#(probably stickering over the lights when not wanting to be able to be tracked after in the dark etc)

[godzexperiment]

nix has no clue about light up sneakers, you know how mesmerized he would be by them? he would find them so cool and genuinely be like 'maybe it's an bit of an silly human invention but i love it so much'

[maybe-theres-hope]

Tarlos Fic - Dinner Date

3.2k | T | Warnings: Blood, Injuries (mostly minor) | Contains: Judd/Carlos friendship, Tarlos being perfect, blue Camaro (rip)

Read on AO3

“So, what are your plans for the night?” Nancy asked as they exited the ambulance, their shift nearly over as long as the bell didn’t go off in the next ten minutes. 

TK smiled to himself for a moment before he spoke. “Well, Carlos is taking me to Jeffrey’s, so…”

“Holy mother,” Nancy breathed, looking at him with obvious envy. “Do you guys have a ten year anniversary or something coming up? Did he get some kind of commendation at work? Because I know your last one was like a month ago, so.”

“No, no anniversary, that’s in a couple of months. And its three years, Nance.” He chose to ignore her muttering about their mushiness ‘aging me ten years’. “And nothing from work that I know of. Maybe he just loves me?” TK couldn’t stop grinning while they stocked the bus and readied for the handover. 

“He loves you crap ton! Their wagyu strip steak is a hundred and twenty-five dollars!” Nancy had her phone out, obviously googling the menu. 

“Well at least we’ll save money on wine,” TK said with a chuckle.

“I’ve heard of the place by reputation but like, dude, who ever gets the chance to actually go there?”

“TK it seems,” Tommy cut in. “Why don’t you go on? We got it here and you’re gonna need at least an hour to pick out an outfit.”

“And gel your hair. You and your dad are way more alike than you want to admit,” Nancy added with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. You sure, Cap? I can stay and help?”

“I’m sure, kiddo. Go get dolled up for your man. Eat a few bites for us, yeah?” Tommy yelled at his retreating figure. She and Nancy looked at each other with grins as they caught the little skip in his step. 

“So, what do you think the occasion is?”

Tommy looked back at Nancy with a gleam in her eye. “I can wager a guess, but I don’t want to jinx it.” Nancy just gave her a look and went back to restocking.

--

Around 8 p.m., Owen was sitting in his office toying with his phone in his hand, smiling at his last text exchange. 

we’re just leaving the house now, wish me luck!

you’re not gonna need it, kid :)

“Not if I know my son anyway,” Owen said aloud to the empty room. He wondered if it’d happened yet. No incoherent string of emoji’s from TK yet, so he doubted it. 

He was shoving the phone back into his pocket with the bell went off. 

--

“Alright guys,” Owen said into the mic from the Captain’s chair. “Dispatch says three vehicles involved, two still on the road and one went over the side into the ravine. Police are on their way but we’ll probably beat ‘em there. Strickland, Marwani, soon as we get there I want you to harness up and get down in that ravine. Judd, you too. You’ll be in command down there and I’ll stay up top with the other two vehicles. Everybody else you’re with me, got it?”

A chorus of “Copy that, Cap,” and suddenly they were on the scene. 

--

“Marjan, Paul, we’re goin’ down!” Judd called to them as the rest of the crew went over to the silver Prius and black Mazda that were crumpled in the middle of the two-lane highway. Judd wasn’t a prayin’ man, but he sent up a little something to the man upstairs that this went their way. It looked bad. 

Paul arrived at his side first, strapped into his gear. “Marjan’s grabbing the bag from the truck, she’s coming.” 

“Alright. We’ll go down this way,” Judd said, pointing to a safe-ish stretch of hillside. “Can’t see the other car from here but dispatch said bystanders saw it go over. Probably just hidden in the trees.”

“Okay guys, let’s do this!” Marjan called, harnessed and carrying the medical bag and a backboard. “TK’s gonna be sad he missed this. Medical doesn’t get to harness up a lot and I know he loved it. He coulda helped.”

“Nah, he’s got better things tonight. Carlos was takin’ him to Jeffrey’s,” Paul said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“Ohh, fancy,” Marjan said with a smile. “What’s the occasion?”

They’d reached the bottom and were starting to look through the brush and low-hanging trees for a vehicle. 

“Don’t know,” Paul answered. “But I think Cap’s in on it somehow.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” Judd cut in as he whacked a few branches out of his way. “Carlos came by the station a few weeks ago, and they sat up in Cap’s office for an hour before he left grinnin’ like a possum eatin’ a sweet tater.” 

“I have no idea what that means,” Paul said with a laugh. 

“Hey guys, look!” Marjan called from a few yards to the left. The other two went to her position and saw what she’d found. A track in the underbrush where it had been torn at and flattened. “Think this is the place.”

“Let’s go,” said Judd. They followed the path through the brush for a couple of yards before they caught sight of it: taillights. “Alright, Marjan you go on the passenger side, I got the driver. Paul you see if you can clear some of that brush off the back in case the doors are jammed and we gotta get ‘em out that’a way.”

Visibility was still low despite the lights of the car and their flashlights, but as they approached they saw the car wrapped around the trunk of a tree on the passenger side. “I don’t know if I can get in there, Judd, but I’ll try,” Marjan said as she broke out into a jog.

“Wait!” Paul cried. Judd looked over at him, and he would have said such a thing couldn’t happen to a calm and collected person like Paul, but his face had gone ashen. “That’s Carlos’s car,” he said on a breath. 

“What?” In the dark, now that he was really looking, he could see they were coming up on—what used to be—a blue Camaro. 

“I’m sure of it. TK bullied him into putting that sticker on the back because he said it was too pristine and it needed personality.” He shone his flashlight at the rear bumper and sure enough, there was a SXSW sticker half ripped off from the path the car had taken to get there. 

“Come on,” Judd said, heart rate kicking up.

“Should we call Cap?” Paul asked.

“No, we stay down here and do our jobs, and he stays up there and does his. We’ll get ‘em.” His voice sounded numb even to his own ears, but he was determined. 

“They were on their way to dinner,” Paul said lowly.

“Yeah, probably takin’ the backroads to avoid traffic,” Judd said, shaking his head. Fate was hell sometimes.

When they reached the car, Marjan was yelling. “TK! TK can you hear me?” She turned to Judd. “I can’t get in there. The tree trunk is halfway into the car, probably pinning him to the console. He’s unresponsive.” Her face was also pale, but determined. 

Judd went to the driver’s side and saw Carlos, head hanging to the side facing the broken window. He tried the door as he called out. “Carlos? Hey Carlos, come on buddy. Can you hear me?” The door wouldn’t budge; Judd figured the car had rolled a couple of times coming down the hill, crumpling it like a tin can. Then he heard a soft groan.

He looked up, and one of Carlos’s eyes was trying to open. The other was swollen shut, where he’d probably hit his head on the steering wheel before the airbag deployed. Half his face had burn marks from it. 

“Hey, hey Carlos, look at me, that’s it.” That one eye tracked around before it landed on Judd, drawn to the light of the flashlight on his helmet. “Hey man. We’re gonna get you out okay? Now, can you move your fingers and toes for me?” Judd stuck his head into the window to see down in the floor boards. “Alright, likely no spinal damage. How’s your head?”

“Hurts. Shoulder, too.” His voice was barely audible. 

“Okay, it looks like you dislocated it,” Judd said as he prodded his left shoulder. “I don’t see anything broken but we’ll have to get you out to determine that.”

“TK—“ a wheeze, “TK…first. Been out…a while.”

Judd peered over to the passenger side, where TK was shoved almost fully into the center console, head laid back on the headrest and his face covered in blood. Marjan and Paul were still hard at work outside trying to clear a path into the car. 

“We can’t get to his side just yet, but we can get you out first and then we’ll be able to pull him out this way, okay? We wanna focus on you right now.”

“Alive.”

“Yeah, you’re alive, Carlos. You’re not gonna leave us yet,” he said as he assessed the door panels where they could cut through with the saws they brought. 

“No. TK. Weak, but…alive,” Carlos breathed out, coughing through the end.

“We’ll make sure he’s alive, okay?” Judd said, trying not to lose his professionalism at this whole messed up situation.

“He is.” Judd stopped looking around and looked back at Carlos. The man raised his right hand just as much as he was able, showing where he had two fingers on TK’s radial pulse. 

“Good, that’s good Carlos,” Judd assured him. That meant Carlos had had some minutes of consciousness after the accident before they showed up. “Was he talking at all? After you hit the tree?”

“Little. Minutes, maybe.”

“That’s good, that’ll help. Alright Carlos, we’re gonna get this door off so I’m gonna cover you with this while we do okay?” Judd waited for a small nod before he covered Carlos’s face and torso with his own turnout coat. 

After an agonizing four minutes, the door popped off in a shower of metal and broken glass. Judd removed the coat and went back in to assess. “Carlos? How you doin’?”

“Tired. But won’t…sleep. Promise. That’s bad.”

“You learn a few things from your Paramedic boyfriend?” Judd said with a watery smile.

“Mmm.”

“Judd, I got the back cleared. Maybe we can get in there to at least check TK’s vitals,” Paul informed them. 

“Get on it, I’ma try to get Carlos here out onto this backboard. Marjan, radio for another backboard and have two RA’s ready to go topside!”

“Copy that!” Judd had to admire those two. They never let their professionalism slip too far, though he could see they were worried sick. He could relate. He wouldn’t relax until both of the boys were back up the hill and on the way to the hospital.

From the looks of things, maybe not even then. But he had hope.

“Alright, Carlos, I’m gonna grab your legs and behind your shoulders here and pull you out, okay? It’s gonna hurt like hell, but it’ll be quick.”

“Wait.”

Judd stopped cold.

“Left…pocket. Please.”

“You want me to get at your left pocket?” A nod. “Alright, hang on.”

Judd carefully shifted Carlos’s leg so he could reach into his slacks, which had probably been part of a very nice suit at the beginning of the night. His fingers searched until they hit a small bump, an object no bigger than a baseball, soft velvet over a hard shell. He sucked his lips between his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as he pulled it free in his hand. 

“Keep it…safe…for me?”

Judd looked down at the little black box for a moment, then clutched it tight in his hand before transferring it one of the innermost pockets of his turnout. 

“Of course, man. I will guard this with my life.” He looked up and saw Marjan coming back with another backboard. “Alright, buddy. It’s go time.”

Carlos gave a weak nod and winced when Judd started to pull. 

--

“Welcome back, man. You had us worried there for a bit.”

Carlos opened his good eye to see Judd sitting at his bedside, smiling softly. It took a moment to remember where he was. Hospital. Accident. Tree.

“TK—“

“Is fine. Banged up and will need crutches for a few weeks, not to mention a killer headache with no meds, but he’s fine. All things considered.”

“Where is he?”

“On his way, so you just stay put, okay? You’re pretty banged up, too, ya’know.”

Carlos shifted a bit and winced. His left arm was in a sling, his head bandaged over his left eye, and his right side hurt like hell.

“Broken rib when the tree went into TK’s door, door went into TK, TK went into the console, then the console went into you. He’s got a femoral fracture in his right leg but like I said, all things considered, you’re both pretty well off for how far you fell and probably rolled.” 

“Yeah, he said his leg had gone numb but he could still move his toes. He made sense for about five minutes, then started talking all jumbled, then went quiet. I uh…freaked out a bit after that. I thought he had…” Carlos trailed off, looking haunted. 

“Yeah, and you kept your fingers on his pulse that whole time. What you were able to tell us at the scene helped us treat him. You did good, Carlos.”

“Not good enough to swerve in time,” he said.

“Not your fault. And don’t you dare go thinkin’ it is. I don’t wanna hear it, Carlos,” Judd said in what TK called his Dad Voice. Stern and no room for argument. Carlos just nodded. 

“And uh, hey. I been waitin’ to give this back to you.” Judd stood and walked over to the bed, holding out a tiny black box. Carlos took it and cradled it against his chest. “It better be a nice one, cuz I about had a heart attack while I was showerin’ thinkin’ someone was gonna come get my pile a’clothes and take ‘em to the laundry while I was gone.”

“You didn’t open it?”

“Nah, I figure the big reveal? TK deserves that all to himself.” 

“Owen’s seen it,” Carlos countered, smirking.

“Uh huh. He approve?”

Carlos laughed. “He whistled and said I spent too much.”

“To impress the Cap it must be a lot,” Judd said with a small whistle of his own.

“Well, what was it Michael Scott said? Three years’ salary?”

Judd’s eyes almost popped out of his head, and Carlos laughed harder before wincing again at his broken rib. “I’m kidding, Judd. But I can tell you, no matter the cost, TK deserves the best and that’s what I hope I got.”

“You gonna make another reservation? Soon as y’all get back into fightin’ shape?”

Carlos looked down at the box again for a moment, contemplating. “I…don’t think so.”

Judd had a confused expression on his face but at that moment, a nurse was wheeling TK into the room, followed by most of the 126. Carlos’s face lit up like starlight at the sight of him.

“Hey, babe,” TK said with a smile. His leg was in a full cast, so the nurse was careful in maneuvering him around to Carlos’s bedside. 

“Hey, I feel like you should be the one in bed! Why are you out and about?”

“Because you were still asleep and he’s an absolute menace. We made multiple apologies to the staff on his behalf for the last hour,” Owen said as he walked into the room behind his crew. “He’s a stubborn little shit. Always has been, always will be. You sure you’re up for that?” He asked knowingly. TK was still looking at Carlos, blushing at his dad’s ribbing. Carlos met his eyes and said, “Yes.” He blushed more. 

“In fact,” Carlos continued. “I’m ready to get started. I’ve waited too long anyway. I mean, how many times do you and I have to beat death before I get the nerve to do this?” He said, looking into TK’s beautiful eyes which were looking confused. 

“What are you talking about, babe?”

“Look, I’m sorry this didn’t go how I planned. And I’m sorry I can’t get down on one knee right now, but. I hope you love me enough not to mind.” He lifted his good arm, his hand holding out the box. “A little help, Judd?”

“It’d be an honor,” the man said before leaning in and opening the box, since Carlos only had one good arm. 

At the sight of the contents of the box, TK’s eyes went as big as saucers. Surprise was written clearly over every inch of his features, which were all still beautiful even scarred and stitched up as they were at the moment. God, Carlos loved this man so much. 

“Tyler Kennedy Strand, you are the love of my life. I tried so many different scenarios in my head of how this speech would go, before I just said screw it, I’ll speak from the heart. You’re kind, funny, sexy, sweet, and everything in between. You can’t boil water and you absolutely can’t properly separate laundry. I have a dozen pink shirts as proof of that.” At this, the gathered group chuckled and TK went bright red. “Ah, but you also know just how to ease the tension from a long day just by hugging me on the doorstep. And I can always count on you to be there for me when the world gets too much, when what we see out there creeps in too far. And I want you to know, that I want to be that for you too, for the rest of our lives. So, TK. Will you marry me?”

The room was silent, apart from the hum and beeps of the machines. Everyone on the edge of their proverbial seats, but no one having any doubt to the outcome. 

“Oh, my God! Of course I’ll marry you! Yes, yes! Yes!” The last was said through TK’s fingers covering his red face, hiding the few tears that had started to fall. He held out his left hand to Carlos, who Judd had kindly helped by removing the ring from its box and handing it back to him. He slid it over TK’s finger, smiling like an idiot the whole time, barely registering the whoops and hollers of the 126 throughout the room. 

He only had eyes for TK. 

“I love you,” TK breathed through his happy tears.

“I love you too, baby. Always.”

“Oh, my God, dude, were you seriously surprised?” Nancy asked incredulously once the commotion had died down.

“Well…yeah? I didn’t expect this at all,” TK said, looking sheepish. 

“TK…my dude…he was taking you to Jeffrey’s! How could you not know?”

Once again, the room erupted in laughter and TK ducked his head again. Carlos reached out and touched his chin, catching his eyes again.

There was nothing but love there. 

CLEARLY every Tarlos fic I write has to have a proposal in it *shrug emoji* 

Also I wrote this in like an hour after I had a dream so please excuse any typos I didn’t catch!

Please reblog if you liked it! I would really really appreciate it :) Thank you for reading!

[gojoscloset]

Damaged goods

Suna Rintarou x Fem!Reader Pt. 1

Suna confesses to reader who still dwells on their trauma

WARNINGS:

Brief mentions of Sexual trauma

Bad words

Not edited

Mayhaps really out of character

Self indulgent

Angst

Word count: 3k+

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

“Her?!”

“Yeah, her.” Suna confirmed, sharp eyes watching your expressions change as you interacted with your friends quite a few lunch tables away.

“Ha! Yeah, good luck Rin. I heard She’s prude as fuck” his friend patted Suna’s shoulder in a rough yet playful way. “I‘ve been school mates with her since intermediate, no good. She’s never dated anyone, rejects any confessions thrown her way, and immediately rejects people’s advances. You’re booking a room at the Heartbreak hotel if you’d ask me.”

“I didn’t ask, but thanks for looking out.” He didn’t expect his friend to react so negatively, immediately he changed the topic, no longer wanting to speak of you if it wasn't praise. Either way,Suna couldn't care less about who you rejected and why they got rejected. At the end of the day, they weren't him, and they didn’t know you.

___

You unknowingly planted a ‘parasite’ in Suna’s mind, as he likes to call it. He recalls the exact moment in which you were no longer blurred in the background, but right in his face the whole time; a small act of kindness that rotted his brain away with how much he thought about it.

He started noticing how frequent you two run into each other after the first ‘encounter’, now he quietly and stealthily looks your way in hopes of possibly catching you doing another kind act. Much to Suna’s surprise, he had the privilege of witnessing your integrity on multiple occasions which only made him want to be closer to you.

Of course he never initiated anything, nor did he make the effort to speak to you. He felt there really was no proper way to approach you without it being awkward in his eyes. What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to initiate conversation?

“Hey, I have seen you do kind things for others and now I want to get to know you?”

“Hello, I saw you pay for someone’s items one time and now i can’t stop thinking about you, i’m Suna Rintaro”

Thoughts that kept him up sometimes. Thoughts that took up the free space in his mind until they started to affect his little day to day routines. It scared him to see himself willingly want to do things for you that were completely out of character. You. A person he only got to see a glimpse of, maybe that's what kept his infatuation burning. To think that the light that radiated from you was just what seeped through the cracks, a sample of who you really were, he only got a little taste and he was feening for more.

Suna was a quiet man, but he could only keep his head in the clouds for so long before someone noticed.

“So, what’s been on your mind?” Kita pulled him to the side after practice one day and that’s when he spilled everything to Kita. Kita himself was surprised yet honored to see this vulnerable side of Suna.

With a little encouragement from his teammate, he decided to tell you how he felt. He of course asked Kita and Aran for assistance,as they were the most level-headed members of the team and his friend group. They suggested the letter method opposed to the DM method Suna insisted would ‘be a lot easier’ to do. But they weren’t going to let him be a coward. “Things such as romance shouldn’t be done half-assed.” Kita damn near scolded him and reluctantly Suna obliged.

Somehow the twins caught wind of the plan, and decided they would be there while he confessed, in hiding of course. And after dragging Kita and Aran along, despite their protests and mentions of violating Suna’s privacy, the gang was somehow all there.

——

He practiced this very moment countless times in his head even preparing for rejection.

“Suna-San..'' you looked up from the envelope he handed you, you stared directly into his eyes, various forms of negative emotions displayed on your own face causing his anxiety to shoot through the roof, but the smile you gave him afterwards alleviated it just a tad.

‘Heartbreak Hotel…’ His friend's words repeated in his mind and Suna wondered if maybe he made a mistake, even if he barely said anything, did his actions come off too strong?

“...I am flattered, I really am…” You chuckled a bit, hiding the lower half of your face with the letter, slightly embarrassed but really flattered.

Oh how He wished you hadn’t done that. He wanted to see how you beamed because of him, even if the rejection would follow afterwards, he wished that smile reached him.

“But please don’t waste your time on me.” You laughed, examining the envelope, not looking at him while your fingers traced the large red heart sticker that sealed the confession.

He took the hit like a man, understanding that not everyone was going to like him in that way and rejection in life was inevitable, but he wasn’t going to let this go so easily, not when it came to you. Not when you called it a waste of time.

You were grateful that Suna didn’t do this in front of everyone, like all the others, Blissfully unaware that the devils were in the details and said devils were actually listening in and cheering for Suna silently on the other side of the lockers.

There were a million things Suna wanted to say but he couldn’t choose what to say in time before things went awkwardly silent. You couldn’t look at him for long before you shyly turned away, once again covering your face as you laughed.

“Thank you though.. but yeah… I’ll see you tomorrow in class?” You took a step to the side to walk past him, but before you managed to get away he took a step in front of you, stopping you in your tracks.

He gave you a serious look once he finally grasped onto something to say , there wasn’t any hidden anger in his gaze, much to your relief.

“Pursuing you isn't a waste of my time.” He said plainly, his cool demeanor never wavered but internally his heart was doing flips. You were not expecting this kind of reaction honestly. Everyone else you had rejected always took it like a bitch, utterly offended and of course left you hurt with the slew of insults they used to mask their pain and to get back at you on their way out.

But not Suna, he had patience and was understanding. It hurt you that you had to reject him, but you couldn’t do that to him, not when you were still… fucked.

“That’s ‘cause you don’t even know me.” Your laugh was a pained one, and your fight or flight senses kicked in, he was stretching the moment as much as possible and it made you nervous.

“I know enough to know I want more.” he replied.

“And that’s a mistake on your end.” You snapped but you didn’t mean to. Your hands began to shake and your voice was beginning to crack under the pressure. You knew he meant no harm in prying, but you wished he would have reacted the way all the others have since It would have been easier to escape the situation.

His heart was heavy, but obviously not as heavy as yours.

“Look, Suna” you began, exhaling deeply. Your eyes finally met his. “I’m what they call damaged goods, okay? I won’t be able to give you what you want. Relationships require things that are difficult for me to give, and I think it’s best you trash the idea.” Your voice was small but the meaning behind your words was not.

“What is it that's required?” His hand rubbed the back of his neck, the nerves finally hitting him breaking his chill character. “Y-you never know..M..maybe you don’t have to give it to me...”

Your brows were knit together, confused at how oblivious he was. Did he really not get it? Or was this all an elaborate prank?

You opened up your mouth to speak but before you could mutter anything out, Kita came from around the corner, immediately you shoved the letter into your back pocket. Little did you know the letter was their doing. Well, Mainly Aran and Kita.

“Oh, there you are Rin. I hope I’m not intruding in anything, but we can’t start practice without you.”

Kita gave you a nod and a small smile, you returned the nod, and attempted with the smile, but it didn’t reach your eyes as it normally would.

Suna had a confused look on his face, but he played along. “Right…. “ He muttered, turning to look at you. You stared back at him but you were the first one to break eye contact

“Do your best at practice..I’ll see you around.” You whispered and quickly saw yourself out.

——

Atsumu, Osamu, and Aran stepped from the other side once Kita gave them the cue.

They rushed to Suna’s side, immediately bombarding him with praise and encouragement, and Suna hated it. He didn’t mean to feel this way, but Suna knew the praise came from a place of pity, it was etched on their sad smiles. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, even if he knew they were just trying to help.

Practice went on as it normally would, Suna was quieter though, as expected. He let his mind wander, the scene replaying in his head, trying to ping the exact moment where he messed up.

Kita pulled him to the side once again after practice.

“You are no coward.” Kita gave him a reassuring smile, Suna couldn’t return it though.

“It feels like I am.” He took a seat on the steps outside, Kita following suit.

“It’s understandable why you feel that way, romance is nothing easy. But you did what you could out there, you should be proud of yourself.” Kita threw in another one of his smiles but Suna wasn’t even looking his way, his mind everywhere but here.

Kita continued, knowing Suna was probably not going to say much to him. “ But the reason I pulled you aside today was to explain why I intervened. It seems that what she said went way over your head and I couldn’t continue to listen to you unknowingly pry.”

With those words Suna was thrown back to planet earth. He snapped his head in Kita’a direction, visible uncertainty in his eyes.

“It was when l/n talked about being ‘damaged goods’ and about what she couldn’t give you in a relationship.” Kita looked at Suna, searching his eyes to see in case the lightbulb finally flicked on. But it didn’t so he continued.

“I’m in a place I don’t belong, but Rin, I’m pretty sure she was referring to trauma...whether it be sexual or not, I suggest you refrain from prying.”

The cogs in Suna’s mind finally began to spin. He was able to put the pieces together and see the entire image for what it was. It made him sad to think that you referred to yourself as ‘damaged goods’ because of your past. He wanted to doubt the possibility, but the pieces to the puzzle fit all too well for it to be anything else.

Not only that- Kita, being as intuitive as he was, was usually never wrong about these kinds of things, nor would he lie to Suna. Especially about something like that.

He then remembered the ‘warning’ his friend gave him that one day. A wave of disappointment rushed through him knowing that his ‘friend’ made assumptions about you whilst being completely oblivious to the truth.

All of these things ran through his mind at a million miles per second. “Are you okay?” Kita snapped him out of his trance, he didn’t realize he hadn’t moved or said anything since he put it all together.

“Yeah.” He stood up and walked down the remainder of the concrete steps, Kita following his lead. “I’m heading home. Uhh...thanks for looking out, even if things didn’t go as planned” Suna rubbed the back of his neck and turned to watch Kita walk down the remainder of the steps

“And thank you for confiding in me, even though somehow the twins caught wind of it all.” They both chuckled at the last part.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, and chin up. You did your best” Kita waved him goodbye and headed home. Suna gave him a wave and headed home himself. Even though he got his feelings for you off his chest, he still felt like he couldn’t breathe. Like somehow the weight on his shoulders had increased.

—-

Reading the letter fucked you up. Of course it made your heart skip a beat, but it also made you hate yourself for familiar reasons.

Paragraph after paragraph of nothing but praise. You hated how you couldn’t see any of the things he said in yourself.

You fucking hated how being touched by someone without consent changed your entire life. You hated how much influence your past had on your future.

Moments like these and confessions like this made you question if you would ever live the life you wanted.

The concepts of marriage, children, sex, and almost all forms of physical intimacy made you cringe and shiver in disgust.

Things you once desired became things you hated, all because someone else fucked them up for you.

—

“Are you okay?...” your best friend, Hanako, asked as she looked up from the envelope you opened cautiously so as to not mess up the sticker.

You nodded, no longer having the energy to speak after all the crying. You didn’t even look at her while she asked, you just sat on your bed, staring at the wall mindlessly playing with the fur of one of your blankets.

“Your feelings are valid, I hope you know.” She rubbed soothing circles on your back and again you nodded, wiping your eyes again.

“It just sucks ya know? Because I want this so bad, but who the fuck is going to want to wait around for me? Imagine getting in a relationship with someone you can’t be intimate with because they’re scared. Like great, what a waste of their time.” You shook your head and went back to playing with the fur.

“None of those things are true, and the real world is wayyyy different. There are people out there who are patient and understanding and there is more to love than what you know. Trust me, take it from someone who’s graduated and has a little taste of real life .” She placed a hand on your shoulder and shook it playfully, trying to get you out of your funk.

“It doesn’t feel that way.” You muttered under your breath

“You feel this way only because you haven’t fully healed. And I don’t blame you y/n… the things you underwent require a lot of healing so please take as much time as you need and go easy on yourself.....” she grabbed your hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

There wasn’t much left you had to say, but Hanako stayed by your side a while longer, watching a movie she knew was your fave to try and ease the pain. She had been here with you many times before and she would do it again and again because she loved you and wanted you to love yourself.

Hanako left long after the sun had set, she would’ve spent the night but she knew you had class the following morning.

But you couldn’t go to sleep, instead you reread the letter. Reading the paragraphs that made you feel like you were actually worth someone’s time over and over again.

‘There hasn’t been a day since that you don’t cross my mind. What started off as curiosity became something more. Your kind heart connected with that smile, that laugh, that face, It became too much for me to bear, I couldn’t go another day without telling you.’

Tears fell onto the paper, and you were quick to use your shirt to dab away the tears, not wanting to mess up the effort he put into it. After rereading the letter for what seemed to be the thousandth time, you decided it was time for bed.

After doing your routine you headed for bed, but as soon as your head hit the pillows your phone buzzed multiple times.

‘@2501Suna Sent you a message request’

‘Hey I know it’s late but’

‘It didn’t register to me what u meant by damaged goods until way after’

‘I’m sorry I’m kind of a dummy’

‘I didn’t mean to pry’

‘or make u uncomfortable’

‘And forgive me if I’m speaking in a place I’m not welcome’

‘But if what I think happened, happened’

‘I still stand by what I said in the letter’

‘And u are still deserving of love’

‘Have a Goodnight and see u tomorrow (^:’

He seemed to press enter with every Sentence causing your phone to buzz continuously.

You read the messages as they came in real time and just when you thought you’d stopped crying, fresh tears seeped out again.

You didn’t have much to say so all you did was double tap the messages, little hearts appearing at the bottom of each one, your way of showing your appreciation without having to say anything.

It was crazy to think that you had plagued someone's mind like Suna claimed you did. Even in the late night he still thought of you and considered your feelings, and even if you did reject him, Suna didn’t look for ways to kill the ‘parasite’ in his brain. If anything it fed it more.

You couldn’t help but smile at the messages, even if the horrendous self doubt clouded your mind, it was his efforts and his own kind heart that parted the clouds for you, you basked in the feeling, even if it was just for the moment.

A/N:

Trauma does not define you

Trauma does not get to influence your choices

Love is real

& Love is out there for you

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

[cosmiclatte28]

Hot Patch (Dad! Yuta x you)

a/n : Hey! I am here to share another Yuta domestic au :) Himnaseyo everyone! I hope this oneshot can make you feel calm before sleeping or just have a better day :) Hold On Pain Ends! Idk if you remember, but welcome Nami and Kenji back to your pages.

tagging my eonni @yutahoes and amazing fellow ais who always support yuta with all their hearts @2-3-t-i @ailoveyuta and all the domestic yuta lover out there

here we go ~~

The cloudy sky starts to cry and that gives you a bad feeling. You pause in track, open your umbrella and quickly pull Nami under the umbrella and Kenji up on your shoulder.

“Kenji sweetie, hold on tight okay?” You ask through your shoulder as you hoist him up so he can hold on to your shoulder nicely.

Kenji just nod and with his firm grips on your shoulder you now check on the growing beautiful girl who already clings her hand on your dress.

“Nami, stay close.” One of your hand is under kenji's body making sure he is not slipping off while your other hand is holding the umbrella. Nami understands and three of you start walking down the pouring rain.

You are glad you didn’t bring much stuff when walking with them to the park, you give yourself a good job for bringing an umbrella but in your mind you have to remember to make Nami bring her own. Before Kenji is here, you can pick Nami up and run through the rain but not now.

Your phone rings and you guess it must be Yuta. He said he was heading home earlier and you guess he must have been homed and found your message that three of you are going for a quick afternoon walk.

Nami glances at you for ignoring the call, but you chuckle “It's probably dad, don’t worry he's home already. Now Nami after this you go inside and take off your wet clothes okay?” you tell the little girl that when you see your home sweet home.

Yuta’s car was parked already in the garage and the lights are on. Nami made it to the front door mostly dry, she bangs on the door and waits for Yuta to open the door for them.

“I was super worried when the rain fell-" Yuta's sentence stop and his eyes run from Nami who dashed through him, to you who look super struggling keeping Kenji up with one hand and holding an umbrella. His heart goes warm and he wants to scold her.

“Help me please?” you raise your brow. Yuta quickly step forward and you turn your back to him. Yuta takes over Kenji from you and you winces when your left arm was completely numb and sore from hoisting him up. You drop the big heavy umbrella. Good thing you're still able to bring both of your kids home safely.

But your duty as a mom is not over. Nami has already taken off her clothes, Yuta runs the hot water and you're helping Kenji escapes from his dry clothes. You smile feeling proud that the torturous journey at least makes Kenji dry as bone.

“Kenji fell asleep already since he arrived!” Yuta said when the kids are already sitting in front of the TV, eyes glued to their favorite ninja series, while hands and mouth are busy drinking hot chocolate.

You have taken a warm bath too and stretch your aching limbs a little, before getting teased by Yuta.

“Really? Kenji fell asleep? No wonder he felt heavier on my back.” You sigh and gulp down the steaming hot ocha Yuta placed in front of you.

Under the dining lamp on the small dining table, Yuta sits across you. In his comfortable clothes and smiling face.

“You could’ve called me. I will pick you while you wait in the park.” Yuta taps his fingers on the table.

You cross your arms over your chest and giggle “Aigo, we were already halfway home, I thought going back home before the rain gets heavier is a better choice.”

Yuta nods “It is, but you overworked yourself.”

“A thank you would be better. Look at Nami and Kenji arriving home dry!”

“yeahh but you, your front side is totally not dry.”

“kids are the priority Yuta…” you lean to your chair while keeping your palms warm with the heat from the tea cup.

“I know, but look at your hands. I'm sure you won’t be able to move them tomorrow.” Yuta clicks his tongue.

“Then it’s your turn to babysit them.” You clap your hands and stop when the pain hits your arm.

Yuta laughs and leaves his chair “Hold up okay let me get you some hot patches.”

He comes back with the famous hot muscle patches from his homeland and Yuta walks to your side. He seems to know where to put the patches on, because he went for specific points.  Unlike you who usually press all your arm and find the aching spot and put the patch there.

“Now, done!” Yuta slams the empty sticker to the table and you crack your neck “Thanks. Can you prepare dinner?” you bat your eyelash and if this is anime, he'd have blood dripping from his nose.  Both from your aegyo and the request to cook.

“Alright, since you look so cute and you've been a great mom. I can cook dinner. What should we eat?” he leans over to grab his phone and you press your back to the soft mattress.

“Anything edible. Don’t burn the house, I'll take some nap.” You yawn and stretch your arms up before disappearing under the blanket.

Yuta scrolls through the internet, using a website that can give you recipes from the stuffs you have in your fridge. He smiles when he found one that will suit the children's palette and yours too.

“Guess it’s some italian night dinner today. I at least know I won’t burn the house from boiling pasta.” Yuta thinks to himself. He changes his clothes to a comfortable one where he won’t mind getting oils or sauces on and he walks to the kitchen.

With his apron on and his hair tied back, he begins organizing the tools he needs, ingredients and starts boiling the water.

There's an hour to dinner time, he hopes he can finish on time before any of his little piglets come for food. Talking about his piglets (aka children) Yuta walks to peek into their room after putting the pasta into the boiling water.

There he sees Nami laying on her bed with her favorite doll cuddled next to her, Kenji on the other bed is already snoring lightly. They must’ve been tired from playing all day long!

He steps into the room to cover Nami with her small soft blanket, a purple one! Similar to what Taeyong has, just his is black. Kenji has tossed his blanket on the floor and Yuta gently returns the blanket on his smaller copy of him.

He adores his babies so much and sometimes seeing them already this big makes him wants to cry. He has been missing a lot of things! His idol career doesn’t allow him to always be on their school activities or events. He's glad you stopped your office job and listened to his aid to just start your long wished start up project. A small florist with a coffee shop next to it.

You have your workers so you just have to occasionally come for control. Other than that your children have your attention and time 100% of the day.

He remembers about his cooking and before he can escape from the room, a small whine catches his attention.

He twists his body to see the owner of the voice rubbing and blinking his eyes and turn over to stand on his bed. Oh Kenji can go down from his bed by himself now! Yuta just witnessed that.

“Otosan?” he yawns and blinks several times confused at the dark room condition. Yuta puts a finger over his lips and kenji copies it. “Your noona is sleeping,”

Kenji seems to understand and slowly tiptoes to his father who's already kneeling down to hug him.

“Hungry,” Kenji grins and Yuta swiftly picks him up in one go and make a dash to the kitchen. He comes back in time, with Kenji on his other arm, he turns the stove off.

“Kenji, I have to move this water but it's hot. Do you want to sit first?” Yuta asks nicely but Kenji shakes his head eagerly and clings into Yuta's neck stronger.

“I miss otosan.” He buries his face to the crook of Yuta's neck and Yuta sighs. Oh so this is why you always said clingy kids are annoying when it comes to cooking.

“Okay then, you can be on my back but behave.” Yuta walks to take the baby carrier on the sofa. Well he has this baby strap where you can keep your baby on your back safely while you do your chores.

Kenji happily climbs into his back and Yuta’s glad he can put on the strap by himself. After making sure it's secured and Kenji is comfortable, Yuta begins throwing away the hot water, and prepares for the sauce.

Although he knows you love creamy pasta, the children love tomato bolognese more and so as parents both of you will have to set creamy pasta aside.

“Otosan, am I heavy?” Kenji asks after he keeps quiet when Yuta is stir frying  the meat.

Yuta chuckles when did this kid learn this phrase? “Of course not! Otosan is strong. I can carry you even if you are heavy.”

Kenji leans his chubby cheeks on Yuta's shoulder and his small fingers play with Yuta's ear. Yuta's glad he doesn’t have any earrings now. Having Kenji pulls one accidentally or not is a nightmare.

“Then Otosan should do this more!” kenji claps his hands happily “Mommy says she cannot carry me on her back anymore when she does chores.”

Yuta is surprised at his eloquence but more surprised to find out that you've been carrying Kenji on your back while doing chores.

“Eoh okay then Kenji.  Since otosan is stronger, you come to me when you need a lift okay? We don’t want mommy to get hurt.” Yuta speaks softly to his son while his focus is still on making sure he didn’t overcook the meat and pours the right amount of sauce.

“Otosan cool.” Kenji's sentence return to fragments and he sure is a surprise eh?

“Cool? Otosan looks cool?” Yuta's proud voice is back and his sassiness is showing.

“Hm" Kenji nods and his eyes are focused on the plates filled with pasta now.

“Hungry!” Kenji points to his lion plate and Yuta takes them all to the table. He quickly sets the plates and glasses  not to forget the cutleries.

“We wake up mom and noona then we eat?” Yuta always makes sure they are eating together, thankfully Kenji is used to this and he rushes Yuta to wake Nami up.

He gets down from Yuta's back and Yuta moans in relief when his back feels lighter. He giggles now why he understood you asked Kenji to stop being on your back all day long. Yuta makes his steps to your room and wakes you up gently. You stir in your sleep and smell the delicious food.

“Hmm pasta?” you ask while rubbing your eyes and smiling to Yuta. His heart softens at how cute you can still be even after having two kids. Without holding back, Yuta plants a quick kiss on your lips and takes your hand to stand up.

“Kenji is starving and he is waiting.” Yuta only needs to say that for you to quickly walk to the door and greet your two loves with big smile as the four of you wash your hands and sit around the table.

“Thank you for the food.” The four of you chime together “Itadakimasss!”

Yuta pauses before taking his own bite. He looks around the table to wait for complains or thumbs up but looks like everyone is too hungry.

“It's delicious.” You mutter the praise, it’s the truth. A food cooked by your husband is always delicious. Because you don’t have to cook and don’t have to wash. No kidding.

Nami gives a thumb up and kenji is already shoving his face into the bowl.

Yuta feels happy and he digs into his own plate. You're right this is not bad. He expected it to taste too bland or too salty, but it's perfect.

Dinner ends nicely with Nami and Kenji asking for more pasta and you gladly give them more. They're kids and they need nutrients to grow.

All in all this is a perfect day and night. You got to spend a fun afternoon in the park with your kids and Yuta cooked you all dinner. You even get to rest afterwards because he washed all the dishes and even play with the kids and sings them lullabies.

He returns to your room when the kids are alseep. His face shows he is tired but the glow he radiates shows he is happy to do this father-children bonding time.

“I told them their favorite bedtime stories.” Yuta says after he changes into his pajamas and dives into the space next to you.

You're watching a tv series and Yuta hugs you from the side “Don't you want to sleep? You're tired.”

You turn the tv off and face Yuta, slowly you cup his cheek “Why would I sleep when I still don’t receive my bonding time?” you wink at Yuta and he chuckles.

“You really are naughty!” he tickles you but you tickle him back “I am just waiting for you so we can sleep together! Pervert.” You playfully hit his chest and he grabs your arm that's on his chest.

His gaze is deep and he kisses your palm without breaking eye contact “Okay we'll sleep. What queen wants , queen gets.”

You laugh and press yourself closer to Yuta. He engulfs you in a hug and you nuzzle yourself to a comfortable position.

One slight shift and suddenly everything's so good. The pillow feels cold, the blanket soft and Yuta's heartbeat is a great lullaby for you. You don’t want to move, you want time to stop and pause here.

Life is great with Yuta and the small family you love. Your small family with Yuta.

endddd, it’s rainy season somewhere out there please take care of yourself :D

[sunflowerstache]

Lifespan

A/N: Hello! This is very different from most of my writing, not only because its an OC, but because the storyline is just something out of my comfort zone. But I really hope you enjoy it(: I got the inspiration from a ad I saw on Facebook a long time ago lmao but yeah, come say hi once you’ve read it and tell me what you think! It’s much appreciated! I love you all so very much! Also hugeeeee shoutout to @devil-in-bw-the-sheets​ for spending like six months reading and re-reading this every single time I rewrote it and changed things and encouraging me each time! And @emotionally-imbruised​ for beta reading it for me!💛💛

Word Count: 7.3k

“Doll?”

The fog that seemed to have settled over your mind instantly melted away upon hearing the barista’s voice, her sweet drawl grounding your focus back on her. She was an older woman, probably nearing her sixties based on the collection of grey hairs scattered throughout her small ponytail. But still so incredibly full of life. She had red glasses perched atop her nose - which perfectly completed the red polka dots covering her black dress - a beaded chain dangling from the end to the front of the frame, a pair of silver peace sign studs resided in her ears, and the anatomically correct symbol for caffeine dangled in necklace form on her chest.

“What? I’m sorry.”

“Just asked if you wanted the cream on that.” She smiled, thin lines spreading out and away from the sides of her eyes as her mouth widened. Upon glancing down quickly, you took notice of her clearly hand drawn name tag filled with swirling letters - different then when you stopped by earlier in the week when she had used stickers to spell out “Rita”.

“Oh, um yeah sure. Why not.”

“My husband always says that during weather like this, the calories don’t count. That they disappear with your shivering. Can I just have your name, dear?”

“Georgie. And your husband sounds like a very smart man.”

“Oh, he is.” A dreamy look took over Rita’s features, like just thinking about the man made her heart race. “Been together for forty-two years and he still teaches me new things.”

Your heart ached with each word; the fog slowly started to creep back through your mind while you watched her grin fondly. The hope and excitement for the future that was always so very clear in people’s eyes was what made it so hard not to explain everything you knew, every secret you held. However, as much as you wanted to urge everyone to live the life they’ve always wanted, you knew there was a natural balance to life, and opening your mouth would undoubtedly throw that balance off. So instead, you grinned and nodded your head.

“He sounds wonderful.”

“My best friend. Counting down the minutes until the end of my shift. We’re heading up to see our grandbabies for the week.” It was like she knew exactly what kind of secret you were keeping and made sure to hit you where it hurt each time she opened her mouth. As if her being impossibly sweet didn’t hurt enough.

“That sounds nice.” Digging around in your bag for your wallet made it much easier not to focus on the ticking time bomb in front of you. “How much do I owe you?”

“Oh my! I’m sorry, I know I can’t talk forever if no one stops me.” her laugh was soft, inviting, one you would love to listen to while storytelling. “It’s four pounds.”

“You can keep the change.” You said when handing her some cash, but stopped yourself before you turned to walk away. Even if you weren’t ever going to outright explain anything to anyone, slipping in tiny, reassuring comments made you feel at least a little better before parting ways. “Have an amazing night with your family Rita.”

The coffee shop was relatively empty at the hours you stopped by. Other than the same group of men that were there every morning, chatting over the newspaper and a black coffee and a young nurse who was just getting off of her night shift, only customers on their way to work stopped by. But that was just how you preferred it. It was much easier to avoid running into people when the sun had barely just peeked over the morning horizon. You suppose the city isn’t exactly the best place to reside when you’re on a mission not to get close to anyone, but you’d much preferred the hustle and bustle of the city than the silence of the countryside. At least here you were able to escape your thoughts when they got to be too much, out there you were left to drown in the weights you held.

Rita was right when she said the weather would bring shivering. The moment you stepped through the café doors, all sense of warmth you previously had was sucked out of you, leaving the tips of your fingers tingling against the warm cup. You hadn’t ever really gotten to know the woman behind the counter, a few kind greetings every now and again, but she seemed to be someone who brought a lot of joy to those around her. And she always put extra chocolate curls on your drink. You made a mental note to send some flowers to her family within the coming days.

It was a car horn that initially took your attention off of the pavement, turning to look for who was in such a rush at 5:30am, but the hard torso smacking into her shoulder is what brought your attention back. Followed by the searing heat of your hot chocolate spilling down your front.

“Oh fuck!” you yelled, immediately dropping the paper cup and trying to pull your shirt away from your body to decrease the chance of a burn. There goes your chance to get home and drive right to work without any issue.

“Oh my god! Oh shit!” the man that had ran into you gasped, stopping in his tracks and grabbing onto your elbow to steady your wild movements.

Even though his words were quite loud on the empty street, his voice was still husky, almost like he wasn’t awake yet and still had some left over sleep in his throat. And when you turned to look at who had ruined your shirt, your own voice got stuck in your throat. He was tall, which made sense considering your head had bounced right off of his chest. He was wearing black basketball shorts with tall white socks and a light grey hoodie, which was pulled up to cover the dark grey beanie resting on his head. With one hand he was holding a water bottle with ease, while the other was frantically pulling the airpod from his ear. But apart from his sheer stature, you couldn’t ignore how beautiful this man was. How even the worry lines littering his face were perfectly accenting his features. Or how the green of his eyes seemed to sparkle in the dim light of the Whole Foods you had been stopped in front of.

“I’m so sorry! Shit are you okay?” he quickly asked, shaking his head before you could even respond. “Obviously not, that was probably hot. Oh god I’m so sorry!”

Finally getting your bearings back, you couldn’t help but nod. “Yeah it was pretty hot.”

“Shit, I don’t even know how that happened. I must’ve taken my eyes off the pavement for one second. I’m so sorry.”

“So you’ve said.” You chuckled, bending down to pick up your now empty cup at your feet and tossing it in the bin by your side. “Don’t worry about it. Really it’s fine.”

“It’s not, I’ve ruined your shirt.” If the disappointment in his voice wasn’t evident enough, the small pout on his lips definitely was. He looked absolutely distraught at the sight of what he’d done. “Let me at least get you a new drink. It’s the least I could do.”

“Oh, um, that’s alright.” You’d always known it was rude to speak to someone and not give them eye contact, it was something your father had drilled into you as a child, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it. Looking someone in the eyes meant seeing above their head, and that was an area you actively tried to avoid looking. But there was something about him that drew you in, and you couldn’t help glancing up at him quickly again. “I actually have to be getting to work. Thanks though.”

“Are you sure? I feel terrible.”

“Positive. Have a good morning.” Your touch was soft on his arm as you made your way past him, leaving the mystery man standing on the pavement staring as you walked towards your flat.

You didn’t mean to be so short with him, but it’s just how you’d grown accustomed to living life. It was the easiest way you found not to get close to many people, which meant less hurt in the end. And you’d been around enough hurt in your short twenty three years. It may be a lonely life, but you were happy with your cat, comically named Lucifer, and living a simple life. Sure, there were times you wished you could live the carefree life everyone around you got to experience, your only issues being stresses of work or relationship drama, but that wasn’t who you were. After living the life you did, there’d be no way you could live a normal life.

“Don’t give me that look, Luci.” you grumbled when walking through your front door, your cat perched on the dining table just watching as you moved through the living room, ripping your destroyed shirt from your body. “This wasn’t my fault.”

You’re sure that you looked like a crazy person if anyone was watching on, talking to your cat while walking around your flat in nothing but a pair of black slacks and a bra. But you didn’t care, because this was your normal. You ranted to her after a long day at work or a particularly draining day, and she always sat and listened. Mostly because she was a cat.

“He just ran right into me, like he literally couldn’t see me. How odd, right?” you stopped briefly while searching your closet for a new shirt. “God Luci, he was cute though. So cute. And tall.”

Just because you secluded yourself in the world didn’t mean you didn’t enjoy taking a peak at what it had to offer. It was the forming relationships that put you off, not because there was a level of uncertainty - nothing was uncertain to you - but because you always knew the timeline of said relationships. It was always the same. So why put yourself through it? But also, why not? What if that was just what you needed to make such a painful existence a little more bearable?

“I didn’t even get his name. Maybe I’ll see him around the cafe sometime.” you hummed, throwing the new peach colored blouse over your head and peeking your face out of the hole. “No. No Georgie, don’t go there. Who are we kidding, it’s not like anything could ever happen anyway.”

Lucifer meows loudly at your comment., making you turn around to glare at her. Obviously she didn’t know what was actually going on, but it was nice to entertain the idea of someone listening to your problems and helping you talk them out. You were a secluded young woman, not crazy.

“What? Like I’m wrong? It’s not something I’d be able to keep from a boyfriend forever. And It’s not like I’d be able to just flat out tell them.”

She meowed again, jumping off the table and prancing her way to your feet, rubbing her side against your ankles.

“What would I even say? Hey, I was born with this thing where I can see a floating clock above everyone’s head that literally counts down to the day you die? Yeah because that won’t get me sent to the looney bin.”

From the start of time, there has always been a beginning and an end to everything. No matter if it was an Oscar award winning film, delicate relationships, or even life itself, it all ended. People come, and they go, but the world continues on; taking care of those who stay to see another day. And on a daily basis, the idea of the end rarely floats through anyone’s mind. Except for you.

For you, it was impossible not to think about when it was quite literally staring you in the face. For as long as you could remember, you walked through life with a different outlook on the end than most other people.It wasn’t because you had some near death experience, but due to a gift. Or at least what some people in the world would consider a gift, because in no way would you call being able to see the exact day someone is going to die, a gift.

It was something that over the years you had grown to ignore, trying not to look too far away from people’s eyes and never thinking too hard about the ticking numbers.They weren’t obnoxious or flashy signs hanging above everyone’s heads - like you had seen some films try and depict - but instead, just a simple, faint, white clock just above the tops of everyone’s head, showing each individual’s lifespan. No matter how many hours you sat down and tried to rationalize why you were able to see this, there was never any answer. No one else in your family carried the burden, and because of that, you never mentioned it to anyone in fear of sounding crazy. But you knew you weren’t crazy, not when you prayed night after night for those numbers to disappear or for someone’s clock to be wrong, only to be let down.

You knew you weren’t crazy when you finally saw your favorite florist Don after he spent some time away, and his clock suddenly read 3 years, 20 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 6 seconds instead of the 27 years you had grown used to seeing on him every day before he left. It didn’t take long for you to find out he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and treatments had stopped working.

You knew you weren’t crazy when you got to watch Kim’s clock - the very sweet receptionist at your job - begin to slow down the more she adjusted to a healthy lifestyle of eating right and taking care of her body. What was once a ticking time of a measly 21 years adjusted what would be a long and fulfilled 59 years more.

And you knew you weren’t crazy when at only seventeen years old, you watched as your best friend’s clock suddenly dwindled down to zero’s across the board like a slot machine while laying on the bathroom floor of a house party. The drugs in her system being too much for her young body to handle and completely consuming the 72 years she once had left.

You weren’t crazy, you just carried a burden no one should ever have. And because of it, you made sure not to get close to anyone in fear of watching yet another clock strike zero.

So you moved on with your life, forgetting all about the tall man who had spilled your drink and run into your mind, making you think things you hadn’t in so long, and instead, focused solely on getting through your days at work and getting back home. It was an easy routine, one you hadn’t strayed from much since moving to the city six years ago; wake up, feed Luci, get coffee, go to work, go home, shower, watch tv, go to bed. And as happy as you were that life wasn’t so painful these days, boring would be the only word good enough to describe your life.

Until your neighbors moved in.

You were standing in the kitchen, lifting the collar up to your mouth to try and quickly lick the hot sauce off the old, ratty Elton John Tour shirt you were wearing before it left a stain, wearing nothing else but some shorts, a nice pair of cheetah print slippers to cover your chilly toes, and one of the two hundred paper face masks you’d ordered off of Amazon in an attempt to clear your skin, when the loud bang on your front door startled you. Not only did your family not live in town, but your neighbors knew that you weren’t a people person. Ever since you made that very clear to them upon moving in, they hadn’t tried to contact you, so you just assumed whoever it was had gotten the wrong flat number.

But the knocking persisted.

Lucifer’s head had picked up from her lap upon hearing the first knock, now watching as you made our way closer to the front door. “What do I do?” but the only response you received was her head tilting to the right, like she was saying ‘Really? Answer it you idiot.’

You wanted to be angry, you really did, because you were nearly ready to be completely settled in for the night after a terribly long day and you just wanted to watch some bad tv with Luci, but the moment you twisted the door knob and peered into the hallway, any anger you had felt, completely washed away.

“Hey! Sorry, my mates and I-” he abruptly stopped mid sentence once his eyes landed on you, like his train of thought literally face planted into a brick wall. A look of realization flashed across his face quickly, and in a matter of milliseconds, what was once stress turned into a look of excitement. “Hey! It’s you!” he smiled.

“It’s me.” something about him made it very difficult for you not to mirror his smile, but that desire was overpowered by the confusion coursing through your mind.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again! I still feel terrible about what happened, are you sure you were alright? You didn’t burn yourself, did you?” The man was incredible at changing his emotions at the drop of a dime, for now his eyes were laced with concern where excitement had just lived. “Or I guess I should say I didn’t burn you, did I?”

He was much more put together this time, the workout attire you had last seen him in was traded in for a pair of light red slacks that looked to be a crushed velvet material paired with a plain white t-shirt and a pair of black vans. He looked like any university boy you’d see walking the streets, but at the same time, like nothing you had ever seen before. Something about him standing in your doorway brought you a sense of calm, like just his presence was enough to wash away the stresses of your day.

“I mean I can’t say that it felt particularly good, but I didn’t get burned, no.”

“Oh good. That’s good.” he nodded, and you made the mistake of following his hand with your eyes as he lifted it up to his curls to fix the glasses perched on his head. You didn’t want to know, didn’t want to see what kind of fate the universe had in store for him because the peace he had brought to you in the few moments he’d been standing there felt better than anything had in the past few years. But you were never that lucky.

Your eyes quickly casted back down, looking back at the white of his shirt while you cleared your throat. “Did you need something….” you dragged out the end of the word to indicate that you didn’t know what to call him since he hadn’t bothered to mention his name.

“Oh, right. ‘M Harry.”

“Georgie.

“Hello Georgie.” if possible, the grin on his face doubled in size, causing two dimples to appear at the corners and the air in your chest to feel as though it was tightening.

The two of you stood in your doorway without saying anything for another moment before you spoke up; “So did you need something or…”

“Fuck, yeah.” his voice was breathy when he responded, standing up straighter, “My mates and I just saw you come home and we’re in desperate need of a needle and thread. You’ve got one?”

It only took a second for him to realize his words and that surprised look from when you first opened the door was back. His eyes widened and his hands raised in front of him as a way to stop you before you could respond.

“Not in a creepy way! We weren’t like watching you or summat, swear! My mates Niall and Louis just moved in across the hall.” using his thumb he pointed to the open door across the hall where you could see two other guys watching yours and Harry’s interaction. Upon realizing they were spotted, they raised their hands in a small wave. “We heard you come in. Not that we were actively listening! Just - ‘m sorry. I swear we aren’t creeps.”

“Good. Thought I’d have to sic my monster of a dog on you.” you replied, turning to dig through the small table in what could barely be considered an entryway. The table had started out as a place to keep your keys and mail, but like most did, quickly turned into a junk drawer. An abyss to put any and everything only to never see it again.

Harry’s eyes frantically looked behind you like some crazy monster was about to lunge at him for bothering you at night, even going as far as taking a small step back when the door opened a bit wider while you were looking for the tool. You laughed when glancing up quickly at the movement. It was obvious he was panicking at the new information of potentially getting mauled by a massive dog while simply asking for thread. So you put him out of his misery.

“There’s no dog. I’m just joking…”

As if on cue, Lucifer waltzed up to see what was going on at the front door, her small body weaving between your legs to get a nice scratch while checking out the never before seen man. “Oh! A cat! I love cats!”

“Yeah she’s pretty great.” you nodded, closing the drawer and holding your hand out to Harry. “Here you go. Um, not sure what colour you need so you can just take the whole bag.”

“You’re a lifesaver, thank you! Niall has a date in ten minutes and he’s split his only good pair of trousers.” he turned his head to look over his shoulder at the boys inside the other flat, trying to seem like they weren’t listening to the conversation, but very obviously doing just that. “Have to sew him in like ‘m some sort of tailor.” he chuckled, turning back to face you.

“Sounds like an exciting night.”

“Oh riveting. I would ask if you’d like to join but you look very busy-” the corners of his lips were trying hard not to curl upwards with the light sarcasm, wobbling a bit as he continued speaking, “-so I wouldn’t want to interrupt anymore than I already have. I’m sure I’ll see you again, I practically live with these two idiots.”

“‘M sure I will.” Luci hadn’t left your side since joining you at the door, instead, she began meowing quite loudly, so you bent down to scoop her into your arms.

You liked Harry, not only because he was a very obviously a good looking man, but because he seemed to pick up on your social cues fairly quickly. He didn’t linger and try to get as much out of you as possible or make the fact that you clearly didn’t have much interest in talking uncomfortable. And it was the first time in a long time that you felt content being around someone. Not fearing what the future brought.

Harry halted his movements halfway between flats and spun back around quickly. He didn’t say anything at first, just watched you press kisses to Lucifer’s head while standing in the doorway. Something you gathered from the very brief times you’d shared an encounter was that Harry was not very good at hiding his emotions. It was almost like he had no control of his mouth, because you could see him try to stop the smile from spreading, but it was no use. The dimples popped out in full force.

“I still owe you for that coffee.”

“Oh, um not a coffee.”  you tried not to be loud enough for him to hear, noting that the fact that it wasn’t a coffee was not really that important, but he heard you anyway.

“Pardon?”

“Just um, it wasn’t a coffee. More of a hot chocolate drinker actually.”

He didn’t respond right away, instead just continued watching you with fond eyes and a now very prominent smile. You felt as though he could sense how out of touch with relationships you had begun to get over the years. What other explanation could he have for being so soft with someone he had just met and barely even known

“Right, well keep your schedule open so I can take you out for that replacement cocoa.”

Your door swiftly closed the second he turned back around, not leaving any extra seconds for him to turn around and look at you again. And the second she heard the click of the lock, Luci leaped out of your arms and made her way over to the sofa, meowing her entire journey.

“Yes that was him.” another meow. “I told you he was cute, and I also told you nothing would be happening there.”

Harry wasn’t lying when he said you’d be seeing him again. It seemed as though every day when you got back to your flat, he was there. Sometimes on his way out, other times just standing outside the door waiting for the other boys. And despite how at peace being around Harry had made you feel that day he came knocking at your door, you never put in much more effort than a “hello” here and there. He and the others had tried quite a few times to get you to join them on their night out, but each time you came up with a different excuse. Even if they were comforting, what was the point in forming that friendship when you knew you’d just isolate yourself again eventually. You had made it this long without getting too close to anyone else, and you weren’t going to start just because two attractive lads moved in across the hall who happened to have a very fit, very inviting, friend.

It wasn’t until nearly a month later that you actually had a full conversation with Harry again.

Typically you tried not to go to the coffee shop by your flat any later than lunchtime because it just got too busy. There were too many people for you to fully avoid them all and seeing too many clocks dampened your mood significantly. But you had already had a shitty morning and needed something to give you a boost.

The place had felt very melancholy since Rita’s unfortunate passing last month, she’d passed peacefully in her sleep while spending time with her family. You’d sent the family flowers as remembered, and also made sure to drop a few bills in the jar on the counter each time you’d been in the shop. Other employees were setting up a fund for Rita’s family since she was such a loved member of the community just with the joy she brought from behind the counter.

“Just a large hot chocolate for me, please.”

“For here or take away?”

“Take away please.”

“Actually she’ll have that for here, please.” a familiar voice behind you spoke up as you were digging through your bag for your wallet. You could see him out of the corner of your eye move from his spot behind you, to gradually standing next to you, looking directly at the barista behind the counter.

“Um..” you felt bad for the young kid, he couldn’t be any older than eighteen and all he wanted to do was get to work and get out. But here you were making his day more stressful than it needed to be. “So… for here then?”

“Harry I -”

“Come on Georgie. Please.” never in your life had you seen a grown man bat his eyelashes, but here he was, trying to lure you in with his breathtaking green eyes.

“Fine.” your voice came out soft and you rolled your eyes, but on the inside you felt giddy, like what you remember life to feel like before you started isolating yourself. “Um, sorry. I’ll have it for here I suppose.”

“Do you want the cream?”

“Sure. Thank you.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes, I’ll have a -” Harry’s profile was something you could get lost in. How the tip of his nose seemed to bounce with every word he said, how it looked as if his lips were made to form the words falling from between them, or how no matter how many times he tried to get it to stay back, one of his curls would continue to break loose from the rest and fall past his forehead. From what little you’ve seen of it, Harry had a great sense of fashion. Comfortable. A brown teddy bear jumper was covering his upper body, sleeves long enough to gather just past his hands and torso short enough that you could see his white shirt peeking out from underneath, ripped black jeans, a pair of black chelsea boots, and  those same tortoise shell glasses perched on his nose completed his look.  

“Ready?”

“Huh?”

“You ready? ‘ve got a table back by the door.”

The two of you made your move to walk back towards the front of the shop, but you halted in your tracks when you saw that yes, he in fact did have a table waiting for him, but it was also being inhabited by the two boys you had seen behind him when he came to ask for thread. Neal and Liam? And a girl was sitting between the two as they chatted amongst themselves.

“Harry I don’t -”

“Come on, I promise we don’t bite.” Apparently you still didn’t look convinced because he leaned down to be at your eye level and stuck his lip out in a pout. “One drink. Please? I owe you remember?”

“Yes and you’ve already bought me a new one, thank you by the way, so you don’t owe me anything else.”

“I know.” the apples of his cheeks began getting pinker the longer he stared at you, “But I’d very much like to spend some time with you.”

Just like he did when he knocked on your door, his eyes widened and immediately seemed to want to backtrack what he had said. “Wait no, not in that way. In like a ‘hey I think you’re cute -’ no fuck that’s not -”

“Harry.”

“Yes?”

“One drink.”

The relief was instant on his features, his shoulders sagging and eyebrows un-furrowing at your words. “Good. Afraid my mates were going to start thinking I made you up.”

“I live across the hall, they’ve seen me.”

“Well yeah, but I talk about you so much they thi- I - fuck.”

You couldn’t help the laugh that fell from between your lips. You may not have had many friendships or relationships of any kind, but you did know excessive rattling wasn't generally how people spoke to one another.  “You babble a lot.”

“Only when ‘m nervous.”

“Why are you nervous?”

Harry wasted no time in his response, taking a quick glance over to you. “Because I finally get to spend time with the pretty girl across the hall.”

The heat rushing to your cheeks had become something of a common occurrence when speaking with Harry. It wasn’t obvious if he knew what he was doing or not, but you couldn’t imagine someone like Harry not knowing how to flirt. Thankfully, however, someone from the table spoke up before you could dwell on his comment longer than necessary.

“Finally!” the man sitting at the end of the booth spoke. He was dressed very similar to Harry in color - a tan quilted shirt was hidden beneath a cream colored teddy bear jacket, and pleated brown trousers. The light facial hair stubbled along his cheeks made him look slightly older than Harry, but his complete baby face counteracted that.

Harry looked at you briefly, raising his eyebrows with a ‘what did I tell you?’ kind of look as he bent down to slide into the booth next to the other man. His style was much different than the other two, more streetwear. He was wearing black trackies and an old gray band tee under a denim jacket, baseball hat and the very apparent smell of cigarettes finishing off the outfit. Another difference with him was that he had a girl with him. What you assumed to be his girlfriend by the way her head was resting on his shoulder and his hand fell on her knee. She was beautiful, long brown hair fell loose around her shoulders, only kept back by the fragile looking sunnies that rested at the top of her head. She was wearing a simple white top and a pair of white,black, and brown plaid trousers, both of which were overshadowed by the beautiful black Balenciaga jacket hanging off of her shoulders.

“Was starting to think you’d been lying about actually knowing her, Haz.” the one closest to Harry spoke, earning a light slap to his chest from the girl on his shoulder.

Harry disregarded all of their antics and turned to pat the seat next to him, indicating he wanted you to sit down, and he gave you a reassuring nod when you nibbled your lower lip between your teeth.

It was subtle acts like Harry letting you sit on the outside of the booth so you could make a quick getaway if needed that reminded you how easily he seemed to pick up on your social cues - even if you didn’t realize you did them. It made your chest tickle that even just from the two substantial conversations you’d had with him, Harry picked up on things you did.

“Piss off.” Harry chuckled, reminding you a lot of friendships you’d seen on tv where they all take the piss but it was easy to see that they all cared for one another. It was something you’d always been envious of while watching the world from the sidelines. “Georgie, this is Niall, Louis, and Louis’ girlfriend Eleanor. Everyone, this is Georgie.”

You were met with a chorus of hellos and you would’ve loved to just jump right into their conversation about the best places to get guacamole, just so that they knew you weren’t intentionally being rude to them. But not only were you not good at this conversation thing, but you also were still on edge about forming any sort of connection with these people. Apparently you should get used to Harry and his all knowing mind, because before you could excuse yourself from the awkwardness, he spoke up.

“So, how long have you lived in the building?”

Unprepared for the question, you froze for a second. “Oh, um going on six years now.”

“Impossible! What are you, like twenty? No way you’ve lived there that long!” Eleanor asked, her head no longer on Louis’ shoulder, instead she was sitting upright and looking directly at you. Of course, over the span of the years, you had gotten quite good at looking at people without really paying any attention to what was only visible to you above their heads, but it still made you uneasy. The best solution was just not to look at them at all. But these people, people who had no idea who you were a mere ten minutes ago yet were now welcoming you into their lives, made you want to work on avoiding the numbers. Because this was the most alive you’d felt in years.

“‘M twenty three. Be twenty four next Friday.”

“No shit! Alright well I’m coming over so you can teach me your skincare routine because you look flawless.” she gleamed, leaning forward on the table to jot down her phone number on one of the many spare napkins littering the tabletop.

“As much as I love a good skincare routine, let’s not skip over the more important part of that sentence. Your birthday is next week?” Harry asked, gently shoving his shoulder against yours and offering a kind smile when you glanced up at him.

“Oh, it’s not a big deal. I haven’t really celebrated my birthday since I turned like eleven.” your parents used to throw you a party every year while growing up, a lavish over the top kind of party where all of your classmates were invited and family you had never even heard of pinched your cheeks. But as time went on and you didn’t give up your ‘ridiculous fantasy’ as your mother so kindly put it, they began to stop throwing the party. Now, you were lucky if they sent you a card on the day. Plus, celebrating your birthday alone is kind of a downer.

“You haven’t celebrated your birthday in over a decade?” Niall’s mouth hung open like that was the craziest thing he’d ever heard.

“Nope.”

“Well that just won’t do.” you may not know very much about the people seated around you, but the smirk on Louis’ face told you everything you needed to know. “We’re having a party.”

“Um, thank you. Really. But parties aren’t really my thing. Plus I’m working that day so…”

“Oh, where do you work?” Harry asked, thoroughly interested in where you spend most of your days.

“Good Samaritan.”

“The nursing home down on Adams?”

“That’s the one. I’m a caregiver.” when you first applied for the position, you thought you were crazy. For someone who doesn’t want to get close to anyone in fear of their untimely demise, you definitely went for a job exactly the opposite. But that was the appeal to you. Sure, it was terribly sad to see one of your patients pass, but in the time leading up to it, you knew exactly who needed a little extra love. It was nice to be able to remind their loved ones to visit while making routine phone calls, and to do things to make them smile in what only you knew were their last days. It was the only time you thought what you were born with was some kind of gift. The tiniest most unwelcomed gift.

“That’s wonderful.” Harry’s voice was gently next to you, like he was hanging on to every short word that you said.

“Well, we’ll just have a party once you’re done with work.” Louis shrugged, but held his hands up when you opened your mouth to remind him you didn’t want anything. “Not a party, a friendly get together with friendly neighbors and alcohol.”

That day in the cafe was the beginning to a new start for you.

Obviously Lucifer had to hear about everything that happened that afternoon, but she was there to experience it first hand when Eleanor came knocking on your door the following day. She got to watch as you bent over in genuine laughter at your shared banter. She watched from the kitchen counter as Harry came by with food one night, saying he just happened to order extra lo mein and heard you come home. And as the two of you sat in the living room watching Big Brother, talking about everything from your favorite color to why he majored in physical therapy in university. Luci got to watch you break out of the shell you’d worked so hard on forming around you, and even though you knew she couldn’t understand what was happening, you liked to think her frequent meows were those of encouragement.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” The yells came from all corners of the room when you walked into Louis’s flat the following Friday, making your eyes widen and shoulders straighten. As much progress as you’d been making in your life, with branching out and slowly losing your fear of connection, it would take more than a week to crack down those barriers you’d built so high for so long.

“Thank you.” you laughed, putting down the bottle of wine you’d brought just in time for everyone to start surrounding you in hugs.

“Happy Birthday, love.” Harry’s voice was soothing in your ear, like a sense of relief in the overstimulation the other three had given you. You didn’t regret their company like you would have only a month ago, instead you welcomed the foriegn feelings. But it was still nice to have a moment of calm to fully process everything.

“Thank you Harry.”

“I hope it’s not too much. I told them to cool it on the balloons and confetti - especially since we all know I’ll be the one to pick it up in the morning.” he laughed, offering you a glass of wine that everyone else seemed to already be enjoying.

“No, no, it’s great. A nice segway from doing nothing every year.”

“Still can’t believe you haven’t celebrated your birthday in so long! That’s a day that should be celebrated by everyone!”that same look you’d grown to quite enjoy flashed over his features, his momentary distress as he realized he said something he wasn’t planning on sharing. But the look disappeared when he saw your knowing smile. “Don’t start.”

As promised, there was no party, per say. Everyone was just scattered around Louis’ living room telling stories about absolutely nothing that had everyone in stitches. It was the kind of party you’d always been envious of, one where mates could hang out and lose themselves in the company of each other. It was the first time you didn’t have a single thought about impending doom for more than an hour, a feit you would be sure not to forget.

Niall was laid out on the floor under the windows, a half empty bottle of rum in his hand and the other rested on his stomach, occasionally itching an invisible nuisance. Louis was seated in the arm chair directly across from Niall, a very buzzed Eleanor draped across his lap and the more the night went on, the less chances you had of seeing their faces separated. And Harry was seated next to you on the sofa, his arm hung on the back of the cushion in such a way that everyone so often you would feel the very tips of his fingers skim the exposed skin on your shoulder.

You wished you could freeze this moment in time, because a photograph or video would never do it justice. It was almost as if you were watching the night play out in front of you like a movie, not really in your body but watching from afar. Watching as the girl who hid herself from the world began to hatch, slowly cracking the hard exterior surrounding her. And you would do anything to bottle the feeling of pride that swelled in your chest knowing you had achieved that.

“Literally right in the face mate. No joke.” Niall cackled, his laugh a contrast in that moment; escaping his mouth loudly but carrying throughout the room softly. Taking off like a leaf blowing through the fall breeze.

“Georgie.” your name slipped from between Harry’s lips beautifully, like he was created for the sole purpose of saying your name over and over again; forever. “Alright?”

And sitting in the living room of Louis’ flat, listening to your friends’ wine induced giggles, looking at the most captivating pair of green eyes and curly hair that only whatever magical being that was above could’ve created, you were alright. You were so alright that the minuscule ticks of the clocks of your new and only friends, ticks you tried so hard to avoid paying attention to, almost seemed to disappear completely. Almost.

71 years, 2 months, 10 days, 3 hours, 16 minutes, 55 seconds. 68 years, 11 months, 3 days, 19 hours, 43 minutes, 2 seconds. 68 years, 7 months, 21 days, 1 hour, 58 minutes, 33 seconds. 62 years, 8 months, 9 days, 11 hours, 12 minutes, 2 seconds. 2 years, 1 month, 30 days, 23 hours, 34 minutes, 56 seconds.

[yume-fanfare]

Sakuragaoka Highschool’s Newspaper Extra: Interview

this is a translation of one of the short stories published for LIPxLIP’s birthday in japanese here. you can read the other one, starting line, here. this was translated from this spanish translation by mieltrabajos

Yamamoto Koudai went to the staff room after class. He was now the president of the journalism club, as the one before him had graduated, and he’d been called in by the club’s advisor, Akechi Saku. Koudai thought the talk would be about the school’s newspaper report on the school festival as it was supposed to be ready by December, but it turned out not to be the case. 

Mr. Akechi had said it nonchalantly, without looking up from his computer with a lollipop in his mouth. Koudai, however, was very confused.

“An interview…?”

Mr. Akechi nodded and then turned towards Koudai.

“Every now and then we have a section named Sakuragaoka’s Stars, don’t we?”

“Yes… well, there is one.”

They did have a section like that, introducing active students as stars. It wasn’t a bad project, but the... old-fashioned title was a bit cringy and people didn’t read it much. Well, the school’s newspaper as a whole wasn’t read much, people weren’t interested in it. They published it monthly and handed it over in the school festival, but not many people took them. Maybe if they didn’t publish information on all the school activities, they’d be able to cut down expenses next year. 

(I am lucky to be managing the school’s newspaper, journalism is the only school activity I’m interested in).

“Have you decided who it’ll be about this month?”

“No, I’m… still in the process of selection.”

He was thinking about the light music club, or maybe the drama one as they both were active during the school festival. Or maybe interview the students from the festival executive committee themselves. It could also be one of the swimming club members, as they were doing synchronized swimming even in the cold, or someone from the tea ceremony club who were doing something called “creative dancing tea ceremony”. December’s issue was going to be the last one of the year, so he wanted to end on a high note. There were lots of students he’d like to see.

“Would you like to interview my students, Shibasaki Aizou and Someya Yuujirou?”

Koudai stayed silent for a few seconds thinking about Mr. Akechi’s words.

“Wouldn’t that be hard?” he answered.

With just a few comments on those two’s appearance at the sports festival, that month’s issue had skyrocketed in popularity as their fans scrambled to get a copy. If Koudai got to interview them, the newspaper would be read everywhere.

But Shibasaki Aizou and Someya Yuujirou were professional idols. Interviewing them without getting through their office first would be a problem. That was why Koudai was unsure about being able to handle the project.

“They’re students of our school, so there should be no problem, right?”

“I’ll ask but… I’m not sure if they’ll cooperate.”

“That’s fine, Yamamoto.” Akechi smiled and offered him a lollipop, like always. “Please do it properly.”

“Ah…”

(He’s even telling me to do it right…)

Koudai excused himself out of the staff room, and twirled the lollipop in his hands.

“It’s so easy to say that…” he sighed.

But, did that mean he trusted Koudai as the club president? Mr. Akechi may look a bit eccentric, but he never said anything without a reason. Koudai couldn’t answer his “Will you be able to do this?” question with a no. He was determined to do it.

He put the candy in his pocket and pushed his glasses up.

“I want to do something really good…”

(If I got to interview those two, I want to make it a special issue, use big pages and highlight it. It’d be great if I could take a photo too).

“Is that really possible...?” Koudai brought a hand to his chin, deep in thought as he walked down the hallway.

He still wasn’t sure, and even if he didn’t have much hope, it may be possible. It was a very rewarding job for him, even if Mr. Akechi had put him between a rock and a hard place. If he managed to get it right it would be a fantastic opportunity to get more people to learn about the club.

(Where do those two go after school?)

He hadn’t heard anything about them being in clubs. Maybe they headed straight to work after class.

A voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Hey, Koudai!”

Shibasaki Ken was walking down the stairs. They were in the same class and together with Enomoto Kotarou, had been good friends since middle school. They usually called him Shibaken.

He looked like he was about to head home. Since he wasn’t in any clubs, he always wandered around after class.

“What are you doing? Club activities?”

“Something like that. Are you going back home, Shibaken?”

“Yeah. Kotarou is also doing activities, so I have no other choice.”

“And Takamizawa-san?”

Takamizawa Arisa, whom Ken was always running after, didn’t seem to be around either. She wasn’t in any clubs, like Ken, and Koudai had seen them going back home and spending breaks between classes together recently. However, that wasn’t the case today.

“Arisa-chan has intensive classes today,” Ken sighed, crossing his arms behind his head with a bored grimace. “Lately, everyone does.”

“You have a lot of free time. Why don’t you find a hobby or join a club?”

When they were in middle school Ken spent his time playing with girls, but he seemed to have lost interest in that. Now, he was really invested in Takamizawa Arisa. As a close friend of his, the fact that Ken was so focused on a single person alone was a bit surprising. Despite his appearance and carefree attitude, he seemed to be becoming a little bit more serious.

“There’s no club activity that stands out to me. I could consider your journalism club, though. You don’t have many members, right? It’d be a friendship club!” Shibaken joked.

“We don’t allow ghost members. What about the gardening club?”

Kotarou and his childhood friend Hina were in the gardening club, but there barely were any members, and it was at risk of closing. Though the journalism club was, too, they had only gotten one new member this year. The track and field was the most active one and the students were really good athletes, so most freshmen applied for that one.

“I’d only be a bother there.”

Kodai turned his head to the side.

“Really?”

He guessed it was because of Kotarou and Hina.

They were childhood friends, but everyone could clearly see Kotarou liked Hina, although she constantly made fun of him. Koudai, however, didn’t know how she felt about him and he wasn’t going to snoop.

Ken put his arm around Koudai’s shoulders.

“And where are you going, Koudai?”

“To an interview. For next month’s issue.”

“Oh, that sounds fun, I’ll go with you! Who are you interviewing?”

“A pair of freshmen idols,” Koudai answered.

Upon hearing that, Ken drew his arm back and stayed silent for a few seconds.

“Oh I just remembered I have a really important business to handle. Well then, Koudai, do your best with the interview!” Ken walked away towards the entrance.

Like always, Ken’s personality was a fickle thing. It seemed like he had some complicated and uncomfortable circumstances.

Koudai had wanted to ask Ken about ‘him’, because he probably knew him better. But as Ken’s friend, he prefered to not touch the topic much either.

After all, the interview was about ‘them’ as students, not some scoop.

Koudai took out his pen and notebook and whispered:

“All right, let’s go.”

Maybe they’d still be inside their classroom.

---

Koudai reached the first years’ hall and looked around with nostalgia. The first years who looked so nervous at the entrance ceremony now seemed completely used to high school life.

Time to start looking for those two.

Loud voices could be heard from one of the classrooms, so he stopped by there first. Most students seemed like they were about to go home or were getting ready for club activities. Only a few girls still crowded around their desks, excitedly talking about some magazines.

“Doesn’t Aizou-kun look like someone dangerous in this picture?”, Koudai overheard.

“Yes, and Yuujirou-kun looks so cute!”

“What kind of CD did you choose? I want a poster!”

“I preordered everything! If you get a Yuujirou-kun sticker we can trade~”

Seemed like those two were the center of attention.

(I hope I can talk to them…)

When Koudai walked into the classroom, someone seemed to have noticed him. A girl wearing the sports uniform looked at him with sparkly eyes.

“Could it be, Yamamoto-san from the journalism club!” She smiled brightly.

She was at the track and field club and had participated in the relay race. Suzumi Hiyori, Setoguchi Hina’s underclassman. Koudai had interviewed her a bit some time ago.

“Are you looking for someone?”

“Yes… for a small interview.”

“An interview!” The girl leaned forward with eyes full of curiosity.

“Yes, could you help me a bit?”

“O-oh, yes, if you’re fine with me!”

They moved away from the hall to not bother anyone and Koudai opened his laptop.

“Could we do it now?”

“Yes, of course!”

“I wanted to interview two of your classmates for next month’s issue, Shibasaki Aizou and Someya Yuujirou-”

“Shibasaki-kun and Someya-kun?!” Hiyori’s voice became surprisingly low and she took a step back.

(Uh…? … Why such an exaggerated reaction…?)

Maybe he shouldn’t have asked.

“Yes… I just want you to tell me a bit about them.”

“So it’s not an interview for me?” Hiyori’s face fell down and her shoulders dropped.

(Oh, so it was that…)

“Of course, I’ve heard about your feats at the sports festival. Setoguchi-san is also really happy about how you did and praised you for your hard work,” he tried to cheer her up, and it immediately worked as Hiyori lifted her head and smiled.

“For real?!”

“Yes, she always says she’ll do her best not to lose against Suzumi-san.”

“My goal is Setoguchi-senpai too! I’m so happy~” Hiyori laughed cheerfully, a bit embarrassed, touching her cheeks.

“Suzumi-san, you’re in the same class as them, right?”

“Yes… for now…” Hiyori rocked back and forth as she answered.

“Anything is fine, but if you know something, please tell me.”

“About what…?” “Anything is fine…”

“I don’t know anything, really!” Hiyori shook her head and stuck out her tongue, like she was annoyed.

“Why? You don’t talk with them?”

“I don’t! Whenever I try, their fans bite me…” Koudai slid his pen over the notebook as he mumbled:

“Even in the classroom…?” Then added. “Then, do those two usually stay alone in class? During lunch break, I mean.”

“Hmmm… they’re not always together. They usually eat by themselves… it’s kind of rare to see them talking to each other?” she answered.

Koudai leaned forward.

“That’s… surprising. Is their relationship bad?” He put his hand on his chin, thinking.

Hiyori grimaced and quickly added:

“That’s not it! There’s times where they have fun and cheer each other up when they’re feeling down!” After saying that, for some reason, Hiyori added in a whisper: “In front of the fans… I’m not sure…” she sighed. “It may look like they don’t get along… but they like the same things.”

“The same things?”

“Yes! Singing, dancing… and tuna mayo riceballs.”

“Tuna mayo…” Koudai mumbled. Without noticing, he doodled a riceball and wrote tuna mayo next to it.

“Oh, I prefer the dried plum ones. My grandma said that eating acids makes you live much longer and have 100 times as much energy!” Hiyori said and then crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks. “But those two don’t appreciate their greatness…”

“Eh?”

“Oh, it’s nothing! I was just monologuing…”

She got nervous, and Koudai softened his gaze behind the lens.

“I understand, Suzumi-san. But this is about them.”

“I know, I was just trying to explain!”

“What kind of bond do Shibasaki Aizou and Someya Yuujirou have in your eyes?”

“For me…?”

“Don’t think about it too much. How do you think they are like…?”

She took a while to think about it, but focused again.

“Hmmm… they’re incredible…” she closed her eyes as she answered. “They work very hard every day. When I look at them, they’re always doing their best, and they make me want to work hard too, so, to me… they’re cheerful partners?”

Then, she blushed and pressed her hands together in a plea.

“Don’t write that in the article, it’s too embarrassing!”

“Suzumi-san, you sound like you’re a fan of them too.” Koudai put the pen on his mouth, smiling.

“Yes… but even so, my number one idol is Setoguchi-senpai!!”

Koudai laughed and said: “I’ll let her know.” Then added: “Well, do you know where those two are? I was looking for them.”

“Today Shibasaki-kun has to record a song, and Someya-kun has a photoshoot at a fashion magazine, so they’ve probably left already.”

“Oh, I see...·

“Ah! Then, maybe I could…! I heard those two talking about that… something like...” Hiyori bowed. “I’m sorry, I have a club meeting!” she exclaimed and bolted out of the classroom in the blink of an eye. As it was to be expected, coming from a track and field pro.

“Such an interesting girl, Suzumi-san…” Koudai wanted to interview her, some other time. 

But now, he had to work on those two. Talking to them after class seemed complicated, since they left so quickly.

Koudai closed the notebook and pocketed the pen.

(I’ll look for them during lunch break tomorrow, maybe I’ll get lucky)

---

The next day, Koudai heard excited screaming as he was walking through the courtyard during lunch break.

The first years were playing soccer, and a lot of girls crowded around the fence, cheering and yelling. And not just first years, but also second and third year girls. Even the school’s nurse was looking towards the field from one of the school’s balconies.

(So popular…)

The reason for all of that was no other than Aizou. He had taken off his blazer, rolled up his sleeves and was running after the ball with his classmates. 

The soccer club members watched the first years with interest too. Koudai noticed Kotarou amongst them and walked up to him. A tournament was about to start, so they were practicing during lunch too.

“Hey, Koudai, what are you doing?” Kotarou called out to him. “An interview?”

“Something like that.”

Aizou reached the boy who had the ball, easily stole it and ran towards the goal. The defenders tried to stop him but he dodged them and scored a goal. The girls all stood up and screamed and his classmates high-fived each other and laughed, celebrating the victory. Koudai quickly snapped a picture. He didn’t know if he’d be able to use it but he didn’t want to lose the chance.

“He’s great. I wish he’d join the club.” Kotarou crossed his arms and sighed heavily, looking at Aizou.

He’d been pretty good during the relay race at the sports festival, and his motor skills would surely be great at any sports club. No matter what, he could adapt and excel at it for sure.

“Why don’t you try to recruit him?”

“He’s too busy with rehearsals, he’s a full-time idol…” Kotarou crossed his hands behind his head and eyed Koudai. “What’s the interview about?” “The first year idols. They’re hard to find.”

“Shouldn’t you hurry up and talk to him then? Before a girl bites you for getting too close.”

Kotarou clapped his hands together:

“Everyone, gather!” he ordered the first years in a serious club-president tone.

Koudai walked up to Aizou, who was still breathing heavily.

“Shibasaki Aizou,” he called out. “I’m from the journalism club, may I interview you a little bit?”

Aizou wiped his forehead with his sleeve and turned towards Koudai.

“Yamamoto-senpai.”

“Oh, you remember my name?”

“It’s because… I saw it during the sports festival. But I don’t know if I can accept the interview.” Aizou rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Probably because of his agency.

“I think it’ll be okay, I don’t want to interview you as an idol, but as a first year student.” It was what Mr. Akechi had said: after all, he was a Sakuragaoka student.

Aizou changed his expression to a friendly grin.

“I don’t think that makes much of a difference but… what would you like to know?”

“About your school life. How’s this year going? Anything is fine, it’ll be interesting.”

(He seems like a normal student after all… not as carefree as Shibaken).

Both brothers were a bit shy but kind, with friendly personalities. Easy to talk to. Koudai had a lot of classmates like that. The other boys who were playing soccer called him by his first name, too. Koudai thought the fact that Aizou was an idol would make him less approachable in class, but it seemed like that wasn’t the case.

“Well, something interesting… do the cultural and sports festivals count?”

“During the last festival, your class did a haunted house, right? You were one of the best classes during the costume contest too. Yours was a very popular one, Shibasaki-kun.”

“The girls from our class were really excited about it and they were the ones to design the costumes. I hope everything looked good…”

Aizou seemed a bit embarrassed.

“I think it suited you…” Koudai remembered all the screaming fans running to the haunted house to see Aizou’s costume.

(It went quite well I think).

“Maybe the zombies could have been better,” said Aizou. “Even if it was a haunted house, I wasn’t very scared. I would have wanted it to be more realistic…”

“In my opinion it was pretty well made. Especially the sound. Though, in some areas the lights were too dark and we couldn’t really see the production work. Things like the chandelier, the mannequins or the hands on the walls. I would have liked to see them properly.”

Aizou crossed his arms and mumbled: 

“Yeah, it was a bit dark after all…”

Maybe it was so he and his partner stood out less. It was inevitable, though. If they were there, all eyes would be on them.

“The voice and the wind noise that played when you walked into the room was seriously frightening. It felt so real,” Koudai reminisced.

Aizou grinned widely.

“Oh, that was my voice! Maybe most people didn’t notice… The wind was Yuujirou’s hair dryer, though it wasn’t very strong.”

“It looks like you had a lot of fun at the cultural festival.”

Koudai thought he wasn’t very interested in school events, but it seemed like they both had participated with their classmates both in the sports and the cultural festivals.

“You really are a regular student too, like Mr. Akechi said.”

“Mr. Akechi?”

“Ah, um yes… It’s nothing. This is enough.”

“Are you sure?” Aizou asked rushedly.

“Yes, thank you. By the way, I’d like to interview Someya Yuujirou too, do you know where he is?”

“Yuujirou? Well… I don’t know if he’ll be okay with being interviewed. He can be a little problematic sometimes, but, if you want to… He must be at some secluded place, without many people. The backyard, maybe…”

“I’ll look for him. It’ll be a great article.”

“I haven’t answered much though… just things about the school festival.”

“Everyone wants to know about it. About you doing normal things.” Koudai closed his notebook. “See you,” he told Aizou before leaving.

The girls who had been looking at them from afar immediately ran towards Aizou.

Such a hard life, the school idol’s.

Koudai continued with his path: “The backyard huh…?”

---

When he got there, there were no other students around. Usually, it was the third years who met here, not the freshmen, but there weren’t any seniors around either. Probably because of the November cold. The cherry trees’ leaves had been taken by the wind a long time ago.

Koudai caught sight of a student, standing alone in front of the flower beds.

(Exactly where he said…)

It looked like there were no noisy fans around. That should be better, right? Koudai walked up to the flowerbeds, the ones the gardening club was taking care of. Yuujirou looked at them absentmindedly, like he wasn’t really there.

“Someya-kun,” Koudai said, raising his voice.

Yuujirou turned around, quickly changing his expression. 

“Senpai… Are you talking to me?”

Much like Aizou, Yuujirou also remembered him from the sports festival as a senior from the journalism club.

“I’d like to publish an interview of you and Shibasaki Aizou in the school’s newspaper next month.”

“I’m not supposed to agree to things like that though…”

Koudai sighed lightly at the negative answer, touching the rim of his glasses. He had gotten him to answer some questions at the sports festival, but maybe it was because there were a lot of students around… It wouldn’t be that easy this time.

“I only want to ask about your school life, is that still no good?”

“I am not very good at talking,” Yuujirou bowed his head. “Sorry.”

(I’ve already interviewed Aizou so that could be enough, but…)

He wanted an interview with both of them, but he didn’t want to force him.

Yuujirou turned his head back to the flowers and Koudai looked at them too. Swaying with the cold wind, they were yellow flowers.

“Rudbeckies… they’re still in full bloom…” he commented.

Kotarou and his childhood friend Hina had planted that one. They had joined the club as first years and had fought to preserve them. It was nostalgic. That flower was very important for those two friends.

Yuujirou lifted his gaze and looked back to Koudai, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

“They’re from the gardening club,” Koudai explained.

“There’s a gardening club…” Yuujirou said to himself, looking at the flowers again.

“Well, I’m not sure if there’ll still be one next year, there aren’t enough members and no one new has joined yet. If you’re interested…

“I can’t join, I’m not interested.”

Koudai exhaled, casually pushing his glasses up.

“Of course.”

Balancing idol work and school couldn’t be easy. He had no time for clubs. And even if he had, it’ll probably attract too many fans.

It was plain to see that Ayase Koyuki’s graduation had been the cause of the club’s demise. Kotarou and Hina were trying to revive it, worried for the club. They really wanted someone new to join.

“You’re staring at the flowerbed a lot… Are you worried about something?”

“It looks like they’re about to die. I was wondering if they’re well cared for.”

“Yeah, it’s because the season for flowers is over. They bloomed already, they’re fine.”

“... You know a lot about this.”

“One of my best friends is in the gardening club.”

He had stayed late reading a flower book with Kotarou at the library once. The season for these flowers was from summer til October. Maybe they had lasted this long because the warm days were expected to continue until mid-January this year. But their season was already over.

“Is the gardening club in charge of the flowerbeds at the rooftop too?”

“Indeed. Kotarou and Setoguchi-san said they had planted pansies. They plan on planting tulips there next spring.” Koudai pointed to a remote flowerbed. The grass had been removed from it and the soil had been smoothed out. “Since the third years are graduating…”

During spring, beautiful and colorful tulips would bloom. Just like the year before.

(Really, in the blink of an eye…)

“Have you had fun? This year…” Koudai asked casually.

Yuujirou furrowed his brow.

“I will not be interviewed.”

“It’s just small talk. I won’t write an article. I promise.”

Yuujirou looked ahead.

“Well,” he said. “It was…” His gaze softened and he smiled slightly.

He must have remembered something good. Koudai wanted to hear a bit more now but…

“I’m glad,” Koudai smiled and turned around.

“That was good?” Yuujirou said, confused.

“This was not an interview. Though, if you were to accept one, I’d gladly do it,” he answered, turning back to face him, and waved his hand.

“Oh, here you are!” Suzumi Hiyori rushed towards Yuujirou with a cheerful voice. “Someya…!!!” . When he noticed Koudai was there, she covered her mouth with her hands mid-yell.

Yuujirou furrowed his brow at her mistake:

“God…” he mumbled.

“Someya-kun… uh… eh… it looks like… Teacher Uchida is calling you,” she said to Someya in a terrified tone and then ran away.

(Is there a teacher named like that in school…?)

Passing by them, Koudai went back into the building.

---

Koudai went to talk to Mr. Akechi at the staff room after class before heading to the club room.

(Mr. Akechi told me to wait until tomorrow, but I don’t think I’ll be able to ask him again…)

He walked down the hall as he thought about it and opened the biology classroom they used for their club. The other members had other work that day, so there probably wasn’t anyone there yet.

However, when he opened the door, he stopped in his tracks. There was in fact a student there.

Yuujirou, standing next to the shelf by the window. He was looking with curiosity at the cameras and lenses Koudai used at the club.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” Koudai commented.

Yuujirou looked at him, chin in hand.

“You said you wanted to interview me, Yamamoto-senpai. But I want to interview you.”

Koudai laughed.

“I wanted to interview you, Mr. Akechi asked me to.”

Yuujirou clumsily turned around. He puffed out his cheeks in annoyance.

“I see,” he said, lowering his voice.

Koudai closed the door behind them.

“Then, let’s start.”

There were lots of things Yuujirou could ask about.

This was going to be a fun interview.

“I wanted you to tell me about the camera.”

“The journalism club is also looking for members. If you’re interested…”

“I can’t join.”

The answer was still simple, but his jaw softened a bit.

“Well… do you want to learn how to take pictures? Of whom?”

“For now… of my dog?”

Koudai walked closer to Yuujirou and handed him his single-lens reflex camera, his favorite one. Yuujirou held it very carefully and pointed the lens towards the window.

“...How do you focus?”

“Like this. It’s set on manual now, but if you set it to auto, it’ll focus on its own. When you change it to shooting mode, you can-”

“Ohhh...” Koudai noticed how bright Yuujirou’s expression was while he looked at the camera.

“... adjust the exposition,” Koudai finished.

Yuujirou nodded with a serious face.

“Can I take a picture?”

“Of course.”

Yuujirou took a step backwards and, much to Koudai’s surprise, turned the lens away from the window to focus on Koudai.

The shutter went off.

“Wait, I am supposed to be the one interviewing you.”

“A bit of change is always good,” Yuujirou joked, lowering the camera.

Koudai pushed his glasses up.

“I see…”

(With Shibasaki Aizou and him… this should be popular)

---

Mid-december brought Yuujirou and Aizou relaxing at the office’s break room.

Yuujirou was sleeping on the table while listening to music. In front of him, Aizou played mobile games to kill time. That day, they had had a meeting with their manager regarding their next mv.

In that moment, Suzumi Hiyori, manager in training, barged into the room yelling:

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!”

Yuujirou was startled by the scream, lifting his head with a sleepy face.

“Monster…” he mumbled. Maybe he was still asleep, actually.

“What the hell, you scared me!” Aizou put his phone down, frowning.

“I brought a surprise!”

Suzumi held the school’s newspaper in her shaky hands. The journalism club members had been handing it out in the school that morning.

“Our… our interview is here!”

Aizou quickly took the newspaper from her hands with sparkling eyes. That morning the girls at school had made a fuss over that issue and he’d been unable to catch a copy for himself; they all disappeared within seconds.

(Oh, last month’s interview… do I have it?)

Yamamoto-senpai had given Aizou a newspaper, but he’d been too busy to read it. He’d left it in his school desk’s drawer and had forgotten about it.

“Where’s the interview?” he asked, skimming through the pages.

Hiyori leaned over.

“Here!” she proudly pointed at the main article.

Comments from their classmate, S-san, a subheader said.

“‘Apparently, they like tuna mayo riceballs’...? What the hell is this?” Aizou complained. “Don’t accept interviews without permission.”

“Well… but I didn’t say anything out of place!” Hiyori shook her head.

“Don’t sound so happy about it. It’s a single line on a school’s paper.”

“Hey, it’s okay! Sometimes I like standing out too, alright? You two are always getting interviewed everywhere.”

“It’s only natural, who’d want to interview a manager in training?” Aizou got up, angry. He wanted to chop Hiyori’s head off.

“Wh… that’s the school newspaper? It’s out already?” Yuujirou mumbled in a sleepy I-just-woke-up voice while he ran his hands through his bangs.

“You got interviewed too. How did they buy you?” Aizou asked him with a  mocking smile.

With his interview, there was also Yuujirou’s. Aizou was surprised, he was sure Yuujirou would’ve refused.

“It was fine… I didn’t answer much…” Yuujirou looked at the article. “‘Preparing for the school festival was hard, but cooperating with everyone was very important’... Aren’t you a fraud? You didn’t do anything, just slept in a coffin.”

“Do you ever shut that irritating mouth of yours?” 

Yuujirou kicked Aizou under the table.

“That hurts! Don’t kick me!”

Right before the argument escalated, the break room’s door opened.

“Sorry for the wait!” It was their manager, Uchida, who seemed to be in a good mood. “The pictures in this newspaper are very good! I wonder if the boy from the journalism club took them, he’s got a good eye. He captured that natural side you two rarely let out.”

“Eh?! Why did Uchida-san read the newspaper?!” Aizou asked loudly, pointing at the school’s newspaper.

“Oh, the teacher in charge of the journalism club sent it to me. He asked me for permission to interview you two, he’s a good teacher. But, above that, he’s a good man~ ❤” Manager Uchida giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

“I don’t want to hear that!”

“I didn’t really cooperate anyway…” Yuujirou mumbled sleepily.

“I wonder if I can post the newspaper’s pictures on our website,” Manager Uchida wondered. “Like a precious photo of LIPxLIP’s school life!” she suggested.

“Oh, that’s right! If our interview appeared in a newspaper, I should contact my grandma and my mom!” Hiyori excitedly pulled out her phone and started to dial her house. “Oh, but I should contact my school counselor too and send them a picture!”

Manager Uchida happily strolled around the room, skipping steps, almost jumping.

“Stop that-!!”

“You’re so loud. You’re not a speaker, lower your volume.”

“Don’t cover your ears and stop Uchida-san! She’s out of control, what if she makes merch out of the pictures?!”

“It’s fine by me. Unlike Aizou, I don’t find it embarrassing.”

“What do you mean ‘unlike Aizou’?”

“Oh, mom! I got the newspaper! It’s our school’s but… I’ll fax it to you at a convenience store. So you can read it! Eh? Dried plum? Yes, I’d love to eat some! Oh, send me rice too. Yes… hm, canned.”

“Hey, potato girl, call your home outside of your work schedule!!”

“Don’t call me potato! … Oh, mom? It’s nothing. The pineapple from my part-time job is making fun of me… Yes, it’s fine. I totally defeated him!”

“Eh?! What are you telling your parents?!”

“Pfft… a pineapple!”

“Don’t laugh, Yuujirou…”

---

Koudai leaned over the rooftop’s railing after school, looking at the ground that was dyed by the sunset. The soccer, baseball and track and field club members trained with enthusiasm despite the cold.

Kotarou’s figure received a pass and ran after the ball. Hina’s running figure seemed small. And Suzumi Hiyori’s, who ran with her, did too.

Takamizawa Arisa and Shibasaki Ken were leaving the school building, walking next to each other. He saw Ken stop and laugh, waving at Kotarou.

In the school’s gate, the idol duo’s fans were waiting for the manager’s car to arrive, surely making a fuss. And it was not just Sakuragaoka’s uniforms, but from other schools too.

It was a familiar sight.

“It’s cold…” mumbled Mr. Akechi, his advisor, as he opened the door and walked into the rooftop.

When he got to Koudai’s side, he trembled and rubbed his arms. He put his hands in the pockets of his white labcoat.

“Mr. Akechi…”

“Thank you for your hard work. Today’s article was very well received,” Mr. Akechi smiled. “A success.”

“It was because those two answered properly…”

They had balanced what they should answer, what they wanted to answer, what Koudai was looking for and the proper wording for it. They were clever and talented. Going to school with those two…they really were pros.

“It worked because you’re you, Yamamoto, don’t you think?”

When he heard those words, Koudai turned to look at Mr. Akechi. His eyes were fixated on the ground, where the students could be heard yelling.

“Ah, the youth,” he whispered with a smile.

“I only wrote.”

It had been Mr. Akechi who gave him the article, and he had apparently called the office to ask for permission. Thanks to that, he’d been able to publish a special picture of those two in the newspaper. The interview wouldn’t have been possible without him.

“Did you ask me to do it because you trusted me? If not, I don’t think I would’ve done it. Those two…”

Koudai saw Akechi’s furrowed brow and laughed.

He must fight with them constantly too. They probably weren’t easy-to-handle students at all. 

“It’s hard, right? For teachers, too.”

“Well… they’re never boring, though. It’s like this every year.” He smiled, hands in pockets. His eyes were looking at the sunset sky, gazing at an airplane far away.

“I see,” Koudai commented.

“Those two’s manager praised your picture. It was a very good shot. She wants to put it on their website, is that okay?”

“Yes, I’ll send it to you later.”

Koudai waved him goodbye, and Mr. Akechi left the rooftop. Koudai stayed there some more time. The sun’s warmth hit his back, his shadow falling over the flowerbed.

He took out the lollipop Mr. Akechi had given him before. He unwrapped it and put it in his mouth. Koudai gazed at the ground, leaning over the railing.

An irreplaceable year for everyone.

Everything moves forward while the present turns into a memory.

Like the older graduated students, and the ones to follow too.

“Someya Yuujirou and Shibasaki Aizou, they both seem to have had a satisfactory year. The journalism club wishes to look over them to see what awaits them in high school.” -Yamamoto Koudai

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression, radio version - Ep 29, April 2016 - Taboo surrounding disabled sex, Former AV star Dan Mitsu entering politics?

Kaoru starts by saying he has already received some entries for the new jingle campaign, but he still hasn't figured out whether he should showcase them on this show or the next show.  He decides to just play one of them anyway. After playing it he says it sounds a bit long, but well made. Joe is suprised that entries of such high quality are coming in even at this early stage. Kaoru says he's looking for something with a little more development at the beginning, and something that will be easy to lay the voice track on top of. The comment that came with this entry says it was made with the opening of a horror movie in mind. Kaoru says thay although he has not chosen this entry to win, he likes it when people get to work on things straight away, so he will send a sticker. He says he will air this one again with the voice track over it in a couple of weeks, and reminds listeners about how to send in thier own attempts.

Next Kaoru reads out an email from a listener expressing shock that the writer Ototake Hirotada has been exposed as having had 5 extra-marital affairs since the birth of his first child. Kaoru says that Ototake (born with no arms and legs) is actually also in a band. From 2011, he has been the vocalist for the band 'Cowperking' (pronounced cow-per-king), going by the stage-name 'Zetto' because the kanji 乙 (Oto) in his name resmbles the letter Z. Joe laughs and says all men will understand what the name, 'Cowperking' means. (*I do not know what this means🙈. Anyone know? Something to do with sex? Am I just being really naive?*) They also have a new album out, named 'Lost Virgin'. The cover of the album shows the silhouettes of 5 babies, which Kaoru thinks is quite suggestive. The band also have a t-shirt out with thier logo on it. The logo consists of what appears to be male genitals and female breasts, which they think is also very suggestive of Ototake's behind doors activities.

Joe says, forgetting about the affairs, he is actually a supporter of Ototake. The media in Japan doesn't ever go near the topic of disabled people and sex, and this has subsequently become a big taboo. He mentions the writer Kawai Kaori, who wrote a non-fiction book about this called 'Sex Volunteer'. As to the content of the book, Joe explains an example from it about a man with cerebal palsy who would go to a brothel with his carer, where he could access sex workers specializing in disabled customers. The book also talks about how intellectually disabled people are educated by volunteers about sex and how to do it. This is the type of disabled care that is never shown or glamorised by the media. Society often tries to put a lid on sex for disabled people, but sex is an important part of life for both able-bodied and disabled people. Joe thinks people tend to neglect this thought. He thinks this revelation about Ototake might be a good chance for society to recognise this problem.

Joe then mentions the 70s tv drama 車輪の一歩(sharin no ippo) by writer Yamada Taiichi. The drama features a scene where a disabled man went to a brothel with the permission of his parents, but was rejected by every single prostitute in the establishment. Joe feels like the situation with Ototake can therefore be seen in a positive light, showing a disabled person overcoming these barriers which society and the media try to put up. He has been in the wrong over some things, but he is drawing attention to this important problem. Kaoru agrees.

Kami then appears out of the blue, and says he is having a day off from his part-time job. Kami agrees with Joe's thoughts about Ototake. Joe then asks Kami what his sex life is like, to which Kami replies, non-existant.

Next they welcome Hiranabe for the Tokyo Sports corner, and Joe mentions about his fans, the 'Nabe gals'. Hiranabe says that with each one of them he'd like to thoroughly....take them out to dinner, causing Joe and Kaoru to feel relieved he said that.

Carrying on with the Ototake theme, Hiranabe says about ten years ago he saw Ototake coming out of the elevator in a hotel in Roppongi, with two beautiful women on either side of him. At first he felt happy for Ototake after seeing this. After all, a man has needs. At the same time, he had never imagined this type of thing was going on, and felt a bit like he was losing to Ototake. He says that two days ago, he went on a short trip with a woman to the seaside city of Atami. They had a sea facing room, and during sex he was about to 'finish' when the noise from the waves outside suddenly roared up loudly and distracted him, producing a disappointing result. He felt bad, as he did not want to lose to Ototake. Hiranabe doesn't blame Ototake though. He says its what any man would do surrounded by beautiful women. Kaoru reminds him that Ototake does actually have a wife. Hiranabe says, anyhow, he thinks they should all try hard to make sure they do not lose to Ototake in this department.

Hiranabe's next story relates to the celebrity/former AV star Dan Mitsu. There had been some reports that she might be running in the next election. Hiranabe thinks she would win if she did run. She wouldn't get much of the female vote based on her background, but she might make that up with the male vote. She probably doesn't really have time for politics on top of her current work, but Hiranabe still thinks she would win if she ran. She might encourage more sexual liberation in society etc. Kaoru wonders if she would actually be able to do the job of a politician. Hiranabe says she is quite smart, so she would probably be ok. Kami then enters the coversation again, and says if Dan Mitsu were elected, she might manage to get the censoring 'mosaic' pixels removed from porn. Kaoru and Joe say that Kami and Hiranabe make a good combo.

Kaoru finishes by reminding listeners about the new jingle campaign, and plugs his blog, DVD, new single, and tour.

Songs - Dir en grey/Jessica, Incubus/A Certain Shade of Green

[curedeity]

Aquila's Gift

Summary: Yu’s room is full of stuffed animals, brought for him by a man that only cares for his loyalty. 

    The hallways of the Dark Nebula building were always long and empty. Lit by harsh fluorescent lights, they looked so sterile that you couldn’t tell at least 20 people lived here. Tsubasa took great joy in not wiping his feet at the doorway and tracking mud into them. He was sure if Doji was going to fire him for any reason, other than him discovering Tsubasa’s true intentions, it would be for that.

    Especially because Yu had copied him and tracked even more dirt than Tsubasa did into the building.

    It was quite weird, Yu definitely hated Tsubasa, helped along by Tsubasa’s consistent needling, but he seemed to copy his behaviors just as much as he did for Ryuga and Doji.

    Speaking of Yu…

    Tsubasa really wished Doji would stop assigning them missions together, at least with anyone else he wouldn’t feel bad about tricking or spying on them, but Yu was so strange and young, it felt a bit wrong to lie to him. Not that it would change anything right now, or the mission they had just been assigned.

    With a sigh, Tsubasa finally reached Yu’s room, and knocked thrice on it.

    It wasn’t hard to tell what room was Yu’s, despite the fact Tsubasa hadn’t yet been on this floor yet. There was the nameplate with Yu’s name on it, of course, but beyond that Yu had taken the liberty of covering his entire door in stickers. 

    “Who is it--Oh hey, Tsubasa,” Yu answered as he opened the door, looking at Tsubasa with a mix of obvious confusion and probably some distaste. 

    “Doji has a new mission for us, we leave for another tournament in 20 minutes,” Tsubasa informed him. Doji seemed to take some glee in sending Yu and him off together, perhaps he was hoping they’d murder each other one of these days.

    “Mr. Doji is way too uptight about these tournaments, there are never any good bladers, all I want is a good challenge,” Yu complained, as always.

    It was at this moment Tsubasa glanced into Yu’s room, and he couldn’t help but let out a “hmm” of surprise.

    The room was practically overflowing with stuffed animals.

    “Why can’t Battle Bladers just start already, I want to fight already--Hey Tsubasa, what are you looking at?” Yu finally cut off his whining for long enough to note Tsubasa’s surprise. He followed his gaze, and noticeably brightened the minute he realized what Tsubasa had been looking at were the plushies.

    “Do you like my stuffed animals!” Yu practically shouted this as he tugged Tsubasa into the room, picking up the nearest plushie (a fox) and shoving it into Tsubasa’s hands. The fox was very soft, and the inside seemed to be beads. Yu was rocking back and forth on his heels as he smiled up at Tsubasa, picking up a stuffed animal to hold himself.

    “Mr. Doji got them all for me! I get to order them online, and they come in the mail really quickly,” Yu rambled, “these are the first presents I’ve gotten and they’re so cool! Look, they’re all so soft!” Yu shoved another plushie (a cat) into Tsubasa’s already full arms.

    Tsubasa stood there in… What should he say? This. This was not the interaction he was expecting to have when he came to get Yu for the mission. But really, when had any interaction with this kid ever gone the way he expected? Yu seemed to love being chaotic and creating all the problems he could.

    ...And had he said that these were the first presents he’d ever received? That explained quite a lot of Tsubasa’s questions over what a young child was doing in the Dark Nebula, and opened up a whole host of new ones.

    But he wasn’t here to analyze this child, he had a job to do: discovering the true intentions of Doji and what L-Drago could do. 

    “They are all very nice, you really like plushies, huh?” Tsubasa handed the two plushies back to Yu and leaned against the doorway.

    “Yeah! They’re just so soft, and who doesn’t like animals! But Mr. Doji says we can’t get a cat or dog or a lizard in the Dark Nebula, and he’s too busy sending me off to tournaments for me to go to the zoo,” Yu waved a hand in the air as he placed the plushies back in their respective spots. Then he flew out the door, calling back to Tsubasa “Come on, let’s go before the helicopter leaves without us!”

    Tsubasa sighed, and closed the door of the room filled with stuffed animals behind him, following the excited kid to their next tournament that they would sweep. He almost managed to put the thought of all those stuffed animals out of his mind, all those stuffed animals given to Yu by a person who was clearly trying to buy his loyalty.

    It was a week later, at a different tournament, that Tsubasa spotted it. Yu was competing this time, he was hanging back after looking at the roster. No one strong seemed to be competing in this tournament, certainly not Gingka or any of his friends. Yu could handle it by himself.

    Yu could actually handle quite a lot of bladers by himself. No matter what Tsubasa could say about the Dark Nebula, and their other bladers, Yu and Ryuga were both actually good bladers. He would have to be careful if ever made to battle either of them seriously. Yu shouldn’t be that much of a problem, but he wouldn’t put it past the kid to try something unexpected.

    But Ryuga…

    Tsubasa still hadn’t even seen the other blader that much, it would be foolish for him to try to make strategies with so little information, but that didn’t stop him from pondering it as he wandered towards the stadium doors to go get some lunch.

    As he passed the shop, he glanced inside, and paused for a moment.

    The shops at stadiums mostly sold simple things, like some commemorative t-shirts and water bottles. They also sold some more specific bey gear, like angle compasses. Tsubasa had used to love buying the gear at these shops when he was a kid. 

    This shop had something more than usual though. Towards the back, a single shelf stood, overflowing with a collection of stuffed animals.

    Tsubasa reached out his hand and touched them, somehow he had already walked over to them. They were very soft, filled with some sort of soft fiber. They were slightly more realistic than most of the plushies Tsubasa had seen over his life, and he found himself appreciating them, matching each of them to his knowledge of wild animals.

    A lizard, a dog, a frog, and then…

    Tsubasa stared at one of the plushies for possibly a full minute. Then he grabbed it off the shelf and brought it to the front counter.

    Yu won of course. No one in this tournament could really challenge him. Tsubasa waited outside for Yu to finish receiving his prize points and trophy. The helicopter that had been sent to pick them up loomed in the background, a reminder that soon he’d be back at the bleak Dark Nebula base.

    He couldn’t wait for this job to be over and to be able to camp out again.

    Yu skipped out of the building, and made a beeline for Tsubasa. As soon as Yu got close enough for Tsubasa to hear him, he immediately began complaining. “That was soooooooooo boring! I can’t believe we have to wait for all these tourneys to be over for Battle Bladers. I mean, come on, I just want a good fight already! Why don’t-”

    “Hey kid,” Tsubasa interrupted him as Yu stopped right in front of him. Yu must’ve been so surprised that Tsubasa did that, that he actually shut up for a minute. Tsubasa took a minute to appreciate flabbergasting the kid, before he pushed the bag into Yu’s hands.

    “Nice job in the tournament,” he called as he walked over towards the helicopter, and he couldn’t help but smile at the way Yu beamed for the whole ride, a large eagle plushie sitting comfortably in his arms.

[thathopelessromantic]

Reckless Good (3/?)

Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia/My Hero Academia

Fic Rating: Explicit

Chapter Rating: Teen+

Pairing: Todoroki Shouto/Midoriya Izuku 

Note: Thanks so much for the great response so far! And if you haven’t already, please check out some of the other great pieces for the TDDK Big Bang this year!

Todoroki Shouto had accepted his fate as a public figure when he became a pro-hero, but there are some parts of his private life he would like to stay private. When he gets invited to be a speaker in a college lecture series, he goes to the meeting with one goal: to give the coordinator a piece of his mind and finally put an end to people hounding him for information about his family.

The last thing he expects is the curious, and quirkless, hero- and quirk-study professor, Midoriya Izuku, who has no interest in his family’s history, and, somehow, even more ties to the hero industry than Shouto. Intrigued by the professor, Shouto tentatively agrees to the lecture series, unknowingly intertwining their futures.

But the more Todoroki sees of Midoriya, the more questions he has. When a villain attack leaves them living together until the culprits are apprehended, maybe he’ll finally get some answers.

AO3: (x) Chapter One: (X) Chapter Two: (X)

Shouto is, regrettably, not unfamiliar with the process of checking into the hospital, or the protocols in the burn unit, but things seem to go surprisingly quick with a doctor at his side, explaining not only the extent of his injury but the cause. Just a few moments after they’ve arrived, Shouto is whisked away from Dr. Midoriya and Kou to have his burn cleaned and dressed. They run the usual battery of tests, poke him for blood what feels like a dozen times, and after about half a dozen reassurances to various doctors and nurses that, yes, he does know how to care for a burn at home, he’s told he might be able to go home later that night.

The room he’s put in is, admittedly, one of the nicer hospital rooms that he’s visited. It’s part of a private wing made specifically for pro-heroes to get a little peace from fans and the media while recovering, but it doesn’t make him hate it any less. He’s only been alone in the room for twenty minutes or so, but he’s already contemplating a prison break. Let Momo handle the paperwork for his unconventional discharge on her next day at the office and call it good. But the risk of being put on some extra mandatory leave is too great. His doctor and Momo have been on his case about taking care of himself properly for months now and they’d love any excuse to bench him for a few extra weeks, instead of the couple of days he’ll need for the burn to heal enough that he can cover it securely and get back to work.

There’s a short knock on the door. Shouto starts to mentally prepare himself for another argument with a doctor when the door inches open and Kou peeks in. Surprised, Shouto waves to her. Kou smiles back, turning to motion at someone behind her. A moment later the door opens the rest of the way and Kou rushes in, followed by Dr. Midoriya.

“Dr. Midoriya and I are on a secret adventure.” Kou announces in a whisper. There’s a Uravity-themed spacesuit sticker on her cheek and she looks as if she’s recovered from the evening’s events, but her clothes have been replaced by a colorful hospital gown and fuzzy bathrobe.

Dr. Midoriya hasn’t changed his clothes, but he has a white lab coat on over top.

“Oh? What is your secret adventure?” Shouto asks. He shifts to the side and makes room for Kou to climb onto the bed besides him.

“Visiting you!” She announces, happily. “It’s a secret because I’m not supposed to leave the quirk ward, but Dr. Midoriya snuck me out. This is for you. Dr. Midoriya said you were friends!” She pulls two more stickers out of a pocket in her robe and hands them to him; a music note that says Earphone Jack and a nesting doll in Creati’s costume.

“Thank you,” Shouto says genuinely, though he has no idea what he’s going to do with the stickers. But his mind is distracted by Kou’s other words. The quirk ward? Obviously there was a reason the villains had targeted the girl, but that detail had gotten buried in the chaos of everything else. Now he’s reminded of the villain’s words…something about her being the key.

He looks up but Dr. Midoriya meets his eye with a subtle shake of his head.

Shouto lets the subject drop for now, but he’s determined to stay a part of this investigation. He’ll get his answers eventually.

Turning back to Kou, he tries a hesitant smile. “Would you still like that autograph?”

Her whole being lights up. “Really?” She reaches into the pocket of her robe again only for her face to drop. “Oh. I forgot my notebook.”

Dr. Midoriya taps her on the shoulder, holding out a small, heart-shaped notepad and a glittery gel pen.

Kou gasps, taking the items from him with excited thanks. She flips through the notebook quickly looking for a blank page, and Shouto is surprised by how many signatures she’s already amassed. Satisfied with the location, she hands the notebook and pen to him. She’s practically vibrating in excitement as he writes a quick note to her, trying to make it sound a little more personal than his usual scribbled signature.

Just as Shouto finishes his note, there’s another knock on the door. Yet another doctor steps into the room, reading through something in a folder. Her long, silver hair is draped over her shoulder in a thick braid and there’s a sharp horn coming out of her forehead. She seems faintly familiar to Shouto but he can’t place why he would recognize her. At the very least he doesn’t think he’s ever had her as a doctor before. She stops in her tracks when she sees Dr. Midoriya and Kou gathered around his hospital bed.

“Izuku!” she scolds, crossing her arms over her chest.

It takes Shouto a moment to remember Izuku is Dr. Midoriya’s first name. He glances up at him.

Dr. Midoriya leans close to Kou, covering his mouth with one hand to stage whisper to her. “I think we got caught.”

Kou copies him with a quiet giggle. “Oops.”

Shouto closes her notebook carefully and slides it across the bed. Kou covertly slips it into her robe.

“What are you even doing here?” The new doctor asks, exasperated. There’s no way she didn’t hear the two of them whispering, but she seems to be ignoring it.

“Kou just wanted to thank Entropy for saving her!” Dr. Midoriya insists, apparently choosing to take no blame in their “secret adventure.”

“Dr. Aizawa has a quirk kind of like mine,” Kou tells Shouto in a hushed voice while the two doctors argue. “She and Dr. Midoriya are really nice. And funny.”

Dr. Aizawa makes it all click. The light hair and the horn. She was the same little girl Aizawa had adopted during Shouto’s first year.

“We were just leaving, Dr. Aizawa!” Kou chimes in suddenly, sliding off the bed and grabbing Dr. Midoriya’s hand. “Bye!”

Dr. Aizawa shakes her head as Dr. Midoriya is pulled out of the room by a girl a quarter his size. “This isn’t over just because you have a patient protecting you, Izuku.”

Dr. Midoriya sends a bright smile back at her just as the door closes on the two of them.

“I hope they weren’t bothering you too much,” Dr. Aizawa says as she comes over to Shouto’s bed.

He shakes his head. “No, I’m glad I got to see her again. I was worried she’d be a little more upset after everything.”

“Kou’s a strong girl. She’s going to be okay.” Dr. Aizawa says with certainty. “Anyways, I’m Aizawa Eri, I’m part of the hero staff here.”

“Aizawa, er...Eraserhead’s daughter, right?”

Dr. Aizawa smiles and it looks so shockingly like Dr. Midoriya’s, Shouto can’t help but wonder about what their connection to each other is. Especially with how casually she spoke to him. Could they be related? It seems like he would have known if his homeroom teacher had also had or adopted a son his age, wouldn’t he? “That’s right, you were one of his students! Nice to see you again.”

Shouto bows his head in acknowledgement. He knows he met the young girl Aizawa adopted a few times, but his memories of her are fuzzy at best.

Dr. Aizawa checks him over again, asking him a few questions about how he’s feeling and what’s been done already. Finally, she gets to why she’s here to see him. “I’m not sure if you would remember, but my quirk is Rewind. It’s delicate but helpful for healing, especially for many pros. If you remember about how long ago you were burned, I should be able to heal your arm so that you can get back to work without too much fuss.”

“Really?”

Dr. Aizawa nods. “I can rewind your body back to before it happened, but it will rewind your whole body so the closer to the exact time it happened the better, otherwise too many things could change. Do you have a good idea of when it happened?”

“What time is it now?”

Dr. Aizawa glances at her watch. “Almost ten.”

Shouto is briefly surprised by that information. He hadn’t realized how long he had been in the hospital already. “I left the agency after the first alerts came in around 6:30, so it was probably around 7 that I made contact with the villain. I can’t be more exact than that, unfortunately.”

“That should work alright. Would you like to be rewound, or would you prefer to let it heal naturally?”

Shouto shakes his head. Anything to speed up the process. “No, please rewind it if you can.”

She smiles. “Okay, it will be just a moment then.”

Dr. Aizawa pulls on a pair of gloves and takes his arm in her hands, gently, mindful of the injury and the loose bandages protecting it.

A moment later the horn at her temple begins to glow, Shouto has to look away as the warm light grows brighter and then, just like that, it’s over. When he looks back at the doctor, her horn has shrunk a little, losing some of the sharp edge at the top.

“Okay! You should be good to go. How does it feel?”

Shouto moves his arm a few times, relieved that there’s no pain as he moves it. Carefully he peels off the bandages. It looks as if he was never injured, not even a small scar left behind.

Dr. Aizawa looks pleased with the results. “Perfect. Unfortunately it doesn’t work on non-living things so you will have to have your costume repaired separately.”

“That’s fine,” Shouto says. He was more worried about being forced to take some sick leave than repairing his costume to begin with. “Thank you.”

Dr. Aizawa smiles again. “Of course. I’m happy to help.” She pulls a few papers out of her folder and hands them to him. “If you are ready, you can take these to the desk out front and you’ll be discharged.”

Shouto hesitates as he takes the papers from her. An hour ago he was ready to run at the first chance, but now…she was someone who might have some answers…

“Kou mentioned that the two of you had similar quirks,”

“I’m sorry. If you become a part of the investigation I’m sure you’ll find out more information, but for now I can’t disclose a patient’s information.”  Dr. Aizawa says before he can even finish figuring out exactly what he wants to ask.

“Right. Sorry.”

“It’s alright. I don’t blame you for being curious, not after everything that’s happened.”

Dr. Aizawa looks ready to leave, but there’s one more thing Shouto has to ask. At least while he still has a chance.

“Can I ask about Dr. Midoriya, then?”

Dr. Aizawa stops with a puzzled look. “Izuku? What about him?”

Shouto's mind goes blank. Everything doesn’t seem like a plausible response. At least not one that would get him anywhere. “Uh, I…I was just surprised to hear you call him Izuku. Are you close?”

Dr. Aizawa studies him for a long time as if she could determine whatever ulterior motives he had for asking just by staring him down. Maybe she could if even he knew what he was doing asking these questions.

“I’ve known Izuku for a long time,” she finally says. “He’s like family.”

The answer is careful, guarded. With the slightest undertone of a threat.

“…Right.” Shouto replies awkwardly. “Thank you.”

Dr. Aizawa inclines her head to him. “Have a nice night, Entropy.”

 After checking out with Dr. Aizawa’s discharge papers, Shouto heads back to the agency. Sunspot practically tackles him in the lobby.

“Entropy! You’re okay! I thought you were just going to check on the kidnapped civilian, but then Ingenium told me his friend was taking you to the hospital and that I had nothing to worry about so I should just go back to the agency but I didn’t know why you were going to the hospital or what was happening,” she stutters over her words for a moment, taking a breath. “Was it okay to leave? I didn’t know what else to do but I didn’t know what hospital you went to or why. Were you injured? You don’t look hurt. Is that how you damaged your costume?”

Shouto lets her run on while he goes to his office. He knows she’ll follow. And that it’s pointless to try and get a word in until she runs out of breath.

Sunspot sinks into one of his office chairs as he goes to turn his computer on. He lifts a brow at her slumped form in the armchair.

“Are you done?”

She opens her mouth to speak again but after a moment shuts it again and nods.

“The villain who took the hostage burned me. I hadn’t realized the extent of the injury until later. I’m sorry I didn’t contact you personally so that you knew it was okay to come back, but it was fine that you came back. It wasn’t serious.” Shouto explains calmly. “You said Ingenium told you to come back?” Shouto thinks back to Dr. Midoriya texting in the ambulance and he wonders if the two know each other.

Sunspot nods again. “He came and found me and told me a friend was taking you to the hospital. I assumed he meant one of the paramedics. I didn’t know he was friends with the paramedics. Was that part of U.A. training? Getting to know first-responders closely? Or just a coincidence?”

“I think it’s just a coincidence on Ingenium’s part. Not something you’re missing out on.” Shouto says. “You did good tonight. Go home and get some rest.”

“But-”

Shouto gestures to her before she can argue. “You expended a lot of your reserve helping the rescue crews with civilians trapped under the rubble and then helping me melt the ice. It’s okay.”

Sunspot looks down at herself. The faint glow she normally gives off as a result of having excess energy saved up by her quirk is almost completely extinguished. At the late hour, she wouldn’t be able to get any more energy even if they needed to go out into the field again. Not until the sun was up again.

Sunspot pushes herself out of the chair. “I’m sorry I can’t be more help tonight.” She says with a short bow.

Shouto waves her off. “It’s okay.”

“Good night, Entropy.”

“Good night, Sunspot. Good work tonight.” Shouto says. He catches just a glimpse of her relieved smile as his office door closes quietly behind her.

Alone, Shouto settles into his desk chair, already mentally preparing for a long night. He considers going against doctor’s orders and getting some coffee but just barely resists the temptation. Caffeine might end up making him too jittery to focus and this is important. Writing up a more in-depth report of the event for the police and the agency records is the first priority of the night. But after that, Shouto has some research to do.

 X

Momo finds him like that in the morning. Sometime in the night the combination of the late hour and bright computer screen got to him and he went in search of his rarely-worn glasses to take some of the stress off. His final report and the accompanying paperwork are tucked in a folder for safe keeping, but the rest of his desk is a disaster zone of scattered pages, printed news reports of the attack last night with any information he might have missed, any police reports on the matter he could get his hands on with his current clearance, his own compiled notes.

He doesn’t even realize someone else is in the office with him until Momo clears her throat, placing a paper to-go cup of tea in the middle of his desk, on top of the latest piece he’s reading.

“Shouto,” she says seriously, crossing her arms over her chest. “ When did you last take a break?”

Shouto tries to come up with an answer but his brain is fuzzy at best, street names and potential identities floating at the forefront of his consciousness. “Uh, what time is it?”

Momo sighs, rubbing at her temple with one hand. “ Go home, Shouto.”

“I just need to-"

“No.” Momo comes around the other side of his desk, pulling him up and out of his desk chair by one arm. “It’s almost eight o'clock. You need to go home and go to bed.”

Momo might have had a point, his shift was supposed to end at six that morning and he hadn’t even noticed the time, but he digs his heels in, resisting being dragged from the office to the best of his ability. Unfortunately, Momo is stronger than she looks, and has the advantage of a full-night’s sleep on him.

“Go home. Go to sleep. Don’t come back until Saturday.”

“But-”

“You were injured! You should have called me as soon as you were taken to the hospital,” Momo scolds.

“I got better.”

Momo looks at him curiously. She comes to a stop, scanning him over. Shouto’s sure he looks a mess, still half-dressed in his damaged hero-suit, the top unzipped and tied around his waist. His hair has started to escape the braid he had it in for work and he can see the loose hair floating in his peripheral vision. Not to mention how exhausted he probably looks after spending the whole night scouring the police database. But – he’s not injured.

“What do you mean you ‘got better’? You weren’t really injured?”

Shouto sighs. “No, I was. There was a doctor at the hospital with a quirk who fixed it. Aizawa’s daughter, actually.”

Momo’s brows shoot up in surprise. “I didn’t realize she became a doctor. That’s wonderful.” She pauses. “But not the point. You still should have called someone. Though I suppose I should be grateful you went to get help, at all.”

Shouto rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well…there was a doctor on the scene when I was talking to the girl who was targeted who saw my burn.”

“A doctor?”

“Uh…Dr. Midoriya.” Shouto explains. He isn’t sure if Momo will recognize the name, not entirely sure if he wants her to remember or not.

“The professor from the lecture series?” Momo asks in surprise. “What was he doing there?”

“Apparently he’s not just a professor.”

Momo studies him for a few moments, trying to figure something out. Shouto doesn’t blame her. He’d like some answers about his behavior too. He just hopes she comes to an easy conclusion, like Shouto cooperated with Dr. Midoriya because he sort-of knew him, and not anything else ridiculous. Or revealing. Or uncomfortable.

Finally, Momo shakes her head, brushing off whatever conclusions she may have come to. “I don’t care. Go home. Sleep. Eat something. I’ll finish submitting your reports to the police and I’ll make sure they know you are interested in joining the case searching for the villains who escaped last night, but other than talking to anyone who contacts you about the case, I don’t want to hear about you working again until this weekend.”

Shouto wants to keep arguing, he’s not even hurt anymore, but he knows this is the best he’s going to get from her. He is also unbelievably grateful for all the years they’ve known each other and how Momo knows exactly what he needs to hear to relax, even just a little.  “Okay. Thank you.”

Momo nods. “We’ll get whoever it is, Shouto. But you don’t have to do it alone. And you can’t do it in one night. So please take care of yourself. I’ll see you on Friday for dinner.”

Momo waves to an intern, instructing them to escort Shouto to the exit. Shouto wants to protest being babysat the rest of the way to the door, but Momo pins him with a hard look before he can even open his mouth and he lets it happen. Admittedly, now that he’s not pouring over his research to keep himself moving, he can feel exhaustion settling over him.

Though he could still find the way to the damn door himself.

 Shouto stumbles into his dark apartment twenty minutes later. He leaves the lights off as he comes through the entrance. The morning sun has started to fill the front room with light, and its enough for him to make his way to the bedroom without tripping over anything. His bed is cool, the sheets still ruffled from the previous morning. Shouto just barely remembers to strip off his ruined hero-suit before he drops into the bed, using his left side to warm up the sheets quicker. In a minute, he’s asleep.

When he wakes again, warm golden light pours into the room from his half-open window. He runs a hand over his face, trying to will away the strange, disorienting feeling of waking up. He reaches to his bedside table, knocking a few things to the side until he connects with his alarm clock. Pulling it close, he squints at the lit screen. It was almost five in the afternoon. Shouto tosses the offending thing away. He takes just a few moments to reorient himself before he forces himself out of bed and into the shower.

He only remembers after stepping into the spray that half of his hair is still twisted into a braid. He swears as he tears the now-wet strands free of the stubborn rubber-band, tugging at the knots there unhappily. He doesn’t mean to stay in the shower for long, but after fighting with his hair for who knows how long, the heat and relaxing pound of the spray against his shoulders eases some of the tension from his body and he wastes time under the comforting water until it starts to run cold. The temperature change doesn’t bother him much, but he figures he’s wasted enough water like that and climbs out.

After drying off a little, Shouto brushes his teeth, and that, combined with washing off the grime of the previous day, helps make him feel a little more awake. A little more human.

Shouto dresses in casual civilian clothes. He finds his phone, dead, in a pocket of his hero-suit before tossing the ruined thing in a bag to give to the support team. They’ll probably just have to make him a new one, but he feels bad throwing it away without trying to salvage it.

His charger is plugged in near the bed, so he goes to grab it so he can charge his phone in the kitchen while he makes something to eat. But in fumbling around looking for the charger, he spots his forgotten glasses in the mess of sheets and pillows on his bed. The ear piece on the right side is bent at a strange angle and one of the lenses is cracked. Shit. Well, he supposes, that’s what he gets for wearing them for the first time in months while running on fumes. He tosses the damaged glasses on his side table and leaves for the kitchen.

Finally, he switches on a few lights.

His apartment is mostly bare, plain white walls with just a few basic pieces of furniture, mostly just there to fill the empty space. The occasional dirty glass or dish that gets left behind if he’s in a rush on his way to work are the only signs of the life in the otherwise dull place. Those, and the three picture frames hanging on the wall in his living room; one of his mother and siblings, one of his graduating class with their teachers mixed in with the colorful crowd, and one of the day he and Momo started their agency. They’re the only decoration he needs. They represent all the important people in his life.

There are a few containers of leftovers in the fridge, and while it would be easier to warm something up and leave it at that, Shouto takes the time to pull out some fresh ingredients. Washing off the vegetables and prepping them while rice cooks is a simple, familiar routine and it helps ground him.

He starts a simple stir fry with chicken just as his phone finally comes back to life, chiming with a number of missed notifications. Lowering the heat slightly, Shouto lets it simmer for a minute while he checks his phone.

A few of the notifications are basic news reports he usually dismisses, though today he saves any about last night’s attack incase there’s been any updated information. There are two texts from Momo asking if he got home safe and if he ate anything. He shoots of a quick reply to her, apologizing for not letting her know right away and reassuring her he’s making food now. He takes a picture of the pan and sends it as an after thought, just in case she doesn’t believe him. There are also a few texts from Kyouka telling him to stop worrying her wife and to stop being an idiot. He responds to those with a few choice emojis and nothing else. She’ll get the message.

Finally, he looks at the emails he missed. There’s one from an Officer Uchida he doesn’t recognize, confirming he (Momo) submitted the right paper work to join the case against the villains from the night before and once the task force has been officially formed he would be contacted with more information. Relieved, Shotuo saves the contact information and sets it as a priority so he’ll be sure to get any future notifications right away. The only other missed email is from Dr. Midoriya.

Shouto goes back to checking his food, stirring it for a few minutes and adding a few more ingredients. His attention goes back to his phone a few times, but he resists going back to it. He’s not sure why, he’s been waiting for this stupid email basically since he left the professor’s office, but suddenly he’s nervous about opening it. He’s not sure what to expect once he opens the list of the professor’s topics. What if he imagined all of this and the professor still wants him to talk about his family? What if Shouto can’t answer any of his questions about how his quirk works? Is it even a good idea for him to talk publicly about how his quirk works? Couldn’t someone use that against him?

Shouto turns his phone upside down, hiding the blinking notification.

He’ll look at it after he eats.

He finishes cooking a little while later. Scooping out a generous serving of rice into a bowl and getting a plate for the stir fry he settles in the living room. He has a perfectly good table he could eat at in the kitchen, but there’s something satisfying in breaking the rules and eating on the couch. Out in the open, casually. He hasn’t lived with his father since he was a first year, but he still takes satisfaction in all the ways he can defy him and the rules he kept in that house.

Shouto turns on the local news channel to watch while he eats. Unsurprisingly, the attack from last night is still the focus of the station. There’s a reporter discussing the widespread damage through downtown on the screen. In the background, heroes and clean up crews are still working to clear the rubble. Shouto recognizes Uravity’s bright pink costume amongst all the grey and black. She’s moving two giant pieces of concrete overhead, some kind of broken metal rods coming from one look particularly dangerous.

A scrolling banner runs across the bottom of the broadcast, asking anyone who might have information about the villains to call in to a hotline, and a separate call for anyone with quirks that might help in fixing the damage done to the roads. There are also short headlines for stories meant to air later that night and a small graphic with the weather.

The camera view changes suddenly and the report comes back into view with a police officer, answering questions about the attack.

What did they know about it? Not much yet, but they don’t think it was random.

Was anyone seriously injured? Thankfully most casualties were only minor injuries and the paramedics on scene took care of most of the civilians who were hurt.

Who were the villains? No one in particular. They don’t think this is an organized group starting attacks. Not like in the past. No one needs to worry.

All safe answers that tell them basically nothing about what happened. Shouto learned more in the two minutes he spent on the radio before pursuing the villain than the news report. He changes the channel. A talk show re-run is showing an old interview with Hawks. Shouto hesitates changing the channel again.

“So, Hawks, it’s no secret that you’ve been a fan of Endeavor’s basically since your debut, and the two of you made a good team as Number 1 and 2 for a while,” the interviewer says in a fake cheerful voice. Hawks gives a stiff smile, placating but revealing nothing about how he actually feels about the subject. “What are your thoughts on the rumors brewing about a civil trial after the allegations against Endeavor from his family?”

‘Tis the season.

Shouto clicks the TV off before Hawks can reply.

Not hungry anymore, Shouto puts his plate down. He ate most of what he had taken anyways. The rest will be fine for leftovers.

Getting up from the couch, Shouto goes back to the kitchen for his phone. The same ignored email is still waiting for him with that mocking, blinking notification light. Taking a deep breath, as if preparing for a fight, he opens it.

Entropy,

I hope you are doing better after Dr. Aizawa’s visit with you at the hospital. Sorry I couldn’t see you off. Here is the list of possible topics we discussed the other day. This is just an abbreviated list of some basic things to talk about. You can obviously go into more detail about anything that might interest you or that you think might be important information for anyone with two or dual quirks to consider.

Thank you for considering being a part of the Hero Talks Series.

Thank you, also, for your help with the attacks last night and with Kou.

Midoriya

 Shouto isn’t sure what to focus on first. The dropped title from the professor’s name? Midoriya thanking him for doing his job of all things?

Making the executive decision to focus on none of them for the time being, Shouto opens the attached document with the lecture topics. Dr. Midoriya’s “abbreviated list" is still two pages long.

Somehow, it’s exactly what Shouto was expecting.

[gayenerd]

This interview was the cover story for the 17th issue of Jaded In Chicago. It was conducted in September of 2004, several weeks prior to the release of American Idiot. It was a fitting end to the fanzine that was named after the band, as “Jaded In Chicago” references Green Day’s 1994 MTV concert special. To come full circle by interviewing the band that inspired the zine’s moniker was somewhat surreal.

With the release of American Idiot, Green Day has transcended punk rock. By crafting the first punk rock opera and fashioning what is likely the first tasteful concept album of the new millennium, they’ve provided pop punk bands everywhere with a blueprint for how to mature gracefully. Additionally, as much as American Idiot is about innovation, it’s also a return to the fundamentals of punk rock. The album sears with dissent, takes aim between the eyes of the Bush administration and contains a dangerous sense of unpredictability. It’s been ten years since Green Day was the most popular band in the world and with any luck American Idiot will allow them to recapture that title in no time. (Interview with drummer Tré Cool).

Bill – Before we talk about American Idiot, I wanted to discuss the infamous “lost” album first. About a year and a half ago, you guys recorded what was to be the follow-up to Warning, but reportedly the master tapes were stolen. What can you tell me about what happened?

Tré – We just knew that if it ever came out, we couldn’t do any of those same songs on the actual record. If somebody puts it out, like crappier versions of the songs, it’s going to totally ruin it. Plus, it happened right around the same time that Billie wrote the song “American Idiot” and most of “Holiday.” We were in the middle of working on those songs, so we just decided not to look back and we kept going forward.

Bill – I’ve read that you feel American Idiot is “maximum Green Day.” Why exactly do you feel this way?

Tré – Well, because we’re firing on all cylinders, ya know? Everything about even just being in the band now feels so right. Everything from the recording process to the live shows to our ambitions. This might sound kind of dumb, but even the clothes we’re wearing during photo shoots. It’s more together like a band.

Bill – People are certainly expecting this record to be political, but I think they’re going to be surprised when they hear how you really go for the throat with some of the lyrics. Examples of this would of course be the title track and also the breakdown section of “Holiday.” What are some of the main reasons why you’re so pissed off with this country?

Tré – It’s more like confused and jaded, if you will, (laughs). The bombardment of bullshit, fake news, like Fox News and CNN. All the reality-based shit that’s on television, stuff like Fear Factor that the government is using to keep everybody like good little sheep and not asking too many questions. It’s like how if a cop hears you use the word “terror” it basically means he can take any normal American citizen’s rights away from them. A cop can do that at his or her discretion if they think you might be a terrorist or whatnot. The whole Patriot Act. It’s like do we actually have any rights after all? We don’t have the right to a proper election, we already found that out. The fabric of our government right now is basically just made out of one hundred dollar bills that are drenched in oil. As far as this upcoming election goes, I know that John Kerry is extremely conservative and he’s nowhere near the liberal we need in the White House to clean up the mess. However, he’s not George Bush. Kerry’s money is in ketchup. Bush’s money is in oil and blood. I’d choose ketchup over that, (laughs).

Bill – How do you hope people react to these songs?

Tré – I hope they can look past the strong language and go into the meaning of it. I hope they realize there’s a bit of sarcasm. I hope they don’t feel that we’re telling them what to do. We’re just sort of pointing the fingers at ourselves, saying like “I don’t want to be an American idiot or I don’t want to be a part of this bullshit.”

Bill – Talk about the character called “Jesus of Suburbia.” What sort of journey does he embark on throughout these songs and what made you choose this type of format for your songwriting?

Tré – The album is sort of like a timeline of his life. Depending on where you’re at with your life, you probably fit somewhere on that timeline yourself. Whether it’s the “Holiday” party stage, or the “Give Me Novacaine” drug stage or the “Extraordinary Girl” being in love stage; all these different stages in life show that what paths you choose will inevitably lead you somewhere. It’s not necessarily the happiest ending in the world, but it’s pretty realistic.

Bill – Are you at all worried about some of your fans possibly being alienated by the two nine-minute rock operas found on the album?

Tré – I don’t think they’ll even notice they’re nine-minute songs. They’ll think they’re a bunch of short songs put together. It’s definitely short attention span theater. It’s not like Wilco, where they have a ten-minute song with the same drumbeat and the same chord progression. Not saying anything bad about Wilco, they’re a fine band. They’re great to relax to and drink iced tea to, (laughs). I think we’d get bored doing that. We just sort of get to the point, say what we want to say and move on to the next part of the song. The way the energy flows in the songs is sort of like the way America is now too, just so scattered. There’s a big misrepresentation of how we feel in this bullshit climate right now.

Bill – One of the most important topics you address on this record is the American media. Specifically, how it perpetuates fear amongst the public and does little to question the President’s follow-through on his promises. Do you think the average American is aware of how the wool is being pulled over their eyes?

Tré – No, not at all. Say you see some guy driving down the street with a Bush/Cheney sticker on his Chevy S-10, beat-up truck with a pair of flip-flops hanging off the back. I want to ask him, “Why the fuck are you a Republican? What’s in it for you, dude?” Bush isn’t doing a thing for those people. He’s not helping them get a better truck or put food on the table. He’s not going to give them a tax break. Republicans don’t care about you. They’re not going to try and help you in any way. They just want to use you and get your dead peasants insurance once you’re gone.

Bill – Tell me about the upcoming club dates that you have scheduled where you plan to perform American Idiot in its entirety. Who came up with the idea and what are you looking forward to most about it?

Tré – I’d credit Pete Townshend with the idea. We’ve always admired The Who and their lack of inhibition as far as going for whatever crazy idea they had. As crazy as something like Tommy was when it was just a small idea, compared to what it’s become now, it’s pretty insane. They did A Quick One, where they played that live. That was a quick one, but ours is an hour. Basically, we just want to kick The Who’s ass. I listened to Who’s Next yesterday, which a lot of people are comparing American Idiot to. We totally got them beat. I’ve always aspired to be as good of a drummer as Keith Moon and I think I’ve fuckin’ passed by him on this record.

Bill – Roughly ten years ago, Dookie was released and went on to sell over ten million copies and become one of the most notable albums of the ‘90s. A decade later, I think you’ve constructed in American Idiot what is arguably your strongest record yet. Is there anything specific that you hope American Idiot accomplishes?

Tré – Yeah, I think it’s about time that people think of Green Day in a different light. We’re not snot-nosed kids anymore, we’re men now. I want people to think of us more as one of the mainstay supergroups of today. I’m not asking for too much, (laughs). We’re superheroes in our own minds. We think we’re really cool, why doesn’t everybody else?

Bill – What was the weirdest thing about being the biggest band in America in 1994?

Tré – I don’t think we really had time to enjoy it when it was happening. We were just trying to pay our rent and be able to make records for the rest of our lives. We didn’t know anything like that was ever going to happen. It sort of freaked us out a bit, but at the same time I was kind of busy just moving and doing it. We didn’t have time to look back since we were doing so much. By the time we had taken a break to make Insomniac it was like, “Do you guys know what you just did?” We were like, “Oh…shit.”

Bill – Earlier this year, Thick Records released the Out of Focus DVD, which featured live Green Day footage circa 1992. What are some of your favorite memories from playing at McGregor’s in Elmhurst, Illinois?

Tré – Demetri. Demetri was this male stripper that came onstage for some girl’s birthday at McGregor’s one night. They had her sit in this chair and the stripper did his thing for her. It was fuckin’ hilarious. In the middle of our show too. We took a timeout and let her get her strip on. I think that was the last time we played McGregor’s actually. I remember seeing State Street and I remember taking acid in Chicago. I remember going to the lake and wondering why all the fish were dead. I was inside Buckingham Fountain too. It was real hot out and I got in there during the Blues Fest. There were like a million people down there, but just one in the fountain. Of course this cop was like, “Get the fuck out of there! What are you thinking?” I was like, “I don’t know. I’m fried, dude.”

Bill – Do you have any comments regarding the rumors connecting members of Green Day to the mysterious band known as The Network?

Tré – The only connection is that their record was on Adeline, which is a label run by Billie Joe’s wife. That’s a few degrees of separation if you ask me. I think they’re getting a lot of mileage out of telling people they’re Green Day or pretending to be Green Day. The Network is not Green Day. Bastards.

Bill – Growing up I know that bands like the Ramones and The Who were very influential for you. What’s it like to now be one of the biggest influences on an entire generation of punk bands?

Tré – It’s kind of wild. Especially when younger bands meet you and they’re all nervous and stuff. You sort of get a little paternal with it, like “Ah…my children.” I feel like Michael Landon from Little House on the Prairie.

Bill – What has been the hardest part about achieving all the success you’ve attained?

Tré – I think you can pretty much choose what you want to deal with. You can choose for it to be difficult or you can enjoy it. It’s kind of up to the person.

Bill – After seven albums, what aspects of punk rock are still fresh and exciting to you?

Tré – I like seeing new bands. Bands that aren’t carbon-copied pop punk bands. Bands like Dillinger Four fuckin’ excite me. I think the Rock Against Bush compilation is a pretty damn good CD. There are some older bands on there that are still going strong and some younger bands that are real fresh and exciting too.

Bill – What does the future hold for Green Day?

Tré – I think whatever we put out next has got to be really fuckin’ good. After American Idiot we set the bar so high. It’s kind of like, “Now what are we going to do?”

[firesoulstuff]

Captain Canary + “you’re not safe here.”

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27544165/chapters/71160003

Sara can feel her stomach churning, and tears burning beneath her eyelids.

She has hated Lewis Snart for a long time now. The only comfort she has ever been able to take with the thought of him is that he is dead, and it was a very painful death.

Or at least, that was his fate before an aberration appeared.

She and Leonard were in the training room this morning, each doing their separate exercises. She’d been going through some of her forms whilst Len had been behind her across the room and hitting the punching bag. Eventually she noticed she hadn’t heard him in awhile, but she hadn’t heard him leave either. When she turned around he was gone, and before she could start looking for him Gideon called her to bridge.

She found out what happened, and immediately she had wanted to throw up.

It was the same thing that happened with Ray on the mission that brought them to the 80’s. There’s an aberration, and a past version of Leonard died.

That aberration? An extra crewmember for Lewis being free on the weekend of a heist because turns out the Time Masters pulling strings had been what kept him away. The heist still failed, but instead of getting busted this extra crewmember was able to get a very ill tempered Lewis out and home free. Where he took out his anger on his pregnant wife, and then his nine-year-old son who ran in to protect his mom and baby sister.

Little Leonard didn’t stand a chance.

Leonard – their Leonard – is back for now, because they’ve traveled back to before Lewis returns home and so the timeline isn’t yet set.

“You ok?”

No, she is not ok.

She’s with Mick, heading to the Snart household to get Little Leonard and his mom out. Their Len is with Ray and Amaya, staking out the heist and making sure the police come early, which they will so long as they act on the tip Zari is sending them.

She glares over at Mick, her expression saying for her how she is very much not ok, and then she sets her eyes forward again.

“His mom is pregnant.” She says as they come up on the house, and Mick hums.

“Yeah.” He agrees, “Time keeps on track, Lisa will be here and pissing everyone off in ‘bout a month.”

“That’s not the point.”

She doesn’t look, but she can feel Mick eyeing her. He gives it a minute, until they’re at the front gate made of rotting white-picket-fence, and he sighs as he nudges it open.

“Believe me Blondie, nothing would make me happier than putting that asshole eight feet in the ground, especially before he hurts Lisa. But if we do that her and Snart become different people.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” She mumbles before she can stop herself.

Mick rumbles at the back of his throat and eyes her, but he doesn’t say anything about her choice of words; he knows what she means.

They get up to the front door and he reaches for the knob, but his hand hovers above it, his eyes locked firmly on the door.

“Snart will get his chance.” He says, almost more to himself than to her, before he finally looks at her. “If Lewis shows up here, he made the choice.”

She… She knows he’s right. She still feels sick, and like she isn’t going to be sleeping for a long time after tonight, but he’s right. This is Leonard’s life and his decision. Unless he comes over the comms and tells her otherwise, if Lewis shows up here she won’t kill him; no matter how much she wants to.

Mick opens the door and it creaks open, and right away there’s the sound of movement coming from the kitchen. Its dishes rummaging around, glass, and given the time it’s a safe bet it isn’t a third grade Leonard Snart looking around for a late-night snack.

“I’ll get her.” Mick says, and then nods to the stairs next to them. “You get him.”

She nods; content to let him make the plan this one time, and hurries up the stairs. She doesn’t take enough precaution to keep her footsteps quiet, she wants him to wake up. She does, however, keep them light and quick; because what she doesn’t want is to take the risk he might mistake her for his father.

The upstairs hallway is small, barely five feet long and with two doors on each wall. The first is propped open, a dark bathroom on the inside. The second is closed, but the plush L hanging on it being a soft white color with tiny pink flowers clues her in that it might not be the dwelling of a nine-year-old boy. The next door, however, it has a nameplate with Leonard spelled out on it in crooked stickers and it’s frame is decorated with the images of astronauts and aliens.

She allows herself a tiny smile; letting herself forget for just half a second the reason she is here and instead bask in the peek into Leonard’s childhood.

Then her half-second is over, and with a gentle hand on the knob she turns it and lets herself into the room.

It’s dark, not even the dimmest of nightlights to offer comfort. She wonders, idly, about that. She knows Leonard now prefers to sleep without a hint of light, but she doubts he became that way this young of his own accord.

She decides not to dwell on it, not now anyway. Instead she pads across the room and kneels down next to his bed. His adult self would have heard her by now. He would have opened his eyes; he might even have jumped. But this Leonard is still snoring softly and it breaks her heart that she has to wake him.

“Leo.” She whispers, her hand coming to ghost over his back.

He stiffens, his entire body giving a jolt as is eyes snap open.

“Shh… It’s ok.” She hurries to say. “It’s ok, I know you don’t know me, but I’m a friend of your mom’s. She called me, you guys are going to come with me and my friend for a sleepover.”

God, she hopes little Snart hasn’t been well taught in the art of not getting kidnapped.

He sits up; looking at her in very much the same way her Leonard does when he’s trying to determine where her plan is going to land them.

“Why?”

Her breath hitches as she tries to think of a lie. Except what’s worse is she realizes he’s nine. Leonard has told her Lewis first came after him at the age of eight, and while he didn’t earn himself a permanent scar until eleven, at nine he already knew it was best to avoid daddy when he was angry.

“You’re dad called from work.” She says, watching his eyes for some kind of sign of fear, and she sees it. A flicker, a faint tightening of his body, and it makes her gut twist even more. “Something went wrong tonight, and he’s very angry about it.”

There’s another tightening of his body. His shoulders close in and his eyes flit away from her, and automatically she spreads her fingers out on his back.

“It’s ok.” She promises him, and licks her lips to force herself to continue. “But you’re not safe here.”

He shifts by only the tiniest amount, but it’s towards her, and she needs him to hurry but she doesn’t want to rush him.

“Boss!” Mick’s voice suddenly shouts from downstairs, and Leo jumps where he is. “We gotta move, you coming?”

She looks back to Leo, and she almost wants to call back and see if his mother will yell up that it’s ok, but it’s Mick in charge if getting her. She’s probably unconscious by now.

She dares to put a little more pressure forward with the hand on his back, and he follows it. He lets himself fall into her and wrap his arms around her neck. He’s a little awkward to stand up with and carry, tall enough that he should be walking himself. But she isn’t going to put him down unless she absolutely has to.

.

.

“You didn’t kill him.”

Leonard – her Leonard – looks up at her, and after holding her eyes for a long moment he sighs and puts his partially assembled cold gun on his nightstand.

“Raymond wouldn’t let me.”

She raises her eyebrow, not that he’s looking anymore. His eyes are downcast, his mouth a firm line, and she gives him time but she’s starting to think he isn’t going to elaborate. That’s fine, she can’t expect him to want to share anything. She’s about to bid him goodnight and then go spend the next six to ten hours sharpening her knives and imagine them carving into the flesh of Lewis-

“I couldn’t.”

His words are quiet, so much so that a part of her thinks she might have imagined them. But then he sighs and leans over to the nightstand again, this time picking up his famous deck of cards and beginning to shuffle them mindlessly.

He glances up at her, and she takes the hint and steps into his room and closes the door behind her.

Even so, it’s some time before he speaks.

“I wanted to.” He finally says, “And you know I could’ve gotten through Raymond.”

He finally looks at her with that, waiting for her to acknowledge his attempt at humor, and she gives him a smirk.

Then it’s back to shuffling the cards.

“But… If I had… then I wouldn’t be here would I?”

He brings his eyes back to her, and she looks away.

“No.” She agrees, “You would’ve had a different life.”

A better life, but she doesn’t need to say that.

“No telling what that might have brought.” He acknowledges, “You wipe the memory of little me?”

She nods, “And your mom.”

He nods this time, and gives the cards another shuffle.

“My and Lisa’s childhoods were… awful.” He says, “Not a day goes by I don’t wish things had been different. Getting the chance…”

He trails off, gathering his thoughts, and she’ll give him that. She’ll give him all the time that he needs.

“Lisa’s happy now.” He finally says, “She has Ramon, and all those other idiots. And I…” He swallows, “I have some idiots of my own. Couldn’t risk that.”

She smiles, and she wants to tease him. She wants to taunt that Captain Cold does have a heart and she’ll never tell. Maybe tomorrow she will, but not right now. Right now he has unshed tears in his eyes, and his face is pale. He’s even less likely to sleep tonight than she is.

So she crosses the room and without a word crawls in to sit next to him on his mattress. He scoots enough to give her space, but she still presses right into his side and lays a hand down over his wrist with hardly any weight to it.

“Good.” She finds herself saying, and she runs her fingers up is hand until she dips them between his knuckles. “Because these idiots would be lost without you.”

[masterjedilenawrites]

The Helmeted Hunter: Chapter 26

Boba Fett x Reader

Chapter Warnings: N/A

AO3 Link (In case you like it better over there, it’s okay, no judgement)

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Chapter 26: You’ll See (Reprise)

The perplexed look on your face made Krennic laugh some more. He was having entirely too much fun, reveling in your confusion, and it was starting to piss you off. You were about to abandon your plan of being cooperative so you could indulge in yelling at this man instead, but he spoke before you could.

"In the meantime," he said, nodding at the food in front of you, "have a bite to eat. I'm sure these bounty hunters don't serve proper meals to their quarry."

You looked down at your plate full of colorful vegetables and meat and bread and silently agreed; you hadn't had a proper meal in a long time. Boba only kept rations on his ship that were meant to be purely nutritional but tasted rather like cardboard. Your stomach gave an involuntary growl, and having no reason to believe the Empire would want to poison you after all the trouble to capture you, you went ahead and dug in.

It was only after you'd cleaned half the plate did Krennic speak to you again. He was nibbling at his own food, but seemed much more interested in your music player.

"Curious device." He turned it over on the table beside him, rubbing his fingers over the stickers on the back. "What is it?"

"It just plays music," you explained between bites. "Or at least it did. Doesn't work anymore."

"And it's yours?"

You nodded your head. "Boba took me to meet the other buyer but found it there instead. It was really weird. I packed that old thing away years ago. I don't know how that guy got it, whoever he is."

You'd decided with Boba there would be no harm in giving out the details of your failed quest to find the other buyer; it would only help sell Boba's choice to turn you in to the Empire. You did, however, exclude the parts about Maz, not wanting to drag her further into this mess.

Krennic was looking at you through squinted eyes. "So you don't know who placed the other bounty on you?"

"No," you said with a slightly dramatic sigh. "Like I've told literally everyone that's been after me, I don't know who the guy is. I don't know why he wants me, or how he got my stuff. I also don't know why you want me so bad, either."

You looked back at Krennic with a pointed expression, hoping this would segue into the conversation where you finally got some answers, the one you'd come here for. But Krennic's interest seemed to have now wandered elsewhere. He stared at the music player for a bit before placing it in a pocket along his belt and going for another swig of his drink.

You cursed internally. It had been a long shot, bringing that device with you. Boba had warned you it'd probably be confiscated but you'd hoped that maybe Krennic would let you be sentimental and hold onto it anyway. Not only had Boba replaced the inner workings with a tracker, but he'd also programmed the signal so that if you selected a song, it would play it aboard the Slave I. There was a song to let him know you were okay, one for when you were ready to be extracted, one if there was an emergency.... If you weren't able to play him anything by tonight, then he would only wait one more day before coming for you, regardless of whether you'd found your answers or not.

The door suddenly opened from behind, letting in a stormtrooper.

"We've arrived, sir."

Krennic nodded knowingly, dabbing at his mouth with a cloth napkin. "Take her down. I'll meet with them shortly."

Them. You gulped at the word, your mind racing between countless possibilities. Were there other prisoners you were being taken to? Did the Empire want you to work on something and you were going to meet your new coworkers? Did Krennic have a boss who'd be interrogating you instead - perhaps the Emperor himself? Or maybe you'd be walked out onto a stage with your friends and family, and told this was some elaborate game show and that everything you'd experienced the last couple of months was only to test your grit on live television? At this point, no idea was too far fetched for you to believe.

You were, however, secretly relieved that you were being taken elsewhere, rather than staying on this Imperial ship. It meant Boba wouldn't have to enact back-up plans #4-7 to get you out. You hadn't realized the ship had been flying this whole time, not being near any windows or having felt any of the usual movements that came from being in a smaller vessel. You were ushered into a shuttle, and it was an odd experience to then fly down toward this new planet. It was like the Imperial ship was a mini planet of its own.

"Where are we?" you braved asking the stormtroopers around you. There were three, one of them in darker armor than the others, and it was this one who answered you.

"Eadu," was all it said. As if the name alone told you enough.

The planet only had a faint blue hue to it, otherwise you couldn't distinguish any land or water features from the small shuttle window. Once you broke through the atmosphere, you realized it was due to the thick, tumultuous layer of storm clouds that blanketed everything. The shuttle shook and jerked as it moved through, the internal lights flickering spastically. The troopers around you didn't seem perturbed so you tried not to be worried, either, despite it seeming like you would surely crash or be electrocuted by lightning.

At last the shuttle made it through, pulling up abruptly at a landing platform in front of a complex built into the side of a jagged stone ridge, one of many that jutted up across the planet's surface. It was dark as you were ushered out onto the platform, only a few flood lights lit the way toward the facility doors. The air was thick with mist and a few sprinkles of rain began tickling your skin as you walked along. It also stunk, like soil and sulfur mixed together.

You inherently picked up your pace, not sure what was waiting for you on the other side of the doors, but needing to get away from this stinky, damp air. The darkly clad trooper swiped at a keypad and led you inside, the two other troopers flanking you just behind. The facility's interior was as stark and cold as the Imperial ship, lit with the same harsh fluorescent lights. You passed several other people as you followed the winding hallway. A few were in dark green military uniforms with smart looking hats. Others wore more plastic-y looking suits, almost like lab coats. They all looked at you curiously as you passed but did not interact.

The dark trooper eventually pulled up at a door on the side of the hall. It swiped at another keypad, the door swooshing open with a soft hiss. It stood to the side, indicating you should enter.

"The Commander will be with you shortly," it said.

You went inside, assuming this was like a waiting room until Krennic showed up. It was a moderately sized space, like a little apartment, with simple furnishings and supplies. You rounded a corner to get a better look at everything, to maybe see if there was a clue about what the Empire wanted with you. But you stopped dead in your tracks when you saw there was someone else in the room, too.

Every function in your body seemed to freeze. You couldn't feel your heart beating, couldn't feel yourself take any breaths. You weren't sure if there really was a deafening silence in the room or if you simply couldn't hear any sounds in your shock. Time seemed to stand still as you struggled to process the woman standing before you. You weren't sure you could speak, but you needed to acknowledge her, you needed to know she was real. So after a few beats, you choked the word out, a forced and hollow whisper.

"Mom?"

[wastefulreverie]

Fool’s Holiday

Jack hated holiday shopping. No, shopping was the easy part. He hated deciding what to buy for someone, especially when his wife and children claimed all the good ideas. By the time he'd decided to buy Danny a new telescope, Maddie had already ordered one. When Jazz dropped some hints she'd like some new psychology textbooks, Danny'd already hit the bookstore with the last of his allowance. Don't even get him started on Maddie's gifts—they'd been married eighteen years and he almost always came up with the worst gifts. He was lucky that she loved them anyway, grateful despite his blunders.

This year, Jack managed to come up with suitable gifts for her and Danny, but he was at a loss for Jazz. What did seventeen-year-old girls even like? Lip gloss? Unicorn stickers? Light-up sneakers?

That didn't sound right. Even when she'd been younger, Jazz was never into that stuff. He could always buy her a gift card, but that felt impersonal. Besides, he'd bought real gifts for Maddie and Danny! He should be able to find a gift for his daughter—it's not like she was a stranger!

With no other ideas, Jack started a list of things that Jazz liked. She liked psychology, school, and reading. Danny had already gotten her books, so he couldn't steal that idea. So what did like besides academics? Did Jazz do anything else besides study? He couldn't even name any TV shows she liked!

Think Jack, think.

What about… a scarf? No, Jazz had plenty of scarves. Besides, Maddie had already bought her clothes.

What about a new phone case? Oh, but she already loved the one she had.

A set of bath products? Wait, that's what he got her last year. He didn't want to repeat himself—that was just pathetic.

What does she like?

Jazz loved her Mom's cooking. She liked going on car rides. She liked watching over her brother and she didn't like her parents' inventions. She liked reading the newspaper, but not magazines. Lately, Jazz had gotten into scrapbooking, but she already had about every material on the planet. Jack remembered when she got into that hobby, Maddie had sworn up and down that it was beyond ridiculous. Neither of them could understand why Jazz idolized Amity Park's notorious ghost kid, Phantom. She liked him as much as she liked scrapbooking and neither of them knew why.

Although… maybe Jack could get her something for her scrapbook.

Sure, he didn't exactly approve of Jazz's—ahem—celebrity crush, but it was Christmas. Phantom didn't make it a secret that he liked signing autographs, hell, at one point he charged for them! If Jazz liked Phantom, then she'd love his signature, wouldn't she? It was the perfect gift!

The only problem was convincing Phantom that he wouldn't shoot him on sight.

It'd taken four days, but Jack finally managed to track the ghost boy down and persuade him to stick around after a fight. The specter was sensibly reluctant, but he obliged Jack's requests.

"So uh, why the sudden change in trying to kill me? Feeling merry?"

Jack rolled his eyes. Was this kid always so sarcastic?

"You do autographs, right?"

Phantom blinked. "Yeah?"

Jack unzipped his fanny pack and pulled out a pad of paper. "Could you sign this?"

The ghost looked more taken aback than anything. "F—for you?"

"No. I mean, yes. But it's really for my daughter, Jazz. She's a huge fan of yours. I couldn't think of anything better to get her for Christmas."

"Jazz?" He sounded incredulous and Jack couldn't blame him. It wasn't every day that a ghost hunter asked a ghost to sign an autograph for his daughter. In fact, this was probably a first.

"That's her name."

"Right." Phantom accepted the pad of paper and one of Jack's pens. "What do you want me to write?"

"Just whatever you want, if that's okay."

"Yeah… alright."

He was kinda surprised that the ghost was going through with this. Although he took his sweet time writing a message to his daughter it wasn't too long or too short. That was good enough for Jack. The last thing he wanted was a ghost sounding too chummy with his daughter, even if they'd never met.

Finally, the ghost handed the autograph back to Jack.

Dear Jazz, I hope you have a Merry Christmas! You're my biggest fan and you always have my back. —Danny Phantom

"Do you still charge?" he asked.

He knew that'd been a big deal a while back, that a ghost was charging real money for autographs. A few people had asked him why, and he'd claimed it was for 'medical supplies', which was bullshit since ghosts didn't need medical supplies. Then again, Jack didn't want to be debted to a ghost. He'd rather pay cash now than expected to do something for Phantom later.

"Oh, no. No, it's Christmas. And you're—you're fine, Jack."

"Alright. Thanks."

He considered telling the ghost to watch his back, that their next meeting would be behind a loaded gun, but why should he warn him? If he could catch Phantom off-guard, then all the better, right?

"You're welcome."

The ghost beamed before he vanished into thin air. Jack couldn't help but feel that there was something familiar about that smile, but he couldn't place it.

Christmas morning started early. The entire family was awake by seven and Jack didn't know who was most excited—he or the kids. Once they all had a hearty breakfast, he and Danny claimed the couch, Jazz nestled into the loveseat, and Mads camped out on the floor. Both of his children practically chugged their cups of coffee before digging into their stockings.

Soon, it was time to start opening the big presents. Maddie started passing the gifts back to each family member and wrapping paper began to fly.

Jack got a new pair of pajamas and a HAZMAT suit from Maddie, a book on parascience from Jazz, and a tin of gourmet fudge from Danny. Mads also bought him a new pair of gloves for the lab and fixed some of his goggles. His sister sent him a new crockpot and his sister-in-law bought him a tie in case he wanted to get a 'real job'. Maddie insisted that she meant it ironically, but he knew better.

Additionally, he was surprised that Vladdie hadn't gotten him anything, considering that he bought gifts for the rest of the family, but beggars can't be choosers. Maybe Vlad was going to take him out sometime soon. That'd be fun, just like the good ol' days!

By the time Jazz got to Jack's gift, most of the presents had already been opened. He hoped she liked it. It was definitely an… unorthodox gift, to say the least.

She undid Jack's wrapping job—which was horrendous at best—and eyed Phantom's autograph. He could read her expression, but it wasn't as excited as he'd anticipated. No, no that was disappointment.

"Really, Danny? An autograph?"

Jack felt his stomach drop. She hated it. Oh God, she hated it. He should've just… just asked Mads what to get her. He was a shitty dad, wasn't he?

Jazz's eyes were still trained on Danny, who had a mad blush across his face. That was another reaction that didn't make a lick of sense.

"Jazz," his boy started.

"That's my gift."

She seemed disbelieved. "What?"

"I uh, thought you liked Phantom?"

Jazz dropped the autograph. "I—I do—!"

"Jack, honey, are you saying you got an autograph from the ghost boy?" Maddie intervened.

Oh boy, he forgot to tell Mads. This wasn't going to go down well.

"I knew that Jazzy liked him and that he liked giving autographs."

"You worked with the enemy."

"I mean, we didn't make any agreements or anything? It was really just an autograph, I'll get him next time! No ghost escapes Jack Fenton!"

"Do you have to go after him, though?" Danny spoke up. "It's not like he wants to hurt anyone, he's a good guy. He was completely cordial whenever you got the autograph, after all."

"Danno, he's still a ghost that wreaks havoc. No matter his intentions, he's still ectoscum."

"Say that to my face," Jazz challenged. "Tell me that he's evil and heartless after you went to him for this autograph. Do it."

She sounded angry. Oh boy, he didn't want this to turn into a fight. Especially on Christmas. He'd had nothing but good intentions, he didn't want it to turn out like this.

"Jazz, I respect your interests. But I'm a ghost hunter, first and foremost."

"That's not—"

"Jazz." Danny met his sister's eyes. "It's okay."

She bit her lip. "Alright."

What had just happened?

"Here, Danny," Maddie pulled out another gift from under the tree. "This one's from me."

Like that, everything snapped back to normal. Danny's face livened and he accepted the present with glee. "Thanks, Mom!"

None of them brought up Phantom for the rest of the day, even when Danny opened Jazz's gift—a black t-shirt with Phantom's logo. They just smiled and moved on, because it was Christmas. They might have different opinions when it came to the ghost boy, but that shouldn't tear them apart. They were family. Maybe one day the kids would realize that he was nothing more than a ghost, but until then Jack would respect their point of view.

Or maybe, just maybe, they'd prove him wrong. There was no telling the future, after all.

Once they'd cleaned up all the discarded wrapping paper, the four of them bundled in front of the TV and argued over which movie they should watch.  The kids insisted on Home Alone, but was that really a Christmas movie? A devilish kid left alone for the holidays, injuring burglars beyond belief. Maddie wanted to watch Miracle on 34th Street, but she was alone in that endeavor—nobody else was particularly fond of black and white. Finally, they settled on The Santa Clause, where Tim Allen knocks Santa off a roof and becomes next in line to be Santa.

They laughed a lot that night, between snacks. Jack shared some of his fudge with the family, and Maddie made sure to make popcorn. Jazz even pitched in with hot cocoa! This was what Christmas should be like every year. However, Jazz only had one year left before college. And if Danny passed all his classes (bless him) he'd have three.

His kids weren't going to be around forever, and that was okay. These moments, albeit fleeting, were enough to last a lifetime.

[cruelangelstheses]

the path to girlhood

fandom: love live! rating: T characters: rin hoshizora, hanayo koizumi words: 3.9k additional tags: character study, au, trans girl rin, bullying, internalized transphobia, high school description: rin struggles to accept herself at her new school when she discovers a love for dancing. a/n: hello hello!! i wrote this a little over a month ago and decided to finally polish it and post it! this au is pretty similar to canon except that they’re just regular high school girls and not idols. i promise it’s not as angsty as the tags make it seem!! i will never write write a fic in which rin hoshizora is cis. happy pride to my fellow Transes of Gender <3 title comes from kururin miracle aka rin’s Trans Song. i love her so much. that's my fuckign daughter

read it on ao3

—

On the first day of high school, Rin Hoshizora goes to school in a skirt.

She hasn’t worn one out in public since she was a child, having resigned herself to hiding inside hoodies and sweatpants. As she wanders the unfamiliar hallways, Rin tries not to be conscious of the way some of her peers sneak curious glances at her from behind notebooks or open locker doors. If nothing else, she hopes the button on her backpack—a striped flag of pink, white, and blue—will be enough to clue them in, if any of them even know what it symbolizes.

Last month, Rin’s parents successfully enrolled her into the local but relatively well-regarded Otonokizaka Academy for Girls, mainly thanks to “proof” from her doctor that she has, in fact, started taking hormones and that she is, in fact, a Real Trans Girl, whatever that means. It’s an old, impressive school with plenty of extracurriculars and classes to choose from, and her best friend, Hanayo, goes there, too. Most importantly, though, it’s a chance to reinvent herself, to meet new people who don’t know her dead name—to make a statement, simply by wearing the Otonokizaka uniform and sitting in an Otonokizaka classroom, that says, I am a girl just as you are.

So far, it doesn’t feel quite as empowering as she thought it would.

Instead, she feels like a newborn baby, cut from the umbilical cord of the closet, naked and confused as she’s thrust into a strange new world. There’s no turning back now, no chance to abort the mission. All she can do is step forward into the light, with all the beauty and danger that it brings.

—

When Rin steps into her homeroom class, a soft, familiar voice calls out, “Rin-chan!”

Hanayo jumps up out of her chair and scurries over, her red glasses bouncing on her face. Rin grins and wraps her arms around her, squeezing her tightly, and for just a moment, she forgets about the rest of the world. There’s nothing outside this classroom, nothing outside her best friend’s warm embrace.

Rin opens her mouth to say something, anything—a how have you been or a help me please I don’t know if I can do this—but she doesn’t get the chance, because then the bell rings, and the homeroom teacher strides into the room. In a flurry, the students rush to their desks. Hanayo has saved a seat for Rin in the back, right next to her, and Rin sighs in relief as she slides into the chair.

While the teacher introduces herself, Rin scans the room, searching for any sign of a reaction from her classmates. Most of them are facing forward, listening or at least pretending to listen to the teacher. One girl sitting a few seats away pokes her friend on the shoulder and gestures to Rin. “Wow,” she mutters, just loud enough that it’s clear she wants Rin to hear it. “They’ll let anyone in this school, huh?”

Rin’s face heats up, and she quickly looks away, down at her empty notebook. In an attempt to seem nonchalant, she pulls a pen out of her pencil case and starts doodling a cat to distract herself. She likes her short hair—it’s cute and easy to manage, and it doesn’t get in her face when she’s playing sports—but suddenly she wishes it were longer so she could hide behind it. That probably wouldn’t work too well, though—before long, she’s sure her peers will be able to recognize her just by her decidedly unfeminine frame.

“Psst,” Hanayo whispers, and Rin turns her head to look at her. Hanayo props up her notebook horizontally. On an otherwise clean page, she’s written in pretty, curly handwriting, I believe in you! with little hearts all around it.

Rin flashes her a tiny smile and mouths a thank-you, but she still can’t shake the feeling that everything about her is wrong. Her knees are too knobby, her handwriting isn’t neat enough, her voice is too loud. She feels like a randomized Sim, like someone just threw together a collection of traits and lumped them all into a person. She’d like to give the spirits a “You Tried” sticker.

—

Rin likes talking to people. She likes jumping in on a conversation about athletics or music or pets and talking about her favorite type of cat (orange tabbies, obviously) or her favorite sports (how could she choose just one?). She likes introducing herself to those who look shy or lonely—in fact, it’s how she met Hanayo. Today, though, she finds herself infuriatingly tongue-tied, stumbling over her words in a way she never has before. Though she attempts, as always, to appear friendly, most of the girls she talks to seem to be at least somewhat uncomfortable with or uninterested in her presence, as if they’re just waiting for her to go away. The last thing Rin wants is to make someone unhappy or upset, so once she senses that she isn’t quite welcome in a particular group or conversation, she politely withdraws from it.

When Rin walks into the bathroom, all the girls that were hanging out and doing their makeup immediately grab their things and leave.

Rin overhears a few more rude comments throughout the day, but no one is overly confrontational. She finds herself pondering over girls and the way they show aggression—how girls who speak disparagingly about others behind their backs are referred to as “catty,” while physical fights between girls are often called “catfights.” Either way, aggressive or passive-aggressive, dealing in physical damage or emotional, girls are consistently compared to cats. It’s unfair to cats, Rin thinks, to associate them only with animosity and violence. Cats can be sweet and loving, too. Cats wouldn’t hate her just for wearing skirts or referring to herself as a “she.”

“Rin-chan,” Hanayo says later that day when they walk home from school together, “are you going to join any clubs or activities? They’ve got a lot of sports.”

“I might do soccer,” Rin replies, “and maybe basketball in the winter. But I’ll have to try it out first to see if I like it.”

Hanayo raises an eyebrow but says nothing. Rin loves soccer; they both know she loves soccer. What Rin’s really saying is, I’ll have to see if I’m treated in a way that deters me from playing.

“Well, if you don’t like it,” Hanayo says delicately, “you could do other sports that aren’t team-oriented. There’s track and cross-country. And there’s dance.”

“Dance?” Rin repeats. “What makes you think I’d be any good at that?”

“Well, you’re so coordinated, and you have really good stamina,” Hanayo says, twirling a strand of light brown hair. “And you like music. It looks like it’d be really fun.”

“You should do it, then,” Rin says, not unkindly.

Hanayo chuckles sheepishly. “I’d like to, but I’ve been too nervous to go by myself. Maybe you could come with me? Just to the first couple of meetings.”

Rin frowns. It’s not that she dislikes the idea of dancing, necessarily; she’s just never considered it. Dancing is for pretty girls with limbs as pliable as putty and skin softer than rose petals, not a scrappy little transgender tomboy with scraped-up knees and a finger that didn’t heal properly because she took it out of the splint before she was supposed to. Dancing is for girls who would never be mistaken for boys.

“The people there seem really nice,” Hanayo adds. “And I’ll be with you, remember?”

After a few moments, Rin finds herself nodding slowly. “Okay,” she says, trying to picture herself dancing to pop music or classical arrangements. It doesn’t quite feel right. “But if it falls on the same day as soccer, I’m choosing soccer.”

—

At the first soccer practice, they have a scrimmage against one another. It’s a perfect chance for Rin to show her teammates what she can do, to earn their trust and start to build camaraderie just like when she played on boys’ teams. Within the first few minutes of the mock game, however, it becomes abundantly clear that most of the girls have no interest in establishing a rapport with her. Some shift uncomfortably whenever she’s near. Others, especially those on defense, play particularly aggressively with her, pressing so close to her that they almost touch, nearly shoving her out of the way, or “accidentally” kicking at her heels when attempting to steal the ball from her. Nearly all of them seem to refuse to pass her the ball, even when she’s wide open, and even though she’s one of the fastest and most experienced members, so that the only times she ever actually manages to get it are when she steals it from the other side. The coach claps whenever Rin scores a goal, but hardly anyone else does, and it only seems to be out of politeness.

At the end of the practice, Rin is about ready to fall over in exhaustion, but not in a good way. She doesn’t think she’s ever had to work so hard in her life to try to make people like her, or at least play nice with her.

Hanayo texts her that evening. How’d it go?

Not great :-( I think I’ll come with you tomorrow to the dance club, Rin responds.

Hanayo’s reply comes a few seconds later. Oh no I’m so sorry!! Tomorrow will be better I promise!!

Rin sighs and flops down on her bed. “I sure hope so,” she mumbles to no one as she stares blankly across the room. A dress she bought online hangs on her closet door, unworn.

—

The room used for the dance club is similar to a gymnasium, except that it’s smaller and has walls made entirely of mirrors. When Rin steps out onto the hardwood floor and sees a few other girls chatting in the center of the room with a dance instructor, her chest tightens.

Beside her, Hanayo takes a deep breath. “I’m nervous, too,” she says, taking Rin’s hand in her own. “But we’re here together.”

They amble up to the small group, and the dance instructor turns to them with a smile. “Oh! It’s so good to see some new faces,” she says. “You can call me Miyazaki-sensei.”

“Hi,” Rin and Hanayo say in unison. They both giggle nervously.

“Hey, there’s no need to be nervous!” says a spunky girl with a side ponytail. “Anyone can learn to dance. I’m living proof! Plus it’d make great material for the talent show!”

Rin and Hanayo exchange glances. “Talent show?” Rin says.

“Yeah!” the girl says. “Every year right before summer break, the school holds a talent show. Anyone can enter! It’s really fun! Last year Kotori-chan, Umi-chan, and I performed as a trio,” she gestures to the other two girls in the room, “and we’re hoping to do it again this year! Sign-ups should be—uhhh, Umi-chan, when are the sign-ups again?”

One of the girls, Umi, sighs in exasperation, but there’s a hint of a smile on her face. “Two Mondays from now. So not this coming Monday, but the one after that.”

“Great!” says the ponytail girl. Turning back to Rin and Hanayo, she adds, “Are you two friends? You should perform as a duo! It would be so cute! I bet I could find the perfect song for you guys—”

Miyazaki holds up a hand. “Why don’t we see if they actually enjoy it first, hm?” she says, amused.

First, they go around and introduce themselves. Miyazaki and the other girls seem nice enough; in fact, Rin thinks she saw Honoka, the ponytail girl, smile and wave at her as she walked into Otonokizaka on the first day of class. She appears to just love and accept everyone; her sincerity is almost childish, but charming nonetheless.

Then they get into the dancing. The three other girls, all second years, seem to know what they’re doing when it comes to planning their performance, so Miyazaki spends most of her time teaching Rin and Hanayo some simple moves to a handful of familiar pop songs.

Slowly, Rin can’t help but unfold. The satisfaction that blooms in her chest whenever she gets a move right, when she shifts her body perfectly to the rhythm of the music, is such a pleasant shock to her system that she feels herself letting her guard down, opening up. She and Hanayo laugh whenever they screw up a step, and no matter how many times they fail, Miyazaki’s patience and attentiveness never waver. When Rin glances over at the other girls, she finds them completely absorbed in their practice; only occasionally does she notice any of them looking her way, and when they do, it’s not with the piercing eyes of judgment, but the joy of sharing in something they love. In this room, Rin doesn’t have to worry about how others see her. She can just be.

—

Hanayo and Rin attend every dance rehearsal together. It’s a small, close-knit group, and even though they aren’t all working together on the same exact thing, Rin can feel that sense of camaraderie that she’s been missing. They’re all constantly looking to improve, to try new things, to create something lively and beautiful. The world is their canvas, their bodies the brushes, the music the paint. For Rin, dancing becomes an unexpected refuge. In the dance room, no one throws crumpled-up papers at her head or tries to trip her down the stairs; no one whispers ugly words in her ear as she walks by.

After hours of deliberation on both their parts, and a lot of convincing (read: begging) on Honoka’s part, Rin and Hanayo decide to take her suggestion and sign up for the talent show as a dancing duo. Honoka apparently spends an inordinate amount of time picking out the perfect song for them, an upbeat tune from an upcoming idol about accepting oneself. “Trust me,” she says, “the audience will love it. Idols are all the rage these days.”

Rin suspects that Honoka picked it out on purpose for its lyrics, but for what it’s worth, it is a catchy song, the kind of song that makes Rin want to jump up and dance whenever she hears it. Luckily for her, that’s exactly what she’s going to do.

Miyazaki helps them come up with the choreography, and they spend the next few months working avidly to perfect it. Even on weekends, they often meet up at one of their houses and practice for hours. Only if they feel that they did the best they possibly could will either of them feel comfortable enough to get up onstage and let hundreds of potentially unforgiving eyes gaze upon them.

Every once in a while, a particularly nasty comment or incident will give Rin pause, and she’ll feel an almost overwhelming urge to beg Hanayo to let them drop out of the talent show. She wouldn’t do that, though; she’d never want to force her best friend to turn her back on an opportunity just for her. Besides, she’ll be okay as long as Hanayo is there with her.

—

The day before the talent show, Hanayo isn’t in school.

During lunch, Rin calls her in a panic in one of the bathroom stalls. “What’s going on?” she hisses. “Our final rehearsal is tonight! Where are you?”

“I have pneumonia,” Hanayo replies.

Rin feels like the floor is falling out from underneath her. Words crowd in her mouth, but all that comes out is, “In summer?”

Hanayo chuckles halfheartedly. “Yeah. I think I got it from my grandfather. You know his immune system isn’t the best. I don’t think I’ll be able to—” She breaks off into a fit of coughing. “I can’t come tonight. I don’t think I’ll be able to perform tomorrow. I went to the doctor yesterday after school, and he says I need to rest until the antibiotics start working.”

Rin recalls the past few days, how Hanayo had been coughing for a little while and seemed more out of breath than usual. She’d hoped it was just a cold, that it would go away in no time. Now Hanayo is sick in bed, her lungs filled with fluid, and they’re scheduled to perform tomorrow.

“Kayo-chin, I—I can’t do it on my own,” she says, her heart starting to race at the thought of standing alone on that stage.

“Sure you can,” Hanayo says. “Just…finish the school day and then go to rehearsal. I’m sure Miyazaki-sensei can help you out.” Then she hangs up before Rin has the chance to argue.

The rest of her classes are a blur. Her mind spins with worst-case scenarios, and her hands shake too much for her to even try to doodle. She speaks to no one, afraid that if she opens her mouth, nothing coherent will come out.

As soon as the dismissal bell rings, Rin snatches her things and races down the hall to the dance room. Her hands are so full that she kicks the door open with her foot.

Miyazaki flashes a smile at her, but it quickly dissipates once she sees the look on her face. “What’s wrong?”

Rin drops her things on the floor against the wall. “Kayo-chin’s sick,” she says breathlessly. “Pneumonia. She can’t perform tomorrow. We have to drop out. I can’t do it without her; we have to drop out—”

Miyazaki holds up both her hands. “Whoa, whoa, slow down. Deep breaths, okay? We’ll figure it out.”

Rin nods reluctantly and tries to steady her breathing. She hears the door open and close behind her, and then Honoka says, “Where’s Hanayo-chan?”

“She’s sick,” Miyazaki says calmly. “Rin’s probably going to have to perform by herself tomorrow.”

“Oh dear,” Kotori says. “I hope she gets better soon.”

“Rin-chan can do it, though!” Honoka says. “We’ve all seen her in action. She’ll do great!”

Rin shakes her head. “I don’t know.”

“It shouldn’t be too difficult,” Umi adds matter-of-factly. “You two were basically doing the same moves, right? It’s not like you were ballroom dancing. You won’t have to change much of the choreography to turn it into a solo act. And we can help you.”

Rin shakes her head again, faster. “It’s not that. I’m not worried about how I’ll do. I’m worried about how it’ll look. I’m not one of those pretty girls everyone loves. I’m different. And everyone’s eyes will be on me and no one else. I’ll be the center of attention…and I just don’t know if I can deal with how they’ll react to that. It suits me to be a partner or a member of a group, so I can blend in more, so someone else can shine. I can’t be the girl who shines. Not like this.”

“Of course you can!” Honoka blurts. “People are afraid of what they don’t understand. But you’re a girl just like the rest of us. Now’s your chance to show everyone. You’re at the Otonokizaka Academy for Girls, aren’t you?”

“But I tried to show everyone,” Rin says, her shoulders slumping. “That’s what I thought going to this school would do. But people still treat me like I’m just too different for them. Like I’m a failed girl, like I’m the wrong kind of girl.”

It’s Miyazaki who speaks up next.

“Then that’s their problem,” she says, “not yours. There’s no such thing as a ‘wrong kind of girl.’ There are girls with short hair and girls who love sports and girls who like to work on cars and girls who wear tuxedos and girls who like to build things—and girls who were mistakenly raised as boys. And the sooner you come to terms with that, the sooner you can be free of what others think of you. People are going to judge you no matter what you do. So if dancing brings you joy, and you want to share that joy with other people, then I want you to dance your heart out on that stage tomorrow.”

For a moment, all is silent. Then Rin chuckles sheepishly. She’s right. Of course she’s right.

“Okay,” she says finally. “Who wants to help me touch up this choreography?”

—

It’s the day before summer break, and the air buzzes with excitement. Even from backstage, Rin can feel her classmates’ gazes from out in the auditorium. Her heart feels like it’s going to claw its way out of her chest and make a run for it, and part of her wants to follow suit. Deep down, though, she knows she’s ready. She’s worked as hard as she possibly could. She’s going to stay, and she’s going to perform like her life depends on it. She has to, for Hanayo.

Rin adjusts her earrings and checks her makeup one final time in the backstage mirror before Miyazaki pops her head in. “Honoka, Kotori, and Umi are almost done,” she says. “You’re up.”

Rin smooths out her dress, a cute pastel pink, the very same one she bought online over the winter. It’s her first time wearing it in public, and it fits her like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle. She takes a deep breath and glances down at her phone, which glows brightly with a new text message from Hanayo. I believe in you!! it reads, followed by a bunch of heart emojis.

Rin smiles, then fixes the pink barrette in her hair and heads out to the curtain area.

Honoka, Kotori, and Umi are walking offstage when Rin arrives. “You’ll do great!” Honoka whispers to her as she walks by, giving her a brief, sweaty hug. Kotori claps enthusiastically, and Umi puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Up next,” the principal says from the sound box, “we have Rin Hoshizora!”

The crowd claps politely. Rin tries her best not to look at any of them as she ambles onto the stage; her focus is only on the music and her body.

When she hears the opening of the song, all the fear and self-consciousness that’s been building up in her seems to fade away, replaced by instinct and muscle memory. She knows how to do this. She’s been doing it multiple days a week for months now.

For most of the first verse, the crowd is silent, as if they aren’t quite sure what to make of her. Then, when she bounces across the stage as the song shifts into the chorus, a few people whoop and cheer, and that’s all Rin needs to keep herself moving, to let the melody carry her home. She’s never felt more beautiful, more purely and authentically her. There’s so much she often hates about her body, but right now, she’s thankful for everything that makes her up, from her long limbs to her rectangular frame. Dancing, she’s discovered, isn’t just for conventionally attractive cis girls. It’s for anyone, as long as they have the passion and the resolve.

Honoka was right about the song choice—by the end, some people are clapping and dancing along, even singing the parts that they know. When Rin finishes the song with a smile, a wink, and a pose, the crowd responds in raucous applause. More than a few people in the audience seem shocked, and several others are smirking, shaking their heads, or mumbling to each other.

And yet, Rin finds it doesn’t particularly bother her. She’s realized something about this sudden turnaround: their acceptance of her is conditional, but her happiness is not. If being herself makes others uncomfortable…well, that’s their problem, not hers.

[shirindanesh]

FAST-TRACK YOUR SALES SYSTEM WITH AGILE IN 90 DAYS - AND KEEP IT GOING

What if I told you there is a really simple way to accelerate your sales.

Sales leaders know what needs to be done in their sales pipeline but their problem is getting the team’s buy-in to fix it. You’ve got lags, blockages, overloaded people… everything that’s getting in the way of hitting your team targets. If everyone was on board with the fixes everything would happen faster, like a beautifully oiled machine operating smoothly.

Let me show you a system that will improve your sales numbers and fast-track your opportunities in your pipeline. 

“It's not a new sales methodology. “

In fact, regardless of what methodology you're using, this will work. 

1 - Visualise the problems in your pipeline: All relevant fixes AKA backlog of improvements

You are  aware of the fixes that need to happen in your system. The things that are currently not working, your pain-points.  You know that a lot of little things need to be improved. 

If you look at this simplified pipeline (for the purpose of this article); you can see it goes from Lead Gen→  Opportunity →  Proposal →  Contract mapped out in Trello. 

Let's get a sense of the type of improvements I'm talking about: 

In the “Lead Gen” stage, we are not using events well to create leads, or we're not using LinkedIn for lead generation. 

In the “Opportunity” phase, we don't have enough videos to show the demo, or we don't have any battle cards, or they are out-dated.

In the “Proposal” stage, we don't have a tracking system. So we don't know if customers are using our system or if they are interacting with the case studies or emails that we've sent. 

In the “Contract” stage, we know our current contract structure is old, and it's not easy to amend. And it takes a very long time, forward and backward, to get a sign off on a deal.

Pro Tip: To compose a backlog of improvements, think of your dream sales team and sales operation, think what needs to be done. Add that in your list. Get access to this Trello Board here. Duplicate it for your business and take it from there.

2 - Sizing and prioritising the sales pipeline fixes

Each of these improvement cards are associated with a metric. The key question is “How do you decide which one to go ahead with first?”

Actually, you don't!!!? Let’s walk through a case...

In this picture (above) you can see we have mapped out an end-to-end of a sales pipeline  at the back of the room. It has all the steps in the sales pipeline, from beginning to the end.

We invited the sales team. Some of the guns, a couple of the architects, SMEs, some of the newcomers, the hunters, the farmers, anyone that is working on the sales pipeline.In this workshop we asked them to map the pain-points across this end to end pipeline (using the red post-it notes you can see in the background). 

Sizing the improvement

Next step is about sizing the issues that the team has highlighted.  We ask them to use cards (pictured) to indicate the size and frequency of these problems. Now, everyone can see which one is the bigger problem. Next step we'll ask them to prioritise.

Prioritisation

All problems require attention but not all at the same time. This is actually a specific method of prioritisation. We ask the team, "Which one of these problems is the most important one from our customers’ point of view?" NOT which one is the one that makes more money for us. And you can tell from this picture which one was getting the highest point and will get nominated.

The dot-voting method

The dot-voting method is another option for decision making. This is a democratic method where you nominate the high priority items. This is useful where there is no data available because it harnesses the collective wisdom and team's understanding of customers. 

Each participant has 10 dots, in 1,2, 3, 4 

They place dots next to issues identified on the sales pipeline.

Issues with the most dots “win” and will be priortised to be resolved.

Other names for dot voting are multi-voting, sticker-voting, sticky-dot voting, dot-mocracy and dot democracy.

Pro-tip: To prevent skewed voting from  strongly opinionated team members, invite junior participants to place their votes first, while saving stakeholders or subject-matter experts for last. This approach protects the votes (and voices) of those who may be less likely to authentically contribute and may automatically defer to others.

3 - Implementing the Improvement

If we go back to the Trello board, the backlog of improvement cards, let's say the team prioritises three improvement cards for us: 

Lead generation Stage: We are light on lead generation, so let's look at LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the future.  

Proposal Stage: Our Battle Cards belong to the industrial era or stone age. 

We need to install a tracking system to make sure we are measuring the things that we want.

At the beginning of a quarter, we will commit to three prioritised cards.  Then we agree for seven sprints we will apply the change and see how we improve on the metric associated with them.

Why 7?

For seven sprints we will do what we need to do, and then we'll stop. Why is it seven? To change a habit or behavior in a person or an organization, which is made of people, you need to hear something seven times and you need to do it 21 times. However, before committing to 21 times, we stop at seven to see if it's working. 7 sprints can also be mapped to a quarter which works well for organisational financial calendars.

4 - Measuring the impact of change

After seven sprints we stop. We will do a measurement. When we are measuring, we want to always compare the results to get insight to see if it's working or not, or if it helped. We compare that quarter's results with the previous quarter, and we compare that with the last year, same time. That's to make sure that the change and the result is not because of the environment, and is a true change.

5- Zoom in at “Linkedin Lead Generation” Card

Let me look at ANOTHER item, so you get a view of what could be inside it. Let's say the team has never used LinkedIn before. We need to get our sales navigator license. We need to create filters so we know which accounts we're targeting. We need to create the right messaging sequence because we want to have different touch points with our clients. And we want to have a couple of case studies. 

At the beginning of a sprint, the team comes together and decides which accounts they want to target. Each day they will update their trackers to what they've done. That's basically a tactical way of looking at the activities. In our sprint review, we say, Okay, how did we go?

TEAM TRACKS THEIR ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THIS

Let me show you a tracker that we put in place a while ago. This was a sequence of messages, the period that we were using it, the delays, between each message and the team’s tracker. So they could show their progress. This is a simple tracker designed to show us the leads, calls and the impact of the change or activity. We go seven sprints with it and at the end we stop and compare the results. It’s as simple as that.

6 - The human element of this system

This system that I showed you allows you to get your team's buy-in.

Remember, you didn't tell them what needs to be done, you ask them and involve them in the prioritisation and decision making process.

What’s important is you’re moving from a "knowing" space to a "doing" space.

Many, in fact all sales leaders, know what needs to be done. But getting their teams to come along with them, that's their challenge. This system is a quite tangible method to get people moving and create momentum and results.

It’s also really helpful in terms of managing noise, if you know what I mean.

7- The metric that rules them all

One other point, probably the most important point of this 45-day plan ; each one of these improvement cards is for improving a specific metric, a number or a percentage. However, the whole system will improve one overarching metric; your "Funnel Velocity".

As you know we have two types of indicators, leading and lagging indicators. 

Leading indicators - you straight away see an impact after you’ve put a change in place. These are normally observable, behavioural changes and metrics.

Lagging indicators - are the result of change that we’ve put in place over a period of time.

Funnel Velocity is a lagging indicator.  

On a separate note, Funnel Velocity has an element of time to it, and it can be translated to an accounting concept of “Early Revenue Turn-On”. 

The two above reasons, being a lagging indicator and having an element of time, funnel velocity is a difficult metric to go after. For you to be able to change that or improve it, you need to do so many things in your system in order to be able to increase the speed of opportunities in your funnel.

If you are anything like me and you’d like a good challenge: improving Funnel Velocity is a good challenge.

8 - The 45-day Acceleration Plan

To bring all the theory and practical sides together, I've designed and tested a 45-day acceleration plan that is action by action to help you implement the process explained above.

The intention of this plan is to show you how to implement Agile ways of working into your sales pipeline. It’s innovation in leadership applied to sales pipelines to increase numbers

I am passionate about Sales Transformation with Agile. If you have any questions, any problems, or you want me to clarify anything for you, contact me,I would love to talk to you about this.

If video is more ‘your thing’ I’ve also created a video walking through this process for you.

Compose a backlog of improvements, think of your dream sales team and sales operation, think what needs to be done. Add that in your list. Get access to this Trello Board here. Duplicate it for your business and take it from there. 

Shirin Danesh is founder of Momentum Pipeline a program designed to make top-tier consulting practices in Agile transformation accessible to a wider range of companies. She invites sales leaders to improve one challenging but rewarding metric - Funnel Velocity. She is an Executive Agile Coach, working with futuristic, caring and ambitious executives to level-up their business. You can read her blog on Agile transformation here.

Article originally published on www.shirindanesh.com

[angel-of-death-2015]

I finally finished this long ass fanfic lol.  I just hate that Tumblr won’t keep the italicized words despite just copying and pasting the entire thing.  Anyway, this one’s for @luciferokisses!  I hope you like my RojoRave fanfic!  Just know that it’s black as hell and that Master Raven and Miguel may be a little OOC in this fanfic.  But I hope everyone else enjoys it!

Meeting the Folks

A sigh left her. She just...couldn't keep her nerves settled. Today is going to be hectic in so many ways possible. But at the same time, she really anticipated this day for weeks. Her dark brown eyes stared at the open door. Different kinds of people were going through the door. Men, women, children, those in between. The woman felt disappointment sitting on her shoulders. What if…? What if they weren't here?

Just before she could sink deeper into her doubts, the woman's eyes immediately lit up from seeing the very person she's been waiting for. A tall man with dark curly hair exited from the opened door. He was wearing a white long sleeve shirt with comfortable black pants and shoes. He was carrying a red satchel in one hand and his fashionable winter coat in the other. His eyes sparkled from seeing a dark-skinned woman several feet in front of him. It took all of his strength to not run to her.

"Raven!" The man exclaimed, not caring about the pairs of eyes staring at him. He quickly walked to the woman and placed his belongings on the floor. He hugged her with some of his strength.

Raven giggled. "Miguel! It's very nice to see you too!" She hugged her boyfriend back with equal strength. The ninja allowed herself to get a little lost in Miguel's warmth and cologne. It's been too long since they've last held each other.

Master Raven releases Miguel after a few more seconds and fixes her coat. "Come on! We need to get your suitcase and get moving." She rolled her eyes a bit. "Traffic's going to be a pain in the ass to deal with."

Miguel nodded and picked up his belongings. He followed behind Master Raven through the sea of passengers in the airport. Miguel looked all around. The airport was huge and everyone was hustling and bustling to get to their next destination. Though the Spaniard felt a bit out of place. Especially since he was in a foreign country again. There were just so many different faces in one place! Just when he felt himself getting overwhelmed, Miguel felt soft yet calloused fingers lock with his. He couldn't help but smile. His heart warmed when Raven gave him a gentle squeeze.

"So? How was the flight?" Asked the ninja as she pulled her boyfriend to an escalator. They descended to the floor below, walking past and around stragglers looking for loved ones and luggage.

"I guess it was good. I'm still not completely used to flying everywhere in different time zones." The Spaniard said as he recalled the previous times of the countries he's visited. "Especially if it's over last minute bookings."

"That I can understand despite our differing circumstances. Not everyone is fit to adjust in different time zones. Whether it's for the military," Master Raven looked back at Miguel and smiled, "or in your case, modeling."

The couple walked towards a very large conveyor belt presenting suitcases in various sizes. Miguel looked around for a moment and spotted his large suitcase. It was dark blue with two stickers that had the logo of his local football team back home. He grabbed it and allowed Raven to guide him out of the bustling place.

"I suppose you're right." Miguel said, continuing the conversation. "But it's also hard to adjust because of the people around me too."

Raven perked an eyebrow. "Oh? And you couldn't just ignore them?"

"It's kind of hard to when you're trapped in between two fans that want to do nothing but take pictures with you and snore loudly for most of the flight."

Raven couldn't help but feel a bit bad for her boyfriend. With fame as a new model, comes with a price of privacy being invaded. But luckily, Miguel already knew how to keep his boundaries from getting crossed. But even if he was able to reject the offers from his fans, Miguel wasn't able to get any rest during that very long flight. He's probably so excited to have a nap sometime soon.

"But if anything," Miguel smiled softly, "it's worth it. I'm here with you aren't I?"

The ninja couldn't help but feel her cheeks heat up. Miguel was just too damn sweet at times. Raven quickly dragged him away from the baggage claim towards a train. They got inside and took a seat. Both of them realized the sudden change in atmosphere when the train moved. The couple felt pairs of eyes staring at them. Miguel wasn't able to hear the faint whispers of disbelief and excitement from others when they saw him board, but Master Raven could. And it was a little annoying. But she wasn't too bothered by their disbelief. She could understand their fascination about Miguel. He was very handsome and charming. After all, that's what got her to go out with him in the first place. Miguel worked his way into her heart and Raven couldn't be any happier about it. Even if it took some time considering how different their lives and time differences are.

The announcement on the intercom jolted the ninja from her thoughts. She tugged Miguel's hand to signify that they were at their destination. Once the train stopped, Master Raven and Miguel got off and headed towards the exit. They went to a parking lot filled with rental cars. The ninja pulled out her keys and unlocked the doors.

"This looks like a fancy car!" Miguel commented as he loaded his large suitcase and satchel into the trunk.

"That's because it is. I'm glad you like it!" Raven snickered as she got in the driver's seat. She started up the silver vehicle once Miguel got comfortable. "Let's just hope traffic won't be too bad."

________________________________________________________________

To her surprise, traffic didn't seem to slow the ninja down. In fact, she and her boyfriend were able to get to her apartment way earlier than she expected. Master Raven fished for her keys in her pocket. She unlocked the door with a simple click before allowing Miguel to step inside.

The Spaniard couldn't take his eyes off of the decor. Simple, lavish, and sleek with the colors consisting of red, white, silver, and black. His girlfriend's taste in decor definitely reflects her in every aspect.

"I'll take that." Raven declared as she took Miguel's winter coat. She placed it on a rack along with her own coat. She took off her shoes and neatly placed them by the door. "I didn't think we'd be this early on schedule! Traffic during this season is always terrible!"

The ninja looked at the clock. It was barely eleven-thirty. "Well, we still have an entire afternoon before the main event. Are you hungry? Need anything?"

"Yes." Miguel answered huskily. He came behind Raven and wrapped his arms around her middle. He couldn't help but sigh from inhaling her vanilla sugar perfume. "I need you."

The ninja felt butterflies dancing in her stomach. Her heart pounded thousands of miles a minute. She leaned back into Miguel's toned chest and breathed deeply. This was why she wanted to hurry up and get home so quickly.

Master Raven turned herself around and let her hands roam up Miguel's stomach and chest. Her hands gingerly stopped at his neck. She sweetly glides her fingers upwards on his skin, basking in the warmth she missed. She caressed the Spaniard's face with her thumbs, satisfied with the reaction of his eyes fluttering shut at her touch. Raven gently pulled Miguel's face to hers. She touched her large nose with her lover's, gently rubbing them together. A laugh suddenly escaped the ninja when she felt herself being lifted into the air.

Miguel spun Raven around twice, laughing along with her. He sets her down on her feet and hugged her with all his strength. He buried his face in her shoulder. His heart raced when he felt Raven hugging him just as hard.

She sighed wistfully. "I really missed you…"

Hearing those words softly coming from the ninja brought tears to Miguel's eyes. "I missed you too moon sugar…"

Master Raven smiled at that little nickname. At first it sounded weird, but the more Miguel said it, the more she loved it. She released the Spaniard and let her hands wander up his back. Raven softly massaged Miguel's scalp with one hand while twirling a few strands with the other. She smiled hearing his moans of pleasure. The ninja tipped her head up and sweetly kissed Miguel's forehead. She kissed his cheeks. She kissed his nose. Her dark brown eyes gazed into Miguel's. Raven could never get tired of how Miguel's eyes sparkled in the light. They held love, longing, excitement, and a hint of exhaustion.

Miguel's eyes fluttered to a close. He leaned his face closer to Raven's. This time, it was his turn to give her some kisses. He kissed her forehead. He kissed her cheeks. He kissed her large nose twice just to hear her giggle. Miguel slowly leaned in closer and closer. He tilted his head slightly. He could feel Raven's lips so close to his. Just...one...more...inch…

Ring! Ring! Ring! The couple stopped in their tracks. Master Raven couldn't help but grunt in annoyance. Whoever is calling her on her cell phone better have a damn good reason for interrupting her reunion with Miguel. Master Raven snatched her phone from her coat pocket and sighed. She calmed herself down once she saw the caller I.D.

"Hello?"

"Hey! How you?"

"I'm fine. How are you mama?" Master Raven playfully rolled her eyes when she heard Miguel giggling behind her.

"I'm okay! Did your friend get in okay?"

"Yes. He got in just fine. I'm trying to get him settled in." Raven swallowed her gasp when she felt strong arms wrap around her middle. It was difficult not to melt immediately from Miguel cuddling the free side of her body.

"Ooohhh! I can't wait to meet your lil' friend! Remember, dinner starts at four!"

Raven felt her cheeks heat up a bit from the comment her mother made. "I know. I haven't forgotten."

"Alright! Oh! Make sure you bring some wine when you get here! Ooohhh I can't wait to meet your friend! I'll see you later chica!"

"Bye mama!" The ninja hung up the phone and sighed. She giggled from Miguel kissing her jaw. She tilted her head higher to give him more access to her neck.

"She sounds very nice." Miguel chuckled as he continued giving soft kisses on Raven's cheek. He chuckled again, gently squeezing the ninja and making her squeak.

"Believe me, she's a lot nicer than you think." Master Raven turned her head, giving Miguel her undivided attention. Seeing his soft smile had her weak in the knees. His strong arms around her made her feel loved. Raven slowly guided her fingers down Miguel's face and caressed his lips. "You'll be seeing her later. But right now, I want to...get back to…" Raven barely whispered the last few words before Miguel interrupted her with his lips.

Fireworks flared down their spines. It's been too long since they've felt each other's lips. The pair separated after a couple of seconds then reconnected. Master Raven moaned, loving Miguel's fingers gliding smoothly across her stomach. And he wasn't even touching her skin yet! The ninja was slightly disappointed when Miguel pulled away. But the disappointment faded when Miguel lead her to the couch. As soon the Spaniard lied down and pulled Raven with him, his lips went right back onto hers.

His nerves were going haywire. Miguel thought he'd explode from happiness. Too many nights did he have fantasizing about being with this woman while she was away. And despite being in the same country with each other at times, they weren't able to see each other. Raven would be too busy fulfilling her mission given to her by the C.I.A. while Miguel would be busy with photoshoots. Frustration would consume him because he couldn't just go to the side of the country where Raven was. He couldn't touch her. Hold her. Kiss her. Make love to her. And it would be like that for months. But that separation of being so close, yet so far pays off in the long run.

Raven pulled away to catch her breath. All she could do was stare deeply into Miguel's eyes. Oh, those pretty eyes just sparkled with love and warmth only for her! A surge of love made the ninja lean forward and give her boyfriend a deep, soft kiss. It took everything in Raven to not do it again. She sat up and stretched. She giggled from Miguel tugging her arm to lay back down with him.

"I'm not done reuniting with you yet!" Miguel whined while smirking.

Raven pushed him back with one hand. "You have two and a half months to get 'reunited' with me! Besides," She turned on the television, "you need some rest. I know how exhausted you are from your flight." She adjusted a pillow before getting up from the couch. "You need as much sleep as you can before you meet my parents tonight. And you can already tell how much of a handful my mother is."

Miguel smiled. He sighed in content as Raven combed her elegant fingers through his hair. He grabbed her wrist and sweetly kissed each finger. "I'll rest if you stay here with me."

Raven playfully rolled her eyes. "Go to sleep already. I'll put your stuff in my room and I'll be back okay?"

The man smirked and released his girlfriend. He turned his attention to the television, not really paying any interest to the American show. He heard Raven's footsteps disappear down the hall of her apartment along with his luggage. Alone with the sound of the television, Miguel thought back to how Raven first came to his flat. He remembered that night vividly. He remembered how it took some time for her to get truly comfortable in his flat. How the tables have turned!

"By the way, do you still need anything?" Raven asked as she came back to the living room. "Aside from me that is."

Miguel smirked at the last comment. "No. I'm fine. I'm just waiting on a pretty lady to come and nap with me."

Dark brown eyes rolled in amusement. Raven sauntered over to the couch and sets the alarm for later on in the afternoon. She doesn't really need it given how she was trained to be up at a certain time, but it'd be beneficial for Miguel considering the time differences and jet lag that'll affect him soon. She sets the phone on the coffee table and is lead back down on top of Miguel. She snags a blanket resting on top of the couch and drapes it over her and her boyfriend. The ninja sweetly snuggles Miguel, smiling in content.

The Spaniard glided his hands up and down Raven's back. He breathed deeply and kissed his girlfriend's crown of locs. Oh, how much he missed this kind of intimacy! Miguel was so enraptured in his euphoria, he didn't realize how fast he fell asleep.

Raven smiled at Miguel's soft snores. Hearing that sound made her feel at home. But despite this sweet reunion, she can't help but feel nervous about it. Hell, her nerves have been rattling ever since Miguel made the suggestion to meet her family months ago. Sure, the ninja wanted to bring home her boyfriend at some point in her life. But this would be the first time that Master Raven, a well-seasoned, high-ranking ninja of the CIA, is bringing home a lover to meet her parents. And it wasn't just an ordinary person. The person she's bringing home is a brawler, a man whose life went to shambles due to the Mishima wars that turned to a new life of being a well-known model that lives on the other side of the world.

The woman sighed internally. Maybe she's just overthinking it. After all, her parents are rather open and loving people. But they aren't pushovers either. Especially her dad. Raven took a few breaths. She grabbed the remote and muted the television. Perhaps a little nap can help ease her worries about introducing her boyfriend to her family.

Silence cradled the lovers in its gentle arms. Unfortunately, the loud ringing of an alarm disturbed Miguel from his restful nap with his lover. He stretched his arms to the ceiling after Raven got off of him. He scratched his head and yawned.

"That nap went by too quickly." Miguel said while rubbing his eye.

Master Raven chuckled. She fixed her hair and clothes. "It did! Do you feel a little more rested?"

Miguel nodded. Truth be told, it's the best nap he's gotten for a little while. He got off the couch and walked to Raven's bedroom. He opened his suitcase and took out a fresh change of clothes.

"You don't mind if I take a quick shower do you?" Miguel asked loudly.

"Define 'quick'." Raven snarkily yelled back.

The Spaniard laughed heartily, walking into the bathroom. He quickly turned on the water and stripped. As soon as the hot water hits his skin, Miguel sighed in tranquility. Being on that very long flight and sandwiched between two people would make anyone want to take a hot shower.

While her boyfriend was in the shower, Raven went over her plan she made earlier. All she had to do was go to the store, get some wine for everyone to enjoy, go to her parents' house, and introduce Miguel. It should be simple, right? After all, it's just her parents! The ninja's thoughts were interrupted when Miguel appeared from the bathroom. He was dressed in a black turtleneck with jeans and comfy black shoes. His gold necklaces accented the look. And Master Raven suddenly felt thirsty.

"Are you ready?" She asked, putting on her winter coat.

"Yes. Oh! Wait!" The man raced back to the bedroom and grabbed his satchel. He quickly put on his coat as well. "Now I'm ready."

Raven arched an eyebrow. "Any particular reason why you're bringing that?"

Miguel grinned, standing close to the ninja. He turned the lock and opened the door. "You'll find out when we get there."

Master Raven smiled back at the Spaniard. She'll follow along with his plan for the moment. She walked out of her apartment with Miguel right behind her. With the door locked, the couple rides down the elevator.

While descending, the elevator makes several stops on different floors. The space in the shaft soon got crowded with other residents of the building. And because of the amount of bodies taking up space, Master Raven and Miguel got squished together. It did annoy the ninja somewhat. But her annoyance melted away from the nice scent of cologne on Miguel. It took every ounce of willpower for Raven to not bury her face deep into Miguel's chest. She'd have to save that for later.

The large doors opened for what seemed like the eleventh time throughout the journey to the lobby. The couple, along with a few people, stepped out of the elevator and scattered in their own directions. Master Raven walked to her car and popped the trunk for Miguel. Her highly trained ears could hear some of the residents talking lowly while unlocking their vehicles. She could hear their excitement and compliments about Miguel, wondering if he's some kind of model or handsome business man of some kind. What took her by surprise was when they made nice comments about her, wondering if she was some kind of model too. Before she could open the door, Miguel beat her to it and opened it for her.

Raven flashed a smile. "Thank you."

Miguel returned the smile. "You're welcome." He shut the door once his girlfriend was settled in and got in the car himself.

"And now," Said the ninja as she started up the vehicle, "on to the main event!"

________________________________________________________________

For once, Master Raven was grateful to know the ins and outs of her city. Traffic was starting to build up with people coming in and out on vacation for the holidays. She was also grateful for knowing what kind of wine to get for the dinner as well. There were too many last-minute customers in the store trying to buy food and drinks to make for their families. Though that didn't stop the customers from doing double-takes when she and Miguel were walking around the store. But could she blame them? Miguel has to be one of the most handsome men she's encountered and fell in love with him. And he's in love with her. He could've fallen in love with anyone else but he fell in love with her. The ninja sometimes can't believe that this man charmed his way into her heart and kept him there. And now she's bringing him home to be introduced to her parents. Though, in a sense, it was bound to happen at some point. But it's still nerve-wracking. What would her parents think about her long-distance relationship with a man living on the other side of the world that's a brawler-turned model?

"Moon sugar? Are you okay?" Asked Miguel.

"Y-Yes."

He wasn't buying it. "You sure? Your mind seems to wander when it isn't on the road." Miguel frowned at Raven's small reaction to getting caught. "Are you nervous about this?"

The ninja sighed as she turned the corner. "Well...yes. Even though I told them I was bringing a 'friend' home, I can't help but wonder what will happen."

Miguel could only nod. Could he blame her for being nervous? This beautiful woman is a top-secret ninja of her country's intelligence agency that's been involved with dismantling dangerous rings created by sick people and corrupt politicians from many countries, even from her own country, and either prevented or ended wars. And she was the one to put an end to that wretched war with the three generations of Mishimas. No doubt did her impressive career come with a hefty price with her home and love lives. Miguel could only imagine how Raven could even keep a good relationship with her family throughout her career as a ninja.

"I don't know what will happen either. But I know it'll work out." He grabbed Raven's hand and caressed it during a red light. "I know it will."

Raven smiled and took a breath. She gently squeezed the man's hand before turning her attention back to the wheel. She really needs to stop overthinking this. Even if her parents think of Miguel differently, he'll still love her the same.

After a few more turns, the couple drives into a nice neighborhood with big houses. They varied in different shapes and colors. Miguel had to credit these owners for their good tastes in structures and windows. Master Raven pulled into a cul-de-sac, spotting the familiar house.

"And here we-" Her brown eyes widened from seeing several familiar cars parked in the driveway and on the street, "-shit."

"What's wrong?"

Raven parked the car in front of a neighbor's house. She dragged her hands down her face. "Those are my relatives' cars. You're not just meeting my parents." She turned off the vehicle. "You're meeting the rest of my family. Dammit! I knew I shouldn't have told her anything!"

The newfound information made Miguel gulp. It's already nerve-wracking that he's meeting his girlfriend's parents. But to meet her entire family? Miguel took a breath. He got out of the car and opened the driver's side. He beckoned Raven to come out and took her into his arms.

"Raven…" Miguel gently caressed his lover's face. "If your family didn't care about who you were in a relationship with, would they all not gather at one place to see who I am? For all they know, I'm probably just some horrible man in disguise that wants to use you and your family for personal gain. They're just curious and want to protect you. That's what family is for, right?"

The ninja exhaled at Miguel's reasoning. She buried her face in his chest, inhaling that cologne she loves on him. The wisdom this man has!

"You always know what to say!"

Miguel chuckled. He sweetly kissed Raven's forehead, then her nose, then her lips. He gave her one last kiss and made sure to savor it. He shuts the car door and took out the wine and satchel from the back seat. He took Raven's hand and kissed it.

"Everything will be just fine. Besides, I was bound to meet all of your family at some point! It's just way sooner than we expected!"

"Well, you have a point." Master Raven locked the car and guided Miguel to the house. They reached a dark red door with a wreath settled right on top of a crafted window. She turned to Miguel. "But I just want to warn you before we go in. My uncles are rather...competitive and like to joke about almost everything. They tend to make fun of everyone that brings home a partner. Especially if they...well...don't look like us. But, they'll make fun of me a lot more than they will of you."

Miguel was taken aback. While it was helpful of Raven to give him a warning before they step inside, the Spaniard can't help but feel a bit tense about what's to come with Raven's uncles' comments. He nods and squeezes the ninja's hand.

Raven cleared her throat and fished for the door key. She turned the lock and stepped into the large house with Miguel right behind her. Immediately, the couple was bombarded with heat, aromas of food, and sounds of televisions and conversations.

"Who just came in the door?" Asked a female voice coming from the kitchen.

"Hi mama!" Said Raven as she hung her and Miguel's coats and his satchel in the closet.

"Raven!" Heavy footsteps rushed through the hallway and got to the entryway of the front door. A dark skinned woman with short black hair done naturally walks briskly to the ninja with arms open wide. She laughs as she hugs Raven with all of her strength and kisses Raven's cheeks. "Oh my baby's here! How are you?"

"I'm fine! Feeling alright!" Master Raven cleared her throat as she released her mother. Butterflies danced wildly in Raven's stomach as she took the wine from Miguel and held his hand in her free one. "Mama, this is my 'friend', Miguel Caballero Rojo. Miguel, this is my mother Antoinette."

Raven's mother looked up and down at the Spaniard's frame. She was taken aback at how tall and handsome this man is! But she also didn't expect Miguel to be of a different race! But there was an...aura coming from him. It was a mix of love, sweetness, calm, and rugged. And it was pretty powerful! When Antoinette glanced at Miguel's eyes, she saw it all. His nervousness. His excitement. His genuine desire.

Miguel swallowed his nerves and extended his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Antoinette had to keep herself from squealing at the man's beautiful accent. She shook his hand quickly and smiled wildly. "Likewise!" She extended her arms. "Aw don't be shy now! I won't bite! Come on and bring it in!"

Miguel smiled as he hugged Master Raven's mother. He could feel the love and warmth flowing from the embrace. He released Antoinette and fixed his shirt.

"Come on in! We're about to say grace!" The group walks down the hallway and into the kitchen. An older man was struggling to carry two full pans of food. Without thinking, Miguel intervenes and takes the pans.

"I got it! Where do I take these?"

The older man was stunned. "Uh...to the other side of the counter over there. Put them in the empty spots." The man looked behind him and saw Raven and her mother. "And this is…?"

"It's Raven's lil' friend!" Antoinette blurted.

"Mama!" The ninja groaned before helping Miguel place the food.

"Wait, did you just say that's Raven's lil' friend?!" The older man asked with widened eyes. Seeing the approving nod, the older man covered his dropped jaw. He smiled for two seconds before smirking. Oh, the joyous day he's been waiting for has arrived!

The food was placed properly and carefully in their spots. Pleased with the outcome, Master Raven looks over the food to see if there's anything out of place. There wasn't. With her highly trained ears, the ninja heard her name being called in the kitchen.

"Ma'am?"

Antoinette grinned, crossing her arms. "I believe you neglected to speak to your uncle!"

Ah shit! The ninja grunted internally. Oh well. Might as well get it over with. She beckoned her boyfriend over while preparing for whatever smartass comment her uncle has in mind.

"Uncle Jeff? This is my friend Miguel. Miguel, this is my Uncle Jeff. He's my mom's second oldest brother."

Miguel extended his hand. "It's very nice to meet you sir!"

Jeff shook the Spaniard's hand and grinned. "Nice to meet you too! Though I ain't sure I've heard of you from Ray-Ray at all!" He turned the formal handshake into a familial one and brought Miguel into a hug. "Don't be too nervous son! You're among family today!" Jeff looked at the time on his phone. It was 4:30 on the dot. "Right on time! Let's get everyone into the family room so we can say grace!"

Jeff and Antoinette leave first to join the rest of the family. Miguel grinned while Master Raven bit her lip nervously. She grabbed the Spaniard's hand and led him through the living room.

"I thought you said your uncle would make jokes and comments about us?" Asked Miguel.

"That's because he hasn't even gotten started. He's waiting until you meet my dad and my other uncles before letting loose."

Raven didn't need to see Miguel's smile fall. She could just feel it. But she knew that his frown wouldn't last for long. The couple enters the family room where they're greeted by Raven's hosts on aunts, uncles, and cousins varying in age. Before Raven could introduce her boyfriend, her great aunt called for the family to settle down and join hands. The television was put on mute for everyone to hear the prayer.

"Mister Jeffery, I want you to lead us all in prayer." Said an old woman.

"I dunno mama. I'm not the preacher like Lonnie."

"Shut up Jeffery!" About everyone, including Raven and Miguel, were chuckling or actually laughing from the comment.

"Hurry up so we can eat! Damn!"

"Alright, alright! Now bow ya'll heads!" Jeff took a breath. "Dear Lord, we come before you today to thank you for the food. We thank you for this family being able to come together once again. You always seem to make a way for us somehow in times of trouble. I thank you for covering my family in your blood, protecting them from the many dangers of the world they may encounter. Whether it'd be right here at home or overseas. We ask that you bless the hands that prepared the food and let it nourish our bodies. May we continue to fellowship with each other and with new friends to come in the future," The comment made Raven twitch and Miguel gulp silently, "in Jesus' name, amen."

The majority of the family repeated the closing phrase and unlinked hands. Before they could disperse into the kitchen for food, they all greeted the ninja while eyeing her boyfriend.

"Ray-Ray! It's been a long time since I last seencha!" Exclaimed a different uncle. He hugged his niece and turned to Miguel. "And who is this? I don't recall this pretty boy at all!"

"Uncle B-Dell, this is my friend Miguel. Miguel, this is my mom's eldest brother Bobby. We just call him B-Dell."

Right on cue, Miguel extends his hand to the older man. "It's a pleasure to meet you sir!"

B-Dell shook the Spaniard's hand. "Same here! Aye Jeff! Ain't you say that Ray-Ray's hard ass wouldn't even bring home a souvenir?"

"Shiet! I said she wouldn't even bring herself! But she brought back something alright!"

Master Raven facepalmed while Miguel tried to keep his blushing to a minimum. Now he understood what his girlfriend meant. And the uncles were just getting started. Before Raven could retort, a familiar voice interrupts the uncles from their roasting session.

"Out of everybody, you ain't try to come and see me?"

The ninja's eyes lit up. She smiled as she hugged a man with a shaved head. She released him and turned to Miguel. "Miguel, this is my daddy Samuel. Daddy, this is my 'friend' Miguel Caballero Rojo."

The elder looked the Spaniard up and down like how his wife did earlier. "So you're Baby Girl's 'lil' friend' huh?"

Miguel gulped. "Yes, I am."

Samuel chuckled. "I ain't trying to give you a hard time son." He hugged Miguel with some of his strength. "I'mma leave that to my brother-in-laws!" He laughed when the ninja groaned loudly in irritation. "Come on Girlie! You know it's your turn to get the treatment! You being away with your job doesn't exempt you from any of it!"

"I was afraid of that…" Raven sighed. Regardless of her predicament, she smiled, grateful that her parents are giving their approvals to Miguel for the moment.

"Alright! Go on and get ya'll something to eat! You're in for a treat Miguel! I hope you like soul food!"

"I hope he does Sam! Ain't no telling what Ray's been feeding him!" Jeff commented, laughing at his niece's embarrassed expression.

While some of the family members went to get food and drinks, Master Raven introduced Miguel to everyone who hasn't met him yet. Hugs were exchanged, nice comments were made, welcomes were warm, and smiles were given. Everything seemed to go on without a hitch. That is, until Raven's stomach growled loudly. The ninja groaned the umpteenth time in the evening, causing the Spaniard to giggle.

"I can make you a plate if you want me to." Miguel offered.

Raven shook her head. "It's alright! Come on!" The ninja led Miguel back to the kitchen where the family members were in line getting their portions of food. She grabbed the plates and handed one to Miguel behind her.

The Spaniard's mouth watered at the sight of the food. It all looked so delicious! He really didn't know what to take. So he just took a little of everything that was presented. He took a portion of greens, green beans, ham, turkey, mac n' cheese, cabbage, corn, one piece of baked chicken, and a piece of cornbread. He was curious and excited to taste the food from Raven's culture. Especially since it was her elder family members that made it.

"What kind of drink do you want? We have different sodas in the coolers or water." Raven asked as she grabbed the utensils and napkins. "Or do you want a beer?"

"Soda is fine. I'd rather eat first before I do any drinking."

The pair walk back to the family room and sit in the middle of one of the fold out tables. A male cousin sat on Raven's right while a female cousin sat on Miguel's left. One of the ninja's younger cousins happened to pass in front of the table.

"Juju! Can you get me two cokes please?" Asked Raven before she started chowing down.

"Okay!" The girl skipped back to the kitchen.

Miguel took his fork and stabbed his vegetables. His eyes widened at the burst of flavor and juice in his mouth! His expression didn't go unnoticed by the uncles.

"Well you look at that! Pretty boy done got a real good taste of them greens!" Yelled Jeff as he took a sip of his beer.

"They are very good!" Miguel softly stated as he finished his chewing. Poor guy had almost all of the attention on him due to the callout. He could see Raven trying not to snap her fork in half in irritation.

"Good! That's what matters right? I mean, I put my foot in them-"

"Shut up Jeff! Let the boy eat!" Exclaimed Raven's great aunt. She rolled her eyes at the shenanigans.

With a short sigh of relief, Raven and Miguel continue to finish their plates. The ninja looked up to see her younger cousin bringing two cans of sodas. She thanked the girl and handed one can to Miguel. He finished the rest of his food and wiped his hands before opening the drink. After he took a sip, the Spaniard stood up and took his and Raven's empty plates.

"Where's the trash can?"

"It's at the end over there!" Raven's female cousin pointed at the trash can across the room.

"Ah, thank you!"

The ninja exhaled. Her belly was full, Miguel was full, and everything seemed to go on smoothly. She felt a tap on her arm.

"Girl!" Raven's female cousin giggled excitedly. "Where did you find that fine specimen?! He is too fine to be here!"

"You know Ray," The male cousin began, "I never thought you'd be into dudes that aren't the brothas!"

"Not to mention that he does look rather familiar…"

"Will you two please behave? It's enough that my uncles are being themselves." Master Raven pleaded.

"Fine! Fine! But only because he's so fiiiine!"

Miguel came back to his seat after throwing away some of the plates from the elder relatives. He was a bit concerned about his girlfriend, seeing her downing her soft drink. He took a sip of his drink with a free hand while he patted Raven's thigh with the other in comfort.

"So...Miguel was it? Can you tell us more about yourself?" Asked the female cousin.

The man's heart sped up. He could feel almost everyone's eyes on him. "What do you want to know..um…"

"Christina! But you can call me Chrissy!" The woman said excitedly while twirling her hair. "For starters, where are you from?"

"Chrissy!" Chided Raven.

"What? I wanna know!"

"Yeah! So do we!" Jeff exclaimed while drinking more of his beer.

Before the ninja could retort, Miguel gently grasped her hand and squeezed it. "If they want to know, I'll tell them." He turned his attention to Chrissy. "You can already tell that I'm not from here. I'm actually from Spain."

"Spain?! Are you serious?!"

Miguel nodded. "Yes. I was born in the city of Barcelona."

"That's amazing! What's it like?"

The Spaniard chuckled. "Well, the city is full of old buildings that date back to when the Moors arrived. There's a lot of art museums and old cathedrals still standing. The marketplaces are rather large and vary in different products. Many expensive wines also come from different places in Spain, but many known brands are from Barcelona."

"Extraordinary! So, the real question that everyone wants to know is how did you and my cousin meet?"

The pair's eyes widened, causing all of the uncles and older cousins to smirk and giggle. Miguel scratched his cheek as he tried to think of a way to explain the story without getting an overreaction. He glanced over at the usually cool and collective ninja. Even she seemed to be uncomfortable about the situation at hand. Realizing that there was no escape, the Spaniard drew a breath to swallow his nerves.

"Well, it was last year in April. Raven was on an assignment to bust a group that was using a fighting tournament as a coverup. I was...one of the fighters at the time. I was rash and I ended up screwing up her operation on accident. But it was a good accident! She got the thugs and I grew a pair to ask her out afterwards."

Master Raven sighed internally. Truth be told, her boyfriend's rendition of the story was more or less true. Although, he was missing key details about what he was doing and how exactly he asked her out. Though it seemed like everybody bought the tale.

"Oh! So you can fight! What kind of martial arts do you practice?"

Shit! Master Raven thought in a panic. She hoped no one would ask that question but of course they had to!

"I practice Judo!" Miguel said without missing a beat. "I've wanted to see how far I've come in my skill so I signed up for the tournament to put them to the test! I just didn't know that it was a coverup for a smuggling group." Except Raven taught me the basics a few months ago but they don't need to know that! Miguel thought smugly to himself. Who knew that his twists on the truth could come out smoothly like hot butter?

"Okay okay! So he can fight. Alright player-player! What do you do for a living?" Asked B-Dell while he picked food out of his teeth.

"Well, I used to work in construction. But recently, I've started modeling. I'm still debating on doing modeling full-time."

"Hold on a sec!" Chrissy whipped out her phone. "You model right?" She pulled up an ad for men's suits. She looked back and forth between Miguel and her phone. "You're the top male model for Men's Warehouse?! And for Nike?!"

Miguel couldn't help but chuckle at the reaction. "Yes, that's correct. I've also modeled for Dior and Vera Wang's collections. In fact, in several weeks, I'm going to be in a fashion show for wedding tuxedos here in the city."

A good portion of the female cousins and aunties "oohed" and "ahhed" at the information while the men were really intrigued. Some of the family members asked questions about how Miguel got into modeling and what other companies he modeled for. In the midst of the questions and answers, Raven's mom beckoned the ninja to follow her into the kitchen.

"Excuse me!" Master Raven got up from her seat and followed her mother. She felt guilty leaving her boyfriend behind with her family. She only hopes that they won't subject him into answering even more personal questions while she's gone. She turns her attention to her mother. "What is it mama?"

Antoinette opened the refrigerator. She took out two bottles of water and handed one to Raven. She took a swig and smiled. "I figured you needed a break from my brothers giving you a hard time."

The ninja opened the water and took a big gulp. "Thanks. Though I'd rather help him from getting eaten alive." She took another swig and sighed. "Mama! Did you plan this? For everyone to come today? I thought it was just going to be us today?"

"Actually, it was your daddy's idea. He was the one that wanted to give a warm welcome to your friend in some way." Antoinette grinned. She couldn't help but be amused with her daughter's expressions. She took Raven's hand. "You really do love him, don't you baby?"

The softness in her mother's voice threw the ninja in a loop. When Raven saw how joyful her mother's eyes were, she felt hot tears coming to her eyes. She looked away, seeing Miguel coming from the family room with some of the cousins and descending to the basement. Her heart skipped a beat seeing a nervous yet exciting smile on him.

"I do. So much mama. I….I've never really felt this way about anybody before. Much less actually being able to have a relationship outside of my job." Raven gave a small laugh. "And to think that we'd be here right now all because of his interference with my mission!"

Antoinette sniffed. Her heart warmed at her daughter's confession. "Baby Girl, look at me." She turned Raven's head. "All my life, I've been wanting to see you happy and healthy. Even if it was hard when you went away. I always feared that I'd never get to see you experience such joy! But to see you now!" She gave a watery laugh. "To see my baby grow up into this beautiful, powerful woman that's so in love! God really blessed me with such a wonderful daughter!"

The ninja wiped away an escaped tear. She smiled and hugged her mother tightly. She really missed her mama's hugs! The ninja released Antoinette and wiped her face with a paper towel. Raven gave a square of the paper towel to her mother to clean herself up with.

"So, what do you think of him?" Raven asked after she blew her nose.

"I'm very curious about how he managed to charm you, Miss Very-Stubborn-Like-Her-Daddy!" Antoinette giggled. "How he was able to get past those walls even your daddy and I couldn't break through!" She hugged Raven again. "Oh I'm just so elated for you! I just can't wait to see your relationship blossom! Even if he's from the other side of the world!"

"Mama!"

"What? Some long distances work! Especially in your case considering you work for the C.I.A. and Miguel travelling around the world for his modeling and whatnot. Speaking of which!" Antoinette released Raven and wiggled her eyebrows. "When is that fashion event of his? I really want to see him in a tux!"

"I am not telling you that!" Raven laughed as she got herself a wine glass from the cabinet. She spotted the wine she bought earlier on the counter and popped it open.

"Fine! Be that way!" Antoinette joked. She got herself a wine glass out of the cabinet as well. "Pour me some too please!"

Raven poured her mother's glass first before pouring hers. She took a sip, savoring the flavor. She and her mother whipped their heads around when they heard sudden shouts coming from the basement. Curious, the women went down the stairs to find Miguel, young adult, teenager, and kid cousins raving about Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. And from the looks of it, Miguel was in first place in the last lap on one of the tracks. And sure enough, Miguel crossed the finish line before anyone else could.

The female cousins cheered at the Spaniard's success while the male cousins were clowning each other for losing. The kids were bouncing everywhere in excitement, asking if they could have a turn. The cousins that lost the race were forced to give up their controllers for someone else to play. Some of the kids asked if the older cousins play with their favorite characters if they couldn't play. One of the cousins happen to look up and spot the ninja and her mother on the stairs.

"Ray! Ain't you still good at this game? Come whoop this fool since neither any of these dummies can do it!" Exclaimed one of the players, salty that he lost.

Master Raven snorted and walked down the stairs. She took a sip of her drink before weaving threw and stepping over her cousins to get to the large couch. She sat two seats away from Miguel and placed her drink on a tray-table. Shock was visible on her face. Right there in Miguel's lap sat Raven's two year old cousin Serenity. And the girl was sitting still holding her dolly without fussing. But the shock soon wore off with a look of confidence.

"I need a controller!" Raven said as she extended her hand. "I'm surprised that Donny couldn't beat Miguel! What happened Donny? Me letting you win finally got to you?"

Miguel snickered with the cousins from his girlfriend's comment. He sat up and made sure Serenity and her dolly were comfortable. "Ready to lose?"

Raven playfully rolled her eyes. She selected her character and cart. "I should be asking you that!"

Half of the cousins were cheering for Raven while the other half were cheering for Miguel. The competitors were neck-in-neck. Master Raven won the first and third races while Miguel won the second and fourth race. The last race was intense. The ninja was surprised that Miguel could even keep up on the Rainbow Road track. The Spaniard was in first place, but ultimately came in second place when Raven passed him in the last .86 seconds. The ninja laughed at Miguel's jaw dropping in disbelief. The room was filled with a mix of cheers and groans and laughter.

"And you said I should be ready to lose!" Taunted Raven as she took a sip of her wine. She handed the controller back to a younger cousin. She got up from her spot, stepping over cousins in the process. "Let me know if you want to lose again in something else! I'll be upstairs!"

The adult and teenage male cousins snickered at the ninja's comment while the female cousins rolled their eyes. After the ninja went upstairs, the kids began to fight over who gets to play the game. Not wanting to be caught in familial crossfire and tantrums, the Spaniard takes the toddler off his lap and gets up. He smiled when the girl tightened her grip on his turtleneck. He knew it was useless to try to pry Serenity off so Miguel just carried her and her dolly upstairs.

Miguel went to the cooler in the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. After all, spending so much time playing the game with a bunch of family members ranging from kids to young adults did make him thirsty! Though it was a tad bit difficult to open the bottle with a two year old and her dolly in one arm. The drink was suddenly snatched from Miguel's hand. He looked over to the culprit and smiled.

"You know, you never cease to surprise me." Said Raven while opening the bottle. "Reny never goes to anyone that isn't her parents, granny, or me." She got the cap off. "What did you do to get you to hold her? Without fussing?"

Miguel chuckled and shrugged. "I don't know! All I did was say hi and she gave me a hug. She ended up asking me to sit her in my lap." He took a swig of his water with the free arm. He heard the little girl yawn in his ear. "And it looks like somebody's getting sleepy."

"I can tell." Raven touched Miguel's shoulder. "Are you doing alright? I know today was a bit overwhelming considering you flying in today and interacting with my family."

The man smiled. "I'm great! Except from losing in the game." He and Raven chuckled. "Though I do want to have a drink." He looked at the sleepy toddler. "Though I'd rather not drink anything around the kids."

"Okay." She motioned Miguel to follow her.

The walked to the family room where the uncles, aunts, and very few older cousins were sitting around playing cards, chatting, or watching sports. Raven and Miguel sat on a leather loveseat, ensuring that the toddler doesn't stir. The toddler being held doesn't go unnoticed.

"Well I'll be damned! Pretty boy actually got Reny to sleep! If it were me, she's just be crying her little head off!" Exclaimed Jeff as he threw out a card.

"That's actually quite an accomplishment! How'd you get her to be all friendly?" Asked B-Dell.

The Spaniard could only shrug a little. "I don't know! All I did was say hi and the next thing I knew, she wanted to help me play games downstairs. But she's all tired out from playing for a while."

"Hm! In my book, anybody that can get Reny to be friendly without throwing a tantrum and get her to sleep without struggling is good in my book! You alright!" Said Jeff, taking the book of cards he won.

Miguel blinked. "Uh...thank you!" That kind of comment was unexpected from Raven's uncle. He was sure he'd get roasted or interrogated again.

"Ah shit!" Jeffery yelled while throwing his cards. "Looks like I'm out!"

________________________________________________________________

The night started to really wind down as time moved on. The majority of the cousins left, including Serenity as she was carried away by her parents. The food was put up, save for a plate or two for Miguel considering how early he ate due to his culture, and the coolers emptied. All that remained were Miguel and Raven and a handful of Raven's relatives well into a card game called "Hot Seat". They already played several games of Spades earlier. Miguel will have to thank Raven later for teaching him how to play the game in advance.

The game was intense. Despite his winning streak, Miguel was close to being eliminated. He threw out his card after Raven's dad. And it was the wrong one. The uncles cheered in triumph.

"Ha! Pretty boy is out! Go on and get your ass up!" Exclaimed B-Dell, gathering the cards to start a new game. "You too Sam!"

Samuel laughed as he got up from his seat. He saw his sister and daughter take the empty spots. "Get his ass out baby!"

Master Raven laughed. "I'll try!"

As the cards were being dealt, Samuel tapped Miguel on the shoulder. He signaled the Spaniard to follow him. He couldn't help but snicker at his brother-in-laws' taunts.

"Ooohhh! What he do?" Jeff laughed.

"I dunno! Ray-Ray! Maybe you can tell us why pretty boy's in trouble!" Taunted B-Dell as he counted his cards.

"Shut up dumbasses!"

________________________________________________________________

It was silent, save for the pouring of liquor the glasses. Samuel handed the Spaniard his glass then put the bottle back on the shelf of his bar. He could tell Miguel was nervous from the way he was holding his glass. He smiled.

"It's okay son. I'm not gonna bite ya or anything." Samuel took a sip, savoring the vanilla whiskey.

The Spaniard sighed internally. He sipped the dark liquor to ease his nerves. He hummed in surprise by the taste. It was really sweet! He heard Raven's dad chuckle softly.

"You like that huh? I figured you would."

Miguel nodded. "I do. What's this flavor? I've never had anything like it."

"That son, is vanilla whiskey. Believe it or not, Raven was the one that introduced me to it. I've been drinking it ever since." He paused. He sat on the bar chair. "Come on and have a seat."

Miguel sat next Samuel. He took another sip of his whiskey. He felt so awkward drinking with his girlfriend's father. Especially since it's so quiet between them. He glanced over to see Samuel looking...content.

Raven's father sat up. "Miguel." There was a pause. "How are you feeling?"

The Spaniard blinked. "I'm alright."

"And a bit tired no doubt. You're not used to having this much family interactions are you?" Samuel smiled at Miguel's reaction. "But you took it rather well! Especially since you're not from around here." He took another swig of whiskey. "Though I do want to apologize to you."

That stunned the Spaniard. "Whatever for sir?"

"For throwing you into the wolves with my family. I really didn't mean to subject you to being overwhelmed by everyone. Especially my brother-in-laws. Even if that's what they do with everyone." Samuel laughed a little. "They did that with me when I started dating Antoinette. But they only do it out of good fun."

Silenced danced between the men again. Samuel took another sip. "You know Miguel," He smiled softly, "this is one of the happiest days I've ever had. My family is doing well again. We're moving on with our lives. My Baby Girl is flourishing in many ways.

"I still can't believe how incredible she is. Hell, I still can't believe she's even here. My family has been through too much. From my wife being diagnosed with cancer to almost losing everything from that shitty war those Mishimas put us through. I remember Raven wanting to do things that, well, I wanted to keep her away from. Even got into arguments with her at times because all I wanted to do was protect her like a father should." Samuel sniffed. "I'll never forget the day of how she got roped into being enlisted. I couldn't even save her. I didn't want her risking her life and putting herself in danger just for her efforts to go in vain and unappreciated. But I couldn't do anything.

"She came home one day. She had fresh scars on her face. I was upset and afraid. Someone hurt my Baby Girl and I never knew about it. And those people tried to threaten and hurt my family because of what she did to stop whatever they were doing." He wiped a few tears. "And one day, she told me that it'll all be okay. Then she just upped and disappeared. For years. I had no way of contacting her. Every day I pray that I wouldn't have to wake up to the news to hear my baby girl going missing and unrecovered or just in a body bag. Mentally or physically. But then she came home again one day. Completely unannounced. She came in. Didn't say a word. All she did was hug me. And that's when I knew.

"Raven meant what she said. Everything was okay. And after that, I didn't worry anymore. It was like a heavy weight lifted from my shoulders." Samuel grabbed a napkin and blew his nose. "Though sometimes, I still wonder if I was a good father to her." Samuel poured more whiskey into his glass. "But I do know that I did a decent job. My baby girl is a goddamn ninja! It's no wonder why she's been gone for years! Have you seen what she can do? What she did? My baby is out here saving lives! If not the world! I've never been so proud!"

There was another short silence. Samuel turned to Miguel. "Do you want to know why I'm telling you this son? It's because out of all the people in this world, my baby girl trusts you more than anyone. Out of all the people in the world, my daughter, my very hard-headed, busy, courageous, ass-kicking daughter, who probably wouldn't even think about maintaining any relationship outside of family, much less actually keeping a relationship with her family due to everything, wants to build something with you. And the fact that I can see, with my own eyes, of how happy she is with you? How deeply in love she is with you? How she really wanted me to meet you?

"I never thought I'd be alive to see the day where my baby girl wants to love, is in love, and is loved by someone. Especially after everything that we've went through." Samuel smiled and passed a napkin to Miguel.

The Spaniard didn't realize the tears he was shedding. He gratefully took the napkin and cleaned his face. To hear Raven's father tell Miguel about the hardships his family faced, how he could've lost his daughter, and how overjoyed he is to know that his daughter is happy with where she is as a person, and how deeply Master Raven cares for him brought him to tears. He thanked Samuel for refilling his glass after he blew his nose.

"Ain't nothing wrong with getting emotional son." Samuel took a sip of his whiskey. "It shows how human you are. And how much you care for others." Samuel turned to Miguel again. "Tell me son, how did you fall for my daughter?"

The Spaniard looked down at his liquor. He recalled the memories of him and the ninja. It was hard to pick one because everything she did made him fall for her over and over again. "I...I really can't explain it."

"When you first saw her eyes, did you see how sparkly they were? And all of a sudden you wanted to start loving her?"

A sudden flash of memory popped into Miguel's head. He recalled how pretty Raven's eyes were despite being an obstacle to her mission. He looked straight into Samuel's eyes.

"Yes." He said without any doubt in his body.

The elder couldn't help but laugh. Just like the time he first saw Antoinette. He placed a firm hand on Miguel's shoulder. "You know Miguel? You're more than alright. I mean, you handled my brothers-in-laws and their jokes well, you easily got along with all of my nieces and nephews and cousins, all of the elders show favor to you, and you got little baby Reny to like you! That kid never goes to anyone! Not even me! And the fact that she was so trusting to you to the point where she went to sleep without fussing is truly something!"

Miguel felt heat rising to his cheeks. He wasn't used to hearing these kinds of compliments. "Th-Thank you sir."

Samuel patted Miguel's back a few times. "And you know son, the main reason why I brought everyone over was to make you feel welcome. To feel at home. Baby Girl didn't go into detail, but she told me how you didn't have a family. I could tell in your eyes that you haven't had a family for a long time."

Hot tears threatened to leave Miguel's eyes again. "...Yes sir.."

Samuel offered another napkin. He got out of his chair and beckoned Miguel to do the same. He placed a comforting hand back on the Spaniard's shoulder. "Well, it may be rather very soon, but I want to welcome you into my family Miguel. It's quite obvious that you make my daughter happy and loved. And you give her a kind of love that neither Antoinette nor I can give her. For that, I'm very grateful. Should you move forward or separate in the future, just know that you're a part of this family. No matter what. Now, I don't want to put pressure on you about what you and Raven will do when the time comes. But just know that we'll be, or rather I'll be here to welcome you with open arms. So long as God will allow it."

It was difficult for Miguel to not become a sobbing mess. The father of the woman he loves just welcomed him into his family just from meeting him for the first time. He placed all of his trust into the Spaniard without question. This man gave Miguel years worth of fatherly love that he never got from his own father in just a span of hours. And even if Master Raven and Miguel decide to go separate ways in the future, Samuel would still be there for him. All of this love was very hard to take in.

"Thank you sir! I really mean it!" Miguel choked out.

Samuel laughed, letting tears of happiness fall. "Come on now! Bring it in!"

The men hugged each other with all of their strength. Muffled laughter filled their ears with occasional sniffles. After a moment, they released each other. Samuel grabbed his glass. Miguel grabbed his.

"To the many blessings of love, happiness, and fellowship for days to come!" Samuel declared.

"To the many blessings of love, happiness, and fellowship for days to come!" Miguel repeated.

The men downed the rest of their drinks. They cleaned their faces and walked back upstairs. They heard laughter and the television in the distance. They walked into the kitchen and cleaned their glasses.

"By the way Miguel," The elder man started, "has anyone showed you any pictures of Raven at all today? When she was younger?

Miguel shook his head. "No sir."

Samuel grinned as he dried the glasses. "You're in for a treat son! But I'll show them to you later. Gotta get back to the game." He closed the cabinets and led Miguel back to the family room. "By the way, who taught you how to play so well in Hot Seat? I ain't never seen somebody with a winning streak that long!"

________________________________________________________________

It was very late into the night. The large house was silent, save for the television in a bedroom. Samuel barely paid attention to the movie playing on his television. He was too wrapped up with finishing the next chapter of his book. He yawned briefly, exhausted from cleaning up after the rest of the family left. He heard the bathroom door opening to his right. His wife tiredly came out in her pajamas and satin scarf. He closed the book and snuggled Antoinette when she got comfy in the bed.

"Movie any good?" She asked with a yawn.

"I was barely paying attention. What movie is it again?"

Antoinette snorted and changed the channel to a show in black and white. She sighed in exhaustion. "So Sammy?"

"'So' what?"

"What do you think?"

"About?"

The woman playfully rolled her eyes. "About Raven's lil' friend!"

Samuel thought to himself for a second. He sat up, looking down at his hands. He nodded several times. "He's my son-in-law."

Antoinette wasn't surprised. She chuckled, sitting up as well. "You saw it too huh?"

"Yep. I saw it when your brothers were asking all them questions." A slight pause. "When did you?"

"From the moment I met him. Samuel, that man loves Raven more than life itself. It's in his eyes." Antoinette stated. She looked at the television when she heard some sniffles. Only it wasn't coming from the monitor. It was coming from her husband. She grabbed a box of tissues from the nightstand and handed it to him. Her dainty hand strongly held Samuel's.

"Sammy? What is it?"

The man wiped his nose. "It's just…" He took a breath. "In all my years, I never thought I'd live long enough to see this day. I have my wife. I have my daughter. I have my family. And to see her be so in love and to be loved so hard? I could've lost you. I could've lost my baby. I could've lost my mind. But God favored all of this."

Antoinette kissed her husband's fingers. She couldn't help but shed a few tears as well. She grabbed a tissue to dab her eyes. "We really are blessed aren't we?"

"Truly! I'm just...I'm just so happy for Raven! I'm excited to see things just bloom and manifest for her and Miguel! Those two are just made for each other!"

"Of course they are! They couldn't deny it if they wanted to!"

Samuel softly laughed. He blew his nose and threw away the tissue. He turned the lamp off, snuggling his wife afterwards. He breathed deeply.

"I can't wait to do more bonding with Miguel. I gotta teach him a few things!"

Antoinette playfully rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you do!" She turned the volume down on the television. "Did you show Miguel the pictures of Raven yet?"

Samuel wore a wicked grin. "That's what this weekend is for!"