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sup-hoes-its-me · 4 years

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Golden (Kakashi x Reader)

A/N: you are in a relationship with kakaski, but after an accident, you have amnesia, and can’t remember him anymore. angst baby. Very feminine Civilian!reader (you own a bookstore, so cliche lmao) essentially, this series is mindless romantic indulgences i wrote mostly for myself, but if other people can enjoy them then i did my job as a fanfic writer.

A/N: im definitely not writing a fanfic for every song on fine line...haha

Word count: 5600

_____

He lay awake at night after the incident, imagining the moment he truly knew he was in love with her. Completely infatuated with this beautiful woman working at the bookstore. It was the only thing he could do now that his entire world had come crashing around him. With everything that happened in the hospital, this was the only way he knew how to cope.

He drifted off into the dream once again.

Kakashi stood by the front gates of the village, a paperback book he had just bought in his hand, folded over so he could read with one hand. One more time before he left for this mission, one he knew would last longer than anyone would like, he visited the old bookstore in town. He wanted to think he just stopped by to stock up on reading material, but that wasn’t it.

It was always about her.

When he saw Y/N running up to him, her apron nearly falling off and her hair in disarray, his eyes widened and he set the book down by his side. She was out of breath when she got to him, pressing her hands to her chest to get herself put together. Her brows furrowed deeply as she lifted her eyes to meet his.

“Kakashi,” she exclaimed.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?”

“I know you’re going on this long mission and you won’t be around for a few months, and I can’t stand the thought of you leaving without me telling you this,” she said, and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t insanely curious what she had to say. She was a sweet village girl, and he frequented her store, quite a bit actually. On occasion, he would drop by a few times in a day just to say hello. He definitely wasn’t slick.

He waited for her to continue and she didn’t hesitate. “Every time you leave, I get this pain in my chest. I worry about you day and night because I know the life of a shinobi is never guaranteed. I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t tell you this time, if I kept acting like the coward I am.”

“I see? Well, what’s on your mind?”

“I-I’ve never felt this way for anyone before, and I don’t know how to deal with it, so here goes,” she told him, taking a deep breath before her next words, “I think I’m in love with you, Kakashi Hatake. I think I’ve loved you since the first time you stepped foot in my parents store.”

“I…”

What was he supposed to say to that?

“You don’t have to say anything back. It doesn’t bother me, I know how closed off you ninja are. Just please, take my words and hold them close on your journeys.” She paused, clenching her soft fists by her sides. She wasn’t scared of rejection, not at all. She was only scared that Kakashi might not care about her words at all. “Please, don’t forget someone loves you.”

In that moment, he felt his heart stop beating, only for a second, but he felt it. Shifted awkwardly, not wanting to let off that he was getting even a little emotional at her declaration. He was tough as nails, the copy-nin. Not some lover boy, even if he wanted to be. Even if he wanted to swoop in right then and kiss her to pieces.

All he could say was, “I’ll keep that in my mind. Thank you, Y/N.”

“You’re welcome. Now, don’t fool around out there so you can come back to me in one piece!” she laughed, feeling tears bubbling up in the corners of her eyes.

He found himself smiling back at the young woman. “You got it.”

__________

Kakashi was never really one to express his feelings. Generally, he kept them inside to mourn alone. It was just in his nature, it was nothing personal with the people he knew and trusted. There was just something about Y/N that made him drop down some of those thick barriers.

His girlfriend was a normal woman, working long shifts in the village bookstore since she was a teenager. She never attended the academy, wasn't chakra sensitive, nothing in particular was so outstanding that she was noticed. Nothing on the surface, actually.

It was her smile and her laugh, the way she could make anyone feel like they were important and wanted, that attracted Kakashi to her in the first place. From the first time they met as teenagers in the bookstore aisles, he knew he was caught in some sort of trap. For a minute, he compared the feeling to that of a genjutsu, even though he knew that was far from a possibility.

To him, when she smiled, it felt as if everything was going to be okay. All the pain and suffering disappeared when she was around. He really couldn’t understand how that could be happening, with the world crumbling around him everyday.

That was a particularly rare attribute among ninja folk, whose lives led them to believe that happiness wasn’t achievable and death was common; pain was so normal for him. It was refreshing to have someone around who didn't think like that, that could change the tone of a room in a moment with just an ounce of positive energy. Y/N was innocent to the majority of these harsh realities that the ninja faced, for the most part.

As with most people in the village, her parents lost their lives during the invasion of the nine tails. She was alone for a long time, but despite that, she tried to find joys in reading, in stacking new books on shelves, in talking to unique individuals that would stop by. And as she aged, she realized her most favorite customer was one with a masked face, and a love of gushy, perverted novels.

She was even friends with some of his closest friends, Gai, Yamato, Sakura. She reached out to them, getting visits here and there while she worked during the day. After he informed his closest companions of his blossoming affair with the bookstore girl, they just had to get in an insider view. They kept visiting after the first meetings. Sakura bringing lunch, Yamato helping her with repairs, and Gai just bringing his brightest smile and a boatload of jokes and giggles to share at the front counter.

It was only a matter of time before they fell into some weird friendship, a civilian and one of the top shinobi of their village. He was gone half the time on missions, and sometimes, when he was ANBU, she wouldn’t see him for weeks at a time. Occasionally, when a mission was long and difficult, she would hear pawing at her window late into the night. When she pulled back the blinds, a small dog would be sitting there with a folded piece of paper in his mouth, waiting for her to take it.

She loved those letters, they became her prized possessions. There was nothing else she loved more in the world than seeing his kind words written out on paper, his declarations of love that he would never dare say aloud. To him, it was easier to say those things on paper, to not be around when she read about his feelings for her. He was still attentive and kind to her in person, but the letters spoke with a romanticism that he couldn’t.

Y/N practically glowed when she spoke to him, so in love with him she could barely keep it restrained. He knew this. He knew she was as deeply in love with him as he was entranced with her. It had been 5 years since they started dating, and he prolonged the inevitable path of marriage as long as he could. Having a girlfriend was one thing, but marrying someone felt like a burden he couldn’t shoulder. He wanted to, but it just seemed like too much work, too much risk.

After years, he realized the waiting just wasn’t worth it. They were only getting older as the time went by. She just warmed his empty heart, he knew that was something only she could do for him. He needed that.

And that's why he sat in the comfort of Ichiraku, Sakura by his side, sipping on some soup. She was the only one he truly trusted with this knowledge, the only one who could give him genuine advice. He just needed to tell someone what he was about to do. He sat there, his fingers hovering over his pants pocket, eyes trailed down at the table.

"What did you want to talk about, Sensei?" She had asked.

"You really like Y/N, right? Think she's good for me?"

She smiled with a small nod. "Of course. Y/N is so sweet. She makes you so happy I can tell. I think it's really good for you." It was true. Sakura didn’t know what her sensei was like before he met the woman. That was years ago before she was even born. What she did know is that someone with that much pain seeping from his heart could use some love in his life, a stable shoulder to lean onto. If anyone was stable, it was her. Without any cares in the world other than worrying for her boyfriend and keeping her business afloat. Her trauma was behind her, unlike some of the shinobi that carry those with them for the rest of their lives. Guilt, anger, resentment.

He pulled a tiny, drawstring bag from his pocket and fiddled with the strings between his fingers. "When I was in the Land of Fire last month, I picked this up from a merchant," he explained, pulling open the bag and pouring out the contents. A small ring clicked against the bar table. "Take a look, tell me what you think."

She dropped her spoon and reached over for the ring, holding it gently with the pads of her fingertips. It was beautiful. It sparkled like sunlight hitting clear blue waters. A stone rested in the center, flecks of lavender and blue floating in the sparkly gem. When she turned it in the sunlight, more colors appeared and changed, morphing into something spectacular in every sense of the word.

"Kakashi-sensei, it's gorgeous. Are you going to give this to Y/N?"

"After all this time, it seems inevitable really. Time flies."

"Oh my gosh. I'm so happy for you. She's going to be ecstatic, I just know it. She loves you more than life itself." He liked hearing that reaffirmed for him, even though Y/N frequently told him how she felt, daily ‘I love you’s. Unlike him, those words were not rare, but each time it filled his chest with warmth.

He smiled fondly, watching as she continued to turn to ring in her hands. He never thought this would happen to him: marrying someone. He didn't want to lose anyone else. He didn't want to put that risk on someone, especially Y/N. He had suppressed his feelings for her for a few years before he finally succumbed to the urge to tell her. Finally, after years of longing and avoiding the obvious, she became his, and he was undoubtedly hers.

It was a hard decision. He knew it was wrong to risk it, put her life on the line, but now he felt ridiculous sulking around waiting for something that was never going to happen. Nothing had happened to Y/N yet, and it had been years. She was gonna be fine. He was only being paranoid, he had convinced himself.

"Tonight. I'm going to help her close the store and do it then."

"You're a good man, Kakashi. She’s so lucky to have you protecting her and watching out for her, ya know? You two balance each other out perfectly,” the girl sighed. If only she could find a love like her sensei had with his significant other.

"Thanks, Sakura.”

They finished up their conversation, and he paid the bill for her, feeling so high that a bit of money from his wallet didn't even bother him. It was slightly later than he was supposed to go see her. The bookstore should have already closed by about 10 minutes.

All he could think about on the way there was how she would laugh about him being late, as usual. She would hug him to say hello, like she usually wound, and then give him a kiss on his masked cheek. He would help her quickly reorganize books before pulling out the ring. To him, it wasn't really about her saying yes at all so much as this moment, proposing to the love of his life, meant he could leave his curse behind and be happy for once with someone he cared about. She was his savior, an escape from a mindset so ingrained he couldn't fight it on his own.

But when he walked up to the front of the store. He noticed the lights still on even though she would have shut them off by now. The sign out front still flipped to open. He didn’t think it was too weird at all, he just thought maybe she was waiting for him to come along to finish up.

As he walked in though, he noticed the whole reams of paper strewn across the floor. Piles of books were aggressively thrown from the shelves, scattered around the floor like someone side swept them from the stands. Ink stained the checkout counter where she normally sat, inkwell tipped over the edge and dripped onto the carpet which she took care to keep clean. It was disastrous getting stains out of that carpet, she always said to him.

Most importantly, on some of the papers scattered around, he spotted blood splatter, drips of half dried blood present all the way from her desk to the back door. He felt panic rise up from his stomach all the way to his throat, and his heart raced. It was rare something made him truly terrified, and this was one of those moments.

He searched, god, he scoured that entire building over and over again for the woman. He checked every aisle and under every table. He ran upstairs to her apartment and checked in the few small rooms she had, scared she was cowering in her bathtub or hiding under the bed. He ran to the neighboring stores, asking if they'd heard from her, and received nothing but empty words. He just wanted her to be anywhere that he could find, anywhere but in the arms of someone evil.

His Y/N was gone, and he was hopelessly at the mercy of his curse once again.

______

He wasn't even allowed to go on the search mission for his girlfriend. Instead, Tsunade sent Yamato as well as a few chunin who knew Y/N enough to recognize her but not enough to fail at being objective. Apparently, the copy-nin wasn't in his right mind to go on a mission right now, especially one that was so personal to him. All his missions for the foreseeable future had been cancelled and another jounin was set to replace him. He could only sit back at home, guilt ridden and feeling useless, unable to help, unable to search. He did this to her. He knew that putting his heart into someone else's hands wasn't right, that it would only lead to her suffering but he couldn't listen to his own experience. He didn’t think it could happen to Y/N. he thought he could protect her.

But fate finds a way, it seems.

He trusted Yamato and the others to find her, but it was nothing like going himself. He wanted nothing more than to see the men who stole her away taught a lesson for what they had done. He wanted to cradle her in his arms and kiss her head, and promise something like this would never happen again. At least, that’s what he wanted to do. He didn’t know how he would react in the moment, despite developing quite good self-control over the years. How could he contain himself when the perpetrators caused his beautiful girl to bleed, and no doubt suffer?

Sakura felt the worst for Kakashi, knowing what she knew. She could imagine him heading to propose to his little girlfriend whom he loved more than anything in the entire world, and see only her blood splattered across the room and endless signs of a brutal struggle. Not to mention no one had a clue why they stole her or what was happening where no one else could see. The medical nin nearly shed a couple tears when Kakashi rushed into the Hokage's office without announcement, proclaiming that his girlfriend was gone, kidnapped from her own store where she worked alone all day.

Tsunade, despite barely knowing the girl, knew it was important; for anyone to be stolen from their village was serious enough. Although she felt for Kakashi, she had to keep him calm while she worked on finding the subject of his affection. She sent out teams immediately, and stressed that Kakashi was to remain in the village until everything was resolved one way or another. She didn't want any accidents because of a reckless, emotionally compromised shinobi faltering.

It only took the teams a single day to find their target.

Shikamaru and Choji were the ones to come back first, and in the larger boy's arms rested the limp, unconscious body of a missing woman. Ever so gently, he had her head tucked away against his chest the entire way home, trying his best not to hurt her anymore. Even if she was unconscious, he wanted to respect the body. From the moments they spoke before, she seemed like the nicest girl. He felt awful. She wasn’t the one putting her life on the line, she was the one that shinobi were supposed to protect. And they failed her.

When they walked through the gates of the village, Kakashi was already rushing up to the gates waiting for their arrival. He caught up to the boys and reached out to take her body from his arms, just to cradle her against him. It was the least that he could do was take her to the infirmary. To feel her faint heart beating against his chest. He was surprised when one of the chunin sadly shook his head.

"Kakashi, she's alive, but trust me, you don't want to see what they did to her," Shikamaru warned, and Choji flinched, just thinking about what her poor face looked like when they found her. Shikamaru knew for a fact that if his girlfriend was ever handed off to him looking so pitiful, he wouldn’t be able to control himself. He didn’t want the same to befall on his sensei. "Just trust me, I cannot let you see it, for your sake. Let Choji bring her to Tsunade."

He felt a burning in his stomach, pain creeping up in his abdomen like he was going to throw up all over the dirt path they stood on, but he did his best to remain calm despite the mix of emotions running through his head. He watched as the Akimichi carried her quickly off to the hospital. Kakashi didn't miss though, the blood stains on his tunic surrounding the area where her head was resting, circling her face. She had bled a lot in her time away, he realized.

God, he felt sick. So fucking nauseous.

"What happened?" he breathed heavily, words slipping through.

"Apparently, the guy had a grudge against your clan for something your father did to his family. Killed a criminal brother or some shit. When he heard wind of your girlfriend he knew he would take his revenge. Didn't want ransom, fame, nothing, just to torment you and torture her. Disgusting bastard."

There was one thing he wanted to know on top of his worry about her condition. He’d been thinking about it for the entire day she was missing. Obsessing even.

"What did you do with the man?" He hoped that justice had been served, and he couldn't imagine the two boys doing anything less.

"A man that would do that to a woman doesn't deserve his life," he muttered, his eyes trailed off to the village, “I made it painful.”

Kakashi nodded to him, and together they stood there in silence for what felt like an eternity.

“Sensei?”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry.”

____________

When he got to the hospital, Choji was directly quickly to a special unit with particularly fancy machines around the room. Sakura was standing beside her own mentor awaiting the arrival of her friend. The moment she finally saw Y/N's exposed face, she cried. Tears fell from her eyes and she leant over the hospital bed to get a look at all her wounds. She looked alien, and the amount of blood that stained her hairline and cheeks was thick and heavy. Choji had tried to wipe it off, but he just couldn’t get it all.

"Y/N! Oh my God, what did they do to you?" She cried, running her hands shakily over the contusions and the cuts and the bulging areas near her temples. Her body was no better but her face is what hurt Sakura the most. It was hard to believe that all the life had been drained from her body after this one incident.

The light had left her body. Her familiar glow emanating from her soft skin was missing. She looked cold and dead. For the first time, Sakura saw her without her smile, without any bit of optimism. It felt like she was staring at an empty shell of the woman she knew.

"Sakura, get the IV ready. I need to get to work."

And so she did what she does best. Healers at work in their element fixing broken bones, burst capillaries in her head, torn skin. Everything they could. It took hours, and her face still wasn't completely healed in the end, just less swollen. She still had some bumps and bruises but those weren't going to be so bad. They could heal by themselves with a few days of rest and care.

She would be okay, they decided after a while of treatment, and moved her into a normal hospital room, under watch of nurses every so often, no visitors allowed either. Not for the first few days, much to Kakashi's displeasure. He was really getting irritated with the way everyone was keeping him from seeing her. Shouldn’t he be allowed? Essentially, the only family she had left? In reality though, he was scared.

But did he even want to see her again? He loved her, would do anything in the world for her. If only he had the guts to just give up on her and let her meet a normal man from the village, let her marry him and just forget all about their relationship. Then, nothing like this would ever happen again. She would be safer without having connections with him. He was so upset with himself for letting this happen.

He hated himself. It had been a long time since he genuinely thought those words. He hated himself more than anyone else. He let this happen, he was to blame for all this mess. A monster.

He headed back to his apartment that night and stared over at her tiny pile of belongings in the corner, ones she had left over his place as time went on. They still didn't live together so it wouldn't be the worst thing if he broke up with her. She would be hurt, probably cry for a few days, a week, maybe a month. He didn’t know. All he knew was that a little bit of crying was a lot better than getting fatally injured.

Just return her belongings in a box, and never go back to that fucking bookshop where he fell in love with her. He could get his novels directly from Jiraiya if he wanted them.

Tsunade already told him it would be days before he would be allowed to see her again, something about the healing process and that her chakra wasn't enough to fix everything. Based on what Shikamaru had told him, the way he acted- it must have been pretty bad. He couldn't even imagine her face beaten and broken.

All he knew was that in 2 days, he would be allowed to see her again, to possibly talk to her and apologize for what he had caused. It was the least he could do. At this point he couldn't imagine giving her that ring. How could she accept when he was the reason she was abducted and tortured?

He barely slept that night, but it didn't matter. He didn't have anything to do. He was given time off work until everything was resolved. He wondered if it would have been better to have a mission and forget all about the situation for even a couple fleeting moments.

He was just so tired of these feelings. He felt suffocated, and unlike himself. He was finding it hard to be cool, calm, and collected like usual. He just felt terrible. Too terrible to eat, too terrible to sleep, too terrible to do anything but stare up at the ceiling and wonder what could have been.

______

It was time to head to the hospital and see her. Yamato had come to his apartment so they could go and see Y/N. Tsunade gave him the green light first thing that morning when he reported to her. The wood style ninja wanted to see her as well, just to say he was happy she was recovering and even tell her that next time she needed help, if Kakashi wasn't around, to run to his apartment. He would always open his arms to help. So many shinobi of the village, after this incident, would be willing to drop everything and help. Her bookstore would probably always have eyes on it from now on.

Word travelled fast between the shinobi and soon enough almost everyone was giving Kakashi sympathetic looks, patting him on the back and apologizing to him for something they knew nothing about. He just wanted to get to her and say sorry for everything he had done. For not being there sooner, for his father and his clan causing this whole thing. He just needed to see her face. He couldn't get her out of his head.

Sakura was standing outside the room when he arrived. She was biting on her nails, which was oddly uncharacteristic of her. She rarely got nervous enough for habits like that to arise. She was normally so confident. That was the first of the red flags.

"Kakashi-sensei, Yamato. You're here to see Y/N, aren't you?" she asked, her voice quiet and hesitant.

She let him Yamato walk past her into the room but she raised her hand before Kakashi could walk in. She gave him one of the most sorry, pitiful looks he had ever seen, and her lip was quivering just a bit. It was barely noticeable but Kakashi was talented at noting the smallest things.

"Kakashi, I'm really sorry about everything. Lady Tsunade did everything she could. When you go in there, just please don't get upset. It's not as bad as you think. I'll explain everything later, but I want to see how she reacts to seeing you first," she bit out, her words mending together awkwardly.

He figured she was just nervous about her condition or maybe she was still bruised and bandaged up. If she was in a full body cast, he wouldn’t care. As long as he could see her. He couldn’t understand why Sakura was so worried. She would still be beautiful to him. She could never lose that shine that she carried regardless of her external features.

"Hmm. I'm sure it will be fine."

"I'm serious. Don't get upset and alarm her, it's very important you be careful."

"Gotcha."

She watched as he walked past her into the white room, sunlight leaking onto her bedside. The woman was fond of staring out the window since she woke, comforted by the familiarity of the village and the birds that flew by. That was the one thing she needed. Comfort.

Yamato sat at her bedside, and she seemed to be talking to him quietly. Her brows were furrowed deeply and she seemed strained, thoughts running through her brain.

"Kakashi-" the man began to say, desperate to say anything to his friend before the inevitable, but was interrupted.

"Y/N, I was so worried about you," he said, words tumbling out before he could even think. He just had so much to say. He continued, "I need to apologize for what happened. I know I should have been at the shop earlier to help you close, I just got caught up in something. It was my family's fault for your kidnapping. I cannot believe I dropped my guard and let this happen to you, baby-"

She looked at him, but without an ounce of the fondness he was so used to. Instead, his girlfriend just looked confused.

"I… I'm sorry but, Sir, do I know you?"

No.

Not this.

He pleaded in his head that this was not happening. That somehow he had misheard.

"It's me, Kakashi,” he replied softly, almost pleading for her to say something else.

She smiled sympathetically, peering up at him with a little glimmer of that kindness he knew in her eyes. He could tell she was confused, and he began to feel his heart break. "Uh, I'm so sorry but I don't remember you. We're we friends or something?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say something like that,” he muttered, his eyes turned to stare at the white tiles beneath his feet.He couldn’t look at her anymore.

"Yamato, you're friends with Kakashi-san, too?" She asked the brunette at her bedside, sitting in a chair wiping his sweaty palms on the thighs of his pants. He felt himself becoming nervous, especially when he felt Kakashi watching him. Why did she have to ask him that question? Why did she have to address him by his name so casually? He could feel Kakashi begin to bubble up emotions he hadn’t felt from him before.

"Yes. We are all very close friends, Y/N. You were closest with Kakashi actually."

"Then how come I can’t remember any of you?"

"I don't know." He felt fear creeping up his neck, Kakashi overwhelming his senses. The grey haired man just stood there, his eye flickering between the love of his life and his friend who apparently her brain thought was more important than him. Did he not look friendly enough to talk to? Was Yamato more inviting than he was, was that why she stopped talking to him? “I really wish I could help you there,” he mumbled.

She turned back to Kakashi and smiled, but it wasn't the one he knew from her. It was different. He hated it. He didn't even want to look at her anymore.

"I hope I remember you soon, or I'll just have to get to know you again, Kakashi-san," she chirped, reaching out to touch his hand which rested on the edge of her bed. The reaction he had was immediate and almost startling. The second her hand touched his, her warmth pressed to his cold fingers, he yanked his hand away and shoved it into his pocket.

He didn't want her to touch him. He didn't want anything other than to leave. Fuck getting to know him again. That wasn't an option.

"I need to go. I've got a mission I need to prepare for."

"Okay! Goodluck out there," she called to him as he turned on his heel to leave. He grit his teeth, feeling another wave of emotion overtake him. As he stepped outside the door, Sakura was still waiting there for him, her arms crossed over her chest sheepishly.

"Will she ever remember me again?" He asked simply.

"I don't know. She's got retrograde amnesia which can sometimes be permanent depending on the damage done to the brain. We couldn't fix it, no matter how much we tried. She doesn't remember me either. She doesn't remember Gai or Naruto or even Tsunade. She only remembers the village and a few bits and pieces that she can associate with it. Of course she remembers her name and her bookstore, but specific people and memories are essentially gone for now."

"So she's lost to us?"

"She can still get her memories back, but it will take time," she explained. "Sensei, I'm so sorry. None of us wished anything like this on you. I told Tsunade about the ring you were going to give her and the proposal, and we mourned for you. I'm so sorry." She felt so bad, and they did cry for him. They cried for the girl who got to keep her life but lost her soul.

"I have to get back to my apartment and clean up a few things," he dismissed, turning his head away from his student as well. He felt his heart clench in his chest as he walked away. The ring still sat deep in his pants pocket and he wanted nothing more than to throw it in the river.

He wished he was the one who forgot everything. Maybe this pain in his heart would subside. Maybe all the guilt would be washed away once and for all.

Part Two and Three are out.

#kakashi x reader #kakashi hatake #naruto x reader #kakashi oneshot #kakashi fanfic #naruto one shot #kakashi hatake x reader #kakashi imagine #naruto imagine #fluff #angst #the reader is a vert sweet and feminine girl and i hope that doesnt offend anyone

338 notes · View notes

ceterisparibus116 · 3 years

Note

When you talk about DDS2 being a bit unbalanced, I take that to be short for "they tried to do two seasons of material in one and that caused both plots to be shortchanged. There's not much in the way of threads connecting the Hand and Punisher plots either, especially when Karen and Foggy have little to do with the former."

YES. I kind of appreciate having Frank and Elektra in the same season, since they complement one another thematically. With Frank, the question seems to be, "When is killing okay?" With Elektra, you've got that plus the added question of, "How does a person's background/attitude mitigate or aggravate the issue of killing?" and I find that really, really cool.

But the Hand - ugh. There are so many valid critiques, starting with racism, ending with that they're just, overall, boring. The Hand is only cool, to me, when we're following one or two individuals, like Nobu, whom we can understand. Plus, watching Matt destroy like 10 ninjas at once just makes me feel like the whole thing is choreographed and the outcome is guaranteed. It's not gritty and there's no tension.

But I'll rant about the Hand another time.

Again, thematically, I think it's possible to write Frank and Elektra in the same season, and that could be really cool. Especially writing Frank, Elektra, and Matt all having to team up for some reason, which would really contrast their different approaches. (I think Frank would not be a fan of Elektra's glee with killing, for example; he kills because he thinks it's justified, but she kills because she enjoys it.) That could lead to some great philosophical questions. But they'd have to, y'know, interact.

And then, as you've mentioned repeatedly, the series suffers because we don't get to see the other characters interacting. Imagine Foggy reacting to Elektra not just in an angry "Why did u not tell us about her and why did u let her ruin our case" kind of way, but also confronting Elektra about how she broke Matt's heart! Especially since, now that Foggy knows about Daredevil, it would be totally plausible for Foggy to hear (either from Matt or Elektra) about what she did in Sweeney's apartment, and I would love to see Foggy fired up over that and protective of Matt. Not to mention I'd love for Matt to see that, to feel validated and cared for by his best friend. Just - agh.

I might need to write that scene myself since whump/flufftober is over.

And then of course there's Karen! Her approach to Frank illuminated so much of her character, and I'd love to see that also explored via interactions between her and Elektra, especially if they aren't love-triangle-ish. I think Elektra's skills and bloodthirstiness under the direction of Karen's quest for justice would be so powerful.

But alas.

Thanks for the ask!

#daredevil #meta #matt murdock #frank castle #elektra natchios #foggy nelson #karen page #long post #asks #ask me things I'm friendly

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candyopala · 3 years

Text

Stuck in his ways, Chapter 5

Chapter Summary: Y/N’s training begins, but not before she discovers one of Obito’s secrets.

Words: 1.7k

AO3

Please reblog or like if you enjoy, comments are always welcome <3

5:30 in the morning. It is the sixth time Y/N has woken up. This whole concussion thing has messed up her whole sleeping schedule, she tried her best to get some rest, but to no avail. She ended up sleeping for about fourteen or fifteen hours between small intervals, but she feels worse than before.

Y/N drags herself out of bed, makes some coffee, and brushes her teeth, the whole deal. Having a constant roof above her head is nice, she has to admit that. Not having to worry about wild animals and the climate is cool, but the warmth of a bed is the best part of it. Tying her brand new bandana on her forehead, she leaves the small apartment and heads to the training grounds on the outskirts of the village.

She makes her way through the village’s main market, trying to avoid stumbling onto the hundreds of busy people bustling around her. Watching people attend to their duties and following their routines has always been a hobby of hers, she always found interest in seeing people who can afford to do the same thing every day, have some sort of routine. Can she consider herself one of them now? No, maybe not. Ninjas are always doing different missions and whatnot; their routines are as fucked up as a merc’s. Maybe she can become a baker in another life, who knows?

Around the corner, a hand blocking her way surprises her. At the end of it is a medium height man with his hair tucked into some sort of fabric, with bits of brown hair coming out of the sides. The man holds a toothpick between his lips, accompanied by a smug smile and an attitude that instantly annoys Y/N.

“’Sup babygirl, how come I’ve never seen you around?”

“I’ve been busy for the last 26 years”

“Busy living in my dreams, I bet”

“Busy fucking you mom, actually”

The sleazy type is the worst in Y/N’s opinion. Nothing disgusts her more than someone who thinks they’re hot shit just because they’re attractive. She pushes him away and keeps on walking.

“Ouch! Feisty, I like that. I’ll remember ya!” he states as he leaves the scene with a wink and a flick of his toothpick.

This has to be a joke, what a douchebag.

Going back on her way and observing the people, she closes into a mass of messy short black hair. The man has his back turned to her, but by the jonin vest and height, she assumes it could be… no, wait… it could not be! This man is helping an old lady carry a shitload of groceries, he would never be nice enough to do that.

Could it be him!?

From afar, she changes angle to try and catch a glimpse of his face. After much difficulty dodging busy locals, she is able to see clearly and… it’s Obito! Obito Uchiha helping a poor old lady carry her stuff, I wish I had a camera on me. She thinks of approaching him, but she decides against it in favor of watching from a distance to see where this goes.

Turns out the frail woman lives on the other side of town. Obito sure enough has carried all that stuff through the worst climbs Y/N has ever seen on a city. But that was not all: he was being extra nice. He laughed at all her jokes and even smiled back at her. This is grade A entertainment.

When they finally reach her destination, the old lady pulls out a lollypop and gives it to him. Y/N immediately loses her shit, almost falling from the ceiling she is in because of her fit of laughter. Before she can compose herself, she notices a presence behind her. She was discovered, but who cares? She has seen enough. Obito towers above her, trying to look intimidating, but failing to do so since he has a lollipop on his mouth.

“First you invade my house, now you’re following me. Are you sure I’m the one who should be called a creep?”

“Well, you’re right. Maybe I’ll start calling you… Granny Simp Uchiha©, how about that?”

“I hate you”

“Ow, I’m so hurt, oh my god, how could you? But seriously, I didn’t mean to intrude, but when I saw that… I needed to see more to believe it” She states as she breaks into another fit of laughter

“Let’s go, we’re late for training”

“Have you ever been on time a day of your life, though?”

“Never, I’ll probably be late for my own funeral”

“Fair enough. Wait, did you just make a joke that’s not on my expense?”

“Oh no, your dumbassery is influencing me!” He raises his gloved hands ironically

“Shut up”

~”~

They both reach the training grounds at around 7:30, late but not a whole lot, thanks to Obito’s kamui. Obito will have to make some slight modifications on the mission report to avoid Minato’s wrath. After a quick warmup, Obito goes straight to the point:

“How much do you even know about jutsu?”

“Well… I can do that chakra punch, maybe walk on water and trees or release genjutsu, but that’s all.”

“Not even a clone or some substitution jutsu?”

“Nope”

“So you’re basically an academy student with enough brute force to take down S rank criminals… That’s… odd”

Y/N scratches the back of her head, clearly embarrassed by her lack of training. Obito did not expect to have to teach such basic things. I mean, if he wanted to teach people stuff he would have signed up for a job at the academy. He still cannot believe Minato sensei is putting him up to this babysitting job.

He needs to do well on this mission if he wants to get back onto the Hokage’s good side and guarantee his position as the next one. This is his second day with Y/N and things have been insane and… fun? No, he should not be thinking like that. Perhaps he should also go talk with Kushina and ask her to convince sensei to let him go from this one; he was always her favorite after all.

“Granny simp? You ok? Did I disappoint you that much?”

Obito fixes his bandana’s position over his left eye, trying to get himself out of his head. He is here now, so he had better get to work. If he can control himself enough not to put her under a nasty genjutsu for calling him that again, that is.

“Call me that again and I’ll tell everyone that you saw me naked”

“You were not naked, dickhead. And what’s wrong with that?”

“Uhm…?”

“…?”

“Anyway… we’ll start with some cloning jutsu. Have you ever done any seals?”

“Only one or two”

“Try to copy what I’m doing”

“Hey! Stop doing it so fast!”

She honestly seems to be giving her best, but her hand signs are not quite right and the chakra distribution on her network must be all wrong, judging by her failure in producing something that seems to be remotely human. This takes Obito’s memory back to his old academy days, back when he could not do a single clone properly. He would spend whole nights awake training to achieve something passable. Rin helped him a lot back then. The only thing he has ever taught someone was that sexy jutsu to Naruto. To say Kushina was mad was an understatement.

“Concentrate your chakra all along your body, not only on your hands”

“Hum… right, can I get a lollipop after this?”

Four hours later and Y/N has finally mastered two basic jutsu: substitution and cloning. She almost passed out several times due to exhaustion, but thanks to some food pills, she is enduring todays training much better.

Obito has been analyzing her every movement with his sharingan. Looking closely her techniques lack grace, truly a sign of someone who learned everything they know by experience. He needs to fix that too.

Her endurance is also remarkably low. If she were to fight right now, she could do maybe two or three jutsu before passing out, making her rely solely onto her speed and blade habilities. The girl is more of a samurai than a ninja at this point. Examining her file earlier, he noticed that her chakra reserves are not that low as she has stated before, according to the medical department she has an average quantity of it. She just lacks the ability to use it properly.

Some very hard work is in order; it could take some months to get her into decent shape. That would be too much time and effort for Obito, there has to be another way of dealing with this mission quicker.

He did not want to do this, but he will have to talk to Kakashi for some teaching tips. Hell, if he was able to teach anything useful to Naruto he will be able to come up with a routine to help Y/N’s training.

I just hope he doesn’t decide to bother me about this situation…

After dropping Y/N on her house, with much protest from her part, Obito heads to the village’s café to meet with Kakashi Hatake. He knows that the ninja likes to spend his late afternoons reading his porn books accompanied by some coffee, disgusting stuff if you ask Obito. The coffee, that is. He has no formed opinion on porn books.

Approaching the store, he spots his friend’s mass of upward pointing grey hair. Something is different about him, though. Kakashi is usually… a very apathetic person. The look he gave Obito had chills running the Uchiha’s spine, he looked, well, excited.

“Obito! I finally found you! Sit down”

Aliens killed him and this is a body double. Or this is one of Gai’s practical jokes. Obito is honestly stumped.

“Are you ok bakashi?”

“Great! So… who’s the girl?”

Great, just awesome.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”

“Of course you know, everyone is talking about how you were seen walking up and down with some mysterious gal. I’m so happy for you! Finally you’re going to stop being a sad grumpy bachelor! I’ll call dibs on the position of best-man” and suddenly Kakashi jumps up from his seat, coming closer to Obito’s face “Have you guys done it yet? Did she run away from you and now you need my advice? You could use some techniques from Icha I-”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Those books are rotting your brain, seriously what the hell?”

“So is it true?”

#Obito #Jonin Obito #obito x reader #obito x you #obito uchiha #uchiha obito #uchiha #naruto fanfiction

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razorblade180 · 3 years

Text

Twin snowflakes part 24: Date Night.

Part 23 here! <-

Still exhausted, Veronica flopped back onto her bed with the help of Nick. The girl let the mattress steal all tension from her body, letting out a sigh of satisfaction. “Aaahhhh! That’s the stuff. Appreciate the help.”

“Don’t mention it. Especially after what you just did. Frankly I had no plan to get Summer to cooperate.”

Veronica chuckled the best she could. “Hehe, not often Nicholas Schnee doesn’t have a plan. I guess you owe me then? Lucky for you I take words of affirmation as payment all the time.”

Nick smiled. It was nice to see Veronica joking. Encountering Shiva always put a dread over him, but she seemed to not care much. That’s Veronica alright, refusing to take crap from anybody. “I could praise you, or how about I praise you over a nice dinner?” Nick quickly responded.

All the neurons in Veronica’s brain suddenly came to a screeching halt. Her body immediately came flinging forward to sit upright to stare at the smiling boy. “What…?” She asked, still processing the question.

“Let me take you dinner.” He said again, “I have a reservation at this place in Atlas tonight. I was gonna cancel but we could just have a night out together. You still haven’t tried much food from here right? Plus I know you still have to be hungry. This works out.”

Veronica couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Did Nick just ask her out on a dinner date? That didn’t sound right, even if it was a thank you gift. As quickly as her eyes lit up, they began to squint at him with skepticism. “What happened with Valerie?”

Now his eyes got big. He wasn’t expecting that response. “Uhhhh what?” His voice gave away his nervousness and Veronica could clearly tell.

“Don’t play dumb with me Nick. I’m not gonna call you a liar or anything, but I know you, and you know me; as well as my feelings.” She said that last part sheepishly. “You aren’t the kind of person to play with my emotions or offer a dinner date when you’re crushing on Val, so what’s up? Be straight with me”

It was becoming clear to Nick that he apparently could be read like a book. This is the third person within twenty four hours to look at him and automatically knew to ask about Valerie. This was ridiculous! His life had many things that made him bummed out. How are people guessing right on the first try!?”

“Uhhhhh” he scratched the back of his head and sighed. No point tip toeing around it. Not like it was a secret or anything, yet his stomach felt queasy all the same. “I ran into her yesterday. She was pretty upset that I didn’t tell her I got sick. I apologized and tried to smooth our recent bickering over with dinner. It was going okay, but then…Val immediately started to brush me off. I got upset, she started deflecting, people started staring, then she really started saying some things that really got me upset; kinda made a little scene out of it before walking off. Nor really princely, huh?” He tried smiling at the self jab, but failed. “Anyways, next time we meet per her request more a less will be at the tournament. We currently aren’t on speaking terms. Something she should be fine with since distance was what she wanted in the first place.”

Veronica could hear a little venom in those words. Val really did have Nick upset. He’s never this openly bitter. Though maybe it was being behind closed doors that allowed him to drop the facade of being consistently pleasant. Frankly, that made Veronica a little happy for him, in an odd way. However… “I see. So I assume that this dinner reservation was for you and her?” An answer wasn’t needed. Nick’s moment of sulking was replaced with a guilt ridden look on his face the moment she asked. “You know, kinda shitty you’re asking me to a dinner meant for another girl that turned you down. Not a fan of being someone’s second choice.”

Nick closed his eyes and let in a sharp breath like he had just been hit. “Oooo yeah, yeah that was pretty messed up for me.”

“Mhmm, big time. No girl wants to hear that you know?”

“I didn’t mean- I wasn’t trying to...sorry. That was tasteless and selfish of me.” He looked down, shamefully and with genuine guilt. It was only when Veronica’s hand lifted his head by his chin did he see the girl stare at him with an observing gaze and lips pouting to the side. She then crossed her arms and looked away from him, ears tucked and a tinge of red visible on her.

“You’re lucky you’re a good person and I am hungry. I…guess you could apologize with a good dinner?” Veronica knew he wasn’t trying to be insensitive. Still, she was more than a little ticked off at herself for letting him off easy. Darn his good qualities! Being mad towards him for long was never gonna happen. Not to mention having a calm outing together is a golden opportunity. No way she wasn’t gonna capitalize off of Valerie’s mistakes. Her eyes shifted towards Nick to see a relieved smile that only made staying upset harder.

“This place better be good! Also I’m gonna order every expensive thing possible!” Veronica declared, attempting to save face.

“Hehe, thank you, and go right ahead and order anything you want. It’s not until around nine so please, get some rest.”

“I should be saying that to you. Isn’t going out at night in the cold while moody only gonna give you more sniffles?”

“Pfft, I’m sick anymore. Just focus on healing and rest. Not that I have to tell you this, but you gotta dress nice for where we’re eating.”

Veronica smirked, pointing at a closet of designed outfits. “Careful. I may not be worth billions but I’ll make you look like a pocket change if you don’t wear you best.”

The boy let out a cocky chuckle before walking to the door. “For your information, I’m two billion.” He said puffing out his chest playfully, leaving on that note. He could hear her gentle laughter behind the door. At least he could lift one girl’s spirit. As for the other, Nick looked at his sister’s locked door. He couldn’t help himself. He wasn’t going to knock, but he had to at least walk to it. Come to think of it, Nick had a hard time remembering when this door remained open. Most days it kept either the warmth in, while shutting others out. Slowly he rested his hand against it. The wood, cool to the touch.

“Tell me what you need.” He thought, “I’m not a mind reader…” Nick could only sigh. He removed his hand and stepped back. As he began to walk, the door moved. As if something was pressed against it from the other side.

“I know you’re there.” Summer said from the other side. Nick quickly walked back to it. Somehow he could imagine how she was on the other side. One leg extended while the other was bent as she pressed her back to the door. Nick took a seat himself, mimicking the pose he envisioned.

“You okay?”

“Far from it, but that’s par for course…” Summer looked over her shoulder as if she was actually resting against her brother’s back. “Honestly I feel so fucked up some days that therapy feels like a joke. I think I need a break.”

“What kind of break?”

“The usual…” Summer let her words draw out lazily. The back of her head rhythmically tapped the door. “Care to join me?”

Nick tugged at the carpet fibers, mulling it over. “Mmmm sorry, I’m not in the mood for that kind of relief. Besides, I already have plans. I’ll cover for you though. I think venting could do some real good for ya. Just don’t stay out too long. Leave around… half past nine.”

“Will do, thanks Nick.” Even though a door separated them, Summer could feel the care from the other side. Veronica’s words back in the forest about Nick and how Summer treats their relationship struck an all too sensitive cord. “I promise not to worry you. Have fun with whatever you’re doing tonight. I’ll keep you updated and everything.”

“Don’t stress about it. I believe in you. Anyways, I gotta get going. I think I’ll do a bit of distressing in my own way.” Nick stands up. “Better go while there’s daylight.”

“Gonna pay respects?”

“Yep. Enjoy your outing. I’ll see ya tomorrow if I don’t see ya tonight before I leave. Love ya.” He walked away after that, not expecting a response. Didn’t need one. After all, Summer coming to the door said enough.

All in all, things felt okay. Life felt okay. By no means was it perfect, but Nick was thankful he had blessings to count. He’d feel better after the tournament. What should’ve been an exciting time was getting more troublesome. Training, performing, fighting Darren in the duos, and now a not so friendly rematch with Valerie. At least Eliza still had a sportsmanship attitude. He still needed to ask her favor as well. By the end of this she would certainly be sick of him. Nick was surprised she didn't block his number yet. That would royally suck.

His slow walk took down the stairs and back to the front of the manor. He heard dishes clanking from the door to the far left while he grabbed his dark blue winter coat off the rack. “That you dad?” The kitchen door swung open to show Jaune drying a cup and Yang waving in the background as she held a slice in her mouth while talking to Blake. How they managed to swipe pizza out of Veronica’s room was beyond Nick.

“What’s up?” Jaune said, noticing his son put his jacket on. “Heading out? Your mom and aunts should be back soon. Pretty sure they’d want-”

“Veronica and I are going on a dinner date later.” Nick interjected. As planned, his father was derailed. Stammering footsteps came plopping out of the kitchen in the form of a very wide eyed blonde, and a shocked ninja. Blake’s ears even did the little twitch Nick as seen Veronica do whenever she’s caught off guard. “Yeah I thought you all should now. I’d say don’t bug her about it and let her rest, but considering Yang’s feet are already pointed towards the stairs…”

Yang looked down. “Huh...how about that?” She said, walking up the stairs with Blake trying to stop her.”

“Let her rest Yang!”

“But I wanna say stuff~” she whined, “I guarantee you she’s listening to us right now.”

Yang was right on the money. Veronica was currently judging how much strength it would take to lock the door. Her odds were bad. “Okay I don’t care how cute he is. This was cruel!” Veronica thought loudly to herself.

Jaune watched Blake slowly get dragged up the stairs by trying to stop Yang. Without looking, he leaned forward and reached out to grab Nick’s shoulder, who was trying to slowly back up to the door. He faced forward and smiled. “Good attempt, but you’d need a better distraction than that.”

“Eh it was worth a shot…” Nick sighed. He was pulled forward and fell into a surprise hug. He stood silently for a minute before wrapping his arms around his dad. “You needed a hug?”

“Not really, but you looked like you did.” Jaune said, squeezing tired. “You know you’re growing up into a fine young man. Better than me by a long shot at your age. I hope you know your entire family is proud of you.”

“I know dad…” Nick said, his voice getting stuck in his throat a little.

“I know I can’t relate to some of the pressures you feel. Honestly being a part of a household with this much attention and expectation still gets me anxious from time to time. So don’t hesitate to vent to me. You’re a young adult yeah, but I’m still my son and sixteen. Weiss and I would much rather see you yell at an annoying cameraman or get scrappy with a bully than see you try to hold it in for the sake of family image. Remember that.”

How did he do it? It was unfair, downright cheating almost in Nick’s eyes. How could so many people easily call him out? “What’s the point of enduring if everyone I wanna reassure sees right through the act? So much for a brave face.” He muttered. Jaune finally let go of him. The compassionate father poked Nick right where his heart was.

“Enduring an ordeal for the sake of others is pretty brave in my book, but who said you couldn’t endure hardships and still be open to those who matter? Have you meant your friends and family? Besides your sister I don’t think there’s a soul close to you who isn’t an expert of seeing past masks. Val and Vee live with bleeding hearts and the rest have had to put up with me!” He chuckled, “Just like I’m sure you know when someone is upset.”

Nick had his doubts. “Mmmmm, starting to think I might not know them as well as I think. Val is...ugh, I don’t know she is. Learned about Vee’s traits recently for the first time, and Summer-”

“Okay, I see your point. But! Learning new things about them and knowing there’s things you don’t know, doesn’t erase what you did. Y’all are teens. There’s a bunch of things to sort through. At the end of the day though, you know them where it counts. Does that make sense?”

“....Yeah, I think I do.” Nick nodded, thanks dad. Seriously. It’s kinda scary how good at talking you are.”

“Comes with practice, specifically learning to listen and just watch closely. You may not realize it but you do this plenty. It’s a big reason people gravitate towards you. Well… people who are just money hungry anyways, but that’s more of a rich person policy than a Nick-ism. I digress! You better get going before your mother comes back and give you her own talk.” Jaune said. He opened up the door for Nick to leave. “From the way you’ve been acting I assume you’re heading to pay your respects?”

Nick nodded, “I’ll try not to be terribly long. Don’t tell mom unless she asks. You know how she gets?” Nick walked through the door, fist bumping his dad on the way out.

Jaune closed the door and went back to the kitchen. Somewhere above him he could hear giggles and a few squealing. “Hopefully nothing catches on fire up there.”

“You are starting a fire!” Blake yelled, trying to contain Yang’s excitement so the blonde’s hair would stop flaring up. “Use your words.” Blake laughed.

“Please…” Veronica groaned. This level of energy was higher than usual. “You’re more excited than me. It’s just a dinner date. Barely even that. More like a thank you gift I suppose.” That being said the blush coming to her face clearly sung a different tune. “Can we please talk about anything else? I mean mom, you’re here!”

Blake crossed her arms. “So I heard you got into a fight? Let’s talk about that.”

“Ummm, so this date, any suggestions on what to wear?” Veronica poorly deflected. Blake didn’t even respond and Yang was smart enough not to. There was no choice but to talk about it unfortunately. “Sigh….I know okay? Ma told me I should’ve eaten and I didn’t listen. I should’ve, or learn to walk away from-”

“I’ll stop you right there. Don’t think for a second I wasn’t okay with a person getting hit when they were clearing harassing you.” Blake took a seat on the bed. “Expecting you to balance instinct, emotions, and logic here in Atlas was never in the cards, because frankly we don’t know what that balance is. Not to say I assumed you’d fight here. All I wanted was for you to try and...take a break from the norm.”

“If that’s the case then school should’ve been removed right off the back. It doesn’t matter the location, people act the same. Different faces, same insufferability. Only difference is these bozos are rich and human.”

“You make it sound like you aren’t crushing on a rich human whose parents are allowing you to stay in their manor.” Yang deadpanned. “Not making you go to school would only leave you bored and gods know what you’ll do with too much time on your hands. Then again you managed to stir things up already by stealing a spot on the cheer team.”

Blake did a double take. That wasn’t mentioned earlier. “Cheer team? How did that happen?”

“A girl got cocky with me so I out performed her. Honestly I was more than a little surprised by it all. Holding pom-poms, doing flips on mats, and even the couch blowing the whistle, kinda forgot what those things were like until I was in the moment.”

“See? That’s a change from norm.”

“Pretty sure that counts as a return to form.” Veronica countered. “It’s whatever though. Just a temporary thing. Although I’ll admit that Eliza chick, Marigold’s kid, she’s pretty decent.”

Blake wasn’t expecting that easier. “Oh? Well that’s nice. Sounds like that could be not so temporary?”

“Eh, whatever happens, happens.” It was a nice thought. Veronica couldn’t deny that. “Any other thing you wanted to discuss with me? I’d like to lay down for a bit longer.”

“How’s it feel to discuss all this genetic stuff with Nick and Summer? Call it what you want, but telling them was no different from a therapy session if it made you feel better.” Blake stated.

Veronica frowned. “Not how I see it. I’m pretty indifferent for the most part I’d say. Haven’t thought deeply about it. Veronica plopped her head on the pillows and turned away.

Blake and Yang took their scrappy daughter’s hint to leave. Blake got off the bed and was more than fine revisiting the discussion later. Yang briefly bent over Veronica’s covered face and kissed her head.

“Muah! By the way, I’m pretty sure Nick would love to see you in his colors. No heels though. He’s a little touchy about his height.” Yang left after that, closing the door gently. Veronica could only lay there pondering the advice.

“Hmmmm that could work.”

xxxx

While the youth finally got some rest, Adults were hard at work trying to piece together all that’s happened. Ruby and Weiss scoped out the undisturbed frozen lake along with Winter, Nora, and Penny most importantly. Though there wasn’t much to go on. Just crushed rocks, claw marks from ferocious grimm, and a mix of blue and red blood that made Weiss particularly uncomfortable. Ruby sensed that uneasiness and quickly began rubbing her partner’s back.

“Your daughter’s fine.” Ruby reassured. “If what she said is accurate then she never actually lost control.”

“Yeah but the blue dyed snow before us means she just barely held on. That’s too close for comfort.” Weiss held her hands together gently. “It feels like things are getting worse.”

“Because you’re in the thick of it.” Nora spoke, projecting her voice to get their attention. The strong and prideful woman made her way over to them. “Every day you’re worried for her and wake up knowing your daughter is a few rooms away upset. A parent is only as happy as their saddest child, and seeing Summer so distant makes it difficult to see the good stuff. This situation is trying, yes, but Summer still fought back. Your daughter fought Shiva off and killed grimm to protect someone. Determination like that is a sign Summer isn’t done fighting by a long shot, so that means you shouldn’t mope. I mean she gets all that strength to defy assholes from you.”

Ruby gave a big smile. She couldn’t have said it better herself. “Yeah! Nora’s right. We’ll turn this around.”

“....Geez, you two ever stop being helpful?” Weiss said, smiling gently. She was happy to have them here. “Thank you, especially you Nora.”

“Considerate my way of apologizing if Valerie really upset Nick. I told her she needed to call him, especially after him having the decency to call me so I could keep her in the loop about this. Apparently she wasn’t very pleased that he was ill and didn’t mention it. She’s….a lot sometimes.”

“Hey, so were we. I’m sure she means well and I’m not oblivious to the fact Nick can be...a lot as well. I’m partly to blame. I enable some of his actions towards her from time to time. I think I’m projecting a bit. Maybe I should tell him to move on?” Weiss sighed. Perhaps she played matchmaker too much and misread things.

Nora could only chuckle. “Hehe, I wouldn’t. Believe me when I tell you Valerie doesn’t hate having Nick look her way. A little forwardness is the only way she’ll acknowledge problems she doesn’t want to deal with. I can’t say for certainty what those problems are but I don’t pin any of it Nick. Val has a way of wanting her cake and eating it too. She’s gotta learn hard ways that’s not how life goes. I just hope Nick finds it in himself to not hate her because of this.”

“Pfft, I don’t think hate truly exists in his vocabulary.” Weiss laughed. She could count on her hand how many times Nick truly despised a person. “He’ll be petty about it I’m sure, but that’ll go away. Space between them might be good. At the end of the day I at least want them to still be close. Val has a way of motivating him that I like. He actually has fun.”

“Yeah, my Little Thunderhead excels at moving people, that’s for sure. Her semblance would be pretty mediocre otherwise if she wasn’t.”

The three continued talking lightly until Penny eventually walked up with Winter. “Okay, so I’ve finished running some tests of the area and the deposit of Diamond Dust. I have….unique results.” Penny said, a bit baffled.

Ruby wasn’t a fan of that statement. “Ummm that doesn’t sound great coming from a person who reads books written in binary. What did you find?”

“This dust is less volatile than the samples in my lab, even though it’s been untouched for longer. By all means it should be more refined.”

“Well isn’t it a good thing that it isn’t?” Weiss asked. “We barely handle what we have.”

“True, but it’s strange. There’s a couple possibilities that may explain this. Summer may have used up some unintentionally, or maybe Shiva herself was syphoning it.”

Winter folded her arms, “Not a fan of that second option. Based on the story though, what if it wasn’t touched at all?”

“Panic attack.” Penny said immediately. “She hasn’t been here since the accident, right? It’s entirely plausible that Summer’s mind and body remembered the trauma. Repressed memories or outright fear and anxiety could be the basis for this entire event. I tried contacting Oscar if he’s noticed anything different in Summer’s behavior, but I can’t get in contact with him. The seas have been rather violent lately due to weather changes.”

“So what you're basically saying is we're as lost as usual?” Weiss said, falling backwards into the snow. “Juuuuuust great. I’m going to assume the pain attack option then. That’s something I can work on with her. If Shiva is by any chance stronger now then the only thing we can do is what we always do. Brace ourselves.”

Ruby looked down at Weiss. “And option one actually means we have less dust to deal with. That’s a plus!” She knew it was a small amount of positivity but every bit helped. Weiss smiled at her and sat up.

“Here’s hoping for option one as well I suppose. We should probably head back. This place creeps me out a bit.”

Ruby helped Weiss up and everyone began leaving. Penny kept staring at the data she collected and trying to call Oscar. Unfortunately the man wasn’t answering. Her displeased sigh was heard by Winter, who rubbed the girl’s back.

“Not to be insensitive, but your son and Qrow wouldn’t do anything too crazy out a sea would they?”

Winter laughed nervously. “Hehehe….I’m sorry.”

“That doesn’t inspire confidence!” Penny yelped. Now she was only going to think about them being stranded by the gods or in a storm. Hopefully she would hear from him soon. “I guess a deeper study will have to wait. Ruby, can I stay at your place with Whitley for a bit? I don’t wanna go home yet. Too lonely.

“Sure thing! Door is always open. Though I bet you’ll have a livelier time at the manor these days.”

Penny tried her best to act like that would be a good idea. “Tempting, but a certain blonde teenage girl wouldn’t like that much, considering her parents so desperately want my husband to be her therapist. Summer also sees me enough as is. Nick would be happy I was there.” She said in a happier tune.

“He’s not home if I know him well enough.” Weiss frowned. “Times like these, I’m sure he’ll visit the graveyards.”

Truly, her son was easy to read.

xxxx

Right now the boy in question walked through an alley of tombstones and snow, his and covered in pollen. Atlas’s central graveyard had become a place for Nick over the years. The wide space and solitude became a welcoming barrier that blocked out most strangers from approaching him. Even the paparazzi had enough tact to not disturb a person here. His feet carried him down multiple lanes towards an old tree barren of any leaves looming over a grave with no actual tombstone. Standing before it was Eliza, wearing a dark blue winter coat and deep in thought. He wasn’t expecting to see her today.

Nick kept approaching until he stood beside her silently. A cool breeze went by them as the air itself felt still. Eliza eventually shifted her gaze to him, completely aware he was there. She looked down at his dusty yellow hands before speaking. “Talking to your grandma again?”

“Yeah. She says I should eat more sandwiches. Afraid I’m a little too then.”

“Heh, always witty. Visited your gramps yet?”

Nick shook his head, “No that’s halfway across Atlas from here and further from my home. It’s the next stop. What about you? Didn’t expect you to be here today.”

“Haven’t been in awhile.” Eliza waved her hand to cause a brief gust that blew away the snow from the grave and several others. “It needed cleaning and I was in the area. So what brings you here specifically? You only visit here on anniversaries, holidays, and when you’re moody. Last time I checked this is a random day, soooo”

“Eh don’t worry about it. Everything is alright now. Just decompressing.”

“Fair enough.” Eliza put her hands in her pocket and went back to thinking, until she realized Nick was looking at her again. “Uhh can I help you?” She said a little confrontational.

Nick got a little defensive and spoke quickly. “No, just surprised you’re not pressing me to open up.”

“Why? Your business is your business unless you make it my business. Something you’ll do if your attitude negatively affects the preparation for the tournament.”

“Ouch...well if that’s the case then the favor I’m about to ask you shouldn’t refuse.”

That peaked her interest. Eliza actually turned around fully. “You’ve been asking a lot of favors of me lately.”

“I’ve asked like two favors, and you’re the one telling me to directly involve you if-”

Eliza covered his mouth, irritated by him being right. “I know what I said! Sigh… what’s up?”

Nick looked down at the hand on his mouth, getting Eliza to remove it. “You’re lucky I didn’t lick it.”

“You’re lucky I don’t beat you up on hollow ground.”

Nick smirked. “Oh, so you think you can finally take me?”

Eliza squinted at him as her face got a little red. Why the hell did he have to be like this sometimes!? “The next words you speak better be your favor, or I’m walking away.”

“Well I wouldn’t exactly call it a favor but if you’re training by the harbor tonight, I’d appreciate it if you swooped by the seventh dock. The one with the huge building they rarely put cargo in. Summer is going to be there blowing off some steam. I don’t think anything will go wrong but you know, if you got the time…?”

“Hmmm I guess that’s not unreasonable. Wait, how do you know I train by the harbor!?”

“Did you forget my cousin literally owns a ship? If I’m correct, one time he said his sail caught on fire when a random bolt of lightning came down one day.”

“......” Eliza put her hand back in her pocket and began walking. “You’re really annoying Nick.”

“I’ve done nothing! Also I’m not done talking! I actually do have a real favor I’ve been mulling over for about a day!” Eliza kept walking away from him. “Hey! Don’t just- Can you train me!?” He shouted, hoping to gain her interest again.

It worked wonderfully. Eliza stopped mid-step and pivoted around. “Excuse me?”

“Training, yeah uh there’s this thing Schnee’s do called the candle test. Helps with our glyphs. Long story short, I’m ass at it hehe. Summer has stuff going on and it’s not really clicking with my mom or aunt. Since your magic is sorta like what I have to do, I thought maybe-”

“We are in a contest against each other, Nicholas.” She said firmly. “You are my opponent! One of two people currently in my way from reaching the top. Why on Remnant would I help you?”

Nick’s eyes avoided contact with hers. He began to scratch the back of his head as if he’d been caught red handed in a lie. “Because… you value sportsmanship?” He looked at her to receive an unamused blank stare that was colder than the snow. “Uh, and also you helping me in any capacity will let you in on a proposition that you’d find very intriguing. But I’ll only tell you when we’re training.”

“Tsk, I would think a Schnee would know better how to do business negotiations. Why would I make a deal when I don’t know if I even care about it? You tell me now or not at all.”

“I can’t say it now! I gotta smooth out details.”

“Then I guess we’re done here.”

“Fine, then I guess you don’t want a shot at gold with a sure fire way of at least getting silver!” He boasted, catching Eliza off guard. Nick slicked his hair back and crossed his arms to intimate his uncle’s calm yet assertive demeanor. “Yeah that’s right. I’m saying I have an idea crazy enough to benefit you and I. Everyone wants gold of course. However, you got a little more riding on this, don’t you?”

Eliza remained silent. Nick began walking a little closer to refrain from speaking too loud. “Last year was your real debut to the public eye and it was pretty good one at that. Third place is nothing to snuff at in the singles bracket. However...trust me when I say I know third is the worst seat in the house. That’s where the pressure and stress is. One mistake and you're off the podium and that feels terrible when people finally start looking your way.”

Eliza began tapping her foot. He wasn’t wrong. Not by a long shot. Confident as she was, Eliza was aware of her only two options. Do better, or hit the same bar. Winning was the goal but no one was gonna give her shit for losing to the top two contests. Nick and Valerie have been dominating for about three years now, and here he was saying he can get her to second. “Get to the point.”

Nick unfolded his arms. Time to be gentle again. “I cannot get into specifics at this time, but if you wanna show up at the manor anytime this week to help me, we can talk. I can get you second at minimum in King of the Hill.

His eyes burned with eagerness. Eliza had so many questions but obviously he wouldn’t answer them. This plan clearly had to be in his favor to get first, which neither of them had earned before. However, Valerie was first. How did she fit into this? What was going through his head!? Eliza had to know what regardless if she’d actually be okay with it. Her eyes narrowed at him. “Tsk, I take back what I said. Guess you are a Schnee. I will see when I can come over and help. Now, any other obnoxious request before I get driven away from this conversation?”

“Well……” Nick could feel just how dangerous this situation was. “It’s quite a walk to the other cemetery from here….hehe.” Laughing was hard when someone’s nostrils were flaring at you in frustration. Getting closer might’ve been a terrible decision.

Eliza closed her eyes briefly, then turned around to walk away. She went a few steps before briefly stopping. “Knock the snow off your shoes before you step in.”

Nick lit up like a Christmas tree. “You’re the best!!!”

“Why did he get more votes than me!?” Eliza internally screamed.

xxxxx

The day seemed to drag on. It had taken some time for Weiss to return home with the company of her sister and Ruby. Nora had departed earlier to check in on her family. Penny had opted to head towards Ruby’s home before her. They would’ve gone together but Ruby did want to see her niece and Blake. Penny had yet to properly see her friends. Though she wanted to, she thought it best to hold off for now.

The trio walked into the house and were assaulted by the strong scent of what had to be Jaune’s amazing cooking. They could practically see the aroma of spices dance in the air. One spice in particular hit Ruby. It was subtle but sharp at the same time. The kind of spice that sent a zing through your nose and hit your tastebuds. A mouth watering smile spread on her face and her stomach growled.

“Mmmmmm” Ruby hummed, “Somebody brought spices with them from Menagerie.” She sang. Ruby and Weiss wasted no time heading to the kitchen. Inside was an apron-wearing knight stirring a pot of stew, and their favorite faunus in the whole wide world in an apron cutting vegetables.

Blake didn’t even need to turn around to know what giggling pair just entered the kitchen. She put the knife down all the same and turned around with her arms wide open. “Well-” she couldn’t even say her boastful introduction before her two cheecky smile teammates dove in for a hug. All three of them just became a choir of happy laughter as they embraced one another.

Weiss finally let her friend go to get a good look at her. “Look at you! Traveled all this way and you’re helping make dinner!? I don’t deserve you!”

“Well I saw Jaune breakout a pot and I figured he’d enjoy some help without fear of something burning.” Blake jabbed. Ruby immediately tucked her lips to stop herself from snickering at the diss.

Weiss’s jaw dropped. She still smiled however, crossing her arms. “Oh ha ha, I’ll have you know my cooking is leagues better than what you remember since last time you had it. I can cook amazing meals all by myself!”

“As long as it doesn’t involve a fryer.” Jaune added, walking over to kiss his wife’s cheek really quick.

Weiss’s face got a little flushed. “Grease is bothersome.” She mumbled. Blake could only chuckle at the remark while walking to the pot and dumping the vegetables inside. The smell of the stew intensified and reminded Weiss she is still very much the weakest in her friend group when cooking was involved. “How are you going to outdo me in my own home? Why’d you bring spices in the first place!?”

“Don’t question it!” Ruby shouted. Her body went on autopilot to grab the plates and cups for the dinner.

“Ruby, aren’t gonna make dinner at home?” The room said, thinking about Whitley.

Ruby then proceeded to grab one of Jaune’s tupperware containers. Apparently they were now feeding Whitley as well. Ruby knew they wouldn’t mind, so she felt no remorse when filling it. Her boldness knew no bonds.

“Ruby, how do you know they aren’t making enough food for the people in this house?”

“Because this household would crumble anytime Jaune did a mission and didn’t make enough food for weeks.”

“I can cook!!!!” Weiss yelled.

Jaune playfully rolled his eyes and patted Weiss’s back. “Ruby isn’t completely wrong. Anyways she can take as much as she wants. Nick and Veronica have a dinner date tonight so they won’t be joining us for dinner. Then I don’t if Summer-”

“Nick and Veronica have a date!?” Weiss and Ruby shouted.

“Oh yeah… that happened while you left.” Jaune tried to reach for the ladle for the stew but Weiss swatted his hand before turning his head back to her. Fortunately Blake swooped in to continue stirring. “Yeah so they’re going on a date tonight. I don’t know details.”

Weiss turned to Blake who shrugged. “I didn’t press Veronica too much about it. Yang should be upstairs with her trying on dresses.

“Behold! A beautiful sunflower in the snow!” Yang cried out from outside the kitchen unexpectedly.

“Or I guess she’s downstairs now.” Blake turned off the burner on the stove and moved the pot before following her friends out to the main hall. Outside was Yang standing proudly with her hands on her hips and staring up the stairs proudly. Jaune and Weiss’s eyes went wide while Winter seemed….impressed? As much as she could be. Her feelings towards Veronica in general were mixed. The girl was definitely beautiful though. That was just a fact.

Blake looked up to see her daughter all dressed up at the top of the steps. She wore a white, thin strapped dress that had a light blue sash around her waist. The skirt portion went down to about knee level and the flats she wore were also white. The bottom of the skirt brought more color in by being an intense light blue that faded to white half way up; lace snowflakes were intricately etched on to that portion to break the color up. Gloves that went just passed her elbows followed a similar scheme but started white at the hands before transitioning to blue. To top it all off, a pretty little light blue ribbon formed a bow on top of her head. It was that accessory that made Blake notice that not only wet her ears gone from sight, but so was her tail.

Veronica’s face was stricken with a decent shade of red. Her feet shuffling in place a little as she rubbed her left arm. “So….ummm thoughts?” She said anxiously. “This is just one of several ideas so no need to hold back.”

“Several? What, did you make these in a couple hours?” Winter asked.

“No. I’ve been working on a Fire and Ice collection recently. This dress in particular was already put together for the most part. Although the snowflakes at the bottom was a last minute decision I made half an hour ago.” Veronica swayed to make the skirt flow side to side. “Normally I’d say adding flames or snowflakes is a bit heavy handed since the colors of the outfit already speak fire and ice, but I don’t know. Felt appropriate. Especially since the white lace is on the blue. I even have them on the upper rim of the gloves. Made sleeve versions too.” Veronica inspected the stitching to make sure it was okay. “Hmm not my best work, but I kinda like it.”

“I kinda love it!” Yang proudly said. “Oh it takes me back to the Beacon dance a little. Back then another Schnee was outdone by a Xiao Long wearing white.”

“Ha, no! Your dress didn’t even look done!” Weiss shot back, refusing to take such slander. “This dress is ten times better than what you wore.”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah sis, your dress was pretty plain. Didn’t even have a bow.”

“I couldn’t find one!” Yang defended.

Judging by the banter, Veronica was getting positive vibes from the dress. She looked at Winter since the woman was there. Surprisingly, a thumbs up was given. “Well that was more positive than I expected from her.” Veronica thought. The only person who remained silent was Blake. Veronica turned to see her mother assessing what her daughter had on. The silence she gave made Veronica a little concerned. “What’s up mom? Not a fan of how thin the straps are? It’s not a low cut anywhere.”

“No, all that is fine. I just have to ask, why-” before Blake finished, the front door opened once again with Nick coming through it this time. Everyone froze in place by his sudden entrance. Including him!

“Uhhh why is everyone just standing in the front of the house?” Nick questioned. It was only when he looked up the left staircase did he get his answer. “Oh, that’s why. You look...wow.” He said, rather clumsily. “I didn’t think you’d get ready three hours ahead of schedule. I still gotta wash up from the grav- I mean my walk. Yeah, walk, around town. With no real location stopped at.” He had no idea why he kept saying things. The deadpanned look on Winter and Weiss’s face clearly showed they knew where he was.

Weiss gave a reassuring smile and poked his forehead. “No need to lie, especially so poorly. If talking to them brought you some form of clarity then by all means have at it.”

“Yeah it’s not my business either.” Winter added, ruffling his hair.

Veronica wasn’t exactly sure what they were discussing, but it looked like things were going well. Nick even looked like he was in a better mood then when he left. His eyes went back to Veronica and made her fidget a little. The gaze he gave her was focused, deliberate even.She didn’t know how to feel about it until Nick began to look a tad displeased. “I-Is something wrong?” Veronica asked hesitantly.

“Not wrong, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cover your ears. Tail yeah, since it can get in the way a bit, but why the bow?” He asked, pointing at it from afar. Everyone looked towards her for an answer, especially Blake. Nick had beaten her to the question.

Veronica looked down at her feet for a moment before looking at her family, crush, others. She never really knew what to call Weiss or her siblings. “Well normally I wouldn’t cover them, but while you were gone I kept thinking about this date…and how I wanted it to be a simple night out.” Heat began to rush to her cheeks. “So you know, people will stare and judge less if I’m like this. Not that their opinions matter, but I’d like to keep things peaceful as much as possible tonight. That’s all.” She looked at Blake who was looking right back at her. The answer didn’t seem to upset or surprise the mother. Veronica played with her a bit. “Is...that okay?”

“Hmm? You’re asking permission? It caught me off guard seeing it. Whether it be for aesthetic or personal reasons, I won’t dictate how you wanna design your clothes as long as it’s appropriate. After all, ribbons and I have a history. Couldn’t judge you if I wanted.”

That was a relief to hear. Veronica had completely forgotten her mother wasn’t a stranger to trying to blend in. “Well if that’s settled-”

“Hold on.” Nick softly said, his calm footsteps walking up the stairs to meet her. Everyone fell speechless as they watched him. Veronica for some reason felt as if the mood had changed. The room was quieter, air completely still. The face of the boy in front of her began to look more earnest than it has ever been as it got closer, stifling her breath. Nick extended his hand out slowly till his fingers clasped a corner of the bow, then unraveled it.

The ribbon flowed slowly into his palm and then was brought down towards Veronica’s. “If a calm night means you have to hide, then is it really a calm worth having? Like you said, those people don’t matter. Besides, I like your ears.”

Burst, Veronica felt like her heart could’ve burst. The blush on her cheeks deepened greatly and her eyes went wide from the shocking words. She had barely remembered to breathe. If she paid attention to the audience below then she would’ve been embarrassed by the grins that went ear to ear but no. Veronica only noticed Nick and his gentle smile that matched his words. Her mind finally caught up with itself and Veronica grasped the ribbon ever so slowly.

“O-Okay…” she said without thinking. Anybody else may have gotten more of a debate on it. Not him though. Not after words like those. “I’ll...make a few adjustments then.” She said, flattered and flustered as she walked back to her room without any more words.

“Take your time. You still have about three hours like I said, plus I gotta wash up.” He reminded her, not realizing just how sweet his words were. He turned back around to see smug faces and contained laughter. “What?”

“Nick…” Winter said, smiling with her hands on her hips. “And you wonder why girls flock to you obsessively. You’re too much.”

“I’ll say.” Blake said, admiring the boy. “But you know what? There’s something perfect about that. Nicholas, thank you.”

He wasn’t entirely sure what he did but he got embarrassed all the same, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. At least things finally felt relaxed in this house. “Umm you’re welcome?”

With teasing done and the mood lightened, everyone went back to doing their respective things. Jaune and Blake went back to prepping food. Weiss went with Ruby to set tables and properly catch up, while Yang decided to keep Winter company since both her son and Qrow were off adventuring. The chatter filled the hallways and even reached upstairs to not only Veronica, but Summer, who finally managed to fall asleep peacefully. Even Nick found a bit of proper rest in the bath. The soothing warm water filled with epsom salt was more than enough to make him doze off. Time steadily went forward and the adults began winding down. However, the kids were just getting ready for the night.

xxxxx

Dusk finally came. Winter leaned up against the main door waiting until she saw Nick coming walking down the stairs looking dashing. His crisp white suit, ice blue tie and handkerchief were perfectly in place along with his slick back hair.

“Hey Whitley jr.”

He groaned, “Please don’t. This is why I do nothing with my hair. One minute I look like dad, then the next I’m uncle.”

“Grow it out more then.” Winter suggested.

He shook his head. “That’s a slippery slope. Too long and I’ll be compared to you, mom, and sis. I guess my face is just too great.”

“Pfft, you just know you can’t compete with all this.” Winter sassed, turning her head to sway her hair. Nick would have objected if she wasn’t right.

“Whatever hehe. Anyways, everybody still here?”

“No, Ruby eventually headed home, but everyone else is strung about. I’m heading out myself but I figured I could drop you and Veronica off for your date.”

Nick gave her aunt a huge smile. “Awww, auntie!”

“Oh hush, don’t make it a big deal. It’s convenient, that’s all.”

“Well I appreciate it nonetheless. Veronica will too.”

Winter mumbled,“She better show it by not getting you or sister into trouble.”

“I heard that.” Veronica called from up the staircase. Winter and Nick looked in that direction to see her walking down. Nick wasn’t prepared.

Veronica had switched the gloves out for detachable sleeves that still exposed her shoulders. They also followed the same white to blue pattern. What really changed was she used the ribbon to make a high ponytail and now dawning jewelry. A pearl white necklace rested around her neck and complemented the pearl earrings she wore. Slowly she approached Nick with her hands holding each other in front of her. Veronica’s face was still a healthy shade of red. This close, Nick couldn’t help but smell of peach nectar. An interesting and oddly refreshing choice for perfume.

“Well...ummm...you weren’t kidding when you said you would out dress me.” Nick said, captivated. “I’d say you’re one billion, easily.”

Veronica chuckled nervously. “Hehe,th...thanks. I wouldn’t go that far, but I appreciate it.” Looking at him was harder than usual. Men’s dress shoes had a bit of heel, so Nick actually was a bit taller then her now since she chose flats. It could only be by an inch or two but it made a hell of a difference to her. “I had a little help near the end. These are actually your sister’s pearls.”

“Really? Oh, that’s right! I think the only reason she got them was so this other rude girl couldn’t. I don’t remember the specifics.”

“Wow. You two are….extremely petty at times.” Veronica said. Yeah pettiness was nothing new to her, but she’d never bought something to spite someone else. That’s the lifestyle in Atlas she supposed. “Anyways, if you’re ready to go then I am too. I’d really like to avoid-”

Click! The sound of a camera cut her off. The two teens looked back to see their parents all taking photos. Trying to stop them would be impossible. The only thing they could do is quietly wait for the clicking to stop, which was thankfully over in seconds.

“Gee I didn’t realize I lived with paparazzi.” Nick quipped. Another flash came from up above the second floor. Summer and her bed head leaned against the railing. “Summer!? You too!?”

“I came down to eat and saw we were embarrassing you. How could I not?” She took one more photo and then made her way down to the kitchen. “Have fun. I’m gonna eat and go right back to bed.”

Nick knew she was lying of course. That was the real reason she came down now, to announce she’d be sleeping in her room so nobody would disturb her. Summer, never missing an opening, also collected everything she needed from upstairs without anyone noticing. It was scary how far she’d plan ahead sometimes.

Winter finally decided to open the front door and head out. “Let’s move people. Rich or not, it’s rude to be late for reservations.”

“So strict. Almost think that you’re about to go drill instructor on me.” Veronica jokes, walking out the door.

“Don’t think I won’t make you drop and give me twenty just because you’re in a dress.” Winter shot back, closing the door as Nick walked out.

“The sad thing is she isn’t kidding…” Weiss nervously said. “That’s gonna be a long car ride.”

Summer came out of the kitchen with a bowl of stew and an evil look in her eye. “Why are there less left overs than usual? Who had seconds?”

“Ruby took some for Whitley. As well as had seconds…”

Summer squinted as if Ruby was there to actually receive the grumpy look before putts spoonful in her mouth and walking back upstairs.

“Ma’am, the table. Not your room.” Weiss said, using her mom voice.

Summer did a heel turn to the dining room. “Who made this stew!?” She said annoyed. Jaune and Blake both raised their hands. “It’s fantastic!” Was all she said as she continued walking.

Blake and Yang looked at each other confused before looking at their friends.

“Hangry.” Was all Jaune said.

“Ah…” the couple said together.

The moment Summer was out of sight from everyone she put the bowl down and searched around the living room quickly until she found her guitar case. Quickly, she grabbed it and opened a window towards the side of the estate and tossed it on a set of glyphs that hopefully propelled it right into her open room window. She then ran back to the dining room to sit down and eat comfortably.

“Phew! That was the last thing. And now I wait.” She took another bite of the stew happily. Nothing tastes better than an escape plan coming together.

#rwby #rwby au #rwby twin snowflakes #jaune arc #ruby rose #weiss schnee #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #nora valkyrie #nicholas schnee #summer schnee #val valkyrie #winter schnee #penny polendina #veronica belladonna #rwby whiteknight

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achliegh · 3 years

Text

Sunflower

Epilogue Chapter 4

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

This is the epilogue to Olive and Otto

It will mostly be exploring the relationship the cubs have with O&O

There will also be a little storm chasing

TW/CW: Kids, Food, Storms, Smut, Sickness

@domesticatedbeetlenamedjorge

Characters belong to @lumosinlove

The two tallest of the bunch were getting ready while Olive was sitting on the couch next to her brother who was looking much better after sleeping for twenty hours. Olive was wearing the exact same thing as her dad, light jeans with white shirts, flannels under their company track jackets. Her hair was in two braids down her back that her dad did, she was also wearing Logan's snapback that was much too large for her but she was gonna miss him even if it was only for the night. Well, more like one evening.

Leo walks out of the master bedroom still wearing his thin wire framed glasses.

“Harzy, did you move my contracts again?”

“Nope, if I remember correctly you’re out until Monday.”

“What day even is today?”

“Thursday, mon solie” Logan shook his head, smiling a little as he watched them get ready, saying he was nervous about today felt right. Leo said the edge of the storm would be hitting Gryffindor but it shouldn’t be anything too crazy, plus he had Otto to keep him company. A sick child that loves storms, fuck he was screwed. He felt something rub against the back of his leg and smiled a little. When Olive ran off the other day she walked back out of those bushes holding a giant cat, it was the same size as her. She named it Ilya and since she named it they had to keep it. When they walked in the door with a giant mass of grey and white fur Leo just stared at them dumbfounded. ‘You let her pick up a stray cat! What if it's sick! What if it scratched her and gave her something!’ ‘Daddy her name is Ilya!’ He just blinked at them a couple of times and sighed before giving his boyfriends a pointed look. ‘You guys take care of all the things Ilya needs, including vet appointments.’ He shook his head, having the scowl melt off his face when Ilya trotted over to Otto and rubbed up against his hand purring, making a sleepy smile cross the young boy's face. “Hello Smelly” He smiles and picks up the fat cat walking towards the couch to sit next to the kids.

“Logan, are you gonna be okay?” Olive looks over to him from where her and Otto were playing fruit ninja on the table their mom got for them. “I don’t want you to be all scared”

“Of course I will be okay, I have Otto, non?” Otto leans into his side and sniffles a little nodding, God these two are so cute. He lets go of Ilya and settles herself on top of Otto's lap covering the whole thing. She purrs so loud they’re surprised she hasn’t knocked the apartment off its foundation. “So cute” He gives Otto a kiss on the top of his head and pet their ball of fur.

There was a buzz from the doorman downstairs letting them know someone was on their way up, Leo’s parents were there and Finn was getting jittery. He had never been inside of a storm like this but the visuals were supposedly amazing this time of year in Hufflepuff, sunflower fields were in full bloom and there shouldn’t be too much rain, but a tornado was almost guaranteed to drop. Finn was already feeling the adrenaline of seeing a tornado for the first time. Was it going to be beautiful or terrifying? What if it killed th-

“Finn!” He was engulfed into a tight hug as Eloise surprised him. The breath was forced out of him while Wyatt, who was holding Olive now, and Leo chatted away about how this evening would go. “Ready to get into a storm! I’m so happy you decided to come, but it’s okay if you want to stay here and keep Olive here. She will most likely stay in the motel room we use as homebase because it’s too easy to lose her out in the field. But she loves it anyway.” She ruffles his hair and he turns a little red.

“I’m nervous, not gonna lie, maybe I’ll stay with Olive in homebase then.” He smiles shyly and she laughs a little nodding. They walk over to join the other two who are discussing the large cat that has hidden Otto in its fluffy.

“Sure you don’t want to come, Tremz?” Wyatt smiles a calm one at him as Olive rests her head on her Pawpaw’s shoulder. “Maybe we could help break your fear of storms, we are family now.” Logan smiles at the feeling of being accepted into the Knut’s so easily.

“No thanks I’ll keep Otto and Ilya company.”

“Alright, we are gonna head out then.” Eloise leans down to kiss Otto’s head and Logan's cheek, then she remembers something. “I almost forgot.” She opens up her ridiculously large purse and pulls out three large books. “Photo Albums you asked for” Leo smiles and takes them giving his mom a kiss on each kiss and sets them on the coffee table. “Alright let’s go. By sweeties!” They all gave goodbye kisses and hugs as they walked out the door. Heading to Hufflepuff.

Otto yawns and looks up at Logan. “Tremz can we take a nap in your room?” He is barely able to keep his eyes open and his head is lightly nodding to one side. The smile it brings to Logan's face is one of being totally wrapped around this child's finger.

“Want me to carry you?” He sees the smallest little nod and stands up, scooping up the young boy and the cat, walking to the bedroom while feeling Otto’s forehead. He’s still a bit warm but not as bad as the last few days. Laying down the small boy he tucks him in and crawls under the cover on the other side. Ilya is between them on her back already snoring.

“Goodnight Logan, I love you” it was so quiet Logan almost missed it, that was the first time Otto had ever said that to either him or Finn, Olive had said it the first week of being there and all three older men got a little teary eyed in secret about it later. Logan's heart was vibrating in his chest and he felt himself smiling into the dark room.

“I love you too buddy”

Olive was bouncing in her carseat and like she does, talking a mile a minute.

“How long is the drive? Are we there? Will there be lightning? What about thunder? Daddy, can I have some water? Where's my snack? I don’t like frosted flakes!” She started throwing a fit over how she hasn't had Reese's puffs in weeks and Leo was trying to explain why they couldn’t have them in the house because of Otto's allergy. She started crying because ‘I don’t want him to die!’ and then Finn had to explain how he wasn’t gonna die right then and there. All the why the grandparents were giggling in the front seats.

After a two hour drive they pulled into the parking lot where many large dented up vans with camera equipment and radars are, there was a door to a motel room open on the ground floor that people were constantly going in and out of. Finn was getting nervous all over again, there were so many people and they would make so many assumptions.

“Don’t worry, they think Olive and Otto are my siblings and you’re my best friend.” Leo smiles at him as Olive just keeps on talking. “Olive, remember who I am around large groups of people.”

“Frère!” She smiles at him and kicks her legs a little. “Can we go now!” Leo unbuckles her and they get out of the truck. Everyone smiles and greets Leo like old friends. Finn is introduced to so many people he doesn’t have any chance of remembering. Walking into the motel room a large hairy man was sitting in front of four different computer screen his hair was up in a bun and his large beard was braided, his glasses were small and on the tip of his nose. “Hagrid!” Olive runs over to him and jumps in his lap startling him but then he smiles and hugs her.

“Hello little one, ‘owve you been.” He smiles and looks up. “Leo, haven’t seen you in a while mate, and I see you’ve brought a friend. NHL roommate I’m guessing.” Everything fell into place after that.

This was going to be okay, and maybe they won’t get ate by a tornado after all.

#leo knut #logan tremblay #finn o'hara #sweater weather #coast to coast #o’knutzy #o'knutzy #lumosinlove

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fanfalc-616 · 4 years

Text

The Rights Of A Nindroid

Chapter Fourteen

(Prevoius chapter here)

(Discord Here)

Okay it’s been a while but in my defense I have no defense enjoy.

Also special thanks to @ablackswansweet for helping me with Kyle

It’s been two months since Zane has been captured, and things have been progressively getting more and more difficult.

Not just for Zane, but Cryptor as well- the other seems to be having a lot of trouble too, and Zane can’t help but feel regret over resisting to the point that Cryptor’s cover was blown.

Today they are both taken out of the lockers together- a very worrisome thing.

Zane glances over at Cryptor, trying to silently see if the other has any idea of what’s going on.

But Cryptor just stares back helplessly; it’s clear that he’s just as confused as Zane.

They’re split up and taken to different rooms, yet this doesn’t ease his fears. They’re playing some game here, and Zane is once again unaware of the rules.

He’s surprised when he finds that he’s taken to a different room- it’s not the training room or the workshop, but it looks largely similar to the former.

When he’s chained down, he opens his mouth to speak- but he’s unable to do so as he’s suddenly cut off by horrible flares of pain racing through his body.

The agony that races through him is incomparable, it’s pure and raw in a way that no biological nerves could mimic, and it makes him scream, scream and yell, hoping, wishing, on the verge of begging for it to go away.

When it stops, Zane manages to weakly lift his head, a quiet curse escaping him as he recognizes Martha.

Sighing, he resigns himself to his fate. The sooner they start, the sooner it ends. These sessions last for a maximum of twelve hours, and that is the high number- most only last for five or six.

“Today we’re going to be doing something a little different.” Martha tells him, but Zane does his best to ignore her. If he doesn’t listen, he’s not as tempted to give in.

“You don’t have to refer to me as Master. You don’t have to beg.” She pauses a moment, allowing Zane to absorb the words. “All you have to do is ask for General to be hurt instead.”

Mind racing, Zane stares up at her, trying to fully understand her words.

Then he scoffs. “Then I suppose that I will be here a while,” he shoots back, “because I would never ask for another to be harmed in my place.”

Martha only shakes her head with a smile. “That’s what you say now. But I’m sure you’ll change your mind.”

“I will not.” Zane growls out, glaring with everything he has- an expression that would likely be more threatening if he actually had a face.

She turns away from him and begins to walk towards the door. When she reaches it, she turns back to look at him.

“I have it set to random,” Martha smiles sweetly, “see you in a few hours.”

And then she just… leaves.

Bewildered, it takes him a few moments to even think about calling after her, and by the time it does, the door is closed and she’s out of earshot.

Puzzled, Zane starts to try and figure out wh-

An agonized screech escapes him as pain wracks his body. Every panel, every sensor, every processor alight with the indescribable torment caused by the electricity.

It hurts, it hurts so much, there are no words to describe the kind of torture that his body is being afflicted with.

Tearless sobs tear through him as he shakes and trembles, desperately trying to get away from the pain, the sheer pain that takes up his whole mind, stopping him from thinking about anything but how much it hurts.

Then it stops, and he can breathe again. But the pause lasts only a moment before it returns, the agonizing feeling shaking more screams and sobs from him.

During a slightly longer pause that allows him to think, Zane finds himself blearily wondering if Cryptor is going through the same…

{ { { { { { { { { { ~ } } } } } } } } } }

Cryptor grits his teeth and stares down at the floor, ignoring the smirking blond in front of him.

He’s in pain, yeah, but there’s no way in hell that he’s giving this brat the satisfaction of seeing just how much.

“You’re really not as fun as Original, you know,” the brat complains, “but I guess I can work with you.”

Cryptor breathes out a little as he’s given a short reprieve. “I’m actually better than Zane, but go off I guess.” He gives his best passive-aggressive smile as he speaks.

Kyle seems to perk up at that. “So you know memes? Wouldn't have guessed. Maybe this won’t be as boring as I thought, after all.” The second part seems like it’s more to himself than to Cryptor, given the way it’s muttered.

The nindroid sighs. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything at all. This brat has a really skewed perception of fun…

One guess to what it is.

“Oh! I almost forgot to mention. There’s something special about today.” Kyle smiles darkly, and Cryptor would roll his eyes if he had his faceplate.

“I’m not going to like it, am I.” It’s not a question, but he says it out loud anyway.

Kyle doesn’t respond verbally at first, he first blasts him with another jolt of electricity- thankfully shorter this time, but no less agonizing.

When it ends, he speaks up.

“You see, it's special because today, and today only, you get a way out. Totally free of charge. Only thing you have to do is say you want to give the pain to Original, instead. See? That's nice of us, isn't it?”

Cryptor scoffs. “Yeah, super nice. I totally appreciate you trying to make us enemies. That’s such a great thing.” His voice is dripping with venom as he glares at the brat.

"Hmpf. Thought you'd be grateful after all that whining you gave us before." Kyle seems vaguely annoyed, but honestly Cryptor couldn’t care less.

The words themselves, however, are a different matter.

“It was a moment of weakness,” he snaps, “and it won’t happen again.”

Kyle seems kind of amused as he chuckles. “Are you sure about that? Really, really sure?”

Staring him dead in the eyes, Cryptor answers.

“As sure as your boyfriend is dead.”

It had taken him a while to get ahold of that particular piece of information, but the murderous look on the brat’s face makes it worth it.

From what he can tell, it was said boyfriend- Gavin, was his name?- that made him go batshit, likely due to his death caused by Zane’s explosion.

"You know, I'm not the worst thing that can happen to you. But for this? I'll gladly be." Kyle’s words are dark and threatening, but once again, Cryptor really doesn’t give a shit.

"If you ever so much as mention him again, I'll make sure you regret ever being assembled. As sure as your other nindroid friend is dead."

Okay.

Now he’s got his attention.

Cryptor opens his mouth to tell him off, but it’s interrupted by a choked out cry of pain as every single sensor in his body is assaulted in horrible agony.

A brief pause gives him just enough time to see the damn brat’s face, and he kinda wishes he hadn’t opened his eyes.

The psychopathic smile he wears lines up perfectly with the murder in his eyes, and Cryptor manages to get a coherent thought out in the ensuing pain.

He fucked up.

He fucked up bad.

Hours and hours go by, and each momentary break, he’s always asked if he’d like to have Zane suffer instead, but the look on Kyle’s face always expresses that he wants Cryptor to say no so that he can keep torturing him.

And for once, Cryptor will gladly oblige.

Well. Maybe not gladly. It does hurt a lot. But he knows that Zane would hang on due to his self-sacrificing nature, so he’s going to do the same.

Just because they’re friends now doesn’t mean that he’s not still better than him.

The pain returns, and any real thought goes out the window, his processors fully overtaken by the agony inflicted on them.

… maybe Cryptor should start thinking before he speaks.

{ { { { { { { { { { ~ } } } } } } } } } }

Sentry ignores the part of him that keeps screaming that he needs to find Cryptor. He knows where they’re keeping him now, thanks to the impulsiveness of the red ninja, but he can’t exactly break in- not without either getting captured or getting Dad in trouble.

Kai had gotten himself under house arrest for his attempt at breaking into a government facility that was almost a month and a half ago now- and he had also been sent several recordings of Zane being tortured.

But that doesn’t stop Sentry from wanting to break in and tear down walls until he gets his friend back- even knowing that it wouldn’t work.

Blinking, Sentry returns his focus to his job. He’s working right now, damn it-

It’s an interview for an internship at Borg Industries, and he really needs to concentrate to make sure that he gets the best possible person.

Sentry glances back down at the resume. “Can you tell me your biggest weaknesses?” He prompts.

"I'm pretty susceptible, I'd say. If someone knows how to push my buttons, it's almost guaranteed I'll snap. But I'm working on it!" The candidate answers.

Acknowledging that he has a weakness and not trying to transform a false flaw into a secret strength is a good sign of maturity.

Jotting that down as a note, Sentry nods. “I’m glad you can recognize things you need to work on.” The smile he gives is forced, not because he’s upset with the candidate, but more of how focused he still is on Cryptor.

No, he needs to focus. He’s working. He can’t get distracted like this.

“How do your friends or people you know would describe you?” Sentry asks, fighting to keep himself on topic.

"Well, my old boss said I was hardworking and a valuable asset to the company, but that's probably because she likes me so much- We're like family to each other."

Nodding, Sentry makes another note. “Anyone else’s opinions come to mind?”

"I've been called a brat before, does that count? He didn't like me very much. Still don't think he does."

With a low chuckle, Sentry nods. “Fair enough. No one is liked by everyone.” He takes another note, but he finds himself thinking that this guy might be the best choice. He’s asked quite a few questions already, so he has only one or two left.

Then he can go sulk in his quarters about how he wants Cryptor back.

“What do you like to do outside of work?” He once again struggles to stay focused.

"Disassemble small electronic devices to study how they work. Robotics fascinates me! I did lose a toaster or two that way, though…" The way the candidate looks at him when he says it makes Sentry feel somewhat uneasy, but he can’t quite figure out why.

“And that’s all of my questions. Do you have any for the company?”

"I do, actually. Do all of your androids use the same blueprints? I've seen quite a lot look similar to you. I wouldn't want to offend them by asking directly."

A small laugh escapes him as he’s temporarily drawn back from his concern. “None of us would be offended. But yes, we all share the same design- except for me. As the general of the nindroids, it’s important for me to have a few differences that allow me to lead better. Would you like to know anything else?”

"No, thank you. Think I know just enough for now."

With a nod, Sentry smiles. “Thank you for applying. The company will get back to you shortly.”

As the candidate starts to leave, Sentry suddenly realizes that he placed the resume in the wrong pile when he was distracted.

“One more moment, please. Could you repeat your name for me?”

The blond pauses as he turns back to look at him, a smile on his face.

"Kyle,” he answers, looking almost as though the question has reminded of an old joke.

“The name's Kyle."

#the rights of a nindroid #ninjago zangst #zangst #ninjago fanfiction #psychological torture #torture #trauma

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dangerouseggwolfangel · 4 years

Text

I got all the new spirits and... I know this is old news and all but... I can't thank Sakurai enough for what he has done with this game and with the spirits. I understand the people who miss the trophies, they were really cool.

But the sheer amount of characters you can actually put into the game by using existing art and all the lovely references that the developers put into the spirit battles are so much cooler than what the trophy and the stickers were. Okay, trophies have nice descriptions which makes them more useful for people that are unfamiliar with the characters. But for people that are familiar with the characters, nothing beats KNOWING why the Aerith spirit battle is at the Fountain of Dreams and Cloud is trying to protect her. Nothing beats knowing why the Cait Sith spirit battle has 3 Mr. Game & Watch spamming Judge. Even if you got the plot of FFVII spoiled you won't get the reference. You need to play the actual game.

The part that really warms my heart is that Sakurai didn't need to try so hard to make bonus battles that are so perfect for the characters. He didn't need to constantly update the game with more spirits and he certainly didn't need to give us so many. Most people would have been 100% satisfied with just the playable characters from 7. But no, he gave us Shiva, who was sadly missing from the game despite being the most popular summon (or is Bahamut more popular?). He gave us the Turks. They have many fans, sure but not enough to get in Kingdom Hearts or Dissidia apperently, so nobody would have been surprised if they were skipped.

Elena (or Irina if you are japanese) is one of my favorite characters ever, and my first videogame crush. And she is now in the best game of all time. This really feels like a Chistmas gift from Sakurai. I am so happy. I was so happy when Shantae was a spirit at launch. I was so happy when Igor from Persona was added as a spirit, when Leon S. Kennedy from RE4 was added (and his Spirit Battle references that game perfectly too), when Sans got a costume, when music from the Metal Slug games got in with Terry.

I understand that Smash hype and discourse will always be about playable characters, but sometimes we all really need to take a minute to appreciate all that Smash Ultimate is OUTSIDE its massive roster. I am mostly a fan of minor characters who have no realistic chance of getting in the game at all, which is why I mostly give support to characters who wouldn't make me cry tears of joy, or would become my mains, but have a good chance of bringing with them spirits (or background characters if Sakurai pulls another Terry) that would make me so happy.

Ryu Hayabusa, a pretty boring ninja if you ask me, but one of the most important recurring characters in Ninja Gaiden is my beloved Ayane who would get in as a spirit, so come on Ryu supporters WE GOTTA MAKE HIM HAPPEN!

Someone from Soul Calibur? Sure, anything to get a Voldo spirit.

Someone from Tekken? I love Xiaoyu, King, Yoshimitsu, Nina, Anna and Paul so fricking much, and at least a couple of them are guaranteed if we get Jin or something.

Crash Bandicoot? YES! A Cortex spirit would be the best.

Sora? Only worth it for the Roxas spirit.

Byleth? Not my first choice, but I don't get all the people who are mad because they wanted the house leaders. I'm too busy smiling because the house leaders got wondeful spirit battles (and also Seteth for some reason).

When smash speculation and wishlists are involed, you guys seem to care about who gets in as a playable character, the bonus stuff you don't care about (unless it's missing, like FF music until now. Then you suddenly care). I care about the bonus content and who gets in as playable matters just a little bit to me. Which makes me weird. But to me the spirits are what makes Smash Ultimate the best smash game and I'm willing to die on this hill.

Imagine being a Mallow fan. Barely anyone discusses or even remembers him. Everyone goes nuts about that stupid puppet who is literally just as important as your Mallow but he gets to appear in cameos and stuff, while Mallow is left in the dust. Then Ultimate comes out and Mallow is a spirit. It's not a Geno & Mallow spirit, Geno doesn't get to intrude in anyway. It's just a simple spirit battle who references your favorite game. A little detail. But you have never felt so seen and cared for as a Mallow fan.

The devil is in the details, and the masterpiece is in the details too. If Smash Ultimate had exactly the same roster, with the same gameplay, but no care and love for details in the background, in the victory screens and its approach to single player content was more on the level of Smash 4...

It would still be an 8.5/10 game at minimum, but it would also be so much worse at what its trying to do.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's been two years and Smash Ultimate is still such a beautiful game that keeps being given attention and players keep going back to it not just because it's a really pretty games with good gameplay mechanics. But because every inch of it has been crafted with love, care and attention to details.

You can have the best gameplay, and the nicest graphics but if you don't care to put all your passion into polishing your game as much as possible nobody will care (coughcoughMarvelVsCapcomInfinitecough)

#super smash bros #super smash bros ultimate #final fantasy vii #smash trophies #smash spirits #sephiroth smash bros #ff7 #ff7 turks #can you tell that I'm really enjoying the DLC?#the final fantasy stuff was the only thing that didn't feel polished in this game #now the game is perfect #Sakurai the madlad even fixed the Cloud spirit with actual FF7 artwork #and I guess this screenshot is how you'll find out I'm italian

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readerinsertfanfiction · 4 years

Note

Hey there! I really loved everything you've written for Tobirama so far, I think you capture him extremely well and your prose is just amazing to read (: Could I request something? Headcanon or something short, doesn't matter, whichever your prefer - about his s/o getting critically injured, nearly dying. How'd he react? More specifically, what's he like during the recovery procress, how will he take care of her? Let's say his s/o is really capable herself, so it was quite tough! TYSM!!

With the way you guys request Tobirama I don’t even have to feel guilty for not giving him a series like some have been asking. Lmao.

(on a more serious note, I got really busy and took on too many writing projects. rip.)

Also, uwu thanks so much for the compliments. I have a love and hate relationship with my prose, but at least you guys are there to keep me afloat.

-- Merged the asks together because they were rather similar in their nature.

Fandom: Naruto

Character: Tobirama Senju

“Chances of survival are slim.”

The doctor had warned him beforehand, sparing the man no amount of pity or kindness when bringing the news. Somewhere Tobirama had already known that there was a possibility that your badgered body would be the last image he had of you. The moment the news arrived of your return Tobirama knew that something had gone direly wrong. He blamed the ominous masks of the ANBU his brother had sent to inform him, they always made any situation seem so much more dire than they actually were. Leave it to Hashirama to blow something up, Tobirama had thought, before realising that there was a very real chance that he was to lose you.

“Even if the surgery is successful the recovery will be long and arduous with no guarantee of returning to the field.”

That in itself was a death sentence for you. Tobirama knew how you lived for your job, how you enjoyed the thrill and the adrenaline. It was why he never fought you in your pick of missions, it was why he had allowed you to continue your work despite the danger attached, despite his own fears. The man knew that clipping your wings was a crueler fate than death could possibly be, that it would suffocate you from the person you were. Faith and confidence was what had kept him sane, but now, knowing that you were at death’s end no matter the outcome the man felt his wit slip away.

“As long as [Name] survives,” he had heard himself say in a daze, at first not realising what the consequences of his words could be. He just couldn’t lose you, he didn’t want to, and selfishly he kept on clinging onto the thought of you, alive, but what else?

“I swear I will protect you,” were his first words to you. When you came to from a successful surgery, when you returned to his side in the living world. You could only stare at the man sadly, stare at the Tobirama that was usually so brilliant, but now so desperate and afraid as he clung onto you, making promises that you didn’t want him to make.

“I don’t need your protection, just your support.”

You had deliberated on them for so long. Weeks had passed since you had woken and Tobirama had been at your side for every moment. Helping you, and as he had promised, protecting you. The enemy ninja that tried to take out your life, the poisoned bowl of medicine, he had taken them all with his own life on the line, acting like a feral cat. When you were finally approved for physical therapy the man turned even more fretful, monitoring your every moment, holding your every step, carrying your very weight.

Red eyes met yours, red in colour, red at the rim, dark underneath. He hadn’t slept much, you knew. Tobirama Senju was a busy man, as the younger brother of the hokage he had his duties to perform, and now with you added to the load he barely allowed himself to rest. The red that lined his eyes were from the tears he didn’t allow himself to shed in front of you, plagued as he was by the thought to lose you, of nearly losing you.

Your words, though discomforting brought back a reality that Tobirama always had known and with that your independence.

“You’re progressing well, but I fear that…”

You didn’t want to hear it, cutting off the doctor as you pushed yourself up from your chair, sweat clear on your face as you forced yourself onto your legs.

“Impossible is just another form of possible, not?” you ruefully smiled, determination clear in your eyes.

Tobirama knew that you would be alright then. The life that you had maintained, the strength you were gaining. The man knew that the road ahead was long, but that you would be fine.

“A miracle,” the doctor had called you, years later. Years of holding strength and keeping hope. Years of frustration in which you had cried in the arms of Tobirama, praying for that one chance as your heart swayed. Years in which you pulled through because of your own strength, supported by the man next to you. A miracle, the doctor had said, but the both of you knew better. There was no miracle in this world, only hope.

“No,” Tobirama corrected the doctor, a hand against your lower back, another stabilising your arm. A habit he had picked up on through your recovery, despite you no longer needing the support. He liked the intimacy of it, the warmth that it expressed.

“No, just the strongest in the village,” he declared, and his admiration rang true, for within his eyes you were indeed the strongest in the world.

#naruto #naruto x reader #tobirama #tobirama senju #tobirama x reader

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keysszz · 4 years

Note

i have a request- maybe something about mikey being in danger and all of his brothers worrying about him afterwards? sorry if this reqs sounds silly- i know little to nothing about writing, but your fics are AWESOME

@tenk0saur

Aw thanks! I actually love this idea!!!

Midnight Crisis

A ROTTMNT Fanfic

This hadn’t gone the way he expected…

Mikey had gone out late at night to get some fresh air (and to get some kind of new ideas for his drawings, art block was a pain), and the night had gone normal for the first thirty minutes. He had walked into the alleyways of the city to make sure that he wasn’t spotted by any humans.

Though if he thought about it, it’s not like anyone would have cared anyway. Everyone in New York had either seen or heard of mutants already, so he could walk into the streets whenever he wanted to.

What the box turtle didn’t anticipate was being ambushed by the Foot Clan.

It wasn’t that many soldiers; he could have taken them all he was sure, but the Foot Lieutenant kept making more and more paper ninjas, and Mikey was only one turtle. He swung his weapon in attempts to shred most of them, but since more were coming to attack, it wasn’t exactly an easy task.

The worst part was that he didn’t even tell his brothers where he was.

He shouldn’t even be out here right now. It was around midnight when he left, and who knows what time it was now. No one was awake at this time (well, maybe Leo was, but Mikey didn’t feel like checking), and since the box turtle was so good at sneaking out no one had heard him when he left. He wasn’t even sure that anybody would get up later; Raph and Splinter were such heavy sleepers that they probably wouldn’t hear if someone was in danger. Leo and Donnie did stay up late some night, but Mikey had assumed that Donnie was sleeping since he didn’t hear the sound of his tech whirling in the background.

Mikey was so deep into his thoughts that he didn’t realize a foot soldier was coming up behind him. The paper ninja punched the box turtle and sent him to the ground, making Mikey grunt in response. He rubbed his shell as he tried to make the pain go away.

“That’s gonna hurt later…” he whispered to himself. He looked up and his eyes went wide as he saw the number of ninjas that were around him.

He was surrounded… There was no way he could take them all.

Uh oh, he thought to himself. He could try and call his brothers, but there was no guarantee that they would pick up. There was also the fact that there were a number of paper ninjas around him, and he didn’t know if they would try and stop his call.

Mikey looked around and saw the Foot Lieutenant and Brute not too far away from him, and they appeared to be smiling. The Lieutenant made a couple more ninjas before leaving with his partner.

“What about the kid?” the Brute asked.

“Leave him,” the Lieutenant answered. “The ninjas can handle him.”

Mikey watched as they slowly got out of view, and he stared back at his problem. Fear started to rise up in him as the paper ninjas waited for his next move.

He was trapped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he walked into the kitchen, he stifled a yawn as he went to start up the coffee maker.

He hadn’t been up for that long, he only woke up a couple of minutes ago. Donnie planned to spend the rest of the morning working. S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N needed a new upgrade, and he might as well work on his other pieces of tech while he was at it. He looked at the clock as he drank his coffee, seeing that it read 3:23 a.m.

He was surprised that Leo wasn’t up right now. The slider normally had problems dealing with his insomnia, and Donnie would find him in the living room watching a movie in hopes of falling back asleep.

Donnie took his mug and walked back into the lab, stopping outside of Mikey’s room.

Huh… He didn’t see Mikey lurking around the lair when he got his coffee.

Raising an eyebrow, Donnie walked into his younger brother’s room.

“Micheal, you in here?” Donnie called out. He didn’t get a response, so he decided to check around the lair to see if his brother was just having a rough night.

That’s when he began to get worried.

Mikey wasn’t in the lair at all. Donnie had made sure to double-check each room to make sure (heck, he even triple-checked the box turtle’s room), but there was no sign of him.

Maybe Leo knew where he was.

The softshell took his mug and walked to his twin’s room, placing down the mug on the slider’s side table. He shook Leo in hopes to wake him up, smiling when Leo let out a grunt.

“The one time I get to sleep, someone has to wake me up…” Leo groaned. He opened his eyes and raised a non-existing eyebrow at his twin.

“Donnie?” he asked as he rubbed his eyes. “What is it? Do you need help with a project or something? Because I’m sorry, but I’m just not in the mood to work right now.”

“No, it’s not that,” Donnie responded. “I was going to ask if you knew where Mikey was.”

“Shouldn’t he be in his room?”

“If that was the case I wouldn’t be asking you where he was, now would I?”

Leo sat up in his bed and looked at his brother, worry slowly filling his voice.

“Wait, what are you saying?”

“He’s not in the lair, Leon,” Donnie responded with a frown. “I don’t know where he is.”

“Can’t you track his phone?” Leo asked.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it’s on him,” Donnie answered. “But it would give us a good estimate of where he would be.”

Leo got out of his bed and followed his twin to the lab. He watched as Donnie tapped into one of his computers, and he smiled a bit when Mikey’s image popped up on the screen.

“It looks likes he’s in some alleyway,” Donnie thought out loud.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Leo said as he turned towards the exit. “Let’s go find him.”

“Shouldn’t we wake up Raph?” Donnie questioned.

“By the time he wakes up, Mikey could be in danger,” Leo replied. He walked out of the lab and went to his room to grab his sword as Donnie grabbed his techbo from his desk. He followed Leo out of the room, both of them walking towards the exit and into the city in search of their younger brother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was getting tired of this.

He was outnumbered. Every attack he would land on one of those foot faces he would get punched and thrown off guard. He had many bruises on his arms and legs, and he was starting to wonder if he could take any more of this.

He shouldn’t have left the lair. If he had just stayed in his bed and waited until morning, maybe Donnie or Leo could have gone out with him. He’d have someone with him, and he wouldn’t have to deal with this whole situation.

...What if his brothers never found him?

He was sure that someone had to be up by now, right? Donnie would wake up soon and start working on his tech, and he would have to notice that the box turtle was missing. But if that’s the case, why didn’t Donnie call him?

Mikey was then punched by another foot ninja and sent to the ground, and he decided to look at his phone to see if he had any messages. He glanced up before he did and knocked one of the oncoming ninjas away from him to buy him time.

“Of course…” Mikey groaned. “It had to die now, didn’t it?”

He threw his phone back in his pouch and stood up as he fought more of the foot.

Hopefully, his brothers would find him soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“He should be around here somewhere,” Donnie muttered as he jumped down from on top of one of the buildings.

“I don’t see him,” Leo said with a frown. “Are you sure your tech is correct?”

“My tech is never wrong,” Donnie scoffed. “Well, most of the time it’s never wrong…”

Just then the twins heard a faint voice and looked behind them, trying to find the source of the noise.

“Something tells me that he’s over there…” Leo pointed. Both turtles ran over to see who had yelled out and they stopped once they saw the scene before them.

Mikey had been ambushed. And by the looks of it, he couldn’t take any more hits.

Donnie took out his techbo and charged at the foot soldiers as Leo went for Mikey.

“Miguel, you ok?” Leo asked as he pulled Mikey out of the fight, hitting a couple of ninjas as they went for him.

“Yeah... yeah, I’m fine…” Mikey answered.

“What were you thinking?!” Leo questioned with anger (though he was mostly concerned). “Why did you leave, let alone not tell anyone?”

“I just wanted some fresh air,” Mikey responded, wincing as his bruises began to hurt. Leo noticed and sat Mikey down against the wall as he looked at his brother with worrying eyes.

“Stay here,” he told the orange masked turtle. “I’m gonna go help out Donnie.”

Mikey watched as Leo went and fought the remaining foot soldiers, though it didn’t seem like Donnie needed help. Once they had finished them off and made sure there were no more, they both went to inspect Mikey’s wounds.

“Do you know how much danger you could have gotten into?!” Donnie asked. “If I didn’t wake up and realize you were gone, who knows what would have happened to you!”

“I know…” Mikey said quietly. “I’m sorry, Dee.”

“At least tell us where you’re going next time,” Leo sighed. “Or better yet, just wait until morning.”

“Let’s get going,” Donnie said as he helped Mikey up. “I need to check and see how badly you got hurt once we get back to the lair.”

Leo began to walk in front of the two brothers and Mikey followed behind, stopping when he felt Donnie tap his shoulder. Mikey turned around and frowned once he saw Donnie with his arms crossed.

“Donnie, I know you’re mad,” Mikey started. He looked at the ground as he continued. “And I’m really sorry, I won’t-”

Mikey startled at the sudden hug he was giving. He looked up at his genius brother in confusion.

“You really had me worried Michael,” Donnie whispered. “I don’t know what I would have done if you were hurt more than you already are.”

Mikey smiled softly and leaned into his brother’s hug.

“I see you’re getting better at managing your feelings,” Mikey chuckled. He began to laugh as once Donnie groaned.

“No one told me we were hugging now!” Leo exclaimed as he got into the hug as well. “I was wondering why I didn’t hear you guys behind me.”

“Ok, hug over!” Donnie said as he pulled away from his brothers. “We gotta get back to the lair.”

Mikey laughed as Donnie and Leo walked in front of him.

He always knew Donnie could express his feelings. Maybe he should do more sessions with Dr. Feelings, just to make sure the softshell was improving.

#rottmnt #rottmnt fanfic #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt leo #rottmnt donnie #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #coolkat answers #coolkat writes

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nad-zeta · 4 years

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[ ✨ ] hello! may i ask for an ikesen matchup ^^? i'm usually very awkward and silent around new people and new environments in general and i get really panicky over small things (tiny mistakes, etc.). i'm not often one to start conversation, and even if i do, i just,, stare at them silently and go back to my own thing ^^;; but! once someone gets to hook me in through something i'm interested in and get me out of my shell, i get very hyper and cheery and excited easily around them ><

[ ✨ ] and at that point, congrats, you're my friends that i'll spill most secrets with :D! my interests are usually anime, games, manga, etc. but i also have a big liking to stories and books! and often times if i'm presented with a paper and pen, i *will* doodle, so drawing's also a big hobby of mine (i get really absorbed in doing it ///). back on the friend part, i won't hesitate to yell across the street to get your attention then run and hug you, and just start talking to you in high speed

[ ✨ ] and i am guaranteed to will die for you and your happiness. someone says shit? prepare to get these hands ùwú. i may be short but i am full of love for you. i'm willing and capable of doing Things - just a bit of grumbling but i will do it - but i have a tendency to be kinda slow. but some have said that i'm thorough in the task. half my hearing's basically gone so i might ask to repeat something from you for a bit, so please be patient with me o(._.'' )o and just in general lol

[ ✨ ] last thing!! the matchup is done but another request to everyone reading: please take care of yourself, take breaks and keep hydrated, and be safe out there!! i love all your works hun, and i hope you all have a wonderful day!!

Hi hi, love!🦋❤ Awwww you are so sweet, thank you for the kind words! ☺😳I hope you also have a wonderful day! ❤🦋🌻Thank you so much for the request, and I am sorry I took sooooo damn long with it! I hope you enjoy this, dear! Sending you lots of hugs! 🌻🦋❤

So I match you with.............. Kenshin

You arrived in the past with a bang and somehow despite your tiny frame managed to carry a man four times your size out of a burning building. The whole experience honestly had you on edge. Just as you started to calm down another man dressed in green came riding up to you and the man you had just saved. Hideyoshi, the raven hair beside you called the man as he climbed off his horse and knelt down in front of both of you. He looked up from you and gave you the biggest death stare you had ever seen. He demanded you give him your name and background story. You were so shocked at the whole experience you simply stayed silent. The second he drew his sword you bolted. The simple scare tactic worked too well as you ran away from the men.

Of course, Hideyoshi followed you on horseback through the forest. You ran as fast as your tiny legs could carry you running straight into yet another man. He caught you in his arms and held you steady as you reoriented yourself. Heterochromatic eyes peered down at you. You were honestly super panicked and now apologizing profusely for running into the man. His features softened slightly as he looked down at the frightened creature in his arms, he could hear the sound of horses heading towards him in the distance. He gently wrapped his large hand around your smaller one and pulled you along as he started to run. Finally, he reached his horse hidden among the bushes.

The two of you remained crouched down in the bushes alongside the horses when a calm voice broke the silence, “Lord Kenshin, I have successfully secured us an escape route, if you would please follow me.” Kenshin then swiftly lifted you up and place you on top of his horse, before climbing on behind you. The three of you rode through the night for what felt like ages until you reached a small cabin in the woods. In the back of your mind, you couldn’t help but think this was how you were going to die. Kenshin helped you down the horse and lead you inside. Once inside, you got a better look at the man with a calm voice, and that’s when you realized that you knew him. Sasuke looked at you and instantly knew who you were. While Kenshin was outside brushing down the horses, Sasuke explained the situation to you. It was honestly all too much for your nerves to handle and you passed out.

You woke up in an extravagant room in Kasugayama Castle, you looked around the unknown room and sighed when you realized that it was not all one big dream. From the corner of your eye, you spotted a bunny scurrying out of your room, running in an unknown direction. A few moments later Kenshin appeared with the rabbit trailing closely behind him. He placed a tray filled with food next to you and crouched down beside you, “Sasuke told me that the two of you are from the same village, you are welcome to stay here until you return home.” After that, he swiftly got up and left.

In the days to follow you started helping out the castle staff, it was slow going, but your work was thorough. Something which the maids really enjoyed about you. You had been at the castle for a full week, and you still hadn’t spotted Kenshin again since the day he brought you breakfast.

Tasks done for the day, you made your way to the castle garden to read. After Sasuke had shown you the castle’s library, you had made it your personal mission to read every book within.

You sat in the garden in the shade of a big sakura tree when, suddenly you were surrounded by hundreds of rabbits. You smiled as the fluffballs nuzzled and cuddled you. Suddenly Kenshin appeared, “It’s strange to see the bunnies following around someone other than me.” He took a seat beside you and as if on cue half the rabbits jumped onto his lap and started cuddling him. There was a peaceful silence that stretched between the two of you as you went back to reading.

Kenshin eyes you curiously but then closed his eyes and laid his head down on the soft grass to take an afternoon nap. He never liked women and would usually avoid them like the plague, but you were different. He liked that you didn’t feel the need to impress him or try and wed him like those irritating woman from the different clans.

The next day the same thing happened, as you sat beneath the tree reading, Kenshin appeared. This time he started a conversation with you, you looked up at him from the book you were reading and smiled. Luckily for Kenshin, he had asked about a topic that piqued your interest, and you started chatting with the bunny warlord.

In the days to follow the two of you would always meet under the same tree at the same time. The more days that passed, the more comfortable you were around Kenshin, gradually dropping your guard and opening up. Soon he had made it past your barriers and in your eye, you now saw him as a dear friend

Ooooh how Kenshin loved his upgraded title and this new cheerful side of you. He started giving you the nickname little rabbit cause that is precisely what you were in his eyes. Shy and reserved at first but once out of your shell, energetic and excitable. He loved how you would burst into his room, excited to show him your newest drawing. He would legit steal them and put them on display for all to see.

The two of you would spend hours together, just talking and telling each other cool stories. Sometimes the two of you would just quietly sit in the same room and do your own tasks. Kenshin would do boring admin, and you would get completely absorbed in your drawing.

To be honest the more and more time the two of you cuties spent together the more Kenshin fell entirely in love with you. You were unlike any woman he has ever met. When he opened up about his past to you, you accepted him completely and still loved him without judging. Through your friendship with the bunny warlord, you helped him slowly work through the trama and all the negative feelings he would have. Some nights when he would have nightmares, you would hear him get up and sit out in the garden. You would grab a blankie and go and join him, placing the blanket over both your shoulders as you ask him to tell you about his dream. You may be short, but you were definitely full of love for Kenshin.

During one of his conversations with Sasuke, the ninja, let it slip that you liked mangas and animes. After a lengthy explanation as to what exactly that was, Kenshin got to work. In his spare time, he worked on drawing you your own little anime manga. When it was finally complete, he handed it over to you during one of your tea dates. You excitedly started reading in, and when you got to the end, you found a letter. You carefully broke the seal and opened it. Written inside was a confession of love from the bunny warlord himself. You leapt from the place you were sitting and tackled Kenshin down in a big hug showering his face with little kisses.

Kenshin loves that you show your affection so openly towards him. His eyes will light up in delight, especially if he hears you excitedly yell out his name from across the market street. He knows to brace himself as you usually run and jump into his arms, giving him the biggest hug. For a man that never smiles, whenever you are near or in his arms, he is beaming with pure happiness.

He loves how protective you can get over him as well. Especially when someone is trash-talking him, you are ready to fight. During these times, Kenshin will gently wrap his arms around your waist and bring you closer to him, and nuzzle his nose against your neck and whisper how much he absolutely adores you.

And fear not, no one dare say one bad thing about his little bunny unless they want to lose their head. He knows that half your hearing is basically gone so he will be sure to patiently repeat whatever he is saying to you if you didn’t catch it the first time. Again and if someone dares say anything about getting annoyed with having to repeat stuff to you, he, will, not, hesitate, too, teach, them, some, manners.

Kenshin would go to the ends of the earth and back to keep that beautiful smile on your face. You have saved him from the demons of his mind, and for that, he will be eternally grateful. Just as he has successfully brought you out of your shell, you have successfully brought him out of the darkness of his past and into the light of the future

Often the two of you can be found cuddled together with your rabbit army under your favourite sakura tree. Simply exchanging sweet kisses and interesting stories.

Otherwise, the two of you are spending a peaceful afternoon together in Kesnhins room, each busy with their own task. When Kenshin is done with his work for the day, he will place himself behind you, gently wrapping his arms around your waist, and propping his head up to rest on your shoulder. He will sit like this with you tight in his arms as you continue to get absorbed in your art.

He could spend hours just sitting with you in his arms while watching you gracefully sketch out the scene in your imagination. He will definitely drop a few sweet sneaking kisses on your neck and cheek as you work.

Other potential matches………………. Mitsuhide

I hope you enjoyed this, dear! 🌻🦋❤🥰

#ikesen matchup #match ups #matches #matchups #uesugi kenshin #kenshin uesugi #kenshin ikemen sengoku #ikesen kenshin #kenshin matchup

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