Natsume: “Well, just about.”

Ukyou: “That’s fine…I prepared the onions already because I didn’t want to see you crying…heh.”

I feel like this isn’t the Kyou-nii that I know. Did he get possessed after fatining?

(…whatever. It’s useless to think about it too much.”

I follow Kyou-nii’s instructions and start to mobilise.

. . . .

Tsubaki: “Uoh, what is this…”

Wataru: “It’s so delicious!”

Tsubaki and Wataru are rapidly shoving food into their mouths.

“Hamburger on top of sirloin steak with rich sauce and grated potato.”

…Even though I don’t know the name of this dish, but I just said the ingredients.

Even though it’s not my dish, I think I did a pretty good job.

The smell is good and it looks ok too.

What’s more, the way Tsubaki and Wataru are eating is proof.

Tsubaki: “Ha…so happy…”

Wataru: “I’m full…”

After eating everything on the plate, the two of them lie on the couch.

Tsubaki: “So delicious…[THANK YOU] (English), Natsume. I’m truly thankful to you”

Wataru: “Nacchan, thank you…Next time please make it again!”

Four sparkling eyes are brightly staring at me.

I feel a bit shy and I avert my gaze.

Natsume: “Well, you look like you’re full…aah, just leave the plates there, I’ll wash it.”

After Tsubaki and Wataru left, I go to wash the dishes.

It’s 10pm now.

(That person should be home by now. After this I’ll drop by her room.)

After washing the dishes, I feel around for the game in my pocket.

(Today was weird.)

Even though I thought this, it wasn’t bad. Being together with my brothers like this, it’s been a long time.

(It’s not bad coming home once in a while.)

At this time, a thought appeared in my mind.

(That’s right, it’s not like I have no reason to return home. Even if I’m not delivering games...)

Ukyou: “Natsume.”

His voice was so sudden that I got a little scared, I nearly dropped the plate.

Natsume: “Oh- uwah!!”

Ukyou: “Aah, sorry about that, it seems I scared you.”

After getting a grip on the plate, I look towards the direction of the noise. Kyou-nii is standing there.

Natsume: “It’s alright, Kyou-nii. How come you’re up?”

Ukyou: “Ah, I’m already a lot better.”

Kyou-nii is sitting on the kitchen chair.

Ukyou: “You helped me a lot today…thank you.”

Natsume: “It’s nothing.”

I put the plate back on the table.

Natsume: “I only followed Kyou-nii’s instructions.”

Ukyou: “Don’t be modest.”

Kyou-nii is smiling.

Ukyou: “Maybe I should leave the kitchen to you?”

Natsume: “Ah, spare me.”

I panic a little.

Natsume: “I don’t want to face those big stomach kings every day…”

Kyou-nii’s expression suddenly changed.

Ukyou: “Since she came we always make everyone’s food together.”

Natsume: “Oh?”

Ukyou: “But I think it’s about time I find someone to replace my position.”

What is he suddenly saying?

Ukyou: “Hehe, just joking.”

Kyou-nii suddenly laughs.

“Of course, I don’t intend to hand over my position.”

A gentle but firm expression. It’s an expression I’ve seen countless times since I was a child.

(Kyou-nii…)

Sounds like he’s just talking about making food for the family.

But that sentence about making food with her made me very curious.

Was Kyou-nii really just talking about making food?

(Or was he talking about her?)

------Wait.

I’m overthinking it.

I should just stop thinking about it.

Besides, the Kyou-nii who had a fever today was already being really weird.

I’m probably just thinking too much.

Natsume: “Let’s forget about that for now.”

I said as I lit the fire underneath the pot on the stove.

Natsume: “I’ll make some porridge, do you want some?”

Ukyou: “Aah, thanks.”

Kyou-nii suddenly smiles a different smile to before, it’s a pure and happy smile.

Honestly, I felt relieved.

After ladling up the porridge, I set it in front of Kyou-nii with a spoon.

Ukyou: “Then, I’ll start eating.”

A few seconds later Kyou-nii’s expression became hard again.

Ukyou: “As I thought, I still can’t give it to you.”

Natsume: “Hah…?”

Kyou-nii slowly places the spoon on the table.

He turns to me with bright eyes.

Ukyou: “What is this salty taste?”

Natsume: “Huh?”

Ukyou: “This porridge, you put too much salt!”

I unwittingly stare at Kyou-nii’s expression.

Natsume: “Ah…haha…hahahahaha!”

Without realizing it I laughed out loud.

Natsume: “What the…Kyou-nii…You really were just talking about cooking? Hahaha… I was silly for overthinking it….hahaha!”

Ukyou: “What are you suddenly saying? Is there something weird Natsume?”

Kyou-nii started to raise his voice.

But I couldn’t stop laughing.

#brothers conflict #brocon #brothers conflict short stories #asahina natsume #asahina ukyou #asahina tsubaki #asahina wataru

64 notes · View notes

heartofsnark · 5 years ago

Text

Black Market Wonderland (Chapter Seven): There’s a dog in your heart

Notes: Okay, I hate to do this, but I think following this chapter there will be a hiatus for this fic. This chapter took a lot out of me and left me drained, I’ve fallen behind on writing chapters. So, I think I’m going to take a break, get some motivation back, and get some more chapters done in advanced. Thank you all for the support and I hope it won’t be too long before I’m coming back to you with some more chapters.

Word Count: 13,273

Warnings: POV Switches, Panic Attacks, Angry Outbursts, Drinking, Drunk Kisses, Masturbation, Wasted Pastries

Missed the last chapter? Link Here!

Tsuneko sighs as she takes a seat on the bus, mostly empty at this early hour. She checks her texts; two from Chisato and one from Sakiko. No messages from Shinobu, this is the longest he’s ever ignored her. She shakes off the thought, bigger problems.

2:25am

Chisato: Np I’ll take care of kiyo, is something wrong tho? Are you working this late???

7:35am

Chisato: Is something up, you’re never been this late.

7:29am

Sakiko: where r u? erika is pissed u ok?

They must have been working or in a meeting when they messaged her, they didn’t have to check on her. She made Chisato take care of Kiyohito in the middle of the night and made them both worry. She sighs and sends them both quick messages.

Tsuneko: Thanks so much, sorry for the trouble. I’m fine. I’ll be there soon.

She searches for a moment before choosing an animated Cinnamoroll sticker that says sorry with the little mascot looking down in shame.

Tsuneko: I’m headed that way, I’ll deal with Erika, don’t stress.

Sakiko gets another animated Cinnamoroll sticker of him flying that says on my way. It’s something small but the little stickers make her happy, kill her in micro-transactions, but it’s worth it to make her conversations that much cuter.

Her stomach growls and she slumps further into her seat when a few people stare. Once she’s back she needs to check on Kiyo again for the morning and then hurry her ass into work before Ichinomiya can call her out on being late.

She opens up Monster Lovers, romancing her favorite snake boy as she waits for the bus to reach the stop nearest the Tres Spades. He’s still acting cold towards her, he’s a kuudere brat and she’d hit him if she didn’t want to kiss him.

The bus reaches the stop just as she’s reaching a rare soft moment with Tatsumi in his story. She tucks the phone away and gets off, her movements are slow and groggy. Lately, her life just seems to be just one panic attack after another and it’s taking a toll.

She’s exhausted, it’s like she’s trudging through tar with leaden limbs. Everything is just a half-hearted slow drag of movement.

A heavy yawn escapes her as she makes it into her dorm to check on Kiyo. He’s sleeping and has plenty of food to last him, Chisato made sure he’d be taken care of just in case.

She’s content to head back to the hotel when something catches her eye, a bright pink sticky note on her counter. It’s not one of hers, it’s the basic kind found at dollar stores over the cutesy stuff she keeps around. The little note is stuck on top of a large pack of raspberry Kit-Kats.

Sweets to keep your energy up!~

-Chisato

Chisato thinks Tsuneko is just working extremely late shifts for the penthouse guests, she was texted randomly in the middle of the night and not only took care of Kiyo, but wanted to watch out for Tsuneko too. She didn’t have to do that. Neither of them had to check in on her or worry. Tsuneko isn’t sure what they see in her and it’s only a matter of time only they realize she’s not worth the energy, but for now she’ll enjoy it.

She’s not sure when she started crying, but her face is wet as she devours the food. The taste soothing and sweet, she swallows down what’s left and guzzles down a soda.

Tsuneko grabs a quick shower, tears washing down the drain with the water, and throws on some clothes before rushing back to the hotel. The candy seems to have done the trick, if only for a moment she’s able to run and bustle.

The locker room is vacant, Ichinomiya didn’t schedule or mention any events, so at the very least it’s a normal workday. She throws on a uniform and pulls her hair back. She’ll go to the penthouse first, make sure Ichinomiya doesn’t think she skipped out on work.

She closes her locker with a harder slam than needed and jerks back when she nearly runs into Erika. The head maid is alone at the moment, not a twin in sight, eyebrows furrowed and hands on her hips.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Tsuneko’s nerves are already frayed and Erika’s shrill voice is only making matters worse.

“Look-”

“Do you think just because Mr. Ichinomiya likes you that you can just start slacking off?!”

“I’m sorry, I’m late, but I’m not in the mood for this shit right now.”

“You’re not in the mood for this!?”

“I said I’m sorry, can you just let go, right now.”

“You just got a major promotion, you can’t afford to stop pulling your weight around here!”

“If you’re that fuckin’ worried, stop bitching at me and go do your own work!”

“Excuse you!?”

“Oh my god, would you get off my dick!? I’ve literally never been this late before! I’ve never taken sick days, I’ve never taken a vacation day, and I work over time and cover everyone else’s shifts when they need it! I had one bad day out of a year, excuse the fuck out of me.”

Erika chews her lip and the tension in her face seems to ease for a moment, her eyes soft but her voice stays sharp.

“What the hell is in your tongue?”

Tsuneko narrows her eyes, confused for a second, then she feels the metal of her tongue piercing click against the roof of her mouth. Shit, shit, she forgot to take that out.

“Uhhhh…that would be my tongue ring, which will be removed right stat now.”

“Don’t be so careless, what if a guest had seen that,” Erika grumbles, her face turning red with irritation as Tsuneko removes the piercing.

“So, we’re good now?” Tsuneko sticks her tongue out after dropping the piercing in her pocket.

“Whatever, just get to work.” Erika turns, her cheeks turning a slightly deeper red, and starts to rush out.

“Would have gotten to work ten minutes ago if someone wasn’t yelling at me,” Tsuneko taunts as she trails after the head maid.

“Yeah and someone would have saw that ring in your tongue.”

“Still would have been working.” Tsuneko shrugs as they leave the locker room, going their separate ways to work.

She grabs her work schedule and a cleaning cart. The penthouse is notably vacant when she arrives, Kishi is the only person she sees and he’s sleeping on a couch. She’s able to quickly clean the lounge, the only noise is the old man’s chainsaw volume snoring. While irritating, it’s still preferable to the teasing and threats of the bidders.

The lounge and suites are clean, she manages to escape the place unscathed for the day. Just a small comfort in the hell of her life. She leans her weight against the back of the elevator as it descends downward, fiddling with the good luck charm still in her pocket. She’ll have worn a hole in the fabric by the time she gets it back to its owner, if she ever manages to do that.

She needs to apologize to Chisato and Sakiko properly, she made them worry. Maybe she’ll treat them to that bakery at lunch. She’ll need to apologize to the Hatter too, for running out in the morning without any notice. He still hasn’t shown her anything to do with the auctions either, other than rambling about a few items.

Her throat tightens for the millionth time it seems. Her gaze lingers to her hand, she didn’t bother to bandage it this morning, the skin has closed and she was in a hurry after all. The small cuts across her fingers are just a faint pink mark away, almost nothing than but a memory. As expected there still a large angry red scar across the middle of her palm. The bruises on her face are mostly gone as well, having turned to a faint yellowing color. She doesn’t bother paying special attention to it with makeup anymore.

A lot of the physical reminders of that night are fading, but just the thought of the auctions puts her right back there. It’s cruel of them, to make her go back to the place and event that ruined her life. But, she can’t expect anything less than cruelty from them, now can she.

She has to see this as just another part of work; compartmentalizing and burying her feelings are key points in her limited skill set. Maybe if she tried walking the stage without the auctions going on it would help? Just having a memory of it not attached to that night, or at least get the initial panic attacks out of being there again.

The elevator comes to a stop and she gets back to work. It’s the usual monotony of her job, that lets her just focus on doing things without those dangerous hurtful thoughts creeping in. Making beds, cleaning bathrooms, restocking amenities, delivering brochures and answering guest questions. It’s all muscle memory at this point, allowing her to block out every intrusive thought and operate on autopilot.

She gets through to lunch break; Chisato and Sakiko are getting in line to buy food. Tsuneko tentatively walks up behind them, poking them both in the sides, snickering when they both jump.

“Tsuneko, you made it in!” Sakiko is the first to talk, as usual.

“Yeah, sorry for the worries, and,” she looks to Chisato, “thanks for taking care of you know who.”

“It’s no problem, but were they making you work that late?”

“Uh, not quite don’t worry about it.”

“Tsuneko, you already work a lot, even V.I.P’s can’t expect you to work that late. You’ll run yourself ragged.”

“I’m fine really.”

“Hmmm,” a smug grin pulls at Sakiko’s lips, “Mr. Ichinomiya wants you working late into the night, hmm.”

“You want me to treat you for lunch Chisato?”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”

“Hey, I’m invited too, right?”

“You hear something, Chisato?”

“The A.C must have kicked on.”

“Don’t ignore me!”

“C’mon there’s a bakery I wanna go to.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Tsuneko and Chisato start the walk out of the lunchroom, not paying mind to the flustered Sakiko.

“Hey! I want free food too,” Sakiko whines before following after them, knowing despite their jokes she’s more than welcomed to come along.

Tsuneko leads the two of them to Parolee, there’s a cute girl at the register. She doesn’t see the cute boy from last time, but there are worse things in life. They each pick out a treat and a drink before tucking themselves away at a table.

She’ll finish up her shift, walk the stage, and then take a visit to Wonderland. She’s memorized most of the items; she figures the Hatter will be taking over most of the descriptions given that’s more of his expertise than hers. She doesn’t want to go near that stage, but there’s no way to fight it. She’s been getting bold enough as is given that Oh is more than willing to end her life.

She’d rather die on her own terms. A silly distinction it might seem, death is death after all. But it’s important to her. That’s the one thing she’s sticking to, no matter what. If she wins the bet….she knows making a genuine attempt to get her life back on track is the best choice, logically. But, even when she was in University, even when her life was on track she wasn’t happy. She hasn’t been happy since she was nine, a few bright spots now and again, but she can’t say she’s ever been a happy person. If she’s going to be miserable no matter what, is there any point? She always thought if she graduated top of her class, passed the bar, became a lawyer, and finally made something of herself she’d be happy. But, now she’s not so sure. Every setback and time her goals get crushed, she feels like it’s all for nothing.

Maybe the gloomy situation is just getting to her, she’s been like this before, and she thinks she’s been like this since the expulsion. The bet and kidnapping just cranked it up to eleven. It was during that time between university and the Tres Spades that she first bought the rope.

If she does make that decision, she’ll take care of everything she needs to first, make sure everything will be taken care of before she goes. She doesn’t want to leave a mess behind her. She’d have to find Kiyo a new home and have some uncomfortable talks with her family. There a lot of things her dad deserves to know, from her directly and not from some posthumous investigation. Some final words to those she cares about, lots of apologies for being who she is.

Once that’s taken care of it shouldn’t be too hard on anyone, most people will probably be thank-

“Tsuneko!”

Sakiko’s yell makes her jolt in her seat, knee banging against the table. Sakiko and Chisato are looking at her like she’s a wounded puppy and her stomach knots. They’re both half way through their desserts, Tsuneko’s tiramisu is mostly gone and the taste of espresso in her mouth tells her that she’s been mindlessly eating with every depressive thought.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You haven’t said a word; you’ve just been zoned out and jittery.”

“Seriously, your leg has been bouncing nonstop. You were making the table shake so much I thought my drink was gonna spill.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Tsuneko rubs a hand over her face, “I’m fine, just thinking.”

“Maybe you should consider taking tomorrow off,” Chisao offers as Tsuneko downs her water, when did her throat get so dry?

“No can do. Big promotion, can’t slack, all of that jazz.”

“Tsuneko, I’m saying this as your friend,” Sakiko’s voice is soft, “you look like shit.”

“Thanks asshole.”

“She’s right Tsuneko, you’re getting bags under your eyes and, I mean, you look like you’re a second away from a breakdown.”

“Pffft, I’ve been a mess since day one, it’s nothing new.”

“You need to take care of yourself Tsuneko, I know the penthouse guests must expect a lot from you, but running yourself ragged isn’t going to help anyone.”

“I’m fine, I promise.”

“Hey, Yayoi still owes you for taking over the day you got hurt right?”

“I guess,” Tsuneko grumbles, she wasn’t even meant to be working the day she was sold. How she has such shit luck is a mystery.

“She’s on night shift tomorrow, why don’t you switch with her. You can relax tonight and sleep in tomorrow, but you’ll still be working.”

Night shift in general is easier, given most guests are sleeping. It’s mainly cleaning the lobby, halls, etc. It’s quieter and minimal customer interactions. Would Ichinomiya call that avoiding work? As long as she cleans the penthouse suites when she first arrives in the late evening, it should be fine.

“If I say yes, will you shut up?”

“For now,” Sakiko offers before taking another bite of her cake.

She ordered the strawberry shortcake the same kind Ichinomya and Tsuneko had to share last time they were here. The red strawberry on top has been put off to the side, before Tsuneko realizes what she’s doing she’s grabbed it and takes a bite.

“Hey! I was saving that!”

“Snooze you lose.”

“I didn’t even say anything stupid!”

“Everything you say is stupid by default.”

“That’s not even fair.”

“That’s life.” Tsuneko shrugs, eating the last of her dessert.

“You two ready to head back?”

“I wanna buy some stuff to go, you wanna get something for Itsuki? I’ll buy.”

“Sounds good.” Chisato’s smile brightens at the mention of treating her girlfriend. Tsuneko has only met Itsuki a few times, but each time her and Chisato are together they’re nauseatingly in love.

Tsuneko looks at the display of treats, she prattles off the name of everything that catches her eye. If she’s going to be forced to take a break, possibly earn the ire of Ichinomiya, then she’s going to spend the night stuffing her face and drinking.

She’s still looking, about to just settle on what she’s picked, when fresh cupcakes are being placed into the display. Soft yellow cake with white meringue frosting, the little placard says lemon chiffon cupcakes. The Hatter would probably like those, given his like of the pie, maybe if she bought a few he’d forgive her for just bailing this morning.

She starts to look up, meeting soft brown gray eyes. It’s the boy from last time, tucking sweets away into the case. A smile pulls at her lips, seeing a cute familiar face. His face flushes up to the tip of his ears and he jolts to stand up.

“Do you know her, Rin?” The cashier asks him, smiling as he tries to cover his ears.

“She’s just the girl who came in here fighting with her boyfriend over cake.”

“Hey,” her face twists in disgust, “he is not-“

“Tsuneko, we’re gonna be late, hurry up!”

“Okay, that’ll be all then.”

Tsuneko gets out her card as her order is all boxed up, pays, and they head back to the hotel in a hurry. She’s a little upset she couldn’t clear up the misunderstanding about Ichinomiya or grab the cupcakes for the Hatter.

They make it back to the hotel, Tsuneko hands Chisato the box of macaroons she picked out for Itsuki, tucking the rest into her locker to take home later before heading back to work. The rest of the work day passes by easily enough; a few guests point out she looks sick, but nothing else of note.

She’s finished the last room on her schedule and takes a deep breath, calming her nerves before she ventures to the auction stage. Her hands wring together, her heart is already racing.

She counts off seconds to track her breathing as she takes the stairs to the lower level. Tsuneko focuses on her senses, the only way to push through the panic, to stay off those trains of thought.

The in and out of her breaths, the click of her heels against each step, her uniform clenched under her fists, and her eyes fixed straight ahead.

Her chest grows tight when the scenery gets more familiar, the path she was pushed along that night.

Gilded bars, yelling out at strangers who don’t care, fresh blood seeping through her palm and being trapped; memories and phantom sensations flood her brain.

She digs her nails into the scar on her palm, pain grounding her to reality as she pushes forward towards that stage.

Her heart beat is like a pounding drum beat in her ears, drowning out every other bit of noise. She can’t even hear herself counting seconds.

The backstage is a ghost town, not the same bustle of activity. A quick glance up shows her the hook and suspension system that was used to hang her over the stage and bile rises in the back of her throat.

There’s no gilded birdcage and she wonders if it’s back in storage, is it still stained with her blood or did it get washed off? It must have been someone’s job to mop up her blood and remove all traces of what was done to her.

Another deep breath and a stab of her nails into her hand, a burst of pain to lead the way onto the actual stage.

No lights or audience now, just rows upon rows of empty red velvet seats. There’s well over a hundred, maybe closer to five-hundred or so, she’s not sure. It would take her too long to count.

All of those seats that night were filled, hundreds of people watching her torment with pride. Hundreds of possible buyers, each watching and thinking of just how they could use her if the money was right.

What if someone else would have bought her? That creepy man from that auction night or god knows who else. She could have ended up in someone’s basement, dead or worse and those people would have just moved on like she’d never been there.

And for what fucking reason?

It’s all so fucking senseless. It’s just rich pieces of shit getting together to waste money on things they’re not supposed to have, because it makes them feel special.

She’s a mess, suffering, struggling, hurt and looking for any escape because a hoard of rich people wanted a thrill.

She was already fucking up her own life, but apparently not fast enough, because the rich assholes came in to speed the process up.

Fuck, she can still feel them all looking at her, staring and gawking. Hundreds of people waiting and eager for the chance to hurt her, own her. Her greatest value has been just how much someone’s willing to pay to break her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hatter hums, the sound soft and cheerful in his throat. He’s ventured outside of Wonderland, in search of Cheshire. She’s gone for one of her walks and he’d like to have her back in time for the tea party. The floor where the auctions are held are the furthest he’s willing to stray from his safe haven of Wonderland. That is when they’re not being used for other events.

He likes the storeroom, looking over every potential item and finding the perfect description. Connecting to the items, letting them tell him their stories. It’s like magic, bringing every little thing to life with nothing but his words.

He likes being on stage for auctions, performing and everyone’s eyes on him. Seeing their intrigue, how they hang on his every word. He can feel every emotional shift, the impact of his words on every person in the crowd. The stage is his second home after Wonderland.

But, he can’t say he likes people in any other context, not really. He knows he’s odd, strange and unwanted by everyone’s standards.

Except Alice’s.

There’s an extra bounce in his step and his humming gets louder, just the thought of her makes his entire being lights up.

He waited so long for his Alice, someone who’d accept him.

He was sad to see her gone this morning, but he knows she has other responsibilities. He’s found his Alice, but she’s not his alone. A part of him, the majority of him, wants her to stay in Wonderland with him forever. Wonderland is always beautiful, filled with only the best of things, but it seems to brighten up even more when Alice is there.

For that fact alone, he’ll accept sharing her. He’d rather have her some of the time than none of it. Despite her responsibilities, she always returns and as long as that continues, he can be happy.

He’s always preferred and sought out eternal joys. Painted roses never wilt, in Wonderland he can have the best parts of life with none of the pain or hurt regular life comes with. But, perhaps he can learn to appreciate more temporary forms of happiness. Maybe cloudy days make the sun shine brighter?

Maybe going without her just means he’s that much happier when she comes back?

He’d still prefer to have her forever, the sun, the roses, and everything else beautiful forever. But, some compromises must be made he supposes.

He finds himself wandering near the auction room, perhaps Cheshire got curious about where he goes for those nights and wanted to investigate it, she’s a curious girl after all.

The Hatter nearly avoids tripping over the steps to the back stage when the sobs echo from the main stage. He freezes, his entire existence seized in an ice cold grip. Someone else is here. Who else would be here? Should he leave?

The wails and whimpering cries sound like a mix between a banshee and wounded animal. Pure pain echoing through every noise as he inches close to the curtains, to see who it could be.

Sitting curled up with knees to her is a woman in a maid uniform, from behind he can see a tied up mess of chocolate brown hair but not a face, despite this he knows who it is.

“Alice….?”

She doesn’t respond, just sniveling and whimpering against her own knees. Her body trembles with the force of her cries. He walks closer, her hands are clutched tight to her temples, leaving angry red lines across the skin and knotting her hair.

Why is she so upset? They had so much fun in Wonderland last night; she should be happy, right? It must be something else; she left Wonderland and got hurt. His heart twists painfully in his chest. If she stayed in Wonderland with him, this wouldn’t happen.

He gently brings himself down on one knee in front of her and brushes his fingers over one of her hands. That forces a response, Alice jolting like he’s burnt her and the pain in his chest doubles. Why would she not want him to touch her?

She looks up at him, the pain in her heart triples, no quadruples. He can’t keep track, he just knows it hurts. Her face is red and splotchy; her eyes swollen, her nose is running, her lip is quivering, and a waterfall of tears run down her face.

Wet amaranth eyes stare up at him; she blinks a few more tears join the downpour. He doesn’t like this, seeing her like this, it hurts. There’s a vice grip around his heart. He stares back for a moment, just taking in the pain on her face. He touches her again, placing his hand against her cheek. The warmth of her skin seeps through his gloves and she leans into the touch this time, like she’s desperate for the contact.

“What’s wrong Alice? Why are you crying?” He asks, a pout on his lips and his head tilting just so.

“I-uh…”

Her voice cracks and she breaks eye contact. His Alice isn’t beautiful, not right now, her brightness dimmed by pain. Bile churns in his stomach, he doesn’t like this. Everything is supposed to be happy. Wonderland is meant to be happy, even happier with Alice, but she’s suffering and he doesn’t know why.

“Your tears are not beautiful.”

Her entire body tenses, her knees curling closer to her chest, like she’s trying to be smaller.

“What….?”

Her voice has never sounded so fragile, as if the softest of touches could shatter her very being.

“They’re like fake diamonds, cheap pearls. I...can’t bear to look at them.” He looks away from her, grimacing as bile builds in the back of his throat.

“I-“

“Tears do not belong in Wonderland.”

He doesn’t have time to take another breath before she pushes him back onto his butt. Alice rises to her feet and stands over him. He swallows hard staring up at her; her eyes aren’t soft or sad anymore. They’re harsh and angry, his skin feels hot, like the fury and hatred in her is burning through him.

“Is that what you care about?!”

He tries scooting further away as she steps closer, feeling like prey about to be devoured. It’s been so long, he almost forgot what it felt like to be looked at with so much hate and disgust. He can’t speak, every word caught in his throat. Even if he could speak, she has no intention of listening.

“Well, I’m so fucking sorry, that I can’t be pretty while my life is falling apart. Do you even get that? Or are you so deep in your own bullshit that you can’t even understand that you helped destroy my life!”

Tears start falling again. She rubs them off, forceful enough to leave red marks across her eyes. She crouches down, hovering over his sprawled out body, so she can look him in the eyes again. There’s a shift, hot rage becoming cold fury. She’s a viper about to strike.

“You were so excited, weren’t you? That night, when you finally met me, your Alice, the chance to complete your little fantasy, right?”

Her tone is saccharine and she pauses like she’s waiting for an answer. He nods, softly, unable to speak.

“That was one of the worst days of my life,” she snarls at him, “Everyone involved, including you, ruined my life…and no one cares… “

Her voice breaks and a fresh outburst of tears make their way down her face. She sniffles and stands up straight before rubbing the heel of her hand to her eyes.

“Fuck, you’re no better than those penthouse assholes. The only thing you people care about is yourselves; I’m just another person to use. You don’t give a damn about me, the only thing you wanted was someone to play Alice. Someone to feed into your bullshit and look pretty while they do it. That’s all you fuckin’ wanted…and I actually thought- I’m an idiot.”

A heavy sigh escapes her and with it all the emotion seems to drain, a tired shell standing where Alice once was. Her heels click against the stage as she turns to leave, heading back off the stage.

She’s leaving.

She’s leaving him.

She’s leaving him and he doesn’t know how to stop her.

“Ali-!”

“Tsuneko! For fucks sake, my name is Tsuneko! This is exactly the shit I’m talking about; you can’t just rename me and expect me to fall in line with your fantasy crap! You just do whatever you want, expect everyone to play along, then pout if you don’t get what you want! There’s a reason you’re alone, dumbass.”

She disappears back behind the curtain to the backstage, her steps echoing as she leaves. His eyes sting, tears streak down his face and fade his makeup. He tucks his knees under his chin, hugging himself tight.

He finally found his Alice and he’s already driven her away. Maybe he was stupid to think anyone would want to stay with him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The door to Tsuneko’s dorm slams shut behind her and she throws the box of desserts down on her counter, which shakes when her foot collides with it. She screams out and kicks it again, her hands knot and pull at her hair. Her body feels like it’s on fire, tears and anxiety replaced with rage. She knocks her fists against her own skull, the pain and feeling of hurting something even herself is cathartic in the moment. So, she does it again and again.

She’s an idiot, a fucking idiot. Clinging to the idea that some stranger in makeup gave a damn about her, how could she be so pathetic? The second she was vulnerable, the second she wasn’t pretty enough, the second she wasn’t what he wanted he insulted her. Her tears don’t belong in Wonderland. She rips open her fridge, she needs alcohol, something to shut her down.

Tsuneko isn’t supposed to cry when everything is crashing down around her because god forbid she’s ugly for second. She cracks open a bottle of honey flavored vodka, what right does he even have to criticize her appearance? He runs around dressed up in some harlequin Tim Burton costume, but her tears are ugly.

She takes a heavy swig of her drink; it’s sweet on her tongue and burns down her throat, before putting it aside to get Kiyo out of his cage. It’s best to take care of him before she’s completely out of her mind drunk. She makes sure to keep her movement gentle and steady, coddling him before putting him down. He scurries out, finding a stuffed animal to play with. She cleans up his cage, restocks his food, and water.

He bounces after her as she walks back to the kitchenette area, bottle in hand. Another gulp and swallow, before she unboxes the goodies. She opens the top of the box with her fruit sponge cake roll and her eyes widen, just next to it in the corner is a little lemon chiffon cupcake. It’s nowhere on her receipts and she knows she didn’t buy it, Rin from the shop must have thrown it in because she was eyeing it.

She runs a hand back through her hair, tugging out the knots she finds. The cupcakes she wanted to give to the Hatter. A huff of hair escapes her lips, it’s a sweet gesture on Rin’s part, but it pisses her off. She swallows down vodka until she needs a breath then puts the desserts away.

Tsuneko crams the bonus cupcake in her mouth; her feelings keep it from tasting as sweet as it should. But, as long as the Hatter doesn’t have it, she’s fine with it. Eating a cupcake out of spite, that’s what she’s become.

She sits down on her little living room floor and washes the cake down with another gulp of vodka. Kiyo plops down in her lap and she idly scratches him as she drinks.

“Uhhh,” she groans out as the burn of it settles in her stomach, “I’m fuckin’ stupid, you know that Kiyo.”

He makes a soft dooking noise and chews on her sleeve, she takes another drink.

“I let him see me like that and I actually thought he’d comfort me, fuckin’ stupid. No one likes a crybaby…Not allowed to cry, can’t break down, can’t be ugly, can’t be pathetic.”

She takes another drink, her face is starting to flush and she’s nearing the bottom of the bottle. Her head lolls back against the seat of her couch, a soft sigh escapes her lips.

“I just wanted someone I could be comfortable with even just a little bit, but no. No one wants a crybaby, no one wants a burden.”

Kiyo nuzzles against her hand and she thinks about the Hatter, alone with only Cheshire as a friend. It’s been just him and Cheshire for four years. It’s just been her and Kiyo for almost one year. He hid himself away in Wonderland away from everyone and he’s desperate to keep his little fantasy world intact, hurting her for it. She thought she could be safe with him…because he’s so disconnected from reality, barely human.

But, that’s wrong to think, isn’t it?

Of course he’s human and just like every other human; he doesn’t want to deal with her bullshit. To have expected any different, isn’t really fair is it.

She thinks to this morning. The second there was a chance of seeing him underneath the costume she ran…she didn’t want her part of the fantasy world ruined….

Is she any better than him?

He doesn’t want to see her ugly; he wants pristine pretty Alice who suits his Wonderland fantasy. She didn’t want to see the real him, she wanted her fake Hatter who couldn’t hurt her.

And that went to shit real fast.

But, she never made him behave differently and she never insulted him for not being what she wanted, so she’s not as bad is she?

Her bottle is empty; she tosses it and grabs a different bottle, marshmallow vodka this time. She takes a few more bottles with her as she gets back to her seat, so she won’t have to move again.

He didn’t have to insult her, tell her she didn’t belong in Wonderland. But, it’s her fault too. Expecting people to comfort her is ridiculous, she’s an adult and she should know better. Should have just wiped her eyes and moved on. She needs to be stronger.

Of course, he’d be disgusted by her. Anyone would be, seeing her sniveling and pathetic. Expecting him to act any different isn’t fair. There’s a reason she keeps her guard up, she let it drop and she got hurt, that’s just life.

There’s a reason she’s alone, too.

Keeping everyone at arm’s length suits her best; hurts less when they decide they don’t want her anymore.

People only want someone for as long as they serve a purpose, what that purpose is of course varies from person to person. No one wants to deal with the gross, emotional garbage crap.

The next bottle of vodka is drained before she realizes it and she starts her third soon after. Her thoughts are getting hazier, lighter, the beauty of alcohol. Only for the night, or however long her vodka fueled stupor lasts, the deep pain in her heart is forgotten.

Kiyo nudges his hand against her hand, after she’s taken another gulp of chocolate vodka. He’s so sweet, a precious good boy trying to be here for her. She scoops him up in clumsy drunk hands nuzzling her cheek against his head.

“Ah, you’re suuuuch a good boy,” she kisses his nose, “good boys get kisses.”

He makes soft noises and she snuggles, giving him more kisses. Her body relaxes against the couch, it’s a shame Kiyo is the only good boy or girl she has around. She doesn’t have anyone else to give-

Rapid knocks against her dorm door catch her attention, making her glassy eyes go wide.

“Tsuneko, are you home?” Sakiko asks from the other side of the door.

“We came to check on you.” Chisato adds.

“I’m right here! ~” Tsuneko waves at the door as if they could see her.

“Uhh, we’re coming in.”

“Ohhhhhh kaaaaay~”

Sakiko and Chisato push open the door. They’re both in casual clothes, they look so cute, as they step into her dorm sort of apartment deal. Both of them go wide eyed when they see Tsuneko in her little vodka bottle nest.

“Hullo, Sakay and Chisaw! ~” Words slosh and slur in her mouth.

��Tsuneko, how much have you had to drink?”

“Uhhhhh,” she looks down at the bottles around her, “one….two….threee…five…two…eight, a lot.”

“This isn’t exactly what we imagined when we told you to take care of yourself,” Sakiko comments as they throw away the empty bottles.

“Why are you here?”

“We were worried about you, obviously.”

Chisato sits down beside her once they’ve cleared away the bottles. Her body is warm and comforting, Tsuneko leans her head against Chisato’s shoulder. The soft scent of fabric softener tickles her nose.

“Ahhhhhh,” she whines, “you’re toooo nice.”

“You weren’t even this drunk at your welcome party,” Sakiko says as she takes a seat.

“Well, Erika got her out of there before she got too bad, why are you nuzzling me?”

“Mmmm, warm and nice,” Tsuneko mumbles before looking up at Chisato. Tsuneko’s face is completely red, eyes glassy, and her hair a mess. But, Chisato is so pretty, short and tidy blue black hair with warm doe brown eyes. She’s beautiful and nice.

“Okay, it’s time for-AHHHH!”

Chisato yells and scrambles backwards when Tsuneko leans over to kiss her. The two of them fall back, Tsuneko still trying to steal a kiss. Chisato presses her palms against the shorter woman’s shoulders, keeping her and her lips at bay.

“What are you doing?!”

“You deserve a kiss! ~” Tsuneko beams, big smile and dimples showing. Why is Chisato so confused? It makes perfect sense. Kisses feel good, Chisato is a good person, and good people deserve good things.

“I’ll get some from Itsuki, okay?”

“Buuuuut, I wanna giiiiive kisses?”

Why doesn’t Chisato want her kisses? Aren’t her kisses good?

“I think that’s enough of that,” Sakiko hooks her hands over Tsuneko’s shoulder and pulls her back toward her chest, away from Chisato.

Tsuneko cranes her neck to look up at Sakiko, her chest is soft and warm against Tsuneko’s back. Sakiko is pretty too, long brown hair and bright honey brown eyes. She’s nice too, always sweet and bubbly no matter how much Tsuneko picks on her.

“Why are yo-MMMPH!”

Tsuneko’s lips muffle Sakiko’s question, she’s managed to twist around and throw her arms around Sakiko’s neck. Her tongue slides in easily, rubbing against Sakiko’s as she deepens it. Tsuneko shifts and pushes against the sober woman’s lips, they’re soft and her mouth still tastes faintly of sweets. A small noise, a cute soft moan, escapes the back of Sakiko’s throat and she grabs at Tsuneko’s shirt. Whether the gesture is meant to dissuade Tsuneko or anchor herself, is unclear.

The drunk half of the pair isn’t deterred, she’s intent on tasting every part of Sakiko’s mouth, delivering her reward. She tastes sweet, she’s soft, and it all feels so nice. That’s all Tsuneko wants, to feel good and make someone else feel good. She tilts and moves her lips against Sakiko’s, finding new angles to work her tongue in deeper and find any little spot she hasn’t run her tongue over yet.

A different pair of hands grab Tsuneko’s shoulders and yanks her back, disconnecting her and Sakiko’s lips. Tsuneko’s eyes open at the loss of contact, Sakiko is still on the floor, seemingly frozen. Her face is a vivid red, honey brown eyes glazed over, and her lips are spit slick. She looks so pretty and needs more kisses, Tsuneko decides in her drunken haze. But, she’s being held back by Chisato.

“Uhhh, Sakiko, you okay?” Chisato asks, voice soft and close to Tsuneko’s ear in this position. It’s pleasant, but it would probably sound even nicer if she was moaning like Sakiko did. When Tsuneko goes to twist around in order to steal a kiss from her other friend, she finds Chisato’s hands are gripping too tight for her to maneuver.

“Um, uh,” Sakiko stutters and blinks, touching her slightly swollen lips, “fuck.”

“Earth to Sakiko? You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, um, I’m just shocked,” her voice cracks.

“Okay…?” Chisato grins, “Are you still straight?”

“Um, uh, I’ll get back to you on that one.”

“Ahhhhh, I want more kisses,” Tsuneko whines as Chisato drags her towards her bed.

“No more kisses, Tsuneko, you’re confusing the straights.”

“Buuuuut, I wanna kiss pretty girls! ~”

“I get that, but no more kisses tonight.” Chisato clumsily puts Tsuneko into her bed, pulling a blanket over her.

Her bed is warm and soft, nice, it feels so nice. Tsuneko pulls her pillow close to her face nuzzling against it. Her eyelids and limbs feel heavy, Chisato’s voice becomes a murmur of white noise before fading away into silence.

Warm light on her face and a dull pain in her head is what wakes Tsuneko up. She yawns and swallows, her mouth is dry. A few blinks help clear her vision and she sees a glass of water on her side table with aspirin next to it. That’s right, she groans into her pillow, Chisato and Sakiko came in while she was drunk last night.

She swallows the pills and gulps down the water, before she falls back onto her bed. It’s her warm and snuggly safe haven at the moment. Physically, she feels better after getting some decent sleep. Long easy sleeps are few and far between for her, alcohol is the easiest way to kill any dreams. But, the entire situation still makes her sick mentally and emotionally.

She knows she was too cruel with the Hatter, lashing out like a wounded animal. But, that doesn’t change the fact that any semblance of a friendship she thought could be built with him is gone. Any hopes she had of letting her guard down around him have been shot to shit. He was still an asshole and no matter how she looks at it, he saw her tragedy as a chance to benefit.

But, she was using his little fantasy character to make herself feel better, to give herself a safe place. Isn’t that kind of taking advantage of his mental illness, or problems at the very least, for her benefit?

Ugh, she doesn’t want to think, that’s the whole reason she was drinking. Her memories of last night are fuzzy, as always. She knows Chisato and Sakiko showed up, already an awful thing. Tsuneko is a messy drunk and doesn’t like other people seeing her like that. She closes her eyes and thinks on it for a bit, foggy memories of Sakiko’s lips and the sweet taste of her mouth, the warmth of her body.

“Ahhh!”

Heat shoots up Tsuneko’s face and she burrows into her pillow. She kissed Sakiko, on top of all of this bullshit, she kissed Sakiko. She must be furious. Tsuneko not only acted like a pathetic loser, she was super gross and forced a kiss a Sakiko.

She grabs her phone off the charger, bringing it under the blankets with her, back into warm safety. Sakiko and Chisato would be at work, she sends quick apologies. She seems to be apologizing a lot lately, a heavy sigh escapes her. Additionally, Shinobu still hasn’t texted her back. He’s never gone this long without talking to her, maybe he’s finally sick of her.

“Ugh.”

She tosses her phone until the floor, sick of looking at it, and looks into Kiyo’s cage from her bed. He’s sleeping, food and water still filled. At this point it feels like Chisato and Sakiko take better care of him than her. She’s beyond fucking useless.

Another groan and sigh slip out as she burrows back into her nest of comfort. This is supposed to be a self-care day, or some shit.

Tsuneko only knows a couple coping mechanisms for when she's desperately trying to shut off her brain. It's too early for more alcohol, plus she has to work tonight. Eating her emotions is nice, but she'd have to get up out of bed to raid her fridge, which sounds like a fate worse than death at the moment. Same thing with going for a run or going to a nearby gym. Her other favorite coping mechanism keeps coming to mind.

Drowning her brain in pleasure sounds a lot better than driving herself insane for the rest of her down time. Her body already feels primed for, alcohol turns her on enough to demand make out sessions, but she always wakes up feeling like her body wanted more.

She pulls her favorite soft pink body pillow under her, wrapping herself around it. Her sleep clothes are thin. The seam of the pillow case is thicker and presses against her sex through the fabric of her shorts. She's already a little wet and the first grind of her hips against the pillow sends a jolt of pleasure through her body.

Her fingers tighten around the pillowcase and she buries her face into the plush of it. She can almost imagine she's grinding against someone, hot friction against her swollen clit.

A little imagination is all it takes to feel like there's someone underneath her. Her mind turns the plush of a pillow into the firmness of a body, the thick seam into the grind of someone's hardening cock. Her hips hump harder, a steady pleasure building between her thighs and tension winding tight in her stomach.

She can envision her nails digging into someone's back, firm muscle instead of soft give. Pants and whines of pleasure muffle against her pillow. Her entire body feels hot, sweat beading across her skin, the heat amplified by the blanket covering her.

Her nipples rub against the pillow, her tank falling off her shoulders and revealing more of her. She can almost convince herself her chest is rubbing against someone else's, firmer than her own.

The fantasy partner in her head grows clearer and clearer with every frantic grind of her hips. Someone much taller, hard muscle where she's soft squish. She can just picture, a man beneath her, letting out low groans, as she grinds her slick cunt against him.

Dark hair falling into his face as sweat makes a mess of it, a flush over his handsome face, dark stormy blue eyes shut tight as she-

"Ahh!"

She kicks her pillow away like it's burned her, realization of who her fantasy man was hits her like ice water.

Oh, the man who threatened her with a gun.

She was actually fantasizing about grinding on the cock of a sexist asshole who was going to shoot her over candy.

No, no, no.

Tsuneko scrambles from the bed, she's not that fucked in the head. She can't help he's attractive and if anything it's his fault for taking his shirt off in front of her that first night. He’s confused her damn brain; it's getting it's fear and lust wires crossed.

She needs an ice cold shower, something to clear her mind and cool her libido. The sound of an engine, closer to the dormitories than usual catches her attention before she can reach the bathroom. She pushes up her window and peeks out, what’s going on? From her window she can look down at the backlot of the Tres Spades.

There’s a truck just outside the back entrance, parked but the engine running. The back trailer is open with a ramp. Two men loading items onto it, she can’t clearly see everything from her vantage point. Something glints, catching the sunlight and her heart drops. A bronze goddess statue that she’d recognize anywhere, the one with a nice rack that he showed her. Why are they loading up his stuff?

She barely has enough sense to grab her phone and shove on sneakers before she’s out the door. The elevator is too slow, she runs down the stairs jumping over several steps at a time desperate to reach the lot as soon as possible. She narrowly avoids tripping as she leaves the dormitory.

The truck trailer is closed and it’s pulls out with wheels squealing just as she reaches the lot. She tries to take a picture of the license plate. It drives off too fast for her eyes to catch it and when she checks the photo it’s too blurry. She curses under her breath as she darts into the hotel.

The Mad Hatter rarely leaves Wonderland, which means he must have run into those people. Did they hurt him? Fuck, fuck, fuck.

She cuts a path to the stairs and sprints down towards Wonderland. Her foot catches on the second to final step and she goes tumbling forward, she manages to break her fall with her hands. An ache goes through her hand, but she rushes back to her feet and keeps running.

Her heart rabbits in her chest as she throws open the door to Wonderland. It’s a whiplash of relief than pain when she sees the Hatter is safe then sees the look of pain on his face. He’s sitting curled up in his chair with his knees to his chest, completely despondent, the tea room is now practically barren aside from the table and chairs. Cheshire is standing near him, mewling softly.

“Hey,” Tsuneko calls out as she rushes near him, “hey, talk to me.”

She crouches down in front of him, trying to make contact and get him to talk to her. His eyes are sad and there’s a pang in her heart.

“Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you?”

He slowly shakes his head no, at least some sort of response. She chews her lip, they need to try and get this figured out. There are security cameras near the backlot, around the majority of the hotel. It might have gotten a clearer look at the truck.

She dials up Kenzaki’s phone number, her phone has a few more scuffs from her fall, at this rate it won’t be long until she needs a new one. It takes a few rings, but finally Kenzaki answers her.

“Tomori, is something wrong?” His calm complacent voice greets her.

“Yeah, um, the guest in the tea room,” Tsuneko chooses her words carefully, “he was just robbed, I saw them leaving the backlot. We have security camera there, right?”

“Hmm, that is concerning. Yes, we do, but I’ll have to contact Mr. Ichinomiya about this.”

“Uh, oh, I don’t think-“

The phone clicks as Kenzaki hangs up on her, great, now she has to deal with Ichinomiya. She lets out a heavy sigh, the Hatter’s artificially blue eyes are looking at her. There’s a mixture of pain and curiosity in her eyes. Just yesterday, she was tearing him down and now she’s trying to help him. She has to be giving the poor man whiplash from hell.

She’s still not quite ready to apologize for her outburst yesterday, especially considering he hasn’t apologized for his own comment. But, that’s not the most important thing right now. Regardless of how she feels about the Hatter, this is wrong; no one has a right to just take his things. Even if she truly hated him, she wouldn’t want him to suffer through this alone. As recent a development as it might be, she does have some empathy. She grabs a chair and pulls it up to sit next to him.

“Okay, sweetie,” she talks low and calmly, like she’s speaking to a child, “do you know who the people were that took your stuff?”

“The Dormouse and March Hare…”

Heat simmers under her skin, she’s not sure how long those two had been here, but they were here before her. They must have just been waiting for a good chance to take everything from him. The Hatter saw them as friends too, despite their despondent nature, he saw them as crucial characters in his Wonderland. He must have. And then the assholes go and rob him.

“This is why you never trust a furry,” she tries to joke, not even earning a smile from the Hatter, “or at least not the half-assed ones. I mean if you’re gonna be a furry commit, right?”

He looks up at her from his curled up position and she gives him a little smile, hoping to get him to crack up even a little bit. He’s usually so jovial, but between her verbal assaults yesterday and this, it feels like he does nothing but frown lately. After a moment, a soft smile pulls at his painted lips.

‘That’s better, now, do you know what the Dormouse and March Hare’s real names are, outside of Wonderland?”

He shakes his head no and her breath catches in her throat, he doesn’t know who those people really are? At all? This entire time he’s allowed strangers into Wonderland and just trusted them not to hurt him… He really is like a child, who puts that kind of blind trust in strangers?

“Sweetie, how exactly did you meet them?”

“They were selling dropping off items meant to sell at the auction, I offered them roles in Wonderland.”

“And they just accepted…?”

“I offered them payment.”

“You were paying them to be here?”

She bites her lip, that’s so fucking reckless. The fuckers must have gotten greedy and decided they wanted more, so they robbed him blind. They saw someone vulnerable and they jumped to take advantage. She runs a hand through her tangled mess of hair.

“Look, you can’t ju-“

“What’s going on here?”

Tsuneko’s nose wrinkles, her face contorting in disgust at that familiar voice. She managed to be free of him for a whole day and she wishes nothing more than to have stretched that time out longer.

She tucks a strand of hair back behind her ear and crosses her arms over her chest, suddenly aware of how thin her pajama shirt is. Ichinomiya strides into the room and the other penthouse guests trail after, why are they all there? She avoids looking at Oh, given recent…events.

“He was robbed, I saw the truck leave with his stuff, but I couldn’t get a look at the license plate.”

“And you were here, dressed like that?” Kisaki is the one to pipe up, staring at Tsuneko’s outfit.

She wishes she would have had the foresight to at least grab a jacket. Her white top is cropped, white, low-cut, and her lack of a bra isn’t doing her much favors. The pajama shorts are embarrassing in a whole different way, pink gingham and little strawberries decorating them. Her face burns hot with shame, but there's something far more important to worry about.

“I have the later shift; I was at home when I saw them taking his stuff from my window. Somehow trying to stop a robbery was more important than throwing on jeans.”

“And we’re all blessed for it,” Baba says with a wink and her stomach churns.

“If we could shift our focus from my tits to the crime that’s been committed, that’d be great.”

“Who would have been able to rob him?” Oh asks, his disdain for all things feminine working in her favor at the moment.

“Guys who were part of the whole Wonderland spiel. He doesn’t know their names, though.”

“What did they even take?”

Kisaki is poking around looking into rooms, his face contorted into disgust, over what she’s not sure. His face is particularly punchable at the moment.

“They took the decoration for the tea party and the stuff from my room…”

“Is that all?”

Ichinomiya’s voice is harsh and cuts like a knife, what little bit of happiness had returned to the Hatter’s eyes leaves. Her nails dig into her arms.

“Seriously, he’s just been robbed and you wanna be an asshole?”

Ichinomiya meets her glare, neither breaking eye contact.

“And what would you suggest I do?” His condescending tone makes her nails dig harder into her skin.

“Literally anything, you have security cameras for a fucking reason. Figure out who took his shit, get it back. Be nice for half a second, something.”

“If it was serious enough, he knows how to contact me.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’re just so easy to talk to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What would have happened if I didn’t see them taking his stuff away? Would you have ever found out?”

“I’m not his babysitter.”

“Really, that’s what you’re going with?!” She stands from her chair, nearly knocking it over and clenching her fist tight as she glares at him, “What if he got hurt? Just gonna find him down here dead, next time you needed him?”

“Pff,” he scoffs, “you’re being dramatic.”

“Am I? Do you know who those men were, ‘cause he sure as hell doesn’t! All he knows is that they were involved in one of your auctions. So, you know, real stand up guys. I mean the men who sold me were just so kind when they bashed my skull against the ground and threw me in a cage, I’m sure no one like that would hurt him!”

Her throat feels raw and Ichinomiya breaks eye contact for a moment. Whether because of annoyance or she’s managed to actually break through his thick skull, she can’t be sure. After a moment his eyes meet hers again and steps forward. She meets his gaze and stands her ground.

“I have more important things to do than watch him every second.”

“So, you’re just too damn busy to keep an eye on who’s in your hotel. What if they had gone upstairs, robbed some guests while they were at it! Or, maybe since they know about the auctions, they manage to get into the storeroom and steal some shit from there! How careless can you be?!”

“You sound like parents arguing over how to raise a child,” Baba teases and bile rises in the back of Tsuneko’s throat. Kisaki snickers and Kishi chuckles, Oh even looks vaguely amused by the comment.

“Gross.”

“Enough of this,” Ichinomiya sneers, “we’re having a dinner meeting with the Buccis, now go make yourself presentable. If you’re capable of that.”

He starts to stride out of the room and Tsuneko groans, gritting her teeth and clenching her fist tighter.

“Seriously!? You aren’t going to do anything!?”

“Don’t waste your time worrying about this, be ready in ten minutes.”

He leaves the room and Tsuneko pinches the bridge of her nose. Is he serious? His event matters more than the Hatter being robbed? Oh’s gray suit passes by in her peripheral and she focuses her eyes on the ground.

“What a waste of time.” He scoffs before leaving the room and Tsuneko bites her lip, they don’t even care about one of their own.

“I’m not staying in this creepy place for another second.”

Kisaki leaves and Tsuneko flinches as Baba puts a hand on her shoulder;why is he touching her?

“Don’t worry, just go ahead and get ready pretty lady,” he tells her before leaving and Kishi starts to follow after.

“Aren’t you a cop!?”

“Not my department.”

And just like that, the Hatter and her are left alone in Wonderland. She wants to scream, do they seriously not care? He’s a part of their little group, even if only tangentially, then again she’s not sure how much they all even care for each other. Baba and Kisaki are clear friends, same for Oh and Ichinomiya. Kishi and the Hatter are outliers. The Hatter is the weird man in the basement that none of them seem to bother with until they need him to host auctions. Kishi is some boring old guy who sleeps up there and…he has to have contributed something at some point, she assumes.

“Okay,” she spins on her feels to look at the Hatter, “they’re useless, but I’m going to try and get this sorted.”

“But…you have to help Eisuke.”

“Unfortunately, yes, as much as I wanna skip out on, that would be breaking our bet. But, I will be finished with that at some point. And in the meantime I need you to do something.”

His eyes widen and blink a few times. He tilts his head as she rummages around Wonderland, finding pen and paper in his room.

“While I’m dealing with his bullshit, I want you to write down everything you can think of that you know about the March Hare and Dormouse. The date you met them, what items they were selling that night, anything. Can you do that for me?”

“Yeah…I can do that.”

He nods and starts writing stuff down. Tsuneko’s heart feels heavy and she has to resist the temptation to hug him. She needs to get this figured out for him.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.”

“Promise?” He offers his pinky finger and she hooks her own around it.

“Promise.”

She reluctantly leaves the Hatter alone in Wonderland and ventures back to her dorm. Tsuneko showers and throws together an event outfit as quick as possible before heading back to the hotel

Her brain keeps straying back to the Hatter and the robbery; if she had gotten out of bed sooner maybe she would have caught them? Maybe, if she’s lucky Kenzaki will let her look at security camera footage. But, even if she did what could she do about it? Would filing a police report even be an option? They’d probably question a strange Hatter in the hotel basement and it could lead to them discovering the auctions which are a whole different kind of shit show. Maybe, she can pretend it’s her stuff that was stolen?

“You’re late.” The curt voice of Ichinomiya makes her stop outside the hotel, in front of his limousine.

“You’re not wrong.”

Tsuneko shrugs, her mind still wandering, and Ichinomiya sighs.

“Ridiculous.”

Then he’s in her space, the scent of his cologne tickles her nose and his hands are gripping her blazer, pushing it off her shoulders. His hands are warm where they brush against her skin, heat floods her face.

“Hey!? What are you doing!?”

“It’s inside out, do you not even know how to dress yourself?” Ichinomiya sneers as he takes off her jacket, sure enough it’s inside out. Her face flushes a deeper red and she fiddles with her earring.

“I wasn’t paying attention, shut up,”

She reaches out to grab the blazer back, but he lifts it above her head and she stumbles forward, nearly falling into his chest as she tries to reach it. He smirks at her feeble attempt to get it back.

“It looks better without it.”

“Fine, whatever.”

She rolls her eyes and starts to move away when he places his other hand on her hip, pulling her tighter against him. Tsuneko presses her hand against his ribs, trying to increase the distance.

“Having fun, you two?”

Mr. Bucci’s voice rings out and Tsuneko is finally able to squirm away from the smirking Ichinomiya. Mr. Bucci is smiling pleasantly while Carolina is glaring daggers at her.

“Sorry about that,” Ichinomiya says, not a hint of remorse in his voice.

He opens the limousine the door, putting her blazer out of the way, before keeping the door open for the rest of them to file in. Ichinomiya slides into his seat, close beside her. She tries to make herself smaller and avoid any contact. He hands her his tablet, fingers stroking over her wrist as he asks her to take notes for the night.

“So, what were you two talking about earlier?” Mr. Bucci asks with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, like he’d caught two lovers flirting. Meanwhile Carolina is glaring at her in disgust, fair enough, the thought disgusts Tsuneko just as much.

“Nothing much, I had to correct a minor wardrobe issue, it would have been done sooner but she was running a little late.”

Tsuneko glares at him; he didn’t miss a chance to throw her under the bus, that’s for sure.

“Can’t dress herself or be on time, you should just fire her already,” Carolina huffs and crosses her arms over her chest.

“That reminds me,” Ichinomiya reaches into his jacket and produces a neatly wrapped box, “a gift to thank you for all your hard work, Tsuneko.”

Tsuneko narrows her eyes, he’s laying it on thick and she forces a smile as she takes the box. He watches her with that fake soft look as she opens up the box, the cat shaped watch she was looking at during the shopping trip with Carolina. The band is a soft pink color and the metal is a rose gold. It’s cute but subtly so.

“I saw you looking at it the other day; I figured it’d be practical as well.”

“You’re too nice,” Tsuneko forces a smile but she’s glaring, “I couldn’t possibly-“

“It’s the least I can do for all the work you do for me.”

If she doesn’t accept it, he’ll give her hell, this is all for his business agenda. She murmurs half hearted thanks as Ichinomiya fastens it around her wrist, making a point of skimming his fingers across her skin. Every bit of contact makes her want to lash out. They’re sitting in the back of a limousine with Ichinomiya making fake goo-goo eyes at her while the Hatter is sitting in Wonderland hurt and suffering.

She’s not sure what the relationship between the Hatter and the other bidders is exactly, but shouldn’t he come before some networking event. Carolina is still glaring as Ichinomiya steers the conversation with Mr. Bucci back to business.

Tsuneko tries to stay present enough to keep coherent notes, but they’re less detailed than last time. Her mind continually wanders back to the Hatter and what she can do about getting his stuff back.

She’s sleepwalking through the rest of the evening, she’s just focused enough to do what’s asked of her, but she doesn’t talk or respond unless absolutely needed. She tries not to bristle or avoid Ichinomiya’s fake lovey dovey too much, so not to earn any extra ire. Tsuneko doesn’t properly taste any of the food as they go through the dinner, running completely on autopilot. Mr. Bucci and Ichinomiya prattle on about business while Carolina glares daggers, getting in occasional insults at Tsuneko’s expense. Her brain continuously wanders back to the Hatter.

What if she can’t get anything back for him?

What if those robbers come back? What if he gets hurt?

She’s running through every what if and disastrous possibility and before she knows it the dinner is coming to a close and they’re all leaving the restaurant.

“Oooh,” Carolina’s eyes go wide at the sight of a designer store, “c’mon Eisuke, you can pick me out another dress!”

“I’m afraid that I have work to do back at the hotel, so Tsuneko and I will have to end the evening here. But, I’ll arrange for my driver to come back when you’ve finished your shopping.”

“Understood,” Mr. Bucci says despite Carolina’s pouting.

They go off into the store and Ichinomiya opens the limousine door for Tsuneko to slide in. He follows suit and the second the door has closed his fake smile falls away. Hazel eyes glare at Tsuneko, she digs her nails into her thighs as the car starts to move.

“That was pathetic.”

“Excuse me?”

“A brick wall had more personality than you tonight.”

“Are you actually complaining about me being quiet?”

“Your moping ruined the evening for everyone, are you still worrying about the Hatter?”

“Yes, obviously! While we’re eating some five star meal, he’s down in the basement scared, hurt, and miserable!”

“He’s an adult, he’ll be fine. I’m not going to stop everything for one incident.”

“I’m not asking you to stop everything, you dramatic fuck. I asked you do something, anything! I asked for the bare minimum and you still disappointed me!”

“I disappointed, you? Who do you think you are?”

“Someone who’s disappointed in you,” he huffs and looks away, “have you even thought about him this entire time? Those people know where he is, what if they come back, what if they hurt him?!”

“Working yourself up into a panic attack won’t help anything.”

“I’m well aware of that, so why the fuck, aren’t we there doing something that will help? Oh wait, because all you care about is your own business!”

“Yes, my business is more important than a few trinkets being stolen from the Hatter.”

“It’s not just what’s been stolen; did you see how hurt he was? He’s in a bad place and you don’t give a shit. God, I knew you were a jackass, but don’t you have an ounce of empathy?”

She rakes a hand through her hair and sighs. Ichinomiya doesn’t respond now, but the frustration and anger radiates off of him. Tsuneko understands that he needs to make money and run his company, but he just dismissed the Hatter without another thought. He could have worked something out, done something. But, no, nothing, not a single shred of kindness or empathy. The Hatter was already in a bad place, thanks to her lashing out, she thinks back to the hurt look he had as she tore into him. At the time she didn’t care, but now it’s eating her alive.

She’s hurt a lot of people in her life. She doesn’t want to do that anymore. What the Hatter said still hurts her, that he saw her vulnerable and decided to tear her down further. But, her reaction wasn’t right either. He called her an ugly crier and she tore apart his entire being. Someone pinched her and she tried to rip their throat out.

Tsuneko notices a few familiar buildings passing by the limousine, they’re near Parole and she remembers the lemon chiffon cupcakes, maybe those would lift the Hatter’s mood?

“Hey, can you stop up here?” Tsuneko asks the driver.

“What are you doing?” Ichinomiya gives her that all too familiar look of annoyance.

“I need to go to the bakery.”

“We just had dinner, are you that much of a glutton?”

“Just stop the fucking car.” Tsuneko’s voice is clipped, he’s such an asshole.

She swings the door opens and hops out before the car has come to a complete stop, but close enough and rushes to get in before they close. All she wants to do is something nice for the Hatter, even a little thing that might brighten up his garbage day.

The cute guy, Rin, is behind the counter when she comes in. He raises an eyebrow at her as she rushes over.

“You’re cutting it close again,” he comments.

“I know, I’m sorry. Do you have any more of the lemon chiffon cupcakes?”

“Yeah.”

“Great, can I get like a dozen of those?”

“Sure, you must have really liked them,” he says as he starts packing the sweets away in a box.

“They’re for my…” what exactly is the Hatter? No word she thinks of feels right, friend is too familiar. Acquaintance or someone she knows from work are too distant, “there for someone, he’s had a bad day.”

“I don’t really care,” he tells her as he rings it up, is everyone an asshole? She thinks for a moment and decides to add an iced frappuccino concoction, extra sweet stuff. Maybe that will lower Ichinomiya’s asshole threshold and he’ll be more likely to help the Hatter, catch more flies with honey and all that. She’s not fond of the idea of extending an olive branch to that man and perhaps it’s more manipulative than peaceful.

“Well, thanks for putting up with me coming in late all the time.”

She pays for the order and picks up the large box; these should bring a smile to the Hatter’s face if nothing else.

“You remind me of someone,” Rin says suddenly, staring at her for a moment.

“Really, who?”

“This stray calico cat that’s always here begging for food and is always fighting the bigger cats.”

Tsuneko’s face falls, Kisaki compares her to a dog and he compares her to a stray cat, what kind of bullshit is this?

“You’re no longer cute.”

His face flushes red up to his ears again and he tries to cover them, irritation clear.

“I’ve never been cute, shut up.”

“Are you done wasting my time?”

Ichinomiya’s voice makes her jolt, he’s standing in the doorway and glaring at them with his arms crossed over his chest. Everything about his body language makes her blood boil, she’s been here maybe five minutes.

“Yeah, I’m done, asshole.”

The insult makes Ichinomiya rolls his eyes and leave the store, she follows after him after waving a bye to Rin. The door nearly hits her in the face where she’s carrying the box and drink. Ichinomiya is walking away to where the car is parked, no concern for her.

“Do you have to be so impatient?”

“I don’t have the time or desire to watch you flirt.” He doesn’t bother to turn around, like she’s not even worth the energy to do so.

“I was trying to buy something for the Hatter, because I want to make him feel better, god why are you such an asshole!?”

“I don’t owe you any explanation.”

“Can you at least turn around and talk to me, if you’re gonna be a dick!”

“Go back to being quiet, you were less annoying.”

“You know I got this drink for you, right? As a peace offering.” Her nails dig against the cup.

“Pfft, are you so stupid you think I can be won over with a drink, pathetic.”

“My mistake,” she says before throwing it at the back of his head.

He freezes in place as it bust into a mess; whip cream, chocolate, and iced coffee slush matting in his hair before running down the back of his fancy suit. She’s reaching into the box for a cupcake as he starts to turn around.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?”

The dessert splatters against his chest as the question ends. Whip cream from the drink somehow made it into his bangs, threatening to drip into his glaring eyes.

“I’m sick of your shit,” she tosses another cupcake, smashing against his cheek before he can smack it away, “you’re a condescending rude asshole!”

“Are you done with your tantrum?”

“Don’t patronize me!”

"You're a child," he spits back.

"You're a selfish prat, all you care about is your damn self!"

"Maybe so, but I won’t stand for you trying to make me look like an idiot.”

"Yeah, I'm just humiliating you in front of everyone," she gestures at the empty streets, "you know, maybe it's my fault for actually expecting better from you! I should have known that someone who bought me can't show kindness to anyone, even the people in his little fucked up circle."

"Is that how you see it?"

He steps closer, glaring her down. He'd be intimidating if not for the mess of icing and whip cream smeared over his face.

"Yeah, that's how I fucking see it. You're nothing but a heartless bastard."

"Believe it or not, buying you was a kindness," he's in her space, looming over her, "do you know what kind of people could have purchased you that night?"

"I-"

His hand on her chin cuts off her words, his nails pressing into her skin as he keeps her head in place. He leans his own down, keeping eye contact. A panicky thought he might be trying to kiss her rushes through her brain. But he stops just before their noses touch, his breath hot on her face.

"Would you have been happier in some pervert’s cellar?” he pauses for a moment, “You should be thankful, I found you pitiful enough to help."

"But not pitiful enough to let me go free."

"I'm not stupid enough to throw away things I can find a use for."

"Don't act like you gave a shit about saving me that night. I don't buy it. I could drop dead tomorrow and all you'd care about is your precious little deal."

She smacks his hand away from her face and walks off, she's done with this. He seriously wants to act like he's some fucking savior, he's the reason her life has gone to such shit lately.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm walking back to the hotel."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Fuck off."

She ignores anything else he says and starts heading towards the hotel. There's a hum of an engine and slowly she sees Ichinomiya's limousine driving at a snail’s pace so the back of the car is beside her as she walks. The window rolls down, messy Ichinomiya glaring at her.

"Enough of this, get in the car."

She throws another cupcake, but he rolls up the window before it can hit him, coating the fancy car's door and glass. It rolls back down smearing and streaking the mess.

"Fine, be stubborn."

The window goes back up and the limousine drives off. Such an asshole.

Her feet are aching and she pulling off her heels to walk barefoot when she reaches the back lot. The walk isn't that far but in high heels it takes longer and leaves her with blisters.

She hobbles down the stairs to the sub-basement and knocks on the door to Wonderland.

No answer.

She knocks again, harder and faster. Her throat is tight.

No answer.

Did those people come back? Could he be hurt?

She wrenches the door open and pushes her way in.

"I'm coming in, are you-"

Her yells die in her throat as she lays eyes on a startled man. A towel around his waist, water clinging to the exposed skin. His thick dark hair is wet and sticking to his forehead, but the style is mostly familiar, as is his height, thin figure, and he's around the same age...as the Hatter. His dark eyes are wide as he stares at her.

Then he's gone.

#kissed by the baddest bidder #kbtbb #eisuke ichinomiya #Soryu Oh #Mitsunari Baba #ota kisaki #mamoru kishi #rhion hatter #Voltage #black market wonderland

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bnhainsert · 4 years ago

Text

A Day in the Life of...

Rating:

General Audiences

No Warnings Apply

I thought we could use more funny content in this category. Here's what the day in the life of each character might look like, only there is something that they are all centered on. A big dumb rumor.

Each chapter will be a different Student in 1-A with some appearances from class 1-B

Chapter 1: Midoriya Izuku

Midoriya had already been awake since 4 in the morning, training his quirk and his muscles. He doubled checked the time and realized he didn’t have much time left to get ready for class. He quickly cleaned himself off and put on his uniform. Ready for the day, he started on his short walk to class from the dorms.

Midoriya opened the door to only see about 5 of his classmates. There was Iida of course who was on his way back to the classroom door to make sure all of his classmates made it on time. Such is the job of a class rep. There was Sero who was already in his seat looking over some notes. Not someone he would have expected. Tsu was also at her desk waiting for the day to begin. Momo was seated next to Tsu discussing the notes from yesterday. Midoriya figured she would move back to her seat by the time class begins. Then, of course, Bakugo was in his seat, leaning back with the front legs of the chair up off of the floor.

Midoriya walked up to Tsu’s desk and greeted her. “Good morning Asu-Tsu” He corrected himself.

“Good morning Midoriya, gero” Tsu replied.

The two started chatting about yesterday’s class and what they were going to be learning today. Other students began to trickle in with Iida greeting each of them as they walked in. Iida asked them to quickly take their seats. Of course, most of them were too tired this early in the morning to have much energy to do much else. Kaminari looked like he was going to pass out straight onto his desk.

Aizawa stood up suddenly from behind the desk in his signature sleeping bag. He spoke about the use of the school’s training grounds and other policies that had changed recently. He then took his leave as Present Mic arrived.

“GOOD MORNING CLASS 1-A! LET’S GET READY TO CONJUGATE SOME VERBS!” Present mic yelled into the room. Kaminari shot up at his desk and then immediately groaned. Most of the class snickered. Midoriya just tried to focus considering English wasn’t necessarily his strong suit. He wasn’t bad at it by any means, he just didn’t excel at it like other students did.

Soon after class and a little bit of hero training, they were dismissed to go to lunch. Midoriya met up with Uraraka, Iida, and Todoroki so they could eat lunch together.

“Why does English have to be so hard?” Uraraka sighed grabbing her tray and sitting down at their usual table.

“Would you like some help with today's homework?” Iida offered.

“Oh, would you mind helping me too?” Midoriya asked. Todoroki nodded in agreement, wanting to join their impromptu study session. The 4 of them got to work as they ate their food.

It seemed like lunch had gone by way too fast. It was as if Midoriya got 5 minutes of helpful advice from Iida before they had to return back to the classroom. Midoriya sighed but kept an optimistic outlook on the day. He wanted to be the best he could be and that required extra work and a good attitude.

As Midoriya and his friends returned, the others who were already in the classroom seemed to be buzzing about something.

“What’s going on here?” Iida scolded.

“Oh, I just heard this rumor that a second-year dated everyone in the hero course the year before we got here! That would include the current third years!” Mina gossiped excitedly.

“What? That’s ridiculous! There is no way that rumor is true” Iida shot back.

“I don’t know I think it’s possible! Plus, I heard they were scoping out our class!” Mina countered.

As if summoned, Mineta shot up and was instantly right beside Mina.

“Girl or boy! This is a life or death situation and I need to know now! Was it a girl or a boy!” Mineta desperately asked.

“Hmm I don’t know if their gender was stated in the rumor, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see who gets asked out first!” Mina told him. Mineta slumped back into his seat.

It’s true this rumor did sound ridiculous, but weirder things have happened, right? Midoriya started thinking about how this would have happened when he stumbled back into the phrase ‘Scoping out our class’. He froze and turned completely red.

“What's the matter Deku? Are you worried you might get asked out?” Uraraka teased.

Midoriya shielded his face. “No w-way! A-a-absolutely not!” He replied frantically. The thought did embarrass him, but there was no way someone from a class above him would specifically seek him out. Hell, he didn’t even think that someone in his own class would be smitten with him. It didn’t bother him. He just didn’t think anyone would spend their time dating because they were all so focused on their hero work.

“If it’s true then that student is clearly pathetic, having to shuffle through a bunch of other students” Bakugo spoke up, looking out the window with a disgusted look on his face.

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind dating someone from a class above us. Even if it was for just one week” Kaminari threw out.

“Well yeah but you don’t have any standards” Jiro said without missing a beat.

“Enough gossiping. It’s time for class” Cementoss scolded walking into their classroom. Everyone took their seats again, but Midoriya was having trouble concentrating. The thought that someone could be looking for him for a relationship really put his brain through a loop. Cementoss had to call his name to snap him out of it at least twice.

Midoriya figured he would take matters into his own hands to either confirm or refute this strange rumor. He waited until after school to try and talk to some second years on their way back to the dorms. As he was looking around for someone to ask questions, he felt a pair of eyes on him. He quickly turned around ready to confront whoever was watching. There was nobody there. He tensed up and tried to shake off this paranoid feeling.

He spotted a second year in the courtyard and tried to approach them when he thought he heard someone else call his name from behind. He turned around again, but no one was there. He wasn’t going crazy, was he? He started to sweat. The second-year student that he saw was gone. He missed his opportunity to ask about this weird rumor. Plus, he was being followed by someone. What if it was the person the rumor was about? What if they were here to ask him out? How do you reject someone politely? Midoriya was freaking out. His signature mumbles could be heard by other people passing in the courtyard.

Before he could really get any of his thoughts together, he felt someone tap on his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his school uniform. He slowly turned around, accepting his fate. He looked and saw it was Uraraka. “You’re not the second year asking people out,” Midoriya said still surprised. Uraraka laughed at Midoriya’s reaction.

“I just thought it would be funny to mess with you” She admitted.

“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Midoriya replied. Uraraka laughed again.

“Sorry Deku” She apologized smiling sincerely.

Well, at least he didn’t have to worry about being confessed to at that moment in time. He wondered if they would ever find out about the rumor.

The next day, Midoriya was running a little late. He made it just in time.

“You were almost late! Try leaving a little earlier next time” Iida recommended.

The class was still talking excitedly about the rumor trying to guess who the rumor was about. It made Midoriya promptly put his head down on his desk. He would have to survive another day of maybe possibly being confessed to. He wasn’t sure if he could handle that kind of pressure today.

By lunchtime, class 1-A had calmed down enough to where the rumor left most everyone’s minds. Midoriya got to enjoy lunch with his friends without worry.

Midoriya and his friends made it back to class. Now the class was exploding with energy. What had happened? Bakugo looked like he was going to murder someone, which admittedly wasn’t different from most days. This was different though because his anger wasn’t really directed at anyone in the class.

“Oh, dude! That’s gotta be from the 2nd year!” Kirishima shouted surprised.

“THERE’S NO WAY SOME DUMB LOSER IN ANOTHER CLASS GAVE ME THIS SAD EXCUSE FOR A LETTER” Bakugo yelled almost blowing up the desks around him.

“Oh god” Midoriya thought. Does this mean the rumor is true? If it is, can Midoriya take it easy because Bakugo had gotten the letter? Nobody could really put anything else together because Cementoss walked in again scolding the students.

Midoriya finally made it through the day without being contacted by any second-year student. He made his way to his locker to get his backpack when he spotted it. There was a letter. He swallowed hard, too scared to even open the letter.

“What’s wrong Midoriya?” Iida asked.

Then his friends spotted the letter. Todoroki, Iida, and Uraraka looked shocked. They all stood frozen in front of Midoriya’s locker. Bakugo was passing by and caught sight of the 4 students just standing there.

“What the hell are you losers doing?” He growled.

Midoriya managed to work up the courage to pull the letter out of his locker. He looked to the letter then to Bakugo who looked like he was going to explode on the spot. Midoriya yelped and ran out of the building as fast as he could.

Iida was calling for Midoriya to slow down but Midoriya didn’t really notice in his panic. He looked down at the letter in his hands. His hands were shaking, but he took a deep breath and opened the letter. It Read:

Dear Midoriya,

I have watched you ever since the sports festival. You are truly incredible, even though you break yourself sometimes. I’ve watched you for a while now and my heart sores every time I see you. The very mention of your name sends shivers down my spine. I think I love you! Please meet me in the courtyard tomorrow after school! If you don’t show up, I’ll just assume that you don’t feel the same way and I’ll cry. I hope to see you soon!

XoXo

There was no signature. No hint of really who it could’ve been. “What am I going to do” Midoriya hung his head in defeat. If he showed up the person would get the wrong idea. If he didn’t show up, the person would be heartbroken. He went over and over the dilemma in his head. How would a hero handle this situation?

The next day, after losing a lot of sleep, he decided he would show up but explain the situation and his feelings. They might cry, but at least they would get an answer and not wonder for the rest of their life. Midoriya was pretty shaken up for the rest of the day.

Before the last class of the day, 1-A was talking about the two letters given out to their class. They asked if they purposefully picked the two strongest boys in the class. They also wondered if it was a girl who did it, considering both Bakugo and Midoriya were male.

“I don’t think that means anything. This person could be gay, or bi, or pan….” Mina mentioned.

“Plus, this person could be non-binary or genderfluid or something” Jiro brought up.

There really wasn’t any reason to speculate about this person’s gender or sexual orientation.

“So you guys still think this mystery person exists?” Momo asked.

“What do you mean? They clearly exist because they’ve been writing letters” Kaminari replied.

“You guys could use some brushing up on your detective skills. This was a test from the teachers to see if you could question strange incidents instead of taking everything at face value” Momo explained.

“WHAT?! YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!” the whole class seemed to shout at the same time.

Midoriya felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. Then he realized that if this was a test he would’ve failed. “Wait was this like a test test….like one we could fail?” Midoriya asked pale as a sheet.

“Oh no. I think this was just to assess where we all are currently as far as problem-solving goes” Momo replied.

Midoriya sighed again. He did realize that he could’ve done a little more research on this so-called rumor. He had a long way to go to grab the titled of Number One Hero.

Chapter 2

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igirisuhito · 4 years ago

Text

Title: Afflicted Relationship(s): Kamukura Izuru/Komaeda Nagito Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito Rating: Mature Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / ? Chapter Summary: Hinata has a nightmare, Tsumiki attempts to manage Trigger Warnings: Needles, Intravenous Cannulation, Panic attacks, medication usage

[Ao3 Link]

┈┈┈┈․° ☣ °․┈┈┈┈

I'm in a classroom, sat at a desk.

There are other students there, their faces are indiscernible.

They talk among themselves.

'Privileged rich kid.'

'Selfish asshole.'

'Talentless.'

A pair of pale hands slam down onto my desk, causing me to jump back in instinct. I stare at the hands intently, my head drawn down in fear. The oppressive atmosphere this person gave off was terrifying.

"Insignificant."

A voice spoke, deep yet completely devoid of emotion.

"Parasite."

I bit my lip and mustered up the courage to look at this asshole. Leant over my desk, face mere inches away from mine, was a boy around my age. His eyes were piercing red, hair long and unruly, bearing a reserve course uniform.

There was no way this kid was a reserve course student.

His eyes made contact with mine, refusing to falter or shift.

"Boring."

I closed my eyes, attempting to control my anger. It was taking everything I had not to swing at this jerk. My rage subsided and I opened my eyes again.

I now found myself staring into hazel eyes, nervous, seething.

"You don't deserve to be an Ultimate."

It was me who spoke this time. I was berating the image of my own self.

"You're an anxious mess who's pathetic enough to believe that you could ever truly be special."

"The best thing you can do is turn off your free thought and fit into the role society created for you."

Hajime looked down towards the desk. He was clenching his teeth together, a weak attempt to stop the tears rolling down his face.

I reached out and grabbed his chin, pulling his face roughly so that he was forced to face me.

"This is why you're dead and I'm here."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

I screamed out, wrenching myself from the red eyed boy's grip. My blankets were thrown off my bed, falling into a messy heap on the hospital floor.

Wh-where did the classroom go?

Where did that boy go?

Where am I?

I looked down at my hands, my palms shone with sweat. Gross.

My breaths were quick and uneven. My thoughts swirled with conflicting emotions. I think I'm losing my mind.

I clenched my hands into fists and screamed from the depths of my heart.

I'm so scared.

I'm going to die.

I don't want to die.

No wait, I've already died.

This isn't me.

There is no Hinata Hajime.

There is only despair.

"P-please t-t-take deep breaths, Hinata-san!"

Huh, is somebody talking to me?

I looked to my side, seeing a worry-stricken Tsumiki grabbing at my arm in an attempt to pull me back to reality.

It worked, and suddenly everything became apparent. I had been absentmindedly digging my nails into my palms, hard enough to draw blood. My whole body was aching and shivering despite the lack of cold. My face felt damp with sweat and tears. I was still crying out with every exhale, but the sound was barely reaching my ears.

I pressed my lips together tightly to silence myself, receiving a grateful nod from Tsumiki.

"T-that's good, you're doing great."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, attempting to rid my mind of thoughts. I was going to forget the nightmare, I was going to think about something else.

I...couldn't think of anything else.

That boy had felt so familiar. Like somebody who was close, yet I knew nothing of. He gave off the feeling of a photo from a time you don't know. You want to try so hard to remember, you feel as though you know who that is but it's not quite right. Such an alienating sensation.

And those eyes were merciless.

I bundled up my gown in my fists and squeezed tightly. The thin linen provided little comfort, but my breathing was gradually slowing down.

The adrenaline was wearing off, but exposing how I truly felt underneath. Tired and weak. I had almost forgotten that I was still sick.

"Y-you're doing a great job, Hinata-san." Tsumiki chirped. "Just keep breathing calmly, I'll grab your blankets.

I rest my back against the head of the bed, exhaling another deep breath. Tsumiki pulled my blankets back over the top of me, attempting to make the bed as she went.

I finally gained the courage to speak again. "Tsu-Tsumiki-san…?"

"Y-yes?"

"What- um. What was that? Was that a, uh, despair disease thing..?"

The nurse wandered over to the table beside my bed and picked up the jug Komaeda had left earlier. "I'm- I'm not s-sure."

"Not sure?" I inquired.

"Well...y-y-you had a p-panic attack." The nurse stuttered out, handing a cup of water to me. "I-It may well have been..."

I took it from her, only to have my shaking hands allow it to slip through my fingers and fall to the floor, spilling water everywhere. "O-oh…I didn't…. I didn't think that would happen…"

"Ah! It's okay! I can clean it up!" Tsumiki spoke quickly as picked up the cup from the floor.

I glanced around the room, trying to get a good gauge of the time. It was quite dark, likely late at night. The only light being produced was from fluorescent light above my bed, it's cool colour harsh on my tired eyes and aching head.

"My head hurts…" I mumbled, laying back down and pulling the blankets close.

"Would you like something for it? I-I-I know you said you did-didn’t want me treating you…" Tsumiki stuttered out.

"Mmnn…I'm having a hard time deciding which would be the least boring. To treat this would be boring, but to have me in a drugged state completely at the mercy of the despairs could be exciting…watching the symptoms manifest has been almost interesting, but this headache is truly predictable. The pain doesn't change, and that bores me." I babbled away to myself, turning the idea over in my mind.

"Huh? Wh-what do you mean by 'th-the despairs?'" Tsumiki inquired, leaning a bit closer. "A-are you referring to M-mioda and Owari-san?"

"Yeah."

"Oh! Please don't worry about them, they're actually quite useless at the moment." Tsumiki gave me a big smile. "I'm going to start you on fluids and get something for the pain, okay?"

I nodded and watched the nurse wander out of the room. A sigh left my lungs as I considered the consequences of my actions.

It was unusually difficult to predict what was going to happen. Normally I could see the path laid before me with perfect clarity. Anytime that path strayed was an exciting moment. Not knowing what was going to happen excites me, to see all the ways the despair disease may continue to affect me.

Perhaps even my life was at risk?

The thought brought a grin to my face.

Tsumiki wandered back in with a towel and a small tray of medical tools. Alcohol wipes, a pair of latex gloves, a needle, a line, a saline bag, and a small plastic cup. She placed the tray on the table and bent down to clean up the water I had spilled earlier.

"D-do you have any problems with n-needles, Hinata-san?" The nurse asked as she cleaned.

"No." I answered, unsure of whether I was or wasn't.

"That's good!" Tsumiki tossed the towel in a nearby clothes bin and washed her hands.

Tsumiki put on the latex gloves and tore open an alcohol wipe packet. "Can you prop your arm up on a pillow for me?"

I nodded and grabbed a pillow from behind me. Tsumiki placed a small paper sheet over it and motioned for me to place my arm down. The girl then began to prod her fingers at my inner elbow.

"Hmm, you're kind of dehydrated. Could you open and close your fist a few times?"

I followed her directions, obviously it must have helped because the next thing I knew she was wiping down my arm with the alcohol wipe. Tsumiki picked up the needle and held it close to my skin. "T-this is going to hurt a bit, okay?"

"Yeah." I whispered, trying to reassure myself.

There was a sharp scratch in my arm, causing me to bite my lip. Tsumiki seemed pleased as she removed the needle, leaving only the cannula behind. She flushed the vein with saline, causing a weird chilly feeling to go through my arm.

"That's cold." I mumbled.

"Ah! I-I'm sorry." Tsumiki apologised and stopped the flush. She took away the saline syringe and taped down the cannula and line.

She then hung up the saline bag on an IV pole and inserted a line into it. Then, she connected the line to the one in my arm and set up the small infusing machine attached to the IV pole. It would have been fascinating to watch her work, but this was simple nurse stuff. Even somebody like myself, who bears such a talent, could do this with my eyes closed.

Another sharp pang of pain rippled through my head, causing me to suck air through my teeth sharply and wince.

"Oh, that's right! S-sorry, I almost f-forgot." Tsumiki picked up the small cup and handed it to me, beginning to fill another cup with water.

The small cup contained two capsules, white and orange in colour. "Painkillers?"

"Mhmm, these ones are strong but they're likely to make you drowsy, n-not that I see that being an issue for you." Tsumiki explained before holding the cup of water out to me.

I tipped the two pills into my mouth and took the water, drinking it to wash them down.

"S-so…do you need anything else?" The nurse inquired, packing up the tray of tools.

I shook my head, receiving a grateful nod in return. I placed the cup of water onto the table beside me and pulled the pillow back behind my head. Laying down, a soft yawn left my mouth and I closed my eyes. Either the painkillers were kicking in incredibly fast or I was just exhausted from the panic attack, probably the latter.

Tsumiki picked up her tray and headed towards the door. On her way, she switched off the light above my bed.

"Sleep well, Kamukura-kun."

The door clicked shut behind her.

#Komahina #Hinakoma #Kamukoma #Hinata Hajime #Komaeda Nagito #Kamukura Izuru #Ficgiri

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girlbetweenryosuke · 7 years ago

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“The Talk.”

[disclaimer: i don’t have a clue on what actually is said during “the talk” with your parents but this is how i imagine it would be but ofc it’s not the same for all but here u go. here’s Y/N as a mom, and ryosuke as a dad, giving yo bb gurl, “the talk.”]

"Ryosuke!", you frantically called him, running through the halls. "What?", he shouts from a room which you then ran to. You opened the door, gasping for air as he turned his office chair around to face you. "What's happening?", he said with concern. You then walked up to him, a hand then placed on his shoulder as he blinked.

"I think our daughter has a boyfriend."

He then stood up with wide eyes, in complete shock. "A-A b-boyfriend-d?!?!?!", he stammered, and you nodded. "How did you know?!", he asked, "There's this boy that waves at Tsubasa's window every time he passes by!", you said. He sighed, slumping back to his chair, and thought for a while, "Maybe he's just a friend.".

"Even if he bought her a candy for Christmas?", you added, and he chuckled, "Friends do that all the time!". "And a teddy bear?", you added, "C-close friends…", he looked away. "And roses?", you added, and he gulped.

"Oh my god, she has a boyfriend.", he sat back.

"We need to do something!", he added, "Okay, but we don't need to overdo things.", you said. "Our only child is having her first relationship, so we can't fuck things up!", you said, and he nodded. "So, what do we do?", he asked, and you frantically paced around the room, thinking of how to confront this.

You couldn’t just barge into her room saying, “Hey Tsubasa, don’t have sex yet!”, or say “Tsubasa, I know you have a boyfriend, and you are very young, so I’m giving you a condom as a Christmas present.”. You didn’t want to be a weird parent. Besides, you thought that maybe she knew all those things already considering the fact that she’s already 15. But still, you wanted to make sure she was making the right decisions.

Suddenly, he started to laugh to himself as he looked at you, "What's wrong?", you asked. "We're acting so childish again.", he giggled, beginning to stand up and walk towards you. "What do you mean?", you asked, as he wrapped his arms around your waist and lean in closer. "Well, if you look at it, we're panicking on what to say as if we're confronting a long-time crush when we're already 40-years-old.", he laughed, leaning his forehead onto yours.

You couldn't help but smile again because of what he said. You realize that you just spent almost half of your life with this guy and now you're worried about what to do with the product of spending time with him. "Maybe we should just not panic, you know.", you suggested as his eyes were lost in yours. “Maybe we should give her the talk…”, he suggested, as he kissed the tip of your nose as you giggled.

"Maybe we should…", you said under your breath.

And with that, the two of you made your way to her room. You hesitated to knock, but one look at Ryosuke's encouraging face, and you felt that little push to do so. "Tsubasa?", you called for her. "Yep!", her sweet angelic voice replied. "Can we come in for a while?", you asked.

"We? Dad's there too?", she said, "Hi…", Ryosuke awkwardly said. "Alright.", she said, and it was time to confront what issue you were dreading the most.

"Hi sweetie.", you smiled as you peeked through the door. She smiled in reply as the two of you entered her room, closing the door behind you. She was lying down on her bed, duvet covering most of her body, and earphones on as she was using her phone.

"We need to talk.", Ryosuke gently said as the two of you sat on her bed, on either side of her. "What's up?", her eyes diverted back and forth from her phone and to us. You felt that drop in your stomach as you felt anxiousness flood into you. You hadn't prepared on what to say, let alone when to say it, but you knew it was time to talk about the subject. Ryosuke noticed the anxiety in your facial expression, and he laid his hand on top of yours as a sign of encouragement.

"It's about…", you hung off your words, unable to get straight to the point. "R-Relationships.", you said, mentally slapping yourself for not saying "Sex.".

"What about relationships?", she started to sit up and remove her earphones. "You know…", Ryosuke said, "Relationships…". "Why are you guys acting so funny?", she chuckled. "It's because…", you tilted your head to the side while looking down, "It's about love, you know.".

"And why are we talking about this all of a sudden?", she added. "Well, Tsu, in some young relationships, there will always be acts of recklessness.", Ryosuke said, "And we just wanted to talk about how we can prevent that from happening.". She then narrowed her eyes, clueless about the situation.

You took this time to take in her features. She had your eyes, your skin, she had your face shape, and then she had Ryosuke's nose, his lips, his hair color, and you know, sadly, his height—but don't tell him you thought about that. You were proud of what the two of you have created—if that wasn't weird to say. She was intelligent, she was wise, she was beautiful, she was witty, she wasn't perfect, but even if so, where would she have gotten that trait? She was everything you thought about as you were waiting for those pregnancy tests all those years ago with him, and more.

"Recklessness?", she asked, "Yes.", he replied. "What do you mean?", she asked, and he gulped. "Like, for example, a boy meets a girl, you know, and then they fall in love, you know, and they do things they regret… y-you k-know…", he gulped. "Oh…", she looks down.

"Like skip school?", she said. HOW DID SHE NOT GET THAT?! "Y-Yes, like that, sweetie.", you smiled. "Well, just know that I'll never do that.", she smiled and Ryosuke and you nodded. "You better not.", he joked and the two of you laughed.

"Have you guys ever done reckless?", she asked. Oh shit. The two of you gulped and looked at each other you. The conversation your eye contact made went a little like, "What do we say?", "I don't know!", "Do we connect it to sex already or??", "I don't know!!".

"Mom, Dad?", she called for your attention again. "Well…", he said, tilting his head, "Not that we regret it.". "B-But when we g-got married, we h-had s-se-",

"When we were still dating," you interrupted him, and then eyeing him that you really couldn't jump to the topic yet. "There was a full month where we couldn't see each other at all.", you said, and she nodded.

"We missed each other so much but texts, and calls, and video calls wouldn't do the trick. So, one night, we just couldn't take it anymore.", you said, as she leaned in, becoming interested in the topic. "He had a variety show shooting then, and I was shooting for a drama.", you said.

"Basically, he texted me that he missed me too much, and I said I missed him too much too. And somehow, we ended up escaping work that night, with our managers chasing us, and then not being able to reach us.", you said, as Ryosuke laughed at that memory. "I still can't believe I still had a job after that!", he said.

"Where did you guys go?", she smiled, completely isolated in the story. "Well, it was supposed to be a 2-hour drive to the beach, but since it was night, it was only an hour. We stayed on the shore, drinking beer we bought from a store and talked for long hours, catching up on each other until sunrise.", you said, as she giggled, imagining the scene.

“You guys must really love each other to do that.", she smiled, and Ryosuke's hand squeezed yours and smiled. The sight of your hands intertwined, with your rings on your fingers, and right in front of it was the fruit of your love, was heartwarming to see. You felt delighted, it’s like all anxiety from before was quickly brushed away.

“But I think the most reckless thing we could have done—but didn’t do…”, you hung off your words, “Was have sex before marriage.”. Ah, “sex”, such a taboo word between the parents and their child. Her eyes widened with a gulp. “I’m assuming you know what that is.”, you scratched your nape, and she hesitantly nodded. “We actually came here to you know, talk about that.”, Ryosuke added.

“We just thought that, we could remind you that in any situation you are in with a person that you like, sex is not the best place to resort to when proving your love.”, he said, looking down, not being able to say it straight to her face. “So, from now on, Tsubasa, since you’re turning 16—oh my god, Ryosuke we’re old—we’re giving you this.”, you then reached for something in your pocket, and pulled out a condom packet.

“Now, just because we gave you one, doesn’t mean you can do it, alright?”, you laughed, and she nodded. “I want you to be responsible with this. If possible, I want to see this same condom unused, still in mint-condition, by the time you get married.”, you handed it to her. She looked it, tongue in cheek, “I-I…”, she had no words to say.

“But whatever you do, just know that we support you.”, Ryosuke smiled, and then took her hand out of her duvet. “Take it. It’s the only one we’re giving you.”, he smiled, which made her smile too. “I’ll promise I won’t use it until it’s the right moment.”, she smiled, and then slowly took it out of my palm and back under the covers.

“Tsubasa…”, you said, and she briefly replied with a hum. You breathed in, gathering up your courage, and then decided to confront the issue. “Do you have a boyfriend?”, you asked her, your eyes lifting up to look at her bewildered face. “N-no…”, she gulped with wide eyes. “Are you lying to us?”, you gently asked, and her eyes drooped down.

“It’s okay, Tsu, you can tell us.”, Ryosuke’s soft voice supported her, and she finally looked up to us, “I-I think I have a b-boyfriend…”. “What do you mean ‘you think’?”, you chuckled, reaching out to rub her shoulders. “Well, I like him, and he likes me, and we go out every now and then, but we never really gave it a label…”, she said.

You giggled at her reply and you could really see her blushing as she brought her duvet covers up to her face. “Aww, little Tsubasa’s grown up now, Yacchi.”, you nudged Ryosuke with your elbow. “Yacchi?”, she asked. “It’s a nickname I only use when we’re alone.”, you smiled, then hugging his arm, and then leaning your head on his shoulder.

“Is my soon to be son-in-law nice?”, he suddenly said, and Tsubasa burst out laughing. “Dad! He’s only my first boyfriend! He might not even be the one!”, she laughed and playfully kicked him. “But do you feel like he’s the one?”, he raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms in front of him as she grew silent, holding in her giggles.

“Yes…”, she smiled to herself.

The three of you then began to smile and giggle. The moment very heartwarming, and surely something to remember as you and Ryosuke grew older. It slipped a bookmark in the story of your life, where the fruit of your love for Ryosuke, finally found love for herself.

#Yamada Ryosuke #Ryosuke Yamada #Hey! Say! JUMP #hey say jump #Hey! Say! 7 #hey say 7 #yama-chan #yamada ryo #fanfiction #yamada ryosuke fanfiction

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iamsodoneohmygod · 8 years ago

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-Limitless- Boku No Hero Academia x Male Reader Ch 2

(M/n) in a chair while Dominion was argueing with Kurogiri in front of him. Kurogiri was impressed on how he was able to retrieve the information of class 1-A and has developed a plan for him to attack the class himself. Dominion that (M/n) was more than capable wiping the entire class out in one flick of the wrist but refuses to let him. If (M/n) was seen as a public villain then it would be more difficult for him to do jobs. “If that is your only worry than we have that covered. We’ve made a suit for him that consist of a helmet that will conceal his identity. It also will increase the power of his quirk that we understand from what you told us.” Kurogiri proposed, but Dominion was still hesitant of letting (M/n) serve someone who wasn’t him. “I have him do it. On one condition. The “League of Villains” has to invest a pretty penny into my enterprise.” Dominion conditioned. Kurogiri grimaced but accepted the command. Weeks after the attack and deal Dominion made it began the start of invasive surveillance of the classes action. Where they went for dinner that wasn’t at the school and how many of them went. Activities they would do on weekends and where they did it. Finally, they were all together. No teacher was with them and they were a couple of blocks from the school that an attack wouldn’t be notice unless alerted. So (M/n) was there as they walked down an empty street from what was assumed to be a fun night out. Standing on top of one of the towering buildings in the uniform the League of Villains. First layer was some sort of black spandex that cover everything except his head. He wore a dark gray metal chest plate that covered his upper body and spherical gauntlets that contained his entire forearm. His lower half consisted of gray combat boots and thick pair of gray shorts. Lastly was his dark gray helmet and had a black glass covering his face. As the class was heading down the street and going about the banter teens these day usually talk about. They were in their usually groupings and didn’t really interfere with the others unless addressed. “So Izuku is there anything you’re looking forward to this year?” Uraraka asked the green headed friend of hers. “A lot really! I’m excited for anything they have to offer us.” he responded. Tsuyu, who was walking with Uraraka stopped all of a sudden causing her friend to notice. “What’s up Tsu?” Uraraka questioned. “It's that smell again.” she responded, “The one from a few weeks ago.” “A few weeks ago?” Kirishima shimed in, “You mean when we got attacked?” “Yeah.” “UHHH GUYS?!?!” Mineta called out, “Are cars suppose to fly?!” he pointed in front of them. The vehicles that were lined along the road were now hovering in the air. At a moments notice all the cars were flung at them and the class scrambled to avoid getting hit. When all the cars were settled on crushed on the ground a figure was seen walking from the direction of the flying cars. “Is that the guy from before?!” Tenya yelled. The first one to attack was obviously Bakugou who ran straight for (M/n). “Well this time he’s not getting away from me you damn prick!” He yelled with explosions erupting from his hands. As he jumped to attack he stopped mid air inches away from (M/n). The explosions had stopped and Bakugou couldn’t move. “What the fuck? Why can’t I move.” He struggled where he was then was sent flying back crashing into Kirishima. Todoroki stepped up and formed a wall of ice between them but (M/n) shattered it with ease. He tried sending spikes of ice toward him but the stopped before they touched him. Motioning to try again he was sent into a concrete wall before he could finish. The rest of the students were all fighting him now. Throwing everything they had at him but not a strike landed on him. All the punches, kicks, and powered shots were turned down before they even came close to him. Dominion was communicating through the helmet that (M/n) was wearing to give him orders as he fought. In last attempts Midoriya had a thought. ‘If I use one for all to get to faster than he react I could probably land a hit big enough to take him out.’ he thought. Seeing as there were no other resources to use this was the only option. Feeling the energy run through his body he lunged forward at (M/n) getting ready to deliver one hell of a smash. Unfortunately, he didn’t get through and was stopped like Bakugou. This time he was face to face with (M/n). “This one.” Dominion spoke. “Kill this one. That is an order.” (M/n) felt the pain starting to rise in him. He dropped Midoriya to ground and stepped back from him. (M/n) wasn’t capable of killing someone or at least some random stranger to him. Dominion new this and his quirk was already in effect sending pain through his resisting body. (M/n) couldn’t remove the helmet as it was strapped to his head. He couldn’t get away from Dominions command and the pain only started to get worse. Dominion’s quirk never killed anyone for disobeying but there was a first for everything. Grasping and clawing at the helmet he was unintentionally releasing outburst that was causing damages to the building and falling rubble. The class stopped watching him and started to escape the damage he was causing. As the world was falling apart from him (M/n)’s entire body was shaking in pain and panic from not knowing what to do. Then suddenly the outburst stopped and (M/n)’s limbs became constricted in familiar bandages. Aizawa had come to save the day at the last minute and had erased (M/n)’s quirk. He lifted him of the ground and pulled (M/n) towards himself as the he still struggled in wraps. Aizawa looked at him with disgust at the attempt of harming his students. Slowly he took of the helmet that was hiding his face only to reveal a gruesome sight that shocked the pro hero along with most of his students. (M/n)’s eyes, mouth, nose, and ears were dripping with blood as the whites of his eyes were turned black and the pupil turned white. The shock of the sight Aizawa was off guard when (M/n) coughed a black substance onto his face losing his hold on him. The pain stopped as (M/n) was given a new command, get out. The little energy he had went into forming a large cloud of dust around them to make his escape. His pain shaked body limped away from the class and fumbled down the alleyways until someone Dominion sent could get to him. Then (M/n) saw it, gleaming in a brown bag on the ground next to a dumpster. He crawled to the dirty bag and peered inside at its contents, eyes widening at the object. In the bag was gun, a simple six shot revolver that had one single bullet loaded into it. (M/n) didn’t know why there was a gun in an alleyway or why it only had one bullet but he didn’t care. That one bullet could set him free. One way, or another. After he pocketed the gun he was soon found by a goon Dominion sent and he was brought before him. His punishment for disobeying was a violent whipping to the back until it was covered in blood. Dominion had turn in for the night once (M/n)’s punishment was dealt. He was a light sleeper so he took pills to sleep through the night. (M/n) in had snuck out of his room that was usually locked and had a guard stand outside. However it was left open because Dominion had thought (M/n) wouldn’t even try to escape after the punishment. That was a big mistake. No one saw him sneak out of his room in his terrible condition. No one notice the gun he snuck into the estate. No one paid attention as he snaked his way into Dominion’s sleeping quarters. But nevertheless (M/n) did it. He saddled himself upon Dominion as laid on his bed in a deep slumber. Yet the uneasiness of the gun being pointed in his face seemed to wake him. Dominion made eye contact with (M/n) down the barrel of the revolver. “(M/n), Sto-” Dominion’s final effort failed as (M/n) pulled the trigger before he could finish the command sending blood everywhere. Splatter of blood was on (M/n)’s face as he looked like a deer in the headlights. His hands went limp dropping the gun next to Dominion’s fresh corpse as he removed himself from the bed. As (M/n) stuck his hand out hovering over objects that began to become engulfed in flames without even being touched. (M/n) was staring outside of a high window as the entire room was drenched in bright red and yellow flames. He didn’t feel the smoke grab at his lungs or the heat claw at his many wounds. All (M/n) did was watch the outside world continue to move forward as he let himself be consumed in the flames. To be continued...

#boku no hero academia #katsuki bakugou #midoriya izuku #male reader insert #male reader #all might #my hero academia #aizawa shouta #torodoki shouto #uraraka ochako #asui tsuyu #kirishima eijirou #kaminari denki

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evilkitten3 · 8 years ago

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Ad Nihilum, Chapter Four: Ab Existentia

AN: Not getting many reviews for this one… talk about discouraging! Still, this fandom (most fandoms, come to that) has always preferred shipping fics over anything else, and romance has never really been my genre. On top of that, Anzu is despised by a huge portion of the fanbase (as is generally the case with most major female characters in an anime where most fans are yaoi fangirls). Eh, it doesn't really matter, though – I'm relatively new to this fandom, and most people who read my stories are in the Fairy Tail fandom. So there's that too, I guess. Anyway, here's another chapter of this. I hope you enjoy it, I really hope you review it, and if you decide to tell all your friends about it, then that's… a bit weird, actually, but you do you. Kitty out.

Warnings: Disassociation, flashbacks, nightmares, possibly squicky imagery, Kaiba being Kaiba, suicidal thoughts, and your daily dose of existential identity crises

Chapter Four: Ab Existentia

Atem finds the drawing the next day, after he's gone through the morning ritual of coaxing the Thief out of his mind and back into reality. He picks it up carefully, squinting at the katakana on the side. Now that he's out of Yuugi's body, it's much more difficult to read Japanese characters. He can manage katakana and hiragana fairly well, but it takes him awhile with kanji. English, something Yuugi himself was still learning, had been lost to the former Pharoah entirely.

"A… tsu… ya…" he reads slowly.

"Ashiya," the Thief corrects him. Atem jumps slightly, not having heard the other ex-spirit reenter the room. It only takes him a moment to regain his composure.

"I thought this one was 'tsu'," he says, pointing to the second character.

"'Tsu' and 'shi' are almost identical in katakana," the Thief slips across the room, slipping a shirt on. He's been more active lately, Atem thinks absently, and then wonders whether or not that's a good thing.

"Why didn't you write it in hieroglyphics?" Atem asks. He realizes the answer a second later, and the Thief doesn't bother dignifying the stupid question with an answer, simply rolls his eyes. Peasant literacy, Atem remembers, wasn't really a thing back in Ancient Egypt. "She's beautiful," he says before he can stop himself.

"She was," the Thief replies calmly. "My– his sister's wife." Atem frowns.

"Yours," he objects. The Thief just shrugs. "Your sister married a woman?"

"Kul Elna didn't really care about gender," he says. "As far as we were concerned, people did what they did. My father fell in love with my mother after he saw her break up a bar fight by smashing a stool over someone's head, or so he said." Atem smiles slightly.

"She sounds like quite the woman," he muses. "Ah, not to say–"

"She would've liked you, I think," the Thief cuts him off, not really paying attention. Atem wonders whether the Thief realizes who he's talking to – this is the closest thing they've ever had to a civil conversation. "At least, as much as any dirt-poor peasant can like royalty. Always said royals spent too much time on their asses and not enough doing their damn jobs." Atem can't stop himself from smiling.

"I can't say I disagree," he admits. "A lot of things happened that shouldn't have. I couldn't have stopped all of them, but there were some things I certainly could have."

The Thief doesn't reply. When Atem turns to look at him, his eyes are a million miles away. The Pharaoh sets the drawing down on the nightstand as carefully as he can.

"I'll be back later," he tells him. If the Thief hears him, he doesn't show it. Atem keeps the image of the girl in the drawing – Ashiya – in his mind for the rest of the day.

***

In history class, Bakura zones out. The teacher isn't saying anything he doesn't already know, for once, so he just absently doodles. When he looks down at his notes, he realizes he's been writing in a completely different language.

בָּבֻרָ

He doesn't realize how fast his breath is coming until the teacher's panicked voice shakes him out of his thoughts. He looks up, tries to speak, and feels his knees buckle as the world around him fades to black.

***

The rest of the gang finds out what had happened to Bakura at lunch, courtesy of Otogi, who was in the same history class (as was Kaiba, but he hadn't shown up that day, for whatever reason).

"Did you know what set him off?" Jounouchi asks. Otogi just shrugs.

"If he fell asleep, he might've had a nightmare," Anzu says. Marik tenses. He knew that Bakura, like Marik and Yuugi, was having nightmares, but he was fairly certain no one else knew. Anzu catches his eye and shakes her head. "I guessed," she tells him, "but thanks for confirming." Marik bites his lip and looks down.

"I guess he didn't want to worry us," Honda says. A pointless endeavor, in his case – Honda always worried about Bakura.

"Officially, it was just lack of sleep," Yuugi reports, sitting down in between Marik and Anzu. "He went home early."

"Lack of sleep generally doesn't cause panic attacks," Otogi points out.

"They can cause hallucinations," Marik tells him. "Those can definitely cause panic attacks." And I should know says the look on his face. Otogi nods, thoughtfully.

"He could just be sick," Jounouchi says hopefully. Anzu rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, of course he could be, but when have things ever been that simple?" she frowns as her chopsticks break unevenly, before wrinkling her nose and getting over it.

"Normally?" Otogi says, grinning. "They usually are."

"Nothing about any of this is normal," Yuugi murmurs.

"Well, sure," Marik smirks, leaning back against a tree. "I mean, you hang out with a bunch of freaks, Yuugi; what did you think was gonna happen?" Jounouchi lunges for him, intent on giving him a noogie, and Marik ducks out of the way, sniggering. The rest of the group laughs.

"Not sure if you realized it, Marik, but you're part of that 'bunch of freaks'," Honda calls over Anzu's head. "No backing out now, buddy, you're already on the Christmas card." Marik freezes for a moment, before relaxing slightly.

"I don't celebrate Christmas," he says nonchalantly, examining his fingernails. "I was under the impression that it was a couples' holiday in Japan, though." He gasped dramatically, pressing his hands over his chest. "Honda-senpai! Are you trying to ask me out?" Honda chokes on his ramen, and Yuugi laughs so hard he falls into Anzu, knocking her bento out of her hand. Tako-shaped sausage spills onto the grass.

"Yuugi!" Jounouchi says, horrified. "Now you owe Anzu a new sausage!" Both Yuugi and Anzu turn red, and the rest of the conversation is spent cracking jokes and trying not to think about Bakura or the Thief or the dreams – memories – still plaguing almost half of their little group.

***

Isis doesn't know how to react to any of this – to her little brother helping Yuugi talk to the Pharaoh, to said duo resurrecting the Pharaoh, to the Thief being cast out of the shadows to balance Ma'at's scales. And now the Thief is staying at Yuugi's house, trapped somewhere between the realms of sanity and madness, in a body that – if Yuugi's theory was correct – was probably a worse fate than being devoured by Ahemait. The religious part of Isis reminds her that the gods knew what they were doing, but she can't help but feel more than a tad disgusted at their choice of punishment for the Thief.

Was it because he'd stolen from the dead or because he'd tried to destroy the world? Were the gods trying to punish the Thief King or the Spirit of the Millennium Ring? And most importantly, did it matter? Was this an actual punishment, or was it just spite? The fact that the line could get so blurred was cause for concern. For the first time in a while, Isis finds herself longing for the certainty she'd had when she bore the Millennium Tauk – but that was gone, long gone, and Isis knows well enough that there are some things mortals were never meant to know.

***

In the village of Kul Elna, there was an old woman named Bitya'a – an outsider, who'd come to live there when her granddaughter had fallen in love with the village chieftain's daughter – whose milky white eyes had forever been unseeing of the surrounding world. But there were whispers amongst the people of the village that Bitya'a saw more than anyone realized.

This woman, they said, this outsider – this woman whose eyes had never absorbed a glimmer of light – could See.

***

Seto Kaiba has missed so many days of school that there are teachers who are genuinely surprised to see him when he shows up to class. It had no effect on his grades, as the teen was a genius, and everyone understood that he had to put his company before his education. After all, Kaiba technically didn't need to go to school – he chose to. He wanted to learn (the way other people had; without collars and harsh words and a cold terror filling his lungs at the mere thought of failure). He probably could've tested out of all of his classes, should he choose to, but no one ever asked why.

Recently, however, the number of absences for Seto Kaiba on the attendance lists had shot up, which usually only happened when KaibaCorp was working on a new device (or an upgrade for the existing Duel Disk system) or when a soon-to-be-fired secretary accidentally made a mistake in scheduling a meeting. Teachers had learned not to ask, as the explanation was generally clipped, sarcastic, or so full of technobabble that it was nearly impossible to decipher.

This time, unbeknownst to the general public, the absences were entirely unrelated to business. Yuugi Mutou and his group of friends were, most likely, under the impression that Kaiba was preparing to challenge Atem to a duel – and assumption that, in fairness, there was a certain amount of truth in. But there was another reason for his absence, one that didn't necessarily relate to Duel Monsters (at least, not entirely).

Yuugi Mutou was the King of Games, and Kaiba had made it his life's goal to defeat him. Even after he learned that yes, Yuugi was indeed possessed by a Pharaoh, and yes, that Pharaoh was technically the one who'd won the title, his goal shouldn't have changed because Yuugi beat the Pharaoh. Yuugi was, undeniably, the King of Games, and Kaiba had challenged him for the title multiple times since the Ceremonial Duel.

But it wasn't the same. Kaiba wanted to be the best, and Yuugi currently was the best, so it only made sense for Kaiba to want to Duel him. And it would have, but Kaiba didn't want to Duel him. He wanted to Duel Atem. Perhaps "wanted" was the wrong word – he needed to Duel Atem. Atem was the one who had beaten him so many times, Atem was the one who had been willing to let Kaiba die in order to win, Atem was the one person in all the world who was truly a worthy opponent. The obsession was becoming a problem. Going to school felt almost like an act of masochism nowadays, because Yuugi was there and the Pharaoh wasn't.

And then, out of nowhere, Atem had returned. He'd come back to the world of the living, in his original body, and for a moment Kaiba had been foolish enough to hope that his return would calm the insane thoughts that ran through his head when he thought about Dueling his rival – thoughts that ranged from acceptable-yet-annoying to frighteningly dangerous. One time, he'd almost considered consulting a professional after the thought that maybe he could Duel Atem in the afterlife had crossed his mind (but that would cause problems for his business, so he simply pushed the thoughts to the back of his head and carried on).

And then there was the matter of how to handle all of this. Kaiba shut his eyes and rested his chin on his interlaced fingers, frowning. It would be easier, he thought to himself, to make a list.

Item the first: Atem was back, and Kaiba needed to Duel him. Easily solved – he simply had to approach and challenge him.

Item the second: Atem was back, and Kaiba had no idea how to challenge him at all. Problem – how to challenge an Ancient Egypt Pharaoh to a children's trading card game wasn't exactly something one could Google.

Item the third: Atem was back, and Kaiba needed to shove that thought aside and go back to school. Also easy – he knew how to compartmentalize his thoughts and feelings, and all he really needed to do was avoid the Dweeb Patrol™.

Item the fourth: Atem was back, and Mokuba was probably getting worried. This was a problem as well – he really couldn't fool his brother, especially not over something like this.

Item the fifth: Atem was back, and the words "Atem is back" were starting to preface every thought going through Kaiba's head. Easily solved – all he needed to do was challenge him to a Duel.

Kaiba groaned, rubbing his temples as he realized that his train of thought had not only fallen off the track, but was now trying to go in circles despite being overturned, badly dented, and probably also on fire. And so, Kaiba did what he always did when his brain was racing thirty thousand miles over the speed limit – he went back to work.

***

"Damned brat!" the old woman cuffs the child upside the head, scowling. "You think I don't know when there's a runt like you running around causing trouble?"

Wrinkled skin, sightless milky white eyes, a scowl that could petrify the gods themselves

"I don't approve of this arrangement," she'd grumbled, watching her granddaughter kiss the village chieftain's daughter. "They're too young for marriage. It won't lead to anything but disaster." Something in her sightless eyes glimmered, and told listeners that perhaps she didn't truly mean the words she spoke.

Too old to stay with the traders' caravans, too close to her only surviving relative to bear being parted from her

"Don't you know what happens to little brats who sneak around after dark? The gods will send scorpions after you!"

"Scorpions?"

"That's right. Enormous scorpions – twice the size of a caravan! Back inside with you, brat!"

Harsh words concealing good intentions, a proud nod at a great achievement, stories woven with such care that it was easy to forget they weren't real

"The caravans will not return."

"What did you See, grandmother?"

"…Never you mind, brat."

***

As the Thief's pencil details the worn scarf that covered the old woman's head, he wonders to himself if Bitya'a had known the true reason that the traders would never again set foot in Kul Elna. He likes to think she would've warned them all, but Bitya'a had been old and fatalistic and might have thought there was nothing to be done. She wouldn't necessarily have been wrong. But it's far more likely for the gods not to have shown her anything – to take away Kul Elna's one chance at survival.

The Thief wants to hate them for it – wants to scream and curse and break things and get back at them, but he can't. The bottomless pit of hatred that had welled up inside of him had only grown during the three thousand years he spent inside the Millennium Ring with Zorc, but it all seemed to have vanished upon his defeat.

He's tired, now. Too tired for vengeance or hatred or even grief. He just wants rest and he doesn't think he can ever forgive Yuugi and Marik for pulling him out of the blissful nothingness of wherever he'd been before. And Marik, that bastard, didn't even have the decency to let him go back.

He wishes he had enough strength left to hate them, but that only lasts a moment before the tattered souls of his people pull him back into his mind to remember all the things they no longer know how to remember on their own. His days are filled with the whispers of the dead and his nights with Yuugi, Marik, and Bakura dragging him through memories that aren't quite his but aren't not. He can't decide which he hates more.

AN: I'm gonna end this chapter here, since I think this is a pretty good stopping point. I'm tired… anyway, I've been working on a few more YGO fics, but I doubt I'll post any of them until this one is done. Shouldn't be too much longer – I'm pretty sure I know how I want it to end. Just gotta get there. Well, thanks for reading, let me know what you thought, and I'll see you later. Kitty out.

#yu-gi-oh!#ygo fic #ad nihilum #ek3 writes stuff

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kamisamawrites · 4 years ago

Text

Like the Sun and the Moon

Chapter 9: Reminiscence

Chapter Index

Inosuke braced himself for the sharp pain of Makoto’s blade when she suddenly changed tactics. Twisting her body, she snapped the katana back together before it could hit him.

Staring at her confused, the soft clank of wood reached his ears a second later. Eyes darting to the hairpin that laid on the floor, it had fallen out of his pocket while dodging her last attack. If Makoto had let her sword hit him, she would have paired the hairpin along with him. Grinning at the realization, Inosuke grabbed it before she could react.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU ALMOST GOT HIM, STOP MESSING AROUND AND FINISHED THE JOB!” the Frog Lord screamed from behind them.

Seeing Makoto try to hide how her face twisted with panic at his words, Inosuke’s hatred for the demon only grew.

“OH SHUT UP YOU COWARD!” Inosuke barked back.

“Why don’t you come and fight me yourself instead of getting other people to do your dirty work?!” he challenged, pointing his sword at him.

The Frog Lord growled in frustration as Makoto swung at Inosuke once more, but he had the upper hand this time. Holding up the hairpin, Makoto’s body froze and she jumped back.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” the frog demon growled, croaking in anger.

Lunging back at Inosuke, Makoto’s swings grew more hesitant and sloppy as she tried to avoid hitting the hairpin. Distress and frustration crept its way onto her face with every miss swing.

Cackling, Inosuke ran full speed at her, swinging the hairpin around wildly. She froze, not knowing where to aim, the hairpin seeming to be everywhere at once.

“JUST DIE ALREADY!” Makoto cried, swinging her blade.

Dodging it with ease, Ionsuke found himself a little delighted at how her eyes widened when he popped up in front of her. Blowing a puff of steam into her face, he couldn’t help but grin like a mad man.

“Got you!” he giggled before sharply punching her in the gut.

Eyes widening, Makoto’s body lunged forward as she began to gag. Catching her before she could fall over, Inosuke would never admit the relief he felt when she threw up a large frog egg.

Snapping back to her senses, Makoto’s body was still shivering as her mind raced to remember what happened. Her body felt like lead from switching breathing forms so many times, and her mind felt like it was going to explode.

Feeling two wooden prongs scrape against her scalp, her head snapped up to find Inosuke staring back at her. Bring a shaky hand to the side of her head, she realized it was her hairpin.

“I-Inosuke…” she whispered, her mind racing to try and form words.

“You need to take better care of this if it’s so important to you… stupid,” he scolded, but somehow, his voice seemed softer than normal.

“GOD DAMN YOU! I’LL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID! I’LL KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME!” the Frog Lord cried, frantically scratching his head and stomping his feet.

“That’s my bride, MY BRIDE YOU HEAR ME!” he croaked, throat bulging before a stream of acid flung towards them.

Shoving Inosuke down, Makoto wasn’t able to stop the hiss that slipped past her lips. Her fingers curled into Inosuke’s shoulders as some of the purple liquid landed and burned on her back.

“Hey-!”

“I’m fine!” she snapped, cutting her companion off as she pushed herself off him.

The clothes on her back softened the stinging just the slightest bit, but her heightened sense of touch didn’t make the pain any easier to handle.

It was sensitive, which was what allowed her to feel the slightest changes around her, but that also meant injuries were that much more painful.

Forcing herself to stand, Makoto didn’t have time for this. She could worry about how her body seemed to scream later because right now, there was someone she needed to stop first.

Steadying her breathing, she pointed her blade at the Frog Lord as her eyes narrowed.

“I’m already married. I’m sorry, but I’m ending this right here!” she declared.

“HA! SEE THAT YOU UGLY FROG! SHE DON’T WANT YOU!” Inosuke laughed, the smugness of his voice only pissing the demon off more.

“You…! ALL OF YOU ARE JUST LIKE THE REST! ALL YOU CARE ABOUT ARE LOOKS!” he screeched, tears swelling up in his large red eyes.

Spitting more poison acid, the two demon slayers dodged each clump, careful not to trip over the uneven floor.

Panicking, the Frog Lord summoned the remainder of people under his control. The women exploded into the room from every corner, swinging their weapons. They mindlessly aimed for the two slayers, not caring who they’d hurt in the process.

Flicking her wrist, Makoto gave Inosuke a knowing smile as her blade expanded.

Wrapping the back of her bladed whip around his torso, she used the remainder of her strength to fling him over the girls and towards the demon.

“Sleep Breathing, Second Form Modified!” she grunted between gritted teeth, ignoring the overwhelming pain that burned itself into her body.

Watching Inosuke fly towards him, the frog demon froze in fear. It was as if a wild boar was charging straight at him.

“Sixth Fang: Palisade Bite!” he cackled, slicing through the demon’s large and squishy neck.

Hands reaching up to touch the top of his neck, the Frog Lord’s body tumbled to the ground with his head. The second his head was cut off, the women under his control froze and began vomiting the amphibians in their stomachs.

Rushing over to Inosuke, Makoto did her best not to stumble. They still needed to help the girls in the pods.

“Why…?” the Frog Lord croaked as his body began to crumble.

“It’s… It’s not fair!” he cried, vision blurry from tears.

“Why?! I try so hard, why does everybody hate me?!” he sobbed.

Turning to look at him, Makoto stopped Inosuke from saying something insensitive. Instead, she got him to start getting the trapped girls before their prison disappeared and they landed on top of each other.

“I didn’t choose to be born ugly! I never wanted my face! I try so hard to show everyone I’m not what I look like, but nothing’s ever worked!” he cried.

“Even Tsuyu hated me!” he shouted before freezing, his mind suddenly full of questions.

Who was Tsuyu? Who was that? Why did it hurt so much when he thought about her?

Sheathing her sword, Makoto stopped working and took a step towards the crying demon. Feeling Inosuke grab her arm, she turned around to face him. She could feel his disapproving glare before he even said anything but she simply smiled at him. It was a small and sad smile, full of remorse and empathy.

Huffing after a second, Inosuke reluctantly let her go. Watching her approach the demon, he couldn’t understand why she insisted on showing him kindness, especially after what he did to her.

Sitting down on her knees, Makoto picked up the demon’s disintegrating head and held him close.

Looking up at her with wide eyes, the Frog Lord wasn’t able to stop the tears that continued to overflow.

“I’m sure that… Tsuyu doesn’t hate you,” she cooed, patting the demon’s head.

“But I… I hurt her…! After everything she did for me, I hurt her!” he croaked.

“I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding,” Makoto reassured him.

Taking deep breaths, Makoto spread the smell of her blood around the two of them. The soft floral smell caused the Frog Lord’s tears to slow as he closed his eyes.

In the sea of darkness, he stood all alone. He was dying, and now, he would go to Hell. Tears welled in his eyes again, as the fear clung to him.

“I’m scared! I don’t want to be alone!” he cried, falling to his knees.

“Then let’s go together,” a soft voice offered, causing his head to snap up.

“Tsu… Tsuyu…?!” he murmured, unable to believe his eyes.

“Hi… Atsushi,” she smiled, kneeling down to meet his eyes.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” she laughed at his surprise.

“But… But why?! You shouldn’t be here! You should be happy with Brother in heaven! Why?! Why were you waiting for someone like me?!” he rambled, mind racing with questions.

“I wanted to apologize,” Tsuyu confessed, placing a gentle hand on his head.

“I was never able to do that while alive. You were kicked out of the family because of me and… I’ve never been able to forgive myself for that,” she explained, eyes glossy.

“I’m sorry Atsushi, I was supposed to be your sister, and instead I ruined my best friend’s life,” she cried, engulfing him in her embrace.

Warm… It was warm in her arms. Holding her close, the Frog Lord’s from morphed back, back into the human he once was. Crying, he never wanted her to go.

Makoto sat in silence as the Frog Lord disappeared. Her hands hovering where his head once sat.

“Thank you…” she heard him whisper, as the final part of his head turned to ash.

Arms falling limp, Makoto sat in solemn silence. She could feel Inosuke’s eyes on her, but she didn’t have the strength to move. Whether it was from the long fight they had just endured or the pain and suffering she felt from the Frog Lord before he died, she didn’t know and she didn’t want to.

Her eyes stung the longer she sat there.

Bringing her hands together in prayer, Makoto could only hope from his goodbye that he and Tsuyu made up. That the two of them, and everyone he’s hurt could be luckier in their next lives.

Returning to their work, Inosuke propped the girls up against the wall while Makoto checked their vitals. Luckily they were all still alive, and unharmed form what she could tell.

“Hey, I think I found the old man’s kid,” Inosuke called out, dragging a young boy towards her.

“What?” Makoto asked, astonished, running to his side.

Checking the boy’s vitals, Makoto was shocked that he was still alive. He was young, maybe 14 with pitch-black hair that framed a slender pale face. He was the spitting image of his father.

Setting him with the rest of the women, Makoto suddenly felt pounding footsteps before she heard them. Running through the broken sliding doors, Aiko panted heavily.

“Aiko!” Makoto gasped. She was different now. Her movements felt normal.

Amber eyes scanned the room before landing on the Young Lord’s body.

“Jun’ichi!” she cried, running towards him.

Falling to her knees, she grasped his hand tightly.

“Is he alive?! Please! Tell me!” she begged Makoto, eyes welling with tears.

“Yeah, he’s just passed out,” Makoto smiled softly at her, hoping it would reassure her.

“Thank the gods…!” she breathed, bringing his cool hand to her forehead.

“You dumbass! This is what happens when you push us away…!” she cried, scolding the unconscious boy.

“Hey, Monpocho,” Inosuke called out, looking at the broken doors.

Looking up, Makoto smiled at Lord Hisakawa. He was still and quiet, afraid to even breathe.

“It’s okay now. The demon’s gone, and your son’s alive. You can rest easy now,” she reassured him, beckoning him over.

Hesitantly entering the room, his eyes lingered on the chaos it had become. The tattered mates, Aiko over his son, the women that where being controlled, the demon slayer’s battered forms. Reaching his son, relief, and guilt washed over him.

He had let that monster hurt so many people…

Dropping to his knees, tears flowed from his eyes as he pressed his forehead on the ground.

“Thank you!” he croaked.

“Thank you for saving my son! Thank you for saving everyone here! Thank you so much!” he cried, unable to properly express his gratitude.

Softly placing her hands on his cheeks, Mokoto made him lift his head. Her smile was warm and genuine as the morning sun poured in through the tattered windows.

“Please, raise your head, we’re merely some passing swordsmen doing our job,” she said, quirking her head ever so slightly.

Tears slipping from his face, the guilt in Lord Hisakawa’s chest only grew as she reassured him. Despite everything he put her through, despite giving her up to that demon, Makoto saved Aiko and his son and held no ill-will towards him.

After having ensured everyone was safe and alive, Lord Hisakawa had insisted that Makoto and Inosuke stay until their wounds healed. Makoto was going to decline the kind offer when Insouke agreed for both of them.

Staring at him gobsmacked, Makoto’s eyes lit up in realization as a look of horror crossed her face.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry Inosuke! I should have realized,” she cried, guilt growing inside her.

“Hah?” he questioned, eyeing her suspiciously.

“You must be in a lot of pain, it was rude of me to deny you proper treatment,” she bowed, only unintentionally pissing the boy off.

“THIS IS FOR YOU STUPID!” Inosuke snapped, causing Makoto’s eyes to grow wide.

“For… me?” she repeated.

“Duh! You’re the one injured!” he huffed, crossing his arms.

“B-But Inosuke… You’re hurt-”

“These are just scratches! I’m not the one who got possessed or poisoned am I?” he snapped, interrupting her.

“You’re breathing’s been unsteady since you came back to your senses, and even now, you can barely keep yourself upright,” he said, causing Makoto’s eyes to widen.

Dumbfounded, she simply stared at the boy in front of her. She hadn’t realized how observant he was, noticing such things she thought she had hidden well.

She couldn’t help but wonder, did he see right through her?

Glancing away and taking a step back, Inosuke grew incredibly uncomfortable the longer Makoto stared at him. It was unnerving how intensely she seemed to be watching him. Studying him as if he were some ancient artifact. It was weird, and he didn’t know what to make of it.

“What?! The poison’s finally gotten to your brain or something?” he snapped, breaking Makoto from her thoughts.

“Oh! No, sorry. I was just thinking,” she apologized, turning away.

The two didn’t talk much after that, instead, they were far too busy helping clean up.

After a doctor had checked up on them, Makoto and Inosuke were left alone in a spare room. The two were quiet as the night’s events finally began to settle.

Hazy memories of their fight resurfaced in Makoto’s mind. The memory of her ruthless attacks weighed heavily on her as she stole a glance at the boy next to her.

“How are you feeling? Do your wounds hurt?” she asked.

“Please, this is nothing!” he insisted, earning a small smile from the girl.

“That’s good to hear…” she mumbled.

Watching Makoto tuck a stray hair behind her ear, Inosuke couldn’t help but notice just how long it was.

His eyes drifted up to the hairpin in her hair and thought back to their battle. It was clear that it was important to her, and he found himself wondering why.

Rubbing his fingers together, Inosuke couldn’t help but eye Makoto’s hair again. It was so long and smooth looking, he kind of wanted to play with it.

Unconsciously bringing a hand up, Inosuke froze when Makoto suddenly stood up.

“I just remembered, there are some things I have to do. I’ll see later,” she waved, leaving him alone in the room.

Watching her leave, Inosuke couldn’t help the lingering feeling of disappointment that crept its way into him. Frowning, he walked onto the engawa and sat down.

Grumbling in mild frustration, he wasn’t sure what to make of the emotions she brought out of him.

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#demon slayer #kimestu no yaiba #demon slayer fanfic #kimestsu no yaiba fanfic #oc/canon #oc x canon #inosuke x oc #Inosuke/oc #angst #fluff #slow burn #Like the Sun and the Moon fic #manga spoilers

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