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bunni-v1 · 4 months ago

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(Twenty) Nine Lives for Love

Chapter 4: Right. Prev Chapter\\Next Chapter m.list

Tw: Feelings; Crumbling relationships with parents (dw it'll be fineeeee)

Info: Kenma x Reader ; Kuroo and Reader; Kuroo is a wingman (bad at his job); Maki is still fat

Word Count: 5.3k 🍓Soooo, I finally had time to edit this (yay!) I was supposed to work on Curee but uhm... no! Kenma Kozume you will never ever want me the way I want you, but you take precedence!

Tag List: @angel-academia @bi-bi-papillon

By the time practice is out on Thursday, you have fully relaxed into your new routine at Nekoma. Walk to school with Kuroo and Kenma, attend class, eat lunch with Kenma (now featuring both Yamamoto and Fukunaga), head to practice, and then grab snacks from the convenience store after it's all done. It’s easy and much like your old one at Karasuno, so you get comfortable quickly, especially with how friendly and receptive the team has been to you.

As you approach your neighborhood today, Kuroo offers to let you come over for some of his gran's delicious sweetbread, but you decline. His disappointment makes you feel like you kicked a kitten, but you have prior commitments. So, you promise you’ll have the time another day, and he and Kenma wave you off.

As usual, your old man isn’t home when you get back. Never early, never late. Your school bag thumps to the floor as Maki greets you with excited chirps. You take the time to make sure she has food, sweep the floors, and do some other chores before heading up to your room for your final task of the day: Calling Noya and Tanaka. (Calling it a “task” was an exaggeration, you were excited to talk to them again.) It was an odd time to do so, but you promised them so you couldn’t back out now. You pull the laptop you’ve had since middle school out from your desk that you’ve had just as long, and nestle yourself into your pillows. Your Dad and your Mom (and your Stepdad) offered to get you a new one, but you can’t bring yourself to do it just yet. You’re too damn sappy. It whirrs to life, fans a bit too loud to be a good sign, and you’re greeted with a picture of yourself and Noya covered in mud and bruises.

It’s your favorite picture of you two together. Back when life was good and easy and all you were worried about was when the next volume of Shonen Jump was coming out and making sure you got the first spot in line for recess. Your mom took this picture, and you know it was her because she was the one who scolded the two of you for making such a mess of yourselves right before dinner. You briefly think about going through the other pictures on the clunky thing, but Skype pops up and starts chiming to remind you that had better things to do. You accept the call, immediately greeted by Tanaka’s awful posters of half-naked women behind his bald head and Noya squinting way too close to the camera to get a good look at said posters.

“Don’t look too hard, you’ll pop a blood vessel,” you say dryly.

“He’s popping something, that's for sure,” Tanaka responds smoothly – ironic coming from him.

“I am not!” He defends, then slowly adds, “...yet…”

You roll your eyes, “Both of you are nasty.”

“I didn’t even do anything!” Tanaka argues.

“It’s your poster you perv!” You shout back.

“Hey! Admiring beauty does not make me a pervert! In fact, you’re the perverted one for thinking like that.” He shoots back.

You scoff, crossing your arms haughtily, “Do your legs hurt from making that leap? If not, I can come back to Miyagi and break ‘em for ya.”

“Guys c’mon, we can try and kill each other later,” Noya says, somehow the voice of reason despite being the cause of the problem, and points accusingly at you (you think, because he’s just pointing at his computer screen), “You owe us a catch-up, Miss too-busy-to-text-my-best-friends.”

You sigh at Tanaka’s childish ‘yeah!’ holding your hands up in defeat. You had been busy with the team and adjusting, but in your defense, you were texting them! Just not as much as normal, not enough to give them a real run-down of your daily life – which was enough for their complaining to be reasonable. “Yeah, yeah, I got it. It’s not all that exciting like you’re thinking – not like that little redhead Tanaka’s been talking about, at least.”

Tanaka groans, whining about getting up early every day. He was just such a good senpai, helping his little freshmen train. Both you and Noya call him an idiot, which derails the conversation for a little while until Noya suddenly gains consciousness again and bitches at you to get on with it.

You proceed to tell them almost everything that’s happened in the past week so far. Kuroo and Kenma, managing the volleyball team, your classes, and of course giving them a much-needed Maki update after she trods herself up to your room. (Noya insists she got fatter, Tanaka thinks she’s slimmer, and you think you need to have a serious chat about the amount of treats your Dad is giving her). They’re very interested in the volleyball club, which was expected of them. You swear they have a volleyball instead of brains sometimes.

“So… you’re pretty much their manager,” Tanaka drawls, chewing loudly on some chips Saeko gave him earlier.

“It's not official yet.” You correct. You can feel Shimizu-Senpai’s ire from Miyagi already. You hope she can find someone to replace you this year. “Offical sign-ups for clubs start tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Noya hums, also munching on something bready that you can’t make out on his pixelated screen, “you’re gonna say yes, so why be so dodgy about it?”

You frown, evading your eyes, which tips both of your friends off that something is up. It’s not as if you didn’t want to say yes. Saying no to the position felt like a sin against every god you could name. There was just a little, tiny, itty bitty anxious part of you that was filled with what-ifs. What if you’re not good at it long term? What if the team was only tolerating you? What if it’s overstepping boundaries? What if you don’t have the time with classes?

“Oi!” Noya shouts, getting close to the camera again. If he were here he would probably grab you by the face and force you to look him in the eyes. That alone makes you slide your eyes back to the screen to look at his glare.

“Quit overthinking things,” Tanaka scolds – which feels wrong, considering he’s normally the one being yelled at. This whole friendship thing works both ways, you suppose.

“I know–” You try, but they aren’t having it this time.

“No! You’re gonna go to the sign-ups tomorrow,” Noya starts.

Tanaka continues, “You’re gonna… fill out those forms, or whatever!”

“Then you’re gonna give them to the coach right away. No ifs ands or buts.” Noya finishes, poking his camera for emphasis.

“Okay! Okay, I’m gonna say yes, I promise,” Shimizu-Senpai is out there somewhere, planning her revenge on you.

There's a nice lull in the conversation, and you think you almost got away with not talking about Kenma. You did try not to make a big deal out of him or Kuroo, but alas, Nishinoya Yuu and Tanaka Ryunosuke are not your best friends for no reason.

“Sooo,” Noya drawls, and you know what's coming, “tell us more about that Kenma guy~”

“Ugh, god, I knew you were gonna make a deal out of him.” You complain, visibly flustered.

“There is something up with him!” Tanaka declares, “Told’ja she was hiding something from us.”

“Nothing is up with him, okay? He’s just…” You struggle to put it into words. What is he? Nice was too mild. Amazing was too much.

“A total hottie?” (Tanaka.)

“The love of your life?” (Noya.)

Your idiots say at the same time, forcing a sigh past your lips, “No. He’s just… he’s right. You know? He’s right.”

“Right?” They say in sync, then nod as if they understand and repeat, “He’s right.”

“Yeah,” you sigh, a little weight lifted off your shoulders, “It’s like we were meant to meet. Everything is easy and comfortable. It’s… right.”

Then, when you feel like you have solved the puzzle, the dreaded question comes, from Tanaka of course, “Do you think he’s your soulmate?”

The weight is back, and your friends can tell from how quickly they try to backtrack, but you’d rather talk to them a little about it than shove it down.

“He doesn’t believe in soulmates. I think he thinks they’re silly,” you laugh dryly, chest aching, “besides, just because I click well with him doesn’t mean he’s my soulmate. I get along great with Kuroo too!”

“But it’s different with that Kenma guy,” Noya says simply, ripping apart any rationalization you’ve been able to do the past few days, “like you said, it feels right. He’s right.”

You think about it for a long moment, trying to find a good way around what he said. As usual, though, you just can’t beat Noya’s simple, straightforward logic. You can’t complicate something so incredibly uncomplicated.

“Even if he is my soulmate, which he probably isn’t, I won’t push it on him,” you respond, voice thoughtful and quiet, “He’s a friend first, and if he happens to be my soulmate, I don’t want to push him away with daydreams.”

That gets them to back off long enough that you can masterfully change subjects back to the new freshmen on Karasuno’s team. You take a stab at trying to convince Noya to rejoin, but as usual, he’s too stubborn to reason with. Talking with them, as always, is easy. It almost feels like you’re right there in the room with them, if it weren’t for the way Noya’s audio glitches every once in a while. You get so lost talking to them that, before you know it, it’s 8:30 and your Dad is shouting for you to come down to eat. You didn’t even hear him come home. He didn’t even bother saying hello.

With promises that you would text them more consistently, and that you’d definitely plan a trip to Miyagi over a break, you hang up the call and join your father for another tense dinner. Ever since you had accidentally ignored him on Tuesday, he’d been a bit distant. He was still warm and loving, but you could tell it seriously hurt him when you broke the routine. So, you’d been doing your best to keep everything as balanced as always. You chat about classes, practice, and the latest movies coming out. Nothing that could rock the boat, because it already had enough water in it, and you couldn’t afford it sinking.

Speaking of sunken ships, he mentions that your Mother and Stepdad wanted to come visit sometime. Which was fine with you, but you knew things were tense between the three of them, so you left the decision up to him. By the time you make it back up to your room, you want nothing more than to collapse and sleep for a million years so you don’t have to deal with the weirdness surrounding you and your dad.

It lingered around the house. In each dark corner where light doesn’t quite reach, each creak of its old bones, each awkward silence left in the still kind of strange-smelling air there is a discomforting reminder that things are not right with him. There is an ache in your muscles that you must fix it, and a stab to your stomach when you realize you don’t know how to. It makes you want to sleep forever; let your muscles relax for just a little bit.

Sleeping Beauty had it pretty good, you think. At least she had a prince waiting for her. All you had was a cat the size of a medium dog and two of the dumbest people you’d ever met a few hundred miles away. In a last-ditch effort to feel better, you slide the box labeled ‘textbooks’ out from under your bed and dig out the object of your desire. The studies of soulmates.

You’d managed to masterfully (sloppily) hide them from your dad. Thank god you have (had?) a good relationship, or else he might’ve gone through your room and found them already. With greedy fingers, you tug the only bookmarked one out from the bottom of the box, flipping it open with a big grin on your face. Reading about soulmates always made you feel better. Always.

This was volume three of six of the original set – your mother did not have the revised versions the author put out shortly before they had passed. Still, the first edition of the first two volumes was fascinating, if not for minor inaccuracies. Volume one covered entirely what soulmates are; who can be a soulmate; how the lifetimes of soulmates intertwine, and things along that line. Volume two discussed “the in-between”, the place between life and death. This volume you were on, however, discussed the process of discovering your soulmate.

You had read through the more… logistical parts of the book and were now on the part about the feelings. It was a short chapter, as far as you could tell, but it would be enough to maybe make you feel better. Grazing over the parts you’d already read, you quickly ended up back where you had left off. The spark.

“The ‘spark’ is not a concrete thing, nor is it entirely flexible. It occurs differently for every person and creature that may experience it, and yet there is one thing that is common among all described experiences. Without fail, all people who have experienced this ‘spark’ have a sense of intense familiarity regarding everything related to their soulmate. A sense of belonging within their other half’s social life. Family, friends, hobbies, pets, and everything in between seem to settle into place without any effort.”

You nod along to the words on your page, comprehending them as best as you can. You recalled Tanaka talking about something like that with Kiyoko, though you doubted it a bit at the time. You flipped the page, deciding it was best not to dwell on how ironically familiar this was all sounding. The next section covered several other facts about the connection between two soulmates, but you couldn’t stop your mind from thinking about that short but impactful paragraph.

You did not want to be dramatic, nor did you want to sound insane, but you had noticed a familiarity with Kenma. About… everything surrounding him. The way you felt like you’d found a missing puzzle piece beneath the foot of a table, one you’d long since given up looking for. Like you waited a whole lifetime to finally click into place with him. You’d only met him four days ago, though. You did not know him. Certainly not enough to be acting this delusional. He was right, though. (Your heart insists it, loud and clanging like church bells in your steeple of a chest).

You try for a little longer to read the text, but it all blurs together with the rampant thoughts of hope singing in your brain. You growl at yourself, slamming the book shut and shoving it back under the bed in the box. (Maki startles, yowling and flying across the room in fear, though you don’t pay her any mind.) You’d only managed to make things worse by thinking about Kenma. He was not your soulmate, and even if he was he didn’t believe they existed. That shuts down any chance of this wild pipe dream coming true – NOT that you had any intention of chasing it in the first place. Hell, you hardly believed it. It would be too easy. Too simple. Too convenient. That is not how the universe was and you knew better than to fool yourself into thinking that.

With nothing but anger and annoyance left in the place of energy, you grumpily toss on your pajamas and decide to call it a night. Maki crawled up into bed – hesitantly like you might throw her next – and curled against your side. Tomorrow would come fast, and you’d be able to forget about your stupid thoughts in the morning. That's what you kept repeating in your head to stop your mind from drifting again.

.·:*˚¨¨ ≈★≈ ¨¨˚*:·.

You do not sleep well, and because of this, you manage to sleep in nearly too late. You miss seeing your Dad off, and you hardly have enough time to get changed, let alone eat before you are flying out the front door. You hope Kenma and Kuroo are waiting for you, though you wouldn’t blame them for ditching. Just because you’re late doesn’t mean they have to be. Lucky you, they are good friends, and they’re awaiting your arrival patiently at your front gate.

“Sorry, I’m late!” You apologize, still hopping into your shoes as you exit the front gate, “Just couldn’t get up this morning!”

Kuroo shrugs your worries off, “Just means we won’t have time to stop at the vending machine.”

Kenma busies himself with straightening out your hair, a habit that he’d started after the head pat incident. It makes your cheeks flush with heat, but neither of you bother to acknowledge it, and luckily Kuroo doesn’t care either. “Means we don’t have to deal with Yamamoto this morning.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll find a way to be a problem,” You laugh, Kenma sighs, and then you remember something you’d been meaning to ask, “Oh! Wait, before we go! Which houses are yours?”

They both give you odd looks, like you should know by now, but… you don’t. You give them an awkward shrug, and they return the gesture, letting it roll off their shoulders.

“Mine is the kinda misshapen grey one over there, and Kenma’s is–” Kuroo explains.

“It’s that one,” Kenma cuts off, pointing to the one neighboring Kuroo’s. They’re both across the street just three houses down. No wonder they gave you weird looks, you totally should’ve figured that out, especially with their names on them.

Kenma’s is shorter than Kuroo’s, which makes it stick out a little amongst the other houses. It’s an off-white color with brown trimming, simple but inviting. You feel like you’ve seen it before. Like you’ve walked up its cobblestone path and right through its front door. That was impossible, you think as you turn on your heel, you’d never been to Kenma’s house.

“Boy, do I look stupid,” you laugh, leading the way so you can get to class on time.

“You always go in right away,” Kuroo dismisses, “I wouldn’t’ve put it together either.”

“Our names are on the front gates,” Kenma mutters, ending the conversation, still lost in his PS Vita as usual. You wonder what he was playing… you peek over his shoulder, and he leans in closer to let you see. Oh, it was one of those Persona games. You watch him play with interest for a while, maybe you should get into the franchise. It was visually pleasing, and the gameplay looked fun. Despite your best efforts to distract yourself with his game, your mind still wanders back to the houses. That sense of Deja Vu was hard to ignore.

“Y’know,” you announce suddenly, “Your houses are kinda… familiar? When I was looking at Kenma’s, I felt like I’d already gone through the whole place. Isn’t that odd?”

“Yeah,” Kuroo echos, “maybe you have prophetic dreams of house tours.”

You scoff, readying a comeback, but notice Kenma has this kind of quiet look on his face. Like he wants to say something, but he isn’t sure if he should say it. They’re common from him, especially around you. Normally Kuroo would be the one to poke at him, but since you’re already close, you give him a little nudge, “What’s on your mind, Kenma?”

He frowns a little, hesitant as he answers, “I feel the same way about your place.”

“Oh?” Is all you can manage, and you hope you don’t look as stupid as you sound.

His eyes are fixated on the game, though he isn’t doing anything in it anymore, and he nods, “Yeah. When I first came to pick you up, I got this feeling like I’d been there before. For reasons other than visiting the Shirashi’s with my parents, if that makes sense.”

You try to crush the glimmering hope in your chest. You were not thinking about soulmate stuff today. You told yourself today was a no soulmate talk kind of day and you meant it. (If you didn’t want Kenma to know how deeply your adoration for the concept ran, that would be humiliating.)

“Oooo~ Maybe you two are soulmates!” Kuroo purrs, shattering any thought of ‘no soulmates.’

You huff, face heating up. Dammit Kuroo Tetsurou, did he have it out for you or something? You brace yourself for his adamant denial, but it doesn’t come. You realize then his ears are bright red and– oh my god, he’s so cute when he’s embarrassed. Wait. Why was he embarrassed?

You curse Kuroo out in your head, but just as fast as he brought this curse upon you, he remedied it with smooth words and quick thinking. “Just kidding! I know Kenma doesn’t believe in that kinda thing.”

“It’s not–” Kenma starts, clearly more bothered than he expected himself to be. He takes a deep breath, then tries again, “I don’t not believe in them, I just don’t… It’s too romantic to accept that they’re real. Waiting lifetime after lifetime for one person? Too dramatic for real life.”

You couldn’t argue with that. It was the same idea your Dad had about them, but he was more bitter about it. If you were a different person with a different Mom and a different childhood, you’d probably think the same way.

“That’s what makes them so nice though, right?” Kuroo argues, “Someone out there that was made just for you? Sign me up!”

“Exactly,” you accidentally say out loud, and the three of you are finally approaching the front gates of Nekoma High. Looks like you’re failing at the no soulmates thing. “I mean… maybe they aren’t real and I’m just being childish, but… someone who just understands me effortlessly sounds nice. Logical or not.”

“Logic is what makes sense of everything,” Kenma counters, “Without it, we wouldn’t understand anything.”

“Yeah, and that's all good and fine, but emotions aren’t logical. The way we feel doesn’t make any sense most of the time, so why would eternal love be any different?” You ask aloud.

“Bingo.” Kuroo punctuated with two finger guns pointed your way. “Not everything has to make sense, and not everything will. Soulmates are just one of those things that you’ve gotta have trust in your feelings for.”

Kenma doesn’t say anything as the three of you make your way up the stairs, the five-minute bell chiming at a higher pitch than the ten-minute overhead. You want to apologize, but Kuroo shoots you a hidden thumbs up to assure you, so you don’t. Kenma is tense for the rest of the day. Quiet and thoughtful, though he still takes the time to talk to you. It leaves you feeling all warm inside that he would account for you, despite what’s happening in his head.

During lunch, he doesn’t pull out his PS Vita like he usually does, which Fukunaga points out as strange. Kenma says the battery is low, but you know it’s not because it was at full charge when you peaked at it this morning. Yamamoto is also late, which you know Kenma is more than happy for, but you can’t help but worry. What if he doesn’t eat? How horrible! He’s an athlete, he needs to eat a lot to stay strong and healthy. (It’s nice to be distracted from your worry over Kenma.)

Your worries are squashed when he bursts through the door of your classroom, scaring several unsuspecting students with his heavy panting. Was he sweating? Did he run here? From where? His aura is intense as he approaches you, face hardened into a determined glare. If you hadn’t taken time to get to know him, you’d think he was trying to kill you. He stops right in front of you, the toes of his shoes almost touching yours. He shoves something in your face, not a knife (thank god), but a flimsy sheet of paper.

The three of you give him an odd look, wordlessly asking what his issue was, but he waggles the paper. You take it, careful to avoid brushing your fingers with him, and read over it. It was… an application for managing sports teams… Most of it was already filled out in messy handwriting. You grin, looking back up at the incredibly red Yamamoto.

Fukunaga grabs for it, and you let him take it with no resistance. He laughs as he reads it, and finally, Kenma grabs it. Instead of amusement, which you didn’t expect in the first place, he’s… annoyed. He glares at the paper like it’s personally offended him. You try and pretend not to see it, though it does make your heart ache a little. (Does he not want you to sign up? He was the first person who asked, so what’s his deal?)

“I realized you hadn’t applied officially to be our manager, and I thought I’d give you a headstart,” Yamamoto admits awkwardly as the paper finally makes its way back into your hands, “Most of it should be filled out.”

You smile at the paper, “This is sweet Yamamoto, thanks. I was planning on signing up at the activities fair, but I guess this saves me the trouble, huh?”

“You can give that to coach at the fair,” Fukunaga explains, “It’s the easiest way to apply and should guarantee your spot. Not that we were expecting any applications outside of you in the first place.”

“Just trying to play it safe,” Yamamoto defends, “don’t wanna lose her right as she settles in.”

“Thanks, guys,” you say with a big grin, “I’ll finish it up, then we can walk together to get it turned in?”

Fukunaga gives you a quiet thumbs up, while Yamamoto yells his acceptance, earning glares from the other students situated around the room. You glance to Kenma for his approval, but he’s too busy thinking again. You shrug it off because if you think too hard about it, you’ll worry.

.·:*˚¨¨ ≈★≈ ¨¨˚*:·.

Practice is canceled for the day thanks to the activities fair. Kuroo, Nobuyuki, and Coach Nekomata are all going to be promoting the volleyball club, so there’s no real reason to go. As promised, you and a still pensive Kenma wait patiently for Fukunaga and Yamamoto in your classroom. You’d been able to avoid how uncomfortable Kenma’s silence had made you all day because you’d had other things to do. Yamamoto even noticed though he had no idea what his deal was. Now that it was just you and him… well, you can’t avoid it.

“Okay,” you announce, pressing your palms flat on his desk, “time to fess up. What’re you thinking about so intensely?”

He blinks at you, surprised, then he shifts his gaze to the chalkboard behind you, “Was it that obvious?”

“You lied about your PS being dead,” you put plainly, “that’s super weird.”

He lets out a breath, and then shrugs in defeat, “I was just thinking about the stuff from this morning.”

Your head tilts a little, “What? The house stuff?”

“The soulmate stuff. Why would I be thinking about the house stuff?” He snarks, pulling back a little when you laugh.

“That makes a lot more sense,” you giggle, and he rolls his eyes in what you think is a playful manner (playful for him, at least), “I’m sorry if what I said bothered you. I get that it can sound… insane… if you don’t believe in them.”

He shrugs, eyes still avoiding yours. You appreciate it a little. You think if he looks at you, you’ll do something stupid.

“I played a game about soulmates once,” he mumbles, leaning back to glare at the ceiling. You lean forward, resting on your arms now. “It was cute, really romantic. You played as each partner and helped them navigate through their lives. There were a bunch of close calls where they almost met, but something always messes up and keeps them apart in every life. Then, at the end of the game, they finally meet, and it ends when they realize.”

“That is cute.” You hum attentively.

His head shoots up looking at you with an unreadable expression, “It was scary.”

You blink at him, and without meaning to, you laugh a little, “What? You just described a romance novel and you found it… scary?”

He huffs, “It’s not the romance stuff, it’s the ending.”

“What’s so scary about soulmates meeting?” You say incredulous.

“It ends,” He states as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, “everyone talks about soulmates like they’re the final destination. The story‘s over once you meet them. It’s awful. Immediate game over.”

You scoff, “Ken,” The nickname is so natural it makes you sick, “Meeting your soulmate isn’t the end, it’s the beginning.”

It’s his turn to blink at you, head tilting curiously. It makes you smile, and without thinking you grab his hands and squeeze them. It’s a comforting gesture your Mom always did when you were confused or upset or anything other than happy. You think he could use it too. He stares at where they connect with wide eyes, and his ears burn red again.

“Sure, you spent like a gazillion lives trying to find that one person, but when you find them…” you try hard to remember how Noya’s Gramps put it, then try to translate that to something he can understand “It’s like you defeated a final boss, and the huge XP boost it gives you allows your character to level up into a new class type. Does that make sense? I don’t play a lot of RPGs.”

At some point during your explanation he affixed his gaze on you, intense eyes practically drinking in all of your features like it was the first time he’d seen you. It makes your stomach flip, especially when he squeezes your hands back. “Close enough.” That is all he says, and it's the only indication that you might’ve gotten through to him. The two of you sit and stare at each other for a good long moment, unsure of what you should say – if you even should speak.

“Ooo, are we interrupting something?” A playful voice sounds from the doorway. Both of your heads whip around to see who it is, and you grin, thanking the universe for Morisuke’s abrasiveness. You might’ve kissed Kenma if it weren’t for him. (Did you really just admit that to yourself?)

Kenma pulls away first and quickly busies himself with packing away his things. You smile at him, then stand and toss your bag over your shoulder. “We were just talking. What are you doing here Morisuke-Senpai?”

“I heard about Yamamoto’s scheming, so I figured I might as well be a part of it too,” He snickers.

“It wasn’t scheming! It was… tactical coercion.” Yamamoto defends.

“That sounds worse,” Fukunaga comments candidly.

“Really?” Yamamoto squeals.

You huff a laugh out of your nose, walking up to them with Kenma at your side. “You guys are too loud,” He complains.

You ruffle his hair to appease him, which seems to work like a charm. You ignore how shocked his friends seem at it, “Let's go get this turned in. I can’t wait to officially be your manager!”

A chorus of cheers (followed by a groan) comes from the boys around you, and you lead the way through the halls until you realize you don’t know where you’re going, then Morisuke leads the way. With promises of celebratory pork buns, you all pick up the pace, though you let yourself fall back a little to keep Kenma company as the other three glavant forward.

You look at the piece of paper in your hands, a mix of Yamamoto’s handwriting and yours. Then your eyes drift over the three boys and finally land on Kenma. For once, he’s already looking at you. You give him a grin, and he smiles a little back.

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #kenma x reader #kozume kenma #kenma #kuroo tetsurou #nishinoya yuu #tanaka ryuunosuke #x reader #(Twenty) Nine Lives for Love

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chaoticspeedrun · 2 years ago

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Brighter to my eyes 6

Summary: Leo is good at reading people, it's what makes him a good strategist, but those blue hues of hers elude his sharp intuition.

Perhaps if they didn't he'd realize he didn't have to change himself for her to see him like he wants her to.

A.N. I wrote this fanfic over an idea of Rise! Leo using a cloacking brooch to hide his true self but it evolved into something way bigger, this fic will takes place in ROTTMNT after "Newsworthy" but April is 18 starting college instead of in High School, while the MC and Raph are 17, the twins 16 and Mikey 15.

Pairing: Rise! Leo x OC, Leo x reader

Warnings: Angst, FLUFF, Sibling shenanigans, MC is a nerd, but a mean nerd in leather.

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It was a few days after team DMV (Name still up for debate) had acquired the buggy and she’d finally gotten a tour of the lair when Vic, sitting on her art history class and smiling politely at a couple of classmates that’d wanted to work with her for a project, thought back to the turtles, who’d been so excited to show her the place they lived in, which she thought was the teenage dream despite its location.

She barely listened to one of her new friends, Andrew?, While he said they should write about Picasso’s blue period for their project.

She hated Picasso.

Once the class was over and she’d said goodbye while agreeing to finalize details over text with her team, she debated in between messaging Donnie or Leo.

She chose Leo and shot him a short text asking if it’d be cool for her to pop up for a bit.

She got a text back saying she was always welcome and that they’d be at the arcade in the lair, Vic smiled subconsciously and started making her way to where April had one of her classes.

Once she found her Vic waved at April and they both made their way to the café they’d worked at during their first meeting while Vic asked April what the boys would like.

“Oh, you’re getting them drinks? Let me help!” April told her while sending her a list of the turtles’ usual orders but Vic waved her off walking through the door of the shop and being received with the heavenly aroma, she fiddled with her phone while they stood in line.

“Nah, I’m buying, also, what’s their favorite pizza?” Vic asked and April glanced up to see she was placing a pickup order through uber eats.

“Um, well, Donnie has this weird specific order of, wait, let me get my phone to check the message with it” April fumbled for a moment “Aha! So, large thick crust, sprinkled with, get ready for it: Pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, sausage, green peppers, black olives and NO anchovies” April made a face while reading the order while Vic just hummed and picked all the toppings, they advanced slightly in line.

“Raph is more a meat lovers kinda deal, both Leo and Mikey like Hawaiian” Vic made a face and April chuckled seeing it while Vic mumbled something about ‘thinking they had good taste’ while April continued “But Leo has a weird order too, onions, black olives, green peppers, and mushrooms, but really you can make them all happy with just a pepperoni or meat lovers.”

Vic hummed as they reached the end of the line before saying “No worries, I already ordered” Before April could say anything, Vic had turned to the barista.

They walked out of the shop with a full tray and made their way to the pizzeria to pick up, Vic’s phone suddenly buzzed with a message from Leo.

Neon Leon: Hey so…ur totally welcome anytime, except maybe rn

Neon Leon: dad’s really sick and it gets ugly real fast

Troya: Oh no, what does he have?

Neon Leon: a flu so bad we never make it ‘til the end of it

Troya: Wait, April is explaining

Troya: 7 stages?? She's explaining some of them and it sounds excessive, don’t you want me to pick you guys something from the pharmacy?

Neon Leon: dw! We totally got this and no way I’m getting infected before the end of the flu

April snorted besides Vic reading over her shoulder.

She wished Leo luck and took the pizzas before walking out of the restaurant, April following her.

“Sooo, what’s the plan? Since the lair is totes off bounds.” April asked making Vic hum again while she looked around, finding what she was looking for Vic changed routes, April noticed she was going towards a drugstore.

“We can just drop this off, and by your reaction I’m getting them stuff to deal with their flu when they inevitably get sick.”

April watched her pick the stuff and take out her credit card for the third time in what had been probably less than an hour.

“You know you don’t have to do all of that you know?” She asked while they both walked out and towards a manhole close to the boys “They’d be totally cool with anything you got them, no need for so many things”

Vic rolled her eyes “Ah don’t worry, I got it because I wanted to, can you open the manhole? I don’t know how we’ll get in without dropping anything…Oh I’ll text Leo!”

April didn’t get a chance to explain her point to Vic who already had her phone back in her hand while the other held onto the tray with coffee and pharmacy bag.

Troya: Knock knock, special delivery for the Neon Leon.

Neon Leon: What

Neon Leon: r u outside??

Troya: Yes, just dropping stuff off

Neon Leon: omw

The manhole opened and a pair of eyes looked back at her before Leo pulled out his whole body making the warm coat he was wearing visible.

“Well, hello ladies, what brings you to such a dangerous place?” Leo asked but his eyes widened throughout as he saw the various boxes of pizza, coffee, and bag in their hands.

“Well, we were already on our way and I’m sure you guys will really appreciate all of this when you’re bed-ridden” Vic smiled offering him the things, which he had a much easier time taking in his grasp, balancing the tray over the pizza’s and the bag over his shoulder before he knew what was happening.

“Me? Sick? No way, I’m already better prepared than the other guys, but really, Vee you didn’t have to” April nodded at Leo’s comment but was stopped by Vic waving her hand dismissively.

“It’s nothing, also, you should probably take some of these drops when you can to avoid the flu, your brothers too, and if you start feeling symptoms take one of these pills, only one every 6 hours by the way” Vic kept explaining some of the many things in the bag to Leo who was overwhelmed by how much she cared, once she finished he grinned a bit sheepishly.

“Ok, sure, got it, don’t even worry your pretty head about this, when this is over it’ll all be worth it, pops can’t say no to anything during what I call: The must say yes stage, we’re totally getting there this time”

April snorted “Sure you are, do you guys even know what you’ll ask for? You’ve only got one shot.”

“Well, I for one got the perfect idea, if I can convince Raph we’re totally getting unicorn onesies.”

Vic thought that was adorable “What do the others want?”

Leo rolled his eyes “Oh Donnie was totally raving about getting uranium, Mikey wants a pizza oven and Raph, our dear leader, has absolutely no idea what to ask for” he groaned.

Vic made a mental note and nodded “Well good luck Leon! Update me later Okay?”

Leo grinned and nodded stepping back to the manhole “I’ll totally update you when we beat this flu, and with all of these things there is no way I’m going down with the sickne—” His foot went directly through the uncovered manhole and Leo went down like Wile E. Coyote, April and Vic rushed to the manhole.

“Leon?!”

“I’m fine! It’s all good!” He yelled somehow managing to hold onto the things during his fall, Vic sighed in relief, impressed with how he managed that.

They finally said bye to Leo and once he disappeared down to the sewers they both started walking away with their own coffees and box of pizza in hand.

“We can go eat at the park” April said and Vic nodded already walking that way.

“Where do they sell those unicorn onesies?” Vic asked and April raised an eyebrow.

“Oh nuh-uh, you ain’t thinking of getting the guys all those things, are you?”

Vic shrugged sitting down at a park bench and setting the coffee down “Well, they can only choose one thing for their dad to get them, wouldn’t it be cool if I just got them the other stuff? It’s just material stuff anyway, I can do that.”

April frowned “Girl, not to be rude, I know your parents are loaded, but I mean it when I say that they don’t need all that stuff from you”

Vic tried to speak but April stopped her with a raised finger before continuing “Look, ever since you got tangled up in all of this the guys have been raving about you, they are all excited to have you as a friend, even Donnie who to be honest, wasn’t impressed with your online presence before, they all just want to hang around you, not what you have.”

It made sense that April wanted to clear that up, only a fool wouldn’t have noticed the kind of environment Vic had grown up in, it wasn’t that everyone was fake or only interested in the material for her, but the guys had already given her life more excitement than she’d ever had.

It was just, her love language, she wasn’t used to physical affection, and compliments had started feeling a little too superficial to her, but she also didn’t know the boys that well, and learning about those things they liked was nice to her.

Vic smiled at April “Yeah, you’re right” and that was it.

Neon Leon: im trapped against my will

Troya: Were you quarantined?

Neon Leon: it's not even that bad

Troya: Take some Tamiflu, it should help a bit

Neon Leon: already did also, how’d u know my fav pizza?

Troya: I asked April, you guys got some weird taste, I can’t believe you like pineapple on pizza

Neon Leon: no way are u one of those haters too?!

Neon Leon: ugh u got no taste

Neon Leon: I just saw don get quarantined too

Neon Leon: I bet raph still doesn’t know what he’ll ask for

Troya: what stage is your dad at?

Neon Leon: The fanfiction stage

Troya: No. way. That’s real? I thought April was messing with me.

Neon Leon: oh it’s very real, but tbh his lou jitsu meets jupiter jim story is pretty good

Troya: I’d love to hear that omigosh

Neon Leon: I’d share my little quarantine room with u bestie

Troya: Awe, bestie?

Neon Leon: totally, bestest of friends, I mean I was the first turtle you hung out with, I called dibs

Victoire laughed at the text, maybe it was the sickness talking and Leo was on the affectionate stage, but if he wanted both of them to be closer, why couldn’t she indulge him?

Troya: Get some rest bestie, get well soon.

Taglist: @saspas-corner @mysstical-siren

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise! leo #Rise leo x OC #Leo x OC #Brightertomyeyes #leo x reader #rise leo x reader #rottmnt x reader #rottmnt leonardo x reader #rottmnt leo x reader

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yeongwonie · 3 years ago

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STUPID CUPID! — 24

pairing. park sunghoon x f!reader

SYNOPSIS. alone on valentine’s day, you decide to sign up for the student council’s fundraiser: a matchmaking survey, hoping to at least get a few laughs out of the whole ordeal. little do you know, park sunghoon (your archenemy since junior high) has the same idea. but it’s fine! your student body president, kim sunoo, would never tamper with the matching system, right?

note. it's not glitching dw i just added white imgs for spacing!! + there are more texts nd another note at the bottom :)

masterlist

⤎ prev | 24 — a weird coincidence (written; 0.9k) | next ⤍

SUNGHOON DOESN’T HEAR A SINGLE word his coach tells the team at the end of practice.

though he tries his best to pay attention, all he can think about is his plan for talking to you. he still hasn’t decided on a good conversation starter (because what’s the best way to say “hey, here’s why i ghosted you three years ago” without sounding like an asshole?).

during the years he’d spent avoiding this conversation, he’d unknowingly let his mental image of you grow into some fierce, unsympathetic monster. now, looking at you, he feels a bit ridiculous.

how can he be this nervous to talk to someone who, a few years before, was one of the closest people to him in the world? for a moment, he questions whether or not he should go through with this plan, whether an explanation now is too little too late.

then, he remembers the way you’d looked at him on monday, and the promises he’d made to jungwon and jake in the weeks before. if he doesn’t do something now, he knows he won’t be able to fall asleep for the next month, at the very least.

the second sunghoon opens his mouth to finally say something, your lips curl up into a smile, and you pull your phone from the depths of your bag. you’re just about buzzing with excitement, now, and he feels a light flutter of relief in the pit of his stomach.

it’s a little conceited of him to think otherwise, he knows, but he can’t help but feel reassured that you’re doing okay without him, and that his issues aren’t affecting you too much. if he knew you’d been losing as much sleep as he had about something that had happened in junior high, he’d be overcome with guilt.

lost in thought, sunghoon lingers while you open your messages and click on a chat. as you begin typing out a message, he can’t help the pang of jealousy in his chest.

it’s silly, he knows, but he wonders who you’re texting, who you were so excited to talk to that you were frantically searching through your bag for your phone. he remembers the period of junior high when a text from you would instantly improve his mood, and he’d lay stomach down on his bed talking to your for hours, like he was in a kdrama.

ultimately, his curiosity overcomes his determination to grant you some privacy, and he tries to read the previous messages (the contact name, soulmate with an emoji, is unhelpful for everything but contributing to the suffocating feeling).

every word looks oddly familiar.

could you be the person he’d been messaging for the past few weeks? he’d suspected it earlier, but the less rational part of him still wants to forget he’d seen anything and leave.

mind clouded with confusion, he turns around and walks briskly toward his own bag. every cell in sunghoon’s body wants to get out of the room and go home. he wants some magical message to appear in the sky and confirm that, no, his match is not you, and he was only hallucinating. now, he feels nauseous too.

when he finishes gathering his things and no message arrives, sunghoon takes a breath and starts to walk once again, feeling lighter with every passing second (there’s no way you would take this long to type out a reply, right? if it was him, he would’ve gotten your reply by now). he’s ready to chalk the entire situation up to his own overthinking and get a nice, full, night of sleep.

backpack slung over one shoulder, he steps into the cool, evening air. the sweat still clinging to his hair and his clothes makes him shiver, and he winces at the though of catching a cold (and what punishments jungwon would come up with for him if he did).

he vows to talk to you tomorrow as he remembers his initial plan, maybe after class, or even on friday after the team’s rehearsal. he takes a final glance in the direction of the practice room, fully exhausted from the emotional roller-coaster of the past five minutes more than practice itself. even though he failed, he feels happy enough to skip home.

then, sunghoon feels his phone vibrate in his pocket.

note. HI AGAIN HAHA how are we feeling abt this chapter T-T sorry again that it’s so late tumblr is the loml and my worst enemy we r just like y/n nd sunghoon ig

#sunghoon x reader #sunghoon smau #enhypen x reader #enhypen smau #enhypen imagine #sunghoon imagine #enhypen sunghoon #sunghoon fanfic #enhypen fanfic #sunghoon fluff #enhypen fluff #sunghoon angst #enhypen angst #sunghoon x you #enhypen x you #sunghoon fake texts #enhypen fake texts #sunghoon socmed au #enhypen socmed au

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koris-crumbs · 3 years ago

Text

I’m Here For The Entertainment

Prev-Chapter Three-Next

A My Hero Academia group chat fic

Warnings: None besides cursing

Pairings: You guessed it, Izuku pining for Bakugo yet again. Lots of bisexual distress in this chapter.

A/N: holy crap I didn’t mean for a week to go by before posting another chapter. Thankfully this one is longer so I hope that makes up for it(: This takes place during the final exams at the end of season two. Enjoy the story yall!

~~~

#1AllMightStan is online.

#1AllMightStan: GUYS

#1AllMightStan: I’m screaming shitting and crying 😭

#1AllMightStan: WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO

TheNewBestie is online.

MochiCheeks is online.

TheNewBestie: me, an empath, sensing Midoriya might be upset about being paired with Bakugo for the final

MochiCheeks: ROKI DONT MAKE ME LOOSE MY SHIT

MochiCheeks: aoyama givin me a funky look

#1AllMightStan: please more like Kacchans upset about being paired with me

#1AllMightStan: he looks like he’s about to throw down with All Might AND me

LegsLegs is online.

LegsLegs: You guys! You’re supposed to be watching and studying our classmates before it’s your own turns for the exam!

MochiCheeks: dekus in a crisis

LegsLegs: Hes always in a crisis.

#1AllMightStan: betrayed by the mom friend

TheNewBestie: me watching Midoriya look at Bakugo every .5 seconds

#1AllMightStan: TODOROKI

LegsLegs: Pay attention you guys! You can learn from the others!

TheNewBestie: not Iida being a little hypocritical

LegsLegs: You’re on thin ice, Todoroki.

TheNewBestie: ???

TheNewBestie: I can just make more ice???

MochiCheeks: if aoyama tries to take a peek at my phone one more damn time

#1AllMightStan: say click take a pic

MochiCheeks: is that fucking go diego go

TheNewBestie: me watching Bakugo glance down at Midoriyas phone every time he gets a notification from us

#1AllMightStan: TODOROKI STOP STARING

#1AllMightStan: I CANT BREATHE HES STANDING RIGHT BEHIND ME

MochiCheeks: rip deku-death by gay panic

TheNewBestie: he’s tryna get a sneak peek

MochiCheeks: I love all our classmates dearly but holy shit it’d be chaos if they found this gc

TheNewBestie: 👀

MochiCheeks: 👀

LegsLegs: GUYS I WILL TAKE YOUR PHONES AWAY.

Kermit is online.

Kermit: things are getting a little wild at Caillous house

#1AllMightStan: Todoroki please come over here and pretend to talk to me about something I can’t breathe

LegsLegs: Midoriya this is no time for a crisis over Bakugo.

TheNewBestie: dw I’m on my way

LegsLegs: Why do I even bother.

TheNewBestie: help is on the way dear

#1AllMightStan: not Todoroki being Ms. Doubtfire

TheNewBestie: THE WAY BAKUGO GLARED WHEN I WALKED UP

MochiCheeks: IM SHITTING THAT WAS SO FUNNY

Kermit: is midoriya astral projecting

#1AllMightStan: my soul has left my body

MochiCheeks: TODOROKI WALKED UP AND STARTED EXPLAINING FNAF LORE AND I THINK DEKU FORGOT ABOUT HIS GAY PANIC

MochiCheeks: THE FEAR IN HIS EYES AS TODOROKI RAVES ABOUT THE MAN BEHIND THE SLAUGHTER

#1AllMightStan: ngl Micheal is kinda hot

TheNewBestie: right???

MochiCheeks: SOBBING AND THROWING UP

Kermit: she out here using her quirk a little too much

MochiCheeks: shush tsu

Kermit: this is a hate crime against me personally

TheNewBestie: the way Midoriya is simping for Monty now bc it’s basically Bakugo as an alligator

#1AllMightStan: and THAT was a hate crime against me personally

MochiCheeks: I love Roxy 🥴

TheNewBestie: I’m scared to say mine

#1AllMightStan: Freddy

Kermit: is it Freddy

MochiCheeks: i thought it was freddy?

TheNewBestie: it appears I’ve underestimated my own daddy issues

MochiCheeks: HA

LegsLegs: Do you guys have the slightest clue what’s going on right now?

TheNewBestie: Kirishima and Satou just got their shit rocked

LegsLegs: I would’ve worded it differently but okay.

Kermit: oh shit y’all me and Tokoyami are up

Kermit: wish me luck bitches

LegsLegs: Good luck, Tsuyu! We’ll be cheering you both on!

#1AllMightStan: you got this Asui!

MochiCheeks: GO TSU!!!

TheNewBestie: we believe in you guys

Kermit: goddamnit I thought at least one of you would say some stupid shit so I could laugh now I’m sobbing that was so wholesome

MochiCheeks: she out here like iida with the paragraph long message

Kermit: and the moment is ruined

Kermit: alr talk to you all later

Kermit is offline.

MochiCheeks: and then there were four…

#1AllMightStan: not me and Sho shimmying off

MochiCheeks: IM SOBBING BAKUGO LOOKS PISSED

#1AllMightStan: I can never go back over there now

#1AllMightStan: I think Kacchan heard me and Todoroki talking about how hot Freddy and Monty were 💀

TheNewBestie: Iida would be so proud to know we’re paying slightly more attention to this match

LegsLegs: It is only a slight improvement considering Uraraka is about to die from wheezing so much and Midoriya is just hiding behind you.

TheNewBestie: but we’re still watching

MochiCheeks: i heard iida exhale through his nose from all the way over here

#1AllMightStan: wait did Tsuyu vore the handcuffs

LegsLegs: MIDORIYA HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT VORE IS?!

#1AllMightStan: I could ask you the same Tenya Iida

LegsLegs: I don’t like this game.

#1AllMightStan: then stop playing

MochiCheeks: things are heating up

TheNewBestie: If I had a nickel for every time Bakugo glared at me for saying nice things about Midoriya I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it’s happened twice

#1AllMightStan: are you shitting my dick

LegsLegs: L. A. N. G. U. A. G. E

#1AllMightStan: why is it always me

LegsLegs: Because in contrast to how you act in real life, over the phone you are apparently a menace.

#1AllMightStan: don’t even act like you’re surprised

LegsLegs: I never said I was.

MochiCheeks: deku in real life 😊😳😣🤔😁

MochiCheeks: deku over the phone 🥴👹💀💃💃😎��🤬🥵

#1AllMightStan: WHY ARE THERE TWO DANCING EMOJIS

TheNewBestie: bc phone you would bust a move on tik tok with me and Uraraka

#1AllMightStan: if you guys want me to make a tik tok with you all you have to do is ask 😭

LegsLegs: GUYS PAY ATTENTION.

MochiCheeks: YALL

MochiCheeks: TSU :D

#1AllMightStan: omg you guys did so good!

LegsLegs: Good sportsmanship, but please pay more attention to the next couple rounds.

LegsLegs: Me and Ojiro are up next, I trust you three will behave without me supervising.

TheNewBestie: We make no promises

LegsLegs: If you could hear how loud my disappointed sigh was right now.

LegsLegs: Alright I’m off, wish me luck.

MochiCheeks: good luck iida!!!

#1AllMightStan: You got this Iida!

TheNewBestie: woooo

LegsLegs: Thank you for the enthusiasm Todoroki.

TheNewBestie: You’re welcome

LegsLegs is offline.

MochiCheeks: alr, maybe we just put our phones away until after our rounds so we don’t make dad angry?

#1AllMightStan: agreed lmao

TheNewBestie: my fate is sealed anyway based on the look Bakugo is giving me but sure

TheNewBestie: the more time to talk about fnaf the better

#1AllMightStan: oh no

MochiCheeks is offline.

#1AllMightStan: URARAKA

#1AllMightStan: COME BACK

TheNewBestie: and then there were two

#1AllMightStan: sobbing crying throwing up

#1AllMightStan is offline.

TheNewBestie is offline.

#bnha #dkbk #bakudeku #izuku midoriya #shoto todoroki #tenya lida #fanfic #mha #mha fanfiction #ochako uraraka #tsuyu asui

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staysuki · 3 years ago

Text

(2) Out Of My League | k.sm fic

➼ genre: fluff, angst, enemies to lovers (sorta) ➼ warnings: angst? mild profanities, slight physical aggression, reader is a tad bit annoying, mild slutshaming(?), seungmin is kinda an asshole ➼ disclaimer: this does not reflect the real life personalities of the Stray Kids members that will appear in this fic ➼ word count: 2.6k ➼ pairing: popular girl!reader x nerd!seungmin (reader is not a mean girl, dw!) ➼ setting: first year college

PREV | MASTERLIST | NEXT

CHAPTER TWO

UGHHHHH

The deadline for the project was growing near and your patience was thinning alongside it. It just so happened that Mr. Park oh-so-conveniently decided that he won’t be conducting lectures for the remaining weeks of the semester so we could focus on our final writing project and our major subjects’ finals— what an awful timing to be considerate. Now you have zero classes shared with him where you can hopefully corner him to let you help on the project.

You were stumped. Utterly annoyed at how some guy you’ve never even talked to before somehow made you desperate for him— and not in the way that you liked. But as you walked around the halls, a sudden lightbulb appeared over your head.

Yes, you’re in college. Yes, things are different from high school. But if there’s one thing that never changes, it’s the social hierarchy. Sure, it isn’t as apparent as it was in high school, but the judgement and the impression is still there. Vague, subtle, but still there. How else would’ve Seungmin assumed your entire personality if not for that fact? You always made sure that you looked more than decent every day so you were sure that the baseline for his statement was because you didn’t look like the typical zombie student.

You found yourself making a beeline towards the one person who knew could help you.

“Ah! If it isn’t Y/N! What brings you to our side of the campus?” A boy greeted with a lively smile from the university’s student newspaper office and you couldn’t help but smile back.

“Good to see you, Mark! I have a favor.” You stepped towards his desk, looking down on him as you watched him work on this month’s headlines.

If there’s anything about anyone within the university you wanted to know about, Mark Lee was the man to approach. Because he’s the head of the newspaper department, he has had the luxury of talking to the majority of the students at the school. If not him, he has his members to do it for him, and if all else falls short, he always has a way of charming faculty and students alike to get the information he needs. It helps that he has this ability to retain every piece of information he comes across— storing it in organized file drawers in his brain ready to be pulled out when needed— too bad such a skill doesn’t translate to his actual studies though.

But he was truly a terrifying man, you were glad to be on his good side, having had the privilege of befriending him before classes start during the university's orientations.

“Straight to the point, are we?”

“I don’t have the privilege of dilly-dallying anymore.”

“Whelp, can’t really say no to my favorite girl.” He shoots you a playful wink which made you roll your eyes at him, “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I’m looking for Kim Seungmin.”

“Ah. Quite rare to see you be the one pining for a guy.” He says, genuine surprise on his face.

“What? No! I need him for a project and I haven’t been able to see him since last week! Deadlines are nearing!” Your face scrunched up in disgust at the thought of you chasing Kim Seungmin for romantic reasons. He was cute, sure, but it wasn’t enough to make up for his personality. “That little rat is so good at getting away from my reach. Jisung is his roommate, you know? And I still couldn’t get a hold of him!”

“I’d sympathize with you if it wasn’t so funny but sure, I can help you out with that—”

“You’re a lifesaver!” Your eyes twinkled in adoration at the man in front of you.

“—only if you promise to get me coffee.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

You knew Mark Lee wouldn’t do anything for anyone without something in return, you were honestly lucky that it was just coffee.

Your steps moved with languid determination as you headed straight for the library, weaving past bookshelves to land upon a secret area in the library— a hidden space that used to be for silent group project meetings or club endeavors, but was now replaced by people coming for not-so-innocent ones. And for Kim Seungmin, using it as a hiding spot from his project partner.

You watch as the rays of the sun beams down on the silent man’s sleeping figure that was sitting down on the window’s reading nook, an open book propped over his chest signifying that he fell asleep while reading. If you didn’t know about him, you’d think that he’s a lovely person— his face relaxed away from his usual frown. It was quite endearing.

You shook your head away from the thoughts, your anger welling up inside you as you remembered how long it took for you to get to this point and why you even had to do so. You stepped towards his spot near the window, not bothering to silence your steps. As your shadow loomed over him, his eyes slowly fluttered open as he felt a presence appear by his side. You continued to stare down at him until he gathered back his senses from his previous unconscious state— which was, if you were being honest, a lame excuse for wanting to just observe more of his face in a closer look.

“W-what are you doing here?”

You narrowed your eyes at him, expressing displeasure, “What do you think?”

He just stares at you blankly, his previous dumbfounded expression replaced with a cold one that you were now more than familiar with. You groaned in frustration, “Come on, Seungmin. I have no idea what you think about me and how you even assumed my personality in the first place but don’t you think my perseverance in looking for you this past week trumps that fact? How can you still even think that I’m not willing to work with you when I’ve literally stalked you for a week now just so we could do this together?” Your voice came out in a whine, releasing your pent up frustration on him in one go.

On the other hand, the boy tried his best not to roll his eyes at your childish demeanor. How you subconsciously stomp your feet to express yourself and how you pout as you complain. It makes him feel like he both wants to coddle you and ruin you.

“I have club today.” He said with a sigh as he stood up from his corner and walked past you.

“Yah! Kim Seungmin! You’re despicable, you know that?” You exclaimed as you followed him from behind, the librarian shushing you as you both rounded the corner. This earned you a glare from Seungmin.

“See? You’re already dragging me down with you.” Your face was red with anger at this point. “Besides, I know you’ve done worse.”

You really didn’t understand why he despised you so much. You believe that you’re different from the high school you and have grown past the way you used to act with immaturity. Not that he would even know about it, you guys weren’t from the same school…. Right?

But you didn’t promise to get Mark Lee some coffee just to be shunned again so you follow Seungmin like a lost puppy, trying your best to catch up to his long strides. He tried his best to shake you off his tail but to no avail.

As he stood in front of the door to the Book Club, he turned to face you, irritation in his expression, “Non-club members aren’t allowed inside.”

You bit your cheek in thought, about to shrug with a rebuttal when the door opened, a man peeking his head from behind, “Ah! I knew I heard Seungmin’s voice— oh? Do you have company?”

Jackpot.

“No.”

“Yes!” You both answered at the same time, making the man show a confused expression.

“Well… you see.. I was hoping to check out the book club and wanted to see if someone could show me around. But Seungmin didn’t want to.” You batted your eyelashes at the guy as you pouted— your voice dripping in a drawled out whine as you reached your hand to touch his arm lightly. Beside you, you could see Seungmin’s face contorted in disgust.

“Oh well, we actually have some activities today—” He answered, Seungmin shooting you a triumphant smirk as your face fell, “—but you can make yourself at home and watch us, see if you like the club! We’re always happy to welcome new members!”

Now it was your turn to give him a smug look as the guy held the door wider for you to come in, brushing past Seungmin as you did so.

“You don’t have to say yes to her.” Seungmin fought, not giving up but the guy just shook his head.

“Club leader makes the calls, you know. What’s your name, by the way?” He asked, offering a handshake.

“I’m Y/N.” You say with a sly smile as you took his hands to shake it.

“I’m Jaemin.”

“Well, Jaemin, I really appreciate this. It’s nice to meet you.” You tilted your head, looking up at him as you made sure to slowly slide his hand from yours, elongating the skinship. You didn’t really have to continue the act anymore since you already got what you wanted but with Seungmin watching your every move, you felt a certain power as you made him see just how you can get whatever you wanted, seeing him fume in your peripheral.

“L-Likewise, come have a seat.” You saw a subtle blush in Jaemin’s cheeks, probably a sign that he was one to be surrounded with books rather than dates. Seungmin rolled his eyes at the doorway, bumping into you before taking a seat inside. Jaemin just threw you a sheepish smile, probably used to Seungmin's attitude.

The whole club hour was spent with you just sitting beside Jaemin in their book club circle as they talked about whatever book of the week it is that they finished and you’d exaggeratedly giggle whenever Jaemin makes a joke about a book reference— although you know nothing about it. Seungmin who was sitting directly across both of you seemed to stare daggers due to the disturbance and the fact that every male member of the club seemed to be enamored by your presence.

“So, Y/N, do you think you’re interested enough to join?” The club leader asks as he escorts you out the room after their session.

“Well.. I think I’m gonna have to pay another visi—” You felt a harsh tug on your arm as you were dragged away from Jaemin, a look of surprise on both of your faces as you whipped around to see a very angry Seungmin deadset on pulling you away from the scene.

“Yah! Kim Seungmin! What is your problem?!” You tried to tug yourself free but was surprised at his unexpected strength as he barely even flinched at your force, still keeping a constant brisk pace. Still, you kept fighting against him at every step despite the meaninglessness of the action.

Now, other students actually throw a double take at your state, probably the oddest scene they’ve seen this entire semester.

You swear you could see every vein popping from Seungmin’s neck as he tried to control his temper with your incessant whining. You barely registered the pain on your back as a loud thump rang in your ear from Seungmin’s hand hitting the wall behind you— caging you in place, his other arm still gripping your other arm and you were certain that bruises were definitely in place. It was then that you noticed that you’d arrived in a desolate area of the campus, the two of you being the only students in this corner of the empty hallway.

“W-what?” You squeaked out, intimidated under his presence. Your heart was beating so fast and you weren’t sure whether it was because of his anger or because his face was inches from yours. Probably both.

“When are you going to stop being such a pain in the ass?” He hissed, trying to control his temper as he did his best not to shout.

“I just wanted to—”

“Just wanted to what? Make my life a living hell again!?” You felt small under his glare, and the proximity wasn’t helping either. His face was etched in a constant frown but you couldn’t miss the adorable pout in his lips that he probably doesn’t realize he’s doing, or his catty eyes that were both precious and intimidating, with pretty eyelashes that match. You could probably stare at his face all day. You were so distracted by his face that a very telling detail from his outburst flew over your head entirely at the moment— and you weren't sure if he was doing it on purpose.

“...Cute..”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

Your eyes widened in shock, not realizing that you’d said that out loud, “No, I meant—”

His sigh made you shut up, his hot breath fanning your face as you saw his face starting to lean down. Your eyes closed shut, anticipating what was gonna happen next— why aren’t you stopping it? Why are you closing your eyes? Stupid y/n!

“Can you, please, just leave me alone?” Your eyes opened as you felt his voice in a low whisper in your ear. You turned your head, seeing him leaning on his arm over the wall, your faces even closer now but his eyes were shut tight in frustration.

Your insides were mixed with various emotions— confusion, anger, frustration, butterflies, guilt, etc.

“If you let me help on our project then I’ll be out of your hair for good. I-I promise.”

You see him contemplate this beside you, biting his cheek as he stares down in your eyes. You’re sure that there was no meaning behind his gaze but the intensity of it made your knees turn to jelly, and if he didn’t step back soon, you’d turn to putty underneath him.

You inhaled a sharp breath as he grabbed you by the jaw, turning your face upwards to face him even more. “You’re such a brat, you know that?”

You couldn’t answer.

“What? I thought you were supposed to be good at manipulating guys? Cat got your tongue?” He gripped even harder his face glinting with sadistic mirth, you gripped the front of his long sleeve in return, but you couldn’t find the strength to push him away.

Kim Seungmin got you wrapped around his finger with just a single stare.

Soon enough he let go, stepping back to give you space as he walked away, leaving you speechless at the corner, your heart threatening to beat out of its chest.

With that encounter, both of you have built a new motive in your mind that the other wasn’t aware of.

You wanted to know why Seungmin hated you so much.

And Seungmin wanted to make sure he’d keep you submissive under him.

A/N: finally back to writing after a very stressful mental health break! can't wait for this to progress <3

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#out of my league #kim seungmin #ficscafe #reader x seungmin #seungmin #seungmin fic #kim seungmin fic #skz fic #stray kids

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milfgritty · 6 years ago

Text

i’ll be good pt. nine | j. hughes & t. zegras

❀ ⇢ requested: yes | no ❀ ⇢ word count: 2.6K ❀ ⇢ a/n: i can’t believe the end of this series is finally here. this has been my longest series to date and to actually finish it is just insane. i might end up posting a bonus part/epilogue but idk yet. anyway, i just want to say thank you to everyone who has followed i’ll be good and i couldn’t be more amazed by the positive feedback it’s gotten. i hope this ending doesn’t disappoint!

having a crush on one person was confusing enough. now throw in one of their teammates and you weren’t sure where that left you anymore.

⇢ posted: 05.11.19 . | . masterlist prev. | next.

“We’re going out for a bit, want to come?”

Rolling over, you shifted the covers down far enough to look at your mom. You pondered the decision for a few seconds, staring at her head peeking in through the cracked door.

“I think I’m gonna stay here,” you told her, words muffled.

She hesitated in the doorway before sighing. “We’ll bring back food,” she smiled sadly, retreating and closing the door behind her.

Letting out a sigh, you burrowed back into the blankets. You were grateful that she was being so understanding, but that didn’t stop you from wishing it wasn’t necessary in the first place.

Closing your eyes, you fought back a fresh wave of tears at the thought. How long was it going to hurt like this? Why weren’t you enough for him?

You groaned loudly, cutting off your train of thought. Distantly, you registered the sound of the front door being closed signaling that you were alone. Shifting again, you stared up at your ceiling blankly. You could probably go back to sleep for another few hours—it was the weekend so you didn’t have to worry—

Your phone buzzed on your nightstand. Head falling to the side to stare at it, you debated if you even wanted to see who texted you. Why bother, you know? Like, did you really want to talk to anyone right now?

Not particularly, but curiosity won out as you stretched your arm to grab the offending object. Settling onto your side, you winced at who it was that sent it. It wasn’t that you were embarrassed that he was the one you called and cried on the phone to—

Wait—no. That’s exactly what it was.

Yea, he comforted you and said that it was fine but what else was he supposed to say? Blowing out a harsh breath, you decided to get it over with.

‘where are you? we need to talk’

Heart seizing up at the phrasing, you slowly typed out a reply.

‘at home in bed. family’s out rn. why do we have to talk??’

God, you hope this wasn’t him telling you that you couldn’t be friends anymore or some shit like that. One guy dumping you was enough heartbreak; you didn’t need another one adding to it.

‘nothing bad dw is it cool if i come over?’

You tried to ignore the way your heart sped up. Sending back a reply telling him that it was okay, you found the energy to get out of bed for the first time all day. Managing the bare minimum of your usual morning routine was nothing short of an accomplishment, no matter how sad the fact was.

It was only the thought of not wanting Jack to see you as a complete mess that got you going, but still. Progress.

After unlocking the door and sending Jack a text letting him know to just walk in—because what can go wrong there, right?—you made your way back upstairs.

Flopping down onto your bed, you sullenly scrolled through a few different apps to calm your nerves. Seriously, who tells a girl who literally just got broken up with that they need to talk? What do they need to talk about? In person?

The entire thing wasn’t giving you the best of feelings, but whatever. Might as well get some more bad news when you’re already down.

Right as you were finally calming down, Jack sent you a text saying that he was only a few minutes away.

Great, this was going to go great. Totally fine.

Oh god, was he gonna make a move? It hadn’t occurred to you but if he did—

No. No, he wouldn’t. That would be a whole new level of shitty. And even if he did, you weren’t going to just jump into things with him. That’d be so bad. No, new rule. Teammates are off limits.

Actually, hockey players in general. Who needs them? And dating? Not you, that’s for sure.

So lost in your thoughts, you nearly had a heart attack when the door downstairs opened.

“Y/N?” Jack’s voice yelled.

Cursing under your breath, you forced to calm down. “Bedroom,” you called back, pulling your legs up to sit cross-legged.

Fingers fidgeting, your breathing sped up before you worked on calming down again. You listened as Jack made his way upstairs—why did it sound like two pairs of—?

“Hey,” Jack appeared in your doorway, offering you a nervous smile.

You returned the greeting, tilting your head. “So what exactly did we need to talk about in person?”

“Uh, yea. You see, it isn’t just us that need to talk,” he trailed off, watching you with wide apologetic eyes.

Not understanding, you were about to ask when he stepped into the room. The words died in your throat when another figure stepped into sight.

“What the hell,” you sputtered, a whirlwind of emotions exploding inside of you at the sight of your bo—ex-boyfriend.

At least they both had the decency to look shamefaced, you mused to yourself as you sprung up off your bed.

“What the hell,” you repeated, unsure on who to round on.

“I told you this was a bad idea.”

You spun toward Trevor at the sound of his voice, ignoring how despondent it was and how your heart felt like it was breaking all over again. But then his words registered and you were marching at Jack.

“Wha—you brought him here?” you demanded, betrayal clear as day in your voice.

He backed away, hands in the air until he hit your dresser. “We need to talk about everything,” he tried, eyes wide in fear.

Pushing down the hurt, you shook your head bitterly.

“What’s there to talk about? He–“ you gestured at Trevor who had taken an awkward stance “–broke up with me. There’s nothing to talk about. And since there’s nothing to talk about, I want both of you out.”

“Y/N, stop,” Jack pleaded, grabbing ahold of your hands. “You and I both know there’s a lot we need to talk about—shit we should’ve just talked about a while ago.”

“We all fucked up,” Trevor cut in before you could respond. Going quiet, you refused to look at him and swallowed roughly. “And everything got out hand. I found out about you and Jack almost kissing and instead of just talking to you, I thought it would be better for all of us if I broke up with you—don’t look at me like that, I know it wasn’t the best idea now.”

A snort left you against your will, a small smile gracing your features before you caught yourself. “Yea, it was a pretty shit idea, man. You should’ve seen that,” Jack interjected quickly, shrugging innocently at Trevor’s glare but flashing you a smile when he heard your quiet laugh.

“I never claimed I had good ideas, okay?” Trevor attempted—maybe?—to defend himself.

“Can say that again,” you muttered under your breath, sniggering with Jack who heard your comment.

“Rude.” Trevor pointed at you in offense. Brought back to reality, you plopped yourself down on your bed.

“We really do need to talk about everything, don’t we?” you sighed, looking up at them. They nodded in agreement, turning to find chairs to sit down in.

Jack managed to lay claim to your desk chair. Trevor, given the option of the other side of your bed and your sad old beanbag, found himself practically on the floor.

“Be serious, man,” Jack mock scolded Trevor as the latter squirmed in the near flat beanbag. A laugh left you as Trevor flipped him off, and then yet another when you had to look all the way down to see him.

“Dicks,” Trevor mumbled, ignoring both of you as he finished settling into his bag.

“Now that that’s out of the way, where do we even start?” you voiced the unsaid question.

The boys exchanged glances and hesitated. “I don’t know,” Jack said quietly, slumping down.

“Great,” you nodded sarcastically, earning yourself a glare and laugh. The three of you sobered quickly after, realizing that none of you actually knew where to begin.

“I’m just gonna start by saying that before I even asked Y/N out, I seriously had no idea you liked her,” Trevor spoke to Jack before turning to face you. “I did know, though, that you liked him. Which—admittedly—wasn’t great, but still.”

Shaking your head, you tried to wrap your head around that. “That makes no sense. Why ask someone out if you know they like someone else? That’s like setting yourself up for failure.”

Trevor shrugged in response, reasoning, “Spencer is a good hype man.”

Closing your mouth, you nodded. He had a point.

“My thing is,” Jack leaned forward, peering up at you, “why did you agree to go out with Trevor if you liked me?”

Clearing your throat, you resisted the urge to blush. “Right before that, I heard you and the guys talking about some hot girl that gave you her number. After so long of you not making a move, that was just the last straw I guess. I was leaving, thinking about how it was time to move on and then Trevor asked me out and—well.” Ending your words with a shrug, you winced at how bad it sounded when put like that.

“You only went out from me to move on from Jack?” Trevor asked, hurt creeping into his voice. Jack leaned back into his chair, falling silent.

Meeting Trevor’s eyes, you shook your head rapidly. “No! It played a part, yea, but I wouldn’t have said yes if I didn’t think I could actually like you. You looked all cute and flustered when you asked me and I just—it dawned on me that if I wasn’t hung up on Jack, I probably would’ve liked you for a while at that point.”

Talking about it like this was more than a little embarrassing, especially since you could feel Jack’s gaze on the side of your face.

“And if you’ve liked me for so long, why were you talking about how you were going to call that ‘hot chick’?” you turned it back on Jack, the question having bugged you since you found out Jack liked you.

Eyes going wide, Jack sputtered. “I said I was kidding! That she wasn’t my type, because you’re my type—not the you’re my type part obviously but—didn’t I say that right after the guys calmed down?” He directed the last question at Trevor, putting him on the spot this time.

Trevor went quiet for a second before answering. “I think? I can’t remember, right around then Spencer came in to tell me Y/N was leaving.”

“Spencer was the one who told you I was leaving—?”

“Wait, how did you know I’ve liked you for ‘so long’? I never told you that I actually liked you,” Jack questioned, talking over you.

“I think almost kissing someone is a pretty clear sign you like them, Jack,” Trevor told him condescendingly. Jack rolled his eyes at him, kicking him lightly, before looking back at you.

Avoiding his gaze, you found a sudden interest in your shirt. “I might have overheard the two of you fighting that night you spilled your drink on me,” you mumbled, pursing your lips.

“You did?”

“Oh god,” Jack groaned, covering his face with his hands as Trevor choked.

“Yea.” You drug the word out, grimacing. “Not your best moment, either of you.”

“Is that why you avoided us the first time?” Trevor asked, his head angled to the side. You nodded, confirming his suspicion.

Jack’s sudden laughter startled you. “This is why we communicate, kids,” he said between gasps for air. A snort left you and soon enough you were all laughing at how bad the three of you really are at handling shit.

After your amusement died down, Trevor brought up a valid point.

“What are we doing now?” he asked, glancing up between the two of you. “I mean, we know where we went wrong and all of that, but where does that leave us?”

The question everything came back to, it seemed.

“I still don’t know,” you admitted, darting your tongue out to wet your lips.

Quiet dawned over you again, contemplative and unsure. All of you lost in thought about what happens next.

“You know what? I don’t care what happens as long as I get to be around you,” Jack shrugged. At your curious gaze, he elaborated.

“It’s been too long of constant drama. I just miss being able to talk to you and be your friend.”

“Lame,” Trevor didn’t even bother to hide his whisper. Jack rolled his eyes, flipping him off. You rolled your eyes at the both of them. You missed their antics and agreed with him, saying as much.

“I think we should start over,” you told them, bouncing your leg.

Their heads snapped toward you, forgetting about their bickering. “What do you mean?” Trevor asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Jack mirrored his expression, staring intently at you.

You sucked in a deep breath, trying to figure out how to word it. After a second, you started, “Obviously, even from the beginning, this wasn’t the healthiest relationship if that’s what you want to call it. There was always something holding someone back or coming in the way of things. I think we should just forget everything. Let everything be in the past and start anew. As friends or some sort of weird in between—I don’t care. I’ve just missed both of you a lot and don’t want to lose either of you over something so stupid.”

You couldn’t get through it while looking at them. Your gaze had shifted down to your fidgeting hands at some point. After you finished, they stayed quiet taking in your words.

“I’m okay with that,” Jack said finally, causing your head to snap up. He met your eyes with a soft grin, reassuring your nerves. Your gaze slipped down to a still silent Trevor, anxiously awaiting his response.

He looked up after a few seconds to see the two of you staring at him. “Oh! Yea, I’m cool with that. As long as we’re good and not ignoring each other anymore, I’m fine.”

Letting out a laugh, you shook your head. Relief washed over you, resulting in a goofy smile taking residence on your face. “Great,” you told them.

“See, this all worked out because I cornered you in your bedroom,” Jack told Trevor, standing up and making his way to your bed.

“Wait—you what?” you asked, vaguely noticing Trevor having difficulty getting up and out of the beanbag. He kicked at Jack, waving his hands in the air.

“Yea well this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t kissed my girlfriend,” Trevor shot back at him as he pulled him up.

You stared up at them, trying to get an answer from one of them. Jack pushed you over, sliding down on your left while Trevor took a spot on your right.

“You cornered him—?”

“Get over it already, that was so last week,” Jack ignored you, tugging you down beside him. Trevor snagged one of your hands, lacing your fingers together. Your heart soared at the familiar gesture and you let yourself be maneuvered.

The bed barely big enough for all three of you, you tried again.

“What’s up with you and cornering people in their rooms?”

The boys bursting into laughter at your genuine confusion on each side of you, you found yourself smiling widely.

This is good, you thought to yourself.

Everything is good.

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